The flowing water proved to be an underground river that crossed the mountain. It was wide enough for Aileen to step inside it and take a proper bath. As she stopped on the rocky shore, she looked at it thoughtfully, then moved her green eyes back to Drakon, who was just a few steps behind her.
“Err… I might need some privacy,” she said.
Drakon’s eyes widened.
“Oh.”
But he didn’t move. His blue eyes traveled up and down her body, then his brows furrowed when he looked at himself, still stark naked. He was just realizing that being naked in front of someone else, especially a woman, wasn’t exactly appropriate. Some of the social rules he had once used to abide by were starting to come back to him.
“I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” A light blush spread across his cheeks.
Aileen chuckled. She couldn’t believe how adorable he was!
“N-no. I don’t think you’re an idiot.”
“I should cover myself…”
He scanned their surroundings, but there was nothing in sight.
“I don’t mind,” whispered Aileen under her breath.
Drakon’s ears perked up at her words.
“What was that?”
“N-nothing…”
It was Aileen’s turn to blush bright red. She doubted Drakon hadn’t heard her clearly. As far as she knew, shapeshifters had increased senses. Thankfully, he was polite enough not to comment further.
“I will find something to wear,” he said. “My old clothes should be somewhere around here.”
He strutted towards the wide, arched opening they had come through, leaving Aileen alone and slightly confused. She cocked an eyebrow and sighed.
“He’s not an idiot, but he’s definitely a bit weird and unpredictable.”
She waited to see if he would come back soon, and when a few minutes passed, she dared to believe he had actually walked out to give her the privacy she had asked for. Reluctantly, she removed her sports bra, then her mountain boots, pants, and panties. She threw her clothes on the ground and stepped inside the cold water.
“Oh. My. God.”
She took in a sharp, deep breath, her jaw clenching in an attempt to fight the iciness invading her bones.
“So, so cold. Oh my God!”
She fought the instant desire to get out of the water. She was a strong, healthy woman. She was sure her body could take it. She just needed to focus for a few minutes, and her body would eventually accept the cold water and embrace it. She really needed to wash herself, and she couldn’t deny that the icy water did help to soothe the sensitive skin on her sides and her back, those red, sore parts which had come in slight contact with Drakon’s fire.
Aileen closed her eyes and allowed herself to float for a moment. She was able to sit on the bottom of the river, and the water covered her up to her collarbone. Little by little, all her muscles relaxed, and the water didn’t feel as cold. When she got used to the temperature, she opened her eyes and started rubbing her body slowly, carefully, working the mud, dust, and smoke out of her skin.
“Isn’t that too cold for you?”
Aileen jumped at the sound of Drakon’s voice.
“You really don’t know what privacy means, do you?”
She turned around, and immediately burst out in laughter.
“Oh my! What are you wearing?”
Drakon’s jaw clenched. He knew he looked like shit, and it was embarrassing to him, but he had no other clothes. He was wearing what was left of his once white tunic. The pins holding it in place on the shoulders were rusty, and the belt around his waist had clearly been munched on by some rodent. It was a miracle he could still use it.
“I couldn’t find anything else,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no! Don’t be.” But Aileen was still chuckling. “Your chiton must have been very elegant in its good days.”
Drakon smiled as he ran his fingers over the old, yellowed fabric.
“It was. The latest fashion.”
Aileen smiled and relaxed. Dressed, he felt more awkward than when he was naked. That made her feel less exposed as she was sitting on the bottom of the river, small waves dancing up and down her chest, sometimes revealing too much of her breasts.
“Have you remembered anything else about your life before…” she looked around the cave room, “…this?”
Drakon sighed and sat down on the cold floor.
“Not much, but it’s starting to come back. Images of who I used to be before the curse.”
“The curse…”
Aileen had never thought about the Guardian of the Golden Fleece as being cursed. Most myths around the world said that dragons (dragon shifters, in this case) loved to hoard and guard treasures. It had always sounded to Aileen as though that was their choice, and she had never thought these guardians might have been forced into this specific behavior by beings much more powerful than them. Powerful… in other ways.
