The outline of her body appears next as she ascends an incline.
“Milaye,” I breathe her name as her features come into view, but she is too far off to hear me. She is carrying a load of roots to her chest, her eyes flicking about as she waves her torch slowly.
I move to the wall. She does not see me. The dark pulls itself toward me and like my old self; it absorbs into my flesh and feeds it. My scales get harder, and my horns bulge. My nostrils flare. She gets closer, not seeing the predator I truly am.
I thrive in darkness. There is nothing like a giant monster with teeth the size of small trees hunting you down in the dark.
Her sweat blooms the air. My shaft tightens and rises, chafing upon the rough cloth tied around me. She is all I know. My prey.
Almost upon me now, I ready to strike. If she thinks she will leave me again…
Her torchlight glimmers over me, but I consume it, repelling the glow. Her eyes go through me as if I am not there.
One more step, female, and you are mine. She steps into my reach—I grab her.
Her body jerks, the roots falling from her hold as she reaches for her weapon. Her eyes widen in shock, in recognition soon after, but I already hear her blood rushing through her veins.
“Human,” I rasp, pulling her to me and knocking her dying torch. It falls to the ground and rolls away, throwing us back into shadow.
“Drazak,” she stammers.
I lean into her, swing my tail around, and push her against the cave wall, trapping her there with my body.
“You can move.” She is nearly breathless. Her hands come between us, pressing into my chest.
“I can move,” I warn. “You will not leave me again.” I pull her from the wall so I can look at her and steal her eyes. Now that I am no longer prone on the ground, I discover she is much smaller than me.
This is good. I hear her heart thrumming wildly.
“I didn’t leave you,” she whispers, finally lifting her chin, meeting my eyes.
I snarl. “Going out of my sight is leaving me, human. You do not know…” I trail off. She does not know how messed up I am from all the years alone… I snarl again.
“Do not know what? That the bond becomes uncomfortable the farther we are away from each other?” She removes one hand from my chest, placing it over hers instead. “You’re not the only one bound by invisible strings.”
Some of her hair falls into my hand. I wind my fingers through it, luxuriating in its silken feel. “What we have is called a curse for a reason,” I say, my voice softening.
She flinches.
“It is a curse,” I continue, “because whether you like it or not, this is final. It is the sacrifice for stealing my immortality and might. The red comet has never given something without first taking something away. You and I will be together until one of us dies, and even then… the other will follow.”
My human licks her lips, it makes me hungry. I wish I was licking them myself.
“No wonder your kind avoids us,” she says with a hush, her eyes lowering. “I should have done more not to… fall upon you. I’m so, so sorry.”
She sounds sad? Why does she sound sad? What in the skies is she saying?
I bristle. So she is unhappy to be with a disgraced creature such as I. Is that it? Any female would be. My hand grabs her hair and tugs, making her look up at me again. “I am more than what you have seen,” I growl. “I will prove as much to you. You. Will. Never. Leave. Me. Again.” I do not care if she is saddened by our circumstances; I’m the one with the right to anger here.
She is mine, and that will never change. Not for all the world, my wings, my body.
A glistening drop forms on her lashes and falls down her cheek. I cock my head, studying it, knowing what it is without ever experiencing it, this is a tear. Dragons do not cry. They do not show sadness in such a way.
But I have not had water in so long… and I now find I am thirsty, aching for it on my tongue.
Shaking, I dive in. I lick it from her face but miss. My head falls besides hers as my knees give out. Fury—shame—unlike I have ever known erupts while I fall, sliding down her body, dragging my claws, scraping the wall as I go.
“Drazak?” Her hands come up to catch me.
I roar against her stomach and frighten her away, feeling her body going rigid. I slam my fists into the rock, again and again, needing the pain from their impact.
“Drazak! Stop!”
I do not hear her, pummeling the wall.
The next thing I know, my hands are covered in hot blood, and Milaye is next to me, trying to lift me up. I push her away. “Do not help me!”
“You’re hurt!”
“Skies! I want the pain,” I rasp, clenching my fists. If I cannot have her, at least I can have this.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snaps. Her arms come around me again. “Let me get you back to the fire.”
“I said don’t!” A bark leaves my throat. “Leave me.”
“No.”
“Leave! I will not have you see me like this!”
Suddenly, warmth cups my cheeks, a soft heat that forces my chin up. My human is on her knees in front of me, cupping my face. The faintest of lights halos her face.
For a brief moment, her eyes flash with white light. I blink and her eyes are back to normal.
“I get it,” she says. “You’re struggling, dragon. We both are. I did not come into this cave thinking this would happen, and you did not…” She shakes her head, and I see her flinch.
