Chapter 8
Nina tore through the forest, blood thundering against her temples. Vines and thorns ripped through her clothes, scratching at her bare arms and legs, but she didn't care. She just had to run. She didn't understand anything anymore. Her mind raced with images of blood, tears, and monsters. Screams echoed through her thoughts, her entire body becoming drenched in cool sweat. She closed her eyes and clutched at her dress, stumbling over rocks and fallen branches. Tears streaked down her face and flew off into the darkness. No human could kill like that...
Her arms moving in front of her, she burst through a wall of vines and lost her footing. Crying out, she tumbled onto a damp patch of grass and rolled onto her back. Breathing heavily, she opened her eyes to the star filled sky. With a dirt caked hand she reached up, clutching her heaving chest. Her vision was blurring. Where were all these tears coming from? Coughing gently, she turned to her side, wrapping her arms around her body. One of her wings came forward, covering her shivering form, the soft feathers gently caressing her face. She began to sob gently into the dew filled grass, her breath becoming mist in the cool air.
It was her fault. Everything was her fault. Shyong could be dead. She had been to cowardly to check. As for Ryu...
She sucked in her breath, clutching her stomach tighter. She had heard Shyong and the soldiers call him a dragon. Dragon... She shivered as the image of his claw impaling that soldier came to her. He was a monster, he...
Her wing moved from her face as a gust of wind blew past her. Blue eyes moving upward, she focused on something red above her. She jolted up into a sitting position, backing away, eyes wide.
Ryu stood before her, pale moonlight splashing over his massive red body. His white hair moved gently in the breeze, long bangs falling over his expressionless face. He stood with his shoulders back, his large red claws hanging at his sides. His wings were pulled against him, the dark red talons on top the only thing visible.
Nina tried to say something, but she couldn't. All she could do was stare. Stare at his glowing crimson eyes, his glistening red scales, his blood stained claws. She felt her body begin to tremble. He wasn't moving. He was just standing there. What was he going to do? Was he...?
"You do not have to be afraid."
The sound of his voice startled her. It was deep and gruff, like his vocal chords were wrapped in sandpaper. He continued to stare, his eyes moving over her shivering body. She remained silent, looking at him back with wide eyes. He slowly reached up, roughly pushing his hair behind his shoulders. "I came to apologize."
She watched as he cocked his head, the scales on his horns glinting. "I am sorry you had to see all of this," he said slowly, "I just..." He stopped and took a deep breath, his large chest heaving. "I did not want to tell you, because I thought you would not want to stay with me anymore."
Nina looked up at him, eyes burning. "I..." She lowered her head and wrapped her arms around her body. "I don't understand what's going on, Ryu. I don't even know you..." she said softly, rubbing her face on her arm. "What you did back there, scared me. I... I don't know what to think about you."
A gentle pressure on her shoulder brought her gaze up. She didn't even hear him move. He was right above her, looking at her with those harsh blood red eyes. "I do not want you to be afraid of me." he said softly. "I want you to know me, Nina."
She reached up and grasped his hand, moving it from her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she rose, standing only inches away from him. Her eyes moved to his face. Close up, he really didn't look all that different. Other than the white hair, the red eyes, and the longer fangs, he was just about the same. She reached up slowly, placing a trembling hand on his chest. It was like touching warm stone, the muscle feeling as though you could hit it with a thousand pounds and it wouldn't budge. She placed the other on his left arm, her fingers tracing gingerly over the scales.
"Does it hurt...when you transform?" She asked, her fingertips running over the sharp points at the ends of the scales.
"A little."
She looked up as he spoke, her cheeks flushing. He was staring down at her, his face still lacking any trace of emotion. She quickly took her hands away, averting her gaze from him. "I"m sorry..." she said softly. "I've just...never seen a dragon before."
"If it makes you uncomfortable, I can transform back."
