Exhausted

Except for the dragon, no one else could sleep in that laboratory. The cleanup took a lot longer than they thought.

Now, the environment even smelled good and, despite being tired, they couldn't take their eyes off the man who had been removed from the cocoon, not even for a second.

But, as their tiredness was extreme, they gave in to sleep and only woke up hours later due to nearby noise.

They could hardly believe their eyes when they saw a man cornered, trying to protect himself at all costs from the dragon, which seemed to want to swallow him again.

Maybe this time I'll even chew it a little.

Kowalsk was the first to react, standing in front of the dragon with a knife in his hand, threatening to stab him if he didn't hand over the victim.

The dragon did not feel intimidated, but seemed to avoid a direct confrontation with Kowalsk.

Gareno acted quickly and before anyone could say anything, he was already on the dragon's back, with the two special gloves on his hands, ready to attack.

However, Thilláila was faster than Gareno. Before he could attack the dragon, she immobilized Gareno by twisting his hands behind his back and immediately knocking him off the dragon.

The fall didn't cause much damage, but the same couldn't be said for Thilláila, who could barely move.

The dragon's attention changed and now he advanced towards Gareno to defend Thilláila.

The situation was tense, and Gareno, not yet fully upright, was preparing to deliver a powerful blow to the dragon's face, which still did not appear to be fully recovered.

Kowalsk didn't know what else to do: if he attacked the dragon, he attacked Gareno or simply did nothing.

At that moment, he remembered that his knife would do nothing against the creature's impenetrable skin.

But either way, he was there to show that he cared.

"Drop that weapon, Kowalsk. You don't seem sure what you intend to do."

"Then drop those gloves, Gareno, because you want to hurt the dragon, and the dragon just wants to protect Thilláila. You'll end up hurting the dragon, hurting Thilláila, and probably hurting me too. a good idea. So let's all put down our weapons."

"Didn't you see how she attacked me, Kowalsk?" asked Gareno, indignant.

"Did you attack, Gareno? Why did you attack Gareno, Thilláila?" asked Kowalsk, feeling confused.

"I just wanted to prevent him from hurting the dragon", replied the girl, being helped by the old soldier.

"See, Kowalsk? You still think I can trust a woman?"

"Ah, Gareno! Stop the drama. Let's stop this nonsense. I'm hungry and I want to eat something, not fight."

"Kowalsk, I can't believe you asked me to drop my gloves and didn't help me get up completely? How do you think I would punch the dragon in the face while kneeling like that?"

"I don't know, maybe if you asked nicely he would bend down so you could punch him in the face. But I'm glad you made up. I feel a lot better already. Besides, I'm starving and I wanted to know if the breakfast morning will take a while."

Gareno was already furious because of Kowalsk's lame jokes.

Suddenly, everyone, including the dragon, was surprised by the voice of the man taken from inside the dragon.

Everyone wanted to ask something, leaving the man terribly confused until several growls and roars from dragons still outside the laboratory woke them up to reality.

This wasn't a talk show with special guests and everything.

It was just a break to prepare for the fight they would soon take part in.

And if they wanted to stay alive, they needed to come together more and become aware that they were at war, whether they liked it or not.

"Who are you? Where are you from? And most importantly, how did you end up inside that dragon?" asked Kowalsk, stepping in front of the others.

"I guess the more important question would be why did you end up inside the dragon?" contributed Gareno, with Kowalsk nodding in agreement.

Thilláila also wanted to ask a question, but was gently interrupted by the man, who seemed quite comfortable with everyone.