And then she would return and make sure the dragon took no more young women. Somehow. Perhaps she could enlist some help.
Her thoughts rambling and plotting as she neared her objective, she almost failed to note the sudden dim and return of light from the cavern's opening. Almost, but she didn't fail in this, only didn't quite recognize the significance for several additional steps. Avalee stopped dead when she did, breathing hard, pulling in each gulp and forcing herself to hold each one for a time before releasing them. More calm than she had a right to be, Avalee watched for another disturbance, but when it didn't come, her resolve hardened, and she moved again. Now only ten paces away, she spotted something unexpected, something glistening in the sun where it leaned just inside the entrance to the cavern. Not cast aside, but placed there next to a bundle that seemed prepared for a journey. The pack looked like the one her father would make up when he planned a hunting trip down towards Dragon's Mount. She saw the pot hanging off one side, a roll that might have been a blanket or might have been a tent atop it, and the hint of a strap peeking out from behind it.
Avalee believed in luck, at least to a small degree, but even so, she wouldn't have trusted such as this. That didn't stop her from taking the offering, no matter the source. She hefted the pack experimentally and then hoisted it to her back and tightened the straps. She took up the sword and examined the edge quickly, still razor sharp, but tinted dark from the dragon's blood. Someone had placed this here, but they hadn't bothered to clean it. Absentmindedly, Avalee slid the table leg into her makeshift belt and then returned to the job of escaping.
She looked out now, much better equipped than she had had any expectation to be, but no safer than she had been when she'd started out. At least, she didn't feel any safer; though she did like her chances now far better than she had. What she saw was nothing like she’d expected. Perhaps a mountain range, not her first preference, or a cliff overhanging a forest. But, she hadn’t expected water as far as the eye could see. She approached the edge and looked down.
It was a long way from here, even farther to the water and the rocks against which it crashed than she had been from the ramp to the floor deep within the cavern behind her. Left, right, there was no ramp on this side of the entrance. No way down as far as she could tell from a cursory glance down and around. That left up, which wasn't much better. Avalee knew she wasn't much of a climber, not if her history with trees was any indication, but today she'd done more than she'd ever thought she could, and she was more confident than she knew she had a right to be.
There, a spot a little less vertical than the rest—one could almost imagine steps there. Avalee decided it was worth a try. Still gripping the short sword in one hand, she began the climb, steep but manageable, even with the blade. Her progress was slow, but it was progress just the same. Soon, it became obvious to her that the route she was taking was indeed fashioned by hand, not nature, and, even more surprising, was not disused either. The stone down the center of the steep stairs was smooth, not rough as it was at the edges. Years, perhaps decade’s worth of foot travel had worn a slight trough in it.
That paired with the pack made Avalee wonder just how much of a prisoner the woman, Elisa, was. Just how alone as well. She doubted such a dent could be worn by a single pair of feet. The air was still quiet, though much warmer than she expected this time of year, when Avalee reached the top of the cliff overhanging the cave. Relief filled her at the sight of nearby trees, thick ones at that, good cover. And she made her way towards them, dodging a large boulder and hopping a low ridge in the process. Her eyes never turned from her goal, only thirty paces away, now twenty.
She was running, stifling the urge to laugh in relief at her hard won freedom, never looking behind. Never seeing the boulder move, the ridge lift. Never seeing the claw reaching out towards her. Seeing none of it, only the trees and safety. Ten paces, eight, the crunch of heavy foot on gravel, the scrape of massive belly on stone. Freedom to be snatched from her grasp at the last instant.
She never looked, not even when she realized she was not alone here at the top of the cliff. Everything, everything she had, she used in her sprint for the edge of the trees, the cover they might provide. Three paces, two. She reached out as if the trees would match her efforts and reach out to pull her in amongst them. She leapt, diving towards the shadow of leaf and bough. Caught in mid-air by rough talon, still reaching towards freedom, now lost. Reaching perhaps never to gain, for the beast had her once more. An unexpected wail erupted from the depths of Avalee's soul. Sorrow, and anger, always anger. This dragon, this bane, she would make it pay dearly. She would see that it died.
