Dragon Blood
Notice:
I popped on quickly to put this message.
My fiancee had me watch Eragon with her late at night, and I realized how close this is to that. This is not meant to be an Eragon rip by any means :s this was all written off the top of my head at 3 in the morning a few months ago
Lamik ran through the twilit woods, his heart racing as fast as his mind. "Out of the frying pan into the fire, literally!!" he yelped when he glanced back. Not even a minute ago his whole village had been chasing him and tossing spears at him, now they had lit the forest! And it was gaining on him fast, thanks to this thrice-damned drought! "Why'd I hafta go and spurt all those visions?!" he demanded, panicking. For the past half a year his dreams had all been visions of the village's doom, but the most recent one of its glorious revival had caused him to be violently exiled for "lying". The wound on his leg from a barely-dodged spear pulled at him and he winced, hissing through his teeth. The wind behind him tickled his skin with burning ashes and hot air, reminding him of the imminent danger. If he couldn't find even a halfway-decent shelter, he was screwed! "The stream! If I can make it to the stream I can stay underwater!" he said to himself, suddenly grateful beyond belief that his parents had taught him how to hold his breath for underwater scavenging at the lake. Would he get there in time?
Apparently not; in the night blaze a deer had been hiding behind a bush, and startled by his presence it leapt out and the two crashed headlong into each other, Lamik becoming severely winded and sprawling on the ground. The deer scrabbled on the dry leaves by him and its foot clipped his hip sharply as it stood up and leapt off. Pained, dizzy, breathless and bleeding he lay there in a swooning panic, everything spinning around him, his body convulsing slightly trying to get enough air. HELP ME!!!! he screamed mentally, tears running in torrents down his face as hot air began flowing over him. He couldn't breathe, let alone move or now even see. The trees nearby crackled and snapped loudly as they burst aflame, a shower of ashen leaves blowing onto him and singing his skin and clothes. Finally his lungs filled with air and he gasped, coughing and choking on the smoke now blowing over him. He couldn't see through the tears pouring from his eyes from the heat and fright, and had no idea where he was now; all he could tell was that he was surrounded by fire.
A deafening roar and a rolling cold wind blew over him from deeper in the forest; wiping his eyes quickly he squinted up through the falling ash and saw a massive white flying creature descend swiftly and land by him, the wind from its wings bowling him over. With another loud roar the creature lay low, and a blast of cold air flew from its jaws into the fiery woods. Lamik stared in shock and disbelief as the tongues of flame turned into upright icicles, and the ashes into snowflakes, the snow turning into a gentle fog and dew. The creature continued to breathe beyond the immediate area, obviously straining to reach as much of the fire as it could from here. Lamik rubbed his eyes, cringing a bit when ashes got under his eyelids and stung rather badly. "Fuck!" he hissed, forcing his eyes to water even more to wash out the ashes. He looked back up again and yelped in surprise when he saw the creature standing in front of him, its face no less than two feet from his. It roared at him, but not as loud, as if warning him, then took a few steps back, keeping its eyes on him. The boy could only stare...it couldn't be...but there it was, having just saved his life. A pure white dragon, with silver wingskins and gorgeous glittering silver crests and horns along its head and neck. Its bright blue eyes studied him intensely, judging him. All at once it simply spun around and leapt into the air with a mighty shove of its huge wings, flattening Lamik against the ground again. He stared after it in surprise...he'd actually seen one! A real live mythological creature!
Half an hour later Lamik sighed and got up, his senses finally calm enough to allow him to navigate the woods. His real target was the mountains, specifically the hunting shelter his dad had built for him about six years ago...but where was he? After the deer had winded him he'd become a bit disoriented. "Oh right, the stream..." He rubbed his bruised stomach, grateful that the deer hadn't fractured his ribs or done more damage than a large bruise, and headed on through the forest, his mind constantly replaying the dragon. Dragons were supposed to eat humans they encountered, why hadn't he been devoured? Or for that matter, even attacked? Had he startled the dragon out of its actions? Or...had it drawn near just to look at him?
Three days later the sun stabbed him in the eyes as he hiked up the growing incline where the forest met the foot of the mountains. His feet knew the way, which was fortunate since his mind most certainly wasn't thinking about the trail. Over and over again he kept looking at the dragon's face still ingrained in his memory. Had it not been so large he might have considered it almost cute, the way it looked at him while sitting there like that. Never had a memory been so clear and sharp as this one; he kept looking at it like a picture that only he could see, studying the dragon's form as it looked him over in a repeating loop. He had a feeling this one was female, it had been rather slender, and had fairly wide hips...but then again maybe that was the norm for dragons, they were mythological things after all. At midday his growling stomach coerced him to search for food, but all he could find were bitter tubers that needed to be roasted or boiled lest he become poisoned by eating them fresh. He threw himself onto his back and stared at the sky, still thinking about the dragon. Dragoness. Whatever it was.
"Please...come back, even if to eat me so I can see you just once more," he begged into thin air. Not getting a response, he sighed and got back up to try to find at least something to eat. He had to get to his hunting shack; his father had dryed and preserved plenty of jerky in airtight glass jars buried out in the back, he could sustain himself on that for a while until he needed to get to the nearest village. From there he could probably find a job along the trade route...
