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Grandal

By: jjcolejr



Well, what the hell happened?

I had just awakened to find myself under dead bodies and with an amazingly painful headache. Before I panicked I saw that most of the blood covering me was theirs. I assumed that was also true of the bad smell.

After a few moments I remembered running my sword through the body on top of me, in fact my hand still gripped my weapon. Apparently, although he was already dead he had clubbed me in the head. 

The splitting headache had confirmed I was not dead but I felt some regret over that. I wondered how long I had been out. I was still alert enough to listen before getting up and rejoining the fight. 

It was very quiet except for a funny sound that I did not recognize. Whatever it was that sound was fading away so I slid up between two bodies and looked around. The only one sitting up was me. No one was standing and no one was moving.

Well fuck, we had wiped each other out.

I was apparently the only survivor of the three hundred men in my battalion. There were no survivors among the savages that attacked us either. A hell of a way to begin a day I thought. 

I remembered our troops had just resumed our march south after a restful evening and had entered a small valley when we saw them, savages. They were nearly nude with bodies painted in blue. They carried spears and clubs, we carried spears and swords. One third of our men carried shields.

We readied for battle but were confident they would not attack since there were so few of them and we were obviously just marching through. Next thing I knew we were all fighting for our lives and everyone lost, except me and that was still not at all certain.

I stood but did not have the strength to pull my sword out of the savage so I just left it. I obviously would not need it.

I looked around at the dead around me and saw my uncle Clyde. He had a spear through him which must have pissed him off since there were two savages with broken necks at his feet. Uncle Clyde had been a medic and was in fact training me to succeed him. He had lost his thrill for battle when our last one killed my father, his brother.

I thought about taking the bags of his trade with me but I was too tired. I was certain I would soon be dead anyway.

I wished Uncle Clyde a good trip and asked him to say hello to my Mom and Dad. At that moment I realized I no longer had any living relatives.

I turned to look in the direction of the sound I had heard before. I saw the creature pick up a man's body and swallow it whole.

Well fuck, a Dragon. Perfect.

I just stood and stared at it for some moments and found myself just marveling at the beast, it was my first such sighting. I had not completely believed they existed and was fascinated by it. 

It was not as big as the stories claimed but still it was huge, bigger than four or five horses. Its wings were folded as it walked the battlefield so I figured in flight it would be most impressive. It walked nearly upright with long slow strides, it was graceful, birdlike. The greenish resplendent scales were beautiful and there were yellow and red markings on its wings. I did not remember that part in the descriptions of them, likely because people seldom saw them on the ground and when they did soon became lunch.

Then I thought there may be more than one kind of Dragon, the ones most people described were dark.

Well fuck, it sees me. Umm, it does not seem to be interested in me. I wonder how close I could get before it decides to kill me.

I had already decided I was going to die anyway so I may as well attack it, save the countryside some trouble, or at least have it stop my headache.

I was halfway to it when it stopped and stared at me. It was also the precise moment I realized my sword was still buried in the savage. I looked around me for a weapon but realized I had no chance to mount a viable attack, looking down had made me nauseous, dizzy. 

I was also exhausted, the day began in battle and it had taken a while for all of us to be dead. I looked up to see what time it was and the rays of the sun increased the pain in my head by a thousand. It was still morning. It had already been a terrific day.

I veered towards a small area near the Dragon by a stream that had few bodies around it and found a nice rock to sit on. I expected the Dragon to eat me.

"You must love it when humans battle and kill each other; free food." I said to the Dragon.

It turned and walked towards me and I thought it would be a good time to pray but didn't.

"Let me take my chainmail off, I would imagine it really fucks up your digestive system."

It seemed to understand what I said and stopped about one of its body lengths away and sat. It smelled of burnt incense.

"Amazing, I am not afraid to die so what I see in front of me is a gorgeous creature," I said to it. 

It looked at me curiously with clear amber eyes, its nose now about two arm lengths away from me, close enough to engulf me if it wanted to. It did not have a beak but a rounded mouth. There were two somewhat larger scales in the middle of where lips would be. Up close and personal it was still a beautiful beast.

I relaxed and caught my breath as the Dragon inspected me closely. I expected to be dead soon so I thought it was the best time to introduce myself.

I said, "My name is Lars by the way. I am from the far north. The others you see here are unknown people who apparently attack everyone they encounter, savages. We were on our way to a distant battlefield when they attacked us. 

There were fewer than a hundred of them and I'm sure they understood it would be sure death to challenge us but they attacked anyway. They killed everyone before they were all dead too. I would have rather had them by our side in our battle in the distant land."

I now had no armor, just my tunic. The creature could see that but still did not attack so I took off my tunic. 

I chuckled to myself, I was now naked, wounded, nauseous, and talking to a Dragon. The highpoint of my life.

Then I thought, "Oh, I guess you are waiting to digest what you have eaten. In that case I'm going to the shade and take a nap, I have a horrible headache."

I walked to its right towards a small clump of trees opposite a small stream at the base of a tall hill. Midway through the shallow water I took a drink and in my reflection I saw my head was covered in blood. I dipped my head under the water and the stream briefly turned red. The cold water made the pain of my headache instantly worse. 

Sunlight and water hurt me, not a good thing for a human. I crossed the stream and settled under the largest tree. The Dragon followed me.

I folded my tunic into a pillow and said, "You do not need to wait for me to wake up, in fact I very much doubt I will wake up at all. At least you have given me a glorious sight before I die. Thanks."

I was sure I passed out rather than just fallen asleep.

I have no idea for how long I was out of it but when I did wake up I thought two different hells were fighting over me.

Well fuck. My Dragon was under attack by a much bigger, dark dragon. 

I did absolutely no thinking but ran to the body of a dead savage, picked up his spear and hurled it at the dark dragon. It pierced its throat which allowed my Dragon to retreat before it was killed. 

The dark dragon was furious but so was I. I picked up a sword and hurled myself at it piercing its torso as it turned towards me. I felt his body hit me and understood I would soon be a dragon meal but before that happened the dragon lifted itself into the air. I let go of the sword and landed hard but picked up another and chased after it.

I did not have to run far as the dark dragon soon crashed to the ground. The creature had an uncomprehending look in its eyes as if it could not understand how such a puny creature as me could bring it down. It closed its eyes before I killed it.

I hurried back towards my Dragon but did not see it at first. I found it cowering between burning trees.

"Calm down, it's dead and I'm not going to kill you too. Let me clean up your wounds."

I picked up my tunic and got it wet at the stream then dabbed a long deep gash on its side behind a wing. A bolt of fire had apparently actually stopped a lot of the bleeding but there was still a lot of blood. Its blood was a coppery red and had its own smell, not at all unpleasant. 

The gaping wound would need to be closed so I told the Dragon not to move and returned to the battlefield and search for my Uncle Clyde. I took his bags and said to him, "I have decided this was my last battle too, tell Mom and Dad."

As I hurried back to the Dragon I wondered why I had rescued it and why I was now hurrying to treat its wound.

"Well fuck, this is a stupid thing to do," I thought.

I used the drying powder on the wound then sewed it shut. I went back to the stream and cleaned myself up then got comfortable next to the creature.

It was evening by then and realized that although I had been out for most of the day I was again exhausted. I did notice my headache was less intense before I simply fell asleep. I expected the Dragon I had rescued and nursed to eat me that night.

When I next awoke it was late morning and I was alone. There was food and clothing around me but no Dragon.

I must smell too bad for it to eat me I thought with a chuckle and bathed in the stream. Then remembered that I had bathed before sleeping next to the Dragon. The smell was coming from the battlefield.

"Well, fuck. I guess the Dragon just did not want to eat me. I feel insulted," I thought with a small laugh.

I wondered if Dragons were capable of gratitude, I had saved its life after all. No, it probably went home or went to die somewhere. The wounds were deep.

I wondered who had brought the food and clothing to me. I wondered if the original owner was still alive. I wondered why I was talking to a crow. I wondered why the crow was listening.

I not surprisingly doubted my sanity for a few moments so I climbed the hill a few steps, turned and saw a battlefield strewn with bodies that had been joined by a large murder of crows. There were no crows around the dead dragon I noted. "Well. fuck, I really had killed a dragon."

I went back to my original spot and saw that the clothes were of a man that would have been a successful merchant and so was the food. 

I sat and rested, the very short trip up the hill had exhausted me, then suddenly it was late afternoon. I had apparently fallen asleep or passed out again. The crow was still by my side, it had apparently watched over me. I was grateful it had not eaten my eyeballs so I thanked it. Then thanked it again when I realized there were hundreds of crows around us that would have.

I wondered where I was and the crow apparently did not know either so I decided it did not matter. In the worlds of fanatics I was dead. I may as well become the merchant. I shared some food with the crow then as I dressed the bird left me for higher ground.

I was slowly following a path east up the hill away from the battlefield and noticed my headache was mostly gone although there was still a loud ringing in my ears. My body did hurt everywhere so I had to move slowly.

Suddenly I was happy. I had just realized I survived a day of savages and dragons. 

I was about four hundred feet up the mount when I found where someone had stopped for the night. A horse was there and so were several bags, but no human. There was a crow, likely the one that had listened to my wonderings. This was the direction towards which it had flown.

I looked for signs of a dragon attack and found them everywhere. I was feeling somewhat depressed until I found a scale, it was dark. The dark dragon had attacked the merchant before attacking my Dragon. My Dragon was innocent of murder at least in this case.

I let out a sigh of relief then heard someone giggling.

I looked around and saw no one, then saw a greenish glint in the sunlight.

"Do I look funny to you? You picked out the clothes."

Another giggle and the glint was suddenly gone. I was amazed how something that big could vanish among the vegetation so easily.

