Argus flapped his wings once more, then dive-bombed through the clouds until he could make out the pitiful sight of the sprawling village below. He would return to burn their little huts in due time, after he laid waste to their castle on the horizon and bested the champion. Besides, their little straw huts and pitchfork weapons would prove boring to combat, whether he chose to cook the villagers with his breath or simply smash them under his claw. For a being as immense as Argus, whose smallest talon was still longer than the mightiest human guardsman, it wasn’t enough of a challenge.

            His true task awaited beyond, however, somewhere around the castle, as usual. In fact, Argus was surprised he couldn’t see her already, given her gigantic height and her semi-regular growth spurts.

            The princess Narina.

            After their first meeting twelve years ago, during which Argus arrived to ravage the kingdom and kidnap their royal daughter as a prize, only to find a youthful golden-haired giantess standing in his way, a rivalry for the ages was begun. At least, Argus saw it that way; Narina only ever seemed to treat him like a beloved traveling petting zoo, especially in light of the fact that they first squared off when she was a child. Even then she was big, and continuing to grow all the time, though regardless of her curse, she was never in anything but the sunniest and most singsong of dispositions. Argus was about half her size for that first tussle, and despite his sharp claws and flaming exhalations, he couldn’t do much more to harm her than tear the threads of her dress. Like some petulant kitten. Meanwhile, Narina was so insistent on gently rough-housing him, followed by kissably cuddling, that Argus was scared off by sheer humiliation. He’d flown back to his lair while listening to Narina tearfully cry “Come back, puppy!” across the land with every wingbeat.

            But not this time. While the dragon had suffered dramatic defeats in years past, this occasion would be far different. He’d been absorbing dark energy from the ancient earth below his lair for three-hundred-sixty-five days and nights, striking fear into the hearts of the surrounding provinces, and turning all would-be warriors to a crispy char. He was more powerful than ever before, and was confident that this year, he’d be the victor over Narina.

            As Argus got closer, however, he still couldn’t see the princess. Had she forgotten about their yearly war? This possibility infuriated the dragon, and he landed heavily in the grassy field before the fortress walls encircling the castle. No giant fair maiden to be seen, and Argus was certain she couldn’t be within the walls, because the tallest tower of the palace scarcely reached the height of Narina’s thigh last year.

            Perhaps he’d take his prize without a fight. Argus was pleased at the prospect of incinerating the kingdom unopposed, but he was also disappointed. Narina was the only being he’d encountered in a quarter century of life who had ever come close to opposing him, let alone defeat him year after year. Without a princess to battle, it was still a spiritual loss.

            As if by divine answer, the sky-high mountain overlooking the royal structure rumbled. Curious, Argus looked to the snow-capped peak, and watched in shock as the princess appeared from behind the mountain itself. With no effort whatsoever, she navigated the mountainside, daintily clambering down the hill, and arriving back beside the wall. Dressed in a simple sea-green gown, with her silken blonde locks combed lovingly over her shoulder, the princess was just as beautiful and radiant as ever, wearing a captivating smile that accentuated her bright eyes and kind countenance. She also happened to be absolutely colossal.     

            Argus gawked, taken aback. Was this truly the same princess he’d battled annually for over a decade? He thought she was big last year, when she’d enlarged sufficiently to manhandle him with the ease of a lap-dwelling pussycat. This year, her foot, clad in its golden-stitched royal slipper, was roughly the same size as his entire body. She’d very nearly doubled in size.

            “You came, you came!” the young princess cheered, clapping her hands. She’d never abandoned her childlike spirit, despite the passage of time since their first encounter. Her fingers knitted together, and she almost swooned, bouncing softly on the balls of her feet. Even without jumping in glee, which would’ve propelled her full monumental weight into the air before thrusting it back down against the earth, the mountain itself seemed to quiver. Argus felt the ground quake beneath his claws.

            The massive dragon was suddenly aware that, while hunched on the ground, he was staring the princess straight in the ankle. Unwilling to give her yet another advantage, Argus quickly took wing, and flew up to the level of Narina’s face.

            “I wasn’t sure you’d be here this year. I remember you were kind of grumpy last time after all the fun we had,” Narina said somewhat bashfully, twiddling her thumbs behind her back. Her lips spread back into an ear-to-ear grin. “But I’m so happy you did!”

            “Enough pleasantry,” the dragon growled. Black smoke blew from his nostrils. “You know why I have come here.”

            “To play with me!”

            “To burn your castle, and kingdom, to the ground,” he corrected angrily.

            “Okay fine, but only if you play with me first!” Narina giggled. She took a step closer to where Argus hovered in midair, obviously unafraid of the comparatively miniature beast. The princess winked. “Deal?”

            “I do not make deals with you, wench.”

            “Aw, why not? That’s what you do for friends, you know.”

            “I am NOT your FRIEND!”

            “Are you sure? You sure do like coming back to play with me every year,” Narina reminded him. She reached up, her gentle yet enormous hand primed for petting, and stroked her fingertips along Argus’s ridged back. He blanched at the soothing contact, especially when she pinched his wing and gently massaged the flap between her thumb and forefinger. With her opposite hand, Narina casually twirled her finger through a long strand of honey-colored hair, just as any maiden might while gazing longingly out her tower window.

Argus was well-aware that this interaction must have looked fairly ridiculous, with the mountainous princess so happily playing with her hair and petting the visiting dragon at the same time, while he floated within range to let her. However, he was unwilling to be the first one to back away from their confrontation.

            “Stop that!” he grumbled. His wing twitched to throw her off, but the princess only tightened her grip, though without inflicting pain. “Why are you doing this? Can you not see the flame of war is reignited?”

            “Ooh, your scales got a little tougher. You used to be so soft, you know. That must be from fighting a bunch of scary knights, right?” Narina asked. She wasn’t lying; he had indeed grown hardier. What incensed the dragon, though, was her patronizing tone. The princess addressed him as she might to a small child just learning to swing a sword for the first time. Like his steel scales were “cute.”

            “Laugh at me if you wish. Soon, you’ll learn that the bigger you are, the harder you fall,” Argus scowled. He thrashed his wing, and at last escaped Narina’s grip, though he suspected she just decided to let go. “Are you ready to witness the fall of your kingdom?”

            “Mmmm… no, but I am ready to give you a big hug, puppy! Hmm… you’re not really so much a puppy anymore, though. Unless you’re a super itty-bitty puppy. What should we call you instead? Kitty? Fishy? Mousy?” Narina said. She pondered the question, tapping a finger on her chin and turning her blue-eyed gaze to the clouds. “No, just puppy. For old time’s sake.”

            Meanwhile, Argus’s throat glowed. He flew straight for Narina, belching accursed flame as he approached. No sooner had the fire come within singeing distance of the princess’s hair, though, when the girl sidestepped his assault with the ease of a practiced ballroom dancer. Then, her hand arose again, and this time, her palm was pressed flush to Argus’s stomach.

