Dragon's Claim

Chapter 5

The entire troupe was there, awaiting her as they made their way to them. The dragon accompanying her left her side to lean against a tree at some distance.

All their eyes told her that, somehow, they had expected their last interaction to be far from their last.

'How can I be this obvious?' Catriona wondered glumly. The leader was perched on a boulder, his shoulders sagging as he rested his forearms on his thighs. He stared at her unblinkingly. His gaze pierced through her mind.

Inhaling a shuddering breath, she looked away, unable to meet their eyes after the humiliating way her supposed family had treated her. They had seen it all, of course, with the supernatural vision they possessed.

"Do you have anywhere else to go? An unorthodox extended family, perhaps?" One of the dragons asked, his voice soft, cautious, as if a wrong whisper would send her running and the manner in which her body was strung up, she just might, she realized. Not that it would do her any favours as she forewent replying.

Self-preservation reigned supreme and claimed that she was safest here than she was anywhere else. Maybe it was because the dragons had prevented her death by drowning, and later death by derision, that she was a little more comfortable around them than what a one-day acquaintance would necessitate.

She had wondered if this was just some sort of a ploy. If it was, she couldn't fathom their motives for tricking her; there was nothing they could possibly gain from her. Not even pleasures of the flesh. She wasn't sure if they knew what being a dark nymph entailed, but s*x was out of the window if they had anything at all to go by.

Unsure how to reply, she gave a barely-there nod. Scoffing, the leader jumped down from his self-designated throne and took a step in her direction, crossing his arms across his chest. "You are an abyssmal liar, are you aware?" He asked, his voice, contrary to everyone else's demeanor, was highly condescending.

The advancement in her direction made Catriona take a step back as she played her part in that terrible dance of theirs.

Narrowing his eyes at her skittish behaviour, he stopped, uncrossing his arms and putting his hands in his jeans pockets instead.

Sighing in defeat, he said, "Clearly, you do not have the favor of the nymph-kind for reasons unknown to us. We have saved your life. It has incurred a debt. When we stopped you from drowning, we took on the responsibility of being your protectors, and we can not let you be harmed now." His voice was pained as he said this, as if he had no choice in the matter and safe to say that Catriona was bewildered by his proclaimations.

"Draconic traditions." One of the seven muttered at her convoluted expression.

"You are claiming to be my protectors? I do not even know your name! And fates haven't exactly been kind to me all these years, so excuse me if I find it hard to believe that they would just award me 7 dragonborn protectors!" She yelled, incensed.

All of them were definitely taken aback by her sudden outburst. How she could go from being a kitten to roaring like a lion was confounding.

"I thought this well a well-established fact? Do people not know of this characteristic of the drangonborn?" One of the seven asked the other members of his troupe. "Also, I am James. Apologies for the delayed introduction." He said primly, addressing Catriona, and bowing while he was at it. He was good-looking, as were all of them, if not for the abhorrent cowlick crowning his forehead, she noted.

"I might have missed a few classes when we were being taught about the dragon-kind." Catriona replied sheepishly, as the rest were quite obviously unable to grasp the reason Catriona was so uninformed.

"Be that as it may, the fact doesn't change. It is an instinct that cannot be denied. For as long as you are in proximity, we cannot help but protect you as saving you from certain death has initiated a bond from our end. The dragon in us considers you kin." The leader, name unknown, explained.

"And while we are on the subject of introductions, the name is Vincent." He stated rather abruptly as everyone had gone silent, deliberating about his explanation.

After a bit of blubbering at his abrupt introduction, Catriona mumbled uncertainly. "Good to meet you?"

"Yes, I would imagine so, since we have saved your life thrice now." He replied haughtily, causing her to blink up at him blankly as the other dragons looked away awkwardly.

"I am very grateful." She replied without intonation, as she nodded up at him convincingly. He just hummed in response, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Do you have anywhere else you can go? Any extended family that is not keen on eradicating your existence from this planet?" He asked thoughtfully as she realized the question had been raised already by one of the rest.

"We wouldn't mind taking you there." He further added, the rest of the troupe nodding in agreement.

When she looked on blankly at them, not saying anything, they understood.

"Nowhere to go then? Fantastic. I would't bet on you surviving on your own after witnessing all that I have since we met you." He stated, unamused.

"We could take her with us?" One of them said, looking at her nervously as if expecting her to vehemently refuse the prospect entirely without giving it due consideration. Catriona, however, wasn't sure what to think. There weren't very many solutions to her problem, and for some reason, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Maybe this was the window people talked about opening when the door closed? Was this her way out of a terrible situation? She wasn't sure, she wasn't entirely averse to the idea, however.

