Dragon Hunted

by Jb Mcdonald

  One side of Katsu's mouth twisted down. "You can't make me go, either."

  Ashe's brows rose at the challenge.

  "If you try, I'll bellow and wake the dragon."

  "I'll just knock you out first."

  Katsu's eyes widened almost comically. "You know, just about the time I start to think maybe you're a halfway decent guy, you get all high-handed and elfity."

  Ashe smiled slowly, warmth curling in his chest. "You think I'm a halfway decent guy?" From what he'd been able to tell, Katsu didn't like anyone. Ashe knew; he'd spent the last eight months trying to get the medic's eye.

  "That is not the point! The point is that if you try to knock me out, you four-fingered--" He cut himself off, but it looked like he nearly strangled on his words.

  Ashe grinned. There was something so satisfying about getting a reaction like that from Katsu, especially now that he knew Katsu thought he was halfway decent. "I mean it, too."

  Katsu's face darkened again. A vein pulsed in his neck. Then he relaxed. "Rockroot."As if that was settled, he picked up one of the lengths of cloth he normally wrapped around his forearms and began to bind his ankle.

  "What?"

  "Rockroot. There was some right outside. I saw the leaves coming in -- they're very distinctive. For years it was thought to be a sleeping agent."

  Ashe mentally scrambled to keep up, and still failed. "You really want me to knock you out with rockroot?" he asked finally, feeling highly dubious.

  "No, you twit, for the dragon! When burned, rockroot emits a paralytic smoke. We can make as much noise leaving as we want."

  Ashe considered that. "Won't we be paralyzed, too?"

  Katsu shook his head quickly, dust keeping his dark hair from catching the light, and began to wrap the other cloth around one forearm. "We'll have to hold our breath to start it, and wear cloth over our faces. Breathe shallowly until we're away. But I think it'll work."

  This seemed like a terrible idea. "When you say, 'hold our breath to start it,' you really mean me, right? Directly under the dragon's nose?"

  Katsu wouldn't meet his gaze, instead yanking on his tunic. "As close as possible. The closer the better."

  "You want me to sneak out there, find rockroot, put it in a pile under the dragon's nose, and light a fire -- all without getting eaten?"

  Finally, Katsu looked at him. The look was filled with exasperation. "You were the genius suggesting we try to run away without it noticing. I'm just suggesting an alternative that might actually work."

  It galled him that Katsu was right. Ashe stared at the opening, trying to find any other alternative that ran less risk of gory death. Nothing came to mind. "All right," he said at last. "What's rockroot look like?"

  "It's low to the ground. A little thorny -- the leaves look like they're covered in fuzz. Try not to touch the edges."

  "Why?" Ashe grumbled. "I'll lose all sensation?"

  The silence that followed was suspicious. He turned to peer at Katsu. "I won't actually lose all sensation, will I?"

  "Just don't touch them," Katsu snapped.

  Ashe winced at the volume, glancing toward the cave entrance again. Nothing stirred except birds. He had to assume the dragon still slept.

  "Look, there's some just a few feet from where we're sitting. I saw it last night. Just get that and come back."

  He nodded wordlessly and crept toward the opening. The dragon lay still in the sunlight, ribs rising and falling slowly. Scales glittered in the afternoon sun. The weeds right in front of its nose swayed back and forth with each breath. Keeping a close watch on it, Ashe slunk out of the dubious shelter of their cave.

  The sun beat down, heating his thin tunic. Sweat sprang up across his skin, sliding into injuries and stinging. Beside him, his shadow moved silently over the ground. He felt exposed. Obvious. Loud. Surely the dragon could hear every breath he took.

  The dragon didn't move.

  It wasn't hard to spot the rockroot, once Ashe looked away from the predator and trained his eyes on the ground. He winced at the dull pop as he pulled the leaves off the plant, resisting the urge to curse as parts of his hand went numb. How was he supposed to not touch the edges, anyway? Of all the stupid orders...

  When the little plant was plucked bare, he turned and raced over the ground, crawling back into the cave.

  "This isn't enough."

  He yanked his head up, nearly bashing it on the roof. "What do you mean, this isn't enough? You said get rockroot--"

  "Enough for a dragon, Ashe! This is enough for a person!"

