{"sf1_id":604830,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Day is Just Dragon By","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2420,"posted_at":"2013-10-21T00:11:00.000Z","tags":["Dragon","Human","Marmoset","pirates"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/604830-the-day-is-just-dragon-by","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/604830","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=604830\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#13 of Robbin Red\n\nSqueezed out a few pages so that I won't lose track of the story line. Nothing is more embarassing than having to reread your own work.","content":"\n The\nnext morning, there was a bit of a scene at Huntchy's place, though no one\ncould really tell. Jon-Ton and his lady had a wonderful night, after a fitful\nstart. It seems she was reluctant to transform him, and only did so after\nstepping outside to collect her bearings. While she was outside, he wondered\nwhat was wrong with her. First she was interested, and then she was hesitant.\nHe knew females were fickle, but this was growing to be ridiculous. But he had\nsuddenly found himself a human once again, and when she came back inside, she\nwas more than ready to ruffle up the bed sheets.\n There\nis no need to go into details. Let's just say that it was enjoyable for both.\nBut come sunrise, she got a little nervous. Jon-Tom couldn't figure it out, and\nshe dismissed her behavior as hardly out of the ordinary. He had finally given\nup and rolled back over when he heard her voice; her human voice that is. As he\nflipped back, his nose wrinkled at the acridity in the air. It meant that magic\nhad just happened. Sure enough there was Sybeele, looking over at him with that\nenigmatic smile. He was beginning to think the girl was crazy. She was\ncertainly driving him nuts. It wasn't bad exactly, just a wavering between\nmoods like she needed a good dose of medication.\n \"Good\nmorning dear! What's the look for?\" He propped himself up on one elbow. \"It's\nfor you. I swear sometimes I don't know who I'm talking to. One minute you're\nmood is up, and another you're waffling on about this or that. If the sex\nwasn't so good, and if I didn't really have love in my heart for you, I call\nyou nuts and have you committed!\"\n She\nonly giggled. \"What with all this power I have at my disposal, where do you\nthink they could put me that would hold me?\" He grimaced. \"I tend to forget\nthat little detail. Then again, that power alone might be enough to unbalance a\nperson. I may need to keep an extra close eye on you!\" She giggled some more.\n\"Oh, you do that! And when your eyes aren't on me, maybe you'd better stick\nclose with your manliness inside me!\" He choked back a laugh. \"That sounds like\na good offer. Is it open?\" She got a wry grin. \"The offer or my legs?\" He pinched\nher on the butt. \"One goes with the other, I think!\"\n This\ntime she was ready to keep him human and find some excuse for his return to his\nnormal self and his civic duties. He put a halt to it. \"I'm just getting to\nknow Huntchy, and I think he has some good insight into things. So do me a\nfavor. Turn me back into a dragon and afterwards, drop off a few of these teeth\nto Pollwac.\" She groused a bit. \n \"The\nteeth are no problem, but I think it's time you got back to your duties. Don't\nyou?\" He shrugged, feeling as he did so his shifting into dragon form. \"I can\ndo a lot as a dragon. Heck, if there are any miscreants that need dealing with,\nbring them here. I'm sure I can get them to reform!\" She only wrinkled her nose\nat him. \"You still have everyone who bet on Huntchy's side to deal with. I'd suggest\nyou figure out something for them to do, otherwise they'll think you're a\nsoftie!\"\n He spit\nout a few smoke rings. \"Softie am I? I'll figure out something for them to do.\nIn the meantime, just postpone anything that requires me as a human until such time\nas I am feeling more like myself. I'm\nsure most everyone will understand.\" She giggled, kissed his sooty nose,\ncarefully picked up a few of the dagger like teeth, and departed.\n It\ndawned on him belatedly that he should have eaten first. In human form, his\nfood would have magically expanded to fill the need of the larger form. It was\na curious thing. Now he had to go hunting again, or fishing, or something. He\nwas still a fool at times. On occasion it was damn inconvenient. He was\npreparing to leave when he heard a knock from the inner door. That meant only\none possibility. \"Come on in. The place is yours after all!'