“The feast is tonight,” was what everyone kept telling me as I walked through the village stalls. I was looking for some food to bring home to my family on the outskirts of town, but no one was selling anything but their hardy leftovers. Whenever I asked why, they only responded with one thing.
I didn’t know what the feast meant. I had been too young to remember the last one, but despite that, no one would tell me what it was about exactly. I heard only one person mumble something about sacrifices and Gods, but I didn’t believe them. I thought we paid our penance every week? Sacrifice? It all seemed too unbelievable.
Regardless, when the moon fell that night, I joined the others at the well in the center of town. There, great torches blazed and illuminated the square. Hundreds of people had gathered around the town’s leader, Devon. He spoke over the crowd, a feverish excitement in his voice. I pushed my way through the throng as he thanked everyone who had shown up.
“... The time has come again, for us to choose a desirable woman to be sacrificed. Our town has gone through many hardships over the last couple years, a sure sign it is time to renew our vows to the God that lives on earth.” A hushed thrill ran through the crowd and the village leader held his hand up to regain their attention. “I know we aren’t supposed to talk about the sacrifice — that is one of the decrees — but once every fifteen years we must. Now if anyone would be willing to step up. It is for the town’s greater good.”
I gulped and looked around, staring at the faces in the crowd. No one volunteered. I still had barely any idea what Devon was talking about, but I wasn’t about to ask. A voice whispered in my ear, “How about you, Elizabeth?”
I turned to face it and found my friend, Caitlyn, always a joker. I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
She giggled and prodded my ribs. “You should do it.”
“I don’t think so.”
Devon spoke up again. “If we do not have any volunteers, then I’m afraid I’ll have to choose myself.” He waved to the guards on watch.
He surveyed the crowd. “We only need one untouched woman. That’s all the sacrifice requires.”
“What does the sacrifice have to do?” I spoke up, raising my hand to steal Devon’s attention.
Devon shifted uncomfortably and wiped his brow. “Well,... we don’t really know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I assure you no one dies during the sacrifice.”
“Then what happens to them?”
“They vanish.”
I averted my gaze and looked back at Caitlyn, who’s face had gone pale. I nodded at her knowingly, wanting to scold her for daring to try and get me involved in this.
Devon scanned over the silent audience before snapping his attention back to me. “Elizabeth McShell.”
I shuddered as the words left his mouth, feeling the blood drain from my face. I felt ill. “Come up here, please,” Devon said.
The crowd murmured and parted around me, so I couldn’t hide. I hung my head and walked up to the podium that Devon was standing on. He clamped his hand on my shoulder and shook me. I sigh of relief seemed to fall over the crowd, and I felt sick to my stomach the instant it did.
“You should be honored,” Devon said carefully. “You’ll be hailed as a heroine for the town.”
“Then how come I don’t... feel like one?”
The guards approached behind me and gripped my arms. They dragged me down the stairs and the crowd followed me with their eyes. I didn’t try to fight, I only tried to decide if I wasn’t being absolutely stupid. I was needed, wasn’t I?
I looked at Caitlyn as I was carried out of the town square. She frowned and shook her head, as if it would be the last time she’d ever see me.
My stomach knotted.
***
I was hauled miles outside of town. The location that was picked for the sacrifice was an old one, a large field with a single large wooden stake in the center. I had seen it before when I would go exploring, but could never get a clear answer from anyone what it was for. I swear I saw stained blood on it, and now I knew why.
The guards hoisted me up to my toes and pushed me against the pole. I stood there as they lashed ropes around my body, tightening them and forcing the air from my lungs. They bound my hands and feet to the pole, giving me no mobility.
The guard looked at me with sad eyes and nodded. He looked to Devon who had overseen the entire process. He huffed and blew air from his nose.
“It is done.” He turned out toward the empty field, ignoring the large gathering of villagers that had followed us out there. He spread out his arms and called out into the empty plains. “Azmu! We leave a sacrifice for you! Do with it as you please. For we are worthy.” I stared into the back of his head and tried to contemplate if this was really happening.
It was the first time I had ever heard that name, Azmu, and I was angry. The crowd began to leave, following Devon back up a small hill to the trail that led to town.
“If this god is so powerful how come I’ve never heard of him!” I struggled against my ropes as reality set in.
Devon stopped and shook his head. “We are forbidden from speaking of him except for times of great need... and sacrifice.”
I quivered. I looked to my parents who hadn’t said a word the entire time. “What about you two! You’re going to let them leave me for dead?”
