Palace Of Flames (Book One of the Damnata Series)

Chapter Twenty: Wake Up

[Kristy]

I always know when I'm in a dream. Everything is hazy, the edges of my vision are always blurred and wavy, like I'm underwater or something. When I'm dreaming, everything is always really loud, like it's being blasted out of loudspeakers that have been strapped to the sides of my head.

I'm standing in the middle of a huge meadow, surrounded by beautiful yellow flowers, but I don't know which kind they are. The sun is a dazzling, glorious yellow orb floating in the vast, cloudless stretch of pure blue. There is a soft breeze blowing, barely strong enough to push at my hair slightly, and there is no one but me in this meadow.

"Hello?" I call out. I gain no reply other than my voice echoing. I walk forward slowly, feet dragging as it feels like they're being weighed down by the flowers surrounding me.

I walk for what feels like several hours, when in fact must have only been a few minutes, before I gain any kind of reply.

"Oracle..."

I look frantically around me, looking for the source of the single word, but no one is here. It's just me, standing in a meadow, surrounded by what must be millions of bright yellow flowers. As I walk, the colours start to blur, hurting my eyes with their radiance. The sky seems to be darkening, and I'm sure I can see black clouds forming over the ever-dulling sun.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Hello, Oracle..." The voice is rather melodious, like someone is singing the words instead of plainly speaking them.

"Who's there?"

"Don't be scared...we just want to play..."

All of a sudden, I see two blue blurs speeding around me, and then two identical children, the only difference in their black-eyed, blond-haired similarities being that one is a boy and one is a girl, are standing before me, smiling darkly, eyes like twin black holes as they stare up at me.

"H-hello? Who are you?"

"We just want to play with you, Oracle...don't be scared..." The pair reach out and take my hands in their own, dragging me through the meadow towards a gazebo I didn't see there two minutes ago. They pull me towards it, and I can't help but notice that as we grow closer, the sky is growing darker, the clouds swarming. The flowers in the meadow are suddenly withering, browning and crumpling behind the two children, and as we approach the gazebo, I can see a tall, cloaked figure standing with his hands clasped behind his back, head lowered. The two children let go of my hands as they all of a sudden skip towards the cloaked figure. I stop in my tracks as I hear something like a shriek, and then I hear a roar. I turn quickly to see that the whole formerly-beautiful stretch of meadow is now withering, the sky grey, the clouds a deep, almost-black colour, the sun completely disappeared. The wind is picking up, my hair flying out around my face as the wind quickly picks up, and the two children grab my hands again, pulling me closer to the gazebo. I wave them off as I notice a dark figure fast-approaching the gazebo, just a vague black-and-purple blur, and then an unfamiliar male with long black hair and almost-black eyes is standing before me, pale face stretching in a hardly-welcoming smile.

"Hello, Oracle. You are Kristy Motionless, I presume?" I nod slowly. He takes my hand, bringing the back to his lips. I watch him warily, and he smiles, his smile warmer this time. "I have waited many a year to finally meet the last Oracle. Ah, as enticing as I thought you would be. More so, even..."

I take a step back as he reaches for me, and I see a sudden coldness in his eyes that makes me wary.

"What is wrong, Oracle? Surely you cannot be afraid of me?"

I shake my head slowly. "I cannot be afraid of you if I don't know who the hell you even are."

"Dear Oracle, have you not realised? Fear has no name, and so there is nothing to fear but fear itself. And I, my dear, am the epitome and backbone of fear itself."

I take another step backwards, and fall back onto the ground, falling into a puddle of slimy, watery mud. I grimace slightly, and then look back to the tall male in front of me. He has a hand outstretched to help me to my feet, but I just stare at it until he drops it.

"Who are you?" I ask; he just smile slightly.

"You don't know? My, what a clueless Oracle you are, my dear. You have a lot to learn when you eventually come to Damnatalia."

"Wha...?"

And then everything goes dark, and I'm all confused all over again.

I always know when I'm in a dream. Everything is hazy, the edges of my vision always blurred and wavy, like I'm underwater or something. When I'm dreaming, everything is always really loud, like it's being blasted out of loudspeakers that have been strapped to the sides of my head.

I just never know when I'm out of the dream again, especially when I wake up in a strange room with nobody else with me but Laurence, Seth and Oliver.

[Alex]

I look in front of me at the beautiful young female standing before me, her blaze of red hair sweeping around and falling over her right shoulder, her cheeks tainted pink and burnt sienna eyes studying me closely.

"What do you want?" Jake asks rudely; I elbow him in the ribs, and he cries out feebly, scowling playfully before grinning at me. His gaze hardens as he looks back at Ennaleazer, however, and I frown again.

"I was sent here by my brothers. They wish to speak with you. Something concerning the protection of the Oracle, I presume."

Jake snarls. "How do you know about that?"

"My sister, Venus, is a Prophetess."

I nod slowly. "Ah. Well, if they wish to speak with us, then I suppose we had better go, yes?" Jake shakes his head at my suggestion.

"No. I'm suspicious." So, you don't care if Ennaleazer hears of your suspicions? Nice going, brother...

"Well, I'm not." I turn to Ennaleazer and smile slightly, and her cheeks flush a deeper shade of pink. "Would you mind taking us to see them, then?"

"That is what I was sent for, so of course." She turns her back on us, and all of a sudden a brilliant burst of white light in the shape of a door-like structure appears in front of her. She looks back over her shoulder and smiles.

"Well, are you coming or not?"

I turn to Jake, who is standing with his arms folded across his chest, looking defiant and more or less like a spoilt three-year-old.

"Jakey...come on, you know you have to come." I fold my arms over his shoulder, leaning against him. "Please?"

He just stares coldly down at the muddy ground. "I don't trust her. She's...iffy."

"That's a very intelligent choice of words." Jake snorts slightly, smiling, and I grin. "There we go, see? Come on, Jakey, ple-ease?"

Jake sighs deeply, smiling slightly. "Okay, Alex. But I still don't think you're making the right decision-"

"Great! Come on!" I pull him towards the portal that should lead directly to the Damnatan Chamber, and Jake follows on reluctantly as I drag him along with me, following behind Ennaleazer as we step through the portal and into oblivion.

* * *

[Video: Wake Up by Suicide Silence.]

[Picture: Kristy, played by Tay Jardine from We Are The In Crowd.]