The Ring That Shouldn’t Exist
I stared at my hand.
The black ring sat perfectly on my finger, the dark stone glimmering in the morning light.
My heart started racing.
“No way…” I whispered.
This couldn’t be real.
That shop… the portal… the voice calling my name… it had all been a dream.
It had to be.
Slowly, I tried to pull the ring off.
It didn’t move.
I pulled harder.
Still nothing.
“Okay… that’s weird,” I muttered.
The ring felt cold against my skin, like it had been sitting in ice.
I shook my hand a little, hoping it would slide off.
It didn’t.
Instead, the stone in the center shimmered faintly.
I froze.
“Did that just move?” I asked myself.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then suddenly—
The stone flashed with a faint purple glow.
I jumped out of bed.
“What was that?!”
My heart pounded as I backed away from my own hand.
The glow faded quickly, leaving the ring looking normal again.
I stared at it.
“Okay… okay… calm down,” I told myself. “It’s just a ring.”
But deep down, I knew that wasn’t true.
Something about it felt… alive.
Just then, my bedroom door opened.
“Lyra! You’re going to be late for school!”
It was my mom.
I quickly hid my hand behind my back.
“Coming!” I shouted.
She poked her head into the room.
“Why are you still in bed?”
“I just woke up,” I said quickly.
She sighed.
“Well hurry up. Breakfast is on the table.”
Then she walked away.
The moment she left, I looked back at the ring.
“This is getting creepy,” I murmured.
I grabbed a hoodie from my chair and quickly got dressed.
Before leaving the room, I pulled the sleeve over my hand to hide the ring.
If anyone saw it glowing like that, they would think I was crazy.
Downstairs, the smell of pancakes filled the kitchen.
“Morning,” my mom said, placing a plate on the table.
“Morning,” I replied, sitting down.
I kept my hand under the table.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked.
I hesitated.
“Yeah… I guess.”
I definitely wasn’t going to explain the portal dream.
She smiled and went back to the stove.
I quickly finished eating and grabbed my bag.
“I’m leaving!” I called.
“Don’t be late!” she replied.
Outside, the air felt colder than usual.
The sky was still grey, just like in the dream.
A strange chill ran through me.
I started walking toward school.
But something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The street looked normal.
The houses were the same.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me.
I glanced around.
No one.
“Okay, you’re just being paranoid,” I told myself.
Then the ring suddenly grew cold again.
I stopped walking.
The stone glowed faintly.
And then—
A whisper filled the air.
Soft.
Almost impossible to hear.
“Lyra…”
My heart stopped.
I spun around quickly.
“Who said that?!”
No one was there.
The street was empty.
Cars passed by like nothing had happened.
But I knew what I heard.
The voice from the dream.
The same one.
My hands started shaking.
“This isn’t possible,” I whispered.
The ring pulsed again.
A faint shadow flickered across the road in front of me.
But there was nothing there to cast it.
My breathing grew faster.
Something was happening.
Something that shouldn’t be possible.
Then the whisper returned.
Louder this time.
“Lyra…”
I backed away slowly.
“Stop,” I said nervously.
But the voice continued.
“The Queen must return.”
A cold wave of fear washed over me.
Queen?
What queen?
Before I could think, the ring suddenly flashed with bright purple light.
For a split second, the world around me changed.
The street disappeared.
And in its place stood a massive black castle.
Dark towers reached into the stormy sky.
Armored warriors stood in rows.
And at the top of a long staircase… was a throne.
My throne.
Then the vision vanished.
The normal street returned.
Cars drove past like nothing had happened.
My legs felt weak.
“What… was that?” I whispered.
The ring went dark again.
But I knew one thing for sure.
That dream wasn’t just a dream.
And somehow…
That kingdom was real.