“Who cursed you?”
Drakon shook his head slowly.
“A witch… I can’t remember her name, neither what she looked like. The King needed someone to make sure the Golden Fleece would never be stolen, so he asked this witch to find him a guardian. If the treasure fell into someone else’s hands, then the King would lose his authority, or so he thought. So, the woman searched the Kingdom of Colchis until she found me… She told me I was the only dragon shifter in these parts, and asked me to help her and my King. In return, she would grant me eternal life. I refused.”
“You refused eternal life…”
Aileen couldn’t believe her ears. She changed her position in the water, kneeling closer to the shore, while covering her bare breasts with her arms. She had managed to wash her hair, too, and even though she wasn’t quite satisfied with the result given that she didn’t have any shampoo, she knew it was better than nothing.
Drakon smiled and gestured towards the cold, empty walls of the cave.
“I knew what that eternal life would be like. When a witch promises you something, especially something that sounds very good, do yourself a favor and never trust her. There’s always a catch, and it’s never pretty. Yes, I refused. I didn’t want to hear the details. I wasn’t even sure how she had found me, because I was living an isolated, humble life, growing my own food and avoiding going out in public. You might think being a dragon shifter is amazing. The physical strength, the enhanced senses… the ability to shift and fly, the power to burn down an entire city if you want… But no, it’s nothing like that. People fear you once they find out what you are. And those who are in power… kings, queens, princes… they devise plans on how to use you better.”
Aileen nodded. This was a whole new perspective for her. She had always thought shapeshifters were strong, free, and in perfect charge of their own lives exactly because they had skills normal people couldn’t even dream of. She had thought the only ones who might have had some authority over the mythical beings of Ancient Greece were the gods. But kings? Queens? Witches? A dragon shifter could have turned them all into delicious roast if he wanted.
“What happened then?” she asked.
“The moment I refused, she cast a spell on me. She was so fast that I didn’t even have time to blink and figure out what was happening. She was fast because she knew that when I said ‘no’, I also became her enemy. It was a matter of who struck first, and she made sure she had the upper hand. I remember it clearly…” His voice dropped a notch as he went back to that dark moment in his past. “She raised her arms above her head, fingers spread as if to draw the energy from the sky and trees around my house, and started murmuring strange words in a foreign language. I tried to attack her. I tried to shift and fly away, but I was paralyzed. I started feeling sleepy. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and I must have lost consciousness and fallen to the ground, because when I woke up I was in a different place. Up in the mountains, in a deep forest, with this cave guarded by a small grove of trees… and I couldn’t leave. Every time I tried to walk out of the clearing and into the forest, to find my way back home, something would pull me back towards the cave, towards a certain room inside the cave where the King had placed his precious Golden Fleece.”
A shiver ran up Aileen’s spine. Hearing this strong, almost invincible man tell his story about how he had been practically kidnapped and forced into a life he hadn’t wanted scared her and disgusted her in a way she hadn’t thought possible. She hoped the witch who did this to him had met a painful death. On the other hand, she was aware that the witch had only done what her King had asked of her. To some extent, it hadn’t been entirely her decision. She had just followed orders, and if she hadn’t, she would have probably endured some kind of punishment. By hurting Drakon, she had most likely protected herself.
“Hours passed,” Drakon continued. “I explored the cave, trying to find another way out. When I found the room in which the treasure was hidden, I felt this powerful urge to protect it. I didn’t want it for myself, yet I felt possessive of it. I felt like it was my sacred duty to make sure no one got his or her hands on it. And then I knew: the witch had cursed me. I had known about the existence of the Golden Fleece before the witch came to me. Rumors spread fast, you see… Everyone at the market was talking about the King and his treasure. But I had never felt curious enough to ask about it, or try to find out where the King kept it. All I wanted was to go about my day and my life, and isolate myself from these things which didn’t concern me. I didn’t want any trouble, but trouble eventually found me.”
