The Prophecy Unfolds
(Dragon Queen )
by Scarlett Flame
Now available for preorder on kindle and will be available as both an ebook and paperback version
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away - Anon."
Blurb / Synopsis
For Alex, this was supposed to be a fresh start.
New job, new part of the country.
But she's got much more than she bargained for.
As she travelled through the Snowdonian National park, with its remote villages and Wales’ highest mountains, she stops to eat a bite to eat.
There she is kidnapped by three strangers, and transported to the Dystopian, Steampunk world of Syros.
A world of dragons, magic and werewolves.
Where science fiction meets science fact.
This is only the beginning of an epic urban fantasy, and the fulfilment of a prophecy over 200 years old.
Will she survive on a planet where three factions battle for dominance.
Book One of the series Dragon Queen.
Excerpt:
Finally, my life was getting back on track following a worrisome number of months.
I had had a great deal of trouble sleeping lately as I had been continually disturbed by dreams I could only describe as nightmares.
These dreams always included the same shadowy characters with obscure faces. The one recurring theme, that I became intimate with every one of them. To say this wasn't in my usual nature would be an understatement.
In all my relationships I had always been monogamous. Basically, I am a one man girl, and wouldn't dream of being unfaithful. Perhaps, because of this these dreams proved highly disturbing and included sexual acts that I'd heard of, but would never think of participating in. I little suspected that these dreams would prove to be the precursor to an amazing series of adventures
This story proper, began one day driving through the beautiful Welsh countryside, on my way to check out some accommodation that I had secured. This was intended to act as a base to work from Monday to Friday, at my new job
Previously, I had been working in a general hospital close to my family home, but decided to spread my wings after ending a long term relationship with my childhood sweetheart, Paul.
I decided that I now needed some space to develop new friendships, so put my love life on the back burner. My career would become my first priority. So, this was part of that plan. I had taken a contract as a Children's Nurse for an Agency in a hospital situated near to Bangor in North Wales.
On that day I had been driving through the Snowdonia National Park, where pine trees crowded either side of the road. I had spotted a little picnic area to one side, flanked by a small car park. It was a beautiful sunny day and as I had brought along a packed lunch. I decided to park up and take advantage of the glorious weather. I parked my car and then realised that mine was the only car, but thought no more about it. I had no problem eating here at the edge of the forest.
I retrieved my sandwich, carton of orange and the book I had just started, and wandered over to the farthest table. From here I would be able to watch the squirrels and birds as they searched amongst the bins for crumbs.
I'd sat there enjoying my book for about ten minutes when two things happened. Firstly, I became aware that a hush had suddenly descended on the forest. I could no longer hear the scampering of the squirrels or the birds singing. When I looked up I could no longer see any of them around the area they had occupied only a few minutes earlier.
The second thing was the sound I did hear. I can only compare that to the sound barrier being broken, a bang like a small explosion followed by a and a slight popping noise. Yet immediately after this, the birds and squirrels were back, chirping and moving through the grass once again.
I shrugged, went back to the page in my book and continued to eat. However, after a while a feeling of uneasiness descended on me. I raised my head to find myself being watched.
The watcher, a tall, broad -shouldered man with dirty blond hair tied at the nape, he had the most vivid blue eyes I had ever seen. I estimated him to be about twenty-five to thirty years old. He regarded me silently, and with intensity. His odd clothing caught my eye. Old fashioned garments, dark trousers laced up the front, a long-sleeved suede jacket of a similar material, and leather boots
I turned my head to look for any cars or vans on the car park, and jumped as I spotted two more men- one to my left, and one I saw in my peripheral vision to the right. The man on the left appeared to be dressed similar to the first, but had sandy hair and sea green eyes.
In contrast though not quite as broad, although equally tall, (all three were over six foot tall.) The last had dark hair to his shoulders that hung loose, and the most amazing violet eyes.
The appearance of these men with no noise, and staring at me in rapt fascination, not uttering a word, spooked me. My heart was beating so loud and fast I thought that I was having some kind of heart attack.
But the most unnerving thing of all was that all three men looked familiar, a deja vu sort of moment. I had dreamt about these three men for so long. I knew immediately these were the shady characters from my dreams. Dreams that repeatedly haunted my sleep.
I decided that sitting still was stupid, so made a grab for my bag and shot through to the right, I then ran toward one of the many footpaths I spotted earlier.
My flight or fight response gave me swift feet, (or so I thought), but obviously not swift enough. Before I had got ten yards down the path two of the three had already moved, and appeared in front of me. They moved so fast I hardly believed my eyes. I turned to head back to where I'd come from. Hoping I could make it back to my car.
