Conjunction

"Are you...sure?" Caden asked, his cheeks starting to flush. "There was a time you wouldn't come within five feet of me."

Kadal lay down on her side, spreading out on the bedroll, the light from the staff making her scales shine in the gloom. It reminded him of the time he had seen her basking on the rocks, her nude body glistening beneath the sun, Caden trying to force those memories to the back of his mind. She shuffled across the bedroll, giving him just enough room to squeeze in, patting the furs in invitation. She didn't look too comfortable stretched out like that, her stature meaning that her feet and her long tail trailed off the end of the bed, exposing them to the cold stone floor.

Caden lay down beside her, putting his back to her, keeping as much distance between them as he could on the cramped bedroll out of respect. Kadal was so close to him, he could feel her breath blowing his hair from somewhere above his head.

He had never shared a bed with a woman before, and even if there was no deeper meaning than simply wanting to stay warm, it still made him feel oddly awkward. He was so aware of her presence, he couldn't take his mind off her, even as he stared into the flickering flames.

"Should I snuff out my light?" he asked, glancing at the staff as it lay on the ground beside the magical campfire.

"No, leave it be," Kadal replied with a low whisper that sent an odd shiver up his spine. "The darkness of this place troubles me."

He flinched as she draped the cape over him, using it as a rather insubstantial blanket, but it was better than nothing. After a few moments, he felt her draw closer to him, Caden keeping as still as a statue. If he turned to look back at her, his face would be level with her chest. The ladies back home would have been mortified to be seen in such a state of undress, but his prudishness seemed lost on the reptile.

"You are so warm," she murmured in his ear, Caden tensing as he felt one of her clawed hands reach around his chest. He could feel how cold it was, even through his clothes, like she had been soaking her fingers in ice water. As soon as she touched him, all notions of keeping a respectful distance were abandoned, the reptile drawing him in. The soft mounds of her breasts pressed up against his shoulders, their cool scales brushing against the skin of his neck where they weren't covered by her sling, cradling his head like a pair of pillows as she gripped him tightly. Her other arm wrapped around his stomach, and he felt her icy tail begin to climb his legs, winding around them like a vine creeping up the trunk of a tree. Suddenly, it was as though she wanted to be as close to him as possible, every part of him was in contact with her body. Even fully clothed, it made his heart beat like a drum.

"Uh...what are you doing...exactly?" Caden murmured as she hugged him like a little girl with a doll. She lay her jaw on his head, the sound of her breathing filling his ears.

"I had no idea that you could put out so much heat," she sighed, sounding relieved for the first time since entering the caves. "Apologies, am I disturbing you?"

"N-no," he replied hastily. "I just...I didn't realize you were this cold. If it helps, then by all means..."

The coils of her tail tightened around his limbs, her muscles flowing beneath her scales like a liquid, a subtle layer of fat making the appendage unexpectedly soft. After the savagery that he had seen her display during their fight, he was surprised that she could be so gentle when she wanted to be. Her hide was far softer than it had looked, too. Where her bare chest was pushing against the back of his neck, he couldn't distinguish the individual scales, it just felt like cool skin to him. He tried not to think about the way that those ample breasts were spilling over his shoulders through her sling, the way that the steady rise and fall of her chest pressed him deeper into her cushiony bosom.

"Am I too heavy?" she asked, sensing that he had tensed up.

"You're fine," he mumbled. "I mean, it's alright, you're not too heavy."

He felt her shuffled again, her breathing growing more regular, Caden willing his muscles to relax. It was hypnotic, in a way. The gentle rhythms of her body seemed to ensnare him, quickly lulling him into a peaceful sleep.

***

Caden opened his eyes, finding that Kadal's arms were still wrapped around him. It felt good to get some sleep without fear of a pack of feral tribesmen dragging him from his bed. He tried to shuffle out of her grasp without waking her, but found that she had too tight a hold of him.

"Hey," he whispered, "time to get up. We need to keep moving." She didn't react, so he gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow. "Kadal?"

He tried to move the arm that was still wrapped around his chest, finding it stiff, and cold. His heart seemed to stop in his chest, and he struggled free, escaping from her frigid grasp. He managed to pull his legs from the coils of her tail, then spun around, kneeling on the bedroll beside her as he shook her frantically. She wasn't responding, her head lolling on her limp neck.

