Chapter 10 - The Vision

Taylor closed her bedroom door softly. She smiled to herself as she recalled watching Rick stumble towards the stairwell, looking a little drunk. She felt her face warm at the thought of him, and then she felt a tug, like an invisible magnetic pressing the locket into her palm.

The locket. He hadn’t said where he had gotten it, but judging from its weight and texture, it was actual gold. Sitting on the edge of her bed, Taylor took the locket and wrapped the chain around her neck. It rested with a cool, tingly touch just below her collarbone.

Holding it up, she examined the piece some more, her fingers sliding over the designs and the rounded edges. Then, just noticeable on one side was a small button. She pressed it with the tip of her thumb, and the locket sprung open, and she gasped as she saw what was inside.

Inside of the locket sat a small shard of crystal, no larger than a quarter. Its edges seemed as sharp as a knife, and it’s color was a pure blue, unlike anything she had ever seen before. Her hand trembled. How could Rick have afforded this? Where had he gotten it? The questions entered her mind, one after another, but then they faded away as she took her forefinger and gently touched the blue crystal.

A shock like a lightning bolt exploded in Taylor’s chest, and she felt it coursing through her veins. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The crystal in the locket seemed to glow and pulse with a power that it forced into her, and then…. Everything went black.

***

There was a light. It was brighter than anything she’d ever seen, and she could feel it washing over her skin, coursing through her veins. It was more than light; it was magic. Images began to flash across her vision.

Images of a broken castle gate fire consuming the rubble of thatch-roofed houses. A cobblestone street was littered with bodies. Bodies of men, women, and monsters. Her face felt hot, she felt stinging tears drip down her cheeks. She breathed and her throat felt cracked and dry, her lungs burning from the smoke.

Fire like falling stars arced through the sky, then exploded in a billow of flame that cast aglow across a city under siege. Through the fog of war, Taylor could see the shadow of a man as he stumbled into the street. His legs shook, and he screamed.

Taylor saw why he screamed. Another shadow appeared. It was a hulking, lizard-like creature wading through the smoke. It was twice as large as any human, with a trail of thorn like spikes trailing it’s spine to the tip of its tail. The creature reached out a clawed hand and squeezed.

The screaming stopped.

There was a break in the smoke, and Taylor could see even more detail. Muscles that bulged and rippled beneath an armor of scales. Teeth like broken kitchen knives lining a crocodile like jaw. Green eyes that glowed.

It echoed a deep barking cough from deep within it’s throat. It was loud and hoarse and finished off with a rumbling growl that would rival any dragon. Then those slitted eyes landed on her.

It crept toward her, leaning forward so that it’s claws as long as railroad spikes could scape across the cobblestone, like nails on a chalkboard. It barked out a laugh, a long pink tongue wiping the gore from it’s teeth.

It towered over her, a goliath of a monster, ready to devour her in a single gulp. Taylor felt so small, so helpless, standing in its shadow. She felt like a child, afraid and unable to move or scream.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. A flash, a movement, something else approached from her periphery.

It was a boy.

The monster roared when it saw him, taking a step back. The boy turned back to her with a confident grin on his face as he tipped his blue ball cap.

“Don’t worry,” he said, facing the monster. “I’m here to save the day.”