“Let go!” I struggle, trying to wrench myself away from whoever’s got me in his grip, but it’s useless. I may as well be trying to free myself from the Rock of Sacrifice. In fact, those chains had more give than the man at my back.
“And if I don’t?” His voice is taunting.
I rake my nails along his forearm.
He laughs. “That’s it?”
I fight harder, working to writhe out of his grasp. But it’s useless. I didn’t even draw blood when I scratched him.
“What was your plan, anyway?” He drags me backwards into the cave with no effort at all. “You realize no one ventures into these woods, not when the DragonKin have claimed these lands for themselves.”
“Then what areyoudoing here?” I turn my head to get a look at him, but all I see is golden skin and a sharp jawline. He’s huge, towering above me. I can’t even see his face, not when he isn’t looking down at me. “The dragons will kill you!”
“Plenty have tried.” He drags me to one of the dark chasms that mar the cavern floor, this one wide and yawning.
Fear has me trying to scrabble back, my now-bare feet pushing ineffectually against the stone. “What are you doing? Don’t! Please don’t!” I scream when he leaps into the darkness, me in his arms. I clench my eyes shut as my stomach drops, my throat raw as I scream again and wait for the impact.
It doesn’t come. Instead, I’m pulled upward, lofted by something unseen. Opening my eyes, I can’t see anything, but I’m not crushed into a thousand pieces on the cave floor. We turn and seem to glide through the air, wind pushing against my face as my legs dangle, my back still crushed against the man’s warm chest.
What is happening? Am I already dead?
A soft glow ahead catches my gaze, and I stare at it. Disbelief settles in my gut as we move toward it. We’re flying. Just like when I was in the dragon’s talons. But different, because this time a man has me in his clutches. I turn to the side and catch a glimpse of wings. My heart dips and stutters forward in its beat. This isn’t the dragon. This is something else. But what?
I hold my breath as we approach a flat area of cave, the width of it reminiscent of the Widow’s Tower. The man lands with soft footfalls, then gently puts me on my feet.
I spin, staring at the wings that are retracting to his back. Stepping away, I take him in—all of him. Shirtless, broad chest, golden skin—no, not just golden,scaly—bony protrusions on his shoulders, above his eyebrows, and along his arms. He’s heavily muscled, far more than any man I’ve ever seen. And when I meet his eyes, goose bumps rise along my skin. They’re greenwith flecks of gold. The left one has a scar cutting through it. The white line traces from his hairline, down through his golden eyebrow, and across his eyelid.
“What are you?” My voice is barely a whisper. I step back again and again, trying to get some distance between me and whatever monster stands before me.
“Mortal manners always take some getting used to.” He sighs and steps toward me, his gait easily overtaking mine.
“No!” I squeak when he grabs my elbow, his grip firm but not painfully so.
“Come.” He pulls me along beside him with ease. “Careful you don’t make a misstep.” He juts his chin toward the looming abyss that only hints at the darkness even farther below.
Ahead is a wide set of wooden double doors, torches on either side.
“What is this place?”
“Your home. This is the Bargain you struck.” He pushes through the doors as if they’re feathers, though they must weigh quite a bit given their size.
“No, I—” The words freeze on my tongue as I look around. “Wh-what is this?” We’ve entered a wide room with golden floors and walls of the dark gray cavern rock. A round stone hangs overhead sending out light that reaches even the farthest corners of the space. Windows line one of the walls, though all I can see out of them is sky and jagged mountains in the distance, the sun barely highlighting them in gloom.
“Welcome to the DragonKeep.” He continues pulling me along, past rich tapestries, paintings, and a roaring fire. A pair of stonedragons stand on either side of the fireplace, their eyes inlaid with red gems bigger than my head.
I’m too stunned to ask anything more. We’re in a castle built into a mountainside somewhere in Oblivion. I suppose I don’t need to know much more than that—and given the man’s demeanor, I won’t get more information easily.
We pass through another set of doors that leads into a wide hall. The golden floors shine with more light from the glowing orbs overhead. “This way to our chambers.” He leads me up a spiral stair and then onto a short landing before turning into another hallway. I follow dumbly, my bare feet quiet against the stone. A set of thick double doors ahead of us is inlaid with what has to be hundreds of priceless gems, all of them sparkling and coalescing into the shape of a grand golden dragon.
He pushes through the doors and leads me into a bedroom. It’s huge. Larger than the house I grew up in. Perhaps even larger than the Grand Chamber.
“Wait—” I try to dig in my heels. It doesn’t work.
He pulls me a few more steps then lets go, crossing his arms over his wide chest, his muscles bulging as he stares down at me with his inhuman eyes.
I take a deep breath and step away from him. “What is this?”
“I told you. This is our bedroom.” A muscle jumps along his sharp jawline, the golden scales flowing up his neck and ending just beneath it. The scales form something of a shawl across his shoulders, dissipating into golden skin lower on his chest.