"No no no no no," he hissed, pressing his ear against her scaly chest. She was almost as cold as the stone floor, but he could hear the slow, plodding beat of her heart. It was weak, sluggish. He leapt to his feet, running his fingers through his hair as panic began to overtake him. She wasn't dead, but the cold had been too much for her, even with his body heat and the fire. She was a reptile, she couldn't survive without the sun, without warmth. The freezing cave had put her in a state of torpor from which there was no guarantee that she would wake.

"I have to do something!" he mumbled to himself, slipping on the damp stone as he lunged for his staff. He lifted it off the floor, its light still shining. His first instinct was to recite the healing spell, but Kadal was not injured, she was not sick. He could not use a healing spell to treat hunger or thirst, so why would he be able to treat her torpor? Should he bring her closer to the still-crackling fire?

The light from his staff reflected off the surface of the nearby pool, and a better idea occurred to him. Caden rushed back to Kadal's side, gripping her beneath the arms, heaving as he struggled to move her.

"Damn it!" he groaned, tears of frustration welling in his eyes as he fought to drag her from the bedroll. She was too heavy, too large, and he was too weak. A lifetime spent reading books and mixing potions had robbed him of the strength that he so desperately needed right now. As he silently cursed his limitations, he felt a familiar sensation come over him. The frustration, the anger at his own weakness, it was imbuing him with a new energy. He glanced over at his staff where it lay on the cave floor a few feet away, feeling its influence, the wood seeming to vibrate against the rock. He wasn't even touching it, yet it was reaching out to him, reacting to his emotional state.

His muscles coursed with magical energy, his blood boiling with it, and Kadal shifted. As alarmed as he was by the staff being able to influence him without having to be in direct contact with him, it was no time to look a gift horse in the mouth. He dragged Kadal's stiff body off the bedroll, freezing water quickly filling his boots and soaking the legs of his trousers as he pulled her into the pool.

He needed his staff, and somehow, it seemed to know that. The sound of wood clattering against stone reached his ears, and he lifted his head to see that the staff was shaking. As if thrown by an invisible force, it leapt into the air, Caden extending a hand to catch it. As soon as the wood touched his skin, he felt a fresh rush of magic, the same sensation overcoming him that he had felt during his fight with Kadal. It was dark, violent, but oh so motivating...

"Boil, damn you!" Caden snarled, starting to recite an incantation. Pyromancy came so naturally to him now, it was second-nature, the bronze falcon on the end of his stave beginning to heat up. It was soon glowing red-hot, as though it had just been pulled from a forge, Caden stabbing it into the water with all the savagery of a warrior thrusting a spear into a felled adversary. Steam billowed, a loud hissing filling the chamber as the pool began to warm, the water bubbling around the figurehead.

It wasn't enough, he needed more, Caden stirring the water with his staff as though he was tending a giant pot of broth. He felt the water around his ankles warming, it was starting to work! He waited until the water became so hot that it was almost unbearable, the steam drenching him in sweat, then he cast his staff aside. With another loud grunt, he dragged Kadal all the way into the pool, submerging her as much as he could. Waves lapped at the shore as he dropped into the water beside her, cradling her head in his lap, keeping it above the surface. She was breathing, but it was shallow, weak.

"Please," he whispered, his voice cracking as he rocked her in the water. "Please let this work. You can't die because of me..."

He lay there with her in the hot water, tears joining the sweat and humidity on his cheeks, the anger and frustration that had overwhelmed him slowly giving way to exhaustion. It was emotional as much as it was physical, a kind of numbness overcoming him that left him feeling hollow.

After what must have been two or three hours -- he had no way of keeping track of the time -- he felt Kadal stir. He was jolted from his stupor, glancing down to see her scaly eyelids slowly open, those yellow pupils peering up at him.

"Caden?" she murmured. "Why am I wet?"

He began to laugh, the wave of relief that washed over him bringing fresh tears, Kadal looking no less confused as he hugged her large head against his chest.