Evening started bitter-cold and rainy. Lamik lay huddled in the miniscule shelter of a thick bush, the rain pouring down his head as he crouched as tight as possible under what little ocver the leaves had to offer. He was miserable...no shelter or food, just lots of water. He cried. There was no one for him anymore, no point to go on like this. A whole day of searching and he hadn't found anything he could safely eat, not even a simple berry or leaf. Having not eaten for the past two days because of the traditional fasting at this time of year, he was famished. The cold rainwater constantly running over him and chilling him to the bone only made it worse.
Something moved through the trees nearby and he forced himself to stop and look around, maybe it was a deer or a creature he could get for food. Something large and white came into view, the rain running over it with a very ear-pleasing rhythym. Rubbing his teary eyes he squinted through the rain, and froze. There it was...the white dragon! Just walking through the rainy forest...with a smile? Dragons could smile? It looked rather happy, slowly walking and twisting its neck side-to-side as if using the rain as a shower. The dragon opened its mouth and held its head up, catching a fair amount of water in its maw before closing again. It opened its mouth quickly again and make a bubbling sound...was it gargling?! Lamik couldn't help but laugh to himself. The dragon swished the water around in its mouth and then froze, its nose twitching slightly. Lamik froze. Did it smell him, even through the rain? His heart started racing frantically when the dragon quickly walked over to him, its large blue eyes studying him again. Its nose twitched again, drawing closer to him. Lamik was frozen in fear and awe; the dragon looked so beautiful with the rainwater running off its scales.
"Hello?"
He jumped and shook his head when he realized a voice had been addressing him. "Huh?"
"I said, are you okay?"
He looked around for the source of the voice. "Who's out there?" he called. The dragon raised a paw and put a claw to his chin lightly, turning his head left and right.
"You look fatigued and famished," the voice said. "Haven't you eaten anything recently?"
"Help!" Lamik shouted.
"There's no one else here, fool," the voice snarled. "I'm standing right in front of you!"
He stared in shock at the dragon. It was a female voice, a rather nice one too, young and a bit carefree but laced with concern. "...You're...talking?"
Her eyes narrowed at him, making him shrink back. "Finally you realize it. Yes, I'm speaking to you." Her mouth wasn't moving. "To put it more specifically, I'm speaking from my mind to your mind's auditory reception facilities." She stepped back a bit as he gaped at her in disbelief. "You are hungry, yes? Your face is screaming hunger and weariness."
He wanted to reply, but everything suddenly overwhelmed him and he passed out, his stomach feeling like it was tied in a knot while the cold water on his skin finally got to him.
******************************************
Hours later he awoke with a headache and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. What a dream...he'd seen a white dragon, maybe today he'd go into the woods and search for her. It was dark around him... "Must be early morning," he grumbled. "Kira..." he called, and whistled, listening for his old dog's footpads. Nothing. His mind woke up a bit more in confusion, enough to register that his bed felt awful hard and cold. With a groan he sat up, and promptly froze in shock when he felt cold stone under him. "Where am I?!" he asked in surprise, hearing his voice echo. He was in a cave?! So it wasn't a dream...but then where was the dragon? Or rather, the dragoness, if it really was female? He glanced around fearfully, expecting her to suddenly snap at him out of the gloom. Something moved not too far away and he immediately backed away from the sound, his breath coming in fast gasps. He heard what sounded like a creature groaning and stretching as if awaking from slumber. In the tiny light coming from the cave mouth he saw the dragon draw closer.
"Recovered?" she asked, sitting down nearby. She was easily five times the size of a large horse.
"Re...re...wha?" he stuttered, pressing himself against the wall nearby.
She lowered her head to his level, looking him in the eyes. "You passed out and had a rather bad temperature so I brought you here to recover. Are you feeling better?"
"I...I was sick?"
"Apparently. You humans are strange, were you trying to kill yourself by sitting there in the rain?"
"N-no, I-I couldn't find a-a place to sleep..."
"You were only 5.13 meters from a far more suitable abandoned fox nest under a tree." She moved away and he heard something metal on the stone floor. She turned back around and placed a large tray of food in front of him. He just stared at it blankly. "What? It's food, nothing poisonous. Go ahead and eat, you need it."
"Wh-why?"
"You're hungry."
"No I mean, why...are you giving me this?"
"Do not question me, human," she replied a bit angrily. "If you don't want it, I'll eat it, but you need it far more than I do." She sat back on her haunches and clicked her claws together; sparks flew from them and suddenly lit a large pile of brush and twigs, filling the cave with light and warmth and the slight scent of burning pine.
Lamik was trying to tell himself not to eat, but she was so strikingly gorgeous and her voice was so delightful to hear that he was slowly losing his resolve to disobey her. He reached a shaking hand to the tray and grabbed a few grapes. "U-Uh...what's your name?" he asked a bit stupidly.
"Amethyst, Amy for short." She eyed him strangely. "Are you scared of me?"
"Y-yes..."
"I'm not gonna eat you, human meat is supposedly too stringy."
Lamik swallowed his mouthful and glared at her. "Don't play games with me, dragons eat humans! That's how the stories go!"
She just shrugged. "Mere stories."
"Why did you get so close to me like that in the forest then, weren't you gonna eat me there?"
"You smelled strange. I wanted to be sure of myself. So... tell me, little one," she sighed, laying down and tucking her paws under herself like a cat, "why are you out here alone and not with your kin?"
