Tender Times (2)
Audria had been watching quietly from the darkness, her clenched fists trembling. I'd warned him time and again not to take an interest in the world beyond...!
She had lived three hundred and seven years, yet had scarcely ever left the farm her parents had left behind. In other words, Rian was the first bond she had ever formed in her life. She held him especially dear — and felt a fierce possessiveness besides.
Dragons, as a race, loved to hoard treasure. The urge to collect anything they judged valuable ran deep in their nature. She had inherited human blood, and from her father she had learned human thought and custom, so that nature had faded somewhat — but that did not mean she thought and acted entirely as a human would. The instincts of a monster still ran thick in her.
"Dum-dum-bak! Dum-dum-bak! Dum-dum-dum-dum, dum-dum-bak!"
Caught up in the moment, Rian danced away with gusto, utterly unaware that Audria was watching. The more she watched those steps, the more her anger surged. That sly, swaggering dance looked for all the world like a longing for the outside, and she did not like it one bit.
But her nature was so upright and kind that the only way she knew to express her anger was remarkably passive.
That was it. She sulked.
"Having fun?"
"I sure am!"
"Hmph. So you're enjoying yourself, are you?"
"Is that even a question? Of course I'm having a bla— wait, huh!?"
Rian, who had been dancing without a care in the world, startled so badly he sat down hard on his rear.
"P-Princess, you haven't left yet...?"
Audria pointed into the distance, her face cold and set.
"Do you wish to live among the humans down there?"
"N-no way. I like it better here."
"You seemed rather desperate to leave me."
At her icy tone, Rian waved his hands in frantic denial.
"Th-that's not it! I never thought that at all!"
"And what am I supposed to believe, looking at you?"
Flustered by Audria's resentful gaze, Rian scrambled to his feet and shot back,
"At least I don't secretly masturbate!"
"What are you talking about?"
Rian clapped a hand over his mouth in a panic.
"N-nothing. Just nonsense."
"Very well. You said you were curious about what lay beneath the cliff, did you not?"
"Huh?"
"This afternoon you asked me what was below the cliff."
"I... did, yeah. Why?"
"I shall show you."
"Show me? How?"
"We fly, of course."
Audria transformed into a dragon without warning. As her body swelled to colossal size, her voice thundered through the air.
"Climb onto my back. I shall make you understand the reality of what lies beneath that cliff."
Her voice was thick with anger.
A moment later, Audria rose into the night sky with Rian on her back. Having soared high, she folded her wings as if it were the most natural thing in the world, pointed her head downward, and plunged into a vertical dive.
Whoosh!
"Whoa!"
Clinging with both hands to the rope looped around Audria's horns, Rian felt a terror of falling and a dizziness so fierce it nearly unseated him.
"Princess, slow down! This is way too fast! I'm sobering up in a hurry!"
"How dare you think of anything besides me!"
"S-stop!"
"I'll show you reality — so you'd best keep a tight hold on those reins!"
Piercing the white clouds girdling the cliff's midsection, Audria dropped like a hawk stooping on prey — until, nearing the ground, she spread her wings and bled off speed.
"Now look around you."
As Audria flew more slowly, Rian finally lifted his hunched head and pressed a hand to his chest. Then, as she had told him, he took in their surroundings.
A river. His eyes found a current racing hard below. Beneath the cliff, a wide, swift river was flowing.
"Have you grasped reality now? Without my help, you cannot go anywhere on your own."
But contrary to her intent to plant despair in him, Rian could only marvel at the scenery. He let out a whoop.
"Flying through the sky is incredible! Amusement park rides don't even come close!"
"You still haven't come to your senses."
Audria descended further still, skimming just above the water's surface.
"Look into the water. The river is thick with man-eating fish that tear humans apart. Don't even dream of swimming away."
"Wow! That's amazing!"
"Amazing? What's amazing about it?"
That was when it happened. The water before them heaved violently, and a fish the size of a whale suddenly burst upward.
Wooooooong!
The giant fish bellowed as it soared higher even than Audria, who had been flying above the surface. Distracted by Rian, she wrenched herself aside to dodge the sudden appearance — and strained the muscles in her wing.
"Kh!"
Ordinarily she would have dodged with ease and that would have been the end of it. But the old wounds had not fully healed, and the shock of the accident striking in that state was tremendous. A dizzying pain lanced through the base of her wing, and her muscles seized. Audria lurched in a zigzag through the air, then plunged into the water in a single instant.
Splash!
Glug, glug...
Rian sank deep, then burst back toward the surface.
"Pah! Pah!"
Fortunately, they were close enough to the bank that the current was not too strong. He thrashed his arms desperately and scanned the water around him, but Audria was nowhere to be seen. He drew a deep breath and dove at once.
About two meters down. By some miracle, he found her.
She had already dropped her transformation, sinking in her human form, her glowing golden eyes fixed on him. Holding her breath, her face was twisted with pain.
Is she hurt?
Seeing that she wasn't even swimming to save herself, Rian realized at once that something was wrong with her arms. Wait for me, Princess!
Just as he started toward her, a man-eating fish shot through the water and clamped down on his side. But it didn't hurt. Rian was wearing a red-stained T-shirt, and the fish's teeth couldn't pierce the fabric. It just hung on, thrashing its body again and again.
What's going on?
He wondered, but this was no time for idle thoughts. More man-eating fish were swarming in fast. Rian shot a hand to his side and seized the fish. Gripping it with both hands, he jammed his thumb into its anus, then ripped its belly open.
