I posted this about two years ago, but deleted it because I did a massive edit. Now, two years later and a new idea made me think I should publish it again. Hope you enjoy it!

The Forgotten Dragon

Book One

Preface

I walk this Universe for eternity. I am a menace and a blessing. My story is long and complex and it starts before time was created. I awoke in darkness. I was alone many years. When time began, so did evil. Demons walked freely. I defeated them and contained their power. However, to defeat these Demons, I had to welcome the evil within me, so the evil remained. I became the balance for the Universe. I created the first world. I created Universe, Shadow, and Time. From those three, everything was created. As worlds appeared, I wanted to enjoy them, to be human. I was the link between every world, but I could not enjoy my creations. So I picked a girl. A girl who could become my vessel. This girl would need to be powerful within her. She needed to be perfect. Ahh, there she is. Alexandria Rose Sinclair. She will become my destiny.

Chapter One

A Strange Voice

As everyone knows, a Spirit must be accepted into a body if she wishes to remain in a physical world, but if she is not accepted she is cast out and forgotten. She may only return if she is remembered.

A wolf howled in the night. Dre Sinclair woke with a start and sat up in bed. She checked her phone; it was four in the morning. It was a dream. Nothing more, she told herself, but that didn't help her feeling of unease. She had a funny feeling she had heard those words before. . .but where?

In the bed next to her, Alice, her roommate groaned and rolled over in her sleep. Very quietly, Dre got out of bed and crept out of the bedroom. She turned on the bathroom light and blinked from the bright light. She peered into the mirror. She half expected her face to emit signs of her old form, but as she looked she had the same startlingly green eyes. Her hair was still the same dark brown, falling down past her waist. Her lips were as big and red as ever. She brushed her hair away from her face and turned on the water and leaned over the sink.

Spirits. . .she had never heard of them. They had to exist, though. She had met many supernatural beings when she was a goddess in her other life. Perhaps the words were a message from Milayah. It had been five years since she had seen Milayah, but Dre had been receiving messages and confusing dreams ever since Milayah was imprisoned. Dre was waiting until she could free Milayah and finally the ritual could happen tonight. She continued to think of the words until they slowly disappeared from her mind. She splashed her face with cold water and turned the water off. She shook her head and was about to turn out the light when something called out to her with a whispered urgency.

"Alexandria."

The voice came from behind her but no one was there. Dre tensed. Although she was no longer magical, creatures still called upon her, both friend and foe. She didn't recognize the voice which frightened her.

"Who's there?"

No one answered. Okay, not to worry. Maybe it's just a prank? Dre thought. Except that no one on campus knew to call her Alexandria. She hated her full name. People only called her that to get her attention. Well, someone did have her attention.

She flicked on all the lights in the living room, but nothing looked out of place. The desks cast eerie shadows on the walls. Dre crossed the room to her desk and reread the letter from her mother. Her mother wrote about how she was missed and how her father had gone on business. She clutched it close to her heart wishing she could be back home in Charleston right now. Only a few days until she would see Rosewood, her childhood home, again. She glanced at the calendar above her desk, four days to go until she was back home for the weekend. She stole one last glance around the shadow filled living room before slipping back into the bedroom and falling into a restless sleep.

Dre woke to her alarm five hours later. The sun was shining through the blinds. She groaned and checked her email, praying to the multiple gods that her class was cancelled. Nothing. With much grumbling, Dre got out of bed and started getting ready for the morning.

Dre wrapped her scarf around her as the cool autumn air hit her face. She kept her head bowed from the wind and quickly made her way to her building. A few minutes later, Dre found her classroom and picked a desk at the far back. A few more students filed in and finally the professor.

Dre liked Astronomy. She loved learning about the stars and their planetary alignments, especially when they were used to figure out when she could summon a certain goddess. Today, was all about Mars. She snorted as the teacher claimed Mars was uninhabitable. Dre had been to Mars before and she knew it wasn't inhabitable. Martians just didn't want anything to do with Earthlings and for good reason. She half listened to the lecture on Mars and how scientists had just found water on Mars. Dre ignored the short video clip on this new discovery, instead she focused on her doodles in her notebook.

