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How A Dragon Trains You

Part 9

Acquaintance

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“Dragons are in a weird grey area in intelligence, developing empathy and higher thinking than any other animal. Where dogs have the minds of human four year olds, dragons have the minds of adolescent humans, able to reason, but still not passing the mental state of a late teen. They are moody and impulsive, emotion often gets the better of them. Hoarding, sex, and irresponsible behaviors. They feel invincible and get cocky because they are indeed very resilient and great fighters. But when things go wrong, it can often feel like the end of the world. They can get overwhelmed. They become enraged or they can become deeply depressed. Often times, regular living and day to day monotony leaves them as regular animals... but often, they can burst through with emotion unlike any other, to a level only humans can relate to."

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(Perspective switch to Mervyn)

I couldn't believe Levicus right now! His closed-minded attitude had annoyed me a couple times so far, but this time it just made me want to rip out my hair. What was his problem? Just because he's caught words about a couple dragons doing a couple bad things he wouldn't let me be? Am I not allowed to follow my bliss? All that because of some clichés and prejudices of which he should really know better being the usually rational person he is… And yet he has the audacity to tell me what my dragon behaves like? As if I wouldn't know it better than him!? As if I wouldn't already have spent nights sleeping by its side and days being its very friend? He'll see… when I show him-

“Woah, hold on a second" Levi suddenly interrupted my inner turmoil, as he suddenly stopped in an illuminated patch under a street lantern. The city gate was just one or two houses away from us, we could already see the larger torch-like lights placed on either side. The guard ahead of them was the only thing awake in a town slumbering as deep as can be.

“So, we are headed to the forest?" he inquired.

“Oh, I don't know Levi! I thought we could meet a dragon right here in the street!"

His confused frown didn't move one bit. Perhaps he held me for so sick by now that he couldn't even tell the sarcasm apart. “Of course we're going into the forest!"

If that night-watch wouldn't be down the road I would have yelled at him.

“Right… So you are going into the forest -at night, when everything is pitch black- without any light sources?"

“We don't need no-…"

I was about to protest, just out of force of habit. Earlier, wandering back to the town, a very well visible light source itself because of all those street and gate lights, may was still possible… However, strolling through the dark woods looking for something that blended into the night was impossible without anything illuminating. He was right. For once he had a point… which made me feel somewhat embarrassed.

“Yeah… maybe we should…-"

I hastily flipped my head back to make sure the guard wasn't looking. Then, quickly stepping onto the lantern post's thicker bottom, I stretched up and detached a lantern from its hook.

Levicus glared at me concerned. “You do realize that's illegal?"

I just unfolded the handle of the metal casing and kept it steady in my hand. “You do realize no one gives a damn? Where there's no complainant there's no judge."

“See, that's the kind of attitude that got you banned from the Tivan army."

Not this again… This was one of Levi's favorite argument topics to bring up when he's been drinking.

“Levi, look, there's more in life than fitting into rows in which everybody wants you to behave and act the same."

“You mean communities in which you can't just do what you want and actually have to stick to rules? How outrageous!"

I hated that cynic undertone. I couldn't help but palm at my face.

“Levi, look, there's time for this later. There are more important things at the moment."

“Yeah, nothing more important than getting to meet your dragon boyfr-"

“Look, if you want to bail out, then go! Your house's this way!"

I stopped again, pointing down one of the alley ways. As I stood there, looking into the surprised, nearly scared, glance I realized something… all this arguing isn't getting us anywhere.

I sighed and my arm sunk back down.

“Let's just get this over with. I'm telling you, that dragon is different. He is not a monster, he is not a murderer and most certainly won't attack anybody. You'll see, let's go."

A little encouraged by the words, Levi's face turned back to normal with only a slight trace of mistrust left -which he always had- and proceeded to step into the lantern's light, following with me. We made our way towards the gate doors. The guard was tired enough to not recognize the lantern as a stolen street light. The closer we got, the more Levicus began to notably fall far behind my shoulder, but still managing to trail along in the light sphere. I could tell, innerly he was still scared, or at least extremely nervous. I've never seen him so meek, so quiet. He would never admit it though. If he wouldn't have been drinking, he probably wouldn't have gone with me in the first place.

I had my hand lied down onto one of the gate's handles, as suddenly Levi stopped again, actually flinching a little.

“Wait! My crossbow…"

He nervously reached to his back, which was empty.

“Dammit… it must still be in the Inn! I forgot it!"

“Come on, leave the weapons out of this" I advised. “In the presence of the dragon they'll bring you nothing but trouble. Trust me… I've been there."

“You know, I think you're underestimating this a little. That dragon might be okay with you -but me? It might mistake me for a hostile!"

“It wouldn't just 'mistake' you for a hostile when you have the weapons with you."

“What about other creatures? Bears? Wolves? …V-vampires?"

“Just come on! We'll be fine. This won't take long."

…

The night was as dark as can be, a nearly pitch-black void, shimmering deep blue, surrounding the small yellowish circle the lantern made. With slightly resigned confidence, we were wandering and searching along the stone path, already having gone back and forth for a while. While Levi was just mindlessly stepping behind me, staying in the rather small zone of light, I was intensively searching for the spot in the bushes through which I had gone before. We must have walked by it…. A couple times by now-

There suddenly was a loud rustling in the bushes, which made us both freeze on spot.

Was that the dragon? I hoped so, but I wasn't sure… it could have been anything! My eyes were widely opened in fear, while Levi kept his cool.

“I knew the light would attract something…" he just mumbled. “Is that your dragon?"

“I- I don't know!" I cried out. We both stayed silent… then I lifted my arm holding the lantern forward. There was nothing.

