FSE

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"Kereidos..." Brestera thought as her relaxed form fell from the sky. Her only thoughts were of her mate and their upcoming afterlife. The image of a handsome red and blue drake faded from the green dragoness's mind, drifting ever father as her body neared the ground. Skaritis... the wretched silver dragon did this, drove them from their home, killed her mate. She saw his body go down but she held no hope, her instincts told her that her mate was with their ancestors now. The ground was near, very near now, quite clear despite the thick clouds and an even thicker fog combined with the falling snow. This would have been a good death too Brestera thought, her mate had heroically fought to defend her and the clutch she carried. He even gave his life to do so and the only thing she regretted in her life was the fast that she hadn't had hatchlings yet.

She felt the unborn life from inside her weep worryingly as she watched the trail of blood in the sky. Twas her blood, she knew it as she fell from the skies, falling ever faster as it bled from her, leaving a crimson trail behind her, painting the skies red. She could only try to calm her children from inside her, they were still unaware, unformed but they knew trouble was about. "Its alright my hatchlings," She told them mentally and she felt a clutch of eyes set on her. "Mommas here, soon we will meet daddy." She uttered a prayer as she watched her blood mix with the snowflakes that fell from the sky.

"Its beautiful you know..." She remembered the words Kereidos once spoke to her during one of their many winters together, the red drake liked winter for some reason, only known to him. Funny, she has always hated winter before, preferring to sleep through most of it, yet now faced with her own death she had to agree.

_"It is my mate... it truly truly is..."_She spoke to her nonexistent lover. Soon she will die and her body would rot. The carcass of her and her unborn hatchlings will be scavenged and claimed by nature, as well as her mates. While she would have preferred that her body be laid close to her mates at this point she didn't mind it what so ever. Soon their souls would stand by the side of their ancestors. She felt her head and then her body press against the ground. She wasn't sure if it was trauma, exhaustion, or if fate was giving her a break but Brestera felt no pain as her body crash landed into the ground, sending a barrage of white snowflakes into the sky, as if someone threw a giant flow bag into the sky and popped it open, Brestera whispered to herself. "It is beautiful," as she enjoyed the sight of the dancing snowflakes, the thousands if not millions of them disappearing as they fell down and went their separate ways.

The green dragoness felt as if she had landed in the softest of cushions or as if she had jumped onto the most comfortable bed in existence and someone covered her with a warm blanket as she would drift to the eternal sleep. She wanted to whisper a thank you to the ancestors, to nature, to anyone willing to listen but she was too tired. She laid still, watching the beautiful clouds up above, letting the snowflakes cover her body. They weren't cold anymore and the ones that landed on her face mixed with her tears as her beautiful sapphire eyes darted over the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of the winter sun, which pierced the clouds every now and then. "This was a god life..." Brestera thought as she closed her eyes. She could still see it all, her ancestors, her family, the nature, her children...and Kereidos...

***************

"YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS EARLIER!" A feminine voice of a woman in her late thirties echoed across the snowy field as her nose became ever rosier from the cold. She was scolding her husband for doing what every male person in the galaxy was doing and that was anything but thinking.

"Now dear, I was positively sure that we had enough wood and tinder for the entire winte-" The poor man tried to defend himself, his beard already littered with tiny ice sickles as the wind pierced his thick leather and fur coat. Both he and his wife were covered from head to toe in thick winter cloths as he carried a large load of wet, useless firewood on his back with his axe hanging by his hip, weighing him down slightly. They were both nervous as they sweated from underneath their thick cloths, their bodies unused to the mixture of cold and heat.

"SURE MY ARSE!" The woman barked before he could finish the sentence properly. He wanted to argue back, that much was evident, but he was too tired to waste any more energy at that and he simply picked up the pace, trying to get a little further away from his wife. "At least the kids are having fun." The woman continued to talk to him, despite knowing he wouldn't listen. Her words were true as her thirteen old son and eight year old daughter snowballed each other as they happily ran through the thick and deep snow before them. She admired their energy, reminiscing of her own childhood days. The field was covered with snow and only the tracks they left behind them ruined the otherwise perfect image a person would get when thinking of an ideal winter. The kids jumped about as their mostly white cloths blended with the snow, making it impossible to recognize them from afar and due to the fog their mother had told them not to drift too far.

"You know, gods usually reward those who recognize and admit their mistakes, if they fix them that is." The father spoke once more but his wife shot past him, ignoring his attempt at reconciliation.

"MATHIAS, YESSABEL!" The woman shouted as she chased the kids who ran to a hill, covered with all manner of broken trees and dirt. It was a beautiful sight with small colors of blue and green piercing it as snow covered the vast majority of it. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TWO THAT FROST GIANTS WILL EAT YOU SHOULD YOU-!" The woman shouted as her daughter stretched out her hand to her.

"Mother, since when does dirt bleed red water?" The brown/redhead girl asked curiously, her eyes eagerly looking at her mother as her glove was covered with red liquid. The woman took a moment to watch the girl's glove before she responded.

"Let me see that." She took the girls hand in her own as she heard her husband struggle as he trekked through the snow, his feet digging deep in it as the wood on his back added extra weight to each of his steps. He arrived, panting, as he stood next to his family, too tired to argue as his wife examined the crimson water in silence. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on but before he could do so his wife spoke.

"This is blood..." The faint whisper filled the air as the woman spoke, as if she was talking to herself. She knelt down by her daughters side, "Child, where..." She started before lifting her gaze upward towards the hill. It took her a few moments to realize what it actually was as the snow had covered the vast majority of it. The only things that gave away the true nature of what was in front of her were two horns that stuck out of the snow not so far to her right and what appeared to be a giant fin high above her. The woman got up and placed a hand on her open mouth. "Oh my..." She said before she backed off.

"Dear, what is it?" Her husband asked eagerly.

"D-d-dragon!" She tried to shout but nothing more than a whisper came out of her mouth. To her great horror the realization seemed to bring joy to the kids as she stood there and shook.

"A dragon? That's awesome!" Mathias said as he ran off, finding the horns and starting to dig the snow around the dragon's head. Even a person with the best eyesight would have sworn the dragon was red and white due to the amount of blood and snow that covered it.

"MATHIAS! CHILD!" The mother shouted in horror as her husband simply stood there, admiring the great beast. He even put the firewood down the firewood that he had been carrying, not caring that the snow will ruin it even further. It wasn't every day that one would see a dragon and it was even rarer to see one up close like this, under such conditions. His wife rushed to their son as he dug the dragon's head out of the snow. She reached down to grab the boy's arm but found herself mesmerized by the dragon's head.

"Wee! AH!" The girl shouted with joy before she winced in pain. "Mother, why do dragons have fences on their backs?" She asked as she examined the blood flowing from her finger. The dragons spiked back had its upper horns connected by what appeared to be skin tissue, making a beautiful green fin with the horn tips striking from it.

"YOU GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Her mother shouted and with a murmur of protest the girl complied, sliding down the dragons back and onto the ground. The woman grabbed both of her children by their arms and forcefully dragged them to what she deemed a safe distance from the sleeping dragon. She resisted snorting as her husband approached the dragon himself. It was bad enough that she had two children to protect, but he who was to be their guardian seemed to have thrown all caution to the wind as he approached the beast. To her eyes he was now the biggest child of them all. Dragons were supposed to be left to their own devices, they weren't rare in these parts and on average every human crossed paths with a dragon at least once in their life. However they were by no means a common sight either.

"It is hurt!" The deep voice her husband possessed reached her. She relaxed a bit, letting thoughts through her brain as she deducted that the dragon was of no threat to them at this point. The question remained, what was it doing here in this weather, alone and injured? She pushed her children behind her as she took a step forward.

"Is it dead?" She asked her husband carefully before preceding any further.

"NO! I don't think so!" He responded and she saw that his hand was pressed against the dragon, pausing for a few seconds before speaking again. "I can feel a pulse!" He told his wife who took a moment before she rushed over. She hesitated as she took her gloves off before placing a hand on what appeared to be the dragon's belly. She struggled to find a place that wasn't covered in blood and snow; the green scales had a surprising warmth to them, despite being covering in snow. She closed her eyes in contemplation, feeling the warmth radiate from it. If asked, she couldn't explain what had happened, maybe it was magic or maybe it was telepathy, the important thing however is that it did happen.

"She is pregnant..." The woman opened her eyes as she uttered the words; her face gave away her surprise. Her husband watched her for a few seconds before speaking.

"What?!?" He asked, not quite sure if his wife had gone mad. Since when did she become an expert on dragons?

"She is gravid Throt'gar!" She repeated. It was rare for her to call him by his full name and he knew that she was being serious at that point. Throt looked at his wife and then at the dragon and then at his wife again.

"How do you know? How can you be certain Ellen?" He asked her with a small shrug of his shoulders, using her nickname as always. She took his hand with her own and looked into his eyes as if she was transmitting something to him on a subconscious level.

"A woman just knows." She finally told him. The manner in which she said that reminded him of the time he proposed to her and he knew that there would be no arguing with her.

"If he turns out to have a penis I wont let you out of the house till the moment one of us dies." He told her dryly, his word baring no truth to them and they both knew it. "What do you suppose we do?" He asked her, still surprised at how quickly she changed her behavior towards the dragon, going from afraid and angry to sad and compassionate in mere minutes, if not seconds. Making total turns in opinions was totally unlike her. She was as stubborn as he was and now they found themselves in quite the predicament. He quietly wondered what would come out of this.

"We can't just leave her here otherwise she will die." She told him at they returned to their children, who unfortunately heard every word they said.

"Mom, is the dragon alright?" Their daughter asked as she hugged her mother's hand.

"Will the dragon lady survive?" Mathias asked his parents, being older than his sister he was better aware of the situation and he resisted letting his tears fall down his cheeks. His father ran his cold, work weary hand through his hair.

"I don't know son, I don't know." He explained and the family took a moment to admire the snow-covered dragon.

"What shall we do, we can't just leave her here?" Ellen told him.

"And we won't!" He responded instantly and the family started debating on how to proceed.

"Well, where do we take her?" Mathias looked up to his father.

"I haven't worked out all the details yet." Throt spoke in his defense as his family overran him with questions.

"More importantly, 'how' do we take her anywhere?" Ellen shouted her husband's ear off as they watched Yessabel run off and hug the dragoness. After a moment of silence she spoke again. "Dear, maybe we can take her to our barn. Just until she gets better." Throt wanted to shout "NO!" but found himself unable. Not only because he felt great compassion for the dragon but also because he was inherently a good man. He remembered the day he and Ellen married and the words his father told him. "Son, that woman will either be the life of you or the death of you." Making what was quite possibly the biggest sight in his life he realized that for every reason he had to decline the idea an even bigger counter reason appeared as to why to take the dragoness in with them. Before he made his mind Ellen spoke once more.

"After all, you did say gods favor those who make amends did you not?" He wasn't sure if not bringing enough firewood was such a grievous sin to earn himself an angry dragon as punishment, but he did not believe the gods were testing him. If that was the case that would be yet another reason to take the dragon in and even he had to admit to himself that he wondered what kind of wisdom could a dragon share with him. He looked at his family, all their eyes focused on him. He nodded with a smile and the children erupted with joy. His wife hugged him, subtly saying "thank you, and "I knew you were good." Unfortunately, the celebration ceased before long.

"Gather yourselves, I will take the wood to our home and return with our wheelbarrow. I know it's nowhere near as big as the dragon is, but it's the best thing we have. You start taking the snow off of her, as well as any other debris that may have landed, any weight we can take off of her will make things easier for us!" Throt explained and with that the entire family got to work. He murmured under his breath something about the day getting more interesting by the minute as he hurried away from his house.

"Careful about those horns children!" Ellen's voice could be heard as she dug the snow underneath the dragon with her bare hands. The icy shards left her hands red with frostbite. The woman still felt and looked relatively young, but the stress of raising two kids left its mark on her. Her kids however, eagerly worked their way around the ice on the dragon, uncovering more and more of its green scales. The more snow they moved the more blood flowed from the dragon's wounds. Ellen tried to prevent her kids from staining their clothes with blood but it was too late and it didn't seem to bother them anyway. As snow gradually vanished from the dragon, the once pristine landscape started to be replaced by a red river that poured out from one source. Her green scales covered with the red fluid, so much that it was hard to determine just how many wounds she had. As if determined by fate a sound and image of a panting man rushing through the snow with a wheelbarrow appeared on the horizon. Ellen rushed over and grabbed the contraption in order to help her husband push it through the knee-deep snow that was still falling.

"She is magnificent." Throt spoke as he took a very brief moment to lift his gaze towards the creature before pushing the wheelbarrow again. Ellen wanted to tell him to keep pushing but found herself panting too much to be able to.

"Um, dad..." Mathias spoke as his parents nearly collapsed after they brought the wheelbarrow next to the body of the injured dragon. His father panted and took off his hat to wipe the sweat off of his forehead before responding.

"What...is it...son?" He asked in between gasps as he put his hat back on, carefully placing his hand on the dragon, as to not poke its wounds. The child's blue eyes pierced him as Mathias pointed to the dragon before speaking.

"Are you sure this is the natural way for a dragon's body to lay?" The boy asked and Throt looked at the dragon, calculating as he examined it. He wasn't completely sure but it looked like the dragon twisted its body in a circle, its back fin standing high as its body twisted as one looked downward. Its exposed belly lay on the other side of them but its legs were firm in the ground. To make it worse all the snow and blood made it impossible to judge properly had the dragon twisted and possibly snapped its spine. The fact that none of them were versed in dragon anatomy didn't help either.

"We need to correct her position!" Ellen exclaimed with confidence. Her husband closed his eyes and narrowed his lips as his ears rang.

"Ellen, dear. Please calm down. None of us know what we are doing, but I feel I am quite capable of using my eyes." He told her, annoyance and anger laid heavily in his voice. Ellen bit her lip and looked downwards, aware that she was a bit overprotective and over dramatic when dealing with her husband.

"We need to correct her yes, but we must make sure to keep her wounds under pressure, otherwise she will bleed to death." Throt spoke suddenly. He held his hand at a nasty cut that ran from the dragon's side and underneath it. Sighing heavily he spoke once more. "Every moment we waste makes the chance of her survival grow smaller. Right, lets push everyone! I'll try to lift her upper body as you arrange her lower parts!" He spoke and everyone rushed to the dragon's side.

