Claws and Kisses

The war started that winter.

I remember listening to father talk to his friends about it. He later sat us down and explained that he would be leaving for a little bit. When my brother and I asked him where he was going, he wouldn’t stay. When we asked for how long, he patted our heads and told us not to worry.

We got the letter of his death the following summer.

I didn’t cry. Not when our Nanny told us. Not when I rushed out of the house and headed for the forest. Not until I was in Avel’s arms. Then I cried forever. Avel held me as he let me stain his leather pants with my tears. I sobbed and sobbed until I was nearly choking on my tears. He didn’t ask. Somehow he knew and that didn’t scare me as much as it probably should’ve.

Even though Avel only promised to stay for a few months, he ended up staying through that year. And the next. Every once in a while, I’d work up the courage to ask when he would return wholly back to his Horde. He’d give me a funny look and tell me that it wasn’t going to be soon.

On the eve of my ninth birthday, Avel was waiting on the hill outside his cave in his dragon form. Beside him was an unwrapped, unmarked box. He laid with his head resting on his claws, his tail curled beside him.

I smiled upon seeing him. “Hi, Avel.”

Hello, little tiger. The dragon greeted me with a flick of his tail. He watched as I plopped myself down next to him, eyeing the box with interest.

“You know,” I said, tapping his nose boldly. “I’m going to be nine tomorrow. You don’t have to call me little anymore. I’m a big girl.”

He ran his eyes over my scrawny kid body and snorted. Whatever you say, little tiger.

Huffing a breath, I threw my body onto the side of his much larger one. He took deep, controlled breaths and I moved with him as he did so. My eyes were still on the box he’d brought with him. “What’s that?”

Avel’s gaze travelled between the box and I, a glimmer of laughter in his eyes. With the swish of his tail, he slid the box until it was directly in front of me. It was medium sized and looked like nothing of interest. Only wrapped in brown paper packaging and nothing else, it was rather dull in nature. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop my heart from exploding with joy. He remembered!

The dragon nudged his head. Open it, Wendy.

Not needing to be asked twice, I pounced on the package and ripped it open. The wrapping fell away with ease, and I was left staring at a smooth stone case. It was cool to the touch, and had a silver symbol embedded on it. The symbol was an outline of a dragon’s wings. I ran my thumb over the it, absolutely enraptured. I could feel Avel’s stare boring into my forehead as he surveyed me studying the case.

In my mind, I heard him chuckle softly. You know that’s not the actual gift, right?

My cheeks turned red. “Yes, of course I know that! Don’t rush me.”

When I finally managed to open the stone case, I gasped. Inside were three items. One was the most beautiful necklace I’d ever seen. The kind that mother use to wear around her neck. It was silver, and studded with violet gemstones. The same color as Avel’s eyes. With the way it was styled, it was more like a collar than anything else, and dipped down so that the plating reached the sternum.

Next to the necklace were two matching cuffs. They were purple as well, and laced with curves and loops of silver. They were equal in beauty to the necklace.

The last object was a dagger.

Purple and silver, yes, but with a ebony handle. It was sharp and wicked-looking, with an edge so honed I was afraid to pick it up. On the hilt of the blade were a few precariously carved words, written in an attractive cursive script. Oderint dum metuant.

“Let them hate, so long as they fear.”

I squealed, spinning around to face Avel, now in his human form. In the middle of turning, I stumbled and landed ungracefully on my butt. Avel stood over me with a cocked eyebrow, not saying a word. Sticking out my tongue, I slapped him lightly on the leg. “Don’t scare me like that!”

He now raised both eyebrows at me with mock sincerity. “My bad.”

I opened my mouth to spit out another scathing reply but he was already strolling for the box, kneeling down next to it in the grass. He first took out the necklace, not hesitating to stalk back towards me. Without asking for permission, he laid it skillfully on my collar bone, clipping the clasp into place. He stepped back, studying my appearance. The jewels didn’t fit in well with the ratty hair and muddied dress but he paid no heed. Instead, he simply turned back to the stone box to retrieve the bracelets.

“Avel,” I breathed, touching the necklace gingerly, afraid one touch would send the entire thing splitting. “I-I can’t wear this. It’s too expensive. How will I - “

Avel’s growl cut me off. He didn’t even bother glancing at me as he placed each of my hands in the bracelets. I noticed that at the edge of each bracelet, there was another symbol - except this one was not of wings. Instead, it looked like a letter in another language. Dragon language maybe?

I huffed. “Avel, come on. Please take it back. The village will talk if they see these kind of jewels on me.”

The dragon wasn’t listening to me. He was getting the last gift; the dagger. Its pointed edge shone in the moonlight as he came closer. There was a thick leather belt in his hands that I hadn’t seen before. Avel kneeled before me and unsnapped the belt.

Then he lifted up my skirts.

