Several Years Ago

I flew with Eric on my back, on our way to the dragon city.

For several months, I haven't came back home. But one day Eric wanted to see where I've lived and of course I was nervous because he's a human and the dragons who live there wouldn't take him lightly.

But Eric insisted that everything will be okay. As long as they think he's not a threat. I would've argued, but he would've kept on insisting.

I seriously hope that he's right.

I see the mountains in the distance, we're almost there.

Eric hollered over the wind, "Are those the mountains?!"

I hollered back, "Yes! We're almost there!"

I flew over the mountains when I've got close to them. Eric shrieked when I flew over them. I laughed when he screamed. Kinda funny in a way.

I flew over the forest in the mountains and kept on flying. Then as soon I was sure we were close to the city, the world began to shift. Then when it was done, the city was up ahead.

I flew over the city, and I could hear Eric gasping on my back in shock and awe.

I flew to the other side of the city after I flew over it and found a spot to land outside the city. I flew down for a landing, my wings slowing down my speed and I landed my hind feet first. Then my front feet.

After I was done landing, Eric climbed off my back. Landing beside me he dusted himself and he looked at the big wall that surrounds the city.

He muttered, "Wow."

I grinned at him, "Impressed?"

He looked at me and nodded, "Very impressed, I've never seen a place like this. Has this place been around for a long time?"

I nodded, "Yep, you see my ancestors built this city, stone by stone and so far this place is still standing."

Eric giggled, "Well I'll be the first human to walk in this city."

I had a nervous look on my face, "Eric...I really don't like this. I mean, my kind doesn't take lightly to yours."

Eric placed his hand to my face and said, "Sierra, don't worry. I can maybe somehow convince them that I'm not a theat. After all, I won't give them a reason to kill me."

I looked at him, "What would happen if they do attack without reason?"

He shrugged, "Well if they would, then it'll my fault for coming here."

I shook my head, "Please don't talk like that. I...I really don't want you hurt. I don't know how I would feel if you...Die."

He shushed me and said, "I'm not gonna die, ok? Trust me."

I closed my eyes and sighed and said, "You really do inspire confidence, don't you?"

Eric giggled, "That's who I am, I always inspire confidence."

I giggled as well, "I knew there was a reason why I like being with you."

Eric then said, "Yeah and besides that, you haven't been home, ever since you've been attacked by that dragon slayer. It's already been so many months since you've left. I mean, don't you think you should come home?"

I sighed, "I'll admit, I'm kinda homesick."

He gave me a kiss on the nose, "I won't die, I promise."

I smiled and said, "Good, and if anyone attacks you, I'll protect you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

He nodded, "Good." Then we both heard a roar in the distance and another and another.

I looked up at the wall and saw that a few dragons are flying down to where me and Eric are. I held out my paw and pushed Eric aside, "Eric, get behind me." He did as he told and ran behind me, just in case.

The dragons landed in front of me, their wings spraying dust because of the wind. As soon as the dust cleared I finally got a clear view of the dragons.

Turns out one of them is my best friend from my hatchling days. My red dragon friend took his helmet off and he beamed at me, "You...You're alive!"

I beamed right back, "Hello there old friend! It has been awhile!"

He walked up to me and nuzzled me, "Yeah it has, where have you been?! You've been gone for a long time!"

I giggled and scratched my neck, "Yeah, well it's a long story."

Then before I could say anything else, Eric came out from behind me and waved, "Hello there!"

I shot a glare at Eric. Damn it Eric! My red friend saw Eric and he glared at Eric and hissed, "Watch out, it's a human!"

My red friend was getting ready to blow fire at Eric and so did his buddies who came with him. I stepped in between Eric and my red friend and glared at him, "No."

My friend's face went wide and he exclaimed, "Are you crazy?! He's a human!"

I shook my head, "Listen, I know what you're thinking, but he's not evil. He's my friend."

My friend cocked his head at me, "Friend?! He's a killer!"

I shook my head again, "NO! He's not! He's my friend and he-"

My friend interrupted me by shouting, "My mate died recently because of THINGS like him!"

My face went wide. My friend's mate died? Since when? Oh my poor best friend...

He sneered, "He is not a friend, he's the enemy and he should die!"

I hissed at him, "Listen damn it! He's not who you think he is! He saved my life! I was staying with this human for a long time and he doesn't view me as a monster! He has stayed with me day by day, until I was fully healed. But even when I've felt better, I've still stayed with him."

Then I took a step towards him and sneered, "I know you're my best friend, but if you ever hurt Eric, I'll kill you."

My friend's face went wide and he looked at Eric, then back at me, "He...He saved your life?"

