Ambrosia Ch. 03

"I wonder if she tastes as good as her friend." the dark voice said. Ambrosia's eyes strained to see where the voice came from. It was very dark in here. Her head throbbed.

"Who are you?" Ambrosia asked quietly.

"Oh lover, she comes into our home, and she asks who WE are?!" the female voice said.

"The nerve." she scoffed.

"Ahh my dear, fleshlings always have more stupidity than not. But do remember to have respect, your mother was one, once." a much deeper, and more eerie voice spoke. It was much louder. It echoed in the dark. It was male. Again it seemed to come from above.

"Of course dear, but shall I feed upon this one too?" spoke the female voice again. The male voice above them did not respond. And in a blur, she was there. Right in front of Ambrosia. Ambrosia didn't know her. She was shorter than Ambrosia, with long bright red hair. Black lips. White skin. No, porcelain like alabaster skin. It was brighter white than any she had seen before. Dead white. But her eyes. Her eyes were blood red.

She licked her lips and Ambrosia caught a glimpse of her pointed teeth. A vampire. A vampire held this castle.

"Your friend would not tell us why you've come to our home. Please, tell me why you are here?" the vampire woman asked. She did not answer. She looked up at her captor. Then over to Jaina who hung there helplessly. Her vision was starting to clear a bit more. Jaina's breasts were dripping with blood that seemed to originate from her neck.

The vampire had fed from her. Gods no. Was she dead? And then as if answering some unheard call, Jaina moved, her head rose to look at the vampire and Ambrosia. Ambrosia saw that the rope was in her mouth too, keeping her from casting spells. Ambrosia looked from the vampire to the woman and back again.

"I'll tell you, if you let her go. Let her go, and I'll stay. You can feed from me, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know. " Ambrosia said.

The vampire jumped and clapped. "Goodie!" the vampire exclaimed. . The girl seemed to bounce with joy. Though her body didn't bounce like a normal woman.

Her features did not move as she bounced. Nothing did. Not her hair, not her breast. Nothing. Ambrosia took notice of other things. Jaina was naked. Ambrosia however, was still in her armor. Jaina was bound in a rope harness that hung from the ceiling. Ambrosia was only bound by her hands. Her pack was on the ground nearby. There was a shadow looming above them. A breathing shadow. She looked up and a chill crawled up her spine.

Above them, resting on the balcony above, was a dragon. The dragon looked at her, and licked its lips. Fear took hold. The kind of fear only a dragon can inspire. She squirmed and quivered as the fear felt like it would take hold in her very soul. She looked away from the dragon who seemed to delight in seeing her squirm.

"Do not bite this one yet my love." spoke the dragon. "Give her a chance to speak. To tell us everything we want to know. Perhaps she could be true to her word. Though I doubt it."

A dragon and a vampire?! She looked up again at the dragon. It seemed to shimmer as star light. She realized its body was black with glowing white dots.it It was unlike any creature she had ever read about or heard a tale of. Slowly she moved from her knees to her feet as she looked from dragon to woman. Looking into those blood red eyes, she began to recall the past few days. A plan formed in her mind.

"Yes. I do know why we are here. What we come looking for." She said lightly.

"Oh! You've come to plunder my lover's horde?" Growled the vampire.

"Scarlet! Let the fleshling speak." Chided the dragon above. The vampire woman Scarlet crosses her arms over her chest with a huff. But remains silent.

"No, a deal is a deal. I will tell you nothing until you either free my friend or at least let me get a potion from my pack to heal her." Ambrosia was gambling for time and for access to her pack.

"Let her help her friend Scarlet. She could not hope to face us with her friend's life in danger. Besides. She is also trapped here without her weapon. You and I can both stop her in an instant. What can she do?" Commanded the dragon from above.

Scarlet huffed and muttered under her breath as she tore the ropes holding Ambrosia's wrists as if they were paper. Ambrosia nodded and went to her pack. Fetching a potion then walking over to Jaina, opening her mouth as best she could. Jaina strained to accept the potion from around the rope in her mouth. But she was able to drink it. She felt the pain on her neck begin to subside. She looked to Ambrosia and then the pack.

"Yes, yes. You are going to be fine Jaina." She said as she fed Jaina the potion.

Ambrosia stood and turned to face her captors. Taking in a deep breath she began to explain.

"We came here seeking a holy artifact that was robbed from a tomb sometime ago. We were told it was stashed here in a cave. And that all we had to do was fine the cave then take the artifact back to the church."

She popped the wrist blade out of her gauntlet and slid it between Jaina's cheek and mouth behind her back as she kept eye contact with both the dragon and the vampire. Slicing through the rope and then replacing the blade as she finished speaking, and pulling both her hands out from behind her after speaking.

Then she reached into her bag for her other potion as she spoke again.

"We don't know if this Relic is in your horde, or if it's in a cave somewhere near your Castle. We also did not know the castle was inhabited, we were going to explore. If we had known You two lived here, we would not have entered." She put the potion to her lips. Then let the potion slip from her grasp.

