{Shelby} Dragon's Sacrifice {Chaotic Cello}

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Chaotic Cello

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Amara was grouchy when he took the sky in his dragon---his true---form. It was a beautiful summer day, the air warm, birds chirping, and not a cloud in the sky. In other words, it was the perfect day to curl up on his hoard and nap. And seeing that had eaten a handful of cows the three days ago, he could nap for a couple of days without requiring more food.

But, unfortunately, it was the day that he had to go collect his tributes from some village. At least he would be adding some more gold and shinys to his collection. A what could be called a fanged smile graced his face. Gold would make this hour flight form his lovely cave to some stupid valley worth his while.

He circled three times above the village before letting out a roar and some fire (figuring keeping the mortals frightened would result in more money). He then dove to the ground and landed by what could be called the village entrance. It took only a couple of seconds before his body began to be shrouded in a white glow and his form shrank into his human like form.

He strutted into the village with ease, offering frightened onlookers fanged smiles. When he made it to where the gold was normally collected for him was kept a frown and a look of annoyance crossed his face. There was no gold, and instead an admittedly beautiful women standing in the area where gold should be.

He crossed his arms, "Where is my gold?" He asked, staring directly at the girl. He didn't bother hiding the growl in his voice or keeping it down. Let the humans be frightened. He did not miss an opportunity to nap for nothing.
 
As people gathered around the area in which the dragon would soon find himself, the very place where usually they had stacks of gold for the beast, they all couldn't help but glower over at the woman who stood in the middle of the stand, tied up so as to make sure that she would not escape. The nervous anticipation for the dragon's return swam through all of their minds, making them wonder how the best would react to such an odd, different arrangement. They had no more gold; they hadn't been able to accumulate enough to compensate his need! So what other choice did they have other than to give up one of their own, one of their own that wouldn't be much of a waste, no matter her beauty.

Fortunately, her family seemed not too upset about the decision. In actuality, it had been her father to suggest the idea, all the other villagers taking apart in the decision making to make her their sacrifice. Besides, Myla had always wanted to be of some worth to the village, for what ever reason, so now was her time to use her 'worth' for the village.

"I cannot believe you are doing this to me!" The gruttled voice of the woman on the stand spoke, her body moving as she tried to release herself from her binds. "How dare you all!" To say she was bitter about the situation was an understatement, and as her father came to stand beside her, she quickly turned her head, her eye narrowed with his brows furrowed. "Especially you." Finally she turned to look at her father, her mother and three brothers standing in the distance.

"This is what is best for the village. Hasn't it always been you who wanted to prove something to us? And now just think, you are doing something of worth." He had always been ashamed of his daughter, but nevertheless he couldn't deny how his heart broke to see her in this situation. But... It needed to be done!

"So you're sending me to my certain death?" She grit her teeth, watching as her father tried to come up with a retort, though the response was quickly cut short as the sound of the beast entered into the vicinity.

The villagers body shook, trembled with down right fear as the man beast walked over to the stand, obviously confused about the situation, obviously irritated. Myla looked to the best, her eyes hard, though her body shaking as well, because how could someone not be intimidated by him? "We don't have any, Amara," Myla's father spoke as he stood to his full stature, his voice shaking a bit as he spoke. "Our trades have been low this season, and we just can't afford to give you the gold that you seek. But," he pulled Myla up by her arms, pushing her out towards him. "For compensation, we have my daughter, Myla, to give to you. We know that she is of much more worth than any gold we can give you, so we give her to you."
 
Amara wanted to glance towards Myla with pity and almost considered giving her a kind gaze. But that was not appropriate. It would constitute weakness in the eyes of the villagers and that simply would not do. It might give them or other villagers ideas that young girls and not gold are proper payment for his benevolence.

He instead reflexively wrapped and arm around the pushed girl and lightly held her to his side. It was the barest of grips and he was sure the girl could break free if she tried....but it was the closest to calming the girl he could get.

His eyes flitted to the father, narrowed and cold. "You are lucky I do not burn the village down and slaughter you all for this slight," he began (thought that was really a bluff---slaughtering and burning were such hard work), "But I will accept her as this years payment." His head tilted and he smiled showing his teeth. "I, however, expect triple the amount of the usual gold next year and won't accept anything else."

He then looked down at Myla, obviously done with the villagers, "Shall we?" He asked
 
It was as if everyone in sight had held their breath after Myla's father spoke, their fear stricken eyes wandering over to the beast, though never staying on his form or too long. They thought looking would possibly tick him off further, and they didn't want to do that.