I nodded, "Yes. He did. He has saved me and he doesn't want to kill me. He's...Very kind."

My friend still stared at me, confusion on his face and his friends are confused as well. I could hear them mumbling in their helmets.

My friend then walked to Eric and lowered his head to his level and my friend asked, "Did you really save her life?"

Eric nodded, "Yeah, I've saved Sierra's life."

He cocked his head at Eric, "Sierra?"

I answered my friend, before he could ask Eric, "Eric gave me a human name. So we could communicate with each other. He wouldn't pronounce my name anyway."

My friend looked over his shoulder at me and then he looked down at Eric, "You...Really did save her, didn't you?"

Eric nodded once more, "I didn't want her to die. I...Found her dying in the woods one day, and I've realized that she was wounded and hurt and she needed my help. I patched her up and she stayed with me. I've been taking care of her."

My friend looked at him some more and finally he sighed, "Well...What do you want?"

Eric grinned and said, "Well I was hoping that I could stay in this city for a little while. Sierra has been talking about this place for a while now, and I've wanted to see it."

My friend hissed at Eric and that's when I butted in, "Come on, he won't cause trouble. I know what you're going through, but please don't make this hard. Look I promise if Eric causes any trouble, I'll take him out of here. Please...For me, as your best friend."

My friend closed his eyes and sighed again, "Arrrg...Alright."

One of my friend's buddies said, "Sir? Are you sure? He's a human."

My red friend looked at Eric and muttered, "You can...Come inside our city. I can't guarantee your safety. After all we do hate your kind."

Eric smiled, "Thank you."

Then my friend shot a glare at Eric, "But if you EVER try anything to hurt my best friend, I'll kill you, do I make myself clear? I am an officer in this city, so don't push me."

Eric's face went wide and then he nodded, "Yes sir."

My friend backed away from Eric and whirled around to face me, He narrowed his eyes at me, "I seriously hope you know what you're doing."

I just grinned at him, "You just need to get to know him. He's very kind, you'll see."

My friend shot up his head and said, "Follow us." And with that he walked away from me and Eric and so has his buddies.

After they walked away, I turned my head to look at Eric and asked, "You okay?"

Eric nodded, "Yeah I'm fine."

Then I shot a glare at him, "Eric, what are you thinking?"

He shrugged, "What?"

"You just came out from behind me just to say hello to my friend! And he doesn't know you! What were you thinking?!"

He shrugged again, "I was trying to be polite."

I shook my head, "Trust me, when my friend's angry, you shouldn't be polite."

Eric just giggled and said, "At least I'm alive! Right?"

I muttered, "BARELY, alive."

He waved me off, "Quit you worrying. I'm fine. Now lets get in the city before your friend changes his mind."

I still glared at him and then I softened my gaze, "Alright Eric, lets go."

And with that, Eric smiled and he ran after my friend and his buddies. I followed along.

Ancestors, that was too close for comfort.

*****

The day after me and Eric have entered through the gate to the city. Things have been well so far. Even the mayor of this city had a meeting with Eric and made him promise not to cause trouble and Eric agreed.

Soon afterwards, he got to meet my uncle. At least my uncle was kind and caring towards Eric, just like me. Cause so far most of the other dragons just glare at him when he walks by them.

I really feel sorry for Eric. Everyone except for me and my uncle, are treating him like he's an outcast. It wasn't fair. They don't know Eric. Why judge him if you don't know him? Cause he's a human that's why. That's why they judge without trying to get to know him.

But I do know him. Eric is my friend. And I care about him. Nothing will ever change that.

Right now me and Eric are staying in a motel in the city. Sitting on a pile of furs. Just enjoying each others company.

See what me and him are doing right now is, he's teaching me how to read. See for a while now, Eric has ben teaching me how to read. I was pretty curious on how to read his language. Even before we came to this city, he has been teaching me.

Eric brought along a book on this trip. So he's reading the story to me and also teach me how to read the words. It's a romance novel of some sort. Which, I really don't know what that is by the way. I mean my kind has a library here in this city. But I haven't read anything like this before. My kind doesn't write this kind of thing.

Eric pointed at one of the words in the book and asked, "What is that word?"

I leaned my head closer to the book, squinted and said, "Lo...Lov...Love."

He beamed at me, "Great! You're really getting the hang of this."

I nodded, "So far, anyways."

Eric said, "Nah I'm not kidding. It didn't take you long to say 'love', you really are good at this."

I grinned at him, "Thank you."

Before anything else could happen, I heard footsteps and I raised my head to see that my red friend has entered the room. He just stared at me and the human.

Eric smiled up at him and said, "Hey Dragon."

