We're all made of memories. Now can you imagine how it would be like to live and feel others' memories? Let's see what use a wise dragoness can make with it...

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Pushing on her hind legs, Amaria leaped on the humans, tackling them and maintaining the two of them firmly on the ground. If she wasn’t so focused on her task, the dragoness would have taken her time to enjoy how powerful she felt with two humans kept on the ground by her strong forepaws.

“Amaria, what are you doing?!” Her lover protested with energy. And if David wasn’t busy groaning furiously, he would have probably asked the same.

“Enough is enough!” She growled menacingly. “You stay quiet, and you better not resist, or I guarantee that this will be extremely painful!”

Without waiting any other reaction, she placed her forepaws on the side of their head, and brought them against each other. She took care about not making it a violent shock, she only needed them to touch, so she could reach both of them at once. When she got them in contact with each other, she leaned and applied her forehead against them. Then she closed her eyes, and began.

She felt them… their minds… burning in the fire of hatred… Despite their confusion, all they wanted was to extinguish the other. It was a bit extreme, but without the leash of the body’s restraint to contain their aggressiveness, souls had a natural tendency to extremes. However, it didn’t matter… If human souls weren’t used to the practice of mental connection, Amaria, as a dragoness, was. As if an astral rope tied them separately, she rapidly got them under control while she visualized the mental room she wanted to build.

Maybe the recent events had influenced her, because soon, a room similar to the one where they had met Bolner in built itself around them. A simple room, with rocky walls and crystals on the ceiling, where their three minds were held captive at her command. The main difference with the room which model had been taken, was the presence of countless doors, but this detail was actually intentional. It was the representation of the different places where memories were kept, rooms for each memory present in their minds, in the mental cage which she was the guardian. Here, they couldn’t do anything, but watch, and feel… feel how the memories would feel like. Each door she would open, all three of them would live it through the perspective of its owner, like it was happening right here and right now even if notions of time and space had no value here.

She had to be careful not to show everything, of course. She knew that the more they would share, the more exhausting and painful it would be. But after all, she was the one in total control, the one whom decided what to show and what to keep secret. And so she began…

She began with the reason of their fight, the cause of her human’s anger. She searched. She searched for the most relevant memory. A memory that would either confirm that David had given these weapons to the enemy, or prove his innocence. And her investigation did come out with a result…

It was a rainy day. David was alone in a room, looking through the window. The boy was lost in his thoughts; he was searching for the meaning of what his father was doing. The nasty dragon he wanted out of this city was gone, the annoying guy that caused so many problems was put into a place where he wasn’t trouble anymore, behind a desk doing paperwork on worthless matter. He wasn’t sure if it was a defeat or a victory, but in either case, there didn’t seem to be a problem anymore. With the dragon gone, he didn’t understand why his father kept being so secretive. Was there another fight that he refused to tell him about?

This was nonsense. He had always been loyal to him, and useful too! So why did his father hide things from him? Had he disappointed him, or did he want to protect him? Whatever the reason, he couldn’t find what he had done or what his father was looking after… He kept on refusing to answer, and once again, he had gone out, only ordering his son to stay at home and wait.

When his father returned, a little grin of satisfaction was on his face. The only thing Mr. Devon cared to say to David was that his friend was happy with the delivery, but the kid had sincerely no clue of what he talked about… He wanted to know, but his father had told him that asking questions on what he decided to not tell wasn’t wise. Despite the confusion, the only thing the boy cared about was that his father was happy, which meant that he was happy too…

The memory vanished in the dark with the door closing, and Amaria gave them a moment to digest what they had just lived. Of course, for David, the scene was familiar, and the only feeling it awoke in him was a deep nostalgia. And from what she had just lived as well with this shared memory, she perfectly understood why… Her lover, on the other hand, was rather confused, probably because in such situation, he wouldn’t have felt the same at all. Maybe was he starting to really understand how different they were… But she would come back to explaining memories later, for now she had to take care of David’s anger. And she knew the origins of it.

