“No sense in delaying any further.”
“Caw.”
“Just once, I wish you said something helpful. And if you could, just once, now is the time.”
“Caw,” the raven responded.
Einin shook her head and began rebraiding her hair, her locks loosened from her mad dash through the woods and then by sleep. After she finished, she straightened her clothes. Then she started out on her path, 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 dragon’s price,” she muttered under her breath, and this time, the raven didn’t answer. The bird had disappeared again. Einin rubbed her arms against the chill. “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 around. And what about the children? Einin would not see them burn in dragon fire. She kept her eyes on the darkening path and marched forward and up the hill.
She tried not to think of the very strong likelihood 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.
It had to be near the middle of the night by the time she reached the end of the faint trail. Then 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, it didn’t call out.
Einin’s feet wouldn’t move forward. The urge to flee washed over her, 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 beast was as frightening as Einin remembered. More so, even. The moon was full, and for the first time, Einin could fully see him. The inside of the cave had been dim.
His blue-black scales glinted in the moonlight, as did his curved fangs. He appeared rounder. Must have fed since. Einin shuddered at the thought. He’d feed once again before the night was over. She shuddered again, unable to stop herself.
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 stark, his obsidian eyes fixed on her, his attention holding 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 before the cave and reached inside her to surround her trembling heart.
A long moment passed before she could gather 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 provided her with some small consolation on the eve of her death. 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.
She wasn’t brave long, however. The dragon’s lips curled back, and she blanched. A smile was a fearsome sight on a full-grown dragon. For certain, she would have happily gone her whole life without seeing such a smile. She hadn’t realized he had quite that many wicked teeth.
She could barely squeeze out the words, “May I have a last wish?”
The beast stared at her with a speculative gleam in those all-seeing eyes. “What would you wish for, Einin of Downwood?”
“That you make it quick.”
“Such I cannot promise.” His lips curled back once again.
Ack, those teeth! Another shudder ran through her. In fact, once she started, she couldn’t stop shivering.
He looked up at the full moon that slipped under clouds as gauzy as a funeral shroud.
“Wait here.” And with that, he pulled back into his cave, disappearing into the shadows.
Cowardice pushed Einin to run. Honor made her stay. She squared her shoulders and prepared herself for the imminent bloody violence.
I chose this.
Not the stake and fire in the village.
Not the slow starvation in the hills.
I chose.