Then I thought, "My Dragon is a she."

Then I thought "Wait, I am hearing her inside my head."

But I was not as surprised as I should have been, I knew nothing of a dragons capabilities. I did know that speech would be nearly impossible with no lips and a forked tongue. I also reminded myself that I had just had my brains scrambled the day before.

I was high enough up the mount to have a fine view of the battlefield and realized my late benefactor had seen the carnage below. I wondered it he had still been alive to see my Dragon. I wondered if she had known he was up there.

I was startled to hear the Dragon say, "Yes," we knew he was here even though he tried to hide from us. My sister was with me and the three of us watched the battle from this spot. My sister and I went down when it was over and he saw you talking to me but was not too surprised I did not eat you. He knew I knew where he was and did not eat him.

My little sister had just left when you sat up. It was probably all the noise she made as she tried to get into the air that woke you up. She ate too much.

Much later I sensed the dark dragon coming but the human did not see it until it was too late. The dark one saw me but I just stayed by your side assuming he just wanted to feed on the dead but soon learned he was after me.

I was stunned you risked your life to save me, after all I am a Dragon. 

I was even more surprised by the ease in which you slew the dragon and realized you could kill me more easily than you killed it. I was terrified when you came to find me but I have never been more grateful than when I realized you were going to tend to my wounds. After you tended to me and went to sleep I slept by your side.

Early this morning I came up to check on the humans riding beast and saw the exterior skins hanging from a tree and his dinner next to a small fire pit. I I took them to you then came back up to find his beast. The two trips exhausted me and I just woke up from a sleep."

I had a million questions which she answered before I asked, "No, I do not know how I can communicate with some beings. For that ability I have been exiled from my roost. The dark one was sent to kill me by my brother. Humans are not the only beings that turn on each other."

"I am sorry to hear that. Why are you not showing yourself?"

"The riding beast becomes terrified when it sees me and I did not want it to run away before you got here. It knows I am close but has calmed some since you joined it. It is sure you will keep it safe."

"You kept it here for me? Thanks, that was very nice of you. How do you feel?"

"I am alive thanks to a kind and brave human called Lars. It hurts to move and it's impossible to fly so I am now as earthbound as you."

"Can you chew on leaves?"

"Yes, at least well enough to swallow them."

"Let me make you something to relieve the pain."

I had learned from Uncle Clyde that the leaf of a certain tree could relieve pain, among many other things. His medicinal bags had little of the stuff but the merchant was apparently a physician, he had a stash of the leaves in one of his bags.

I wondered why I had not remembered about the leaves while I had the headache. Probably because I had a headache.

"These things taste terrible, swallow as soon as you can," I said as I went into the forest towards her. I was startled when I suddenly found her right in front of me. Her camouflage was perfect.

"Why would a Dragon need camouflage?" I asked myself. "Does anything eat dragons?"

She swallowed the leaves quickly and I checked her wound. It was healing rapidly and told her so.

"I would have been dead from it by now if you had not treated it. Thank you for that."

"Thank you for not eating me."

"Yet," she said with a giggle.

Amazingly I laughed. Strangely I felt we were now friends. I wondered how she would react to a kiss and immediately kissed the corner of her mouth.

"You kissed me!"

"Yes I did and there will be many more so handle it."

"Why did you kiss me?"

"I wanted to."

"But why?"

"Well you are my best friend and I am yours. You are a girl and I'm a guy and best friends that are different sexes can kiss if they want to, I wanted to."

"Wow. If I had not already been vanished I would surely be exiled now."

I kissed her again and returned to the campsite. As I walked over I wondered why I kissed her. I decided it was because we were both alone and wounded in a dangerous world and we each needed a friend badly. I was satisfied with that thought and never dwelled on it again.

I made myself busy taking inventory of my new inheritance. The crow was next to me watching how I catalogued the items. It seemed to disapprove of one move so I changed it and the crow nodded.The root I had assumed was food apparently belonged in the medicine bag. The crow must have been the physicians companion. 

I already knew they were very intelligent creatures and some had learned to talk. Dad had a personal friend that was a crow he called Henrik. When Dad was killed in battle the previous spring Henrik had stayed with the body even after we buried it.

A caterpillar crawled out of a bag and I gave it to the crow. It may have said, "Thanks," after it gulped it down.

I wondered about the skills of the physician, Uncle Clyde always wiped clean his medicinal roots and leaves before putting them in his bags, that was what I was doing. The crow had not been surprised by the appearance of the caterpillar, that had apparently happened before.

About twenty minutes later the Dragon asked, "We are best friends?"

"Do you have any other friends?"

"No, my sister finds me at times and fills me in on what is happening at the roost but she is my sister. Do you have any friends?"

"I did but they are dead in the valley down there. I was closest to my uncle but he is among the dead. Have the leaves started to work yet?"

"Yes, thank you. They are amazing, I never thought there was anything that could be done for pain."

"Let me know when you need more."

"Oh, one thing, not everyone of your kind died. About one tenth of your men survived and continued south. They did look for survivors but apparently thought you were dead."

"More likely they just missed me, I was buried under dead savages. Can you describe the one who led them?"

"Yes, a big man with a black beard. He was angry."

"He would be. He is a terrific soldier but a lousy human being. I had hoped he would have been the first to die but I am not surprised to hear he survived. I am also not surprised that he didn't turn every one around and go back home. He no longer has enough men to do any good where he is going."

"Are you going to follow him?"

"No, I ceased to be a warrior yesterday."

I decided to camp where I was and make friends with a very nervous horse. I re-lit the doctor's small fire to keep us warm since we were already in the shadows of the mountains to the west.

About ten minutes later she said, "Having a best friend feels very nice."

"Yes it does and you are about to have another."

I led the horse to her and the Dragon froze, she did not want to scare it.

"Can you speak to it too?" I asked.

"Yes, most beasts can hear us but don't want to, we make terrifying sounds so they will become too scared to move. She is alive because she saw the dark one before he saw her and ran into the woods. I will speak gently to her."

I barely heard some cooing sounds then the horse walked up to her and nuzzled to her side.

"You have another friend," I said.

"Thank you."

I caressed her side and walked back to camp, both followed me. We spent the night around the fire. It had been a long two days for us so we fell asleep immediately and slept soundly.


Grandal



The next day I announced that I had decided to see what was at the end of the pathway going up the mount. I had never gone east and knew nothing of the land and the people there. But I knew I did not want to go west, that was where the savages came from. I did not want to go south with the suicidal troops. And north was a home where there was no one waiting for me.

The Dragon told me if we followed the trail in four days we would reach a small town of different peoples.

"They bow to me as I fly by. They also tie up a woman for me on each solstice but I release them before the wolves get to them. Those women live apart and worship me. They call me Grandal."

"Good name, it suits you. Does it bother you to be called such?"

"On, no. My real name is Grandal, I can communicate with three of them."

"How many women are there?"

"Nine."

"Well, maybe I can get the villagers to sacrifice a woman to me."

"There are nine."

"Yes, mistress," I said in an amused tone.

She spit a ball of fire into the ground startling both me and the horse then giggled. The horse and I both calmed immediately. Giggles can ruin a really good threat.

I packed up and loaded up the horse but found myself struggling to get on it, I had body aches everywhere. I ended the attempt and prepared some pain leaves for me. I saw that Grandal was watching me closely so I gave her the first dose.

We began our journey but travelled for a shorter period of time than we had hoped. We took a slow and easy pace in consideration of Grandal's wound and my general soreness, and because it was all uphill.

It took a while for me to figure out if riding was less painful than walking and learned the the only difference was in the location of the worst pain. I took turns riding and walking.

We stopped under the last tree before the crest of the mount about a thousand feet up, we had another hundred feet of elevation to climb and the trail was steeper, it was grasses from there up. I allowed the horse to wander around but she stuck close to the Dragon and me. She knew there was more than one dragon.

That evening I gave the Dragon another dose of the pain medicine and she slept well. I decided that if I was going to sleep I would need the medicine too. I hated the taste of those things and avoided taking them but sometimes that was the lesser of two evils, I hated restless painful nights more.

The next morning we packed up and after giving Grandal more medicine we resumed our journey. As we cleared the crest we saw a deep forest ahead of us that apparently climbed a distant mountain. 

Grandal said, "The town is at the base of the mountains by a river, it is isolated and self sustaining.

I would be happier if they would offer me a cow or a pig but they need those more than they need their women. Other than that they seem to be good people. You will be the first outsider in many years to visit them. They will hope you will stay."

"Well they may get their wish, I am fed up with my world."

Grandal giggled and said, "I'm not surprised. You began a day fighting savages and woke up from your head wound to fight a dark dragon. You may need some peace and quiet."

"I doubt I will have any of that with you around."

Grandal spit a ball of fire in front of us but neither the horse or me made note of it. Grandal then put her face in front of mine and waited until I kissed her then she nuzzled the horse.

"Does the horse have a name?" I asked Grandal.

"Yes, but she does not like it. She apparently did not like her previous owner very much. He was always in a hurry to get somewhere and never gave her a chance to rest or eat until they were at their destination. The only reason he stopped on the mount was because he saw a battle brewing in the valley he intended to cross.

He also never made adjustments for his bags and their weight was always uneven. She likes the way you packed. Her name is Cha."

""Cha it is," I said as I patted her neck softly. Cha began to take longer strides.

Around mid-day we reached the forest below and stopped to rest. We were in a high valley, the trip down the mount was much shorter than the trip up. I took a short nap and Grandal did too. She was next to me still asleep when I woke up. I ate some jerky and drank some water then we got ready but before we started into the forest I asked, "Do you need something for pain? Some food?"

