Lance

The fog lay thick over the small lake at the edge of the forest and the sun had not yet risen to burn through the dark clouds overhead. The bare dew soaked trees on the waters edge seemed half invisible in the mist and pre-dawn light. The opposite bank of the lake was not far, but was completely hidden by the dense consuming fog. The icy cold water was like glass, except for the few ripples coursed by a longhaired masculine figure moving around in the frosty shallows of the lake. A small dragon, about the size of a tiger, calmly lay on the cold damp soil a few feet from the waters edge, watching the figure in the water. The hot breath continually erupting from the dragon’s nostrils hung in the air briefly before disappearing. Closing his eyes, the dragon sighed and listened to the disturbance of the water as the figure moved about, almost as fluid as the water itself. A noise of a breaking stick grabbed the attention of the small dragon. Staring into the trees with saliva dripping from long exposed fangs, the dragon inched forward, away from the waters edge, treading lightly and slowly. Not a sound came from the icy waters behind the dragon.
“Nice dog, nice dog, I just wan’ a word with ya master.” A figure slowly moved from out of the bushes. The dragon flared its scales on its back and started growling loudly. The masculine figure standing in the shadows of the dawn sun nearly lost his balance when he saw the spiny tail of the dragon flicking from side to side. Smoke puffed out of its mouth with every breath.
“I hate killing dogs, mutt, so don’t get in my way.” said the man, holding the hilt of his sheathed sword.
The dragon suddenly closed its jaws and relaxed its body and glared calmly at the nervous figure.
“Ah, good, now we are getting somewhere.” The man relaxed bit.
“What do you want?” said a voice from behind the man. The figure started turning then stop suddenly when he felt the icy cold steel at his throat. The dragon wagged its long scaly tail.
“I asked you a question, stranger.” said Lance as he pushed the man forward, with the blade at his throat.
“Its true…you are the ghost, that’s what they call you.”
“Answer my question.” Lance pressed the blade firmly against the man’s throat causing a small trickle of blood to form along the length of the blade. The dragon wagged its tail more vigorously.
“Wait, wait…ah…the king, the king is looking for you” Said the man in hope that he would retain his life. The ears of the dragon rose.
“The king?” said Lance, gripping the man’s neck with his free hand.
“Yes…yes, the king is looking for you.”
“Why does the ill king request my presence?” The dragon cocked its head to one side.
“The ill king… believes you can cure him.” The dragon cocked its head again, confused.
Lance adjusted his grip on the blade,
“Will you help our sickly king, ghost?” said the man, relaxing slightly.
Before the man could take another breath, blood poured from his neck. The man turned to see the face of his killer and saw only icy cold eyes staring back at him. His vision blurred as he crumpled to the ground. The last thing the man saw was his own blood mixing with the cold water in the shallows.
The dragon sniffed the body then looked up at its master, grunting in confusion.
“The king is not ill, Senzon” said Lance as he cleaned and sheathed his blade. Senzon huffed in amusement
Senzon started pawing at the body while looking up at his cloaked master before him. Lance glanced down at his loyal companion,
“Dispose of it as you wish.”
Senzon looked around briefly, then sank his long teeth into the shoulder of the warm body and quickly pulled it into the water. Senzon grunted in disgust at the taste of the blood before disappearing below the surface.
Moments later the dragon resurfaced, snapping his jaws in the water trying to remove the bloody taste from his mouth.

