The Sleeping Beauty - Book 1 - Chapter 23
I don’t know how long I was out, but I woke with a splitting headache. The last thing I remembered was being attacked in the woods.
Fairy tales are real.
Rose Briar is a diabetic college student without insurance. She’s been scraping by through a combination of maxing out credit cards and relying upon the kindness of strangers.
Unfortunately, she’s spent every dollar at her disposal. There’s no money left to buy her life-saving insulin.
Without her medication, Rose falls into a diabetic coma. She tumbles into a deep slumber and wakes up in a fantastical place called the Dream Realm, where fairy tales and legends of old are still very much alive.
She has one chance to wake up.
She must trek across the world, visit the most powerful object in the land, the Obsidian Spindle, and entreat with the fates; the only beings powerful enough to send her soul back to Earth.
But evil forces don’t want her to leave. They will stop at nothing to capture her and make sure she never goes home again.
Now, with the help of her half-gorgon girlfriend and a mysterious red rider, Rose must race across the land fighting dragons, monsters, and the forces of the Wicked Witch, Nimue, in order to reach the Obsidian Spindle before her body dies on Earth and she’s trapped in the Dream Realm forever.
Will she be able to wake up? Can she survive? Find out by reading The Sleeping Beauty today. If you love mythology, fairy tales, and dark fantasy, then you’ll love the first book in The Obsidian Spindle Saga.
Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of this series from the beginning, along with other series and every article I’ve ever written. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can access the archive for free with a 7-day trial.
I don’t know how long I was out, but I woke with a splitting headache. The last thing I remembered was being attacked in the woods. First there were no pixies, then a thousand of them came out of nowhere. There was a bright flash of light, and I was out.
I’d been taken to a small, black cell with only one tiny window offering a slit of light into the room. Across from me was Red, arms folded, tapping her leg against the floor. She was no longer wearing her cape. Her alabaster skin contrasted against her black clothing, though it was so dark I could barely see her red lipstick.
“About time you woke up,” she said.
I pushed myself to a seated position. “Sorry for ruining your good time. Where are we?”
“In the queen’s dungeon.”
“Where’s Rose?”
“Being tested on, probably. The queen is desperate for a way out of Urgu, and she and the Wicked Witch are both sure that the answer lies with dreamers like your girlfriend. When they’re done with her, and their tests fail, they’ll come for us.”
I stood up. “We can’t let that happen.”
“We’re not going to. I think I can get us out of here, but first you have to answer something for me.”
“What’s that?”
“How powerful is your magic?”
“Powerful enough to keep me safe. I only know offensive magic, and a couple of shields, but they are effective.”
“Good. The queen is on her way, which means that the magical defenses of this place have been lowered to accommodate her. Can you blow the door?”
I shook my head. “Not if you don’t want this whole place to erupt in flames.”
“You’re right. What about just the doorknob? Can you get it to pop off?”
I scratched my head. “Maybe.” I pressed my hand against the cell lock and closed my eyes. “Incendiarius extitisti.”
Light from my fingers filled the room. The light turned into heat. I pressed my hand against the lock until it began to sizzle, then it fell off and my hand plunged through the hole in the door. I pushed the door open and turned back to Red.
“What now?”
“Now, we find your girlfriend.”
Fairy tales are real.
Find out by reading The Sleeping Beauty today. If you love mythology, fairy tales, and dark fantasy, then you’ll love the first book in The Obsidian Spindle Saga.
Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of this series from the beginning, along with other series and every article I’ve ever written. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can access the archive for free with a 7-day trial.