by Cara Wylde
Aileen ran her hands through her thick, black hair. She realized it was still tied up in a messy ponytail, and decided to release it. She pulled at the hair tie and let the dark tresses fall down her shoulders and back. She scrunched up her nose in disgust when the smell of dirt, sweat, and smoke filled her nostrils. She could really use a shower.
Her small gesture seemed to mesmerize the dragon. She cocked an eyebrow when she noticed it was studying her more keenly than before, its blue eyes running up and down her body, taking in every detail of her skin, of her clothes… She remembered she wasn’t wearing a top anymore, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around her round, heavy breasts. The sports bra wasn’t doing much to cover them.
“Anyway, my mother thought that if she gave me only the first two tears, the ones which healed the mind and the spirit, the prophecy wouldn’t be fulfilled. After all, it never mentioned anything about what would happen if not all three tears were consumed. It was a long shot, but she needed something to believe in, some hope that I would be okay. When my grandma found out what she had done, she told her she was a fool. But when she saw how healthy I was, how I could speak and perform any activity ten times better than children my age, she agreed with my mother that giving me the tears had been the right call.”
The dragon leaned even closer to the bars. Aileen was starting to get confused. She couldn’t tell what was going through its mind anymore. There was still interest and curiosity in its eyes, but also more than that. It wasn’t looking at her as if she could be its dinner, but as if… She shook her head.
“I was great at everything. Brilliant, even! The first in my class, I could memorize things so easily, find solutions to any problem… I seemed to have a way with people. Everyone liked me. Teachers, peers, boys later… girls…”
She chuckled, remembering the first time a girl had asked her out. She had been in college. As curious as she had been, Aileen had decided to refuse. She already had enough on her plate given that every guy she met was instantly drawn to her. She wasn’t even the most beautiful young woman on campus. Yes, she felt good in her own body, appreciated her curves, and knew how to dress to impress, but she was aware there were so many blonde, skinny girls who should have attracted more attention than she did. Still, if a guy had to choose between her and a top-model, he always chose her. Aileen Callas – the brilliant young lady everyone wanted to be friends with… that was… unless they could get into her pants. She had known it was all due to the two dragon tears that had healed her as a child. Even so, she had never felt she didn’t deserve the praise and attention. After all, she had always done her best.
“My mom told me that my passion… no, obsession with the ancient mythologies started right after I took the cure. I studied Mythology and Folklore, especially the Ancient Greek ones, then I wanted to teach. It was easy for me to become a professor at Harvard University, although I won’t lie to you: I did work for it. After a couple of years, though, teaching the same things over and over again just didn’t cut it anymore. I already knew one of the ancient myths was not real. How many others weren’t? I started by exploring the idea that the story of Jason and Medea could have another version, a version which had been hidden from humanity. Some of my students liked my approach and indulged my little game. Others didn’t appreciate the fact that I was straying from the textbooks they were so used to, so they went to my colleagues and told them I was teaching them the wrong myths, and they couldn’t afford to fail their exams because of my fantasies. So… here I am now, trying to prove to everyone that I was right. That I am right.”
She licked her parched lips and swallowed heavily. Her throat was dry, and she couldn’t say another word even if she wanted to. She coughed, tried to ask for water again, but all that left her lips was a pathetic croak. She closed her eyes and swallowed again, focusing on her breathing, trying to convince her own body that it was fine, it could hang in there for a little longer. She snapped them open when she heard a loud crack coming from the other side of the bars.
Aileen’s eyes grew wide with fear and wonder when she realized the noise had come from the dragon’s body. The beast was twisting and convulsing before her, its bones snapping and its muscles shrinking and rearranging in a whole different shape. She covered her mouth with both her hands as she watched the dragon fall to the ground and shake as if it was having a seizure. It moaned in pain, grunted, and roared, and when it was done, what was left of the mighty beast was a naked man lying on the cold floor of the cave. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing heavily.
Aileen couldn’t even think anymore. She could barely understand what was happening. The man seemed to be feeling better, his pain subsiding with every passing minute. When he sat up, supporting his weight on his right arm, and opened his eyes, Aileen saw they were of a pale blue. So pale that they could almost be white.
“Medea…”
His voice was deep and hoarse, as if he hadn’t used it in a very, very long time. His accent was strange and unexpected. He looked into her eyes, and Aileen’s heart skipped a beat.
“Medea,” he whispered again.
Aileen could pass out on the spot. For the second time in her life. She struggled to hold it together.
