Queen of Cursed Hearts

Chapter 19

WARNING: this chapter contains some mature-ness between Lilith and Samuel, so be warned.

CHAPTER 19

I had smelled a curse in the dragon realm, so I made my way there. The dragons are the only species with a sense of time similar to mine; they live for millennia before they die of old age, much longer than the other species that I have come to know, but it has been many years since I last saw the Dragon King. The last time I saw him, there were but a handful of dragons in his realm.

The smell of the cursed heart gets strong as I enter one of the many entrances to the underground Dragon Realm. The first time I entered the realm, there were not many caves, but now I can feel that the caves have expanded large distances in all directions, and they are now deeper than they were before.

I feel saliva pooling in my mouth as I follow the scent of the cursed heart.

I rub my bare hand over my face, forcing my eyes to not enlarge, but the scent of such a large cursed heart is intoxicating.

I conceal my presence as I walk, aware that most of the dragon population will not know me, and that dragons can get very protective over their territory and over what is theirs, like their soul partners.

The cave that holds the cursed heart is large, large enough to hold the giant dragon inside.

Her ruby-red scales are the size of my head, and some of her spikes are purple. Her giant wings are folded against her side, and she is gasping for breath quietly, so as not to alarm the other dragons within hearing distance.

I can immediately tell that she is a Royal dragon.

I unconceal my presence after switching my hearing and voice to dragon level, and immediately her head whips in my direction, her tail coming around to grab me.

I do not resist as she holds me with her tail, her purple eyes tweaked with pain but also surprise.

"Who are you?" She asks in my head, and when I do not cover my ears and start shaking, her surprise grows.

"My name is Lilith." I say.

Her eyes widen as she hears my voice in her head.

"What are you?" She asks, not releasing her grip on me. "You speak like a dragon, but you are obviously not one."

She winces for a moment and I notice that some of the scales on her chest turn black. She glances down at them and then back at me.

"I eat cursed hearts." I say, hearing the sound of her's beating deliciously loud. "And you have a cursed heart."

She does not flinch at my words, only seems slightly intrigued.

"Are you saying that you would like to eat my heart?" She asks, a small smirk on her face.

I nod my head. "With your permission of course."

She laughs loudly at this, and places me back on the floor. For a few moments the cave shakes while she laughs.

"With my permission you say?" She says, still chuckling. "And what makes you think that I will give it to you?"

I look into her eyes, and can see the pain there.

"When it gets too painful you will give me permission." I say.

She blinks at this, and the light-hearted smile on her face drops. She lies down on her hunches and watches me for a moment before reaching out with her claw and picking me up to bring me closer to her face.