Chapter 3

Hero sniffed the air carefully, watching Sre toil away with the small garden. The winter was passing fast, turning into spring. He lay near the garden, his large hand-paws crossed out in front of his barrel chest. His copper eyes peered about lazily. There had been no sign of the Spindle, or of anything dangerous, in the past month.

A large Brakis bird screamed down at Hero. He grunted up at it, puffing smoke out of his nostrils. The bird quickly flew away. He snorted, pleased with himself. He went back to sunning himself when two brief shadows interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up quickly, wondering if he'd seen it right.

Sre also looked up. She shielded her eyes from the sun, not sure if she'd seen the shadows. Scanning the sky, she saw nothing of interest and decided to go back to what she was doing. When she was done planting the last seed, she stood and rubbed her hands against her pants to get the dirt off them, not really noticing that her pants were already dirty. "Well, that does it, Hero. I better check my traps and tomorrow I'll head into town."

Hero rumbled as he stood, his scales clicking together, hissing as they slid against each other. It reminded Sre of the armor Roscrow had worn. For a moment, she felt a little sad, thinking about him. Hero stretched luxuriously, looking for all the world like a giant scaly cat. After a grand yawn and shake, he started off into the woods, taking the route he knew she took to check her traps. He refused to let her go alone after the incident with the Spindle.

Chuckling at him, Sre grabbed her things and followed after the dragon. The day went by slow enough. Since Hero insisted on following her everywhere, she had started using him as a pack mule. Every time she tossed an animal onto his back, he'd groan as if it was such a burden for him, then grin at her when she'd chide him. When they got close to the road, Hero hid in the thick brush, waiting for the all clear.

Sre slid down the embankment, landing on the packed dirt with a little grunt. She looked up and noticed a cart coming down the road from the direction of the town. Sre decided to wait. She recognized the man driving the cart, clicking his tongue at his mule. He had been the one to sell her the seeds since she loved his produce.

The man drew back on the reins as he came close to her. "Hail, MoniKi. What are you doing on the road?"

"Hunting. With the spring comes lots of new animals. The pickings have been slim lately." She patted the mule, who snorted and stomped his hooves anxiously, smelling the dragon hiding in the bushes not 7 meters away.

"Indeed they have been. Have you heard about the dragons that have been around here? A man came into town and said a dragon that looked kinda like a Spindle, but too dark in color to be a Spindle, attacked him. And lots of animals, both wild and domestic, have been found just torn to shreds and often burned."

Sre tilted her head, looking up at him curiously. "It looked like a Spindle?"

"That's what the guy said, but it was dark in color, either brown or black. And he said it had a crest, like a War dragon! Apparently, it's bad enough that someone from the army flew in to investigate. The army doesn't believe that a War dragon could have gotten lose and bred with a Spindle, but they said they'll take care of any feral Spindle that's causing damage." He looked around worriedly. "This is about the area the Spindle was at."

Sre nodded absentmindedly. The army was there to investigate? Were people seeing Hero? She knew he often wandered off in search of food, and he was having to go further and further because large prey was getting scarce. Was he attacking domestic animals to stay fed?

"Well, stay safe MoniKi! I gotta get this load to the next town within 2 days or else I may not be able to sell it. If you see the dragon, go into town and tell the officer. He's holed up at the 3 Harping Goats. Intimidating fellow. Don't recall his name. Have a fine day, and good hunting!"

Sre bid him farewell as he gave a light tap with his whip, spurring the mule forward. It didn't need to be told twice.

Once he was out of sight, Sre called for Hero. He stepped down lightly onto the road, careful not to leave prints. As they headed across to the other side and into the woods, Sre looked up at him curiously. She couldn't imagine him going against her and attacking people and livestock. And he never used his fire. He was always careful to leave no trace of his existence. No, it had to be a new species. But considering Spindles were the only feral species, with all the others being completely owned by humans, how could that be?

She decided she'd go into town to find out what was being said. If they described Hero, then she knew she would have to move, find a new home. She would not let them hurt Hero, and she didn't want to think what they would do to her.

Once they were home, Sre got to skinning. She offered Hero all the meat, though she knew a few bingku and apins wouldn't be nearly enough for the dragon. As the sun went down, Sre finished her chores and went inside to get ready for bed. As she undressed, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked so much different than when she had first slept in this house. She was lean, but it was from hard work, not starvation. She kept her hair short, easier to care for.

She ran her thin, calloused fingers through her hair slowly. She let her hand travel down her neck, over the offensive collar, and down her pale chest. Her finger tips lightly caressed a breast, which were now large enough to be noticeable through her shirts. They were firm and tight, the nipples perking in the cool air. The fire was nothing but coals now.

