Chapter 15
Fifteen
Ayla
A ll too soon, the Wyvern broke from the trees. I couldn't see where we were going, but the brightness made it clear things had changed. Then, before I was ready, the monster crouched, lifting one arm to brace my back while the other moved my legs.
The world shifted and I found myself on my rump in the dirt. Only inches away was the most terrifying thing our people had ever encountered. My breath was coming too fast, and this time it wasn't because I'd been running. My eyes were streaming now, making everything into a halo of light and colors, yet the moment the Wyvern let go of me, I shoved to my feet.
Immediately, something in the sole of my right foot pushed deeper. The pain made me cry out, so I shifted my weight to the other foot. If the Dragons were going to kill me, I had no intention of making it easy for them.
Forms moved around me, but the annoying streaming of my eyes made them hard to see. Reaching up, I used the back of my hand to wipe at first one eye, then the other, but what I saw only made me wish I hadn't.
More Dragons.
Four more moved in to encircle me. Like the Wyvern, they all seemed to be male. All five of them had chests like the Righteous men - and no shirts to cover them! They were shaped so much like humans, with only two arms and two legs, and their necks were not long. They looked nothing like the creatures from my books!
But their hands did end in talons. The tails swaying behind them looked both strong and dangerous. Their feet were upright, more like they were walking on their tiptoes with their heels in the air. Of course, those toes had talons on them.
Then there were the colors. One was bright green. Solid green, except for his tan chest and a pair of red lines jutting back from his human-shaped - but not colored - eyes. The next was tan with green along his sides and horizontal black stripes over that. He was huge, maybe even bigger than the Wyvern. I was pretty sure he'd been the one who'd stood from the grass.
Turning a bit more, I saw another brown one, but this was a darker shade. Closer to the bark of the trees, but darker. Black polka dots covered his body, but it was the lavender on his belly and the royal purple marks on the back sides of his neck that made him stand out. Yet the one beside him?
I wasn't sure I had a name for all those colors. Yellow, red, orange, and turquoise assaulted my eyes. Unlike the rest, this Dragon wore pants. Black ones. That made me turn again quickly, inspecting the others one more time. I wasn't sure what they would call the covering over their groins, but it was leather, dyed to nearly the color of their bodies. Maybe a loincloth?
And they were talking. The words were flying too fast for me to even make out the sounds. With their eyes locked on me, however, I could guess the subject. Then the tan, green, and black one slashed his arm through the air and snapped something loudly.
Before any of the others could respond, he lunged at me. A scream broke from my lips and I tried to jump back, but my foot hurt too bad. I staggered. The blindingly-colored Dragon caught my shoulders, but that only held me in place as the tan, green, and black one grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him.
One more time, I stumbled on my abused feet. Pain was lancing up from them, but before the mostly tan Dragon could abscond with me, the Wyvern shoved in. So did the dark brown one with the purple. That made the solid green one press in.
I expected the monsters to pull at me until they'd ripped me apart. Instead, the Wyvern and the brown one pushed at the other Dragons. The other Dragons pushed back. Tails flailed behind them, whipping the air furiously. Their strange words grew louder and louder as the argument escalated, and I tried my hardest to pull free.
I could feel the tan one's talons poking into my skin. His grip was so hard, I knew I'd have bruises. I also didn't care. I had to get out of the middle of them. What I needed was a weapon!
My eyes landed on the chain. Heaving my entire body to the side, I swung the thing, hoping to add some force into it. The metal links made a sound as they impacted the tan Dragon's side, but little else. It was still enough to make the monsters all fall silent and look at me again.
Which was when the one in pants moved closer, crossing his arms over his chest. " Uf Zasen zes sa steiz dan sa steiz. Sou vot uf saz e moul? Saz olsou e fimeil, un viv nava zin wan bithar. "
The tan one snarled in annoyance and finally released me. A jumble of words tumbled from him, with the green one adding a few of his own thoughts, but no one bothered to reply. Instead, the Wyvern simply smiled deviously as if he'd gotten his way.
Naturally, my stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly. The men all paused. Slowly, their attention shifted to me again, but not to my face. They were looking at my body. The one barely concealed by the thin white cloth of my chemise.
I crossed my hands over my breasts to hide them and shook my head. Since the Dragons had stepped back, I had room to retreat, but no good direction to do it. Hoping for some way to escape, I glanced to my left. Then my right. The five monsters had me trapped between them, though.
Then the one in pants grabbed my upper arms again. No, clasped. His grip wasn't hard enough to count as grabbing, but it still made me freeze. My heart was hammering so hard, I felt like I was about to pass out. My breath was coming in short, shallow pants. My skin felt like it had gone numb, yet I could feel the Dragon's hands.
"Please!" I whimpered.
On my other side, the Wyvern grunted as if annoyed, then stormed to the side. Terrified, I couldn't take my eyes off him. Was this when it all ended? Would they kill me now? I almost hoped so, because that would be much better than the horrors Mr. Cassidy had warned us about. I did not want them to hold me down and use my body!
Where the Wyvern stopped was a collection of leather and cloth. Blinking hard, I pushed away the glare long enough to see him open one of the lumps, proving it was a pack of some kind. Shoving his hand deep into it, he pulled something out and marched back towards me, thrusting it into my face.
" Ier. "
I had no clue what his words meant, but the smell of the thing assaulted me. Sweet, salty, and strong. I couldn't even name the scents, but I did recognize the texture. The item in his hands looked exactly like pieces of meat that were cooked far too long.
