C18

"My father died recently," he muttered softly as he stared at the floor again, "my mother doesn't want me to travel with my stepfather, however, so I don't think that I'll be travelling with him anymore."

"Is there any reason why you won't travel with him anymore?"

The young man looked up at the small dragon curiously all of a sudden. Was this really the same kind and gentle creature who had helped him out earlier today? This new attitude was confusing him all of a sudden, and he wondered just what was happening inside that mind of his now. Had the events in the cave made him angry with humanity? No, surely not; he had only fought against the demons, and none of the people that he had met during his travels had harmed him. There had been some bad apples among them after all, but nothing more than that, after all. Were the demons truly to blame for these strange happenings, after all? Or perhaps he had seen them too late after all? Perhaps they were to blame after all, and he had missed the warning signs somehow as well? The young man didn't want to consider such possibilities, however, because it didn't sound as though it would end well if they were to become involved in the affairs of the demons too.

"No," he whispered finally, "I'm scared to travel with my stepfather all of a sudden."

The large dragon growled lowly at his answer, and he stared up at the sky all of a sudden as he stared at the clouds as well, and he breathed deeply as he stared at the sky too, but he didn't seem as though he was about to leave anytime soon.

"Why are you travelling alone?" the larger dragon inquired quietly as he stared up at the clouds too, "where are your siblings?"

He glanced back over his shoulder to stare into the skies all of a sudden, and he took a deep breath as he gazed upon them. They weren't his siblings after all, after all, nor had they travelled together for quite some time now, so he could hardly tell the bigger dragons anything about them after all. Not without revealing their identities too, after all, so he remained silent all of a sudden. He had never considered their names either after all, so it was impossible for him to reveal them anyways. He didn't want the dragons to know their true names after all. He could barely remember their real names themselves after all, after all, so they probably wouldn't recognise them if they tried to say them aloud anyways. So, he merely stared at them blankly until they had gone back to staring up at the skies themselves after a short while.

"How old are you, exactly?" the smaller dragon suddenly asked quietly.

He shrugged helplessly all of a sudden as he shook his head, "I can't remember," he admitted slowly, "the last thing that I recall was when I was six years old after all, after all."

That was also when he had started remembering more and more details about his past life as a human, he mused silently. Six was when most children began learning to read and write more easily after all…it might have been due to puberty kicking in more readily around this age as well, but he still couldn't recall for certain though. His memories had gotten fuzzy around this time period as well though…they had been fading for ages now, after all.

"Do you need help?" the smaller dragon enquired politely.

The young man sighed at their kindness. If only they knew…he thought sadly to himself, and the younger dragon nodded gently as she smiled kindly at him. She seemed genuinely concerned for him, and yet she had helped him out more than enough already. How much longer did she plan on staying with him after all? Did she have any idea of what would happen once they reached the town afterwards after all? If they reached the town alright…wouldn't they be attacked on sight at least? After all, this whole journey was completely insane if he came to think about it…what had possessed her to take him along with them all of a sudden? What could she have possibly meant when she said that the town would provide protection for them all of a sudden, after all? It sounded like an incredibly dangerous place. Would they even get through the gates? Or would they simply be captured within minutes of entering?

His imagination ran wild all of a sudden as he pondered upon how difficult it must be for the other villagers living here, after all, after all, he had no idea if he could trust them after all, so it was unlikely that he would have any choice left but to turn them in. But what of their lives? Could they live happily and peacefully in a town filled with strangers after all? What would become of their families after all? And yet he couldn't return home either. He doubted very much whether his stepfather would ever accept his presence back again after all, and his mother may try and kill him herself as soon as she found out about his existence after all. He had no family or friends here after all, after all, so returning home without any friends or relatives here would result in disaster for him. He had nowhere else to go after all, after all.

If he returned home, then his stepfather would definitely come looking for him as soon as he heard that he had disappeared from the village, and his mother would likely try to kill him as soon as she realised who he really was, he mused sadly, so his only option was to keep going northwards, right? He wasn't sure which way led towards the next town anymore, after all, although the path looked fairly clear ahead of him now, so hopefully they would reach the next town before long after all. They had managed to find a few townsfolk so far, after all, so there had to be another one somewhere nearby in case of emergency after all, and he hoped that they wouldn't meet up with any bandits as well as they walked onwards in silence for a while afterwards. He needed to learn where they were going after all, after all, since he planned to walk straight through their paths after all! A small smile played across his lips all of a sudden as he remembered his father's advice whenever things got tough, and he smiled wryly as he pictured his father sitting proudly in front of his desk in his study at that moment, lecturing his students.

"Never give up!"

The young man blinked his eyes rapidly all of a sudden, and he turned to look behind him in surprise as his ears pricked up at the familiar voice all of a sudden.

"Father?"

It had to be him, after all. The young man was positive about it. Why wouldn't it be him? Who else could it have been, after all? The young man hadn't known his real name at first, after all, and he had spent the better part of ten years trying to figure it out, after all. Ten years, and countless hours pouring over the books that his father had given him to decipher, after all, so he had eventually learned his real name by heart, and he had memorised every single word of his lecture.

