Beauty and the Dragon

Chapter 9

Arabelle lay sprawled across the snout of her dead companion, Smaug the dragon, crying silently; the only noise was a faint airy whine. She took a pained breath of air in and screamed. If it weren't for her stupidity none of that would have happened. Her only friend in the world was dead because of her. She took another deep breath in as she threw her head back and screamed again. When she was finished she looked back at the arrow and cursed its existence. She was not about to let it stay lodged in his body so she got up and stumbled over to it. There was a large puddle of thick dark red blood coating his chest and the ground around him. Geoffrey had shown his strength well by how far he managed to plunge it into his chest with one go of it. She grabbed on to the arrow and started to pull back on it. It was embedded well because it would not budge. "Come on," she said gritting her teeth. When it wouldn't move she attempted to climb up his side to get a better angle. But her boot slid on the blood covering his chest and she fell to her knees in the puddle. She growled as she shot up and started tugging on the arrow with all her might but to no avail. "Damn it!" she screeched as she brought her fist down with forced on his chest.

Her teeth clenched together and her lips curled back as she started to cry again. Hot tears slid down her blood spattered face and fell off her jaw on to Smaug beneath her. "Why?" she squeaked, "Why?" Beneath her, the tears she shed for Smaug began to sizzle as they touched his wound. She didn't notice but his chest began to light up as if he were about to breathe fire. "I love you," she whispered as she took in a pained breath of air then repeated herself in Elvish, "Ge melin." The second she spoke the Elvish words the dragon burst into flames. She jumped up and fell back on to the ground. Her eyes went wide as his body burned around her. The black arrow fell to the ground as the dragon's body disintegrated around it. She shook her head and looked around, completely unsure of what to do. Smoke began to fill the space around her, blocking her vision. She began to cough and back away from the flames as smoke billowed from them. Then in an instant, as if they had never existed, the flames went out with a fwoom. She continued to cough, her eyes watering from the smoke and from already having been crying, as she waved her hand around.

As the smoke began to dissipate and she could see clearly again she examined her surroundings. The dragon's body had completely vanished. His limp paw that he once held her with was gone; his head that he once looked deep into her eyes with as he passed... was gone. There was not even a single burn mark on the stone from where the fire was. The only blood left of his was that of it that had seeped into her clothes. Catching her breath, she looked around. Just as her eyes moved further down the bridge the smoke had cleared enough for her to see the black arrow. But it was not alone. She squint at the mass behind it. Then, with an astonished breath, she crawled forward onto her hands. "Smaug?" she whispered. With every ounce of energy she had left she jumped up and stumbled forward down the bridge. Not paying attention, her eyes fixed on the person lying on the bridge, she tripped over the arrow. But that did not stop her. She crawled as quickly as she could until she reached the side of the person. It was a man, completely naked, his eyes were closed, and there was a gaping wound above his abs on the left side.

Her eyebrows scrunched together as her hands hovered above his body in uncertainty. Never before had she seen this man, but his wound matched that of Smaug's, and his ears that of an Elf's. Smaug's dragon body had completely vanished and in its place was his Elf form- his true form. She was completely speechless. Smaug, the now Elf, lay still on the ground; her amazement began to wear off as she realized that he was still gone. But she thought too soon. As she placed her hand in his, his eyes shot open and he gasped for air. "Smaug!" she shouted and placed one hand under his head before he could fall back to the ground. He shook violently and moaned in pain but he managed to open his eyes briefly enough to reveal his burning dragon eyes transform into a cool blue before he fell limply in her arms.