Princess Saralynna

Part Two: Taarok the Wizard Dragon

We all have a dragon inside of us: knowledge, anger, and perhaps a bit of sarcasm.
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Taarok had been having a lovely night-time nap when he heard something disturb his slumber. And chased away the wonderful silence. Letting out an annoyed breath of dark grey smoke through his nose, the dragon slowly rose his head and turned to see what in the nine heavens had interrupted his sleep this time. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time.
A tiny pale-skinned little female mortal sat on top of a black horse, staring up at him with widened eyes and her mouth open.
"Y-you're a dragon. . . ." the girl said in shock.
"No, I'm a gigantic bird. Now go away, I was just having a nice rest until you disturbed it! Stupid little mortals. Always sticking their noses in a dragon's business."
Taarok then turned to lay back down, but paused when the girl yelled out, "wait!"
Sighing, he turned to watch as she stepped closer, although tentatively.
"If you're a dragon, then..... w-where's Taarok? Did you....?"
The dragon raised a brow, huffing through his nose impatiently.
"I am Taarok, you stupid little mortal!"
The girl seemed to sit there for a moment, stunned.
"B-but dragons are evil. . ."
"And who told you that?"
"Well, everyone. It's what we all believe, as a rule. Sort of."
Taarok shook his large head.
"Dragons are not evil, but neither are they good. They just are."
The girl raised a brow, tilting her head.
"'Just are'? What does that mean?"
"It means we are just fire-breathing beasts trying to mind our own business. Now go away, before I eat your fat little horse!"
The horse's ears pricked forward, as if it understood what Taarok said. But it looked rather irritated than scared. What an odd little thing, the dragon thought to himself. The girl is even odder; how could she not be afraid?

Saralynna Garren was not, at all, expecting the wizard to be a dragon, much less rude. Why, he didn't seem so very wise at all! Saralynna always imagined Taarok to be this great, tall man with a very old, yet wise voice of much knowledge and power. At first, she had thought that maybe the wizard had turned into a dragon, but when he had told her he is Taarok himself, she didn't know how to exactly react. Besides that, great wizards told in stories are not exactly mentioned to be snappy and rude at people. The dragon had a long, skinny neck and yellow, piercing eyes. Horns curved backwards sat on top of its head, with little ears below. She also noticed it had what looked like quite a long beard trailing down from its chin and nearly touching the ground. Tufts of fur sat above each eye, and a yellow, jagged tooth stuck out on each side of the beast's mouth. His scales looked to be a dull, rusty brown; the princess couldn't really tell in the dark. She could see, however, that his wings were teared in some places in the membranes. A trail of tall, thin spikes ran down the large creature's body. Despite its very odd appearance, Saralynna found herself a little scared. This dragon may be very old, but it was also very powerful. It could easily eat both her and Sherly Su, she was certain. But she gulped down her fear, deep down into the abyss of her stomach, and put on her brave face.

"No." she answered simply after a moment, lifting her chin stubbornly. Growling, Taarok narrowed his eyes as he lowered his head closer to the princess.
"No? Have you ever been taught what would happen if you disobey a dragon?"
"Disobey? Do dragons rule over the world now?"
The dragon growled again at her smart-alecky remark.
"I would have both you and your little fat horse eaten, but I'm too old and tired to be chasing around tiny, annoying mortals and black horses, as fat as yours may be."
Sherly Su snorted in anger at these words. Taarok ignored him as he continued to speak, not giving Saralynna a minute to think of a reply.
"But, just because I'm too tired to eat you, doesn't mean I can't kill you. It only takes one swipe of my talon, that's all."
Saralynna felt her fear begin to rise up, but she managed to keep it down. "I thought you said a dragon is not bad."
"I didn't say it was good either, if you remember correctly. I am only doing what a dragon does. It's no different if you go about poking your hands at an insect, only to be bitten. Tell me, do you usually go about disturbing the sleep of insects? Or that fat beast of yours? I highly doubt it."
Saralynna no longer felt afraid. She was growing tired of this dragon's unnecessarily rude behaviour.