Dragons and Cross-dressers – Chapter three

Alfred was sulking in the bar in the village. It was a few dozen miles away from the tower but it was still the closest thing to it. He was drinking a scotch moodily when a tall man took the seat beside him. The man ordered vodka in a strange accent.

The American glanced at the new comer. He cocked his head slightly when he realised the man was staring intently at him with a wide smile.

He was strangely tall, had platinum blonde hair and mystifying purple eyes. His face was round, childlike and rather endearing so it was hard to judge his age. A light pink scarf donned his rather odd, foreign clothing that obviously belonged to a middle class man. Though it appeared he was not in poverty and was pretty well off, he still had to work for a living.

He seemed innocent but something about him was off like he was hiding something dark….

"Hello comrade."

"Hey."

"I saw you fighting that dragon, da."

"Oh. Really…"

"You lost pretty badly."

"I guess I did…."

"Don't you know anything about dragons?"

"Uh… No…" The beige haired man tsked, shaking his head.

"Let's make a deal, comrade. I am a trader. I will teach you about dragons so you can save your prince and in return you will give me dragon, da?"

The knight paused, examining the man carefully for any tricks or deceptions. He had never been very perspective though so ended up agreeing anyway.

"Sure." The tight smile widened.

"Excellent comrade! I will teach you much." The Russian drank the vodka shot before ordering more.

"First is appearance. Dragons are very rare, solitary creatures. There are apparently just over 1000 left in the entire world. They can appear like humans do but there are some differences from us. Their canines will be larger and their ears will be slightly pointed. Their irises are silted. They are stronger than humans but much weaker than their dragon forms. Their skin is also fire-proof, regardless of form."

"Hmmm?…"

"A dragon's diet is mostly meat – cooked or raw. They usually hunt large mammals like cows, sheep and pigs and even predators like wolves, mountain lions and bears. They are troublesome to farmers this way. Most poisons don't affect them and only specially prepared magical poisons will work on them too so tainting his food will be pointless."

America sipped a little more on his drink, listening curiously. He wasn't thinking of using poison. He hated under-handed methods like that. He was a very straight forward, head first kind of guy. He was usually criticized by his training instructor for not thinking things through first.

"Most dragons can only grow to about the size of an elephant too. A couple can be smaller or bigger. Their tails are used for balance and like whips and clubs so avoid them. They can fly using their wings. Their skin, claws and teeth is harder than steel and their speed and strength is nearly unmatched."

"So wait! How am I meant to beat him then?"

"Ahh. Be patient comrade. I will get to that now. Dragons are naturally magical beings. They can breathe fire and some can cast spells if they learn them. They do have a weakness to certain types of spells and enchantments though. They can be used to soften their impenetrable skin, stop their fire breath, force them into human form or lull them to sleep…. Sometimes music can also send them to sleep but it's not very reliable."

"Spells? I don't know any magic. Do you have those enchantment thingies at least?"

"Da. Do not worry comrade. They also have physical weaknesses. They have very powerful hearing, sight and sense of smell so sneaking up on them is near impossible. However, strong smells like ammonia though can throw them off and make them dizzy. Bright flashes of light will temporarily blind or dazzle them and sudden loud noises can stun them. Their under belly is also a weak spot. The scales are thinner and weaker there so aim for that."

"Is that it?"

"Da."

"So their weaknesses are magical enchantments and spells, music, strong smells, loud sounds, bright flashes and their softer underbelly. But they are super strong and fast with impenetrable skin and the ability to fly and breathe fire."

"Da."

"So not too hard…" The American knight muttered sarcastically.

"Let's drink for now and tomorrow we will return to the tower to rescue your prince." Alfred nodded slightly. He was already a bit tipsy to be honest because of drinking continuously throughout the lesson. He had taken in the information but now the world was getting a little fuzzy and bright.

The Russian smiled slightly as he drank his vodka.

"Will ya be fo-fighting too? How do ya know so much?"

"Nyet. I am not a fighter. I am merely a trader. I just picked up little facts." It seemed that the man knew a little too much for a simple trader. It almost seem like he was specialised in this or something.

"Really?"

"Da but I will supply you with everything you need. Just remember not to kill the dragon."

"Why do ya wan' it anyway? It's 'ust a big lizard." He slurred slightly, the alcohol suddenly and quickly taking hold of his language skills. He felt buzzed and slightly fuzzy but not drunk yet.

Tipsy.

The Russian grinned and hummed slightly before answering.

"Another interesting fact about dragons is the fact that their hair colour as a human is always their scale colour as a dragon…. Nearly every single dragon has blonde or brown scales. Ones from the East tend to have black scales too. Their eye colour remains the same in both forms too…."

"Seriously?"

"Da. It is a very rare and nearly unknown phenomenon for any other colour to exist…" The Russian paused to drink.

"Ahh… So why da ya want the giant lizord?" The American asked again, not connecting the dots in his tipsy daze.

"It doesn't matter… I just want it alive… Remember comrade, we will meet here to go rescue the prince in the morning."

"Yeah… okay... So what's ya name a-again?"

"Ivan."

"Alfred."

(A/N – This chapter was a bit boring. Mainly just information about this world and its dragons.

It will get more interesting later on.

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