Chapter Text
I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I had managed to move into the castle town of our nation from one of the poorest towns in the land. My song and elven beauty helped me go from stage to stage, spreading my name and music until I had enough money to finally make it to the best pubs around. My life was finally good. I had food, friends, money, and people started to come from distant lands just to hear me sing... so why was I suddenly bound and chained in front of a dragon’s cave!?
Of Elves and Dragons
Author: Satashi
Nerissa screamed one final time at the people who betrayed her. The group was running away frantically, almost tripping on themselves to gain distance before they lost their lives as well. Angry red eyes went from their retreating forms back to the ominous cave entrance before her. At the base of a mountain that used to be a mine for precious gems, she sat.
Sat on a mountain of offerings. Of golden coins, pretty drinking goblets, crystals that sparkled in the sunrise’s light. Food was abundant, mostly fruits and things that humanity deemed delicacies. Then there was her, in the middle of it all, sitting on the patchy grass that turned to dirt the closer it got to the scary looking cave.
Behind her were trees, thick and lush, full of animals and life. She had been placed close enough to be considered an offering but not so much that they would be deemed trespassers. She wanted to run as well, to escape and flee with her life instead of being a sacrifice, but the townspeople had made it so she couldn’t.
Her ankles were bound in shackles. Heavy, metallic cuffs kept her feet linked together, unable to move more than a foot apart before snagging. Her wrists were behind herself, locked in a much smaller version of the bindings. A small chain connected them to her feet, ensuring she could barely stand, let alone do anything but crawl.
Even if she did escape, where would she go? The forest had predators as well. Wolves would find her within hours, and even if not, she would starve within a few weeks. Elves didn’t have to eat as much as humans but without her hands, she would be reduced to berries straight from a bush using her mouth.
So she sat there, looking at the cave, cursing the fools who put her there. The dragon wasn’t to blame, not really. They had moved into this area a few months ago and had left the city alone. The mountain cave was far enough away to not be an immediate threat, closer to an old mining town than the blustering cityscape of the royal city. But dragons needed food and word of a large, flying reptile eating sheep every few days was bound to catch the king’s attention.
Their solution? Sacrifice to the dragon to ensure it doesn’t turn their attention on the people living there. The most lavish items, food, gold, and of course the most beautiful woman the lands had to offer. That was where her growing fame had bitten her. Nerissa, the elf who drew in crowds from far away, was now the woman being given to a dragon in exchange for peace.
She should have questioned it when she was given such pretty clothing and jewelry out of the blue. Silken dancer’s attire with attached trinkets to make jingling noises when she moved. An outfit made to show off her breasts and stomach, a veil to keep her face partially hidden to make people want to see more of her. Thin fabric, semi-transparent, with just enough modesty to drive customers to stay and spend money in the hopes of seeing more of the beautiful songstress dancing on stage.
Even if she managed to get away, the jingling would attract things to her. She could never truly hide, not when she was dressed to attract attention, to make herself look more enticing upon the eyes. The clothing and sparkling gems embedded in bands of gold had - for a few minutes- made her feel like royalty. Now she just felt ashamed at not questioning the gifts from the city guards. Maybe if she ran back then she would live to see the sunset.
Nerissa was so distraught with her situation that she began to imagine the sounds of music around herself. The steady, rhythmic sound of drums was in her ears, soft but growing as time passed on.
Thmp-thmp-thmp-thmp.
She inhaled slowly, closing her eyes, trying to remember what song it was from. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince the dragon to not kill her if she sang to it. She had a beautiful voice didn’t she? Dragons were known to horde items and treasure, maybe if her song was pretty enough she might be spared.
Thmp-thmp-thmp-thmp.
It was louder now, pounding in her head. Every second it seemed to get more noisy, less like drums and more like... footsteps. Her throat went dry, head lifting to look at the cave opening. It was so big, easily large enough to house a dragon. Now that she looked again she could see movement inside. Nothing definitive, no clear shapes, but the darkness inside wasn’t quite as dark as she thought.
Moss illuminated areas of it, revealing a turn from the main line down the mountain.That soft glow was what she noticed moving, being covered and revealed again as if something was walking before it. Something large. Heavy. Nerissa stared forward as the shapes became more revealed by the light dipping into the cave.
Large. Reptilian. Clawed feet big enough to step on her. The singer couldn’t stop herself from shaking, her breath stalling in her lungs. She wanted to sing, to prove she was valuable being alive, but the dragon’s long neck was now in the light and no sound was heard from her except the repressed, sobbing whimpers of a woman about to die.
The dragon stopped a bit before her, head lowered down so their snout was a mere few feet from the offerings. Light reflected off half of it, upon beautiful ivory scales that were almost iridescent in how the light bounced off them. Thousands upon thousands of rainbow colored scales, like oil from a lamp when spilled upon water.
