Silent Flame

At least we were out of the orc territory.

Despite all our efforts, I found it hard to sleep and, as a result, I was becoming more and more tired, my pace getting slower each day. My back hurt from the cold, my eyes hurt from exhaustion and every day I would wake up closer to Eishe then when I fell asleep.

One morning when I awoke, I found myself practically snuggled up against her tail. Eisherath was eying me with confusion and possibly discomfort, but still refused to move until I got up and freed her from my confinement. Like when a kitten falls asleep on you and you don't wish to rouse it. I resorted to pretending it never happened, not that it made a difference.

When I relieved myself and gathered my few possessions, I found Eishe sitting on a high rock, staring at the grayed-out sky. I didn't like the look on her face. The clouds had been hounding us for several days by now, blocking out sunlight and magnifying the cold, but rain never came. They were building up to a storm.

We were still days away from our destination, but the weather would wait no longer. We needed to find shelter now.

Eishe flew above the fields and rocky peaks, scanning for a place to hide, but every time she descended back, her eyes were more and more frustrated. I was filling my gourd in a small stream when she landed next to me, heavy breathed and no less grumpy. The ridges along her back stood to attention like the feathers of a particularly grumpy cockatiel. She looked torn between collapsing to the ground and smashing a rock.

"Hey, don't overdo it!" I said and handed her the gourd. She looked at it quizzically, but then took it in her forelimb and poured the contents into her lipless maw. Her fingers brushed my hand as she did it. I didn't know why it lingered on my mind so. Her scales felt sharp and rigid against my skin, but also... smooth. And there was a sense of great heat coming from her as I touched her paw (...hand? What do you call it when it has a thumb?). I took back the gourd from her and slowly filled it up from the dripping stream again.

Thunder sounded overhead. A black wall of rain was fast approaching from the valley below.

Great. Perfect.

We hurried to the closest rock face that had the slightest bit of overhang, hoping it would help at least a little. And by we, I mean me. Eishe was there in a minute and finally fell from exhaustion, while I desperately tried to outrun the deluge.

By the time I reached her, the storm had caught up to me in all its strength. Heavy raindrops the size of grapes hammered into me, threatening to push me to my knees, the rocky soil was slippery with mud. The rock wall was not helping with the rain one bit. The wind blew from the opposite side, sending rainwater straight into my face. I leaned my back against it and slumped down to the ground. I didn't have a cloak, and my shirt now carried my food supplies, so I put my face to my knees and covered my head with my arms. I was cold and shivering. The torrential rain whipped and battered me from all sides but my back. At least we were uphill, so the water drained right off.

Dusk was fast approaching. Every night, the air got colder and colder and I was losing sleep as it was. If I was already freezing now, I had a hard time imagining enduring the night.

Eishe laid to the side, curled up in a circle. Her fiery-red eyes glowed from bellow her wing like two embers, watching my sad little existence with what I imagined must have been pity. For pitiful I truly felt. A pitiful human hiking through the mountains, trying to keep up with a bloody dragon. What a burden I must have been. Why would she even help me? Was I truly so pathetic that a dragon would feel sorry for me?

I was a complete failure! I was a terrible survivor, a shit hunter and a shit sailor! Not a month ago I knew my place in the world and now, I had it all torn away from me. I lost my crew, my shelter and my living. And without them, what did I have left? All my life I had poured my whole being into pursuing a craft and now that I lost it, I was lost too.

A sailor without a ship. A human without kin.

A man without a home.

A sound tore me from my brooding. Not the sound of thunder, but something closer, something right within reach. I blinked away the rainwater along with my gathering tears and saw.

Next to me, Eishe had lifted her wing, holding it like a roof over a dry patch of ground. I stared, dumbfounded. When I realized what she was suggesting, I hesitated. Despite our mutual trust, this level of openness from her took me by surprise. I wasn't entirely sure if I was alright with it myself, but in the end, the prospect of enduring a night in the shivering cold and the unbearable pummeling of the rain made the decision for me.

I rose to my feet and hobbled over to crouch under her wing. The liberating sense of being freed from under the weather's heel was like a load dropping from my back. Like I could breathe again. I wasn't sure what to do, so I sat down with my back to the dragon's midriff. I could feel the heat radiating from her body. Like sitting next to a furnace.

