The Bestiary of Legends. Written by Caspariel the Heretic.

Dragons are remarkable creatures, inspiring equal measures awe and fear.

Topic: Dragon Maturity.

Most known sources on Dragons make the claim that their size is tied to their maturity. To my surprise, this appears to be very incorrect. While Dragons do indeed grow as they age, the scale of growth varies greatly from one individual to another. So much so that you may find one Dragon no larger than a draft horse, yet another may rival the size of mountains.

With size being a poor indicator of maturity, the question then becomes how one gauges the maturity properly? The answer to this, I believe, lies in the coloration and heat of their flames.

Below I will list the rough indicators as I have found them.

First, we have the juvenile Dragon. You can recognize their bodies by their stout appearance and longer limbs. Their flames will carry an orange hue. While the flames are capable of melting the softer metals, such as the valuable tin, the juvenile Dragon cannot maintain such a flame for long. Certainly not long enough to outright melt the higher metals, such as copper or iron.

Second in line comes the fledgling Dragon. With their second stage of maturity, Dragons become capable of quite a surprising amount of destruction. These Dragons tend to be unruly in nature and quite temperamental. The fledgling Dragon has often learned to maintain their flames for longer. Added to this is their flames increasing in temperature. At this stage, the Dragon is now capable of melting the higher metals, although it still requires extended exposure to the Dragon’s flame. The color of the flame is often bright yellow at this stage of maturity.

Third in line comes the adult Dragon. What most consider a Dragon. These ones are spoken of most often in our histories. The mature Dragon has achieved mastery over the tools and weaponry available to it. Which includes the very heat of the Dragon’s flames. The intensity of the flame can now reach such ferocity that the world itself recognizes it and the flames appear bright white. For the common man, one can only hope to witness such heat in the flames of a master Blacksmith’s forge.

Fourth in line comes the final and greatest Dragon known to man, the Elder Dragon. These Dragons possess such destructive force that none can stand against them. The very fabric of the mind ceases to comprehend what these Dragons are capable of. I am one of very few to have witnessed an Elder’s flame and lived to tell the tale. The Dragon’s flame burns with a brutality I have not known before or since. Appearing bright blue as the very air we breathe flees from the relentless assault that the flame carries.

Should you find yourself in the presence of an Elder Dragon, pray to whichever god you worship that it does not notice you. You will not survive the Dragon’s wrath.

————————

The Old One’s hand touches my nose, and I’m overcome with an unfamiliar sensation as if something is pushing into my mind. I can’t make sense of what is going on, but I don’t like it.

The comforting feeling spreads through me as I lower my guard; this is what I want.

I push back against the invading force, and I feel it shiver; I cannot allow this to continue!

I’m calming down as the force is permeating through my mind, promising kindness and protection. I want that. I want to embrace this feeling.

I feel heat rush through my body as I resist this invasion! I will NOT allow this to continue!

A sensation of worries floods me, I need to calm down, otherwise, I might hurt someone. I don’t want to hurt anyone!

Screw that! This is a violation! This old fuck is invading my mind, and I will not tolerate it! I’ve had enough of this shit! I will not be enslaved!

I feel my fury grow beyond what I can contain. I need to release it! A fire burns within me, craving to be unleashed, and I want to let it out. My eyes snap open as I twist away from the Old One.

I don’t have time to understand what’s going on. My instincts take over and I let loose my flames.

My body moves forward and I bite down on the Old One’s arm, bones crunching under my assault, and I rip it off.

The sweet blood of a foe fills my mouth and it tastes heavenly! I swallow the arm and watch as the guards ready their weapons to attack. Their reaction time is pathetic.

As I get ready to attack, Little One moves to block my path. I can smell how terrified and angry she is, but her back is turned to me, so I can’t see what she looks like.

She’s screaming at the Old One as the now-crippled thing crawls away. I feel an urge to finish what they started, but Little One is in my way and I don’t want to hurt her.

