The Twilight Dragon

Chapter 10

The heat came again mid-day as we were walking towards the valley. Thankfully Duke's large form created a nice shadow that Donya and I hid under. In the shade, it wasn't quite so bad. Duke seemed unaffected by the heat, proclaiming loudly that, "What a wonderful day it is to not be tied up in the back of a cart!" We had to laugh at that.

In fact, aside from the heat, it was an incredibly nice day. The grass was incredibly green, and there were no clouds in the light blue sky. I let myself feel grateful, grateful to be alive in this moment, with my boyfriend and my friend by my side.

"This would be a perfect day to have an ale and enjoy a lazy afternoon." Donya commented. Duke and I could only agree. Now seasoned travelers, we tied our headbands to our heads to wick away the sweat. Duke looked at us with amusement. "Looks like you two learned a lot."

"Lianne already knew this trick, she taught me." Donya said, looking at me fondly.

"Well when you've been on your own for so long, you learn a few things." I pointed to the once imposing valley. "This is the place the bandits forced us to go through. I think with a dragon by our side I'm ok with taking this short cut this time."

Duke smirked. "I'd feel sorry for any bandits that come across us." He paused to spread his wings, stretching widely. We stepped away to give him room. He looked quite fearsome with his wings spread out, I'm sure they were each longer than a full-grown man, and dark enough to block the sun's rays. "Ah...much better." He said with a hrmph before tucking them away. Donya looked impressed, and I'm sure the expression was mirrored in my own face.

"Hmm I've never been here..." Duke said once we entered the quiet valley. "Eerie." He studied the pulverized rocks on the ground, kicking the sand with his clawed foot. He looked up at the sky to see the birds circling overhead. "They must know there is potential prey to be had here." He noted.

I suppressed a shudder. "Let's get out of here."

Once we were far enough away from the valley we decided to take a break. The hill leading up to the valley had been exhausting, and Donya and I were both drenched from sweat. "Can we walk to the river? I think that's enough walking for today, and we should be setting up camp."

"A nice bath would be lovely." Donya commented.

"We can bathe in the river."

****

"I'm starving, I'm going to catch us some fish." Duke said once we reached the river. We walked along the river until we found a part where it widened, and the current flowed lazily. Donya hurried over to splash water on her face. I did the same, the cool water immediately rejuvenating my spirits.

Farther down, Duke ran into the water, splashing water on his body. It was a shallow part of the river, and the water only came up to his hips. He started washing his horns, and I thought that was quite a good idea. Donya and I stripped to our underwear and followed him into the water.

"Oh this is fantastic!" I washed the dirt and grim from my body, scrubbing thoroughly. Duke was rolling around in the river to try and get clean, and with a laugh I half-walked, half swam over to him.

"Here, let me help you."

"Ah, thank you." I splashed water onto his back and scrubbed him with a rock until his scales gleamed.

"Mm...now there's a sight." He rumbled, eyeing my bare breasts that were half submerged. "I missed these too." He said, reaching over to fondle my breasts.

I let out a soft gasp at his touch. I had forgotten how good that felt. "Let's set up camp first." I scolded, and he grumbled.

"Fine." He looked down and his eyes lit up. "Fish!"