How A Dragon Trains You

Part 19

What happens in the dark…

The more time had passed, the more I was starting to get the feeling that you could get used to anything. Even the oddest circumstances, such as waking up in the arms of a dragon in the middle of a forest on a chilly morning… even that eventually seemed as familiar as waking up in my own bed.

As always, I had been the first of us to open their eyes, which I could barely manage against the bright sun. Fahren was still asleep, curled to his side and still holding me, his chest moving back and forth from the large but gentle breaths.
I stayed still. By now, even I learned that moving ever so slightly would wake him up from his morning slumber. Any movement would notably push against his arms. Thus… I remained just lying there. My mind started idle, my thoughts started to wander.
Connecting what happened yesterday took me a bit. What I felt accepting of before, met resistance once again in the moment it was back on my mind. Benton knew. Everything, if not, more than I do. Fahren shared his memories to him or… something along the lines of that. I couldn’t tell whether he intentionally left things out, or whether he could control that at all, but I was too afraid to ask. Even then, Benton seemed like a factual guy. The last one to mock me or tell any uninvolved persons about this. Not unless he is planning to write everything down in that weird book…  
Fahren’s soft breathing stopped. I didn’t know whether it was my inner unrest that radiated over to him, or merely sheer coincidence. Whatever it was, he was now awake. He let out a mighty yawn before opening his marble-green eyes, which quickly spotted me, happy to see me.
The arms, still wrapped around my back, pressed me into the chest, Fahren’s head nuzzling mine. I hugged around it as best as I could, my tired eyes falling shut.
Fahren knew the drill by now, too. I would need to leave for the day. Go back into town, do human stuff. I still have another life to take care of after all. He rolled forward, gently dropping me into the ground onto my back, almost setting off to look for my clothes, which I this very morning I was happening to still be wearing, out of force of habit. I held onto his lowered head. I didn’t want to leave. I never did… but I had to.
I kissed him goodbye, which I ended up going longer than I intended to. Both reluctant of letting him go and having to get up in the morning, which I must admit I always had problems with even before Fahren showed up. Stretching myself, I still felt a few hurting spots from our time a few days back in the barn. Fahren must’ve felt them too, looking down a little bit concerned, but quickly realizing everything was okay. Lazily, I dropped myself back down, the leaves admittedly not feeling softening for the back of my head as much as I expected them to do. I glanced up, into the treetops, the light shining through them made visible by the fog.
This idea came to my head, again. That I could leave everything behind and simply… run off with my dragon. It’s a thought that I quickly dismissed, due to the utter ridiculousness of that decision. Leaving everyone behind… let alone living like a feral in the wilderness. Yet, the thought never disappeared. It seemed silly, but it stayed in the back of my head.
Fahren’s face popped into my view, curiously looking down to me. I chuckled at him. Even a dragon knew better of my responsibilities that I did. Levicus wasn’t so wrong, when he kept saying that I’m ‘careless’ or ‘always have my head in the clouds’.
I sat up, rustling all the hair out of face and back, and gladly accepted the help my dragon offered me by holding out a wing. I began to walk, and my dragon walked after me. Usually I’d protest, but we were far enough from town. He could come.
Once the walls fragmentedly began showing from in between the tree trunks… we both knew it was time to separate. Still, we stood there for a bit… watching a group of deer in a softly bulged valley not too far away. I’d tell Fahren to go catch one, but he’d probably resort to using fireballs, and being that close to town it would be… risky. Those things are loud!
Before stepping off, I couldn’t resist but hug him again… pressing myself into his side… and as I lifted my head again-
There suddenly was a snap, followed by a bolt flying past a couple deer, and then loudly impacting in a tree right next to us. Fahren was gone in an instant. I didn’t even get to see him jump away, he probably already disappeared before the bolt even narrowly missed us, such as the deer that scattered and were all running away.
I heard some cursing come out the general direction the bolt came from. As it got closer… I knew who that was.

