Chapter 1

CHAPTER1

For being up in the mountains, the path to the wyvern’s lair was still pretty warm. Larkin was starting to regret wearing the heavy plate armor for this expedition, but even wyverns had sharp teeth that could cut through leather with ease. With how quickly they could dart in and snap their jaws around a man’s arm, better safe than sorry.

It would have been nice if his retainers hadn’t gotten trapped behind the rockslide, though. Larkin was starting to get thirsty, and getting off his horse, walking to the small creek, and bending to replenish his waterskin was looking like a very daunting task.

“Can’t you do it for me, girl?” Larkin asked Thunder, his beautiful, sleek black mare. She didn’t answer, because unlike his previous horse, she didn’t like him much. She’d been a gift from his brother only a few months ago, after his faithful stallion had gone lame and had to be put down.

She probably also didn’t answer because she was a horse, but Larkin was used to little sounds and head movements and ear twitches to indicate that he’d been heard, at least.

Unfortunately, he really was getting thirsty, and the entrance to the wyvern’s cave—or what he hoped was the wyvern’s cave—was still a significant trek up the mountain trail. He sighed, brought Thunder to a halt, and slowly dismounted. Since he couldn’t trust Thunder not to wander, he held on to her reins as he led them both to the creek. She eagerly took a drink while Larkin slowly squatted down to refill his waterskin for himself.

It was kind of a nice day. If not for the armor, he could have been out on a much less dangerous hunt, enjoying himself with his brother and some of their peers.

Maybe he could just turn around. The wyvern didn’t really need to be killed. It was just culling a tiny bit of the local sheep population, right?

But Larkin knew that if left unchecked, wyverns could decimate local livestock, and their kingdom’s economy depended a lot on the wool from those sheep.

Still, a small break should be all right. He closed his eyes to enjoy the cool breeze.

Thunder suddenly stamped her foot and pulled on the reins, whinnying softly. He followed her gaze to the trees on the other side of the creek, but he couldn’t see anything. The sky above didn’t reveal any signs of danger either.

But he had the strangest feeling he was being watched.

He held onto Thunder’s reins and scanned his surroundings. Nothing. He was just being paranoid.

Larkin took a long drink from his waterskin, counting on its magical protections to make sure it was safe. He wished he’d been able to gather more charms and magical items to aid him in his journey, but they were scarce these days. He had to rely on the armor instead of spellthread like warriors of old used to have, and he had to rely on sheer brute force.

This would’ve been so much easier if Rohesia had been able to come with him, but his brother had insisted she remain at home. There wasn’t much use for having a court sorceress who was aging along the way, after all, even though her protection could’ve been significant.

And maybe his men wouldn’t have gotten stuck behind him in a stroke of extraordinarily bad luck.

When Thunder shifted her weight again, restlessly tossing her head, Larkin considered going back. Maybe this was a sign that he shouldn’t do this alone. But it was only a wyvern, and surely his training had prepared him for one of those. His brother would be proud of him if he did this.

Alone it was, then.

He tucked his waterskin back into the saddlebag, tried to calm the nervous mare to no true effect, then chose to remain on foot as he continued up the path to the cave. He still had that strange sensation of being watched, but the mountain road was clear, and the nearby trees weren’t large enough for anybody to hide behind. They would make noise, and they would be visible behind the branches.

So there was nothing there, clearly.

As he continued to climb, his thighs protesting the gradual incline change, the path itself got a little less well maintained. A few times, Thunder tried to dig her hooves in and refuse to move, some flower or branch probably spooking her.

“I know the flower is red, and red is very, very scary,” Larkin said in a calming voice, “but I promise, it isn’t going to bite.” His last horse had not been nearly this skittish. When they returned, he would have to be more thorough in her training and get her used to all these unfamiliar things.

Thunder flicked her ears backward, then took a very large step forward, passing ahead of him with amazing speed. Larkin had to jog to catch up, and it was only through sheer tenacity that he held on to her reins.

Yes, more training was definitely on the agenda for her.

