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4

Aldun arrived early this morning and found that a package has been left at his door. He opened it right after entering his office and grumbled. He really didn't have much free time to take care of those pesky matters but if Emilio asked him for it, he must have had his reasons. He called for one of his scientists through the intercom. A young guy in his twenties came in wearing a white lab coat.

"Wha...at can I do for you, sir?"

Aldun didn't even look at him and and pointed with his chin towards the package.

"Take this to the lab for a complete examination. No word to anyone. Report to me as soon as you have the results."

This called for no answer or complain. The young man acknowledged silently and took the box with him leaving Aldun alone in his room again.

The man looked around as his office felt desperately empty now. He knew for certain that if the doctor was asking him for this, it meant troubles. He sat down at his desk and turned on his computer.

Just like every morning, he opened his spy reports. He had had all his enemies on watch but also and more important to him, his employees.

1945_Emilio left the Mansion, walks_ into town.

1950_Enters The Drake's Inn_

1955_Conversation with the barman,_ who seems to appreciate him.

2030_I s invited over by a large drake, name: Desmend_ _Yuthy , with his friend: Adam_ Pettihopes

2045_Moving closer_ to the target reveals no interesting conversation going on.

2300_Petty_ matters discussed, subject getting drunk.

2330_Subject appears he is going to leave soon, end of shadowing._Nothing work-related revealed.

The end of the file left Aldun more anxious than he should have been. All this felt wrong to him and even if this appeared like a commondiscussion, something was missing and he had to find out what. He quickly wrote to his spy to find those two guys, Adam and Desmend, and tail them close. He would probably find something interesting about them and if not, it may at least ease his feelings.

He paced his office nervously, he knew he had to be patient for result to come back to him on both ways but right now he wished he was elsewhere. At least, he could afford to pay others to do the dirty job if it had to get to this. He went to the window and looked outside as the sun rose slowly over the sea, a red tint covering the caps as they drift towards the beach in an endless blue wave.

Someone knocked at the door before opening it. It was his secretary bringing the mail. He browsed through it mindlessly. Always the same boring things between commercials, bills and invitations to new openings. He threw them all in the bin, not really in the mood to reply to those. He sat down again and started writing names and what they meant to him so as to make mental connection through personal links, when he realized that one name kept coming again and again: Adam.

He searched through all his files and grabbed the letter Emilio had packed with the samples:

Please, have those thoroughly tested for pregnancy on Shirkla and Adam, I want to double check our result. We may have a problem if those are positive.

_ Emilio_

He suddenly opened wide eyes in surprise as he finally figured out that it was the same Adam who met with the doctor last night. He rushed to his computer to send another message to his spy, writing that he wanted the informations on that Adam guy today and if possible also on that dragon friend of his. He thoroughly insisted on the immediate nature of the request before sending his mail.

He grabbed his hat and jacket before telling his secretary that he might be away all day long as he had an important meeting at the last minute. The woman didn't even ask, she was used to the same excuse after all those years and just called up the different people that her boss should have met that day. And apparently, a good number of them were also used to it as they just accepted the call and scheduled a different date.

He rode all the way downtown. He would usually travel in his luxury car whenever he moved around but today he wanted to be more inconspicuous and decided to ride on horseback. He soon reached the city limits and directed his mount towards The Drake's Inn where he would leave it on the front porch and have a look inside.

Despite the early hour, the bar was open, it was though empty and deprived of music, which, to Aldun viewpoint, was a good thing, less ears to listen to their conversation.

John raised his head at the newcomer.

"Hey, welcome, it's not often we got visitors that early."

"I'm not common visitor either." Aldun replied in a low voice.

"Indeed you are not. But you didn't come here to drink my beer, Aldun, did you?"

"You know me well. Almost as well as I know you."

John put his cloth down and settled both his hands on his counter pressing his weight on them.

"Then tell me what you are in for. I bet you want some information about some people who visited my inn."

"As I said, almost as well as I know you."

