The Knight's Proposal

Richard gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as he stared at the dark cave’s mouth before him. Years of training had prepared him for this moment, the time in which he would prove his worth to the kingdom. It was a journey that many knights before him partook, one that was written in stories to show the greatness of the knights who protected villages from evil. There was no greater accomplishment, no greater prestige and bravery than slaying a man-eating dragon. And it was time for Richard to take on the ritual that showed the results of his training.

And yet, he hesitated.

It was not because Richard was fearful of what lay within the cave. On the contrary, he didn’t have much of a fear for creatures. He had grown up on a farm that herded all manners of dangerous animals, from manticores to griffins. As a child, he warded off goblins and other nefarious beasts that attempted to steal food and the occasional baby. He was all too familiar with how dangerous these creatures were, and dragons were not an exception. But he had a nagging feeling when it came to the task of slaying dragons. It was a feeling that lasted with him ever since he was first told tales of brave knights slaying the animals. Yes, they were dangerous and caused insufferable damage wherever they went, eating people and hoarding gold. But why were they considerable untamable when humans eventually made peace with manticores and other such dangerous beasts?

Richard sat down on a nearby rock and sighed wearily. Being the first in his family to be accepted into the knight academy, he quickly became the pride of his little village. At the academy itself, however, he found the task of making companionships with his fellow students to be more arduous than the training. When he questioned the purpose of dragon slaying and whether there was another way to solve the problem, he was met with jeers from the other students and quiet head shakes from the masters.

“How ‘bout you go and marry a dragon instead?” one student scoffed when Richard brought up domestication of dragons. Such a witless quip evoked laughter from the others, and Richard remained silent about the subject ever since. After years of training, he was finally sent on his first dragon slaying mission. A dragon had been occupying this cave for some months now, though there had no reports that it had attacked any villagers or raided any gold from noble families. What, then, is the point of killing the creature if it posed no threat? Richard wondered but kept the thoughts to himself. He was here now, and he had to complete his knighthood. No number of questions or doubts can prevent him from finishing this task. Gripping his sword once more, he got up and ventured into the cave.

It was dark and cold within the dragon’s home. Richard had expected the dragon to keep the cave warm with its fire, but perhaps it was only further within the cave would he encounter dragon fire, for having it so close to the entrance might attract unwanted attention. Sure enough, he could see a faint light up ahead after a few minutes of walking. As he continued, he could feel warmth, and the heat and light intensified the closer he got to the source. Eventually, he saw the dragon fire roasting on a pile of wood and stones. It looked like any regular fire but had a distinct otherworldly smell that made it instantly recognizable.

Richard stood before the fire and checked his surroundings. He saw various junk lying around in the cave. Broken furniture, old dinnerware, and ragged clothing were splayed on the ground. He was puzzled. He was always told that dragons steal and hoard precious jewels and rare gold chalices, but the only items of note were worthless garbage. Was the cave used as a dumping ground before it became the dragon’s home? Even so, considering how long the dragon’s been here, he still expected to see some valuables laying around.

The cave was also eerily silent, almost as if the dragon wasn’t there.

“Hello?” he called out, despite knowing it was foolish to expect a response from an animal.

“Well, look here. Another stupid human.” Or perhaps it wasn’t foolish at all. A great shape emerged from a darkened corner that the fire’s light could not reach. The dragon was the size of a small house, and its dark green scales glimmered in the flames. It fixed its light blue eyes on Richard with an expression that looked almost like a scowl. Richard took a step back and nearly tripped over a discarded piece of junk.

“Y-you can talk?” he managed to stammer out. In all the stories he was told and the training he went through, he had never heard that dragons could possess the ability to speak. For a second, he wondered if he had gone mad and was hallucinating the entire scenario. Perhaps the dragon had already killed him, and this was a dying dream.

“Yes, I can talk. Every dragon can talk and do all manner of things that you humans are ignorant about,” the dragon responded. It moved closer to Richard and eyed the sword in his hand. “I see you’ve come to slay me, human. And here I thought I’ve found the perfect cave where no one will bother me. Oh, well. Let’s get this over with so I can find a new home before your fellow knights realize you’ve been gone for too long.”

