FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7

His right hand burned.

He was no longer sure just how many apes chased him, at first he thought that only a couple made through the telltale ice canyon, then his eyes showed him just how wrong he was, there was at least fifteen of them.

When he blinked however, and then blinked again and again that number seemed to multiply by two, three maybe more. What was once a group of fifteen, soon became a mob, then a legion just to end on formations counting number of soldiers way beyond his arithmetic capabilities. The last number he recalled clearly was tens of thousands apes, all craving for his blood.

Of course if his sight wouldn't be so blurry, and the figures ahead wouldn't swirl like smoke he would have a much better chance of understanding what is truly going on.

All of that was rendered unimportant the moment the loud roar stopped ringing inside his skull, he watched, with barely maintained fascination, the moving scaly, ominous, black chin above. The whole leathery armor slithering forward like the biggest of serpents, filling his vison with the blurry gleam of gold.

Then his sight went completely dark the moment something smacked directly into his face.

Hunter impulsively threw his head down with a whine, throwing his arm to touch his head, only to find out that it was buried under a pile of snow. He wiped it off, throwing it down on the ground with a muffled slap. His hand found its way to his fur tousled forehead.

Only now feeling the throbbing painful pulses of a dagger inside. The ringing echo of a Dreadwing's shriek from up close came back to him as a boomerang. It threatened his skull with notions of agonizing implosion, but also brought back those shreds of clarity he's dizzied and tired mind could still understand.

It allowed him to discern that the tremors that ran across the snowy floor weren't created by an wakening up volcano, but by a living creature. A big, living creature, the reptilian leg of which just crunched the snow just next to him.

His bluish eyes admired the massive leg next to him, the snow gathered up on the scales and the flexed muscles, not registering really the exact features of it like color for example. He was only able to come to one obvious conclusion, this leg was reptilian of nature, not the ordinary type, but magical, draconic.

That was a dragon's leg.

For unknown reasons Hunter smiled.

"Apes" a deep, breathy voice filled the air, smooth and alluring, mysterious and filled with that special ominous swoon worthy pull

Hunter's ears perked up automatically, drawn to the sound of the enticing, whispery voice.

"Look at you, little colorful furballs, coated in all that shiny armor, looking almost like real soldiers, is it your moment of glorification or a desperate cling to fading pride I wonder? Tell me fluffs, does the title of Dark Master sound familiar to you?"

"We are our own masters!" one of the apes shouted and stepped in front of the row of soldiers, the characteristic painting on his armor and magical variety of weapons depicting him as the commander

"You are trespassing on ape territory! Submit willingly or face the same consequence as the cat!"

"A cling it is then" the dragon sighed "A pity, I had a secret desire to see the army that decimated my kind. History books never give a complete image"

"Your worries are of no concern to me dragon!" the commander snapped "Submit and give us the cat"

Hunter noticed a leg raising from the snow, dragging a tail of it behind as it most likely found itself on the dragon's chest.

"I'm given the chance to cooperate while this cheetah here does not? A rather corrupted sense of justice don't you think?"

"I'm tired of your prattle lizard!" the ape roared, rest of the soldiers readied themselves for an attack "I'm interested in the crystal stuck in your chest, how we going to extract it is entirely up to you. Last time reptile, are you friend or foe?"

The only sound that was heard besides the typical noises of Dante's Freezer was that of draconic claws tapping against a gem like structure.

"Truth is I am neither"

The world darkened, this time it had nothing to do with his physical condition however. The black body above moved, blocking every piece of light. Hunter impulsively squinted when moments later the cold light of Dante's Freezer struck him again, only partially blocked by the soaring, snow covered tail above that soon slithered out of his sight also.

Only to gently smack into the white, fluffy ground ahead.

"That is not an answer!" the ape growled commandingly

"But it is" the dragon replied in his own calm, ominous, enthralling way "It is an answer that would prevent this ground from turning red. Unfortunately for you I am quite hungry"

"I've killed many like you lizard! Attack!" the commander cried out.

The soldiers charged, arrows and crossbow bolts were sent flying.

The drake snickered "I assure you little ape, you did not"

All that Hunter registered for certain after those words was the smacking, wet sound of projectiles being impaled into scales, also the tremendous draconic roar that followed soon after was hard to imagine as well.

The snow vibrated around him.

With the fiercely blowing snow it was hard to see anything, Hunter wasn't really bothered by that fact. He seemed perfectly calm about the situation he found himself in.

