The climb up Mount Cinder had been, in a word, very eventful. Many had wanted to be the one to save Princess Seraphina.

Being a knight was no easy task and the journey hadn't been a breeze either. Sir Roan Ashvale, was the last knight to try to fulfill this arduous adventure. He had bravely crossed rivers of flowing magma from the nearby volcanic regions, endured harsh weather from dark raining clouds, and survived on a diet of roasted cave crickets that strangely reminded him of poultry. During the easiest parts of the journey, he had been polishing something special: a flawless ruby the size of his thumb. An offering for someone just as important.

The closer he got to the mountaintop, the faster his heart would race. Many stories told about places like these, and those same tales involved scales and fiery breaths, things that always made a shiver run down his spine.

Eventually, all his steps got him to the final ledge into the main cavern, a vast, echoing chamber. Dragons liked areas such as these, and Mount Cinder was the perfect home and environment for a dragon.

And there, coiled around a massive hoard of gold and glittering artifacts, was the reason for his existence.

Oh. Oh, skies above. It was one thing to read about them in borrowed dusty tomes, and it was another to see one in the scaled, magnificent flesh. Its wings, even when folded, spoke of its raw strength. Roan’s breath hitched as he took in the magnificent creature. His carefully rehearsed speeches vanished from his mind, replaced by a singular little thought: Gorgeous.

Sadly, the moment was broken, because from a gilded cage, one that looked suspiciously comfortable and filled to the brim with pillows and blankets, a high slightly irritating voice piped up.

“Well? Are you going to stand there gawking or are you going to do your job and rescue me?” Princess Seraphina flicked a stray blonde curl over her shoulder, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “The accommodations are dreadful. It’s awfully warm, and the gold is so... hard. I demand a proper mattress, proper dining and a new dress"

Roan wasn't paying attention to her, he didn't even glance her way, not at all. His green eyes were locked on the dragon, like that was the biggest treasure among the huge piles of gold. He took a small step forward, his boots crunching on scattered coins and stray gems from the hoard. “Quiet down for a moment,” he murmured with disinterest, his gaze never leaving the dragon. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something important?”

He dropped to one knee, the metal of his greave clanking loudly against the stone floor. He fumbled with his satchel, his calloused fingers trembling with excitement as he rummaged inside until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the ruby, holding it up so the lava light would make it stand out.

“A small token,” he said, his voice changing from irritated to enamored, “For the most magnificent creature my eyes have ever been blessed to behold. I am Sir Roan Ashvale, and I have traversed shattered regions and scaled this very mountain not as a knight, but as a suitor. I am here to court you properly!”

Seraphina stared blankly, her mouth parted in pure shock at what her pretty eyes were seeing, baffled at the fact that this man came all this way to seduce a scaly beast. “A suitor!? You’re here to court the dragon? That’s...not in the knight’s handbook! I’m a princess! I’m the priority!”

Roan finally snapped his eyes away from the dragon and acknowledged her with an irritated flick of his eyes. “Princess, you are currently an obstacle to the greatest romantic story of the century.” He pointed a thumb back toward the cave entrance. “The path down is that way. I left some roasted crickets on a ledge about halfway. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” Once he dealt with annoyances, he turned his full attention back to the dragon, his expression going back to one of pure adoration.

Princess Seraphina threw her hands up in the air, letting out a sound and curses that a princess wouldn't usually say. “Unbelievable! I’m leaving! I shall inform my father that his knight has gone mad!” And with a huff, she stomped out of the cage, that for some reason had always been open, marched across the cavern, and began the un-glamorously climb down the mountain, muttering about the decline of chivalric standards.

Once she was gone, Roan could keep his pursuit. He was still on one knee, ruby held up and a wide, hopeful smile on his scarred face. The cavern was now silent, no interruptions left, and only his hope and courtship in display. He waited for a response, even some fire breath, anything. His entire being focused on the majestic dragon before him, ready for his courtship to truly begin.