Chapter 11
The Words You Say
There was a hissing noise as they seemed to form words. “You failed us.” It accused Bree.
Calixto and Bree looked at the creatures. There were two of them and they did not have a definitive form. Instead, their outlines shifted and turned, making it nearly impossible to focus on them without getting a headache.
Bree stepped forward, “You are after me, not him. Let him go.”
The demons laughed, “Little witch, you have no room to negotiate.”
Bree slipped a hand into the folds of her dress and reached into another dimension where her chest was stored. She pulled her hand out of the dimension and stretched out her arm out. “I think I have all of the bargaining chips.”
The demons moved closer, “Give it to us!”
Bree pulled it back and dropped the object into the top of her dress. She felt it nestled between her breasts, “You must let him go first.”
“No!” Calixto and the demons all screamed at her. Calixto’s hand went around her wrist, “You promised!” His voice was firm and his red eyes looked as hot as the magma beneath them.
Bree gave him a smile and gently pulled her hand out of his, “Please, trust me.” He set his jaw but gave her an imperceptible nod.
“You will return this man to the top of the mountains, then we will begin negotiations.”
The demons hissed in response, “He himself has already expressed a desire to stay.”
Calixto stepped forward, “I consent to being returned to the top.”
The demons laughed, “What you will or will not allow has no place here.”
Calixto turned and looked at Bree. She winked at him and took several steps forward, “If you want your precious item, you will return him-”
The ledge under her cracked and fell away. Before she could fall, Calixto’s hands were around her waist, pulling her back to safety.
The demons cackled, “He is fast for a human.”
Bree was pleased when her companion did not answer the insult. Perhaps he was too angry by it. Hoping that was the case, Bree laughed. “You should have sent him back when you had the chance. My pet is not going to leave so easily now that he knows what you are trying to do.” She felt the air tense behind her, and Bree could imagine the angry look on Calixto’s face at her words. I’m sorry Calixto, she thought to him. Though she had not expected it, the air relaxed a little after her thought.
The demons moved forward, “We did not intend to drop you into the magma just yet, not until we retrieve what is ours.”
“Well, this is where we run into a bit of a problem, because the demons you had me steal this from seemed to have a very legitimate claim to it. I am curious to see which one of you is right so that I can determine who the real owners are.”
“It is us!” The demons swirled and shifted in agitation.
“But you have never produced any proof of that.”
“We do not need proof!”
“Are you sure? Because the Sentii had proof.”
“They are lying! It belongs to us.” One of the demons was doing little more than pitching a fit. The other one finally responded, “And what proof did they give you?”
Bree gave them a look of uncertainty, “I’m not sure if can tell you that.”
“It is ours!” The first demon shouted.
“Yes, yes, I have heard you say that several times, but saying it doesn’t make it yours. I mean, I could shout that right now, and you would dispute that it was mine.”
“You dare to mock us, little witch?” The second demon seemed far more attuned to what she was doing than the first.
She gave him a look of shock, “Mocking you? I am simply point out that one set of demons had proof, the others seemed to be lying to get something that they had no right to.”
The demons neared her, “What proof did they offer you?”
As soon as they were close, Bree stretched out her hand and wrapped them in a cold chill. The demons immediately started screaming and struggling against the web of cold, tightening it with every move they made. “The truth. You see, I'm not a little witch.” She squeezed the net, “I’m a sorceress.” The hissing and screams from the netting redoubled, causing the rocks on the walls of the volcano to come crashing down on all sides. An arm wrapped around her and Bree felt Calixto pressing her into his body. He was protecting her so that she would not lose focus.
Silently begging the gods to keep Calixto safe, Bree let out a loud laugh to make it look like she was not afraid. “The best proof they gave me was to let me borrow it. They told me to see for myself that it was theirs, and so I have.”
The yowls from the demons were unintelligible, but she pressed on. “Of course, this will not kill you, but by the time you recover, the true owners will be aware of your plans. So there is something for you to look forward to once you finish reforming.”
With that the demons disappeared. The instant they were gone, Bree turned and buried her face in Calixto’s chest. She pushed a field out several feet from his body so that he would not get further injured. As soon as the rock slide was done, she released the field and immediately began looking around them.
“And this is why I had not wanted to get caught away from their home.” The magma underneath them was rising. “I can’t fly.”
