Chapter Six
Jada stumbled back into the cave where it all began and was never so happy to see fire burning than she was in that moment. Bruddis and Draego were seated on a bolder, waiting and when they saw her emerge, they grinned.
“Hi,” she said quietly, happy to see them again.
“See! I told you she’d figure it out. We found ourselves a smart little human,” Bruddis said and she flushed with embarrassment.
“If she passes the third trial, I’m still going to blister her backside for wandering off the path when I explicitly told her not to,” Draego replied firmly, yet even he couldn’t keep from smile back at her. His icy glare seemed to thaw and she smiled in return.
“Promise?” she whispered boldly and his eyes caught hers.
Her bottom clenched at the thought of his punishing palm and she prayed he would forget, but hoped he wouldn’t. He smiled darkly and she shivered, wondering what other dirty things he had planned for her.
The fire blaze parted and the path to the final door was revealed.
She went to skip forward, but Draego caught her wrist in his palm and pulled her into his chest. His arms curled around her and he kissed the top of her head. Bruddis stood beside them and took her from his brother’s arms, holding her tight.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“This last trial is designed just for you. It’s the shaman’s final test,” Bruddis said reluctantly. His fingers grazed her cheek and he cupped her chin.
“This will be the toughest one. We’ll be waiting for you here when you return,” he said before pulling her into a kiss. His lips devoured her and she hungrily kissed him back. Bruddis pulled away and stared into her eyes with a sense of longing before turning away.
“Good luck, pet,” Bruddis whispered softly.
Draego took her palm and lifted it to his lips.
“Come back successful, little human and I’ll make sure that you won’t ever forget your wedding night for as long as you live,” he said, his gaze darkening with seductive promise, “as well as a punishment you won’t ever forget.”
She smirked back at him, trying her best to hide her nervousness at bay. The princes released her, and gently guided her in the direction of the burning door.
Her fate was waiting behind that blazing fire.
Swallowing her dread, fear, and nervous anticipation, she slowly strode forward, as if she was placing one foot in front of the other and heading to her doom. Before she reached the portal, she looked back at the men.
Her body burned for them even now. She wondered what life would be like for her here, if she could handle being wife to two men. Bruddis was sweet and warm, yet she knew he could be firm with her if the need arose. Draego was mysterious, unyielding, and she yearned to sample his darker tastes. She knew he wouldn’t hesitate to punish her if he desired it and she kind of liked that fact.
Even in her hesitant hope that she might get to have her own happy ending after so much suffering, she remembered her family. She wondered how they were faring without her, if they grieved her death and if they were alright. It was hard to accept her own desire for happiness when she had been forced to leave them behind.
Lost in her thoughts, she turned away from Draego and Bruddis and back toward the fiery portal. With a deep breath, she reached forward, placing her fingers in the brilliant light. With a final courageous push, she walked through the door and felt the rush of magic pull her forward to a place she couldn’t even begin to imagine.
When her feet landed on the ground and the light around her had faded, she coughed, the acrid smell of burnt flesh and death choking her immediately, almost like someone had a harsh grip on her throat. Looking around, she breathed shallow breaths, rising smoke causing her eyes to tear up and sting. Blinking away the wetness in her eyes, she gasped upon witnessing the world she’d been transported to.
Dirt, fire, and ice. Patches of frozen tundra and burning ruins spread across the land. Human figures ran screaming while two massive dragon forms swooped down from the sky. One breathed fire, the other ice, just like she’d seen Bruddis and Draego do, only these dragons were different. They were bigger, their colors deeper, and their hatred for each other obvious as they slashed at each other in battle. Talons ripped and tore along their steel scales, screeching so loud she had to cover her ears at the sound. Fire and ice rained down around her and she yelped as an ember burned her skin.
She ran for cover in what looked to be the remnants of a small stone house, the wooden roof burnt halfway to a crisp. Fire hit the ground in waves as she ran and when she finally reached the door, she dove inside and pressed up against the wall, closing her eyes in fear as hot flames surrounded the hut. Outside, the dragons roared loudly and she shivered with fear.
This was insanity. The sounds of people dying and hurt tore at her heart and she squeezed her eyes shut tighter with a silent cry.
A soft noise made her jump and she opened her eyes in a flash, trying to look into the dark shadows of the dwelling she had sprinted into. It seemed like the shadows drifted on their own and she blinked a few times to clear her vision. As her sight adjusted to the dim light, small shapes began to appear in a faraway corner.
A small clicking sound filled the room, followed by a soft whine and her ear pricked toward the sound. Slowly, she moved closer and four little beady eyes turned in her direction, two blue and the other two bright red.
One beast moved toward her, followed by the other. When they wandered into a draft of light, she gasped. They were baby dragons. Small and about the size of a small dog, they were tiny compared to the large ones flying around in the sky outside. On the floor beside them were remnants of broken eggshells.
They were freshly hatched.
One was the color of rust, the other charcoal gray, just like Bruddis and Draego. Kneeling down, she sat down on the floor and watched them. They stared at her with curiosity and excitement, and most interestingly, zero fear.