Senzon slowly made his way out of the icy water.
Moving along the shore with Senzon trailing behind Lance heard another foreign noise coming from the trees. The dragon growled loudly while scanning the trees.
Lance moved forward a few paces, virtually cutting through the trees with his gaze.
“Hush!” commanded Lance. Senzon immediately went silent.
“Come out, young one.” Said Lance, eyes focused on a spot in the trees. There was no response. Lance moved back to the shoreline and continued walking. Senzon glanced between Lance and the trees a numbered of times. Shook his spiny head in confusion and followed on.
The two moved along the shore for almost an hour. Every few minutes a twig would break in the trees nearby. Senzon growled every time, but Lance moved along as if nothing was heard.
Suddenly Lance stopped and turned to face the trees,
“Since we seem to be travelling in the same direction, young one, why struggle through the trees?” said Lance staring in the trees. The dragon sniffed the air, cocking his head to the side at the scent of a female human.
There was silence for a few minutes.
“Your dragon, sir” came the nervous voice of a young woman.
“Will not harm you.” replied Lance. Senzon huffed then lay down.
A cloaked figure appeared at the edge of the trees, with a bow over one shoulder. Her face was hidden in the shadows of her hood.
“What is your name?” said Lance from beneath his own hood.
“Tara, sir” said the woman, no more than 24 years of age. Tara pulled her hood back slightly to show more of her face.
“Why are you following me?”
“I am looking for help. I hope you can help me.” Said Tara nervously, glancing at the dragon with her almost luminescent green eyes.
“What makes you think I will help you?”
“That man you killed earlier was one of the men who are harassing my family.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Please sir, they will kill my father if they are not stopped.” The dragon’s ears rose.
“The man I killed worked for Torgan, he controls the Outlands. What does he want with your father?” Senzon’ scales rippled down his back at the sound of Torgan’s name.
“My father is a proud and honest man, sir. He refused to pay Torgan for his so-called protection. Two days ago Torgan’s men attacked my father while his was out hunting. He managed to make it back to the house, but he is very badly wounded. He cannot hunt anymore and I am struggling to gather enough food for us. We will not survive much longer. Please help us, sir.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Lance look at the Tara. He could vaguely see the curves of her athletic body through the well-worn cloak. The bow on her shoulder seemed to be one of quality and well used.
“Your father’s bow?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How much food does your family have?”
“Enough for a day. Maybe two.”
Lance looked down into Senzon’s eyes. The dragon lifted himself off the ground and stretched his limbs, then disappeared into the trees, groaning in disagreement.
“Sir?” said Tara watching Senzon fade from sight.
“Yes?”
“Will you help us, sir?”
Lance pulled back his hood just enough to allow her to see his eyes. The moment Tara looked into his warm pale blue, almost shining eyes, she felt relaxed, calm and most of all, safe.
“Take me to your father.” Said Lance in a now comforting tone, and then pulled his hood down again.
“OH! Thank you, sir, thank you so much. I will repay you for this favour.” said Tara running forward and hugging him. Lance felt uncomfortable with the young woman clinging to him, he gently pushed her away.
“No payment is needed.” Said Lance still a bit shocked at the girl’s gesture. Tara smiled,
“It’s a few hours journey to my father’s house.” Tara turned and started moving through the trees. Lance shook his head in amusement and followed on. 

After about an hour of travelling, Tara said,
“Will your dragon friend able to find us, sir?”
“Senzon is right behind us and has been there for the last twenty minutes.”  Tara spun around and stared into the trees behind them, straining her eyes to find something that might look like a dragon.
“I don’t see anything, sir.” Tara looked back at Lance, confused.
“If he is not there, then firing one of your arrows into the bush would not matter.” Said Lance. Tara could see what might have resembled a grin on Lance’s face. A brief yelp came from the bushes. The dragon seemed to appear from out of nowhere. Senzon huffed and grunted as he strolled out of the trees. Tara could not believe that the dragon had been following them all that time.
“How did you know the dragon was there, sir?”
“Senzon is very noisy in the forest.” said Lance, rubbing the groaning dragon’s head.
“I didn’t hear a thing, sir.” said Tara, still confused.
“Depends what you are listening for.” Senzon pulled his head away and groaned louder.
Tara caught another glimpse of the grin on Lance’s face as he look at his dragon.
“Was your hunt successful, Senzon?”
Senzon glared at Lance with half slit scaly eyes, then swung his scaly tail round into view showing the two small deer skewered on it.  Tara moved forward to examine the kill.
“I can’t say that I’ve seen this method of hunting before.” said Tara looking at the still fresh wounds on the sides of the closest deer.
Senzon shifted his grumpy glare to the girl. Tara lifted the head of the one deer and saw that the throat had been crushed with almost surgical precision.
“We must get moving.” said Lance.
“Sorry, Senzon, these are good kills.” Said Tara dropping the deer’s head, then started to lead the way again.
Senzon grunted in disbelieve and followed on.
They had been travelling for some time when Tara asked Lance,
“What does Senzon mean?”
Lance paused before answering as he recalled the day he gave his faithful companion that name.
“It means un-caged, in the old tongue.”

