Treasure Ch. 09

"What, has she gone and tamed you?" the green-haired dragon fired back, and Adeon's body seemed to tauten with barely-repressed homicidal urges. The other dragon threw up his hands in exasperation. "Well, what do you want from us? It's a heavy burden you're presenting us with, trusting some human. This might just be a plot to lure us out of the mountains, and she might be a part of it."

"No, no, I really don't think so," a harried little voice said quickly. "That's Catherine--it is Catherine, isn't it?" Catherine watched in bafflement as a red-haired man peeked out from above the crowd, which had suddenly gone very quiet. A pair of wide yellow eyes fixed themselves on Catherine's face, and they seemed to crinkle cheerfully at the corners when they caught sight of her. "Oh, yes. Yes it is." A scrawny hand rose above the sea of heads and waved frantically, and Catherine's stomach lurched in realization.

"Roane?" she gasped, and the mop of red hair nodded hastily.

"I'm terribly sorry. I would have said something sooner, but everyone was...talking." She heard him clear his throat. "She's very good, though. So good. Lovely person, I think. Yes." His hasty buzz of a voice seemed a little more feeble than usual in the silence of the cavern, as if speaking in front of so many people had left him utterly terrified. "Excuse me. Sorry. I hope that wasn't your foot. Oh--oh, sorry." A broad, bony shoulder wedged its way through a line of dragons, who parted in its wake, and then there was a rather emaciated-looking man standing in front of Catherine and beaming down at her. "Hello, Catherine and Adeon," he said brightly.

He was tall and unhealthily pale, as bony and gangly as a teenage boy, and his yellow cat's eyes were framed by impressive, hectic dark circles that were only just lighter than bruises. His slender frame was clad in a rather baggy bottle-blue shirt and trousers that might have been tights, although they also seemed to hang loosely from his legs. His feet were left bare. Ruffled, vividly crimson hair fell into his face and brushed the blades of his shoulders. He seemed utterly incapable of holding still, and while Catherine gawked at him, his legs shuffled and his hands darted here in there in a series of nervous twitches. It was absolutely, unmistakably Roane, from the wide uncertainty of his eyes to the manic spasms of his limbs.

"Hello, Roane," she finally said. He beamed at them and scurried to their side.

"Good to see you both," he whispered, his lips twitch-twitch-twitching into a hysterical little smile. Catherine grinned and squeezed his arm reassuringly. Adeon seemed to hesitate, but then patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. Just as Catherine was wondering exactly how useful it would be to have Roane, a half-mad dragon who had chewed off one of his own fingers, vouch for her, he raised one of his hands high into the air. "I've known Catherine for a bit," he announced in a somewhat louder voice. The cavern regarded the three of them with stunned silence, and Grindel seemed to frown down at them from his perch. "A little bit. But she's lovely and kind, and we could listen to her. We should. I think we should." He lowered his hand and fixed her with a wild, expectant stare. "Could you tell us more things, Catherine?" he inquired hopefully.

Feeling more than a little overwhelmed, Catherine finally managed to clear her throat and open her lips to speak.

"In my kingdom, the soldiers had lined the city with ballistas and doubled their numbers. They were waiting for Adeon to return, and a couple rogue hunters nearly caught him. Adeon and I think the armies have...well, a plan of sorts, and that could make them even more dangerous. Especially since there are so many." She swallowed and tried to stand taller. "If you are going to fight them, maybe it would be best to have surprise on your side. They know where you are, and they're probably ready for you. If you were to leave and find--"

"Leave? And give them the satisfaction of seeing us retreat?" the woman who had been interrogating Adeon snarled. "Impossible." Catherine turned to face her, her eyes flashing.

"They don't care about your dignity! All they care about is seeing you dead. They're going to fight you one way or another, and I think it would be better if the battle was on your terms. Not theirs." She lifted her chin haughtily. "It isn't like you can't outrun them. You all have wings, don't you?" she snapped, simultaneously relieved and mortified by her snark.

"So you'd have us run," Grindel drawled from his perch, and she turned her glare towards him. His eyes, lazily half-lidded in an infuriatingly calm expression, watched her levelly. "Tell me--what clever strategy would you have us employ afterwards? Clearly you were some sort of warlord back in your kingdom." Faint chuckles blossomed from the area beneath him, and Catherine felt her face grow hot. "No? Perhaps I was mistaken. I apologize." Catherine opened her mouth to retort, (or to say something very impolite, and she wasn't quite sure which), but Grindel dismissed her with a vague wave of his hand. "We have much to discuss. I'd like to take an opportunity to speak with the elders," he announced grandly, and Catherine reluctantly let her mouth snap shut as he strode evenly off of his little platform.

