The Breath of the Dragon
Written by TwistedSnakes
Commissioned by Elrith
The soft clink of metal caused the Elrith to slowly stir. The green dragon's eyes instinctively opened, eyeing the hoard of treasures that laid beneath his lying body. Goblets of gold, trinkets of precious gems, and silver sceptres were among the tons of valuables that were half-buried in the mountain of gold coins, all illuminated by the flaming torches that were mounted on the walls of the dusty cave. Satisfied that nothing was out of place, Elrith lowered his head back onto the cool metal, letting the gentle night breeze lull him back to sleep.
Outside the cave and among the rocky mountain slopes, however, was an adventuring grey wolf named Axel. The grey wolf was armed with a broadsword and shield, wearing leather armour reinforced with metal plates around his shoulders and chest. There were rumours of a treasure trove hidden among the mountainous caves, guarded by a dragon, piquing the canine's interest. Perhaps he could plunder enough loot to keep him comfortable for the next few years, maybe even rack up his first dragon kill.
Still, he had to find the right cave. The past few hours of searching had let to fruitless searches in empty caverns. He'd check a few more before he called it a night. However, as he peered into the next cave, the faint warmth of a fire and a strong, musky stench told him this would be the end of his search: the dragon was here. And he had a strong suspicion that the treasure would be here too.
As he ventured deeper down the cave tunnel, he could see light coming from around a turn. He sped up in excitement, making his way down the sloping tunnel until he came to a large cavern lit by torches. A large pile of gold treasure spanned the entire cavern from wall to wall and sleeping on its gentle peak was a green dragon.
Axel raised his shield so that it was between him and the dragon. If the dragon were to spew fire at him, he could easily duck behind his shield for safety. With that, he charged for the sleeping dragon with his sword raised.
The chinking sound of his foot stepping on golden coins was enough to wake the dragon up. Elrith got up with a start. Seeing the canine intruder, he instinctively got to his feet and spread his wings. He opened his maw wide and let out a burst of green gas that flooded the cavern with a foul, rancid smell.
The wolf hastily ducked behind his fireproof shield but to avail: it equipped him to defend against a direct fire breath but it in no way could it save him from the diffusing toxic reek that was now stinging his eyes and nostrils. His gag reflex induced a fit of coughing before he covered his nose with the cloak on his back. He recognized the scent as the one he had earlier smelt at the entrance to the cave, but this was a hundred times more potent than before.
Elrith watched the wolf with scrutinizing eyes. The canine was no unwitting traveller: he was equipped for raids like these. A mercenary, most likely. The dragon grunted in disdain.
"What brings you here?" Elrith asked, flapping his wings to stir up the smelly air before it settled.
Axel got to his feet with laboured movements, still shielding his nose with his cloak as Elrith's foul breath washed over him. "I'm looking -- ack -- for a place to rest for the night," he coughed between his whispers as he tried to save his breath.
"And that calls for charging in as you swing your sword around?" Elrith sneered, letting out a puff of green, noxious fumes, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to kill me to steal my hoard of treasure."
The canine silently cursed himself for not coming up with a better cover story. "What would you cave-dwellers know about the world outside anyway?" he retorted, taking a few steps towards the dragon, "For instance, if you've actually met someone, you'd know how much you stink." He tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword.
"Well, excuse me for-" the dragon was interrupted as the wolf dashed towards him with his sword poised, ready to strike. Elrith, however, wasn't caught off guard. With a swipe of his wing, he sent the canine's sword flattering down the pile of gold, out of his reach. Taking advantage of Axel's stunned reaction, he jumped off the ground and swooped towards the wolf, carrying him through the air until the canine's body was mashed mercilessly against the wall.
Axel let out a gasp of pain which was followed by a frantic breath of air that dragged the sulphurous fumes into his lungs. He winced in pain from the stinging sensation within his chest. His discomfort was made worse as Elrith pressed his clawed hand against his throat, preventing him from drawing in fresh oxygen as well as trapping the acidic air inside his lungs.
