The Dragon Slave of The Basinite Fjords

 The very air rippled as the leathery whip came whistling down along Shara's exposed midsection. With a cringing thwack the barbed torture tool lashed her belly again and again. Blood sprayed and sapphire scales were rent violently from her flesh, falling onto the hard stone floor in a collective pile. Shara growled away the seething pain that gutted her away but stubbornly refused to whimper. A whimper expressed defeat and in the sadistic eyes of her tormentors, defeat was what they strove to implant within her.

A rasping voice dragged Shara away from the nightmare of the whip and into a world full of misery. "That's enough. I wish to speak with it."

Shara's body hurt all over and her head swam with nausea as she turned her neck to see a small, obsidian colored creature approach her. The creature bore a disturbing visage and obsidian ornate armor as black as his skin. He tugged his beard a long while, studying the fruits of his work that lay in a pathetic heap before him. Shara knew his kind all too well and anger boiled within her at the smell of his malevolent stench. He was a Duergar, a hideous dwarf creature from the bowels of the underworld who sprouted from its depths in legions to conquer the surface. 

The parasitic memories of the Duergar invasion remained entrenched in her mind. The Pact races fought and died in droves to drive these pessimistic, darkly cynical abominations back into the black abyss from which they sprouted from. Resources ran scarce and numbers dwindled, ultimately sealing away the gloomy future that lay in store for the Pact races. The Deurgar may have snatched victory from the surface but Shara knew their fall would ultimately come. The ember of fire which lay in her heart comforted her with the knowledge that one day she and the rest of the Pact races would liberate their homeland.

The Duergar waved away the Ettin torturer but ordered the other three giant brutes to keep the dragoness immobile. He marched up to Shara, unflinching and unafraid of her as he gently tapped the metal brace keeping her muzzle shut. 

"Nothing brings me more joy in my day-to-day then having you brought here and tortured for my pleasure." He ran his hand along the brace, seemingly petting Shara only to have her flare her nostrils and instinctively pull back. Fire danced in her sapphire eyes and he knew it. Those burning orbs of blue longed to tear his minuscule frame limb from limb and crush his remains under her massive claws. The thought tickled his emotions and the Duergar only quickened his mock petting. "You are the hardest working slave here, after all. Being the only one of your kind working in my humble mine, you should consider it a gift to entertain me."

Black fume snaked from her flaring nostrils but no fire blossomed from within. The magical collar that latched onto her crest ensured that her internal heat would not escape its fleshy sack. Her ultimate weapon anchored down within her made the dragoness distraught. Her kin seared legions of Duergar during the war with fire breath. With just one mighty exhale, the underworld alien before her would be a writhing mess of charred flesh. The thought brought a happy gleam in the dragoness' eyes. 

"But I grow tired," the Duergar continued, ignoring the sudden change in mood from the giant slave. "Tomorrow begins a new day and you will once again be at the forefront of progress. Get some rest, dragon, you will need your strength for the new day."

With that, the armored Duergar spun on his heels and vanished out of sight. The three Ettin brutes dragged the dragoness out of the grand chamber and into the pitch-black webbing network of hallways that was the Basinite Mines. Shara's sensitive hearing picked up the dying moans and distraught pleas of other slaves throughout the mine. Her heart burned in rage and her scales itched with the force of a million fire ants. She would kill every Duergar, make them suffer and beg for death before the end. She was sure of it.

She came to a stop in front of a familiar door that fed into another grand chamber. Torches lined the walls, scarcely illuminating the gloomy room with burning red and orange. The ettin tore off her muzzle brace and painfully shoved the dragoness into the room, sealing the doors, and the rest of the world, shut behind a thick wall of iron. Shara's claws tore into the cold stone floor as she achingly dragged herself to a thinly patched straw nest. 

She painfully stretched her aching fore and hind legs before giving her wings several soothing flaps. The movement chaffed her now open wounds along her belly, ultimately bringing her fleeting moment of self reprieve to an end. Shara lowered herself onto the straw nest as gently as her muscles would allow and mentally drifted away from the world she was cruelly forced to call home. She imagined the sky, dazzling blue with splotches of welcoming white clouds. She flew among them, free and dominant. The sun bathed her in warmth and reflected off her sapphire scales to crown her in glistening jewels. 

The world below her was taming with trees that waved gently in the midsummer gust. It was all her domain, her instrument, and responsibility. A resounding purr vibrated through her muscular form and a smile of complete elation swept her face. The loud screech of massive door hinges dragged the dragoness away from her euphoric stupor. A line of malnourished, dirty humans and centaurs began to file into the chamber along with a line of Duergar armed guards. 