She turned to look at him, “I guess we can try climbing out of here, but I doubt that we will be able to get very far before this stuff over takes us. I am so sorry Calixto.” She wrapped her arms around him and felt his arms gently encircle her. “I am so sorry to drag you into this.”
“I don’t mind.” He stroked her hair.
She sighed, “I do. I mind very much.”
Calixto pulled away from her, “Do you mean that?”
She nodded, “I don’t mind dying, but I do not want that for you. I think it is even safe to say that I like you a bit.”
He smiled down at her as the heat from the magma began to reach them. She knew that meant they had a few minutes left. She wouldn’t exactly die happy, not knowing that he would parish too, but Bree could not imagine a better last view as she stared into his smiling face.
He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, apparently oblivious to the heat, “Do you like me enough to stay with me?”
Bree giggled, “I think that I can almost imagine a future like that. Almost.”
“Except…”
She pressed her face into his neck, “Except that we are going to die here and admitting that I could live such a life now might actually hurt.”
He squeezed her and whispered in her ear, “Say please.”
“What?” She pulled back and looked at his face to see if he was joking.
He was still smiling, but there was nothing to suggest that he was joking, “Say please.”
“Are you trying to make me feel less guilty now?”
He squeezed her hips with his hands, “Stubborn sorceress, do you trust me or not?”
Bree tilted her mouth in a half grin to humor him, “Please Calixto.”
He patted her on the head, “Good girl. I promise to be gentle.”
With that, Calixto stepped back and began to transform. His toned body began to expand and change in ways that should have been impossible. Bree watched in awe, her eyes catching every detail of the change, yet she had a difficult time believing what she saw.
The magma was spitting and bubbling below them as a large red dragon unfurled its wings and gently wrapped its claws around Bree.
As he moved away from the ledge, Bree looked up at the nearly perfect body of the man who had chosen her. If she had thought his human form was gorgeous, it was nothing compared to the beauty of the creature that he was by nature. “You are right, I don’t think I would have believed you if you told me.”
The dragon looked down at her, and if dragons could smile Bree knew what that smile would look like as she watched Calixto. She laughed as they flew out of the volcano top and headed toward a clearing that would have taken several days to reach on foot. His wings opened and the shadow he cast would easily have covered a small village. Calixto was big as a human – as a dragon he was gigantic.
“Do you think you could land us over that way?” Bree pointed to a location far from the volcano, a distance that would have taken several days with a horse. Calixto rumbled as if question was an insult. With impossible speed, they headed toward the place where Bree had indicated.
Bree was gently placed on the ground and a moment later Calixto stood beside her. His face wasn’t as cold as it usually was, but there was no trace of superiority or an oncoming lecture. The man’s eyes blinked a few times as he watched Bree.
Shaking her head, the young woman threw her arms around his neck. “And I thought you were attractive in your human form. Ye Gods, how many people know there are dragon shifters out there? It can’t be very many.”
Calixto looked down at her with a half grin, “A few more people know about the existence of dragon shifters than the continued existence of a sorceress.”
Bree’s lips formed an oh before she chuckled, “It certainly explains how you understand power. I can’t even imagine what that kind of power feels like.” Her hand ran along his chest.
Placing his hand on hers, “And I cannot imagine what it is like to have so much power in such a small frame.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
Stepping forward, Bree pushed her body against his, and she was pleased to hear the sound of his laugh.
He pushed her away from him, “Now is not the time for that.”
“There is never a better time for love making than after a near death experience.”
He looked down at her, “Is that so?”
“Here let me show you.” She took his hand and pulled him away from the erupting volcano. It was all but forgotten. There was very little life around it, and they were too far away from it for it to be more than a pretty sight to watch.
The pair reached a large cabin. Bree turned the handle and entered it, pulling Calixto behind her. He pulled his hand out of hers, causing her to turn around. “We cannot be here.”
Bree looked at him confused, “Is this place dangerous for you?”
He frowned at her, “It isn’t our place. We can’t go making use of a human’s domicile at our leisure.”
Bree smiled at him and reached into her storage dimension, “Here, this should make you feel better.”
He read over a short missive. “You just happen to know the owner of this place?”
Bree nodded, “I have this kind of agreement in pretty much every province, state, city, country, prefecture, and domain in Letera. A lot of people owe me.” She wrapped his arms around her and pulled him toward one of the rooms. “Now let me show you the proper way to celebrate a near death experience.”
