Rage and smoke boiled out of its snarling mouth. Vicious teeth immaculately decorated the impressive green snout. Nostrils emitted twirls of smoke that added further mystery around its dangerous diamond-shaped red eyes. It was a monstrous lizard. “FEAR ME!” The words echoed around the cavern, and a white light began to shine through its jaws, which was the precursor to its searing flames. It lifted its body using its bulging forearms, angling its neck and head closer towards the quaking knight.
Trapped in paralysing fear, the knight, Thorn, could only notice odd details. Like how the bed of gold the dragon was sitting on was primarily made of intricately minted coins. How the green scales of the dragon’s back legs were cracked with flaking scales. How the claws on the dragons’ legs were caked in dry blood. She knew she was staring at her doom, but in a fit of bravery she hadn’t realised she possessed, she defiantly emerged from her fear paralysis and, launching into action, readied her sword. This was her way of throwing back the anxiety and doubt that had plagued her for years. This was her way of rebelling against the men who stood in her way and constantly doubted her. This was her way of spitting in the face of the suitors who didn’t like the scratches on her face and calluses on her hands. She would die, but she would die with fire in her blood, shouting against the world that had conspired against her.
The dragon paused in its vicious display. It seemed curious. Thorn would not look a gift horse in the mouth and immediately sprang forward, sword raised and striking towards the beast’s mouth. Perhaps, she thought, it would be like any beast, and once it saw that its prey was no easy meal, it would back off and leave her be. The dragon pulled its head back, its neck arching sharply. Her sword swung down and missed its target, but she used its momentum to twirl around and bring her sword back into another swing. This time, the dragon raised its eyebrows, which, if she hadn’t been so full of adrenaline, would have noticed that it was a distinctly human thing for it to do. Instead of avoiding her swing, it used one of its powerful forearms to bat away her sword casually, and such was its strength that Thorn couldn’t maintain her grip. The sword flew away onto the mountain of gold coins, and the ringing sound of metal landing on metal echoed inside the cavern. Instead of attacking, the dragon continued to peer at Thorn inquisitively, head still arched back. There was no smoke coming from its mouth now.
“What now, beast! Will you play with your food!” She clenched her fists, her gauntlets forming steel mallets. She wondered whether anyone at the castle would remember her for her bravery rather than as a curiosity, the girl who refused to play with dolls and who enjoyed the hard training set by the master at arms. The girl had more skill than all the boys. This was to be her name-making. She dreamed of slaying this dragon, earning its wealth and building her own dynasty.
“Woman”, the dragon’s voice was as sinister and breathy as it looked. It was a hoarse whisper, no doubt resulting from the smoke and fire from its mouth. Thorn was stunned. “You speak?”
“Woman, why are you here?” The dragon’s voice was viciously raspy as if made of ash and smoke.
She looked up, staring into those red diamond eyes. The dragon met her gaze and suddenly raised its head towards the cavern’s roof. A gout of flame was launched into the air, lighting the cavern for an instant. It angled its head down again.
“Woman”, the dragon rasped. “Respite.”
Thorn was starting to get confused; since when were dragons talkative? “Say your piece, beast.”
The dragon opened its maw to its full extent, and fire danced within its throat, lighting its enormous jaws and putting its sharp teeth on frightening display.
“Res…..pite…” its jagged voice repeated, and it opened its jaws to reveal the inside of its mouth. Thorn wondered whether the dragon was trying to tell her something. She focused her eyes on the inside of the dragon’s jaw. There was ash in various places, some of it caking the teeth. But there were also angry red burn marks on its throat. They looked painful. The dragon closed its jaws and again said, “Respite…”
She opened her mouth and pointed inside her jaw. “Pain?” She asked, wondering at the ludicrous situation she was in. The dragon lifted its head and roared towards the cavern ceiling, a continuous stream of fire illuminating the vast rock structures above. It wasn’t the roar of an attacking beast. Thorn was halfway believing it was the roar of relief. The dragon stopped roaring and looked down upon Thorn again, its red eyes glistening. Surely, its eyes weren’t watering!
