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Price of a Dragon

Nedric fell to his knees, crushing the red, dying autumn leaves under his knees. He was too tired to keep going. He had been running nonstop for nearly the entire day and now the sun was setting over the mountain which he had been heading towards the entire time. Beyond the mountains was salvation, safety from the one thing that he had thought he was safe from. That illusion had been a lie and now it hunted him.

He couldn't go on any further. His legs were already cramping up as he just fell onto his side, panting like a dog. Every part of him hurt and refused to move even though he knew that he had to keep moving in order to survive.

The brown haired man of twenty three and of average build shook off his small nap sack that he had been able to fill with food and took out a piece of salted pork. He gnawed on it, savoring the flavor as it helped him feel a bit better. He kept it in his mouth as he pushed himself off of the ground with a groan. His body just wanted to stop and rest, but he needed to keep moving. Those who hunted him wouldn't let a single days stop them from getting him. His father wasn't the king's favored noble for no reason.

How he never would have guessed that the man who had raised him and loved him like any father should have could turn so vile and cruel so fast. It had started when it had been revealed through the loose tongues of one of the servant's that Nedric was actually a bastard son. He had been born out of an affair between his mother and a rival house. It was scandalous and within hours, his mother was dead, executed by his father personally and he was on the run to avoid being next.

There had been no time for grief when he came bursting into the dining room where his father stood, his expensive silk suit ruined, with a bloody dagger in hand which had been used to murder his mother. The way his father looked at him, with nothing but anger and rage in his eyes as he walked towards him had told him that the man who he once called father was gone. He had no choice but to flee.

Now Nedric found himself running again as he heard the baying of hounds pierce the once quiet forest that stretched from behind the family manor all the way to the Frenic Mountains where he believed he would be safe. Until he got there, he had to continue to elude who ever his father had sent to cleanse his bloodline.

The baying steadily grew louder until Nedric looked back and saw the dogs. The hounds, a mix of hunting dogs that his father used when tracking mountain lions and guard dogs that once protected him as a child from an assassin's dagger. All things that were once so familiar and friendly were trying to kill him.

Nedric focused on just running. His legs burned as if his muscles had turned to hot coals, but he kept them moving as fast as he could. He used his arms to bat away low hanging branches of the trees that blurred by. Some branches slashed at his face, drawing blood, but Nedric kept running.

"The dogs have him." Someone called out. Nedric recognized the voice as Sir Duncan, the chief guard. The man had been like an uncle to him, giving him piggy back rides and always there when he fell and scraped his knee. He had been a kind man, always smiling around him and keeping him safe. All lies.

Tears streaked down Nedric's face. More and more of his friends and loved ones were lost, killed or twisted and turned into something they shouldn't have been. They were so quick to discard him. The tears blurred his vision, causing him to miss the boulder that jutted out of the ground.

The fall was hard and unforgiving. Nedric landed face first into the packed soil, not even able to throw up his arms to protect himself. The air was knocked out his lungs along and his pearly white teeth which had been kept perfectly clean for show were muddied as his open mouth shoveled in dirt.

He barely had enough time to spit it out before the first of the dogs attacked him. It was Nerra, a bloodhound that was one of his father's favorites since the day she had treed one of the biggest cougar his father had ever hunted. Now she was after him.

Nedric kicked his legs violently, trying to break he hold on his pant leg, but she had been bred to hold on until the other arrived. No amount of struggling could break her iron hold on him. So instead of struggling, Nedric unsheathed his short sword which was strapped to his belt and slashed at the dog.

The blade went cleanly through her and she didn't even yelp as her head came apart. It was a quick death which was what Nedric was aiming for. He didn't want to watch her suffer, he had known the dog since she was a puppy.

The next dog was a guard dog, one which he didn't recognize. It was a beast of a dog, with bulging muscles and nothing but blood on its mind. A quick slash took the legs of it right from under it. It cried out in pain as it lost control and went cartwheeling past Nedric. It came to a stop where it tried to get back up with a whimper, but failed. Nedric left it there as he continued to run, the sound of more dogs quickly approaching.

He hated that he had to kill, even if it was just some dogs. He had grown up loving everything that lived. He would help tend the gardens and would love to watch the wildlife that visited the orchards. The deer loved to come and eat the apples in the morning. They had grown so used to his presence that he had been able to walk up to one and pet it. That had been one of his proudest moments. Just another part of his past that was violently torn away from him.

Nedric didn't know how long he had gone when the third dog surprised him. It jumped at his pack, using its paws to push him down as it bit into his arm, its teeth easily tearing past his leather coat. The pain seared up his arm as the dog got the taste of blood.

"Ahhh!" Nedric cried out as he once again came tumbling down with the dog in tow. His fall was much more controlled as he landed on his knees and rolled to the side so he would land right on the dog. It was a move Duncan had taught him since he was also his fighting instructor. His father had been adamant that he be able to defend himself so he took the lessons from an early age.

The fall managed to get the dog off of him which quickly got back up and lunged at him. Nedric was ready for it and had the blade propped up. The dog tried to shift in midair, but it ended up spearing itself right onto the steel blade.