            The dragon was startled, not only at the sensation of the girl’s hand cupping most of his scaled belly, but at the feeling of her mighty pillared fingers closing up and around his sides. Despite the delicacy and softness of her flesh, dainty and pale as the rest of her royal body, there was obvious musculature lurking beneath the surface of her hand. When she squeezed him, Argus was choked dry of flame, and suddenly at the mercy of Narina’s fist. Once she had him snared, the princess’s other hand arrived at his back, sandwiching him between her plush palms. Then, without a moment’s hesitation to consider the danger of the fire-breathing monster in her hands, Narina cuddled Argus straight to her chest.

            “Oh, I missed - you - so - MUCH!” Narina wheedled. With each emphasized word, she rocked her body from side to side, clutching Argus harder to her bosom. The dragon was helpless, going floppy in the imprisoning grasp of Narina’s soft hands, the combined force of which was significantly stronger than his battle-hardened reptilian form. Her giant chest quaked on each sway, and her heart beat faster every instant. “I almost came looking for you on my own, when you didn’t show up this morning! Thank goodness you did, though. It’s kind of tricky when I have to walk through the village and makes sure I don’t crush any of the houses! They’re all so adorable and pretty, but really fragile, like they’re made of paper. But I know I don’t have to worry about hurting anything when you’re here, puppy, since you’re such a mean and tough dragon, right?”

            Argus squirmed for all he was worth. His strength had been known to tear boulders apart and plow through armies like wheat. Yet the warm, vaguely flower-scented arms of the princess had him in iron thrall. The dragon was positively stuck, and at the whim of the bubbly blonde monarch. She took a few steps back, still with Argus cuddled to her chest, and took a seat on a nearby cliff side at the foot of the mountain. Getting comfortable, she at last loosened her grip, and cradled the dragon into her arms, keeping one cupped hand at his side.

            At the first available moment, the dragon let rip another blast of flame, which curled around Narina’s fingers, but didn’t burn her in the slightest, aside from blushing her skin momentarily pinker.

            “Oh, somebody’s feeling toasty today, huh? It was kind of cold up on the mountain, so my fingers could use a warm-up!” Narina said brightly. “Thanks, puppy!”

            Argus tried to lift off, breaking his wings free again from the princess’s grip. However, before he could get away, in a show of gratitude for his relaxing flames, Narina reached out and caught him by a tail. Her fingers coiled tight around the spiny extremity. The dexterous gesture caught Argus off-guard, and he had to swallow an embarrassing squeal as he flapped his wings for all they were worth. He managed to point toward the sky, but no matter how hard he thrust, Narina’s single hand was simply too powerful to overcome. Laughing again with that same sickening good-naturedness, the princess drew her arm back toward her body, retracting the dragon back to her bosom like a fish on a hook.

            “STOP this!” Argus crowed at the giant princess. “I demand you fight me!”

            He tried a different tactic this time, wriggling underneath the expansive plain of Narina’s palm, and actually managed to avoid being bear-hugged again to her chest. Instead, he threw himself down against her stomach, with all his pointiest edges bared for substantial damage. Just as it happened last year, though, despite Argus’s increase in strength, he only managed to get his claws caught in the elegant “armor” of Narina’s aquamarine gown.

            “Hey, careful! You might break one of your little nails!” Narina said with genuine concern. “Oh, no, no. That would not do at all, would it?”

The enormous princess snatched Argus back around his abdomen between her hands like a disobedient kitten and tugged him off her stomach. This time, as the dragon took a deep breath to shroud the princess’s face in fire, Narina simply fastened her slender fingers around Argus’s long neck. While she didn’t clench hard enough to choke, there was more than enough pressure to restrict the flames; humiliated again, Argus swallowed the fire in defeat, and hung limp in the manner of a game hen from Narina’s gentle fist.

            “I’m always so excited to see you, puppy. You have no idea,” Narina explained. While her fist remained around Argus’s neck, keeping him docile and unable to fight back, her opposite hand began to explore his back. She caressed the intricate plating of his scaled spines, and once again massaged the leather spread of his wings, free to play and touch without reprise now that the fire was bottled.

            “I will… endure… and I will… have your kingdom,” Argus gagged.

            “Don’t misunderstand me, being this big and tall can be very useful! I can blow out forest fires before they get anywhere near the villages. Invading armies are too frightened of being stepped on to ever cross our borders, so no one gets hurt. And I get to watch over the whole kingdom without ever leaving home!” Narina continued, ignoring the dragon’s prattling. She carried on with tracing her fingers over his monstrous form. “But it does get a little lonely sometimes. I can’t really give anyone a hug. One of the visiting princes insisted I try, and I almost lost him down the front of my dress! That was so embarrassing.”

            Grunting in protest, Argus was helpless as Narina again drew him back to her body. This time, rather than bringing him to her chest for an earth-breaking cuddle session, she instead held the defeated dragon in front of her face.

            “But with you, I don’t have to be afraid of playing too hard! Your little body is all protected, so I can do whatever I want with you. And it means so much to me that you keep coming back, just to see me, and let me have some fun!” Narina explained. She batted her deep blue eyes, stifled another giggle, then puckered her lips. “C’mon, puppy! Give your favorite princess a big kiss!”

            Argus resumed his violent yet fruitless escape attempts. He dug his claws at Narina’s cinched fist around his neck, unable to break the skin, and was helpless as the giant princess’s pink-puffed lips closed in on him. The dragon opened his jaws in a last desperate bid to shoot flame, but only a paltry whiff of smoke came out in response as Narina happily pressed the dragon’s tiny head against her lips. She laid a long, smacking kiss, which extended to rapidfire smooches on both sides of his head. A dab of drool inadvertently dribbled out on the final climactic kiss, and rolled humiliatingly down Argus’s back as the cheerful girl at last released him from her loving torment and wiped her mouth.

            “You’re a bumpy puppy, but it’s so much fun being able to hug and kiss a little creature that won’t pop when I try to show them how cute they are!” Narina gushed. She continued petting along the scaly beast’s back, even primping his wings with her fingernails and tickling his belly.

            Far down below in the field which the fortress overlooked, Argus could see a crowd had gathered. Many were villagers, but in regimented columns beside were the royal army: men he could turn to ash by the dozen with a single breath. At the front of the crowd was a single figure positioned on a purple throne. Though they were too high up for the dragon to make out distinct details, he knew it was Narina’s father the king watching. The sight of all those people comfortably witnessing the battle as if it was a spectator sport, rather than prelude to massacre, was perhaps the most damning blow to Argus’s ego all day, if not in all twelve years of his rivalry with the princess. They were so confident in Narina’s ability to protect them, and so utterly unafraid of him, that the dragon at least ceased fighting back against the princess’s clutches.

