Reborn as a dragon

No one remembers the day that they were born, or even the moment. Though they imagine it as being submerged in darkness and then introduced to light, A bright source that you do not understand. They see eyes peering down on them. Eyes that turn into faces You're floating in the air, but as with everything else, you don't understand it. Then suddenly, you're engulfed in something soft. Wondering eyes, observing anything and everything that moved.

Words—incoherent words—float towards your ear. The wind brushes against your skin, and unfamiliar scents enter your nostrils. Everything seems so new and unfamiliar. You lay in your nest of feathers, watching, until your eyes began to droop. And you returned to the darkness with the promise of light when you were fully rested.

~~~ 

I slowly opened my eyes, which were blurred with fog. I blinked slowly in an attempt to clear it, tilting my head to the side. I tried to move my lips, but they were sealed shut. I tried again and managed to break the seal. My vision cleared, and I observed the golden ceiling. I glanced to my side and saw a mirror, a closet, a chair, and a door.

I glanced down at myself. I was dressed in a white, flowing dress of sorts. It was neatly designed. It was like a thin curtain wrapping around my waist and crossing over my shoulders, forming an X, and flowing out over my legs.

I rolled onto my side, feeling weak in my bones. My stomach rumbled. I slowly swung my feet over the edge of the bed, letting them hover on the floor. I raised my upper body up with my shaking arms and sat upright.

I properly observed the room. The chair that I had seen earlier was defying the laws of physics because it didn't have a stand holding up the back part, yet it was perfectly upright. It was intricately carved, like an 'S' without its head and tail. The mirror didn't show reflections. The closet looked normal, though.

Suddenly the closet doors were pushed open, and a man pushing a box of sorts entered, followed by several women dressed similarly to me. They carried dresses after dresses and shoes and all sorts of other stuff that I couldn't quite get a good look at.

"Your Grace," the man said, sitting on his heels in front of me and pressing a button on the box. It suddenly opened, revealing a series of compartments, all containing food.

"You should gain some strength for the task ahead," he continued, pushing the food closer to me.

I glanced at the women. They all stood waiting patiently beside a mannequin dressed in white leather and fabric. It reminded me instantly of ninjas, but simpler.

90 minutes later, I was walking behind the man from earlier.

I kicked at the leg of my very baggy pants; at this moment, I was regretting not tucking it into my ankle-high leather boots. At least they got my shoe size right.

The journey to wherever I was going was very long. There were no windows, only a gold ceiling, floors, and white walls. Soon we arrived at double doors. Big, black with gold and silver markings, double doors. It had the prominent features of six connected stars circling the handles of the doors.

The man from earlier suddenly turned to me and bowed.

"Good luck, Septima Stella," he said, pulling the doors open and motioning for me to enter.

I took a slow, hesitant step forward and glanced at him with terror in my eyes. He nodded reassuringly and smiled. I nodded back and continued on, flinching when the door suddenly slammed shut.

The room was large. It seemed to go for miles. It was very narrow, with giant pillars of gold on either side of the room. So someone definitely has a fetish. As I continued on, statues began to appear between the pillars. Both male and female, standing proud and tall. I wish I had such confidence.

I continued on and stopped as seven figures suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Do you know where you are?" the one in the center asked. He seemed like an elderly man with gray hair filtering his beard and hair. He wore dark robes.

The other six also wore black robes with silver masks and neutral expressions. Their outfits had a certain gleam to their jackets or coats. I had no idea.

I shook my head slowly. The man raised his chin.

"Do you know why you are here?" he asked, his strong voice echoing off the walls.

I blinked and swallowed, glancing around at my surroundings.

"Because I'm dead."

The man shook his head slowly.

"Because you have been reborn," he corrected. My head snapped towards him, and I regarded him with a confused glance.

"You are our seventh and therefore the last," he started.

"When you fell into that river, the moon saw the purity of your heart, even after being wronged. The moon saw your strength. You were chosen by the moon and gifted by the sun—the power of the seventh star. You are now one of the warriors of the sun and the watchers of the night," he explained.

Huh! 

Then again, if werewolves are real...

"Each star has a spirit animal from which they get their powers," a feminine voice said from one of the others.

"You will be tested in order to awaken your kin," a masculine voice said.

"It will not be easy," another feminine voice said softly.

"You may die," another masculine voice said.

"Are you ready?" another feminine voice said. OK, so there are 3 girls.

I nodded once.

"You will fight us," another masculine voice said, with a dangerous hint to his voice.

They suddenly surrounded me.

What did I just agree to?

