Lovely Dark Things

TWENTY-SIX (ISELEN POV)

"Well, we meet again so soon..." Urian smiles mischievously at the top of the staircase but I don't answer because I'm out of breath, to be honest, despite I train with the Assassin every day and I think I'm in good shape. Baalberith fortress needs elevators, definitely, but I feel better when I realize that Ruby's breathing heavily too after climbing up thousands of steps. "Welcome..."

Seraphon enjoys a big room on top of a circular tower with a vaulted ceiling but it barely has walls because windows are massive, with small balconies without a railing that allow the dragon to take off and land easily. Baalberith's views are breathtaking from here, the ocean, the mountains... I clench my jaw when feeling the ice cold wind that brings snowflakes and stay close to the door, I'm scared that a powerful gust of wind throws me through a window if I'm standing in the middle of the room, and I'm scared of the dragon too, of course.

The animal is lying on one side close to a window and watches me with malice while I swallow hard. It's big, terrifying, a single fang is as tall as me and he wouldn't even need to open his mouth wide to eat me in one bite... Besides, it reeks of sulphur every time he breathes... Or maybe that awful smell comes from the chunks of rotting flesh and bones scattered around the room: I refuse to look at them to confirm that the bones are human, this isn't the right time to have a panic attack. His body is covered with scales that look black but sparkle in a dark green shade under the torches of witch fire and the razor-sharp claws have scratched the entire stone floor, although I can't see them now because they're hidden under his body. And yet, he's oddly beautiful. Sublime.

"Don't worry, Seraphon won't hurt you. I've told him who you are and what you're doing here so, well, he'll never be your friend but knows you're useful and you won't become his breakfast. He also knows you're loyal to the King, despite being human... that's important to him." Urian tilts his head pointing at the dragon and I nod but can't say I feel more comfortable than before despite his kind words.

"All right, thank you. Judging by what you're saying, Seraphon is a smart animal that understands complex commands..." I whisper hesitating and Ruby chuckles behind me.

"Babe, take a look at the size of his head, a brain bigger than the one of a dog fits inside there for sure." I look back over my shoulder at the Assassin, getting angry when I realize she's making fun of me, and I shrug.

"Size doesn't matter: lot of people with big heads are dumb," I answer bitterly before sighing and getting a little closer to the animal trying to ignore the stench of rotten eggs. The dragon monitors my movements with his eyes carefully, beautiful golden yellow eyes. "Hello, Seraphon. The King ordered me to improve this nest but I don't know what you need exactly..." I shut my mouth, scared, when I realize the animal is raising his head although keeping his eyes fixed on me and, suddenly, he lies on the floor face up with his claws up in the air and starts twisting to rub his back against the floor stones like a mangy dog would do.

"Oh, wow, so that's it..." Urian opens his mouth wide open in surprise before nodding. "A pool of hot sand."

"Sorry, what?" I ask baffled.

"Dragons come from desert areas, although they have adapted well to be able to live in mountains and forests too, but the truth is that what they love the most is to roll around on hot sand to clean their scales... they don't like water and soap, I'm afraid."

"Okay... What you want is sand, lots of sand..." I look at the animal out of the corner of my eye and he moves his head abruptly as if he were nodding before lying down again, watching me till I feel on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Sand is heavy..." I mumble pensively while wandering around the room staring at the ceiling and the floor, dodging rotted flesh chunks, grazing the walls near the door with my fingertips and getting closer to one of the balconies carefully, it's too windy and I'm afraid of falling if I get too close to the edge. "I'll be right back..."