The wolf slept with Ginelle in her room, as there was enough room for him to sleep on the floor beside her bed for the time being. Harrison and the men while grumbling about it did as they were ordered and started working on the wolf’s pen which would be attached to the side of the stables that housed the horses. There would be no direct contact, but having a wolf nearby was almost like having a big guard dog to protect the steeds from horse thieves. After lunch, Ginelle came outside to take a look and was impression with how far the men had come in just a single morning. Garrak’s pen was going to be twice the size of a normal space used for a horse, since they had no idea how big the wolf would grow so the added space would save them having to make another if he got too big for a regular sized pen. Garrak was sitting beside her as they both looked at the work being done.

“What do you think?” Harrison called out, when he noticed they were both watching.

“It looks very nice,” Ginelle said, “I’m sure Garrak will be very grateful for all your hard work.”

“Where are you going with that?” Harrison asked, referring to the basket that the young girl was holding.

“I’m going for a hike,” Ginelle replied, “It’s best to practice spells away from camp.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Harrison said, “But are you sure that’s safe out there?”

“I’ll be fine,” Ginelle said, flattered he was concerned. “Besides, Garrak is coming with me. He likes to go for walks.”

“Alright, I’m convinced.” Harrison said, waving to her. “Enjoy your hike.”

“I don’t like walks,” Garrak said, as he started to follow her into the woods away from the camp.

“You have no choice,” Ginelle said, “What we are doing is important and he wouldn’t let me wander about by myself.”

“Where are we going?” Garrak inquired.

“To see a new friend,” Ginelle said, “I think you’ll like him.”

“What kind of friend?” Garrak asked.

“He’s a creature like yourself,” Ginelle replied, “Just a bit bigger.”

“How much bigger?” the wolf asked.

“A lot bigger,” Ginelle answered, “Come on, we’re running late.”

Ginelle and Garrak hiked for the better part of an hour, walking up to the same opening in the woods that was the location of her first encounter with the red beast. When she arrived there, something was different. There was a wooden bench sitting there, one that was handcrafted with care and looked rather fancy. There was also a very large burn mark in the ground near the new bench. Garrak walked up to the oval shaped burning in the ground and started to sniff around. He suddenly started to growl as the scent wasn’t appealing, at all.

“We need to go,” Garrak told her, “This is no ordinary burn.”

“I’m aware,” Ginelle said, sitting down on the bench. She also placed the basket on the ground beside it.

“I’m not sure you are,” Garrak continued, “This ground was burned by a dragon! Is that who we’re hear to meet?”

“Yes, it is.” Ginelle answered, “Ruki agreed to help me with my talking and I agreed to feed him in return for his help.”

“You befriended a dragon?” Garrak said, rather surprised. “How do you know he won’t just eat you when he tires of your practice?”

“He won’t,” Ginelle said, rather confident. “He likes the food I bring him too much to care about eating us.”

“Wait, eating us?” Garrak replied.

“He was going to eat you first,” Ginelle explained, “Apparently I saved your life twice when I came upon you. You’re welcome.”

“What makes your food so good?” Garrak asked.

“That’s a good question,” a voice called out.

Without warning Ruki came flying down and landed on the burned grounds as if it were a landing pad. He circled the spot a few times, using his heavy feet to soften it before laying down for a rest. Garrak responded to the dragon’s arrival by walking closer to Ginelle to guard her, even though any efforts to do so against a dragon would be futile.

“No need to worry, wolf.” The dragon said, huffing some smoke out of his nose as he sighed. “I’m here for her food, not either of you. And I’d like to know as well, what makes that stuff so special?”

“Honestly, it’s magic.” Ginelle answered. “How long did you go before you needed to eat again?”

“Quite a while,” Ruki answered. “That’s what it does, makes me feel full a lot longer?”

“Not feel, but actually be full.” Ginelle corrected, “We enchant the food to be denser, so it actually is heavier and makes you feel more satisfied. I actually tripled the enchantment on these foods, just for you. If any human or wolf tried to eat these, the density could damage their insides and kill them. But I believe you’ll be able to handle it.”

“You are correct,” The dragon confirmed, not trying to brag. “I can consume up to tens times more than any man and still be hungry hours later.”

“Still,” Ginelle carried on, “I suggest you eat slowly so you don’t accidentally give yourself a tummy ache. Alright?”

“Alright, little one.” Ruki said rustling about, “Let’s eat already.”

Ginelle had made him wait long enough, and she took out the foods for the big dragon to eat, and as instructed Ruki had taken his time to slowly eat the food to make sure its extra density didn’t harm his bowels. Turns out the food wasn’t that dense to the dragon who had no trouble consuming all of it with ease and great pleasure.

“That was so good,” Ruki said, as he laid down to rest. “I can’t remember the last time I felt so full. I’m not a bear, but I feel like hibernating.”

“Not yet,” Ginelle said, “You have to speak with me and let me practice.”

“Alright,” Ruki said, lifting his head off the ground. “What should we speak about?”

“Where is your pack?” Garrak suddenly asked, as he was curious about a few things himself.

“We don’t have packs,” the dragon answered, “We fly and nest with our immediate family, but that’s about it. We are all very territorial and stick to our own circles until it’s time for the little ones to fly off and start their own nests. Dragons are too independent and stubborn to work together, and for those reasons it rarely happens.”

