»This was when I was like - nineteen? Still in training, of course. Just had started accompanying the real adult dragonslayers on their patrols.«

It had begun as a day like any other. The forests were still new and exciting to Braen, but he was too meek to even try to do anything stupid as he trundled along between the two dragonslayers who had been saddled with him. He remembered their names, of course, but they would mean nothing to Vits, so he didn’t bother.

The storm rolled in equally quick and unexpected. »I’d never seen anything like it. One minute, it was all bright and, you know, peaceful, and the next it might have been night. We were kind of protected from the wind between the trees, but… it wasn’t enough. And suddenly it was so quiet…

We were like half an hour from the city, but they determined we weren’t going to make it. So we sheltered in this little clearing, no tall trees, fairly safe from any that might fall, and then the rain started coming down. You probably would have been swept away, shorty.«

»Oh, you wish.«

Braen laughed and squeezed Vits before he continued. »I mean, the water was standing. And of course, lightning, so going back among the trees wasn’t an option, but sitting in water wasn’t exactly ideal either. And that was when I saw my first dragon.«

He knew he didn’t have to impress upon Vits the shock of it. Even with his training, even with the tales the dragonslayers spun for the recruits, he had not been prepared for the black hole appearing at the edge of the forest, its blank white eyes fixed on their little group. It was as soaked as they were, but even so it barely glistened in the low light, its skin swallowing all that was left of it.

They made for the forest, somewhere less exposed to the monster. Braen’s fingers itched to draw his sword, anything to put between himself and it, but he knew, even then, to wait for the command - and the way he was stumbling backwards, in hindsight, even a regular sword would have done more harm than good.

The dragon followed them, on foot, across the clearing, leisurely, as if it knew they couldn’t escape.

The eldest, leading the patrol, brought them to a small gully, enough to protect them from attacks from the side. It was flooded, of course, but the water, although rapid, wasn’t more than knee-deep.

»Kid.« Braen remembered his leader’s deep voice like it had been yesterday. »Back to the city. Run.«

There was no room to argue, although a part of him certainly wanted to; another, though, was glad, oh so glad, to get out of there.

He dashed through the gully. He’d underestimated the water, lost his footing more than once; but he was already soaked from the rain, and he managed to get through, raced through a forest creaking with the onslaught of wind and rain. Thorns tore at him, wet leaves slipped from under him; once his momentum sent him flying into a tree so hard he cracked his nose.

But he made it home, alive.

»And you weren’t scared to go back?« Vits asked, after a long pause.

Braen shrugged. He didn’t like it when Vits acted like he was some kind of hero. Everyone else was already doing that.

Vits rested his head back on his chest. »Well, I am kind of glad your first encounter wasn’t all that much better than mine.«

If someone had told Niu just a year ago, or a month ago, that niu would return to the city to study medicine, just like nius parents always wanted, niu would have laughed in their face, loud and, as nius parents would have called it, rude.

But here Niu was, and nius classmates had taken niu in faster than niu had foreseen. Niu never would have admitted it, but the warm welcome was giving niu fuzzy feelings. Niu hadn’t had much opportunity to mingle with people of nius own age in the past few years.

„Hey, Niu, did you - what kind of plant even is that?” Nius classmate frowned at the bunch of leaves niu was slowly grinding into a paste, treating nius concoctions with more care than niu usually showed anything else. Niu smiled quietly to niuself. If only nius parents had waited and let niu choose, they might have been allowed to savour nius choice with niu.

The smile blossomed into a reckless grin as Niu looked up at nius classmate. Living in the woods sure had had its drawbacks, but niu had also learned a thing or two, and now, being taken in so kindly, niu saw no reason not to share. „It’s dawnflower - I think it cools burns more effectively, y’know? Here, you can recognize them by…”

Duna stood on the city wall and looked out into the forest. The afternoon sun shone low through the branches of the ancient trees, sprinkling the floor as well as the wall with light.

