~ 9 ~

Green Dragon Down

Is the dragon within becoming more awake? You tried to suppress it by doing nothing. By treating this whole transition and transformation as some sort of joke. But you found something to take seriously. That required something of your power and strength—only to realize that you had none.

Doesn't that make you ashamed? To be a weakling as a dragon?

I... I don't... I don't care what other dragons think of me.

Do you think I speak to you of a pissing contest? That he who has killed the most, fucked the most, and collected the most is the king of the world, and that fact will bring you the fulfillment you seek? Have you ever wondered why dragons live so long? Beyond mere biology.

Can't... say it's high on my list of thoughts.

It's because they have no other focus. To fight, to claim, to lay. That is all that they have to worry about. No fears or concerns. No wonder if they're doing right or wrong. Dragons are simple. And it's the simplicity that allows them to live such long lives.

How do you—

There's no morals. No dreams. Only to live, to eat, to fight and to lay claim. If they were stricken by anything more... if they were to enter the world of complexity—their lives would become a struggle as well. You are one of the few complex dragons out there.

You have been cursed with the ability to care.

Body of a dragon.

Heart of a human.

Just what will those two things...

...cause you to do?

I snapped to consciousness. Water was coursing underneath me. Around us ruffled grass. It was dark. Rain still poured. Branches creaked oddly like they were broken. Haze overcame my mind. The weight of my eyelids demanded they remained closed. I tried to move, shift my body, and remember how it felt to have one.

Yet I was consumed by a burning feeling all around.

I laid on my back, nearly falling asleep… until something in my claws shuffled. They pulled away at once, talons unlocking from each other. Delicately slipping away, they revealed my chest and, with a held breath, I looked down to see what remained of the princess.

Only to see her there, lying across me, shivering with a pained face, waking to life as well. She looked up at me, seeing across my throat to my face. I did my best to smile. My sharp, glinting fangs didn't help my cause.

"Are you, uh," I coughed and cleared my throat. "You alive?"

The princess rolled her head but stopped, finding a sudden pain, one that caused her face to wince. Laying a hand against the spot, she twisted her head, cracking her neck, inhaling a burst of sudden relief. "Alive... in some places."

I chuckled as my head fell back, pounding a small crater into the ground, which cupped me. "Feel... you there. Oh, shit. Wasn't that something? Fuck. I'm never robbing a princess again."

"No kidding," the princess responded while coming to uncurl herself. "All those cannons. Never knew about their underground system. The ones on the wall... those for sure. But so long as we left quickly enough." She put extra emphasis on that last bit. "They wouldn't have been an issue."

I couldn't take that hit. "That hero guy called me out!"

The princess rolled her eyes. It seemed to be the only thing she could currently move at the moment. "So what? You don't have to talk back to people. Just ignore them!"

"Yeah, but... I dunno." I would have rubbed my neck if I could but settled for a moment of stillness instead. "That seems rude."

"Rude."

"Yeah! Rude."

"The hero that's about to tell everyone that he had a civil discourse with the dragon."

"Because he did!"

"No shit!" the princess said in a very unprincess-like way. "But if you ignore him, and continue to act like a dragon—then none there would have believed him. Just snatch me and get the hell out of there. None of the cannons would have been ready, and he would have been too stunned by the betrayal to do anything!"

I was silent for a second.

And then. "Now, how the fuck am I supposed to fight that logic?"

"You can't!"

"But... fucking him over like that... it would have been—"

"Rude?"

I winced... but nodded. "Y-Yeah."

Astria sighed and went limp against my chest, spreading herself to feel her senses again—but recoiling from the cold winds. "Maybe we can change places. You be the princess, and I the dragon. We might live better lives because of it." She sighed. "At least I wouldn't be so cold. Losing my dress like that—never thought I'd ever regret it."

I spoke. "You cold?"

"Duh."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Here. Don't move."

Astria laid on her shoulder, looking up at me. "What are you going to do?"

I smiled. "You'll see."

I brewed a fire in my chest, a small one, and maintained it with tiny breaths. Its warmth spread beneath my scales, warming upward, reaching a temperature that I liked. Looking at the princess, I grinned with eyebrows raised, watching for her expression.

Her confusion was gone in a second, as euphoria washed over it. She laid back against my chest, sinking against my scales like a kitten—nearly purring. Curling against my scales, she nuzzled against them, the warm air rising. I couldn't help but be proud.

"Neat trick, eh?"

Astria snuggled into herself and nearly found slumber. "How'd you figure this one out?"

