.:A Hostess Of Fire And Teeth:.
I presumed that I was dreaming. Someone was carrying up the flight of stairs from the cellar, while chanting voices pressed on me from every side. I panicked through the haze of half-consciousness: what was happenings to me? When I forced my eyes opened, all I could see was a wall of bronze faces staring at me, gloved hands held palm-first towards me.
"Dark Lord, grant us the speed and invisibility to right the wrongs of a nation today," a gravelly voice by my ear whispered in prayer, before it reverted back to the swift, chilling words of a foreign chant. A spell?
Terror gripped me. Forcing myself to wake up once and for all, I squirmed in my captor's arms, nearly falling to the ground. Another of the Dark Knights leapt forwards, shoving me back into the man's arms with one powerful movement. As he did so, he brought his mask close up to my ear so that the cold bronze burned at my cheek.
"Stop it!" Myron's voice hissed at me. "Fighting will get you nowhere!"
I gasped, horrified. Trying to block out the hideous chanting, I turned my head and met crystal blue eyes behind the eye sockets of his mask. His eyes were unreadable! Despite everything else going on around me, I felt tears start in my own eyes; how could Myron just abandon me like this? For a crazy second I was back in the cellar just a night before, and the night before that, surrendering myself to Myron's desperate kisses, seeing the tenderness and maddening lust in his eyes, but now that look had disappeared. Was it because each time I had pushed him away before he'd got too carried away? That sort of closeness terrified me! And what if Myron gave me one of those hurtful names, and told me that his passion was a cruel joke to get a night or two of pleasure out of me? But for all of my fears, I still hoped that he wasn't fooling with my heart – I wasn't fooling with his, and that made me even more reluctant to have it broken in such a cruel way.
Myron held a hand out over my body, and my muscles became rigid under flesh. He straightened and looked at the man carrying me, saying something in the same, twisted tongue his fellow Dark Knights were chanting in. The man grunted in response, and a silver bottle suddenly appeared out of the thin air besides Myron with a sharp pop, making me flinch. I stared at Myron one last time, giving him a pleading look, but he scarcely seem to register it.
"Why?" I suddenly shouted at him, glad that the muscles in my face and neck were still mobile. "Why are you––"
Myron stepped forwards with a billow of robes and raised his hand. An invisible hand smacked my cheek viciously, sending my head spinning. My cheek seemed to scream with pain, yet all I felt was pure and indescribably anger. Before Myron could do anything else, I'd spat forcefully onto his mask, unable to keep the sudden despise from my voice as I hissed at him. "You twisted son of a bitch!"
"Leave her!" the man carried me ordered sharply, as Myron took another threatening step forwards. "You know Rhianna only takes unspoilt, unhurt maidens; do not jeopardise our task to satisfy your own childish pride! Unless, of course, you have something you want to confess...?"
Myron's back bristled with obvious anger at the Dark Knight's words. "I am not a fool, brother! You said you wanted her still a virgin, so that's what you've got!"
I wondered for a moment what the reaction all round would be if I opened my mouth right there and then, and accused Myron personally of nearly ruining that part of the Dark Knight's order. I decided against it – whatever my fate was going to be, it had to be better than Myron clubbing my to death with magic. And, if I was lucky, my father's mage-hunters would track him down later in life and kill him.
The man behind me snorted, hardly sounding amused. "You've bewitched women into doing what you want before, little brother, so you're more than capable of doing so again." My stomach clenched in fear – what had he just said Myron had done? "You'd better hope Rhianna takes her or, my blood or nay, the King's guards won't be able to find even a hair of your being!"
I could tell from the way Myron's body tensed that the man meant his words. For some reason it didn't seem to surprise me that much that Myron's occupation was also a family affair, and I could also tell that Myron had a sudden urge to punch the man who had called him his 'little brother'. Instead he seized the bottle from the air, and pulled my head back so that I was staring at the ceiling. As he forced the neck of the bottle into my mouth, I heard one of the Dark Knights stop chanting to comment, "You do know the bottle will force her to drink without human interference?"
"With what I've had to go through since bringing her here?" Myron snarled back, his grip on my head so tight that I would have screamed if it had not been for the disgusting liquid that was flooding my mouth. I tried to spit it out, hoping it might hit Myron as I did, but I was unable to. I could only gulp down mouthful after mouthful, like some poor child starved of water to the point of insanity. "I want to drug her myself!"
The man holding me cursed under his breath. "Damn your stupid pride! When this is finished, I'm going to personally beat it back into that goldfish brain of yours that under no circumstance can you let yourself think more important than the rest of us! Now, get out of this house and go about your business! Send the message to her father and await for me to contact you!"
