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The Last Dragon part 2

by GreenEonDragon

Hynsten woke to the smell of cooking flesh, something he was unused to, having lived alone most of his life since he was a child and his parents were accused of theivery before being carted off to a mine.

And suddenly a weight was thrown upon him and he exhaled sharply in surprise, it wasn't heavy but he hadn't been expecting it.

"Your daughter wants attention Hynsten."

Hynsten's drowziness faded in an instant as his eyes flew wide open and he saw a three feet tall dragon hatchling with bright white and soft lavander scales sitting upon his chest, looking down upon him with large, curious, deep sapphire blue eyes. His own eyes.

"Her name is Hylena, in honor of you who gave her the chance to live Hynsten. Not only are you her father, but you are her saviour."

Hynsten watched as Elmyra's large form moved around the steadily burning fire in the center of the rather well kept den, her paws tending to meat she had cooking on a flat stone at the edge where embers had rolled.

"She-We... is this a dream?" he sputtered, the hatchling padding over his chest and chirping excitedly.

Elmyra shook her head, her eyes glittered in the flicking fire-light but were dimming from long-term exhaustion. Hynsten looked back down at the hatchling that was her daughter, that was a completely different species all together.

"She hatched at the end of Summer, I had wanted to tell you but I could not risk leaving her alone and the bandits drew too close to the old den so I had to relocate, by then the fort to the West of your village had begun to spur up with activity and it was too risky to go near the village to find you." She whispered, her voice was softer than Hynsten remembered, she seemed too tired, far too tired for her own good.

She turned her head and gazed down at the human who had given her the ultimate gift, a hatchling she could raise, one she would teach and who would learn her kind's ways, the legacy of dragons would continue despite humans having wiped them almost from the face of the earth, simply because one human had enough heart to brave the barriers of the flesh and show compassion for another creature and humility for his own kinds sickening ways.

She focused on the small amount of his chest she could clearly see having removed all his soggy extra clothing to keep him warm and let him dry, she could clearly see the mark she'd branded him with after their fling all those months ago, the mark that no doubt had caused him as much trouble as she'd suffered through the lonely months without him.

Elmyra blew smoke from her nostrils and felt guilty, she'd dropped her own pain on this kind human's shoulders, a weight no normal man would be able to bear, and she felt pride well up deep within for his courage and determination to continue when no other would dare take another step.

"You don't seem well Elmyra... are you sick?" Hynsten asked, worried that the creature he could not stop thinking about when he was apart from her was terribly ill, he knew how to cure many ailments for livestock and the wild creatures that pestered farmers, but not a dragon.

She dragged the stone from the embers to let it cool before she moved closer to Hynsten, the hatchling curled up on his chest and began to lick at his fingers while she spoke, "No... merely tired. I have not been able to sleep for fear of us being slain in the night... I protect the last hopes for my kind nearest to our greatest enemies, and sleep is something I am unable to afford much of."

She reached back and pulled the stone plate towards Hynsten and the hatchling and watched as her daughter eagerly tucked into some of the still warm meat.

"Eat, you need to build up your strength after that climb, your muscles are weak and feeble." Elmyra urged, nudging Hynsten's side until he reached out and took a sliver of the flesh he guessed was deer.

Before he began to eat, he patted the rock beside him. "Come, rest Elmyra. I will look after you both, no bandit or soldier will dare harm a scale upon either of you."

Elmyra let out a happy sigh, she curled up around her mate and daughter, her head resting in a position that allowed her to watch the two of them in comfort.

As he ate, Hynsten told Elmyra of his time back in the village since they had last seen each other.

She grew more and more worried and shameful with each confession he made until finally she whimpered.

"It is no longer safe for any of us to be here, if they discover you have mated with me... they will kill you."

"I know... but so long as I live, I shall not let them harm you, even if my life must be given, my daugther must live, she MUST survive no matter the cost, for she not only holds the weight of dragonkind on her shoulders, but she also might be the key to uniting dragonkind and humankind as one. Of course, she is also my flesh and blood, no matter her appearance, she has me within her, even her eyes plead that truth." he said, gazing at the young dragon beside him, wondering what she thought of.

"I confess... each time I looked into her eyes, I pictured a magnificent purple dragon with the same eyes, and a heart that shattered the barriers set before it, I have missed you Hynsten and this feeling is strange,"

"It is love." he replied simply, hist voice soft as he focused on an ember near the edge of the fire.

They sat silently, only the sound of jaws working meat over could be heard.

