The Dragon Aspyasia

The notice said the king was looking for a dragon slayer and would pay twenty-thousand ducats. He'd give his daughters hand too, but I'd seen his daughter. All I wanted was the money, it would resolve the problem about the armorers view of the value of the armor he'd made versus what I paid. It was good armor and how difficult could the job be; sneak in, stab the beast, collect the money and run.

*****
"I'm here about the dragon. The slaying thereof, and the reward."

"Okay, but you'll have to leave your weapons here."

"If I do that how can I salute the king with my sword and offer it to his service?

"Uhhh, ohh. Okay, I guess that's all right. Hey, Henry, show this knight to the king. Good luck. Money and a princess, what a deal." The gate guard wasn't the brightest candle in the chandelier. I ignored his smirk and hoped I could get away fast with the money.

When I entered the king sat up from his slouch on the throne, dropped the joint he'd been gnawing on on the floor and wiped his hands down his front. "Another candidate. I hope you're better than the last three."

Dropping to one knee I held out my weapon, "Yes, sire, I am. I salute you and offer my sword to your service for the task."

"Accepted. The payment of twenty-thousand ducats will be made when you present proof of its slaying. The marriage will take place on the first full moon of the following month."

"Yes, sire, thank you. I shall not fail."

I asked directions from the same guard. "Where is the dragon?.

He pointed at some hills and said, "Uhhhh, that way...I think."

"How far?"

"Uhhhh...a couple days...maybe a week...or two...I think."

. . . idiot...you don't think . . . "Okay, thanks."

*****
I saw three burned areas the first two days. After four days I knew I was approaching the beasts lair because there were many burned areas. On the fifth day I found it at the end of a three mile long, narrow gorge with sheer cliffs for walls. The last hundred yards was burned black.

Getting closer I saw blackened and half-melted armor . . . what's left of first three? . . . "Damn." I moved back out of the burned area to quiet my horse. "Fire! Why'd I have to pick Dragon Slaying?" Money was the answer. Well, fear really but money would fix that.

"WHAM...RRRROOOARRRRRR"; hit me like a wall just as I started to dismount and frightened the horse into bolting and dragging me until I kicked free and watched a gout of flame and black smoke roiling into the sky. I found the horse calmly grazing outside the valley mouth.

A small camp and the horse hobbled I watched for a day. Every two hours a burst of flame and smoke billowed out in a boiling mass of black and red that rolled, feeding back on itself as it fought its way up . . . make cave between bursts? . . . then a sucking, whining wind-like sound, quiet for a bit then another filling the time between bursts of fire and smoke.

Dragons always live in shallow caves, a hundred yards or so deep so twenty minutes to get to the cave and another thirty to sneak up on it is enough time to get to the dragon and kill it between flames.

. . . what if it wakes . . . crap . . . fire . . . I don't think...the next burst jolted me into spilling food down my front. "Damn! It's never less than two hours so if I allow an hour to get to the beast I have an hour to slay it." The horse gave me a raspberry response. "I wasn't asking you to go." She ignored me.

After the burst I started trotting and arrived in time. I slunk in, sword raised and the sound got louder reminding me of an old man with the wheezes. The dragon lay in sunlight with closed eyes in a chamber with a fallen ceiling. The sound was it breathing.

Twenty five feet of ugly with plate armor and lots of spikes. Sword raised for a slash and a stab I crept up, but the red slit that slowly became a fiery sphere of open eye stopped me. I jumped at the BOOM of a voice.

"Oh god . . another one . . You're here to kill .(wheeze) . me aren't you? For what? . . Money and a princess is . . usual. How much and what does she look like? Get to my side so I can see better. Also, you're less likely to become a roast if I cough." I was quick.

"You talk? I didn't know dragons talked."

"There's a lot you don't . . know about dragons but . . I don't feel like telling you .(gasp) . I don't . . have the energy to kill you . . right now and it would make me sicker. How . . about we just talk for a . . while. What did they tell you . . about me?"

"That you terrorize them, burn their crops and take teenage girls to eat. Why are you talking like that?"

"LIES! Every one a . (wheeze) . LIE! First, I don't . . . eat girls; humans have a . (pant, pant) . foul taste. I don't eat them... "

"But everyone says drag... "

A furness door opened when the dragon coughed out a burst of fire; the trembling raised sword was a useless defense.

"DO NOT . . INTERRUPT . . ME AGAIN . (cough) . or my next breath . . will be directed at you. I have . . asthma . . and my breathing . (SSSSSSHH) . isn't what it . . used to be."

"Whoompf" was another small burst of smoke when the dragon wheezed. "Where was I? Ohh yeah, we eat anything we can catch, mostly cows and deer, and don't interrupt, it's rude."

"Sorry, I won't again. Do dragons have names? Mine is Stanley."

"Of course we have names, we've . . been civilized a hundred thousand years longer . . than humans. We don't see your society as . (pant) . civilized anyway; civilized beings don't kill one another. Humans can't pronounce . . my name so call me Aspyasia."

"Okay. Who was he?"

"She. A Greek that lived sixteen hundred years ago. A very smart woman. A lover of Socrates until they killed him. What a waste of a mind. The ones in charge killed him because his ideas weren't theirs. You humans are good at that. Dragons understand that all are different. How much?"

"Twenty-thousand Florin Ducats."

"Ha, the king doesn't have twenty gold Florins. And he hasn't been able to give his daughter away ... don't you feel silly standing there like that? Were you intending to 'Slay The Beast' with that sword or just hold it up? And, why are you shaking like that?"