“Gods, curse me!” I heard Levicus frustratedly mumble, searching the ground for the spot the bolt impacted. At first, he was oblivious to me standing there frozen, looking at him with concern.
“Oh, hello there Merv!” he shouted across the forest once he saw me. “ ‘didn’t see you there.”

“You…”
I had to hold back to not just yell at him. “You do realize you almost shot us… right?”

“Oh yeah! Should’ve figured- Wait, ‘us’?”

I glanced to my spot were Fahren had been sitting just seconds ago. “Nevermind…”

“…Anyway, I should’ve figured that you were staying the night here again for whatever reasons. Oh, there it is!”

He grabbed the bolt out of the tree’s wood next to me, inspecting its tip.
“Ah, dammit. Blunt and useless. This one’s going to the range.”

He stuffed it in a pocket.

“So, what is it now that you’re doing out here this time? And don’t say hunting, I don’t see any weapons or gear on you.”

“I could ask you the same thing, you know” I deflected. “Hasn’t my dragon provided you with enough stuff?”

“Right, that… You see, I still need to go hunting every now and then to not seem suspicious. Can’t sell off one brute after another without ever leaving the town!” he laughed, however then quickly looking over his shoulder to check if anyone heard that.

“But I can stop doing that now, I suppose… those crossbows man. Yesterday it was fine and accurate, today utter uncalibrated rubbish. I have to take this thing back to the range. And you back to town…”
He looked over my clothing for a bit. “You’ve been staying the night in the forest again, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have” I said unashamed, almost suggestively.
…

“You’ve been doing something with Benton, eh?” he asked, while we were walking our way back to town. I was caught off guard by the question, as I was looking back to see where my dragon went. “I met him on the street yesterday night after you hopefully stopped by his place like I told you to, but he seemed so much in a hurry, he wouldn’t say a word to me!”

“Yeah, I introduced him to my dragon” I brushed the question off.

“You, uh… okay. This time without any wolf attacks, I guess?” he snickered.

I rolled my eyes.
“You’re a comedic genius, Levi.”

“And… that’s it? I think Benton would at least try to get more out of it! For his… sciencin’ stuff, you know what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, he did ask me a couple questions and also made a drawing of Fahren’s body…”

“What, who? ‘Fahren’?

“Oh yeah, that’s his name. I didn’t tell you yet.”

He smiled. “You should’ve gone for a simpler name. Like… Karl! Or… Joergen. How ‘bout that?” he chuckled.
“Levi… that’s not…”
His laughter cut me off. “Did you know that one of the counts named their horse ‘Buttstallion’? It’s the funniest thing ever! His horse actually listens to it, and you can sometimes hear him shout its name! You could’ve gone for something like that-”

“I did not give him this name!”

Levi went silent, glancing at me confused.
“Levicus for goodness sake, it is his actual name! His name is Scír Fahren. I did not think of it myself.”

He stayed still for a second. “…Okay, my concern is not to understand things. As long as the game ‘Fahren’ brings me is on point, I got mine.”

Approaching the gate, we shut the conversation about our secret dragon friend off.
… 

The streets weren’t quite as busy as usual, as it was still early in the morning. Sure, there were small crowds here and there, but that was hardly anything compared to the usual buzz. Seeing that reminded me how rarely I had been up so early. Usually I’d sleep until it’s almost noon.
We had no trouble and rush on our way to Levi’s store, cutting our path short through the alley as usual.
However, I slowed down when I saw a person standing there by the entrance.
It was neither Benton, nor… anyone I knew. He had a hat and a notably large bag. And he wasn’t just idling there or taking a break, he was waiting. Once I saw him spot and stare at us, I knew, he was waiting for us.

“Uh… Levicus? Who’s that guy? What does he want?”

“Have you been living in your dragon’s cave for that long? That’s the town courier!”

Oh. Hence the bag and the hat. Right. Those guys exist. Man… I’m really starting to get paranoid, am I? I wondered to myself.
I didn’t say anything.

