//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Louder Than Words // by Niaeruzu //------------------------------// “Now then,” the wyvern said. “Where should I put you, pony? Perhaps among some of these pretty jewels? Or I could just throw some of these old paintings out and put you there. So gaudy.” Cirrus took a few steps back, bumping into a pile of gold. “Um, h-how about you put me near the entrance?” “So you can easily escape?” the wyvern said, taking a step towards Cirrus. “You do have a point.” It lowered its head and grinned. “Makes for a satisfying hunt.” “J-Just kidding,” Cirrus said, adding a nervous chuckle, “I think I’d look much better standing next to some statues. Why don’t you put me near some?” “You know,” the wyvern said, “all this talk of placement is making me hungry.” He licked his chops, dripping a few small globs of drool on the ground. “And since you’re part of my hoard now, I might as well eat—” Suddenly, it sounded like the whole mountain collapsed, a rumbling and crashing roaring through the cave. Something forced its way in, throwing coins and gems everywhere. Cirrus had to avert her head and duck to avoid getting hit, but a few coins still landed on and bounced off her back. After a moment, she looked up. The wyvern had turned around, obscuring most of her view, but when Cirrus stepped to the side, she could see what had interrupted them. “Slatescale!” she shouted. “Y-You’re here!” “Bah,” the wyvern said, snarling. “I thought I scared you away. What do you want?” Slatescale pointed at Cirrus, staring the wyvern straight in the eyes. He snorted, little puffs of black smoke leaving his nostrils. “Then you’re out of luck,” the wyvern said. “She’s mine, just like the rest of your hoard.” He stepped closer to Slatescale, getting so close their faces nearly touched. “In fact, I thought I scared you away. Why’d you come back, hm? To prove what kind of a pitiful excuse for a dragon you are?” Slatescale growled and swiped a claw at the wyvern, who quickly took a step back to dodge. “You’re going to have to do better than that,” the wyvern said. “Not that I’m expecting you to. After all, in spite of your bulk, you’re a weak dragon. A mongrel who can’t even defend his own hoard.” It stepped closer to Slatescale, driving him a step back. “A fraud. A weakling. I’m more of a dragon than you!” Slatescale took a few steps back, weakly shaking his head. “You know it’s true!” the wyvern shouted, advancing towards Slatescale. “We went through this before! If you’re a real dragon, prove it! Roar! Or...” It took a deep breath, standing up to its full length, then lunged forwards and roared. “LEAVE!” The verbal assault drove Slatescale further back, and with each step, he made himself a little smaller, until his chest was against the ground. He averted his head and quivered, closing his eyes. “Come on, Slatescale!” Cirrus shouted. “He’s all talk! Dragons can do a lot more than just roar!” “Shut up, mule!” the wyvern yelled as he whirled around. “Letting you live this long was a mistake. One I intend to correct!” It took a deep breath and reared up again, small wisps of flame appearing in its mouth. Cirrus ducked and cowered, but she knew it was useless. If the wyvern breathed fire on her right now, there’d be no way it’d miss, and such a huge gout of flame would be impossible to avoid. She briefly wondered if she’d even feel the heat. Just as the wyvern reached its full height, however, it uttered a startled gasp and fell forwards, barely managing to support itself on its wings. “What in the...?” it muttered, turning its head backwards. Behind it, Slatescale had grabbed the wyvern’s tail with both claws, just under the cruel barb. He pulled, stretching the tail out and keeping it taut. His scowl was intense as he glared at the wyvern, tugging with all of his strength. Slowly, Cirrus stood up, her mouth wide open. Had Slatescale just saved her? Slatescale had just saved her. Again. Though judging from Slatescale’s absolutely furious expression, this situation was quite different from last time. Cirrus wanted to say something, anything. She wanted to express her gratitude, apologize, or just cheer, but not a single word came from her throat. The wyvern growled and attempted to take a step forwards, but as soon as it moved a leg, Slatescale gave its tail a fierce pull, dragging the wyvern backwards. The wyvern shaked left and right, whipping its tail back