Chapter 2 - The Glowing Scale
Submitted November 27, 2006 Updated March 8, 2007 Status Incomplete | First 5 chapters of this is on a laptop,which I don't have with me but Im bored so Ill put this chapter on anyway. P.S. The harp is a present from him to her by the way (Chapter 6).
Category:
Fantasy » Dragons » Winged Serpents |
Chapter 2 - The Glowing Scale
Chapter 2 - The Glowing Scale
Chapter 2: The Glowing Scale
Claire stared , wide eyed , in disbelief. A glow? Surely she couldn’t of seen what she thought she saw. She rubbed her eyes & blinked twice. She then stared again, and waited.
Nothing. No glow, not even a shimmer. She quickly untied it from her neck, and thrust it into the box. Her face then softened & she picked up the scale pendant & lay it gently on the velvet pillow.
“Claire? Where are you?!” Her father yelled from the bottom of the black iron spiral staircase.
Uh oh. Her dad was coming up the stairs! Clair threw the lid of the dragon box down, stuffed it into the hole in the ground and slid the floorboard quick as a flash over it, just as the door creaked open a smidge.
“Claire?” Her father, King Rufus, curved round the door. The door gave out a squeak. “I’ll have to hire someone to fix that.” Rufus muttered to himself, then he looked away from the door towards Claire.
“Ah! There you are! Claire, there is someone downstairs I would like to meet.” Said the King, with a huge grin on his face.
“Dad, no. Please don’t.” Claire pleaded.
The smile faded from King Rufus’ face and it turned into a full-on stern frown.
“Claire. You really have to start being less selfish, and actually do what your told for once! I am sick of you being so hard-headed! There are tons of perfectly good men out there and-”
“Perfectly good?!“ Claire suddenly piped up, standing and facing her father. “We are talking about the same pompous losers aren’t-”
“How DARE you insult your betters! They’re worth TEN TIMES what you are so don’t you DARE insult them, don’t DARE!” King Rufus yelled, purple-faced & fuming.
“Why don’t you just marry them YOURSELF then!”
“I will NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!”
“Well I will not be made to marry a jerk cause he has money!
“Is that why you think that I want you to marry? You really think that I would be so SELFISH to put something as trivial as MONEY in front of my daughter? HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT!!?”
“BECAUSE IT’S TRUE!”
“IT IS NOT TRUE!! It’s time for you to GROW UP CLAIRE! This is the real world! You make sacrifices, and compromises for the people you care about!”
“You want me to sacrifice MY FUTURE HAPPINESS for you? Is that what you mean? REALLY!?”
“NO CLAIRE! I want you to ACT LIKE AN ADULT for once in your WORTHLESS-”
He paused in mid-yell, then backed off, and breathed deeply. He looked at his daughter, her eyes streaming with tears.
“If you do not pick one, I will for you.” He hissed at her, then he stormed out the door, letting out a scream as he walked down the stairs.
Claire stared at the door for a few seconds, then she wiped her face with her hand briskly.
Another day, another fight. Fake crying was starting to get tiresome. Claire let to a sigh then she lay down on her bed. Manipulating her dad was starting to get really easy. If they fight, then she doesn’t have to meet the latest posh rich jerk that her father has picked from a group of them.
“All that fighting tired me out. Think I’ll have an early night.” Claire thought to herself so she undressed, threw on her silk pyjamas and clambered under the sheets, falling to sleep almost on the instant that her head hit the pillow.
After a half-night of nightmares, filled with glowing scales, tears, cliffs at night, fire breathing dragons and her pushy father holding her at gun-point while she walked up the isle towards the richest, most pompous arrogant jerk you could imagine, upon reaching the altar, the Priest saying to Claire;
“Do you accept becoming a bride, to never again be allowed to have any personal opinions and to be judged only by your looks for eternity? You have no choice anyway, you‘re just a girl!”
“I’ll…never say…I do…never say…I do… I’LL NEVER SAY I DO!!!!!!” With that last scream, Claire awoke with a start. She had sat up, was drenched in sweat, had a horrible pounding in her head and she felt as the room was spinning. She opened her eyes, and gave them a rub. It didn’t really help. She looked blurrily at the alarm clock. Either it said 3:16, or B;lG. Claire guessed it was the first one. She was already to go back to sleep, when she suddenly got the feeling something was not right.. She blinked hard, and then saw the most peculiar sight. A faint glowing was coming from the loose floorboard! She jumped out of the bed, and backed towards the wall of presents, so to get as far from the glow as possible. She pressed her self up against the wall, and slowly edged herself towards the door.
Her mind was flickering with ideas of what it could be, when one thought made her stop moving.
“The Scale!” thought Claire, realising that she had seen that glow before.
“But, why? How?” Claire’s mind was full of questions that just kept going over and over in her head. She moved cautiously towards the glow, back-stepping every once and a while, still not sure of what to make from the glowing. Once she had reached the loose floorboard, she got slowly onto her knees and with shaking hands, pulled it slowly & silently across. She turned slightly, closed her eyes & held her hand near her face to defend herself encase anything dangerous was going to attack her. She waited in this position for a few seconds, then opened one eye. Nothing. Just the three gifts, nothing more. No glow, nothing out of the ordinary. Claire went back into her normal sitting-on-knees position, and searched for the glow, even though she knew it was gone. She even picked up the dragon box and looked inside to see if anything different was there. No glow, just the scale pendant. She decided to make a pact;
“If I ever see the glow again, I will not be held back by fear, but will go straight to the glowing, and suffer the consequences!” Claire thought bravely to herself, then she put back down the box, replaced the loose floorboard, and before going to sleep, thought to herself;
“I really hope there aren’t consequences…” Then she closed her eyes, and then she fell to the perils of her dreams.
