The last of the Dragons-Set 2

243

    May stuck her long, skinny tongue out and ran it up Noah's torso, before retracting it and looking the young man over. He seemed intensely nervous, briefly glancing over at me with fear in his eyes.

"It's okay. She won't hurt you." I said quietly, with a smile.

His breathing picked up as May brought her back up to eye level with him, before stopping, and staring into his eyes. I could see her breathing slow down as her chest pulsations slowed with the decreasing rate of her lungs filling with air, which was a clear sign that she was comfortable with him.

"Touch her." I said.

He shook his head sharply, making it clear that he was still terrified.

"Are you crazy?" He asked in a frantic but quiet voice.

"I know it may be scary to be singled out like that. But trust me. She's many times your size, young, and immature. If she wanted to hurt or kill you, she'd have long since done it by now. Now reach out and touch her." I replied.

He looked back to her, terror still clear in his face. Slowly, he began to bring his right hand up from his side as May remained still, watching him intently. Having raised his trembling hand up to eye level with May, he held it there for a moment, hovering just above her scales. I could almost hear his teeth clattering together as he slowly lowered his hand down towards the side of May's head. After what seemed like forever, the palm of his hand pressed down against the thin scales that covered May's upper jaw. Almost instantly, Noah's fear shifted to curiosity. His body changed as his muscles relaxed, and his shoulder dropped as the tension left his body. He rubbed his left hand in a sort of oval on May's face, gradually increasing the speed at which he did so, until it became clear that any hesitancy he had was long since gone from his mind.

"There you go! Other hand!" I exclaimed.

A smile grew across his face rather quickly as he placed his other hand on May's snout, opposite his right hand as he rubbed and patted the dragon. I could sense the bond forming between them. While May's eyes were locked on Noah, I could see the joy welling up within them as they glowed.

"Now, you must fly." I said.

He looked to me sharply, still interacting with May.

"What? Now?!" He exclaimed in reply.

I nodded, before I started towards the two of them in a brisk jog.

"Come. She's much smaller than the others, so she'll be much easier to mount." I said as I put my hand over his shoulder and guided him around to May's wing.

May seemed to understand what she was to do as she stretched her relatively small wing out in front of us as we stopped, while crouching down to the ground, as to make mounting easier. Noah and I exchanged no words, only eye contact as I helped him up May's wing, before coming to rest on her back. Unlike the others, she was small enough that he could nearly put his legs off to the side, rather than laying on his stomach like I did. While I likely couldn't have put my legs on either side of May should I ever mount her, Noah was abnormally flexible due to his build, which enabled him to do so. As I back away from the bonded pair, Noah and I locked eyes with each other, the fulfilment in his eyes was staggering. May glanced at me also, as if to thank me from guiding Noah to her.

"Okay. Are you ready to fly with her?" I asked.