            “Aw, is somebody getting tuckered out now?” Narina asked sweetly when she felt the dragon’s twitching stop. “It’s okay, puppy. I’ll keep you nice and warm and comfy if you want to take a nap! But don’t sleep too long, because I want to play with you some more.” She scooped the little beast back into the cradle of her arms, and began to rock him gently like a sleeping baby. Though Argus had clearance to fly away, or at least attempt, he finally made no effort to resist: he was too overwhelmed by the degrading of his reputation.

            Sighing, the dragon felt as if his dark powers had withered to nothing. Adding insult to injury, he could hear Narina humming a lullaby to him, as she continued stroking his wings and cupping his head in her massive hand.

            “You’re just so precious!” Narina cooed. She tucked her finger under the crook of Argus’s jaw, tilting his elongated face up toward her gorgeous expression on high. The princess winked again. “You better hope I don’t grow too much more for next year, puppy, or I might just have to gobble you all up!”

            As a demonstration, the princess licked her lips dramatically, clacked her teeth, then mimed a heavy swallow. In the middle, she descended into giggles all over again.

            “Only kidding, puppy. I could never eat you. No, I want you to stay here with me, so we can play all the time! I should make big brush and comb you all the time. I know you don’t have any hair, but it might still feel good! And whenever you want to try some scary dragon wrestling again, you can fight as hard as you want, and you don’t have to worry about hurting me! After that, we can do lots of hugging and cuddling, and I’ll give you sweet kisses on top of your funny little head. What do you say, puppy? Will you be my pet?”

            Argus, despondent, surrendered to the princess’s motherly crooning, and didn’t flinch when her index finger returned to fondling his scaly skull like her personal baby lizard.

            There was always next year.

Black smoke hissed in plumes from between the jagged spires dotting the mountain range. Deep beneath the rocky foundations, Argus raked his claws through the heaps of golden treasures he’d taken most recently from a woefully underprepared village, and gazed thoughtfully at the painting he’d commissioned one year before from a team of artists. As a dragon, Argus wasn’t usually one to pursue the arts, or human creations of any kind for that matter, but then again, much of his approach to conquering had changed in the past three-hundred-sixty-five-days after his utter humiliation at the literal hands of the Princess Narina.

            The painting depicted none other than the princess herself, standing in the fiery ruins of her kingdom. Golden-haired, ocean-eyed, and innocent, the portrait accurately captured her beauty. Though the image of the girl was larger than a mere human, per Argus’s request, it was of course greatly under-exaggerated her actual height, which was enough to make the great dragon look like a baby kitten by comparison. Still, Argus saw it as fortuitous to have a visual of his arch-enemy hung on his wall, so he could focus his every waking moment on her eventual destruction.

            “Someday soon, your highness. Someday,” Argus vowed. His slitted eyes blinked slowly, but even in the blackness behind his scaled lids he could still see the girl’s smiling face, and worse, hear her high-pitched cooing. She was burned into his mind. Narina was truly the most terrible of foes: the kind that didn’t even acknowledge their rivalry. This was likely due to the fact that Argus had never done any more damage to the princess than lightly singeing her oversized robe hem, while she in turn had easily manhandled the winged beast like her personal cuddle toy year after year after year.

            But not this time. This time, Argus knew, things would be different.

            The very day after Narina released the dragon from her gentle clutches, sending him soaring away with a wave and a blown kiss, he flew directly for the opposite coast of the continent. There would be no stewing this year, no sharpening his claws, and no idly drinking in dark energy with the expectation that he would overpower the girl alone on the next anniversary of their challenge. His ego was sufficiently torn down after so many annual hours of being snuggled over Narina’s bosom and feeling her wet, warm lips pressing against his spiked spine. Feeling lowlier than ever, Argus saw clearly enough into the future to make a tactical decision that would finally allow him to best the girl in combat once and for all.

            In the months that followed, Argus visited every other kingdom upon the land. With no giant princess guarding the hills, he rapidly overtook their ranks, scorching whole battalions to a crisp with one flaming flyby, and knocking over ancient defensive perimeters with a few clicks of his iron-clad talons. However, Argus was wiser now. Rather than plunder the entirety of the place as he once might have, burning and killing through their pleas for mercy, he instead chose to demonstrate his might on an unfortunate few, then demand surrender. Several leaders were foolish, and sent out yet another troop of soldiers, which Argus answered by smoking even faster than the first, before repeating his demand for an unconditional yield yet again. Once word spread of his campaign, though, the kingdoms anticipated. Some even declined to send out an army, and surrendered as soon as Argus landed in their province.

            Sniveling at the pitiful humans genuflecting to his form, the dragon couldn’t blame them. Though he hadn’t grown nearly as quickly as Princess Narina had, Argus had certainly become stronger over the years, and in many instances, he was tall enough to peek right over the castle walls without even taking flight. Arrows and trebuchet boulders alike pinged right off his slick metallic hide. None on Earth stood a sliver of a chance against him, except for a certain royal who lived in blissful ignorance on the opposite end of the continent.

            For the whole year, Argus worked his way back toward Narina’s kingdom. He was tireless in his efforts and clear in his message to the people: they could keep their lives if and only if they took up arms at his command, when the time came. Though the villagers and kings alike were understandably confused by this request, when it was clear Argus on his own could overpower any conceivable military force, they gratefully accepted the terms. It was from among these subservient civilizations that Argus commissioned the painting of Narina for his cave lair. He also, some months later, demanded that half of all the kingdoms’ gold and jewels be delivered to his cavern as well, just because he could.

            So it was that all kingdoms on the continent, except for the very oldest and mightiest which was home to the golden-haired demi-goddess of a girl, came under Argus’s rule. He’d broken the ranks of traditional dragon practice by forging this agreement with the humans at all, and at times it made Argus sick to think of the dignity sacrificed by failing to smite all those kingdoms. However, when he then thought of the eventual payoff, it all seemed worth it. He smiled, looking upon the enormous painting of Narina day and night, and had to restrain himself from scorching the image to ash. On an opposite shore, he knew the real girl would soon meet her match.

            The standing date of Argus’s rematch with Narina came and went. It was the first occasion he’d failed to appear in the thirteen years since their introduction. Smugly, Argus was so assured of his upcoming victory, he decided it would add delicious insult to injury if Narina, for once, had to come and find him, instead the dragon himself being forced to travel to her kingdom.

            However, knowing his absence would surely not go unnoticed by the princess, Argus chose this time to prepare. He flew over the land, marshalling all available forces, and ordered them to precise coordinates down the center of the continental map. The dragon expected the royal’s eventual emergence from her kingdom leading her on a direct path through the center of the land, and by strategic placement of the many armies now at his disposal, Argus arranged for a literal path of ambushes by every military from each kingdom he’d taken. With their might combined, these multi-national warriors numbered in the millions, each armed to the teeth, and brought with them the best modern technology in the art of war, from hundred-foot battering rams to explosive catapults. Argus again broke dragon ranks and provided the armies of men with some of his arcane knowledge, granting them magic and alchemical weaponry to more than double their strength.

