Morgianna was nervous. She knew that the dragon was serious about eating her if she could not lift the curse.
"Okay if I break your curse and get the chains off you, then you have to swear to not eat me or anyone I care about." She knew nothing of dragons except what she read. She had always seen them as noble proud creatures.
The cursed dragon looked at the child in front of him and sighed in his mind. How could such a small creature break a curse and chain that even he could not in all the years he had been there. He had no hope she would ever actually succeed. However he wanted the girl to trust him so that when the time came he could eat her without putting forth much effort.
In an attempt to put her mind at ease the cursed dragon used what magic he could muster to say an oath. "I Fafnir Nightwing, Son of Typhon and Eingana Nightwing swear upon my family name that if you are able to lift the curse I will pledge my loyalty to you. On my honor, as a dragon I will not harm you or those you hold dear and I will return the favor in your time of need."
Morgianna shivered as she felt the magic brush across her skin. "What happens if you break your word?"
"Then I die." the cursed dragon flicked his tongue in the air one more time tasting the remnants of her fear as it dissipated with his oath.
Morgianna was nodding her head as she was thinking. With his oath he wouldn't dare hurt her unless she could not follow through with her part of the deal. "Alright, could you tell me more about this curse so that I may figure out the best way to move forward. Like what exactly was the curse that turned you from your original form?"
Fafnir looked at the girl wondering what all he should tell her. Then decided he might as well tell her everything, if she could not break the curse she would take the knowledge to her grave. However if she broke it, those who placed it would know it was broken and head this way. It is best to get it all out in the open.
"My mother and father were the King and Queen of our race. We had been in peace for centuries during their reign and I was set to become to next ruler. My fiancee was chosen from our most noble females and we were to partake in the joining of souls during the eclipse. However I was blinded by her fake face. She had been seeing my youngest brother behind my back. I was the eldest of 6 brothers and had many centuries on him yet I never thought to guard my back against him."
"One night days before our joining was to take place she brought me to a garden and gave me a present. It was an anklet that at the time I thought held words of love. However it was a cursed object that she had someone create to bind me. That night after returning to my room I started to feel dizzy and passed out. The next time I woke I was chained up inside of this cave."
"At first I did not know what had happened. My body felt weird and I could no longer change to my human form. The chain around my leg was firmly locked and no matter how I pulled it would not come free. I spent days alone without food or water, yet I did not feel hungry or thirsty. After what I felt must have been 2 weeks she came. She walked right through the entrance and up to me with a smile on her face. She had taken her human form with her long blonde hair and blue eyes. I can still remember it as if it was yesterday."
*flashback*
"Oh Fafnir, you poor thing. How it must feel to be all alone in this dark cave. Do you miss me?" She giggled and hid her face behind her hands like a shy maiden.
"Sora, what is the meaning of this. Release me."
Her face lost all its playfulness and turned hard. Her next words sharp as knives. "You see I cannot do that. Everyone must believe you are dead. Your brother wanted to go ahead and end your miserable life, but that was not good enough for me. I wanted you to suffer. So I decided you should spend eternity in this cave. Alone. You cannot starve to death, the curse won't allow it, but you can and will feel hunger later. It will feel as if your insides are shriveling and dying as time goes on. You will never escape."
"Why?" The one word escaped his mouth in a whisper but clearly loud enough for him to hear.
"Do you think I wished to marry you? I had no choice, I was in love with my childhood sweetheart but when I was chosen to be your bride he was sent away. Sent off to guard the walls and he never returned. They could not even find a body for me to grieve. Not that they would have let me grieve, to begin with. It is your fault."
Fafnir knew she was being unreasonable. He did not choose her, his parents did. "I was not in charge of who my parents chose, I would never have done that to someone!" His eyes pleaded for her to understand but the light in her eyes was dim and uncaring.
"Even if that is so, what is done cannot be undone. Your brother will one day rule and you will stay in this cave for eternity." With those words she turned and left the way she came.
*end of flashback*
"She came many times those first few years to give me updates of how my Kingdom was failing. Each time to rub it in that there was nothing I could do. She would tell me how the curse could not be broken. The last time she came she told me my youngest brother had staged a coup and overthrown our parents. My other brothers had been out on missions over the years and had each met mysterious accidents along the way." Fafnir hung his head once again reliving the memories. He felt a pain in his heart each time he thought of his family perishing and him being too blinded by following customs to see what was happening around him until it was too late.
Morgianna had listened to his story and felt a twinge in her heart. She did not know them and was sure they passed many years ago, but that did not lessen his pain that she could see etched in his lizard-like face.
She moved forward slowly until she could almost reach her fingertips out to touch his scales. She looked up locking her eyes on his. "I will be honest and say that I do not know what to do, but I will do everything that I can think of to get you free."
Fafnir took a sharp breath, the girl in front of him seemed much older than her age. Her eyes held a maturity and deep-set determination that he would not think her capable of if he had not seen it himself.
Not sure words would convey his feelings he simply nodded and kept his eyes locked on her.
