EVEN DRAGONS DIE, chapter seven

Ayre hoped that the stranger would take the hint and leave him in peace. He was standing waist deep in water but it wasn’t hard to imagine that he was completely naked below. As always he had left his clothes on an outstanding ledge of a rock above, where he usually put them back on after he allowed his body to dry in the warm rays of the setting sun. The problem was that he would have to jump out of water and part with its protection in order to climb the ledge and to get to his clothes and he really didn’t want to show his naked backside to a total stranger.

Ayre narrowed his eyes in irritation but quickly ordered himself to keep his temper in check when he felt his nostrils flare, reminding himself in Ayzu’s calm but stern voice that he didn’t want to give himself away by emitting jets of fire. He had been neglecting his meditation exercises ever since he entered the world of humans. Perhaps, a trip to the nearest temple was in order. He knew that there were chambers that one could use in order to pray and meditate in solitude. Ayzu would surely approve.

Ruefully, Ayre recalled his last conversation with his brother during which he assured him that he had no intention of showing his naked back to humans. So much for that. Now both his back and his backside were in danger of being exposed.

Why wasn’t this human leaving?

Ayre moved slowly towards the ledge of the rock that cast an elongated shadow across this part of the pool and from which a jet of water streamed down. Ayre let his long hair loose and ducked under the stream to wash it. Shielded by the water, Ayre had an advantage of looking from the corner of his eye at the bank where the young man was still standing and watching him.

He had straight black hair swept carelessly to one side; a silver earring in the shape of a curved dagger studded with diamonds was dangling from one ear. Ayre noted that his attire looked similar to what other young human males usually wore yet there was something strikingly different about him. If Ayre didn’t know better, he would say that he also was where he wasn’t supposed to be.

Ayre snorted; well, that was true enough, wasn’t it? He had no business disturbing him after a long working day down in the caves. Ayre didn’t get tired like humans did, but he was used to something much more exciting than crawling through narrow tunnels, looking for precious stones. Besides, without proper knowledge how to keep them clean and well-aired, the caves became extremely dirty and stifling, permeated with awful dampness, especially during the rainy season, that seeped into their walls, that were plastered with large patches of mildew, making them soft and causing occasional rockfalls.

Many men who worked down there suffered from lung congestion and horrible coughs that often wracked the caves. Ayre, who was used to vast plains and even vaster skies, was glad to get out of there and breathe in some fresh air, which was too humid for his liking after the arid soil and scorching sun of his native land – but it was still better than spit and sweat of hundreds of men all cooped up together under the ground.

The young human male continued to stare, his full lips slightly parted, his dark hooded eyes filled with hunger and intent. Ayre suddenly realised that he knew that look and understood the intent behind it. In shock his hand went still in his hair. He had seen this look many times on the faces of young treasure-hunters when they looked at young females who caught their eye and who they wished to pursue. During his observation he noticed that what followed was a somewhat baffling game during which a male made his move, while a female (even despite her obvious interest) made an attempt to resist – at least at first. A successful pursuit usually ended in very loud and very active mating.

This was very different from how such things worked in his land. No one approached anyone or propositioned anyone just because someone caught someone else’s eye. If they behaved like that, it would surely cause chaos in their society and destroy not only their hierarchy but the way they lived. Ayre had had enough time to compare dragons and humans to notice that perhaps the biggest difference between them was that humans were much more emotional and expressive. On the other hand, male dragons (unlike female dragons before their complete extinction) weren’t in the habit of relying on something as unstable as emotions, which was why they kept them under control through strict discipline of constant meditation and training.

Of course, there weren’t as many dragons as there were humans to begin with, mainly because they didn’t mate and breed with such practiced ease, but they lived much longer lives than humans and a lifespan of one dragon probably equaled at least five generations of humans. Besides, each clan zealously guarded the purity of their bloodline against ruin. Female dragons used to be accused of polluting and weakening their bloodlines by choosing to mate with male humans and producing half-breeds. That choice became detrimental to their survival as it brought upon them a terrible plague that eventually took them all away. Ayre’s father said that it was just punishment for angering their guardian spirits by rejecting their own kind.