  Ashe gestured for Katsu to quiet down, all too aware of the way the words echoed. Outside, the animals went silent. Stillness hung like smoke over a battlefield. Ashe knew he hadn't made a loud noise, he knew it, but the dragon could have heard Katsu.

  Something snorted. Groaned. Bushes crackled as a heavy weight shifted. Then it all went silent again.

  Ashe's legs burned from the crouch he'd frozen in. Any minute he thought he'd feel claws raking across his spine. More sweat rolled down his back, but he didn't dare shift to try and soak it up.

  The birds began to sing again. Both he and Katsu breathed.

  When Katsu spoke, it was softly. "We need more. Four or five times this amount."

  It was impossible. He'd be out there half the day picking weeds for Katsu's amusement. "We should just make a run for it," he whispered. "It's probably as safe as me wandering around out there waiting to get eaten!"

  "You can wander silently," Katsu whispered back. "Me going out there would be sounding a gong for dinner. Man up and get the rest of the rockroot!"

  "Man up? Are you serious?" Apparently, he was. Disgusted, Ashe twisted and poked his head back out of the cave.

  The dragon had flopped over on its side, neck extended. One foreclaw twitched in its sleep, talons digging trenches in the hard ground.

  This was insanity. Maybe he should make a break for it and go get help. Then he thought about Katsu, trapped at the mercy of a dragon. It wouldn't make sure Katsu was dead before it started eating. His stomach turned, and he hurried to search out more rockroot.

  Each step seemed to take an agonizing eternity. He moved with extra care, never so much as breaking a twig, and certain with each moment that it didn't matter: the dragon would wake simply because it was no longer tired. Then it would eat him.

  He found five more bushes, stripping the leaves off them as rapidly as possible. He froze when a raven landed in a flutter of wings right in front of the dragon. The raven cawed.

  Ashe wrenched himself sideways, flattening his spine against the trunk of a nearby tree. When nothing happened, he eased far enough around to see if the dragon was awake.

  The dragon opened one sleepy eye. A glazed pupil slowly thinned down, focusing on the bird. A split tongue slithered out between the gap in its upper and lower jaws, tasting the air. Ashe prayed he was far enough away not to be tasted.

  Then the dragon closed his sleepy eye.

  The raven cawed again. It pecked at the ground in front of the dragon's muzzle, gobbling down an erstwhile snail. It cawed a third time, answered by another some distance away.

  The dragon snapped. The bird vanished, feathers fluttering back to the ground. Lazily, strong jaws chewed. It swallowed.

  Ashe felt faint. He leaned back against the tree and focused on breathing, then waited another eternity while the sun reached its zenith. How long had he been out here? Dragons were nocturnal, so if they waited too long, it'd be ready to hunt again--

  He glanced at the sun and told himself, firmly, that they weren't going to wait until evening. It was only midday.

  Slowly, counting each breath to try and keep himself calm, Ashe turned and looked at the dragon again.

  It was sleeping. Of course, it had looked like it was sleeping two seconds before it ate that raven, but...

  With a deep, bracing breath, Ashe put the tree between him and the dragon, made sure he had all the leaves he could gather, and began to pick his way
back toward the cave.

  Katsu lay inside, flat on his stomach, watching with impossibly dark eyes. His narrow jaw was clenched, his mouth a tight line. As Ashe moved, Katsu's gaze never strayed.

  Ashe paused still under the shelter of the trees, checked the dragon once more, then inched his way across the sun patch right in front of the cave. The claw marks where the dragon had tried to get in were jagged and deep, cutting through dirt and granite. A buried boulder seemed to have stopped it at last, but Ashe realized with a sinking sensation that it could probably burrow in on either side, if it just realized the boulder didn't extend very far.

  Dragons were definitely that smart.

  He dropped and crawled into the cave, at once relieved to have shelter and all too aware of how precarious their shelter was. He emptied his tunic of the rockroot, feeling patches of skin go numb where the edges had touched. "Please tell me that's enough."

  Katsu pawed through it, sorting big leaves and little leaves, taking out the stems that were attached. "Yes," he said, drawing the word out slowly. It hissed, sibilant, around the cave. "I think this'll work."

