The world inverted.Her scream was stolen from her lips as she plummeted into something bizarre; green fire and black smoke swirling around a sky cleft in two. And in the center of it all, standing against a horde of faceless dragons, was a woman.
Valia.
More beautiful, more terrible than words could hold. Her black hair spilled like a storm, its green edges flickering like venomous flame. Ocean eyes locked onto Fru's as if she had been expecting her. Time stopped.And then Fru hit the ground, gasping, the taste of ash and iron thick in her mouth.
The book was gone. Only the dragon woman remained, her gaze sharp enough to pierce through skin and bone.
"Welcome," Valia said, her voice both lullaby and threat. It caressed Fru's ear, yet set her blood thrumming with fear. "You've crossed into my fate."
The world around them roared alive. Phoenix fire streaked the heavens, wolves howled in distant woods, the hiss of serpents slithered beneath the soil. A realm of myths, raw and untamed.
Fru staggered to her feet, sword no longer in hand.
She knew she was no longer in her world.
Fru watched as the woman's hand rose, elegant and deadly. Long claws glimmered faintly at the tips of her fingers. She reached as if to touch Fru's face. Fru flinched back, raising her hand like a blade in reflex, but Valia only tilted her head, studying the defiance in her eyes.
"Good," Valia whispered with thick dragonian accent. "You have steel. You will need it here."
"Where am I?" Fru demanded, staring into those ocean eyes.
Valia's smile was razor-thin. "In the story you chose. In the tragedy you couldn't resist. Welcome to the end of the world where gods made monsters…and then abandoned them."
"Huh?" Fru arched her brows. "So? What does this have to do with me?"
A shocked silence fell, as Valia blinked twice.
"I heard your struggles. Felt them. I'm going to die here but I will sacrifice my powers to turn back time and destroy my enemies. The price is my soul. I will send you back in my stead to carry out my revenge and watch over your action" it was Fru's turn to blink... twice.
"And where is my say in all of this?" Fru asked. Curious.
"Oh, you have none," Valia said simply. "You wished for another life; I answered. Now you are me. I'll send you back to my childhood since my powers can't reach farther than that in this state."
Fru listened to her spewing utter folly with a regal calm, even as dread knotted in her chest. This is a tradegy. For her and now for me. Is she really expecting me to brace unknown storms for a character I just read about.
"Time is up," Valia said, glancing skyward. "You must go now." Emerald light began to glow at her fingertip.
"Wa-wait! I barely know anything about this world! I hadn't even finished the book. You called me at chapter ten out of thirty. Won't I be doomed without help? This is unbridled madness in all its glory" Panic sharpened Fru's voice.
"Be who you are, not who I was," Valia said softly. "You're stronger than anything, stronger than anyone. I discovered that too late. That's why I fell. I'm sorry. Please forgive me…and help me."
Oh by the gods.This crazy dragoness! Her plea faded as the emerald light engulfed Fru. The last thing she saw was Valia's face, twisted in pain, burned into memory as she was hurled into the past.