We arrived in front of a palisade of a village in the middle of a marsh and whose houses are on stilts.

To attack the village you need boats and it is very well defended as well...

The houses are made of wood with mud and pile roofs against tides and storms.

Fresh water comes through bamboos and serves almost all houses.

One larger than the others is a temple of great dimensions but on a slope, in the dry.

Guards were passed who looked more like crocodiles on long legs than humans, but they had large abs and didn't look comfortable.

One stopped Hissa: "Hissa, did you find a new one????"

He looked at me from head to toe and said, "Kid, what's your name?"

"Ivan," I answered.

"Not a common name. Where are you from? "

"On the other side of the great sea. I have no family... and I ended up here in this jungle..."

"Poor kid, Hissa, will take care of you."

He took up his spear again and let us all pass, but Hissa said: "Heh, brutus they are only children..."

Brutus spoke in the lizard language, which looked like, not draconian. For humans, it was just a little whistling and growling, but I could understand:

"You know why!!!!! "

Hissa: "As if I had a choice! Poor children... bring them a little happiness."

Brutus: "It's a waste of resources!"

Hissa: "They picked the fruits of the jungle..."

She dropped a tear and looked at all the children and gave them a beautiful smile.

"Quick, there's soup waiting for you and rice."

The children ran and I followed the movement.

But Hissa arrived first and said, "STOP!"

"We wash before we eat!"

an helper had heated the water in a basin and everyone took a bucket, a towel and shaved soap and a sponge. We were at the sea and the village sold sponges to the mainland and soaps too! A local specialty!..

"Ivan, over here! "Hop in the basin!

And I had to bow and get my back rubbed by Hissa and his helper mixed an oil with the soap and rubbed my hair. It had been so long since I had been taken care of... I let it happen and I loved it.

I was wiped and Hissa asked me "You are docile!"

"It had been so long since I had been taken care of... then I shed real tears... Mom....."

Hissa: "A mother is irreplaceable but we can become a family for you if you want!"

Me: "And how does it work, why do you take care of children like that?"?

It is our religion! We worship the great Silver, a demi-god who sometimes comes to visit his followers and all children must be treated fairly.

We lay eggs but the rest is like humans. We know how to have our hybrid children, but it's taboo here. They have the right to go to the temple to pray and buy food, but they cannot stay here. We are so few in number and we cannot disappear more and more by hybridization. It's very strict. Hybrid couples cannot keep children here and they are taken by the Silver Great once every 6 moons. Human children who are not adopted are also taken by the big silver."

Everyone here follows this religion.

We make offerings and pray for his protection.

When people are desperate and the offering is generous, He can sometimes heal."

"And you see it?"

"No, we can't, she's behind a silver veil. We'd be too afraid of his appearance."

But since there's been a war with the orcs, he's been coming less and less.

But the coming of a black abomination could frighten her, make her curious or furious.

There would be nothing worse than..."

Ah, it's complicated and not for children your age.

Here, you're dry and go pick clothes from the basket, there must be your size. I'll sew up your shirt and wash it. "

we went into a big room and everyone knelt before a statue... of a dragon?????

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So I was motivated there!

Then, while making a "hiss" (which meant draconically thank you) we got up and waited for Sister Hissa to clap her hands and everyone threw themselves on the pea and bacon soup.

Happy is he who fished the bacon at the bottom (the big piece).

Then we each had a wooden plate and were put a large piece of bread and poured the soup on top to soften it.

we had spicy leaves and salt.

Mmhh, salt...

It was forbidden to talk while eating and after the finished meal, everyone had to clear their plates, wash them in the bucket, wipe them and store them. Each plate had the name of its owner engraved on the back.

Hissa: "You can keep it and we'll write your name on it!"

"I can write, Sister Hissa!"

"What! Can you write? "

"Yes, I went to school but I learned a lot from a magician who disappeared into another dimension... then I was a prisoner and I read his grimoires but I learned a few tricks"

Hissa: "Can you show? "

I took a jar with water and froze it

"Ohhhh, how wonderful!"

Then I took the water and boiled it

"It's hard! But I aspire to become a magician/ blacksmith or hunter/ knight"

Hissa: "We'll find you a place to sleep, okay?" There's room next to Arthur and Emily.

Emilie was a Kajit, a half human with lynx features and had a beautiful red tail.

Me: "I thank you but I'd like to sleep in my cave, I have all my stuff!"

Hissa: "As you wish, you have a place here waiting for you!"

I said, "You're very kind, Hissa! But can we trade salt? And spices?"

Hissa:" Yes, it's possible. There's the mill and the merchant sells salt. We have a lot of them here because of the marshes. And that's what makes our village so rich: the salt marshes.

We get a good quality salt here, better than in the mines! and we don't suffer, sometimes from sunburn!"

"I saw that meat was rare here, is that normal?" I asked Hissa.

"Yes, you have to go into the jungle and there are a lot of predators and you can't raise a lot of cattle. We eat a lot of fish and eggs and rice. We have gigantic rice paddies. Other crops are destroyed by orcs and since rice does not burn in looting and they do not like it, then we have peace."