Maybe except one nagging little detail.

It was so damn cold.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to pierce through the through the unendingly flowing curtain of snowflakes. Everything seemed so distant, the sounds, supposedly loud, part of his mind was certain of that, were like a thud of a drum echoing through the mountains with sinusoidal crescendo as it bounced off the rocky surfaces.

Reminding of its significance, but at the same time never crossing the line that would wake up even the dead.

He was able to recognize a pile of snow shooting in the air every now and then, like a perfectly white wave colliding with the shoreline.

Or perhaps like a shark rippling the sea as it dragged its fin across the water.

It could be also the effect of a rock bouncing off the surface of the water as it was hurled from the shore.

One thing was certain, whatever it was it seemed to be in the shape of a body. A big body.

Like that of an ape for instance.

He couldn't concentrate, everything suddenly became a complete blur, with every blink of his eyes he felt like he would be losing consciousness and then shaking himself back.

His right hand burned.

The world ahead was only colors, black, gold, blue, red, lots and lots of red. All mixing themselves chaotically as if a couple of different artists would be using the same piece of paper at the same time, all wanting their vision to come true, all passionate about it.

Except one.

The red painter was everywhere, while all the other colors seemed to focus their chaos on a single point of focus, the red one ignored such boundaries. Splashing red dashes in every direction, far more faster than the other artists. One of those red lines splashed directly into his snout.

He could feel the paint dripping from his chin!

Funny thing, it was really warm.

Like blood.

He blinked.

The world once more was pulled away, the snowy image drawn back into blackness far and far away. It shrunk until it was no bigger than a dot. A white dot, as a flicker of light at the end of a very long tunnel.

His eyelids felt heavier than usual, he had to grit his teeth to force them to move.

The dot suddenly became bigger, with a whizzing sound it was dragged back to him until with a rumbling noise of many sounds colliding with each other, filled his entire vision.

His right hand burned.

The dot was no longer the same.

The snowflake covered scenery was blocked by a massive black shape.

"Hunter I assume" a hypnotizing breathy voice touched his pointy ears "I must say that after hearing stories about you I expected someone less...miserable"

The cheetah tried to open his mouth, but only ended with his lips parting slightly. His teeth started to rattle against each other, with each scrape of fangs his body was shaken by uncontrollable shivers.

"It's only fair that I wake you up from this stupor, just like you did with me"

His eyelids started to lower themselves down.

"Now, now..." he felt claws gripping the fur on his head, claws that soon jerked his head backwards, making a small bone snap somewhere in his spine

His eyes snapped open once more.

"...we both napped enough. Show me your palms"

The cheetah's eyes went down, aimed exactly in the spot where his hands supposed to be, all he could see was part of his arms, the joint above the elbow. The rest was buried underneath the snow.

"Yes, those furry sticks are called arms, there is a hand at the end of each. I need you to show them to me"

Hunter grunted, the snow vibrated slightly.

"There you go. A little more if you would be so nice"

He didn't know why he listened to that voice. His mind acted like it wanted to obey, like it begged for it. It's job is to think, to put the body into motion. It's job is to hold to even the tiniest strand of life.

With another grunt the snow finally cracked open like earth after an earthquake. He freed both his hands from the dark clutches.

"Right palm"

His eyes immediately focused on the hand the voice mentioned. There was something sticking out of it covered by frozen blood. It was a shard, but not the common ice one, but black like onyx.

There was a sound of something sharp tapping against a gem.

"I don't understand it either if it makes you feel better. I think I abused that power somehow, it froze me while you are being poisoned by its fading magic. Seems like this bauble is toxic in more ways than one. I should probably thank you for destroying it, even if by accident most likely, however being grateful is not my style"

Hunter observed the shard protruding from his hand with some sorts of dreadful and dizzied fascination, it drew his whole limited attention. He barely noticed, basically he didn't even feel the touch of two big draconic claws at his opened palm.

He also missed the fact of them locking the blood stained crystal in their sharp grasp.

A breath of both perplexed amazement and intoxicated agony left his throat when he felt a stinging pull on his hand and observed the shard moving upwards in a rough, shaky manner. Like prey freeing itself from the sticky grip of a spider web.

His mouth kept on parting with every inch of the moving shard, another breath build up within his throat. This one however was not a singular exhale, but a steady escape of air, increasing in strength with each new stream of blood gushing from the growing and constantly pulled wound.