“Just go closer and lo-"

Before he could finish, something came lunging out of the bushes in numbers. Levicus didn't hesitate to flee, grabbing my arm and pulling me after him for a second before I started running too.

“Goddamn timber wolves!" I heard him yell.

During the intense sprinting I lost track of the path, and so did Levi, as I was the only one with the lantern. Now running through grass and other bushes, we suddenly were dashing right through the forest. The scarce light of the lantern made obstacles such as branches or trunks visible in the last moment, barely soon enough to evade them.

Just as I thought we were about to get a safe distance, I felt the hold of my feet get stuck. I must have overlooked and stumbled over a small dirt hill or something… Before I realized what happened, me and the lantern hit the ground, the candle falling out and dying almost immediately, turning into a weak gleaming.

I tried to look for Levi… but I couldn't. I only heard the running move away and the steps of the pack rush past me.

“Levi!" I just cried out.

I tried to get up, but as I stood onto my left foot I felt a sharp pain, making me fall back to the ground again. Dammit! It must be snapped or broken! I'm stuck!

“LEVICUS!"

…

(Perspective switch to Fahren)

My ears quickly lifted and I looked up immediately, snapping my head into the direction of the scream. All my sonars were flared outward and my eyes were fluttered wide, senses on their maximum. Without hesitating I got up and began sprinting over, passing bushes and trees in just a flash. Already panting heavily, I galloped my way through...

“Rhh! Rhhh! Rhh!"

(Perspective switch to Mervyn)

God dammit! Beginning to panic, I kept trying to get up to my feet a couple more times. But in each attempt, I ended up dropping onto the ground again. Even when I was managing to weakly stand being mostly braced on the other foot, I couldn't get very far due to that damn darkness before I ended up on the floor again. I couldn't see anything! With the light gone, it all was just blackness around me. Not just silhouettes like previously, pitch blackness. No dark blue color in the sky. No moon. No stars…

Laying on my front, I tried carefully groping along the ground to move forward, but soon gave it up as it way too slow.

More or less fortunately, those wolves had locked on Levicus. None of them were bothering me. None of them turned around and headed towards me… but I'm not gonna wait until they do!

I painstakingly manage to roll onto my back and push my upper body off the ground into a sitting position with my injured leg stretched out. I looked around, until I spotted the broken lantern. As I was hoping, the candle light was still weakly gleaming. Perhaps… with enough dry leaves and grass I'm able to revive it…

Wait… what is that noise? Is that… thumping?

(Perspective switch to Levicus)

I noticed Mervyn suddenly fall behind, but I didn't have the time or the opportunity to check. He will have to look after himself…. Those beasts are right on me! I should have known. How could I have been so dull and forget that those timber wolves only avoid humans during the day… Why did I go along with Mervyn's idea to go out into the forest at night, unarmed?! He'll get a mouthful once we're back in town! This son of a…

I couldn't see where I was going. Most of the time I had a weak visual to the outlines which were contrasted by the sky, but the deeper I got into the forest, the little there were of them. Seeing nothing reluctantly slowed me down, as I wanted to avoid running head first into a tree. Then I'd be as good as dead.

It was another black spot, as I was forced to brake once more but this time, how I had dreaded, I felt one of the snouts pounce me so hard it made me lose balance, stumble over something and harshly hit the ground with my front. My hand already reaching for the dagger I've kept, I rolled to my back and wrapped my entire left arm around my throat and neck to make them bite the arm instead. I hoped to never have to ground-fight for my life…

Bring it on!

Barely after I got ahold of the weapon, one of the heavy wolves' forelegs somehow got on top of me, standing on my chest to pin me down, and its maw lowered to my arm in a flash, the teeth painfully impacting and not seeming to let go. I just slashed and stabbed. I was negatively surprised by how less it was doing. I've always thought a couple blows to the head would make any beast let go…

With the right angle and the weapon stuck, I manage to push the wolf off my chest. But it kept its bite, only now standing on the ground. It pulled and pulled, as if it was trying to rip my whole god damn arm out.

I managed to keep that one wolf at bay, but then the rest of the pack arrived. I was quickly surrounded and outnumbered and having to swat off other incoming bites became difficult which was only still possible due to the adrenaline rush. I didn't even know how many wolves there were and how many I've hit. All I felt was teeth impacting and letting go as soon as I hit something with the blade, except the one right at my front…

It was nearly hopeless. If I don't get out of here before the exhaustion kicks in, I'm dead. Dead as hell. I hope Mervyn will take good care of Amanda and the kids…

Suddenly nearly all movements stopped, even my own, as we all heard something in the distance. Loud, heavy thumping. I've been told when you hear something like that you just run away like hell, but I couldn't. Seems like I'm about to find out why people said that…

Some of the wolves were whining. Instead of fighting beasts, now submissive postures were surrounding me. All, but one. The wolf at my front was still going hard, still ripping and biting the flesh of my arm. Blood was dripping out in a flow, but it was better than having this beast on my neck…

We all flinched as there were branches and sticks cracking. Suddenly there was a flash of light rushing towards me, barely missing me and knocking off the wolf with a bang so loud it caused my hearing to turn into nothing but ringing. I crawled backwards until I couldn't take it anymore and just covered my ears, curling up and falling over to my side.

(Perspective switch to Mervyn)

The loud thumping has passed by me, having made me freeze for a couple moments. The dry stuff I've put into the fire finally did its trick. The light of the lantern was fixed enough to make at the least the ground visible in a dim orange tone, which ought to do for now. I rolled back onto my front, pushing my upper body up and putting the uninjured foot between me and the ground. Leaning onto the lantern, I just manage to stand up onto one leg, the other foot still too injured to be used. For a second, I tried to see or hear where Levi must have went. Then as I heard a bang so loud it nearly hurt in my ears, even from the distance, I limp and stumble forward. Hold tight, Levi! I'm coming!

