I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Soothing darkness still hung peacefully over my lair, only disturbed by the pale glint of moonlight coming from the cave before my inner lair. That was, if one did not count the loud snoring Danger made next to me of course, which seemed to be the reason that I had woken up.

Still a bit tired, I smiled and stretched out my claw, gently stroking over her back. The warmth of her pliable fur against my scales was causing me to release a small purr. The thought of having her in my lair for more nights to come was a pleasant one. Still, I wondered if her snoring was just something she did or something inherent to her entire species, honestly, even a full grown dragon could hardly snor that loud.

Well, okay, I’m exaggerating, but not by much.

Time to do something about it. With a swift move of my tail I brought it up to her nose and began lightly flicking it back and forth across her nostrils. She released a little snort and lifted a hoof up, aimless waving it in front of herself in attempt to stop whatever was that was dancing across her nose.

The sight was just so sweet.

I did it again. This time she growled and rolled over, her snoring stopped, but she had yet to wake up.

Much better.

With that out of the way, I let my gaze wander over my living room. When we had finished with our fun, I had collected whatever bedding had survived my little pegasus’s kirin transformation and the subsequent mating we had, and made a sort of improvised bed here. Luckily, the explosion of fire from the change of Fluffy to Danger-Kirin had done less damage than one would expect. Sure, a few pillows where beyond repair, and I had to seperate big parts of some blankets since large sections of them now only resembled charcoal, but it was still more than enough to make a bed for a dragon and a pony.

It was fortunate that due to me being able to breath fire I had taken the precaution of having my bedsheets be mostly fire resistant. This simple safeguard had saved most of them and had allowed the two of us to sleep in relative comfort last night.

Well, what I’m trying to say is, the fire had extinguished itself rather quickly, without any easily combustible fuel in the room the fire had petered out, preventing any serious damage. Mhh, well to be more accurate, the explosion had done most of the damage. The bed frame was in splinters and the mattress was now only scraps of her former self.

So the living room floor it was. I found it to be the better option, considering the smoke and smell in my bedroom. Her kirin form hadn’t minded, but her pony self wasn’t to pleased with tasting the aftermath of the fire whenever she inhaled.

With another yawn, I removed the blankets from around me and rose up. Without the cover of our temporary bed, my body heat was slowly being sapped by the surrounding air.

As quietly as possible, I stretched my wings, twisted my neck around and yawned a third time. Last night had made me feel better than I had in a long time. I had eaten a rather nice dinner, discounting the crushed diamonds, and had just woken from a rather pleasant rest.

I looked back down at Fluffy, remembering the fun we had had last night as well.

It really was good to be me for sure!

With a smirk, I made my way over to the fridge and peaked inside.

Yeah, yeah, one shouldn’t eat late at night because it’s unhealthy, also, males… spare me your thoughts. I was a bit hungry so a little snack wouldn’t hurt.

I took a few rubies and a bottle of apple juice out and turned to exit the kitchen, flicking my tail against the door of the refrigerator as I did so to close it. With my loot in claw, I took a seat on my sofa in the next room. I had something to think about, and eating tended to help with that.

So, while I nibbled on a ruby, my thoughts turned back to the sexy pegasi in my living room. Shakirin-La… the ancient city of the kirin. What had she called it? Place of wisdom, place of peace.

Mhh... I swallowed the ruby. I never had heard of that city in this context before. From what my parents had told me, it was a far darker place. Something dragons tried to forget about, not recover from the darkness it had faded into.

Truth is, in the stories my parents told me, the kirins were the bad guys. Oh surely, they had great wisdom, of course they had, but the story told that they used it to enslave other races. Yes, you heard right, slavery was a big part of their culture, nothing wrong with that of course, but they went too far. They also had a liking for war. I mean, nothing against a good fight, but war? War is a bit over the top, even for black dragons.

I know, we dragons weren’t considered to be the most friendly race around, but we don’t come together to plunder and enslave our neighbours, at least not en masse. Barely more than a claw full of dragons are willing to work together, and even then, the mere suggestion of sharing the treasure often results in tempers rising and claws and teeth meeting flesh as only another fight broke out.

No, dragons didn’t have the right mentality to engage in a prolonged conflict. Even if we did have such a city as Shakirin-La or any form of civilisation, our neighbours would, besides the occasional loss of property and livestock, be mostly safe. We simply prefered to fight each other more than fighting others.

Heh, I chuckled and opened the bottle of apple juice, taking a sip.

What could I do to make her believe Shakirin-La was something other then the ruin of a beaten empire from the old age, failed in its attempt to dominate all of its neighbours. And for those reasons, it had been destroyed and now lay mostly forgotten.

