A Match of Monsters

Chapter Eight

Every distinct tap of the blade-sharp claws dug further into the Lady's nerves. That the approaching beast still continued to walk meant only one of two things, that either it had no ill intentions in the near future or that it was within the ranks of the monstrous, immortal breeds the ward was forbidden to kill.

By the gentle slide of scales on the polished stone ground that followed every heavy footstep, the Lady hazarded the latter option. By the sounds the that the monster was making as it moved, she guessed that her unexpected company was another dragon, and a fully matured one by the noise it made.

The dragoness looked behind her; stretching her long neck to its limit until finally she could just spot her kit huddled against the human girl's chest with the thin arms wrapped protectively around him. She was barely more than a child herself, yet for some reason fate had woven the girl's life into the world of monsters and away from the world of men, entwining the strands of her life to the hatchling's, already twisting into the distant future.

They hid behind a glittering wall of piled treasures like it was a fortress, and with both the height her hoard was stacked to, as well as the many powerful magical artefacts surrounding the girl and kit, their presence went almost completely undetected. The collections hid them from sight, and the magical possessions throughout the cavern overwhelmed their auras and essences so completely that not even the lady herself could sense them.

Her Ladyship turned once more to face the oncoming immortal. The usually cold, slow beat of her heart sped up until it thrummed at almost the speed of an elderly human's. warmth filled her veins as much as if she was swallowing her fire, or resting on a dark stone under the southern summer sun.

She could feel the tension in her wings and the flames in her throat rising in response to her heartbeat and impatience, the fear and bloodlust slowly overcoming her mind as she readied to fight.

She could hear the dragon steadily moving closer, his heavy steps loud but cautious. Every so often she would hear the tail swishing behind him chink against the stone ground.

Suddenly the Lady knew who was here, only one male's tail made such sounds that she could think of.

Her hear wanted to sigh in relief, but her mind stubbornly reminded her that the danger was not yet over.

Not if he found out.

"My Lady!" The deep voice rang in her head and reverberated through the cavern so powerfully that if her magic had been weaker, she would have been forced to submit to him, as he came around the corner.

But that power was why she had chosen him as her second.

"Manasseh." Her tone was cool as she greeted him, "I did not send for you, why have you come uninvited?"

Her eyes were unwavering and unblinking as she stared at him with more frost in her gaze than most dragons her age could achieve, and if he had possessed any smaller an aura, she knew that he would have been shuffling his paws and cowering away from her.

He swallowed audibly, his neck moving as she watched his mind desperately grasp at words to answer. "My Ladyship, you dropped your prey and flew back to your den like the Shadowcast's aerial armada were on your wingtips. Our fiefdom has many enemies, and I feared for what could have happened."

The Lady watched in stony silence until Manasseh could no longer contain his nervousness, only then did she deign to speak with a voice that could have frozen the stars themselves.

"There was a mortal intruder that I have dealt with. You would do best to remember that you are my subordinate, for I shall not remind you again."

The darker dragon swallowed again, not meeting her gaze and going so far as to turn his head until he was string directly behind himself at the flicking tip of his tail.

She did not blink or make a sound as she watched him with a soul-deep frost few dragons ever mastered.

Suddenly his shoulders tightened and his wings unfurled. He spun around and hissed at her in anger. "You have broken the laws of the Grand Council – One of the most vital!"

Her voice held no emotion to combat his anger as she responded, "you do not know my reasoning. Do not challenge me on this."

Betrayal shone through his eyes as he brokenly said those last two words; "I must."