\u201cWell, you’re not the sort of beast I expected to ensnare.\u201d<\/p>\n
The web of force that had stopped Alderian in mid-air, nearly doing a harm to his wings, wasn’t so tight that he couldn’t turn his head to see the one who’d spoken. Human, of course, with a thin queue of brown hair, green eyes, and wrapped in gold-brown cloth. Male, if he reckoned correctly. \u201cYes, yes, have your laugh, two-legger,\u201d he sighed. \u201cYou call my kind greedy and hoarding, yet with so large a flock for so few houses, you spend such force to keep from losing one small sheep.\u201d And not so well that he hadn’t struck the thing before the snare tightened; the smell of the carcass so close by had been maddening on an empty stomach.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne sheep now and then is a regrettable reality we could deal with,\u201d the human replied. \u201cOne each day for a week, and we’ll acquire some more and take suitable precautions with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you’ll have to look elsewhere for the author of your troubles,\u201d Alderian growled. \u201cI’ve not been here before now, and would as soon have passed this place by entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest did seem more like a gryphon’s work, so I suppose I can believe that. Still, you did bring down one of our flock.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what do you want for that?\u201d the dragon snapped. Not for the first time, he tested his bonds, but his magic was bound as tight as his body, and thus so was his fire. \u201cPrecious gems? Do I look to you like I bear with me a jewelled hoard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you look over-travelled and underfed. Seeking a home, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI fail to see how that’s any business of yours,\u201d Alderian snapped, stung.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you might settle near my home, that makes it very much my business,\u201d the human replied. Before the dragon could respond, he went on, \u201cI could make it worth your while to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alderian blinked, doing a quick recalculation. \u201cFirst you humiliate me for the sake of one small sheep in passing, now you suggest I linger? You are a puzzling, inconstant creature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are things you could do that would make up for the costs of an expanded herd,\u201d the human said. \u201cAnd things you could offer, even here and now, to make up for the damage already done, many times over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, there it was. \u201cYou want a part of me, do you? Scale, horn, blood? I might have known.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt needn’t be something so unpleasant to obtain,\u201d came the reply. \u201cThere’s something a drake like yourself can give that would be quite useful to me, and probably quite pleasant to you in the giving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again Alderian blinked, processing that, and when he’d followed the thought to its conclusion, he laughed. \u201cSo you will pleasure me, and pay me in food for the privilege?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the proceeds,\u201d the human corrected. \u201cBut if you don’t care what happens to your seed afterwards… basically, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI care little enough, little one. But do you know your way around such as me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know my way around males,\u201d the sorcerer said, showing teeth.<\/p>\n
At his gesture, the web of force loosened \u2013 if not the magical restraints behind it \u2013 and instead a lighter wave of it washed over him, a light caress, but one that ignored his scales entirely. He shivered as that phantom touch lingered between his hindlegs. \u201cI might yet come to believe you, human.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe name is Edric.\u201d That grin widened. \u201cAnd I’ve scarcely begun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An easy meal on the wing turns out to be anything but for a travelling dragon, but it might prove to have some benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[84,28],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dragons","tag-flash","tag-mature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}