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The entire day was spent training and preparing for a potential battle. Foot soldiers, knights and dragons all spent their time training while being watched by the grandmaster and the old grim dragon.

Henry, Cyrvanyx and the other members of the inner circle were also taking part in the training. For the training they used wooden swords, not because they were afraid of injuring themselves, as they were wearing their full armor, but because they did not want their weapons or armor to be damaged during the training.

The knights of the dragon were very well equipped with both excellent weapons and armor. The knights of the inner circle all wore full plate armor with mail underneath. On the breastplate, a golden dragon with his wings spread was engraved, which was the sigil of the order and of Albia. It may look heavy and bulky at first glance but if its tailored to the wearer its is surprisingly agile. The armor also feels lighter for the wearer, as the weight is distributed on the whole body.

No blade, no matter how sharp, could manage to cut through that armor.

Making armor for dragons was more difficult for a blacksmith for many reasons. Be that the size of the plates, the shape, the materials and so on and so on. Dragons were built in a different way than humans, obviously. In their armor they should still be able to move the way they used to. So their armor covered their front and hindlegs, their neck, their whole underside and partly also their face.

They trained in the inner courtyard while the common soldiers trained in the outer courtyard. Dragonstone castle was built on top of a small mountain that was once connected to another mountain with a natural bridge. But that bridge was removed after the castle was built and was replaced by a drawbridge. That drawbridge blocked the only way into the castle.

And even if an attacking force would manage to somehow let down the drawbridge they would have to ram in a gate, then the second gate, in the same gatehouse while being constantly harassed by archers who would shot them through so called murderholes in the ceiling of the gatehouse.

Even if they made it into the courtyard they would have to go through a second wall and a second gatehouse. Dragonstone was a fortress, and probably the orders only hope of survival.

In wars of the past the lords, knights and kings of Albia fought against foes who weren´t prepared to fight against knights on the back of fire breathing dragons. But Ulric and his men were prepared and trained to fight dragons and men alike, not all of them, but enough to be a threat. At the battle near Dimbarrow dragons were shot out of the sky like it was nothing. When Ulric´s men arrived, they had to be prepared for the worst.

The day passed by quickly and the sun was already beginning to set as the training was over. For Henry though, the day seemed like a whole eternity. He was distracted by his thoughts the whole time. He thought about the war and the upcoming battle. He was almost certain that it would mean the end for all of them. He was not ready to die yet. How would death feel like? What would happen after death?

What would happen to his family?

Henry tried to shake those thoughts out of his mind, but it didn´t work. Only after he ate supper with his brothers he managed to think of someone else, and that someone was Cyrvanyx.

He promised himself that he would let him enjoy life at least once in his lifetime. So that he could put aside duty, or whatever was on his mind, and just have fun for once. Henry already knew how.

In the afternoon, when most of the members of the order were going to bed, Henry got to the storage room. He took some of the finest wine and imported mead, hoping that two missing bottles would not be too obvious.

As he walked through the main hall to get back to his room to dress up in a proper attire he saw a couple of his brothers sitting at a table, with two dragons beside them, drinking and having fun. Henry walked past them with a smile. It seemed like he wasn´t the only one who wanted to celebrate the days they had left.

For the occasion he put on some of his more formal clothing. The black gambeson he was wearing reached down to his knees, giving him the noble appearance of a lord. The brown leather boots only added to that, while his woolen breeches were almost hidden underneath the long gambeson. Then, with a bottle of mead in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other he made his way towards Cyrvanyx´ room.

Walking down the stairs to the dragon quarters he realized how quiet it was. That was strange. Normally the dragons wouldn´t be sleeping that early. Then he realized it was as quiet as a graveyard down there because no one was there, apart from Cyrvanyx.

Henry peeked inside his room to see him resting on his belly, looking at the ground while he carved strange symbols into the stone floor with his claws. He had never seen them before in any way. "What do these symbols mean?" He asked out aloud as he entered the gloomy room that was only enlightened by a single oil lantern on the wall.

Cyr´s head shot up from the floor, his ears standing on attention. "... Oh, hello Henry." He gazed around for a bit while Henry stepped further into the room until he sat down on a crate that stood in the corner. "What does what mean?"

"These symbols." Henry put down the bottles before pointing towards the markings in the floor. "What do they mean?"

"Err..." He grumbled, searching for the right words. "It is writing, our writing. It´s just one word though. It means..." He paused and gazed at Henry. "It means hope."

Henry nodded and looked at the word for a while longer. "Ah, hope. Very fitting considering our situation." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Mhhm." Cyrvanyx murmured in response. He sighed and stared at the symbol he carved into the ground.

"Something is distracting you." Henry said, scratching his beard. "It is the kings death, right? Our current situation? Or is it something else?" Cyr just nodded. Henry leaned forward to see the look on Cyr´s face as he was staring at the ground. Gods, never before had he seen him like that. He saw him bored or annoyed before, but at that moment he seemed almost depressed.