Calixto did not need any coaxing. He pulled her to him and swept her feet off of the ground. She laughed as he began kissing her neck, a laugh that soon turned into a moan. He slipped her dress off of her body before they had even reached the bed. Bree was tugging at his shirt as he tossed her onto the bed. She laughed as she flew through the air. Almost as soon as she hit the bed, Calixto was on top of her, one hand cupping her breast and the other pulling her leg around his hip. Shocked at how aggressive he was being, Bree murmured in his ear, “I don’t remember you being this eager before.”
Pulling back and looking down on her, the man replied, “Perhaps it was the lack of a near death experience.” He began kissing her as she laughed.
His hands were fast and efficient as they explored her body. Calixto had brought her to peaking less than a minute after getting her onto the bed. Bree was panting as she flipped over on top of him and worked his pants off with her hands and feet. Before she could do anything else, Calixto’s husky voice broke her concentration, “I don’t think so.”
The world spun and Bree found herself once again under him, “I am no one’s pet.”
Bree laughed as he kissed her forehead and down her face, “It had to sound believable,” she panted into his hair. “If they knew you were anything else, they would have killed you.”
Calixto stopped and looked at her, “With what? Magma?”
“Of course, they were-Oh,” she looked into his eyes as he smiled at her. She gave his arm a slap, “I didn’t know you were a dragon.”
The bed vibrated as he laughed and spread her legs apart with his hand. The laughter stopped as soon as he began to move into her. Bree wrapper her legs around his hips and arched into him. For the first time in a long time, she allowed someone else complete control over her body.
Several hours passed before either of them was ready to stop. Bree ran her hand through Calixto’s hair as she rested against his chest when a noise caught their attention. Both sets of eyes turned to looked at several wisps hovering over the ground a few feet from the bed.
“We are sorry to interrupt your procreation, but we have business with the witch.”
Bree sat up and stretched her hand out to her dress. A small, shiny object levitated over it. “It’s quite alright. I didn’t expect you so soon, but it would be best that you get this back into a secure location before something happens to it.”
The creatures moved in a way that suggested they agreed. “We thank you for your assistance. It was much quicker and far less risky than the other option.”
Bree nodded, “I know. I was glad to be of service.”
“Have you decided on your payment?”
Bree was aware of Calixto watching her as she shrugged, “I still haven’t thought of anything for myself. However, I hear that there is an expedition taking off from Berenice in about a month. I don’t really care one way or the other about the main objective, but there is a young researcher on board. She is quite intelligent and rather witty, so I would like to see just what she is capable of. If you would guide the course of her ship to a location that is suitable for her purposes, I would say that is payment enough.”
The wisps moved around as if in thought, “Directing the path of ships hardly seems like adequate payment.”
Bree smiled, “It may not be quite as simple as you may think. The Aeoleans are planning to destroy the ships before they reach their destination.”
“Ah,” there was a little sound of excitement in the response, “That sounds more like a game than a payment. And what path would be most beneficial for this researcher?”
Bree shrugged, “I have no idea.”
“You need us to figure that out?”
“And that is why it is adequate payment.”
The wisps moved in a way that was hypnotic and sounded like a breeze travelling around the room. “We look forward to repaying our debt to you. And we wish you health in your future dealings.”
Bree bowed her head. The wisps and the item disappeared.
Calixto moved too fast for Bree to resist. His hands pinned her wrists to the bed and his body lay on top of her. He looked down at her, “You said that you were bored, but based on what you said to the magma demons, you weren’t just working because of boredom. It sounded like they were trying to start something more serious.”
Bree shrugged, “Yes, and I interfered because I was bored. I’m sure that things would have worked out alright because the Sentii are incredibly intelligent, just a little too trusting. All I did was help avert open conflict.”
Calixto blinked at her, “And roughly how many lives do you think that you saved?”
She gave him a half grin, “It’s impossible to see the future, even more impossible to see all possible scenarios. Perhaps I save thousands, or perhaps I didn’t save anyone.”
“You received no payment for your work.” His voice was low and his eyes kept shifting to her breasts. She watched as he forced his lovely red eyes to look at her face.
“She really is a bright girl, and seeing her potential come to fruition is the best payment I can imagine.”
Calixto release her hands and looked away, “I am sincerely humbled by what you have done, and I apologize for the things I said to you. You are not selfish and foolish. The world has no idea how lucky it is to have you in it.” His eyes darted back to her, “Well, you are foolish, but not out of selfishness.”