" I am OK pain wise and not hungry. Dragons can go a year between meals and I just had a big one at the battlefield. You were right in thinking I was too full to eat you. I was happy to realize I could understand you but you were alive so you were not a food item anyway. 

I felt your anger towards the dark one when he attacked me. Your fury was greater than his so you vanquished him. Your tenderness when you treated me was more than stunning, I fell in love with you then, if I correctly use the term."

"Love is an irrationally good feeling in your heart you get towards another. By that definition I love you too."

"That bird is following us, is he a friend of yours?" Grandal asked.

"Apparently, it kept me company when I passed out yesterday morning and supervised me when I re-packed my benefactors stuff. I don't think it trusts you yet."

I thought I heard or sensed the Dragon talking to the crow.

Suddenly Grandal stopped and looked up. We were just at the edge of the forest canopy. Several dragons were flying overhead towards the battlefield.

"My roost. My sister told them about the battle and they have come to feast. My brother is about to get the surprise of his life. Mom is the big one in front. My brother is the red and black one behind her.

Oh, Mom has sensed me here. She has sent me her love."

"Is this the first time you have seen her since you were exiled?"

"Yes," she said with what may have been a sob. I caressed her side as we watched them fly over the mount we had just left behind. There were perhaps fifteen on them.

"Which one is your sister?"

"She is not with them, probably at the roost asleep. Her name is Gula."

Grandal appeared to be emotional over the event and I caressed her until they until the last of the roost went out sight. A couple of minutes later she gently nudged me.

I kissed and caressed her and we resumed our journey. 

"Mom knows about my brother, the dark dragon and you now. She sent her thanks and love."

I did not reply but was grateful her mother would not be finding Grandal's dead body there.

That evening the crow flew down to my shoulder and cawed to the dragon then ate the food I offered it.

Grandal said, "It is happy to be with Cha and she is happy the crow is now my friend. Apparently they have been traveling together for some time. The bird likes you because you talk to it as a real person."

"Does it have a name?"

"Ella."

"Ella, glad you joined us," I said.

Ella pet herself with my hand so I pet her back. She then flew to Grandal and perched herself on her shoulders.

"I am traveling with a fucking zoo," I thought.

Grandal apparently changed her mind about sending me a fireball with her regards. My thoughts apparently were easy for her to hear. She apparently also sensed I was happy I was traveling with a fucking zoo.

Cha woke us up during the night, she was very nervous about something. I listened closely but my ears were still ringing loudly so I had to filter that noise out and listen behind the roar as my eyes searched the darkness. "Well, fuck. Wolves," I said.

Grandal lazily lifted her head and spit a large ball of fire towards the sounds. Some howls emerged from the dark then silence. By then Grandal was already back to sleep. Cha calmed but stayed between Grandal and me the rest of the evening.

It occurred to me Dragons may have a poor sense of hearing. She did not hear the wolves until after Cha, Ella and I had heard them.

I also learned that Dragons can control the size of the balls of fire they eject. The two she had threatened me with were about the size of my head. The one she aimed at the wolves was bigger than Cha and I combined and much much hotter.

I also learned there was a low clicking sound from under her nostrils just as the fireball emerged. I wondered if the two larger scales produced the spark that ignited the blaze.

The following morning we resumed our journey but were more than ready to rest three hours later. Grandal and I were still sore but her wound was healing well. I was somewhat surprised she had not asked for the pain leaves. Perhaps she had decided to take them only when I did.

Ella disappeared for a while and when she returned she fell asleep on Grandal's shoulder, she had found a new favorite perch. Grandal's shoulder was as high as the top of my head while sitting on Cha.

We walked another three hours then stopped for the night. Sunlight had difficulty getting past the tree canopy so although it was just past mid-afternoon it was getting dark quickly in the forest. I though I smelled rain but it was already past us.

I prepared my bedding then prepared another dose of the pain reliever for Grandal. After I ignored her complaints about the taste she went ahead and took them and I took some too. I kissed Grandal, caressed Cha and readied for sleep. The crow came down to me and seemed to be reminding me I had not said goodnight to her so I did as I caressed her. It softly cawed and flew up to Grandal's shoulder.

"Well fuck, another that demands my affection," I thought. I did admit to myself that it felt nice. I sensed someone giggle.

About an hour later Grandal said, "The wolves are back, they are following us."

"Yes but they will not attack while you are with us."

"So you are happy I am with you?"

"Yes, but I would be happy you were with me even if there were no wolves."

She gently nudged me and we slept well.

Three days later we could again see the mountains ahead but not as closely as I had hoped, they still looked like they were over three days away. The trails other than ours had disappeared, apparently few came this way.

I asked Grandal about that and she said, "Rumor has it that a Dragon patrols this forest," then giggled.

We were resting atop another mount when I saw Grandal briefly try to lift into the air but stop abruptly. I prepared a wad of the medicinal leaf for her and she nudged me softly after she swallowed it. She had not needed the leafs the past two days and neither had I. We were mending, until then.

The crow talked to her and I heard Grandal say, "I know."

"What did she tell you?"

"She called me an idiot and that now it would take extra time before I could fly."

"What she said," I said.

A small ball of flame went past us. Ella and I ignored it.

I checked her wounds and saw they were still closed "No real damage," I said to her as I caressed her.

Grandal had me climb up her back and said, "Do you see the smoke rising on your right?"

"Yes, is that the town?"

"No, that is the home of the nine women. We will veer towards them, we should be there before noon tomorrow."

Ella was perched on my shoulders and seemed to take the coordinates into her head. "Great, someone else to tell me where to go," I thought.

We had been traveling at a gentle pace so it was taking us longer to reach our destination. The conditions of Grandal and Cha had dictated our pace. Cha was pregnant.

"She thinks that she can last until we are safe. The wolves will not get a feast." Grandal had said the day before.

Cha would soon give birth, I had not considered that. That was why the wolves followed us.

We found a clearing about two hours later and Grandal said, "We camp here tonight."

"We still have three hours of daylight," I said.

"But Cha said her young is ready."

I quickly dismounted and took everything off her including the bridle. Cha moved to the center of the clearing and began to softly neigh. I went to her and patted and caressed her neck as Grandal stood behind her. I heard something go plop on the ground and saw the foal wriggle under the Dragon's shadow.

"Walk Cha down the trail we just covered. We want the wolves to discover the afterbirth and fight over it. That will alert us to their presence."

Cha was already walking that way. There was enough edible material to perhaps satisfy them, I hoped.

Grandal was trying to help the foal stand up but even though Ella was attempting to help her there was little success. I could not help but chuckle at the sight.

I readied myself for a bolt of fire but Grandal was happy to allow Cha to take over and began to set small bushes on fire all the way around us.

"The fire will interfere with their sense of smell so it may take them longer to find us. I will rest now."

I took over the job of helping the foal stand and before nightfall she was walking well. I was proud of her.

"You have too gentle a soul to be a warrior. I'm glad you resigned," Grandal said.

Ella the crow cawed her agreement.

I decided I needed to stop thinking out loud. Grandal giggled and Ella may have too.

Then it occurred to me, "Grandal is a predator. Her first instinct should have been to eat the foal yet she was trying to help it stand. My friend is a defective Dragon."

I got up and kissed her as I caressed her neck.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"For being you."

She did not ask what I meant but seemed pleased.

It was nearly dawn when we heard the wolves, they were squabbling over the afterbirth. 

"I will keep them away, go back to sleep," Grandal said.

"Let me know if you need help."

She giggled so I reminded her I was the warrior that had saved her from an assassin dragon. She looked at me with what was apparently love in her eyes and simply nodded. I walked to her and hugged her neck then kissed her. I felt her love for me. I hoped she felt my love for her.

I lay down but stayed mostly awake.

It was dawn when I felt her concern. There were many wolves and she was afraid some would slip through. I took my sword and began to circle our perimeter. Fire had consumed the nearby vegetation and there were now gaps in our ring of flames.

One wolf came at me and I beheaded it, split it open then threw the carcass into the woods towards the pack. I did the same with a second then noticed the wolves were staying back.

"Your calm fury has given them pause, they respect you as much as they do me but may fear you more. They are walking away."

I said, "The young one can walk and there is enough light for us to see the trail. Check with Cha and see if she is ready to go on."

"She is more than ready to continue. The child knows to keep itself in her shadow."

After giving both Grandal and Cha some medicinal leaves I loaded the supplies on Cha but did not mount her and simply led the way on foot with the sword in my hand. The four followed, Ella the crow was now riding on Cha's back. 

Every two miles or so we stopped for Cha to rest and allow the little one to nurse. Ella would take flight and apparently relay what it saw to Grandal. I was then informed of our progress.

Around noon Grandal said, "We leave the trail now. Ella will guide us."

There was no trail to the women's village. Grandal had always flown to it so all obstacles came as a surprise to her. It took us a lot longer to get there than we had thought. Cha, her baby and I followed Ella as she guided Grandal around the obstructions. I had to prepare medicinal leaves for her after a particularly difficult section.

We made it to the women's cottages just before nightfall. Grandal groused about being an earthbound life form and looked forward to being able to fly again.

The village had a wolf proof barn and we put the new mom and her daughter in it. Mom and daughter were soon being brushed and caressed by three women. The crow stayed inside the barn with Cha.

The mini village consisted of nine houses in a circle but with two open ends. The large space in the middle was big enough to shelter Grandal. It also had a high roof. It was obvious she felt at home there. She was genuinely loved and was caressed constantly. 

All were very upset when they saw her wounds. After a pause one of the women told the others something. All of them then looked at me and smiled. Two hugged me briefly. I assumed Grandal had told them about the dark dragon.

I then realized I was not Grandal's only friend.

