by Rains, Nina
“Coward! Break this wall, so I can kill you!” I yelled angrily when the heartless dragon blocked my way with an ice wall.
“Let me be of help,” the man with the pitch-black hair offered.
The man blew fire on the wall. It melted fast, like a hot water spilling from a boiling pot, but it spilled towards me. The water drenched me. My thin, white muslin tunic clung to my skin, exposing the shape of my breasts and my hips.
I scowled at the man with the pitch-black hair. The man gave a bow of apology.
I turned to my abductor. The annoying man smiled widely as he observed my body. I became anxious and ashamed of my almost naked body. I looked around to find something to cover me.
“Here’s your cape, your Highness,” the man with the golden hair said as he brought my priestess cape.
I looked at the man with the golden hair. The man looked younger than the other men in the room. He shone an aura brighter than the others, too. His eyes looked more innocent than his brothers. His smile mesmerized me for a moment.
Don’t be fooled again. I reminded myself. If his brother could fool me, he could, too. I took the cape and glared at my abductor. I wanted to wring his neck, as much as I admired him before. When I took a step towards him, the man created another wall of ice.
The other man with the pitch-black hair melted it again. I stepped back before the water could drench me. I took another step towards my abductor, but another ice wall blocked me. I took two steps back to avoid the melted ice.
“You are quite a dancer, your highness,” my abductor teased.
I stopped and looked at the other men. They were both holding their laughter. I groaned in anger. They were playing with me!
“Who are you?” I asked angrily. I looked at my abductor and asked him, “What is this place?”
“Your prison,” my abductor answered.
“M-my prison?” I uttered in shock. I raised my chin at my abductor and reminded him, “How could you imprison me? You gave your word to help me and my kingdom?”
“Did I?” My abductor asked.
Stupid! I never heard him promise. However, … “You bowed your head when I asked you.”
“Humans and your misjudgments,” my abductor said. “I was giving you a bow of apology.”
My eyebrows crooked in rage. I threw away any fear and logic out of the window and attacked the man. I swung a punch on his face, but he evaded it. He caught my fist and grabbed me by the waist.
“Let go of me!” I demanded.
He did not. When did he ever listen to me? He imprisoned me with his arms and said, “Or would you rather be enclosed in my arms?”
I choked on my own breath when I heard his words. My body became warm and my heart pounded hard against his body. It won’t be that bad, my shameless mind agreed.
“It won’t be that bad, huh?” The man said as if repeating my mind.
He flashed his debonair smile again and I almost melted in his arms. Stop it, Aurora! He was an enemy.
I pushed the man again and demanded to be released. He carried me on one of his shoulders as if I was a weightless sack of potato.
“Be gentle, brother,” the man with the pitch-black hair warned.
“She’s human,” the man with the golden hair added.
What? Horrible things crossed my mind. I was on a mountain that the Elastinians were afraid of with three men – dragons. What if… No! I would kill myself before I let them turn me into their whore.
I sank my teeth on the back of the man. He did not show any sign of pain. I bit him harder, but he only carried me back to the hard bed.
I crawled down from the bed the moment my back touched it. The three men watched me as I looked for something to defend myself.
“Humans and their judgments,” my abductor uttered again.
I ignored him. He might be attractive, but I had not lost my mind, yet. I would not let him or any man – or dragon – ravish me.
I spotted the glass near my bed. I broke it and took the sharpest piece. “Let me go or I’ll kill myself,” I warned them while placing the shard on my neck.
My abductor said that they were heaven’s most loved creatures. They would not let a person die because of them. I did not know much about them, but I was sure that they would not want to offend the Heavens.
I shivered when cold liquid rolled down from my neck. The shard was not made of glass. It was made of ice. I did not know who, but one of them made it melt in my hands.
“You have a dirty mind for a priestess, princess,” the man with the pitch-black hair said before he chuckled.
I looked at them, filled with curiosity. They spoke as if they could read my thoughts. Could they? I wondered. If they could, then Elastin would not have fooled the black dragon.
My abductor looked at his brothers and ordered them to leave. I walked behind the bed and as far away from him as I could. He laughed a little while shaking his head.
“I can make you surrender yourself to me if I want to,” he spoke with confidence. His smirk faded and a red flame sparked in his blue eyes. Then, he said, “But for now, princess, get a glimpse of the insanity of being alone for two hundred years.”
“What?” I blurted.
The man stepped back. The floor in front of him began to crack. Water flowed into the room. The water slowly moved upward and created a glass wall.
“No! You can’t keep me here!” I yelled as a box of ice contained me.
Everything around me had turned into ice. I could only see the man’s face through a small hole. I tried to break the ice from the hole, but it was as strong as the castle’s wall.
“My sister needs me,” I told the man. “Please! If you don’t want to help, then just let me go. I’ll kill King Apollyeon and Minhyeon on my own.”
I tried to shake the wall, but it was of no use. Kicking it was useless, too. I walked away a little and ran against the wall, in the hope that a stronger force could break it.
Just when I was about to hit the wall, the ice melted and I ended up running to my abductor’s arms. My heart beat fast because of anger, beat faster because of the strange heat from his body and the strange sensation that erupted from my heart.
