Drevon whipped to face the face that stared at him, and brought the torch foward. He screamed in suprise at the scaly features, and to his greater suprise, the face screamed back. Drevon and Jason stepped back, pointing thier swords at this new creature. The form suddenly and quickly dissapeared, and after some mild scratching, they saw a torch on the wall go up in flames. A few more bouts of scratching, and soon, the room was lit by five torches. The two stared around, and saw that te room was full of treasure. “Jason, I think we’re in a dragon’s cave,” Drevon said in barely a whisper. “Yes, I think so as well,” Jason said, looking around for the scaly form. “No silly boys,” a female voice said from behind. They once agian whirled around, and were met with the strangest sight. It was a dragon yes, but not entirely. She, as it was obviously a female, had features of a common woman. The difference, was her face was longer, and scaly, like a dragon’s, and she had a blue tail protruding from her rear end. Two short horns, with jewled rings stuck up from her head. Shw alked on two legs, which were slightly bent, like that of a dragon, but still able to support her standing upright. Her arms were rather stumpy as well and her whole body was covered in blue, dragon scales. A pair of short and suprisingly dull fangs stuck out from the front of her mouth, and she had a slight overbite. She was dressed in a dark purple dress with gold lines, and a silver hem. Two short wings stuck out from her back, hardly enabling her to fly, but more of an accessory. Her hands and feet, which were wide, had claws on the ends, short and filed to a roundness. The most suprising thing about her though, was her overall apearence. Rather than being long and lank, like a real dragon, she was short, and sort of stocky. though her face was indeed longer, it was not angular, but more rounded. In fact, she was rather pudgy, and a round potbelly stuck out in front of her. She grinned sheepishly at the two, and if not for his current suprise, Drevon possibly would have found her rather adorable. She stepped up to them. “It’s only me, please don’t be scared.” Her voice sounded young, as she looked, and if she was a full human, Drevon would have guessed her to be about twenty years of age. “Who are you?” Jason aked, clearly confused at thier host. “My name is Lady Ellestria, but you can call me just Ellestria if you like,” She said, her large, orange eyes blinking with obvious nervousness. “Why are you here?” Drevon asked, looking around at the room. “Oh, he locked me in here, I’m a prisoner,” She said, clearly scared of whoever she was speaking of. “Who?” Jason asked. “The magician, Olem Wormshire. He fell in love with me, and brought me back to his manor outside, but I didn’t want to stay, I wanted to go back to my home, in the mountains. He wouldn’t listen, and the night I tried to escape, he brought me here, and tied me up. He then carved those awful runes outside, and told me that if I left, I would be cursed. However, because he did love me, he gave me a lot of treasures, and, oh, such delicous food.” At the mention of food, Ellestria’s eyes lit up, and an almost childlike glee came over her face. She licked her lips with her long forked tounge and sighed. “We weren’t harmed by the runes, they didn’t do anything,” Drevon said, sheathing his sword. “Indeed, and the manor you spoke of is crumbling outside,” Jason put in. “So that explains why he’s been gone for so long. He stopped coming a while ago, though I haven’t been able to tell time in here,” Ellestria said. “Are you sure you can’t leave, have you ever tried?” Drevon asked, a guess coming into his mind. “Of course not! That would curse me!” She said. “I’m not sure of how to say this Ellestria, but I think your Olem Wormshire was a fraud. Magicians are tricksters, they don’t use real magic. My guess would be that he was just a very rich fraud,” Drevon said. Ellestria looked suprised. “Come to think of it, I never acually saw him use any magic, he just said he would if I tried to escape.” She walked over to the end of the room, and with a shaky hand, quickly touched one of the runes on the floor. Nothing happened, so she slowly, and hesitantly took a step forward, then two, until she stood on them. Still, nothing. She laughed then, aloud, and the sound echoed across the tunnel. “Well isn’t that just strange, being imprisoned by nothing more than a simple trick,” She said with a sigh. She turned back to Drevon and a look of glee was in her eyes. Before he could realize what was happening, she gave him a big kiss on the mouth. Drevon stood there stunned. No woman had ever kissed him, much less a dragon woman. She immiadiatly looked bashful, once she realized her action, and stepped back. “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just that, you rescued me and well, I think i love you now,” she said. Drevon was suprised. “I think you may be confused,” he said. Ellestria just stared wistfully. “Wait a moment, when we came in here, we heard a loud growling, is there something else here with you,” Jason asked. “Oh no, sorry, that was…my stomach, I haven’t eaten yet” she said, blushing. As if to prove this, a loud groan of hunger eminated from her round belly. Drevon chuckled, and Jason just grinned. “Well, do you know if this cave stops here, or does it continue on?” Drevon asked. Ellestria nodded. “It does continue on, and comes out on the other side of the ravine, but there are runes there too,” She said. “Well then, that solves that<‘ jason said. “Shall we carry on Drevon?” “Yes, but I don’t think we should leave Ellestria here, It’s obvious that she needs some company, perhaps we could get her back home?” Drevon suggested. Ellestria looked gleeful, but Jason was conflicted. “Drevon, we don’t have a lot of time, the sorcerer will have the gate open soon, we must get your sword there as soon as possible,” He said. “Oh, please don’t leave me Drevon,” Ellestria pleaded, she walked up to him, and rubbed her scaly face against his bearded one, making a noise that was similar to a cat’s purring. Drevon was touched. “I’m the one with the sword, and the one who fulfillls the prophecy you spoke of, I’ll make the descision. I say she comes with us until we get her back home,” Drevon said. Ellestria made a noise of happiness, which came out like a high pitched squeak, and hugged Drevon. Her much larger frame slammed up agianst his, and he felt the wind get knocked out of him. “Ohh, okay, okay,” he moaned, pulling away from her and trying to breathe. Jason sighed, and nodded. “I don’t like this idea Drevon, but you are right, the prophecy will be fullfilled by you,” He said. “Very well then, let us be off,” Drevon said. They left the cave, and came out into an open field. The three travveld on until they came to a quiet stream just as the twilight came. After making a small fire, and bedding down for the night, they lay quiet. However, as he was drifting off to sleep, Drevon was sure he heard Ellestria mutter something about a snack.
Fairy Tales