Awakening Of The Dragon's Bride

“Long ago, there was a time where dragons once walked the face of the earth. They were powerful majestic beautiful creatures but they were just as ruthless. The dragons were feared and they were the only ones brave enough to challenge kings and gods alike. Some worshipped them and others feared them but most importantly there was respect and boundaries, until all of a sudden there wasn’t.

There lived a particular king who got too greedy and sought power, power to be as ruthless and feared like the dragons. So he traveled far and wide for the one who would be able to grant him the power. He went after scholars, mediums and witches but none could provide what the king want until one day after searching the king came across a woman who claimed to be the most powerful witch in the world.

She claimed she could give the king his heart desire to be just as powerful as the dragons but there would be repercussions, a heavy price would be paid. The king blinded by greed readily agreed and then the witch took him high to the mountain top where they waited for two days and two nights and the strangest thing suddenly happened. The sun suddenly started moving and the moon appeared, they were moving towards each other and that is how….”

BRRRR….BRRR…BRRR!

I was cut off by the sound of the bell releasing it shrill sounds. Snapping the book I was reading from, I looked up with a smile on my face but I was met with the faces of tired students shoving their textbooks into their bags. They didn’t even bother to look up to acknowledge me as they all made their way towards the exits.

“Don’t forget to turn in your assignments next week Monday!” I called out to them just before they could step outside the door completely.

 I didn’t get any response from them as they were all excited to start their weekend. The joy of being a teenager! I thought to myself as I grabbed the book I was reading and shoved it inside my bag. I made my way towards the exit while checking out my phone to see if I have any messages but they were mostly just spam messages.

No surprise there, my social life might as well be nonexistent at this point. Not that I mind, I actually like it that way. People were too much work to deal with and just when you start to open yourself to them, you open yourself to disappointments, pain….heartbreak! I learnt that in a very hard way and it wasn’t something that I wished to go through again.

I was fine being alone and the only people I care about are my students and of course, my Nana! The sweetest person in the world who I could always count on to be on my side, my superhero. Nana has been taken care of me ever since I was ten and my parents died in a car accident. She singlehandedly raised me herself and thought me everything I needed to know even though it wasn’t easy.

A honk from a car sounded nearby pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see the cab I had ordered right in front of me. I shot a smile at the impatient driver then entered inside while mumbling an apology and rattling off my address at the same time.

Settling into the car seat, I heaved out a tired sigh that was due to a long stressful day. My phone beeped, alerting me of a notification from Instagram. I opened it only to see it was an alert from Theresa, my best friend who had posted a picture.

She was sitting in an orange silk dress with green flowery patterns. Her brown hair was styled in a messy bun and she was sitting crossed leg in a chair in a restaurant with a huge smile on her face. I swiped to the next one and in this one she was standing while holding a martini as she turned sideways so only her profile was showing. I swiped to the next one which was just the food she had eaten, another one that was just a picture of the restaurant, capturing the people and the ambience of the restaurant. Then the last slide made me stop and this time around it was her with a man.

Her hand was raised up showing off the tear shaped engagement ring on her finger. The man’s face was buried in her neck, his lips latched on to her neck. My gaze scrolled down only to see the caption.

“One day down, forever to go!”

She got a thousand likes on it already, along with one hundred and forty eight comments. Most of which were filled with congratulations and wishes.

Sniffing, I clicked on the comment box and typed out a congratulation message which was just that ‘congratulations’ along with three dancing emoji.

I switched off my phone and leaned back in my seat but it wasn’t long before I got another notification beep came in. it was a response from Theresa to the comment I had made earlier.

“Thank you so much Zaria, can’t wait to see you tomorrow at the wedding Zaria.” Theresa respond said.

I liked it and sent a couple blushing emoji’s before I set my phone back down in my seat.

To be honest, I considered picking up my phone and telling her that I couldn’t make it to the wedding. I had searched my brain coming up with multiple excuses but Theresa had insisted and I had no choice than to say yes to it.

It was starting to get all real now and even though I told myself repeatedly that I healed and move on, I honestly do not think I have. I mean, does anyone ever heal from a broken heart?

I leaned my head against the window as I willed myself to shut down those memories I thought I had locked up. Just as I was about to come into peace with it, I heard another notification from my phone.

At first, I thought that it was another response from Theresa but it couldn’t be because the cab driver’s phone beeped to.

Strange! I thought as I picked up the phone and it wasn’t a response from Theresa, it was an emergency notification alert.

‘EMERGENCY NOTICE: SOLAR ECLIPSE HAPPENING TOMORROW!’

This is a public safety announcement

A solar eclipse is expected to occur tomorrow, 05/13/25, between 2:15PM and 2:22PM. During this time, the sun will be partially obscured and viewing it without proper eye protection can cause permanent blindness…”

“Hmm…” The driver hummed, “This is strange.”

Strange indeed! I thought to myself as I stared down at the message in my phone.

This was going to be the first eclipse that was going to be happening in eighteen years!

I stared at myself in the mirror, the lilac dress I wore hugged my body in all the right places, the satin feeling soft on my skin. One thing about Theresa, she does have an eye for good material. The little straps sat on my shoulders and the shape of the neckline brought just a touch of style that showed elegance without being overdone. I ran my hands over my sides, trembling a little bit and breathing out deeply.

Can’t believe the day is finally here! No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, it now seem inevitable and I do not know what the heck I was doing. I picked up my powder brush and powdered my face again one last time, then I switched to adjusting my highlights then reapplying my red lipstick. If there was one thing I was good at, it was makeup.

As a black woman, I believe it was very important to know how to do your own makeup, know what product works for your skin tone. If I didn’t love teaching, I actually think I might have a good career in makeup. Perhaps I