Shara tensed and snarled at the new arrivals. The slaves paid her no heed and quickly, and orderly, fanned out to their respective dark corners to succumb in exhaustion and grief. The Duergar regarded her with a look of contempt but kept their focus secured on the slaves. One particular slave entered within the line, a slave that brought peace to Shara's aching heart and a warm smile to her muzzle. He was thirteen and held tightly by two Duergar who matched him evenly in height. His feet dragged and his bruised face hung low. 

The Duergar waited impatiently for the slaves to collapse into the room. Some beat, spat, and even stabbed others with small daggers to get them to move faster. The two holding the human child stood perfectly still with their personal captive and waited until all the slaves were deposited. Afterwards, they discarded him in the center of the room, leaving him to rot, sob, or whatever as all the Duergar marched out. Cries and whimpers already began echoing throughout the dark room, filling the very air with the stench of despair. 

Shara watched with admiring intent as the young child simply stood and began checking on the slaves, particularly the ones stabbed by the Duergar daggers. Centaurs and humans alike were met by the child as he would place his hands on their wounds and bend the fabric of reality to heal their bodies. He was a healer and everyone knew it, although how he acquired such gifts none knew save for Shara. She could still recall the day when she found him, huddled under a pile of debris of what was left of the city of Glimmervale. 

An explosion ignited by pure arcane energies tore through the underworld and destroyed the entire city, releasing unstable and toxic fumes that mushroomed into the sky. Shara remembers being dispatched by the Assembly on a relief mission to assist any survivors and the only one she found was a ten year old human child. His memory failed him and no matter how much prodding Shara did, the child couldn’t remember anything before the explosion.

Her kind called him Suiaerl Vrak, Arcane Child. His gift was also his curse, however, a maddening itch within his soul that he couldn’t scratch. He could feel the pain of others, sense their struggle, and run his fingers along the ebb of their lives. Their deaths became his death, their sorrows his sorrows, and their pain his pain. It crushed him initially, feeling the burning suffering of wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield.

He however adjusted, learned to control the feelings and execute his pain into action to help others. Even when the war came to an end and both he and Shara were captured, he continued his purpose and healed others. The Duergar discovered this about the human child and, shockingly, didn’t seem to act on it. Rather they allowed him to continue his healing of the slaves.

But a Duergar’s heart is never for benevolent intent. They allow him to heal only to wound the very slaves again the next day. It was a vicious cycle of wanton suffering that the Duergar gladly catered to. As the child finished healing those wounded by the daggers, much to their grateful praise, he turned his attention to Shara.

The tip of Shara’s tail swayed slightly in excitement. The boy, slouching from fatigue, limped his way to the dragoness. Pity swelled within Shara, but she gladly accepted his presence as she always has. He stopped in front of her, studying her curiously from head to tail tip. Then, abruptly, he began weeping. Shara quickly lowered her muzzle within arm’s reach of the boy, allowing him to reach up and embrace it tightly.

~Why do you cry, Deevdru?~ She cooed, switching to mind speech. The dragoness always made the effort to communicate through telepathy when she and the boy were in private. As he acclimated himself with his abilities he also became rather familiar with her mental touch. The boy pointed to her belly where a hideous pattern of cuts had only just finished clotting.

 ~You’re hurt~, he sniveled.

Before Shara could offer protest, a vibrant and electrifying wave of energy washed over her. She felt warm and energized, calm and excited. The boy’s eyes shut to stall away the tears as his hands hummed with raw power. Her belly itched but she dared not scratch. Her mind raced but she quieted her thoughts. After a few seconds the humming stopped and the feeling of exuberance slowly ebbed away from her. She opened her eyes to witness the familiar sight of her wounds healed and healthy. A new layer of blue scales replaced the ones lost and no traces of the torture’s whip remained.

Panting and spent, the boy fell to his knees, quivering from the loss of his own energy and seemingly walking on the thin line of staying conscious. Shara bowed her head respectively and made an effort to speak. Before she could, however, the boy began to crawl away from her, directing himself towards more of the sobbing slaves in the far corner. The dragoness cocked her head and stared down at him, perplexed of his current intentions.

