The fear-exhaustion and the hunger-weakness caused Jaythen to pass out while he was clutched in the dragon's prison-like talons. The cold, wet quilt was pushed against him, and he laid awkwardly over his sword, it digging into his back.

A few hours later a jerk shook him to consciousness. He felt the rough movement and then fell hard to the ground, landing on his bad shoulder. He shouted and rolled out of the quilt, stopping on the flat of his back and stared up at a barely-lit, but still dark sky that poured rain onto him as though tears were spilling forth from the clouds.

The golden beast landed hard into the earth floor, groaning and folding her wings down—staring at the young lord as she collapsed to the ground—making more sounds that he took for a dragon in pain. He grunted as he rolled over and lifted himself to stand.

Against better judgment he took shaky steps toward his death—toward the dragon. She made a hissing noise, warning him to stay back. He stopped, and limped on his leg a little—a slight twisted feeling in his ankle that must have happened when he fell. He held his shoulder and clenched his teeth but continued to watch her. An awful feeling of guilt washed over him as he stared at the dragon. The dragon rolled onto her side, so her ridged back was toward him and curled her long tail around her foot claws. Then with another mighty grumble and groan from deep within, she shrank. Scales smoothed to flesh, and limbs transformed to human appendages—but still holding herself and still curled into a ball.

"Avalyn!" he cried and hobbled over to her, falling at her side. She was naked, her body soaked with rain and spots of mud. He laid a hand on her to turn her over and see how bad the cut was.

"Don't touch me!" she managed to scream and flung her arm at him, knocking him in the side of the face with a hard force. He staggered backward. Her body was shaking, and he didn't know if it was because she was crying from pain or from absolute fury.

She finally did turn over, with her arms wrapped around herself, and her long legs brought up in front of her, but her waist was in clear view—a long cut graced her flesh, marring her beautiful skin. The skin around the cut was inflamed and red.

He sucked in a breath and tried to go to her. He had to examine it closer to tell whether or not he needed to seek help, to wrap it and treat it, but her gaze stopped him. She was livid and yet frightened, and he could see she had not spilled one tear for the pain or betrayal on his part.

"Let me see the wound, if it is too—"

"Don't bother, it will heal soon on its own—it is just a superficial cut—only used to draw blood, not kill," her voice was raw with loathing, and yet strained.

"We need to get you out of the rain, to dry you—you obviously are suffering—"

"Not from the wound, Jaythen," she hissed and furrowed her brow as she closed her eyes—all of a sudden seeming as exhausted as he.

He shook his head, not understanding what she was getting it, "What do you mean—?"

He wanted her eyes to open, to look at him instead of being closed as if she were shutting him out of her world. After a moment, her eyes snapped open and stared right through him, "You said that you would never hurt me."

It was true—he had told her when he first taught her how to dance in the castle ballroom in what seemed a different time—a lifetime ago. It was before he knew anything of her true nature. He truly never, willingly meant to harm her though.

"You ought to kill me then," he sighed.

She didn't expect him to say such a thing and lifted her head with a suspicious stare, "No."

It was his turn to be shocked at her answer. He looked at her for an explanation to her refusal.

She pulled herself up, and he tried not to gawk at the way her naked body looked so enchanting covered in rain. She was not saying anything. He averted his eyes, "Why not?"

"I heard what you said after you did it—I heard what she said, I saw her. I want to know why and how she got you to do it. I don't believe you would have done it otherwise. You were obviously being controlled. Tell me."

He swallowed, trying to collect his own whirling thoughts. Thoughts of relief that he wasn't to be killed, perhaps she could even forgive him though he couldn't explain anything while she was unknowingly distracting him so. He reached for the quilt and threw at her so she was covered, although it did nothing to keep her dry. The rain had let up its downpour somewhat and was lighter as it fell.

"She came to me in a dream that night after you had left me."

"A dream or a nightmare?"

"I don't know—it was both. I told her I wouldn't let her hurt you but she said she needed you, that you were special. She demanded that I slice you when you returned to me."

Avalyn raised a brow and after a moment asked, "How did you know she was going to hurt me in the first place?"

He sighed, "I figured out that she wasn't trying to find your mother—she was going after you. You see…"

He looked to her and she was staring at him wide-eyed.

