Dragons Don't Love

by D'Elen McClain

  “Die, you blue demon from hell, die!” is shouted from my back. I can just make out a white gown flapping around me as I gain altitude. My heart lurches and the thrill that enraptures me settles. My bride is riding on my back.

  She is also trying to kill me.

  So great is my surprise that I let out a blaring roar of fire with my laughter. One of the human homes goes up in flames and I watch as they run out to seek safety where none can be had. Stupid humans, you cannot go far enough. I would find you even in hell.

  I stop all thought of having a human barbeque when my bride stands on my back and creeps up my neck. Does she not know that my scales stop any feeble attempt she makes to cause me harm?

  “Desist, you foolish woman,” I blare into her head.

  She drops to her knees and I know it’s because I did not temper my voice. She slams her blade against my neck.

  “Why won’t you die?” she screams, her frustration clear.

  She’s misbehaved quite enough and my patience is at an end. I point my large nose to the clouds. As we rise, she grips me tightly with her legs. I’m angry and impressed. My past brides have all worn saddles to ride me. And even with a saddle it can take years of training before they are comfortable. And then there are the ones who refuse entirely and I must carry in my claws. I fight rolling my eyes at the thought of these shameless weaklings.

  With a flap of my giant wings, I pivot my neck and flip upside down. As I planned, she can’t hold on. With gleeful delight, I watch her arms and legs flail as she falls. Turning sharply, I grab a chunk of material from the back of her gown within my teeth. She thrashes around incessantly. I look down at the village and wonder if I should go down and kill a few people while I’m in the mood. It would serve them right.

  The tight hold my bride keeps on her blade changes my mind. This one is feisty and I anticipate an exciting night of sexual games. My cock swells and I release it from its armored sheath below my belly. Sadly, I can’t do the many things I want to with her while in dragon form. And sadder still, she can’t see my cock to praise its glory. The spear between my legs is magnificent in both my forms and my bride will kneel before me begging for its attention. I give a last satisfying roar and turn toward home.

  I am the mightiest of dragons and I hold my new bride within my talons.

  Chapter Five

  Roxanne

  I had everything planned perfectly. Climbing the village tower was easy. Listening to my parents calling out for me—gut-wrenching. I hardened my heart against their pleas because I knew I had to fulfill my destiny.

  I hid beneath the shadowed eaves of the tower and watched as the brides lined up to await their fate. They couldn’t help themselves. All the diatribe fed to us from birth made them think they played a special role in village life. They could not see the larger picture. Their life mattered for something bigger than a sacrifice they have no control over. I alone was not blind to the injustice of it all. I would sacrifice my life for theirs by killing the dragon.

  I saw him approach and gave pause at his regal beauty. My mother had told me of their allure, so I thought I was immune to what came toward us. I was wrong, and for just a moment, I wondered if I could do it. My entire body shook with apprehension and I gripped the blade tighter. I would never back away from my destiny.

  I waited until he swooped in low and threw a bola around his leg—my aim true, my goal to kill him within my grasp. My landing on his back was perfect. I could feel his soft scales beneath me. That is until I thrust my blade as hard as I could between those scales. I forfeited my life to save my sisters in white.

  His damned scales hardened when my blade met his body and the blade slid off. Pain lanced through my arm and into my shoulder. I struck again in fury. No matter how many times I tried, he remained unscathed. No dragon’s blood to carry into death.

  I failed.

  Now, my humiliation complete, I hang by my dress, flying through the sky at the mercy of a dragon. I am too distraught to admire the view. I had planned to die. I swore an oath to kill the dragon. All is lost. He carries me to a fate worse than death. The clear sky gives me no warning as we pass through an invisible sphere. Excruciating pain shoots through my head. I hate myself and my human weakness that makes me cry out.

  Then, I hate him more.

  He tosses me high above him and spits flame beneath me. My dress catches fire, but that doesn’t stop him from grabbing it between his teeth again. I silently vow I will succeed in killing him no matter what it takes. If my sword won’t do the job, I will find another way.

