Chapter 4
With eyes so wide they threatened to pop from her skull, Carwyn shrunk back from the altar until her backside rested upon her heels.
A woman with a sharp, straight nose and small lips lay there with nothing but a blanket of soft white furs shielding her from knee to throat.
She looked strong and tall, even if her cheeks were gaunt from either hunger or dehydration.
Her breasts were large mounds underneath the blanket, and her hands and feet peeking out were long and delicate.
Her lips were parted, and even Carwyn could tell from her spot upon the ground that she released light, even breaths.
“A woman,” she noted softly.
“No, an ogre,” the dragon retorted with a sneer.
Her right eye twitched, and Carwyn subdued the urge to call him a curse word. But she was incapable of biting her tongue when she really should and mustered all her annoyance into her stare.
“You might be the most arrogant creature I have ever met,” she said firmly. “I can see it’s a woman; I’m just surprised to see one in here with you. Is she a captive as well? Some poor woman you’ve stolen because you believe it to be your right?”
What has he done to her that he requires aid?
His growl was so deep it vibrated in her bones. He stuck his head inside the small alcove until he towered over her, and she quelled the overwhelming desire to shrink in fear. Carwyn wouldn’t back down, nor show her wariness. Not to him.
Or anyone, really.
“You mistake anger for arrogance, little witch,” he growled out, stepping a paw inside until she was forced to lean away on a straightened arm.
“I don’t care to show you a shred of kindness.
Your kind are the reason she lies there asleep.
And if it were up to me, you wouldn’t be here to lay your vile eyes upon her greatness, but I’ve been left with no other choice.
You killed those I intended to bring here, so now you must take on the duty as a result of your interference. ”
Carwyn averted her gaze as a flare of indignation rose within her. “I was protecting myself. I have every right to.”
“Then don’t complain. I don’t want you here either. I would’ve preferred dark witches, as they’re the ones who have cursed her. I’m familiar with the magic that forces a dragon into their human form, but I don’t understand the spell of eternal sleep.”
“Well I don’t know that magic either,” Carwyn argued. “That’s evil magic I’m not familiar with. Trying to heal her might entangle me with it.”
Her heart sped up at the idea of failing, of dying, of being trapped here for as long as he dictated, which could be forever.
But nothing could instil fear like being exposed to dark magic by being forced to cast it to remove such a hex.
There were some spells white witches couldn’t undo, at least not without understanding their base components.
There were many hexes and curses that could do the same thing – different methods which required those same ingredients to remove them.
Some were simple, others exceptionally complicated.
She might be able to heal her, or she might not.
Carwyn backed away from his large snout, and thankfully he gave her room. The unfairness of her situation shook her down to her soul until her hands trembled and her lips quivered. She stood on wobbly legs while blinking rapidly, trying to stave off the tears that wanted to form.
“You’re asking me to do something that could corrupt me.” She curled her hands into fists, wanting some kind of outlet that wouldn’t get her engulfed in dragon fire.
If anything, she wanted to punch him in his big, bossy nose.
“She is withering away, and you will help me undo it before she perishes. I don’t care how, or what becomes of you as a result. You’re a witch. You’ll turn eventually anyway. What does it matter if it’s now or later?”
Gosh! His tone was so cold and cruel, it wrapped itself around her entire being like a poisonous vine. He was also just wrong.
Carwyn stamped her foot. “That’s not true for all of us! Not all witches turn. My whole family line is made up of white witches, going all the way back to the moment we were born from our dragon ancestor. We are not like the others.”
A deadened laugh came from him. “Don’t human women say such things about men? It’s not all, but it’s most? Then shouldn’t we proceed with caution, as the unknown variables make it impossible to know who we can or cannot trust?”
Her stomach knotted. “That’s not fair.”
“Your kind turns for many reasons. Sometimes it is out of love to save another. You turn even for noble reasons, rather than letting fate take its course. You bend magic to suit you, and in the process, damn all the living things you touch, destroy, and use to further your power.”
She wanted to argue the point, but Valerie did that very thing to save their younger sister, Kaeylyn. She used dark magic to save a six-year-old girl and bring her back home.
