“You’re going to tell us where the treasure is.”
Aileen shuddered at the sound of the man’s voice. He spat the words in an angry whisper, through gritted teeth. She could smell his foul breath, feel it warm and disgusting on her ear and neck. “Us?” she thought. “Oh my God, he’s not alone!” Fear coursed through her veins, and she kicked and struggled harder.
“Stop it!”
The man almost yelled in her ear.
“Idiot, keep it down.”
The voice of the second man came from somewhere to her right.
“We don’t know where the monster is.”
That was a third voice, coming from her left. Aileen realized she was surrounded. The man holding her cursed under his breath and pressed his hand harder against her mouth to better muffle her screams.
“We should gag her,” the men to her right said.
“And how will she tell us about the treasure and how to kill the monster, genius?”
“Look at her! She won’t tell us anything now. Let’s just gag her, tie up her hands and feet, and carry her away from here. We’ll find a way to convince her to collaborate.”
Aileen started shaking her head. Tears spilled down her cheeks, quickly soaking her captor’s hand, making it slightly slippery.
“Fuck! Stop crying, bitch.”
He shook her harshly, but it had the opposite effect. She started sobbing harder.
She should have listened to Drakon and never gotten near the entrance of the cave. If these three men dragged her away from the clearing, Drakon wouldn’t be able to help her in any way. He couldn’t come for her. The curse would hold him back. And what would happen then? Would she be able to escape these bastards the second time? On the bright side, at least she’d finally find out what had happened to her team.
“Keep quiet,” her captor whispered in her ear.
“Do you hear something?”
“Shush!”
For a long moment, silence fell over the clearing. The three men listened to the wind and the sounds of the forest and the night for what felt like forever. Even Aileen stopped fighting and sobbing. She hoped she would hear Drakon come out of the cave. In his human form, in his dragon form… it didn’t matter. She simply wanted him there so she wouldn’t feel so alone, so scared and threatened. She didn’t even want to imagine what methods these three strangers were going to use to get the information out of her. And they had no idea she didn’t even possess all of it. She didn’t know where the Golden Fleece was because she had never seen it, and she couldn’t come up with any viable way of getting rid of the Guardian. Not that she would have told them if she had actually known… The point was, they were going to torture her for nothing. But they wouldn’t know that. If they had come for her, if they had stalked the clearing and the cave just to get her, then they surely believed she was the key to getting their filthy hands on the treasure.
“Nothing,” the man to her left whispered.
They all let out long breaths of relief.
“We have to move,” her captor ordered.
Apparently, they all agreed, because Aileen felt herself being dragged towards the forest. She started struggling again, trying to bite the man’s hand, trying to prop her feet firmly on the ground. Nothing helped. The man grunted and started walking backwards, pulling her along. Aileen could do nothing. Her captor was handling her as if she weighed nothing. She couldn’t see well in the dark, but she could feel he was tall, strong, and bulky. Most likely, his companions were built the same way.
“Not far now,” the man whispered in her ear. There was a hint of amusement in his voice. “When we get to your camp, you’re going to sit with us, nice and comfy, and tell us everything about the dragon and the treasure. Got that? If you don’t, we’re going to make sure things won’t be as nice and comfy for you anymore.”
Aileen moaned in pain and fear. More tears ran down her cheeks. She couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like they would be surrounded by forest every second. What could she do? Pray? Focus on Drakon’s image? Scream his name in her head, hoping he would hear her by some sort of magic? She could still feel that deep connection between them, but would it work?
“What the hell?!”
The two men who were flanking Aileen and her captor gasped at the same time and stopped in their tracks. Aileen’s heart started beating faster, and she would have jumped in joy and relief if she could have. The loud, mighty sound of large wings hitting the air filled the clearing, and before any of the three attackers could figure out what was happening and what they could do to defend themselves, a golden dragon landed in front of them, cutting off their way to the forest.
Aileen’s captor turned around suddenly, pulling her along with him. Hope sparkled in her green eyes when she saw Drakon towering over them, his golden scales glowing dimly in the moonlight. His wide chest glowed brighter than ever, signaling the fire burning inside him, ready to be unleashed upon the poor bastards who had dared to think they could kidnap Aileen from under the dragon’s nose. But she knew Drakon wouldn’t attack them with fire as long as she was trapped between them. He would never risk burning her alive, along with her captors.
She wondered what he was going to do, and her adrenaline levels started rising again. She wondered if there was anything she could do to help him. When she least expected it, the man holding her removed his hand from her mouth. His reaction surprised her for a second, but she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. She opened her mouth to scream, to draw Drakon’s attention, although she didn’t know what to say to him. Then, she froze. She felt the cold blade of a knife being pressed against the small of her back, deeper and deeper, until she was sure it had drawn a thin trickle of blood.
“Move or talk, and you die.”