AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Who…who…” I managed to croak, sounding like an owl.
“Shhh,” the guttural voice replied. “Don’t speak now, little one. You can’t handle the air.”
A dizziness washed over me, my eyes rolling up under my eyelids. I nuzzled into the safety of his chest, my fingers clutching against something leathery and warm. I slowly fluttered my eyelids open to see a pattern of scales covering the creature’s body, and if I had not been so weak and exhausted from the toxic sulfur in the air, I would have screamed. Instead, the suffocating scent of the volcano calmed me, settling me against my captor as he moved me away from the intensity of the bubbling heat and into a darker, more secluded place, where he finally lay me down and stroked his clawed finger down the side of my brow.
“So small,” he said as his hot, scaled hands traced down my body. “Small and perfectly formed. I’ve never seen such a sight.”
I moaned as my head rolled from side to side, relishing the unexpected touch. I was worn out, confused, and isolated, but the feeling of being massaged by an unfamiliar hand was waking up parts of my soul that had long lay dormant.
“You shouldn’t have come to this place, little one,” he said against my ear, and I felt the heat in his breath. “Mount Vulcan is no place for such a delicate creature.”
He rolled me onto my side and covered me with something soft and warm. I bunched my hands up into it like a duvet, and covered my nose and mouth, hoping the heat in the air would soon subside.
“This cave will keep you safe,” he spoke and I felt a vibration under me as if he had risen to his feet. I lay still as stone as his incredible weight moved around me, stepping over and behind as if he were busying himself with something else. I lay there in a cocooned heap, hazily willing myself to wake up from this strange dream.
A few more moments passed, and I became aware of the heat becoming more manageable. My lungs no longer felt as if they were on fire, and my senses came back, making me feel more awake. I listened to the noises, my face still hidden, but I slowly began to emerge when I couldn’t bear to be kept in the dark any longer.
I pulled the cover down and opened my eyes, realizing I’d been wrapped in a leather sheet. I blinked, taking in the scene around me, and noticed that I was indeed in a cave, somewhere dark and tinged with red. The rocks above me were molten and looked as if they were on fire with the dancing reflection of flickering flames.
“She stirs,” the voice growled behind me, and I turned to peer over my shoulder and felt my heart plummet to the bottom of my chest.
Standing there, at least seven feet high, was a monster of such epic proportions that it was as if the ground had fallen away underneath me. My mouth sagged open, my skin prickled with fear, and my eyes were so wide they easily could have popped straight out of my skull.
“There, there, little one,” the monster spoke, his huge frame turning to face me squarely so I could see his enormous size. He took a step closer, and I craned my neck back, unable to truly believe what I was seeing.
He was large, thickly muscular, and was most definitely what I had witnessed crossing over the light of the moon. He was tall, and although he stood on two legs and had arms like a man, he didn’t have skin, rather bluish-gray scales covering his entire body and massive wings protruding from his shoulder blades. They moved, flapping slowly back and forth, and I realized it was what had soothed me, fanning me to keep me cool. His eyes were tinged with red when he smiled, and I saw his nostrils flare, smoke trailing from them as if he was trying to keep an energy locked inside. From his forehead, he had two small pointed horns, and as I let my eyes wander down the full length of his body, I realized he also had a long, forked tail whipping back and forth as he clenched his fists.
I pushed myself up and scooted back, nudging up against the warm wall behind me. I swallowed down the nerves, my eyes wide, not once letting them leave him for fear of what he might do.
He smiled and I noticed the sharp fanged tips of his outer teeth. This creature may have had a manly voice and intimidating muscles to make any woman blush, but he was a complete monster… one that was looking at me hungrily as if I was going to be his next meal.
“P…p…please…” I whispered, my voice cracking.
He cocked his head to the side and blinked, his eyes fully turning red and the pupils a vertical, black slit.
“Are you afraid, little one?” he asked, taking another step closer, his voice tinged with amusement.
I pushed back and winced, the heat of the cave wall suddenly burning and stinging my skin.
“You’d better not do that,” he said as he came to a stop, towering over me and staring down his long nose, his eyes so full of fire and his scales prickling with heat. “You need to stay close to me,” he said. “If you don’t, you’ll perish inside Mount Vulcan.”
He flicked his tail and his wings moved back and forth. The heat had been rising within me, but just having him close again was like a soothing balm. I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming all over him, from the swell of his muscles to the glisten of the scales that covered him from head to toe. He was naked, apart from a small swathe of fabric covering him below the waist like a loin cloth.
“Who are you?” I asked before clearing my throat and finding that I could suddenly breathe a lot easier.
“My name is Volk,” he said, holding out his hand for me. “Guardian of this volcano, and direct descendant of Vulcan, God of Fire.”
He motioned again with his clawed hand, urging me to take it. I reached up and let my palm slide against his, the scales surprisingly smooth as he pulled me to my feet.
“Volk?” I said, nervously. “Descendant of the God of Fire?”
He nodded.
“Unfortunately,” he sighed. “And exiled here centuries ago as punishment for disobeying my great-grandfather,” he looked momentarily angered.
I shook my head, blinking and trying to take it all in. I’d briefly studied Classics many years before, could this fiery dragon-like man truly be the descendant of a god?
“Don’t worry yourself with details, little one,” he said softly, as if he could hear my thoughts and knew he had to brush the conversation away. “For now we need to make sure your needs are taken care of. Humans have no business being in these dangerous parts.”
