Treasure Ch. 04

Catherine frowned in her slumber, groggily reaching towards the swell of her hip as a faint tickle brushed against her upper thighs. She brushed it away impatiently, then rolled over onto her side and let out a long, weary sigh. Suddenly, she felt it again, and opened one eye to fix the area with a bleary, half-hearted glare. As she did, she caught a glimpse of a pair of brilliantly green eyes.

"Good morning," she murmured, a little smile playing across her lips. Adeon crept leisurely up the length of her body; kissing her thighs, her hips, her stomach, her breasts, her neck, and finally coming to her lips. Catherine blinked wearily at him but felt herself lean into him anyway, and she closed her eyes as he pressed his lips against hers in a soft, long kiss.

"A very good morning indeed," he replied gently against her mouth, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "How did you sleep?" he inquired, trailing a finger down her cheek. Despite her weariness, Catherine couldn't help but be amazed by the casualness of that question. Something about him made it incredibly easy to forget that she was living in a cave with a dragon. And, unlike every other person who had ever asked that question, he seemed genuinely interested in knowing the answer.

"Very well, thank you," she sighed. "I mean...all things considered, it was really wonderful," she added, her eyes flitting around the treasury, taking in the stone walls bathed with the reflection of polished metals, the countless statues and weapons that littered the floor, and then the enormous pile of treasure they had fallen asleep on the night prior, blanketed with the cloak.

"All things considered?" he repeated, and she smiled shyly.

"I'm not yet accustomed to sleeping on mountains of gold."

"You should be," he laughed, encircling her waist with his long fingers. She flushed, realizing that she had forgotten to clothe herself before falling asleep. "It looks fantastic on you." With a weary moan, she sat up and curved her spine in a stretch, stretching her fingertips towards the tall, tall ceiling.

"I'm sure a pile of riches makes everything look better," she yawned. He leaned back and propped himself up on his elbows while she stretched and stirred, his gaze raking over her in unapologetic appreciation.

"Oh, quite the contrary," he replied. "I believe that everything looks better with a beautiful girl resting on top of it." She threw a silver coin at him playfully, and he watched in amusement as it bounced off his pale shoulder and rattled onto the floor. Although he had left his trousers and boots on, his chest was bare, and the haphazard, casual grace he was exuding sent goosebumps across her skin. She groped around her for her dress, frowning when her search proved fruitless, and he rewarded her endeavors with a broad grin that boasted a mouthful of those slightly too-sharp teeth. "I've taken your dress hostage in the main cavern," he told her slyly, and she laughed.

"You fiend," she exclaimed softly, feigning a scandalized tone. "What sort of ransom do you plan to extort from me?"

"Merely the pleasure of watching you retrieve it," he laughed, leaning down to kiss her again. "But I'd keep a close eye on it from now on. Who knows what terrible things I'll demand of you next time?" he continued, reaching up to trace her bottom lip with his thumbnail. She suppressed a shudder as he spoke, trying to ignore the slow heat that was unwinding inside of her from the mischievous delight in his voice.

"Terrible, terrible things, I'm sure," she said, and his eyes sparkled deviously.

"Then up you get, before I change my mind," he ordered playfully, and she rose quickly to her feet, laughing as she felt his fingertips graze her the small of her back. After scurrying down the hallway, she quickly scooped up her dress, which had been discarded in a silky blue puddle on the floor the night before. She pulled it on hastily, and clearly not a moment too soon, because only seconds after the hem had fallen to her ankles, she felt his arms entwine around her and tug her back against his warm chest. "What would you like to do today?" she heard him sigh, and she shrugged, lacing her fingers through his.

"I'm not sure," she said lightly, leaning her head against his chest. He peered down to look at her, and she tilted her head up a bit, gazing at an upside-down Adeon that regarded her fondly.

"Well, even though it ended rather abruptly, I rather enjoyed my journey with you yesterday," he admitted, and Catherine's eyes widened in surprise.

"You want to go out again?" she asked dubiously.

He raised an eyebrow. "You sound so hesitant."

"Not hesitant," she insisted. "Just...surprised." He pressed his lips against her hair, closing his eyes.

"I trust you," he said. "Is that so hard to understand?"

"Do you really?" she murmured. He opened his eyes a bit to look down at her lazily, and something warm and wild was burning behind them.

