Karen sat hidden in the hedge near a small clearing that was surrounded by woods for so long that she was sure that she would not be able to move . Karen was waiting to see if she could see that dragon again . She had already seen it a few times as it came and went from its cave . IT was a dark green both in the body and it 's wings but his wings had a brown edging to them . The only thing that made this situation not very good was that she was wet , very cold and starting to cough . It had taken four weeks of walking for her to get to where she was and the weather was not giving her a break . So on the fourth morning he left his cave . The rain showed no sign of slowing down that day as Dracon made his way around and came up behind whoever was there . To his surprise it was a young female . She was clearly soaked , her dark brownish red hair was plastered to her head and her clothing clung to her skin from the rains . He heard her coughing before he moved behind her . He could also see that she was ill suited to be out in such conditions . She didn 't even have a cloak . Karen spun around as she heard someone speak to her from behind and as she did , found she was looking at two very large legs . She let her head look up until her eyes locked on to the dragon 's face . Joy , appreciation , excitement , and curiosity flooded through her . Then her mind slipped away from her and tumbled her into blackness . Dracon quickly caught the girl as she fainted . Dracon chuckled to himself because of the facial expressions that ran across the girls face just before she dropped . None of them held any fear , which pleased him as well as , made him very curious . Carefully Dracon lifted and carried the girl to his cave and laid her down in his nest and covered her with a blanket , then went to start a fire in the cave and to think about starting some dinner . Karen woke with a headache that started at the top of her head and went to her toes , as well as the feeling that she was being watched . When she sat up she found that she was . The dragon was looking right at her . " Good afternoon , young lady . How are you feeling ? " " I 'm not sure , really . I found you hiding in a bunch of bushes and when I came up behind you and asked if I could help you , you turned , stared at me for along time , then fainted . It 's a reaction that I get from time to time but usually it 's caused by fear . With you , I smelled none . So why were you hiding in the bushes for three days ? " Dracon tilted his head to the side . " I was hoping to get a few good looks at you . " Karen blushed as she said that , " I 'm fascinated by stories of dragons . " Karen had to stop talking because she started coughing . Dracon moved closer with a concerned look on his face . " Child , why were you out at all ? I would think your parents are scared out of their minds with worry . " He paused as a thought came to him , " you left with only the clothes on your back didn 't you ? " Karen looked right at him . " Yes , I ran away because my parents didn 't like the fact that I was collecting stories and rumors about dragons . They had gone out to a friend 's for the evening so I thought I had time to go through some of my parchments and check an idea I had . They must have forgotten something because they caught me . My father burned all my parchments then turned on me . I have never seen my father so outraged . He actually tried to strike me and that 's when I ran . " Karen was taken by another coughing fit that left her too exhausted to continue talking . Karen woke feeling better than she had in over two weeks . Karen slowly got up and out of the nest , which made her giggle to herself that she had been sleeping in a dragon 's nest . She must have giggled out loud too because the dragon looked up from where he was sitting looking out the front of the cave . " You should have come to the cave when you first got here . " Dracon got up and moved to the table , " Please join me . I have made a stew for you . I do hope you like it . " " Now none of that lord stuff . I 'm no one 's lord . And don 't want to be . " He said with a grin to his face that he hoped wouldn 't scare the girl , " So tell me more about this curiosity about dragons that you seem to have . " Karen moved to the table and sat on a bench across from the dragon . He took a bowl , dished up the stew , more like he tipped the pot of stew into the bowl and placed it before her . She took a bit or two then began . " I guess it started about when I was seven or eight . A traveling storyteller came through town and held a show . He told several ; one was of some great battle , another was of how a dragon would trick towns into giving the dragon virgins , " ' now where have I heard that one before , ' thought Dracon as the girl continued , " the last was about a girl that fell in love with a dragon and what they went through to be together , unfortunately the story ended badly . I will have to say that it was that one that I liked the best at least the first part of it . After that I started listening to more stories and writing them down . There was even a story that a girl from our own town was taken over a hundred years ago , but there were no relatives of the girl left in town to get more details about the story so I had to let it go . Then I started collecting rumors of dragon sightings too . That was