He hopped off the crate and knelt down right beside Cyr´s head. But Cyrvanyx only turned his head to look at him as he felt a hand on his forehead. "Listen now." Henry lowered his voice as he spoke. "I know that... all this may look a bit hopeless but... but that is no reason to be sad all day. Do you want to spent your potentially last days like that?" He chuckled briefly. "And besides, it is not certain that we will die. This castle has withstood many attacks and it will also hold off whatever they can throw at us."

The dragon looked him right in the eyes without even blinking once. They just stared at each other for a few silent moments while Henry gently stroked the scales on his forehead. After some time Cyrvanyx blinked his eyes and looked away. "You are right." His voice was shaking slightly as he spoke. "My mind was... never really at rest. I was always focused on... other things."

Henry smiled and withdrew his hand. "Good thing you came up with that yourself. I thought I was the one who had to pull that stick out of your arse."

"What?" Cyr frowned at him while Henry stood up to get the wine and the mead. "Say that again and you will soon find something up YOUR ass."

Henry had just picked up the bottle of mead as he started laughing. "Ha ha, that was... wait is everything alright?"

Cyr´s smile slowly faded. "Hm?"

"You made a joke! You never do that." Henry said with a smirk as he picked up the other bottle filled with alcohol.

Then it was Cyr´s turn to smirk. "Who said that was a joke?"

"Hey!" Henry put down the wine on the ground next to Cyrvanyx. "Don´t go too far, my friend." He was pleased as he heard the sound of Cyr´s laughter while he sat down next to him. Henry simply smiled as he relished that rare moment. Once Cyr had stopped laughing he glanced at Henry with the big smirk still on his face. "Thank you, Henry. I really need to do that more often."

"I wish you would´ve realized that earlier." Henry commented as he uncorked the bottle of wine and then the bottle of mead. He then poured some of the mead into the bowl that Cyrvanyx used to drink out of. Before Cyrvanyx could say anything he emptied the entire bottle. "You should drink some of that. It´s imported mead, from the far north."

Cyrvanyx sniffed at the strange orange liquid in his bowl and then looked at Henry. "I heard that the northerners are Dragonslayers."

"No, no, not all of them, not anymore." He took a gulp from the wine bottle, shaking his head, his eyes shut as he was surprised by the bitter taste. "Gods, I didn't expect it to be that bitter."

"So..." Cyrvanyx looked at the mead again. "So how is... err... Elise? That was her name right?"

Henry almost jumped in surprise and joy as he said that name. "Hah, finally you managed to remember her name. She´s well as far as I know. She´s in the village at the moment, watching over William, you know, my son."

"Yes I know." Cyr stared at his paws. "Where is she from?"

Henry gave him an odd look. He wasn´t trying to change the subject was he? "Lyon, north west from here, outside the kingdom of Albia." He blandly responded. "She was the daughter of a lord. And now stop trying to change the subject any further and drink the bloody mead."

Cyrvanyx grunted, once more staring at the mead. "If I must." He scrunched his muzzle as he got closer and the smell got more intense than before. He hesitated at first but then he lapped at the strange smelling liquid and gulped it down.

In an immediate reaction he shook his head and his whole body shivered. "That was... sweet, very sweet." He licked his paw, trying to get that weird taste off his tongue. "And what is that... horrible aftertaste..."

"Well if you don´t like that then maybe you should try the-"

"No. The... the mead will do." Cyr stated, turning away from the mead to look at Henry. "How about... a different subject?" He settled down on his haunches and glared at his companion.

"Very well." Henry smirked as he recalled something the other dragons had said as they made jokes about Cyrvanyx. "As you mentioned my wife before I remembered that I wanted to talk to you about something." Henry tapped the wine bottle in his hand with a finger. "Have you ever been with a female before?"

That question surprised Cyrvanyx more than Henry had thought. His eyes went wide for a moment before he looked away, unable to meet Henry´s gaze, and his ears lowered. Henry was worried that he may have asked something a bit to personal. Just as he was about to apologize, he got his answer. "No." He said with a grumbling voice.

Henry did not know if that was some kind of old pain he just rekindled or if he was just uncomfortable with that question. The dragon was difficult to read sometimes, or more like always. "And why..." Henry stopped, looking at him. He had to choose his next words wisely. He wasn't gonna ruin this moment he had with him. "And why is that?"

The way he glared at the ground, all his frills lowered, his ears laying flat against his head, it looked like he was either embarrassed, ashamed or both. When he asked him he expected an answer like "I don´t need that kind of affection", but instead he got only silence.

By then it seemed like he was hiding something from him. He saw it in his eyes the moment that question passed his lips. There was something hiding beneath all that grumpiness over the past years.

"You know if this is something you´d rather keep for yourself than that´s okay." He reached forth to stroke the scales on his neck and Cyr´s gaze met his. "You are my friend after all and I..." He waved his hand in the air, struggling for the right words. "I just wanted this to be a fun and happy moment between the two of us because we have those so rarely."

A smile twitched at the edge of his muzzle. "I know, Henry, and I understand. I should´ve been... more open at some times... it was just that... I... was always so lost in my thoughts... I was so... always thinking about how to impress-" He trailed of, gazing away.

