Chapter 24 - Lily

My appetite is non-existent as I stare at the bowl of porridge blankly. It’s only my tummy that rumbles because I haven’t had a morsel of food since the snack bar.

This morning? Afternoon? Last night?

I’m not even sure of the time or how long I’d been unconscious before waking up. My concept of time is blurred. I can only tell that it’s morning because of the meal option in front of me.

Without craving the food, I drag the tray over and pick up the spoon. Memories of my time in Aurora Island come rushing back. And though I didn’t have much time to explore the island itself, just gazing at it from the balcony was a thousand times better than this.

Being locked in some dreary dungeon, treated like a prisoner in a maximum security prison. With a foul-smelling guard whose eyes twinkle at me like I’m next on his list of meal choices.

As I push aside any thoughts of the vile man—who I’m still convinced is not a dragon—I bring to mind my only saving grace in all of this.

Draco…

His face appears in my mind, and when I open my eyes, I can conjure his image in front of me. Lifting a weak hand in the air, I reach out and touch his cheek.

Though it’s only air running through my fingers, I imagine the heat of his flesh. The warmth I’d grown accustomed to. The flushed skin beneath my touch. Sighing with a heavy heart, I tilt my head to one side and fondly gaze at him with a smile.

“Hey,” I whisper with a frail voice, a lump lodging in my throat. My eyes glaze with moisture, threatening to sever the image of his face I’d manifested with my thoughts.

Because of this, I sniff back on my tears and refuse to cry. I don’t want to lose this picture of him, alive in my imagination and breathing the same air as I am.

His eyes flit to the bowl on my lap. “You need to eat,” he says, his voice echoing in my eardrums.

I’m too fixated on being able to hear his voice. Even if it’s unclear, I hold onto it like a thread of hope.

“Lily…” he husks, and I feel immersed in his voices comfort.

“Draco…” I whisper with a smile. When his eyes flit to the bowl again, I sigh.

He’s right. Draco is right even if he isn’t real and just a figment of my imagination. And that’s what prompts me to lift a spoonful of porridge to my lips.

The voice I hear sounds like Dracos, and it might just be my own inner voice. The voice of reason that reminds me that I need to fill my tummy. It seems to have a life of its own, growling as the porridge goes down my throat. As if thanking me for the food.

It isn’t much in terms of taste. But as Draco watches me intently, I find the courage to keep eating.

When I’m done, I set the bowl down on the floor. Draco nods to show me he’s proud, and pride fills my chest as I take a deep breath.

“I’m glad you listened,” he praises.

“I had to. It is for my own good, isn’t it?” I muse.

Draco chuckles, the sound reverberating in my chest. As if his spirit were inside me, offering me comfort during this helpless time.

“There’s something else you should do,” he says as he pats his thigh where he’s sitting cross-legged on the floor. “You should rest. You hardly got any sleep since you arrived.”

I agree with a nod. I shuffle across the floor, laying my head on his thigh. It’s soft and warm—a stark contrast to the cold concrete. Even if it’s just imaginary, and what I’m really lying on is my arm.

It’s alright to pretend. Even if it’s just for a moment…

***

That moment turns into much longer than just a moment. It’s only interrupted by the heavy footsteps resounding in the gloomy expanse of the dungeon.

These steps are only recognizable because they’re the only footsteps I’ve heard since I arrived here. Since I’ve been locked in this prison cell. As I clamber to my feet, those treacherous footsteps grow louder until the burly man appears before me.

“You’re awake, slut,” he remarks, chewing on the matchstick between his teeth. When he notices my emotionless expression, he smirks. “Relax that mouth of yours and give me a smile, will ya?” he chuckles as he lifts the bundle of keys and dangles them in front of my face. “I’m gonna let you out.”

“You are?” I perk up, a sudden burst of hope shooting through me. I had no hope of ever seeing beyond these four gloomy, gray walls. And now I’m being let out?

Even if I don’t know what lies beyond this dungeon, any kind of freedom is hopeful. Perhaps I might find a way off this island…

“Oh, of course!” the man bellows, grumbling with laughter from deep in his belly. He leans his face forward, voice dropping lower when he says, “But first, you’re gonna have to do something for me.”

When he winks and flashes his nauseatingly yellowing teeth at me, my tummy churns. Stifling the urge to gag, I take a step back.