(Perspective switch to Fahren)

I burst into the battle scene in between two close trees, snapping every branch, big and small, out of the way. Even before I hit the ground, I let a fireball loose, blowing the wolf off a human of which I didn't know if it was my human. Nobody even heard the explosion, as it made everybody ear's ring instantly. Two of the wolves by the human were so dizzied they tumbled over, their heads spinning. The one that was hit directly struggled, but it quickly seemed to lose energy and lay there, almost motionless on its side from frantic breathing.

I landed on top of the human with a huge thud, paws spread around him so I don't crush him. I looked him up and down… ensuring that it's not my human. It's someone else. He just gasped, having no idea what's happening, just holding his ears and flinching from the huge figure that was just inches from crushing him… but wasn't.

I jumped off towards the two others and forcefully whipped around, sweeping them off their paws and sending their backs slamming against the ground. They all were painfully yelping, flailing to get back up as merely one managed to scamper off. The other, I held in choke hold, beneath a paw. As it was resisting and squirming, kicking and squealing out, I quickly whipped my head around to search for any other attackers.

I stared down another wolf. As soon as our eyes met, it froze in place. I hunched down in a sudden jerked and growled loudly. The wolf beneath me was still yowling extremely noisily in desperation, kicking and tearing up my arm with the claws of its hind paws. I winced from the pain, but then used another paw to slam down its hind legs, forcing it to stop.

I kept directly staring at the other wolf, barking and roaring softly, as if talking to it.

Convinced, it finally ran away, disappearing behind the bushes.

My gaze snapped back to meet the eyes of the one that I still had pinned.

I did nothing, hardly the moving despite all the wolves struggling and fighting. There was absolutely no escape for it. I calmly proceeded to stare it down, watching it stop struggling and concede its defeat. Upon seeing this, I finally just let go, slowly removing the paws and keeping an eye on it as it just lay there on the ground, slowly backing away from it. It just looked at me, yipped, and slowly got up. I said nothing. I did nothing. Most animals threaten using more noise, more barking, more teeth showing. But I… do it another way. The less I do, the sinister and freaky I seem, at least in the eyes of a predator.

The remaining wolf looked me up and down and then hastily trotted off.

I kept standing there, moving my head around once again to scan if there were any threats left in the area… but when I saw nothing else being left, I finally, slowly, turned toward the weak wolf on the ground. The one which got knocked off the human. Step… step… step…

As I passed human, laying there nearly curled up around its injured arm, I just shot him a glance. Then I proceeded, approaching the wolf and slowly lowering my hind, sitting by its side. I leaned down in front of it and sadly gazed right into its eyes. One look, and I had to unwillingly realize… it's too late to save it now.

She, the wolfess, whined and cried… and my expression went soft, quietly whimpering too.

I lowered my head, touching noses with her and closed my eyes, making both of us twitch at exactly the same time.

I held it there…

It felt like an eternity, despite being a couple seconds. I had thought her thoughts. Her emotions were echoing through me.

Suddenly, light fell over the scene, illuminating me… then the wolf… then the other human.

(Perspective switch to Mervyn)

Finally! I had heard the growling and whining come from this direction, and after what felt like an eternity of limping after the sounds back and forth, I've found them… The dragon… The dragon was here! With Levicus and... one of the wolves, laying dying.

I've seen Levi flinch and jerk back panicking all of a sudden, as the light had made the big intimidating structure of the dragon visible. But he managed to calm down quickly… as he spotted what it was doing. It had its head lowered, the snout of the wolf touching with the snout of the dragon, each other's eyes shot with tears. I just froze, figuring what might have happened… It reminded me of the thing with George. How bad it felt about having had to kill him. That was my fault… and it was my fault again. It must have fought the wolves off Levicus, fatally injuring one of them… If only I would have listened to Levi… we wouldn't be in this mess. The dragon had to make yet another killing… because of me…

I felt the pain. I felt the dragon's pain, as if it was me standing there, touching noses. As if it was me who wounded it. I wasn't sure if Levi felt it too, but he surely didn't look as flabbergasted as I expected him to be.

The dragon hovered its head over by the wolf's neck, approaching it shakily and spreading the jaw, the teeth placed around the entirety of the wolf's head. Then… I just turned my back to them, heading the light off with me and bringing darkness over the two. I couldn't look at this!

All I heard was a quick twist and a pop. I didn't dare to imagine what had just happened behind me.

As I hesitantly turned back around, lighting them again, I saw the wolf's chest had ceased to rise…

The dragon lied the head in its maw down to the ground softly and carefully let go, removing its bite. It lied down next to the dead wolf afterwards, resting its head on the shoulder.

It was softly murring, cooing as one would help their child to sleep… It put a paw on one of the wolf's hindlegs, softly stroking along the fur. I felt my eyes water up, and my jaw beginning to tremble a little. Even Levicus seemed taken aback. Weird. Usually when he had slain one of those things he hadn't looked or thought back once. He never did. It was strange seeing him like this. He wasn't exactly the emotional or empathetic type.

After about a minute of lying there, cooing… it stopped, the dragon whimpering again. But it didn't last long…

The dragon opened its eyes, getting startled by the sudden presence of light. Its eyeballs were darting around, as if caught, checking everybody for weapons.

Its gaze frantically searched Levi's body, seeing the dagger in his hands but merely considering him a caution. Then its focus moved onto me… and the eyes went wide. It recognized me. It looked at me like it couldn't believe it. As if asking what the hell I was doing here.