Levicus didn’t accelerate from seeing the courier waiting for him, casually stepping up the few stairs onto the porch, me following behind his shoulder a bit nervously.

“The day you get a mailbox is the day I visit the chapel and praise the lord, Mister… err… something with L” the courier mumbled a bit frustrated through his beard.

“How often must I tell you this? You can throw any mail over my backyard gate. No one’s going to come and steal it” Levicus muttered.

“Well, this one’s important.”
He stretched out a hand, holding a letter which caught Levi’s attention. Strange. The envelope did look kind of pretty, with its clean quality paper and a red dot, but… he never seemed that interested in a letter before. It wasn’t the good kind of interest, too. He seemed rather concerned

“Important, you say?” Levicus inquired.

“Aye. Directly from the Kavelton Hold. But by my experience, you’re not gonna like what this’s gonna say.”

Without saying another word, Levicus snatched the letter out of the courier’s hand, fiddled the keys out of his pockets and rushed inside, leaving the door open for me. Either that, or he didn’t bother to close it.
After exchanging an awkward look with the courier, I walked after him. Already, he was standing by the counter, eagerly unwrapping the letter, pieces of the envelop falling left and right. Once he got ahold of the sheet, he promptly unfolded it and held it out to read. I barely caught a glimpse of it, still able to see the fancy style of the writing and a seal in a corner. Assumingly the icon of the Kavelton Hold.
At first, Levicus mumbled as he read, which I could not make out except a ‘Dear Mr. …’ something. I never was able to memorize Levicus’ surname. But quickly, he stopped mumbling. His gaze got more serious.

“This…”

He leaned up.

“This… This must be… No.”

He stayed silent for a long time. His breathing got heavier, tremblier.

“…I told him… joining up with the Imperial’s would mean his death…”

Suddenly, he crumpled up the paper and jumped up, storming through the backdoor which he slammed shut. Behind the closed door, I could hear him yell ‘I HAD TOLD HIM!’, and I heard another slammed door. He must’ve gone into his garden.

I stood there in a room for a while, busy with merely processing what just happened, confused. Very confused. The crumpled letter lay in front of me…
Levicus wouldn’t want me to snoop into his private matters, but… filling in a blank can’t hurt anyone…

I picked up the letter and uncrumpled it, watching the doors. Wouldn’t want Levicus to see me read his mail with the mood he’s currently in.

The paper had many folds and wrinkles, but was still readable.

‘Dear Levicus Hawardson,

we, the countship of Kavelton, wish to inform you about the recent unfortunate death of ex-imperial soldier George Hawardson.
His, presumably in combat, damaged helmet was found on 7. of August near Moonlight Inn, where he has been last seen alive the night before. The cause of his death remains unknown…-’

I stopped reading. I couldn’t continue.

Shit. Oh shit… this not good…

I sat down against a wall. It felt like I was about to faint.

That was… him!? That guy who attacked my dragon and died was Levi’s brother?!

I tried to calm myself down, breathing frantically and shivering. Calm down, calm down… he must not know about this…

Just as I thought I could leave this chapter of the past behind me… what tough fucking luck. What should I do!? Levicus deserves to… know…, but… he can’t. There is no way. I cannot tell him that my dragon killed him! What should I do!?...

…Benton… Yeah, he’s a smart guy. I mean, now that he knows everything about me and my dragon, he might as well help me. Perhaps Fahren also shared the memories about George… I need to see him. At once.

 I was about to re-crumble the letter with my trembly hands and put it near the spot Levicus left it, but I figured I should show it to Benton first. I gave myself another second to calm down… yet, feeling myself close to tears. I need to look as normal as possible… I walked over to the window, seeing my reflection in it. Damn… I didn’t know it was possible to look so done from just reading a letter… 

…

I stepped up the small staircase to Benton’s house. This time, I didn’t take any moments to admire the looks of the street and buildings, though due to my hesitation my focus did slip off to them. I took a deep breath before I dared to touch the door handle, my arm still a bit shivery as I lifted it.
Three reluctant and comparatively quiet bangs went through the door, and yet, quickly a chair was pushed back afterwards and footsteps started travelling. The slide in the door opened, and Benton barely needed to look. I heard an audible sigh.