Lamik sighed, burying his face in his hands. He didn't want to talk, but found his mouth moving almost on its own. "About four years ago I dreamt of my family's death at the hands of disease, and sure enough they died...I fell sick too but I survived. Very few of us survived. I then dreamt of a neighboring village taking advantage of our few numbers, but they wouldn't listen to my pleas, and I hid up here in the mountains during the attack along with the few that did take me seriously. Those are the boiling points; what got me kicked out is a single hopeful vision among all my previous doom-and-gloom forecasts. They said it labeled me as a liar; I was making these things up and was really in cohorts with other villages." He paused when her stomach rumbled and she jumped a bit in surprise at herself. "Why didn't you eat me? Back there in the woods?"
"Future sight is a mark of dragon blood," she replied with a small smile. "I was marginally tempted to swallow you whole, but then I'd be a cannibal...you smell like a dragon more than a human."
"Heh..." he chuckled, a bit disconcerted. "Um... have you..."
"Eaten humans? No, but I sure as hell have smelled them." She wrinkled her nose, getting him to laugh. She laughed too, which surprised him, not by the fact that she was laughing, not even that it was a physical laugh, but by how it sounded...like a golden waterfall with silver songbirds sweeping through the air. "You have a very pleasant smell..."
"Lamik."
"Lamik? Yuck." She glared at him rather playfully. "Is that your real name?"
"No, but I don't remember my--"
"It's Lamicuro, isn't it?"
He paused with his mouth open in mid-sentence. Something clicked in his mind and his eyes widened. "Yes...how'd you know?"
"I peeked into your mind when you subconsciously tried to remember just before responding."
"...You can do that?"
"Only to find names...I don't know what else I can do."
"You don't?"
She looked at the floor, her wings falling from her sides. "No... you see, I'm the last of my kind in this country. I could go beyond this territory to find others, but...I'm too scared."
He looked at her, dumbfounded. "You, scared? of what??"
"Plenty of things, mostly you humans. I know where other dragons are, but between here and there are vast towns overflowing with humans along the trade route. To tell you the truth, I just woke up last month after a fifty-year hibernation, hoping the trade route would dwindle or move their hotspots, but they grew and expanded instead....it's not just that though..." She got up and looked out of her cave, then lay her paw on the cave mouth. The gap shimmered and suddenly closed up with stone. She turned back to him with a look of pure fear in her eyes. "Have you ever seen those shades? Like large apes they are, with claws sharper than any mortal blade?"
"Those imps? They're small fry," he boasted; not to impress her, but because he'd actually taken some on not too long ago and had found them to be rather easy. "You're scared of shades?"
She came right up to him and looked him in the eyes, making him flinch at the sheer anger and fear emanating from her. "To you humans they're nothing more than simple animals, but in the presence of dragons they become the most terrible warriors this world has ever seen, and for one reason only: to kill dragons. They are our antithesis," she growled, shivering. "I've almost died countless times at the hands of those demons! I'm powerless against them!"
Lamik had a hard time seeing such a huge, graceful creature being afraid of beasts hardly even his size. However, the fear and pain in her face was so vivid and sincere that he almost broke down right there, it hurt him, knifed him through the heart to see her like this. She stood back and lay down on the floor again, staring at the door.
"They know I'm here...every night they pound on my door. They can't break my magic, but still...just knowing they're out there... *sigh* I just wanna be free, able to roam and explore and find a real home instead of being trapped here. They follow me, always eager for a chance...it's only at night that they gain their strengths near me, but in daylight I can only see their shadows, so I can't kill them during the day."
"Then let me do it."
She looked up in surprise. "...What?"
Lamik stood up and walked over to her, holding her slender but powerful jaw in his hands. "I can kill them, quite easily at that. I'll protect you, I just need a suitable sword and shield. Besides, isn't it the male's job to protect the female?"
She gazed at him, processing this, until a smirk spread over her face. "Are you declaring us a couple? We've only just met."
He laughed and shook his head, running his hand over her soft nasal scales. "No I'm not, but you saved me from that fire and sheltered me today, the least I can do is dispatch the gang that's after you. They are in reality simple creatures, they just become rabid when they near you, correct?"
"Not merely rabid," she said, shaking again in horror. "I'm defenseless against them because they literally feed off my power, siphoning it from me just by being near. If you were to stab me right now, your blade would be incinerated; I protect myself with various wards that prevent physical harm. However, they feed off that ward and drain it, using its link to my energy reserves like a straw to suck up my power."
"...You know what a straw is?"
"I can read, and I've found many books dropped by merchants in my attempts to cross the trade route. I'm not nearly as stupid about your kind as I might appear," she said with a sly grin. Her face softened and she pressed her nose against his chest lightly. "But as to what you said before...you'd really protect me?"
"Of course I would. You're a gorgeous creature, too much so to be ravaged by those monsters."
She purred sweetly, the energy of her purr washing over him soothingly. "Thank you Lamik..." She slowly stood up, still purring faintly, and turned around, flicking her tail at him in a beckoning manner as she neared the back wall of the cave. "I have a secret room back here, you can take your pick of weaponry from my small hoard. I don't have a shield, persay, but I think I have a large gold-trimmed steel platter and some leather belts and chains, you could probably make an impromptu shield out of that."
