“Well, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to sleep. Quests are hard and tiring,” Leo complained, wiggling back against the trunk.
Morah’s growl of admonishment was cut off when the tree shook again. Instead, she released a deep sigh and hugged the limb even harder. Below them, the woverbear paced back and forth for several minutes before laying down. Seconds after the momma woverbear laid down, five smaller replicas of the creature bounded out from across the meadow and began attacking the tree, bouncing off the thick trunk, and tumbling over each other with tiny growls.
What do you find so funny? Morah demanded when her dragon snorted with amusement.
I like this quest. It fun.
Morah grunted in disagreement and sighed. Exhaustion pulled Morah and her dragon closer to sleep. Buttercup shifted and carefully wove its golden body around Morah’s drowsy dragon to keep it from falling during the night.
Thank you, Buttercup, Morah silently murmured.
Warmth filled her, and her dragon snuggled under the symbiot blanket. She was almost asleep when she felt a gentle hand caress her head. She murmured in her sleep.
Sleep well, little Priestess. The woverbear and her cubs will be gone when you wake.
Deep in the forest
The cloaked figure moved through the forest with an uneven, but determined gait. A snap of a branch caused the slender young woman to pause and listen before she continued walking. Only the faint glow of the lantern lit her path as she wound deeper and deeper into the woods, seeking solitude from the dark memories that threatened to consume her.
Sensing she was not alone, the woman stopped and turned, holding up the lantern. The distorted shape following her paused in mid-step, frozen along the dark path. The creature’s eyes cast an eerie reflection in the light.
“I told you to leave me alone,” the woman hissed, in a low angry voice.
The creature shimmered in the darkness and crouched down on the path, almost becoming invisible. With a growl of frustration, the woman turned and continued deeper into the forest, knowing that nothing she said would stop the beast from following her. So far it had kept its distance. She could only hope that it would continue to do so. If it didn’t, there was little she could do. After all, she was a human living on a strange alien planet filled with dragon-shifting people and other bizarre life forms.