The cavern immediately erupted into noise, and she looked hopefully back towards Adeon. He seemed to be glaring daggers at Roane, who had slouched over apologetically. Catherine touched his arm, and he gave her a slightly forced-looking smile.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, and he inhaled steadily through his nose before he spoke.

"Inviting you to speak in front of hundreds of dragons," he sighed. "It could have gone any number of unpleasant ways. I suppose I'm just happy they decided not to leap at you."

"I'm terribly sorry," Roane said in a tiny voice. "I thought it would be the right thing to do. They were being very rude. Yes, very rude."

"They were," Catherine agreed. She turned back to Adeon. "It's alright. I think it went well."

"For now," Adeon mumbled, and she paused as his eyes strayed to a point somewhere above Catherine's left shoulder.

"Catherine." Catherine jerked as the voice sounded from from behind her, and she whirled around to face Grindel himself. "My dear," he said, and from Catherine's side, Adeon seemed to scowl at him, "I'd be honored if you could accompany me for a short while. I'd very much like to speak with you." Adeon shifted forward, and Grindel's eyes flicked towards him briefly before fixing themselves back onto Catherine's face. "Alone," he finished quietly. Adeon's arms tensed, and Catherine watched Grindel distrustfully.

"...Why?" she asked carefully, and his lips curved into a smile.

"I'm beginning to wonder if I misjudged you. I have questions I hoped you could answer." He inclined his head, watching her hopefully with those glittering amber eyes that weren't brimming with as much mischief as they usually seemed to be. "Would you join me for a moment?" Catherine looked back at Adeon hopelessly, and, almost imperceptibly, he gave her a very slow shake of his head. The dragons around them seemed to be watching their exchange intently, and Catherine swallowed.

"Only for a moment," she finally said. Adeon shut his eyes in frustration. "I'll be right back," she reassured him, but Adeon had reached up to grip Grindel's shoulder.

"Just remember that seeing her hurt would be very difficult for me," Adeon murmured. For a moment, Catherine was struck by the wanton violence that had invaded his expression. "But hurting you--that would be very, very easy," he added softly, and his upper lip curled to expose a few more lethal-looking teeth. Grindel, all the while appearing supremely unruffled by Adeon's threat, only lifted a disapproving eyebrow.

"What a shame," he said dryly. "I always thought we got along so well. Catherine, if you would." He dipped into a gesture that implied he would follow her, and she skittered uncertainly in front of him and towards an opening in the rock face.

"I suppose you're quite proud of yourself, finding a dragon lover," he said as they emerged into the wide mouth of another cave. The babble of the other dragons was diminishing, and anxiety was pricking at Catherine's nerves more and more the further they traveled. Grindel seemed to exude a hideous, easy confidence, and being alone with him made her nervous. "I bet it makes you feel safe, having a terrible beast beside you for protection. Do you fancy yourself his owner? Maybe you let him sleep at your feet at night, like a good little guard dog," he wondered aloud. Catherine reeled at his words, and she quickly turned to give him a disgusted glare. So this was the real Grindel, the figure behind the eloquent mask.

"What an appalling thing to say," she said angrily. "Adeon and I love each other, not that it's any of--"

"Love? Hardly. He's obsessed with you. It's obvious." His eyes raked up and down the length of her in an appraising way, and his stare made her feel slightly violated. "And I don't quite understand the appeal. Perhaps it's the fucking. Are you like wildfire between the sheets, hot and hungry? Because all I see before me is another human: fragile, weak, and reckless, thrusting herself into places she doesn't belong." His upper lip arched in contempt. "Just like the rest of them."

"You're disgusting," Catherine hissed. Rage and righteous indignation from the terrible things he was saying was making her body quiver, and to her dismay, the unsteadiness seemed to be bleeding into her voice. "And you don't know anything about humans. How could you possibly, if you hate us so much?"

