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Dealing with Dragons (Glob!) [M]

Started by DragonSong, November 03, 2016, 01:04:28 PM

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DragonSong

@Dauphin DaGlobster

She'd never run so fast in her life. Panting desperately for air, Elora wove her way through the tall grasses of the plains, praying to any gods that would listen that she wouldn't be spotted.

Her bare feet were bleeding with every step she took, a stolen blade clutched tightly in her hand, occasionally hacking at a stubborn plant in her way.

Don't look back, don't look back, just keep moving, she chanted to herself over and over as what felt like an eternity crawled by. Gods, where was she? How long had she been running? She had no idea, she just knew she couldn't stop, not now, not even if it killed her.

She'd rather die on her feet than go back to that.

Lungs burning, heart racing, eventually her exhausted legs betrayed her. Her knees buckled and she collapsed, covering her mouth to stifle a cry as she rolled a few feet, then came to a stop. Immediately she curled in on herself, sword raised just slightly over her head in a defensive position as she dragged in ragged gasps of air.

The grass and turf tore at her bare skin and she closed her eyes against a thousand dull pains demanding her attention. Come on, stand up! You have to keep moving! Go, go, GO! her mind screeched at her.

Swallowing a desperate wail, she forced herself back to her feet and kept running.

DaGlobster

What a lovely day for flying, thought Merradin as he came coasting over the peaks of the mountains and saw the seemingly endless plains come into view. He loved to fly over them on occasion, finding a rare sort of zen in the way they just seemed to roll on and on.

A beat of his wings had him rocketing forwards ever faster, carried by the winds he manipulated. He closed his eyes, taking in the sounds and scents of the plains beneath him. Wild grasses, running water, blood, the chill of the air...

His eyes opened.

Blood?

Curiously, he glanced downwards. He spotted the trail of trampled grasses and bloody prints before the source itself, and even then, his curiosity was piqued ever further. A naked woman with a sword running across the plains? And one that looked like she could make only a few more steps before passing out at that?

Intent on observing for a bit longer, he banked and slowed down considerably, keeping pace as he flew directly above her.

DragonSong

A cloud. Oh thank heavens, something was blocking the sun from beating down on her. It had been a frigid plains night when she'd escaped, but by now the grasses had heated to a near unbearable temperature. She chanced a glance upward to see how large the cloud was, how much shade she could count on-

And froze. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.

She was Adelan. She was no stranger to dragons- even if they made her a little nervous at the best of times- but she'd never seen anything like this. The creature was massive!

And wild. Very wild. She would know if someone in her own military partnered a beast like that.

Great. She'd escaped only to be eaten alive. Maybe literally.

Still shaking, Elora raised the sword over her head to show the creature that she was armed, but no sooner had she done so when her legs gave out again and she collapsed into the grass, panting desperately.

Feeling as though each breath cut her lungs, she threw any caution she'd held to the wind and shrieked, "If you're going to kill me just get it over with!"

DaGlobster

Well, it was certainly a brave response, if nothing else. Of course, Merradin had no desire to eat this poor human, regardless of her requests. Silently, he watched as she collapsed to the ground, seemingly giving up on life altogether.

He descended slowly, still circling, until he suddenly stopped flapping. He fell down until he was a mere fifty feet above the ground before opening his wings, aloft once again on magical winds. He hovered like that for a few more moments before he landed, slowly approaching her with his eyes switching between Elora herself and the curved blade she was holding.

Now that he was closer, he could smell other things on her. It smelled like horse, but also slightly off, and the scent was all over her.

DragonSong

Still shaking, Elora watched as the dragon descended. She swallowed nervously- it was like he just kept getting bigger.

Once he was close enough for her to see his eyes- she assumed the creature was male, but she'd never been very good at differentiating dragons' sexes- she allowed the sword to drop point first into the dirt, leaning on it like it was a cane.

She stared at the creature, panting. "I'd rather you than him," she murmured. "Please..." Her voice wavered. "Please, if you're not going to eat me, just end me quickly. Please."

Like most in the  Adelan military, she'd been taught a bit of Draconic. She had no idea if this wild dragon would understand her, if the vague words she remembered would translate, but she tried. "Please. Help me."

DaGlobster

Ah, so she was Adelan, then. He had a hunch from how she looked, but the draconic sealed it for him.

Of course, he knew what she was saying in common as well, but that wasn't important at the moment. Merradin got close. So close, in fact, that if she wanted to swing at his snout with her sword, she could. The air around him just seemed to tingle with energy.

His eyes were curious, almost friendly, and after a few moments, he narrowed his eyes at her, and they glowed as he cast a spell, trying to force her into succumbing to her tiredness. He wanted to pick her up and help her, but he didn't want her knowing where his hoard was, either!

"Rest now," he said in excellent common, directing the spell towards her.

DragonSong

Elora bit back a whimper as the dragon approached, but she managed to hold her shaky ground. She lifted the blade but didn't strike, rather keeping it poised at the ready.

She'd asked for this, hadn't she? She shouldn't fight if he was going to do what she wanted.

What she wasn't expecting was the magic. Her eyes fluttered and she swayed. "N-no..." Instinctive terror clawed at her chest; the last time a stranger had sent her into unconsciousness burned in her memory. "No, please..."

But she was so tired, so tired. Her eyes fluttered closed and she collapsed to her side. Her hand still gripped the sword, even in sleep, and her brow was drawn into a fearful sort of frown.

DaGlobster

Poor thing. Merradin stood over her, and gently scooped her up in his claw. He made sure she was secure before he straightened up and spread his wings. A magical wind carried him off the ground silently, and with a beat of his wings he was heading skyward, banking back around towards his home.