"You wouldn't wake up," he explained, trying to collect himself as she peered up at him. He released her, and she looked around the cave, finally realizing where she was. She seemed groggy, disoriented, like someone who had been awoken from a deep sleep.

"You...dragged me all the way over here?" she marveled. "And you heated the water?"

"I had to do something," he replied, "I couldn't just let you die."

"But you don't need me," she whispered. "I am nothing but a burden in these caves, all I have done is slow you down. Why are you so intent on seeing me survive?"

"Kadal," he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Your value isn't determined by what you can offer me, when are you going to realize that?"

She exhaled, letting herself float in the water, staring up at the dancing reflections that the light cast on the ceiling above.

"I have done nothing to earn your compassion," she muttered, Caden following her gaze as he watched the shimmering reflections. "You have only ever raised your weapon in self-defense, but I hunted you, I tried to kill you. Every time you were presented with an opportunity to kill me, or to kill one of my kin, you let it pass you by. Even as I accuse you of the worst things imaginable, you just smile at me, you never waver..."

"Compassion isn't something that has to be earned," he replied.

"I wanted to learn what made you stronger than me," she continued. "I imagined it to be some magic spell, or an exotic fighting technique. Maybe the answer lies in you as much as it lies in your abilities. I thought that your mercy was a weakness, but I see now that it is a principle from which no force can compel you to stray. Killing is convenient, leaving me here to die would be easy, but you always choose the hardest path."

"Is that a compliment?" he chuckled.

She pushed her snout into the nape of his neck, Caden tensing up as she nuzzled affectionately.

"Thank you...for saving me again," she murmured. He felt her scaly lips brush his skin as she spoke, the sensation sending a pleasant shiver crawling up his spine. He wanted to tell her that what he had done wasn't special, that it was something that anyone with a conscience would have done, that it was what people should do. Instead, he decided to remain silent, enjoying this newfound closeness. It made him feel...elated, like his heart might leap right out of his chest. He didn't want to move, he just wanted to lie there in the balmy water with her for as long as he could get away with, and it seemed that Kadal wasn't planning on moving any time soon either. That was more due to her close brush with death, but still...

What was this feeling? Was it the relief of knowing that she was going to be alright? Was it that she was finally accepting him as a friend? He had gone through so many emotional highs and lows in such a short span of time that it was hard to quantify, so he elected to simply enjoy it.

"I am holding you back," Kadal muttered, starting to rise from the pool. "You must continue your journey, Caden."

Her limbs were weak and shaky, and the attempt was quickly abandoned, Kadal sinking back into the water as she loosed a pained groan.

"Nonsense," he replied, guiding her head into his lap again as he sat in the shallows. "We shall stay here until your strength has returned, I don't care how long it takes."

"Will you not even dry your clothes?" she grumbled. "You're soaked to the bone."

"There will be time enough for that later."

She gave in, closing her eyes as he cradled her head, letting herself relax in his arms.

***

Kadal had finally warmed enough that she was able to leave the pool, some of her prior vigor returning to her as she rose from the water, climbing up the rocky bank.

"We should get out of these wet clothes," Caden suggested, beginning to conjure another magical campfire. "All of this will have been for nothing when they start to cool." He aimed the staff at the ground near their makeshift camp, reciting the incantation, bright flames flaring to life on the damp stone floor. "I'll fetch you the cloak so that you can cover yourse-"

He turned to see that Kadal was already in the process of sliding off her sling, Caden almost dropping his staff in surprise. He quickly spun around to face the cave wall, his cheeks burning, his head swimming as he heard the wet slap of her clothes hitting the ground beside the fire. When he mustered the courage to turn around again, he saw that she was sitting on the bedroll nearby, her forearm just barely covering her ample chest, her thighs pressed tightly together.

The licking flames reflected off her shining scales, still wet from the pool, light and shadow conspiring to accentuate every sculpted contour of her body. His eyes tracked droplets of water as they rolled down her toned belly, following the channels of her abdominal muscles, so perfect that they might well have been hewn from marble. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her, the way that her forearm sank deep into the yielding flesh of her ample bosom as she made a half-hearted attempt to preserve her modesty, the shadow of her cleavage as she pressed the two supple globes together. Her stout thighs were dimpled by firm muscle, the deep shadow that lay between them drawing his eyes, enticing him.