Aldun kept quiet for a while and sat down slowly in a high chair at the bar before ordering a beer. It was not until he drank half of it that he looked back at John who had kept the same posture since he poured the drink.

"But I'm not going to ask you something you won't tell me. So I'm going to assume you protect your customers and even more your friends... Adam_and _Desmend."

The barman took a step back. He didn't expect the old guy to question him about them, he stared at him for a minute with a blank face, until he was about to utter a reply.

Aldun looked up at him.

"I already know what I wanted to. Thank you for your help."

Aldun finished his drink then paid for it before he walked out silently. Behind his back, the tenant was still trying to decipher what he meant. Hopefully his little game of bluff had taken on and that guy would pass on words that he is looking for information on the man and his dragon friend.

Meanwhile, he had other duties to carry and walked to the townhouse where the mayor was expecting him.

The door opened before he even walked up the stairs and was greeted with enthusiasm by Edmond. Once inside, the mayor quickly closed the door after a quick glance outside. He turned around and his face became more somber. He let himself fall in his chair as they reached his office.

"You know, Ed. You should take some vacations, you look pale." said Aldun with a blank voice.

"You really find that funny? I risk my place here. Have you heard the news? The council rejected the veto and applied for public vote. What are we to do?"

Although he had followed closely the debate, the news still came as a shock to Aldun. In all his haste to find out about Adam and Emilio, he had clearly forgotten about it. Yet he made sure not to let a single impression go through his face as he replied.

"Calm down and listen. We still have plenty of time, a vote takes a while to prepare and even if it passes,they won't find out about you." 'Or I'll make sure they won't find out about me.' He added in his mind.

The mayor breathed heavily. It wasn't really the best of times to worry him with even more unpleasant news, though he had to know and asked directly.

"Tell me what you know about that couple."

"Couple? What couple? Oh... you mean _that_couple. Well, apart from being unnatural and wanting a devil beast as kid, they are quite the common kind. He, Adam, works retail in the town supermarket and she is a beast of burden, if I may say so, in the gypsum quarry. They never show up together in town or in any official meeting. They respect the law a bit too well, if you want my opinion. I would suspect them of meeting in illegal bars, smuggling drugs or worse... but no sentinel ever reported such thing. All I got is your spies whining that they are being mocked and not respected. C'mon, who would respect those blackies?"

Aldun flinched a bit at those last comments. Even if he didn't like the sentinels much either, he could not deny the hard and dirty work they did for him and how fitted they were. But they were not the matter at the moment, and despite what the mayor had to say, he didn't learn more about Adam than he expected. He would have to wait until his spy come back from his duty with, hopefully, more significant data.

He walked out of the townhouse after memorizing about that council thing and what meager information he had on the couple. He grabbed his horse and rode straight back to his office. It was just twelve when he got into his room. The package he sent for examination had come back with the results. On top of a ten pages report was a red lettered message:

PROBABILITY OF PREGNANCY: 98%

He packed up the papers after quickly glancing through them and gave them to a sentinel outside the building with the similar instruction as before.

"To Emilio."

The sentinel took off and flew in the direction of the Mansion where the doctor was supposed to work this morning. Although he barely arrived when the sentinel landed. His previous night had been quite epic and while he didn't remember all of it, he had a perfect memory of that tall dragon with his muzzle fully engulfed in a barrel of beer or something similar. The first thing that crossed his mind when he woke up that morning after a very short sleep was that slip of paper he handed to Adam. He knew it was something of prime matter but he could not quite figure it out. It had taken most of his thoughts as he took the whole morning to wear off the alcohol and the pounding headache that resulted from it.

