To say that I stayed cool and collected would be a complete lie… I panicked.
There's a mother dragon!
Holy shit! There's a mother dragon!
I panicked hard.
That's it! We're dead! Game over! Oh God she's going to kill us or worse! I think being captured by those dark elves would be preferable to facing an angry mother dragon!
My breath caught in my throat as my heart began to race and sweat started to drip down my face. Which wasn't helped by the overwhelming heat that radiated from her or the ever increasing amount of smoke that filled the area. I was barely staving off a coughing fit, though it was becoming more difficult to do so.
There was a very… distinct possibility that I could die. She could just kill me and there was nothing I could do to stop her. I'm not dead yet so that's a good sign. Just gotta calm down.
I felt her uncomfortably hot breath on my ear and neck as the outline of her face entered my peripheral vision. It was like someone had shoved my face next to an open flame. "Quivering in fear is a very appropriate response." Her grip on my shoulders tightened. "But you haven't answered my question yet. What are you doing to my children?"
"N-nothing!" I blurted out.
Wait! No! That's a bad answer!
"I mean, stopping them from terrorizing Iliasburg!"
She decided to humor me. "Why would they be terrorizing Ilisburg?"
"They're bandits! Well it's more like they're pretending to be bandits, but they still kind of are since they stole a bunch of stuff!"
"Yes, of course, it all makes sense now." She said in a mocking tone. "My children decided to start harassing the largest human settlement on the continent and you happened to stumble upon them while I was still away. How convenient that you'd get to bring them to justice without me interfering."
"I understand that the situation may look like that- Urk!"
She turned me around to face her, then roughly shoved me against the nearest cave wall. Incidentally that gave me a chance to actually get a look at her.
The first thing I noticed was her height. She was easily a few inches taller than me, probably over six foot five inches at the top of her head. Above both of her elfin ears were two short black spines that pointed backwards and atop her head was a mess of greying purple hair pulled back into a ponytail that came down to her shoulders.
That drew my attention towards the pair of massive wings on her back, flared out to their full width… probably an intimidation tactic. The only clothing she wore was a blue backless dress…. which kind of clashed with the murderous look she was giving me.
An older mother dragon… I don't know if that helps the situation or not.
"Do you take me for a fool?!" She raised her fist as if she were about to punch me.
Either way her maternal instincts were very strong!
"No! I'm not stupid enough to try to lie to a dragon a-and there's no reason to resort to violence, I mean look at you! There's no question that you're way stronger than me! I'm already cowed and intimidated! Your point is already proven!"
"Proven?! My children are covered in bruises and were tied up moments ago!" Thick smoke was pouring out of her mouth as she spoke.
I don't she'd appreciate it if I told her that the girls started it, much less that they refused to surrender… Yeah that wouldn't go over well.
"And why were they?!"
"I-I know that looks bad, but uh, you see we couldn't let them run off after defeating them… because th-they were bandits, and… Search them or the cave for stolen goods! I swear I'm not making this up!" I frantically replied.
"Oh? Such as?"
"Ah-" I was struck by the realization the girls didn't actually steal anything too notable. "Well, they raided this apple orchard, and uh… a few knives went missing."
"You're accusing them of stealing produce and cutlery?"
What else did they steal?…
The orb! The magical plot device from the game!
"No- uh yes, but there's also a red oval crystal, gem thing, that's used to hatch the egg of th-the… giga bird! Whatever it's fucking name is! That giant bird that used to transport goods and people between Hellgondo and Sentora! The one that's been missing, though probably dead, since the Slaughter of Renima! A merchant from Iliasburg owned it, but it was stolen from him by those girls and I'll bet you they know where it is!"
I would have pointed at the three standing behind her, but I was too scared to move. It was a bit of a gamble- okay it was a huge gamble to mention it, but their shocked expressions told me it paid off.
A look of surprise and recognition flashed across her face, then she quickly schooled her features. "Who's your companion? The one up ahead currently fighting my daughter." Her voice wasn't as thunderous as before, yet still retained its dangerous edge.
