No! No, no, no and no! Why, oh why did I start about those dragons? Dragons are way too difficult.
Ah well, it can’t be changed now, can it?
I took another zip of my forest fruit tea with sugar and with a sigh I went back to my notebook.
It was almost four when Alea reached the place. With her hands on her hips she looked around. Strangely enough all the signs were gone. How could that have happened?
She walked around slowly, searching for the smallest trace, but there was nothing. Not one sound, not one clue, not even a slightest hint of a different waft.
Oh, you didn’t know? Dragons stink. Not just a bit, but they wear some sort of strange perfume, linked to their aura. And you really don’t want to know what a dragon smells like when it’s angry.
Alea decided to climb to the highest point, or at least a little bit higher than she was now, and maybe, just maybe she was lucky. While doing so she thought about everything Almarahn had taught her. Which weapon in which fight, the plants and how they could be used for good and for bad, how to take care of herself and..
What was that?!
Slowly she stopped and then turned around. Alea was sure she had heard something. Like… the cracking of a branch when someone stood on it. There! She was sure she heard footsteps. And, indeed, someone came towards her, no longer hiding behind a rock.
His clothes looked ancient. No sneakers, no jeans no sweater. Long legs in a brown pants, no shoes for as far she could notice, a strong and muscled torso in a white undershirt. Blue eyes, bluer than anything she’d ever seen were locked on her.
“So, were you following me or what were you doing?” Alea asked.
“Looking for dragon signs.”
“WHAT?!”
“I was looking for dragon signs. Traces, you know.”
He spoke slowly, like to a child. His voice warm, velvet like, with a hint of the husky male voice he would get when he would grow older.
When his eyes wander of her face and saw the single-headed meteor hammer they hardened.
“What is that?”
“Why would you care?” Alea found her voice back. “You were following me, so I don’t owe you any answers. Who are you?!”
Those blue eyes, it looked like they were without an pupil, went back to her face again.
“I’m Mayth. And I wasn’t following you, I simply took the same route.”
“But you were hiding from me, so how would you explain that, Mayth?” The strange name made it hard for her to believe him, and even if she would, she wanted to know why and how he knew about the dragons.
“Because you look angry and with those weapons you carry… I didn’t want to take the risk to make you upset.”
Alea looked at the sky, thinking about what the boy said.
“What’s your name?”
“Alea.”
“Alea.” He tested it and seemed to be satisfied.
“Shall we search for the dragon together?” Mayth asked.
