"Ah. I see that reinforcements have arrived."

 

The dragon raised its head up high to look into the distance, "Not a one of those approaching, either alone or in concert, is a threat to me." It looked down at Ryan, "You would be the only one whom I am concerned with. Is our parley at an end?"

 

Ryan looked up, "Whoa! You think I called these guys? I-" He smacked his forehead, "The Vox porter! Damnit he must have called for help. G'dimmit!" He rubbed his eyes, "Uhhh... okay. Here's the deal. I'll defend whomever gets attacked first. If you let them get the first hit, I'm on your side. You pre-emptively attack, I'm on their side, got it?"

 

The dragon nodded, "I suppose it may sting, but I understand your position here. You want to be certain that if you are to fight your own, you would want to make sure they are in the wrong."

 

A number of horses came galloping into the area, but they were all white and armored. None of these horses were the brown and mottled horses that the subjugation force used. On these horses were many a knight in shining armor. The horses lined up in single file, lances at the ready. The line parted and two knights on horseback came through the gap. One was a standard bearer. A very young and fresh faced kid who had his visor up.

 

Next to him was a paragon of heroic knighthood. Long flowing blond hair, chiseled features, a square jaw and steel grey eyes. It was none other than the second prince, Lance. Ryan face palmed as he thought to himself, ~Of all the rotten luck.~

 

The dragon lowered his head next to Ryan, "May I ask his name?" Ryan cringed and spoke with a great deal of trepidation, "Lance." The dragon giggled, then raised up its head to let out a loud snort. This forced the gathered knights to steady their horses. Lance raised his sword, "Men-"

 

Maxwell was already running over, getting in between the dragon and the line of knights, "WAIT!" He was waving his arms and shouting, "Prince Lance Dracobane, Hold your attack!"

 

Upon hearing the full name ' The dragon froze, stared at Prince Lance, and then squeaked out, "Prince... Lance... DRACOBANE?" Then fell over laughing almost crushing Ryan in the process.

 

Ryan rolled out of the way, "HEY! WATCH IT!" But the dragon either didn't hear him or care. Instead it was rolling around on its back, feet kicking in the air, his neck fully extended as it laughed so hard that tears were running down the sides of his face.

 

Ryan stared at the dragon, then at Maxwell and The prince and in an exaggerated fashion stretched his arms to the side and shrugged as hard as he could to convey the knowledge that basically, Ryan had no clue what was going on.

 

Maxwell closed with Lance and started conversing with him to bring the prince up to date on things. Ryan couldn't hear the conversation, but apparently the dragon could. Every time Maxwell said Lance's name, it just laughed harder.

 

Maxwell kept pointing at Ryan and Lance glanced at Ryan every time. Lance seemed rather serious about something. He was arguing with Maxwell who was trying to convince Lance of something. Abruptly the dragon stopped laughing. He raised his head to snake it around and look at Lance. He muttered to Ryan, "I'm not going to have someone who's name is a reference to how small his genitals are give me shit like that."

 

Ryan blinked, "Wait... that's how his name translates?" The dragon rolled to his feet looking rather pissed off as it glared in Lance's direction. Lance noticed the reaction and this did not seem to be helping Maxwell calm the prince down. Lance muttered something and held his sword in front of him as if swearing some sort of oath.

 

The dragon's eyes flared wide as flames licked from his mouth. He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, "OH REALLY? HOW-" His response was cut off by Ryan shooting a ball of water into the dragon's chin from below. The water was basically harmless, having no more of an effect other than to get the dragon's attention and leave it rather soggy for the experience. Everyone froze. The dragon slowly looked down at Ryan.

 

Ryan waggled a finger at the dragon, "Calm. The Fuck. DOWN!" They locked eyes for several tense moments, before the dragon let out a loud *SQUEE* as it reared up on its hind legs. It made fists with its front claws that then were held on either side of his head which had a massive grin.

 

"Oh my GOD you are just so CUTE! When you try and act tough and curse like that but you are really trying to be nice and you are all vulnerable but sincere with just a hint of worry because you actually do care even though you tell everyone you don't!" It picked Ryan up to give him a hug, "Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod!"

 

Ryan felt his panic rising, expecting Lance to assume he was being attacked and use that as an excuse to order a charge. However, while struggling inside a massive dragon hug, Ryan managed to look around from his new elevation at the Dragon's breast.

 

Everyone was just staring. Most had their mouths wide open. Lance spoke in a booming voice, "CUTE?" He exclaimed.

 

Ryan very quickly deduced that either by accident or design, the dragon was speaking to everyone with full universal translation activated. Everyone heard and understood what the dragon had said.

 

A couple people snickered.

 

Ryan's indignity continued, "I want you so much! Come with me! I will give you treats and the softest bed and I will groom you and buy you a cute little outfits!" It held Ryan out at arms length (arm's length for a dragon, that is.), holding him up by his armpits, "I will put you in a suit of armor and YOU WILL LOOK SO FIERCE!" The Dragon nuzzled Ryan, "WHO IS THE FIERCEST LITTLE HUMAN? YOU ARE! YES YOU ARE!"

 

"YES!"

"YOU!"

"ARE!"

 

Ryan struggled in the dragon's grasp. He could have pushed the issue and forced himself free, but didn't want to accidentally hurt the dragon, "Unhand Me, Dragon!"

 

Not trying harder was something Ryan would regret when the dragon pulled up Ryan's armored vest and blew belly farts on his stomach.