His ears flickered and began to slowly drop down on his skull, wakening up to life with the lazily increasing noises of the surrounding area. Sounds that were distant before, now were gaining on incisiveness.

A disgusting sound of breaking tissue filled his head.

Tears wailed in his eyes as he observed the removal of the shard. He suddenly remembered the name for them.

Those were tears of pain.

Sounds started to return to him, one by one, each tone with a accurate description. That whizzing noise for instance, that was the blowing wind. That crunching noise, it was the snow underneath his wavering knees. The sound coming out from his throat, not a prolonged breath but a growing in strength scream.

There was a loud, wet pop and the shard jumped out from his palm with one final jerk, shooting blood and strands of flesh in every direction like fuel from a rocket's engine.

Hunter screamed at the top of his lungs, his kneeling body crunched forward so his eyes were aimed at his crotch, in front of which his hand was located with a bloody hole right in the middle of it. The other hand was clenching the wrist of the injured palm tightly. He could see his own snow covered and partially frozen pants through the hole, as if by looking through the biggest of key holes.

His whole body started to shake violently, he felt he was cold before, but now, it seemed like he was freezing.

"I despise failure, and this little trinket offered me tons of it"

Hunter ignored the deep, breathy voice. He rose on his knees, snow fell down from his shoulders like dust from a forgotten furniture, he felt lighter in a moment's notice. The cheetah drove his healthy hand into the pile of snow, locating his belt buried below and soon after the cold pouch he was looking for.

With a wavering groan he threw the practically frozen bag on top of the pile of snow just in front of his knees before thrusting his claws into his clothes and tearing a considerable piece of fabric. He rolled the material on the snowy ground, poured the whole contents of the pouch on it and then pressed it to his wounded hand.

With a hiss of pain he began wrapping it around his pierced palm, fighting through the agony and uncontrollable shaking. The provisional bandage and the same medical operation was a success. The hole disappeared under the layer of cloth.

"Obliviousness is amusing"

Hunter looked up, his mouth already opened to voice some...he forgot what he wanted to say the moment he laid his blurry sight, not because of fading consciousness but tears, at the figure ahead. Whatever air gathered in his lungs wafted from his gaping maw in a breath of awe.

Death stood right in front of him.

Hunter blinked.

Nothing changed.

On the snowy ground ahead stood a dragon, a big one, one that recently reached adulthood and is currently in his prime of draconic existence. The drake wasn't in any way especially muscular, the build of his body was almost of a normal dragon. Almost.

If not for that single noun pushing itself against the tongue.

Perfection.

The dragon's body seemed to be sculpted by the invisible hands of several artists. Not with the taste for excessive but dignity. His muscles were visible through the layer of scales, not too much, just enough to trigger curiosity and air of alluring mysteriousness that called to you to come closer, towards the dark aura. Only then they would reveal themselves to you, in perfect shape and strong form.

The dragon had an unnatural grace to him, not often seen in males. Even while he was standing, every now and then lifting his paws from the constantly increasing layer of snow, you could see how light and at the same time strong his moves were. Every receptor in his body seemed to be tuned to one perfect tone, every fiber of his body working with perfect harmony with all the rest.

Radiating the confident and arrogant aura of a strong male, but at the same time caressed by the gentle touch of grace and seduction of a female.

This is a breed of dragon the world has never seen before. An egg created by undoubtedly extraordinary mates.

Symbol of elegance and draconic pride that even the falling snowflakes seemed to avoid.

You came to such conclusion just by looking at his figure, even when there was still so much more to say about the dragon.

Like for example that his scales were black as coal.

He had his big wings opened, mouth parted slightly, perfectly white razor sharp teeth showing in such enchanting and intimidating smirk that you simply couldn't take your eyes off it.

The black membranes of the big wings were surrounded by the typical for dragonkind hollow bone, this particular one however was golden. Running from the top until it reached the base in the place where it connected itself with the dragon's back. Two, big silver blades protruded from the wing thumbs. The tips of both were gently gold.

Similar delicate golden trim was running across his whole back, at its edges, as if clearly separating it from his flanks. The upper part of his tail was adorned in the same way. There were small golden fins dotting the length of his tail, starting from the base protruding from his rump and running to the tip, getting smaller and smaller the farther they reached, eventually ending on one that a mole could easily clench in his hand.

