Sweat made the grip almost impossible to hold. His heart thumped in his chest and every beat forced blood through his veins, making him feel his entire body throb. Each breath was ragged and failed to provide his body with enough air as his mind prepared for a fight.

“Move it.” One of the guards shoved him from behind, causing him to stumble forward. The chain mail that covered his upper body clinked together at every step. His simple leather sandals kicked up dust with every step.

Sand. It was used to clean up the blood of previous combatants.

The simple cloth garments, chain mail, sandals, sword, and his desire to live were his only tools.

“I’m going to die.” His voice was shaky as he accepted his fate. There was no way he could survive this. He was here to die a horrible death to provide entertainment!

Somehow, speaking those words settled something within him. His body stopped trembling and everything became clear. Details he never would’ve seen popped out at him. A rusty rivet on the door, a chip in the shield on the rack, the distant roar of his opponent.

Slowly, he walked towards the small door that would lead him to the arena. That’s where he would die. That’s where he would be punished for failing to repay a debt to a noble.

That’s where hundreds of professional gladiators met their gruesome death. Trained killers, dispatched by the dozens as if they were nothing but children.

Burned, chewed, smashed, crushed, impaled. None of those deaths seemed pleasant to him.

Another roar caused him to start trembling again. He wanted to cry. He wanted to beg to be spared. He wanted to escape.

No. He wouldn’t give those fat, greedy bastards the joy of knowing he was a coward.

Clutching his short sword until his knuckles turned white, he picked up his pace towards the entrance. He would die fighting. He wouldn’t sully his family name… Even if he didn’t have a family.

Practically bursting through the metal door, he stepped into the arena. The glare of the rising sun temporarily blinded him, making him shield his eyes with his unoccupied hand as he walked to the center of the arena where the walls blocked the light.

The cheers and jeers of the spectators were quickly filtered out as he walked, with head held high, to the center of the flat battleground.

No words were said. No speech made about his crimes. No noble stood up to wish him luck like they did to the others.

He was the interlude. The quick death without much of a fight.

The sound of a gate crank being spun caught his attention and he spun to face it. A large, metal portcullis slowly raised off the ground, opening the way for his opponent. His killer.

From the dimly lit room burst a red dragon. Two menacing horns graced its wedge-shaped head as it looked around for its next victim. Scars, new and old crisscrossed its damaged scales, testament to its undefeated record. A tapered tail swung behind him, providing balance as it stalked into the arena. A pair of large, red wings were neatly tucked against its sides, restrained by metal clamps that kept them locked.

It was a slave.

A beast, chained up and forced to fight. Forced to kill.

Kill him.

His pity quickly vaporized as the dragon locked its piercing eyes on him. Slowly, with a crouched body, it approached. Each step caused muscles to ripple under its scales, an occasional scraping noise being emitted as the tail scrapped along the ground.

“God have mercy.” The human gasped as he unconsciously took steps back. He raised his pitiful little sword in front of him.

Even though it was a useless gesture, he felt protected. His eyes flicked back and forth, looking for something, anything, that could change the situation. An open door to flee, a hole in the glass barrier and chain fence that separated them from the spectators, anything.

Nothing.

It was him and the dragon.

His heart attempted to escape his body, almost as if it was trying to flee. Then it dropped. As his foot slid back, it collided with the wall behind him. He was out of room to run.

Holding his sword up, the tip pointed at the dragon, he started to skirt to the side, watchful of a sudden attack.

Why wasn’t it attacking? The dragon stood in the center of the arena, but had stopped stalking towards him.

The roar of the crowd died as they waited for the beast to charge. The silence only caused the thunderous pounding of his heart to be even more deafening.

He could almost hear them leaning forward in their seats.

As the dragon eyed him, he returned the favor. He looked for a weakness. A limp, a fresh wound, a blind spot. Anything that would give him an edge. As he looked the dragon in the eyes, he saw something.

