The Devil's Warrior Queen
Chapter 331: Through The Steps Of Time

Chapter 331: Through The Steps Of Time

With curiosity twinkling in her jade eyes, Rama took slow steps closer to the relaxed dragon, her heart pounding in her chest.

The air was thick with an otherworldly scent, a blend of musk and smoky embers that clung to the stone walls. Draco, stood beside her, his crimson eyes glowing with a fiery intensity. In the dim light, she could see the outline of his powerful wings, folded against his back.

The black dragon lay coiled in the center of the den, its scales reflecting a subtle sheen in the faint glow of scattered torches.

Rama’s eyes widened as she took in the creature’s majestic form, its sinuous body tapering to a whip-like tail. It regarded her with eyes that glittered like burning embers, filled with a mix of curiosity and something more primal, ardor.

Draco’s voice, deep and resonant, broke the silence. "Go ahead, Rama. He won’t harm you. In fact, I believe he’s been waiting for you."

Hesitant but intrigued, Rama stepped forward. The dragon raised its massive head, the curved horns framing a face that seemed to exude both wisdom and ancient power. Its eyes, a mesmerizing shade of molten gold, locked onto Rama’s.

With a deep breath, she extended her hand toward the dragon’s sleek flank. The scales felt cool beneath her fingertips, and she marveled at their smooth, yet resilient texture. The dragon’s breathing, a rhythmic rise and fall, resonated through the den, creating an almost hypnotic ambiance.

As Rama continued to touch the dragon, her hesitancy melted away. She felt an inexplicable connection, a bridge between human and mythical creature.

The dragon’s scales, once cold, seemed to warm beneath her touch. Draco watched her intently, his ember eyes reflecting a mix of pride and possessiveness.

A soft gasp escaped Rama’s lips as she ran her fingers along the dragon’s spine. Each scale seemed to tell a story, a tale of ancient battles and untold mysteries. The dragon responded to her touch, its serpentine body undulating in a graceful dance. It exhaled a plume of smoke that spiraled upward, creating ethereal patterns in the air.

Draco’s voice whispered in her ear, "You have a way with him, my love. He senses your pure heart, the same heart that captivated mine."

Rama couldn’t tear her gaze away from the dragon, mesmerized by the connection they shared. The den, once shrouded in shadows, now felt alive with an otherworldly energy. The torchlight flickered, casting dancing shadows on the walls.

In the midst of her awe, Rama noticed a small, intricately carved pendant around the dragon’s neck.

It glowed with a faint, mystical light, resonating with the same energy that coursed through the dragon’s scales. As she touched the pendant, a surge of mystical link flowed through her, connecting her to the dragon’s essence.

The dragon responded to her with a low rumble, a sound that reverberated through the den like a melodic chant. It seemed to communicate in a language beyond words, a connection that transcended the boundaries of the mortal realm.

Draco, his eyes now softer, approached Rama and the dragon. He placed a hand on her shoulder, a gesture of both reassurance and pride.

As Rama continued to interact with the dragon, she felt a profound sense of familiarity, and the deeper she gazed into its burning eyes, she could see herself retracing back the steps of time.

"You said, this is where we first met." She spoke out in a small hesitant voice as she traced the hard scales of the dragon that seemed to rattle under her fingertips.

"It’s where I first saw you, not technically our first meeting." He said, his similar burning gaze to the dragon’s becoming tender with every second he kept staring at her as he reminisced, the vivid pictures of his first encounter with her playing in his eyes.

"So you were stalking me?" She remarked sarcastically.

He chuckled softly, but it couldn’t hide the longing in his eyes as he stole glances at her, while his heart tugged bitterly at the fact that she could no longer remember their cherished memories together.

"How did I come to end up in your part of the world? What was I doing here when you first saw me?" She asked in curiosity as she tilted her chin up to look at him.

"There was a ritual to choose the heir and you wanted to fight for your rightful place against your cousin, so you broke the limit and ressurrected a thousand year old ritual of being chosen by the black dragon." He explained with a glint of admiration in his eyes as he caressed her cheeks lightly.

"And who did the dragon choose?" She queried in uncertainty, the answer was staring at her right in the face but still, she wanted to be sure.

"You’re alive and standing, so of course it was you." He pointed out with a grin, but the smug look on his face was rather masked with a whiff of mischief.

"What’s with the look? Did something else happen?" She stated out.

