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The first thing she heard when she approached the town was laughter, a bright, playful one, filling the air with sheer mirth. It reminded her of the vibrant roars of hatchlings who recklessly soared around their nests, trying to catch each other’s tails.
She smiled when she walked closer and discovered a few of them who were playing on a patch of grass, pushing around a leathery ball with their legs. The ember of youth was burning strongly in them.
Suddenly one of them missed a pass and the ball flew away, landing just in front of her legs. She squatted down and took the ball in her forepaws. The leather was uneven. It had been taken from the skin of a cow or a goat maybe.
“Umm… Sorry? Could you give us our ball please?”
She raised her head, suddenly growing aware of the hatchlings’ nervous glances.
“Of course”, she said with a smile and tossed it to the closest boy who caught it skilfully with his foot and the group immediately resumed their game.
She rose back to her hind legs and looked over to the houses down the road. They were made of wood and slate and their walls were painted with interesting patterns of white and black. She wondered how it felt to live inside them, to sleep beneath a roof that wasn’t the wide, star-studded sky.
Well… Maybe she’d have the chance to find out.
Elated by the comfortable warmth she felt inside she made her way down the big road and approached what she hoped to be the market place. Her father had once told her that was the large, open place that seemed to form the centre of most human settlements. It was where they exchanged goods for small pieces of metal.
When she had heard that for the first time, she had thought he was making fun of her. The idea of giving away so valuable things like food for something as useless as metal still felt weird to her. Nevertheless she was also incredibly curious. She wanted to see it with her own eyes.
That’s why she had volunteered to go when her father had brought up the topic. Of course she had also been the only logical choice. Her father was the leader of their tribe, so he couldn’t go, and her little sisters still tended to scorch their meal. So, as the only one who was old enough and didn’t have any purpose that was crucial for their tribe she had accepted the task.
And it was a decision she didn’t regret. Even while just walking down the road she couldn’t help but marvel at the things around her. Small signs were hanging over the doors of the houses with pictures on them. One of them showed a snake that was winding around a staff – or maybe it had been impaled by the staff. Another showed a hammer hovering right above an anvil. She heard a loud clash of meal from inside that house and stopped for a moment to peek inside.
A man in a leather apron was walking through the room. A red glowing piece of metal was resting on the anvil in front of the large furnace which occupied most of the space in the back. The air here was warm and dry and the pleasant smell of soot filled the air. She remained for a while to inhale until she was bumped aside by another man who came in through the door.
Before any of them could ask what she was doing here, she stepped back and left. After all it would be a waste to stay here when there was so much more to see.
Not far away from the market place she came across a sign depicting a long square with two protrusions on the bottom. A bed, she thought from her mother’s description. It was the humans’ form of a nest, although only for one or two of them and inside their houses.
An inn. Mother had told her to look out for one and get a room for the night as soon as she had arrived in the town, so she opened the door and stepped in.
The room inside was filled with many wooden tables and benches, a few men were sitting together, eating stew with wooden spoons from wooden bowls and another man was standing behind the wooden counter, wiping the inside of a wooden mug.
Flame! There was so much wood in here. She really needed to be careful, or else the entire house might end up in ruins.
A little unsure what to do, she walked over to the man at the counter. He didn’t look like he was a traveller or someone who came for food.
“Umm, excuse me. I’d like to have a room for the night.”
The man gave her a brief glance. His eyes narrowed for a moment. “Five copper pieces per night and another two for a meal”, he said plainly.
Her heard made a leap of excitement. It really was true. The humans did trade using metal pieces. She reached for the bag her father had given her.
Copper… Copper… Copper was red, wasn’t it? She took out the pieces one after another, but none of them shimmered red. Come on, there had to be a red one somewhere!
Nervously she rummaged through the bag. “Umm… I’m… I’m sorry, but I think I don’t have copper. Will these be enough instead?” She gave him a friendly smile as she placed seven yellow pieces on the counter.
Suddenly there was a loud clattering sound when the man let go of his mug.
“O-Oh! Did I do something wrong?” she asked worried.
“N-No”, he stuttered and reached beneath the counter. “The room’s down the corridor on the second floor.”
She noticed his claws were shaking a little as he handed her a longish piece of metal. There was a hole in one end and the other had a strange, jigged ridge. She examined it for a while, but she couldn’t make any sense out of it.
“Umm… What is this?” she asked, ashamed to cause the man any more trouble.
“Err… That’s the key to your room, Miss”, he mumbled. His voice sounded somehow strange, as though he wasn’t used to being friendly to anyone and it flattered her to be addressed as ‘Miss’ which seemed to be quite a polite form of address.
“You… You put it inside the lock and turn it around”, the man explained, pushing his paw forward and twisting it. “And when you want to leave, you simply turn it in the other direction.”
She gazed down at his paw. It sounded like someone had put a lot of thought into this, but she wasn’t able to grasp the meaning behind it.
“Ah, thank you”, she said and looked around. There was an – of course – wooden stairway just past the counter, leading upwards. When she attempted to get to it however, she found her way blocked by the smiling face of a boy.
“Hi. You’re here for the festival, aren’t you?”
