Falling asleep took a long time to achieve. Eventually– well after midnight– I passed out from sheer exhaustion.

When sleep finally pulled me under, I opened my eyes, I knew without a doubt I was dreaming. Under my feet, a grassy knoll overlooked the expansive kingdom below. Above me, a dark inky black sky loomed.

"How strange." I murmured, turning my head upward.

Although dark, bits of light from a midday sun struggled to break through. What is going on here?

A loud boom of thunder shook the ground as lightning crackled across the heavy clouds. A howl stabbed through the air, moments before the wind began to pick up. I shivered, rubbing my arms as my hair whipped wildly around my face.
Another loud crack, tensed up my shoulders, making my heart pound wildly against my ribcage. This is strange, even for a dream. The ominous feeling slithered across my skin, raising the hair on the back of my neck. This wasn't in the novel.

I swallowed, mouth going dry. Why is this happening? Am I dreaming? Am I awake? I wasn't sure, but I knew that this didn't fit the world I had been transmigrated into. The story was a generic fluffy romantic fantasy. The premise was simple; the bullied woman falls in love with the prince and they live happily ever after.

It was simple and sweet, despite the minor trials. Although, I didn't actually finish the novels – not all the way. Before my death, I hadn't bothered to read the last novel in the trilogy.
"Even if I didn't." I grumbled. "This doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

A sudden loud roar ripped from the skies, startling me from my musing. My thundering heart skipped a beat and I stumbled, falling backwards. I slammed into the ground hard enough to rattle my teeth.

The roar sounded again, closer and louder. I peered up, feeling my face drain of all color. A massive creature, the size of several homes, descended from the sky. Large golden scales shimmered across its body. Massive golden wings stretched outward, catching the updraft of air.

"This is impossible." I stared at it, blinked several times, and rubbed my eyes. When I could see again, my suspicions were confirmed. "Why is there a dragon? HSP didn't have dragons."
The dragon let out another ear splitting roar, and shifted its body– flying high into the clouds. Lightning jolted across the sky, revealing another shape seconds before it emerged.

A massive black dragon dove down toward the golden one. I watched in horror and fear as they met in the air. White hot fire erupted from the golden dragon's mouth, slamming into the black one. The black dragon cried out in pain, and opened its mouth, spewing oily black flames.

The ground below them began to tremble and quake. I scrambled to my feet, backing up as a split in the earth began to stretch toward the hill.

Damn it. What the hell is happening right now?

The crack spread upward, stopping inches away from my bare feet. This is insane. I took a few more steps back just in case and looked back toward the battle overhead.

Both dragons wound around the other, clawing and blowing flames. Blood dripped beneath their scales, falling to the ground and sizzling on contact.

"Why are you fighting?" I screamed, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Stop it! The city will.." I trailed off as the black dragon sunk its talon deep into the golden dragon's shoulder.

It let out a roar of pain, swiped the black one away, and fell – landing directly on a row of homes.

"Oh, shit." I swore, running toward the ruined buildings. I don't want to be involved, but what if there were people inside?

Not a moment after I reached the bottom of the hill, the black dragon dove down, slamming into the golden one. Gold let out a roar of frustration and chopped its massive teeth into black's neck. More homes began to crumble as they fought, leveling several blocks.

Flames licked the homes still standing and spread at a breathless speed. Neither dragon seemed to care what they were doing – their focus was on killing the other.

I skidded to a stop at the edge of the city, as the dragons flew back into the sky. The scent of blood, ash, and death permeated the air – leaving a bitter acrid taste on my tongue.

I walked through the disaster zone, feet crunching over blackened wood. I need to put out these flames, but how? I thought, reaching the square. Where is the well?

I slowed my pace, when the sound of running feet and cries of pain reached my ears. I turned to see a mob of people, walking toward me – their faces covered in soot and blood.

"You did this." A man snarled, running toward me, sword in hand. "Why did you do this you, damned witch?"

"I...no. I didn't do this." I shook my head, taking a step back. "I didn't."

