Near-scalding water bubbled against leathery skin as I sank into the springs. Tired, tired, tired. As I closed my eyes, the same nagging voice that had kept me alive so many times prodded at me to keep alert, that I was in the open, exposed. I ignored it.
I was getting old, and I'd have to relax someday. All the same, I reached back and thumbed the pommel of my dagger, poking out from my pile of gear behind me. It probably said something that I found it nearly as comforting as the water. The day when I wasn't constantly checking over my shoulder was a bit overdue.
With only the slow murmur of the pool for company, I hovered on the cusp of consciousness, slowly slipping into nothingness. Just a moment more, and then…
My eyes popped open abruptly. A rustle sounded nearby, and my head jerked up. The dagger found my hand in an instant, just as I recognized the sound to be the flapping of wings against air. A creature winged its way from above me, and if I wasn't mistaken, deliberately descended within my line of sight.
Sunlight glinted off the silvery scales, catching the slender figure alighting atop the far end of the stone basin. Dragon blood, obviously, though whether shapeshifted or mixed with humanoid parentage, I couldn't discern outside of combat. Bizarrely enough, this particular dragon didn't seem at all poised for attack; instead, she fidgeted nervously and pawed at a bundle underneath her arm. It wasn't until the dragoness chanced a glance at my face that she noticed I was awake and already studying her.
"Oh, crud," muttered the beast, ducking her head and looking away in embarrassment. "Did I wake you?" With a small hop, she landed fully atop the edge of the pool, talons digging into the stone. "I didn't mean to. I'll just, um, leave this here. It's… it's food. For you." Her long tail lashed wildly as she hunched over, setting the cloth sack down before backing away quickly and unfurling her wings.
Slower than I'd like, I brought my dagger to bear with a ring of metal as it scraped against the stone and pointed it at the dragoness. "Explain," I growled.
Again, my scaly visitor caught me off guard by cowering and pleading with her eyes. "D-Don't kill me," she blubbered. "You'll never see me again, I swear. I just thought you were asleep." In spite of what must be at least six feet between us, the fact that I was sitting down and half-asleep, and that she was a winged dragon with scales as hard as the stones she stood on, there was no mistaking the genuine fear in her voice.
I wasn't in the mood for this, and the confusion was making my head hurt. "Why is a dragon catering meals to a lone traveler in the middle of nowhere? Why were you waiting for me to fall asleep? How long have you been watching me?"
"Oh, a few months, on and off," the monster blurted out. She immediately clapped her paws over her mouth and shook her head furiously, as though she hadn't meant to share that piece of information.
The tip of my blade dipped a little as I sunk into thought, oblivious to the dragoness' flustered fidgeting. "Few months. You part of Neroyn's brood, then?" I asked, remembering the fearsome, scaled tyrant I had a hand in putting in his grave.
A silver muzzle bobbed in assent. "F-Father," she said shakily. Her taloned toes scuffed the ground sheepishly. "Thank you. F-For killing him. I… I saw you do it, and… he was always so scary." Her head slumped, and her shoulders shook slightly. "If I was brave like you, maybe I could've saved mother."
Sighing, I sheathed my dagger. Fair enough. If this was a ruse, a dragon, true or born, acting like a scared little girl was too absurd to take seriously. "Whatever. If you're not here to fight, then pass the grub," I told her bluntly. "Dunno how dragons feel about hot springs, but if you want to stick around, be my guest."