Dark crimson blood bloomed through the water like a heat haze. He hurled the dead fish away with all his strength. The approaching fish veered at once and lunged as one toward the carcass, tearing into their own kind's flesh in a frenzy, as if in a feeding ecstasy.
Rian used the opening to swim hard toward Audria. Reaching her safely, he gathered her into his arms as if lifting her up. In that instant, her golden eyes trembled faintly, and he caught a flicker of relief.
Rian...!
I'll get you out. Just hang on a little longer!
Rian kicked hard and broke the surface. He swam quickly toward the bank and soon reached a depth where he could plant his feet and walk.
"Hah! Hah!"
The moment his face cleared the water and he could breathe, he felt as if he'd been given his life back. As he walked toward the shore, the water grew shallower still, and Audria's body, held in his arms, emerged from the river.
"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
When Rian asked, Audria coughed up water and looked up at him.
"Cough! Cough! And you?"
"I'm fine. Hah, hah."
Rian scooped the injured Audria into a princess carry and strode toward the shore. He was exhausted and hurting, but he never let the smile leave his face. He did everything he could to reassure her — she who couldn't use her arms from the temporary pain in her back muscles.
At those words, Audria felt a deep relief, and a warmth spread through her chest.
"Fool. You're only saying that now?"
"Sorry I'm late."
At last they came out of the water. Strange rock formations and beautiful scenery surrounded them. After wandering for some time, Rian found a large hollow in the rock, like a shallow cave. He went inside and laid Audria carefully on the ground.
That was when Rian's legs entered her field of vision. She cried out in shock.
"What's happened to your legs?"
Audria was badly shaken. And no wonder — both of Rian's legs were so bloodied she could hardly bear to look. From thigh to instep they were dense with tooth marks, and blood streamed from holes of every size, punched through like a honeycomb.
Even so, Rian didn't cry from the pain. He only gave an awkward smile.
"The man-eating fish got me. It's nothing."
"How is this nothing?!"
Audria shouted, her face twisting — then she began to sob.
"It's my fault. I was a fool...!"
"Don't cry, Princess. If you cry, I'm in real trouble. The soldiers will come haul me away."
"You're joking even now?"
Audria glared at him with brimming eyes, then let out a self-mocking sigh.
"If only I'd been wiser... I'm still just a child."
"We're alive, aren't we? Let's rest a bit, and once we feel better, we'll go home."
The two of them, exhausted, fell silent and rested quietly. The only sound was Rian's ragged breathing as he sat still, gathering himself.
After a while, Audria, lying on the ground, suddenly trembled at the lips.
"Cold..."
"You live in a cold place, and you're still cold?"
"Ice melts in water..."
"Is that so...?"
Rian hurriedly checked her condition. Worry settled on his face. Seeing her whole body shake, it seemed a chill had taken hold while she was wet and weakened.
"What do we do? I don't know how to start a fire. You can't use your Breath, can you?"
"Y-you mustn't light a fire. Monsters and beasts will c-come. Then who would fight them?"
"Ah... damn."
Rian considered other options. Meanwhile, his blood-soaked legs stung and burned. An ordinary person couldn't have stayed conscious through that kind of pain. Enduring it, he snapped his fingers a moment later.
"I'm sorry, Princess. I think this is the only way."
"What... way... is that?"
Audria's voice, shivering with cold, had no strength in it. Her eyes were half-closed. Deciding there was no choice, Rian hurriedly stood and stripped off his waterlogged T-shirt. Then he lay down on his side, wrapping himself completely around Audria's naked body from behind.
"Forgive the impropriety. Sharing body heat seems to be the only way to warm us. For the record, this method was scientifically proven effective on the Earth I came from. Truly."
Whether it was true or not, Audria only smiled faintly.
"Very well... I understand.... My body feels much warmer.... So warm..."
Rian thought of Audria only as a teacher to be respected and thanked — never as a woman. So rather than having any improper thoughts about her naked body, he only hoped she would fall asleep in peace.
"Rian... something hard has been poking my backside for a while now. Did you put something behind you...?"
When Audria asked weakly, her eyes barely open, Rian panicked and pulled his hips back.
"I-I'm sorry, Princess. My penis was touching you, I..."
"Your penis? Did you get an erection...?"
"Your skin is just so smooth, Princess. And you smell so good..."
"I resemble a human woman, don't I? Well, my father was human, so I'm half human myself."
"I'm sorry..."
Rian, embarrassed, eased slightly away from the woman in his arms. Then Audria pressed her back and hips against him again, nestling tight against the man lying behind her.
"If you pull away, I'll be cold..."
Rian immediately gathered her close.
"I'm sorry..."
She chuckled softly.
"You and I are the same. Shall I tell you what I thought, looking at you?"
"What did you think?"
"Looking at your blood-soaked legs, I thought they looked delicious. It's a good thing I have no strength right now — if I'd been overflowing with it, I might not have been able to resist the impulse... I really am... even in a situation like this, so faithful to instinct, like a fool..."
Rian's eyes went wide. He swallowed hard.
"Y-you should sleep. You must be exhausted."
"Mm..."
Just as Rian had hoped, she fell into a deep sleep before long. Hearing her soft, even breaths, he felt relieved.
"I can't sleep..."
Rian, on the other hand, was wide awake. His legs — wrecked, to put it bluntly — were screaming. He suffered through the night with a pain like being torn apart, tossing and turning for a long time before finally falling asleep near dawn.
And when he opened his eyes in the morning, Audria was gone.