I was summoned to ride a funeral carriage. Alive

It had to be the first time for sure that the people accompanying the funeral carriage were laughing and singing merry folk songs. Instead, I was the only one crying. I was holding a bouquet of wild red poppies in my lap. These were supposed to let the evil dragon know I am his latest offering. Wasn’t it funny, they chose poppies, which usually have an association with death in the flower language? Or did they choose them exactly because of that reason?

Still wearing my folk wedding dress, I sat straight on the bench where usually coffins with corpses were lying, awaiting my last destination. Tears were silently falling, making my cheeks wet and cold. The Obedience necklace was happily buzzing on my neck, content with my rebel phase already gone. I since long surrendered to my fate.

I peeked outside through the glass covering all sides of the black, gloomy carriage. Two dark horses were dragging me through the dirt road to one of the hills hovering over the village. I had no idea where we were going, but I heard that they usually drove the carriage near the ravine and then unhitched the horses.

The dragon would usually come and snatch the whole wagon along with his sacrificial bride right away.

I glared at the villagers, who were dancing around my carriage, their faces full of happiness. They did not care at all, singing even louder now.

When those three old hags took me to the village and explained their plan, I had a small hope growing inside me. Surely, someone will realize this is wrong. That they cannot sacrifice some young woman just to save their own. We were the same kind after all.

But all my hope was crushed when they started cheering instead. Strong hate, I never felt in my entire life, was born and filled my veins, setting my body on fire. If I knew a destructive spell and could bring a disaster to the whole village, I would do it at that same moment. I wanted to curse them, but I did not know what to say. Should I just try to run, so the necklace will slowly tighten enough to kill me? This would surely destroy their foolproof plan. Without any offering, the evil dragon will let his vengeance burn across the whole village, no?

But then, my emotions subsided, and hopelessness replaced my frustration. They were just trying to save their people, their daughters, their granddaughters, their sisters, or their nieces. And I was the stranger out of the world, they did not know. Wouldn’t I do the same if someone wanted to sacrifice my daughter? After thinking about that, I could not hate them anymore. How could I? My anger instantly dissipated, leaving me deflated and empty.

I squeezed the bouquet of poppies in my hands, readying myself for what was about to come. After a period of confusion and strong emotions after my summoning, I finally felt at peace.

At least, this strange experience will end soon. The dragon will take me and eat me. Maybe it will be able to swallow me whole, and I won't feel anything. And that will be the end of my story. Anticlimactic? Yes. But at least, I will save many lives. Wouldn’t that be kinda heroic? My life in the original world was not worth anything, anyway…

With calmness in my mind also came silence.

Silence?

I looked outside again, confused. The singing stopped. The villagers were now looking up, some of them pointing fingers at the sky. I could not see anything because of the carriage roof. I stuck my face to the window, trying to get at least a glimpse of something.

The screams and cries filled the air.

I jumped, pulling away from the window. One of the men got onto the carriage and unhitched the horses in a split second. They bolted. The villagers started fleeing, too. Shrieking, crying, they were all running for their lives. That could mean only one thing.

Roar rumbled across the hills like thunder, deafening my ears, confirming my worries.

A big claw gripped the wooden carriage, tearing into the windows. Glass shattered. I screamed, covering my face. I could feel sharp shards digging into my hands.

Something green and scaly now covered the whole carriage and lifted it. My bouquet of poppies fell out of my hands and through the broken windows out of the carriage. The world around me spun, making me immediately nauseous.

Well, there was the answer to my question, whether the evil dragon really existed. It did, and now it was taking its dinner with him.

Terror seized my body, making me unable to move. The end was near now. I pressed my hand on my lips, trying to stop the bile rising in my throat. I closed my eyes to not see the ground below me swirling like on a carousel.

It was this exact moment, my brain decided it was time for a sign-off off and I fainted, like some poor damsel in distress.