Page 26 of Caveman Alien’s Terror (Caveman Aliens #25)

26

- Astrid -

“I do,” I state loudly, and my voice echoes from the flat side of the Mount.

“I do,” Praxigor rumbles calmly when it’s his turn, and the world trembles with the words. The sincerity in his voice brings tears to my eyes. He’s totally serious about this.

Shaman Melr’ax declares us married, his voice clear and strong. I know him well, and I can see this simple act of officiating at our wedding takes its toll on the old man. But there was no way around it when he insisted.

Right until this morning, we were prepared to get married outside the village. The cavemen are still highly skeptical of Praxigor, and would prefer to not have him inside the walls.

Then at sunrise we were told to have the ceremony in the same spot that’s usually used, right by the totem wall. It made me happy.

We turn around to receive the congratulations of the Borok tribe. There are Tretter men here and there, as well as Krast men and Foundlings and representatives from a couple of other tribes, too. I’ve never seen the village this crowded. And I don’t think it’s because of me. Everyone wants to see the dragon.

“Thank you,” Praxigor rumbles to the audience.

The girls clap and cheer as well as they can, but the cavemen are subdued and mostly nod or knock on the scabbards of their swords. They’re not at all sure about letting a dragon into their village, and having Praxigor marrying their future shaman has to mess with their minds.

But he has behaved perfectly well, mostly staying in his humanoid form and only Changing to his dragon form once, staying away for hours on some mysterious errand. After a short conversation with me, Korr’ax, the girls, and Shaman Melr’ax, he even persuaded the Borok men that he was not going to hurt them. I can see they only half believe it, and they’re all acting nervous. It’s as if I went into the jungle and came back with what they fear the most. As if I went into a cage and came out holding the lion and bringing him home.

I’m fine with that. He’s more dangerous than the whole jungle.

“They love you,” Praxigor whispers. “If not for you, they would be hunting me right now.”

“It’s the least they can do,” I tell him. “After I brought back the most spectacular male they’ve ever seen.”

The sun shines on my white dress, the one that’s made from a fine, very rare fabric that is reserved for weddings but which not all the girls have used. My hair is up, and Alba had a great time with it, inserting flowers and ribbons and making me look better than I ever dared hope.

The dragon can’t be made to look better than he does just being natural, although I’d love to see him in a tux. Oh well, maybe one day.

“Well done,” Bonwen says, hurrying over to congratulate us. “You have secured the last single woman on Xren, Praxigor. I didn’t think that would be possible, but it figures that it would take a dragon to snatch her. Nothing less would do.” She hugs me. “Good going, tunnel girl.”

“Are you implying that my wife is picky?” Praxigor asks with dangerous mildness. “Because I agree. You have no idea what I had to go through to get this far.”

“Oh, was this your plan all along?” Bronwen asks, undeterred. “If they call you ‘the Devious’, then I think it may have been.”

My husband glances at me. “Perhaps we shall never know.”

The married men in the tribe come over to congratulate him formally, mostly staying cold. Only Rater’ax the escort leader, never scared of anything, grabs the dragon’s wrist in the caveman way and makes a joke.

“Feels like a long-winded and dangerous way to get someone to say ‘yes’,” Piper says as she hugs me. “If he planned it all along, I mean. Congratulations, Astrid! As always, you exceed our expectations wildly. You know you could have just come home with a nice flower, and we would be all praise and wonder.”

“This was the best thing I could find,” I tell her and sniffle. “None of the flowers spoke to me like he did.”

“His English is amazing,” Alba says as she hugs me too. “Do we know how he does it?”

I shrug. “He claims to just speak. Somehow our brains know what he says. Even the cavemen. Honestly, it’s not even in my top five weird things about him.”

“Congrats,” she says into my ear. “Anter’az is very impressed. He wants to know all about the cracked scales and how dragons heal.”

“Always the scientist,” I chuckle. “I’m sure he’ll have many frustrating conversations with Praxigor. He doesn’t really know how things work. Or care.”

Bryar hugs me as close as she can with her pregnant belly. “You’re incredible, Astrid. I’m so sorry I came on so strong about… well, you know.”

I squeeze her. “Nah, that was fine. You just made me sure that I was making the right decision about going out that night. Something had to give. Turns out it was me.”

She keeps hold of my hand. “Well, you won an incredible victory against the Ceremat tribe. And you have a light in your eyes now. I love to see it.”

“And I love that Korr’ax allowed us to get married in the village. I know he would have preferred to see Praxigor not set foot within the walls, especially after the entrance we made.”

She chuckles. “Having a full dragon land in the middle of the village right after the men returned from hunting him did take us all by surprise. I’ve never heard Melr’ax laugh so much. I was worried he’d die on the spot.”

“I know it was you,” I tell her. “You persuaded Korr’ax to let us get married here, inside the walls. He really didn’t want to.”

She shrugs. “It took me all night. Korr’ax is a stubborn chief. But I’m not one to give up.”

“Thank you,” I tell her sincerely and squeeze her hand. “It’s everything I was hoping it would be.”

Melr’ax has a smile on his face as he hobbles over. “A shaman marrying an agent of the Darkness! When I said it was your ultimate duty to be the anti-dragon, this was not what I meant. But it might prove just as effective as killing them.”

I carefully hug his crooked, bony frame. “I couldn’t kill him, Melr’ax. I knew him by then. I loved him. The darkness was only inside me.”

“And he loves you, that’s plain to see. Wonderful, Astrid! I never thought I’d see the day. A dragon in the village. A friendly dragon! Well, I have to get some warmth into me.” He hobbles off towards his hut, where I’m sure he’ll make a big fire.

