Chapter Four

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Chapter Four

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Revaramek followed Mirelle through the marshy forest. “I do not like being blackmailed.”

“I’m not black mailing you.” Mirelle glanced back at him, curls of black hair bouncing across her shoulder.

“Extorted, then.”  He hissed, pinning his ears back.

“You’re not being extorted, either.”

“I am!” He lashed his tail against stand of ferns, scything the fronds down. “You’re an extortress!”

“I’m not an extortress!” Mirelle shot him a glare, hazel eyes flashing. Amazing how brown eyes can burn like that. “That’s not even a word!”

Revaramek growled at her, flaring up his spines. “Extortress!”

“Stop calling me that! It’s not extortion to make you do your job. Regardless of how the truce was established, you agreed to it. It’s mutual protection, Dragon!” Mirelle smacked the back of her hand against her palm. “We’ve done our part, haven’t we? Every knight, monster hunter and dragonslayer for miles around knows you’re off limits because you work for us! At least, you’re off limits until you say…I don’t know…” She drew her knife, waving it in the air. “Smash up some poor old man’s house?”

“You see? Extortion.” Revaremek hissed again, glowering down at the girl. Obnoxious wench. “I make one little mistake, and it’s violation this, dragonslayers that. And put that knife away!”

Mirelle glanced at her knife, then waggled it at the dragon’s nose. “Mutual protection. The clause clearly states that you are required to patrol the lands, and keep them safe. Furthermore, your immediate presence and protection are required upon request! And damn it, dragon, I am requesting it! We’ve done our part, now do yours!”

Revaramek stared at her in silence, jaws half parted.

“Don’t say it!”

“Extortress.”

Mirelle turned around, waggling her foot at him. “If you say that one more time, my boot is going to extort your balls!”

“That doesn’t even make sense in that context. Learn to banter, woman.” Revarmek smiled to himself when Mirelle wrapped her free hand into her black hair, growling. That looked like victory to him. “Very well. What is it I am expected to do to stave off this army of dragonslayers come to enforce the truce upon penalty of slow death?”

“That isn’t what I said.”

“There is no quick death for a dragon at the hands of humans.”

“I didn’t say anything about death!” Mirelle pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t write the terms of the truce, dragon! Nor I did have anything to do with how it was implemented. It’s just…Gaaah! We just need your help, alright?”

Revaramek arched his neck, grinning. “You need my help with those anger issues.”

Mirelle thrust her knife into its scabbard, stomping up the stairs that lead to a wooden walkway. “You are a nightmare!”

“Said my enemies, everywhere.”

Mirelle balled up her fists on either side of her head. Revaramek gave a happy rumble, glad to see his victories just kept piling up. She stomped across the boardwalk her people had built over a wide, shallow pond. Revaramek sloshed into the water her, walking alongside the little bridge. Why they’d built so many structures just to keep their paw dry, he’d never know. They’d built the damn things just above everywhere in the marsh.

“Are humans afraid of water?”

“Of course not.” Mirelle glanced back at him, tapping her toe against the creaking span. “You talking about this? We just don’t like wading through muck if we can help it. I did so on the way up, but as long as I can avoid it, I will.”

“Muck?” Revaramek slapped his tail against the murky water, sending a spray of dingy droplets in all directions. “This isn’t muck! It’s good, clean, water!”

“It’s muddy!” Mirelle placed a hand on the uneven railing, leaning over.

“A little mud never hurt anyone.”

“I’m not playing this game with you, Rev.” Mirelle peered into the water a little while longer, then turned away and continued along the narrow bridge. “Come on. The sooner we get home and get things straightened out, the sooner we can be rid of each other.”

“Ah, I see.” Revaramek padded through the pond, watching the way his paws splashed with every step. He’d never know what humans thought was wrong with the water here. Compared to the poisoned mires where he’d hatched, the marsh was sweet, pure, and life giving. “So you’re just the errand boy, then.”

Mirelle spun on her heel, glaring at him. Gods, but she glared a lot. “Excuse me?”

Revaramek flicked a few dripping claws at her. “Errand girl, I suppose.”

Her eyes widened, a storm brewing in their hazel expanse. “You suppose?”

The dragon flexed his wings, offering her his most innocent smile. “Unless I see what you’re hiding under your trousers, all I can do is assume.”

“Hiding under…” The angry storm spread from her eyes, a flush darkening her olive skin. She took a deep breath through grit teeth, and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Now your head looks like it’s going to pop, again. You should let out some of that anger.”

