For the first time in his life, Ewan had made a mistake that would endanger his life in the worst possible way: he had underestimated the danger.
He knew full well that at any moment the monster's mouth would grab him, or set him on fire, covering him with destructive semi-liquid fire. He didn't dare take his eyes off the beast, and while seemingly keeping his calm, tried to remember the layout of the cave, in order to find a way to escape as quickly as possible.
The monster suddenly slammed its huge, long tail on the cave floor, raising a cloud of dust. The young hunter seized the opportunity to attempt to slay the dragon but was taken aback: his sword flew against the rock wall of the cave, crashing with a deafening metallic thud. His last hour had come. The little dagger he still had wouldn't help him against a monster of this size. He expected to be devoured at any moment.
But instead, the monster kept on staring at him with its wide-open eyes, uttering a fierce growl. Then, with one of its heavy paws, it sent the thrown sword towards the entrance of the cave. Ewan thought the dragon was maybe trying to play with him before making the human suffer more later; like a cat would do with its prey. But then again, the dragon did nothing. Well, rather, it didn't do anything really deadly and threatening. It contented itself with pushing the unfortunate hunter suddenly out of the cave, and after casting a disdainful look mingled with hatred, resumed its sleeping position, resting its shoulders and back against the large stone hiding the view.
Ewan couldn't believe it. What had just happened there?
"What the hell!?" Ewan blurted out. "Are you kidding me!? "
He retrieved his sword; this time determined to kill this dragon who was playing and mocking him like a speck of dust.
He ran to the dragon's position, and just at the last moment, the same menacing head snapped up and stopped him with a breath of air from its nostrils. A gurgling sound arose from the big, toothy mouth, bringing a foul smell to Ewan's face. The dragon snatched the sword from the young hunter's hands again, and this time slammed the young man to the ground, blocking him with one of its paws. Ewan crashed with a gasp to the ground, blocked by the breastplate that should have kept him alive. And his dagger was stuck under him, rendered useless.
"Damn monster…" He let out between clenched teeth.
He hated losing, and despite the fact that he was about to be eaten, he still had a defiant look in his eyes.
" Oh my! It talks! Is that all it has to say for its final words?" A voice called out.
This sudden exclamation destabilized Ewan to the highest point. There was someone else in the cave. Someone who didn't look terrified of the dragon at all, and who didn't seem to be concerned about the fate that awaited the young man.
"Who… Who's there?!" He asked with difficulty, gasping for air under the weight of the dragon's paw.
"What a question… Damn… For once I find someone smart… I still have to come across some filth of a killer…"
Ewan didn't quite understand the meaning of these words and looked around for the person speaking.
"Anyway, I have a question too, if I may," said the voice; which by its tone sounded like it belonged to a young woman.
"What!? Who the damn are you!? Do you control this dragon!?" Ewan shouted as he struggled.
The dragon then withdrew its paw from the young man's chest, and Ewan could finally breathe properly. He quickly straightened up to sit up, and looked around with restless eyes, but saw no one else. He then returned his attention to the dragon, who was staring at him eagerly.
"Nobody controls me…" The voice then said.
One detail greatly troubled the young hunter and made him doubt that he was really living this moment; and that he was not dreaming.
As it approached its head, the dragon's mouth moved at the same time these words were spoken.
Had the dragon… just spoken?!
At the time, Ewan was dumbfounded, starting to doubt himself. Even doubting what he saw and heard.
" So. Why do you want to stick this sword in my heart?" Asked the dragon, who must have been a female one, judging by the sound of its voice.
" Excuse me what… ?" Ewan said absently, not really believing it.
He was speaking to a dragon… And this dragon was talking back to him.
"Why do you want to kill me? Is that clearer? Or rather, how much have you been promised to be paid, for killing me?"
At the time, the young man did not quite know what to answer. This creature laughed at him by asking something it already knew the answer to. Or maybe it was trying to coax him with a trick?
" You can speak?" He eventually asked, dumbfounded.
"That doesn't answer my question…." sighed the female dragon. "Yes, I do speak. Why is this surprising?"
