damsel (not) in distress

chapter 6- as the world falls down

-reader's pov

elodie and i cautiously trek through the narrow maze of rocky tunnels, slowly following the monstrous snarl until another sound suddenly calls out.

"ELODIE!" a gruff, male voice yells. the sound echoes throughout the cave, causing elodie to gasp softly and increase her jogging pace.

i scramble along after her, parts of my metal armour clinking irritably as i move. this earns an annoyed huff from elodie as she runs ahead.

eventually we emerge from the maze of rocky tunnels and look over the large opening within the cave again. there's a collection of about three men, all calling out elodie's name as they gaze around the innards of the cave with their blazing torches of fire.

"father..." elodie utters under her breath, fear starting to lace her tone, "you need to be quiet... she can hear you..."

and as if on cue, an enormous dragon suddenly swoops down, piercing her mighty claws into one of the armoured men. the dragon's skin and scales are a dark inky colour. her wings swoop and flap majestically, even as she violently kills this man. slamming his screaming body against one of the many towering stalagmites in the cave before ultimately dropping his body. the unfortunate man wails helplessly as he plummets to his death with a crash.

my eyes double in surprise and shock. instinctively, i wrap an arm around elodie's waist, drawing her behind one of the many towers of rocks. she turns, sending a glare my way which i find myself shrinking under, a little embarrassed.

the gory death of one of the armoured men causes the other ones to scatter. they run helplessly yet to no avail as the dragon soars down yet again, collecting up a second man in her scaly talons. he lets out a shrill wail, kicking his legs frantically as if that were to help him. though he unfortunately meets the same fate as his buddy before him. he's carelessly dropped to the rock-hard terrain below before being squashed like a bug by the dragon's merciless claws.

i gag at the sight, his body thoughtlessly reduced to nothing but metal armour, guts and a sickening puddle of crimson blood.

the king, elodie's father, stares wide-eyed as he watches his men get picked off one by one. he shivers in utter horror as the dragon suddenly roars deafeningly in his face.

"why are you here?" the dragon speaks, her voice malicious and gravelly.

"i'm here for my daughter." the king replies, masking his underlying fear with a confident voice.

"father.." elodie utters yet again before slipping away from my grasp and making her way down the rocky ground, heading closer towards the ruthless dragon.

"what are you doing?!?..." i whisper under my breath in ridicule. why on earth was she getting closer to this thing???

the dragon narrows her golden eyes. the pupils within somehow reducing to jet-black slits even more than they were. an unsatisfied hunger lingers unquestionably deep within them, causing me to shiver as i feel obliged to follow after elodie.

the dragon stares the king down, seething with an obvious rage. she digs her razor-sharp claws into the rocky ground. the stone beneath her cracking with ease, as if too frightened disobey.

the king whips out his heavy sword, holding the weapon before him bravely despite how on the inside, beneath the layers of armour, his heart is thumping wildly in his chest.

this action fuels the dragon's fury even more as she arches her back, snarling deeply in his face.

the king hesitates before charging onwards, bearing his weapon before him, putting on a brave face. his heavy footsteps thud against the ground as a battle cry booms from the depths of his lungs.