The father, however, seemed to be even more terrified than the rest, his own life and reputation on the line for this. Would this bargain work? Would he take his daughter and just leave them alone for another year? Hopefully, but as he watched the man beast take his daughter into his arms, he couldn't help that his heart started to beat quicker, that his palm became sweaty. Myla herself even looked a bit worried, though as she stood in the arms of Amara she couldn't help but feel as if his grip wasn't that tight. Confused, she looked up at him, his tall stature making her basically look straight up to see his face. He... What was he doing?

"Three times as much gold? There is no possible way we could ever make that much! We would have nothing for ourselves, or to give to other villages." Myla's father spoke out, the rest of the villagers murmuring to themselves, distraught.
 
Amara shrugged. "I could make it ten times as much. I believe triple is very generous considering you situation."

He stared at Myla's father with cold eyes and slowly brought one of his golden claws to Myla's throat. "I mean I could be killing you all, right now." He made a slashing motion with his claw, as if to slit her throat. His claws actually left her skin as he did this, not wanting to actually injure what is apparently his payment. He just wanted to make a point. "I will be back next year. I will accept nothing less."

He released Myla completley before turning on his heel. Only beckoning her to follow with a lazy wave of his hand.
 
A sharp, almost inaudible, gasp fled from Myla's mouth as her eyes slightly traveled down to look at Amara's claw that was positioned over her throat. Now she found herself holding her breath, her body actually trembling this time, despite her mind telling her to calm down, telling her that he wouldn't dare kill her. Yet, as her mind told her that, she knew that he was all but capable of killing her instantly, and as that thought crossed her mind she couldn't help but shoot daggers at the villagers with her eyes. Had they just sent her to certain death?

Her father said nothing more, knowing that the dragon was right. "Yes..." Was the last thing he spoke before he watched the beast walk off, his eyes trailing his daughter as she seemed to contemplate whether or not she should flee or follow. He almost had a feeling that she would run, but that thought was only fleeting. Myla was a smart girl, and running away would certainly mean death, if she wasn't already walking towards death.

But as she pondered on the thought of whether or not she actually would follow, Myla knew she had no choice. So, begrudgingly so, she sent another glare towards the villagers before following after Amara, her hands still bound by the wrist.
 
Amara gave a satisfied smile when he heard Myla's footsteps trailing behind him. He assumed that it meant that she realized her position and it made things easier on him. He walked in silence until they were a bit of way past the village limits. He was deep in thought, wondering just what to do with this human.

He stopped suddenly and then reached for the binds on Myra's wrist, deftly slicing them open with his claws. "My name is Amara. I am a dragon. If you are good I won't turn you into stew." The last part was a joke (cattle was much tastier than humans and stew was such a pain to make). He gave a wry smile to signify it, but still wasn't sure of it came across that way.

He then took a step back and began to shift. It took barely anytime at all before he was back into his true skin--his dragon form. Laying down on the ground he stared at Myla expectantly. There is no way he was walking all the way back to his cave.
 
How could they do this to her? Just hand her off as if she was some piece of meat, trying to entice the dragon's better nature when they knew damn well he wanted gold. Still, it was a bit surprising to Myla that he even fathomed the idea of taking her. If this was the case, what was he going to do to her? Torture her for her village's incompetence to upkeep their end of the deal and trade their gold with the dragon? Or would he just out right kill her and wait for a year to come back to the village?

Either way, Myla figured that she was in a lose lose situation, and there was nothing much she could do about it. This whole situation just... Hurt. Yeah, it hurt, and bad. To think that all of them would do this to her, especially her family? What good were they?

As those sickening thoughts circled through her mind, her throat started to close up a bit, the soreness of it reaching her. Was she really that worthless?

Almost having run into the back of the dragon as he stopped, Myla quickly snapped her attention back to the present, her eyes nearly closing as he took her wrist, figuring that this was where she was going to die. She had already accepted her fate, but as she only felt a bit of pressure take a hold of both of her wrist, a mere dull throbbing sensation coming from the skin as the rope that bounded her fell to the ground. So, he freed her hands?

