Chapter 1 #2
She begins to brush it, one frizzy, gnarled section at a time, twirling each piece around her fingers, separating them and forming them into their own sleek curls.
I glance back at her, more than a little shocked.
‘Skill is an understatement,’ I tell her. ‘I didn’t know this could be done with it.’
She gives a small smile and keeps it up until my mane of hair is laying down in almost sleek curls. When she’s finished, she gives a sigh. ‘Best I can do without any oil.’
‘Thanks,’ I say. ‘But why?’
I look around at the other five. ‘Why did you make everyone look as pretty as you could? What if they don’t choose you because of it?’
Blondie glances at the guard and leans closer to me.
‘I have a man who owns a homestead in the west. He got a message to me before I was taken from home, and he told me he’d find me at the crossroad with the black sign.
I let him know that I’d find a way to meet him there no matter what.
Well, we passed that crossroad about an hour before we made camp here.
I won’t be here to get picked. As soon as those dragons show, I’m running. ’
‘What if they catch you?’
‘They won’t. But maybe you could help me like I’ve helped you.’
I nod. ‘I’ll do what I can.’
She nods and gives me a wink. ‘Thanks, Red.’
‘They’re here!’
My heart leaps into my chest and I clutch Blondie’s hand. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Harriet. You?’
‘Mari.’
‘Well, good luck, Mari.’
‘You too, Harriet.’
The human stench makes me want to burn them all.
‘They’d smell better cooked,’ Orin, my student, mutters and I snort.
‘I agree.’
But orders are orders, and the Commander gave me the task of finding the Tribute.
A political move, knowing him. It’s been a few years, but we don’t have to take a new one.
We already have local humans in the mountain with us.
As far as I’m concerned, even one of them is too many.
More trouble than they’re worth. They scuttle around and cower before us.
They cry and beg and wail and make silly little squeaks like mice or rats.
Some of my brethren fuck them, but I’ve never seen the appeal myself.
Well, not in a very long time anyway. I stay away from them as much as I can.
If Dreythos hadn’t ordered this of me, I wouldn’t be anywhere near these vermin.
Thankfully, over the past few hundred years or so they’ve practically wiped themselves out. And, out of their mutually assured destruction, my kind have flourished in ways we hadn’t since the advent of our oldest tales.
We land close to the camp, mostly because I enjoy seeing the humans run around and quail like ants in a disturbed nest.
I hear more than one human female scream and I roll my eyes as I stomp into their circle. I half notice one of the herd break away and lunge into the forest. A couple of the males go after her, but I pay them no mind.
‘The leader?’
I keep my words short. I don’t want to speak to them any more than absolutely necessary.
One of the ones that smells the worst points at a taller male. No, not taller than the others, just wearing a stupid, scuffed hat that’s seen better days.
‘My lords.’ He bows low and smacks the one next to him in the chest with the back of his hand to do the same.
I side-eye Orin. I hope this is over soon.
‘The females?’
‘This way, oh master of the skies.’
I hear young Orin snigger, the great rumble making the humans quake in their boots.
Kill me.
I’m led over to a line of women. Most seem so petrified that they can’t even look up at me.
They smell as bad as the males, though all of them are dressed in silks and satins and their hair shines in the sun.
I suppose that’s the best we can hope for from this ignorant people.
‘This is all?’
The leader shifts and glances at one of the younger ones. ‘One ran when you set down, my lord. The rest are all here.’ He gestures with his head toward the trees.
I don’t bother to look.
‘Only need one.’
The females squeal a little as I stand in front of them. I stare at each one until they cringe in on themselves, shrinking under my gaze, the gaze of a dragon. One even pisses herself.
Pathetic.
One wears such a short dress that I’ll bet that if I told her to turn for me, I’d be able to see the bottom of her ass.
But that’s not what has me pausing.
I lean closer and stiff.
She smells different from the others. She’s as dirty as they are, filthy in fact, but under the scent of sweat and grime is something else. Heady. Floral. Enticing.
With one massive black claw under her chin, I raise her head so that I can look into her eyes. She’s afraid, to be sure, but there’s also a defiance there. I snort and she startles as the warm air from my nostrils envelopes her body.
‘This one.’
The other females are equal parts relieved and terrified, this time of something else.
The female I’ve chosen swallows hard and steps forward.
‘I’ll go with you,’ she promises. ‘I’ll do whatever you want without a fuss, but I ask for a bounty in return.’
‘You’ll do as we wish no matter what,’ I tell her, but I find her words amusing. ‘But what do you ask?’
