by Alexis Davie
“Can I have some water? Please?” She was planning to make some kind of joke, but her voice trailed off when she saw what was in front of her: a cage, long ago destroyed by time, but a cage, nevertheless. Jutting out of the mountainside was what appeared to be some kind of deck that stretched to the edge of the nook in the mountainside, going all the way to the dark cave in front of them with the thick iron bars keeping anything from getting in, or possibly getting out. The iron bars, thick as her wrists, were long since mangled and twisted up in a few places, like whatever it had been there to stop had tried to break through. A distinct but faint scent of a magical aura filled the area. Some sort of magic had been done here, but at this point, there was no telling what kind.
“Oh.” Ellie blinked.
Sebastian handed her the canteen, watching the area carefully. “This is a wyvern cage.”
She practically spit the water out before giving him back the canteen. “You can't be serious.”
“Afraid I am.” He walked across the rotting deck to the bars, laying a hand on them and looking for something. “This is definitely a wyvern cage.”
“Then—” Ellie started walking up and away. “—let’s get back up to the—” She turned to see him still standing at the bars, fascinated. “Oh, for the love of everything holy, please tell me we aren’t going in there.”
He peered into the blackness inside the cage. “What are you so worried about? They’re long dead if they stayed in there.”
“I’m worried about dying!”
Sebastian shrugged. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’re an immortal. Of course you’re not worried about it,” she hissed at him, pleading with him to leave it behind. She recognized the look in his eyes. This was the look of a man who really, really wanted to go inside the wyvern cage and see what was in there. “I can smell magic here, and that’s not a good sign. Those things could be undead in there, for all I know.” She groaned under her breath. “Sebastian… look, I don’t know if my favors mean anything to you, but please, do me a favor and don’t make us go in there.”
“They’re d-e-a-d,” he assured her, sticking his hand through the bars. “If they were even the least bit alive, they’d have bitten my arm off by now. And look, I’m fine. Come on. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Not if they kill you, too!”
He stuck a leg through one of the mangled sections that was big enough to fit through.
“Feel free to go up by yourself. Meet Teneha and Ajax at the top. I’ll be there shortly.” With that, he climbed through the hole and vanished into the murky shadows of the cage, leaving her outside. Ellie glowered for a second, trying to decide if potentially getting torn to shreds by wyverns was a better or worse fate than getting up there to Ajax without Sebastian to protect her, before stomping her way down and stalking towards the cage.
Wyverns, nature’s bastard child. Like dragons, but smaller and with the intelligence of a cockroach. All that existed in their brains was the instinct to fight or fuck. It made them great war beasts, if you could somehow train one, but people figured out mightily quickly how bad of an idea it was to get near one. Every now and then, some idiot royalty would keep a few as pets in the same way they might keep an elephant or two, if an elephant or two could bite through solid steel and rip a cow apart in a quarter of a second.
Ellie cautiously approached the mangled hole, trying to see Sebastian but not being able to make him out. It jutted down almost instantly into a darkened cave that sank into the mountain. The king had already vanished his way into the abyss, in the darkness, thanks to his nifty dragon eyes being able to see in the dark. Since she was not the proud owner of nifty dragon eyes that were able to see in the dark, she had to go with plan B: making a light.
“Sebastian?” She squinted into the darkness. “Are you already dead? Please tell me you’re not dead.” She wiggled her fingers. “Garo alleraz.” The runes on her arms illuminated from nowhere, making her fingers glow like they were scarlet glowsticks. She carefully put one foot through the hole, fully prepared to retreat should she see anything move. Slowly, she put her weight on her front foot. So far, so good. She still had all her limbs, near as she could tell. “Sebastian? You down there?”
Out of the blackness came soaring the fanged head of a wyvern the size of her chest, causing her heart to shoot up to her throat. She made a pathetic little “eep” noise, jerked her foot away from the entrance, and stumbled backwards onto her butt as the bare skull of a wyvern clashed up against the bars. The bones clattered to the stone ground loudly.
“Come on in,” came Sebastian’s voice. “The water’s fine!”
“You threw a fucking skull at me!” Her voice was coming fast, and her fingers trembled with adrenaline and fear as she got to her feet. “What the hell, man?” She heard an infuriating little snicker from somewhere in the cavern.
“I told you, there’s nothing alive in here.”
Muttering under her breath, she eased her way through the hole and made her gradual descent into nothingness, using her hand as a light. She couldn’t help but grimace walking through the straw and debris that covered the ground, largely because of the wyvern skeletons scattered everywhere. When shit had hit the fan and everyone evacuated, they must not have been able to escape and theoretically starved to death. Rough way to go, but it was nothing like what was coming to Sebastian if he hurled another skull at her.
“Hey! I’m coming down, where are you?” He appeared out of the gloom, scaring the shit out of her again.
“Boo.” Once she figured out it was him, instincts kicked in, and she whacked him on the shoulder with her hand.