"Too slow." Elrith scoffed, "You can't kill me with that silly butter knife."
The canine shot the dragon an indignant look as he tried to resist the pain in his body. But the oxygen in his lungs was starting to give out, making his head and vision swim. Elrith released the grip over the Axel's neck, shifting instead to pin his shoulders towards the rocky cave wall. Axel immediately took in a desperate breath of air to keep himself conscious but the dragon pressed his face towards the canine's and blasted a cloud of putrid air straight into his face.
Axel immediately gagged as his system tried to flush out the reek. Elrith watched as the wolf's body struggled to both expel the airborne toxins as well as bring in oxygen, turning his breaths into laboured pants. He had barely touched the full extent of what his fetid halitosis could do and already the canine was suffering. He would be in for a really bad time.
"S-stop!" the canine pleaded.
Elrith let out a haughty sneer, releasing Axel to fall to the ground. "Come on, is that all you got?" he taunted. The wolf let out a growl. Suddenly, he lashed out at the dragon's leg, making him stumble backwards. Another body slam sent the dragon reeling towards the ground with the canine on top of him.
"Got you now," Axel growled, "You stinking dra--"
His words were cut short as Elrith smirked and burped loudly, shooting the foul scent all over the wolf. This time, the dragon's bad breath was mixed in with the gas from his last meal, creating a potent mix of smells that stung way worse than anything the wolf had ever experienced so far.
The air in his lungs was heavy with toxins, giving him the sensation of powdery chalk clogging up his chest. The poison seeped into his bloodstream, overriding his motor skills and sending him convulsing on the floor.
Axel was in pure agony as his body screamed in pain. There was no way out for him as his mouth gurgled pitifully, trying to take in whatever little fresh air that was still around him. Elrith, however, wasn't about to stop. He threw the writhing canine off his body so that his victim flopped on the ground like a ragdoll before pouncing on him.
Axel could barely maintain eye contact with the dragon through his spasms. All he could see was the dragon's triumphant face looming over him, eager to torture him with more of his pungent musk.
"Quite the feisty one, aren't you?" Elrith taunted, "Let's see how you stand up against this." He closed his wings around both of them, trapping them in an airtight pocket. Inside, Axel could smell the foul vapours that oozed from the dragon's body. His was slowly regaining control of his body but he was still too weak to fight back from what was to come.
Elrith raised his head and opened his maw, releasing another blast of rancid odour that was now concentrated in their gas chamber. Axel quickly held his breath and closed his eyes, trying to endure the stinging pain that the sour smell was inflicting on him.
But the dragon's wings were doing their job well, locking in almost all the fumes without letting them dissipate. The wolf was running out of air. His lungs were burning from the oxygen deprivation the dragon was subjecting him to but he tried to hold on. This torment would be nothing compared to what he would experience should he take in a breath of the concentrated fog.
Elrith lifted his hand from the ground and pressed it threateningly against the wolf's chest. Axel opened his eyes wearily, giving the dragon a threatening glare. "An empty threat," Elrith thought, as he pressed down on the canine's ribs, forcing him to expel the air in his lungs.
Axel flailed his arms desperately as he tried to fight his natural instinct to breathe. He needed to get out of here. To get access to his life-sustaining oxygen. His body took over his conscious efforts, forcing him to open his mouth and gasp for air. The full impact of the decaying smell hit his nostrils. His head felt like it was slammed against the wall repeatedly as it throbbed in his skull. This vile smell was too much for him to bear.
But the dragon continued to pin him down, refusing to let him escape. He had no choice. He had to beg for his life.
"P-please. Stop," he pleaded between his strained breaths, "I...I can't take it anymore!"
Elrith continued to pin him down with his wings trapping the stale, stinky air around them. The musk of his body was mixing in with the concoction of other smells, creating a sour mix that burned at the canine's throat. "Now would you like to tell me why you're here?" he asked coldly.