Nedric used his boot to kick off the dead dog which landed on top of him. But by then it was too late to try and run anymore. Four more dogs, two hunting dogs and two guard dogs circled around him. They snarled and snapped at him without getting in range of his blade. It was how they were trained. A few would go ahead of the pack and slow down the prey which would allow the rest of them to catch up. His father always wanted to best, even in something as basic as the dogs. If it didn't live up to expectations, he would have it replaced. It made Nedric furious that he was probably going to be replaced just like these dogs.

Before the vicious dogs could jump him, a loud whistle got them to back off. They kept their eyes on him, ready to attack if the order was given.

Nedric kept his blade held high with one hand and held onto his bleeding wound with the other. A few other dogs joined the pack that circled around him. Some he recognized, some he didn't, but they weren't what he was looking at. Four men in plate armor rode up on horses. Their faces were covered by their face plates. Their chests bore the mark of house Marl, his father's house, no longer his own. It was of a drake spewing fire.

The man at the head of the column dismounted from his horse. He was tall and his helmet was slightly different than the others. While the other men who watched him closely with their hands on the hilts of their blades had plain metal helmets, the dismounted man had feather's wings coming off the side of his. Only one person had that helmet design.

"Are you to be my executioner, Duncan?" Nedric spat out, his voice harsh and filled with betrayal.

Duncan reached up and lifted his helmet off of his head, revealing the face of the man he once trusted. He was much older than Nedric at the age of forty and was actually approaching retirement. His features were hard and grimy from a long life of constant hard work and battle. Eyes that had seen more than most regarded the boy he rad partially raised himself sorrowfully.

"Well?" Nedric raised his blade up towards Duncan and glared at him. Even if Duncan was his friend and mentor, he would defend himself to his last breath. "If you plan to kill me then come at me."

"Come quietly." Duncan asked. He had been ordered to hunt down Nedric under pain of death. Master Marl was very clear that no evidence of his late wife's betrayal be left alive. It had been easy to set the dogs loose, it had been easy to ride out into the woods for the better part of the day, now that he was here and facing Nedric's blade, it was no longer so easy.

"You expect me to just give up?" Nedric sneered while trying to hold back a sob. His shoulder shuddered as his will wavered. He was on the brink of losing his composure, all of those lesson about how to keep face in the presence of others were doing nothing for him.

"I have my orders." Duncan drew his blade, a two handed bastard sword made of dragon steel. It had been a gift to him from Lord Marl for many years of service. A sign of honor that had been used to uphold the family name and now it was going to be used to strike away one of those names. The blade handle didn't sit right in his hand as he readied himself to carry out the deed.

"You don't have to listen." Nedric cried out, tears falling down his face. "You know this is wrong."

"What I think is of no matter to my employer." Every fiber of Duncan's being just wanted to let Nedric run and if he had come out here alone, he would have. Yet, the other men who had ridden out here were not his own. They had no loyalty to him or Nedric, they were there to make sure the boy died and if need be, kill him if he refused.

"So be it." Nedric whispered. Duncan didn't hear it over the barking of the dogs and he raised up a hand to give a signal for them to attack.

The dogs reacted instantly. Six crazed beasts rushed towards the man who stood with his blade at the ready. The dogs didn't really stand a chance, Duncan had trained him personally and he had been proud to see him grow into one of the best bladesmen in the region. Only Duncan himself was better.

Nedric ducked under the first dog where it collided with another that was in mid jump on the others side. Another dog got it's throat slashed by a knife that Nedric pulled out of his boot. A spray of blood erupted from its cut artery and it landed on the ground five feet away where it gasped as its mouth filled with blood.

One dog tried to flank Nedric and go after the back of his legs. Nedric saw this coming well before the dog had even thought of doing it. It was just how they were trained. The dog caught a swift kick under the jaw, shattering the bone and breaking half the teeth in its mouth. Another second and a blade cut across its gut.

Two more slashes and two more dogs fell, leaving only the two that had flew into each other at the start of the fight. They looked at their fallen pack members and a glimmer of doubt crossed their minds since they no longer had a true advantage in numbers. Though the doubt was quickly overridden by excellent and in this case, suicidal obedience training.

One went high and one went low, neither survived the first pass.

Nedric wiped some blood off of his face using his sleeve and looked at Duncan. The man hadn't moved a single muscle after letting the dogs attack. He looked from one dead dog to the next, thinking about all of the blood that had been spilt that day. All the useless blood.

"You twat." One of the men on a white horse with brown spots going across its body yelled out. His voice reverberated through his armor, barely making him understandable. "Killed the lord's dogs." He pointed at the dead dogs.

"Shut it." Duncan yelled back with more anger than anyone had ever seen him. Duncan was always the calm and collected one, but loyalties were being tested and his nerves were beyond frayed.

"Then hurry up and have his head already." The man sneered. "Or I'll get it myself and tell Lord Marl you're too much of a pansy." The threat washed over Duncan without effect. His actions would be his own and not determined by the words of low lives.