My mother shook her head and my father cradled her in his arms. My father answered, “No. It isn’t for dead. It’s for the greater good.” He gulped back his tears and turned away to join the rest of the crowd. I screamed in confusion and rage as they disappeared up the hill. I was helpless and alone.
What could I do?
***
A storm raged on the moors that night. It had been hours since the village had left me as a sacrifice, but there was no sign of Azmu coming to collect me. The rain ran down my forehead and I tried to lap as much of it up as possible. Who knew when I would get my next sip of water? I realized it felt absurd to try and stay alive, but I had nothing else to look forward to.
The night passed long and rough. I managed to get some sleep in, but mostly strange noises in the night woke me. A raccoon startled me awake at one point and I tried to kick it away, struggling against my ropes. The harsh fibers burned my skin when I moved. The raccoon eventually left me alone, deciding a woman soaked with rain water wasn’t that interesting. Some sacrifice I was.
I cursed the Gods and I cursed the village for leaving me like this. I knew they’d never come back. Why would they? Their precious Azmu was supposed to sweep me away, make me ‘vanish,’ for all they knew, I didn’t exist anymore. What was the point?
I sighed and hung my head, trying to rest my chin against my neck. It made my muscles ache.
***
I woke in the morning to a loud swooshing sound. I craned my neck to try and locate it, spotting something dark against the mountain tops. I strained to make out what it could be, then the realization struck me. The stories my parents had always told, this was it. They were trying to warn me. Prepare me for this day.
It was a dragon. I stared at it as it hovered against the peaks, before it careened down into the valley that I was imprisoned in. The large beast grew nearer, its scales glinting in the morning sunlight.
My stomach ached, but for a brief moment I pushed the pain aside. No one I knew had ever witnessed a dragon in person before, but Gods know that they were real. The signs of their existence was everywhere. A full body shiver shook me against the pole as the dragon landed in front of me.
It lumbered up to me, its large claw like talons crushing the earth underneath it. The ground seemed to tremble under its might, and I tried to get a grip on its enormous size. The golden and brown scales of the beast were that color of damp earth, its green eyes as vivacious as emeralds. It leaned in close to me, its giant eye examining me, reading me.
It opened its mouth to reveal large fangs, rows and rows of them. Each tooth was as long as my forearm, but as thick as my torso. I trembled as it neared me, pushing its nose against me and inhaling deeply.
It sighed and relaxed. The great beast reached around the wooden pole and delicately slashed the robes binding me, freeing me from my hell. I collapsed down to my knees and embraced the earth, just grateful to get off my feet. I grew self conscious and gazed up at the dragon from my kneeling position.
It appeared to be amused. I spoke first, feeling odd and shy about talking to a dragon.
“Thank you so much,” I said. “I thought I’d rot out here.”
The enormous dragon cocked its head at me and spoke quickly. “Yes. You might have. Were you even trying to get free?”
I gawked at him, in disbelief. “You can talk?”
“Of course. Just like you can.”
The dragon moved closer to me, leaning its head near me. It inhaled again. “You smell... divine.”
I blushed. I felt like chastising myself for blushing to the compliments of a dragon, but what else could I do? After a long while, I managed to tear my eyes away from the beast and look over the horizon, toward my village.
“I should go home...”
The dragon followed my gaze and looked over the horizon. He snorted loudly, the force blowing against my back. I looked at him. “What?”
“That village. They left you here. Didn’t they?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, why?”
He raised up, growing taller and more menacing. I stumbled back a couple of feet to try and get out of his way. He looked down at me. “Come with me, I’ll feed you. I’m sure you’re hungry.”
I shook my head, but could tell that he wasn’t really asking. He gestured to his claw, open like some kind of cage. I climbed inside, his scales as hard as rocks under my feet. In an instant, he leaped into the air and took flight, the sudden jolt making me almost faint. The ground shrank beneath me with incredible speed, and I realized I had an intense fear of heights.
He swept over the mountain peaks. I watched the village in the distance wink away in a flash.
***
He took us to a large cave carved into the side of a mountain. I couldn’t tell how far away we were from the village, but it was nearly nightfall when we arrived. He landed inside the cave and closed his wings, opening his claw to let me free.
I slipped out and stumbled to my feet, feeling dizzy and nauseous from the flight. He quickly slid a chair from one end of the cave to meet my buttocks, letting me rest.
After I regained my bearings, I looked around his lair. It was a huge cave system, but the chamber that we were in was by far the largest. The ceiling was at least a hundred feet high, with a large opening that revealed the night sky.