The women ranged in age from their late teens to their late twenties. They brought out food and milk for me although Grandal was not fed, she had apparently told them she was not hungry.

The women looked at me with curiosity but none were afraid of me. They likely understood I was a warrior but I had saved Grandal and was her friend. The apparent contradiction perhaps confused them but understood I would not be a danger to them.

That evening I stayed with the Dragon on the covered plaza. I had given her another dose of the pain killer, walking over rough terrain had really been difficult for Grandal. I was surprised by the depth of my concern for her.

I asked Grandal why she had taken the women away instead of just releasing them. 

She said, "They are banned from returning home because the villagers insist they belong to the Dragon. 

A few townsfolk apparently whispered that the women had been rejected were because they were not virgins but I doubted that since a confession would have saved them from me. I can't tell who is or isn't a virgin anyway.

Their shelters were built by their fathers and brothers. Their mothers and sisters had provided them with the materials to run a household. 

None has told the townsfolk their daughters and sisters are alive, they only say they were with the Dragon. The village is a day horseback ride or two nights on the trail away from here by foot."

Grandal and I talked well into the night but she was apparently asleep before I finished describing my military training. I guess that was too boring to keep her attention.

The next morning I noted the women looked at me with reserve and would not speak to me. All seemed to perhaps be ill at ease with my presence. I could understand their apprehension, it had been men that fed them to a dragon.

I followed them as they went about their chores and helped with the fire. They seemed to be surprised by anything I did for them. During a pause for lunch they brought me food but left me to eat by myself.

I checked on Grandal's wound and got some oil from my bags and rubbed it on the injury. Insects had been bothering it and Grandal could not get them to stay away. Ella the crow had been keeping them off but there were many more of them in the village.

All the women were smiling at me when I was done, Grandal had apparently explained to them what I was doing.

I understood the reason for their reticence when they spoke to Grandal in a language I had never heard. They had not understood a word I had said to them since I got there.

What they asked Grandal was if I would be staying with them. Grandal told them I would be there with her for a few days until I saw she could fly without pain before continuing to the town. 

She was suddenly apologetic to me when she realized she had assumed too much. We had never talked about that. I told her she had been exactly right.

Grandal listened to the women and seemed to register surprise before she said to me, "They would be disappointed if you did, all want a child, they want you to stay and impregnate them."

I looked at the women and saw all were smiling shyly at me.

"May I suggest you stay with each one for one week, go to the next for a week and so on, please?" Grandal asked. 

"You want me to make all of them pregnant?"

"No, they want you to make them pregnant, I want you to make them happy, please. Do you have much experience?"




Grandal



"No but I was taught well by a friend of my late mother. She showed me what made a good lover and before the military came to get me she pronounced me more than capable."

"Please."

I thought about it and although some were as old as Mom's friend none were out and out ugly. It had been many weeks since my last sexual encounter and I suddenly had nine different women available. I agreed.

Grandal apparently communicated my agreement to the women and I got genuine smiles from them. Grandal then told me I would start with the eldest then make my way around to each. 

She said, "After you had been with each you will be free of duties and can then move on into the town. I should be able to fly without pain by then. Try to convince the town people that sacrifices to me are not needed."

"I need to bathe," I said.

"She will take you to the waterfall," Grandal said as a woman approached me. 

She was not the one I would have thought was the oldest in fact was not one I considered would be among the oldest.

I followed her to a secluded and enclosed area behind their compound that contained a small pond filled by a small waterfall. That waterfall emerged from moss covered rocks half way up a hill behind the village. It was a picturesque setting as the pond water itself was crystal clear and was surrounded by a carpet of moss. 

As the pond overflowed the water was diverted to the barn then to the latrines. I was happy to see there were three of those. I had no idea what happened to the water after that.

I got naked and so did the woman. I expected my manhood to be challenged by cold water but found the water very warm. I had heard of such places but had never been to one and I am not sure I believed they existed anymore than Dragons did. My adventure had been very enlightening so far. 

The woman had a very fine body with more than adequate tits and as soon as she saw my erection began to mount it. I stopped her and said, "Grandal, tell her it will hurt and she is not prepared. Tell her to allow me to lead the way. While you are at it tell all of them."

Grandal and I had realized the previous days we did not need to be within sight of each other to communicate. We could talk clearly even though the distances between us was substantial, perhaps ten of her body lengths away. We had not tested the limits but I suspected it was considerable.

The woman was suddenly listening to something and un-straddled me. Apparently she had the same abilities I had.

I stopped her from moving away and kissed her lips softly then cuddled her to me as I enjoyed the waters. Pains I did not realize I had were melting away.

The woman was pleased with me and began to wash my hair. I had to stop her since my head wound was still tender and she became alarmed when she saw the wound. I slid my head under the water and I felt instantly better. There was no blood in the water so my wound had outwardly healed.

We caressed and she softly ran a fingertip over the scars on my body. There were several. I was soon caressing and kissing the woman's tits and she began to play with my cock. We had forgotten about my wounds by then. She was enjoying our play so I sat her at the edge of the pond and kissed my way to her pussy.

She said something to discourage me but she stopped talking when I kissed her treasure. I raised her clitoral hood and licked her clit until she had an orgasm then rose and slid my cock into her. The orgasm had lubricated her passage and she obviously felt no pain from the intrusion. She had a look of wonder as she saw it slip into her.

Her hymen stopped me, I embraced and kissed her before ramming through. I lifted her to me as we sank back into the waters. She had tears in her eyes, I kissed them. I looked for blood. If there had ever been any it had already flowed out of the pond.

I sat on a rock that was underwater and just held her as I kissed her. My caresses brought a brave smile from her. It took several minutes and I'm sure the waters helped but eventually she began to rub her pussy on my cock. I lifted her a bit then let her slide back down. She enjoyed that so I did it again. I lifted us out of the water and leaned back with my hands on the moss behind me and smiled.

She gave me a wicked grin and began to move up and down, slowly at first then with speed and force until a guttural sound escaped her body and she collapsed on me. When she recovered she began to stand but I pulled her back down to me and kissed her softly.

She seemed very pleased and began to kiss me back. Ten minutes later she slid me back into her and was again fucking me. On her third orgasm I exploded into her. 

After we caught our breath I reclined on the moss with her still impaled on me, my feet still in the warm waters and her body covering me like a blanket. I was very content.

She was not, she kissed me over and over then tried to initiate another fuck but my cock slid out of her and she became very disappointed.

"Grandal, tell them I need rest afterwards but can perform twice a day."

"I am sure you can do better than just twice in one day."

"Yes, but I don't want all of them to expect that."

"Oh, smart thinking. Are you resting?"

"Yes, the woman is falling asleep on top of me."

"I will insert a few things from their language into your mind. Just relax, you can sleep too if you wish. She loved the sex by the way, she will want it often."

I smiled and went to sleep. I was alone when I awoke. 

Grandal said, "You have an agile mind. You were able to learn all of their language I know. It will take you a while to pronounce the words correctly but they will understand you. Your first wife is waiting for you at the circle with dinner."

"Thank you."

I dipped myself completely in the warm pond then got out, dressed and walked to the plaza. The women were congregated around a large table near the open fire. The food smelled delicious. I found my sex partner and sat on the bench next to her, the spot had apparently been saved for me. I heard the ladies giggle when I kissed her.

It was a nice communal dinner and I understood many of the short sentences in their conversations. Many were asking my mate for the week how much it had hurt.

She apparently had answered, "A lot," but went on to explain the pleasure afterward was well worth the pain.

I learned my first lovers name was Anushka and she publicly thanked me for loving her. 

I thanked her for allowing me to do so. 

All were delighted to hear me speak their language although it felt and sounded awkward to me.

"Tonight?" Anushka asked.

"Yes," I answered which brought a big smile to her face and a grin from the others. Her smile changed her face from plain to beautiful. 

The others apparently understood I belonged to Anushka for a while and did not intrude between us. I silently thanked Grandal for that. She sent me a smile.

I assisted in the clean up again much to the surprise of alI then kissed Anushka before she went back to her cabin. I remained outside and kept Grandal company.

"She loves you," Grandal said.

"I guess that's good but I hope she understands I will soon be with another."

"She will be carrying your child soon, she will be distracted."

I was sitting next to Grandal leaning against her body when I asked, "Do you have, or had, a mate?"

"No, I am not mature enough to mate. It will be years before I produce my first egg. There are five years between eggs, Dragons reproduce slowly. We however do live for over one hundred years. But right now you are consorting with an underage Dragon," she said with a giggle. 

We talked about her family, Grandal was the oldest of the last three surviving children of her mother, Queen of the Roost.

That made her heir to the throne but her younger brother had sent an assassin after her because he understood that even though she was in exile while she was alive he would never be a true king. 

I asked her why her mother had not fought her expulsion.

"She did but she was not Queen yet, her mother was and she was the one most scandalized by my confession."

"Ooh, bad timing. Who are the dark dragons/" 

She said, "Assassins and not very smart. They kill their females after they lay their first egg. They need to couple for each egg but the males don't want the females to couple with another male after the first egg and would rather kill them than allow it. Sometimes the males kill each other fighting over a female. 

Most females avoid mating for as long as they can before they are overcome by the need to reproduce. Many leave the roost before they lay the egg and hope they will not be found. We have heard of roosts that have only females and all males are killed on sight, even their sons. They have yet to realize that their numbers are quickly diminishing."

Are there other types of dragons?" I asked.

"Yes, but some species of dragons are very rare and there are two that are aquatic and don't fly. I was told that there were times in which dragons would darken the sky with our numbers but there are none alive that have seen that."

"Do dragons have enemies? I ask because you have perfect camouflage but I can't think of a reason you would need to hide."

