May, 1103 A.D.

tWe had just entered into the month of May. I grit my teeth as I continued to push myself to walk, putting more pressure onto my left leg.

tDragon had gone to take care of the clinic, and I was still working on walking. I was getting better, but I still needed more practice.

tAnd a flat floor wasn't really challenging me anymore.

tI decided that I needed to go out of the city. I figured that stairs and then forest terrain should give me the challenge that I was looking for. I was determined to get back to my old self as soon as possible. I needed to be in top condition.

tI needed to be able to fight. Afterall, I had spent my entire life fighting. I even had to fight to eat.

tI sighed. I really wanted to go hunting.

tI smiled. That is exactly what I would do.

tI packed a small little backpack, and put it on my back. t

tThe added weight did hurt a little, but I was stubborn and strong. I would be able to handle it.

tI made my way out of the tunnels, and several people were shocked to see me out and about. Many of them smiled and told me how happy they were that I had gotten better.

t.i.t seemed as though my near-death experience had pushed them into respecting my strength for coming back from it.

tGetting up the flight of stairs was an immensely painful challenge. I would be lying if I said that I didn't think about giving up and going back to my room.

tBut then, I wouldn't get anywhere if I didn't push myself to my limits and beyond, would I?

tI made myself be strong enough to bear the struggle, and I forced my body up the steps, despite how slow my pace allowed me to travel.

tI took a deep breath of fresh air once I had finally reached the outside. It was so nice to be out of those tunnels, and breathing fresh morning air.

tI walked around the forest, armed with only a short sword. My bow and arrows added on to the weight of my backpack would have been a little too much for me to carry. My choice in arms would simply have to do for now.

tAnd I wouldn't stray too far away from the entrance to the tunnels, I knew that I needed to stay close.

tI made my way through the forest, toward the east. I wanted to go back to the ocean, almost. But I'd do that again someday, not today.

t"So, you did survive," I heard a grumbling voice say deeply, startling me. And I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Coal when I turned to the source.

tI smiled. "Thanks to you getting me back into the borders of Lykra. They found me just in time. My husband was able to heal me. The poor thing has spent since that accident repairing the bones and muscles and nerves in my body. I wasn't even able to move my fingers or toes a couple of months ago."

t"I am glad to see you doing well, young one, truly."

t"Are....are you here for Mafrien...?" I asked timidly.

tHe shook his head. "No, I am simply pa.s.sing through the area. I just happened to catch your scent and I thought that I would check it out. It turns out that you are back out in the forest, surprisingly. You're st.u.r.dy for such a tiny thing."

tI laughed. "I am trying to hunt a little something.... probably just a rabbit or something small, I don't have much equipment on me at the moment....and as it were, I am still having trouble walking. I won't be able to run after anything for a while. I just started learning to walk again."

t"I see. Still, that is quick progress, considering the extent of the damage that was done to you. I am impressed. That must be some healer."

tI grinned. "Yes, he is."

t"He is a lucky man, to have a bride such as you."

t"If only he were lucky enough to have me," I muttered darkly, and Coal sighed.

t"Yes, I am afraid that there is nothing that I can do help you with that."

t"Do you have anyone, Coal?"

tHe looked surprised. "Me?"

tI nodded. "Yes, you," I smiled. "Do you have anyone whom you love?"

tHe rumbled a chuckle low in his throat. "You could say that I love you, in a way."

t"I mean...romantically."

t"I know."

tI startled. "I'm flattered," I said softly. "But I couldn't be with a wyvern, you know. I don't think that would be physically possible."

tHe laughed, a deep, booming sound. "I often forget how young you are, and how ignorant someone your age can be. A drake has the ability to take human form and retain his drake powers," he said. "And though you are a special child, you are a child. I suppose I shouldn't have thought that you would know this information."

tI was interested. "You mean that you can take the shape of a human?" I asked. "That's fascinating!"

tHe rolled his eyes. "It is quite simple magic, really."

t"Can I see you in human form?"

tHe looked surprised. "Of course, you would be the first to ask." A wicked grin came upon his face. "You truly are a special child."

tMy heart swelled with joy as the air whipped around us, and my skin s.h.i.+vered and p.r.i.c.kled with the iciness of the air. It was absolutely freezing.

tHe began to glow a bright, bright blue, before I watched his form in the nearly blinding light change form, slowly but surely becoming the shape of a man.

tThe wind howled around us, and I started to feel my breath being taken away from me. I clutched my chest, sinking slowly to the ground.

tAfter what seemed like a long time, and as I quivered on the ground struggling to breathe, I felt a pair of cold, strong, powerful hands grip my upper arms, and he heaved me gingerly to my feet.

tI finally opened my eyes, and I was utterly stunned by his appearance.