She considered him for a moment. He had apple-red hair which messily swept upwards, disrupted by a blueish, curly strand. It almost looked like a flame which licked over his head.
Something about him confused her. She needed several seconds to realise it was his eyes. The left one was of a deep, greenish hue, like the foliage of the old forest in summer, while his right one had the radiant colour of the sun glowing in the evening sky.
“Y-Yes”, she answered and watched his smile grow wider.
“Ah! Figured this much. I’m here because of it too. If you want, then I could show you around. Oh, by the way, I’m Odd.”
She stared at him for a second. “You are odd?” she repeated amused and couldn’t prevent her lips from curving into a grin.
A blush crept over the boy’s cheeks. “I… I meant… my name is Odd.” After a moment he noticed this didn’t sound any better and his face flushed even redder. “Umm… What I’m saying…”
She couldn’t help but laugh. In fact it shook her so hardly she needed to rest against the counter in order to maintain her balance. She had rarely met anyone who had shown so much talent in embarrassing themselves. But he was also kind of cute.
“I… I get it”, she said and gasped for breath before she gave him a friendly smile. “I am Clear. And I’d love to accept your offer.”
Oh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Seriously, how could he have been so stupid?!
It had been such a shock when she had showed up in the inn and asked for a room, obviously as clueless about both the position she was in as well as the humans around her as he had been just two days ago. He had expected to meet others here, but he hadn’t thought there’d be any females, let alone one as gorgeous as her.
The smooth, blueish hair that flowed down her back looked like the faintest hint of daylight which crept up the horizon in the morning. Her skin was so fair it seemed to be made of the shimmering snow which covered the lands in winter. The white coat she wore hugged her figure so perfectly it could as well have been made exactly for her to wear.
Simply staring at her from his table in the corner had made him feel breathless. And when he heard her adorable voice talking to the barman, he was almost magically pulled up from his seat and towards her.
And then he just had to screw up. Oh, flame! He wished he could bite his tale.
“So, which tribe are you from?” Clear asked as they climbed the stairs to her room.
“The Red Scale tribe”, he replied. “We live in the forest in the south of the marshlands. And you?”
“The Shimmer Wings. We live at the peaks of the Great Mountains in the east.”
“Oh. That sounds like a nice home”, he said with a smile as he tried to imagine how it felt, sitting on the sun-crested top of the world, looking over the wide grass lands below.
“It is”, she said and they fell silent.
After a while they reached the door to her room. She took out the key the barman had given her and perplexedly held it between her fingers.
“And… what now?” she asked a little helpless.
He smiled. “Here. I’ll show you.”
Clear handed him the key and he opened the door for her.
“W-Wow”, she whispered. “So that’s what he meant.”
He saw a fascinated shimmer in her yellowish eyes as she put the key inside the lock and turned it to either side, listened to the quiet click as the bolt moved in and out of the door.
He couldn’t blame her. After all he had reacted no different after he had finally figured out how to open the door.
“You’ll get used to it”, he said with a grin and reached for her wrist, leading her inside.
“Oh. So this is a room?” she asked, tentatively sitting down on the bed. “It’s smaller than I thought. But… Maybe this is the right size for humans?”
“Appears so”, he said. “My room looks roughly the same. Hey, I think I even have the room right above yours.”
“Oh! Really?”
She gave him a smile. It looked so unbelievably cute he couldn’t help but smile back. “Well then, how about we continue our little tour? Have you been to the market place yet?”
She shook her head.
“Then let’s go. The festival doesn’t start until tomorrow, but they’ve already built up a lot of booths where you can buy food or something like that.”
Suddenly her face lit up. “Food? Oh, great! I’m starving already.”
He laughed. “Okay, okay. But please let me handle the trading.”
“Huh? Why?”
Contemplatively he scratched his head. Clear’s eyes didn’t show offence, but genuine curiosity. He smiled again. “Umm… you see, the metal pieces humans use have different values. Copper for example is the unit with the lowest value, followed by silver and then gold.”
She made a thoughtful face. “Umm… Copper… red… Gold… yellow… umm… Huh? W-Wait!” A faint redness flushed over her cheeks as she realised. “You… You mean…?”
“Yes. The gold pieces you gave him were far more valuable than the copper he asked for.”
She gave out a deep sigh. “Oh, there is still so much I need to learn”, she moaned.
He knew how she felt. He had just started learning from the humans two days ago and there were still so unbelievably many things he didn’t understand about them.
“How about you start right now?” he asked and reached out his hand.
After a moment she took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet. “Alright. Let’s go.”
The boy and the girl left the inn and took the main street towards the market place. They didn’t move very fast and stopped from time to time when the girl noticed something she found interesting. What they didn’t notice was the group of men which followed them in a level distance.
Most of them were quite muscular, two had scars in their faces and all were waring similar dark, shabby clothing. Anyone who had just a little experience with towns would’ve known they were the kind of people to stay away from.
When the boy and the girl turned into a smaller alley, the men quickened their steps and followed them.
“I have to say, I admire your courage”, a calm voice said.
The group stopped abruptly and turned towards the young man who had appeared behind them. His hair had a deep midnight blue hue and he wore a long, pitch-black coat.
