Thirty Seven
Alara
Rohan hasn’t returned since I last saw him at the Enclave, and my nerves haven’t settled.
I can only hope that he is back at camp now as I make my way through the door to the cavern.
Declan came for me, and I wanted to ask him if he knew where Rohan was, but I didn’t want to speak to him, and it seems he didn’t want to talk either after shoving me through the door at the top of the steps without a word.
I enter the cavern fully and look around.
The guards look in my direction, and Verson points to the center.
“Feed them first, elf.”
I nod, and one scoffs before they leave, heading through the back door they always use.
Leaving me on my own.
I hum to myself more than the dragons this time, trying to soothe my nerves. I feel the dragons’ curious stares on me and I wonder if they can tell something is wrong.
I go to the center to get the meat.
My eyes lift to the back of the cavern and the huge cage, finding it empty.
The hanging dragon isn’t down, and after a moment of warring with myself, I go to the lever and pull it before I change my mind.
I need her to get used to me, no matter how much she scares me.
The mechanism clanks in that familiar way, and then she’s there, in all her fury.
She growls and snarls, Nighturn spluttering out of her mouth.
It’s like she barely has anything left.
She stops when she reaches the floor, looking around the room until her eyes finally land on me.
Her gums peel back, and she thrashes violently in the chains. The force of her anger makes me rub at my chest.
So much pain.
So much fury.
“We have to try and work together,” I tell her, my hands shaking a little. “We can get out of here if we do, Rohan will make sure of it.”
She pauses for a moment, and curiously, she lowers her head, blinking at me.
She’s stopped snarling, stopped growling, she’s just… observing.
Then a door opens from the guard’s side and she goes crazy again as the robed woman makes her way to the door on the other side. The hanging dragon’s anger never once slows her down before she disappears into the room.
My eyes go back to the dragon, the chains cutting into her, her wings torn and held down. Blood splashes the floor of her cage as she struggles.
I want to go to her, I want to comfort her, but I’m afraid I will be swallowed up by her wrath.
Backing away from her, I start up my humming again and I move back to the meat.
I take my time handing the food out, talking quietly to the other dragons, making sure to pay some extra attention to the one that was in the Interval.
“Thank you,” I say.
He purrs softly in reply.
Some dragons are more relaxed, others far too wary to move, shaking with fear in a back corner, breaking my heart. I attempt to ease them.
“We have a dragon, Escor. He’s like a puppy that I just want to hug all the time, though he’s quite large for his age.
” I look over the red dragon in front of me.
“You guys grow so fast, and as there are more than one type of dragon, I wonder if you all grow the same until you reach your full size.”
I place the meat inside his cage from the spear and move to the next one, this one green.
“You are a little smaller, but not by much. Rohan taught me that Luxem dragons are the smallest of species. Followed by Aquadelia, Ignis, Seraphim and then finally, Tenebri dragons, like my Escor.”
The green dragon comes forward and takes the meat from the spear, and I smile in triumph.
“Good, boy,” I tell him, and he trills, taking his food to the back.
I feed the last of the dragons, smiling softly at their chewing sounds until I look up at the hanging dragon.
She’s calmed down somewhat, like she’s been listening.
My gaze goes to the harness next to the crates in the center and I move to pick it up. Looking it over, I take it with me so the dragons get used to it without fear.
I don’t want to try it on another right now, but at least they can see I mean no harm with it.
Some eye it curiously, one even comes over to smell it, while others move back in fear.
“It’s okay,” I say to a blue one, his body shaky. “I’ll put it away now.”
I put the harness back, and grab a piece of meat, going over to the hanging dragon.
“You know, I thought Drogonah would be the largest dragon I’d ever see,” I tell her, throwing the meat into the cage, making sure to stay far enough away to not antagonize her. “But, you are the largest without a doubt.”
She goes to the meat, sniffing it before taking it and chewing, her eyes never once leaving mine.
“Do you have a Dragonbond?” I ask. She stills for a moment, and I try to sense her emotions but it’s like they’re thick, unable to escape. “I was told you’re a Novid dragon, is that true?”
Nothing.
“I never thought I would ever be close to dragons. Rohan changed that when he took me. I thought he was the worst thing to exist after hearing the tales about the Dragorie, but they were wrong. They were all very wrong.”
I move a step closer, almost unconsciously, and that thickness thins a little.
“He’s the greatest thing to ever happen to me, despite it all, and he is the reason I’ve even been near a dragon. He’s the reason I found out that somewhere within me, I can sense your feelings.”
She chews some more, growling when I take another step and I stop, not wanting to pressure her.
“I can feel you’re scared, and that you’re in pain. Great pain. And that you’re angry.”
Growl.
My heart crashes against my chest.
She answered me.
“I want to help, do you think you would ever let me?”
I lift a hand placatingly and I take a small step. When she doesn’t move or snarl, I take another, and another, feeling brave.
I think she’s finally letting me in.
This could be my chance.
We could work together, trick King Halen into thinking we’re making progress and wait for a plan from Rohan to get them all out of here.
“That’s it,” I say softly. “I won’t hurt you. I would never—”
The door to the room next to her opens, and the robed woman comes out. The hanging dragon that was just calming, that was letting me feel her emotions, cuts me off and roars her wrath once more.
Removing that tiny bit of progress we just made.