Slowly, Sre's fingertips circled an erect nipple. It had been long since she had felt the touch of another human, at least a pleasurable one. Plenty of handsome young men had flirted with her in town, and she was sure they were perfectly decent men. She was just too worried about letting anyone get close enough to her for that, afraid they would change once they found out she was a runaway and try to enslave her again, not to mention what Hero would do if he came home and noticed what was going on. He'd have a fit.

Her other hand traveled down her lean, toned belly. She hesitated when she reached the little area of hair at the apex of her thighs. She'd touched herself before, having been alone for more than a year, but she always felt awkward. She quickly sat on the bed before she got too carried away. Her fingers touched everywhere, slipping over her throbbing clit. She gave a little whimper, feeling the pleasure rush up into her belly. Her other hand pinched a perked nipple, twisting it gently.

She lay back onto the bed as her fingers moved a little faster. She moaned quietly as she felt the pleasure well up inside her lower belly, under her bellybutton. Her hips jerked upwards, coming up to meet her fingers. She rubbed desperately, trying to get to release. When she got to the point that her clit couldn't take anymore, she slipped her fingers into her hot, wet slit. Her juices quickly covered her fingers, getting all over her thighs. Her palm continued to rub her clit as she pumped her fingers in and out, reaching deeply for that wondrous spot inside her. She continued to rub her breast, her moans getting louder and more urgent as she reached bliss.

She felt herself get extremely hot, like her skin was on fire. She felt her muscles twitch and spasm, her back arching up, her hips grinding hard. She let out a long moan, shivering as the bliss flowed up through her entire body. She continued to rub lightly, trying to make the feeling last for as long as she could.

At last, her muscles relaxed and the intense pleasure faded, leaving exhaustion in its wake. Sre curled up under her blankets and furs, enjoying the pleasant quiet of her mind that always occurred afterwards.

She woke from her deep, dreamless sleep when she heard Hero pace around the house. She hadn't realized how late it was. She'd slept through the glare of sun. It was already late morning. Sre quickly got dressed, cleaning herself up as best she could, then threw on her summer cloak, much lighter, and headed out. Hero hurried over to the door. "Ah-Ah!" he cried, laying down in front of her. In this position, she reached his shoulders. She was easily able to climb up into her normal spot, after tossing a load of furs onto him.

"Good morning to you, too, son." She patted a folded wing. He muttered sarcastically at her, mimicking her voice as best he could. She laughed. "Keep trying. You'll get there someday!"

His long strides got her to the edge of town by noontime, whereas it would have taken her til evening otherwise. He lowered himself to let her down, and after she had tossed her load of furs over her shoulder, she patted his nose. "Now you stay out of sight, alright? I don't need anyone seeing you with all this talk of rogue dragons attacking people. They'll come hunting for you!" Hero snorted in understanding and stood with a soft rumble, turning to head back into the woods.

Sre walked through the wheat field, watching the long golden stalks wave in the breeze. The wheat was not yet ready as it was still a little green. But with how mild the winter had been, the haverst would be very soon. She'd be coming back into town to get some of the wheat so she could make fresh bread. Hero loved bread, and so she used it as a treat for him when he was really good.

As she got close to town, the owner of the field, an older man with a belly who was always aided by his son about Sre's age, drove by through the irrigation channels in a special cart. The ox groaned as it plodded along lazily. Sre waved to them both. The old man was kind enough to let her go through his field, so she usually offered him a fur or two whenever she saw him.

"Hail, MoniKi." Jasper, the son, waved back to her. He often flirted with her when she'd stop at their booth in the marketplace. She rather liked him, but was wary of his father. Barron was old and grumpy, and very stubborn. Though he was nice to her, he often commented on how she never took off her cloak and was obviously hiding something.

Jasper hopped off the cart as his father kept going, muttering to himself. Sre giggled. Jasper looked over his shoulder with an awkward grin. "Oh, don't mind him, he's all mad about the officier being here. He wants to 'talk battle as only two soldiers can, '" he mimicked his father's deep rumbling voice. "I keep trying to tell him the officer is too busy trying to find the dragons."

"Dragons? There's more than one?" Sre looked at him.

"That's what's been said. The officer went out to the area where the man was killed by the road, and he said there had been a fight between two dragons. Said it might be a mated pair. Then this morning another hunter found what appeared to be a nest, up in the cliffs along those hills. The officier took off with his dragon to go see if it really is a nest.

"Have you seen anything strange in the woods?" He peered at her quizzically.