            Now, bunkered peacefully in his lair, the dragon just had to wait. Argus slashed a single claw across the neck of the painted Narina, and seethed with pre-emptive delight for his assured triumph. The plan was perfect: while the amassed alliance of conquered kingdoms distracted Narina, leaving her kingdom unprotected, Argus would have ample time to flank her on the path and claim his prize by burning her beloved home to the ground. Then, and only then, when she returned, would they have their grand climax. Argus could hardly wait.

            A day passed. Then two.

            On the morning of the third day, Argus awoke from an anxious sleep with one eye open. Groggily, he realized light was streaming across his elongated reptilian head. This was unusual, because his lair existed deep underground, covered by a volcanic mountain range barbed with sharp spires in a constant state of magma-belching unrest. Nonetheless, the sunlight cheerily filled in his rocky private quarters, and even the omnipresent smoke layer which kept the district in an unending black-and-grey overcast state had cleared away.

            In its place was Narina. At least, the dragon was pretty sure it was the princess. He’d been having so many dreams about her, rehearsing the glorious stages of their final conflict, that he wasn’t surprised to see his nocturnal visions spilling into real life.

            However, upon blinking, and crawling up toward the new opening in his lair, Argus realized he wasn’t dreaming: Narina was, indeed, standing above his home. Having ripped the mortal crust of the mountain right off its foundations with her bare hands, she was stooping down to peer inside at him; the princess wore an enchanting smile and hummed a lovely song to herself as she casually combed her auric tresses with the other hand that wasn’t currently gripping an entire mountain peak.

            She was stooping. Over the mountain. Argus vomited flames in a blind range.

            Narina had doubled in size since their last battle.

Three Days Before…

            On the opposite end of the broad continent, the princess’s heart sank as she watched the sun disappear over the horizon. She’d spent the entire afternoon seated placidly on the mountainside overlooking the palace, watching the hills above the outlying villages for any sign of Argus. Every other human in the streets and castle halls celebrated the lack of a dragon attack, as it seemed he’d finally been defeated after last year’s precious interaction between their towering princess and her favorite lizardlike pet.

            Narina, however, wiped away a lone tear as it rolled down her rosy cheek, and consciously maintained her composure, especially because a full-on crying storm from the girl would be more than enough to flood a whole street below. Wind whipped through the wavy strands of her hay-hair, but she brushed them out of her crystalline eyes, and signed, gradually accepting reality. He wasn’t coming. Which could surely mean only one thing.

            Something awful had happened to Argus!

            The princess spent most of the night tossing and turning in her sleep, which, even though it took place safely away from any tiny structures, seismically rumbled the palace until morning. When the sun rose again, Narina gingerly propped herself up over the castle walls, and lowered her face until it loomed before the tallest tower of the grand palace. After a while, the puny royal figures of her family appeared in the window. The king stood in front, greeting his cataclysmically gigantic daughter who, with just a single one of her fingers, could topple the entire stone pillar like a cinnamon stick if she so chose.

            A specially designed bugle, engineered years before when it became apparent that the princess was too large for unaided communication, was hoisted up to the tower for the king to speak inside.

            “Good morning, dear!” the king sounded out.

            “Good morning, father,” the princess drearily sighed.

            Even in her dismayed whisper of a voice, the girl still boomed louder than the bronze bell of her father’s horn. She hung her head, until the longest ropes of her hair inadvertently dangled down into the city streets, during which dozens of citizens appeared for the rare chance to touch the silken crown of their blessed protector. However, she failed to notice their vigor, or anything much for that matter, in her state of depression. Narina exhaled, sending a blast of warm air that buckled the shutters of every hut and building in its path.

            “You seem troubled, daughter, even while the rest of us have been celebrating. Why is this?”

            “He is not coming.”

            “What?”

            “My puppy. Argus.”

            The king quickly conferred with the queen and his advisors, then spoke again into the bugle: “But do you not see this is good news? He will trouble the kingdom no more, it seems. Your brave acts, as always, defended our land last year, and so soundly defeated him that he’s decided to stay away.”

            “Maybe…” Narina warbled, wiping her eyes again and swallowing the lump in her throat. “But he was the only living thing I could cuddle and kiss, and show him how much I love him. If I were to do the same to anyone else, they would surely be crushed, or worse! Father, I treasure the advantages that come with my size, and my ability to keep the kingdom safe from its enemies, but it does come at a cost, especially as I continue to grow. I have no one to play with me. Don’t you see? Life becomes unbearably slow when you are this size, with nothing to look forward to. Please, I have to find Argus, and make sure nothing terrible has befallen him!”

            Though he couldn’t understand his giant daughter’s logic, the king was moved by Narina’s passion, and could see that she was lonely and in need of companionship. So, against his better judgment, he and the queen gave their blessing for the princess to venture beyond their borders for the first time in years, in search of Argus. They knew he resided somewhere on the opposite coast of the continent, which for even an intrepid ordinary human would represent a journey months or perhaps years in the making. However, they were hopeful that Narina would stroll right across the land in a matter of days, find what she was looking for, and return to defend their walls before any threat arose.

            The princess was so excited, she withdrew from her position over the castle and hopped up and down in glee. Of course, her mighty feet continually colliding with the earth, even from a distance, felled numerous huts leagues away. Apologizing profusely, the girl spent several minutes plucking and reshaping these homes back into livable architecture between her palms and fingertips, as easily as a clay art project. Then, once she’d gotten ahold of herself, Narina prepared for her voyage across the continent.

            Though the royal family was fairly certain the princess would find her dragon in less than a week, they were still sure to send her with provisions. For months, hundreds of the kingdom’s best seamstresses had been working around the clock to fashion a new blanketed shawl to keep the princess warm, and every farmer in the land generously donated much of their bountiful harvest to the princess’s knapsack, so she would have snacks along the way. Loaded up for her adventure, the princess bid the kingdom goodbye, then delicately stepped between the settlements, planting one foot at a time once she was certain there were no huts beneath the soles of her shoes. Only when she reached open road, and the loping green hills beyond, did the princess set off at a speedier jaunt.

            For a time, Narina barely met any other living beings along the landscape. She noticed flocks of birds, comparatively gnats to her, flitting by her head, and even had to step over a herd of grazing cattle, which she very nearly squashed when she stepped over a valley. The princess moved briskly, since she was worried about Argus’s wellbeing, but as she didn’t have an exact direction to follow, she took her time, and regardless, was worried she might flatten an entire village underfoot if she started running. Not to mention the combination of earth-rumbling quakes from her footfalls and wind storms generated by her fluttering dress. The princess was a gentle soul, after all, and didn’t want to ruin any helpless civilizations on her route. As it was, her footsteps left spongy craters in the land wherever she moved.