~~~
Chapter 6
The trip back down into the cave was swift on the wings of the dragon, a mere moment compared to the ordeal Avalee had just endured. Anger seethed in her heart, anger at herself for not seeing the dragon, it in plain view. Anger for not recognizing it for what it was. Anger for being chosen, for the fact that any girl might be chosen on that tenth year, that another would be chosen ten years from now. Anger that she hadn't been swift enough, nor clever enough, to make her escape. The trip was swift, but Avalee felt every second as though it were an eternity, lingering on each aspect of her failure before examining the next, hardly acknowledging the sting of dust lashing her face, the bite of chill air as they dove deeper and deeper into the cave.
It hardly made a difference that she still held the sword in her hand. Avalee already knew it was useless against the beast. She tried to console herself in the fact that at least this time she was conscious for the trip. She tried to tell herself that if she could get so far once, she could do so again, but she knew it was pointless. Despair filled her. She had failed and next time might never come again.
The dragon caught itself on outstretched wings and landed gently in the center of the cavern. The claw that held Avalee continued to do so even after the beast touched down, and she wondered what it was waiting for.
"Elisa," the beast spoke, its bass rumble pulsing harshly into Avalee.
"My lord? I thought you would be sunning yourself yet. Oh, oh my!"
Avalee didn't see Elisa approach, because she was facing the wrong way, but obviously the woman had no trouble spotting Avalee.
"Take her," said the dragon, and its claw began to loosen around Avalee.
She braced herself for a fall, but just before the beast completely released its grip, it set her upon the rough ground, and she was able to find her footing before Elisa quite reached her.
"You cannot hold me forever," Avalee said under her breath and turned to face the dragon. Under her breath, but she was certain the beast heard her just the same. She tilted her chin up defiantly and stared at it, subtly raising the tip of the sword from the ground in its direction. She was not stupid enough to challenge it outright, but she was angry enough to come close.
"Come away, dear. Come away," Elisa said, grasping Avalee's arm and tugging her back and away from the dragon. A hint of fear came through, and Avalee understood why.
This was the first time she'd gotten a really good look at the dragon, the first time face to face. She'd had plenty of face to claw and face to belly time, but she'd never looked it in the eye before now. The first thing she noted were its eyes, reptilian, luminous, and if she didn't miss her guess, the dragon was as angry with her as she was with it. The next thing she noticed was the texture of its skin, not all scaly, as she'd guessed by her lengthy encounter with its claw, but rather smooth, like that of a snake, at least on its head around its face. The smooth hide allowed expression where Avalee expected no such thing, and despite the anger she'd spotted in its eyes, she thought she detected a hint of amusement. It brought to mind the rumbling chuckle she'd heard from it on their journey.
Then, of course, its size. Massive, nearly big enough to fill the town square back in her village. If it had wanted to crash the festival, it could have crushed most of the village just by landing there. It wouldn't have h
ad to try. A flick of its tail, nearly forty paces long, just the tail, could have destroyed an entire building, or at least damaged it beyond use or repair. The lengthy tail swept up into a relatively sleek body, trim and athletic, rippling with muscles poorly hidden by the scales that, unlike on its head, cloaked its body as in a coat of armor. Four massive legs, the front two ending in claws that were more like hands, the back two ending in feet that seemed like they could grip and perch, but were obviously not as well suited for finer activities like catching and carrying away young women. The body was not quite as long as the tail, though it was close.
The wings were folded against its body, so Avalee couldn't really get a good look at them, but she imagined that they would be nearly as long as it's body, or perhaps even twice as long to support the beast's bulk. It made her realize that the dragon probably didn't have many viable options for a lair. This one was huge, but the spiraling journey to the bottom had made her realize that to the dragon, the cavern was merely cozy, bordering on cramped. All this was topped by a sinuous neck and that expressive, draconic face.