"I believe I do," he said softly. "I thought it would be hard, but you made it rather easy." She frowned up at him.

"It's far too early for such seriousness," she scolded him, and his lips curled into another one of his vulpine smiles.

"You started it."

"I did no such thing."

"Well, tell me, darling girl," he said, looking thoroughly amused. "Where would you like to go?"

Catherine frowned in thought, staring pensively at the wall. "You know," she replied, "I'm not entirely sure. I haven't really left the kingdom in a while."

"The world at your fingertips, and you don't know where to go." He let out a long sigh, and one of his hands came to her shoulder to idly sift her hair through his long fingers. "What about the Black Forest? That isn't terribly far." he said suddenly, and when she looked up at him in shock, his eyes were dancing. "Look at you," he laughed. "I never thought a mass of trees could instill such terror in a person."

"The forest is off limits," she protested. "No man has ever entered and returned." His eyes rolled skywards in a disapproving sort of way.

"That's because every man who has entered it has done so recklessly," he said dryly. "One thing that humans have always failed to understand is that they are not the oldest things roaming this earth, and that some things do not belong to them. When one meanders through a forest swarming with magical creatures, it is best to do so delicately, and without the intention of absconding with every precious thing that catches their eye."

"You abscond with precious things all the time," she retorted, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Good thing, too," he murmured, "or I mightn't have had the pleasure of meeting you." Catherine felt heat rise to her cheeks despite herself.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly, not quite looking at him. "It's a dangerous place, isn't it?"

"Not with the proper guide," he offered, smiling broadly. "And I've heard that dragons are particularly good at protecting things, and make fantastic navigators."

"Have you?" she inquired with a grin.

"Oh, yes." He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Come, now," he urged, giving her a firm squeeze. "It could be fun."

"Or we could be eaten by something," Catherine mumbled.

"Being eaten should be the least of your worries while you're with me. It's certainly the least of mine." He detached himself from her and she turned to look at him, immediately averting her gaze as he began to fumble with his trousers. Within moments, dragon-Adeon was nudging her with his snout, watching her with bright, excited green eyes. "And you'd be one of the only humans to set foot in the forest," he added. "It isn't something that's usually done." She paused uncertainly, then bit her lip and gave him a bright smile.

"Fine. But let me eat breakfast first."

--

Quite a while later, Catherine gasped as Adeon landed heavily on the forest floor with a dull thud and a rustle of dead leaves. As he turned to look at her, she clung stubbornly to his neck, her eyes closed tightly. "Aren't you going to get off?" he asked playfully, and she shook her head vigorously, burying her face in the warm scales of his neck.

"I need a moment," she said weakly, her voice muffled against his skin.

"I don't know why you're so worried," he laughed, flattening his wings down against his sides. "I would never let you go."

"Yes, but...well, everyone makes mistakes sometimes-"

"Hush," he interrupted suddenly, and Catherine opened her eyes as she heard movement coming from an area to their left. Through the section of branches that was rustling, she could have sworn that she saw a flash of something...red.

Her face slackened in terror as a gigantic crimson dragon suddenly made his way out from the branches, watching them curiously with large, fiercely yellow eyes. Adeon's muscles tensed underneath her, but his head lowered in a little nod of acknowledgement, which the other dragon returned.

"You're not a deer at all, are you?" he commented, and as Catherine watched, he began to fiddle anxiously with one of the branches with one of his claws. There was an odd, excited sort of tremor to his voice. He suddenly narrowed his eyes, peering uncertainly at the pair of them. "Adeon?" he finally asked carefully, and Catherine felt Adeon let out a long sigh of relief. She watched the exchange in disbelief, and the other dragon's gaze flickered briefly towards her.

"Hello, Roane," Adeon said wearily.

"You've got something on you," the dragon said. "Ah-it's moving," he continued as Catherine released her hold on Adeon's neck and dropped to the ground, and she frowned up at him. His wide, yellow eyes regarded her excitedly, and he lowered his enormous head so it was level with hers. "What is it? It looks tasty."

"I'm not a what," Catherine said indignantly. "I'm a who."