"Wait, wait, don't I need to prepare first?" I pleaded, hurriedly tucking my flappy pants into my shoes.

"I don't know how to fight," I yelled, and they blocked me from every direction.

One of the males snorted. "Weak," he said loudly.

One girl snickered. "She doesn't deserve the power of the seventh star," she said.

"And for that, we should take it from her," and with that said, the first one attacked.

I scampered out of the way as he suddenly leaped and landed where I was standing. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back and was pushed forward. I landed on the ground and immediately rolled over. A girl, I presume, kicked me.

How was I supposed to tell who was who if I couldn't see their faces?

I rolled out of the way and jumped to my feet, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I doubt that adrenaline would save me, though.

The figure came at me quickly, and I ran out of the way, eager to escape. I tried my best not to get too close to the circle. How was I supposed to fight an obviously well-trained fighter and win? The most I knew about fighting was wolf wrestling, and I didn't have the strength or speed to do that. I had no fighting skills whatsoever.

Suddenly, a dangerous thought crossed my mind. There was one thing that I was capable of, and it was unpredictable.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled, planting my feet firmly on the ground. To them, I probably looked as if I were preparing to run, but little did they know. My opponent in the circle crouched low and called me forward.

I gulped, my heart pounding like a drum. I seriously didn't die for this, did I?

My mind void of thoughts, I turned sharply and let my feet connect with the family jewels of one of them. Lucky for me, he fell to the ground, clutching his crotch. Before the others could react, I delivered a sharp kick to his head. Let's face it, this was a life-or-death situation. Well,  you know what I mean.

Suddenly, a thick arm was cutting off my air supply. I gasped and clawed at the arm, trying to get air. If there ever was a worst feeling, it would be this: knowing that air was all around you but you couldn't breathe it. I furiously hit my head on the iron mask of my opponent, but I just ended up hurting myself.

How do I get out of this hold? In the back of my mind, in a fading view, I knew that I knew something I just couldn't remember. Frustrated, I brought my heels down with force on his toe and elbowed him hard in the rib. His grip loosened, and that's all I needed. I slipped out of his grip and distanced myself.

I stared at them through teary eyes. 1 down, 5 to go. How was I going to do this? Tears of fear pooled in my eyes. My heart skipped a beat as a hand suddenly appeared beside my head. My hands immediately grabbed it, and I don't know where I got the strength from, but I pulled the body around and kicked the person in the back. They fell forward onto the floor.

I don't know what came over me, but the heel of my foot forcefully connected with the person's head. A clink went through the air as the mask connected with the floor. A dark red substance seeped from their heads.

"She still has a heartbeat," a feminine voice said hurriedly.

"You will pay for that," one of the males growled.

And that's how I knew that I had messed up. They all attacked me at once. Panic flooded my system as I tried to flee.

A hand grabbed my hair, and I screamed in pain as I fell with a thud on my back. A kick to my side sent me flying through the air. I landed hard on my chest. I heaved and coughed, my eyes widening at the droplets of blood on the floor before me.

I suddenly felt myself being pulled along the cold, hard floor.

"Please, stop," I cried, curling into a ball as I suddenly stopped.

"Stand and fight," a feminine voice said firmly.

"It won't matter; she's too weak," a bitter voice said.

Tears poured down my cheeks.

"Weak, weak, she couldn't even save herself," the voice tainted.

"Leave me alone," I cried, crawling away from the voice.

"I couldn't even save her brother from being taken away from her," it continued getting closer. I shook my head furiously.

"He was safe," I pleaded.

"She couldn't even save her mother," the voice said.

I froze. My mother—my beautiful, naive, innocent mother—it was my fault that she got pulled into all the bad stuff.

"She was just as weak as you," the voice continued.

My chest burned, my eyes burned, my skin burned, and my mind went blank.

"My mother wasn't weak," I said, but my voice was not my own. It was raspy, old even, but more so.

"She was strong," I continued, slowly raising to my feet.

"She was determined." The heat intensified, and the faint scent of fabric burning hit my nostrils. I felt light as I was floating.

"She was fearless," my voice boomed, and my skin ignited with flames as I suddenly turned to those who remained.

They stepped back, afraid. My vision blurred—a mixture of orange and red similar to that of fire. A rage burned deep within my being; it grew and grew and grew.

"You should bow in respect," until I couldn't take it anymore. Waves of fire moved across the room, sending everyone except the elder man who stood in the center. The fire burned low, and I released a tired sigh as my body began to fall.

I was caught by someone.

Sleep, young dragon, sleep," he lulled. I let the darkness take me away.