To Bind a Dragon - Dragon Affairs, Book 1

05. Witch of Nightmares

— Oli —

There's a reason most sourcerers avoid sleeping, and Oli knew it well.

She stopped running when she finally found a wide stone column and pressed her back hard against it. She was panting, her breath coming out in white puffs of condensed air, her heart racing, her bare feet cold against the humid earth.

There was silence for a moment—the type of silence that stretches only long enough for a jump scare in a horror movie. Her muscles tensed, coiling more and more as she slid down against the column and hugged her legs.

Wake up. Wake up.

Oli knew she was dreaming—Sourcerers often do—but there was little she could do to control the world around her. In the darkness of her dream dimension, dark-blue-green things moved, expanded, and swirled. It was a bad omen; a terrible omen if she'd ever seen one.

And then, the pull returned.

"No, no, no," she mumbled. Her legs stretched, her bones popping as they moved on their own, trying to make her stand. Oli latched on to the edges of the column, but her legs started walking. They pulled her harder and harder until she lost her grip and hit the floor. She was dragged, then yanked upward by an invisible force. And like a badly programmed character in a game, she was forced to walk with jerky, inhuman moves.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as the lake appeared on the dark horizon. Oli cried, sobbing in an un-echoing night that consumed every sound.

Her feet plunged into the dense water. Hands reached from within it, grabbing at her legs and arms and pulling her into the lake.

The water reached her waist. A hand with long claws spread its fingers on her abdomen, then slid toward her head. It hovered over her face, fingers popping as it reached forward.

***

Oli opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling as her heartbeat slowed down. When she was sure she wasn't dreaming anymore, she let out a long, relieved sigh. Then, she looked around.

It took her a moment to process what she was seeing.

She was in a stranger's room. The flag in front of the lone window tinged the rays of sunlight in shades of pink and orange. Posters littered the walls—MPB bands, volleyball players, D&D character sheets, drawings—and books and magazines piled over the colorful furniture. Several sneakers and high-heeled boots were strewn across the floor among dumbbells, controllers, and keyboards. On the opposite wall, a turned-off neon sign read Hellbringer. The place wasn't a mess per se, but there were so many things everywhere—holy shit, was that a CD tower?—that not even Marie Kondo could help organize it. The only detail that looked slightly out of sorts was the glinting of broken glass on the floor.

Weird. The last thing she remembered was the restroom in the emergency room. She frowned. Oli had cast an illusion to hide herself, just in case. She was so tired, though. She remembered closing her eyes for a second, hoping they'd stop burning. And then...nothing.

She must've slept in the bathtub.

... Well, shit. Her cheeks warmed up.

Oli tried to sit up, but an intense pain in her head and left arm made her stop. She winced and tried to massage the side of her head, but something stopped her movement with a hard jerk. "What the hell?" She tugged harder at her wrists and legs to look down her body. Oli was lying on a fluffy comforter with the same clothes she was wearing the day before...but her arms and legs were bound to the bed. "What the hell!" she repeated, louder this time.