Thankfully, the trip back home from Pontikiz was much less eventful. No merchants wanting to renegotiate, no port authorities flexing, no students running off doing it when we were just about to depart. Just blessed calm and smooth sailing.

  Over the following week I easily fell back into my normal routine with the relieving comfort that I wouldn’t be harassed at every turn. Not unless I counted all the students coming to me to ask questions, not that there were all that many of those.

  Still though, there was one thing that kept nagging at me. For a while now, to be honest. Fluminix was growing up nicely. Physically she was even a little on the bigger side for her age. Mentally… well, she was being forced to learn about the basics of humanoid magic twenty-seven times a week, so it wasn’t like she was lacking in that department either.

  But that was just the thing. I was humanoid magic. Humanoid food. Humanoid history and culture. She… Well, she didn’t exhibit any draconic behaviour or instincts. And I felt very much as if I’d fucked that up. It would appear that being intimately knowledgeable about dragons did not make me know what it was like being a dragon.

  Yeah, I had gone and goofed in a rather bad way…

  So, in an attempt to rectify the problem, I’d taken a day off from my self-imposed, busy schedule to head somewhere that was more suited to bring those instincts out of her. I was taking her to the Flornem Forest, the forest that lay right outside of the school.

  The Flornem Forest was the largest forest on the Umbrean peninsula, covering much of the northern end of it. It stretched from the border region between Portisola and the city-state of Kymaeos, along the coast to the southeast of Paideia, to the border region between Portisola and the Luminous States, to the north-northwest of Paideia. It was several thousand square miles of forest, cut through on its western end by the Fides River going to Portisola, the city itself, not the republic.

  Though it wasn’t just a forest, it was a sanctuary, a nature reserve. The vast majority of the forest was protected land that was home to a myriad of species, many of them being threatened with extinction. To accommodate for the vast variety of species, the forest was interrupted here and there by grassy plains, rocky outcrops and large lakes.

  And that vast majority of the forest, that nature reserve, belonged to none other than Paideia.

  Anything from the smallest insect to wyverns could live in peace and their natural order there. Any that violated that sanctity would be tracked down and made to pay dearly. Not even the most zealous of dragon hunters, or slayers as they sometimes call themselves, would enter the reserve without due caution.

  Not that any of them ever managed to get away unpunished.

  Not that I was taking Fluminix into the forest itself this time. No, I took her to the fields bordering the forest on the north side of the school, outside of the walls.

  These fields were a gentle, grassy downhill slope that was less of a field and more of a grassy park. Many students would come here to relax during spring and autumn. It was also the site where students were taught their animal handling and more practical biology classes, as the tender department had its main complex right next to the grassy stretch of land, it was on the eastern side of it, close to the wall.

  Since it was Ymirsday, the last day of the week and weekend, as well as It being spring, it was rather crowded. Not that any of them bothered me as I found myself a place to sit down close to the forest’s edge. They did give me curious stares, though.

  “Go on, explore,” I instructed the baby dragon with a wave at the forest in front of us, as I sat myself down on the grass.

  Fluminix tilted her head in, what I read as, confusion.

  “Just go do whatever comes natural to you,” I offered to her with a gentle smile.

  Though I wasn’t sure she got my message, she did relent and walked off towards the forest. With hesitant steps.

  I frowned as I saw that. I didn’t like the notion that I might be failing her. That I might have been… coddling her.

  I watched, with growing concern, as she paused at every new thing, to sniff and examine it. At the forest’s edge, she stopped, looked at it, and saw a butterfly fly out of the forest, which she promptly turned to chase after. For a moment, I had the vain hope that she was hunting it. But, no, she was merely ‘playing’ with it. There was no doubt in my mind that the butterfly was scared out of its mind, but Fluminix seemed more interested in watching it flutter than hunting it.

  I planted my head in my hands with a silent groan. I had failed her.

  “Excuse me,” a quiet and feminine sounding voice called out to me from beside me, which caused me to look up and blink in surprise. “That dragon over there, is it yours?”

