Scales and Talons

Chapter 8

Sarah dragged herself to shore, coughing. Her body weighed a ton now that she was above water. The sand occasionally gave way under her paws, causing her to stumble in the water. In front of her she noticed a red shape lying on the shore as well. It seemed she was not the only one who made it out of the water,

Anger flared inside Sarah at the sight of the red dragon. She was furious. He had thrown her down! He had actually thrown her of the edge of a mountain cliff. Had he been out of his mind? And look at her now; she looked like a drowned kitten.

Her wings and hind legs dragged through the dark sand of the riverbank as she made her way towards her red prey. Her mind was one track. She would put the dragon in his place, no matter who or what he was.

Who did he even think he was. First jumping her,- making her think she would be eaten- then leaving her like a coward before throwing her to her death. Had she not been trough enough? Did some god up their hate her? Was al of this punishment for something she had done in a previous life?

Although Sarah wanted to take out all her frustration on the red dragon, she decided it would have to wait. She was not strong enough to continue standing. Exhausted, Sarah collapsed beside the silent red form, the sand cushioning her for a soft landing. Her body felt frozen and stiff. Her breath came out in small clouds as her body tried desperately to warm itself. The freezing water had taken its toll.

As Sarah lay there, suffering from the cold, she was rethinking her whole life. She relived the last events over and over again. How she had woken up in those dungeons, how she had been dragged into the caves... Most of all, she was trying to come to terms with the fact that she was no longer human. Everything normal in her life had become abnormal. She did not know where she was, or even anything about the world she seemed to have been taken to.

Her normal life and the holidays she had been going on with her friends seemed so far away and when she was abducted... she honestly did not even know how it happened. She was just so confused.

Sarah was even confused about how her new body seemed to work. Now with extra limbs, she did not know how to function normally. Despite being on four legs, her balance was off. Her wings seemed to pull her in all directions. And when she finally tried to use her wings, they did not work.

Though Sarah knew one thing for sure. She was convinced she would never fly again. Not in this lifetime. There was no way she would willingly go through another free fall. It had traumatized her.

Sarah lifted her head to look at the red dragon beside her. She realized that he had not moved since she had come ashore. He had not even made a sound. Sarah began to wonder if he was even breathing. But why should she care. She did not know him and he had attacked her before. He was not her friend or anything like that. So why should it matter if the red dragon was not doing so well?

Sarah thought to herself as she pushed herself up and silently made her way over to the still red body. She stopped when she was standing just behind him, just out of reach. She hated to admit it, but she was scared. She did not know if waking the dragon was the best idea. But for some reason, her worried mind did not like his silence. She would be horrified if she found out that she had been lying next to a dead body.

Finding her courage, Sarah slowly stretched her neck out to touch his backside. His back was cold and rough to the touch. She had never touched scales before and considering their hardness, his skin was incredibly smooth. She was fascinated by the sensation. She had always been too disgusted to touch a fish or a snake, but now she found herself incredibly curious.

Since the red dragon had not reacted to her touch, she found the nerve to slowly crawl around him and face him. As Sarah looked into his face, she was almost convinced that the red dragon was indeed dead. His mouth was open and his eyes were closed. Only the faint rasping of his breath betrayed the fact that he was still alive.