She wanted to cry but she had no tears left. She didn't have much of a voice left either, having alternately screamed for help and cursed everyone who had tied her to this rock, for hours after they had left, but she had long since stopped hoping that anyone would come for her.
She had tried to stare them down as they climbed into the cart and rode back to town, but none of them would meet her eye. The fact that they were ashamed of their actions did nothing to appease her though.
Asta was peaceful by nature, having taught herself to be a healer, she had saved the life of many a villager, and the poverty she lived in was proof that she didn't often charge for her services.
You might have thought that saving lives would have protected her but no. Honestly, she knew they didn't value her skills until they needed her and then once recovered, they made out that her herbs and brews had nothing to do with it, they had recovered all on their own.
Hypocrites!
The dragon had come again, as it did every year, but the valuables it wanted this year were too much, apparently. The nobility and the tradesmen were feeling the pinch of the yearly demands of jewels and gold demanded by the dragon (not that you'd know it by the luxury they lived in) and thus had decided to enact an ancient rite in the hopes of appeasing the dragon and sending him away without any riches. They decided to sacrifice a virgin.
She had heard of such things before, their realm was plagued by a handful of dragons, although her village seemed to be suffering more than others, and every fifty years or so, a dragon would demand a human sacrifice but in all the stories she had read, the sacrifices were always volunteers.
Not in her village though. The elders had met and decided who they could live without. As a 22 year old woman who had no desire to marry, she was deemed to be the most expendable. They could not marry her, she would not fuck them and her skills were apparently just superstitions.
She hoped they all caught scarlet fever and died! Ungrateful bastards!
They had dragged her from her home in the middle of the night, then tied her securely and paraded her through the streets of the village. She begged those she passed to help, reminding them of family members she had treated or saved, of the times she had helped them when they needed it, for if you needed anything, you came to Asta; her warm heart ensured she would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.
The worst of it was her own father, whom she had cared for since her mother died when Asta was just 9 years old. He was a large part of the reason they were poor, he preferred to drink his misery away, which had the side effect of getting him fired from ever job he had. He had tried to marry her off to some of the more wealthy townsfolk but she always refused, half afraid that she might end up with someone no better than her father, but also because without her, she knew he would drink himself to death.
She didn't love him, exactly, but she had a fierce sense of responsibility for him and had always tried to do her best for him, as she did for everyone who crossed her path.
But when the elders came to him, offering gold in exchange for his only daughter, had he shown her the same loyalty?
She hoped the dragon burned the whole village to the ground.
She had been tied to the rock for hours now and her wrists were badly chaffed where she had tried to free herself from her bindings, but night was here now, which meant the dragon could not be far behind, so it would be over soon.
Several hours later though, and the dragon still hadn't come. She was freezing cold and feeling so tired that she knew that if the dragon didn't come soon, hypothermia would claim her.
The sky was just starting to lighten with the dawn and she knew that the dragon was unlikely to come now, they never came out in daylight. Would the villagers come back? Yesterday she would have said yes but today, she knew they wouldn't. She was expendable.
She was exhausted so when she glimpsed movement, she turned her head towards it, not even having the strength to be frightened any more. It wasn't a dragon though, but a man. He was quite beautiful, with pale skin and dark hair, and he looked at her with compassion as he approached.
"What have they done to you," he asked gently. "Do they never learn?"
She couldn't reply.
He withdrew a knife from his belt, quickly cut through the ropes and gathered her into his arms. He was so warm that she snuggled in and quickly fell asleep in his arms.
When Asta awoke she was nestled on a bed of furs in a massive cave, a fire burning brightly in a pit not far from her.
She sighed in pleasure at how warm she felt.
"Good, you're awake," someone said, and she remembered the man from last night. She sat up suddenly, her eyes seeking him out.
"Where am I?" She was pleased to note that they were both fully dressed, and he was seated on the other side of the fire pit.
"Don't worry, you're safe here," he said.
"But the dragon-"
"You're safe," he repeated. "You must be hungry."
She nodded, still unsure of what was going on and wary of him, despite being thrilled to still be alive.
Without any protection on his hands, he got the cooking pot down from the rack over the fire and ladled some of the stew into a bowl for her.