\n The\nhorse pushed open the doors and sniffed the room delicately, hoping not to be\nnoticed. It was noticed. \"Yes, my wife was here again, as you well know. And I\nwas human yet again, as you must have figured. Why are you surprised?\"\n \"I'm\nonly surprised in that you're still here. Apparently your wife needs you around\n more than her anger will allow her to\nkeep you away. Or in this case, keep her from you. Don't you find that\nstrange?\"\n The\ndragon yawned, showing teeth nearly as formidable as those on the floor. He\npicked one up and idly played with it. The horse eyed him warily. \"Look my fine\nequine friend; women as a whole are mysterious in their ways. I thought we\ntalked about that. Sure she acts a bit weird, but that's never stopped two\npeople from loving each other. Sure she's hiding something, but with Eve\ninvolved, it could be anything. As I told you, I'm old. If death doesn't scare\nme, what else can? If all they wanted was my power, which my wife now carries,\nthey could have done away with me in the next second. Therefore, they need me.\nThus, I will worry about the most pressing needs, such as my present hunger.\"\nTo punctuate his words, a deep rumbling from his belly could be heard.\n In the\nnext instant a furious pounding erupted on the outside door. He pushed it open\nto see several frightened faces, including Graven's. \"My Lord Mayor, we are in\ndire trouble. Lookouts have spotted a pirate ship on the horizon, making their\nway here. The last time we suffered an attack, we lost many good creatures in\ntheir raid. Will you please do something?!\"\n Jon-Tom\nsat down on the cobbles. \"Pirates? I've had run-ins with them in the past. Are\nyou certain they're headed here?\" He was looking towards the bay, but unable to\nsee because of the buildings. In his mind, he was picturing that old parrot\ncaptain from so long ago. His end had befitted him; roasted and eaten by the\nhomeless in Las Vegas. But that was a world and centuries away. This was here\nand now.\n \"My\nLord, I fear the worse. We have not had pirates on this coast in years. But if\nthey gain any of the technology we develop here, and turn it to evil purpose,\nthen we do a disfavor to all who live along the ocean shores. Surely you can\nremedy this?\"\n The\ndragon stood up to his tallest, trying to peek over the rooftops. Even in this\nform he wasn't that tall. \"OK. Let's go down to the shore and see what we've\ngot to deal with. Perhaps I can persuade them to leave.\" He puffed out a bit of\nsmoke as emphasis.\n To save\ntime, he had everyone, with the exception of his host, climb aboard his back.\nThey then trotted off at a good pace, attracting a small parade of the curious.\nWhen they reached the beach, no ships could be seen. Graven explained. \"Our\nlookout is way over there,\" he said, pointing to an arm of land curving out\ninto the bay. Jon-Tom could discern a small lighthouse-type feature at the end.\nGraven continued. \"From that vantage point much can be seen well before anyone\nhere on shore would catch glimpse of it. That lookout has saved the day many\ntimes over the decades.\"\n Everyone\nclambered off, landing softly in the wet sand. The dragon was considering what\nto do. If he opened with a pre-emptive strike, and found the ship was not\npiratical in nature, he would feel bad for the damage he would have caused.\n\"Let them do what they will do, and we will answer in kind. Perhaps they are\nnot as they seem. If they are indeed pirates, then I believe I have a plan for\ndealing with them.\"\n There\nwere murmurs of unrest. \"My Lord, if they are indeed pirates, should we not\nassemble our guards? As it stands, none of us are armed in any way!\" Huntchy\ncoughed. The speaker eyed him angrily. \"Don't get smart with me horse! Your\nhooves will only do so much against armed invaders!\" \n Jon-Tom\ncoughed a little smoke, then let loose a lungful of flame that evaporated the\nwater on the sand and proceeded to melt it into a glasslike finish. Silence\nreigned, allowing the sound of the waves to gently fall on their ears. Then\nthere was a gulp. \"My apologies. I forget we have a dragon on our side.\"\n There\nwere only two ways the occupants of the ship could come on land. They would\neither have to enter the harbor and tie up the ship. That was off to the east.\nThe other was by lowering longboats and rowing to the beach. That was here. If\nthey were pirates, their ship would be a dead giveaway if seen up close. So the\nlogical choice was here.\n It was\nnearly two hours before the expected longboats came into view. The townspeople\nwere all sitting on a long ridge on sand, essentially a dune, where the\nelevation gave them a better view.  