(Hello, Readers! First off, let me say I hope you are all safe and comfortable in these strange and somewhat hectic times. At the same time, I have been fortunate enough not to be sick I have been spending most of my time of late dealing with my employment (or lack of now lol), but now things have settled a bit, so I find myself with just more free time than is good for me.

I certainly hope many of you reading are faring well, but in the free time I have, I can sit down and pump out a few stories and chapters. Now I know this story is a bit out of the blue, but I was putting the touches on my next Monstar chapter and just got the ideas for a sort of AU that I just couldn't let slip, so I had to push this out. I don't have an overarching story for this one, so it's just going to be a lot of somewhat short adventures that pop into my head, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Now, of course, there will be more juicy buts, but I hope you enjoy the opening to this tale, and if so would be tickled if you could drop me a review for it or PM me letting me know what you think. I also took a shot a slightly different format for my story, so let me know if it's better for reading in that regard and as always ENJOY!)

The clouds were thick in the sky as the young knight walked along the path; the distant sounds of thunder rumbled across the land as he approached the imposing tower. He gulped, looking over the small note in his hand. "legendary adventure needed to slay dragon queen." He couldn't believe he was coerced into taking such a foolish quest, but his family desperately needed the money, and he was never good at saying no under pressure. Not to discredit his ability, he was a very skilled swordsman for his age and had taken on some challenging quest before, but this was an entirely different challenge. The dragon had been terrorizing the kingdom for a few years now, and a handful of brave knights had all comeback battered and defeated. He accepted that he would probably share the same fate as he walked up the dark, gloomy stairs to the large wooden door to the tower. The young knight swallowed his fear, reaching up and knocking on the door, waiting for a few moments before slapping himself.

"Stupid! Why would you knock!?" He reached up, turning the handle before opening it slowly, hand gripping his sword tightly

As he stepped inside, he noticed that dispite its gloomy and dark exterior, the inside was surprisingly free of dush and cobwebs befitting an evil lair. Making his way towards the stairs, he could hear the ominous sounds of humming as he steadied his resolve, slowly making his way up the large spiral staircase. As he approached the top, he could see the shadow of something from under the door's light. Gripping his sword, he paused for a moment.

"Ok, this is it, time to put all your training to the test." He gulped hard, wishing he was back home with his mother and father as he closed his eyes, grabbing the doorknob before turning it and busting through, sword drawn.

"Dragon! I have come to defeat you and free the land of your...terriny..?"

Marco opened his eyes to see a figure sitting in a tub across the room, a woman, pale skin, and hair as gold as a king's crown surrounded by floating bubbles, her bare chest sticking just above the water. Blood rushed to Marco's face before the long pause between them was broken by her yell,

"EEEKKKK GET OUT!" the girl screamed

Marco, in a hurried panic, covered his eyes, turning back to the door. "OH MY GOSH IM SO SORRY!" he slammed the door behind him, heart pounding in his chest as he gripped his chest.

"Who was that!? Was that the dragon!? What was she doing taking a bath?"

Breaking his chain of thought, he hears a voice call through the door.

"You man enter now! I'm decent!"

Marco turned around, opening the door and peeking inside to see the woman standing, fixing her messy outfit and trying to straighten her hair, a wet towel tossed across the floor she obviously wanted to prepare herself in a hurry.

"Um...are you..the dragon..?" Marco muttered, still embarrassed as she cleared her throat.

"T...That depends what foolish mortal is asking!" She embarrassingly tried to say as imposing as she could, given the circumstances.

"I..I am M..Marco Diaz! From...from the village of Echo Creek! I've come to slay the dr..dragon of this tower!" Marco cleared his throat, "Ha...have, you seen the..dragon?"

The girl blushed to turn herself to the side, revealing a thick long scaly tail, her hands moving through her hair to show two horns sticking out from her head. "I...I am..the dragon you seek." Marco stood there, dumbfounded as the girl twirled her hair embarrassed.