~Deevdru, where are you going?~

~Those people… over there need… they need my help.~

~No, you’ve done all you can for tonight. Lay with me and rest. You are tired.~

The boy quickened his pace, dragging his miniscule body across the hard floor. His eyes flickered rapidly and his own hands shook.

~But Shara, they won’t wake up if I don’t help them.~

The dragoness dipped her muzzle in forlorn acceptance. ~This is the way it must be. Let them pass in peace.~

~No!~ He defiantly fired back. ~They still have a chance to live.~

An animalistic growl slid through Shara’s lips, eliciting many queer glances and stares from the other slaves. She ignored them and narrowed her eyes on the stubborn child slowly crawling away from her.

~If you exert anymore energy then you will only hurt yourself. I won’t let that happen.~

Before the boy could object, the tip of Shara’s tail ensnared his ankle and began to drag him back towards her. He viciously kicked at the snake-like appendage, hoping to break its grip.

Shara leaned her head in and began reaching for him, ~hush~.

That single word thundered in his head with the force of a thousand trumpets. His protests ceased entirely and he relaxed as the dragoness’ claws wrapped around him. Shara brought him in close, holding him tightly, yet gently, in her claws. Looking into her brilliant, sapphire eyes, the boy began to weep some more.

~I failed them, Shara.~

~No, you didn’t.~ She comforted. ~You did everything you could for those you could help.~

He continued to cry. Shara never understood why humans and centaurs shed tears when they were either in distress or filled with happiness. Her kind channeled emotions in a different way, none of which elicited tears. It was foolish though to mistaken their weeping for weakness, for in their times which they seem the most volatile they are the most dangerous. Shara hushed the child with warm purrs and gentle nuzzles. He eventually succumbed to sleep while the dragoness kept vigilant over him and the other slaves late into the night.

The following morning brought with it the miserable routine of their everyday lives. Ettin brutes staggered into the room, followed with a column of armed Duergar. They wasted no time in beating the slaves awake and the ettin, through sheer strength and stupidity even killed a few. Scraps of food were deposited and the Duergar watched gleefully as the self-thinking slaves were reduced to animals as they tore into the scraps, violently shoving each other away and even beating each other to death.

The boy managed to snag a stale loaf of bread from the pile and quickly retreated back to Shara, who humbly denied the food offered to her. Midst the brewing chaos, a Duergar adorned in black ornate armor stepped into the room and began lashing slaves with a barbed whip. Agonizing cries of pain began to fill the room as slaves retreated away from the mock meal, shielding their faces in futile hope to halt the torture’s whip.

The Duergar leader advanced upon them without hesitation, whipping, kicking, and balefully shouting curses and death threats should they resist. Once all the slaves were properly culled, the leader wiped away the collected spit in his beard before stepping in the clear so all could visually regard him for the monster he strove to be.

“Unbelievable,” he viciously growled. He brought the blood-smeared whip in close. “I let you faggots sleep a little longer this morning and this is the thanks I get!”

All the slaves shook in fear, not daring to look death in the eyes. The Duergar leader, Drudax The Tongue Ripper, studied the entire procession with a look that promised an agonizing death and everyone knew that the little creature was more than capable of just that. To him, they were just torture dolls, a sadistic means to relieve stress that his kind seemed to have an abundance of. Shara unfortunately bared the brunt of his wrath more then everyone as he saw to her torture personally and on a daily basis.

The child hiding in the dragoness’ shadow could feel the pain he brought about among those unfortunate souls who crossed him. It was monumental and ceaseless and none were spared. Not even a full week ago, a girl only one year his senior was brought in, beaten and in tears. Drudax tied her hands behind her back and raped her until she could no longer stand. Then, before she was offered the sweet release of death, the Duergar captain doused her in oil and lit her on fire.

He could still remember her screams. He could feel his skin melting, his body ravaged, and his life ebb until it dissipated into the hum of space. The child was wretched from his train of thought when a single word reached his ears, caked in the malignant raspy voice of the Duergar captain.

“You,” Drudax growled. The child’s heart sank faster than a bag of bricks in an open sea. The captain was pointing right at him. Even under Shara’s protective shadow, Drudax made him out and smiled evilly ear-to-ear. “Would you come here, please?”

 All across the room, the slaves perked up at the captain’s words. Looks of pity and remorse blanketed them but they made no move to intervene. Shara’s growl shook the very fabric of the stone room and her tail began to lift and hammer the floor. Several Duergar instinctively gained ground away from the dragoness while Drudax simply gestured for the ettin brutes to restrain her.

