Sarah sat erect atop the dragon's back and looked out over the purplish night sky with a strange, satisfying darkness settling at the pit of her stomach. When the transformation first took hold, when Kaleb split her in two--light and dark, Id and Ego-- she had certain expectations about who she would be and how her plans would turn out. Something that had surfaced was a deep depression, and she found herself noticing it less and less. As a whole person, she had been mostly upbeat, only prone to occasional fits of brooding. Or had she? Being split down the middle, each side became more defined, less aware of any other possible states of existence. She knew who she was now, and that was all that mattered.

She felt disgusted over the weaknesses the other half of her had afforded.

Being walked on, manipulated, toyed with, disrespected, unappreciated, and so deeply concerned with the opinions of others. How could anyone be so willing to be at home with their vulnerabilities and weaknesses? Why is it that humanity woke up every single day to a world filled with every type of obstacle imaginable standing in the way of their true dreams? Why would people let anyone take away from them what they truly wanted? Why was everyone so eager to be a team player for a society that could care less about their efforts? It was all a big charade meant to hold up the status quo. And it was obvious now just how in control that status quo was--Sarah had turned it upside down in a matter of hours.

She would show them what leadership, power, and determination brought. She would show them that the darkness they had so long hidden themselves from was not to be feared, but embraced. For years now the yang was flowing under the surface, having to hold a shameful yin face in public. The real history stayed locked away, the chaos and dreams tempered to sleep, where they would stay docile and unthreatening.

Sarah was fed up. Living in a world where everyone told her it was a foolish wish to want to be an actress. Ever since she had been a child, there had been someone above her telling her exactly why her dreams were a fools paradise, why she needed to straighten up, get practical, grow up. Well, she grew up for certain, grew above and beyond each and every one of them, and now was giving the world a new testimony. Those who would have bridled the power to keep it safe were now facing the consequences of their selfishness. They would live the rest of their days out on a world where the power was accessible to all, where the dreams were awake.

Purple clouds dotted the night sky, through which a smattering of flying beasts of all kinds flew, trailing cool, misty smoke behind them where the clouds clung to their tails.

"You're wrong, you know," the dragon growled, interrupting Sarah's thoughts.

Sarah started at the suddenly broken silence. She knew she was toying with great danger by trying to control a dragon for her means of travel, but she also knew that she possessed the power to control it. The dragons had not changed in the merger, for they were beings of profound depth that understood the universe on all its levels. It didn't surprise her too much to think that a dragon would be the most likely to raise its voice against her.

"You think you are freeing them, but you've just enslaved them all the more." Sulfurous smoke swept from its nose past Sarah's face as it spoke and made her cough.

"Them? Aren't you also one of my minions?" Sarah countered with a raspy voice.

A snort forced its way out of the dragon's chest and nose and shook Sarah in her harness. "For now. Not for long." Its voice was so deep and rough, it sounded like rocks falling down a mountain in an avalanche.

"Tell me why that is," Sarah said, becoming more angry with every word that slipped out of the dragon's leering jaws. She tried to tell herself there was no reason to fear the dragon, as the power she owned was increasingly far greater than what it controlled.

"Don't ask me stupid questions," the dragon shot back in a deep, booming voice. "You are controlling power you don't understand. The amethyst is more than a stone of power. It has a deeper past than you can even begin to fathom with your tiny mortal mind. Even if you were wise enough to understand it, the fact that you would even use it makes you a fool." The dragon snorted again. "Only dragons understand the price of power."

"Maybe you don't understand the price of speaking to me with such indiscretion," Sarah snapped. She had to make the dragon pay for its continued lack of respect, or she knew she'd pay for it down the road. She concentrated upon stealing the dragon's capability to breathe fire as punishment, for she knew it was a dragon's primary means of survival. Once she felt she had succeeded, she addressed it again. "Try speaking to me with such a fiery tone again, I dare you."

A rumbling rose in the dragon's stomach, rolling and gaining force, sounding at all summary inspection like a pained choke. As the moments passed, it became evident that the rumbling was only the beginning of a hearty, meniacal laugh, a croaking, shaking belly of angry dragon laughter that forced Sarah to hold on tightly to keep from falling thousands of feet to the ground. The dragon opened its mouth, showing two rows of burned teeth and a gaping, smoking throat filled with a light blue flame. The flame rose in pitch and color until a great, bellowing fire raged out of its mouth, singing the top of the trees below for a half mile.

