A/N: I know you guys officially hate me for being one of those authors (the ones with long times between updates and short chapters). :) But my computer deleted the whole story (and half of the new chapter I had written) so it was kind of a pain to start over. But I did. Just for you guys and the fact that two alerts and one review on a story I thought no one was going to read is just plain awesome. Oh just FYI, this chapter is in Alys's POV. Just to mess with your minds. :)

Oh btw Lady Bec of Imagineland: Thanks for the review! I haven't read the book in a while, so sorry for the OOCness. I tried to fix it in this chapter, while still making Selendrile interesting, though. :D

Chapter 2: Hearts

Just for a second the dragon-boy in front of Alys stopped and looked at her as if he was about to answer her question. Alys waited, patience not coming naturally to her, simply curious about the strange creature in front of her. Her rescuer. Finally after another seemingly endless moment of silence, Alys spoke up.

"So, do you make this a habit? You know, saving girls who you are supposed to devour. Or is this just some fluke. After all, this behavior is suspiciously more fitting to a knight errant than a dragon," Alys said looking at the boy curiously, though he wasn't really a boy seeing as he looked to be a year older than her at least. So maybe he was a young man? Alys still wasn't sure what to call him. In Alys mind, she supposed that her conversation would only draw out this shapeshifter of sorts. He couldn't escape from logic or harmless questions. Except that in the next moment he had turned on his heel and strode towards the forest, away from the village. This was exactly where Alys needed to go. She saw her opportunity and seized it.

"Hey!" she called after the dragon-boy, running to catch up with him. He looked unnerved by this, but did not speed up his pace. Alys took this as a concession to her presence. And this was all she needed. "At least let me properly thank you. How about a nice human to fend off the dragon-hunters."

"I can do that myself," he said. "And seeing as you got yourself in this situation in the first place, I doubt you would make much difference. Besides I eat maiden hearts." He said this in a cavalier way, as if he snacked on them often. Alys wasn't sure whether she should push her luck and add to his meals. But she needed this.

"I was outnumbered," Alys replied. This was certainly true; there were too many accusations against her to ever make the town a safe place. "And I'm willing to take the risk of being eaten. Listen, I know you're a cold blooded reptile and all, but you could just help me get out of here. I would—." Alys's plea was cut off by an arrow landing in a tree, only barely missing her head.

"The witch escaped!" cried a group of villagers. She knew they would surge forward, and this time she would not be so lucky to be tied to a stake for a dragon. She would be burned.

"Please," she said barely in a whisper looking earnestly at the dragon-boy. He fixed his unnerving violet eyes on hers and she saw a flicker of understanding. After all, he was hunted too; he knew the wide-eyed fear of prey. And wordlessly he went behind a bush and emerged from it in dragon form, scales and talons glinting. She could feel his talons grasp her arms and lift. And suddenly she was airborne. She soared away from everyone whose words had poured out of their mouths like venom, slowly poisoning the minds of the whole village.

"You know I don't really believe you eat maiden hearts," Alys said to the dragon. "You just said that to scare me." The dragon looked at her out of the corner of his eye. A croaking sound came from his mouth, in between a roar and a hiss. It took a second for Alys to realize that he was laughing.