Fate once again took charge, I turned and ran straight into the third man, the blond, like I had run into a brick wall, as he ensnared me in his very muscular arms. My heart stuttered and I thought I felt the zing of an electric current run through my body. I never claimed to be a particularly brave person and I started to hyperventilate, gasping , trying to catch my breath.
One of them began to stroke my hair, saying “Calm down Alex, calm down. Breathe slowly we won't hurt you” but, at that point my knees gave way and I collapsed into darkness, terrified.
How did that man know my name?
I came to I lay on a huge bed in a strange bedroom – the biggest bed I had ever seen. Into my mind came a little rhyme my granddad used to sing “Ten in the bed and the little one said roll over.” The other thing I immediately noticed, was the odd lighting. The lights looked like gas lamps of some sort but were giving off normal light. Either side of the bed were candles. How strange everything looked.
Sat on the bed next to me, to my right I spotted the sandy haired man. On my left the one with the dark hair and at the end of the bed stood the blond. I looked agitatedly from one to the other and began to panic again, terrified.
I thought to myself What did they want with me, and where was this place ? I frantically tried to escape to the top of the bed, as far away as I could from my captors.
The sandy haired man handed me a glass of water but I was too frightened to drink it,
What if it contained drugs? I thought.
The blond began to speak, his voice soft, but distinct. He introduced himself as Aston, pointed to the sandy haired man indicating that his name was Leon. Finally, nodding to my left saying “Vanda”. Each in turn gave me a slight nod, but I still unable respond.
Where the hell had they brought me to, and why? How on earth did they know my name. They continued to stare, as if fascinated by what the sight of me. My mind in chaos.
I think Aston saw that I wasn't getting any calmer, but quite the reverse. I started shaking so violently my teeth began to chatter. He then spoke slowly and clearly, in such a strange accent I thought that he might be European. Yet his words were clear and concise.
“Alex, you need to calm down and sip some of the water. We won't harm you. We could never harm you, but quite the reverse. We intend to take care of you and protect you from now on.”
Oh oh, that was the wrong thing to say. Now, In my head I thought What. And wondered if I had been kidnapped by some foreign gang and about to be abused. Not good at all. I wildly speculated.
Vanda began to speak asking “Look at me Alex, look at me”
I turned and looked into those beautiful violet eyes and couldn't look away, mesmerised. Unable to move and set in stone, I slowly began to relax and my breathing more evenly. Yet I couldn't comprehend why this happened. I wanted to look away, but my body wouldn't cooperate, and I remained transfixed.
Aston spoke again. ”We are not on your earth any more Alex . We are on a planet called Syros in a galaxy far from yours. Do you remember a bang and a strange popping noise ? Well, that was a portal opening from our planet to yours. It acts as kind of wormhole through space, so that we can easily move from our universe to yours. We have been visiting your planet for millennia.”
Oh God. I thought, now I'm in an episode of Star Wars this can't be happening to me.
I had had a great deal of trouble sleeping lately as I had been continually disturbed by dreams I could only describe as nightmares.
These dreams always included the same shadowy characters with obscure faces. The one recurring theme, that I became intimate with every one of them. To say this wasn't in my usual nature would be an understatement.
In all my relationships I had always been monogamous. Basically, I am a one man girl, and wouldn't dream of being unfaithful. Perhaps, because of this these dreams proved highly disturbing and included sexual acts that I'd heard of, but would never think of participating in. I little suspected that these dreams would prove to be the precursor to an amazing series of adventures
This story proper, began one day driving through the beautiful Welsh countryside, on my way to check out some accommodation that I had secured. This was intended to act as a base to work from Monday to Friday, at my new job
Previously, I had been working in a general hospital close to my family home, but decided to spread my wings after ending a long term relationship with my childhood sweetheart, Paul.
I decided that I now needed some space to develop new friendships, so put my love life on the back burner. My career would become my first priority. So, this was part of that plan. I had taken a contract as a Children's Nurse for an Agency in a hospital situated near to Bangor in North Wales.
On that day I had been driving through the Snowdonia National Park, where pine trees crowded either side of the road. I had spotted a little picnic area to one side, flanked by a small car park. It was a beautiful sunny day and as I had brought along a packed lunch. I decided to park up and take advantage of the glorious weather. I parked my car and then realised that mine was the only car, but thought no more about it. I had no problem eating here at the edge of the forest.
I retrieved my sandwich, carton of orange and the book I had just started, and wandered over to the farthest table. From here I would be able to watch the squirrels and birds as they searched amongst the bins for crumbs.
I'd sat there enjoying my book for about ten minutes when two things happened. Firstly, I became aware that a hush had suddenly descended on the forest. I could no longer hear the scampering of the squirrels or the birds singing. When I looked up I could no longer see any of them around the area they had occupied only a few minutes earlier.
The second thing was the sound I did hear. I can only compare that to the sound barrier being broken, a bang like a small explosion followed by a and a slight popping noise. Yet immediately after this, the birds and squirrels were back, chirping and moving through the grass once again.
