Lotus was having mixed feelings.

She’d successfully faked her own death, which was great. She had escaped her “destiny”, along with the help of an incredibly handsome BloodDragon with mental problems and another ForestDragon who she’d made friends with after about three seconds.

Life was great.

Unfortunately, she could never go back. Her old life was a goner, and Lotus knew that she would miss the village—the amber huts, the stories, the friendly dragons—but she had to move on. She’d made her decision, and that decision was to stay with Razortail.

She hoped she’d made the right choice.

Holly walked on Lotus’s left side, humming to herself. She was clearly happy as long as she was with present company.

“Where are we going to go?” Holly asked.

Both of them looked at Razortail.

“What?” he said. His voice sounded grumpy, but his smile never changed.

“Well…” Lotus fiddled with her pouches. “Do you want to go back to the assassin camp, or—”

“No!” Razortail exclaimed. “Not back there. You were right, Lotus. Killing is not right. It isn’t something that a regular dragon should do for a job. Everyone deserves a chance to live, and who am I to take away that privilege?”

“I knew you’d come around!” Lotus cried. She was so happy; she didn’t even think twice about throwing her wings over him and curling her tail around his. “You’re growing wiser, Razortail—in just the day that I’ve actually gotten to know you. I’m so proud.”

She could feel Razortail’s pulse, beating quickly. She slowly disentangled herself from him and smiled up at him, happy tears pouring out of her eyes. He smiled back at her, but something told her that his smile was real. It made his eyes sparkle in an amazing way, and made him look less scary.

"Wait," Lotus said, frowning. "didn't you say something about being hunted down by assassins if you left?"

Razortail looked at his claws. "It's worth it," he said, his grin full of emotion. "It's worth it to be with you, Lotus. I can't be that kind of dragon anymore, no matter what the cost. If I die, then I deserve it after all the dragons that I've killed."

Lotus looked at him in wonder before gently breaking out of her hug.

Holly smiled. "I guess BloodDragons aren't so bad after all." She stared off into the trees. “Okay, since we’re not going back to the assassin camp, where are we going?”

Razortail looked where she was gazing, then to Lotus. “What about leaving the Jungleswamp?”

Lotus grinned. “Absolutely.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

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

They traveled until they couldn’t travel anymore.

The sun had long since disappeared below the horizon, although it was hard to tell. In the Jungleswamp, the trees blocked most of the light—which made it hard to discern the time.

They found (by sheer luck) a small clearing with no carnivorous plants or quicksand and plopped down together, exhausted.

“WHYYYYYY are my LEGS so SOOOOORREE?” Holly groaned. “This is why dragons FLY.”

“To get caught in Thornwranglers?” Lotus countered. “I’m with you, Holly, but I do NOT want to get eaten alive.”

“Don’t you ForestDragons have some sort of plant control or whatever?” Razortail asked.

There was silence.

“I knew that,” Lotus said.

“Same,” Holly said. “Although, it’s not really useful…”

“I haven’t practiced controlling plants in a long time,” Lotus admitted, feeling slightly ashamed that she hadn’t thought of it before. “It always seemed too safe and fluffy and weird.”

“Also, we can’t control carnivorous plants,” Holly said. “If we could, then there wouldn’t be dangerous plants in the Jungleswamp.”

“Oh.” Razortail poked his claws at the ground. They were almost as sharp as Holly’s.

“Hey!” Lotus hissed suddenly. “Do you guys hear that?”

There was a small squeaking noise coming from behind them. Everyone got up and trotted in that direction.

“Oh,” Razortail said. “It’s a PixiDragon.”

“Really?” Lotus gasped. “It could be our pet!”

Razortail wrinkled his nose. “Or it could be my dinner.”

Lotus ignored him and bounded in between two bushes, with Holly right on her tail.

“Quicksand!” Holly shouted. She was right. Lotus was already almost up to her chest in the muddy, sand mess. But she ignored it all and paddled through it, using plants as anchors.

“Lotus, no!” Razortail cried. He was standing on a rock above the quicksand. “You don’t know what you’re doing! Get out of there, it’s just a PixiDragon!”

Lotus reached the little creature, and her heart melted. It was so small—it could fit perfectly in the palm of her claw. It had the biggest, cutest eyes Lotus had ever seen. Its wings were flapping weakly, its tiny claws outstretched and its tail wriggling. When it saw Lotus, it shrank away.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Lotus said gently. “It’s alright, I’m here. You’re safe now.” She scooped it up in her talons and hugged it to her chest. She managed to swim/walk to Razortail’s rock, where Holly had dragged herself out of the quicksand.

Razortail reached down and lifted her out of the sand trap. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“But look!” Lotus held out the little PixiDragon. It cooed at her, looking at her with adoring eyes. “She’s so cute.”

“Aww.” Holly had crawled up the rock to see what they were looking at, and her eyes grew as big as a lily pad when full grown.

The little dragon was so small. Her gossamer wings shimmered in a rainbow-colored pattern, seeming to change color constantly. Her eyes had no pupils, only galaxy-colored irises. Her horns were elegant and tiny. Her claws were sharp but no bigger than Lotus’s slit pupil. Her little tail curled around Lotus’s claw.

Slowly, Razortail’s expression softened. “What should we call her?”

“How about Lily?” Holly suggested. It seemed like a fitting name for the little dragon. Lotus nodded.

Lily snuggled Lotus’s palm. Lotus took one of the pouches around her leg and fastened it around her chest, putting the PixiDragon in it. Lily yelped and stuck her head out of the pouch like she enjoyed being there.

“Now we rest.” Razortail took the rope that was still attached to Lotus’s neck and tugged her over to the clearing. Holly followed right after them and lay down, setting her chin in the soft ferns, closing her eyes. Lotus did the same just a few feet away from her. Razortail folded his wings tight and lay down on his chest. Lotus could feel his eyes on her, but she was too exhausted to say anything. Right before she fell asleep, she thought she felt him curl his tail gently around hers.

But then she slipped into darkness.