Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 64.1: Bonus Chapter: Hekate and the Dragon's Hoard Part 1

~Author's Note: Hey Dear Readers! Surprise bonus chapters! Hahaha! I wrote this 4-part mini-arc on a spur of the moment after being inspired by a comment on Royal Road, so I hope you'll enjoy. Hekate should have felt some kind of way about being in the Dragon's Keep again, and I had a lot of fun writing these chapters in order to flesh that out.

Thank you all for reading and commenting and just generally supporting my work! I truly appreciate it. 

Now, on with the chapter!~

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Back on the day of the departure to the Dragon's Keep, Hekate fidgets with her armor, idly thinking as she readies for the trip. She has already confessed one of her biggest fears to Daniel, since she doesn't know how to fly, doesn't know how to transform even partially, and she doesn't want to. Thankfully, Daniel's shuttles don't remind her that they're high up, since she doesn't have to look out of the windows, and she has a solid floor under her feet, as well as the seat belts to hold her in place. And, if she needs extra comfort, Daniel will hold her and reassure her.

Unfortunately, what is bothering her now isn't the fact that they'll be flying high up in the shuttles, but the location to which they are headed.

That place is the Dragon's Keep, sometimes called Shaiulvalgarro's Hoard after the dragon who conquered it long before Hekate was even alive. She never met Shaiulvalgarro himself or herself, as it was Morthybargaron, the Red Lord, who ruled the Keep when Hekate was born.

And, who enslaved her.

The little feldrok had no idea she was one for most of her life, until that fateful day when Daniel defeated Lugrae the Feral Feldrok and spoke to Xyreko the first time. She was always taught that feldroks are hideous, ugly creatures to be feared, because they are disgusting monsters. They were the only things the dragons seemed to hate more than the little fox-eared slave girl herself.

Or rather, the little feldrok-eared slave girl.

She suffered every day in the mountainside fortress belonging to the dragons. While some of the dragons simply ignored or neglected her, like Ryuogriar, Reignleif, and even Geirahoel, the male greater dragons, specifically, treated her as scum. They would spit on her, give her cruel orders, and remind her that she is an ugly retch.

Her hands tightly grip the dagger Daniel gave her when they first met. She had a rusty shortsword that she had scavenged when she first arrived at the Citadel in a futile endeavor to conquer it all alone; one such cruel order given to her by Morthybargaron.

The human from another world never treated Hekate with disrespect. He was cautious at first, since she tried to kill him and lost strength, collapsing onto him. Even so, he never tried to harm her or take advantage of her. He never even tried to contract enslave her the way he did with the dragons, even though Hekate is now one of the most powerful magic users in the world, even if she lacks the experience to make total control of her magic.

That is ultimately why she is able to even consider going to the Dragon's Keep. She is still technically contracted to Morthybargaron, but because he's dead, no one really ever thinks about trying to remove hers. In fact, it's possible everyone has forgotten about it.

Unfortunately, she sees his name etched into her chest every time she bathes, and it makes her feel sick.

She takes a deep breath and exhales to try to steady herself.

"Daniel will be with me. I'll be alright," murmurs the young girl quietly. "He can kill anything scary, even if... that one comes back to life..."

She trembles, twitching with a start when the door to her room opens.

"Hekate?" asks Ryuogriar from the door.