Henry rose a single eyebrow. Seemed like he just blurted out a secret of his. "Impressing who?" He took one step forward so that he would stand right before him. Cyrvanyx murmured something in a language Henry didn´t understand. It was probably dragon tongue. While Henry folded his arms above his chest the dragon straightened up, looking down on him.

It was always a bit frightening when he did that, or it would be if Henry wouldn´t know him for ten years at the time. He sat on his haunches and leaned some of his weight on his forelegs. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let out a defeated sigh. Once he opened them he simply blurted out a name. "Arylaryl."

"what?" He cocked his head to the side. "That name... sounds familiar."

"Probably because you see her every day. She´s sworn to Gareth." His voice was soft and Henry could see how the scales on his cheeks were turning into a dark shade of red. Was he blushing? He don´t know that dragons could even do that. He did know that dragons were no lizards, but that was new, even to him.

"Ah, you mean... green scales and blue eyes?"

Cyrvanyx nodded. "Emerald green scales with blue markings on her paws and her snout. And eyes like pure sapphires, shining in the sun." His smile widened and so did Henry´s smirk.

As the dragon noticed the way Henry was smirking at him, his own smile vanished. "What? Do think that is funny?"

"No, no!" Henry blinked his eyes, quickly shaking his head. "I was just thinking... that..." He took a deep breath. "If you tried to impress her and win her favor or something like that... then why did I only see you two together once or twice in ten years?"

Cyrvanyx opened his muzzle to speak, but closed it again as quickly as he opened it, as he found no words. "Well I... I" He gazed around the room, trying to look at anything that was not Henry. "I just... never have time... to..."

"Cyrvanyx." Henry put a serious tone in his voice as he spoke his full name which he only did when he was either angry or serious. "Don´t even try to make up a lie. You are a terrible liar." Henry took one step forward, reaching forward to grasp his chin, forcing him to look directly at him. "Are you afraid?"

At first there was no answer, and he just stared blandly at Henry. He saw that his eyes began to tear up as he continued to stare at him. When he blinked the tears out of his eyes he let out a slow and deep growl. Henry just smiled as he was probably cursing himself for almost crying in front of him. Then Cyrvanyx looked away, looking at the symbol he had carved in the ground. "... I... Maybe a little..."

After he stammered those words, Henry could not hold back a laugh no matter how hard he tried. "It´s not funny!" The dragon growled at him through grit teeth, thumping his tail on the ground.

Henry took two steps backwards as he tried to stop laughing. "I´m... sorry." He wheezed as he managed to stop. "I was laughing because I don´t know what you are afraid of. I mean..." He spread out his arms looking the dragon over. "Look at you. What could you possibly fear?"

The dragon sighed. "You probably don´t know it, but me and her were friends once. but that´s... a long time ago. And now I fear that she might not like who I became. She might think me as... boring." He said, softening his voice as he spoke.

"What? No, no, my friend." He chuckled a little as he patted Cyr´s nose. "You are definitely not boring. I mean not long ago you made a perfectly funny joke about sticking something up my ass." That made Cyrvanyx laugh, at least a little. "Or at least I hope that was a joke." He murmured which made the dragon only laugh more than before.

"So maybe you should just show her that there is more in you. Show her that you are still the same. Maybe even try to rekindle old memories. Or you could..."

"Yes, thank you, Henry." He gently put a paw on Henry´s shoulder. "I really just want to rekindle an old friendship, that´s it." He said with a smile, his voice filled with an unusual happiness.

"Wait... friendship?" He frowned at him. "I thought this was about more than that." A smirk crossed Henry´s face. "If you know what I mean."

"No, Henry." He said with a stern tone to his voice. "I just... want to talk to her again."

"But the way you talked about her seemed like more than just friendship."

"Well... she is beautiful. And... I..." Cyrvanyx stammered, unsure what to say next.

"Have you ever thought that you might... have feelings for her?" Henry asked. When Cyrvanyx rolled his eyes he added afterwards. "I´m not joking. This time I´m serious."

The dragon looked at him for a moment while Henry waited for an answer. That question must have got him thinking. "I... don´t know. I never really... thought about that." They looked each other in the eyes. "I don´t know. I only know that I feel... something. But I don´t know what it is."

"fair enough." Henry put on a smile to lighten up the mood again. "So..." He turned around to grab the bottle of wine. "Now that we both are in a good mood how about we make this a night we won´t forget?"

Cyrvanyx stared at him for a while, then at the bowl that was still filled with mead. He smiled. "Very well."

"Good." Henry said lifting the wine bottle in the air. "On friendship then!"

Cyr picked up the bowl with his paw and held it in front of his muzzle. "On friendship."

By then Henry already knew that it was going to be a long night...

...and that they would need a lot more alcohol.

*Authors note*

Well, well, its seems that these two will surely wake up with a headache the next morning, or worse. At least that way they can get their mind off the war, for a while... Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. I am really interested what people think about the things I write.