"You see, since you are fey—they think they can butcher you for your dragon parts because they are magical and valuable."

She shook her head, "That makes no sense—I'm not fey—I'm human."

"But Avalyn—"

"I am human!" she screamed and stared at him with a desperation, trying to convince herself that the dragon part of her was just a phase—that she would return to what she had been prior if she could just find her mother, it would make it go away.

He lowered his voice, wishing it were so, that she was a human but knew the truth—"I'm sorry but you're not. We can't be anything but ourselves, no matter how hard we wish it weren't so."

She hung her head and held tighter to the quilt. Apparently she was thinking of something hard enough to look overly concentrated.

"I should have told you what she did to me in those nightmares."

"The witch?"

"Yes."

"When you were a child?"

She nodded, "I was in a hall of sorts, and I could not move my body even though nothing was holding me down or imprisoned me—the moon was so bright, almost like the sun—with a deep red color and the woman in white had a dagger. She spoke odd words and then she would strike it into my chest and that was when I would wake up screaming."

"In your nightmares she even wanted you slain. How could you have thought that she was after your mother then?"

"I was just a child, I couldn't make sense of it—I knew the nightmares stopped after I was left at the farm. Although now with the recent occurrences—I know it is me that she wants. I just thought she might have been the thing that my mother was running from."

"If that is the case, Alys left you with those farmers in desperation to protect you—to hide you."

"That is if she knew of it. She never mentioned a white witch though—and I never told her about what I saw in those nightmares so I can't even be sure that was the thing she was running from. Also, I would have felt safer with my mother than those people."

"You lost your amulet," he noted sadly, reminded of her mother. He was sad for the loss she would feel, as he saw the bare skin of her neck.

She shook her head, "No, I put them in your knapsack when you went to return the bowls—I had a feeling," she didn't finish her words, only turned her head and only repeated quieter, "I had a feeling."

"Can you stand?" Jaythen wondered.

"Yes, the cut should be healed now," Avalyn opened the quilt at her side to show him her waist—the cut was already closed—which proved to him she wasn't fully human.

"Can you forgive me?"

She stared at him with narrowed eyes and he hated the silence that engulfed them suddenly.

"You are letting me carry that sword from now on."

He let her take it without a fight, but with a heavy sigh because even if she did forgive him—she did not trust him anymore.

"Well let's get along, hopefully we'll come across a place with clothes and food." He grabbed up the knapsack and dug through it to not only find her necklace but her ring too. He handed them to her and she put them on—then dressed only in a quilt and jewelry.

"I could sing for more…" she offered but he turned around suddenly and shook his head back and forth.

"No, the witch can find you by your song. When you sang in Scharberlutes, they kept those songs and the witch somehow uses your singing voice to track you. I'm afraid you cannot sing until we can find a way to evade her for good."

Avalyn nodded but there was a deep sadness in her expression at the thought of not singing.

"I'll think of something," he assured, seeing her downcast look, though he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

The sun rose and the rain eventually stopped falling, leading them into a rather wet morning.

"You destroyed their barn," Jaythen spoke all of a sudden, coming out of a thought about the farmers. He had tried imagining Avalyn's life at that farm, how horrible it was for her to have such ill feelings toward it.

"Serves them right," there was no remorse in her tone as she stared forward.

"I guess the rain would have extinguished the flames sooner or later," He shrugged, then looked around and asked, "Where are we?"

"North."

He inwardly groaned at her answer—yet another simple direction, and not a specific place. He didn't know how fast dragons flew due to the fact he was either unconscious or was panicking too badly to pay attention when she was taking him somewhere in flight. They could have been anywhere north of Wendbury by the looks of the terrain, but as he spun around looking at the landscape he saw something he wasn't used to seeing from where he was from—mountains.

If they were near the mountains, she must have had passed over Wendbury in her flee. He realized the storm must have been one of a great proportion if it stretched from the southern part of the Great Forest all the way to the mountains. He looked to her, and saw she was shivering slightly from the cold and the wetness. He was not much drier, and could do nothing on his part to warm her. Her lack of clothes brought up another question that had been on his mind.

"How did you find clothes after you left?"

"What?"

"You destroyed your green dress, then showed back wearing a different dress—that is destroyed now—but how did you obtain it?"

