The skirt of her dress drug along through the mud, but she didn't seem to know or care as she kept stomping forward—away from the castle and away from him.

"Avalyn!" he called, following her briskly but not daring to lay a finger on her as she was in a mood. "Avalyn!"

She refused to acknowledge him.

Silly lass, where is she off to?

She had nowhere to go to—this he knew but he couldn't bring himself to return without her. They were in the woods now, and it was dark. It wasn't a black-skied night but a dark blue, velvety sky that was perfect for falling stars.

She moved away branches of the trees in her path to continue forward and they swung backward, lashing him in the face or arms. She never did properly answer to why she should go outside every day—had she been planning an escape in secret all along to leave him to explain his lies?

He sucked in a desperate breath, "Avalyn, please."

She stopped short of letting another tree branch swing into him and then decided it was best to let it run its course. She moved a few paces ahead as the branch smacked against his healing shoulder. He shouted in frustration to which she finally turned around and acknowledged him.

"Why has it come to this? Your father died three days ago—and yet I'm still tied up in your charade. You promised me that we wouldn't be married but the wedding is the day after tomorrow and you show no signs to stop it."

"Is it so bad?" he snapped with blazing eyes, "To marry me? You could have anything you wanted," He did not understand why she was so adamant to leave, it made him wonder if he was worthy of any girl, "Even after this time in each other's company, you don't carry—even just a bit of—a fondness of me?"

"It doesn't matter if I was fond of you—I can't marry you! You don't know me."

He let his arms drop to his sides with a flattened feeling inside of him, "How could I? You never even gave me the chance."

She considered his statement and the way he looked at her with a pathetic desperation. She took a step toward him with her eyes narrowed, "Do you want to know me, Jaythen?"

"I do."

Still her eyes were suspicious—studying him and his answer, for a truth. Finally, her careful expression changed to that of enthusiasm. She turned on her heel and pointed to her neck, "Please unclasp this and hold it for safekeeping."

He was puzzled to why she asked of such a favor but did so, relishing the softness of her skin on his fingertips as she rarely allowed him to touch her. She pulled the expensive engagement ring off her finger and placed it in his open palm. "This too."

"Why?"

"I will be back shortly, and when I return I'm going to show you something that will astound you." He would have suspected her of playing tricks, but because he had hold of the only thing she valued, he trusted her intentions. That—and because of the way she smiled when she looked back to him as she scampered away through the trees, silently telling him that she had grown—if only a little bit—fond of him.

He placed the jewelry in the pocket of his breeches and waited. He wondered what she had to show him. Maybe all those times she went for walks, she had come across something of great interest in the forest.

He was glad that she agreed to let him get to know her—perhaps now she would be less on edge and so veiled to him and the world.

"Where's your lady?"

Jaythen almost jumped out of his skin, and he whipped around to see his cousin appear between the trees.

"Who says that she's even out here? I'm in the wood collecting my thoughts for the wedding in two days."

Halden chuckled darkly, "Don't be a fool. I saw you two leave together and followed your footprints through the mud."

"Did you hear anything we said?" Jaythen admitted to her presence, only because he knew Halden to be the best tracker in Wendbury, and he wouldn't be fooled otherwise.

"Only muffled voices," he shrugged with indifference, "Where did she go?"

Jaythen sighed with relief, knowing his secret was still safe "She said she was going to get something to show me."
Halden nodded, but not seeming as intrigued. Jaythen scanned the trees for a sign of her. Suddenly, there was a great amount of pain as Halden beat him in his recovering shoulder. Jaythen dodged what was next to being a hard shove into a tree.

"What the bloody hell are you doing!?"

Halden unsheathed a hunting dagger from his belt and twirled it, "It has been brought to my attention that if you fail to marry, then I get a hand in the Countship of Wendbury."

Jaythen had remembered his father threatening such things. How had Halden found out? Was it in part of the will?

"Don't be mad, Halden. I'm your cousin!"

Halden advanced slowly, playing with his younger cousin just a bit. Jaythen was unarmed and put himself behind a tree as if it would protect him.

"Losing you in the woods should have done the job, but then she brought you back—you could have never have found your way home on your own. I planned to kill her tonight because no one would truly miss her—she being a nobody."

Those words angered Jaythen immensely, but all he could do was keep away with a clenched jaw. He couldn't believe that Halden's treachery went as far back as Jaythen's return from the Imperial City.

Halden continued, "But that wouldn't solve the problem as you would just find another bride sooner or later. No cousin, it is you who I must slay to be Count."

"They'll discover it was you."