Bree smiled up at him, “And you are almost the perfect man. The only thing wrong with you is that on the very rare occasion, you are wrong.” Her hand traced an elegant red dragon covering his shoulder. “So, you all literally wear your shape on your body.” Smiling up at him, Bree realized that she never wanted the touch of another man. Calixto complimented her in a way that no one else could. “Gods, I actually found a virtually perfect man. Unbelievable.”
Calixto smiled down on her, “Your words hurt.”
Bree sighed, “Next you will tell me that my smile is painful too.”
Slowly Calixto lowered his head and began to kiss her neck. Bree let him move her thighs apart and stroke them with his hand. “No,” he murmured, “your smile is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.” His movements were slow and deliberate as he gently pressed into her. Bree let out a satisfied groan as his mouth sought hers. His tongue parted her lips as he worked deeper into her.
The End
Captured by Kazak
Dragons Take a Princess
(Book One)
Chapter One
Princess Marea walked out into the royal gardens. She looked around for an appropriate place to settle, an easel tucked under her arms, and a paint holder and a box of paints. Behind her, about ten guards followed, all intent on protecting her. And, also, to not allow her any privacy whatsoever.
Really, she thought, irritated as the guards trumped around, generating noise, scaring away the birds and other objects of interest. Talking to them did nothing – they were under orders from her beloved father to not speak to her, or take any orders, since she had a tendency to give them insane instructions – and it took all the fun out of her already excessively dull life.
“I doubt any other princess gets guarded this much,” Marea muttered, stubbornly setting up her easel, and propping herself on the perfectly trimmed grass. Her red dress crumpled beneath her, more like an elaborate wedding gown than a practical dress for walking around the grounds, but her mother insisted on a princess always looking her best.
“You never know when that handsome prince is going to walk through the door,” her mother said, with a wide smile and a glint of her baby blue eyes.
Not exactly hard to find a prince in Marea’s world, given that they hosted at least five other kingdoms in their castle per week, and she was always up to her eyeballs in princes and princesses. One hundred kingdoms, one hundred extra reasons to find being royalty a drag. Even the downright pampering irritated her. She didn't know anything. A servant was more skilled than her, because sky knew if she could figure out how to change a bedsheet without getting tangled in it.
Of course, Marea was edging close to her thirties, unheard of for a princess, except she also had six other sisters to marry up ahead of her, and she never failed to mess things up for any visiting prince which she suspected her mother and father was trying to hitch her up with.
Now, with the recent bate of dragon attacks on all the border kingdoms, with princesses being carried off at least once a month, her father had upped the security, and ordered them to stick to her like glue, so she didn't slip off into some dark alley and sneak along the general population, like she was prone to do anyway. Her mother forced her to take courtesy lessons, embroidery, learn all the fashions going through court, and which big marriages or knight quests had hit the news.
She was also supposed to know how to appropriately act and scream when taken by a monster. (With a dragon, you were supposed to flap your arms and wail.)
“You're getting awfully old,” her mother would say, in that familiar upturn way she held her nose, and glared disapprovingly at her daughter. “I was married at sixteen. I was a proper princess, and your sisters are good examples, too. Where did I go wrong with you?”
Everything, Marea thought. She didn't know why she was unable to click. Why she refused the princes, even though she had such a vast pool to choose from. They were stupid, they were fake. Reasons and excuses she gave, but really – she just didn't find the polite smiling attractive. She wanted something rough. Like that time when she went to the taverns, disguised as a wench, and saw the way the men laughed raucously, and the women were bold, taking who they wanted and whenever they felt like it.
Marea desired that freedom. To be able to let go and just laugh, instead of worrying about being abducted by dragons, or an invasion from the Dark Clans, or whether the other princesses would mock her choice of outfit or not.
She raised a paintbrush with green smeared over the tip, and pressed it to the canvas. She couldn't paint, of course, but it gave her an excuse to sit out in the garden without appearing out of place. One of the guards gave her an odd look, breaking the normal custom of staring resolutely ahead and pretending to be invisible. She examined the man through her straw yellow hair, noting his strong physique through the rigid uniform, and the way his green eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight. He had such good cheekbones, too, and a malleable curve of the muscles in his face, along with the hint of a red trimmed beard, giving him a Wilderness look.
