Rhenor was once again irritated with himself. Someone or something had tried to murder all of them with a massive boulder, and all he could think about at the moment was how charming it was to see Kaz sleeping like this.

The dragon was curled in on his side, one wing drooping over him like a blanket, the other stretched behind him. Every so often Kaz would make a grumbling noise, let out a sigh, or one of his ears or some part of his surprisingly expressive reptilian face would twitch, and all of it made Rhen want to smile. It was ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. Had Kaz done that when he'd seen him sleeping when he'd still thought he was a human? Obviously, he wouldn't be able to twitch his ears, but most of the rest of it would be possible in a human body.

Maybe it was just that he was so massive now that Rhenor couldn't miss it. Kaz's head was almost as long as Rhenor's entire body, after all.

"Whatever you are thinking," Elaya said, making Rhenor turn his gaze to her, "you need to tell him when he wakes up."

She was wearing a teasing, lopsided smirk, and while he could easily tell she wasn't making fun of him in a malicious way, Rhenor scowled at her, unable not to feel annoyed with her. He didn't need anyone inserting themselves into his and Kaz's relationship, whatever it was at the moment, not even Kaz's childhood friend.

"I'm not thinking anything."

Elaya snorted. Her smile was now mostly gone, though, replaced with an annoyance hiding in her eyes as she took a step toward him. "Look, I don't want you to hurt him, and the easiest way to do that is to not be ambiguous. I've seen the way he looks at you when he is like this. You need to make it clear to him you don't hate him."

"I did," Rhenor snapped. He supposed he should have seen this conversation coming. It was clear Elaya cared about Kaz a great deal, so of course, she'd be protective of him, especially concerning someone like Rhenor who was practically a stranger to her. But that didn't mean this conversation wasn't making him irritated.

He wasn't even sure why he was reacting so strongly. Rationally, he didn't think it was entirely justified, but that didn't make this easier to tolerate.

"Then do it again," Elaya shot back, folding her arms over her chest. Before Rhenor could get properly angry with her, though, she sighed again. There was now a slump to her shoulders and a tired sadness in her gaze. "Kaz gets anxious easily on his own, but if there is one thing that always does it, it's overthinking what humans think of him."

All of Rhen's previous irritation dissipated with those words, leaving only confusion in its place. Why would a dragon care what humans think of him? Kaz might have been different from what Rhenor had thought a dragon would be like, but that didn't mean he wasn't much more powerful than a human. Why should he worry about what humans thought when they posed no threat to him?

"Have you never wondered why Kaz is different?"

That was a very good question, and the surprising answer was a resounding no. Rhenor frowned, his eyes finding Kaz again. Maybe he'd just assumed there were exceptions to what the average dragon was like, much like with humans. But there usually was a reason why people were like that.

Rhen now felt a little ashamed. He hadn't thought of this at all, though, in his defense, he'd been trying to process Kaz's true nature this entire time and hadn't had much time to think about anything else.

"The other dragons are not very fond of Kaz. They weren't even before he was exiled," Elaya said, sitting down on the grass and taking off her backpack. Rhenor did the same, putting his bow and satchel next to him. He was incredibly curious what she was going to tell him, though he was also somewhat dreading it. He might not like what he would hear if the other dragons were going to be involved.

"He's an Astranno, for one." Elaya waved her hand. "The dragons' politics are confusing and complicated. I'm not sure I even understand all the reasons why the Astrannos are unpopular, but they are. Or they were, I suppose."

Even though Rhenor couldn't get himself to care much about dragons in general, those words hung in the air uncomfortably. Because it had been Kaz's family, and now as far as Rhen knew they were all gone.

"But the main reason is something else," Elaya continued with a sigh. "Technically it's my fault. He didn't have any siblings, and his parents were too busy to spend time with him, so when I was brought to the Astranno clan, we started playing together. And, well, I think he realized through me what dragons do to humans."

Rhenor nodded, mulling it over in his head. Kaz spending time with humans since early childhood would no doubt make his whole worldview different from his peers, but given the way Elaya was talking about it, he assumed he wasn't going to like what she was going to say next.

