Here's the next chapter. I was able to crank this out within the month, so I'm pretty proud of myself!
Again, thank you to all my readers! All feedback is very much appreciated.
Happy reading!
Curse of the Dragon Chapter 3
Hamlet: A small village.
It happened too fast.
"You have to die."
Ahiru's eyes widened. His large hand seized her elbow and lurched her forward into the abyss.
Dark swallowed light as the roots of the white tree entwined together and sealed the earth above. Ahiru could barely see her own hand in the blackness.
The dragon continued to drag her down the slick steps, moist from the water dripping from the rocky ceiling. Her blue slippers slid on the stairs, and each step would've sent her tumbling if it weren't for the grasp on her arm.
Finally, her current position sank in, and panic took hold of her. His bruising grip would not relent, despite Ahiru's clawing and pulling.
"No! Let me go!" her voice echoed into the darkness.
She yanked herself back with all of her strength using her entire weight just as the tall figure released her.
Ahiru shrieked on her way to the ground, flailing her arms. She stepped back in a futile attempt to regain balance, and instead her foot slipped on the train of her tea-dress. Her bottom collided with the stone stairs and a sharp shock ran up her spine. "Oof!" Pain rippled all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. Dampness soaked into the cloth of her gown, the fabric uncomfortably clinging to her skin.
More tears streamed down her face as she let out another sob. "Owww…" she whined.
An exasperated sigh came from the dragon's silhouette. "Oi, what now?" She watched as his outline bent over, his arms feeling across the rocky walls. Ahiru squinted her eyes, struggling to make out what he was holding.
He sighed loudly. A spark ignited, and a fire burst from the darkness, shedding light across the damp corridor.
The dragon held a long, narrow torch, brightly flickering with a new flame. How he accomplished this, Ahiru didn't know.
The tall figure was illuminated, his lean back facing her. His broad shoulders were well-defined in the light, accentuated by his ponytail sitting in the valley between his shoulder blades. Ahiru traced the contours of his muscles with her eyes and his smooth, tanned skin glowed in the glimmering flame.
For such a horrible monster, he really was quite…
Ahiru's face heated. She shook her head, trying to force the images out. How can you possibly think that at time like this?! she scolded herself. If Mother or Father knew about what is going through your mind…! If Mytho knew…!
Her thoughts were interrupted when he turned his head to look at her. Her eyes met his.
She felt pinned down and naked under his intense green gaze. He scrutinized her for a minute.
What a sight she must have been; tangled, wavy hair flying in every direction; dress ripped and wet; legs sprawled out in a completely ungraceful manner; tears spilling out of her eyes; face twisted into a grimace and covered in dirt.
The corners of his lips curled upward into a smirk and he snorted. "You look like hell."
Ahiru clenched her teeth. "How dare you…!" She snapped her head from side to side, searching desperately for something to throw at him.
A rock!
Curling her fingers around the object, she flung it with all she had toward the dragon's head.
He tilted his head and the rock sailed right by him. "You honestly can't throw for your life."
"Why, you…!" Ahiru reached for another rock and tossed it once more in his direction, taking the time to aim carefully.
The second solid projectile caught him off guard and collided with his face. With a pained grunt, he dropped the torch to clutch his abused nose.
The torch clattered into a puddle on the stone stairs, once more shrouding the hall in pitch black. The girl inwardly berated for herself when the light source dissipated.
It couldn't be helped. Ahiru took a deep breath, gathered her skirts, and dashed up the slick steps. Miraculously, she didn't fall, and she began to pound on the tree's hard roots.
"Please! Please! Open up! Please!"
"Idiot…that hurt." she heard the dragon's smooth voice wafting through the damp space, calm and calculated. The echo of his footsteps on the stone grew closer, bare feet flapping on the wet stairs.
"Please! Please!" She continued her relentless attacks on the roots. "Please! I don't want to die! How come you won't open…!" she blubbered.
The dragon sighed again, and the torch lit up, enabling Ahiru's vision once more. "Are you done yet?" he asked, his voice right next to her ear, irritated and deep.
Ahiru bit her lip and slowly turned to look at him. He was so close--closer than he had ever been thus far. His nose was a mere inch away from hers and his breath fanned over her cheeks and lips.
His striking eyes bore down into hers, as if reading every single thought she ever had.
The torch lightened his features with a warm glow, casting shadows over his face. Green emeralds glinted, an unreadable expression carefully set on his countenance.
"That rock really did hurt, you know," he breathed.
Her hand unconsciously searched for her red pendant and clutched it, yearning for comfort.