Her eyes again met his. It was true; seeing him like this did make her a bit nervous. He looked ancient, majestic...powerful. She stared at his large clawed hands. Everything about him intimidated her. He really did look like a monster. She glanced at his fanged mouth. He was speaking to her. Monsters didn't speak...
"It would help, yes."
He nodded slowly, his crimson eyes closing. He took a deep breath and brought his arms up, crossing them in front of his chest. She watched as a white aura flowed over his body, engulfing him in bright light. Then, slowly, it faded, his human form coming into view. He lowered his arms and lifted his head up, a small smile appearing on his lips. Swaying slightly, he fell forward, dropping to his knees.
Nina cried out and kneeled in front of him, letting his body fall limply against her. "Ryu? Are you alright? What's wrong?" He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving. She placed her hands on his bare back, her fingers slipping over the sweat drenched skin. His head hung over her shoulder, his breath hot against her neck. "Ryu...please...what's..."
She stopped as he slowly looked up. His mouth was no longer swollen, the blood was long gone from his skin. "I'm...sorry..." he croaked, smiling again. "I'm just...a little....tired...".
He reached up and wearily pushed his hair from his face, looking up at her with heavy lidded eyes. "I...need to rest..."
She nodded slowly and moved back against a stone, allowing him to lean on her. Cheeks flushing a bit, she looked out into the clearing before her. Moonlight flooded over, illuminating a tiny pond towards the center. She watched as fireflies danced over the rippling water, their lights flickering brightly in the dark night sky. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the cold stone. Should she have run away? Was the castle really that bad? All of this...maybe all of this really wasn't worth it...
"I should...have told you."
His voice pierced her thoughts. She blinked once, then looked down. Ryu was looking up at her. "I shouldn't have lied to you."
Nina brought her gaze back to the pond. "You didn't have much choice."
"I didn't want you to leave me." He exhaled loudly, bringing a shaking had to his scar infested chest. "I betrayed your trust...You were just so nice, so eager to come with me. But now..."
"Does it really make you this tired?"
He sighed softly and turned his head from her "Being...in that form...drains me. I don't know why."
"Why did you transform then?" she asked, a solemn expression on her face.
He looked up. "I...don't know. It just...happened."
Nina brought her arm up, holding it against her shivering body. The air was getting colder by the minute.
"Is he dead?"
Her eyes widened and she looked down. "I'm not sure. I didn't stay to see."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to harm anyone." he said softly.
"I didn't want you to either."
A hurt expression came over his face as he stared at her. "I know...and...I..." He paused, brushing a leaf from his chest. "You can leave if you want. I don't blame you for being afraid."
"It's not that I'm afraid, Ryu...I just...don't understand." She said softly, watching his facial features relax. "I'm not familiar with dragons. I don't know anything about them. I really don't know anything about anything to tell you the truth..." she looked away. "There are so many things I don't understand and I will never learn living back there. I want to see things, do things..." A small smile touched her lips. "I guess I thought traveling with you would be full of opportunities."
"And all you got was a monster."
Her smile faded. "There's nowhere else I can go, Ryu."
"Staying with me will be hard."
"I know."
"Then why do you want to do it?"
"Because I don't hate you."
"Nina...are you positive...even after..."
"It still frightens me...I...don't think I ever want to see that form again...but..." She trailed off. "I don't want to leave you either. I can't explain it, but I feel..." She looked down at his moonlit green eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt safe around him. Even when he transformed back there, she knew deep down, he wouldn't hurt her. Maybe she was just stupid. It was true, Ryu was very handsome, but Shyong was wrong. That wasn't why she wanted to stay with him. All her life she had been looking for something, and she wasn't quite sure what it was. Maybe Ryu was the answer. Maybe...he could show her...what "life" was really like.
Ryu began to laugh softly, his chest moving awkwardly with his breathing.
"What so funny?"
His face broke into a broad smile. "I don't know. I guess...I'm just relieved..."
"Relieved?"
"I've never had..." He reached up slowly, touching two fingers to her cheek. "...a person care about me so much..."