The other half was the opposite. Deep ebony, a black that consumed the light greedily. The line of separation was messy across the dragon, mostly down the middle with patches of different colored scales along the full length of the house sized dragon.
Its mouth opened as it leaned in, the slitted nostrils flaring in a sniff. For a second Nerissa wondered if she would be burnt alive first or just eaten raw. Dragons didn’t cook, they just ate. Swooping in from the air, claws grabbing an animal and ripping into it mid flight.
Yet she didn’t smell sulfur, or even the sticky, wet feeling of saliva dripping onto her. The dragon wasn’t rushing the process. For a second a new terror resounded in her chest. What if the dragon played with its food? Would she be like a mouse to a cat? Tossed and bloodied in a sick game before being eaten?
A blast of hot air made the bells jingle on her outfit and her hair puff out behind herself before falling back down. It was humid and warm, sticky almost... but didn’t reek of dragon’s fire. The stench of burning ash, of sulfur and flint wasn’t there. Instead it smelt like normal breath, maybe with a tint of something... metallic?
That answered the question for her. She wouldn’t be cooked, this dragon didn’t breathe fire. The scale color wasn’t green so acid or poison was out of the question. There were rumors of blue scales that spat lightning from their maws, and bronze that would exhale a mist that would age everything caught within it until it turned to dust.
The dragon’s large tail swished out behind it. Red eyes glanced at it to see if it would impale her. Instead of bone spurs or jagged blades, she saw something so different she was positive she was imagining it. The tail tip looked like the end of a fountain pen. Split down the middle, with flat, slanted ends. There was even an inky substance dripping from it.
A History Eater? The tales of dragons were popular in the city ever since this beast moved nearby. Tales of different kinds of dragons were told by bards, who abused the people’s curiosity and fear to get coin for stories. She had heard many at the pub she danced and sang at. Legends of the different breeds, and of course the ones that she thought were made up.
An ink dragon, one that consumed the past and left nothing in its wake but emptiness to be filled by whatever found it first. These didn’t leave charred stone and burnt bodies, but nothingness. Towns were just gone, the items in it vanished, the buildings as if they were never there.
Or so the bards told their tale.
The beast before her lowered its head down to inspect the treasures laid out before it, as if they would be worthy of joining its horde. Nerissa made the mistake of meeting its eyes. They blinked... twice. Once with a clear film that closed horizontally across, followed by the actual vertical blink that she was used to.
She was going to throw up. The fear was reaching the point where she could barely breathe through her trembling body, her whole being locked in place waiting for a death that was cruelly taking its time. Nerissa forced herself to swallow a painful lump in her throat while lowering her head before the large beast before her.
There were sounds that she couldn’t describe coming from them. Her eyes stayed downwards, too scared to look back up. Magic was in the air now. As an elf she was able to feel it. Her race was one of the few in the world that could harness the power from leylines, to cast spells that could range from warming a cup of tea with a wave of a hand to slinging fireballs as a mage in the king’s army.
But this magic wasn’t hostile. It felt gentle, almost soft. Nothing dangerous, not something that would kill her. Nerissa lifted her head, and this time she froze in place not out of fear but of awe.
The dragon had changed. The magic she felt was that of a transformation. Instead of a being the size of a house she now saw a woman that would be comparable to their mid twenties. Not very tall, but oh so pretty. Their skin was fair, like the beings that didn’t go into the sun much. Muscles were toned without being too obvious with breasts that were large but didn’t have much jiggle.
One of the woman’s nipples was a pure ivory white while the other was a rich ebony, just like the patches of scales that decorated their body. Atop the back of their hands, down shins, along elbows, and tracing ribs, they had those scales. Tiny now, so small like snakeskin. Beneath their tummy at their pubic region, they had a patch above their mound. The white side of it stretched up and toward their hip while the black fell short and ended just where their crotch met leg.
Hair was much the same, half being a white so pure that it looked like snow fallen upon obsidian. It was styled in a way that reminded Nerissa of the jellyfish haircuts that were popular in town, only slightly messier as it was clear they cut it with their sharp fingernail-like claws.
“Bakugan anak turas shelacko?”
She blinked, stunned. This dragon had not only turned into a very pretty, very naked woman before her very eyes but was now speaking to her as well?
Two giant wings erupted from their back to flair out. The spine of them were both the same black as their scales but the webbing matched that of the white. Behind them a smaller version of their tail whipped around, slinging what she could only assume was ink across the dirt before the cave entrance.
“Sa’gurlash!”
Nerissa’s heart beat against her ribs, mind forcing herself to reply. “I- I-I can’t u-understand- y-y-you.”
They blinked again and now Nerissa saw that those golden eyes she saw before were still there. Intelligent, powerful, and now curious.
The dragon-woman stepped forward, their clawed feet leaving imprints that were too deep in the dirt for a woman of that size. “Shakulan?” They waited for an answer and Nerissa shook her head. Another few steps were taken to close the distance and now they were reaching for her, clawed hand moving to her face. The singer flinched but couldn’t move away, forced to have them turn her head and expose her elongated ears. “...Elven.”
