Alys didn't know how she got next to a fire in a small cottage. She could feel Penna sleeping next to her but the room was silent. There wasn't any sign of Selendrile or Oisin. She cringed inwardly as she thought about what had happened the night before and even more at what could have happened.

She thanked God that Selendrile had been there to save her. But she still wished he hadn't killed the man. He was drunk and most likely didn't know what he was doing. It reminded her too well of when Selendrile had killed Atherton.

She felt sad when she thought about Atherton and she was still sorry he was dead. And like she did so many months ago she whispered to God, "He didn't mean it. He was only protecting me."

After a few moments of staring at the ceiling and hoping that Selendrile's soul was safe she heard the door to the cottage open. Selendrile walked in and sat beside her. He just looked at her without saying anything. He was searching her face for something.

"I'm fine" It came out as a whisper and she said again more loudly "I'm fine."

He didn't say anything.

"Thank You." She said quietly.

After a while he said "You're welcome."

There were a few more moments of silence between them and Alys began to squirm, uncomfortable as usual under his piercing gaze. He laughed and her head shot up to look at him. The smile on his face was the opposite of any of the cold smiles he had ever given her before and she liked it. She smiled back and they were caught in a trance of calm happiness even though only hours before there had been only fear and rage.

Only a moment passed with both Alys and Selendrile content to sit staring at each other when the door opened again and Oisin walked in. Alys looked away from Selendrile, blushing deeply.

She looked around trying to find something to say or do when she realized that Penna wasn't growling even though both dragons were within a foot of her. She just meagerly wagged her tail and laid her head on Alys' lap.

Alys smiled at both of the dragon youths, "Well I guess she doesn't mind either of you now."

Selendrile and Oisin didn't seem as pleased as Alys by this news and she continued to pet Penna's head. "Well when do we continue our journey?" she asked when it was clear that the dragon youths weren't going to comment about Penna's new tolerance of them.

"Whenever you're ready." Selendrile replied.

"Oh. Well then I think I'm ready now." Selendrile raised his eyebrows. Oisin hesitated, a very undragon-like thing to do and said "Perhaps we should wait a little while longer."

Alys shrugged and laid her head back down on the floor. She felt extremely tired, physically and emotionally. Penna was warm and comforted her but what really let her drift back to sleep was that she knew Selendrile was watching over her.

Alys woke with a start as her dreams led her to not-so-old memories that she didn't want to remember. It was dark in the room but she saw through the window that the sun was just setting so there was enough light to see by for now. She got up from the now-low burning fire and went outside to find Selendrile and Oisin sitting on opposite sides of a tree. They were seemingly asleep so she crept up and put her face close to Selendriles'.

She stood there, bent over for a few moments when all of a sudden his eyes snapped open and she jumped back. He cocked his head to the side but didn't comment. She wondered if he thought she was going to kiss him. The thought definitely had crossed my mind. She thought with a blush and turned her gaze towards Oisin who was also studying her like Selendrile. They both had expressionless faces so she didn't have a clue what they could be thinking, if anything.

When neither of them said anything she crossed her arms and said, "Well don't just sit there and stare at me! We have dragons to meet in less than two weeks' time."

At that both dragon youths raised their eyebrows but still didn't comment. Or move. So Alys walked back into the cottage and gathered their little belongings. She was back outside with Penna in almost no time. Both Selendrile and Oisin were on their feet waiting for her.

Without a word, all three, four including Penna, continued on their journey to meet with Varick and Ninon.

They walked in silence for hours. Finally Alys got tired of it. Sighing she said, "Oisin? Can you tell me more about being a dragon?"

He glanced at her with a bright smile and replied, "What would you like to know?"

Alys noticed that Selendrile gave Oisin an annoyed look but said nothing. "Were there more dragons once? Were they as common as deer? Or were they always a hidden species?"

Oisin chuckled. "We were once even more common than deer. There were once more deer also. But that has all changed. Humans have done what they can to obtain the top of the food chain for themselves and have somewhat succeeded."

Alys thought about this for a while. How glorious it would have been to see dragons everywhere, and frightening. But she couldn't imagine any more deer. There are just way too many of them right now. "If dragons used to be so numerous how did humans see to their declining numbers? I would think it near impossible for a human to kill a dragon." She said, and then added, "Unless they had somehow tricked them into wearing iron of course." Thinking of Selendrile's near-death experience.

Oisin shrugged, "I guess dragons just aren't as cunning as you may believe them to be. Humans have been killing us off for many years. It seems to be easier for them to do so with each new death." He added somberly as an afterthought, "Many dragons are killed while still young, like Keagan and Nuala's youngling. The parents must find a well-hidden place for their young because they are almost defenseless against humans when their parents aren't with them. That may be one of the main reasons why they blame Selendrile. They believe that their location was so well hidden that it could only be found by another dragon and therefore humans had followed that dragon."

He turned to look at Alys with a serious expression on his face. "It is rare for there to even be dragon couples but for there to be offspring for that couple is almost considered a miracle. This fact also adds to Keagan and Nuala's rage. They may never have another youngling and I can't even imagine the rage and disappointment when they found their own murdered."

At this Alys felt awful. She looked to Selendrile who she could tell felt the same way even if it wasn't written plainly on his face.