Love in the Time of Dragons

<Inspired by a story by Tanith Lee>

As told by Ryu Darragh

Long ago, in a land much like the Emerald Isles were some hundreds of years go, was a village of some 40 souls named Sulla.

They lived, farmed and raised their cattle in peace, unbothered by the nearby city of Durre and the occassional wars that the kingdom got into.

In the village, at the inn, the Boars Watering Trough, worked an unremarkable bar maid named Tara. Her only notable feature were eyes of the purest blue.

On occassion, bounty hunters and dragon slayers came through the inn and went to the bar to spend the night and harass the bar maids (and more, as they could).

One night, a particularly unpleasent dragon slayer named Krillan came by and sat at his usual table. He dropped his gear on the floor near his table with a thump and demanded "Beer! A tankard and the cask! I have need to celebrate!"

"And what would you be celebrating ?" asked Tara. She disliked Krillan as he always tried to bed her, despite her protestations.

"Why, we have slain the last female dragon, we have!", he exclaimed. He seemed so smug and sure of himself. "And, there are only a few males left! This time we are sure. No more hidden females!"

Later that night, after most of the guests had retired, Tara and the other girls would cleaned up and prepared to retire for the night.

As Tara was passing the door to Krillans room, an arm came from the doorway and grabbed her about the waist and a hand went over her mouth.

"Make a sound and I'll cut you.." said a voice she recognized as Krillans. She trembled in fear and franticaly sought for some way to escape.

As he was dragging her into the room, she knew he'd tell a different story to Puhmran, the inns owner, and she'd be fired if she complained.

Just as he was about to lay her on the bed, she saw a gleam overhead and thought she'd grab it and bop him over the head with whatever it was, story be damned. He was raping her !

What she had grabbed and hit him in the head with was his sowrd and sheath, which did little more than anger him. He then proceeded to hit her and punch her in the face.

As he was pummeling her for her temerity in defending herself, the sheath fell off the sowrd and, wirhout thinking, she ran him through with it.

Whereupon he fell to the floor and stopped moving. "Oh, shit!", she thought, "That's torn it.. fired ? Lucky they don't HANG me for this!"

Only one thing to do.. run away. Far away. As she fled in haste, she saw a startled look on her friend Bridgits face, who was cleaning the hall, as she passed.

Once out into the woods and the beginnings of the dawn, she slowed down. Finally, at a walking pace, she took stock and found she was cut, bruised and bleeding.

Ah, well, she thought, been through worse.

Passing a field far into the forest she spied a hump moving amongst the berry bushes. It was a dragon! Rare and seldom seen, he was a magnificent sight.

She never could understand the existance of dragon slayers as the dragons seldom did more than take a cow or a sheep that had strayed. Sport, she heard them say.

She'd always been fascinated by the dragons. This one was a gold and green one. Easily 8 times her size, he was eating berries. Dragons, she knew, were like bears. They ate anything they wanted.

As she watched, she realized the dragon was gathering the berries, not eating them. What was he up to, she wondered ?

She followed the dragon back to his lair, unafraid he'd hurt her. She knew if one did not make a sudden move, dragons would not harm one.

As she watched the dragon, she realized he was guarding a nest with six eggs, Where was the female, she asked herself ? Krillan, of course. Had to be what he was bragging about.

She realized the dragon was in trouble, The eggs would not stay warm while he was out gathering berries and fruits for them when they hatched. Dragons, unlike chickens, needed to eat as soon as they were hatched.

She went out and gathered as many fruits and berries as she could carry and went back to the cave. She'd offer to help that magnificent creature.. if he didn't just eat her!

As she walked slowly into the cave the dragon alerted on the nest and hissed at her. He opedned hos mouth and stopped. He'd noticed what she was carrying.

He watched her as she placed her bundle of berries and fruits beside his. Her addition was much larger. Human hands have *some* advantages over claws.

She then proceeded to clean the nest and eggs under the dragons bemused gaze. Even dragons can safely say "Now, I've seen everything!"

Two days passed and then it happened. The eggs began to hatch. In her excitement to find the dragon, she tripped and tore open her wounds from Krillans hands and began to bleed again.

She fell to her knees, cried out, then sat back and noticed she had started to bleed from her womanhood as well. "Oh, great. Just what I need. My time of the month and me, bleeding like a stuck pig, as usual!"

The dragon came running at her cry. He had grown quite fond of the bar maid as she had tried so hard to help him.

When he arrived in the nest, he saw her sitting on the ground, surrounded by his dragonettes, all of whom were eating from her hands and licking her and crooning to her as if *she* were their mother.

He chuckled to himself and then saw the blood. She had been helping him with such terrible wounds. Wounds which must have been terribly painful for her.

Then, the dragon smelled a familiar odor and knew what to do.

When she saw the dragon approach her and saw his aroused maleness, she got rather nervous. Was he going to rape her ? This was madness! Ahe backed away, scooting on her backside until she hit the nest.

But, no. The dragon stopped short and, with a look of concentration, proceeded to spill his seed over the spot where her blood, both from her wounds and her womanhood, lay.

It proceeded to bubble and hiss.. forming a rounded mass of glowing foam shot through with red and white.

After this, while she pondered what had just happened, the dragon joined his offspring and proceeded to wash her all over. It was very pleasant and she soon drifted off while her skin began to tingle.

When she awoke, the dragon and his offspring were leaving the cave. She ran to the dragon, not noticing all her wounds were healed, and touched his shoulder. Where are you going, she wanted to ask.

The dragon looked at her and she thought she heard a voice telling her they needed to find a safe haven to the south and that she was not ready to join them. You have a child to look after now, the voice finished with a warm glow.

She turned and saw that where her blood and the dragons seed had migled was a perfect dragons egg. Was this real ? She heard the dragons voice in her head saying look for me in a years time as she heard them take flight behind her.

Some weeks later, her egg began to hatch. She watched with tears in her eyes as a baby dragon emerged with scales the green gold of his fathers and eyes of deepest blue.

She fed her son as she had seen his father do with the previous clutch and pondered how she was going to teach him to hunt and fend for himself. She would try. What more could a mother do for her child ?

When much time had passed, Krillan the dragon slayer wandered by the cave and saw a young male dragon carrying a buck into the cave in it;s claws. "Aha! Some practice.", he chortled to himself.

He had not, after all, been slain.. merely run through his chest muscles and had hit his head when he fell.

He unslung his bow and quiver of arrows and stalked toward the cave where he beheld a strange sight. There was a woman there, colored a bright sky blue with.. scales ? But, no time to get distracted, There was his prey.

He stood from his concealment and took aim at the dragons eyes where he was sure to score a hit and shouted , "Down, woman!" and drew back his bow.

The woman shouted back, "Not my son!" and turned toward Krillan.. he recognized her, the tavern wench! He heard a voice in his head coming from the woman with blue dragons eyes, "Where did you think female dragons came from ?". His last thought, as she opened her mouth and fire started to blossom forth was "Oh, shi...".