The Captive Prince

Chapter 1

Roman lowered himself another inch before wrapping his foot a couple of times around the cloth below him. If the material was one piece he might have been able to just slide down in a matter of seconds before the dragon even discovered his escape, but he wasn't that fortunate. He did the best he could with what he had, the scrapes together might not have reached the bottom, and it wasn't the sturdiest, but at least that fall wouldn't kill him.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and let himself rest between two pieces and looked down. Roman guessed he was about halfway down the make-shift rope before he had to jump off onto the hard, woodland floor.

Nothing caught his ear beside the tapping branches of barren trees caught in the breeze flowing toward him.

The dragon hadn't scented him. He was going to make it this time, he knew it. He was going to escape today! Roman grinned to himself, unwrapped his foot and continued down the rope with a quicker pace this time. His heart pounded anxiously but was overridden with hope.

The tip of the rope disappeared and the ground met the Prince. He stumbled forward onto the ground. A roar echoed through over the trees. He gave himself a second to celebrate before getting up and ducking into the overgrowth.

A large green dragon swooped down and landed a few feet away from where Roman hid. As it did so, the trees seemed to consciously move out of the way for the behemoth. The dragon lowered its neck and scanned the foliage with thin, reptilian eyes.

Roman held his breath and unsheathed his hunting knife. He gazed down the dragon and waited.

The dragon turned away and took a step in the other direction.

Roman watched it take a few more steps before making his way out with as little noise as possible. But he couldn't. He began pulling harder, but he remained in the same place. Panicked, he pulled harder but the vines grew tighter around him.

The dragon turned around, a wide toothy grin upon their face. "I'm impressed. You made it farther this time, your majesty." It hissed, sliding its claw discreetly. The plant life moved out of the way but still clung to Roman's limps.

"I order you to let me go!" Roman gritted.

The dragon through its head back and laughed. "And what makes you think you have authority over me, little prince? You have not status here, you belong to my Queen."

"The Dragon Witch is no queen."

"I could rip out your tongue with that treacherous speech!" the dragon hissed. They swiped a claw at the Prince.

Roman instinctively ducked, but their talons wrapped around him and a strangling squeeze as his was lifted to their face. His arms were pinned to his sides and he could hardly breathe, he could feel his face glowing red with the lack of oxygen. The dragon took its other talon and made him look into its eyes. The ebon nail pierced his cheek. A crimson warmth trickled down and specked the bright green scales holding him. Roman gritted his teeth and gazed into the ember eyes.

They licked their lips. "You'd make a very tasting snack." They snickered and pulled Roman closer. Roman could feel the burning heat coming from their mouth. The smell wasn't too pleasant either, but he didn't grimace even though his muscles twitched to turn away. "But my Queen ordered me to keep you alive."

The dragon loosened their grip a bit. Roman gasped and coughed violently, the redness began receding from his face.

"Next time, I won't be merciful on you, pretty boy."

Roman didn't have time to ponder what they meant by that as the dragon lifted its leathery wings and forced itself off the ground and back toward the tower. Although he didn't make it far, they still had a little ways to go before they would make it back to his prison. Roman took the opportunity to make a second escape.