            In the evening of the first day, the princess stepped around a mountain range, only to discover a curious sight on the other side. Neatly lined rows of tiny people were crowded in the poppy fields. It was a whole army, if not two or three. They definitely rivaled the size of her father’s entire military force, which was formidable indeed.

            Intrigued, Narina took her time emerging around the rock face, as the last thing she wanted was to spook them all with the visage of her titanic body crawling over the Earth in the manner of the very creature she was hoping to find and, if need be, save. Thus, Narina slowly set down at the edge of the field and lowered herself onto her knees once she was positive no miniature soldiers had gotten caught under the swaying canopy of her gown or the silky instep of her slipper.

            The princess took special care spreading the folds of her dress around her legs and tucking it under her ankles, as it wouldn’t do to let her undergarments peek out, especially at foreign friends. Stretching her arms wide, Narina placed her hands flat on either side of the incredible throng of troops, again careful not to let any unlucky men get smushed beneath her fingers. Rousing chatter had roiled throughout the crowd while Narina climbed around the mountainside, but they’d fallen dead-silent now.

            “Hello!” Narina boomed. To reassure them of her good will, the princess smiled her famous glowing smile, and waggled her fingers in a faux-wave without picking her palms up off the grass. “Good evening to you all! My name is Princess Narina, from the kingdom due east of here. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you how many fathoms, for it’s difficult to have perspective when your strides are as… efficient as mine.”

The tiny ruckus briefly arose again, then quieted. Feeling left out, the princess regally bowed her head down nearer to the ground, letting her ear hover just over the nearest battalion. However, even from this close, she couldn’t distinguish their voices as anything but the whining of insects. When she turned her head again, Narina noticed several dozen troops had accidentally become tangled in the sea of her hair when she knelt, and held still for several minutes while they fought to free themselves. She even helped by slowly combing her fair fingernails through the golden threads, picking the soldiers out like lice and gently sprinkling them back into a clear patch of grass.

            “I’m sorry, but I just can’t understand you!” Narina bemoaned. She sighed bitterly as she reared back up, though she remained seated on the ground, as it became difficult to make out individual shapes of bodies if she stood at full height, especially on a day as cloudy as this. “I should have brought my father’s special bugle, so that I could understand the voices of any travelers I met. I do so like to hear others’ stories! But alas, you’re simply too small for me to make out your words. So, please forgive me my poor manners of not responding to whatever it is you’re saying down there!”

            By listening intently, the princess noticed that several of the bug-like men at the front of the immense crowd were yelling something to their troops. She watched with keen interest as a row of catapults were reared back, their oily payloads lit aflame. Then they launched. Every projectile met its mark, some bouncing down the princess’s gown, and a few of them warmly sliding off her cheeks. After this, a hailstorm of arrows was fired from the rows of archers behind the front line. For Narina, these gestures felt akin to have a feather tickled along her skin. When she finished giggling, and softly scratched an itch inflicted by the final catapult blast, the princess puzzled over the meaning of all this.

            “Hmm. Perhaps they think I don’t notice them, and want to get my attention?” Narina concluded at last, following a second round of armaments rebounding off the lovely hand-woven landscape of her torso. She cupped her hands around her lips. “My apologies, sirs, if you didn’t hear me at first. I grow so often, sometimes it’s hard for me to judge how I should express myself to little people, such as yourselves. My name is PRINCESS NARINA, FROM THE KINGDOM DUE EAST OF HERE!”

            The serenity-shattering call of the girl’s voice, melodic though it was, nevertheless hit the front line with such force that most of them tumbled over like dominoes. Some were thrown backward through midair. These victims were left rolling in the grass, clutching their damaged ear drums. Yet another, slightly more reticent round of attack came, this time in the form of a charge. As Narina’s hands came to rest back on either side of the field, men drove wheeled battering rams into her thumbs. These contraptions barely managed to nudge the girl’s thick and comparatively muscled digits, but she was again titillated by their efforts, and held as still as possible to watch their next move. Once the vehicles were lined up, men threw themselves atop Narina’s hands. Some began driving their weapons down against her tender yet unbreakable skin, while others bum-rushed for the sparkling hem of her sleeve in hopes of spreading their assault as far as possible.

            The princess patiently watched the armies covering her hands, only occasionally twitching when tickled and knocking over their meticulously placed battlements. This activity reminded her of an occasion from her childhood, when she’d discovered an anthill in the castle courtyard and allowed several of the little creatures to crawl across her hands, enjoying the feeling of their diminutive legs walking on her skin. Of course, these men were much smaller to her than those ants were back then, but the effect was similar. Suddenly, Narina had another idea.

            “Oh!” she gasped. “You’re trying to reach me up here, so that you’ll be heard! Brilliant solution, everyone. I… well, just come here, so we may get acquainted!”

            Narina was so enthused by this revelation, she forgot the fragility of her new friends. Her hands rose swiftly from the ground, wrecking all the battering rams in the process, and sending half the charging force of men spraying through the air. Those that managed to cling to the textured terrain of the princess’s soft flesh were in for a wild ride, soaring skyward toward the blonde royal’s beaming face. The girl drew both hands together, and gently as she could, brushed both sides of her upturned fingers in simulation of washing her hands, until the remaining troops were piled into her cupped palms. She smiled ear-to-ear, her eyes bright with happiness at the sight of so many eager fellows heaped in her very own two hands.

            Narina drew both hands beneath her ear and listened as hard as she could.

            “Oh, please do forgive me for not noticing you sooner. You see, I’ve been so preoccupied, as my puppy has been missing for a year and a day now! And… wait… Argus!” Narina piped. Almost forgetting her handfuls of armed men, she quickly retracted her palms from around her ear, inadvertently sending many of the troops flying through the air, some to their doom and some to a tangled trap in her hair. “Oh, I’m sorry, but I’ve been wasting far too much time! He could be in trouble, and I’ve got to find him. Excuse me, now. I must take my leave.”

            The princess lovingly dumped the remains of her attackers onto the field where they’d come from, then hopped back to her feet at full height with such speed that when her slippers met the earth again, the entire army was knocked to the ground. Horses were frightened into a stampeding panic. Catapults tipped over and fell into splinters. Even the mountain seemed to groan, as multiple snowy avalanches from the highest peaks started rolling down toward the valley below. In almost no time, those military companies gathered at the base of the mountain were buried under a billowing onslaught of sleet and rocks.

            Missing all of these drastic effects entirely, due to her concern for the dragon, Narina stepped over most of the multinational armies and planted her foot into a forest beside the fields, thinking she’d found a safe place to set down. As it happened, there were numerous spies and mages hiding out in the trees to strike unseen once the “battle” got underway, but the princess unceremoniously squished them all, along with many of the trees and shrubs caught under the broad shadow-casting shape of her elegant yet mighty slipper.