  "Think? I'd rather get more and be sure. Did you see that raven?" That was going to be him in a minute. How fast did this smoke work? Not fast enough, surely. He was going to die. "I've been thinking about this--"

  "I think I should drug the dragon."

  Ashe stopped speaking, mouth still partway open. "What?"

  "I think I should drug the dragon. I have an idea. It's going to wake up momentarily before it stops moving, and I saw it eat this crow a minute ago--"

  "I saw that too," Ashe interrupted. "And that makes you think you should do it? You can't even run!"

  Katsu soothed the air between them, palms down, and glanced warningly toward the opening. "I think running would be a bad idea anyway. Look -- just trust me. I know a thing or two about dragons."

  "Your country's dragons, not ours! They might be different!"

  There was that usual acerbic expression, full of vague annoyance and completed by a piercing glare. "Give me a little credit, would you?"

  That was a difficult statement to argue with. Frustrated, Ashe settled back against the cave wall, glowering. "What's your plan, then?"

  Katsu's gaze traveled over the leaves, then his hands followed suit, picking out pieces here and there and layering them in some pattern Ashe couldn't begin to fathom. "I'm not going to tell you. I don't think you'll like it."

  That didn't make him feel any better. "The point of me gathering all that was so we could both leave here alive," he pointed out dryly.

  Katsu didn't look up at him. "Believe me, that's still the goal. I just don't think you have the ability to do what needs to be done."

  That stung. "I have--"

  "Stop arguing," Katsu hissed, eyes narrowing briefly. "I'm under some stress here. Don't fucking argue with me while I'm trying to save our skins." He gathered the plants, holding them tightly to his chest, and started for the opening. Then he paused and looked back. "And no chakra. Magic. Your pathways are barely functional as it is." Before Ashe could figure out what Katsu meant, Katsu had crawled out of the cave and was shuffling on all fours across the sun patch.

  Ashe flopped down on his stomach, head poking just outside so he could see what was going on, and watched Katsu's slow, very loud, journey toward the dragon.

  He was going to get eaten. He still only had one shoe on. He couldn't move fast at all. Ashe itched to get out there and drag Katsu back in, but that doubtlessly would wake up the dragon. It was a crappy situation, framed by a crappier situation.

  Ashe kept waiting for Katsu to stop. Instead, he crept closer and closer, puffs of dirt rising behind him. Ashe scooted farther out of the cave, biting his tongue against yelling that that was far enough. Katsu moved closer until he was cradled by the curve of the dragon's neck, its legs on one side and its head on the other. There, he stopped and pulled out a bit of glass.

  Working quietly -- but not silently, gods above and below he was going to get eaten -- he piled the weeds up so close that the dragon's breath moved them. Then he lay down, put one arm over his head, and with the other caught the light in the glass.

  It didn't take long for the rockroot to start to burn. A thin trail of smoke rose from the pile of greenery, drifting slowly upward. It coiled and twisted as the air currents caught it. Then the rockroot lit with a small crackle, a tongue of fire rising and engulfing the weeds. The edges of the leaves curled inward, turning brown as the flames licked at them.

  Katsu's ribs heaved as he took a deep breath. Then he turned his head aside, burying his face in his bare arm -- and not moving away.

  Ashe willed him to start running. He probably had time to make it to the cave before the dragon--

  The dragon lashed upright, head swinging right over Katsu as it sat up. Dirt spattered Katsu's still form, rattling against his tunic and trousers. The claws came to rest a head's length from Katsu, talons sheathed in dust.

  Somehow, the dragon hadn't seen the little human.

  Ashe held his breath, understanding at last. He couldn't have done that, lie still while the dragon sat above him, blinking confused eyes. Its tongue snaked out, head weaving as it scented. Already, its customary grace was ebbing. Ashe didn't see that it mattered, though; it didn't need grace to bite Katsu in two.

  Except it still hadn't seen Katsu. Ashe's heart pounded in his throat as the dragon lurched to its feet. Katsu remained beneath it, perfectly still, seemingly calm.

  The dragon took a shaky step forward. It barely missed stepping on Katsu. It took another step, landed on Katsu's leg, and toppled sideways. Ashe winced in sympathy, though Katsu still hadn't moved. The dragon twitched, head lifting as if it had just realized Katsu was nearby. Then it flopped back to the ground.