She searched for another memory, looking for a particular one this time, in the mind of her lover. The night that he never wanted to remember, and the night David had lost everything…

Mr. Devon was standing victorious, in a room containing large stocks of a black powder, leaving the young man with the only choice to either join him in a war against dragons with the help of the weapon he had created, or to die. The fat man even confessed the horrible murder of his parents, for the only crime of standing in his way. Through the victim, every mind in the cage could feel the anger, the disgust, the sadness, and the despair about how this evil man was about to destroy all the efforts that had been done in the name of peace…

He was thinking of all the times this man had already tried, all the times Mr. Devon’s unjustified hatred had threatened to ruin his work in finding another way for a world that was already devoured by atrocities. How deep he wished he could have showed this stubborn fat man that killing wasn’t the answer to everything… And there he was, more powerful and more dangerous than ever…

What would happen if the young man got out of this anyway? Mr. Devon would be imprisoned, before being released soon after to start over his madness? But why bother imagining scenarios? It seemed more likely that for him, everything ended there… he was diminished, in front of the mad man who was probably going to kill him with his own weapon. And what would happen next? War… killing… the never-ending cycle of violence going on, this time on a bigger scale…

While he was replying to his aggressor, the young man was thinking of Amaria, the dragoness he had learnt to know, and whom had showed him that peace was possible… How devastated would she be, if she survives this madness? And the people of this city, however careless they had been to his misery, what would happen to them? They didn’t deserve this… There had to be a way to stop this! He had to put an end to this… If possible, with the least possible injuries, but if he could…

The attack came, half surprising him. The three minds in the mental cage could feel the emptiness in the young man’s move. A part of him analyzed the movements, decided how to react to annihilate the threat, but it wasn’t his conscious mind, only the result of his training… His defense, his killing, were purely a reflex, nothing like a planned murder. It was only the will to survive translated into mindless movements, and his body was just a puppet.

Horror and remorse overwhelmed him as he realized what he had done. Panic took over, and as he looked around, seeing the massive amount of gun powder surrounding him, only one idea came to his mind: all of this had to disappear… In his state of shock, he looked down at the cadaver and saw an opportunity. But this wasn’t a cold decision, it was made out of panic and biased view of the events… Could he…?

The memory was suddenly blurred, like something had been erased or was protected somehow… but when it came back, the young man was invaded in self-disgust, crying as he was doing something horrible. One by one, he was extracting the teeth out of the dead body… He couldn’t bear the awful feeling he experienced, covering his cries with sincere but useless apologies. He knew that Mr. Devon couldn’t hear him anymore, and that he had no other choice if he wanted to protect this city for good…

If the people of this city found the corpse of Mr. Devon here, they would be looking for him, to get answers… and inevitably, he would have to mention the weapon that had been created here, which had to never happen! Because if humans made their weapons evolve, he had been told that this would be the beginning of this world’s end. And what he had just done would have been for nothing… If they found a body they couldn’t identify, however, he knew that they would jump to conclusions. They knew about the nature of the relationship he had with Mr. Devon, a great story of mutual hate; People would assume that it was his own body. And then they would be looking for a murderer, not for the circumstances of the crime…

Amaria could feel that some parts of the two human minds present with her in the cage found this reason questionable. One thought it because of his guilt, the other because of his anger… But yet, both were feeling and hearing the thoughts of the human extracting the teeth. They could live the disturbing experience at the same time, and the dragoness could feel that even if they were reluctant to, they both understood… that at this moment, it appeared to be the only way… This young man didn’t do this with pleasure, or because he wanted to, but because he felt like he had no other choice to protect, and that doing such an awful deed to an already dead body was a little sacrifice of his humanity for a greater good.

The two human minds in the cage were confused, beginning to question their own feelings but still reluctant to abandon their beliefs. And this was the result the dragoness hoped to reach. It was time to show them… that they both had their reasons, that they weren’t any worse or better than the other. And for this, she had to start from the origins.