He sent the sentinel away and went inside. His own office was rather small but completely sound-proof, so that he could work and experiment without his colleagues knowledge. He opened up the mail and sat down dumbfounded at the same message that his boss read earlier. He went on reading the whole report finding out that the evidences could be traced back up to a month earlier. The dragoness was pregnant and if nothing was done quickly, they would have to admit it publicly or arrange for a more direct solution. But more than that; it showed that his employee had lied to him. He would have to face him. He would have to send him to be sentenced, terminally. He couldn't let a weak link in... And yet, all he wanted deeply inside was to find out why he did so, why protect them, why did it feel right? He had hoped for it to happen secretly. He wasn't mad.

Aldun had packed a personal message within the package, hidden between two pages.

' __If you need cleaning, just ask. I will let you decide.'

Emilio really felt uneasy, not about the cleaning part but for the fact that his boss would lethim decide. He had never done suchbefore. Heenjoyed receiving order and not think about the consequences, it gave him a feeling of innocence.He felt that Aldun was testing him for his trust. What has he found that would make him suspicious enough to want and try his loyalty. Emilio tried to remember what he did and slapped his forehead.

"Is he really believing I changed side because I sat with them?" He asked himself out loud.

And then it came back to him all clear, the single word that betrayed him, the single word that showed his true side, the single word scribbled on a piece of paper: unmonitored. He turned pale at the revelation and his hand trembled. Everything from last night came back to his mind, what he said, what he tried not to say and how he felt. The true nature of his feelings that he tried to keep hidden all those years. He had to face it. Either deny what he said to Adam and claimed he stole his phone number or accept his fate.

No, he would not accept his fate, he would fight for it. He knew Aldun couldn't have find about the number since he had waited for the spy to leave before giving it. He was very careful about that despite being drunk. He had worked with them long enough to know when he'd be safe.

In the sudden lucidity of the night drinking, he realized that he had accepted the dictatorship of a big buck company for too long, that he could not allow it anymore. But he had to do it discretely if he did not want to be the one to be done. Aldun had to be pulled from his position before he could freely move. At once, he imagined many scenarios where he was defeating him one way or another. He started packing files and data trying to make it so that no one would notice anything missing. He looked around for any little thing that would help him. If he had listened to himself, he would have brought all of his papers and computer data but he knew it was not reasonable. He sighed deeply.

Yes, he definitely switched sides, he now had to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. He carefully made mental notes about what he needed to do to hide his state. For now, they did not have any reason to doubt him but it certainly would not last much.

***

Adam woke up from a short night, he rubbed his sore eyes as the sun got past the blinds. He jumped into the shower with enthusiasm, today was an another day with Shirkla and he had thought carefully of what the doctor told him the previous night. If he had given him that number, it must be because he had private things to discuss and he was sure of what. Soon they would not have to hide anymore, he knew it. He did not figure out why it had to be through unmonitored phone and yet he imagined it would just be so that the news would not reach unwanted ears before its due time.

He dried himself and quickly dressed up. He was about to leave when he phone rang. It was Desmend calling.

"Hey buddy, how are you doing? Not too much headache?"

"Aha, no I'm fine and I'm surprised you are too with all you drank yesterday."

"Yeah it's a dragon thing you would not understand. But that's not the point of my call here. I need you to see me as soon as possible. Can you be at my cave this afternoon?"

"I can b.. but why? Is there anything wrong?"

"Be there, I'll tell you." He hung up.

He put down the phone and wondered what was all that important thing he had to tell him about. That disturbed his train of thoughts to the point where he wasn't sure if it was a nice thing or a bad thing to have had this piece of information. He struggled for a while with his brain as he took his breakfast and got lost with time. When he realized his mistake, he jumped off his chair, grabbed his coat and ran outside. Reel was already waiting for him, his light bridle in his mouth. Adam took it gently and put it in place before jumping bareback. The horse didn't need directions, for the last months he had driven him to the mansion instead of his workplace, a sort of planned state-granted vacation and back again in early morning and today was no exception.

"Oh crap, I didn't call him..." he meant the doctor.

He had wanted to find out if what he had to say was worth it or not but then he would have to wait for another opportunity, there was no way he could talk to him at the mansion with all the cameras and microphones. At least it would give him time to inform Shirkla about it before reaching the Egglash.