The children placed their hands on her hips, Ellen's hands were on the dragon's rib cage and Throt, being the strongest of them, was underneath her armpit. "On three! One! TWO!" He yelled before uttering "THREE!" and the family pushed. At first they were surprised at how easy it was to move such a massive creature. Throt attributed this to the fact that her muscles were already contracted and that they were moving her back into her natural position. Suddenly a shriek pierced the air as he saw the dragons flesh escape the hands of his children, causing them to fall underneath the dragon. He watched in horror as the lower body apparently flew into the air, its bones cracking loudly as it straightened itself before hurling down at the children. Hearing them scream was one of the most, if not the single most horrifying things Throt had heard in his life.

"AHHHHHH!" The young, high-pitched voice of the two youngsters intermingled while piercing the air as they watched in horror while the dragon's body got ready to slam onto them. Suddenly they felt their fathers hands on them as he grabbed them both, holding them close to him as he offered his back to the blow of the massive body which was about to slam downwards.

"AHHHHHHHHA!" Ellen screamed as a very loud thud echoed the field around them. She closed her eyes to cover them as snow flew into the air, placing her hand in front of her face as the snowflakes dispersed. She finally dared to open her eyes as she found herself subconsciously biting her lower lip and holding her hand over he mouth. She saw the dragons green knees planted firmly into the ground. Her entire body shook as she felt herself enter a state of shock. Just then she heard a commotion.

"Ugh!" Throt snorted as he pushed his kids from underneath the dragon's belly. They were lucky that the dragon landed on its knees and therefore hadn't flatted them completely.

"Mathias! Yessabel!" The older woman screamed as she hugged her children. Throt barely resisted rolling his eyes as he focused on the dragon. Blood was everywhere. The ground was soaked and the crimson color was splattered all across the field, even covering trees that were twelve feet away. At least now they could gaze upon the dragoness properly. Her wounds were much more visible now. A single nasty cut ran from her hip nearly towards her shoulder. Her belly also suffered damage as it was dripping blood into the ground, though luckily it seemed to be only superficial damage as no organs were visible. Her tail was damaged at its base as well. Another nasty wound she had was on her lower back, an obvious burn wound as the scales were scorched and blackened. Throt concluded that she was trying to get away as most of her wounds were on her lower back.

"What now?" Ellen asked him. He twisted hard and rugged forehead as he took the wheelbarrow underneath the dragoness, not uttering a word as he did so. He took a few minutes before calling out.

"Ellen, come here and help me!" He beckoned, still hidden behind the dragoness's leg, her blue feet and green knees completely hiding him from view. The woman took her hat off, letting her reddish brown hair free. To her discomfort it was already wet with her sweat and she wished they could do this faster before they all got fevers. She kept such thoughts for herself as she knew Throt would scold her for worrying too much. She snuck under the dragoness and found Throt touching the chest of the dragon. She suddenly felt something drip onto her and she looked upward, seeing a slightly bulging belly of the dragon which had a shallow cut to it from which blood dripped onto her. The gentle warmth Ellen felt emitting from the bulge that stretched the belly of the dragon downwards due to its weight was undeniable and unexplainable at best. Suddenly she felt like she was that young girl pregnant with her first child again.

"Alright!" Her husband snapped her out of her trance, "I'll try to lift the chest of the beast and you push the wheelbarrow underneath it, then we will figure out the rest." He explained, running a hand through his short, but still sizable hair, brushing it of sweat. For some reason Ellen wanted to lash at him for calling the dragon a beast, but at the same time she felt soothed and calm. With a nod she grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow as her husband placed his back against the dragons chest, grabbing it with his hands. "One, Two, Three!" Once again her husband groaned and grinded his teeth as he tried to get up from a crouching position with the dragon on his back. He felt the sweat pulse from his face as he strained his muscles. Throt suddenly remember each difficult position he was in during his life, both physical and mental as the dragon apparently gave way, its chest lifting from the ground only slightly.

"Keep pushing!" Ellen told him as she jammed and pushed the cart underneath the dragon. The cart screeched as its edges rubbed against the dragon's scales. Just as she jammed the cart underneath the dragon Ellen felt it vibrate as Throt collapsed near her, his ass flat on the ground as he panted and gasped for air. She hugged his head and placed a kiss on his sweaty forehead. "My hero!" she told him as he started undressing and discarding one layer of clothing after the next.

"We still need to adjust her position!" He ignored her as he left the underside of the dragon, tossing his jacket to his son as he stretched out. He knew that he risked getting a cold but sweat and heat, combined with wet clothes were unbearable and just as unhealthy.

"Dad, you will catch a cold!" Yessabel told him and he brushed her head before going in front of the dragon, its head now hanging downwards as rather large clouds of smoke emitted from its nostrils. He got a chance to examine her properly this time. She was indeed mostly green, her head was beautifully elongated and her underside was light green or even yellowish when compared to the forest green of her back. The thing that confused him was a trail of blood that flowed from the back of her head and deciding against touching it, he concluded that was the reason she was out conscious in the first place. He was able to notice a barely visible blue trail that was located between her under and upper side, effectively splitting the two. Deciding to hurry it up he called out to his wife.

"Ellen! Move the wheel barrow into position as soon as you feel me lifting her!" He called out and started lifting the dragoness without waiting the approval of his wife. As he did lift her, he felt her neck on his shoulder. Once more the wheelbarrow screeched underneath the pressure, this time getting into position. He breathed a sigh of relief as the entire family gathered to discuss their next plan. Against his better judgment, Throt took off the last layer of his clothing on his upper body, revealing his well-toned and slightly buffed body that was shaped from his exposure to the elements rather than any work out soldiers undertook.

"Throt, put something on, you will get sick." Ellen told him in a voice that shocked him. The last time he heard such gentle voice was when they were still young and courting, not worked out with the stress of raising two children. He wanted to argue with her but her gentle gaze told him otherwise. With a smile he put the shirt back on as he contrived his plan.

"Kids you will be carrying or pushing the dragons legs, one at each." He told them with a smile and the two giggled with happiness. Then he turned to his wife and told her. "One of us needs to push the cart while the other needs to hold her head and hands. I think I should-" He started explaining to her but she cut him off by taking his hands in her own.

"I am capable to push the cart myself, but I need to know that you would be gentle to her. Talk to her and carry her gently." She told him. He couldn't tell from where did his wife find such great empathy for the dragon but he found himself unable to do anything else but give her a nod with a smile. After that they all scurried off. Mathias and Yessabel took the legs by the ankles that they found were surprisingly light. The underside of the dragoness's feet and hands were completely blue, neither dark nor light but radiant nonetheless.

"Do we have any rope?" Throt called out. He had concluded that tying her hands together would be much easier than carrying them, along with her head on his shoulders like this. Throt couldn't force himself to go back for some rope at that moment so he decided that they would have to do with what they had. He also noted that there was the issue of her wings. Sure they were folded at the moment, but should she choose to stretch them at the wrong time she could hurt herself or hurt them. Receiving only silence as the answer Throt sighed as he placed the dragons hands over his shoulders and her massive head on his own. He uttered prayers to both his ancestors and hers as he shouted, "GO!" and with that he heard the moans and groans of his family as they struggled to move the massive creature. Luckily she gave way and they all started moving towards their house, albeit agonizingly slow. Surprisingly the wind hushed any commotion and noise they were making as they dragged the large reptilian body through the snow. The only thing that was heard by all the family members was the screeching of the wheel of the wheelbarrow that struggled to contain the scaly form of the dragon.

**********

Suddenly Brestera felt herself become elevated. She sensed her spirit lift above the clouds and levitate; her wings not even trying to keep her afloat in the air. Less spiritual people would say that this was due to warm, oxygenated blood rushing into her brain, but as far as Brestera was concerned this was all real. In front of her was no other then her mate, Kereidos.

"Kereidos!!!" she practically screamed as her eyes darted over him. His form was lying or sitting on the clouds, she couldn't make out because he was apparently transparent as a soothing yet blurry light engulfed him. His head lazily watched into the empty horizon at his side before he turned and faced her. "Is this it!?"_She asked him _"Am I in heaven now!?"_She asked him as she felt joy overcome her. The red-blue drake smiled at her as eight little bundles of light formed at his feet. _"Kereidos... answer me?" She felt joy slowly give way to fear and despair before his cheerful, lovely voice came to her.

"Brestera..." He spoke in a voice all too familiar to her. "You always were cranky... that's why I adored you." He spoke to her and a pause of silence ensured before she spoke again.

"Kereidos?" she spoke as two of them were surrounded by darkness, the stars visible all around them as they stood on the clouds way up above.

"Can you feel it Brestera? Radiating from within you? The life of the past now lives in the life of the new." He told her, his voice becoming more mature and soothing as he placed his hand on her belly.

"Kereidos?" She spoke, her lips trembling as she did so.

"Skaritis has been foiled. His plan has collapsed!" He told her, his voice more soul piercing with each passing word.

"Kereidos..." Brestera dew her eyelids back as tears began to form in her eyes. They were alone yet she felt a presence; every single of her sensory organs detecting and believing a force so soothing she couldn't believe it surrounded them.

"A small part of me lives within you, so Skaritis has failed." Kereidos declared, giving her the gentlest smile she had ever seen. At this point the green dragoness had broken down, sobbing as silently as possible as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Kereidos... what are you saying!?!?" She asked him as he placed his hand on her cheek, causing her tears to go over it. "I don't understand anything! I am lost and so alone!" She told him before her voice made her listen.

"You always told me that..." He told her and instantly she remembered every time he had spoken to her. He spoke in riddles in life and now he was speaking even more riddles in the next one "and yet you always knew." He told her with confidence. "You give yourself far too little credit." He waved his head in jest. She knew he was right yet she was confused. She knew what he spoke and at the same time she didn't. As so many thoughts rushed through her head about what he meant her eyes began darting all over him. Finally he spoke to her to snap her out of it. _"Do you remember what I told when I asked you to be my mate? That time on the shore when we watched the stars together?"_He asked her. Nodding she responded.

"Yes, you told me we would just be another normal dragon couple." She said as she swallowed hard. Though she could hardly believe it, it seemed that his smile became even gentler.

"Well I'm going to have to ask you for forgiveness." He told her and without a second of pause she asked him.

"For what?" Her eyes once again darting over his face.

"I lied..." He told her as he edged his head towards her. "Though I didn't know it at the time!" He said to his defense. "This would be where most dragon stories end, yet this is just another beginning." Kereidos's red scales radiated with warmth as Brestera felt her heart burst with happiness, up to the moment where he continued. "For you at least..." His words shattered her, so much in fact that she didn't even pay attention to what he said next. "And for the little pieces of us."

"Kereidos!" She spoke, waving her head around as her mouth lay open in refusal to accept any of this. For the first time ever she wanted to feel doubt where there wasn't any. In response Kereidos nuzzled his head against her, filling her to the brim with joy. He backed off a bit from her but was still rather near.

"Dont worry... you shall see me again... on the end of the long road... I promise." Somewhere along the line his voice had turned into a whisper. As he said that Brestera felt time shift as far away the forms of thousands of dragons appeared. Once more she found herself at a lack for words and she repeated only that which was dear to her.

"Kereidos..." She said as she reached out her hand towards him. He seemed to... drift, slowly drifting ever further as he reached back to her, his face still in the same gentle smile that captivated her. Just beyond her reach, as he reached back to her she felt the miniscule gap setting them apart. After a motionless moment that felt like an eternity she watched as to her horror he started to fade away, along with everything else around her. As slowly as everything blurred she felt herself being dragged downwards as she fell through the previously thick clouds into the darkness bellow.

"Kereidos... Kereidos... Kereidos..." The name left her lips repeatedly.

***************

"YAHHAOOO!" Throt gasped and then yelled in pain as the dragons paw suddenly closed in around his own. At first it wasn't painful at all as she held him, her claws luckily far away from his flesh. Yet as her grip became much more firm he felt his nerves being squished as blood flow stopped and his hand started becoming numb, turning into a deeper shade of red. He calmed down yet the dragon still held his arm, which caused him to stop dead in his tracts. The entire party stopped in turn and the screeching of the wheelbarrow stopped, giving way to the sound of piercing wind once more. The family came to him as they heard his scream. He laid down the dragoness to the snow as his arm pulsed with pain. Feeling his wife's eyes on him he turned to face her. The woman was looking at him gently, perhaps gentler then he could remember in the recent years. After locking eyes with her and hearing the scuffle of his children next to him he spoke once more. "It's nothing... It's just a cramp that's all, your dragoness has a mighty strong grip if I say so myself." His words brought a smile on her face as she massaged his now red hand.

"You go push the cart now dear..." She whispered to him taking his injured hand in his own, rubbing his palm as his thick fingers and rough nails brushed against her own.

"But will you be able to hold her head properly? I don't want you to get hurt." He told her. Her face was expressionless for a moment before she gave him an answer.

"Children, resume your positions." she told them and the kids scurried off. "Don't worry, the house is in sight." She declared and her words were true. Just a couple of hundred meters from them stood a stone and wooden house, obviously built or at least modified over the long years it stood erect. Sighing, Throt went underneath the dragon's belly and grabbed hold of the handles as the poor metallic wheelbarrow screeched in protest. He felt his arm slowly relax and return to normal as he struggled to bring the full force of his grip on the handle. This time the procession moved forward without a sound as they struggled to move the giant green scaly creature into their field.

"Kereidos...." Brestera whispered to herself mentally as she slowly and barely opened her eyes. She felt as if she was flying; yet she was certain she was on the ground. Her vision was blurry as she suddenly felt snow brush against her chin. Her body began its natural awaking process as she struggled greatly to get to her senses. Her ears echoed with the sound of metallic clanging.

"Do I have to hold your hand through all of it?" She heard the ghostly voice of her lover in her head as she swore she saw a glimpse of him in front of her. The vision disappeared as quickly as it appeared before her. There was no malice in his voice, it was filled with childish teasing, giving her a warming encouragement she so desperately needed. "Come on Brester... it's easy, just make the first step..." His voice echoed in her ear as she felt her paws rise, along with her head. "Yes, that's it!" And with that, cold, dark silence took over her once more.

As Ellen opened the Iron Gate on the stone fence that encircled their house, she heard the dragoness huff behind her. She opened the gates as wide as possible but she calculated that they would still have trouble accommodating the dragoness as well as getting her over the fence. She quickly resumed her position as she felt the sun finally break through the clouds, this didn't mean that the snow had stopped falling, but at least the visibility was improved considerably. "Lets go." She called out and the group neared the stone barrier, carrying with them the scaly creature as they did so.