Claire stared , wide eyed , in disbelief. A glow? Surely she couldn’t of seen what she thought she saw. She rubbed her eyes & blinked twice. She then stared again, and waited.
Nothing. No glow, not even a shimmer. She quickly untied it from her neck, and thrust it into the box. Her face then softened & she picked up the scale pendant & lay it gently on the velvet pillow.
“Claire? Where are you?!” Her father yelled from the bottom of the black iron spiral staircase.
Uh oh. Her dad was coming up the stairs! Clair threw the lid of the dragon box down, stuffed it into the hole in the ground and slid the floorboard quick as a flash over it, just as the door creaked open a smidge.
“Claire?” Her father, King Rufus, curved round the door. The door gave out a squeak. “I’ll have to hire someone to fix that.” Rufus muttered to himself, then he looked away from the door towards Claire.
“Ah! There you are! Claire, there is someone downstairs I would like to meet.” Said the King, with a huge grin on his face.
“Dad, no. Please don’t.” Claire pleaded.
The smile faded from King Rufus’ face and it turned into a full-on stern frown.
“Claire. You really have to start being less selfish, and actually do what your told for once! I am sick of you being so hard-headed! There are tons of perfectly good men out there and-”
“Perfectly good?!“ Claire suddenly piped up, standing and facing her father. “We are talking about the same pompous losers aren’t-”
“How DARE you insult your betters! They’re worth TEN TIMES what you are so don’t you DARE insult them, don’t DARE!” King Rufus yelled, purple-faced & fuming.
“Why don’t you just marry them YOURSELF then!”
“I will NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!”
“Well I will not be made to marry a jerk cause he has money!
“Is that why you think that I want you to marry? You really think that I would be so SELFISH to put something as trivial as MONEY in front of my daughter? HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT!!?”
“BECAUSE IT’S TRUE!”
“IT IS NOT TRUE!! It’s time for you to GROW UP CLAIRE! This is the real world! You make sacrifices, and compromises for the people you care about!”
“You want me to sacrifice MY FUTURE HAPPINESS for you? Is that what you mean? REALLY!?”
“NO CLAIRE! I want you to ACT LIKE AN ADULT for once in your WORTHLESS-”
He paused in mid-yell, then backed off, and breathed deeply. He looked at his daughter, her eyes streaming with tears.
“If you do not pick one, I will for you.” He hissed at her, then he stormed out the door, letting out a scream as he walked down the stairs.
Claire stared at the door for a few seconds, then she wiped her face with her hand briskly.
Another day, another fight. Fake crying was starting to get tiresome. Claire let to a sigh then she lay down on her bed. Manipulating her dad was starting to get really easy. If they fight, then she doesn’t have to meet the latest posh rich jerk that her father has picked from a group of them.
“All that fighting tired me out. Think I’ll have an early night.” Claire thought to herself so she undressed, threw on her silk pyjamas and clambered under the sheets, falling to sleep almost on the instant that her head hit the pillow.
After a half-night of nightmares, filled with glowing scales, tears, cliffs at night, fire breathing dragons and her pushy father holding her at gun-point while she walked up the isle towards the richest, most pompous arrogant jerk you could imagine, upon reaching the altar, the Priest saying to Claire;
“Do you accept becoming a bride, to never again be allowed to have any personal opinions and to be judged only by your looks for eternity? You have no choice anyway, you‘re just a girl!”
“I’ll…never say…I do…never say…I do… I’LL NEVER SAY I DO!!!!!!” With that last scream, Claire awoke with a start. She had sat up, was drenched in sweat, had a horrible pounding in her head and she felt as the room was spinning. She opened her eyes, and gave them a rub. It didn’t really help. She looked blurrily at the alarm clock. Either it said 3:16, or B;lG. Claire guessed it was the first one. She was already to go back to sleep, when she suddenly got the feeling something was not right.. She blinked hard, and then saw the most peculiar sight. A faint glowing was coming from the loose floorboard! She jumped out of the bed, and backed towards the wall of presents, so to get as far from the glow as possible. She pressed her self up against the wall, and slowly edged herself towards the door.
Her mind was flickering with ideas of what it could be, when one thought made her stop moving.
“The Scale!” thought Claire, realising that she had seen that glow before.
“But, why? How?” Claire’s mind was full of questions that just kept going over and over in her head. She moved cautiously towards the glow, back-stepping every once and a while, still not sure of what to make from the glowing. Once she had reached the loose floorboard, she got slowly onto her knees and with shaking hands, pulled it slowly & silently across. She turned slightly, closed her eyes & held her hand near her face to defend herself encase anything dangerous was going to attack her. She waited in this position for a few seconds, then opened one eye. Nothing. Just the three gifts, nothing more. No glow, nothing out of the ordinary. Claire went back into her normal sitting-on-knees position, and searched for the glow, even though she knew it was gone. She even picked up the dragon box and looked inside to see if anything different was there. No glow, just the scale pendant. She decided to make a pact;
“If I ever see the glow again, I will not be held back by fear, but will go straight to the glowing, and suffer the consequences!” Claire thought bravely to herself, then she put back down the box, replaced the loose floorboard, and before going to sleep, thought to herself;
“I really hope there aren’t consequences…” Then she closed her eyes, and then she fell to the perils of her dreams.
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