what I was looking up . I had heard a new rumor that someone had seen a dragon in this area and I wanted to check it against another tale from two years ago . " " That is truly amazing and a little disturbing . I 've lived here for almost two hundred years and thought I was being careful . I must be losing my touch . Were there only the two ? " he smiled sideways at her . " Actually it was just the most current ones . The others I kept at my grandmother 's . She 's the one that taught me to read and write and helped me get started with the project . " " That 's one thing that in 500 hundred years I have not been able to learn . My mother wasn 't very good with either and then with taking care of my sister and me , believe you me , we were a hand full , she had little time for much else . " Dracon chuckled as he remembered just how much trouble he was . " We don 't have a written language . Though over the last three hundred years I have come to wish we had . The brain can only hold so much and for so long , it would seem . We do have other ways of keeping the oral histories but those are not as easy to get to nor are they able to be taken to any place to be listened to . " As the dragon had been talking Karen began thinking . The beginning of an idea was working its way into her head . " I know that in some of the larger cities , there are records and libraries that have been kept for hundreds of years and if the parchment becomes hard to read , the information is painstakingly copied to a new piece . Is this something that you would like to start ? " Karen 's excitement was growing quickly at the prospect of working on a dragon library . " It would be an interesting experiment . Once a record of an event was recorded it would be a little thing to place a spell on it so that the parchment would not age and would not need to be replaced . " Dracon said after thinking a moment and liking the idea . " My lady , you almost make it sound like a challenge . We should discuss that at another time . There is a question that I need to ask . What am I to do with you ? You have nothing to take care of yourself with and I don 't have what you would need here . I would think that your grandmother is as worried as your mother and father . " Dracon sat up and looked down at the girl and smiled . " It might , I don 't think you would eat me out of house and home , you don 't look like the type . " The girl laughed . Dracon thought it was a great laugh , " But there are things that you 're going to need . The pot for the stew I had from when my mother first came to see the cave . " Dracon said , wanting to test the girl 's reaction . He also felt that he could tell this girl anything and she would keep it to herself if asked . This statement caught the girl off guard , as Dracon had intended , " Why would your mother need to use a pot to make a stew ? I would think it wouldn 't be enough . " Dracon could see she was curious . " You 're quick . Yes , I 'm 503 as of last summer . My mother is human and both my mother and father are doing quite well . A gift of the gods , you could say , has allowed my mother to remain with us . " Dracon hated telling lies but he didn 't want to tell this girl everything right away without knowing her a little better . " I must hear all of it ! Once I have parchment and ink you are going to have to tell me the whole story . I 'm almost going crazy of curiosity now . But I can wait , I think . " She looked at him with a look of hunger in her eyes . Dracon hissed his amusement at the little red head . She was all but bouncing . " You are a curiosity in yourself . First , not being scared of me and know this . I have known many young people in my time but none have reacted to anything like I have seen you do . " Dracon studied the girl for a few more moments then looked around his cave . " I could easily create large shelves along that wall . " He pointed with his claw . " But you would need a place to sleep . I could see both dragons and humans coming to see this arrangement for a variety of reasons . I will have to think on this . I would however recommend that I take you back to your home so that you can get some of your own belongings . " " Do you think he is a danger to your mother ? I detest males that force or hurt females for their own pleasure . " Dracon let the hate of what he said into his voice . " I don 't truly know . I know my grandmother would never allow it . But if she doesn 't know about it she can 't put a stop to it . " Karen sat quiet wondering if she should have gone to her grandmother before leaving . Dracon thought for quite some time . He truly didn 't know if he wanted the responsibility of taking care of the girl but he really did want to learn what she offered and to start the project that she had suggested . In the end he came to the conclusion that it was an experiment that was worth trying . " My dear , I think I will take you up on that offer . But I think it is best to see you get some of your own things : like clothing and bedding , as well as the stories that you have already written down . I don 't have much to buy things with , but the less personal items I have to get , the more food and other stuff I can get for you . What do you say to that ? " " That would take all of about half a day to get there . Wait , let me get my map out and see if it 's already on it . " Dracon moved quickly over to a pile of things and took out a large role of parchment . He came back to the table and laid it out . Karen was marveling at the fact that the dragon walked on two legs not four , but sat as though he did . " About three hundred years ago I had the chance to work with a map maker for about three months and he showed me how to measure distances and draw them out . Now we 're here . Four weeks out would be here . " and he made a semi - circle with his claw . " Now which direction did you come from ? " " Southwest . Here it is , Riversand . You already have it marked . " Karen paused to look over the map ; it was well done . " You did a very good job for someone that can 't read and write yet . " " I think the map maker thought I could and so showed me only what I needed for doing this work . Mom did help with the names though . But I think we could get to your town by this evening . That is if we leave soon after you finish eating . " Karen looked down to realized that she had only taken a few bites before she was distracted . She chuckled and started to eat some more . But Karen 's stomach was not up to handling too much even though she did feel better and stopped . " Is there something wrong with the stew ? I could reheat it . " " Good thinking . If you want , I can finish that up for you ? I hate for it to go to waste . " She handed him the bowl and with a quick flick of his tongue the bowl was empty and clean . Karen was mesmerized . The same went for the cooking pot . Dracon then got up and went to a high shelf , took a small box off of it and opened it . Once he took out two small pouches he put the box back on the self . Then he went over to some of the things in the corner of the cave and took up two large sacks , one he rolled up and placed into the other . " You 'll sit at the base of my neck and hold on to the leather strap that is around my neck . You may want to wrap the carrying bag strap around your wrists just for extra security ; it will be a long flight . " and slid the handle of the sack down his neck . With that Karen got into place and did wrap her wrists with the extra strap and held on . Dracon was filled with a strange feeling as he felt the girl lean forwards twisting her wrists into the strap then tucked them into the other and all but hugging him . He was fully aware of her breasts pressing against his neck as well as other parts of her body , even though it was through her clothes . Then he realized that he had been having other strange feeling since he met this girl . He decided to wait for another time to think about them . After waiting a moment for the girl to get settled he walked out of the cave and launched into the air . It was late evening when they walked quietly up to the back of the small house . Karen knocked on the door and heard someone coming . " Who 's there ? What do you want ? " asked an old woman . After a few moments the old woman pulled back . " Girl , where the hell have you been ! You 've taken years of my life from me with all the worrying I 've been doing . " This seemed to wake her up . " Well , if you 're a friend of Karen 's then you 're welcome here . Please come in . " Karen 's grandmother led them to a table and had them sit . " Now I want to hear what happened . And why you didn 't come to me . There are things that you need to know too . " Karen told the reason why she ran away but paused and looked to Drac . He could tell she was wondering how much to tell . " Karen , I think of all the people here , your grandmother should be told the truth . " He turned to the old one . " My Lady , My full name is Dracon . Five days ago I noticed Karen hiding and what appeared to be watching my cave . Yesterday , after a large storm , I found her still hiding there . It was silly but I snuck up on her and asked if she needed any help . I should have just walked up to her from the front . She turned around looked at me and fainted but I could smell no fear about her . I took her into my cave and when she woke began telling me a very interesting story but it was interrupted by very bad coughs . After the third bout of these , I helped her to sleep and found that the cold she had , had gone into her lungs as well as giving her a high fever . I took out the infection and healed what was needed . When she woke this morning she was much better . Then we talked in more detail of her desire to learn of dragons and the stories about them . I have in the past had many of the same thoughts as Karen of writing down these stories but as my people don 't have a written language as well as the fact that I never learned to read or write the human language I was at a loss . Karen has offered to teach me in trade for food and shelter , as well as the chance to record and gather more stories . " " He has a spell that can make himself look this way . Otherwise , he wouldn 't have been able to be inside the house . He 's huge . " and giggled ; her grandmother turned with a look of disgust but then started laughing too . Dracon just smiled . " Karen , sweetheart , I have a few things you can take , unless your dragon student here has human house and cooking things . " Karen giggled again and Dracon barked a big laugh . Dracon was please that the old one had accepted things so well . " Please call me Sara , or grandma . I respond to both . " The three talked for