The Dragon

He reined his horse in just outside the forest. He reached in the pouch tied to his saddle and pulled out a roll of parchment. Carefully unrolling it, he held it up so that it was just beneath the line of the horizon in the distance. It was a perfect match! At last he had found the Mount of S'Gal! The drawing on the parchment was identical to the mountain of rock in the distance. The longest part of his quest was now complete, but the hardest part was yet to come.

His quest had started two long years ago and had led him through many kingdoms. The King of Rathgenar had offered a huge portion of his kingdom's coffers for the return of his daughter. And William, having sensed the urging of the gods, accepted the king's offer. The king provided him with two good horses, provisions and coin for the journey. The most help came in the form of a parchment. The king's mage had had a vision and wrote it down when he awoke. It was a drawing of a mountain and a dragon. The dragon was S'Gal and the mountain was his lair. The mage said he would find the princess Gwendolyn, inside the mountain. And the only clue was that everyone who saw the dragon claimed it flew off to the east.

"Return my daughter to me, warrior," the king had told him. "And a third of my treasury is yours. Others have also accepted, but they have all failed. She means the world to me, and any resource I have is at your disposal."

"Your Majesty, if your daughter lives, you will see her again." And so William had left the king and began his quest. He had two strong horses, a sturdy bow and full quiver, and his sword. He was a marksman with the bow and, with his father's sword, he was unequaled in combat. His spirits remained high throughout his journey.

After collecting his thoughts, he spurred his horse toward the mountain. It wasn't long, though, before neither horse would take another step closer to the mountain. He left them at a rock pile and proceeded on foot.

The sun was a couple hours above the horizon, yet, by the time he reached the only opening in the mountain. It was halfway up the side and there was no obvious path from below. He did see the bleached bones and tattered remnants of a previous rescuer who had not been so lucky as to make it all the way up to the opening. He liberated the corpse of its purse and started his climb. As he continued upwards, he wondered why there weren't more bodies littering the bottom of the mountain. The climbing was difficult and at times he only found purchase for his hands and was forced to pull himself up the mountain with just his arms.

He finally reached the opening as the final rays of light were fading from the sky. He didn't like the idea of meeting the dragon in the dark after a strenuous climb. He looked around and found a suitable place above the opening to rest for the night.

William awoke with the sunrise and stretched the sleep out of his muscles. He climbed down to the opening and slowly started into the mountain. He kept to the side of the tunnel and felt his way along the wall. He felt a constant warm breeze against his face and, as his eyes were slowly accustomed to the darkness, he detected a faint glow down the tunnel.

He rounded a wide bend and saw that the tunnel opened into a huge cavern. He unslung his bow and nocked an arrow then slid along the wall to the cavern entrance. There were a few lit torches but the glow came from one corner of the cavern. Princess Gwendolyn lay on a simple rock altar and her body seemed to glow from some magic. And there, a few hundred yards away, lay the dragon, S'Gal. William started creeping along the wall towards Gwendolyn's body.

"Welcome, warrior." William felt the words in his mind rather than heard them with his ears. He looked at S'Gal, but the dragon hadn't moved.

"Yes. It is I. And I have one, simple question for you:" And S'Gal was instantly up and his head towering above the cavern floor. S'Gal's voice roared in William's mind, "WHY HAVE YOU COME INTO MY HOUSE?"

William reeled as if from a physical blow. He regained his balance and replied, "I have come for the princess. Let me have her and I shall leave."

"Silly human. Look!" And William followed S'Gal's gaze to the far corner. In it was a pile of bones. "That is all that is left of the others who came for the same reason."

"No, dragon. They came for greed and lust and were doomed before they saw this place. I have come simply to take her back to those that love her. And you cannot stand in the way of love!" And with that, William raised his bow, sighted and loosed the arrow, all in the blink of an eye. The arrow flew true to its mark and pierced the soft skin inside S'Gal's nose. William knew that he did not have a chance in piercing the tough scales of the dragon's hide, so he concentrated his aim on the soft areas on S'Gal's head: eyes, mouth, nose. In a heartbeat, another arrow sped towards the dragon. This one entered S'Gal's eye with a pop. William had just enough time to loose one more arrow as S'Gal charged toward him.

Now the dragon was blind as the third arrow pierced the other eye. And S'Gal was in a rage. William ran to the side and climbed up to a ledge. S'Gal was sweeping his long neck and tail around the cavern in an effort to locate the elusive warrior. As S'Gal raised his head to roar another challenge, William let fly with two more arrows. These flew into the dragon's mouth and stuck in his throat.

William set his bow down and removed the quiver from his back and drew his sword. As S'Gal's head moved toward the cavern wall below the ledge, William leapt. His timing was perfect and he landed right on the dragon's head. S'Gal began whipping his head around in an effort to dislodge the warrior. But William had slid down the dragon's face and was clinging to the arrow in S'Gal's right eye. William drew back his right arm and speared the sword into S'Gal's left eye. The whole of his arm was in the dragon's eye socket and he felt the dragon stagger as the sword pierced the skull. William pulled his sword out and slammed it in again. This time the blade went through the skull to the hilt.