CHAPTER EIGHT
He rose slowly, carefully, as if he was re-learning how to stand and walk on two feet again. Aileen watched in amazement how the gorgeous man before her straightened his back, rolled his shoulders, and stretched his neck, trying to adapt to his human form. It was obvious he hadn’t used it in a long while. He felt perfectly comfortable being naked, though. She couldn’t help running her hungry eyes all over his pale skin, so sickly white from spending too much time inside the dark cave. His muscles were perfectly strong and chiseled, however. All he needed was a healthy tan. He had raven black hair, a straight, noble nose, and a square jaw that spoke about his confident, determined nature. Broad shoulders, wide chest, sinfully hard six-pack… oh, and the long, thick cock hanging between his legs… Aileen was in eye-candy heaven! She almost forgot how thirsty, dirty, and icky she felt. The fact that this very man had tried to turn her into dinner just an hour ago? History!
He took a step towards her, and butterflies flapped their tiny wings inside her stomach. He was so hot, that all Aileen could think of was how badly she wanted to sneak her hand through the bars and touch those perfect muscles. He looked up at her, and her heart jumped up in her throat. She swallowed heavily.
“You’re human,” she whispered.
His blue eyes bore into hers, but he didn’t say anything. His gaze traveled down her curvaceous body, then stopped at her feet, where the tear-shaped bottle lay. With his right hand, he pointed towards the bottle, his fingers trembling.
Aileen got the message, and picked the bottle up only to hand it to him. The clear liquid swirled inside it.
“The last tear should heal any physical pain or wound,” she said.
She watched him weigh the bottle in his hand.
“Medea,” he whispered again.
Apparently, that was the only word he knew. Aileen chuckled sadly.
“I’m not even sure if you understand English. I’ve been talking, and talking… but maybe you just saw this,” she pointed to the object in his hand, “and that was enough to make you change your mind, not my story.”
He seemed to ignore her.
Not knowing what else to do, and hating the silence inside the cave, Aileen kept talking. If nothing else, the sound of her own voice helped soothe her.
“A dragon shifter… It makes sense. Why haven’t I thought about it? The fake stories talked about a dragon guarding the Golden Fleece, while the real story talked about a man Medea fell in love with. I should have known better. I’m a Mythology professor, after all. I should have known every single version carries just a bit of truth in it.”
“I understand you.”
Aileen gasped. She couldn’t believe the man had just said those words in English, a
language he had probably heard today for the first time.
“H-how?”
He squeezed the bottle and fixed his gaze on her. There was something gentle in his eyes, this time.
“I’ve listened to you. I still am. The more you talk, the more words I learn. What did you call this language of yours? English?”
“Yes. Oh my God, yes! I can’t believe you can understand and speak English! This is incredible!”
“I’m a fast learner,” he smirked. “What’s your name, if I may ask?”
“Oh, I haven’t told you?” She beamed and ran a hand through her hair, suddenly worried about how she looked. Well, she looked anything but presentable. “Aileen. Aileen Callas.”
“Ai-leen.”
She nodded vigorously. His accent made her name sound so much sweeter. She realized just how grateful she was her parents had given her such a beautiful, unique name.
“What’s yours?” she asked.
His brows furrowed. He thought about her question for a few moments, then shook his head.
“I don’t remember. It’s been so long since I saw a human, spoken to a human… It’s been so long since I had to tell anyone my name. I forgot it.”
Aileen’s heart ached. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to forget your own name. It sounded insane! If she forgot her name, who she was… then what was there left of her?
“No, you have to try harder. Think.”
When he looked at her again, his eyes traveled to her chest, then down to her generous hips. He saw she was half naked, and the skin on her sides was red. He could only imagine what her back looked like.
“I’m sorry I did this to you. I… I don’t know why I did it. You came here, out of the blue, fell asleep in my cave… I didn’t know how to react. Then you started speaking about the treasure, and maybe I thought that was what you were after. It’s in my blood, you see… to guard the treasure. I can’t let you have it.”
Aileen nodded.
“It’s okay, I understand.”
He smiled. “Unless… you kill me. Then, you can have it.”
“I don’t want to kill you!”
For some reason, the expression on his face became even sadder.
“You should.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You should kill me. It’s the only way I’ll ever be free of this curse.”
“What curse? You’re tied to the Golden Fleece, yes, but why is it a curse?”
He motioned towards the scroll on the floor, and cited the first two verses:
“In his lair, he never slumbers.
How long he’s lived, he never wonders.”
Aileen’s brows knotted in confusion. She was trying to understand why living for an eternity was such a curse to him. Clearly, he was immortal. She couldn’t think of one person she had met in her whole life who wouldn’t have loved the idea of immortality.
“I haven’t slept in ages,” he explained. “Since I was cursed to guard the Golden Fleece with my life, the only time I slept for a few hours was when your ancestor put her sleeping spell on me.” He looked back into Aileen’s intense green eyes. “Can you even imagine how it is to live for hundreds and hundreds of years, alone, without even the possibility to close your eyes, sleep, dream, and forget all of it for a little while? I am tired, Aileen. So, so tired.”
“But you’re immortal…”
“Yes, and that is one thing I would never wish to my worst enemy. Immortality is a heavy burden to carry, especially when you can’t take a single break from it.”