The white dragoness walked along the sea, her pace was slow and measured as if she was carrying something fragile. From a distance, it looked like the drake could have been somewhat drunk. Adam arrived slowly on her side and gently rubbed her shoulder.

"Hi, how are you this morning?"

"Oh hi! Well, I'm not too sure, I feel rather... bloated" she looked down at her belly and back at him.

"Perhaps a good news then." he said with a smile.

"Or a hunting nightmare if they decide against it." her face cold.

Adam felt the attack personally and pulled his hand back.

"Oh no, I... didn't mean that to you, hun. But see... if they have decided to not have it, we will need to either flee or fight for it."

"And you are not the kind to flee, are you?" he paused. "I went to the inn with Desmend yesterday."

"I thought I smelled something like that."

The young man blushed at the remark, he certainly wasn't clean of all the alcohol he drank.

"Anyway, he... insisted we invited the doctor over and at the end of the night he gave me this."

The dragoness grew quite curious at the story and looked at the paper cocking her head.

"Is it genuine?"

"I would say, as genuine as a drunk man can be. Which is another way of saying that I actually don't know."

"Well, we do know we have to be careful. I think you shall call him _soon._But for now, we have arrived."

She raised her snout toward the mansion. The sentinel was standing by the door at its usual place. The door was closed and their usual lab guy was sitting down on the bench on the other side of the mansion smoking a cigar. He put it down as soon as he saw them and smiled, then brought them inside for the usual ritual that had been going on for almost a year now.

Emilio was searching and moving around in his office when he heard the usual sounds of the mates frolicking. He looked at the time and realized he had been doing this for over two hours and missed the scheduled visit with them. Fortunately, his employee was there and replaced him for the time being. He had not yet faced him either about the hidden results. Had he still been in yesterday's state of mind, he would certainly have given him to the sentinels for feasting upon his body after he had discovered the truth. But not today. Although he knew could not leave this unpunished and he would need to face the guy soon enough. Aldun trusted him with his employees as he considered them replaceable, leaving the doctor deal with them the way he wanted. That is unless they became a threat.

He walked down to the monitoring room where the man was writing down all the usual data. Emilio had make sure to silently walk on him to see how he was working. He was quite tedious at the task and missed no sign on the couple but a very prominent sign showed that he enjoyed watching it too quite a lot... The doctor suddenly felt embarrassed about it and quickly made some noise on purpose as if he had just entered the room.

"Oh hi boss, I... er, took over to prepare and test them since you were not available this morning, I hope I didn't impose."

"No, no, you did fine... How is it going?"

"Well, they are about to finish soon and once again I've increased the drug dose as you asked."

A blatant lie that Emilio had found out when he received the results. The trace of drugs were largely under the maximum dosage that a dragon would react to. But for now, he feigned ignorance and left him to finish his job. He would face him once the two others were gone.

He walked out after asking a couple more questions and headed to the chamber. He greeted the couple after they had cleaned themselves up a bit and proceeded to the usual examination. His look didn't change toward them but both side knew he would have some explaining to do.

He walked them to the exit and waved goodbye in his usual way. If the sentinel had to find something about him, it would not be here.

Adam and Shirkla walked home slowly, the man alongside his horse. Once they reached far enough, he looked at her.

"Desmend asked me to visit him today. He seemed quite concerned but wouldn't say a word on the phone. Do you happen to know anything about it?"

"Hmm, not that I know of. Apart from the usual rumors."

"I think it would be good if you came with me."

Shirkla nodded.

"I will join you there then."

They walked silently again until they had to separate.

Meanwhile, Emilio faced the young lab guy and showed him evidences of his lie. The man was as white as an aspirin. He was not sure what his fate would be now that his secret had been discovered. The doctor sat down at his desk.

"Close the door... What's your name already?" he said coldly.

"Ed.. Edward, Sir."

"Edward... I'm quite disappointed in you. I can't say I expected that but to be honest, I like what you did."