Her breath caught. Slowly she turned to look at them when the hand holding her cheek let go. “Y-you speak elven?”
“I speak everything, woman. It is you who limit yourself to one language.” They stood up fully, body turning slightly to look toward the sun that had now crested. “I would have thought the Forlorn would have spread their language.”
Nerissa’s chin lifted, mouth working to answer before she thought better of it. “The Forlorn? They... they haven’t been around in over a hundred years.” She had been a child at that time, born right at the end of the war.
“Hmm... So humanity won that? I would have thought you were a slave being offered.”
Offered. She almost forgot why she was there when she realized that they could communicate. Her red eyes looked at them again, locking in on how the sunlight was refracted into rainbows upon the ground when shone through the webbing of their wings.
“I’m... not a slave. I... Humanity formed a pact with other races to defeat the Forlorn. We’re no longer at war.”
They huffed and turned back to her. “Clearly I am in need of more history. I slept for a few dozen years.” The dragon turned to look back at the cave. “Get up, come with me inside.”
Nerissa didn’t move at first, then fumbled forward when she forgot her limbs were bound. “Oof!” Her cheek stung from hitting the hard ground, legs and arms both numb.
A shadow covered the sun’s light. Strong hands grasped at her and the sound of breaking metal followed. Both wrists were gripped and held, metal biting into her skin as the cuffs were deformed around her. Ankles came next, leaving her with sore spots that she was sure would bruise but at least she was free now.
“Follow.” They said the word again, turning to walk toward the cave. “Do not run. If I have to chase my treasure, I will bind you again.”
“Your... treasure.”
The dragon snorted in annoyance, then turned to look over their shoulder, wings almost blocking the sight of their furrowed brows and angry expression. “You belong to me now. I will not have what is mine try to leave. Come, woman.”
“...Nerissa.” She fumbled upon herself trying to get up, steps weak like a newborn calf due to sitting there for so long in that position.
“Nerissa.” They said her name like they were tasting it. In the end, they smiled as if deeming it flavorful enough to grace their tongue. “My name is hard to pronounce by your language. Call me Shiori.”
“Shiori.” The dragon had a name, and she had been given it. Names weren’t given to people who were going to be eaten but now that put her into a whole new situation. If she wasn’t going to die... what was this dragon planning on doing with her?
There wasn’t a choice to be made. If she ran, she would be pounced and probably killed before she made it to the treeline. Staying felt just as bad of an option, but with the added caveat of staying alive. Currently she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
Her steps were much lighter than the dragon’s. Shiori’s prints were larger than her own, clawed and heavy, as if their mass was the same regardless of what shape their body took. The girl took one last look behind herself, at the small pile of offered treasure being left alone in the warming sunlight. Nobody would dare touch it, she was sure. Even the animals could probably sense the dragon’s power enough to stay away.
The inside of the cave felt cooler than the outside. Without the sun’s warmth the area around her began to feel more and more chilly as she went. Thankfully her eyes adjusted quickly due to her elven traits. Glow lichen was along the walls and floor, mixed with bioluminescent mushrooms and other kinds of strange fauna she wasn’t familiar with.
Soon she made the turn that she saw from outside of the cave and the change was immediate. The area was rapidly getting smaller, the ceiling as well as the walls shrinking in from massive dragon size to something more accommodating to someone Shiori’s height. It came down to an archway big enough to walk through side by side before immediately opening back up into a room that was clearly carved out with claws.
The floorplan wasn’t anything amazing, just a simple, single room with magical torches that burned with green fire. There was no smoke from them, or even heat from what she could tell. It did, however, illuminate the area in an almost ethereal glow. Along with strategically placed plants that also gave off light, it was easy to see everything. It could also be her elven dark sight that made it appear so well lit but she was sure dragons could see even better than her.
On the immediate left was a few step down into a half circle cut into the wall. A small trickle of water was running down the rock of the mountain, pooling into a dug out basin that had several barrels in them. The tops were just barely out of the water, each one looking like an artisan craftsman had made them.
From there Nerissa let her eyes roam the main area of the room. Bookshelves were everywhere. Embedded into the wall, free standing, making rows upon rows of shelves too tall to even reach. Beside the shelves was another step down area, this one in the middle of the room and able to be accessed by any area. It was there that Nerissa felt herself go still, feet stopping and staring with shaky breath.
Treasure. So much of it that she couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. The pile left outside wouldn’t even make a single percent of what she was looking at. It was mostly in golden coins but there were also precious gems scattered around, goblets, scepters, crows, and even decorative armor like a valkyrie would wear. There were rings, necklaces, bracelets, hair ornaments and so much more that she had to force herself to turn her gaze from it to Shiori.
