Varneir | dragon×human romance

Chapter 1 - Fated Introduction

I am Gabriel. The king's prized assassin, unknown to the public eye, until an unfortunate fool feels the icy bite of my arrow. Not a soul knows my name anymore. But today, I am Gabriel. Not the masked woman who children point small fingers to, who ask their mothers about me, ask why I'm standing so still, why I'm wearing a mask. Only today, I am myself. The stone cold shell of the girl I used to be, the one who saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Now, I know that light is only the sun in my eyes, distracting me from my target.

I crouch behind a stone, with my eye on a gloriously fat elk. My fingers burned from holding the string of my Veillic bow so tightly. I tried to concentrate on my aim as I pointed my arrow towards the side of it's head.

Then I heard a deep roar pierce through the silence, sending my prize running faster than my arrow could possibly fly. That roar could only belong to a dragon.

Before I could aim my bow towards the beast, it swooped down and snatched the elk in its jaws, and tossed it into the sky, only to catch it again and swallow it whole. The onyx coloured dragon braced itself to land, backwinging gracefully before dropping onto the stone I had just been behind, making the ground quake with it's enormous mass.

"Do not shoot," The creature bellowed. I realized my bow was still drawn. I sheathed my weapon with shaky fingers and stared intently.
This beast was larger than I had ever seen in the books I read as a child, with dark obsidian scales and muscled limbs thicker round than a caravan horse. It's eyes were large and piercing, an emerald green in hue. And this dragon had a unique trait I had never seen in my fairytale books, a large opal gem the size of a platter imbedded into its chest.

It opened it's immense jaws to speak.
"You do not fear me, do you?" It's talons clicked against the rock, shifting it's weight to fold it's wings against it's sides.
The only thing I could force from my throat was "It doesn't seem so." I held it's questioning gaze, anxiously awaiting awaiting it's response.
"I am Varneir, I had smelled the blood of your hunt, I apologize for thwarting your prize, instinct can be stronger than sense at times, yes?"
I found myself enthralled by this magnificent beast, his wisdom and charm captivated me like a thief to a gold coin.

While I had been deep in thought, Varneir had unfurled his great wings, beat them with the strength of the greatest wind, and flown off.

[A/N Hello guys! This is my first chapter of Varneir. It's something I've been working on, and I don't expect it to get too many reads]