Chapter 10 (Part 2)

AN: Alright people sorry for the long wait~! I got caught up with the new semester... but I didn't forget my novel if that's what you're thinking! So as a reward to my patient readers, an extra long part!

I found myself standing to the side of a black roofless hall. The floor, the walls, the intricately carved columns all seemed to be made from a black polished stone, an odd mix between granite and marble that dimly sparkled according to perspective or the way the light hits the stones. The expansive rectangular space opened up to the ominous dark sky. The only light that ever graced the room were the brief flashes of silent lightning from above.

A man entered the room, immediately catching my attention. There was something different about this man that I can’t quite place. Maybe it was the way he presented himself. He was a handsome man who seemed to be in his late twenties whose gait was silent and graceful, whose posture elegant and commanding, and whose sharp looking eyes held contempt and indifference. I swallowed a little. To say he was intimidating was a major understatement. He downrightly exudes power. A statement like that coming from someone like me is definitely a statement.

And it wasn’t just his walk and countenance though. Even his clothes say he’s from a high status. He wore a black silk cape and underneath was a silver and gold tunic, black trousers and silver boots. Perhaps the most obvious indicator of his status was the obsidian, three pronged crown perched on his head, carefully framing a black spherical crystal that seemed to be embedded on his forehead.

Who is this person?

He moved in light steps towards an expensive-looking, gold and diamond encrusted onyx chair. The chair was simple in design though, just a rectangular slab with two cushioned armrests at each side. If the man had delayed his entrance just a little bit, he would have already found some missing gems on that chair. For a moment, I silently drooled at the sight of the sparkling beauties and then shook my head in disapproval. Seriously, who puts diamonds on furniture that is used for the sole purpose of cradling one’s bottom?

This person must be extremely, unlawfully, unforgivably, filthy rich!

As he reached the chair, he turned around without missing a beat, his cape billowing behind him with the motion, further accentuating his commanding aura. As if on cue, a slight breeze filled the hall, blowing against his clothes and long silky dark hair. For a moment, it looked to me like nature itself acknowledged his presence and bowed to him. Again I shook my head as the same question plagued my mind – who is this guy?    

Suddenly, two massive, leathery wings sprouted from his back majestically before he elegantly took his seat. At that precise moment, my brain froze.

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t blink. Hell, I couldn’t breathe. I was petrified, nailed on the spot as if hit by a jolt of lightning. I could feel my eyes widen, like they could jump out from their sockets and roll on the floor, leaving me down on my hands and knees picking up my eyeballs. That scenario felt so real I had to bring my hands to my eyes ready to catch them if they ever do fall, but then realizing for a second that such an action would block the wonderful, heaven-sent image. If my eyes decided to pop out, let them. I’m not blocking them from seeing this for even a split-second.  

I chastised myself. Yeah, my brain isn’t working alright.

But I couldn’t blame myself or tear my eyes away from the sight even if I tried. In front of me was a dragon. A Dark Dragon.

So that’s why everything was black and dreary. But scratch the latter adjective. Black is my new favorite color! 

But the heavens weren’t done with me yet. They decided that one dragon isn’t enough of a miracle for me. They want me to permanently stop breathing and die in bliss, like the merciful sadists they are. From the open sky above, six more dark dragons descended. They positioned and divided themselves evenly in front of the first dragon and arranged themselves in two neat rows, flanking the aisle the first dragon had trod.

Then all six dragons simultaneously morphed into human figures and kneeled respectfully in front of the first dragon that arrived, all of their backs to me. My knees buckled beneath me as the strength to stand deserted me. I plopped on the floor ungracefully as I knew with all certainty that I am either dreaming or somehow the massive headache killed me and sent me to heaven. If I had to choose, I prayed hard for the latter. At least I won’t have to worry about waking up from all this.

And then I realized something grave and unforgivable. I had, whether consciously or not, returned the heaven’s favor with spite. Here were six dragons, DRAGONS, kneeling in reverence in front of another dragon. What am I, a mere human, doing crumpled disgracefully on the floor? With a lightning quick speed, I hastily slammed myself to prostrate, perfectly prone on the floor, like the insignificant insect I am, not even daring to lift my head to look at any of the dragons. Half of me wished the floor would just quickly absorb me and disappear from their overwhelming presence.   