The child whimpered in fear as the giants rapped their arms around Shara, even clamping her mouth shut with their meaty hands. Drudax whipped the floor next to the boy, letting of an ear-splitting crack as the barbs tore into the stone.

“Come here right now!” Drudax irritably bellowed.

Sobbing, the child stood on wobbly legs and gave Shara a glance that begged for help. She reached out to him with her mind, enveloping his soul warmly with hers.

~Don’t be afraid, Deevdru. I’m here.~

The boy almost pathetically dragged himself to Drudax who regarded him with a look of disdain.

“I’ll teach you a fucking lesson, boy.” Drudax growled, and he pounced. The captain balled a fist, slamming it hard into the child’s stomach. White light flashed in the boy’s eyes as he gasped and stumbled onto his back. All mumbling chatter of the surrounding slaves was instantly and violently washed away by a roar that broke free from the pinned dragoness.

~Touch him again and die!~

This time, her mental touch reached to everyone in the room. Human, centaur, ettin, and even Duergar stumbled from the shockwave of her ferocious abhor. Drudax remained unaffected however, quickly pouncing on top of the child, wrapping his meaty hands around his throat to squeeze what little air he had left out of him.

The boy’s eyes ran rampant with red and his face burned with an unnatural blue hue. He kicked, tugged, and pulled anything he could to get the Duergar off of him but the captain’s hands were as hard as stone.

“Kill me then!” Drudax laughed. “I’m right here! Come on, kill me!”

Shara snarled in anger. ~Before this is all over, Drudax, I am going to kill you, slowly and painfully.~

Seemingly pleased with her answer, the captain released the child’s throat. However he ordered two of his soldiers to take the child and carry him out of the room.

“I look forward to it, dragon.” Drudax hissed. “For now, however, I have a tight shipment to run and I need all you sorry cunts out there and hauling basinite until you die or I say otherwise. As for the boy…”

Drudax gestured leisurely to the young child vanishing out of the room, hauled on the brink of collapse by two burly Duergar soldiers. “I think I’ll keep him for the day. He might be of special use to me outside of the mines and I sure as hell don’t want to spoil such a special little snowflake to the hazardous mines now would I?”

~Don’t let them take me, Shara.~ The dragoness faintly picked up as the child vanished out of the room. She honed her eyes on Drudax, gleefully imagining all the most atrocious methods of which she could bring about his demise.

“As for the rest of you,” Drudax continued, “I expect you to bleed with work hauling the precious basinite to the surface. If any of you run dry on your usefulness or if you so much as mutter a complaint, I’ll personally rip your tongues from your mouth then have you thrown from the cliff.”

Drudax then pointed to Shara who was still pinned down by the ettin. A devilish grin stretched across his lips, revealing the score of crooked teeth underneath. “And I’ll see you this evening. If you’re good then I might just give you back your pet, alive.”

Without offering further word, the Duergar captain excited the room as his soldiers dispatched the slaves to their assigned working environments. Shara was the last to exit after being slapped in a muzzle brace. She was escorted topside where the carts of magical basinite metal were being smelted into ingots and transported to the nearby Duergar fortress of Sker’bul.

She spat every time she was forced to see the fortress that loomed over the scant mine entrances that dotted the outer walls. Once a proud citadel of her kind, Sker’bul now served Drudax and the entire Duergar Dominion. Drudax himself vanished within the mighty fortress with her deevdru. She could still here him crying and pleading for her to help.

Before the gates sealed, she reached out with her mind and reminded him that he would be fine, that she was still here. An indeterminate amount of time passed as the dragoness labored tirelessly on the surface, transporting crates of basinite that doubled her size. At least she had a good view that calmed her spirits, somewhat.

The fjords stretched as far as the eye could see. Towering fingers of ridged mountains and cliffs created a web network of deep sea inlets that stretched in all directions. The air was crisp, fresh, and the sun was warm. That’s more then she could say about the mines themselves. The underground network reeked of decaying flesh, fresh blood, sweat, and bodily waste.

She would tear her own nostrils off if that meant she didn’t need to take another whiff of that unholy melting pot of smells. Shara closed her eyes for a moment, and soothed her heart of all doubt. She thought of her deevdru, of last night. He was only thirteen yet he performed feats that out surpassed some of the greatest dragon mystics. He pieced flesh together as nimbly as an artist would apply paint to a fresh canvas.

Whatever change the explosion altered to his body, that boy was not cursed as he frequently saw himself as. Shara always assured him that he was a blessing, a flicker of light in a world of crushing darkness. The waves of the eastern sea lapped the shoreline with a gentle massage.