S'Gal collapsed onto the cavern floor. "Very well, warrior. You may have the girl. For love."

And William felt a hot, fetid breath rush out of the dragon as he died. He wondered what the dragon meant by that last phrase: "For love." He looked over at the princess and she no longer glowed, but she also wasn't moving. He grabbed a torch from the wall and walked over to her. She was still alive but still touched by magic. He found a coil of rope by the bones of his predecessors. He picked up the princess and carried her out of the tunnel. Using his sword belt he secured her to his back and tied the rope around a boulder. Slowly and carefully he lowered himself to the bottom of the mountain. He then carried her back to the horses and rode to the forest.

He decided to camp there before heading back to Rathgenar the next day. He built a shelter for the princess before building a fire. Then he built a shelter for himself. And it wasn't long before he had a couple small forest creatures roasting on a spit over the fire.

He couldn't take his eyes off the princess. Only the slow rise and fall of her chest under the soft material of her gown showed she was alive. He watched her all through his meal. He thought how beautiful she looked, and he was sure he would never find someone as beautiful as her for himself. But he was glad that he was going to reunite her with her father. Maybe the king's mage would know how to revive her. After he finished eating, he leaned over her and whispered, "Good night, my Princess." And kissed her softly and tenderly on her lips. As he pulled his head away and opened his eyes, he saw her looking at him. He saw tenderness in her eyes and then they slowly closed again. William sat looking at her in wonder for a moment before going to lay down.

He had no idea how long he had been asleep, but he was awakened by a soft touch on his chest. He opened his eyes and saw the princess sitting beside him stroking his chest. He sat up. "My Lady! What...? How...?"

"It was your kiss, warrior," Princess Gwendolyn told him, as she continued to caress his chest. "Your kiss defeated the final spell of S'Gal. I saw everything. My body was frozen, but my spirit was free. You are very brave, warrior. I don't know what my father offered you, but I want to thank you personally for saving me and reviving me."

"You're very welcome, my Lady. I only did what the gods requested of me."

"I don't think you understand, warrior. I want to thank you 'personally'." And her hand slid down his stomach, beneath his loin cloth and gripped his manhood.

"But, my La..." William's protest was cut short when Gwendolyn's mouth covered his own. Her tongue immediately probed his mouth. Her tongue caressed his as her hand caressed his hardening member. His passion took over and he rolled over on top of her. Her legs spread apart as she felt his hardness straining against her. Now he was cradled between her knees and she was anticipating the passion she knew would come.

He pressed his mouth hard against hers and cupped a breast in his hand. The shape of it felt perfectly sized for his hand and he rubbed his palm in circles over her nipple. She moaned softly and held him closer. He fondled her firm breast and pinched her nipple between his fingers. She melted in his strong hands as her own gripped at the flesh on his back.

He raised himself onto his knees and slowly slid her gown up to her waist. She sighed as his hands slid along her skin. She raised her hips to help him remove her undergarment. She shivered as the cool night air came in contact with her enflamed womanhood. She gasped and her breath caught in her throat as William leaned over and his tongue snaked between her nether lips. His tongue slid over the button of her clit and then up into her sex. She moaned and arched her back. No one had ever used their tongue on her like this. The feeling was intense, and she knew that this warrior could bring her to orgasm with his tongue alone. She grabbed the sides of his head with her hands and held his mouth tight against her while she reveled in this new feeling. His tongue was soft, yet firm. The heat of his mouth only quickened her passionate journey.

As she felt herself nearing orgasm, she lifted his head. "I want you inside me now, warrior!"

He positioned himself between her legs and lowered his mouth to her breast. As he thrust himself inside her, he bit her nipple. "Ooohhh!" was all he heard as she lifted her hips to take him all the way in. He slid his cock in and out as she matched his rhythm. She was so wet and so hot that he knew it wouldn't be long before he reached orgasm. He sensed she was close to cumming, so he increased his pace. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. She held him tight against her as she rubbed her clit against the base of his cock. He ground his hips against hers to give her more stimulation as her orgasm began to wash over her. The walls of her pussy started contracting against his cock like a baby nursing from its mother's breast. And that was all he needed. His balls exploded and William's seed shot through his cock and filled Gwendolyn.

They continued to move together slowly for a while as they returned from their trip of passion. Then William rolled them over and he held Gwendolyn to his chest as she drifted off to sleep. He lay there, stroking her hair, caressing her back and listening to her breathe. He wondered how this moment had begun. It had happened so quick. He was lost in her passion before he realized it. Would it happen again? He didn't know. But he had a feeling that when they reached Rathgenar he would ask the King for his daughter instead of the reward.