Luck be Damned

7

^^ Zaire the Ancient Dragon ^^

— Alice —

I examined the slash-marks all over the dragon's sea-green and white hide, and tsk'ed internally. 'That hide is no good to me that way... I'll heal her first, then.' "I apologize, Ancient One, for my trespasses, unknowing or otherwise, and I do offer to heal you, as the beginnings of my reparations, if you would have it?"

The dragon, tall and green and savage, chuckled darkly. "I suppose healing would not be amiss... but should you attempt any other Magic's, I will eat you, Little One..." it warned me carefully, and slowly stepped off of the ginormous hoard of gold that was piled up around what looked like a damaged ship, with a beautiful golden mermaid for its figurehead.

I nodded and stepped forward, using the rubble in the shallow water as stepping stones to approach; this 'cave' was revealed to actually be a hole in the ground, a run-off of the river came through here, it seemed, but the entrance and exit were both simply the lack of a ceiling! I could see trees around the edges of the top, but it was still a beautiful cavern, despite the dragon taking up most of it.

The dragon laid in the water, and sighed softly. "Tell me, Tiny Human... have you ever seen a dragon as glorious as I?"

"Yes, though just once. I was four years old at the time, and I killed him and took his spirit." I nodded, and gripped the dragon's scales, beginning the healing process by using the dragon's own blood for fuel, as was normal for a healing.

"Oof! You are a very callous healer... but not ineffective, I see..." the dragon looked at the cuts that were slowly closing, and relaxed. "This dragon, why did you kill him?"

"He was trying to kill my people... and I'd always heard legends of people killing dragon's. It didn't really go according to plan. I threw a lantern down his throat, attempting to make it blow up, and it did, but then he choked on it, and died of suffocation." I smirked dryly, and reached inside the body mentally, finding any issues that I could fix. I paused, finding something in her belly. Five eggs, all firmed up and ready to be laid, were resting inside the reptilian equivalent of a womb.

The dragon shivered, it's scales shifting like a cat's fur. "That feels weird... but a Lantern? That's an awful choice of weaponry."

"I was four, and it was the only thing available on hand!" I frowned at the dragon irritably, and tightened the cuts sharply, like a drawn stitch, making her hiss in pain.

"Hmph... point made... I am Zaire, by the way. You are interesting, and I would be happy to keep you here, as a pet, perhaps. You could help me birth my eggs, yes... healers are good for that sort of thing." She chuckled.

I shook my head. "Perhaps. For now, you need to rest and recuperate your blood. And leave my roots alone, yeah? They didn't do anything to you, so no need to go burning them and everything, Alright?" I used more of her blood to heal the root walls of the tunnel, making the entrance to this cave disappear entirely.

"Hmph, as if I would sleep with a human nearby... you would steal from my hoard... but yes, the roots are safe from my wrath, for now." She muttered, attempting and failing to rise.

"And forevermore, I'm afraid." I nodded as she fell down, and tapped her head, sending her into a medical coma. Her brain would be horribly, horribly scrambled, and wouldn't be able to recover itself for a number of months; even in the event she could heal several dozen times faster than I expected, she'd still be unconscious for at least a few hours.

"It's safe now, Ganda! Put a barrier around the entrance, yeah?" I called out, and called the Bulette forward. "And you, start putting all this treasure in your gut, except the ship." I commanded, while examining the dragon's stomach.