“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” he asked, but I didn’t answer, which was a sign that something was very wrong. “Come in.”

Locks slid and the door opened. I hurried inside Benton’s apartment, away from the people outside, leaving him standing by the doorway and looking after me confused. He would tell me to go upstairs to his office, but clearly, there were more important matters to get to.

“Let me guess. They captured your dragon?”

“What? No! Just- read!” I stammered, slamming the letter on the table and trying my best to straighten out the wrinkles. Benton took it, sat down, readjusted his reading glasses and was silent for a moment.

“Ah… Oh man…”

He didn’t sound too emotional, but not as dry as usual.

“Levi told me a bit about him, though not too much. They went separate ways early on. He wasn’t even with the Tivans. He joined up with the imperial civil guard, and changed… a lot…”

He leaned back, leaving a long mournful pause.
“I guess Levicus still saw the childhood brother-and-best-friend in him that he used to be. Shame…”

“Y-yeah, look… there’s… I showed you this because… something else to this…”

“Oh, you think someone was out for his blood?” he quickly inquired, looking at me intently.

“No. Well… technically. It’s just… I…”

“You need my help to find the killer? Well… to me, this looks like a barfight gone the worst way possible. We’ll-”

“No! Listen! I… know who did it. It’s…just…”

“You killed him?”

“NO! BENTON!”

Both of us were silent for a moment. “I-it was… my dragon did it…”

At first he seemed confused, as baffled as I was. But then… Benton glanced away, thinking. “I think… I might’ve already known that all along.”

I stayed silent. What the hell does he mean?

“It was one of the many many memories your dragon shared with me. It had me confused, if I’m honest. I couldn’t quite understand what the purpose of… telling me this was. Though it may have been a significant event that lead to you two coming closer… Did you have any part in this, by the way?”

I did nothing but look at him. “I err... what now?”

“I only saw the event out of your dragon’s perspective, but not from yours. And memories, especially the ones from heated moments and stored for a long time, can end up being altered or manipulated by your own consciousness. What did you see? Were you there?”

I finally took the time to take a seat. “No, I wasn’t there…-”

“You were not involved at all?”

“I… George left the building because of me.”

“What? Did you tell him to?”

“No! I… it happened shortly after the first time me and Fahren met, so I was badly wounded… People noticed that, thinking there might be a dragon around, and I… yeah…”

“Couldn’t resist the fame of being a dragon attack survivor?”

I didn’t answer anything for a long time.

“I- I tried to stop him! He was on his way and I told him to stand back, but he wouldn’t listen! All I know was next day, the Inn lady sent me to look for him and I found him… or what was left of him…”

“The letter said his death was unconfirmed. That he hasn’t been found.”

“That’s because I… didn’t tell anyone. About what the dragon did…”
I took my arms off the table, wiping at my face and sighing into my hands.

“I… lied and said he must have frozen to death or something. That he was too drunk to find home or notice the chilly air. But then some guy found his helmet… and it had blood all over it. They uh… didn’t take too kindly in catching me in my lie… I ended up leaving.”

I didn’t dare to tell Benton about the things that happened afterwards… That they got to confront my dragon and things nearly escalated. That I returned the next day, pretending to have avenged them. Luckily, Moonlight Inn was far away enough for the people in Dummerston to not catch too much of a word from it. Moonlight Inn didn’t know me. For them, I was just some random guy that went away as quick as he appeared.

“They did not figure?” Benton interrupted my thoughts, and I noticed just now that I abruptly had gone silent.