"Remember, you have your short report on a new discovery due next week Thursday! Don't forget, I will not accept any late assignments! Understand?"

The class mumbled that they understood and they were free to go. Dre checked her phone after class and noticed a text from her roommate, Alice. Dre accepted her request for lunch and then started to text her other friends that she would meet them later.

"Alexandria."

Dre turned around suddenly. It was that voice again. A few people gave her funny looks but she ignored them. She stared into the shadows of the building.

"Did you just hear something?" Dre asked a student next to her.

"Ummm…No?"

"So you didn't just hear someone say my name?"

"What is your name?"

"Nevermind." Dre shook her head, trying to clear the voice from her mind. So, now the voice was something only she could hear. Great. She twisted the ring on her left ring finger. She did that whenever she was nervous. Dre had no idea why she wore this ring on her wedding finger but it gave her a strange sense comfort when she did, like she was meant to wear it. It even looked like a wedding ring. In the center of the ring was a huge diamond surrounded by mostly empty sockets. Only eighteen of these sockets were filled with diamonds, but Dre still wore it. It felt right that she only had eighteen little diamonds.

"Hey!" Alice said, falling in step with Dre.

"What do you know about Spirits?" Dre asked without returning Alice's greeting.

"What do I know about what now?" asked Alice.

"Spirits. You know, the spirits of the...dead..." Dre trailed off. "Just forget it, I'm acting stupid."

"Why are you asking? Is this some kind of project for a class?" Alice asked.

"No, just had a strange dream last night. I was curious."

"I always think of ancient Egypt and Rome when I think of Spirits. You know, Hades and Osiris," Alice said. "Does that help?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Dre and Alice entered the Student Center. It was already filled with students trying to stay warm from the oddly cold October air. They started walking to the stairs up to the second floor cafeteria.

"So, what's up? You said you wanted to talk."

"Yeah, I mean, I wanted to get to know you! We've been roommates for a month now and I know nothing about you. Where are you from? Why were you sent to this school? For me, I was the trouble child in my family. When I was little I would call people liars even when they were telling the truth. Weird, huh?" Alice said this all really fast.

"I guess, yeah." Dre wondered if Alice really wanted to get to know her or if there was a secret meaning to this lunch. Then she wondered if she was being paranoid.

"So, what about you?" Alice brought Dre out from her pondering.

"Um, I'm an only child from South Carolina. I guess my parents sent me here because they are too busy to actually worry about me in Charleston. My dad is currently in Germany for business and my mama is in charge of a huge event planning business. The best place for me is here."

"Charleston? That's a huge difference than here! Aren't you worried about the winters?"

Dre laughed. "A little. My mama and I had trouble trying to pick out winter clothes for me. I'm used to pretty warm winters."

"So jealous. I would love to live somewhere else than here."

"Charleston has it's issues too. You don't want to live there during the summer months."

Alice laughed. "Probably not. Should we find a table?"

Dre nodded and followed Alice to one of the booths. They sat down with their lunch trays and talk focused more on classes.

"Do you like classes so far?" Alice asked, picking apart her sandwich.

"Most. A few feel like review, but that's just because I went to Ashley Hall," said Dre, grimacing.

Alice's eyes bugged. "Ashley Hall? That is one of the best privately owned schools in the South. Are you loaded or something?"

Dre bit her lip. She slipped up. How could she have said something so stupid? Sure, Dre was surprised that Alice knew about Ashley Hall, but Dre knew better than to let it slip she went to an expensive all-girls school before coming here.

"That's one way of putting it," said Dre, delicately.

"What made you come here? I mean, Ashley Hall is pretty impressive," whistled Alice .

"It wasn't a boarding school. My mother couldn't keep track of my schedule along with hers. She thought it best for me to be here instead of Ashley."

