Excerpt
Pamela Ackerson’s
Dragons
of Mu
She rubbed the back of her head, felt a
small lump, and winced. Her head was throbbing. Her knee was yelling at her and
now she heard angry, men’s voices.
One of them yelled, “Over
there! There she is. Get her!”
Another pulled out a long
knife and they ran toward her.
Amy rushed into the
woods. Turning around, she could see they were catching up to her.
Up,
Amy, up. They won’t be
looking up.
She climbed an oak tree
as high as she could. Pulling on the long skirt, she squatted on a branch.
The branch felt odd and
slithered underneath her. A large, looming face in the shape of a dragon stared
at her unblinking.
Holy
cr—
The creature put a long
claw to its mouth and said, “Shhh.”
Amy took a deep breath. A
scream was building inside her but before she could release the ear-piercing
screech, she was muzzled by the creature. Her heart jolted as its wing
enveloped her and she lost consciousness.
A few moments later, she
was gulping for air. Fully expecting to open her eyes and see the hotel lobby,
she was stunned to be staring into the eyes of a dragon.
–A dragon, a huge dragon
with big, green eyes.
You’re
safe.
Amy shook her head. “No.
No, I’m not. There’s no okay in this, whatever this is at all. This is crazy.
Why is this happening?”
Where
did you come from?
She stared at his mouth.
It wasn’t moving.
This hallucination was
freaking weird. A talking dragon that didn’t move his lips. They’re going to
take her away and leave her in the psych ward for the rest of her life.
Her eye began twitching.
It wasn’t real. None of it makes sense.
Think,
Amy.
Dragons aren’t real. How could a dragon talk?
Anything can happen in a
hallucination. She repeated to herself. This
isn’t real.
Was she dead? Is this
purgatory? Her own personal nightmare of an afterlife? Could she have injured
herself so badly that she died?
She wasn’t a bad person.
It certainly wasn’t in Hades. Well, it better not be Hades.
A talking, psychic dragon
communicating with his mind.
Of course, it makes soooo
much more sense.
She watched as the men
ran into the woods, searching for her.
The dragon spoke in a
deep, soothing voice, “Why are you dressed in that garb?”
Amy stared at the huge
beast.
The beast’s green eyes
penetrated her with a questioning glare.
“A— a party. We were
going to a party.”
He looked at the
bracelet.
“Someone put them in my
shopping bag.”
“Let’s go. We need to get
you into normal clothing. I’ll take you to Bev’s.”
Amy started climbing down
the tree.
“No, no.” The dragon
grabbed her and placed Amy on his back before taking flight.
Amy squealed, inhaled and
released another louder scream.
“Stop.” His body jolted.
“Your obnoxious squawking is impaling my ears.”
Within a few moments,
they soared through the air and flew from cloud to cloud.
Her stomach flipped and
she swallowed the huge lump in her throat.
“Ugh, no ups and downs,
please.”
He laughed. “No quick
drops? You’re the slow-boat kind of person.”
Her heart was finally
returning to its normal beat. She was getting comfortable riding on his back
and was beginning to enjoy the view.
“Whoa! This is awesome. I
never have flying dreams.”
The dragon huffed.
Amy was mesmerized. It
was freaking fantastic. The warm heat from the sun and soft air on her face,
the flapping of his wings, it was glorious.
She could do this. It was
peaceful. He was gliding along and she was euphoric.
Hold
on.
“Hold on? No, don’t ruin
the moment!”
The dragon took a deep
dive. Amy let out an earsplitting shriek and gripped the back of his neck
tighter as he gracefully landed on the ground in front of a small, wooden
cabin.
He grunted in pain.
“Your fingernails are
cutting into my skin.”
“Sorry.” Amy dismounted
him like she would a horse.
“You don’t look like
you’re sorry.”
She gave him an angry
side-eye.
He grumbled, “Go. Tell
her I sent you.”
“Um. You want me to knock
on a stranger’s door, in the middle of BFE, and tell her a dragon sent me?”
“We’re not in Egypt.”
She snapped, “What? We’re
in the middle of freaking nowhere. That’s what BFE means!”
Ignoring her irritation,
he responded, “We’re in Ireland.”
“Ireland? I’ve never been to Ireland. How am I
dreaming that I’m here? I’ve only seen pictures and this in not anything like
the pictures.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine. I don’t have a passport with me!”
She rubbed her forehead.
Why would she need a passport in a dream?
“No worries.” He blew out
a frustrated breath. “I’ll be back in a blink. In the meantime, tell her Blaze
sent you.”
