Images of writhing snakes and striking cobras filled my cloud-riddled mind.What the fuck?Had I finally left Earth and plummeted to hell where reptiles and dragons waited for my demise?
Something bright and fierce sliced through the darkness.
I flinched.
Yep, definitely hell.
They’re waiting for me.
Heat from their fire-breathing mouths battled away the penetrating cold.
“Now you have too much. Mix it with the oxygen, you moron.”
“Moron? Keep name-calling to a minimum. Otherwise, you’ll have to find another donkey to help.”
“Just—let me.” Shuffling sounded, followed by another gust of heat and light.
The voices echoed as if they drifted through chasms of water and rubble. Female and male—husk and lilt.
Since when do dragons talk?
“How the fuck did you get this thing down here, anyway?” The hissing grew louder, sparks lighting up the dimness behind my eyes.
“A friend put it here. The only thing we had on the estate that would open the lock.”
“Never heard of a fucking key?”
More light. More hissing.
“He made a mistake. He closed the door to keep them safe, not realising there was only one key.”
“And you didn’t feel like using it? Too easy? Wanted to go the James Bond route?”
A curse followed by a rain of sparks brighter than any firework.
“Shut it. For your information, it wasn’t possible to get it.”
“Why? Dear ole dad has it?”
A squeaking, followed by another blast of heat. The girl growled, “Yes.”
“I’ve never known anyone so under the thumb of their old man.”
A pause followed by a loud curse. “That’s what you get for talking about things you don’t understand. Now, shut up. Get the mixture right. And get my brothers out of there before I hit you again.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re evil?”
“All the time. Now do what I say.”
Their talking ceased, replaced with the lullaby of fire and burning.
I lost track of reality and life. I wasn’t human anymore. I wasn’t pain or death.
I was just...time.
No sensation or memories. No hardships or heartaches. Only time ticking past unwanted and unseen.
I was nothing, no one...gone.
