They have gathered intel about the Dragon’s whereabouts and as they journeyed further, Knight Jaeger and the bard Naga grew closer as they shared laughter and hardships.

Naga laughed heartily as he watched Jaeger fail to catch a fish then he taught him how, Jaeger raised his brows as he watched Naga demonstrate.

Naga proudly raised his fish that he caught with his clothes and beams at Jaeger.

“ see, that was easy.” Jaeger smiles.

“ Look below you.” He said as he pointed at the fishes that gathered beneath him.

“ They seem to like you, they enter your trap willingly, I wonder why is that.” Jaeger pointed out.

Naga smiled. “ Nah, you just don’t know how to do it.”  Jaeger smirked as he moved his hand to splash some water on Naga’s face.

Surprised by the sudden splash, the cloth he was holding with the fish slipped from his hand.

“ Our lunch is now gone.” Naga said and Jaeger laughed.

“ Well, you may be great at catching them but bad at keeping them.” Jaeger teased, then Naga splashed him with water, and it turned into a splashing fight, both laughing, seemingly forgetting the reason for their journey.

Jaeger stopped as he noticed Naga’s white shirt was becoming wet, and now he could almost see his body. Naga’s shirt was a little big for his small frame, and Jaeger could see his exposed shoulder and collarbone, add to that, his nipples were hard and almost see-through cause of the thin white shirt he was wearing.

Ohh I wonder how it would taste on my tongue–

Jaeger halted with his thought and immediately felt his face flushing.

What the hell– 

He cursed himself as he smiled at Naga who was washing his face.

“ Let us catch fish seriously now.” He said and turned.

“ Let’s see who can catch more fish, I’m gonna fish there–” Jaeger walked away, trying to distance himself from the bard that is now too tempting for his celibate self.

Naga watched Jaeger turn and walked away from him, he was topless and Naga was trying to stop himself from staring at his body, his muscles are so well-defined, and every little movement he made was so sexy he wanted to slap himself to stop him from ogling but now that Jaeger turned he took that time to ogle at his back muscles, oh how he wants to touch and scratched that back–

I wonder how it would feel to have those big arms around me–

Naga eyes widen as he realizes he starting to get turned on. His face flushed as his mind pictures a half-naked Jaeger on top of him, panting and smiling—

Oh my goddess– forgive my impure thoughts!

He exclaimed as he slowly submerged his flushing face in the water as he stole a glance at Jaeger.

I was terrified of him at first, but now I–want to stay close to him.

He thought.

–

They sat under the moonlight. A wood of fire crackles across them as they warm themselves from the cold breeze of the night. 

They sat on a log and were a few inches away from each other, Jaeger glanced at Naga who was rubbing his hands together, they just eaten the fish they caught and were now trying to stay warm before sleeping.

Jaeger grabbed his cape and put it over Naga’s shoulder. 

Naga felt his cheeks burn as he tried to compose himself– he was feeling cold but he wanted more than a cape—

He buried his face in the cape. “ Thank you, we can share it together if you’re cold.” Naga offered.

Jaeger turned to him and noticed his red face. Jaeger’s mana is fire, the cold doesn’t bother him but he smiled and scooched closer to Naga, grabbing the cape and covering them both, their shoulders brushing and Naga swallowed as he felt Jaeger’s warm skin against his cold body.

He’s so warm. Naga thought, his breath started to become even as he now feels comfortable.

It would be great if he put his arms around me—

Naga turned redder at his own thoughts.

Naga fixed his gaze on the fire, feeling conscious and hot as their bodies brushed against each other, trying to divert his attention.

Jaeger noticed Naga became stiff and he laughed at himself. 

Maybe he knows I’m not cold and just offered it out of kindness.

Now he’s embarrassed. He turned to Naga. “ You can have the cape after all, I’m gonna be fine.”

He said and Naga by instinct grabbed Jaeger’s pants tightly, to Jaeger’s delight.

Feeling the heat on his cheeks. Naga mustered the courage to speak.

“ I–I like your warmth– it feels nice.” Naga said softly, his face burning brighter red as he uttered each word.

Jaeger smiled and held Naga’s hand that was on his legs. “ okay, I’ll keep you warm.” 

Jaeger then put his arms over Naga’s shoulder. “ You can lean on me if you’re sleepy.” Jaeger said.

He’s warm! His big arms are around me! It feels so good..

Naga relished the warmth Jaeger had offered. His heart beats louder with each second passing by.

