dragon's meal
In a dark candle lit cavern a large figure stood infront of a large mirror. The figure was that of a long feral dragon. It looked over its figure and easily picked the small bone fragments out of its teeth. It was a female that had been living in a cave near a small village within a massive kingdom. The frightful king had ordered many to go and finish the dragon within the caves. No one ever returned. He had finally given up hope when he recalled a weapon within his possession that belonged to his father who had slain a dragon with it. The king rose up and went to his chambers after recalling this information. He retrieved his weapon and headed out. His soldiers who loved and respected him begged him not to go, but he refused to listen and called all the kingdom to one final mass. He spoke to them with sadness in his tone.
"My loyal kingdom, I truly respect everyone's respect and loyalty to me till this day. This day I will be leaving the safety of my throne and heading out to kill the dragon that plagues us with my father's sword. If I do not return within a few days I want you to expect the worst and go about finding a new king. I have faith that you will not pick a tyrant for a leader."
With that the king left his home being presented with small trinkets the village had for protection. He left across the massive field separating the kingdom with the mountains. Soon he arrived at the massive mountain home of the dragon. He looked at his armor and his flawless fur. "Here is where I test the abilities given to me from past generations. Part vampire and part wolf. Gaining protection from sunlight was one power but I don't know if it will be any good in this cave."
The dragoness could smell the king's scent and began to approach the cave's exit. She knew that even outside the cave she was stronger then anyone. She stopped and took another smell. "this scent is different from the soldiers. It isn't a mercenary or it wouldn't have a scent. The king came himself? This scent is odd. It's a hybrid? I smell wolf but something else. Ill find out when I see this fool." The dragoness was at the widest area of the cave and able to take flight out of it. She opened her wings and took off out into the light to see the king in his royal armor and a weapon that she knew of. The dragoness landed and growled. "You carry the weapon of the dragon slayer? Who are you?"
The king was surprised it was a female dragon that had been killing all his men. And even more so that she knew of his father. "I'm the son of the dragon slayer. And I shall continue his legacy and slay you for tormenting my kingdom!" With his statement finished he ran at the dragon as he drew the blade from its scabbard and lunged at the dragoness's chest with the blade headed right for her heart.
The dragoness wasn't going to be slayed so easily and lifted up off the ground in time to see the blade and the massive fangs of it's wielder. She flew just out of his range and spoke. "Your part vampire too? Then you shall be quite the tasty kill." She moved fast and whipped at him with her tail knocking him across a large distance only to see him coming back. As she whipped at him again he swung his blade cutting off her tail tip as he ran up her tail to get a bigger advantage.
The dragoness was in pain but easily shook him off and landed on him with her massive foot paw. He squirmed under her foot and struggled to reach his blade that was tossed from his grasp when she stomped him. The dragoness tried to make sense of why he was still alive she could feel that his armor was crushed yet he was still solid and strong enough to struggle. "You are quite strong and resilient for such a small creature."
His struggles to get his blade ended when he pushed her paw off him and ran at his blade. He was quick to turn and use the speed of the turn to launch the blade right at her chest. The blade made contact with her chest but flew off as if the blade had hit a steel plate. The king looked at her and spoke in dismay. "What are you to be able to withstand the dragon slayer's blade? You should be dead now."
The dragoness was pleased to see she was stronger then his blade and spoke. "Oh dear mortal, im a demona dragon. Im a dragon and demon's child, who will kill you for attempting to slay me." She jumped at him knowing he was defenseless and slashed at him, but to her surprise he jumped out of the way and landed on her back slashing the bases of her wings, grounding her. She hissed out in pain and rolled over attempting to squash him with her weight but he had already gotten off her. He landed on her chest and ran up at her face.
She was fast to react and knock him off her. Soon he decided it might be best to take his battle into her caves and hope he could find a blade to use there. His father's blade laid close by broken into pieces. He moved fast and vanished inside. The dragoness was fast to follow and she followed closely behind till they reached her main room where the mirror was. He stopped and looked at the wall where a shield was hung in an honorable way. He looked at it and approached it as the dragoness soon found him. She stopped wondering why he had halted.
"Why is it you stop young king?"
The king looked at the shield and fell to his knees. "That is my father's shield. I was unable to find it at his death grounds."
The dragoness approached and turned him around slamming him into the ground. "Then you are the son of my father's best friend. You couldn't be the one he was talking about."
The dragoness let go and sat down looking at him then the shield and remembered the scabbard he still had tied to his waist. She pulled it off and held it up to the shield and noticed the similar markings. She put the scabbard on a small area for it and looked at the king. "You are the one my father spoke of. My father spoke so highly of your father when he was alive. He had told me of his adventures and how he vanished one day only to find his body dead. The sword was no where to be seen around the body so he took the shield and handed it to me for safe keeping. He told me to not kill any of his friend's children."
The king looked at her and then the shield and sat there dumbfounded at all that had happened. He never knew any of his father's acquaintances. And even more so none of their children. This was all a lot to take in so he sat there knowing she would not hurt him. The dragoness moved up and sat her head at his side and licked his arm some. He looked at her with a few tears falling from his eyes but stood up and moved to the shield rubbing a small bit of grime off it before he spoke. "you are not allowed to hurt me by your father's request, but you are big enough to do it and never worry. Why is it you follow your father's request?"
The dragoness looked at him and stood. "As a member of the dragon race when we make promises we keep them till we die." The king turned to her and looked her square in the eyes. "Then what do you intend to do about me? I came to stop your attacks on my kingdom's villages, and I won't leave till I slay you."
The dragoness and king spoke for a long time and came to find that only one way to stop dragon attacks on a kingdom was to have the king mate with the dragon. The other ways were not in the king's best regards with having to either kill the king, destroy the kingdom, or offer living beings to the dragon in exchange for safety. The two mated and the king left her alone for her to get some rest while he returned to the kingdom.
The kingdom was happy to see the king return but with most of his armor in tatters he had returned with only the scabbard of his blade and the shield of his father. He walked through the town till he got into the main chambers. He hung the scabbard and shield up then got dressed in his adventuring clothes and called all his men to the main area within the castle's main hall. He spoke loudly and clearly as he spoke about the dragoness.
"The dragon will no longer harm this kingdom, but in exchange for this safety I have to return to the dragon's caves and remain there. The head captain of the first army will be your new king. He has been loyal to me and I trust he will be a good king. The dragon will leave this kingdom alone but no one from this kingdom can go near the caves. If they do they are no longer on our grounds and will then be fair game for the dragon. As my last act as king I wish that everyone resume their normal lives and that my father's shield and my father's scabbard be hung above the throne to remember both my father and me for our duties at saving this kingdom."
With that the king took the supplies he knew he would need and headed out to the caves. The entire kingdom stood at the edge of the field as they watched their king enter the caves never to be seen again.