"He doesn't talk about it anymore, but I know he still feels guilty over how the other dragons act. He spent years perfecting his shapeshifting to look as human as possible because everyone we met was scared of him because of what he is." Elaya sighed again, drawing up her shoulders as she looked at Rhenor with determination. "It took me years to convince him that I didn't care what form he took. If he starts thinking you hate seeing him this way, he will go right back to hating himself."

Rhenor almost winced. He had known that giving Kaz the impression that he hated that Kaz was a dragon would hurt Kaz's feelings, but Rhen hadn't known just how much damage it could cause. He hadn't realized that he'd been hearing all the things Rhenor had said before finding out that Kaz was a dragon all his life, and the fact that Kaz had internalized all that hate made this so much worse. Now Rhen felt even worse about everything he'd said.

"I...didn't know," Rhen said as he watched Kaz slumber, having no idea how else to react.

"Yeah, I know. That is why I wanted to talk to you about it."

Well, no wonder Kaz had been so insistent on not blaming those people from Rethan for capturing him and wanting to use his soul for a spell. Kaz probably thought he deserved being treated like that. Even the idea of that made Rhenor's stomach turn. And it also made him want to go set Rethan on fire a little, even though he knew it wasn't the people's fault.

"Sorry if I was a bit too..." Elaya paused, frowning, "forceful about this. But—"

"You worry about him, I understand," Rhenor interrupted her, not seeing a reason for her to have to apologize to him. Honestly, it was for the best that she'd not let him push her away because he did need to hear things like this. Kaz wasn't going to tell him, not unless Rhenor made him, and that would just make the whole problem worse.

"I know you worry about him, too." Yes, and far too often. Rhenor gave a single nod. "And I know you care about him. I just wanted to make this clear."

"Understandable," Rhenor replied with a shrug. "We barely know each other, after all."

And it seemed he didn't know that much about Kaz, either, now that he thought about it. He would need to ask him about his life in the Capital. Whatever those stories would involve, Rhen wanted to hear it.

"Good point," Elaya said, an amused smile on her face. "We should probably rectify that. So, how did you and Kaz...."

She trailed off as her eyes left Rhen's and widened, focusing instead on something above him. Frowning, Rhenor turned to see what she was looking at, only to frown harder. There was a large, purple bird sitting on the branch of a nearby tree. It was watching them, and it seemed to be staying a bit too close for a wild animal, but other than the color and size, Rhenor didn't see anything strange about it.

He looked back at Elaya, about to ask if there was something he was missing given her reaction to the bird's presence, but his attention was drawn to something other than Elaya.

Behind her, he could see a massive wave in the distance, rapidly drawing closer and closer and rushing toward them. The ocean had been perfectly calm just a few seconds ago, which meant—

"Magic!" Elaya yelled even before she turned around to see the wave. Rhenor sat there frozen in fear, barely able to breathe as the unstoppable wall of water got closer and closer, threatening to swallow them all up in moments.

But then at the last moment, another horrible realization hit him. "Kaz!"

There wasn't enough time for Kaz to fly them away from here, but there was time to wake him up. Rhen had no idea if the dragon could actually swim or not, but he knew for sure that being awake before being hit by a massive wave would help his chances.

He leaped to his feet, yelling Kaz's name with the wave almost on top of them. The dragon woke up just before it hit, his eyes blown wide. And then there was water everywhere. Rhen felt himself being thrown forward by the sheer force of it, right into a tree, which he blindly clutched onto, no matter the pain in his shoulder which had collided with the trunk first. All Rhenor could focus on was trying not to breathe in the water, his heart beating wildly as it continued flowing around him, now pulling him the other way, and trying to drag him into the ocean.

By some miracle, though, he managed to keep holding onto the tree, gasping for air as the water finally flowed back enough to allow him to do that. He dropped to his knees, no longer supported by the water, but he barely gave himself enough time to recover before he was getting up again.

He swirled around, his eyes wide as he searched for Kaz and Elaya. At first, he couldn't find anyone on the now wet, grassy field, but then he heard Elaya cry Kaz's name, her voice full of panic.

