The Dracones

I drift in and out. Each time I wake I’m immediately put to sleep. However, when I wake, I get the feeling that I am being carried; but it’s too smooth to be by horse or carriage.

This time, when I wake, there is something hard under me. My head is killing me as my eyes open. A bright light breaks through all my grogginess, blinding me. I turn my head away as I use my arms to lift the top half of myself up. My head is pounding so hard I have to touch it just to make sure it’s not a drum.

Once I’m sure my head is normal, I look around. There are thick gray walls that glisten from condensing water. There is a giant hole facing the outside world. So, this definitely is a cave. The remains of a dead fire are three feet from me. I try to remember what happened and swear. I got kidnapped. I hope Ivan is okay since I don’t see him.

The ground violently shakes, making me look at the exit automatically; nearly knocking me over. The sight of an approaching red wall causes a scream to stick in my throat as I lurch back into the cave wall. I press into it with my hands touching the slick surface. To shrink myself, I stand up as the wall opens; revealing a mouth filled with sharp teeth that are dripping with saliva. A red spongy tongue slithers out from the mouth that has nearly filled this cave; enveloping my face in hot putrid breath. I stare at the tongue while it swivels around; tasting the air. What in the name of Dawn is this thing?

The tip of the tongue connects with my cheek, completely overlapping it. I scream and try to sink further into the rock. A chuckle sounds in my head. It’s deep, but feminine. “She’s going to be fun.” I look around, trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded like it was spoken right next to me. I look up and see crimson scales and two dark holes for nostrils.

“What are you doing Gracial?” A smoky voice asks. “You’ll wake her.”

“Too late,” The voice chuckles. I hear wood fall to the ground and running feet. I’m still staring at the tongue as it retreats into the mouth.

“Move!” I hear the voice shout. The chuckle sounds as the head retreats. I can’t blink. I can’t breathe. All I can do is stare at the vast space where the head used to be.

“Awe man,” The voice whines, catching my attention. My wide eyes snap to the source, desperate to find something human. I’m still petrified enough from the dragon, that I don’t react to seeing the man that tried to kill me a week ago. Same eyes, hair, and sharp face. Only this time he looks annoyed.

He hesitates, seeing how close I am to having a nervous breakdown. He licks his lips. “Look, you’re okay. Okay? My name is Trayvon. Okay? I’m not going to hurt you. Okay?”

“Stop saying okay!” I snap at him as I try to get my breathing somewhat normal. I have no clue why this is what I chose to say.

He holds his hands up. “Fine. What is your name?”

“Ka-Katarina,” I say as I try to go with my thoughts to find some ground. Why didn’t I just use my nickname?

Trayvon nods. “Okay. Katarina, I want you to let go of the knife. Can you do that for me?” I look down at my hand. Sure enough one of my blue-tipped knives is clutched in my right hand. I must have grabbed it out of reflex.

I shake my head. If I let go, he’ll do something. I’m not sure what, but he will. “What am I doing here? What is this place?” I look to him for answers. I sure as night am not asking the voice in my head.

He stiffens but answers without hesitation. “You’re here because of your heritage. This is Eagle’s Bane Rock.”

I see a giant red eye as the dragon tries to look in and scream. I push further into the wall. “That-That doesn’t make any sense.” I want to get away from here. I want to go home.

“Okay.” Trayvon licks his lips. “What doesn’t make sense?”

“All of it. This. That. I shouldn’t be here. I want to go home.” I sound like a child; but who wouldn’t when they wake up like this? Why can’t this make sense?

“Let’s start off with what is the most confusing.” He folds his legs as he sits down, speaking to me in a calm voice; as if he were reasoning with a child.

“Just let me go home,” I say as I tear my eyes off the dragon’s bulbous head to look at him. His red eyes are looking at me as if I am a twig. He’s seeing me as a frightened child. I don’t know why, but this bothers me. Maybe because this position is usually switched.

He shakes his head. “I can’t. It’s too dangerous and not allowed.”

I glare at him. “And why is that?” I demand.

