"Who dares enter my lair...?"breathed a deep and ancient voice, the stone walls of the cave themselves
reverberating with the question.
The young man sitting on his knees didn't flinch as he stared straight ahead into the darkness ahead of him, though
his body continued to tremble as two shining, purple eyes appeared in the inky blackness. The predatory slits at
their center drew closer and closer, and wider and wider, until it seemed as if the eyes that were staring at him-
scrutinizing him-would fill the massive cave all on their own.....
Then he saw the teeth
The dragon's head had emerged from beyond the black veil it was hiding behind, its nostrils flaring as puffs of
undoubtedly magical fire illuminated not only the cave, but the beast's massive, dripping, gnashing Fangs
Like a mouth full of swords, they rubbed and grinded against each other, each one tapering to a sickening sharp
point that promised a swift and painless death.
If you were lucky
"What are you doing here, boy?"the beast breathed once more, every hair on the young man's body standing
on end.
"I was chosen to be your offering "came the reply, meek and mild, but clear and unwavering all the same.
"A sickly thing like you...? You're naught but skin and bone... There isn't an ounce of meat on you!
If this is how I am to be insulted, then I shall have to remind them wh-"
At that, the boy spoke up all on his own, no longer satisfied with replying only when spoken to.
"As an orphan... No one would miss me. My village- Everyone would be better off without me..... One less mouth
to feed, and one unable to work the soil, hunt, or pull in a fishing net.. I was- I was disposable..."
"WHAT!?" The beast's voice quaked with rage, its hors like scythes that could reap even stone grinding against
the roof of the cave in a clear show of that anger. "Not only do they insult me by offering someone they consider to be 'disposable, but they judge a BOY who looks like he's been a MAN no longer than a single winter by what he is, and not what he COULD BEI? I'LL RAZE THEM TO THE GROUND FOR THIS!"
As the chattering of the young man's teeth grew loud enough for the dragon to hear, the beast cut its rant short,
staring down her 'offering' once more.
"Do I scare you, boy?" it asked, no less quietly or deeply, but somehow more softly.....
"Yes, but..." The human was practically vibrating with how hard he was shaking. It seemed as if he might even be
on the verge of crying...
"But...?" came the reply, softer still, clearly intrigued by what more the man could say in such a situation.
I'm not afraid of you right now. Or of Or of what's going to happen to me. It's just r-really c-cold... " the boy
admitted at last, trying his best to hold his body and quell the shaking he feared would offend the dragon.
"Cold...?" the creature breathed, turning its senses to just outside its cave where the wind was howling a cold
sombre note. "Cold "it said again, almost imperceptibly quiet this time.
A puff of fire in the young man's direction seemed to stop the worst of his shaking before the dragon pull its head
into the darkness again, reappearing a minute later along with a bear-skin flung at the human's feet.
"Stop your rattling... I prefer my meals HOT."
With shaky fingers, the bear-skin was wrapped around the man in seconds, his shaking subsiding in due course, a sober smile appearing on his face.
"Thank you... You're very kind... " he said to the dragon, striking a blow more powerful than any sword, axe, or hammer might.
"You're welcome.... You should not have to suffer so. Sacrifice or not, I do not want my tributes to suffer... Never...."
With softer eyes, the dragon set its gaze upon the man who had accepted his death nobly, if not honourably, before its heart was wrapped in rage once more at the villagers who had so coldly sacrificed one of their own for
their collective survival.
A longer puff of flame lit the cave for a few seconds, time enough to warm the man some more and let him see. Battle scars....
