A Pet for the Dragons

1.

Early release! I couldn't wait to share this story with you all. I hope you all enjoy it. 

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IVRET

I watched the storm brewing outside our stony castle. Everything outside was a grey blur. There was nothing particular to focus on, but I still searched the storm of grey blur for any hints of red. There was none.

Radrox wasn't here yet, so I sighed deeply in relief. This was a good and bad thing. It would grant her more time to heal, but I wasn't optimistic about how things would go once he was here.

The wind howled against the castle stones, gnawing at its fissures like a ravenous wolf scouring the last sinew attached to the bone of a carcass. The wind's howls grew stronger and louder. And they would turn into roars in the night when the storm would grow stronger.

I glanced at the clock to check how long it had been since I last checked on her.

Almost two hours.

I decided to pay her another visit even though I knew she'd still be sleeping like a dead person. I left my chamber and walked through the winding hallways to the westernmost towers of the Gallow Castle, where the human woman was kept.

Our cells were located in the western towers. We held our prisoners there, but currently, the tower was mostly empty except for one occupant—the human woman.

Arika.

Even though I found her unconscious, I decided to keep her in the western towers in one of the nicer cells. That was all I could do without showing too much interest in her.

As I reached the stairs leading to the cells, I sniffed Zorge in the air. I suppressed a groan and started climbing the stairs, knowing that Zorge had reached there first. I didn't want to see him now... especially anywhere near her.

Things were still tense between us because of the human female. Seeing him might escalate the issue, but Radrox was still not here. He was my primary headache. I couldn't guess how he'd react to her.

As soon as I reached the human female's cell, I spotted Zorge. He was standing outside, watching through the bars intently. He was too focused on her to have missed my arrival.

"What are you doing here?" My question snapped him out of his intense focus on the female. He sneered, focusing his grey eyes on me.

"I wanted to see if she woke up," He grunted.

"I told you she won't wake up for a few days. She seems to have lost a lot of blood," I reminded him again, but all he did was scowl at me as if I was lying to him.

"If you know she won't wake up, why did you come here?" He asked pointedly, crossing his arms on his chest and giving me a challenging look.

"I want to check her pulse to make sure my remedies are working on her," I answered, matching his scowl and the challenging look he still wore on his face.

"And how did she lose blood if she doesn't have any wounds in her body? The most I saw were some bruises." He asked me the same question for the nth time. I'd snap at him if he asked me the same thing again.

"I don't know," I gritted.

"You're lying. We searched her body for wounds, and there were none. You know why she's still sleeping, but you don't want to tell me," Zorge accused me. I wanted to punch him in the face but steered my nerves to calmness.

"I can sense she's low on blood. She looks pale, too. Can't you see?" I pointed it out, and he glanced back at her with the same intentness. He clutched the bars with furious strength as if it kept him from something he wanted the most. That stirred something very nasty inside me.

I wanted to drag him back and lock him away from this tower as long as she was here. I didn't know why I felt this way, but I wanted Zorge as far away from her as possible—and Radrox, too. I was glad he wasn't here right now. I wouldn't have been able to keep the two off of her.

"Now that you've seen her, LEAVE!" I snapped, but he growled at me.

"Heal her faster," He ordered. "Give her one of the A-nide,"

"I cannot give her that. It's too strong for her. She might not be able to take it," I replied, stepping beside him to peer inside the cell.

It was mainly a dire, empty room like most of the cells here, but this one had the luxury of a cot on which the human female slept, aloof to both of us staring at her intently. She had her face turned away from us, but I could see her chest rising and falling gently as she breathed gently, but once in a while, she'd take in a sharp breath as if something stabbed her.

"She's having a bad dream," Zorge commented beside me. This time, his voice was a whisper, as if he was expecting her to hear him. His words intrigued me.

I had exceptional healing capabilities, and Zorge could read people's emotions intensely. Sometimes, I doubted that that was only half the truth. I secretly believed he could read people's minds, too and manipulate them. Or maybe he was really good at sensing and using people's emotions to his advantage.

I wondered if that was why he lingered by her cell—to read her thoughts, to see in her mind in a way I never could. He'd been here when I checked on her a couple of hours ago, and something told me I'd find him here again the next time, too. This vexed me even more.

"What else do you feel?" I asked Zorge, unable to curb my curiosity about the woman.

"She's having bad dreams," He repeated his words with a grunt, sounding annoyed this time. "Why are you so pressed about her?" He shot.

"I can ask you the same thing," I shot back, and he gave me a warning growl.

"I can sense your emotions, Ivret," Zorge warned with a hint of amusement laced in his voice, and I clenched my jaw. "You're curious about her,"

"And so are you," I stated.

"You came here so you could see her up close, but now that you find me here, your plans have been ruined. Isn't it?" I clenched my jaw hard and said nothing because he'd sense my lies, too. Zorge was right to a huge extent, and at times, I hated him the most for his unique capabilities.

"And you're here because you want to touch her again," I shot, and he glared at me.

"Give me the key," He demanded.

"You'd have to fight me to get it," I growled. He left the bars and turned to face me fully, his eyes filled with determination.

"Alright then. Let's spar, and whoever wins gets to keep the key to her cell," he challenged.

"Alright then. Whoever loses would lose access to the Western towers altogether as long as she's here," I added because I wanted him to be out of here permanently.

"I accept the challenge," Zorge said fiercely. "Let's go to the training room and settle it there,"

"Alright then," I stated firmly and stepped away from the bars, never taking my eyes off him. Before we could leave, we heard a soft, feminine moan from the cell. We froze and slowly turned towards the cell.