The dragon, to Ahiru's wonder, seemed to take particular note in this gesture and his unreadable expression twisted into a sneer. Before Ahiru could blink, he pivoted on his heels and strode ahead of her down the staircase.
"We've wasted enough time. Let's go before I leave you here in the dark."
Ahiru took one more longing gaze at the tree's roots that wouldn't open for her. Freedom was just outside, and out of her reach.
It was getting darker as the dragon moved further downwards into the spiraling corridor, taking the torch with him. She bolted after him, unwilling to be alone in the darkness.
In her rush, Ahiru slipped on the wet steps and her face smashed into the dragon's warm back.
His skin really was quite smooth…
He kept rooted in his position, the force of the impact sending her toppling backward into the ground once more.
"Are you really that hopeless?" he complained, exasperation dripping from his voice. His sneer worsened.
Ahiru leaned on the wet walls for support as she climbed to her feet. She replied to him with the worst tearful glare she could form.
He turned away, keeping his long strides consistent as Ahiru struggled to keep up without falling, all the while maintaining her glare in place. She huffed.
"Why did you take me here?" she asked bitterly, her voice shaky and keeping her tears at bay.
"I told you already. You need to die."
"I know that! But why me?! What did I ever do to you?!" Her voice rose in pitch until it was close to squeaking. "You can't just turn into a dragon--which shouldn't even exist by the way--take away some poor innocent girl from her happily ever after, tell her she's going to die, and then not even give an explanation, you beast! You monster! You…!"
The dragon whirled around, his eyes wild with rage. Ahiru froze, her heart stopping.
He snarled and his body throbbed. Once more, the torch he held fell to the ground, this time remaining lit. Was he transforming again? She backed up against the wall as he used the opposite side to steady him.
His hand clutched his forehead in pain and he stood there, simply panting, eyes clenched shut. The light glimmered over his trembling form, his heavy breathing drawing all attention to that grisly scar on his chest.
After a moment, he let his arms hang loose, and he leaned his back against the stone wall. He opened his eyes and stared at the petrified girl.
"It's best if you avoid angering me. Especially in such a small space." His voice was raspy and his breaths were labored. He took a deep breath and paused to glare weakly at her. "Or you can just do as I say and shut up."
Ahiru gulped. She felt the blood drain from her face.
"But," he warned, "I'll tell you this much. You have to die. That's been your destiny since you were born. It's just the way it is." His eyes glinted.
Ahiru gaped at him.
He continued on. If he noticed her horrified stare at all, he ignored it. "And I agree with you. You are just some poor, innocent, ignorant, spoiled brat who knows nothing of the real world." He rolled his eyes. "Happily ever after. What in the hell do they teach you in those ritzy upper-class schools of yours?"
She remained silent, just gawking at man in front of her.
The dragon shrugged, his face nonchalant. "And yeah. I am a monster. But that's going to change very soon."
As if she hadn't cried enough that day, more tears spilled out and more sobs escaped her throat. "That has nothing to do with me, you discourteous, ill-bred, ill-mannered, uncivil, impolite, disrespectful…!" she wailed.
He rolled his eyes at her whimpering. "First of all, it has everything to do with you. Secondly, all of those words mean the same thing. I get it. I'm rude."
Again, Ahiru was driven to speechlessness.
The dragon straightened, apparently recovered from his lapse in control. He bent down, snatching the torch from the ground and descended the staircase again.
"You've delayed us quite a bit. Keep your balance this time, moron."
"I have a name, you know," she grumbled through her tears, keeping her hands on the walls for support as she descended. She remained five steps behind the dragon. No more, no less.
"That's great," he mumbled, obviously uninterested.
"My name is Ahiru."
He paused in his steps, and glanced at her over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised. "I didn't ask for it."
She wiped away her tears and folded her arms over her chest, lips forming a disgruntled pout. Her glare hardened. "Well, too bad. I gave it to you anyway."
Much to her dissatisfaction, the dragon simpered. His emerald eyes gleamed in amusement. "Your name. It means 'duck,' doesn't it?"
Her eyes widened, before reforming her scowl. "S-so what?!" How did he know that? Her name was derived from an ancient language her ancestors used!
The dragon shrugged, his smirk widening. He turned away and continued to move onward. "Well, your ungraceful waddling and your quack-like voice…I just find it oddly appropriate."
Ungraceful waddling?! Quack-like voice?!
"I don't waddle!" she screeched, her high-pitched voice echoing once more in the dark corridor. "And my voice does not sound like a…!"
Okay…so it does… she thought dismally.
"We're here."