My red friend glanced at him and just said, "Hey...Human." Then he just stared at me.

I smiled at him, "See anything you like?"

My red friend said, "Uh...Old friend...Or...Sierra...Can I talk to you?"

I cocked my head, "Why?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, "In private?"

I only stared at him for another minute and then I nodded, I looked down at Eric and said, "Hey listen, I'll be back later ok? You gonna be ok by yourself?"

Eric nodded and gestured her, "Sure, go talk to your friend. You probably have a lot of things to talk about."

I slowly got up on all fours and muttered, "Yeah, a lot of things." I looked at my best friend and said, "Alright, lets go." Then I trotted near my red friend and he led me out of the room.

He walked me up to the roof of the motel and he sat down on his haunches and I sat down as well. In front of him. I cocked my head and asked, "Alright...What's wrong? You don't look happy."

My friend lowered his gaze and muttered, "I'm not."

I sighed and said, "Is it about the human? Eric? Look he's not doing anything wrong."

My red friend said, "I...Just don't know if I can trust him."

I lowered my face to his and gave him a comforting smile, "You can trust him. He's different than the other humans. He's really kind and sincere. And he has NOT once hurt me. He really cares."

Finally my friend raised his head and he narrowed his eyes at me, "Does he really? Listen, if you think he cares, then does that mean that ALL humans care about us now? No. Things don't change over night."

I shook my head, "Of course it wouldn't change over night. I know that there are still humans out there who don't care about our kind. But I've realized that not ALL humans are evil. There are some out there who really care and don't attack us. There are some who do listen for reason."

Then my friend had a tear fall down his face, "Of course not all of them do. Because my mate was pleading for that human not to kill her. But he attacked her anyway, and she didn't do anything wrong. My mate is the most kindest dragoness in this city and one human killed her. All because she was different than him."

He sighed and said, "I thought I've lost you too. You were gone for a long time, but now it turned out you were staying with...Eric. I thought you were killed as well."

I shook my head and smiled, "I was never dead. I almost did, but Eric saved me."

My friend said, "You're my best friend, and I...Don't know what I would have done without you."

I cocked my head, "How long has your mate died?"

He had a sad look on his face, "Several months ago. I can't be exact how long really."

I nodded, "I'm here now. You don't have to worry."

My friend looked at me, deep into my eyes and then he got his head closer to mine and pressed his snout to mine for a kiss. I gasped and backed away slowly and just stared at him.

My friend turned his head away in guilt and muttered, "I...I'm sorry."

I shook my head and waved my paw at him, "It's alright. I understand it."

He looked at me and asked, "Do you...Remember we were together when we were younger? When we were teenagers? Remember our first mating together?"

I nodded and took a step toward him, "I remember everything."

His lip started to quiver, "I...I know that I was with someone else...But...I was still in love with you."

My face went wide and then he waved his paw at me, "Look don't get me wrong, I do love my mate so much. She was...Pretty beautiful. In a way, she was...Like you. But not totally like you. I do love her. But...I've also loved you."

I put my paw to my face and said, "How come you didn't tell me all this? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He looked at me and said, "Because I was afraid I would lose you, and I...didn't have the nerve to tell you. And plus...You were with someone else and it was too late."

I put my paw to the ground and took a step toward him, "If you're talking about the drake that I was with, he didn't love me like you did. He was only interested in me for my body, not for me."

My friend giggled, "Well, you do seem to attract a lot of drakes who are no good for you. But...Except for me."

I got closer to him and said, "I never knew you've felt this way about me. I don't know what to say."

He started to cry now and muttered through a sob, "You don't have to say anything." Then he finally broke down.

I just stared at him. Poor old friend. I never knew he felt that way about me. I walked real close to him and I wrapped my wings over him to embrace him, "It's alright. I'm here." Then he leaned his head to my neck and sobbed into my scales.

We were like this for a long time, my wings still over his body. He finally pulled away and I lifted my wings off of him and he said, "Can I...Can I ask you a question?"

I nodded, "Anything."

He gave me a smile and asked, "Would you...Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

My face went wide after he asked that. Why was I shocked? Just because he's my best friend, doesn't mean I can't be with him that way.

But for some reason, my brain and body are telling me no, but why? Is it because we were suppose to stay friends? What's going on with me?

My red friend cocked his head. Still waiting for my answer, "Well? Can you? Just this once?"

I sighed and said, "I'll think about it. You've just lost your mate. I...Still think you need some time for yourself, ok?"

He smiled and nodded, "Ok. Hey at least I've had the courage to ask, right?"

I laughed, "At least you've finally grew a pair of balls and asked!" Then we both laughed.