"I...I heard about some treasure in the mountains and I...I wanted to loot it," Axel panted.
"And?"
"And then I saw you. I figured I could attack you while you were unprepared. Get a dragon kill while I'm at it," the canine explained weakly, "Look, it was nothing personal alright? A man's gotta do what it takes to survive."
Elrith scoffed, opening up his wings and flapping them to clear the air. Axel scrambled into a sitting position as he tried to catch his breath. A sense of relief came over him.
"So...you'll let me go?" he asked hopefully.
"So soon? But you just got here." the dragon grinned, "Sure, I'll let you go. Provided you can survive the next five minutes without blacking out."
"Wait! No! I can't take any more of that," the wolf backed away nervously, "You almost killed me with your...your...stink!"
"Don't worry, it won't kill you, it'll just make you wish you were dead."
"You...gah!" the canine grunted in exasperation. He could see no way out of this other than to subject himself to the dragon's pungent stench again.
"Time's up," the dragon grinned, reaching out and grabbing Axel by his ankle, pulling him in. The flailing wolf was dragged along the dusty ground before Elrith's wings closed around them again.
"Wait! Give me some time to catch my breath! At this rate, you'll kill me!" the panicked canine reasoned desperately.
"Nope," the dragon denied his pleas before opening his mouth and letting out a gentle breath of air. But what was gentle for the dragon was incredibly rancid to the canine. Axel immediately took in a sharp breath of air and held it in his lungs. His hands raised to cup his nose but Elrith pushed them aside, pinning him spreadeagle against the ground.
Axel turned away from the dragon's open maw, closing his eyes as he tried to press himself deeper into the ground, pushing himself further away from the dragon. He would have to ration his breaths really carefully if he wanted to survive.
But Elrith was slowly exacerbating his situation as he pushed his muscular chest against the canine's muzzle, rubbing them against each other. The scent coming off his body clung to the wolf's facial fur, flooding his nose with the heavy odour. It gave the canine an acidic, clogging sensation in his nostrils that he could not shake off.
Axel winced as he tried to constrict his nasal cavity but the strain only made the tension in his face worse.
"Come on, we just started." Elrith grinned, "You can't be passing out so soon."
The wolf held back his retorts. Every bit of energy spent retorting was energy wasted, and right now he could really use all the energy to resist his body's pleas for air.
"Four minutes," the dragon grinned.
"Only?" Axel silently whimpered. His chest felt tight and his lungs were already burning from the pain. Just one breath. He opened his mouth to steal a breath, taking in a sharp shot of the toxic air. There was a decaying scent in the air that felt revolting in his lungs. Still, he had to keep it in. The oxygen was meagre but it was better than nothing.
Elrith, however, had more up his sleeve. He pressed his face up to Axel's, breathing out a strong breath of bitter vapour. The direct hit against the canine's nostrils pushed the gas deeper down his windpipe and he could feel a tightness in his throat. He wanted to grasp at his neck. To squeeze it. Anything to keep the putrid gas out. But the dragon was keeping him pinned on the ground as he writhed helplessly.
"Three minutes," the dragon seemed to be enjoying himself. Opening his mouth again, he let out another breath of filthy air, following it up with a potent, rumbling burp that sent the dragon's nasty gases into the wolf's nostrils.
"Hnnng!" Axel whimpered as he tried to push the dragon off him with his free hand. The concentrated fog burned within him and he coughed violently to flush it out of the system. But each cough forced him to take in another breath of air, exacerbating his situation as his lungs were filled with the toxic air in the makeshift gas chamber.
His eyes started to water and he scratched weakly at the ground. Holding his breath only kept the burning sensation in his lungs, causing him pain. Instead, he took controlled and cautious gasps, letting the movement of air be the sole balm to his agony.