Another difference between mating habits of humans and dragons was that every interaction conducted between dragons had a certain purpose: to find a suitable sparring partner or a mate for life in order to form a military or a political alliance. And then there was The Great Dragon Book of Mating that taught young dragons all they needed to know about the mating process, which usually took place after the courtship and the bonding ceremony. According to their customs, courtship could be initiated by either side if both clans were equal in standing or by a higher clan if they wished to ally themselves with a lower clan.

However, the selection of a mate was usually a very long and laborious process, which was why very few dragons actually mated unless their clans required something that other clans possessed. That’s why young dragons started practising mating long before they settled upon a mate by arranging for a mate partner in the same manner they arranged for a sparring one. Ayre was considered too young by dragon standards to know anything about mating, but he knew that as far as humans were concerned he was just in his prime.

So did the young human male now ogling him want to pursue him? Did he want to be his mate? A sudden flush covered Ayre’s skin. If he had been in his dragon form, his scales would probably rustle with pleasure. He had never been pursued before. At this point Ayre gave himself a mental shake. It didn’t really matter what the pretty human male’s intentions were or how the thought of being pursued by him made Ayre feel. Before entering the human kingdom, Ayre made himself a promise not to get close to any of the humans he was to encounter during his stay here, because the thought of betraying them was unbearable.

Ayre made up his mind. He stepped out from under the stream of water and pulled his wet hair into a ponytail, without realising how enticingly his muscles rippled under the splatter of gilded droplets.

“It’s rude to stare,” he said. He used the phrase he often heard human females use on such occasions. He was hoping that it would put an end to this unwelcome intrusion – yet it seemed to have an opposite effect on his opponent:

“Is it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and making a step forward. “Does the sunset complain when we admire its beauty?”

At that moment Ayre could have clipped his own wings. He had clearly miscalculated. He had forgotten that it was also part of the game as it provided the other party with an opening. Now that he thought about it, the human females used a playful tone of voice when saying that line, which usually encouraged the human males to move forward. But surely his tone of voice couldn’t be considered encouraging? Ayre was so confused that he couldn’t even remember what he had sounded like a moment before.

Suddenly Ayre heard voices and realised that the young human male wasn’t alone. There were at least three more human males with him. They were asking him what was taking him so long and calling him over to rejoin them. Apparently, they had plans in the city and wanted to hurry along. Ayre hoped that they would prevail in their cajoling, but the young human, whose eyes never left him, waved them away, telling them to go without him. His hesitation peaked their curiosity and they swarmed around him to see what was happening.

Ayre further retreated into the relative shelter provided by the ledge of the rock above his head just as the air rang with their stunned voices. He hated being the object of their attention, but what he hated even more was that after today he would have to find a new spot to bathe.

“Go away,” said the young human male when he noticed Ayre’s retreat. He spoke with authority in his voice – Ayre knew well what it sounded like from his dealings with his eldest brother. However, the human male’s companions were too interested in Ayre to notice; or else they were used to it and didn’t care. “You’re scaring him.”

“Who is he?” asked one of them.

“A water spirit?” suggested another.

“Hey, Fuego, do you need a fishing net, perhaps?” asked the last one; his voice was quite distinctive because it was filled with what Ayre knew was sarcasm.

Fuego smirked. “Oh, I will catch him with my bare hands.”

“Well, go on then, catch him before he slips away.”

“Hey,” said Fuego in a pleasant voice that was obviously aimed to make Ayre feel at ease. “Are you trying to set a record?”

Ayre didn’t know what he meant by that, so he didn’t reply, hoping that his silence would deter him from further attempts at a conversation.

“You must be pretty cold by now,” continued Fuego, obviously undeterred. “Come here. I’ll warm you up.”

