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He climbed on top of the rubble of the stone tower. The stench of fire and ashes flooded his nose. And in the distance, he could hear the loud thuds of the creature so dangerously close. Unsheathing his sword, Cassian walked further into the rubble, carefully treading through the conglomerates of rocks and ashes. The sky above was not visible underneath all the heavy smoke.
Then the creature screeched and roared. Past another archway, Cassian saw the dragon with a horrifying height that trumped the largest fortresses in all the kingdoms. Through the rare glimpses of sunlight of the shattered stained glass windows, he could see the maroon scales. The tail created gusts of winds as it slashed back and forth. The dragon's claws were hellish black and could easily rip him in two.
But beyond the creature, Cassian could see untouched glimmering steps leading up to a door left unscathed.
Legends only talked of the beauty that lies beyond that door. A princess locked in a tower after she was captured by the evil Maeve who slaughtered her parents, the King and Queen. After that, the kingdom of Velaris was left in a power grab chaos before her sister Elain became of age.
The tower loomed above treacherous heights and steep cliffs and was guarded by the foul dragon. Storytellers over the years swore only her true love would rescue her. Many died along the path here and if anyone got to this point, they never lived to tell.
Cassian gripped the pommel of his sword before descending into the tower carefully. However, even in his years of stealth training as a Knight, it was no match to the dragon's sensitive hearing.
Suddenly he was face to face with large brown eyes, blinking slowly to try and register what it was seeing. Cassian felt a tremor run through him as the dragon's smile spread across its face. It was like he was staring down death. Before the dragon could exhale a fury of fire he leaped. He made sure to be quick on his feet. The inferno would’ve burned him to a crisp had he not moved. The dragon roared as its eyes snapped towards him again, eyes narrowing finally finding him. He needed to find the creature's weak spot. Many have said a driven sword between the eyes would do the trick. An inhale and Cassian surged forward. He nearly avoided the subsequent flames as he climbed on top of the creature. Using its scales to climb along its spine. The creature lurched sideways trying to shake him off, but Cassian held on. He was knocked off his feet, one hand clutching the dragon's scales while the other held on to his sword. The roaring of the creature was almost deafening as Cassian got up, trying to maintain balance on top of the unnerved dragon. As he neared the creature's head and drew out his sword, a voice yelled out.
“HEY! STOP!”
Both the dragon and Cassian froze and looked up to see a small woman at the base of the stairwell. She pulled back her cloak to reveal golden brown hair, sharp cheekbones, and blue eyes he swore gave a lightning-like glint. He was dumbfounded, she was gorgeous, gods, devastating.
“Princess?” He whispered. But the moment was shattered when the dragon shook him off and bounded towards the woman. Cassian was thrown down its spine and tumbled towards the cold hard ground. Scrambling to his feet and realizing he lost his sword on the fall down, he watched helplessly as the dragon pounced for the woman. “No!” He shouted as he ran full speed.
But confusion went through him as he heard the woman laugh as the creature plopped in front of her and gave a sound like coo.
“I know I just woke up too, Sphynx.” The woman said as she petted the dragon.
When he approached them, they both snapped their heads towards him. Even though a 50,000lb dragon was glaring at him it was the woman’s stare that held him in place.
She sighed as she stepped around the dragon towards him, her cloak flowing around her. In front of him, she rested her hands on her hips.
“Let me guess, you’re here to save me?” She gestured to the dragon who laid its enormous head beside her, eyes closed, almost drifting to sleep.
“Uh... yes.”
“And perhaps see if you are my one true love, isn’t that’s what Maeve told my parents… ridiculous.” She scoffed.
“Well not exactly, obviously your safety is the priority but I’ve been told I’m pretty charming,” He threw her a smug smile, the dragon only huffed as if mocking him. When she only started he cleared his throat and continued, “But I was under orders of my Queen to find and rescue you.”
She studied his uniform through the dim light until her eyes fell onto the crest on his armor. “You’re from Velaris…” and then looked to the ranking marks across his chest plate “a knight.”
He bowed, “At your service, Princess.”
She shook her head, “I haven’t been a princess in over ten years. Turn back now.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Queen Elain gave me strict orders to come with you in tow.“
“Elain? She’s queen now?” Her voice softened and a small smile tugged her lips upwards.
“Once she took reign, she never stopped looking for you, Princess.”
She sat at the base of her steps, gently putting a hand on top of Sphynx, who no doubt was sleeping by now. “I don’t want to leave.”