a while until it came time for the old one to tell what was going on at Karen 's home . " Karen , you mother isn 't doing very well . After you left she stopped talking . When I would go over to check on her , I would find a new bruise on her and when I would ask about it , your father would get mad and tell me that Marion was becoming a klutz and hurting herself . I know my daughter and that just wouldn 't happen . Until this morning she had stayed at my house . She had been here for about three days . I knew he had been hurting her and she needed to be looked after but then he all but drug her out of here and told me that he would beat the hell out of me if I went back to see her again . I 'm worried . " " Karen , why don 't you gather the stories you have here then we can go to your mother 's both to get your things from there , as well as check on your mother . When we 're done there we can come back here before we leave . " Dracon paused taking a moment to breath and calm himself , he had a strange feeling , " If there is one thing I can 't and won 't stand for it 's a male that chooses to hurt someone they claim to love . " Dracon said , his voice cold and controlled . Karen got up and gathered the parchments that she had and a small shoulder bag so that she could carry then without damage . When she was finished she returned to the main room . Dracon was still sitting at the table not looking too happy . She then put the bag on a chair as the others got to their feet and walked to the front door . Karen and Sara grabbed cloaks from the wall . Then to Dracon 's surprise Sara grabbed another cloak and tossed it over his shoulders . " Someone might think it strange . You should try to blend in with what people are doing . It 's cold out there to us and we would not go out without . How Karen managed for four weeks I 'll never know . Besides it 's been along time since someone wore my late husband 's cloak . " " If it comes up then you should simply tell Marten that Drac 's your husband . It may help us to get in and to see that he behaves . " Sara replied . Dracon opened the door and let the ladies precede him through and closed the door behind him . The three walk across a large open field , finally coming to the front of another house . Sara walked up to the door and gave it several good thumps . There were several loud noises from inside and grew as whoever got closer . Finally the door flew open . Before Karen 's father could say anything Karen stepped up to stand beside her grandmother . " Hello father . I came to get some of my things , " she said trying not to sound scared . For a moment he was stunned then his face filled with rage . " You ungrateful cow ! ! How dare you think to come back and get anything ! ! I 'll teach you ! ! ! " And he raised his hand to strike when suddenly Dracon jumped around Karen to stand between the two with Karen 's father 's hand held in place . " Your wife ! ! So that 's what the little slut ran off for . Well the bitch is your problem now . So let go of me and get the hell away from my house ! ! " Karen 's father yelled back . Dracon was near to losing his control . He grabbed the man by the front of his tunic and was going to say something when two things happened , the first was that Karen spoke , " Drac , he isn 't worth it . He 's just a small man with little brains . " Dracon would have let him go at that point if he had not heard a small moan and then the sent of bruised flesh assaulted his nose . Dragon senses are very strong . Dracon , still holding Karen 's father , lifted him from the doorway making room for the two women to get through . " Sara , Karen , go check Marion . Quickly ! " Both women ran into the house as Karen 's father tried to yell for them to stop , that they had no right to go in . Then both Karen and Sara called for Dracon ; he all but threw the man away from him as if he were nothing and ran into the room . Karen was crying as she stood at the end of the bed and Sara was seated at the side looking over all the injuries that her daughter seemed to have . " He beat the hell out of her . The doctor is out of town and won 't be back until tomorrow some time . " Sara was saying as she was smoothing the hair of her unconscious daughter way from her face . " Dracon , please can you help her ? She has to be in a lot of pain . Please , you can have anything from me that you . . . " cried Karen as she went running to Dracon and wrapped her arms around him . He gave a brief hug then placed his hands on her shoulders , pushing her back just a little and to look into her eyes as she looked up at him . " Karen , it 's alright . I will help her . I would never leave a person this injured to wait for help . " He let her go and walked over to the bed and called his energies and spells to him and sent it into the woman in front of him . Dracon had learned long ago in cases like this , heal only the inside so that others may see what had been done . In this case there was a lot to heal on the inside . As Dracon worked from the top down he found several bones that were broken and bleeding on the inside . Then he made a small discovery , Marion , Karen 's mother was pregnant and the child , who was too small to say if it was a male or female , was just fine , thankfully . When Dracon finished Marion sighed and fell into a deep sleep . " She 'll be better now . I