“Relieeeeef,” the dragon was almost pleading now. Thorn was sure now that the dragon was in a lot of pain. She pondered the notion of taking one of the conveniently available wheelbarrows that must have been used to deliver gold coins, going outside onto the mountain trail, and bringing the dragon back a heap of snow to soothe its throat.
The dragon’s following words were even more surprising “Peeeeeace”, it whispered.
Thorn was experiencing some very strange emotions. “I am here to make a name for myself”, she pleaded, “I need to kill you or at least take your gold.”
The dragon must have understood something of what she said, “Goooooold?” It said, again raising its eyebrows in an almost human gesture. At this, the dragon moved one of its forearms down, partitioned a fortune of gold coins lying beneath it, and pushed them towards Thorn as if they were nothing. It opened its jaws again to show the angry red rashes inside its mouth. It closed its mouth again and now sounded like it was begging, “reeeeeespite” It paused, “pleeeeeease.”
Thorn had never been more confused in all of her life. She eyed the gold coins, a fortune that would be enough to set her life up away from the castle. She could hire a squire or offer a marriage dowry that would make people ignore the scratches and scars earned over a lifetime of training. She looked at a nearby wheelbarrow and walked towards it. Her armour seemed to weigh much more than usual in these ridiculous circumstances.
The dragon eyed her suspiciously. It was remarkable how she could read its face. She lifted the wheelbarrows and looked at the dragon, fixing on its eyes. “I will return”, she said. The dragon’s red eyes narrowed. Thorn wondered how many times the dragon had tried to ask for help, and people had ignored it. She was willing to bet a lot of money that most other knights were the type to not even consider it. She pushed the wheelbarrow towards the cavern entrance, the air getting cooler the further away from the dragon she walked. She exited the cavern and broke out in a trot, eager to see how this would end. She didn’t need to go far; the whole mountain was covered in snow. She used her gauntleted hands to pile as much snow onto the wheelbarrow as possible. She was breathing hard by the time she finished but hurried back all the same. The dragon eyed her return with interest; she idly wondered how good its eyesight was. It must have taken it a while to understand what she had brought back. Did she need to demonstrate to the dragon what it needed to do? She was halfway towards putting her hand inside the snow to show the dragon before it extended its long neck and plunged its jaws into the snow. She stepped back, startled by the sudden movement. She could hear it sucking and licking the small pile of snow. Before long, the dragon had consumed or melted all of the snow. It reeled back contentedly. It took a deep breath and smiled. The effect was intimidating, its eyes now locked again on Thorn, looking mischievous. “I suppose you’re wondering whether I’ll snap your body in half with a single bite?”
Thorn was almost as stunned by this new, eloquent, softly spoken accent as she was when she thought she was about to be burned to a crisp. “Oh ho,” the dragon said. It spoke like it’d been tutored with the princes back at the castle. “There is nothing worse than the raw and violent effect upon my throat that comes from breathing fire. Unfortunately, it’s an involuntary fight-or-flight response when I feel threatened.” It shook its head as if lamenting this quirk in its biology. “Now then, what’s our next step here?” It asked.
Thorn hadn’t yet managed to close her mouth from the shock of hearing this beast talk like a nobleman. “Erm, yes, the gold?” She offered.
“Of course, yes, you may take the portion of gold we agreed upon.”
“And…my sword?”
At this, the dragon peered at me suspiciously, its brow furrowing. “That depends. Will you immediately try to slay me so that you can earn fame and fortune with your peers? Is this gold not enough?” All of a sudden, the dragon seemed a lot more menacing. The prospect of having to battle the dragon again and the adrenaline and fear that had been playing all over her emotions broke her reluctance to speak to the dragon, and she couldn’t stop herself from trying to explain, “I’m a woman! I don’t get any respect in the castle; the other knights are all waiting to hear that my burnt and half-eaten body has been found on the road. I don’t have anything against you or dragons in general. But if I somehow managed to kill you and take your gold, everyone would have had to respect me.”
