Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Chapter Twenty: Monster Cloak

Consciousness came back to her in a flash.

One moment she was stuck in murky darkness, the next she was standing outside a set of doors, holding her breath as her head spun. "What the hell?" Sora rubbed at her pounding head. "I swear I've said that way too much..." she mumbled, eyeing the ostentatious door. "What the hell is my life becoming?" The last thing she remembered before falling unconscious had been those golden eyes. The ones that belonged to somebody who should have been long dead. She glanced down at the small piece of string wrapped around her finger, shuddering as she suddenly became aware of a slight hum of power surrounding the innocuous thread. Whatever was going on, it was linked to it. There were no doubts about that fact.

Then there was also that strange white space, and the voice there.

Sora bit her lip, staring at the string. "Tell me what's going on, dammit," she whispered, glaring at the only clue she had to her so-called test. "Just what kind of crazy test is this?"

The string buzzed around her finger, tugging pointedly and rather painfully at the digit. Sora winced, taking it as a sign she ought to hurry along. Stepping up to the door, she reached for the handles, scoffing at the ostentatious dragon head design. The rings were heavy in her hands, and nothing seemed to happen for all the strength she had. Grunting, Sora pulled that much harder, biting back a curse when the dragon head seemed to slither around the ring to bite at her fingers. Pain throbbed up her arm, and she leapt back, bringing her bloodied finger to her lips.

A loud clank pulled her attention away from her bloodied finger, the clicking and whirring of heavy gears and locks behind the tall wooden doors causing her to blink. Power hummed in the air, magic buzzing against her skin as if resonating with something deep inside her, and then markings emerged like creeping vines from either side of the door handles, spreading up and out as they glowed a luminous white.

The doors opened with a rattle, nearly drowning out the sounds of feet pounding towards her location. "You have got to be kidding!"

"How did she gain access?"

Sora snorted softly, hurrying inside. "Believe me, I'd love to know the answer too," she muttered, looking around the large hall she found herself in. "I hate mysteries..." There were too many of them in her life. Was it too much to ask for a straight answer for once in her life?

Apparently, yes.

The golden thread buzzed, and Sora stared down at it, tracing it to the source. It shimmered, the entire length of its sparkling cord becoming visible as she followed its trail to the glass cabinet, and the cloak it held within its confines.

There it was. The Monster Cloak. Woven from an inky black fabric, the kind that might look tinted blue in the correct lighting, tassels of gold at the neck, ready to be fastened in a moment's notice. Sora swallowed harshly, watching as the ends – which might have come to a mid-thigh length had she been as tall as her father – rippled in a non-existent breeze. It was moving on its own.

Suddenly its name made more sense than ever.

There was something unearthly about it, though it didn't stop her from walking right up to the glass it was housed in. She pressed her hand up against the glass, mulling on how exactly she was supposed to get away from her pursuers, when she caught the reflection of light and ducked entirely on instinct.

Magic sizzled past her head, slamming into the casing behind her with a loud crash as she spun to face that same golden-eyed man. Who couldn't be the Dragon King of legend... It was impossible. Dragon King Rhydian could never have looked as unnerved as that man did. "Who"—his teeth were bared—"no, what are you?"