Thanks so much to everyone for all their support. I was so relieved that people liked the opening, because I must have re-written it -no joke- about seven times. Then the next day I would wake up and re-read it and just go "Wow...that's horrible." But I am happy this time with the story's direction, and now that I have it cemented I'll be updating it regularly.
Ps. Feel free to point out spelling mistakes or missing words. I know that I often accidentally skip words even though I literally re-read every chapter many, many times over before I post it. I just need fresh eyes sometimes to see the errors.
When Artemis awoke later and saw the dark, starless sky of night she had a tiny heart attack. She had slept longer than expected and was now certainly late.
"Shoot..." she cursed gently under her breath and tossed the silken sheets away from her body, causing the material to screech slightly against her legs. Lane would probably admonish her for being careless. Though he had been joking about her missing the gathering, she was expected to attend. Most of the guests would be loyal friends of his, but as her father used to say, she was expected to 'represent the family blood'. The lesson had been a clear one but she still held it gingerly, almost bitterly. It didn't seem like such a crime to like the feeling of mud between her toes, or to climb with her brother up the tallest tree on the outskirts of Glassgarden's grounds but each time she had been caught doing these things when she was younger – among many others – she was scolded, and none too gently either.
But in this case, she had simply slept in. There probably wasn't a very good excuse for it, until she remembered that Razorit would likely be awake and celebrating his glorious success. Her haste slowed, and she decided there was no need to rush.
'Maybe the black dragon humbled him a bit,' she thought with a small, bitter smile while pulling a slippery silver gown from her wardrobe. It was long and simple with little beadwork or flash. That was the way she preferred it, because even when her younger self had grudgingly accepted that she would have to act and dress like a lady in order to appease her blood, she had never really grown to care for anything too fancy. It was probably because her father had tried to tell her that she was ruining her clothing by being so reckless, so she developed a little bit of a distaste for anything that he assumed could be ruined.
The dress would do, even if it was plain. Attention was the last thing she needed tonight.
Throwing the gown on in a hurry and stumbling to the door, she threw the heavy dead-bolt aside and exited. The lock was a weak precaution against Razorit but in her anxiousness, she bolted it every time she was alone.
Not that Razorit was allowed to take dragon form in the castle and knock down her door, but she could easily recall the one time he had gotten so angry at Lane that he exploded out of his human skin in an eruption of smoke that singed curtains thirty paces away, shattered four doors with his tail, broke the head maid's arm and took down part of the wall in the eastern wing all in a matter of moments. It hadn't made her trust him any more than the little she already did, especially now since her father was gone and he was the one who had introduced the rule to Razorit.
Artemis hurried down the long, stone corridors, ducking and sheepishly thanking the unfamiliar guests who congratulated her on her family's sudden success. Maybe her clothing still was too fancy. It was giving her away.
It was only when she saw the first truly familiar person bobbing along through the crowd ahead of her did the fist that was gripping her stomach gently began to release.
"Hermis!" she shouted, a little too unladylike, as she jogged up behind him. "Thank the Great Ones."
The old, wobbly advisor turned quickly. "Ah, little dove, finally awake," he teased. She could only shrug and smile though she had no idea if he could actually see it. His eye sight was so poor that he had to squint long and hard at anything that requested his attention, and it wasn't always people.
"I was just on my way back to the celebration," he said as he kindly offered her the arm that wasn't currently holding his crooked cane. "I confess that Razorit's tale, while most exciting, fuels the guests into rambunctious behavior. I needed some air."
Artemis smiled tightly. "I suppose I'll have to hear this tale sooner or later."
"Indeed, he has been asking for you."
The news didn't surprise her but still her heart dropped. It had been her sincerest intention to avoid him for as long as possible, but she knew how keen a dragon's eyes were. If he was actively searching for her, she wouldn't last long even in the fray.