"I don't have any bread, I'm afraid," he said, passing her the bowl and a spoon.
"Thank you."
He smiled and she began to eat, feeling ravenous; they had dragged her from her house yesterday morning and she hadn't eaten since.
The stranger helped himself to a bowl and they ate in silence, then she watched while he cleared up.
"So, do I take it you were a sacrifice for the dragon?" he asked.
"Something like that," she said bitterly.
"You didn't volunteer?"
"No," she half sobbed, the sting of betrayal still raw.
"I'm sorry," he said with sincerity.
"My father sold me," she added. "I've saved so many lives in that place and as soon as their money is threatened, they just…" she couldn't stop herself breaking down.
He came and sat near her but not beside her and he handed her a rag to use as a handkerchief.
"Do you know what happened to my village?" she finally asked him when her tears slowed.
"Nothing, as far as I know."
She frowned. "I don't understand why the dragon didn't return. He's always so much harsher on our village than the surrounding ones"
"You'd have to ask him that," her stranger replied.
"Thank you," she said, softly. "For saving me and for taking care of me."
"It's nothing," he assured her.
"I can't believe a total stranger showed me more kindness that the people I grew up with." Tears pricked her eyes again, but of gratitude this time. "I don't even know your name?"
"I'm Loki," he answered simply. "And you are?"
"Asta."
"A pleasure to meet you," he smiled.
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful but, why did you save me? What were you doing up there?"
"I was up there to watch the town, and I took you because you were the dragon's sacrifice… as I once was."
She gasped. "You-!"
He nodded, his eyes sad.
"But how did you escape?"
"Dragons aren't what everyone thinks, Asta, they don't eat people."
"Then why do people give them sacrifices?"
Loki looked into the fire and didn't answer for a few long moments. "This is harder than I thought it would be."
"What is?"
"There's a few things you need to understand first," he sighed. "First, dragons aren't monsters, they're people. Shapeshifters."
"I don't understand."
"Why do you think Dragons never come out during the day? Because they can't. The forces that govern their change mean that during daylight hours, dragons are men. Sturdier tougher, stronger, but still just men."
She opened her mouth to reply but couldn't find the words.
"Dragons can't be born, when they change, their reproductive systems stop working too, they can't even have human children, so the only way they can continue as a species is to change another human. The bite of a dragon will turn a human into one, so every few decades or so, they demand a human volunteer."
"But they think they're going to be eaten?"
"True, but that means the people who offer themselves up are strong, brave and selfless, all good qualities for a dragon."
"But I didn't volunteer."
"Neither did I," Loki caught her eye.
"YOU!" she gasped and as if to confirm her suspicions, his eyes briefly shifted to the elliptical shape found in cats, lizards and, of course, dragons, then with a blink, they were back to normal.
"But it's not night time yet!" she said.
"No, but the dragon is always within me and small changes are possible during day light hours."
"But the dragon isn't handsome, he's black and green and ugly!"
A small smirk graced his lips but it quickly faded and he turned to look into the fire.
"Twenty four years ago I was a boy in your village, I worked at one of the elders houses when the dragon demanded a sacrifice. My parents had died of an illness and since I had no one to miss me, I was taken as their sacrifice, rather than asking for a volunteer."
She knew exactly how that felt.
"How old were you?"
"Twelve."
"Twelve!" she couldn't believe it.
"No one seemed to care that I was too young, or that I hadn't volunteered, they were just glad it wasn't their own children going."
"So you've been a dragon ever since?"
"No. No, I wasn't old enough. You have to be fully mature before you can become a dragon, but the dragon, D'jah was his name, he took me home and raised me."
"Somewhere like this?"
"No. We have lairs like this deep in the mountains, but we also have human homes, where we live and work from. D'jah raised me and educated me until I came of age, then he gave he a choice. I chose to become a dragon and make my village pay for what they did to me."
"That's why the dragon is always harder on our village."
He nodded.
"And you didn't think that if you asked for a sacrifice, they might kidnap another and force someone else, like they did to you!" she yelled, now angry at him since he was the closest target.
He looked over at her with sympathy in his eyes. "That's the thing, I didn't request a sacrifice, I have never sired another dragon and I had no plans to."