Instead, I force myself to turn around and rush into the woods.

This whole thing has been a mistake. Of course, something like me wouldn’t be welcome. Thinking I could simply join their community was a foolish thought.

As time passes, I realize I haven’t been paying attention to where I’ve been going. As my rage fades, I find myself overwhelmed by sadness.

I have no idea where I am, and looking around, I just see trees, moss, and fallen leaves.

Moving further into the woods, I come across a fallen tree. I can use that for some shelter; at least the upturned roots will keep the wind at bay...

I’m not gonna do anything about the raindrops rolling down my cheeks, though. It’s definitely rain. I really need it to be rain right now.

———————

How had everything become such a mess?… Raya hadn’t realized how tired she was as she led the Dragon.

She knew she was supposed to lead it toward the lake as it had requested, but as her eyes grew heavy, her mind grew sluggish, and she forgot.

Elder Charo greeted them, but instead of using her magic to befriend the Dragon, she had assaulted it. And in return, the Dragon had retaliated.

Raya felt the pain and suffering Elder Charo now had to deal with was well-deserved. But the guards were only doing their job. And they got hurt because of what she and Elder Charo had done.

It was clear the Dragon was intelligent and that it could be reasoned with. Raya had told them as much, proving it no less. Yet, the mistrust among her people led to this unnecessary cruelty.

Raya found herself cursing the Elder’s name. How arrogant and foolish must one be to think they could dominate the mind of a Dragon.

Her thoughts occupied by the event, Raya couldn’t help but think of herself as a fool, as well.

The Dragon had trusted her, and she had trusted the Elder. Both choices were mistakes. The stupid Elders always thought too highly of themselves.

They could solve all problems, they said. Trust them, and they’ll find a solution, they promised.

What a joke.

What solution would Elder Charo find to regrow her arm or heal her burned face. Both were beyond the capabilities of healing potions.

Raya looked to the woods, she wanted to go find her… friend… but she couldn’t do it yet. The forests were simply too dangerous at night.

Getting killed before finding the Dragon would do little to remedy this situation, and she needed rest.

The dire wolves had been hunting her for some time, resulting in her going far deeper into the woods than she had ever intended.

And trying to lead the Dragon to Undine Lake had only extended the stay in the woods.

The only option available to her now was to rest. The town was the same as usual: tall buildings, often two or three stories, with markings showing where she was.

Using the alleyways between the buildings allowed her to return home in very little time. If she had used the main streets, she would have had the benefit of the glowshrooms lanterns.

But she had enough familiarity with the alleys to navigate without light.

She arrived at her simple home, just one room with the bare necessities, but it was hers. Contained within was a simple bed, a small kitchen, a table, and a couple of chairs. Just enough for her needs.

Raya felt the call of slumber, but she hadn’t eaten anything this evening, and it was already well into the night.

Struggling to stay awake, she rustled up some quick supper, throwing together a mix of whatever she could find.

It didn’t matter to her what it was, she just needed something to eat before passing out.

As Raya finished her supper, she could barely stay awake, but fought just long enough to reach her bed. Dishes be damned.

This night’s sleep wasn’t kind to the small woman. Tossing and turning, her dreams filled with the recent events, turning into nightmares as her guilt grew.

As morning came, Raya woke up drenched in sweat. A horrible but well-deserved night, she thought.

She needed to prepare for another trek into the woods. There was still hope that the Dragon could forgive her, whatever it might cost.

She rushed through her home, gathering this and that. Proper preparation was necessary for what she had planned, but one thing was missing.

Her basket was nowhere to be found. Cursing softly, she realized she hadn't brought the basket with her last night. That added yet another task to her day, as she needed to track it down.

A healing potion, some travel food, and a dagger lay prepared on the table, and as soon as she found her basket, she would be ready to set out.

Letting out a curse at this delay, she opened the door, ready to head out to the western gate to ask if anyone had collected her basket and its contents. She almost tripped in her rush as the basket lay on her doorstep.