“Wow! I… I never thought about it that way.”
He looked around him, at the cold, empty cave walls.
“I can’t leave this place. It’s so isolated that no one comes up here anymore. And when they do, they don’t come to see me, they come to steal the treasure. I would love to let them kill me, trust me. But I can’t. There’s this powerful thing inside me that makes me want to protect the Golden Fleece and protect myself. Deep down, however, there’s nothing I wish more than to meet someone strong enough to put an end to all of this.”
Aileen wrapped her arms around her body, not because she was trying to cover herself, but because a chill had just entered her bones. There was so much sadness and torture in his voice that it almost made her cry. This was the sort of moment when she hated the fact that she was such a sensitive empath.
“Please don’t talk like that,” she whispered.
“And why wouldn’t I? There’s nothing for me in this world.” He lifted the tear-shaped bottle and shook it gently. “Since she left me… Since Medea left me, nothing has been the same. She was the only woman I ever loved, and she betrayed me.”
“No, she didn’t betray you. She had no choice. She left because that was the only way she could protect you. Jason could have been strong enough to kill you, but it wasn’t your time, and she knew that. Medea did the right thing.”
“Did she?”
“Yes! If it hadn’t been for her catching those three tears and passing them to the next generations, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t even have a life, a career, dreams…” She lost her train of thought for a second, the pain of thinking of not having the things she had now was too much for her to handle. “All of this… gone… None of it would have ever happened. I wouldn’t have been here.”
The man cocked an eyebrow.
“And why are you here? How does it change anything? How does it help me?”
“I don’t know yet, but I believe there’s a reason for everything. In the grand scheme of things, it all has to make sense.”
He smiled darkly and shook his head. The hand in which he was still holding the bottle fell to his side, as if he was just admitting defeat.
“Listen to me,” Aileen insisted. “There’s a reason. Nothing happens accidentally. I was supposed to come here. Your tears were supposed to save me, because they were also the reason why I became so obsessed with the ancient myths. I learned everything I could, I decided to set on this journey, I found you. Maybe I can help you. I don’t know how, but we need to work together on figuring it out. After years of studying mythology, religions, and folklore, if there’s anything I learned, it’s that we all have a destiny, and that destiny is perfect. We have to believe in it, follow its path…”
He started laughing, and the hollow corridors and chambers of the cave sent the echo of his laughter deep inside the mountain.
“And my perfect destiny is to never sleep? To spend eternity guarding an ancient treasure, alone, forgotten by the world? My destiny is to only interact with humans when they come to kill me?”
Aileen bit the inside of her cheek.
“I know what it sounds like…”
“I can’t even remember my own name!”
He shouted, this time, and Aileen couldn’t help but shrink a bit in fear. When he realized he had scared her, he immediately apologized in a low, soothing voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“You can remember,” she said. A plan was taking shape in her mind, and she struggled to remember the details she needed to make it work. “I can help you remember.”
“How?”
Even though he seemed interested, he didn’t sound very convinced.
“By telling you what I know about your past. About your parents.”
“My parents?”
“I’m a Mythology professor, right? My knowledge should count for something.”
He shook his head, harder this time. Aileen had the feeling that she had to go easy on him, otherwise she would confuse him and frustrate him even more. She wasn’t afraid he would shift back into his dragon form and set her on fire. No, it wasn’t that. She needed to be gentle because she didn’t want to hurt him.
“Do you know who my parents are? Are they still alive? Tell me!”
Aileen gave a deep sigh. She should have thought about that. As far as she knew, there was no w
ay his parents were still alive. In fact, his parents were among the first creatures Zeus tried to get rid of.
“I’m sorry… I don’t think they’re alive. I mean, all the myths I know talk about how Zeus defeated them and imprisoned them in Tartarus.”
She didn’t have to explain what Tartarus was. He knew. It was obvious by the tortured look on his face.
“Who were they?”
He still needed to know.
“Your father was the giant Typhon. He was feared by humans and gods alike. The myths say he had the torso and head of a man, but his legs were two coiled serpents. Now that I’ve met you and know you’re actually a dragon shifter, I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t believe the myths. I’m thinking your father was a sort of dragon shifter, too. Your mother… her name was Echidna. She was a she-dragon with the head and chest of a beautiful woman, and a single coiled serpent instead of legs. Fantasy, of course. I’m sure she was a beautiful, kind dragon shifter.”
“No. No, she wasn’t. I remember now. My parents were terrifying. They sought power, and that’s why Zeus threw them into the depths of Tartarus. Yes, I remember it clearly.”
“Oh… I’m so, so sorry.”
She was pretty sure it was selfish of her, but as he spoke, Aileen tried to memorize the information he gave her. It could make a huge difference for her future thesis. She wanted to shed light on the ancient Greek myths and convince the modern academic world they had gotten so many things inexcusably wrong.
He stepped closer to her, his left hand reaching for the iron bars.