“But it has happened before?” Ginelle asked.

“Only once, but that was a long time ago.” Ruki said, “Back before I was even born actually.”

“How old are you?” Garrak asked. Ginelle wasn’t upset that the wolf was asking questions, because they were the same she wanted to ask as well.

“I’m not that old,” Ruki said, as he laid down his head. “I’d say about a little over three hundred years.”

“Three hundred?” Ginelle repeated, rather shocked. “How long can dragons live, naturally of course.”

“Dragons can live for thousands of years, if they take good care of themselves.” Ruki answered, “That is why we are hunted so much. For some reason they believe our bodies have something magical quality in them that will make humans that take them live longer if they kill us.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Garrak said, “Who would believe such lunacy?”

“Many of us are afraid of dying,” Ginelle replied, “And they are willing to believe anything if it will help them last a bit longer. I’m sorry, Ruki. That my people have caused great pains amongst yourself and your kind.”

“Thank you,” Ruki said, looking back at her with his greyish silver eyes. “I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I can trust you. I’ve never trusted a human before, or any other creature for that matter.”

“I am flattered,” Ginelle said, “I will cherish that trust and do whatever I can to not break it.”

“Speaking of trust,” Garrak started, “Be honest here; where did you get this nice-looking bench?”

“I took it,” Ruki said, “There’s an abandoned house on the other side of the mountains. I thought it looked nice so I snatched it so that the little witch could have a place to sit.”

“It’s not nice to steal,” Ginelle said to the dragon, “But if no one was using it, I suppose I can make an exception. It’s very nice, thank you.”

“Thank you, Ginelle.” The dragon said, groaning again. “I don’t think I will need to eat again until we meet again tomorrow. Is there anything else I can do to earn these marvelous treats?”

“I was going ask if you could help me with my spells,” Ginelle replied, “I was told that dragons have a high resistance to magic, so I was hoping to use you for target practice.”

“Target practice?” Ruki said, thinking about it. “For what kind of spells?”

“Battle spells,” Ginelle replied, “Like fireballs, frost winds, and stuff similar to that.”

“I suppose you can do that, but not today.” Ruki said, “I’m too full to be a target this afternoon. You can practice your spells on me before I eat but not after. It might upset my stomach.”

“Fair point,” Ginelle said, “We can practice tomorrow.”

True to his word, when Ginelle and Garrak returned to the forest to meet with Ruki everyday, and he allowed the young witch to practice her spells on him. Ginelle was just happy to have a live target to throw her spells at, as she wanted to have a target that didn’t blow up and needed to be replaced after one shot. It was a great help to Ginelle as she was able to fire the spells harder and harder as she got used to casting them as well. It made walking up to feed the dragon worth while, that and the talks they had with the scaled creature. Yet despite firing her best shots at the red dragon, no harm was done as the dragon’s resistance was far higher than she expected it to be. The most she could do was tickle him as Ruki let out some decent laughs with each cast.

“I don’t get it,” Garrak asked, as he watched the shots bounce off Ruki’s scales with ease. “How can you die if magic doesn’t work?”

“Hunters use bladed weapons,” Ruki answered, “We are susceptible to metals, but especially to anything made of truesilver. Regular metals take time and luck to kill us, but anything made of truesilver will cut through our scales like butter. Thankfully the stuff is very rare, and we don’t see anyone welding it that often. That’s enough for today, I’m getting hungry.”

Ginelle set out the meal for Ruki on a table that was now sitting in front of the bench. It was apparently also stolen from the abandoned house Ruki had mentioned the day before. After Ruki had eaten and talked to his guests for a while, he returned to the nearby burnt ground and made himself comfortable for a nice nap. The food made him feel lethargic and eager to snooze. Ginelle and Garrak started their walk back to the camp after the dragon fell asleep and usually managed to get back to the hall just in time to help Margorie as she’d always be just starting to prepare it when she returned home.

“I could hear your shots from here,” Margorie said, as she was assigning mirrors to work on the simpler cooking tasks. “Your spells are getting quite strong but try not to burn down the forest. Our boys wouldn’t like it if there was no longer anything for them to cut down.”

“I’m not firing them at the trees,” Ginelle assured her, “There a big rock that I’m using and it’s quite dense. It has taken every hit I’ve given it thus far. I’ve barely chipped the thing.”

“I see,” Margorie said, pausing for a moment. “Set the tables, and we’ll talk more about this later.”

The rest of the day went as it usually did. The men came in and ate their dinner, Ginelle helped the old lady clear the tables and clean up. Just as they were finishing up, Margorie walked up to Ginelle and pointed to a chair.

“We need to talk,” The old witch started, “Please sit down.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ginelle said, sitting exactly where she was asked. “Is everything alright?”

“It might be, if you’re honest with me.” Margorie said, “And I need you to be honest with me because what you say may or may not endanger everyone here at the camp.”

“I will do my best,” Ginelle answered, “What do you need to know?”

It was at this point where Margorie reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled something out.

“I found this in your room today while you were out,” Margorie started, “I wasn’t snooping around; I was taking the sheets off the bed to wash them like I do every week when I found it.”

“I believe you,” Ginelle said.

“Do you have any idea what this is?” Margorie asked.

“Yes,” Ginelle answered, “It’s a dragon tooth.”