War at the Gates - Part 4

There was a sense that the dragon delighted in seeing him do that. Though it threatened to kill him, for the slightest display of will, and the slightest daring to overcome it, it still seemed to want him to try. There was an incredible warmth from the creature, inviting Oliver in, but dangerous.

'Tread carefully,' he could hear that army say, on the horizon, that magnificent red beast. With the dark falling, that army was set to slumbering. Its many torches made the red glitter like dragon scales in the night's sky. 'Tread carefully.'

It did not say the words 'but do not stand still,' yet Oliver thought them to be implied. It threatened to kill him for the slightest movement, yet it would kill him again regardless if he did not move. It was the trickiest of situations. Oliver Patrick was chained, and all eyes were on him. He could not even move his hand for fear of incurring the dragon's wrath.