"Carry her over!" Throt panted beneath the torso of the dragon. He was sweating from his efforts and he couldn't wait to get a proper bath once he reached his house, which was now only meters away from him. The children struggled to move the legs over the fence, for they were possibly 3 times their size. Luckily with their joint effort the massive scaly creature was carried over uninjured. "Just a little bit more!" Throt called out as the dragon's wings began to wave. Sensing this the four rushed her into their wooden barn, Ellen practically smashing the large doors open with her momentum. The group practically came crashing down into the hay ridden dirt floor, panting as they did so. Luckily for them the dragoness hadn't fallen from the cart and after a good ten minutes worth of effort they were able to place her in a natural, curled position on the soft hay. It was only then that Throt noticed that he was stained with the blood of the dragon. He placed his hand on Ellen's shoulder as he spoke between gasps. "Get the kids to the house, I'll call Richard over." He told her.

"RICHARD!?!?" Ellen's eyes widened at the sound of the name. "Why him of all people!?!?" She asked him worryingly. This provoked a sigh from her husband.

"I know not another healer in our village... the man may be a cruel fiend but he is the only person who can help our guest... and I'm sure he wont tell other villagers about her, he simply wont care, knowing him..." Throt explained as he tried to clean himself of the blood which was rapidly drying itself and combined with his sweat, created a rather unpleasant odor. His head was dizzy as he was lightly dressed and still hot from the work he was doing. He made a mental note to ask Richard to give him something to prevent a fever. Ellen nodded in agreement, for she two thought it best to keep the dragon a secret from the rest of the villagers. Not that they were likely to kill her, but that option still existed, it was much better to let them be, living their lives like nothing had changed.

"Be careful." His wife told him as she grabbed the kids, who were still super excited at the idea of having a dragon live with them, oblivious to the troubles it could cause. "Don't get sick yourself." She told him as the three brushed passed them. Now alone Throt wasted no time as he rushed out and began the short trip to the village center. The small town, if one can call it that, was arranged in the usual way. The farmers (including throt and his family) were living in houses away from the village so they could claim and work on their vast lands easily and without interruption. The crafters, elderly and others were living in the town, which consisted of mostly dense houses and a few houses that were in between the farms and the village center.

Throt struggled once more as he hopped in between the deep snow, slowly making pace towards his destination. Luckily for him, if a person climbed a 10-meter poll in the center of the village he could see all the houses in the region, so his trip was a short one. Arriving at his destination he gazed upon the house in question, for it was the most magnificent and most fancy one compared to the rest in the village. Like his own it was made of stone, but unlike his this house had a stone roof covered with copper plates and it had mosaics, details and other fancy things attached to its exterior. Usually Richard kept a small garden of exotic herbs he used for his... experiments but since it was winter, the entire thing was covered in snow. Sighing as he brushed the snow from his head Throt knocked on the door. Surprisingly quick he heard a commotion coming from inside, making him wonder if the man inside ever slept at all.

"Who is it?" A male, yet high-pitched voice came from the other side, filled with rough attitude. So it turns out he does sleep after all? Throt thought before he spoke.

"It's Throt! I need your help Dick!" He called out, the wind still loud in the air. After a moment of pause he heard a grunt come from the other side before the door budged and opened. It opened to reveal a divinely beautiful man on the other side. Richard was pale... paler than a normal human and elegant, slick and sly beyond the capabilities of a normal man to comprehend.

"What?" The man asked, his raven black, chin long hair and his eyebrows, along with his narrow eyes that were at the moment filled with fatigue and he had black rings under his eyes to boot. He was dressed in elegant blue, wide, silk pants and a white shirt. He held out an iron lantern to allow the both of them to converse more easily.

"Trust me its a long story." Throt said as he struggled to explain the situation at hand. "But I need your help." He spoke as the man grabbed his blood stained and gave him a questioning look. "I'm fine but you wont believe what just happened..." He tried to explain.

"Spit it out already..." Richard told him, his narrow eyes becoming even narrower with annoyance. "I don't care in particular, but I need to know who is injured and how he is injured... and the faster you tell me that the faster I can help him..." The man spoke as he stepped back, allowing Throt in to the house, but only barely, so snow wouldn't fall directly on him.

"We have rescued... a dragon." Throt explained. He wanted to continue but found himself unable to as Richard pierced him with his gaze. After a few seconds the pale man simply lifted his black eyebrow questioningly as he examined him, like he was subtly saying "really?"

"Ahhh" He sighted at last. "Let me go and get a few things." He told him as he retreated into the darkness of his home. It was still very early in the morning and once the clouds blocked the sun again, one could swear it was still night time. After Richard returned with a pair of boots on and a large bag in his hand, the two set off. Surprisingly it was Richard leading the way towards Throt's house and he was having trouble keeping up with the man, who was warmer thanks to the coat he took along with him and who had the unnatural ability to appear rested despite being woken much earlier then he should have.

"Dick..." Throat panted as the slender man stopped and waited for him to catch up. Panting Throt arrived next to him and the two started walking once again to the stone house, which was now in plain sight. "How do you...?" Throt began but Richard answered his question before it is even formulated.

"I doubt you want to inform the others about your guest. Good for you that I am interested in meeting a dragon myself and that I have no interest in "spilling the beans". Richard had a dark aura around him that radiated with superiority, vanity and annoyance. Still it was rare for him to use the catch phrases of the common folk. "And by the way..." He told him as they entered through the gate "Its a large scaly being... where else could you hide it if not in your barn..." Richard explained, leaving Throt to admire his cunning and deduction. Richard wasn't quite human, or at least, completely human, that much was obvious. He was this old for as long as Throt could remember, now he was entering his forties and Richard still had a look of a twenty year old. The two entered the wooden structure only to see that the dragon was still sleeping or was unconscious, as far as they knew. The room was much warmer thanks to the fire that Throt concluded Ellen must have set. Also there appeared to be a blanket on the dragon's back, it looked ridiculous because it barely provided any warmth since it covered only a portion of her. "She is beautiful isn't she..." Richard smiled as he spoke. Despite his smile being a genuine one he still looked menacing.

"Yes! I was about to say the same thing! Wait, how do you know she is a female?" Throt asked in confusion. The other man ignored him as he discarded his coat and approached the green dragoness to examine her wounds, starting from the head. Unemotionally he examined her before finally speaking.

"Where did you find her and in what condition?" The cold, high-pitched voice reached Throt who began explaining everything. He could swear that the older man wasn't paying attention, since he ignored him and focused on the dragon, occasionally giving him a nod of understanding. As he finished his recollection Richard suddenly pulled the blanket from the dragoness. "Snow saved her..." He finally spoke as he examined the injuries on her abdomen and her upper tail. "It has dampened her fall considerably and has lowered her blood pressure and metabolism, so she lost way less blood then she should have." He explained as he kicked the fire out, pointing to the pool of blood that was slowly forming on the ground from the still gaping wounds.

"You go and wash yourself now... you might give her a disease in this condition." Dick ordered. Throt had a million questions running inside his head and he succumbed under their weight as he scurried clumsily to heed Richard's words. As he was leaving the barn he heard the man call out to him once more. "Oh and Throt! Do you like children?" He asked and Throt turned around looking at the "doctor" with the most confusing expression. Not waiting for the answer Richard spoke again as he opened his bag "Because she is gravid, 5 months I think." Oh hell no. Throt thought as he stood there. He could see it already, a clutch of small dragons running around the village setting everything aflame. After a rather long period of standing there, stunned, watching Richard do his work he finally gathered himself and left the barn. He had to think this over thoroughly.

***************

"Let us not be deluded... there is no noble pursuit here!" Skaritis hissed in front of her. There was something strange however. Brestera felt that while magic radiated faintly from her enemy, he didn't feel draconic at all. Still she was far too hateful and far too tired to think about that as she desperately wanted to fight back. Why were the ancestors torturing her this way? Why? First they comfort her with a picture of her mate and now... NO! She must fight, she must protect her children! They are her only reason to live now, for them, for Kereidos!

_"What do you want now foul snake!!!"_She hissed mentally. _"You have no honor-"_She tried to shout but he cut her off.

"Life is as good as any other justification!"_He cut her off, his silver scales shining brightly. _"And so is vengeance!" He told her, his word being like the coldest ice being set on hottest fire.

"What are you-" She fought back tears in her face as he spoke once more, ignoring her completely.

"Oh your ignorant!" He hissed. "I wanted a cave, a lair and you just happened to have one!" He told her as he advanced upon her, his red glowing eyes locking on to her own. _"And if I just let you and that whelp you call a mate leave, what guaranty would I have you wont come back and slit my throat, or come back in large numbers-"_He scolded her as she gathered the strength to fight back.

"BECAUSE WE HAVE HONOR! IT WAS BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU DROVE US OUT OF OUR OWN CAV-" He cut her off once more as tears began rolling down her face.

"HONOR?!?!" He yelled at her, his voice sounded like it had the furry of hell behind it "Let me tell you a lesson in honor! Honor is LIFE and MY LIFE to ME is more worth than YOUR life, its worth MUCH more than the lives of all your misbegotten kin together!" He scolded her and she lowered her head in protest. He made a pause before grinning evilly. "In fact, you KNOW this, don't you? You would happily sacrifice my life to get back that meat sack you call a lover wouldn't you?" He continued his scolding until her head was hanging low. She wanted to scream at him that he lies, but she found that there was a grain of truth in his words and that was what bothered her. "Honor is life, honor is to live, regardless of anything else, so disperse your misguided illusions of morality, and such a thing is relative, like truth. Such a thing varies greatly from individual to individual and it is completely moral for me to kill you and your children, if it means that you wont be back to pester me." He told her and she broke down into sobs, she wanted to fight back, to protect her children. She wanted to but was unable. She sobbed as she heard him snort.

He felt him saying "you wretch" despite the fact that he didn't utter anything. She wasn't sure if he had turned around and left, or had he simply disappeared. Then a most unlikely thing happened. Suddenly Brestera opened her eyes. A pair of midnight black eyes greeted her as she felt her chin lying in a soft hand. Her nape vibrated as she felt another hand rub something on it. Despite the fact that the figure in front of her wasn't alarmed by her at all she jerked her head backwards as fast and as hard as possible. To her surprise the human moved his hand with an almost impossible dexterity. Instead of having his arm impaled on her horns he ended up having a small scratch on his lower arm. He examined his wound and then looked at her with his cold eyes. This creature obviously possessed a faint magical aura around him, that much was sure.

"Relax." He spoke and his tone was clear as day, despite it being filled with arrogance. "I know you can hear me and understand me for you're not the first dragon I met... A human family saved you and now they have gotten me to treat you." He explained as he rubbed the same oil he used on her head into his injured arm. It appeared to miraculously heal in front of her. His stench and his aura clearly gave away the fact that he wasn't human and she barred her teeth at him. Her vision became blurry once more and before she could do anything else she slowly drifted back into her sleep, her head collapsing down on the floor. Sighting Richard hovered over her "This... is bad..." He said.

Once more Brestera entered the dream realm. She didn't knew what was real anymore. What was that person doing to her? Where was she? Feeling darkness all around her Brestera felt confused. More confused then she had ever felt in her entire life. Was all this a bad dream? Is Kereidos still alive? Has she been captured? She pondered at the unanswered questions as the horror sat in. Did she only dream of seeing Kereidos in the heavens? Was any of that real? One question after the other hit her and tears once more fell from her eyes. "Have faith Brestera, have faith." She repeated to herself. She tried her best to engrave those words into her mind. Still she found herself unable to regain full consciousness, drifting instead into a state of limpness, with no awareness of her surroundings.

Next time she came through to her senses she opened her eyes to be greeted by four humans. The eldest, obviously man of the house, was the bulkiest of them and she guessed he was some sort of worker, since his body was buffed, but not in the militaristic way. Next to him stood a woman, obviously out of her prime but retaining the radiance of youth nonetheless. Next to them stood two children. Brestera was unable to clearly decide if they were male or female, since she had little interaction with humans before and the kids lacked what she called "the definitive feature" which was breasts. To her it was so far the only way to set the mammals apart, based on their sex.

"Richard she is awake!" The man called out, his deep voice confirming her prediction. The dragoness was confused with so much action and different auras next to her as she saw the woman smile and the kids giggle.

"She can hear you, you know." A disinterested and sarcastic voice calmly responded. It was then that she realized she felt a sensation on her belly. Immediately she recognized the dark aura from earlier. Her eyes widened in turn and she tried to jump and get away from it, but found her limbs still weak as she only managed to rock and shook herself a bit. "Oh calm down now." The same calm, filled and high-pitched voice spoke as she felt the sensation leave her. Soon enough before her stood the same figure from before. His face was elongated and his features sharp, yet still very much human with their roundness. "Your children are alright... none of the eggs are cracked but I am unsure how many there are. That cut on the abdomen went deep but it didn't penetrate anything too important. Now the injury is big and I lack the materials to stitch you up... not a lot of things can pierce dragon scales..." He informed her as he crossed his arms.

"I placed a bandage with herbs to staunch the bleeding there, quite probably the biggest bandage ever made, in any case! I suggest you move as little as possible, the internal bleeding you had on your head could have been fatal and I did my best to keep it from bleeding and spilling even more blood, luckily your skull didn't crack or you would be dead by now from the amount of blood spilled into your cranium. " She paid close attention to him, despite that he was full of himself and seemed uninterested. She sensed he placed some sort of cloth on the back of her head and she didn't move much so it wouldn't fall off. "Once again I lack the materials to take the blood out so you will have to wait until your system flushes it out. All other injuries are minor." He told her before going to her back once more. She was still so tired... she wanted him to get away but she had no strength to act and drive him away. He began touching her leg and she ignored him. After a while he took her foot and placed her leg in an elongated position. Suddenly he jammed his finger hard into her sole. Brestera was surprised by the amount of pain that left on her, so much that she wanted to scream as she violently pulled her foot from his hands. "Good..." He said, "The nerves of the lower limbs aren't too damaged, they will heal over time." He spoke before standing in front of her once more. For the first time the man that stood by his family spoke.

"Is she going to be alright Dick?" He asked the slender man next to him.

