The Dragon's Consort

Chapter 3

Zara had the deepest sleep of her life, not having to worry about danger with that oaf sleeping just outside her tent. She hated the fact that she found comfort in his presence. She grinded her teeth, in annoyance, fiddling with Todd, she sat up and started trying to wake up her mind.

Standing and stretching, she started pulling off yesterday's clothes. She had worn them for the past few days and they needed to be washed. She also wanted thicker pelts, to further hide her feminine frame. As well as long sleeves instead of short, since her arms were far more slender than a male's. No need to intimidate with scales when she had an pillar of draconic arrogance following her around.

Hissing, she started wrapping cloth around her breasts, flattening them far more than usual, and then even farther just for comfort. She could barely breathe, but that was a win in her books, could never be too careful.

She also pulled her hood over her horns, she hadn't bothered to before, but she much preferred having them covered. Feeling ready she'd ever be, she carefully stepped out of the tent.

She saw everything else was already packed up, and saw Zurden basking in the morning sun. She held in a chuckle when she saw an imprint in the soft ground, clearly where the male had slept that night after giving his tent to Zara.

Sensing movement he opened one eye, before sitting up. Without speaking, he stood, and made his way over. Swiftly taking down the tent, before nodding to her.

"Come," he ordered, before starting to walk off.

"No breakfast?" she mumbled to herself, sauntering after. He didn't even react, just shoved her in front of him as she caught up. Snarling at him, she kept up the brisk pace.

* * *

By midnoon she was starving, and the stupid dragon still trucked on. She hated it, hated walking so damn much, hated having no autonomy, hated having that stupid male around.

She got pulled out her thoughts when she heard the sound a river. Forgetting about how tired she was, she ran, sprinting for the river. It had been weeks since she'd found a large one, and this one sounded large. Zurden cursed behind her but followed, clearly hearing the rushing water as well.

She had a grin plastered on her face by the time she saw it. It was a shimmering blue, gleaming in the daylight. She knelt down at the riverbank, and reached in, feeling the current. It was strong, explains why she didn't see any wildlife, they would be too fearful of being swept away.

She watched in glee as school of fish started swimming past, reaching in she grabbed one and pulled it out. Holding it as thrashed in her grip, she pulled out her knife and cut off the head to give it a quick end.

She fought back the urge to use her magic to cook it, knew it'd be a horrible idea. Only the females could use unnatural powers. It would be a dead give away. Raw fish then? Not her preferred choice, but food was food.

Zurden interrupted just before she a bite, "do not even think about it. I will cook the damned fish."

She scoffed, watching as he set down the supplies strapped to his back and started gathering small logs, fallen from the overhanging trees. He skewered the fish on a thinner branch, he began layering tinder and kindling. He tried lighting it many times with a block of flint, but it kept failing, and her stomach complained louder and louder. She gave it a small nudge, and it blazed to life.

Zara also caught more, handing them over to the grumpy male. He just kept working, slowly roasting the fish.

When he was done with the first one, he laid it onto a wooden plate before handing it to her. She dove in, voracious and hungry. She ate three before zoning back into reality.

Zurden had put out the fire and was heading back into the woods, but a small shrub seemed to catch his attention. It was a hellberry bush, extremely poisonous, killed humans in less than a minute, made a dragon question their life decisions while throwing up for hours on end.

She made the mistake once, only once. When she wandered too far from her uncle and saw the berries, looking all innocent and appetizing. What a lie. It was a trick, they looked like the most succulent berries anyone could ever see, just to end up killing you, physically and emotionally.

She held in her chuckling as he picked a singular berry and was inspecting it. He was just about to eat it, when a rogue laugh snuck out. He whipped around.

"What?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," she smirked.

"What is wrong with the berries?" he caught on, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Nothing. They are perfectly normal. Go right ahead," her giggles betraying her.

"What are they?" he frowned.

"Just hellberries," the shocked face he made sent her over the edge, and she erupted in cackling like a maniac.

"You would let me eat hellberries!" he growled, just staring at her howling with laughter. He added, "you're a horrible person."

She didn't care, too busy cracking up at his near fumble. He stalked off, grumpier than before.

"What kind of vagabond does not know what hellberries look like?" she snickered.

"I do not like plants, they all look the same."

She wanted to mock him further, but decided to draw the line there. He looked more annoyed than she thought possible for one person. In addition, he cooked ridiculously good venison. She liked good venison, any good food really.