The herbs were nowhere to be found, instead the basket contained a collection of coins.

Bringing her basket inside, she counted out the coins: thirty-eight silver, three ten-silvers, and four two-silvers. The herbs had sold for a decent price.

Gathering up her supplies, she pocketed her coins, tied her dagger to her belt, and put the food in the basket. She was ready to set out.

Well, almost ready. With the coin, she considered whether she should visit the alchemist Joras. He usually bought what she gathered, often at a good price, too.

No doubt whoever had sold what she had gathered yesterday had sold it to Joras. None of the other three alchemists in town would pay as much.

Although Joras treated Raya fairly, he was known around town as a temperamental madman. Often only tolerated for his specialty potions, which no other alchemist would brew.

The potions were often too costly for the townsfolk to buy, but Joras didn’t seem to care. He simply reduced the price to match his customers.

How he managed to stay in business was a mystery to Raya.

With her things ready, Raya set out and rushed toward Joras’ shop.

While she lived in the western residential area, his shop could be found in the northern shopping district. Once again, she ran through the twisting maze of alleyways permeating the town.

Arriving at the alchemical shop, Raya stared up at the much larger-than-typical door. This building was built specifically for Joras.

As an elf, he was almost three times as tall as her, and as such, needed his shop to match his stature.

Once she had gathered her courage, she burst through the door, giving Joras quite a fright.

“What the shit, little lady?! Who are you to burst in here at shit o’clock while I’m brewing?!”

Behind a desk stocked with various flasks, baubles, and herbs stood Joras. His sickly thin arms manipulating the instruments he used for his craft.

Unperturbed by the obviously frustrated elf, Raya spoke up. “Sorry, but do you have any Mind Bridge Potions? I really need one, fast.”

His gaze drifted away from her as he brought a hand to his chin. It looked as if he was giving it some thought as he let out a stream of hmm’ing and huh’ing, testing Raya’s patience.

Joras didn’t seem to be in any particular rush, appearing to have forgotten that he was just thoroughly startled.

“Those can be expensive; can you afford one?” Raya’s heart sank as she pondered the question. Her herbs had been sold, but when an alchemist, someone from the upper crust of wealth, described something as expensive, it could be expected to be far outside the reach of a mere gatherer like her.

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“I only have thirty-eight silver; is that enough?” Raya asked in a quiet voice.

“Little lady, never tell a shopkeeper how much coin you have; otherwise you might find prices mysteriously increase to match it. But no, it’s not enough. A Mind Bridge Potion easily costs a couple of gold, so you’re short by a hundred and sixty-two silver. At least.”

Hearing the price immediately soured her already dour mood. The Mind Bridge Potion hadn’t been necessary, but it would have made things easier.

Raya turned to leave. She could still find her new friend. Well, she hoped the Dragon would still be a friend. Even if they couldn’t speak to each other, an apology was owed at the very least.

“Why are you leaving without the potion?”

“Because I can’t afford it, I don’t have any gold.”

“Ah, but sometimes things other than coin can be used for bargaining.” As Raya looked back, the elf was leaning on a cleared part of the desk.

“I heard that old hag Charo had a bit of a mishap. Tell me as much as you can about it, and the potion is yours.”

Raya couldn’t quite make sense of that, how could a story be worth several gold coins…

Not seeing any harm in sharing the events, Raya told him about the night before.

How the elder had lied to her, how it had resulted in her friend’s trust being betrayed, and how Elder Charo’s arm was eaten and her face burned.

The alchemist’s laughter grew as the story progressed.

“Greedy old hag deserves it. As we agreed, the potion is yours. Now, I have a different offer for you as well. If you should find yourself in a position to acquire some Dragon’s Blood, bring it to me instead of those incompetent alchemists around town. I’ll make it worth your while.”

Raya accepted the potion, but she found the request for blood repulsive. She would have no part in such business.

