Holly's body trembled on the cold, hard ground, the echoes of bloodlust from the people of Invincible City slicing through the tension-filled air. She attempted a plea, but it morphed into savage roars and shrieks, silenced as eager hands fastened a chain around her muzzle.
They retreated, leaving her to face Valiant and the icy blade he held. His approach felt like an eternity, each step filled with the dread that reflected in his hate-filled eyes. Her heart sank into a bottomless abyss. With a soft whine, she begged him silently. His response was the sword's point, aiming at her eye as if in slow motion.
The blade lunged.
--
A sharp gasp pulled her from the nightmare, her talons instinctively wrapping around her chest as pain seared through her. Holly lay motionless, waiting for the pain to subside before lifting her talon to her line of sight. Her orange scales shimmered in the dim light.
Tears welled up and spilled over, the cold reality setting in – last night hadn't been a dream. Her human body was gone, replaced by that of a dragon.
"Hey, you're awake," a gentle voice stirred her from her sorrow. "You had quite the crash last night."
Her head snapped towards the voice, and her breath hitched. A dragon, larger than her and adorned with a gradient of orange scales, loomed over her. The astonishment doubled as the creature spoke her language.
Holly's eyes widened as she tried to stand on her hind legs to distance herself from the dragon. She staggered, struggling to keep her balance, before ultimately falling on her side, moaning in pain.
The orange scaled dragon quickly rushed over, asking, "Are you alright?"
Holly turned her head to the sound of claws hitting the ground. The sight of the dragon running towards her intensified her heartbeat as she staggered sideways, her wings instinctively flaring up. "G-get away from me!"
The dragon halted, mere inches away from her. It sat down and raised its talons slowly, trying to appear nonthreatening. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I found you all crashed up in the forest last night." The dragon tilted its head, curious. "Where are your parents?"
Holly remained silent. She suspected the dragon might act friendly just to catch her off guard and then strike. She had heard from scouts that dragons sometimes killed smaller dragons. She wouldn't let that happen to her.
"Hey, I asked you something," the dragon's tone grew a bit stern.
Holly continued to stay silent, lowering her wings as she took a few cautious steps backward until her tail bumped into an obstacle. She turned to realize she was in a cave, her heart racing as she saw that the dragon was blocking the exit. Panic surged within her – what was the dragon planning?
"Look," the dragon's tone softened. "I've got fresh kill." It indicated a dead buck lying on the other side of the cave. "There's enough for both of us."
Holly's gaze shifted to the carcass beside a pile of leather bags, something she had initially disregarded. The dragon stood up and made its way to the carcass, prompting Holly's tension to increase. She locked her gaze on the dragon as it tore into the buck, the sound of bones crunching disturbingly echoing in the silence, reminding her of her own transformation.
Back in the present, the dragon rose, holding half of the buck in its talon. It approached her, casting an imposing presence that sent shivers down her spine.
"Eat," the dragon offered, the fresh blood of the buck dripping onto the stone floor.
Holly hesitated, torn between the dragon and the food. "I-I'm not hungry," she stammered, though her growling stomach betrayed her words.
"Your stomach disagrees," the dragon retorted, sighing, as it placed the carcass down in front of her. "I'll leave it here and give you space."
The dragon turned away, moving toward a pile of items that Holly had earlier noticed. She guessed they belonged to the dragon.
With a sense of trepidation, she reached for the carcass, the aroma surprisingly tantalizing, causing her mouth to water. As her teeth were about to sink into the flesh, she stopped herself. What was she doing? This wasn't her, she was still human in her mind, not a dragon.
Holly narrowed her eyes at the meat, discarding it with a swift motion. She wouldn't surrender herself to savagery.
She heard the dragon grunt in response, prompting her to glance at it. The expression it wore was a mix of concern and annoyance, a look that conveyed both confusion and irritation. "Look, you need to eat to recover. Why are you being a fool?"
Holly turned her gaze away, avoiding the dragon's eyes. "I'm not hungry."
The dragon stood on all fours, heading to the discarded food. It wrapped it in something that Holly assumed was cloth.
"I'll leave this here, in case you decide to eat later," the dragon said as it placed the cloth-covered buck onto the pile of belongings.