“Stop doing that!” Ellie shrunk back instantly, realizing that she’d just walloped the king of the dragons. For a justified reason, probably, but still. She took a step backwards, away from him, before she saw him laugh and rub his shoulder good heartedly.
“Ouch,” he said sarcastically.
“Don’t ‘ouch’ me,” she grumbled, glad he was taking it this way instead of trying to murder her, like his dear old dad had had a habit of doing to anyone who opposed him. “All right, well, we’re in your early tomb of death. You happy now?”
“Nope.” He pointed down. “This leads somewhere, and I want to know what’s on the other side.” With that, he turned and started walking down the precious decline.
7
As it turned out, the enclosure did lead to something: a smaller bit of the same thick steel bar that kept them from going any further. Based on the complicated crane-looking apparatus attached to it, Ellie’s first guess what that she was looking at the feeding station for the wyverns. The wall was there so that people could see the wyverns without getting mauled to death, theoretically. Behind it, the cavern significantly shrunk down, and someone had carved stairs into the stone to wherever the human sized passage led.
“Dead end,” Ellie sighed, happy that they weren’t getting any deeper in the deserted graveyard but also unhappy that they were going to have to be hiking back up to the hole where they could get out.
“Not necessarily,” Sebastian replied, only irritating her for a moment before she realized that his chest had started to glow with a deep, burning orange. The glow spread out through his trunk and down into his arms as an intense heat emanated off his body. She took a few steps back, not entirely sure what he was doing and unwilling to get toasted because of it. To complete his act, he opened his mouth and exhaled flames that lapped around some of the bars. For a few seconds, nothing happened other than Ellie watching Sebastian breathe fire like it was no big deal. The metal got hotter and hotter the more he blew on it, until finally, he clasped his mouth shut, extinguishing the flame, and grabbed the white-hot bars with his hands. Then he gave them a clean jerk that ripped the weakened bars off. He turned to face her with a cocky smirk as the glow died off and he released a single smoke-filled cough.
Ellie stared in amazement. Determined not to show how impressive that wa
s, she acted unimpressed. “I pity any girl you kiss. Melt her face off, poor thing.”
“Ha-ha.” He casually stepped through the hole, not worrying about the still incredibly hot metal he might slip on and touch. Ellie made a cautious advance. He must have seen the concern in her eyes, because his gaze softened, and he extended a hand. “Here. Just don’t slip.”
“That’s the plan,” she muttered, taking his hand and carefully slinking her way through the hot metal. Right there, two or three inches away from her skin, was steel so hot, it could melt through her skin before she’d even realize she was burned.
And then she slipped. Her foot caught on a bone that skittered out from under her right as she straddled the entrance. She let out a frightened yelp, trying to catch her balance but completely failing. She flew towards the hot metal, already imagining it searing her flesh, before he grabbed her and pulled her straight through the hole, unscathed.
“Yikes!” she yelped, looking back in horror at what might very well have been a few instant third-degree burns. She whirled her head around to see Sebastian, who, by the way he’d pulled her, had brought her right up against his chest, one hand holding hers and the other resting around the mid of her back. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the fear. Maybe it was something else entirely, but seemingly based on pure instinct, he kissed her.
She stiffened in surprise but instantly returned his kiss, getting up on her tiptoes and feeling the entirety of his warm dragon might around her. They kissed for several seconds, sharing one long, passionate kiss before their lips parted and they met eyes, alive and vibrant, both breathless, the hormones flying through her wildly.
“You saved me,” Ellie murmured, still tasting his lips upon hers. Her hand rested on his chest, feeling his muscles tighten and loosen. He was as excited by the moment as she was, based off his heart rate. She found herself at a loss for words. “I-I don’t know how to, um—”
He gave her a sly smile. “Didn’t even melt you, huh.”
She looked down. “Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe you should try again and see what happens.”
Sebastian pulled her in tighter, gently but with strength in his directness, bringing his lips to hers again. It was an electric sensation, not only from the kiss itself but from the remnants of the heat on his skin and his hot lips. It was like kissing a car battery: electric, dangerous, and titillating.
His hands passionately grabbed her almost possessively during the kiss as her heart pounded faster and faster. She eagerly gave in to him, and he let out a hot exhale on her neck, taking her in and showing her the true power and domination of an alpha dragon. He brushed a long strand of her hair out of her face with a wild sort of desire in his electrical golden eyes before almost roughly grasping her hips and pushing her up against the cold stone wall of the cave. The only source of light in the came from the slight glow of the heat in his chest and the soft glow of her runes, creating a mysterious, surreal environment, a world where they were the only inhabitants and the only thing that mattered was the other.
Taken aback by the lust in his movements, Ellie ran her hand down his chest from where it had stayed, along the indents of his abs, and down to his groin, where he tensed up in anticipation. She paused there, close enough to torture him and yet close enough to make him beg for her touch. He leaned into her and kissed her once more, like an animal possessed by desire, unable to control himself with the sole thought of her body on his mind. Grinding, stroking, loving, teasing, they created a beautiful dance in the surreal darkness, with only the occasional flash of teeth and the exhaled gasp in the fiery red light from her runes. Slowly, with increasing need, they stripped each other, tossing clothes thoughtlessly away as they explored each other more and more until she found herself pressed against the wall, naked, facing him as he leaned over her and ran his fingers over her jawline lovingly, one arm propping him up against the wall behind her, his body exposed to her.