----------

When Elora woke up, she'd find herself in an incredibly comfortable bed with all of her injuries healed, wearing a thin yet opaque silk robe. She'd find her sword sitting against the doorframe, the blade wrapped in cloth. She was in someone's bedroom, that much was true, but the riches there were nigh unbelievable. There was probably more money in this one room than an Essyrni merchant prince's entire house.

There wasn't a door to this room. Instead, the bed faced a wide archway that led into a room with a gently bubbling bathbasin set into a marble floor. It seemed that this small, incredibly opulent house was built around that central room, with a kitchen, dressing room, and a study that featured a comfortable arrangement of cushions in front of a magical blue fire, tall bookshelves stacked with books both incredibly ancient and remarkably new, and a shelf of wine bottles.

It seemed she was alone.

DragonSong

The first thing she registered was the feel of what felt like a thousand cuts and bruises- but they didn't hurt nearly as much as they should have. In fact, she felt rather...comfortable.

Her eyes flew open and she shot upright, gasping. Where the hell was she? She looked around wildly and bolted out of the bed, lunging for the sword.

Unfortunately, she was still weak enough that her legs decided now would be a good time to just take a break. She collapsed to her knees, panting, and clutched the robe tighter around her body as she looked around.

"Oh my gods..." she breathed as she really took in the opulence around her. This was...unreal. Like something out of a story...

Her eyes widened further. No, that was ridiculous. She was delirious, that was all.

But- it must have been that dragon, right? How else would she end up here?

DaGlobster

The sounds of powerful wings beating disrupted the silence, followed by the slight rumble of something massive landing outside the home. Graceful, yet thudding footsteps got closer and closer, until they seemed to be right outside the small house.

Suddenly, lightning flashed and crackled, the light piercing the velvet curtains in front of the windows as the footsteps turned into a more human sounding gait.

The front door, which was a set of exquisitely carved wooden double doors, gently swung open to reveal Merradin wearing his human form and dragging the body of a plains buffalo behind him. Immediately, his eyes shot to her.

DragonSong

Elora cried out at the flash of light, throwing her hands up defensively. She staggered to her feet and finally managed to get ahold of her stolen blade, shakily holding the sword up as she whirled to face the front door.

Her eyes widened at the sight of a human man- not what she was expecting. A thrill of fear that she hated shot up her spine.

Honestly, she would have preferred the dragon.

"Wh-who are you?" she demanded, voiced raspy and shaky. "Where am I?"

DaGlobster

Merradin took in how she was standing, and continued to drag the buffalo into the home, although he made sure to giver her a wide berth. Funnily enough, the buffalo had been killed bloodlessly, the only mark of a fight being a single, precise hole burned into its skull.

He set the buffalo down, and offered her a warm smile.

"My name is Merradin, and this is my home," he said, motioning to the small, opulent house around them. He motioned to the horns that were still visible in this form.

"I'm the dragon who found you out on the plains."

DragonSong

Her eyes went even wider. "Merradin? That-" The name sounded familiar. Why?

She took a shaky step back, but allowed the tip of her sword to dip toward the ground. "I've never met a dragon with a human avatar before," she said, trying to sound flippant despite her obvious wariness and exhaustion.

Her eyes skated over him again. "Why did you help me?" she whispered.

DaGlobster

"You haven't seen a dragon in human form before?" Merradin said, cocking an eyebrow up. He shrugged.

"I figured that for an Adelan, this would be available knowledge."

He finished dragging the buffalo towards the kitchen, and then moved over so he could properly converse with her.

"Well, it's not like I was going to kill you! Why would I do that?"

DragonSong

"I know of your kind with such abilities," Elora defended herself automatically. "I've just never met one."

When he moved forward she had to fight the urge to skitter back a step. She was a knight of the realm, dammit! What had happened didn't change that.

She set her jaw and straightened her spine, head high. "I've heard some wild dragons don't take kindly to humans. I wasn't sure if you were one of them," she said as blithely as she could manage. Glancing around, she added, "Where are we, anyway. You don't...live here, do you?"

That seemed awfully inconvenient for someone of his natural size, though she supposed for the human form it would be quite comfortable.

DaGlobster

Merradin smirked.

"Of course I live here," Merradin said, and he moved to start walking back outside. He motioned for her to follow him. If she did, she'd find that this small, incredibly luxurious home sat smack-dab in the middle of the largest treasure hoard she would ever see in her life.

"It'd be improper of me to find some other house to live in away from my hoard," he said.

DragonSong

Elora's jaw dropped. "Demons above and below!"

Eyes wide, she looked at the splendor around her, then flicked her eyes to the dragon. "Merradin," she whispered. "You- you're not- you can't be- there are stories..."

She trailed off, not sure herself if she was asking him anything or not.

DaGlobster

"I've read all the stories about the legendary Lightning Eater," Merradin said, turning to her.

"I don't quite know where you Adelans got the idea that I eat lightning, but that is what you've decided to call me."

DragonSong

"So it is you." She should be more shocked, probably, more afraid.

But she was just too tired. She rubbed her temples and sighed. "Yes. Silly humans, making up stories. Although they seem to have hit the mark about your hoard," she noted with a wave of her hand.

Eyes flicking up to meet his, she asked quietly, "Why am I here, Merradin? Really. What interest could one lost human woman hold for someone like you?"

DaGlobster

"Well," Merradin started, and he took a few steps towards her, but again, not too close.

"It's not like I could just leave you there. So I brought you back here. Healed you," he said. His sharp eyes remained locked onto hers, and then he smiled.

"I can tell you're exhausted. Why don't you return to bed? Dinner will be ready soon."

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