How long has he been deprived of skin contact with another human?

Naga cannot remember when was the last time he felt this warm– he almost teared up.

And both of them sat with each other warmly. Under the cape of the knight, the crackling of the fire, the sound of the cricket, and the light breeze of the cold air made the moment more magical.

They both relished and they seem to forget what their journey was all about.

–

They traveled through a desert for a day without stopping, they had their fill of water and food, so they planned to travel the entire day.

As they crossed the desert, they saw the small lake that was on the map, and Jaeger immediately took off his wet sweaty shirt and washed his face. 

We’re almost there. It’s been two days– we should get there tomorrow, we don’t have much time.

Naga took off his wet shirt too and started to wet his arms and face. Jaeger watched as Naga took his shirt off and saw the scar that the sword left.         

“ Why did you save me? ” Jaeger asked without thinking.

Naga halted and turned to Jaeger. 

“ oh, I-” He paused as he wiped the water off his eyes.

“ I- I can’t just watch anyone die, not if I can do something.” he answered and smiled at Jaeger.

Naga’s face seemed to light up when he smiled. As if a bright beam was casted before him.

He’s so beautiful. 

Jaeger thought as he watched Naga continue to wash his face.

And he’s so kind. By instinct, all animals are selfish. I’ve seen it millions of times on the battlefield.

Jaeger gaze again on Naga and watched how all the fish swam around his feet like a magnet. He thought it was odd. It is odd.

Something feels off— it’s almost like he’s not real.. he’s too kind–

Jaeger thought.

–

It was nighttime and they camped for the night, resting. Eating a viper snake that Jaeger caught.

They sat beside each other, their warm bodies brushing against each other. They now feel comfortable, unlike the first time, now it seemed natural.

They sat in silence after eating their fill, relishing the sounds of the forest at night, the soft crackling of the fire, the sounds of crickets, the gentle cold breeze.

If only this moment could last forever. Naga thought, his cheeks flushing, feeling giddy even though he knows their journey can end in blood.

Jaeger turned to him.

“ How long have you been singing?” He asked.

He is passionate about singing, and touched that Jaeger had asked him about it, he smiled at Jaeger.

“ Since I was born.” he said and took out a lute.

He started to play a soft melody, it was a free-style that he came up with at the moment thinking of their journey. He sang about hope, anger, justice and courage.

And so the mighty knight~

Saved the Princess once and for all~

Naga strummed his lute for the outro and Jaeger just gazed. Taking every second into his memory.

How Naga’s voice sounded so soft like a pillow to his ears, and his soft gaze that never left his eyes, Jaeger was entranced by him, he never thought his heart would beat again for someone after years of isolation and bitterness.

Before the both of them could tell what was happening, they were already falling in love with each other.

Naga handed Jaeger a necklace with a wooden sculpture of a crow.

“ What’s this?” he asked softly. His gaze softened as his eyes landed on Naga.

Naga smiled. 

“ You know, everyone says you're scary, but I was never scared of you, even when I only saw you marching with the prince in war times, and when I met you in the castle, I could somehow feel the warmth beneath your cold armor.” He said as his hand held Jaeger’s hand, slowly entwining it together with the necklace in between.

It felt natural. Their hands fit each other perfectly.

Their gaze landed on each other’s eyes. Both eyes were filled with longing.

Naga smiled. “ I didn’t know the mighty knight Jaeger could blush.” Naga chuckled.

Jaeger stared at him as Naga’s face lit up.He leaned closer and slowly held Naga’s cheek, brushing his thumb as if asking for permission.

Naga closed his eyes and Jaeger captured his warm lips. Their breaths heavy as if the kiss relieved their thirst.

They sat together under the cloudless night sky. The full moon illuminates the dark forest, countless stars scattered across the heaven. 

Jaeger had his arms wrapped around Naga and Naga leaning on Jaeger’s body for warmth, their hands entwined together and Jaeger playing with their hands together.

“ Have you ever wondered, what’s the meaning of everything? Of life?” Naga asked, breaking the silence.

Jaeger looked up at the stars.

“ I have, after winning the war– I thought I’d be happy, but I felt nothing, years of violence numbed me, and that was my whole life. I was a warrior, but now, I don’t even know who I am.” He answered, his tone soft and careful.

Naga looked up at Jaeger and he leaned closer.

“ You know, whenever I feel that way, I just look at the stars and I would feel so small, how my suffering is so irrelevant and that in the end, there’s only me and the vastness of the universe.”

