“Night is not something to endure until dawn. It is an element like wind or fire. Darkness is its own kingdom; it moves to its own laws, and many living things dwell in it”

-Imperium Genesis Vol. 3 – On Fauna.

  Nina kept weeping violently against the strange creature’s shoulder for a few more minutes, unable to stop on her own, until she ran out of tears. This night had been a traumatic mess of so many raw emotions she was sure she would remember for the rest of her life. She was well aware, however, that her life could very well end that same night if she was not careful.

  She took a deep breath to recover at least some composure. She felt overwhelmed by so many emotions, feeling sorrow for the poor villagers killed by the raiders, profound grief for her mentor who sacrificed his life to give her time to escape, anger at the Northmen for their crimes, shame for the indignity she almost went through, and immense relief for being saved from a horrible fate in the last possible second, and that at least some evildoers received comeuppance.

  It was after she calmed down that she could snap back to reality. Nina took another deep breath and retracted her arms a bit to take a better look at her savior, she slowly raised her head to meet the creature that was still awkwardly holding her in his arms, expecting to meet his face, only to find a prominent snout with a big nose, and rather large scary-looking fangs protruding from the sides of his mouth.

-“Are you okay?” the creature asked in a concerned tone.

-“I-I-I am! Thanks to you!” she replied out loud after a few seconds of hesitation, still taken aback by the creature’s question, or the very fact that it could talk at all, let alone the same language.

-“You can let go of me now”

-“Yeah, sorry!” she replied, embarrassed.

  The creature took both of her hands and then gently pulled her to her feet. He noticed the girl was still reluctant to let go, but did so to cover her body with what little remained of her clothes that were torn to shreds by the Northmen that attempted to rape her. She used her torn shirt to wipe her hands and face clean, which was now a filthy mess soaked with tears, sweat, blood, and small pieces of flesh and bone from the previous ordeal. Cursing at the humiliation of having such a filthy creature staring at her while hastily tying together her badly torn shirt that exposed her naked body, but knowing that it could have been far worse had said creature not appeared. She quickly buttoned up her leather tunic that luckily was undamaged, desperately wishing she had clean water at hand to wash herself completely clean.

  It was now that she was mostly clean, and it has calmed down a bit that she could see what exactly her savior was. She couldn’t help but stare at the dragon’s well-built, muscular body, and even though he looked just like an athletic young boy, he possessed an unnatural strength and speed that could shatter bones and dent through steel plate armor with nothing but the sheer force of his hands and feet. His green, scale-less skin immediately drew her attention. Nina looked at her savior’s face for the first time, and besides his wide, short snout, and fearsome looking fangs, she noticed previously, his head had no hair, having a crest of quill-like struts running over it instead, setting him apart from anything she knew or read about. She could also see his large triangularly shaped eyes glowing brightly in the dark with a yellowish gleam, staring back at her with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

   The creature reached out to her, which took her by surprise. To say he was intimidating was putting it mildly. The beast gently waved a hand in her face to catch her attention, since she has been staring at him in complete silence for more than a full minute. His other arm, which had a robust build, hanging at his side, hand clenched into an enormous fist that she couldn’t help but notice. Looking down, she saw his long, muscular legs ending in rather oversized feet with sharp claws in place of toes that she recognized immediately from the tracks that it left back in the village.

  She recalled reading books about the Primordial Knights of the First Empire fighting against tribes of half-dragon, half-man creatures in faraway lands during the First Conquests, thousands of years ago. Savage beasts from times past that inhabited the Old World in primal societies, leading simple ways and wielding stone-age weapons. She always thought that those stories belonged to the realm of myths; the kinds that people tell their children to impress them to not misbehave. Could this thing be one of them?

-“You should leave. There is a town not far from here. You can go there. They don't seem bad,” the creature spoke, snapping her from her trance.

  Time to snap back to reality, Nina.

  Nina shook her head. She just escaped from that very town, and now the creature was telling her to go back? He didn’t seem to know what just happened there.

-“I can't go back! They killed everyone there!” Nina replied.

-“What do you mean by ‘they’?” the creature asked back.

-“The Northmen! There are many more out there! I'm not sure how many! We have to keep moving! They are still looking for me!” she pleaded, distressed.

-“W-wa-what do you mean ‘WE’?! I don't know you!”

  The creature’s brutal reply visibly hurt her, but she had to admit he was right. He just killed three of her pursuers on her behalf in a horrific way, sparing her from an equally horrific fate. She was extremely grateful for it, but after her close encounter with the raiders, she was now incredibly hesitant about continuing on her own. She could try asking, even begging him, somehow persuading him to help her. Wouldn’t it be too much? But what other options did she have left, anyway?

-“Please! I need your help! They are after me! Those people are still looking for me and if they caught me, they will… they will…”

  She stopped herself right before she could finish the sentence. She bit her lips shut, shedding tears at just the thought of what those raiders almost put her through, silently thanking the Gods once again for how fortunate she had been to get away alive, and with her purity still intact.

-“I thought they were looking for me. Why would they be after a little girl?” he asked.

  Apparently, the creature is, or at least thinks he is, wanted for something. Going through all the possibilities, after taking another look at his feet, she quickly recognized the creature’s unique footprints from earlier in the morning. There was no doubt about it! This is the same creature behind the theft of the food stores the night before. The dragon then stared intensely at her with that bright, giant pair of eyes, as if looking down at a deep abysm. He then suddenly leaned closer, sniffing back and forth at different areas of her body, which frightened the poor girl to no end. What the hell is he doing?!

-“You are a girl, right?” he asked incredulously.

-“EXCUSE ME?!” Nina replied, completely dumbfounded and feeling deeply insulted. What kind of question is that?!

