Silence stretched. Arlene was quite the mystery to me so it felt even more annoying to stay silent near her. I wanted to know what she really is like. Not just the outside.

We were sitting in my kitchen having a cup of tea and that made me think. "Do dragons always drink tea?"

Her eyes rose to me, they looked surprised "Why the interest in dragons so suddenly?" I shrugged looking away from that hypnotising stare. While she chuckled putting down her cup "You want to know about that so you can find a way to kill me?"

That made me frown. I did not like her, nor any dragon for the matter but she did help me. "No, you are just very weird one so I am curious if your way of being, applies to most dragons."

I glanced at her while she laughed. It was such a soft sound that it could be made into a lullaby. "I am quite different yes. Although a lot of things about me come from my heritage. Like drinking tea."

I tilted my head "Heritage?" That caught my interest, maybe I could find out a bit after all.

"Dragons are proud beings. We follow honour and family, heritage is the most important aspect to us."

"I see..." That sounded like some rich people. Kings and queens were in similar ways. However, that wasn't surprising taking that dragons were considered as being above all other fairytale creatures.

"However, as the world became populated by humans we had to get used to it. So we adapted some human traits, like drinking tea." I nodded understanding while she gave me a - what seemed like - playful grin. "Would you like to know any more?"

"Since you had to get used to humans... Is this why you have different forms?"

Arlene picked her cup back up and began "Yes, we wanted to infiltrate humans to find out about their kind. Magic creatures can just turn so that's what we did. At first, it was a work of a low class but quickly we learned a few important things which came in useful for all the dragons." She sipped her drink and I listened intently "One of them was how human bodies were convenient. The full human could walk around without any suspicions, and the amount of food needed to be eaten was less. We also found out about the different types of foods so the economy was improved in our kingdoms. However the longer you are in a human form the harder it is to change back. The horns have to appear from your skull which is an immense pain. A lot of dragons couldn't bear to do that too often. So we had half forms. They are convenient for the economy however we cannot go around humans as easily, and some dragons still think it looks lowly."

That reminded me of her painful expression when her horns grew after we met Seron and she continued "Besides in this form our dragon factors are a lot more... sensitive."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wouldn't try to skewer anyone with those horns as they would hurt me. Despite them being tough they still have a human element to them right now, so it is possible to quite easily break them like any bone in your body."

So, they were more vulnerable in this form. Not like I would be able to beat her anyway. The fact she was so unguarded around me and told me this fact was probably proof of her knowing that she would kill me in an instant. Then I added as if to sure myself "And in dragon form, you cannot roam around freely and you have to eat a lot..."

Arlene nodded.

"No form is perfect but we get by." I got silent. So all this time I might have been around dragons without a clue. This is why they kept that knowledge of different forms so well hidden. Who would have thought dragons could be this sneaky and quiet?

Arlene then gave me a smile "Either way, this is not why I am here right now." She finished her tea and stood up "I have a proposition for you." That gave me a really bad feeling.

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