"Well... to be honest I have only met a dozen or so dragons in my life and most of their anatomy I learned from the few books I read... and the fact that they can differ so greatly doesn't help either." The raven head spoke as he neared her. "One thing I do know is that gravid dragonesses have an even better immune system as well as better magical auras and regeneration rates... I think she will be just fine." He spoke as he placed a hand on her snout, just above her nose. Suddenly images flooded her mind, or better yet a single image of him shooting two men dead. This was no ordinary man... she concluded as she wanted to growl and wince back, but found herself unable to do so. Oh if only she was healthy, she would bite his hand off. "In any case don't expect her to warm up to you immediately. Dragons are notoriously proud and stubborn." He said pulling away from her. And the fact that her mate died recently doesn't help. What? Brestera's eyes widened. How was he able to amplify his thoughts? Sure she could use telepathy but how did he know that. He merely gave her the look that told her, "I know you can hear me." Before uttering some trivialities and leaving.

"Call me if you need anything, otherwise just give her plenty of food and water." Richard said before leaving. Now that she and the family were alone they started approaching her one by one, like hatchlings to a carcass they have for dinner. This entire social encounter was odd for the both parties and while Brestera felt nothing but warmth and friendliness emit from the family she wasn't quite ready to talk to them, her maternal, protective instincts kicking in. Her draconic pride and the desire to be self-reliant and self-sufficient didn't help either. She wanted to cry, finally feeling enough energy in herself to act. Still she was determined not to. She didn't want these humans to see her cry. The woman seemed to notice this as her dark brown, slight reddish hair reflected her blue eyes that seemed to connect with Brestera's. As if the two mothers were speaking on a subconscious level.

"Lets leave her alone..." The woman spoke.

"But mom..." She heard one of the children speak.

"Come on, lets leave her alone... she could have died and has had a rough journey, she needs to rest now, else her wounds wont heal." The woman spoke and the family graciously bowed and said their farewells before they parted with her. Now only the woman remained. She placed her hand gently on Brestera's head as she knelt down besides the injured dragoness. The sensation filled Brestera with motherly pride for some reason. "Love... you need to rest, there is no need to fear us." She told her as she retracted her hand from her. "Richard said you can speak to us telepathically, but I know you must be so tired. I don't know what you prefer but you have a bucket full of water over there if you get thirsty and once you wake up I'll cook you some meat." The woman got up as she explained herself. "For the moment it would be best if you just stayed here... We don't want to scare the rest of the villagers with your appearance." She told her as she smiled gently down at her. Brestera found herself staring at the woman, still refusing to utter but a word to her. "Rest well." The woman told her before leaving.

"Oh how I envy you..." Brestera spoke to herself. "You have everything you need... everything you want... everything I desire." Brestera finally let out the tear she had been withholding all this time. "A mate... a home, a secure life for your hatchlings..." Another tear rolled down her cheek. At this point she felt nothing, not tiredness not exhaustion, not pain, just a big black void in front of her. "I sure hope you can appreciate it." She raged at everything as she drifted into sleep. Her dreams were more of the same torment she had from earlier. Only this time she wasn't talking to Kereidos, instead she was reliving the memories... oh the memories... she wanted to say "at least they give me a chance to see him again" before all those nice moments suddenly get replaced by a pair of white fangs, attached to a silver jaw which hung under a pair of red eyes. The image of Kereidoses bleeding and falling form reminding her of her loss. She didn't even dare to think what become of him, trying not to think of it as she imagined a wasted carcass, a pale image of the once proud red and blue drake, who's body was now riddled with bugs and insects who cheered at the opportunity.

"Lady! Lady!" She heard a voice before as she felt a nudge on her muzzle. She quickly opened her eyes to see the smaller child pushing her head. For the first time in a while Brestera raised her head with little effort as she eyed the child. The little human, as if it had forgotten what it wanted to say, sheepishly looked into the scaly creature before it. "Um..." She began before recalling "Oh yes! Mom said to let you sleep but the better part of the day has passed, so I thought you should be woken up... or at least my mom and dad wake me up in the morning, I don't know how that works for dragons." The kid said as it rubbed its head in confusion. Brestera merely looked at the child before narrowing her eyes at the kid.

"Ohhhh child..." She thought as she resisted the urge to pat or nuzzle the kid. "You have no idea do you? You are blessed to live in such ignorance of the world around you..." the dragoness felt her face relax as she was unable to hold a serious pose next to such a benevolent creature. "Keep living in such ignorance!" Brestera thought as she forced herself to feel a positive emotion, something that just a moment ago she was sure she would never feel again. Her fin rose slightly, being down and near flat all this time, a nonverbal signal that the dragon was happy. She decided to go the extra mile and she moved her tail slowly, only to poke the child's head gently with its blue and white tip. The child looked in amusement at first before bursting out giggling. The very small smile on Bretera's lips widened a bit.

"I have to go now! Father has to catch up on the work he has missed out because of our late night expansion! You are quite heavy for a lady! It was hard to move you, even for the four of us!" The kid told her. "N-n-not that I mean to call you fat or anything! That would be RUDE! No lady should hear that! Just..." The child blushed as it continued to speak, "Just... if you have to go to the bathroom I... I don't know how that will work... but if you can walk outside and do your needs, do so at night when no one is watching." The child blushed vigorously as it babbled out the information. "Alright I got to go now bye!" It yelled cheerfully as it left.

"Children..." Brestera thought, "Irredeemable and uncorrupt... until the age and time bit their innocence from them." The dragoness finally stopped resisting the smile that was forming on her lips. "Maybe there is some good left in this world? After all these humans saved me.... and who am I to them?" And that's when the philosophical questions returned to her "NO! Brestera... you are a dragon! Just because nature, fate, destiny and the world have been mean to you and have taken your mate from you!...." Her smile was gone now, replaced by tears of confusion. "That doesn't mean the world is over, it will keep existing even after you cease to... right now its your job to make sure your children are safe, that they are laid and hatched and raised like a dragon should be.... you may never be able to fill the void in their hearts left by the death of their father but at least you can... you can.... you can......" Tears poured down as she ran over her options, before gathering herself. _"You will educate them, they will honor the memory of their father and if possible avenge him."_She spoke to herself with newfound determination.

At least now she knew that children are the same everywhere... as innocent as they are ignorant... as benevolent as they are uncorrupt. Brestera felt that she wasn't thirsty, but she hadn't drunk in quite a while and knowing just under what amount of stress her organism was through she forced herself to move her tail, which stringed a bit from the injury on her pelvic area. She took the bucket and dug her head in it, losing herself in the tasteless odor that water possessed. Brestera found herself drinking thirstily, easily draining half the bucket before pushing it aside and stretching out. Feeling her injuries scream at her in protest as her bones cracked and extended. It was then that she finally noticed the white blanket, made of fur, which rested on her shoulders. Its stench was familiar, belonging to the mother of the child she had just talked to. Brestera sat it aside, clumsily trying to fold it properly. Finally standing proudly on her feet Brestera attempted to make a step before clumsily falling down again. Her wounds screamed at her and her muscles contracted in protest. Grinding her teeth Brestera made another, more successful attempt to stand and walk, exploring the (to her) small barn.

She stretched her wings, which were luckily uninjured. Her abdomen still hurt, held together by the inadequate bandage the strange man has placed, she made a mental note to play close attention to him. She wanted to have a bath, she was feeling rather dirty and while her wounds had been cleaned the rest of her wasn't. Unfortunately she couldn't afford one at that moment so she started instinctively gathering the hay that lay about, forming it into a makeshift nest/lair. The ground wasn't that cold but the hay provided extra warmth and to her surprise it was rodent free. She had to give the humans some credit. After placing the hay to her liking the dragoness laid back down in it, taking the furred blanket and placing it on her back. Unconsciously she raised her fin further, desperately trying to resume the semblance of a normal life. She missed her cave, missed her mate, and missed her old life, recalling every single detail about her former lair, from the library full of arcane tomes to the hoard of gold she shared with her mate. She recalled how Kereidos flirted with her, how he complimented her. He was right... she was cranky... Brestera thought as she waited... for what she didn't know, but she waited.

She was unsure for how long she was asleep before hand, but she could see that the night had fallen. Given the fact that it was winter she didn't know how late exactly was it. After waiting for what appeared to be an unbearable eternity she got up, slowly dragging herself towards the door. Taking a peak outside she concluded it must have been evening, but still not midnight. Seeing no one in sight she heard a very faint noise of children playing far in the distance. The green dragoness then rushed across the stonewall that encircled the house, going for the nearest tree line. Finally arriving at the safety of the trees she took a deep breath and scanned the area. Finding no one she exhaled and proceeded to urinate, relieving herself. It was only once she had finished that she realized just how thirsty and dehydrated she was. Sobbing and sighing she turned back and faced the house, which wasn't too far. For the moment she contemplated leaving. That would make everyone's lives easier... she wouldn't have to embarrass herself in front of the humans... sure mortal creatures they may be but they still saved her. They would have one less mouth to feed and she did have a big mouth. But where would she go? Going back to her cave wasn't an option. Kereidos almost never spoke of his family, simply claiming they were all dead and her own family... Brestera stopped and thought about them.

Her mother was a brood mother, a dragoness charged with creating and expanding the dragon population. For that Brestera hated her, sure she was a good teacher and a good mother to her and innumerable other hatchlings that were her siblings but, she told her that a lot of her children die and that a person has to accept that. Brestera had conflicting thoughts about that idea. Not only was she unsure if she actually wanted to go there but she wasn't sure she would physically be able to, or if her mother would even take her in. Whimpering she dashed back to the barn, jumping over the fence despite the immense pain she felt in her abdomen and pelvis. She entered the wooden structure knowing that she was unable to hunt in this condition and while being pregnant wouldn't hinder a normal dragoness she didn't want to lay her head low and die, taking her children to the grave with her. The dragoness snuck herself back into the nest she made, but not before drinking the remaining water from the bucket and cursing herself for getting the bandages wet in the snow.

"You should have told us earlier." She heard someone from the other side of the door. Oh what do they want now? She wanted to be alone, or at least she thought she wanted that. She was still so confused... so alone and yet at the same time she wanted that loneliness. She tried to convince herself that time will heal all wounds but her thoughts were interrupted by the family entering the barn.

"Forgive us. We just realized we forgot to introduce ourselves." The woman spoke. The family had entered the barn with smiles on their faces as the woman held a plate with a rather large piece of meat on it. It was fried and lustrous. Brestera knew that if they were under different circumstances, her mouth would be drooling and she would have a hard time resisting the urge to simply dig in to the food. To make it worse her nose, far superior to that of the human one, was sensing that the food was marinated and filled with various spices, with fried potatoes added as a side dish. She sensed her empty stomach turn as the woman spoke once more.

"I am Helena, but everyone calls me Ellen. This is my husband Throt'gar and these are our kids Mathias and Yessabel." The woman spoke and the dragoness took note of the oddity of a human having what seemed like an orc name. "Now I know the doctor told us you probably wont eat for the next couple of days-" The woman explain and Brestera had to resist the urge to hiss. She detested that being, whatever it was, how did he know so much about her and the dragon race? "But we wanted to offer you anyway." she said as she laid down the plate next to her. Dragon's don't want to be fed! They want to HUNT! Brestera thought as her instincts kicked in, but instantly her consciousness scolded her, these humans, lowly as they may be, offered her way more than they should have. It was downright impossible to analyze all the different emotions that ran through her.

One voice was screaming at her to eat and that must have been the one of the over protective mother who's mate had died and who swore she would protect her hatchlings at any cost. Another scolded her for being so weak and yet another was annoyed at the whole thing. The background one was the most prominent and it reeked of guilt, sorrow and despair that gripped her heart. She decided to do what was proper just as the awkward silence was about to take in. Extending her arm and waving her hand she cast one of the easiest spells there is at the food. To the humans it appeared she had cast some sort of pinkish, sparkly light at the meat as it radiated a subtle "poof" sound. Brestera didn't want to be rude and so she made sure the food is preserved. Not a single atom will change in its structure while the spell was on it. Of course, she knew that the humans were oblivious to it. Most of all she paid closer attention to the woman, seeing she had an elongated face with brown reddish hair that was shoulder length.

"We should leave her alone." The woman spoke, for some reason resisting a chuckle. _FINALLY!_Brestera found herself shouting inside of her. She could sense that her motherly aura rubbed a bit into Ellen, mostly because the woman was a mother herself so she concluded that the human could... correlate somewhat to her. The family packed up and left, leaving Brestera alone with her food and her thoughts.

The next three days passed rather uneventful. The family occasionally visited the dragoness, refilling the water bucket, which she drank from only when they weren't around. They marveled at the fact that the food was still hot after so many hours and decided to just leave it there, arguing amongst themselves about the dragon eating habits, saying things that would make Brestera burst with superioristic laughter had the situation been different. At nights, when everyone was asleep she would sneak out to do her needs, so far only urinating since her stomach lay empty. The pain of the empty stomach was such that Brestera felt it only a few times in her life and she wished such a fate to no creature on this green earth. To think that she hated her mother for forcing her to be hungry until she learned how to hunt when she was a hatchling, now she was grateful to her. Still if there was one thing to block out the pain, it was the even bigger pain of losing a loved one. As time passed that pain became duller, even if she didn't want to admit it and her desire to eat increased, she wasn't yet ready to lower herself to be fed like a hatchling however. The only thing that helped her kill time were the human children, her most common guests, who, disobeying their parents, snuck in to have a chat or better yet monologue with the dragoness. Brestera couldn't see the point in it really, sure these human whelps have never seen a dragon before but was she such a sight for them that they were mesmerized by her even if they had seen her dozens of times now?

During the fifth day her minor injuries had healed. The defensive wounds on her paws and claws were all but gone. Her head bandage had served its purpose and Brestera had discarded it, but not before doing the painful task of penetrating her own scales at the back of her head with her own claws. She wept not, but she bit her lips as the stale blood left her head, the pressure she hadn't noticed or, better yet, she grew accustomed to disappearing from her head. She mopped up the blood with the used bandage before burning it. Now she only had to worry about the injuries at her tail base and her abdomen. The tail one wasn't too bad. The worse thing was that her muscle joint was a bit ruptured and her nerves pressed on, but she could sense that healing.

The abdomen one, however, simply refused to heal as fast, her muscles reknitting themselves at a slow pace, due to the distance from one another. Still the gap was smaller and there was hope for a full recovery. It was then that Matthias entered what she felt now was her lair. The hay had been arranged now to her liking and she even began subtly working on some finer details. At first the kid simply stared at her. She didn't mind too much, in fact she found it mildly intriguing. She didn't want to admit, but she started feeling a semblance of a normal life. She hated herself for being so weak, so unable to adapt as both her mate and her mother thought her. Regardless, her fin was no longer placed completely horizontal and was rising with each passing day, signaling the return of the happiness that was now so distant to her.

