1: “Well, damn...”
There was barely a hint of pink in the sky to announce dawn's approach when Raevynn woke up. As she laid in bed, she tried to figure out what woke her up before she needed to be. There was a sense of importance, maybe urgency, in the air as if warning her that something big was coming.
When she couldn't sense anything but her instincts were driving her to investigate, she threw the sheet back and slid to her feet silently. She always slept fully dressed with her boots beside the bed, but she left them behind when she padded out of her room.
She heard the fridge humming in the kitchen, the clock ticking in the living room, and the nearly silent whisper of her curtains swaying with the late autumn breeze. She pulled two daggers from her bug-out bag on the bench to the left of her front door.
Keeping her movements silent, she masked her scent before slipping outside. She could see her chickens content in their coop from where she crouched on her porch. She scanned the rest of her animals before allowing herself to finally relax. If there was a threat, the chickens would be unsettled; their feathers got ruffled up about everything.
There's nothing here, she insisted to herself as her stomach twisted into knots. The chickens are calm, there are no noises or strange scents, and no sign of anyone or thing. I’m probably just on edge from yesterday’s council meeting still. She shook the thoughts from her head quickly; it wouldn't do any good to dwell on that festering pile of shit.
As she turned to go back inside, the breeze shifted. Her nostrils flared as she scented the heavy metallic scent of iron. Notes of damp soil, wintergreen, and vanilla were nearly undetectable under the blood. Her eyes scanned her garden before she settled her attention on her barn.
The knots eased slightly even as she felt her skin ripple with agitation. No one should have been able to cross onto her personal territory without her knowing, and certainly not so close to her home. It was dangerous to be in a dragon's personal territory unannounced; it was suicidal to approach their den.
Golden scales appeared and vanished like waves on her skin as she cautiously walked towards the massive structure. She'd built it from the ground up for the sole purpose of having a shelter dragon-sized. It was necessary but Raevynn was cursing herself as she catalogued the plethora of places someone could hide.
The interior was silent as she gently shut the door behind her. The sun had lightened into a beautiful watercolor with shades of pastel pinks and oranges; it provided enough light for her to see after her eyes adjusted. She pulled a minor partial shift of her eyes to increase her eyesight more in the low light.
At first, she didn't see anything out of place. The stench of blood was as oppressive as a lead blanket inside with no sign of the source. Until she spotted a minute smear on the frame of a stall in the rear west corner.
Her body went rigid and her skin was fully enclosed within golden scales. She still didn't feel any threats as she stretched her senses towards that area; her instincts just blared warnings of caution and a suggestion of imbalance.
The image that formed in her mind from her senses caused all thoughts to disappear as she raced towards the room. Conscious thoughts were muted, her body moved on an instinctive autopilot, and she unconsciously slid into a humanoid half-shift.
When she snapped back to awareness, she glanced around to find herself in the guest room that was adjoined to her bedroom through the bathroom. On the bed lay the body of the male who was near death in the barn. Though, 'male' was an exponentially underwhelming description.
His face was relaxed and calm in a way that could only be found when unconscious. His skin reminded Raevynn of caramel underneath the ashy complexion of blood-loss. Wisps of dark hair fell over his forehead; in the light of day she could see that it was a brown so dark that it could be mistaken for black.
He had a strong jawline that was covered with a neatly trimmed beard that also framed his mouth. She could picture him smirking; it would only add to his attraction.
She realized she was staring and quickly shook her head to focus. She looked him over again - this time with a professional detachment - to catalogue his injuries. The last thing she did was open his mouth to check his teeth and tongue.
"Fangs," she gasped. What is a vampire doing outside Dracul? Why would he even risk entering Dracon? "Well, damn..."