‘These men will be taking the other women to the Barelands to sell. Would you free them?’
I snort again. ‘Why would I?’
She looks around at the other females and then beseechingly at me.
‘I could do as you ask,’ I murmur, ‘but I request more than your acquiescence.’
‘What do you want?’
‘I’m not sure, but when I know, I’ll tell you and you’ll do it.’
She nods.
‘Orin, kill the males.’ I say to my second, my eyes not leaving the female’s.
‘All of them?’ He sounds excited.
‘All of them,’ I say in a bored tone.
I step to the side and raise my leg high, stepping on the leader as casually as I might bat a fly in my human form. He crunches under me, a soft oomph coming out of either his mouth or his anus, I’m not sure which and I can’t say that I care.
The rest begin screaming as Orin burns them, a couple flee into the woods, and I glance at the females who are still waiting in a line like goats for slaughter.
‘Well? Escape you ridiculous creatures,’ I roar.
Another one pisses herself at my yelling, but they scatter like roaches.
I can’t help my booming laugh. In mere moments, all the men are dead, and their camp is a smoldering ruin.
The female I’ve chosen isn’t where I left her, and for a second, I’m afraid I’m going to have to hunt her down, but then I realize she’s behind me trying to shadow me without being bowled over by my great tail.
I grab her with it, the forked end grabbing her wrists and hauling them together.
I pick her up and dangle her in front of my massive black snout.
She struggles a little, but she doesn’t scream and squeal like so many do.
I can tell she’s afraid. I can smell it on her and, for once, the scent isn’t wholly disagreeable.
I think I might even like it. But it’s hard to tell under all the other stenches that are on her.
‘Come,’ I say to Orin, ‘You’ve had your fun.’
He grins toothily and I can’t help my chuckle. ‘Incorrigible youngster.’
‘Where will we camp tonight?’ he asks, looking at the human dubiously. ‘The female you’ve chosen is lacking in furs. She’ll likely freeze to death without more substantial clothing.’
‘I have something she can wear,’ I growl. ‘But she’s touching nothing of mine until she’s been bathed. She stinks.’
The female frowns as if she knows what I’m saying, but I’m not speaking her language. Perhaps she understands the sentiment behind my clicks.
‘Yes,’ I tell her in her people’s words. ‘You smell of the dung of more than one creature, piss, and sweat.’
‘Sorry,’ she breathes. ‘If I’d known I was going to be chosen as the dragon sacrifice, I’d have told one of those assholes to give me a bath. Course they’d probably have killed me for it.’
I frown at her.
‘You’re a funny little thing,’ I tell her. ‘But you might want to learn to keep your chatter to a minimum. My kind don’t especially like mouthy humans.’
She looks up at me, her luminous green eyes ensnaring me. ‘Humans don’t like mouthy humans either. Guess our kinds have that in common.’
I shake myself free of her oddly hypnotizing gaze.
‘Is that why you were chosen as a Tribute by your kin, female?’ I chuckle. ‘Did they get tired of your voice?’
‘Maybe,’ she says softly and looks away.
She struggles a little in my grip.
‘You’re hurting me.’
I grunt. ‘Good,’ I hiss, and she winces, but I let her down and release her.
‘Thank you for letting the other women run away.’
I snort. ‘I didn’t do it for them, nor for you. These males have been travelling too close to our borders without permission. We were going to kill them anyway.’
Her eyes widen. ‘Then what was the point of the deal we made?’
My face lowers so that our eyes are level. ‘The deal was for the women. Did we kill any of them?’
She shakes her head, staring at me.
‘I’ll have my payment from you when I ask for it then.’
I turn away only to swing back, narrowly missing her with my tail.
She scowls at me and I’m almost amused.
Almost.
‘If you try to run, we will catch you. Easily. And then you’ll be punished to ensure you don’t do it again.’ I huff in her face and enjoy the way she cringes. ‘We have better things to do than spend all our time watching you.’
‘What would my punishment be?’
I frown. ‘Does it matter?’
She shrugs. ‘Might be worth trying it if it’s something silly like a lashing on my back with a stick.’
My eyes narrow at her. I hadn’t actually thought of what I’d do, just vague notions of violence and pain as is the way with humans and us.
I know that some of the disobedient females in the caverns are whipped or put in cells alone for days, but that isn’t one of my duties.
They used to be burned though Drey has banned the practice since he took leadership.
‘I’m not sure,’ I answer finally, ‘but I’ll make sure it’s so awful that you never put one of those tiny human toes out of line again.’