tHe stood tall, just as tall as Mafrien.

tHis face was angular, almost feminine, delicate, but still manly in his outright power.

tHe was muscular, strong.

tHe wore dragon-scale armor shoulder plates, connecting by chains.

tHe had long, back-length white hair that was pulled into a high pony tail, which surprised me. Since he had been black as a wyvern, I had a.s.sumed his hair would be black.

tBut he was an ice wyvern. His skin was pale, almost as white as his hair.

tHe had impossibly thick eyelashes, and his cold, glowing blue eyes looked both amused and calculative as he watched me study him.

tHe had a nose that was slim, curving upward slightly as his snout had as a wyvern, and his lips were thick.

tHe had a somewhat long but irrevocably handsome face. He had a wide jaw set, and pointed ears much like a normal elf.

tHe had no facial hair.

tHe had thick, black eyebrows over his deep-set eyes and high cheek bones, on which sat an almost arrow-head shaped black marking.

t.i.t was the marking of the Ice Wyvern clan, and I could smell that it was ink, a tattoo, not a natural marking as my face markings were.

tThey sat off to the sides of his eyes, not directly underneath his eyes, the tip of the arrow-head shape pointed upward toward the top of his head.

tOn his forehead was a black tattoo of a dragon spirit, just the simple silhouette of a dragon shooting into the sky, and it was small.

He had a black, spiky crown that sat into the base of his pony tail.

tEven in humanoid form, you could clearly see that he was not human in the least.

tHe was one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen, and I could hardly breathe.

tAnd I began to heat up and sweat as I realized that...I had dreamed of him. I'd dreamed of being whisked around and kissed by this most beautiful man, and I felt my cheeks heat up.

t"Beautiful," I breathed out, my voice barely audible.

tHe chuckled, and took my chin in his hand. "Yes, you are."

tI shook my head. "Whatever female captures your heart will be one of the luckiest to walk this earth," I told him.

tHis wide, sharp-toothed grin, dangerous just by looking at it, was triumphant. "Better than that Nae of yours, hm?"

t"It wouldn't really be proper or right for me to say yes," I told him softly, and he inclined his head, giving me a sorrowful look.

t"He raised you," he said. "I can see into your heart. It has always been him. Though, I can see your mixed feelings. You don't know what to feel for this situation, or the young Nae lord."

t"Yes," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes.

t"Suiting, then, that his name is Dragon. He is a fine hunter, and a renowned healer. I can see the appeal."

tI smiled. "Yes," I repeated softly.

tHe pressed a kiss to my lips, and I wasn't surprised that his lips were as cold as the rest of his body.

t"Be patient, child."

tI sobbed. "Thank you," I cried. He sighed, and brought me into an embrace, holding me as I sobbed against him.

t.i.t was strange, I supposed, to find comfort in a wyvern.

tBut he wasn't just any wyvern, and I wasn't just any girl.

t"Your thanks isn't necessary."

t"Thank you for showing me your humanoid form," I told him. "Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for opening that heart of yours to someone like me."

t"Thank you for giving me a reason to do so."

tI pulled back to look at him.

t"You are the first person whom I have ever cared for," he admitted quietly. "I will look for a woman like you to mate with."

tI smiled. "As I said...she will be one of the luckiest women to walk this earth."

tHe rumbled out a deep chuckle. "She will. After all, I have a lot to offer."

t"I am sorry that I am not in love with you. I've never been more offended with myself," I told him jokingly.

t"I am not in love with you," he told me, his tone serious. "While I care for you, I have been aware the entire time that I could not have you. You belong to another, I know. I will search for someone whom I can, and I aim to find someone as strong and dedicated as you are. I sincerely doubt any human or elf could catch my eye, however. I will search among my own kind, first."

t"That sounds like a good plan." I pressed a kiss to his cheek, and as we pulled away, he lay his forehead against my own for a moment.

t"I must be on my way, then. I have important matters to take care of. Summon me if you ever need me for anything," he said.

tI nodded. "Thank you for your kindness, Coal," I said before he flew off.

tI could honestly say that I saw that wyvern as my friend after everything that he had done for me.

tHe was kind to me, though I knew that his kindness was only reserved for me.

tAnd he would admit that.

tHe was not a kind being by nature, and it made me feel very special to know that his kindness was only for me.

tI grinned mischievously as I saw a rabbit dash by, and I pulled out my knife, a new determination to get back in fighting shape making me more ready than ever to get moving.

tI had a sudden feeling in my gut, but I ignored it.

tI felt like something was about to happen, but I wanted to hunt.

tI wondered in the back of my mind if it had anything to do with the dreams that I had been having as of late.

tI had the strangest feeling that despite that I was the one who was hunting… I was, in fact, the one whom was being hunted.

tI had a bad feeling.