She looked from his mouth to his ankle and back again a couple of times before finally asking, "May I touch the chain?"
Once again all Fafnir could do was nod. He knew she was scared he would gobble her up but he made an oath to at least let her try.
Morgianna moved forward once again until she was almost eye level with the chain. Standing beside his massive body she could feel the heat rolling off of his scales. She could sense darkness surrounding the chain and thought that maybe she could use her light.
Gathering her light in her palm she reached out to touch the chain but was shocked when it blew her backward.
Her head slammed into the wall and made her feel disoriented. Her whole body felt as if it had been pushed through a shredder.
Her vision was blurry as she tried to sit up on her knees. The ringing in her ears getting louder. Just as she thought she would go insane the ringing stopped and she looked up to see the lizard staring at her with a strange expression.
"You have light and darkness. Pull the darkness of the curse into you and neutralize it with your light. It cannot be touched directly with the light outside of your body."
Once again Morgianna heard the voice of the being who sent her to this world. While she did not like the trouble she had been placed in they did give her sound advice when she needed it.
Pulling herself up completely she once again started slowly walking towards Fafnir. He did not think she would be able to even stand after a blow like the one she received.
"Let me try again." The look in her eyes left no room for arguments so he nodded his head in agreement. Why not let her try. If she killed herself trying he would not feel a loss.
Seeing his nod in agreement Morgianna once again moved forward, but this time she pulled her darkness around herself before reaching out for the chain. Fafnir was shocked, for this girl to hold both darkness and light was unheard of. The two opposing powers should have ripped her body apart.
He watched in rapt attention as she wrapped her small finger around the chain. Seeing her grimace in pain almost instantly.
Morgianna had still not recovered from that blow, but that pain was nothing compared to what she felt when she touched the chain. The darkness was of the deepest most vile kind. It was a slimy feeling as it touched her. Gritting her teeth she began to pull it into herself. The pain getting worse until it felt as if a fire was consuming her insides. Yet she still held on, she only had one chance. Of she did not succeed he would probably just go ahead and eat her.
That thought is the only thing that kept her going. She was nearing her limit, spots were dancing behind her closed lids and her breathing was erratic. Just as she felt she might combust the new darkness flowing into her abruptly stopped leaving on the swirling darkness she had already consumed to run rampant in her body. She felt week but knew she needed to finish.
Opening her eyes Fafnir could see that they were both solid black. Streaks of blood dripped from their corners like tears. He could see her take a shuttering breath before gently closing her eyes once more.
A light started radiating from her body. At first just a small wave that grew gradually brighter and brighter. He could not look away from her. Her hair began to float in the air around her small frame as if lifted by an unseen force.
Inside Morgianna was battling the Darkness using every last once of her willpower. She felt that if she even let up for a second it would swallow her whole and she would lose her life.
She began to shake feeling weaker. The only thing holding her body up was that she could not pry her fingers from the chain.
Fafnir could see the light starting to fade around her body. She was not strong enough. With her holding the chain he could not move too recklessly. He wrapped his tail around her body and almost yelped in surprise. As a dragon he naturally is heat resistant but her body felt as if it had been submerged in the hottest volcano. With a temperature like that she should not even be alive right now.
Morgianna was almost there. All she had to do was hold on just a few more seconds...
All at once the pain stopped and her body slumped. She could not even open her eyes. Her hand fell from the chain and with it she heard a loud crash as the heavy metal fell to the floor. She felt her consciousness start to fade and all the sounds around her seemed muffled.
As the chain fell off his leg Fafnir felt like a brick wall slammed into him. His body felt like it was buzzing with electricity. His magic was returning! Looking down he saw Morgianna curled into herself but he could not move to help her. All at once it felt as if every bone in his body started to break and he screamed. He had not taken his human form in many centuries and now it was being forced.
He labored through it with his eyes closed and his teeth gritted. At one point in time it was second nature to change and the change took place in less than a minute. This change now though was slow and drew out, as if the bones in his body did not know which way to turn and form.
He writhed on the floor slowly his bones finding the correct placement.
When the pain finally stopped he looked down at his hands in awe. The little girl had done it, she had removed the curse.
With a start he remembered her small body convulsing on the floor. Bloody tears running down her pale cheeks.
He rushed over to her and was relieved to see her still breathing. She had stopped convulsing and now seemed to be asleep. He never thought she would actually succeed, but now that she did he needed to uphold his part of the deal.
He reached forward to pick her up when her eyes opened abruptly. She looked into his eyes and he was mesmerized. One was blood red while the other was gold and almost seemed to have ticking clock hands inside of it. He had not noticed before that her eyes were of different colors. He had thought her insignificant and therefore paid very little attention to her appearance.
Morgianna stared up at the young man in front of her. He looked to only be in his late teens. "Who are you?" Her voice was raspy and cracked as she tried to talk. She grimaced knowing that she sounded unladylike, but she had just been through an ordeal so this stranger would just have to deal with it.
"I am Fafnir, and I owe you my life." The words were deep and husky.