The Soft-Hearted Prince and His Dragon, Chapter 3

2022-07-23 7 min read writing

Synopsis

This week, Galen learns what life is like for a dragon and takes an unexpected swim.

Chapter 4 comes out July 30, 2022.

3 - Galen

The cavern was a surprisingly cozy place. There were candles in strategic spots and little pieces of mirrors fastened into the cracks in the rock. This system spread glittering light all around and gave enough light for one to read comfortably. There was plenty to read, too. Sen had managed to accumulate a fair amount of books while living in the cavern. Some of it was fiction; he seemed to have a particular fondness for collections of short stories. Many of the books were about magic, and Galen was enthralled.

The two were sitting by the pool, talking. The waterfall was small but still filled the whole cavern with soft splashing and gurgling. The lights were reflecting on it like little diamonds.

“Do you ever fly away? You know… somewhere else?” Galen asked. His bare feet were immersed in the water. It was cold, but he liked the fresh feeling.

“I can’t fly,” Sen sighed.

Galen watched as the pointy ends of the dragon’s wings came above his head and started to unfold. While one stretched out completely—Galen was in awe—the other moved only a little and stayed bent.

“My left wing got hurt in one of the early fights after I came here. It never healed properly.”

Galen stood up and went to see the hurt wing. “I could try to heal it. But I don’t know enough about the dragon physiology, which is a prerequisite for any flesh magic.”

“Does that mean you could accidentally change my wing into something else?”

“Or to move it to a wrong place in your body,” Galen explained helpfully, not noticing the tease. Magic was a serious thing.

“Okay, no healing!”

“Well…”

“Don’t you even think about it! I don’t think I’d look good with a bird’s wing growing out of my ear!” Sen protested.

“I meant to say that I could try to learn. I’m sure your physiology can’t be so different from what I know already. And with a hands-on experience having a live specimen…”

“Alright, that’s enough! I feel like it’s only a matter of time before you pickle me in a salt solution!”

“Sorry,” Galen laughed. “But if you let me look at you, there’s a chance I could eventually heal it,” he added. He lifted Sen’s wing and ran his fingers alongside the tendons. The skin was dry like that of a lizard, only coarser. The dragon shivered under the touch. It surprised Galen because he thought the skin would be too thick to feel something so light.

“Do you need to cut me open for it?” Sen inquired.

“Of course not. When I focus, I can sense my way in. I can sense your muscles moving, your heart beating…”

“How do I know when you’re doing it?” Sen asked, sounding uncomfortable.

“You don’t,” Galen winked at him.

“Are you doing it right now?”

Galen grinned at him.

“Stop sensing my muscles!” the dragon exclaimed. “Oh, that… came out wrong.”

Galen laughed again, and the bright sound filled the whole cavern. He let go of Sen’s wing and returned to the water. “If you never fly away, where did you get all this?” he wondered, pointing at the books, candles, and everything else. “I don’t suppose you can drop by the village for a shopping spree.”

Sen explained that while most of the villagers feared dragons, one group considered him a god. They were bringing him gifts—like food, flowers, and little idols made by their children. But over the years, they learned what other things he liked.

“It was a bit difficult at first. You know how worshippers are in this part of the world,” Sen said. “For one, it took a good effort to convince them I’m not zealous for human offerings.”

Galen winced. “Ouch!”

“One time, a girl decided it would be a great honor and a highlight of her life to become my sacrificial dinner,” Sen reminisced. “She’d come in front of the cave every night for two weeks in something that looked like a nightgown and sang spiritual songs.”

“Was she a good singer at least?”

“Let’s say her voice had personality.”

Galen chuckled. “So, what did you do about her?”

“It was quite a conundrum. She wouldn’t give up, no matter what I told her. Luckily, fate stepped in. One day a guy came, about the same age as her. He wore a nightgown, too…”

“No way…” Galen gasped.

“Yes. Turned out he had the same urge as the girl. They talked all night and bonded over how hard it was to become an offering these days and how no one takes the job seriously anymore.”

“And then?”

“Let’s say that after the night ended, neither of them qualified for the job anymore,” Sen laughed. “They left together, and I only saw them once since. They dropped by to say hi when traveling in the area for work. Turns out the night blessed them with a lovely little girl. They have a small agency now that sells sacrificial goods.”

“Didn’t give up on their dreams, I see?”

“Nope. Only altered them.”

Galen smiled. “Was she…” he started, but his voice faltered. “Was she pretty?”

Sen’s face crumpled in surprise at the question. “Yes, I guess she was,” he said after a moment of thinking.

“And… Uhm…” Galen didn’t know where to look. “Was he?”

“Very,” Sen exhaled, a flicker in his eyes.

They stared at each other, and it was like the air in the cave grew in density. Galen was the first one to look away.

“How did you sleep tonight?” Sen asked, breaking the silence. A few days ago, Galen went to the village, and besides some food, he bought warm blankets, too. He propped them up against one wall, which was enough to make the floor softer to sleep on. The cold wasn’t a problem since Sen’s fire was burning day and night, heating up the place nicely.

“Pretty well, thanks,” Galen answered and then fell quiet again. He couldn’t stop thinking about how well he felt there.

The two had spent half of the day yesterday reading through magic books and arguing about the philosophy of magical equilibrium. Galen had shown the dragon some fun spells, including the invisibility spell. They had played tag like little kids, with Galen disappearing each time Sen almost caught him. Sen could have gotten him if he had listened carefully—his sense of hearing was better than that of a human. But the last-second disappearance always sent Sen into such a fit of laughter that he would probably fail to hear an entire army approaching.

It was the first time in Galen’s twenty-year-long life that he could freely share his magic without feeling like something was wrong with him. Why he would feel thrown off by that, he wasn’t sure.

“You’re suddenly quiet,” Sen noted, squinting at Galen. “Everything okay?”

Galen looked at him, and his heart welled up. With a sudden wave of vulnerability, he said: “More than okay.” Then his eyes sparkled mischievously. “I meant… more than okay, my god.” He put an emphasis on the last two words.

“Stop it!” Sen laughed.

“It’s only proper to call you by your true title, my Lord. Do you have any—”

“Galen!”

“No, no, really. Do you have any titles? The fire-eyed one? Thou-who-prefers-horror-stories-over-human-sacrifice?” Galen was just getting started. “The—”

A sound of plop sounded through the cave.

“That was low,” Galen said, spitting water as his head emerged above the surface. Sen was still sitting at the edge of the pool, a wide grin across his face.

“I’m sorry. Your highness didn’t want to take a bath? I must have misunderstood,” Sen bowed his head mockingly.

“I suppose I deserved it,” Galen sighed.

“Come dry yourself,” Sen said with a softer voice. “I found a perfect story to read today.”

“What is it about?” Galen asked as he climbed out of the water.

“It’s a horror story about dreams. "

“Sounds spooky!”

Twenty minutes later, they sat down to the ever-burning fire in the middle of the cavern. Galen brought some of his blankets there and casually rested his back against Sen’s side. None of them said a single word, but Galen could feel Sen’s heart thundering wildly in response. He smiled to himself.

“Have you ever thought about what messages dreams are bringing to us? Let me tell you a secret,” Galen started to read. The fire crackled, the waterfall gurgled, and for one little moment, everything seemed alright in this tiny part of the world.

Everyone who knows stories can guess what happens next…

Click here for chapter 4.