She opened another mental door, and a five years old kid was showing his father a drawing he had done. It was a simple scribble, with several stick-like characters that were supposedly humans. They held their hands, and they smiled. A simple, innocent and touching picture from a child… but his father didn’t seem that happy, and it confused him.

With a tough look, the adult put a knee on the floor and started to explain. He said that it was good to have such vision, but that it wasn’t realistic in this world. He said that it was dangerous to think that everyone was happy and nice, and that in order to be truly happy, people had to be strong to defend themselves from the others, the mean guys who wanted to do bad things to them.

Taking a pen, the younger version of Mr. Devon drew a bigger character, next to the happy ones, with a sword in his hand. He told his child that now, the people could be really happy, because they had someone to protect them even if they were too weak to do it themselves. Just like David had his father to protect him against the bad people.

The kid was confused; it seemed so complicated… But his father was surely right, because he was never wrong. He probably meant that it took super strong people to make a better world, and somehow, he was happy that his father taught him that. And his dad seemed happy too, because he smiled now. And when David asked if he could be strong to protect the happy people, his father smiled even brighter, telling him that he hoped no less from his son.

That was enough for now. The mind of David felt like this was totally normal, the other seemed to find it horrible. Without waiting anymore, she opened the way to another memory. She had to show the contrast.

Another kid, around the same age, was drawing as well, but curiously, he was drawing quite the opposite. His picture represented a simple character with a smile, but also with a sword and a shield… His concerned mother looked down at the picture, and asked him why he drew his character like this. With a bright smile, the kid replied that he saw a soldier that day, and that he found his gear really nice. He wanted to be like this when he grows up.

Looking a bit reassured, his mother sat next to him, and asked if she could draw too. Happy that his mother wanted to share his activity, he gave her a pen, and she drew a character next to the first, smaller, who held a book. She told him that this way, the soldier had a wise friend to help him. Because in life, fights were indeed important sometimes, but it was even more important to learn, to listen to friendly people who wanted to share, especially if they sounded interesting and helped avoiding fights.

Really confused, the kid was thinking that it sounded dumb. It was better to be strong! Why would anyone strong need someone who read books? With the sincerity of his age, he asked this exact question to his mother, who laughed and said that it was like school. Being strong helped to not get bullied, but being smart allowed to make life easier. If the two were friends, then the strong could help the smart with the bullies, and the smart could help the strong to get good grades. What’s more, because of smartness and strength combined, both could avoid fights thanks to the wisdom of the one who would defuse hatred, and the respect the strong one would inspire.

But why avoiding fights, the kid asked. If the guy was strong, he could beat anyone. To that, his mother replied that even the strongest warrior couldn’t avoid all injuries, or people around him getting hurt. The less he would fight, the least the chances were to lose something valuable. Winning was good, not losing was even more important. How would he feel if someone hurt him if he had done nothing bad, through a fight he wasn’t responsible for? More relevant, if he won a fight, but the bad guy had the time to cut his leg, for example, would he truly be happy with his victory?

The kid was taken aback… He hadn’t thought of that. He thought being strong meant being invincible, but his mother had a point… He had seen another soldier who had only one arm. He looked at his hand that held the pen, and realized that without it, he couldn’t play most games anymore, or draw, or simply do many things he liked.

