CHAPTER SIX

Simmering Water

The next day went by incredibly slowly for Fletcher, as he was left alone once again. Fletcher didn't mind being alone from time to time, but the forest was still, save for some critters who didn't dare approach him, and his horse, Nox. He wasn't sure what to do anymore after that encounter. Walking into a village of dragons, even if they were in human form, sounded like a deathtrap, and so Fletcher had nowhere to go. In his boredom, he settled for skipping rocks to pass the time, although he wasn't very good at it, having not had any practice in years. He quickly resorted to shooting fish with his arrows. Now that was something he was good at. Fletcher decided against a fire, not wanting to attract unwanted attention, so he set them by the stream, in case he somehow found a way to cook them... or someone. He got tired of fishing and went back to skipping rocks, only managing to get about three skips in at the most.

That's when Baylyn came out from the trees behind Fletcher, although Fletcher was too focused on the water to notice.

All Baylyn said was, "Hey," but Fletcher was so startled by a voice that he lost his footing, falling into the stream.

Baylyn burst out laughing, unable to help himself. This was the funniest thing he had seen all day.

"Not skittish my ass. I didn't even do anything. How did you not notice me?"

"Ha Ha, very funny."

Feeling bad, Baylyn reached out his hand to help Fletcher out of the stream, but instead of taking it, he pulled Baylyn into the stream with him. Baylyn scoffed at him, surprised.

"Now you know how it feels," said Fletcher.

"Fair," said Baylyn, getting up to sit on the edge of the stream. "But I'm not helping you out now."

Fletcher got out of the water and sat on the grass next to Baylyn, shivering.

"What makes you think I needed help?"

Baylyn put his hand over Fletcher's head and led it to the top of his, teasing him.

Fletcher scoffed, then said, "I am average height."

"Wow, humans are smaller than I thought."

Fletcher punched Baylyn playfully in the arm.

"What was that? Are there ants around here?"

Fletcher chuckled. Baylyn noticed that he was still shivering. Interestingly, Baylyn seemed to be dry already, perhaps a result of his own magic.

"Um... I can dry you if you want, but you have to trust me."

Fletcher was still skeptical of Baylyn. He seemed nice, but what if he had other reasons for getting close to him?

Sensing his hesitation, Baylyn said, "If I was going to hurt you I would have done it by now."

Fletcher nodded. At that, Baylyn put his hand out in front of him, engulfing Fletcher in a wall of blue flames. Fletcher flinched at first, startled by the light, but soon realized they were harmless. Although they were warm, they didn't burn, only warm enough to dry Fletcher and his clothes completely.

"Woah," said Fletcher, amazed at what he had just witnessed. "What else can your flames do?"

"Basically anything I tell them to do. Well... except grab things. Last time I tried that I ended up setting my house on fire. I also can't put out flames that I create with my own magic, it's almost like they're separate spells."

Fletcher tried to imagine Baylyn, too lazy to get up and get something and setting his house on fire with his magic. He burst out laughing.

"You're such an idiot."

"Believe me, I know. I used to lose control all the time. When I was in Elementary School, I sneezed out an ember and set the whole school on fire. I was hysterical so I kept spreading it too."

"Was everyone okay?"

"Oh yeah, everyone was fine, but they had to rebuild a part of the school because it was burnt to a crisp. Thank god the library was okay. All the kids thought I was a hero because class was canceled for a month."

Just then, Fletcher's stomach growled loudly, letting them know it was time for dinner. Baylyn looked over at the pile of fish.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah actually, I haven't eaten all day."

"Fletch, that's not healthy," said Baylyn, with a concerned look on his face.

Fletcher looked at the ground and started picking at the grass. He felt scolded by Baylyn. Why did a complete stranger care about his eating habits more than his own family? Fletcher often forgot to eat, his brain sometimes running too fast for him to keep up, always eating extra at dinner to make up for it. But he didn't know how to explain this to Baylyn.

He settled on, "I forgot."

Baylyn sensed he didn't want to talk about it and dropped it, getting up from the grass to start a fire. Fletcher grew alarmed as soon as he saw the flames.

"Wait! I thought you said the townspeople could see the smoke from there?"

"It's fine, I can make a fire without producing smoke. Damn, don't you ever relax?"

"Don't you ever shut up," said Fletcher, hurt by Baylyn's comment.

It's not that he wanted to be uptight, he was just used to having his guard up most of the time. Baylyn had hit a soft spot with his words.

"Wow, okay. You know what? I don't have to help you at all. Actually I can just leave if you want."

