Princesses, Dragons, and Elves, Oh My!

Princesses, Dragons, and Elves, Oh My! pt 2

The elf took a very long time to wake up. Not until the evening twilight. He stirred a little and moaned.

"Thank goodness. I thought maybe I hit him too hard." the elf could hazily hear the dragon's rumble, "I guess you were right about the circles under his eyes."

"He certainly needed a good cleaning. Probably needs a bath as well." came a young feminine voice.

"Doesn't smell too bad, all things considered."

"Nnh... mm?" The elf managed to get one eye open. Everything was out of focus and very dark but what happened last to him flared instantly in his mind and he sat up fast. He automatically felt for the sword at his shoulder, then around the surface beneath him when he found it absent.

"Whoa, hey, it's alright!" The young feminine voice spoke again as he felt pressure on his shoulder.

The elf shook his head and focused, seeing the girl sitting next to him. Seventeen to eighteen years of age, dark hair, wide green eyes.

"It's okay," she assured him, giving him a pat, "It's okay."

"P... Princess?" he asked, still getting his bearings.

"Yes?" she confirmed.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, grasping her arm, to feel she was real, "Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid-" he paused. Where was the dragon? He looked up into the shadowy darkness to see the dragon's glittering eyes gazing down from somewhere above. They made eye-contact and the elf breathed a moment, calming himself, choosing his words.

"That was a dirty trick." he said reproachfully.

"Just making sure you didn't have one yourself, little elf." the dragon seemed to shrug. His blackish color made the eyes seem almost disembodied in the darkness of the cave's unknown expanse. The Elf looked away, to the two torches flickering in brackets on the cave wall nearby. He took stock of where he was.

An area of piled furs roughly in the shape of a large bed of which he was in the center of. Gold and jewels glittered further beyond which barely kept his attention and he noted again the torches did not give enough light to give him any idea of the expanse they were in. Things felt a bit close just from the warmth and his knowledge of the dragon's mass.

"Are you alright?" the princess asked. Her green eyes matched his own, if more wintery in shade compared to his spring.

The elf rubbed the side of his head, "Yeah. I'll take a headache and crushed lungs over slashing and stabbing any day."

"You slept an awful long time," she looked meaningfully up at the eyes in the dark.

The elf shrugged one shoulder stiffly, "Most sleep I've probably had in three-four days now. I put dirt under my eyes like makeup to hide the circles. Have to put on a strong front."

The dragon chuckled, "You amaze me more and more. Next you'll tell me you came on foot."

The elf chuckled back harshly, "My mount went lame at some point. And, actually... If I can... if my pack still exists, I need to change a bandage."

"You're hurt?" The girl gasped with concern.

"Hide it well, don't I?" he commented, more to the dragon than her, "Wouldn't have been holding that blade

two-handed for very long, I think, if it came down to a fight."

The dragon uttered something in his own tongue as the girl got up to take one of the torches, "Yes, your pack exists. I hope you don't mind I stole some food." she said as she moved off through the dragon's hoard. There was a loose definition of a pathway she took, disappearing behind a hill, "Anything's better than charred meat."