The young man was breathless, his situation grew awkward every minute.

"Now. My boss knows I asked for those results for a reason and I have to do something about it. So either I dispose of you..."

He paused longer than necessary, he was turned away from the boy, he didn't need to look at him to know his reaction.

"Or, you help me figure a way out of this."

"Out of what.. Sir?"

"This mess you created. See, this couple has a kid and by the law they are allowed to marry now, so either we respect our bosses and dispose of them instead of you or we help them succeed. And I tend to know you like the second choice better, am I right?"

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean... wait! Are you telling me that... you want to rebel against the big boss?"

He looked around nervously as if he was spied.

"Don't worry, this room is completely unmonitored and sound-proof. I could deal with you here just as much as I could plot and no one would know about it."

"Well, Sir, for one, I'm glad you joined the right side and I will gladly join you in your venture to overthrow the actual government!" he says with enthusiasm.

"For now, it will only be this town, and Mendraso's CEO. Also please, just call me Emilio in here, just remember your place when outside though!"

They spend the good part of the midday break and some of the early afternoon discussing plots and data they had on people that could be useful in their adventure. Not that they had much to do as the mansion only purpose was to monitor cross-species couples and at this moment, they precisely had only one. The rest of the time, they were paid to do... nothing.

***

Adam and Shirkla went fishing for lunch. With an unmatched sight and lightning speed, it was just outrageously easy for her to catch enough to feed them. She swallowed them raw while he made a point to build a small fire and roast them on top of it.

"I could have done it you know. I can breath fire too."

"Well, it's not exactly the same and I'm not sure I like it well done... just, you know."

"What? Are you insulting my culinary talents?"

"Never!" he winked at her and she bumped his side gently.

"Anyway, we need to go, Desmend is waiting for us."

"Oh, is that now?"

"Well, yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you earlier. He wanted to meet me as soon as possible and I intend to know what's wrong."

"Let's go then!"

He removed Reel's halter from his face and gave it to him. The horse took it in his mouth again and was sent home. Adam turned to his dragoness and jumped on her neck just before her shoulders, using one of her flat spike as a backrest. She took off gently towards the cave and landed shortly after just before Desmend's house. The drake was waiting for them. He looked at Shirkla and nodded.

"Better that way." and then headed inside first.

His cave was rather low for such a large beast, even he had to keep his neck straight to avoid hitting against the ceiling. He justified his reason for the cozy and secure feeling it gave him.

"At least it would be hard for another dragon to attack me in there."

_ ' Unless he was of a sentinel size'_, Adam thought.

They continued for minutes through a long maze of dark tunnels. Some lights showed a kitchen on the left, and what seemed to be a bedroom on the right.

At least, if anyone tried to fight him there, they would have a hard time finding their way out.

They finally reached a dead end but before anyone could mention it, Desmend swiftly moved his forepaw and a pan of the wall opened towards a wide and comfortable room where the ceiling was far exceeding the drake's height and the space there could receive a good dozen of dragons.

"Make yourself comfortable. Want any tea or coffee?"

Adam looked around, amazed by the size of the room. He never expected something like that. Even Shirkla seemed to look surprised. The walls were bare but the place, despite its size, felt cozy. It had all the necessary furniture for a dragon to spend all his days, although the disposition felt rather military of some kind. More like a bunker than a house really.

"Go ahead, no one will hear you there. Even sentinels can't hear a thing from here. We are deep under the mountain. Welcome to our headquarters!"

"Head.. quarters?" asked Adam

"Our?" added Shirkla.

"Ah yes, let me explain. Long ago when this segregation law came out, we realized that it was time that we eventually needed to get ready and so, the elder dragons, felt that we needed a place to be protected in case of a rebellion.

He looked down at Adam.

"We may look peaceful but we're ready to defend ourselves in due time. You may ask why we didn't object to the law itself before it passed." he sighed. "Our elders thought that maybe people would come to their senses or that it wouldn't reach the level it is now."

