A small girl ran around her bedroom, legs shaking, as the deafening roar of a Fire Dragon quaked through the house from outside.  Chills ran up her spine and fear had made its way through her legs and was slowly making working up into her stomach.    She’d never experienced a dragon attack before and was genuinely terrified.  Not wanting to be alone, she ran to her door and swung it open, screaming for her mother. 

“Momma?  Momma, where are you?!”  When no response came to her, she forced her legs into action and ran down the hallway, making her way to her mother’s bedroom.

As she ran through the hallway, she was knocked off her feet as something impacted the roof of their house.  She fell on her back and stared up, her eyes opening wider and wider as she saw the horror of what was happening.  Loud, cracking sounds could be heard as pieces of the roof were being ripped off.  She screamed and threw her arms over her head as debris began to fall down towards her.  She could feel pieces of the roof hitting the floor around her and she was shivering, waiting for it to end.

“Tara?  Honey, is that you?!”

The girl’s head sprung up upon hearing her mother’s voice.  All around her were shards of wood and steel from the roof pieces that had fallen into the house.  As she opened her eyes, she could see a figure at the other end of the hall, running towards her.  The figure was tall and had long, black hair.  The girl’s eyes lit up and she started pushing herself up, jumping into her mother’s arms.

“Momma!” she cried out as the two of them embraced, Tara being partially lifted off the ground and into her mother’s grasp.  She dug her face into her mother’s shoulder as she was pulled in.  Jackie, her mother, held her as tight as she could and lowered her head down, kissing her daughter on the head.  “Don’t worry, Tara.  Momma’s here and she knows her little angel will keep her safe.”

The words coming from Jackie’s mouth had comforted Tara a lot.  Being only a small child, she couldn’t help but be scared of a lot of things, let alone a dragon assaulting their home.  However, instead of being afraid herself, she pushed her fear outwards and used it, thinking she were protecting the others, rather than them protecting her.   Bringing her head up a little, she nodded up to her, confirming that she’d protect her.

No sooner had she nodded had there been an enormous cracking noise from above them.  They both looked up in awe as the entire roof was soon torn off by an enormous Fire Dragon.  The roof went flying as the beast forced it’s hind legs backwards, launching the roof it had ripped away into the distance.  It looked down at the two of them and snarled towards them.  It’s breath filled the room with a hot, sticky substance.  As it watched them scream and hold onto one another, it jumped off the roof frame and down into the house itself.  As it’s legs hit the hallway, the entire floor collapsed, sending the beast and the two people hurtling down to the floor below, the dining hall.

Tara’s body was aching all over as she opened her eyes, realizing she was alright from the fall she’d taken.  As she pushed herself up, she started looking around the room.  All over the place was debris from the collapsed floor, but she saw no sign of her mother.  To the side, taking up most of the room was the Fire Dragon, seemingly unconscious from the fall.  Paying no mind to the beast next to her, Tara started grabbing at the debris and calling out for her mother.

“Mother!  Where are you?!”

She spent many minutes searching the debris, hoping to find any trace of Jackie around before she finally heard a weak, whimpering voice coming from behind.  Immediately turning her head, she saw Jackie, half covered in a large wooden board.  She screamed her mother’s name and started to run towards her when she was immediately stopped.  The dragon’s claw had swept across the area, hitting Tara’s gut, knocking her to the ground.

As she hit the ground, she started coughing.  Her head peered up as she saw the dragon moving towards Jackie, slowly swiping at the boards above her body.  Immediately entering a fit of rage, Tara screamed at the best.  “NO!  LEAVE MY MOTHER ALONE!!!!”  She tried to get up and run over to her mother, but the dragon’s other claw struck into her arm, skewering it and pinning her to the ground.

Tara screamed in agony as the claw dug into her arm, drawing blood and pinning her to the floor.  Tears were running down her face as she was forced to watch as the dragon tossed away the wooden boards above Jackie’s body and rose it’s claw up, as if it were about to impale her.  Thousands upon thousands of emotions were swirling around in her body as she screamed at the dragon, begging it to stop. 

Hearing the girl’s pleading, the dragon spoke in an incredibly raspy and deep voice, “You cannot help her, human.  You are powerless, and helpless.  Nothing you can do can save her now.”  As it ended it’s statement, the claw flew down into the ground, directly into Jackie’s body.  Tara let out an ear-piercing scream as she yelled out “MOTHER!”

----------------------------------------------------

“MOTHER!”

A tall, slender woman with long, black hair bolted up from the laying position she’d been in as she slept in her bed.  She was breathing heavily and sweat dripped down her face as she sat in bed, images of the dream passing through her mind.  Her head shook as her eyes bolted open when she woke up.  It took a moment, but reality had finally set in.  The visions, Jackie, the dragon; it was all just a dream.

As she thought about everything the dream had shown her, she grabbed at her left arm for a moment.  Waving her wrist, a small orb of light hovered above her, illuminating her arm.  She stared down at it, looking at the scar she’d received when she was 12.  The bruises from the dragon’s claw had mostly healed the past 14 years, but her emotional state had not.  The death of her mother and her own state of helplessness from when she was a child still haunted her dreams. 

Taking her palm, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned her head.  Staring down into the comforter, she let out a deep sigh.  “Mother…I…I’m sorry.  If only I’d been stronger…if only I’d begun studying the Arte sooner…I may have been able to protect you.”

A tear running down her face, Tara dismissed the orb of light she’d conjured and laid her head back down on the pillow.  She stared out the window, into the deep sight of the moon, feeling scared.  The dream had brought back a bad memory, but it also had brought back her greatest fear:  The fear of being helpless and powerless.

As she lay there, she quickly fell back to sleep, wishing for a calmer, dreamless sleep…