"Ah nal nah thrak!" Jaina said from behind her. Causing a shield of force to encircle them just before the potion hit the floor. The sunburst potion. Ambrosia spun as light suddenly filled the room, drawing her wrist blade once more and cutting Jaina free. They both heard an unworldly shriek from behind Ambrosia. Followed by a ground-shaking roar.The floor shook violently as the light subsided.

The dragon had jumped down and swiped at the shield with its tail as it looked down at something. The shield held against the swipe. Jaina took the moment to get to her feet. She and Ambrosia watched as the dragon pawed at the ground as if looking for something that it could not see. That was when both of them realized that the Sunburst had blinded him. They also saw what he was looking for. The charred husk of Scarlett laying on the stone floor unmoving.

Jaina knew she had to kill this dragon. The Dragon was distracted. She got an idea, and she had one chance. She grabbed Ambrosias blade and ran out of the shield and used the dragon's tail like a hillside. Running up its tail and along its back. She was going for the head. She knew she could drive it into that dragon's eye socket, and into the dragon's brain. She made the blade ready as she approached its neck. She was fast enough to get there and kill this dragon before it realized what was going on, she thought.

But in a one deft action that she did not anticipate the dragon turned his head 180 degrees and opened it's jaw.

"Ambrosia..." Jaina screamed.

Then Jaina was gone in the blink of an eye as the dragon's jaws snapped shut.

"Jaina!!!" Shouted Ambrosia. Her friend. Her lover. Gone? Ambrosias world came crashing down around her. Tears swelled in her eyes. Had this venture cost her Jaina's life?

"Ambrosia?!!" The dragon asked, startled.

"Nooooooooo. Father!? Aveng..." its words cut off as if it could no longer speak. Ambrosia watched as the dragon clutched it's neck and chest.

As if trying to rip off its own scales, the beast clawed and scraped. Its massive wings thrashed out, striking at bookcases and destroying them. Its tail destroying another three bookcases and flinging books all around the room as it flung about as well.. Ambrosia watched as the Dragon gave out to its death throes. Before finally falling over exhaling its last breath.

Ambrosia slowly walked towards the dead Beast. The head began to move once again. The jaw opened, and out crawled Jaina. Covered in blood and mucus. Ambrosias wrist blade was in Jaina's hand covered in muscle and flesh, as blood began to pour out of the dragon's mouth.

" The inside of a dragon is not near as tough as the outside." Jaina joked as Ambrosia ran towards her and grasped her in a tight hug.

"You crazy bitch... You wonderful, crazy, stupid bitch." Ambrosia cried as tears flowed down her face and she pushed her forehead against Jaina's. " I thought you were dead, and you come out making jokes."

Jaina and Ambrosia both laughed lightly. Jaina moved in to kiss her but Ambrosia put a hand to Jainas lips.

"Bath first. Kissing and much more later. But first we need to get what we came for and get the hell outta here. Apparently this dragon called out to its father as it died." Ambrosia said worriedly.

They had survived. The two of them took longer to get out than Ambrosia would have liked. They had to find the artifact. Jaina cast a spell to show them the way to their goal, and arcane light lit up the floor. It trailed back to the center all and revealed a hidden pathway that led down into catacombs, and then, a cave. They walked into a room full of treasures.

There was gold for days it seemed like, treasure chests of items and gold coins, platinum coins, silver coins, as well as a trophy room it seemed of the dragon's prized possessions. They looked to one another. They would be rich if they could find a way to get all of this back. But they didn't have the time. They did not want to be caught here when the dragon's father arrived.

Ambrosia emptied her pack of everything but the rations and bedroll. Jaina did the same with her own pack. They loaded up every platinum coin they could find as well as some jewels, and jewelry. They also loaded up all the trophy room items. One of them being what looked like a holy staff. This was what they were after. One other thing caught Ambrosia's eye. A sword. A particularly lovely looking blade that had to be made by either elves or dwarves. Or it could even be by draconic smiths. She didn't know. But it felt perfect in her hand, had perfect balance, there was ornate design on the blade and the handle had a teal jewel in the hilt. Jaina found a necklace that seemed particularly interesting to her as well.

They loaded down both backpacks, and even found a couple extra sacks they could load down and put on the saddles. The last thing that Jaina found was a lovely set of robes. Teal that faded into black and purple around the base.

But she wouldn't wear them till she had a bath. Luckily it was a three day trip back to town and there were ponds and rivers between here and there. They carried their finds back to the Pegasus and horse and off they went. They used the stone to reopen the gateway, and they headed for the nearest river.

***********

A day after they were gone, a colossal dragon came through the gateway, Its black scales shimmering with glowing stars. It entered the castle after shifting into a smaller form. He found his dead son soon enough. After searching the castle he did not find his son's mate, but he did find a sword with a name embroidered onto the hilt. His eyes narrowed, smoldering with hate as he spoke the name aloud.

"Ambrosia."