She wished at that moment she could paint him. Something about those eyes arrested her. Just a shame he was a lowly guard, and not a prince. She wondered what words those plump lips might say, what kind of life he led outside the job in the castle. Maybe he even lived in the castle, in the lower chambers.
The guard gave her a thin, predatory smile. Marea blinked. Had she just imagined that expression? The guard now appeared neutral, though his eyes still bore into her.
Licking her lips, allowing some of the paint to smear over the canvas, Marea stated, “Are you supposed to be looking upon a princess like that?”
Several of the other guards appeared nervous at the statement. The man with the emerald eyes, though, shrugged. “It appears to me that you're the one staring... princess.”
The audacity of his statement made her temporarily hang her mouth open. Why, no one dared speak to a princess like that. Especially if they were lower class, like this man.
“I could have you executed for speaking like that to me.”
“Why? I'm only answering to what you say to me. Unless you like to kill people who are brave enough to talk to you.” His emerald eyes trailed up and down her body, taking in the blood red dress with all the ruffles and frills, gaudy and elegant, two things Marea was not. Heat flushed in her cheeks. How dare he?
She almost gave the order. It bubbled up to the tip of her tongue, waiting to unload the man's fate. Everyone knew that you weren't supposed to lip a princess, and she sensed insubordination. Apathy, even. At the same time though, it felt refreshing to be stood up to like that.
How much normal conversation have I been missing out on?
Some of the green paint had dripped all the way from the brush onto her hand. “Oh!” Her shame, embarrassment, and the other thing turned to surprise. She ordered the guard to fetch her a cloth, and he did as bid, not saying anything else, but smiling at her with a half smile. A mocking one. And with a look that made her feel as if she were being undressed. Inch by inch, from the top of her lacy gown to the bottom of her black, high heel shoes.
What's wrong with me? She shook her head to clear away the steam that heated her mind, sped her heartbeat up. She must be starved for affection. Yes. That would be it. Starved due to the polite arm distance she always needed to keep from everyone. Starved because her parents offered her no affection other than duty.
She pointedly ignored the green-eyed guard for the rest of her monotonous day, though when she thought of him, if was as if her gray day had been painted a little extra color. Certainly better than the atrocious mess she splashed on her canvas.
She attended the evening feast, where a prince and two princesses from their neighboring kingdom, Yaltine, commented on how they were stepping it up with the border guard.
“We're getting more raids on the villages from the Dark Clans,” princess Esmer said, when elbowed in the ribs by her older sister, Hallie. Marea liked Esmer – she wore the princess mantle better, with a vibrant fire mane sprouting from her head, instead of the wet yellow straw that stuck out at awkward angles from Marea's.
I could have a bird's nest in my hair, and no one would notice. Marea ate her food in her normal silence, only speaking when spoken to, observing the royals and nobles from both kingdoms laughing and discussing with one another. Her father, clad in golden robes, entertained the king of Yaltine, who stood several inches taller, with a ferocious red beard jutting out from his chin. So many red heads. First the guard, now this family. Plenty of people with a touch of the Wilderness.
Esmer spotted Marea, who was slightly hunched over her squid rings, plucking at them. The distinctive aromas of each dish flooded the room, from the salted fish dishes, to the juicy red meat dishes, and roasted vegetables, all creating a musk that blended together perfectly. Marea pressed the fork in her hand hard, so that little lines formed in her skin.
“I notice you have a lot of security following you nowadays,” Esmer said to Marea, pointing to the ten guards who even stood in the room with them, though they leaned against the wall edges. “Have the dragon attacks been getting worse?”
Marea shrugged. “They say they spotted one swooping around the castle, trying to reach one of the princesses. My father is a cautious man, and I am of course, an unmarried woman.”
“Same,” Esmer said, with a trilling laugh. “I just have the one guard, though. I suppose when you're the twelfth child in a very big family, protection isn't quite as important.”
“Don't say that!” Hallie scolded her sister, a scowl knitted over her brow. “You know perfectly well we're safe in our palace. It's the villages the Dark Clans are scavenging, and we have a big army.”
“We have in total one mage,” Esmer pointed out. “And an army is useless against a really determined dragon. Marea, how many mages does your kingdom employ?”
“Uh...” Marea didn't want to talk, though she appreciated Esmer's effort to include her. “We have around eight. Ice and fire mages.”
“See?” Esmer said, now turning to her sister again. “Eight mages. We have one. Because our father's spending his treasury on the wrong resources.”
