Chapter 4.2

Chapter4.2

The sound of drums that passed over the small village did not call for war but did not announce a festival.

Every year at the same time, the drums called the funeral procession to the lake. Not to bury the deceased or to commemorate them.

They called the villagers to sacrifice their virgins and offer them as gifts to the dragons.

One of these women was Quinn. Dressed in a simple white linen dress and surrounded by villagers, she was herded after the other women as if they were cattle being led to slaughter.

The herbs she had been forced to take made her willing and her body defenseless. She could barely walk, and soon she would be unable to do so either.

Slowly she shuffled after the women with an unclear look in her eyes.

The first ones had already arrived at the lake. They were given another potion before being put into a wooden boat.

There was one for each woman, and Quinn couldn't even feel fear anymore. The herbs were too potent for that.

Basically, she didn't care about anything at the moment.

She could only submit to the will of the people who wanted to sacrifice her.

Voices could be heard calling from somewhere, and Quinn thought she listened to her mother, but that was unlikely. They had locked her up so she wouldn't get the stupid idea of saving her child. Yet this was all she had left.

How desperately did she have to be?

Quinn's feelings were shallow and seemed dull, and yet she was afraid for her mother. What was to become of her? Now that she was alone, she would be a sitting duck for men.

Her thoughts drifted to her childhood, so she tried to distract herself from what would soon befall her.

However, when a man reached out and held her, she was jolted back into the here and now.

A pitcher was pressed to her lips, and someone tried to open her mouth.

Quinn did not resist and allowed the liquid to be poured into her oral cavity. Portions of it ran down her lips, and some she swallowed, though she tried not to.

The potion caused her legs to shake even more, and eventually, she buckled away.

Two men held her so she wouldn't go down before lifting her up and putting her in a boat.

It was comfortably lined with some soft white pillows and was probably even comfortable. However, Quinn didn't feel enough anymore to judge. It was as if her body was weightless and her mind detached from it. No command arrived, and so her body did not move. She was trapped in this one and condemned to watch.

Her gaze went to the sky, and she was glad that it was late afternoon and soon dark. So the sun did not burn her eyes, and she could at least enjoy the clouds.

These moved about above them, and only a slight wobble told her that she had been pushed into the lake and was now floating on it with all the other women.

There must have been a dozen women, all of whom had been sacrificed.

Only rarely did women stay behind because the dragons did not want them. Often only when there were really many.

But Quinn did not believe he would be so lucky. There were, at least considering the other years, very few women.

Quinn looked at a white cloud and wished she could fly up there with them and be free.

She had tried everything to escape this situation. Had even sacrificed her virginity because dragons supposedly only took virgins. But that had gotten her nowhere. Maybe that was why they would leave Quinn here.

That was the only hope she clung to.

Quinn's blue eyes widened a bit as she recognized the shadow in the sky. Like a bird, small at first, then growing more extensive, it slipped out from behind the clouds, and several dragons circled above them.

Their wingbeats were so strong that the wind made their little boats rock.

Quinn knew she probably would have been sick with fear if she hadn't taken those numbing, paralyzing herbs.

Now she looked up, almost emotionless, and knew she was facing her fate.

After another, one dragon started to descend, fished a boat, including a woman, out of the water, and climbed back up with her in its claws.

When a shadow approached her, she closed her eyes. Her heartbeat unnaturally calmly, and she felt no fear either.

The wind grew cold and cutting while she felt a strange pressure on her ears. Was this because she was being lifted into the air?

Although she was cold, she could not shiver or otherwise warm herself. Besides, it was rocking hard, and she felt a little sick.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes again but saw only something gray in front of her. Something surrounded her, and she couldn't tell exactly what it was since it was also very dark around her.

Was it the dragon's claws?

Quinn felt the need to enjoy the view because she was pretty sure they had to fly. But they couldn't. She just couldn't move, and so even this little encouragement was denied her.

What would happen to her now? Where were the dragons taking her? Would they hurt her and injure her? Would she possibly even be eaten? She did not know. What happened to the women who had been taken by the dragons, no one knew.

From now on, everything was new and uncertain.

Quinn noticed how the dragon was preparing to land because she felt a strange pressure on her ears and a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was proven right because shortly after that, she felt a violent jolt, and the dragon put her on the ground.

Now she could finally see more than just the claw again and in front of her enthroned the majestic creature. Large, strong, and covered with gray scales.

But it didn't stay that way for long. Breathlessly, Quinn watched as the dragon began to deform and slowly become smaller until a man stood before her.

He didn't look bad with his gray, slightly longer hair. But the eyes, also gray, seemed mocking and condescending. At the same time, they looked hungrily at Quinn. As if she were fresh meat. Quinn knew that look from some of the men in her village, and it made her shudder.

Crossing his arms, he looked closely at the new woman he was to walk. "Pretty you are," he said, and his voice, which sounded like a stone's throw, dripped with lust. Apparently, he couldn't wait.

A complex, rough hand grabbed Quinn and pulled her out of the boat.

Confused that the dragon was a man, she tried to comprehend.

Where was she here? What had just happened?

You could tell she didn't understand what was going on and what this one wanted from her.

Since she was still under the influence of the herbs, she couldn't even fight back. She was at his mercy, and so slowly, her heart beat faster and the feeling of panic set in again.

His grip was firm as he put Quinn down. He didn't seem to care if she could stand or not. With a hungry look, he paced around her and held her at the same time.

Without warning, he let his hand wander under her white linen dress. Almost gently and suspiciously, his fingers traveled along her skin, which was cold from the flight.

Quinn shivered and widened her eyes. The panic inside her was growing stronger.

Was this why the dragons took virgins? Because they united with them?

The thought made Quinn feel sick.

Calmly, the dragon placed one foot between her legs to open them. At the same time, his fingers continued upward to her flower.

Quinn squirmed as best she could, but unfortunately, that wasn't much.

Tears came to her eyes, and she turned pale.

She could feel rough fingers that weren't precisely gently pushing into her. Annoyed, the dragon clicked his tongue. "No more virgin?" he asked contemptuously.

Quinn shuddered and tried to swallow. She had suspected it and suddenly became afraid that she would be killed or punished because of it. After all, she had no idea how things worked around here.

"Anyway. Have fun, we will anyway," the voice rang out, resembling a rockfall each time. At the same time, Quinn was grabbed hard and just dragged along. The dragon paid no attention to whether she could walk or not.

Quinn tried hard to move her body, but she couldn't, and so her feet and lower legs hurt a lot when they entered a building that seemed kind of creepy. Almost like an ancient cave.

Mercilessly, the dragon pulled Quinn along by her wrist. She had to conquer a great many stairs that led downward.

When they finally arrived at a corridor where only a little light illuminated the surroundings, she heard whimpering, pleading voices.

She also felt a whimpering rising within her, for her legs had been knocked ungently against the stones more than once.

But what now awaited her surpassed everything.

Women were sitting and lying behind bars. Some of them were covered in blood. Others were writhing on the floor, whimpering and screaming. Still, others no longer looked human at all.

One woman had put her hand through the bars, and it didn't look human at all. It was covered with scales and had claws instead of fingernails.

It was as if she wanted to ask for help.

But the dragon ignored everything around him and dragged Quinn to a door, which he unlocked with a key.

Roughly, he threw the young woman into the dark dungeon. There was no window, and only the little light from the corridor penetrated through the bars. It smelled beastly.

Something moved next to her, and she felt sick when she recognized the woman.

She no longer seemed human at all and completely disfigured.

Was this what they wanted to do to her? Turn her into a monster?

The image of the woman burned into Quinn's retinas, and she knew she would never forget it.