“I think they did. But the Kavelton court didn’t buy it, so they left it at ‘unconfirmed’ ” I dryly mumbled.   

“So, what do you need my help with?” Benton asked, ready.

“I err…”

“I could back you up with briberies. Y’know, to make sure that the important folks keep their mouth shut in case this ever gets into the light.”

“Not that… I… I just don’t know whether I should tell Levicus. I can’t just proceed to lie to him! I feel bad withholding this, and he… I think he deserves to know, but… that would make him hate my dragon, and I don’t know if Fahren would want that… I just don’t know what to do!”

“Are you- You came all the way here, to me, confessed me this story, all for a bit of relationship-advice?”

He didn’t sound too touched. 

“Look, we are research partners -at best-”

“Isn’t Levicus your friend too?” I interrupted him. “Don’t you care?”

He frowned. But not in a judgmental way. He frowned to himself, clearly conflicted, questioning himself. He glanced down and taking one deep breath.

“Look- there’s a bigger picture in all of this Mervyn. I- I…”
He stammered, cutting himself off with a sigh, which I never observed from him before.
“I… I’ll tell you what to do.”

I looked up.

“It’s for the best if you don’t tell him. I know you’re uncomfortable with this. You’ve lied and withheld in your past and want to get away from it, but… it’s better off this way. For all of us. For your dragon, for you… and Levicus, our friend.”

I just sat there…

“And perhaps for the world too” he added after a pause.

Is this the best way to go? I wondered to myself… Is he right?  

“Take a break” he said in addition, after another silent pause. “You need some rest. You’re done. Even I can feel that.”

Just as I got up, he grabbed my arm.

“Be more careful. There’s more at stake than you know about. And this pot is about to boil over.”

Then he let me go, without another word, leaving me pondering about what that meant..  

…

(Perspective switch to Fahren)

Nothing but clouds. Overcast clouds as far as the eye could see, my wings effortlessly cutting through as I slowly descended to the ground. Once the fog dipped low enough to start touching the treetops, the coast was clear, and out from the concealment I dropped, a grey -almost white- night fury. You could hardly tell the difference between me and the clouds. Just as I lowered into the forest below, into the darker and denser underbrush, my exterior darkens. Swooping in between the opening of a few dark green pines, I glided to a stop.

Something had brought me out of the sky. Someone.

Being near a small lake, the fog, which hovered above the treetops seemingly not daring to go any lower, reflected off the water and behind a few rows of trees I was met with a dull white wall. Paws gently padding, I approached, getting a clearer view with every step.

There was a human, idly sitting on a small wooden construction that slightly reached over the lake, bottle in hand with a few more surrounding. He seemed weirdly passive. Being alone in a forest, you’d think they’d pay more attention. But he just sat there… drinking. Almost as if he wasn’t even here.
I could see who it was. One of my human’s friends…

Carefully, I got closer, still quieter than a leaf hitting the ground. It helped there’s a bit of a breeze coming off the lake. It slowly waves Levi’s hair. It’s cold, but… it didn’t seem like he cared.

The wind wafted a scent in my direction. This scent… I knew. I’ve smelled it before. It was coming from that same awful liquid that Mervyn reeked of when he was all.. floppy.. that one night. Expecting the same state of uselessness, I approached with much greater confidence. Eventually I reached and then crossed the boundary from land to pier, from dirt and gravel to old, creaky wood. The first step was clearly audible against the silence. Levicus froze. Well… he had been frozen the entire time, actually.
I gave a small murmur just to not frighten him, letting him know it’s me. As I got even closer… something seemed off. A strong aura surrounded the human. It got stronger with its proximity.
Now directly upon, it was obvious what it was. Intense grief. The air felt as thick as stew, making my ears droop. The cloud of sadness… there was no way to avoid getting sucked in. So I just let it happen.

The wind blew coldly. The chilliness seeped through Levi’s clothes, and as the mist finally began to descend, miniscule weightless droplets kissed every patch of his pen skin. Finally, I came around the human’s left side and sat, sending out another set of ripples out from the pier’s supports.

