The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

“Greetings to the great Seer!” Agnes bows to the witch and we all follow her example, “It is time to honour the tradition, I have brought to you my nephew and his…”

“I know!” the old lady raises her hand and Agnes quickly shuts up. Huh. She doesn’t even behave like this when she is with the Dragon King! But here she seems obedient, compliant, and absolutely not arrogant. I didn’t even know she could do that. I want to laugh, but luckily remember where I am fast and hold myself back.

“Come here, future queen!” the witch beckoned her finger with a huge black nail. You can poke someone’s eye with it if you want. That’s for sure!

Agnes takes a step forward but the witch starts to laugh, “Not you, Your Dragon Highness! The other one!”

And she points her index finger at me. I gulp at that. Somehow I just don’t want to come to her, but I guess it’s too late to shout that I changed my mind now!

It’s all right, Mira! You can do this!

I start walking to her and realize that Rien follows close behind.

“I usually speak just to the one I summoned,” the Seer sneers, “But I see your soul, it is one with hers, so I would let it just this once! You can come with your future queen, my dragon prince!”

I look at Derrien and he winks at me. Suddenly it doesn’t feel so scary anymore. Nothing is scary if we are together and hold hands.

The witch gestures to the seats in front of her and suddenly I realize that those are not just your random chairs…Those have been carved out of dragon bones! Possibly teeth even, considering the shape resembling fangs… Yep, they made chairs out of dragon fangs! Those are much smaller than the teeth of the dragon in whose skull we are hanging out now though. I shrug a bit thinking about all this and look at Derrien. It must be terrible for him. Yet he looks relaxed, taking his seat with confidence. I wish I could be like that! Even if it bothers him – he doesn’t show!

“Darmerion,” the witch says and I look at her questioningly. I still can’t see her face, just those horrible eyes. “The name of the dragon whose skull this is is Darmerion. He was the first one, the father of all the dragons, born from the Chaos itself! There was no one as big as him anymore! He and his wife came to our world and inhabited it, bringing fire, knowledge, and power! He lived for thousands of years! And when he died, he left a magnificent civilization behind him! He had many children. And your future husband comes from his line and bears his family name even though he never used it in his life!”

She looks at Derrien and my lips part in surprise. Somehow, we still know so little about dragons and their history! I ought to read more of their books while I am still here!

“And now his bones make a lovely house for you,” Rien chuckles, “I am impressed! Is it comfortable at least? I doubt it!”

“His bones…They still have power in them,” the witch replies calmly, “To see things, see the future… I always need his power and his blessing. And he gives me that even after his death. But there is a price.”

She stops talking but now I just can’t help myself.

“And what is the price, great Seer?” I ask before I can stop.

“I have to stay here and feed his spirit with my life force!” she says sadly, “Thousands of years I don’t leave this cave. And I never will. That’s the price.”

Neither Rien nor I say anything… That’s a huge price if you ask me…

“Damn!” I hear Rick say loudly and I roll my eyes, looking at him. Honestly! This guy doesn’t know when to shut up! Dereck hits him with his elbow and Isidore shushes our annoying friend.

“That’s why you have to pay the price too,” the witch says and I swallow. Agnes never mentioned that!

“What is it?” Derrien tenses up.

“That’s not much, do not worry, my prince,” she says, “Just a drop of your b***d. This will not harm you in any way. But it will let me live longer and serve my kind the same way I serve you right now. Dragons always need a Seer!”

“You can have only my b***d then”, Rien says quickly, “Leave Miradora out of it.”

“No, it should be both of you, ” the woman shakes her head, “Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see your child’s destiny!”

“It’s fine,” I say to my fiancé, squeezing his hand in a gesture of reassurance, “Just a drop of b***d. And it seems like everybody does it here. Who are we to argue, my love?”

