Inspired by a conversation around an old folk tale about kissing dragons.
The black granite walls of the seaside keep couldn’t keep him at bay. Sir Roderick, youngest knight of the Order of the Green Hen, had come to fight the dragon. The dragon’s crimes were only those of scaring coastal farmers and carrying off several head of cattle, but to Roderick, this was an opportunity to distinguish himself.
Getting inside the keep was a challenge all its own, but high walls couldn’t stop him. A rope tied to his sword, thrown like a spear through a small window, let him scramble up into the guard tower. From there, he picked his way through the wide corridors of the keep. His footsteps echoed against the steady roar of the waves as he sought a path to the courtyard.
Eventually, he found a set of double doors, bolted with a thick iron bar. Sunlight glared through the cracks from the other side. He took a moment to ready himself. He tucked his blonde hair back, slipped his helmet onto his head, and then placed one hand on the hilt of his sword. With the other, he threw back the bolt and pushed open the doors.
In the courtyard, the high walls cast shadows against the thick flagstones. In one corner, the floor had crumbled away entirely, leaving a hole straight down to the rolling sea below. And in the middle of the courtyard was the dragon.
Its powerful, sinuous body stretched out along the stones. It sat like a great regal cat, with its forelegs tucked under its chest and back legs extended. Its scales glistened in the sun; they were a shade of blue richer than a nobleman’s coat. A pair of smooth horns curled from its forehead, first sweeping back, then arching forward again in a lazy, serpentine curve. Its yellow eyes fixed on Roderick. Lean muscle rolled beneath its scales as it rose to its feet.
The dragon’s voice reverberated through the stone. "At last!“ it rumbled. Roderick watched its teeth. They were not like daggers. Daggers were thin and meant for slicing. The dragon’s teeth were stout and jagged and meant for tearing meat from limb and armor from knight.
Roderick had practised what he would say the whole way from the nearest town. "Remember the name Sir Roderick, dragon,” he said. The tip of his sword traced a line straight to the dragon’s head. "Because it’s he who’ll slay you.“
“Wait,” the dragon said. It held out a taloned claw as big as Roderick’s rib cage. "You’re here to slay me? You mean you don’t know?“
Grade A quality tomfoolery!
Waterchicken-afterdark 