The bottle was pulled from my mouth. I groaned as my head suddenly began to spin dangerously, my stomach threatening to bring up its contents as the world dimmed dangerously. Myron's mask blazed with fire. To my numb surprise, Myron suddenly roared. Besides myself, I started to laugh. Myron had never roared before, but he certainly made a very good beast impression, for it hardly sounded like him. Myron roared again. I stopped laughing and looked about, biting back a groan as my head spun lazily in protest.
"Myron?"
I was no longer in the house whose cellar I had called my prison. I was standing outside in what looked like an old, overgrown crater. The stench of burning flesh and plant hung heavily in the air, as though the crater was used to such occurrences, and the floor of the crater was covered in a fine white dust that whipped up nose as the wind caught it and threw it mockingly into my face. But that was not what made my stomach turn so violent, or cause my knees to buckle: something roared high above my head. Against the howling protest of my inner common sense, I looked up, seeing for the first time the snow-capped peaks of mountains towering high above me. And there, draped along the rim of the basin like the palace cats basking in the sun that spilled out into the window ledges, lay a hideous green beast.
I swallowed hard, mouth turning dry in terror. Had it seen me? No, that was a stupid question: the beast met my wide-eyed stare with vicious red eyes. Then it unfolded humongous wings, like those of a gigantic bat, and glided down into the crater with a grace that put even the finest of my father's pet swans to shame. Despite its flawless landing, the crater grumbled and shock violently, and a billow of the white powder surged towards me like a tidal wave of battered crystals. More of the dratted stuff went up my nose, making me sneeze uncontrollably for several minutes. I tried to stop myself, unable to stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks as I heard and felt the dragon sauntering lazily forwards towards me. Like a rabbit being cornered by a smug cat, I tried to turn and run, but to my horror found that I had been chained to a sacrificial post directly in the dragon's path.
Scorching air billowed up against my, which I knew would have had me on my knees and hurtling to a crashing stop against the back of crater had it not been for my chains. My sneezing fit stopped. A growl that shook me to the very core erupted from two very dilated, intimately close nostrils, and I could only scream in horror as the dragon brought its face close up to me, as though trying to decide whether or not I would make a suitable meal. It snapped its teeth in irritation of what it saw, the sound deafening me, yet its words I heard not in my ears but inside my very skull!
What folly! My Dark Kittens bring me my promised meal, only for me to find that it would scarcely make a meagre snack! The red eyes glinted mockingly. I was expecting more from you, Princess Eloryn.
I wasn't an idiot. I knew I was standing just inches away from an incredibly painful death that could involve teeth or flame, and yet I found myself thinking grimly to myself, Oh, great! I'm a disappointment to my father, the memory of my mother, my brother and my land, and now I'm the disappointing meal of a dragon!
The dragon growled in response. Such a whiny little madame! Dear me, child, did no one ever tell you dragons can read minds? Have you never heard of the great Lady Rhianna, Mistress of All the Skies? No? Your loss, Highness – I'm surprised Darling Daddy didn't terrify you with tales of my wisdom and deeds when you were a suckling! Lucky for you, my dear, I like to entertain my guests before dinner, so to speak! The dragon nuzzled my face for a moment and inhaled gently. A virgin, I see. A good upbringing. Too much self-pity for her own good, but humans change. Sorry to say, you aren't going to have a chance to, which is a shame: you'd have made a good ruler of humans, given half a chance, if you could only put those damn fears behind you!
"Why would you care, begging your pardon?" I asked humbly,voice wavering and cracking.
I'm a nice, caring individual, as far as dragons go, Rhianna replied with a toss of her brilliant emerald head. The Beauty of the Dragon Realms! Do you not think I am beautiful?
"Yes," I replied automatically, but my thoughts betrayed me. Not to mention vain.
The dragon's eyes glinted. Thank you, Highness! A compliment indeed! I'd have been careful with such a venomous tongue, though, if I had been you: some people may have been quite insulted by your words. Some men find it...oh, what's that word? Enticing? I can almost understand why Myron wanted to take you as his mate, and I can certainly understand why you were considering him!
"I was not considering taking Myron as my mate!" I shouted indignantly, then stopped myself. The dragon gave a look that told me she knew I was lying, and I hung my head, ashamed. "He was pleasure seeker; he wasn't genuine."
The dragon roared in what could only be described as laughter. If what your saying about his not being genuine is true, then the gold in my layer is as worthless as dung! Honestly, dear, stop pitying yourself! There are plenty of women who have ended up in my layer after trying to attract Myron's affections, some of whom have had love robbed from them, as have you. They differ from you because they go hunting through every man that passes them by – including Myron – in order to believe, if only for one night, that the man loving them likes more than just their bodies. You...you seem to avoid every man that passes as though he's got the plague!
"One of the Dark Knights said you only take unspoilt maids." My eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not lying?"