The dragoness was kneeling down beside a chest, rooting through it and pulling up different fabrics. After what felt like ages, they finally stood up and began to change. Wings seemed to shift and move, allowing them to put on what she was now realizing was custom tailored clothing. The back of the dress Shiori wore was made to clasp closed at the shoulders, letting them pull it up and around the wings before fastening them.
“You have... clothes?” Her voice didn’t echo in the cave, instead sounding more crisp and clear than she was used to hearing.
“Of course I have clothes.” Shiori sounded offended. “I am aware of mankind’s obsession with decorating their bodies.” They faced her, now in a black evening gown that looked more at home at a royal wedding than lounging around in a cave. The fabric was loose and flowing, barely concealing their breasts. Cutouts were on the hips, allowing for just enough space for the scales to be seen. White on the right side and black on the left.
Nerissa stepped to the side so Shiori could walk past them and down into the mass of gold piled nearly as high as they were. The dragon turned and fell against it, body making something like a seat to rest off from shoving things away from her. Their brilliant yellow eyes met hers and a flash of annoyance went over their face. A hand pointed before them, at their feet, and Nerissa walked over.
It was awkward standing there, next to them, and it wasn’t until Shiori sighed out did she realize she was invited to sit with them. Carefully she moved to place herself beside them. She sat as delicately as possible as to not move the coins or make the spot go from a makeshift seat into a landslide of gold.
“You have a lot of confidence sitting next to a dragon.”
She stalled. Again. “B-but you invited me to sit with you?”
“I meant at my feet. Isn’t that what humans do with their pets?”
“Pet!?” The absurdity of it forced her to talk before she could stop herself. “I’m not your pet, I’m an elf!”
“You are mine, therefore you are my pet.” Shiori’s words hardened, eyes narrowing.
Nerissa opened her mouth to reject the idea but stopped herself before she could backtalk the dragon. She didn’t want to push her luck any more than she already had but at the same time the idea of being called a pet wasn’t something she enjoyed.
Shiori didn’t seem to mind that Nerissa stayed next to her, simply leaning back on their self made throne of gold and crossing their legs knee over knee. The movement was graceful and fluid, despite the dress being a hindrance. “Tell me, pet, what happened in the last hundred or so years in the region?”
Nerissa decided to just answer instead of trying to fight the new nickname given to her. “The Forlorn invasion war was won. Many kingdoms signed peace treaties with those who fought together. The ones that were weakened by conflict were assimilated into the courts of others and new kings have risen to power.”
“I see... and what kingdom is the most powerful at the moment?”
Nerissa thought about that. Politics weren’t her strong suit but she had heard many people talk at the places she often danced and sang at. “I believe our kingdom here has the most land but as for power... The Bloodflame kingdom to the west is small but mighty. I hear they don’t discriminate between races, and even those of monster blood are welcomed.”
“Hm... I’ll need to get some history books to read then. Sounds interesting.”
There was a moment of silence between them, lingering like an uneasy weight upon Nerissa’s shoulders. “Uhm... Do you read often?”
“Yes.”
She fidgetted then tried again. “What do you like to read?”
“Everything.”
Nerissa slowly inhaled and tried once more, this time being more specific. “What genre of books do you enjoy reading more than others?”
“Oh. Are you asking about my preferences?"
“Yes.” This dragon was both intelligent as well as stupid. Maybe it came from being asleep for so long, or possibly because they don’t interact with the other races often.
“I read history. Humans’ lives are so short you miss them in a blink. They try to do so much in such a short amount of time. Elves have a unique spin to their tales but they are more fancy and favorable to them than facts. Gnomes are uninteresting, as they only speak of war and technology no other races use. Dwarves only live to mine but humans tend to create things that are amusing in an attempt to pass on their stories.”
Nerissa nodded to herself while trying to get comfortable on the seat of coins. In the end, she moved too much and caused the spot she was on to slip and force her to slide downwards to the floor.
Shiori looked amused and suddenly Nerissa felt like she was a small animal being laughed at for doing something silly. “Ah-hem!” She stood with a small cough. “Well then... Shiori... May I ask what your plans are with me?”
Those golden eyes stared at her as if they were processing the question. “Isn’t it obvious? I will keep you here with me. You are mine. Part of my horde. My treasure.”
Being called someone’s treasure might have once made her heart flutter but right now it felt like a weight upon her stomach. “You can’t be serious. Do you intend to make me your slave?”
“My pet,” they answered again. “Has the elven language changed in these years? Do you not understand what I mean when I call you my pet?”
Now she was just getting annoyed. “I am no one’s pet. I am my own being, my own life, and I will not belittle myself to be considered someone’s plaything for amusement.”
Shiori lifted a clawed finger to point at them. “When I was last awake, girls wore clothing similar to that when entertaining people. Are you not an entertainer?”
“Well- I mean, yes-”
“Do you not use your body to bring others amusement?”