Her anger fled. "So they… they offered me up without even knowing it would work?"
"I waited at the site as long as I could, hoping they would see sense and come back for you but as dawn got closer, it became clear that if I didn't take you, exposure would."
Asta began to cry softly again.
"Don't cry," he said. "I have a proposition for you."
She looked over but tears continued to slip from her eyes. Loki looked into the fire once more.
"I'm… lonely." It seemed to be a hard admission for him to make. "Other dragons volunteered, they have more noble sensibilities. I'm the exception, the one who was forced into this, and they look down on me. Since D'jah died, I'm virtually an outcast."
"I'm sorry."
"I don't need your pity," he said harshly, then he took a deep breath to calm down. "I like you, Asta, and I think we have a lot in common, so I offer you the choice, although not quite like the one D'Jah gave me. You can walk away, I'll take you to another village, give you some of the gold I have, and you can start again."
"Or?"
"Or you can join me and help me raise your village to the ground."
For a moment, her eyes lit up at that idea, but then she frowned.
"Our village was supposed to learn their lesson by my demanding more gold, they didn't. They don't deserve to live and force another child into this life."
"What's this life like?" she asked.
"For those who choose it, wonderful. For those like you and me, it's better than I had before. You'll live for centuries longer than humans do, enjoy perfect health, you'll never want for anything ever again-"
"Money doesn't bother me."
"It didn't bother me, until I was sacrificed to protect someone else's fortune. But we don't keep most of what we take, we spread the wealth around, we take from the impure, the unholy, those who use and abuse others, and we redistribute their wealth to those who need it."
"I needed it sometimes, you never gave me any."
"No?" he asked, a slight smile on his lips. "Do you not remember the purse of gold coins I left for you?"
"That was you?"
He nodded.
"I thought it was someone paying me for having helped them."
"As long as you are willing to give something for free, there will always be those willing to take it, and often those who have the most, take the most from those who can least afford it."
He gave her a moment to digest his words before continuing.
"So I'll be a dragon every night?"
"Only if you want to be. Once night falls, the change is a choice. At first it might be harder to stop, your eyes might change, as mine did earlier, without your knowing, and you'll feel warm all the time, but more so after dark. You quickly get used to it. Your skin will sometimes scale but with concentration, you can force it back to normal appearance. The full metamorphosis is always a choice though and I won't lie, it can be painful at first, as is the change itself, it will feel like your body is burning, from the inside out."
"But it is my choice?"
"Always."
"And how long does the change take?"
"Two, maybe three hours, then it's over."
She went back to staring at the fire.
"How long until nightfall?"
"About four hours."
She stared into the fire for a few minutes.
Today she had been betrayed by everyone she can cared for and called a friend. Her people had turned against her and forcibly removed her from her home, sending her to her death, for their own financial gain. Her anger, festering all day and night, now burned white hot.
If she took Loki up on his offer, she would never be that weak again. No one would ever have power over her, no one would ever force her to do anything she didn't want to.
"Do it," she said through clenched teeth.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"I do hope you have no notions of transforming to save your pathetic town from my wrath."
"They deserve to burn," she hissed. "Every single one of them."
"That's my girl." Loki gave her a cold smile and edged closer. "Give me your hand."
She thrust her fist in front of his face with a determine expression.
"Now, we can do this two ways," he said, taking hold of her fist and uncurling her fingers. "One, I can bite you."
He turned her hand over and pressed a soft kiss to her palm.
"Do it."
He licked her wrist, making her gasp, then moved closer, leaning in to whisper in her ear.
"Or two, I can make love to you and make you scream with ecstasy," he purred. He began kissing the sensitive skin on her neck.
"You can change me that way?" she asked.
"No, I still have to bite you, but you won't notice it as much." He kissed the pulse point on her jugular. "Besides, the endorphins released will make the transformation marginally less painful."
"Yes," she exhaled.
"I do hope," Loki shifted closer and continued kissing her neck, "that's a 'yes' to sex."
"Yes."
He gently pressed on her breastbone. "Then lie back and enjoy, darling, let me do the work."
She did, and allowed Loki complete access to her body. He stripped her slowly and reverently, well aware that sacrifices were virgins.