Grindel leaned against the rocky wall with an air of utter relaxation and watched her lazily. "I had a human girl once," he said thoughtfully. "Lovely and lithe, no more than twenty. I snatched her up for protection when I was fleeing a group of mercenaries. They wouldn't dare loose an arrow at me while I had her in my clutches. She begged so sweetly for mercy when we arrived at my nest, and I just couldn't help myself." He grinned widely, gazing wistfully off into the distance. "When I had my way with her, she seemed relieved that I had found something I wanted from her other than the taste of her flesh. She might have even enjoyed herself. The noises she made...simply mouthwatering. I fell in love with those soft little noises, Catherine. I wanted to hear more."

Catherine was staring determinedly at a lavender pebble on the ground as he spoke, memorizing its shape and trying to tame the horror that was raking at her insides with icy claws. She realized that her hands were balled into fists at her sides and loosened them slowly. She didn't want him to see how unsettled she was.

"I ordered her to sing for me if she wanted to live," Grindel continued. "I told her that I would eat her right up if she ever stopped. And for two days, I lost myself in her beautiful songs. It echoed from the walls and flooded into my very soul, that voice of hers." He closed his golden eyes as if basking in the memory, and Catherine felt sick. "On the third day, she began to falter. Her throat and her body were growing weak. She finally yielded to exhaustion, still whispering little fragments of song here and there. The poor thing didn't even bat an eye when I began to advance. Neither of us had eaten in all that time, you see, and we were both so, so hungry..." He fixed his gaze upon her, and something awful was glowing behind his amber eyes. "She was still singing while I ate her. It was the most glorious song yet; sweeter than all of the hymns and ballads and serenades she had given to me. Mournful but rapturous. Welcoming the end." Her head jerked up as he suddenly leaned in close, and she met his stare uncertainly. "Do you sing, Catherine?" he asked softly, his gaze intense.

"No," Catherine whispered. He cocked his head to the side, curious and excited.

"Pity," he said, licking his full lips.

"What do you want?" she demanded suddenly, her face contorting viciously. "I didn't agree to speak with you so you could insult me and try to frighten me with your twisted stories." He arched a pair of thin, black eyebrows, never taking his eyes from her face.

"Cheeky thing, aren't you?" he murmured. She only glared at him, raising her chin defiantly to mask her terror. "Well, my dear Catherine, as much as I appreciate your treachery, it won't be necessary from now on. In fact, I don't want to hear another word from your sweet little mouth while the rest of us are speaking. We were progressing perfectly before you burst in with your doomsaying."

"But there are thousands at your doorstep," Catherine protested. "Tens of thousands..."

"And they're all going to die," he said. "Each and every one of them. And you can either shut up and watch it happen, or you can burn with them--you and the pathetic kingdom you hail from." She stared up at him in shock, and he rewarded her silence with another wide smile. "Oh, yes. I'm well acquainted with the city of Blackwall, and I'd love to see it ablaze. I'm sure I'm not the only one, either." She tensed as he raised her chin with the tip of a curved nail and brought her face a little closer to his. "So I'd suggest that you tread carefully and mind your place."

"Don't you touch me," she scolded, jerking away from him.

"As if you could stop me," he said cheerfully, his eyes narrowing with a terrible fierceness.

"Catherine?" a small voice inquired, and both of them turned to see Roane standing nervously near the entrance. His hands twitched at his sides, and he brought one up to chew at a fingernail. It was the hand that had a talon missing, and Catherine could see a little stump where his middle finger should have been. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt," he mumbled around his fingernail, glancing at Grindel, "but this seems like the sort of conversation that warrants interrupting." Grindel frowned, and Catherine gaped at him. For a fraction of a second, she thought saw something like anger flicker behind Roane's huge yellow eyes, but then it was swallowed back up by anxiety and distraction as his gaze turned back to Catherine. "Adeon is wondering if you're finished," he added quietly.

Catherine, who had never been happier to see another dragon before, stormed away from Grindel and towards Roane, who quickly fell into step beside her. "Thank you," she murmured as they strode purposefully down the hall, and his lips jerked into a very sincere-looking smile.

"You're quite welcome," he said politely.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, and as they emerged back into the main hall, Catherine let out a surprised noise as she was jerked up against a firm chest. She glanced up to see Adeon staring down at her, and worry was dancing in his brilliantly green eyes. She quickly looked away, nuzzling a little deeper into his arms. Her face was still slack and pale with terror, and the last thing she wanted was to start a brawl in a room full of tense dragons, no matter how what Grindel had done. As she stared rigidly down at the ground, she felt him stoop down low to bring his lips to her ear.