“My Lord…” a voice started in a solemn note but was briefly cut off. 

“Silence” said a calm voice in reply. The voice, which is undeniably the first dragon’s voice, sent shivers down my spine. Even his voice had an indisputable sound of dominance and pride. It was my first time hearing such a voice. I am a feisty woman that would never submit to anyone without a fight but something tells me that this person should be treated with respect and only respect which I am more than willing to give, hence my current position. And I’m starting to doubt if there is such a thing as too much respect…

“I do not want to hear any questions about my methods. I have already made my mind. Surely you understand the reasons without explicit explanation, Captain?” he continued in an even tone. Curiosity eventually won over me as I lifted my head slightly to take a small peek and observe. As the Dragon Lord finished, the Dragon Captain visibly stiffened as if frightened or ashamed, I don’t know which.

“Forgive me, My Lord. Reason departed me.”

“Quite.” the Dragon Lord said tersely. “Call the mage.”

The captain stiffened even more and as if on cue, another one entered the room. He was a smart looking young man with a pair of spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose, framing his hard, intelligent emerald eyes. He was good looking but not as good looking as Noirxus or the Dragon Lord. In short he was decent. He was holding a red staff, as red as his short spiky hair, decorated with a large red sun on its tip. And inside the red sun was a black crescent moon framing the dark dragon image in the middle. It was a pretty but ominous staff. Like the rest of the place, he wore black clothes. Or at least he was wearing a black robe on top of whatever underclothing he wore.

This place needs a serious splash of color or I’ll go color blind without knowing it.

It was painfully obvious that the newcomer was a human dragon mage. I observed him carefully and secretly envious that this man who looked just a little bit older than me gets to be surrounded by dragons and even summoned by one. I bit my lower lip and narrowed my eyes dangerously as the mage calmly strolled and passed by the six dragons. When he was before the Dragon Lord, he gingerly placed his staff on the floor and knelt down respectfully like the other six dragons behind him.

“How are the preparations going?” the Dragon Lord asked.

 The mage pulled something from the inside of his sleeve and held it out to the Dragon Lord as if it was an offering to a god. “Swimmingly, Your Majesty. This is still in its testing phase but granted enough time, I will be able to create a better artifact. All I need is a bit more of-”

The Dragon Lord held up his hand, effectively silencing the mage. “I already know of your devious methods,” he started to say. “But there is an innocent soul present here that I wish to spare from the details, else she informs the enemy.”

He slowly turned his head and locked eyes with me for more than a second. Nervousness seemed to pile in the pit of my stomach, making me feel a little bit sick. It seems as if his gaze was scrutinizing my very soul, analyzing and judging me. My blood froze but even so, I gathered enough courage to raise myself in a more…decent position. I kneeled on one knee with my head bowed, mimicking the dragon mage’s position, and fixed my clothes to look more presentable, not wanting to disrespect the Dragon Lord with my presence. All the other beings present in the room turned to follow the Dragon Lord’s gaze looking ready to attack the intruder but then their faces changed from fierce to bewildered expressions.

“There is… no one there, My Lord,” the mage started to say after a long awkward silence. I don’t like how this dream or whatever it is was turning out. I was scared, nervous, excited and extremely happy all at the same time that I could feel myself becoming dizzy with all the emotions. I dared to take a glance at the Dragon Lord’s face, who was now wearing an amused expression.

“I do not know how you came to be here, child,” the Dragon Lord said in a kind but firm voice. “But for your own good, I suggest you leave this place. You do not belong here.”

It wasn’t a threat. I didn’t feel threatened at all. In fact I felt like a child caught doing something I know was wrong and was being scolded for it. I bowed my head sheepishly and turned to walk away in the other direction, embarrassed with myself. Of course even in my dreams I shouldn’t belong there. In fact, how audacious of me to even begin to dream of a Dragon Lord! With a steely resolve, I commanded myself to wake up and spare myself from more humiliation.

+o+

At first there was complete darkness. Then I started to regain consciousness. I opened my eyes to a ceiling and sighed in relief that it was all a dream – a wonderful, uninterrupted dream. I felt my heart pounding hard inside my chest filled with a dizzying mix of emotions. But the most dominant emotion was disbelief. Why? Because I had dreamt of dragons: the object of my admiration and, to be honest, obsession. For the first time in a long while, I dreamt of dragons.