“Wait!” Without putting much thought into it, Richard threw his sword aside. It clattered against some rocks and lay shining from the fire’s light. He realized that this was probably a fatal mistake, but there was no turning back now. He raised both hands to show the dragon that he did not have any other weapons on him. “I don’t want to slay you!” The dragon stared at him, perplexed by his actions.

“Hm,” it finally responded. “I’ve never seen a trick like this before. Are you pretending to surrender? Perhaps your fellow knights are already here and are ready to ambush me the moment I let my guard down.”

“Please believe me, this is no trick!” Richard protested. “There are no other knights here, you can even scorch the cave just to be sure…w-without burning me, of course.” He gingerly let his hands down. “I never wanted to slay dragons, but I came here because it was expected with my training. And now…I’m even more against it.” The dragon stared at him once more before letting out a huff.

“You’re the strangest human I’ve ever encountered. What is your name?”

“Richard. And…I assume you have a name as well?”

“Of course I do.” The dragon shook its head in annoyance. “Even after knowing that I can talk, you still think I’m some mindless beast without a name?”

“I’m sorry, that was thoughtless.” Richard fidgeted sheepishly. “I’m still processing all of this.”

“It’s not like humans ever cared to learn about us, so I guess I can’t blame you.” The dragon had lain on the ground, its guard slightly down but keeping an eye on Richard. “But fine. My name is Sage.”

“That’s a pretty name for a dragon,” Richard remarked as he sat down on a nearby stone.

“For a dragon?” Sage sneered at him. “Typical thing for a human to say.” Richard winced at his continued carelessness with his words.

“Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“We can put it aside for now,” Sage continued. “I’m more curious about other things. Tell me, Richard, why is your kind so obsessed with slaying my kind?”

“A strange question coming from someone whose kind kills and robs from my kind,” Richard rebutted. Sage chuckled.

“Fair point. Then I will explain first. We dragons were raised to fear humans as our natural enemies. It only made sense to attack them before they attacked us. Stealing their valuables is a tradition of sorts, like keeping a trophy after a kill. Gold and jewels don’t mean anything to us. Maybe they did in the past, but now it’s mostly done as bragging rights.”

“I see,” Richard remarked. “I guess it’s the same thing for us humans. We were also raised to view dragons as enemies and as something that we needed to get rid of. The slaying of a knight’s first dragon is a part of our tradition as well.” He paused and looked around the cave. “Now that you’ve brought it up…where is all the gold and jewels that a dragon usually keeps? All I’m seeing here is rubbish.”

“Ah.” Sage flicked her tail in a bored manner, as if she had been asked that question many times. “I don’t steal that sort of thing. Although it’s tradition, I don’t see the appeal of having a cave floor cluttered with treasure. But I do still feel an obligation to fulfil the tradition somewhat, so I just take whatever junk is laying around in human villages instead. They’re much easier to steal, and most humans don’t even notice that they’re gone.”

“Oh.” Richard turned his head to look at the fire as he formulated the next question. “And what about…killing humans? Isn’t that also a part of your tradition?” Sage shifted a bit.

“That…I also do not like. I don’t see the need in killing something unless it’s for food, and I’ve only ever killed knights who attacked me first. Self-defense, you know. Besides, humans do not taste very good.” That last statement hung in the air like a fog.  

“How…” Richard swallowed. The question was leaving his mouth with difficulty. “How do you know what humans taste like?”

“I’ve once bitten off the arm of a man,” Sage stated nonchalantly. “It tasted horrid, so I spat it out.”

“That’s horrible!” Richard gasped.

“Why?” Sage seemed genuinely confused by his outburst. “I gave it back to him.”

“Well, it’s not like he can reattach his arm!” Richard further exclaimed.

“He can’t?” Sage’s eyes widened in surprise. “I thought humans could reattach their limbs. I’ve witnessed knights get their legs ripped off, and they were walking just fine a few days later.”

“They were wearing prosthetics, Sage! They didn’t reattach their limbs, they replaced them with synthetic ones!” Richard was absolutely exasperated by this conversation. Sage stared at him before clicking her tongue.

“Well, I suppose I don’t know much about humans, then.”

“And you were the one who was just complaining about humans not understanding dragons,” Richard pointed out. Sage’s eyes squinted with annoyance, but that quickly passed, and she sighed.

“Another fair point. In that case, I apologize. We’re both guilty of making assumptions towards the other.”

