The dragon's den was rather easy to find. The jagged mouth of the cave stretchered up the side of the hill; nearly as high as the trees. The morning light disappeared into the cave like it was being eaten up by a hungry maw.
Feliks pressed his back against the hillside with his sword in his hand. He took deep breaths to calm his pounding heart. The excited grin on his face, however, wasn't going away any time soon.
"Okay, Feliks..." he whispered to himself. "You can do this. This is what you've been waiting for." He gripped his sword tighter. "Just go in there and, like, do it." His trembling legs stayed planted on the spot. "Just go!"
He threw himself off the spot and into the cave. He froze when the sounds of his plated armor reached his ear. He cursed under his breath that his extra protection might end up being the death of him. So, he very slowly and carefully proceeded forward so his armor wouldn't make as much noise.
The dragon's den, surprisingly, was bare from what he could see. There were no bones. No hint of a treasure hoard. While Feliks was grateful for less obstacles in his way, it made him uneasy to think of how much room the dragon had to accumulate such things.
He paused.
There was a glint of green a few more feet in front of him. Noise that was just in the background was finally brought to his attention. Feliks realized that the noise was the dragon snoring.
The dragon was practically on a silver platter for him.
That wasn't the way he wanted to fight it.
He walked up to it without muffling the sound of his armor. The dragon blearily opened up its eyes. It wasn't really looking at him yet so Feliks tapped his plated leg with the flat of his blade. The dragon's eyes weren't filled with awareness until it jumped to its feet.
"Hey." Feliks held up his blade up to its throat. "Now that you're awake, we can do this right."
The dragon narrowed its eyes and filled the cave with a guttural growl. It raised itself up to its full height. It reached out one of its paws and swatted Feliks away with the back of it. It slightly flinched when the knight's back crashed against the wall. It turned its back to him with its tail swishing behind it.
Feliks pushed himself back to his feet. He thanked his lucky stars that his armor protected his back as well. He rushed forward with his sword raised. He was promptly stopped by the dragon's tail slamming him against the wall.
When Feliks ran at the dragon a third time, he was lifted by the back of his armor. The dragon held him carefully between its teeth. Feliks flailed in its grasp but to no avail. In fact, he heard deep and breathy rumbles behind him. The knight's face turned red with embarrassment once he realized what it was.
"Don't you laugh at me, you overgrown lizard!" he shouted at it.
The dragon finally stopped laughing and approached the front of its cave. It whipped its head back then swung it forward. It released Feliks from its mouth upon swinging forward, sending him flying. It looked on with a satisfied grin at the gleam of armor fading in the distance.
Feliks landed in a tree. More specifically, he was hanging by his ankle.
"Stupid freaking dragon!" he said indignantly. "I've still got time to show it what I'm made of! Then it'll be sorry!"
He hacked off the branch of the tree and made his way back to the cave. As he walked there he thought over how he would actually do this. He wasn't going to soil his family name with a sneak attack, that was for sure. Maybe he should actually try dodging this time around, that seemed helpful. Hitting it in the face with his sword might be an option if it picked him up again...
He charged on up back to the cave with his sword in hand. By the time he made it back, day had faded into night.
"Hey! Dragon!" It didn't seem to be at the entrance. He hit the wall of the cave with the hilt of his sword, making an echo throughout the stony hole. "Come on out! I, like, want a rematch!"
His whole body tensed up when he heard the slightest bit of movement. His eyes shifted to the direction he heard it come from; there was a huge boulder that something could be using for cover. He slowly approached it. His grip on his sword tightened. He quickly jumped around it and raised his blade to attack.
"Wait!" The cowering figure before him threw his hands up in surrender. "Don't hurt me!"
Feliks stopped mid-swing. He put his sword back in his sheath and looked down.
On the ground in front of him was a young man dressed in rags. His brown hair framed his face. His cheekbones were visible on his half-starved face. He looked around my age and not a day older. His fearful green eyes were locked on the blade on Feliks' hip.
"Hey," Feliks said gently. He bent down to the other's level so that he wouldn't seem as intimidating. "Easy. I'm not gonna, like, hurt you. You just surprised me. What's your name?"
He swallowed hard. "T-Toris. My name is Toris."
I finally finished this chapter! It took forever!
Review, please!