Sre shook her head. "Not seen much, just been noticing the game is getting scarce. Most of my traps are empty, haven't seen any predators in a long time, and the big game is pretty much gone."

"Yeah, that's what other hunters have been saying. Black came down from the hills just to complain about it!" Jasper chuckled to himself.

"The lizard? If he came down, then it must be bad." Sre couldn't believe that the lone Sarlykien, a reptilian humanoid alien, would come down from his home up in the hills. He only came down when something was very wrong. He usually came down to warn the town of serious weather, somehow sensing it before it hit. But if it was just over the lack of prey, it had to be bad.

"Yeah. The officier said if the game is as scarce as we been saying, then it has to be more than just 2 dragons living in this area. It would have to be at least 4 or 5 of them, and while Spindles aren't aggressively territorial, having that many in such a small valley, there would eventually be fights.

"Do you need any help carrying those into town? Derikel was apparently really eager to see you. I don't know why," he added when she looked at him in question. He held out his hand in offer to help.

"Uh, no, I'll be ok, Jasper. Thanks. You better go help your dad before he starts telling the cows about his glory days in the ground army." She tossed the furs over her shoulder.

Jasper grinned lopsidely and rolled his eyes. "Like they haven't all heard it before! Well, you take care." He jogged off toward his house at the far end of the field. Sre smiled after him, giggling to herself as she turned away.

She finally walked into the tavern. The first person to notice her was the tall, black scaled reptilian that sat near the window. He gestured with a four fingered, clawed hand. Sre took the seat across from Black, as he was known since humans couldn't speak Sarlykein. He reminded Sre of a dragon with the horns that jutted back out of his skull. He had several rings that adorned those gleaming grey horns, and a chain that ran from one of the rings to his nose piercing. They were very ritualistic people. His green eyes gleamed with intelligence.

"You should be hiding." His accent was thick, his voice sounding like a hissing snake. She knew he was trying to whisper. Almost 3 months after she'd been left on her own in the woods when Jermin died, she'd been washing her clothes in a stream when the humanoid had shown up, looking down at her. He had known from the moment he had met her that she was a runaway. He had been able to smell her metal collar. But his kind did not believe in slaves. Hero had pounced out of the brush, still small back then. The Sarlykein had merely shrugged, finding nothing strange in this. After that, they had met in the woods several more times. He knew Sre greatly appreciated his company, being the only person she could speak to about her life in the woods.

"Why?" she peered at him from the shadows of her hood.

Black then extended a long claw tipped finger toward the wall near the door, a large poster with "REWARD" written in large letters. She looked intently at it. "Any information that leads to the capture or death of the halfing dragons, or knowledge of the breeder of the halflings." She looked back at the large humanoid. He was easily 2 and a half meters tall. The Sarlykein nodded at her, his thick, slightly forked tongue slipping out for a moment.

"He's safe," she said quietly.

"I wasss more concccerned for you." The lizard tilted his head, indicating for her to look behind her.

"MoniKi! You're here at last!" She jumped slightly when Derikel spoke behind her. "I sure was hoping you hadn't been gobbled up by those rogue dragons. Come, let's talk about the furs." Derikel gestured to her. The other patrons hardly looked up, knowing this to be a routine thing whenever she came in.

She quickly slipped into the back with Derikel. He turned to her, a grave look on his normally happy face. "Sre, I hope your dragon is tucked away safe. If that officier finds him, it'll be over! He's got a spear gun, one of them fierce looking ones that can go through dragon scales."

Sre sighed. "Yes, Hero is safe. He knows to stay out of the skies, and away from any clearings. He is careful to not be seen, trust me. You wouldn't even be able to find evidence of him around my house, and that's where he spends most of his time. I'm just worried that he's been having to go out too far in search of prey, but I know he stays away from people."

Derikel nodded. "Do you think he's the reason for the halflings? Maybe he got frisky with the Spindle?"

Sre raised a brow. "He's not old enough to breed yet. He has to get to at least 5 years to do that. He's not even 3 yet."

"I sure hope so. It's been getting bad, those dragons have been showing themselves more and more, and they are for sure halflings." Derikel gave a little sigh of relief.

A loud boom filled the air, making everyone jump. Someone ran inside the tavern, her face pale. "The fields! They're burning! The dragons..."

She didn't get the chance to finish before there was a flood of people rushing out to see for themselves. Sre rushed to the door with them. Indeed, the wheat fields were ablaze, massive clouds of smoke drifting about idly. "Jasper! I have to go make sure he's ok!" She ran past Derikel before he was able to snag her. She ignored him when he called to her. She ran as fast as she could toward the field.