He took a break to gather his thoughts. As he told his story, more things came back to him. Flashes, images, memories he hadn’t even known were still there…
“Anyway. As I was standing in front of the Golden Fleece, staring at it in wonder, trying to wrap my mind around the feelings it stirred inside me, the witch came into the room. I turned around, hell bent on making her suffer, but she stopped me with a single gesture. I couldn’t attack her, I couldn’t hurt her no matter how much I wanted to. It was as if I had been sired to her. She told me what was going to happen from then on: the whole purpose of my existence would be to guard the fleece, kill anyone who wanted to steal it. I would never sleep again, and never be able to leave this place. The only way out of my misery would be death, if some thief ever found a way to kill me.”
Aileen furrowed her brows.
“Stop there for a second,” she said. She took some water into her cupped hands and splashed it over her face. It helped her think. “That can’t be the only way to get rid of this curse. Death. My expertise in ancient myths just can’t agree with you or your evil witch. There must be a loophole. Every curse has a loophole.”
To her surprise, Drakon nodded.
“Indeed. The loophole is a sacrifice.”
Aileen’s face brightened.
“That’s it! Selfless sacrifice! That’s always it!”
Drakon smiled bitterly.
“But in my case, the sacrifice is impossible.”
“Why’s that? I don’t understand.”
“The sacrifice must be made by someone who comes after the Golden Fleece not to steal it and keep it for himself, but to destroy it. The catch is that if he even gets close to the treasure, my curse kicks in and I attack him. From experience, I assure you: once I decide to protect the Fleece and kill the thief, the thief is as good as dead. He won’t have time to touch the treasure, much less destroy it. It’s how it works.”
“I see…”
Aileen’s brain was functioning at full speed. The way Drakon presented the situation, this didn’t sound much like the loophole she was looking for. No, there must have been more to it, more to this sacrifice. She remembered the last verse of the prophecy: “The Guardian’s tears - a sacrifice”. What she understood from it was that the person who drank the dragon’s tears and got healed was also the one who would then be able to lift the curse.
“All right,” she started thinking out loud. “If I get close to the Golden Fleece, you kill me. That’s the sacrifice: my life for your freedom. But how do I destroy the Fleece before I give my last breath? There must be a catch here…”
Drakon stood up abruptly.
“What are you talking about?! You said you’re not here to steal the Golden Fleece!”
His pale blue eyes turned menacing. Aileen did her best to look into them and hold his gaze without flinching. It wasn’t easy.
“No. Maybe I’m here to destroy it and set you free. Think about it.”
She pointed to the dirty clothes she had abandoned in a heap on the shore. The scroll with the prophecy was in her hip bag.
“Drinking the healing tears comes at a high price. The sacrifice mentioned at the end of the prophecy must be the sacrifice your witch told you about. I see no other explanation.”
Drakon crossed his arms over his wide, bulky chest and started pacing back and forth.
“No. Medea wrote the prophecy, and she did it way after the witch cursed me. The two sacrifices can’t be related. Medea couldn’t have known about the loophole. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
Drakon stopped and ran his hands through his raven black hair.
“Unless I told her. But I can’t remember… I just can’t… There’s so much that simply refuses to come back to me.”
“It’s okay,” Aileen whispered. “You’re okay…”
He shook his head vigorously.
“No, no it’s not. There’s no way out. No matter how hard I think about it, no matter how many hours I spend trying to figure out this loophole and how to use it… There’s no use. I’m trapped, and I’ll always be trapped!”
“No, Drakon… Listen to me!”
Aileen did the unthinkable. She stood up and stepped out of the river. The cold drops of clear water ran down in rivulets over her slightly pink skin. Her long, dark hair stuck to her shoulders and back. Her nipples were hard from the iciness they had endured, and her whole body was covered in goosebumps. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, she didn’t feel the need to cover herself. She didn’t cross her arms over her heavy breasts, and didn’t cover the dark triangle between her legs with her hand. Naked and vulnerable, she stood in front of this man she had just met without feeling afraid or embarrassed.
