GOT : All Left Behind

"Why discard a tool when you can repair it?"

"He looks scary," Aerion remarked, and I could hardly blame him. Feeding time with the Cannibal was hardly for the faint of heart. The great black beast roasted each pig carcass as it came, one at a time before flinging it into the air and catching it in his maw. As those great jaws slammed shut, it was just barely possible to hear the crunch of splintering bone, but the sound of his bite alone was nearly enough to drown it out.

"He is a dragon," I reminded my son, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder. And on his quiet sister's shoulder, too. Preemptive reassurance was rarely out of place with small children. "One older than your mother's Dreamfyre, wild and unclaimed for decades. Scary is to be expected."

The final hog was hauled out of the cart by a pair of men, the slaughtered creature near as large as one of them and heavier by far, to be placed on the beach. It hit the sand at a respectful distance from the dragon, and the men clambered aboard the now empty cart. After a shout from the workers, it pulled away, leaving the Cannibal to enjoy his meal in peace.

For now.

"Now, who wants to say hello?" I asked the children. As if to punctuate the statement, the Cannibal exhaled a steady stream of vibrant green onto the final pig. This time, as he flung it into the air, the legs of the pig came loose but fell into his gullet all the same. "His hunger should be satiated by now."

"Should be?" Aerea asked, not at all mollified by my statement, horror writ clear on her face.

"Come now, did you not want to meet him?" I asked, scooping up my children to deposit them on my shoulders. Seven Above, I would miss not being able to do so when they grew up. "He's harmless!"

A lie, that.

"That was Aerion!" Aerea protested, but that did not stop me from strolling towards the dragon whose idea of saying hello was to inflict hearing damage. "Aerion wanted to meet him!"

"Cannibal!" I called out to my mount, ignoring my children's protests as they suddenly went very still. "I trust you enjoyed your meal?"

The great black dragon turned his colossal head to face me. Even now, at more than twenty years of age, I was still far smaller than his head, and would always be far smaller than his head. I could have walked down his gullet had I the inclination.

His horns that studded his jaw carved furrows into the sand as his eyes drew level with mine, his gaze briefly flickering towards the children that I carried. His eyes narrowed as his focus shifted to them in truth as he recognized the scent of something new.

The scent of young dragons.

"Yes, they claimed dragons," I told the colossal creature, easily guessing his thoughts. After five years with the Cannibal, his expressions were as easy to read as my children's. "And Maegelle is on her way with Dreamfyre, so behave."

The familiar rumble of his reverberated through me and I could feel my children start to grab hold of me. Since my hair was too short to offer anything to grip, that meant my ears were the next best thing.

Poor, delicate things.

I rather liked my ears.

"There is no need to be afraid, that's just how he says hello," I reassured my children as the dragon's head neared.

My first instinct was to drop them onto my back, to keep them away from the creature with a noted taste for pork, both regular and long, before reason reasserted itself. The Cannibal was unable to roast them without hitting me as well. And he could hardly bite one of them without taking off my head as well.

I stood my ground unflinchingly as the Cannibal carried out his inspection.

For a nerve-wracking moment, the only sound was that of air rushing into the beast's nostrils, each a cave as large as my head and as dark as night. The heat that radiated from the dragon was like standing beside a bed of coals, but I endured it all the same.

He was a reasonable creature, after all. By giving him an inch, he would concede to giving me an inch. I had treated him well these past few years. He would not throw away a life of relative luxury. Luxurious for a dragon, at least.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the Cannibal snorted and turned away. His head rose and he began to trudge back to his own little pit. The massively oversized hovel was hidden among the dunes, the stone walls having long since accumulated enough sand to blend into its surroundings. Even the linen roof, stretched over the top, had taken on the pale hues of the sand that peppered it so frequently.

"See?" I said, lifting my children from shoulders and back onto the beach. The little ones wasted no time scampering close to me to hide behind me. "Perfectly harmless."

"He's scary…" Aerion muttered, and I gave his hair a reassuring tousle. His sister's, too. She might not say it, but meeting the Cannibal was not an activity most people would ever consider fun.

"And you two were as brave as The Warrior himself," I reassured them, and they swelled with pride before I turned towards the retreating form of the dragon. "Where do you think you're going, Cannibal?"

My children quite rapidly deflated. The dragon, too, seemed far from pleased at my question. His massive head swung back around to look glare at me.

"Papa, why?" Aerea asked, shuffling back behind me. "He was almost gone."

"We aren't done yet!" I called out, and the Cannibal turned fully around. He neared, moving noticeably slower than before, and I recognized the warning for what it was. I was his equal, that slow pace all but screamed, not his master.

His head swooped low to the ground, pale green eyes meeting mine. Those orbs were still nearly solid green, the pupils barely visible as his gaze bored into my head. My children huddled close, but all the Cannibal did was exhale once. Though not a burst of flame, it was still a blast of furnace heat which caused a sheen of sweat to rapidly form on my skin.

Before he had a chance to further demonstrate that I was not the one in charge, a bone-rattling roar filled the air, earning the full attention of the Cannibal. His gaze tore itself loose as he drew himself up to his full height and answered with a roar of his own, this one far louder to my ears.

Looking to the sky, I saw a familiar blue dragon approach.

Maegelle had arrived.

Splendid.

Dreamfyre, though slenderer than the Cannibal, was still one of the largest dragons in the family. Despite her grace and calm demeanor, she was more than capable of making the ground quake with a rough landing. Or, was more frequently the case, when she wanted to make an entrance.

The children fell to their knees as the great blue dragon slammed into the ground, sending out a wave of sand as she skidded to a halt. Her head briefly lowered to the ground to allow her rider to dismount before rearing back up to her full height.

She did not roar. Dreamfyre was a calmer dragon than most, thankfully. She did, however, offer her fellow dragon a singularly unimpressed look.

The Cannibal did not share her restraint, offering another challenging roar. It was good to see how much he had improved. And all it had taken was gradual exposure to Dreamfyre.

First, it had been visiting the Cannibal after spending time with Dreamfyre to get him used to the scent. Then feeding Dreamfyre outside of the improvised pit once a week before increasing the frequency. Then feeding them outside the pit together.

And it only took five years for the Cannibal to go from cowardice to overt displays of aggression. Well, five years less however much time I had spent researching dragon behaviors in the library. But I had always been more than a little fond of reading, thank the Crone, so I did not count it as a chore.

Now, if only I could extend that same tolerance to seven other dragons in time for Daella's wedding. No, I decided, I would write Corlys to make arrangements to keep him away from the others. That much was actually possible.

A tugging at my sleeve turned my attention from the dragons.

"Mama is here!" Aerea exclaimed, having recognized the approaching shape of Maegelle as she drew close. Aerion did not lack her restraint and took off running towards his mother, who scooped him up eagerly. Well, two could play that game.

Seeing Maegelle struggle ever so slightly to carry our son with both arms, an idea began to form in my head. I picked up Aerea, and carried her over to her mother, but only using my left arm. The right arm had a far more important task ahead of it.

Taking a slightly more circuitous path, I sneaked up on Maegelle from behind. Crouching slightly, I scooped up Maegelle with the remaining arm and quickly regretted it. Carrying small children was a lot easier than a grown woman carrying another small child.

But the happy laughter made the promise of a sore back more than worth it.

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