"Who looks tasty," the dragon corrected himself quickly, and then, after a moment's pause, he let out a giggle. "You do. Oh, how clever she is." Catherine's eyes widened in incredulity, confusion, and more than a little horror, and Adeon took a step forward, placing a claw protectively in front of her.

"This is Catherine," he told him carefully, but his voice was light with amusement. "I'm quite fond of her. Catherine, meet Roane."

"Pleasure to meet you," Roane said quickly with a quick nod of his head. Unlike Adeon's voice, which was slow and methodical, his seemed like a harried buzz. "Yes, really a pleasure."

"Nice to meet you, too." Catherine's eyes settled on one of his claws, and she put a hand to her mouth when she saw that one talon ended in a stump. "What on earth happened to you?" she gasped, and he bowed his head apologetically.

"Ah. Right," he answered nervously. "Well, it itched one day, and I began chewing at it. I must have lost track of time, because before I knew it, I had gnawed it right off. Terrible thing, really. I liked that one a lot." Catherine gaped at him uncertainly.

"How could you chew off your entire finger?" she protested, and he rolled his red, scaly shoulders in what Catherine could only assume was the dragon equivalent of a shrug.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"How are the others?" Adeon interjected, and Roane let out another nervous giggle.

"Oh, the others. There aren't any, actually. None at all." Adeon's body seemed to stiffen behind her, and Roane looked steadily towards the ground. "Happened about fifty years ago. A couple knights showed up and snicker-snack, there they went. They got a bit of my tail, I think." He craned his neck back to look, and then let out a little sigh. "Yes. They did."

"And when you say none at all..."

"Not like that," Roane assured him. "I'm sure there are more, just...not in the immediate vicinity, as it were. I do miss the company." He seemed to droop a bit, and Catherine's brows rose to knit in worry.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Why? You didn't have anything to do with it, did you?" He brought his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Did you?" he repeated, a new, soft, dangerous note to his tone. Catherine shrank back a bit, and Adeon's talons moved to gently pull her towards him in a possessive sort of way.

"Don't be absurd," he said quietly, and after a moment, a flicker of apprehension seemed to flicker across Roane's eyes.

"My sincerest apologies," he told her, shifting away from her. "Oh, I feel quite foolish. Do forgive me. Do you think," he added, peering down at them sheepishly, "that you can stop by more often? This has been greatly refreshing. I miss...talking."

"I don't know that-" Adeon began hesitantly, but Catherine put a hand on his claw, which was still hovering protectively in front of her.

"I'd like that a lot," she assured him, ignoring Adeon as he fixed her with a stern look. Roane's disposition seemed to brighten.

"Really? You mean it? Oh, that would be lovely. You're lovely," he added, beaming down at Catherine, and she felt her cheeks heat up a bit. "But I've got to be going. Terribly hungry, you know. Sorry again. And, well, thank you." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he regarded them fondly, and Catherine could have sworn he gave her a wink just before he lifted his wings and leapt into the sky. Adeon craned his neck down to look at her, and she gave him a weak smile.

"He seems...nice."

"Oh, very nice," Adeon agreed. "But utterly unhinged. He was already a bit odd, but..." He trailed off, and Catherine raised her eyebrows. "Half a century of isolation will do that to anyone, I suppose," he finished grimly. Catherine looked unhappily at the ground, fiddling unconsciously with the hem of her sleeve.

"I feel so awful," she admitted. "Can one apologize for one's entire species?"

"You don't need to," he laughed, brushing the end of his nose gently against her shoulder. "As far as I'm concerned, you're not human at all." She scowled at him.

"You're not making me feel any better," she protested, and he gave another rumbling laugh. The two of them began to walk leisurely through the trees, Adeon's head ducking through the high branches. "Do dragons come here often?" she asked curiously. "I never thought I'd see more than one in my lifetime."

"The forest isn't a kind place to humans, so it's perfect for hunting."

"I see." She raised her arms behind her head and stretched, her muscles sore from the intense grip they had kept on Adeon's neck during the trip. "Are there many other places like this? Where humans don't usually go?"

"There used to be," he said, a hint of darkness in his tone, "but I'm afraid those areas are dwindling in number. With such a large amount of kingdoms and empires and what have you, and the way those tend to expand, there won't be a single acre of untouched land in the next century." He looked down at the ground in a pondering sort of way. "Some are saying that it could be the coming of the age of man."