A spark. A flicker. A brief glimpse of something. Intelligence?

The eyes weren’t looking at the next meal. They were scrutinizing him. Studying him.

“You’re different.” The voice was deep. Deep, but distinctly feminine.

The muffled sounds of the audience died immediately.

“You… You can speak?” His sword lowered slightly in shock

That was impossible! The dragon didn’t speak! Hundreds of battles and it had never spoken a single word.

“You’re different.” The red repeated.

“Wh-what do you mean?” His body still trembled as a hint of hope started to peak through the clouds cast the shadow of death and inevitability.

“You are different.” Turning her massive head, the dragon checked the doors to make sure no guards had arrived to kill them both. “You are fighting to survive, not to kill. As am I.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the nobles raising a ruckus, shoving and yelling at the guards to urge the show to continue. “I am here to die. This is my punishment.”

“Time is short. Free me and I shall free you.” The dragon gave the arena another scan. Behind the portcullis, heavily armed guards prepared to enter the battleground.

The man remained still. Whether it was because of terror, surprise, or a mixture of the both, he didn’t know. The twang of a crossbow snapped him out of his stupor.

Too late. The metal bolt flew through the air directly at his chest.

As it sliced through the air, it struck an unexpected obstacle. The dragon’s tail flicked up and intercepted the would-be lethal projectile. It embedded itself into her flesh, breaking scales to do so.

A hiss of pain came from the dragon. “I can only take so many of these. Hurry and free me and I shall return the favor.”

His mind came up with a thousand different scenarios simultaneously. His eyes flicked back and forth, soaking in every fine detail of the area. The clanking of heavy armor caught his attention as knights and archers prepared to storm the arena. A few more twangs sent the deadly metal darts slicing across the flat ground.

Thwap!

The sound of a bolt embedding itself in the wall snapped him into action. His sandaled feet slapped against the ground as he kicked up the thin layer of sand and sprinted towards the dragon. Dodging back and forth to throw off the crossbowmen’s aim, he closed the gap between him and the dragon.

Seeing the human jump into action, the dragoness did the same. Closing the gap much faster than the human ever could, she shielded him with her bulk. “The bolts, they are weak.”

Quickly inspecting the metal bar that wrapped around her midsection, he spotted the worn metal bolts that held it together.

His heart pounded and his body shook in a combination of absolute fear of the creature and the danger that came with the loud clanking of the portcullis being raised. Despite the adrenaline that pumped through his veins, his hands moved with surgeon-like precision, handling the sword like he was a trained swordsman.

Jamming the blade between her ribs and the metal restraint, he put his foot up against her side and pulled. He wasn’t sure what would give first, the bolts, the sword, her scales, or his hand.

A audible ping gave him an answer as the first of the sanded-down bolts snapped and popped out of its socket. The next sound was one of her red scales cracking. Another twang of a crossbow being fired and the clatter of the bolt deflecting off her scales followed.

In quick succession, the last two bolts popped free and the heavy metal restraint fell onto the ground with a loud thud and a cloud of dust.

With a trembling roar, her red wings extended to their full length and beat a few times, turning the arena into a maelstrom of dust and sand. Shielding his eyes from the flying particles, the human didn’t see her foot extend towards him with talons spread.

“Fuck!” He yelled as he was picked up off the ground. His body tried to right himself, causing him to flail as the ground shrank away. The sword fell away from his hands as he clung to the dragon’s leg and he felt his sandals slip off.

The glass barrier only rose high enough to protect the spectators from any flames from the grounded dragon.

Now, she was no longer grounded.

The chains that covered the rest of the arena were rusted and old, originally meant to thwart the dragon’s escape. That was years ago. Years of rain, snow, wind, heat, and cold.

Quickly tucking its wings against her sides, the dragon’s head and neck fit through the holes in the chain. The shoulders of the dragon’s powerful body is what struck it.

