The world inverted.
Her scream was stolen from her lips as she plummeted into something bizarre; green fire and black smoke swirling around a sky cleft in two. And in the center of it all, standing against a horde of faceless dragons, was a woman. Her features stunningly similar to the descriptions in the book she had read.
Valia.
More beautiful, more terrible than words could hold. Her black hair spilled like a storm, its green edges flickering like venomous flame. Ocean eyes locked onto Fru's as if she had been expecting her. Time stopped.
And then Fru hit the ground, gasping, the taste of ash and iron thick in her mouth. The book was gone. Only the dragon woman remained, her gaze sharp enough to pierce through skin and bone.
"Welcome Fru," Valia said, her voice laced with both familiarity and threat. It caressed Fru's ear, yet set her blood thrumming with fear. "You've crossed into my fate."
The world around them roared alive. Phoenix fire streaked the heavens, wolves howled in distant woods, the hiss of serpents slithered beneath the soil. A realm of untamed myths. Raw and dangerous.
Fru staggered to her feet, sword no longer in hand. Her head whipped from side to side, confirming she was no longer in her world.
Fru watched as Valia walked towards her, each step a move with practiced grace. Her hand rose. Elegant and deadly. Long claws glimmered faintly at the tips of her fingers. She reached as if to touch Fru's face. Fru flinched back, her hand lifting like a blade in reflex, but Valia only tilted her head, studying the defiance in her eyes.
"Good," Valia whispered with a thick dragonian accent. "You have steel. You will need it here."
"Where am I?" Fru demanded, voice low but firm, staring into those ocean eyes.
Valia's smile was razor-thin. "In the story you chose. In the tragedy you could not resist. Welcome to the end of the world where gods made monsters…and then abandoned them."
"Huh?" Fru arched her brows. "What has that to do with me? I only read your tale, but I definitely didn't remember volunteering to fall into it."
A silence fell sharp as a sword's edge. Valia blinked once, twice. Clearly unaccustomed to mortals with opinions.
"I heard your struggles. Felt them," She said at last. "I am going to die here, but I will sacrifice my powers to turn back time and destroy my enemies. The price is my soul. I have decided to send you back in my stead, to carry out vengeance in my place. I will not abandon you, of course, my powers will be with you and I will watch over your actions."
It was Fru's turn to blink...slowly. "Let me see if I'm understanding this right. So, you mean to die... and trouble the living...who is infact me. A stranger. With your unfinished quarrels?."
Valia's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And where is my say in all of this?" Fru pressed, folding her arms with the ease of a soldier questioning orders she'd rather not obey.
"Oh. I forgot to mention you have none," Valia said simply.
Fru let out a dry laugh. "Ha! Of course I don't. Why am I not surprised."
Valia ignored her. "You wished for another life. I answered," her voice soft but cold continued. "Now you are who I once was. I'll send you back to my childhood, since my powers can reach no farther in this form and you would live a life you've never been privileged to have."
Fru forehead crinkled in agitation. "Okay, let me voice out this ridiculous proposal once more, your royal highness" she stated dryly as she continued "your world burns, you perish, so I must wear your face and finish your vengeance?" Fru's voice jumped a tone, exasperation darkening her features, as she slammed the edge of her right hand against her open left palm. "A fine bargain indeed. Truly generous of you."
"You mock what you do not understand," Valia replied coolly.
"I mock what threatens to ruin my peace," Fru retorted. "I've battled bandits, faced plague, and once outran an ogre, but never did I imagine being punished for reading out of curiosity or for thinking, "I'm fatigued, I need a change." Everyone does that!" Fru could feel her blood pressure spike as her pulse thrummed hard against her throat.
Valia's lips curved faintly. "We are of the same frequency dear Fru. Your courage mirrors mine, I can feel it and fate can too."
"Dear? Courage?" Fru gave a grim chuckle. "You would certainly not do something like this to whom you love and if courage means standing before a mad disowned dragon and pretending not to tremble, then yes, I am overflowing with it."
"Time is up," Valia said, glancing upwards, as the sky began to crack. The ground rumbling strongly, threatening to tear apart. "You must go now." Emerald light began to glow at her fingertip.
"Wait!" Fru's voice sharpened. "I know nothing of this world. It's laws or its beasts! I had not even finished your tale. How do you expect me to survive, let alone avenge you?"
"Be who you are, not who I was," Valia said softly. "You're stronger than anything, my dear Fru. Stronger than anyone. I discovered that too late. That's why I fell. I'm sorry. Please forgive me…and help me."
Oh by the gods. This crazy dragoness!
Her plea faded as the emerald light engulfed Fru. The last thing she saw was Valia's face, twisted in pain, burned into memory as she was hurled into the past.