"And by that, you mean the end of dragons?" she asked slowly.

"Dragons, the fey, giants...anything that could pose a threat. It's unlikely that there's any other way it will end." He gazed down at her as they walked, weaving his head in between a couple low-hanging branches. "Humans have a proclivity for conquest, and we can be quite territorial. A certain amount of clashing is inevitable."

"Do you think...there will be fighting?"

"Oh, certainly. Wars upon wars. But the end is inescapable."

Catherine walked in silence for a while, looking pensively out into the trees. "Don't you think there's a way to resolve it?" she finally asked quietly. "Treaties or negotiations...or something?" Adeon laughed bitterly, and she scowled up at him. "Surely everyone can be civilized about this," she argued, and he let out a sigh.

"If there's anything I've learned about humans, it's their lack of civility," he said darkly.

"I really am human, in case you've forgotten," she snapped, feeling more than a little grumpy.

"Then you should take pride in that statement, considering you seem to be one of the few exceptions."

Catherine rolled her eyes, but then they settled on a tiny bush that was filled with clusters of small, brilliantly red strawberries. She paused, stooping down and looking closely at them, and she heard Adeon stop behind her. "These aren't poisonous or anything, are they?" she asked curiously, reaching out to pluck one from a branch. In a flash, Adeon had drawn her back from it with his claws.

"Delicately," he reminded her softly, and she winced a bit, letting her hand fall back to her side.

"Surely nobody would be offended by a couple of missing berries," she insisted, and he looked gravely down at the strawberry bush, as if it was something combustible and she was a lit torch.

"You have no idea."

She looked at him curiously for a moment, but then shrugged. "If you say so," she said, wondering about the sorts of creatures that would be so territorial about a strawberry bush.

They continued walking, and although Catherine was grateful for the opportunity to explore, she couldn't help but feel a bit...bored. The way that everyone in the kingdom had gone on about the forest, she had been anticipating strange, rabid, hungry creatures growling at them from the foliage, or merciless puddles of quicksand, or perhaps ancient talking trees that forced them to answer riddles in order to go deeper into the woods.

As they passed a thick cluster of trees, however, Catherine spotted a large, circular clearing ahead of them. For a fraction of a second, she could have sworn she saw a flicker of white dart from one side to the other. Eyebrows raised, she pushed the branches in front of them aside, and then took in a gasp of excitement. This was the strangeness she had been waiting for.

"Adeon," she whispered, "look!"

In the clearing before them sat a collection-no, a swarm-of rabbits, their fur whiter than a new snowfall. A couple rose onto their hind legs and turned to peer at her as she spoke, their soft pink noses twitching hesitantly. She brought a hand to her mouth in sheer, stunned infatuation and took a tentative step into the clearing. "Here, bunny," she called softly, stooping down onto her knees and holding out her hands. "I won't hurt you." One of the rabbits disconnected itself from its peers and loped slowly towards her, and Catherine marveled at its big, perfectly pink eyes and tiny paws. It stopped just inches from her hand and she stared at it with wide eyes, slowly bringing her fingers down towards its long, ribbon-like ears. "Hello there," she said softly. It stood on its hind legs and sniffed her hand carefully, and Catherine let out a surprised yelp as it promptly bit down on the knuckle of her thumb.

Suddenly, Adeon came crashing into the clearing, and Catherine watched in horror as he scooped the rabbit up into his jaws. It let out a strange, high-pitched shriek, but then his teeth closed tight around it and the clearing was silent save for the rustling of little paws as the other rabbits scattered into the bushes. He turned back towards her, chewing slowly, and Catherine felt the color drain from her face.

"How could you?" she choked, and he gave her an odd look.

"It bit you, didn't it?" he inquired, his voice slightly muffled by the rabbit, and she looked away from him as her stomach lurched.

"That doesn't mean you had to eat it," she said weakly, closing her eyes tightly as she heard him swallow. "What a horrible thing to do to a sweet little rabbit."

"I won't tolerate any evil creature who does harm to my beloved," he announced grandly. Catherine fought back a grin. "Besides, it was delicious," he admitted, snaking his long tongue over his lips.

"You're utterly awful."

"And yet, here you are," he countered, smiling wickedly. She glared at him and crossed her arms stubbornly.