To her surprise, Joras simply shrugged and returned to brewing his potions.

“Aren’t you mad that I won’t do it? Most people would get angry.”

“It’s pretty well known around town that I am mad, but at that? No. I didn’t have Dragon’s Blood yesterday, and I probably won’t have it tomorrow, so things remain the same, except now I know there’s a chance I might acquire some.”

That train of thought didn’t feel quite right to Raya, but as it was to her benefit, she didn’t want to question the mad elf.

“And be careful around Charo. She’s worse than you think, and you’ve lost some protections now that you’re an adult as well, little lady.”

She thanked the alchemist with a bow for the potion, as well as the warning.

Finally ready to set out, Raya checked her supplies one last time and ran toward the western gate. It wouldn’t be long until she could explain herself to the Dragon.

————————

Ugh… I feel terrible… I don’t like sleeping on moist dirt. This whole situation hurts far too much to be a dream, and I don’t like it. I just wanna go home, hug my mom, and tell her all about this weird dream.

“Themar!”

Can’t even grumble in peace without someone shouting in the distance. It’s frustrating to not know what they’re saying, but even if I did, I doubt I could talk to them without scaring them off.

This whole thing sucks, and I want to be sadder about it, but my emotions feel dampened somehow. Like I’m trying to interpret what someone else is feeling without understanding them.

“Themar!”

At this point, I feel like leaving and never coming back here. This whole friend thing has been a terrible idea. Although I guess it was pretty fun until we went to her village, I’m glad she got home safely.

Those wolves were so big compared to that little one. It seems crazy to venture out into a forest with threats like that wandering around. And now I’ve just reminded myself that I am a threat like that…

As I contemplate the dangers Little One is likely to find out here, I feel my thoughts drift back to my old world. I should be in school right about now.

Mom would be home taking care of the house and watching TV. I wonder what kind of shows she’s into right now…

Dad would be working. I really should’ve spent more time getting to know them, but it just never occurred to me.

I thought they’d always be there for me. They were always there for me, but then I disappeared.

Did I disappear, or did something happen? I still can’t remember what happened after I left the café.

The memory of what happened just being gone scares me a little, but I get the feeling that it might be for the best.

“Themar!”

There it is again. Seems very unwise to go around shouting in the woods. I don’t even know what sort of animals are here, aside from deer and, were they dogs or wolves?

Honestly, they were probably wolves, since dogs are domesticated wolves, and these beasts are kinda wild.

Maybe I’ll just go keep an eye on the shouty one, to make sure they’re safe. From a distance, of course. At the very least, it beats wallowing in self-pity.

I’m still not quite convinced that this isn’t a dream, but in case it isn’t, treating it like a dream seems incredibly dangerous.

It takes some effort, but I manage to pull myself together and move in the direction I last heard Shouty from.

Or at least that’s what I was planning, but I didn’t really pay attention to where the shouting came from.

I’ll have to wait for another shout to know which direction I need to move toward. For now, I’ll move in the general direction I think the shouts came from.

“Themar!”

Finally. Now I have a target direction, and I can run directly towards the shouty one. I rush into the wilderness, dodging branches and debris.

For how young my body is, I’m surprised at how agile I am.

I’m sprinting towards the noise, and I feel like I should be there by now. Right, my hearing is a lot better than it used to be, so of course the noise I heard comes from further away.

As I’m running, exhaustion begins to set in and I realize that my body really isn’t made for this kind of exercise.

I mean, sure, I can do well enough and I’m fast, but gosh dang it, I do not have the endurance for extended sprints. I’m gonna have to slow down.

I believe I can maintain a solid trotting pace or something like that. I’m definitely gonna try. I have to get there before any of the wolves do, or worse. Assuming there are worse things than wolves.

Now that I’m managing my pace better, I feel a lot less exhausted, but I could still use a break. I’m pretty sure I’m making good progress towards wherever the shouting came from. But I’m upwind, so I don’t really get any help from my excellent nose.