and forth, eventually breaking loose of Slatescale’s iron grip. “Bah! So you’re not a coward when it comes to this pony?” the wyvern said, turning around again. “Fine then.” It roared again and charged forwards, its head crashing into Slatescale’s chest with a dull thud and pushing the large dragon. The wyvern didn’t let up, pushing Slatescale and forcing him backwards. “Slatescale! No!” Cirrus shouted, following the two enormous combatants. She had to hoist herself over multiple piles of treasures again, so by the time she reached Slatescale and the wyvern, they were already outside, locked in a stranglehold on the ground. The wyvern had knocked Slatescale down and had tried to bite his throat, but Slatescale had his claws in the wyvern’s mouth, pushing it open. His arms twitched and quivered, as did the wyvern’s jaws, as none of the two could overpower the other. Cirrus ran out of the cave, panting and gasping, opting to stick to the wall. Getting in the middle of this fight would not be a good idea. “Come on, Slatescale!” she shouted. “You can beat him! You’re much bigger!” Slatescale briefly looked at her and nodded. With a sudden jerk, he threw the wyvern to the right, slamming it on the ground and rolling on top. He removed his claws from the wyvern’s mouth and reared back for a punch. The wyvern recovered much faster than Slatescale had anticipated, and used its powerful legs to kick at its opponent’s belly, pushing him off. Awkwardly, the wyvern rolled over and stood up, flailing its wings about in the process. It panted and looked around: it was in a rather dangerous position, its back turned towards the end of the plateau. Slowly, it started circling Slatescale. “This is ridiculous. I can insult you, take everything from you, but threatening a pony, a pony, for crying out loud, is what riles you up? You really are the weakest excuse for a dragon I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen some types. Awful types.” Slatescale turned, intently following the wyvern with his eyes. His snarling grew louder and louder with every word the wyvern said. Just as the wyvern finished talking, Slatescale took a quick, deep breath and belched an enormous gout of flame towards his opponent. The wyvern countered with its own fire breath, the two blazing columns slamming into each other with a massive roar. Due to the wyvern’s smaller size, it couldn’t keep up with the sheer volume of flames Slatescale breathed out, and it quickly had to jump to the side to avoid being roasted. Slatescale didn’t hesitate, sharp nails extending from his fingertips as he lunged towards the wyvern. The nails matched his spines, having the same bright red colour and the same sharp look. They shone as they soared through the air, going straight for the wyvern’s head. The wyvern stepped back, barely dodging Slatescale’s claws, both of them digging far into the ground inches from the wyvern’s head. It quickly retaliated, raising its tail and pointing its cruel barb at Slatescale. Before the wyvern could strike, Slatescale pulled his claws out of the ground, together with a large rock, smashing it into the wyvern’s chin. Cirrus cringed. Ow. And to think she’d been saved from a similar fate two days earlier. While the wyvern was stunned, Slatescale stepped around it and grabbed its tail again, retracting his nails in the process. This time, instead of regularly pulling on the tail, Slatescale turned and pulled it over his shoulder, straining as hard as he could to drag the wyvern off its feet. Snarling and growling, the wyvern tried stepping forwards, yelping in pain whenever Slatescale tugged. It reached for the ground with its wings, but the small claw tips weren’t nearly enough to get a grip. It wiggled about, trying to break loose, but its feet were lifted off the ground slightly, making it hard to move. Slatescale briefly relaxed his arms, causing the wyvern to stumble forwards and fall, then pulled again, dragging the wyvern across the ground. He clenched his teeth in exertion as he gave an overhead swing, pulling the wyvern up and through the air, slamming it into the ground with a loud smash not even a second later. Cirrus averted her head and shielded her eyes, the massive impact of the wyvern slamming into the ground scattering rocks everywhere. Luckily, none of them hit her, but she could hear the rocks clattering and smashing against the mountainside. “I-I yield,” the wyvern