He brought her to her first orgasm with his tongue before he entered her, making her mewl with pleasure and still riding the wave of pleasure, she hardly felt any pain as he breached her. He meant to bite her as he thrust inside, combining the two pains into one, but he couldn't, he needed to watch her come again, the little whimpers she made were like music to his ears.
He kissed and licked her neck, as he thrust into her, inserting a finger between them, he began to rub her clitoris, timing her second climax to hit just before his. She gave a cry of pleasure and moments later, as he spilled his seed inside her, he bit down on her shoulder and her cries turned into gasps as her pleasure became pain.
Loki pulled out and gathered her into his arms.
"Sssh," he soothed, stroking her hair. "Don't try to fight it, the pain will tire you so much that you'll go to sleep soon and when you make up, you'll be a God among these peasants, darling."
Asta awoke to find her muscles were stiff but otherwise, she seemed fine.
"How do you feel?"
"Sore but… strong."
Loki smirked at her.
"Welcome to your new life, darling." He stood up and offered her his hand to help her up. "Come with me."
Stark naked, he headed towards the cave entrance but he still had her hand and when she didn't move, he looked back.
"I'm naked," she said, blushing as she looked around for her clothes.
"Of course you are. When you change, your clothes will be torn asunder anyway."
"Is it night already?"
"It is," he gave her a wicked smile. "Are you ready?"
"I am," she said with confidence.
"Good." He turned away but she tugged on is hand again.
"No children," she said softly as he looked back.
"I'm a dragon, not a monster, darling." His look was slightly reproachful as he turned away, tugging her after him. "And don't worry, I'll leave those who personally betrayed you for you to finish."
She followed him outside, into the frigid air, but she didn't feel it. In fact she felt feverish, but not uncomfortably so.
She found herself on a wide plateau.
"So what do I do?" she asked.
"Nothing special. The change is natural and once you see me do it, the urge to do the same will overcome you. Let it."
He turned to her and stole a passionate kiss, grinning as he pulled away.
She watched in awe as his skin appeared to ripple and he fell forward onto his knees. His skin turned dark and scaly as his body mass doubled, then doubled again.
She could feel the urge to change but she wanted to watch his finish first.
Wings sprouted from his shoulder blades and by the time his transformation was over, they had a span of twenty feet.
The desire to change overwhelmed her and she felt as if her blood was boiling. She screamed as her bones began to shift and fell to her knees, swearing like a sailor as for the first time, she became a dragon.
She was panting by the time she was finished but there was no more pain. She realised that her wings were in addition to her arms and hadn't replaced them, and she still had five fingers on each hand, making her quite dexterous.
"How do you feel?" Loki asked. His voice was much deeper, more of a growl and harder to understand, but unmistakably his.
"Good." She thought she smiled but she couldn't be sure.
"Flex your wings." He demonstrated, flapping his wings slightly.
She copied him.
"Good, now flex your tail."
She hadn't noticed she had one, but she did as he said.
"What now?" she asked.
"Now we fly," he smirked. She had never seen a dragon smirk before. "You can fly from a standing start but it's best to take a run your first time."
He ran at the edge of the plateau to demonstrate and took off into the sky, turning back and hovering in the air as he watched her.
"Your turn. Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall."
She gathered her courage and ran for the edge, beating her wings and although there was a moment when she thought she might fall to her death, her wings caught the air and she flew!
It was utterly exhilarating; she had never felt so free before.
"Come on!" Loki called in his gravelly dragon's voice, and she happily followed him.
They looped and soared, free fell and reversed direction sharply, getting her used to her new abilities as they played. Asta laughed a lot, whooping for joy on the more heart stopping manoeuvres, and Loki smiled at her pleasure, even laughing with her at times.
Finally he headed towards a lake.
"Look down," he called, and she realised that, reflected in the pale moon light, she could just see her reflection on the mirror still water. Loki let out a brilliant plume of fire and then she really saw herself. She was beautiful, green and black like Loki, but with a few yellowish-gold scales around her neck.
Next Loki took her to another plateau and she landed roughly, but Loki caught her before she could hurt herself.
"Sorry."
"You did brilliantly for your first time," he assured her.
"What now?"