At least she was no longer refusing to move, and once he got her to slow to a walk again, they made good time.

The sparse trees got even sparser, and finally the overgrown path opened up to a wide clearing. The rocky mountain side shimmered in the sun, while a large cave mouth promised a cool reprieve.

And a wyvern.

Larkin stopped to grab the sword from where it was strapped to Thunder’s saddle. Its blade was enchanted to stay sharp long beyond the natural wear for such steel and would have no trouble handling a wyvern’s scales. A gift from his late father, one of the few he’d bestowed on Larkin instead of Larkin’s older brother Elric.

“I guess this is it, girl,” Larkin said to Thunder as he led her to a nearby tree. She tried to fight him when he tied the reins to a branch, but he couldn’t risk her running off without him. He patted her neck gently, trying to reassure her, but she glared at him with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. Wyverns are nothing. They don’t even usually attack horses. You’re too big.”

Maybe he was stalling a little bit.

All right, maybe he was stalling a lot.

He glanced around him, still unable to shake that unsettling feeling that he was being watched. But that was ridiculous. There were even fewer places for someone to hide here… unless they were in the cave, with the wyvern, which was even more laughable.

Slowly, he began to advance toward the cave with his sword at the ready, not wanting to be taken aback if the creature decided to rush him. He had to hope for the element of surprise if he wanted this to go smoothly, but he was confident in his ability to handle one wyvern.

Doubt briefly flashed through him. What if there was more than one in there…

No. He wasn’t going to think that way.

He continued forward as quietly as he could manage in his full suit of plate armor, then gave up as it became clear he was far from stealthy. The creature would hear him coming either way.

He slowly entered the cave, grateful for the sunlight at his back that shone inside, and he grimaced when he saw the floor.

Old swords and armor littered the entrance to the cave, arranged as if the wearers had been torn apart. Next to them were bones in various sizes, with dark stains underneath

Dread made his blood run cold, but he told himself it was nothing. Some bandits had lived here previously, before the wyvern moved in. The bones were the remains of the wyvern’s meals, and the armor had been strewn while the wyvern moved around.

He walked further into the cave, gripping his sword tightly. Every footstep echoed.

When Larkin stopped to compose himself, he heard a soft snort from further into the cave. That would have to be the wyvern. It sounded… It sounded like it was asleep. Perfect. As long as his own movements didn’t wake the beast, he could catch it unaware. It was trapped in the cave. He would kill it and bring back these treasures to present to his mother and brother.

The closer to the snoring he got, the darker the cave became. He passed a tall pile of coins and jewels, which had to be hiding the creature behind them.

He stubbed his foot on something, and he almost stumbled to the ground. Suppressing a curse, he looked down to see what he’d tripped over.

A book.

Larkin stared at the book. It was neither charred nor clawed up, which he would have expected from anything sharing a space with a wyvern.

The snoring stopped.

The dread pooling in his stomach spiked, and Larkin realized he’d made a terrible mistake. This wasn’t a wyvern’s lair.

He turned to run, abandoning all semblance of stealth. Fuck. No wonder Thunder had been so nervous. He had to get out, get back on his horse, rush down the narrow, perilous mountain trail again—

Larkin crashed into something very, very solid, and he fell to the ground with a loud yelp. He only just barely managed to hold on to his sword, and he instinctively raised it up to defend himself.

“Stay away! My sword’s enchanted!” he yelled.

The thing he’d crashed into answered, with much amusement, “Is it? Hmm. Not my usual style, but I could add it to my collection.”

Collection.

Fuck.

He struggled to get back to his feet, squinting against the sun shining from behind the speaker to see… a man. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and long hair that hung loose down his back. His eyes glittered gold in the dark, with only slits for pupils. Atop his head was a pair of horns, twisted and tapered at the tips.

He was also mostly naked, wearing only a long robe that hung open down the front. Larkin very consciously kept his gaze above waist level.

“I like the armor,” the man said. “I think it would look nice displayed in my reading nook.”

