NOT AGAIN

"Do you know why he wants to leave?" Selene asked Vivian.

"No." Vivian said sadly,"Maybe he still doesn't trust me."

"I can try and talk to him if you like?" Selene proposed.

"I can't force him to feel anything for me. I can't do anything if he doesn't like me."

"So you'll let him go?"

Vivian pursed her lips and looked away from Selene. Her eyes fell directly on Gabriel who was walking back with Bartimus.

"I'll stay back here." Vivian said finally smiling sadly.

Selene felt bad for Vivian and patted her shoulder. She looked at Bartimus and walked to him to ask him to tell to Gabriel.

"Bartimus." she called out to him,"There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it? Let's talk inside." he said waiting for her to follow him.

She followed him and waited for him to close the door.

"What is this about?" he asked sitting on the bed.

"Vivian. She wants to stay here."

"And?" he asked with a raised brow.

"And I want you to help me convince her to come with us and to tell Gabriel to stay." she finished.

"If she doesn't want to come with us then I won't make her. And I can't force Gabriel to like her."

"You could use a spell on them so they can stay with us till we reach Jezim."

"You forget that I'm not a wizard. I don't do love spells."

"But you could....."

"Selene! Not every person who has an attraction to someone else is meant to be with that person. They were just passers-by in each other's lives."

"But....."

"I don't want to discuss other people's lives whe....."

"Because you've never being in love?" she asked looking straight in his eyes.

Bartimus' eyes fluctuated between red and pink until they went back to normal. He looked away from her but she came to sit in front of him.

"If you've been in love before then why do you want to tear them apart?" she asked cupping his face in her hands.

He looked into the eyes of the love of his life who had no idea she was the one he loved. His eyes changed to gray which meant he was sad. He moved her hands away from his face and stood up.

"Because one sided love hurts." he said without looking at her.

Selene's mind started filling with thoughts of Bartimus with a lady dragon who thought of him only as a brother. She must have been a nice lady to have gotten Bartimus. Selene felt a little jealous. She sighed and left him alone in the room where he stayed for the rest of the day refusing to eat. Selene didn't return to the room and slept with Vivian.

In her dream Selene was standing in a field of sunflowers that towered her by a meter. She was completely alone in there and even after running around for a while she was still in the field as it seemed to have an end. She was about to give up and wait to wake up but she heard a girl scream for help. Selene followed the sound and was led to a small cabin and it was snowing there. The sunflower field she had been in this whole time vanished by turning into snow. A gust of wind blew past her and she heard the girl scream again from inside the cabin where she could now see the light of a fire. She run inside and closed the door slightly so the bitter cold outside wouldn't get in. The girl screamed again begging someone to stop hurting her. Selene picked up a piece of wood and followed the voice. Her eyes widened at the sight she beheld. I was her younger self about ten years old with Vancouver between her legs. Her gown was pulled up while Vancouver's trousers were down to his knees as he knelt between her legs. There was a pool of blood around her bottom and Vancouver smeared it on her thighs. Her present self dropped the wood she had earlier picked up making Vancouver look at her. He smiled at her and Selene felt her stomach turn and her heart drop.

Selene woke up gasping for air with tears in her eyes. She was ready to apologise to Bartimus and tell him about her nightmare. She changed her gown and run out.When she entered the room Bartimus was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed as if he was sleeping but she didn't hear him breathing. Selene stealthily made her way to him and knelt beside him. She looked at his calm countenance and smiled then she placed her hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat. His chest felt warm from beneath his clothes. Selene smiled again and brought her face closer to his own. She planted a kiss on his lips lightly so she wouldn't wake him but he woke up anyway.

Their eyes locked and they stared at each other for a minute. Selene was the first to look away and Bartimus got up.

"I wanted to....."

"I'm not interested." Bartimus interjected calmly,"We'll be leaving soon so go and eat. I'm going ahead to make sure there is no danger."

Selene looked at him as he walked to the door and opened it.

"Bartimus." she called him,"I want to ask you something very important."

"Ask."

"Did you kiss me?"

Bartimus' eyes widened at her question. Didn't he erase that memory? He turned to look at her as she stood with her hands at her sides and get face flashed. She was wearing a blue gown and her brown hair was braided in two.

"No. Why would I?" he asked.

"I was hoping that you could tell me." she answered him confidently.

"You must have been dreaming." he said and walked out of the room.

Selene frowned deeply. She wasn't dreaming! She walked to the door intending to inform him about the dream she had when her head suddenly started hurting. She held her head in her hands and at the same time she felt something move in her womb. She opened the door and run out to call Bartimus back but he was no where in sight. She spotted Grand tree sitting while Gabriel was attaching a carriage to four horses.

"Papa!" she called to Grand tree who looked startled by her loud call when he wasn't too far away.

Selene walked forward again and felt her head beat in sync with her heart and the thing in her womb moved again. She shut her eyes and the next time she opened them, Gabriel was carrying her in his arms taking her back inside while Vivian and Grand tree were calling out to her. She blinked slowly and the next moment she was on the bed and Vivian was splashing water on her face. The water made a sizzling sound when it landed on her face and evaporated off in an instant.

"Is she pregnant again?" Vivian asked staring down at Selene.

Grand tree nodded while Gabriel looked at all three of them confused.

"Why is it this bad?" Vivian asked again looking up at Grand tree who was standing close to Selene's midsection where the growth of the dragon embryo was rapid.

"Bartimus made her pregnant?!" Gabriel exclaimed making the other two people frown at him.

"It's probably Vancouver." Grand tree said answering Gabriel's question.

"But the man wasn't here right?" Gabriel asked.

"It must be the same as last time; through a dream." Vivian was the one to answer Gabriel,"Where is Bartimus?"

"He went ahead of us. He must have used his dragon form if he is already gone. His aura must have made the embryo stronger. She'll die if he doesn't come back quickly." Grand tree said thoughtfully while rubbing his chin.

"Don't dragons make special bonds with their masters that allows them to know when their masters are in trouble?" Gabriel asked remembering some gossip from his town.

Grand tree was quiet because Selene started writhing on the bed and groaning. She became still again and opened her eyes slightly before they closed again and her belly grew even more and her body fat disappeared until she looked like a pregnant corpse.

"He probably doesn't know how to create the bond." Grand tree said walking to the door,"I'll go and get him."

Vivian nodded while Gabriel wondered how exactly Grand tree was going to get a dragon back. Grand tree run out the door and into the forest and when he was far from the settlement he transformed into a large wooden Man so he could see Bartimus and Bartimus would notice him. When he spotted Bartimus he run after him while causing the ground to shake and rumble and knocking off a few trees and possibly killing some small creatures on the ground. He connected his mind to Bartimus' with great difficulty and showed him the state that Selene was in. Bartimus turned back to his human form similar to how he did when he had met Vivian and he started falling to the ground. Grand tree caught him and turned back to run back to the settlement where Selene was about to die.