I shook my head. No, if they were going to kill or torture me, then I wouldn't make it easy! I would not choke back some disgusting flesh just to appease them. The Wyvern thrust it at me again, and again I refused, trying to back away from him - but that only pressed me closer to the one holding me.
With a weary sigh, the Wyvern lifted the chunk of dry meat to his lips and took a bite, revealing teeth shaped almost like mine. Pointedly, he chewed it, then he made a production of swallowing. I stared in complete fascination.
His face was so human! Well, his nose was wider than mine, and the top of it attached to his forehead a little differently - but that could've been his coloration too. Pale stripes marked his cheeks and brow with more dipping from his lower lip, down his neck, to fade into the soft grey color of his chest and belly.
Then the Wyvern thrust the half-eaten piece of food at me again. " Ier, Orin. "
Nope, I was not going to eat that. The taste of it would make me vomit, and that would make me even weaker. If I wanted a chance to get away - even a slim one - then being hungry would be better than being nauseous.
Yet once again the Wyvern sighed. This time louder than before. Tearing off the end where he'd bit into the meat, he broke the chunk apart. The half where his teeth had left their mark was tossed into his mouth. The remainder was thrust at me one more time.
"I'm not going to eat that!" I snapped.
Which made the Dragon holding me chuckle. I glanced back to see him gesture towards the Wyvern, and then the brilliantly-colored monster eased me forward. When I looked back, it was just in time to see the Wyvern grab the loop in the middle of my chain. The same one that had been over the hook on the tree. He didn't hold it hard, though. The creature looked almost lazy about restraining me.
This time, the other one headed for the packs. He opened one, searched inside it, then moved to another. Smiling - just like a man would - he pulled out what at first appeared to be a fist-sized rock. Then he found something else and opened it to pour what looked like water across the rock, making it darker. Dark enough to match the color of the fifth Dragon.
When all of that was done, the Dragon in pants walked back over. " Zasen, lad ar gou. Ai douna feenk sa izgouna roun. "
The Wyvern immediately released my chain. Letting out another grumbling sound, he tossed his dark hands into the air, turned, and walked away.
Wait. The others were gone too! Blinking hard, I struggled to clear my eyes. That helped, but only until the watering from this bright light blurred everything again. It still gave me enough time to notice that only the yellow, orange, red, and turquoise Dragon was close to me. Sadly, the others were still around, placed in a loose circle.
There were gaps between them now. Large ones. Big enough that I debated trying to run for it, until I noticed the solid green one glance over. Okay, so they'd spread out, but it seemed they were still watching me.
Then the Dragon beside me lightly touched my arm. " Orin? "
I looked over to see him sink down to the ground, crossing his legs as he sat on the dirt. Lifting a hand, he waved me down, making it clear he wanted me to do the same. I paused to look around me one more time, but I was well and truly trapped. There was no point in trying to run, so what did I have to lose?
I sat.
The Dragon beside me held up the rock. I could see the basic form of it, but with my tears streaming from my eyes, the details were lost. Yet since he wasn't trying to grab me or pull me apart, I dared to reach up and wipe my eyes clear again. This time, I used both hands, but when my vision was clear, I looked at the Dragon, not the item he was holding.
He was big. About the size of Tobias, I thought. Worse, the Wyvern and the tan one were even bigger. The dark brown one was smaller, and the green one was about the same size as the one before me. And while it was hard to pick a main color for this one - since he had so many - I realized his body was mainly yellow.
The orange-and-red marks were a pattern over that. The areas of those darker colors were irregular but large, reminding me of a spotted dog I'd once seen in a book - and they overlapped each other! The turquoise color? It was in dots and dashes that accented everything beneath.
He was beautiful. In all my life, I'd never seen colors as vivid as his skin, but as I looked him over, I eventually made it to his face. My eyes met his - turquoise, like those spots - and the Dragon smiled gently.
" Orin, tu aev da eed. " And he offered me the rock again.
I shook my head, but this time because I had no idea what he was asking me.
So the Dragon's smile grew a little more, shifting to a smirk. Slowly, keeping eye contact with me the entire time, he lifted the rock to his lips and bit at the end.
There was a crunch, but not of stone. Beneath the dark brown exterior, bright orange insides were revealed. The color wasn't nearly as vivid as the spots on this Dragon's skin, but still very orange. Then, just like the Wyvern had, the yellow-and-multi-colored Dragon chewed and swallowed before offering me the item again.
But I recognized the sound of that crunch! I'd heard it before. No, this item didn't look the same, but so many times when I'd been assigned kitchen duty, I'd snuck a few bites of the raw tubers to silence my belly. Each bite had sounded the same. That was enough to make me accept the "rock."
Carefully lifting it to my nose, I sniffed. It didn't have much of a smell, but what was there was definitely a tuber. So, deciding I had nothing to lose, I tried a very small bite, just nibbling at the edge of where his teeth had revealed the orange beneath.
Sweet! Not overly, but the taste of this thing was definitely sweet compared to the tubers I knew. It was also good. I barely swallowed the tidbit before my stomach rumbled again, adding in a cramp of discomfort to encourage me. Needless to say, my next bite may not have been polite.
It was big, taking as much into my mouth as I could manage. With each chew, the tuber crunched against my teeth, and the taste of it was so good. I wanted to moan in approval, but not with these monsters around. Still, if I wanted to have a chance, I had to keep my strength up, and eating was the best way to do it.
Beside me, the multi-colored Dragon nodded his head in approval. The smile on his lips looked almost proud. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of what he'd possibly done to be proud of, but if he'd just won this round, then fine. I would win the next one.
Because one way or another, I would survive - or die trying.