"What?!?! You are Fafnir?" Morgianna could not help but raise her voice after hearing the young man's words. She frantically looked around expecting a dragon-like lizard to still be chained to the cave floor.
"You are so young looking though!"
Fafnir chuckled. " I am at least 600 years old, give or take a few years. Though it seems I did not age while under the influence of the curse." He smiled a dazzling smile that would blind most women. He had spent so long suffering that it felt like he had ascended to the clouds.
"We age much slower than your kind due to our longevity. I was cursed close to the equivalent of my 16th human year, or 170 in dragon years." He was still chuckling as he stared at the shocked expression on Morgiannas face.
"I promised an oath to you. I plan to return to my kingdom as many years have passed without me knowing what has happened. However I cannot just leave you without paying my life debt. If it shall please you, I will form a blood contract with you. It will allow me to know when you are in danger and be able to find you. You can also use it to contact me telepathically. I know I owe you much, but I am worried about my kingdom."
"What else do I need to know about the pact?" Fafnir was kind of surprised by her question as with her being a child he figured she would just agree and he could move on.
Fafnir ran his hand through his hair that fell into his eyes. The movement drawing Morgianna's attention. She couldn't help but scold herself for checking out the "old" man in front of her.
"Wellllll with the pact you will probably live longer, and I'll live a little shorter, maybe 100 years or so? To be honest I'm not 100 percent sure as I have never made a pact with someone... and it was kind of looked down on when I was still a prince." A look of sadness flashed across his eyes that looked like they were two tiny suns placed on his face. He closed those molten pools and turned slightly away.
Her breath caught when she finally noticed the wings sticking out from his back. They looked like two dangerous weapons by themselves, and she could imagine it easy to end someone's life with them.
She knew curiosity killed the cat but the moment she saw them she wanted, no needed to touch them.
Moving forward slightly she asked, "why would you shorten your life by making a pact with me?" Her hands twitched at her side begging to reach out and feel if the points in his wings were as sharp as they seem.
"I would shorten it many times if it would pay you back for releasing me. I am going to be able to actually have a life now, whereas what I was doing before was not living but simply existing." He turned then to look at her but found her eyes glued to his wings. There was a sparkle in her eyes that he had a bad feeling about.
She finally looked up to meet his eyes. She knew she had been caught looking but was unashamed.
"May I touch your wings?" The words had barely left her mouth before her hands were already reaching. Fafnir thinking she would just touch the soft part almost chocked on his own tongue when she immediately wrapped her tiny fingers around the bone spikes.
There was no pain but almost instantly blood was pouring from her small delicate hand. "Crazy girl, why would you do that?!" Fafnir grabbed her wrist holding it above her small frame looking around for something to stop the bleeding.
His eyes searched frantically seeing nothing but some minor bones and dirt. He looked down into her mix-matched eyes and what he saw was neither pain nor worry but instead seemed to be amusement.
With her other hand she patted his arm which was the most she could reach on his much taller body. "I am fine. You worry too much. It doesn't hurt and I can just heal it once you release my arm." Her words were unhurried as if it was someone else who was bleeding.
"Besides for the pact, do we seal it with blood or are there just words exchanged?" Once again Fafnir was surprised by the mature words leaving her small mouth. Not only was she calm when getting hurt, but she was able to think ahead and look at her options going forward.
"We seal it with blood.." his voice trailed off as he slowly lowered Morgiannas hand.
Without any more hesitation she reached her bloodied hand out towards him palm up. She stood there staring at him for a moment as he stood still as a statue. "Well?"
That one word from her finally causing him to snap out of his thoughts. He looked into her eyes one more time before shifting just one of his fingers into his dragon claws and making a slash across his palm. Reaching forward he grasped her hand pressing the two slashes across each other.
Before she could react to pull her hand away he had trapped her in his vice-like grip. A searing pain felt as if it was traveling through her hand and up her arm. She whimpered but could not pull her hand free.
"Just a minute more." He whispered small encouragements knowing that the pain was because of a little bit of his internal fire flowing into her.
With the pact he shared his essence. The very thing that makes him a dragon. His internal flame. By doing so her life force would be stronger, she would live longer, and fire would no longer burn her.
When enough had flowed into her he released his grip. Morgianna pulled her hand back quickly looking down at where the cut on her hand once was. There was not even a scar left behind. It was as if she had never been injured at all. She felt a slight twinge on her shoulder as if fire ants were crawling across her skin. She pulled her shirt over her shoulder and gasped. There in black ink was a dragon. Surrounded by pink flowers, Its design was gorgeous even if it was on a child-size body.
Looking to Fafnir he could see the questions in her eyes. "It shows that we have formed a pact. If you want it to be invisible rotate your shoulder and it will fade from sight."
All she could do was nod. She had not expected there to be tattoos involved, after all she was still just a child in this world and could only imagine how her family would react. The cave was once again thrown into silence as she stared at the ink that now covered her pale white shoulder. She had never had any tattoos in her past life as they cost money, money that she did not have.
Looking at Fafnir a strange feeling entered her heart. At the moment the pact was formed she felt like he would leave and never return.
She had only used her eyes a handful of times since reincarnating as with the god's eye she rarely met someone that piqued her interest, and to view when someone was going to die was not something she generally wanted to know. However, at that moment that feeling in her heart would not settle.
She focused on his handsome face and furrowed her brows at what she saw. The clock above his head showed 6 days 13 hours 42 minutes and some odd seconds. Without realizing she had spoken the time out loud.
"What does that mean?" Startled Morgiannas focus was brought back to the face she was staring at.
"You would think I am crazy. Your kingdom... does it by chance take a little over 6 days to get to from here?
Her question made him narrow his eyes. Was she calculating how far away his kingdom was when she told him a time? How did she even know where it was? Though he made a pact with her, the dragon kingdom had long since pulled away from the rest of the world.
He was just about to answer when the next words she uttered shocked him.
"Don't go." Those two words hung in the air, reverberating through his skull.
"I told you before we made a pact that I was going to go back to my kingdom, yet now you tell me not to?" Fafnir was getting angry. He had not been home in centuries and needed to check on his people.
"You won't believe me if I tell you, just please do not go yet." She was begging at this point, she felt like a piece of her would die too if he was killed. She did not know if this was an effect of the pact, but she could analyze it later. First she needed to stop him.
"What reason would I have not to leave? I will not stay if you cannot give me a reason." He looked at her small frame standing between him and the exit and was debating picking her up and moving her.
"You will die!" She raised her voice uncaring of being ladylike at that moment.
He stared at her serious face before bursting into laughter. "I will not die, they won't even know I am there."
Her frown deepened. " If the people who cursed you became aware that you broke the curse would they not believe you to come there afterward? Would you not be walking right into their arms, serving yourself up for slaughter? You can believe me or not just please wait a little while."
His laughter died as he listened. She seemed to truly believe he was going to die. "The time you spoke of, what was that for?"
"That is how much time you would have left if you choose to go on the path you are currently on. That is the time of your death." As she spoke the words she knew she was messing with death. A price would need to be paid but she did not want it to be him.