Delvara was silent, shadows stretching across the passages, and street lamps flickering on. The light from the lamps cast shadows onto building walls, figures moving swiftly in the night. A woman's scream tore through, a straggler of the fleeing wealthy who failed to leave before sundown. A group of men had trapped a woman, one man restraining her, while the other three stripped her of her jewels. The woman continued screaming for help, but all that she heard were her own screams and sobbing cries, the man restraining her covered her mouth, and whispered into her ear. "Shut your filthy noble mouth. No one's coming to save you. You're rich as it is, aren't you? You can buy new jewels, clothes, shoes, and even a slave to scrub the shit off of them."

  The woman was running out of breath and energy to continue screaming. All of her valuables were taken, and no one had the heart to help. Delvara listens, but it never gets involved. Phithian Knights that were everywhere in the day were nowhere to be found at night. Terror was the heart of it. In one of the secret passages, four men snickered to each other as a teenage girl had blindly passed by, angst weighing heavy on her shoulders. She felt eyes digging into her back, so she walked faster, but the men followed her at the same pace. Too afraid to look back and too scared to call for help, she took it upon herself, running as fast as she could down the street. However, she was flanked by two more men. The white-haired girl was snatched by a bulky man. She immediately attempted to scream, but her mouth was covered by his grimy hand. The girl kicked, bit, scratched, and threw herself around, but the bulky man kept her firmly in place, her nibbles barely making him flinch.

  "This is the one?... Pfft, could've mistaken her for a vagrant. How much was it to catch her?" The bulky man approached the rest of his crew, holding the young girl tightly by her hair.

  "The old slob said he'd pay between fifteen to fifty Aegium, depending on what condition we bring her back in." One of the men said.

  "Oh, yeah. That sounds like good money to me…" The bulky man replied. The girl was distracted for a moment. She swore she could've seen something passing in the shadows. Was it a golden light? She couldn't discern it and thought her mind was playing tricks on her. The bulky man began to walk.

  "Alright, Missy. Time to get you to the auction—" The girl slipped free from his grip, and she ran even faster this time, but ended up tripping, falling to the ground. "She's free! Don't let her get to those damn alleys!" The bulky man turned to chase after her. A golden light flashed from a nearby alley, and Veyric rushed out quickly, jumping into the air. He drove his knee into the side of the bulky man's face. The man was dragged with the force of the knee, flying off his feet, and collapsing onto his side, his body unresponsive. Steam was bursting from Veyric's hands, the golden light fiercely glowing from under his hood.

  "What the fuck?!" One of the men said, their voice turning to a tone of cowardice. Veyric burst forward, grappling the man by the back of his head, driving his elbow into their face, then ramming his knee into their stomach, before tossing them along the ground like trash. A man flanked Veyric with a knife, but he swiftly avoided the slash. However, the fabric of his hood was pierced by the knife, creating a revealing rip, and a golden horn escaped. The man with the knife staggered backwards for a moment, hand trembling as he tried to keep himself together.

  "W-... What are you?" He asked, trying to create distance, but stumbled down onto his rear. The girl froze in place, watching in astonishment. Veyric lifted his leg and stomped the man's face in, head slamming up against the back of the ground. The other men who stood idly and watched were long gone. Veyric shook his head, stray locks of golden hair escaping his hood. The girl was approaching him, and he instinctively growled. His eyes were golden and slitted. For a moment, she thought she was face-to-face with a colossal dragon. Veyric's glowing horn that escaped was curled back. His horn had unique runes embedded in it that matched the color of his gold, vibrant eyes.

  "It shouldn't be that hard to hold back." He muttered to himself.

  "This is absurd… Y-... You're a dragon?" The girl said.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Veyric sighed, grumbling before responding.

  "Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of." He said.

  "What? Did you not see how many of them there were…? They're just going to come back until they take me to whatever sick, fucked up place they want to sell me off to!" She shouted.

  "I've been running for weeks! You think I do this for fun?" The girl added.

  "Then, just leave! You're lucky I even helped you!" Veyric growled back.

  "Oh, sure, let me just walk up to the nearest stall—' Excuse me, sir, could you kindly give directions to anywhere-but-here before someone sells me at an auction? Like that'll go well. See my problem? No one's handing out maps with their morning bread in Delvara!" She ranted.

  Veyric sighed with another slight grumble.

  "Just go home, none of that's my problem."

  "Oh, yeah? It'll be your problem when I get captured and say a strange, cloaked man with horns saved me." She said with a grin. Veyric grumbled again, eyes glowing briefly before he considered her words.

  "Realistically, there's nothing I can do to help you. You're on your own."

  "So, that's it? You're just gonna let me get abducted? Want me to spell it out in soup what they're going to do to me?" She said.

  Veyric's feet shuffled, kicking a pebble across the ground. Taking a deep breath in and out.

  "Listen, you're trouble. I'm trouble. If we stick together, maybe no one will notice either of us. Worst case, someone notices and we both die. At least then we don't die alone." She said.

  "Fine…" Veyric reluctantly added.

  "But we're not going to die… Definitely not here, of all places. C'mon, try to keep up." Veyric stepped into motion, pulling out his map and looking at it.

  "My name's Vera, by the way… Just thought you should know." She said.

  "I'm Veyric." He replied, his voice losing its draconic roughness.

  "Vera and Veyric… Has a nice ring, doesn't it?" She chuckles.

  "I guess so…?" He unconfidently answered.

  "So… You're actually a dragon? Does that mean you can turn into one and fly around?" She questioned.

  "I'm a hybrid… I can't turn into one, I don't think." He responded.

  "Hybrid, right? That means one of your parents procreated with a literal dragon, right?" She asked.

  "Uh, I guess? I haven't really thought about that before." He replied.

  "Ew, that's kind of gross. Where are we headed?" Vera looked around, but realized that Veyric was too.

  "We're going to Leviara. I heard that I'd be able to find out more about the Wyvernlands there." Veyric said.

  "Wyvernlands? Never heard of that place before." She said.

  " But Leviara? That's where I wanted to go, too! I'd easily be able to get into the magic academy." She stated.

  "Sorry, what? Magic academy?" Veyric's head shifted down to her.

  "Really? How haven't you heard? People from all over Augus try to get in, but fail the entrance exams miserably!" She explained.

  "What makes you think you'll pass it easily?" Veyric asked.

  "Because I've studied for it in any way I possibly could have! Sure, I might have stolen a lot of books, but it's for the greater good!" She added.

  "I don't think you know what that means." He said. Vera crossed her arms

  "Of course I do!" The night continued, and they traveled until hitting the dirt trails of the forest.