A Pet for the Dragons

122.

ARIKA

I felt my chest tighten as the memories of the orphanage kept flashing in front of my eyes. I'd always suppressed them and even managed to forget them for a while— or so I thought. But it turned out that I'd never forgotten those terrible things. They used to give me nightmares for years until I escaped to the sea and forced myself to start fresh.

I'd always thought I'd left all that behind, but I could've never imagined that I'd be reminiscing about those things now, with the surly dragon of all people.

My chest started to feel tighter and tighter as my earliest memories began to flash in front of my eyes— the memories of my mother and my brother. I'd forgotten their faces, but I remembered their voices. I remembered how I felt knowing my brother was dead, and I couldn't do anything about it.

"What did they do to you?" Radrox asked, snapping me out of the downward spiral. I didn't miss the hint of fury in his voice. It helped me to come back to the present. I took a deep breath and looked back at him while forcing the memories of my dead brother out of my head. He was gone. There was no point grieving him anymore.

Radrox had his eyes focused on me with an intensity that made my heart speed up. I realised that he was waiting for me to tell more. I wanted to tell him more, but I didn't want to go too deep into the memories because I was afraid my brain would somehow manage to dig up the picture of my brother lying dead for days. I didn't want to remember that.

"It's your turn now," I told him, swallowing the lump that had started to build in my throat. Radrox narrowed his eyes at me, unsatisfied with what I'd given him. "I need something in return. You promised," I pushed.

He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. I leaned closer to his face, taking in every detail of his features and the scars. They were now a part of him, and I couldn't imagine Radrox without his scars. They defined him. In the beginning, his scars used to scare me a lot, but now, I'd gotten used to them. Heck, I was beginning to grow fond of them.

"Are they from the same incident?" I asked when he remained silent with his eyes closed. I realised that he was reminiscing about his past as well.

"Yes," He answered after a long silence. They are from the same incident." Radrox finally answered, opening his eyes and looking at me with a bottomless depth.

"I was commissioned as the General of the Red Wing Army at the War of Dacva. My army was supposed to hold off the Krakens." Radrox finally started speaking. I listened intently because he did not open up like this every day. I was surprised that I'd managed to strike this deal with him in the first place.

"It was a suicide mission, but I was too hungry for glory, too desperate to prove to the Empress that I was worthy of more to see the trap I was waking into. I realised what I signed up for when I had to face the Krakens. It was hell. Those creatures are so big they could swallow the whole Cardinal House. I saw them butcher half of my army as soon as the war started." Radrox's eyes were blazing red as he spoke about the war. I could only imagine what he went through.

I'd been lucky to have spent almost half my life at the sea without encountering a Kraken directly, but I'd heard its roar once. The Kraken had been at least a hundred miles away, but it had sent huge waves miles away. I could only imagine what it must've been like to encounter not only one but several of those Kraken up close.

I'd once met a sailor who had the misfortune of running into a Kraken. He was covered in scars just like Radrox and had almost gone mad.

"But you made it!" I decided to see the positive. "You're here now, and that's all that matters," My words seemed to have affected him negatively.

"I should've died there," He hissed. "A Kraken swallowed me along with my second-in-command, Rhondothir. I wear these scars from being stuck in the Kraken's throat lined with venomous tentacles. I wasn't supposed to make it alive, but I did. And you know what they did with those who returned?" He asked darkly.

"Celebrate them as heroes?" I tried to guess. This seemed like the only possible thing to me. Knowing his story, I couldn't help but feel awe and respect for Radrox.

"Their wings were clipped and they were ridiculed," Radrox growled. I felt it reverberate through my whole body, making me shudder. "And some were given such horrific deaths that I'm sure they'd have rather died at the war,"

"But why?" I asked. "And how did you..." I trailed off, unable to find the words to ask the question, but he understood what I meant.

"Red Dragons are considered lowest of the low. Our lives hold as much value as that of an ant, and as for how I avoided persecution? I went into hiding. I remained that way until no one cared anymore," Radrox gritted. I stared at the emotions that took over his face. This was the first time I'd seen him so expressive.

"But why? I don't understand. What's so wrong about being Red?" I asked. This didn't make any sense to me. Radrox seemed just like the other dragons to me.

"We are anomalies, born due to an ancient curse that surfaces once every hundred generations," Radrox said, resting his heated gaze on me. "My father had dark scales, but I was born with red ones. He disowned me at birth,"

My heart squeezed at that. This made me feel worse for doing what I did to him.

"I'm sorry, Radrox," I whispered, wrapping my arms around him. That was all I could say to him after hearing his part of the story. He didn't say much either, letting a thoughtful silence stretch between.

~

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