I glanced over to find Eishe looking at me with curious expectation. Right. She had spent the whole day scouting from the skies. She must have been way more tired than me. I was already amazed she hadn't collapsed yet when she offered to substitute for a tent and still, I was keeping her awake.

My clothes were all drenched. I opted to just get rid of my boots, for I didn't feel like undressing any more right then. I held them to my chest along with my provisions pouch and laid down along the dragon's body. My skin brushed against her scales again. They were far warmer than any living thing I knew, outright hot to the touch, their warmth washing over me like warm water in a bathhouse.

I met Eishe's eyes, still looking at me with strange interest. "Thank you," I said to her and she seemed to understand the words. I had said them to her enough. Eishe blinked once in acknowledgement.

She then curled up again, winding her tail around her body and hiding her head under her lowered wing. I found my face inched away from hers. I tried to compress myself so I wouldn't be pressing against her body but that was impossible. I settled into a comfortable position and tried to rest. The sounds of raindrops bouncing off the scaly membrane of Eishe's wing now a lullaby to my tired mind. And like that, looking at the face of a sleeping dragon, I gave in to dreams.

***

Waking up was rather confusing. I opened my eyes and for a moment couldn't tell what I was seeing, until a glance at my surroundings reminded me of yesterday's events. All around me were scales. Pitch black in most places, but with a few exceptions. There was light shining through Eishe's wing, highlighting the texture of the membrane, making it glow in a gray, almost pinkish hue.

A watched that mesmerizing display for a long while, not wanting to disturb Eishe's sleep with my wiggling. Then, she opened her eyes and watched my astonished face in turn.

Of course. Bold of me to assume I would have woken up before her. That would have been a first. She must have been waiting for me to wake up, not wanting to disturb me.

"Uh, good morning," I muttered awkwardly. She blinked in answer. It has become our morning ritual at this point. As she gradually recognized patterns in my words, I began recognizing those in her body language. It wasn't exactly a reliable way of communicating (yet) but we got by.

We stared at each other, unsure of what to do now. I was suddenly very aware of her warm scales pressing against my bare body and for some reason, I could feel my face starting to flush.

"Do you want to..." I gestured above at her wing until she got the message and rose up, releasing me from my confinement. I was welcomed by a blinding ray of sunlight shining down on the fields. The day was already in full motion, meaning I had slept in quite a while. The sun was high, illuminating the rock face like a giant mirror, the still wet grass resembling a field of diamonds.

Eishe stood on her hindlegs and shook herself dry, her flailing wings and tail spraying a shower of water high into the air. I envied her ability to weather a storm and not get cold. I was still shaken from the drastic change in temperature without Eishe's body heat, the chill air sending goosebumps down my naked back. My throat was hurting from the days of travelling the mountains and I was coughing constantly. I'd been sure my condition would worsen due to the rain. But, having spent the night in warmth again, I felt better.

We didn't really feel in a hurry. The previous day had left us both tired, like physically so mentally, and we didn't have time to stock up on provisions. We took a detour so that this time we could make a proper camp. On the way, I cut down some bushes for wood and refilled my water while Eishe hunted a dinner. She came back with a mountain goat, and so, both of us hungry, we made camp early.

Sitting by a fire again, I found myself feeling rather good. The turmoil of the previous day didn't seem as such a big deal in hindsight. I had all the necessities met. I had food, I had water, I had warmth, and soon enough I was bound to have shelter.

And I wasn't alone.

I watched Eishe hungrily sucking the marrow from the goat's bones. She ate almost the whole thing and still didn't have enough. Despite trying to pretend otherwise, she was tired from the constant flying back and forth. Whatever lifestyle dragons lived, it didn't include taking care of a homeless human. She was making sacrifices on my behalf from the start. Keeping close, sharing food. She would have eaten even less if I hadn't given her half of my portion, insisting one leg was enough. I was still hungry, but at least I had my bag of fruits.

Eishe eyed them as I threw berries in the air, catching them in my mouth. Sometimes.

"You want some? Or are you afraid I'll get poisoned?"