The tip resembled a metallic blade, curled like a scythe. It had a gold end.

The bottom side of the tail was covered in golden scales, they adorned the bottom side of the dragon's body, ending right past his front paws, almost close to the chest where they shrunk to a small, thin line to eventually stop stretching completely.

The exact golden trim as on his wings ran down the insides of his elbows and knees, stopping right before reaching both clawed front and back paws.

There were two silver little horns protruding from the corners of his cheeks. Similar two, yet far more bigger jutted from the top of his head. Each of them had a delicately golden tip.

The chest carried the same symbol of every time traveling dragon. This gem was black as its unwilling host, yet it was not a permanent discoloration. There were purple lines flowing inside the crystal's dark surface, looking like tiny skittish dragonflies.

A small magenta line was running from the top of his head, in between his eyes and down towards the tip of his nose.

The toes of his paws weren't completely dark as the rest of his body, they were a mix of purple and black. With the bigger influence of the first, but retaining the unfair balance. Not overpowering the second color.

Every hue, every blade and horn, everything seemed to fit perfectly, as if the dragon was engineered to become the proud representative of his specie. There was however one exception.

It was his eyes.

They were black, like a pair of genuine obsidians.

If you were perceptive and observed the intimidating dragon for a while you couldn't shake of the feeling that those eyes didn't belong there. They were a flaw, even if they seemed to complete the image of ominous black dragon perfectly.

They were unnatural.

"Forgot your tongue kitty?" the dragon asked, his voice never wavering, never losing the breathy, enchanting tone that only greatly added to his already swoon worthy dark looks

"You aren't the first"

"Who..." Hunter mumbled, the moment he opened his mouth his whole body was thrown into an uncontrollable shiver, he was reminded mercilessly just how cold he is

"...are..." his teeth rattled, he fought desperately to prevent them from shattering against each other "...you?"

The dark drake snickered "Why, a mole on steroids obviously"

The cheetah stared at him in silence.

The dragon shook his head "Pardon, sometimes I get reckless and dumbly witty. Ridiculous genetic flaws I inherited unfortunately"

The drake's wings folded themselves on his back as he pressed his black paw to his chest, directly on the black gem which he unconsciously rubbed.

"Name's Danox"

Despite the shivers ravaging his every muscle the cheetah bowed slightly.

"H-H-Hunt-t-ter" his teeth rattled

The dragon smiled, the way his lips curled were somehow so very familiar to Hunter.

"Now that we have pleasantries behind us how about you tell me a little about what is going on here"

The cheetah wrapped his arms around himself, the touch instead of giving a comfort of warmth only intensified the sensation of turning to ice.

Danox took a deep breath, looking around the snowflake flowing scenery before exhaling the accumulated air in a long misty breath.

"You've got fur, it substitutes for loss of blood well, besides it isn't so cold here. You're a survivor, you'll manage and if you do well I'll repay you by fulfilling one of your most secret desires that honor prevents you from pursuing it itself"

Hunter looked up at the drake, his body quaking beyond any reasonable control. The creature ahead, undoubtedly magnificent, didn't tug his fascination as dragonkind usually does. Most likely it was due to his condition, his mind was just too busy keeping his nerves alive to concern itself with unimportant crush of curiosity, or perhaps it was the drake's completely indifferent approach to his unfortunate position.

He wouldn't be the first dragon that didn't care about the well-being of others, but he would be the first one that promises to make dreams come true when just arriving through a time shifting portal.

"You...time traveled...that crystal...in yo-" he paused when a breath stealing shiver shot through his body, arms that were curled around his chest started to massage his flanks, deliberately ignoring the pain in his right palm

"...your chest...is the...proof"

There were another several taps of a claw clicking against a glassy surface.

"Let's skip the part about the gem. I've had enough of thinking about crystals for a while" the dragon's neck went up, with one swipe of a paw that dragged snow behind it he gestured at the surroundings

"I want to hear about this place. About this world. I want to know where I am"

"Pardon my...boldness, but you...seem awfully...calm...about the fact...that you...just crossed...a veil...between...worlds"

Danox chuckled "You know the funny thing about proverbs?"

Hunter cocked his head in reaction to the sudden change of topic.