"I don't know; since when do the bloodthirsty monsters that destroy everything in their path and only roar speak human language?" He retorted sarcastically.
"Oh, I don't know! And since when are monster hunters so dumb that they get captured before they even make a move? And keep attacking after they've just been kicked out?" It snapped in retaliation, its teeth intermittently sticking out between its jaws.
The two were silent for a moment before an inhuman laughter eventually filled the entire cave. Well, if you could call it a laugh.
" What's the matter? Why are you laughing!?" said Ewan; offended.
Calming what could be considered a giggling sound, the dragon replied:
"It's been a long time since I had such an interesting discussion with anyone!" Confessed the female dragon.
"Because you've had one before!? It doesn't seem credible to me…"
Resuming its serious demeanor, the salamander fixed its intense green eyes on Ewan, and repeated its question:
"Anyways: why do you want to kill me?"
At the solemn tone of the question, and the insistence on it, Ewan felt compelled to respond, not without a hint of animosity.
"It's really bad taste. You almost destroy entirely a village, and you still wonder WHY?!"
"I've never done anything like this!" retorted fiercely the dragon.
Speaking these words, the huge reptile had brought its gaping mouth closer to the young man again, threatening to devour him.
"I can't believe it, especially considering the dead animals at the entrance to this cave!"
"I may have indeed pilfered some cattle from a small village below, but I have never attacked humans!" it refuted.
" I don't believe you! And anyway, you'll die by my sword! I'll finish you off, and no one will find fault with it!"
"Finish me off!? It's not a weakling like you who's going to kill me! Especially since I have already kicked your buttocks!"
"I've hurt you before so just one more well-placed blow, and you'll die!" He said, remembering the spear stuck in the dragon's chest the day before.
In response, said dragon giggled.
"Laugh! This is the last thing you'll do before you die!" He yelled before rushing with his dagger at the dragon. But he was thrown to the ground by the monster's tail and found himself again in an awkward position. Placed on the ground, unable to free himself.
"I'm saying I didn't do anything." insisted the dragon. "And if you persist in your stubbornness, I'm afraid I have to kill you," it threatened.
"You finally show your true colors!" Ewan called out.
These words made the dragon mad with rage. It was staring at the hunter with its gloomy eyes. It seemed like nothing could cure the two of their stubbornness.
Ewan's eyes lingered on the dragon in front of him. If he could get a hold of the spear stuck in the monster's chest, he had a chance to get out.
So he looked for it... and did not find the weapon.
Nothing!
There was no spear stuck in the chest of the dragon, let alone a visible wound.
"No… Impossible…" he huffed. "I hurt you..."
Now that he thought about it, there was no wound on the dragon's muzzle either, and the salamander definitely looked more slender and small than the one seen in the village. And the color of its scales seemed lighter, too.
"I told you I didn't do anything!" swaggered the dragon.
With that, the female dragon released its hold on the young man, and finally sat down where it was standing.
"Surely you got the wrong dragon," it scoffed.
Despite the fact that Ewan was humbled by the situation and the turn of events, he, unfortunately, believed that what the monster was saying was true.
He had the wrong dragon…
He didn't think such a thing could happen, as dragons were generally known to live on their own, occupying a large area. But with what had just happened, it seemed that wasn't always the case. Another erroneous information that has become useless. These thoughts made him regain his composure and seriousness. Although the situation was unheard of, he had to behave in a respectable way.
"Then… Are you going to eat me?" He asked.
"Come on! I've never devoured humans, and it won't happen today either!" it mocked.
The young man was surprised by the answer and wondered once again if the dragon was not trying to play a trick on him. A burst of inhuman laughter made that doubt fly away. At least for the moment…
"I'm even less likely to kill someone who for once doesn't rush off when they see me… It's really nice to be able to talk to someone like that!" added the reptile.
Ewan ended up relaxing. He felt as the conversation progressed that he wasn't in any danger. Feeling more than strange, and totally at odds with his hunting instincts.