Sarah's face became white with fear as the dragon did a heartwrenching loop in the air that threatened to drop her from her harness. The pocket of air where the dragon's fire once inhabited was still hot and sulfurous, and nearly burned her skin.

The dragon set down on a large grassy hill in the middle of nowhere. "Get off!" it bellowed.

Sarah grudgingly did as bid. She stood before the dragon. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Her face was still pale with fright, but increasingly glowing with hot blooded anger.

The dragon bent its neck down, bringing its angled face close to Sarah's. It's head alone was half her height. "You think such parlor tricks can take the primordial breath of a dragon?" It laughed fitfully at the notion. "You are playing a dangerous game little human female. You are lucky I find it so funny."

Sarah thought of the plummet she nearly took, and knew it was well within the dragon's power to kill her if it chose.

"No, I didn't kill you," the dragon responded to her thoughts with slitted eyes. "No one can kill you until this mess plays out." It snorted a heavy bellow of smoke while it leisurely paced the ground in front of her, shaking the earth with its footsteps. "If it weren't for those blasted faery sisters and their meddling, I would have already taken it upon myself. But dragons, unlike humans, know when to listen." Its yellow eyes pierced into Sarah's green eyes with heavy judgment. Sarah's face was drawn and bitter, her hair whipping around in a blustering wind that made her anger all the more apparent. She was trying to decide how to deal with the situation. She had been heading to San Francisco to continue working her press coverage, but was instead standing on a hill in the middle of nowhere being talked down by a bitchy dragon.

The dragon rolled its eyes. "You're not even listening, lost in thought over your petty conquests." A large fire escaped from its mouth into the air, looking for all the world like it had a flamethrower trapped in its breast. Sarah initially thought the movement was meant as a threat, but suddenly noticed that a large throng of black figures were approaching from all cardinal directions.

Soon, eight more dragons had arrived, each glistening a different gem color, encircling the suddenly small woman with vicious eyes.

The dragon that had brought her there turned to her with a licivious smile. "Not that I think this is going to change your childish behavior, Sarah of Sunset City... or should I say, little Sarah Williams of Forest Grove? You should have stayed there, you are still the spoiled brat you were when you came to our land nine years ago."

"A fool," another dragon concurred as smoke roiled from its nostrils. The combined shuffling of the dragons shook the ground around Sarah to such a degree that she had to work hard to keep her balance.

Sarah was sitting in the middle of two directly opposed emotions. On one side she felt intimidated by the hulking masses of the ancient beasts, all circled around her, their hot breath nearly suffocating. On the other side, she was in the midst of a heavy wrath that hadn't set upon her since Alan Rickman called her a tart earlier that evening.

"We dragons will be watching you. And when the time arrives, you should know that we are going to make a move. We don't have the patience for your petulance," the amber-colored dragon threatened.

A sapphire blue dragon shook its head in confusion, mumbling to itself disdainfully. "I don't understand what Jareth sees in her."

Sarah's eyes started roiling with purplish light.

The forest green dragon chimed in. "Don't be a fool, you know it's not this one that Jareth has fallen in love with." It gave Sarah a steaming glare. "This one wasn't ever supposed to get out. If she were put back in her place, everything would be put aright."

The dragons all nodded in agreement as they surveyed the dark queen with intense, judgmental eyes.

The blustering wind grew in pitch, rustling Sarah's heavy wool coat. Her neck tensed visibly. "I think you should all be silent," she mumbled, craning her head forward slowly with slicing purpose.

The amber dragon, obviously the oldest of the bunch, silenced the group. "That's enough. Let us just leave her here to think about her stupidity."

Sarah inhaled a large, steady breath. Her brow raised and fell. She clenched her fists. "I SAID I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" Her voice roared all around them, shaking the very air with its intensity.

Lightning ripped through the atmosphere and the wind pelted the group with such force even the scaly dragons could feel it. Soon the lightning filled the sky, blinding all the dragons with white light. They brought their wings over their faces to shield against the bright glare that soon consumed everything.

When the light died down, Sarah was sitting in the plush couch at an office in San Francisco, her hair still sticking with static electricity, her eyes still afire with purple light.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Only one thought silenced her pounding heart.

I wonder how much the dragons like being gargoyles for my new home in Times Square?

Her glossy lipstick shimmered in the dim office's light as a wide smile spread across her face.