In the mind of the kid, the idea was starting to grow. But if one was strong and smart? Would he still need others? To that, his mother replied that some people would be good at making cakes, some would be good at some games, and some would be good at making friends. She told him, through these simple examples a child could assimilate, that people could be good at several things, but none of them could be good at everything because there were simply too many talents in the world. And that was the real power of being with others. Talents and skills were sometimes hard to see, but the more he would try to see what others could be good at, the more he would benefit from their friendship. It was like he could be strong, smart, having cake, being good at games, and be loved, all this at once through others’ talents.
So what would he be, he asked his mother, strong or smart? With a tender smile and a big hug, she replied that he could be anything, but that he had to give others a chance for that…

…And that whatever he would become, his father and herself would always be proud of him, as long as he meant good…

This time, both minds were questioning themselves. David was seeing the meaning behind what he still found a bit childish, but not opposed to his view… In a way, he was realizing that only looking for personal strength was a bit restrictive. Amaria’s lover, despite the emotions he felt about this memory, was remembering the lesson he learnt that day, and was wondering if he hadn’t missed something important every time he had judged people… Even Mr. Devon could have been a powerful ally, if he had been smart enough to succeed in showing him another way to employ his talents… But if the two minds had something in common at that point, was that they questioned the efficiency of the other’s parenting they had just experienced. So they wanted to see? Amaria could show…

Opening another mental door, she projected them into a scene where David, a little older, was being bullied by a bigger child. He had tried everything. Being nice, sharing his treats, but it never seemed to be enough… It was like this child only took pleasure in beating him. He had told his teacher, but she all she advised was to be nice and to ask the bully to stop. It was already what he had tried, and it led nowhere! How useless she was! And his father told him that he couldn’t be always there to protect him, especially at school. This day was the one that taught him that in life, he could only rely on his own strength…

When the bully came once again, he faked offering him treats, waiting for the moment he would get off guards… And threw a kick into his crotch! With a big scream that seemed to die in the throat, the bully fell on his knees, only able to whisper threats on how he was going to kill David. The child was scared to death… He didn’t want to do this but he had no choice. And now that he had done it, the other kid was even more furious, and would be horrible when he gets back on his feet! Seeing only one solution, which was to stop him from stepping on his feet for good, David threw a big punch into his face, quickly followed by a few others, and only stopped when the bully seemed harmless.

David stepped back in horror, while the bully was groaning in pain. This time, his whispers were begging… begging for him to stop… Around them, other kids were staring at the scene with wide eyes, like they were scared… An idea came to his mind. If he showed everyone how dangerous he could be, no one would ever dare to attack him again!

He kneeled next to the bully who looked at him with fear now. It felt good… It felt like a bad guy finally had what he deserved… He grabbed him by the collar, and showed his fist, asking if he would try to punch him again, or if he would leave him alone for good. Frightened, the vanquished bully rose his hand to protect his face, and swore that he would never approach him again. He even offered to give him his own treats if he stopped right now.

David got up on his legs and glanced around, a little smile coming to his lips. He saw the groups of children whispering things, visibly scared. Unless they were impressed? He deeply doubted that any of them would ever try and hurt him in the future. He had done it. He had handled the problem by himself, by his sole strength. And thanks to it, he would forever be respected. His father was right… Strength was the way…

Amaria closed the mental door; they had all seen enough. She couldn’t blame David. In his situation, he had no choice, and it was the only way. But she didn’t like seeing violence being the solution. In the mental cage, David was feeling pride from this memory, and unfortunately, Amaria’s lover fully understood it. She quickly moved to another door, sending them another memory.

Amaria’s lover was around six or seven, and he witnessed a bothering scene every day. One of the most physically strong children of the school was being teased and humiliated by another, less impressive, but who had a special kind of power: his family was a rich and of a powerful influence in the city. The harassed kid could have punched him in the face so easily, but he knew that if he did, there would be a lot of consequences…

The young version of Amaria’s lover was deeply disturbed by such a daily show. First, because it was the living proof that even if someone trained hard to be strong, there could always be a stronger guy, especially if the said guy didn’t play along the same rules… And then, because the bullied kid was losing a bit more of his patience every day, and the idea of seeing him or his family punished for simply defending himself was unbearable…

But there was a hope: their instructor. Franck was an adult, and from a powerful family too, whose mission was to teach the basics of fighting to the kids. If he could be brought to do what needed to be done to this annoying kid, the consequences would be minor. But how to achieve such a thing? Fortunately, the kid had a plan.