It grew louder and more restless until Shara opened her eyes in doubt. The restless sea sprouted into thundering waves that swirled the very air around her into violent buffets of wind. Even the slaves exiting the mines and Duergar guards patrolling inspected the eastern horizon. Shara’s enhanced eyesight picked up a score of figures that she couldn’t believe. In the sky, flying in a loose formation and closing in on Sker’bul, were over a hundred dragons.

Scores of human shock infantry and sharpshooters were riding them. The slaves lifted their arms and shouted in praises, falling on the ground to weep tears of joy. The Duergar war horn’s blazed and Sker’bul became a swarming hive of activity. Shara broke free from her ettin guard and lashed out with a force of a furious storm.

The brutish giant fell against her weight and roared in protest as the dragoness’ claws and talons made short work of its thick hide. Roars and war cries echoed throughout the fjords as the dragons circled Sker’bul, landing in the fields or fortress towers to dispatch the human soldiers who would then swarm into the fortress and eliminate the resistance.

An emerald dragon landed hard not fifty feet away from Shara and lowered himself as the humans jumped and began clashing with Duergar forces. The sickening stench of death already penetrated Shara’s nostrils but elation of freedom had finally arrived. She reached out with her mind to the emerald dragon, sighing as he gladly accepted her touch.

~Warlock, get these restraints off me!~

The dragon regarded her curiously before doing as he was told. His nostrils flared to her unique scent as he worked to remove the muzzle and crest brace. Realization of who Shara was struck him hard and he bowed his head after the crest collar fell to the ground.

“Warden Shara Longtail! We all assumed the worse when you went missing.” The emerald dragon disregarded the use of mind speech and happily announced his once commanding officer.

Shara ignored his bewilderment and instead pointed her muzzle to the mine entrances that dotted the landscape. “Order your men to clear the mines. The Duergar have hundreds of slaves held up in there and they need your help.”

The dragon nodded and referred the message to the humans in the field. They barged into the mines, swords drawn, and eager to slay the Duergar within. Then Shara sensed it, a stab of pain coming from the child’s ember of thought that remained reachable. She turned her attention to the fortress and traced the child’s mental link.

The boy was being held in the center obelisk, along with Drudax, and a whole platoon of his guards. Shara stared, feeling hatred surge within her.

“Warlock, with me, we’re taking this fortress!”

The dragon nodded and followed the warden as she took to the sky. Her wing muscles burned unbearably from the sudden surge of labor placed on them. She growled but flapped harder and harder until she soared above the fortress. The shouts and metallic ringing of battle echoed high into the sky.

Surprisingly, the supreme Duergar forces were being utterly decimated by the human shock infantry. A mock smirk crossed Shara’s lips. The Duergar stationed here believed they had an easy post. All the ale you could drink, meat to warm your belly, and slaves to torture. They became fat and lazy and now they will die by human blades and dragon fire. A group of Duergar soldiers stormed out of the obelisk and swarmed the bailey where a scant force of human soldiers was already engaged.

Shara veered down and urged up the inner fire within her heated glands and sprayed the bailey with an inferno of melting heat. She was careful not to hit her human allies; in fact, her attack saved them from being overrun. With the Duergar in the bailey dealt with, Shara returned her attention to the prime enemy that held her deevdru captive.

With a powerful gust from her wings, the dragoness burst into the air like an arrow and slammed hard into the southern wall of the obelisk. The emerald dragon wasn’t far behind and he too rammed into the wall with the force of a hurricane.

“Break through the wall, Drudax is on the other side!”

Both Shara and the warlock took turns repeatedly bludgeoning the wall with fists and tails. The stone cracked and began to give way to the beating. Shara felt the boy’s mind close now and knew that his captors had nowhere to go. They were on the highest floor of the obelisk with nowhere to run but down where groups of human soldiers would be waiting.

Shara felt fear rippling through the child and she enveloped his mind in a warm embrace even as she violently tore away the stone blocks. ~I’m here. You are safe.~

With a powerful kick with her hind legs, the wall collapsed on top of itself. Shouts of fear and a slew of vile curses escaped the Duergar in the room as Shara plunged in. She quickly made short work of the guards who rushed her, using her tail and fire breath to end their futile attack before it even began.