I just need Shouty to let me know where they are one more time, then I’m sure I can find them. Once I do, I’ll just stay at a safe distance and protect them.

Instead of a shout, I hear a very loud scream. A familiar scream, no less. That was definitely Little One’s scream, and now I have to hurry.

I know I’m close, but I need to rush, I have to be close enough to help. I have to.

I feel exhaustion hit again, but I push on. I slam through some bushes and find her being chased by a bear. That is a BIG brown bear.

The sweet smell of blood saturates the air, the scent of Little One’s species’ blood. I can’t wait any longer; I need to act and intercept this mess.

Once again, I’m surprised by how fast bears are. I yell out to Little One, hoping she’ll bring the bear towards me as I start running towards where they’re gonna be.

If I do this right, I can land the first strike on the bear.

Well, that was the plan anyway. What I actually do is unleash a roar so ferocious that even the bear is shaken.

To think I can cause such a reaction from something as scary as this bear! That definitely caught its attention. Now I’ve gotta watch out for any swipes and bites coming from this beast.

The bear slows down and watches me as I get closer. It roars at me, but I’m less than impressed by it.

The bear starts moving towards me, building up speed. By the time it’s in a full charge, it’s almost on me, but I leap to the side, dodging the charge.

I follow up my dodge with a whip of my bladed tail, leaving a gash in the bear’s haunch.

It did not like that. To my surprise, the bear is very quick to turn around in the wake of my attack. I’m not at all sure of what I’m doing here.

I’ve never been much of a fighter, but I feel very sure I can’t run away. Something inside me won’t allow it.

I stand my ground, but the bear chooses to advance again. This time, though, it isn’t building up speed, so it won’t be another charge. Damn it, then I can’t use the same trick again…

The bear is just lumbering toward me, which is, uh, kinda intimidating, and I find myself walking backwards slowly.

It swipes at me, but I manage to maintain some distance as I dodge, but I’m steadily being pushed back.

Neither my claws nor jaws can reach it if I want to stay out of its reach. Which means I only have my tail left, but I can’t shake the feeling that the bear is waiting for me to use my tail.

As I’m being pushed further back, I’m startled as I bump into a tree. This appears to be the opportunity the bear was waiting for.

It acts quickly and bites down on my neck just above my shoulders. I can feel my scales crack under the pressure. I need to do something.

Using my long neck to my advantage, I bite down on the bear’s arm and rip away with all my might. While doing so, I push my claws into the belly of the bear for both leverage and to rip and tear with my talons.

The belly of the bear is gouged open as I continue to rip into it. This turn of events must have changed its mind about me because it lets me go and tries to retreat.

The bear’s intestines are dragging behind it as it struggles to keep itself moving.

It hasn’t earned the right to retreat, so I push myself to my feet again and rush towards it. As I approach, I jump onto its back and rip into it with my claws as I bite and tear at the muscled body.

The wounds are deep and getting deeper as I tear flesh away. I will NOT let this offense go! I continue my assault until well after the bear has stopped moving.

And then I start gorging myself on its flesh. A delicious reward for putting down this usurper! I don’t stop eating until all that’s left of the bear is a pool of blood soaking into the forest floor.

“Themar?”

Caught up in my bloodlust, I barely hear the trembling voice behind me, another treat, perhaps.

I look around to find the source, and I see a delicious little thing presenting itself to me. I let out a growl as I stalk closer.

No. Stop, something is wrong here. Get a hold of yourself, Kira. That’s the Little One; she’s a friend. Focus.

With some effort, I manage to bring my bloodlust under control, but I’m not quite sure how this all happened.

What the heck was that…? I’ve never been a fighter, but from the looks of it, I can take on bears larger than I and win. That doesn’t sound right at all.

I bring my attention back to my surroundings and I spot Little One. She’s just staring at me. I can smell the delicious scent of fear coming from her.

