It had been a week since Nartina had met the three men. She had just come back from practicing in the ring and was in dire need of a shower. So she walked to the bathing halls, undressed, and stepped inside of the shower, letting the soothing water wash over her, eliminating the muscle pain and sweat from her body. She didn’t know she’d been followed.
“You’re just as beautiful with your clothes on as you are without.”
“Marius?” She looked at him in surprise. He’d been stalking her since the day she got there, “What are you doing here?” She asked him.
“What? Can’t I take a shower too?”
“Why are you really here?”
“The truth is, I haven’t had any sex for a long time…” he started.
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t like you, and I don’t have sex with strange men.”
“Too bad!” He lunged at her. She punched him in the face and he backed up a few paces. “Pity. I was going to be nice, but now…you made me angry,” he looked her up and down, “and look, we’re already naked, so we can forgo the first step, and skip right to the second.
“Rone!”
“What is it, Kelmek?”
“Nartina needs help! Marius!” The vampire stammered, out of breath.
“Shit!”
“In the showers!”
“Just leave her,” Rogue said softly.
Rone faced the Linyo angrily, his face red and his fists clenched, “You know what? You’re pitiful! Have you ever stopped to think that she might have been defending herself?”
“Why?”
“Rone’s right, Rogue.” Kelmek said.
“So you’re defending the wench too, eh Kelmek?” Rogue spat out.
“Think about it, Rogue,” Rone continued, “She’s an Elf.”
Rogue shot the dragon a look, “Meaning?”
Rone’s hands shot into the air and he gave an exhasperated sigh, “And they say the Linyo are the smartest of us all!”
“Rogue,” Kelmek stepped in, “Nartina’s an elf, meaning she wouldn’t have killed your brother without a reason. Think about it. Her kind is the prey to our kind. Each of us feed off the elves.”
Rogue sighed, “What’s your point guys?”
“Maybe you should hear her story.”
“Fine.”
“C’mon! While we’re sitting here trying to convince this bone head right here, Nartina’s…”
“Lemme guess,” Rogue cut in, “You want me to save her.”
Rone smirked, “How long’s it been since you’ve last eaten a decent meal?”
Rogue thought about it for a moment and his blue eyes went black with hunger, “So, you’re saying I can eat ‘im?”
“What’s the best way to get rid of a meddling human? Hrm?” Kelmek asked, taking on a sadistic tone.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Rogue asked, sudden excitement in his voice, “My meal’s waiting, so let’s go!”
And with that, all three ran off to the showers.
Nartina punched Marius again and he slapped her back. She fell to the ground, panting, tired, and he jumped on her. Nartina’s tiredness took hold and she struggled to get him off her, when on any normal day it would have been no problem. She flailed her arms about, struggling to get free, while he struggled to hold her still, neither gaining any ground. As Nartina’s strength gave in, she felt Marius lift off her, as if some power were pulling him away. Rogue.
Marius hung, suspended in the air, by Rogue’s power, and he didn’t look too happy. Rogue, on the other hand, looked happier than Nartina ever remembered seeing him before. His eyes were black, and in them, could be read a strange emotion, as if he were enjoying himself. No. Nartina realized it was hunger just as she felt two jaws snap shut around her body. She was now inside Rone’s mouth. Saliva dripped from the roof of his mouth and pooled at her feet on his tongue. She sighed and looked around. His tongue moved and she slipped a little, then, right as he was about to swallow, he lifted his tongue and dropped her to the bottom of his mouth.
Kelmek looked over at Rone suspiciously, “You didn’t just swallow her did you?” He asked, growing very concerned. He like Nartina, and didn’t want to lose the small friendship they’d gathered in her week here.
Rone shook his head no and continued watching his friend play with Marius.
Nartina heard muffled voices from inside the dragon’s mouth, and became curious. She wanted to know what was going on outside, but had no way to properly hear what was going on. With a small sigh, she felt the inside of his mouth near the front and smiled when she found the right place. Nartina had been swallowed by several dragons in her short lifetime, and knew of a special secret to get a dragon to spit her out. On the bottom of his mouth was a nerve.
She smiled once she found it, lifted her arm, and punched down as hard as her tired body could on the nerve.
“Ow!” Rone said after Nartina fell out of his mouth, “What was that for?”
“I wanted to see and HEAR what was going on, and, believe it or not, your mouth blocks sound, and you definitely can’t see through it either. Why’d you do that anyways?” She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Rone lifted an eyebrow and shook his head with a sigh. He looked over at Kelmek, who looked back, and they exchanged a knowing glance, then smiled.
“Have you ever seen a Linyo eat a person before?”
“No.”
“Do you want to?” Kelmek asked her.
Nartina made a face, “Not…particularly, why?”