The dragon didn't seem very excited. It slowly rose up, still keeping an eye on Levi and still weighted down by the mercy killing.

I just looked down to the wolf… and then back at the dragon. Seeing those big sad eyes made me feel sorry myself. Those eyes… that expression seemed familiar. When we were by that tree near the inn… and just hugged it out…

I almost automatically proceeded forward, having to limp the way, until I stood directly by the dragon's tall chest. It lifted a paw and held an arm open, ready for me… I carefully leaned forward, my arms on either side of the body and let myself drop into the warm hide, resting my head on it. I felt the arm instantly hug me back as soon as I got close enough.

“Awwurr… Hrrrh.."

'I didn't mean to kill her… I'm so sorry…'

As I heard it pitifully whine out… I just pat my hands along the hide.

“It's okay…" I whispered, as if being able to understand what it was trying to convey.

The dragon sat down on its haunches, allowing it to wrap its other arm around me too, and hugged me tight. Very tight. I continued to pet the sides, trying to not become too static in the pressure… but I still noticed my breathing becoming a lot calmer. I felt the snout reach down to the side of my head, nuzzling me and cooing again… similar to how it did to the wolf. Its breathing was quite strange… The dragon kept inhaling and exhaling shakily, shivery. Its eyes were shut tightly. I had to fight back tears myself… hugging stronger too with my comparatively smaller arms.

It loosened its grip and its body slumped a little, resting its large and heavy neck on my shoulder. I leaned my head towards it… and gave it a little kiss. It lightly licked my cheek in response.

“..mrruu…."

Levicus suddenly snapped out of his little emotional trance and pushed himself up as far he could by one arm, as his other one has gotten badly injured due to the wolf attack. Blood was nearly covering its entire lower region. There was no part of his arm that didn't have a biting wound in it. Even his face seemed to have cuts and scratches. He's gotten hurt badly… I better help him!

The dragon, being rather scared off by the unknown human, suddenly pulled away with me still in its arms and scooting a couple steps back.

I tried to stay in the spot, resisting the distancing a little but the dragon probably didn't even notice my protest.

Softly, I pushed against the arms a little, meaning to indicate that I want to pull off. The instant I moved, the arms let go, now unresisting and allowing me to make them move aside. I rather slowly and unwillingly stepped away from the dragon, uncomfortably feeling the warmth fade with it… But then as my focus fell back on Levicus' wounds, I hurried to him, taking a while as my foot was still too injured, almost stumbling a couple times. Levi just shot a questioning glare to me and the dragon, still having the fright written all over his face until I moved the lantern so far away from it that its black structure disappeared into the darkness, using it to secretly lick the blood off its gouges. Eventually it followed after me, padding up behind my back and staying in the shadow that concealed it.

I got down onto one knee and leaned down to Levi, holding his blood clad arm wrapped up in some clothing.

“Mervyn, what the hell?!" he just whispered, not wanting to raise his voice with the dragon around…

“There's time to explain later, we gotta get back to the town now!"

“Why did you- W-hy did it-"

Levicus stopped talking as I was beginning to help him up, but him only having one arm and me only having one foot, it was too difficult for me and he ended up staying on the ground despite my pulling. I looked back over my shoulder towards the dragon as if asking for help.

The dragon's eyes just questioningly looked at me for a moment, before springing into action and emerging from behind me. Hopping around back, it reached out with a wing, bringing its stretchy skin behind Levi's torso. Then it lifted the wing, comfortably bringing Levi, who had flinched and tensed up by the sudden touch of the dragon, up to his feet with it.

“Ru!"

I had almost forgotten that Levi still felt very uneasy about the presence of the dragon… Despite knowing that it wouldn't do a thing to him, he still seemed a little scared of it. But that's normal, I suppose. I used to be sacred too for that while when me and the dragon didn't know each other so well yet. He'll get there.

Turning around and backing towards me, away from the dragon, he held his arm in his clothing. By all the blood on it I couldn't tell if it was still bleeding or if all this were just remains. Nonetheless, we should get back to the town at once.

I confidently stepped forward, almost pulling Levi after me like he had pulled me when the wolves came, but was quickly interrupted by a sudden ache. My foot… dammit. I had forgot about it again. If we were on a path it just might would be enough to move, but in the forest's uneven and obstacle clad ground… this was gonna be hard…

Levicus helped me by letting me brace on his shoulder, so I could avoid putting too much weight on the foot when walking. We were slow, but at least making some progress. Until…

“..Grh…"

The dragon looked at us, and then back at the town which was about a mile away. In the night we couldn't see it, but the dragon could. Only it could see how far away it was, how long it'd take us to get there with that snail like speed.

“Rah!"

The noise made Levi stop, and then he yelped and jerked away as the snout of the dragon was pushed between our bodies, separating us. The dragon suddenly got low onto the ground and pushed its back beneath me with its wings tucked in. At first I was confused what it was doing, but I quickly figured out, as I was being scooted on its back. It must have wanted to give me a quick ride to the gate.

But suddenly, the forelegs reached out for Levicus as well. He didn't know what came for him, he just yelped out again as the paws wrapped around his upper body, lifting him up and pulling him into the hide of its chest, pressing him in tightly to make sure he won't slip out. Instead of resisting, Levi just froze, being rock solid. I could hear his tensed breathing from up here.

The dragon suddenly stood up vertically, and I clasped onto it, afraid, but I trusted it.

It waited until I got a secure grip before taking a couple steps forward, but then it got faster… faster… What was it doing?! Is it going to- Oh crap!