Rien doesn’t seem to be too happy even after my words but still nods in agreement. He gets out his own knife and makes a small cut on his finger. The Seer doesn’t lose time and stretches a hand with a golden cup in it. My fiancé squeezes a drop of his b***d inside and then asks for my hand with a gesture. I give it to him, a bit glad that I don’t have to cut myself. A small prick on my index finger and a drop of my b***d goes to the cup as well. I can’t help but notice that something is already there, some kind of elixir. The woman mixes it all up and drinks in one gulp, making me cringe at the sight. I wouldn’t want to be drinking some stranger’s b***d… Then again, I wouldn’t want to live in someone’s skeleton. All this… is hard to comprehend for someone like me…

In just a few seconds the witch’s whole body starts to shake and she looks like she is having a seizure. But I guess this is part of the show! However, next she grabs my arm and looks straight into my face, her vertical pupils change shape and enlarge, and gradually her whole eyeballs are filled with darkness. Deep and endless. And I feel like I fall inside of it.

“You carry a child in your womb”, she says the information that is not new, “A boy! The boy, who will be the key to everything you desire. Say his name and you will get everything! He will be the first of many children that you give to your husband! A great hero, protector of the new realm! The Dark Dragon King! A new species, connected to all others. With new powers that haven’t been seen before! He will have everything… But…”

“But what?!” I almost scream, Rien squeezes my hand tighter and I look at him.

“It’s best if she doesn’t say it,” he tells me, “Once the prophecy is announced out loud, nothing can change that!”

My heart beats so fast in my chest that it’s getting hard to breathe! I have just found out that I am with child not so long ago. What the Seer said seemed so great…I don’t want any “buts” in it…

“I am afraid I have to say everything that I see, my prince,” the witch says, her voice said, “Your son will lose everything because of a maiden with golden hair… This is all for today. You may go.”

She stands up and starts walking away slowly into the depth of the skeleton…

“Wait!” I say, “Can it be stopped?”

“Only if he never has anything to do with golden-haired maidens!” she cackles and leaves, living us in frustration.

I want to throw something at her, but Rien stands up and pulls me by my hand.

“Mira, calm down,” he says, “All prophecies can be interpreted in different ways. Besides, dragons may live for thousands of years. I am sure our son is going to be fine! Let’s go! We have more pressing matter to deal with today.”

He then turns to Agnes and our friends and before he can say anything, the dragon princess looks at us, “Do not worry! What has been witnessed in this cave cannot be shared by the witnesses. Otherwise, death is waiting for us! Only you two can share the prophecy and if you wish not to disclose a part of it – so be it! You are within your rights here!”

I gulp and look at Rien again, and he pulls me into a tight embrace, “All is good, Mira. Great destiny awaits our son! And also… we will have many children!”

“I guess we have to teach our boy to stay away from blondes!” I chuckle, wiping away tears of momentary weakness from my eyes.

“If he is at least a bit like me, he would be into redheads,” Derrien winks at me, making me blush. Even after so much, he can still make my cheeks red within seconds!

“Let’s go back,” I force a smile on my face.

In the evening, back in our room, Derrien stands on our balcony watching the beautiful Agnegard. Dragons are flying in the sky. Now I know that there is a limit to how high they can go… The city is under a protective barrier which no one can enter. But also, no one can leave without the dragon King’s permission.

However beautiful Agnegard is, it is nothing but a golden cage for the young generation who don’t have their soulmates, who haven’t seen the world, who haven’t tasted life outside… And sometimes it makes me sad. The king said at once that we are welcome to stay here. He also agreed that we can leave when we want. The doors will also be opened for us in case we want to return or just visit. But this solves none of our problems. The day that the war between the Empire and the Kingdom will start is approaching soon. But we are no closer to finding a way out that can save both the countries. Neither Dargen, nor Tristan should win. And also, there is the Emperor… And I know for sure that all that Rien thinks of now is the numerous ways to kill his evil uncle. And me… how can I help in all that?

I walk to my fiancé and hug him from the back.

“Rien, my love,” I say, burying my face in his back, “I was thinking about baby names for our son…”

“Oh, really?” he chuckles and turns to me, dark magic dances in his eyes and a soft smile spreading across his face, “What did you think of? What names do you like?”

“I like the name of your father, Rien,” I smile, “Let’s call our son Demir.”