"But we did need to hide once. They are likely extinct now but there was a dragon twice as big as the dark one whose diet was other dragons. The immature ones best bet was to hide and for the mature ones the best bet was to scan the sky above them at all times. We could outfly them if we were not caught off guard. Mom is the only one I know that has ever seen one. She said it had no chance to catch her and so it did not even try. Mostly they went after the dark ones, those they could catch."

That evening she talked about her mother and her sister and I realized family was the same in the Dragon and human world.

"Your mate is waiting for you in bed," she said.

I kissed Grandal and wished her a good night then went to my fate. It was a very enjoyable and exhausting fate.

The following morning we heard a commotion on the courtyard and I scrambled out of bed wondering if something was wrong with Grandal.

There was a wolf in the plaza and Grandal was not around. The women were terrified. I took my sword and walked straight to it. The wolf growled and raised her fur and stood her ground. I was about to decapitate her when I noticed her wounds.

She was or had been the alpha female. Her mate was apparently dead and she had been forced from the pack by the other females. She was now alone. She had not threatened the women, she had been looking for me. She was ready to die.

I lowered my sword and returned to the cabin and brought out the remainders of our late night snack. 

Anushka and I had fucked nearly all night and found ourselves hungry in the middle of our games. As it turned out all we needed was a pause so most of our snack was untouched.

The wolf waited for me.

I sat on the ground and pushed my plate towards her. She snarled and sniffed then snarled and sniffed some more until her nose touched the egg and sausage then quickly ate it. 

I spoke to her in a soft but commanding voice. I apologized for Grandal and myself bringing her to grief but explained Cha and her daughter were members of our pack. I invited her to join us and promised that she would be able to live her life in peace.

I had spoken to her in the language of the women. I had seen that they had no idea what I was doing and had begun to wonder why I had not killed the wolf yet much less why I had fed her. They became fascinated with the process. A few got closer and sat too as soon as the wolf laid her hair down.

The wolf very tentatively and nervously came closer to me until her nose touched my bare leg then jumped back then repeated the process.

I was still naked and so was Anushka who was standing next to me. I asked her to bring me a cup of milk since the process of making friends with a wolf was apparently going to take a while.

When she returned Anushka also had a cup of milk for herself and a cup of milk for the wolf and slices of cheese for the two of us. She was still nude. I asked her to push the milk to the wolf and she did before sitting close to me.

The wolf checked her out as she had done me as Anushka and I drank our milk and ate our cheese. After many passes and sniffs of Anushka, me, and the milk the wolf drank the milk.

The wolf had calmed and was just sitting looking at us when suddenly Grandal was behind her. The wolf ran between Anushka and me and cowered behind us as she snarled at the Dragon.

"We are making a friend," Anushka told Grandal.

"Yes, I see. She already thinks you will protect her from me. Let me see if I can calm her a little."

Within two minutes the wolf was wagging her tail and enjoying her first human petting from Anushka but kept me between Grandal and herself. 

I got up and picked up the now empty milk cup then helped Anushka get up. We walked to her cabin followed by the wolf. Two young women met us and began to pet the wolf. Both women gave Anushka big smiles and caressed her as we passed by. I could see there was a lot of affection between the three. We left the wolf outside with them and went straight to bed and fucked.

We were cuddling and kissing when she said, "You are either a brave or a foolhardy man, you sat in front of an angry wolf."

"She was the brave one, I probably killed her mate defending the foal and her pack ran her off. She expected to die at my hands."

"Grandal told us you defended her against a dark dragon.She told us you protected the foal from the wolves." She said you tended to her and saved her life."

"Well, she saved life by not eating me."

"She would have never eaten you and you know that."

"I did not know it then."

"So, you are both brave and foolhardy."

She kissed me then said, "I need to tend to the animals in the barn. Grandal will need to introduce the wolf to them."

She dressed with a simple tunic and left. I decided to see what daily life was like in our small enclave so I dressed in just my tunic too and followed her out. 

I had noticed that my tunic was the most colorful in the village, it was the color of Grandal's blood, coppery red. Her blood had stained the tunic as I washed her wound with it. Some of my own blood was on the shoulders of the tunic contrasting hers. The women admired it and I knew what I would buy for them in the town when I got to it.

All the women were out and eating something they called yogurt. They gave me a bowl but after three spoonfuls I gave the rest to the wolf. Then it occurred to me that the stuff would be better with fruit or nuts in it. Then I noticed the women were putting fruits and nuts in it. My bowl was already empty though.

As most of the women cleaned up I followed Anushka and two others as they walked to the barn and allowed the two cows, the six goats, four pigs and several fowl to come out and led them to a grass pasture. Cha and Ellen came directly to me for a good morning caress.

None of the creatures seemed to pay the wolf any notice, they knew the humans would protect them if they needed protection. I placed myself between the wolf and the smaller beasts and the wolf seemed to understand that the creatures were not food items, at least not yet.

Cha walked right up to the wolf and softly neighed at it. The crow flew down directly in front of it and cawed. The wolf wagged her tail.

Cha's baby girl was so full of energy she was prancing and running and tumbling to the ground often. The women hugged her every time she came near them. The foal eventually noticed Grandal and played and ran all around her, she apparently thought Grandal was her god-mother. Perhaps she was.

Things calmed down and Grandal was dozing in the middle of the courtyard and everyone was walking around her but I slapped her butt and asked, "Where were you when all the excitement started this morning?"

"Ouch, you should by glad I didn't just turn you into a roasted human. And if you must know I was making my patrol rounds to keep the curious away from this section of the forest. It took longer than usual since flying is still not possible."

"Sorry to hear that. How bad is the pain?"

"I am a bit sore now but not enough to need your potion."

I went to my bags and prepared a leaf potion for her that she swallowed immediately.

"You are a girl and a manly attitude towards pain is not necessary."

She assumed an aloof pose but looked to check my response and ruined it. I stuck my tongue out at her and she licked me.

"Oh gross, I have been licked by a Dragon!"

"It will happen again so handle it."

The women were loudly laughing at our little repartee. 

"Her name is Nan by the way?"

"Whose name?"

"The wolf behind you licking your hand. She is pregnant with eight cubs and each woman has already laid claim to one. We are apparently going to have a resident pack of wolves."

Nan was waiting for me to pet her so I pet her.

"Please follow the women to the stream and see if you can help them become more efficient at catching fish and such. None of us are experts at that."

I kissed Grandal then licked her scale next to the two bigger ones and she loudly groaned, "Arrrgh, I was licked by a human!"

"You are most welcome," I said as I hurried away from the coming fire. I heard more laughter as I dodged the small fireball by my feet.

Apparently the women had thought of Grandal as an icon, a goddess. They did not know she was as playful as they were. That changed that day and Grandal became a person to them. The woman leading me to the river kissed Grandal as she walked past her. Grandal was pleased.

I followed the three women to the river as Nan walked behind me. They headed to a narrow inlet by a large sand bank. I stopped and watched them get in the water and try to herd the fish to a small nook at the end of the inlet then try to catch them by hand or splash them onto the bank. 

The laughs and squeals resounded all around but I did not expect their efforts to work at all. Much to my surprise they did manage to get some fish on dry land but before they were secured the fish slid back into the water. The result of that first effort was zero catch.

I did my best not to laugh but was not very successful. They seemed to understand that they looked pretty helpless so they just gave me a big grin.

I took off my tunic, tied the arm sleeves around the neck hole and got in the water. I had one of the women help me hold the tunic open as we walked to the nook together. The wooden bucket was at the edge of the bank and we poured the contents of my tunic into it.

They were astounded. Not only were there more fish than they ever caught but the fish were bigger. There were also some prawns in there which they had apparently never seen before. I gave Nan two of the smaller fish to eat and she growled at them before eating her snack. The women that had pet her earlier pet her again, they had been fisher women. Nan loved being petted.

Soon the other two women were naked and scouring the waters for fish and prawns with their tunics and we eventually worked two tunics at a time. They caught an eel but it escaped, much to their relief. Nan jumped into the water after it but had no chance to catch it. We learned that wet wolves smell no better than wet dogs.

I said, "Ladies you already have more than you need. You should be discussing how you are going to prepare tonights feast."

They agreed and we began to walk back. All of us remained nude. One took my mostly erect cock in her hand and squeezed it.

"This is going to hurt me when it goes in isn't it?"

"Yes, ask Anushka if it's not right for you."

"Oh, no, we have all decided we want it in us. We just need to be ready for it. We were hoping you may be OK putting us through the pain now."




Grandal



"No, I'm sure Grandal would not like that. I have a mate this week and she probably thinks it would not be right for me to service another now."

All apparently already suspected that so did not ask again.

Before we continued the other two women gripped my cock and caressed it. The first girl took it back and I had the girl masturbate me. All said, "Oooh," when I ejaculated.

"That is what makes you pregnant but your barrier has to be pierced first. If you can do that yourself it will be easier for you to enjoy me the first time."

All seemed dubious it would help, they could not see how my manhood would fit inside them in the first place. 

We made it back to the village and the three women kissed Grandal as they walked past her. She was very pleased. The rest of the women marveled at their catch as they planned dinner. 

I snubbed Grandal as I walked by and soon felt the heat from a ball of fire go past my ass. I heard many giggles.

I made love to Anushka in the barn before she went to assist in the cooking. We were the only ones there, I think.

Afterwards I took a dip in the hot waters as I shaved for the first time since the morning of the battle then dressed for supper. Grandal was impressed by my appearance so I kissed her.

"About time," she said.

Preparing dinner was a community effort. Each group of three prepared something and all ate together while they gossiped. Many stared at my clean shaven face and giggled. They thought I was handsome, or at least that was what I decided their giggles meant.

