A Painful Strategy

                  Jonas woke again. His head throbbed with a dull pain. Afraid to make sudden movements and draw attention, he tried his best to look around, moving as little as he could. He saw two of the sickly-looking dragons with their grayish splotchy scales he saw before. They conversed in a strange language. Jonas got a better look at the other dragon species. It looked dragon but with a large upper body build; it stood in a human-like stance, hunched over, resting most of its weight on its back two legs as opposed to all four like the others. Though not uncommon for dragons to walk on their hind legs, something about its posture and body structure looked off. Then he realized the creature didn’t have wings. Small stubs with horrible scarring sat where the wings should have been. It seemed to have one good arm, and one slightly deformed arm.

                  Yerik mumbled something. He looked to be in and out of consciousness. His voice sounded as if he was pleading, possibly for water. It seemed strange to Jonas hearing a warrior such as Yerik plead for anything. It caught the attention of one dragon. The dark scaled dragon whipped around and mumbled foreign words as it marched up to Yerik asserting its power over him.

                  As soon as the dragon drew close enough, Yerik swung a swift kick into the dragon’s head. Yerik had his arms and torso tied. His legs were not. A detail that Yerik used to his advantage. Yerik laughed at the creature as it seemed to go unconscious for a few seconds, only to recover, though dazed. The other strange wingless dragon creature leapt into action, beating Yerik with a stick. Yerik did the best he could to protect himself, screaming out in pain from the relentless beating. As soon as the creature paused for a moment, once again, a strategic well-placed kick sent the creature whirling to the ground.

                  The angry, injured beast jumped up and continued to wail on Yerik. Yerik screamed out louder. It again seemed odd to Jonas that such a warrior as Yerik would yell out in such pain. It almost looked like Yerik lacked any form of resiliency. After beating Yerik into submission, the dragon creature stepped away, yelling strange words into the darkness. The first dragon came back to its senses, staring at Yerik. It seemed like the commotion drew the attention of several of the other dragons in the area.

                  Yerik lay on the rock, moaning. Jonas did the best he could to crawl closer and help if he could. “Yerik, what are you doing? Don’t provoke them!”

                  Yerik laughed. “That wasn’t that bad.” Yerik looked up at Jonas with a raised eyebrow, a smile, and a swelling bruised eye.

                  “Oh… uh…. that’s… good?” Jonas lost any words of response shocked by the nonchalance of Yerik’s injuries. In Jonas’s world, ‘Not that bad’ usually meant less paperwork for the day. The world of a career fighter appeared to differ greatly from Jonas’s usual routine.

                  Yerik leaned in closer to Jonas. “If those kids didn’t already head for the safety of their home, they came looking for us. If I call for help, these dragons will know someone else is out there, so instead of calling for help, I get the nasty lizards to beat me. I yell out much louder than I normally would, getting all dramatic and such. This will alert any of those kids where we are, and it lets them know these dragons are dangerous and should be avoided.” Yerik coughed a bit and spit a mouthful of blood. He continued as if were part of the job. “When I act dramatic like that, it also draws the enemy’s attention to us, lessening the chance of these jackass dragons from finding the kids if they are looking for us. Plus, when we act all hurt and vulnerable, these dragons think they have power over us, but they’re not that strong.” As Yerik spoke those words, a hulking beast of a dragon creature stepped out of the darkness.

                  “Okay, this might be a different story.” Yerik said, fixing his focus on the new attacker.

                  The hulking beast of a dragon had a thick and large upper body, closer to that of a human being. It would sometimes use its large muscular arms to stabilize itself as it walked with a limp. It seemed to have tiny underdeveloped wings attached to its back that would twitch as it moved around. Large horns extended from the back of its skull, much thicker than a typical dragon. The horrific looking dragon creature approached Yerik.

                  Yerik turned to Jonas, “Strategy for this guy, ball up and protect your vitals.”

                  Yerik barely had enough time to instruct Jonas before the creature pinned him against the rock, shouting what seemed to be profanities in its strange language, spitting when it yelled, then shoved Yerik back into the wall.

                  The creature stood twice his size, but Yerik still shouted in its face. “Untie my hands bice for brains and give me a fighting chance!”

                  The creature swung several blows on Yerik, then turned with a swift swing, surprising Jonas with a hit to the head.

                  The force sent Jonas’s world spinning, everything blurred, but he could tell the giant dragon creature walked away. Jonas fought to remain conscious. He had to for his safety, for Yerik’s safety. He still hoped he could talk some sense into the aggressive creatures. His body wanted to shut down, and his will to keep his eyes open weakened. Just before all went black, Jonas saw the gigantic creature walking back to them with a weapon in hand.