Marea tuned out the conversation as the sisters continued to argue, uncomfortably picking at her blue velvet dress, changed especially for the feast.
Dragons stealing princesses. Monsters eating people. The Dark Clans probing at the border kingdoms, robbing people and stealing women as well, taking them back into the Wilderness. The untamed land beyond the hundred kingdoms. Lands of forests, mountains, rivers and lakes – and thousands of monsters.
How humans could even live in the Wilderness, Marea didn't understand. Surely they'd all be eaten. But no, they lived there, and sometimes they came into the kingdoms to civilize themselves.
Like that guard...
Marea's eyes trailed along the guards pressed against the wall, but she caught no sign of the emerald eyed man. Nine guards. The tenth was missing.
She didn't think much of it, and focused on finishing her meal, before retreating to her chamber for the evening.
Walking up the spiral staircase, the nine guards behind her, filling out the wide stairs, along with one of the handmaidens to lock her into her room.
Like a prisoner, Marea thought wryly. She listened to the click of the key turning, and examined the slice of moonlight that came in through the window, onto her pink bedsheets. She prodded the braziers in her room one by one, and they flickered into life, enchantments gifted by the fire mages in her father's employment. Smokeless, they provided heat and warmth.
Wish I could be a mage. Far more useful than being locked in my room at night. She watched the flickering light for a moment, before heaving a sigh, and stepping in front of the huge mirror on her wardrobe, watching herself as she peeled off the evening gown. She unclasped a few buttons on her shoulders, allowing it to flow down into a blue pool on the floor, leaving her undergarments on, white, plain and unassuming. She rubbed her feet as she removed the high heels. Her tendons were sore and red from wearing the new shoes, and already, a blister formed on her fragile skin. She placed on flat soled silken slippers instead, planning to sit by the window and read, whilst observing the kingdom outside beyond the castle.
She liked doing this, seeing all the crooked buildings and bending streets with their little lights and sometimes quirky designs. She also liked looking into the Wilderness, a huge, forbidding expanse that spoke of ghosts, demons and monsters, where sometimes, if you concentrated hard enough, you saw the dragons flying. In the distance though they looked like little specks, birds and bats, rather than the huge creatures they were up close. Not that she'd ever been near a dragon.
She did see one once, though, diving towards one of the farmlands, scooping a rather unfortunate cow from the field.
Marea ran her hands through her straw hair to get rid of the worst tangles, and picked up the current book she was reading, A History of Glenderal. Glenderal. Her kingdom. One she'd likely never inherit, due to the ridiculous glut of princes and princesses swapping themselves around.
Royal families breed like rabbits.
She smiled to herself, flipping open the book.
“Hello, princess.”
Marea jumped at the deep voice, and let out a shriek when she saw someone standing to the side of her, his face partially concealed in shadows. A big, meaty hand clamped over her mouth mid-shriek, muffling her sounds. His voice. She recognized that voice.
“You!” The exclamation came out obscured, but he heard what she said.
He chuckled, and she shrank back, trembling, as he reached over to her window, and unlatched it. “I must say, reaching you was easier than expected. Still, it was a challenge, and I’m all about the challenge, you see...”
Marea prepared to bite his hand, so she could bawl at the top of her lungs. Curses, he caught her in her undergarments! And how did he get into her room? Was he waiting here the whole time? Was that why she didn't see him at the feast? Her eyes bulged in shock and horror as the man with the emerald eyes stepped onto the window ledge, dragging her with him.
What?
Without any ceremony, he hugged her tight and launched himself off the ledge, with her squished against his body – and now she gave voice, screaming, hoping a mage might hear. The cold night air assaulted her lungs, and she felt him change and widen behind her.
Her bawling turned into high pitched shrieks of terror when she realized the arms hugging her had transformed into talons.
A triumphant roar sounded above her. The heavy swish of something, like sails in a strong breeze, beat about her. Wings. Petrified, she managed to tilt her head up enough to see a long, serpentine figure, massive green wings attacking the air, and the mouth of the figure open, before belching flames.
A dragon.
Green eyed man was a cursing dragon.
So much for her father's protection, then. Didn't account for the fact that the sodding things could shapeshift into humans.
She continued screaming until her throat became hoarse, until the cold wind froze her lips shut and made her body tremble nonstop in her thin, inadequate clothes.
The dragon flapped towards the Wilderness, taking her far away from home.