The dragon threw its head back and laughed uproariously. It rocked back onto its haunches, and its laugh consumed it for a few long moments. Either dragons were far more complicated creatures than we had given them credit for, or this particular dragon was a genetic genius.
The dragon recovered and even used its forearms to wipe tears from its eyes. “I never usually have the opportunity to speak to humans,” it said. “They usually only want one thing, and so inevitably, our conversations are cut short. But on the rare occasions I have spoken to them, I’m always highly amused by how petty their lives are.”
Typically, Thorn would have been rather annoyed to have been called petty. However, she still hadn’t gotten used to the idea that this apex predator, who appeared to have a high level of intelligence, was not about to rip her head off with a casual swipe of its claw.
It continued talking, but now its tone was a little more business-like, “How can you help me, Mistress Knight?” She was a little taken aback by the question. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that the dragon could want something from her beyond a mild snack. “Erm..what do you want? I don’t have much influence. Truth be told, I’m not even a knight. I should be, though! I’m more skilled in arms and strategy than any of the other knights, but to become a knight, you have to be knighted by another knight…or a king.”
The Dragon looked like he was struggling to contain another fit of laughter, but instead of rolling around on his bed of coins again, he asked, “What does being a knight give you?”
Thorn acknowledged that dragons probably weren’t in tune with the politics around living with other people and the hierarchies and influence that prestige could unlock, so her answer was short but direct: “Power. Being a knight gives people power. Power over yourself to be your own person sometimes, power over others to make your life easier, power to gain the respect of others.”
“How many knights does the king have?” Asked the dragon, who was now suspiciously interested.
“Well, I haven’t counted them”, replied Thorn, “but at a guess, probably around 100, and most of those knights will likely have another 200 people who they could call as men at arms.”
“So the knights are actually the kings’ power?”
“Yes, I suppose they are,” Answered Thorn, who was feeling a little fatigued now that the adrenaline had drained out of her system. She sat down on the floor.
“So, if I wanted to start my own kingdom, could I start by knighting my own soldiers?”
She supposed he was right, but what knights would pledge their loyalty to a dragon? Most knights dreamed of killing dragons to make a name for themselves.
“Many of the knights come from already rich families,” she said, “which is why they tend to have their own small armies.”
The dragon dismissed this by waving at the masses of gold coins littered around the cavern. She idly wondered how a dragon could collect so many gold coins. She picked one up and was surprised to see it was minted with an image of the dragon. She looked up at the dragon and saw it eyeing her quizzically.
“What would happen, Miss Knight, if a dragon knighted you? I could make you incredibly rich. You could build your own castle,” It said. There was a glint in its eye now. “I’d only ask that if anyone else finds they want to be knighted, you send them up to see me.”
Thorn struggled for words for a few moments….” Knights have to go through a lot of training..” she said.
The dragon smiled mischievously. “No doubt my first knight will serve as a great trainer for my future army.” Thorn was left speechless; she wanted to be a knight more than anything in the world, but like this? She was already treated like a black sheep and a laughing stock. If she returned and started claiming to be a dragon knight, her reputation might be damaged to the point where she’d be exiled. The dragon reached over and plucked her fallen sword from the floor. It raised it to its eye level and peered expertly at the workmanship of the blade. It cleared its throat loudly, puckered its lip and blew a thin stream of blue flame at the blade, moving up and down the length of the metal. This carried on for several minutes, all the time Thorn watched, fascinated. The dragon finished its work by pinching the blade’s edge with its claws and, in a shower of sparks, scraped down all along the blade. It then placed the sword in the remains of the pooling snow that Thorn had previously wheeled in. There was a hissing sound as the intensely heated blade met the relative cold of the water. “Take that with you.” It said, “That blade can now cut through armour like butter,” It winked at Thorn, which was unsettling. “Arise, Sir Dragon Knight, take your gold and blade and build me a kingdom. I will be around to check on your progress.” With that, the Dragon curled up its body, closed its eyes and went straight to sleep.