The next night, Amy was alone in her cave, pacing back and forth anxiously and constantly looking up at the mouth of her cave. The sun would set soon, where was he?! He didn't get himself killed, surely he wasn't that bad at fighting? "Why am I so worried about him?" she growled at herself. "He's just a human...but still, he's so nice..." A familiar yell sounded faintly, and, abandoning her senses, she rushed out to see what it was. Edging up the incline to her cave was Lamik, fighting...what? All she could see were shadows on the ground, could humans see these things physically? Lamik spun around, spinning his sword over himself and slicing something. Something struck his shield and he thrust it up, spinning low on the ground and catching the thing by its feet; Amy heard a loud wail of pain which was cut off sharply as Lamik stabbed its throat with a quick, vicious downward thrust. He must have been able to see them; Amy saw blood dripping off the tip of the sword where it had slitted the creature.
"AMY!!!" he shouted. Something knocked her over and as the sun's light waned at that moment, she saw something fade into view by her...a shade. She shrieked and scrabbled backwards, feeling it already drawing on her power. It lunged at her with a hideous screech and she screamed, then screamed again in shock when something bright flashed by with a metal ring and the shade flew to the side, Lamik's sword stuck clean through its chest. She lay there panting as she watched him spar with the last shade, standing between it and her. He yelled and side-kicked it, winding it just before he spun around and split its head open with a reckless shield-edge strike. Panting heavily, he wiped his forehead a few times, then spat on the fallen shade and slowly walked up to Amy, a bit sore from the battle. She forced herself up, still shaking from the scare. "They're all dead," he proclaimed with a weary smile. She stared at him blankly.
"All?!"
"Yep, I didn't let any escape." She watched him walk over and draw his sword roughly out of the shade's body nearby, a whole new level of respect for him growing inside her. "Ew, this is gonna be a bitch to clean if I don't find water now."
"You don't need to clean it," she suggested, following him back into the cave.
"Amy, you can't use them so you wouldn't understand, but keeping weapons clean is...I dunno, it's something I kinda have to do."
She looked down at her claws, flexing her toes. "You mean...like, me keeping my claws clean or something?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
She breathed ice on the floor, then stepped on it hard, fracturing it and making a few large pieces stick up. "Here, rub the blade with these, they'll melt into water." She sat back and watched him clean his sword, admiring how carefully he tended to it. "He's so gentle too..." she said to herself. When he was satisfied with his work he gently dried the blade on his shirt, careful not to cut himself, then sheathed the blade and reclined against the wall, closing his eyes. Gentle footpads came closer and he opened his eyes a bit to see Amy looking at him, her face so close to his he could feel her soft breath. "Thank you, Lamik..." she whispered, nuzzling him. "For once in I don't know how long, I can sleep soundly..."
He rubbed her cheek, getting a tiny purr from her. "I guess now we're even, unless there are more out there."
She giggled. "I think not. Those things are territorial and will fight away other clans in order to lay claim to a dragon. The other shade clans are most likely a good fifty miles away if not more. How many did you kill?"
"I started at midday and backtracked back here the whole time."
She stared at him with wide eyes. "Then...that's..."
"I lost count around sixty-five; at that point they were throwing themselves at me in their anger. I know none of them escaped; even the cautious ones that were trying to make a break for it doubled back when they realized I was owning their whole clan."
She laughed and nuzzled him a bit more firmly in relief and gratitude. "Stand up, silly," she ordered, stepping back. He stood up in confusion and watched as she brought her wings around behind him and pulled him forward into a hug. "Thank you so much, Lamik...you have no idea how much this means to me!"
He leaned against her, unable to reciprocate the hug easily due to her size, settling to rubbing her belly and feeling just how soft and silky her scales were. He smirked to himself; she was congratulating him for something that had hardly been much of a chore, the shades were so stupid against him that he'd felt more like he was cutting tall grass than actually fighting. But if it floated her boat, he couldn't argue. Eventually she let him go, smiling at him warmly. "Even tiny humans can do something, it seems," he said with an obvious smirk.
"I greatly underestimated you," she purred. He yawned and she nuzzled him yet again. "Get some sleep, you've more than earned it."
"I'll try," he said, glancing over at the stony corner he'd slept in last night.
"No, no, not over there," she said, walking away to her side of the cave room. She lay down on her side and beckoned him over with her little tail-flick gesture. "It gets a little lonely over here at night."
"No, I couldn't," he said, suddenly nervous.
"Yes you can. You need a more comfortable place to sleep...and truth be told, I don't like to sleep alone..." she gave him her equivalent of puppy-eyes, making him laugh and give in.
"Okay, fine I guess."
"Aren't you going to change your garments first?" she asked, confused.
"Huh?"
"You've been sweating in those for half a day, and it's stained with blood, you shouldn't sleep in that!"
"Oh...but I don't have anything else."
She glanced over at the treasure room and the wall dissolved. "Try in there, there must be something, but I'm not going to let you sleep in those soiled rags. Creator knows what foul poisons are in a shade's blood."
He sighed in submission and headed into the room, coming back out shortly after just with his pants on and his shirt in his hand. "Nothing in there, just gold and some silk scarves."
She grunted. "I could've sworn I picked up some other clothes...." He approached her and she growled. "I said no bloody garments, fool."
He stared at her. "There's nothing else?"
"Oh don't tell me you humans are..." Her words died on her tongue as she gazed at him. "You're afraid of your own bodies aren't you? Silly morons." She sighed. "Okay, come here."
He stepped forward and was about to lie down next to her when her paw suddenly lunged up from the floor, her claws glistening. "What the--?!" he shouted, jumping back and then yelpeing in surprise when his pants fell right off his legs with clean slice-marks up their length. "AMY?!" he shouted, covering himself.
