A Love Written In Fire
1134 Words
Chapter 6 – A Love Written in Fire
(Fred's POV)
I watched Drake remain motionless, his intense stare locked on me as if I had uncovered something that was secret to me. The entirety of him tensed, the muscles beneath his black scales tensing as he took inch by inch steps towards me. He wasn't roaring, he wasn't throwing fire or breaking things.
For the first time, he wasn't saying anything.
His golden eyes flashed into mine, not with anger, but with something more—something unreadable.
I swallowed, but there was no fear in me. There was, rather, a puzzled feeling of thrill, as though I were experiencing a dream being shown to me.
"You. sang the song of dragons," Drake said finally, his voice gentler than I had ever heard it before.
I nodded slowly. "Yes."
He did not answer, waiting, needing answers unspoken.
I took a deep breath. This was my moment. I had never told anyone this—no one would have understood. But here, in front of a dragon, I had nothing to hide.
"I've always been a dragon fan."
Drake's eyes slit a little, but he didn't interrupt me. So I continued, allowing myself to pour out the truth I had kept inside for so long.
"Since I was a kid, I have had a dragon fixation. Other kids wasted their days fantasizing about being knights, about killing monsters and rescuing princesses. Not me."
I smiled as I remembered it, allowing myself to be transported back.
"Whereas they dreamed of wielding swords, I dreamed of placing hands upon a dragon's scales. Whereas they read of warriors fighting monsters in books, I read of the glory of your kind—the power, the majesty, the loneliness."
Drake's gaze faltered, but I went on.
"I never imagined dragons were things to be feared. I thought of them as things… missing. Things gone from the world, and I wanted to find them. To learn about them. To be with them."
I stepped forward, closing some of the distance between us.
"Do you have any idea how many times I wished—prayed—that I might ever meet a real dragon? That I might run my hands along invulnerable scales, hold heat from fire without the fear of being burned?"
I allowed a small, gulpy laugh to escape.
"When I heard tales about your kind disappearing, I felt. hollow. Like something precious was slipping away from the world, and other folks didn't even care.".
I looked up at Drake, my heart racing in my chest.
"So when you rescued me, I wasn't frightened. I was exhilarated. Because you—Drake—are what I've been waiting my entire life for."
There was a silence between us, then, thick and oppressive.
Drake said nothing. He did not move.
He simply looked.
And something strange happened.
He exhaled, a slow, measured breath, and his shoulders—his enormous, massive shoulders—released.
Never had he screamed. Never had he raged or thrashed maniacally with anger.
He was calm.
And that frightened me more than his flames ever could.
Drake was listening.
He'd heard everything I'd said.
And for the first time, I wondered if—possibly—maybe—he wasn't regarding me as a human prince any longer.
Maybe he was actually observing me.
Drake said nothing.
I felt the weight of his gaze on me like an unseen pressure. The stillness between us hung there longer than I expected, long enough for uncertainty to start nibbling away at my thoughts.
Had I talked too much?
Had I erred in letting it all out?
I understood Drake was not human—his mind, his emotions, his very being different from mine. And yet I felt closer to him than anyone else ever previously.
He gazed at me, looked at me, golden eyes burning with fire. His face was neither angry nor gentle. It was something in the middle—a something lethal.
And then he began to speak.
"You. wished for me?"
His voice was deep and smooth, but there was an edge to it, like he couldn't quite believe the things I'd said.
I nodded, my gaze still locked on his. "Yes."
Drake breathed slowly in through his nose. His massive wings shifted, the air around him thick with warmth.
"You wanted to see a dragon." His eyes darkened. "But you didn't expect one to kidnap you, did you?"
A slow smile spread across my lips. "No," I admitted. "But I'm not afraid."
Drake's tail smacked against the stone floor of the lair. His claws curled, and for an instant, I thought he would strike—not in rage, but in something else.
Something I couldn't quite put my finger on.
I took a step closer.
His eyes grew wide, then slit-thin before his eyes grew wide once more. His body didn't move, but I could feel the waves of heat radiating from him.
"You are strange," he muttered, as if to himself.
I chuckled. "I've had that said about me before."
His jaw tightened, and for a brief instant, something flashed over his face—hesitation.
I never saw him hesitate before.
Drake was a creature of power, of confidence, of strength. And yet, here he was, staring at me as if I were the first thing in centuries to catch him off guard.
"Why are you not afraid?" he asked at last, his voice gentler than before.
I considered his question seriously.
How could I explain to him that he was everything I had ever imagined? That where others saw dragons as beasts, I saw them as something more?
Instead, I raised my hand slowly—giving him time to hold me back if he chose—and touched out.
My fingers stroked the scales on his arm.
Heat. Strength. Power.
It was exactly as I had always dreamed.
Drake did not move, did not nudge me aside. His chest rose and fell with slow breaths, but I could tell he was staring at me, waiting.
"You're warm," I breathed.
His golden eyes flashed. "I am fire."
A thrill ran down my spine, but it was not fear. It was anticipation.
I pressed my palm against his scales, feeling the pulse of heat beneath my hand. "And yet, you haven't burned me."
His gaze cut through mine. "Not yet."
I smiled. "I don't think you ever will."
Drake expelled a deep breath, stepped back. "You do not know what you say."
But I did.
I knew exactly what I was saying.
I had dreamed of dragons my whole life.
And now, one of them stood in front of me.
Maybe he didn't get it yet.
Maybe he didn't believe me.
But I had time.
And I would reach him.
- Writer
