Tempest’s POV

Whose bright idea was it to bring an angel to hell anyway? I would have been perfectly content staying on earth while Pandora went on this little field trip as she called it. Well this was the last time I listened to her about taking a fun and educational adventure! And just when I had been looking forward to taking a trip to a field and learning about earth’s natural habitats… I guess nothing was ever as it seemed when you listened to a demon. It was part of her nature to be deceptive so I couldn’t hold it against her. She was still the only person, or being, that I could fully trust.

So here we were, somewhere in the depths of Hell, riding a dragon. Yes, you heard me right a Dragon: Those big scary scaly things that were set to destroy and kill anything pure. Apparently this one was kind, but I still wasn’t sold on that idea.

Besides, what ever happened to the ‘no angels in hell’ thing? I mean, I had always been told that it was impossible for a pure angel to travel between the realms. Rumor had it an angel would simply burst into flames if they stepped foot in Hell, all of their celestial magic dissolving into thin air so that it didn’t fall into the hands of the damned. Did that mean I was no longer pure and in fact a fallen? No… that couldn’t be. I hadn’t done anything wrong to deceive God…

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around my small frame, shivering in the cold. Never in a million years would I have imagined Hell to be freezing! Wasn’t this the place where they burned the souls of the damned? Shouldn’t it be hot or at least a little bit warm? I mean, my teeth were chattering together and I knew if I didn’t find some light soon I was going to freeze to death.

I quickly started walking forward in the blinding darkness, not having the slightest clue where we were or where I was going. The darkness burned my eyes so badly that I felt nauseous but I couldn’t just give up. There had to be some form of light around here somewhere that could warm me up, even for just a minute.

Suddenly, as if my silent prayers were answered, I saw a dull blue light burning in the distance. “Thanks be to God!” I muttered to myself as I started dancing toward the light. Unfortunately, the closer I got to the light the colder it got. What? No! That’s not how this was supposed to work! The light was warm, not cold! This was a cruel trick, but nowhere near as bad as the creature I nearly bumped into.

I instantly froze in the middle of the cave and slowly looked up, my heart beating on overdrive in my chest. There staring back at me, only mere inches away was a ghastly white dragon with piercing red eyes. “Nice dragon… Easy…” I breathed, taking a small step backwards as it shrieked in my face, blowing my long blonde hair back. “Pandora?” I cried, swallowing thickly.

I held my breath as those menacing red eyes turned on me, making me whimper and take another step back. Only this time, the creature moved with me, stomping its large foot on the floor and shaking the cave. “Pandora!” I yelled, fearing that the beast would come closer and try to eat me.

This had to be another dream right? I mean, how could an angel be standing face-to-face with a dragon in the depths of Hell? It just didn’t make any sense! I was going to wake up any minute in the big warm bed with the sun cascading down my face and all this was going to be figment of my imagination. Yeah… that was it. I tried pinching my eyes shut and then reopening them, only to see the blue flames and the very large dragon breathing down my neck. He or she certainly didn’t look happy to see me and I assure you, the feeling was mutual.

“Okay, Teek, just stay perfectly still...” Pandora’s voice sounded behind me and I bit down on my bottom lip. I couldn’t move even if she asked me too. I swear, my feet were now frozen to the floor from how cold it was in this cave. “Come on... we’re not gonna hurt you...” she said, approaching the large monster with her hands up in the air.

As she passed me, I felt a wave of relief watch over me. Pandora really did have my best interests at heart and I would have to learn to trust her more. She was the expert in this realm and from now on, what she said goes. Pandora was the boss, though I would never say it out loud. I didn’t want it to go to her head.

“Uhmm… Pandora?” I said, my eyes now roaming over the dragon for the first time. The beast white scales shone beautifully through the dim glow of the blue flames, but what alarmed me the most was the blood of crimson blood dripping to the floor from the beast’s leg.

“Not now, Teek...” Pandora whispered over her shoulder, as she slowly got closer to the dragon.

“The dragon’s bleeding...” I announced just before the dragon to rear up on it back legs, let out an ear-piercing shriek, and shoved both Pandora and I away with its wings. It happened so fast that I couldn’t comprehend what had happened until I was rolling sideways off a small pile of rocks, my back aching painfully.

“Ouch…” I grumbled, moving back to a sitting position and squinting through the darkness. Where did Pandora go? Was she okay? I felt an overwhelming need to help bubble up inside my chest as I looked around for my friend. “Pandora?”

“Fucking hell,” she complained, standing up from her position on my right and dusting off her clothes. “I should have known better… You alright, Teek?”

“Yeah… but what about the dragon?” I asked, my little heart breaking seeing it bleed. I hated to see anything in pain, even if it had been trained to kill my kind.

