Page 53 of Caveman Alien's Terror

“I suspected,” Astrid says quietly. “But that was before I knew dragons actually exist, so I couldn’t be sure.”

“But the enemy’s plan didn’t work,” I go on, “because our servants, the Plood, put Earth girls here. The Earth girls were meant to distract the slayers and keep them from focusing on their real task. It must have worked. Some dragons also met those girls and married them. Not many. Just a handful.”

I hear myself telling Astrid the whole thing, not sure why except that I want her to know. She’s made me downright talkative, lying here with my head in her lap.

“One dragon, a prince, had the foresight to bring part of his hoard to Xren. He offered small parts of it to the other dragons so they could Change to their dragon form and leave this planet. They all did. Except those who were married to Earth girls. And a couple of others.” I look away. Those days… I wish I could forget them. Nearly everyone left, and those who didn’t could leave any time they wanted. Only I was still in this form. This disgraceful form.

“Theyleftme,” I seethe.

Astrid strokes my hair. “Can you please go on, my love?”

“Nobody told me about it!” I fret. “I was busy searching for gold of my own. When I finally found out, it was too late. The prince wouldn’t give me any gold. I tried to steal some from him, but it was hopeless. Those other dragons mocked me and said I’d be stuck on Xren forever. To complete the mockery they even gave me a… well, never mind. I will just say that they taunted me in the worst possible way, the most dreadful humiliation. And there wasn’t much I could do, because they were in their full dragon forms and I was like this. They would have killed me without a second thought if I’d owned any semblance of valuables. But as it was, I didn’t even have that. Not even a speck of silver, not even the shard of a semi-precious stone. I was more valuable to them as a laughing stock.”

Astrid gently caresses my head. She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes are like mirrors of my pain. And to my surprise I find that I don’t resent her sympathy because there’s something behind it that’s deep and genuine.

“Sometimes those dragons will fly,” I tell her. “They will fly intricate patterns in the sky, backlit by the moon. I couldn’t bear watching it. So I left the continent. I couldn’t fly, so I simply found a beach and walked straight into the water and along the bottom. I walked there for years, I think. Under the ocean, resenting its resistance to every step I took, its darkness and its goldlessness.”

“That must have been terrible,” Astrid coos.

“Finally it rose and became new land. It was this land.” I slap my hand on the grass. “But as it turns out, there is even less gold on this continent.”

“I’m sorry,” Astrid says quietly. “We will do what we can to find gold, Praxigor. I promise.”

All by itself, my hand goes to the pitiful hoard pouch in my pocket. It’s just as powerless as ever. Astrid’s touch is warmer than the hoard. Much warmer. “Anyway, you’re interested in the Earth women. There’s a whole village of them on that other continent. They’ve conquered a large part of the jungle. Helped by the slayers and the dragons, of course.”

“And they’re married to the dragons?” Astrid marvels. “I didn’t know dragons have marriages.”

I raise my head and stiffen. There’s a whiff of something new in the air, distant and all male. Stale sweat, iron, smoke, leather, rancid grease. Slayers are approaching, still far away. I can’t hear them yet, but from the faint smells I know there are many of them.

“We know what marriages are,” I tell Astrid as I lie back down. “But to a dragon, the hoard is always more important than some other living being. Getting married seems… insincere.”

“Those girls. What do they look like? Where are they from?” Astrid asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know more than that. I had other things on my mind back then.”

She moves her hand in my hair and finds a new spot to caress. “All right. Thank you for telling me.”

“I just thought you might want to know.” I’m astonished about what I just did. I’ve admitted great weaknesses and humiliations to this lesser creature, this alien woman.

Willingly! Good gold, what’s happening?

“Praxigor.”

“What?” I growl, annoyed by my own feebleness that has me needing to confide in someone. It’s completely unheard of.

Astrid pulls gently at my hair, making me look down up her clear, big eyes. “You must be the strongest dragon that has ever lived. You don’t fear anything, not even someone else knowing about your life.”

I raise an eyebrow, finding that her words please me greatly. “Oh?”

Her nostrils widen. “What could be more dangerous than a dragon who’s not even afraid of his own weakness? Who would dive into battle even if his scales were cracked? How could you ever lose?! You’re the strongest, most magnificent dragon that ever lived! Look, Praxigor. I’m so awestruck my skin looks like this.”

Indeed the skin on her arms has once more taken on a bumpy texture, confirming her words.

I listen for a moment, pretending I’m in my lair and listening for thieves so that my hearing will be at its most sensitive. The slayers are still coming, and now I can hear them as well as smell them. They’re making noise on purpose, yelling, beating on drums, and knocking pieces of wood together with sharp bangs.

I grin at their ineptitude. It was bound to happen at some point. At least two tribes of slayers are hunting something in a way they never do otherwise, driving their quarry ahead of them.

It’s me, of course. They’re huntingme.But I’m not going to let the activities of slayers decide my own actions.

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