Chapter 1

I would follow the woman through what I assumed to be the town square, just like with the entrance. The inner parts of the town were filled with the green of mother earth. I looked around, before my eyes moved back to what was in front of me. There are so many questions I want to ask, but I'm worried I'll look suspicious. I bit the insides of my cheek before parting my lips for words.

"Um… what's your name?"

I would finally break the silence with a small question, but it only fell flat. Eventually the quiet creeped back in before we made it to a building door.

"We don't need to exchange names or even life stories. You are the offeror, and I am the village Leader."

She would immediately shut down my need for conversation. I don't understand how I'm going to pry answers from them. Stupid dragon, I wished she'd answer my questions and not send me on some wild goose chase. It didn't help the tension in the room with Aldwin glaring from behind me.

"It's Aldwin, right? Do you normally have such hostile reactions to humans?"

I turned the corner slightly to see Aldwin's face as I waited for an answer to my question. He looked puzzled, probably not expecting me to ask something so obvious.

"Your kind seeks nothing but power."

He would say with pure spite in his tone. I guess I couldn't be angry at such honesty. Before I could continue, the Leader spoke out.

"We're here."

She said, purposely halting all further conversation. Instead, I saw a large wooden plate of various meats in front of me. I didn't expect a dragon's offering to be meat. I would think while tilting my head in confusion. It seems the Leader noticed my curiosity because she would later respond.

"We've tried giving her gold before, but she doesn't accept it."

Strangely I couldn't imagine that dragon rejecting affection. She seemed kinda smug. I nodded, not exactly understanding the situation but didn't feel it was important enough to continue. At the same time, I was lifting the slightly heavy plane from the low-hanging table. Aldwin brushed past me and helped me lift the meat from the ground. The minute he held up the food, it felt as light as a feather.

"Thank you. But I can carry it back alone."

I said with a gentle smile. If the Leader finds out, I can talk to Dovaelieth well… I don't know what will happen. But Dovaelieth seems worried enough she made me lie about it, so I'll leave it at that. Aldwin possibly noticed me absent in my thoughts because he'd eventually speak.

"I'll at least help you walk it out. You seem to have your head in the clouds."

The Leader nodded in approval which made me feel as if I had no choice but to at least let him tag along that far. He removed the entire plate from my grasp and began walking ahead of me. I would trip over my own feet, trying to keep up with his pace. But before I left the room entirely, I would turn around to give the Leader one more glance.

"Well, go on."

She would say with a dry-looking smile. I turned back and continued following Aldwin so as not to push my luck. Since I wasn't paying attention, I lightly bumped into Aldwins back, causing me to fall on my butt. However, it wasn't all that painful since the long bed of grass broke my fall. My time on the ground gave me a few seconds to question where the rest of the villagers were. Since the minute I entered this town, it's been almost completely silent. Nothing like that beautifully lively village I saw last night.

"Are you hurt?"

Aldwin said, looking down in my seated direction. He didn't sound all that concerned but instead it just seemed like second nature for him to be caring. I quickly stood up and dusted the dirt off my clothes before running back beside him.

"I'm fine… I was just wondering-"

I was in the middle of asking a question before Aldwin quickly cut me off.

"You ask way too many questions for a traveler just looking to offer goods to Dovaelieth. Are you some kind of spy?"

Aldwin completely paused in place, speculating my intentions.

"I'm not a traveler exactly but definitely not a spy."

I raised my hands in the air again, showing I was still as defenseless now as I was our first encounter.

"Yet you know elven tongue? So clearly, too… Are you a halfling? Not even mentioning your odd clothing choice."

Aldwin continued his intense questioning. I heard the Leader also talking about how I can speak 'elven tongue.' Maybe I learned it before but just can't remember.

"I don't think I'm a halfling. Can you like… feel it you're mixed or something? Though if anyone knows if I'm half-elf, wouldn't it be elves themselves"

I lightly chuckled to calm the anxiousness in the air. Aldwin merely stared at me for a while, causing a slight shaky feeling to crawl up my skin. Kind of fuzzy and warm. He gave me enough time to get a good look at the rest of his face.

"You are pretty like an elf. But you don't really have any generic traits of one."

I realized Aldwin was taking my suggestion a little too seriously than I was hoping for. His eyes burned on every inch of my skin. Causing me to move in front of him and try to pull the wooden plate from his hands.

"W-well, I think I can carry it from here!"

I said I would make my best effort to shut down this weird line of conversation so far. Aldwin nodded carefully, placing the meat into my arms. He didn't really say much else though I don't know if that was a good or bad thing. However as I walked off he'd start to speak.

"Try not to run and focus on where you're going."

I merely smiled as I gently made my way across the entrance. There were no real issues in getting back to the mountain. That is until I actually got there. I never considered how I was going to get back up this damn mountain carrying all this heavy ass meat. I would call for Dovaelieth's help, but she'd probably give me some speech about 'I shouldn't hinder you from gaining some perception.' I stopped with the self petty long enough to think about it.

'Perception, Right?'

There have been offerors before me. There has to be some kind of elevation system, no? I couldn't imagine all of them having the strength to climb the mountain and carry all this meat. While thinking, I walked around a good portion of the hill for a few minutes. Looking for some kind of rope or contraption. Before I knew it, my eyes fixed onto a sizably thick vine. Though I still don't think I can climb even with that. Now I'm starting to regret not letting Aldwin tag along. So instead, I took off the white collared button-down I was wearing and filled it with meat. Luckily there was still a short-sleeved undershirt to protect my body from some cold. I covered the meat within the shirt and tightened it into a kind of bag. Eventually tieing the sleeves around my neck and began climbing.

The meat was hefty, and the rope didn't really make climbing any easier. I finally made it back into the cave and plopped down onto the cold stone floor.

"I'm home."

I would say with a sarcastically huffed voice from all the climbing. Dovaelieth was curled into the corner of the cave, shielding herself from the morning light. When she heard my voice, her tail moved from around her face to get a good view of me.

"Welcome back, little one."

I could feel my anger well up inside me as my glossed sweat coated my skin.

"Don't Little one me! They didn't tell me anything. Was I just picking up your lunch!? Also, what kinda dragon denies gold!?"

Dovaelieth... groaned??? She stood up, causing the floor underneath me to rumble. By the time I realized it I was already on the floor, trembling in fear. I have become too relaxed with my situation and have forgotten I was talking to a dragon. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for some kind of punishment, but instead, Dovaelieth just leaned over me and unwrapped the food.

"The meat is so dirty." She took a minute before continuing to speak. "You humans like your meat cooked, right?" She started to hold her breath then lightly blew a flame onto the meal.

It scorched the meat to a pitch black even with such a gentle fire. I gave a pout as I stared at an obviously overcooked dinner. When the dragon used a claw to cut it in half, it was still somewhat raw in the middle. I kneeled down with an exaggeratedly dumbfounded expression.

"Am I supposed to eat that?" The work it took me to get all that meat up here just for it all to be burnt.

Though–

stuff like this started to become the norm as the days moved along. The dragon tries to advocate for me but, in return, fails horribly. Her lesson continued to grow even vaguer if you can believe but I understood the gist. I would grab our meals from the town every week. I never learned the Leader's real name, but I started to notice more towns folks leaving their homes when I came over. To the point, the people have become familiar with my presence. Though that doesn't mean they were all that kind. Aldwin helped me when he could, but I found out he was their last warrior, so he was busy most of the time. Their love for Dovaelieth came when she helped them protect their home against colonizers. Eventually a month went by, I felt like I finally settled into my situation.

That was until Dovaelieth died