Dragon's Claim

Chapter 2

The morning came to her as a haunting ache. Despair clawing at her heart as she had forgotten that she had already found a way out. Even before her eyes could open, she saw the world, the thunderous blues of the skies, glaring greens of the surrounding vegetation, all dared her to take on another day.

Delirium plagued, the previous night left behind, she blindly reached around her to grip onto something, anything which would end this lucid nightmare she was having. 

Sharp tipped rocks extended out their hands and even though they left marks in exchange for the aid that they provided, Catriona was grateful. In that moment, they had anchored her to reality and the events from the previous night came rushing back  and along with came incredulity. 

She shot to her feet, almost slipping in slimy foliage, grabbing the trunk of the thick redwood tree which had acted as a refuge for her the night before, she took a look to where she had last seen the thunder of dragons and found… nothing.

Breath abandoned her, and she felt as it she were being sucked into a wormhole where all hope was lost. She couldn't believe that she had hallucinated the entirety of last night. Feeling like she was about to go under, she stumbled before settling down on a boulder. Wretched sobs heaved though her body, but no tears escaped, having being run out of them long before.

A millennium must have passed as the whole island spun on its axis, when out of nowhere a hand clasped her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” A voice called out to her, shocking her, so sudden it was. Gasping, she whipped around and came face to face or rather face to chest with a dragon. At any other time, her mind would have immediately focused on what a glorious chest it was, rippling with muscles but right now, she was too overwhelmed for that. 

At a loss for words, she suddenly felt embarrassed of being caught while she was in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Also, the fact that the said dragon was looking at her cautiously, reinforced her embarrassment. He looked almost ready to run, with his head tilted a little away from her.

She stuttered out a nervous reply, “Yeah, I am fine.” Pursing her lips, she folded her arms across her chest as he just gave a stiff nod in reply. Turning away from her, he hurried off to join the rest of the group as they engaged in what seemed like… fire breathing?

Could they be more dragon-like? She thought, unable to find a better word to explain their behavior. She felt like rolling her eyes as they chased each other around, their actions astoundingly childish, making her wonder how old they were. The leader seemed no older than… well, she couldn't really tell, having slept though all of her classes on the life cycle of other extraordeans. But she assumed that he would be the oldest of them all. 

Or not? 

God! She couldn't believe that she had wasted about 18 years of her life doing nothing! Learning nothing! How she had survived this long all by herself had to one of the greatest mysteries of all time, something that would be studied for centuries to come. “The very short tale of a dopey nymph”, it would be called, she self immolated as she shook her head.

If she could just have s*x right now, all would be better! 

Wait, what?! NO! She shouldn't be thinking like that right now, even if the dragons had started to look like highly flammable snacks! She had to survive first, then s*x!

Yes! Feeling confident that she now had a plan, she decided to pick up her meager belongings, which consisted of a shawl and a bottle of water, and march down to the jocular group of seemingly young dragons. 

They stopped their play to spectate her as she wended her way around the curse-worthy foliage of the island. She wondered if they were amused by the show she was putting on. Feeling embarrassed, her face flushed with color, and she was starting to pant as she struggled to go around the last of the big boulders in her path. As she stood before the group of seven, she looked down, feeling their criticism-filled eyes on her. With tenacity, she had finally decided to look up and ask them about the timings of their departure, when the words died on her tongue.

Their lust-filled eyes, gave her whiplash. They all seemed to be in some kind of trance as glazed over eyes gazed down at her.

Suddenly, a vision appeared before her eyes. It depicted her on her knees, naked, as she serviced them all at once. Feeling her head snapping back on her neck, she came back to reality, almost sure that she needed to get checked for a concussion. Clearing her throat, she tried to dislodge those images from her mind, but they hung on firm, although it did make the dragons snap back to the present. They looked away trying to hide the fact that they hadn't just been looking at her with rapacity dripping from their eyes.   

“When are we leaving?”, She asked, ignoring the surrounding awkwardness.

“We would leave as soon as you tell us how and why you are stranded here.” It was the leader who said that, the one with those dreamy gun-metal eyes and assholey attitude. 

Couldn't they just have been dumb and ignorant? Of course, such luxuries her luck couldn't afford. She thought, seriously denying the urge to poke someone in the eye.

She had to think of something, and fast! It was not like she could announce to them about the amazing dark nymphae genes. Something told her it wouldn't be much appreciated. She realized that she didn't care much for the leader anymore, he was a huge pesky pest who had lost the potential of being her lover. 

Lover. Lover!

That's it! 

“My lover abandoned me here!” She declared with a grin people usually reserve for graduation parties and marriage ceremonies.  

The crickets chirped as they applauded her ridiculosity while the dragons could only gather expressions of bemusement and incredulity.

“And that must be amazing?” Asked the leader sarcastically, who hadn't yet bothered to tell her his name.

“No… it isn't.” She said, her mood turning solemn, almost dramatically. Turning her face away, she pretended to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.

The sudden shift in atmosphere was palpable. At once, discomfort graced the features of the troupe. It was quite obvious that they hadn't been able to gather much expertise in comforting women in all their years.

“I loved him with all my heart, but, clearly, that wasn't enough… I wasn't enough!” She wailed unexpectedly, and was tempted to pat herself on the back for her award-winning performance. Falling down on the ground, she wept as she looked down, covering her face with her hands, her little body shaking.

Her behavior, it seemed, had been successful in unnerving them as they backtracked quickly.

“Okay! We get that! Can you please stop crying? We will help you get home.” The leader uttered those words with perturbation clear in his voice.

Slowly raising her face to look up at him, she gave him a grateful smile.

“Where do you need to go?” He inquired.

She just said one word as a reply to him, not knowing that going forth, she would remember this day with nostalgia, remember it as the day which had completely changed her life.

She didn't know that at the other end of the world, someone was waiting for her, desperate for respite that only she could provide.

“Mysteria.”