He quickly looked away, not wanting to offend his companion by staring too conspicuously, Kadal peering back at him with irises the color of amber. Her gaze was quizzical, but not confused, as though she was gauging his reaction to her nakedness.

"Come," she said, "I can see you trembling."

Caden swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, turning to glance at her.

"W-what?"

"Your clothes," she added, "you must be freezing."

He began to strip, Kadal affording him no such privacy, her yellow eyes scrutinizing him as he shed his tunic. He, too, was still damp from the pool. It made his skin shine, the fire reflecting off his torso as he set the garment down beside it, Caden feeling her gaze roaming across his body. He must look so alien to her, but was curiosity her only motivation?

He took off his waterlogged boots, setting them beside the roaring campfire, then removed his trousers. He hesitated, now wearing nothing but his undergarments, not wanting to be completely nude in front of Kadal. The alternative was sitting in cold, wet underwear, and so he elected to take those off too. Caden slouched, covering his loins with his hands as he began to look for a place to sit, but Kadal invited him to join her on the bedroll.

"The floor is cold," she protested, patting the furs beside her with her free hand. "Come, sit with me."

Caden shuffled over to her and sat down at her side, staring intently ahead, watching the fire burn as the clothes that he had neatly arranged around it slowly dried in its heat. She was so much taller than him that he would have had to crane his neck to look her in the eye. It was a challenge to keep his eyes off her chest, which was level with his face due to her stature. He could sense that Kadal was still watching him, but his sense of modesty mandated that he not return her gaze. Noticing that his cape was lying on the ground nearby, he reached for it, feeling a little less exposed as he draped it over his lap.

"I thought you naked when I saw you bathing in the oasis," Kadal began, "but you are actually covered in tiny hairs." She reached out a hand and ran her fingers along his forearm, her dull claws leaving trails on his skin as she moved down to his wrist. Her touch was not unwelcome, Caden's heart starting to pound as he opened his hand for her, turning his palm up so that she could interlock her long fingers with his own. They were all different lengths, not unlike those of a human, but more exaggerated. He felt her cool hide, finding it far smoother than he had anticipated, the individual scales just barely distinguishable beneath his fingertips. Its texture was like leather that had somehow been made as fine and as slick as satin, the strange contradiction making it no less pleasing. The gentleness of her grasp surprised him. She could be so careful when she wasn't swinging an axe around.

She turned her hand so that Caden's was lying atop it, her head drawing closer to him on her flexible neck, winding down to examine their difference in size more closely. He was as a child to her, the desert tones of her hide contrasting with his rosy skin, her fingers near twice the length of his own.

"Are your women as large as I am?" she wondered, those yellow eyes blinking at him expectantly. Her face was so close to his that he could feel the warmth of her breath on his cheek. Despite her covering of scales, and her razor teeth, he felt no impulse to pull away from her.

"N-no," he replied, "our women are usually shorter than I am. Why do you say that?"

"I wondered if the reason for your diminutive stature was because you were a male, or if your people are just shorter than my own. Our men are smaller than our women, and I have never encountered a woman from beyond the Western shore."

"No, you're just...big," he mumbled. Her head rose up on her slender neck as if to illustrate that point, seeming to fly away from him, a smile curling her scaly lips when he had to tilt his head to follow her gaze.

"You are a curious little thing," she said, her frill slowly rising to frame her face with a blushing ring. "So small for one so mighty."

"That's pretty much all the magic's doing," he insisted, shifting his weight on the bedroll.

"Were those concepts so easily separated," she chuckled. "May I ask you a...personal question?" she continued, Caden's heart starting to race.

"Of course," he replied, hoping she wouldn't notice that his hand was sweating.

"May I...touch your hair?"

"Oh," he chuckled, not wanting to appear too relieved. "I suppose, if that's what you want."

She released his hand from her grasp, reaching for his head, another of the pleasant shivers that Caden had come to associate with her touch sliding down his spine. He felt her fingers delve into his still-damp hair, her dull claws pricking his scalp in a way that he found oddly enjoyable, like the teeth of a comb.