He exclaimed, "God even when you're not a teenager, you still haven't changed."

I shrugged, "I had...A little bit." I giggled.

Then before I could do anything else, I saw that Eric has shown up on the roof with us. He walked to us and asked, "Is...Everything ok?"

I gave him a reassuring smile and said, "Yeah, everything's fine."

Then I looked at my friend and he looked down at Eric and smiled down at him, "Yeah, we're fine."

That's when Eric said it, "Look, whatever your name is, to tell you the truth...I know what you're going through. You said you've lost a mate? Well...So did I."

My friend's face went wide and then I said, "You weren't the only one, my friend. You see...Eric was with someone before he met me. But a bunch of knights forced themselves on her and killed her. Eric still remembers her. In fact, he has named me after his mate. Sierra."

He looked at me, then he looked down at Eric and asked, "Is that true?"

Eric nodded, "Sierra was beautiful. I can still feel her up to this day. She died a few years ago. By the king's knights. I used to work for him, but I don't anymore. I'm nothing like him, and I never will be. That's why I didn't kill your best friend, I've helped her and saved her. I would've done the same for you." Then Eric gave my friend a smile.

My red friend stared down at Eric for another moment. Then surprisingly, he wrapped his paw around Eric and hugged him close to his body. Eric's face went wide. And frankly so did mine.

My friend looked at Eric and said, "Thank you. For...Saving my friend, for taking care of her, for...Caring for her safety. It really means a lot to me."

Eric smiled at me and while he was being hugged by my friend, Eric patted his body, "Like I said, I would've done the same for you."

My friend giggled and finally let go of Eric, "I don't know how my best friend deserved your friendship, but I'm glad you gave her your friendship. It...Really changed my outlook on you."

Eric then shrugged and grinned, "So am I forgivin?"

My friend laughed and nodded, "Yeah, you're forgivin. You're not the human I've thought you were."

Eric rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been getting that a lot lately." Then he glanced at me, "Right, Sierra?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Oh whatever human. It took me a long time to trust you. And it only took one day for my friend here to trust you." Then after I said that, we all laughed.

After we were done laughing, my red friend looked down at Eric and grinned, "Well...Eric. Maybe me and you can hang and talk sometime. You know just us guys, I could use another pal in my circle."

Eric beamed and said, "Sure! I love to!"

I rolled my eyes, "Well perfect, now that means there's going to be a no girls allowed sign at your place." Then I glared at my red friend, "In case you've forgotten, he was my human first!"

My friend laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to take turns sharing him with you."

Eric raised his hands in defense, "Hold on there! I'm not going to be played like a toy!"

My friend giggled and looked down at Eric for the last time, "See you around, Eric. And thank you for looking out for...Sierra. She needed it." And with that my friend flapped his wings and took to the skies. Flying away from the motel. Leaving me alone with Eric.

I looked down at Eric and smiled, "Eric...Thank you."

He smiled back and shrugged, "He just looked like a nice guy to me. There's no need to thank me."

I said, "I think you've just made another dragon friend other, than me."

Eric nodded, "Yeah...I guess I did." Then he whirled around, looked over his shoulder and asked, "So you ready for more reading lessons tonight?"

I nodded, "Definitely, lets go."

*****

The sun woke me up from my slumber. Morning already? Good god the nights go by fast.

I raised my head from the furs and let out a yawn. I looked down and saw that Eric is not with me anymore.

I gasped when I noticed. Eric? Where did he go? I got up immediately on all fours and bounded out of my motel room to look for Eric.

I ran outside the motel and while I was looking for Eric, I saw a beautiful sight on the street.

Eric is playing with a lot of hatchlings, the hatchlings chasing him around laughing. Eric hollered while he was running, "Can't catch me!" Then Eric tripped and fell to the ground and then the hatchlings who chased him all jumped on him.

They were all laughing and Eric was laughing as well.

I giggled at the scene. Imagine a human playing with a lot of hatchlings. You don't see that everyday. Boy the hatchling's parents would be impressed. Shocked at first, but then impressed. I think Eric will be accepted here sooner than I thought.

While I was looking at Eric playing with the hatchlings. Suddenly, my body felt weird when I was looking at him. It was this weird feeling in my chest. I raised my paw to my chest.

For some reason lately, before me and Eric came to the city, every time I was looking at Eric, I started to feel weird.

A thought crossed my mind. I think I know why my body was telling me to say no to my best friend's proposal for going out with him last night.

It's because....I'm falling in love with Eric...The human.

Eric is kind. But how could I have fallen in love with him?

Can I fall in love with a human? I wonder now.