So here they were. This was it. The city was safe now; safer, perhaps, than it had ever been. No one knew where things might go from here, but Duna was inclined to be optimistic.

She looked across the intricate knots and weaves the twigs of the tree just before her formed - since this morning. She had done this, echoing the patterns and energy of the talisman Niu had carried; but this version was big enough, carried by a strong enough being, to ward for miles in either direction. Among the artfully grown twigs, the sunlight was shattered into even smaller rays.

She smiled, allowing herself to admire her own handiwork. Yes, the city was safe.

Her gaze travelled on, and her smile spread. There was a whole new world to explore out there.

Iniria stood in front of the tall window of the living room, looking out across the city. She wasn’t sure how much longer they would be able to afford to live here, now, but that was the least of her worries.

Everything she thought she fought for, everything she had stood for so proudly for the last decades had turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

So here she was, wondering how life would go on.

„Mom?”

Iniria stood and painted a smile on her face as her older daughter walked up to her. The little girl frowned, not fooled for a second. She was so perceptive - Iniria felt her smile turn more genuine with pride.

„Is everything alright?”

Iniria looked down on her, then put an arm around her shoulders. She was a good liar, but her daughter was a good observer, and for nothing in the world would she risk her trust, least of all in the difficult times to come. People would talk. Kids her age would pick up half-understood adult talk about what happened. Iniria would do what she could to protect her children from the fallout, but she knew better than to expect it to pass unnoticed.

„Not right now. But it will be.”

And here they were, before all the world, after everything that had happened. It wasn’t like Vits was glad for the events of the past weeks - as far as he was concerned, he never needed to set another foot into the forest, and he somewhat hoped Braen felt the same - but if nothing else, it had certainly sorted out his priorities. He no longer cared who might see, or what they might think.

It wasn’t their first time, not by a long shot. It wouldn’t be their last - no, that much was clear now.

Braen decided not to argue. What could he say he hadn’t said before?

When they arrived home, Vits causally threw his grey coat aside, letting it float down onto the sofa, and Braen couldn’t help but smile, knowing what came next when he started off like that.

Vits didn’t look at him when he slipped out of his tunic, while Braen didn’t took his eyes off of him for even a moment while he collected Vits’ coat and hung it next to his own.

Then he closed the distance between them. Vits swirled around, getting a hold of his collar, and started to undo the ties of his tunic. Braen was left to hold on to his hips to keep them from drifting apart, and admiring the yellow stripes down his scrawny shoulders, the gradient to the blue still hidden beneath his undershirt.

He was so beautiful, and the touch of his hands, even through the fabric, sent Braen’s pulse racing.

Finally, Vits paused to raise his head and look at Braen. He looked softer, now, more vulnerable. Braen gently cupped his cheek, wanting nothing more than to protect him from anything that could hurt him.

A small smile appeared on Vits’ lips; he grabbed his shoulders and leaned in for a kiss.

Braen melted, slipping his arms all the way around Vits, pulling him closer. It took him a moment to register one of Vits’ hands sliding downward until it reached the hem of his tunic. He grudgingly accepted the momentary interruption when Vits pulled it over his head.

For a second, they were split apart, just looking at each other near naked. Vits trailed a finger across Braen’s mottled grey shoulder. “They’re like stars,” he murmered.

Braen wasn’t sure he’d heard right, and chuckled awkwardly. “What?”

“Your spots,” Vits said, raising his voice to almost normal levels. “They’re like stars.” He looked down, avoiding Braen’s eyes.

Braen squeezed him, his entire heart flushing with joy. Vits never was poetic. Braen didn’t think he’d ever felt so honoured. He nuzzled the side of Vits’ head, prompting him to look up again, defiantly; his pale yellow cheeks had blushed a soft orange Braen had never seen before.

He beamed, and Vits awkwardly looked to the side. “Don’t laugh.”

