Something with fire

NOELLE'S POV,

''What was that?''

Faith takes my hand, ''You don't have to be afraid.''

Then I hear the noise again, ''WRAAAAAAAAAHH.''

I walk to Gabriel and stop only an inch away from him, ''Tell me what that is right now!''

Gabriel says calmly, ''It is better if I show you because otherwise, you wouldn't believe me. But it can wait until you are rested.''

I don't trust anybody right now and I am scared that if I go to sleep, they will betray me in the meantime, ''You show me right now! or I leave.''

Gabriel holds out his hands like he means no harm, ''Okay, okay, calm down I will take you.''

Holly rages towards him, ''Don't be ridiculous Gabriel. You are exhausted and there are much more important things to do.''

Gabriel does not raise his voice, but I can still hear the authority in it, ''Holly shut up right now. First of all, I am your King, so I don't need to ask your permission to do what I want. Second of all Noelle has been through a lot, and she is probably hurt and scared. So, if showing her what makes those sounds helps her feel safe then I will do that.''

Holly storms out of the room, ''Fine, you better be here tomorrow morning.''

Gabriel sighs and takes out his wings, ''We have to fly there. Can I pick you up?''

It feels weird to actually have a choice in something for the first time. In the Sea Realm, everything was decided for me, even my clothes, ''Yes you may.''

Gabriel puts one arm under my legs and the other behind my back. ''Hold tight,'' he says.

I put my arms around his neck when we shoot into the sky. He flies to a mountain on the far end of the mountain group. The shrieking becomes louder the closer we get. There are big caves in the whole mountain and Gabriel flies us to one in the middle. He lands on the rocks and puts me on my feet. All I can see is a big black hole.

''What is in the hole?'' I ask while my heart is pounding.

''Fftttiiieee,'' Gabriel whistles, and I hear something big approaching. I step back when it emerges from the dark. I can't believe what I am looking at.

''It's a dragon!'' I say shocked.

A big blue dragon in the same color as Gabriel's eyes emerges. It has shiny scales and sharp claws. On its tail, there are sharp dark blue spikes. The eyes are orange like a big burning sun.

''Noelle this is Dagahra my dragon,'' Gabriel says.

The dragon slowly walks to us and puts her big head in Gabriel's arms. He scratches her behind her ears, ''It was believed that dragons were extinct, but we found frozen eggs in these mountains. We hatched them with fire and kept them hidden for many years. They are remarkable really; they chose a human to bond with and accept nobody else. Only their master can ride them, and they would die for their master.''

I slowly approach the female and she snorts at me which makes smoke come out of her nose. Gabriel pets her nose, ''It's okay Dagahra, she is with me, and I like her, okay?''

Dagahra looks at me calculating but lets me come closer now. Then I hear the loud shrieking again, ''IEIAAHAHAEEEEEE.''

I look at Gabriel, ''Which dragon is that?''

Gabriel sighs, ''That is Thorn, he has never accepted a master. No one can get near him without a sedative. He is the most dangerous dragon we have because he is an Iron Tooth. The only one of his kind.''

I walk to the end of the cave, ''Take me to him I want to see him.''

I expect Gabriel to tell me that I can’t, but he just says, "Okay if you are sure but we take a sedative to give him if it's necessary.''

I put my arms around his neck, ''Sounds fair.''

We fly up to the highest cave of the mountain. The shrieking is almost too much for my ears to bear. ''Won't they discover your city with these loud noises?'' I ask Gabriel.

Gabriel points at the clouds, ''The city is protected by magical shields, no sounds get out and the clouds protect us from sight.''

We land at the cave, and I jump out of Gabriel's arms. This cave is much bigger than the one Dagahra was in. The shrieking stopped the minute we landed but this silence might be even creepier. I walk closer and look into the dark. I see 2 yellow eyes staring at me. Then I see a little fire emerging, and Gabriel pulls me to the side, ''Noelle watch out.''

A big breath of fire lights up the whole cave and would have roasted me if I stayed in place. I can take a look at the dragon now though. It is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. He must be at least 20 meters tall, and his scales are the color of liquid gold. He has big iron spikes over his whole body and his tail looks fairly dangerous. His head is enormous with a mouth full of iron teeth. He just looks at me waiting to see what I will do.

''We should go before he decides to roast us,'' Gabriel says.

''No, I want to try something,'' I walk in front of the cave and Thorn opens his mouth and fire starts to emerge in his belly. I don't back down and keep walking towards him. Thorn closes his mouth again by surprise because no one probably did this before. Somehow, I am not scared of him, and he must feel it, ''It's okay boy I just want to take a look at you.'' He stands on his back legs and towers over me. He opens his mouth and lowers down.

''Noelle no,'' I hear Gabriel shout.

But I keep standing there welcoming whatever is coming. Thorns head comes down quickly and he puts it against my head. When our heads touch both our eyes lit up with purple light. He lowers his head to the ground so I can pet him. I look into his eyes and stroke his head, ''Thank you for waiting for me, I promise I will treat you right.''

Gabriel is looking at us with an open mouth. ''He accepted you,'' he says surprised. I smile at Thorn, ''Yes, we accepted each other just the way we are.'' Then I joke, ''He must have smelled greatness.''

Gabriel chuckles, ''That he sure did and probably also humbleness.''

I walk to Gabriel, ''Can you take me back now? I am kind of tired.''

Gabriel picks me up, ''Of course, we can come back to Thorn tomorrow if you want.''

I smile, ''I would like that.''

Gabriel flies me back to the mountain we came from but drops me off at a lower level and says, ''You just walk to the last door on the left, your bedroom is there.''

He puts me on the ground, and I say, ''Thank you Gabriel for understanding and treating me like I matter.''

He looks at me sadly and before he flies away, he says, ''You are welcome, Noelle, I hope Liberum can show you a better way of life.''

I walk to my bedroom and walk straight to the bed without looking at my surroundings. I am super exhausted but when my head reaches the pillow my mind starts to relive everything that happened lately. I feel like there is a hole in my heart and I can't believe how stupid I have been. I thought Roan loved me, but all the red flags were there right in front of my nose to see. I cry myself to sleep and decide that I will never let my heart get broken again.