Every day during lunch time, the rich child always chose the same sitting spot. A blue bench that, according to him, was the most comfortable and the most suitable for someone of his rank. How easy it was to put fresh ink of the same color on this exact spot… The kid, totally unaware, and probably too confident to check where he sat, fell right in the trap. And this afternoon, the show went exactly as planned.

During a demonstration where Franck chose that kid, in front of every one, he noticed the large stain and told him with a big laugh that he should be careful with what he ate, because his butt was entirely blue, finally giving him the nickname ‘blue butt’. The whole class laughed out loud, and probably for the first time in his life, the annoying brat felt what public humiliation was.

Tears were coming to his eyes, a mix of furor and shame on his face. It was obvious that he wanted to take revenge, but who to blame exactly? He couldn’t denounce an entire class for this. He finally had a taste of his own medicine when the whole class called him ‘blue butt’, the feeling of being powerless. And maybe for the first time, he realized that power was relative, and that he wasn’t out of reach because of his parents’ wealth.

In the crowd, hidden under the same laughter as the other kids, the young version of Amaria’s lover glanced at the bullied kid who laughed louder than anyone. That was it. He had found a way to outsmart the dangerous brat, and there was absolutely no proof… Which meant that even the rich family couldn’t specifically blame someone, if not Franck for starting the joke. But Franck was out of reach too, which meant that there wouldn’t be side damages at all. He had managed to defuse the fight, and no one would suffer from it… except the one who deserved it. That was the day he learnt that smartness and wisdom were as important as strength, the day he learnt to try and understand others, either to better reach them, or to help them.

Amaria finally closed this door with satisfaction. She loved seeing her human in such role. Smartness had been a quality of him for as long as she could remember, and she was pleased to see that he was this powerful and concerned about others even at a young age. In a way, that made him even more attractive to her.

In the mental cage, the two human minds were beginning to feel the same way. They understood the ways of thinking of each other, they recognized its efficiency, but they still doubted. In their arrogance, Amaria could feel that the two of them felt like their own suffering had been greater than the other. So they wanted to compare? She could make them!

She began to open doors of painful pasts, one after one, not leaving them a second to rest between them. In this one, David was looking sadly through the window, to the other kids who feared to approach him. In the next, her lover was being mocked because he read a science book instead of playing futile games with the others. The one that came after showed David groaning in pain after a rude training with his father, which had left big bruises on many parts of his body. In the following, her lover was crying because of tiredness, exhausted by the amount of knowledge his parents wanted him to learn. And to better show them that there was nothing to envy to the other, she finished with two memories that, she believed, would show them how similar they were.

In the first, her human was standing before two graves. His sadness and his pain were immense, but he felt like it would have been a lack of respect to cry… To soften his suffering, he focused on the anger her felt. His parents didn’t die from natural cause; their bodies had been found burnt. The official version was that their studies on dragons had turned terribly bad, but he wasn’t a fool… There were elements that made him doubt that this was the truth… Of course, it didn’t mean he was right, it could be a disguised murder, or a dragon’s deed… Since he wasn’t sure, who should he hate? And did he allow himself to feel hate, a feeling his parents despised? He was lost… lost and alone… This pain, this anger and this fear were unbearable…

He simply didn’t know if he could make it without them…

In the second, David was screaming. He was at a burial, and he was surrounded by stupid people who made a terrible mistake. It was his father’s mutilated body in that coffin, and they kept on wanting to make a ceremony under the name of ‘the nameless warrior’. Why didn’t they listen to him? He knew the truth! It was a terrible, unpunished crime! His father deserved at least to be buried under the right name! Anger and hate filled his heart as two soldiers took him by the arms and got him out of the graveyard. Now even those who knew his father forbad him to be at his burial… Words weren’t enough to express how betrayed he felt… But he was alone now… Would he even be able to survive without his dear father to protect him?

