TAKEN BY THE DRAGON KING

(Forest Truths)

**

Elena pov.

The air was cold against my skin and I pulled my coat closer around myself, trying to shield myself from the cold.

It was icy, the wind that cut through the trees, and made its way down to the very core of my being. I wondered, for a fleeting moment, I should have simply stayed inside.

Maybe, if I had stayed put, I wouldn’t be freezing right now. I wasn’t thinking straight when I ran out of the room, but my head was a mess.

Then again, it was still all twisted up now, the anxiety within me making itself known. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

The warmth that I was used to was nothing more than a distant memory now. I didn’t know what I was doing out here.

There was nowhere for me to go. Nowhere for me to hide. I couldn’t run and I didn’t even know if I truly wanted to run. All I knew was that there was a knot in my chest.

All I knew was that there was an ache inside of me, an insistence that I do something, anything at all before I went insane.

And so, I had left the room. I had left without any thought to the consequences. And I had run into the woods, into the forests that surrounded the area, thick and wild.

And I just walked. And I was still walking.

My coat was pulled tightly around me, my heart hammering in my chest, my body shaking with the cold. I kept expecting Dracul to show up and I didn’t know if I wanted him to or not.

Did he even care about me?

Was that all an act to get into bed with me?

Did he really need me to help him? Or was he just playing with me?

And why had he just left like that? Why did he turn and walk away from me?

Everything ached my body, my heart. I wanted answers, I wanted to know what was next. I wanted to understand this crazy new world that I had been thrown into.

But I didn’t. I didn’t understand it. I had no idea who was on my side and who was simply fighting against me.

I didn’t understand what the right call was and what was the wrong one.

So, I had just walked away from it all. And now that the dark was settling in, so was the fear.

What if I had made the wrong choice?

What if I got lost out here and couldn’t find my way back?

And where would I go anyway?

I couldn’t go back home, not now. Dracul had sent for me. I didn’t know what he would feel if I just left like this.

If he needed me for something. He’d be angry and my people would suffer. Besides that, it was cold, and I didn’t know my way.

I stopped, listening to nothing but the pounding of my heart in my own ears. I have to go back.

I didn’t want to go back. I had run because I was confused, and nothing seemed right. But I didn’t think I really had much of a choice.

I had committed to my people and I had to follow through with that. Even if my heart was breaking. Even if I had no idea if this was the right choice.

Even if I wanted to be as far away from Dracul as possible.

Because the truth was, my people came first. My kingdom came first. I didn’t want to admit to myself that I still wanted Dracul.

I didn’t want to admit that there was a part of me that wanted him, wanted him to be here, wanted him to come and take me home.

There was a part of me that wanted him to want me. Wanted him to need me. And I hated myself for it.

But it didn’t change how I felt. It didn’t change it for a single second.

I swallowed nausea that rose up inside me and looked around. I don’t know where I am.

The realization hit me like a lightning bolt in the dark.

Suddenly, the panic became so much more real. All I could think about was being lost in the castle at night.

And how I had almost gotten myself killed. Now, I was out here in the middle of nowhere, and I was in the same danger, if not worse. No one knew where I was.

If Dracul didn’t care enough to come to look, I didn’t know how I was going to find my way back home.

I started to feel my chest tightening, the stress infiltrating my body until I was feeling giddy and dizzy.

I didn’t know my way back. The dark was so thick and heavy that I felt like I could reach out and cut it.

I took a few deep breaths and turned around.

Everything looked different in the dusk and now that it was dark nothing felt familiar at all. Everything felt strange and crazy and unusual. Everything felt wrong. I felt nausea rise through me.

I reached out and leaned against a tree. I just had to keep moving. I’d walk back the way I came. At least, the way I thought I came.

I would walk back until I figured something out. I would walk back and make this happen, make this work.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

It was all that I could do. One foot in front of the other. That, and holding onto the hope that Dracul wouldn’t be furious at me when I got back. I held my breath as I took a few tentative steps.

Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the dark got used to the dark slides of land. One foot in front of the other and I slowly picked up speed.

I didn’t know if I was walking in the right direction, but I had to pray that I was. I had to hope that I was keeping it together just enough to make it back, at least to somewhere that I knew.

I stepped out and, suddenly, the trees gave way. It was another crater, just like the one where the house was built. Only this one was bigger.

This one stretched like a gaping wound through the forest. And all around, I could see the dying trees, that were being inched out by this thing. Like a poison, like rot.

I looked around, and it looked like something was eating the very land I was standing on, from the inside out.

I stepped back, horrified. It was almost alien, this crater. It was dark and poisoned and it felt like if I stepped foot into it, I would shrivel up into nothingness.

I knew that was just my imagination, just the pull of stress on my heart, but I couldn’t help it.

Something was wrong here. Something was wrong in this kingdom.

This kingdom with gaping holes and cloudy skies.

This kingdom with icy days and scorching nights. There was something wrong.

The temperatures fluctuated until I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. The ground crumbled beneath my feet and I didn’t know which way to turn.

Something was seriously wrong with this kingdom, with the very foundations upon which Dracul had built his castle.

Was this what he wanted help with? Is this why he’s so stressed?

I wasn’t sure, but it would certainly make sense. I wasn’t sure, but I knew that there was something wrong here, and now I had seen it for myself.

In the dark of the night, it was hard to see more, but the feeling was as strong and clear as day. The menace, the ill will, the dark certainty that something bad was happening was clear to me.

I had ruled over a country. I had learned the layouts of the land, and I had even heard tales about our neighboring kingdoms.

But nowhere had I ever heard about the land like this.

The Dragon Lord was prosperous, and his land was great.

So why were there these terrible holes in the land?

Why did it look like the very earth was dying?

I pulled my coat tighter around me, the cold seeping into my veins like a curse, like a drug.

“What’s going on here, Dracul?” I whispered to myself, the wind stealing my breath and whipping it away so quickly that I couldn’t even hear my own words.

I shivered, feeling the chill move down my spine.

Something was so very wrong here and I didn’t know if it could be fixed. If this was what Dracul needed help with, how could I possibly make it happen?

I couldn’t fix this.

I let out a deep breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. And then I heard it, a scuffle in the bushes behind me.

I felt the presence of eyes on my back and I went cold. Someone was watching me.