Page 9 of Eliza's Cursed Dragon

A pond the size of a football field added a charm to it that was hard to resist.

I liked sitting high up in the belltower, whose bell had long ago fallen through the floor below and now rested cobwebbed in the basement. The rest of the tower’s structure was sound though. Deep and dark enough to conceal me from curious eyes, while I could see in all directions.

Ghouls liked to come out during the night, looking for a freshly dug grave which they would never find here. They would have frightened me to death in my human form. As repulsive and repugnant as they were though, they didn’t pose a threat to me, so I let them be.

Detached, I watched one of them holding the bone of some poor animal that must have recently died in the graveyard, while others surrounded it greedily. They snarled at each other through lipless mouths with gray skin so taut it barely covered their skulls.

What clothing they had, or used to have, was filthy and ripped and hung loosely on their skeletal forms. Every vertebra stood out on the hunched-over ghoul with the bone.

They only interested me for a few seconds. They didn’t show up every night, but often enough to have become a familiar sight.

I was just about to take a deep breath to prepare myself for my meditative state, when the most melodious humming I had ever heard reached my hypersensitive ears.

Startled, the ghouls scattered. Bone forgotten, they took off to whatever place they burrowed in.

A large moon illuminated the graveyard enough for me to be able to see the form emerge from the woods, even without my heightened sense of sight.

The scales on my back stood up when the rays of the moon hit silvery strands in otherwise lusciously black hair, making it sparkle. Emerging from the trees was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. My tail flicked involuntarily as I took her fully in.

Her hair reached down to her small waist, long legs were covered by a skirt that swept over the forest floor, but was dirty and frayed at the hem.

The woman moved with an ethereal grace that stopped my breathing and caused my heart to skip a beat. Her arms were long and slender, frayed material clung tightly to them.

My tail flicked again, hitting the wooden walls of the tower with a subdued bang that was barely there. She must have heard it though, because the humming stopped and her head lifted.

I drew back deeper into the shadows, certain she couldn’t see me, yet captivated by her heart-shaped face. So pale, it made her gorgeous aquamarine eyes appear even bigger. An upturned nose sat over rosebud lips, so red and full I nearly flew from the tower to press mine against them. Never in all my life had I seen a more stunning woman than her.

Her head cocked as she scanned her surroundings, jump-starting my mind which had temporarily gone blank. What was she doing out here? In the middle of the night? At a graveyard?

A rushing sound from the sky above me made me curious enough to risk sticking my head through an opening in the tower. I blinked in confusion, as eleven swans glided through the night sky. Pale moonlight illuminated white feathers that reminded me of the white in the woman’s hair.

One by one the swans dipped lower until they landed on the pond, barely making a sound.

The mystery woman appeared from around the church and walked over to the water’s edge, scanning the pond as if counting the swans.

An urge to go down there to her, to share this incredible moment was nearly overwhelming, and only the awareness of my dragon form made me stay put.

The swans swam toward the shore, toward the woman, who fell on her knees with her arms wide open to embrace them.

A chill moved through me as I watched the swans move into her arms, cluttering around her with their wings spread as if embracing her back.

Next to having been turned into a dragon, this was the strangest sight I had ever seen.

After a while, the girl and the swans drew apart to enter the church. Through the hole left by the bell,. I caught glimpses of one or another here and there as they moved through the interior. The scraping sound of old pews told me that they were moving what was left of the furnishings, even though the reason why they would do that eluded me.

I didn’t know how much time passed, but at some point all quietened down there and my curiosity won out. Carefully I moved through the open floor of the tower, sticking my head through the ceiling to look for the unexpected guests.

My eyes found them huddled on the ground and deep asleep. The swans rested around the woman, with their outstretched wings creating a makeshift blanket for her. Long necks rested their heads on her unmoving body.

Had the girl looked ethereal before, she was now downright delicate. Long, black eyelashes lay in deep contrast against her pale, nearly bluish skin.

I didn’t move for the longest time, just drinking in her otherworldly beauty and imagining what it would feel like to have somebody like her wake up next to me. In my mind’s eye, I saw her stunning aquamarine eyes opening first thing in the morning, to look at me. I was sure I would have drowned in their depts.

Her lips quivered slightly, making me wonder what she was dreaming about. What words they were trying to form. Envisioning those lips calling my name made me shudder with yearning.

My tail flicked and I suddenly remembered where and who I was and why I was here. With a roar of agony, I flew up, straight through the steeple, breaking the already fragile wood. It would rain down on the girl and the swans and waken them if my roar hadn’t done so already. Not that I cared.

The pain in my chest threatened to tear my heart apart. I would never see those eyes open up to me in wonder in the morning. If they did, they would be filled with revulsion.

---