“It apparently doesn’t want our help,” Pandora grumbled, pulling me to my feet in one swift motion. “So lets just get the grimoire and get out of here before he or she decides to make us into a little snack.” I shuddered as Pandora turned her head to look at Drago, who only took a seat and turned his head away from us. I didn’t know much about dragons, but it looked to me as though Drago wasn’t taking anywhere anytime soon.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right, Drago?” Pandora sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as the dragon defiantly turned away from us with a little shriek. “Drago… Ugh… You stubborn asshole! You take right after Gates! … I’ll just go get the grimoire myself!”

And with that I watched as Pandora marched toward the dragon, only for it to knock her backwards before she could even get close to the leather bound book. “Son of a bitch!” she growled before jumping back to her feet and trying again and again. It appeared as though the white dragon was guarding the book and wasn’t going to let anyone come near it. But why? What did a dragon need with a book?

“Argh! Fucking hell!” Pandora hissed, brushing herself off for the third time now. “Don’t make me have to hurt you, beastie!” she warned, only to hear a growl from Drago. “So you’re on his side too?! Well that’s fucking great! Some loyal pet you are!” she said, glaring down her dragon. “How do you suppose we get the grimoire then?”

“Maybe that’s just it,” I shrugged, wrapping my arms around my small frame as I shivered. “Maybe we aren’t supposed to get the grimoire back…”

“What do you mean? Our whole purpose coming here was to get the grimoire that you lost,” Pandora snapped, putting her hands on her hips and looking around the cave in frustration. “There has to be some way to get it! Or something we can trade for it!”

I raised a questioning brow at Pandora as she took a seat on the cold stone floor and started to assemble a collection of twigs. “What would a dragon want to trade?” I asked, knowing absolutely nothing about dragons.

“Depends on the dragon,” she shrugged. “See this asshole over here?” she said, motioning toward Drago. “He likes to trade services, such as flying, for snacks. He’s very food driven, where another dragon may trade it’s loyalty for protection.” I guess that made sense in a weird kind of way. I guess I didn’t really think of dragons like people, but more as pets, but apparently they were smarter than any animal I had ever met.

“So what if we offer to fix up his leg for the book?” I suggested, just as Pandora set the pile of twigs on fire. Warmth erupted from the little pile and I quickly moved closer to it, putting my hands up to try to thaw my frosty limbs. Word of the wise, don’t come into Hell without a coat next time.

Pandora scoffed and looked over at Drago, who was slowly scooting closer and closer to the fire. “Yeah, if he would let us go anywhere near him… or if we had any supplies. Its not like either of us can heal him with our bare hands,” she laughed cynically.

Just then the white dragon let out a pitiful sound and stumbled sideways, obviously losing its strength from the injury to its leg. I bit my lip as I looked between the white dragon and Pandora, who was engaged in a staring contest with Drago. I didn’t have the heart to leave the hellish creature, especially in this state. It just seemed so cruel! Not to mention the overwhelming desire I felt to help. I had never experience anything like it before and I knew I couldn’t turn away.

“Easy big guy…” I whispered soothingly as I took a step toward the dragon, my hands up in surrender in front of me. “I promise I wont hurt you… I just want to have a look at your leg here,” I continued, carefully motioning to the dragon’s injury. The dragon’s blood red eyes turned on me so quickly that I let out a light whimper and froze in my spot, my hands shooting straight up in the air.

“Teek let’s just—Teek? What the hell are you doing?!” Pandora’s voice sounded behind me, causing the beast narrow its eyes at me, letting out a huff of hot air on my face. Finally something warm! “Are you fucking insane?!” she asked, grabbing my arm and pulling me back a few steps.

“He needs our help,” I pleaded, looking at Pandora through my purple eyes. “I can’t just let him suffer like that.”

Pandora opened and closed her mouth a few times, obviously having some internal battle with herself, before she let out a long sigh and let go of my arm. “How do you plan on helping him? You don’t know the first thing about dragons!”

“Just trust me, okay?” I said, feeling the bubbling feeling inside growing stronger and strong. “I have an idea.”

“Fucking hell… fine, but if he shows any sign of aggression, I’m stepping in!” she warned.

I gave her a small nod before I turned back toward the magnificent white beast. Pandora had been right; Drago was small compared to other dragons. This creature towered a good fifteen feet over him. Why did I want to help it again, especially since the beast looked like it was going to eat me alive any second? Call me crazy, but I couldn’t deny the odd nurturing feeling burning it my chest. It was almost overpowering as it drew me towards the dragon, inch by inch.