His heart twisting with worry, Rhenor ran to the coast, going so fast he almost ended up slipping on the damp grass. And once he reached the coast, the sight in front of him made his mouth go dry.

Elaya, her clothes dripping wet, was standing in shallow water just below the small cliff of the coast, her arms stretched forward, yelling at Kaz to hold on. And Kaz....

Rhenor swallowed thickly, feeling panic starting to come over him as his stomach turned and his heart beat erratically. Kaz was struggling in the water, flapping his wings and kicking his four legs in panic, sending large splashes of water all around him as he fought to stay above the surface.

Oh gods, he really didn't know how to swim, did he?

Without even thinking about it, Rhenor was jumping down the small cliff, water splashing as his feet hit the ground and he ran to Elaya.

"How do we get him out?" he found himself asking her, his voice sounding so desperate to his ears that it surprised even him. "He's too heavy. We can't drag him out."

"I'm trying!" Elaya snapped, though she sounded more panicked than angry. It was only when Rhen noticed the blue glow in her eyes did he understand what she meant. She could pull Kaz out with magic! Of course, how had Rhenor not thought of that?

Every second that passed felt like an eternity as Rhenor could only hopelessly watch Kaz struggle not to drown, his large body twisting in the water, listening to his cries for help. There was nothing Rhen could do to help him. All he could do was stand there, waiting for Elaya to save Kaz as he felt sicker and sicker with distress, his teeth gritted.

But the longer it took, the harder it got to keep himself from bolting. Rhenor had no idea what he could do to help Kaz, but some part of him was ready to swim to him immediately, his desperation to do something useful overwhelming his common sense. He was about just about to jump into the water when Elaya's eyes flashed a much brighter blue.

Agonizingly slowly, Kaz began to move toward the coast, water swirling around him. Elaya must have been using the water around him to get him to land, but Rhenor didn't care at all how she did it. He stood there, right at the edge of the sea, practically vibrating as he waited for the dragon to get to safety.

To his absolute relief, the moment Kaz was in shallow water he ran out of the sea. He was coughing up water, letting out whimpers, and he was shivering, which was especially visible in his wings, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.

Rhenor let out a deep sigh, immediately making his way to Kaz and looking him over more closely as he patted the dragon's neck. Elaya joined in as well from the other side, hugging his neck, which Rhenor did as well. It had helped calm Kaz down before, after all.

No one said a word until Kaz mostly stopped trembling when the silence was broken by Kaz snorting. It sounded a bit like a horse had done it. "I think I need to learn how to swim."

Despite the dragon's shockingly fragile tone, Rhenor let out a laugh and clung to Kaz's neck tighter. He couldn't help himself. "I think so, too."

He didn't want to let go, but now that he knew Kaz would be okay, the strangeness of what had just happened reentered his mind. Rhen took a step back, running a hand over Kaz's snout as he looked around the muddy, ruined coast. The grass was flat and wet, a few trees closest to the coast had been broken from the force of the water, and—

Rhenor flinched, immediately reaching for his bow and taking a step forward so he could stand in front of Kaz protectively, not caring how ridiculous that was. A man was standing under the tree where the bird had been, a dark cloak with a cowl covering him from head to toe. But Rhenor didn't need to see his face well to be able to tell what he was. No, the tattoos on his face gave him enough of a hint.

Druid. Again. And Rhenor had a feeling the man's presence here wasn't a coincidence. He'd liked druids much more when they'd only been a legend.

"You are the one who almost just drowned us, aren't you?" Rhenor accused him, pointing a finger at him.

The druid shrugged, his expression almost bored. Rhenor tried to keep his anger at seeing that inside. "I was confident that she would save you." He turned his dark gaze at Elaya. "Elaya, was it?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Rhenor didn't want to look away from the druid, but still he turned his head, setting his eyes on Elaya. She was glaring at the druid, but the look in her eyes was more confused and shocked than angry. Rhenor could understand that—she'd barely had any time to accept that the legendary druids were real, let alone consider the possibility they might be dangerous. Rhen really should have told her what had happened in Frostrun.

