Nusantara: Taming a Dragon ✔

I missed you

Alright, darlings, another weekend is creeping up on us with beautiful warm weather (at least where I'm from). So to help you enjoy these days, here's the next update for Reksa and Aleera. I have to say this pairing is so dear to me, more so than most other pairings from my stories. And I'm so happy I get to share their story with you, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤

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~ Three months later ~

With a soft sigh, Reksa leaned back against the tree trunk and peered down at the Komodo below as it feasted on its latest kill. He had been following the Dragon around for almost three months, and while the beast tolerated his proximity he still hadn't found a way to kill it that didn't involve potential death for both  of them. And with the knowledge that he only had time left until that night, the pressure was starting to weigh awfully heavy on his mind.

Again he twirled the dagger in his hand – a habit he had developed in the past weeks. It was a perfectly balanced, sleek weapon with a blade long enough to pierce deeply and strong enough to penetrate even a Dragon's scaly armor. Below on the ground the old Dragon seemed none the wiser, as it kept tearing away at the deer Reksa had used to lure it into that ravine, where it didn't have much space to run.

Another sigh left the young prince as he stood onto his branch; reaching out to cut a nearby vine, he loosed the net he had been weaving for the past week. Startled, the Dragon hissed loudly and started flailing around only tangling itself more in the interlaced vines. Only when it had worn itself out did Reksa finally leap from the branch to land on its back.

"Nothing personal..." he said, raising the dagger in both hands.

His attempt to stab the side of the Dragon's neck, where he knew the main blood flow passed, failed when the beast made one more attempt to free itself upon sighting the blade. And Reksa had to give up on the attack in order to hold onto the thrashing animal lest he be thrown off and caught in its terrifyingly long, curved claws. In the scuffle the future Chief managed to escape with no broken bones, even though he did take a few good hits from the animal's insanely heavy tail.

It was a long and arduous tumble, and soon it was only Reksa's steeled will that kept him going. But when the Dragon again twisted its body, one of its claws slashed into Reksa's arm leaving a gashing wound behind. Gritting his teeth when the pain momentarily blinded him, the young Komodo instead willed his arm to not fail him. And after a long struggle he finally impaled the dagger into the animal's throat.

It was sheer luck that kept him from being thrown off by the Dragon's dying fit, but at long last its body settled down and gurgling sounds filled the air as it choked on its own blood.

When it finally ceased all movements, Reksa's muscles lost all tension and he slid onto the grass next to his kill with a painful groan. For a while he laid there heaving for breath, until the searing pain in his arm compelled him to get up. Walking over to the small pond nearby he washed the wound and found that he'd been lucky – had the beast clawed him any deeper, it might have severed his muscle entirely. Still, it was a pretty nasty injury and would take a long time to fully heal.

Tearing a piece of cloth from his pants he wrapped it around his arm as best he could, and returned to the dead Dragon to claim his prize. Only after he had started working on severing its head, did it finally dawn on him... he had succeeded! He'd killed one of the largest Komodos on that island with nothing but a dagger, and he had proven himself worthy of her. Several times his lips twitched towards a smile, until he could no longer contain himself and had to stand, shouting his joy at the clear afternoon sky.

What should have been a rather short process of severing the lizard's head, however, took much longer now that he was injured. And by the time he had retrieved his prize the sun was already descending over the horizon. Wrapping it in what was left of the net he hoisted the thing over his right shoulder, beginning the trek back to his village. It was after a few steps, however, that he halted abruptly as though recalling something.