Metaphors. Yup.

"Which part of 'Take care of yourself' was so difficult?" the white dragon asked, in a very sour tone. The man, who was leaning against him, laughed softly. Wheat-coloured locks were peeking out from underneath his torn blue hat.

"I haven't waited an hour!"

"How do you kno... ow..." The dragon stopped to bend his neck and look his companion in the eye.

"What has he done to you, Yugo?"

Yugo smiled, waving his free hand, but the dragon did notice a flicker of pain on his face.

"Doesn't matter now."

"You know what Nora would say? Stop playing hero."

"Nora isn't here, and I hope she stays away for a long while" muttered Yugo. Then he sighed.

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

On they trudged, step by step, feet sinking in the coarse sand which greedily drank every drop of their sweat. It took a thousand years for the first, tiny flower to appear at Yugo's feet. Arm hooked on the dragon's rough back, Yugo bent down to touch the petals.

The wind was tugging at his cloak, when the traitor laughed out a loud, mocking guffaw. The blue dragon shielded Yugo.

"Yugo?"

He blinked. "Phaeris?"

"Adamai. What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry, for a moment there... I don't know."

He stood up straight, rubbing at his side half-consciously. It doesn't hurt, he thought. Odd. His foot brushed against silky smooth petals.

Mina paled. She fell into the armchair, hid her face in her hands.

"What do you think they're doing now?" Adamai's voice brought him back to reality.

"Waiting for us?"

"They sure are, brother" Yugo laughed. "But they've got a planet to colonise, remember."

They were wading a field of flowers now, the sweet smell making Yugo dizzy, but it was a pleasant kind of dizziness, as if, after a long trek through a scorched desert, he entered his own garden in full bloom. He felt like a long glass of cold juice. Adamai caught his hand in his own, scaly one, and the fingers of Yugo's free hand were unconsciously trailing silky petals.

The planet looked lovely, like a turquoise on black velvet.

The ancient marbles were cracking, consumed by the red blaze.

The Mechasm envoys bowed low before him.

"Our people need a steadfast leader" Chibi laid his hand on Yugo's shoulder.

He and Adamai were laying on the sand, laughing so much they couldn't breathe.

Glip frowned, perusing a tablet filled with thickly compacted calculations.

"Catch me, Yugo!" giggled Nora.

A boy and a baby dragon stood, holding hands, on the shore. They couldn't see the other side of the lake, it was far away, hidden in the thick mist. There was a meadow behind them, each gust of wind sending wafts of thick, sweet smell into their nostrils.

"Where are we going?" the dragon asked. He was smaller than the boy, chubby, and his white scales seemed a little soft, as if he had only just hatched.

"Forwards" the little boy decided. He had wheat-coloured hair that were tickling the tip of his nose.

Together, the boy and the dragon stepped into the warm water.