text: [Themes: fantasy, female protagonist, fantasy]
  
  "Go home, buddy. Learn some swordplay and build up some muscle before you challenge a dragon. Let me guess. You're some farmer type who sang a song about how you're destined for more than cutting wheat, even though your family has done that for generations. You defeat foes who are much stronger than you by tricking them into doing it for you .You put on a suit of armor, tricked the king into thinking you're some valiant knight. And now you're thinking that you're going to defeat me by some clever plan of yours. Then poor peasant boy will suddenly become rich lord, and they'll talk about it in fairy tales afterward. Does that sound about right to you?" The knight is at first shocked, then angry. (Though it's hard to tell, what with the oversized helmet and all.)
  
  "I have as much right to be here as any of the other knights!" the knight protests. "I'm as worthy as they are!"
  
  "I mean, they weren't really worthy to begin with, so you're setting a real low bar for yourself here." you respond dryly.
  
  "If you don't think I deserve to be here, then fight me and see!" He raises his sword, which is small and light, unlike the swords of the faliures before him. You draw in breath, intending to knock him out with a burst of poisonous gas, but he's quick. He dives under you and slices his sword across your stomach. It's only a scratch, but none of the other knights have gotten this far. You take to the air. Cursing, he sheathes his sword and draws his bow and arrow. You don't stay put for him to fire at you, though. You spiral through the air, making you rather hard to hit. Even though he's a good shot, the only hits glance off your iron-hard scales.
  
  Next, you land in the forest, your green-brown scales blending in perfectly with the forest floor. Evolution has served you well. You hear the knight crashing through the forest (apparently he doesn't care about stealth anymore) and stop moving. He won't see you. He runs up on top of your back and you can practically hear his confusion. The broken branches make it clear that you were here. What he doesn't know is that you still are.
  
  You start moving slowly. He probably thinks it's an earthquake. Unseen, you creep around, ready to strike from behind. The helmet obsures his vision, which must explain why he hasn't noticed you yet. You pounce. The knight turns just in time to notice you and raises his shield up. It crumples under your weight, but he isn't there anymore. You hear a metallic clunk and a curse word as the knight removes her helmet. A cascade of blonde hair tumbles out. So they aren't sending arrogant males, just arrogant people.
  
  You snatch the knight in your claws. Not stopping to let her regain her senses, you take to the air, and soon you're well above the ground. You've got her pinned so tightly that she can't reach her sword. Unfortunately, that isn't her only weapon. She jabs a knife into the flesh surrounding your claws. You roar in pain and instinctively let go. The knight, however, doesn't. You try to bite her, but you're also not particularily keen on biting your claw off, either.
  
  The knight makes a leap of faith. For a second, you think she isn't going to make it, but she catches your wing and throws you off balance. You both hurtle to the ground, you barely managing to slow your fall. You crash to the ground, and she stabs his sword into you. You pin him to the ground. You're both beaten and bloodied.
  
  "Will you both stop!" the girl (since there are two of them now, you'll have to find a new name for this one) says. This is why you didn't want to agree to this. A few more minutes and the knight might have gotten luckier. As it is, you think she's punctured an organ or something. You're bleeding out. When you move, a splitting pain tears through you.You won't die, given that the combat doesn't continue, but it's still a grave injury.
  
  You hear a spitting noise from the knight and look down to see that your blood is dripping on her face and that she's trying to block it, but because you still have her pinned, she can't. "Your blood is—ew—in my—pthah—mouth! It's disgusting!" she spits.
  
  "May I remind you that you were the one who caused this?" you retort.
  
  "Well, if you hadn't taken that cheap shot—"
  
  "Cheap shot? You grabbed my—"
  
  "You wouldn't even stay on the ground!"
  
  "I'm sorry, who was the one that said, 'Fight me! I'm—' "
  
  "I said, will you both stop?!" the girl shouts, now more annoyed than concerned. Your adrenaline fades, however, and you're left weakened. You crumple to the ground, barely avoiding crushing the knight. Good thing, too, because she looks like she couldn't move a muscle. "Are you okay?" the girl—the princess—asks, her annoyance faded.
  
  "Your parents—pant—have been searching—pant—everywhere for you," the knight wheezes. "But if you—pant—could convince the dragon—pant—to stop attacking, then couldn't you convince him—"
  
  "Her," you correct.
  
  "Her," the knight agrees. "Couldn't you convince her to let you go?" The princess says nothing. "So... is this your dragon?"
  
  "As if," you say, rolling your eyes.
  