“Oh, look. A fairy
circle.”
His wide-eyed,
incredulous stare gave her pause. He shook his head. “Wow.”
She shrugged.
“I can’t keep up with
you.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.
My mind goes really fast sometimes.” She limped toward the fairy circle.
“What are you doing?”
Amy chuckled. “Making a
wish.”
He looked at her like she
was growing horns.
“Um, yeah. Make a wish
and the fairies will grant it only if they see fit. You have to watch out for
all the fairies protecting the
fairy circle. You don’t want to step on them, you know.”
Amy stepped back from the circle. “Hello, little
fairies. I hope you’re having a pleasant day.”
He harrumphed and walked away.
“Hey, it’s my dream. I can do what I want.”
Amy raised her hand to
knock, but never made contact. An elderly woman, in her mid-seventies, opened
the door.
“Oh, I thought I heard Blaze’s
voice.”
“I’m Amy. He told me to
tell you—”
The woman opened the door
wider. “Come in. The sun’s going to be setting soon and it’ll be a bit chilly.”
The elderly woman had
light hair, dark blue eyes, and a wide, pleasant smile. Her hair was rolled up
into a bun tucked on the back of her head. Amy’s memories immediately went to
the cartoon with the grandma lady who owned the canary, Tweety.
Amy cautiously entered
the house and as she turned to look about, a man rushed through the doorway.
He was an average-looking
man except for his eyes. They gleamed an effervescent green. The man’s dark
hair was a deep contrast to his light skin.
She never cared for the
five o’clock shadow but it did do him justice.
“There you are, Blaze.”
She handed him a mug.
“Thank you, Bev.”
“Mark on his way?”
“Soon. He has a few
things he needs to take care of before he comes.”
Mark?
As in Harlow?
Bev turned to Amy. “What
would you like, dear? I’ve got some hot tea on the table or, if it pleases, I
can pour another draught.”
“T—”
“She needs normal
clothes.”
Amy glared at Blaze. “And
who are you?”
“I’m the man who saved
your skinny bum and brought you here.”
“And how, pray tell, did
you do that? A dragon…” Her voice trailed off.
Bev looked puzzled. “So,
she’s not from medieval times?”
“No.”
“She didn’t time-travel
here?”
“No.”
Time
travel? Amy interrupted, “I can speak for myself.”
“Really?” He snorted. “Go
ahead, darling, and explain how you got here.”
“Fine. I was at a party.”
Amy flipped her hand in the air. “I tucked the jeweled comb in my wig and the
next thing I knew, these men attacked me and I’ve been having this dream or
possibly been unconscious ever since.”
Blaze sat at the table.
“You’re not unconscious.”
“Then you tell me what’s
happening.”
Bev took her arm. “Oh,
sweetie, it’s been a day for you, hasn’t it? Sit, relax, and have a cuppa. I’ll
get you some clothes that should fit you. We’ll get you all sorted out.”
The concern in Bev’s
voice was telling.
Wariness clung to Amy as
a hesitant smile tugged at her lips, a stark contrast to how she was feeling.
“I don’t need clothes. I
just want to wake up.”
Bev asked, “Wake up?”
Blaze waved Bev’s
question off and spoke to Amy, “Somehow, you’ve managed to get two very
powerful and magical relics to bring you here. People have gone to war to
possess the magical comb and bracelet.”
Amy grunted.
“Those men stole the
relics to take over Mu and conquer the magical world. They will not hesitate to
kill you for them.”
Amy bit her upper lip,
repressing a nervous giggle. “Not ruby-red slippers? Will lightning flash from
the jewelry when you try to remove it from my hair and wrist? Do I repeat
‘there’s no place like home’ three times?”
Blaze glowered. “I don’t
find your sarcasm amusing.”
She removed the jeweled
comb and handed it to Blaze. “Here. Take it.”
Bev glared at Blaze and
tapped Amy’s hand. “Blaze can get you back to where you belong and to your
party whenever you’re ready.”
“Good.” Amy put her wrist
toward Blaze. “I’m more than ready.”
Blaze reached to take the
bracelet off her wrist. “It won’t come off.”
Bev put her hand to her
chest. “What?”
Amy’s voice shook in
panic. “No, no, take it off!”
“It won’t come off.”
“Fine, then I’ll do it.”
She fiddled with the
clasp and finally threw up her hands in frustration. “It won’t come off!”
Bev walked over to the
cabinet and brought back a bottle of Irish whiskey and three glasses, and said,
“It has begun.”
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