I felt my normal drifting in my dream, floating in the wind like a leaf, over fields and forests with purples and pinks and reds. No, floating wasn't quite right, I was being carried. I looked down and saw a pair of huge black talons wrapped around my waist and legs, but I felt no fear. Tilting my head back, I saw the black scaled dragon that held me, molten red eyes looking ahead as we tilted on massive black wings. Again, I felt no fear, only safety. This dragon would never hurt me, he was my friend, he was special to me. I let my eyes close as the wind blown through my hair.
Suddenly, the wind was gone, and hot pain shot from my scalp as my eyes show open to see Kat, standing over me, her perfect appearance changed to something dark and inhuman. Her skin was deathly pale, with black veins showing on the surface, and her eyes were as solid black as the dolls that Ternia animated, only this time having an essence of pure evil.
I tried to scream, but no sound came from my throat, as she threw me to the ground.
Her body looked thinner, disjointed and bending in terrifying angles.
"You thought you could get away from me?" She spoke, her voice deep and scratchy, like she had swallowed a chunk of sand paper.
I tried screaming again, still no sound escaped, as her now too long fingers wrapped around my throat, with long, talon-like nails, digging into my flesh. She squeezed tighter, my breath catching in my blocked lungs. I clawed at her cold, hardened skin, desperate to get free.
My shoulders began to jerk, my body shaking violently.
"Raelynn! Raelynn!" I heard my name being called repeatedly.
My screams finally got out as my eyes shot open in the bedroom that I had been given.
Veren was on top of the bed, his hands gripping my shoulders, his face wild with panic. At first I just stared at him, seeing his long hair in a mess and his chest exposed, as he had clearly been sleeping in just a pair of pants.
"Raelynn" he said, his voice rough and soft at the same time.
I felt the tears as they fell down my cheeks, but I still couldn't respond. My body had woken up, but my mind was still paralyzed with that intense fear.
"Raelynn, please say something" he pleaded, his eyes pleading with me for some kind of response.
I moved my lips, but no sound came out, as I began to feel the intense pain around the front of my throat again. I tried moving my fingers, feeling them twitch against my chest. A sharp gasp came from my doorway as Ternia and a group of others had appeared in my doorway.
"What happened to her?" Ternia rushed into the room, giving a warning look to the gathering as she stopped by my bedside.
Veren didn't remove his eyes from me, as he answered "I think she was having a nightmare. She… she was scratching at her throat, so I needed to wake her up."
My fingers twitched again, and this time I registered the warm, wetness. Veren had been right, I had scratched myself to the point of bleeding. It was why my throat felt so painful.
"Someone call for the doctor immediately!" Ternia snapped towards my bedroom door.
"Rae" Veren spoke barely above a whisper, his deep voice tinged with pain.
"...I..." my voice cracked painfully.
His eyes went wide as his hands moved from my shoulders to cup my cheeks.
"Don't force yourself" Ternia said, sternly, concern clear on her face.
Seeing the way that the both of them were looking at me, something inside of me just told me that I really could trust them. No, that I needed to trust them. I needed to tell them the truth.
"...I'll...tell you...everything..." I managed to rasp.
"Later" Veren stated, looking like he felt the pain I felt every time I managed to get a word out.
I wanted to do something, show some kind of agreement. It hurt too much to speak, and I was afraid to move, not knowing what kind of damage I had done with my nails. Veren just gave a small smile that told me that he understood.
I thought back to the dragon that had been in my dream originally, and I knew that it was him. Not that I was aware whether or not they could take on a dragon form or not, but I just knew that it was him telling me something without saying anything at all. He was special to me, even if I didn't know how or why.
"Veren, sweetie, you should get up. The doctor will need to examine her as soon as they arrive." Ternia suggested softly, with an almost mistakable sliver of a submissive plead.
For Ternia, queen of the dragon clan to sound submissive towards Veren, it made me wonder just how powerful he truly was. After all, she said that he was the strongest born of the dragon clan.
He looked at her from the corner of his eye, looking annoyed, then took a breath and nodded, removing his hands from my cheeks and easing off of the bed. But he still stayed at my side.
Not even a minute later, Eliot and Amy ran through the door to my room, looking ragged in their obvious sleep wear.
"Where is she?" Eliot asked, his hair in a mess.
"She's here" Veren answered immediately, stepping aside just enough for them to see me.
"Oh, my" Amy looked at me with wide eyes.
"We have some healing salve, but I can't guarantee how fast those scratches will heal." Eliot stated.
"What happened to her?" Amy asked, sounding like a protective mother.
"She was having a nightmare. I wasn't sure what to do, but when she started scratching at her throat, I knew I needed to wake her up."
Eliot and Amy stepped up to the side of my bed and Eliot began to examine my throat. It hurt as he moved my head from side to side.
"It's gonna be alright, Raelynn." Amy said with a tight smile.
"We're just gonna apply some salve to your throat and put a clothe over it." Eliot explained "The wounds should be healed relatively quickly, but you shouldn't push yourself too much for the time being."
He didn't wait for any kind of acknowledgment, just began moving sliding his fingers over my throat. I gasped as the pain shot through me and I could feel Veren shifting at the side of the bed. I looked at him with tear filled eyes and saw the pain in his own expression. As if he felt my pain just as I felt it.
Eliot removed his hands from my torn flesh and I could see the mixture of whatever the salve was, and my own blood on his hands. Then more pain again as Amy pressed something cold against my throat.
"Has she said anything since waking up?" Eliot asked as he wiped his hands off on what was originally a clean white cloth.
"Not much. Just that she had something to tell us." Ternia answered.
I felt my gaze go to Veren again, seeing him calm again, with only the slightest twitch of his fists, implying that he was holding himself back for something.
Eliot looked down at me, with a questioning look, and I tried to smile at him, though I was sure it didn't look very pleasant.
"I see. Well, give her a few hours, then remove the clothe to examine the healing process." Eliot instructed "the wound should have healed enough for her to do any talking then, but don't let her over-do it. We don't any records of the effects of this particular salve on the divine lineage."
"I understand" Veren moved back to being directly at my side.
"Someone will need to stay with her" Amy stated, looking between Veren and myself. "If she falls back to sleep, and this happens again, it could make things much worse."
"Trust me, I don't plan on leaving her side any time soon" Veren gave her a cocky smile, but I saw the slight tremor of his hands.