Merry Begot

Chapter 5

Gasping for air, Elora stared at her hands with the same stunned uncertainty as the last time. She'd never possessed any powers before. Why now? Was she really a witch?

Her mind raced through the night's events, straight back to where it all began: when Irabelle had snatched her enchanted necklace off and revealed her true appearance. Perhaps, something had gone wrong with the magic and it transferred to her body at that moment. Or maybe it had been part of the enchantment all along, like an extra measure to keep her safe.

But if that were the case, then her powers should've activated when she'd tried fighting Fallon off as he carried her out of the cellar. Could magic tell the difference between real and perceived danger?

Sheriff Roff continued to curse at her and cry out in pain, ramming into things, while Elora was lost in her thoughts. But when he tumbled right out of the caravan and down the steps, it jolted her mind back into clarity.

Elora slowly pushed the mattress up further while standing as much as the space allowed. If she could get to the door and bar it closed, that might save her from both man and beast.

Where was Fallon? Elora was afraid to know the answer. She worried he may have already fallen victim to either the sheriff's men or the dragon. Unless, he was merely trapped as she was, in a confined hiding place, waiting for the danger to clear.

With her heart beating wildly, Elora climbed out from under the mattress and hastened to the caravan door. Just as she started to pull it closed, someone grabbed her ankle and yanked.

"Ah!" Elora yelled, falling backward with a hard enough landing to knock the wind from her chest.

"You vile witch," Sheriff Roff sneered. "Look at what you've done to me!"

She panted, her back aching from the fall, chest hurting from lack of air. Elora's vision was blurred from watering when she peered up and nearly choked. The sheriff crawled over her legs, slapping his hands on the floor and door frame to feel his way. His eyes were completely gone, as if burned from their sockets by a white-hot fire iron.

Elora tried to scream from the terrifying image he made, but it emerged weak and hoarse. Panicked all over again, she used her hands on the floor to scurry away from him as fast as possible. When he reached for her, alerted by the sounds, she kicked at his hands.

The very second he managed to find her ankle and grab hold again, something simultaneously captured him. They both screamed as Sheriff Roff was whipped out of the caravan, pulling Elora right along with him.

Another impact on the hard ground robbed her of more breath, yet somehow she'd managed to evade smacking her head on the steps. Stars danced along the edges of her vision from being winded twice in a row, and Elora's torso was alive with pain.

With double vision, she blinked rapidly as the shadowy figure of the dragon grew clearer against the night sky. Its massive wings blocked out the stars, but strangely, its body was shaped more like a man than a beast. Moonlight glinted off its dark scales, otherwise it would've been impossible to see in the darkness.

Its long tail was wrapped securely around the sheriff's legs, continuing to pull. So, Elora scrambled to grab hold of the bottom step to keep herself from getting dragged along again. The beast's might was such that the sheriff's lower body lifted from the ground as he clung to her for dear life.

Sheriff Roff continued screaming his rhetoric about her being a witch and the dragon her devil, citing scripture as his voice grew increasingly hysterical. Too panicked to dare anything else, Elora could only hold onto the step with all her might.

"I am a man of God," the sheriff screeched when his grip finally slid free from her leg. "I will not succumb to you, Satan!"

His words and screams fled just as quickly as his body when the dragon didn't hesitate to fly higher, carrying him off into the darkness. Panting and barely able to keep her mind from spinning out of control, Elora swiftly climbed to her feet.

The first thing she noticed was that, although Fallon's mare was nowhere in sight, her saddle and bridle were still there. Did that mean he was somewhere nearby, possibly wounded or dead? Or had he been so frightened by the dragon that he'd taken off on Calliope bareback?

Elora was torn between looking for him or returning to the safety of her previous hiding spot. Unsure if the danger was over yet, she decided on the latter. If the dragon didn't return for a while, then she'd assume it had gotten its fill and would begin searching for Fallon.

She was just about to climb the steps to reenter the caravan and bar the door shut, when someone grabbed her from behind.

"I've got you now, witch," an unfamiliar man said, his ale-scented breath hot against the side of her face.

"Let me go!" Elora screamed, struggling and trying to jab her elbows into the man's body.

But he was stronger than her despite being scrawnier than an average man. He laughed while pulling her against him in a purposefully lewd fashion. Unlike with Fallon, Elora's body reacted only with disgust and fear. Her instincts drove her to automatically start fighting harder, sensing a worse kind of threat from the man than even the sheriff had imposed.

Her struggles caused him to teeter forward just as Elora was attempting to kick him. Somehow, the combination enabled the heel of her foot to slam upward, right between the man's legs. His breath burst out with a pained outcry and his hold on her released. He immediately doubled over, moving his wounded half away from her.

Elora didn't wait for him to recover, she simply spun around to try and dart past him into the caravan but he was still functioning enough to thrust his arm out to stop her. So, she started running away from him, heading for the dark woods to find a different hiding spot.

A terrible cry from the dragon cut right through the air, startling Elora so badly, her whole body jumped. She tripped and fell to her knees, her palms scraping across the ground. The fright felt ten times stronger simply because she'd momentarily forgotten all about the beast.

Elora could hear the dragon gaining on her too fast, causing her to peer over her shoulder. 

"No, no, no," she rushed out, as she scrambled back to her feet.

Her heart thundered in her chest, blood rushing in her ears as she pushed her body to run faster, but it was no use. In a matter of a few wing beats, the dragon was swooping down and grabbing her up in his large, strong arms.

Elora screamed, kicking her legs and beating her fists against its scaly limbs. But it merely rose higher into the air and released another deafening roar.