Before I could properly realize what's happening, the wings were flapping hard and the ground already disappeared beneath us, the tree tops closely surrounding us until we saw them from above, slightly lit by the night blue sky, the shining stars and the bright moon, all perfectly uncovered and freely visible now.

I held onto its back tightly, laying on it with my entire body. I even pressed my face in. But I was more concerned about Levicus… About an hour ago, he would have rather killed a dragon than properly met it and given it a chance, and now he's being flown by it! He must be going nuts over there! I couldn't hear the sound of him losing it by all the wind rushing past my ears… he could be screaming right now, although I've never seen him do that before.

The dragon skimmed across the tree tops and within twenty seconds we were near the entrance. Instead of landing, like both me and Levicus hoped it would do, it suddenly ascended much higher, way above the town, now circling.

“RAH!"

My focus was caught by the breathtaking view. Seeing everything being so… small. It's given me a whole new perspective. I've seen a view from the town above on maps, but I had no idea…

The lights seemed so little, leaving a lot of dark patches in which I could only figure what building they'd be. I've been barely able to see my own house, seeing some of the windows still lit -as always. The street lanterns were making small areas of the empty paths visible. It all made me wonder what Dummerston would look like during the day. With people all over the roads, instead of darkness. I didn't see one guy out here right now. At least I couldn't make one out.

The dragon was searching for a secluded place to land. The kind of place were a dragon could appear and disappear carrying two humans without causing ruckus.

As the dragon hadn't seen anybody, it began to fly lower and swoop in. There were a lot patches where it could land. It seemed that the dragon couldn't really choose which one to take. We were lowering, but pulled up after a cancelled landing attempt.

Then, it just took the risk and glided out way into the open, flying over the wide, lit main path. We were lowering onto the height of the building's roofs, then its stories rushing past the windows and then beneath them. Just as its hindlegs extended to touch down onto the ground, we suddenly swooped off to the left into a dark alley. The narrowness had forced the dragon to tuck its wings in, braking the landing speed merely with its paws, which had almost bucked me off the back. To help it stop, the dragon's forelegs let go of Levi, but still clasping out of sheer terror he somehow managed to still stay off the ground for a while. But I couldn't blame him. Even I was still holding onto the dragon as if still in the air…

Dust was thrown up everywhere, which made the dragon sneeze. Then its head darted around, looking back and forth to check if there's anybody there.

“Rah! Rah!" it quietly roared out.

“Awf! Ff- Awf!"

Levi was the first one to get off the dragon, letting go and dropping a small distance to the floor, stumbling a bit after landing on his feet. I rather hesitantly pushed my legs to one side of the dragon, sitting sideways, and then pushed myself off with my hands. As I dreaded, the brief fall was enough to make the injured foot hurt again, as I couldn't avoid landing on it. The short sharp pain made me yelp quietly.

I almost chuckled as I spotted Levi still being scared shitless. His whole body was shaking! That was usually so unfitting to him!

The moment we were off, the dragon shook its whole body a couple times, and then proceeded to walk off towards the lantern lit entrance of the alley in which we landed.

“Rrh…"

It relaxed a bit as it didn't spot anyone else. But it still knew -we all knew- the dragon shouldn't be here.

While Levi was already running off towards the other end of the alley, I stayed. I was about to leave… but couldn't. Not without having properly said goodbye.

The dragon noticed me remain and turned towards me too, smiling a little.

“Rrh"

Levi had stopped by the end as he noticed that I wasn't coming after him, but I let him wait and approached the dragon. As soon as I started moving, the dragon had reached out with an arm again. The closer I got, the more I began to hurry, eventually nearly running. When I arrived by the dragon's chest I didn't hesitate to let myself drop into it, burying my face in the warm hide and closing my eyes, hearing its breathing… and purring. I felt the arm hug me back by my back.

“Ru ru"

I stayed like that for quite a while, ignoring Levicus impatiently watching me behind my back. I would have hugged the dragon even longer, but… we were in the middle of a town! It couldn't stay here for long before somebody would notice!

I unwillingly pulled back a little, lifting my face out of the hide, which now felt all warm. Before leaving, I gave one quick kiss to the snout, and the dragon gave me one last lick. Then we watched each other go, the dragon actually pausing to look at me while I was reluctantly walking off.

It turned around and trotted to the edge, where it stepped out into the open and disappeared behind the corner. A couple loud and hard flaps later I briefly saw its moving outline in the bluish night sky, before it has gotten so far away it blended into the night, and I couldn't make it out anymore…

I just stopped and sighed, staring into the sky…

“Come on, Merv!"

(Perspective switch to Fahren)

My paws left the ground, a single piece of gravel dropping off and tumbling along the ground as I lifted away toward the scene of the ambush. I look back at the lit up town, reluctantly putting distance between it and myself. It looked so nice.. and I wished I could just stay there. But.. I had to do this. Still, I took my time getting there. I wasn't looking forward to this.

As I approached, I swear the air felt like it was getting thicker and thicker. It must've just been in my head. I swooped down in between the treetops and slid to a halt beside the only remnant of the fight still present. The wolf that didn't make it. The wolf I killed. I saw it laying there motionless. I gently nosed it and couldn't help a gutteral whine. My whole body became heavy. My wings drooped to my sides.. touching the ground.. and my legs struggled to hold me up, trembling.

I occasionally hunted wolves for food. It's not uncommon. They're quite fun to hunt since they're so agile and make for a satisfying challenge. Dragons are a tier of predator above even wolves, coyotes, and big cats, so they have developed a necessary fear of us, but not fully. Some remain fierce and hold their ground, even against us. But this..

She was never supposed to be part of this hunting party, but she insisted that she join anyway. I recalled her memories from when I shared minds with her just moments ago. She wanted to prove herself.. she was young and strong.. arrogant.. like all of us at this age.

