The woman shook her head.
“No coconut shells? I suppose underwear is also out of the question?”
The woman screwed up her nose. She didn’t understand. “Guess not,” said Scarlet. “Then I’ll have to go all Amazonian warrior.”
The woman handed her the shield and sword. “You fight Red Demon.”
Scarlet had no idea what she meant. “I don’t understand.”
“Red Demon lives in the cave. He takes and eats our children. You must bring the green dragon down from mountain and kill him.”
“A dragon?”
The old woman nodded and smiled at her.
So they expected Scarlet to defeat Red Demon by bringing down a dragon from the mountain. Simple. But why didn’t the chief who was an ox of a man take on Red Demon himself? The old woman explained that Red Demon was far too scary. They needed the dragon, and only a Dragon Queen could command the mighty dragon that lived at the top of the mountain.
Scarlet came out of the hut and looked up at the mountain. The sides were steep. “How do I climb that?”
“I will take you to the dragon,” said the old woman. “There is a way through the cave.”
“But isn’t that where Red Demon lives?”
“That’s why we must be quiet.”
Scarlet took one last look at the village. She saw the same little girl playing. So Red Demon eats children, she thought. Not anymore.
She turned to the woman. “I’m ready. Lead the way.
* * *
Shelby came out of his sleep to find himself in bed with someone with long golden hair with her back to him. His head ached from a hangover and he couldn’t remember how he got there. He turned over to the opposite side and found another lady with long dark hair with her back to him. His movement woke the blonde lady and she climbed out of bed and stretched. The sunlight from the castle loop hole flooded the room with light. He could see she had a beautiful young lean body. She turned to him and smiled.
“Thank you, Lancelot. Same time, next week… Come Charlotte, we have to return to Guinevere’s chambers before she wakes.”
Lancelot? He was Lancelot of Camelot? How did he get so drunk the night before? So drunk that he couldn’t remember his own name? And who were these women? If he had a good time the night before, he certainly couldn’t remember it.
Charlotte, climbed out of his bed, yawned, and smiled at him. “Florence was right. You have a magical touch.”
Charlotte and Florence dressed quickly.
He sat up. “Where are my clothes?”
They stood back, and hanging up behind them were his leather breeches, and tunic.
Florence giggled. “We have to go before Guinevere wakes.”
They left him alone. Shelby got up and sat on the side of the bed with his hands on his forehead and his elbows on his knees. Try as he might his memories were foggy, but they were slowly starting to return.
He started to dress. He put on the breeches and tunic. Underneath them, he found chain-mail, a breastplate and a leather gauntlet that covered the whole of his right arm. Somehow, he knew how to put them on. They felt familiar, like old shoes. He was comfortable in the armour.
He heard the door to his room open.
“Lancelot, are you going to spend all day dressing?” said a voice behind him.
He turned and saw an old man with a long white beard, flowing garb, and pointed hat.
“Merlin?” said Shelby. He knew his name somehow.
“What kind of knight are you? Spending your nights with Lady Guinevere’s hand maidens when you should be sleeping and preparing for your quest.”
“I don’t recall spending the night with them. They were here when I awoke.”
“I wish I had your stamina, Lancelot. You do recall the quest we discussed last night and why you need to go on it?”
“What quest?”
“You promised to rescue my niece, the fair Lady Scarlet, from the Green Dragon and bring her back to Camelot.”
“I did?”
Merlin leaned towards him and whispered, “Just as well you are going on this quest to rescue Lady Scarlet. A time away from the Guinevere and the maidens of Camelot may improve your life expectancy.”
“This Lady Scarlet… is she pretty?”
Merlin grimaced. “Can't you remember? She is beautiful, fiery and spirited. It is time for you to go.”
Shelby followed Merlin out into the forecourt of the castle where a squire was holding his horse for him. Shelby mounted his horse.
“Which direction?” said Shelby.
