So...Clara is kind of a moron. Or maybe she just believes what she wants to. I don't know.

Traveling with her and what I hope is Azeroth's biggest jackass—if he's not, then this world has fallen on dire times indeed—wasn't so bad at first. When we were in flight. Brath kept his ramblings to himself and kept eyeing the other dragon, the griffon, and their riders, who were flanking us. Once, he edged closer to Derres so that their wings hit and Derres nearly lost his rider.

I hugged him for that after we landed, when no one was looking.

Sadly, Nicolas is a skilled rider and Derres is good at recovering quickly. So that stupid rogue—who is also nothing like a warlock and can't use magic at all, apparently—didn't plummet to his death. I think if he'd actually been hurt, I might have felt bad, but he wasn't so…yeah. If he's gonna be so mean, why can't I?

Anyway, we landed for the night in some mountains. Nicolas kept going at first and I had this hope that he was abandoning us. I wouldn't mind if he did. My world doesn't need him. However, Clara misread my expression, I guess, because she assured me that he was just going to hunt for dinner. Lame. That's what Brath was for, among other things.

However, since he'd been freed from the ropes, Brath had started acting oddly clingy. He'd stay close to me in general and pace after me when I got up to walk around, like he was…actually a mount or a scared animal or something. It was weird.

Oh! And his eyes were different. He didn't have that calculating, evil look in his eyes. He still looked smart, but not like he was masterminding some intricate plot. Like animal smart. He still spoke and made a few jokes at our…escorts' expense, but even his vocabulary seemed to have diminished somewhat.

I was starting to worry that they'd done something to him while I was unconscious.

Well, as I was worrying about Brath, Clara went about setting up camp. She had a tent and when she asked if I was going to pitch one, I just said I'd sleep with Brath. While I wasn't looking forward to having a scale face again, I figured it'd be better than the ground.

Even as Brath almost obediently curled up on the ground as though he thought we were going to sleep right then and there, Clara lightly took one of my hands and started to drag me away from him. Almost instantly, Brath was on his feet, plodding along after us. Clara paused and glanced back at him.

"Don't suppose you could watch the camp?"

Brath cocked his head and stared at her blankly. "I do not see why you need to leave it."

"I'd like to talk with Amy in private," she murmured and frowned when Brath merely nuzzled my hair, making it even messier than it already was. I don't see how Clara keeps her hair looking as nice as it does, what with the flying and all.

It took me a moment to see that Clara was staring at me. Finally, she pointed toward Brath. "Would you mind telling him to stay here?"

I wanted to ask her what she was smoking to think he'd listen to me, but as I looked back at Brath, for an instant I thought I saw his scaly mouth form a smile. However the animal look returned in a blink.

Wow. So he's just…playing them all. Would they be less likely to let him come along if they knew how smart he really is? Would Clara have sat me down to have that, "Sometimes you have to let your dragon go" sort of conversation, like that time my dad told me to let my goldfish live out his days happily after saying he'd set it free in pond near our house when I was seven and I had then spent the next week trying to fish him back up? Even after that speech, I'd tried to go fish Sparkles up again, only to have Greg yell at me that she was dead.

Or was this just so Brath could have fun later?

Well, finally, I kind of motioned over my shoulder. "Do you mind watching the camp?"

Brath nuzzled me again and it almost felt like genuine affection. Good thing I caught that look earlier, or he'd have been playing me, too. Or maybe he wanted me in on the joke? "If you think you'll be safe, mistress."

My eye twitched. He was totally gonna make me look like a hypocrite after the whole, 'I don't deal with slave traders' thing…acting like I owned him or something… "I'm not your mistress."

"Of course," he smiled at me as though he didn't really get what I was saying, but was going with it to make me happy. I wanted to scream.

Instead, I walked off with Clara. When we were far enough away that she felt Brath wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on our conversation, she clasped my hands and looked me square in the eyes. "Listen to me. I don't know what that dragon has told you, but you can't let your guard down around him."

Because I'm so much more formidable with my guard up, right? I didn't say that. As I was debating what I could say that wouldn't be overly sarcastic or rude, she continued.