She was flustered, cheeks darkening in confused anger. “I do, but it’s not-”
“Then you are a source of entertainment and amusement for me. A pet.”
“I am an elven woman!”
Shiori’s eyes narrowed. “I see no difference.”
Nerissa glared down at them, choices being muddled by the frustration she had. If she had to pick between running and being a dragon’s plaything then she would at least die with her dignity. “Then you clearly don’t understand what it means to have someone of equal value to yourself. I will not stay with someone who doesn’t see me for what I am.”
With those words, Nerissa turned and began to walk toward the entrance of the room. Step after step was taken, the distance being halved before she heard coins rustling from Shiori standing up. In the very next instant she felt something around her neck. Pressure closed in around her throat and she was jerked backwards to tumble onto the cold, stone floor of the cave floor.
Hands scrambled to her throat, pulling at the band of inky blackness that was wrapped around it. From her new, magical collar, she saw a leash running up toward Shiori’s palm, where they stood up above her.
“I will not let my pet run away from me.”
“Woman.” Nerissa forced herself to her feet, standing above Shiori and glaring down at them even as the collar tightened. “I am a woman. Not a pet!”
“Woman, then.” Shiori growled, the leash slowly pulling with enough force to make her bend down so they were on eye level. “Nerissa. Woman. Mine.”
Hands went up to tug at the collar as it tightened more. Air became scarce, her vision started to blur, and a ragged, choked gasp failed to fill her lungs as much as she wanted. “It... hurts...”
The pressure was gone so fast that she stumbled forward into the awaiting arms of the dragon. Shiori held her close in a hug, one hand moving to her head to ruffle her hair. “Apologies. I held no intention to hurt. I did not consider my force to be that strong.”
Ruby red eyes closed, teeth clenching at the pampering. It was clear she couldn’t leave, that she was now a prisoner in this cave, to this arrogant, egotistical dragon lady. “Don’t do it again,” she coughed her words out bitterly, attempting to be threatening but failing.
“I will not.”
Nerissa pulled from the embrace, looking at the golden eyes of the humanoid figure before her with confusion. “Wait a second... did you just say that you... wouldn’t?”
“Of course not. I do not wish for my treasure to be tarnished.” Shiori’s head tilted up to look at them, sincerity and honesty hanging onto each word they spoke. “I take care of what is mine. You are part of me now, and I will not harm you intentionally.”
“... Promise?”
Shiori frowned. “I do not need to promise, woman. I spoke, therefore it is so.”
She swallowed thickly. “Then... If I say I want to go outside this cave, will you use force to keep me in?”
“If you understand that you belong here, then you may leave freely and come back when done.”
“...And if I do not return?”
“I will retrieve you.” Their tail flicked out behind them in a whip so strong it made golden coins scatter from where it came close to the treasure in the room. “By any means possible.”
Nerissa watched her captor closely. The words were spoken as if they were facts instead of a threat. As if someone would state the weather outside or what they would be having for dinner that evening. There was no malice in it, no intent to harm or intimidate. “So... just so we’re on the same page here...” Nerissa stepped back from them to gain a little distance and was allowed to do so. “You don’t intend to kill me?”
“I just explained to you that I would not allow harm to come to you. Did you not understand that?”
Instead of answering, she asked another question. “You won’t eat me?”
A huff. “I do not eat humans. Nothing but bones and fat.”
“And... as long as I say I will come back here, you will let me... walk away?”
Shiori let her wings unfurl from their back. The slits in the dress made it possible to do so without the slightest bit of tugging. Their wingspan was so large, possibly a bit longer than they were tall. The glow in the cave from all the different sources of light seemed to make the white part of the webbing dance with swirls of colors.
“If you intend to go into the forest, I will accompany you. If you just want to walk around in my home, I will let you go alone. There is nothing inside here that can hurt you.”
“...The things that were brought with me... the food and treasure. I am hungry, so could I go get something to eat?”
“I am going to use that as bait for prey. If you are hungry, then eat from my food stores.” Shiori pointed to the section of the large room where it stepped down into water.
Her eyes followed the gesture. The green illumination made the water almost look like poison. Nerissa still walked to where she was implied she should go and knelt by the edge of the water so she could dip a finger into it.
Cold. It was shockingly cold. Now that she thought about it, the water for the nearby village came from somewhere around this mountain. ‘I wonder what the village would think if they knew their drinking water passed through the dragon’s cave before reaching them...’ With that thought lingering, Nerissa pulled one of the barrels closer so she could pry up the lid.
Salted meat, preserved and chilled. The second barrel contained fruits that were common for snackinging while a third contained more meats, although larger cuts, and cured. This dragon was clever. The mass of bookshelves should have been a give away but they seemed to know a lot about human culture and methods to elongate the shelf life of food.
“Do you not eat your meat raw?” She asked it while pulling out two apples.