"Ar...Are you the dragon? Bu..but your a..i mean..you look." Marco was fumbling his words as the girl put her hands on her hips.

"What!? Am I suppose to look like a giant beast!? How can I take a bath or sleep in a tower this small in that form!?" She moved her hands to her hips

Marco paused for a moment, "Yeah..that is a good point. Bu...But you have been terrorizing the land! Stealing livestock and the wealth of all the people!" Marco steadied himself, drawing his sword.

The girl rolled her eyes, "That's not my fault!? What am I supposed to stay locked up in here?! I like to go out and spread my wings! People freak out when I show up in town and throw all that shiny gold at me! And you people charge for food when I sneak out like this to get some!"

"And the sheep!" She pointed to the corner of the room where a handful of sheep were lounging around happily. "How could I not snatch up these cuties!?" She walked over, giving one a big hug as it let out a squeak. "They're perfect for snuggling up to sleeping."

Marcos's confusion only grew as she snuggled against one of the sheep, "But..the older knights you bested! An...And the damage to towns around here!"

She sighed, "Look, when a bunch of old geezers show up and try and kill me, can I not defend myself? And I'm not very good with my magic and spells yet, so sometimes when I practice on the roof, they fly out of control!" She pointed over to a smoldering hole in the wall.

"Yeah..that makes sense.." Marco muttered. "We...well, there's a bounty out for you! I...I can't just go back empty-handed.." Marco muttered to himself, feeling defeated. "This isn't at all what I had expected from this quest." As he sat deep in thought, the girl cleared her throat, stomping her feet down as she straightened out her light blue dress

"Excuse me!? What makes you think you can just barge into my home, see me when I'm indecent, threaten me, and leave!?"

Marco waived off her threat as he sheathed his sword. "Guess ill just head back to town..." In a swift motion, as Marco began to turn for the door, a powerful force shut it closed, knocking him to his feet. As he turned, he saw the room filled by a large gold scaled dragon, its blue eyes shining like gemstones as it snarled, revealing its swordlike teeth as she rose on her four legs.

"You think you can just leave!? No, you're much tastier than the other old knights that came; I think ill keep you.."

Marco gulped, pulling out his sword "D...Don't underestimate me! I am highly trained in swordplay and self-defense!"

The dragon laughed "I see, well then how about you put your skills to the test then? If you can lay a single scratch on me, then I will submit to your skills and let you take me in." She grinned as the young knight steadied himself.

"Wh..Why should I believe you!"

The dragon laughed, "True, you have no right to believe me, but if you swear by your oath as a knight to be my pet should you lose, I will honor my oath as well. Not like you have a choice, I could always just burn down the local villages and gobble you up."

Marco pondered the dragons deal; seeing her true form, he knew she wasn't lying about being able to destroy the nearby towns, especially his. "I..I accept! Bu...But you better keep your word! Or..Or ill cleave your head clean off! I mean..I don't want to do that to such a pretty maiden...I mean well dragon and maiden."

Marco began to fumble his words before he realized the girl's tail coiled around his feet. In a swift motion, the girl flew through the hole in the wall pulling Marco in tow as she flew to the top of her towner. "Here is perfect!' She laughed, setting him down as she landed herself. "Now valiant knight! let's see what you're made of!" She smiled as she lunged at him, reaching up with her front claws to swipe at Marco.

Marco swiftly dodged out of the way, rolling himself under her before getting back to his feet, sword drawn in hand. "Ok, Marco, remember your training.." He readied his stance, as the dragon turned around for another swing, Marco was one step ahead, lowering himself and before swiping his sword upward. As the sword hit her claw, the loud sound of her scales bouncing off, his sword rang through the air. Quickly regaining himself, he rolled away as she laughed.

"If that's the best, you can do you might as well give up now." She chuckled as Marco smirked, delivering a powerful kick to her face.

The dragon's eyes teared up, "Owww..." She reached up, rubbing her cheek. "That hurt!" Marco slid himself away from her sword in hand as she steadied herself.