"Now," he grinned. "Now we breathe fire!"
It took a few tries but after a few ineffective puffs, she was able to breathe fire and after half an hour, she could release a plume to match Loki. She saw that he had the same gold scales near his neck that she did, she'd never noticed them while he attacked the village.
"What's next?" she asked, after she had breathed a white hot plume hot enough to melt rock.
"Now, my dear, we seek justice!"
They reached her village just before 9pm and they found the villagers celebrating in the town square.
"Since I didn't go last night, they must think their plan worked," Loki said, clearly relishing the upcoming attack. She shared his sentiments entirely and they aimed for the huge bonfire in the middle of the square.
The panic started slowly, with only a few noticing their silhouettes in the sky as they approached. They both landed on the fire, crushing it under their weight, not even feeling the heat through their scales.
The music and merriment soon died and everyone stared at them in awe.
"I asked for twenty thousand gold coins, not a sacrifice!" Loki bellowed, flexing his wings and letting flames lick from his nostrils.
A few cries went up and some ran, mostly mothers and their children, everyone else seemed petrified, frozen in place.
"Was I unclear?" Loki asked.
The head elder stepped out from the crowd.
Asta now stood almost as tall as the spire on the church and she stared down at the people she had thought of as her kin. She was looking forward to making them pay for their crimes.
She let a few licks of flame loose, hoping to scare the remaining mothers away.
"We are sorry," the elder said, his tone pleading. "We thought you would like her."
"Did you?"
"Please, please, we'll get you your gold! No one needs to get hurt!"
"Oh come now, I think they do. You clearly don't take me seriously."
The elder fell to his knees. "Please, please don't do this! Please, don't hurt us!"
"Did she beg like that?" Loki asked. He reached out and snatched the elder off the ground, his hand easily fitting around the man's torso.
"Please, please don't hurt me!"
"I asked you a question!" he shook the other man.
"Yes! Yes she begged."
"And you sacrificed her anyway," Loki tutted and shook his head. "Naughty, naughty. Sacrifices are supposed to volunteer. Didn't you know that?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please."
"She isn't the first person you forced to be a sacrifice, is she?"
"What?" he seemed confused for a moment. "No, no she isn't!"
"You broke the rules."
"They were nobodies! Nothing! We didn't think it mattered!"
"IT MATTERS!" he yelled, flames singeing the other man's hair and beard. "AND TONIGHT, YOU WILL PAY!"
Now the crowds began to run, pushing and shoving each other in their haste to flee the vicinity.
Asta snatched up another elder as he passed and he screamed to high heaven.
"Shut up!" she growled with a shake, and he fell silent, save for the odd whimper.
There was enough of a commotion now that she wouldn't be heard by the others, but she brought him closer anyway.
"Do you know why sacrifices must volunteer?" she asked.
"What? N- no, no I don't know!"
She brought him closer still, so her scaled lips brushed his ear.
"Because the sacrifices aren't eaten, they become dragons."
"Wha- what?" she chuckled, letting that fact percolate for a moment, then she breathed fire onto him, just enough to set his clothes alight, then she dropped him and watched as he ran around, scream as he tried to put himself out.
Then the chase was on. She and Loki flew over the town time and again, picking the elders off one by one, tearing structures apart until they had found them all, and making sure each and every one knew why they were dying.
Finally all the elders were accounted for and she headed for her home. She knew her father wouldn't run, he would be cowering under something, as he had every year in the past, knowing that the dragon was unlikely to attack his tiny home.
She tore it apart with her hands until she found him and enclosing him in her fist, she turned to Loki.
"Playing with you food?" he asked once he realised she wasn't going to kill him yet, and clearly pleased by her choice.
"He needs to suffer."
Loki turned away, his voice booming out around the town. "Now we burn your cowardly village to the ground!"
The few who remained began to flee and Asta and Loki went around the village, scorching every property, even the brick ones, until they were well aflame, some shattering from the exposure to such extreme heat on a cold night.
When they were done, most of the population had scattered into the surrounding woodland and Asta had no desire to follow them. They had killed the leaders, the corrupt rich and powerful who thought they were above dragon law. The village itself was now in ruins and she doubted anyone would try to rebuild here but rather, the population would scatter to surrounding towns and villages.