Adam opened wide eyes.

"It doesn't look so terrible now... I mean we are under surveillance and probably manipulated but we can make things change."

Desmond sighed.

"It's much worse than you think. They will do anything to make sure you do not succeed. But your fight had lead to many believing in you and changing their position. Soon, it will be war."

The large dragon closed his eyes for a second.

"Anyway, it is this place and you are the very first human to see it, Adam. As for you Shirkla, you know the place already and the eldest have decided, despite your inexperience, that they could trust you... and your husband."

"Hus... band.. butbut, we.." The dragoness stuttered

Desmend looked sternly at her.

"You know it's going to happen soon and we need to protect you three now. And before you ask, yes we have our means to know such things. Sentinels do not only work one way. But anyway. As soon as Aldun knows about this, you can be sure he will send his minions at you and do whatever it takes to get rid of you."

The drake walked away and came back with a kettle and some biscuits.

"Although since you didn't answer me, here some hot water, make whatever you wish with it. And sit down now, really."

Adam took a large pillow that was meant for a human-sized dragon and tried to make himself comfortable on it as Shirkla found something more adapted to her size.

"Yeah, hum, sorry for that Adam, we never really planned for a human to visit here. That will have to do for now."

Desmend pushed the plate of biscuits toward the couple before continuing.

"Where was I? Ah, yes. Long ago, our kind lived peaceful, well, somehow... and so did your own. We became closer to each other until we moved together in a new society that would include both kind. At the time, no one thought more of it than just friends. It was easy to understand how we were not compatible, at least so we believed. But as a naturally open and wise kind, we understood that everyone is different and had needs, which can be of... unexpected sort. Of course, we welcomed the merging of our species and were even happier to know we could crossbreed. That is the majority of us. Some ill-thinking dragons rallied the humans in their beliefs that 'you don't mix apples and oranges'. They called it a blasphemy under our ancient beliefs and an act against nature... but I'm sure you had your share of all that. The time passed and the minority managed to rally more of our kind to their sides. Dragons can be very good persuaders when they need to. So months after months, a community grew up to dislike the crossing of our destinies and started spreading their rage all over the country. When came the time to elect a new mayor, they presented one of their own, a puppet they could control, our actual one, and made sure he would win against all odds. At the very same moment, a company which until now was just a little fruit juice manufacturer started selling water of different flavor. People loved it so much, the company's assets tripled in six months. It went to buy all its competitors one after another and became, if not the sole, the main producer of beverages around. Except beers of course. I would hate if John had to buy theirs..."

The drake stopped for a while and served himself a large, even for a dragon, cup of tea and sips it slowly.

"The company, known as Mendraso, was bought by one of our richest dragon but also one with the most conservative mind. When we found out that he had hired the best scientists he could find, we decided to build this secret shelter. And infiltrated his plant with our own sentinels, who act as their own, reporting our own little secrets, or so they think. Best way to do so if you ask me. We made a little propaganda among dragons that those wyvern were perfect hit-dragons and could infiltrate just about anything. We spread rumors and voilà. Let's say though, it was not easy. We had to make sure we only recruited the ones we could trust with our lives and not be doubled."

"But what if one of them betrayed you and sold you to the other side?"

"They would need to know this place, which none of our agents do. We made sure they never got more information than they needed. Although, once, one of them almost found this place but he was dealt with... dutifully." Desmend showed disdain as he said it. "But let's not divert. The other thing you need to know is that Aldun, who was officially hired as Mendraso's CEO, is in fact, a well experienced hit-man. A cold blooded killer who will not hesitate a split second between his duty and his feelings. If you ever get a chance, shoot him first, you will never have a second try." He paused a bit "Enjoying your tea?"

Adam was disconcerting by how Desmend could change abruptly from a very serious subject to a light one and nodded.

"Oh yes, yes I do but... what are we going to do now? I mean we can't just stop living or going to the Egglash, that would be suspicious."