She looked at him in complete confusion and surprise at his outburst. "Settle yourself!" she said in exasperation. "They're just flimsy pieces of dyed cotton! What's the big deal?"
"What's the--I'm naked now, Amy!" he said with a red face.
"So?"
"So?!?"
She facepalmed. "Seriously, what's the big deal? I'm naked too for all it matters."
He fumbled, trying to refute but unable to find any solid ground for argument. "You sure you...don't mind?" he asked, his face red with embarassment.
She laughed, that sweetly fell sound numbing his ears with forgetfulness of his situation as it absorbed his mind. "Wow, you humans are stupid! If I minded, I wouldn't have just rendered your pants non-functional!"
He lay down by her a bit clumsily, shivering a bit with the chill in the cave against his bare skin. She folded her wing over him. Under her wing, against her scales, it was far more comfortable than even his old bed. "You're really warm," he said, stretching against her.
"Comfortable, o guardian of mine?" she asked with a joking tone.
"Very..." he yawned. "Amy, why this sudden niceness?"
She shrugged; he felt her muscles ripple under his back. "I've kinda always been this way."
"Have you ever been with other dragons?"
"My siblings, yes, before a band of thieving archers slaughtered us. My older brother and I killed them and ran away, but unknown to me he'd taken a poisoned blow...he died three days later."
"That's..."
"Awful, yes, but in the human world dragon eggs fetch quite a handsome price. You see...we're not 'completely' reptilian. In our first three months of life, mothers produce a kind of milk that helps their babies grow. We can live without that, but we don't grow into creatures like me...without our mothers, we don't get that developmental nourishment and grow into dog-sized 'tame' dragons, no better than true lizards. Humans will pay out the nose for dragon eggs so they can have 'tame' dragons..."
Lamik's mind raced with all this information, then he suddenly blushed and gently felt her belly. "How...how do you..."
She laughed and blushed as well. "I don't remember, and I was too young to learn that myself...admittedly I'm rather naive about...mating and family raising and all that..."
"Aren't there other dragons out there?" he asked, trying to change the subject. Her wing fell against him.
"Yes...very few though. There's a small colony a few countries away, nestled deep in the mountains where humans can't travel, but I can't get past these damned trade routes without being seen. I guess now that the shade clan eyeing me is dead I can travel more safely to the northern tip of the route, but there are more out there and they'd all jump at the thought of a stray dragon. My last attempt was a few weeks ago; I was lucky to find an unguarded cave, but the trip there and back, not to mention the stay, were incredibly trying. The other dragons don't know I'm here, which saddens me because they'd probably try to get me to safety..."
He rubbed her side comfortingly, eliciting a small purr from her. "You want a family, don't you?"
A tear fell down the side of her face. "Yes...very badly too. I thought being alone would be nice, but...after three hundred years, it's driving me insane. I suppose that's one reason I can't kill you or hurt you...I just want someone, anyone, to be with..."
He crawled up onto her back, slightly enjoying the soft feeling of her scales against his legs and maleparts, and softly rubbed her neck, earning a slightly confused glance from her. "Well since I don't have a place to go, maybe I could stay here with you?"
She smiled and purred a bit louder. "That'd be nice..."
"I need to check my hunting shack though, there's a few things there I'd need to get."
"Like what?"
"Clothes. Y'know, since I'd probably need to go to the trade route once in a while to get some supplies for hunting. I also have a bow and arrow set...oh..." he trailed off when he saw her eyes dilate. "Nevermind then, I can sell that and get some trapping supplies. There's also my cooking gear, that'd be useful to have."
"Okay...but why the cooking gear?"
"I can't eat raw meat, it makes humans sick. Badly sick."
"Oh! Okay then, tomorrow we'll have to head out there then, I was gonna give you some deer tomorrow but it seems that's a bad idea."
"Mmmm...haven't had venison in a while...I could also buy some spices, you'd like those once in a while. Spicy meat, salted meat, sweet fruit salads..."
Her stomach growled. "Shut up before you drive me hungry enough to eat you," she laughed. He chuckled and lay down on her back, enjoying her body heat under him. Slowly they fell asleep.
The next week or so was a bit hectic for the two. Lamik had his gear now, and his archery set, but now he couldn't sell it; he'd spent all his arrows downing a stray band of shades that noticed Amy's presence, and many hunters would not buy bows without complementary arrow sets. Lamik knew why; if you fletched your own arrows and included them with the bow, hunters would be more willing to buy since it was a display of care for the equipment, meaning the bow was probably in good shape. They did bag a few deer though, and after Amy cleaned and cut them expertly with her claws Lamik treated her to cooked meat. She devoured her portions, amazed at how good the meat tasted with the touch of fire and metal.
"You think that's good," Lamik said as they sat in the cave after another hunting trip, "just wait until I get you some cinnamon, nutmeg, chili and other spices."
"You humans are amazing," she said, licking her lips. "I never fathomed that fire and metal could produce something so great on the tongue!"
"Fire, metal, plants, meat and stone," he chuckled. "Those are the staples of human diet."
"Stone?"
"Salt is a rock, technically."
"What's salt?"
His eyes widened. "You've never had salt?!"
"I might have, just not knowing what it's called."
"I'll have to get some when I stop by the trade route next week. The deer hides will sell rather well once they're cleaned."