  Its lids lowered, rose, lowered again.

  Katsu shoved back up to his hands and knees. "Now!" he called, twisting to look back. "It won't be out for long!"

  Ashe bolted from the cave, putting all the speed he could muster into his dash toward Katsu. The rockroot was still smoldering. He shoved it toward the dragon's nose with the side of his foot, then grabbed Katsu under the arms and hauled.

  Katsu scrambled, his legs refusing to move right. "You can carry me, right?" he asked, head falling back. The words were slurred, his pupils shrunk to tiny dots.

  "Good thing I can," Ashe grumbled, just before he bent down and heaved Katsu over one shoulder, injured hand spiking a protest. He nearly staggered under Katsu's weight, not expecting the heavier human mass. But then he had his balance and he ran, aiming for the forest.

  It felt a bit anticlimactic, after he'd been running for several minutes with no dragon crashing along behind him. He focused on running faster, knowing the creature would wake soon.

  Actually, he had no idea how "soon" that was. "How long--?" he panted, breaking down to a fast walk.

  "Twen'y minu'es."

  That seemed like forever, and yet no time at all. How far was the camp? Surely not more than twenty minutes. Maybe by the time the dragon woke, it'd just go toddling off on its own and give up trying to eat them.

  That, he suspected, was wishful thinking.

  Ashe picked back up to a trot, trying to leave as slim a trail as possible. He couldn't believe how heavy humans were. And Katsu was a small one!

  It seemed like they'd barely gotten anywhere when Katsu started to twitch. Ashe set him down, wrapping Katsu's arm over his shoulders and his own arm around Katsu's waist. There was no point in trying to hide their trail now; Katsu was still tripping and staggering, leaving a broad swath for any half-experienced tracker to follow, much less a natural-born predator.

  "Does this mean the dragon will be waking up, too?" Ashe asked, nearly lifting Katsu over a fallen log.

  "A few more minutes. He inhaled more smoke, but I have less mass."

  A few more minutes. Suddenly, it didn't seem at all like they had time to escape. He dragged Katsu faster, determined to get ba
ck to camp before the dragon woke. Nate would kill him, but that was all right -- at least he'd be alive to kill. If they got there well ahead of the dragon, maybe they could even lay a trap for it...

  Ashe hopped over a fallen tree, then was nearly pulled down as Katsu didn't make the same leap and almost crashed to the forest floor. "Come on," he grunted, heaving Katsu up. They tangled for a moment, four legs more like eight, one of Katsu's feet kicking between Ashe's knees.

  Something roared.

  They both froze.

  "Nine hells," Katsu breathed.

  "Shit," Ashe snapped. "Let's go!" He propelled Katsu forward, running now, thankful to see that adrenaline had done for Katsu what simply waiting couldn't. Katsu still couldn't run fast, and certainly not as fast as a light-footed elf, but he was finally moving.

  The dragon roared again a moment later: rage and frustration. Definitely closer this time.

  The forest thickened around them. The sun grew more distant. The whip end of branches slapped Ashe in the face, vines twisting his every step. Shadows reached out, hiding predators and prey alike, stretching talon-like darkness toward them.

  Ashe realized he was speaking, his voice a constant murmur under the crash of their footsteps and the ragged panting of their breath. "Go, go, go -- faster--"

  He could make out a shape behind them. A horse-sized shadow, moving without grace, slamming against one tree, sliding off its clawed feet, scrambling back up. Talons tore through the loam, dirt spattering up on the foliage. The forest thinned as they ran toward camp. It gave the dragon fewer obstacles. Allowed it greater speed.

  "Go!" Ashe shoved Katsu, grabbing hold around the human's bicep.

  Katsu grabbed him in return and shoved him forward, weakly. "You go. We've got to be close to camp. Get help."

  It was stupid. It was risky. That dragon was going to eat them both. He bolted, leaping up over the vines, leaving Katsu behind. Had to go fast. Had to fly. He yanked for magic -- and acid burned under his skin. He screamed, fumbled for the ground, and shoved himself faster with his hands as dirt reached his fingertips.

  No magic. He was still a husk. Just his own blood and muscles.