I never go after females. You never know if they're carrying pups. But I had no idea this time.

I didn't usually do this, but to help as best as I could, to try to make things right, I had felt her thoughts, trying to console her. I had told her what I had to do, and she already knew..

Dragons are in a weird grey area in intelligence, developing empathy and higher thinking than any other animal. Where dogs have the minds of human four year olds, dragons have the minds of adolescent humans, able to reason, but still not passing the mental state of a late ten. They are moody and impulsive. Emotion often gets the better of them. Hoarding, rampant sex, and irresponsible behaviors. They feel invincible and get cocky because they are indeed great fighters and are very resilient. But when things go wrong, it can often feel like the end of the world. They can get overwhelmed. They become enraged, or they can become deeply depressed. Often times, regular living and day to day monotony leaves them as regular, simple animals. But occasionally, they can burst through with emotion unlike any other, to a level only humans can relate to.

Picking the body up with my teeth, I dragged her off the open path, trying to find a suitable burial site, but it was incredibly difficult. The darkness of the night soaked everything around me a deeper and deeper black.. I dragged my wings behind me, and I constantly stumbled under my own weight. A few times, I completely collapsed to the ground in pure anguish. Eventually, I found a place that felt right, and I began to dig, tearing up huge chunks of dirt. After a long, long time.. it felt like it took hours, there was a large enough hole for her to fit in. I dragged her in, and then foraged around for sticks of various sizes, placing them largest to smallest on top of each other, creating a loose lattice. I then swept the dirt I had dug up back over her, covering her whole body. The branches and sticks weren't only decorative, they were deterrents to any other creatures who might want to dig her up and eat her later.

With my work complete, I sighed, laying on top of the dirt pile and curling up. I lifted my head, closed my eyes, and howled.. low and sad. The feral lullaby resonated and reverberated throughout the hills and canyons surrounding the whole area. Sure.. humans or other wolves would certainly have heard me.. but I didn't care.

(Perspective switch to Mervyn)

…

…

What… is it morning already?

I sluggishly opened my tired eyes, and groggily groaned at the light shining through the window, turning my back to it. Just the brief glimpse was enough to recognize that it wasn't the typically orangish morning light outside which would emerge over the walls and horizon… it was bright midday sunlight. The morning had gone away, it was day by now. Despite having almost slumbered into noon… I felt so damn sleep deprived. Might have been due to being away for almost the entire night. Or the uncomfortable hay bed of Levi's bootleg guestroom, which had never been used by anyone else but me and smelled like it.

Last night, to avoid having to limp all the way to the other side of the town to my family's house, I had decided to stay at Levi's place until morning again. I've done that a couple times in the past, but that was because of either family feuds or joyful drunken nights on feasts. Not something like this… sleeping with the dragon, confessing it to Levi, surviving a wolf ambush and being flown by the dragon all in one night… good heavens. If it didn't ruin my sleep rhythm, I would have just turned back to sleep… but I had places to be. Me and Levi still had a store to run after all. How I know Levicus, he should be downstairs and behind the counter, ready for any customers to come by. He'd never pass up the morning hours. I ought to go and join him… and see if perhaps he had magically forgotten about the dragon thing over night. Maybe he had been drinking so much he wasn't remembering anything now. Hopefully…

I pushed myself up and sat by the edge of the bed, as I always did in the morning, and thought about my goals for the day… of course all I could think about was the dragon again. I still had the images of it disappearing into the night in front of my eyes. How it majestically took off towards the stars… the moment I had watched it I already started to miss it. When the dragon wasn't around, there was always a hollow feeling in my chest. A pressure of emptiness, which grew like a cancer, becoming bigger the longer the dragon was away. The only whish I had was that we would meet again soon. Very soon…

And that Levicus wouldn't stalk us this time.

My head feeling weary and my eyes feeling heavy, almost falling shut again, I stood up from the edge and tumbled onto my feet. My injured foot still hurt a little, but not as much that I would have needed help with walking. Although I was still forced to somewhat avoid putting too much weight on it, strangely limping.

I grabbed the rather soiled and a little smelly clothing off the chair and put it on, having taken notably longer with getting dressed than usually from being so sleepy.

I took one last look around the rather filthy room… and then made my way. Slowly strolling out of the guestroom, I found myself in the large hall of the second story of Levi's house which was huge for a hunter, who was barely scraping by and had a family to take care of, being the only source of income.

The sun was beautifully illuminating everything, the rays reaching through the windows so brightly it made me screw up my eyes when I examined them. I could hear the kids playing upstairs and the typical town's busy buzz outside, down in the streets, sounding through the opened windows.

It somehow took me a long time to notice Levi's gal, or wife, Amanda, stand there by the kitchen which was nothing but a wall with a couple disordered furnaces, cauldrons, drawers and counters stacked along it. I bet without Amanda, Levi's house would be as messy as his garden or as the small storage room in the back of his store which was so clad with boxes, barrels and whatnot that it was barely enterable anymore.

On the round dining table was only one full plate left, while the rest was already cleared and cleaned. It must be mine… how nice of Amanda to prepare breakfast for me! And more importantly, to leave it on the table and not remove it despite the daytime almost being lunch by now… I shouldn't have her wait longer!

I've quickly pulled up a stool and sat down by the table. Just as soon I took a first bite of the bread, which has been standing around so long it wasn't warm anymore, Amanda suddenly turned away from the kitchen, facing towards me with a curious glance, which made me a little uneasy, just looking up to her with shy eyes.

“So, is it true what people have been saying about you, Mervyn?"

My eyes went a little wide as I heard that. Did Levi tell everybody!?

