Sleeping with Ghosts: Prologue

Prologue

Berk 910 A.D

The night air hung heavy with the stench of rotting flesh and blood. It had been less than a night since a massacre took place. The ground was still tainted with the filth of a jealous and cowardice act. He doubted that the ground on which Berk stood would ever be clean again. It was fine with him. Even without the taint on his nose and tongue, the memories would haunt him for the eternity he must live.

No, not live. I'm not alive anymore.

He sacrificed his soul, the peace of death, an afterlife with his mate, for one act of revenge. He would not waste it.

The Katagarian dragon used his renewed body to fly into his beloved's former village undetected. He contemplating simply setting the entire village ablaze for their trespasses against his beautiful mate, but he could not blame the residence for the superstition that had caused them to beat his lover almost to death. No, he was there to kill his true murderer.

The beast landed behind his former home. The home he and his mate shared with the she-devil that took both their lives. He used his Katagarian powers to transform from a sleek, black, killer of a dragon to a dark-haired, olive-skinned, killer of a man. He made his way through the familiar building silently until he reached the room that the blonde was sleeping in. His new black eyes gazed upon her for a few moments before he let out a terrible roar that allowed all the pain and hatred he felt be known to her and the world.

His murderer sat straight up after being shocked out of her slumber. The fear in the woman's blue eyes after she recognized the man at the foot of her bed would have been satisfying, but the dragon could only feel fire hot rage. She inched away from him until her back was against the intricately designed headboard. It was a futile effort to put some distance between herself and the demon in her room.

"How can this be? I killed you," she gasped, " You died along with Hic-"

"Don't you dare let his name fall from your lips," the Katagarian hissed, "You don't deserve to say his name." With every word he said he inched closer to his lover's widow, until he was finally at the side of the bed. The quivering female was at a lethal distance from him.

"Y-You are a demon." The blonde stuttered as she attempted to shield herself with a blanket.

The makeshift shield still faintly held the scent of his beloved. His resolve was strengthened.

The beast smirked. "No, not a demon, but close."

Those were the last words the she-devil would hear before she was ripped to pieces.

Those were the last words he uttered before the dragon was enslaved to the Greek goddess, Artemis. His last words before he was trained to kill the predators of the human population he despised. His last words before he would live for an eternity without the only being he would ever love.