have placed a sleep spell on her that should last for about six hours . It will give her body time to balance itself . " " I have healed all that was damaged on the inside . I can heal the rest later after your town elders have seen and talked to her about what happened . What is on the outside is evidence to what that animal did . " Dracon leapt and grabbed the man before he had taken more than two - steps into the room . " YOU FOUL PIECE OF CRAP , YOU WILL NOT GO NEAR ANY OF THESE WOMEN ! You have almost killed the one that you made a promise to protect ! If I didn 't know that it would cause more harm than good , I would kill you here and now ! " " Don 't worry . I have only place a sleep spell on him as well , it 's stronger and will last longer than the one I place on your mother . " and he laid the man on the floor . Karen was very relieved when she saw her father 's chest rise and fall from breathing . Dragon looked down into the face of Karen and saw fear for the first time and he felt his heart shatter . " I would suggest that we take Marion to Sara 's house and than one of you go and get one of the town elders to view the evidence . " Dracon moved to the bed and took the woman in his arms and carried her out the door and to her mother 's house . Karen went running off into the darkness but soon returned dragging another man . When he saw Marion and had heard what had happened he went to get some of the others . Dracon sat at the table and decided that Karen should stay and take care of her mother . Which meant that he would be leaving , alone . " That was in return for something else all together . Your mother is going to need a lot of help . You 're going to be a sister in about eight months I think . " " But we told Elder John that you were my husband . People are going to ask a lot of questions if you leave without me . Besides I still need to get those stories from you . " Karen said firmly . Dracon looked up and her eyes caught his and to his surprise the fear that he saw was leaving . " Karen , you can 't know what you 're asking . I also saw the look in your eyes . You were scared of me . " and he turned away from her . " No I wasn 't . " Karen reached out and turned his head back , " Yes , I was scared but it wasn 't of you . I did fear for a moment that you were going to kill Marten . That 's my father 's name . But I 'm more scared of what he 's going to do when he wakes up . If I were scared of you , would I have gone in search of you ? Would I have flown with you without hesitation ? Believe you me that was fun . " And she smiled at him . " Or made the deal I did with you . You have a lot to learn about me , I don 't get scared off that easily from something I want . " For the first time Dracon felt an overwhelming feeling to take Karen into his arms but there was a noise just out side the door and when it opened several people came in and went straight to Marion 's room . There were exclamations and one man came out of the room looking like he was going to be sick . After several minuets another man came out of the room and began asking questions of Dracon . Dracon recounted what had happened from the time that he had grabbed and thrown Marten out of the door way so that Sara and Karen could get in and that he was a " minor " healer . His biggest talents being bone setting and sleep casting which was why Marion 's arm , ribs , jaw and check bones were healed . Marion would still need another doctor and still hurt a lot which was the biggest reason why he had sent her to sleep . The pain would be less when she woke . That was when Dracon realized that no one was asking how he had met and married Karen . This he kept to himself , too . If no one asked then he wouldn 't tell . A short time later after all of the men had left ; Sara herself came out of the room . " So what are you two going to do now ? " she asked . Sara chuckled and shook her head , she knew her granddaughter . " I can understand you wanting to leave Drac , but I would feel much better if you stayed . Marion 's not out of the woods yet from this I would guess . Yes , she 's going to need you too , my dear , very much . So I am going to propose that you stay through tomorrow at least , just to be on the safe side . It will give us a chance to get Karen 's things together as well . After that the two of you can leave . If you still feel you need to . " Sara said as she looked back and forth between the two . He wandered if this was how his father had felt after his mother had taken him back . He also began to understand the feelings that were flooding him . There was something more to this girl ; this woman and he found himself wanting very much to find out all he could . " I would say with that look on his face that you both will be staying . But because I know that you two aren 't married you will be sleeping in separate rooms . " said Sara , Causing Dracon 's jaw to hit the floor and Karen to start sputtering . " Well how else would you describe the fact that you moved into his arms that he didn 't know he wrapped around you ? " That night Sara and Karen traded off watching Marion . Dracon stayed up talking with Karen for a little longer but finally had to go to sleep . He forgot that when he was in human form it took a lot more out of him to cast spells and he had done that on top of flying for half a day among other things .