She looked around in horror, wondering how she ever thought this was going to be a good idea. Sure sacrificing yourself sound like a good idea when you watched others suffering but when you were actually doing it you wanted to run away. This was nothing like she expected.

Oh she had prepared herself for the dingy dark place, the dripping water just added to the décor. The spiked rocks that loomed over her head just encouraged the feeling of smallness and that she should turn back. Her mind was beginning to play tricks on her, convincing her she saw movement at the edge of the torchlight. She kept her eyes forward, not wanting to glance at the crunching underfoot in case it sent her screaming and running for the hills. Not that she would be able too much anyway; her torch had been kept small deliberately. Bringing an open flame here was just asking for trouble.

Rumbling just ahead suggested she had nearly reached her destination. Small flashes of light illuminated the path, indicating what was just ahead. Part of her wanted to surge forward, to escape this place and emerge into the light. The other, saner part, wanted to delay here in the passage as long as possible. Here she was safe. She could remain here and enjoy life for a little longer.

But no. She knew what she was doing when she had volunteered. It was the only logical choice. The only fair choice. She was an orphan she had no one. No one would miss her. If she had let someone else go in her place then she was causing another family grief. It wouldn't be her fault she wasn't doing the killing. But she would have felt the guilt anyway, especially when she knew she could have done something about it.

Enough! She knew why she was here. Stalling her death wouldn't prevent it; just prolong the agony of indecision. Taking a deep breath she strode into the light and new chamber. It was different to what she expected, more of the passage. Naturally there was lots of fire, held in small bowls lighting up the chamber. The walls were a shimmery material, bouncing light around the chamber. A small pool glistened not far away from where she stood, the water so clear she could see straight to the bottom. Golden sand ringed the edge of the pool, the path she was stood on leading down to a beach, a beach where he lay.

Oh God. He was nothing like she expected. Big yes, but there was a kind of beauty in him that was unexpected. When all you heard was bad things and how he killed tens of people your imagination tends to run away with you. Everything imagined was dark and small. Who else could be that cruel? To take away friends and family you had to be something evil.

He had clearly spotted her as he moved slowly but gracefully to his feet and padded over to her. His slow pace to her gave her time to gather her courage. She had known this was coming for a while but she still wasn't sure what to say. Her mouth was dry, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. When he was eventually just before her she spoke, voice trembling;

"Hi… Err… Hello… I'm your next sacrifice."

He eyed her with what appeared like deliberation as she trembled before him. Then suddenly he moved his head towards her and she knew it was all over.

She'd lived in the village as long as she could remember, being brought up by the nuns of a local order. Once she was old enough to understand they had explained she had been left to them as a baby, appearing in their church one night, wrapped in a blanket. They had searched for her parents but were unable to trace them. As no one in the village had wanted to take on another child they had raised her. It hadn't been too bad, some of them were stricter than others, it was like living with thirty mums. They had fed and clothed her, gave her an education when other girls had to just live at home and prepare to be married.

The trouble had begun when she was eighteen. It had taken a while for her to hear about it as the order was situated just outside of the village; news took a while to filter through. She had only found out about it as families had come to the nuns begging for prayers to relieve them from this monster.

Over the next few months it had become apparent that prayers weren't being answered, with more and more people heading up to the monster and to their death. It had worried her as people were dying but had almost seemed unrealistic, as she hardly knew any of these people. Occasionally people did escape and return but they were forced to head back to the monster by the villagers, fearful if he was not fed he would demand greater numbers. Once they were sent back they never returned again.

This had continued for six years with no let up. She was still living with the nuns even though she had decided not to take up orders. It wasn't really her. It was then she had made her decision. She couldn't keep living with the nuns; they couldn't keep her on if she wasn't going to become one of them. When the village had announced it was time for another sacrifice she had volunteered herself. Better to do something helpful than become a burden on the village.

By now the village knew what the monster plaguing them was. This had increased the reluctance of villagers to be sent to him, no one wanted to die a fiery death. So when she had volunteered they weren't entirely sure what to do. She noticed it didn't take them long to take her up on her offer once the shock had been overcome. She'd never been popular in the village, to strange, an unknown. The rumours about her birth had never gone away. As far as the village were concerned why would anybody give up a healthy baby girl unless there was something wrong with her? She'd never been able to convince them otherwise. Which was why she set of up towards the monster, knowing she had at least saved somebody else's life.

She'd closed her eyes as soon as she'd seen his head coming towards her. She wasn't sure how she was going to be killed. She knew the dragon stood before her could kill her in a number of ways, fire being the one she most feared. She was unprepared for the huff of breath that hit her. Slowly opening one eye she found he was still stood before her. If you could read emotions from a dragon's face she would say he was annoyed. Surely he wanted the sacrifice?

With a jerk of his head he indicated the path behind him. It forked from the path down to the lake and headed into another passage. After another nod towards the path she stumbled down it. Moving slowly she stumbled down it, not sure he really wanted her to go. Her brain was trying to keep up with what was occurring. She hadn't expected to live this long, she almost expected to suddenly have this taken away from her. But clearly she was doing the right thing as the dragon moved back towards his beach.

It gave her chance to have a better look at him. Initially she had thought he was completely black but she could see she was wrong. Small flecks of gold shimmered along his back, making his scales gleam. He was large, larger than she had ever expected, yet seemed to move with ease for his size. He wasn't exactly what she had imagined. She wasn't going to stick around to ogle him some more just in case he changed her mind.

Entering the passage she saw it was better lit made of the same material of the chamber. Sitting against the sandy floor she took a few minutes to get her shaking under control. Once she was sure her legs would support her she continued down the passageway. Now the fear was beginning to subside she was curious to where she was heading. Nobody knew what was in this area, people being too scared of the dragon. It was getting late and she needed to find somewhere to settle down for the night and something to eat. She hoped that it wasn't his plan to starve her to death!

She didn't think anything else could surprise her after what she had experienced today but she was wrong. A large house sat in what appeared to be a small valley. It was surrounded by cliff, which explained why nobody knew it was here. Was this where the dragon wanted her to come? Did anybody dare live here so close to the dragon?

Moving cautiously she headed for the front door. Upon finding it open she entered the house. The foyer was made of the same material as the chamber with the dragon and contained a sweeping staircase.

"Hello? Anybody here?" She called, shivering slightly.

It was creepy hearing her voice echo back at her. When there was no reply she headed towards the seat opposite her. It was well cushioned and more comfortable than anything she had ever sat on. The nuns really weren't into comfort. She was just going to sit here and rest then see if there was anything to eat in the house. It appeared to be empty but a look around would let her know for certain.

She had just begun to relax when her security was shattered.

"Hello?"

So I've had this idea in my head for a while but never had time to write it. Other characters will turn up in the next few chapters.