Announcement and A Dream Story

Quick Announcement!

My first book review is going to be the 10th novel Hidden in the Marked series (House of Night series) by P.C. and Kristin Cast. I know this seems a little odd that my first official book review will be on a book so far into a particular series however I've already read the previous novels and I am most likely going to do an review of the House of Night series as a whole and then do some kind of analysis of book 10, Hidden. I am more than happy to discuss my favorite novels of this series and my least favorite novels of this series. After reading 9 of these novels I do have a lot to say so writing my review will take some time for me to put together my thoughts on these novels. Please be patient with me and thank you for understanding!

For your amusement and delight, I have here one of the many dream stories that I had put together during my college career. It's mostly a story that relied heavily on action and the environment vs. character dialogue. Hopeful to some, this short story will be amusing. This was a very random dream that I had and to this day I've always been baffled with it. Please enjoy!

Silver Knight

Dream Date: January 12, 2010

By: Missy

The Silver Knight raced across the slippery snow fully armored in his full suite. It caused a lot of strain to his tall frame. The wind blew across his brow keeping his heated forehead cool in that winter blizzard. The peasants of the village were hot on his heels and they carried with them weapons meant to kill him. After everything he has ever done to help these people, they were now trying to kill him. They accused him for slaying the Popper family and burning down their barns and homestead. The Silver Knight felt angry and frustrated that these fools would accuse him of that when the Knight was trying to protect them from the Scarlet Dragon. That beast was to blame for their deaths. It was also the same beast who has been terrorizing the entire kingdom under his wretched flame.

Without pausing he charged into a home and raced upstairs only giving a quick glance at the glowing fireplace promising warmth. The smell of pork and mead engulfed his senses. As much as he wanted to eat and rest, the villagers wouldn’t let him. He kicked down a sleeping chamber door and leaped to the window. Falling on his knees he pulled out a magical device that was hidden secretly in the metal folds. It was oval shaped and sharply pointed at each end. It was black but the gold design was all swirly and formed the unique picture of a dragon. There were three buttons with a picture on each one. The first was the sun, the second was a woman with her arms out ready for an embrace, and the last was the land or ground.

Footsteps pounded up the wooden stairs in an angry frantic pace. The Silver Knight hit the button with the woman and before the villagers could stab him with pitchforks he disappeared into thin air. The second he hit that button it felt like his heart had completely stop beating. He began to feel very strange. His spirit stirred wildly within him due to this sudden and glorious change. He felt very light as if he could fly. He could already feel the affect of the magically device pulse into his veins. He was no longer a living breathing being anymore. His body twisted and twirled in the vortex that carried him to a time in which he knew he didn’t belong. He was on his way to the land of the future. A dangerous and dark future since he was unable to destroy the Scarlet Dragon from his present time period. Like a shadow he drifted into the new domain.

Slowly rising through the ground he glanced around in his new dark environment. The walls were painted black and the floor that he stood on was dark grey carpet. Another presence was with him. At the corner of his eyes he could see a woman that was 6’1” with long curly golden hair that reached down to her curved hips. Her face turned and her extremely narrowed black eyes met his. She looked fierce standing there looking directly at him without having to look up or to look down on him. He knew she wasn’t from this time period, nor was she from his. Her white tunic hugged tightly across her curvy frame. The skirt only stopped half way down her thighs. Her skin below there looked very much exposed except for her sandals of strings and the leather leggings which hugged her calves for protection. The armor she wore was purely light weight and gleamed in a golden color. The breastplate was designed to fit her body and showed it off her feminine figure. Thick golden amulets decorated around her neck and they would jingle when she made any sudden movements. She also had golden armbands or wrist guards. Finally her head was adorned with a beautiful golden headband that would mark her as royalty. She had the same blue glowing aura around her body like he does; symbolizing that she too was a ghost. Only she was a ghost of the past while the Silver Knight was a ghost of the present.

The Golden Warrior looked over the Silver Knight. He was the same height as she. His long stingy brown hair peeked out of his helmet. His silver armor looked thick and heavy by sight alone. It was decorated with images of lions and falcons. His helmet was sharp looking almost like it was a blade. The metal circled around his colorless eyes complimenting his amazingly perfect round arches. A stretch of metal reached down to his chin on both sides making his face look sharp and intimidating. The sword that hung in the scabbard by his left hip looked very heavy and promised to be sharp enough to cut a man in two. She wasn’t intimidated at all that this man was extremely bulky and muscular. She made her bets that she could kill anything or anyone she sets her sights on. The Silver Knight could tell that she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