"Don't keep me waiting." Nedric ordered. He hated to wait and just wanted it to be over with. There was no way he would be able to beat Duncan in a fight, fair or not. Duncan had never lost a fight no matter the odds.

"I... I can't." The blade dropped from his hands and it sunk into the ground, the weight of it pushing it down half way before it stopped.

"Told you he wouldn't be able to do it, lads." One of the men laughed out and hopped down from his horse. "Doesn't have the guts." The others laughed as well and got down as well. Each one drew their blades and walked over to where Duncan stood, completely broken. One of them, they all looked the same in their armor, smashed Duncan across the face with the hilt of his sword, sending his sprawling across the ground with blood leaking from his mouth.

"Stay right there and we'll take care of you after the bastard." A kicked to the gut cemented the comment. Duncan took it all, he didn't look at them as they beat on him. He kept his eyes on Nedric, his sad eyes which were full of regret.

After they were done with the chief guard, they turned their attention to Nedric who got into a readied stance. He kept his knees slightly bent and feet at shoulder length as he balanced his sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. He wasn't sure if he could take on three at once. They held their swords professionally, letting the blade sit comfortably in their grasps rather than holding onto it tightly like some club that was meant to be swung about with reckless abandon. This was going to be a tough fight.

"We're going to cut you up real good." The closest and shortest of the three said as he tossed his blade from one hand to the next in an attempt at a distraction. Nedric didn't let it fool him, he stayed focused. The blade jumped from one hand to the next every few seconds as the man goaded him, calling him names.

"Your mother cried out for mercy when dear old dad came in with his knife." Nedric could just see the man smiling behind his thin layer of steel that kept his face hidden from him. "I should know. I was there the entire time. Watched as she crawled on all fours like a dog."

Nedric took a deep breath, while the words were starting to get to him, they were having more of an effect on the other. He was getting so caught up in his insults that his form was beginning to drop. The blade wobbled more as he tossed it from side to side and he was almost within striking distance.

"The whore cried. How she screamed like a banshee."

Just a few more steps.

"I had to hold her down by her hair as she tried so desperately to get away."

One more step.

"When your Lord Marl go to...."

Nedric lunged out with his sword at the unexpecting man. The blade danced under his guard and with a flick of his wrist, the sword had traveled up under his helmet where it stuck into something solid.

A gurgling sound was the only thing that could be heard. Blood seeped out of the lower holes of the man's faceplate as he dropped his blade and reached up to touch the one that was imbedded into the bottom of his head. He jerked once and then fell back with a solid metallic thud. Just like that, there were only two.

"You piece of shit." The other two didn't waste time with taunts, they weren't going to make the same mistake.

They came at him fast and strong. Too fast and too strong for the tired man who had been on the run for over twelve hours. The adrenaline that had kept him going for so long was now spent and he could only parry so many blows from two directions before his own defenses would falter.

Slash after slash hit his own defending blade, bringing Nedric to his knees. His arms dropped down, unable to keep them up any longer. It was really a miracle that he had managed to last this long in the first place.

"That wasn't so hard." The stockier of the two leveled his blade with Nedric's neck. The tip of the blade was a finger away from his jugular. "Now just hold still and it will be all over." He pulled the sword back into the beginnings of a swing when a shrieking cry blasted through the darkening woods.

"Bloody hell." The other man cried out as he looked for the source of the sound. "What in the blazes was that?"

"Don't matter." The stocky man said and returned his blade to a ready position, but another cry stopped him again.

"It's a dragon." Duncan coughed up, a wisp of blood dribbling down his chin from his cut lip. "Ferelis to be exact. Would recognize that roar anywhere, how it's more high pitched like some banshee than a roar of a lion."

"What the fuck is he doing here?" The stocky man said, suddenly not concerned with Nedric anymore with a dragon about. "He should be back at the manor. This is none of his business."

"Oh, but it is." Everyone turned and watched as the great beast crept from the shadows. Ferelis was a large creature, his shoulders where as high as a man was tall and his body was four times as long. Thick rusted red scales protected him where they gave way to a milky white on his underside. Unlike many stories, Ferelis had no wings, he navigated the world on all four of his massive paws that contained razor sharp claws that could tear through a keep's stone walls with ease. He was the guardian of House Marl, the very thing that gave a family its nobility.

"Why are you here, drake?" The stocky man asked without lowering his sword. "This is official family business."

"I cannot allow you to harm to boy." Ferelis spoke with an air of confidence as he regarded the humans with a slight smile that put everyone on edge. Dragons, even the ones that were on your side were sly and liked to play games.

"Why is that?"

"He is under my protection." The dragon circled around the two men and Duncan who was still on the ground, holding onto his side where a boot had managed to strike a hole in his armor. He stopped when his body was between Nedric and the others. "I suggest you all leave."

"You may be some high and mighty dragon, but you are not in a position to go ordering around." While the stocky man stood his ground and tried to assert his dominance, the other actually took a step back, he knew when to back down. "I take orders from Lord Marl and his orders were to kill this bastard." He pointed his sword at Nedric who peaked out from behind the dragon.