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Lance came across a clearing in the forest. He watched from the edge as three men moved around a small cage in the centre of the clearing, laughing about how they were going to kill the tiny creature held captive in the cage. The young reptile in the wooden prison growled loudly and flared its scales as best it could. Even with scales flared it wasn’t much bigger than a dog. Small splitters were being thrown from the cage as the animal thrashed around inside it.
“Feisty little one, aren’t ya? It’s almost a pity that we’re gonna slice ‘n dice ya, little puppy.” said one of the men as he tapped the cage with his axe.
“Those black scales will fetch a hefty price at markets.” laughed another.
“Let’s just get this done, before it destroys another cage. It’s getting too costly to keep growing that thing.” said the third man. He unsheathed his dagger and moved towards the cage. The little animal screeched loudly and snapped its jaws violently at the man with the dagger. He gripped his blade tightly as he tried to figure out how he would kill the thrashing reptile without damaging too many of the scales. He suddenly heard but hardly felt a thud on the side of his own head. His vision blurred and he dropped his dagger as he collapsed next to the cage. The fist sized rock that struck his head bounced of the cage and onto the ground. The fatter of the two remaining men turned to face the trees gripping his axe with both hands and roar,
“Come out and fight! Let my cleave your skulls! All of you!” He wasn’t really sure where to look or where to direct his threats.
“There is only one.” said Lance hidden in the trees at the edge of the clearing.
Roaring at the top of his lungs, the man charged towards Lance’s voice with his axe raised over one shoulder. His companion who was looking very nervous watched him disappear into the trees. Then the very distinct sound of metal slicing through flesh came from the trees, a gurgle and then nothing. The trees were quiet again, the scent of fresh blood slowly drifting on the air.
The man left in the clearing was frozen in his boots, his sword shaking in his hands, as he was sure he was about to face the same fait of his companions. The little creature took this opportunity to squeeze its head between the wooden bars of the cage and bite the wrist of the fallen man, crushing the bones. The reptile choked on its first taste of human blood, yelping at the vile liquid on its tongue.
“You will turn around and walk….” before Lance could finish the fear gripped man turned and bolted for the trees on the opposite side of the clearing.  Lance could hear him sprinting through the trees; his breathing was almost louder than the frequent snapping of branches and roots.
“Or you could run.” Lance said under his breath.
The creature growled again as a hooded and cloaked figure emerged from the forest.
“There is nothing to fear now, little one.” Lance whispered to the animal then pulled his hood back exposing his face. The reptiles emerald eyes met Lance’s warm comforting blue eyes and the growling ceased. Lance pulled some salted meat out from under his cloak and dropped into the cage.
“I’m sure this will taste better.”
The creature sniffed the meat then happily starting chewing on it.
“What shall we call you?” Lance said to the creature. It just carried on chewing meat pinned between its claws.
“Drakus?” The creature flashed its teeth and growled at Lance, then carried on chewing.
“Senzon, perhaps?” The creature paused momentarily then continued with its meal.
Lance pulled his hood over his head and started walking towards the trees. Just before you neared the edge of the clearing the creature yelped once still inside its prison. Lance stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“Are you coming, Senzon?”
The little dragon tapped the tiny spikes of its tail against few of the wooden bars then gripped the last piece of meat in its teeth. In a blur of motion the creature thrashed its tail and body against the bars, large splinters of wood flew off the cage.
Moments later Senzon trotted away from the shattered cage, showing its teeth in what could be a grin. Senzon sat at Lance’s feet patting his tail on the ground, still chewing the last scrap of meat. Lance turned and moved into the bushes with the little dragon happily following behind.

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It was already dusk before they reached the Tara’s house. Lance stopped a few yards from the parameter of the clearing.
“Take the deer, conceal them if you can, put them inside and carry on as normal. You never met me. The dragon and I will join you later” said Lance scanning through the trees towards the house. Senzon flicked the deer off his tail onto the ground in front of Tara, who pulled some cloth out of her backpack and wrapped the small bodies loosely.