"Wait, no! I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I guess you made me realize that I don't know how," said Fletcher, getting up from his spot on the grass to join Baylyn by the fire.

Baylyn looked at Fletcher with pity. How could someone live their entire life, robbed of something he deemed to be so vital?

"I'm so sorry, Fletch. That sounds genuinely awful."

Fletcher couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want pity. He walked over to Nox to feed him a carrot from his pack. Still, Baylyn didn't take his eyes off of Fletcher. He was fascinated by the creature, never having seen a horse. He had only read about them in books. The dragon folk didn't need them, as they were able to fly and some could run just as fast or faster than a horse. Fletcher caught him staring.

"Do you want to feed him?" he asked, holding out the other half of the carrot to Baylyn.

Baylyn took the carrot and approached Nox, timidly reaching the carrot up to him. But to his surprise, Nox didn't bite him. Fletcher stood next to Baylyn, stroking the horse's fur. He threw the stem into the woods.

"I'm going to look for sticks so we can cook the fish," said Baylyn, walking into the forest.

When Baylyn didn't come back, Fletcher began to worry. He didn't know Baylyn very well, but he had a feeling that he wasn't lying when he said he was grabbing twigs. Fletcher packed up his belongings and put out the fire, just in case he had to move. He figured that if he needed to be stealthy, a horse wouldn't help, So he left Nox tied up to the tree, apologizing profusely, saying he'll come back for him. He didn't know which way to go, but he headed in what he thought was the direction to town.

Suddenly, he heard someone. Baylyn, and a dragon with black scales, maybe another patrol guard? He hid behind a tree, peeking out from the side to catch the conversation.

"Where's the human?"

"I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on Baylyn. You think I can't tell when you're lying? One of the guys smelled human on you the other day. I wanted to look past it but now you're coming back late? I was sent to check on you. What could you possibly be doing for this long?"

Baylyn looked shaken. He knew he had been caught, but he didn't know what to say. He just didn't want Fletcher to get hurt because he was careless.

"I- I..."

The guard's expression softens.

"Look, I won't say anything. I'm just worried about you. You've been acting... different."

Just then, Baylyn sniffed the air, realizing Fletcher was close by.

"Do you smell an overwhelming amount of mana?" said the guard, noticing the scent himself.

Fletcher, caught off guard, stepped on a twig, snapping it in half with a loud crack. Baylyn's eyes widened as he looked up to see Fletcher, standing right in front of them. He wasn't sure what would happen if Fletcher was taken into the town, but he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. Baylyn cursed under his breath. He should've known Fletcher would come after him.

"Ah! Just the person we were looking for!" said the guard. Fletcher didn't even bother running. He knew he wouldn't be fast enough to outrun a dragon.

He put his hands up in surrender before saying, "I promise I never wanted to hurt any of you."

The guard noticed a glint of a dragon scale on Fletcher's back. His eyes fixated on it.

"Is that-"

"Yes, but it's not what you think! My father gave it to me. I have never killed a dragon, I swear!"

"Alright, alright. I believe you, but they might confiscate your bow when we get to town."

"Town?"

The guard seemed to be holding back laughter.

"You really think I would just leave you out here with a weapon made of our kind? I'll escort you guys in. You're lucky you ran into me and not one of the others."

"Can I at least get my horse? He's not far from here."

Baylyn looked at the guard and nodded, confirming this fact.

"Sure, but we don't have stables. It's going to have to stay in the barn with the other animals, and I'm going with you," said the guard, letting Fletcher lead the way.

"That's fine."

They walked in complete silence, tension rising in the air. What would happen once they got to town? Baylyn was also nervous for Fletcher, as they have never let a human into town before. Hopefully they would sense his mana and let him go. Fletcher decided against riding Nox, feeling awkward about being taller than his escort. He led Nox with a lead. Baylyn sensed Fletcher's discomfort and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine. You have a lot of mana. Nobody tends to mess with people like that."

"If that's true then why didn't you bring me to town earlier?"

Baylyn stayed silent. He didn't know how to answer that question. He thought Fletcher might be let in, but he wasn't sure what the others would say if he had been the one to bring in a complete stranger. He cared about his reputation, was always trying to prove himself. He failed to see that Fletcher and him were extremely alike. But while Baylyn had a loving family and friends to joke around with, Fletcher was all alone. They walked the rest of the way in silence, avoiding eye contact with one another as the tension boiled over.

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A/n: Thank you so much for reading so far! Let me know what you thought of this one!