"He is a lord no more. I no longer protect the house of Marl and without my grace, he has no such title." Was Ferelis spoke was true. Only those under the protection of a dragon could claim nobility since having the trust of a dragon was seen as a sign of good character. Without a dragon, a person could not be a lord. "He has gone too far today and I have decided that he is no longer worthy of me."

"Lord or not, he still holds my contract and I plan to deliver."

Ferelis chuckled at the small man who stood his ground against him. "My, my. You aren't a bright one are you?"

The man may have taken that as an insult as he charged the dragon, a task that few had ever dared take on under better circumstance. Whatever he planned to do against the dragon who had scales which would be impenetrable to man power alone, he never had a chance to try it.

Ferelis gave a sigh, he had hoped to simple scare them off and avoid any killing, but now there was no choice, he had to defend himself. The dragon sucked in a lungful of air where it was drawn into a special bladder like organ that was in his chest. The scales between his front legs began to glow before the dragon exhaled and let out a torrent of fire that looked as if it was more liquid.

The man's screams went unheard as his armor was coated in the fiery substance and he was baked alive. His armor melted around him and soon the fire seeped onto his body. It all happened over the course of a few seconds and when the dragon's fire stopped, only a disfigured statue of cooling, glowing red metal and bone remained that had the shape of a man reaching for the heavens. It was a grotesque scene that made all but the dragon avert their eyes.

"Anyone else want to test my word." Ferelis said as he spat out some flaming spittle that caught a nearby bush on fire.

The last of the three men raised his arms and shook his head. "No m'lord dragon. I shan't try anything. I'll be returning to the manor."

"Good, you do that." Ferelis let him mount his horse and ride off. That only left Duncan who picked himself up off the ground. "Ser Duncan. What about you?" He regarded the chief guard with a suspicious eye.

"Nedric need not fear anything from me." He limped over to his sword and pulled it out of the ground. He regarded it for a moment, thinking if he should just leave it, but it was just too good of a weapon to leave behind. "I do not think that Marl will take me back so I shall head south where I have family. I don't think I will have trouble finding a job there." He sighed and gave Nedric a sad look. "Sorry about your mother." Just like that, he left on the horse that he rode in on.

Nedric watched the man ride off until he could no longer hear the sound of hoofs. Only then did he regard the dragon who had saved his life. "Why would you do this?" While he was more than gracious for being alive, he had never expected the Ferelis to come and save him.

"You are my charge." Ferelis answered simply, but when Nedric frowned, he gave the rest of his reasons. "Your father has grown mad, he is longer the noble man that I had once served. We dragons pride ourselves on who we choose to protect and I have always found you to be a better man, more deserving. When I learned of your mother's demise and you abdication of the premises, I decided that I would rather have you live. In short, I judged you to be a better person than your father."

"He isn't even my real father. I don't have any blood relation to him." Nedric rubbed at his sore joints that were slowly becoming as responsive as a rusty jail cell door. He would have trouble moving at all for the next day until his body fully healed from the hardship he had to put it through.

"I concur, no father would do this to one who he had called son for so long." Ferelis nodded. "He will not harm you while I am here and I doubt many are as half brained as this one here." The dragon tapped on the now fully cooled dead man's body with his claws, pushing it over where it fell down and the arm fell off.

"Does this make me a lord or something?" Nedric asked. He pulled off his boot with a groan, revealing a sore ridden foot that had several blisters forming.

"I doubt many will recognize you as such. Having a dragon such as I supporting you is only the largest step and I doubt that you will be able to procure the necessary assets to have the crown recognize you." Ferelis could have gone on and on about politics since he was very familiar with that sort of thing, but it didn't take a dragon to know that Nedric wasn't all that concerned about power.

"Wishful thinking." Nedric shrugged and hissed as he popped a blister with his nails. He needed a clean place to set up or he risked infection from his sores and the dog bit that he still had on his arm.

See just how bad Nedric was, the dragon thought about what he could do. It wouldn't be good if the boy died during the night. "While most won't acknowledge any claim you may make, few will deny me. I know of a place nearby where we can rest for the night." Ferelis crouched down so that he was laying down. "Climb on, you are in no position to walk any distance."

"I thought that you dragons were too proud to be ridden." Nedric said even as he hopped over to the dragon and clambered on with one boot in his hand.

Ferelis stood up and looked back at Nedric to make sure he was on securely before he began to walk. "Pride is something we do value." The dragon nodded as he looked ahead. "But, it would hurt my pride more if my charge died not twelve hours after taking him."

"Point taken."

The walk through the woods was long and it was well into the night before they reached a cabin that had lights coming from its windows and smoke rising from a stone chimney. It looked somewhat dingy with pelts hanging from numerous racks and deer skulls discarded about the property.

"Where are we?" Nedric leaned forward, peering into the dark woods. He didn't recognize the area, though he had never really ventured into the woods. He had always been accompanied by body guards that never let him go any distance from the manor.

"This is the home to Casid Threnn, a local hunter."

"How do you know this hunter?"