I don’t want to hurt her, so I turn around and begin to leave. I can keep her safe from a distance, so she won’t need to be scared of me if she doesn’t know I’m there.

“Themar, Eb fhrah! Eb fhrah!”

To my surprise, my departure is interrupted when she runs up to me and latches onto my leg. She keeps saying something, and she’s crying.

I find it increasingly frustrating that I can’t understand her, but the scent of fear is dissipating, so she clearly isn’t afraid of me. At least not afraid enough to stay away.

I stopped moving when she grabbed onto my leg. I don’t want to hurt her by accident. At least not now that my bloodlust has calmed.

After some time, she lets go of my leg and starts looking around. She’s clearly searching for something.

I don’t see her basket, so I guess she lost it while being chased by the bear. I guess there’s no point in hiding, since she already knows I’m here, so I’ll just follow her lead for a while.

Because it’s the right thing to do, and not because I’m lonely. Okay, maybe a little because I’m lonely, but I’m not gonna tell anyone that.

She seems genuinely worried about her lost basket, but surely she can just buy a new one with all the money she got for those herbs we gathered.

Oh well, I haven’t got anything better to do, so I’ll just follow her.

Sniffing the air, I think it’s safe to say that she’s doing a terrible job of retracing her steps. The scents are still clear in the air and she’s gone off course, and now she’s nowhere near the path she ran to get here.

I give a little huff and a grunt, which catches her attention. So I use my head to direct her toward the path she actually took to get here.

She stares at me for a moment, but then walks in the direction I gestured.

She still looks quite sad, but she’ll be okay. I’m here to keep her safe. I’m just following her for now, though, at least I do until she stops and looks around, seemingly unsure of where to go from here.

Her sense of smell must be awful because the scent trail is very clear. Well, I guess I’ll just help out a little more. So instead of relying on her to show the way, I take over and walk the same path that she ran to get here.

Now that I’m leading with my excellent nose, finding her basket won’t be a problem at all. A short walk later, and she’s quick to spot it.

She rushes over and rummages through the contents, finding a broken bottle. She looks absolutely heartbroken, but there’s still a bit of glowing liquid left in it.

Slowly, she gets up again and walks over to me, then hugs my leg again.

Bring the broken bottle to her lips; she drinks the small bit of liquid, and I feel a tingling sensation.

“I’m sorry, dragon! I didn’t know Elder Charo would try to bind you. Please don’t hurt the town, you can have me instead! It was my fault. I just needed to say fhrah [sorry]! Eb se fhrah! E nura soro er wara Fara je, themar! [I am so sorry! I just hope you can forgive us, dragon.]”

Okay, I didn’t expect that. I just sorta stare at her for a while. Clearly that was a very useful potion.

And dragon? Now that she mentions it, it does make sense. But dragons are legendary and I’m just… me…

After a moment, she lets go of me and just sits down in front of me. I'm not sure what to do here or what she expects of me, maybe that I would eat her, but I really don’t want to… Well, I kinda do. Turns out her people are even more delicious when chewed.

Why does my mind immediately go to food? Stop it, Mind, I like her, so she is not on the menu.

I’m gonna have to keep this impulse to eat folks in check. That could definitely get me in trouble.

Making myself think about something else, I remember that I’m covered in blood, gore, and grime. I clear some dirt again and start making another little forest diorama.

Perhaps I can get her to show me the lake or some sort of other watery forest feature.

To my surprise, I’m not actually that bothered by the blood and gore caked onto my body, but I do mind that I don’t mind, so I want to do something about it.

Annoyingly, she seems to get the idea before I even finish my little art project. She could at least have waited until I finished it. I was putting a lot of effort into it…

Oh well. She picks up her somewhat tattered basket and empties it of her money. It looks like she doesn’t trust the basket to hold her money, so she quickly pockets the collection of coins.

She looks around for a bit and then starts leading the way towards somewhere. Hopefully the lake, but who knows where this little one will take me. It could be anywhere with a nose that weak.