"If I bring meat back to the village, will you be happy?"

"NO! You mustn't risk your life for that, it's too dangerous"

"I hunt well, you know?"

Hissa:" If you die, you will be mourned! Don't make us suffer! We already care about you..."

By surprise, I kissed her on the cheek!

"Oh, blushing! A human who kisses a lizard in the face..."

"I'll be back for breakfast!"

I hurried to get to the forest before nightfall because if I fall asleep, bam, I become a dragon again!

When I arrived in the delta, where no human dares to venture, I took back my initial form of a black dragon.

I laid down and spotted in the blink of an eye the pigs and hinds I was going to sell!

10 minutes later, a wild boar turned the earth a little to find some acorns and the next minute, it flew over the delta.

Ten minutes later, he was emptied, his skin removed and tied up.

The same for a fallow deer and I took 2 birch trunks and V-jointed islands and with vines I made a sled to put them both.

In the early morning, the guards opened the door for me:

"Did you chase that away by yourself? Is it not too heavy??????"

It takes 2 to 3 men to hunt like that!

"I have some magician stuff!"

Brutus: "Ohhhhhh!"

I arrived in the early morning and said "Hissa, for your kindness! "

What was Hissa's head when she saw the big boar, prepared to be cooked and in addition it was covered with ice to keep the freshness

They had a refractory stone cooler in a cellar and there were big blocks of ice but they were coming to the end.

"The fridge doesn't work this time of year, we'll have to eat it fast!"

Me:" How about salting it? It keeps great in brine! We add branches or trees with scents. It just needs to be boiled and soaked in brine for a few months and then you have cooked ham and you can smoke it in oak woods. It doesn't rot anymore and it's great!"

Half of it was consumed during the day and Hissa said it was worth a fortune!

Then they went to the merchant, to the miller's house.

"Bill, you're trading salt for deer?"

"Yes, no problem! Here's 1kg of salt"

He wanted to give it to Hissa, but she said, "No, it's for Ivan."

I took my package back and put it in my bag.

I had my salt.

then I learned that there was an herbalist who made care potions and various basic necessities as well as the spice trade.

They had pepper! PEPPER!

Hooray, I was already drooling for my next meal.

I was expecting to have a gratin with rice, tomatoes and Orloff fillet, or even fries chips....

The following days, Hissa remarked to me that I smelled like a wild animal and that I had to come here to sleep or clean my stinking cave.

But, above all, I think I have hormones that drive Hissa, a female lizard, crazy and that my smell acts on her receptors.

Every day I cast extremely weak ice spells to refreeze the water in the fridge, I didn't want to arouse suspicions.

A month passed and I decided once and for all to clean up my den!

I took a deep breath and FWWWIIISSSSSHHHH, all burned out inside.....

Purified by fire....

Then I gave big blows of wings and dust and dross quickly broke out.

I put fir branches and lavender so that it didn't smell anymore and I was more or less satisfied.

As my life restructures a little, I slowly regained the joy of living.

Animal and Dragon I was happy and as a child, I had a new family. But I couldn't live forever in a lie.

Arthur and Emily were my best friends.

I spent the full moon nights with them, the day before and the day after, but that was the limit.

One evening, the children gathered and told me: (Arthur talking to me)

"Ivan, we've been living together for two months.

We're your family now and no one has any secrets from anyone here. We know you're hiding things. You hunt big game and you can bring it back, you smell the beast and something is wrong. That's not fair! "

Emilie:" Yes, you're too strong, and tell us why you don't come and sleep with us and stay in the jungle? We're afraid for you!"

Me: "Everyone knows that Tom is the weakest of us, okay?

Sam, lift the water barrel a little!"

Sam got up and tried to lift the barrel connected to the gutter to collect fresh water.

But the 100 kg barrel didn't move!

Me: "Well, I'm going to do magic but don't tell anyone, okay? It's our secret!"

So I forced myself out on Tom. "May the strength be with you, Tom"

Then Tom managed to lift the terrible barrel with one hand!

Ohh, can we try? Yes, can we try?????

In front of such a liveliness the children played costaus but this did not escape Hissa's vigilant surveillance.

Hissa came all red in the dormitory," What's going on here?"

Tom and Sam: "It's a secret, Ivan explains how he transports game."

Hissa calmed down and looked at me smiling! "Everyone has the right to have their own secret garden, but don't risk hurting yourself."

Then I caught up with Hissa:

"Hissa, I'm sorry I did magic, but they wanted to have the truth. But I don't understand why you're so nice to me."

Then she showed me a scar on her stomach:

"When I was a child, I used to swim and was bitten by a sharp fish and it punctured my stomach. Unfortunately it damaged my reproductive organs and I don't know how to have children. But now it's you, my children.

And a tear fell as she blinked."

Me: "I know a technique to heal you"

Hissa: "Even the big Silver can't cure that..."

Me: "I'll find a solution."

Then in the evening, the children went to a "meeting" and a hot topic was put on the table: what happened to the older orphans?