Holly shifted her attention to the cave's entrance, then back to the dragon. Escaping immediately would be foolish – the dragon could easily chase her down. It would leave to hunt again sooner or later, and that would be her chance to flee.
"You do know that I'm trying to help you, right?" the dragon's voice carried a softer tone. "I'm going to the Sky Kingdom soon. Are you from there?"
Holly studied the dragon, realizing that revealing her human identity wouldn't end well. It could react violently and put her life in jeopardy. However, she should at least provide some answers to avoid further complications.
Shaking her head, she communicated her lack of association with the Sky Kingdom.
The dragon's tail swayed slightly, forming a smile. "There, was that difficult? Do you know where your parents are?"
Suppressing the urge to narrow her eyes, Holly refrained from expressing her knowledge of her family's fate at the hands of dragons. She didn't want to instigate any aggressive behavior.
"They're dead," she answered with a trace of sorrow, her gaze turning away from the dragon. "Been that way for a while now."
The dragon's surprise at her response was evident. "I-Im sorry," it said, shifting uncomfortably. "I shouldn't have asked."
Holly chose not to engage with the dragon's remorse, moving a bit further away. The memories of her parents' screams faded in her mind as she drifted into the past, reminiscing about her happy moments. Tears welled up, and her tail swayed with a mix of grief and longing.
"D-do you want me to take you somewhere?" the dragon asked, its uncertainty palpable.
Ignoring the question, Holly allowed herself to be consumed by the painful memories she wished she could erase. Everything she had held dear – her humanity, her home, her friends – was gone.
"Hey..." the dragon's voice grew more gentle. "I know it's not much, but you can stay in this here cave."
Suppressing a cynical snort, Holly vowed to leave the cave as soon as the dragon departed. She needed to find a way to revert back to her human form.
The dragon stood up, stretching its wings. "Just take things slow and rest. I'll be back in a couple of hours, hopefully." A faint chuckle accompanied its words.
With a leather bag strapped around its neck, the dragon began to make its way toward the cave's pile of belongings.
"Remember," the dragon turned to face her, pointing at the cloth-covered carcass. "Your food is here. Make sure to eat."
Holly regarded the food. It might serve as sustenance for her when she eventually escaped. It would help her endure in the outside world. She turned her attention to the dragon and nodded.
The dragon's tail swayed as it smiled. "Good." It started walking toward the exit of the cave, the flaps of its wings resonating through the silence. And then, it was gone.
Holly waited for a few minutes before attempting to stand on all fours, her movements shaky and unsteady. Slowly but surely, she gained confidence in her newfound form's locomotion, finding it to be more intricate than she had initially thought.
Once she felt secure in her balance, she approached the pile of leather straps and bags. A feeling of tightness in her chest accompanied her shakily reaching for one of the bags. She sat down, her tail feeling oddly positioned as she carefully opened the flap of the bag. She hoped to find some sort of small weapon, perhaps a knife, among the items, but her search yielded something unexpected: a jar containing a plant.
She snorted in disbelief and returned the jar to the bag. She then turned her attention to the second bag, finding within it several dried animal pelts. Her mind raced with confusion – why would dragons possess such items? Weren't dragons supposed to be nothing more than flying wolves? She recalled hearing stories about dragons living in palaces and cities, but she had dismissed those tales as mere exaggerations. What she was witnessing now seemed to challenge her preconceived notions.
Could it be that dragons were more intelligent and complex than she had believed? Were they deliberately misleading people to perceive them as mere beasts to lower their guards? Were dragons aware of human intelligence?
The recollection of a survivor's story chilled her to the bone – a friend begging for mercy before a dragon devoured them whole. Those stories had reinforced the notion that dragons were monstrous creatures.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she placed the bag back down and took hold of the carcass, gripping it with her jaws. Standing on all fours, she turned her attention to the exit of the cave, taking measured steps toward it.
As she cautiously made her way out of the cave, she felt a mixture of anticipation and dread. Her heart pounded in her chest as she ventured into the forest, the towering trees enveloping her in their shadows.
Author's Note:
This chapter was beta read by LookyIt'saJess