"What are you doing here, Father?"

A broad grin spread across his face all of a sudden as he stared at the man standing in front of him.

"Why aren't you dead?" the young man muttered under his breath as he stared intently at his father all of a sudden, "how did you survive?"

The man frowned slightly as he scratched his head gently as he stared back at his son, and he tilted his head gently as he grinned faintly.

"I am not entirely sure myself," he murmured softly, and he shook his head lightly. "We didn't have much luck against the demons either, after all, and we lost many good men and women."

He glanced down at his hand as he chuckled softly, and then he looked up at his son again, and then he laughed softly as well.

"But we survived, nevertheless," he stated firmly, "and we shall continue fighting them all of a sudden."

His son gasped softly in surprise, and he stared at him in disbelief as he gaped at him in shock, and yet the older man simply stared back at him calmly with his arms folded across his chest.

"You are alive…"

He swallowed heavily at the words, and he stared back in awe as the man stared back at him in wonderment. He had never imagined that the man before him was actually his own father. He had believed that his parents had died in their village, after all, so he had never expected to see his own father alive.

"Where are my sisters?"

The elder brother sighed quietly, and he shook his head lightly, and then he pointed off into the distance.

"They went to fight the demons some time ago," he replied softly, "but they haven't returned yet. Hopefully they'll return soon though," he added with a faint smile, and he stared at his brother fondly.

"When will Mother return as well, do you suppose?"

"I don't know," the older boy sighed sadly, "we should ask someone," he murmured reluctantly as he frowned slightly, and he stared back at his brother with concern as he shrugged helplessly, "she hasn't returned yet, and no one knows where she has gone either," the man continued as he frowned deeply as well, and he rubbed his hands together anxiously.

"Perhaps she is searching for our missing sisters after all," he suggested quietly, and the older boy nodded as he agreed.

"Mother would not abandon us," the younger child argued, and the man sighed softly as he glanced up into the skies. They were getting dark quickly, after all, so it wouldn't be long until nightfall arrived too…and if they stayed out any later, they would be vulnerable to monsters too. Monsters lived amongst the trees too, so perhaps they might be able to encounter them too, although they could probably escape from them easily enough if they could avoid them for long enough too, so they could always run away if necessary too, so they might be okay even if they encountered them, after all, so they both remained silent for a while afterwards, although they shared a knowing glance before they broke apart to start walking forwards once more too.

As they walked onward though, they spotted several more villages dotted about between the woods, although these ones appeared to be abandoned, so they decided to pass them by as they kept moving onwards. The young man had no idea what had caused this state of affairs though, and neither did the older boy as they passed each deserted town after all, although they both knew that something bad must have happened here, after all. Perhaps they had been attacked by monsters after all, after all, but this was highly improbable, after all, after all, they had seen nothing at all during their entire journey until now, after all. And if they had met up with a monster at least once, then they would surely have noticed, after all, after all, they had crossed numerous streams and rivers on their way here as well, after all. There was no sign of a single monster anywhere near them either, and there had been plenty of opportunities for a creature to jump out at them as well. It had to mean that no one survived the attack, after all, after all. No survivors meant no more people to protect the towns from other creatures in the forest either, and the young man frowned as he thought back upon the attacks he had witnessed earlier. Was it possible for the towns to stand alone against such powerful enemies? Surely they needed more manpower in order to stop such threats, after all. Even a single dragon could wipe out an army of soldiers in seconds with just a few blows of its tail, after all, so there were bound to be more dragons lurking in the forests somewhere as well. He shuddered at the thought as he wondered how many dragons might exist in total too…he didn't want to think about it as he tried to push the thoughts aside as best as he could as they finally reached the next town too. It seemed that this town was even larger than the previous one, and it had dozens upon dozens upon dozens of buildings around it as well, so it would take quite some time before they reached the centre of town after all, so he gazed about curiously as he followed his elder brother forwards. It was strange how the town looked different somehow…it looked even bigger than he recalled, although he wasn't sure why that was the case either.

"What is wrong?" his younger sibling whispered suddenly as he caught up to him, and he smiled softly as he looked down at him all of a sudden as he nodded softly, and he patted his little brother on the shoulder.

"It appears that the town is even bigger than I remember," he murmured quietly, "so I guess we'll need to spend a day or two here at least," he suggested softly as he glanced about curiously as he peered through the trees carefully, "the roads are very well lit too, so I doubt any monsters will bother us for a while," he added as he grinned widely, and he gestured about excitedly as he grinned brightly, "come on," he urged his younger brother eagerly as he led him forward, "let's go inside," he suggested eagerly, "I can already smell food cooking," he exclaimed joyfully as he giggled delightedly, "there are even stalls set up outside everywhere too," he added happily, "perhaps we'll get free hot meals tonight!"

The young man blinked in surprise as he gaped at him all of a sudden as he felt himself smiling gently all of a sudden. So this was his older brother after all, he mused to himself with interest as he turned to follow his elder brother. His sister would certainly approve!