Eternal Abyss - Waterfire Saga - Book 5

Chapter 5 - Dragon

Astrid was slowly beginning to worry. Would her friends be utterly upset? Surely they'd understand why she had to. Sera had gotten what she wanted. Her kingdom, Miromara. Neela was royalty in Matali. And everyone else lived a peaceful life, even if they didn't own a kingdom. But Astrid . . . Ondalina was hers, and she was going to kill the general, or at least lock her up for a millenia. Stopping for a quick break, Astrid sat down and began to have her midday meal, keeping her weapon at hand. She had enough sense to bring a hippocampi with her as she left. They were still days away, of course, but at least it would be a quicker journey . . . assuming nothing stopped them in their path.

Just then, there was a swoosh above them. Startled, Astrid drew her silver dagger and paused. What was that? Her hippocampi neighed, twitching its tail nervously. Another swoosh. Wings. A flash of teeth. Dragons. Astrid's posture immediately straightened, preparing for danger. She had wandered into dragon territory, and dragons weren't forgiving creatures. But she could try to make a swim for it. She swung herself onto the hippocampi, and then sped off. She heard the blast of waterfire as a dragon flew up behind her. She swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"ARRW!" An enormous water dragon swooped low, roughly grabbing her by the shoulders. Her hippocampi, scared to death now, tried to race away, but was met by the gleaming teeth of another dragon. Struggling, Astrid squirmed and twisted, but the dragon held on tight. She tried lashing out with her dagger, which bounced harmlessly off the beast's tough scales. She hit the creature with her tail repeatedly with no response. As the dragons swarmed around her, she realized there was no escape. Finally giving up in exasperation, she went limp in the dragon's claws.

Dragons aren't exactly smart. They might think I'm dead and throw me out. Many dragons only like fresh prey. Clinging on to this possibly pathetic hope, Astrid had no choice but to wait as she was carried off the the dragons' den.

Astrid tried not to grunt as the dragon roughly dropped her on the floor of their sea cove. Like any other dragon den, it had precious metals and jewels in an enormous heap at the back of the cave.

"Is she dead?" Pipped a squeaky voice. Astrid almost gasped. These dragons spoke mermish?

"Seriously, Aquilis, did you kill her?"

"That wouldn't be the first time," Muttered another dragon.

"SILENCE! I say we vote. We are democratic dragons, are we not?"

There were murmurs of agreement.

Aquilis, the dragon holding her grumbled, "I say we boil her. There's nothing better than a chewy mermaid. All in favor?" Astrid kept her eyes shut.

"Are you serious? She's dead as shell! I say we throw her out!" A female dragon cried. "Since when do we eat non-fresh meat?"

"Be quiet, Girta! No one gives a crab about if the prey's dead or not!" A different dragon snapped.

"You be quiet, Berg! Your blind eyes wouldn't know the difference!" Girta shrieked. The dragons fell silent, but Astrid guessed they were shooting the evil eye at one another.

"Well, Girta," A voice rumbled. "You know how food has been running extremely low now. Many of us have died of starvation. We can't just throw her out. We'll feed her to the dragonlings, if none of you want to eat her."

"But Chief Hydrac--" Girta began.

Her voice stopped abruptly, and everyone was silent once more.

"Yes, Chief," she sighed finally. Astrid's heart pounded in her chest. They were going to feed her to the babies! Daring to open her eyes, she took in the scene around her. The dragons were all in a circle, now quietly talking amongst themselves. One, Aquilis, sat dangerously near her, ensuring she couldn't escape. As they were chattering, she caught bits of their conversation.

"I saw him yesterday."

"Seriously? That must be horrific."

"We can't defeat that monster on our own. We're going to need help."

"If we don't kill that wretched beast, he'll take every ounce of our treasure!"

"It took my prized jewelry and threatened my daughter!"

"HE'LL KILL US ALL!" Astrid listened intently. From what she was hearing, a strange creature had been terrorizing the dragons and stealing their goods. He also apparently had several dragonlings being held captive for his next meal.

I have to escape, Astrid thought. I can't bear listening to these dragons anymore. But escape wasn't going to be simple. It took patience. And skill. And Astrid was in luck, because she had both of those.