“Latias!” My abductor called.
“The woman said please, brother” Latias, the man with the pitch-black hair, answered with a teasing smile.
“This woman should not leave this mountain,” my abductor ordered as he helped me stand on my own. He walked to his brother and said, “And, you should make sure of it.”
Latias looked at me and smiled. They were brothers, but they all looked different from each other. Among them, Latias looked more human than the other two. His pitch-black hair and eyes would not make anyone think that he was a magical being. He was handsome, too, but not as handsome as my abductor.
Latias’ eyes were a bit mysterious. Their colors never changed, unlike my abductor's. Somehow, I could read the mind of my abductor through his eyes, but I could not with Latias’ eyes.
His smile looked so innocent, but a part of me did not want to trust that smile. My abductor hid anger towards my kingdom and the priestesses because of what happened to the black dragon. It would not be a surprise if Latias would be angry with me, too.
My abductor walked out of the cave and left me with Latias. I looked at Latias again. It was strange. I did not feel any fear towards him. I did not feel any strong admiration towards him, either. It felt like there was a hidden cold wall between us.
“So, your name is Latias?” I asked him.
Latias nodded. I fell silent for a while as I contemplated if I should ask for the name of my abductor. Latias smiled again.
For a moment, I was hooked by that smile. It was so innocent and pure. It made my heart spark a little, but it suddenly disappeared. It seemed that a magic spell was cast on me, barring me from thinking that he was special.
“My brother’s name is Renisham,” Latias told me.
Latias pointed the bed to me. I
refused to go near it. He smiled. He stomped his feet on the icy floor. It cracked and water emerged from the cracks. I panicked when I thought that he would imprison me. I wanted to run, but I stopped, as I was awed by his power.
Latias did not create a wall. He created an ice chair for me. He smiled and said, “Would you feel safer with that?”
I touched the chair. It was made of ice, but it was not a bit cold. I sat on it, slowly. A soft moan escaped my mouth. The warmth of the chair calmed the fear and exhaustion I felt.
“Do not worry. Renisham won’t hurt you,” Latias told me. “We would never hurt you.”
“But you are angry at me?”
“No, not you specifically,” the young man with the golden hair interrupted as he entered the room.
The golden-haired man’s light brown eyes turned dark brown as he walked closer to me. I almost fell on the chair when he suddenly shifted into a dragon. He was the red dragon! He was the smallest among the four dragons I saw in the vision. However, he still looked enormous to me. His reddish-brown, scaly body covered my view completely.
The dragon lowered his head and gazed at me with his dark, brown eyes, and added, “Just about every woman in Elastin!”
His warm breath turned me into a statue. I felt the hatred in his voice.
The dragon stepped back and shifted back to his human form. A mischievous smile shone across his face as he added, “But, of course, we can make some exceptions, for a fee.”
“A fee?” I repeated.
The young man slipped next to the chair. “Is it really impossible for a human to fall for a dragon?” he asked innocently.
I looked at the young man. He was a full-grown man, but his eyes were full of curiosity equal to a boy. I looked into his eyes. They were more transparent than his two brothers. I felt like I could see through him. I could see through his admiration towards me. It was obvious that I was the first woman he saw up close.
Among the three men, he was the most handsome. He looked like the picture of an angel that my father drew for Saicin and me. He had the least angular jaw among the three, which made him appear to be the youngest. His eyes were big and the corners were round. The other dragons’ eyes had pointy corners. He looked like a boy, but he was as pretty as a girl – prettier than Saicin and I.
“Ampharos!” Latias called.
Ampharos. I repeated his name in my mind.
“Yes, princess,” Ampharos spoke. “My name is Ampharos, the earth dragon.”
I was flustered again. Can they really read my mind?
“Yes, we can,” Ampharos answered.
I felt my blood boil when I heard Ampharos’ confirmation. I thought of my abductor. He could read my mind! I wanted to bury my head in the cold ice because of embarrassment. All those shameless thoughts! He read them!
“Don’t worry. We can only read your mind in this room,” Ampharos explained. “Hence, brother placed you here. He’s amused with your thoughts. We all are.”
“Ampharos!” Latias called.
A tint of white ice appeared at the center of Latias’ irises, but it quickly vanished into the blackness of his eyeballs. It was the first time I saw the color of his eyes change.
Ampharos wanted to speak, but Latias fired water on his face and froze his mouth. He looked at his brother and melted it. The water dripped over my skirt, exposing some parts of my thighs.
Latias glared at his brother. He threw another ball of ice towards him. Ampharos shoved the ball with his breath and melted it. The melted ice dropped on my lap and drenched my skirt.
I was not a dragon, but I could read the brothers’ minds. They were playing with me again. They were trying to see my body by wetting my tunic.
“Get out!” I yelled furiously while standing.
Ampharos melted a third ball of ice and the water dropped on my head. It drenched my hair and the upper part of my tunic. The two of them stopped and stared at my cleavage, as my thin white tunic clung to my skin.
“Get out!” I screamed as I covered my breasts with my arms.
“We’re leaving,” Latias said. He looked at Ampharos and told him, “You heard the lady.”
