Chapter 27 - Nic

I don't know if trying to break free drained me of my strength or if being drugged was making me groggy, but I passed out again. When I open my bleary eyes after God knows how long, there's a fire burning in the corner of the cave. A man is sitting near the fire with his back turned towards me. There are tattered clothes on his body and his matted blond hair reaches almost down to his waist.

"Who are you, and why have you brought me here?" I intended to shout these words, but they come out in a weak whisper. My captor doesn't turn around.

"Let me go!" I shout, mustering all my strength. My voice seems to startle him. He turns to face me and his silver-gray eyes are wide with surprise. When he approaches me, I shrink back in my chair. There is something about him that is not quite menacing, but scares me nonetheless.

"But I can't let you go, my dear. I went to all this trouble to save you," he says softly, his eyes large and round.

"Why have you brought me here?" I ask, desperate for answers.

"To save you, of course. And your dragon," he says, smiling at me benignly. He doesn't seem to be faking it.

"I don't need saving. Please, let me go!" I struggle against my restraints.

"Oh dear Lord! How silly of me!"

He hurries forward with a sharp piece of rock. I shrink back in my chair and close my eyes tight. Is he going to kill me? I'm surprised when he cuts the cords binding my wrists and ankles. I can tell that he's trying to be gentle, but he fumbles and ends up nicking me. I wince in pain.

"I'm sorry for the pain I caused you."

I watch, horrified, as his eyes fill with tears. For the first time I notice a glint of madness in them.

"It's alright," I say in my kindest voice. "Thank you for cutting the restraints."

I smile and maintain eye contact with him, even when my wrists and ankles are burning as circulation returns. Now that he has freed me, it's only a matter of getting out. I must make him trust me so that he doesn't feel the necessity to tie me up again. If I am allowed to move about freely, I am sure that I can escape.

"You're welcome. I got us some food. You must be hungry. I'm sorry I had to make you unconscious to get you here. But it was important to save you and your dragon. The world needs dragons."

I just nod and smile like I understand what he's saying. If I had any doubt before, I have none now. This man is a raving lunatic.

His back is turned toward me while he is fumbling in an ill-lit corner of the cave. My eyes dart to the mouth of the cave. For a brief second, I am tempted to run, but it is pitch dark outside. What would I do after getting out? It is better that I wait for daylight.

He soon returns with canned beans and tortillas. When he opens the can with his bare hands, my throat suddenly goes dry at this display of brute strength. He dumps a large helping of the beans on the wheat tortilla, rolls it up, and hands it to me, grinning delightedly.

"Thank you," I say with a weak smile.

"I'm sorry I don't have plates. I've asked my friends to get some. Tomorrow, we will have real plates and real cutlery. Why aren't you eating? Don't you like it? You mustn't go hungry. Please eat."

He is sounding worried and worked up. I hurriedly take a bite of the bean tortilla roll. It is the weirdest meal I've ever eaten, but once I take the first bite, I realize how hungry I am. Besides, I need to preserve my strength.

He claps his hands in childlike delight when I finish the meal.

"I'm thirsty. Could I please have some water?"

"I should have thought of it. I should have thought of it!"

He begins pacing the cave agitatedly.

"It's alright. I don't want water just yet," I try to say in a soothing voice, but my voice cracks.

"No!"

He shouts the word and suddenly turns towards me. My heart is in my mouth.

"I'm going to get water for you. You need water. We all need water."

He goes to the extreme end of the cave, beyond where he has made the fire, then takes a running leap out of the entrance. This cave is seemingly located at a height and he has just thrown himself out of it.

My hand flies to my mouth to muffle my scream of terror. My eyes are locked to the mouth of the cave, but other than inky darkness, I see nothing. I expect to hear the sickening thud of a body hitting the ground, but I hear nothing other than the sounds of the night. Maybe we are not all that high above the ground after all. If that is the case, I should take my chances and escape, even if it is the dead of night.

I get out of the chair slowly, painfully. Just how long have I been sitting in it? On shaky legs, I put one foot in front of the other till I reach the mouth of the cave. I stand here for a moment taking the support of a wall as I allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness outside. When I finally look down, I see a sheer drop of several hundred feet.

But that can't be right! Maybe I'm mistaken. If there was indeed a sheer drop, my captor would not have thrown himself to his death. I gingerly sit down on the floor and look down once again. It does seem like there's a sheer drop. There's a river flowing down below. I also see something on one of the banks. Something golden, reptilian, and very, very large. Whatever it is has wings. Instantly, my mind goes back to the thing I had seen from my office window. Was it this?

But exactly am I seeing? The figure rises higher and higher and gets larger and larger. I can't believe my eyes. It's a dragon! And what's more, it's coming straight for the cave.

Once again, my world goes dark as I faint due to sheer terror.