In the corner of the room though, was the most impressive sight I’d ever seen. A gigantic pile of gold, the peak of it nearly reaching half way up in the room. Not only gold and silver pieces, but heirlooms and treasures of all kinds littered the pile. I stared at it with amazement as the dragon nestled in the center of the room.
He glanced at the pile of gold then back to me. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
I nodded slowly. He disappeared into a side passage that managed to fit his huge body, then returned after a moment with food. He dragged a seared and dead boar into the room with his claws, dropping it in front of me. “Please, eat up.”
I was ravenous. I dove to my hands and knees and dug into the meal, tearing the meat from the bone. The charred skin was like heaven, and I felt a sense of animalistic greed overwhelm me as I devoured my fill. I looked up at him after I finished, my hands covered in meat and my mouth parched.
The dragon gestured with his large eyes to a pool of water in the corner of the room near the gold pile, and I dunked my head in for a drink. I took long and deep gulps until I couldn’t drink anymore.
When I pulled my head back out of the pool, I collapsed onto my back. The dragon stirred, and I turned my head to see him. I was still getting used to his presence, so large it almost felt like he wasn’t there at all — but a fixture in the room.
“Why did you bring me back here?”
“To try and take care of you. That village ...” He snorted loudly, his breath swirling dust around the inside of the cave. He turned to a pile of partially burnt tree logs and lit them ablaze with a single breath of fire, filling the room with flickering light. He continued, “I don’t know how many times I have to tell them. I don’t want sacrifices.”
My heart sank. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. I must’ve seen all the signs, but my survival instinct made me ignore them. “You’re... Azmu.”
He nodded. “Yes. I am Azmu.”
“If you don’t want... sacrifices... what do you want?”
“The touch of a woman.”
I stared at him. “The touch of a woman?”
“Yes.” He moved to meet me by the pond, his large legs as big as trees. I stared into his emerald eyes and gulped. I didn’t want to admit it, but there was something primal about him. Ancient almost. A kind of feeling that dared me to touch him.
I moved closer and rested my hand on his scaled neck. They were rough like stone, but warm to the touch. I felt his heart beating beneath his dragon-scales, and when I met his eyes, something stirred inside me.
I rubbed my body against his scales and let the warming heat of the dragon penetrate my skin. It rose inside me like a turbulent storm, and I felt myself grow hot with anticipation. He grunted in response to my touch, his scales growing even hotter. His nostrils flared and his eyes grew wide.
“Yes. Keep going,” the dragon mumbled.
He pushed me over with his claw and tore at my clothes, shocking me with his ferocious strength. Madness was in his eyes, and I dared not challenge it that moment.
His breath tickled my skin, giving me goosebumps. My exposed chest lay before him, and he slid his long, snake-like tongue against me, swirling each of my breasts in turn. I shivered under his touch, feeling a thrill rise in me. “Azmu...”
His eyes flooded with lust. I nodded my head slowly as I tried to relax. His breath was hot on my skin.
“I’m untainted...” I whispered. He murmured in response.
“I knew the moment I saw you — I could sense it.”
“Will it hurt?” I craned my head down, watching him study my body with intense focus. He shook his head with a subtle movement. A sinister smile spread across his wide mouth, exposing his fangs. A thrill of warmth ran through me, and I leaned my head back down, closing my eyes to let him come to me.
His tongue pushed against my knees and separated them. His hot breath cascaded over my body, moistening my thighs and lower lips. Goosebumps crawled across my skin as he dragged his tongue from my breasts to my legs, cradling my thigh and teasing me. He chuckled lightly, his breath coming out in hot bursts against my tender spot.
He ran his tongue against me, forcing a gasp to rise from my throat. I clamped my mouth shut with my hand and rode out the sensation, unfamiliar and terrifying as it was. Azmu pushed his tongue against me again, eliciting another moan.
“Azmu... you’re... teasing me...”
He brought his tongue back down and rested it against my lower lips, pushing it with a gentle force that throbbed with rhythmic power. I dragged my bare heels against the floor, a desperate attempt to dig in and push myself against his tongue, against his pleasure. He chuckled and brought his large claws to my feet, giving me something to push against.
His tongue’s warmth flowed into me, and he danced on my lips, making me swoon and scream with every pulse of his mouth. Hot breath dried my moist skin like a desert, only to be cooled again by his slippery tongue. I looked at him and watched smoke rise from his nostrils, eagerness in his eyes as they pierced me.
His scales shimmered and danced in the fire light. He grunted and breathed harder as he lashed me with his tongue, making me squirm and desire him even more.
“Azmu, could you...?”