Oh, did I forget to mention the part we dragons played in this.

I snorted, quietly. There was probably nothing we dragons had done to help influence the “greater good” as so many called it. Not even the golden or white dragons, the most friendly of my kind, were immune to greed and the lust for dominance. Even I had to admit, if our species was only made of them, we might not have such a bad reputation. We might even have been able to build a civilisation of our own. Might…

Urg, anyway, we dragons had something to do with the kirins. Something bad, that much was for sure. Legends say, we had given them their power, the wisdom which they had used to beat their enemies. Other say, we had saved them from extinction, long before they rose to power, therefore we were responsible for their might and the damage they had been able to inflict.

Whatever story was true, we dragons looked to be the reason for all the misery. It didn't exactly help us become more liked by the other races.

I rubbed my snout and placed the bottle on the table next to the sofa. None of these thoughts were of any use at the moment. I could deal with Danger’s attempt to find the city later, or more accurately, I had to deal with it later. She had paid me for helping her in a way after all.

I rolled my eyes and frowned. I could already hear her voice in my head: “Pacta sunt servanda!”

Mhh, thinking about it, she wasn’t that bad. While her learning of the dragon code of honor had almost spoiled my enjoyment of last night, how it had ended more than made up for the frustration she had caused me. I could already feel my smile returning remembering what what we had done.

I made my way over to the doorway of my living room, leaning against the frame, I watched as Fluffy slept. Her cuddly body was enwrapped by most of the blankets, she must have cuddled into them in the short time I was out of the bed, while her head rested on three of the four pillows, which were already too big for her in the first place.

I chuckled, no matter what species, females always seemed to gather most of the bedsheets for themself when sleeping. Dragoness’ did it, griffins did it, at least that was what my only friend said whenever he was complaining about a new female he had managed to bed. I was sure it was true for most any other species out there. It must be some law of nature.

Oh, and she had started snoring again.

The thought of crawling back into our little makeshift nest crossed my mind, but I discarded it. There was something else I should do first. Thinking about the griffons had brought something back to my mind I hadn’t spend much attention to yet.

The griffons that had brought Danger here, the ones from the tavern, seemed Tartarus-bent to get their claws on the collar of fire. I remembered their conversation before they had entered my cave.

I looked at the collar, peacefully hanging from one of the knobs of my many showcases.

As far as I remembered, they wanted it back, and it was Dangers task to get it and bring it to them. Otherwise… I growled, otherwise they would kill my pegasus.

Even without the feeling that I had to protect her because of our new deal, I wouldn’t allow some griffon to threaten what was mine in the first place. And this fluffy, soft, cuddly pegasus, well, I saw her as my cuddly, soft, fluffy pegasus.

Not to forget the sexy kirin she could now become whenever the time came for a more, active role…

I pushed myself off the frame. Fortunately, there was an easy solution to the problem these griffins were presenting me.

Placing the last ruby in my mouth, I made my way to the exit. There, I removed a certain stone on the wall and pressed a hidden button behind it. With a quiet click, the blockade that prevent someone from just lifting the portcullis snapped back into the wall.

It was a clever system that protected my inner lair, it had cost me a lot though.

Anyway, I placed my claws on the lattice and pulled it up. The portcullis squealed as I lifted it. Not wanting to wake up my new guest I stopped halfway, throwing an unsure look at the living room.

I could still hear her powerful snoring despite my distance from her.

Good, no damage done. More carefully this time, I pushed the lattice further up until it locked back into its usual place, unfortunately, I had forgotten the loud click that signaled that the lattice had locked in place.

I closed my eyes and sighed innerly, listening. I heard her snoring stop for a moment and was worried I had awoken her, but after a few seconds it came back.

I had gotten lucky. I should oil the portcullis sometime though so raising it wasn't so loud.

Anyway, I stepped outside, and standing there in front of my home, took my time to look around. It was unlikely, but there could have been a creature that had snuck in while I was asleep. It was better to make sure, I wouldn’t let something hang around here when Fluffy was sleeping and couldn’t defend herself. Not to mention that I had my treasure to protect too.

So far, I couldn't see anything living that shouldn't be there. Well, there was only a very small amount of light in the cave, but for a dragon that wasn’t much of a problem. We may not have full night-vision, like some other creatures, but the habit dragons had of living in dark caves had allowed us to evolve better sight in the dark then griffons for example. In any case, there was more than enough light to see in this half darkness.

However, I saw no creature either trying to hide or out in the open. The idea of closing the portcullis came to my mind. It would be safer this way, but on the other claw it would result in waking Fluffy, and I was confident she wouldn’t be happy if I trapped her in my lair... again.