She looked down to her father, still clutched in her hand, and saw him sobbing.
"Let's go," she told Loki, and followed him up into the night sky.
They landed on the plateau outside Loki's lair and Asta put her father down. He curled into a ball and whimpered pitifully, his arms covering his head.
"Do you know why you're here?" she asked him but he didn't reply.
Loki approached and whispered in her ear. "Remember your human body, how your hands felt, your skin, how it felt to walk, to run… to kiss."
She felt herself shrinking as she changed back, until she was as she had been earlier, just a girl.
"Father, father?" she went too him, not caring that she was naked, and gently pried his hands away from his face.
"A- Asta?"
"It's me, father."
"Oh, thank god!" he threw his arms around her. "There are two of them," he told her. "They took me, they want to kill me!"
Asta hadn't hugged him back.
"Did they?" she said, her voice flat.
"Please, help me. You have to help me get away!"
"Like you helped me?" she asked.
Finally her lack of reaction registered and he pulled away slightly.
"W- why are you naked?"
"What you should be asking is, why am I still alive."
"I don't understand."
"How much did they pay you for me?" she asked. "How much was my life worth to you?"
"I-"
"Tell me!" she shouted.
"Fifty gold coins!"
"Fifty!" she shook her head in derision and pushed him away and he fell on his back. "Am I really worth so little to you?"
"It was for the good of the village."
"Was it? I was the only one who could be sacrificed, I suppose? Or was it that you were the only monster willing to sell his own daughter into death?"
"Asta!" He extended his hand towards her. "Please, I'm so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing."
"By selling me?"
"I thought… I thought it would save the town."
"No you didn't!" she spat, getting to her feet, "You thought only of the money! You drank away every penny mother ever earned, then did the same to me! What did you think would happen when those coins ran out? Did you ever think of that? No, you only saw gold!"
"What do you want from me?" he asked, sobs wracking his frame.
"Nothing! You are a pathetic excuse for a human being and I can't believe that I ever felt responsible for you! I looked after you, fed you, clothed you, cleaned you up when you threw up everywhere, and told you everything would be all right as I put you to bed after you drank all my money away, AGAIN! I want nothing from you. I hate you!"
She held her hand towards Loki, who had been hiding in his dragon form behind her father, just out of sight.
He walked around and leaned down so she could pet his nose, closing his eyes in seeming ecstasy as she scratched.
Her father's eyes widened. "What's happening?"
"What's happening? Didn't I ask you that yesterday morning?" she chuckled. "Oh Papa, so much has happened, I hardly know where to begin. Perhaps it's best if I just show you because you see, father dear, the sacrifices aren't food." She allowed the transformation to happen, and it was far easier this time.
He was trembling in fear as she transformed before his eyes and she let a few licks of flame escape.
"We become the new dragons, Daddy dearest! And now, it's time you died."
She let out a blast of flame, just enough to catch him alight, but not enough to kill him yet. He flailed around, getting to his feet and running around like a headless chicken, until he fell over the precipice, to the jagged rocks below.
Asta and Loki peered over the ledge and watched his still burning body for a moment.
"You were magnificent tonight, darling," Loki growled in his dragon voice.
"Thank you. You weren't so bad yourself."
"Ready to go home?" Loki asked.
Her mood dimmed a little and she looked over at him, her serpentine eyes sad.
"I don't have a home any more."
Loki changed back to his human form and Asta followed suit, then he cupped her face in his hands and stared into her eyes.
"You will always have a home with me, if you want it."
She smiled. "I want."
Loki smiled and kissed her. "Now, what do you sat we return to the village, collect the riches they left and I'll take you to your new home. It's a little grander than you're probably used to, but you'll soon get used to it. Then tomorrow we can decide where to distribute the funds from your village."
Asta grinned.
Loki's house was a huge mansion built in the mountains above one of the region's largest towns.
The mountains provided enough cover for them to safely fly in and land in the garden to the rear without being seen by the town below. Back in human form, Loki took her hand and led her inside.
"This is beautiful," she said, her head whipping in every direction as she tried to take everything in.
"Welcome home, darling."
"Home," she repeated. "I like the sound of that.