No longer able to wait, her hands found his shaft and relished watching him bit down on his lower lip as her skin touched him. She guided him into her, and she couldn’t help letting out a moan that instantly caused him to tense at hearing her pleasure. As he filled her, he kissed her and met her eyes. Time froze while he slid deeper, forcing her to moan softly and straighten, but seeing him, watching his eyes as he entered her, took her breath away as much as the actual penetration did. She felt his back clench up under her fingernails as he bared his fangs in a cocky smile and thrust into her, sliding slowly at first and picking up speed, gasping, his breath hot from the fire inside his chest.
She clung to him while he continued to drive deeper and deeper into her, his full carnal instincts taking over. It was primal, dirty, and raw, and that was what made it so perfect. Each thrust brought her closer to climax, creating a dam of pleasure that built up with every growing second until finally, he brought her to a shuddering orgasm. Moments later, he spilled his seed into her, letting out a guttural growl.
Ellie, quivering and overcome with waves of euphoria, shrunk to the floor with her hands rubbing the inside of her thighs, twisting with pleasure. She met the gaze of her dragon companion. They just stared at each other, and after a moment, he smiled at her.
“That was amazing,” he said as he extended her hand to help her up.
Ellie, in awe, watched him go to his clothes and slowly start dressing. Lean but strong, he looked like a bull, from his broad back to his defined legs. He’d worked up the start of a sweat, making his body slightly slick, which caught the strange light source and showcased his physique impressively. She kept stealing little glances, memorizing him while they both put their clothes back on.
She wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened, or how they’d gotten there, but deep down, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she didn’t regret it.
Ellie and Sebastian, now fully clothed and eager to continue their journey, continued their descent down the cave.
Her heart pounded with the still very present adrenaline. What the hell had that been about? She’d had crushes on guys before in the past, guys that weren’t any good for her, but they hadn’t been like this. Donny, the bad boy biker that she’d fallen head over heels for back in high school, had just been too rebellious. But this was something different. The worst thing that could happen if she dated Donny the bad boy biker was that he might get a minivan and lose his coolness. Sebastian, meanwhile, was a full-fledged dragon, and she was a witch—two species that had fought each other since the dawn of time. The only reason she’d even met him was because he’d kidnapped her. The possible negatives of a dragon-witch fight would be a lot more serious than getting a minivan.
She walked down the stairs using the light from her magic to guide her way, with Sebastian behind her. Her mind flew a million miles an hour. On one level, he was wrong for her in every possible way. On the other hand, there was something incredibly primal about her attraction to him. An undeniable yearning to be near him and get to know him better was all consuming. Small flashes of their tryst kept playing over and over in her mind, and she felt herself tingling from just the thought of him touching her again.
She didn’t know what, precisely, might happen, and she couldn’t explain why she felt such a strong connection to him, but her gut was rarely wrong.
Was this Stockholm Syndrome? She’d heard something about that before, and like a bird flying into a windshield at sixty miles an hour, the thought came crashing into her mind when she least expected it. Though by no means a psychology expert, she’d heard the term tossed around, and she was fairly sure that it was when the victim of a kidnapping ended up falling in love, or empathizing, or whatever, with the kidnapper, despite the fact that any rational person looking from the outside would say, “No, that’s so crazy.”
She hesitated. This fit a lot of boxes for her—a concerningly large amount of boxes.
She’d been kidnapped by someone who she was now falling for.
She shook her head to clear he
r mind. That couldn’t be it… Right? No. No, she’d know if that was happening, and she wasn’t truly a kidnapping victim. Sure, she’d been kidnapped, but only to make a deal. If she’d wanted to, she could have gone straight through to court. Nobody was keeping her there. Although there had been some unusual circumstances behind their meeting, the reason she was with Sebastian right then was not because of the kidnapping… mostly. Truth was, she didn’t have time to be thinking about any of this crap right then, because she had to be focused. On top of her game. This was a dangerous, unpredictable island full of who knew what. Something had scared away everyone that had lived there. She could walk around any corner and come face to face with it, right here in this tiny, cramped, black hallway with no way out. For all she knew, in the next ten feet, there could be any kind of horrible thing that might spring out and attack her.
And then, she turned a corner and came face to face with a human skeleton.
She shrieked, scrambling backwards and spitting the first spell that came to mind, a spell that literally meant “away.” A force field exploded from her fingertips, catching the skeleton straight in the chest, shattering a number of the bones and sending the others flying.
Sebastian, not expecting her hasty retreat, caught her awkwardly, catching an elbow to the gut. He let out a quiet, surprised grunt. “Ellie, it’s just a skeleton!”