How was it he’d heard snoring from deep in the cave when the creature was right in front of him at its mouth? Was there another dragon in here?

He nearly dropped his sword.

Larkin tried to shift to the side, so he could keep an eye on the human-shaped beast near him and try to avoid getting ambushed from the back.

The man smiled at him, revealing very sharp teeth. “Did you like the trick? I find it lures intruders into a false sense of security.” He did something, and the snoring started up again. “The acoustics in this cave are what drew me to it.”

Larkin shuddered, casting a quick glance behind him at the source of the snoring before focusing his attention on the humanoid before him. “You can have the armor,” he said in lieu of answering the question. “And I’ll leave. No one will bother you.”

Well, not until they could amass a full contingent of knights to come to slay the beast.

The man-shaped-thing tilted his head at Larkin. “Hmm. I’ll have to see the condition of the armor. Take it off so I can determine its value. It looks nice from where I’m standing, but for all I know, it’s made of cheap metals. The other ones weren’t worth all that much.” He gestured at the discarded armor by the mouth of the cave.

Larkin bristled at the implication. “I am the queen’s son!” he said hotly. “I wouldn’t wear cheap armor.” Still, that brought him to the first problem. It was difficult to get out of it on his own. He usually had a page to help him remove it, and the few times he’d had to remove it by himself, he’d struggled—and that had been even without a sword in one hand to try to maneuver around. But it wasn’t as though he was going to ask the creature for help in stripping him down.

“Oh, a queen’s son? It’s been a while since one of those bothered me. Terribly cliche, don’t you think, setting off with a hare-brained scheme to slay a dragon for honor and glory?” The dragon licked its lips. “The last ones did not have suitable items to trade.”

“To be fair, I thought it was a wyvern’s den. I never would’ve come in here—” alone “—if I’d realized it belonged to a dragon,” Larkin said, starting to fumble with one of his gauntlets. It would be easier to unfasten everything if he had proper use of his hands, but it still wouldn’t be easy.

The dragon watched him in silence while Larkin struggled with the bindings, then said, “Would you like me to hold your sword while you do that?”

“What? No!” As awkward as it was to try to work at the fastenings while he still held the sword, he was hardly going to hand it over to the dragon. “I’m going to… set it down. And you’re going to stay right there,” he said firmly.

The dragon laughed and raised his arms. His robe fluttered a bit, and Larkin almost gave into the temptation to look between his legs. But he would resist. He wasn’t one of those lecherous men who gave in to their baser temptations. If he could resist the male and female courtesans who threw themselves at him, he certainly wasn’t going to let a naked dragon affect him.

“Sure, sure. I have nicer swords than that, anyway. Ones with better enchantments. Now, come on, strip the armor off. I need to see the… goods.”

For some reason, Larkin felt himself blushing. The dragon had just meant the armor, surely. There had been no innuendo! He’d spent too much time around his guards if he was even thinking that way.

He finally set the sword down in front of him, wincing as he straightened back up, then worked on the second gauntlet. Once his hands were freed, it was easier to get to the rest of the pieces, even though he had to struggle to get to a few of the straps. They simply weren’t designed for the wearer to remove by himself.

“Your horse doesn’t like you,” the dragon said casually while Larkin worked to remove the separate pieces of plate. “She strongly believes you are an idiot.”

He bristled at that, pausing in dealing with a strap along his side. “Horses don’t think that way,” he said. “And we get along fine.”

“I did release her,” the dragon said. “Since she was hurting herself, straining against the reins. Poor girl, she tried to warn you, and you didn’t listen. Do you need help with those?”

Larkin, who was trying to reach one of the straps that fastened on his back, stopped to glare at the dragon. “How am I supposed to get back home without her?” he asked. As it was, he was going to have to walk back barefoot and in his tunic and undergarments alone! “And no, I don’t need your help.”

The dragon shrugged at him. “It just seems you’re having trouble reaching your back. Badly designed, I think. I never understood why humans choose armor that’s so difficult for them.” He took a step toward Larkin. “Come on, it’ll be a lot faster if I assist.”

