A Dull Dragon - 12
#12 of A Dull Dragon
Story and all characters (c) 2007 Yancarlo Ramsey. Please do not redistribute without written permission.
This is a work of adult fiction. If you get caught reading it, don't blame me.
- 12 -
I lay with my belly against Adrian's side, my foreleg over his narrower shoulders, my hindlegs tucked against my tail, and my wings outstretched behind me. His neck was twined over and around mine, and our heads lay side by side on the soft gravel. The sun shone down on us, warming our scales and our wings. It was peaceful, and comforting, and I wasn't thinking about anything at all.
If I had known then how long it would be before we had another such opportunity to simply be together and forget all our worries, I would have been even more loathe to let it end... And once again I am getting ahead of the story. I know Adrian would chastise me for teasing the readers, but it amuses me, and I shall write this as I see fit.
We had spent quite some time laying like that, but eventually thoughts began to intrude upon the tranquility, and those few hours of timeless peace and happiness came slowly to a close. I began to reposition myself, and Adrian lifted his head so that I could free my own. I stood, and so did he, though he had to be careful with his wing. We looked at each other, and I was certain even then that we were thinking the same thing. 'What now?'
In the end, it was he who spoke first.
"How long does it usually take for this sort of thing to heal?" he said, twitching his wing gently.
I frowned and 'shrugged' my own wings. "Perhaps a few days... Anything short of a break is usually fast to heal. One who can't fly is one who can't eat... for the most part."
Adrian considered for a moment. "Hmm. Speaking of which..."
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yes, I believe so. As new as this body is, it probably could use some food."
"I'll have to bring you something, then."
"I would appreciate that. Learning how to hunt like you do is going to be hard enough." He chuckled softly, and I snorted. It was surprising that he could laugh like that, even in this form, but I reminded myself that he'd been doing it his entire life. Perhaps it was out of habit rather than reflex.
"In a few days, you can try flying again, and once you're good enough at that, I can teach you how to catch a meal..."
"Oh, we shouldn't have to wait that long."
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
He winked at me, grinning as much as he could. "Well, while we were enjoying each other's caresses, I worked a bit of a healing spell..."
"Oh." I felt as if the gravel below my feet had turned to mud, all but the very surface upon which I was standing, which was ever so slowly sinking, sliding... Unstable. "But... I saw you favoring your wing just now..." I pointed out weakly.
Adrian had used what we did. Had turned it into a healing spell. That was good, right? I'd felt bad when I'd thought it was my fault he'd been injured. So why didn't I feel happy now that I knew he'd been able to do something about it? It wasn't like he'd done anything to hurt me. He was doing a healing spell.
While I was putting aside the last vestiges of lifelong prejudices, while I was throwing caution to the ground and doing things that would at best horrify most of my race if they knew the truth, while I was diving headlong through dense fog toward a landscape I'd never crossed in a future I couldn't even imagine... While I was opening my heart to him... He was doing a healing spell.
One that hadn't even done the full job, apparently.
"It'll take time to work, of course," he explained cheerfully. "I should be ready to fly again tomorrow, so long as I'm careful."
Ah, that was it. Of course it would take time. It was only a 'bit' of a healing spell, after all.
I knew I wasn't being fair. Magic does not work instantly. And if he hadn't done his spell at all, what difference would it have made? His shoulder would have taken longer to heal. Would that have made me feel better? I didn't wish he hadn't. I was ashamed to even think of wishing he hadn't. That would have been despicably selfish. And I was ashamed that I felt so hurt by the news that he had. It seemed so petty. I couldn't even justify thinking of it as an offense. And yet...
"Nuala...?"
I shook myself mentally and brought my attention back to the world around me. Adrian was giving me a concerned look. "I'm fine," I reassured him.
"Is something bothering you?"
"It's nothing," I replied, a little hastily. "I'm just thinking." That much was true, at least, and it seemed to satisfy him.
"Well, if it's something you'd like to talk about... Two heads are better than one, after all."
I could tell he didn't mean that as a joke, but the expression, and the image it created in my mind, seemed ridiculous at first. "What? - Wait, nevermind. I think I understand." I rolled my eyes and moved away, beginning to unfurl my wings. "I'm going to go hunt. I should be back around nightfall," I told him, looking back under my wing with a faint smile.
"Alright. Thank you, Nuala..." Adrian replied. He watched me contemplatively as I took to the air. And he stayed there until I was out of sight.
~
The hunting didn't go as quickly as I'd hoped. I kept becoming distracted by my thoughts, and missed a couple good opportunities because of my introspection.
I knew I couldn't blame Adrian for what he'd done. He couldn't have predicted how it made me feel. I doubt I could have either. And I doubt I would have felt that way if I'd known what he was doing beforehand. But the entire sequence of events had been completely unplanned, hadn't it?
Telling him why I was upset wouldn't help, either. That would just make him feel guilty, and there was no need for that.
I was falling in love, that much seemed obvious. But who was I falling in love with? Was it Adrian? Or was it some ideal drake that I had concocted in my mind? Could Adrian really be the dragon that I imagined him to be?
And that raised another question. What did Adrian think of ME? Despite the spell which had cloaked him in the guise of a dragon's body, he was human. I was a dragon, and hardly the most attractive one at that, despite what he might say. How could he possibly see me as a potential... mate? As anything more than a friend? Even that much was starting to seem unreal. But he had said it. He had called me his friend.
I clung to that thought as tightly as I clung to the auroch which I had finally managed to catch. With my shadow far to my left in the dying light of evening, I had surprised a small group of the cattle grazing in a scrubby meadow. I'd begun to think I'd have to turn back with empty talons, but then this perfect opportunity had presented itself. I fell upon one of them before it even realized I was there, and broke its neck as the others fled, bleating in distress. But once I departed, they would forget soon enough, and go back to their mindless grazing. A minute later I was towing the carcass into the air.
It wasn't a great burden, weighing as little as it did, but it was unwieldy, even for a female dragon. Normally I would fly a short distance away, to avoid undue stress to the remaining prey, and then I would land and eat. But this kill was not for me.
~
By the time I reached Adrian's cave, the auroch I deposited on the gravel looked as though it had put up quite a fight. And in a way it had, though only after it was already slain. I had nearly dropped it twice, my talons slipping and leaving sizeable gashes in its hide as I struggled to get a more secure grip on my prize. But once I set to work skinning it, the carcass quickly became just another hunk of dead meat.
Adrian came out of the cave as I worked. I didn't look up, but I heard the crunch of each footfall, and soon enough he came into view beside me. He spent some time just watching, but finally he spoke.
"You know, I just had a very strange thought..."
I looked up at him, and was momentarily preoccupied by the very idea of being able to look up at him, something that would have been nearly impossible before. "What was it?" I asked curiously.
"I have absolutely no idea how to eat like this."
It was true that I had described, in general terms, the kind of food dragons eat, but I'd said nothing of the details, nor had he thought to ask. I'd never imagined that it might become an issue. I could see that he was honestly baffled, and a little embarrassed. The look I gave him must have been equally baffled. He apparently found it quite amusing, and began to laugh. Soon I was doing my best to join in, although the sounds I made were more like snorts.
I think that was when I decided that perhaps I would tell him after all. Later. Another day. Maybe.
Right then, it was time to teach the human how to eat like the dragon he'd become.