The Gentle Giantess

(Part 8 of Shadowdale)

"We haven't spent much time together." Crag explained as she set Sterling down atop the Inner Council's table. "I thought we should get to know each other a bit."

The human smiled up at her and nodded. He liked the gray dragon; she was certainly the kindest among the Council, rarely – if ever – killing humans for food or sport; she had even gone so far as to make friends with a number of the boy's race. Crag may have been, more or less, a moving mountain at her eighty feet in height, but she was a gentle giantess.

Nimble claws reached down to the dragon's side, drawing a large black box up to the table. The object was slightly longer than Sterling was tall and folded out to reveal a board, lined with both white marble and black obsidian squares. From within the box was an assortment of tiny statues depicting soldiers, knights, priests, siege towers, noble kings, and honorable queens.

"Chess?" Sterling asked.

"I've always been fascinated with the game." The giantess explained. "And, after hearing about your exploits last year, I've been dying to test my skills against you. Shall we?"

White pieces fell into place along the human's half of the board as the dragon dexterously moved her own obsidian army into place, her enormous hands making it somewhat awkward.

The game began slowly, a pair of pawns moving up on either side of the board to lock each other in a stalemate in the center of the battlefield. A marble knight rode up beside one of the pieces while another pawn shifted in the ranks of the black army, opening a path for a bishop to slide out into the fray.

"I have to ask." Crag said as her bishop safely swept a pawn from the board, drawing first blood. "What is it like to be so small?"

"Interesting," the boy said, moving up his faithful horseman to force the bishop into a hasty retreat. "Some things are a bit annoying – what I wouldn't give to stop you all from eating me! But it feels… I don't know… right. It's like I should be this size, like it marks my place among your kind."

A pair of pawns met and died in the center as the gray dragon pondered the answer.

"What's it like being so big?" Sterling asked to turn the conversation Crag's way as his knight once again forced the bishop into a retreat. The piece backpedaled, leaving Sterling's mounted soldier as the only significant piece in the battle.

"Empowering," she replied, slipping a rook out in line with her opponent's knight. The horseman rode back to safety, allowing the bishop to move out into the fight again.

"You feel like you could conquer the world! But there's a sense of responsibility, too." The dragon admitted. "You always have to be careful that you don't step on someone or that you don't overhunt and starve an entire region."

"So it isn't all that great?" Sterling asked, grimacing as the annoying bishop slew his own rook that had just emerged from behind the line of pawns.

"I certainly wouldn't give it up." The gray dragon said, grimacing herself as Sterling spotted an opening and drove his knight into her bishop.

"While we're on the subject of size," Sterling said, sending his knight galloping down the board as he spoke "how big is Embyr going to get?"

The gray giantess thought for a long while, one claw tapping against her chin as the other played a game of cat and mouse with her rook as the white horseman chased it relentlessly. The chase ended abruptly as Sterling overstepped his bounds, foolishly allowing a pawn to end his piece's reign of terror.

"She was nearly fifty five feet tall this time last year." Crag recalled. "It is very possible she could double in size. It's a rather scary thought – for me, too, since I've become rather used to being the biggest."

"As if Embyr couldn't get any more terrifying," the human mused, a white bishop sliding out among the scattered pieces as he spoke.

"She is the Black Terror not by human words but by those of the dragons." Crag explained. "We wouldn't have given the name lightly. It is very possible that, one day, she could be the most powerful of our kind; she may very well replace Pyre as head of the Inner Council in time."

The two thought on that for a long while, their pieces sliding back and forth in their silent conflict. Sterling's bishop fell after several turns, though not before he managed to take the rook that had cost him a knight such a short time ago.

Queens entered the battlefield simultaneously, dancing back and forth as they sought both to take their opponent's pieces without invoking the ire of the other. Crag seemed to gain the upper hand with her mighty piece and so, after several costly moves, Sterling sacrificed his own piece in order to take the dragon's.

The giantess applauded the move, quickly finding herself back on an even playing field with her young adversary.

Sterling entered check first as a rook slid across the board, lining itself up with his monarch. The white leader remained still as a pawn took an enemy piece diagonally, blocking the path of the rampaging siege tower. Crag moved one of her few remaining pawns, giving Sterling a chance to line up a diagonal check with his marble bishop. Once again the Inner Council member clapped in pleasant surprise, being forced to slide her rook to block the game-ending attack.

"You aren't half bad." She congratulated, sitting back for a moment to survey the board. After several seconds her claws nimbly wrapped around a knight, causing it to gallop forward and force the deadly bishop into a retreat.

"Thank you," he replied, accepting the compliment. "You're pretty good at the game yourself."

"I've had a few centuries to learn it." She admitted. "Of course, I don't have a chance to play as regularly as I would like."

"Then maybe I should stay with the Council more often." Her opponent offered, moving his last remaining knight in an L shape to take one of the obsidian pawns that still lay scattered across the board.

"I would like that." The giantess said, lining up a second pawn with the intention of taking the annoying horseman. The mounted soldier spun around it, taking one of the lesser piece's brothers to remain unchallenged.