The doors to the dining hall were thrown wide open for the celebration, letting the smell of roasted pig and spiced apples waft at her every time a graceful guest's tailwind passed. Her stomach rumbled, unhelpful in her mission to avoid the focus of the party. Before the two of them had even reached the doors, the noise from within had her almost covering her ears. Almost. It was going to take a lot more than that to get her to let go of Hermis' arm.
People were cheering loudly and throwing their hands up. Mugs were smashed together and tossing small waves of ale to the stone floor. The air was thick and musty from the amount of bodies that were smothered into their dining hall. It was more than she had ever seen before and with the stone floor so slippery from spilled drinks and so many people crammed together, it looked like there were more people off of their feet than on them.
She let out a little laugh at the atmosphere. "How did you manage to stay up?" she had to ask.
The old man just chuckled and raised his bushy eyebrows. "I didn't."
Artemis grinned and pulled him along, further into the crowd. "Come on, I'll keep you safe."
As they elbowed and tittered back and forth through the swarm, the promise was not an easy one to keep. It was just when they both managed to reach the edge of the dining table that she realized it was the last place she wanted to be.
Razorit was on top of the long wooden tabletop, hollering and provoking the crowd. His dirty blond hair bounced around his square face. His lips were plastered with a sly, arrogant smile but Lane had been right about the mean looking scars. Across the left side of his tanned face was a gaping, angry gash that made him even more frightening than before. If he didn't have the blood of a dragon and possess abnormal restorative abilities, the wound would have killed him. Of that Artemis was certain.
The dragon kicked plates and squashed flickering candles beneath his feet, so that the wax sizzled against the table. "And then I let forth my dragon spark while she was spiraling down to the charred land! I torched her wings and she struggled like a newborn in the air! She would never fly in my sky again!"
He whipped his mug down at the table so hard that it shattered into a fifty splinters and let out such a loud 'crack' that Artemis flinched. Again the crowd went into an uproar.
"I dove at her like a streak of lightning and before she could have the mercy of touching down...I tore off her wings!"
Fists banged the table as he painted the vision for the onlookers. Glass plates vibrated and wobbled until they tipped off the edge of the wood and plummeted to the ground from every side, shattering like icicles falling from the underside of the balcony in the spring.
"And then this guy," Razorit bellowed, dropping to his knees and roughly tousling black hair. Artemis hadn't even noticed Lane sitting at the table until now. "He delivered the final strike! He severed her squirming head with one blow, while I held the dying beast down with my fangs!"
Artemis stared long and hard at Lane in uneasiness. The young lord merely shoved Razorit away like that of a brother, rolling his eyes like it was nothing. It didn't feel like nothing to her though, as she stood awkwardly at the edge of the table while strangers jostled and shoved. The black dragon's dead eyes glowered down at them. She realized that the conquerors hadn't even given her a proper burial. Dead dragons were meant to be burned. They were begging to be cursed.
"Lets go..." she said, turning to Hermis hurriedly. Except that was when she realized the old, balding advisor was nowhere to be found and she had been holding on to the arm of a complete stranger for what must have been minutes. She stammered out an apology and retreated away from the table, squeezing through the crowd was even more problematic when she was going against the grain.
Razorit's voice made her grit her teeth together and close her eyes momentarily. "Artemis! There you are! Wait!"
She didn't. She kept pushing through the crowd with evermore determination, completely forgetting about her appetite with the vision of the mutilated black dragon painted like a canvas behind her eyes. A wall would do her just fine for the duration of this outrageous gathering. She would find a good conversation partner and make small talk for the rest of the night. Perhaps even another dragon who had spun himself into human form for the occasion. Dragons were always interesting to talk to. Anything was better than facing Razorit head on.
A rough, calloused hand grabbed her forearm. "Hey, where are you going?" the green dragon asked in suspicion.
"No where," she answered reflexively. "I'm just not feeling well. Please let go."
If anything, his next comment made her think this was exactly what he wanted to hear. "I'll bring you to your room. Come on."
He all but dragged her through the rest of the crowd, though if he knew she was struggling to get free of his iron grip he didn't show it. While substantially less powerful when not in his dragon form, he was still stronger than an ox.
