Page 24 of The Dragon Maiden

The other Maidens were awake and stared at me in shock, having expected Lord Dracul to kill me, or at least punish me in some way. Not that I blamed them—I had expected the same.

Chapter Sixteen

Valora

The next morning, when everyone woke up and got dressed, the cavern was filled with prickly silence. Everyone avoided looking at me. My face burned as I dressed, embarrassed that I had been caught and now everyone knew about it. But the heat in my face was nothing compared to the wriggling pile of snakes in my stomach.

Before breakfast even arrived, Lord Dracul showed up at the cavern entrance in his dragon form. Without being told, I followed him, knowing that my punishment had been decided. I did not say any goodbyes, and as soon as we departed, I could hear the other Maidens begin to whisper. Dracul led me to a part of the caves I had never been to, through many twisted corridors, almost maze-like to get to our destination. There was a small opening in front of us, only big enough for one person to squeeze through. I looked to him, not understanding what I was to do.

“It has been decided that the Whispering Pool will decide your fate,” he said. If I was not mistaken, he sounded almost resigned, his voice deep with exhaustion. He must have stayed up all night discussing with the other Lords. “You will remain in here for three days. I will return at the end of that time and then we shall know your fate.”

“How will I know what the decision is?” I asked, taking a long look at the dark opening.

“The Whispering Pool will either kill you or let you live,” he said. A coldness settled throughout my body at his words. “If it deems you worthy, you will be allowed to remain my Maiden.” His jaw clenched, and I could not tell whether or not he wanted me to live.

“Why is it called the Whispering Pool?” I peered inside, but the cave was too dark to make out anything.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Dracul said. “Now you must go.”

I bit my lip before entering the unusually small opening. It seemed even smaller than it looked. If Dracul had tried to enter in his human form, he would have barely fit inside the doorway, as I had to hunch over and turn to my side to squeeze in. Turning, I watched as he moved a rock in front of the entrance, sealing me inside. Tentatively, I opened my mouth to say something, but immediately closed it, dread filling my entire body as the rock cut off my last remaining tie to the outside world. Now I was truly alone.

A small window shed a little light into the cave. My new home for the next three days was quite spacious. It was nowhere near as big as the Dragon Maiden cavern, but big enough for four or five people. At the far end of the cave was a small pool with water trickling down from an opening in the rock. Slowly, I approached it, apprehension building in my chest. From what I could tell, it seemed normal, but I got the foreboding sense not to touch or drink the water. After staring for several moments, I retreated back to the other side of the cave, settling down for what was sure to be a long wait.

Hunger gnawed at me throughout the day as I examined the rocks nearby, memorizing their size and shape. By late afternoon I was thirsty and while I eyed the pool of water, I dared not approach. My thoughts were filled with Dracul’s disappointment and I cursed myself for not being more careful in my escape. A few times I dozed off, only to awaken at the wind rattling outside the cave.

Night fell, by what I could tell from the small window. Uneasiness draped over me as I tried to find a comfortable position to go to sleep. After a while, I heard a sound coming from the end of the cave and felt my body jerk awake. A strange humming seemed to be emanating from the pool, but I was too frozen with fear to approach it. Through the window, a thin sliver of light came from the moon, illuminating the water, which seemed to glow. The humming grew louder and louder until it reached a deafening roar, and I cringed at the volume. With the humming, the water began to bubble, growing in intensity. Suddenly, the noise stopped and the water shot towards me. I managed to hold back a yelp as it formed into the rough shape of a person. They stopped mere inches from my face and stared at me with eyes that seemed both empty and limitless.

“Who are you?” the being asked, still intensely holding my gaze. Their voice contained what sounded like thousands of other voices. They barely spoke above a whisper and I had to strain to hear what they said.

“My name is Valora,” I said, struggling to keep my voice even. Somehow, I knew this would be the entity that decided my fate.

“Valora.” The being tried out my name, flexing their mouth as they spoke. “What brings you to the Whispering Pool?”

“I was told this was my punishment for trying to… steal something,” I lied. For some reason, I did not want to reveal the true reason I was locked there—something held me back. “That the Whispering Pool would decide if I live or die.”

“Ahhhhh, so the Dragon Lords are too lazy once again to figure out a person’s fate,” the being mused, pulling away to pace a couple feet away. “How many days do I have this time to decide?”

“Three,” I whispered, my mind whirling too fast for me to comprehend my own thoughts.

“They’re feeling unusually generous. Interesting.” They paced more, and it seemed like they were not going to say anything else.

“Excuse me,” I said, gathering up my courage to continue talking as they turned towards me. “How exactly do you decide if a person lives or dies?”

In one swift movement, the being was once more a couple inches away from my face. I jumped, not expecting the speed and fluidity of their movements. “It all depends,” they said. “For most, it takes mere moments to decide if they will live or die. You seem more difficult. This will be interesting. Yes, very interesting,” they muttered to themselves. “I might very well need the full three days to decide.”

They stared at me for several more minutes, their limitless eyes piercing into my soul before whooshing back into the pool. I watched the water’s surface, waiting for them to suddenly reemerge, but I was alone until sunrise.

* * *

Wind howled through the cave the second night, passing through the window and unseen crevices in the rock. I was huddled in the corner, trying to keep warm, when the figure emerged from the pool, less explosively this time. Instead, they quietly rose from the water and stepped down, their footsteps sounding like the trickling of water on rock.

“Good evening, Valora,” they said, keeping away from me this time, yet I could feel their eyes closely watching me. “Are you cold?” Their voice was mocking.

“What do you think the answer is?” I snapped. Though I knew if I wanted to stay alive, it was best not to anger this being that controlled my fate, I had been cold all day and did not want to answer stupid questions. I had already slept very little due to shivering all day.

“My, my. We are in quite a mood, aren’t we? If you’re like this all the time, I can imagine why the Lords didn’t want to deal with you,” the being said. Though they had no facial expressions, I could tell from their voice that they were certainly gleeful this evening. “That means we should be able to have a little fun tonight.”

I glared at the figure, continuing to shiver. “The temperature will continue to drop,” I said. From my time outside, with both Dracul and my escape, I knew that fall had arrived, and it was only a short while before winter would be there. “If this continues, you won’t get the choice to kill me. I’ll freeze to death.” I shifted, wanting this thing to stop enjoying my severe discomfort. Hopefully, if I reminded them that I could freeze, they would have no choice but to keep me alive until they made their decision.

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