The child, unknown to Drudax, threw himself away from the fight, retreating behind a rack of weapons as Shara remorselessly tore into the remaining defenders. Drudax reached for the boy that was by his side only to panic when realization swept him that his last means of protection was gone.

Shara, grasping his mind and furious that he would even attempt such a thing, snatched him in her claws and held the struggling Duergar mere inches from her muzzle. A choking smog of fire vapor slid from her lips and washed over the captain, eliciting a string of desperate coughs.

The dragoness squeezed and a pop sprang from his chest. Drudax bellowed in pain and almost seemed to beg as Shara continued to crush him. It was a pathetic sight, the almighty Drudax begging for his life. She had no intention for mercy, no flicker of sympathy towards the man who killed and tormented so many before.

“Now you die, Drudax, slowly and painfully.” Her hiss almost split the entire obelisk right down the center. With a victorious roar, Shara clamped her jaws around the Duergar captain and with a single, powerful swallow the tyrant of Sker’bul was no more.

 Feasting and celebration filled the halls of Sker’bul with such fervency that Shara and the child couldn’t help but be swept in the excitement. Now the child felt no suffering, no pain coming from any who surrounded him. Soldiers, both human and dragon, greeted him with warm welcomes and offered him a feast of fresh food. All the slaves clapped their hands together for tasting freedom, an euphoric commodity they believed they would never experience again.

Sker’bul was just one fortress of the many the Duergar Dominion held, one little pile of rock and stone among the greater scheme of things. The resistance fighters liberated the fortress not expecting there to be slaves but rather to fracture the mining and distribution of basinite. The liberation of the slaves was just a secondary victory but nonetheless a victory to celebrate over.

Shara was pleased to know they didn’t lose the war after all. Shortly after her capture a tactical retreat was ordered by the Assembly to all armies in the region. They fell back, regained their strength, and have now come back to liberate their homeland. Shara would be offered her position in the army once again and smiled at the thought of taking the fight to the very bastards who enslaved her and her charge for so long.

The day fell dark and Shara grew tired. After the feasting, which she admitted tasted better then Duergar, the dragoness rested herself at the cliff’s edge. She watched the sun dip and waves lap at the shoreline far below. For the first time in many years she felt completely at peace, she felt free.

The crunching of grass caught her sensitive ears and the dragoness cocked her head around to see the young child standing not that far away. He was cleanly washed and wore fine silk garments that Shara admitted complemented his complexion quite well. He stood there, silent and seemingly waiting for her to offer him company, which she gladly did.

A smile broke across his face and he rushed the dragoness. A thunderous chuckle rippled the air as the boy wrapped his arms around her muzzle.

~We’re free?~ He asked, refraining from deviating from mind speech. Shara nodded.

~Yes we are. We are now free to chose our own paths and live our lives the way we see fit.~

The boy let go of her muzzle and looked up at her with a questioning gleam in his eyes. ~What are you going to do?~

~I will resume my position with the Assembly as Warden of their forces. What about you? What will you do?~

The thirteen year old child stuttered and kicked the grass beneath him. Shara smiled widely, knowing he wouldn’t be able to properly answer the question.

~Can I stay with you?~ He finally asked after a long, and rather comical, pause. The dragoness nodded down at him.

~I do believe I can work that out. I wasn’t going to let you go anyway.~

Excitement beamed across the boy’s face and he hugged her muzzle again. He didn’t cry this time, which confused Shara but she dared not bring up a pointless observation. Before the boy had the chance to let go, Shara entered his mind again.

~If my memory hasn’t failed me, I do recall that you wished to fly with me once. You were too young then but I believe you can handle it now.~

“Really,” the child gasped.

Shara shifted to get a better view of the human child, swaying her tail accordingly. ~Yes. I do not feel it is safe for you to ride on my back yet so I will carry you. Unless you would rather not fly with me at all.~

“I would like to fly.” He pleaded, forgetting about mind speech completely.

The dragoness purred as she wrapped the child securely in her claws and held him to her crest. After stretching her hind legs and wings she readied herself to dive off the cliff.

“Shara, may I ask you something?”

The dragoness turned her neck to get a side view of the child. He was nestled securely in her grip but bore a perturbed frown on his face.

~Of course you may.~

He seemed to fiddle with his thoughts briefly before mustering up the courage to speak. “I’ve heard you call me ‘deevdru’ many times but I do not know what that means. What does that word mean?”

The dragoness extended her wings and positioned herself at the edge, ready to launch into the zenith of clouds before her.

“Son,” she replied. Then she threw herself into the air.