by Laura R Cole
*
Layna was lying in the middle of a flowery meadow, the wind gently blowing over her as it blew puffs of dandelion seeds across the clearing. She had not a care in the world, and she marveled at how peaceful it was here. She couldn't remember how she had gotten here, or where here was. But it was like Gamoland, the utopia where one would spend the afterlife and that which was home to the Gods.
It really was too much effort to think too hard anyway, better just to watch the clouds passing. As she blinked sleepily, observing the clouds take on new shapes as they floated lazily across the sky, one of them formed a rather dragon-like figure.
As she watched, Layna swore it seemed to coalesce into a dense form and actually swoop down towards her. Dragons were the physical manifestations of the Three, though this one seemed to be a smaller version of the dragon gods.
All that thinking hurt Layna's head, and she closed her eyes a moment to clear her mind. When she opened them she saw that the dragon had separated from the rest of the clouds, and was practically on top of her. She had plenty of time to get out of the way, but she just didn't feel like moving. She simply watched it descend towards her with a lazy curiosity.
It landed next to her, and Layna had the urge to reach out and touch it, but her hand felt so heavy. It was a beautiful creature, scales like opals with rainbows caught inside. It was primarily black in color but seemed to be every other color at the same time as it shifted and the sunlight hit it in different directions. Layna smiled inwardly, though it was too much effort to actually move the muscles in her face to show it outwardly, and thought how wonderful this new addition to her heaven was.
“WAKE!” shouted a piercing voice in her mind, echoing through her skull.
A sharp pain stabbed through her euphoric state, and Layna realized that the dragon had bitten her in the arm as well. Her other arm flew to cover the bite, and she backed up hastily from the creature.
She jerked awake and fell out of the chair in her flailing. She looked around her, and blinked to take in the reality of the room. She was horrified to see that many of the chairs held skeletons in various stages of decay, and with one eye closed in apprehension of what she might find, she looked behind her at the chair she had just occupied.
She let out a little scream at the sight of the pile of bones she had just been sitting in and frantically brushed off her clothing.
Gryffon snorted awake and looked around with the same sense of horror that Layna felt. He quickly removed himself from the chair, and came to stand next to her while they surveyed the room.
“I hope that there aren't any more of these rooms,” Layna whispered.
“Me too,” answered Gryffon sincerely. He glanced back at her and furrowed his brow. “You're bleeding.” Layna followed his pointing finger and raised her arm to see four tiny droplets of blood welling up from her forearm.
She probed at the offending wound, and decided it wasn't anything to worry about, though something about it nagged at her. “It's nothing, just a little scratch. Are we ready to move on?”
They made their way to the end of the hallway and came up against a door rather than the curtains of veils they had been passing through. Gryffon cautiously reached for the handle and jiggled it, but it was locked.
“Well, at least this probably means we're done with the hallway. What now?” Layna asked.
“Maybe I can pick the lock.” Gryffon dug in his pockets for a kit full of long thin pieces of metal in different sizes. Layna gave him a suspicious look as he pulled it out, but he simply grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back, shaking her head.
While he worked, sputtering to himself through the pick he held in his teeth, Layna examined the door. It was a large wooden slab, stained a deep maroon in an arch shape. Around the edge were more of the runes, carved into the wooden frame and painted black. Layna recognized the one from her neck on the very top of the arch and she once more stroked her own mark.
As she stared at it, she suddenly felt as though she knew what to do. She stepped forward, and placed her hands over several of the different runes in a pattern her hand seemed to know. A soft 'click' sounded as the lock snapped into place.
Gryffon made a satisfied grunt. “Nothing to it,” he said and he stepped back to admire the unlocked door, unaware of her movements. He glanced back at her, expecting her congratulations, and asked, “What's wrong, you look white as a ghost.”
“Nothing, I-” Layna shook her head negatively. “Nothing. Nice job.” A chill had found its way into her spine and was slowly working its way through her entire body. Somehow she had known how to open the door, a door in a place that tried to kill you every step of the way. A door in the middle of the Dark King's secret lair. What is going on with me?
“Are you ready?” Gryffon asked her and she nodded, not feeling ready at all. He once more laid his hand over the handle and pushed. This time it squeaked its resistance, but yielded under his touch and it turned. Gryffon pushed the door open and stepped through-
-and vanished.
Layna rushed forward to grasp at the air where he had been, but her hands encountered nothing, and the door slammed shut behind her.
An eerie other-worldly voice echoed throughout the room, “Ah, there you are, my dear.”