I shrugged, went back to the page in my book and continued to eat. However, after a while a feeling of uneasiness descended on me. I raised my head to find myself being watched.
The watcher, a tall, broad -shouldered man with dirty blond hair tied at the nape, he had the most vivid blue eyes I had ever seen. I estimated him to be about twenty-five to thirty years old. He regarded me silently, and with intensity. His odd clothing caught my eye. Old fashioned garments, dark trousers laced up the front, a long-sleeved suede jacket of a similar material, and leather boots
I turned my head to look for any cars or vans on the car park, and jumped as I spotted two more men- one to my left, and one I saw in my peripheral vision to the right. The man on the left appeared to be dressed similar to the first, but had sandy hair and sea green eyes.
In contrast though not quite as broad, although equally tall, (all three were over six foot tall.) The last had dark hair to his shoulders that hung loose, and the most amazing violet eyes.
The appearance of these men with no noise, and staring at me in rapt fascination, not uttering a word, spooked me. My heart was beating so loud and fast I thought that I was having some kind of heart attack.
But the most unnerving thing of all was that all three men looked familiar, a deja vu sort of moment. I had dreamt about these three men for so long. I knew immediately these were the shady characters from my dreams. Dreams that repeatedly haunted my sleep.
I decided that sitting still was stupid, so made a grab for my bag and shot through to the right, I then ran toward one of the many footpaths I spotted earlier.
My flight or fight response gave me swift feet, (or so I thought), but obviously not swift enough. Before I had got ten yards down the path two of the three had already moved, and appeared in front of me. They moved so fast I hardly believed my eyes. I turned to head back to where I'd come from. Hoping I could make it back to my car.
Fate once again took charge, I turned and ran straight into the third man, the blond, like I had run into a brick wall, as he ensnared me in his very muscular arms. My heart stuttered and I thought I felt the zing of an electric current run through my body. I never claimed to be a particularly brave person and I started to hyperventilate, gasping , trying to catch my breath.
One of them began to stroke my hair, saying “Calm down Alex, calm down. Breathe slowly we won't hurt you” but, at that point my knees gave way and I collapsed into darkness, terrified.
How did that man know my name?
I came to I lay on a huge bed in a strange bedroom – the biggest bed I had ever seen. Into my mind came a little rhyme my granddad used to sing “Ten in the bed and the little one said roll over.” The other thing I immediately noticed, was the odd lighting. The lights looked like gas lamps of some sort but were giving off normal light. Either side of the bed were candles. How strange everything looked.
Sat on the bed next to me, to my right I spotted the sandy haired man. On my left the one with the dark hair and at the end of the bed stood the blond. I looked agitatedly from one to the other and began to panic again, terrified.
I thought to myself What did they want with me, and where was this place ? I frantically tried to escape to the top of the bed, as far away as I could from my captors.
The sandy haired man handed me a glass of water but I was too frightened to drink it,
What if it contained drugs? I thought.
The blond began to speak, his voice soft, but distinct. He introduced himself as Aston, pointed to the sandy haired man indicating that his name was Leon. Finally, nodding to my left saying “Vanda”. Each in turn gave me a slight nod, but I still unable respond.
Where the hell had they brought me to, and why? How on earth did they know my name. They continued to stare, as if fascinated by what the sight of me. My mind in chaos.
I think Aston saw that I wasn't getting any calmer, but quite the reverse. I started shaking so violently my teeth began to chatter. He then spoke slowly and clearly, in such a strange accent I thought that he might be European. Yet his words were clear and concise.
“Alex, you need to calm down and sip some of the water. We won't harm you. We could never harm you, but quite the reverse. We intend to take care of you and protect you from now on.”
Oh oh, that was the wrong thing to say. Now, In my head I thought What. And wondered if I had been kidnapped by some foreign gang and about to be abused. Not good at all. I wildly speculated.
Vanda began to speak asking “Look at me Alex, look at me”
I turned and looked into those beautiful violet eyes and couldn't look away, mesmerised. Unable to move and set in stone, I slowly began to relax and my breathing more evenly. Yet I couldn't comprehend why this happened. I wanted to look away, but my body wouldn't cooperate, and I remained transfixed.
Aston spoke again. ”We are not on your earth any more Alex . We are on a planet called Syros in a galaxy far from yours. Do you remember a bang and a strange popping noise ? Well, that was a portal opening from our planet to yours. It acts as kind of wormhole through space, so that we can easily move from our universe to yours. We have been visiting your planet for millennia.”
Oh God. I thought, now I'm in an episode of Star Wars this can't be happening to me.
Now available for pre-order from Amazon
Will be FREE to read with KindleUnlimited
Universal Link for pre-order
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