There\nwas no visible dragon in the area. Therefore, those doing the sitting were a\nbit on the anxious side. However, they remained in place as the boats pulled\ninto shore, filled with a motley crew of hyenas, badgers, weasels, a wolverine\nand a few shrews. They pretty much ran the gamut in size, but they were all equally\nferocious looking.\n Graven\nstood and carefully slid down the slope. The wolverine caught sight of him, but\nmade no immediate move. The little marmoset spoke. \"Welcome visitors. We are\nhere to see what assistance you might need. If your ship needs repairs, you are\nwelcome to enter the harbor. We have fine craftsmen who can fix nearly any\ndamage you might have suffered.\"\n A few\nguffaws rose from the sailors. \"Naw, our ship be fine mate. The only thing she\nlacks is a full belly, if you get my meaning. If you don't, have no fear. We be\nteaching you soon enough!\" Cutlasses and various blades were withdrawn from\ntheir scabbards. The remaining townsfolk slid off the ridge to flat ground, edging\nslowly away from the pirates and their weapons. But Graven tried again.\n \"We\noffer our hospitality to you. There is no need for bloodshed.\"\n The\nwolverine snarled. \"No need? There may not be a need mate, but there is a\ndesire. You didn't go thinking we joined up on this adventure just because we\nwas cute little tourists wishing to see the world? Nay. We want gold, and blood\nand females. When we gets what we wants, then we'll leave, and no sooner. As\nfor your hospitality, I'll show you some of mine!\" His sword arm rose as he\nstrode forward, evil glittering in his eyes. \n All at\nonce the ridge exploded. A head hovered in the air above him; a fierce, scaly\nhead with a mouth filled with teeth. And it spoke. \"You were shown kindness.\nYou intend to repay it with death. Where I'm from there's a saying; an eye for\nan eye, and a tooth for a tooth. I would still like to spare you, but two\nthings are against it. One, if I did, you either would return, or at the very least\nharass others along the coast.\"\n A few\npirates were scrambling to get back into the boats. Most had dropped their\nweapons. A few had loosed their bowels. The wolverine was frozen where he was.\n\"What be the second thing?\" His voice quavered. \"Jon-Tom picked his teeth with\nhis enormous toenails. \"Oh that.\" He glared down without mercy. \"The second\nthing is...I'm famished!\" A jet of flame shot out and over their heads. Frozen no\nlonger, the wolverine raced to the boat and began rowing with all his might.\n Cheers\nerupted from the townsfolk. But Jon-Tom was watching them as they rowed back\nout to their ship. He knew that this was not the end of their raid. They had\nmade the opening gambit, so now he was free to make his own move. He hated\nbullies. He hated mindless killers. And particularly, he hated pirates. His\npresent size and body made dealing with them all too easy. That necessitated\ndiscretion on his part. The easiest thing to do would be to allow them to\nreturn to their ship, and then set it on fire. Out away from shore, the\nlikelihood that they would make it to shore alive was slim.\n His\ndecision was made for him. It turns out one longboat had made shore somewhere else\nand made off with a few females who happened to be in the wrong place at the\nwrong time. Worse yet, they were girls from the school. He was about to be chivalrous\nwhen Sybeele stormed up to him. \n \"Are\nyou handling this, or am I?\" He was uncertain which of them would be the best\nsolution to the problem. Before he had a chance to answer, the missing girls\nwere standing in front of them, looking both alarmed and relieved. His wife\nsaid in a stern voice, \"They are safe now. It's up to you to handle this the\nbest way you see fit. But know this dear; if I don't like your solution, I will\ninvent one of my own that will show those bastards just what the wrath of a\nwoman really is!\"\n That\nleft him in a lurch. He did have a solution, actually a solution to two problems.\nHowever, never in his days had he killed an intelligent being for food. The\nidea appalled him. But then, so did killing. But if he did not, it would be\nlike letting loose the ravages of the Plated Folk. Worse actually, the more he\nthought about it. Plated Folk simply killed warmlanders. Death was a more\ngracious thing than rape and torture. Death was usually quick; the latter\nprolonged, painful and humiliating. Something in him snapped. With a downbeat,\nhe launched into the air.\n"}