“Indeed.” The two fell silent, the crackling dragon fire being the only thing that broke the quietness. Its dancing flames made shadow puppets on the cave walls, at times seemingly taking shape of humans and beasts alike. It was Sage who finally stirred from the silence.

“You don’t want to slay dragons,” she said as her blue eyes rested on Richard once more. “Why is that? You’re the first human I’ve come across who wasn’t eager to plunge their sword into my heart.” Richard observed the shadows on the walls before answering.

“I’ve always felt it strange that we’ve managed to tame manticores but not dragons-”

“Manticores?” A low growl escaped from Sage’s throat. “Even after this talk, you still see me as an animal that can be tamed and domesticated?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. That’s how I viewed dragons before I met you. But even if you were just animals, I’ve always figured there was some way to settle this peacefully without bloodshed. But whenever I brought this up to anyone else, I was laughed at.” Sage calmed down and looked at Richard with sympathy.

“Funny,” she responded. “That’s how I’ve viewed humans for a bit as well, and I also received the same jeers.”

“Is that true?” Richard was surprised to hear that he and this dragon had so many things in common.

“Yes,” she responded. “I’ve already told you; I don’t like killing things without purpose. Despite my dislike for humans, I have only killed some in self-defense. I don’t even bother with stealing their gold. But all of this makes the other dragons gossip about me behind my back. I’m quite used to it, really.” Although her face looked disinterested, there was a sort of sadness in Sage’s eyes that Richard connected with. He stood up.

“Okay. Neither of us likes what we’re doing. We’re only killing because of tradition, right? And everyone else mocks us for thinking differently.”

“What’s your point?” Sage asked curiously.    

“My point,” Richard continued, “is that we don’t need to do this. We don’t need to fulfil what others expect of us.”

“What should we do instead, then?” Sage asked as she got up and stretched. “What do you propose?” Richard hadn’t gotten this far with his train of thought. What, indeed, should the two of them do instead of attempting to kill each other, as was the custom for both humans and dragons? He thought back to the ridicules of the other students, and that one taunt that made him stop questioning his masters. Then he thought about Sage’s question, her asking him what his proposal was. Perhaps it was still the shock of learning that dragons were sentient beings. Perhaps he was just more tired than he realized. Perhaps he was just stupid. But for whatever reason, the two thoughts crossed together, and without further consideration, Richard blurted out:

“Let’s get married.”

Silence filled the air once more, only this time it felt as though the cave itself was holding its breath. The realization of what he had just said hit Richard like a cart full of rocks. It was as if all his organs had collapsed to the pit of his stomach. Gods, this is the part where I should just throw myself into the fire. Then, uproarious laughter broke the silence.  

“Well then, that’s not the kind of proposal I expected!” Sage laughed so hard that her legs nearly buckled. Her tail swished like a snake, nearly striking the walls. It felt like an hour before she finally calmed down. Her laughter remained in the echoes of the cave. Richard looked down in utter embarrassment, wishing that he could transform into a worm and hide in the dirt.

“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever said.”

“Hopefully it was. Otherwise, I’d be missing out on all the other ridiculous things you have exclaimed.” Sage shifted her weight. “But in all seriousness, it could never work. You and I just have…different biology, let’s put it at that. And I doubt we would find a dragon priest who would approve of our union, anyway.”

“Dragons have priests?” The new information that Richard was learning about dragons continued to amaze him.

“Does anything I say still surprise you?” Sage paused for a few seconds. “Alright. Here is my proposal. How about we just go away together and live somewhere far away? Somewhere where no one can bother us, and we don’t need to follow any traditions.” Richard shifted his feet, still feeling embarrassed.

“That’s a much better idea, yes.”

“Then it’s settled.” Sage suddenly moved forward and walked towards the cave’s exit.

“Ah, wait! We’re leaving now?” Richard ran to catch up with her.

“Of course we are.” Sage stopped and looked back at him. “Unless there is something you need to finish first?” She turned her head to the discarded sword. “Should you inform your teachers or whoever that you have failed your mission?” Richard briefly glanced the sword and shook his head.

“No. Those who turn their backs on the dragon-slaying task are deemed as cowards and cannot rejoin the knighthood. In my case, though, I predict that my kind in general will disown me for befriending a dragon.”

“Same with my kind for befriending a human.”

The two unlikely companions ventured out of the cave and into a new life together.