A rook lined itself up with the marble veteran, a move Sterling hadn't seen. His knight was trapped, unable to move anywhere without being taken by an enemy. With a quiet curse the boy decided to let it meet its end fighting, taking a bishop that stood guard over the obsidian king.

Crag smiled as her green eyes darted down to the far side of the board. The human's face scrunched up in confusion as he followed her gaze, looking down to his king.

Moving the knight had opened up a path down the board! The alleyway between dueling pawns would lead the rook that could follow it into line with his monarch, the game-ending piece that lay trapped near the far right corner. A line of pawns and a single useless rook blocked its path, allowing no chance for escape.

The obsidian siege tower made its way down the field as Sterling sank his head into his hands. Having nowhere to go he tipped the king onto its side, marking the fall of his army and his defeat in the game.

"I win." The dragon beamed down at him, a smile crossing her toothy muzzle.

Sterling gulped as he looked up at his foe. Knowing the attitude of most dragons he knew all-too-well what was coming next: she would take him as her "prize" and eat him.

She leaned down and he shut his gray eyes, letting the darkness hide the pink cavern that would open before him. He felt himself lifted from the ground by the dexterous fingers of the gentle giantess, a giggle echoing in front of him as he felt a warm palm support his legs.

"Open your eyes," she implored "I'm not going to eat you."

He cracked open one of his gray orbs, peeking through his eyelashes to see if the chess master was telling the truth. He saw a closed mouth, lips curled up in an amused smile as she surveyed her defeated opponent.

"Well, this is a first." The boy admitted as he relaxed a bit, lying back in the gray dragon's hand as she leaned back against her chair.

"Don't get me wrong; it's tempting." She said, her green eyes flashing. "But I understand your aversion to becoming a meal, so I'll restrain myself."

"Wow… thank you." The little knight said, realizing that Crag had done more for him than even Embyr in regard to ignoring the food chain.

The dragon nodded.

"Thank you for such an excellent game." Crag said.

"Am I really that… appetizing?" Sterling asked, watching as the gray dragon subtly hid the motion of licking her lips.

"I do not know how Embyr refrained from eating you on sight so many months ago." The giantess admitted awkwardly, scratching her neck with a free hand.

"Well… I guess I do owe you." He said hesitantly, filling himself with both shock and regret as the words left his mouth. "You deserve a taste… I guess…"

"Only if you're ok with it." Crag said, her lips nearing the boy as she spoke.

"I'm never 'ok' with this." He replied. "But I did lose…"

A warm pink tongue snaked from between the dragon's fangs, slowly sliding over the boy's face. He closed his eyes and grimaced at the familiar texture of the muscle but managed to hold still, accepting the treatment.

"Delicious," the giantess said. "Simply… delicious…"

"Get it over with." Sterling muttered.

"I just wanted a taste." She explained, licking her lips and savoring the flavor as she leaned back again. "I won't go any further – you have become my friend, Sterling, and I will respect your wishes."

"Thanks," he said, basking in the warm glow that seemed to reverberate through his being.

"So… when the apocalypse comes, will we all…"

"Die?" Crag finished.

"Hopefully not. The end of the world is foretold in many legends, but in this case there is a way to prevent it. With any luck the end of time will not come any time soon."

"Can you even die?" Sterling asked, looking up and down the powerful dragon's body. "They say you're immortal?"

Crag giggled at the comment.

"They say I'm immortal?"

"You were born in a volcano, which supposedly gave you some supernatural powers. You're enormous; you were stabbed in the heart twice and not only managed to survive but to keep fighting!"

"I'm not immortal." The dragon said, still giggling. "It's just a legend – a rather noble legend, but just a legend."

"Then how did you survive-"

"Touch your heart, Sterling." The giantess commanded.

The boy complied, moving his hand slightly to the left of his chest where he could feel the life blood pumping rhythmically through his nearly six foot frame.

"Here," the dragon said, moving the boy up to her own chest. Sterling pressed himself against the warm gray scales, feeling just above the dragon's left breast where he expected to find Crag's pulsing heart. He found the beat but it was weaker than he expected for being just over the enormous muscular organ.

"My size and 'immortality' are just accidents of birth." She explained, moving her friend over so that he was just to the right of her chest. The beat was much stronger beneath Sterling's fingers, practically shaking his body with each rhythmic pump.

"My heart was positioned opposite from a normal dragon – or human, for that matter. I gained size by chance, a gift from some kind deity."

"So you were never stabbed in the heart?" Sterling asked, fascinated. The great dragon shook her head.

"So now you know the secret behind my immortality." Crag said, placing the human back on the stone table.

"You have some remarkable gifts." The boy said. "Hopefully they can help us win the upcoming fight."

"Hopefully," she agreed "but if we really want a chance it will be up to you, Embyr, and Crystal. You have only been here two days; but I'm afraid your stay here is coming to an end. You'll have to leave tomorrow and head north; we need to find Tide Bringer before this other sword-seeker does."