Mythos

Dragons

"What do you mean his?" I hiss at them. I look back at Othniel who eyes are elsewhere. "Huh?"

"It means you are mine, my woman!" Othniel sneered. I begin to laugh. Theres no way this is real! Theres no way this is true. I look around and no one seems to be laughing.

"No." I say in a serious tone.

"Athena." Kire says.

"No, no and no." I yell. "This is bullshit! You guys are lying to me!"

"I am sorry but we are not! The marking is there. You didnt feel the full force of the fire that burned within you, but it happened." Kire says.

"No, this cant be happening no!" i yell.

"Yeah i am not thrilled to be a part of a human." Othniel says.

"See i cant be his! No Old Mother do something about this! Get rid of it! Use one of those viles that you have!" I begin to panic.

"Believe me we have searched but we havent found an answer." Old Mother says.

"No i cant be his anything!" I yell.

"What's done is done. You will both have to finish the mating ritual." Old Mother says.

"The mating what?" I ask her.

Othniel gets up abrutly and storms out of the shack. Good ridance.

"Dont worry he'll be back." Kire says. "That mark wont let him stay away from you no matter what. That mark is very powerful. You will learn to love each other in time."

"No, i dont want to, cant he just take it back and give it to someone else?" I ask.

"It doesnt work like that, once we mark someone. Thats it. We find no one else to love in out life." Kire says.

"What?" I look at him.

"It's why we are no careful who we give that mark to, humans don't live long and are very fragile. He'll feel what you are feeling and will always find you no matter how far you go. And if you die his heart will be shattered. Love or not, he is a part of you now and since you consumed his fire, you are a part of him." Kire says.

"No, i can't." I begin to panic once again. Tears swelling up in my eyes. I don't want this! I just wanted to go home! Now i am definitely stuck with a dragon!

"We will leave you be, theres a lot that you had to take in." Old Mother says. I touch the mark and wince at the pain. "It'll stop hurting once you finish the mating ritual."

What the hell is the mating ritual?

"Othniel will explain it to you." Old Mother says. "Give him time, plus like Kire said, that mark wont let him stay too long away from you."

I sit back in bed feeling doom all around me. I am stuck, days have gone by. By now the search for me has probably stopped. I hate this so much.

Old Mother leaves followed by Kire. I then burst out crying. I cant believe this is all happening.

How could this happen to me? Why me? I had a f*****g life! I had a promotion coming my way after so much hard work! I was gonna get to start going on and enjoy life once again. Now i am stuck here in this under ground world. With half the population wanting me dead.

Those dragons drugged me and it lead me to getting marked by this damn ass hole dragon.

The doot slowly opens, i look up to see Fae poking her head in. When she seems me in tears she walks up to me and hugs me. She accidently touches the mark and i wince in pain.

"Sorry." Fae says. "You know i always thought Wyvern was going to be the one to mark you." Fae says trying to enlighten the mood.

"I never wanted any of this." I cry out. The door then opens again and Odette stands there, with an angry look.

"Odette!" Fae shrieks. My heart begins to pound, she looks pissed off.

"You took him from me!" Odette yells. Her fingers then turn into claws her eyes burning with rage.

"I never wanted this!" I yell back panicking. Odette runs towards me but stops in her tracks. Behind her stands Othniel who grabs Odette and shucks her to the other side of the room. He then stands in front of me.

Odette begins to cry as she see Othniel protecting me.

"You were supposed to mark me!" Odette cries out.

Othniel doesnt say anything, he looks away.

"Ill kill her!" Odette yells looking at me.

I try to get up and run, Othniel stands in front of me, I dont see whats going on between them, since Othniel is standing in front of me. I get on my knees ready to run away, incase of anything happening. I feel the tension in the air.

Odette then throws the glass cup agaisnt the wooden wall, it shatters everywhere. I hate myself for cowering, but she could easily kill me, with one swift movement.

"Get out of here." Othniel says softly, i barely heard him.

I look around Othniel and see Odette shaking her head as her eyes swell with tears. "No."

"Odette, please go." Othniel says again. Odette looks me in the eyes and hatred filled her eyes.

I cant see what is happening as Othniel stands in front of me, I dont see the emotions coming from either of them, but i can feel the tension so very deep in this room. I hear Odette as she cries. Where they together? Was she in love with him?

I never really understood anything about them. As i just didn't hang around them to find anything out.

I look over and try to take a peak at Odette, when she looks at me, her sadden eyes are instantly filled with hatred once again. Othniel then once again stands in front of me. I hear Odette begin to breath hard.

"Sooner or later, you wont be around and I'll kill her!" Odette yells.

