Thanks for the feedback @ninja_violinist. I figured someone would catch me on the dialogue eventually. I’ve written dialogue as ‘ .”, ‘ for a while now and it’s tricky to do it any other way, though the link did clarify quite a bit (Thank you for that. I have really, really been needing that clarification!). And I know I’ve been having trouble finding an equilibrium for the dialogue tags, a definite work in progress that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.
I also thank you for the compliment on the formal speech. And, just to share, a big part of it is actually because of the drāckonian accent (Lucitius is drāckonian obviously). Their language is, by default, very formal (having a traditionalist type society contributes to this). Most of the informalities and contractions that are common for humans don’t exist for them. Sure, if they are speaking human, they don’t have to be formal, but it’s alien for them not to be.
Anyway, onward.
Context: Setting is much like the prompt pic. The bridge extends out quite a bit, but enough to be reasonable. Lucitius is walking along the bridge, seeking the end of it so he can have a nice overlook of the great valley below.
I’m also going to be integrating another character of mine (it just fit). She’s another drāckonian, has no real name, is enigmatic, and is the remnant of a lost timeline (something like a ghost) in which Lucitius marries her instead of his current wife, Synthia.
(Note: This one is a bit dark compared to my previous two prompt stories, and as usual, long. It is a bit suggestive, but nothing happens. I’m also experimenting with dialogue tags in here)
(I’ve got that Wicked Games song stuck in my head now because I used that as ambience while writing. It’s actually really good as ambience!)
———
Cautiously stepping over a loose metal beam, Lucitius glanced ahead. The old bridge, massive and covered in large patches of rust, stretched forth from the mountain behind Lucitius like a hand desperately reaching for its counterpart. Though, it was too far away to see that counterpart.
Lucitius turned to gaze out at the lush valley below, in awe at the small corner he saw. The pristine beauty amazed him. The simple lack of destruction or disturbance, the blanket of fog hiding the ground far below. The nostalgia, the slumber. Who could not feel tiny and inconsequential when looking at such a place?
He looked ahead at the distant edge of the bridge. A light fog obscured it, not yet burned off by the rising sun. However, something moved there, disturbing the mist.
Intrigued, Lucitius resumed his wandering. He carefully picked his way through the rotting beams and loose debris. Could this be a survivor of the world before? Or was this another traveler like himself?
Lucitius slowed as he neared the shattered edge of the bridge, the beams becoming more precarious. He measured each step carefully, sometimes even moving on all fours, slithering like a cat on a narrow windowsill.
On the end of the outside beam, a sturdy platform appeared. Lucitius tested it for a moment, then stood in confusion. Who built this platform and wh…
The sight of a familiar woman, a creature he had thought long gone, froze Lucitius in place. Her long braid of black hair whirled in the air as she twirled, practicing with a slender sword in her hand.
She spun and lunged at him, though she was several feet away. A playful grin appeared on her young face, the crescent shaped burn scar on her blind right eye still grabbing his attention over her amber left eye.
Lucitius fought to keep his breathing calm. Why did he still long for her, despite her ghostly existence and their clear inability of being together?
“Tell me you missed me,”she bade him, her cooing voice a delight to his ears.
Lucitius stared helplessly, fighting the urge to rush forward and kiss her. Why did he always want to kiss her? He barely knew her at all, and she had attacked him in both of their previous encounters!
Her smile widened, baring her pointed teeth and four pairs of fangs. Those strange fangs. She sheathed her sword in a scabbard on her hip, then stalked toward him, the sway of her gorgeous slender body too similar to that of a snake.
“Dance with me,”she breathed in his ear as she circled him. Lucitius managed a response in the form of a defiant snarl.
“You can be coy all you wish, yet I know your heart. I know who you are… in here,”she said, placing a hand on his chest.
“You also know I love another,”Lucitius growled.
“True, yet she is not here now, is she? I beg, Lucitius, it is only a dance I ask of you,”she feigned a pleading expression.
“A dance I refuse.”
“Oh, Lucitius, must I be cruel? I wish not to disturb the peace of this place with your screams… unless they are screams of rapture. Would that not be fun?”she asked, giggling.