“You must be quite confident in your skills”, he continued. “Or why else are you so eager to die?”
After a confused second the group burst into laughter.
“What are you saying?” the man in the middle, apparently the leader, asked. “All I see are a boy and a girl with a lot of money.”
The man across him began to smile as well, though it wasn’t a mirthful one. “So it is as I thought. You really have no idea who they are. Or maybe I should say what they are.”
The leader’s patience seemed to run out and he pulled a long dagger out from underneath his cloak. “It would’ve been wiser to stay out of this”, he growled. “Unfortunately you won’t have a chance to regret your mistake.”
His fellows readied their weapons as well. They had expected him to back away. At least that was the usual behaviour of people who realised they had gone too far. The smirk that crested the man’s face felt a little out of place.
“My, my. You really are fools”, he muttered.
“What… What do you mean?” the leader asked unsettled. “Who the fuck are you?”
The man’s smirk grew wider and a terrifying gleam appeared in his eyes. “You can call me Dark. And to show you what I mean, allow me to demonstrate.”
When the leader backed away to seek confidence in the presence of his fellows, he had to find out he was alone all of a sudden. Horror-stricken he turned back to the man.
“H-Hey… Surely we can talk this over, right?”
He remained for another second, forcing on a friendly smile. Then he let go of his dagger and fled. After a while a quiet laughter rang throughout the alley. The man picked up the dagger, weighed it in his hand for a moment and tucked it in his belt.
“Be grateful you were able to keep your lives”, he whispered before he returned to the main street.
Clear sighed as she slumped down on the bed at her room. She was getting a bit tired of this shape, but she fought down the urge to revert to her original form. Not only was it going to scare the humans, but it was also likely to cause some damage to this house. She mustn’t let that happen. Not before the festival began.
The dragon festival… It marked a turning point in the history of their two species. For thousands of years they had hated and killed each other. Then, two years ago, the humans of this country had set up a peace treaty with the leaders of the four great dragon tribes which lived within and adjacent to its borders, ending a war which had lasted more than twenty years. It had been a first moment to respire, although back then it had looked like it was only a matter of time before they’d start killing each other again.
Now though, it was different. The humans of this town didn’t meet dragons with hostility anymore. Colourful pictures of dragons were painted on the booths that had been raised on the market place. There were dragon-shaped pennants all over the place and a skilled craftsman had carved an impressively realistic sculpture of a dragon out of a large piece of wood.
She and Odd had even come across a booth which sold dragon-shaped pastry. It had a pretty strong, but nevertheless delectable flavour and she had eaten three of them before Odd had been able to pull her on.
The humans here didn’t treat her like a foreigner. More like a welcome guest. It was a flattering feeling and she had had to remind herself to stay in her human form instead of simply spreading her wings and take into the sky out of joy.
She sighed. Humans were so friendly creatures. She really couldn’t understand why they had had to wage war for such a long time.
She shifted around on her bed and curled up. Somehow it was hard to make herself comfortable. It was soft and she assumed this fluffy blanket-thing was supposed to keep her warm, but it didn’t work very well. She missed the warmth of her nest at home, the small wreath of smoke which frilled out of her little sisters’ nostrils as they snuggled against her, the deep hum of her father’s breath as he curled his long tail around them. Here, without all of that, she suddenly felt very lonely.
She gazed out of the window, tried to find the stars she liked to watch from her favourite mountain at home. The great claw of Silver-Back. The gleaming eyes of Black-Scale the Old. Lady Millenia’s shimmering fangs. It was said all great dragons of the past had left their marks on the sky to guide the way of those who’d come after them. Clear was convinced that her father would one day be among them too in order to watch over her.
Now though, the stars were hidden beneath a cover of clouds and the sky looked distant and unfamiliar.
She began to grow aware of how far she was from home. And how alone. No one was here with her, not father, not mother, not her sisters. There were more than two and a half days of flight between them.
She shivered and curled up tighter, trying to keep away the cold that crept into her bones.
“Father…”
Suddenly a shadow fell down in front of the window and landed on the sill. She started up and prepared to defend herself with claws and fangs against whatever it was that was trying to attack her.
“Oh. Hey, Clear.”
She blinked when she recognised the shape climbing down from the sill. “O-Odd?”
He gave her an awkward smile. “Hey, umm… I know this may sound a little impudent considering we just met today and all, but… I simply can’t get used to these human nests. So… I’d like to ask you if I could sleep with you tonight.”
After a moment her face flushed deep red. There was hardly anything more intimate for dragons than to share their nests and usually it was reserved only for family members. Back at home she would’ve turned him down and never spoken another word with him.
Here though… Here she could understand why he had made such a request. She could see on his face, from the way he cast down his eyes, not meeting her gaze, that he was just as embarrassed about this as she was. And yet, he didn’t want to be all alone. He didn’t want to shiver on his bed without anyone who could warm him.
“Fine”, she muttered.
“H-Huh? Really?” he asked bewildered before a beaming smile grew over his face. “Thank you, Clear.”
