The Forsaken King

Fuck, I’d been afraid of that.

“If that were the case, anyone could do it.”

I grabbed the raw meat and chucked it far, making it land ten feet outside the cave. “We gotta start somewhere…”

“He’s going to know someone threw that. He’s not stupid.”

“But he’s also got nothing to be afraid of.”

For a while, nothing happened.

It was quiet, the breeze moving through the trees, the birds singing in the canopy.

Then we heard it.

Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“Oh my fucking god, it’s happening.” She clutched her hands to her chest and moved behind one of the trees. “I can’t feel my heart. I mean, I can, but it’s beating so damn fast—”

“Shh.”

“You shh. It’s a fucking dragon.”

His scales emerged in the sunlight, his feet covered in claws, his scales dark green like the leaves on the island. He was enormous, nearly as tall as the cave he’d just emerged from. Every step shook the earth, sent tiny vibrations like an earthquake was imminent. He approached the pile of raw meat on the ground and bent down to smell. His nostrils flared wide, and his breath was so strong that the meat tugged up slightly.

That was when he exposed his wings—or lack thereof.

Cut down to the bone, most of his flank was exposed, the glorious part of his physical being chopped away with a knife. It was hard to look at, like someone who’d lost an arm or a leg.

He sniffed the meat again before he closed his mouth over it.

And then I heard her cries.

Against the tree, she cupped her hand to her mouth, stifling her sobs. Tears glistened on her cheeks, but not the kind that I liked, not the kind that hit the sheets underneath her naked body.

He must have heard it too—because he raised his head and stopped chewing.

“Shh,” I whispered to her.

She tightened her entire body and suppressed the sobs.

He stared into the tree line, intelligent eyes shifting back and forth as he searched for us in the shade.

Then he took a step forward.

Oh fuck.

Another.

And then another.

“Don’t move,” I whispered to her. If we ran, it would be much easier to spot us, like lizards that scurried across the path once they heard your footsteps.

Powerful eyes peered into the tree line, absolutely still, as if waiting for us to move.

We didn’t even breathe.

Then he stepped closer—and closer.

I could take down a yeti if I had to, but a dragon…not gonna happen. All I could do was distract him long enough for Ivory to get away. I knew she could sail back on her own. She could figure it out.

His head moved into the tree line and gave a loud sniff, like he could smell us.

Ivory was motionless, her hand still clasped over her mouth, hot tears still on her cheeks.

He found her, his dark eyes just feet away from where she stood.

I could bring down my ax on his neck, but that wouldn’t do much, not when his neck was the size of ten trunks combined.

The stare continued, the dragon focused on her as if he didn’t realize I was there. Hot breaths left his nostrils and escaped as vapor, washing over her.

Her hand slowly dropped, her eyes still wet and glistening. “I’m sorry about what happened to you…”

I removed my ax from my back and gripped it tightly, ready to strike if this went south.

He came closer, his nose about to brush up against her skin, and inhaled a deep breath. It was like a horse that neighed, that breathed hot breaths on your hand after you fed them carrots.

His snout was directly in front of her, so she reached out her hand slowly and made contact with his scales.

Completely dumbfounded, I just stared.

She inhaled a shaky breath when she reached close enough to him to touch, when her fingers glided over the rough skin. “I’m going to try to fix you.”

He withdrew his head from the trees then turned around to go back to the cave.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

He returned to the cave, the last part of his tail disappearing in the shadow.

For the first time in my life, I was speechless. Truly. All the way down to my spine. I stared at the side of her face, watched her wet eyes look at the entrance to the cave as if he might return. “What just happened?”

As if she didn’t hear me, she held on to the tree, her eyes welling up all over again.

“Baby.” I came to her side, my hand immediately diving into her hair while my arm wrapped around her waist.

Her chin dropped, and she looked at my chest, her fingers dabbing at the corners of her eyes to catch the tears before they had the chance to fall. “Whenever I heal, I feel the inside of the body, feel the strain to isolate the injury. But with him…he had so much pain everywhere…and that only happens with a broken heart.”