From the corner of his eye, Devlin spotted movement. Without making a sound and staying low to the ground he moved a bit towards it, to see if it really posed a threat to him. He found a long, red, pipe-like object, hanging around some pillars. He inched a bit closer and sniffed the air.
'Fire.' he stated. 'This must be some sort of heat transporting pipe.'
Devlin took a few more steps closer, but halted immediately after. Something felt wrong. He felt watched, and somehow also trapped. With his eyes squeezed to little slits he took another look at the pipe and noticed its exteriour wasn't smooth like a metal pipe should be. It was scaled.
When realisation hit him he turned on his heels to get out of there as fast as possible, only to come standing face to face with a malicious looking dragon.
The dragon raised its head up to a height equal to that of the pillars, showing of his majestic body. His belly was decorated with golden scales and on his back large wings unfolded.
Devlin saw his chance and took it. He spread his wings and flew back to what he thought had been a pipe. He started to gain height, but made sure he would stay somewhere in the middle between the ground and the top of the pillars. Devlin had always been good at solving riddles and quick thinking tasks. It hadn't taken him long to realise that with those large wings, the dragon wouldn't be able to fly in between the pillars, but it being able to fold in those wings, gave it the possibility to hunt on the ground as well. To him it was obvious, the ground wasn't safe, the open sky wasn't safe so he had to stay in between.
Another roar made Devlin look up above. Noticing the dragon was following him he groaned. He had become it's prey. It would follow him until he got tired and then it would make its move. Even though it would exhaust him faster Devlin decided to do what he thought was his only option.
'ALLANAH!!!!' he yelled from the top of his lungs. She was already dead, the dragon couldn't hurt her.
'ALLANAAAAAAH!!!!!!' He went on for as long as he could but after about half an hour Devlin didn't have any breath left to shout. Before his wings would completely give out, he lowered himself to the ground. Leaning his back against a pillar he awaited his predator. The shaking of the ground told him the dragon had landed and it didn't take long for him to be once more face to face with it.
'I'm sorry, Caera.' Devlin sighed, right when the dragon shot forward, its mouth wide open, its white, pointy teeth showing. Devlin could feel the warm breath on its face and closed his eyes. He was just too tired to fight.
'I can't believe you'd give up that easily. I expected a bit more fun from you.' someone said. Recognising the voice instantly Devlin opened his eyes. The dragon's face was still hanging before his. It blew a little cloud of smoke into his face causing him to cough.
'Where are you?' Devlin asked suspiciously, glancing around the dragons head. 'I know you can't shapeshift so just show yourself already.'
'Aw, can't stand not being able to win at hide and seek?' A soft giggle sounded by his right ear. 'And it's such a simple game.'
'It's not a fair game if I can't see the person I'm looking for, even when she should be in plain sight.' Devlin rolled his eyes. 'How did you tame this dragon?'
'I didn't.' he heard from his left. 'It was tame to begin with.'
'It was hunting me.'
'I asked it to.'
'It listens to you, no rather, it understands you?' Devlin asked.
'I can do even better than that.' a deep, rumbling voice seemed to come from deep inside the dragon's throat.
'You speak!' Devlin exclaimed.
'Very observant, my friend.' the dragon laughed with a warm sound. 'Welcome to my world and thank you for the entertainment. I rarely get visitors and the only living beings here beside myself, are those golems. I believe you have met them.'
Devlin nodded.
'As you might have noticed, their intellect is below acceptable. I can not even have a decent conversation with them.' the dragon moped.
'That sucks.' Devlin stated dryly.
'Yes, my friend, it does indeed "suck".'
'There is one thing I am still wondering about.'
'Tell me your thoughts and I'll present you with mine.' the dragon friendly suggested.
'Why is Allanah not showing herself to me?'
'Your friend has told me why you are here.' the dragon started to explain. 'Every year a pair of your kind comes to my world. I've tried to talk to them before but they would always run away. I can not blame them, I must look very terrifying. They run from me and the moment they find each other, they disappear, I asume back to where they came from. Your friend, however, didn't fear me and was able to hear my story.'
'I see, so as soon as I see her, we'll disappear and you'll be alone again.'
'Indeed so, my friend.'
'But we can't stay here forever.'
The dragon laughed. 'I am aware of that and I have no intention of forcing you to stay. I would ask of you only one thing.' With one of his front paws, which looked a lot like hands, only they each missed one fingers and ended in a claw instead of a nail, the dragon peeled of one tiny, golden scale near where his heart should be.
'Have this. It'll allow me to communicate with you in other worlds. If you ever have questions I will answer to you.' He presented Devlin with the scale. 'All I ask is that from time to time, you'll have a small conversation with me.'
The dragon peeled off another scale and put it in his open hand. It disappeared.
'If need is great, you'll even be able to summon me to your world, temporarily though.'
Devlin got to his feet, he had regained enough strength during the conversation.
'Before we leave, can you answer me one more thing?' he asked.
'Anything I can, my friend.'
'What is your name?'
The dragon seemed shocked, but then he made the ground shake by laughing so loudly.
'You might not believe me, my friend, but it has been so long since I've had need to use it, I've completely forgotten.' he laughed some more. 'I'll tell you what, why don't you search for a strong name for me. You do not need to give it to me now, think about it and when you are sure, make your suggestions. I'll take on the name I find most appropriate.'
Devlin and Allanah promised and said their goodbyes to their new friend. Allanah showed herself and the moment the two caught each other's eye, the scenery started to change. Before they knew it, they had returned and were standing in front their mirror, staring at their own reflection.
'Welcome back, I hope you had a good time.' mister Yuri said joly, sitting on a picnic blanket, having tea with Caera, Tyler, Kseniya and Wiley. 'Come join us.'