My large body beside him blocks off the cold wind, radiating warmth instead.
I didn’t know what happened to him. But it must’ve been something absolutely terrible…

My tail swung around and a wing slowly extended, further protecting Levicus’ shivering body from the winds.
His mood didn’t shift a lot from my presence, though he seemed a little less passive now, glancing over for a second. Still, he doesn’t do more besides just sitting there. And so did I, on my haunches, emitting deep rumbling breaths and little plumes of fog escaping my maw as it touched the cold air… There was nothing to say. Nowhere to be.

I heard a sigh from him, which sounded relaxed in way. As if deep down, he was a tiny bit happier that he wasn’t alone here anymore and that I wasn’t really disturbing his peace… or grief…

In the silence of the foggy forest, I scooted a bit closer, my head lowering down to his height, my hot breaths unintentionally being blown into his direction by the wind. Inquisitively, I sniffed at him.
“Mnrr…?”

There hardly was a reaction to me. He just tilted his head back ever so slightly and shut his eyes for a bit, as if trying to hold back everything he was feeling inside.
I was prepared for any lash out, I knew what I was doing. I was ready to take a strike to the head or a scream if need be.
His head turned, at least looking at me now. There wasn’t a lot of expression on his face. It seemed as cold as the air and as worn as this pier.

“You ever lost someone before?” he spoke out of nowhere. The way he asked seemed odd. I could tell that he actually wasn’t expecting an answer. Still, after being still for a moment, I shut my eyes and nodded, to which he seemed surprised that I was able to understand him.
“It’s so weird. Things die left and right all the time. This feels like I ain’t never been confronted with it before...” he continued to ramble in a monologued way. He didn’t know I’d be able to understand it.
As his head was about to sink back down into his arms, I leaned forward with no warning…

(Perspective switch to Levi)

…the side of my head was suddenly, but gently, poked by the tip of the dragon's nose.

Amidst the fog of the lake, forms began to emerge. First another dragon… then a wolf… along with many different animals. I couldn’t tell if they were real. They looked so strange, just black silhouettes standing on the water nearly obscured by the fog, almost as if they weren’t even here.
“Are you doing this?” I asked, but I couldn’t hear myself speak.  

As I observed each shimmering form, events began to flow through my head. Like memories, but they weren’t my own. In the matter of seconds, stories were told without a word being said, it was enough to lay my gaze upon them. Flying free with a fellow dragon, doing crazy moves, flying through waterfalls… playing with fireballs in the sky... and the wolf… the wolf that died. Just looking at it told me its life’s memory. A young, ambitious girl, wanting to prove herself… with a loving pack and a boyfriend even, nothing official... nothing the other pack members knew about, but they ran away together and played when nobody was watching…

Every animal, from a sparrow to an incredibly large sea serpent even. They were memories of friendships. Or just memories salvaged from something before it passed away. Memories that lived on through the dragon.
Suddenly one by one, it seemed like the fog rose, overtaking the forms one by one. Each one lost to the sands of time. Any dead friend he did find, he buried, but others he never saw again.

In a way it occurred to me as if I was being talked to. But there was no voice. Only… an ethereal narration.

Though the dragon appeared young, it had outlived almost every other being it came across. Love and life, friends and mates, sex and joy. And… hate and death... betrayals... vicious fights, fires, swords.
If there is life, there is death. But passing shouldn't be feared... the end of life is something that waits for all of us. It's the closure, the finish line. Your work here is done, and it's time to rest. Live the life you can while you have it… and love with all of your heart and soul because love lasts forever.
Cherish the times you spent. Remember them. Tell their stories. They live on through you.
…-