The dragon flapped her wings half-heartedly and said, You've been sneezing what's left of their bones out of your nose for the past few minutes. She growled at the horror on my face. And the child turns as green as I! As for the Dark Knight who said those foolish words, that must have been Elan, the leader of my Dark Kittens, fool that he is! To my surprise, the dragon winked. Between you and me, Princess, he still thinks every woman waits for her wedding night before allowing a man under her shift! Woe to any daughter he has! I have a close connection to the Dark Kitten, Eloryn; come to visit me quite regularly – you should have heard him the first time Myron took a woman into his--
"Please!" I cried, wishing I could clamp my hands over my ears. "Enough, I beg of you!"
Oh? Don't like the fact Myron's bedded before? Well, you should have let him bed you before you wound up here, shouldn't you?
"I don't want to hear anything more about that selfish, good-for-nothing, traitorous, cad!" I screamed, crying once more.
Rhianna's back straightened, her glinting eyes growing cold. No one speaks of my little Myron in such a way, she told me, so quietly it was almost a threat. No one. I'm tired of entertaining you now – all this talk has made me hungry.
"Then eat me," I whispered. "I don't care any more!"
It's what I intended to do, the dragon replied, then lowered her head once more. Her scolding breath scorched my face once more, forcing my eyes shut.
Light flared brightly around the inside of the crater. The dragon let out a roar that sent my ears and bones howling. I screwed my eyes together even more tightly, holding my breath as I waited for the burning flames and razor sharp teeth to envelop me.
What happened next would have made me throw any self respecting book straight onto the fire with a tut of annoyance. How convenient! Who would have guessed the chapter would have ended like that? But when your tied to a post and about to embrace death, scenarios are the last things racing through your mind! If I read what happened then in any book but this one nowadays, apart from being very surprised at the similarity, I would hug the book close to my heart and thank the gods for knights in shinning armour. True, mine was not in full armour, or riding a gallant white steed, but the relief that swept through me was a thousand times more real than any I had ever felt for the unfortunate maidens in my stories at home.
There was another sharp burst of light, a shout of alarm from the crater's rim, and suddenly the dragon swung round to face the man half running, half sliding down the crater's steep slope towards us. I lost sight of him behind a mass of glittering green scales, but I could hear his voice so well it was as though he were magnifying his voice a ten times over by magic.
"RHIANNA, STOP!"
The dragon growled and, with a flash of white teeth, lunged forwards and seized my 'saviour' up off the slope and turned, setting him down on his feet in front of me. I gave Myron one swift glance over to check it really was him, glared at him, then looked at the dragon. "What's he doing here?"
Not a question I should be answering, the dragon correcting. And stop acting like you are not pleased to see him! Most of my meals would be kissing him by now!
"That's if the knights had been able to kill you beforehand," Myron muttered, then turned to me, eyes scanning my face and body for injury. "Is she hurt?"
Not yet. The dragon nudged Myron angrily. What is your brother going to say when he comes back here and finds I haven't eaten her?
"Tell him you did," Myron replied absently, holding my gaze. He laid his hands on the chains, breaking them with his magic. Elan never need know."
Why are you freeing her? the dragon complained as I slumped, Myron just managing to catch me as I fell. She called you a 'selfish, good-for-nothing, traitorous'--
Myron merely shook his head. "I deserved that. Rhianna, we need somewhere to hide, just until I can think of how to get Eloryn away without my brother and fellows realising she got away."
My Kitten, I can offer you protection in my cave, Rhianna growled back. I looked at Myron, who nodded to show it really was our only option. Not even the other Dark Kittens can defeat me – I shall not let them touch you. And you had better be good.
I wasn't sure whether she meant me or Myron. The man merely nodded and allowed Rhianna to lift us both up onto her back, holding me closely to him as we sailed through the air. "Myron, I--"
Hold on! Rhianna roared, then lifted herself high up into the air. I gave up trying to speak and clung to Myron for dear life, hoping my stomach wouldn't betray my inner fear of heights.
Pirate - Rock on! Thanks for the support! I loved writing this chapter the best so far!
martini the brave – You have your update now! Hope you have enjoyed! PS: I have a dragon with flames just like the one you said! Gotta love a dragon!
windcriesjimi – Hehe! He's the type of guy I love to hate!
Sam-Sam – Thanks for the review! Keep on reading!
Oo.dream.on.girl.oO – Thanks for the review! Glad you're still liking it!!!
Kyra-maRia – Thanks for the support! SO glad you like it! If you read all seven chapters at once, I salute you!!!! salutes
Lurid Amaranthine - I don't fear any Dark Knights! Bring it on, I cry! Squirrels? Now there you've got another matter...
Everyone else, hope you enjoyed too! Llamas, Ginger-Bizkit!