Lucitius scowled, or tried to. It couldn’t hold and he moved away from her, staring out at the great valley. His churning emotions faded somewhat as he admired the immense valley. The view was nothing less than absolutely breathtaking.
“This is what we could have known. It is what we could know for a few moments, if you would simply allow it,”she mentioned.
Her hand slipped into his as she stood next to him. The grip seemed so natural, and yet so foreign.
Lucitius glanced at her cautiously. She didn’t acknowledge his gaze, simply staring out at the valley, still and tall like a statue. With the afforded time to look at her, Lucitius finally realized how true she was about them. It was hard to turn away from admiring her beauty, including her scars, the blemishes of her red and black scales, and the occasional stray hair sticking out from her braid.
“One dance, then I leave.”
She turned, her expression calm as if she had expected his response all along. A thoughtful smile grew on her face.
“‘Tis all I ask of you,”she said, her voice quiet.
She led him away from the edge, having to pull him from his initial hesitance. She stopped in the middle of the platform, holding his shoulder and lifting their entwined hands.
“Are you familiar with the human dance called the waltz?”she asked.
“I am aware of it, yet know little.”
“Good. I lead.”
She grabbed his free hand, ignoring his raised eyebrow, and put it around her waist, then instructed him on some simple steps. He quickly matched her movements and pace.
Minutes later, they were twirling around the platform, the ruined bridge and great valley falling away into oblivion. The sun rose above the horizon as they danced, illuminating them with its angelic rays.
Their pace fluctuated periodically, a living form breathing with their movements. Though the pair vaguely knew each other, in that moment it seemed as if they had known each other a lifetime. Each step, breath, and twist complemented the other’s, one entity split in two.
A long time passed before they finally ended the dance, both breathless. They stood near the edge of the platform, Lucitius’ back to the valley.
“Now, was that not lovely?”she asked.
“I will not deny that.”
“Good. And I shall not deny that this will be just as lovely,”she said, a coy rumble in her voice.
She leaned forward and kissed him, her soft, warm lips holding him tight. In his mind, Lucitius screamed to push her away, but his limbs didn’t cooperate with him, holding her instead.
She lifted her lips from his several heartbeats later, and her arm jerked. Lucitius gasped, sputtering as his wide eyes stared at her.
“Forgive me, mine lost love! It seems I am becoming a bit feral with the lack of rest,”she pleaded, releasing her hold on the sword in his chest.
Lucitius’ eyes filled with tears, whether from emotional or physical pain was unclear, and she gently pushed him. He fell back, plummeting to the ground far below. A few moments later, she stepped forward, a cruel little smile on her lips as he burst through the blanket of fog.
Many minutes passed before she moved again, then her form dematerialized into a featureless ball of smoke. She twirled down to the valley floor, rushing to see her deed.
When she found Lucitius sprawled in a crater of his making, she lightly floated over to him, slowly recreating her humanoid form and becoming corporeal again. She kneeled next to Lucitius, unfazed by the blue blood pooled beneath him, and stared at those lifeless eyes of his. They moved to glare at her, a quiet wheeze announcing his shallow breath.
She gasped in shock, then laughed at her stupidity. How could she have forgotten this? Lucitius, as powerful as some weak gods, wouldn’t die by a simple sword thrust to the heart!
“Oh, Lucitius, though I desire rest, I am afraid I am stuck with you, and you with me. I am simply too weak to kill you. Yet, as I said before, mine love, I am becoming feral, like many others of mine situation,”she sighed.
She plucked the sword from Lucitius’ chest, eliciting a groan from Lucitius, and licked his blood off the blade. She then sheathed the sword and kissed Lucitius again.
She straddled his torso, caressing his cheek. A shaky hand rose from the ground a bit, claws reaching for her. It fell to the dirt a few moments later, Lucitius being too weak to properly use any of his limbs.
She tenderly licked his cheek with her thick forked tongue, then straightened a bit, looking down at his dazed expression and drooping eyes. A grin curled her lips.
“Sleep well, mine love. When you wake, you shall be completely healed, and I shall be lurking,”she whispered, her breath hot on his cheek.
Smoke billowed around her, engulfing her body then fading, taking her with it. Lucitius groaned in misery, shifting a leg. Unconsciousness came mercifully quick, taking from him the agony of a literal and figurative broken heart.
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