I sheathed the sword, "Ohhh, sorry, I'm afraid of fire; I don't know why I told you that."

"You're not the . . first, number four in fact. I tried talk . . they wouldn't listen . . they wouldn't stop . . had to kill them. Flutter, the doctor . (cough) . thinks the burned metal made my asthma worse ."

"Flutter? Asthma? Doctor?"

A deep wheezing breath, "Dragons don't . . swear like humans do, that's the strongest . . language we use. Asthmas a Greek word for . . panting and humans have doctors too but they know very little."

"Thank you."

"...You're the first human to ever say that to me. Thank You for that."

"You're welcome. I don't think I want to slay you any more, in fact I know I don't. Now what! They'll just kill me. But they have to find me."

"Who? Who wants to kill you?"

"A disagreement about value with an armorer and the two he sent to collect the difference."

"I've never understood why humans think . . dragons value gold but I've collected a few hundred kilos . . of it and you can have it all. Greed drives some to come for it and I'm tired of having to kill to stay alive. I just want peace."

"What can I do for you?"

"Get me a cow? I'm hungry."

"I'll be back in four days, I saw a herd two days before I found you. Will that be okay?.

"Yes. I'll be fine."

*****
I had to buy them with my last coin but I got four and ran them hard to make it in time. I put them in another chamber and led one back to her.

"Bring another and then you might want to leave. It's messy when I eat."

I brought another cow and went to look at the gold, a Lot of gold, five hundred kilos or more. I took my agreed on price and spent another hour looking at priceless pieces hundreds of years old. "He gave me all of this! I could buy the world with the wealth here." If it's truly mine there were several lifetimes of giving back stored here. I just had to figure out the details.

"It's okay," boomed at me and I went back.

"You want peace, right? Are you willing to move to get it? And, did you truly give me that gold?"

"Yes. Yes. And, yes. You humans talk way ahead of a . . conversation. Dragons like to approach conversation as a game. Not trying to outdo but to convey knowledge with grace."

"We humans need to get things done quickly."

"I understand. Dragons have . . thousands of years. Socrates, my mate, and I will gladly move to safe and quiet. We tolerate almost any environment that'll feed us."

"Mate?"

"Yes. We live long and our breeding cycle is long too. It's my . . time again, every two-hundred years. Socrates will stay with us until the pup weens in a hundred years."

"It's in an inaccessible area in mountains a years travel from here. There are tens of thousands of pristine hectares. It'll stay that way for another millennia or two with luck."

"Can you show me? I'm good for several days before I feed again."

"But how can I get..."

"I've never tried it but . . you may be able to ride my shoulders. Keep fingers and toes out of where my armor overlaps and there's plenty to hold onto. I'll be very gentle."

"You're insane! Me, FLY! Ohh no, not me. God would have given me wings if he'd intended I fly. NO . . .You'll . . . The . . ."

"Think of all that . . gold..."

Okay, I'm weak, what of it. Of course I climbed up on her and we figured out how I should sit and how she should move and we left. For several minutes I was sure I'd die, but I didn't. Her gentle wing flaps virtually threw us into the clouds and above and the incredible beauty captured my mind, driving all fears away.

Until Socrates showed up and I almost fell off Aspyasia. His huge head and equally huge red eye suddenly blocked my view and fear loomed large for a few moments.

"Stanley, meet Socrates. Socrates meet . . Stanley, he's guiding us to an area of safety."

He blinked and said, "We'll see." With the sound of rumbling mountain thunder.

*****
It was good for them and still is fifty years on. I make monthly trips and Aspyasia meets me. We fly for hours eventually winding up at their cave and I get a friendly nose nudge from Socrates that almost knocks me over. I punch him hard between his nostrils where he likes it and he rumbles a warm greeting back.

Aspyasia nuzzles me too until the twins show up and I remember what fun it is wrestling with baby dragons. They're three meters long now and I have to watch fingers and toes a lot more because they don't understand yet, dragons mature slowly. Aspyasia said in another ten years I'd have to stay away for a year while they learned to control fire.

"I'm ninty-one Aspyasia, I don't think I'll make another ten years. I think I've created a dynasty that'll last a few centuries. With the added gold of the others I don't think we'll ever have time to give it all away. Everyone knows about you, where the gold comes from and how to keep secrets. There are so many poor though I've set up family in several other countries. As long as we're able we'll protect your mountains."

"I'll miss you. I've enjoyed your help and company for the last fifty years. As much as it can mean, I love you Stanley."

I'd never had a dragon tell me they loved me before. I stepped to her and punched her on the snout then leaned in, kissing her, laying my head between her nostrils and wrapping my arms around her snout. "I love you too Aspyasia, as much as that can mean. To me it means a lot." She let out a breath that wrapped around me and became a warm, smelly hug I loved.

"You'll like my son, Evan, he's gnawing his fingers off waiting to meet you. He wants to fly so bad he's experimenting with wings made of sticks and skin. His models work but not with him on it."

"He needs bigger wings."

"You tell him next meeting if he hasn't worked it out by then."

She flew me back to the meeting place and we said our goodbyes and I'll see you laters and parted as we had for fifty years.

It's been an incredible journey but I won't fly again. After all the gold and giving and family and even realizing I'd been a member of a dragon family for decades, it's Aspyasia that shines the brightest. How incredible that a dragon and a human can fall in love.

I lost my fear of fire and she stopped having asthma attacks somewhere in the early part of our fifty years together.