The Bird and the Wyrm

But me seeing nothing didn’t mean much. Maybe the battery was further away, on the other side of the building, or maybe it was taking a form I wasn’t familiar with.

But... I planted a hand on either side of the streaming, red marks. But if it ran the same principal as my charm, and I was pretty sure that it did, then perhaps there was a way for me to take the energy source out of the equation.

I stepped back, took a breath, and pictured the little girl from my dream.

"I know you’re there!" I said firmly, my voice bouncing off the walls and dissipating into the rain.

I stared at the red lines then closed my eyes, burning the image of the girl in my mind. I saw her hands clasp at her dirty knees and her little back quiver. I saw her hair, wet with rain, stick to her face and her eyes squeezed shut to stop the water from getting in and the tears from getting out.

"There’s a magical space here! I can see it! There’s a little girl inside it! She’s right here!"

I held out my hands and walked forward, willing myself to believe that I was going to walk into the space where the girl was and not into the wall.

"I can see you! I can-"

"Quiet, little dragon!"

The words cut through my ears and a clawed hand grabbed me by the shoulder, talons cutting into my skin and pressing me forward to the wall... and through it!

--