Trayvon chuckles. “It’s quite simple. You’ll die if you’re found.”

My entire body tightens as my lungs go on lockdown once again. “What?” I gasp when my lungs finally agree to start working again.

He smirks. “They’re looking for you Katarina.”

Huh? “Who?”

Trayvon facepalms. “That’s right. You’re from the north. How about I just explain why I kidnapped you?”

I glare at him. “That would be nice.” I hear a chuckling in my head. I give a quick shake to my head; positive I must have severely hurt it. His eyes narrow.

Trayvon clears his throat. “Do you remember the day I came for you?”

I glare at him, focusing my attention on him again. “Which time?”

He chuckles. “The first. By the way, you’re not easy to track down.” I roll my eyes as he moves on. “Do you remember when I... licked your hand? Do you remember what you saw?”

The glowing image flashes in my mind like a burn. Slowly I nod. “An eye. A red one.”

He smiles and nods his approval. “Yes. As I recall you asked what I am. I am-we are-something called the Dracones. That’s what the eye means. We are meant to protect dragons. There are only two ever chosen at a time.”

“What?” I ask as I try to make sense of this. “Look I’m sure your club is great and all, but I really don’t want to join.”

Trayvon chuckles and shakes his head; his patience beginning to wear thin. “You don’t have a choice. The Adversantem are looking for you and myself. We stand in the way of total takeover of the Wasteland.”

Am I dreaming? I cannot comprehend this. “Is this some sort of joke Ivan set up?” It does sound like something he’d do.

Now he’s getting frustrated. “No this isn’t a joke. This is reality and it is happening to you. You are a Dracones. There is no way out of this.”

I rub my face. This is a rude way to wake up. I look at him. “And what makes you think that?” I’m honestly curious. Ever since I can remember, there has always been a way out.

Now his face is hard. His eyes hold a fire underneath as his jaw goes tight. He holds up his left hand, fist closed. On the back of his hand is a shining red eye.

I look at the back of my hand as it begins to burn. The eye is shining on my right hand. How is he doing that? I raise my hand up, sure that this is some joke. Witchcraft maybe. I touch it. It’s cold under my hand, but my skin is burning.

I look at him with confusion. He’s not lying but I don’t want to do this. I didn’t choose to do this; he drugged and kidnapped me. I huff, already planning my escape. “Do I have another option?”

Trayvon grins and shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Then I am going to fight you on this.”

He groans. “How did I know this was coming?” He stands up. “Are you going to come with me willingly at least?”

I laugh as I get to my feet; staggering a little because I haven’t moved in who knows how long. I shake my dizzying head and get into a defensive stance, knife held in my right hand. “If your hopes were that I’d be complacent with your sick little game, then you should know that I’m not going to make this easy for you.”

He grins and pulls his knife from his belt. A second later he’s on the move. I step out of the way, tripping him with my foot. I grab his hair after he hits the wall and throw him to the ground. He skids as he hits the ground, giving me room to move up. I let him get up, his face grimacing a little. I give him no time to react as I high kick him in the chest, sending him sailing out of the cave. There is a deep chuckle in my head, making me wonder if this is in fact a dream. I really don’t think I should be hearing voices.

“Shut up Gracial!” Trayvon snaps. “It’s not like I see you trying.”

“And give up the chance to see this? You must be joking.” The same voice in my head chuckles.

“Just get her. We need to leave or the Adversantem will be upon us. Besides, you’re the one that woke her.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“I did no such thing. She was awake when I got here.” What the hell is going on in my head?

“Well, either way, we need to leave.”

“Fine.” I narrowly dodge a huge foot as it goes into the cave. Her leg takes up about half the cave and her foot is a good portion of the wall. I’m lying on the ground right under her leg. Sending in the dragon has got to be a cheat.

Okay here are my options. Stay in the cave and most likely end up squashed. Or I can sneak out here and make a run for it. Or third, go with Trayvon willingly with hope of escaping later. I like the second option the best, even though something is telling me the third option would be smarter.