"I realized that I’ve been obsessed since then, it was the only reason why I kept you alive as a prisoner and not kill you when I did to every other ruler, but then again you were much more entertaining." He remarked, a charming smile grazing his lips as he spoke.

"Was I? You really do seem to be obsessed." She muttered in marvel at his heart fluttering and cheeks reddening confessions.

"Your candor and defiance was quite amusing, I saw it as a waste to kill you. I was bored enough with life, but since the day I saw you strutting into your death with confidence and defiance in your jade eyes, your presence became a myriad of colours in my life." He scoffed in disbelief as if doubting the fact that someone could be that brave and suicidal at the same time.

"You seem to have doubted me when you saw me for the first time, why was that?" She asked, ignoring the hardly impossible wings fluttering in her stomach or her pounding heart echoing the rhyhtm of passion.

"I didn’t think one of your kind still existed anymore, it was quite a shock. Although I had quite a mischievous thought when I saw the black dragon spare you, I wanted to order it to eat you too, but you had quite an effect on me." He confessed again, ever so easily the words spewed out of his lips.

"How much did my presence impact on your life? I’d like to know.." She whispered softly, the beautiful melody of her voice soothing his senses and leaving him vulnerable to her.

His eyes became distant with an unfathomable feeling as he spoke "..For the first time in my existence, I didn’t feel the longing for death, I felt a longing of something else that I thought my heart was incapable of."

Silence engulfed them as her heart throbbed with the warmth of his words, the reflective mixture of pain and passion in his eyes emitted a twisted feeling in her.

Before she could say a word, he beat her to it as he cleared the intense air with a hearty voice "Come on, I’ll show you a nice scenery."

"Where?" She murmured as he pulled her toward a path.

"You’ll see, love." He said as he flashed her a beautiful smile on his equally handsome face.

In an air of silence and anticipation, they tread down a narrow, winding path carved into the rugged stone by the passage of time and the immense power of dragon claws led them through the twisting labyrinth to a chamber of wonder within the depths of the dragon’s cave.

The entrance to the sanctum was concealed behind cascading veils of luminescent moss, glowing softly in the dim light that permeates the cave.

As they traversed the shadowy corridor, the air grew thick with an otherworldly energy, a foreboding mixture of anticipation and trepidation. The path itself was uneven, bearing the scars of countless scales scraping against the rock walls over centuries.

As the journey progresses, the temperature steadily rose, and the air became infused with a faint, sulfurous aroma.

Wisps of ethereal mist coil around the jagged edges of the tunnel, creating an otherworldly atmosphere that heightened the sense of entering a realm beyond mortal understanding. The distant echoes of distant rumbling added a symphonic quality to the ambient sounds, a constant reminder of the dormant power concealed within the cavern.

Emerging from the serpentine passage, she followed behind as he led her into a cavernous space adorned with glimmering crystals embedded in the walls, reflecting the glow of the moss-covered entrance. The cavern opens up into a vast chamber, dominated by the focal point of awe, a natural steaming pool at the heart of the dragon’s lair.

The pool, fed by subterranean hot springs, bubbles and gurgles, releasing tendrils of steam that dance in the air.

The water, heated by the earth’s molten core, shimmered with a mesmerizing iridescence, casting a warm, ambient glow across the entire chamber. The flickering light plays upon the surrounding stalactites and stalagmites, creating a kaleidoscope of colors that dance in harmony with the undulating mist.

Overhead, the ceiling of the cavern is open to the night sky, revealing a tapestry of stars that twinkle like diamonds against the inky blackness.

The moon, at its peak, bathes the chamber in a silvery luminescence, transforming the steaming pool into a celestial oasis. Rays of moonlight cascade through the opening, casting an ethereal glow upon the water’s surface and creating an otherworldly tableau that seems to transcend the boundaries between reality and fantasy.

Around the pool, ancient stone pillars rose like sentinels, their surfaces adorned with intricate carvings that told the tales of the dragon’s exploits and the mysteries of the cave.

Moss-covered boulders provide natural seating, inviting weary adventurers to rest and contemplate the surreal beauty that surrounds them. Crystals embedded in the walls refract the moonlight, scattering prismatic hues across the cavern in a dance of spectral radiance.

As she crouched down at the edge of the hot spring, she skimmed her fingers against the surface of the water, the ambient temperature was warm and soothing, creating a sense of comfort despite the dragon’s lair being an unlikely haven for those daring enough to venture within.

The juxtaposition of the intense heat from the steaming pool and the cool touch of the cave walls added to the surreal experience, making it a sensory journey.