She didn't respond and I didn't stop throwing. I missed catching a blackberry (again) and it bounced off my chin and rolled towards her. She carefully picked it up in manner of impaling it on her claw and, with a suspicious glare, put it in her mouth. Immediately, she made a sour face and tried spitting it out, but by then, the berry was but a purple stain on her tongue. She kept sticking it out, vainly trying to get rid of the taste.

I laughed until my sides hurt while she grumbled something in her enigmatic language. "Wait, wait. Here!" I took pity and handed her my gourd. She took it from me with less skepticism this time and drank several deep gulps. Even as she handed it back, she was still baring her teeth at nothing in particular.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't expect you'd like it."

I had thrown a few more berries, when I noticed Eishe watching me again. She wasn't scowling this time. Nor was she tracking the berries flying through the air. It was the same curious look I had caught her with before. Multiple times.

"What?" I asked. I wiped my hand across my face, where the berries impacted. It came back clean. I looked down at myself then behind but found nothing out of the ordinary.

"Why do you always do that? It's kind of making me nervous."

Eishe looked as though she wanted to say something. Then again, so did I. There was a lot I'd like to say, to know, but alas. Truth be told, I was surprised how much we had managed to tell, even through our silence. If this predicament was good for something, it made me appreciate all the things people didn't say aloud.

Maybe words weren't such important things after all.

Suddenly, something snatched Eishe's attention. Her head snapped up, nostrils flaring. I looked around the rocky peaks, searching for the source of her disturbance. I was hoping maybe another mountain goat had made it our way, or perhaps a hare. But animals tended to avoid Eishe wherever she went. Dragons didn't hunt by scent, they hunted from the skies. I had learned by observation that Eishe's main advantage was her eyesight. Whatever animal she would smell, would have smelled her first and bolted... unless the wind was in our favor.

"Forget it. It's probably nothi..."

A spear pierced the ground at my feet.

Both me an Eishe jumped up and turned to where the weapon came from. Orcs poured out from behind the rocks, one after another charging down on us, spears and clubs raised, faces covered with fresh warpaint.

Fuck!

I looked up to see another spear flying right at my face. I stood, petrified while Eishe jumped between me and the projectile, her though scales deflecting the throw.

There weren't meant to be any orcs in the mountains.

The attackers swarmed us from above with singular intent. They didn't waste any time, surrounding Eishe from all sides as obsidian spears collided with obsidian scales.

I recognized this group. Their weapons, their clothing, their markings of ash and blood.

They had followed us. All this way!

Eishe met their charge head on, fighting claws and tail against barrages of strikes. It was an onslaught, a black whirl of flailing limbs, bodies sent flying in all directions, painting green skin red. But the orcs didn't let up. With every blow they suffered, they charged more ferociously. They were feeling optimistic. And I soon realized why.

Normally, Eishe wouldn't have bothered. She could have just flown away, leaving the angry mob to pout in her dust. But not today. This time, she couldn't leave. She wouldn't leave me here to die, and the orcs knew it.

Finally, perhaps after a very long time, they had a chance against her.

I had given them that chance.

Still shaking from head to toe, I swallowed my fear and stood. I aimed to grab the orc's thrown spear but the thing was overly large and unwieldy for a human.

So, I picked up my wooden one.

Staggering forward, I raised my weapon and shouted: "Hey! You green fucks!"

No reaction. They didn't even look at me.

Granted, they were currently fighting a dragon. Fair enough.

"What do I have to do for you savages to notice me?!" I accompanied my yelling by chucking a rock in their general direction. In hindsight, getting the enemy's attention while they were distracted was not the smartest call, I know, but at that moment, I was angry and afraid and the thought of simply rushing an unaware adversary had never before crossed my mind.

My attempts were, unfortunately, successful.

A beast of an orc had turned to deal with the commotion and marched my way. His irate snarl gave way to a bone chilling grin when he spotted me, striding leisurely towards the prospect of fresh blood. Of easy kill. Which, I had to admit, I was.