They didn’t even bother to exchange small talk. They moved forward and explored the new futuristic environment. They both took in this new place and felt their ghostly spirits boil over with excitement and the promise of battle ahead. She drank in all the new sights keeping her eyes sharp and her head snapping left and right at new objects. He was slow with his observation, wondering at how their worlds developed to this. Everything was new to them, not just by sights, but by scents as well. The air felt very thick and he also noted that there were no windows. The ghosts couldn’t help but feel claustrophobic here. As they moved about in the strange place the Silver Knight had a dark feeling that someone would find them at any moment. He looked at the Golden Warrior and noticed that she was extremely tense as if she felt the same way he did. The place in which the ghosts found themselves in was a building which has 6 floors. They just happened to be on the top floor in a very dark secluded office. It looked like it was used regularly. He wondered why the magical device would bring him here when he needed to find and slay the evil Scarlet Dragon.

The desk was so full of papers that it was hard to tell if there was a desk there at all. The phone was off its dial and the lamp flickered on and off as if the bulb wasn’t screwed in all the way. Movie posters decorated the black walls. Mostly horror films by the images of monsters, screaming dams, and hands dripping with blood. There was a paper shredder in the far corner right next to the sofa. White confetti was all over that area making it look like it was snowing. The ghosts stayed on their toes ready to leap into action as they looked at these strange unusual things. Then panic hit them when they heard someone marching up the seemingly screeching staircase just outside the office door.

The Silver Knight took in a deep breath and relaxed his entire body. His tall ghostly frame began to shrink. The Golden Warrior mirrored his action and she too began to shrink. They became the size of mice and scurried under that sofa hiding just behind a white mountain of confetti. He kept his hand on the hilt of his sword and she did the same. Their eyes watched the door waiting for the dark presence to come. When the door finally opened they both gasped softly. The dark presence was a man who stood to be 5’6” and dressed in the garments of the Silver Knight’s time period. His long black robes made him look like a shade as he glided across the floors with fabric flowing behind him like a shadowed train. He was slender both in torso as well as arms and legs. His curly black hair was short and his beard was short as well as properly groomed. They were astonished to see that his eyes looked very disgusting. They were black and yellow which were similar to dragon’s eyes. They knew this dark presence wasn’t human and it wasn’t the dragon either.

The Golden Warrior spoke softly, “Evil Priest of the Red Beast”

Her accent was something he couldn’t identify but he still understood her. The Silver Knight grumbled back at her, “Corrupted Mage of the Scarlet Dragon.”

The evil man sat behind the desk and started to grunt as he pawed through the unorganized piles of papers. Streams of curses poured out of his wicked thin mouth when he failed to find what he was looking for. Then he brushed a few papers aside and opened a black laptop. He pounded on the surface trying to get the thing to wake up. He lacked patience. He got up and kicked the desk before storming out of the office slamming the door shut behind him. They listened and his footsteps grew fainter as he traveled downward. Then the ghosts retreated from their hiding place and grew to normal size again. The Golden Warrior wandered behind that desk and gazed at the mess. The laptop appeared to be damaged since it was creating sparks and smoke signals. None of this made any sense to her. Her sharp look found another door just behind the desk. Without hesitating she opened the door. He was right behind her when they stood in that doorway looking down at some objects that consumed the confined space. The floor was completely covered with stuffed animals.

The animal that grabbed their attention the most was a very scruffy worn out teddy bear. It had a frown on its brown face and its eyes were tiny. The arms and legs like the other stuffed animals were as limp as a rag doll. They couldn’t help but feel puzzled as to why the dark presence would have children’s toys in the office closet. It seemed strange beyond comprehension. The small room was just full of sadness that they could feel dripping into their core. They could barely hear the faint pleas coming from those toys. Although it felt strange, the Golden Warrior took the bear, the bunny, and the kitty. She placed them carefully in her gold belt around her waist. The Silver Knight snatched the puppy, the horse, and the bird. He copied the same thing she did by tucking away the animals in his belt. In this awkward situation, they could have sworn they heard the critters rejoice.

Rapid footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. The ghosts jumped in alarm, shrank, and hide themselves beneath the desk with the toys in tow. The evil man marched in and saw that the closet door was opened so he gracefully moved there to investigate. He hummed really loudly stroking his bearded chin roughly as if his own hair follicles suddenly agitated him. The Golden Warrior at this point felt terrified at the thought of being caught and her nervousness caused her to stumble away. That movement caused her amulet jingle very loudly. The evil man turned sharply looking for the source of the noise. When he finally looked down, his evil dragon-like eyes narrowed at the tiny ghosts. He stomped his foot in anger. The impact was enough to knock the ghosts off their feet. They recovered themselves, got up, and fled. The evil man got on his knees and crawled after them only having to crush his skull into the desk. His long boney fingers looked like white claws scraping against the floor. It swayed sharply left, right, up, and down looking for the small ghosts.

