“And… done!”

Umbravor raised the knit sweater he had just finished, appreciating all its intricacies and small details. During his rebellious phase as a teenager, he got to a lot of no good (not on the same level of other young three hundred years old cubs, mind you), and crochet had been a way to focus his energy on something productive. He didn’t start very good at it, but nothing like seven centuries of constant improvement can’t fix.

“Hey…” Cedric entered the room, a floral scent long preluding his entrance. “Thanks for the clothes. They seem… very extravagant.”

“Yeah, those are quite outdated. But I assure you they were all the rage a hundred years ago!”

Umbravor picked up a new set of yarn and started working on a new piece, this time in blue and yellow, without as many patterns as the first one. The human knight watched over his, scratching his just shaven chin.

After a few minutes of silence, Cedric first broke it. “I really can’t believe you are one of the monsters of legend.”

“No one ever does.” With a chuckle and a light swing of his tail, Umbravor changed needles. “Not sure why. I mean, the tail gives it away immediately.”

“Lots of people (and animals) have draconic blood in them. You could be mistaken by a drakon because of that.”

“That may be true, indeed.”

Another awkward silence followed.

“So… how big is your true form?”

“You know the size of this whole fortess?”

“Yeah?”

“Make that twice.”

“Holy shit!”

“Now you know why I stay like this most of the time. It starts getting really annoying to try moving around without destroying things all over.”

“Are all dragons that big?”

“My kind never stops growing. There’s even a legend or two about one day a dragon will get so large that they swallow the world.” Looking over a pattern, Umbravor didn’t like how it turned out, so he began to undo some of it.

“Can that happen?”

“Oh no. We would be unable to sustain ourselves long before that. Would take out the world with us though.”

“You what?”

Before Umbravor could answer that, the doors opened up and a group of armed figures entered the room. I really should place an alarm on this place. Six people in total (seven if you count the adorable baby unicorn following them), they all pulled their weapons on the pair sitting by the fireplace.

Their leader, a young blond man armed with a magical bow, stepped forward. “We have come to slay you, beast!”

“Friends of yours?” Umbravor didn’t even take off his eyes from his new project.

“The king of Valskard has offered a mighty sum for your hide!” Another young male wielding sword and shield raised his voice in a tone filled with arrogance. “Prepare to meet your end!”

“Valskard is to the south, the frozen wastes. I’m from Wyrmfell to the west.”

“Hey, don’t ignore us!” The youngest of the group, clad in leather armor and furs, raised his massive mace above his head.

“I never bother learning the names of places. They change too fast, every few decades or so. Much easier to use mountains and rivers for reference.”

“Hum…” Cedric looked at the irate people waiting by the door. “Shouldn’t we do something about them?”

“Oh, true.” Putting aside his tools, Umbravor got up from his seat. “Say, have we met before? You all look quite familiar.”

“If you had, you would surely be dead by now, vile monster!”

“Also, why are you all standing there by the door instead of, you know, trying to attack?”

“We are waiting.” Said the dark-skinned woman.

“For what?”

“For you to act, so we can begin our turns.” Said the red-haired woman.

Blinking twice, Umbravor turned to Cedric. “Hey, don’t look at me, I have no idea either.”

Sighing, the ancient dragon waved his hand and the now familiar rays of energy shot out from the conjured magic circle. When all of them hit their targets, no sign remained of the party.

“Did you… obliterated them?”

“What? No! What makes you say that?”

“Their armor isn’t there.”

“After recent events, I have come to the conclusion that the shaming display part should be taken out of the spell.”

Cedric pondered on it for a moment. “Probably for the best.”

“Indeed.”

And so, Umbravor returned to the progress of his relaxing knitting.