"You were the bird," she finally said, her tone impossible to read. It was strange to hear because, even though they'd known each other only shortly, Rhenor had come to expect her emotions to be clear in her tone. What she said next, though, was laced with anger. "Why did you attack us?"

"It was a test," the man replied simply. As if saying that justified almost killing Kaz. Though the druid probably didn't care what happened to Kaz, did he? Rhenor's scowl deepened as he tried to resist the urge to reach for an arrow. He probably had no chance of hitting the druid, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try if he so much as tried to get close to Kaz.

"A test?" she repeated, practically spitting out the words as she took a few steps forward. "That's what you call almost drowning my friend? And trying to kill us with a boulder?"

Rhenor saw Kaz move his head so it was next to Rhen, but he didn't take his eyes off the druid for one second.

"I needed to know if you truly can control magic. There is no better way to find out than through moments of distress."

"You could have asked!" she yelled at him. Rhenor couldn't see her face since her back was facing him, but the tightly clenched fists at her sides told him more than clearly enough that she might try to attack the druid. He should probably stop her, but given the fact that he wanted nothing more than to shoot him, he didn't bother doing anything.

"I am here to teach you how to use your gifts," the druid continued with a flat, emotionless tone, completely ignoring what Elaya had just said. If anything, he seemed more bored now, as if their collective fury and outrage were bothering him. And here Rhenor had thought the druid he'd met earlier had been unpleasant. Were they truly all like this? "We need more people like you. Many more."

He was very obviously only talking to Elaya, which somehow made Rhenor even more irritated than before. He was getting the feeling this man was arrogant in the same way he'd imagined all dragons would be, except instead of treating all humans like nothing more than dirt on his shoe, it was the other way around, and possibly also including humans with no ability to control magic, like himself.

Rhenor certainly hoped he was wrong about that last bit, but he couldn't abide the first one either because of Kaz.

"So you almost drown Kaz, and then you offer to teach me?" Elaya snapped, anger still apparent in her tone, though it seemed to ebb ever so slightly. "That makes perfect sense."

Rhenor huffed. He wanted her to yell at the druid some more. He deserved it and much more. It seemed he would have to take matters into his own hands.

"Who in Hermea's name do you think you are?"

The druid finally turned his disinterested and yet piercing gaze to him. "A being capable of things you have not even conceived of."

Rhenor wanted to roll his eyes, to scoff and mock him for even daring to say something like that, and yet those droning words made a shiver run down his spine. Despite his feelings concerning magic, he found himself not doubting the druid's words in the slightest.

"But who exactly are you?" the druid asked in turn, narrowing his eyes at him and Kaz. The dragon immediately shrunk back a bit, the sight of which made Rhenor grit his teeth. He just wanted to tell Kaz to fly them away from here, but that druid would most likely just follow them. He'd clearly done it before if he'd thrown that boulder at them at that other island.

"A group of people not interested in dying just yet," Rhenor snarked at him. He wasn't interested in having a civil conversation with this person, but if he were honest, he wasn't sure himself how to answer that question. How would he describe the three of them? Fugitives? Unlikely friends? That would be especially accurate in Kaz and Elaya's case.

"I would hardly call two people a group." The druid's previously bored tone had now turned sarcastic. It had been incredibly subtle, but in contrast to what he'd sounded like up to this point, it was night and day. And Rhenor wanted to skewer him with an arrow even more than before.

His fist was clenched around his bow so tightly it almost hurt as he saw Kaz retreat, hiding behind him. He wanted nothing more than to throw the insult right back at him, to imply that druids weren't people in Rhen's opinion either, but all that made druids different from regular humans was their power over magic, and that would include Elaya. Rhenor didn't want to insult her, even indirectly, no matter how much he wanted to defend Kaz.

And Elaya wanted to defend him too, clearly, as she advanced at the druid further, now practically standing face to face. "Say that again."

The druid's stony expression didn't change even a little. "I do not plan on killing your dragon, even though I should. But I will not pretend he is anything more than a beast."

