Proposal

Entry #1

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{Day: Unknown}

{Time: Noon, the sun is high up in the sky.}

I've lost. I let them all die. I was powerless to stop it. I couldn't save them. I couldn't even safeguard Fardin.

I killed a child, Fari. I killed a Goddamn child.

I still failed to protect them. Just like I failed to protect you.

I can't stop the voices, Fari. They're getting louder everyday. My head hurts. It hurts so much.

I'm so sorry.

I think I should just give up and die.

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I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling, polished white brick supported by beams of mahogany, etched with intri-".

Wa-Wait a minute, I survived?", I croaked as my rambling train of thoughts was disturbed by this shocking realization.

Willing strength into my arm, I tried to get up, when I realized that something was clutching my arm.

Craning my head towards my right, my face took on the color of the wooden beams supporting the ceiling as I realized what, or rather, who was clutching my arm.

A young woman perhaps two, or three years older than me, with flowing black hair resting upon a face that would make the word 'beautiful' seem like an understatement.

A smooth forehead upon a symmetrical nose, with full, perky cheeks on either side of full lips that parted slightly, letting a bit of drool escape the side.

Her refined chin was propped on her slender arms, her hair parted a bit on the left to reveal the hints of a small, slightly pointed ear.

As if sensing my rather...shall we say, innocent gaze, her eyelids gradually parted to reveal amethyst eyes slowly coming to focus, as if registering my form.

"So you're finally awake", she said in a honeyed voice as she propped herself up and proceeded to wipe the drool from the side of her face.

Noticing my gaze following her actions, her cheeks turned just the faintest shade of pink as she haughtily declared "Pardon my actions, but it was ME who saved you back there, as such, you have no right to reprimand me about manners, you hear that?

"But I didn't eve-", I was about to say when a memory surfaced from my past life of two cartoons drinking coffee and laughing after saying the word 'Women'.

Instead of protesting, I just nodded my head as a faint smile tugged my lips. "Good, you seem to be an understanding individual.

Now, let's begin with introductions, what is your name and how did you come across that injury?" she inquired having calmed down.

"I go by Rybane, and I'm a lumberjack by profession. I pa-"

"Your last name?" she cut in, urgency apparent in her voice.

Probably seeing my face distort at the mention of my family name, she squeezed my hand and said in a soothing tone, "It's okay, you can trust me".

Considering I owed my life to her and the fact that I was still at her mercy, and totally not because I finally wanted to open up to someone about my past, I obliged her.

"Women" I sighed, as I began narrating my chronicle to her.

Upon ending my tale, I looked up to see tears rolling down her cheeks, and her grip on my hand started to tighten to the point of hurting me.

"Umm, that's kinda painful" She loosened her grip on me and buried her face into the side of the bed.

Between sobs she sniffled "That means you have nowhere to go, right?".

"Umm, hypothetically I do have a home to return to. Although I'm not sure if Willis will let me live in peace."

"Anyways, Thank you for saving my life and taking care of me. I will leave as soon as I'm fit to walk.", I quickly added, lest I create a misunderstanding.

Is there anything I can do to repay your favour?" I inquired, truly feeling indebted.

Wiping her face with a tissue she procured from her pocket, she pensively averted her eyes and started twirling a lock of her hair around her finger.

Steadying her breathing, her face turned a stark scarlet at the words she next uttered from her mouth.

"My name is Farya Fulmine, and I am the Last of the Thunderborn Clan of Dragons. You may... repay the favour by becoming my... m-mate". she proclaimed, her voice getting meeker at the end.

I had a million questions swirling in my mind, for instance;

"Where was this place?", "How long had I been out for?", "How did she heal me?", because I was pretty sure my heart had been punctured, but her flumoxxing declaration, or rather, proposal left my mouth agape as I was only able to utter a shocked "Eh?" before nervous fatigue shut down my system.

I opened my eyes to a vaguely familiar ceiling, polished white brick suppor- wait didn't we already go over that?

Anyways, I propped myself up, as the hazy memories of my encounter with that mysterious girl came into focus.

"What was her name? Farya? What does she even see in someone like me? Could she possibly be derailed or something? "And what was that about a dragon?"

"Wait, could she be one of those witches mom warned me about?"

I mulled these thoughts in my head as I got up into a sitting position. Looking to the side, I saw a tray on the side table containing what seemed to be my breakfast.

Hauling it over to my bedside, I ravenously finished two loaves of bread, a stew comprising of chopped vegetables and grilled meat, and a hardboiled egg.

"For a witch, she sure is a great cook!"

Still feeling hungry, I got up from my bed, and after a few stretches, walked out the door of the room I was held in without sparing it a glance.

The room I was kept in connected to a hallway that had half a dozen rooms to it's left, much like the one I had walked out of.

To the right was a wooden railing about a metre tall, that connected to a staircase at the end.

Looking over the railing, I was able to see the lower floor of the building I was in.

Directly below me was some kind of lounge, lavishly furnished with exquisite sofas and embroidered carpets.

Descending down the mahogany staircase, I was able to see that the 'lounge' was connected to a hallway on the left side, while it joined what looked to be a single room to the right.

Directly in front of me however, was a beautifully carved wooden door, carved from expensive cedar wood while it's knob was lined with eucalyptus bark.

Smooth yet rigid under my touch, the door's frame practically screamed luxury. Proceeding to open the gate, I was taken aback by the sudden burst of sunlight that flooded my eyes.

"You're back!", A barely discernible, deep voice resounded. Tracing my vision to the sound's source, I was taken aback by what I saw.

A humongous quadrupedal creature dyed the color of night, with a slender neck and intelligent purple eyes.

Standing atleast twenty metres tall, the creature's black body was covered in dark purple scales from it's majestic head to it's scaly tail.

It's draconic features pointed towards the most popular mythical creature my previous world's fantastical literature had to offer, in other words, a Dragon.

I couldn't keep my voice from trembling as I asked "Have we met before?".

Sensing the fluctuations of my tone, it quickly implied

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just heading out to catch tiday's dinner."

"I truly am sorry for frightening you. I always seem to forget that humans fear this side of me."

"Scared?, no I'm not scared.", I let out with a chuckle, still not recognizing the hint of familiarity in the beast's deep voice. "It's just that, you are so.. utterly beautiful" I asserted.

If it wanted to kill me, there was nothing I could do anyways.

And I was kind of a fantasy geek back in my old world, riding a dragon being one of my childhood fantasies.

The corners of my mouth tugged up to form a faint smile as I stood there, admiring the resplendence of nature's creation before me.

"Really? You mean it? No one has ever said that after seeing this form before", The Dragon murmured in what seemed to be it's impression of a shy voice.

Slowly shrinking, it started heading towards me, craters forming wherever it stepped. By the time it reached me, A breathtakingly enchanting woman stood in it's place, her finger twirling with locks of her hair.

I recognized her as Farya, my saviour as well as the one who had blatantly asked me to marry her.

"You really mean what you said?" she inquired. The contrast between her pensive demeanor and her identity as Legendary beast, had me break out laughing.

"What's so fu-funny?" she cried out, her face beet red from embarrassment.

"Nothing", I said , finally controlling my laughter. "I was just thinking I might take you up on your offer after all" I declared with a lopsided grin on my face.