Cosmic Collisions (Novel)

Chapter One

Chapter One:

Luca Beckett was dead. No one knew that yet though, except for a few stray dragons who had peered into his bedroom. Everyone else was bustling about the spaceship all getting ready for the birthday celebrations later that week. The first set of twins Luca and Isla have their 23rd birthday the next week and the second pair of twins Charlotte and Elliot's 23rd birthday were also approaching. At that moment, Isla was in her bedroom trying to calm herself; she was secretly dreading the Ceremony.

What if she completely screwed it up and only Luca, Charlotte and Elliot passed the trial? What if she was assigned to a different Space Ship?

Her dragon Cosmo, the size of a raven, sensed her distress and flew onto her bed wrapping his wings around her waist. She turned to him and stroked his inky black scales not saying a word. They sat like that staring out into the starry abyss with the occasional large dragon gliding passed. The stars and dragons had always calmed Isla and she'd always what it was really like out there; in the real world. She shook her head trying to shake off her nerves that tingled down her spine when she heard a blood-curdling scream that filled her with terror.

"Charlotte! What's wrong?" they both cried out, Cosmo flapping his wings frantically.

"It's Luca!" she said. Fresh tears filled her eyes and began pouring out.

"What? What's Luca? What happened? Is he hurt?" Isla replied.

"Isla, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but he-he's dead. He was bleeding! I don-don't know what happened," Charlotte Lane whispered, wincing as Isla dropped to her knees and her shaky hands flew up to her face. Sobs erupted from her and both Cosmo and Charlotte came to her side, hugging her tightly, not knowing what to say.

Cosmo's scorching tears singed their t-shirts as Elliot burst in yelling, "You've got to come now! They're already taking his body away for the Ashes Service tomorrow,"

With a surge of emotion, Isla stood up and raced ahead of the others pushing people out of the way, up the stairs to where both Luca and Elliot's bedrooms  were. Isla and Elliot tore into his bedroom pushing everyone out of the way. Her parents tried pulling her back, but she was so determined to get to her twin brother that she and Elliot battled against the four men dressed in the Intergalactic Federation uniforms  who were about to pick Luca up and carry his body out of the Space Pod.

"At least let me see him! Let me see him!" shouted Isla, tears streaming down her cheeks. Despite her parents and the four men's proTrials, Isla and Elliot managed to squeeze through and then they saw him. Luca had dried blood, which had leaked from his head down to his right ear. That wasn't what shocked them the most though; it was his eyes. They were wide-open and cloudy. They seem to penetrate into their soul. At that moment Charlotte, Elliot Lane, her twin and, most of all, Isla's entire world shattered. Isla heard someone screaming and sobs escaped from her lips. It wasn't until her parents wrapped their arms around her when she realised it was her who screamed. She felt as if she was watching a television programme; it couldn't be happening to her, she thought and the limp body of her brother was actually an actor playing in a horror film.

***

The ancient dragons first came into being billions of years ago, where they hatched from eggs the size of planets in the vast universe. Their scales, the size of the smallest stars, are painted in hues of purple and blue, which the mortals in their many spaceships nearly always mistook as galaxies. There were also ones with slippery scales that used to dwell in the dragon, 'Earth's', waters millions of years previously. Mortals have glided through space studying and watching the progress of dragon eggs for thousands of years. Gradually, smaller dragons came into existence; some the size of cars, and, amongst others, ones as tiny as ravens, like Cosmo. He sat comfortably on Isla Beckett's shoulder as they walked through the interlinking passage from her spaceship to the Intergalactic Federation, her heart pounding in her chest. She and Cosmo, who was now in her arms, went through the scanner as the interlinking passage closed up behind her.