“I do, but I have come to like what humans consider to be seasonings. I have herbs drying as well.” Shiori looked at her elf’s offering when they got closer. An apple was being held out toward her as if she couldn’t have gotten it herself. “Why are you giving me this? You already belong to me, you do not need to make offerings.”
“It is called being polite. I went to get food so I brought one back for you. If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it.” Shiori looked at the apple for a moment more as if judging it. Then, with smooth grace, they took it from Nerissa’s palm and bit a quarter of it in one chomp. The elf was going to mention the rude manors but decided to instead focus on eating the fruit in her hands.
“So why were you brought to me?” Shiori breached the topic with a casualness that bewildered the dancer.
“I... I was supposedly an offering,” she admitted, her voice small against the cavernous silence. “The royal city sent me to satisfy your hunger... so you’d stop terrorizing their livestock and people.”
Shiori took another massive chomp, devouring another quarter of the apple in a single motion. “So humanity believes a meager snack and a single soul bought them a reprieve from my appetite? Do they truly possess such little intellect?” A third bite followed with no regards to the seeds or the core and Nerissa found herself captivated by the sight of Shiori’s teeth. They weren’t flat like a human’s, but were instead rows of lethally sharpened points glinting in the green firelight or the magical torches.
“Believe me, if I had my say in it, nobody would have been ripped from their home and...” Nerissa’s voice began to waver. Saying it aloud made new thoughts come to her mind. Now that she wasn’t in immediate fear of dying she had other problems. She had a home in the castle city. It was small, but it was hers. She had furniture in it, a bed, food, clothing... her life was there.
“...Why are you making such a face?” Shiori ate the last bite of apple and reached to touch Nerissa’s cheek with the same hand that had juice from the fruit as well as sharp claws. The touch was surprisingly gentle, much like the hug that had been given after realizing they had unintentionally harmed her.
“Just... realizing that everything I ever owned... everything I worked so hard for... is all gone now.” Her eyes turned to the room entrance, looking at the archway leading out longingly. “Everything I did for the past several years... all the work I put in... all of it is gone now...” They slowly turned back to the dragon who was still caressing her cheek. “I’m here now...”
“I understand. If my horde was taken from me then I would not feel nice either.”
Nerissa scoffed out something that resembled a laugh without the joy behind it. Both hands reached up to remove Shiori’s clawed grasp of her cheek so she could move more freely. “You have your horde. I have nothing now.”
“You are my horde.” Shiori’s golden eyes narrowed once more, her massive wings unfurling and stretching wide as if to physically manifest the weight of her promise to provide.
“This endless sea of gold cannot offer me a bed,” Nerissa countered, her voice echoing slightly. “It will not dress me, and it certainly won’t offer the slightest bit of comfort.”
“Is this a challenge you are posing to me, pet?”
“Nerissa.” She held her ground, her tone firm and unyielding. “Not pet. I gave you my name, Shiori. Would you appreciate it if I addressed you only as dragon throughout every conversation we have?”
“I... would not like that.” Shiori’s shoulders rolled and the wings began to curl up closer to their body once more. “Fine then. Nerissa, do you not think I can provide for my...” They hesitated, then met ruby eyes with intimidating, fierce gold. “My woman?”
Once upon a time hearing that would have made her swoon. To be so fiercely referred to as someone else’s was her dream since she was a young lady. Yet hearing it from a dragon was different. It still scratched some fairy tale princess dream she had but at the same time Shiori meant it as property instead of lover.
She sighed. “Will you give me a bed then? Clothing?”
“Yes.” Shiori said it bluntly, as if it were that simple. “What do you desire for clothing?” She looked over their body, eyes racking over the exposed skin and flashy attire. “Dancing clothes?”
Nerissa rolled her eyes. “I worked as a dancer and singer to buy the things I lost. If I could choose, I would...I don’t know, wear the silken gowns of the nobles. Have pretty dresses to make myself feel good as well as daily clothing that-- where are you going?” Nerissa turned to watch the dragon walk beside her toward the entryway.
“Out.” Shiori looked back over her shoulder. “Do not leave while I am away.”
“...I could just go, and you’d never find me if I had a headstart. You expect me to stay?”
“Yes.” Shiori stopped at the archway and spoke again. “I know your scent, Nerissa. I can find you anywhere in the kingdom. If you leave before I return then I will simply pick you up on the way back, as many times as it takes, until you realize that you belong here.”
“...Ugh, just go.” Nerissa walked toward the mass of treasure in the middle of the room. There wasn’t much else to do in that cave besides look through it, so that’s what she would do. “I’m going to mess up your horde, just so you know I’m upset at you for keeping me here.”
Shiori smiled to herself. “You are my horde. Anything you see is yours. Anything you want, you will have.” With that, they left.
And she was alone. Standing in a cave illuminated by magic, before a pile of treasure that would make the kingdom’s coffers feel inferior. For a moment she wondered if what Shiori told her was true or not. If she ran, right now, how far would she get before Shiori found her? Could the dragon really sniff her out like that?
