Page 36 of The Dragon Maiden

He swooped down and caught me gently in his claws. My body shook, both from adrenaline and the cold. Using one claw to shield me from the rain and the other to support me, he clutched me to his chest. I settled against his claws, gripping one of them tightly. This way was much more comfortable than the first time I flew.

“I’ve got you. You won’t fall,” he repeated over and over, a quiet chant that filled me with relief.

Despite the shelter in his hands, I could sense the storm worsening. I burrowed closer into his claws, my heart pounding furiously. Thunder rumbled overhead and I could see flashes of lightning in the distance.

“I’m going to land and find shelter. I don’t think we can continue to fly safely in this weather,” he said.

A gust of wind veered him off course, proving his point, and I gasped in fright. Dracul began to dive towards the ground, and I clenched his claws at the sudden movement. I could sense his head moving, scouting for shelter, but it was a couple minutes before he found a small cave in the distance. He glided down as gently as possible in these worsening conditions into the small, cramped cave. Carefully, he set me down before following me in. His bulk took up most of the cave and he looked around before transforming into his human form. To my surprise, his human self was soaking wet as well, his robes dripping, rivulets of rain tracing down his bare chest, and I had to stop my eyes from following them.

I sat down on the hard ground, drawing my legs close to my body to conserve warmth and make space. Even with just the two of us, the cave was still cramped.

“I’m sorry. This didn’t turn out like I expected,” he apologized, sitting down next to me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I began to shiver, soaked from the rain and cold from the wind. Now in this damp cave, sitting on the cold, hard ground, the tendrils of the fleeing winter seeped into my body.

“You’re cold,” Dracul observed. “Wait here.”

He got up, taking off his robes to hand to me before realizing they were wet and setting them on the ground. Turning, he left the cave for several minutes before returning with an armful of wood. Carefully, he placed everything into a pile on the ground before transforming back into his dragon form, blowing a fireball to start a blazing fire. Then he settled at the front of the cave, blocking the outside wind.

I inched closer to the new fire, savoring the warmth as it spread through my body. Slowly, I could feel the iciness that had settled deep within my bones beginning to thaw. Winter might not be willing to give in to spring just yet, but the warmth of the fire was enough to make me forget. Just as I felt closer to normal, a bone-chilling gust of wind blew through the cave. Not even Dracul’s bulk could block everything. My clothes were still soaked from the rain and I shivered violently, the fire not enough to warm me up.

“Come here,” Dracul said, shifting slightly to make room for me. I moved closer to him, but stopped, still a few feet away. “Come closer,” he said. “Lean against me. You’ll get warmer, I promise.”

I hesitated for a moment before following his instructions, and leaned against his side. A sigh escaped me as I immediately felt warmer. The warmth from a dragon’s belly was more than enough to keep a person from freezing to death. Last night, I had slept restlessly, and my eyes began to drift closed, lulled to sleep by Dracul’s rhythmic breathing and warmth. Shifting into a more comfortable position, I barely caught Dracul’s self-satisfied smile before my eyes tugged shut completely.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Valora

The next morning, with the tendrils of dawn peeking into the cave, I awoke to the gentle rumblings of Dracul snoring. I had to fight a smile as I stood and stretched, noting that it still poured outside. My stomach growled, and was answered by a much louder grumbling from Dracul’s stomach. His snoring paused for a moment before he rolled over, then it resumed, and I let out a small chuckle.

Determined to find some sort of food for both of us, I set out into the rain. A few minutes into my exploration, I found a small cropping of dandelions and chickweed. I gathered the entire batch, stuffing my pockets full. What I had found was really all I could hope to forage in this part of the woods at this time of year.

When I arrived back at the cave, Dracul was already awake and looking out into the forest for me, his expression turning to one of relief when he spotted me. He had transformed back to his human self and had his arms crossed, looking very dry.

Upon reentering our shelter, I shook my head, trying to dispense of the extra water that had gathered during the downpour, though it did not do much to help.

“I didn’t know where you had gone,” he said. “I thought you’d use this time to try and escape like you did before.” His tone was light, but I could tell that he really had been worried by the way he had been pacing.

I ignored the comment and sat down, pulling the greens from my pockets. “No, I went to get breakfast.” I separated everything into two piles, making sure Dracul’s pile was bigger before looking at him. “That’s what a Dragon Maiden does, right? Makes sure that her Lord is well fed? I know this isn’t the usual fare you’re used to, but I thought it would be enough to take the edge off your hunger.” I took a small handful of the dandelion greens and began to eat them, trying to ignore the slightly bitter flavor.

Dracul sat down next to me, beginning to eat what I had gathered. The two of us were quickly done with the small amount of food.

He looked outside. “The weather is still too nasty for us to fly back,” he said, taking in how the trees bowed in the wind. “We’re just going to have to wait out the storm.”

A crack of thunder proved his point, rumbling close by overhead.

I sighed, leaning against the cave wall, thinking about how close we probably were to a town where I could find information about my brother. I had spotted multiple on our flight, and from my estimations, one would be close, though not close enough to brave the storm.

Dracul leaned against the wall as well, looking at my expression. “What is it?” he asked.

Wistfully, I said, “We’re just so close to a town. If I could get information on where he is…” I trailed off, not letting my thoughts go further.

“Why do you want to know where your brother is so badly?” Dracul asked, his voice soft. We both knew he tread on unstable ground, based on what had happened during our last conversation on the topic. I could tell he did not want to push me too far with his questions.

“He left our family, and about a year after he left, some men came.” Though the last time he had asked about my scars had been disastrous, now that we were stuck in a cave with nothing else to do, the story came pouring out. And I felt I could trust him, that he had earned the right to know now. “They murdered my parents and forced me to watch. Afterwards, they turned on me.” I drew up my sleeves, revealing the scars.

Dracul stared at them, a look of disgust on his face, but I could somehow tell it was not directed at me, but rather the men who had done this.

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