The head pulled back and the snout let go. The figures were abruptly gone, all of them, and again, I was looking out at the bleak mist. Though this time it seemed different. It didn’t seem as cold, not as hopeless.
I put the bottle away, looking over to my dragon companion. Teary eyed, its head layed on my shoulder, staring away just as I did. The beast was silent, in the same pain as I was.
Wrapping a wing around me, it protected me from the cold…

(Perspective switch to Mervyn)

Finally, this stupid fog is gone…

My Orientation regained, I set off towards the direction I believed the lake to be. It was more of a pond, really. A pond Levicus always went to when he wanted to be undisturbed. I go there too, sometimes. I used to do that a lot, actually. It was like only me and him were the only people in Dummerston that knew about the place. It had an old pier on it, as the pond once belonged to a river that dried off some long time ago. You couldn’t even see its bed, it’s become part of this forest by now.

I spotted a clearing behind another row of trees. This must be it… If he isn’t here… I might have a problem.
Ready for anything, I stepped closer, brushing the final bushes out of my way.

It spooked me for a second. Levicus was there… but my dragon was too. With him, on the pier. They barely fit onto it. What was he doing here? What’s going on? Did he… tell him what happened? I was about to approach them… But Fahren noticed my presence, turning his head back and giving me a small glare as I got closer, to which I only looked confused. Persisting, I took another step, and quickly the tail went up, fins flared at me. He really didn’t want me to be here right now. Okay, I thought to myself. He didn’t look too happy… and I could feel that too. As if it was in the air. Not wanting to test his temper, I turned around. Levicus seemed to be in good hands… or paws. My dragon may have looked a bit scary, but he can be one of the most loving and empathetic beings. He’ll take care of him, I trust him…

…

I had spent my entire way back wondering what actually happened. How did he find him? How did my dragon know Levi was even out there? …Were they really cuddling? I had many questions, but they had to wait for now.

I should get my mind off. Off of everything. For the day, perhaps. This can’t be healthy without a break.  

The familiar looking gates came into view, the same amount of people and guards scattered around it. The stables were full and a cart was parked; we had travelers coming over. Levicus wouldn’t want to pass this up… Maybe I can be his substitute for the day? I mean, I knew where he keeps his keys, his tools, his… everything. I can do this.

Usually the guards checked me when I stepped through the gate, especially recently, but they were too busy for that today. I didn’t even get an acknowledging look, I slipped right through. The conversations of the buzzing crowds were in my ears. Many, many words, too many to keep track of… but… there was one that caught my attention. From a familiar voice as well, that rambled on about… something… with a dragon?

I stopped, eavesdropping with my back turned as I looked at a lady over my shoulder, making hysteric gestures in front of some guard.

“No, I swear! I saw it! Many saw it!”

Of course right now, the cabbage guy rolled his cart by, creating a lot of noise.

Almost frantically, I turned around and got closer, almost pushing people out of my way.

“It was at my inn! It attacked my guests! You have to believe me, they’re back! They’re around here! It even killed someone, I have his helmet!”

It really was her. The… Inn lady. I never knew her name. What on earth is she doing here?!
Luckily, the guard seemed like he was having none of it, looking down to her in disbelief. Eventually, he sent her away, saying something along the lines to see a healer at the chapel.

“Don’t worry” he suddenly spoke to me, having spotted me stand there with my pale face. “Madam’s crazy. There are no dragons ‘round here, citizen. We make sure of that.”

Along he went, past me. I still remained frozen. If I could, I’d rush to Benton’s place again, but I just was there earlier today… Don’t want to bother him again...

