“Well hello there”

The armored woman tensed further, raising her sword, “I-I warn you beast. If you come any closer, I won’t hold back!”

Pausing, I looked over the trio. The armored woman had auburn hair that hung loosely around her shoulders and steel grey eyes under a furrowed brow. Clad with a steel breastplate and pauldrons, she had the physique and countenance of a warrior, but still very much a woman.

The man was young, barely into adulthood without even the shadow of a beard. Medium auburn hair with light grey almost silver eyes, he was dressed in a nice red tunic tied with a leather belt. He too had picked up a dagger from the bandit’s corpse though held it with far less confidence.

Finally, the last woman was younger than the armored one, dressed in a slightly torn and loose dress but with the same auburn hair and grey eyes as her presumably siblings. She also was the only one unarmed and seemed far less tense at my approach.

Deciding that this tension wouldn’t do, I shook myself, opening half of the bulbs on my back, letting them bloom into their luxurious pink, yellow, and purple petals as I say back on my haunches. This was twofold, one would show a far less threatening visage than the murderous figure they had just seen. And two, the bulbs were the primary way I would release my pheromones. By opening half, they wouldn’t fall over themselves in love but should give them a more favorable outlook towards me.

“Well, that’s certainly a way to thank your savior, though I think some gratitude wouldn’t be amiss, don’t you?”

The lack of hostility and the completely different temperament seemed to take all the wind out of her sails as she sagged, “Oh um…yes, thank you, I suppose”

I nodded “Great, now my name is Aethergard…and you are?” (Of course this wasn’t my actual name, but who’d believe a fearsome dragon was named David?)

At this the younger woman surged forward, “Oh my god, I can’t believe this is happening, this is the greatest day of my life, there’s an actual dragon in front of me, it’s actually happening, Astrid do you see? Wait he asked my name, oh my god a dragon asked my name, I’m Laytherwyn but you can call me just Wyn.”

I chuckled, “Wyn then,” to which Wyn squealed, “And that would make you Astrid I suppose? What about the fearsome warrior who put up such a struggle behind you?”

The man frowned, “I don’t appreciate being mocked, but I am Harlan”

“Mocking? It was a compliment. I’ve seen many a man bigger and more well armed give into cowardice and fear in the face of **** regardless of who or what was on the line. That you continued to struggle is a testament to your courage and should be applauded.”

At this Harlan’s cheeks reddened, “Oh, well thank you I guess”, and he ducked his head down.

“Regardless, what is a dragon doing here? There hasn’t been any rumors of a dragon inhabiting this part of Anduvia. You’re not supposed to be here,” Astrid demanded.

I nodded, “True enough, I am not originally from here, I came from the south. A little misunderstanding regarding a sheep herd and what ‘proper payment’ is. Seems the shepherd didn’t know that the gold he’d been left was for the sheep I was eating. Well, with hunters closing in, I felt it was good to head northward.”

“However, if my presence bothers you so, I can always make my lea-”

“NO! You can’t!” Wyn shouted, “Please Astrid, we can’t just drive him off, he saved us.”

“And what would you have us do? Bring him home? Maybe we’ll just tell mother to put out another plate?”

At this Harlan would speak up, “Well, we can’t just leave him without reward. Have you ever heard of a dragon saving people? We can’t just let this go.”

“Fine, but you two are explaining to mother how we went out to town and ended up bringing back a dragon. Speaking of…how are we getting our stuff home? The horses have gone.”

Looking at the caravan, I would say, “Are all three yours?”

“No, just the first one.”

“Well, then I can pull it.”

“What?”

“I can pull it, it’d be the least I can do if you are offering hearth and home to me.”

Astrid would throw up her hands,“Sure, why not, a dragon pulling a cart, what’s next, pigs flying.”

With that I started pulling the cart as our group made its way eastward. Pretty soon we could see the distant outlines of a town as dusk was setting in. Directing me towards a farmstead on the edge of the forest, I could see a lantern was lit on the doorway.