He simply didn’t know if he could make it without him…

Yes, this was the perfect conclusion… Both human souls in the cage were feeling the same now… A feeling that no word could describe, but a feeling that broke any animosity between them… for now. Maybe would it come back later, but at the time, it was the best moment for a return to the real world. Trying to make it as soft as possible, she visualized the ropes holding them untying, liberating them while she progressively dismantled the mental room.

And the three of them woke up with a gasp, the dragoness removing her head and releasing theirs. She stepped back, clenching her teeth. A violent headache made her steps clumsy, and she knew the two humans were feeling the same. Maybe was it the reason why it took them a good minute to dare moving. Their eyes had streams of tears flowing down the sides of their head, and it wasn’t only due to physical pain.

Her lover was the first to get to a sitting position, wiping his face and looking at the boy who was still laying down on his back. Amaria wasn’t feeling any happiness from such view, but at least she felt relieved. Because the stare they exchange wasn’t made of hatred. It was probably due to the shock of this experience, but they both seemed deeply sad and sorry.

The young man then looked at her with a weak smile, like he was apologizing.

“I tend to forget how dangerous you can be…” He said, before clumsily standing up, helping himself with a hand on the wall. “And you…”

He stopped for a second, looking at the boy he hated so much only moments ago, serving him a deep stare of compassion.

“I’m really sorry… for everything… I was wrong to assume you blindly followed your father… terribly wrong. What you did… was doing what you thought was right. You weren’t as lucky as I was, and I shouldn’t have thought lesser of you for that… Now, I know there was a time where you cared about others… People think of themselves before the others, you understood that. I also felt disgusted when I painfully discovered it. But the thing is, at some point, I asked myself if I did want to be like them, or if I wanted to protect them despite their defaults. Hate and anger were simply too exhausting to me, so I made my own choice. In the end, it’s a simple matter of what you choose to see in them, either the selfish monsters, or the innocent persons capable of good things… I’m sure you’ll ask yourself this question, and the answer you’ll come with will be yours and only yours…”

Under David’s stare, who still seemed like he was struggling to get back to reality, he began to walk out of the cell, leaving the door opened. At this moment, a few armed guard burst into the room, looking quite confused. The glanced at David, then at him, before one of them dared to talk.

“We’ve been alerted by the guardian. He said you dashed in there, and that he heard screams. Is everything alright, sir?”

Amaria’s lover, with an exhausted look, turned toward the boy. Was everything alright? No, it wasn’t… But none of this was anyone else’s concern. All this was between the son of his deadly enemy and himself. The dragoness had never seen as clearly into his unspoken thoughts.

“Yes, everything is…” he lied, looking back at the guard. “And let him go. I refuse that he keeps rotting in here. Not with what’s coming…”

“But sir… you’re aware that he’ll most likely try to kill you…”

“Yes, I know that… And I’m fine with it.” He sighed. “But then it will be his choice. I think it’s time someone gives him a chance to grow and live his life. It’s time we consider him like a responsible adult. However…”

He faced once again the kid who still seemed lost. Maybe didn’t he understand why he was being given a second chance. Or maybe wasn’t he clear about his own intentions now.

“Will you wait until war’s over before doing anything? I’ll accept whatever you want to do, but there are still people to save. When it’s over then… I’ll wait for you…”

David hesitated, but nodded timidly. And Apparently, this gesture was worth every spoken promise in the eye of her lover.

The young man looked at his dragoness, who didn’t support his point of view, but whom understood it wasn’t the moment to discuss anything. She offered him a shoulder to support his weight, and before the confused stares of the guards, both walked out of the room, not even looking behind. To the dragoness, walking had never been this difficult. And the silence was quite heavy.

“Did you really mean that?” She still asked, worried that she had actually worsened things. She won’t accept her human to be waiting for his own death!

“I said I was fine with him trying to kill me. I didn’t say I’d let myself be killed. I’ll wait for him, yes… and I’ll be ready to defend my life if it’s what he tries to take.”