Naga smiled. “ But at this moment, Jaeger, I feel like I’m in good company, and I want this to last.” He said softly almost a whisper, like a wish whispered to the cold wind of the night.

Jaeger leaned down to kiss Naga’s forehead lovingly.

“ I want this to last too, for a lifetime.” Jaeger whispered.

The dragon awoke, feeling a rush of emotions through him. His heart beating so fast he could hear it on his ears, his face flushed and his breath heavy.

It had been so long since he felt this feeling.

Any feeling, for that matter.

His room was dark, his eyes were glowing red as he slowly sat up, eyes wide in surprise. 

The knight and the bard? 

He thought his pupil dilated. 

“ Ha!” he started to laugh, as he realized things had taken an unexpected turn.

“ AHAHAHAHAHA! Now this has become more interesting..” He whispered to himself as he felt his heart beating loudly with each passing second.

“ ahh! What a time to be alive.” he said, feeling the stiffness of his member on his hand. 

-----

Naga and Jaeger galloped their horses fast, This will be the last forest to cross and they will reach the Land of the Dragon. 

MEEEEHHHH! 

They pulled their horses to halt as they spotted a lady and a child on the road. The child crying and the mother comforting him.

Jaeger cast a suspicious glance as he guided his horse around them, eager to continue their journey. However, the sound of hooves halting caught his attention. He turned to see Naga dismounting, stepping closer to the mother and child.

“ What are you doing?” Jaeger pulled his horse to turn around and halted in front of him.

“ Whatever their problem is, we have our priorities, we can’t afford to lose time,” Jaeger said but Naga ignored him and bent down on his knees grabbing his bag of supplies and giving the mother and the child his water and his food.

“ It's okay, I’ll help you, just wait for a moment.”  he whispered to the woman.

Jaeger waited as he watched Nage walk towards him.

“ I know that this will waste our time and I’m sorry but I can’t leave them, I will follow suit, but for now, I will give you this, this is a composite sketch of the dragon’s face–” Naga said, handing a scroll to Jaeger.

Jaeger’s brows furrowed.

“ No, you are under my command—” he stopped as Naga touched his hand softly placing the scroll on his hand.

“ I’ll be with you soon, and when you see the sketch, don’t think I’m fooling you, I’m an artist, I drew that after seeing the dragon’s face, please, be on your way, I promise you I’ll catch up.” Naga said smiling, but it felt like it was goodbye, pain and longing were written on his face as he turned to go back to the mother and child.

Jaeger's face darkened as he held the scroll. He glanced one last time.

He’ll catch up soon. He thought as he kicked his horse to run forward.

The sun is going down, arachnids will come out in this forest, and I can’t waste more mana since I am about to fight the dragon. If he doesn’t catch up with me, I’ll find him.

Naga watched Jaeger disappear into the woods and he was about to turn when he felt a knife in his back. 

“ Don’t move, you fool.” The woman hissed behind his ears.

Naga raised his hands. 

“ You were with a warrior, I wouldn’t have done this if he stayed.” the woman said as she signaled for the child to take his bag and all his belongings.

Naga felt pity more than fear. 

“ You know, I can give everything I have to you, if you so ask.” He said.

The woman snickered. “ You say that now cause I have a knife on your back.”  she said.

“ take your clothes off.” the woman commanded.

Naga followed promptly, he felt goosebumps as the cold breeze touched his bare skin, he gave his clothes to the woman and now he’s left only with his undergarments.

The woman kicked him on the back of his knees making him fall on his knees. She then grabbed a rope from under her clothes and started tying Naga’s arms behind his back.

“ Your child is sick, you need to send him to a healer.” Naga said as he looked at the weak child, his eyes were red and his body very thin, bones protruding from his skin.

The woman glared at him. “ A healer costs more than our lives, you say that so easily like you can find gold anywhere!” she spat.

Naga sighed. “ I can help other way, I know a healer I can–”

Naga’s eyes widen as he felt the knife’s sharp tip slowly pushed into his skin.

Jaeger continued on his path. He grimaced and looked up at the sun.

Arachnids are about to come out. He should catch up.

He thought as he looked up at the setting sun, then an image of shaking Naga flashed through his mind and his soft smile.

Fuck!

He cursed loudly in his mind.

I was used to being alone. I forgot he can’t even protect himself.

Jager immediately grabbed his horses’ reign to turn around and rode back to where he left Naga.

To hell with the dragon. He thought.