The ghosts raced under the furniture making it difficult for the Corrupted Mage to follow them. Then they both relaxed and phased through the floor. They fell in the darkness and landed on a cold lobby floor. Even from bellow, they heard the evil man curse and kick the desk upstairs. They grew to normal size and fled racing through the walls like the ghosts they were. They heard the Mage shriek out, “INTRUDERS!”

The building suddenly became very hot like a volcano. A loud vicious roar echoed the entire building making the walls vibrate and the ceilings began to crumble. A fog of black smoke swirled in and lapped at the ghosts. The walls that were once black began to glow and lava started to ooze down in heavy black and red clumps. Rubble was falling down from the ceiling just barely missing the fleeing ghosts. They found themselves in what looked like a theatre. They practically flew through the red seats and passed the enormous stage that took up most of the space in this room. A reptilian tail swept in and the spikes knocked out a section of seats. That impact knocked them over tumbling over the junk. Rubble continued to rain upon them. The toys fell out of the ghosts’ belts. As if released by a magical enchantment, the toy animals stood up on their cotton filled legs. They watched the animals come back to life right before their very own eyes. They were a little clumsy at first shifting their weight on their cotton legs. Then the toys laughed and jumped up and down in delight. When the dragon’s tail crashed into the room again it stopped the toys from rejoicing. Their little button and sewn smiling faces instantly fell to a frown. The toys heads jerked awkwardly and then their bodies began to grow and morph. The creatures of cotton transformed to images of smudged mud until they finally shifted into forms that the ghosts recognized.

The ghosts gasped at the sight. They were a mix of children from different time periods. The teddy bear was the Popper’s son, a boy in green poor pheasants clothing, blazing red hair, and freckles all over his face and arms. One child was dressed in a toga and wore a crown of olive leaves. The rest of the children were modern children dressed in jeans, sweaters, and jackets. And one boy dressed like a gangster with loose pants and a ball cap worn backwards. They helped the Silver Knight and the Golden Warrior back on their feet. With might they have never seen before, one of the children completely kicked down one of the doors that lead them to escape to the outside world. It was night and the kids raced across the road towards a gothic looking clock tower. The red head boy jumped up and down pointing at the structure. To their sudden shock, the building behind them exploded and the monstrous form of the Scarlet Dragon reared his hide into the air. The air around them began to grow stronger as if a hazard wind storm threatened to blow them away. The beast hissed with smoke pouring out of his nostrils and mouth. The burgundy bat wings stretched out and formed a perfect dramatic fan around the Scarlet Dragon making it look much bigger and that much more terrifying. It’s black and yellow eyes gazed at the two ghosts. It took itself to the air and circled around them.

The Golden Warrior moved like she was lightning, striking hard and fast against the Scarlet Dragons hide. But her hits were deflected by the scales and seemed not to harm the beast at all. The Dragon was not amused with her feeble attempts. The creature seized her by the hair with his clawed reptile paw and jerked her head back exposing her throat in sight. She tried to pull away and to phase through but her abilities and strength dissolved into nothing. The Dragon’s powers were too great and seemed to easily disable her ghost powers. She couldn’t escape since the creature managed to get its claws tangled in her hair thus trapping her in its clutches. The monster sank its jagged sharp teeth into her flesh. Blood came pouring out like someone who accidentally left the facet running. She gagged and appeared to be drowning in her own blood. The Scarlet Dragon released her and let her fall. Her body slumped to the ground, face extended up to the sky. Her dead black eyes were looking up at the red night sky.

The Silver Knight felt an inner rage grow within him. It was a monster within him that ordered the Knight to slay this monster once and for all. He knew it was time to deal justice to the Scarlet Dragon that killed people and that has stolen children’s souls that were slaved into toys. He kept his head firmly held high and his colorless gaze met the Scarlet Dragon’s glowing narrowed yellow orbs. The fire in the monsters throat crackled at him and it snorted at the Knight as if to say, ‘So you think you can defeat me? Come forth and show me.’