said, flailing on the ground as it tried to get up, but it completely failed to as Slatescale was still holding its tail. “I can’t defeat you.” Snarling, it added, “If only because I lack arms.” Slatescale let go of the wyvern’s tail and scowled as the creature rose to its feet again. “Fair is fair,” the wyvern said, “your cave is yours again, as is your hoard. And of course, so is your... friend.” It spat out the last word, its voice dripping with venom as it shot Cirrus a brief glance. It arched its back, groaning loudly. “Let’s hope we never meet again.” With that, it flapped its wings, clumsily rising up and leaving, heading south. Cirrus watched the wyvern leave, staring for a few seconds in amazement. She then turned to Slatescale and ran towards him, shouting, “Slatescale! You did it!” She came to a halt at his side. “Are you okay?” Slatescale panted, taking a moment to regain his breath. He nodded, revealing the nail of his left index finger. A large part had broken off, leaving a rather silly-looking stump in its place. Slatescale shrugged and retracted the nail, then pointed at Cirrus. “Me?” Cirrus asked. “I... I’m...” She looked down. “I-I’m...” Her knees buckled and she collapsed as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry I broke my promise!” She sniffed and sniveled as she put her front hooves over her head. “I-I knew you didn’t want me to go, but I did, because I wanted— I had— I was so scared! A-And, thank you for saving me again, and—” Something interrupted her. Something large, gently rubbing against her side. Cirrus slowly raised her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. She could see Slatescale, leaning forwards, very gently nuzzling Cirrus with his chin, a huge smile on his face. “Y-You’re not mad?” Cirrus asked, standing up and taking a step backwards in surprise. Slatescale pulled his head back and shook it, then pointed at the cave entrance. “Yeah,” Cirrus said, sniffling again. “I wanted to help you get your house back, but you had to save me. Again.” She sighed. “It’s just not possible for me to help you.” Slatescale shook his head again. He pointed at Cirrus, then put a claw on his chest, right over his heart. He then balled his claw up into a fist and pounded it on his chest a few times. Cirrus chuckled. “I think I know what you mean. You did get really angry when that wyvern threatened me. I’m glad I could help you find the courage to stand up to that bully.” Slatescale nodded happily and went over to his cave, returning a few seconds later with a claw full of gold and gems, presenting it to Cirrus. “No, I can’t take that,” Cirrus said with a chuckle. “I know you have lots, but I simply don’t have the room! Besides, I’d much rather come visit and look at your hoard. It’s much more beautiful that way.” Slatescale nodded again, throwing his clawful of treasures back into his cave, causing coins and gems to clink and clatter against each other. “Although...” Cirrus stepped towards the edge of the plateau, peering down. “It was pretty hard to get up here.” Slatescale scratched his chin for a second, then picked up one of the many rocks at the edge of the plateau and set it down elsewhere. He took some dirt from elsewhere on the plateau and filled the hole he just made, creating the beginning of a simple path. “Great idea!” Cirrus said. “But that’ll take a while. I don’t think I can get home before dark.” In fact, it’d be pretty hard to even get down the mountain before nightfall, as the sun was already well on its way toward the horizon. Again, Slatescale had to think about that for a moment, before walking over to his cave. He stood to the side of the entrance, giving a little bow and motioning for Cirrus to enter. “Are you inviting me in?” Cirrus giggled. “I guess it’ll be like any old sleepover then!” she said as she walked to the cave. “Except, you know, with a dragon and a pony, as opposed to just ponies.” As she stepped inside, Cirrus let out a sigh of relief and yawned. Now that she had a few moments to calm down, she felt like she hadn’t slept in days. No surprise there, as it’s not every day you climb up a mountain, nearly get eaten by a wyvern, and then watch a dragon and said wyvern fight over you. It had been the most exhausting, exciting, adrenalin-filled day of Cirrus’ life. But when she looked back at Slatescale, and saw the enormous smile on his face, she knew for sure that it was more than worth it.