-“You don't smell like a girl, you smell like pee,” the dragon replied after another quick sniff.

  At any other time, that would be it. Any trace of disgust, sorrow, fear, and uncertainty still left on her vanished instantly, leaving only rightful indignation behind. Nina was, however, very well aware of her savior’s unnatural strength and her own predicament. She thought it wise to remain in his good graces, especially if she wanted to secure his help. But if she wasn’t in such an unfortunate position, she would have put the impertinent creature in its place, and reminded him of his own case of a horrible smell. And to add salt to the injury, the creature was actually right again. Nina felt deeply ashamed to admit it, but she couldn’t help herself when she got caught by a Northman back in the village, inadvertently wetting her pants. She mentally chastised herself for it and had to give props to the dragon and his keen sense of smell. Nina took yet another deep breath to calm down from her sudden mental outburst before speaking again.

-“I am a girl even if I don’t smell like one right now”

-“Why are they after you?” he asked.

-“I don't know! They just appeared out of nowhere! They killed everyone and burned the village! I thought they wanted to kill me but after they caught me they tried to... they tried to...” she found herself unable to finish the sentence again, feeling extremely agitated, tearing all up again at the mere thought of the Northmen. She closed her eyes shut, trying her best to fight back the tears and remain as collected as she could, but knowing she would probably lose the battle.

-“I hate when people do that,” the creature remarked angrily.

-“You do?” she dared to ask. The creature didn’t reply but gave her a look that she interpreted as disgust. Nina found it especially difficult to read the creature’s face, since he possessed noticeably distinct facial features than any person would.

-“You’re not going to hurt me, won’t you?” Nina asked fearfully but wanted to hear his response again, just to be sure.

-“I told you I wouldn’t! I’m not evil!” the dragon lashed out angrily.

-“Do you really mean that?”

-“I do,” the dragon replied sincerely.

-“Will you… will you help me then? I have nothing with me now, but if you help me, I will pay you back with anything you want!” she pleaded.

  The creature looked troubled, uncertain, as if part of him didn’t want to get involved in someone else’s problems, yet still unwilling to leave this frightened little girl all alone in the forest, completely at the mercy of her pursuers. A tremendously unfamiliar feeling of concern triggered memories from not too long ago that played over and over in his mind. He has seen firsthand what the evil in the hearts of men could do; making them capable of acts of immeasurable cruelty towards their own kind that they have forced him to watch helplessly, from beginning to end that he has been powerless to stop in the past. It had happened to countless others before her, and could very well still happen to this girl, who was pleading for his help right now.

  Unlike the last time, however, he was no longer powerless, and there was no way in hell that he would let that happen. Not again.

-“Fine! I will help you, ‘pee girl’, but only if you give me food!” the dragon replied harshly.

-“I-I can get you the food... will you help me?” Nina pleaded again.

-“Nice food like the other day?” the dragon asked back expectantly.

-“Yeah! Like the other day! Do we have a deal then?” the girl countered, trying her hardest to appear collected but losing the battle horribly, desperately wanting to hear a positive reply.

  The dragon contemplated what his response would be for a moment that seemed an eternity, making Nina even more desperate to hear it. The creature made up his mind; being awfully aware of the trouble that would come with it, yet determined to help the poor little girl, anyway. In fact, he already decided to help her out the moment he saw her being chased by the Northmen, but he didn’t want to get out of this empty-handed, so he came up with this negotiation thing, as he heard the villagers call it. I give you this and you give me that. Very simple!

-“We have a deal, pee girl!” he replied eagerly.

  Nina left out a breath she didn’t know was holding, her heart filling with renewed hope once again. The dragon then took a mouthful full of saliva, spitting on his oversized hand that he then extended towards her in the strangest sign of goodwill she has ever seen, much to her utter horror and disgust. Where in oblivion did he learn that?

-“A spit shake means you never break your word!”

-“This is how they do it in the village,” he explained in a calmer tone.

  Of course, the highlanders and their strange ways! Not wanting to upset her savior and newest ally, Nina extended her hand with a bit of hesitation at first but shook the creature’s hand firmly. Her own petite hand felt incredibly awkward against the dragon’s giant and slimy grip. Since she was wearing leather gloves, she paid little attention to it, but certainly, she never felt gladder of wearing said gloves.

-“Thank you! Thank you so much! Now what should we do?” she replied sincerely, asking the dragon about their next course of action.

-“We’ll wait ‘til dawn. There is a hidden spot on the cliffs. Nobody will find you there,” he replied, pointing with one hand in the direction of the spot he was talking about.

-“Okay, lead the way!” Nina replied.

-“Follow me,” the beast commanded, taking off violently.

  Nina swiftly followed suit. The dragon navigated through the dark, dense forest with breathtaking agility. Even though the moons were full, visibility was mediocre, as most of the moonlight couldn’t make it through the dense clouds and the thick forest foliage. Nina struggled, but could still see him. The dragon ran slow enough for her to follow, but it was clear he could run much faster if he so desired. She tripped a few times in the darkness, but he waited for her to catch up each time. Judging from how gracefully the creature propelled itself through the difficult terrain; she concluded he must have some sort of natural night vision, as some animals are known to have. But Nina was no slouch either, for she was in excellent shape. Constant hiking through the years gave her a shapely figure and enough stamina to make a long trek with ease. Nina could outrun her pursuers for a while until fatigue inevitably took its toll, but now adrenaline was giving her body a much-needed boost to carry on. Although the night was young, she knew they would probably have to stop to rest at some point. The odd pair quickly made a few good miles already and Nina wanted to make the distance between them and the Northmen as wide as possible before dawn.