Ampharos bowed to me. He had a mischievous smile on his face when he raised. Before I could warn him, he said, “Let me dry you first, your Highness.”
Ampharos shifted into his dragon form. He blew a heavy breath on me – so heavy that I was about to be blown away. I held tightly on the chair, but it melted because of the warmth of Ampharos’ breath.
Suddenly, the warm breath turned cold. A thin ice wall blocked it. My eyes widened when I saw my reflection on the clear ice. My red curly hair was going in every direction. I looked like a witch, drawn in the children’s books.
“Stop playing, Ampharos,” I heard Latias order from behind the wall. “You better step away from the wall, princess or you will be drenched again.”
I ran to the other side of the wall. Ampharos returned to his human form and melted the ice. I glared at him, like an older woman glaring at a kid. He met my eyes with his cute, cheeky grin.
“You look great in that hair, your Highness,” Ampharos teased.
“But still not pretty,” Latias said in a cold voice.
I looked at Latias. For a moment, a small ice sparked at the center of his irises, before it vanished into the blackness again. I wondered why those sparks appeared. Did they mean something? Or was Latias afraid that I could see through him?
Latias bowed a little and walked out of the room. Ampharos was about to say something, but Latias sealed his mouth with ice and pulled him out of the room.
Chapter Five
I needed to get out. It had been a while since the dragons had left. I needed to get back to Elastin. By now, the people might have learned about my abduction. Saicin must be worried.
My abduction became a good thing, somehow. The people would learn that dragons exist. Amara had probably thought of a story to calm the people. It was not the first time that an Elastinian went with a dragon. My abduction would only be a legend that became true once more.
Where is he? I wondered. My thoughts were mixed with longing for my abductor. I needed him to bring me back to Elastin, but I also felt a need to see him.
I approached the entrance to the room. Ampharos said that they could read my mind. I could not even try to escape because they would know about it, too. If only I had my sword with me. I could fight my way out.
“Fight your way out?”
My heart jumped with surprise and excitement when my abductor – Renisham – appeared at the entrance. He grabbed my wrist with his big, warm hand. The warmth traveled all over my body again. The urge to feel it more became stronger.
I gasped when Renisham pulled me close to him. He enclosed me in his arms. I struggled for a moment but stopped. What was the use? He would know that I like the warmth of his body pressed against mine.
“I could show you the way out, princess,” Renisham said.
Renisham melted the ice behind him. The melted ice revealed a hole that made me see the whole of Elastin. I looked at Renisham. The dragons did watch over Elastin. The cave was their eye.
Elastin looked so tiny. I could only see the warning towers of the castle. I finally understood their purpose. They were not created to warn the people. They were built to call the dragons for help.
“Let’s go, your highness,” Renisham said.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the entrance. My heart almost left my chest when I fell out of the cave. I went down so fast that I could not even think of screaming. The only thing I thought of was that I hated him. I hated Renisham!!
Suddenly, a shadow of a dragon appeared behind me. It grew bigger as it moved closer. “Renisham!” I finally screamed.
The dragon slid down under me. It was Renisham. The fins on his back sank deep into his skin before I fell on them. A fin appeared near his neck. I quickly held on to it. I pulled my weight and sat on his back.
Tears of fear flo
wed down my cheeks. I punched his back angrily as he flew me higher.
“I hate you!” I yelled. My voice echoed in the sky.
“Me, too, your highness,” Renisham answered.
I was shocked by his reply. Did he hate me? It hurt – as if a thousand arrows plunged into my heart. Why would he hate me? Why would they hate me?
Renisham turned to me. His big dragon’s eyes were flaming red. They clearly turned that way when he was angry. The queen’s betrayal must have hurt him and his brothers a lot. They lost a brother because of her. Renisham was taken from his other brothers and imprisoned in a dark dungeon for two thousand years because of her.
“I am not her! I am not the queen that betrayed you,” I told Renisham. I ran a palm gently on his back and sincerely said, “I have no plans of betraying you.”
Renisham slowed down. He turned to me again. His eyes were as clear as ice. We were outside the New East Mountain. I did not know if he could read my mind, but I sure hope he did. I hope he would realize that I told the truth.
“Humans always change their minds,” Renisham replied.
“But, I won’t,” I swore in a soft voice.
My voice sounded endearing. I was surprised with myself. I always sounded logical when I spoke, but with him, I became soft – just as a woman should be with a man.
“Are you trying to win my heart now, your Highness?” Renisham asked.
I blushed. Was I? The first queen owned a kingdom when she won the heart of a dragon. I never thought about winning the heart of a dragon for myself. I only wanted them to help me save Saicin and the kingdom.
“What are they doing?” Renisham asked.
I followed the direction of his eyes. My face turned pale and I trembled. The mountain of Sijeem, the mountain that separated Plaedis and Elastin looked dark. It was covered with ash. There was a shrine at the top of the mountain and it was breathing fire.
“Brother!”
Latias flew beside Renisham. His color was so beautiful. He was the dragon with the bluish-white color. Renisham’s flaming red skin reflected on his glass-like skin. He looked so pure and wonderful.