“Easy big guy… I-I just want to help you…” I assured the beast, with each step I took. The white dragon let out a low growl and narrowed its eyes on me but otherwise stayed put. “See… I wont hurt you…” Somewhere behind me I heard Drago make a purring noise, which seemed to put the white dragon at easy. “Easy now…”

I was only a few feet away now and the closer I got to the dragon, the more warmth I felt. That was odd? Drago was freezing cold when I rode him, but this dragon seemed to be the opposite. Was it because he was injured, or simply because it was a different kind of dragon? I wasn’t sure but the closer I got to the creature, the more I realized how beautiful he actually was. Each little scale looked like a luminescent pearl shining in the blue flame, reflecting the light in a way that reminded me of the Silver City. It was breathtaking and I couldn’t help but smile up at the beast.

“You’re beautiful,” I breathed, reaching out my hand for the dragon to smell. He narrowed his eyes at me before slowly moving his head toward my hand, breathing warm air over my cold flesh. “And so warm…” After a moment of checking me out, the dragon lowered itself to the ground, bowing its head ever so slightly.

“You’ve got to be shitting me…” I heard Pandora curse behind me. “How did you do that?”

“I-I don’t know…” I replied, quickly glancing over my shoulder.

“Famous words of the day,” Pandora huffed as I moved over to the dragon’s leg. “She doesn’t know what she did with Gates, she doesn’t know if she told him anything about herself, and now she doesn’t know how she fucking tamed the dragon! Well obviously you know something, Teek!”

I carefully kneeled down next to the dragon and looked over his leg, finding an oddly shaped dagger sticking out of a very deep wound. “You poor creature…” I breathed, gently pulling my hand on his tender skin. “What happened to you?” I looked up to see those dark red eyes watching me and I froze. He blinked very slowly and I knew that I had permission to continue my work.

“I have to pull out this dagger,” I said, looking up at the beast. “It will hurt, but I promise I will make it better.” The dragon let out a low huff as I grabbed the dagger handle and slowly pulled it out. A bestial growl filled the cave as I toss the bloody knife to the side and put my hands on top of the bleeding wound.

Suddenly I felt the bubbling feeling in my chest again. It was so intense that I felt like I was about to explode. I quickly pinched my eyes shut and pressed down on the dragon’s scaly flesh, only to feel a sudden burst of warmth cascade from my body into the dragon. I felt weightless and free as the tingling warmth flooded through my veins, blinding me with a light that I had never seen before.

And just as quickly as it appeared, the blinding light disappeared, leaving me breathless as I slumped down against the dragon. What on earth was that? Never before had that happened to me. What had I done?

My eyes snapped open in a moment of panic as I looked at the dragon. Oh, please don’t let me have hurt this creature! Please… I was only trying to help. Just then, a deep purr sounded in my ear as the white beast nuzzled the side of my head. The dragon was okay! Thank God! I quickly looked back down to see that the dragon’s wound had also disappeared and was replaced by new flawless scales.

“Teek! Teek! What the hell was that?!” Pandora yelled, rushing over towards me. The only problem was that as soon as she got too close, the dragon lowered it’s head at her and let out a deep growl.

“It’s okay, she wont hurt you,” I shakily stood up, petting the beasts face. “I don’t know… but I-I—”

“You turned into a fucking burst of light and now the dragon is healed?! What are you?” she asked, looking me up in down in awe. “Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?!”

“I honestly didn’t know,” I shrugged, looking up at my new friend. He really wasn’t so bad now that I had healed him. Not to mention that he was incredibly warm. “I’d never done it before.”

Pandora rolled her eyes. “Again with the clueless chipmunk act! How do you not know!?”

I simply shrugged my shoulders and leaned back against the dragon, enjoying the warmth radiating from his gorgeous scales. It was almost like this creature was meant to meet me here. They always said that God worked in mysterious ways.

“Whatever,” Pandora finally sighed, shaking her head. “Let’s just get the grimoire and get out of here. We still have to fly over the eight other circles of Hell before we can even think about going home.”

“You mean, we have to leave Lumi?” I asked, a pout spreading over my lips.

“Who is Lumi?” Pandora asked, looking at me liked I had lost my mind.

“The dragon of course! I named him,” I smiled, petting his warm scales. “His scales are so luminous, he deserved to have a name that matched!”

“Sorry to tell you this, Teek, but you can’t keep the dragon. Who knows if he’d even let you ride him?” she said and as if on cue, Lumi bowed his head and I climbed on with a triumphant smile.

“But you have Drago!” I whined. “Please! I promise we’ll follow directions!”

“Fine…” Pandora rolled her eyes again for the eightieth time today. “Grab the grimoire and let’s go. I’m tired of this place already.”

Notes