“Well, stay anyways,” Rone said, “At least you’ll get to see what would have happened to you, had you and Rogue kept on kissing each other.”
“You see,” Kelmek chimed in, “a Linyo needs to at least one person a week to beable to have the proper strength to do…what it is they do.”
“You know, to keep their strength up!” Rone exclaimed.
“And it’s been three weeks since Rogue’s had a good meal like this!”
"’Tis true, ‘tis true!” Rone said.
As they spoke, Nartina looked between the two, understanding what was going on. She made a face and suddenly wanted to go away.
“So now you can see what happens,” Kelmek continued as if he was oblivious to what she was feeling, “It’s a little gross but…”
“But it’s a learning experience,” Rone cut in, “Now watch and learn.” He said, turning her around to face the two men speaking.
“I’ve decided I don’t want to see,” Nartina said, turning around to walk out, but she was stopped by Rone and Kelmek. With a gentle touch, Rone turned her back around.
“Trust me,” he whispered into her ear, “It’s not every day an Elf gets to see this and not be a part of the menu.”
Nartina sighed and closed her eyes for a minute. She then turned and watched. As she watched she saw a few things that were completely wrong. Marius was moving his mouth, but no sound was coming out. Rogue was infront of him, one hand cupped to his ear saying, “what?”
“Why does Marius continue to move his mouth when he knows he cannot talk?” Nartina asked.
“He doesn’t.” Rone said looking down at her. Nartina gave him a look. She was totally confused.
“Marius can hear himself talking, but Rogue can’t.” Kelmek explained.
“Oh.”
Hunger pulled at Rogue. He was only keeping the spell up for his own amusement, but he was tiring of it very quickly. At last, with a wave of his hand, Rogue dropped the spell, revealing Marius’ voice which rang loud and clear now.
“So anyway…”
“Great story. I’m glad you told me.” Rogue interrupted.
“But I wasn’t finis…”
“Yes you were, I understand.”
“So I can go free?” The look on Marius’ face was one of hope. He knew what Rogue was, and upon seeing him, had been very afraid, but maybe there was some good in the heart of a Linyo after all?
Rogue pondered this, “Yes. But wait,” he said.
“Yes?”
Rogue spit in his face.
“Why you!” Marius shouted. He went to punch Rogue, but swerved and fell. A sly smile marked Rogue’s face. He licked his lips and moved in for the kill.
When it was over, Nartina just stared at Rogue, mouth wide open and eyes bulging, seemingly out of her head. Rogue turned to them and looked at each of his friends before he walked out, muttering a quick, “you owe me one,” to Nartina as he walked past her. Kelmek followed him out. Nartina went to follow, but stopped when she heard Rone call her name, “Yes?” She asked.
“Get dressed and met me in the barracks. I need to talk to you.” He turned and looked into her eyes then walked out.
Rogue was talking and laughing with the other two as if nothing had happened when Nartina came back into the barracks. As she came into view, the conversation stopped and all three looked at her. Rone stood and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a secluded area, every once in a while, stopping to let Nartina catch up, as he was taking long such long strides. Finally, Rone stopped and turned to her.
“You okay?” He asked her, concerned. She’d seemed to be shaken up from watching Rogue, and he felt bad, because he’d made her watch.
“Fine.” She said simply.
Rone’s brows furrowed in confusion and he sighed, “You’re hiding something.”
Nartina let out a nervous chuckle, “Like what?” She asked him.
“Why would Lord Rackor put a WOMAN in the GLADIATOR barracks?”
Nartina was becoming nervous. She began to twist her hand in her tunic to distract her from the emotions that were growing inside her at every word he said.
“Nars, what happened?”
The sudden use of her nickname alarmed her and she looked up. No one, save for her brother ever called her that, and for a few seconds, she was home again. But then, as soon as it began, the dream ended and she was in the same dreary place as before. Nartina locked eyes with Rone and bit her bottom lip. She stayed silent for a few minutes until finally her resolve broke and she fond she couldn’t hold back anymore.
“I’ve….been here before.”
“What?” Rone’s voice was incredulous, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
“Twenty years ago I was captured while on my way home from Kilare. Lord Rackor, upon seeing me, was captured by my beauty and made me one of his concubines. Of course, I knew about his hatred towards my kind, so I had disguised myself as a human,” she looked down, “he is a harsh man. I hated him the instant I laid eyes on him, so I wouldn’t do anything sexual for him. He liked it though, said I was “playing fiesty like” and that’s what turned him on. Then he’d beat me. For fourteen years I allowed this to happen, thinking that one day I would get out, and I kept putting it off, waiting for the right opportunity, until finally I had my chance. There was another girl. I thought she was stupid and lazy, but she thought she was the best, that I didn’t deserve to be the favorite. She said, she had some secrets about me that she wanted to tell Lord Rackor,” Nartina paused.