"Two minutes," Elrith counted, "Are you sure you don't want to give up? I can knock you out right now. You don't have to suffer through this."
Axel shook his head violently. His head was swimming and his vision was filled with bright lights. Still, he clung on to every bit of hope of making out of this predicament alive. Elrith, however, had no problem with finishing him off right there and then. The dragon took a deep breath and let rip a potent fart, containing it around them with his wings so that the canine was forced to take in every whiff of the pungent air.
These gastrointestinal fumes were incredibly toxic, enough to kill a fully-grown elephant. Axel must've sensed that as the air began to choke him and he quickly held his breath in response. He had to hang on. Surely this would end soon.
"One minute."
Soon. But one minute felt way too long as his lungs began to wrestle control from him. His was consciously fighting his body's instinctive response to breathe, but each second of oxygen-deprivation was making it harder and harder for him to hang on.
Just one breath. One breath and he'd hold it in till the end.
He opened his mouth and gasped for air but Elrith was waiting. The dragon let out a roar, belching the vilest, most putrid air straight into the canine's open maw. The potent poison in the breath hit the canine's lungs, flooding his bloodstream with the toxins. The canine started to writhe uncontrollably in spasms: the poison was searing at the tissues over his body.
"Thirty seconds."
He just had to hang on. He tried to open his eyes to look at the dragon. He had to stay conscious. He had to prove he could take it.
"Twenty seconds."
His vision was fading out again, leaving him in pitch blackness. Were his eyes even open? He didn't know. His body was just shivering weakly on the ground, fighting for his very life.
"Ten. Nine."
He...had...
"Eight. Seven."
To hold on...
"Six..."
"Five..."
The words were fading out in his head. And then everything went black for Axel.
Axel slowly came to with a painful, throbbing migraine. His vision was still swimming and he found it hard to hold a proper thought in his head but at least the pain indicated that he was still alive. Somewhat.
Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths. The air still stunk of the dragon's musk, although it was back the intensity of when he first came in. In comparison to the treatment he was subjected to earlier, the air felt cool and soothing to his burning lungs.
Slowly opening his eyes, he took stock of his situation. He was stripped down to his trunks and restrained against the wall in a spreadeagle position. Metal cuffs were crudely punched into the wall, trapping his wrists, ankles, neck, and tail beneath their unyielding grips.
"The dragon!" he thought, "He must've done this to me!" He gave the restraints a tug as he struggled but they showed no sign of giving. Instead, he looked around the cave to find Elrith sitting on his treasure trove, watching the trapped canine with an amused expression.
"Gah!" Axel grunted, "Stop playing around, hurry up and kill me."
"Kill you?" the dragon grinned incredulously as he got up to his feet, "I didn't say anything about killing you."
"What are you getting at?" the canine retorted in annoyance.
"Well, I promised you're not getting out of here alive, but that doesn't mean I'm going to kill you," Elrith smirked as he traced his claws over the wolf's chest, "I'm just going to keep you here. Forever."
"What the -- no! Let me out of here this instant!"
"But we've only just started!" Elrith feigned a hurt expression, "There're so many smells I want to subject you to. Each one stinkier, more putrid than the last."
"I refuse to -- ack!" Axel choked as the dragon blew a puff of fetid vapours straight at his face.
"Shush," Elrith instructed, "There's a lot more I want to try out on you. And if you think that whatever you had the first time was bad..." the dragon smiled teasingly at the choking wolf, "You'll be in for a huge surprise."
Axel recovered a little, enough to return the dragon's gaze with a glare of his own.
"Oh, don't worry," Elrith reassured mockingly, "I'll make sure you're well fed. It wouldn't be nice of me if I didn't take care of my new guests, would it?"
The canine wanted to retort but the threat of more noxious gases being breathed down his throat kept his mouth shut.
"But fair warning though," Elrith paused, watching Axel's expression with glee.
"My musk will be the only thing you'll smell for the rest of your life."
~ End ~