“Err… I don't know you mean…"

“The story with the dragon!"

I nearly choked on a bite. My face went red, but then I remembered… she might be referring to the story of the boy who survived a dragon attack. Or to the unknown hero of Moonlight Inn if that word has arrived and gotten around too. Dammit, I have so many stories, I can't even keep them straight!

“Oh, that!" I chuckled “You're talking about that little dragon-ambush about a week ago, don't you?"

“Yes!" she exclaimed “Is that true? Did you really survive something like that? Or is it just another one of those rumors which are but lies and exaggerations? I mean, no offense, but when I think back to the things my sweetheart told me about you, such a tale is hard to believe…"

“Heh, don't worry about that. It's all true. But it's nothing big, really" I giggled back and continued eating, hoping that this conversation would be over soon… She just mumbled to herself, sounding full of disbelief. Moments like those made me regret to have ever made anything up about the dragon-ambush. What had been going through my head back then?! Lie about the sweet dragon for what, a little fame? I wished I could go back in time and slap myself. But I couldn't back out of my fame now. I had to stick to the story.

“Oh! I almost forgot… Levi was looking for you" she added, having flipped around and looking over her shoulder while she was walking back to the kitchen-wall. “He wanted to see you in his store and sort something out regarding 'what happened yesterday'."

I lowered my hands with the bread again “Yesterday? What did he mean with that?"

“I don't know, that's all he told me!"

She turned away from the kitchen again. “I was hoping you could explain me what happened. Especially why Levi's arm was so bloody...

I stopped eating as she sat by the table.

“He outright refused to tell me anything about yesterday! Can you believe that?"

“Oh yeah, that… That's something that should better stay between me and Levi" I explained.

“What happened? What was it? Tell me, my curiosity is killing me!"

“Amanda, please-"

“Did you two have a fight??" she kept nagging.

“No! It was just-"

“A hunting accident? Or have you been attacked?"

I just shook my head and quickly stood up, taking the rest of the bread with me.

“Look, I gotta see Levi right now. If he wanted to speak me it must be very urgent!" I explained whilst getting back onto my feet. “Me or Levi will tell you later!" I shouted back as I was already hurrying out of the room and rushing down the stairs. As I closed the door, I still heard her voice mumble and protest before I was finally far enough to eat in peace.

Instead of directly entering Levi's store, I visited his backyard first. I didn't even know myself what had attracted me to it at the moment. Perhaps I just wanted to get some fresh air or a relaxing place. Levi's backyard was indeed one of the quietest places in town. So desolate, so secluded, so lonely… you could do anything in here without being worried about being caught or disturbed.

I sat down by one of the work benches and calmly finished my breakfast, watching the sun rays reach over the wall in the meantime. Even midday, there were shadows everywhere, looming from one side to another. In the heat of the summer this place was always relaxingly cool. During the autumn storms it was protected and shielded from wind and rain. In winter the snow covers were always a little thinner and melted first at this spot. I could understand why Levi liked to spend so much time here…

Finally having finished, I started to make my way towards the store and see what's new. My foot seemed to have gotten better, I barely had to limp anymore. I could casually walk around the building, which I chose over heading back inside and going from door to door. I wasn't in a hurry.

I opened and closed the noisy wooden gate around the corner and proceeded towards the road's side. I jumped the few stairsteps up onto the porch of his store, strolling by the large showcasing windows into which I didn't hesitate to peek inside.

Levicus was at the counter, as he always was, as if nothing was different at all. I could see from here through the dirty glass that he was at least as tired as I was from the eventful night. If not, even more tired since he's gotten up way earlier than me. He also had his injured arm still wrapped up in the white linen Benton had given us when we've gotten back to town.

I proceeded through the entrance door, hearing the familiar ringing of the bells. Levicus, leaning with his crossed arms on the counter as he always did, took his focus off the ground and just stared at me approaching.

“So… you wanted to see me?" I said after a little pause of silence. But he stayed speechless, doing nothing but look at me. I just shrugged, and he shrugged back.

“Don't pretend like we haven't ridden a dragon yesterday" he then solemnly spoke after another while of quietness. By the tone I could tell, he was still somewhat uneasy about my friendship with the dragon, but far less uncomfortable than he was last night. “That was plain crazy! We could have slipped and dropped to the ground! We could have been spotted! We- we-"

“Hey, calm down man" I just chuckled “We're still here, aren't we?"

“Yeah…" he just mumbled, looking to the ground again.

“Heh, you should have seen your face when we landed" I giggled, pinching his shoulder. “You were all like 'Help! Help! Ay man, help me!'"

“Oh please! You should have seen your face too. You were looking like a fish!" he laughed back. I laughed too, before our glances awkwardly wandered off and the conversation quieted down again... Talking about it still felt very weird for both of us. Even when laughing about it.

Suddenly, Levi's head snapped up, as if he had another oh-so-brilliant brainwave. He looked around the partly empty and dirty shelves of his store like a rat. Then he focused on me... He slowly took his leaning arms off the counter and properly stood up.

“Y'know, if my friends… are your friends, or at least are willing to help you like they do me…"

His face was all red... I didn't like where this was going.

“th-then I guess this should mean… that your friends are sort of… my friends."

I just frowned.

“Or should at least be willing to help me out in my hardships" he added.

“Wh- What do you mean!?" I worriedly inquired.

“Just look around you! My store is doing terribly! It always had been! I might have to close down! You have a dragon that looks after you, but I? And my family? We'd end up on the streets!"

“Levicus" I solemnly interrupted his complaining. “What are you planning?"

“Dragons are great hunters, yes?"