“Like what?” Rone asked.
“For one, Rackor’s father had been killed by an elf. It was an accidental fire. He was playing tricks on some of the people and, one of the elves got surprised and shot him. Lord Rackor blamed my people for his father’s loss. He vowed, that for every elf he killed, his father’s name would be redeemed, so he kills elves on sight.
“This girl, had spied on me one night. She caught me sleeping. My guise was down and she saw my ears. She told me that she was going to tell Lord Rackor. He would have killed me if he found out, so…I…I killed her.”
Rone thought about it for a moment, “You killed her?”
“Yes.” She nodded, “I wanted to see my family again, so, late at night, while she slept, I slit her throat with a knife my brother Odrin had given me, then I ran! Gods…” She broke off into a sob and fell to her knees. Rone knelt down in front of her and gathered her in his arms. He sat there with her until they were summoned to the dining hall to eat.
By the time they got there, Rogue and Kelmek were already seated in their usual place. Rogue was eating some of the stew they’d served out and bread, while Kelmeck only drank the wine from his goblet. Nartina watched, and started to think. There were no tears from her eyes anymore, no sign of her sobbing, it was as if, the conversation with Rone never happened.
“Why is it you never eat?” Nartina addressed Kelmek. She’d been wanting to ask him that for a while now, but had never had the courage to mention it.
“Pastries and other “solid” foods would kill my kind, so I am content with just drinking the wine,” he said softly, barely audible above the din of the room. Kelmek took another sip from the wine and his eyes grew slightly redder than before. Kelmek was thirsty for blood, and the red wine wasn’t helping. He looked into Nartina’s eyes and smirked, the tip of one fang showing over his bottom lip, and slid his plate over to Rone, who had just finished off Rogue’s helping as well. Rone smiled and took the bread off the plate and popped it into his mouth, then swallowed, not even bothering to chew his food. Rone was hungry too. And it wasn’t for normal food. The dragon hunger plagued a shifted dragon once every few days, and it had been nearly a month since Rone had sated that hunger.
Nartina handed her plate to Rone and her wine to Kelmek. “You need it more than I do,” She said after she got a look from each of them. She pushed back her chair and walked out of the large hall to the arena to practice some more.
Sinder watched as the woman walked off. She was alone. Marius had been his friend and now he was dead, and it was all because of her. He stood to follow her out, but Jed pulled him back. “No! Remember what happened to Marius!”
From the corner of his eye, Kelmek saw Sinder get up, then heard Jed speak, and his thirst kicked up a knotch. He’d finished his wine, but his body was aching for more.
“Kelmek…” Rone began,
“Rone, you heard what they said, yes?” The vampire asked, looking down at the table.
“I did.”
“So, how about it Rone? How hungry are you?” He asked the dragon.
“As of right now, everyone in this room looks appealing, even you,” Rone answered.
“You got room for two?”
Rone smiled and licked his lips, “Hell yeah!”
“Rogue,” Kelmek started as his teeth started to grow in lue of the meal he knew he was going to get, finally, “Let Sinder and Jed forget about Marius and follow Nartina,” he said softly, his teeth glinting as he spoke.
“But…”
“Just do it! Another day and Nartina’s blood may be my wine. We’ve all been holding back, and I can’t do it anymore. There are limits. I’ve reached mine, and I think Rone has too.”
Rogue nodded, “Alright,” he whispered, and blew towards the two men. Within a matter of seconds, both Sinder and Jed were out of their seats, off to follow Nartina, and Rone’s eyes were closed.
A voice compelled Nartina to head to the arena. With no energy to question it, Nartina headed towards where she’d been told to go. She opened the large doors to the entrance and stepped inside. Nartina looked around, suddenly unsure of why she was there, and stepped into the middle and looked around once more. As she turned, two men she didn’t know lunged at her with knives. Nartina gave a small scream and started to run.
A roar shook the arena and the two menfell over, Nartina grasped in their arms. In a second, Rone towered above them. Sinder’s eyes opened wide and he jumped to his feet and started to run. He slammed into Kelmek and gasped. With a smirk, Kelmek made eye contact and it was too late. His eyes clouded over and his body froze. Jed stood up, Nartina still in his arms. He pulled out his knife and held it to her neck. “Come any closer, and the elf dies!” He said, making a small cut into her neck. It was small, but enough to draw blood. Kelmek’s eye’s opened wide and he paused. The red in his eyes was now almost black and his teeth were long enough to pierce through the vein in a neck. With Sinder frozen in place, he had no one to stop him. In an instant, he had Jed in his arms and his teeth in the human’s neck.
