CHAPTER FIVE

Sunlight Through the Trees

Fletcher grabbed Nox and set off into the forest, now ready to face anything he came across. The trees were tall, reaching up towards the sky, blocking sunlight. Fletcher found the small amount of light coming through the trees to be pretty. Small insects seemed to dance in the light. Maybe he could enjoy this for now. Fletcher had always found solace in the forest, as it was the one place where he could be himself. The trees not only offered oxygen to breathe, but seclusion from the village and all the things he found suffocating.

As he made his way through the forest, he became tired. He realized it was starting to get dark, so he stopped to fill up his water in a clearing by a stream, tying Nox to a tree, and decided that it would be best to rest here while he still could. Fletcher then fed Nox a carrot from his pack. Nox whinnied and Fletcher took a moment to lean on Nox's heart, bringing himself comfort.

"Good boy," whispered Fletcher, gently stroking Nox's soft fur.

When he was done he laid out his bedroll and took off his gear. Fletcher found some nearby twigs and started a fire with the flint he had taken from his father's blacksmith, hitting it against the end of the dagger that he always kept on the side of his belt. Finally, he ate a slice of bread from his rations. He wasn't that hungry, still nervous for what was to come of this journey, so that was all he ate. Fletcher got into his bedroll, but just as he was drifting off to sleep, he heard a snap. The break of a tree branch. Fletcher got up instantly, grabbing an arrow and notching it in his bow, on high alert. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he didn't dare relax, too scared that the second he let his guard down, he would be ambushed. Suddenly, he heard someone above him and before he knew it, they had dropped down from the trees.

"State your business, uh... human?" said the man... or dragon?

It had the face of a man, with black hair and blue eyes, but Fletcher also noticed that the creature had scaled hands with claws at the ends, a tail that led to an arrow point, and two horns on its head. His scales were a deep shade of blue, the color of the ocean. He didn't seem to be armed, but Fletcher guessed he didn't need to be after noting the size of his claws. They were both confused as they took each other in. Fletcher by this hybrid of a creature he never expected a dragon to be, and the Dragon by Fletcher's scent, one entirely made up of mana. He sniffed the air, growing more confused by the second. Fletcher accidentally lowered his weapon in his confusion.

"You reek of mana," said the Dragon Man, annoyed at Fletcher for a mixup he didn't think he caused.

Fletcher was puzzled. Shouldn't he be more annoyed himself? He was supposed to kill a dragon, and yet here one was right in front of his face and he had lowered his weapon. He grabbed his bow once more, pointing the arrow right between the Dragon's eyes.

"Whoa!" shouted the Dragon, putting its hands up in surrender. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Fletcher thought about it, but he couldn't kill anything that had the face of a human. He slowly lowered his bow, keeping it close by just in case.

"What are you?" asked the dragon, trying to clear up some of the confusion.

"You were right, I'm a human. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Nothing against you, but I've never sensed a human with mana before. No one has, as far as I know. I thought you were an elf. Shit, the guard is going to kill me if they find out. Humans tend to be more hostile so I am not supposed to be in this form right now. I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"How far is the town from here?"

"Miles out, but we could see the smoke."

Fletcher poured water over the fire, putting it out, then took a seat on the bedroll, patting the space next to him.

"I won't tell if you don't," said Fletcher.

"No offense, but if you have so much mana, isn't there a way to put out that fire without doing that?" said the Dragon, taking a seat next to him.

Fletcher furrowed his brows.

"What's mana? You keep mentioning it but I've never heard of it in my life. Also, how do you know I have this 'mana'?"

"Hm... I've never met someone who didn't know what mana was. It's basically a bunch of stored magic. The more mana you have, the more magic you can use at once. Everyone's mana is tied to their emotions, so if I use a specific memory and pair that with intent, I can use my magic," said the Dragon, using his magic to create a light show of blue fire that danced around his palm.

Fletcher backed away, reaching for his weapon.

"Relax, this fire is just for show. I didn't tell it to hurt you," he says, turning off the fire as soon as it started.

Fletcher warily sat back in his original spot.

"Don't scare me like that. Warn me first."

"Sorry, I've never met a human before. I didn't know they were so skittish."

"I am not skittish."

"Uh huh, and I'm not a dragon."

Fletcher crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Um... I'm Baylyn by the way," said the Dragon.

Finally, a name to a face.

"Fletcher."

Baylyn stuck out his hand, obviously wanting Fletcher to shake it, but Fletcher hesitated, looking at the dark blue scales on his hand. Baylyn took his hand away quickly, embarrassed that he would even ask the human to shake the hand of a monster.

"Sorry, it's just–"

"No, it's fine I get it. My hands are gross for a human."

"No they're not. I just... freaked out."

"So you are skittish," Baylyn said with a grin on his face.

Fletcher laughed at that.

"Shut up. You had to do that on purpose," he said, holding out his own hand for Baylyn to shake.

Baylyn shook his hand once, firmly, before saying, "Nice to meet you."

Baylyn's hand felt nice in Fletcher's. It was rough, but also warm and comforting all the same. He found it fascinating, the way his skin only seemed to be rough in one direction like a lizard. After they shook hands Fletcher couldn't look away from Baylyn's, mesmerized by the reflection of his scales.

"You can feel them if you want," said Baylyn, breaking the silence.

Fletcher looked up at Baylyn to make sure it was really okay before running his hand down Baylyn's scales. It felt soothing, almost like a massage on his own skin. Baylyn looked down at the ground, feeling awkward about his decision to let Fletcher feel his scales. Fletcher couldn't quite read his expression as he let go of his hand.

After a while, Baylyn cleared his throat, asking, "So... what brings you out here? Your people don't really come this far unless..."

He hesitated before looking over at Fletcher's bow, which was sitting in the grass, clearly covered in dragon scales and made out of bone. Fletcher didn't answer right away. He definitely couldn't kill Baylyn now, but what would he think if Fletcher told him what he set out to do?

"I wasn't..."

"What? You weren't going to kill me?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's complicated. I'll be exiled if I don't, but I can't bring myself to do it anymore. It's exhausting doing everything my dad wants and getting nothing in return. The only thing I would get out of doing this is still having a place to live."

"So why would you even entertain that in the first place?"

"I don't know... it's all I've known. I have this one brother who gets me, and my mom is so sweet, but my dad controls them too. I guess... I'm scared to leave them behind, if that makes sense."

Baylyn stayed silent for a moment, the minutes seemingly turning to hours as Fletcher waited for a response. Had he said too much?

Finally, Baylyn spoke up. "Yeah, it does. I don't know how I would live without my family." After a beat, he said, "Okay, well... I should probably go," getting up from his seat.

"Wait! You still never answered my second question."

"Oh... uh, dragons have a really good sense of smell, and we're magic users. Not everyone can, but I'm really good at detecting mana. Something about having a lot myself. It's part of the reason I patrol out here. See ya Fletch. I actually have to go," he says, opening his hand in a small half-wave.

"See you, I guess," said Fletcher.

He watched as Baylyn turned into a dragon and soared in the direction of what he guessed was the nearest town. He wished they could talk more. He had so many more questions. What did his mana do? Could his magic be different from Baylyn's? How could he have gone this long without knowing? Despite his racing thoughts, he fell asleep instantly, exhausted from staying up when he was about to go to sleep hours ago. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was never going to return home.

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A/n: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think so far!