Rhenor was shocked by the fact that he didn't shoot the druid then. It would have been the perfect time for it, and yet somehow, he managed to keep his cool. Despite the druid's choice of words, at least it meant that he wouldn't try to hurt Kaz, assuming he wasn't lying. And he was referring to the dragon as a he, which was sadly an improvement over Rethan.

"I will even provide him with clothing if that will encourage him not to be in this horrid form," the druid continued, waving his hand dismissively. "I heard you discussing it earlier."

Rhenor's anger rekindled at that, but it was almost entirely drowned out by the knot of worry in his stomach, which made him turn around to look at Kaz instead. The dragon was sitting there, wings drawn close and tail wrapped around him, and his head hung low.

He was still huge, but now he somehow managed to look small and pitiful. Rhenor was running his hand over Kaz's snout before he even had time to think of what to do, which made the dragon let out a surprised noise. His scales were still wet and slippery as Kaz pressed against Rhenor's hand.

"Wait here," the druid said, but Rhen didn't bother turning around. At least not until he heard the rustle of feathers. He managed to look just in time to see the large purple bird flying away. Rhenor wondered just how many times the druid had watched them in this form. It wasn't exactly subtle, but Rhenor doubted he would have thought much of a bird like this if he'd noticed it.

Rhenor shook his head, turning back to Kaz, but the dragon had already moved, walking to Elaya with concern in his big eyes. Rhen wanted to remind him that he was the one they were worrying about, but he bit his tongue and followed behind him, mindful of his tail.

Rhenor grimaced when he noticed the dragon was dragging the tail behind him. He'd not really realized until now that Kaz usually kept it up and often moved it around. Now it hung limp, moving through the wet grass like a giant snake.

"What in Andor's name did just happen?" Elaya asked, her voice both angry and confused as she turned to face them. Rhenor could understand that since he felt a similar way, though in his case anger was definitely winning.

"I think he wants to teach you how to use magic," Kaz replied, which was not helpful at all. Rhen wanted to explain to him why focusing on that was about the last thing he should be doing, but Elaya beat him to it.

"Yeah, after insulting you!" she snapped, her eyes full of worry and outrage. Kaz sighed, his huge head dipping. Thankfully, he didn't try to argue back, but Rhenor didn't doubt he was thinking something along those lines. He swallowed, trying to get the sinking feeling out of his stomach.

"We should run while we can," Elaya suggested, but Rhenor shook his head.

"He will just follow us. He's done it before."

Elaya ran a hand through her hair, huffing. "Then I suppose I will have to be direct when I tell him to leave us alone."

"What?" Kaz exclaimed, his head flying up in surprise before going down again so he could look Elaya in the eye. "But you want to learn how to use your power, don't you?"

Elaya rubbed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Rhenor wanted to mirror her exasperated expression, but he forced himself to stay neutral. He didn't want Kaz to think they were both upset with him.

"Yes, but not when the teacher is going to spend every waking minute calling my best friend a beast."

"Well...."

Elaya glared at Kaz so fiercely Rhenor almost flinched. But Kaz didn't react, aside from his gaze turning pleading. It made him look like a puppy, which was ridiculous.

"Don't you dare agree with him."

"But I do look like a beast to a human when I'm like this," he weakly argued, raising his scaly shoulders in what Rhenor assumed was a shrug even though it didn't resemble one very much.

Elaya narrowed her eyes, somehow managing to look even more irritated. "You know very well that isn't why he called you that."

Her voice was so stern. Something told Rhenor that this wasn't the first time she'd used this tone on Kaz, especially considering what she'd told Rhenor earlier about how Kaz views himself. Rhenor wanted to jump in and tell Kaz the same thing, but he found himself unable to say anything. Not when Elaya looked like she might summon an earthquake through her rage alone.

Kaz sighed, looking away and lowering his head. "You shouldn't throw away an opportunity like this simply because that druid doesn't like me." Elaya opened her mouth, her glare turning outraged, but Kaz spoke before she could, looking in her eyes again. "Just think of what you could do with this kind of knowledge." He flapped his wings a little, which, along with the sparkle in his eyes, Rhenor interpreted as excitement. "You could finally fight back. And I imagine that is what these druids want as well."