"You are so awesome!" The boy suddenly spoke, "Not only are you a dragon lady, but you are also a dragon lady sorceress!!!" He boomed. _WHAT!?!?_Brestera's eyes widened and her fin spiked upward as the white fur blanket lay on her back, her arms crossed. For the first time since that dreadful event she felt like she was genuinely fighting back laughing out loud. Not at the ignorance of the child but at the fact of just how he was overwhelmed by her very presence. She even had to resist asking what does the average human actually KNOW of an average dragon if they are so amazed by the entire species.

"You know, Richard told us you could speak, so why don't you?" He told her and immediately her eyes narrowed at him. Despite the fact that her head lay on her arms that were on the floor, she was still in the eye level range of the boy, if not higher. Maybe its because I don't feel like it? Her draconic, inborn, pride kicked in, but she found it melting in the presence of the child. Maybe his innocence disarmed her?

"There is so much I want to know about dragons you know." He spoke as he sat down, crossing his legs. The snow was falling outside and the day was still very short. "I also want to tell all my friends about you, but mom and dad wont let me." The child's voice was getting deeper by the day. Brestera assumed this was the human phase of transitioning from a whelp to a drake. "Like... why do dragons kidnap princesses... I mean sure princesses are pretty and smart but they can be sooooo annoying, like most girls are!" The boy declared before suddenly realizing "N-n-not that I think of dragon girls, just the human ones." Brestera ignored the last part, but the first one was an accusation she simply couldn't bare.

"Silly child! Dragons DONT kidnap princesses; the vast majority of them don't at least! And the ones that do either kidnap them because they are in love with them, the kinky idiots, or because they are lonely and need smart company and the princesses, snobby as they are, are usually the smartest humans around." She telepathically told him, a little bit louder than she wanted. She didn't move a muscle as she told him that but it was downright impossible to describe the facial expression of the boy. His eyes were wide open and his faced looked as if he had fallen from the sky on an isle made of candy. His lips trembled as his heart raced. Paying him absolutely no heed the dragoness continued.

"There are only a few cases I know where a dragon was so greedy to kidnap a princess for ransom... unfortunately given how rare and important those princesses of yours are those cases are the ones you will hear about the most. I need not tell you that kings, being the most powerful humans, gather entire armies against a single dragon and BECAUSE of that most humans fear dragons." She explained, her eyes narrowing on him. Dragons didn't have as many facial expressions as humans had and hence had way less non-verbal communication. This was mostly due to the fact that their faced were covered with protective scales, protection taking a higher priority than expression. Mathias quickly looked behind him in search of his mother. The feminine voice he had heard was definitely not belonging to his mother but he saw that the dragoness's lips were sealed shut.

"D-d-did you just... talk?" The child asked, sheepishly as possible. Rolling her eyes, Brestera raised her big, scaly paw towards the child, holding her index finger and thumb together. As she neared Mathias she let her index finger free, hitting him on the nose. She made sure she used as little as force as possible, knowing just how fragile these creatures are. Mathias immediately rubbed his nose, which took a light shade of red, "OWWWW!!!" He complained.

"Yes I did... on a side note, you wont believe how dragonesses capture and kidnap knights and princes. Those are tales that are unheard of in your human lands I believe. After all who would even THINK a female dragon would kidnap a strong knight or a prince. Better yet how could she when he was supposed to slay her. You wouldn't believe just how many kings are willing to give up on their sons, their own children just because they don't want to live with the shame that their son was kidnapped by a dragon he was unable to defeat. Unlike the princesses kings never raise armies to rescue their princes for the fear of rumor and damaged reputation... disgusting!!!" She resisted the urge to spit and hiss.

Mathias simply looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before shouting "AWESOME!" At the top of his lungs. "What happens then?" He asked her. She gave him a tiresome expression before answering.

"Well in the case of the princesses they are either released when the dragon gets bored, a brave knight can kill a dragon with the help of weapons of extraordinary power and the blessings of higher beings thou that's rare, or the princess can stay, get married to the dragon and in some cases have children with him. In the last case a king may or may not consent to that, but having a dragon 'appear' and aid your armies in a battle is commonly the thing that tips the balance in the favor of consent." She explained, resisting the urge to smile at the sheepish look that the boy was giving her as he took all the information in him. She was usually the cranky, quite type annoyed by everything, similar to her mother, thou her mother had a rather nasty tendency to shout. She knew she would have to get use to talking a lot, especially given the fact that the humans will have more questions then there are stars in the heavens, and the fact that she would have to teach her own, numerous children, funny, she semi expected Kereidos to be the one talking to the children in the past.

After a pause she continued. "In the case of princes however, things are a bit more tragic. Most of those males are a bit less refined then their female counterparts and, while the dragonesses usually love that, they sometimes chose death over 'courting a beast' but in most cases if they are released they chose exile or death, unable to live with themselves. If they do fall in love with the dragoness, thou they sometimes get depressed at the fact that they are less powerful then their woman, wanting to protect her instead of having it the other way around... males." She told him, resisting letting a tear go down as she remembered Kereidos. He was like that; he had a way with words, a philosopher and a poet as much as he was a warrior. At first that annoyed the hell out of her as he wanted to talk instead of fight. But he did tell her he would lay down his life for her, if need be and, though he held his word, she never expected him to actually have to, she prayed in fact that he wouldn't have to. Just remembering how he made her go away and run instead of helping him fight the silver dragon, he was smart and knew they stood no chance, but maybe if she stayed, maybe luck would struck them. Just thinking about it made Brestera's wounds stop healing. Unexpectedly Mathias broke into laughter. Tears forming in his eyes as he held his belly. "What is so funny child?" She asked him, annoyed by the scene.

"I was just imagining how unorthodox would a picture of a knight holding a rose and offering it to a dragoness look like. In fact how would he even court her?" The boy spoke and continued laughing. Not resisting anymore, the dragoness made a smile of her own.

"Yes... that would be quite funny wouldn't it?"_She told him, remembering one of her sisters who got mated to a knight. It wasn't unheard of, but it was uncommon and the poor dragoness made a mistake of returning to their mother to inform her of the news. Not that their mother didn't like her older children returning to see her, it was just that she preferred to hear about them, living happy lives far away and being successful in the dragon world. The elder dragoness simply rolled her eyes and said, _"I guess one in a thousand is always a bit lumpy." when her daughter informed her of her new sun in law.

Just then Yessabel broke into the barn crying and shouting at the top of her lungs. "MATHIAS YOU MONSTER! WHY DID YOU KILL MISSIS PORKENSEW!?!?" She shouted as she held a doll in one hand and its severed head in the other.

"DID NOT!?!?" Mathias instantly defended himself "I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU KEEP HER!" He protested.

"BUT WHO ELSE WOULD DO SUCH A THING!?!?" The girl shouted back. Brestera huffed in annoyance, tolerating a few more sentences before taking action. She wanted and she needed peace and quiet and she hated when this sort of thing happened. She also knew she had to get used to this kind of situation if she was going to be a mother after all. She got up, snatched the doll from the girl's hand, and impaled the head back with a flash of light and in a second the doll was fixed.

"THERE! Happy now?!" The dragoness told the two of them mentally. Just as suddenly as she barged in crying the girl changed her behaving into that of a giggling laughter as she hugged the arm of the dragoness. She was obviously far less surprised then her brother when the dragoness spoke to her.

"OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!" She shouted, burying her face into the scaly creature. Patting the girl's head with her other arm Brestera found a smile creeping on her lips. Perhaps being a mother wasn't so bad after all? Not that she thought that it was bad, but she always assumed it was tiring and that hypothesis is yet to be proven wrong.

"Now children... will you please leave me alone... I have my own thoughts to contemplate." sShe told them a bit stricter and rougher than she wanted to as she resumed her usual lying position.

"Ma'm..." Mathias told her somewhat melancholically.

"Brestera." The dragoness dropped in. Taking a few seconds to realize that's the name of the dragoness the boy continued.

"Wow, that's a nice name, how did you get it?" He asked promptly.

"Yes tell us!" the girl backed her brother, provoking Brestera to huff and exhale strongly through her nostrils in irritation.

"Well if you MUST know, the name was chosen for me by my mother. She has thousands of children and she has a habit of spending her pregnancies engraving stones with possible names for her children. I'm amazed by her ability to come up with new names for each clutch. Once you are hatched she would throw a stone to you, once you catch it the name on it becomes your own." She explained, much to her annoyance. Brestera was irritated; she was usually very silent for a dragon and spoke very little. Having to answer trivialities and go into detail about them was not something that would interest her in the first place and that, combined with her current emotional state, was driving her nuts.

She blamed her deceased mate for her desire to listen to others; wiser than her for he himself was a great thinker. Then again, so was her mother to an extent. Brestera caught herself wondering did that have something to do with her choice to make Kereidos her mate. In any case as much as talking to children annoyed her she managed to feel her interest tickled, albeit she would never admit that. Besides they looked like they had millions of questions and, under different circumstances, Brestera would find that adorable. Not only that but she would prefer to be the one speaking for kids, as cute as they are, could potentially annoy her even more with their speech.

"Wow! that's amazing!" She heard one of the children say, not bothering to check who it is. "Are all dragons named like that?"

"No." She said, attempting to explain but the girl interrupted her.

"How did your mom manage to breast feed all her children if there is so many of them?" the girl asked, eyes wide with a thirst for knowledge. For a millisecond the dragoness found herself baffled as her mind worked to find the hole in the logic of that statement.

"Wha.. No!" She said, thinking of a way to explain to the child that dragons as lizard dont breast feed their youth.

"And what about your husband. I mean, you were attacked, by who? Did he try to protect you?" Mathias interrupted and Brestera found herself losing ground in her mind as she tried to process so many thoughts in her head, losing the mental battle she felt she was waging against the kids.

"Enough!" She cried out, her voice in their heads wasn't one of anger, but one of sadness. "Children please... I am still rather unwell; once I recover I promise to answer your questions. For now I just want to be alone." she told them, retreating even farther into her makeshift nest. Taking a moment to look into each other the children seemed to hatch a plan, as if they managed to nonverbally negotiate it. The boy approached her as his sister hugged the doll hard, as if she was correlating with the pain that the dragoness felt.

"Were sorry miss Brestera... We will leave you. But you really should eat your food, we don't want you to starve yourself to death." He told her gently. He was having trouble judging her reaction, as she made no move or facial expression as she heard him speak.

"Oh child... what you know of loss and pain?" Her voice echoed. It was evident that either she was asking a rhetoric question or she was talking to herself, accidently thinking out loud. Not raising her head she heard the children speak.

"Whoever it is you lost miss, I'm sure he will find you and I doubt he would want you to starve yourself because of his absence." The voice rang in her head, despite the fact that she paid it no heed. Exhaling through her nose, she watched the children leave, fearing that they will tell their parents that she spoke to them.

"That means more humans to talk to... great!!! Why cant they leave a dragon in mourning?" She wondered. Still another part of herself told her that she should be glad. They did, after all, save her, gave her a home and food. Not only that but they were trying to reach out to her and comfort her. Lowering her head, partly in shame, the dragoness wondered what the future had in store for her. Her head hurt, she attributed it to her head injury but she knew the real cause was over thinking. How could she resume a normal life after what she went through? Would her dead mate ever forgive her if she did so? Quickly she scolded herself, knowing full well that Kereidos would laugh and giggle at her, telling her that resume her life. Not only he, but her mother as well would say the same. She had to witness and suffer knowing her many consorts, friends and children died.

The poor woman, Brestera thought as once again she found herself holding in another tear. If only she was here now, sure she would scold her for her weakness, but she would comfort her as well. Instead she only had the humans to comfort her and right now she was being a bad guest. She knew that feeling pain was the first step towards healing, since at first she felt nothing. The moment that it all happened was, unique. She never felt true nothingness until that point. Now she was soaking up the pain of the aftermath. At least one less phase of recovery, she told herself as she got up. Newly determined Brestera found herself reinvigorated and she intended to use that newly found vigor to do something useful. She got up, took the blanket off of her and carefully left the barn, making sure that no one saw her as the night was drawing near. Jumping over the fence quickly and resisting the pain in her abdomen, the dragoness made it to the tree line. After doing her biological needs she began thinking what would the humans need.

"Firewood!" She exclaimed, remembering vaguely how the human male had to torture himself, going to the woods each day to haul small pieces of wet wood for fire as she scanned the area. Humans were much frailer, more so then she though as she realized they needed a constant source of heat to survive. The snow was falling and it had already covered most of the woods. Trees, both those still standing defiantly and those fallen, already dead were covered almost completely in the white veil of snow. With some effort she managed to locate fallen logs, as they could have easily been overlooked due to the camouflage the snow offered. After carefully using her fire breath to melt the snow from the logs she began the painful process of gathering as many of them as possible in one place, all the while fighting against the pain in her side. The wound didn't bleed so far, but it could start to if she stretched and overburdened it too much and that was a though most unsettling to her.

After some time she hauled 6 logs on top of one another before taking a rest. Panting slightly she sniffed the air, inhaling the aroma the forest offered. She sensed the snow, the woods and, surprisingly to her, water. As she rested, panting, she silently cursed herself. At peak strength this was nothing to her, but she was hungry, exhausted, traumatized, broken, pregnant and injured. Realizing this took from her more energy then she intended to use she angrily snapped at herself as an idea formed in her head. Leaving the logs, which she carefully packed and readied for transport, she took to the air. Stretching her wings she felt...free, as if she was flying for the first time again. Her green form darted over the sky as she repressed her feelings for a moment looking at the lake in the distance. Puffing she took off her bondage and gently tossed it down as she flee towards the semi frozen water.

"A bath...finally..." She thought as she carelessly rushed through the thin ice layer on the surface. Her massive body easily penetrating the fragile formations that gathered there. The water naturally offered resistance as it peeled away her dead, old scales, leaving only healthy once intact. Brestera knew it was healthy to bathe as she worked her way to clean herself. The ice cold water soothed her, for indeed, was she any other animal she would have most likely frozen to death. Most animals were well aware that bathing during winter was a most certain doom, but thanks to her draconic anatomy and her temperature regulation Brestera had no need to fear such fate. Not wanting to take too much time, she refrained herself from relaxing as she rubbed her spots, thrashing around like a hatchling as she did so. Just as she rashly entered the water, so she had left it, shaking herself dry and sending water droplets everywhere. Flying back towards the logs she felt mighty rejuvenated.