Not that I would mind keeping her in it, but I had gotten a taste of what a happy pony was willing to do... and I wanted more of it.

So, instead of closing the entrance, I flew up and took another final look around. No one to see, neither behind the waterfall, in the bushes, or anywhere else that would serve as an good place to hide.

It had been unlikely in the first place though. I really doubt those griffons had the guts to come in here a second time anyway. In my opinion, they would lurk outside of my cave, waiting for Danger to come out, with or without the collar.

Well, they’re going to be in for a surprise when they expect her to come out only to then be facing me.

I made my way to the tunnel, entering it and heading for the surface.

Before I reached the entrance to my cave that was being illuminated by the soft white glow of the moon, I stopped. I should at least think through what I was going to do before I acted. The last thing I needed was to make a mistake that would put me and Fluffy in danger.

From how they had acted when they had arrived, I assumed these griffons would be nearby. Otherwise, Fluffy might have had the chance to escape them during the night. If that was the case, I should probably count myself as fortunate, it meant I wouldn’t have to look too long before I found them. Furthermore, there would probably be the four from yesterday waiting outside, but maybe even more, they had more than enough time to fetch some reinforcements afterall. Though, if Ludewig had planned this, he would have brought more griffons in the first place, or would he have? Hmm, I wasn’t so sure, I hadn’t spent enough time around him to get a good read on how he responded to new circumstances.

Anyway, with them too fearful to come in, they couldn’t know for certain what exactly had happened to Fluffy. This meant, they either had to stay till I came out and assume I had killed Fluffy, or, she came out, at which point they catch her and depending on if she had the collar or not, decide her fate. Hmm, either way, they had to prepare to stay longer, possibly set up a camp or something. More so, if they weren’t completely stupid, they would have appointed someone, possibly in shifts, to watch the cave entrance incase one of us came out during the night.

Though, what if they had just flown back and were waiting for her in the city, knowing she had no place else to go? I had to consider that too. I didn’t know enough about Fluffy’s social contacts around here yet, heck, I didn’t even know her species till yesterday, so I couldn’t be sure just how entangled she was in other creatures lives.

Well, even in the worst case, I wouldn’t be wasting my time. The cool, fresh, night air was always a welcome experience, especially for clearing my head.

Be it as it may. I approached the exit carefully. Though, I was optimistic that the moonlight was enough to make the guard, if there was one at all, nearly blind to any movement in the darkness of my cave. On top of this, I was as black as the night anyway, so even if their eyes weren’t dilated, it would be a difficult task to find me. And unlike yesterday, I didn’t have something on me that could reflect light and give away my position.

Well, to be fair, the problem was on both sides. They might not be able to see into my cave with any detail, but I needed some time to adjust my eyes to the light outside too. Essentially, both of us were at a disadvantage in being the first to see the other.

So I stood there for a while, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light of the full moon. When they finally did though I was able to see a small portion of grey between the otherwise green bushes a good distance down the mountain.

Crap! That far, he could easily spot me on my way over to him. Not that it would save him, it would only take me a few moments to reach him, but he would be able to alert anyone around him that I was coming. There was just not enough cover around my lair to stay hidden the entire time I made my way over to him. I had to come up with something, or take the risk and blindly storm their position and hope I could eliminate his entire party before they could mount a response. Arg, that was too risky, if Ludewig escaped, Fluffy would live in permanent danger due to the constant threat of revenge.

Danger living in danger, I chuckled, like danger was her middle name. Heh, it was even worse, it was her first. Should ask her about her middle one though.

I turned my attention back to the actual problem. As it seems I had two good options, first, I fly off, letting them think I had killed Fluffy, and while they deliberate on whether or not they should dare to enter my lair, I come back, silently, invisible to them, and kill them all.

It was a good plan actually, the only problem was that the plan was relying on them hesitating to enter my den. If they took the bait too readily, they might be able to make it to my inner sanctum before I realised what they had done, reaching Fluffy before I could return to protect her. Also, what if one escaped? It was the same problem as bolting strait at them.

The second idea was to wait till a cloud crept over the moon, turning the side of the mountain an inky black. I would then be able to slip out of my den and proceed to their camp unseen, able to finish them off one by one while they sleep, none the wiser to my presence.

That sounded a lot better.

Yeah, I know now I could have just returned inside, closed the portcullis, dealt with Fluffy getting angry with me, and then just execute plan A. But back then, this idea didn’t came to my mind. I had also been very eager to have a happy pegasus in my bed the next morning.

So I waited, and waited… and waited.

It must have taken upwards of fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.

What, I am not the most patient of dragons, okay?