            Ignoring the crunching noises, thinking it to be just lumber and not insectoid insurgents, Narina proceeded to hopscotch her way out of the valley by only planting her feet in patches of tree-dense forest. Each step she took dwindled the number of troops. Those she missed underfoot were blown into chaotic disarray simply by the flag-like sweep of her dress fanning them back. When the princess was at last clear of the army’s gathering place, she waved goodbye, and turned her back on the forces she’d dominated without her knowledge.

Driven by renewed purpose to find her poor favorite flying pet, Narina marched across the land. Her eyes were locked to the horizon, even as the sun disappeared fully and night overtook. This meant she was wholly unaware of the next massive convergence of troops, which she encountered after another hour of walking. Unfortunately for those men, in the dark, the princess’s confident gait was a major hazard. Narina tramped straight into the waiting crowds before they even had a chance to ready a single ballista. These armies were ravaged far worse than the last, as the princess didn’t know she had need to step lightly, and her ordinary walking pattern easily squashed thousands of troops into jelly, while again knocking the rest clean off their feet with the windy brush of her passing skirts.

            She walked through the night. In the process, several more collected armies were defeated entirely on accident. All it took was a few steps, and the princess wiped out a substantial portion of the forces under her soles, and often whatever engines of war they’d brought, kicking these aside like wind-up toys.

            A few of the clever militaries tried to arrange traps. Ropes designed to trip the princess were stretched between valleys, though they often underestimated the sheer scope of the young woman until she her gargantuan silhouette appeared, and she shuffled straight through the stringy lines without even noticing. Other armies went for more dramatic means: avalanches of their own were devised, with rocks rigged to hurdle down cliffsides when Narina passed near. These, though, did little more than bump like pebbles off the princess’s ankles, which she noticed only long enough to take off her slipper and remove a boulder that became lodged inside, as this would make for an uncomfortable walk indeed.

            In the morning, the weary and famished princess took a rest beside a lake. She leaned down, pursed her lips on the waterbed, and slurped up the entire crystal-clear pool until the basin was bone-dry. Wiping her mouth after the satisfying beverage, the princess next found some convenient topography which she could use as a sort of reclining seat, easing her back against a mountainous slope, while her legs were crossed over the adjoining hillocks. This grassy terrain was deceptively populous, as another gathering of armies had taken secret refuge in these trees, choosing to take an entirely stealth-based approach to the fight. These plans, like so many others, were foiled when Narina chose to take her rest directly on top of them. Many were crushed instantly when the princess’s slender yet monumental frame sunk lazily into the hills. Others were briefly spared, as the wrinkles of her shimmering dress were bunched up, but their offensive forces were shattered, and they could do little more than patiently wait until the giant woman elected to rise on her own.

            Narina took her time, though, and unloaded the pack of food prepared for her by the kingdom’s farmers. Each parcel she opened contained whole bushels of apples, thousands of bread loaves, and carts loaded with hams and roast beef. The thankful princess dumped each impressive quantity into her palm, and in just one bite apiece, polished off every variety of foodstuff in her knapsack. There wasn’t even a need to chew, except for the meat carts, which Narina didn’t notice until she’d already crunched through the miniature vehicles and swallowed them too.

            Contented and rehydrated, the princess at last rose from the hills and dusted herself off. This process smashed yet more of the survivors underneath her. Those little troopers who still serendipitously clung to her dress were soon shaken off like termites, or otherwise loosed their grips once the princess started moving at a rapid pace. Narina, being as colossal as she was, couldn’t tell the sneaky soldiers apart from specks of dirt as she smoothed her palms down every crease in her gown. At last, she set off again. In the far distance, the princess could make out the coastal sea, but at the center of the horizon, she could see where the sky blackened above the mountains. The place she was told about. She only hoped Argus was still safely there and hadn’t been kidnapped in his sleep.

            Narina scarcely bothered with the other armies she passed during this second day, even as they too tried to get her royal attention by flinging their weapons and arrows at her ankles. The princess did feel bad to have to ignore their kind requests for attention, and offered a wave and her sincere apologies while walking by. She still noticed the ticklish sensations of their armaments bouncing off the back of her neck as she departed, some of them cascading all the way down the nape of her dress and past her spine, which made her giggle, but Narina held firm. This was a serious matter, and she had to stay focused.

            Another night came. The princess again marched through the darkness, flattening the remaining lines of defense Argus had set up to divert her, all without realizing. She was tired and hungry, as the provisions from the farmers had only lasted so long, but carried on toward the shadowy mountain range. She clambered across them as if they were dunes, occasionally catching some of the spires like dull thistles on her gown, but these were easily pulled away. Argus lived in a cave underground, she was told. It had to be somewhere here.

            Unsure where to start her search, though, Narina simply pressed her ear against every major mountain. Eventually, the sun rose, but the princess had a hard time seeing it through the black smoke, which she found unfortunate; maybe Argus would be in a happier mood more often if his home had better access to sunlight. Altruistic as ever, she proceeded to blow cold air and wave her hands in a typhoon-powered fanning motion. After a minute, most of the volcanic air had cleared away, and the area looked rather pleasant. Then, perhaps by kismet, Narina pressed her ear to a mountain, and heard snoring within. She knocked her fist on the side, confirming it was hollow, and then without hesitation, proceeded to break apart the mountain with the ease of peanut brittle.

Now…

            “What are you doing?” Argus roared up at the magnanimously squeeing princess. He flapped his wings, ascending through the still-falling rain of shattered mountain rock, and blasted his way out into the uncommonly sunny morning.

            “Oh, my dear sweet Argus!” the princess gasped, placing her hand over her heart, and without thinking, hurled the husk of the mountain peak off to uncharted lands. “You have no idea how pleased I am to see you’re well! I’ve missed you so. Please, tell me, since you appear to be in fine health as always, why you neglected our yearly visit? Surely you know I look forward to it every year, more than any other holiday? When you didn’t show up this year, I started to think something awful had happened!”

            Dumbfounded, Argus flew half a league away from Narina. He hovered, and squinted across the rocky landscape to the far distance. Everywhere Narina had stepped was visible, not only in the shapes of her footprints stamped into the squishy ground by her earth-breaking slippers, but in the clearing of trees and rising dust clouds. The dragon was certain he’d stationed his conquered human armies along this precise path, for indeed, Narina was a predictable creature, and followed the exact road he foresaw. Yet here she was, so soon after he’d missed their appointment. How was it possible she’d bypassed millions of soldiers without so much as a stumble?

