章 35: Let’s see if you can survive
The moment I looked up, my heart skipped a beat. Above me, cutting through the thick clouds like a nightmare made flesh, was a dragon.
A real, terrifying dragon. Its enormous wings flapped slowly, each beat sending gusts of wind down to the forest, shaking the trees. It circled overhead, its massive body casting an ominous purple glow over the island as the sunlight reflected off its shimmering scales.
This wasn't the stuff of fairy tales or the embellished creatures from the books I'd read. This was real. This was a creature of raw power, primal and ancient.
The dragon's scales were an iridescent purple, shifting in hue as it moved through the sky, ranging from deep amethyst to the pale lavender of dawn.
Its wings were enormous, each one easily the size of a house, and they moved with a fluid grace that made the beast look as if it was barely trying.
But what struck me most were its eyes glowing with an intense, piercing light, like molten gold set against the deep purple of its body. They seemed to see everything at once, as if it could read my fear from where I stood, rooted to the spot below.
The dragon's roar shook the air, a sound so powerful I felt it in my bones, vibrating through the ground beneath my feet. It echoed off the cliffs and seemed to make the very air around me tremble.
I felt tiny, insignificant, like a speck of dust in the presence of something far beyond anything I had ever known.
And then, without warning, the dragon descended.
Its wings folded back as it dove toward the ground, aiming not at me, but at the wolf-creature that had been chasing me.
The beast that had seemed so terrifying just moments before now looked like prey in comparison. The dragon crashed into the wolf with the force of a falling star, its claws sinking into the earth and sending debris flying in every direction.
The wolf let out a screech, scrambling to escape, but the dragon was relentless.
With a swipe of its massive tail, the dragon sent the wolf tumbling across the forest floor. The creature tried to recover, but the dragon pounced again, pinning it beneath its weight. The wolf snapped its jaws, growling and thrashing, but it was no match for the dragon's sheer power.
I stood frozen, my eyes wide as I watched the battle unfold. The air was thick with the smell of scorched earth and the tang of ozone.
I could feel the heat radiating from the dragon's body even from where I stood, a blistering warmth that only added to the suffocating humidity of the island.
With one final, brutal swipe of its claws, the dragon tore into the wolf-creature, a spray of dark, shimmering blood splattering across the ground. The wolf let out one last pitiful yelp before going limp beneath the dragon's weight.
The dragon let out another earth-shaking roar, triumphant, before it reared its head back and started to change.
I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing. The dragon's massive body began to shimmer, its form shrinking, condensing as if it was being pulled inward.
The purple scales retracted, fading into smooth, pale skin, and before I could fully comprehend what was happening, the dragon was gone, replaced by a woman.
She stood tall, her back straight, with an aura that radiated raw power. Her skin was pale, almost luminescent, but with a faint sheen of violet that reminded me of her dragon form.
Her hair was a deep, glossy black that tumbled down her back in thick waves, and her eyes… they were the same piercing golden color as the dragon's. Her gaze locked onto me, sharp and predatory, and for a moment, I thought I might pass out from the intensity of it.
But what stood out the most were her fangs. Long, gleaming fangs peeked out from beneath her lips as she surveyed me with a cool, detached expression.
She was beautiful, in a way that was both awe-inspiring and terrifying like a storm on the horizon that you couldn't help but admire, even though you knew it could destroy everything in its path.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, as she began walking toward me. Each step was deliberate, graceful, and yet carried the weight of someone who knew she was in complete control of every situation she encountered.
"Elira sent you here, didn't she?" she asked, her voice low and smooth, but with an edge of something darker beneath it.
I nodded, my mouth too dry to speak.
She stopped in front of me, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took me in, as if assessing whether I was worth her time. Then, without warning, she grabbed the front of my shirt, lifting me off the ground with an ease that made my stomach drop.
"What—?!" I gasped, my hands instinctively grabbing her wrist, but she barely seemed to notice. I felt my feet dangle uselessly beneath me as she held me at arm's length, her eyes never leaving mine.
"Let's see if you can survive," she said softly, her lips curling into a faint, predatory smile. And then, with a sudden burst of magic, wings purple, leathery wings like those of the dragon she had just been sprouted from her back.
My breath hitched in my throat as she shot up into the sky, taking me with her. The ground fell away beneath us at an alarming speed, the trees and rocks below shrinking until they were nothing more than tiny specks in the distance.
The air became colder, thinner, as we climbed higher and higher, the wind whipping past my face so fast it stung my skin.
I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All I could do was cling to her wrist as we ascended, my stomach churning with a mix of fear and nausea. The sensation of being so high up, of having nothing but air beneath me, was overwhelming. I felt like I was going to be sick.
And then, just as quickly as we had risen, she stopped. We were suspended in the air, hovering high above the island. The clouds were so close I could almost touch them, and the view below was dizzying.
I gasped for air, my chest heaving as I tried to steady myself. But the woman, the dragon, seemed entirely unaffected, her golden eyes still locked on mine with that same, unreadable expression.
"Let's see if you can survive this high," she repeated, her voice carrying easily over the wind. Her smile widened, showing off her fangs.
And then, she let go.
For a split second, time seemed to slow. I saw the woman's wings spread wide, her eyes glinting with amusement as she watched me fall.
And then, everything rushed back into motion. The air screamed past me as I plummeted toward the island, my body twisting and tumbling through the sky.
I screamed, my arms flailing uselessly as I fell, the ground rushing up to meet me far faster than I could process. The wind roared in my ears, and all I could think was that this was it. There was no surviving this.
I was going to die.
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