"You know, if you hurt her. You'll be hurting me as well." Othniel says.

"Thats a risk i am willing to make." Odette yells and then storms out slamming the door. I sit on the bed staring at the door. Othniel then sits on the bed his head hung down.

"Where you guys together?" I ask him softly.

"What?" Othniel whispers.

"Was she your's to mark in the future?" I ask.

"No." Othniel says. "I always saw her as family, but she felt a different way."

"I am sorry." I say.

"Sorry won't fix any of this." Othniel says. "From the moment you arrived, everything has been ruined."

"Excuse me?" I yell.

"It's all of your fault." Othniel yells back.

"How? I didnt ask you to mark me! You shouldn't have fought Wyvern! This right here." I point to the mark. "Is your fault! I was drugged remember! By your kind!"

Othniel then gets up and storms out of the room. I sit on the bed angry. How could he get angry and then blame me for Odette being upset. The time i wanted to be here i didnt want to be nowhere near them! And then their little dragon group decides to drug me. Why didnt he let Wyvern take me?

I hate all of it.

I get up from the bed and i feel my head feel light, my the room spins around and everything begins to darken around the corner of my eyes. I try to clear it away but then i black out.

I open my eyes feeling groggy. I sit up and feel dizzy once again.

"Take it easy." I hear Kire's voice. I look and see Othniel, Kire and Fae are in the room. Fae then sits next to me and hands me a cup of tea.

"Here take this. It'll help with the dizziness." Fae says.

I take the small cup of tea, i look back up at Fae and smile thanking her.

"I think the mixture is still in your system. You need to rest more and wait until it comes out of you." Kire says.

Othniel stands in the cornor looking out the window. He seems angry, yet concerned.

"You can go now, i feel better." I say to Othniel. "Kire, i wanted to speak with you."

"About what?" Kire asks.

"I just wanted to ask a couple of questions, if you are available." I say.

Kire nods and then looks at Othniel. "She'll be safe with me, go make sure things are good."

Othniel leaves without no words. Fae smiles at me, and then she excuses herself, leaving me and Kire alone.

"So what is it that you need to talk about?" Kire asks.

"I wanted to know if you could speak to Old Mother about letting me go, i know humans did you wrong in the past. But things are different. Times have changed." I say. "I mean woman were also mistreated for the longest time. They still are."

"Old Mother wants to protect our people, as do i. We dont know what could happen." Kire says.

"But if you let me prove myself i could show you that you could trust me." I say.

"Even if i could trust you, its no longer an option." Kire says. "Not as long as you have that mark."

I look at the mark, i wince as i touch it.

"Othniel can feel what you feel, any type of pain that you have. And that mark will hurt and keep burning until you finish the mating ritual." Kire says,

"Whats the mating ritual?" I ask him. Kire looks a little uncomfortable. "What?"

"Its when you and him, uh become intimate." Kire says.

"Have s*x?" I yell. Kire raises his hands, his hands wide.

"Becareful, i told you Othniel can feel everything you feel." Kire says. "A dragon must always know if their woman is safe."

"I dont care about him. I want to get rid of this mark." I yell.

"There is no way, Athena. Once that mark is placed, there is no way to get rid of it." Kire says. I sit back and feel my life being ripped into pieces. I dont want this mark on me.

"I have a mark from the man that hates me, i didnt even do anything to them and they hate me so much." I say. "Why do they hate me so much?"

Kire looks down. He sighs and then sits on the floor, his back agaisnt the wall. I sit by the end of the bed looking at him as i sip my tea. Ha 'pour the tea' pops into my head from the movie Mulan. I do my best not to smile or even laugh.

"Before the humans began to hunt the dragons, we were able to turn into our mighty beast forms. We were able to shift and soar into the sky some of our dragons were bigger than cities. Our fire could burn for days. Until the humans decided they didnt want to be at the bottom of the food chain. They began to hunt us. Even learned what some of us looked like in our humans forms. Many humans died killing our kind, but they didnt give up. They had already killed many fairies and other creatures. They have always advanced their weapons, they never gave up. They took each defeat as a new way to improve themselves. Humans kept evolving more and more." Kire looks down. "We had a lot of enchanted trees. Until the humans destroyed them and burned them down. Old Mother was very young at the time, she has powers, and the enchanted tree chose her to lead many creatures into a safe space for us."

"How old is Old Mother?" I ask.

"Well over 2 thousand years old. The old Tree keeps her alive as long as it can." Kire says. "She found this cave after months of traveling, we were safe. Old Mother made sure no humans could ever find us."

Until i fell down, the first humans in a long time to touch this beautiful civilization. Many would kill just to be here.

