Grumpy Dragon Daddy by Milly Taiden
Andre
Reacting on pure instinct, Andre threw a paw up. He connected with the human female just before her sword could penetrate his heart.
The force of the blow sent her several feet up into the air and about twenty yards away, where she slid through the underbrush.
It gave Andre time to recover and hop to his four feet.
I should have smelled a trap a mile away, he scolded himself. You’re getting lazy, old man.
Not that 3,000 years was terribly old for a dragon. It put him in his healthy prime, actually. At his last birthday extravaganza, he and his friends had joked that ‘3,000 was the new 2,500.’ Still, he knew he’d been living in hiding in the forest too long, satisfying himself on easy hunting if this girl dragon slayer was able to get the jump on him.
He quickly assessed the damage she’d already done. The tree trunk that had smashed into his side had bruised, but not broken, some ribs. Her sword’s first attack had stung how do the humans magic their swords that way? and left a scratch on his scales.
So, as far as he could tell, he’d gotten lucky.
Which is bad luck for this little lass. Andre – or Andorax as he was more properly known – let out a deep throated growl as he watched her get to her feet. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten a dragon slayer.
They weren’t actually to his liking, to be honest. Humans, in general, weren’t his favorite. Oh, he loved sleeping with the women. He was famous for it, in fact. But eating them? Not really his thing.
Dragon slayers were even worse. They had a taste that had once made him retch. He figured it had something to do with the barbaric ritual they went through to empower themselves, which he’d heard involved drinking dragon blood.
What monsters these humans are. Killing this one will be enjoyable.
He figured he could use the exercise, which is why he’d let her get back on her feet and shake herself off, preparing to fight. She launched herself at him. He countered with a swipe of his claws that she nimbly dodged, flipping once in the air. No sooner had she landed than she swiped at him with a counterattack that caused him to turn awkwardly to avoid her blade.
Andre moved around her and passed around a tree to reposition himself for another attack. No sooner had he turned back to her than a knife was flying right at him. It would have pierced one of his eyeballs if he hadn’t ducked. Instead, it buried itself deep in a tree behind him.
Then, with a yell, the girl was attacking him again. There was something ferocious, yet focused, about her assault. A fighting style he’d never really seen before.
Unfortunately for her, she’d never faced him.
As she started closing the distance between them, Andre flicked his tail at her. It slammed her against a tree, and he would have thought she’d collapse from the impact. Instead, the girl barely missed a beat, charging him as though all he’d done was blow her a kiss.
Impressive.
She came at him with a complex series of sword thrusts. Between her assaults, she managed to parry some of the swipes from his claws. In just a few moments, Andre found himself actually breathing a little heavily.
She is most impressive. It will almost be a shame to have to kill her.
Andre decided that the time for humoring her was over. It was getting late, after all. He was growing more and more hungry. And the longer he waited to deliver the killing blow, the more chance there was of her getting lucky.
He extended his wings, knocking over old trees as they grew to their 250-feet wingspan. Andre saw the human’s eyes grow wide at the sight of it. He took pleasure in that. Then, he clapped his wings together with such powerful force that it sent a storm-like gust of air shooting in her direction. The force of the air knocked her from her feet, throwing her backward onto her ass.
With a long swipe of his tail, Andre uprooted a tall oak. It went crashing down toward the girl. She managed to roll to the side so that it didn’t crush her, but one of the branches pinned her left leg. She cried out in pain and frustration and tried to squirm out from under it.
Andre calmly walked around to stand above her. He raised a claw high in the air, prepared to deliver the killing blow.
And froze.
Something was stopping him. For a moment, it was as though time stopped. And all that existed in the entire universe was him and this dragon slayer with her red hair that seemed as fiery as the setting sun. Her pale skin called out to him to be stroked rather than sliced. Blue eyes that, though wide in fear at the moment, he thought he could stare into for hours…
As quickly as the sensation overtook him, it passed. Andre blinked in the sudden return to normal. Yet still, he hesitated to kill her.
She is a worthy opponent, after all, he thought. The dragon slayers may be our sworn enemies, but one ought to respect a fellow warrior of such skill. It would be a shame to kill her.
At least, that’s what he wanted to believe. He needed that to be the reason he had hesitated. And not something else. Something that he knew – that he hoped – was impossible.
The girl managed to escape from beneath the tree. She actually somersaulted through his legs, striking a blow against one of his back knees as she went. That brought Andre completely back to his senses.
You’re not just getting old, he thought. You have gone senile!
He turned to face the dragon slayer once again, prepared for whatever was to come next.