Today, I woke up with a warm feeling in my stomach

A small smile plastered on my face as I stretched

Hmm, that warm feeling might just be my wound

Or a fart bubbling?

Eeh, it’s pleasant so I don’t really mind.

Finishing my light stretch, I climbed my way up to my feet, yawning slightly while looking around.

Now, where is mister dragon?

“Mister draaagooon?”

No? 

It seems he’s still gone somewhere.

Well, he should be able to find me, even if I sta-

“Yes?”

“AAAAAH, aah you, stupid dragon! Don’t scare me like that!”

Saying that, it looked like the dragon was smiling.

Or, yeah, I don't know, phoenix’es don't really have facials gestures.

But if they did, I’m a 100% sure that he would be smiling right now.

Stupid dragon.

“Ahem, I was wondering if you were ready to leave, but seeing you awake and teasing me like that, I’m guessing you are.”

A nod in confirmation

“Then, I’m just gonna pack up real quick and we’ll go, it’s just a straightforward walk from here?”

“Almost, yes.”

“Almost?”

“You have been walking diagonally south for a while now.”

“What? So, you are saying, I’ve been walking in the wrong direction for days, and you’ev not said anything?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, you smug, piece of dung, I’m gonna get you-“

But before finishing, I realised that I should probably just let it slide.

I’ve been kind of a jerk lately. And I kinda deserve that.

“Anyway, just.. Wait for me.”

Turning back to camp, I gathered the little things that belonged to me.

Among them, my bow and arrows.

After putting them on, I turned back to the rocky land.

“Now, the real adventure starts!”

“Did you not say that when we first went into the forest?”

...

“THE REAL ADVENTURE STARTS!”

“Sure.”

After taking my first step on the rocky surface, I found it surprisingly smooth.

As if water had smoothed it out for millennia

Which it probably has, I mean,

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It has to rain here, right?

This is gonna be so awesome!

Walking straight forward, I gave the sun a big smile.

This is so awesome.

This is going to be a perfect day!

----------------------------------------

It has not been that awesome

It has not been perfect.

We’ve been walking for hours

And the sun is unrelenting.

Gad damn

It’s like walking in a desert, but slightly less hot

I’ve been sweating so much that my clothes have gotten see through

Would be embarrassing to meet a human right now.

Mister dragon does not seem to mind.

Obviously

He even seems to take pleasure in my suffering.

You little ant hole.

Anyway, even after walking for this long

Nothing really changes, the land is still rocky.

And as far as I can see, there are no landmarks that can point us in the right direction.

Hell, if it were not for mister dragon, I would have probably already started walking in circles without knowing.

I know because I did, multiple times.

The only reason I know, is because I asked mister dragon

Smuggly pointing out that I, in fact, was walking in the wrong direction.

Stupid dragon, you could tell me on your own without me having to ask you everytime.

Dragons have long grudges I guess.

The only fun thing with this walk is how the ground kinda.. Moves?

Not in a literal sense, but

They go down, and then up

Like some giant rock wave

Sometimes they can be so steep that I have to slide down,

Which is fun.

But can be a pain in the ass to climb back up, luckily

I still have my trusty hook, even if it’s bent.

But the monotony of walking kicked in once again.

Nothing happening but the occasional slide

Or talk with mister dragon, but as you can guess

He never really talks much

“Mister dragon, what is your favorite colour?”

...

“Mister dragon, do you dragons poop?”

...

“Mister dragon, if we theoretically say that you where a human, how would you fight a dragon?”

...

“Mister dragon, if you don’t say something, your technically stupid”

“Þú ert heimskur”

“Okay, now you're just being mean”

Anyway

See? No talking.

Maybe I’m asking the wrong questions?

Let’s try something a little.

More personal

“Hey, ehm, mister dragon?”

No response

“Where are all the other dragons?”

A small twitch

“Dead”

Oh, a response, final-

Wait what

“Oh, I’m sorry. ”

“Dont be, I do not want pity from a human”

“Okey, then, er… How did they die?”

“None of your business”

“Okay... sorry”

“I said no pity human. If you are to take pity, take pity to those that were foolish enough to face us in battle. Those were the days, Dragons filling the sky, all creatures of the world fearing us, we were gods flying the earth.”

Hm, it looks like he misses the old days.

I wonder how long ago that was?

I don't think there are any books about dragons anymore.

They only exist as myths and legends.

Maybe there are some, but they are probably super expensive and secret.

I could never get those

“Then, how many dragons where there?”

“Oh, many, If we had all gathered together, we would black out the sun for an entire city. Altough there was never a need for us to gather like that, even one of us could destroy even one of your measly cities”

Wow, now he’s talking.

I guess going on his ego helps him loosen his lips.

Or jaw.

“Was all dragons blue?”

“Oh no, we Dragons take the colour of our preferred element. I am blue like the colour of my flames, stronger than most Dragons. Normally, Dragons would be red if they had chosen fire as their preferred element.”

“So you are like, a master of master amongst dragons?”

“Hehehe, you could say that human. I trained our young who wanted the wisdom of the flames. I was even amongst the council of six. No Dragon would dare question us.”

“The council of six?”

“Yeah, six great Dragons, feared and loved amongst all. But now they are dead, and I’m still here”

“Cool! Then did you dragons have your own kingdom?”

But no answer came.

Feeling more like he was in deep thought than actively ignoring me

I guess I kinda stepped on a bad subject.

I should try to avoid the subject of dragons unless it’s about him.

He really likes talking about himself.

The sun was setting

Painting the land in a bright red colour

Being as beautiful as ever

I’ll never get used to it

Never.

Going down on one of the stoney waves, I settled in

Having little but my clothes and bag to make sleep comfortable

And not having any wood nearby means no fire

Or I could make one with the firestone.

But that would mean continuously providing it with mana.

Which I could not do while sleeping.

And as the sun set, the wind made its entrance

Freezing me to the bone

Huh, I guess this is like a desert

Hot at day, cold at night

Luckily, there does not seem to be any wildlife.

Or not any dangerous ones at least, as I have seen multiple small insects and lizards scurrying about.

Shivering lightly, I tried to warm my body with my hands.

Well, tried is the word

It did not work.

Light shivering turned to heavy

Trying to not think about the cold

Having warm thoughts

Feeling tired, but waking from the cold.

But then, I felt heat.

Coming out from somewhere behind me

Looking there I could see mister dragon laying very close

Shuffling closer, I laid myself around him.

Using him as a living campfire.

“I did not know you where so warm, mister dragon”

I whispered, before sleep took me.

And I dreamed of dragons

And how warm their bellies were.