She returned the smile and shifted backwards, allowing him to lie down next to her. An exotic scent tickled her nose. It carried notes of flowers and ancient trees, and also a faint hint of swamp.
“I like your smell”, she whispered.
“I… I like your smell as well”, Odd whispered back, his face flushing nearly as red as his hair.
She chuckled and placed her front legs around his back. After a moment he did the same. She could feel the warmth radiating off of his soft skin. She could sense the hot fire burning inside him. She could feel the comforting pulse of his heart, beating nearly in the same rhythm as hers. Now she wasn’t alone anymore.
“Thanks, Odd”, she whispered, resting her head against his neck.
“I have to thank you, Clear”, he whispered back.
The quiet sound of his breath was all she heard as she closed her eyes and let herself fall into the gentle embrace of slumber.
The night lay heavy on the dark alleys of the sleeping town. The sound of footsteps drew near, quick and yet furtive, and after a few seconds a figure appeared. Although it would’ve been impossible to make out their face beneath the hooded cloak, they repeatedly turned around in search of pursuers. Hesitating for a moment, they looked around in the alley before they approached a small entrance and knocked. The door was opened quickly, as though someone had been waiting behind it.
“You are late”, a voice said.
“I… I know. My apology”, the figure whispered and slipped in. They walked down a dark corridor and entered the room at the back, the only one which was lit, although just by the feeble light of a few candles. Obviously feeling uncomfortable, the figure took off their hood and sat down on one of the chairs, nervously shifting back and forth.
There was a quiet clack as a glass was set down on the old wooden desk in one corner of the room.
“Do you have any news for me, Étienne?” a voice asked softly and after a moment the man standing in front of the desk turned around.
The man in the chair started and seemed to shrink under his gaze. “Y-Yes, milord. I… I have spotted a boy and a girl in town. There is no doubt they are what you are looking for.”
The other man remained quiet. He reached for his wine glass again, seemed to examine it in the light of the candles before he took a sip.
“So they have appeared”, he muttered. “I wasn’t sure whether they would really come.”
“Umm… milord… if I may ask this, why did you call them here?” The man in the chair shivered. “I mean… dragons? Even one of these monsters could wipe out this town entirely.”
The other man turned around, a soft smile on his lips. “Say, Étienne, do you know how the world is moving?” He took a slow breath and then his eyes trailed off. “For hundreds of years men have done nothing but battle each other. Their petty disputes over land, resources or status have caused a cycle of vengeance and bloodshed. One nation wages war against another which retaliates a few years later and all that changes is the place where the piles of corpses are buried.”
He sighed and looked back at the man in the chair. “Say, don’t you want to live in a wold without that? Don’t you want to see an era where peace and prosperity will rise above the threat of meaningless wars?” When he saw the awestruck expression on the man’s face, he cracked a mild smile.
“Well, Étienne… I think here and now we have a chance of making such a future reality.”
Odd was woken by a tingling sensation which crept over his face in regular intervals. When he opened his eyes and blinked away the sleep, he thought for a moment he was still dreaming.
Clear’s beautiful face was inches apart from his. A strand of her light blue hair had fallen over her face, fluttering with each of her soft breaths. He was tempted to bite into her neck, but then he managed to control himself. Surely she wouldn’t understand.
Looking back now, he was a little shocked he had dared to ask something so embarrassing. And what shocked him even more was that she had accepted. Back at home it would’ve been unthinkable. His brother was going to beat him to a pulp if he ever learned he had requested to share a nest with a foreign female.
But… he wasn’t at home right now. He was here in the human lands. And right now his hand was resting on Clear’s hip.
Suddenly she stirred and snuggled her head against his. He tensed up from the sudden closeness, tried to breathe as slow as he could so he didn’t wake her, didn’t disturb her peaceful sleep. Her lips looked so soft, so alluring… For some reason he felt the urge to lean closer and touch them with his own lips.
He wondered if this was a human reaction. The change of shapes wasn’t supposed to have any effect on his mind, but he didn’t have any other explanation for this feeling. Anyway, it seemed right.
Clear gave out a quiet groan as he pulled away and slowly she opened her eyes. After a moment her confused expression made way for a soft smile.
“Oh. Good morning, Odd”, she muttered.
“Good morning”, he replied, enraptured by the way her lips parted when she spoke. “How… How do you feel?”
She backed away a little, closed her eyes and then her smile grew wide. To his surprise she leaned closer until her mouth was right next to his ear.
“Warm”, she whispered and pushed herself into a sitting position.
He couldn’t help but marvel as her beauty. A smooth shimmer ran over her hair when she shook her head, her fair skin glowing gorgeously, and her eyelids fluttered in a way which sent a blush onto his cheeks. His mind was so hazy all of a sudden he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Mm… The festival is today, right?” she muttered, stretching her slender body in the morning sunlight.
“R-Right”, he whispered, reluctant to awake from the trance he had fallen into.
“Then we better get ready. It would be rude of us to be late after we’ve been specially invited.”
“Y-Yeah”, he agreed and got up. Although he didn’t want to leave her side, he logically knew she was right. Slowly he moved over to the window and climbed onto the sill.
“I’ll come pick you up in a few minutes, okay?”