It gave a brief hint of resistance before it gave way, shattering and showering pieces of corroded metal down on the terrified, fleeing audience below.

More bolts and a few arrows futilely tried to strike her down but they couldn’t pierce her scales after their long arc.

Despite being unable to fly, the human struggled and squirmed, pounding at her paw as she flew higher and higher.

His heart was beyond mere panic now. Death by dragon was one thing, but watching the city that he had been imprisoned in slowly shrink until the largest of buildings was no larger than his hand triggered something else in him.

His fear of heights kicked in and overtook his rational mind. His only desire was to avoid going any higher.

“Stop that!” The dragoness craned her neck as she flew and looked at the squirming human.

He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. He was gripped with pure terror.

His stomach suddenly lurched up as the dragon started to descend into the forest. Vision spinning, he felt her powerful wings flare and flap to hover above the ground before she gently landed on three legs.

The moment she released him, he stumbled away and heaved. The first few were dry, but the tingle of bile rising in his throat caused him to double over and hurl his last meal into the tall grass.

Chunks of gruel and dried meat mixed with his stomach acid splattered on the ground and filled the clearing with a sour scent.

Stomach empty, his knees buckled and he collapsed, barely missing the expanding puddle of puke. The smell burned his nose as he panted, trying to reclaim his lost breath. Gasping for air and squeezing his eyes shut to stop the spinning, he didn’t notice the dragon approach him.

“Will you be okay here?” She asked, a complete lack of concern in her voice.

“Wh-what do you mean? Where’re you going?” He sat up and wiped a drop of bile from his chin.

“You freed me, I freed you.”

His mind cleared quickly once her meaning came through “You’re leaving? You can’t leave me here! They’ll hunt me down!”

She seemed to consider it for a moment.

He expected her to leave. Why would she care? She got her freedom, he was just the tool she used to get it.

“Hurry up then, we must go.” The dragon sat on its haunches and waited, folding and extending her wings that had been trapped for so long.

Before she could change her mind, he stood up on shaky legs and brushed himself off. “I’m ready.” He walked to her side and examined her, wondering how to best climb onto her back.

“You would fall to your death.” She explained as she gently grasped his midriff again. “This is for your safety.”

Her takeoff was much gentler this time but before long, they were soaring high above the trees. He still trembled, but shutting his eyes or focusing on the scales on her belly helped prevent another panic attack.

They flew for most of the day, occasionally taking a break to rest her atrophied wings and to take drinks from the sparse streams or lakes.

When he felt brave enough, he looked down, villages, towns, and even large cities passed under them as they flew. Everything looked different from the sky. A few large landmarks gave him a general idea of where he was, but none of the cities or towns looked familiar. Occasionally, he saw a person on the ground look up in awe or fear as the dragoness silently glided overhead.

As the sun slowly started to begin its trip towards the horizon, they arrived at her destination. She landed in a cave nestled low in a mountain, almost concealed by the surrounding forest but giving it an impressive view.

They were both exhausted. One from flying and one from trembling the entire trip.

Without a single word, she plodded deeper into the cave, leaving him at the mouth of it without a clue of what to do. Should he stay? Was she telling him to leave?

A quiet, pained wail made him investigate. Despite the voice in his head telling him to leave, he quietly walked deeper into the cave. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he slowly crept deeper.

He spotted her curled up in the middle of the cold rock, her head low and tears streaming down her face.

“Is… Is something wrong?” He cautiously approached her, one foot sliding forward at a time to prevent himself from tripping but also because he didn’t know why she was suddenly crying.

She shook her head, flinging the tears away. “Everything’s as it should be.”

“Then why are you crying?” Slowly extending a hand, he touched her neck, resting it there in an attempt to comfort her.

“Because everything is as it should be.”

Her cryptic explanations didn’t give him any answers but he did his best to comfort her. Rubbing the scales on her neck, a quiet purr told him to continue.