"Black dragons are very dangerous and some of the more powerful ones can even take human guise." Oh. So they do know about the whole human thing. I'd been wondering if I ought to keep Brath's human form a secret or not. She paused and glanced back at our camp. Brath was sniffing her griffon and the creature was edging slowly away from him, like a blue jay trying to subtly get off the same branch as a hawk. "He hasn't…changed his form in front of you, has he?"

Oooh. Fishing expedition. I would say that they should have chose someone else to get all buddy-buddy with me, but TJ was already gone and I think they can tell that I'm still mad at Derres for hurting Brath.

While I might suck at lying outright, I'm sort of decent at side stepping a question until people fill in their own blanks. "When you say 'changed form'…what exactly am I supposed to look for? Like smaller claws?"

"He would look human, like Nicolas," Clara seemed relieved that she had to explain that to me. I glanced back at Brath. He had the griffon backed almost into the half-pitched tent. I wanted to cheer for him to go for it, but that would have alerted Clara that her mount was in danger.

That makes me a bad person, doesn't it?

What's worse, is that I'm starting to not mind the thought of being amoral and all. Right now, it's just where griffons and Nicolas are concerned, but I've always heard that this sort of stuff is a slippery slope. One day, I don't care if Nicolas is fed to dragons. The next day, I'm fine with my world being destroyed.

At least that hasn't happened yet.

"Look, just…be careful, okay?" Clara drew me from my thoughts and I nodded. Where was this kind nature a week ago? "Dragons are very smart."

The way she said that…it was like how we talk about dolphins in my world. Remind me to relook at those critters if I ever make it back. Maybe they're smarter than we think…

"Like…how smart?" I couldn't help myself. Even if I did think of Brath as somewhat of a friend, I wanted to know how easily he could manipulate me—like maybe he was manipulating me one way or another or even manipulating me to do one thing while manipulating me to do something else or something Inception-y like that.

Clara blinked and took a minute to think on the question. "Well, the older, more powerful dragons are easily as smart as any human or dwarf or elf…" she hesitated and glanced back at Brath before smiling at me. "I don't think your drake is terribly old, though."

"It's not her drake, remember?"

A voice I have really grown to hate interrupted our conversation and we looked over to see Nicolas stepping out of the wood, with another man following behind him. Even as I hissed that I'd never said Brath was mine, I got a better look at the second guy and my head just kind of tilted to the side.

He was an elf, if I've ever seen one. I mean, he was no Legolas, but he had pointy ears and the lithe figure and all. And glowing eyes. Super creepy, glowing eyes.

I think I got a sort of deer-in-the-headlights look because the elf guy blinked at me for a moment before pointing to himself. "Don't fret, child. I'm Derres."

Well, that sealed Clara's faith that I'd never seen Brath in a human form. Even as I was wondering if I should bother to ask him why his eyes glowed—if I was just gonna get the whole, 'it's magic' response, then I didn't need to waste my time, but maybe it's so he can see in the dark better or something—suddenly I felt a large chin resting on my head and realized that Brath had come over and was leaning on me, lightly, as though he didn't want to miss what was going on.

After a short, awkward argument that Brath wasn't mine that ended with me having to ask him to behave—why is he doing this to me when I saved him?—the men folk decided that we frail women had gone on long enough without praising their hunt and they pointed out the critters they'd caught. Clara clapped her hands and was all sorts of happy about rabbits and the like. I wanted to say that Brath could've caught something bigger, but I didn't want to hurt Derres' feelings.

I'm starting to like him, whether I want to or not. Maybe it's because he can look like an elf and I always thought they'd be kind of cool to meet. I mean, the freaky eyes are something I can get used to, right? After all, practically everything in Azeroth has freaky eyes.

Our meal was uneventful. Clara and Derres tried to talk to me about my world and it was kind of fun, kind of depressing thinking that there might not be enough of a society left for things like going out to the movies or hanging out at the mall to still be considered pastimes. Nicolas just glared at me the whole time, like he was waiting for me to slip up and prove that I wasn't really from another world. Maybe he thought I was a dragon, too.