It was strange to see a dragon so excited over the prospect of dethroning his own people, but Rhenor knew Kaz didn't care about any of that. Rhen couldn't help but be quite so optimistic, though. The two druids he'd met so far hadn't been exactly pleasant, so he would save the enthusiasm over their return for later.

"I can just stay out of the way. It will be fine."

Elaya sighed, her angry expression turning tired and sad. "But Kaz—"

"I agree with him," Rhenor finally spoke, taking a step closer to the dragon to run his hand over his long neck. "Let's hear the druid out. There might be a catch, but if there isn't one, I do think this could be worth it." Elaya shot him a dirty look, but it lacked any sort of sting. It seemed even she didn't want to argue about this all that much. "Assuming you want this, of course."

Elaya sighed again, her shoulders sinking. "Of course, I want this. But what about Kaz?"

The dragon let out a huff, which had no doubt not meant to be quite so loud, but with how large Kaz was at the moment, it couldn't be avoided. He didn't say anything, but Rhenor could see in the frustrated look in his eyes that he didn't appreciate being talked about like this.

"We can stay together while you are with the druid. We have sword fighting to get back to, anyway."

Rhenor had said this mostly so Elaya would stop worrying, but it was a good idea now that he thought about it. He and Kaz hadn't trained since before reaching Sigallah, and while that wasn't that long ago, a lot had happened since, and Kaz might have already forgotten something. He was very new to using a sword, after all.

"Sword fighting?" she repeated, looking at Kaz, half amused, half impressed.

Kaz shifted his weight as if embarrassed, which was particularly absurd given his current form. "It's important."

"That it is." Elaya's smile disappeared as she leaned in, pressing her forehead to Kaz's. As the dragon closed his eyes, Rhenor suddenly felt like he was intruding on something far too intimate to witness, much less from so up close. But before he could think about putting some distance between himself and the two, it was over, with Elaya moving away and scratching Kaz's neck instead.

The familiar sting of jealousy entered Rhen's heart, and he quickly stomped it out. He needed to somehow teach himself to stop feeling that way whenever Kaz and Elaya did something like this. He knew he was reacting this way only because he wasn't used to having companions, let alone a romantic partner, but it was irritating.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Elaya asked, staring Kaz in the eye. Without hesitation, the dragon nodded.

"Of course. I'll have Rhen with me." Despite Kaz's lighthearted tone, Rhenor felt his cheeks heat up a bit at the way Elaya smirked at him. He had no reason to feel embarrassed, so he wasn't even sure why he was reacting like this. He just nodded at her, not knowing what to say anyway as she continued grinning.

* * *

It took the druid more than an hour to get back, flying in from the south, his claws full of clothing, which he unceremoniously dropped into Rhenor's hands as he flew past. In a desire to irritate the druid, Rhenor considered complaining that his aim was terrible since he should have given the clothes to Kaz, but he decided it wasn't worth it.

He walked with Kaz to the edge of a small forest so he could have some privacy while getting dressed. From a glance at the clothing he was carrying, the druid had brought Kaz a simple white tunic, dark pants, and a pair of leather boots. He would have to ask where exactly the druid had gotten these because judging by the way the boots were scratched up, they couldn't be new, which meant that the druid hadn't simply conjured them. Rhenor had no idea if that would even be possible, but that was beside the point.

As he waited for Kaz to change, his back turned to him, Rhenor watched Elaya talk to the druid from afar. He had only their body language to read from this far away, or more precisely Elaya's body language because the druid barely moved. And judging by the way she rubbed her forehead and threw her arms out, Rhenor didn't think the conversation was going well. Still, at least their fighting was limited to verbal for now.

Hearing Kaz mutter something behind him, Rhen turned around. Kaz was once again practically indistinguishable from a human, especially in the relatively plain clothes he was now wearing, and was rubbing the tips of his ears, an annoyed frown on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Rhen asked, making Kaz look at him.