“I’m surprised you are still here.” She said quietly, her crying not evident in her voice.

“Well… I didn’t get to say thank you.” Running his hand down her neck, he was surprised by their texture. He thought it would’ve felt like rocks, but they were smooth aside from the scars and chips that occasionally blemished the red scales. Instead of being cold, they were warm to the touch and he could tell that she could feel the touch as much  as he could.

“You helped me and I helped you. No need to thank me if we’re even.”

He shook his head “You could’ve left me when you first landed. As far as I’m concerned, you helped me more than you needed to.”

The coppery smell of blood made him look around for the source. Tracing her body, he spotted the bolt that was burrowed in her tail.

“Oh god.” He said with a gasp.

“It’s fine. I’ll pull it out later.” She replied.

Shaking his head, he stood up and shuffled over to better examine it. Almost half of the shaft was buried deep into her tail, the barbed head would cause more damage if she pulled it out.

“No, no, you’ll tear your tail in half.” Looking around, he noticed that nothing in the cave could help with pulling it out. Nothing to sterilize the wound, nothing to stitch it together, nothing to bandage it up. “Removing it won’t end well… Do you have anything to stitch it up?”

Her silence was the answer he needed.

“Oh. Right. Dumb question.”

He needed to go to the town nearby and buy supplies. Buy. With what? He was broke. The broken scales around her wound gave him an idea.

“I’m going to get this out for you, but I need the right stuff to patch it up.” Knowing that he would have to remove a few scales to properly stitch the wound closed, he pulled out a few of her red scales.

Hissing in pain, the dragoness tried to pull her tail away from him. “What are you doing?”

“These need to come out so I can stitch you up.” Holding up two halves of a scale and one whole one, he showed them to her “And they’ll pay for the supplies.”

“Then make it quick.” She settled down on the ground, resting her head on her forepaws. When he didn’t move, she gave him a questioning look.

“I don’t know where the nearest town is…”

With an annoyed growl, she stood back up and started walking back towards the mouth of the cave. He trailed behind her, following her back to the entrance.

“This better be worth the effort.“ She muttered as she once again grabbed the human and took off into the sky, skimming low over the trees towards the small town that she knew of.

Still terrified, he clutched the scales against his chest, not wanting to accidentally drop them during the flight. After a few heart-pounding minutes, the red dragon slowed her flight and landed in a clearing next to a small pond.

“It’s that way.” She gestured with a wing towards the trees in the direction they had been flying. “There’s a path that cuts close to here. I’ll be hiding near here. Get your things and come back… Or run away like I expect you to. Those scales will probably give you a nice start to your new life.”

Watching her take a drink of water, stood there feeling a bit insulted. “You’ll be surprised when I come back.”

Walking through the trees, he quickly found the path the dragoness had talked about. It was quite big enough to indicate carriages, but it was wide and was made of cobblestone, meaning it saw plenty of traffic. From the path, he could see a small house in the distance so he set off towards it.

The town was small, but growing. A market jutted from the cluster of houses, a few people browsed the various wares of the vendors.

It didn’t take long for him to sell the scales he had to the vendors who bid for them. Broken or no, they fetched a nice price. Best of all, no questions were asked.

“Is there an apothecary here?” He asked the victorious vendor as he received his payment of fifteen gold coins.

“Over that way, there’s a sign on her house.” The man pointed deeper into the cluster of homes.

“Thank you, sir.” He gave him a nod of appreciation and quickly headed in the direction. The rows of houses looked very similar, all built of stone and timber, the only thing that made the apothecary stick out was the small wooden sign.

Knocking on the door which lay slightly ajar, he waited for a response.

“Come in!” A very young, high-pitched voice replied to his knocks.

The interior was a mess of various medical objects. Pestles and mortars, vials, bottles, plants, herbs, even a few pieces of unidentifiable meat scattered every inch of the home.