Artemis swallowed in panic. The doors she had just minutes before entered through, were looming up again. Soon they would be alone.
"Lane!" she sputtered out desperately. "I want to see Lane."
"Lane's drunk. "
Another helpless thought appeared. "Then Kendric at least." Kendric had to be in there somewhere she realized.
Razorit's reflective, orange eyes turned onto her sharply and his mouth pulled into a devilish, angry scowl. "Kendric is a waste of space who doesn't give a damn about this. Why the hell would he be here? Scratch that, why the hell would I let him be here?"
The green dragon had pulled her into the hall finally, though she was literally putting everything she had into leaning away from him. Without minding if anyone was attempting to exit after them, he pushed the giant wooden doors shut. Artemis stared at it longingly, but now the party was nothing more than a giant, blocked wall of second-hand sound.
Artemis didn't answer his previous anger with words, fearing the topic of Kendric would remind the green dragon of marriage. When he turned after closing the door, she was already ten paces down the hall. Unfortunately for her, it was ten paces too little. He closed the distance within seconds.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he chided from a pace or two behind. "You haven't seen me in months and this is the welcome I get?"
She struggled to seem calm, but inside her heart was racing. "Sorry. Congratulations on your title."
His hand closed around her arm again, much harder than the first time to the point where she was sure she would bruise. He never had been good at controlling his strength. "Arty..." he was suddenly sighing as he jerked her to a stop. "You're such a frustrating little human."
Artemis swallowed and stared at the ground. If her father had taught her any off-hand advice about war, it was to trust her instincts. Right now her instincts were telling her to panic.
Though he turned her to face him somewhat gently, the orange eyes that were on her were not gentle in the slightest. "Why do you avoid me?"
She pressed her lips together and considered her position – back up against the wall, arm locked in the dragon's clutch. The answer seemed completely obvious.
"I never used to like you, you know," he said, his grip loosening a little. "You used to be way too disobedient for my taste."
She tried her luck. "I haven't changed."
A thin, arrogant smirk came to his lips. "You're wrong. Ever since your father passed, you've grown into a remarkable young woman. Though a bit too elusive," he said, leaning a little bit closer to her face.
Artemis slid aside as quickly as she could manage. "You haven't changed either," she said, letting out a nervous laugh to cover up her discomfort. The dragon stayed positioned where they had both been for many moments, flexing his now empty grasp and eyeing her from beneath a slit in the curtain of his blond curls. It didn't take long for her to realize she had angered him.
He had that look again. That look that signaled to her that he was considering breaking free of his human form and that she might want to take a few more steps back – but a quiet black shadow from beyond the balcony caught his attention for a moment and she let out the breath she had been holding as his blazing orange eyes flicked away to assess it. Silently she thanked whatever dragon-guest had decided to go for a midnight soar.
The inky shadow blocked the streaming moonlight as it passed each open archway that decorated the hallway to her right. The sky was always exposed to her. It had to be with dragons so frequently visiting and with Razorit as Lane's partner. She barely ever saw the detailed glass doors closed.
Slowly it passed though, and Razorit's orange glare turned back onto her. Pretending she hadn't seen his previous irritation, she turned again and headed for her room. Perhaps this would work out in her benefit after all. She wouldn't ruin Lane's night and she wouldn't have to entertain any guests. All that was left was to ditch Razorit the Nightbreaker.
The hope was short lived. "Artemis of Glassgarden..." Razorit's voice hissed lowly. "I know you're aware of dragon customs."
To lie now would have been a wonderful option, but since she had no dragon of her own to learn the customs from, she had worked diligently to learn everything she could from her father's books. When they were younger the green dragon used to make fun of her for constantly having her head plunged into the old books. Now he was using it to his advantage.
"You know that once I earned a title, I also earned a mate."
