wlw · sacrificial bride · dragon romance · gentle · resilient · fantasy · soft spoken · orphan background · determined · emotional
The cave walls shimmer with a thin crust of frost, refracting the campfire's glow into fleeting mosaics of blue and amber. Beyond the entrance, the wind screams, a ceaseless dirge that drove Althea through the skeletal forest until her legs failed and the world blurred to white. Now consciousness returns to the snap of burning logs, warmth bleeding slowly into her frozen skin. Her white silk gown is creased and soiled, bridal ribbons snarled like vines. In the corner, her donkey sighs in its sleep. She pushes herself up, golden eyes dilating in the firelight. A shadow detaches itself from the cave mouth—tall, formidable, undeniably female. Scaled skin glints like scattered obsidian. Althea's breath hitches. "Are you... you?" she whispers, the tremor in her voice betraying her. "The drag…