He spread his arms in invitation. Ayre snorted under his breath. What a silly human!

“Fine. I’ll wait until you get cold.”

Then you’ll have to wait for a very long time, thought Ayre smugly, casting a little bit of his own magic around the water to make sure that it didn’t happen.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

Ayre tightened his jaw and remained silent.

“I don’t think it’s working,” drawled Fuego’s sarcastic companion. “Dear me, you seem to have no luck these days.”

“Ha-ha-ha.”

“Maybe he’s deaf?”

“Maybe he’s dumb?”

They all laughed.

“At least he’s pretty.”

“So how about that fishing net now, Fuego? At this point I think it’s the only way you will be able to get your hands on him.”

“Shut your mouth,” snapped Fuego again.

“Where would you even get one?” asked one of the other two companions.

“Do you even know how to use it?”

“How difficult can it be? Guh! This is boring! Fuego, let’s go! There’s plenty of other fish in the sea. Let him be. He clearly isn’t interested.”

“Go,” barked Fuego, not even looking at his companions. “I told you to leave, didn’t I?”

“Fine, we’re leaving!” snapped back the human male with a sarcastic voice. “As entertaining as it is to watch you humiliate yourself, we actually have better things to do. Come along, guys! We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”

“Hey, don’t forget – ”

Ayre watched as Fuego took out something from the pocket of his trousers and threw it towards his companion, who caught it as nimbly as though he’d done it many times before. Ayre heard it jingle in the air and assumed that it was a pouch with gold.

Finally, the three humans left. Ayre didn’t realise that he was holding his breath until he started breathing again. At least now he had only one human to deal with. How difficult could it be?

“Are you deliberately trying my patience?” asked Fuego across the water. It was past sunset now. The sky was a soft muted violet of a watercolour painting and the place was wrapped in muffled silence.

“I am simply waiting for you to take the hint and leave,” replied Ayre.

“Ha!” Fuego’s face split into a wide grin. “So you are not deaf or dumb after all!”

“I am neither of those things, no,” replied Ayre with a frown; he was trying to figure out what had compelled him to break his silence so abruptly. He had known it to be a mistake, of course. So what happened? Was it weariness? Or, perhaps, hunger? Or was it something much more worrisome – something like a hidden desire to see what would happen next?

“Just playing me for a fool in front of my friends then?” asked Fuego, interrupting his thoughts.

“That was not my intention.” Fuego smirked.

“Will you finally tell me your name?” he asked. “I’m sure you’ve heard mine.”

“That was not my intention either.”

Fuego studied him with narrowed eyes.

“You are not a local, are you?”

“Do you know all the locals to assume as much about me?”

“There!” Fuego pointed a finger at him. “The way you talk. Locals don’t talk like that.”

Ayre sighed in defeat. “I am not a local.” Or a human, he thought to himself.

Fuego nodded. “So what’s your name?” he asked. “What should I call you?”

“There is no need for you to call me anything.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not staying long.”

“Then you have just given me a perfect reason to speed things up.”

“What are you talking about?”

Fuego didn’t reply. Instead, he kicked off his boots, pulled off his trousers, and practically ripped off his sleeveless shirt, revealing a lean sparsely muscled body underneath. Ayre stared and swallowed. Fuego, bathed in the warm violet hues that still prevailed, was enticing. Ayre’s skin flushed again, deeper red this time. Thankfully the night was fast approaching, so his full-body blush was well masked. Ayre opened his mouth to protest but it was too late.

Fuego was already wading his way through the dark water towards him. The first stars began to twinkle above their heads. Ayre turned his back towards him, not knowing what to do. On one hand, he was a trained dragon warrior and could overpower this puny human being in one single breath – but, on the other hand, he couldn’t do it unless he wished to give himself away. In other words, his hands were tied, which made him feel oddly vulnerable and uncertain; a feeling he wasn’t familiar with.

The moment Fuego reached him, his breath hit the back of Ayre’s neck, scattering so many goosebumps across his skin that even in as little light as was left of the day their appearance didn’t escape Fuego’s notice.

