Dragon's Bond

Three

    We're out of school for the summer, so I decide to go to the forest just outside of town, where the unrepaired buildings still sit among the vines, crumbling away to nothing. I bring my compound bow with me for protection, just in case,  along with a backpack with a sketchbook, pencils, and a bottle of water. I could bring my gun, but I just got the bow a few weeks ago and I want to work with it more. After making sure I have everything, I saddle up Steel, my silvery-blue roan, and climb into the saddle before riding him out of town.

     I find a quiet spot to sit near a clearing and I start drawing. I'm just going over the rough outlines of the 2 horses that are throwing their heads while they run, when I hear wings beating and feel the false wind scattering my hair. Quickly I put my book and pencil away and look in the direction the wind is coming from. Two dragons are now standing in the clearing, and both are circling each other and growling. One I can tell is a forest dragon because of the intricate striped details running along its body, and it's probably the size of a normal 2-story house. It's a thicker dragon, with a muscular build, thick legs, a short neck and and a strong, powerful head.  The other one is smaller, and I recognize it as a fog dragon. They're called this because they're more uncommon than most other dragons, and they always manage to blend and disappear into their surroundings, even the ones that don’t particularly match their colors. This one is a light silvery color, with a black hue to it. If I wasn't watching it like this right now, I might have thought that it was really just fog, drifting around the forest floor. This one is kind of medium sized, and I'd compare it to an elephant, even though it's more slim than an elephant and more dangerous.
     I watch the 2 circle each other, with their scales lifted to make themselves look bigger. The bad side to this is that by lifting their scales, they expose the flesh underneath, which is why they always try to keep an opponent in front of them.
     I know it's dangerous to interfere with a fight between wild dragons, but the larger Forest is just tearing into the Fog. It puts another set of claw marks on the silver dragon, and it lashes out but only nicks the gold and green dragon. They circle again, and ignoring everything I've been taught about this, I load an arrow and wait for the right moment. A few steps later and the forest dragon has its back to me. I let the arrow fly, and it roars in pain. I almost have to cover my ears, I feel like someone is blowing an air horn in my ears. Having their scales ripped through by another dragon's claws can hurt, but being hit under the scales is like a man being hit in his manhood. It hurts them. A lot.
     The fog dragon throws in a last attack, biting and clawing at the other's side, then stands back to watch the other fly away, and turns to inspect its own wounds. I watch from the edge of the clearing. It's a
beautiful dragon. It's head is the usual size of fog dragon, slim but powerful, and going into a set of spikes that resemble ears with smaller ones between them. It stands on 4 legs with a long tail trailing out behind it. Its neck is lined with smaller spikes, shrinking until they fade completely where the semi-long neck meets the body. I don't even realizing that I'm moving closer to it until it stops licking its the wounds to look at me. I'm now in the middle of the clearing, just a few feet away from the Fog, and the realization suddenly hits me that I could die right now and no one would even find my body because it would probably be eaten. Realizing my mistake, I stare into the face of the dragon but avoid looking into its eyes. I feel it breathing on me, and I start to wish that I'd just left. It moves its head closer to me, and I close my eyes. This is it, I think as I feel the hot breath in my face. 'This is how I get myself killed. Shows how smart I am.' A few minutes pass by, and I'm shaking and trying to calm myself down. I don't feel the breath on my face anymore. I'm still alive. I open my eyes slowly to see the dragon, back in its original spot, once again tending to its wounds.
     Curious, and most likely out of my mind, I step closer, closer, closer to the dragon. His eyes flick to me every few steps but it doesn't do anything. I guess that the extent of his injuries weren't actually that bad, because he now has most of the blood and scars cleaned. The thick saliva works as a type of gauze to stop heavy bleeding.
   Done with his work, the fog turns to me again and lowers its head so it's looking me in the eyes. Then he tilts his head and nudges at me with his nose. Feeling more confused than I ever thought possible,
I place my hand on his nose, hoping it's not a bad gesture. He starts to circle around me, and images of people I’ve seen killed by wild dragons start popping into my mind.