Clara found herself in a foggy daze where she didn't feel anything Didn't see anything. Didn't hear anything. Something inside her said that she really didn't want to but soon she heard the sound of children singing. It was so faint that she wondered if she imigined it but soon it grew louder and she found herself surrounded by light. The light was so bright that she shut her eyes tight and wished that it would go away and soon it did. The singing ccontinued as she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the courtyard at the orphange where she had spent five years praying that someone would adopt her. Kids ran around playing tag or singing songs. Their laughter was soothing to her even though she knew that none of them liked her They had always been mean to her; calling her names and pulling her hair.<br/><br/>She frowned as she looked around at the faces of the children, "This isn't right..." She mumered to herself as she looked around at the lush green grass and many playthings that the children had. "We didn't have any of this." She whispered as the gras turned gray and withered and the trees lost their leaves. Their trunks were stripped of their skins and dieing. The crisp clean walls of the orphanage started to crack and some of the windows were borded up and had bars on them. This was where she had started her life. Alone and slowly dieing from neglect and hard labor.<br/><br/>She walked around to the front of the orphanage and saw a young girl who had to be at least thirteen being sold. She hadn't known then that the girls were being sold to whore houses or private buyers. It would have happened to her one day if she hadn't been taken to the school for magic.<br/><br/>The mistress of the orphange looked down her hook like nose at Clara like she always did. A curl of her lip showed her discontent, "Trying to wander off again maggot?" She sneered grabbing four year old Clara's arm in a bruising grip, "I'll teach you a lessssssson you wont ssssssooon regret." Clara shook as the mistress's hand grew into that of claw that dug into her arm causing it to bleed. Her arms grew scaled then merged with coarse brown fur. She watched in terror as the mistress's head split into two and into a snakes head. It's beedy eyes stared down at her hungerly as it hissed, "Are you sssssscared little girl *Hiss* You sssshould be because I'm am going to enjoy killing you!" Both heads struck out at her causing her to scream in fear....<br/><br/>---------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/>Clara woke in a cold sweat; her breathing raggad; as she tried to focus on where she was. Her side burned like fire as she tried to sit up. It was no use doing so thought since she almost imediatily started getting dizzy with block spots appearing in her vision. She did not want to pass out until she knew what was happening and where she was. Her eyes scanned the cracking ceiling of an unfamiliar house and looked down the walls until she saw a dragon laying next to her. It all came back to her now; the war, the fall, the ceremony, and their fight.<br/><br/>Most important was that she had been attacked by some creature and he had injured her. He hand moved slowly to her side and she winced from the pain of that small touch, but what was strange to her was that her armor was off. She saw it laying next to her in a heap and realized that Art must have bandaged her up. That ment that he must have killed the creature or gotten her to safty, but she couldn't be sure which. Her mind was still groggy and her thoughts took too log to form. Se knew that she had to rest in order for her healing magic to take effect. The wound would take a day to heal at least but she had to heal if she was going to survive. She turned her head to look back at the dragon but wasn't sure if he was awake. She moved her hand slightly so that it rested lightly on his nose since he was so close to her. A single tear went down her cheak as her eyes closed once more. She heard herself saying softly, "Don't leave me." Before she fell back into her healing sleep and prayed that he stayed with her.....<br/><br/>m<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNsZVO6Yy0k&amp;feature=player_detailpage">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNsZVO6Y ... detailpage</a>m