She had awakened slowly, in the quiet of the dense forest and a sunny middle of the day. And now it seemed to her that she had to remember something important. But her dream, already partly forgotten, would not bring her more answers.
Sweeping the surroundings of the glance, she observed a form approaching. It was Ewan, coming back, with some wood under one arm, and what looked like a Hynn on his back.
The Hynn were deer-like creatures with thin, long, lanky horns, coats as red as the stones of the southern hills, and whose particularity was to have not hooves, but some kind of claws - like birds' - for legs. And their meat was rather tasty, which made Wynblow drool a little.
The catch was placed on the ground, near what would be in a few minutes a soft and warming campfire. The young man busied himself with gathering the wood he had brought with moss and dry grass, to create a sort of small mound. Then, looking in his bag for some fire stones, Ewan started to hit the stones against each other to create sparks; under the curious look of Wynblow.
After a while, seeing that the fire was still not burning, the dragoness stood up, and nonchalantly pushed the young man aside with her paw.
"Hey!" Ewan exclaimed, nearly tripping over the side.
Wynblow gave him a questioning look. She didn't seem to understand why he had yelled like that.
"Why the hell are you pushing me like that? " He asked, visibly annoyed.
"What? You don't like me touching you? " She asked with a malicious air.
"I don't like being pushed; no. " He replied, offended.
"Wah... You must really be no fun at parties, you. " She scoffed.
"I don't go to parties," replied Ewan seriously.
"That's what I'm saying... " She said, shaking her head slightly.
She walked over to the campfire, which refused to catch fire, and breathed in, before releasing a thin but dense stream of flames.
Soon, the small pile of wood and dry grass was transformed in a dragon's breath into a pleasant, invigorating and reassuring fire. Ewan raised an eyebrow in disbelief. If she was going to do that, she could have asked him to move over, instead of bumping into him and almost knocking him over. But maybe human manners were lost on a dragon. Yes, that was most likely it.
The Hynn soon found itself butchered and cooked, or at least partially so; Wynblow having ogled one half of the carcass. A delicious smell began to rise from the improvised feast, the meat turning amber as it cooked.
It was barely the beginning of the afternoon, and no sooner had the Hynn been gobbled up, that Ewan unfolded his pack, transforming what looked like a bag into a comfortable and cozy bed.
"Are you going to sleep now? " The dragoness wondered.
"And when do I get the chance? " Ewan wondered in turn, as he wrapped himself comfortably in his thick blanket. "I won't get a shot at sleep tonight, and unlike some creatures, I need my rest. "
"And you're not afraid of being mugged? " She asked.
-
Ewan sniffed loudly, as if to mock her.
"By whom? You? " He said in an amused voice. "If things ever go wrong, my horse will gallop away with your dear sword, and if some stranger were to come after my life, I doubt he'd risk getting so close to a dragon. Especially for the head of an unfortunate hunter like me. "
With these words, and having finally found a comfortable and suitable position, Ewan closed his eyes, and after burying his face in a fold of cloth, began to sleep without worrying about anything else.
He wasn't wrong. Who would dare attack him, when there was a dragon right beside him?
Wynblow continued to stare at her surroundings, thinking back to the discussion she had just had with this human. She wasn't sure why he had gotten so upset. Maybe it was a human reaction, to get upset over nothing. But if there was one thing she knew, it was that this human was not like the others.
He reminded her of the man in her dream. That was far too long ago, but even if she couldn't remember the old man's face, his kindness remained. She remembered the times she would go hunting outside to bring back food for this man who was getting older by the year; and who could no longer make any effort because of his physical condition.
She could still fit into a house at that time, being no more than two or three meters long. But now she couldn't even walk through a wide-open door. Her body had grown, and her loneliness with it.
Maybe she would end up like this man, after all. Alone, old, and abandoned by all.
Abandoning someone because they are old and fragile. That was the essence of humans. For the dragons, it was the opposite. The older an individual was, the more protected they were by their peers. The older a dragon got, the more knowledge and understanding they gained. With the oldest of them being alive for longer than Wynblow's present life, some would even be as old as the origins of this world.