Their talons scraped the floor, their limbs shakily moving in her direction.
She was still as they nudged her hand, still as they brushed against her thighs, and still as they climbed up into her lap, purring happily as if they’d just found their mother. Uneasily, she ran her fingers along their scales, finding them softer than the ones she felt on Bruddis when she had flown on his back. These younglings were vulnerable and with the battle raging outside, in serious danger if they were discovered.
It was eerie how much they both looked like Bruddis and Draego, only in a much smaller package. The same eyes, the same color, the same everything. They curled up in her lap and pressed their heads into her stomach and she couldn’t help but smile softly at their simple and trusting natures.
Coughing quietly, residual smoke still burning her lungs, she leant back against a nearby wall and closed her eyes, exhaustion reigning over her like a rockslide.
When she awoke, the world outside seemed strangely quiet and she shivered, realizing the temperature had dropped several degrees in the hours that had passed. The baby dragons had crawled a short distance away and were huddled together, still asleep. She crawled toward the door and looked outside through one of the cracks in what remained of the burnt wood.
There was ice and snow everywhere. Not far away, the ice dragon rested, a low snore rumbling and shaking the very ground beneath her. Quietly, she crept backwards, careful to not make a single sound. It was daylight and the sun peeked through the damaged roof, but it wasn’t enough to warm the room.
To her right side, she saw what looked like a woolen blanket. Picking it up, she curled it around her shoulders and shivered. It was so cold. The little rust-colored dragon picked up its head from his brother’s back and stared in her direction.
Again, the eerie feeling that she knew him popped back into her mind.
“Bruddis?” she whispered under her breath.
The dragon trilled quietly in her direction and she shushed him soundlessly under her breath. The gray creature raised his head next.
“Draego,” she sighed and the baby nodded once, in typical Draego fashion. Grinning, she shook her head. Maybe she was crazy for thinking of the brothers and thinking these tiny dragons were them. Maybe none of this was real and it was all a byproduct of the fire shaman’s magic. But then again, it could all be real. Pinching herself harshly, she whimpered slightly at the pain. Definitely not a dream then.
Her stomach growled dangerously loud.
Rising to her feet, blanket still secure around her shoulders, she padded through the house, looking for something to eat. A large standing wooden shelf had jars and cans stacked on it and she sighed happily when she recognized a few that looked like some sort of jam, others that looked like soup and canned fruits. There was even a semi-stale loaf of bread on a table beside it.
Tearing off a piece of bread, she opened a jar that looked like grape jelly and dipped the food right in. When she placed it on her tongue, she nearly moaned with delight as a salty chocolate flavor spread across her mouth. It was so much better than the grape flavor she had been expecting.
She ate her fill silently and when the dragons lifted their heads and looked in her direction, she hesitantly offered them a piece of bread, not knowing what they’d eat. The two creatures trilled happily and waddled over to her, taking the bread right from her fingers and chomping it up in a matter of seconds. It was actually pretty cute.
The day passed slowly, the beams of light slowly shifting across the floor as the sun passed overhead. Periodically, she heard the warring beasts outside roar and clash, and the three of them inside their little house were quiet. Even the babies seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and were unnaturally silent for such young creatures.
Jada passed the time by exploring the rest of the house, finding more food, including some sort of meat jerky and a stash of dry red wine. Her throat still parched, she poured herself a small amount in the cleanest silver goblet she could find and sipped it slowly, knowing her tolerance would probably be low. There wasn’t any water to be found.
The delicious flavors of berries, apples, and grapes exploded on her tongue, along with a few other tastes she couldn’t recognize. She shrugged. This was an alien planet after all.
In her explorations, she found a stack of paper and some pens, even a few books but they were in a language that she couldn’t understand. Instead, she drew on the paper, entertaining herself with vivid images of dragons and other mythical creatures.
It wasn’t long before it was time to sleep, the setting sun taking away what little light they had.
Days seemed to ebb and go as she sheltered in the small stone hut, surrounded by sounds of the never-ending battle outside. She sipped on wine casually and ate only when she was hungry, not wanting to go through her food stores too quickly.
She found herself growing attached to the little beasts and delighted in watching them grow larger day by day. Their growth rate was fast and she caught herself sadly wondering about the day where they would be too big to hide in their dwelling. When that day came to pass, she had no idea what they would do.
She could tell they watched her, ate less than they needed simply to keep her healthy and it warmed her heart. Occasionally, she would watch as they caught a small mouse or rat, eating them whole in a single swallow.
They were probably tasty for a dragon, she thought.
More and more, she thought about why she was here, what sort of trial she was supposed to pass in order to go back to her men, and what sort of test this could be. She racked her brain for possible answers and came up with nothing. The hut offered zero clues as to why she had been sent here in the first place.
Some days were hot and others were cold, depending on which dragons had captured the battlefield for that period of time. Used to constantly being quiet, she hardly spoke and instead communicated with her body, smiling when she was happy, frowning when she was sad. The young dragons followed suit and they grew closer because of it. She knew when they were happy or sad, hungry or bored and she did her best to keep them satisfied. At night, they all slept together, one on either side of her, keeping her close and she didn’t mind.