Clear smiled and gave him a nod. He turned around and leapt into the air, landing on the window sill of his own room.
A bit later they left the inn and stepped out into the streets.
Odd was surprised how crowded it was compared to yesterday. It seemed the entire town was up already, most of them streaming towards the market place. He could feel joy and anticipation from them. It was an infectious feeling.
“Let’s go”, Clear said with a smile and entered the crowd. He followed her after a moment.
The market place itself was brimming with even more people than the streets. When he raised his head, he saw a large red banner that had been stretched from one house to the other. Letters were written on it. Although he couldn’t read any of them, he saw the shapes of a dragon’s claw and a human hand touching each other. He guessed it was supposed to be a symbol of harmony between their races.
He was honestly fascinated by the humans. Before the war had ended, he had viewed them merely as dangerous insects, sometimes an easy meal, sometimes a force to be wary of. But now that he walked among them, he noticed so many amazing details. They seemed to be especially skilled at crafting things. For example he had watched a woman who had been turning a crank and to his surprise a bucket full of water had appeared out of the enclosed hole in front of her. He didn’t know of any dragon who would even think about a way to get water from under the ground.
He wondered what they could do together, the ingenuity of the humans combined with the strength and intelligence of the dragons.
He absolutely had to tell his brother about this when he returned and ask him to come here as well so he could see it with his own eyes. Maybe… Maybe Clear’s family could come too. The dragon tribes didn’t know very much about each other either, so this felt like a good chance. He… He could show her the forest he had grown up in and in return he could visit her at her home in the Great Mountains.
“Do I have something on my face?” she asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He blinked. Oh. Oh flame! Just how long had he been ogling her?!
“N-No. I just thought you were looking brilliant.”
She froze on the spot, staring at him widely. He stared back, no less shocked about his words.
“Th-Thank you”, she muttered and cast down her eyes. A rosy colour was flushing over her beautiful cheeks and once again he felt the urge to move closer and touch her lips.
“Excuse me”, a man suddenly said behind them and both of them started and backed away from each other. The man gave them a beaming smile. “Could it be the two of you are dragons?” he asked.
“Y-Yes, we are”, Clear replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, then let me welcome you to the festival”, the man said friendly. “We are really happy you have taken the long trip to visit us. As a token of our gratitude, please take these.” He handed them two straps of cloth, although Odd noticed they didn’t feel like cloth. More like they had been woven out of very fine strings of metal.
“What are these?” he asked curiously.
“These are bracelets we’ve made especially for today. As long as you wear them, you don’t need to pay anything at the booths. Please enjoy yourselves as much as you like.”
Tentatively Odd placed the strap around his wrist and fastened the small clasp at its end. To his surprise it fit perfectly.
“Thank you very much”, Clear said to the man. She had already put on the bracelet.
“Oh, you are welcome”, the man said and bowed. He was still smiling at them.
Something about him felt weird, but Odd couldn’t tell what exactly it was. He didn’t have the time to think about it as well, because Clear suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the crowd.
“Hey, Odd, don’t stand there rooted to the spot. He said we should enjoy ourselves, didn’t he?”
He looked at her excited face and suddenly he couldn’t help but smile. “Sure.”
They spent the next hour strolling across the place, stopped at a few booths to engage in games like tossing a small stone at stacked wooden bricks in order to knock them over, something at which Clear was surprisingly good. They also came across the booth where she had bought all the pastry yesterday. The old woman who sold it even recognised them and when she saw the bracelet around their wrists she said it was an honour for her to have actual dragons taste of her pastry.
“Look Odd, over there!” Clear shouted suddenly and pulled him towards a booth which sold small items made of glass and metal. They looked amazingly delicate, not unlike the bracelets, and he wondered how it was possible to carve something so detailed into something as fragile as glass. There were figurines of entire dragons, some rearing up, their wings spread widely, others simply sitting on their legs, but also pieces showing just parts like a claw or the scales. One even resembled a pillar of fire with differently coloured flames winding around and somehow even through each other.
“How is this one?” Clear asked and turned towards him, presenting him a silvery wing-shaped necklace.
He opened his mouth to compliment her about it, when suddenly a man appeared beside him. “Hmm… Not bad”, the main said, giving her an examining look before he turned to the booth. “But I think something like this would suit you better.” He picked up another necklace which showed two dragon tails, running alongside each other, their tips entwining at the end.
Annoyed by the sudden interruption, Odd was about to snap at the man when he noticed the strap around his wrist.
“You’re a dragon too?” he asked surprised.
The man turned towards him and Odd felt a shiver running down his spine when he met his gaze. His hair was of a deep purple, sweeping backwards, ending in short, spiky curls. “Oh, you have a keen eye. Or should I say two of them?”
Embarrassed, Odd cast down his gaze.
“And who are you?” Clear asked friendly, placing her necklace back to the others.
“Oh, right. My name is Starve Venom from the Thousand Fangs tribe.”