  When my hands and knees hit the cool ground a short time later, my apprehension reaches a new level. I sink wearily to my stomach and rest my face against my arms. My blade. I must have my blade. I use every bit of my remaining strength to move my head around in hope that it’s near. Nothing.

  A giant dragon nose lifts me about three feet to the side and I collapse onto my belly again. Too despondent to even cry, I simply roll over to my back. I will look death in the face and spit in its eye.

  He stands over me—the great beast I spent my life hating. I was told my dragon captor would be blue and he is. Though blue doesn’t quite cover the shades of color rippling over his scales. From the fairest blue sky to the dark of the moon, the light illuminates his incredible hide. His monstrous body is larger than I ever imagined. And his eyes. Their stunning blue depths hold nothing but death.

  “What are you staring at, female?”

  His voice startles me as much as it pains my head. I cover my ears while squeezing my eyes closed even though I know it will do no good. How does he yell into my mind without moving his mouth? A few minutes pass without more blaring and I manage to open one eye just in time to see a great claw from his front leg descend. This is it. He will gut me and eat my organs. Deep in my soul I find strength. I grab the claw and wrap my arms and legs around it with the last bit of fight I have left. He lifts me into the air and brings me closer to his wide jaws.

  I am stupid by playing directly into his plans to eat me, but one crunch must be better than the slow slice of claws through my flesh. His giant nostril puffs warm air over me before he lifts me higher and brings me up to one of his blue eyes.

  This time his voice is slightly less than a blare and doesn’t hurt my head as much. “Foolish woman. What do you hope to accomplish by hanging from my talon?”

  “This,” I shout as I swing myself up and leap for the bridge of his nose. My foot swings out and I thrust it as hard as I can into his eye. Pain lances up my leg as he rears back. My fall is short-lived. His mighty talons grab me right before I land. I slide across the floor until I hit a wall. The impact jars me and my teeth rattle. At the same time, it knocks the breath from my body.

  “Are you happy?” he shouts into my head again.

  I curl into a tight ball and try to gain my breath. Everything hurts.

  “So I do have a crybaby on my hands; how un-refreshing.” he says in a lower tone. He sounds completely disgusted.

  After a minute, air enters my lungs and I can think again. I uncurl myself slowly and using the wall for support, I inch my way up until I stand tall and proud. “Did you call me a crybaby?”

  His body rears up, his front legs as high as three men, and flames shoot from his mouth as he… laughs? The idiot is laughing. I notice the lighter shade of his underbelly and fist the hand that is missing a blade. His belly is the kill zone where I will end his miserable life. I look around and see a door about eight feet away. The heat from his laughing fire heats my skin. I run for the door. With all the bad luck I’ve had it’s a miracle that the door opens and I can slip inside.

  “What are you doing, female?” he sing-songs into my head.

  I slam the heavy door just as I see a goliath foot slamming to the ground in front of the door.

  “You are testing my patience with your stupidity. You think to hide from me? You are exactly where I want you.” He sniffs loudly along the door. “You will find
what you need and I expect you dressed and ready to attend me in an hour. Bathe and use the perfumes. I fear you stink and I prefer my human sacrifice to smell palatable.”

  A heavy thud sounds against the door. Before I even try to open it, I know I’m caught. I push against the wood with no luck. He’s blocked the door, so I’m trapped inside. I pound my fists against the wood in consternation. Something pokes against one of my feet and I glance down. The diabolical dragon is sliding my blade beneath the door. I grab it quickly and back up while my heart pounds in bewilderment.

  The dragon returned my weapon.

  Chapter Six

  Laryn

  “Foolish woman,” I mutter as I fly up to the perch that overlooks the inside of my tower. New brides always make things difficult. This one believes she is some type of warrior woman with her acrobatic moves. My inner eyelid barely closed before her foot connected. Not that her puny blow would cause harm.

  Hmm. At least she’s entertaining and not wailing at the top of her lungs like most brides.