Mirelle threw her fists up, turned her face to the skies, and screamed. “AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHH!”

Revaramek flattened back his ears, and waded closer to the boardwalk. “Not the most impressive roar I’ve ever heard, even from a human. Still. Bet you feel a little better, don’t you.”

“A little,” Mirelle said, panting. She wiped her forehead, then smirked at the dragon. “Not as good as I felt after I kicked you in the stones, though.”

“No, I suppose not.” Reverak shook his hind end, wincing. “If it makes you feel better, they’re still a little sore.”

A smile brightened Mirelle’s countenance. “Now that makes me feel better.”

“Should have guessed.” He sloshed his way out of the pond, glancing down at the woman. “But, to my point, are males not usually the ones who wear trousers?”

“They’re breeches.” Mirelle descended the mossy stairs, and picked up her pace along the trail. “Not that you’d know the difference. But women have the right to wear anything they damn well want.”

“Ah, I see.” The dragon spread his frills, grinning. “So that’s why you act like one of those empowered heroines from the popular tales. You’re some sort of…maidens’ rights advocate.”

“First, no. If I was to advocate for rights, I’d be advocating for everyone’s rights, even if it often seems like we women get the short of end of the stick. Second-“

“What about the Va’chaak?”

 Mirelle stopped, her hands on her hips. “The what now?”

“The Va’chaak.” When Mirelle only gave him a blank stare, Revaramek splayed his ears and smirked. “The lizardfolk who dwelled in the marshes before your people took over. I don’t hear you advocating for their rights.”

Mirelle shook a finger at his nose, glaring. “I’ll have you know I’ve employed a Va…chunk..a lizardman…person…in my tavern!”

“You have?” Revaramek pulled his head back till his nose was out of jabbing range.

“Yes!” Mirelle jabbed at his scaly neck instead. “So hah!”

“Very well.” Reveramek licked his nose, then curled his tail around a hind limb. “So what was second?”

“What?” Mirelle furrowed her brow. “Second what?”

“I don’t know.” The dragon flexed his wings with a curious rumble. “A moment ago, you said, second. But then you never finished.”

“That’s because you cut me off!”

“A fine excuse.”

Mirelle took a breath so deep Revaramek half feared she was about to explode all over him. What a mess that would make, he thought. Instead, she gave him a smile and gestured at the path. “Why don’t you take the lead this time?”

“Why thank you.” He took a few steps, then froze as Mirelle moved behind him. “Waitaminute.” Revaramek tucked his tail between his hind legs, hissing at her. “You’re trying to kick me in the balls, aren’t you.”

“I like to keep my options open.” She swatted him on the haunch, then walked around the side of him. “If you stop acting like such a scaly ass, I’ll stop thinking about ways to make you shape up.”

“I have a scaly…” He trailed off, realizing he’d better not push his luck. The words felt strange as they slipped across his tongue. As though he’d heard them before, in a dream or some half-forgotten memory. He licked his muzzle a few times. “What do you call it, when you swear something has happened before, even when it hasn’t?”

“In your case, I’d call that being an idiot.” Mirelle marched past him and further down the forest trail. “If I was the one experiencing it, I’d call it déjà vu.”

“Clever.” Revaramek padded after her, walking at an almost agonizingly slow pace to make sure she didn’t end up behind him again. “Must have been something I heard in a tale, somewhere.”

“That was second.” Mirelle glanced back at her, black curls swaying around her face. “You mentioned hearing about empowered heroines and popular tales. Where would you even hear things like that?”

“When the maidens used to visit me. They’d-”

“Nevermind!” Mirelle scrunched up her face. “I don’t want to hear what about whatever filthy things you made those poor women do.”

For once, the girl’s words were a cold knife, deep in his belly. “I never made anyone do anything. It wasn’t like that. And some of them just told me stories, and tales.” He hung his head a little, wings drooping. “I used to like exciting tales.”

“Then what, you grew up?” Mirelle glanced back at him, rolling her eyes.

“Yes.”

Mirelle came to a stop, and gave him an odd look, her features contorting. Though it had been a while since he’d studied a human female’s face, he almost thought she looked sympathetic, if only for a moment. “I see. Well, if it was maidens telling you tales, I can see why they’d fill them with empowered heroines. Probably hoping you’d get the point.”

“What point?”

“That…” Mirelle pursed her lips and shook her head, then turned away and returned to her swift pace. “Nothing. But you shouldn’t call them maidens. It’s demeaning.”

“Why?”

