Chapter 20: Into the spirit realm!

Selena blinked rapidly, slowly regaining consciousness and found herself mesmerized by the beautiful scenery unfolding right in front of her eyes.
Selena ran her eyes around the surroundings and frowned as she realized that she was on an island filled with dragons. They were swishing over heads and she ducked just in time to avoid a flame shower by a green Brenton dragon.

Selena frowned as she tried hard to remember why she was in this place. It was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t quite figure it out. She knew she was missing her purpose of coming here to this place, but she just couldn’t take her eyes of the beautiful scenery.
It was like a magical realm.

She let out a groan as she realized that she had no idea where she was or what she was supposed to do here.
Hell, she didn’t even know who she was. All she remembered about her life was that her name was Selena.
She gazed dizzily at the mud huts, over the shores as she made her way to them, feeling lost.

Deep inside, she felt that she was here for a reason….to do something….but for the life of her she couldn’t remember what it was.
And at the moment, she didn’t really care as she felt like she could spend an eternity in this mesmerizing place.
A dragon circled over her head before landing right in front of her and she shrieked startled and took several steps back in fear.

For a split of a second, she felt like she had seen this black, Falak dragon somewhere else but for the life of her couldn’t remember where.

The dragon was watching her every movement intently with curious eyes and she found herself awed and marveling his beauty.

She found herself oddly recognizing the dragon, which she found it weird considering she didn’t remember anything else apart from her own name.
“What do you think of this place, Little one?”
Selena jumped startled as his voice was heard clearly in her mind.

The dragon let out a puff of smoke at her reaction and she coughed and took a few steps back.
“Its beautiful”, she said, sounding as if stating the obvious.
“It is filled with riches too….After all, it’s a dragon’s cove. Immeasurable treasures could be found over there, by the waterfalls.”

Selena frowned as she saw the small waterfalls, flowing from the rocks. She immediately set out that way, without another word, wanting to know what the big deal was.

She stepped and slid on the gigantic rocks to make her way towards the waterfall and just as the dragon had said, she could see heaps of treasure on the ground. Giant rubies and emeralds the sizes of the huts she had seen earlier……diamonds…gold…..

She found herself open mouthed as her eyes greedily feasted on the treasure right in front of her eyes.
Dragon’s treasure………………..
She was about to touch an emerald which was lying right at her feet when a loud wail interrupted the silence and she immediately fled in the direction of the sound without even a split second of hesitation.

A frail woman was the owner of the voice that had just let out a shrill scream and she was holding a wee baby on her arms.
Selena frowned as she realized that the woman was surrounded by blood thirsty hyenas, who already had their eyes set on the wailing baby.

Selena curled her fingers into a fist furiously and stood in front of the mother and baby while the hyenas continued baring the teeth.
Realizing the sheer number of the hyenas surrounding them was no less than hundreds, she shot a look of plea to Falak dragon who was still watching her every movement.

“This isn’t your place to interfere, my child. It’s just the law of nature. Only the strongest shall survive. Let them go and take a look at the treasure cove and if you see something you like, feel free to take it away. I assure you that the dragons won’t harm you”

Selena frowned at the dragon, wondering if it had gone bonkers. She was asking him to save two lives and he was busy worrying about the treasure.
“Why on earth would I want the treasure?”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t belong to me and I am not a thief. I don’t remember who I am or the life I had led but I am not a thief.”

The dragon let out another puff of smoke in response.
“Then I will grant you a wish instead…….I can make you the most powerful being in this entire planet…..or would you like to be filthy rich or indestructible?”

Selena pondered over the dragon’s words carefully, then composed herself as she made up her mind regarding the wish.
“I wish for a sword”
“And why is that, Little one?”

Selena shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, wondering why else would a person need a sword for?
“To save them”, she said simply and she had the weirdest feeling that the dragon was smiling at her.

That’s ridiculous! How could a dragon smile?
“So be it”
The dragon said and breathed fire. She narrowed her eyes as she realized that something was amiss about the fire. It was sparkly and almost translucent. Though the fire was aimed at her and was circulating throughout her body, she didn’t feel anything…. The fire was merely tickling her almost as if it was teasing and playing with her.

However, her right hand started paining as if it was drawing in something. She looked down her right hand and frowned as she realized that she was bleeding.
Why was her right hand injured?

Her hand seemed to be acting in his own accord and she let out a sigh of relief as she found herself holding a sword. The dragon had indeed granted her wish.
She smiled gratefully at the dragon, before attacking the hyenas. She frowned as she realized that she was fast enough to side step every one of their attacks.

She wielded the sword as if the sword was meant to be hers. She grinned satisfied at the sword as it felt like a natural extension of her right hand.
Within minutes the entire fleet of hyenas where slayed and she flashed a concerned look at the mother and child to ensure that they were alright but no one was there other than the Falak dragon himself. Even the hyenas she had slayed, turned into ashes and slid back into the sand.

She frowned as she wondered where the mother and child had disappeared off to.
It was then that her eyes travelled down the sword she was wielding. Not having even a split second to hesitate earlier, she had attacked instantly without admiring the sword she was holding but now she couldn’t take her eyes of the sword. It was beautiful to the say the least…

She touched the metal and realized that it was made of the svatavas metal, the strongest metal in the planet. That’s why she could smash through the hyena’s skulls so smoothly.

She grinned at the dragon and the dragon puffed up another one of his translucent flames and she found herself being encircled by it. She flashed the dragon a confused look but she already found herself being absolutely surrounded by the smoke.

She blinked for a second, then froze as she realized that she was back in the maze, all her memories intact.
She felt dizzy for a split second but recovered quickly and frowned at the dragon and the circular dial. But now it was empty. She frowned as she realized that she had been transported into another realm and now she was back in the Labyrinth of Death.

She eyed the empty circular dial, then felt a weight in her right hand. Her curious eyes immediately flashed on to her right arm and she gazed in amazement as she found herself holding the Blood Sword tightly.

She gaped at the dragon open mouthed, not quite believing what she was seeing. She had done it. She herself couldn’t believe it……..She was holding the legendary Blood Sword.