All of them were looking at her now, gauging her reaction. She looked back blankly at them, working hard to ensure that her expression didn't give her away. She didn't want to look too hopeful now lest her only hope be snatched away by the unknown force that had been doing all the snatching lately.

Inhaling for patience, Vincent bit out a pained, "Well?"

"You have to tell me where you are going first." She stated calmly, making Vincent whip his head around to glare at the other dragonborn present, as if it was just their fault for not informing her about her prospective home.

"I want you to tell her all that she needs to know about Draseqa before I return," he ordered, and then abruptly took off into the forest. The rest of the troupe looked so out of place in that clearing and even more uncomfortable than she did. If she wasn't worried about her survival, she would have laughed, instead, she just looked at them expectantly.

"Right, err..." One of them mumbled as he concentrated on the grass while scratching the back of his head. He was the burliest of them all, now that Catriona thought about it. It was oddly endearing to see such a big guy get awkward in her presence.

Coming to his rescue, a rather arrogant-looking guy came forward slapping the big, burly man on his shoulder, a pompous smirk on his face. For a second, she wondered if she was in some Netflix drama because surely he belonged there.

"Domenico at your service, madame. And this here is my friend Sebastian. He is of no use if what you wish for is a conversation. Same goes for my friend Zayerr over there." He said as he smacked Sebastian's shoulder once more and pointed toward another dragon whom Catriona had noticed preferred to stay in the background. He was unusually alluring though, with some sort of supernatural aura around him; it was mystical even to a supernatural being like her.

"You already know Lucas and James," Domenico continued in an accent she couldn't place as James nodded at her and Lucas made a good-natured mock bow as they were mentioned.

"and last and definitely the least, we have Nicolas." He said, nodding toward a blond dragon who was playing with his blade, flipping it in the air and catching it over and over. It was the dragon who had just saved her from her supposed family and where Sebastian was the largest of the troupe, he was the smallest. Maybe the youngest too. She wasn't sure. He definitely seemed younger than the rest. She didn't doubt his lethality though, not for a second, especially after what she had witnessed just minutes ago.

Nicolas rolled his eyes at Domenico's words but otherwise stayed quiet, sheathing his blade and tilting his head as a form of acknowledgement. It was hard to remember their names at once, but Catriona figured she would have time to get familiar with them if she went with them and if she didn't, well, she didn't need to remember their names in that case.

"So....., if you decide to tag along, we will be taking you to Draseqa. That is the native dimension of the dragon-born, a sort of homeland if you will. I think it is a good place to call home, but then again, I am a dragon to our opinions might differ as to what we consider a good place." Domenico said, showing sensitivity that surprised her.

"But, I can definitely say that it is better than here as no one would try to kill you, at least not without incentive, but then again, you would have us to protect you even if you do land yourself in trouble." He continued, but his statement made her narrow her eyes.

"How do you know that the nymphae didn't have incentive to kill me?" Her question gave him a pause.

"Err, I think Vincent is better suited to answer his question." He replied, clearly uncomfortable, his arrogance and confidence nowhere to be found. Catriona realized that it was her who needed them and not the other way around, atleast if she didn't consider whatever supernatural commitment they had made to her by saving her life. His statement, however, had irked her, and she could help but ask what she had.

"She is not wrong, you know, we don't even know why her own kind wants to kill her. Wouldn't we be putting our kingdom at risk if we took her with us and she turned out to be an assassin or a spy or something?" Nicolas asked, condescending, as James gasped at what he had just said.

"That is not how you talk about a lady! Apologize at once!" James snapped at him, at which Nicolas again rolled his eyes, turning away to gaze at nothing.

"Forgive me my lady, this one here is yet to learn some manners." He apologized, bowing to her. He sniffed, his posture prim, reminding her of royalty, and she wondered if he was from a royal background.

Catriona said nothing as a reply to the statement Nicolas had made other than nod at James to acknowledge his unneeded apology. She could see, however, that Nicolas' question had stumped the other six members of the troupe.

Domenico was frowning as he said, "Maybe we should wait for Vincent before proceeding any further." Everyone murmered their agreement to his suggestion and went back to fidgeting. Well, at least a few of them did. Nicolas and Zayerr were eerily quiet and still.

Silence prevailed once more in Catriona's life. Once more, a decision had to be made that could change everything she knew.

It was like a coin flip deciding her destiny.