“As I sincerely doubt you have the understanding of human society necessary to grasp why it’s a demeaning term, I shall just say it is.” She smirked at him over her shoulder. “And my boots agree, so you’d best keep it in mind.”

“You know, I’m starting to like your boots more than you.” Revaramek snarled as he padded after her. “They’re silent!”

“You know what they say, dragon.” Mirelle swung her foot in the air. “Actions speak louder than words! So unless you’d like my boots to speak nice and loud, you’d best follow their example and shut the hell up!”

Revaramek shook himself, his scales clicking, spines rattling. He muttered under his breath, swatting a large pinecone aside with his paw. “Like you’d get another shot at them, you sadistic harlot.”

“What was that?”

“I said, aren’t you a delicate flower!”

To the dragon’s surprise, that made Mirelle laugh. “Delicate flowers only shine for a few days, Dragon. Then they wilt. I’d rather be a thistle.” She held up a hand, and ticked off her fingers. “They thrive anywhere, they still have beautiful flowers for those willing to appreciate them, and they’ll sting the hell out of anyone who mistreats them!”

“Thistle it is, then.” Revaramek stretched a wing forward to scratch at his neck with a wing-tip talon. “Seems a fitting moniker for you, Thistle.”

“Don’t start.”

“Thorn? How about Thorn? Can I call you that?”

“I’ll stick a thorn in your-”

“Alright, alright.” Revaramek rumbled his amusement as he padded after the girl. This was fun. “What should I call you, then?”

“How about my name?”

Revaramek lifted his frilled spines, hissing. “Where’s the fun in that? Still, I like your thistle analogy.”  When Mirelle ignored him, the dragon padded closer. He lowered his head to bump his muzzle against her cream colored blouse. The scent of flowers clung to her clothes. “You see, analogy means-”

“Stop touching me!” Mirelle spun and shoved his head away. “And I damn well know what analogy means. Not sure why you liked it though.”

“Because I agree with it.” When the woman turned around, the dragon bumped his nose against her back again, grinning when it made her growl. “Blooming thistles do make for beautiful spots of color throughout the marsh. You’ve certainly got your own thorny beauty. You bristle like a female’s spines.”

Mirelle reached behind her head and undid the blue ribbon woven amidst several of her black curls. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

“A compliment.” Revaramek tilted his head and arched his neck, gazing down at her. “For a human, you have a pleasing shape.”

“Oh, Gods, here we go.” Mirelle shoved the ribbon back into the pouch tied around her waist.

“Why is it bad to be pleasing? You have a sturdy form, you look healthy, and well fed.”

“Well fed?” Mirelle stopped in her tracks, gaping at him.

“Yes. That is a good thing.” He lifted his paw and made a vague outline of her body. “I have entertained maidens who did not look well-fed at all. They looked fragile, unhealthy. I do not like this. You look sturdy, but soft. And you have a lovely coloration, from what I can see of it. Not quite as dark as your eyes, but just as beautiful.”

Mirelle slowly closed her jaws as some of the anger melted from her eyes. “That’s…actually rather sweet of you.” She rubbed her hands together, and smiled. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” He dropped his head back down and pressed his muzzle against her throat, sniffing. “You also have a pleasing scent. I suspect you bathe more often than some humans.”

“And now you’ve ruined it.” She thumped his nose and Revaramek yanked his head back, scrunching his muzzle. “Stop sniffing me!”

“It is how dragons greet and get to know one another.”

“So you’re just like hounds, then. And I’m neither dragon nor hound. Now wait here, I need a new switch.” Mirelle walked beneath a tree and drew her knife. In a few quick motions, she cut away a slender branch and stripped away the leaves. Then she returned and held the branch at arm’s length, poking the dragon with it. “For the rest of the walk back to the village, you stay this far away from me. 

Revaramek grunted. The stick tickled against his scales. “I was trying to compliment you.”

“Which I appreciated. But you should have quit while you were ahead. Now come on. If you’d stop acting up every few seconds, we might actually reach the damn village.”

“I am not acting up.” Revaramek tossed his head at the very notion. As if he was the one causing their delays. “Clearly it’s you and your need to react to everything I say.”

Mirelle swung her stick. It whistled as it cut through the air. “How about we both just shut our mouths and get back to the village? Then we can be rid of each other.”

“So you are just their errand girl.” Revaramek coiled his tail, snarling. He should have known. “Sent to extort the local dragon into conscripted service on their behalf.”

“Something like that.” She whipped her stick again, lashing through some ivy vines hanging from a tree bough. “I’m sure the council will want to send you wherever you can do the most good to protect the villages.”