The dragon sighed, brushing his hair back so it would cover his pointy ears. "I was hoping I'd finally manage to make my ears look human, too, if I focused on them hard enough, but it didn't work."

Rhenor pressed his lips into a thin line. On its own, this statement wouldn't have made him suspicious. Kaz seemed to be a bit of a perfectionist and hard on himself often. But given what he'd heard today paired with what the druid had said, Rhenor had no doubts that Kaz was trying to look perfectly human just so the druid would keep his snide comments to himself. Even though Rhenor doubted it would have worked regardless.

"You look fine," Rhenor said, almost wincing at his own words. He was terrible at this, but he needed to say something to lift Kaz's spirits. Maybe he should just try to be as overt as possible. "Don't listen to that druid. Whatever he says, he's wrong."

"That is probably not true. Druids are supposed to be wise."

Rhenor opened his mouth, immediately about to deny all of that, when he noticed the small smile on Kaz's face. Right, a joke. He had been too prepared to argue with Kaz to realize.

"Well, this one is not."

Kaz's smile turned a little sad as he lowered his gaze to stare at his new boots. Rhenor frowned, closing the distance between them and putting a hand on Kaz's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Kaz nodded, letting out a long breath through his nose. "I didn't like almost drowning." Rhenor almost burst out laughing, but he managed to keep it to an amused snort. "I don't understand how humans do it. Water is so wet, and dangerous, and confusing, and cold."

Kaz shuddered and shook his head, making his black hair bounce around, and Rhenor couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he let go of his shoulder.

Even though the reminder that Kaz truly wasn't human sometimes made him tense up still, there was something freer about their relationship now. There had been a tension between them since they'd met until the truth had come out, and it being gone felt good. No matter his lingering prejudices, Rhenor wanted Kaz to know that he wanted him to feel free to talk about whatever he wanted to, including what made him different from humans.

He would just need to find a way to make Kaz believe that.

"Dragons don't like water, do they?" Come to think of it, Rhenor wasn't sure if he'd ever heard of a dragon swimming at any point.

Kaz scratched the back of his neck, his eyes trained on the tree next to Rhen. "I like warm water. In manageable quantities."

"You mean a bath?"

Kaz folded his arms over his chest, pouting. "I am not afraid of water. It's just...one of our greatest weapons is fire, and we can't summon it in water. It makes me nervous." He shook his head again. "Besides, I can fly. I did not need to learn to swim until now."

Rhenor hadn't considered either of those angles, but he supposed it made sense. If humans could fly, they would probably not know how to swim as much as they did because then they'd be mostly doing it for fun.

"Well, if you ever want to learn, I can teach you," Rhenor said, not entirely certain where he would start, especially considering that Kaz would have to learn to swim the regular way and in his dragon form, and Rhen had no idea how the latter worked. But they could figure that out later. What he was certain of was that he never wanted to see Kaz drowning again.

Kaz gave him a warm smile, his eyes soft as he looked at him. "I would like that." Then he rubbed at his arm as he grimaced. "Um, but maybe sword fighting first?"

Rhen smiled and nodded. He wasn't surprised the dragon didn't want to go in the water again so shortly after his last experience with it.

He looked around, quickly finding two larger, leafless branches on the ground that looked sturdy enough not to fall apart as soon as they hit something. It would have been better with actual swords, but the closest Rhenor had at his disposal was a dagger, which would be very different. And at least like this, they wouldn't get hurt.

He threw one of the sticks to Kaz, who caught it with a grin, though his eyes kept darting off to something behind Rhen. And Rhenor didn't need to turn around to realize Kaz was watching Elaya.

As unwise as it was, Rhenor would do his best to distract Kaz enough to stop worrying over her for a few minutes. Rhen would keep an eye on her himself when they would inevitably end up changing places.

"Ready?" he asked Kaz, to which the dragon nodded eagerly, finally turning his full attention to Rhenor. "Come on, then. Show me what you remember."

Kaz huffed at the implication that he'd forgotten things, but his smile never left his face. He adjusted his grip on the branch before rushing forward, their makeshift weapons clashing together.