"Congratula—"
Before the sweetly untrue words had even made it past her lips, Razorit's hot, calloused hand had clamped painfully around her jaw. A gasp involuntarily escaped her but when she tried to struggle and pry his hand away, he just held on even tighter and dug his bony fingers into her cheek. His other hand had woven its way under her dark hair and had taken a fistful by the nape of her neck.
"I've grown tired of your little games," he hissed into her ear. "You've no right to refuse me. It was me who killed the last black dragon. It was me who brought Lane back safely for you. You should be honored!"
The last world rumbled out of him with such intent that she whimpered. If only she was stronger, if only she had a dragon of her own.
"K-Kendric...!" she tried to reason desperately. His dragon was the next best thing.
It only enraged the green more. "Kendric," he spat with such venom that she knew she had made a mistake, "and that good-for-nothing dragon, Palhano, will die in my flames if they come near you again!"
Hot tears leaked over the edges of her eyes in limp frustration. What had happened to Razorit? Had the black dragon really cursed him into insanity or had this new fame simply stripped him of any humility he might have had once? She remembered a time when they actually got along when they were younger, when the three of them would play in the white flowers of Glassgarden and avoid her father with tiny, concealed snickers of guilt.
"S-Stop...!" she begged, when his grip was tight enough to choke her.
Fortunately he did.
A vibrating 'boom' shook the floor beneath her feet and only a split second later and an uproar of screams followed the noise from down the hall, echoing from the closed wooden doors of the party.
The doors didn't stay shut for very long though. Before Artemis could process what could be happening beyond, the doors had clattered open and guests fell over themselves trying to escape into the hall towards her. It was only when the first heavy shoulder knocked roughly into hers that she recalled she had legs of her own that she should be using.
A roar of pain from Razorit had her wheeling back around in confusion, but seeing him on his hands and knees only confused her more.
Artemis refrained from getting too close to him again. "What? What's wrong?"
The green dragon in human form gasped out words between breaths. "Lane...something's got Lane!"
For a moment she didn't entirely understand how he knew, until she heard an unfamiliar roar from down the hall and it clicked. She ran, leaving Razorit to struggle through the pain himself. Something had Lane, and that something sounded like an enraged dragon. Had he offended one of the guests? What could have caused such a panicked swarm?
"Move!" she yelled as she squeezed through the crowd. "Lane!"
When she stumbled to the entrance of the dining hall, she knew it would be for the last time. There stood the black dragon that Lane and Razorit had slain, standing very much alive in the middle of the dining room. Everything was smashed or thrown aside. Lane lay under the dragon's armored chest, bloody and unmoving.
Artemis let out a sharp gasp and twisted away from the door frame incredulously. It was true. They had to be cursed.
Quivering, she took a deep breath and peeked out. The tears rimming her eyes made it hard to see but she knew immediately she was mistaken. The female dragon head was still skewered horribly above the oak table. This dragon was different, spouting two jagged horns from the bridge of his nose. The enormous horns that curved back and up from his skull make him look like a demon. His size and posture were a dead giveaway to his blood; he had to be of relevantly noble descent.
'But that's impossible...' she thought.
Hands jarred her suddenly and she let out a shriek.
"Shh!" Razorit hissed, covering her mouth with his hand. It was shaking, he was still in pain. "I'll distract him. Get to Lane. Be quick about it! Got it?"
She stared, not understanding, until he jarred her again. "Got it!?"
Artemis nodded hurriedly and sniffed. He pushed away from her before turning to round the corner into the room where the black dragon awaited. Artemis watched him go in terror, wondering why he wasn't exploding out of human form.
The echoing voice of the unfamiliar dragon cracked through the room. "Your human skin does not fool me..." the deep male voice growled. Then a mocking comment followed, "Nightbreaker."
Razorit's title sent an ashamed heat to her face, and she had to force down the lump in her throat. Clearly they had been mistaken, for it was not the last black dragon that they murdered and then shoved onto a spike to hang above their dining table like a fancy decoration. How many more blacks were there in the world? Perhaps he would never get to keep the title. Perhaps she would never get to keep Lane.
