Time passed. Years rolled on. The two of them remained in that cave, alone. Eventually, the cultists started calling Rosy the Holy Wife. After that, they brought better food and clothes, a bed, and other necessities.

For a while, we were happy.

No… maybe only I was happy. For Rosy, it must have been…

The doors opened. A handful of cultists stepped in, bearing raw meat.

Leo arched his head up, lifting it off the fresh hay. For him, too, things had gotten better since Rosy had come around. I guess they decided I couldn’t sleep on dirty straw if I had a human around? Humans are so delicate, maybe she’d get sick from the straw. Yes… that’s probably it.

The lead cultist, a middle-aged man, smiled at Leo. He knelt, laying the meat out before him.

The meat has gotten better, too. This is cow, soft and rich. Leo sniffed it appreciatively, then flared his nostrils at the man. You brought my food. Go.

The man chuckled. “Your Holiness, the sedated meat was three generations ago. Do you still deny us the joy of seeing you partake in person?”

Leo lifted his lip. An airy half-swallowed snarl emerged from his throat.

Sighing, the cultist shook his head. “I don’t know what my great-grandfather was thinking, harming our deity like that. Denying all future generations the joy of hearing your mighty roars… of lifting our voices in prayer in sync with your cries…”

Leo tapped his claw on the stone floor impatiently. He shifted his body. More blue scales flecked the yellow, brilliant in the late sunlight. They only do this when they want something from me. Get on with it.

“Great Deity, Holy Dragon… is the bride not to your liking?” the man asked.

Leo cocked his head, confused. I like Rosy. He looked over at her, sitting at the desk, quietly carving a statuette. She turned and smiled, then went back to her carving.

Coughing into his hand, the man glanced askance at Leo. “Your Holiness, you haven’t… produced any heirs yet. You should be in the throes of… burgeoning maturity, judging by the emergence of your adult pattern—the blue scales, that is,” he added, as Leo looked himself over, startled. “So why have you not given us a child? Is the Holy Wife incapable? Is Your Holiness… that is, do you require assistance? Tutelage?”

Leo blinked at him, confused.

The cultist put his head in his hands. “Ah, this is… it’s always been better to be blunt with you, isn’t it? Your Holiness, why haven’t you mated with the Holy Wife?”

Leo leaped to his feet and backed away, eyes wide. Hay went flying. He stared at cultist for a second, then heaved back his head and spat a ball of water at him. The cultist spluttered, backing away himself. He bowed deeply to Leo, his eyes dark.

“My apologies, but Your Holiness, it is one of your duties to produce heirs! If you treasure this Holy Wife too much, I can find you another, as many as you like!”

Snorting, Leo spread his wings. He stood on his hind legs, preparing to take to the sky.

“Your Holiness, no! Recently—”

Ignoring the man and the meat, he flew away. Flapping leisurely, he glided over the forest. The cave vanished rapidly behind him, leaving only Leo and the birds.

He closed his eyes. How nice. Just me and the wind. As long as I stay within the forest, no one should bother me.

I don’t want to mate yet. I’m too young. But if I say that, they’ll take Rosy away, won’t they?

He huffed, blowing cool mist over his body. I’ll think of something. But I definitely shouldn’t eat that meat he brought. Last time they gave me good meat, they asked me to be quiet. When I didn’t… No, I won’t let them control me again. So… let’s hunt!

Pity about the cow, though.

Tipping a wing, Leo wheeled over the forest. A trace of smoke caught his eye. Humans? What are they doing, this deep in the forest? Curious, he drifted closer.

The forest ended abruptly. Only a few hundred meters of forest separated his cave and the edge of the forest, instead of the kilometers he was used to. A road snaked through the landscape, beating the forest back, and in a nook of the forest, tucked close to a river, stood a town. Far below, humans hustled to and fro, busy as ants.

Leo blinked, startled. When did humans get so close?

His shadow passed over the village. One of the villagers paused, resting the edge of a basket full of groceries on a stone wall, and looked up.

