Natalie Yacobson - Swan and Dragon. Dragon Empire

Rose screamed and covered her face with her hands, fearing that the dragon would hurt her. And when, plucking up courage, she opened her eyes, she was numb with surprise. Next to her stood a silent youth in a black cloak.

“Edwin!” Rose whispered and was surprised herself as her tongue turned to call this arrogant, unfamiliar person Edwin. He had the same dazzling curls, the same azure-blue eyes, glaring fiercely and haughtily. What unknown force could so harden his pale face.

“This is a dream,” thought Rose, and at that very moment Edwin disappeared, a golden dragon towered in his place. He let out a heartbreaking cry, grabbed the princess and rushed up with her.

Rose has no strength left to resist. She watched the river and the bridge and the belated carriage disappear from view. The dragon picked up speed. In his claws, he clutched the prey, which almost escaped him.

The castle towers appeared in the distance. In the blink of an eye, the dragon overcame the snow-covered valley and flew up to the highest spire. Here he unclenched his claws and released his victim.

Rose landed on the castle roof. She tried to get to her feet. Darkness reigned around, the wind howled. Snowflakes circled in the icy air. The slippery stone floor made all movements clumsy and useless. Rose was looking for something to grab onto, and groped for some kind of support.

Suddenly several torches flashed. Holding on to the support, Rose knelt down, pulled herself up, and then her palm brushed against a cold, sharp object. The girl looked up and saw that a huge monster with bronze wings and the head of a goblin was rising above her. Her hand brushed against the claws on his leg.

Rose drew back from him. She looked with horror at the gloomy monster looming over her. He stood motionless, as if he had no intention of attacking at all. The glare of the fire gave it a majestic and ominous look.

Only now did Rosa realize that in front of her was a bronze statue. Probably, the sculptor tried very hard to create such a gloomy creation. Even after making sure the monster was not alive, Rose was still afraid of him. She crawled away and came across the same statues. There were many of them here, dozens of bronze monsters, frozen on pedestals.

Two rows of silent, ugly figures stretched on either side of the Rose, forming a kind of gallery of fear.

Meanwhile, the dragon landed on the roof. There was enough space for him too. It hung over the Rose like a sparkling rock. The girl prepared herself for death. Now nothing could save her.

Sparks of green and red danced across the dragon’s scales. A flash of blinding light forced Rose to close her eyes, and when she opened her eyes again, the golden pursuer had already disappeared. In his place, Edwin stood and studied the wedge-scale brush. One might think that a plate gauntlet made of gold and with claws was fastened on his arm.

The bright shine of the metal slowly faded away. The disfigured hand returned to its former appearance. A smooth wing flashed and disappeared behind the young wizard.

“I warned you,” Edwin remarked, not without reproach. His previously calm voice had a threatening note.

“So you are a dragon!” Rose exclaimed. She watched the one whom she had recently considered her friend. How she had not previously guessed about his duplicity. Of course, his ideal human appearance could mislead anyone. Who could have guessed a bloodthirsty dragon in a beautiful, silent youth.

“Why did you run away?” Edwin asked, trying to hide the bursting rage. “Do you have any idea what danger awaited you on the other side of the river? If you had time to cross the bridge, even I would not be able to free you.”

“So you’re not going to kill me like those peasants?” Rose inquired suspiciously, crawling backward from the terrifying, stately figure wrapped in a dark cloak.

“What for?” Edwin asked a counter question. “All the same, you won’t be able to give out my secret to anyone. I will never let you out of this castle again.”

He walked with slow, firm steps towards Rose.

“Suppose you run away,” he said after a little thought. “You will survive under the bullets and arrows of the enemy and return to your kingdom, which has now become the scene of a bloody battle. The Queen will try to remove the spell from you, but it will be completely useless. The stigma that was put on you in the courtroom attracts a dragon. In human form, I am still capable of pity, but in the form of a dragon, nothing can hold me back. Relatives can hide you behind a door bound with iron. But I will still find you and bring you back.”

“Why do you need me?” Rose crawled away from him, as far as possible, trying not to touch the terrible statues, lined up in two lines. The snowfall made it difficult for her to see.

Edwin waved his hand and a protective, shining film surrounded them, preventing the snow from falling into the enclosed space.

He shrugged casually as he considered his answer.

“You will be the decoration of this castle,” he said finally. “Because dragons are collectors, they want the best.”

“But I’m a human, and people get old.”

“If you stay here, you will never grow old,” was the answer. “To stay forever young, you have to become either a sculpture or a fairy.”

At these words, Rose almost choked with horror.

“All those statues in the lobby and corridors,” she began to recall, “were they living people?”

“Almost everything,” Edwin corrected.

“How could you do this to them?”

“I have not been my own master for a long time. I got eternal life and an evil, vengeful heart as a gift. I must retain power over my own subjects and at the same time I must obey the orders of others. In saving you, I took the first risk of breaking the law.”

Rose now felt the ancient, superstitious fear of the dragon. Although there were no signs of fierce hatred in Edwin’s behavior, his eyes, burning with insane fire, inspired fear.

“I don’t think we should turn you into a piece of marble,” Edwin decided. “The walls of this fortress have enough magic to preserve your beauty.

“Thanks for that,” Rose whispered. After so many misadventures, her sense of humor finally began to return.

“Will you put me on this roof or closer to the torture chamber?” She asked.

“I’m not as villainous as I seem. Do not take for the truth everything that superstitious people come up with. They do not realize that, in people, I am first of all admired by intelligence and courage.”

“Courage?” Rose asked.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “After all, to save the troll, you need to be very brave.”

Rose stared at him in surprise. It seemed that there was no such intimate secret in the world that he would not know about.

Edwin removed the protective film with a light wave of his hand and invited Rose to follow him. A black flag with the dragon’s coat of arms fluttered on the spire of the pointed tower. Through this tower it was very easy to descend into the warm chambers of the castle.

“Someday I’ll show you what’s going on under the castle cellars, in the bowels of the earth,” Edwin said as he walked.

“It’s interesting,” Rose agreed out of courtesy, “but I would like to know why the bridge over the river is so dangerous.

Limping slightly, she followed Edwin down the spiral staircase. Each step hurt, but Rose tried to keep up.

Steep steps from the tower led directly to the library. Most likely, it was the largest room in the castle. From floor to vaulted ceiling, there were bookcases lined with books. Narrow ladders led to the upper galleries and the highest shelves.

Rose had never seen so many books in her life. There were old folios, weighty volumes of spells, collected works of unknown authors, and small collections of poems in morocco bindings. The colorful covers of novels about knights and fairies attracted attention.