"I think it's innate for most dragons," I replied. "It gets colder than you would expect in that cave. Another dragon might be able to sleep through it. But for myself? Well, let's say holding an internal fire is the closest I'll feel to having a blanket."

"A blanket, huh?" Astria raised. "Do dragons even have that?"

"Closest we have is two dragons snuggling." Again, I was lying to her. Was it lying? It certainly wasn't the truth. But the truth continued to leak out in little ways, building to the point where I wouldn't be able to deny her questions.

But after the night we've had? The truth could wait for a little longer.

"And our kind has been watching yours. I must admit that it would be nice to have a dragon-sized bed."

"Luckily for me," Astria said with a yawn, stretching in the faint sauna. "It seems like I've already found one."

I looked around at our surroundings, forced to narrow the slits of my eyes, peering through the darkness. Nothing but woods surrounded us, with a shallow river underneath me. I sniffed the air, not detecting any odd scents.

"It seems like the area is safe for now," I said before planting my head against the ground. "But your family. They'll chase after you. The fallen trees are going to be a big red 'X' on their maps."

Astria smiled at me through her hair, which was as nearly dark as the night around us. There was confidence in her face. A subtle assurance that infused you. She was intoxicating to be around. More a woman than she was a princess. "It'll take them a day's trip to reach here by horse. We'll have time to rest before I take off for the shore."

"Before I take off for the shore." Does that mean she means to take off by herself? That my part was played and, from here on out, she would be on her own?

"What about that guy you fought?"

"He's alive."

I blinked. "You sure about that?"

"He'll have lost a lot of blood. But he wasn't expecting any sudden attacks from us—that’s what caught him off guard. He most likely got ensnared in the branches—or used what magic he had left to soften his landing." She clasped her hands together and laid her cheek on them, looking up at me with an eye hidden by hair. "He'll be able to clean and heal his wounds. But no one will be hearing from him for the next few days. So we're good on that front."

"Heh, yeah." I exhaled a little steam. "Until he comes knocking into my cave again, wanting a rematch."

"He's no match for you," she replied. "Not when you have nothing holding you back."

"Still need to find a new cave, somewhere." My lips pushed to the side in thought. "Though the only other good cavern on this island is taken by that other fuck. That yellow dragon. He's a bit of an asshole."

Astria reached out one of her arms, swiping a hand across my chest, feeling its curve, the lines between the scales. "Oh? And why's that?"

"Just a pissing contest, really." I sighed at the memory. "He came some time ago wanting to claim the island for himself. He wanted to scrap. Prove who was strongest and who would have the right to this land. But the thing was... I didn't feel like fighting."

"No?" Astria stopped her hand. "But isn't that the whole point of a dragon? Being the alpha among them all?"

"I'm not trying to lose an eye."

Her face recoiled. "Lose an eye?"

"The old dragon I met when I first got here—he was a decent dude." I nodded as his image flooded to mind. An ebony dragon with a big scar where an eye was supposed to be. "He was missing one. Lost in some fight, some conquest way back when. Now he doesn't have depth perception. Flies and sometimes smacks into shit. Made life harder for him."

Her eyebrow cocked upward. "That's it, then? You don't want to lose an eye?"

"I just don't want to fight." It was the truth. "I can't tell you it's not from cowardice—because maybe a part of it is. But I just don't like fighting. I don't like that I can lose something vital. I don't care what humans think of me. I don't care if other dragons demean me. I'm just trying to exist. To get by. So I gave that dragon pick of the land. The best cave and the best hunting grounds. He spat in my face, and I haven't heard from him since."

Astria hummed. "Probably a power factor to know he has another on this island constantly scared of him."

I shrugged. "Or so he believes."

"Think you could beat him?"

"Not really in the business of trying to find out."

"I guess that's fair." Astria rubbed my chest a final time, as either a caress to myself, or to feel what a dragon's body felt like. She returned her hand underneath her head. "You did good today, Cole. You didn't have to help me. But I'm glad you did."

I smiled back at her. "Yeah. I'm glad I did too."

"Though there is one thing for you left to do."

"And what's that?"

"Hold me, you dumb dragon."

I coughed and cleared my throat. It made sense. There was a chance she could slide off. Or some beast could come in the night and try to mawl her while we slept. Slowly, carefully, I lowered my claws over her—nearly like a blanket. Cradling her to my chest, I breathed, allowing myself to find slumber.

"Good night, Astria."

"Sweet dreams, my dragon."