That explained the uneasiness he had felt when he had looked at that man. The small dragon tribe dwelling in the northern marshes was one of the most secluded and dangerous ones. All of them were said to be somehow eerie and in the past they had occasionally even killed other dragons to eat them. His brother had once fought against one and he had warned Odd to keep away from them.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance”, Clear said with an uneasy smile. “My name is Clear Wing. I’m from the Shimmer Wing tribe. And this is…”
“I’m Odd Eyes from the Red Scale tribe”, Odd mumbled quietly.
Starve Venom raised his brows and his lips curved into an amused smirk. “Truly a fitting name for you”, he said casually.
Odd pressed his lips together so hardly they must’ve almost turned white.
“So, what do you think of the festival, Starve?” Clear asked curiously.
He didn’t know if she had noticed how he felt, but he was glad when Starve Venom’s gaze turned to her. “Oh, it is magnificent”, he said, spreading his arms and drawing in a relishing breath. “There are so many humans at this place, welcoming us so kindly, happily celebrating our existence. It makes me wonder… What would happen if I started devouring all of them? Would they scream? Would they flee in terror? Would they try to retaliate? Maybe it could even mark the beginning of a new war. Ah, just the mere thought of it thrills me.”
When he looked into their shocked faces, he cracked a smile and began to laugh. “I’m just kidding. Don’t believe everything I say. This is not what I came for. Although… I really am quite hungry.” Suddenly he leaned closer and pulled both of them close to his mouth. “Well then, maybe we’ll meet each other again some day. Until then, I wish you good luck.”
After a moment he let go of them and walked away, another smirk on his face.
“That was creepy”, Clear muttered.
“I can’t disagree with that”, Odd said quietly.
He started when she reached for his hand and entwined her fingers with his. “Umm, what…?” he began until he grew aware of how close she was all of a sudden.
“Don’t let his words bother you”, she whispered. “I like both your name and your eyes.”
A soft heat spread over his face, but he wasn’t able to bring out any words. For all his life he had been ashamed of his eyes which had made him so different from all the other dragons around him. This… This was the first time someone outside of his family had said something positive about them. No. She liked them. Flame! He had no idea how long he’d be able to listen to her before his heart would burst entirely.
When she noticed his dumbfounded stare, her lips parted and formed the sweet little smile which managed to enrapture him so much. “Do you want to go on?” she asked, soft amusement ringing in her voice.
He blinked, unable to tear his eyes away from her marvellous face. G-Go on? By ‘go on’ did she mean…?
“Umm… I… I’m not sure…”
She gave out a quiet laugh and rolled her eyes, pulling him towards the next booth.
She couldn’t deny that she had begun to enjoy seeing Odd flustered. Somehow it made him look even more adorable. It was amazing how much of an effect he had on her. Just being able to hold his paw made her heart beat faster. She wondered if this had anything to do with this human form she was in.
“Where are all the dragons, Mama?” she heard the high voice of a hatchling ask behind her.
“But Cécile, they… they are here somewhere”, the woman tried to appease her child.
“No! You’re lying! Here are just humans! I… I want to see dragons! Where are they?!”
With a mischievous smile Clear bent down and put a hand on the hatchling’s shoulder. “Here” she said as the girl turned around.
While her mother tensed up when she saw the bracelet on Clear’s wrist, the girl gave her a doubtful, somewhat defiant look.
“You’re no dragon”, she said finally. “You’re just a human.”
“What makes you so sure about that?” Clear asked.
The girl gave her an angry glare. “Dragons are big and they have wings and four legs and a long tail. And they can breathe fire.” She nodded, satisfied with her reasoning.
Oh, she was so cute. Clear knelt down and leaned very close to her. “Do you want me to show you?” she whispered.
The girl harrumphed. “You’re just trying to make fun of me, aren’t you?”
Clear smiled, picked up a small twig from the ground and held it in front of her mouth. She took a deep breath, let it fill her lungs, kindle the vibrant flame within her. Then she breathed out, slowly and just enough the little twig caught fire.
“Here” she said and handed it over to the girl who stared at it in utter disbelief. “But be careful. Don’t let it bite you.”
“Awe… Awesome”, the girl whispered as she brought her fingers close to the flames. “It… It really feels hot.” Then she raised her head and gazed at Clear, amazement shimmering in her eyes. “So… You really are a dragon.”
Clear nodded and looked to the left and right before she raised a claw to her lips. “But don’t tell anyone, okay? This is a secret.”
The girl’s eyes widened and she nodded quickly. “I… I won’t tell.”
Clear smiled and got up. “Have a nice day”, she said and turned back to Odd.
“I will! Goodbye, Miss Dragon!”
Clear froze and suddenly she felt as though all people around them turned their heads at once and stared at her. There were so many sentiments in their gazes, ranging from happiness over surprise to careful mistrust.
“Umm… Odd, could we please…” she began, but he already grabbed her paw, pulled her into the space between two booths and a moment later they stumbled out on the other side. The people there gave them a few surprised glances, but fortunately the sudden sound of a bell drew away their attention.
She turned to Odd who met her gaze and then both of them began to laugh.
“Wow. So much attention at once feels a little… overwhelming.”
“I know what you mean”, he said. “A few more seconds and they would’ve noticed me as well.”
There was a pause and when she met his red-green gaze, she felt as though time was suddenly moving a lot slower.