Finally, Derres said that we should head to bed and that he'd keep an eye on the camp while we slept. Which brought Clara back to the whole tent thing. Well, I had a nifty idea and told them that I'd stay with Brath and when Clara looked worried, I said that I thought Nicolas would kill my ride if I didn't keep my own watch. I think Brath was amused.

Derres, however, just laughed. "He won't. Then you'd have to ride with us, since you're allergic to feathers."

I love lying. It means I don't have to be in the same saddle as that jerk. Well, he hadn't thought of that either and you could just see the gears shifting in his head as he frowned.

With my latest excuse shot down, Clara kept bugging me until I finally admitted that I didn't have a tent. And I'd already spent quite a few nights in the open, so it was cool that I just keep at it, right?

Well, that couldn't be had. So after ten minutes of politely telling her I didn't mind the open air, I had a tent buddy.

What's that saying about choosing your battles? Where I slept was not a battle to be fought. I did ask if Nicolas would be joining us. I would rather sleep on glass shards than anywhere near him. Clara's…of a different mindset, I suppose. She just smiled and said that he had his own tent and that I didn't need to worry about modesty.

I'm not saying that I would go around parading myself in front of guys, but that's more something you worry about around decent people. I'm not really sure Nicolas counts as a person. He's so…

Well, camp was quiet for a bit after I helped set up the tent—my dad used to force my family to go camping twice a year, so I actually can make a camp fire and stuff, if I have materials for it—and I was happy with the quiet. I would have liked to have been able to read for a little bit, but Clara was dead set on listening to the dragon and that meant no light in the tent.

I tried to sleep for a while, but finally I couldn't take lying there anymore. I mean, it occurred to me that I probably shouldn't be defending Brath. I mean, he lied to me to get me to remove his reins. And now he wants to come to my world to escape someone killing dragons and have me release him into the wild.

I mean, I know killing people is wrong, but I get the feeling that Azeroth operates on an older code of conduct, one with chivalry—like I've seen any—and capital punishment. Like, quick capital punishment. Not the kind where you get to appeal the court's decision for twenty years and then spend another five on death row. Like, "Oh, you're guilty." BAM. Dead.

That sort of stuff. So maybe to them, killing Brath wasn't nearly as horrible as it was to me. Maybe Brath ate some village's children and that's why he'd been made a mount. I mean, I was really making assumptions without knowing the full story.

The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. I didn't want to condemn Brath unnecessarily, but I didn't want to turn into a monster myself. Finally I felt like I was going to go crazy if I let my thoughts keep me company any longer, so I got up. Clara's a heavy sleeper. Which didn't really matter, I guess, because when I want to be quiet, I'm really good at it.

I used to sneak up on Greg and his friends all the time. His best friend, Josh, would always greet me by saying, "Hey, little Miss Ninja." I thought it was stupid, but…whatever.

So I slipped out of the tent and was figuring that maybe I'd read a bit after all, when what do I see but Mr. Jerk reading the journal Fizz had given me.

He was even using Fizz's note as a bookmark.

It irked me. He was going through my things, without my permission. No duh he was probably looking for something to incriminate me with, but that didn't really register. I was closer to passing out than I'd realized because, you know that sort of half awake phase you go through sometimes when drifting off or waking up where you think really stupid stuff is a good idea?

I kind of forgot about the whole, he's really good with sharp objects thing, because I was pretty tired, as it was. Just not tired enough to sleep. And I couldn't see Brath or Derres anywhere—I did look for them because I was going to tell them to be quiet while I snuck up on Nicolas. I guess they were perched higher up on the mountain side or something…maybe they wanted a better view of the camp? Or maybe they'd flown off together to duel… It's not like I knew what dragons did when the rest of us were asleep.

Anyway, I wasn't really thinking about them. Instead, I crept up behind Nicolas and grabbed his shoulders. After all the mean things he'd said to me, I'd just wanted to see him jump.

Oh, he jumped alright. But instead of being like Greg or Josh and just cursing at me, he kept moving.

In a breath, he had me pinned to the ground by my throat and it occurred to me that sneaking up on dragon slayers is tremendously stupid.