"What did he say?" he asked quietly--at least, as quietly as he could when the entire hall was alight with passionate voices.

"Later," Catherine whispered, cringing as she saw Grindel prowl out from the hall from the corner of her eye. Adeon seemed to stiffen at her uncertainty.

"Tell me," he hissed, his gaze following Grindel as he wove through the mass of dragons.

"Don't trust him," she replied after a moment. "He's not...he isn't...right. And please," she continued, hating the franticness in her voice, "don't leave me alone with him again. It was terribly stupid of me to go without you like that." Adeon's grip tightened on her waist, just a bit.

"His death will be slow," he said brightly.

"Please--the last thing you need is internal strife. He seems to have a lot of authority." She clenched Adeon's fingers in hers, shuddering. "Just...be careful around him." Adeon seemed to groan with reluctant acceptance, and he pulled her closer so she was pressed up against him. Catherine suppressed a sigh of relief. Her eyes scanned the crowd curiously, and, to her surprise, she saw a pair of dark, wary eyes staring right back at her. She frowned at the person they belonged to--a willowy man in some kind of fancy black soldier's uniform that was flowing with seafoam-hued sashes and gold medallions. "You're not a dragon at all," she observed, and he merely raised his dark eyebrows. Most of his head had been shaved save for a portion of black, shiny hair that was knotted neatly at the back of his head, and a thin sword rested at his hip.

"Neither are you, it seems," a gentle voice replied, and out from behind the man emerged the most beautiful woman Catherine had ever seen.

She was much shorter than Adeon, but her brilliantly azure, slitted eyes betrayed what she was. They peered calmly at Catherine through heavy, slanted eyelids that were dusted with golden pigment, and her lips shone with the same strange dust. An incredible amount of deep, deep blue hair was piled elegantly on her head and pinned with a number of gold sticks, and several thick strands of it streamed freely down her shoulders, coming to rest just above her knees. Although she was pleasantly dainty, strength radiated through the fluidity of her posture and the serenity in her expression. She was clad in flowing robes of white-whiter even than her flesh, which was pale, but not unhealthily so. It made her companion seem incredibly dark in comparison.

"Catherine, meet the Lady Kai," Adeon said. Catherine looked up at him quizzically, and he smiled. "Lady Kai," he continued, gesturing politely to Catherine, "this is my Catherine." Kai lowered her head slightly in a bow and her companion did the same.

"Pleasure to meet you," Catherine intoned, giving her a little curtsey and feeling thoroughly lost. "Are you...are you a queen?" she asked hesitantly, and the woman laughed, displaying a mouthful of cleverly sharp teeth behind her curvaceous lips.

"A goddess, as it were," she purred. She had a kindly voice that was heavy with an accent Catherine couldn't place, and every word she spoke was so precise and clear that Catherine felt like a babbling idiot speaking to her. There are people who worship dragons, you know, Adeon's voice echoed in her brain, and she raised her eyebrows. This must be one of the dragon-gods Adeon had spoken of. She certainly was glorious. "This is my most trusted servant, Jiro. He and select other monks were gracious enough to accompany me on my long journey and offer their protection." Catherine looked at Jiro blankly, and he boldly returned her stare.

"Your monks are swordsmen?" she clarified slowly.

"Aren't yours?" Lady Kai wondered.

"Well...no. They only sing and pray and starve themselves, I think."

"What use is a fighter without the favor of the gods?" she inquired. She accentuated the question with a grand sweep of her hand, and Catherine saw that her red-lacquered nails were nearly twice as long as Adeon's.

"I suppose you're right," Catherine admitted after a moment, still slightly stunned by her regality.

"Of course I am." She blinked slowly, giving Catherine a long glimpse of the layer of gold dust on her heavy eyelids. "You're a good child. I have a feeling that we'll get along. Lovely to have met you." She turned back to the front of the hall, and she and Jiro began to whisper rapidly in a language Catherine wasn't familiar with. Catherine turned slowly back towards Adeon, who was grinning expectantly at her. Thankfully, his murderous rage from earlier seemed to have subsided.

"I've met a goddess," she said weakly, and he laughed. "She's beautiful," she sighed, gazing at those long layers of blue hair that were studded with metals and gems.