"How come you're talking? Are all dragons like this?" He ventured.
"No, it seems to me that I am the only one who can speak… At least, who can speak this human language… But I don't really know how to speak the dragon language; a few words at most, so I can't really be sure about that…" it said, with an air that was meant to be most like the thoughtful air of a human.
The young hunter still struggled to understand this situation. It was the first time that he didn't fulfill his mission; and that he spoke with one of his prey. It was very disturbing, but he should not forget his main objective, which was to free the village from the fire-breathing monster.
"It wasn't you who attacked the village the day before, but nothing tells me that this is also the truth concerning the previous attacks," he said.
The dragon raised a dubious eyebrow, or rather, part of its face that hinted at this reaction.
"I swear it's not me! I wouldn't attack defenseless villagers!" the dragon defended itself by baring its teeth.
"Okay, but you still stole cattle!" he accused.
" I was hungry! What could be more natural! I'd like to see you in my place, starving to death in these mountains! "
"There are wild animals, aren't there?" He pointed out.
"I've never been very good at catching this stuff running around!" it said proudly.
Was it him, or was this Salamander dumber than any other one? He sighed in response and started to get up to exit the cave.
" Hey! Where are you going?" asked the reptile.
" What do you think?! Do what I was hired to do!" he replied.
"Are you going to try to find the other dragon? Good luck with that!" it mocked.
With that, the salamander turned the other way, and lay down in its usual spot, without even paying attention to the hunter who had come to disturb its slumber.
Meanwhile, the young man retrieved his sword and left the cave, before heading to where he had left his mount. After about ten minutes of walking, he found his horse where he'd left it, and began, despite the nightfall, to resume the hunt. He was already too far away to turn around, and that would waste even more time. He had to find the beast before it regained all its strength. It was an opportunity not to be missed.
And he also had to get away from the other chatty monster. He feared it was all just another ploy against him. He had already heard of those very rare instances where a hunter had encountered a dragon speaking the human language. Very rare, but obviously not impossible. He just never suspected he would experience it for himself one day. However, the few stories he'd heard warned against the perfidy of these unusual creatures, whose words could be as dangerous as their fangs.
He went down the steep slope of the mountain before finding himself on a hunting trail. The steep road gave way to earth and sand from the surrounding stones. Darkness was now largely falling, and the sun was no more than a blazing line licking the horizon and mountain tops. He then took out a fragment of phosphorite, a stone extracted from the dwarf mountains and which had the ability to store daylight and restore it at night. Immediately, a yellow halo emerged from the small crystal, which allowed him to see the path that awaited him.
Leaves rustling from the flapping of the wings of insomniac birds, or even from short gusts of wind, punctuated his footsteps. He then heard a heavy creak. Not a small crackle that a twig would have made on the ground when stepping on it, but actually the sound of a tree trunk suddenly twisted in half, broken in an instant.
The horse began to kick and toss its head in all directions. Another crackle, followed by tremors, moved closer to the right side.
Ewan gritted his teeth and drew his sword. He hurried to tie up his horse, Fusain, and set several trigger traps across the path. It was the kind of trap to set off as soon as someone or something broke a tight rope, detonating small grenades. Ewan only had junk and fire grenades on him, nothing too destructive. However, these would be of great help if he found himself in an irreparably perilous position.
He untied the cherry tree shield he had left hanging from his saddle and hid behind a tree. Even if the wood was tough, it wouldn't last long in the face of the dragon's flames. But it was better than nothing.
The ground shook again, very close, and he heard a growl, followed by the sound of a viscous liquid falling on the ground. He lifted his head slightly and saw the beast. A huge one.
How could he have confused this moving horror and the other creature earlier? It was obvious that this monster was of a completely different build. He was almost twice the size of the dragon he'd just encountered.
Black blood was leaking from an infected wound in his abdomen. And still stuck there, the spear whose handle was now broken. Its damaged mouth emitted noisy breaths, mingled with gurgling noises.
No doubt remaining. This monster was the one who attacked the village. And now it was wandering in the woods.