Emperor's Heir - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

It was dark and humid inside the dragon’s mouth, but not as burning hot as I had imagined. The heat was tolerable. Instead, it was the foul stench of rotting flesh that accosted my sense of smell, making my stomach turn. In the dark, I took a step and slipped. Putting out my hands to keep from hitting my face as I fell, I landed with them in something sticky.

Slime oozed and squelched as I snatched my hands away. Whatever I had touched had been soft and slightly bumpy. And wet…very wet. Then I remembered. I was in a dragon’s mouth. I was standing on the giant lizard’s tongue.

Quickly I stood. Keeping still, I tried to calm my racing pulse by taking in shallow breaths. However, every time I inhaled my stomach lurched as the awful smell of terrible dragon breath filled my lungs. But I remained, silent and as still as I could. What was supposed to happen now?

Something flashed out of the corner of my eye. It was a spark of color, blues and greens that flew out from a dark abyss what I could only assume led to the base of the dragon’s throat. More followed, each flashing and dancing all along the cavern of yellow-white teeth. Soon, I was watching a firework display of colors clashing, twirling and twisting, mixing with one another. And in the display, images began to form.

A man stepped out of the mix. Wait … he wasn’t a man, for where his legs were supposed to be, there lay a large tail instead. His eyes were a pool of soft green while his hair was a dark raven black with hues of blue. His face wore an expression of desperation. The images focused, losing their blurry outlines till they became as clear and concise as if that merman was standing right in front of me. I could even see the reflection in his eyes.

A dragon was staring back.

The merman’s mouth opened and closed, shaping words. However, I couldn’t hear anything. Then, slowly at first, like a bunch of string instruments slowly growing louder, I began to hear what was being said.

“Please!” The merman was begging. “I need to pass a message to her.”

“You don’t even know if she will hear your plea.” The dragon replied calmly. “The girl hasn’t been to Quanxi for a long time.”

“But you’ve looked into the future!” The merman cried out desperately. “She will return! You saw her come back!”

“Some things are predestined. That the Protector will return, I know. If she will help you … that I know not.”

The merman’s face fell. For a moment he looked lost and forlorn. His eyes became black with despair and hopelessness. Then a look of determination filled those orbs once more.

“Still, I must try. She’s my only hope for my people.” The merman looked up at the dragon, and I could see in the reflection that the dragon’s face had softened slightly.

“Very well.” The giant lizard agreed.

The images shifted as the merman turned his head to look straight at me. It was as if he was looking into my soul and searching from hope, certainty from me.

“Protector of Quanxi, it’s been decades since you’ve last been seen in our realm.” The merman spoke softly. “My name is King Kion, ruler of the Four Seas and the Blood Isles. In the name of the title given to you by our Mother Moon, I beseech you, help my people!” The sea king’s eyes brimmed up with tears, one escaping and streaked down his cheek. “I’ve failed in my oath as their king and have put them in grave danger. I’m to blame and only have you now to fall upon for aid.”

“A woman named Malba has my heart. I gave it to her freely as a sign of my love and fidelity. But, I was deceived by her. She’s a witch!” For a brief moment, Kion’s face was filled with hatred. Then, it was filled with remorse once more. “I should have heeded my brother. He knew of her true character, that she was a woman not to be trusted. But, I listened not. At this very moment, I am dying without a heart. Malba is using it and mixing it with her dark arts. I know not what her plans are, except that they are evil and a king’s heart is powerful. With it is attached all my people’s own love and devotion to their kingdom. I fear that great harm will befall them.”

The sea king’s face twitched in pain and he clutched at his chest before falling to the ground. The images shifted again, and I watched horrified as before my eyes the merman’s tail began to fade away to ash, sparks flying away in the wind. He saw it too, and looked up into the dragon’s eyes to meet my own once more.

“I have little time.” His face twitched once more and he groaned in pain. “Go to the palace of Queen Baema. Find Malba. She’s acting as ruler in Queen Baema’s absence. Be not deceived as I was. She bears the face of a friend, but possesses the soul of a foe.” The ashes had reached the merman’s waist now. It appeared that he was struggling for breath. Stretching out one arm, he reached as if searching for a companion to grasp his hand and hold it in his last moments. Without realizing, I reached mine forward towards the image.

For a moment I felt a static electric pulse. Then warmth. The warmth of fingers pressed against mine. The merman’s face lit up. Color rose to his white cheeks once more before they changed back to ashen grey. I felt his fingers tighten around my hand as he gasped once then collapsed on rock. His hand loosened and then I could feel it no longer.

Hot tears streaked down my cheeks as I watched the merman disappear in ash and sparks of fading embers. Then I saw the ashes all collect in a pile in a soft little pile. A gust of wind swept them up into the air again, towards me. Then I saw the dragon’s mouth open and watched the charred remains of King Kion enter there to rest.

The images blurred then disappeared, leaving me alone and sad. I sniffed and wiped clumsily away at the tears. For some reason, I couldn’t stop crying. I felt as if I had just lost an old friend. My heart ached.

Suddenly, there was a harsh movement. I fell down hard against the dragon’s tongue, which felt like sandpaper now, but I couldn’t get to my feet. There was to much jarring motion that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remain upright. So, I stayed down, curling up into a ball, covering my head with my arms and knees.

The motion halted and suddenly the dragon’s jaws opened. I stared briefly into the sea’s churning waves before the dragon spat. I was hurled through the freezing air before my body crashed into the waves, smacking across them a couple times like a tossed pebble, before finally sinking below the surface.

Green slime oozed off my skin in droplets. I coughed and then took in a deep breath of clean, salty seawater. I had little time to ruminate though. A deep voice sounded in my head, breaking through my thoughts.

“It’s good to have you back, Protector. Remember this. My name is Gnasher the Great.”

I swam quickly to the sea’s surface, my head breaking through the waves just in time to see a great shape fly off.

The shape of a dragon.