The brave man made no promises. He absolutely refused to lose even if this battle would lead to his death. It didn’t matter. He didn’t really care what happened to him. He held his ground waiting for his enemy to make the first move. When the Dragon grew restless of this waiting game, it lashed out at the Silver Knight. The Dragon’s long neck charged forward pointing its sharp horns right at its intended target. The Knight dove out of the way and then tumbled towards the beast slashing his enchanted blade at the Dragon’s neck. The impact of the blade striking the neck was the sound of thunder clashing the earth. The beast hissed and snapped its powerful jaws at the pest. The Knight dodged the attack by leaping over the thick neck thus resulting in the beast accidentally biting its own neck which caused it an enormous amount of pain as well as damage to the scales. Its shriek was so high pitched and loud that it felt like the Knights ear drums were busted and were leaking blood.

The Dragon’s neck and head twitched. The Knight mustered all his spirit and called forth a storm to aid him. The black clouds above clustered together and the skies began to flash white lights. A powerful bolt of lightning struck the giant reptile. The Scarlet Dragon’s body began to shake uncontrollably. Sparks zapped the creature’s eyes and wires of electricity danced between the pair of horns on its head. While the beast appeared dazed and distracted the Silver Knight then tried to summon the element of water. But the air was dry and full of smoke. The earth contained very little of water that he couldn’t drown the Dragon in it. So a single stream of glowing blue water obeyed the Knight and deep within the soils of the earth, the stream grew like a vine upward and wrapped around the mighty sword. The blade was now enchanted with the element of water. Now he had to somehow manage to get the blade to the Dragons head. The Scarlet Dragon finally focused back on the pest at its feet. It roared directly at him. The vibrations in that roar were strong enough to force the Knight to slide back against the destroyed building. Then the Dragon swung its entire body full circle. The spiked tail was aimed directly at the Knight intending to puncture holes as well as crush the bones in his body. The Silver Knight ducked out of range of the attack. Yet one of the spikes of the tail caught hold of some of his armor which made the Knight spin and crash into large shards of building rubble. He felt his helmet smash first and he could feel the top cave in on him. The brave man unbuckles his helmet and lets the dented thing fall to the ground. The sword remained firm in his hand yet still. He got up and faced the Dragon and hoped that his blurry vision would clear.

Before he could do anything else the Scarlet Dragon spread open its wings and flew upward. It made a complete circle around the Silver Knight blasting a perfect ring of fire around him. The flames grew higher and higher as the beast circled around its prey. He felt like he was being roasted in his own armor. Everything was getting hot really fast. He couldn’t see anything anymore but the bright red flames around him. Then the Scarlet Dragon penetrated the fire cage and with its mouth wide open it dove at the Knight intending to end this battle once and for all.

The Silver Knight had thrust the magical blade up into the Dragon’s final attack. He didn’t look away but gazed right up at his attacker. The blade embedded itself into the Dragons skull and the element of water was released that disabled the Dragon’s fire gland. The beast’s mighty jaws had already bitten down hard on the Knights entire body. A sharp tooth had penetrated the Knight’s jugular. Both opponents endured critical hits. Chunks of brains and blood came pouring out of the Dragon’s head wound. The Scarlet Dragon’s body slumped down heavy causing powerful winds to put out all the flames. Unable to breathe fire, the beast started to make hopeless clicking noises. The Silver Knight could already feel his ghost form fading. His lungs were already filling up fast with blood.

The six curious children wandered close to the ashy battle grounds. The Dragon’s yellow orbs turned completely black and it shuddered before it went completely limp and died. They stood there and gazed at the monster that took their souls into slavery. Then more children appeared out of nowhere. The victims of the Scarlet Dragon were free at last from the enchantment and they could finally cross over to the other side. Popper’s boy climbed over the rubble and fell to his knees next to the Silver Knight. The Knight couldn’t say anything. His colorless eyes have rolled into the back of his head, meeting death once and for all. The boy rested his little hand on the Knight’s exposed hand.

A woman gasped and fainted at the sight of a dead knight in her sleeping chamber. The peasants cried in shock and took a few frightful steps back. The man they were seeking to kill was already dead. The Silver Knight’s armor was dented and punctured with holes from the Dragon’s fatal bite. His throat was still bleeding from the battle. Their faces turned as white as a sheet when they saw the Popper’s deceased son kneeling next to the dead man. The little boy took the Knights hands and folded them across his chest in a more proper funeral fashion. His eyes looked up at his audience who remained awed and silent. They didn’t understand what happened but the bite marks on the Knights body and the ghost boy was proof enough that he had sacrificed his life to slay the monster. Then the boy returned his attention back towards his savior and humbly spoke,

“Your bravery in battle has served you well.
You released us from the Dragon’s evil spell.
We thank you for saving us on this dreadful night.
Be at peace, oh brave Silver Knight.”

End