Elmyra broke the silence, "What will we do? It is too dangerous for you to return to your village, and we cannot stay here, it is only a matter of time before we are discovered. The deer are herding closer to the villages, it gets harder to find food with each passing day."

Hynsten scrunched up his eyes as he thought, he wasn't one for grand plans, but he wasn't stupid either.

"First, we rest. Then I shall return to the village and announce that I am to leave, to go adventuring to find my fortunes. If I just vanish, I will be suspected of being a spy and the king will have me sought out and slain for treason I have not committed, no I will announce that I am to leave immediately and the three of us can leave this valley, go far away from humans and live safely in seclusion."

There was a belch and Hynsten found himself stifling a chuckle as his daughter looked up at him apologeticaly before curling up at his side, her head under his hand.

"Ff-aath-errr..." she uttered quietly, causing Hynsten to raise an eyebrow.

"You taught her that?" he asked Elmyra who nodded.

"She knows 'mother' in dragon, and 'father' in human."

"Huh, fitting."

The next few days were spent with the mishapen family spending time together as they recuperated, Elmyra began to perk up with Hynsten around and more energy to spend now that she was sleeping properly, and Hynsten was not troubled by his train of thought getting sidetracked because he was where his heart wanted him to be.

At first, he was worried about how good he would be as a father being so young himself, but soon realized that it came naturally to him. Fatherhood was not a tough task for one who was able to care for others as well as themself, and Hynsten was not an exception. He played with his energetic dragon-daughter, and tried to teach her more of his language while trying to also learn dragon from Elmyra.

It wasn't hard for the two unlikely parents to care for their young child, she never strayed from the den and only seemed to want their attention.

But finally the relaxing time away from their problems came to a grinding halt when Elmyra came back from hunting and told Hynsten, that she had seen a convoy of horses pulling carriages with a large legion of humans in tow on both foot and steed, they were four days away from the village but were heading straight for it.

"It is the king! Why would he bother coming to my village? We are not valueable... unless... no, it's not possible that someone could know!" Hynsten was on his feet, fear etched into his face.

"What?"

"The king... is known to revere dragon artefacts, he has a collection, or so the rhumors say, of dragon skulls and teeth, and even carries the tooth from a dragon he slayed himself, while as a king he's rather fair and honest, I have never liked the man because he pays no respect to nature and simply allows deforesting and slaughtering of animals to continue, he must have been told that there was something he'd like in my village... and all I can think of that would interest him enough to bring such a force would be either myself... or you."

Elmyra rose, her form seemed to fill the den. "We must leave immediately Hynsten, we-"

"I can't just leave! If I do, they will know for sure, if I use my plan from before, the King will not have need to scour the land for me, that's if they know I am what he seeks. The king is tenacious when he's pursuing something he wants, and dragon artefacts are at the top of his list, if the rhumors are true, he'd give away his entire gold reserve for a live dragon."

"I do not like the idea of this plan, it is risky, and once you are in the village, I cannot protect you... but if we are to do it, then it must be done now, before the king has time to reach the village. I can fly you down to the shack where we met, but if I go further, we risk being seen and giving this human a chance to capture us."

Hynsten nodded and gathered his things, instructing Elmyra to wear them out a bit so his trip into the forest would appear truthful.

He then knelt before his daugther and pressed his forehead to hers.

"Hylena, you must stay in the den and wait for us to return. We will be quick, and then we will leave this place and can live wherever we please, and be happy. You and I will play games from dawn till dusk if you desire, just stay in the den please."

He waited a moment and when Hylena sat on her haunches obediantely and licked his face - he hugged her.

"Stay safe," he whispered before he left her there by the embers of the great fire that was burning out.

Elmyra gave him his belongings and then picked him up in her paws, her claws acted as a safety net preventing him from falling to his demise as she took flight and left the den.

Hynsten was able to see the convoy himself and true to Elmyra's word, he even saw the legion of soldiers marching alongside it. The king was not making any attempt to mask his approach.

They went behind the cover of the tree tops and Elmyra made the distance to the shack within mere minutes, which would have taken Hynsten days. She lowered him to the earth and then urged him on.

"Go! I will place a ward upon you to protect you in case things go awry, but it cannot deflect a blade. Do not dally, tell them you are leaving to adventure, gather the things you would require on such a journey and leave with haste."

Hynsten nodded and kissed her snout.

"Stay hidden, I will return."

Elmyra watched the human who had stolen her heart as he jogged down the muddy path towards his village.