He slurped his tongue back into his mouth and eyed me, as if he knew what I was going to say. I felt my cheeks flush, a ridiculous feeling to have after being played by his tongue for so long. My neck burned with sweat. “I am... a virgin after all.”
“If I could mate with you?”
I nodded slowly. If my village wouldn’t take me back, I might as well make do with what I could.
He looked away. “It is possible but — ”
“You’ve done it before?”
“Once,” he admitted. I could detect shame in his voice. “I regret it.”
The stone on my back wasn’t cold any longer, but it was slightly dewy from my sweat. The fire blazing in the corner illuminated the gold stash, making the walls and ceiling of the cave sparkle and twirl with color and hues.
“What happened to her?”
He didn’t answer. I climbed to my feet and moved to meet his head. I clasped my hands around him, embracing him as best I could. He nudged me with a gentle force to show his acknowledgment. “I want to help.”
“How?”
I traced my fingers on his cobble-sized scales. “The way you’ve helped me.”
He grunted and I looked under his mass of a body to find his member. It wasn’t as gigantic as I expected, but it was quite large. The closest thing I could compare it to was the size of one of the horses from the village.
I looked away from his watching eye and fell to my hands and knees. I crawled across the stone floor and huddled against his back leg, near the hardening cock. I reached out, slowly, tempestuously, and stroked it. He grunted and shifted his weight, but I could tell it was what he wanted. What he desired.
He couldn’t see me from below him, so I took a secret delight in thinking about what I could do. What I could do to please him as he had pleased me. I felt my thighs grow slick in anticipation, my breathing growing shallow. I stroked him again, managing to grip its girth with both of my hands. He bucked and scraped his hard claws against the stone floor, leaving thick white gashes on the dark rock.
I stroked him again, feeling his body tremble. He groaned as I began to pump my hands over the head. I did my best to touch the entire length of him. I caught myself moaning involuntarily as I stroked him off, gaining speed to match the racing pace of my heart beat.
He cringed and threw his upper body against the floor, gripping it with his claws to stop from moving away from me. I was elated at how great it felt to pleasure him, to make him yearn for me.
“Elizabeth...” he said haltingly. I looked over at his head, following the scaled underbelly of his stomach. His head was cocked down on the ground, turned slightly, so one eye could watch me. I relished the voyeurism. I squeezed his cock harder and brought my face near it, the smell of smoke and brimstone wafting from his tempting scales. I thought of what he had done to me, with his tongue, and decided to emulate him.
I dragged my tongue against his scaly prick and the heat of it was nearly unbearable. The taste of ash lingered in my mouth, but wasn’t unenjoyable. If anything, that flavor only excited me for more.
He grunted in excitement, thrusting his cock forward and sliding it against my open mouth. I gripped it to try and stop him, but it only tossed me forward onto the stone floor. I looked up at his throbbing muscle and felt my chest grow hot. I wanted it.
“Fuck me, Azmu,” I said. He braced his legs and lowered himself down to the ground so he could reach between my legs. I breathed hard, the anticipation terrifying and exciting at the same time. I spread my legs and gripped the head of his shaft as he came close to me. I slowed him with a gentle jerk of my hand and guided him down between my legs, teasing my folds with his hard scales.
I brought him in, scooting forward on my buttocks and letting his girth slowly fill me. His head was the first to slip inside, and I exhaled slowly as I pulled more of him in. I squeezed my eyes shut halfway, then let out a long sigh as I managed to hit his stomach with my knees, his enormous member filling me to the brim. I couldn’t speak, terrified of moving wrong and breaking something, hurting myself.
He moved slowly, bringing his shadowy underside up and letting his girth slide out of me, before bringing it back in. Gently and slowly he rocked, until I was able to regain my composure. The fluttering feeling in my chest and stomach curdling and making me dizzy. I felt like fainting for a long while.
“Oh... my Lord,” I whispered as I hooked my feet around each of his rear legs and dragged him in and out of me. The rush of blood was intoxicating. “Azmu, fuck me.” I had longed to say those words, for them to come together so perfectly. It felt so natural.
He brimmed with new energy. He thrust his hips down toward the ground, entering me fully and slamming against my insides. I felt like I was drowning, each aggressive pump sending me reeling. I clutched onto his underside and held on, letting the storm of his passion flow through me, the heat of his fiery belly fill me with desire. I moaned aloud into the cave, no one to hear the sounds of our love. Nothing to witness our lust and love except for the twinkling of the stars above his body. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel them. They felt as if they were throbbing, echoing and chanting. I screamed as what must’ve been an orgasm sparked inside my body, consuming me like wildfire, the throbbing heat and lust waxing and waning from my finger tips to my ears.