She blushed, moving her head away from his hand. "I...never said I cared...I meant I'll be tolerant of you..." she stammered softly. "Now, let's try to get to Synesta soon, you need rest."
He smiled softly bringing his hand back to his side. "As you wish."
Before her startled eyes, he threw his feet forward, his body flying upwards until he was standing. He turned, reaching out to her. "Come on, we've got things to do."
Blinking twice, she warily took his hand, climbing to her feet. He stood before her, obviously feeling better, his lips parting into a toothy smile. She watched as the wind blew by, ruffling his long blue hair and pushing it from his sweat drenched face. Something pulled at her. Something she couldn't understand. Something...that caused a million emotions to swim through her mind at the same time. She felt his hand squeeze hers gently, the smile becoming a warm grin. Her heart pounded against her chest hard, warmth flowing over her entire body.
Did she...really care...?
* * *
Cool morning mist hit his face as he stumbled out of the house. Sunlight flowed over his blood soaked body and reflected off his wild eyes. He turned, pressing his back against a wall. Glancing around, he realized the city was barren. No one stirred. He brought a hand in front of his face. Blood stained the long frail fingers.
It had been exhilarating, killing that woman. His body trembled as a smile found its way to his lips. Stupid woman. She shouldn't have seen them. She should have minded her own business. A soft scratchy laugh escaped his throat, his head turning to the hazy purple sky. Orange eyes narrowed as they focused on one of the Windian castle towers. His shoulder blades began to pulse, the wings threatening to burst from them.
He reached up, grasping his aching shoulder. Was he really ready? His eyes moved to the empty alleyways leading to the inner part of the city.
He had to be.
Clutching his tattered robe, he trudged towards the castle.
* * *
It had been hours since Shyong had returned. He was a mess; half of his face, mutilated beyond repair. He would probably never be able to see from that eye again. Even now, Lucia could hear his screams echoing throughout the silent castle. The Priestess of the Goddess, Faben, had been sent to heal him, after all, he had to report to the King before sundown.
Lucia squeezed her eyes closed as a particularly loud scream came. Most of his words were incoherent babble, but occasionally, real words would find their way in. Words like Dragon, damn bastard dragon.
Why would the dragon attack him? Was the Princess really that big of a deal...to both of them? Lucia crossed her arms over her chest. She knew about the way the dragons were treated. It wasn't as though she hated them, her village wasn't destroyed by them.
"You know, I think all of this is good for her."
Lucia turned to see one of the maids, a short green haired girl wish big blue eyes. The girl shrank back at the woren's stare. "I mean...the Princess always seemed so sad. Maybe...she needed a little freedom."
Lucia's tail began to twitch. "Don't talk about things you don't understand." She said curtly.
The maid sighed, shaking her pigtailed head. "No, I understand...I've heard Sir Tsunaia talking about her many times. I just...don't think one girl...should have so much responsibility."
"Like I said, you don't understand. Now run along, you know better than to try and converse with me." Lucia spat, her gray eyes narrowed almost to slits.
The girl nodded slowly and bowed, turning from her sharply. She walked forward a bit, then stopped, her hands grasping a small silver platter. "Maybe you could use some freedom as well."
Lucia looked up, her eyes widening as the girl slipped into another room.
Freedom? No, this was her place. She made an oath. This was where she belonged. This was were the Princess belonged. You can't run away from your destiny...
Another scream pierced the air and Lucia's ears flattened against her head. She turned to a window, leaning onto it. Her eyes floated down to the main entranceway. Brow furrowing, she leaned forward as something caught her eye. A man, in what looked like very bloody ripped robes with bright white hair was conversing with the soldiers in front. It looked like he wanted in, but the soldiers would have nothing of it. Lucia sighed. Of course he wouldn't get in. They couldn't let just any guy come in, they had to be...
Her mind drew a blank. He was staring at her. Orange eyes. Bright, odd, orange eyes. What was he doing...?
Lucia's eyes widened as he vanished.