Dragon Matchmaker

Chapter 10

   The glow intensified, but at the last moment, Ceruleo reached over and shut the dragons mouth with his talon. The dragon whimpered and yanked away sharply, sitting back with the others against the far wall. Ceruleo snarled at them and stood above her, his gigantic wings touching the ceiling. He made some noises at them and they gave sad little chirping noises not unlike that of baby birds. Kinsey backed away and his behind the ledges, scared to come out lest they try and play with her again.

   She bit her lip as she nursed her right breast where one of them had given her an extra hard jab.She looked down and winced when she saw the material was ripped. The last thing she needed was a wardrobe problem in front of four dragons she'd only know for a day. She looked closely and growled. It was torn all the way down to her waist, but the most gaping part of it was around her breast. She was getting sick and tired of having dragons constantly up in her breast space. It was irritating and now it was painful. She'd had enough.

   Once Ceruleo got done scolding the dragons, they for  out of the cave and took off into the sky. Kinsey crossed her arms, not only because she was mad, but because it helped hide her shirt rip. "Who were they? Siblings? Kids? Annoyances?"

   Ceruleo looked down at her and held up three claws, nodding with an exasperated look on his face. She chuckled and then sighed, climbing up the rock wall so that she could closer to his head. He sat down and then rested his head beside her. His entire head as big as her, but as she reached over and touched it, she realized that he was very gentle for his size. Like an oversized puppy.

   She sighed and tapped his nose, getting him to open his eyes. "Please, Ceruleo. I can't stay here. I have a father back at the castle and a man I want to fall in love with as much as I hate to say it, but that's why I need to go. There are o the  people who need me."

   Ceruleo's eyes turned red and he snorted, backing and snarling. She fell backwards on the rock ledge as he puffed out an enormous fiery breath. "What makes you mad when I speak about my home? Is it my dad? My home? My boyfriend? My job?"

   Ceruleo held up three claws an snarled.

   "My boyfriend? Audrey? But he hasn't done anything to you. He wasn't the one who cut off your tail and stabbed you in the mouth. I was."

   Ceruleo roared and Kinsey screamed, covering her ears as it echoed around the walls. He snatched her up in his talon and pulled her out toward a the pond. He dropped her near a patch of moist sand where he began to draw. He drew a crude shaped man which he labelled as Audrey. It fascinated her that he could write English, but she was too caught up in the drawing to question him. Then he drew a crude woman who he left without a name. He looked at her and cocked his head.

   She sighed and crossed her arms, fingering the rip in her shirt. "It's Kinsey. My name is Kinsey."

   He nodded and labelled the drawing of her. He then drew another man figure whom he labelled, Aldwin. He pointed at the drawing and then crossed out the drawing of Audrey before drawing a heart around Kinsey and Aldwin's drawings. "What?! You think I'd ever go after Aldwin? He's a complete jerk who doesn't give a second thought to anyone or anything if he gets the benefit from it."

   Ceruleo snarled and drew a shield over Aldwin's torso, pointing at it and then her.

   "He protects me? No way. I'm sure if he had a choice, he'd tie me up in the forest and pour sauce on me to attract wolves. I've always treated him like a jerk and he'll never forgive me for that."

   She sniffed and wiped her eyes as tears began to form. Ceruleo drew multiple heart shapes around the first one and then slammed his tail down into Audrey's drawing.

   "This makes no sense! Why would you want me and Aldwin together anyway."

   Ceruleo leaned over and drew a halo over Aldwin's head and then drew horns on what was left of Audrey's head.

   "So, you're saying that Audrey is mean?"

   Ceruleo nodded and them drew a new picture below it. It showed her and Audrey in an embrace above another picture. The second picture broke her heart because she knew it was probably true. It showed her off to the side, lonely and sad, while Audrey was surrounded by a swarm of new girls. Kinsey growled and kicked sand over all the drawings. "It still doesn't make sense. How do you know all this anyway?"

   He pointed to his eyes with two talons and pointed them towards her.

   "You can see it?"

   He nodded and then pointed at the picture of her and Aldwin together. He drew a new picture below them. It showed her and Audrey in an embrace again, but this time, it was Aldwin who was off to the side looking forlorn. It all made sense when Ceruleo drew a broken heart on Aldwin's chest.

   "Aldwin likes me?"

   Ceruleo nodded and his eyes flickered to pink. The made her pause. Aldwin had terrorized her, picked on her, and made her feel bad about picking Audrey, because he liked her? It all made sense though. He seemed to hate Audrey's guts for relatively no reason at all and he'd been all too eager to see her naked the other day. Maybe he did like her.

   Ceruleo glanced down at her and wrapped his tail around his legs, wrapping the tip around her calf. She glanced up at him and he huffed a smoke ring at her, but then he perked up and looked over at the cave entrance. He quickly smeared the drawings away and he stood slightly in front of her. Kinsey watched the cave, curious as to what was getting her dragon's attention. She started seeing a slight glow come from inside the tunnel, but then a lantern appeared. Kinsey was at first excited to see a squadron of soldiers coming for her, but then she realized that it was simply Aldwin, struggling up the steep cave.

   He emerged into the valley and glanced over, gasping when he saw her. She laughed and rushed past Ceruleo's foot, launching herself into Aldwin's arms. "You'd never believe how much I missed another human."

   Aldwin paused and cleared his throat, pushing her off gently. "That's nice. Now what?"

   "Well, I think we should be getting back to the castle."

   Kinsey glanced at Ceruleo and he appeared to be extremely downcast, his eyes now turning into a deep sad blue. Now he was entirely blue from head to toe. She walked over and patted his leg. "It'll be alright. I can come and visit sometime."

   Aldwin grabbed her arm and shook his head at her, his gaze flickering to the gigantic rip in her shirt. "We can't go back unless we have some sort of proof that we killed him. But we can't kill him, he's friendly."

   Ceruleo gestured to Kinsey's sword and then his claws. She cocked her head. "You want me to cut off your claws?"

   He nodded and held his entire talon out. She shook her head. "Why would I hurt you? I refuse to hurt any creature that I know doesn't deserve it."

   He shook his head and gestured to his tail which had healed up well. He pointed to his claws, gestured with a sawing motion, then motioned to the claws that would be spared. Aldwin cocked his head. "Is he saying he'll heal right back to how he was?"

   "Well, I hope he is. Cause I wanna go home."

   She pulled her sword and sighed, slicing it through one of his talons. He let out a muffled roar that was obviously trying to be contained, but it was still filled with agony and pain. The talon itself was the size of a human leg and thus it would be enough. "This'll do it. They'll believe me when I say I killed you. Just don't come near the castle. They'll know the truth if they see your tail. We'll be back in a day or two."

   Aldwin nodded and then jerked his head towards the cave door. "Come on. Before he changes his mind."

   Kinsey nodded and took off after him, holding the dragon claw in her hands.