But unfortunately, the only other dragon she had ever met in her life had died long ago. Having taken all of his secrets with him, she never knew where these ancient dragons slept.
She sighed and looked at Fusain.
The horse may have been resting, but it was still alert, both ears pricked up, scanning for any suspicious noise in the area. It didn't even seem to be paying attention to the dragon standing a few feet away. Perhaps the fact that his master had fallen asleep confidently in front of what seemed to be an enemy had convinced Fusain that this 'enemy' might not be one.
The afternoon passed quickly, with the sounds of village activity echoing up the mountain. The villagers had no idea that a Salamander was still in the immediate vicinity. Otherwise, they would surely not have gone about their business with such ease.
Soon the remains of the campfire died out, the ashes flying away with small gusts of air; leaving the future darkness to progress in peace. The smell of good food filled the mountain air, as if to encourage travelers to stop in this small village to spend the night after having supped by a good fire.
Ewan opened his eyes. Night had fallen almost completely, covering everything that could be discerned in the distance with darkness. His horse made no move, dozing on the side of a leaning tree, and Wynblow was still there, her imposing mass blocking the path of the wind and the cold.
She stared at Ewan, but after realizing that his eyes were open and looking back at her, she quickly turned her head away.
"Wynblow..." He said softly, his voice still heavy with sleep. "Can I ask you something? "
Without looking in his direction, the dragoness nodded her head in agreement.
"I don't think you're as destructive and warlike a dragon as the rest of your species... But I was wondering all the same... Why did you come to save me? "he asked.
"What's wrong with saving someone? "She asked quickly in return.
"It's unnatural, for a dragon at least, to save a human being, especially by risking it's own life..." He insisted.
Wynblow didn't say anything at the time, which made Ewan think she might not answer the question, but a few minutes later, the dragoness' deep voice broke through the darkness.
"To be honest, I don't know..." She said in a confused voice. "I had a flash, a jolt. Like... I had to do it..."
"It was just an urge? A whim? " The young man pouted from inside his blanket.
"No! I mean, I don't think so... " She quickly contradicted. "To tell you the truth, even if the reason that pushed me to save you is unknown to me, I think it is largely due to our meeting earlier. I don't know if I would have intervened if we hadn't met before that..."
"I see..." Said Ewan, ending the discussion.
He lifted the blankets he was under while sitting up, and began to roll them up tightly to make the smallest possible pack. Then, he got up, and also arranged the fabrics on which he was. Soon, all had entirely disappeared in a compact bag of average size. The various packs that the young man had put away - containing kitchen utensils, tools, or even his blankets - might have seemed rather large and invasive at his side, but as soon as Ewan had tied them on Fusain's back and sides, they seemed tiny. This made Wynblow realize that the horse was a large, strong southern breed, and because of its size, could sometimes be very difficult to ride. It was even a sturdy animal, which might have been better put to work in the fields.
The young hunter stretched, relaxing his muscles and cracking his knuckles, and drank some water. He took a quick look in the direction of the small path leading away from where they were, and resolutely saddled his mount. This again attracted Wynblow's interest, and she turned her long neck towards her traveling companion.
" Are we going now? " She asked with renewed interest.
"Yes. If we leave later, we won't have enough time to make progress before dawn. " He replied while finishing tightening the straps of his saddle.
He climbed onto Fusain, and after readjusting the flaps of a long, thick black coat, motioned for the dragon to follow him.
Wynblow followed, taking one last look back. To where exactly, she didn't know. It wasn't as if she enjoyed this place more than any other. Nor would it be the worst she had seen. But strangely enough, she felt that leaving at this point, with this young man, might perhaps give her some clues to all that she had forgotten.
As for Ewan, he moved forward without turning around, knowing full well that a huge reptilian creature would follow him. This destination was far too important to her to be left behind.
Their journey was finally about to begin, although neither of them knew exactly what they would find at the end.