  Standing there was a human woman on the taller side – not that it was very noticeable with how she hunched, if only a little – with her auburn hair in a sloppy braid that didn’t quite want to stay over her shoulder. Her pale, freckled face was taut with strain, probably in an effort to approach me. Her soft blue eyes were struggling to stay on me, seeming to want to dart to where Fluminix was. If I had to guess, she was in her mid-twenties.

  Thing was, I had absolutely no clue who this woman was. And I couldn’t stress how extremely uncommon that was. I knew everyone in Paideia. Everyone that had ever attended Paideia, and therefore everyone ever employed at and around the school.

  “Uh,” I replied, oh so elegantly. “Not really.”

  The woman blinked in surprise in return. “It’s not?”

  I regained my senses. Thankfully. “I don’t really lay claim to ownership of her. She’s her own person. Dragon. You know what I mean. Hopefully.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  She chuckled in a way I found… rather adorable, as she sat down next to me as if that was something anyone just… simply did. “I think so. I’ve read that dragons are not exactly the ones to let themselves be kept as a pet. Kinda like cats but in the extreme, don’t you think?”

  I was glad that Fluminix had already stolen her attention again, because I felt, and probably looked, rather stupefied by the casualness of her sitting down next to me. “I suppose so…”

  My lack of enthusiastic response seemed to have startled her out of something, as her face suddenly reddened and her gaze found itself turned to the grass next to her.

  “Sorry…” she muttered apologetically, and… if I wasn’t mistaken, a tinge of fear and self-loathing. “I always tend to get like this…”

  I let out a short, soft and thoughtful hum. “Like what? Enthusiastic or casually at ease around strangers? Neither of which bothered me.”

  Her face whipped around, all wide-eyed and full of hope, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Which immediately caused her spirits to dampen again, though I didn’t get the sense that her hope had as well, just that it was more guarded.

  “It didn’t?” she asked hesitantly.

  “It didn’t,” I answered honestly, as I shook my head. “I was merely surprised. I suppose, I’m not all that used to people coming up to talk to me like that.”

  “Oh…” she exclaimed slowly. “I get that. Somewhat. People… never seem to react all that well to my… enthusiasm.”

  I chuckled again, one that was on the verge of being an actual laugh. “So, what about the little dragon over there had you so enthusiastic?”

  She instantly brightened and her gaze returned to Fluminix, who… seemed to be eyeing the forest like one would an interesting painting, at the moment. “Oh, I really love dragons. I’m fascinated by them. I’ve always wanted to meet a real-life dragon. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to meet one, what with them being pretty much extinct nowadays. I wish I lived back in the days when dragons were a common presence. Did you know that they think dragons back then ruled every part of the world? Some even say that they may have even been a shadowy cabal that ruled the world from the shadows, through ancient empires like Vespera and the Shān. But those are just wacky conspiracy theories. Any respectable scientist and knowledgeable person knows that dragons lack the intelligence for any of that. They are believed to be nothing more than above-average-intelligence animals. Above average for animals, that is. You see, that’s why they pose such a danger to humanoids. All that raw power, with intellect overshadowed by instinct, truly a force to be reckoned with.

  “Still though,” the woman, thankfully, slowed down her waterfall spiel as she looked at me with an oddly guilty look. “I can’t help but love them. I can’t help but wonder if, maybe, just maybe, they aren’t as bad as they say they are? I mean, your dragon doesn’t seem all that dangerous…”

  I forcefully stopped myself from blinking or clearing my throat. “I, uh, can understand that. And I can promise you that they aren’t what they’re claimed to be. At all. Well, aside from the juvenile and young adult ones. They can… let their pride get the best of them.”

  “They aren’t?” she asked with a look so hopeful that it made my non-existent heart clench. “How do you know? How can you be so certain?”

  I let out a short hum that was… perhaps more of a prideful huff. “Because I know, and have known, quite a few dragons. Including the dragon monarchs. People tend to forget that dragons are a very individualistic species, so they tend to let their young-ones roam without supervision. What do you think would happen if we humanoids were to do the same with our young ones?”

  She fell silent for a moment, probably to mull it over, before she nodded and returned her gaze to Fluminix. “I suppose you’re right. Still though, you know the dragon monarchs? I thought they were only a myth?”