Larkin was in no hurry to strip down in front of the dragon and lose the meager protection of his armor. He took a step back, warily eyeing the dragon. “No. I don’t need help,” he said hurriedly. “I’ll… get it. Just be patient. I’m giving it to you.”

The dragon rolled its eyes, which was such a human thing to do that it surprised Larkin. He’d expected a dragon to be more… mysterious. Most of the stories involving dragons included endless riddles and cryptic messages. And trades. Everybody knew dragons loved treasure and were willing to trade for shiny things.

“Fine, fine. But you realize I could also simply kill you and take the armor off you, right? That would be faster too.”

Larkin blanched at that, eyes falling to one of the pieces of armor on the floor. “There’s no need to be hasty,” he said quickly. “I’m doing this as quickly as I can.” He tried to move faster, but the strap at his back just wouldn’t come free. He was sure he was trying to detach it properly, but he just couldn’t get to it…!

The dragon yawned loudly and stretched his arms. “Well. Whenever you need me, I’ll be here. Waiting. Although I might grow bored.” He walked over to a nearby pile of jewels and coins and flopped down on it, sending treasure scattering. The clink of gems landing against the cave floor echoed.

Damn it, Larkin wasn’t going to be able to unfasten that strap. He tried for a solid minute, then he finally said, “I… can’t take it off. It’s…” He couldn’t ask for help. He couldn’t. “It’s stuck.”

“Are you asking for help, then?” The dragon propped himself up on his elbows. “I just want to be sure before I get up and spook you.”

No, he wasn’t asking for help, damn it! He was a prince of the realm. He didn’t need help!

Except for when it came to putting on and taking off armor, apparently.

“Are you going to kill me if I take much longer?” he asked tentatively, then sighed. “Yes, I need a little bit of help. Please.”

The dragon flashed his teeth and got up, easily striding over. Larkin tensed as the creature circled behind him and took a long, deep sniff along his back.

“You smell nicer than most humans who pass through here,” the dragon said, placing his hand on Larkin’s armored back. “Less desperate. I generally only get those who think stealing dragon’s gold is a great get-rich-quick scheme.”

“Can you please… not?” he asked, though his voice was faint because he didn’t want to risk upsetting the dragon, whose teeth were very, very sharp and altogether too close to his half-unarmored flesh. “Sniff me, that is. I’m not your meal.”

Unless he was. Wouldn’t that be a humiliating end? That’s right, strip down, so the dragon didn’t have to pry him free of his packaging, and get eaten.

He startled when the armor that had been giving him trouble loosened. The dragon flicked his nails on the plate metal, sending a loud clang throughout the cave.

“I haven’t eaten a human in ages. You aren’t usually very delicious. Although a queen’s son might have a bit more fat to him, rather than the skinny, hardened meat of peasants.”

“Fat?” Larkin squawked. “I’ll have you know there’s no fat on my body. I train every day!”

“In comparison to the men and women who work the fields every day, and don’t get your very rich diet? Yes, there might be a bit of fat.” The dragon lifted the rest of the armor off of Larkin and casually tossed it aside. “But don’t worry, I’m not particularly hungry right now. I usually have my fun with humans in other ways.”

Still indignant, it took Larkin a moment to realize he was down to the padding over his tunic. That meant he was done, and he cleared his throat. “Well, you can have plenty of fun with my armor. I’ll be taking my leave now.” He reached down to snatch up his sword.

The dragon immediately stomped down on the blade, keeping it in place. “The armor is a useless trinket. I don’t want it.”

“Then you can have the sword,” he said after a pause, reluctant to leave it but willing to trade anything to avoid being ripped apart, limb from limb, by the dragon. “But either way, I’ll be going now.”

“No,” the dragon said, “I don’t think you will.”

Before Larkin could blink, the dragon had his hand around Larkin’s throat, sharp claws digging into his neck.

“Let’s see what’s underneath the clothes, shall we? Maybe there’s something worth keeping.”