"DAMN IT!" She shouted as she saw that her bondage had gotten wet. Sniffing it and not seeing or sensing any germs or bacteria on it she made a mental note about the salve that the doctor put on it. She highly doubted humans could create any medication of this sort that wouldn't be infected over 48 hour. Shivering as she tied it back onto herself she braced herself against the pain and coldness that the bandage offered against her wound, which had started bleeding once again. "BLOOD AND DAMNATION!!!" She roared at the realization, scolding herself for being so careless. With no delay she got back to work. After tying the logs together with their own branches she wrapped her tail around one of the logs at the base and after giving it a pull and seeing that the other logs followed suit she began the painful process of dragging them back to the homestead. She gritted her teeth as the injury at the base of her tail screamed at her and she took time to adjust her pose to minimize the pain. Brestera became restless as she approached the stone fence, not even looking for any by passers as she struggled to place the six logs, which were actually the bulk of the fallen trees, in front of the barn. Huffing with pride and raising her nose in the air she triumphantly entered the barn. She looked exactly the same as when she had hunted her first dear as a hatchling. Proud of her work, she entered to find a cozy fire in the middle of the room.

"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" She hissed as she realized the humans had noticed her absence. Then something rather unexpected happened. She felt her instincts took over as she jumped at the enchanted food that was with her, tearing it apart with her fangs as she took it all down in one giant bite. She didn't even pay attention to the fact that the plate tray was below it as she chewed. "NOOOooo!!!..." She screamed as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She thought about what would her mate say if he saw her like this, desperate and weak. He would have most likely laughed his scaly ass off at her, she concluded. Still she was unable to resist scolding and blaming herself further. WHO was she to continue life as if nothing had happened, who was she to feast on food while maggots feasted on the corpse of her dead mate? All such thoughts were overcome, however, as the primal survival instinct took in. They made her eat her food and enjoy it, all the way down to the tiny details as she found herself licking the tray clean. They even went so far to make her drink her bucket of water as she cried. Now that her belly was half screaming in happiness for the first food it received in ages and half screaming in agony due to the fact that it wasn't enough, she was able to reestablish her control over herself. Still she rather joyfully jumped back into her makeshift nest, throwing her blanket over her as she used it to wipe her tears away. The blanket smelt... beautifully! The humans must have cleaned it and used their perfumes on it while she was gone, Brestera concluded as she rubbed her muzzle against it.

"OH BY THE ANCESTORS!!! THROT! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!? YOU WERENT INSANE ENOUGH TO WANDER INTO THE WOODS AND TAKE HALF OF IT BACK WITH YOU, WERE YOU!?!?" She heard a very surprised, yet to her now familiar, voice in front of the barn. The woman obviously thought her mate had dragged all those logs back. Despite herself Brestera started giggling as she hid her face with her wing, blanket hanging from it. They were... cute, bickering like all couples do. She reminded herself how Kereidos courted her... ancestors that was embarrassing back then. She lowered her head, happily this time as she recalled those times. Those happier days which seemed to have vanished not a week ago. No use dwelling on it now, the dragoness thought as the woman entered the barn, the screeching of the large wooden door betraying her.

"Excuse me dear, but did you haul all those logs here?" The woman warmly asked, her voice showing concern. The dragoness exhaled calmly before looking into the woman's eyes, moving her scaly eyelids. She was much smoother, cleaner and comfier now.

"Yes I did." She plainly said to the women "Your mate was having a hard time collecting it, so I decided to give a...helping hand as you say." She explained to the woman. Her muscles were still protesting from her exercise today but now that she was comfy in her nest she wouldn't move even if the end of the world had come.

"Oh dear, you really shouldn't have strained yourself like that." The woman seemed not only unsurprised about the fact that the dragon was communicating with her but she seemed to have expected it. "It will only worsen your condition." She explained as she grabbed the now empty bucked before smiling widely on her somewhat narrow face. "You should rest now." She told her as her eyes widened. "And I am glad you finally ate, do you want more?" the woman humbly asked. Barely restraining herself Brestera spoke.

"Yes please!" The dragoness felt her eyes widen and her saliva starting to filter through her mouth. She guessed that her survival instincts were taking over as hunger came before curtsey or pride. As the woman was picking up the basket and tidying up she spoke to her.

"We were worried where you had gone off to. Your injuries are still too great." She said, holding the bucket at her hip.

_"So you're not mad at me for leaving?"_The dragoness cocked her scaly eyebrow at the women, who laughed at her question.

"Oh dear, you don't need to feel trapped. You are not our prisoner, you are free to come and go as you please." She told her before going towards the door.

"Figures." Brestera huffed, rubbing herself against the blanket. She was glad to be reaffirmed that thing are under control. If anything now she had come accustomed to the situation and the humans seemed nice.

"Oh and I hope you like the smell, I washed the blanket while you were away." The woman held the door in her hand as she got herself ready to leave.

"Thanks!" Brestera responded. Refreshing herself, cleaning her body and laying in a clean environment could only help her health and not only that but it gave her extra comfort as her thoughts became less and less darker.

"What are you going on about woman?" Throt's voice boomed as he entered the barn. He appeared just as surprised to see the logs in front of it. Taking a moment to put two and two together, he looked at the dragoness. "You brought all this back?" He plainly asked.

"Indeed I have." Brestera smiled at the surprised man.

"See Throt, I told you she would be useful!" Ellen spoke and with that the two began to bicker. Brestera knew not whose was worse, the over protective wife or the ever tired husband who couldn't seem to get enough of her. Funny thing, she expected them to be way more surprised at the fact that she communicated with them, the children must have slipped up and told their parents about their little chat. At least those two were gracious enough to take their conversation out of the barn. Laying her head down Brestera exhaled. She was still quite sad but at least the guilt had passed and she was more determined now, for herself, her dead mate and her children but now... she would rest. The effort of dragging all those logs, combined with her injuries and the food she ate later on meant that her body had reached its limit. Closing her eyes shut she attempted to retreat back into her dreams.

***************

"Was...no...saint..."

"You only care about yourself!!!"

"DARN RIGHT I DO!"

"BANG!"

Darkness... voices, many of them, but one prevalent. Brestera was unaware that she was dreaming at first. It took her quite a while to get a grip on things and use the inborn dragon ability to control her dreams. Still, this time it was different, she found herself giving control, letting the waves carry her.

"MY legend misses out the crucial part!" She heard the same voice again; it was oddly and disturbingly familiar.

"I was a ruthless killer, with a ruthless killers heart." The voice repeated. Brestera tried to impose her consciousness to search for the source of the voice. A familiar and beautiful figure appeared before her. Richard... what was he doing in her dreams? The dragoness pondered, concluding that the man had some innate magical potential and that he had passed some of his memories to her. The first image was of him, small, being constantly scolded by an even more beautiful woman. Next to her stood a giant of a man. Had she not known better she would have concluded that he was an ogre. Swiftly the image moved much forwards to an older Richard holding out a masterly crafted weapon. This was no ordinary weapon he was holding, neither a sword nor a dagger, but a pistol. Brestera knew that the very few could posses such a weapon, even fewer could make it and this one was ornate.

"Money or life." He said to the screaming woman in front of him. Again the waves shifted as glimpses of memories appeared before her, each unique and filled with foreign faces. Then a most peculiar thing happened. The waves rushed forward to what appeared to be present. She saw Throt entering the man's house, asking him to check up on her. This wasn't the present! This was the future! The dragoness felt herself fighting against the excitement, as she knew that in the vast majority of cases such dreams were preemptive warnings of events. But what was the man up to? Did he want to sell her children, her eggs or?

"You have had it Throt! This we will not tolerate!" She heard a human man speak as a mob of villagers rushed to Throt's house, each carrying a pitchfork and a torch. "You brought a dragon to our village!" One of the two men spoke, the two clearly represented the group and their elegant clothes spoke of their statues.

"I can explain." Throt said calmly before a peasant from the mob shouted at him.

"WE WILL BURN YOU, YOUR WITCH DOCTOR AND YOUR DRAGON BITCH TOO!!!" The peasant shouted and hissed as he spat at his own words. Just then the doctor came out of the barn, his eyes narrow and his eyebrows low. The crowd booed at him for his actions. Who was he to treat a dragon?

"I told myself that I was through with this..." He spoke to himself as he approached them. "I told myself that for a change I will help people out as a medic..." He spoke to the crowd as he reached for his cloak. "But I guess some things never change." He finished as he drew his twin pistols with surprising swiftness and agility. The poor men never stood a chance as two loud bangs echoed in the air. The two men were not only were shoot dead at the sight, their hearts penetrated by the projectiles, but such was the force behind the blow that they were both sent flying back, falling on their back to the mud. The crowd immediately started crying, screaming and shouting, losing their courage as their leaders were disposed of.

***************

The dragoness practically jumped from her spot as she found herself panting. What a nightmare. Knowing these dreams this was a short-term prophecy. She feared that it was already too late, someone HAD seen her! How could she have been so careless!?!?! That mattered little now. Was she to run? No, she would risk the family being lynched anyway. Looking out of the window she saw that it was late at night. Just how long has she been sleeping? In front of her lay a basket with bread, cheese and cooked meat. Next to it stood a bucket, this time filled with milk rather than water. Taking a moment to inspect her food she began eating it greedily as she contemplated her next action. A part of her wanted to despair, wondering will this torment ever end. She scolded herself, knowing that her mother would do the same. She had had enough of all this self-pity, anger took over her as doubt cleared from her head. She was a dragon for crying out loud, she was above this! Most of all she knew that Kereidos would tell her the same thing. These humans had saved her and all she could do was mourn, cry and complain? Ancestors that was embarrassing! She was not about to let them be slain and run over by a mob because of her, for they have gone out of their way to help her. Were it not for them she would still be laying out there, dead in the snow, her body being consumed by the scavenging animals. The dragoness snarled and twisted her face in anger.

Letting out a deep growl the dragoness thought hard about how to avoid disaster that would fallow. She couldn't just kill Richard, no matter his previous crimes. He was healing her, if nothing else. She couldn't go out and burn the mob, that would be evil, she couldn't scare them away either, for they would take vengeance up on the family in her absence or even gather an army to kill her in her weakened state. Resuming her usual place as she finished her food Brestera groaned as she felt her abdominal wound protest at the change of position. Indeed what was she to do? Should she just flee? Yes that would keep the family safe, no one could prove that a dragon was here and they would be safe...but what about her? What about her hatchlings, the children she was carrying. She did feel well enough to make a short distance flight, but knowing just how tiresome and just how much effort it took her to haul those logs back she knew that any hope of her surviving on her own would require her to at least have a cave of her own and a food source. Thinking hard she knew that wasn't a viable option at this stage, she still needed a week or two to be in any condition to strike out on her own. Sure she appeared healthy on the outside, but her head still hurt and spin if she moved it too fast. Her body still ached in pain if she moved to fast, her womb still felt tight and full from the eggs that lay within it. Whimpering Brestera contemplated the only option she had left at that point. She had no other choice but to reason with the humans.

"Miss Brestera?" A voice snapped her out of her trance and her eyes darted towards it, only to find two children at the entrance of the barn. They stood next to each other, with the boy being slightly in front of the girl, who still clung to her doll. Rubbing her eyes with her hand Brestera smiled at them and spoke gently.

"Yes what is it children?" She asked. The kids seemed to be getting older by the day. Brestra was struck by the mortality and the short life span of the human race. They aged so quickly in her eyes, she wondered did they notice that themselves.

"We were just wondering..." Mathias spoke as the two entered, closing the door behind them. Sitting down in front of the dragoness he continued speaking. "May we ask, what terrible creature managed to cause such injuries that you have?" The boy struggled to find the exact words, as he wanted to stay polite. "I mean, you're a dragon, large, strong, powerful, fire breathing and all. Just what was able to harm you so?" He asked, his sister hugging the doll even harder as if she was imagining a great monster. Looking at them with her yellow draconic eyes, the dragoness wasn't able to resist huffing as she smiled. Had anyone else asked the question she would frown, remembering that fateful night just a week ago, but these were just children, who were curious and wanted an explanation.

"Quite simple young Mathew." She spoke in a childish manner, "It was another dragon. A bigger and a much much meaner one than me." She told him, keeping her explanation short. Looking at each other in confusion the kids seemed to speak on a telepathic level, as they both understood each other fully well without uttering a word.

"But, but... why?" The boy spoke sadly. "Why would another dragon want to hurt you, aren't you, after all, the same species?" He asked, his voice full of confusion. Resisting outright laughter Brestera found herself giggling lightly at the boy's gullibility.

"Oh children... you are so naive, so innocent." She spoke. "Why do your kings fight each other, why do wars exist? He simply wanted me and my mate's lair and he fought us for it. He was bigger and stronger and I carried eggs inside me..." Brestera struggled as she tried to explain herself and her defeat. "My mate tried to defend me, trying to get me to flee as he fought him, wanting to buy me more time as it had become evident that he was going to kill us." She spoke, her voice shaking as she did so. Looking sideways she continued. "I was so confused... so weak... I didn't know what to do... A part of me wanted to stay and help him. I knew, deep down, that we stood no chance, but what sort of a mate was I if I was to let my mate, my loved one die as I fled, tail between my legs." The green dragoness resisted crying as she dared not face the human children. "The other part... was so confused, so scared, for me, my mate, our hatchlings. It just wanted to fly as far away as possible from that evil creature." She made another pause.

"By the time Kereidos convinced me to leave all I could hear was talons clashing and fire exploding as I fled, his sacrifice buying me time." She swallowed hard, in order to resist gasping. "He fought... he fought for each second to buy me time. I was a fool, I should have fled earlier! As I heard the echo of my mate's body collapsing the roar of that... that... FIEND! frightened me as he gave pursuit... so I flew and flew. I flew over the seas and the mountains; I flew of the valleys and the forest. I flew over the human towns I never knew existed until eventually...he caught up with me. I was heavy with eggs and so tired. He was wounded and tired and bleeding but his eyes... his eyes were so blood thirsty..." She spoke before making a short pause. _"I fought...but it was not enough...time seemed to stop...and I...I fell... I fell for all eternity it seemed...I know not how long I lay there in the snow until you found me, but I'm sure glad you did."_She told them, ending her story as cheerfully as she could. This time she could not resist a tear, which rolled down her scaly cheek.

