My blood turned to ice, and my heart stalled. The dragon was huge compared to me; his head alone was fifteen feet long. I could have curled up in one nostril. There was no escaping Rhaelgyr unless i stepped through dimensions.
His growl changed as he shifted. I took a step back, entranced as he shrank, wings disappeared, and he once more took his elven shape. Dark eyes held me in place as Rhaelgyr kept growling.
Then he reached for me, pulling me into a rough kiss. One hand pressed my hips against his, the other knotted in my hair. He continued growling as he forced my mouth open, forked tongue pressing against mine.
I struggled at first, shocked, but quickly melted to Rhaelgyr's insistence. He tasted like spice and heat. His body was rock hard, but his skin like suede as my hands came to his face. I even liked his strange tongue, and the sharp teeth against my lower lip.
There were no drugs involved, nothing taking control from me, and I liked his kiss. I liked the stiff dryness of his tongue, the way the tips caressed opposite sides of mine, the way he tasted of fire. I sighed, pressing myself tighter, kissing him deeper.
Rhaelgyr broke the kiss, pulling my head back, lowering his mouth to my shoulder. He licked my collarbone, and I shivered as goosebumps raced up my spine.
"You're no longer marked," he whispered, kissing and nuzzling my shoulder.
I ran hands through his hair, licking the tip of his ear. The conflagration still raged, people still rioted and died, yet I would let him have me if he pressed his point. "Steven healed me."
The parasite in my spirit writhed, and I stiffened. Rhaelgyr hissed, head jerking back. "What is that?"
Pain made my voice catch, and I clung to the dragon through a wave of vertigo. "Kurlog said he put something in my wound." A spasm hit, and I wondered if the parasite were reacting to the former Chaos Lord in some way.
"We need to take this out of you." His concern comforted me, and he began probing my shoulder. The thing moved beneath his fingers, and I bit back a cry.
"We have to stop the fires," I whispered.
Rhaelgyr paused in the act of pulling me to the rooftop. "There is no stopping them."
"Then we need to save the people." I clung to his shoulders, meeting his gaze.
"Why?" He genuinely didn't care. They could live or die, and it made no impact on his life. Part of me was envious.
That wasn't the part that spoke. "None of them deserve this. Don't let them die for your anger."
Rhaelgyr stared, continuing to hold me. With a sigh, he turned away. He said nothing, just closed his eyes. Chaos moved, and dimensional walls shifted.
Wind ripped through the streets, icy cold. The fires were suddenly gone, sucked into whatever glacial realm he'd reached out to. Embers were replaced by snowflakes, smoke by cold mist. Screams came still, but already began to die down.
"Thank you," I whispered, cupping Rhaelgyr's cheek.
He turned back with a smile, dark blue eyes mysterious. "You will have so much appreciation to show me later." We laughed.
The dragon grew serious, moving fingers to my shoulder. "But first the pain." I nodded as the pit of my stomach dropped.
