Dragon Riders

Chapter Four: Part One Myra

Chapter 4

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Myra

Isle of the Blessed: Dragon’s Den

3 days after Myra receives her job

“Wake-up Priestess: it’s time for you to enter the den.”

I massage my hip where her foot collided with my hip and rub the sleep from my eyes. It’s only my second day here and I have been deemed ready to enter.

I feel uneasy.

One day of being taught rules to keep myself safe and how to get the eggs does not make me feel prepared. The woman who braided my hair two days earlier told me her name was ‘D’. No further explanations came forward and I didn’t feel like it was my place to push.

I also felt like she might hurt me if I did. She had a look in her eyes that I hadn’t seen before: a mixture of mean and… pity maybe?

I roll onto my knees and get up slowly trying to stall for time.

“Hurry up Priestess, your stalling is only holding me back,” D called out sharply.

I put my boots on and make sure to tie the extra straps tightly around my shins. D told me that the ground can cut through any skin and I was required to wear boots at all times.

That was also rule number one.

It’s still strange being out of my robes for the first time since I took my oath to the Temple four years ago at 16. Now I am wearing a revealing dress that shows off much of my skin. It makes me feel less safe; as if it is just skin that the Dragons would notice. They would notice the snack touching their eggs first.

I push open the heavy wooden door and wince slightly as it scrapes across the cold stone floor. As soon as my foot crosses the threshold I’m yanked roughly out by D.

“Hurry up: I’ve already told the others to expect you and we are behind schedule.”

I stay quiet and keep up with D’s long stride down the stairs and through a big wood door. My wrist is still trapped in her rough hand until she releases me to open said wood door.

Again, it scrapes against the stone floor but unlike me D doesn’t flinch. It’s so different down here from up in the temple. We were taught from a young age that silence is a highly valued commodity, as it allows us to be closer to the gods. Here no one cares how loud they are, how their voices carry across the room.

D leads me down a long winding hall that inexplicably leads further down. The further down we go the more noises I hear. Growls and snarls pierce my ears, and the echoes of roars boom in my ears.

I clench my hands tightly and keep my face calm. I can’t let her see how afraid I am. She could report back to the High Priestess that I’m not up to the task.

She would just send me back to the Pits to be in limbo again. After a few minutes of walking we come to a big metal door, and she stops to pull a lever that’s beside the door. After a few moments of silence, mechanical groans and whirrs fill the air as the door unlocks itself and starts to swing inward.

I am completely enraptured by the sight, and think back to the first metal door that I saw do this exact thing.

“The rumor is that dwarves made the door and the castle as a gift.”

I feel my brows crinkling in confusion before I can stop myself.

“A gift for who?”

Dwarves were notoriously selfish, so to receive a gift from them is rare. Especially an entire temple.

“For the Dragon Riders.”

Her white brows lift into her hairline, and I clasp my hands in my sleeves once again to hide my displeasure.

“Such topics are banned for a reason, Temple Mother. We know this well.”

Dragon Riders were selfish, and almost brought an end to The Empire with their willfulness. How she can mention them so offhandedly is beyond me.

The door has finished unlocking itself and is now open to whatever lurks beyond.

“But do we really?”

Maybe she was right? If she was then that would mean that the Dragon Riders possibly used the pits for keeping their dragons, much like we do now. It would also explain the Rider Mural I saw before entering the Dragon Den. I clasp my hands together and make sure my brow is smooth and unfurrowed as I turn over the possibilities in my mind.

When the door is finished unlocking and opening, D and I step through and enter the Dragon Den at last.

The first thing I’m greeted with are the faces of two other women. The first is a girl who barely brushes past my shoulders, and has wide blue eyes. The second is an older woman, possibly in her mid forties with graying hair. They both look at me with pinched faces and greet me by giving me slight bows.

Unusual.

“Praise be the Blessed.”

I am met with stony silence.

Very unusual.

“Trinity, you can come back with me now: your shift is over.” D says gruffly.

The girl brushes past me giving me a strange look.

Pity?

Fear?

A mixture of both?

I would be foolish not to be scared right now.

I’m going to have to watch my back. I don’t know why these women are here: it could be for killing someone in the temple. A few years ago a woman suddenly snapped after a midmorning prayer. She killed two Temple Maidens before she was finally subdued. I never did find out what happened to her.

For all I know she could be one of these women.

I watch D and Trinity go through the metal door and watch said door shut firmly.

“We have work to do.”

I turn to the older woman and nod and she takes off in long, confident strides to the right.

“Over here are the sleeping palettes.”

Pointing to the right, I can see a part of the wall has been meticulously carved out, and two slim sleeping palettes are tucked into the hole.

“We will eat and sleep there.”

She looks back at me and I hastily nod, keeping pace with her.

“If you follow the wall down you’ll come to the prep area, and then it’s just open space.”

We continue our path along the rock wall and come to what I assume is the prep area. A small garden of various plants, and -nauseatingly- a pile of raw, hot, meat in the corner. Flies circle above and on the meat and I try my best not to gag at the sight of it.

Gods get me through this.

I haven't had meat since I came to the temple and now the sight of hot, raw meat bothers my stomach.

“You’ll get used to it. Besides, we don’t eat it.”

I don’t let my relief show through and she smirks.

“It’s for them. They can’t eat vegetables like we can.”

Another roar shakes the den and I flinch back in fear. In the dim lighting I spot a wheel-barrow laying upside down by the meat. It’s probably what we use to carry the meat, since much of it is bigger than me.

“My name is Meeka; I don’t think I told you yet.”

I shake my head and Meeka motions for me to come over to where she’s standing by the meat.

“It’s almost feeding time, so help me flip over the wheel-barrow so we can get started.”

I do as I’m told without questioning her and notice her hands. I feel my face blanche at the sight of her mangled fingers. They were cut off at the second knuckle, leaving stubs.

What could someone do to possibly deserve that?

Even the woman who stole girls only had her thumbs cut off. To have your fingers cut off? Why?

I start helping Meeka without a word and swallow the rising bile as my hands slip and clutch the meat. I don’t know where we got this meat from or why some of it is already brown. The flies don’t bother me as much as the maggots do; crawling on and over everything without a care in the world.

We work quickly, with Meeka being more efficient than I would have expected her to be. Once it’s full I start to follow Meeka’s instructions and push the barrel forward.