"Is it different?"

"Somewhat. The boys are the biggest difference," laughed Dre.

Alice laughed, too. "So, why is your family rich?"

Dre raised her eyebrows. Nice way of putting it, Alice.

"Oh, history. Both sides of my family come from rich settlers from the 18th century. We've been around American History since settling. Around the time of the civil war, my however many greats grandfather met his wife. She was a Yankee while he was a Confederate. They fell in love and married after the war. Both were from respectable families which were not happy with the marriage but that did not stop them."

"That is way cooler than my family history."

"You think that, but if it was yours you would have to live through it every time some historian comes to the house to do research. It's so annoying."

"Oh, that would be annoying."

"What about your classes?" Dre asked, trying to change the subject.

"Hard. I have a paper due tomorrow in my English class. I am not a paper writing person. I think I have a sentence written."

"What's the topic?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

"Oh, I love that book! Forbidden love is so romantic," said Dre, she went to play with her ring again, reminiscing about her true love, Christian. She wished she could see him again, but that was impossible until Dre got her powers back.

Dre pulled out her phone to check the time. It was 1:20. "Damn, I have to go to class now. See you later?"

Alice nodded and Dre left.

"Alexandria!"

Dre jumped. She had almost forgotten about the voice. This time it sounded frustrated. Dre saw nothing strange, so she kept walking, only to look behind her every few minutes.

Her last class of the day was Theology. It was so boring for her, as she took it at Ashely Hall every year. The professor wasn't teaching her anything new. She considered skipping today and trying to discover who was trying to contact her, but she had already skipped twice. At least she could let her mind freely wander for two hours. She sat down and pulled out her notebook, copied the reading for Thursdays and patiently waited for class to begin.

"Good afternoon class. I hope you brought your bibles today!" said Professor Carroway.

Dre pulled out her bible, set it in front of her, and began flipping through it aimlessly.

"We will be discussing the differences between the Gospels of Mark and John. Anyone know any difference on hand?"

Dre groaned. She'd rather be in the frozen tundra outside than listen to this. She looked out the window and at the huge, fluffy flakes that started to fall.

"Alexandria!"

Dre yelped in surprise. She just realized where it was coming from.

The voice was in her head.

Professor Carroway stopped talking about the gospels and turned to face Dre. Dre covered her mouth apologetically.

"Sorry," Dre said.

"Would you like to tell the class why you interrupted discussion, or better yet, tell us what are the differences between Mark and John are."

"I would love to, but I just realized I have a meeting."

"With whom?"

"My…advisor," lied Dre. "Cannot miss it."

"Okay, well, make sure to do the reading for next week and study for the test for the following Tuesday," said Carroway, eyeing Dre with suspicion.

"I will," said Dre picking up her things and rushing out of the classroom. She paused in the hall thinking. The voice sounded frustrated at her. Someone magical was trying to tell her something and that usually meant a warning.

She braced the cold air and hurried to her dorm room. Dre impatiently waited for the light to change.

"Alexandria."

"I know," grumbled Dre to the voice. "I'm coming."

Dre stepped off the sidewalk and ran across the street. Cars honked at her and she ran past. She ran under the arch onto North Campus.

Dre ignored the looks on people's faces as she sprinted past. She prayed Alice wouldn't be home. She couldn't believe someone was trying to contact her. Why now?

She wrenched open the door and ran inside. Dre noticed the stairs were blocked off, she cursed. She forgot that the maintenance was repainting the steps. She waited in front of the elevator panting a little. She slammed her hand over the call button and impatiently waited. Once the elevator clattered to first floor she darted inside and hit the 5th floor and repeatedly punched the "close door" button. As the doors finally closed, she paced the length of the elevator until the elevator reached her floor. She raced past doors until she stopped in front of 517. She threw it open and stopped, frozen, inside the doorway.

"Of course. It was your voice."

Death was sitting on the futon.