Drakon swallowed heavily. His heart started beating madly inside his chest, and blood flooded his nether regions. He had never thought he would want a woman the way he had wanted Medea when she had come into his lair. The naked beauty standing just a few steps away from him was Medea’s descendant. Aileen Callas. Something awakened inside his stomach, something raw, old, and powerful… something that drew him to this woman in a way that had nothing to do with sexual desire. Yes, he wanted her body, but that something he was now feeling for the first time in ages also made him want her soul. Her attention, her approval, her love – Drakon felt as if he wouldn’t be able to live if she ever walked away.
“Aileen,” he whispered. His voice was low and sounded choked. “You… you must be freezing.”
Aileen smiled. There was no doubt in her heart. The way he looked at her told her everything she needed to know. A quick glance at his crotch assured her he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. She didn’t know when it had happened, but wasn’t about to waste time thinking about it. Her whole body yearned for his touch. Her pussy pulsed and released sweet juices when her eyes fell on his massive erection. She couldn’t explain this strong attraction to him, this strong desire to have him all over her, kissing her, dominating her, entering her. It hadn’t been there before. But, as she considered the possibility of her being the one who was destined to free him from the curse, this feeling of desire mixed with total surrender flooded her whole being. It was as if something inside of her had been triggered, something that had always been there, but needed the right impulse to be activated.
“Don’t worry about me,” she said, and took a step towards him.
Drakon clenched his jaw and tried to keep his eyes on her face. If he looked at her round, inviting breasts, or lower, at the curly hair between her legs, he could risk losing control. He wanted to take her into his arms, tackle her to the ground, ravish her on the spot… anything! Anything, just to make her his forever!
With a trembling hand, he pointed to her clothes.
“Do you want me to get those for you?”
“No.”
Aileen took another step towards him, then another. When she was close enough, she cupped his face with her cold hands. Her palms warmed up immediately as they touched his skin. He was radiating the same amount of heat his body had given off when he had been angry at her, earlier. But, this time, there was something calming and inviting about it. It didn’t harm her.
“Listen to me,” she said again. “There is a way out. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m sure we will find it. I’m here, now. I was supposed to be here. This is my destiny. I was healed by your tears, and now I must pay the price. I don’t know what that price is. It could be my life, it could be something else. It doesn’t matter, really. I’m glad I’m here. Thanks to you, I’ve had an amazing life. None of it would have been possible if my mother hadn’t made that hard choice. I’m okay with it, believe me. I got to have a successful career, great friends, more fun than many people I know… If I can give you back your freedom, then I gladly will, because I wouldn’t have experienced any of it if it weren’t for you and Medea’s crazy trick.”
Drakon got lost in her eyes. He felt like he could melt at her touch, and he squeezed his hands into fists at his sides so he’d hold himself back from grabbing onto her waist and pulling her against his body.
“Aileen… don’t talk like this.”
“Hey,” she whispered against his lips. “Hey… let’s figure this out together. What do you say?”
He didn’t have time to answer. Aileen’s lips met his, and his body reacted on instinct. He wrapped his arms around her waist, crushed her against his body, then ran his hands up her back to grab handfuls of wet, dark hair. She moaned into the kiss, and that sent another wave of arousal to his already painfully hard cock.
She could feel him grow bigger against her soft, bare belly, so she started rubbing herself up and down his length. That did it. It was the last straw. She yelped and laughed when Drakon lifted her in the air and walked away from the river.
“Where are we going?”
Aileen wrapped her legs around his waist, and held tightly onto him. His cock found its way between her thighs, and she moaned in frustration when she realized the thin fabric of his old tunic was the only obstacle between them.
As he walked out of the room and down the corridor, Drakon kissed her again. He knew the entire cave by heart, and he could navigate it with his eyes closed, which was what he was doing now.
When they broke the kiss, Aileen looked into his eyes and asked again,
“Where are we going, Drakon?”
“Shhh…”
He smiled at her, and the warmth of that smile made Aileen feel safe.