"I must know everyone if I am to do my job properly." Ferelis said as he stopped at the front door that was no more than a large wooden plank on hinges. "He owes me favors. Let me do the talking." Ferelis said sternly just before he gently knocked using his knuckle.

"Whose be there at this ungodly hour." A raspy voice called out from inside.

"You know who it is." Ferelis answered back in an aggressive tone.

There was no answer from inside for a while and Nedric began to think that this Threnn had scurried out of a back window until the door opened up and a large man with nothing but animals pelts draping him stepped out. He must have been six and a half foot tall, the only people that Nedric had seen that big had been guardsmen.

"What's this about? Coming to my home in the middle of the night with some young lad." Threnn gave Nedric a quick glance before looking back at the dragon.

"Nevermind the boy." Ferelis said casually enough to make Threnn listen. "I require a place to bed for the night and medicine."

"Medicine ain't cheap." Threnn rubbed his hands together.

"Neither was that prized buck I got you last fall."

Threnn frowned. "Fine, the barn out back is large enough for your lot. You can set up there and I'll see what herbs I have in the pantries."

"Thank you." Ferelis gave a slight bow and began to head towards the back. Threnn walked back inside his home to fetch the herbs.

"He's a good man, but don't let him know who you are." Ferelis said out of the blue. "I don't think Marl let much information get out about what happened so it is best to keep as much secret to avoid any troubles down to road."

"I understand." Nedric replied. He hadn't made any plans to tell too much. He doubted Marl would just let him up and go with Ferelis, he wasn't the type to let things go easily. Nedric would do what he could to make sure Marl never figured out where he was.

The barn was suitable enough. Being the fall, any kind of livestock the hunter may have had for meat or milk were sold to the butchers long ago, leaving only a faint smell of dung and a clean layer of straw on the ground. Threnn came by with the promised herbs and quickly left. He was in a sour mood at being woken up and just wanted to get back to bed.

Nedric crushed up the herbs until it turned into a salve which he applied to his wounds. It stung like the high heavens, but it would keep them from going septic.

"You know I don't really have a plan." Nedric finished caring for himself by wrapping some clean bandages around his arm. The bit wounds weren't as deep as he nearly thought and were already showing signs of scabbing over. "I just ran."

"Plans can be made on the marrow." Ferelis was stretched out on some of the hay. It wasn't nearly as comfortable as the nest he had built back at the manor, but dragons were hardy. "Right now you need rest."

"I won't argue that." Nedric was exhausted now, his eyes were on the verge on shutting, only the cold was keeping him awake. They hadn't built a fire since there was too much flammable material around and the favors Ferelis had wouldn't be able to cover burning down Threnn's barn. Nedric yawned as he held his chest tightly and shivered.

"Lay against me." Ferelis could see the man shivering even though it was nearly pitch black. "Or you will catch a cold during the night."

Nedric complied and shuffled over to the dragon, using his hands to guide him forward until they touched the rough scaled of the dragon. It was warm, heated by the internal furnace that constantly burned in the mythical beast. He rested his head against the dragon's belly where the scales were softer and warmest. There he laid, but sleep still didn't come right away.

"Ferelis?"

"Yes?"

"Know that I think of it, I don't know much about you." It was true. Even though the dragon had been there well before Nedric had been born, he didn't know anything about his protector. As a child he had been afraid of the dragon which towered over most and in his teens, the dragon was more just part of the background, something he would see every once in a while.

"What would you like to know?" Ferelis rested his head on his front paws which were crossed over each other like a resting cat would do.

"How did you come to know Marl?"

"I began my duty as guardian over house Marl many generations ago when Henry Marl rescued me from hunters. They had cornered me in the mountains just west of here using traps and explosives. Henry heard the commotion after a failed hunting trip and drove them away. I then offered him my services in return. I've protected the family until now. That was a long time ago, when House Marl was more respectable. Now I serve you."

"That's it?" The explanation seemed rather plain.

"That's it." Ferelis huffed. He wasn't a story teller and had no interest in giving away the finer detail such as the other part of his payment to Henry, a more intimate payment. "You should sleep. There is much to do in the morning."

"Alright." Nedric curled up and was fast asleep instantly. His breaths steadied and Ferelis was glad that it was so dark or the human would have seen his slick member which had slipped free. It happened every time he thought of how he met Henry. At that time, he hadn't had much dealings with humans and was unaware that sexual favors were not in the norm like they were with dragons. How Henry had stuttered when he first brought up the idea and how he hadn't refused either and in fact cashed in many times afterwards, it made him quiver. Only if people knew the real reason why Henry never remarried after the death of his first wife.

Ferelis waited until his boner subsided and went back into his slit before he too let slumber take him.

The morning went by fast. Threnn brought out a stew of potatoes and venison before the two gave their thanks and left towards the mountains, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and Marl. The forest which was losing its green foliage in exchange for a brilliant menagerie of autumn colors was quiet. No one came after them and there was no sign of danger which allowed them to travel at a comfortable pace.

"We still have no idea where we're going." Nedric said from the back of the dragon since he could barely move and his feet had swollen to twice their normal size. Until they got better, Ferelis was Nedric's only way of getting anywhere.

