Is there a story behind that, by the way? The blue and the yellow? I’ve never seen that on any dragon. Only on the cavemen.”
I have an impulse to throw her off me, to punch her chin and crush her face. She did this!
But her gentle moves on my skin have no malice in them, no intent to hurt. In a way, it would be easier if they did and she was knowingly smearing poison on me.
“Cavemen?” I inquire between clenched teeth. “Do you mean the slayers?”
She gets more paste on her fingertip and smears it onto me in a thick layer in an area the size of her palm. “They have stripes. It looks nice. But none of them have blue skin.”
I ponder the futility of trying to explain that of course my colors have significance. Any dragon would know it, certainly. “I see. Are you about to finish?”
I don’t necessarily want her to stop. While the pressure is painful at times, her touch is gentle and feminine and pleasant. I think back, trying to remember if I have ever been touched in that way before. I don’t think I have.
“Done.” She rocks back on her haunches and takes in her work, then reaches out and sweeps a superfluous speck of green off one scale. “I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but it will certainly do no harm.”
“It better not,” I grunt, getting to my feet before this delectable female bewitches me further. Letting her touch me is sheer lunacy. She’s the one who brought me this low in the first place. She lives with slayers, for Gold’s sake.
But it’s probably worth a try. She inflicted the injury, hence there is some logic in having her attempt to heal.
If not… well, the reckoning is drawing nearer, anyway. I don’t actually need this female. At some point, I will take from her all she can offer. Then I’ll be unencumbered as well as avenged.
“Let us continue.”
6
- Jennifer -
I grab my not-fishing rod and follow Caronerax’s broad back. I guess he’s walking in front now.
That could also be a good sign, of course. If he feels safe enough to turn his back to me, then I suppose—
He stops and waves me past. “Ladies first.”
So much for that. But hey, he forgot himself for a few seconds. He’s not that afraid of me anymore. That could be good.
It could also be less good. There’s no way to tell right now.
I continue through the endless pine woods for several hours. Thankfully I don’t have to go that fast — Caronerax lets me set the pace. This would be pretty tough on my body back on Earth, but almost three years on Xren has done wonders for my stamina.
I try to stick to high ground while also walking as straight south as possible. That way, my view is better, both of the surrounding landscape and of any nearing threats.
Reaching the top of the six thousandth gentle hill I’ve climbed today, I notice there’s a lot of reflected sunlight between the trees.
I point. “I think there are some lakes ahead. Or just one, maybe. A really big one.”
Caronerax stops, pushes hair out of his face and squints. “Then we shall walk through them.”
“Um. Through?”
“We will traverse them in whichever way is convenient.”
I scratch my chin. “I think maybe the best thing would be to walk around them. That’s the only way, probably.”
The dragon’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Around? Surely, that will make the walk longer.”
I tip a handful of not-currant berries into my mouth. “Yeah. Much longer. You don’t mean you’re going to swim?”
“I don’t mean I’m going to swim. At any other point in my life, I would fly. I think I made that clear some time ago.”
I chew on the berries, ignoring the over-ripe taste. I need the sugar. “Are you able to walk on water? I’m not.”
He looks down at his booted feet. “I don’t know. But I suppose I have to find out.”
We walk on, and after ten minutes we’re at the shore of a small lake, one out of probably a hundred. They stretch out to the horizon, making the landscape look like a labyrinth. But between the lakes, tall pines grow.
“I’m pretty sure the ground is firm enough to walk on,” I judge, squatting down on the gravel and testing the temperature of the water. “And this is pretty chilly. You want to try to walk on it?”
Caronerax dips the toe of one boot into the lake, meeting no resistance. He