She gave him a puzzled look, though at his words she could only try her best to not roll her eyes. he already knew who he was, and what he was. After all, he had only been terrorizing the village for years. Was this some type of attempt at trying to be civil? She wanted to blow this whole thing off, to try her luck and run, but as he started to change she couldn't help but become even more intimidated by his sheer size. The dragon, in his true form... She narrowed her eyes as he lid on the ground, giving her an expecting look, more than likely wanting her to get on his back, or at least that's how she saw the situation. Tch, did he think she was stupid? "No way am I getting on your back," she spoke somewhat defiantly, a quiver in her voice nevertheless.
 
Amara simply growled in response. He wanted to get home so he could nap, and flight was---by far--the quickest method. He could always take off without the Myla, but he would be damned if returned home empty handed. If all he got from this trip was some type of sacrifice, he was going to return with his sacrifice.

He snorted in annoyance before looking at Myla a scathing look. He instead set his large head on the ground and deliberately looked up towards the top of his head. If the human was concerned with grip, he suppose he could allow her on his head and hold onto his horns. He cursed lacking speech in this form and half considered changing back to explain. He probably should have explained or asked her before shifted in the first place. But he will give her a chance to figure it out in her own first.
 
At his scathing look, Myla took a step back, watching as he put his head to the ground, his eyes hinting towards the top of his head. Oh, so he must have thought that she just have a problem with getting on him in general, and that she didn't just have the fear of being the air with something that could easily just drop her to her death. Or just having a fear of being in the air in general, because in her mind, that wasn't right. She was meant to stay on the ground, not on a dragon.

"I said no," this time she spat the words at him, becoming a little more brave despite her mind sending off warning signals to her. "I will not let you drop me from thousands of feet in the air. If you want to kill me, just kill me now, right here!" She spread her arms, just wanting to let it happen. She figured if it was going to happen at any, then why not now? And if he wanted to bring her in the air? Well, he'd just have to force her.
 
Drop her from the air!? Why would he even bother with that? He let out a sound that sounded oddly similar to a laugh and he let some amusement flicker through his eyes. It would be easier to kill her here and now and he would....if he actually wanted to do that.

Looking at her positioning...that he frankly found ridiculous.... he decided to have some fun. Reaching forward with one of his large clawed 'hands' that were just as Myra's head he gently poked her right over the heart---just attempting to knock her down.

He then got up and with a swish of his tail continued in the direction of his cave. If the girl insisted on walking they will walk. But he would not be shifting back to provide good company...plus is he was lucky she would tire and perhaps ask to be flown the rest of the way.
 
Not necessarily understanding the hint of amusement that shown in his eyes, as Amara reached forward with his rather large hand, Myla closed her eyes, once again ready to accept fate. It definitely was n odd feeling to the women to be stuck like this; to be testing her luck with fate as well as knowing undeniably that her death was upon her. She was never one to accept things so easily, oh on the contrary! It was against her better nature, yet she just couldn't help it.

So with her accepting fate already, when she felt a push on the area around her heard, she didn't brace herself. Yet, why was she feeling no pain, and instead feeling as if she was falling back? It was only until the moment when her back hit the ground, a small grunt coming from her lips, did Myla shake her head and send a glare towards the dragon who then turned around, his tale sending back a gust of wind in her face. That little, er big... Was he playing with her?

No, the woman told herself, shaking her head as she stood up and brushed herself off. He was a dragon, so there was no way he held emotions other than ruthless anger towards others. Maybe this is just what he did with his prey. Play with them before killing them. Great.

Again that thought of running away entered her mind, but again she fought against it and followed behind the dragon, though trailing by a great distance.
 
Amara trotted along the path at a steady pace. It was slower then he would generally like, but he could hardly speed up seeing how far Myla was trailing behind. He could hardly blame her seeing that her legs were short, but at this rate the won't make it until sundown or later.

He huffed and small flames came out in his breath before he slowed down and began pacing around in circles, waiting for her to catch up. His tail swished back and forth before while he debated the pros and cons of just grabbing her and flying.
 
Ha, he was getting impatient was he? That's how Myla looked at it as the dragon began circling the area, waiting for her to catch up. Now, it might have just been out of her outright need to defy someone or something, or if it was just because she found herself getting a little tired from all the walking (not that she would admit that), but she stopped after she took a few more steps towards Amara, her arms crossed over her chest as she rose her brows in his direction.

"Aww, is the little dragon getting irritated that you can't just fly away because of me?" Her tone came out mocking, as if she was testing to see what kind of reaction she could get from him. True, she might be terrified of the male, but why just completely show it to him? It would let him know that he held great power over her, something that she hated to admit, but not only that, he had only been toying with the actions of killing her, never committing to the action.

