Dragon's Teeth

Another day, another knight. He didn't know that I had seen him. In fact, I was pretty certain he thought he was being sneaky. I was a good actor, that was for sure, pretending to be asleep with my head resting on my paws just outside the mouth of the cave I had been living in for the past few months. However, unfortunately for the knight, his metallic footsteps did not make for as stealthy an approach as he seemed to think.

The nearby kingdom did not seem to appreciate my presence there so they sent knight after knight after me--I had a substantial armor collection by that point. But what was I supposed to do? After that wretched old woman in the last kingdom ruined everything, I had to leave. And real estate was always a tricky thing. Unoccupied caves big enough for a dragon, like myself, don't exactly come easily.

My eye cracked open just enough to watch the knight, I observed as he "hid" behind a rock, observing me right back from afar. Perhaps he was not as idiotic as he initially seemed. Was he strategizing or something? That was never really needed, on my part. I had the fire and the muscle and the size. No knight had ever even stood a chance against me. Then again, the others had all just rushed in with their "I will slay thee for the lovely Lady What's-Her-Name"s and other such nonsense just before I toasted them to a crisp. That new one was different. Under his helmet, I could see his brown eyes staring back at me. He may not be good at stealth--and I mean, he was really bad at stealth--but he was not as stupid as past knights. It would make for a more interesting battle, once he decided to make his move.

He never did make his move. The day simply dragged on, the sun sliding gently across the sky and down towards the horizon. And all the while, he sat in that spot, watching me intently. Was he waiting for me to move first? Well, fine. I did not have much time left, anyway. The sun was sitting just above the horizon. Before long it would be night. And then I would most certainly be done for. So I yawned, pretending to be waking up. It was the first time I had moved since the knight arrived so I had to stretch out my stiff muscles, huffing out small plumes of smoke as I did so. Let's get to it.

Sure enough, the knight emerged. Here we go, I thought, sighing to myself. He was sure to go off on some tirade about some beautiful woman that he was fighting for. Or better yet, for the glory of his kingdom. But to my surprise, I was wrong. The man was entirely silent. With his sword in hand and a sturdy stance, he continued to stare up at me. I had, by that point, risen up to my full height. Usually, just a little hint of fear would at least show on a man's face. Not his. He just stared. What is he playing at?

I stared back but quickly became impatient. I was not going to let him waste my time any longer. With a huff and a roar, I lunged, teeth bared, preparing to bite the man in half. At the last second, however, he sidestepped. I braced for a strike to the neck, trusting my scales to deflect it... but none came. Expressions are not particularly easy for us dragons, but I tell you I looked just as confused as I felt. He was still just simply watching me from behind his visor. It was infuriating!

I lunged again and again, but he was faster than me. I tried to use my fire breath, but he threw up a shield that seemed to deflect most of the blast. From behind it, I heard him shout in pain, but he did not give up, still avoiding each of my attacks. After some time of this, I was beginning to tire. Keeping up with the knight was strenuous and it had left me huffing and puffing. I could have sworn I saw a smirk on the knight's face when he realized that. Internally cursing, I realized what happened. Oh, he was a clever one. Wearing me out first so that he could finish the job. I reared up for one last blast of fire. If I was going to go out, I was going to do as much damage as I could. But just as I was about to fire and just as the knight raised his sword to strike me down, the last glimmer of the sun slipped down behind the horizon.