Part 4 (1/2)
”No, but why would...?” Jo stammered. ”This can't be happening.” Tears coursed down her cheeks.
Scarlet smiled. ”You are to be mated and impregnated.”
”No!” Candy shouted. ”I refuse to-”
”Quiet.” Scarlet pointed at Candy, who paled. ”Your fate is sealed. There is no point in arguing. It's done.” She shook her head. ”I can't believe my king has brought you here. Small, frail humans. I doubt you will survive the mating let alone the pregnancy. It's crazy they would attempt this.”
”Stop it.” Julie's voice quivered this time. ”We have rights. It's not-”
”I told you,” Scarlet spat. ”You are on dragon territory. I would suggest that you run, that you fight and that you pray. Our males are big and strong, if they try and rut you, you will be torn apart.”
Ash stepped forward. ”You are scaring them. What you are saying is not entirely true. There are-”
”Are our males not big? Much bigger than human males?” She put emphasis on the word much.
Ash was silent for a time. ”Yes, but-”
”But nothing.” Scarlet cut the other woman off. ”It is time for the hunt to begin.”
”No!” Jo shrieked. The woman was completely terrified. Julie couldn't blame her. It was how she felt inside. Julie had learned long ago that it didn't help to panic or to scream and beg. She would bide her time and find a way out, hopefully for all of them.
”Don't come near me.” Candy tried to act brave. ”I'm not going anywhere with you.”
Lisa folded her arms. ”My lawyer will-”
Scarlet slapped Lisa a second time, this time on the other cheek. ”I will hurt you, all of you. I hate humans. You can choose which you would prefer. I will kill you quickly, I'd snap your neck like a thin twig. Or you can face our males who will hurt you a whole h.e.l.l of a lot before you finally-”
”Scarlet.” The other dragon s.h.i.+fter looked really uncomfortable. ”You need to stop toying with the humans. She won't kill you. Our males are really big and strong but-”
”But nothing,” Scarlet interrupted. ”You don't have a choice. I would recommend that you head for the waterfall. Find the river and follow it. The males will have a hard time picking up your scent. It is your only hope for escape. Be very quiet. Our hearing is extremely good. Cover yourselves with mud to try and mask your scent. We see well at night. You never know... if you are quick, quiet and careful, you might just get away. I hate humans. I want nothing more than for all of you to be gone.” She shrugged. It seemed like the female was helping them. ”This is your only hope for escape. Our males won't expect it.”
Even though her words made sense, she clearly did not like any of them. Maybe it was all a trap.
”You would like nothing better than for the humans to escape.” Ash shook her head. ”I'm sorry this happened, Scarlet, but you need to let it go.”
Scarlet ignored Ash. She kept her eyes on the group. ”I have a woolen shawl for each of you. It can get cold up here in the mountains. Apparently, you humans struggle to keep yourselves warm.” She rolled her eyes. ”So weak.” She tsk'd. ”Do as I have instructed and you will stand a chance. Ignore my advice and...” She shrugged. ”It will be your own fault.”
Chapter 5.
Her feet touched the ground and for a moment, there was a feeling of suspension. Then the dragon let her go and gravity took hold. Julie staggered but managed to stay on her feet. The others were deposited in much the same way. She pulled off her blindfold. Lisa was looking around her. Jo was picking herself up off the ground. The others were scrambling to remove their own blindfolds. Of the dragons, there was no sign. Quick motherf-ers!
They were in the middle of nowhere. The gra.s.s was about knee-high and a beautiful, bright green. The field for the most part, was clear of trees with only a few small bushes here and there. But beyond that, with thick forests as far as the eye could see. And beyond the forests, were giant, craggy mountain peaks. The tallest one, was white and covered in snow.
It was breathtakingly beautiful and terrifying, all in one. How on earth were they going to escape this? It seemed that the nearest civilization would be thousands of miles away. If they escaped the dragons, and that was a big if, they might just end up dying out here in the wilderness. There would be mountain lions, bears and G.o.d knows what else in this G.o.d forsaken terrain.