“Hey, love.” The promise of seeing Vits again after the day was enough to make him scramble out of bed and into the living room, where Vits grinned at him, then raised an eyebrow at his indecent state, but without saying something strode over to him, and kissed him on the lips.

Braen melted some more.

Vits traced a finger along his collarbone, and frowned when they broke apart. “Have you showered?”

“Not yet.”

Vits threw up his hands theatrically, taking a step back. “No wonder you keep complaining about the heat.”

“I was just about to.”

“Yes, yes, go. I picked up lemons, I’ll make you some cold lemonade in the meantime.”

“That’s sweet of you.” Braen could feel what was left of him liquefy.

Ihre Stirn, die sich gerade geglättet hatte, warf wieder Falten. „Das ist keine gute Idee. Glauben Sie mir, wenn ich jemanden finde, bringe ich ihn zurück. Und jetzt muss ich wirklich los.” Sie klopfte erneut auf ihr Schwert; in ihren Augen blitzte der Schalk. „Die Gesellschaft kann das Schwert verfolgen, ich muss also weg hier, bevor jemand auf irgendwelche dummen Fragen kommt. Hat mich gefreut-”

„Die können die Schwerter verfolgen?” Vits hatte das Gefühl, die Erde würde unter ihm wegbrechen. Die Gesellschaft wusste, wo Braen war, und hatte sich dennoch geweigert, nach ihm aus zu schicken?! Er ließ die Vorsicht fahren. „Warum haben sie dann nicht Braenar nach Hause geholt?”

Dunaë legte den Kopf schief und betrachtete ihn wie ein seltsames Tier. Sie zögerte einen Moment lang, aber ehe Vits ungeduldig werden konnte, sagte sie langsam: „Sein Schwert ist wohl zerbrochen oder sonst wie zerstört. Was haben Sie für ein Interesse an Braen? Gehören Sie zur Familie?” Sie musterte ihn zweifelnd, und er wusste, was ihr durch den Kopf ging. Du siehst überhaupt nicht so aus.

„Nein”, erwiderte er leise. „Nein, ich gehör nicht zur Familie.”

~ [Translated with the help of DeepL translator] ~

"What are you doing here?"

Vits froze, although he knew very well that he had done nothing wrong. Most preferred to stay in the city, especially in the evenings, but there was no law. He turned towards the voice with demonstrative slowness.

It was only when he saw the other that he realized he knew her. But she probably didn't know him; it was Dunaë, one of the dragonslayers. Her eyeglasses shone in the sunset. He had always assumed that they were more of a magical gimmick than a real visual aid. She carried her sword and looked at him with a frown.

He returned her gaze unflinchingly, although he cursed internally. That was all he needed. But if she thought she could get in his way, she couldn’t be more wrong. "Why do you ask? What are you doing here?"

"Because I don't feel like bailing out any civilians." She said it in a matter-of-factly tone. Her gaze wandered into the woods. "I'm going in search of someone." She tapped on her sword, as if to emphasize how much better equipped she was than he.

Vits heart jumped to her throat. Could she...? "Ah", he just said. "What a coincidence. Me too."

Her forehead, which had just smoothed, was wrinkling again. "That’s not a good idea. Believe me, if I find someone, I'll bring them back. And now I really have to go." She tapped her sword again; mischievousness flashed in her eyes. "The Society can track the sword, so I must get out of here before someone comes up with any stupid questions. Pleasure to meet you-"

"They can track the swords?" Vits felt like the ground was falling from beneath his feet. The society knew where Braen was and still had refused to send out for him?! He threw caution to the winds. "Then why didn't they bring Braenar home?"

Dunaë tilted her head and looked at him like a strange animal. She hesitated for a moment, but before Vits could get impatient, she slowly said, "His sword is probably broken or otherwise destroyed. What is your interest in Braen? Are you family?" She looked at him doubtingly, and he knew what was going through her mind. You don't look like that at all.