When a cloud finally had the courtesy to block the silvery light of the moon, I rushed outside. Like a shadow, I passed the exit and quickly turned left, hugging the edge of my cave’s entrance and… rushed directly into a second griffon keeping watch of my cave.

Well it was a surprise, I didn’t think Ludewig would be that careful, or competent when it came to keeping an eye on my den. I almost felt like commending him for what he had done, almost..

Anyway, there I was, looking right into the eyes of this grey griffon, and there he was, looking right back, not even paying much attention to my claw sticking out of his throat. Only his left eye twitched.

I must say it was a bit rude of him, ignoring what I had done with my claw, especially when it takes a great deal of skill to properly aim, but oh well…

I pulled my claw back, giving him time to think about his manners and went on. He however, just sunk down, making himself comfortable on the ground.

You see, I had to hurry now, it wouldn’t be long until the moon was shining brightly again and his comrate would be able to clearly see him taking an unscheduled nap. I rushed away from my lair and spread my wings, flying the short distance to the treeline. I am a predator after all, so my wings, while not exactly quiet, were far from loud.

It must have been just a few dozen steps from where the other griffon was positioned that I entered the forest. Fortunately, he hadn’t noticed me. And how could he? When I reached his position a few moments later, I saw he was looking in a different direction, hanging in a halfway comfortable position and covered in a full body blanket.

I shook my head innerly, what did he think waiting outside my lair was like, huh? A camping trip? As if I was just some slightly dangerous creature, like a bugbear or the like? Why wouldn’t he just made a fire and cook some tea while he was at it? He was already making himself such an easy target.

I felt anger rising in me. Anything less than his full attention and a deep fear was an insult to me!

I held back a growl and approached him until I stood right behind him. There, I thought, would be the perfect position to enact my punishment on him. The gaul he had to not respect the fame I had earned made my blood boil, I had half a mind to kill him the same way I had killed his comrade. But no, that would be too easy, and wouldn’t be happening.

This fool hadn’t even noticed me, even while I was standing right behind him. Neither my footsteps nor my breath had caught his attention. He was still relaxed and cuddled in his blanket.

I swept my tail through the grass behind me.

Finally, he showed a sign of noticing my presence by tilting his head slightly.

“You see, Lawrence, as I told you, nothing’s happened.” He yawned. “I guess they had a lot of fun in there, and now they’re sleeping till daylight. We’re just wasting our time. I told Leonardo that too, but this fool wanted to show his bravery by going even closer to it.” He pointed at my lair, “I tell you, there is no bravery in going to a harmless lair entrance when the dragon is sleeping.” The griffon reached down and picked up a bottle of what seems to be beer, offering it to me, still without looking in my direction. “Here.”

I took the beer, he then proceeded to use his now free claw to scratch over his forehead.

“Or maybe he ate her and is sleeping anyway,” he added. “This bloodthirsty dragon is capable of anything. But know what? If that’s the case, I’m not going into that stinking, dirty hole he calls his lair, to get the collar for the boss back. No way.”

I reached around his neck and grabbed his beak, pressing it shut, dropping the beer in the process, pulling him against me so he couldn’t make much noise.

While he struggled in surprise and fear, I moved my head next to his, keeping my gaze on my lair. “Stinky, dirty, hole,” I repeated slowly, nodding a bit. With ease I kept his struggling under control while doing so. Now I tilted my head a bit too. “Hmm, could be because this bloodthirsty dragon decorades his lair with the dead bodies of those who are stupid enough to come here without invitation, don’t you think?”

Now I locked gaze with him. “You know, like Leonardo?”

His irises had shrunk to the size of pinpricks, he shivered and wasn’t really able to speak. More so with the pressure on his beak being increased.

So I shook him a bit. “But dirty, I wouldn’t call it dirty.” I let my tone shift to one of someone who had been hurt. “What an offence.”

“Mmpf! Mmh, Mmpf!”

I gave him an snubbed look. “Wow, now you are going too far. Calling it dirty is one thing, but say it is a dump is another.”

“Mmmpf! Mmhmhhmhpf!” He tried to shake his head but my grip was too strong.”

Now a deep, still quiet, growl was mixed into my next words. “What did you say about my ancestry?”

I ignored his following struggling and attempts to speak, placing my claw on his belly. “There can only be one answer to this, you know?”

I saw in his eyes that he knew, knew all too well what was coming next.

I’ll spare you the details, but let’s say dying can take some time, and for someone who had been so disrespectful, it took especially long.

What? You didn’t think just one date with Fluffy would have turned me into a big softy all of the sudden, right? Black Death, remember?