“Thank you”, she said and gave him a smile.
His mouth curved into a soft smile as well. A smile which carried so much warmth and tenderness. “You’re welcome”, he replied.
For some reason she couldn’t explain, their heads moved closer, the tips of their noses touching for a moment before Odd tilted his head. Just before their lips could touch, a man jostled against Clear’s shoulder and she jerked away.
“Oh, I’m very sorry”, the man said and walked on.
She and Odd glanced at each other. She saw his facing turning red with embarrassment and he quickly let go of her.
“Umm… I’m… I’m sorry”, he muttered, averting his eyes.
“N-No, it’s… it’s fine.” When she glanced around, she noticed the entire crowd had started to move in a certain direction. “Hmm… What do you think this is about?”
Odd looked just as clueless as she was. “I don’t know. How about we find out?”
She nodded. They followed the people to a small dais which had been raised at one end of the market place in front of a large, important-looking building. A man was standing on top of it and waited as the crowd gathered around him. Finally he spread his arms.
“Friends. Citizens. Dearly welcome guests. Today we have come here to celebrate. We have come here to celebrate the end of the bitter enmity between humans and dragons which has lasted for several hundred years, as well as the beginning of an era of peace and mutual respect.”
He paused for a moment and let his gaze wander over the crowd. Clear was amazed how calm and appealing his voice was although so many people were looking at him. He must be used to this. For a moment the man seemed to meet her gaze and a smile grew tugged at his lips.
“Among us are some who have come from far away, into a culture which is entirely foreign to them out of nothing but the wish to converse with us, a race which could hardly be more different than they are. They have come here to show us their good will and allow our races to build up peaceful relations. I now ask those of you to come to me.”
Clear gave Odd a surprised glance. He nodded, although he didn’t seem to be very excited either. Tentatively they made their way to the dais and Clear had the feeling the people in front of them parted in awe to let them pass.
Her legs felt like jelly as she climbed the steps and approached the man. From the other side she could see the eerily smiling face of Starve Venom, followed by another, dark-haired man.
So there were four of them. It didn’t sound like much, but having four dragons of different tribes at one place without killing each other was a unique event. Moreover since there were lots of humans around as well.
“It appears we are complete”, the man said as no one else among the crowd moved. “First of all let me thank you for coming, my dear dragons. I know you have taken a long journey to bestow the honour of your presence upon us. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we are truly grateful to be able to welcome you.”
Clear blushed. Hearing such flattering words made her feel terribly embarrassed. She sent a nervous glance to Odd, but he gazed straight forward, probably too tense to notice her.
The man smiled friendly. “Now, this festival has been named ‘dragon festival’ for a reason and I believe it would be very rude of us to make you appear in this human shell the whole time, so why don’t you show us your real forms for now?” He proceeded to give them a formal bow. “Please, let us greet our new friends without this disguise, just the way you are.”
When Clear looked into the faces of the others, she found she wasn’t the only one his request had caught by surprise. Humans were afraid of dragons weren’t they? It was easy to forget about that fear as long as they looked like humans, but… how were they going to react when they saw a real dragon right in front of them? Surely there’d be a panic, right?
Then she thought back to the girl who had been so amazed when she had showed her she was a dragon. And the old baker who didn’t grow tired of telling her what an honour it was to meet her. Everyone… Everyone here was so kind. It didn’t feel fair to withhold from them what she really looked like. It felt… disrespectful of her.
“Alright”, Starve Venom said and stepped forward. For a moment nothing happened. Then it looked like the purplish colour of his hair flushed down his face and into the tips of his claws as he seemed to inflate from inside. His neck grew much longer, just like his head. Two crooked horns sprouted from his temples and his jaws protruded, revealing rows of long, needle-sharp teeth. His body itself grew as well, taking a long serpentine shape, and a thin, whip-like tail sprouted from his backside.
Clear was impressed how smooth he looked. His small, violet scales interlaced so perfectly it nearly seemed like his skin was of fluid nature. And yet, he unmistakably expressed danger, like he was going to swallow even the tiniest fly which made the mistake to get too close to him.
A pair of wings sprouted from Starve’s back and he leapt into the air, soaring above the speechless crowd. Clear couldn’t blame them. Probably none of them had ever seen a dragon with their own eyes before. It was only natural for them to be afraid.
“Amazing!” a young voice said from somewhere among them. This seemed to tear the people out of their freeze, but to Clear’s surprise they began to cheer and applaud, their faces full of wonder.
The tension which had hung over the place was gone without a trace. She cracked a smile and looked over to Odd who gave her a nod.
Drawing in a deep breath, she closed her eyes, tilted back her head and reached for the smouldering warmth inside her. Her fire. Her life. Her true self. Slowly she breathed out, let go of the shell she had forced herself into. There was no need to hide any longer.
Deep, wonderful relief flooded into her chest as the tiny limbs she had gotten so used to in the past few days ceased to exist, turned into much stronger ones. Her entire body moulded back into the shape it was meant to have, the shape she had hatched in.