"Is that why you had me make so few cuts?"
"Yup. I can sell those hides for enough to get spices and salt."
It's almost like he's taking care of me instead of the vice-versa I intended, she thought to herself with a small grin.
It took some doing but she finally got him safely to the trade route. However, her usual hideouts were now the abodes of the poorer families who couldn't afford houses while the husbands were out bartering. Though she was glad the caves she'd cleaned out were put to good use, Amy was upset; where could she hide whiole Lamik was in town? "Too bad you can't turn into a human or something..." he said, shaking his head as they sat in the cover of the forest.
An idea hit her over the head. "Oh my gosh, I'm so stupid...all this time and I never..."
"Huh?"
"We dragons can change our size and even our shape, but only for half a day at most when inexperienced. Um...but..." She went red in the face. "I can't turn into a human unless...I eat you or kiss you."
His pupils dilated and he froze. "Well, uh..." Silence fell for a bit as they eyed each other awkwardly. Amy blushed heavily and closed her eyes.
"Nevermind it was stupid anyway, I'll go find a cave-mmph?!" Her eyes flew open to find Lamik kissing her on the mouth. Something strange flew over her and she felt herself shrinking rapidly, her tail diminishing to a cute stub over her buttocks, which now anchored not dragon legs but gracefully thin human legs to her new body. She slowly stood up and looked herself over in awe. Her skin was human-toned but very pale and had a faint scaly pattern only visible in direct sunlight. She felt her breasts and giggled as she played with herself, enjoying the strange firm squishiness of these strange mounds on her chest. She glanced up and saw Lamik staring at her in a dead stupor. "How is it?" she asked, posing for him.
"I-errr, uh...you...uummm..." he fumbled, unable to find words. "Wow..." She giggled and ran her hands over her arms, feeling the strange softness of her new skin. "Amy, your face..."
"Hmm?" She ran her hands over her face and her eyes went wide---she still had a reptilian muzzle! She held her hands out in front of herself and a small mirror of energy appeared. Her face was a cross between human and dragon, with a nicely rounded muzzle and bright blue eyes with reptile-slit pupils. She also had hair; bright white curly hair that fell beyond the curve of her butt. Thankfully she didn't still have her pearly white horns. "This is not good..." Thinking quickly she spun the mirror between her hands, and it glowed and stretched and swirled around her, attaching to her and dimming into a hooded cloak. She pulled it up over her head. "Does my nose still stick out?" she asked.
"Yep," he said, giving her nose a playful poke.
"Damn...hang on." She pulled the robe off with a spinning flourish, Lamik's face going red again at seeing her nude body. With a few more waves of her hands she created a shirt, billowing pants, boots, and a scarf for herself, wrapping the scarf around her face before putting the cloak on. "Better?"
"I can't even tell you're not human," he said with a grin. His smile faded into a frown. "How come you can make clothes for yourself but not for me?"
"Because I can't make them for you, these are sustained solely on my power and will fade if something knocks me out or if I grow too tired. They also only work when I wear them, they'd disintegrate if you wore them. I'm too inexperienced to make you some..."
"It's okay...now c'mon, let's get going. The faster we do this, the less time you have to spend sustaining those clothes or your form." He picked up the bag of deer hides, straining under its weight, and together they walked to the trade route, Amy stumbling a bit as she acclimatized to her new bodily structure. Amy was very nervous; Lamik spotted this and held her hand. "It'll be fine, so long as you stay covered. If I know anything about these places, don't stray from my side or get caught up in other stalls trying to hawk their wares. They'll do what they can to attract your attention, but grabbing you is against the law."
"I'm still scared..."
"So am I, I've never been to one of these trading cities before. And...I forgot my sword at the cave. Great...maybe I can pick one up." She stumbled again, prompting him to support her arm, making them look like a pair of lovers recently engaged.
The experience was very stressing for both of them. Lamik found a hide dealer soon after entering the city, but deer hides weren't in high demand so the payout wasn't all that much. It took them a while to find the spice houses; it was midday by the time they found what they could afford. To their surprise it wasn't all shouting and trading and pushing and shoving, most of it was but there were a few game areas where participation was free with chances to win money. Amy had fun watching Lamik enter a sparring contest and win a fair amount of money from the gamekeeper before being flattened by a shaven-head kid half his height and age. Needless to say, she wouldn't let him live that down.
"Shade-slayer got kicked by a child," she chanted in his ear teasingly as they sat on a bench, watching the crowd flow by while he rested.
"I tried...monk kids are a whole other world of fighting."
"I'm surprised no one's found out about me," she whispered.
"Well look around, most of the women here are dressed like you. You're not much out of the ordinary." He picked up his bag of spices and stretched his legs. "C'mon, let's go see if we can find anything else before calling it a day." They headed down the road before something caught Lamik's attention. "Amy, wanna stop for some lunch?"
"Sounds good!" To his mind she added, "I can't wait to try more human food!"
He laughed and led her by the hand to a nearby city restaurant. While they waited for their food, Amy quietly studied her human friend, glad he couldn't see her gaze behind the hood. He's so much like a dragon it scares me, she thought to herself. The way he studies his surroundings like that, his reflexes and wit with the shopkeepers... She suddenly shifted in her seat with a slight pained moan.
"You okay?" he asked, concern suddenly showing in his face.
