Fairy Tail

by cardassianfire
cardassianfire@yahoo.com

K/S as knight and dragon, sans fair maidens or Uhura.

Sir Jim came riding down the hill at a full gallop, armor clanking loudly. His horse struggled to keep on the rut-filled path. The motley group of peasants looked up to what was causing the racket.

"Who are you, noisy stranger?", said one of the less slovenly men.

"I am Sir Jim of Kirk, Protector of Fairness, Righter of Wrongs, and Doer of Good Deeds," he said smiling broadly and snapping back his visor.

"Huh?"

Speaking somewhat louder and enunciating more clearly, he said, "I am Sir Jim of Kirk, a man devoted to high ideals, preserving the peace..."

"Yes, yes, enough with all that," snapped an old woman dressed in rags. "But what are you doing here?"

"I saw your ad in Paladin and Mercenary Monthly." The visor started to slip down again. "You said you needed a dragon slayer. I said, those people need me. After all, risk is my business."

The peasants looked unimpressed.

"Really", he continued, "I've defeated the Great Salt Monster, the Ugly Flying Things of Deneva and the Big Killer Gorilla of Neural. Here's my scroll. My credentials speak for themselves." As he handed it to the woman, his visor fell with a resounding clang. Sir Jim removed the helmet and tossed it to the ground, revealing a youthful face crowned with blond hair.

"Well, the job doesn't pay much. You get room and board and the first virgin you find in the forest is yours," she said.

"A generous reward for slaying a single dragon. I assure you, I live for adventure, not gold."

"Good", she spat. "You sure aren't getting any of that for this mission."

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Sir Jim sat reviewing his notes by the inn's fire. This particular dragon had been terrorizing the town for many years. Every spring, the townsfolk would choose one of the fairest maidens to sacrifice to the bloodthirsty beast. They would tie her up before the dragon's lair and the poor girl was gone the next morning, presumably eaten by the creature. Very few had managed to glimpse the serpent and descriptions varied widely. He was dark green, or maybe light sea green, or of a rainbow iridescent hue. He was eight feet, no, twenty feet tall. He might have twelve sets of teeth or two. He had wings, he didn't have wings. Jim sighed. The deeper he got into this, the less any of this made sense. None of the descriptions matched one single beast. Perhaps he'd be meeting up with a whole slew of dragons, not just one. It might even be a shape shifter for all he could tell from the townspeople's jumbled accounts. Jim yawned and stretched. He decided it would be better to confront the beast in the early morning, after breakfast, than in the dead of night.

*********************************************

The knight spurred his horse onward. He had tried to be prepared for anything, with his sword, shield and even some potions in his possession. Warily, he looked around the dragon's keep. He saw the pole where the maidens were bound, a small fortress of a cave and what looked to be a nicely tended garden. Jim had arrived just after sunrise, assuming that the beast or beasts would be more sluggish in the cool morning air. He dismounted and tied his horse to the pole and started to look around for more signs of draconic habitation. Suddenly, he noticed that he was being watched from the trees. He drew his sword and strapped on his shield.

"Come out of there, monster! I see you, lurking in the bushes! Come out and meet your doom!"

The dragon emerged with a quizzical expression on his face, one eyebrow raised and his whiskers slightly atilt. His dark green scales gave off a slight iridescent sheen. Under his arm, he was carrying a basket filled with berries and roots.

"And why would I want to meet my doom? That is illogical, as all creatures prefer a long lifespan." The dragon set down his basket. "For that matter, sir, why are you brandishing weapons in my garden?"

Sir Jim looked over the dragon. He wasn't much taller than the knight, had one set of teeth, and might have possibly had some wings curled up on his shoulders. The creature seemed to exude a sense of controlled power, not the mindless brute he had expected. "Dragon," said Jim, "you have, for years, been devouring maidens, and the good townspeople have hired me to put an end to your monstrous tyranny." Jim still had the sword raised, but he let his shield drop down a bit.

The dragon harrumphed. Jim was amazed that there was no puff of smoke or any sign of fire. "I do not have a taste for women." He crossed his arms and leaned back on his tail. "From my brief contact with the townspeople, they have very primitive ideas about women and dragons. I am a vegetarian dragon, dining on fruits, vegetables and roots. I also do not breathe fire and smoke. I am a dragon hybrid, my father being a firedrake, my mother a fay dragon. I do not fit very well in either culture as I could not meet either species' expectations, so I tend to keep my own company." He seemed to be reciting an explanation that he had had to tell many a time.

"But the virgins...," started Jim.

"Virgins," snorted the dragon. His face remained unchanged, except for a twitch of his whiskers. "None of those women were virgins. How better to get rid of a disobedient daughter or an unwed mother who is beginning to show the signs of pregnancy than to tie her up and expect her to be devoured by a wild beast. Humans can be very primitive."

"What happened to the maidens?" Jim let his shield and sword droop a bit farther.

"Some stayed on for a while. I taught them anything from herb craft to song craft. One does tend to pick up many skills after being alive for hundreds of years. Others decided they knew enough about the world to make their own way in it. I usually gave them some supplies and they scrambled over the hills to meet their destiny. If their families had cared enough, they could find them."

Jim set down his weapons and regarded the dragon. "You didn't eat them?"

"I don't eat women. However, I do eat. If you could please let me into my abode, I could prepare my breakfast."

Jim moved aside to let him enter. Somehow, the dragon was nothing like he expected. Instead of a herd of monsters, he met a solitary scholar. An intriguing one at that, with hundreds of years of experience in just about any topic that a man could learn at a university. The dragon reappeared at the cave entrance, with some homemade bread topped with berry jam and a pitcher of cold water.

"I do take the idea of hospitality seriously. I have brought you some of my repast also, in case the food at the inn is still as unappealing as I have heard told." The dragon sat himself on his tail and looked at the knight, waiting for him to take the next step.

"So," said Jim, tasting a small slice, "I suppose I should go back to the village and tell them that I have killed you. Then they'll leave you alone."

"I would prefer that you did not. I am able to assist one woman a year in escaping that village. Without me, I do not know what would happen to them."

"But they'll send other knights, other mercenaries to kill you!"

"You are assuming that they have not before. I have dispatched many knights that have come before you. They normally do not even bother to speak with me and attack me without warning. Those ones are easy to dispatch."

"You must be quite skilled in the martial arts."

"I have had to be. Though I believe in peace, I also believe in defense." The dragon nibbled at his bread.

"You truly are fascinating creature, dragon. I myself am interested in everything from the sciences to the arts. My lowborn status did keep me from higher learning from the monastic brothers, but I have managed to rise from serf to squire to knight. If I may, I wouldn't mind spending a season or more learning from you."

"I myself am interested in experiencing human male companionship. The only rational humans I have met are the women, and you seem much more cultured than the barbarian males I normally encounter."

"And the female dragons?"

The dragon sighed. "Because of my parentage, I have not been allowed any draconic female partners."

Jim laughed. The dragon looked perturbed at the outburst. The knight explained the terms of his contract, that he could keep the first virgin he found, and was rewarded with another twitch of the whiskers.

"But I can't keep calling you dragon. Do you have a name?"

"Unfortunately, humans cannot pronounce draconic names. One woman did give me what I believe you call a nickname - Sphock."

"Sphock?"

"Yes, when they left her here, she didn't have any shoes. I showed her how to make a pair from reeds and grasses. She then called me Sphock, meaning shoemaker in her language."

Jim laughed again. "Well, in my culture, elves or fairies turn up in legends as shoemakers, so that does fit you. A fairy dragon and his knight - at least we make an interesting pair!"


[Farf's note: I don't know who made this pic.]

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