Dark Legion – Cursed Gifts

Chapter 1

Blood decorated the walls, slowly running down the once pristine white, meeting in a pool of red at the floor, like a spilt pot of paint. Someone cried loudly in the silence of death. It hung in the air, tainting it, the very atmosphere became cloyed with the smell of murder. The high, dirge like wailing continued, and the walls seemed to collapse under the weight of grief that the sole voice carried at heart. The whole scenario was becoming hazy, as though one had suddenly been sedated. Spots of red and white danced in the air before everything turned grey, and then to black.

And that was when she woke up.

Lorelei blinked and reached over towards her bedside table and fumbled for the clock, unable to see because of the dark. She stared up at the ceiling as her fingers travelled over the surface of the table, touching all those familiar items. Paperweight, box of tissues, her book, reading glasses, a clock…a clock. She smiled and made a grab at it but sent her book tumbling to the ground before her fingers managed to clumsily close around her object of desire. She held it up to her eyes and squinted, as though hoping that she had suddenly gained the night vision of a cat and could see through the dark. No such luck. She sighed and rolled over onto her side, this time knocking over her tissue box as she made her bid to relocate her lamp. She smiled ever so slightly as her fingers hit upon the switch.

Light drove out the darkness, forcing it to cower and cluster together in the corners of the room to form shadows. The light also momentarily drove out her sight. She winced and screwed her eyes shut, waiting for her vision to readjust to the sudden change in her surroundings.

She blinked several times before she was able to make out the figures on her digital clock. Three in the morning. Figures…why couldn't it have been some decent time? Like seven? Why did it always have to be some god forsaken time? She sighed, frustrated. Well, it wasn't as though she'd never experienced this before. Especially since she had started having these nightmares.

She slid out of bed and started shifting a few magazines and books, looking for a top she had thrown to the floor earlier that night. She smiled as she finally found it and put on the pair of trousers she had bought yesterday from the store nearby. She admired herself in the mirror, frowned when she detected a flaw in the fitting and threw them off, going back to change into a pair of baggy pants. Besides, it was three in the morning, who was she out to impress with her fashion sense?

She grabbed her pair of house keys and promptly shoved them in her jacket pocket, not wanting them to jangle musically against the key ring. Her mother happened to have the hearing of a bat. If she knew she was awake at this time and planning to go for a walk, well, she'd never really hear the end of it.

She slipped out from the confines of her room and jumped over the area directly in front of her door. She wanted, no, needed to go out, and she'd be damned if squeaky floorboards were going to stop her. It was this train of thought that caused her to slide down the banister when she got to the fifth step from the bottom. She slid noiselessly, felt for her house keys again and then, with an easy grace, slipped outside through the front door, barely opening it.

The night was pleasant. A breeze blew at her face and she stood there momentarily, savouring the fresh breath of wind as it blew against her copper streaked hair before she walked on, towards the beach. It was more pebbles and rock at first, but then it led down to sand, where sometimes seaweed washed up on shore. Sometimes, other things did to. Lorelei shuddered and forced herself to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Instead, she looked across the rock, the sand, the sea, and then to the faint grey horizon from her position above, leaning against the steel railing that was there, smiling as the breeze returned and continued to caress her face.

Boats were out in the distance, their owners free, untamed, uncontrolled. They could do whatever they wished, their boats led them to freedom. Lorelei sighed and watched them. Though she felt as though she were confined and trapped in the four walls she called her home, and trapped in the warmth of her family, it contented her to watch those boats. They had something she thought she never would have, and seeing it so clearly made her feel envious, but at the same time, better.

The moon was up and it shone brightly, even though the sky was turning from black to a deep navy blue, the hue noticeably lighter than before. The sun would rise soon. She blinked as she spotted a lone figure walking along the beach. It looked as though she wasn't the only one who was awake at this late hour.

The figure paused and stood at the water's edge, staring out across it. The moon glimmered on the water's surface, the ripple of the waves distorting the otherwise perfect sphere of pale white-yellow. Lorelei watched, almost as though spell-bound, something telling her that all was not right, and that there was something odd about this person.

She watched as the figure pulled out something from its pocket; the light was too dim to see whether or not the person was man or woman. A strange, high whistling sound shrieked through the air, and Lorelei winced at the sound. Her pain was soon forgotten as she stared at the waters, watching them boil slowly into a frenzied churning mass of bubbles. Lorelei couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight, the sight frightening her and yet fascinating her in the same way, like how a snake hypnotizes its prey.

The waters suddenly lifted upwards into a cascading waterfall. Lorelei blinked but then saw a dark shape behind the falling water. It wasn't a waterfall at all, it was simply water running off a huge beast. Lorelei was too scared to scream, fear paralysing her entirely, rooting her to the ground. The beast shook it's head slightly, causing water to fall like rain against the streets surrounding the area, its eyes glinting fiercely. She had to get out of here. Now. But her legs would not obey her mind's screams.

The thing was pale blue, small spikes coming from the back, the head serpent-like. It started to surge forwards, towards the figure on the beach. Lorelei saw it come out onto the sand and saw it had huge legs, small arms, almost like a dinosaur. Huge wings unfolded, stretching out to their full span.

She realised then that she was looking at a dragon. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt all her limbs freeze up even more so. The silhouette on the beach moved closer to the dragon, and Lorelei could hear the faint strains of music, echoing eerily into the night sky. She watched in awe as the dragon soundlessly lowered its head, allowing the person to climb up and slide down to the space in between the dragon's wings.

The dragon roared out into the night sky, a tidal wave formed out of nowhere, capsizing the boats immediately, such was its power. Screams filled the air as people in their fishing boats were plummeted to their demise. In the bright moonlight, the figure's face could now be seen. His eyes were grey, his hair blonde. Lorelei realised with a shock he was wearing red armour. A confident smirk played across his face as he controlled the power and the strength behind the dragon.

She shifted her stance slightly, but that was all it took. The dragon's eyes snapped into place in her direction. Lorelei opened her mouth in a soundless scream as the dragon roared again. Lorelei turned around, only now galvanized into action. She managed to run two feet before she heard the man cry out something in a tongue she did not recognize.

A huge force hit her from behind, plunging her into water that seemed suddenly to appear from nowhere. She let out a high terrified scream as the torrents of water pushed her back through the streets. Her head hit hard against something, a rock, a building? Water flooded everything, streets, cars, houses, her mouth, her nose. Everything was beginning to spiral into darkness.

Another high pitched scream, a coughing fit and then…

Silence.