"Everyone knows them. No matter how old are you, or from what place you hail from. You know Common, you know the proverbs, you understand them and eventually fuse them with your manner of speech. A couple of words replacing a whole sentence while at the same time exactly presenting the meaning of the thought in your head you just wanted to voice"

The black drake tapped his temple "All you need is here, even a tiny bit is enough. Understanding. Such a useful skill, saves a lot of breath"

He chuckled again with a shake of his head, once more that warm, familiar smile appeared on his snout.

"Proverbs. You can't possibly imagine how they grow on you and it comes from me, a cynic at heart. Shows how faithful I am to myself"

He looked at the cheetah, the paw that was in the air dropped on the snowy ground without a sound.

"Don't tell anyone, but I have a favorite of mine. Just give me a second to remember it" his paw reached his throat where a claw started to scratch his scales

"Oh yes!" he exclaimed, the claw fiercely jerked away from his throat, in that brief moment his expression shifted. Dropping the amused look, for a split second making room for a wrinkle of complete disgust before returning to the same dark way of carrying himself

"I believe it went something like this..." he cleared his throat "Curiosity killed the cat"

Hunter swallowed, another shiver run through his body, this one however had nothing to do with cold.

Danox snorted "But I digress and to make things worse I interrupted you" a pair of dark eyes landed on the cheetah, radiating absolutely no emotion "You were about to tell me about this place if my memory serves me right, yes?"

His healthy hand dived into the snow, cold fingers impulsively groping the belt underneath the pile of white fluff. Ignoring the paralyzing effect of cold his fingers started looking for a weapon but unfortunately found none.

"We...are in Dante's Freezer...the most cold...island in Dr-r-ragon Realms. Cur-r-rently...inhabited by the...remnants of the D-D-Dark Army..."

"Stop right there" Danox chimed in as he drew another shaky breath

The dragon waved his paw dismissively "Forget about the Freezer. Tell me of Dragon Realms and this Dark Army. Focus on the milestones in history of this Realm, don't bore me with general information like who is who or who is the good guy or the bad guy, stuff like that. I'm smart, I'll figure it out. Milestones kitty, milestones. This is what makes history and I'm very much interested in it"

The dragon's exceptional interest was most peculiar to put it mildly, instead of being curious about how he got here or how come there was a portal that transported him to this time in the first place he is more interested about the events of the current era.

Hunter found that suspicious, but seeing that his hand resurfaced from the pile of snow completely empty he knew he had no choice but to cooperate. A brief history lesson never hurt anybody, silence on the other hand was not a safe bet.

"Dark Army...belonged to the...Dark Master...Malefor...a purple d-d-dragon who terrorized the...R-R-Realm with his...insatiable...hunger f-f-for power. He was defeated...twice...the last confrontation...resulting in his...death. He-"

"That's enough" Danox interrupted once more "Thank you. Now please move on to the Dragon Realms"

The feline shivered, thinking of a milestone that could satisfy the dragon.

"Besides...the war...the last...Year of the...Dragon was spectacular. The e-e-eggs...of two most...powerful d-d-dragons...were brought...into our...world. Spyro...a purple dragon a-a-and Cynder...a b-b-black dragon-n-ness. They a-a-are the living...milestones of o-o-our Realms, they...made history a-a-and they are...our h-h-history"

Danox smiled "Spoken like a true admirer, your fascination with my race is honest and not a delusion of a sick mind. I'm truly impressed. Tell me now Hunter, have you ever met these milestones of yours?"

The cheetah nodded "I have...the honor...to call them...my f-f-friends"

The dragon looked up into the sky, his eyes were closed, expression locked in a state of silent thinking. A paw rose from the ground and moved towards his neck, yet stopped in midair just half the way to his throat. His eyes snapped open, the two black gems narrowed themselves on the risen leg, he growled in disgust gently.

The paw acted like it had a mind of its own, understanding the hint behind the dragon's growl it quickly jerked itself back and dived into the snow. Like an ostrich sticking its head into the sand.

"Yes" the drake huffed "I think this will be enough. Thank you, you've been much helpful"

Hunter stiffened on his knees, blue eyes aimed at the dragon.

Danox looked at the cheetah and laughed "Why look at you, ready to accept death with dignity of a warrior. Too bad for you I guess that I'm not here to kill you, or perhaps your dreams have changed?"

His right pointy ear creaked, throwing bits of ice as it shook itself into motion and bent itself in confusion.

"Your look is enough of an answer for me" the dragon looked around the cold, mountainous terrain "How do you feel about leaving this rock?"