For a couple seconds I was pondering what he was intending to do. But as I realized… my eyes shot wider. “Oh no, we're not..."

“Oh yeah!"

I walked away from the counter, headed towards one of the windows. Levicus hurried after me. “Look, I'm not even asking for much! I don't want it to work here! Just… four or five kills a week, and we'll be golden!" he excitedly spoke right into my face.

“And how do you expect me to explain that to the dragon!? It can't talk or understand a word I'm saying!"

Levi's look disappointingly sunk down. “Oh…you sure there isn't a way? …What about gestures?"

“As long as there isn't a gesture for 'can you share us some of your kills because me and Levi are doing a horrible job at running a store' then no. That's not an option" I said as I continued walking.

“Come on, at least give it a try!"

I stopped and flipped around. “And how? How am I supposed to…"

“Oh, I don't know, I thought you were the dragon-boy! After all you've managed to somehow befriend it… Wait, hold on. How did you even do that?"

“Oh- that…"

I quickly turned away again to hide my blushing face. “That's… not relevant right now…"

I went silent for a couple seconds, concentrating really hard to not think back to the moment and avoid my face turning even redder…

“Are you absolutely sure there isn't a way?" Levi said after a while, trying to jump in front of me but I just flipped away again.

I was about to rudely turn Levi down another time, but then restrained myself from it… He still wasn't wrong. We do could use some help, especially from an apex predator…

“I have to think about it, alright?" I explained to Levi, who looked let down by the answer. “I can't just ask the dragon… I'll need some time to come up with something…"

My glance was suddenly caught by our crossbows laying there by the counter… then Levi's hunting knapsack… the gloves we wore when skinning the catches…

I raised an arm and held a hand towards him.

“I got it" I confidently disrupted the silence.

Levi chuckled impressed. “Now that's what I wanted to hear! What do you have in mind?"

Staying silent, I hurried towards the counter and grabbed our crossbows off them with each hand. “How about we're going on a little hunting expedition?"

Levicus just frowned in confusion. “A hunting expedition? Now? With our injuries? At this time of the day, at this time of the season?"

“…with the dragon!" I added, wiggling around with the crossbows a little.

Other than I've expected, Levi didn't seem really relieved by the idea.

“Mervyn… you see, I thought there was a way which wouldn't include that I'd have to… directly meet the dragon…" he stammered while looking down.

“Oh, please! Do you want it to help with the store or not?"

“Well, I do, but-"

“Then that's the only way we can do it!" I eagerly interrupted.

“But how is that even supposed to help us?!" The excitement he had in his face before had faded into concern. “How are gonna tell the dragon to hunt for us?"

I lowered my arms a little in thinking… it should work… “You'll see, Levicus" I eventually just smiled back.

I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn't comfortable with this at all. “But I'd have to close the…" He gazed around his store worriedly but figuring that getting the dragon's help might make up for it… he accepted it. “This better be worth it."

He somewhat hesitantly stepped forward to me and grabbed his crossbow off my hand. Then he just determinedly nodded at me and we left through the entrance door, while he quickly reached over and turned the 'closed' sign over.

“This is on you, Merv!" he spoke back while rummaging the key ring out of a pocket and standing in front of the lock. I stopped by the porch and waited for him… Having to close during this time of the day felt weird. There still was business going on everywhere. When we were hunting, it was during the late evening or early morning. We rarely left the store behind midday… This better work out.

As he was done, he stepped to me and we ended up waiting in front of the small staircase off the porch for each other to go front. Usually Levi went forward, and I behind him. But now… he didn't seem so confident anymore.

He stretched an arm out, gesturing me to go ahead.

I just strolled down the stairs and proceeded across the road into the shortcut-alley, not seeming as nervous as Levi was who was hesitantly following.

“You're still scared of the dragon, aren't-"

“Hey- Don't talk about it in public!" he loudly whispered, having reached for my mouth with his hand and hastily flipping his head around to check if anybody heard that. Although there was no one in the alley but us. “If anybody here finds out that we're making deals with a dragon, then I can just forget it about the store!" he agitatedly whispered.

“Calm down, Levi" I just chuckled again. “No one will ever know about this. At least as long as you're not acting so strange. Besides, a shop which has its wares provided by a dragon sounds pretty cool to me. I'd shop there!"

“Yeah, of course you would…" he mumbled with a slightly contempt tone… most likely having thought back to what I was doing with the dragon when he'd seen us the first time.

He fell behind again as we got closer to the gate.

As we were by the walls, one of the gate guards suddenly turned towards us. “Oh- There you are! How the hell did you get back in here?"

The question made me freeze. “What do you mean?"

“The nightshift had watched you leave the city but hadn't seen you enter it again, and so did I. We've gotten a little concerned."

“Oh- that…"

“That must be a mistake" Levi cut me off, stepping in front of me and hiding my suspicious acting. “We've returned after an hour or so."

“Yeah, flying over the walls or what?"

Me and Levicus just stared at each other for a moment… before we all just erupted into laughter with the guard knocking Levicus by the shoulder. “Haha, use the gate this time you two!"

“Yeah, very funny…" I mumbled to myself.

…

As soon as we've gotten remotely far away from the gate, we've quit the fake friendliness… and Levi had this concerned expression back on his face.

“Look, Mervyn" he mumbled while we were wandering along the path. “I want no unnecessary things in this. I don't wanna get all close and personal with your dragon. Just hunting business, you hear me?"

“Yeah, sure" I chuckled back. “Although, I'm pretty sure you two will get along nicely."

“This is not a joking matter!" he whispered, figuring we were too close to other people to talk about it normally. “It's serious. Business only! No drama, no playing, no… whatever the hell you two were doing back then."

…

_ _