This creature could have crushed her, could have gulped her up without a second thought, it wouldn't have even had to chew. The sword in Avalee's hands—she was holding it with both now—began to tremble in her grip. All the tension she'd built up, all the bravery and courage she'd dug up from the depths of her soul, all the fear and doubt she'd tried to ignore, all that was flipping on its head. The tremor became a sob, and Avalee looked away from the dragon lest it see her distress, not that it couldn't hear it.
"Come, let's get you settled back in. Why did you do that, dear? Come." Elisa was cooing the words to Avalee as one would do to a distraught child.
Avalee was sick of it already. She didn't want sympathy. She wanted to leave.
"Wait." This came from the dragon.
Elisa and Avalee stopped at the beast's command, but only Elisa looked back at it.
"My lord?" she said.
"Bring her close. I wish to examine her."
They were more words than Avalee had ever heard from the dragon, and she was not happy to hear them. Yet, Elisa turned her about and brought her to within a pace or two of the dragon's maw before stopping her and holding her in place—holding her up if Avalee was honest with herself. Her knees had gone quite weak at this point.
She was so close now that she could feel the warm rush of sulfuric breath, pick out the subtle swirl of color in the beast's glowing eyes, cat like in the low light of the cavern. Too close to pick out an expression, but close enough to see anger fade from its eyes in favor of curiosity. The beast lifted its head slightly and reached out towards Avalee with its snout, sniffing slowly and carefully, obviously trying not to breath out on her too much for which Avalee was grateful. Then quick as lightening, but gentle all the same, its tongue flicked out and touched her cheek. Avalee reached up and touched where it had contacted her, and her eyes widened. It had licked her?
It pulled back and rested its head back where it had been, non-threateningly placed low on the ground.
"Fear has already fled, young maiden? From trembling to defiant in seconds. You are a puzzle." The dragon spoke these words, expecting no answer, and then tucked its head away and back into its body and closed its eyes. From this Avalee assumed the conversation, no, the examination, was over. Elisa must have done the same because Avalee felt herself being drawn away from the dragon once more.
At the fire pit, Elisa pulled Avalee over to a low bench that sat close to the fire, but not uncomfortably so, and sat her down. Then she wordlessly began to remove the pack and the bindings that held the chain close to her body. The occasional sound of consternation was the only communication Elisa offered as she worked, the chain rattling as she unwound it first from her waist and then as she unwound the bindings that held it to her leg. She made a neat stack as she worked, and Avalee watched without interest, having nothing else to do but observe all of her efforts go to waste.
Avalee watched without interest, that is, until Elisa left her side for a moment and came back with something that looked like a massive pair of shears. Avalee's spine straightened at this even as Elisa pulled her leg into a better position and began to slide one of the blades in between her leg and the manacle. Then with a massive grunt and a resounding snap of metal Avalee was free, at least of the chain, if not in truth.
"You have removed it." It wasn't a question. Avalee was simply astounded and had to hear the words aloud.
"Aye, I have. It seems chains will not hold you, so you may as well be comfortable." Elisa eyed the table leg she'd set aside while working at the chain and added, "Is that from the table?"
"Yes." Avalee answered the question, but offered nothing extra. Without the chain, she felt as light as a dandelion seed. Without it, she felt as if she had a chance above. She now knew what to expect, and what a sunning dragon looked like. As she watched Elisa turn away and return to tending the roasting meat on the fire, Avalee began to plot another escape.
~~~
Chapter 7
Just an hour later, Avalee was back in the original room, the same as it was except the broken table had been removed. Now she was pacing to and fro, and she kept looking at the pack and sword that Elisa had not bothered to reclaim from her; though she'd shaken her head disapprovingly when Avalee had taken them up again. Avalee could only guess that the woman and the dragon allowed this because they didn't think her likely to try another escape.