Hastily, I stepped off. ‘Don’t worry’ I kept saying to myself. They’ll just pass her off as some crazy lady. She won’t… blow our cover…

I wasn’t far from the shop. Just a road here, the shortcut alley there and I stood by its glassy front. Without Levicus… it seemed empty. Lifeless. Probably because no one was there. It was weird being here all by myself… without Levicus, but I had to be him for the day. Do his work, get his tasks done, be what is lacking this place right now. But I could hardly focus… the inn lady fresh on my mind, along with everything that happened back there. Was that really her? Would she have the proof? She would have the witnesses… that’s for sure. They all saw what happened. What they did to Fahren and what he did to them. Even if they would believe her, they’d search around the inn and my dragon doesn’t hang around there… anymore. Again, I had this feeling of powerlessness in me. It was the same kind I felt back in the inn when I was stuck on the roof. I could do nothing but stand by and hope for the best. As of now, any kind of interfering would put Fahren, Levi, Benton, me and probably a lot of more people in risk. I can leave the town and Fahren doesn’t have a very stationary lifestyle to begin with, but them? They both have businesses here… Focus, Merv, focus! There’s work to do.
I stepped through the gate, into his wide garden. Standing there for a bit, I took a look around… The marks in the dirt were unmistakable. The many prints of the large paws were all over the place. I could even make out the spot where Levi was dragged over the ground when Fahren was being a bad dragon. Plus the crates, that me and Fahren accidentally broke while we were… busy, didn’t seem to have moved an inch. Doesn’t Levi ever get visitors? Don’t… his kids play down here?!
This place was not only a mess, just like the old days, the paw prints were literally solid proof in case someone gets onto us. Tools left and right, one of the catches laying around in the open, everything was filthy and unclean… where do I even start? How does Levi work like this?

…
…

That was… exhausting.

I stepped out into the darkness, slamming the front door shut and placing the extra lock on it. How on earth does Levi do this every day? I never worked so hard in my life!
Most of the time was spent cleaning that damn backyard, raking the pawprints away and obscuring any proof of a dragon having been in there, sorting his tools and readying that catch he had laying around for… a little too long. With the long lunch break I took… it wasn’t until like 6pm until I could actually open his store, but for the last two hours in the evening I did have some action in here. Like five or six people showed up, bought some of the cool new swords he had gotten and some leather-armored clothing here and there, but that really did it. They do drive a hard bargain, and I probably sold those for way too less for Levi’s standards but what gives. Without me this house would’ve been closed for the entire day, and his backyard would still look like a junkyard.
Barely finding my path through the darkness, I walked back around, into the yard… just put the keys where Levi wants them and go home. Those were the only things left to do…-

I startled back as beneath the light of the small lamp at the backdoor someone was sitting… with a bottle in his hand. Of course. This can only be one person.

“Levicus!” I shouted. “I had been- what are you doing here?! Where have you been the whole time?”  

“Drinking” he bluntly answered, clearly sleepy. “Don’t act like you never slacked a day off.” 

“I- I… I saw you in the forest… with Fahren. He.. sent me away. What did you do?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I was just drinking and he came along. ‘even gave me a ride in the end.”

“What kind of ride?”

He just gave me a slightly disgusted look.

“Right… do you know where he went?”

“Behind ya.”  

Even before I had the chance to flip around, I felt a huge wet tongue lap across the back of my head. I was startled; no one ever expects a surprise lick of that size. But knowing it was my loving dragon, I relaxed and remained still. The slimy touch travelled from my shirt over my neck all the way to my now messed up hair several times.
I intended to finish talking to Levicus, but I had lost any focus. Turning around, I grabbed ahold of the head, Fahren remaining still and thrumming deeply with joy. I gave him a little kiss onto his snout, which he returned by licking me directly on the lips. For a second I wanted to go in with an actual kiss, but I noticed Levi looking at us… confused, at best.

“So uh, I…-”

Fahren left me no opportunity to speak. He lunged forward once more to kiss, locking my lips many times as I still attempted to talk, every word ending up inaudible.

“I… think it’s best to leave you two alone for now” Levicus said with a slightly disturbed tone. Breaking out of his motionless stance, he walked off to the door, bottle still in hand. “Speak to you tomorrow” he mumbled as he disappeared inside, the bang of the shut leaving me and my dragon in silence.

It seems… he was okay. Not even nearly as upset as he was this morning. He doesn’t seem to know the truth either…