This time though, I’m not gonna let my guard down if we get close to anything I might consider dangerous or suspicious. I’m gonna be ready for anything this time.

She may have apologized, but I’ve realized that I don’t actually know her. She did seem genuinely upset about how things had turned out though.

Now that things have settled down and we’re moving towards something specific, I find myself focusing less on specific smells, and I pick up that lovely pocket scent again.

But this time, it’s not coming from her pocket; it’s from her basket!

Focus, Kira, we’re not robbing people today. A few lost coins between friends is one thing, but if I just take her money now, I’d be robbing her.

We’ve been walking for some time, and I can suddenly smell new things, and I’m fairly confident that I’m hearing waves as well.

If I had known what lakes smelled like, I would probably have been able to find this place easily enough.

As we breach the forest’s edge surrounding the lake, I rush ahead onto a rocky beach and leap into the water. The water feels so refreshing as the small waves crash against my body.

Soon enough, I find myself thrashing around in the water and brushing against the rocky lake floor. The grime and dirt are falling off my scales in chunks.

Guess I underestimated how dirty I was, well, still am. I’ve got plenty of bathing left to do before I’m clean. An excellent excuse to keep playing around!

After an appropriate amount of playing around in the water, I look up at the bank and see Little One with a smile. Unfortunately, her smile quickly fades as she notices me watching her.

I still feel a little betrayed by the whole ordeal, but I’m confident that she really didn’t mean for me to get attacked.

So the best thing to do is get even. Dipping my head below the surface, I fill my mouth with water and walk out of the lake toward her. Time for some cruel and unusual punishment!

She’s looking up at me, clearly unsure of what my intentions are. So I just dump the water on top of her and give her a smile.

She’s completely drenched and clearly shocked. “Er doru! [You ass!]” She takes off her vest, shirt and pants, spreading the items out on the rocky beach and stomps off toward the water.

As soon as she enters the lake, she submerges herself. After a moment, she breaches the surface again with bulging cheeks.

Oh no, now I’ve done it! Nooo! She's chasing me! I have to get away from this vicious monster! I try running in circles, but now she's cutting corners and getting closer! She's gonna get me!

Eventually, she manages to get up close and lets loose a torrent of water as I fall over in a totally non-exaggerated fashion.

I lie on my side, clearly wounded by such a ferocious attack, and then the Little One jumps onto me. She’s laughing quite a bit, and I find myself purring. Turns out, I purr now. It feels good to have some fun.

I get up and she slides off me. I move towards the water and she’s quick to follow. We get into the water and she starts scrubbing my scales, which feels incredible.

I thoroughly appreciate the help getting the last of the grime off.

Night is closing in and Little One starts putting on her clothes again. She bends down and starts poking at the ground. I move over to her so I can see what she’s doing.

She appears to be drawing a house. I guess it’s time for her to head home, but I don’t really want her to.

Come on, Kira, don’t be selfish. She needs to go home to be safe, even though I’m confident that I could keep her safe.

I notice her frowning a little, so I guess she can tell that I’m reluctant to return to her town. But I still want to make sure she’s safe on her journey back, especially because it’s getting quite late.

It’s unavoidable that she has to return home, so we start heading back towards the town. I’m still a little reluctant to go, so I may be dragging my feet a little to make the journey slower.

But whatever, I’m a dragon apparently, so I can do what I want. Who’s gonna say no to a dragon?

Most of our trip back to the town is spent in quiet enjoyment of each other’s company. I can’t quite place why I’m so comfortable with Little One’s presence; I just am. I can question that later, because it doesn’t feel wrong, forced, or intrusive.

With those thoughts, I’m reminded of Old One again, which elicits an unintended growl. Little One looks up at me with worry in her eyes, but I just nudge her with my cheek. That is enough to return a smile to her face. She gets it.

We make our way to the edge of the woods, standing around for a bit, and I did not expect to see that.