He was right in some ways. If Valerie, who was brutal when it came to their teachings and staying on the path of light, could sway, then there really wasn’t much hope for any witch who wanted to stay pure of heart. There would always be a reason or an excuse when it came to saving someone beloved.
“For once, let it be for a dragoness in need, rather than your own selfishness,” he continued. “Undo the harm of your kind.”
“Dragons can imbue their sight with magic to see traces of it in their environment.” It’s likely how he figured out who was a witch or not in the town and was able to follow those who had attacked her. “Maybe if you draw the hex on her body, I can copy it and–”
“I’m unable to. There are multiple hexes upon her, and they overlap and muddy each other. Why do you think I sought your kind? If it was so simple, I would’ve done it myself.”
Carwyn’s shoulders drooped as tears, too heavy and strong to keep back anymore, spilled over and fell. “You’re never going to let me leave.”
“I didn’t say that. Perhaps if you save her, I will free you.”
The lie was smooth. It even held warmth. It was something to dangle over her head to make her compliant, but what he didn’t know was that Carwyn and her family had a deep understanding of his kind.
If he already thought she could turn, and didn’t care if it happened, then he wouldn’t release her. Not if he feared she’d become corrupted in the future and possibly return to set her greedy, malicious sight on his kind, or even on the smaller creatures like pixies and fairies.
Carwyn peered at the woman. There was no hate, only sadness for her – and for herself as well.
“By dragon law, a human or a witch that has seen the face of one of your kind may not go free,” she muttered.
“You knew that and brought me here anyway. You’ll either kill me or give me to your Elders or the dragon king.
You’ll never give me freedom, even though all you had to do was shield her face. ”
The only sounds that followed her words were his long, deep breaths. Their warmth billowed into the room, chasing away the chill of the stone. They made the torches’ flames flicker and dance, casting unsettling shadows across the poor woman.
When she turned her teary face to him, there was a void behind his ruby eyes. No remorse, guilt, or anything that indicated a shred of care for her well-being. He regarded her with such coldness that it sucked away the warmth tingling her.
“Admit that you did it on purpose,” she blurted.
“I intended to bring dark witches. Creatures I would’ve destroyed anyway.”
The words were so callous they lashed against her heart. She knew the hatred his kind had for hers had deep roots, but she never thought it’d be cast upon her. To wear it in the place of someone else at fault hurt.
Carwyn turned her back on him and approached the dragoness to hide her face as more tears fell.
She tried her hardest to keep the wavering from her quiet words.
“Had you asked kindly, I might have tried to help anyway. There is white magic that can undo these kinds of hexes. I have certain abilities that may assist where others may not, and I’m not opposed to using them. ”
His voice, already quite deep, lowered even further. “You will do as demanded or–”
“Yes, I’m aware you’re giving me no other choice. However, without spellbooks or the knowledge of what has been done to her, I don’t know how long it will take or if I will be successful.”
Carwyn resigned herself to this situation because there was little she could do to alter it.
She could attempt to fight him for her freedom, but her offensive witchcraft was limited.
The only way would be to take power from this dragoness while he wasn’t looking, but she’d never resort to such a horrible thing.
All I wanted was to change my future. To finally live it properly and without restrictions. She wanted to experience love. To feel it in her heart without her hands overwhelming it. Now it will end here, some way or another.
Here, in the cold, dark cave, with an arrogant dragon who would probably seek to make her life miserable until she completed this task. Then he would end her or give her up to be caged with the rest of the witches they imprisoned on their island in the west.
She had no idea what the dragon king did to her kind. Probably the same thing.
What of my family? They’d never know what happened to her. Would they think a coven of witches stole her to do unimaginably horrible things to her, just as they had to Aldora? Would they fear that she’d been discovered by humans and burned at the stake like many of her kind?
They’d miss her, just as she’d missed them greatly this past month.
I did as I was told. I was careful, as Mother instructed.
She used her magic sparingly, and often only to heal her tired body and defend herself.
She’d only been attacked twice on her journey, and she’d done all of what she’d been taught to stay alive.
She’d fought valiantly and with swiftness, so she could run from the scene before she was discovered.