Hynsten indeed made haste to go about his task. He told those who cared that he had decided to leave, to go adventuring that his trip into the forest had inspired the dream. His friends found it odd that Hynsten, the passive and caring one in the village was suddenly quite active but passed it off as giddy excitement and said their goodbyes to him.

Hynsten then gathered what he deemed necessary for a long trek, even purchased a short sword with what little silver he had stored in his run-down shack for a home.

As he left the general store, having sold his uneccesary posessions as cheaply as possible, an homeless elderly woman seemed to materialize from nowhere and clutch his wrist with seemingly impossible strength, her nails dug into his flesh.

"The age of dragons shall return! Humans will be smiten for their fore-fathers sins!" she cried.

"I must be going ma'am, please release me." Hynsten said, tugging his arm in hopes he could leave the crazy woman behind.

"The truth lies out there, they live on, not dead in the earth! Our world will burn in their vengance, our kind will die!"

A few people stopped to watch the crazy woman as Hynsten struggled to free himself from her.

"Ma'am please let go, I have things I must get done!"

Her eyes flashed from their insane, darting to a hungry vengeful stare that peirced right through Hynsten's eyes and he felt as if his soul were being pillaged.

"Proof is all we need!" with that she tore at Hynsten's shirt, throwing away the cloth to reveal the mark Elmyra had left him, the mark looked like a scar, but was clearly not made by a healing wound, the tissue was too perfect.

There was a collective gasp from people who had stopped, and those that had been ignoring the crazy woman's babble stopped now to stare in shock.

"The boy has been touched by a dragon! Our village will be first!"

Suddenly, Hynsten heard someone cry his name, a bulky form pushing its way through the crowd revealed it to be Roleck, a friend from his childhood.

He rushed up to Hynsten and shoved the doomsayer back with a snarl and drew his broadsword, the blade had been well kept since his father had passed it down to him.

"No one will lay a finger upon Hynsten! If you come any closer or cause trouble, I will deal with you myself. For years Hynsten has helped us without asking for anything in return, we have abused his kindness and now you wish to dispose of him as if he is a diseased rag?"

"Roleck..." Hynsten whispered, his own hand on the hilt of his new short sword, the use for it seeming more and more clear to him, glad he had purchased it.

The two men could see spears bobbing up and down and the crowd parted.

"Lay down your weapons boys!" the captain of the town's guard demanded, pointing his spear towards them.

"If you want Hynsten, you must go through me!"

"Do not be foolish Roleck, you have a boy to raise, don't waste your life on a traitorous worm like this scum."

"Hynsten would never bring harm to us, he'd rather die than do so. Like I said, you must go through me if you are to take Hynsten."

Hynsten's heart was tearing, between Elmyra, his daugther and the people here who he'd known all his life, Roleck was ready to fight for him without even knowing the answers to the questions present.

"Roleck..." He whispered solemnely.

"Hynsten, you love her do you not? Those questions you asked were about a dragoness correct?"

Now Hynsten was caught by surprise, as were almost everyone in the crowd around them.

"Aisha and I agreed that you must follow your heart, for it is the purest thing this world will ever know. If I must fall for you to live, then so be it, at least my son will grow up knowing his father died for a just cause."

Finished speaking, he spat at the guards and growled.

"Do not make us do this Roleck, the king's will cannot be denied!" the captain said, his voice wary, everyone in the village knew Roleck was the greatest fighter, he'd be able to slay a bear with a rock if given the chance, a fair fight with Roleck was not much of an option.

"Hynsten will leave, and we shall go about our lives, or I will kill you here and now, and Hynsten will still leave, take your pick captain."

There was a sudden scream of pain as one of the crowd members clutched at their chest, an arrow protuding from them as blood soaked their top.

Hynsten looked up and saw one of the marksmen of the guard go pale white, Elmyra's ward had deflected his arrow.

"HE HAS MAGIC!" the man cried, his voice faltering in fear.

"I SHALL KILL YOU FOR THAT!" Roleck bellowed, charging towards the captain with his broadsword high above his head.

The captain's strength seemed to fade in an instant as he fumbled with his spear, but he was too late, the sword came down upon him, cleaving him from his neck to his hip.

Roleck growled, swung his massive sword around and shattered the square shield another guard had tried to raise to protect themself.

The marksman fumbled to get an arrow notched, trying to aim at Roleck as he cut his way through the guardsmen.