They were wrong.
Avalee felt her strength returning, almost too quickly to be natural, and again lifted the edge of her now tattered festival dress to peer at her leg. The bruises were already fading. It had been only hours. No, not natural at all. She didn't have any idea which one had done it, only that either Elisa or the dragon must have worked some sort of healing magic on her. No one in Avalee's village had such a gift, that she knew of, but there had always been tales. It was enough for Avalee to hazard a guess on the matter.
She pressed her hand gently into her side, and no pain met her touch. Even that wound, deep in her flesh, was nearly gone. With that and her hunger satisfied and thirst quenched, Avalee felt strong again. Perhaps even stronger than before she'd taken the journey. She wasn't even tired from her trip out of the cavern.
A low rumble of sound came from the main cavern, drawing Avalee's attention away from her healing wounds. The dragon was speaking again. She heard a faint answer, Elisa. Curiosity was ever a fault in Avalee, and she couldn't resist the urge to find out what they were saying. She wanted to know what they had planned for her, which justified the eavesdropping in her mind. Knowing the way, she reached the end of the tunnel and peered around the edge of the opening in the direction she expected them to be. Her assumption was right.
Elisa and the dragon were near the fire pit, their forms silhouetted in the light cast from the dancing flames. Elisa stood, the dragon crouched, its face a mere pace from Elisa’s diminutive frame. Though they weren't close, their voices carried and bounced around the cavern and came clearly to Avalee's ears.
"It is time, my lord. You know it is. Ten years, and you have this young maiden now. She is not my problem."
"No, Elisa, she is not. Are you really so eager to leave me?"
"I have fulfilled my obligation. It is time for you to fulfill yours. You promised."
A moment of silence filled the cavern, and Avalee listened carefully for the conversation to resume. What had the dragon promised? Ten years?
"Indeed," the dragon rumbled, attempting a whisper, but failing. "Then I shall take you to the mainland tomorrow. You must make preparations. I cannot take you near any town lest the men follow me back here. You know this."
"I know it. I will be ready, my lord." Elisa's voice sounded clear and youthful, strong, and, Avalee imagined, perhaps even excited.
She was leaving?
"Are you certain?" the dragon made one last attempt. It seemed to want Elisa to stay.
"Aye, I am. You gave
Jolessa hers, now it is my turn." Then Elisa's voice mellowed, and Avalee nearly missed what she said next. She thought the woman said, "I wish you well, my lord, but I caution you. Treat this one well. She is like you, I think. She will chafe at any bond you place upon her, but I sense a strength in her. A rare trait. She is not like those of us who have come before. She may be a danger to you."
The dragon responded with a long silence and then said, "I have sensed this as well. She is special. I will take care. Tomorrow, Elisa, we will travel. Prepare yourself. Come to the surface when you are ready."
Avalee crouched back as the dragon took to its feet and then leapt into the air. She leaned forward to watch its progress up and out of the cavern and then glanced in the direction of the fire where Elisa stood—perfectly still and staring up after the dragon—before withdrawing back to her room.
Avalee, back in her room, sat on the edge of her bed and cradled her head in her hands. She'd learned a great deal in a short amount of time. Not the least of which was the fact that Elisa had spent ten years in the service of the dragon, ten years of service that would end tomorrow when it would take her to the mainland. Avalee didn't like the sound of that last bit, particularly when she remembered the water. Was this an island? If so, no wonder the two of them hadn't bothered to take the gear back from her.
And the first bit? Ten years of service. Elisa must be the last of the maidens taken from her village. And Janessa, that would make her the first. Would Avalee be offered the same deal? Ten years and then a trip to the mainland and well-earned freedom. Ten years as companion, or perhaps merely servant, to the dragon. Elisa seemed to hold no grudge against it, but she didn't seem to feel any great connection to the dragon, either, by the eagerness that had filtered into her speech back in the cavern.
Avalee and the Dragon Page 5
