Dragon Matchmaker

Chapter 9

   It was almost an hour before the dragon finally started descending and Kinsey was ready for a little time on solid ground. The dragon landed outside a massive cave, which it carried her down into, thrusting them both into a scary and unnatural darkness. The dragon blew out a plume of flame and three tunnels appeared before them. It walked down the left one and as they progressed, Kinsey could tell the walls were getting smaller until the dragon had to practically crawl through the space, but eventually they emerged into a piece of land that completely blew her mind.

   It was a valley unlike any she'd ever seen. Laden fruit trees decorated the hillsides and gigantic pond took up a third of the flat land in the center. The dragon stepped forward and she looked up to see a cloudless blue sky. She  looked at the dragon and it looked down at her. "If it's open to the sky, why didn't you just fly in?"

   The dragon set her down on the ground and sat down on its haunches, spreading its wings out and puffing up its scales. It's eyes turned a gentle shade of pink and it cocked its head at her. She sighed and walked forward, looking around at the gorgeous scenery. "Wow. This is cool. How come no one's ever found it?"

   The dragon gestured her up one of the more sloping hills and she followed it quickly, having to almost run to keep up with its huge strides. It pointed over the edge with it  nose and she gasped. Below them were straight cliffs all the way around. No one could scale those easily without the dragon knowing and, thus, stopping them. She nodded and then the Dragon beckoned her back down the hills. It sat down beside the pond and jerked its head at the water. Kinsey figured it meant for her to drink and so she knelt down beside the water and took a quick sip by cupping her hands and using it as her bowl.

   She sighed and glanced up at the big blue monster. "Okay, I think it's obvious you can understand me, but I can't understand you. Okay, nod your head up and down for yes. Shake it side to side for no. Are you male?"

   It nodded. She sighed. "Alright. Will I be able to leave soon?"

   It paused and shuffled its feet, shrugging its shoulders.

   "Okay, shrug for undecided. Will you let my friend come here?"

   It shook its head, flared its scales, and stretched its wings, its eyes turning blood red again. She raised her hands and backed away. "Okay okay. What if made him promise to not speak of it?"

   It nodded this time. Kinsey sighed and put her hands in her pockets. "I'm playing twenty questions with a dragon. What's next? Okay, did you bring me here because of ransom?"

   It shook its head.

   "No? Did you bring me here to eat me?"

   Yet again, a shake.

   "Ok, did you bring me here because you feel a sort of attraction to me?"

   She actually got a nod out of that one. She scoffed and held her arms out to the side, sending him a sarcastic look. "Attraction? I chopped off your tail for God's sake. I stabbed you in the mouth. And yet you feel attracted to me?"

   It nodded. "Okay, I'm gonna try something here. Try and explain to me why."

   The dragon leaned forward and touched her breasts again, tapping the necklace gently.

   "My necklace? But this was just a trinket some guy gave me that he made from your tail horn. So?"

   The dragon recoiled a little and cocked his head at her, turning its eyes orange. "Umm, that looks like confusion. Are you curious about how he made it or are you curious about him."

   It held up two claws and nodded.

   "I guess that means the second question. He…is the guy who caught me the other day when you dropped me. Speaking of which, what were you telling me? You seemed to be signalling."

   The dragon leaned down and its eyes turned purple and it nudged the necklace again. Kinsey scoffed and pulled the necklace off, putting it on the ground. "Okay, you seem to be really fascinated with it. Do something with it. Impress me. If it's so important, show me what it's for."

   The dragon's eyes faded into another light pink color before he dipped his nose to it. He caught the string in his mouth and then flung the necklace into the pond, far beyond where she felt like she should go. She gasped and ran to the edge, falling to her knees. She whirled on the dragon and screams  in her throat. "You stupid overgrown lizard! Audrey gave me that as a gift! I really liked it!"

   The dragon just bent its head and shifted its eyes to purple. Kinsey clenched her fists and then threw a glance at the cave door. Maybe she could run. As if reading her thoughts, the dragon moved back and blocked the exit with his wings. There was no way out. She sighed and sat down in front of the dragon, looking up at him. "Alright, fine. I see that I now live under your rules. Maybe I should give you a name so I don't preferring to you as you. Any ideas. Give me a hint."

   He cocked his head and his eyes turned orange, the color of confusion for him. As he did this, his scales flared up, making him look like a pin cushion. She laughed and crossed her arms. "I could call you Fluffy."

   His eyes became red again and he snorted. Kinsey gulped and chuckled nervously, holding up her hands. "Okay. You don't like Fluffy. How about…Spike?"

   He didn't seem any more thrilled over that one either. She sighed and shook her head. "Okay, I'll be serious. How about Ceruleo? Based off of cerulean which means blue."

   The red in his eyes faded away and was replaced by a bright pink which she figured was happiness. He nodded vigorously and his tail waved up and down. That's when she noticed that the tip of his tail was fully healed as well, minus the horn of course. "Can you heal yourself or something?"

   He nodded, but then he looked towards the sky. Kinsey looked up as well and she saw shapes flitting around the clouds way up high. Ceruleo nudged her away from the pond and under a cave in the valley wall. He pushed her towards the back and then stood at the doorway.

   Kinsey hid at the back of the cave and watched as three dragons landed in the valley, crawling over each other as they played around with each other. They each were a different color. One was green, the other red, and the last and smallest one was pink.

   Ceruleo gave them a snort and then began making sort of purring growling noises at them. They made similar noises back at him and then they came over. He stiffened and his scales flared up along his neck. He snarled and roared at them, trying to drive them back, but they looked even younger than him, much more rambunctious and childish. They ran around him and Kinsey was immediately swarmed by the green and pink dragons' snouts which shoved themselves against her torso.

   She gasped and then shrieked as the third dragon grabbed her leg and pulled her out from her hiding place. Ceruleo shoved them off her, but then the red opened its mouth above her and she saw the fire glow come from its throat. It was about to blast her with fire and no one would ever know what happened to her because she got herself kidnapped by a strange dragon.