"That's Luka, a good friend of mine and a hero- though he's more a hero in training since he actually wasn't baptized."
Wait should I have told her that?
"A hero?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Yes I know what you're thinking! Except he's a pacifist, really doesn't like fighting and he prefers to talk things out peacefully. So now that you're here why don't you, uh, let me go and we can all clear up this big misunderstanding." I nervously chuckled at the end.
Real fucking smooth.
Damn dragon girls! They're too terrifying for my own good!
She leaned forward and glared directly into my eyes, the heat from her breath momentarily fogging up my glasses. "I don't believe you."
"W-which part? Why would I lie?"
"Because you're a coward trying to save his own skin. I've dealt with people like you before. Do you think I wouldn't take note of your appearance? That scent that hangs around you or that bag like a haze? It's from a monster! You're a self serving merchant or lowly noble who thought he could sell my children into slavery!"
"What?!" I exclaimed.
Where the fuck did she get that idea from?!
"A pacifist hero?! Are you too stupid to understand the concept of a paradox?! Do you expect me to believe that this is a simple misunderstanding?!"
She's working herself back up… I'm fucked.
No, actually if I that means I might live.
"Well… I'd really hope so."
"Shut. Up." She growled. Turning around, her voice softened considerably as she spoke to the girls. "Girls, none of you are hurt too badly, are you?"
Looking behind her I noticed that my backpack was lying on the ground, the straps having been cut, and so were the girl's bindings.
"My head still hurts." Teeny whined.
"My magic didn't work on him! I stared right into his eyes when I cast the spell, but he didn't become a thrall!" Geez is she still hung up on that?
"I'm fine… just really sore."
She had an apprehensive look on her face when she asked them the next question. "They… didn't touch you did they?"
What is she- Holy shit!
"No- Guh!" I let out a choking sound as she squeezed my throat.
"I didn't ask you!" She roared, then lifted me off the ground till only the tips of my boots were touching it. I clawed at the scaled hand wrapped around my throat, desperately trying to pry it off. Weakly kicking her armoured legs also proved to be a fruitless task. "Struggle." She cruelly taunted. "It will do you nothing! If you laid a hand on them I will gouge out your eyes, tear off your head, and leave the mutilated skull as a warning to others!"
Darkness encroached on the edge of my vision as I continued struggling to breathe. Any semblance of comprehension speech had turned into a series of wet gurgling noises as she slowly began to strangle me to death.
All the girls began shouting at once. "No! They didn't do anything like that!" "Please put him down!" "Don't kill him!"
"Hear that? You get to live."
She released her grip and I dropped to my hands and knees. Gasping for air, I tried to catch my breath and subsequently launched into a coughing fit from the smoke that was still lingering in the air. I didn't have long to recover as I was sent sprawling onto ground from a kick to my side.
"But don't think I'm letting you off the hook that easily."
I landed on my back and laid there feeling utterly exhausted.
Yay… still alive.
"I'm so glad you're all okay!" Sounds like she's consoling those poor traumatized kids. I am seriously pissed off that those little brats… at least they spoke up before she killed me.
I was too tired to sit up and look over to see what they were doing. Plus I didn't want to attract her attention, so playing dead seems like the best option.
That tactic failed to work as she entered my field of view and leered down at me. She planted a clawed foot on my chest and leaned over. "You are a lucky man. Do you know why?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but she pressed down harder making it difficult to breath.
"Because you. Are. Mine." A short jet of fire punctuated her sentence.
Yeah… being captured by dark elves would have been way better. I might have been able to actually escape from them.
"Couldn't you… forgive him and l-let him go?" One of the girls asked.
She look up. "Girls, there's a time for mercy and compassion, but he must be punished for he's done. I can't just forgive him and his cohort for attacking you."
"H-he wasn't lying." I think that was Gob.
"What do you mean?" She asked, obviously perplexed.
"We uh, kind of… started stealing from merchants and farmers and called ourselves the Four Bandits when you left."