  She doesn’t actually stink. I said that so maybe she’ll relax in a bath and accept her fate. I know the first mating for a bride is difficult. I shake my great head in annoyance as I remember Maleah’s gentle reprimand. Maleah, my last bride, hated me for years for what I did to her on the day of her claiming. She made me promise I would woo my future bride first. Just the thought of Maleah made my heart ache. I suddenly closed down the part of me that remembered her. Wooing is not something a magnificent creature like me will ever do. It’s best to get the deed over with and get on with the years of fear and crying before a bride finally settles into her life.

  “Uncle Laryn, Uncle Laryn is she here?”

  Oh hell.

  A pint-sized red dragon swoops into my tower.

  “Ashrac, you aren’t allowed here and you know it. I’m sick of threats from your parents because you refuse to obey them.”

  He doesn’t even look ashamed and my demand affects him not at all. “Oh, Uncle Laryn, you know I could not stay away today. So did you claim her and bring her back to your castle?” He makes me dizzy as he buzzes around my head.

  I puff out my chest and cock my head. “She’s in her room preparing herself,” I say with great pride as his wings flutter against my scales and soften my heart. He does this to me all the time. I call him an irritant, but really he’s kept me sane during the long years of waiting for a bride. His parents haven’t changed, though. Him refusing to follow their orders doesn’t help. I think his visits would end if I ever showed true ire. I can’t. I need him, or at least I did before claiming my new bride.

  I was able to visit once a month during his incubation year. Before that, he spent a year within Acasia’s belly. That was truly a lonely time because Bastian hated me… still hates me. Acasia is little better with all her rules and pompous ways that drive me crazy. To think I wanted her as my own is truly repellent now.

  And then there’s Ashrac. He’s twenty-five in human years but only about eight in a dragon’s childhood cycle. He won’t mature fully until he reaches his one-hundredth dragon year. I sigh internally. Ninety-two more years of sneaking behind his parents’ backs so he can visit me is ridiculous. I’ve gotten over my need to steal him. It would cause too much harm and he would hate me too. Maybe my bride can help find a solution during the years to come.

  Ashrac’s sweet voice brings me from my thoughts. “Uncle Laryn, what is she preparing herself for?”

  “Well…” What the hell do I say now? He’s far too young to understand the ways of mating with your bride. “I know you must be hungry. Let’s head to the kitchen. I’ll feed you and then you must return to your parents.”

  He lands beside me and drops his head. “They’re doing that googly-eyed thing again. Mother puts me down for a nap and they disappear.” He looks back up at me with shining, red, pleading eyes. “Please, Uncle Laryn, I wish to see your bride.”

  He twists my heart. It’s impossible for him to meet her today, but his disappointment will tear me apart. “You can’t. Not this time. But what if we practice breathing fire after eating? I promise when my bride has settled I will introduce you.”

  He drops his head again and scuffs the floor with the talons from one paw. “Okay, Uncle Laryn.”

  I can’t stand to watch him this upset, so I unfurl my wings and lift up from the floor. “Follow me. I know cook has your favorite cookies waiting.” He better have them or we’ll need a new cook.

  I cast a final glance at the door that holds my bride behind it. She is safe and if she is smart, she will do my bidding and prepare herself. I’m not sure why I returned her sword. Truly it’s only a nuisance. Though my scales can’t protect me in human form, I am deadlier than any mere human female.

  Chapter Seven

  Roxanne

  It’s the appointed time he said he will return. I hold the blade ready to strike when he opens the door. And I fume. He returned the sword, which means he doesn’t consider me a threat. I’ve practiced in secrecy my entire life to do one job—kill a dragon. And he doesn’t take me seriously.

  An hour later, my arm is too tired to hold the blade up. I walk around the small chamber and swing my arm to loosen my sore muscles. There is a single bed with a door beside it that opens to a large indoor bathing chamber. The only clothes I find are lying next to the tub. It’s two pieces of blue, sheer, barely there cloth. My face heats with the thought of wearing such scandalous items. I look down at my shredded white gown. I only wore it in case a villager saw me before the claiming ceremony. I didn’t want someone telling my parents I wasn’t prepared for my fate. It takes little to figure out that it isn’t my sisters in white who will be the dragon’s dinner this night. It’s me.