"Of course not, just continue to live normally, we will tell you when you will have to do something. Aldun's henchmen are not going to do anything until he can be certain there is no other way. See, he wants to avoid dealing with a dragon. Not only can't he get rid of the body as easy as with a human being but even if some of his employees are hit-dragons, he is wise enough not to get the dragon community as a whole against him."

"So, who are the other members of your secret er... group?"

"That I can not reveal to any of you. Not now anyway. There is a good chance they already know you came here and if they link it with us, they will try to get information from you. The less you know the better. They have ways even a dragon can not resist."

Adam moved away from his pillow and sat against Shirkla who has been silent all the time. He rested a bit and sighed.

"Well, that's one thing you can do here." Desmend winked at them.

Shirkla relaxed against him some, arching her neck to rest her head onto his lap. They could have stayed in this bunker forever if they needed to.

"You are our future, both of you. If we want things to change, we need you."

And suddenly a light turned on in Adam's head.

"But, what about all the other couples like us?"

Desmend grew somber.

"Have you heard of them recently? Do you know why you are the first one in more than a decade?"

Adam shook his head slowly. He and her had not read any news about those couples. There was no mention of what happened to them after the ceremonies in their books nor any way to contact them.

"They married and lived happily or so the government tried to make people believe they were happy. They remained secluded and the state made sure that no community would accept them or hide them for long enough before they had to run away again. They often lost their jobs because rumors were spread against them. Some of them managed to keep their children but most were told it would be better to send them to boarding schools from where they never came back. And if they didn't obey, they were also never heard of anymore."

Desmend paused for longer than usual. He sipped his cold tea and made a face of unhappiness. When he resumed, his voice was slow and posed.

"The reason why you are the only one in a decade is because both of you resisted the drug they made you breath during your mating. Fortunately for you, the amount you receive was far less than Emilio wanted or you would already be dead or close to it. We have absolutely no control over this, as no single dragon has ever been hired as a doctor working for Mendraso, but it seems that the guy who was supposed to drug you apparently took a liking of you. I guess we were lucky."

"Emilio wanted to drug us but... why? He didn't look that bad last night."

"Easy: the drug is meant to sterilize and annihilate any embryo that could form. The formula took years to develop by the same guys who work at Mendraso. And as with any drug, some people are more resistant than others. You just had to be that couple."

"Drugs we inhaled while we were together there? That's awful!" yelled Shirkla.

"Oh really? Do you really think those scientists were hired for your eyes only, my dear Shirkla? You drink and eat their drugs all day long whenever you get their products."

"But what kind of drugs are those?" inquired Adam.

"We don't know all of them but so far we have found hallucinogens and thought-inducing drugs in their main drinks, also some calming drugs in the pre-made meals they sell apparently to make sure people won't get angry when or if a new law is passed. One thing for sure is that they keep working and adapting all the time, we found no more than ten different alterations of the same drug over the last year. And it affects both dragons and humans alike. If I have one advice for you, it's to quit drinking and eating their food as soon as possible. Discretely of course."

When Desmend let them go after another cup of whatever drink they wanted, it was already dark outside. Shirkla offered to walk with Adam since she could not fly him without breaking the curfew law. He took a whole hour to arrive there on foot as she had to keep slow for him. They remained silent for the good part of the road. There was not much they could talk about anyway. The drake had promised them they could visit the place any time they liked as long as they warned a couple hours before to make sure it was free. They left each other at Adam's porch with just a quick wave before she took off. How they wished they could have kissed that night. At least, they knew they now had guardians but how good would they be against a very determined enemy with nothing to lose. Adam walked in his house slowly, and fed Reel who had taken care of himself while waiting for him to come home. The horse greeted him with a low grunt as he poured his grains on the corner. He took off his clothes and a piece of paper fell. It was Emilio's note. He put it down near the phone. He will call him tomorrow to know where he stands but for now, it was too late and he had much on his plate so he got into his bed and went asleep in a matter of minutes.