“What can I help you with?” A girl, no older than her late teens stepped out from behind a counter, a green paste smeared across her nose.

“I need a needle, dried cow sinew, something to sterilize everything, and bandages.” He tried to think of anything else he would need but came up blank. His medical experience was limited to removing splinters, not bolts.

Without even a curious look, she took off. Digging through the mess, she quickly scrounged up everything he had asked for and something he hadn’t: A small cluster of leaves. “What’re those?”

“A secret. My secret. They’ll numb the pain, just have the patient chew on it.” She packaged everything into a bundle and placed it on the counter. “The herb is free, the rest of it is… Oh… Two gold?”

“You seem unsure of how much it costs.” He commented as he pulled the payment out and handed it to her.

“I do this because I like helping people, not because I need money. The gold covers the cost of replacing what I gave you and my meals tomorrow.” She pocketed the coins and picked up a nearby pestle and mortar.

Collecting his bundle, he was about to leave when another question popped up in his mind. “Do you happen to know anything about dragon anatomy?”

The clacking of the stone pestle stopped. “That’s a strange question. Why do you ask?”

“Is there anything important in the tail of a dragon?” Dodging the question, he pressed on, wanting to know if there was anything he needed to be wary of while extracting the bolt.

“Probably not. Most animals don’t have anything of importance in their tail.” She said before returning to pasting whatever was in the mortar.

“Thank you.” He opened the door.

“Tell the dragon I said hi!” Her voice called out after him.

With the package in hand, he started his return trip. Retracing his steps through the street, he returned to the market where a few more vendors were setting up in anticipation for the late-afternoon rush.

The path was easy to find and before long, he was by the pond, searching for the dragon. The snap of a branch made him turn around.

“Ah!” He almost fell over but managed to keep his balance. “You are really quiet for your size.”

“I’m surprised you returned.” She said, ignoring his other comment.

“I told you I would.” Unraveling the bundle on the ground, he spread the contents. “Okay. Let’s see that bolt.”

She sat down on the soft grass and curled her tail towards him. He held up the herb. “Eat this, it’ll help with the pain.”

The dragoness gave it a cursory sniff before gently plucking it from his hand, chewing it, and swallowing it.

Next was cleaning the wound. Scooping handfuls of water onto the area around, he carefully scrapped away the dried blood. As the drugs started to work, the dragon slowly slumped to the ground, her muscles unable to hold her up.

“This part is going to hurt…” He told her as he grasped the exposed wooden shaft of the bolt. With a jerk, he snapped the fletching off, trying to keep the buried parts as still as possible.

She responded with a slight hiss of pain, but didn’t move.

Eyeing her tail, he found the opposite side of the wound and pulled a few more scales from it, giving her another spot of exposed hide opposite the entry wound.

Then came the sterilizing. Grabbing the bottle of high-proof alcohol, he uncorked it and washed his hands with it, pouring a small amount on his palm and rubbing it all over. Then he poured it onto the wound itself, causing the dragon to growl and hiss in protest.

“I’m cleaning it first. Getting it out won’t do anything if it gets infected.” He positioned himself to straddle her tail, pinning it to the ground. “Alright… Barbs… I’m sorry about this.”

Using his middle finger, he pressed the bolt further into her. The soft squish of her flesh being pressed by his digit was followed by a rush of fresh blood that quickly pooled into the grass. The bolt sank deeper and deeper until it tore completely through her tail and exited in the second scaleless area.

The herb took the edge off the pain but didn’t numb it completely. She let out a pained roar as the bolt was pushed through her body.

With the head of the bolt exposed, he pulled out the remaining half and sterilized the new wound with more alcohol. Dousing his hands in the alcohol, he cleaned to bloody flesh.

Despite the pain he must’ve been causing, the dragon remained still. Her wings occasionally flinched and her snarls of pain echoed through the trees but her tail remained motionless.

