The dragon was indeed surprised. Nobody had tried running before. The girl they had given her this year was feisty and somehow familiar. Oh yes … He had caught her staring at him sometimes. Others ran for cover when he had been out hunting but she stared. The pig a week ago had been hers. He had seen her in the yard and wanted … well to show off really. So he had done the stunt with the pig… it wasn’t the tastiest way to eat a pig really… but it was flashy and she quite definitely was looking. Somehow it had been satisfying in other ways than as a meal to consume the pig that way. He was old. These boyish stunts should have been beyond him. But… well. It was fun.

And now she was actually trying to run from him. Straight for the river too. It wasn’t a bad plan… but he was faster. He went after her and caught her as she was ready to leap. The beast rumbled: “Mine!” carrying her away towards the mountains.

The human part of the dragon's mind wondered about that… the beast had never been possessive over these girls. Sometimes he felt he demanded them for him, so he had company. But he was sad about their fate. They would not last long in the dragon's lair. And neither would this one… He was steeling his heart. This time, he would fight the urges.

The dragon’s lair was far. He needed to stop and make sure she was safe for the journey. On an empty meadow he landed slowly putting her passed out form on the ground. His shape shifted. Soon instead of a dragon a naked man stood in the middle of a dragon size harness. He extracted from the harness a big but light bag, walked up to her and eyed her carefully.

She was not beautiful in the conventional sense, but even passed out, he could feel the fire in her. Strongest yet he had felt in any human before. Her body was riddled in scars. Life had not been kind to her even though she was still quite young and yet it seemed to have not broken her spirit. He smiled. It was going to be an interesting winter with such a companion. And her lack of conventional beauty may help in keeping her safe when spring comes.

He unpacked her travel gear. It was a furry sleeping bag designed to be carried by the dragon. He packed her carefully in the big bag hoping she would not awaken and panic before they were home, but even if she did, the soft bag would keep her safe. They would need to go high and she would freeze to death without the bag. Soon he was done with the packing. He stood back in the center of the harness and called the dragon forth. He surfaced, filled out the harness, carefully picked up the handles of the sleeping bag and took off.

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They were going home.

Renna woke up in the stomach of a dragon. It wasn’t what she had expected. It was furry and dry. And she wasn’t cooked. But she was definitely inside a flying dragon, joisted up and down in the rhythm of its wings with wind howling outside. It was surprisingly comfortable. She considered panicking for a moment, but it did seem to have much point. It would not change anything and would make it just more uncomfortable.

She used the time for thinking. She fished her mother’s amulet from the the bodice of her dress and held it in her hand, feeling it. It was pitch dark in the dragon so touch would suffice for now. Suddenly, reddish glow illuminated her surroundings. She lifted the amulet to her eyes. The copper flames surrounding the ivory egg were glowing. In the light of the amulet she could see that she was in a bag made of furry skins. She wasn’t eaten? Maybe it was still full from the pig and was saving her for later? She was annoyed. She had given up already. So how come it wasn’t over yet?

And the amulet itself, it should not be doing that… It never had before… but well. She had never held it in the darkness either. Maybe it had always been a bit magical.

And then there was her father and brothers, wishing her a safe journey… She was wondering if they knew something she did not. Because she was indeed now clearly on a journey to a place she knew nothing of in a bag carried by a giant beast.

She stashed away the amulet and struggled to stand upright. It was possible with a degree of effort. Then she reached up trying to find an edge to grab on to. She did find something and pulled. Her fingers met painfully cold outside air. She let go. It's probably better to stay in the warm pouch, she decided.

She slouched down and sighed. The rhythmic beating of the wings and howling of the wind were making her sleepy again. Soon, she fell asleep again and dreamt of flying on her own wings. It was a familiar dream she visited often.

It did indeed seem to be for now a safe journey.