For all that is holy in Farias' great giant arse, I... might die? Well maybe. Hopefully not. But maybe? Having come into contact with a supposed dragon, one who, now that I think about it, still makes no sense. Supposedly every dragon that was cursed into a human form lost their soul or was just killed outright. So, if Victor was telling the truth, and he is a dragon, then I'm most likely dead.

Well. Might want to try to live then!

"So..." I tried to swallow down the building saliva in my throat. It was a habit I had never managed to stop. Not only that, I could feel the cold sweat dripping down my neck like a fly, to which I swat it and shook my hand. "Ahahaha..." Oh boy...

"Mind putting the sword down? I'm kinda really terrified at the moment and I would like nothing more than to feel safe while in the presence of someone who, I just now realize, would have literally eaten me." I cleared my throat, the phlegm in my throat, looking to his sword and back to his face a few times too, hopefully, get my point across. He did! So, thankfully, I could still talk! I had to set Jurrian down gently somewhere, he had passed out standing up and was frothing at the mouth.

After he was, hopefully, safe for a few moments, I looked around, hands on my hips to try and appear confident. I don't think it worked. He wasn't bloodthirsty, though. So that was nice.

"As I had... mentioned before Jurrian passed out... there's an empress - she's treated like a god, basically - across the ocean. The Kingdom of Cerantobri. I don't know how long you've been around, but it was formed quite recently, and the only reason they've expanded so far, is apparently because she had married a dra- please put the sword down...." He slowly put his sword down... again. "She had... become partners?" That seemed to be fine, he didn't lift his sword again. At least not yet. "She had become partners with a dragon, apparently he's commonly referred to as the true king behind the kingdom, and the empress is just a puppet."

At least he kind of liked that... I can't tell, he's always scowling...

"Your failure over there mentioned she is a Succubus..."

"No, she's not. She's not human though! I think she's an Elf. She's often called many different races. Elf, Succubus, Human. I can't think of a race she hasn't been called yet." Those eyes of Victors seemed to calm down a bit too, no longer those... vibrant golden hues. Please tell me that's good... I prayed silently, and mentally.

"How far." He said, much to my surprise. "How far until I reach them."

"W-Well... that's a question isn't it? You've seen a map, right? Of the Empre." Pleasenodyourheadpleasenodyourhead.

He shook his head. God damn it. I squat down and used my finger in the dirt to make what was, what I had hoped, a rough approximation of what our continent looked like. I had pointed to a point close to the very peak of the continent, next to a rough sketch of a mountain and river.

"I'm not good at mapmaking, so deal with it." I said. Yeah, you go girl! Tell the big bad Dragon whose boss! "We're around here, in Knaw Salong." I then moved my hand lower, towards a large sea in the middle of the continent. "The capital is here, Birius Tibri. We're roughly a two weeks journey by carriage away from there." I took a big breath, before sighing and moving to the left, making the outline of another continent, and splitting it into two.

"Cerantobri is the southern of the continent and..." Ohgodohgod Farias save me from meeting you early. "I don't know... where the capital is..." AHHH I'M GONNA D- oh? I'm not dead?

I looked over my body slowly, making sure I had all my limbs, and that Victor's sword was on the ground next to him as he absorbed the map. "oh thank god..."

"I am not god."

"Please shut u-"

"No." He replied. I narrowed my eyes and cleared my throat, sweating to the point I was worried I would get dehydrated. But... I hadn't brought my waterskin either.

"So... you're not going to kill me or Jurrian?"

"No. At least not yet. It would be nothing more than a trip made more difficult if I was being chased from multiple parties."

"Ah- I assume you mean who my father would send and..."

"Likely a dozen hundred or so mages, and double that in knights."

"But why? I don't think anyone knows you're a dragon besides me and Jurrian!"

He stayed silent after that, simply looking at the map. I sat in front of him for two reasons. One, this was the closest I would probably ever be to a dragon in my life, and two, I was afraid to move. And soon, his armour glowed a gentle colour, and soon he was naked. Wait, wh-

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE NAKED!" I covered my eyes instantly but heard nothing from Victor other than a sigh.

"It's not even that long anymore."

"Long?" I asked, and slowly opened the space between two of my fingers. I... well I was curious okay? Is a cursed dragon any different from a human? I'd seen Jurrians when we were kids, but that was nothing to write home about. Butt. No, really, a butt. Victor had stood up and turned around to the tree where he had originally had his stuff, and stacked his bucket and rag atop his shield. He turned around and I was suddenly staring at something I thought unbelievable. It's as thick as my wrist! And it's at least...

"Why are you embarrassed, I mean my armor."

I stacked my hand's fists on top of each other and turned away. Oh god... it's longer than... no! Bad Eleonor! I slapped both of my cheeks and stood up, grabbed Jurrians cloak and muttered a small apology. I stepped towards Victor and pushed the cloak towards him, still averting my eyes,

"Please, for the love of Farias, at least have some decency..." He stood there, and I stood there too, simply holding out this cloak that belonged to my knight, to have a man I met less than three hours ago wear it so he could look decent. After a long, serene moment, he finally took it and wrapped it around his waist. I sighed as he finally was able to be looked at.

"I'll be leaving by noon tomorrow, there's no need for clothes" That... caught me off guard. Sure, he may have just threatened my life, and my knight's life twice, technically, but he was a DRAGON! Something I would never likely meet ever again. I couldn't let this pass up!

"Why? Can't you stay for a bit, get some clothes, maybe hire a mercen... you know what, nevermind, just stay for a couple more days? I have questions I want to ask, and you can ask some as well!" Father always told me I was stupid. I hope that it comes in handy for once.

"Give me a single good reason that I should stay."

"Companionship?"

"I do not need it."

"Assistance!"

"I do not need it."

"A home?"

"I do not need it."

"Why are you so stubborn! Just take my kindness already!"

I could feel his eyes on me even as I closed my eyes, the aura those eyes gave off was terrifying.

"I could... convince father to let you... browse the library? Maybe find some maps?" This was awkward. Why am I doing this? It's like I'm part of some weird novel where the princess falls in love with the strange kn- oh no... "Y'knoow.... maybe that would be smart."

"No. Now I would like to see these maps and texts."

Well then... This is going to go terribly isn't it?