Anyway, I still had work to do. I dropped the body and followed the tracks from his position back to their camp. Though, thinking about it, there was already one griffon too many. There had been only four last evening, now I already know of five. Even though two of them had already been taken care of. This meant they had gotten reinforcements.

What a waste of life, bringing in more wouldn’t help them anyway. I mean, I don’t have a problem with killing them in a good fight, or hunting them down for a meal, but to kill them just because they have the wrong employer, heh, not my favorite way.

There is a line between a stupid, brutish killer, and somedragon with a bit more style, mind you. I have a bit more character then just kill, eat, mate, repeat. Though, that method of operation had a charm all its own for a few days a year.

Anyhow, this griffon had to die to ensure my pegasus’s safety.

So, when I reached their camp, which was more of a hasty build bivouac, with just one tent in it, I counted the sleeping bags. There were eight, two of them were empty, and I assumed there would be one more in the small tent with Ludewig in it.

More than enough to cope with Fluffy, far too few to deal with me.

I looked over the sleeping bags once more, assuring that the rest of them were gathered here. It seemed so.

Good, this meant no one could escape.

Without further hesitation I went to work. Fast like a lightning bolt and quiet like the night itself, I rushed from sleeping bag to sleeping bag, ensuring no griffon would wake up to disturb me now, or ever…

Except for the last one, he had been a lighter sleep then the others. Maybe this was that Lawrence the other griffon had talked about, the one he had been expecting to take over the nightwatch. Who knows. However, when he woke up he was just in time to see me approaching him. At this sight, he sprung up with the intent to get away.

Unfortunately for him, one of his paws had gotten tangled up in his sleeping bag, preventing him from flying away. This however, didn’t stop him from screaming bloody murder though.

To be honest, the thought of letting him escape crossed my mind for a split second. I mean, someone had to bolster my fame by telling the story of what had happened here, but no, not yet. He could be of use still…

I aimed for his chest with my left wing spike, impaling him on it, not even attempting to avoid any vital organs or major arteries. I was successful, stabbing his sternum dead center.

Of course his screams intensified. He screamed like a manticore on fire now, just as I had wanted.

Natural, it didn’t take long for his screams to wake Ludewig, and in the very moment the tent was opened, I threw the griffon right past its entrance when it had been opened sufficiently.

To my surprise it wasn’t Ludewig who had opened the tent, it was Lucia. So she was the one who received a good view of her dying comrade, a camp full of dead griffons, and my best intimidating pose. Bared fangs supported by a roar, the lowered chest and head, the wide spread wings, everything needed to haunt a creatures nightmares.

There was surely no way anything but a dragon could look upon this scene and not be frightened.

I saw on her orange face, which became pale rather quickly, that the scene wasn’t wasted on her.

Mhh, I loved it when a creature appreciated all the effort I had put into something by standing paralyzed in fear.

Oh, and there was Ludewig too, right behind her, hiding behind her tail. That would explain a few things… married, my tail!

Seeing the perfect opportunity, I began approaching them. My claws wide open, like for a welcoming hug, only mine was a bit more threatening of course.

With me coming closer, it was only a matter of seconds till one of them overcame their paralysis. It was Lucia. With a scream of terror, she stepped back, grabbed a dagger from somewhere inside the tent, and held it out before her.

It was a useless weapon, we both knew it, but my guess was that it was the best she could do given the situation and how little time she felt she had.

I laughed and playfully let out a burst of fire. Not enough to burn down the tent but enough to impress upon them the idea that I could at any moment.

“Out!” Lucia screamed and pushed forward, dragging Ludewig with her. This fool tried to hold back, but Lucia’s fear gave her strength, and she pulled him out of the tent and into the open.

With the two of them helpless and in my reach, my liking for good manners came back. “It’s a nice night tonight wouldn’t you say, Ludewig,” I said, “what a pleasant surprise to find you still in my territory.”

When he didn’t respond, I continued on. “Seems you have lost your ability to speak,” I gave him a false look of compassion, “what a pity. I had some questions about the pegasus you brought me, you know?”

Now Lucia stepped between us, her dagger raised, her free claw open, ready to strike. It was as useless as her weapon, though she did the best she could. I knew there was a spear or two around, but they were behind me and out of her reach.

Her gaze quickly traveled from one dead griffon to the other, she gulped before she said, “You killed all of them just to ask us something? What kind of monster are you?”

I chuckled and ignored Lucia. “I told you to leave Ludewig, I gave you a chance.” I shook my head like if scolding a hatchling. “But you didn’t listen, it really is a shame.”

“Ple...pl… “ he started but I waved him off.

“Spare me your begging for mercy, it is useless.” I moved even closer and tried to push Lucia aside, but she swung her dagger at me.

