Page 3 of Rago

Keeping my movements slow, I craned my neck upwards.

Aglow above me in the dim light of the wall-mounted torches were a pair of angular eyes the colour of moss featuring vertically slit pupils.

The dragon tilted his head and swished his slim tail to the opposite side, continuing to study me from less than three paces away.

Needless to say, I gawked right back. A sharp gasp escaped me. Not out of fear. I didn’t feel afraid in the slightest—just elated. Bizarre giddiness flooded my senses. Never in my life had I seen a being so stunning and magnificent.

Graceful and slender, the dragon wasn’t a great deal taller than his human form. Even motionless, he radiated powerful energy like heat from a fire. His shiny scales resembled prime quality Elven mail armour. I thought them black at first, only to realise they shimmered in an iridescent sheen of green, blue and purple.

I could tell that my silent admiration pleased the dragon. Determined to dazzle me completely, it appeared, he unfolded the luminescent membranes of his wings and spread them to their full glorious stretch. Snapping them a few times for greater effect, he lifted himself several thumb’ lengths off the ground and hovered, impersonating a humongous butterfly. All the while, he observed my reaction closely, as if crowing, ‘Aren’t they pretty? Don’t you like them?’

I grinned and applauded the show-off’s efforts, both charmed and amused by this curious behaviour which—I had no doubts—served as a courtship ritual designed to woo me.

And that, it accomplished.

Once the dragon alighted on the floor again, light-footed and cautious, he approached me, one unhurried step after another. Allowing me time and opportunity to disengage if I so decided.

Such a thing never occurred to me.

Guided by instinct, my hand extended towards his flank. I paused on meeting the unexpectedly warm and smooth texture and let out a delighted Aww when the black underneath my touch flashed in a glitter of polychrome.

The dragon purred, leaning into my palm ever so slightly and lowering his eyelids, an explicit request for more.

So what else was I to do, if not put my back into it?

If someone had told me I’d end up petting a dragon that day, I would’ve wasted no time in sending the nutter straight to the garrison healer to have their head examined.

Hic! Hic! Hiiic!

The sharp staccato of hissing, gulping sounds that came from within the dragon’s diaphragm, interrupted the cosy moment.

He took a step back, clapping his paw on his muzzle in a bid to smother the sudden onset of hiccups. Two spikes on his forehead glistened a vivid shade of scarlet, lending him an adorably embarrassed appearance.

I chuckled and rushed to put him at ease. “Now, now, Sergeant. We’ve all been there. To the land of One-Too-Many. I’m quite familiar with the topography, believe me.”

Addressing him by his rank when he presented in front of me in his winged and scaled glory, sounded out of place. I regretted not knowing his given name.

At that moment, the dragon began producing white wisps of a smoke-like substance from his… nostrils. I blinked, as it billowed around for a time and then drifted up, forming a string of fuzzy, clumsy letters above his head.

Mouth agape, I considered the message, which spelt Rago before it dissipated.

My countenance must’ve displayed robust features of dumbness because Rago reiterated his point by indicating his chest with his clawed digit.

I got my voice back after a while. “Seriously? You’re a dragon called Rago? Your parents have a quirky sense of humour, eh?”

He shrugged, his foot tracing little circles on the floor. He stole a glance at me from beneath his long lashes.

“Rago,” I whispered to myself, enjoying the sound. “I like it,” I declared firmly. “Concise and majestic. It suits you.”

His nose scrunched up in a way that read as a smile. Another plume of smoke spiralled up, the letters even more unsteady than on the previous occasion. Calligraphy and inebriation didn’t go well together.

You?he asked.

“Oh,” I said, taking to this form of communication, “I’m Laahn.”

Rago cocked his head, oozing approval.

I laughed.