Why was she tempting fate? She figured she had nothing to lose, so what was the point? Why not just make this more difficult for him.
 
Myla's taunt was the deciding factor. They were going to fly now and he didn't care if she spent the whole time screaming in his ears. Okay, he did care of she did, seeing that high pitch sounds make them ache...but that was well beside he point.

He turned his body completely towards her and thumped his tail on the ground before his charge towards her. He barreled along the path tkwards her. With practiced skill he jumped into the air and spread his wings before crashing into her. As he was gliding right above Myra's head he reached down with a claw, hooking it onto the back of her shirt. This lifted her a couple feet off the ground and he considered carrying her this way or if he should be nice and allow her to climb onto his head or back.
 
Okay, so maybe she shouldn't have prodded him the way she had. Maybe then she wouldn't find herself dangling in the air with only a claw keeping her from smashing into the ground. A scream couldn't even surface from her throat she stared, wide eyed and terrified at the ground, her body stiffing as she told herself not to move. With movement came the possibility that the claw could become detached from her shirt, no matter how it chocked her slightly. Oh, she hoped that it didn't rip!

Her breath was caught in her throat before she looked up, giving the dragon a glare. If looks could kill...

Sure, they were only a few feet in the air, but it didn't matter! She was a human, a thing that was not supposed to be in the air. Oh, this feeling of dangling in the air... She was almost beginning to panic a little.
 
He stared down at her, cruel amusment in his eyes at Myla's inital glare, but when he felt the panic beginning to invade her scent he softened a bit. And he made up his mind.

He won't torture her by keeping her in his claws. He hovered in place the best he could before raising his claw ever so slowly towards his nose. He was sure it probably looked like he was bringing her up higher to drop her, or to his lips to burn and eat her...but neither was what Amara intended.

He brought her as close as he could to snout before crossing his eyes, hoping that she understands that he is attempting to tell her to climb on.
 
As Amara brought her higher into the air, towards his snout, Myla could only keep her eyes on the ground, as well as the tug on her shirt that she continued to feel, trying to judge whether or not it was going to rip out of the dragon's grasp or just completely step out of it. Nevertheless, her thoughts were averted, slightly, when she felt the hot breath of the one holding her, the sensation not at all welcome, but she was too paranoid to argue with it at this point. She was done trying to struggle against him for the time being, least he do something to get her killed, or feed her to something or himself.

She tilted her head to look at his eyes, the sheer size of them up close almost... Endearing? She couldn't place it, but it was so odd being so close to the creature, especially to even look on his eyes. Had anyone else ever been able to experience this? Possibly, but it was probably before their death. Still, she couldn't help but stare into the eyes before she shook her head, looking to where his eyes pointed.

She didn't skip out on the opportunity to climb up his snout, her legs and arms shaky as she tried to get the right footing since falling off was the last thing she wanted to do. Unsteadily she maneuvered her way up the snout and face before lacking, quickly, onto one of his horns, her arms wrapped tightly around it.
 
Amara held still and hid his discomfort as he climbed up his face. There was a reason he didn't normally let people climb all over it. It was uncomfortable, akin to a human let bugs crawl over their skin. It didn't hurt, but there is the urge to swat them off. He resisted this urge and held as still has possible (while hovering in the air) until he felt her latch onto his horn.

The second he felt her secure he eagerly began to actually fly. He ascended into the air slowly, mindful to keep it smooth as possible. He didn't go nearly as high as he normally would. You couldn't even touch a cloud at this height, and an ambitious knight might be able to hit him with a cross bow bolt. But he figured his passenger might appreciate not going that far from her precious ground and avoiding the cold winds of the upper skies.

Liking his height he began flying in a straight path, enjoying the feel of the wind beneath his wings and not minding the extra weight of a passenger.
 
As Amara took off, Myla held onto the horn tighter - if that was even possible - and closed her eyes, the feeling of the wind whipping past her face and body. The feeling of near weightlessness... Wasn't as good as she though it to be, but, again, that was mostly because of her fear of heights. But there was nothing she could further do in this situation except hold on and pray that she doesn't slid off and that nothing bad happens, though it only seems eminent in this situation, no?

"H-How much longer until we arrive at you're..." Oh, what did he call his home? A cave? A hole in the wall? An actual home? "Place of living?" Unaware if he was even able to hear her with the wind cutting back on the volume of her voice, Myla nevertheless spoke of the question.
 
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