It was all rather nice. It was a simple life, if only a bit lonely.
One morning, Jada was looking sadly at the quickly emptying food shelf and she heard a loud boom outside. An ear-piercing roar echoed around them and she yelped at the sound. The ground shook like an earthquake and her eyes tore to the door.
All at once, her world fell apart. The front wall of the house crumbled as one of the battling dragons skidded into it, coming to a stop some mere inches from where she stood by the shelf. The young dragons jumped up from their resting spot on the other side of the structure and growled softly, but she could tell that they were afraid.
They were all afraid.
Bruddis and Draego stared in her direction, begging her to come to them simply with their body language. They had grown to be the size of rather large dogs now, either one of them weighing much more than she, but they were no match for the fully grown dragons warring around them.
The massive dragon moved, lifting its dark sapphire-colored body. It shook off the rubble and swung its head in her direction. Its ice blue eyes connected with hers and the snarl that ensued chilled her to the bone. It was an ice dragon, similar to Draego, but full grown and very angry.
The blue dragon’s lips curled, steam rising from its nostrils in warning.
She stood very still and trembled as it looked in the opposite direction, having picked up on the presence of the babies she’d spent so much time with. Alarmingly, she saw his hackles rise immediately, the presence of two more males in his territory driving him wild with adrenaline and fury.
With a swing of his head, the ice dragon knocked down the rest of the walls, exposing them completely to the field of battle.
Crying out in alarm, she jumped as the other fire-breathing dragon landed on the ground beside them. He looked back and forth between Bruddis and Draego, the ice dragon, and herself, growling so loud it felt like the sound powered her heart.
Long necks rose up into the sky as they stared down at her, judging whether or not to kill her. Panicked, she glanced back at the baby dragons who were edging toward her side. They looked ready to attack at any second and she prayed they wouldn’t else they would all be dead within moments.
The fire and ice dragons stared at her, evil grins curling their lips up in a frightening scowl. It was almost like the warring dragons had banded together against them, an uneasy peace settling when a new enemy presented itself.
“Pick one to die, pretty woman,” a voice sounded in her head.
The fire dragon stared into her eyes and she had no question in her mind that he was the one that had spoken to her.
“What do you mean? Pick one?” she asked, her confusion and fear quickly growing overwhelming. How could she pick one of them to die? She loved them both with all her heart. Bruddis, so kind and warm and Draego, so serious and dark, how could she choose?
They were innocent. They didn’t deserve this.
The ice dragon slammed his foot into the ground, shaking the ground and the rubble around them enough to make her cry out in terror.
“Choose. The red one or the gray one. Make your choice, human,” the ice dragon roared and her heart beat wildly in her chest.
She couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t. What right did these dragons have to dictate who lived and who died? Her heart pounded in her chest, anger boiling rapidly to the surface, and every muscle in her body tensed with a fiery courage. They were monsters, battling it out over territory and she would die before she let them hurt the small dragons she’d grown so close to. Her dragons. Her men. They meant the world to her.
“No. I refuse. I won’t choose either one of them.”
“Then they both die,” the fire dragon laughed.
When they moved in the direction of Bruddis and Draego, she yelled out and threw herself toward them so that her body blocked their advance. Furious, the fire and ice dragons drew back their heads, steam and smoke rising from the nostrils as they roared with fury, their legs and claws slamming into the ground and shaking her entire world.
Time seemed to slow. They were going to kill her. She saw their stomachs glow, bright red and blue, building the fires meant to bring her to her death.
So, this was how it all ended, huh?
She failed. She was going to die.
Stumbling, she fell to her knees and cried out as her skin tore against the rock. She tried to move as quickly as she could and rise to her feet, using every single ounce of energy she could summon in that very moment. Spreading her arms wide, she blocked both Bruddis and Draego with her own body. They couldn’t die. She wouldn’t allow it.
“You’ll have to kill me to get through to them,” she screamed, her muscles quivering with a boiling mixture of anger, fear, and raw courage.
It was going to be okay. If this was how it was meant to end, so be it.
The beasts opened their lips wide, showcasing massive sharp teeth that dripped with saliva. They opened their mouth wide and she watched with horror as fire and ice hurtled in her direction.
Death.
She should be more afraid, shouldn’t she?
In her last few moments, she could only think about was how her tiny beasts would escape. At the last second, her life flashed before her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. She should have done more with her life, should have fought back when she was branded as a murderer, should have gone to see her family after everything had happened.
Time seemed to slow as the dragons roared before her and the brothers cried out behind it. She watched as the icy blast and hot blaze raced toward her with a sense of detachment.
Fate was a cruel master. Biting her lip, she waited for death, for the darkness to take her. Closing her eyes, she embraced it.
Fire and ice curled around her skin and she screamed in agony. Moments seemed like hours before the blackness overtook her and her world faded into shadow.
It was all over.