Ailithium

Ailith was closer to her prize than ever in the past two months.  And this time, it wasn't going to slip away from her.

Of course, she still had some obstacles on her way. Like this castle. To Ailith's knowledge, there were two types of castles: The ones meant to be the last line of defense in case of enemy attack and the ones meant to boost the ruler's ego. And this one was the second type. Never had Ailith seen front gates this tall, spires this thin or roofs this decorated. And she had traveled for years. But the years had taught her this: The second type of castle was usually more dangerous. Of course, there sometimes was the fat rich pig of a count holed up inside, but more often than not it was a dictatorial wizard or an ancient vampire that inhabited castles this beautiful. The soldiers were not to be underestimated either: They were even able to capture Ailith's prize.

Then again, Ailith was not sure if she even could underestimate a human. She was a dragon after all. The Terror in the Skies, Death Incarnate, Exemplar of Superiority. Even if her form was slightly more... humanoid ...than the average dragon. In fact, her face and torso were that of a fair skinned maiden. This meant that Ailith had to wear clothes too, since most lesser races seemed to be ashamed of her naked form. She had opted for leather shorts and a short sleeved mithril shirt, as she found them quite comfy. Ailith even had hair, long, silky and black that shined green in daylight. Being a black dragon, Ailith had her horns curve forward and her eyes were green with reptilian pupils. The black lines under them might have given Ailith a tired look, but like any dragon, she was vigilant and constantly aware of her surroundings. The party below her feet, the smell of fresh water in the moat, the guards posted on the walls, nothing was left unnoticed by Ailith's superior senses.

The locals told Ailith that her prize was carried here in the morning. Even though she wanted to show these fools what it means to go against a superior being, there was no time to waste - her prize could be defiled this very moment. From her perch on top of the chimney Ailith spread her wings and jumped. With a slight adjustment of her wings, followed by one great wing beat, Ailith had already flown over the castle walls. With the pale light of the moon reflecting from her black scales, Ailith glided over the courtyard and trough one of the castle windows.

She landed in what looked to be a master bedroom. Like everything else about the castle, it too was grand, the bed being so large it could hold a giant. Too large even. To be honest, it looked like it would have been awkward to even climb into the bed if you weren't a giant. It could have been just one of those eccentricities that rulers had, but Ailith mentally prepared for a hard fight; A giant was always a force to be reckoned with.

"Wait, did the window just break?!" One of the guardsmen yelled outside, bringing Ailith back to real world. She cursed her draconic ways of thinking too much before acting. Ailith reminded herself that this time there was no time to think; Her prize could be defiled this very moment. Without even bothering to open the door, Ailith busted trough it into a corridor. Again, it was grand - no, it was giant sized. The corridor thankfully had only one way to go forward, so Ailith turned to the left and started running.

In the end, everything in the castle looked similar, despite it seeming to be build for a giant. The mat was red no matter where Ailith ran, and the walls were marble with wooden decals. After having ran for a minute or two, Ailith noticed a small door on her left. In a palace build this grand, a door so small was glaring difference. Maybe it was a servants entrance? As Ailith was about to open the door, someone opened it from inside.

"Did you bring the pe-agh!" Ailith punched the guard in the face before he had even chance to realize who he was talking to. She kicked the door lightly to open it, preparing for a battle. But no one came out. Ailith tried to see what was inside, but the space seemed like an empty balcony. The light was coming from under it, so only thing Ailith could see clearly was a golden rod attached to the ceiling. If anything was in there it was not coming out, so Ailith took some speed before jumping in and slamming her arms to the walls on both sides of the door. The balcony apparently was empty after all. The golden rod attached to the ceiling turned out to be a part of chandelier and below it - there it was finally - the throne room.

Even the throne itself was made for a giant. Which was appropriate, considering that one was sitting on it right now. Or in this case, a giantess and rather graceful looking for one, Ailith had to admit. Both her skin and long untied hair were light blue, which most likely meant she was a cloud giant. She had a golden crown on her head and many rings around her fingers, each having a rock bigger than a man's head. The giantess's dress looked to be made of gilded silk, which it had probably required more than most castles for their entire interior decoration. It was also very suggestive, with the cut almost reaching her belly button, and beginning again midway her thigh. Such revealing outfit on a ruler seemed weird, until one noticed who she was talking to to: A young boy, not looking to be even old enough to be recruited, dressed in rags, sitting in a cage lifted to be conveniently on the same height as the giantess's face. The two seemed to be having some kind of argument

"Look, I don't want to be here the whole night either. Just think of the priviledges someone married to a queen has, would you?" The giantess asked the boy in a tired tone.
"No means no, ya hear me?! I ain't interested in settling down!" The boy seemed very rebellious, considering the situation.
The giantess seemed very displeased with this. She had the look of someone getting way too bored with the situation.
"Fine then. We'll do it your way. I will take you and break you to be my king."

While she found the situation quite amusing, Ailith decided that now was the time to end this, before her prize would be defiled. She drew her sword, and jumped on the railing of the balcony. The sword was shining steel, as if it was just polished. It looked like a zweihander, but with one key difference: the blade of the sword was curved, shaped like a flame. While it was mostly decorative, it also helped her with parrying. Not like that mattered against giant, but it isn't as if Ailith fought those daily either. Ailith jumped down and landed with a thundering crash.

"I have come to claim my prize." She told the giant, pointing her sword at her.
The giantess hit eruption point
"WHO ARE YOU TO CHALLENGE ME, YOU PITIFUL LIZARD?!" The giantess rose from her throne, stomping her foot to the ground in anger. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! I WILL TEACH YOU TO NEVER CROSS ME AGAIN!!

While Ailith did normally keep her cool, one taunt she did not tolerate.
"Lizard?!" Ailith's voice was trembling with rage."I... I will show you what it means... What it means. To insult. A dragon."
Unfortunately for the giantess, she mistook the trembling as fear.
"THAT'S RIGHT, A LIZARD!! COME AT ME IF YOU DARE!!" She taunted, pounding her fists together.

There comes a time, when words are worthless and only actions speak. For Ailith, this was one of those moments. She roared and charged forward, moving faster than a galloping horse. Ailith did not want to give the giantess even chance to react. She took a deep breath, and spit a long line of acid to the giantess's face. This caused the giantess to reel backwards and cower her face, leaving herself completely open. As Ailith reached her feet she bounded upwards, cutting the giantess from her thigh to her shoulder. As a final insult, Ailith kicked the giantess in her screaming face, causing her to fall to the side instead of her throne.

"Never. Cross me." Ailith said to the giantess before turning to the boy in the cage.
"Oh, no... Not ya agin..."