Among Dragons (Editing)

Chapter 20

I didn't know how long I had been flying for, or even where I was going. All I could seem to get my brain to wrap around was the intense fear that made my skin go cold and my blood freeze over.

Rhaegos' dark power constantly washed over me in damp, chilling waves. The feel of it flowed into my lungs and made me feel hollow from my weakness. If it wasn't for his large claw wrapped around my body firmly, I would have been shaking like a leaf.

The hazy white clouds curled through my vision the entire time, effectively leaving me clueless to where he was headed. All I could see was the wisps of vapor and how they swirled like a storm with every pump of Rhaegos' strong, dark wings.

After what felt like hours, the clouds finally began to thin out to reveal a crowded forest below. Large hills and foothills rolled across the landscape in a sea of green foliage. It extended on even to the horizon.

It was a place no one would be able to be found in.

Rhaegos lowered down onto a clearing at the top of a steeply slanted hill. I hit the soft grass with a thud as he let me slip from his dark scaled claw.

Niram was right. Rhaegos seemed to suck the light right from the air, making the gray atmosphere around us even bleaker than what it was. His scales were a dark matte black, as were his horns. The brightest thing about him was his sharp white teeth and the rich, fiery purple of his eyes. The light and dark shades patterned together in such a way that they reminded me of the moon.

I swallowed hard at his intimidating presence and stood up, trying not to notice just how small I was compared to him. I took a step backwards. My heart leapt up to my throat as my foot slipped slightly on the edge of the ground before it began to slope down the hill. Now that I knew the cliff was there, I could feel the empty, hollow air behind me.

Rhaegos stepped forward towards me and lowered his head in order to make eye contact. It was extremely difficult for me to not be drawn to the magnetic color of his eyes, even with his menacing teeth so close to me that I could feel their sharpness.

Soon, the hot air of his breath swirling around my legs and the hollow, cold air of the emptiness behind me began to fade away. The purple color encompassed my vision in a raging fire, burning my limbs useless to me. I felt myself stumble slightly to maintain my balance, but it was too late.

The most intense darkness I had ever seen in my life swarmed over me, making me forget what it was ever like to see light. I felt my feet slip over the edge of the hill, but before I could even feel the pain of hitting the ground, I was already unconscious.

~

My eyes whipped around the dark room in fear. It kind of reminded me of when I had gone into Niram's mind, just a plain room with the edges dipped off into shadows. The floor below me was a slick, black marble.

The clacking of dress shoes caused me to snap my head up to the figure that elegantly appeared from the shadows. The darkness curled after him like smoke for a second before returning to the background.

Rhaegos' black hair was in the middle between curly and wavy, and it was kept neat. His features were defined in almost an artistic way, as if they had been sculpted by hand. His fiery purple eyes dragged over my figure with indifference.

I felt suddenly self conscious of myself, my disheveled hair and dirt covered face.

"Seer," Rhaegos stated plainly. The coldness in his voice was evident. "I've been looking for you for a very long time."

I swallowed hard and tried to keep my voice from wavering. "What do you want, Rhaegos?"

"What do I want? I just want to talk. To chat. To discuss the falsities that have been spread across the realm."