  I huffed softly, as I joined her in watching the baby dragon’s antics. “The things they’ve relegated to myths for their own convenience…”

  It was probably best not to inform her that dragons weren’t as close to extinction as she’s led to believe.

  Either she heard my complaint and opted to ignore it, or she simply didn’t hear it. Either way, we fell into a… surprisingly comfortable silence.

  I seemed to find myself surprised quite a lot this day. And I also seemed to be forced to admit to feeling things I hadn’t in a very long time.

  It was nice to be treated without reverence or hate.

  I could get used to this.

  “So… what kind of dragon is she?” the woman asked, breaking the silence with some hesitance. “She looks like a darkness dragon, but also… not?”

  I smiled, though neither of us could see it as we were still enthralled by Fluminix’s non-adventures. “She’s a Vesperan lightning dragon.”

  Her face turned to me so fast, I swore I could feel a small gust of displaced air. “A Vesperan lightning dragon?! I thought they were all extinct?!”

  I chuckled and turned to face her with a soft smile. Her enthusiasm was rather charming. “So, did I. I was rather surprised to find the egg of one in the mountains of southern Pachasia last year.”

  While she bathed in the amazement of it, I returned my gaze to Fluminix as I hummed thoughtfully. “You know, out of all of the Vesperan dragons, the lightning variety was the rarest. So, I felt it was nothing short of a miracle to find the egg of one in the wild. I would have thought it more likely to stumble across fire or water variant. Though, mainly the fire one, as water dragons are very rarely seen on land. Not unless it was an elemental mix, like a cloud or storm dragon.”

  As I returned my gaze to her, being curious as to why she’d fallen silent, I found her looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and a hungry look in her eyes. “You sure seem to know a lot about them.”

  I didn’t gulp, but I sure as Nox wanted to. “I… suppose you could say I’m intimately familiar with them.”

  She let both her smirk and eyebrow fall with a giggle. “I’m glad to know I’m not the only one enthusiastic about dragons. Is that knowledge of yours also how you know she’s a she?”

  I raised an eyebrow, almost instinctively, as I pondered about that. Had I really been enthusiastic just now?

  “It is,” I answered her after a beat. “It’s not easy for most humanoids to tell, but there are subtle signs. If you know where to look.”

  “Signs only you would know?” she asked with a… Was that a teasing smile? Was she teasing me? That…

  “Well, I’m not really one to hoard my knowledge, you know?” I said haughtily, as if allowing her a distinct honour. Two could play at that game.

  “I’d like that,” she countered with a genuine smile that blew my sudden desire to tease her right back out of my head again.

  Over the next couple of hours, we talked and talked. Mainly about dragons, but also about other animals. All the while, Fluminix was doing none of the things I’d hoped this visit would bring out in her.

  When she got back and walked away towards the tender department’s building, I’d yet to learn her name, and she mine. I watched her leave, feeling something I never thought I would again.

  …Looking longer than might have been appropriate.

  *******

  Upon returning to the floor of my chambers, I didn’t enter the door to my own, but the door opposite, to Eweleanor’s. I found the sheepkin working in her private study.

  “Who is this newcomer?” I… demanded. “Auburn hair. Soft blue eyes. Cute freckles.”

  The frown that had formed on her face due to my interruption and sudden demand, morphed into a look of annoyed curiosity.

  “Do you have a complaint about my hiring practices?” she asked carefully, to which I blinked in confusion.

  “What? No,” I dismissed whatever that was with a hasty wave. “I merely wanted to know who she is.”

  “Seren Mac an Ghorta,” she answered dryly. “Recent hire from Gueredon.”

  I raised a curious eyebrow. “An outside hire?”

  Eweleanor smiled slyly. “Yes, she has quite the… enthusiasm for animals. And the skills to match it.”

  I hummed and nodded, suitably impressed, as I turned to head out of her chambers.

  “You still haven’t told me why you wanted to know?” she called out after me, which I opted not to have heard.

  “Morgana T–” she yelled after me in frustration, before I cut her off by closing the door of her chambers on her.

  As I entered my own, I had only one simple revelation.

  I hadn’t felt this alive in ages.