            “Come back, puppy!” Narina gasped. “I came all this way to see you, and I’m not letting you go until I say hello properly!” Thinking the dragon was about to leave her yet again, the princess stepped quickly after him, then took hold of the scaly beast’s great tail between her thumb and forefinger. The creature’s extremity was quite simple to ensnare since, in light of Narina’s doubled size over the past year, Argus had comparatively shrunk from the size of a young kitten to a malnourished rat.

            “It CAN’T be!” Argus crowed. “IMPOSSIBLE!”

            He beat his wings in a bid to escape the grapple of Narina’s fingers, but as usual, discovered he was utterly immobilized by the strength of the princess. However, he didn’t fight it for long, as the dragon was still recovering from the soul-crushing disappointment that his plan had been undone. Adding salt to the wound, it seemed to Argus that Narina had walked past the continent’s most dangerous human threat on accident.

            It was so disgusting, the dragon had half a mind to give up then and there, but rage refueled his fire. He went limp as he felt Narina pulling him back toward her through the air, until he was in cuddling range. She released the grip on his tail, and before the dragon could dart away, both of the girl’s hands closed in around him. The walls of those creamy palms bludgeoned Argus into her grasp. As her fingers coiled around the monster’s sides, and pinned his wings down flush, he simply bided his time. His belly glowed with the strength of oncoming fireball breath.

            “So what do you have to say for yourself, hmm?” Narina sternly questioned. She turned Argus around and held him right up to her face, aligned with her lips, like he was a stubborn hamster. Her fingers drummed impatiently on his back. “Come on, don’t be a grumpus. I’ve walked a very long way to see you, and while I don’t like to throw my title around, as princess, I demand to know why you decided to make me so worried!”

            “I’ll give you something to worry about,” Argus snarled. He opened his jaws and let loose the most powerful stream of flame he’d ever unleashed. Crimson quickly turned to blue. The heat alone could’ve melted the armor of a knight right into steam.

            Yet without missing a beat, Narina puckered her lips and blew concentrated cold air right into the curling fire before it could touch her face. The princess’s chilly breath battled against Argus’s incendiary blast for a moment, and then like that, the flames were squelched into smoke. Shaking her head, Narina scoldingly clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

            “NO, Argus. Silly puppy. I’m just trying to talk to you. Why won’t you talk back? I’ve never known you to come up short with words. We can still play with your adorable little fires after, but you have to use your words first!”

            Argus coughed, recovering his strength again, but didn’t respond. His leathery wings thrashed pathetically against the firm pinning of Narina’s thumbs, gentle though they were with him, which only earned him an even more restrictive hold. The prodigious princess laboriously took a seat on a mountain directly neighboring the dragon’s no-longer-secret lair. From there, she snuggled Argus up against her chest, rocking him back and forth in the cradle of her arms. The pulse of her heartbeat thumped contentedly through, causing Argus’s skull to vibrate.

            “Let’s hear it, puppy. Spit it out. No more fire for now,” Narina sweetly warned. She bowed her head and planted a quick wet kiss atop Argus’s head, then two more smooches on each of his wings. When they were both settled in, and she was sure she had him caged in her hands, the princess relaxed her grip enough to stroke her fingers along the creature’s bony back, careful not to rub against the grain of his scales, for fear of hurting him.

            “Don’t you see that you’ve ruined EVERYTHING? I-” the dragon scowled, but as he turned his serpentine neck to look up at his greatest foe’s face, he was struck by her expression. Though she spoke with her usual lullabied gentility, and continued petting him like a housecat, Narina’s lips were no longer curled into a smile. Enough moisture to overpower a river dam had welled in her glassy eyes, and was already tumbling down. Thick salty drops descended her cheeks in multiple streaks.

            Argus spat. He couldn’t believe she had the audacity to weep, when it was his year-long masterplan that had been destroyed, not hers. The girl was the size of an entire ecosystem on her own, wielding untold strength and fearsome power, yet she was just a bundle of childish nerves and shaky emotions. He angrily wrested his head away from her tickling, pillar-sized fingers before they could caress his head once more.

            “Why would you want to upset me like this, Argus?” Narina whimpered. She hadn’t allowed herself to look this vulnerable for a while, what with her usual duties defending the kingdom, but she felt safe with the little dragon, even if she was wounded by his willful avoidance of their meet-up. “Please. I just want to know why. We’ve known each other for so long, since I was a child. You were my first and only true friend as I continued to grow, when it became impossible to be close with any creature but you. Surely you owe me a little honesty?”

            Argus didn’t speak, as he was busy recharging his flame for another blast, which he planned to unload in tandem with a flurry of claw and tail-spike strikes. If he was lucky, it would earn him enough of a window to break free. Range would be his ally in this battle; he just had to get away from Narina and rethink his tactics. The dragon trembled with the fury of a dozen annual losses, opened his mighty flame-spewing jaws, and…

            “Oh, ARGUS!” The princess’s delighted squeal ricocheted across canyons for dozens of miles around. The sheer concentrated euphoria of her words might have shattered the mountain itself, if she hadn’t already ripped it away with her ladylike fingers instead.

            “What?”

            “Did YOU make this?” Narina had merely glanced into the crumbled opening of the dragon’s lair, but once she saw what was inside, she practically hurled herself off the mountainside. Argus was jostled every which way, his head bonking against the pillowy hills of the princess’s chest as she cradled him flush to her body, then knelt low enough to peer inside the cavern. Though the dust had just finished settling, there was no mistaking the massive image skillfully painted on a mural canvas. The princess gawked in wide, unending wonder at the portrait of herself that Argus had ordered for purposes of vengeance rumination.

            “Stop fooling around, wench,” Argus roared, though his voice was mostly muffled by the folds of Narina’s dress. “You may have made a mockery of those useless cretins, but it’s clear to me now that I should never have sent men to complete the task of a dragon. Come. We shall have our final battle, right here and now! FACE ME!”

            “Oh, my. This… this is… it’s so beautiful and perfect. You’re as graceful an artist as you are a flyer. Argus… could you ever forgive me for those things I said to you just now?” Narina wept in joy.

            Her ongoing tears, no longer borne of betrayal but rather relief, doubled in potency and volume. The girl’s saltwater began to collect in the cramped bowels of the ruined lair. Fingers aquiver, she reached inside and plucked the painting off the cave wall, holding it up to her bawling blue eyes for closer inspection. With her opposite hand, she lifted Argus up toward her shoulder, and nuzzled him hard into swirling tufts of silky golden hair. Even here, the dragon could not wriggle out from under the girl’s insistently huggable palm.

            “I can’t believe I was ever so foolish to believe you didn’t care about me. But here is the proof, right here in my hand,” the princess sighed. She sniffled, and started to laugh. Her lilting giggles pierced the morning tranquility again, and seemed to lighten the once-dreary landscape yet further.