"Yeah, slight cramp," she lied. Fuck...I'm in heat, I completely forgot about my cycle! Shouldn't have ordered the clams...damnit!
Lunch was fairly quiet between them, with Amy constantly expressing enjoyment of the food. Lamik laughed when she finished and quickly pulled her scarf back up over her muzzle before letting out a rather loud burp. "Not very ladylike," he joked, shaking his head.
"Good food deserves praise, that was simply awesome." When the waiter returned Lamik let her order something more.
She must be pretty hungry, having to sustain those clothes and her new body form, he thought, watching her inhale her steak and potatoes.
He's pretty generous too, he's not complaining that I'm using all his money...but I'm so hungry I could eat three horses! She finished her meal and sat back with a yawn. "Oh my gosh that was great..."
"If you're still hungry you can get a little more."
"No, I couldn't...you don't have much money left now."
"Not like it matters," he whispered with a small grin. She perked her ears a bit to hear him. "We're living out in a cave, not much need for money there."
"True, true...alright, maybe I'll get a little more." She ordered a plate of chicken salad.
"Where does she keep it all?" the waiter asked, getting a laugh and shrug from Lamik.
He's so sweet...wonder if he'd--no! Bad Amy! she chastised herself. He'd make a good father though--no! Stop! Her heat was getting worse by the second. Thankfully he couldn't smell it... Oh fuck, he's got dragon blood, normal humans can't smell me but he might! She finished off her salad and pushed her plate away. "Well that should do it. Wow, this place is good!"
He laughed and left their payment in the small pouch the waiter left for coins. "You okay?" he asked again when she got up a bit shakily.
"Yeah, still got a cramp in my thigh."
He slung the bag over his shoulder and surprised her by picking her up, her arms automatically falling around his neck for support. "If your legs are cramping, don't walk. Let's head home."
So caring too...NO!!! she mentally slapped ehrself as she felt her netherlips moisten. This is gonna be a bad one...
Lamik carried her outside and down the street a ways until she felt she could walk again. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, studying the way her hips swayed from side to side with her gait. She's very beautiful, even if she's a dragoness. If I had half a brain I'd ask her to marry me, but we're two completely different species... Ever since the restaurant he couldn't take his eyes off her, something kept calling his attention to her. They finally reached the edge of town. "Amy, you go wait for me, I'm gonna see if I can't find something quick before we call it a day."
"Okay. You know where to find me." She raced off with a playful backward glance over her shoulder, making him smirk and shake his head.
For being over three hundred years old she's like a little girl...
Half an hour later Amy woke up from her quick nap to find Lamik drawing closer, looking rather worn out. "Something up?" she asked, brushing off her clothes.
"Nah, these spices are just heavy." He hefted the bag a bit higher on his shoulders. "Let's get going. Got some more salt and a few other spices, and a fletching kit for making hunting arrows." He took her hand. "And this." Something slid down his arm from under his sleeve and onto her wrist. She gaped and pulled her hood back to look at it, her blue eyes watering a bit. It was a silver bracelet set with tiny diamonds and sapphires. "Thought you might like a souvenier of your first time in a human city."
She hugged him. "Thanks...it's so pretty..." They walked further into the forest before Amy suddenly tripped on her own feet. Lamik helped her up but she pushed him away lightly. "I can't keep going like this, I'm losing strength." With that her clothes disappeared. "Aaaah...much better..." Lamik's face was red again. "You like, don't you?" she asked teasingly, running her hands along her sides and posing again. She couldn't help herself now.
"Well I...uhh...you're...very pretty," he finally blurted out. There was a strong smell coming from her that kept grabbing his attention and making his mind foggy. "Amy, what're you...what're you doing?"
Her eyes went wide and she slapped her forehead. "I'm so sorry...it's getting so hard to hide now..." She sighed in frustration. "Lamik, I completely forgot about it until today at the food court...I'm in heat. Badly. I was hoping this time around it wouldn't be so bad, but the clams I ordered...I heard clams are an aphrodesiac, and...it's..."
"You don't have to explain," he said, his face very red now. "I get it, let's get back to the cave."
They raced to the far edge of the forest and Amy bent on all fours, Lamik blushing and looking away when he got a quick look at her between her legs before she reverted back to her old form. "Ooooh yes...being a biped is fun but I still prefer four legs." She shook herself with a happy sigh. "C'mon, climb on." He climbed up onto her back and they flew back to her cave, having to keep low to avoid being seen. When they landed Amy suddenly looked at her arm and then froze. "Lamik! The bracelet!!"
He looked at her arm and saw that it was bare. Where had it gone?! Had it broken off when she transformed? He looked back up when she started whimpering, then laughed to himself. "Amy..." He climbed up her neck and held onto her horns. "Looks like these aren't just for defense. It moved itself to your right horn here."
She reached up and laughed with relief when she felt it snugly wrapped around the base of her horn.
The next week was torture for Amy and a bit stressful for Lamik. The whole cave smelled very strongly of her heat, and at night she was constantly moaning and whimpering. Lamik chose to keep his clothes on, not because he was cold, but because he didn't want her seeing the raging erections he got from her smell and her moaning. She enjoyed the spiced foods he made for her; somehow the chili seasoning helped curb her mating pains quite a bit, so he made her a lot of chili meats and salads. Eventually her heat settled itself enough that he could sleep in the cave without waking up every hour.
"I'm sorry, Lamik..." she sighed as he sat at the mouth of the cave, fletching some new arrows.
