Dragon's Claim

Chapter 3

Ever since Catriona first greeted the world, she had been told, time and time again, to resist temptation. Not only her immediate family, but strangers too, had warned her about the dangers of falling into temptation, of giving into it. They would tell her that it was she who was supposed to do the tempting. After all, the very nature of the nymph-kind was to be seductive. They would remind her that she had to be in control, always; tell her that letting go was dangerous. She never quite understood why. But she was about to.

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Whenever Catriona thought about freedom, she imagined herself in a small cottage, doing what she loved. She imagined being safe, no longer plagued by the demons which currently controlled her life, and she imagined not being crucified for something she had no power over.

That was what freedom was for her.

That freedom was her dream. And she wished she could live long enough to see it come true.

What she never imagined when thinking about freedom was the sky and the wind. But it only took her five minutes to make an association between the skies, the wind that swept her hair around, and the freedom that she so craved.

When the leader had asked one of the other dragons, named Lucas, to have Catriona ride on his back, she had appreciated the humorous sentiment, even with the fact how cringe-worthy of an attempt it had been.

Only later, when he had looked on unamused as she had laughed out of courtesy, had she realized that hilarity was the last thing on his mind.

There wasn't any time to express how scandalized she was at the prospect, since the troop wanted to 'get cracking' as one of the members had put it.

As petrified as she had been, she had ultimately realized that she didn't exactly have an abundance of choices. Lucas, however, had been apathetic.

Getting on his back was an event best forgotten as far as her dignity was concerned. She was certain that at least three of them had a good look under her pitiful excuse of a dress while she was trying to climb up on the huge fire-breathing creature's back. All during which her exhibitionistic side was grappling with whatever leftover integrity she had.

But all had been forgotten as she had taken her first flight. It had been but just a taste, but she had been hooked; she knew that she would want this for the rest of her life, even if she never got to experience it again.

They were currently over the eastern part of the Surenian ocean, having taken off about fifteen minutes ago and at the speed at which they were flying, they should reach the Surenian portal, at the edge of the Surenian ocean, in about another hour.

It was through the portal that she had come to the unknown island, days ago, completely assured that she would be able to live there on her own using some primitive skills. Only later had she realized that she didn't have any of those skills, and by then it had been too late. No more boats or ships were docking at the island's edge any more, the causes of which were unknown to her, and she was unsure if any would arrive any time soon.

She had started to wonder if she was going to die there as the island had been anything but welcoming, even the boat driver had looked at her weirdly when she had requested to be dropped off at an island they were just passing by to reach a more established one. But she had wanted to be far away from any sort of civilization, fearing that there were more chances of being caught and captured in a place like that. And in trying to be far away, she had gotten herself marooned on an island where no one would find her even if she wanted them to.

When the driver did drop her off in the midst of a lot of subtle protests on his side, she had been feeling very confident, and extremely proud of her quick and efficient thinking. Suffice to say that that didn't last long.

The disillusionment, though quick, was neither smooth nor deliberate. She had tried, at first, to get by, but she had been unbelievably naive; she was someone who was used to all the mollycoddling, and it was impossible for her to last in such a harsh climate. Looking back, she couldn't believe she had actually chosen to go ahead with such a terrible plan.

She had forgotten that she wasn't strong, never had been.

The thought made her wince.

'But I would be now. I would learn to be strong.' She decided, her demeanour resolute.

Closing her eyes, she breathed in the ocean, feeling the dragon's squamous flesh against the soft skin of her naked thighs. Embarrassingly enough, she could also feel him against her core, since she wasn't wearing any underwear.

'Can he feel me as well?' She thought, her cheeks painted scarlet, with a very noticeable cringe, not that anybody was focusing on her at the moment.

It's fine though. It's not as if I will be meeting any of these people again.' She continued her train of thought as she resisted the urge to grind against him. Yes, she could be that shameless.

'Man! I am almost ready to jump to my death! Why am I like this? My survival is under threat, and here I can only think about relieving myself?' She thought as she bent forward so that that part of her wouldn't be in direct contact with her ride.

Resting her head down, she let her mind wander, but prohibited it from thinking anything s****l. The other place her mind went to was her home, or at least what had been her home. She reminisced about some fond childhood memories and couldn't believe that those had actually happened.

A few tears escaped her eyes as she remembered how her mother used to chase her and her siblings around the village, trying to get them to eat something, how her father would settle her on his shoulders, walking around, showing them the village's festivities during the Golden Moon, how she would bicker and fight with her annoying siblings. It was all gone now, and she could never have any of that back.

The realization had occurred days ago, but still struck her lightening, jolting her entire body, which at that moment wasn't a good thing at all as it caused her to lurch to the side, slip, and fall directly into the massive water body below.

The fall was a slow one. She could see the clear skies, the varied coloured forms of the dragons getting smaller by the second, the wind rustling against her body, whipping her hair around like crazy. The impact, though, was fast and harsh, slapping against her with the force of a boulder, so much so that she felt her soul leave her body for a second and levitate above her.

Then there was darkness, and breathlessness, and madness. She didn't even know how to swim, for god's sake! What did she know, anyway? Her body was paralysed, such that she couldn't even flail around, just drowned without a hint of distress. Closing her eyes, she let the water take her, could feel it when it accepted her as she was, it didn't care that she was a dark nymph, it didn't judge, and it didn't mock her when she was on her deathbed, unlike certain others. It hurt and relieved her of the pain at the same time.

The only thing was that it didn't last long, as she suddenly felt a wall against her back, a wall that seemed to be moving as it took her with it. In a few moments she was out of the water, coughing and sputtering, trying to get the water out of her lungs.

She turned over, getting on all fours as her body trembled due to the pain and the cold. It was then that she realized that it wasn't a moving wall after all, which was a stupid thought to begin with, but one of the dragons, the leader to be exact, whom she could recognize by his rather distinguished steely grey scales.

He was unusually still, floating on the surface as she tried to gather her bearings. The rest of the dragons were, too, flying nearby. All of it made her wonder if they were censuring her, discerning how helpless she was. The thought made her want to curl up and cry. With great effort, she reined in the welling tears.

'Are you okay?' A voice asked, and it seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at once, scaring her in a way that almost made her fall over again.

"What was that?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

There was no answer, but the dragon below her did puff out a fiery breath, as if annoyed, making her feel even smaller in her skin. She didn't want to annoy them, they were the only ones who could help her right now, so she just settled down, ready to fly again.

The others, perhaps sensing her readiness, started for the destination once more, the great movements of their enormous wings almost creating a wind storm.

The one beneath her, too, started to rise, but his movements seemed much more gentle, as if he was afraid she would be startled and fall over again, but she held on with dear life.

'They might not rescue me again if I were to plunge myself into the water once more'. She thought to herself.

Taking to the skies, he flew like a massive wave, his movements surprisingly agile and smooth. She had thought that she would freeze once they were up in the air, as now her clothes were dripping with water, but his long neck was bent a little upward, making it so that no cold harsh winds reached her. She felt as though she was in a comfortable cocoon, and suddenly she felt exhausted. Failing to stop her eyes from closing, her body from relaxing, which was a terrible idea as she had just fallen into the water because she hadn't been careful.

'I never learn', was the last thought on her mind before she lost herself to the sweet relief of sleep.

But she didn't fall again, as this dragon didn't let her. However, once she woke up, she wished she had fallen in and had never been found. Once she woke, she understood what true fear meant.

Once she woke up, she remembered.