"She's a liar!"

"She's a fraud!"

"Burn her!"

I couldn't tell who was speaking, but the words made the blood in my veins turn to ice. The mob moved forward, surrounding me in seconds.

"No!" I yelled, feeling tears falling from my eyes. Why am I crying? What is happening? "I...didn't mean for any of this to happen! I swear to you, I didn't-"

"Shut up, witch." A man screamed, grabbing my arms and pinning them behind my back.

"Let me go!" I struggled, trying to break free. "I never called them here! It was not me who-"

"Get a damn rope. She's stronger than she looks." The man who held me bit out. "Stop trying to run, you fool."
Several of the mob members moved forward, producing ropes. They descended, wrapping them tightly around my body. Above us, the dragons continued to roar, and blood continued to rain down. Despite the blood bath, the crowd didn't look up once.

"I don't care if you burn me!" I screamed as they pulled me toward a pyre. "Burn me if you wish, but you need to save the prince! He's the only one who can-"

"Shut up, you demon spawn." One of the women said, slapping me across the face. "You've no right to speak. None at all! My home is gone. All our homes are gone because of you."

Warm metallic blood filled my mouth, gagging me. I wanted to insist again – for reasons I couldn't name – that they needed to save the prince. I opened my mouth to speak once more, but one of the people shoved a cloth into it.

"Tie her up!" The first man who spoke said. "If we burn her, everything will be right again!"

The world around me began to spin and blur as tears of frustration fell from my eyes. I felt my legs drag across the stone, felt the sensation of wood against my back. My vision began to pinpoint and wobble.

I rapidly blinked, clearing my eyes to see the man bend down, holding a torch to the kindling under my feet. I can't die like this. I can't.

I looked at each of their faces, hoping one person would stop him. Everyone gazed upon me with hatred and a burning rage. Not a single prickle of conscience reached their eyes. I'm going to die by the hands of these people.

The fire below me cracked and popped, blazing faster than it should have been able to. I turned my head to look toward the sky – when movement behind the crowd caught my eye. A figure of someone stood, hood pulled low over their head. I couldn't see their face, but the malice rolled off of them in waves. The only feature I could make out under the hood, was their lips – ones that were smiling ever so gently.

Who...why?

There was no time to consider who they were or why they were thrilled. The flames suddenly shot up, wrapping around my body like a second skin. I tilted my head back and let out a muffled, strangled scream.

And screaming, I woke up in bed. The blanket clung around me, sticking to my sweaty body.

"What?" I gagged, sucking in breath after breath of air. "What the hell was that?"

I gazed around the dark empty room, expecting to see the flames once more. I was alone in the suffocating darkness, but there was no crowd, and more importantly, no fire.

"That couldn't have been a memory." I muttered, running my hands down my face. "Kyla didn't die by a mob and there were no dragons in the book."

I slid off the bed and walked toward the window, pulling it open. Fresh night air rushed in, cooling off my over heated body.

If not a memory then what? It could have been a dream– the obvious conclusion– but something about it felt too real. Too everything.

"Did I get the novel wrong?" I muttered, leaning against the window. "Or am I in a different book?"

No. There's no way I was wrong. Everything so far was pointing out the obvious. This had to be How to Snag a Prince. There were no other books that mirrored the setting I found myself in.

"It had to be a dream." I muttered, staring out into the darkness.

I knew when Kyla died– it was a huge deal in the novel.

Kyla's death signified the protagonist overcoming hardship and finally getting the happy ending she deserved. The last book of the series was supposed to follow Paulita as she adapted to life as queen, and expand the love between her and Cassius.

I didn't read it because the premise sounded too boring even for me. I never enjoyed reading books that were all fluff with no substance, so I avoided it out of necessity.

Whatever the dream was, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I wanted to brush it off and go back to sleep.

I wanted to return home to my world and not have to deal with the drama that was going to unfold in the future.

Unfortunately, I had the sinking feeling that something far worse was on the horizon.

I had never been more frightened in my life.