In the magical realm of Dawn, the destiny of the powerful Kingdom of Aralia rests in the hands of its mighty young princess and a shapeshifter Red Dragon, when an ancient prophecy prompts them to destroy an immortal soul in a battle that will establ...
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I can hear the sound of rustling leaves as I shuffle through detritus while the wind whistles around the twirling leaves of utterly still trees. The birds are singing and I dance to the heavenly melody with my swirly yellow dress where the earthy smell of rotting wood and fresh wildflower fill up my lungs. I don't mind the spider web strands as I find myself captivated by the fascinating toil that such small creatures are capable of doing. I let the wind play with the few strands of curling hair that have fallen on my dewy skin as I let it drive me forcefully deeper into the forest. But as I close my eyes and let the force of nature take me, I stumble upon a young boy who appears to be around my age whose taffy brown hair and gleaming appearance reflects all the radiance on his heavenly deep crystal azure eyes. His filthy clothing is ripped as if a wild beast had attacked him.
"Who are you?" I ask dreadfully as I step away from him. I am attempted to call for my nearby guard who I escaped earlier.
"My name is Raven. Are you a princess?"
"Yes, I'm Princess Edlynne from the Kingdom of Aralia. Are you a prince?" I don't know what urged me to ask him such an obvious question. A prince would never wear filthy clothing. He is a strange boy.
"No. My father is the leader of the Red Dragons. One day, I'll be old enough to take his place and I will protect you and your family from evil. That's what he always tells me."
"I know him! I've seen your father in our castle many times. How come I've never seen you if you're his son?"
"I'm not allowed until I come of age. I'm only 10 years old."
"You're older than me. I'm only 7." I blissfully say but then I remember what mother said. She had once mentioned the dangers of speaking with strangers beyond the castle walls. I've never met anyone my age other than royal princess and prince.
"Do you want to be my friend? I've never been friends with a princess before." He asks. Although mother had taught me the kind of relationship that royals must maintain with those who protect us, I can't help but accept being friends with a strange boy like him. He is not a prince. I am fascinated by him despite his terrible appearance.
"Sure." He extends his muddy arm but somehow I don't hesitate to shake his hand contentedly as I smile at him. But the sound of creaking branches grows louder as we both watch two boys who also appear to be around our age appear behind the utterly still trees. One of them has silver white hair that falls on his blemished skin as he stares at me with his shimmering gray eyes. The other one has warm golden hair that reflects an astonishing shade of glinting azure eyes.
"There you are. We've been looking for you everywhere." The one whose silver hair seems to have been made of ashes says as they both approach us.
"This is Princess Edlynne." My new friend says. "These are my brothers, Nolan and Easton."
"Princess?! But we are not suppose to speak with royal families." One of them say and I can sense the hint of fear in his tone.
"But she doesn't mind."
"The king and queen will and father will be in trouble."
"Princess Edlynne?" I hear someone call my name and I instantly remember that I am not here alone. Mother sent me with a guard to watch me while I enjoyed some time outside the walls of the castle. He has now found me.
"It's my guard." I tell them.
"We need to leave."
I say goodbye to my friend and his brothers hoping that I will see him again as he disappears into the wilderness. There is something about him I can't quite perceive. It's bewildering.
"Claire! Claire!" I hear a distant voice while I manage to clear my blurry vision to find Elena before my eyes.
"What?" I respond while I smell the distinctive smell of coffee and she grabs a cup of hot coffee from my night table. I wrap my cold fingers around the cozy cup and she sits back on the chair with her legs resting on my bed.
"I thought something was seriously wrong with you. I've been trying to wake you up for twenty minutes. I was about to call your mom." She begins to agonize about how frightened she felt when I didn't wake up. But all I can think about is my peculiar yet perplexing dream.
"I had the weirdest dream." I confess.
"Really? Maybe that's why you wouldn't wake up. What did you dream about?"
"There was a girl in a swirly yellow dress in the middle of the forest. It wasn't Earth. It was like another world. She wasn't just a girl. She was a princess from a Kingdom of Aralia. Then, there was a strange boy in filthy clothes whose father was the leader of the red dragons who protected her kingdom." As I speak, it all sounds crazy yet so real at the same time. It felt like a memory more than a dream.
"That's beautiful. You should write a book." She laughs and I can't help but laugh with her at her expected response.
"It felt real."
"Claire. Your foot is injured, not your brain. Why are you acting like a mad person?" I hand over the cup to her as I rest my head on my squishy pillow.
I had forgotten for a second about my injury. It's been a few days since I had the accident at the school's chemistry lab. The doctor said such wounds could take 4-7 days to heal. I wonder how my new lab partner is doing since I haven't been there to do all the work for him. However, according to Elena, she hasn't seen him or the guy she almost run over since that day. She believes that they are both related. Overall, I'm just glad I get to go back to school tomorrow. I've missed so much already. Elena has been helping me catch up with some stuff that my professors have been giving her to give me such as assignments and extra credit so I know what to expect when I get back. She's been sleeping over and coming here straight after school everyday since my mom doesn't leave work until late and I could barely take two steps without having to sit down because of the excruciating pain. Luckily, the pills have been helping and I can already walk even if I still feel discomfort. I just need to leave this room before I go mad.
"I'm not. I'm just wondering why I would dream something like that."
"People have weird dreams all the time. Remember the time I dreamt I married Zac Efron after he miraculously declared his love for me in front of the Eiffel Tower? You were my maid of honor at our wedding and our kids loved you." We both laugh. She's right. I shouldn't think too much about it. It was just a dream.
"That was a good dream for you. You wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks." I recall.
"Yes, it was."
"I'm sorry you couldn't go to the party. I know how much you wanted to go." She stayed with me that Friday despite my many attempts to get her to go instead of spending the night with me.
"There's another one this Friday."
"Of course there is. Are you still gonna ask the guy you almost run over with your car?" She smiles.
"I already did. I spoke to him today. He is in my English class. He hadn't been in school since that day because his mother was sick. By the way, he is related to the same guy who took you to the clinic."
"They're brothers?" I have to say I didn't expect that.
"Yes. There's three of them. You met one and I met the other but they have a brother."
"Wow. Do you at least know the name of your date for the party?" I ask. I've been wondering what the name of the guy in my class is. I know his last name is Brown because Mr. Clark said it.
"His name is Easton. The one in your class is Raven. And the one we haven't met is Nolan."
