Dragon Wings

A Dream

It was cold in the cave now. The fire had gone out long ago which had forced the young girl to get closer to her captor. No one would've believed dragons still existed, or that they ever did. Only Anastasia knew for she wandered in the cave like a fool. It was cold and hard on the floor...leftover smoke was in the air. If she had just stayed away, just followed the path, she wouldn't be in this mess. She didn't understand why a huge, scaly, winged creature would love her as it claims. It has tried touching her in its humanoid form as well. This it was a dragon. He was red scaled with emerald eyes. Against his scales, you could feel his heat. It suited the fire-breathing kidnapper. His teeth were sharp and long. His claws were longer and if it weren't for the fact he "loves" her she would easily die in their clutches.

It was Spring. She knew he would touch her but what happened earlier was dreadful. He didn't even change to his humanoid form!

I could still feel the numbness and hot liquid!

I let myself sink. Everything is better when I'm unconscious. The sweet bliss of relief when I have no touch of reality. Nothing but the sweet black canvas of nothing as I'm pulled away from the obsessive and psychotic dragon.

This, however, wasn't normal. I knew it was fake. It was as if I was in the sky. Nothing but more clouds and blue sky. It was calming. Safe. I wish I could be something as simple as a cloud. They come and go, seeing the world as they float in the sky. They block the sun and cry their tears that we call rain. They could be sad, but that's just rain. They could be angry but that's why lightning strikes. They could be yelling, but that is why thunder is loud. They bring great shade against the harmful rays of heat that the sun casts upon all creatures. Isn't that beautiful? They're soft looking selves are filled with water but the eyes deceive us to see something like a cushion covers. If we could we would lie on a cloud for hours on end. Is that all they are? Maybe it is. Maybe that's why it's easy for them to drift onward in their own direction until they die. What beautiful bliss is that?

"You are quite unhappy, young lady." Said a sweet and tender voice said. I turned around in this cloud-filled paradise and saw a beautiful woman. Her eyes were an unnaturally blue with golden wavy hair that mid-lower back. Her clothes reminded me of someone of regal standing, of a noble class. They hugged her hips nicely but still held this modest appearance. She wore sapphire earrings and a sapphire necklace. The finishing touch was the matching dark blue boots she wore. If she wore any makeup I'd say it would be mostly natural except her lips, as they were a cherry red.

"How do you know?" I replied to her. She smiled sadly, this surface of worry trapped in her eyes that dove into my soul like blue dolphins. "You're eyes show longing by looking at a single cloud, your eyes mirror those who lost something, and your voice is quite soft." The woman replied. My voice had softened. Should I tell her my grievance, my current toil? Would she care, if this is really just my mind playing games on me? "For good reason," I stated. If she stopped now, then it would show how much a dream this place was. The silence was unbearable until she felt her hand on my shoulder. Even her nails looked beautiful, long and coated in a dark blue nail polish and black decorations over it. They gleamed as if they were gems. "To what reason are you unhappy, dear child?" She asked. My questions unfolded as to why she was here. Or I, for that matter. Had my head finally gone insane? Did I need to desperately escape that I imagined this woman? Someone who thought this is unjustified and cruel? I don't even know why I continue to answer. Perhaps I needed to talk to someone. Yes, I did feel the need to talk to anyone but Zuforos. It was practically a thirst, a hunger, at this point. I looked back up to her enchanting face and said:

"My captor has kept me for 7 years. I'm still the age as I was, as he claims those who he keeps close lose the ability to age. He keeps me like a little doll or treasure and won't let me leave. After all my escape attempts I've given up."

She looked sad as the frown made its way onto her lips. Her eyes changed from a gentle pool to a raging ocean of blue. The look of anger didn't suit her, no it looked terrifying. "You've been kidnapped for...seven years?" She said, in not disbelief, but fire hot anger. The clouds around us darkened. The baby blue sky quickly dived into the deepest darkest blue. The clouds were far wetter. Were they weeping their tears for me? She looked back at me, her eyes showing her anger, but her body showed how calm she was trying to be. In a soft, kind, and gentle voice she said "I can offer you a way to escape. However, there is a cost to this. In order for me to save you, I must know your name. The true cost is you'll never return to your world. You will never see your family or friends again. However, this isn't the only cost you would have to pay," she fidgeted a little before saying "you would also have to give up your life as a full born human. You would have to be changed into your captor's very species, but not completely. If you were to choose this, where he would naturally be a dragon, yours would be the humanoid form dragons sometimes take."

Her words gave me hope but also none at all. My friends? Family? Never to see them again in this lifetime? That would be terrible. Where was this safety? It was obvious she meant I'd never return to this world. Was there another place for me? And I would have to become a part of Zuforos's kind? Yet...it made sense. Zuforos never said dragons can travel between worlds. Perhaps they can't. Going to another world was the only way to escape, to find my freedom. My freedom or humanity in a sense? I thought it through...yes. This is the only way I'll be torn from that beast.

"Please. I do not care about the cost if it means freedom from him. I will pay any cost to get away from Zuforos." Her eyes gleamed at my choice. Her smile was truly beautiful. Was she the sun in this sky full of clouds? That's another reason I'm jealous of the clouds. Could I be a cloud? They can be with the sun all day and can hide it when it wants to not be seen. They can have all the stars in the sky to themselves. The moon was safe with the clouds and the two beautiful and radiant orbs take care of the clouds until they reach the end of their journey and the new ones wake in their death.

"What is your name, Child?" she asked kindly. "Anastasia," I responded. Her smile was so bright, showing her snow-white teeth. Her hands glowed and I was enraptured by its light.

 Heat flooded into me and k-nine teeth felt pain. My back and lower half felt like something was drilling through muscle and flesh. My skin on my arms and legs burned like nothing I felt. I screamed and wept and struggled. The pain was almost unbearable. Then I felt the tears on my back begin to burst and blood coated the sky, however, this was the beginning. My lower half followed the wings and the heat extended into the new limbs I had acquired.  I saw red in the sky like the sun was going to bed. My clothing, which had been rags at this point, changed. It was silky and soft. It was a distraction from the searing pain that surged through my body. It felt like the skin was hardening on my arms and legs. The milky feeling flooded on the new limbs I had been gifted and then the sudden burn that had relaxed on my arms shot onto the new limbs.  I needed freedom... This was just the price of freedom. This had to be real. Then everything stopped and the final proof that this was real was when I hear Zuforos's cries as I fell into a new world.

"Th reserve is your location. Roxy and her egg are the only dragons besides you, Anastasia." 

Those were the woman's last words to me.