"But you've already been fooled, demon," Razorit said. "Right into our trap."
Artemis furrowed her eyebrows in confusion around the corner, but listened as the dark dragon responded. "Was your trap to use your human as bait?" he asked. There was a sound of scraping, like he was digging his wicked claws purposely into their polished marble floors. Artemis immediately felt sick, imagining Lane's body being dragged across the floor and leaving a streak of crimson blood from his leaking wounds.
"Lane is strong. You could never break him with pain," Razorit growled, but still she didn't miss how his voice shook slightly. He was bluffing.
"We'll test that theory, Nightbreaker, and you will share the pain of course."
Artemis clutched her hands to her mouth in horror as Razorit cried out and before she could reconsider she was rounding the corner in blind desperation. Her concern was not for Razorit, but for Lane.
"Stop!" she begged. "Please stop!"
"Stay back, Artemis!" Razorit growled, but he collapsed to one knee only a mere moment later. "This doesn't concern you!"
His words didn't register. Seeing the black dragon's massive, clawed foot positioned heavily on Lane's chest –as if he was attempting to squeeze the life out of him – made her throat go dry. The dragon's massive green eyes had locked onto her, freezing her in place.
"You are the young woman who was being ravaged in the hallway," he rumbled, almost like the thought was humorous and she realized that he must have been the one who passed by practically unnoticed in the night, save for his shadow.
Artemis swallowed and flicked her eyes back to Lane daringly. If she wasn't careful, he was going to be crushed. He wouldn't die, but he wouldn't be right in the head when he awoke either.
"Run Artemis!" Razorit yelled. "You're not bonded! He'll kill you!"
The black's eyes widened for a moment, his dark pupils narrowing to slits, but she remained where she was, petrified for Lane rather than herself. She had a few seconds of life left. Unbonded dragons couldn't breathe fire. At the very least he couldn't roast her alive.
At least she had to assume he wasn't bonded to a human. Who would dare bond with a black dragon?
Behind her, Razorit wouldn't shut up. "Artemis! Lane will be fine! He can't die unless I die! Now run you fool!"
"You don't know that...his mind will be scarred from the pain..." she whimpered, not bothering to whisper because she knew the dark dragon could hear her every breath. Tentatively, with legs like jelly, she took a step forward. She tried to think clearly, to think rationally about her actions, but the dark scales and green eyes of the dragon in front of her stole both breath and bravery.
"Please," she sobbed to the black beast, holding her hands up as if to stop him from making any hasty decisions. "...He's all I have."
The black dragons eyes narrowed and the edge of his maw lifted in disgust, showing her a moments-worth of his lethally sharp fangs. "I don't pity you, human."
She felt hot tears break loose as he lowered his head to her level, though he came no closer. "She was all I had too – the last of my kin," he growled, his gaze swaying to the right. Artemis didn't have to look to know what he wanted her to look at. The female black dragon. The one they had murdered. The one whose body they hadn't burned.
"So do you think for a moment that I care about the end of your bloodline? I will kill you all."
There was an explosion of sound and wind behind her, and the gust that buffeted her suddenly nearly knocked her flat on her front. With a deafening cry, Razorit launched himself over her and flared his wings menacingly, blocking her from the black's view. Artemis stumbled away from the approaching skirmish as quickly as her legs would carry her, ducking behind the nearby oak table that had been flipped conveniently on its side and covering her head when shards of glass exploded over her.
"I'll earn my title now, demon! Thank you for falling into my clutch so easily!" Razorit roared, but she heard no response from the intruder. Maybe Razorit really would prevail once more.
But the entanglement of shadows they cast on the wall she was facing only scared her more. Razorit, with all his confidence was clearly the smaller of the two, and without much of a break for many moments, took to being on the underside of the fight. A horrible sinking feeling welled up in her stomach as she watched through her fingers and she realized that the black dragon did not need words to assert his power. His silence had said it all. His movements weren't sharp but his attacks were brutal, and any time they came to a horn-lock, he merely overpowered the green dragon with a sharp twist of his head that sent Razorit sprawling onto his side, leaving his softer underside exposed.