Their eyes met.

The human screamed and ran. Groceries went flying behind them, forgotten. All around them, other humans began to look up, one after another.

No, no, no! I shouldn’t have let them see me! Leo flew off, racing over the forest. An arrow flew after him, and humans shouted. Beating his wings desperately, Leo raced away, vanishing over the forest.

At last, he dropped down into his familiar cave. Heart still racing, he peeked over his shoulder. No one followed me, right?

“Leo? What’s wrong?” Rosy asked, standing from the table.

Leo shook his head. He settled down on the straw, still uneasy.

“What is it? Did something happen out there?” Rosy asked.

Leo snorted. He shook himself and became small and human once more, reaching for a straw.

Rosy put an inkbrush in his hand and handed him some paper. “Go on.”

Straw is easier. Leo huffed, but obliged. It’s nothing. A pause. He looked at Rosy. Do you want to leave? I’m not going to force you to… The brush trembled. He couldn’t bring himself to write ‘mate.’ Internally, he trembled, far too embarrassed. A blush spread over his cheeks. How could the leader be so casual about it! I’m not ready. It’s too much!

“I…” Rosy hesitated. “If I go, another girl…”

I’ll take her home too. And the one after her. Until they get the message, Leo pledged.

“Leo… it doesn’t work like that. Even if you took me back… the cultists took me away the first time. Do you think they’d let me go? Especially since I know you can… be like this.” She gestured at him.

Leo looked himself over, then frowned at her.

“That you can turn into a human,” Rosy explained, raising her eyebrows.

Leo frowned harder, even more confused.

“Leo… most people don’t know that dragons can take on a human form,” Rosy explained. “If they did, what do you think would happen? Any dragon hiding in the human world would be in danger. It could spark a witch hunt. It’s the last thing the cultists want!”

I’d make them let you go, Leo declared.

Rosy reached toward his throat. Leo jerked backward, knocking her hand away. He touched the scar at his throat, already faded to near-invisibility, and swallowed.

She smiled sadly. “Leo, you couldn’t even protect yourself. What makes you think you could protect me?”

Leo scowled. Reverting to dragon form, he stomped around the cave. Rolling her eyes, Rosy ducked in place and waited. Hay went flying. He nosed under the table and chairs and flipped them over. With a huff, he plopped down, his back to the doors, tail tucked around his body.

“If you’re done having a tantrum?” Rosy asked, crossing her arms.

Leo snorted and turned away, rolling away from her.

“Leo… let’s escape together,” Rosy said, offering her hand to his back. “I’ll keep you safe from humans, and you keep me safe from the cultists. How does that sound?”

--

Leo’s hand stopped. Only a nub of the chalk remained, barely enough to write with. He dropped it.

“And then what? It was just about to get good!” Angel complained.

“Yeah, you can’t stop there. After we barricaded a whole room for you, you can’t leave it like that,” Gideon agreed, crossing his arms. “Did you bang her or not?”

“I… don’t think that’s where the story was going,” Jet said delicately.

“What? No. It was totally about to get kinky, right, Leo? Rescue the girl, she throws herself upon you in her gratitude, have some really sloppy—ow! What?”

Jet dropped the pendant, glaring at Gideon. He pointed toward the door, where Kat hunkered. “There are children.”

“Jeez, Jet, I get it. No need for violence. I’ll remember to keep things squeaky clean for your poor virgin ears,” Gideon sighed.

Jet took a deep breath, kneading his temples. Calm. Stay calm.

Under his breath, Gideon muttered, “I was going to say kisses, damn…”

“Did you make it out?” Elly asked gently, ignoring the boys.

“Obviously,” Gideon said, rolling his eyes. Jet thumped him on the side of the head.

Leo nodded, then shook his head. He pointed at his chest, then glanced at the skeleton to his side. He grabbed the chalk nub.

We got separated. I hoped… she’d escaped alone.

Elly gave him a sad smile. “Leo… I’m so sorry.”