I had a fit young body with wide shoulders and long blonde hair. I also had my share of scars to denote my previous occupation. I knew I was taller and stronger than most men and perhaps smarter.

I wondered if they knew enough men to see that. I wondered when I had become vain. The women soon began to wonder why I was laughing. Grandal knew, she was giggling.

I knew the main topic of conversation at the dinner table would be me so as soon as I praised and thanked the cooks I went to one side and made myself a drawing stick.

As the fisherwomen came my way I stopped them and drew a seine on the sand. I explained that the longer it was the more they would catch. I told them the holes on the net needed to be big enough for creatures too small to eat to get through so they could catch them later after they grew.

That evening I again stayed out with Grandal for a while. She talked about her brother. 

"He is the most arrogant being I know. He terrorizes villages and eats his fill of them and flies home to our roost. Villagers follow him and it's just a matter of time before our roost is found."

"Then being out of the roost is a good thing, right?"

I could tell she did not think so, her family was there.

After a pause she changed the subject and said, "That battlefield you were in was my first ever, I had thought they were a myth. 

My sister and I were eating only the savages since they wore no armor. We were told we could digest armor but my sister and I were not about to take that chance and there were many more savages than we could eat anyway so we didn't bother.

Yes it has crossed my mind the dark one had followed her to me but if he did she did not know about it. We had been together for a week by the time the battle started. She left because she was afraid if she ate anymore she would not be able to fly home.

I was very impressed when you took your armor off for me. I had already decided that even if you died I would not have eaten you because you liked me."

"But I would not have minded once dead."

"I would have minded."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Anushka is getting agitated for you. You better go in."

Anushka wrung out her agitation on me that night.

In just three days the fisher-women had a fine sturdy net and after I had them sew pockets for small stones on its bottom they tried it out. It was a stupendous success and I stopped them from seining it a third time, we already had enough to eat for a week.

By my fourth day I had also whittled eight phalluses just a bit smaller than my member and left them in the plaza. All had disappeared within minutes. I asked Anushka to tell the women that the best place to use it would be the pond and not to take it out before the pains ended. She did just that.

One morning I went out with the gatherers but women had been gatherers since the start of time so I stayed mostly quiet. That days harvest was mostly fresh fruit, nuts, and a small leafy plant. They showed me a tuber and told me the leafs were good to eat but the tuber required a long time to cook. They showed me another and told me the tubers were excellent to eat but the leaves made one sick.

I recognized a plant they had just walked past and pulled it up. They were surprised to see a bright orange tuber emerge. I sliced it and have each a piece to eat and they loved it.

"These taste sweet when they are cooked, Mom usually just boiled them."

I showed them that planting the top would grow another tuber and we soon had a garden of them growing. The wolf became instrumental in protecting that garden.

I also pointed out that grasshoppers were good to eat after just a few moments in a fire. They looked at me dubiously so I caught one, ripped the abdomen away and ate it. One girl looked like she would vomit so I left them with a "Have a good day."

It took three weeks before they brought back insects for dinner. I showed them how to prepare them and all ate at least a couple. Grasshopper and crickets became part of our dinners after that. I also showed them how to find and cook grubs. The orange tuber was already a staple by then.

On my last day with Anushka I spent it with her and her co-workers. It had been with her longer than the allotted days because neither of us were counting but someone apparently brought it up so we decided it was our last day together. We did learn that the one that brought it up was not the next in line.

I watched Anushka and her mates collect the eggs and milk the cows and goats and I helped her carry the pails to the fire. I saw them make cheese and put it in a small room to dry. I helped them take small pails of milk to each cottage. I was gifted with a large slice of goat cheese to eat.

Cha and her foal, and Ellen stayed close to me all day. They had apparently missed me. I had apparently missed them.

Our love making that last day was epic. We had begun our day with a morning fuck then coupled again in the tall grass in the pasture that morning. I felt we had an audience there but decided that if Anushka didn't mind I would not either.

We fucked again in the hot water pond before dinner, two women were there with a phallus' in them waiting for their pain to end but Anushka urged them to stay and watch us.

That night in bed we made love for a long time.

Anushka had believed my limit was two per day and was very grateful and a bit surprised by her day of fucking.

Anushka was still asleep when I left the next morning. I saw my next wife sitting on her porch, nude, waiting for me so I went to her. We fucked immediately. 

She was a gatherer named Belina and I did not need to break her hymen. Somehow she remained shy around me for the entire week. She was the smallest of the women and I would have picked her as the oldest because she never smiled, well except with her eyes. Not once did she initiate a fuck. But she really liked to fuck.

After five weeks Grandal was spending most of each day away from us. I had needed to give her the pain leaves just once, the first day she could fly. There were evenings in which she did not come home. Everyone told me it was normal behavior for her but I had seen her almost killed. I worried.

I was happy to see her in flight and she was happy she could ride the air again. Her wings folded into thirds and when open they made her six times bigger. At times we all stopped what we were doing to watch her show off in the air. She looked magnificent.

On week six I rode Cha to the town. My sixth partner did not like fucking and apparently did not like me much either so she sent me away after one night enabling me to take the trip.

There was no trail at the start of the journey and I just rode by the river bank until it almost intersected another river and there was a trail from there. I did not introduce myself as a doctor but somehow all assumed I was, probably because I was dressed in one's clothes. Or maybe it was the markings on the bags I had brought. They did not seem to have been expecting anyone but still welcomed me warmly.

Apparently having a horse made me somewhat special. The fact that I had a crow and a wolf as companions may have told them I was not completely civilized and so had my sword. I was treated with respect by all.

I told them my wife and I lived in a small village one day away and I had come to trade my services for goods.

I had gold coins, part of my inheritance from the merchant, but I did not want to use them if I didn't have to. I had no way to replace them.

I stayed two days ministering to the ill and injured, none had life threatening problems so I treated them as my uncle had treated us but in a friendlier manner. I got silver and gold coins for my efforts even though I had not asked for payment.

I was warned about the Dragon and I said I had seen her several times and that she did not seem interested in harming me nor my wife.

They asked me how I knew it was a she.

I told them the males were red and black and dangerous but the females were green and red an not particularly dangerous. They were fond of pigs however.

Our area was full of wild boars and I thought they may substitute one for women as their offering. It would be a much bigger meal for Grandal anyway.

They seemed impressed to see I was not in fear of the Dragon and listened to my ravings about her beauty and that I was positive she did not eat people. I did not tell them it was live people she did not eat.

I was approached by two older women that quietly asked how their daughters were doing. One was the mother of Belina and looked just like her. The other was the mother of Fika, the one that was supposed to be my mate that week. Both looked like their daughters, or vice versa.

I answered fine and that each was enjoying life in the village. One told me to tell Nuna that her family had left town. She apparently thought Nuna would be happy to hear that.

I returned to the village with bags of flour, salt, knives, cups, some cooking pots, an ax, and rope. I needed to use just one gold coin during my stay and came back with three more gold coins than I had started with. I liked my new profession.

The women were pleased to see me return, some had apparently suspected I wouldn't. 

Happiest of all was wife number seven, the next. She kissed me deeply then helped me distribute my goodies. She seemed to be in a hurry for me to join her even though that would be three days early but the others apparently had no objection.

I did notice some women seemed to be much more pleased to see the flour and the salt than by my return. However all were very pleased to see the cloth I had purchased for them. I had chosen cloths with different colors and patterns and I was curious to see which each woman would choose.

The ax was for cutting wood for dinner fires. The women used twigs and sticks they gathered from the forest floor and sometimes the fire did not last long enough to finish a meal. I intended to have a large stack of logs for them before winter returned.

None knew how to start a fire, Grandal did that for them and they simply kept a fire going when she was gone. That used up a lot of wood. I picked up a few rocks and showed them how to use flint to start a blaze.

A section of the rope was for making a better net and we soon had an expertly woven beauty.

I was still bothered by Grandal's ever longer absences. Apparently I was the only one that was. She was not home when I went to town nor was she home when I got back.

Grandal had reassured me that there would not be a second dark one after her and even if one did come she could outfly and outsmart it easily. The first one's attack had simply caught her by surprise. I'm sure she knew I still worried.

Mate number seven was named Katalin and was the first of the women to be close to my age. All the others were definitely older. I was perhaps twenty years old, perhaps less. So was Kate. I had looked forward to my turn with her since we had met at the river my third day there, she was a fisher-woman. She had assisted me with my tunic/seine and had been the one to ask me to fuck them and the one that masturbated me that day.

She had sat next to me when I was with Anushka at dinner and was the first woman to kiss Grandal. Just that had made her a favorite to me.

She also kissed the other women on the lips and was the closest thing to a blonde there other than me although her hair had a reddish tint to it.

We got along well, we had fun together. Our sex was exceptional. She was bold and happy, she laughed a lot. Her new tunic was a combination of green and yellow, the boldest combination of all the new tunics.

I had to break her hymen, just the second I had to go through. She had apparently waited for me to do so.

She was also the first to immediately know when I made her pregnant. Katalin knew she was with child on our third day and felt she made a mistake after she told me. She assumed I would go to the next.

I had decided I was not going anywhere until our time together was up so I pretended I had not understood what she had said even though their language was now easy for me. 

She gave me a happy and grateful smile and kissed me. She told me she loved me. I liked being with her. I likely loved her. I decided I will tell her soon but two years went by before I did.

We tried not to act as lovers but all the others saw it before Kate's turn was over. The last two women made me fuck them each day it was their turn but each allowed me to spend my nights with Kate.

Girl number nine, Numa, spent the last three nights of her turn on our bed. She was also a fisherwoman and the other woman to pet the wolf on its first day. She and Kate were best friends. When I needed a rest I taught them how to eat pussy.

