The Knight, the Dragon, and the Heiress (Short Story)

Chapter 6

The Heiress's P.O.V.

   When Incendie flew out the lair with Lord Sheffield on his back, I knew I had to go help Incendie. But first I'm going to have to get out this lair.

   I walk to the lair's entrance and look out, I mean down.

      'I forgot that the lair is in the side of the towering cliffs!'

   I can't climb down while wearing what I have on so I rip away most of the bottom part of my claret colored dress revealing my calves, very immodest.

   "There now I can descend the...towering...cliffs. All by myself," I mutter to myself with a slight uneasy tone especially with the wind furiously tossing up my hair.

   I crouch down and try to find some footing to descend the rocky cliffs keeping a firm grip on the ledge of the lair's entrance. The first attempt has both of my legs dangling and my arms' muscles straining to hold my body's weight. I struggle to get a stable foothold but when I do my lungs feel like they are about to give out from my hyperventilating breaths.

   Only after I regulate my breathing back to normal and my heart beats a bit steadier, I start to slowly move down the rocky cliffs inch by inch. I slip up a few times on the way down nothing I can't handle though.

   But then at around 30 feet from the ground, the rocky cliff drops off. I can no longer proceed from the lack of cracks and crevices imbedded in the stony surface to grab a hold of. I look left and right seeking for a part of the towering cliff that's accessible to travel towards the ground. As I'm searching, my feet slip out from under me and my hands fail to bear my weight once more sending me into a free fall.

   Everything seems slow in motion however at the same time I can feel my clothes flailing up gasping for air from my sucked in figure as the wind is pushing against me. I can't even hear my screams compared to the deafening gale of the wind past me.

   Then I feel my back hit something with a thud and everything completely stops.

   "Are you alright?" a familiar reverberating voice asks me.

   With a rush of relief flooding through me I answer, "Yes, thank you, Incendie."

   I slowly sit up to see that I'm resting on his back while he's beating his wings against the air drifting down for a soft landing.

   "Hold on tight," Incendie advises me.

   When Incendie touched down, he lowered his body toward the ground allowing me to step off easier.

"Where is Lord Sheffield?" I ask still trying to recover from the fall.

  Incendie's dragon eyes widen as much as they can and he bolted to the edge of the unfathomable chasms.

   Incendie says with slitted eyes, "He was here right before I came to rescue you. I'll go take a look down there, Maylis."

   "Wait, Incendie," I exclaim as I spot the magic amulet a few ways away from the edge.

   I walk up over to the amulet with its broken chain and gather it up. The minute I pick it up the chain magically mends itself. Incendie notices and comes to my side.

   "If you will, your majesty," Incendie sincerely and seriously spoke while bowing his head and body towards me.

   I run the loop of the magic amulet's chain around his maw over his horns and placed it gently on his neck carefully making sure in the process that I didn't touch any of his open wounds.