Chapter 70
"I thought dragons only existed in fairytales," Avalina told him timidly as she slid the bolt over the door.
The Horned King turned his gaze on her as she came up.
"It is a gwythaint. It is a type of. . .false dragon, you could say."
"Oh."
Avalina paused.
"She's very beautiful."
"Hm."
The Horned King began to slowly walk back to the castle, and to his surprise, Avalina walked alongside him.
Realizing what Avalina had said, he turned to her again.
"She?" He questioned.
"Yes sir," Avalina answered, before frowning a little. "You didn't know it was a female?"
"Does it matter?"
"I don't know," Avalina told him timidly. "I just thought that since you had her, you'd know."
"It is nearly impossible to tell the difference between gwythaints," he told her. "They are all but identical. And I never bothered to observe."
After a pause, Avalina spoke again.
"Where's its mate?"
"Its dead," the Horned King answered in his monotone voice. "Or so Creeper tells me."
"Oh. What's her name?"
"She doesn't have one."
"Why? Everything needs a name!"
The Horned King withheld a huff.
"Then you may name her."
"Really?"
He nodded.
After a second, she spoke again.
"I've never seen a gwythaint before."
"You wouldn't have," he replied. "They are very uncommon and not native to Prydain."
"Does that mean they're rare?"
"For the most part."
"If they're so rare, how did you get a couple?"
"I have my ways."
"Were they hard to train?"
"I don't know. I didn't train them."
"Who did?"
"He's dead."
"Oh."
After an awkward silence Avalina tried again.
"Have you ever rode one?"
Here, the Horned King looked back to her as the castle door closed behind them, a faint thread of surprise twinging inside him at the question.
"No. Why would you ask that?"
"Its the size of a horse, I just thought you might have ridden it sometime."
"Nothing lets me ride it."
"Oh."
'Boy, that was a really stupid question,' Avalina thought to herself.
'If he can't even get close to an animal how is he supposed to ride it?'
After a moment, she piped up again, walking alongside him. Thankfully, the halls were rather wide, allowing her to stay out of his aura and keep pace with him.
"How big do gwythaints get, usually?"
"Usually about the size of the one you saw, more or less. The size variety is not great."
"Do they come in all colors, or just one?"
"I do not know. I acquired the one in the stable from a dark place at a mountain where the sun rarely shown. The gwythaints in the desert are paler to blend in with their surroundings, as are the other types."
"Wow!"
Avalina nearly skipped in excitement at all she was learning.
"Have you ever seen a real dragon?"
"Yes. It was as large as two peasant houses put together, and as aggressive as a pack of starving wolves."
"What did it look like?"
The Horned King gave a soft sigh, but continued.
"Its scales were the color of bronze, and it was built like a gwythaint, only with four legs and much, much larger."
"Did it really breathe fire?" Avalina asked excitedly. "Momma says that's not physically possible, but neither are bees. Theoretically, their wings are way too small to even lift them off the ground, but they do anyway."
The corner of the Horned King's mouth twitched up faintly. She seemed to know quite a lot for a peasant.
"Almost, although I've heard tales from people that have actually seen firebreathers. This one in particular spat lava."
Avalina's eyes grew huge.
"Really?"
The corner of the Horned King's mouth twitched up again.
"Yes."
"But doesn't lava only come from volcanoes?"
"Most types. Some types of dragons make their own inside their bodies, though."
"How could they do that?" Avalina asked in awe.
"They eat rocks and digest them into a lava-like substance."
"That's amazing!"
"It isn't when its spitting at you."
Avalina gave a small grin.
"How'd you get away?"
"I ordered my men to cause a rockslide. It temporarily buried the animal and gave us the distraction we needed to escape."
"How do you know so much about dragons?"
"I study."
"Is it hard?"
"Not really."
"Could I learn?"
"In this area of the world, you would be better suited to learning about other things."
"But what's wrong with learning about dragons?"
"Nothing's wrong with it, but people will look at you very strangely if you ever bring the subject up. People in Prydain do not believe in dragons."
"Why not?"
"They don't believe things they think to be mere old legends from other lands."
"But that's a little silly!" Avalina exclaimed.
"I mean, I'd always hoped dragons were real, but I never thought I'd actually see one! Would they believe if they saw?"
"Most likely. But why did you hope dragons were real?" The Horned King questioned in his dead voice, looking at her.
"They bring nothing but destruction."
"Not all the time," Avalina said. "Yours didn't in the stable!"
"Very well," the Horned King answered her.
"What other types of mythical creatures have you seen?"
"I can't think of any more at the moment."
"When you do think of them, would you tell me? I want to know if unicorns exist too!"
The Horned King stopped walking, having arrived at Avalina's destination, his mouth twitching faintly again, which made Avalina smile.
"Well, I guess I better wash up for supper," she told him as the door to her room swung open.
"I'm really dusty."
"Do tell," he replied, before turning away.
"I will see you tonight."
Grinning, Avalina nodded and slipped inside her room, the door sliding shut.
'Did I just have an actual conversation with him?' She asked herself, scarcely able to believe it.
'I think I did. And for just a little bit,' she thought, hardly able to keep from dancing in place, 'I didn't feel scared of him any more!'
Her joy seemed transferred to the Invisible in the room with her, as a breeze whooshed about the place.
'Today was great!' She thought joyfully as she went into the washroom and closed the door.
'I got to meet a gwythaint, dragons are real, and I almost made the Horned King smile.'
Unable to contain her joy, she laughed out loud in earnest, throwing a fist into the air.
'It was awesome!'
Don't forget to review! Also, 70th chapter anniversary today! LOL