Chapter 57 #2
The dragon crouched and extended her foreleg, giving her a path down. Leaving Caspian seated, she carefully dismounted, shimmying down the dragon’s leg. She ignored the barking pain in her leg as her boots thudded to the ground.
Asmodeus helped Caspian down, supporting his weight, and rushed him inside.
Elizabeth was about to follow them when she hesitated. Are you hungry? she asked the dragon. If the dragon had been a guest in her home, she would have offered her food and drink. I need to make sure my friend is alright, but I’ll see if we can get you some food as thanks.
Food?
Yes. What do you eat?
Meat.
Gruesome images flashed in Elizabeth’s mind of half-eaten sheep and cattle.
Will you wait? We will give you food as thanks for your spectacular rescue once we are sure he is alright.
Yes, little mortal. The dragon snorted. I would like payment in gold or food for my services rendered tonight. I was injured, too, and did not relish the experience. Food would go nicely towards my forgiving you.
Elizabeth gave a curt nod. I’ll see what I can do.
She limped into the castle, not pausing to wonder at the raised stone pathway—the only thing keeping her from plunging into the moat of molten lava. The heat was so intense that even walking several feet above the viscous surface made her sweat profusely.
She looked down at herself and saw, to her surprise, that the arrow had been jostled out during the flight.
Now her injury bled sluggishly, leaving a trail of blood across the floor.
Luckily, it hadn’t been barbed and wasn’t nearly as deep as it could have been, but it really, really hurt.
She limped, favouring her good leg, half dragging her injured one behind her.
I’m safe, and I’ll be home soon.
The thought gave her the strength to push on.
She called, “Asmodeus?”
He answered with mind speech. Up here.
She followed the mental connection up the stairs and into a room filled with luxurious black curtains and a bed dominating the floor.
Caspian lay there breathing heavily, his eyelids fluttering. His midnight blue skin, enormous horns, and gigantic wings took up most of the bed. Asmodeus held a damp cloth to his friend’s forehead, brow furrowed in concern.
Asmodeus had started cleaning Caspian’s wounds; bloody rags were piled beside them. Elizabeth’s eyes lit on the gore-covered cloth, and nausea swept over her despite everything she had seen today.
Bracing herself, she looked more closely at Caspian. There was a gash in his lower abdomen, several injuries on his arms, and his wings had large holes in them, as if someone had stuck a knife in the membrane and dragged it downwards. His shoulder hung at a strange angle.
She had been so focused on getting him out, she hadn’t even taken stock of how badly injured he’d really been.
“He doesn’t look good,” Asmodeus said, swallowing. “They drugged him so he can’t heal himself or access his powers. He may need to stay here in the Underworld to heal for quite some time. I have—I have never seen him this bad, and I can only guess at what they did.”
“Cut my arm and give him some of my blood,” she offered. “It will help him heal faster, right?”
Asmodeus shook his head. “You are injured. You cannot lose too much blood right now, and you are already tired.”
“Human blood has more restorative properties than animal blood. I am already injured. It is no difficult thing.”
Asmodeus considered, lips thinning. He did not seem keen on the idea.
Elizabeth looked down. Her wounds were a mess of gore—the hole in the front of her leg was still bleeding sluggishly, and her inner thighs were rubbed raw from dragon scales. With adrenaline coursing, the pain had felt like a dull ache, but now it was agonizing.
“Caspian, come here.” She drew his massive, horned head into her lap.
He turned his head away. Uninterested.
“Caspian, for the love of the gods.” She licked her fingers and stuck them in the blood on her leg, and almost vomited. Feeling dizzy and faint and not at all well with what she was doing, she painted his blue-black lips red. She repeated the action, and his whole body quaked.
“Asmodeus,” she called.
Asmodeus came to stand where she could see him. He looked at her wound and the blood now on her dress and the sheets. His gaze turned hungry. “I—I can’t stay.”
“Yes, you can. I am trusting you,” she said firmly. “Make sure he doesn’t take too much. I need you here.”
Asmodeus folded his arms across his chest and nodded, swallowing audibly.
“Make sure he’s okay,” she said nervously, watching hunger come over Caspian’s features, his silvery eyes blank and unseeing. She was startled to realize that he didn’t recognize her. He can’t see me. He doesn’t know that I’m his Elizabeth.
Caspian suckled at her wound with sick, wet sounds. Elizabeth cried out in pain. She questioned her sanity. He pulled harder at her wound, and life flickered around her, threatening to make her pass out. The world blurred at the edges, and she needed to stop.
“Asmodeus, please make him stop.”
He said nothing.
“Asmodeus!” she called. He remained expressionless as Caspian drained her life force. When Caspian probed the wound with his tongue, she cried out again. “Please.” There was nothing in the demon she had come to know in his face. “I saved you. Don’t hurt me.”
She recoiled and tried to move away, but he held her firm.
“I came back for you,” she repeated, tears in her eyes, but he didn’t listen to a word she was saying. A tear slipped down her cheek. “I made sure you were okay. Don’t you remember me? I’m your Elizabeth.”
Caspian’s jaw twitched, and he lifted his face. He snarled animalistically, his canines pointed. Her blood coated the lower half of his face.
Caspian gripped her thigh, his nails lengthening into black talons, digging into her skin.
“Stop it. You’re hurting me.”
Caspian ignored her and bent to her flesh; she felt teeth as his tongue probed the wound like a curious animal.
“Help me!”
Asmodeus stood stock still.
“Asmodeus!”
Suddenly, he blinked, as if rousing himself from a trance, and swallowed twice before gathering whatever shred of courage he possessed. Asmodeus yanked and shoved Caspian into the bedframe.
She swallowed. “I didn’t think you were going to help me.”
“I debated it,” he said truthfully.
Whoever said honesty was a virtue was a liar.
Caspian purred in the corner, his body on the floor, head resting on the mattress.
“Clean and bandage that,” Asmodeus said, looking at her leg. “Barricade the doors from inside, and do not let anyone in until morning. I will knock when I am … calm.”
She nodded.
Caspian sprawled on the bed, nuzzling his head into the sheets like a cat. Asmodeus grabbed him and dragged him upright, supporting him at the shoulder.
“Can’t you heal my leg?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course, I can, I just forgot about mortals’ slow healing. I can’t restore your blood loss, though.” He peered at her and stilled, eyes glazing over. His aura felt ... hungry.
“Asmodeus,” she warned.
He shook himself and muttered some words in the Godstongue. The skin knit together, leaving only a slight pink scar. Asmodeus looked her over, and any scrapes she had disappeared as well. Soon, only faint pink scars remained, reminders of today’s events.
She sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
Asmodeus did not answer, eyes fixed on her throat. She tried to stay as still as possible and steady her heartbeat.
“Asmodeus,” she warned.
“I can’t be here right now,” he blurted, backing away. “Elizabeth, lock the doors. I’ll come back for you.”
He heaved Caspian against his shoulder and left. She bolted the doors, trapping herself inside, then double-checked the door and window.
Removing her armoured vest, she threw herself onto the bed. She had no sleep clothes, but even if she did, she had no energy to change. She could hardly keep her eyes open.
Sending a silent apology to whoever had to clean the sheets, her eyes began to close. She drifted off to sleep, her dress torn and filthy, covered head to toe in blood and ash.