“I’m glad to hear…” She sighed, half relieved. “But what will you do then?”

“I don’t know yet. To be honest, I do hope he will make the right choice. But after what I lived, I prefer to let him take his own path. If it’s necessary… if really tries to kill me or worse, hurt you, then… I’ll be faster. And I’ll be armed.”

Amaria didn’t reply to that. She quite read between the lines. She couldn’t decide if it was a good or a bad choice from him, but at least, he seemed less conflicted with his own mind. One thing was sure, if that kid tried to kill her human despite this experience, then… She would be even faster than a sword. She wasn’t nice to the point she would give this kid countless second chances.

“Are you mad?” She asked. Though whatever his answer was, she had no regrets.

“Not at all.” He replied without even hesitating. “Actually, I’m glad you did that thing… At least now, I don’t have doubts anymore…”

“You don’t?”

“Yes. Because you were right. This guilt was misplaced. I was so happy to find you back that night that it made me forget that I did it for a greater good too… What I did sounds horrible, but at the time, it seemed like the only good choice. Thank you for making me live once again the night I never wanted to remember. Now, I don’t feel like a bad guy anymore. Nor a good guy. I’m only myself. I won’t change the past, and I think I did all I could to help David. It’s up to him now. And if he tries to take a life, I’ll show no mercy. Like I said, it’s time someone considers him like a responsible adult. He’ll face the consequences of his choices from now on…”

They finally reached the end of the hall, and the light that came through the windows almost blinded the two lovers. It was a bit worse when they pushed the door to get out. For once, the streets were pretty clear. The threat of impending war probably discouraged people to get outside. Amaria sighed deeply, exhausted by the events of the day.

“I could use some rest for now…” she said.

“I understand… I’d like to get some too, but I need to go back to the maps room… I feel like I’m missing something, and I don’t have much time to figure out what it is…” He paused, plunging his hand into his pocket, and getting out his keys, showing them to her. “Will you be able to use this?”

“I think…” She said, a bit disappointed that her lover wasn’t coming with her. After all this, she could have used to intimacy with him as well. She took the keys into her maw, and before she would see it coming, he hugged her neck, almost making her swallowing the pieces of metal.

“Make sure to lock yourself in…” he whispered, his voice shaking with fear. “I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you, my wise dragoness…”

Unable to speak, she imitated his move and rested her head on his shoulder. She was scared too. After all she had been through with him, she couldn’t imagine what she could do if he wasn’t there… She deeply hoped that this whole story would not end in blood… in his blood…

“When this is all over, I promise we’ll have some quality time together…” he said as he got back, serving her that fake smile he used to do was he was scared.

“I hope so.” She replied with a little wink, joking to hide her own fears. “All this made me quite hungry…”

“I’ll join you for dinner, then, my love…” he whispered, caressing her neck and walking away.

“Oh, and one more thing…” She said with a tougher look. “Will you tell me your name at some point?”

He seemed to hesitate, a bit embarrassed. In fact, she was less interested by the name in itself than the reason why he kept it so secret.

“I’ll tell you, when this is all over. Does it sound like a good deal?”

“Fair enough.” She replied with a smile. “But you better keep your promise or I’ll have a certain human for each breakfast, lunch and dinner for a month!”

“I think I could handle it…” He faked considering the question.

“Just go already, before I change my mind.” She laughed with him.

With a last wink and a little grin, her human turned and walked away. Amaria watched him, heart squeezed. She really had a bad feeling about all this. The white shadow had made her know he wouldn’t allow too much side damages, but she still wondered if she wasn’t pushing her lover toward a lethal path…

How deep she wanted him to come with her… far away from this madness… in their cozy cave, like before… She even fantasized on how she could make it more comfortable for him… But she knew he wouldn’t go. Not now. He had gone too far to abandon this city to its fate. She had made him go too far…

One day, hopefully, they would both remember this episode as the darkest time of their lives, to better enjoy the life they will both enjoy then…