Then again, the miner village nearby saw her being transported that morning. The people there knew there was a sacrifice to a dragon, that Nerissa’s death would possibly grant them the dragon’s favor and therefore make them not live in fear. If she left, she couldn’t seek a town’s aid. She wouldn’t be welcome anywhere, as a runaway sacrifice would be believed to end their town.
Wolves would hunt her down and she wouldn’t be able to make a name for herself again if anyone recognized her, either. So instead of running, she began to look through the pile. Most of it was awe inspiring at first, then quickly began to lose its meaning. All the money in the world and nothing to spend it on.
"What is the value in this if it just sits here?" Nerissa muttered, the weight of her predicament pressing down on her. With a heavy exhale, she let herself drop against the massive hoard, the metal clinking and shifting beneath her weight. She watched as one stray gold piece broke away, rolling across the smooth stone for several yards before it began to wobble into a broad, rhythmic loop.
The ground beneath her was perfectly flat. It was a detail she had overlooked in her earlier panic, but now that the immediate terror had subsided, she realized the cave floor was unlike any natural stone she had encountered. Near the entrance, the path remained rugged and scarred, worn down by the heavy passage of iron-wheeled carts and the rhythmic strike of dwarven tools from the mine's glory days. However, this inner area, where Shiori had painstakingly hollowed out her own personal domain, possessed a finish as smooth as polished glass.
“Melted?” Nerissa ran her fingers over the floor. Her own voice felt nice in her ears, something to combat the steady sound of water trickling into the small well off to the side. “No, melting would still be wavy...” She thought back to the glass blowers of the castle town. Their craft took years of practice to make smooth surfaces that didn’t ripple. Either Shiori had a technique to smooth the finish, or maybe the legends of the History Eaters were true.
Maybe Shiori could just carve out rock and make it vanish. They could transform their body from the size of one of the buildings back in the city to that of a small girl so maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched to imagine them making their home more pleasant to live in. Curiosity was pulling at her to explore. Maybe it was trying to keep her mind busy so she didn’t think about her situation or maybe she just really wanted to know more, but soon she was pulling a flickering green torch from the wall to carry out of the entryway to the room.
The main mining area was vast and deep, going farther than her torch could illuminate. The nearby areas were more interesting to her as a whole anyway. There was a room on the far side of the cave, much like the one she just came from. It was a leftover section from when the cave was mined, a hollowed out expanse with supporting logs along the walls and ceiling.
Lamps hung from the rafters and were spaced evenly upon the support structures lining the long room. It was probably a break room for the workers, a place to get away from the loud noises and the dust. Nerissa lifted a hand toward the lights to focus her magical energy. As expected, green lights flickered into existence. They were enchanted by the dragon as well, able to burn using energy in the air and the simplest of cantrips.
The space had been repurposed, although a bit crudely, to become a drying room. Shanks of animals hung from hooks, wrapped and smelling heavily of salt. ‘She must clean her kills somewhere nearby and preserve them here... When she wants food she will carry it to the cold barrels for easy access. A dragon could eat anything before it spoiled, let alone being preserved like this.’
Shiori was turning out to be something of an anomaly. Despite being a dragon they had adapted to advancements mankind has made. All the stories she had heard had been of dragons having pride and sentience but stubborn to change. Seeing a dragon not only adapt but incorporate the world around them into their very living space was surprising.
‘Maybe that’s why she wasn’t fast to simply kill me... and using the food left outside the cave to attract animals closer to her home to hunt shows thoughtfulness that a predator that size wouldn’t normally need to survive.’
Nerissa waved her hand again, cutting off the flow of magic to the lights. She turned to go back toward the main living area, this time heading toward the back of the space to inspect the miniature library. Books upon books were neatly placed upon the platforms. The spines varied wildly from the common language to dwarven, elven, orcish, and even troll. Although she couldn’t actually read said titles, she could make them out enough to understand that the books were sorted in some kind of interlacing theme.
A hand carefully reached for one book to pull from the shelf. The cover was almost like new, leatherbound with freshly trimmed pages and a spine that showed signs of use without the age that the yellowed pages possessed. It was recently rebound and restored, defying the aged content within it. An elvish cook book, mostly focusing on butchering and preservation.
Shiori obviously knew how to do it so the book appeared to be more of a keepsake than a necessity. An important book, preserved in the horde. Even something as simple as cooking instructions were given value by the dragon. She slid the book back onto the shelf carefully, respecting the care it was given.
The exact amount of time Shiori was gone wasn’t known but she had treated herself to the food barrels once again and was about to start going through the books again when she heard the loud crunching sound of crushed dirt and rock echoing inside of the cave. Her first instinct was to hide, which was quickly changed into realization that doing that would be the worst thing she could choose.
“Nerissa!” Shiori’s voice was loud and gruff, almost animalistic in how it growled through the rock of the floor. More sounds of clattering followed the call, doing nothing to help ease the fears of being presented with her situation yet again. “Come here!”