"Fine then, let's see how you manage some magic!" She opened her mouth, shooting out a blast of fire, Marco using his sword to push the magic fire away as he moved in one fluid motion. "Mmmmm, not bad.." the dragon purred, chanting another spell before blasting it from her maw.

Marco was steadily dodging each one as he closed the gap between the two. After careful dodging and planning, Marco finally found his chance flipping himself forward and bringing his sword up to bring down on the neck of the dragon. Just as he was about to swing, the dragon looked up at him with scared and fearful blue eyes, the image of the beautiful girl she was before flashed in his mind, seeing his hesitation, the dragon took advantage as her tail swung to the side.

Marco, having just enough time to move his sword to try and take some of the blow, was struck by her powerful tail swing, sending him flying and then slamming into the crenellation of the towers top with enough force to crack it. As Marco hit the side, the air left his lungs, and the taste of copper filled his mouth, his whole body going numb as he had not even the air or strength to groan out in pain. Gasping for any breath he could get, his hand gripped tightly the now shattered sword Marco got from his father, his mind wandering back to his family, and what he believed would be the last time he would have ever seen them. The only feeling against the cold air around him were the hot tears streaking down his cheeks as his vision darkened and the world around, and what he believed his life began to fade away.

The dragon turned, looking to see the destroyed state of the knight. "Oh, No! I swang my tail too hard!" She panicking galloped over, moving to inspect the boy, his body seemingly twisted as blood dripped from his mouth.

"STUPID! YOU OVERDID IT AGAIN!" She cursed herself as she quickly scooped him into her maw, careful this time not to do even more damage as she leaped off the tower, gliding down and back into the hole in the wall of her chamber before setting him down and changing back to her more human form. "crap, Crap, CRAP! he's fading away so fast!"

She picked the knight up with ease, moving him over to the large mound of beddings and furs that she called her bed were a handful of sheep were lazily napping away. Without a second thought, the girl stripped away with ease his armors and clothes, leaving the boy in but his undergarments as she looked him over. While his arms and legs didn't seem as bad as before and relatively undamaged, the sizeable black welt on his side told her she must have shattered his ribs and damaged his lungs. Marco's breaths were but small hitches as his body grew colder and colder in her hands.

"No, I'm not going to let you die! Not like this! I can't let a cute boy like you be my first kill!"

She threw off what remained of her shredded clothes from transforming and straddled Marco, pulling the boy into her embrace as she opened her mouth, exposing her front teeth as she sank them into the boy's neck.

Marco managed a small gasp of air as the girl flooded his body with her powerful mana. Her mother taught her the technique of draining the mana from other life to sustain herself; she now desperately used to maintain and heal Marco. Givin her track record of magic, using any other healing spell could quickly end his life right there. As she poured her mana into Marco, she could immediately feel his body begin to warm. Growing hotter from her mana, his body worked fast to set his bone and mend the wound as the boy's natural healing was kicked into overdrive.

Slowly Marco's breath returned as he gasped, the feeling of her energy flowing through him, making his body stir. Marco regained some small sense back as his eyes once cloudy began to clear, his vision returning to see the fires on the wall of her chamber. The golden-haired girl sitting naked against him, a flood of euphoria flooding his mind in an instant as his back arched, and his leg kicked, his toes curling before he found himself drifting back into darkness. The girl let out a small sigh of relief from his reaction, slowly lowering the rate of her mana before ultimately beginning the process of draining most of it back to herself. She adjusted herself, getting comfortable beside the now healed and asleep young knight Marco, her lips pressed against his neck as she reached for some of the furs and scattered bedding to cover the two. As she pulled them over, she felt a surprising sting as she brought her tail up, revealing the cut beneath the bottom where his sword met her swing. She couldn't help but smirk as she rested her tail across the boy's lap.

"You are an interesting knight indeed, Marco Diaz." She thought to herself as she closed her eyes. "I'll just call our battle..a draw."