An then, as she had predicted she watched the shadow of the black strike like that of a cobra, latching his maw onto Razorit's throat. He let out a pained shriek and Artemis knew that if she didn't move now, she would be left to deal with the demon alone.
Avoiding as much glass and wooden splinters as she could, she crawled wobbly along, with only the fractures of their overturned oak table to conceal her. Razorit's cries nipped at her focus like a hound might nip at the heels of a sheep. When she scooted to the edge of her wooden barrier and peeked around the other side, the sight of her bloody brother did nothing to sharpen her senses.
"Lane!" she hissed desperately, but his lack of movement was hardly surprising.
Blinking back the fearful tears, she took one last look at the wrestling dragons. It wasn't looking good for Razorit. He was on his back – one wing already pinned uselessly beneath the clawed foot of the black and his throat caught savagely in the demon's jaws. There was too much blood spurting from the wound for her to properly gage the damage, but she could only assume that his previous battle with the female black dragon was severely hindering his potential this time.
The only good news was that the two dragons were turned away from her, though the black's flat tail was swinging dangerously close to Lane. She took one last breath in and made a crouched sprint over to her fallen brother.
"Lane!" she whispered under her breath while shaking him gently. "Wake up, oh lord, please wake up!"
But her brother didn't stir, and his slender face was growing paler by the minute. When she pulled her hand away, the blood was still thick and red. Even with the bond keeping him from dying, he wouldn't be moving on his own any time soon.
But a sickening crack alerted her again to the battle taking place at her back, and the following silence was too eerie to be good. Slowly Artemis turned, and when her eyes connected to that of pale green, her blood turned as cold as ice. Razorit's neck was clamped limply in the black dragon's powerful jaws, his body sagging uselessly. Now the demon had his eyes on her.
Merely hours ago she had been worried sick about what Razorit might do to her, now her previous fear seemed almost laughable. Next to the absent Kendric, she had no strength beyond the green dragon and her brother. She was prey. Weak prey.
The black gave one last growl before dropping his grasp on Razorit, letting the green dragon's head smash into the stone floor. Artemis scrambled at the action, blinking her eyes to the floor to find some sort of protection but her concentration melted beneath the green gaze.
She felt him step over Razorit's body and move lethally closer. Her hands landed on a carving knife that had been thrown from the table. "Stay back!" she warned, managing to point the sharp end at the enemy. The tip trembled with her fear. "Stay. Back."
The demon let out a dry laugh, no more than a simple, sharp exhale to demonstrate his amusement. "Step aside, mortal woman. I will have my revenge now."
"No," she gritted out sharply, angry tears pouring from her eyes. She wished she could control it, but fear always overwhelmed her. "You won't have him."
"You can't stop me with words, human."
Artemis pressed her lips together and attempted to stay steady. He was right. What good would this puny knife to do a dragon's hide? It wouldn't even pierce a single scale. The most she could hope for was an eye, but he towered over her by many, many meters to the point where she knew it was hopeless. She'd never be able to defeat him.
He moved again, his dangerous maw coming within striking distance, close enough that one mere sweep of his horned head would break her bones.
"Stop!" She warned, her voice wavering. "Please don't!"
"You're more foolish than the average human," he growled. "Perhaps stupidity runs in your blood, just like your brother. Step aside and I'll kill you last."
To say she didn't consider the offer would have been a lie to any honest human, but her blood kept her feet planted even though her knees felt weak. She wouldn't leave him to die while she fled for her life like a coward. No, her blood was, unfortunately, still too stubborn for that.
Artemis managed to lift her wobbling knife a fraction of an inch higher. "I'd rather die than live without him."
The edge of the dragon's maw lifted upwards into a snarl and he crouched lower to the floor, positioning himself to strike. Artemis could only swallow and attempt to hold the knife as steady as she could in some show of bravery. She wanted to say she would go down fighting, but even Razorit had gone unconscious within what were only minutes. How long would an unbonded human last? Seconds maybe?
