The Dragon Under my Bed

A high-class scuffle

After the events of yesterday, Zagem told me that we could not leave the cave under any circumstances, Which I agreed with almost immediately, The trap and footprints were enough to convince me.

"Now it's just a matter of time before he makes himself known." Zagem had said as we put the boulders back.

"And what happens when he does?" I had asked.

"We'll just have to hope we're in a good position to fight him," Zagem said.

I had a lot of time to kill in the tunnels today, and I recalled the conversation and decided to ask Zagem about it, Perhaps I could get him to share a story or something afterward. After the latest events, I almost forgot about how much I enjoyed our conversations.

"Hey Zagem, Remember what you told me yesterday? About being in a good position to fight, I mean."

Zagem looked up at me. "I suppose. What about it?"

I sat down next to him, nearly sitting on his tail in the process. "If he does find us, we're going to have to fight this guy. I guess what I'm saying is... Can you even do that?"

"Do what? fight? Well, I've had my fair share of brawls with some uncooperative prey who did not want to die quietly, So I suppose I can fight."

"Other than animals," I said. "Have you ever foughten a human before?" I asked.

Zagem got up and stretched, yawning. "In all my years, I've never fought against a humanoid. I've never needed to. Although, that might change in my adult years."

I sighed. "You've never foughten a human and you're about to go up against a legendary dragon slayer? You haven't thought of that?"

Zagem shook his head. "Of course I thought of it, small one, I admit, this is one of the flaws to this plan."

"What's the other?"

"Running out of food. But anyways, We may not be able to take this human, but I have a secret weapon that has never failed me."

"What's that?"

"My Desire, Young one." He said.

I nearly rolled my eyes. "Your desire? Isn't that another way to say, love? In case you forgot, you told me that a dragon has a desire for someone, as in another dragon."

"...And you may have forgotten that I said a dragon has a desire for someone OR something. You forgot that last part there." Zagem said, trying to claw open a pack of jerky. "You see, Desire can be 2 things, a desire for another being, or a desire for something else, such as treasure or in this case, my desire."

"What's your desire?" I asked.

"The desire to survive, small one," Zagem said, running his great tail down my shoulder. "Every dragon's goal in life is to survive long enough to mate. Well, probably not EVERY dragon, but still. I'm right now filled with the desire to get out of here alive and live to see another sunrise. And it may sound foolish, but I believe that if my desire is strong enough, we'll be able to slay this human and live to see tomorrow."

"Wow, your outlook on this has certainly changed," I said.

"Indeed," Zagem said. "Although desire is great, I also have a little something to get us through this, Garret. I have you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not wanting to know where this was going.

"While a 1 on 1 fight is good, 2 against 1 is better, Garret," Zagem said, getting into a defensive position. "I've been thinking it for a while. We should at least train you, at least a little bit."

I moved back a little, worried that Zagem would spring on top of me.

"In the event of, and its very likely, of about, we must work on your battle skills, small one," Zagem said, baring his teeth threateningly, then smiling.

"Zagem, how the heck are we going to do this? I can't fight, I don't have claws and teeth, I don't even have a weapon. Also, how are we going to work on my battle skills,' exactly?"

"Use this." Zagem walked over to the small pile of food and brought back two small pieces of metal, he placed them in my hand, and I recognized them to be the blades from the dragon trap. "I found another trap and broke the blades off while you slept. You now have a weapon. Now, for your opponent, your greatest foe yet, me!" Zagem got back into his defensive posture.

"Zagem, I can't fight you. One, I don't know how to fight, and two, I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't worry about me. in a fight, the only thing that matters is your own life, don't worry about how much your wounds hurt, don't think about the weather, just think about you and your opponent." Zagem examined his claws. "And this is why we're doing this, so you can learn how to fight. you understand?"

"I guess..." I said nervously.

"Very well. We'll fight now. Your goal is to get me into a vulnerable position and strike my underbelly. Don't though, it's very soft. Just get me vulnerable, and ill tell you to stop. Understood?"

"Sounds pretty straightforward," I said, although that wasn't true, I was terrified, to be honest.

"Very well, Now, we shall begin... NOW!"

In a flash, Zagem leaped at me and grabbed my neck with his teeth, he didn't bite down, thank god, but I could still feel his teeth against my neck. I was on the floor within seconds, pinned down, absolutely helpless. Zagem got up and shook himself.

"Nice try, small one. But you wouldn't last a second against him."

I got up and brushed the dirt off myself. "You didn't even give me a chance to react!" I said angrily.

"You think this human is going to give you a moment to react? If you thought so, you are mistaken. You have to be quick, tough, and you can't give up do fast, you didn't even put up a fight when I pinned you!"

"Alright then, you big lizard. Let's go again." I said, gripping my duel shanks tightly. Zagem backed away from be and crouched low, we circled each other for a moment, before Zagem spoke again.

"Go on, strike! what are you waiting for?"

I continued to circle him, hoping he'd lower his guard for at least a second.

"MAKE YOUR MOVE, COWARD!" he roared. Despite everything, this was rather fun. Then, I saw my moment. I dashed forward to slash him on the neck, but my attack failed as he swept his tail under my legs and I tripped, falling to the ground. He pinned me down and I struggled for a moment before I gave up.

"How's that for a big lizard?" Zagem chuckled, still on me.

Angry, I used my shank and slashed across his paw, blood pouring out of the wound. Zagem roared in pain and released his weight off of me. I aimed another slash at his neck, metal colliding with scale. Zagem roared again, and I used the moment to get into a position where I could stab the shank through his neck.

"That's how you do it! I knew you had it in you!" Zagem said.

I got out of my death hold and met Zagem. "I never knew I had that in me either!" I said. I noticed the wounds I had inflicted. "Aw, I'm sorry for that. Those must have hurt."

"They did," Zagem said, licking his bloody paw. "But don't worry about it, what matters is you learned something."

"You think we have a chance at beating the dragon slayer?" I asked.

Zagem thought for a moment. "It's very likely, after all, you have the best teacher, who happens to be a dragon for that matter!"

"Thanks for this, Zagem. This was awesome." I said, trying to look cool by licking the blood of one of my shanks. (Which was NOT as cool as they make it look like in the movies, I almost cut my tongue, and dragon blood tastes like sulfur.)

"You're very welcome," Zagem said. "Just don't ever call me 'big lizard,' again."