 

This was the last straw for Ryan who coated himself in water to make himself frictionless. So lubricated, Ryan found it easy to pop out of the dragon's grasp like a slippery bar of soap. He flipped to the ground and screamed at the Dragon, "Are you completely INSANE?"

 

The dragon just kept grinning at Ryan, "Awww... I'm sowwy! Do you have a ticklish belly-welly-kins?" Ryan found himself stomping at he yelled back at the dragon, "I DO NOT HAVE A BELLY-WELLY-KINS! TICKLISH OR OTHERWISE!"

 

The dragon just grinned at Ryan, "You know what your name translates as, right?" Ryan looked at the dragon and gave him a death stare, "Don't you da-"

 

"Princy-Wincy Fluffy-Bunny Angel-Cakes!"

 

Everyone froze and just stared at the two of them. Maxwell covered his mouth and tried to suppress his laughter causing his eyes to bug out. Even the stoic prince was turning red as he tried to suppress his laughter. The rest of those present were not as self controlled and the group as a whole erupted into boisterous mirth upon hearing the dragon's apparent 'nickname' for Ryan.

 

Ryan calmly took out his scoped staff, turned it around and put the business end into his mouth.

 

The Dragon frowned, "Oh Don't be so melodramatic! It is a wondrous name! It is how I knew I could trust you!" The dragon lowered its head to the ground so he could look at Ryan with puppy dog eyes, "I wuv your name! You should be proud of it!"

 

Ryan struggled to reach the bottom of his staff. Eventually he took it out of his mouth, "Damn. Can't reach the trigger."

 

The dragon started talking only to Ryan, "Actually... it is something like that, but I imagine it is hard to get the nuance. It is a wonderful name." The dragon rolled its head to the side, "I really do wish you would come with me. All these humans here are going to die regardless of what you do. I know you are immortal and will just reincarnate, but it might be a LONG time before we bump into each other again."

 

Ryan's angry expression vanished and he spoke in softer tone, "Wait. What do you mean, They are all going to die?"

 

The dragon shrugged, "That other reincarnator? He was quite the chatter box. I think it was his... sales pitch? He explained his plans for conquering the world, enslaving all the humans, and... putting all the females in, quote, their place, unquote." The dragon shuddered, "I don't think he realized I am female, or perhaps he would not have spoken so freely about what he was going to do to them."

 

The dragon lifted her head to look down on Ryan, "I don't think he realized exactly how much of his true intensions was leaking through as he spoke." The dragon started to look sad, "His plans were well though out and... brutal. He is one of the most ruthless creatures I have had the misfortune to encounter and I have lived a LONG time."

 

The dragon then gave Ryan a weak smile, "And I am sorry to say, he is much stronger than you. I will be perfectly honest and state you do not stand a chance. I hope I can convince you to come with me so as to prevent you from suffering at his sadistic hands before he eventually murders you." There was a long pause before she added, "Or worse."

 

Ryan grew quiet as the dragon talked. He gave the dragon's words much thought before he responded, "I have friends here. Not many, but-" The dragon put a single claw to it's chin and looked off into the distance, "I suppose they could come with us. I mean, we're talking less than a dozen, yes? I can't help the entire planet evacuate, but I'm sure I can get a few pets through customs when I apply to use the dimensional network."

 

Ryan paused and shook his head to clear it, "Wait... are you saying... the dimensional gate has... customs?"

 

The dragon looked off into the distance, "That and a duty free. It is a network maintained by dragons, so there are fees that need to be paid. It's not cheap to maintain, don't you know? In reality it is-" The dragon's speech turned into a series of growls and tonal chants.

 

Ryan put a finger in his ear and wiggled it around, "I'm sorry. You lost me."

 

The dragon stopped, "Ah. Sorry. I forgot. I'll have to spend a few months explaining the underlying concepts before we can discuss such topics." The dragon looked around at everyone, then back at Ryan, "Listen. I can tell you are not valued as much as you should be. I really wish the best for you, Princy-Wincy." The dragon smiled and tilted its head towards Ryan, "I am planning on leaving soon, by dragon standards. I suspect that might be a while by yours. There will be some delay until approval. I could contact you right before I go to give you time to think about it."

 

The dragon carefully placed a single claw on Ryan's shoulder, "I am not trying to belittle you. I have no doubt if we fought it would be a fierce battle and I am uncertain as to the outcome." The dragon then pointed a wing into the distance, "But that fucker, hands down, can beat ever living shit out of me without breaking a sweat."

 

Ryan bowed his head in thought, then reached up to pat the claw upon his shoulder warmly, "I am committed. If things are as bad as you say... I can't abandon my friends and I doubt I could convince them to leave."

 

The dragon removed the claw and bobbed her head, "I knew you wouldn't accept my offer. Someone as pure and noble as you would never abandon those who he has sworn to protect."

 

Ryan snorted, "HA! Me? You-you... ah... you got the wrong guy, pal."

 

The dragon rose up on her hind legs to a considerable height as she looked down at Ryan, "Just like you do not understand the true syntax of my name. You do not understand the syntax of your own. Your name is a great name. It is a name that... does not deserve to perish here." The dragon sighed, "I will check before I leave. I will also look for your soul should you die." The dragon reached out and gently tapped Ryan on the forehead. There was a flare of white light that blinded everyone for what appeared to be but a moment. When it ended, The dragon (and later they would discover that the subjugated monster corpses as well) had vanished.

 

Ryan heard a lingering message that seemed to echo in his mind, "I hope you will still be the same Fluffy-Bunny Angel-Cakes when next we meet."