“Keep your claws to yourself!” she yelled. “Ludewig, fly! I’ll keep him occupied”

He tried, but he hadn’t even really opened his wings when a lance of fire shot above his head, stopping him in his tracks.

“You are going nowhere!” I made clear.

And now something happened that I wasn't able to fully understand that day. With a battlecry, Lucia stormed forward, charging at me to buy Ludewig some time. Must have been that love thing I had heard about, it was like friendship, but a few degree deeper I suppose. It makes you weak, making you lose your focus, and, like I was seeing here, drives you to suicide in an attempt to rescue some other being.

It was all so senseless.

While she tried hard to throw her life away, Ludewig was too scared to make another attempt at escape.

What a useless worm he was!

With ease, I grabbed the dagger mid air, its cutting edge of course too weak to penetrate my scales, and wrest it from Lucia. Sending her flying with a slap from my other claw.

It was a backclaw slap, so she would survive.

Without any further distraction, I moved over to Ludewig, grabbing the little whimpering ball of feathers and lifting him up.

“Before I end you useless life,” I said, “I have a few questions.”

Sure, he started to beg for his life again, but it was as useless and annoying as the first time.

I shook him till he fell silent. “It’s over Ludewig, you just need to choose how you leave this world now.” I took a seat and held him in one claw. “Answer my questions and you may leave quickly, don’t, and it will take some time, during which you tell me what I want to know anyway.” I raised a talon, “First, I want to know where Danger got this collar from, and second,” I raised a second talon, “I want to know of any artifacts similar to the one she already retrieved.”

“I don’t know about any similar artifacts, the collar was the only one I know of!” Ludewig screamed and tried to struggle free. “And it was pure happenstance that I even heard rumours about it!”

“Rumours?” I lifted an eyebrow, “So then, where did you hear these rumours?”

“I can’t remember!” he quickly yelled.

“Hmm, I am sure you will remember after I rip your balls off, Ludewig.”

“No! Please no!” His struggle intensified. “I swear I can’t remember!”

I lowered my claw to do as I implied, making attempts to grab his best parts, when Lucia suddenly yelled, “Wait! I can remember!”

Slowly I turned my head to her. She was laying on the ground a few feet away, holding her ribs, coughing. Must have hit her harder than I thought.

“It was a drunken zebra,” she said and coughed again.

“A zebra?” I tilted my head. “Hmm,” I pulled back my claw, stopping my attempt to turn Ludewig into a eunuch. “I am listening.”

“She came to the ‘Endless Mug’,” Lucia continued. “the tavern in the weaver district. She had a few mugs too much and Ludewig tricked her in a game of 17&4.” Lucia placed a claw on the ground and pushed herself up a bit. “She hadn’t the money to pay all her debt, so she gave Ludewig an old scroll as payment, a scroll which guided Danger to the temple she got the collar from.” She released a sound of pain and pressed her claw to her chest once more before she spat on the ground. “There was a picture on the scroll which showed the collar, worshipped by a bunch of unknown creatures. It was clear it was worth something, the idea that it wasn’t well protected was something Ludewig came up with himself.”

A bit shaky, Lucia raised completely. “From there, it was a breeze to convince this adventure thirsty pony to give it a try.”

Yeah, adventure thirsty pony, that sounded like Danger.

“So,” I waved with Ludewig like he was a annoying cat in my grip, “he tricked Danger to risk her life in an attempt to get a maybe existent artifact, cheat her out of her payment afterwards, tried to torture the magic words out of her, and threatened her life once more in sending her to my lair to get the artifact back he hadn’t paid her for in the first place.”

I threw another look at Lucia. “Did I leave anything out?”

Before she responded, she returned to an offensive position, ready to attack me once more.

I must admit, her willpower and bravery was impressive, it was only her intelligence that was lacking.

She nodded. “No, that’s everything. But from the looks of it, you don't seem to be much better!”

It was unnecessary for her to point at all the corpses that littered the ground, I got what she referred too anyway.

I shrugged. “It’s my territory after all, I told you to leave.

“And that gives you the right to kill everyone in their sleep!” It wasn’t really a question that she shouted at me. “These guys did you no harm!”

“Wrong place, wrong time,” I simple said. “Anyway, I’m get tired of this. I’ll tell you something, little griffon girl, I like your way of tackling things. Tell me the name of that Zebra and where it went, then, one of you shall leave here alive.”

“You…” it was clear she wanted to curse me again but she thought better of it. “Which one?”

I was sure I already knew the answer, but I asked anyways to get proof. “Who do you want me to let escape?”

“Him,” she directly said and pointed at Ludewig.

“Hmm,” I looked at him. “And you? Who do you thing I should let go?”