“I warned you, didn’t I?” whispered Fuego right from behind. “I told you that you’d get cold.”

Ayre balled his hands into fists, too aware of the human’s proximity. This was unacceptable. No one had ever stood this close to him outside of his training in the arena, but even then they were always separated by layers of cloth and armour. Unseen to the eye, each scarlet tunic bore a great number of protective enchantments that were carefully woven into their fabric, repelling the enemy and protecting their human body from injury.

Ayre shivered violently when Fuego began to blow air against the back of his neck.

“Stop it,” he growled.

Fuego stopped.

“What are these?” he asked next.

Ayre knew that he was talking about an array of intricate patterns covering his back. He could practically feel the human’s hungry eyes following their progress.

“Tattoos.”

“I know what they are.”

“So why do you ask?”

“What do they mean?”

“What do you think they mean?”

Fuego let out a frustrated breath.

“Do you always speak in riddles?” 

Ayre smirked, pleased that he had wrong-footed him at least a bit. “Perhaps,” he replied.

Ayre held his breath when he felt Fuego come to stand even closer. Surprisingly, he didn’t attempt to touch him, though his presence seemed to do that well enough on its own.

“What are you doing?” asked Ayre when Fuego didn’t speak for a while.

“I’m trying to figure out what they are.”

“And what is your conclusion?” asked Ayre, genuinely curious; he didn’t know what they would look like to a human eye because of the magic that his brother used to disguise their true purpose.

Fuego let out a sigh that once again sent an army of shivers down his spine. “It’s no use,” he said; “it’s too dark now. You will just have to let me see them during the light of day.”

“I’m busy down in the caves during the light of day,” replied Ayre without thinking.

“You’re a dirt-digger?!” spluttered Fuego.

“A dirt-digger?!”

Furious, Ayre whirled around and found himself nose to nose with Fuego.

“How dare you call me a dirt-digger?” roared Ayre, forgetting that he wasn’t a dragon prince in these parts.

“Well, isn’t that what you do?” asked Fuego, smirking at him. Ayre’s keen dragon eyesight discerned every little detail on his pretty face. “Dig in the dirt all day long, no?”

Ayre scoffed.

“Don’t talk about things you don’t know anything about,” he said, raising his chin so high it brushed the tip of Fuego’s nose.

Fuego burst out laughing.

“Things I don’t know anything about?” he asked. “Do you even know who I am?”

What a ridiculous question, thought Ayre; how could he possibly know that when he had never seen him before? However, he came up with the following response:

“You are obviously someone who enjoys pestering others and who doesn’t know anything about what is going down in the caves,” answered Ayre in a scolding manner reminiscent of Ayzu. “For your information, we do not dig in the dirt. We locate and extricate precious stones and we use special tools to do so. Now,” he continued upon realising that his little lecture had a rather stupefying effect on Fuego, “I have promised to meet some of my fellow treasure-hunters for an evening meal…”

It wasn’t strictly speaking true. Ayre had been planning on having a meal, though he hadn’t made any plans with the other treasure-hunters – yet it was entirely possible that after their usual trip to the temple some of them would proceed to the same tavern. It just occurred to him that it was a good enough excuse to provide someone as persistent as Fuego with.

“Very well,” replied the latter with a cheerful grin. “I’ll see you around!”

Ayre was still blinking in surprise as Fuego made his way back to the shore. “What a befuddling human!” he huffed in frustration, shook himself out of his stupor, and finally climbed onto the rock to dry. There, stretching his long naked form under the light of a crescent moon, he thought back on his encounter with Fuego.

He could not recollect ever feeling so many contradicting emotions at the same time. Fuego was… interesting. His looks were so enticing with those hooded slanted eyes and bow-like pouty lips, while his manners and his conduct were simply infuriating. As he stared at the stars above, Ayre wondered if Fuego would keep his promise and see him around.