 Then my thoughts started to drift away from my dream to the surroundings. It slowly occurred to me that I didn’t know where I am. It was dark and two huge glass balcony doors confirmed my suspicions that it was nighttime. The moonlight streaming through the glass was the only light illuminating the room. I was lying on the softest bed I’ve ever known, covered with a blanket of smooth white sheet. There isn’t much to look at seeing that the dark isn’t giving too much details of the room when finally, my eyes settled on the most out of place sight in the room.

Noirxus was sitting on a chair doubled over with his head cradled on top of his folded arms on the bedside, sleeping peacefully beside me. I slowly sat up; the motion removing a damp cloth I didn’t know was on my forehead and onto my lap. I looked at Noirxus, the wet cloth and back again. From what I could gather, this guy was apparently nursing me back to health.

I was frankly touched. I only met the guy recently but he’s concerned enough for me to tire himself to the point of sleeping beside me. Must I be so irresistible? That’s it. I declare it official. This guy is my second friend and whether he regrets being my friend or not is none of my concern. He got me attached to him and he’ll deal with the consequences whether he likes it, or aware of it for that matter, or not. But being friends with a girl like me, especially me, isn’t so bad. It’s actually an honor for someone like him.

I looked at his sleeping face, his quite angelic sleeping face, deciding whether or not to wake him up. I eventually permitted him to continue his slumber. But of course such a sight mustn’t go to waste. So I stared at him, observed him, looking for things and weaknesses that I may hold against him for future blackmail or general entertainment. After all a person is most vulnerable when sleeping unless one is trained to have his guard up even then. But Noirxus doesn’t look guarded at all unlike me when I sleep. My master taught me how when he would sometimes randomly, unreasonably, attack me during the night even when I thought he was totally wasted from exhaustion during the day. The only exception when I can actually let my guard down is when I’m sick because my master concluded that it was counterproductive to attack me and risk prolonging my sickness than let me recuperate so I can guard myself, in which case, master would be absolutely tense and worried about my safety. That’s why I always keep my sword with me even during the night. So when I absentmindedly reached to my left where I usually place my sword and found nothing there, I slightly panicked. But I quickly regained composure for although I don’t like being away from the security of my sword, it’s not like I can’t fight barehanded. And somehow, with Noirxus here and knowing his strength in battle, I can somehow relax a little.

But I am absolutely not, repeat, not, emphasize, not depending on him.

I watched Noirxus some more, his head of black hair reflecting the moonlight like a halo around his head. I wonder if that hair is as soft and silky as it looks. Curious, I reached out and touched a lock of his long black hair, its length just a little bit shorter than mine. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Noirxus really was a girl. His dark hair reminded me of the Dragon Lord’s hair in my dreams. I continued to caress his hair, raveling the feathery strands between my fingers, lost in thought as I recalled every detail of the one dream I’ll never forget in this lifetime.

“Chryisle, what are you doing?” Noirxus asked quietly. I snapped back to reality but still couldn’t stop caressing his hair and Noirxus didn’t make any move to stop it. He didn’t move at all.  

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I answered equally quiet, almost a whisper.

“Taking advantage of me when I’m sleeping.”

The way he words it…

“No. I’m taking advantage of your weakness.”

“So you are taking advantage of me.”

I snorted, my hands still not stopping. “So?”

He sat up and looked straight at me, effectively stopping me from reaching his soft locks. “It’s indecent.”

I was rendered speechless for a moment. How straightforward. He’s got a point but I’m not going to admit it. I leaned closer to him and narrowed my eyes dangerously.

“It’s your fault for looking so damn vulnerable,” I spat the last word but then did a double take. Noirxus’ eyes were equally wide with surprise. Okay…that came out totally wrong. Not what I intended at all. I meant for it to be a warning so he’ll fix his weakness and turn his remark around to slap him in the face but I ended up sounding like a perverted old man harassing a girl. This is so wrong!

I quickly looked away, my face feeling hot with embarrassment as the expected awkward silence replaced the air. Fortunately an equally embarrassing sound cut through the silence. My stomach growled. But I’ll take that embarrassment over the embarrassment of sounding like a pervert.

“I’ll get Rascielle to get you something to eat,” Noirxus said quietly as he left the room. Then as the door closed, I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Humiliated in both dreams and reality - awkward was an understatement.