Page 49 of Caveman Alien's Terror

“Me too.” I look quickly behind me.

He’s easily keeping up, seemingly not struggling with the slick rock at all. With one claw he’s carving at the rock he picked up. Trying to remake another item from his beloved hoard, nodoubt. It must be his way of coping with difficult experiences like this. Because even he can’t be unaffected by this. The crack in his chest glows with a golden light that would be beautiful if it weren’t so scary. Praxigor being injured feels wrong, like some law of nature was broken. I don’t want him injured. I want him strong and magnificent, high above the realities of life.

I’m being constantly splashed and sprayed. We’re both behind the waterfall and inside the giant cloud of tiny water drops. I soon start to shiver with the cold.

Ahead, Luna is a sleek, black silhouette against the spray, jumping and prowling her way along. It looks like I’m the only one who struggles with this climb.

Suddenly, strong arms lift me and I look into bright yellow eyes.

“You’re slowing us down,” Praxigor growls as he adjusts me in his arms and speeds up. “And you feel remarkably cold. Is that normal for your kind?”

“Only when we’re r-r-really f-f-freezing,” I tell him and curl up as much as I can against his warm chest, making sure to not touch the crack in his scales. It must be really sore.

“At least your companion has the sense to have fur all over her, not just in select spots, like you. I hope she’s leading us to somewhere we want to go.”

I don’t reply, just lean my head onto his neck. I’ve never been this tired before.

We make our way through the dark, cold wetness. I don’t know how much time goes by. But we finally put the waterfall behind us, and the roar gradually becomes less oppressive.

“Thank you,” I whimper when I think it’s quiet enough for Praxigor to hear me. “I was about to faint.”

“I’m sure you were,” he says and carries me on. “You looked dizzy.”

The cold, humid air from the cavern is gradually being replaced by the warm, humid, and nauseatingly aromatic air of the Xren jungle. “I never thought I’d be happy to smell that.”

Praxigor ignores me and walks on. I relax against his body, enjoying how the slow beat of his heart echoes through my upper body.

When I wake up, we’re stopped. And immediately I know we’re back in the jungle. I can hear the soft whoosh from the treetops and the rustle of living things trying to get away from the dragon.

“We’re out,” he confirms. “Again I must say you picked a good companion. That path was hard to spot down in the cave.”

“I pickedtwogood companions,” I tell him, still curled up against him and not wanting that to change.

“Oh, you think you picked me?” Praxigor asks, amused. “That idea would make me angry, if it weren’t so ludicrous.”

“Sorry,” I mewl, just wanting to stay like this. “Of course I didn’t pick you. But if I had a choice, I would have.”

“It’s better to not try to flatter me,” the dragon says. “Being flattered by a lesser being is more an annoyance than anything else.”

“Just saying what I feel,” I tell him, worried he’ll set me down. “Can we stay here for a while? I’m so tired.”

“I suppose so,” he sighs. “My lackeys won’t return for days yet.”

He sits down with me still in his arms.

I smile to myself. He can act like a big, scary monster all he likes. He still has a warm side to him that makes him all the more interesting.

I open one eye, just to see where we are. I reason that it must be morning, because it’s not as dark as night usually is. We’re in a narrow valley with an unruly, noisy creek running along its bottom, on the way to the underground waterfall. There’s grass and bushes and trees, and it’s one of the more pleasant places I’ve ever seen in the jungle.

“But of course,” I mutter, “after the cavern, everything looks like a paradise to me.”

Praxigor groans at my statement, which must sound silly to him.

And because I’m totally safe whenever he’s around, I close my eyes and relax, his slow heartbeat shaking me comfortably with each beat.

When I wake up, I’m still on his lap, curled up and naked. The day is as bright as it ever gets in the jungle, which means that it’s still pretty dim. But the valley is still pleasant.

I rub my eyes and straighten up. “Sorry. I fell asleep.”

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