Linus Toria

Chapter 16

Unedited from here on

Lina was sulking. She should have known that the whole travel companion thing wouldn't work out. Not in times like these were nobody right in their minds would trust and welcome a stranger. Now she was ready to forget that the whole ordeal had ever happened and put as much distance as possible between herself and that team.

Maybe that was for the best. Thinking about how that blonde man – she was trying hard to forget all their names - had attempted to stop her from leaving made her all uncomfortable again. What was with his strange obsession with her? Dissecting his brain tempted her to find out wether he was born that way or had learned to be like that.

But that team wasn't the sole reason for her current bad mood. On her way out of the dwarves' lair while she was lost in thoughts a creepy man had appeared out of nowhere and wanted to grab her. Lina's body reacted before her brain processed what was going on. A second later one person with a broken neck had been rammed into the closest wall.

Lina hadn't really meant to kill him but at least she didn't make suffer. He hadn't looked healthy anyways, she consoled herself. Had it not been for his untimely demise by her hands she would have guessed his death to be only weeks away. That man had been so emaciated that his skulls outline was clearly visible. Added to his sunken in eyes and his generally haggard appearance he had managed to give Lina a good scare. Therefore, she wasn't all that sorry about her reaction. He had had it coming.

She also noticed that she hadn't seen any dwarves while heading for the exit. Perhaps they had been so ecstatic about gaining their freedom that they left the very moment they could. Lina understood that sentiment. Or she hadn't met them because she took the corridor that had been hidden. Neither the dwarves nor that team seemed too keen on going that way.

Her guess of the corridor's end had been correct and after 2 hours of stumbling through the darkness she was standing outside. She regretted not taking a torch with her. The hot wind was once again inviting her to take off into the skies but something else caught her attention. The exit led to an oasis. Throwing her backpack on the ground and shedding her clothing she jumped right into the little lake.

The cool wetness was exhilarating and she was enjoying it to the fullest. While she would have preferred fresh water instead of salt water, beggers couldn't be choosers. Floating on her back and watching clouds dancing through the skies she was content. If only for a short moment.

The sun warming her face was replaced by a shadow. Looking up she came face to face with a grey water dragon. It seemed annoyed. „This is my domain. Who gave you permission to enter? I, for sure, didn't", the reptile hissed.

„I let myself in", Lina declared cooly, „And I'd appreciate it if you could stand out of my sunlight"

The overly large snake bristled: „Do you know who I am? No, you probably don't or you wouldn't be so impudent"

„Look, you don't care who I am and I don't care who you are. So I suggest we ignore each other until one of us leaves. I will be gone in half an hour maximum"

„Who gave you the courage to act like that? Ah, probably your age. You seem young and foolish", the dragon mused.

„Why ask questions at all if you're just going to answer them by yourself?", Lina wondered and cocked her head.

„Because I'm not used to talking to other creatures", the dragon admitted.

„Aren't water dragons supposed to live in flocks?", the girl inquired.

„I'm the only one left", the large creature whispered softly.

„Why don't you just go join a new flock? You don't seem to fancy your current living arrangements", Lina already had a theory but wanted to hear its confirmation. Instead of receiving a reply, the dragon left the water and curled up under a palm tree. A funny picture because the tree was too small to shade the dragon. Keeping its back turned towards the girl it said: „You can stay for as long as you like. Just don't disturb me"

Happy that she was no longer being driven out, she resumed playing in the water. When nightfall was about to come she reluctantly got out of the lake and donned a fresh set of clothes. An airy blouse and cargo pants. Both in a sandy colour to prevent standing out against the dunes. Her head scarf would have to wait until her hair was dry and her combat boots needed to vent some more leaving her barefooted for now. Earlier when she had taken off her boots the smell almost knocked her out.

Dreading the cold of the night, Lina considered her options. Setting up her tent was always so bothersome. Taking a blanket from her backpack she approached the furled in dragon: „Scoot over", and nestled in next to him. Sleep came almost instantly.

+++

Lina woke up well rested. She hadn't slept as much as she did in the last fourtyeight hours for a long time and accounted it to peer pressure. As a positive side effect she would be able to cover a lot of distance today, maybe even reach the Israeli border.

Getting up and neatly folding her blanket she noticed that the dragon had left its sleeping berth. Following the direction she was being stared at from, she saw that it had reentered the lake. But instead of enjoying the water like she had done the day before, it seemed tense.

„What's wrong? Are you afraid of something?", she adressed the scaredy cat. Lina sensed no other creature anywhere near them and couldn't understand why tha dragon was acting like that.

„Don't be so loud! And I'm a big and scary dragon. I'm not afraid of anything. Others are afraid of me!", she was chided, „He'll be here any second now. And then he'll see you and you and I'll get in trouble for being here. Hurry up and leave!"

„But you said I could stay as long as I like", Lina pretended to pout, „Who are you talking about?"

„Shukran. Anyway, he's bad news. You don't want to meet him", came an unhappy reply, „I changed my mind concerning the duration of your stay. Have you never heard that dragons are very whimsical and wilful? So, hush, be gone"

„Say, what does Shurkag look like?", Lina had a bad premonition.

„His name's Shukran", corrected the dragon, „Why would you want to know that? It's better if you don't know him"

„How am I going to explain this now?", Lina wondered loudly, „We both know that there aren't that many people walking around here at the moment. And before I met you yesterday, I encountered a person who I now presume to be this Shurkag fellow. Long story short: He won't come here today. Or any day in the future"

„What! Why?", the dragon was shocked, „It's true that he's usually the only human here but he would never miss coming here. In fact, he comes everyday at 8 a.m. He wouldn't miss out on our 'appointment' here for the world"

„Was he important to you?", Lina proded carefully.

„That scroundel? Hell no! I've wished him death many times over!"

„That's good", Lina was relieved, „then please be at ease because I killed him"

After that she told the dragon what had happened since she met that team.