A Pet for the Dragons

7.

ARIKA

"I'm not letting you two touch me," I hissed, glaring at the two. Ivret sighed deeply, looking slightly annoyed, but the one named Zorge cocked an eyebrow at me as if this was a challenge. If I hadn't paid close attention to their reactions, I'd have missed the flash of determination in Zorge's eyes as he scanned me from head to toe with an intense look that made me shudder.

I still couldn't get over their dragonish features. It was severely fucking up with my brain, but then there was a part of me— the adventuring spirit of a sailor who fiercely probed the secrets of the sea no matter how much it scared her.

The grey scales of Zorge reminded me of the swelling water of a raging sea incited by a powerful tropical storm in the late evenings. On the other hand, Ivret reminded me of the darkness of the sea on a calm, moonless night. Everything might seem eerily calm on the surface, but in the dark water, something perilous lurked by the ship's hull.

Despite his very human-looking hands, his strange claws made me wary of him.

"We need to ensure you're alright. That's all," Ivret tried, keeping his composure while Zorge fell silent momentarily. His piercing eyes analysed me like a shark stalking its prey.

"I'm alright," I shrugged. "There you have it. Now, tell me, how do I get out of here?" I asked, instantly regretting asking the question when the two exchanged a look.

Even though just a moment ago they seemed to be fighting over me, there was a strange sense of unity in them— almost like a silent understanding that made me curious but, at the same time, more unsure about the situation. Two against one. Not a favourable situation.

"You can't go anywhere until you hand over the computers to us," Ivret said, while Zorge crossed his arms over his chest and levelled a more determined look towards me. For some reason, he didn't seem pleased with the idea of me leaving.

"Computers," I whispered, and instantly, my mind assaulted me with fragments of broken memories. I remember everything vaguely.

I made a deal with the dragons—Drakkon gold in exchange for computers containing sensitive information about important tribes in the South. Ah, yes, I remembered everything completely.

Those computers belonged to my sister Myra, a notorious hacker in the South. I'd stolen her computers, filled with all the sensitive information, and was going to trade it with the dragons, but then something happened. I didn't remember exactly what it was.

I remembered setting up a meeting with my sister to lure her into my trap and torture some keys out of her. After all, that bitch had locked up all the sensitive information behind a hard-to-crack security system, and no matter how hard I tried to crack them, nothing worked. I'd been frantically searching for the keys.

Luring her and torturing the keys out of her had been my last resort, but then certain parts of the plan went wrong. I remembered a lot of pain, blood and gore. I remembered seeing a giant wolf who'd almost leapt at me. I remembered firing at it and seeing it collapse on the ground.

I remembered most of the things about the incident but nothing about the computers—the servers, that's what they were called. I forced myself to recall where I'd kept them, but I couldn't. It hit me with panic, but I masked it.

"Ah yes, the computers and the deal," I tried to sound like I wasn't internally panicking over the fact that, for some reason, I couldn't remember a thing about where I kept the servers and what had happened to them.

"Yes, the servers. Where are they? You promised you'd be with them at the Kersas abandoned port, yet we only found you," Zorge said probingly.

"Yeah, right. I promised to be there with the servers," I nodded, keeping my face straight. "But did you bring the gold with you?" I shot back because, all of a sudden, it felt like I was cornered.

Not that they knew that they had me cornered. It'd be better if they didn't know this, but the way they looked at me, especially with their dragon features— it didn't help my panic. It further reminded me of what they were and what they were capable of.

"Yes, we have the gold," Ivret said. "The deal still stands. You give us the computers, show us what's in them and get the gold. We'll go our separate ways after that,"

Zorge frowned at Ivret, not pleased with what he said. It seemed he didn't want me to go, and I didn't know how to feel about that. I shuddered. I wondered what they'd do if they found out that I couldn't remember anything about the servers. No, fuck. I can't let this know this. It'd be the death of me.

"How much gold?" I asked, wearing the cool mask, but internally, I was all over the place.

"Three chests of Drakkon gold," Ivret answered. "Where are the servers, Arika?"

"I've them hidden away," I lied, keeping a straight face. "But first, I need to see the Gold," I told them.

"That isn't how we agreed to proceed," Zorge said. "First, you show us what's in the servers, and then you get the Gold,"

"Was it really like that?" I asked, sounding forgetful, but I remembered everything very clearly. But for some fucking reason, I couldn't remember what the fuck happened with the servers... or Myra.

"Yes, that was stipulated in our initial communication," Ivret said.

"Mmm... maybe, but I need to see the gold first. I need to see if the lores are true— do the merpeople mint them?" I asked, and Ivret and Zorge exchanged another look. I groaned internally.

"You're not seeing any gold before you show us the computers and what's in them," Ivret stated firmly, and Zorge seemed to agree. This slightly disappointed me.

"Alright, but first, I need some food, a bath, some warm clothes, and— by the way, do you guys have some Vodka?" I asked. Zorge tilted his head curiously, and Ivret looked like he wanted to argue, but the thunderous grumble of my stomach shut him up.

"Your supper will be served here. We don't know what Vodka is," Ivret said, maintaining his annoyed tone, but Zorge seemed internally amused.

I'd need to buy more time and figure a way out of here.

~

Seems like she has her back against the wall. What do you think she will do to get out of here? Comment and let me know your thoughts. 

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