Nartina scampered behind the dragon and hid behind his leg. She peeked out, only to see Kelmek holding onto the man. The look on his face was serene, and he didn’t move, safe for the sway of his throat as he swallowed the blood in long, slow gulps. It almost looked as if he was sleeping. When he was done with the first man, Kelmek blinked and pulled away from his neck. Nartina’s eyes opened wide as she caught a quick glimpse of his teeth before he closed his mouth and tossed the man into the air. Rone’s long neck outstretched as he reached down, catching the dead man in the air and swallowing him whole as Kelmek turned and started on the next victim.
“Wow, that was fast,” Nartina said in amazement.
“He’ll go slower now that he’s more sated,” Rone replied.
It was true. While it had only taken Kelmeck around ten minutes to finish Jed, it took him nearly a half hour to completely drain Sinder. When he was done, he pulled away, licked the blood off the man’s neck, and dragged him over to Rone, who swallowed him whole. Kelmek then turned his gaze over to Nartina, and for the first time, she saw his true eye color. They were emerald green with flecks of gold. He smirked and looked down at her neck, at the blood that was running from the hole. In his surprise, Jed had pierced her neck a little deeper than he should have. Kelmek walked over to her and looked down. He touched the side of her neck and frowned softly, “I can fix that,” he whispered.
Nartina gulped and looked into his eyes. He didn’t seem hungry anymore, but still, she hesitated. With a sigh, Kelmek bent down and licked the wound. Nartina gasped and froze. The wound started to tingle a little and she looked into his eyes. Kelmek smiled and turned around.
Nartina turned to Rone and eyed his scales. She’d always thought that black dragons were simply black, but upon looking at Rone’s scales, it was obvious that wasn’t true. They were more of a blue black, the inner layering being a dark blue. Each was like a stone, and Nartina found that she couldn’t help herself. She reached out to touch one. As she spread her hand along it, she smiled at the feel. It was amazing to her how something could feel this soft to the touch yet be so hard and tough. Nartina ran her hand along his side, following the direction of the scales, and jumped away when Rone gasped, “I’m sorry!” She said, one hand coming up to her face in embarrassment. She honestly thought she’d hurt him.
“No, it’s okay.”
“Are you sure? It’s just that, well…I’ve never known what a dragon felt like on the outside.” She blushed and looked down.
Rone watched her for a few seconds with those large blue eyes of his before he spoke, “Then go ahead,” he consented, “Just don’t rub your hand against my scales. You’ll get cut if you do.”
Nartina nodded and moved her hands along his side. Each scale was bigger than her hand. Rone then opened his wing for her to see and feel. The skin between the bones was much akin to a bat’s, leathery soft yet very powerful. They were massive, each one nearly three times her size. When she was done looking at his wing, she moved to look at the scales on his neck. Rone stretched out his neck for her and let her feel. They were softer than the ones on his side and a little smaller than her hands, but not much. She moved to feel the scales on his head, amazed at how tough they were. When she was done, he lifted up his head and exposed to her his underbelly, which was very soft to the touch and silver in colour, yet the skin was very tough and strong.
Nartina then ran her hand along his side again as she moved to check out his tail. As she walked, she could feel his muscles under her hand. Occasionally she’d come by a scar, but she never stopped to glance. Dragons could be very self conscious about stuff like that. She looked at his tail, and the knob at the end, then walked around and smiled at him. He put his head down, alowing her to step onto his snout to see down his back and the tough silver spikes that ran down his spine. After she saw, she jumped down. From the top of his mouth on the outside hung his two large canine teeth, each one, respectively, coming to about her chin in length.
When she was finished looking at him, admiring him, Rone shifted back into his human form. It was a short process. By his size, Nartina could tell he was maybe a little older than she was, and his experience with shifting had grown better the more he fought. When it was done, Nartina found it hard to believe that the behemoth who’d been sitting before her mere seconds before was the same person as the tall, handsom, familiar man who stood before her now. The only way she could tell, however, was by his eyes. It was rare for a black dragon to have eyes such as his, and even more rare for a dragon in general to have that kindness. Something stirred inside Nartina’s heart as she came to realization that she liked this man a lot. Nartina blushed as she caught him watching her, and looked away with a smirk. Rone smiled back at her, bemused at her expression.
As Rone shifted back, Rogue stepped through the doors and walked over to them. He nodded at Kelmek and looked over at the other two in time to see Nartina blush. His eyebrows lifted and he smirked. He’d known for sometime that Rone had liked her, but he never knew she liked him. This was new. He smiled and shook his head, “Come.” He said, drawing them all back, “Meal time is over. They’ll wonder were we are and it’ll be eaiser to convince the guards that we had no part to play if we’re there when they do roll.” He explained as he turned around and walked out of the door. Kelmek followed him and Nartina looked over at Rone. They locked eyes and Rone held out his hand. Nartina looked at it and smiled. Her small hand grasped his and together they walked back to the barracks, hand in hand. |
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