The feline impulsively raised both his hands, his head went down observing both palms, especially focused on the one with the recently wrapped provisional bandage.

"I agree" Hunter's head snapped up at the sound of the deep, breathy voice "With that hole in your hand climbing these chilly mountains would be quite a feat"

Danox looked up into the sky, wings spreading wide while he took a deep breath "Tell me Hunter, have you ever wondered how it is to fly?" a single dark eye observed him

The cheetah followed the dragon's gaze, eyes shimmering dreamily.

"More...than...o-o-once"

"Perfect. My bargaining chip has value then, good, I like a fair trade. Favors are pathetic. You already paid your share, now it's my time to even the bargain"

He approached the cheetah, Hunter's bluish eyes observing his every move. Danox craned his neck, lowering his head to look at the cheetah.

"Would you like to taste the wind in your fur kitty?"

Hunter swallowed, ears perked up at the sound of the meaningful offer, yet it was not a completely honest display of excitement. His tear filled blue eyes were aimed directly at the drake's black ones, spotting absolutely nothing inside.

The window to one's soul they said.

A perceptive look is enough to tell what kind of person is truly in front of you they said.

Eyes are betrayers and true lovers they said.

They speak louder than words they said.

The two black windows ahead were barred shut, board upon board nailed to each other that even the tiniest strand of light couldn't break through as if it was a barricade of sorts, protection from an infestation.

Or a trap.

He imagined his wounded hand knocking at the barred windows.

Lips of his invisible mouth voicing only one question.

"Soul? Are you home?"

Hunter's head nodded impulsively, his neck more likely dragged by the constantly changing direction of the wind than actual deliberate impulse of his mind.

Danox smiled, turning around so his left flank was aimed at the kneeling cheetah. He laid gracefully on the snowy ground, one of the wings sprawled on the chilly earth like a ramp.

"Have you ever rode a dragon Hunter?"

The train of thought he was raiding stopped suddenly, throwing his imagined entity back into his body, snapping him back into reality. Hunter's ears perked up together with his forcefully dragged by shock head. The cold that kept traversing through every part of his body evaporated somewhere, letting a slow stream of warm excitement flow down from top of his ear down to the claws on his feet.

His mouth once more opened itself in a display of utter bewilderment.

Danox chuckled "It is funny to see how simple things for one can be seen as tremendous for others"

He kept staring at the gracefully laid form in front of him, he began examining the black body way more intently than it is suitable for a heterosexual male. He simply couldn't take his eyes of this symbol of perfect elegance.

Ominous symbol of perfect elegance.

Glimpses of which he was certain he already seen somewhere before.

"I'm aware that during a trade you need to evaluate the offer carefully, but you would make me immensely happy if you would make your mind before my chest freezes to the ground"

Hunter gulped.

"You are a dragon...mounting is..."

The dragon rolled his eyes "Disrespectful, shameful, hilarious, dreadful, despising, bla, bla, bla" he sighed "Meaningless adjectives. Couldn't care less about them"

He wiggled his splayed on the ground wing invitingly.

"My offer stands"

"Where do you want to go?" Hunter asked, probably letting suspicion in his voice to be more palpable than he wanted to

Danox offered another one of his alluring, dark smiles.

"Assertive, whether intentional or not I respect that, I wouldn't trust a creepy, strange dragon myself. I'll make things simple. Take me to the most important place in this world, capital or something like that"

Hunter looked to the side, frowning.

"I suggest you lead me straight there, I would find my way there anyway, I just want to avoid time stalling my steps, it's irritating. I assure you I have no vile intentions" he nodded at his sprawled body "Why, this should be proof enough"

His gaze returned to the dragon, unfortunately realizing that the drake had a point. He was way too curious about this world to lose his way. Hunter got up, surprisingly without difficulty, it is amazing just how much strength give the notion of knowing that you are a couple of steps from fulfilling one of your greatest dreams.

It changes your perspective completely.

Make you forget about many things.

Like pain.

Or thinking about how a dragon arriving from the past could know his most secret desire.

Wavering on his legs Hunter eventually reached the sprawled wing, touching its scaly surface. This wasn't the first dragon he touched in his life, there were many before him and yet a warm gasp of rapture wafted from his practically gaping mouth.

He pressed his foot against the wing and froze, looking worryingly at the dragon.

