Page 62 of Storm of Blood and Shadow

“I think I’ll stay right here.”

There’s a scuffle of scales on rock as he lies down, settling his great body in front of the crack. “Are you thirsty, little prey?” His deep voice echoes down the tunnel, a nightmarish singsong. “I’ll give you more of my cum to drink.”

He’s referring to the last time he came for me as a dragon. I was so ravenous that I drank as much of his cum as I could hold. It helped the hunger pangs, but it also made my stomach hurt. “I’d rather not do that again.”

Varex chuckles, and the chuckle turns into a groan, then a sharp whine of painful need. “You are cruel. Cold and harsh and merciless. Let me have you, my tender darling. Let me fill you, consume you. Be part of me forever. Never leave me, never leave me…” A grating sob bursts from him, and my heart aches for his pain, his confusion, his madness.

He lies there a long time, sobbing and snarling by turns, then chipping away at the rock with his claws.

Suddenly he goes quiet, and I lift my head, concerned by the stillness.

His jaws fill the mouth of the tunnel, his scaly snout and jagged teeth forming malevolent words. “There’s something I hadn’t thought of until now, little prey. I have magic. Void magic. It can swallow things up. I can use void magic to widen this passage. If it happens to gulp you up, too, that would be unfortunate, but at least then I would have a reprieve from the torture of your tasty fucking scent.”

Ohshit.

“If you start spitting void orbs down this tunnel, you could collapse the cave—even bring down the mountain,” I warn him.

“Why the fuck would I care?”

Alright then. Time to go.

I feel my way farther along the passage as quickly as I can, going deeper into the black depths of the mountain. Behind me I can hear Varex laughing, a horrible, empty sound, and my heart breaks quietly in the dark, grieving the gentle kindness of the dragon I know. He’ll find himself again when this is all over. Hehasto.

Something hurtles down the passage behind me, sizzling as it goes. I drop to the floor and flatten myself as the void orb skims over my prone body, casting a purple glow on the stone. It whizzes onward, then strikes something—the end of the passage, maybe. The rock around me shudders as the void orb sears through the cave wall and implodes on itself, shattering stone and then swallowing up the fragments.

The orb disappears, but a faint lavender glow remains. I blink several times, and when the glow doesn’t vanish, I crawl forward cautiously.

Varex’s orb broke open a path into a new cavern. I peer through the gap in the broken stone, inhaling a quick breath at the sight of the glowing blue water, the variegated walls, and thecrystal formations as big as me, glowing lavender and pink and blue.

It’s like a dream. Like a promise that this nightmare is going to end. Like a vow that beauty and wonder still exist, even in the darkest of times.

I emerge into the cavern, so charmed by its luminous color that I barely notice the hollow growling of my stomach. Crouching, I cup some of the clear water in my hand. It’s cool and it smells fresh—healthier than the Mordvorren rainwater we’ve been using to drink and to wash. I’ve wondered if drinking that rain was the best choice, but it was our only option.

Carefully I sip from my palm. There’s a faint mineral taste, but the water is good. The liquid itself doesn’t glow; the bluish tint comes from the soft light of the rocky, crystal-studded bed in which the water lies.

It’s blissfully peaceful in the cavern. The howling wind outside the mountain is muffled to a faint musical hum. My ears pick up on low whistling sounds from air currents passing through the space, sifting between crystalline columns. It’s as if this place creates its own quiet music.

I don’t detect the sizzling approach of any more void orbs, nor can I hear the grinding of Varex’s claws through the rock. Maybe, with enough distance between us, the power of my scent is lessened, and he can have some peace as well.

Or maybe the Mordvorren has taken him. The thought congeals my insides with dread, and I briefly consider going back to check on my dragon… but now that I’m sitting beside the luminous pool, I can’t find the strength to get up. Not until I’ve had more water and some rest.

I drink my fill, hoping the minerals in the water will do something for my nutrient-deprived body. Then I curl up near one of the larger crystals, which exudes a faint warmth. Tucking my arm beneath my head, I let myself fall asleep.

When I rouse again, I feel so refreshed that I’m sure I must have slept for ages. I find a dark, rocky recess where I can pee, and then I return to the pool to drink again. I’m still ravenous, but filling my belly with water helps somewhat, and the sleep was refreshing. My pussy feels less swollen, and the chafed areas on my arms look better too.

With my own survival in question, I’ve been less worried about my family—or perhaps notlessworried, but at least distracted from those worries. Right now, there is nothing I could possibly do to help them. I’m doing the one thing I can do—surviving both the Mordvorren and the mad dragon prince. Once the storm is over—if I live to see its end—I will have to make difficult choices. But for now, I can rest by the pool and listen to the humming of the storm and the flute-like music of the air whistling through the cavern.

The hollow notes have a sort of pattern to them, and after a while I get up and lift my arms gracefully, rising on my toes. I’ve lost some of my strength, but I’m encouraged to find my muscles awakening and my limbs falling into familiar poses. I don’t push for any difficult moves; I let myself move naturally, fluidly, finding solace in languid steps and slow twirls.

I dance beneath the mountain, amid towering crystals, beside mirror-like pools, and my dancing is not only comfort, but defiance.

However loudly the Mordvorren may howl, it has not conquered me yet.

While completing a full turn, I spot a figure watching me, and I stumble out of the spin, terror pounding in my heart.

It’s only him. Varex, naked and human, with a white cloth tied around his waist. He’s leaning against the cavern wall.

“Don’t stop,” he says softly.

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