Mel

Mel huffed lightly, drawing her magic back into her body. That was exhausting. But she did it.

The knight was sound asleep, her magic faintly thrumming under his scales. She reached out a clawed hand, dragging it across his snout. “Well I wasn’t lying there at least,” she muttered, “You are a nice one to look at. Better than the others at least.”

She shook her head, she couldn’t do this.

“Sorry for crashing your party, darling,” she called sarcastically to the being behind the desk. No one knew who he was, and no one asked, that was the first rule.

“This is the last time this week, Mel, it’s getting old.”

“That’s the ninth time you’ve said that, I’ll be by tonight for the fights.” Mel said, gathering her magic and levitating the sedated dragon.

“Pushing it.”

“It’s one of my specialties.” Mel responded with a grin, taking off into the night, Terrance not far behind her.

She heard a couple bumps behind her as she flew through the forest. It seemed she could dodge tree branches perfectly fine, but an unconscious Terrance could not. She landed noiselessly in the grass in front of a abandoned rabbit hole, padding gently towards it. Depositing Terrance in the cavern, Mel paced around in front of it. What am I going to do? Why did I bring him here? Where else was I supposed to take him? Get yourself together, you’re the best at this sort of thing, don’t get yourself caught now! A whine of pain from behind her caught her attention after several minutes of panicking. “Why? Why would you come back? You know- you know you’re not supposed to be here,” Terrance muttered into the ground. Mel froze, he was awake? Her magic should have notified her! She skimmed her surface thoughts for a sign she must have missed when a heavy weight suddenly crashed into her, pinning her down. It seemed like Terrance had tried to walk. Terrance growled drowsily, still slightly under the effects of Mel’s magic. “My head hurts,” he whined softly, “What did you do?”

She frowned. He needs help. I must have put more power behind my sleeping spell than I should have. Why do I want to help him? “I believe I used an overpowered sleep spell. The effect should have worn off by now, I can-” she hesitated, why was she offering this? “I can look at your head if you’d like?”

He glanced at her, tilting his head in confusion, “Why? I’m supposed to capture you? To- to bring you to be imprisoned. They’ll exile me if I don’t.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, pressing their foreheads together. His thoughts were a swirling mess, he really was more disoriented than he should have been. “For everything. But I won’t go back.”

“I understand,” he sighed, “I must return then.”

“You don’t have to go back. They’re just going to exile you, stay in the forest, go to a different territory,” Mel said, shrugging her shoulders, “There is nothing keeping you here, nothing saying you shouldn’t leave those deceptive higher-ups who just want you to do their dirty work. That’s who I was, so I left. And now I’m so much better!”

“I don’t have anywhere to go, and I don’t have anyone other than them. I don’t have the choices of being free,” he said.

“You know what? You need a breather, a break!” Mel said suddenly.

“Alright, I suppose? What is your proposition for this break?” Terrance asked.

“Just follow me!”

The two flew off, and a few minutes later arrived back at the shabby inn. “To the back,” Mel said, dragging Terrance by the arm behind a ring of trees. They came upon a small arena where a considerable crowd of dragons was huddled around chanting names he didn’t recognize. “Mel!” A random dragon called out to her. She shot a smile in their direction but ignored them. She pulled him over to some stone steps that served as seating. “A fight club? Really?” Terrance murmured. “Is this really a good place to be?” “It’s fine, I come here all the time! Ooh! I’m up next!” Mel chittered gleefully. “What!? You’re fighting? Why!?” Mel gave him a funny look. Does he care? “Because it’s fun! And I get to show these idiots who’s boss!” “But- but he’s huge!” Terrance gestured at the large snapper dragon waiting impatiently in the arena. “Nah, I can beat him with my claws tied behind my wings,” Mel giggled, “Be right back!”

Mel skipped to the arena entry, her magic nearly sizzling with anticipation under her scales. This was going to be easy.

And it was. She looked back at Terrance to find him watching nervously through his claws, peeking to see her. She laughed, flying back to him. “Ready to see the next one?”

“On one condition?” Terrance asked?

“What is it?”

“Let me stay with you.”

“Very well.”

“I do it because I can and I want to because you said I couldn’t,” Mel chirped as she landed on the tree branch of a particularly large oak tree.

A deep sigh came from behind her, “I never said you couldn’t, I said it wasn’t a good idea. And just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Terrence had perched on the same bough, a little closer to the trunk of the tree.

A sharpened stick was pointed at Terrance’s chest, “Don’t be a drag, it takes all the fun out of it! What’s the worst that can happen?”

“You’re getting faster at that, and you know you really shouldn’t jinx yourself by asking those sort of things.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I am the best duelist on this side of the Windswept Plateau.” Mel’s singsongy voice bounced around, mirroring the movement of the dragon.

“Always so energetic,” Terrance mused, watching her twirl around the swaying leaves.

“Besides,” Mel purred, small spheres of energy swirling around her, “You wouldn’t want me to bore you, now would you?”

“For you, I doubt that’d be possible.”

“You flatter me, do it again,” she laughed, coming to sit beside him on the tree again.

“You don’t need more of an ego boost, it already outweighs you,” Terrance teased, nudging her wing.

“So rude,” she huffed, before poking him with the stick she had before.

“It’s on,” Terrance growled, grabbing a stick of his own.

And so if you wandered through the small forest in the Windswept Plateau, you’d find a pair of exiled dragons, having a mock duel - to the death of course - laughing and joking as they danced under the shining sun.


Written by InspiredPoet