"The dragons are angry because we cant change into our beast forms. It takes a lot of energy and fire, we could consume the entire place down here. Burn everything and everyone." Kire says. "They want to be able to fly around the world, but they cant. They can't soar throght the night sky, see the stars, not any more.'

"You also havent seen the stars?" I ask him.

"I have a long time ago. I am not as old as Old Mother, i was just a young child. I had recently lost my father. My mother made sure to protect everyone while we were in search for safety. You need to forgive them as well, they are hurt. We all are." Kire says. "Othniel will learn to forgive you by loving you one day."

"Othniel will never love me, just like ill never lover him." I say.

"Thats not true. It'll happen" Kire says.

"But the dragons need to understand that i wasn't there at the time, i didn't kill the dragons. Human men have always been the ones to create wars and destroy things, us females haven't." I say. "For years woman was treated badly, we weren't even allowed to vote! In some countries if a woman gets r***d, she gets stoned! Many women are also r***d around the world. We are beat and hurt! Not only that but people of color are also treated bad." I stop talking and looks down. Humans are bad. I think of all the wars and famine and hurt that many of us have gone through. Its not fair that a part of man kind destroyed such amazing creatures. That they had to go into hiding, and now i am hated even while i hadn't done anything to them.

Kire looks down.

"If human men are so bad, what would make me believe they won't make you tell them about us?" Kire asks.

"I told you guys before; I have a job and a life. Things aren't really like that now. I get out and i promise i won't say a thing. I'll make sure to keep Underland from my lips. No one would ever know but me. If you help me find a way to get rid of this mark, you can send me back to my home, I will also prove to you, that you can trust me." I say as i get close to Kire, he tries to back away from me, but can't since the wall is holding him. I get on my knees in front of Kire. He looks at me uncomfortable.

"Please, Kire. Help me find a way." I beg him.

Kire then stands up; I stand up as well and Kire backs away from me.

"I am sorry Athena, i truly am. I can tell you are being honest. But like i said before that mark will never leave your body." Kire says. "There is no cure or way."

I cover my face and brush my hair back, frustrated. I am stuck here! I can truly never leave this place without having that damn overgrown lizard following me. I let out a scream of frustration.

"Why is this happening to me?" I scream.

"Calm yourself." Kire says. I feel dizzy again. I then sit back on the bed and Othniel barges into the room looking worried. He stands in front of me and looks me over, i look at me.

"What?" I ask him annoyed.

"He is only making sure you are ok." Kire says. "I must be going."

"But." I stammer.

"I am sorry Athena, but there's nothing to be done, other than finishing the mating ritual and getting to learn about your new life." Kire says as he leaves the room.

I stare at the door, my breathing getting heavier and my throat burning as i feel despair coming over me.

"Hey calm down." Othniel says. He looks at me uncomfortable.

"Just leave me be." I say, as i try to hold it in.

"I cant." Othniel grinds his teeth. "I can feel your pain. Your sadness."

I let out a groan and throw myself on the bed, using the blanket i cover my self from head to toe. I feel Othniel still in the room. I groan again and then Othniel begins to walk away.

"I am not a bad person." Othniel says as he leaves the room.

I sit back up and look at the door. I feel something hit me, a pang of sadness in my heart. Huh weird, why am i feeling this way? Do i feel what he feels as well? Why would he be sad?

We hate each other. Or is the mark beginning to take effect on me too? I then feel something in the pit of my stomach, something sour. Ugh i feel sick. I hold on to my stomach and breath hard. My mouth begins to water, and a passing pain hits the back of my throat. I am going to throw up.

I lean to the side of the bed looking for something. Anything before i vomit what's in my stomach. I then feel the panic and sweat run through me. Othniel is back next to me. He looks worried. He leans down next to me. I try pushing him away, but he doesn't bulge. I then begin to throw up. I grab hold of his hand as i gasp and try to breath after each time i throw up. Othniel keeps asking what's going on? Panicking as he sees me puke, he tries to leave to find help but i stop him.

Once i feel better I begin to breath, my body is still shaking.

"What's going on?" Othniel asks panic in his voice.

"I think i threw up all of that poison out of me." I say. "Ill be fine, now that its out of me." I keep breathing and notice i am still holding on to his hand.

"Ugh i need to clean this up." I say.

"I'll get it." Othniel says.

"No don't worry yourself, its nasty." I say.

"Lay down and stop fighting me for once. You are shaking no stop." Othniel forces me to lay down. "Now go to sleep."

I lay in bed and watch him as he helps me out. Today has been the day i have seen this dragon the most. I haven't seen the others as usual. It's very strange. I then close my eyes and begin to drift into the world of sleep once again.