Merlin sighed. “Didn’t you listen at all last night, or was it the ale that muddled your brain? Look.” Merlin pointed into the distance towards a rather large mountain in the distance. “The Lady Scarlet is being held at Dragon Mountain. You must kill the dragon and set Lady Scarlet free to return to Camelot.”
“Very well, I will rescue her.”
Shelby rode off towards the mountain.
* * *
The old woman led the way into the cave carrying a flaming torch while Scarlet followed behind with her sword and shield. The woman had told her that Red Demon sleeps during the day in the bowels of the cave. They should be safe unless he wakes.
At the back of the cave was a stairway. The walls of the stairway were cold and wet. One way led upward and the other downward. As Scarlet approached the stairs, she heard the noise of Red Demon snoring. The noise was coming from below and seemed to shake the fabric of the mountain. What monster could do that? She wanted to see the monster she had to confront, but the old woman told her to summon the dragon first.
They climbed the stairs. The old woman’s strength was good. After two hundred steps, she was still going strong. Down below, Scarlet heard movement and a deafening roar. Red Demon was awake. The old woman pressed her to continue the ascent. Another hundred steps and then another. They seemed unending until Scarlet spotted a shaft of light that pierced into the stairway ahead.
“We are almost there,” said the old woman. She had shown amazing strength and fortitude to bring Scarlet so far. One more hundred steps and they found the source of the light. The stairway opened into a caldera. The mountain was an extinct volcano. At the centre of the caldera was the dragon’s nest, and on the dragon’s nest was a huge monster.
“Command the dragon to obey you,” said the woman.
Scarlet stood with her mouth agape. This was a terrible idea. Why would something so large take any notice of her?
“Courage, my dear,” said the old woman.
“The dragon will do what I tell it?”
“Him,” said the woman. “The dragon is male.”
Scarlet stared at the animal. “How can you tell? Never mind…”
Scarlet strode forward towards the nest. The dragon rose on to its feet, spread its wings, and roared at her. It towered above her and the heat from his flame seared the ground in front of her.
Scarlet froze.
The dragon jumped out of the nest and landed ten feet away.
“This doesn’t look good,” said Scarlet
“He thinks you’re a man,” said the woman.
“Can’t he see my bare breasts?” Damn, she had always been a little flat chested.
“He needs to see you are not a male. Take off your skirt.”
“He needs to see what I’ve got down below?”
The dragon roared.
“All right.” It was a crazy idea, but Scarlet needed to try something. She undid the buckle of her skirt, let it fall, and dropped the shield and sword. “Okay, he’s seen everything I’ve got. Now what?”
The dragon inched its way towards her until its head was a foot away from her. Scarlet closed her eyes. Was he going to eat her? The dragon sniffed her and moved its head closer to her until its nose was touching her belly. She held out her hand and touched the dragon’s head. He opened his jaw. She pulled her hand away and stared into his open mouth. This was it: he was going to eat her. She closed he
r eyes. Seconds passed. She felt something wet wrapping itself around her waist and pulling her forward towards his jaws. Make it quick, she prayed.
Scarlet felt movement; the dragon was carrying her away to his lair. It wasn’t far — only fifty feet away. Maybe it had baby dragons to feed. He dropped her, and she landed with a splash in a thick gloopy green foaming slime. It wasn’t deep. She surfaced and spat out the liquid and scrambled to the side. The dragon licked her again from toe to head washing her in the same foaming green slime.
“He recognises you. He’s being affectionate,” said the old woman, standing outside the nest.
Scarlet felt unsteady on her feet and stumbled to her knees. “I feel strange, dizzy. What’s wrong with me? I feel so… weird.”
“It’s the pheromone in the dragon spit. It helps the bonding ritual.”
“Bonding ritual? You said nothing about a bonding ritual.”
“Lie down. Don’t fight it.”
“Fight it? I couldn’t if I tried.”