  "So, you're... not captured?" the knight says, puzzled. "It took you long enough to figure that out," the princess says. "But... why? Your family has been searching for you for days. I don't think they've even slept!" A new stab of pain rolls through you and you groan. The princess rushes over to your side. "Are you okay? You don't seem okay," she asks, genuine concern written across her face. Of course. This knight probably wants to take her back against her will, and she's concerned about you.
  
  The pain intensifies and you decide that if this princess wants to be all altruistic, that's fine with you. "Hold on," says the princess, "You'll be okay," You see that the knight is standing up and moving towards the girl. You think about warning her, but you have a sort of apathy that only pain can give. The knight grabs the princess. "What are you doing?" she screams.
  
  "I know you think you're making the right choice, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the people who love you," the knight shouts. The princess tries to do something, perhaps cast a spell or run away, but the knight holds on to her arm with a vise grip. You slowly get up, but a new wave of pain courses through you, forcing you to the ground once more. You watch, helpless, as the princess is carried away towards a future you know she didn't want.
  
  For all their great power and might, dragons are annoyingly slow healers. You managed to get yourself to a safe spot where your natural camouflage hid you... and then you stayed there. For weeks on end. You've lost track of time and you're hungry. It can wait—after all, you've survived for months without food before. You're impressed that the knight managed to wound you this badly. You're thankful it's gone from a stabbing pain to a dull ache.
  
  But despite your pain, you can't stop thinking about the princess. You're not sure if it was that you didn't complete your end of the bargain—though you have double-crossed people before. But this time, it wasn't intentional. Her face flashes through your mind as it looked when the knight dragged her away. Why can't your stupid conscience just shut up? You get up for the first time in weeks and stretch. Your injury has barely scaled over. You feel a plan starting to form—Hold up! Who ever said you had to do something about the princess? Most likely she's fine.
  
  > follow your conscience and stage a rescue!
  If you're right, the legends about you are greater than your actual capabilities, which means you might not even have to fight your way in, which is your second-favorite type of fighting. It'll be something of a "Fear, me, mortals!" routine.
  
  You soar to the castle quickly, albeit a bit slower due to your injury, putting yourself in full view. You arrive at the main gate and sum up your imperious I am the best of them all voice. "I demand to see the ruler of this kingdom and his daughter," When the guards don't respond, frozen with fear, you decide to humor yourself. "NOW!" you shout, causing the guards to run in fear—towards the throne room, you hope.
  
  When the king and the princess come out, you look directly at the girl and give her an almost imperceptible nod. Her eyes widen in understanding and before you can get a word out, she starts speaking to you. "I understand you have come to collect your end of the bargain," she says, pretending to be afraid.
  
  "What bargain?" the king demands.
  
  "I told the dragon to spare any knights that came, and the knight that rescued me was no different."
  
  You take parole. "In exchange, she promised to be my prisoner. When she asked to see her parents once more, I figured it was a reasonable request, but that she must return."
  
  "I don't want her to hurt you," the princess pleads.
  
  "And I do not wish to harm you, either. But if you do not hold up your end of the bargain, I will torch this town to the ground." You're bluffing, of course. Only red dragons breathe fire. You breathe a gas that paralyses the nerves for a short period of time. But you're hoping that the king doesn't know much about red dragons.
  
  "We can't lose you again," the king says, heartbroken.
  
  "You are not losing her," you say. "You are letting her go. I shall see that no harm comes to her," The queen runs up.
  
  "Be brave," she whispers, hugging her daughter.
  
  Back at the tower, you ask the princess an important question. "Is this what you wanted?" You did, essentially, capture her. "I think so. Did you mean what you said about seeing that no harm comes to me?"
  
  "Absolutely not." You shake your head. "If you don't run into harm, you won't know what can hurt you, and then I'll have to babysit you for the rest of eternity."
  
  "I do not need a babysitter!" she exclaims.
  
  "My point exactly," you respond.
  
  "And so, the dragon and the princess became good friends. The princess left messages for her family, saying that she was happy and well. And they all lived—"
  
  "What about the knight? She was only trying to do her job."
  
  "And the king and queen seemed very sad."
  
  "Still, I liked that ending." The traveler smiled, amused by the answers.
  
  "I like that ending too, though it isn't the one that happened."
  
  "It wasn't?" the children asked, confused.
  
  "It was just one that could have happened."
  
  "Now, now, we should let the traveler get some rest," one of the mothers suggested, ushering everyone away from the campfire. The traveler stayed for a while, staring at the flames, lost in thought.
  
  "Are you all right?" the woman asked, startling the traveler.
  
  "Just wondering," the traveler said, rubbing the green scales on the back of her neck.