Born In The Palace

Chapter 14: Secrets

Persephone and I ran away from the angry creature, hiding behind a cold stone wall to catch our breaths. 

"What was that?" I asked, panting. "It looked like a dragon. Why is there a dragon in this chamber?"

"I was certain it was the chamber of dark secrets," she said. "This wasn't in my plan at all. I never knew Hades kept a dragon in his palace."

"We have to get out of here before it finds us."

"Do you get burned by fire?" Persephone suddenly asked. "I know your mother doesn't since she wields it, but do you?"

I shook my head. "Not if I can help it. Why do you ask?"

"I've been in the Underworld for months against my will, yearning for escape. And I thought my plan would actually work when you showed up as I'd predicted. I thought I could threaten Hades with the dark secrets and make him let everyone go, including me... This is not how it was supposed to go. This was supposed to work!"

I heard a growl. "The dragon is close now. We have to go, Persephone." I took her hand. "We have to find a way out of here first."

"I'm sorry, Cassia." She pulled her hand out of my grasp. "I will ask father to rescue everyone else from here. I will beg for his help. I will be back for you all." She put the Helm of Darkness on her head and disappeared.

"Persephone!" I yelled after her, not believing what just happened. 

Hearing me, the dragon roared in response, its claws scratching the stone floors as it came closer. 

"Bloody hell." I looked around to see if I could find an escape, but I was surrounded by more walls. 

A black muzzle, followed by a red eye peaked over the wall I was hiding, meeting my eyes. I walked backwards until my back touched cold stones.

The dragon growled, dragging the rest of its large body to face me head-on. I grew the flames in my hands as it got ready to spew its own fire at me. We both let our fires out to attack each other, our flames meeting in the middle and having a battle of their own. 

It lasted for over a minute, until I heard a frustrated growl and the dragon ceased its fire. I slowly lowered my hands as well, keeping one flame lit, ready to start again if I saw the creature prepare to attack.

But that never happened. Instead, the dragon dropped its body to the ground and rested its head on the now hot stone floors, seemingly tired. Its red eyes stared at me with guarded curiosity.  

"What, no more fire fights?" I asked, getting a quiet growl in response which sounded like a sigh.

I took a moment to study the creature. Aside from its blood red eyes, the rest of it was as black as the darkness that surrounded us. Then I noticed a gleam of metal on one of its legs.

A thick shackle. 

"You poor thing," I said, slowly approaching it. "Were you locked away in this dark chamber all by yourself?"

The dragon slowly moved back its head with every inch I stepped closer, clear distrust in its eyes. I stopped moving. 

"I won't hurt you, you know. I just want to take a look at the shackle on your leg. May I?"

I got a sigh in response, but the beautiful creature moved its head to the side to give me a better view of its trapped leg. I felt its penetrating gaze on me as I inspected it. The metal itself was one smooth piece, without a single break or a keyhole to fit a key. Though there were some faint burn marks, it wasn't damaged by fire, and the scales around the shackle were covered in blood, as if the dragon had also tried to chew off the metal.