The Dragon Tails

Dragon Lord Flame (Pt. 4)

How I imagine if Flame and Crystal ever decide to kill each other:

That's their 'I'm going to eat you' face.

Read at the risk of loving relationships:  

Kati, the Witch of Dragon Island

Dragon Island

Kati gasped in horror at the amount of blood dripping down Flame's side. But he didn't give her any time to continue her examination before wrapping a talon around her torso and lifting her to his chest.

"Flame!" She cried in surprise and outrage. "Put me down."

Although he couldn't understand a word that spewed from her mouth, he knew how she felt to be manhandled. He ignored her and she continued to huff as he began gliding – painfully, she noticed at his groan – toward the cave entrance.

"Now, mister, you better put me down." She smacked his rough, red scales and ignored the instant sting it gave her fingers. Flame made his usual annoying chuckling sound that carried up from deep in his chest. "It's not at all funny."

He huffed and they slid through the glass points and out into the open air. He drifted toward the beach where a large blue hump had washed up. But it wasn't the strangeness of the thing that grabbed Kati's interest, or how it dwarfed the beach bar, but the fact that even from the closing distance, she could tell it was breathing.

"Flame? Is that a dragon?" His ears perked like they always did when she said 'dragon,' but he didn't make an answer. They were close enough now that she didn't need him to answer, it was obviously a dragon. A beautiful blue dragon. Its scales glistened with salt water. The tail, although partially curled, still lay in the ocean. It was smaller than Flame, but huge in comparison to everything around it.

Flame landed on three legs a short walk from the great, beached creature and placed Kati down carefully. He stepped back, only to shove her forward.

"Okay, don't get your tail twisted, I'm going."

Flame snorted.

Kati waved him off and approached the blue dragon. It was female, and she was in a great deal of pain. Not only was one of her wings severely broken, but scales had been torn out and her hide stabbed through with what looked like fishing spears. The net wrapped around her body was Dragon-Slayer made, a hair like material mixed with dragon scales. Virtually unbreakable and deemed illegal longer than Kati had been alive – and that's a very, very long time.

Kati came to a stop at the dragon's nose and knelt down. She blew into the nostril not submerged into the sand, and after a moment the dragon's neck retracted and one white eye opened.

"Hello, beauty." Kati touched the ridge between one open eye and one closed. The dragon didn't react to her hand, so she continued. "Good girl. I'm going to remove the net now, and I need you as calm as possible, we don't want to disrupt your wounds anymore, okay?"

To Kati's great surprise and excitement, the dragon nodded. She raised wide eyes to Flame who looked oblivious as ever to what just happened. He was being helpful and staring out across the ocean, watching the waves crash.

Kati sighed. She loved Flame, she really did, but he could at least help her with the mess he dropped at her feet. Kati rolled her eyes and began to search for what most nets had; a release strap. The mechanics of a Dragon Net were exactly the same as any other fishing net, only it was five times bigger, heavier, and stronger.

Thankfully the strap wasn't under the blue dragon, but wrapped around her broken wing, as if the dragon had had the smarts to try and break the strap herself. Which – after living with Flame for twelve years – Kati didn't doubt. Dragons were intelligent, especially when left to live on their own. Kati figured that's why Flame was so stupid, after having her take care of him for so long, he'd forgotten how to take care of one of his own.

Kati chuckled under her breath, before calling the red beast over. He came slowly and with a great deal of caution. Even if Flame never spoke to her, Kati knew of his fear. After Demise's death nine years before, Flame hadn't seen another dragon, and with Kati being his only friend, he feared being seen strange, and human-like. Which she explained time and time again that he couldn't be human, no matter how hard he ever tried – he probably wouldn't have listened, even if he could understand her.

"Pull that." Kati made a heaving motion with her hands and pointed at the release strap. Flame visibly frowned. Kati drooped. Sometimes she really wished they had a better way to communicate with each other.

The blue dragon made a sound in her throat, and Flame's ears perked before he grabbed the strap and yanked. The net became slack, and Kati set to work unwrapping it from the blue dragon's limbs and wings.

It wasn't long after that the net lay abandoned and the blue dragon was standing on weary four legs. Flame was barely a head taller than her, but she appeared bigger. She was meant to hold great amounts of air and be ruler of the sea, while Flame was just Conquer of Kingdoms and Lord of the Red Fire, he didn't have to have size to do that.

"Thank you, human."

Kati froze as the words echoed around her skull in a feminine voice. It was not an intrusion she was used to. She peered at the blue dragon and found gratitude in her white eyes. Although it wasn't unheard of, dragons speaking to humans was a rare occurrence. Kati had been alive when Elise ruled with Lady Cloud (Flame's aunt), but even after the queen's death no one had taken up the task of riding a dragon and bonding with them.

Kati cleared her throat. "You're very welcome."

"My name is Crystal, what's yours?"

"Kati."

Crystal inclined her head and then turned to assess Flame, who eyed the blue dragon with suspicious, wary eyes. He didn't break eye contact even as he moved closer to Kati. It was the same stance he'd taken when she'd first met Demise; protective and dominate. It was a very dragon-like stance to take, if only he could understand that.

~ Vote and Comment Please ~