Not feeling so confident anymore, I slowly backed up towards the rock wall behind me, warmth draining from my limbs. The orc raised his bludgeon and I ducked, barely escaping having my head knocked off my shoulders. I gathered all my courage, gritted my teeth and jabbed my stick forward. Without even stepping aside, the orc caught it with his free hand, the tip inches away from his solar plexus and yet, try as I might I could not make it connect. It might as well have been stuck against a rock.

Next thing I know, there was a kick to my chest and I was sent flying. I braced myself for the impact, sharp pain searing where my arm scraped across the stone ground. I pushed myself to my knees, my forearm a bloody mess. I heard footsteps approaching me but could not stand up, my breath stuck somewhere in my throat. I choked until air filled my lungs again and rolled over on the ground. I looked up to face my executioner as he towered over me, his face amused. Content.

Sufficiently entertained.

He met my eyes and grinned, whatever he saw in them unfreezing him from his battle-drunk trance. He began to raise his weapon again when a black shadow fell upon him. In a blink of an eye, the orc was gone from my sight. One moment he stood within arm's reach, the next he convulsed on the ground five meters away, Eishe's jaws around his nape. There was a crack and he lay still, his body falling limp.

Eishe turned, tossing the corpse at the remaining orcs with her teeth, her eyes alight with fury. She rose to her hindlegs and let out an ear-shattering roar before lunging at the warband again, teeth tearing, claws rending.

I saw it as if in slow motion. Slashing through the horde moving from target to target, Eishe picked her next mark and poised herself for the attack. As she raised her arm to strike, an orc saw an opportunity and charged in. He pointed his spear at the side of her chest, the spot exposed as she swung, and stabbed, weighing in with all his might.

And the tip dug in.

It didn't feel possible. I gazed in disbelief at the surreal sight of the spear sticking out of the softer scales where Eishe's limb met her body. After all this time, after watching her weather one calamity after another, after witnessing strikes glance off and weather itself flow around her like a rock, I came to see her as a force of nature. Something unstoppable. As certain of her perpetuity as the sunrise at the end of the night.

I didn't think she could be hurt.

Blood surged from the wound as Eishe's head was thrown back in a howl of pain. It was a bone-chilling sound. One that shouldn't exist, that shouldn't have ever been heard by anyone alive. The orc that held the spear heard it and grinned. Smirked in glee at the suffering he caused.

I had never before thought to kill. Never pictured myself taking somebody's life. It was an act so far removed from my being I found it hard to even conceive. In that moment, I looked at the orc and saw him dead. Watched him die a million different ways, each more painful than the other. Saw his head on a spike, his body torn apart and left to rot in the deepest pit on earth.

I retrieved my spear and charged at him. I didn't think. Didn't hesitate. I ran straight past the gore and thrown bodies, past the enemies still standing and straight towards my target. That one orc! He heard me as I approached screaming and turned to meet my eyes.

Whatever he saw in them, it made him freeze.

He didn't have the time to react before I buried my spear in his pectoral. He let out a grunt of pain as blood coated his chest, leaving his weapon stuck in Eishe who's wail still rang in my ears. But try as I might, I couldn't push the spear in deep enough. The orc's muscles were like iron. I had managed to pierce the thick skin, but I hadn't done any real damage. And pain only made an orc more angry.

He grabbed my spear and snapped it with one hand like the twig it was, leaving the tip in. Next thing I knew, his good hand was wrapped around my throat, lifting me in the air by the neck while he clutched the wound with the other one. His grip was squeezing the life out of me. There was ire in his eyes like I had never seen. I knew he could snap my neck like the stick at any moment.

He held me closer to his face as he watched the spark slowly leave my eyes. With every heartbeat I felt my head swelling, the pressure building up like it was going to explode. I felt his breath on my face, his mouth fuming in fury.

But he wasn't the only one whose anger fueled him. Holding on to my consciousness, I pulled my knife out of my pocket and stuck it in the orc's neck. Blood erupted like a geyser, spraying my face and my body in a shower of red. I could feel something hit me from behind but was unable to do anything, the world a hazy swirl of rough shapes and colors. When my breath returned and I realized I was lying on the ground, I looked up to see the orc standing drunkenly above me, hand on his neck trying desperately to stop the stream of blood. Then he fell to the ground motionless.