Ahiru blinked and stared up at the stone wall in front of them. "A dead-end?"
"Not at all." The dragon fastened the torch to a hook that jutted out of the stone barrier before them.
Ahiru looked on in wonder as he counted twelve bricks, starting from the very left side. He knocked on the thirteenth stone seven times.
The brick cracked and unsealed to reveal a strange emblem of a dragon's head. In its mouth was a diamond.
With his thumb, the dragon pushed onto the symbol, pressing it farther into the inside of the brick.
It was silent for a few moments.
Then, the wall was gone.
It was almost a disappointment to Ahiru. She expected some rattling or shaking, not an anticlimactic, vanishing wall. There wasn't even a flash of light or a twinkling bell sound.
"That's it?" she murmured sarcastically. "I'm unimpressed."
The dragon glared at her. "Not everything that is worthwhile or special needs to be garish and dazzling. You nobles are all the same."
"Excuse me?!" She would've said more, but his arm clutched her elbow again, yanking her forward through the threshold. The wall reappeared behind them, solid and imposing.
Ahiru was shocked to find herself being pulled through an underground hamlet.
It was dilapidated and reminiscent of the slums outside of her own city of Hedeby. She cringed at the decrepit condition of the many shacks that riddled the area. They were created from stone and a tar-like substance, giving off a cold, alien feeling. Doors were replaced by shredded cloth. The huts resembled mere shells of what should be considered a home.
There was very little illumination. The only source of light came from several crooked lampposts throughout the hamlet that protected large embers and oil lamps that hung from the fabric entryways of the shacks.
All was silent and dark.
"People actually…live here?" she asked meekly, stopping to observe her surroundings. The grip on her elbow tightened and she was jerked sharply forward.
"Oi, try to keep up. They're probably all asleep. Good thing, too. You'd cause too much of a commotion at this time of night."
"What do you mean?" she murmured, worry laced in every syllable. Just what is going on here?
"You'll find out soon enough."
The dragon dragged her to a cottage, larger than all the rest, perhaps consisting of more than two rooms, but still as rundown.
Before they reached the entrance, the cloth was pushed aside by a small, pale arm. A little girl revealed herself, about only half of Ahiru's height and sporting a head full of mint-green hair. Her torn waistcoat and fluffy pants engulfed her miniature body. A leather strap wound itself around her small waist, attached to a drum that hung behind her. Her pale, innocent and round face seemed almost too big for her; she looked like some kind of doll.
What is a poor child like her doing down here?!
The little girl's deep blue, curious eyes brightened when they landed on the dragon.
"Fakir-zura! Fakir is home-zura!"
Just as the girl made to run straight for the dragon, the cloth over the entrance was pushed back once again. A young woman dashed forward, snatching the little girl in her arms. She was agonizingly gorgeous, with voluminous brown hair and striking maroon eyes set upon milky skin. Ahiru couldn't help but feel envious, even as this woman was garbed in such a smudged and shredded dress.
"Uzura," she reprimanded, a melodic, hypnotizing voice escaping her lips, "What are you doing still awake and running around at this hour?"
Ahiru found herself painfully yanked forward again. The dragon tugged her closer to the young woman struggling with the little girl.
"Rue," he murmured.
The woman, Rue, looked up in wonder, and then smiled sweetly.
"See? I told you-zura!" exclaimed the small girl.
"Welcome home, Fakir." Her eyes shifted to Ahiru. At first, she simply lifted an eyebrow at her in confusion, then awe. "…Is this…?"
The dragon nodded, his face unreadable. His name is Fakir?
"Ohhhhh…" the little girl cooed, staring at Ahiru in astonishment.
Rue's jaw dropped slightly, eyes widening. Never lifting her amazed gaze from Ahiru's face, she gracefully dipped down to the little girl at her side. "Uzura, go to bed. It's late," she stated firmly.
Uzura pouted, but scampered back into the cottage regardless.
The woman's maroon eyes examined her closely. When her gaze landed on Ahiru's red pendent, she inhaled sharply.
At this point, Ahiru had grown much too self-conscious. Everyone was staring at her. Perhaps it was best that all of the inhabitants of this village were asleep for the time being.
"So," Rue began, "it is you after all." She gave Ahiru another once-over and scowled at Fakir. "Oh, let go of her arm. You're giving her bruises. She won't escape. You and I both know," she paused to smile coyly at Ahiru, "there's nowhere for her to run now."
Ahiru had to force her tears back. There really is nowhere to run…I'm stuck here.
"And for goodness' sake, Fakir, put on a shirt."
