As the others drank and ate merrily, all apart from Janice who continued to stare glumly into the bottom of her half empty glass of water, Richie held the outside of the ring with the thumb and index finger of her left hand, and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, slipped it on the ring finger of her right hand. Instinctively, she depressed the raised grey triangle. THE WORLD EXPLODED! Richie's chair shot back, tossing her to the floor with a resounding THUMP, causing the entire restaurant to look round, as rugby, hockey and lacrosse players all jumped up from their chairs to go to her aid. Curled up in the foetal position on the sticky, patterned carpet, she just about managed to bark out, "STAY BACK!", before being overwhelmed by the images coursing through her mind. The phrase 'life flashing before your eyes' could have been invented for just this moment.
As her friends stood around her not knowing what to do, beautiful blue triangles on the ring shifted and glowed fiercely.
"We need to help her," urged one of the hockey players, taking a step forward.
An arm built like a tree trunk sprang out in front of him.
"Not so fast. You heard what she said," growled Hook. "She said to stay back, and that's what we're all gonna do. Understand?"
Fuelled by more than a little Dutch courage, the hockey player stood face to face with the strapping rugby player. Well... not exactly face to face, more like face to... sternum.
"Clearly she's in pain. We need to help her," he slurred.
"Listen sonny, you've no idea who you're dealing with here. If she says stay back... then you stay back. If she says, 'Dance like Take That,' then you say, 'Which one do you want me to be?' For the time being, we watch over her, take care of her and most importantly, do exactly what she asks. Do you understand?"
As the hockey player averted his gaze from Hook's angry scowl, he just about managed to whisper,
"Sure, whatever you think's best."
By now, Richie was constantly moaning and wailing, all the time rolled up into a tight ball on the floor next to the table.
All looking at one another, the friends tried to gauge if they were doing the right thing. Each and every one of them, except perhaps the hockey player, knew all about Richie. Knew that she wasn't one to be messed with, knew to have her approval and friendship was something to be cherished. And knew, above all, that if you were going to trust anyone with your life... it would have to be her. That's just how it was.
Images of massive eggs, dragons hatching and the feeling of warmth pervaded her every thought. She tried to block them out, tried to pull the ring off her finger... but she just couldn't. Dragon and human shapes walked side by side. There appeared to be a school. No... she knew what it was called: nursery ring. That was it... nursery ring. How did she know what it was called? After all, only the images continued to assault her mind, no words... nothing. A feeling of warmth instantly washed over her, as if somehow she'd been transported to a tropical island at the hottest point of the day. She wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off, that's how hot it was, but she was totally paralysed. Just as she thought it might be wearing off, a kind of weightlessness took over, causing her to feel sick. Really, really sick. Before she could actually be sick, she realised what was happening. She was FLYING! And had wings and... SCALES. As the sun shone down from the bright blue sky, her body basked in its warmth. It was the best feeling she'd ever experienced. Except, now... she had started to remember. The images changed, starting to come thicker and faster. Her breathing increased, sweat poured from every part of her and her heart felt as if it were going to come crashing out through her chest.
For the most part, the other customers in the restaurant had gone back to their meals. This was mainly down to the fact that Hook had told them to in no uncertain terms. He was not somebody you wanted to get on the wrong side of.
One of the waiters, a youngster of no more than eighteen, approached the group tentatively. They all recognised him as one of the hockey club's outstanding talents, called Taibul, who always attended training and played for the most part in the second XI.
"Would you like us to call an ambulance for your friend?" he managed to stutter, all the time wary of Hook's presence.
"Not at the moment... thanks," replied one of the lacrosse girls politely.
Taibul wandered carefully back towards the kitchen, making sure not to look back. Emma, one of Richie's closest friends on the lacrosse team, leaned across to Hook and whispered,
"How long can we leave her like this? At some point, someone's bound to call either an ambulance or the police. And who's to say it's not the right thing to do? She looks in a massive amount of pain."
Before Hook could respond, Janice interjected.
"I was watching her as it happened. She'd been fiddling with the ring that had been on the necklace. She took it off the necklace and after a little more fiddling, slipped it on her finger. The instant she did so... that was what happened."
"You're saying it's the ring causing all this?" replied Emma, incredulous.
"I'm just telling you what happened."
"Whatever it is," interrupted Hook, "we give her the time she needs. I don't know her as well as Tank and the hockey player... what's his name... Peter. But I know her character. I've seen some of the things she's done and I'd trust her with my life. And I can't say that about too many people."
Others in the group nodded their agreement with what Hook had just said.
Pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall back into place. A world with... DRAGONS! Not only that... but she was one of them, at least, that's what it was starting to look like. Hair caked in sweat, distantly, she was aware of her surroundings, the group of people, the restaurant, the diners, but it all seemed so far away that it might as well have been on another planet. More images flashed through her head. Her home, her work at Cropptech, a threat, from not too long ago. A relationship. No a taboo. An explosion, saved by the skin of her teeth. And a loss. A loss of something so familiar. And then the priests. In her house. It all merged into one now. How the priests had removed her memories, her past. Now she remembered it all. Who she was. Who she really was. She was a dragon, and not just any dragon. It all came flooding back to her, along with a torrent of righteous anger. Rage and fury at how unjustly she'd been treated. Anger at not being trusted. And then something else shimmered into existence. Something... familiar. It was like a scene from a film. An open air bazaar, a place she knew well, flittered into view. Dragons lay dead in huge pyres, round and about. Other dragons had been rounded up and sat surrounded by deadly looking guards with murderous intent in their eyes. Smack bang in the middle of the bazaar, a crude form of gallows had been erected. A steel frame, hastily put together, overshadowed everything else. What she saw filled her with dread. Using everything she had, she tried desperately to push the depiction from her mind. Blinking her eyes, desperate for it to be over, desperate to return to the reality of the restaurant, an overwhelming sense of doom flooded through her. Still the vision invaded her. Swinging from the makeshift gallows, two male human forms could just be seen, naked but for their underwear, swinging gently backwards and forwards. Blood dripped off their bare torsos, forming eye catching puddles of bright red below on the cobbles. Huge cuts and scars adorned them from head to toe, front to back. Their faces looked as though an elephant had sat on them. They were barely recognisable. But recognise them she did. They were her friends. At first she was sure that it was Peter and Tank she was looking at. But the images, in their own way, became clearer, sharper and, well, just kind of zoomed in. When they did, it was clear who was hanging from the ugly, dark, steel frame. Tank dangled from the left side of the monstrosity, looking like a gruesome, oversized, human, horror dolly. On the right as she viewed the fearsome scene, Flash, friend and ex-Crimson Guard, swung precariously, barely conscious. Off to one side, a dragon Richie knew cracked a vicious looking magical whip, inflicting yet another deep cut to Tank. CASEY! One time tormentor of Peter, and a former nursery ring class mate of all three of them.