Finally she turned to face the kids who were but meters away from her. They, unlike her, were outright sobbing and crying. Their faces were red and the girl attempted to hide herself behind her doll. "Ohhh children please don't." The dragoness sobbed and barely managed to utter the words as the two rushed over and hugged her as they cried. Brestera felt downright awful for making the kids cry and she hugged them back with her big scaly arms as she cried with them. At the same time she found new resolve to help these people from the upcoming danger that they were unaware of. She held these human children, as if they were her own and cried. In the end this was what she needed. All her desire to appear and be strong was pushed back as the need for comfort took over. For the first time since the death of her mate, Brestera felt normal. Sad, but normal. She stayed there with those children and talked. She didn't mind explaining the very basics of draconic society to them, answering any eager question they had. She wasn't annoyed or angry as she saw the light in their eyes as she explained how dragons celebrated their ancestors. The dragoness felt any crankiness and desire for silence melt in front of the innocence these children possessed.

Still she could not afford herself a moment of true respite as in the back of her head, thoughts lingered on how to deal with the upcoming crisis. In the end, the children begged to sleep this night with her and after much begging, pleading and eyeing their parents relented. The overjoyed children spent the night with the dragoness, who told them various stories, most of which were true while others were a bit romanticized for the sake of entertainment. Finally after exhausting all their energy, the children went to sleep, the dragoness following suit. Before she fell asleep the dragoness recalled that dreadful night one last time. "Thank the ancestors that Kereidos managed to maul and tire him out enough." She told herself as the sleeping children brushed against her. She went to sleep happily as she recalled the broken and bloody body of Skeritis as he lunged at her. They may have lost, but they went down fighting and they had left their mark on the enemy. The next day Brestera was woken up by the surprisingly gentle voice of Throt.

"Excuse me, miss Brestera." He said as he knelt besides her, his strong hand affectionately brushing the tip of her head. "Sorry for waking you up, but Richard is here to check up on you." He told her. She groaned a bit before getting up.

"Thank you Throt. Do send him in." She told him as she went towards her water that she used to clean her face, as well as drinking a bit of it. The man nodded and smiled at her before leaving, failing to notice that the dragonesses fin rose in fear and excitement, as she knew what was going to follow. "No use backing down now, lets just hope this works." She whispered to herself as the family, accompanied by their guest entered the barn.

"Ah, I see you are rather well." Richard spoke first as he approached her. His high voice was filled with disinterest as always. "They informed me that you spoke to them." The dark hair man said as he wasted no time in examining the wound on her abdomen.

"Yes, indeed I have." She told him rather professionally. "You needn't worry about my head injury I drained the blood myself." The dragoness rubbed herself on the spot. Smirking, the man replied.

"Good. I'll just clean it up from the inside and it will heal completely." He said as he got some lotion from his bag and a specific, black needle. "I do hope that the legends are true and that thorns of the drakes hearth can penetrate draconic scales." He told her as he cleaned the needle. The green dragoness rolled her eyes.

"While that plant does have the sharpest thorns, I doubt it can penetrate the scales of an adult like me. A hatchlings it can, I think." She told him as the family watched the scene in front of them. "I have a different option, however..." She told him as she laid her head down even further and used her claw to reopen the wound she had created to lower the swelling days ago. She didn't know what he wanted with it. The wound has healed completely, or has it?

"Good!!!" He exclaimed, as he wasted no time. Using his oiled hands he rubbed the spot where the swelling was. If a common person were to observe he would find nothing there. Her scales on that place were as green as anywhere else. Still, he was the doctor. So Brestera thought as pain returned to that area as he squeezed it. "The injury would heal itself, but I'm draining any remaining blood and massaging the spot so it won't heal improperly. The nerves and muscles could merge and reknit together in a improper way, better safe than sorry." He explained as he stretched out her injured spot before pouring another lotion over it. He placed a small bandage over the spot and told her to take it off in a day or two.

"What about my tail injury?" She inquired and he went to the body part in question. Nodding and examining it Richard sighed.

"You really shouldn't have hauled all those logs back." He said, before adding, "This will hurt." As he placed his hands on the base of her tail and pushed forcefully. Her body emitted a large crack and sent a spike of pain from her tailbones towards her head. Brestera bore her teeth as she resisted screaming and roaring out loud. "The muscles have healed themselves. They were regrowing and reattaching themselves at the wrong places, but I fixed that now. They are back to their natural state, but I still don't recommend any hard physical activity for the next few days. They are at some.... 80% of their optimal state. After that period of resting you should be free to use them as if they were never injured." The doctor spoke with a little bit more interest this time and Brestera found herself being happy at his words. The family openly cheered at the revelation. Richard backed off and reexamined his patient. "The small tares in the wings have healed, defensive wounds on the paws as well, your eyes are no longer blood shot... only one injury remains." He said as he took off the bandage.

"It still hurts." She told him as she felt his touch at the place of her injury. Hearing him sigh she knew that the news wasn't so great.

"The wound is healing, even faster so due to your pregnancy... but I'm afraid that at this rate you wont heal completely before you lay your eggs. I estimate that in some 6 months you will be back to the perfectly healthy status." He told her. "If I had the tools I could stitch it together, but that brings a lot of problems. First off I don't have the necessary materials and I have never stitched a dragon before. Not only that but the scales on that side can harden too much if I do stitch you. I would just let it be and give you lotions and potions to ease the pain instead." Richard explained and received a nod from the dragoness and sad faces from the family. After replacing the bandage Richard rested his back against the wooden wall of the barn. There was a moment of silence before Brestera finally spoke.

"Richard, may I ask you something?" She said, trying to be formal and polite. The man had a, "if you must" face but he stayed somewhat polite as he responded.

"Go on." He simply said, crossing his arms defensively.

"What are you? I know you are not a human, or at least, not entirely and I know that you are very, very old by human standards." She spoke her mind. The man seemed unaffected by her words, yet the family popped their eyes and ears at this. The village considered Richard to be a public secret, for he was young while their elders were old and today he looked younger still. Finally, after a lengthy pause, Richard relented and made a sly half smile.

"A renegade, a bandit, a highwayman..." He told her before looking to the side as if to recall the past. Focusing hard, she managed to penetrate his mind and hear the end of his original sentence, "a killer..." He thought, referring to himself.

"What do you mean Richard? My gran knows you and no one in the village has ever heard of you committing any crime?" Ellen spoke, confused and eye wide as her mouth lay open, ever so slightly.

"It was a different life, a different lifetime...literary...." Richard responded, getting off the wall as he explained himself. "In another life I was a ruthless killer, with a ruthless killers hearth." He said.

"That was your legend..." Brestera spoke softly, almost whispering. Everyone heard her, but her words were ignored as Mathias spoke.

"What do you mean? Tell us! Start at the beginning." The boy spoke eagerly, looking for adventure and ignoring, or being ignorant to, the evil that the man had committed.

"A thousand years or so I was born to a bald butcher and a beautiful yet cruel half elf mother. Like her own mother, who was a dark elf, she chose a human as her lover." Richard explained, quite emotionlessly. "I'm not sure was it her heritage, as well as mine, to be cruel but... in her cruelty she found a way, the only way it would seem, to express her love. For some reason my father adored her for that. Aside from calling him a brute and being mean mother... stuck around. Too bad humans have such short lives and when he died she cried so..." He spoke, getting carried away and yet still enjoying his own voice. "Anyway, like my father I became a butcher and mother visited occasionally. One day she just stopped coming and, in order to stop the boredom, I began poaching and fencing stolen goods for a local gang." He said as the rest paid close attention and listened to him carefully. Once again he rested against the wall and spoke once more. "Suffice to say I lived a less than honest life. The king didn't take kindly to me being a better marksman, tracker and trapper then he was and soon enough I found myself in the gang for which I was fencing the goods for." A smile crept its way to Richards lips.

"We rampaged, we stole and robbed and fought but when the law came for us, I escaped and they got caught." His melodic tone was quite cheerful, as if he was singing the words. "I became a highway man." He said before making a pause, "I was no price charming, nothing dandy about me." He boasted, as if semi expecting them to declare him wrong, to say he was divinely beautiful or something. The parents looked surprised and the children's eyes sparkled, as if they wanted to prove him right. Only Brestera made a face of disappointment. "In any case I got caught stealing chickens from a farmer." He continued rolling his eyes as if he was disappointed with himself. "I barely escaped the hangman's nose, killing a lot of people as I fled. Later I was contacted by this Mathew fellow... he was one of the few men whom I can call a true friend." Richard's face saddened in memory.

"At this point I was burning for revenge and he and I... well along with being highway men and robbing travelers at gunpoint, taking money, watches, anything. We sat out on the bold quest to kill the king, who at that time I view as the primary culprit for all the things wrong in my life. We got a few nobles sure, but we mostly just ransomed them. And then..." Richard paused, exhaling hard. "Or better yet, in the end... time happened. Both the king and Mathew passed away of old age, leaving me with the conclusion that I couldn't die. With the king dead and the nobles in disarray, combined with the fact that so much time has passed I was able...to start anew." Richard eyed them as he lowered his head. "At first I turned back to my old profession. I was a good butcher, rather handy with the knife. Then I figured that even that act of violence, even gutting dead animals sickened me. Instead of killing I learned all I could about curing and helping people and while I cannot help my ego, my superiority and my general coldness, I do want to live a simple life. That's when I settled here, in this village. Fast forward a couple of centuries and we are here." With that Richard finished his tale, leaving the family jaw dropped and the dragons looking at him with suspicion, silently scolding him as she swung her head gently.

"WOW, AWESOME!" Mathias spoke, practically shouting as he broke all the tension.

"Mathias!" Throt responded, but wasn't able to stop his son from continuing.

"You should write a book about it, letting others know and read of your adventures." The boy spoke eagerly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Richard smirked at him, still holding his eyes crossed as he closed his eyes and waved his head before lowering it and speaking.

"Mat, you seriously fail to realize that most those people I killed were innocent? Can you even begin to imagine how their families feel like? Can you imagine, gods forbid, losing your father. You truly think life is a big antic? That my profession is romantic? I hate to be pedantic but it ain't!" He told the boy. The kid had no chance to answer as a commotion was heard outside followed by the strong words, the voice behind them familiar to all but Brestera.

"THROT'GAR! COME OUT! WE HAVE TO TALK TO YOU!!!" The voice echoed as the man shouted. Brestera couldn't see who was talking but she judged it to be a male's voice. She knew exactly what was going on and it was up to her to put the plan in motion.

"WHO IS IT!?" Throt shouted back as he went towards the entrance. Looking back he told everyone. "Stay here, we cant let them see Brestera." As he left, seemingly not worried. Brestera's eyes widened as she saw the man walk outside.

"Everyone listen to me!" She exclaimed, shouting and whispering at the same time. All eyes pointed towards her as she spoke once more. "Throt is going to face a mob of people, who are here because of me! Don't ask me how I know, just trust me." The dragonesses voice was full of desperation and pleading. The rest were confused, eyeing each other questioningly. The children wanted to inquire what is going on but Brestera shushed them. "I don't have time to explain. Richard, I know you have your two pistols with you." She said, causing the raven haired man to look at her questioningly.

"How did you-" He started before she cut him off.

"NO TIME!" She said, "I just want you to promise not to do anything and not to leave the barn until the time is right. Trust me you will know it." She spoke. The children instinctively hugged their mother and Richard eyed her questioningly. "Please!!"_She pleaded. _"Richard I know you don't want to kill more people and if you trust me then you wont have to! If I lie or if my plan fails you are free to do what you want in order to survive." She struggled to find the right words as she snapped_. "I have to go now, I already hear them confronting Throt about holding me here. Just don't go out. I promise I wont do anything rash."_ She told them before lifting herself and walking towards the entrance. The rest tried to find any crack in the wood so they could look at the confrontation outside and listen in to any conversation that might be going on. They were not disappointed.

"Face it Throt, you were always a naive and ignorant fool! How can you hide a monster in our midst." The man in the elegant purple, brown and yellow tunic spoke to Throt as the sun covered the snow filled lands for the first time. This was the first day that it didn't snow since the day they hauled Brestera in. Throt easily recognized the appointed mayor of the village. The duke appointed him years ago. Next to him was the village priest, a man who communed with the ancestors and behind them were all the village elders. Still Throt was concerned the most with what was behind the elders. All the village man came behind them carrying pitchforks and torches. It was basically a lynch mob, waiting eagerly for their leader to cut short the diplomacy.

"Mayor... While I won't deny that I saved the pure creature that now dwells in my barn. I can assure you that she is nothing but a heart of gold. She was sick and injured, bleeding profusely as my family and I dragged her back to our barn to recover. Her mate was killed and she is gravid with eggs. Did not our ancestors teach us to be kind and to treat our guests as if they were gods themselves? No matter how they appeared and looked like? Did our own gods not disguise themselves as travelers and wonders so they could see how the common folk would accept them and house them and they would judge us mortals based on that? Brestera even helped me, dragging and bringing many logs to my house even in her weakened state as I hadn't prepared enough firewood this fall." Throt made a speech as he trembled before the crowd. The priest lowered his gaze. He arrived angry, as did the mayor. But now up on hearing the story that Throt told him he was a bit ashamed. Were they really to judge such a creature purely based on her race? The mayor spoke no words but he looked suspiciously at Throt and he weighted his case. Still the men behind them shouted, being carried away by crowd mentality and acting like insects in a swarm.

"WHAT A LOAD OF RUBISH!" One man yelled.

"ENTHRALLED! HE'S BEEN ENTHRALLED BY THE BEAST!" Another shouted.

"OFF WITH ITS HEAD!!!!" The third decreed and the crowd booed as their leaders attempted to ignore them, still when they started pushing forward things because dangerously close to falling apart as the thing snowballed to the worst. The elders tried to impose a peace to the crowd and things seemed to be a hair away from falling out of balance. Just then a roar pierced the sky as a giant, by human standards, green dragoness exited the barn and took to the skies, jumping straight to them from what most people would say an impossible angle. Those first few seconds everyone stood in awe as the commotion died down but then all hell broke loose as the dragoness flew towards them. Shouting screaming and sobbing were heard everywhere as some grown up man shat themselves out of fear, quite literary. They all turned and tried to flee towards the village. They made no more than a few steps as Brestera swooped down and blew fire all over the grass, making a semi circle of fire from the stone house to the wooden barn.