"Have you any ideas of where we might go?" The dragon asked the human, trying to turn his complaints against him for his own amusement.

"In fact I do." The man said as he leaned back and rested his hands on the dragon's rump, not knowing that a dragon's scales had nerve endings in them, making them more sensitive to touch than one might think. "My uncle, Claudius always hated Marl and to learn of his sister's death..." He quieted down at the thought of how much he lost. "He would be furious and I'm certain he would take me in, especially since I have you. How he would love to rub you in Marl's face."

"I see." Ferelis hummed and did his best to ignore the feeling of the man's finger's which mindlessly needed into him. After the previous night he had wondered how receptive Nedric would be to certain advances. Of course, he wouldn't say anything on the matter since such things were not important and would be a gross over stepping of boundaries. Humans were very sensitive about such matters. Henry may have been willing to share himself with him, but he had made sure that no one knew. "He lives past the mountains, does he not?" Ferelis knew that he did, but needed conversation to keep his mind out of the gutter.

"Yeah, out past the Grey Marshes where he owns some land. It's a bit of a journey, but the roads are well guarded."

"To the Grey Marshes it is." Ferelis knew the way to the main highway that would snake their way through the mountains until they reached the marshes on the other side. It would be a week's journey, but just Nedric was correct about the way being well guarded. The road between The Grey Marshes and the interior kingdom was once treacherous with bandits and thieves, but that had changed several years ago when an herb that could only grow in the mud of The Grey Marshes was discovered. It was a hallucinogen and massively popular among the rich in the capital. Due to this, many invested in securing the road so that not one leaf of their precious drug was taken from them. It may not have been secured through the most noble of desires, but no one complained when the highway men were all hunted down or driven off.

Three days passed, three long uneventful days passed of walking along the road which was paved with stone. People stared at the sight of a lone man riding a dragon since those humans who had such luxuries never did so in public. No one got in their way and they made good time and all the while urges grew inside of Ferelis' mind. It had started with that one night when he had talked about Henry, that one night had planted a seed that grew. Ferelis did what he could to hide the thoughts and any physical sign that they created and he was lucky that Nedric never noticed. He didn't want anything to happen since he had never thought f the human in such a way before, he was his charge and he was there to protect him, there was nothing beyond that.

It was on the night of that third day that something did finally happened.

Nedric laid with his head against Ferelis' stomach as he always did and watched the fire roar. The resided in a cave that was at the roots of the mountains since neither of them had any coin to pay for a room.

"I haven't properly thanked you for saving my life." Nedric said and poked the fires, watching the embers devour the wooden logs he managed to scrounge up. "I owe you my life."

"No such thing is required." Ferelis said as he watched the fire as well. He was actually happy to be here now, out and about, seeing the world again. "Plus, you have nothing to give for such a debt."

"Still." Nedric pressed. "I am in your debt."

"A debt to a dragon is a serious thing." Ferelis said, not thinking about how the conversation may lead to things.

"How do dragons pay off debts they couldn't possible pay off?"

"There are many ways that dragons pay off debts. Some will serve the owner of the debt by getting them food or watching after their hatchlings if they have any. If a dragon isn't suited to that kind of thing then..." Ferelis caught himself before he ended up saying something he regretted.

"Then what?" Nedric asked and sat up, he tossed his stick into the fire and looked at the dragon with his one brow raised.

"I shouldn't say. It wouldn't be appropriate." Ferelis said even as he hoped Nedric would push the topic which he did.

"C'mon. It can't be bad. If it was, then no one would do it."

"It is not unsavory. It's, something else."

Nedric had never seen a dragon act so strange, they were usually extremely blunt. They had been known for causing international incidents by insulting monarchs, being entirely unafraid of any consequence. Then it dawned on him. "Oh." His eyes traveled along down the dragon to his hind where the tiniest sliver of pink could be seen poking out of the genital slit. Nedric felt his cheeks redden and he quickly glanced away. "That kind of payment."

"You don't owe me anything." Ferelis said again hurriedly. He body was tense as the air grew thick around the two.

"Maybe I do." Nedric didn't really know what he was doing, but ever since he had nearly touched the dragon there several days ago, it had been on his mind. He almost touched it after his hands had brushed against something wet on the barn floor, something wet and that smelled very musky. Now here it was again, just barely poking out. "I can't hunt enough for you." Nedric got a bit closer to the tip of the pink shaft and Ferelis didn't move to stop him. "You don't have any hatchlings that need to be watched." He was now so close that he could smell the familiar scent of it just coming off of it so strongly. "So I only have the last option available to pay off my debt."

"No debt." Ferelis huffed out even as his breathing quickened.

"The matter is closed" Nedric slid his hand under the dragon and coaxed him out where it came out, wet in its own natural lubrication that prevented chafing inside of the slit. It was much larger than Nedric had thought it would be. It was just as large and long as the horses at the manor which were bred every year, though it looked nothing like them. The dragon's impressive length had several outstanding ridges near the base that flared out in arousal and got smaller as they approached it tip which tapered off to a point where pre was already forming.