Revaramek ducked his head, and crouched down, crawling beneath the tree bough. Leaves brushed against his wings. “So I’ll be free of you, and your boots?”

Mirelle laughed, a sound the dragon found unexpectedly musical. “Yes, Dragon. Once you have your orders, you balls will be safe from my boots.”

Revaramek pushed himself back to his paws. He glanced up at the sky as they passed from beneath the trees, into a large, open area of marsh and boardwalks. “Then why am I wasting my time with you, you kick-happy harpy? Which village are you from? I’ll just fly there and announce myself as their protector.”

“And leave me behind? I don’t think so.” Mirelle thumped her stick against her palm. “Besides, I can’t just have you strutting around like you own the place. It would be overlord this, subject that, and then you’d go around harassing all the women, slapping them on the ass!”

Revaramek splayed his ears. That was ludicrous. “Not all of them.”

“You just can’t go there by yourself, alright?” Mirelle scratched the back of her neck, an odd look crossed her face, as though she couldn’t decide if she were confused, or constipated. Or perhaps confused about her constipation. Humans were odd. “They’re not…exactly…expecting you. Especially not by yourself. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression, that’s all. I need to be there with you.” Her eyes lit up as if she’d just stumbled upon the answer to some puzzle she hadn’t quite solved. “To keep the truce! I mean, so they know you’re not violating it. Again. Like you did. So, that settles it. Trust me, Dragon, I don’t like it any more than you do. But in the interest of everyone’s safety, including yours, it’s best if I arrive there with you.”

Revaramek curled his neck. A rumble of frustration emanated from his chest. He flared his spines up around his head, and unfurled his wings. “Fine. Then I’ll just talk you with me.”

“What do you mean…” Mirelle trailed off, then sucked in a breath and backed away, her eyes wide. “Oh no! Ooooh, no!”

“Hold still.” Revaramek snarled, flashing his fangs. Maybe he’d get to strike a little fear into someone’s heart after all.

“Don’t you even think about it!” Mirelle took another few steps back. A few beads of sweat appeared upon her brow. “I’m warning you, Dragon! You put your filthy paws on me, and I will kick you into the next kingdom!”

“Ready or not, Mirelle!” Revaramek growled laughter, and took a step towards her. Mirelle turned and ran. Oh, so there was something he could do that she was afraid of, after all. Good to know. “Prey runs, girl!”

This time, Mirelle had no witty retort. Revaramek let get a head start and hunkered down against the ground. He tensed himself, watching the girl streak across one of the wooden spans, trying to make it back to the forest. Revaramek waggled his haunches. Ooh, didn’t he just feel like a naughty little hatchling learning the thrill of the hunt. He dug his hind paws against the earth, counting down on his head till the girl had gotten far enough away.

Three.

Two.

One.

Revaramek sprang.

The dragon hurtled across the marsh in a resplendent flash of emerald and copper. Water sprayed from his pounding paws in fan-shaped arcs on either side of his body. The sprint made his muscles ache and his powerful heart thunder. He was more used to flying that sprinting, but the hunt was just as thrilling on the ground. The dragon’s vast lungs heaved like bellows, his vision focused upon his prey.

He’d tried to tell her. Only prey ran.

In only a few breaths, Revaramek had nearly reached the fleeing girl. She hurtled the low bridge’s rail in an effort to change course, but Revaramek was not about to let her escape him now. The dragon twisted as he ran, skidding through murky water, then hurtled after her again. With all his claws unsheathed, he had plenty of traction against the muddy marsh bottom.  Revaramek let his prey get just far enough ahead to think she was actually going to escape him into the trees.

And then he leapt, and beat his wings.

“Don’t you even-”

Revaramek did. A single wing beat, and the dragon accelerated faster through the air than he ever could on the ground. He swept over the girl and snatched her around her middle, and up into the air. Another wing beat and he shot into the sky, with Mirelle dangling from his forelegs just above the treetops.

“I told you I’d-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Mirelle’s scream pierced his eardrums. The dragon splayed his ears back, cringing. That was the single loudest, shrillest sound he’d ever heard in all his life. It rattled Revaramek’s brain inside his skull. As she screamed, Mirelle scrabbled at the heavy scutes protecting his forelegs, then clung to a limb so tightly it made his paw tingle. She wheezed for breath, only to scream again.

“Youscalysonofabiiiiiiiiiiiitch!”

Revaramek smiled. It was good to be overlord.