"I stole it."

"You what?" he looked over his shoulder at her incredulously.

"I had to! I couldn't walk into Griswold naked! I saw a dress about my size, hanging on a line to dry outside of the city on a farm property and took it."

He should have been appalled but realized it was needed. She really couldn't walk into a city without clothes—especially the way she looked without them.

He noted the uncomfortable feel of his clothes—wet and soggy, clinging to his skin, which paired with the northern air, chilled him greatly.

"Take off your shirt," Avalyn made the command from nowhere.

He turned around, "Excuse me?"

"I have an idea for how to dry your clothes," her face was thoughtful, but pleasant and she began to remove herself from the quilt's cloth covering. He stared at her bewildered, once again catching an eyeful of that exquisite skin and flawless figure that would send any man into a tizzy at the sight of her. She removed her jewelry and threw them at him but he was too distracted to properly catch them—how could she have honestly expected him to actually catch them when his eyes were elsewhere? He leaned over to pick them up, still staring at her.

Her skin transformed to that of flawless layers of gold and it did nothing to break his enchantment. Only when her nose was bumping into him did he pay attention. Her head knocked into his chest as gentle as a dragon could try—but still it was with a harder force than he liked.

"What?" he asked, bemused.

Her answer was more bumping at his chest with her snout.

She had wanted him to take his shirt off. He apprehensively unclasped the buckles of the vest he wore and removed it, then untied the cross strings at his neck and slipped off the linen shirt, which only made his body colder as he stood with a bare upper-body in the morning air.

"Well?" he held the shirt out to her and crossed an arm over his chest, which did little to warm him. She poked her dragonhead closer and he let go of his shirt, alarmed and backed away. His shirt hung across the dragon's nostrils and then he saw her start to release smoke from them.

She was using the hot air inside her to smoke the moisture from his shirt. It was actually very clever. He grabbed up the shirt and maneuvered it over the heated points so it dried evenly, and when he put it back on, it was rather warm, although it smelled of smoke.

Avalyn made a dragon-noise in the back of her throat and indicated toward the quilt. He held it up and she did the same drying technique to it. He kept holding it out, figuring she would change back to her human form and wrap herself in the dry, warm quilt but to his surprise she made a move toward his breeches.

"What? No!" He held in a laugh as she blew smoke through her nose as her head pressed against his legs. He leapt away but she followed adamantly trying to dry the rest of his clothes. He stumbled and fell backwards, looking up to the dragon. She cocked her head to the side before snaking her neck closer and finishing what she had started. Jaythen couldn't help but to laugh because the smoke tickled somewhat. By the end, his breeches were dry as well.

"Are you quite done with all your drying?"

She replied in the same dragon-noise as before, and then changed to human—jumping into the quilt that he was holding in front of him again. He wrapped it around her, still staring for an answer with a raised brow. He couldn't understand dragon.

"It is nice to be dry," she stated, with a hint of smile, and put her jewelry on once more.

He was more at ease since their play, although he would never forget what he had done to her. He furiously hoped that the woman in white would not find them again. He supposed if Avalyn didn't sing, the witch would have more difficulty at doing so. They began to climb the hills at the base of the mountains and their leg muscles began to strain and ache from the steep incline. Although, when he turned back to see how high they had gone—he witnessed a breathtaking view of the realm.

"Look," he nodded behind Avalyn, when she stared at him with question to why he had stopped. She did turn around and then saw it too. They were high above the plains and the valleys—they could see a good stretch of the Great Forest even—he knew somewhere within it lay his home. They gawked at the scenery for a few minutes before continuing on.

"Look another farm," Jaythen noted, seeing a small home and a barn.

"Perhaps they have clothes," Avalyn hurried her pace towards it.

No one was around, plowing or sewing the hilly field that surrounded the area. No animal noises were heard either.

That is strange, Jaythen mused. They stood in front of the house, debating whether or not to enter. The door was on one hinge, which indicated if people did currently live there, then they were not fearful of bandits setting upon them in the night. They had knocked but there was no answer.

"I don't think anyone is here," Avalyn noted, after pressing her face at the window and seeing a dim interior.

"Still it is their home, we should not enter."

"Jaythen, I don't think anyone has lived here for years, there's dust and cobwebs all over!" She grabbed him and put him in front of the window so he could see for himself. Indeed, the interior was a mess.