Ferelis would have contested Nedric if he had been able to form words. His back leg kicked out at the sensation of the human's hands running up and down his shaft. It had been so long since he had been touched down there. Too much work and a lack of a willing partner had deprived him of any kind of intimate contact for so long and now that he had it again, he wanted it more than anything.

"Remove your clothes." Ferelis demanded, accepting that there was no way he was going to get out of the situation and that he couldn't lie to himself any longer.

Nedric let go of the dragon's cock which was now positively dripping generous amounts of fluids and moved to remove his shirt. He moved quickly and eagerly, egged on by the dragon's sudden demanding tone. He messed with the laces of his trousers until they came undone and slipped them off slowly since he was still suffering from minor aches and pains. He then presented himself to the dragon which stood up with his member bouncing between his legs with each heartbeat. Nedric looked under the dragon with needy eyes and then up at the crimson eyes that regarded him in the same way.

"I've never done anything with a dragon." Nedric looked down, suddenly very self-aware in front of the mighty beast. He had his fair share of fooling around with both men and women, but never with a four legged creature. To lay with such was considered foul and below a human, but the concept excited him especially since a dragon often considered itself above humans.

"Then let me guide you." Ferelis motioned to the human with a paw, sheathing his claws so that there would be no accidents. He admired his body, how he could see the well-toned muscles rippling underneath a thin layer of still present baby fat that Nedric had never managed to lose after puberty. It clung to him in a complimenting fashion, giving his body shape rather than clumps.

Nedric approached the dragon until he was at its chest which had a soft glow from the fire inside and he looked up while the dragon looked down at him, its breath washing across the humans face. It was warm with the slightest scent of brimstone at its core, just another hint of how dangerous the creature was, but Nedric feared no such thing from his guardian.

Ferelis leaned down so that his massive head was level with the humans, he looked into those brown eyes that looked back at him. They looked very much like Henry's despite being of different blood, full of youth and determination. "Close your eyes." He whispered and the human complied, closing his eyes. He put all his trust in the dragon now.

Nedric concentrated on listening to the dragon's heavy breathing to know where it was which made his eep in surprise when he felt its hot and sticky tongue lap across his face. It traveled and swirled across every inch of his face, tasting and testing until it went to his lips where it teased and dared him to let it in.

He was going to kiss a dragon! A day of many firsts indeed. Nedric parted his lips just barely, but they were forced open and the flexible appendage forced its way in. He nearly choked at first when the tongue hit the back of his throat, but the feeling of panic quickly receded and he began to suckle on it, replacing the dragon's saliva with his own. His reached out and grabbed the dragon's head, now opening his eyes and bringing their head together, lip to lip.

There they stood, kissing and from the outside it looked like nothing else, but inside the human's mouth was something that would fluster anyone. The dragon's tongue which was long and thin like a snake's slid back into the man's throat as he ate it all up hungrily. It traveled down as far as it could where it tickled the top of his stomach. The sensation was beyond anything Nedric had ever felt as he greedily held on to the tongue that twisted and turned inside of him for a while before the dragon pulled it back to let him breathe. He could feel every inch, every foot of it being pulled from his throat and back into the dragon's maw until he suddenly felt empty, hollow even.

Now that he had a taste, Ferelis wanted more. He placed a padded paw on the human's chest and applied enough force so that he would get the idea that he was to get onto his knees which he did so silently, still swirling the dragon's taste inside of his mouth. Soon he would get more than a taste, a meal, a feast.

"While a dragon would often mount another, female or male, I would split you down the middle if such a thing were attempted." The dragon said as he stepped over the human and brought his face to bear against his raging boner.

"I will use my hands instead." Nedric finished.

"And your mouth."

"My mouth." He mouthed the words as a drop of the dragon fell from its perch and landed on the ground in front of him. He watched it drip, the sound of it being more solid than just water dripping which could be heard from deeper in the cave.

"Do not let it go to waste." A chuckle escaped Ferelis when he looked down at the man who stared in awe at his impressive gear. "Make sure not another drop hits the floor."

Nedric looked back at the dragon who craned its neck to look back at him. He nodded once and then turned back to address the issue. The cock sagged under its own weight so Nedric lifted it up to his lips where, like the tongue, he sucked on it. He started with just the tip, the source of all of the fluid. It tasted a bit bitter, from a diet of meat and little, if not, no greens, but not harsh. He swallowed a mouthful quickly as it built up inside his cheeks. He could feel the dragon tense up under his gentle touch and its breathing quicken from slow breathes to stutters. He teased the opened with his tongue, dabbing the hole and even daring to push it in a bit.

He did this for a long, but extremely pleasurable minute until he began to pull more of the dragon's meat into his mouth. He could not fit it all in, or even half of it since the ridges were too wide to fit into his mouth, but he ate up as much as he could.

