The very next morning I was waiting for Arlene by the dragon entrance. I woke up quite early for some reason and decided to just sharpen my black sword which I always kept by my side. I did not have a use for it for the last two months but I still took care of it. It was a habit. The light of the rising sun reflected off of the dark surface making me squint. I stopped sharpening and looked outside. My brother was probably looking at me with one of his typical glares. It felt like I betrayed him.

As I was looking outside I heard a gentle female voice behind me "You are up early, Darren." I turned to the source only to find smiling Belle. I did not move as she was the one who came to sit next to me. "Is everything alright?" She asked gently.

"Yes, except the fact that I will be guarding a dragon, everything is good." She smiled with sympathy, Arlene must have told her about my new 'job'. She seemed like she was a personal assistant to some kind of queen of the castle so it was no surprise she knew.

Belle leant back on the wall saying "But isn't that the best job for you? You are a warrior so sitting in a shop doesn't seem like you at all." She was right I didn't suit the stereotypical life. Not since I was little. Not since I had to be responsible for the village.

"I guess. But protecting a dragon goes against everything I believe. Everything I was fighting for."

"On the other hand isn't she different from other dragons?" Belle asked. She sounded so soft as if trying not to step on a mine. Which even if she did I wouldn't explode, that mine has been inactive since a long time ago.

"She is, but a dragon is still a dragon. I supposed to hate them. Besides, I promised something once, and now I am breaking that promise in many different ways."

"You shouldn't feel guilty. Everything in life changes all the time. Opinions do too. So whatever you promised might not be important anymore." That took me by surprise, I didn't think of Belle as the wise old grandma with good advice. Not that is changed the way I felt. However, it sure made me think about my brother. He was always a brash person, acting before thinking. Always told me off how weak I was, but I respected him above all else. Since our parents weren't there he was my guardian. I thought that his word was a law, but it was true he was quite the fickle one in terms of opinions. He would never dwell on something for too long and always changed his mind about certain things. So even during death, he might have spat out the first thing he thought of. However, that didn't change the fact that I still had to follow that order. Wanted to follow it. That was my only relief from the grief of losing him.

"Maybe, but that promise helped me," I said half-heartedly. I didn't want to talk about my brother much. I only would say the most important things when people asked. So there was no need to explain everything to Belle.

Meanwhile, she didn't respond. She probably didn't know how to. My eyes were glued to the sword in my hands as I continued to reminisce.

After a while of silence, another female voice resounded through the cave "I see you two are having a picnic." We both turned to the direction of the sound while Arlene approached us. "Why the gloomy expressions?"

Belle smiled cheerfully upon seeing her. She must have really respected her master if she was so happy just at her sight. "We were just waiting for you master." She jumped up and approached her.

Arlene smiled slightly saying "I see, well let us go then. I have a few places to visit today so we will be back quite late." Belle nodded and followed Arlene back towards that wooden wall. It was at a turn so they quickly disappeared from my sight.

I sheathed my sword back to its scabbard and attached it to my belt. With it detaching my thoughts from my brother. However, one word still lingered in my mind as the dragon appeared through the tunnel - traitor.

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