"Oh, There must have been a fire! Look!" She pointed above the door at slightly singed wood. Then she touched the door and it swung loosely open, which erased all doubt people were around or even lived in the place.

They saw a rat skitter across the main room at the sound of the door. The room was cluttered, upturned like the owners—however many years ago—were grabbing their belongings before the fire consumed everything.

Avalyn began to go upstairs but Jaythen grabbed her wrist, "Be careful, that wood looks rotten. Watch where you step."

She looked touched his concern but nonetheless tugged her wrist back and stepped lightly. He followed her and because he was heavier, his steps caused the stairs to buckle and his booted foot fell into it. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled at the coincidence.

He pulled his boot out and coughed, "I'll stay down here."

She continued forth and he explored the area outside the cottage, taking in the surroundings. He wondered why they didn't try to rebuild their home—the former owners. They just completely abandoned it after the fire, which was odd. Perhaps they were too poor.

He saw more of the cottage had been burnt as he walked around the outside. He took a look at the barn and stopped. The barn was a feather away from collapsing entirely, slightly slanted and what appeared to be a burned out shell. So the fire must have started in the barn and then spread to the house. He looked at the cottage again—but the fire didn't consume the cottage and the char marks were inconsistent. He had only seen such marks that one day when he was lost in the woods—the day he met Avalyn. The marks on the rocks around them that day had the same burnt shadows of flame licks.

"Jaythen!"

He jumped a little, losing his thoughts and saw Avalyn emerge out of the back door of the home in a rough-spun peasant dress.

"Where did you find that?"

"In a bureau in the upstairs bedroom, clothes were strewn about everywhere—I found this one at the bottom of the pile. It was dusty so I gave it a few good shakes. Otherwise it fits well enough."

She folded up the quilt and gave it to him to stuff in the knapsack. She noticed the barn behind him and narrowed her eyes—"That must have been quite a fire."

He nodded in agreement.

They set off down the small path that lead away from the farm, hoping it led to a city or town. They were now traveling through a thinner wood in the shadow of the mountain.

It was about sundown when they reached a small town, the first civilized place Jaythen had been to since the capital. He breathed a sigh of relief, relishing the thought of a bed and food. A few townspeople were out and about, closing up their shops or just heading home.

Avalyn and Jaythen walked through the main part of the village but could not find an inn. He was growing frustrated and impatient, how much was it to ask for a comfortable surface to sleep on? He had grown up his whole life sleeping in a bed, he missed the feeling terribly.

"Excuse me sir, do you know where we could find an inn?" Jaythen caught up to an old man in shop-worker garb—rolling a single cartwheel along side him.

"Eh? Closest inn is a day away at Griswold," he turned a suspicious eye on them. He spoke in a curt tone, seeming to have no time for the likes of them. The other eye had a patch—which was probably lost it in a work-related accident. Jaythen didn't know what they had done to garner suspicion or rudeness but tried to smile at the unfavorable man his unfavorable news.

They were tired, hungry, and had been traveling like vagabonds for the last two weeks.

"What about here, why isn't there one here?"

"We don't have an inn because we don't get many travelers. The best advice I can give is to ask someone to put you up for the night, but good luck with that sir."

The old, one-eyed man stalked away, apparently done talking to them, and apparently not willing to offer to put them up. Jaythen rubbed his chin and secretly enjoyed the feel of his facial hair—still the feeling was batted away at his growing worry of not finding a safe place to sleep. The nights in the area would still be chilly for a while, and he was not ready to be cold again. If they slept outside, he just knew Avalyn would steal the quilt if they were to share it and leave him a shivering, chattering mess the next morning.

"Where are we?" he asked with an incredulous shout after the old man—he couldn't believe even a small town would not have a place to put up travelers.

"You are in the village of Saint-Toby's-by-the-Mountain!" the man shouted back, not even looking at them as he continued on his way. It seemed this town was slightly unfriendly toward strangers. Jaythen had to wonder why.

A/N: Could you tell it was building up to that? Now what? By the way, I posted four new character visualizations on my site if you want to see those - The Woman in White, Halden, Nicolette, and a special extra picture :P Hope you enjoyed everything, going to work on the next chapter !