Page 9 of Dragon Lord
“I will start with building a lean-to.”Einin marched forward to gather sticks.
She worked herself breathless, but when she had her pile, she realized she had no strings to tie the sticks together.Here and there, she could see clumps of long grasses, but in the sunny spots, their leaves were too dry and brittle, while in the deep shade, wet and rotten.
“A fire, then.”She searched her bundle, but she couldn’t find her flint.Either she’d forgotten to pack it, or else she dropped it as she’d hurried through the night forest.
She had no knife to throw, no bit of wire to build a snare.
She blinked hard, her eyes burning as she faced the truth.This past winter, the whole village, everyone pulling together, had barely survived the punishing cold and hunger.Attempting to eke out a living in the woods would mean nothing but slow starvation.If Einin didn’t freeze first.
She looked at the raven, who was hopping in a circle around her as if playing a child’s game.
“My only choices are,” she counted them out on her fingers for the bird’s benefit, “either the agonizing death of being burned at the stake in the village, or the slow death of starvation in the woods, or…” She swallowed.“A swift death delivered by sharp dragon teeth.”
“Caw.”
“I think a swift death would be best.”
She returned to the flat stone by the creek and slumped onto it.She needed just another moment to gather her courage.She heaved a deep sigh, then lay back and stared at the sky.Midnight kicked off and rose to the air, flying circles above her.
The sun shone warmly on Einin’s face.She closed her eyes.She thought of the village, and she thought of the dragon, but soon those thoughts drifted from her.She had not slept nearly enough the night before.Anxiety had kept her awake—a good thing.At least, she’d heard the men coming.As she lay in the sun by the water, sleep pulled her under.She let it.
Dusk was falling by the time she woke, shivering.At first, she didn’t see Midnight anywhere, but the raven came quickly enough once Einin opened the bundle that held her meager leftovers.She shared her remaining boiled egg and the wrinkled old apple that was the last of the previous year’s harvest.She drank again from the creek and washed her face.
“No sense in delaying any further.”
“Caw.”
“Just once, I wish you said something helpful.And if youcouldoffer advice, just once, now is the time.”
“Caw.”
Einin swept her hair from her face.Her braid had loosened from her mad dash through the woods.She rebraided it, then she straightened her clothes.Then she started toward the cave to face her death, steeling her spine as she went.At least, by going to the dragon she would die with honor, having kept her word.
“Ready to pay the price,” she muttered under her breath, and this time, the raven didn’t answer.The bird had disappeared again.“Off to see the dragon, then.”
Truly, from one such as the great beast, where could she flee?Where could she hide?And if she acted the coward, the dragon might bring harm to the village.Even if the village rejected her now, the people were still the neighbors and friends she’d once loved, had grown up amongst.And what about the children?Einin would not see them burn in dragon fire.
She kept her eyes on the darkening path and marched up the hill.She tried not to think that by morning, the dragon would be picking her bones out of his fearsome teeth.Every night since she’d met him, in her dreams she’d seen nothing but the death that awaited her in his black eyes.
Let her be done with the task then.She was scared, but that she’d made her decision, that she knew how it would all end, also brought relief.
She reached the end of the faint trail in the middle of the night.She walked past the last outcropping of rocks, and the dark mouth of the dragon’s cave opened menacingly before her.Her knees weakened at the sight.She thought she heard the flapping of wings high above, but if the raven was there, he kept his opinion to himself for once.
The urge to flee washed over Einin, stronger than ever, but she held her ground.She did not turn back, not even when the sound of sharp talons on stone reached her, and, in the very next moment, the dragon appeared.
Fly, Midnight, fly, and don’t come back.You don’t want to see what happens next.
The great devil was as frightening as Einin remembered.More so, even.The moon was full, and for the first time, Einin could truly see the beast.The last time, the inside of the cave had been too dim.
His blue-black scales glinted in the moonlight, as did his curved fangs.He appeared rounder.Must have fed while he’d waited.Einin shuddered at the thought.And he’d feed once again before the night was over.
He was twice her height, and twice as long as he was tall, not counting the snaking spiked tail.He kept his great wings folded, and she had no desire to see them spread.He looked beastly and ancient, his obsidian eyes fixed on her.His attention held her immobile.She couldn’t run now if she tried, couldn’t move a muscle.
“So you came.”His deep, rumbling voice filled the clearing and reached inside her to surround her trembling heart.
She gathered herself enough to draw her shoulders straight and hold out her hands to the side to show that she brought no weapons this time.“I’m here to fulfill our bargain.I’m here to slake the dragon’s hunger.Of my own will.”
Her voice did not shake, and that consoled her.Mayhap her father would be proud of her.He’d always called her a strong lass, and not with disapproval as many other fathers would have.
