The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I look at the dragon with my mouth open and frantically thinking of what to do. I know very well that the leaders prohibited the dragons to arrive here for anything else except when they were needed as transport for their masters. It’s too early for gerdians to leave. They haven’t been here for one full day! So, what the chaos is going on here? Why is the dragon here?! And why is he looking at me like that?

“Smoke?” I ask when the realization suddenly hits me. It’s the same dragon again!

He roars angrily and I fall from the rail to the cold floor. Somehow, I don’t like all this…

Two shining dots in the sky appear out of nowhere, getting bigger by the second when I see several light arrows flying into the dragon. They land in one of his wings and he roars again. But this time it looks like it’s out of annoyance, not pain.

Gideon and Fabian land right in front of me, the impact of their landing breaking the stone of my balcony. Fabian nocks another arrow and draws the bow, his favourite weapon since he was little. He never misses a shot even when flying.

“Aim for the eyes,” Gideon suggests and then turns to me, “Lara, hide somewhere! We are going to kill him and…”

“No!” I hear myself saying, “Don’t hurt him! It’s Smoke!”

“What?” both guys ask in unison, looking at me just for a second.

And the dragon doesn’t waste that second, breathing out dark fire at the two men trying to protect me. Luckily Deon puts up a shield just in time but they are still knocked off their feet with the force of the flames.

Strangely enough, it doesn’t have any impact on me. I could swear I didn’t even feel the heat!

“Lara!” my brother is looking at me, trying to get up, “Run! Run as far as you can!”

The dragon roars the moment he says it and I can feel that he is preparing to attack Gideon again. I, however, have no weapons on me!

So, I do the only thing that I can in a given situation. Spreading my wings, I jump off the rails and fly up all the way to the dragon’s head, making sure that he sees me.

And it works. Now all the attention is on me!

However, I regret this fast as the dragon’s eyes fill with dark magic fast.

Another arrow lands right next to the eye and I give out a little scream, looking back at Fabian, who seems to be ready to shoot again when Gideon, stops him.

“Lara is there!” he shouts at his friend and they both spread their wings.

Another blaze of dark fire and I am worried that my brother’s shield wouldn’t be able to hold it back.

The light is forming on the tips of my fingers almost on its own. But it’s me who sends it into the dragon’s nose, bringing him back to my persona and giving the opportunity for the two warriors of Light to recuperate.

“Stop it, Smoke!” I shout, “Don’t you dare to attack them!”

Another roar comes out of his mouth, almost making me lose my balance in the air. But, luckily, I manage to summon the element in time and it helps me to stay afloat. The dragon’s position is, however, changed. Now his claws are right next to me. And I can swear he is trying to grab me!

“Fly, Lara!” Gideon’s voice sounds desperate when I notice that his wing is wounded but he is forming a huge ball of light energy in his hand.

Whatever happens, I know one thing. I want neither Deon nor Smoke to get hurt. So, I quickly pick up height, flying away and I can sense it with my back that the dragon is chasing me.

I need to get as far from here as possible! Far away from the islands! Maybe I can last until I get back to that cave at the border?

The claws snap right next to me, but I manage to dodge it in the air. I fly as if my life depends on it. Which it does. And soon I can’t see the White Archipelago anymore. It’s just me, Smoke and the sea.

The dragon doesn’t let me change the course. Each time I try to, he tries to get me. And soon I am too tired for all this. At some point, I lower myself so much to the sea that my fingers can touch the water. And the dragon does the same with his tail. That’s when I realize that all of this is just a game to him. And the feeling that he is not going to hurt me comes back.

Flipping around, I trick the dragon and land on his neck, grabbing one of the huge spikes that he has. I need some rest!

I hold the spike hard with my hands and thighs and a huge growl emerges from the inside of the mighty dark dragon. What was all that about?!

He is definitely taking me in the direction of the Gerdian Empire. Interesting, how soon will Demir discover his dragon this time? However, I am not even sure that I want him to… What will he do? Take me to his ancient emperor as a prize?!

The memory of us kissing and dancing followed by his ridiculous proposal at the feast makes me shudder in anger.

I need to find a way out of this situation myself. I can’t count on anyone else.

We are moving so fast that I start to see outlines of the gerdian shores before us. Now or never! I need to try and escape.

Not thinking twice, I stand up gripping the spike, making the beast under me roar again, and push off with my feet, spreading wings and flying in opposite directions.

It’s bad that I am tired already, but I am sure that Gideon already arranged a rescue party for me. If I am lucky, I’ll meet them somewhere in the middle, and if not… I can use air element to carry me… At least for some time. In the worst-case scenario, I can float in the water to get some rest. I just need to measure my strength wisely and…

But I don’t get to finish my thoughts as a huge shadow covers me and claws close around me tight, crumpling my wings but at least not breaking them. I give out a scream and the grip on my body gets tighter so that I can’t move. Yet again, nothing hurts. It’s almost as if the dragon tried to be gentle with me.

“Let me go!” I shout, “Smoke! Let go of me this very moment!”

Nothing.

“I order you!”

Silence. Not even a sound, except for flapping wings.

“Please, Smoke! Please!”

But the beast ignores me. The gerdian land is near and I start to panic as we reach it, but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t stop either when we are at the mountains where we both fell into that cave…

We fly and we fly and I feel so exhausted that I struggle to have my eyes open. The other thing I struggle with is the temperature around me. The dragon flies pretty high and it’s so cold here. And I am wearing just the stupid dress with beads, that now works against me since they are as cold as ice now. My teeth chatter, my throat is hoarse, and I can’t keep up with anything anymore.

I notice some gerdian cities underneath, but I am too weak now to have a better look. I don’t even notice how my eyes close…

I wake up in a dark place and it takes me some time for my eyes to adjust. I lie on a huge soft bed with warm blankets covering me and when I check my clothes, I am happy to come to the conclusion that it’s still the same dress from the feast. Just torn in a few places, but that’s to be expected after what we went through together.

The feast, the proposal, the fight, the dragon, the flight.. everything circles in my head, making it spin.

Right now, I know only one thing for sure – I am not in the White Archipelago anymore!

I hear some kind of noises behind the door and then the lock turns and it shuts open. Two angry eyes with some kind of magic glowing in them make me crawl back on the bed…