Long Past Dawn

I gasp at the huge outdoor pavilion I followed Lyra too.

Warm lights hang from poles and trees and the stars up above add more light to the already unearthly scene, tall olive trees surround the grassy meadow we're standing in.

It just seems to have some unearthly beauty to it.

I follow Lyra to one of the long benches sitting along with a long and wide wood table covered in heavenly smelling food.

Two girls around our age gesture for us to join them and I immediately plop down on a seat next to a blonde-haired girl with dimples on one side of her cheek and it seems like she's telling a joke only she can understand.

The other girl has short brown hair and looks somewhat like Lyra. Lyra sits down next to the girl that looks like her and says something I don't understand to her, she nods before turning and smiling at me. "Welcome, Dawn." She says.

I smile slightly. Eyeing the food in front of us while I do so, I'm starving.

I'm broken out of my food-minded trance when I hear the chatter around me stop. I look up to see the woman called Queen Hippolyta.

She raises a glass full of something honey-colored high above her head, "To my new guest, may she be trained in the way of the Amazon's. Tróne kalá!"

The women all smile before lifting their own glasses, "Tróne kalá!"

I don't know what that last part meant but I know that I'm this guest that Hippolyta was talking about. I lower my head, a blush on my cheeks.

But it seems as if the moment my head goes down a hand is on my shoulder and a voice is speaking to me, "Don't be like that, to be a guest here is an honor, to learn our ways even bigger. Here have a glass to you."

I look up to see the blonde trying to hand me a glass of the amber-colored liquid. I take it, unsure of what it is, "What is it?"

The girl cracks a grin, "Ambrosia. The food of the gods."

I give a slight smile, I've heard of it but I thought mortals aren't allowed it. I notice Lyra shoot the girl a look and the girl laughs, "I only joke, it's honey wine, it warms you up."

I take a sip and I find it's sweet, but it also feels like it burns the back of my throat. I like it. A moment later and the girl is right, the wine is making me warm.

"See, I told you. It's good, right?" The girl says and I nod, I like her already. "Eulalia."

I'm confused by that last bit before I realize it's her name. I nod and smile, "Dawn."

"Well then Dawn," Eulalia says as she raises her glass of honey wine, a smile dancing on her lips as the lights play on her face, "Welcome to Themyscira."

The rest of the night passes in a flash of warmth, good food, better honey wine, laughter and maybe a dance somewhere in between.

By the time I'm back in my room I can already tell I'm drunk, as good as the honey wine was it did pack a punch after a drink or two. I remember Eulalia, Lyra and the third girl who I found out was Anastasia and Lyra's sister were able to hold the wine well.

I laugh to myself as I step into the room, it's illuminated by lamps but the room still feels cold. I look over at the inviting bed to see a pile of clothes on it, sadly not my hoodie and jeans though, when I look closer I see it's four more dresses like the one I'm wearing and two more cloaks. They're tied together by a single thread and I laugh slightly as I remember the tail she told me earlier, fingers of a spider eh?

I notice that the dresses also come with three silk nightgowns. I smile as I look down at them before I pick one up, the silk soft in my hands.

I slip off the dress and cloak from earlier and change into the nightgown, too tired to try for a bath. I let the dress and cloak fall to the ground in a heap as I slip into the warm sheets of the bed and before I know it I've drifted off into a world of sleep.

***

I'm back in the field again but this time the trees look younger. I gaze around the meadow, the lights and tables are gone and the grass is swaying gently in the breeze.

The whole thing feels warm and comforting but at the same time, it also feels like a dream.

Something moves and I stiffen, looking over in the direction of the movent and I feel my mouth drop by what I see.

It's a black horse, or that's what I thought but when I look closer I see wide black wings coming from the mare's back not to mention its mane. Something that looks vaguely like fire is coming from it, it turns from blue to red to purple and then to black. It's beautiful.

I know I should be worried about seeing a flaming pegasus horse but strangely I feel oddly tranquil as the beast walks towards me. I stretch out my palm and the horse presses its muzzle to it.

I feel its soft skin under my hand and suddenly feel a connection to the creature and I also somehow know the horse feels it too. Maybe it's because when I look in its eyes I see intelligence.

Somehow it just feels... right.

I look into the mare's big black eyes and for the first time in a long time, I feel at peace.

***

I wake up.

I suck in a breath as the horse flashes across my mind. The dream felt so real.

I sigh and shake my head to get rid of the last fragments of sleep that cling to me. Whatever it was, in the end, a dream is a dream.

I stretch as I get up, dropping my feet to the cold ground. It feels calming to smell the salt on the morning breeze.

I look out over the ocean, the waves tuning and tumbling together, the whole thing looks like a painting.

Maybe this place will be good for me.