"Will they?" Halden's question wasn't true curiosity, for he spoke it with a sly assuredness that hinted that no one would find out. "I can make it look like you were attacked by another wolf, or I could just dispose of your body deeper within the woods where no one will ever find it and then they would say you've run away."

Jaythen began to panic—his heart fastened pace, and his breaths became thin, horrified at his cousin's intentions. He hoped Avalyn was far away enough not to be pursued after Halden had finished with him. Halden was just on the other side of the tree, confident in his ability to kill his desired prey—as opposed to his cousin who was always unsure of himself. Jaythen was a rabbit and he was the wolf.

Halden gave a sudden shout and attacked by lunging his body around the tree, stabbing his dagger into the bark. He just barely missed piercing Jaythen's stomach. Jaythen was off in a sprint hoping his lighter body was faster than his hulking cousin's.

It was hard to see in such twilight, which caused him—to his dismay—to lose his running start by stumbling over a collapsed branch and falling onto his stomach into the mud. Wetness started soaking through the front of his shirt, chilling his torso. He tried to stand and continue his mad dash but he felt a weight befall his back and a rough yank on his head—Halden was crouched over him and exposing his neck by pulling his hair back. The edge of the dagger was pressed against his skin, ready and willing to slit his throat open.

"I am sorry about this."

"No you're not," Jaythen swallowed and closed his eyes—bracing himself for the quick pain and then death surely to come.

There was no pain, only a loud noise that exploded through his chest. It wasn't death and he had heard it before. He snapped open his eyes in time to see a gigantic claw swing above his head. Halden screamed and was thrown off of Jaythen. The young lord scrambled up to see his cousin collide against a tree—fall—and lay still. Dead? Jaythen wondered but saw him take a breath. Unconscious, he noted with disappointment.

He looked up in the sky, where there was a golden dragon—he knew Halden hadn't killed it, and now it was seeking its revenge. It was circling and coming back for him. He would have liked to gawk at it but its talons were outstretched, seeming ready to make a grab for him. He started to sprint, knowing in his heart he would lose the race against such a creature. Where was Avalyn? Had she been taken by the beast already. She was only a moment in his thoughts as the beating of its wings grew closer and louder, sending unnatural wind blowing up from behind him. It roared again, sounding so close the noise reverberated off his skull. He cried out and held his head, losing his balance and tumbling athwart the forest floor over sticks and tiny rocks. He stopped when he was on the flat of his back. His eyes opened gingerly and they bulged at the sight of the talons about capture him. He was yanked off the Earth in a violent motion, supposedly to be taken for immediate consumption while maybe Halden was to be the dessert. The sharp edge of the talon was hooked through his shirt and he could feel the smooth, cold surface against his back. The ground was shrinking as they flew higher and it unsettled his stomach. Before he could even yell out in objection—though it wouldn't have done much to aid him—the dragon flew too close to large tree branch, and it slammed against his head, rendering him gone to the world.

His head ached, and his eyes fluttered open to blurry surroundings. The smell of grass and magnolias filled his nostrils. The sensation of wind and cool night air lingered on his senses—or had they been part of his dreams? When his vision cleared, he remembered a certain flash of occurrences: Avalyn disappearing, Halden attacking him, and then a dragon towering over him, then knocking him against something so hard he would surely die from the impact.

"How do you feel?" he heard her voice, and turned his head to see her sitting, crouched next to him. Am I dead? Did the dragon eat her too? Are we meeting in the heavens? Although his surroundings were still in nature, a meadow with surrounding trees.

He reached up and felt the side of Avalyn's face—to see if she were real—because she always had looked like she could have been made in dreams. She tensed slightly as per usual but only stared at him, expectantly. "Halden tried to kill you."

He sat himself up on his elbows. He took a look at her, noting her hair was undone and loose around her shoulders when it had been done up before—and then when he examined her further he saw she was without clothes.

"Where are your garments?!" he asked alarmed, feeling a Déjà vu of sorts from being in the woods with her while she had not on a stitch of cloth.

She shook her head, "There was no time to salvage them, Halden would have struck you down."

Her answer made no sense to him. "But there was a dragon!" he cried and took a hold of her shoulders, released her quickly when he remembered she was naked. He unclasped his torn cloak and threw it over and around her shoulders, so at least it covered her decently.

"Did the dragon hurt you?" She must have been near the danger if she knew Halden had tried to dispose of him.

A great disappointment filled her eyes then, which worried him and he placed his hands on her shoulders once more, "It did hurt you. Where?"

She shrugged her shoulders and removed herself from his grasp, "No, the dragon didn't hurt me, and I'm sorry that it hurt you."