Placing her tail on his lap to prevent dirt from entering the wound, he reached over and grabbed the dried sinew and needle. Threading the tough string through the needle and tying it off, he carefully pierced her hide and began to sew the wound shut. He started with the side closest to him, pressing the needle into her flesh and stabbing it through, he pulled the sinew through.

Then he repeated it with the opposite side. The contents of his stomach started to rise again as he stabbed the dragon. His hands, the needle, and the sinew were covered in blood as the gash slowly closed.

Finishing the stitch, he tied off the string the best he could with his blood-covered hands and flipped her tail as much as he could to stitch the one he had created.

With the remaining sinew, he started on the smaller wound closed. With shaking hands, he punched the needle into the dragoness’ hide and pulled the string through. The smaller exit wound required fewer stitches to seal it and tie it off.

“Done with stitches.” His voice quivered to match his body as he poured the last of the alcohol onto her tail. Throwing the empty bottle aside, he grabbed the bandages. His bloody hands immediately dirtied the cloth bandages as he started to wrap her tail with it.

“I don’t see how that was any better than just ripping it out.” She panted as the pain started to subside. Eyeing his work, she released the pawful of grass she had been subconsciously squeezing.

“Better than ripping out a barbed head and then dying slowly because of an infection.” Still shaking, he pushed her tail off his lap and walked over to the pond, washing his hands in the cool water.

As the blood clouded the water, the reflection of the dragoness approaching him made him turn. She gingerly held a few more of her scales in her teeth and placed them next to him. A slight wobble in her step told him that the drug hadn’t completely worn off.

“Thank you.” She sat and looked at her own reflection. “I guess this is where we part. Those scales should help you settle in.”

He nodded. His work was done and they no longer owed each other.

Yet…

As she slowly opened her wings and gave a few test flaps, he stood up. “Can I live with you?”

The unexpected question made her freeze. Unsure of where the question had come from or if he was serious, she sat there with her wings extended.

“I could be useful. There are things I can do that you can’t.” He pointed at her bandaged tail. “Like that.”

“I know you could be useful.” She folded her wings and looked at the curious little human “But why?”

“I’m like you. Nowhere to go, no one to go to.”

There was a long silence as the dragoness thought. “But what makes you think that living with me will be better?”

“I don’t. My whole life, I’ve lived as a nobody. My dad died in my youth and my mom kicked me out the moment she could. I worked menial jobs and eventually turned to petty theft. I got caught and was sentenced to death.” He sighed and sat next to the pond, looking at his reflection. Emaciated and dirty, he could barely recognize himself. “No family, no kids, no friends, no job, and no possessions. Nothing’s going to change if I go back. I have no marketable skills. I was never an apprentice, I never learned how to farm.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. You think you’re the first? The first human to try and live with a dragon? It doesn’t work. It doesn’t ever work.” She tried to discourage him, having heard stories of humans living with dragons.

“At least let me try!” He practically begged her, dreading the idea of returning to living in the muck of society. “If it doesn’t work out, tell me to leave or just kill me.”

“You are a curious one.” The dragon spent a moment to scrutinize the odd man before deciding. “Fine. Since you were true to your word and helped me with my wound instead of bringing soldiers to kill me, I am inclined to trust you.”

With a talon, she pushed the scales she had placed on the ground closer towards him.

“Is that a no?” He took it as a sign that he should take the scales and leave.

“No. I’m assuming you want more than just a bare cave to live in. Humans are frail… You’re going to want supplies.” She nudged the scales closer, fighting the urge to rethink the situation. “The cave gets cold in the winter. Really cold. Food is raw unless you collect wood for a fire. Most importantly, keep it limited and replaceable. Dragons aren’t always welcome.”

Ecstatic that she agreed, he snatched up the scales and jumped up. “I’ll be right back!” Not giving her a chance to change her mind, he took off for the village again. He didn’t care that he was covered in blood and sweat.

He was going to live with a dragon.