Another Way Around

The grit of the ground underneath him cut unto the skin of his exposed hand like a thousand little shards, but his side where he had landed felt much, much worse. The burn on his lower leg surpassed both. 

His helmet had long since gone, and a few of his other pieces of armor were hanging on barely from the leather being singed from the heat of the metal or even the flames themselves that had been thrown his way. It had been a miracle that the sword and shield had stayed in his hands thus far, having been thrown around so much. That luck somehow feels like it is wearing thin the more attempts he makes at doing anything to move the great, scaled beast. 

Its pale blue scales shimmer under the light, a few rays shining in from a few holes in the top of the damp and dark cave. Turning to look, the creature is still planted firmly on all fours with its head attentively watching him. When their eyes lock she lets out a growl and hunches low again. 

Tears well up and he takes a few scattered breaths. It has to be done, the knight tells himself. There's no other way. Standing, he reluctantly prepares to take another charge. 

Because the beast hadn’t moved, even a step. Not to retreat, or to attack him. No more than to pace in front of the back of the cave around where he assumes there is something precious to it hidden. Again and again, it stood almost like a statue, unmoving unless he got too close. At which point he was swiftly reminded what size he was compared to the massive dragon with a swat of a scaled claw or strong tail. But again and again, it did nothing to move backward or forward no matter what he tried. The knight supposes he should be thankful it hadn’t killed him. 

Yet. 

If given his way, he might have instead lured it away with something pleasant, rather than try and scare the most terrifying thing to ever fly in the sky. But he hadn’t a single idea of what could tempt a dragon.

Recalling the look on the village leader's face when he agreed to do this, and his sweet wife proudly grinning as he had been sent off, he builds what he needs back up to breathe in and yell again while charging forward. The sound that ripped from his throat sounded more animal and dragon-like than human. 

The roar makes the whole cave tremble and this time it doesn’t use fire. With a great claw, he is swatted away with the top side. When he lands he rolls another few times before stopping.

Instead of immediately getting back to his feet, he shifts to his back and groans for a minute, and attempts to breathe in again. Every movement wanted to make him scream but there was no breath to push through his throat to make the sound. And even when it was, the throbbing of the collection of his injuries silenced him. Deciding to take the grace of a dragon who seemed uninterested in pursuing him, the knight chooses to lay there a moment. 

There was no frightening it, or baiting it into chasing him. Looking at it closely as it is watching him with deep green eyes, he tries to make sense of it. 

He didn’t see anything glittering that would indicate treasure. The air had no foul odor or blood to suggest this dragon had recently had a meal it was protecting, or anything worth being so territorial but unwilling to leave the cave. 

That was his task. See that the dragon moves away from the village, to ensure the safety of it’s inhabitants and their livestock. It was a simple enough job if he wasn’t warned right away that it would likely mean killing the creature before it did the same to him. A prospect the man didn’t relish, even if duty compelled him to see the job done. It wasn’t what he worked so hard for a knighthood for. 

Hours spent with a sword, being at the beck and call of an older, more senior knight was meant to prepare him to protect people at whatever cost. Not take innocent lives, not intentionally to take lives at all. Though this was a beast and he doubted a single man, woman, or child would consider this matter so delicate as that, but from the moment he led his horse away from the crowd seeing him off, it weighed heavily on his heart. 

Perhaps, he thought with ironic amusement, that was why he was faced with a dragon who stubbornly refused to flee him or attack him. 

As he keeps staring, looking at it under the few bits of light allowed into the cave from his place on the floor he finally sees it. 

On the floor of the cave, two smaller sets of eyes behind the front arm of the dragon. Both are the same green as the large dragon. He sees them clearer now. One of them is a similar blue to their mother, and the second is a color that reminds him of the ocean in a storm. They look to him, then up to the adult and it sinks in. What this dragon had been protecting all along. When one makes a fearful noise and tries to climb behind the other, the knight settles his heart and makes up his mind. 

Slowly, he stands. The dragon raises her head too. 

“I want you to know, I’m sorry. But this will be better, for everyone.” He manages to get out. 

This time, he charges for the nest behind the dragon. He doesn’t get far before being swept by the tail and almost deafened by the roar. Just as he had planned. The dragon begins thrashing to round on him, and when rocks begin to fall he makes for the exit as she makes her own way out of the cave. 

His horse is furiously romping around on the slight hill at the base of the mountain, and he grabs him and lets the adrenaline carry the both of them back to the village. Riding ignites pain in every part of his body he didn’t know he could feel before, but his plan once he arrives keeps it from being too tortuous. When he sees the small houses and stone fence of the village, he begins shouting. 

“Everyone, leave! Leave now!” He hollers. 

That’s when he realizes everyone is already gathered outside, and watching the sky almost entirely silently. A man shakes his head and points up silently when his horse comes to a stop. 

In the distance, the dragon is flying away. Two smaller figures close behind her. At the two baby flap behind their mother, he forces the grin off his face.