“Avel!” I shrieked, absolutely mortified that he had peeked under my dress. I tried escaping his wandering hands but he held firm to my left thigh, not letting go. He made fast work of tugging the harness on and tightening the binding around my leg. Once it was secured, he slipped the dagger into the holster and pulled my dress back down.

“Calm down, Wendy.” He said flippantly, standing back up. “If I wanted to harass you, I would’ve done it a hell of a lot sooner than this.”

I was breathing hard. My face was flushed with embarrassment and anger, while my hands were clenched into small fists. Avel - of course - wasn’t paying attention to me. He was analyzing the adornments he’d given me, running his eyes critically over the flamboyant jewellery. When he was done, his gaze slowly wandered back to mine. There was a condescending look to the way he stared at me. “Where I come from, it is customary to show gratitude when presented with gifts.”

His words only caused my cheeks to redden further. “Well, then it must also be customary to lift up unselecting girls skirts!”

Avel looked down for a moment. I wanted to ask what he was doing but from the small, arrogant laugh that left his lips, I knew that he was trying to hide his amusement. Fury like no other began to boil low in my stomach at the sight. He looked back up with a light in his eyes. “Unsuspecting girls. Not unselecting.”

“You - !” Grumbling under my breath, I spun around and began to march back into the forest. I began fumbling with the necklace, planning to throw it in his face as an act of rebellion but the stupid thing wasn’t unhooking. “You’re a jerk!”

All of the sudden, I ran into a wall. Except this wall had a chest and arms and legs. Avel stared down at me with narrowed eyes, unpleased. “And you are ungrateful.”

I bared my teeth at him in a scowl. “I’m not ungrateful! Maybe next time, you’ll warn me before acting like all the other boys in my village!”

The forest stilled around us. The only sound that could be heard was my harsh breathing, which caused my whole body to shake with tremors of fast fading anger. In its place was confusion. Because when I finally dared to look up at Avel, his eyes were closed.

What. Did. You. Just. Say?

My heart skipped a beat. His voice was emotionless. Cold. The last time I’d heard him use that voice was when we’d first met. It took me a moment to realize why he was acting so strange. And when I did, my mouth fell open.

I’d just told him of the boys’ harassing me.

It had started about a month ago. At first, it had only been random shouts from the older kids. I didn’t mind because I would either be with my brother or with other friends. But then they started to corner me in random, desolate places. They’d push me and call me ugly, dumb, fat, and a million other names. In the last few days, they’d started . . . touching me. Lifting up my skirts or poking me in the chest and stomach.

I’d tried telling my Nanny but she hadn’t believed me. All she’d said was to ignore them. After that, I just decided it would be better to hole up in my house until the nighttime before seeing Avel. I’d even thought of telling him but . . . something told me that Avel wouldn’t dismiss the issue so quickly as my Nanny. Even if I didn’t like those boys, I didn’t want anything bad to happen together. And if Avel knew . . .

Apparently, it was out of my hands now. Avel had opened his eyes and was now piercing my soul with his fiery gaze. His pupils were slitted. The dragon beneath his skin was showing through his human form. I was once again reminded of the power he possessed. And he was only a child. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to stand before him when he was fully matured. When the world would have to bow before his feet.

“I will not ask again, Wendy.” His words were brusque and barely restrained.

“Ah . . .” I stuttered, not sure how to approach this situation. How do you calm a teenage dragon? “Avel, it’s nothing really. They mess around is all. They’re just stupid boys -”

“Wendy.” His voice was made of diamonds. Hard. Brutal. Mesmerizing. “If you do not start speaking in the next five seconds, I am going to go to your village and burn down every house I see. Start talking.”

My jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”

He stepped closer so that we were chest to chest. Or, more accurately, forehead to chest. His glower was almost too much to bare. There was honesty in his eyes. He would do it and he wouldn’t blink. “Four.”

“Okay, stop!” I threw up my hands, blinking rapidly. “Please, they’re just stupid boys. All they do is shout and poke me sometimes. It’s not serious, Avel. Don’t be angry.”

He glared down at me with a hard set line in place of a mouth. His eyes were glazed over, as if he was thinking. After a moment or two, he blinked and once again trained his focus back on me. “I see.”

Two words. That was all. I waited for him to say more but he remained silent. Biting my lip nervously, I peered up at him with worried eyes. “Y-You’re not going to do anything, right Avel? Please don’t hurt them.”

“Of course not.” He backed away from me and started walking towards my home. “I’m not going to hurt them.”

His words were sincere but the way he said it was weird. As if it had a double meaning. I wanted to ask him more but he was already striding ahead, skirting around trees and ducking under branches. “Come on, little tiger. Time for sleep.”

I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly followed. “I don’t need a bedtime.”

He waited for me at the top of the hill. When I reached him, he offered a small, rare smile and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

“Happy Birthday, Wendy.”