He gave her an odd look, wondering why she thought she should apologize for such a beast she had no control over. She seemed upset—about a number of things.

"We should head back," he stood, albeit with a slight disorientation. The woods didn't seem familiar anymore. There was no mud, and the trees were of a different nature. He took a look at her and realized she didn't want to go back—she shouldn't have had to.

"Do you want to go back?" she inquired quietly.

He thought about it, "No, but I suppose I would have to. Halden shall not go unpunished if he wasn't already eaten by that creature."

"Jaythen, you can't go back so soon."

"Why?"

"Because we are nowhere near Wendbury."

"How is that—?" He began to wonder but suddenly noticed something he wasn't used to, the bareness of her neck. He reached into his pocket and felt the necklace and ring, lifted them out and held them before her "Why did you have me take your necklace and the ring?"

She swallowed a forming knot in her throat and played with grass that brushed against her ankles, "You said that you wanted to know me."

"That I still do, very much."

They stared at each other awkwardly—he puzzled, and she quiet but every facet of emotion catching in her eyes. Soon, they narrowed from their wide, open, state. When she spoke, her voice was soft, although there was no one around to disturb, or so it seemed, "Haven't you ever noticed anything odd about me?"

He thought that was a silly question, "I suppose you carry a few quirks."

"I need to show you something."

"I find you—" strange and beautiful—"what?" Jaythen was thrown off by the urgent tone of her voice and didn't get to tell his opinion. She was supposed to show him before all of the dreadful interruptions but he didn't see how she could now since they were not in the same woods—which still needed an explanation to why.

She stood up, "I was trying to show you before. It is why I didn't let you get to know me." His brows knotted, trying to make sense of what she was talking about. He watched her as she unclasped his cloak and it fluttered down around her feet, her body bare and beautiful in the morning light—he noticed a fresh scar just above her navel. Why was she presenting herself so? His gaze was fixed with fascination and curiosity but it was broken all too quickly by a harsh voice.

"Well, well, I see we're not the only ones alone in the wood this day," a brutish man appeared from the trees. Following him was a younger—but no less refined appearing—man who held a loaded bow aimed at the young lord. Avalyn whirled around in shock and made a grab for his cloak, hugging to her for coverage. The two men regarded her happily. Jaythen was growing quite tired of all the disruption.

"You," he pointed at Jaythen, "are quite loud, we could hear you nearly 100 paces away." Jaythen didn't move as he was trying to discern if the arrow aimed at him was out of hesitance, or treachery. The bowman was very distracted however because of the naked lass but not a few feet away. There was a hunger in his expression towards the girl with green eyes that made Jaythen's blood boil.

"That be a good strike for us as we haven't robbed anyone in days. If you'll just hand me over your monies we'll be on our way."

Jaythen immediately tossed his only pouch of gold coin at the man. He had no way to defend himself against two bandits, one with a weapon no less. He had also grown rather weary of his life being threatened.

The older brute picked up the pouch and jingled it, then laughed with satisfaction—which revealed how few teeth he really had. He then turned and focused on Avalyn.

"Ah, I wouldn't dream of covering such fineness," He grabbed her wrist and forced it away from her body, undraping a part of the cloak so it exposed the flesh that she was hiding. "We will take her as well. We both crave some tender company."

Jaythen stood at once, "You will not take her."

The brute lost his smile and nodded at the bowman who drew his string tighter. Jaythen reluctantly sat down by the base of the nearest tree—waiting for a moment he could attack. Money wasn't an issue—they could take every coin from him but she was irreplaceable.

"I won't go with you," Avalyn seized her wrist back with surprising force. The brute hauled back and struck her across the face—and that's when hell broke loose.

Everything changed so fast that Jaythen barely had time to comprehend what he was seeing. The brute was launched backwards and hit the ground—the pouch of gold coin landing in the grass not far from reach. An abruptly large tail swung around and knocked the bow out of the other bandit's hands. There was a loud sound—an angry roar from the beast so unexpectedly there—that filled the air and his insides with terror. A talon swiped down and pierced the large brute all the way through his midsection—so he was skewered—his blood flowing freely into the crevices of the attached claw. The dragon opened its jaw and flicked the brute inside, and clamped down upon him. With a sickening crunch and a swallow the brute was no more. The accomplice was running away, rightfully terrified, and the dragon lifted off the ground by flight, quickly blocked him by landing in his path, and sent a torrent of fire that probably singed the fellow's eyebrows.