Hynsten drew his blade, weighed it breifly and then hurled it, remembering the sticks he and Roleck had hurled over the nearby river as children.

The blade flew straight and true and with a thud, the marksman died instantly, toppling from his perch on the roof.

The unarmed villagers trembled in fear, frozen in place by Roleck's rage and Hynsten's skill at out-marking a marksman by throwing a blade at him.

"GO HYNSTEN! BE WITH YOUR LOVE!" the man cried as he parried a sword strike before kicking the man in the shins.

As Hynsten ran towards his friend, he looked down to the southern entrance and could see a dozen men on horses making great haste towards the village, they would arrive soon.

"What of you and Aisha?" Hynsten asked as he slammed the pole-end of a fallen guard's spear into the head of the guard who was parrying most of Roleck's strikes.

"We are ready to leave this place, do not worry yourself friend. Goodbye, stay safe and live happily. May we meet again some day brother." The large man reached down and hugged Hynsten who hugged back.

"Now go, Aisha is waiting for me and the king will arrive soon, you and your dragoness must leave immediately."

"Where are you going Roleck? I wish to find you someday."

"To the coast, I am sure I can work as a deckhand at a port someplace."

Hynsten nodded, satisfied with this, he gave one last look at the village he had once called home before he bolted from the muddy cesspool, Roleck darting between the buildings headed the other way.

He kept low, using as much cover as he could as he ran. Wiping tears from his eyes as the weight of his decision began to pull everything down around him, and once he was close enough to the trees to not be seen by the legion headed towards the village, Elmyra snatched him up from the ground and took off for the den to collect Hylena.

"I felt my magic weaken! You were attacked?"

Hynsten drew a shuddering breath and held onto Elmyra, "Yes, but my dear friend Roleck came to my rescue, he and his wife and newborn son are leaving the village also, it won't be safe for them to stay now that Roleck has slain the village guard."

Elmyra chortled, "One man slayed the entire protection force of your village? We must pay him a visit in the future."

Much to the parents relief, their daughter had not moved during the whole time they were gone. Elmyra did not land, but did open her paws enough for the hatchling to climb in with her father.

Then, Elmyra glanced back over towards the village, spotting the horses as they stopped in the center where quivering dots that must have been humans, all waited.

Having viewed the carnage from above, pleased with Hynsten's friend's work, she turned and headed around the mountain, out of sight of the humans before she took up and hid in the clouds for their long voyage.

One year later...

"Faaaaa-ther"

Hynsten turned and found his daughter standing behind him, face to face they exchanged a look.

"Yes Hylena?"

"It is mother's hatch day, may I pleeeeeeaaaase try my magic for her gift?" the young dragoness begged. She was as tall as a fully grown man, but had the mind of a six year old.

"You know what your mother said about your magic, you aren't old enough to use it properly yet. Besides, she's just delighted she has you."

Hynsten leaned back and sat in the stump he'd carved into a chair, his daugther sat on her haunches and gave him her best unimpressed look, which caused him to chuckle.

"You know, your mother will not mind if you practice on some of those flowers I showed you."

He watched as she pranced off towards the clearing, where the flowers he'd mentioned grew. Though he knew exactly what she had wanted to try her magic out on, he agreed with Elmyra that she was still to young to try it out, though he too desperately ached to experience flying with her, to spread his huge angel-like dragon wings. Of course, being stuck in his human body meant he had to miss out on such things. He made the best of his skills though, he and his daugther had personally sought out and cared for wounded animals in the area, by now the young dragoness knew exactly what plants were useful for what injuries or ailments.

As she had grown, Hynsten watched the faded lavander scales on her paws and chest darken to the same hue of purple he had remembered his scales were, once upon a time before she had been conceived.

"That will keep her busy for most of the day," Elmyra said, breaking Hynsten's admiring of his beautiful daughter and concentrating those thoughts on his mate.

"Yes, she won't hurt herself will she?"

She shook her head, "Magic only does what we will it to do, as long as she doesn't will it to harm her, it won't, she will just be trying to make her wishes reality, that's all. Now... as for my gift..."

Hynsten chuckled and rose from the stump to gaze into Elmyra's sharp ruby eyes, her pupils were trained on him.

"Hylena could do with a brother or sister, and I could do with the experience." she said simply.

Hynsten nodded and embraced her snout before following her back into the den, the sound of the nearby falls fading as the pair entered their home and Hynsten felt the veil of magic wrap around him just like before.

He was looking forward to pleasing his mate, especially for her hatch day.