He bristled, “Princess you can’t stay here.”
“What I meant is that I can’t go back to Velaris.” She looked at the sword in his hands. “If Maeve found out I left… she promised to bring devastation to the people, my people. I won’t let that happen.”
“Then we destroy Maeve.” He said firmly.
She only narrowed her eyes, “Impossible. She’s thousands of years old equipped with dark magic.”
Cassian only shook his head, “She only keeps you here because she’s afraid of you. The ancient prophets foretold her death would be of your hands”
She looked away, “My powers have diminished over these last ten years, she’s made sure of it.” The princess gestured towards a shimmering obsidian choker around her neck. “It’s been draining me of power since my capture.”
His jaw tightened as he observed the choker that was a stark contrast to her beautiful slender neck.
“Then we break it.” He whispered in an almost deadly tone.
She threw him another glare “Do you not know the meaning of impossible? Sir…?”
“Cassian.” He finished for her.
“Sir Cassian. Look I appreciate your efforts. But I can’t leave.”
He bent to where she sat, the dragon awake and watching him carefully. “I can feel your power Princess, it's almost overwhelming. This piece of glass,” he briefly touched the choker, “is on the edge of shattering.” Cassian sighed as she looked over his shoulder, expertly not meeting his gaze. “If not, Maeve will have control of your people out of fear.”
In her eyes, Cassian could see a storm brewing within her sharp blue eyes. Her demeanor began to change. She stood and straightened her posture, shoulders pushed back. Sphinx arose with her too, now fully awake and claws outstretching. For a moment Cassian thought he overstepped his boundaries and now his life would end here. However, the princess reached for her choker, gripping the material.
“Perhaps you’re right.”
Her hands dug into the small space between her neck and the glass object. They wrapped tightly around it, turning white as she gripped harder. Cassian could see the streaks of light escaping throughout the black obsidian. He stumbled back as the choker was breaking , shattering and along with it an outburst of enormous power. A blinding white light lit the tower towards the heavens as the obsidian choker shattered loudly, it’s pieces absorbed in the light.
He fell to his knees as the power overcame him, hands covering his eyes at the blinding light. But when it diminished he looked up to see the princess, unscathed and almost glowing.
She walked towards him and held out a slender hand. When he grabbed for it, a sudden bolt of energy went through him. He rose on shaky knees before her.
“You’re brave and courageous Sir Cassian. I can see why my sister sent you here.” Her voice rang through his head almost like a song. “I’ll need you if I’m ever to defeat Maeve.”
His grin widened and bowed. “I’ll do anything for you Princess, and the people of Velaris.
“Another thing, let’s drop the Princess title. Call me Nesta.”
“Yes, uh Nesta.” He never addressed a royal without their title, but somehow this felt right.
But nothing could prepare him from when Nesta grabbed the back of his neck and crashed his lips on hers. Cassian froze but then melted from the softness of her lips. The power that flowed through her was irresistible, he couldn’t let her go. Instinctively he grabbed her hips to pull her closer. She gasped when he swept his tongue over her bottom lip, her hands beginning to dig into his hair, making him groan against her lips.
Sphynx grunted loudly, startling Nesta. Her hands immediately left his hair and slightly pushed his shoulders. He stumbled back, cheeks burning. She bit her lip, a movement he followed with his eyes. “I wanted to test out the true love theory.”
Cassian laughed, brushing his fingers to his lips. “Well? Am I your one true love?” He said this jokingly, but a shred of him hoped her heart was his. As if she didn't have his already.
“Sphynx has to like you too.” She said firmly. Cassian only gave a wary glance to the creature, its claws unfurling once again as it showed him its sharp giant teeth. “He’ll get used to me. As I said, I’m pretty charming.”
Nesta narrowed her eyes but couldn’t stop a small smile from spreading across her face. She climbed on top of Sphinx and held out a hand for him. He raised his eyebrows as he let her yank him up, plopping behind her.
“You’re gonna wanna hold on Sir Cassian.” She grabbed his hands and landed them on her hips. He eagerly gripped her hips, as she threw a smirk over her shoulder. “Please don’t hurl on me.” Before he could retort, Sphinx began to flap its enormous wings and lift from the ground. Cassian became alarmingly aware of how far from the ground his feet were as they ascended.
“Alright Sphynx, time to get out here once and for all.” And they took off through the smoke and into the skies.