“I’m not doing anything for you,” I retort with a roll of my eyes. That’s when the guard reaches between the metal bars and grabs me by the collar of my blouse. He yanks me abruptly, pulling me to the bars.

“Yes, you are…” he growls with the stench of his breath poisoning my airways. “You’re gonna do exactly as I say, or—”

He doesn’t get to complete the rest of his threat when the wall on the left side of the dungeon comes crashing in. Bricks, plaster, and dust all go flying through the air. When the guard releases his grip on me, I’m able to shield my eyes from the impact of the breaking wall.

Then I heard the roaring howl reminiscent of the ones I’d heard in Aurora Island. My heart skips a beat in time with the flap of large, magnificent wings. That’s when hope truly lifts my lips into a smile, and I open my eyes to the sight of the glorious golden dragon hovering at the gaping hole.

“Draco!” I cry out as relief washes over me.

“Lily!” His relief is evident in his voice—a voice that only fills my mind. He doesn’t need to move his lips. I can see that relief in his dragon eyes, the amber circles around his ruby pupils glowing with life.

When he turns his attention to the guard, he growls. This prompts the heinous man to run forward despite how tiny he appears in front of the dragon. But when he leaps through the air, he shape-shifts and takes on the form of a wolf.

A werewolf…

It’s no wonder he smelled like a dog.

I have to do a double-take, blinking purposely when the werewolf growls as it lunges forward. It’s a fraction of Draco’s magnificent dragon form size, and its bravery is commendable right now.

Not only have I been subjected to the world of dragons, but I’ve also just discovered that werewolves are real.

Why am I not surprised?

The only surprise comes when one flick of Draco’s dragon arm is all it takes to fling the werewolf into the furthest wall. It crashes with the crack of bones and severing of bricks, whimpering as lifeless eyes remain unblinking.

From behind Draco, flapping of wings resound in the air. He’s not alone. Drawing a smile to my lips as he enters the dungeon with a shrill, whimpering cry.

“Draco!” I breathe with relief as I rush to the bars. When he shakes his head, I’m prompted to take a step back before he reaches out with one scaled arm. The ruby crystals on his knuckles glow luminously as webbed fingers wrap around the bars. He gives the metal frame an effortless tug, pulling the entire cell out of the concrete.

My heart begins to pound when I’m finally free. That freedom allows me to rush forward and melt into his waiting arms when he shifts into human form for our reunion.

“Lily…” he says with relief as he strokes the back of my head with one protective hand.

“You came for me,” I cry. When the dragons hovering outside whimper their own relief for my safety, I lift my head to find the group of five dragons watching our embrace.

I recognize them, even if I have never met the rest. The warmth exuding from their presence feels familiar enough. And then there’s the ivory dragon with emerald green crystals decorating its scaled body. I smile at it, and when it smiles back at me by peeling its mouth open to flash brilliant white teeth, I know it’s Kairo.

“My siblings…” Draco begins, pointing to each one of the dragons. “Felix…” he points at the silver-gray dragon with white crystals like diamonds besetting his shoulders. “Aragon…” Is the one much like Draco’s dragon, except the colors are reversed on his dragon. “Stryder and Stryker…” Two dragons who look identical to each other with their baby blue scaled skin and sapphire crystals. “And—”

“Kairo,” I finish for him when he points at the ivory-white dragon.

Draco chuckles along with my giggle, but our lighthearted moment is interrupted when a siren bleats in the background.

“We need to leave,” Draco says to me before turning to his siblings, hovering in the air. “Now.”

The dragons fly into a meticulous formation upon Draco’s command. He turns to me and lifts me into his arms, cradling me like a baby to his chest.

“Ready?” he asks as his eyes fuse into soft, glowing embers of burgundy. When I nod, his eyes become framed with golden circles, just as his pupils become slits.

I wrap my arms around his neck as he jogs forward and leaps off the side of the building. Not an ounce of fear strokes my being as he shifts midair and takes on his dragon form. A huge flap of his webbed wings lifts us into the air, rising as I remain in his scaled arms.

The warmth of his fire-breath lulls me to calmness when he looks down into my face. I reach out and touch his cheek, watching the way his eyes close momentarily as he relishes the soft caress.

There are noises in the distance—the sounds of the other dragon clan preparing to attack because of my escape. Sounds that we leave behind in the distance as our group of dragons fly into the sunset.