Chapter 31: Operation slay a dragon...

Lars POV:

Bones, check. Skulls, check. A petrified elf creeping between the bones and skulls, the very charred bones and skulls, check...

Some people believe that stress is a sure way to lose the fat deposits. If they were right, then I expected to lose at least two kilograms because of this mission. 

Never before had I felt more powerful. Nate's blood gave me more mana than I had ever had in my body. My hands shook, my teeth hurt.

The dragon didn't notice any of that, however. No, the rank D, if a dragon which was so big that I couldn't even see his head, could be called that, just let out smoke from his nose. The monstrosity slept, and maybe dreamed of a roasted ox or a couple of roasted villagers. Whichever came first.

When I was close enough to the dragon, I laid a hand on it. For some reason, I found his scales quite pleasant to the touch. I was not thinking clearly, as I petted the luxurious scales. Couldn't explain to myself how something that was so hard, so indestructible, could also have such a pleasant texture.

That was my mistake.

Rowan had tried to assure me that the dragon was not as big as a mountain, but as the giant of an animal shifted, and his head was brought at an eye level with my own head, that didn't matter to me one bit.

Smoke brushed my cheeks; heat tickled my body. 

The dragon had blue eyes. That was something we had in common. Blue, so blue and clear, that I felt almost so, as if I was looking in the mirror. For a couple of moments, the dragon just stared in my eyes, then it nudged its snout at my shoulders, and started snuffing at me.

"Hey, I will have you know that I took a bath!" For some reason, I just decided that if I were to die anyway, then I could at least die with pride. "So don't pretend that I stink!"

The dragon halted his snuffling, or her snuffling, I wasn't sure. I think that its snout had something masculine about it, started staring in my eyes again.

"Honestly, look at you! Did you even groom yourself? You have a bone between your teeth!" Yes, I had completely lost my mind. I had no idea what would happen. The dragon should have turned me into a human torch by now. It looked on, gaze empty.

Maybe it was sleep drunk? Or he was sleep drunk? Honestly, if I was going to give the dragon a gender, I should really stick to one. Instead of constantly switching between calling it an it, or a he.

It was not fair to the poor thing. 

"Let me get it out," I reached out, the heat of the dragon's breath brushed my hands. The dragon opened his lips a bit, and I started tugging at a bone, which looked suspiciously like the bone of a giant bear. 

"You should also wash your teeth!" I tugged and tugged, but the bone simply didn't want to get out. "Look at how yellow they are! How will you eat, if they all fall out?"

Considering that his next opportunity to get fed came in the form of yours truly, I really shouldn't have been so concerned about the state of his teeth.

The thing was, I just felt calm. Back then, I was not in the clear what Nate's blood will do to me. Yes, I knew I will get more mana, but nothing else.

Side effects were a real thing. Every healer would have told me not to drink the blood of a demon, or anyone's blood, if one had to be honest. But I... I just wanted to play the hero.

"And, honestly, I think that you should take more walks. Look at yourself, you practically have an entire beer barrel around the middle," I giggled, as the bone finally came out. The dragon licked between his teeth, and then looked so, as if he was ready to go back to sleep.

"Hey, can you fly?" I was supposed to kill him, not talk to him. But how could I not try to mount him? He was so calm, so sleepy. 

My brain didn't make the connection between the fact that once he flew, he would wake up completely. Might even get the munchies, which was not something I should prompt.

But, darn it all, I wanted to ride a dragon! My survival instinct was silent, absent, on vacation, and would probably never come back to me during my lifetime.

The dragon laid on his belly, and gave out a melodic chirp.

"Really? You don't mind?" I asked, yes, but I was already climbing.

The dragon, which I was about to name Alexander, for I had always loved that name, gave out another chirp.

Freedom is not something one can describe. Those who thought they could, were lying, or simply born rich. 

But as Alexander took to the skies, and gave out an earth splitting roar, I believed that that was how freedom felt like. The wind in my hair, a smile on my face. Alexander didn't do any loops, didn't even fly all that fast. 

When he landed, he just laid back on his belly.

I was in love. My parents never let me keep any pets. Nate's prompts that we should get a cat, or a dog, or even a pet slug, anything really, as long as he could let it sleep in his room, so he could share mine, came back to my brain.

Alexander was not fluffy, or small, or even domesticated. But Nate was potty in my hands. I was a rogue, with a grin on my face. My eyes burned with mirth, maybe even with madness as well. 

So, as I went back to my party, another quest failed, I already had my arguments in mind.

Still, it was one thing to let Jean into the party. A nature spirit who could turn into a human. But Alexander was now looking at us, chirping, rolling around the ground. Adorable, cat-like. The problem? We were poor, and Alexander ate about as much meat per day as the whole of Mirstone...