When the feeling of change disappeared, she drew in a deep breath and let out a roar of utter joy which made the crowd back away a little. Then she turned her head, finding a pointy snout beside her which was covered over and over with large, bright red scales, passing into a bony ridge of even larger scales, eventually ending in a long tail. The dragon turned to her and Clear looked into a pair of dual-coloured eyes, one shimmering green, the other blazing red.
While his human form had looked adorable, Odd’s dragon form had a charm of its own. He suddenly seemed a lot wilder, more impulsive, as if he was brimming with joy that he was finally able to show who he really was.
She spread her pair of translucent wings and gave him a challenging smile. He seemed to understand even before she had spoken the first word and tensed his muscular hind legs.
That was when she first felt the burn. It wasn’t hot like the comforting core of fire inside her, but a cruel, cold burn as if she had dipped into a glacial lake, only a hundred times worse. The sensation began in her right front leg and quickly spread throughout her shoulder and her chest.
She screamed, scratched her leg with her claws, tried to scrape off the feeling. Unfortunately there was nothing to scrape off but her own scales.
A loud roar made her look around and she saw the others weren’t any better. Both Starve and Odd writhed in pain and the fourth, almost entirely pitch-black dragon howled as he tried to pierce his leg with his extremely long fangs.
Their legs… All of them felt it at their legs, where… where they had worn the bracelets. Realisation struck her and she whipped around to the man on the dais. He didn’t seem to be troubled by the sudden flailing of the dragons around him. No, wrong! He had been waiting for it.
But… why? Why would he do something like this?
Odd gave out a roar and his tail whipped through the air, smashing a large piece of wood out of the dais. His pain must be just as severe as hers.
Dull, hot-burning anger filled her mind. She didn’t care anymore who that man was or why he had lured them all into this trap. All she wanted was to crush him between her fangs. With a flap of her wings she threw herself at him, expected to feel the sensation of tearing flesh and broken bones.
To her surprise her body stopped before she reached him. The man had simply raised his hand and she had reacted instinctively. But… But why? Why couldn’t she move forward?
“Please do not think of me as a liar”, the man said and stepped forward, patting her nose with his paw. “I really want to achieve peace. A peace which is protected by the empire I am going to create. But in order to accomplish that, I need a power no one will dare rise up against. Your power, that is.”
She tried to snap for him, tried to bite off his disgusting head, but again her body refused to move.
The man smiled, but this time there was no friendliness or warmth in it. “Oh, do not bother. The magic shackles all of you have put on so willingly are suppressing your will. Completely. You won’t be able to do anything I don’t command you to do. And you won’t be able to turn back into humans to take them off.”
He narrowed his eyes and suddenly there was a cold, deeply malicious sparkle inside them.
“You are mine. You will serve me as long as you live. And there’s no way for you to escape. Now go and lay ruin to this town. Let us build the road to peace with our own bloodstained hands.”
Although she didn’t want it, Clear turned around and rose into the air. Most humans had already fled from the place. At least those who had been quick enough. The others now lay in front of her as blackened corpses.
The town was on fire. On her left Starve was sending a wave of fire over the roofs, on her right the black dragon had started to tear down an entire house. And Odd… Odd was squatting in front of a group of humans who were caught between the wall of a house and the burning remains of a few booths. He opened his mouth and a moment later the group was devoured by a crimson flame.
Tears escaped Clear’s eyes and ran over her scaly cheeks.
Odd… this is not what you – what we – are supposed to do.
Odd threw back his head and gave out a howl of pain, hopelessness and terrible despair.
Odd… I don’t want you to experience this. I don’t want you to suffer.
Her eyes caught a quick movement and to her horror she spread her wings and soared over to the three humans who tried to escape, ducking into the shadow of the booths.
No… No! I don’t… I don’t want to do this!
She bent her wings and floated down. The humans had barely time to raise their heads as Clear’s shadow fell on them and then there was nothing left of them but a scorched furrow on the ground.
Why?! Why are you doing this to us?! Help us, please! Anyone! Father! Mother! Odd! Please! I don’t want this anymore! I don’t want to kill!
Of course, all that answered her was the crackling noise of the flames, the terrified howls of the others and the faint, shrill laughter of the man on the dais who watched the destruction around him with fiendish delight.
“This is… a sad ending.”
“You’re right. But this is what happened.”
“I know. But why? Why did they do that to us? They seemed so nice at first. They seemed like they liked us. Was all of that a lie?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.”
“I thought I had started to understand how humans think. But now… I feel like I don’t understand them at all.”
“Yes, I feel like that too.”
“Odd?”
“Yes, Clear?”
“Umm… I… I’d like to start over again. The humans… you and me… If there’s a way for us to live together, in peace, then… I want to start over again and try to find it.”
“That… That would be nice.”
“Yes. But… I don’t know if I have the courage for that. Would… Would you accompany me?”
“Of course. I’ll go with you wherever you want, Clear.”
“Oh, thank you. Odd… Thank you.”
“H-Hey… Don’t… Don’t cry! P-Please…”
“You’re looking so awkward again… But… that’s what I like so much about you.”
“Clear… Don’t worry. I’ll find you again, no matter how many times it may need. Farewell, Clear…”
“Farewell, Odd…”