Fakir lifted an eyebrow and dropped her elbow with a flick of his wrist. He strode in front of the two girls, lifting the cloth entrance with one arm and sweeping his other hand in a sign of a mocking welcome.
The woman turned her nose up in the air in mock superiority. "Why, how gentlemanly of you, Fakir." Ahiru winced as Rue clutched her shoulder tightly, leading her inside the cottage.
Ahiru was so frightened, she didn't even find it funny when Rue shoved Fakir over as they passed him.
The inside of the dilapidated building seemed just as barren as the outside suggested. Ahiru shivered. There was little to no furniture, aside from a couple of ripped couches near a fireplace. A grill was next to a small sink in the corner, serving as a small kitchen. Four other cloth-covered doorways led into separate rooms.
Sitting on one of the couches in front of a lit fire was a man of about thirty years old. He was handsome, with pitch black hair and deep red eyes flickering in the fire's golden light. He turned to see who had entered.
As soon as his eyes landed on Ahiru, he grinned. "My, my, my," he mumbled to himself, obviously pleased. He stood from his position on his seat to walk towards her. "Fakir, you've found her, have you?"
In her peripheral vision, Ahiru saw Fakir nodding his head.
"Ah, marvelous." The man gently took her chin in his hand and he scrutinized her in much the same way Fakir had done when she first saw him. He spotted the red pendent around her neck, and his grin grew.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So very young. You can't possibly be a day over fourteen. Quite a shame, indeed." He smiled at Ahiru amiably, and for some reason, this only heightened her apprehension. "What is your name?"
I…no, I can't… she panicked in her mind, and no words could form. I still don't understand. What do they want? Why me?
After a few moments, the man raised a curious eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"
"She's 'duck.'"
Ahiru was brought out of her internal frenzy when Fakir's smooth voice registered in her mind. She turned to look at him.
He was simpering again. "That's her name. She's 'duck.'"
Why that no good..! "My name is Ahiru," she affirmed, transferring her glare to the older man in front of her.
"Ah, Miss Ahiru, then. I am the elder of this village, Raven. I must apologize for this rather short notice, but we are in dire need of your…" he paused, as if thinking of the right word to use, "…assistance.
So that's his way of saying he needs to kill me, she thought wryly.
"But," he continued, "for now, please clean yourself, eat your fill, and rest up. Everything will be clear in the morning. Rue, dear, please assist Miss Ahiru."
Rue smirked at Ahiru's trembling form. "Of course, Elder."
Raven turned to Fakir. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good work. Please inform Autor of these new developments. Tell him to give the announcement to the entire clan in the morn."
Fakir nodded his head once. Ahiru stared after him as he made his way to the doorway. Before leaving, he turned to stare at her for long moment, his expression carefully neutral. Then, he made his leave.
In some strange and irritating way, everything around her felt even more horrible without Fakir's presence.
"Come along then," Rue spoke in her bell-like voice, "Shall we get you settled?"
Ahiru followed lifelessly, walking slowly behind Rue in a trance as she was led through a hallway. Her eyes were downcast. She didn't even have the strength to cry anymore.
This cannot be real.
Rue lifted the fabric and revealed a different room. A plain cushion with a thin blanket and pillow sat in a corner, a looking glass and small drawers on the opposite wall. A wooden washtub sat in another corner of the room and a small table stood in the center.
It was barren, plain, and nothing like her real home.
Ahiru dragged her feet across the stone floor and flopped down on the cushion, exhausted mentally and physically.
Rue opened the drawers, pulling out a new set of clothes and a brush with ribbons. She placed them on the cushion next to Ahiru. "You do look like quite a mess. I guess Fakir was a bit of a pain, wasn't he?"
Ahiru shifted her gaze to Rue from the laying position.
"Well," Rue shrugged and continued, "if you think you have it bad, try having him for a brother."
Siblings?
"Please feel free to use the washtub. It's clean. We only use purified groundwater. And you're free to roam about around the village if you want starting tomorrow morning."
Ahiru sat up and glared up at Rue's coy, smirking face. "I'm still surprised…that I'm not locked in a cell."
Rue's smirk grew, but her eyebrows drew together. "Oh, what's the point of locking you up when you can't escape? In addition, we're just trying to make your last couple of months as comfortable as possible for you."
Ahiru's eyes widened in horror. A couple of months?!
Rue's smile fell away, leaving only a scowl. "Welcome to Wyvern, Miss Ahiru."
With a flip of shining brown hair and an upturned nose, Rue disappeared behind the fabric doorway.
Mytho…save me…
Ahiru wept.
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Fun Facts:
-Wyvern is another word for dragon.