  And he wants me to prepare myself by removing body odor for added flavor!

  I hear a sound at the door and run over with my sword raised, the ache in my arm instantly forgotten with my quest for dragon blood. The door is thrown open and I bring the sword up over my head and downward.

  A human child screeches and ducks, which enables me to halt the death blow mere inches from his head. Large black eyes with the oddest streaks of red stare up at me. Even though he almost had his head cleaved in two, I see no fear.

  “You are very beautiful. Uncle Laryn wouldn’t tell me what you look like, so I had to come see for myself.”

  With trembling hands, I jerk the sword behind me. “Who are you?” I ask breathlessly.

  His small chest barrels outward. He’s completely naked with no shame whatsoever. “I am Ashrac, son of Bastian and Acasia, the mightiest dragons in the land.”

  I hide my grin. If this child wishes to pretend his parents are dragons, I won’t ruin his fantasy. Acasia… she’s the last claimed bride. “Your mother is Acasia?”

  “Yes, and she is more beautiful even than you.” His eyes skim up and down. “I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but it’s true.”

  He’s absolutely adorable, though I don’t have time to converse with him. “You must take me to your mother so she will protect me.”

  “Ashrac,” a feminine voice calls out.

  Ashrac’s mouth forms a grimace before he looks down. “She’s found me and now I will face the consequences of my actions.” He scuffs the floor with his foot.

  I heard no anger in the woman’s tone, only frustration. I take his hand and walk him from the room. I look around and see nothing. Then, when a soft clicking noise comes from above, I gaze up until I’m looking at the highest ledge of the tower. A large, red dragon sits upon a perch peering down. I bring my sword up and pull the child behind me.

  “If you harm my son, I will kill you slowly and feed your remains to scavengers,” the dragon speaks into my mind in the scariest tone I’ve ever heard.

  Her son. “Acasia?” I ask in bewilderment.

  “Release my son,” she thunders.

  Ashrac drops my hand and steps forward. “She won’t hurt me, Mother, for we are friends. I fear my uncle has
frightened her and she wants you to protect her.”

  The dragon clears the ledge and flies down until she lands. Ashrac runs forward before I can stop him and launches himself onto his mother’s nose much as I did to the dragon who stole me. She flips him up and he curls his body tight and summersaults twice in the air. It’s a practiced move that they’ve obviously done many times. He lands back on her nose and leaps to the ground. “May we keep her, Mother? May we please? She is the finest treasure.”

  The dragon looks at me with stormy red eyes. I see the love she holds for her son and I see… pity. It hurts internally when I realize it’s for me. I had no idea female dragons exist. If she loves her son, she can’t be all bad. In the most scared voice I can muster, I beg, “Please, my lady dragon, rescue me from my captor. I beg mercy.”

  She holds my gaze for the longest time before speaking. “There will be hell to pay.”

  I look down at the child and my heart flip flops. I don’t want him to suffer because I’m gone. Slowly, I back into the room. “Please, Ashrac, bolt the door so you opening it is not discovered. I will await my fate inside.”

  “Come out,” says the dragon in a voice filled with resignation. “I owe Laryn a stolen bride. If this works out, we shall be even and just maybe my husband will forgive him.”

  I have no idea what she speaks of, but I step back out into the tower. I’m afraid to feel hope. This has been an exasperating day that turns more surreal with every passing moment.

  The dragon speaks into my mind again. “I have no saddle, so I will need to carry you with my teeth. What say you?”

  If this is really happening, I must take a chance. “I rode my dragon captor without a saddle until he flipped upside down and dislodged me. I can hold your son…” How can a dragon have a human son? This is the one concept I’m having trouble with, but I will work it out in my mind later. She curls her tail around and forward. I stow my sword in its sheath and run up until I’m high enough to leap on her back.