“M...Me,” he stuttered after a short pause.

Selfish till the end, as I had expected. The little appreciation I had for him for coming up with such a clever plan to get the artifact vanished as soon as it had risen.

“You know he is not worthy of your love, right? I asked Lucia. “It is really one sided. He’s been willing to sacrifice you, twice already, since I met you.”

Lucia looked to the ground for a moment. “I know… “ Her gaze found the way to my face again. “It doesn’t change a thing though!”

I nodded respectfully at her, before I turned my gaze back to the dishonorable, worthless griffon in my claw. “It is settled then, the info for a life, that is the deal.”

I must point out, Lucia hadn’t tried to beg for her own life, or even try to bargain. When I agreed to let one live for the info, she told me what I wanted to know right away.

“The Zebra is called Am-nuta, she is grey with a tendency to go into blue. Her mane is orange though. She was on her way to Karishe, city of the two rivers, when we saw her the last time. Maybe two weeks ago.”

“And this is the truth?” I waved with Ludewig, making a point. “You didn’t ‘forget’ something?”

“If I did you would kill Ludewig when you found out.” She spat on the ground again. “I am not that stupid.”

I took a moment to think about what she had said. It made sense to me, though, it would be hard for me to find that zebra under these conditions. Not her fault though.

“Now let him go!” she demanded.

Instead of doing so, I stepped closer to her till I stopped right in front of her She didn’t even made an attempt to move back.

“Close your eyes.”

Her breath got quicker and she started to shiver, nonetheless she held my gaze. “You promised!”

“I did,” I replied, “don’t worry. Pacta sunt servanda.”

She closed one claw, pressing it so hard together it became nearly white, and closed her eyes. “I love you, Ludewig, I always did.”

It seemed, for a second, Ludewig would say something too, but in the end he stayed silent.

“Ready?” I asked.

She nodded, shivering, heavy breathing, but still accepting her fate.

I barely had seen such bravery and honour among my enemies. Even the hardest guys tend to beg and cry when they knew their end had come. I knew, I had seen enough of the so called ‘tough’ guys coming to my lair to plunder my treasures and take my head as a trophy.

But not so with Lucia, she was ready to die for who she loved. Foolish griffon!

“Alright,” I said and started counting.

“Three.”

Her shivering intensified.

“Two”

A tear formed at her left eye.

“One”

Still no sign of her backing out. This one was worth something after all.

“Zero,” I said, crushing Ludewigs head in my claw. I wasn’t strong enough to actually turn it to paste, but his bones cracked, and by the time Lucia screamed out in pain and disbelief, alerted by the sound it made, I had broken his neck with a quick move.

“No!” She screamed from the top of her lungs, ignoring any possible danger I could pose to her, pushing forward and grabbing his dead body out of my claw.

“Noooooo!” Her scream was drowned in her tears and sobbing. She shook Ludewigs dead body as if she would be able to bring him back to live.

“The info for a life, the pact is fulfilled.” I turned away. “You are free to go, Lucia.”

“You bloody monster! You betrayed me!” Pure hatred was her voice, grief and pain her echo. “My life for his! That was the deal!”

I stopped, looking back at her. “No, Lucia, I agreed to let one of you go, I only asked for your opinion about it. I never promised who I would let go.”

“Liar!” she let go of Ludwig's dead body and grabbed the dagger I had dropped without thinking about it. “Die your monster!” With those words she flapped her wings and jumped at me.

It was a suicide attack and we both knew it. I saw it in her eyes, she didn’t want to survive this attack.

I moved slightly, just enough to prevent the dagger from stabbing me, and instead let it just slide over my scales. It didn’t leave any damage. I then grabbed Lucia.

“Die! Die you monster and rot in tartarus!” She screamed and took another swing. Though, her battlecry was broken by her sobbing.

I took the dagger out of her claw and pressed her against my chest.

She scratched me, bite me, kicked and punched me, but since I was holding my head out of her reach, it was of no effect.

“You know he was worthless scum.”

“I loved him you stupid beast!” She punched my chest.

“And he didn’t love you in return, he used you and threw you away when it was of use for him. You are better without him.”

“Liar!” She wasn’t able to admit I was right this soon.

I said nothing more, I just stood there and took her hits.

“Heartless killer!”

Another wave of punches and kicks.

“Murder!”

Now she tried to bite me again.

Finally, after a long time of proceeding this way, she lost the enthusiasm and what remained was a powerless, dejected little griffon girl.

I placed her on the ground and threw the dagger a few steps away.

For a while, I just looked down on her. I saw what a great warrior or leader she could have become, if she wasn’t cursed by this love thing.

I sighed, and despite my nature, tried to help her.

