Naturally, I was curious about my discovery and started taking in as much as I could, but that was when my eyes found themselves glued to a single point beyond the broken marble altar. Beyond the black sheet where the light stopped was a solid mass of pure darkness.
Suddenly, two golden lights as bright as the sun itself appeared within that gloom. I had only just registered that they were a pair of giant eyes when the mass of darkness began to move. The dragon’s huge forefoot crushed the remains of one of the broken stone pillars. It was then that I realized the black dragon’s golden eyes were locked on me.
It opened its scarlet jaws to reveal rows of sharp fangs just before its voice rumbled out from the depths of its belly and reverberated over my head. “Are you the one who disturbed my slumber, child?”
A powerful magic emanated from its body, pushing pinpricks into my skin. Though its mouth and that pillar-crushing foot would be perfectly capable of tearing me to shreds, for some reason, I wasn’t the least bit fearful.
“I am Francheska Vaielindt, this generation’s flower, at your service,” I said. I smiled as I picked up the hem of my thoroughly tattered dress, bent at the knee and waist, and lowered my head as deeply as I could. I could sense the dragon’s eyes on me the entire time.
It was silent for a while, and I didn’t dare lift my head. I hadn’t realized how exhausting a curtsy could be after such an intense sprint! But just as I was positive that my legs were going to get embarrassingly wobbly, the dragon gave a discontented snort.
“What might you mean by ‘flower’?” it asked. “What has been occurring whilst my back has been turned? Raise your head, child. You will tell me what you know.”
Finally allowed to look up, I was able to properly survey the dragon before me. Its obsidian body melted into the darkness of the ruined shrine, preventing me from making out everything. But I could see a large tail that swayed leisurely, a pair of wings on its back, and two huge front feet. Sitting like a cat with its paws tucked under it, the dragon seemed prepared to be offended by the news from beyond its cave.
That said, the beast’s intensity was in a league all its own. While a cat’s tail would tap against the floor, the dragon’s tail doing the same almost sounded like—and created—a full-blown gust of wind. In fact, I had to hold my ground against its force as I explained what the Flower Offering was.
Long ago, since the moment the dragon had landed on this small remote island, domestic conflict and natural disasters had spread through our country one after another. They had immediately stopped when a young girl had been sent to the dragon as a sacrifice. Some decades later, a plague had spread through the land, and that too had come to a swift end when another girl had been sacrificed. Ever since then, a girl—or “flower”—had been sent to the dragon every fifty years.
As I spoke, the dragon would occasionally snort softly, creating a set of deep wrinkles in its nose. Its patience seemed to run out when I explained that I had been sent as the flower this year as it slammed its tail against the ground. The impact sent a roar through the shrine, throwing up a cloud of dust and sending chips from the cracked floor scattering. It was enough to give anyone a heart attack. Fortunately, the bulk of the dragon’s body shielded me from injury.
“I know nothing of this,” it said. “While I have sojourned in these lands for a long time, I have been completely dormant. I fail to see how I could have done anything with the sacrificial children who were sent before you when I have only just awakened.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Moreover, I do not possess the power to control nature or to spread disease. You humans have deluded yourselves.”
“I see...” I murmured slowly.
The black dragon started smacking the tip of its tail against the floor again like it was trying to vent its pent-up anger. However, I had the sense that this creature was trying to refrain from hurting me in any way. It had just told me that all the history I’d learned was false, and now, I was left unable to hide from the truth.
Having regained Teiren’s memories, I had started to realize that it didn’t make sense for any of these phenomena—disease, natural disasters, or civil war—to originate from a dragon’s curse. In all likelihood, this dragon, with its huge stature and immeasurable magic, had inadvertently caused harm to the people of old simply because of its movements and eating habits. They had then blamed it for threatening their survival. The fact that those disasters had come to an end after sending it a sacrifice was probably little more than a collection of coincidences. After all, the dragon claimed to have been sleeping.
I realized then that I might have been putting too much importance on the idea that my sacrifice would protect the people. The truth was that there was no need for me to be here whatsoever. Coming to that conclusion, my legs were suddenly sapped of their strength. I sank to the floor, unable to keep myself up any longer.
“What a shame that you would fall for such a foolish tale and allow it to drive you to sacrifice yourself.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly my sole reason,” I admitted.
Those golden eyes were steadily regarding me as if I were something to be pitied. Staring back into them was starting to soothe my soul, little by little. Even if our beliefs about the dragon were nothing more than folklore, I could still count myself lucky to be free of my family and ex-fiancé. This was better than having to marry that man and have him be unfaithful behind my back—or even cheat on me openly.
I stood up again with a clearer mind. The black dragon mirrored me by pulling its neck in. Its front feet were still folded, but it raised its head and continued to stare at me.
“All that being said, I am feeling rather hungry,” it said. “I have been dormant for perhaps too long a time, after all. You say you are a flower offered to me, yes? That being the case, there should be no problem were I to devour you.” The golden-eyed dragon swiped its tongue over its lips.
“I am glad you brought that up. I have a proposition that I think you will find quite fair.” I offered the dragon a charming smile. “I am capable of summoning exquisite delicacies from another world. I wonder whether it might amuse you to try some before you eat me?”