            With a tremendous growl, Argus threw all his strength into an escape thrust. At the same time, Narina chose to let go of the dragon, as she just had to lovingly run her fingers over the intricate detail of the painting. When this happened, and the girl’s palm lifted off in one simple sweep, the dragon’s trajectory sent him hurtling much further than he intended. The humiliated Argus tumbled down one of the smaller mountains, before regaining control of his battered wings and taking flight again in a cloud of ash. Immediately he put distance between himself and the princess, and started laying down a volley of suppressing fireballs, per his earlier strategy.

            None of these assaults affected the princess, though, and she reacted with the kind of snickering indifference she might have if a dog was licking her cheek for attention. Narina was far too focused on admiring the painting, wiping away the tears, and basking in the happiness of knowing that her best friend in the world truly did love her back. She choked back a sob, and at last looked up to watch her miniature friend orbiting around her head, his tiny wings flapping like a fairy’s. She simpered.

            “My dear, sweet Argus. Oh, you wonderful precious angel. Please, I simply must make amends for having doubted your affections. Come back to me, so I may properly show you kindness that may in some small way repay the goodwill you have gifted me,” Narina begged. A weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She was more energetic than ever, and hiked up her skirts so as not to snag them on the crusty edges of curled mountains while hustling after Argus. “You may fly around as much as you like, but sooner or later, I will reclaim you, and I will give you so many hugs and kisses that you are finally convinced, once and for all, to live with me in the kingdom.”

            If any of Narina’s unintentional battle cries at Argus had an effect, this was the most potent. The dragon seethed and spit flame at the very idea of succumbing to the girl’s whims for becoming her personal lapdragon. There was no longer respect in this world for monsters. Not when the tallest and strongest being on Earth was a gentle-souled dolt who wanted to cuddle everything in sight.

            “NEVER!” he howled. The dragon ceased his circular attack pattern, as it did nothing anything, and charged straight for Narina through the air. With his wings folded back and his talons reared, Argus conjured a wreath of fire that bubbled around him in a dark magic shield. The princess didn’t even reach out to grab him, but merely smiled and raised a hand in front of her face as shade from the brightness of his flames.

            When he reached the wall of her soft hand, the dragon wrenched every drop of fire from his belly and pelted it squarely at the doughy plain of Narina’s palm. In between bursts of flame, he uttered every last treacherous spell at his disposal, channeling his unbridled rage into bouts of blue and white fire he never dreamed he could conjure at once. The flames stormed from his body like a miniature star, piling directly upon Narina’s hand and coiling around her slender fingers. Argus continued this barrage until the very last dredge of flame, when all he had left was a whisper of smoke to steam from his nostrils.

            The astronomic young woman combed a lock of hair out of her luminous eyes.

            “Mmm, that was very toasty, puppy. Thank you,” the princess said, rubbing her hands together, so her opposite palm could share in the warmth too. “It reminds me of when the royal cooks used to let me roast hazelnuts over the palace fireplace. Such a lovely memory. Though nowhere near as cherished in my heart as the first time we played together, Argus. You must know that.”

            “Why - won’t - you - just -” the dragon haltingly jeered. He couldn’t get the last word of the question out, though, as the princess’s elegant fingers had curled like a Venus flytrap around his body, clamping around his scaly ribcage, and drawing him back toward her. His head was awkwardly scrunched against the smooth slab of her palm, which balled into a partial fist around the upper half of his body.

            Though Argus flailed his tail in all directions, just hoping to blindly hit something and render a single miniscule injury upon the regal girl, he felt the fingers of her other hand clapping together. She giggled, trying again and again to capture his unruly tail, until at last she cinched it tight between her thumb and forefinger.

            Argus was ironically glad to have his head trapped in the warm darkness of the princess’s half-closed hand, as it meant he didn’t have to face the humiliation of actually seeing what he must’ve looked like now. All it took was one of Narina’s mellow hands to completely encompass his spiny head and neck, while his mighty tail was imprisoned by just two of her fingers. His thorax and haunches thrashed pitifully, at least as long as Argus was allowed, until he felt himself being smothered into the plush wall of Narina’s torso again. She hugged him into her stomach first, but rolled him up the slope, over the hill crest of her chest again, until the dragon was cuddled right into the crook of her neck, just below her chin. Her fingers shifted, releasing his head in favor of clutching the beast’s body. The princess was utterly unafraid to have the deadliest dragon in the land nestled right by her broad jugular.

            “There, there, Argus. Come closer. Do you understand now? Don’t you see how much nicer it is to be sweet to others? I could use a personal advisor, after all, to help me decide what kind of new dress I should stitch, and what kind of crops to help the farmers sow. Don’t you wish it was like this all the time, waking up to watch the sunrise, then being nice and warm and safe in my hands all day long, until it’s time to snuggle up close for sleep?”

            Years ago, or even as early as the last encounter, Argus would have leapt at this chance to attack. His teeth were within easy striking distance of a tender span of skin on the princess’s hardy albeit still-human body. Her soft neck. All he had to do was open his jaws and clamp his fangs into her flesh, small a wound though it would be in the scheme of her vast body. But perhaps this would weaken her, which would turn the tide of the battle, and grant him the hard-fought victory he’d always craved.

            Yet something stopped Argus. Perhaps it was the crooning of Narina’s voice finally dulling his fury, whether he liked it or not. Perhaps it was the fact that he’d just unleashed the most powerful blast of hellfire any dragon in history had ever spat, only to find it did nothing more than warm the princess’s hands. Or perhaps it was the girl’s willingness to keep him near her neck, and her bold confidence that even if she gave him free reign to attack one of her most vulnerable “weak” spots, it would do nothing to harm her. The princess’s loving trust itself had broken his spirit at last. After all these years.

            “Oh, please say it, Argus. Please say you’ll be mine?” Narina wheedled. She held her mouse-sized dragon up to her face and pouted her lips. Those blue irises begged behind the veil of remaining tears, but she didn’t blink, determined to requite her friend’s undying loyalty. “Please? Please, please, please, puppy? I’ll love you forever, and make sure you never feel lonely again!”

            “FINE!” Argus croaked, defeated. He hung his limp head against Narina’s thumb. “If only it’ll end this torment…”

            “Thank you, puppy! You won’t regret this, I promise. I will make you the most important royal pet in all the land. You will want for nothing, just so long as you don’t pretend like you want to escape ever again. Oh, this is so exciting! Think of all the FUN we’re going to have together, you and I!”

            The princess’s joy was so palpable in her squeals and dancing body language, it seemed to spread across the land with legendary force wherever she stepped. She planted kiss after wet kiss on the defeated creature’s head. The pair spun in rapturous circles about the mountain range, with the princess holding her best friend by the wings like a puny dance partner, even as she alone guided their flight.

            Freed of care or worry in her heart, Narina began the journey back home, with Argus tucked firmly under her arm. The dragon, resigned to his fate at long last, surrendered himself into the girl’s adoring palms.