Evelyn sat on one of the stone chairs outside while preparing the things she needed to bring with her.

Steel dagger, check. Stone arrows, check. Bow, check.

She looks at Michael who just finished bathing. His glistening body was a sight to behold especially for Evelyn, who was a fitness nut. Knowing that Michael would come with her, Evelyn lists Michael off the things she needed to prepare.

Michael, check.

Evelyn returns her attention to her tools. She looks at her cloak and she smiles.

When she first woke up, she only had a small fur blanket to cover her body with. The furs she got from hunting alone were missing. She didn’t get angry since the only ones who could have taken it was either Michael or Bob, the latter not capable of carrying all of them at once.

When the Draco’s roar snapped Michael and Evelyn out of their hot and bothered states, Evelyn saw that Michael sewed her furs into a tight-fitting cloak that was perfect for her. It allowed her to move with grace without having to show her body each time she did a jump. In addition, it also meant that she now had proper clothes.

At first, Evelyn was annoyed that Michael entered her room to take her furs which was a breach of her privacy but she eventually cooled down. She trusted Michael to keep everything in his pants, at least for now. It didn’t help that Evelyn was too preoccupied with Michael. Her judgment was biased due to her new feelings for Michael.

I know he didn’t do anything… grrr but that’s still my room. I’ll tell him off… later.

The two of them were too infatuated with each other and now they didn’t have to hide it. It felt liberating.

But now that they were about to fight the Draco, the most dangerous creature on the planet, they both needed to focus. Any distraction could spell their deaths. It didn't help that they distracted each other a lot.

To do this, the two of them set rules that they had to follow, just until the Draco was dead. One of the rules was to reduce their ogling time to 1 second which was hard for the two of them.

Once she has finished storing her main weapons, Evelyn turns to the tools, medicine, and items that she and Michael prepared.

Goros adrenaline, check. Night petal extract, check. Stimurries, check. Morfrine, check. Flour pots, check.

There were more but Evelyn quickly skimmed past them. She did her best to ignore Michael’s horrible naming scheme. After all, she found it cute.

Turning around, Evelyn gasps a bit when he sees Michael right behind her.

“Michael?”

Looking at Evelyn’s prepared gear, Michael notices a bit of sloppiness. He smiles which causes Evelyn to blush. In the beginning, he would have been annoyed but he can’t help but find it cute.

+You skimmed past some of them huh?+

“Noooo…”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Michael rolls his eyes which makes Evelyn chuckle.

+You go help Bob with his gear, I’ll check if all your stuff is in order.+

“Thank you!”

Smiling, Evelyn quickly runs away to help Bob. She preferred the act of playing with the adorable almost sentient monkey to slaving away organizing objects, something she noticed that Michael likes to do.

Michael is so organized. Hehe.

Michael smiles watching Evelyn skip away from him. He found her really cute.

Was she always this cute?

Evelyn was still the same but Michael felt that she was more adorable.

Looking back at the tools, Michael organizes them to make it easier for Evelyn to pull out if she ever fights the Draco.

Thinking of the Draco, Michael felt horrible. He imagined Evelyn being caught and torn asunder by the Draco’s powerful body.

He was scared, scared that only one of them might come home.

I can’t be terrified now.

Michael closes his eyes. He wanted those thoughts to disappear. This was not the time to second guess, especially when they were going to engage the Draco today. Slowly calming down, Michael starts to rationalize.

Okay… her body is tough. If she can somehow lose the Draco, she can rest and recover. The Draco is strong but… she might be able to withstand a few bites, effectively reducing the chance of a lethal strike. Her steel dagger, if used in the right situation, could pierce the Draco’s scales. I have to trust that she can do this.

As he slowly comforted his paranoid self, Michael felt more focused. He needed to trust Evelyn that she’ll survive. After all, she’s trusting him to be the vicious one in their partnership.

She promised to keep me sane. Okay, I’ll be the one who’ll do the monstrous stuff. After all, it’s not like it’s hard. I’ve been doing this for a year now.

Michael stops to stare at the sky.

When did I become like this?

Hearing no answer, Michael continues to prepare his tools.

While Michael was finishing up on his side, Evelyn reached Bob.

Bob was gearing up as well. By gearing up, it means that Bob was gathering as many stones as he can from the river without attracting any of the water serpents.

“Hey, Bobbbbb!”

Bob turns around with a scowl on his face. He barely had any sleep and had to deal with these two lovebirds. He realized that he should have stopped them when they were flirting in the cave.

“Awww, don’t be like that. Come on, let me help you. They’re just rocks after all.”

Bob ignores the excited woman and continues to pocket as many rocks as he can.

“Bob.”

Bob stops for a bit when he hears Evelyn’s voice. It was serious and devoid of the usual energetic voice she uses.

“Support Michael properly.”

Bob rolls his eyes. He waves his hand as if to say that was the plan all along.

“I mean it. You’ve seen the Draco before, you know that it’s going to be dangerous and… I might die if I fail.”

Bob stops moving. He was annoyed by Evelyn and Michael’s constant flirting but he didn’t dislike Evelyn as a person. Bob thought that Evelyn was a swell addition to the family so he didn’t want her gone.

He signs to the best of his ability.

+Evelyn no die.+

Evelyn gives Bob a bright smile.

“I know. I don’t intend to die, you know!”

Bob gives Evelyn a wide smile.

“I just… I just want Michael to be fine if worse comes to worst.”

Bob thinks.

+Okay.+

“Good. I want you to protect Michael no matter what.”

Bob nods.

+Protect Michael. Protect family.+

Evelyn smiles. Her eyes become a bit wet at the thought of Bob losing Michael. According to Michael, Bob was the only survivor of his family. If he lost Michael, he would not be able to survive.

And as hard as it is to admit, Evelyn knows that she would not survive without Michael’s knowledge of Teremarae. Even if she could somehow tank the damage dealt by the Draco, Evelyn could die to other causes such as disease or other forms of damage that her gift couldn’t withstand.

“Yes, Bob. Protect family. We’re family, okay?”

Bob nods.

Evelyn leans forward and pulls Bob into a hug. Bob hugs Evelyn back.

For a moment, the two of them were silent.

Eventually, they pull away.

“Okay, good pep talk.”

Bob agrees.

The two of them continue gathering rocks.

Eventually, Bob and Evelyn finish up on their side while Michael finishes his.

They meet with a large number of supplies in tow.

Scanning Michael, Evelyn sees that he’s no longer affected by what happened yesterday. If it did, he did a good job hiding it. Instead, Evelyn saw a burning resolve in his eyes.

Evelyn felt the same.

They were going to have their peace whether it was through surviving or dying.

They go towards the domain of the dragon.