Luna comes trotting. She’s grown fast, and her back is now up to the middle of my thighs.

“Not a bad wedding,” I tell her as I carefully place my hand behind one ear. “No one died, and only some tears were shed.”

She walks off, her whole body moving in sync with her six powerful legs.

“And now?” Praxigor asks, impatient. “Surely we’re done now and we can get on with our married lives?”

“We’re mostly done,” I tell him. “Now comes the reception, where we’ll sit down and eat with our friends.”

“Must we?”

The tribal drums start beating, and the smell of cooking food teases my nose.

“Just for a short while. It’s expected that the newlyweds leave early.”

We sit down at the common table with the others. I eat some salad and drink a few toasts of frit , acutely aware of the quiet and bored dragon beside me.

Others notice, too. After maybe half an hour Alba stands up. “Listen up! It is tradition on Earth that whenever a woman marries a dragon, the married couple must fly away as soon as possible. It’s very important that they don’t stay for too long. So— actually, everyone stand up. Come on. Everyone. On your feet.”

Hundreds of cavemen get to their feet, and so do Praxigor and I.

“Say after me,” Alba commands everyone. “Dear Astrid and Praxigor.”

“ Dear Astrid and Praxigor,” the crowd drones.

“Thank you for letting us witness your union,” Alba goes on, and the crowd repeats it, their deep voices echoing from the Mount. “Now we think you should leave. So that the rest of us. Can get drunk and rowdy. Also we will dance. And we don’t want the dragon to see us like that.”

Every part is repeated in turn.

“Now everyone cheer!” Alba commands, and they all do. Most of them have had some frit, so a deafening roar follows Praxigor and me as we climb the stairs to the penthouse on top of the Mount.

“That was nice,” Praxigor says. “We’re married. You’re my wife!” He comes in and grabs me, squeezing me tight. “And now you have to change out of your dress and into something else. I will turn my back.”

“I wonder where you’re taking me,” I tell him as I quickly discard the wedding dress and change into a new dinosaur skin dress. I leave my hair as it is, and I will for as long as possible. Hopefully it won’t get blown too much out of shape. “You’re being very mysterious about our honeymoon.”

“Dragons are supposed to be mysterious,” my husband says. “And I haven’t planned anything but the first part of our journey. I’m sure it will be interesting.”

“Done,” I tell him and grab my backpack, filled with food and drink because the dragon may not need to eat, but I sure do. I drape a sheet of thin leather over my hair because it will never look this good again.

“My wife is the greatest beauty on Xren,” Praxigor says as he comes towards me. “And now she’s mine.”

“I don’t deny it,” I agree as I grab his neck to bend him down to where I can kiss his thick lips. “Just for today, I’m allowed to say I’m the most beautiful woman on Xren. I will always be yours, my love. And you will be mine.”

He smirks. “I can’t wait to always be yours.”

He Changes to his dragon form and lowers his head so I can get on.

“Not too fast, okay?” I plead because being blown off him is the thing that worries me the most about this.

We will go as fast as we need to. The first journey is not very long. The next, I don’t know. It will be up to you.

He takes me up into the sky, we fly out over the edge of the Mount, and then the jungle is a myriad of colors and shapes below us. Fresh air blows into my face, but I have no idea where we’re going.

Before I know it, we’re spiraling down. Praxigor finds a clearing and lands on all four legs. I get off and he Changes to his superman form.

“What are we doing here?” I ask, looking around. It all looks like any other spot in the jungle.

“It took me a while to find this,” he tells me. “And I’m not sure this is the right time. But I know it’s something you wanted.”

I look around and shrug. “What?”

He walks in among the trees. “Come along.”

We walk for a few minutes. In front of us is a giant tree, looking like an old oak on Earth, with many branches splitting off and reaching far to the sides and to the sky. I can’t remember having ever seen anything like it before. This single tree dominates a large part of the jungle.

“That must be really old,” I comment. “I wonder how it survived so long without getting knocked over by a dinosaur.”

“Someone made sure it didn’t happen,” Praxigor says. “Be quiet now. And go around the tree.”

I give him a searching look, having no idea what’s happening. But I do as he says and quietly make my way around the tree to the other side of the massive trunk.

And there, on the other side of a round clearing…

For a second I can only stare through the greenery and the leaves. My heart thunders in my ears. Then my knees give out and I sag to the ground.

Praxigor squats beside me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Like I said, maybe the time isn’t right. But I doubt if there’s any time that’s wrong for this.”

I don’t know what to say. Emotions are filling me up, and I can’t see straight.

I sob helplessly for several minutes, just weeping quietly while my dragon husband holds me.

Finally I wipe my face. “Should I… should I go over there?”

“Someone once told me,” Praxigor rumbles softly, “that a victory that’s shared isn’t half a victory, but two whole ones. Your friends say your victory is great. Perhaps you would like to share it with someone now, turn it into one of those win-win things you like?”

I take my backpack off, get to my feet, and straighten up, sniffling and trying to pull myself together. “Thank you, my love. For all this.”

I walk on, legs feeling shaky and all of me feeling tense. This could go either way.

I approach from straight ahead, being very obvious about it.

She stands up when she sees me, grabbing her spear. She’s wearing worse rags than me, looking like some kind of dried grass woven into crude garments.

I stop twenty feet away. For a moment we just stare at each other.

Giving a little wave, I feel my face scrunching up again.

For a few seconds she doesn’t move.

Then she slowly raises a dirty hand and waves, too.

“Hi, Cora,” I begin, but my voice won’t carry.