The blaze prevented anyone from leaving through it, as the heat was intense and there was no way of jumping through it without suffering major burns. Immediately the men turned and tried to push for the narrow opening between the house and the barn that remain fire free. Their worst fears were realized as the dragoness landed in their path with a loud thud as her claws hit the ground, growling and baring her teeth at them. Some cried, others begged and pleaded while some fell to their knees and prayed erratically. Brestera huffed, smoke coming from her nostrils as she sat down. "Men..." She thought as she looked at the poor excuses of males before her. As much as she wanted to scold them for their lack of courage and for their idiocy she found Throt and the two men were the nearest to her. Calmly she spoke to them first.

"Don't worry I'm not going to harm anyone. If you could get them to listen that would be nice." She told the three men as gracefully as possible. Throt and the priest were blushing with embarrassment as the mayor swat in fear. Coughing and clearing his throat, the mayor spoke.

"Men! The lady would like to have a word with you!!!" He exclaimed. Brestera huffed. She hated politicians, for she considered them worms and hypocrites, or at least most of them. Still the man's words did seem to calm down the horde a bit as they sobbed. Looking at them she spoke, loud and clear to all the men present before her.

"Good men! Please hear me. I am NOT your enemy. I am but an injured woman, struck with grief by the loss of her mate, her man, who fought heroically to save her and his future children, which lay inside my womb. I have no intention to fight you or hurt you, for I wish not my fate upon any of you. Please don't make me suffer any more then I have. If it were not for you brave and noble neighbors who saved me and nurtured me back from the brink of death, I would be out there now, laying and my body full of worms and maggots. I admit that I don't know much about humans, but in my culture such action deserves nothing but praise. I am willing to pay back this debt in any way I am able to; all I ask in return is life. Life for my unborn children and I, so the noble sacrifice of my mate doesn't go in vain. I am not a female, a woman of many words but I hope these have struck and reached out to you. I hope this has sated your blood lust, if it has return to your families, cherish every moment you have with them on this world, for your time is limited on it and even immortal creatures like dragons are not always eternal. Now forgive me, for I am tired and despite the fact that I have slept for most of these days, I feel like I could sleep an eternity more." She told them. Her speech was a dignifying one and she carried herself with pride. Her words seem to have had the wanted effect as the men stopped sobbing and paid attention to her. By the time her speech had ended the fires that she had started put themselves out mostly and the way back was clear. As she turned and started walking towards the barn the crowd had started dispersing. One brave soul had managed to shout and ask.

"WHY DID YOU SET THE GRASS ON FIRE!? IT FRIGHTENED US!!!" He said. Exhaling the dragoness turned her head and shouted back.

"THAT WAS THE POINT DUMBASS! I HAD TO GET YOUR ATENTION AND MAKE SURE YOU WON'T RUN AWAY!" She said, provoking a laugh or two. With that she concluded her business there was over. Reentering the barn she was greeted by the hugs of the children and the women, all of whom struggled to reach her neck and hugged her arms instead.

"Well I'm impressed." Richard said, his voice deeper than usual as he was holding out his two, beautifully engraved pistols at the ready. "I didn't think you could pull that off." He told her. Faced with overwhelming happiness she barely resisted crying once more.

"Thank you." She whispered and hugged the family back as Throt rushed back in.

"They will let you stay!" He said happily and Brestera pulled him closer with her tail as they all started giggling at today's events.

That night Brestera had a most satisfying dream yet. She walked through the woods and out to a large boulder which pointed towards the sea. She could tell it was late winter of early summer as the snow was still there, but was melting. She got on the boulder and sat next to her mate, who was just staring out at the blue horizon before them as the forest flanked them.

"So did you like my little gift? My little prophecy? Vision of the future?" He asked her, still looking at the blue expanse before them. Brestera purred deeply and curled her tail around her mate.

"So that's how those things work!" She said calmly, yet satisfaction was evident in her voice. "Our deceased loved ones send us warnings of things to come!" She concluded happily as she pulled herself closer to him. Finally he hugged her and looking into her eyes.

"Who says I'm dead?" He asked her, giving her a kiss.

_"Oh don't give me more false hopes!!!"_She told him as she returned the affection.

"There is always hope Brestera." He told her in between kisses. "Where there is life, there is hope." He told her as he held her image in his eye. Finally she responded.

"Hope is but the first step on the road to disappointment!" Her voice carried the words from her smiling mouth. The words themselves caused Kereidos to laugh out loud.

"You were ALWAYS cranky!" He exclaimed.

"And that's why you adored me." She finished. The rest of the dream they spend making love, cuddling and talking about things from the past, present and future alike. She made promises to him, that she will raise their hatchlings properly and that she won't let him go forgotten and that she will tell their kids what a hero he was. Luckily for her, that dream she remembered firmly in the morning and she carried it with her for the rest of her life.

After that life got better, from that point on, Brestera needn't worry about getting spotted or caught and she felt free, for the first time in a long long while. She knew that earning the trust of the humans would be hard, but she didn't care, for she led herself with the words of her mother, "any good person, regardless of his or her species, respects goodness and kindness in the hearts of others." The dragoness huffed and smiled every time she remembered that. As soon as her hatchlings can fly, she will take them to their grandmother and after that she was determined to look for Kereidos, either to find him and bring him back or to give his remains a proper dragon burial. She prayed to the ancestors that the snow would deter potential looters from desecrating his corpse.

Months passed. Snow melted, but not entirely, refusing to die away under the warmth of the sun. Brestera had healed, or at least was close to it and was healthy enough to work and hunt, despite the fact that she had a large, egg full belly hanging beneath her. She helped the villagers get rid of the remaining snow by burning it. She even proved helpful in working fields, by turning the dirt over much faster than any ox ever could. In time, even the most stubborn human in the village grew to like her. The most of whom was the old priest. Brestera couldn't believe that such a kind old man existed and he frequently visited her so he could tell him stories of the dragon deities and mythology. She was pretty certain that it was suppose to be the other way around. The old were suppose to teach the young and yet the old man's eyes gleamed like a child's when she told him the stories she knew and which her mother passed down to her.

The family was doing well and the kids grew right before her eyes. Brestera didn't have the heart to tell them how fast they were growing up, instead choosing to let them live out their youth happily. Occasionally her still unhealed wound would hurt, but she could feel it mending with each passing day. Then one day in spring, life happened. The family came to witness her lay her eggs. Richard had come to give what little aid he could, due to his lack of experience in the matter. He helped bring many babies to this earth, but had no experience when eggs were in question. The two other guests consisted of the old priest and the mayor who in all his grandeur decided that he was to be a guest in this once in a lifetime event. Suffice to say, Brestera was greatly annoyed by all of this. Dragonesses were suppose to lay their eggs all by themselves and she was quite able to go through with this all by herself. Most dragonesses laid their eggs with only their mates to help them, while some did it utterly alone. Still she tolerated such witnesses.

"GET THESE INFERNAL THINGS OUT OF ME!"_She screamed when the first egg started pushing through her narrow and tight vent. The whole ordeal didn't hurt too much but her abdominal injury hurt like hell, it burned and it screeched as it twisted from the muscle twitches which pushed the eggs out. _"KEREIDOS! YOU GOT LUCKY! YOU BETTER THANK THE ANCESTORS THAT SKERITIS GOT YOU! IF YOU WERE HERE RIGHT NOW I WOULD KILL YOU! SKERITIS WENT EASY ON YOU COMPARED WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE TO YOU!" She screamed as the first egg came out and the second followed suit. "WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH YOU YOU WOULD BEG THE ANCESTORS TO HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN AT ALL!" She screamed and most of the witnesses giggled and blushed hearing her words. "DAMN IT KEREIDOS! YOU PUT THESE THINGS IN ME! YOU BETTER GET THEM OUT AS WELL!" She yelled as the second one came out without much trouble. She was sure that if Kereidos was looking at her he was laughing his ass off.

She damn sure wasn't laughing as the third egg came out, the largest of the batch, or so it seemed. She bit her lips as she pushed the fourth one out. The psychic out lash and telepathy send shockwaves through the room and everyone present felt what was but a tiny portion of the dragoness's pain. Hardly restraining herself for a short pause where she remained silent, Brestera shouted and screamed in draconic, a language foreign to all those present. It was odd enough getting used to hearing the dragoness's voice in their heads, but the humans shivered as the scaly woman's lips moved as she shouted in her native tongue, her pelvic muscles pushing the fifth egg out. The wooden structure screeched as she grabbed a support pillar, squeezing it in her hand as if she was trying to pass the pain onto it. The crowd gathered themselves, feeling oddly warm and happy for some reason. Her words and threats no longer domineering as Brestera took another pause.

"Come on." Richard encouraged her, his face disinterested as always as he sat down near the pushed out eggs. Normally a dragoness would be furious if someone touched her eggs during her laying, unless it was a close member of the family or her mate but in this case Brestera could only listen as she paid close attention to the man's voice. "Three more to go, your vent seems alright along with your injury."

"OH WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!?!?"_She shouted, pushing the sixth egg out. Twas true however, her vent did remain intact, despite pushing out eggs several times wider than its diameter. This caused the green dragoness to wonder how her mother pushed out her eggs so easily. _"It must be that her vent is so wide with all the mating and egg laying." she concluded, trying her best to distract herself from the pain of pushing the seventh egg out. If anything, the pain subsided notably after the first few eggs or if anything she got used to it. Just one more... one egg more... thoughts ran across her mind as she felt the egg travel downwards from her upper belly. Being too anxious to wait Brestera held her belly and pushed her unborn child out as the egg quietly slipped out of her vent.

It was over... It IS over, she repeated in her mind as her painful and angry personality washed away and morphed into her old one full of hyperbolic pragmatism and unexpressed emotion. Still she felt a rush of emotions wash over her and engulf her. It was quite easy to recognize the newfound motherly instinct that was digging its way into her as she instinctly grabbed and nuzzled the eggs affectionately, causing everyone to smile. The humans tried their best not to interrupt such a display of emotions with their own, for at this point they were all too familiar with the dragoness and they knew that any comment could easily destroy the wonderful moment at hand. Without a care in the world Brestera started arranging the eggs, placing them in her makeshift nest, which would look more at home in a birds or a griffons nest, rather than a dragons. Still the dragoness cared not as she arranged her precious little ones.

In the end she stood there, watching over her eggs, holding her paw on one of them ever so gently, painting a pose worthy only of the most talented of artists. She was thankful that the ordeal was finished as she was exhausted. All congratulated the mother and the kids were quick to pick up and sort and then resort the eggs in the orderly fashion in the nest (that many people took effort in building as they grew to like Brestera). The eggs were heavy to the kids, but they carefully carried them over, making sure not to crack or drop any of them as the tired dragoness watched closely. All this annoyed Brestera as she felt that they were messing with her arrangement, as if she had a in born instinct on how she should arrange the eggs, however she was too tired to protest as she felt her abdominal injury start to relax after the ordeal. The kids were sad when their parents told them to leave the dragoness alone with her kids, but they followed the rest as they left the room, looking at the dragoness re-approach the eggs as they departed.

When the door was shut Brestera curled herself around the eggs and pressed her head around one of them. She could feel the untapped life within taking form. She could sense this one was a male and that it already looked much like Kereidos. Instantly she decided she would name him after his dead father. The feeling she felt was unexplainable as she purred and watched over her eggs. "Eggs, eggs, eggs." She thought as she felt Kereiods watching over her, as if he was on the other side of the window behind her, watching over her. She wanted so desperately to turn over and see his face but she could not bring herself to do so. For if she did turn over he would go away and she wanted him nowhere else but here. The whole thing was unexplainable, for she KNEW he was there watching over her, with a sheepish expression on his face as if he wondered, "I made this?" A single tear rolled from her eye, off of her face and on to the egg she held. "I will see you again Kereidos... as will your children, even if I have to fly over the universe and over the dragon heaven where our ancestors dwell..." She promised, in an idealistically cheerful, yet melancholic tone that was completely unnatural to her.

***************

And that concluded this part of the story of a dragoness named Brestera. I would like to apologies deeply for not starting it properly, from the beginning with her birth, for she had a lot of other interesting episodes in her life, which deserve to be told and hopefully they will be, in due time... What? You want to know what happened afterwards? That is also a story for another time, but I will say this! In one of those eggs, lay a dormant life that was taking form, looking a lot, if not being an exact match of his blue and red father. Now I wont tell much else, aside from the fact that he also was a part of the things to come and that he brought great comfort to his mother, who grew to treat him as a reincarnation of her dead mate, in a symbolic sense of course. Now you really must.... *sigh* you really want more? Well than listen on, for this is the last thing that I have to say for now.

***************

Ages later (literary), after the countless ages past, the time that went by only comprehendible to the immortal creatures a young team of students went on a trip to the exact same village where our dragoness was healing. I am sad to say that the stone house and the wooden barn were no longer there by that time... only a few stones of the old fence were sticking proudly out of the ground, ever defiant against the irreversible passages of time and the grim judgment of fate. Our merry band of students just happened to be studying the ages past, or to rephrase that for you simple folk, they were studying the past, checking out the stories of old and proving or disproving them, depending on whether the evidence game them credibility or not. By that time, our dragoness passed from history to legend, from legend to myth and these men wanted to see if there was any truth to the stories told of a family rescuing a dying, pregnant dragoness. What they dug out... what they discovered... well... Ill let the words speak for themselves.

For countless years I lived alone

My beloved mate I did mourn

To a faint hope I did so cling

That I'll find myself beneath his wing

Life was simple, so said my mother

With fate and destiny you need not bother

Go out, she said, meet a drake

Go out, she said, get a mate

Yet all these memories I have

Just bring within me pain and hurt

For I loved him from our first encounter

But I wanted to despise him and his advances I did counter

He had a way with words

Like no one did

Great many thoughts

He did hid

A great thinker

And a greater charmer

Many females he could chose

And yet he chose me

Eight eggs I did so bare

For our hatchlings I did so care

Suddenly disaster struck

We ran out of luck

Under attack

We did so flee

A silver evil

A great enemy

Then Kereidos died

Which left just me

Just B, no K

No K, Just B

What got me through

That darkest hour

Was the memory of him

And it gave me power

Hatchlings I raised

Many stories I did tell

About the wondrous father they had

And how he fell

...I love you Ker...

An engraving found up on the granite stone, excavated from the ruins of an ancient village. The last part of the poem was badly damaged, but another handwriting (if one could call it that) was also present in it. Many speculated that the last verse was made by two individuals, with the first beginning, "I love you Brest..." but the damage is too extensive too made a decisive conclusion. What manner of creature had the tools, or the strength, to engrave this piece of hard rock remains unknown, but some speculate that this civilization either had extremely advanced tools for their age, or that something otherworldly being created this.