"For what?"
"All this stuff with my heat, keeping you up at night..."
He set his stuff down and sat by her, running his hand along her scales. "It's fine."
"No it's not! I've been a bad host, I didn't...huh?" She trailed off as he ran his hand along her cheek.
"I know you can't repress it, so don't apologize for something you can't control."
She nuzzled his hand softly. "Thanks...I wish all dragons could be like you." He petted her cheek for a while before she looked at him with a questioning glance. "I still don't like your name though, can I call you Lambi?"
He laughed. "Sure." Their affectionate petting and purring went on for a while before Amy's rear tensed and she groaned. "Back again?"
"Yes..."
Her scent was getting to him but he fought it off. "I'll go make you another chili dish, though if your heat doesn't end soon I'll have to go back and buy some more."
She laughed and watched him wander out of the cave. "He cares so much..."
Amy woke up an hour later to find a rather extravagant meal laid out for her, with Lamik sitting nearby. He didn't have his clothes on...she felt the air and sensed a very warm breeze blowing out of the west and right into the cave. "What's all this about?" she asked with a yawn.
"For you," he said simply.
She paused, staring at him oddly. "You're treating me like a courting male would, you realize that?"
"I'm just doing what I feel is right," he replied. She set about eating her meal, enjoying how much care he'd put into setting it up for her. When she was halfway done he sighed. "Actually, Amy...you're right, it's more than just friendship at play here."
She glanced up at him curiously. "Hmm?"
He sighed again, seemingly nervous. His heart was pounding. "Damn...how was I gonna say it..." He felt something move through his mind, followed by her gasp.
"I knew it..."
He looked up at her sharply. "What?"
She blushed and looked at the floor, turning her eyes up to look at him. "For what it's worth, I think you're nice too..."
"So you know now..."
She smiled shyly. "I can't bring myself to lie to myself or you about it...I like you too." She hid behind her wing. "You're handsome, at least as far as humans go...caring, witty, an excellent hunter..."
He stood up and pulled her wing from her face, earning a surprised glance from her. "I've grown to like you too over these past few weeks," he said, running his hand along her face. "You're absolutely beautiful, and really nice. I can't see why others wouldn't like you."
She purred faintly at his compliments. "You're too sweet Lambi..." She wanted to say more but her heat suddenly sent a jolt through her body, making her stutter and then fiercely blush.
"What's wrong?"
Amy stuttered again, making garbled inarticulate sounds. To Lamik's utter surprise she suddenly kissed him full on the mouth, her tongue pushing past his lips and running over the roof of his mouth quickly before she pulled back, her face completely red with embarrassment and shame as she huddled against the wall. "I-I'm sorry, that was i-inappropriate..."
Lamik stood stock-still in surprise, feeling a stronger warmth in himself now that she'd done that. He edged towards her and she looked away, hiding ehr face behind her wing. His hand ran along her wing softly. "Look at you, a proud dragoness cowering from something barely snack-sized..." He chuckled to himself, getting her to look up at him. "What're you so afraid of?" She couldn't respond; why hadn't he run off in horror or disgust at her actions?
"I-I just...I'm sorry...I was out of line..."
"How so?"
She fumbled again, unable to hide from him and getting frustated because of it. "I don't just like you I love you but I know I shouldn't and can't tell if it's my heat or if it's really me and I'm sorry--mph?!" Her panicked mental rambling to his mind cut off when she realized he was kissing her. She squirmed a bit but couldn't force her body to pull away from his attention; eventually she relaxed and even murred as he rubbed her cheeks and reached back to lightly rub the faint slender lines of her jawbone. Now that he was so close to her head he saw she could swallow him in one bite if she wanted to, but he knew fear of that was pointless; she wouldn't harm him. Amy felt the pain in her gut rise and spread out into a strange dull fire, turning from sharp pain into a hot but more tolerable discomfort. Finally Lamik pulled away and pressed his forehead against her nose, still rubbing her jaw and making her purr.
"It's not your heat influencing me tonight Amy...while I cooked the dinner I debated with myself long and hard about it."
"About what?" she asked to his mind.
"We've only known each other for a short while but Amy, I love you. As weird as it may sound coming from a human, it's true." She just stared at him, her sex-craved mind trying to process this. "I want to see to your well-being and happiness, Amy. I feel complete when I'm around you."
Something clicked in her mind and she sighed with a small smile, closing her eyes. "I've been confused about myself since meeting you but...the same goes for me...I feel more like me around you...in all my age I've never felt like this."
He kissed her again and they both relaxed, giving themselves to each other and enjoying the mutual affection. Lamik was confused by her tongue's writhing motions, but something inside him prompted him to do the same. He wasn't aware of it, but dragons didn't kiss to show affection; they tied their long dextrous tongues together into knots of various degrees depending on the situational intimacy. He felt Amy's breath begin to quicken and strengthen, and heard her hips start to grind against the floor slightly.
INCOMPLETE STORY
You may use this story to start your own series, HOWEVER, you must follow the rules posted in my journal on my profile. Mostly, GIVE CREDIT, especially because I'm being generous enough to let you use this and it's just common courtesy.
I had it planned for him to impregnate her just after this scene, however, as I am unable to finish it, it's up to you
Lamik is part dragon, which allows him to give her children
They eventually do meet the other dragons across the trade border, by using Amy's new ability to shapeshift
From there, it's up to you.