When my duties were done no one was surprised I remained in the village with Kate except for Grandal. She had missed almost three weeks but it took her less than half a day to figure it out.

I told her I was staying just so she would have somebody around that worried about her. A small ball of flame whizzed past my ear that was quickly followed by a forked tongue sliding over my face.

"You are so, so...difficult."

"Thank you," she said then curled up and went to sleep.

My love for Grandal and her love for me was no longer the main subject of gossip in the village. My love for Kate had made Grandal's absences bearable to me.

Mine was no longer the only face to feel a forked tongue going over it, Anushka, Numa and Kate got that treatment too. Belina was ambushed by the forked tongue and just stood there for a few moments. She had the only smile any of us had seen from her on her face. She kissed Grandal for the first time and walked on. Her smile remained.

I made a harness for Cha and constructed a small two wheel cart for her to pull. On subsequent trips to the town I brought back a cart full of supplies. 

The wolf and the crow rode in the cart the first time I used it and I wondered if they would be irked to have to walk or fly back home but they just settled on top of the supplies and slept all the way back.

On one trip I had the town blacksmith build me a large grill top and an oven for our fires. He did so as I waited for his wife to give birth. She eventually gave birth to a fine big boy and I began to joke with the blacksmith that we had traded a grill for a boy but stopped when I saw the brute of a man was crying with happiness. I stayed and extra day to make sure wife and son were OK. He became my best friend in town.Everyone called him Gronk although that was not his name. He was fine with it so I called him Gronk too.

I built a kitchen and a separate dining area for us away from the plaza, I saw how rapidly Grandal was growing and knew the ones we had would eventually keep her out of the central plaza. None of us wanted to force her out so we cleared a large area around it.

"Oh, am I growing?" she asked innocently when she saw the extra space. No one bothered to answer her. It would not have mattered anyway, she was already asleep.

I cut bricks out of rocks by the river to enclose our fire and made a new dining area with a view towards the river.

All were very happy with my abilities outside the bed and I was soon fulfilling requests from the women. My women wanted a bigger bed.

Grandal was very pleased with the improvements I had made to the village but pretended she had not noticed them. I slapped her butt and she threw a fire ball at me that seemed to always miss then she licked me. As I growled at her she thanked me for making everyone's life better.

I had always been impressed that such a large creature as Grandal could fly but was astonished that her first motion was a leap up that effortlessly lifted her three times my height into the air insuring that the first wing flap did not hit the ground.

She was now too big to take off from the village so she walked to the sand bank by the river and launched herself up from there. I often walked with her.

Once she walked into the river and sank to the bottom then reappeared on the other side. She swam back to me with effortless undulations from her tail.

"You are more gifted than I thought but I'm happy your fires are out." I ducked under a fire ball and heard her giggle before she jumped into the air.

I was amazed at the ease in which Grandal could use the air currents, she could remain aloft for many minutes without having to flap her wings. She was amazing.

She made soft and quiet pin point landings and was fond of landing as close to me as possible. I pretended I had not seen her and ran into her each time.

The women loved our games. We did too.

My sex life became a bit complicated when after Nuna's turn Anushka spent evenings in bed with Kate and me, it was her turn again she claimed. Kate taught her how to eat pussy. Then Numa came back complaining of favoritism so Anushka ate her to near death.

Often there were three women in bed with me but I was fine with that since they could satisfy each other when I was spent. Sleeping was difficult at times however.

I made us a bigger bed. A much bigger bed.

That winter Grandal told me that when the solstice came she flew over the town and saw all nervously bow to her. She checked the sacrificial stage and found a large pig there. She ate it and flew back over the town and did some fun maneuvers for them in the sky then simply flew out of sight. She hoped they understood and would not try to sacrifice women again.

Apparently the towns people had believed me when I told them human sacrifices were not necessary, that their Dragon was a gentle Dragon that kept our homes safe from marauders. They now saw Grandal in a new light, she was their Dragon.

Six of the women had become pregnant along including Kate. Ironically one was Fika, woman number six whom I had fucked only once. 

The three women that were not pregnant asked Kate to borrow me on occasion and two became pregnant. 

Numa was one and she knew immediately when she became pregnant too but remained in our bed for several evenings in celebration. Kate, Anushka and I made sure she enjoyed her stay.

Anushka never did become pregnant but still wanted me to fuck her often, just in case. As the others went deeper into their pregnancy she would again become my main sex partner.




Grandal



The women claimed our first winter together was definitely the easiest ever for them including their life before Grandal. I had built them a large smoke house that was full with meats and fish. 

I built a new cheese aging room when I noticed how much cooler it was on the north side of the small hill behind the village. I dug out the side of the hill then built a tall roofed shed to its side. The temperature of the shed remained evenly low.

I placed benches around the pool. We were all in it often and mostly naked especially as the women's bellies expanded. We really loved to be in it when the rest of the world was buried in snow.

Most women loved to sit directly under the waterfall so I put boulders there for them to sit on but the water cascading down was too hot for me so I never sat there.

I had diverted some of the warm waters of our pool to surround each cabin, the courtyard, barn and parallel to the walkway towards the latrines. I had covered the path to them. 

I discovered that the latrines sat over a small cave and the water from the pond just flowed through it. A fine benefit of that was that our butts were warm as we sat. I added a butt size tub of fast moving warm waters to sit in on the way back from the latrines. It was partially exposed but since we all wore tunics it was fine for all of us. That water immediately ran underground to join the cave water.

Months later I discovered where the latrine water came out as I was hunting boars half a day's ride away from the village. The pond waters from the latrines merged into a fast running stream. The stream did not merge with our river. I ceased to worry about that.

Eight pregnant women changed the logistics of our community and I found myself helping with every aspect of communal life. My chores increased as time went by and had me running ragged as the children were born. My son with Belina was born first. We called him Artur.

Eventually I had five daughters and three sons. All my sons looked like me, my girls looked like their mothers but all had blondish hair.

After the children got old enough to be each other's best friends two of the women decided they wanted another child, Kate and Nuna. I managed to accommodate them. Kate and Nuna gave birth to daughters less than a day apart, Kiley and Carlotta. They were my last two children.

Grandal was very pleased and allowed the children to run roughshod over her. She did tell me the only one that could hear her was Kiley but expected others to do so in time, especially Carlotta.

Kate was one of the three that could hear Grandal along with number one, Anushka, and number nine, Numa. 

The numbering was by age and they had come up with the system when they played games with prizes. The order in which they were sacrificed to Grandal was nowhere near that except Anushka was number one on both lists and Numa was number nine on both lists. Kate had been the second to be sacrificed.

Carlotta's mother Numa, was very reserved, except with the others on my bed. Mother and daughter seemed to have the ability to sense what others felt or needed. Numa did what she would help them herself. 

I later learned that there were rumors in the village that Numa was a witch. Those rumors likely accounted for her nature and for being the last set out to be sacrificed even though there was evidence she may not have been a virgin.

Kate told me that rumor was true and it was her mother that volunteered her to be sacrificed. Numa was happy she was chosen, not because she was ready to die, she already knew Grandal would not eat her, but because things at home had become untenable. I began to understand why her family had left town.

When our daughter Carlotta sensed someone needed help she would tell either Kiley, or me or her mother who that was and we would help them.

Being set out for a dragon had made each woman a bit vulnerable somewhere in their psyche.

Kiley and Carlotta were inseparable, best friends from the start. Artur was close to them, a real big brother. 

He and I were very close. Artur was the first to watch and then help me with my chores. He had a partial ability to communicate with Grandal, he somewhat knew what she wanted but could not really hear her. She could hear him easily. Grandal loved him.

Nan had her puppies and they hung around for a while but eventually all disappeared into the woods and never returned except for one daughter. She and Nan lived with Anushka for many years.

I took trips into the town about once every six weeks and bargained for materials but had to spend another gold coin for cloth and adornments for the women. I brought even more colorful cloths and our village suddenly became a fashion spot. It did cross my mind I was spoiling them. But I was being amply rewarded.

I became the towns most trusted medical person and as it turned out I had to assist with childbirth nearly each time I was there. I had experience in that task. 

I taught my sons all I knew about being a man but I was the only man they knew so when they were old enough to have meaningful conversations I took them into town with me. I introduced them to Gronk first. 

My daughters wanted to go too so I began taking them along with Kate and sometimes Anushka. I introduced them to Gronk's wife Porfi.

Kate had changed quite a bit over time and was not recognized. Anushka's family had just been passing through as spring approached and was exchanged for supplies and left behind. She had spent three days tied to the stake before the Dragon found her. 

Kate's family had been keeping an eye out for the Dragon and intended to follow it and kill it. But they did not find the women for many weeks and were stunned to find them alive and well and in love with the Dragon. Anushka and Kate lived in an abandoned cabin near the hot pond. It was small and dilapidated. The construction of the village started then.

Grandal never trusted the parents and never showed herself while they were there but they knew she was watching them.

The third set of parents, Fika's, were carpenters and they decided to build cabins in a circle expecting the Dragon to bring more sacrifices there. They seemed to be a bit disappointed when they learned there would be no need to build another cabin.

Our village had twelve buildings by then anyway..

I did think all of the women would return to town since everyone there knew the Dragon did not eat people but the women wanted not part of that and still resented being set off as a sacrificial lamb.

Our village was now in its fifteenth year of existence, I had been there for the last ten of those.

I constructed a much bigger wagon and Cha's daughters had the task of pulling it. I unfortunately no longer had a wolf or a crow as companions by then, Ella had died shortly after Nan did. Both had lived long pampered lives with us.