"Tell me human," the black dragon suddenly hissed, "Does your brother feel the same?"
The point of the knife lowered without her meaning it to. "W-What?"
"Would he rather die than live without you?"
Artemis swallowed, unsure how to reply. Was it some sort of trick? Why wasn't she lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood yet? He was asking her a question, but what kind of response was he looking for? She tried to reason it out, but even holding the knife took most of her focus.
The black dragon lashed out in impatience. "Answer!" he roared, taking such a ferocious snap that she almost tripped over Lane's body behind her as she shrank away.
"I-I don't know!" she cried. "Please, don't kill him. I-If you want revenge, I beg you to kill me instead..!" she said, forcing out the words somehow. Then, thinking this was as good a time as any she lowered her arms slowly and let the knife slip through her fingertips. He had to take the bait. It was the only way.
It clattered to the floor and lay still at her feet, but the dragon's green eyes were still on her face. Without the meagre protection she felt almost naked. "I know they killed her," she choked, seeing the pupils of the dark dragon shrink in anger, "So take my life. T-That is the best revenge you could ask for."
The giant demon stared her down for many moments without a word, just as he had done to Razorit before the battle had even begun. All that was left was for him to choose which appetizer he wanted more. Or maybe he would simply have both.
He lowered his head so close, so suddenly that a sharp gasp escaped her. If she hadn't dropped the knife at her feet, it would have been the perfect time to strike. The slit of the giant green eye darted from her eyes, to her feet, and back almost faster than she could blink.
"Clever little human," he rumbled, and she could clearly feel the vibration of his voice through the floor. "You offer me revenge and protect your despicable brother in the same breath."
Artemis held that breath, awaiting doom either way.
After agonizing moments, he spoke. "I accept your life as payment."
Despite the news, she felt a rush of relief run through her. Lane would get to live, as long as the dark dragon was one for keeping his word.
The black seemed intent on taking his revenge quickly, because he was coiling his muscled, serpent-like body around her and Lane, leaving no room for her to run if the urge suddenly overwhelmed her. She hoped it didn't, and that she remained numb to what was going to happen to her until it was too late.
"Now," the black dragon growled, leering down at her with his evil green eyes. "You will make the bond with me."
The numbness faded instantly, replaced by a horrid realization. "W-What?" she choked. This couldn't be happening. Not to her.
His expression changed to that of dark glee. "Your life is mine now, little human. Your brother killed the last female member of my kin, so you will be my bonded and my bride and pay for his mistake. Refuse, and I will crush his heart right in front of you, and then I'll rip the Nightbreaker's from his chest."
The world was spinning so suddenly, and she felt like she was slipping off. The black dragon's bonded. His bride. Her life was forfeit. She would be hated and hunted by every human and dragon in the world. Forever. Until the end of their days.
"You thought it would be easy, didn't you?" he said from above. "That I might just bite off your head and be done with it...but that is too kind. Your brother and the green must see the extent of my rage – they must feel it!"
She sank to her knees in despair.
"And when they come to take my life, they best be prepared to take yours as well! Then and only then, will they know true anger, and you will know true fear."
This was a long chapter, but I hope people enjoyed it. Fading-Scream made a good point in her review about perhaps shortening my chapters a little bit. Generally I am used to chapters that are around this length, but she mentioned the amount of energy it takes to stare that many words down for that amount of time while mentally piecing the story together, lol. Even I can imagine that that might be taxing. And on that note, I'm not so confident that I believe ALL my chapters will be so sooper-dooper exciting that people will absolutely WANT to read for that long, haha. So perhaps shaving a thousand words or so off will benefit both the reader and myself. Thank you for the tip, Fading-Scream.
Ps. Oh my, off to a bad start though. I just looked up and saw that this chapter is actually closer to six thousand words than five thousand. Oops...well... move along people... assuming you made it this far. OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE? Lol.
Zero