She was being called, and she would be tracked eventually, so the elf did what she could to gather her courage and start to walk from the room. Looking outside from within was a lot different from the other way around. She could see the outside world clearly and what was waiting for her around that corner was jarring to her senses.
Shiori loomed on all fours at the cave entrance, her vast wingspan unfurled to cast a massive shadow over the items she had retrieved. Wrapped around the items were what appeared to be royal tapestries, high-quality fabrics that Nerissa recognized from her visits to noble courts. These banners, once symbols of prestige, had been repurposed into a makeshift sling that now slid from the dragon’s powerful neck as they settled onto the dirt.
The sight filled the elf with a now-familiar, bewildered awe. Shiori had evidently found a way to bypass the limitations of their larger form by utilizing whatever was at hand. While the method was undeniably crude, the sheer ingenuity behind it was staggering. This beast wasn’t a mindless engine of destruction; she was a creature of calculated solutions, preferring to preserve what she desired rather than tearing it to shreds, much like the archive of tomes within their lair.
The bounty laid out before Nerissa was truly remarkable. A wardrobe lay on its side, a door having swung open to reveal a chaotic tangle of silken gowns fit for a queen. Beside it sat two matching chests, their ornate metalwork and polished wood suggesting they held even more of the same.
The most imposing addition, however, had been secured beneath the dragon’s belly with those same castle banners: a magnificent bedframe. Shiori lowered it to the ground with surprising delicacy before the magic of transformation took hold, her form shrinking down once more into that of the pretty, golden-eyed woman. With her wings tucked and a single, proud sweep of her arm, she presented the haul. “Attire and a place for your rest, as you requested.”
“You... you fetched all this... simply because I expressed a need?” Nerissa’s hand trembled as she reached out to graze the dark, polished mahogany of the bedframe. The structure was somewhat disheveled, with the mattress askew and silken linens snagged precariously around the base, yet it remained remarkably whole. A handful of nails and some focused effort would easily mend the sturdy wood, returning it to a state of grandeur suitable for a sovereign.
“My treasure required comfort, so I procured it." Shiori’s chin tilted upward, not in a plea for praise, but with a comfortable, casual arrogance. “Exactly as I promised.”
“Procured...” A cold shiver of realization traced its way down her spine. “Shiori... where exactly did these come from?”
“There is a stronghold several miles to the west.” A sharp, dark claw gestured toward the distant horizon. “I surveyed the chambers from above until I located a set of furnishings worthy of my horde, then I claimed them.”
Nerissa swallowed down the lump of fear that had been forming since they began their tale. “And... what became of the guards who were protecting that stronghold?”
“I refrained from killing them, if that is your concern. I do not wish my presents to you to be stained with blood.”
“So they just... allowed you to fly off with their belongings?”
“They did not stop me.” Shiori’s brow furrowed, a flicker of irritation crossing her features. “I have fulfilled your desires, yet you meet my generosity with suspicion? Is this an elven trait I am not aware of?”
“No! No, I...” Both hands waved out defensively. “I just... never had anyone give me something before, so I...” She tried really hard not to enjoy the fact that these things were taken by force in her name. That was a dangerous path to go down but all her life she had worked for everything she had, sang until her voice was raw and danced until her muscles ached. Not once was something freely given to her, let alone so dramatically plucked from some noblewoman to be flown miles and miles just to please her...
The realization dawned that she might actually be relishing this. Just a bit. A minuscule, hidden corner of her soul felt a surge of gratification that the arrogant royals, those who had callously marked her as a sacrifice, had been plundered for her enjoyment. That spark within her flared until she viewed the scattered finery with a fresh sense of appreciation. Not only had Shiori acted for her, but in doing so, the dragoness had granted her a taste of vengeance as well.
“You know what?” Her hands settled upon her hips, a genuine smile tugging at her lips as she looked up at the golden-eyed beast. “Thank you.”
Shiori’s tail flashed out behind them, scuffing the dirt in a streak of pride. “Come, let’s move this into the cave so we can arrange it in a manner that is to your liking.”
Her liking. Her desire. Her choice.
This dragon was lifting a heavy wooden wardrobe filled with stolen clothing to haul it into the place where she would now be living. In having her belongings taken from her, in being sacrificed to this beast, she had also somehow been given a new home.
“Shiori?”
“Yes, Nerissa?” Golden eyes flickered back toward the elf, a hint of annoyance surfacing at the interruption of her labor, though she remained attentive to the woman’s voice.
“Thank you.”
“You have already voiced your gratitude, woman. Do not linger; follow me.”
Nerissa gathered an armful of the scattered silks and hurried forward, her own lighter steps struggling to keep pace with the heavy, rhythmic thrum of the dragon’s stride. “I’m coming!”
Maybe this new life wouldn’t be so bad.