Danox nodded "Go on. Fire away, I'm not made of glass"

He dropped on all fours, carefully scaling the wing, absolutely forgetting about his wounded hand. It burned of course, his whole body did actually that he no longer could tell the difference if pain is causing this. As he climbed slowly up he felt the wing lifting and curling itself behind him, making the feat so much simpler and at the same time preventing him from sliding down.

The moment he climbed on the black dragon's back he was grinning broadly as a happy cub.

"I would advise you to move up my body, to the end of my neckline. That's the more stiffest spot on a draconic body during a flight. Bones are so thick there that it's nearly impossible to feel any movement. This is why it is so difficult to break a dragon's neck"

He did as he was told, sliding up the black scales, looking like a brownish ant in comparison to the massive body below. He didn't even know when he found his way to the pot the dragon mentioned.

Danox smiled "Good"

The drake lifted his body from the ground, another gasp of excitement escaped Hunter's throat as his eyes hectically looked around, especially observing the shrinking ground below. The drake wasn't lying, the spot he was sitting on didn't transport even the slightest vibration.

"I would hold on to something if I were you"

Hunter began to look around, finding absolutely nothing he could grab. His heart started to race, beating with disappointment and fear at the same time.

"Feel my neck, slide your hands from bottom to top of my scales, some should have ridges you could easily grab with your little hands"

He did as he was told, it didn't take him long to feel some of the scales slightly standing up on edge, serving as perfect handles.

"Found them" Hunter whispered, his heart skipped a beat

"What was that?"

He cleared his throat "Found them"

Danox chuckled.

"You could hold on to them, but I would advise more safer way anyway, especially since it's your first time and you have claws. Now that you put up the ridged scales you should see a small opening near them. Drive your claws there"

Hunter stiffened in terror.

"It will allow you to have a better grip and you could easily press yourself to my body while in air. Wind currents are strong here, you might accidently lose your head up there"

He licked his frozen lips. "I...don't want to hurt you"

"Awww, how very sweet of you, but do as I say. Pain makes me feel alive"

He thought about protesting, wounding a dragon, no matter how small the injury might be was against his code of honor, especially when he had no reason to do so. Yet at the same time he knew that if he disobeys the dragon's wish the opportunity to make his dream come true might slip away.

Even now when he was so close.

A little selflessness never hurt anybody.

He founds the spaces between the scales without a problem, he located the small openings even before the dragon mentioned them. With another chilly swallow he reluctantly brandished his claws, gently driving them into the holes.

His expression changed to that of utter self-despisment when he felt droplets of warm blood matting his fur. His hands went down up to his wrists, it was then when his claws eventually locked on to something, it wasn't flesh, he could still feel the leathery armor of draconic scales.

"Good" Danox let out an excited breath "Now we fly. Don't worry, I'll be gentle"

The dragon took off the ground in a moment's notice. Hunter's eyes shot wide open when he felt the strong gusts of wind striking at his body, noticed the ground becoming smaller so quickly and the clouds growing so fast that he could nearly touch them.

With last ounces of male ego he hold back a squeak.

The drake remained in the air for a while, obviously letting him get used to the feeling of being in the air. Words simply couldn't describe the bliss he was in currently, everything was so fantastic that he nearly forgot about his instinct.

An instinct that even despite the increasing piles of snow and the constantly falling snowflakes made him see a trail of something red on the white ground below. A red dash, blood, that led to something now nearly buried in the snow.

Then his eyes jumped to another piece like this and then another and another, he couldn't really tell what it was. He recognized only one thing, a part that laid under a rock, avoiding the unending torrent of snowflakes.

It were the bloody remains of a severed torso.

A cold chill run through his body which roughly reminded him that the being below him isn't a toy.

"Why?" Hunter mumbled

The dragon turned his head, a single black eye watching him curiously

"Why what?"

"Why did you let me mount you?"

Danox smirked "Is that fear speaking through you?"

"I don't understand, being mounted by a creature like me is considered as humiliation by your kind. I know you said that it means nothing to you, but I can't understand why"

The dragon shrugged "I have no pride or shame"

Hunter frowned surprised "No pride or shame? That makes you..."

The drake grinned "Special I know, you don't have to tell me that"

He opened his mouth, only a whizz of air escaped from within. He nodded, impulsively agreeing with the dragon.

Even despite that he thought about a different word.

He could hear it being transported by the strong gusts of wind the moment the dragon started flying.

The wind kept repeating the word his tongue wasn't able to form.

Dangerous.