The incredible surge of intensity began to ebb as he grunted, long streaks of fire blowing from his mouth without control. I felt the burst of heat from above my head with every push, then his seed exploded inside me. It was like coals were being deposited in my insides, like burning kindling of our love still glowing. He grunted aloud and smacked his lips, before withdrawing from me. I collapsed on the sticky stone.
He moved back to catch a glimpse of my eyes. As his head hovered over me, I stroked his scales and, with some difficulty, reached up to plant a kiss on him. He snorted and dabbled me with his tongue, mimicking my kiss. His eyes were full of adoration, the emerald almost looking gold in the fire-light.
My body felt weak and trembled with every movement. I struggled to turn over to my side, before exhaustion gripped me and I passed out.
***
Azmu woke me. I squinted in the daylight as his voice rang in my ears, calling my name.
“Elizabeth. Wake up.” He gently nudged me with his claw, turning me over from my side.
I held my elbow against my forehead, trying to block the sun that was beaming through the open skylight. I groaned and looked at him. I groaned softly as my body reminded me of the night before. Every muscle was as sore as if I had spent all day tilling. “Wh-what is it?”
“I wanted to tell you — I... I’m glad I brought you here.”
I smiled and craned my neck to meet one of his enormous eyes. “I am too.” I sighed contentedly and added, “Was it good?”
“It was invigorating. I haven’t felt so charged with energy for hundreds of years.”
I stared at him. “Hundreds of years?” My mind boggled at the concept. I thought for a moment, glancing at the unlit trees in the corner of the room, still smoldering slightly from the fire the night before. “Wait — when was the last time...?”
He nodded a bit sheepishly. “It was two hundred and fifty years ago, almost exactly. I took one of your kind into my home.”
I stared at the floor, now turned around on my stomach and resting on my elbows. I didn’t want to know who, but I was surprised that he had gone so long. “Why so long?”
He answered slowly, as if he were choosing his words with great care. “I never found anyone suitable. All the others weren’t right, they didn’t smell right.”
I leaned in and smelled my arm. “I smell right, don’t I?”
He nodded. “More right than even the last.”
“Aren’t there other dragons?” I felt silly to ask, but he was the only one I had seen. When we were flying to his cave, I thought about it and decided that he matched the descriptions of all the dragon stories I ever heard; gold scales, large claws and teeth, emerald eyes. None had different features.
“None.” He held his breath, then sighed. “I am the last, I’m afraid. I’ve flown across the land and sea countless times, and never found another like me.”
“I’m so sorry.” I reached out to stroke his claw, admiring the crimson edges to his scales and claws.
He shook his large head back and forth, the air whooshing around it. “Don’t be. I am not alone or terrified. At least, not anymore.”
I stared at him, unsure of where he was going. I thought hard about it, and felt my heart quicken. “Your seed...” I held my hand to my mouth, but not in horror, but confusion. “Am I going to be pregnant?”
“No, you’ll change. You’ll become a dragon. Like me.”
I stared at him, trying to comprehend. Trying to believe. “Like you?” I gazed at his body, long and almost serpentine.
“Not entirely,” he chuckled. “More human, but a dragon. With the immortality of a dragon, and the power of one.” He blinked hard and brought his head near me, his large eye encompassing my vision. “Does that... upset you?”
I shook my head, tears brimming on my eyes. “No, no!” I protested. “It doesn’t. I’m just... surprised. I mean... I don’t have anything else anyway. My village literally left me for dead. Without you — I’d have nothing.”
“Now you can have everything. Even revenge. And don’t worry. I’ll take care of you during the process. It can be arduous.”
“Have you seen it happen before?”
“Only once,” he said. He turned away and looked through one of the many tunnels in his cave. “I’ll get us some food. Wait here for me.”
I nodded, and he spread his wings as wide as the chamber. With a powerful beat, he leaped into the art and took off through the open ceiling, leaving me in his lair alone. I drank some water from the pond and sat near the gold pile, staring at its majesty.
Perhaps being a dragon’s sacrifice wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen. I picked up one of the golden goblets and held it close, looking at my reflection. There was a small mark of dirt on my face, and I tried to wipe it away. It didn’t come off, but it didn’t feel like dirt either. More like dried mud. I looked closer as I felt the mark on my cheek with my fingers. Rough like stone. Scales.
I should have felt a bit of fear, but I didn’t. I only felt more powerful.