She lay down while the Dragon continued to lick her body like an overexcited pet. His slimy tongue was everywhere and some places it shouldn’t go.
“Oh my. Please… not there.”
“What’s happening?”
“He’s being a little too friendly.”
“He’s just being affectionate. Pet him.”
“Pet him? It’s him that’s petting me. I think he’s trying to mate with me.”
“It must be part of the bonding ritual. Lie down and surrender your will to the dragon,” said the old woman.
“Now you tell me I have to have sex with a dragon. This was never part of the deal.”
For a moment the dragon stopped. Scarlet wondered what the dragon was thinking. What if she had offended it? Whatever the dragon wanted to do to her, she knew she couldn’t stop it. Maybe her destiny was to have small baby dragons after all. She lay back down and closed her eyes.
The dragon licked her again, but his time in a much gentler way. Scarlet couldn’t help but giggle. He was tickling her, teasing her, playing with her. The more she laughed the more he teased and tickled her with his tongue.
“Please, I can’t laugh anymore.”
The dragon stopped. She opened one eye and saw a large dragon eye looking back at her.
“What are you going to do to me now?”
The dragon responded in a deep tone. “The bonding ritual is complete. We are bonded by friendship, laughter and trust. We can do whatever you want.”
“You speak? Why didn’t speak earlier?”
“I have much more fun this way.”
“You’re not going to mate with me?”
“Why would I want to mate with a human? It’s physically impossible, anyway. Would a horse mate with its rider? And I’m telling you, when I’m aroused, I’m much larger than a horse.”
Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m sure your female dragon friends will be pleased to know that. But please spare me the details.”
“Now the bonding ritual is complete, what is it you want from me, Dragon Queen?”
“Will you come with me and help me fight Red Demon?”
“Is that why you came here?”
“Yes,” said Scarlet, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
“There is no need to feel guilty. Helping you is what I am here for.” The dragon sat up and stretched its wings. “Climb on to my neck,” said the dragon, holding out its claw.
Scarlet picked up her skirt, sword and shield and climbed onto the claw and from the claw onto the dragon’s neck. She waved goodbye to the old lady. The dragon’s wings beat, and they rose into the air.
Soon the dragon was a hundred feet into the air.
“Onward and upward,” called Scarlet.
“You need a test flight,” said the dragon, as they rose towards the clouds. The wind whistled around her as he dived and twisted. Scarlet held on tightly.
“Could we take it a bit more slowly,” she said.
“Nonsense. It’s more fun this way.”
“What if I fall off.”
“Worry not, little one. I will catch you.”
“Do you breathe fire?”
The dragon bellowed a fire ball.
“So are we ready to meet the demon?”
The dragon circled again and headed for the village. “We are ready.”
* * *
As Shelby galloped along the trail towards Dragon Mountain, he reached a river and a bridge. He started to cross the bridge when a seven-foot ogre, carrying a large hammer, stood in his way.
“Out of my way,” he called to the ogre.
“Not unless you pay me first in gold.”
“I have no gold. I’m on a quest to save a damsel.”
“I care not for damsels, only gold.”
“I don’t want to kill you, ogre. But you try my patience. Move!”
The ogre crossed his arms. “Then you will have to fight me. I will not give ground.”
Shelby turned his horse around, rode a short distance, and turned again to face the ogre. “Last chance, ogre.”
The ogre raised his hammer in the air in a defiant manner. “Come knight, I will swat you like a fly.”
Shelby galloped towards the ogre and lowered his lance. He had no desire to kill the ogre, but it had left him no alternative.
The ogre screamed as the lance penetrated his neck and broke in two. Shelby jumped off his horse and drew his sword. The ogre staggered towards him, his green blood spilling from his neck.
Shelby ran towards him, slid onto his knees and struck with the sword into the ogre’s solar plexus. The ogre staggered three steps forward and collapsed. Green blood oozed from his belly. The ogre was mortally wounded.
