Scent of Blood and Ash (On Hold)

Chapter 6 Part I

⚔︎⚔︎⚔︎★★⚔︎⚔︎⚔︎★★⚔︎⚔︎⚔︎★★⚔︎⚔︎⚔︎★★

I walked two steps into the hut, my vision tunnelled, and I collapsed. Darkness claimed me before I hit the marble floor.

Voices filtered through the haze, but I couldn't open my eyes. They were glued together, but a calm and fluffy cloud enveloped me and carried me away. I drifted until a sea of whirling red appeared below. Beautiful warmth radiated up, filling me with power. My power. I was at my core. I grinned like a madman, drinking in the energy. Reaching your core was no easy feat. Only the most focused, most powerful dragons could manage the feat on a regular basis. And unfairly, access to your core could give you an insane boost of power.

A muffled conversation filtered in. I caught my name and focused on it, soaring into the darkness above.

"I can't believe you hit her that hard," said a familiar female voice. "She wasn't wearing any armour."

"Plus, even if she's half dragon, you know how weak humans are," said a male voice. "They break so easily."

"You would've broken too," said the female. "I saw the hit. I could feel it from ten meters away. You hit her at full power, Sasha! It's a wonder she survived."

"Mate, don't kill the summer bastard on our first day," said another male. His voice rang some bells in my fuzzy memory.

"What are you all doing in here?" asked a new female.

"Sorry, we came to check on our friend," said the original female.

"She won't wake until later this evening. We had to put her into a healing sleep. She had three shattered ribs, but she'll be fine soon enough."

"Thank you," said the original female.

The voices drifted away, and I floated down until the red sea surrounded me and filled me with warmth. My magic felt stronger than ever, but I suppose it would be at the core. Through the red, I caught sight of a yellow star pulsing. Its intensive glow made that section of my core look orange. I flew toward it and hit a wall, and realised the yellow light streamed through a pinprick.

"Will she wake soon?" The original female was back.

An irritating bright white light beamed down from above. The pinprick slipped away, and I leaped to chase after it, but hit the wall again and rebounded.

"Yes, should be any minute now," said a male.

"Out the three of you. I'm sure she doesn't want to see your faces as soon as she wakes," said the original female. "Don't worry, I'll see to her."

The light shone brighter, pulling me away from my core until white bathed me.

My eyelids squeezed, and I opened my eyes.

Angie smiled brightly. "Welcome back."

I squinted and blinked. "Hey."

Angie brushed my forehead. "How do you feel?"

I probed my ribs for any tenderness, but they felt perfect. "Better. Was someone else here?"

She glanced away. "Oh, just the healer."

I tried to smile, but my lips only twitched. I'd already known the answer, because now that my mind cleared I'd recognised their presences. Alexis, Coop, and Sasha had visited. Why was she keeping it from me?

"I see. What time is it?" There were no windows in most of the healing hut's rooms. Something about the sun's energies negating some potions and magic. There were rooms that utilised the sun's magic, but apparently I hadn't needed one.