A/N: Thanks again for reading my story.
Diane: I've always loved that line from the Nox.
Chapter 36 – The Slayers
Sam stood like a deer trapped in headlights, staring at a fully grown dragon growling and snarling at her. Earth's smartest brain had completely shut down at the sight before her. Then her own words came back to haunt her as she heard her own voice in her head, 'Have you ever tried to get along with them? Maybe communicate with them?' She very slowly let go of her gun and started to raise her hands, palms outward, hoping the creature would take that as a sign of peace while she tried to calm her mind and project thoughts of warmth and calm. "Easy there, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to be your friend."
As she stood there, trying to make soothing sounds and thoughts, she started to sense something, anger, hatred, and then, also a little confusion. The dragon hadn't advanced on her, which she took as a good sign, hoping she could somehow convince it to leave them alone. Then she sensed something else, fear, no, more intense than that – terror. But that wasn't coming from the large dragon before her. It must have sensed it, too, because it immediately turned it's head from her, and focused on some heavy brush several feet from her.
Its growl grew louder and it started to move towards where Rover was hiding, the anger and hatred she had sensed now getting stronger. Sam ran to get in front of it, waving her hands at the beast. "No! We're friends!" Jack, who had until now been behind a tree with his gun aimed at the dragon, afraid to move for fear he'd get Sam hurt, but ready to run out and sacrifice himself to protect her, had run out also and was now putting himself between Sam and the dragon, one hand in the air, one still on his weapon. "Stop!"
The dragon reared up on its hind legs and stared at the people before it, the confusion back for a moment. Then it started to inhale deeply and Jack raised his gun to shoot. Before either could attack, there was a buzz and a thwack, and the dragon roared out, turning to his side. One of the dragon slayers had shot it with his crossbow, while the other two were taking aim.
Quicker than any of them could believe, it reached out and grabbed one of the slayers, his torso in its mouth. Jack took the opportunity to push Sam behind a large tree and ready his weapon again. By the time he looked back at the scene, the dragon had its head held high and was violently shaking the slayer in it mouth like a rag doll. Another thwack of a crossbow caused it to drop the man who hit the ground with a sickening crunch. When it looked down to pinpoint the direction of the latest attack, it saw two flashes. A blue flash came from the golden haired 'man' and hit the one who had just attacked. Then there was also a flash of fire from the small dragon it had sensed, hitting another of the brown men. There was a shout the dragon did not understand from one of the green men, "Rover! No!"
The dragon's confusion returned. It had never seen a man attack one of its own rather than a dragon before. Nor had another dragon ever come to its aid. It didn't sense the hatred in the green men that normally accompanied humans. There was also the question of why men would try to prevent it from attacking a dragon. Men wanted all dragons dead, didn't they? It wanted to kill everyone there, but was no longer certain it should. It looked down at the green men. They were pointing their weapons and backing away, but not firing. They hadn't attacked when they had the chance. In its current state of injuries, they could have killed it, but they did not try. It could also sense them communicating with the smaller dragon, who seemed to trust them. With its pain addled mind, it was too much for the creature to ponder. It watched as they continued to back away. Seeing that the ones who had been chasing him and had attacked him were no longer moving, it decided to go back to its home and tend to its wounds.
Jack and Sam tensely watched as the dragon leaped into the air and flew away. Once it was gone, they ran back to the slayers to see if they could help them. The one Sam had zatted was starting to stir. Other than the shock of the zat, he had remained uninjured. He was lucky, if Sam hadn't knocked him down after he shot the dragon, it probably would have killed him next. His two companions were dead.
They helped the man sit up and gave him Jack's canteen to drink from. Once his senses had cleared he looked at Sam in awe, unaware that she'd been the one to knock him out. "I have never seen such a sight. The beast did not kill you when you stood before it."
"Yeah, well, that's my little woman, fearless Dr. Dolittle of dragons." Sam glared at Jack's comment. He just put up his hands in surrender and said, "What?"
Sam then turned to the slayer. "They're intelligent creatures. If you hadn't been trying to kill it, you might have been able to communicate with it. Your friends might still be alive."
"No. It is not possible. Maybe the shine of your golden hair confused it for a moment, but they are heinous monsters, intent only on killing."
Sam looked over the man's shoulder to where Rover was hiding in the bushes several yards behind him. "What if I told you a dragon once saved my life?"
The man laughed and looked at Jack.
Jack just nodded. "She's telling the truth. We owe a lot to a dragon and have become friends with him. He can communicate with us."
After trying to persuade the man to give up hunting dragons for over an hour, Jack decided they were at a stalemate. The man refused to think anything other than that the creatures were inherently evil and unintelligent. Facing that kind of ignorance and stubbornness, they made sure Rover stayed hidden, so there would be no problems later. They then helped him bury his friends and parted company after he confirmed the existence of a farming village two days further to the west. After he had disappeared through the trees, they waited until Rover no longer sensed anyone in the area before allowing him to come out of hiding.