And then she heard the wingbeats. Long, nimble black wings cut through the smoke. The dragon moved with amazing speed and flexibility. She couldn't see the beast clearly, but she heard that sound that made her nearly stop in her tracks. It was the sound that the Spindle had made before it had spat a ball of fire. But she knew just by the glimpse of the color it wasn't a Spindle. Those only came in variations of the color blue.

She heard the explosion of the fireball. The dragon then streaked past, too fast to get a good look at it. As Sre got closer to the field, where people had dumbly gathered to watch and gawk, she saw Barron stumbling out of the field, coughing heavily, covered in soot. She quickly rushed to him.

"Barron? Are you alright?"

The old man coughed as he waved her away. "Jasper," he croaked between coughed. He motioned back into the field. "Trying ... to save ... the cows..."

Sre looked him up and down to make sure he was fine before bounding into the burning field. The smoke almost immediately consumed her, and she wrapped her cloak tightly around her face so only her eyes were visible. The smoke stung her eyes, making them watery and blurry. She coughed as she stooped, calling out for Jasper.

After a few minutes, she heard the panicked mooing of the cows over the crackling fire. She followed the sound and tripped over something. She turned to look at her feet, realizing it was Jasper. He had passed out from smoke inhalation. The cows were milling about, not sure what to do or where to go in the smoke. Sre tore a piece of her cloak and held it over Jasper's nose and mouth, hoping to help him breathe.

And then she heard the rumbling sound. Very slowly, she turned to look over her shoulder. It was unmistakable. The long thin head of the Spindle with the grand crest of the War dragon. Its yellow eyes stared at her, its snout inches from her. Its mouth opened, revealing the same teeth Hero had. Saliva dripped onto the ground as the beast leaned forward.

Without knowing why, Sre threw up her hand, palm facing the dragon. She saw the look of confusion on its face as its jaw shut with a snap. "Leave me alone. I never brought harm to you!"

The dragon reared its head, its long thin neck having covered an odd feature that Sre now noticed. The dragon was deformed, lacking front legs. All that remained were stumps. It walked with its wings, something that had to be painful for the creature. She felt sorry for it. No wonder it was attacking humans and livestock, they were easy prey, often out in the open where it would swoop down and pick it up with its powerful hind legs.

It suddenly turned and stalked over toward the cows. It lunged and was lost in the smoke, but Sre heard a cow scream. Coughing, Sre knew she had to get Jasper out of the smoke. She could feel the heat of the fire radiating all around her. She didn't know which way was safe.

And then those wingbeats. Deep, booming wingbeats. The smoke was blasted away. Sre covered her eyes as ash and other debris blew up into her face. When she could open her eyes again, she noticed a massive iridescent War dragon on its hind legs, reared back. It roared angrily at the smaller deformed halfling. Its wings fanned the air, steadying it on its hind legs, an unusual position for a dragon. Sre had seen Hero fight in this manner as well.

Noticing a clearing now that the smoke had been blown away, Sre began to drag Jasper out of the field. As she neared the edge, several more people rushed over to help her. She glanced at him worriedly, but couldn't keep her eyes from the fight. The brightly colored War dragon circled the halfling slowly, still upright. Its belly scales where the only part of the dragon that could withstand the fire should the halfling spit at him.

It cowered down, screaming at the massive rainbow beast. It spat another fireball which struck the War dragon squarely in the chest, knocking it off balance with a scream. But the big beast quickly regained its position, guided by expert hands. She could see it had a rider, but from the smoke and shimmering of the heat from the fires, she couldn't see him clearly.

Without warning, a fire ball struck the War dragon from behind, near the base of the tail. It screeched in pain, quickly rolling to put out the fire. Everyone gasped and pointed to the sky as an ice blue serpent shot down from the sky. The pure Spindle screamed at the War dragon threateningly. The irridecent dragon looked up to roar back when the deformed dragon lunged up, latching onto the far larger dragon's thick powerful neck.

The War dragon roared, spinning around quickly on its back legs before sitting on its haunches and clawing at the other dragon's belly. And then the Spindle flinted into view again like speeding swallow, landing nimbly at a run toward the battle. It leapt up and took hold of the giant's wing, pulling it down. The irradecent beast Whipped around with amazing speed for having another dragon hanging off its neck and snapped at the Spindle, who easily hopped back, reminding Sre of the Brakis birds.

Again the Spindle attacked, grabbing hold of the larger dragon's wing. When the beast turned to snap at it again, it hopped back ... and into the jaws of a black beast. Hero took hold of the Spindle's tail, and before it could so much as squawk in surprise, threw the creature into a large tree. The tree cracked and fell with the power that Hero had tossed the serpent.