Then, all at once, the dragon was no more, only a bare-bodied girl clutching the man by his clothes with a deadly scowl filled with her wrath. The breeze in the air sent her wild, golden hair threading around them.

"I will let you live, but if you breath a word of me to anyone. I will kill you."

He nodded forcefully, thoroughly terrified enough to do the creature's bidding. She threw him behind her and he stumbled but continued fleeing. She looked to the young man who stood still as a stone in the grass. She could see the horror and fright within his breathtakingly blue eyes and softened her scowl to a face of dismay.

"Fear me not," she commanded with her gaze held firmly in his, she closed her eyes and took a nervous breath. All at once her body twisted and grew into a new form—tall, sleek, and fierce—a dragon. She unfolded her wings, which doubled the size she appeared. He shrunk back in horror because it was true.

Avalyn was the dragon.

Even though she seemed to pose no harm to him at the moment, he felt vulnerable in the great beast's presence. She had eaten a man whole—what was stopping her from doing the same to him?

The long neck lowered and a head moved forward into his space, he retreated—stumbled backwards and fell onto his rear end with his back against the tree. The dragon's snout bumped up against his chest and he hesitantly reached up and set his hand over the smooth, golden scales—bravely looking it in its emerald eyes. All at once its body transformed and he found himself cupping the human girl's cheek as she set in his arms.

His body was rigid, and he removed his hand at once despite the lovely feel of her skin, and despite the fact that it was one of the few times he had gotten to touch her. He was truly fearful of her, and his heart thrashed against his ribs so hard, trying to run away even if he wasn't going to make an attempt.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I've never eaten a human before—" she made a face like she was getting a bad taste out of her mouth. Her hands were pressed against his chest for balance and he feared at any moment she would turn back to the creature and he would be skewered like the brute. He swallowed, wondering what he could possibly say to her after such a reveal.

"Have—have you always been a dragon?"

She removed herself to his relief, and found his cloak in the grass—throwing it over her body to be covered again, "The change took place without warning nor reason. I had lived seventeen years as a human and then one day, not too long before I met you, it just…happened."

He stared at her, still having trouble grasping what he had witnessed, and more so believing her answer.

"Please don't look at me like that," she snapped as she swiped up the little bag of gold coin he had given the brute. She came towards him then. He tensed when she crouched in front of him with her hand held out. He was still sitting where he had fallen. "May I have my jewelry?"

He handed them to her quickly, and she exchanged them with his bag—though the jewelry had slightly stuck to his skin because he had been grasping them so unknowingly hard in fear when he watched her snack on the human man. She gathered her hair to one side of her shoulder, brought her hands behind her neck and fastened the chain into place. She slipped the ring onto her left ring finger.

"I seek to find answers to this condition, and now that I'm no longer trapped with my false family or playing pretend for you—I have decided to continue my quest to find my mother."

He shook his head, "Do you even know who your true mother is?" Do I even want to? Probably she is some manner of beast just as frightening.

"I only know her name, so I figure that if I travel the roads and ask of her in the towns and cities I pass that I will find information about her."

He nodded, although that would take her some time to accomplish. She studied him for a moment, but he didn't meet her gaze, as he was suddenly uncomfortable at it.

"Would you come with me?"

He dared to look in her eyes, to discern whether or not she was jesting.

They were pleading, although she had asked in an even tone—as if she didn't care one way or the other. His mind was shouting vehemently to refuse—what would happen to him if he did? What would happen to him if he didn't? She could turn herself into a dragon. He had seen her eat a man. He looked away again, so her eyes couldn't influence him. Yet, he had no desire to return home—he would only be forced to marry again, as Halden had noted—and a tiny part of him, the illogical part, was curious enough to consider her offer. He was shocked that she had even asked him such a question for she always had wanted to be left alone. He was also very unsure about helping such a girl. Despite his will, he took another look into her eyes, which were waiting for his response. He had to think it through—reason with himself before he could answer such a request.

She seems to be the same girl regardless of her ability, and she must trust me if she was willing to show me it. She is capable of showing mercy, which is more than some humans. She was the one who saved me from being murdered by my cousin—so I must be of some value to her. They were all valid arguments but then his mind clicked with the deepest realization.

She is letting me begin to know her.

"Do you mean it?"

The girl with green eyes stared at him for a moment—perhaps seeing who he truly was and took a deep breath. "Yes." She said it quickly and decisively. "Yes, I mean it."

"Well then," he pulled himself up and dusted off the dried mud stuck to his breeches, "in that case, I will."

A/N: That's how Ms. Velde ended her story, but this is not the end of mine. New chapter will be up soon :D