Over the years each of my children decided to stay in town and married there. Kate and I found ourselves in a village of old people. We were now probably in our forties, Anushka and Belina may have been in their fifties. 

Grandal stayed away for longer periods of times that sometimes stretched into months. She was surprised and saddened when she came home and noted all the children were gone.

None of us felt old and did not act old, there was a lot of sex going around and with no children in our mini village most of it happened in the hot pool. By then sex among the women was common although I got to fuck at least one each time I joined them there, after I fucked Kate.

Fika decided she wanted to try sex again and found she loved being fucked from behind. I decided she probably simply didn't want to see it was me fucking her.

Grandal was amused by our games.

We suspected the hot pool was keeping us healthy but none could think of a reason how that could be. Still, we all looked good. Somewhat older but good.

I was now going to the town every other week. Some of my now grown children would ride back to the village with me and stay with their mother until I returned to the town. Artur and Carlotta came with me on every other trip, neither had yet married, but all of my children eventually accompanied me. Many of my children asked if they could bring their children and spouses and we agreed to allow that.

Kiley always visited us with one of her two children but never both children and never her husband. Her mother and I worried about that.

I had noticed that Grandal was avoiding us when spouses and grandchildren were present. I assumed it was that she did not want to scare them.

I assured her she could not scare anyone.

"You see me with your heart. But I am a Dragon," she had said. 

It was the second time she had said something like that to me. The first time was said with a young cheery voice and with pride. That time the voice was strong, mature, but with a tinge of sadness. There was maturity in her voice.

She did tell me that human knowledge of her location was not a good idea since there were a lot of strange humans that would try to do her harm just because she was a Dragon. I reluctantly agreed.

She once related to me that the battlefield in which we met had been overrun by a mud slide and buried the remains of the few bodies remaining although she could see the outline of the dark dragon's body under it.

"My roost ate every savage and most of your troops that day we saw them. No one went near the dragon and all were curious as to why it was there. Mom knew and my brother understood she did. He knows his big sister is alive and big enough to kill him.

All were impressed and worried to see it had been killed by humans. Mom and Gula were awed to learn the dragon had been killed by a single man defending me. The dark dragon will turn to stone soon," Grandal said.

I asked her what she had seen, where mountains, rivers and forests were and I made a map. She helped me with it and we used the distance from the village to the town as one standard measurement, one days horseback ride. 

She could show me images of what she saw inside my head. My mind could fly with her. Once she showed me a dive from altitude that scared the hell out of me then she giggled. I swatted her butt. She licked my face.

Once she showed me a young human couple fucking from her vantage point within the woods. As they had reached their orgasms she had walked past them and just nodded in their direction then took to the sky.

I wondered if those two had ever fucked again.

Grandal stayed away for longer and longer periods and stayed with us for shorter periods. The only children she was now allowing to see her were Artur, Kiley and Carlotta. Those three told us they suspected the others would not be able to keep the secret of Grandal's visits from others.

One early spring day we temporarily gained a bear and her cub. She and her baby had run into the village startling the women. None were scared as Grandal was dozing in the plaza. They did become concerned when they saw the very large bear that had been chasing the mother and her cub rush in after them.

The bear never saw Grandal even though he was right next to her. The stories about the poor vision of bears was apparently true. When he threatened the women Grandal simply ate him then resumed her nap. I am sure the bear still had no idea what had happened to him as he began to be digested.

It was then that I noticed how much Grandal had grown. She was now more than three times as big as she had been when we met. 

The cub's mother was confused but saw that the bear threatening her cub had vanished. It was a while before she saw her cub cuddling to Kate and Nuna as they fed it berries. Anushka took the mother bear a bowl of fruits and after she calmed began to eat as Anushka pet her. Grandal had apparently assured her she was among friends.

The two stayed in the village until winter and the cub would come by for fruit and petting until he became an adult.

Grandal and I had fun talking about where she had been and what she had seen. What she had not seen was many Dragons. 

Sometimes she and her sister would travel together for months, she said. She spoke fondly about spending ten days sharing five beached whales with her and being so full they were unable to fly for three days. I loved hearing about their adventures together and said wished I could meet her.

One early evening Grandal asked me to meet her at the sandbar near the river. I had not seen her and she had not flown over the village but I went there quickly . Her sister was with her. She was about half the size of Grandal but much bigger than Grandal was when we met. I knew there were ten years between them so the size difference seemed about right.

"Hi Gula, welcome to our home," I said before I kissed her.

"You just got her all atwitter even though I told her you would kiss her. She wants to know if you realize she is a Dragon."

"Actually she is the sister of a Dragon I love and that is a good enough reason to kiss her. Please tell her to come to the village and meet the others, they will be honored and happy to meet her.

"No children around now?"

"Just Artur."

"Hop on my back, you need to learn to fly."

I did and was up on her back as she lifted into the air. I knew immediately it had been a bad idea on my part but tried to keep her from seeing I was terrified. She of course could tell I was so she gently rose high enough for me to see the town and that took my attention. From the air the town did not seem far at all.

"See how the big river comes close to your river but they don't merge. They were once the same river but yours was cut off. That's why it has little current. Your river is actually a long skinny lake."

We were gliding effortlessly by then and I was just mesmerized at the view. We flew close to the town then circled over small mountains between the town and the village and I saw other hot ponds.

Then I got a surprise, Gula talked to me.

"We have seen what you see below in many different places. What has happened to the land here happens everywhere there are mountains and rivers. Hot water ponds are common around here but completely absent elsewhere."

"I envy you your point of view. Have you two found any more beached whales?"

Both giggled and Gula said, "No, we did swim with a live one for a while trying to figure out a way we could catch it but it was bigger than both of us and was probably trying to figure out how to catch me." 

We laughed and I took in the sights until I said, "The village women are watching us."

We were now gliding over our village and all were out looking up.

Grandal said, "Yes, they are exited they see two Dragons and you riding in the air. Gula, they know its you."

"In that case," she said and and headed to the village in a gentle glide.

Grandal allowed her to land first then we followed her down. 

I was unhappy to be back on the ground.

The Dragons stayed for two days and we heard them tell countless stories about each other including some embarrassing moments. 

Anushka did most of the translating but Kate, Numa and I did some of that too. Artur was frustrated he could not get the stories directly but I told him to just relax and listen to Anushka which he eventually did.

It was obvious that the sisters adored each other, that Grandal was Gula's hero. Gula was stunned to find herself with human friends. People that did not think of her as a monster just because she was a Dragon. Humans that liked her. She became fond of us.

Sitting between them as they told stories was a very enjoyable experience for all of us, even grumpy Fika. Gula was asking for kisses and getting them before she left.

Grandal stayed another two days and I asked her how Gula managed not to get exiled like she had been.

"Because the only ones who know were Mom and me. I made the mistake of babbling about it at the roost soon after my first flight over human habitats. The Queen was scandalized and my brother incited the others against me.

Mom told Gula my story as soon as she could comprehend it so she has never told anyone. You are the first human she has ever spoken to. 

Mom has never spoken about her adventures with humans when she was young except to tell us that her pilot had died many years before I was born, burned at a stake. She will not tell us what she did to the town but she has never had a human friend since."

I learned that the sisters had always met at a prearranged area and traveled together for months at a time. At times they crossed oceans and seas. They stayed in the northern part of our world often and were comfortable in ice and snow. 

I expressed my surprise since reptiles did not like cold but she corrected me and said Dragons were not reptiles but survivors of creatures from very ancient times.

"We are very hot blooded as you already know," she said with a seductive voice then licked my face.

I took it like a man and she continued, "There were once seven different groups of us, three are likely extinct. Two live in lakes and seas but they are even rarer than we are.

My kind still number in the low hundreds but Mom has died. She was very old."

Grandal described the ones she had seen and the ones her mother had seen. The three that were likely extinct had last been seen by her grandmother who had always referred to them as dunces. None had been seen in nearly two hundred years.

Grandal had not seen any male dark dragons since the one that tried to kill her. She had only seen one female and since she was mature and alive deduced she had never mated. They would soon be extinct if they were not already. There apparently were no males. 

As time passed on each of Grandal's visits we noticed her colors were changing. She no longer had patches of yellow on her wings. She now also had a large feathery tassel-like growth on her tail and a feathery crest on her head. There was a definite scar where her wound had been but scales covered most of it. She had told me the truth, she was a young Dragon when we met. She still loved being kissed and caressed by all of us.

Sometimes Grandal stayed with us a couple months. Most of her visits lasted about two weeks. She spent most of those visits dozing. 

Noises from her digestive system sent everyone to giggles at times. I thought her visits were mostly for digestive purposes and digestion was more efficient when she was relaxed. She was relaxed among us.

The town still presented her with a boar each solstice but the offering were no longer a plea for mercy but as rewards for keeping their town safe from bandits. Grandal stopped claiming her prize when it became a town spectacle.

When she was home I spent most of my time with her. We went flying at times and at times Kate flew with us riding on Gula. Gula would visit us each time Grandal did but did not stay as long as her big sister did.

Time passed and I was surprised when I realized that more than two years had elapsed since their last visit. She knew we worried about them so three times during that spell we heard them in our heads as they flew past. 

Three years later my daughters Kiley and Carlotta returned to town. They had a job to do they said, take care of Grandal's egg.

Grandal's last flyover had been as she was seeking a suitable mate. She had told no one except Gula and had demanded she not tell me. They were arguing about it as they flew over the town. Kiley and Carlotta had heard them. They of course told their father.

Grandal had worried that I would be upset.

"That would have been silly," I said.

All of them agreed. I suspected there was something I should not have liked about their unanimous agreement.

We had dismantled the roof over the courtyard years before when it became obvious Grandal would no longer fit under it. It was gone before Gula's first visit.