“I am sorry for you, ogre. It didn’t need to end this way.”
Shelby mounted his horse, crossed the bridge, and continued on his journey toward Dragon Mountain.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The sun was high in the sky. Scarlet sat on the dragon’s neck waiting outside the cave for Red Demon to emerge. A crowd of villagers stood behind her and in a circle around the entrance to the cave.
“Can you burn this demon with a fireball?”
“The villagers are too close. Better I rake him with my claws.”
She needed to destroy Red Demon without using fire. She had an idea. Let the dragon catch the demon in its talons and fly as high as it could before releasing it to crash to earth. It wasn’t a great idea, but it was the best she could come up with.
Scarlet heard the noise of Red Demon stirring in the depths of the cave. She whispered in the dragon’s ear and the dragon roared. That should have caught the red demon’s attention. She heard noises as Red Demon came up the staircase. She waited until it reached the mouth of the cave.
Red Demon was a large eight-foot monster with two horns on his head. He stood on his hoofed back legs and his arms ended in claw-like talons.
“He’s big,” said Scarlet.
“I’m bigger and stronger,” said the dragon.
“I’m counting on it.”
Red Demon shuffled to the right. The dragon shuffled to the left as if a twenty-foot invisible circle kept them apart.
“Attack!” said Scarlet.
The dragon lurched forward, claws first slashing at Red Demon. He tried to rake the dragon with his claws. Scarlet fended off a claw with her shield but it knocked her sideways. The dragon retreated to the edge of the circle.
“I’m okay,” said Scarlet. “Attack.”
The dragon flapped its mighty wings and raked its claws at the demon’s flesh. Blood splat everywhere. The dragon gripped the shoulders of the monster in its talons and refused to let go. Its wings beat ferociously as it climbed into the air.
“You have it,” said Scarlet. “Hold on.”
The dragon beat its wings and climbed to a thousand feet before letting the beast go. Scarlet watched as it crashed into the earth and bounced before coming to rest.
The dragon glided down to rest near the body of the demon. Scarlet climbed down, walked over to the demon and stood on its chest.
“No more children for you,” she cried, as she drove down the sword with both hands into its throat.
She watched as the life ebbed from the monster’s body, before she withdrew the bloody sword. She turned to her faithful dragon. Her dragon was cut. Blood was seeping from a wound on its belly.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Never better,” replied the dragon. “You have done well Dragon Queen. Now I must return to the mountain.”
“Will I see you again?”
“Yes. I will be there when you need me.”
“How will you know?”
“We are bonded, remember?”
Scarlet heard a sound behind her. She turned to see a rider on a horse galloping towards them. As he got closer, she could make out the rider. It was a knight carrying a shield and sword. As he reached them, his horse reared up.
“Fear not Lady Scarlet, I will save you from the monster.”
Who’s Lady Scarlet? she thought. I’m the Dragon Queen. She was confused.
The dragon roared back at him.
“No,” she shouted. “He’s not a monster. He’s my beautiful pet dragon. And you will not kill him. He acted heroically to defend this village from Red Demon. And I’m not Lady Scarlet. I’m the Dragon Queen: a warrior queen. Do I look like a lady?”
She was bare chested and covered in dragon spit and demon gore — hardly the image of a lady. She pushed out her chest defiantly and pointed her sword, still dripping blood, towards him.
“Fine silk does not make a lady. I see courage and beauty beyond comparison. I remember you now. Your uncle was right. You are a fiery lady.”
“My uncle? I know not of an uncle, who are you?”
“I am Lancelot. Do you not remember your life in Camelot?”
“I woke on a beach without my memory. You say I belong in Camelot?”
The knight dismounted from his steed, took off his helmet, and walked up to Scarlet. She looked into his eyes, her heart skipped a beat. Damn, he was handsome. Was he the true man of her dreams?
“Then I will spare the life of the dragon provided you return to Camelot with me, and grant me one kiss.”
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