Fireheart by Vanessa Lanang

Author:Vanessa Lanang [Lanang, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winding Road Stories

Chapter Sixteen

I wish my dreams were real.

I rarely dream, but when I do my mother is there. She’s beautiful in a mesmerizing way. On the rare occasion my father speaks of her, he mentions our similarities; my full lips, the shape of my eyes, and my sun-drenched complexion all belong to her. The rest belongs to the Commander. I was even lucky enough to get his stubbornness.

The dreams are never different. A table, tan with thick legs, a knot in one corner. Behind me, a window, pale blue tapestry on the wall, and a blanket draped over a chair. The humidity in the air is thick, no breeze, yet I’m not uncomfortable. My mother presses berries into a juice—in my dreams she’s always making juice. The indigo liquid runs along her hands into a bowl staining her long thin fingers. She uses the back of her hand to sweep her hair away from her face. The high, sharp angles of her cheekbones taut in concentration. She doesn’t know I’m watching her.

This is the part of the dream my heart aches the most. I want to touch her, but I can’t. She’s so close, so real. What would it feel like with her arms wrapped around me? A swell of emotion burns the back of my throat. I’ll never know.

I blink and now she paces the floor, her hair rolled into a knot at the nape of her neck, stray tendrils curled around her face. She stops to wring her hands, and then walks back and forth again. Worry lines her face, and I can’t bury the thought it’s because of me. What did I do? Has something happened? Or perhaps, she’s waiting for the worst. Something, perhaps, only a mother would understand.

I never dream of her any other way. Too young to remember her, all I have are these images—maybe they’re not dreams at all.

When I blink again blue surrounds me. Cool wind rushes over my body, awakening all my senses, and the heat of the sun beats down upon my back. I can’t see my body, it’s as if it’s made of air, and I don’t know where one begins and the other ends. It’s like I’m flying. A peace settles over me, and I wish for this moment to never end.

But, of course, it does.

Someone calls my name, distant at first. I’m afraid to turn around because even though I can’t see it, I know the darkness comes for me. A droning screech permeates the air, a reminder that dragons will always chase me. Even outside the realm of reality, I can’t hide from them. When the dragon catches me, the dream will end—it’s always the same. And with that end there will be pain.

A flash of light strikes me, and I gasp. My insides ignite like an inferno, every nerve in my body firing. I’ve never known the burn of dragon fire, but this is what I imagine it feels like. My body jolts with the explosion of agony and my eyes fly open.

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