Ildri & The Echoes of Trees by Krystal Bailey

Author:Krystal Bailey [Bailey, Krystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Krystal Bailey
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

Ildri

The dragon slowly rolled to her belly, causing the crystals to shake and dusty debris to fall from the high ceiling overhead. Carefully, the dragon tested her weight on shaky legs then rose to her full height. Ildri curled into a ball, both amazed and horrified at once.

“Are you the one that ensnared me, elf-witch?”

The dragon’s snarl had the same timbre of stones grating against each other. Ildri winced and raised her shaky hands to cover her ears. Only, her hands wouldn’t stop trembling enough to stay in place. Tremulously, Ildri whispered, “I—I untied the net that b-bound you.”

“Mm,” the dragon bent her head toward Ildri and flicked her tongue. Ildri felt a wetness on her bleeding palm and gasped.

The dragon recoiled and huffed. “You are not an elf! Yet you are not the human you appear to be, either. Are you a goblin witch that trapped me? It has been a millennium at least since I tasted goblin.”

Tremors overwhelmed Ildri’s body. “Y-you are right that I am n-not an elf, nor am I human. I am b-both.”

“I have never heard of such a thing.” The dragon sniffed the air around Ildri’s prostrate form. “I do not think a human-elf exists.”

Ildri closed her eyes briefly, attempting to settle her nigh-consuming fear. “I d-didn’t think d-dragons existed anymore either,” she replied. “B-but here you are, t-tasting and sniffing me all the same.”

The dragon let out a harsh bark of laughter. It was ear-splitting, and Ildri curled into a ball again, half-thinking the dragon may now choose to take a bite out of her to settle the matter.

“A clever witch, then,” the dragon mused.

The dragon darted toward her, like a snake springing out of its coil. Ildri couldn’t clearly see the dragon’s eyes again until her bared teeth were just inches from her face. “What was your purpose in trapping not only my body but my mind for all this time?”

As the dragon spoke, Ildri glimpsed down the beast’s throat. It wasn’t a sight she wanted to grow accustomed to. Red-orange flames licked the sides of it, threatening to spill into the dragon’s mouth and out onto Ildri’s head.

“I freed you. I wasn’t the one who imprisoned you,” Ildri insisted.

The dragon huffed. “What is that taste about you? It is not human, elf, nor goblin.”

Ildri couldn’t reply. She had no idea what the dragon tasted.

“The wind! Yes, you taste of the wind, witch. You reek of it,” the dragon sneered. “But why, if you are kin to me, would you rob me of my power?”

Sparks landed on Ildri’s coat from the dragon’s words. Frantically, Ildri smacked her coat with her palms to prevent the sparks from igniting into flame. The dragon laughed as Ildri coughed from the smoke. In the forcefulness of her cough, the two feathers drifted out of Ildri’s coat pockets and floated into the air.

“Ah, are you a bird then, witch?” The dragon inhaled, making the feathers drift upward toward the dragon’s open mouth. “I don’t mind eating birds.”

“No!” Ildri cried, bolting upright into a seated position.

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