One thing was for sure, she would rather die trying to escape than to allow herself to be caught by one of the dragon s.h.i.+fters. She s.h.i.+vered, recalling Scarlet's words. There was no way she was going to allow herself to be used in that way. She would rather die trying to escape and would fight to the death if one of them managed to catch her.
The other women were talking amongst themselves. Arguing about which direction to take.
”We need to go that way.” Lisa pointed to the route that would take them further into the valley.
”That dragon woman, Scarlet, said to head for the waterfall and to follow the stream.” Candy pointed to the right. True enough, a white mist could be seen on the side of the mountain. The undergrowth looked thicker and greener as it moved away.
”Yup.” Julie nodded. ”That looks like the waterfall alright.”
Lisa shook her head. ”You're actually going to trust her? Scarlet has it in for us. She wants to see all those horrible things happen. She's not on our side and not to be trusted.”
”Yeah, but what she said makes sense.” Candy put her hands on her hips.
Pauline chewed on her lower lip and Jo looked like she was about to pa.s.s out at any second.
Lisa put her hands on her hips as well. ”I don't give a rat's a.s.s about what she said. I'm going that way. It's easier going and I'll be able to get further away quicker. The sooner I can find a road or some sort of civilization...” She rolled her eyes. ”The better.”
”I don't think you're going to find much of anything. Nothing human lives anywhere close to where we are right now. I think you're fooling yourself big time,” Lisa argued further.
”Well, that's the route I'm taking. You can go wherever the h.e.l.l you want to. I'm not stopping you.” It was strange, although Lisa was shorter than Candy, she still seemed to look at the other woman from down her nose.
”Whatever,” Candy huffed. ”You heard the brief. We only have a four hour head start.”
”Yeah, I heard the brief loud and clear.” Lisa pursed her lips for a few moments. ”They also said that the dragon s.h.i.+fters have to stay in human form for the duration of the hunt.”
Candy choked out a humorless laugh. ”They will still be way faster than us. I think you're fooling yourself thinking that you can outrun them by taking the easy route. I'm going to find that river and I'm going to use it to mask my scent. It's also common knowledge that if you follow water it will eventually lead you to human settlements. Once we're far enough away, we could even make a raft or some sort of a vessel to get further downriver even faster.”
Lisa shrugged. ”I'm done arguing. Good luck, ladies.” She curled her hand around the water bottle that was strung around her neck and started to walk down the gentle slope that would take us further into the valley. The woolen shawl was tied around her waist. They had all done the same.
”We should stick together,” Julie tried. ”I agree with Candy, for whatever reason, Scarlet is really hoping that we escape. I don't trust her, but it is the route that makes the most sense. Besides, that water bottle won't even last until the end of today and what then?”
Lisa ignored her and continued to walk.
Julie turned back to the rest of the group. ”Okay, I'm going to a.s.sume that the four of us are going to stick together and head for that river.”
Candy nodded. ”If we head out in a northeasterly direction we should hit that stream without losing too much time.”
”Agreed.” Julie nodded. ”We need to be sure to keep an eye on the time, those dragon men are heading out at midday. We need to make sure we hit that river way before then and that we are completely silent once 12 o'clock rolls around.”
”I'm not coming with you,” Jo blurted. She sat down and folded her arms around herself.
”You have to at least try,” Pauline said. There was a slight quiver to her voice.
Jo shook her head. ”It's pointless. I don't want to die out there from hunger or thirst.” She s.h.i.+vered. ”I don't want to be savaged by a cougar or a grizzly.” She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. ”I'd rather take my chances with one of those dragon s.h.i.+fters.” As she spoke, her eyes filled with tears.
”They plan on raping us.” Candy swallowed thickly. It was the first time that they had been able to talk about it since hearing their fate from Scarlet.
”Only one.” A single tear fell and Jo wiped it away. ”They have to fight and win us. One guy for each of us. I'm going to do what it takes to survive. They speak English so maybe we can reason with them and we can come to some sort of an agreement.” By now the tears were streaming down her face.
Anger coursed through her. ”That's bulls.h.i.+t,” said Julie. ”It's complete and utter bulls.h.i.+t. They have no right to use us in this way. I'm going to stand up and fight. Even if it means I end up dead.”