“Mark my words girl,” I said, “love makes you weak, more so if you spend it on some creature like him.” I pointed at her dead love. “You are strong, he was not, don’t waste your life by feeling grief and regret about him, move on and live your life.”

I took her chin in my claw and lifted her head till she looked in my eyes.

“I barely say this, so listen carefully! You earned a bit of my respect today, your love may have blinded you, but you have a brave heart, pick yourself up and live another day, use it!” I dropped her chin and turned around. “One day you may thank me for opening your eyes.”

I left her to her thoughts and flew off, back into my lair. I admit I wasn’t good with words, but at least I had tried.

Well, whatever you think of me now, it is not that simple or easy. Yes, I left her heartbroken, with the dead body of her love surrounded by dead bodies. You may think that is cruel, well, you could be right, but wouldn’t it be a crueler fate to let her live in that state of hopeless hope for a love she would never get?

I think not.

Though, I am not the good guy here either, truth is, I could use somebody to spread my fame and fear before me, that careless griffon on the watch had made that much clear. But, also important, you remember Fluffy protecting Lucia before? I am sure she would be at least disappointed if she found out I killed her, and she would find out one day, one way or another. Nah, it was for the best to let her live and get away, the fact I had freed her from the influence of Ludewig was just a bonus.

Be it as it is, I had other things on my mind. While I walked through the tunnel to my inner lair, I became very much aware of the smell I had on me, as well as the blood on my claws and body. Yeah, before I wake up Fluffy I should take a bath. Unfortunately, if I do so in my bathroom I was sure to wake her. That meant I would have to explain why I was in the state I was. Considering my experience with Fluffy so far, it would stand in the way of my most desired outcome.

Luckily I still had my little waterfall, it was a bit cold, but I am not that picky.

I hissed only one time when I went under it. Truth be told, after I got used to it, it did me good. Getting rid of all the stuff from tonight I left the stream of cool water feeling refreshed and clean.

I stood there for a moment, shaking the water off and watched the little red coloured stream making its way from the waterfall down the rocks, into the small puddle, barely a pond and then slowly vanish with the rest of the water through the little hole in the wall.

I scratched over my back. What a night, It’s been a while since I last went out for that kind of hunt. It was a nice distraction, but in actuality, I prefered to return to some warm blankets and cuddle with something even warmer, and also much fluffier.

I smiled. Perhaps engaging in more than just cuddling.

With a lively swing in my bones, I turned to my inner lair, past the entry and closed the portcullis.

No point in giving Lucia the chance to attack, despite how unlikely that was. Should the noise wake up my fluffy pegasus, I would make up for it.

My smile turned to a smirk.

It was that moment, I turned around from the portcullis to my floor, that I realised something was wrong.

I listened. Everything was quiet and peaceful.

Too quiet.

Where was the snoring? Or if she had woken up, where were the sounds of her moving around or breathing?

And something else was wrong. The door to my treasure room… it was wide open.

I rushed over, throwing a look inside. Some of my golden bits where missing, a good portion!

I stormed to the living room, checking for Danger.

She was gone.

Had somegriffon made they way in here while I was outside? What had happened? My thought overturned.

I flipped over our provisionally bed, no sign of her, only a few feathers hovered to the ground… along with a little piece of paper.

I grabbed and unfolded it. On the one side was some kind of hastily scrawled map, on the other was written a letter.

“Hey my overgrown Lizard,
making my way to the next artifact already,
took some of your bits to buy equipment.
Pay you back when I find Shakirin-La.

-Danger Do

This darn furball! I clenched my free claw and roared in anger. Well, at least she had only taken some bits… or had she? Surely she wasn’t able to find the hidden room that fast.

No she hadn’t…

I couldn’t resist to check on it. I went to the kitchen and pulled the lever behind one of the wine bottles. A soft click confirmed that the hidden door was now open in my treasure room.

Quickly I moved over, turned on the light and peeked inside.

To my relief, on first look everything was as it was supposed to be. Calmed, I moved closer and opened the door completely.

And hished loudly when I saw the second letter on the pestral deeper in the room. On a pestral where once had stood my Candle of inspiration. A very rare and expensive artifact from my collection.

With a growl I took the letter.

“Oh and I took some of your cool stuff too, I am sure you don’t mind. Well, catch me if you can!”

Below the sentence was a imprint of a hoof and a little bit of lipstick in shape of a heart. My senses told me it was raspberry juice, but I was too angry to spend any time examining this though.

This was sooo on!

Author's Note

With a huge thanks to Drache Schatten for his great editing and focusing on the wording again!

Really guys, without him, my texts wouldn't sound as good in english as they do.