Ferelis moaned at how expertly the human worked the parts of his shaft that could not fit, rubbing the undersides of his ridges with wet and slimy hands just like how the inside of a dragoness' vagina would pull and rub on them if he were mating with one. Each time a finger caressed and pulled on the sensitive ridges, he could not help but give a slight hump into the man's mouth as his knees buckled ever so slightly. He began to wonder why he had held off so long when the human clearly had no issue with doing this. If he knew this would have happened so easily, the past few days would have gone by much faster.

Nedric looked past the dragon's meat and gazed at the slit from which it came. It drooled the same thick lubricated fluid that had once coated the length until it had been swallowed down. He reached up with one hand and rubbed at the entrance, eliciting yet another moan from the dragon. He slipped his fingers between the space of the dragon's walls and the cock, pushing further and further in, straining his arms and he reached forward. It felt just as if he were fingering a woman, the walls grabbed at his hand wrists, trying to pull him in deeper and deeper into its folds until the dragon's cock was pressing up against Nedric's throat and he could not go forward any more. He used his fingers to massage what he could while he continued to bob his head along the shaft.

He was not going to last much longer, not at this rate and so many of his parts being attacked at once. Sensations flooded his head, traveling to and fro from his hips, groin, undercarriage where fingers dragged inside of him and cock where the human's too short tongue tried to wrap itself around him. His breaths became very heavy and fast, blowing out in deep puffs as he approached climax. His claws dig deep into the solid stone, digging a holes around all four of his feet, kicking up fresh gravel.

Nedric felt it in the both the slit and the cock, the moment the orgasm began. How everything tensed up at once as the dragon tried and failed to hold on just for a fleeting moment, to let it last as long as he could. Then suddenly it all relaxed, the cock rested on his bottom jaw and his hand slid out of the dragon's slit, trailing long and thick strands of the clear lubricant. And it all tensed up again as the first blast of fluid traveled down the shaft and right down his throat, bypassing any need to swallow, it went straight down. The second jet did the same, quickly filling up the man's belly with half a liter of thick, creamy seed and forcing him to pull back. The third just as powerful set of ejaculant blew Nedric back onto his ass and painted the inside of his mouth white along with the top half of his face as the cock jerked up and slapped the dragon's scaled gut.

Again and again, pulse and pulse, more cum shot out at a rate that would have been comparable to simply pissing, covering the ground, the underside of the dragon and the human entirely in dragon seed. It just kept going as hundred year drought came to a climactic monsoon of an end.

Ferelis gave out his iconic shrieking roar which travelled for miles, alerting everything with ears that a dragon was in the vicinity and something spectacular had occurred. His roar turned into a series of grunts and moans as his orgasm finally came to an end. His once powerful ejaculation settled down to sporadic spurts that continued to hit the human who had taken it all in stride.

"Oh dear." Ferelis gasped at the sight of the man who was coated from head to toe in his spunk. "I may have overdone it."

Nedric wiped away a hefty handful of the hot seed from his eyes, allowing him to see the limp cock which had hosed him down. "I never expected so much. It just kept coming and there was nothing I could have done."

"Good thing your clothes..." Ferelis looked over to the other side of the cave to see that even at ten meters away, the clothes had not been safe. Several thick globs had managed to settle on them. "Nevermind."

"No matter." Nedric crawled out from under the dragon, leaving a trail of slime like snail. "There is a stream nearby that I shall use to clean myself."

"It will be too cold." Ferelis stopped the man. "I have a better idea." He licked the human across the chest, slurping up his own spunk and exposing the skin underneath. "Hold still, this will take time."

The dragon started from the man's head, gobbling up all that his tongue collected. Until his tongue graced the man's hard cock which never softened the entire session. Nedric let out a strained breath at the feeling of having his cock licked and held onto the side of the dragon's head. "Do that again." He pleaded and a tongue across his balls got him to sink to his knees.

Ferelis quickly wrapped his tongue around the man's entire shaft, enveloping it in a warm fleshy cocoon and he instantly began to hump upwards into it, closing his eyes and mounting the dragon's head. Ferelis would have been insulted if anyone else had done so, but after what he did to the human, he deserved to allow him a release of his own.

Nedric wrapped his arms around he dragon's snout and pounded into the tongue, his hips pushing everything right back into the dragon's muzzle. The tongue constricted around him, moving in time with his own thrusts which made him cum instantly. It was quite meager in comparison to the dragon's orgasm, but to Nedric, it was just as powerful. He squeezed the dragon's mouth shut around him as he emptied his balls right into the dragon's mouth where it quickly disappeared. When it all came to an end, Nedric fell atop the dragon's head, resting his face between the eyes that were as large as his fists and the dragon let go of his pride.

"Quite the evening that was." Nedric breathed out between gasps.

"Indeed." Ferelis continued to clean the man since his lower half was still covered in his cum and was beginning to dry.

"How was that for paying off a debt?"

"A life debt cannot be paid off in one session." Ferelis said as he remembered how he had served Henry till the day of his death.

"So there would be no issue if it took an extra week to reach The Grey Marshes to let me pay off my debt some more?"

"There would be no issue if it took an extra week to leave this cave." The dragon licked up the last of the cum off of the human, leaving him clean and ready to be dirtied up all over again.