Kinesthinus and the Dragon

The dragon looked over Kinesthinus with a lazy, regal eye. The knight Kinesthinus blinked in bewildered amazement, unsure, now, of exactly how to proceed. Usually, his charge was met with a more enthusiastic greeting - or rather, a more hostile greeting, to be exact. This dragon seemed more inclined to engage in a healthy round of snoring in place of a rousing fight to the death. Kinesthinus glanced back down the road that he had come, making sure there was no one there to witness this humiliating encounter, before he dismounted and cautiously approached the dragon.

"Ho, serpent!" Kinesthinus hailed, raising his sword threateningly - at least, it would have looked threatening should any eyes be around. In reality, he was trying to get the dragon’s attention. "Ho, there, I say! Stand and deliver!"

The dragon blinked, bemused. The corner of its massive mouth quirked upwards slightly as it narrowed its eye on the little, bewhiskered man. "Stand and deliver?" it whispered (It couldn’t very well use its full speaking voice with the knight so close to its mouth. It would have certainly killed him with its power, crushing his armor and all that.) "Are you a knight or a highwayman? And what would I give you besides a good dose of death?"

Kinesthinus scowled, raising his visor - that particular piece of armor made the voice sound muffled and fuzzy, and if there were indeed listeners nearby, he didn’t want them to mistake his words. "I am a knight, dragon!" he announced, tossing his words over his shoulder - just in case there were more ears here than his and the dragons, of course - for what good would it do him if the townspeople found out about his former occupation? Especially since he’d mixed up his lines because of his puzzlement. "I have come to slay you."

A tiny pouf of acrid black smoke rose from the dragon’s nostrils as it chuckled softly, turning its head. The dragon was resting easily, stretched out on its belly on the verdant roadway that rolled across the hills to the gleaming castle in the distance. Kinesthinus kept glancing over his shoulder, more paranoid now than ever that there was someone to witness this exchange. Facing away from Kinesthinus, the dragon chuckled again. Leaves and new grass and gravel rustled under the weight of the dragon’s massive, whiskered chin as it dragged its head back around to fix the perplexed knight with one overlarge yellow eye. Kinesthinus took an involuntary step backwards. He could see his full-length reflection in the lower half of the dragon’s slitted pupil. The dragon sighed lazily. A tree a short way off toppled over, its roots ripping out of the ground with a startling sound in the otherwise silent countryside. Kinesthinus swallowed hard, having nearly jumped out of his chausses. "What’s so funny?" he demanded.

"You. There’s no one there, little man. They are all more afraid of me than they are impressed by you." The massive yellow eye with its full-length mirror finish moved slightly as the dragon gave the knight a perfunctory once over, dismissing him. "Not that I blame them."

Kinesthinus, unsure of whether he’d just been insulted or not, maintained his arrogant posture. "Are you saying that you are the most fearful creature in the kingdom, then?" he demanded with all the bravado left in place of the courage the castle dwellers had given him (In the form of spirits and jingling purses, of course. Kinesthinus was a very practical minded man.)