Damsel

Suddenly, the sun was blotted out and everything around me was dark. I looked up and you glowered down at me. I scrambled up and started to run. You followed me at an easy pace. But then, my feet pedaled uselessly at the air and I was being held in your claws. I screamed out of frustration and below, about three hundred feet from where you’d scooped me up, were Sir Kenneth, a few guards and my father. They looked up and took off running. “Help me!!!” I cried. But, no one looked back. I hung limply in your talons and crumpled onto the cave floor when you set me down. I heard a sound like a sword being unsheathed and you stood behind me in your human form. You looked furious. I lowered my head and waiting to feel claws or teeth ripping into my back. The pain never came. Curious, I raised my head and saw you sitting next to me looking defeated. I turned to face you and you looked up. Your voice was hoarse and you mumbled, “I hate this. I’m a coward. I feel like I can’t make any choices of my own. If it were up to me I would let you go. I’m so sorry.” I admired you for telling me this. I felt the same way as you. You studied me and then gently took my cloak bundle from my white knuckled hand. I shivered and realized my feet had lost all feeling and they had blisters on them. Could you read minds? I could only wonder as you tried to massage feeling back into my feet. Finally, I could wiggle my toes but I was extremely hungry. You got up and retrieved a glass bowl of raspberries, a plate of sweet meats, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of milk. You set them before me and the smell was intoxicating. You took a sweet meat and popped it into your mouth. I did the same. It reminded me of home.

Azulon
Liliana didn’t talk as she ate. She looked blissful as she finished off the meager meal I could provide. But, I couldn’t go into the kingdom and get human food as much as I would’ve liked because the dragons would be furious at me and the humans would start to get curious. I wished I wasn’t stuck between two worlds. Only a few other dragons could turn into humans and even fewer could at will. Liliana gazed up at me coolly. “You didn’t need to save me you know. My father and Sir Kenneth were about to find me.” I shook my head at her. I had seen the look of loathing on this Sir Kenneth’s face when she had called for help. “No they weren’t. Even if they did, you probably would’ve gotten a fever from all the open blisters on your feet. They can do that you know.” Her face turned pale but she didn’t look away. “Sir Kenneth loves me. He will come back and find me. My father will not rest until I am found either.” Her voice shook a bit as she spoke. “They won’t come back.” I whispered. Tears welled in her eyes and she got up. She glared at me and then she stormed off to her cave. My chest ached and I wished I hadn’t told her what I knew. I wanted things to be right between us so I strode over to the waterfall and climbed up into her cave. She sat in the middle looking frail and tired. I sat in the shadows. I could tell that she knew I was there but she didn’t move. She just stared up at the sky. We stayed that way for a while until she said, “You’re right. I know he doesn’t love me.” Her voice cracked at the end and tears ran down her cheeks. I got up and wrapped my arms around her. She cried even harder and I stroked her hair. Eventually, Liliana relaxed and her sobs turned into shaky sighs. I held her at arm’s length and she wiped her tears away and then I let her go. She sank to her knees and grabbed a book. She held it out to me and asked, “Is this book correct? Is it real information?” I took the book from her hand. I read the title: A Complete Guide to Dragons and Their Habitats. I remembered how I had acquired the book. My mother had still been alive. The man stood quivering in front of the Elders and my mother. I stood off to the side. “P-p-please. I was only trying t-trying to write a field guide. If y-y-you let me live, I will get the book published and us humans will have a better understanding of y-you beasts.” The dragons had all practically bristled at this. “That is exactly what we don’t want, for the humans to know all our secrets and things. You have crossed a line, human.” The man had whimpered and then had taken the book out of his pocket. The Elders and my mother were deliberating about what to do. The man had tip toed to me and had placed the book before me. Then, he had walked back to where he had previously been standing. At that moment, The Elders had turned around. My mother looked pained and her eyes were a dark murky brown. Draco had said, “You are too dangerous to be left to live. We will burn you alive. Do not worry it is a short way to die.” The man had screamed and then the Elders opened their mouths and incinerated him right before my eyes.
“Yes, Liliana most of this information is real. Though it may be a bit biased and unclear, it is real.” She nodded thoughtfully. I knelt on the ground next to her and I murmured, “Tell me about yourself.”

Liliana
I began, “I was born on a very special day. Or so my mother told me. She wasn’t of direct royal descent so, she had many beautiful stories to tell other than the dull tales of knights in shining armor my nursemaid told me. She has always said I was born on “Magique Eve”. She told me that it is the day when all magical and mythical creatures come out and reveal themselves to humans. Then, they dance the night away together although the next morning, hardly any humans remember. Sometimes special humans get blessed or get a mark of magic. Some may get cursed. She told me that a….. A dragon had given me my eyes.” I broke off. It was so strange that the child’s tale my mother had told me had to do with a dragon. It was too much of a coincidence. You swallowed hard but didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to start thinking about Sir Kenneth too much again though so I continued, “I always had dreams. Lovely dreams. Dreams of flying and looking down at the world below. My parents thought they were nightmares because when I woke, I would cry, sad the dreams had ended. My parents never made an effort to find out what was really going on though. I didn’t associate with children of my age in the castle. All of them were always too afraid to offend me to play for real. I grew up in a kind of solitude. The best friend that I had for the first maybe seven years of my life was my mother. But even then, she was always off doing whatever queens do. But, when I turned eight, my brother was four. He became my constant companion until I was fourteen and my father took him away from me to learn how to be a king. That’s when I started sneaking out of the castle. I liked to disguise myself as a peasant and spend my days in the market or sometimes, I just took off. When you found me, I had run away because of my father’s announcement of the wedding date. It was going to be the day after you took me.” I stopped. That was all there was to my life. It made me sad to think this was all I had to tell. You looked the same way. “Tell me about the day your brother left.” You whispered. I gazed up at the achingly blue sky for a moment and then whispered back, “We were going on a ride through the wilderness on the castle grounds. We had just stopped to eat by a small pond when a guard appeared. My brother, Stephen didn’t look afraid. I knew that something didn’t feel right though. I asked the guard what he was doing. Instead of telling me, he simply stepped forward and took my brother’s hand. Stephen looked ready to cry. I told him that everything would be alright and that I would see him tomorrow. The guard was rather rough with him as he hoisted Stephen onto his horse. As they rode off, Stephen turned around and waved at me. He was out of sight before I could wave back. The only times I ever saw Stephen after that, were at dinner. We sat on opposite ends of the table and never talked. His face became guarded except for his eyes, which always showed unexplainable hurt. He never ate as much as he’d used to and didn’t even talk to my father unless he was spoken to first. My father broke Stephen’s spirit and I think everyone knew it.” You had your head in your hands now. I wondered why it made you so sad to hear about my brother. I stared at you for a moment but you quickly made yourself look calm and strong again. It seemed like you were trying to make me think that you weren’t afraid of anything, that you were scared to show your true emotions. Why?? Even my father broke down sometimes. How could you bottle up your emotions like that? I could only wonder as you quietly stood up and left.