Now of course, anyone would be shocked at these strange and horrifying series of events that would lead him up to this. But never in his life did he seem so… terrified. He knew of the dangers of the world, but the last thing he expected was to witness one of them right in front of his eyes.

It was a dragon. A fucking dragon.

It had cold blood running through its veins and cold blood possibly splattered all over its emerald scales. He didn’t know what to think. He had to get that girl out of here.

The dragon’s head poked into the girl’s window, and he saw the girl approach it. He wanted to stop her, but he had to trust that she knew what she was doing. And it seemed as though she had.

She extended her arms and she immediately caressed it scales. What the hell? Wasn’t she imprisoned? Or perhaps…

The girl did mention that she had a friend. This couldn’t be that friend that she was talking about, right? It didn’t make any sense! He saw the fear in her eyes at the thought that he might be discovered! Why did she?

Ignei snapped out of his thoughts and crouched down, lessening the amount of his presence while resting his weak legs. He made sure he was safely hidden under the dragon’s radar and watched closely as to what may happen to them.

The dragon nuzzled the girl’s cheek and breathed out a puff of smoke. She giggled. “You must be hungry, right?” she asked it aloud, holding up some stew that she prepared. “Don’t finish it this time, please save some for me?” she asked rather gently. The creature seemed to nod its head.

Her pot of stew was incredibly big for someone like her to eat alone. This would now make sense why she made so much. The dragon must get ingredients for her and exchange she would provide him a meal.

It growled happily as she quickly filled herself to the brim a bowl of stew. She then gave the rest to the dragon. It stuck its head through the pot and licked the inside of it in a very playful manner. She giggled at it before stroking its scales.

Ignei was mesmerized. Never before had he seen a dragon and a human interact with one another in such an affectionate way. He heard from the stories from his village that dragons were giant reptile flying lizards that would kill humans and steal treasures for their own gain.

The dragon looked at her bowl, unsatisfied that she only finished it halfway. It looked up at her eyes, but she firmly told him that this was her meal and he wouldn’t have her leftovers.

“Now, shouldn’t you be out there, somewhere else?” she playfully teased. The dragon purred and removed its head and instead extended a claw to reveal more ingredients for food as well as a crown and some clothing for her to wear. “I don’t need this you know,” she told the dragon, only for another soft growl to be heard before a whoosh could be heard.

Ignei looked at the girl as she made her way towards the boy in small, quiet steps. “Here. He’s gone,” she told him. She held out a bowl of stew. “Here, for your company,” she said to him, and he took the meal. As he began to taste it, he couldn’t believe the things that just occurred. “Is it good?” she asked him softly. He nodded.

“So, may you explain to me why there was a dragon’s head peeking out your window?”

She stared at the window longingly. “That’s… that’s who trapped me here,” she answered quietly, full of shame. “However, he’s also my friend.”

He suddenly felt bad for all of the pain that she had to go through. “Why are you trapped up here?” he asked her.

She smiled, however, it didn’t reach her eyes. Her eyes began to water and tears threatened to spill out. “I don’t know why,” she said. “I tried asking, but he wouldn’t tell me. It was so long ago… and I can’t even figure out why. I’m not a princess. I’m not special in anyway. Why did that thing decide to take me? I may never know.”

“How long?”

She let out a broken laugh. “2034 days and counting.” She laughed again. “At least six years, can’t you imagine that? Six years…” Ignei heard her sniffle. “I don’t… I just gave up and let myself count the days I was stuck up here.”

Ignei wanted to know. “So, why don’t you leave? Clearly you can. You had plenty of opportunities here.”

The girl’s face was tearing up, and liquid spilled out of her eyes. “Don’t you get it? I can’t. I’ve been stuck here for so long. Where would I go? What would I do? I can get lost in this jungle easily, and that dragon will just imprison me somewhere more secure and more isolated. I have to survive. And I can’t do it outside where I know that there will be a lot of dangers. I hoped that if I do leave one day, it would be with someone with more experience with the outside world.” She looked at him. “Don’t you know how I feel?”

Ignei suddenly flashed her a smile. “I had no idea. But I can’t be the one to give you your freedom. You see, I have to save someone else.” And also, I need the shelter too. “I can help you escape the tower but—”

“Take me with you then,” she said. “You seem like the loner type, but I can handle that. I can help with your meals, and though I don’t know much, I’ll try not to be a nuisance. That dragon gives me a lot of knowledge about the outside world, even though he never tells me how to exactly find it or when, where, or how it’s useful.”

After travelling around with Ahu for only a day made him weary. He wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to travel along with her. What if she got lost, and what if she ended up being more annoying than the last? Would she talk endlessly? Or would she stay quiet?

“Be careful on who you ask for help,” he muttered under his breath, but at this point, the girl was on her knees.

“Please!” she begged. “I really want to see the world! I’m tired of being trapped up here in this tower! Maybe with you, I could finally have a chance surviving out there in the wilderness, thriving and free! I won’t be a hassle, and I won’t be nosy, okay?” He can literally see her eyes sparkling at the thought of actually going down there and exploring the world. This worried him greatly, as this could possibly mean that she might ask questions that don’t even pertain to him and—

Ah screw it, he was just going to do it. He couldn’t leave a girl stranded here with a dragon. “Fine,” he said softly, “but you better keep to your word.” He scratched his head and the girl practically jumped in glee. Her smile’s radiance illuminated the room, and for once he was glad that he offered. She looked so happy.

“So, how are we going to get down?” he asked, hoping not to take the stairs again. If going up was pain, then going down would be torture. His feet would give way after the first ten steps. Plus, he noticed that there weren’t any rails, so one slip up would mean that they were both done for.

He could’ve sworn that this was what the king would’ve wanted. Perhaps he truly enjoyed his suffering. Well, congratulations, he completely succeeded.

“Well, I was thinking maybe we could use the window,” she said to him, leaving him in shock. “There are vines that we could climb down. The dragon totally forgot about using the vines to escape, but I guess he didn’t burn them down to mock me.”

Might as well give her suggestion a shot.

“Wait, why not the stairs?” he asked her. The girl grinned.

“Because the vines are much more exciting to do.”

She did have a point there. “Well,” she added, “you better rest up. We have a long day ahead and you need your strength. Didn’t think that climbing up a bunch of steps would wear you out, huh?” She helped him up and noticed something shining from his pocket.

“I can manage, thank you. We can leave right now,” he said. “I get used to this, and the ache is almost gone.”

She smiled at him. “Well, still, you must be very exhausted. We should rather do it tonight, at least we can have some rest and we can get to know one another, you and I.”

He also smiled at the thought of it. Perhaps befriending this girl wouldn’t be at all that bad. The king may be a little extreme, but he was certain the king wouldn’t chase him down because he made a couple of pit stops along the way, right?