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How a dragon trains you

Part 18

In the name of science

Fahren? So that's what his name was? My mind idling on my way back to the town, the thoughts kept wandering off to what I had just learned from my dragon. Scír Fahren... what an unusual name, which wasn't surprising since it's a dragon's name. I never knew dragon's have names! The concept itself wasn't what dazzled me, more that I had always thought that dragons lived like feral creatures. Animals don't give each other names! I wonder if the names have a certain meaning... I couldn't tell, I've heard neither of those words ever before, nor anything like it. Was that another language? Is there something like a dragon-language? I've got to ask him that once we're back together this evening...

My thoughts stopped abruptly as the path came into view, the gate to the right, unfortunately not unoccupied as I had hoped. I knew, I was probably just being paranoid, but I couldn't know whether my sudden absence yesterday caused any ruckus or not. Anything could have happened yesterday! Benton could have just figured that I went home. Or that I got lost in the streets. He might have been looking for me, seeing that I'm not home and nowhere to be found, or simply not given a damn and gone back to the reunion to take care of the other drunkard. Levicus... without a doubt, he was too drunk to care that I was gone or to be able to remember it today. But what if he learned just this morning that I was gone? Anything could be going on in those walls, and it unsettled me. Approaching the gate, I caught myself slowing down, hesitating. It was in moments like those that I regretted this... secret life I was living. The excuses, the secrets... even now that Levicus and Benton knew, I couldn't do anything but keep my dragon away from everybody, to keep my life in this town and the life with the dragon separate... Is there no way to resolve this, other than having to constantly decide between the two? The worries in my head were cut short as I started to delve into small crowds by and around the gate. I took a closer look... no one seeming upset... no additional guards... no 'missing' posters with my name and face on it... everything was as usual, which was relieving to see as it meant that things couldn't have gone that bad that the public would know. A bit more confident, I stepped forward. The only thing seeming off to me was one or two weird looks I saw some of the guardsmen shoot me, more or less behind my back. I remembered that yesterday at the reunion, Levicus told me that I already had certain rumors around me within the town's guard. Things about entering the town without anybody seeing me exit it. Or the other way around. They thought nothing by it, many things slip by them every day. But he still adviced me to be careful... Shortcutting through the alley as I always did, I came upon his store once again, noticing that his store had changed even more. Not only was it clean, but the shelves seemed to have been refilled! I picked up the pace and rushed inside, looking around. Indeed, there were new items while the old ones, that always have been here for so long that the place seemed almost a bit unfamiliar without them, were gone. Either sold or thrown away. Especially catching my eye were different the kind of hides for show, some leather-armored clothing with most of them helmets, antlers and an entire row of iron swords, looking sort of exotic. Like a cutlass, just without the handle guard. "Oh, good heavens! There you are!" Levicus interrupted my browsing and surprised me from behind, popping out from the behind one of the shelves. He didn't look hangover anyhow. Of course he didn't, the drinking was his thing. "Like them?" he proceeded to ask as he saw me stare at his new goods. "I met an interesting fella at your reunion and we got talkin' a bit. He agreed to let me sell some of his stuff. Heh, you could have told me you had a blacksmith in your family, Merv!" Cheekily, he pinched me by my shoulder, like he always did a bit edgy, oblivious to that I was concerned about something else. He stepped up next to me, pointing his hand to another shelf. I tried to stop his talking. "Levi, look-" "Just check this out!" Levi had modified the shelf a little, the singular panels removed, allowing room for another row of well-kept fine steel longswords, standing up by their handle and leaning against the backside. "I got those off a caravan from the south this morning. Man. Who knew all it took was a couple catches to get this place up and rollin'!"

"Levicus, that's great, but... when I left yesterday, was there anything... special that happened?"

"Heh, you mean when you fucked yourself up yesterday? At your own reunion?" I looked away a little. Those weren't pleasant memories... "You bet your ass something special happened when you 'left' yesterday. Benton told me you just disappeared! Out of nowhere! Me and him were looking for you in the whole goddamn town! Well, actually just him. Benton didn't want to end up having to search for /two/ lost drunk friends, so he told me to get back to the reunion and make things up in case anybody asks where you've gone. But other from that, it was pretty much normal yesterday."

He turned to me, his smile dropping as he saw those suggesting marks on my body. "Seriously, where were you?! And what happened to you?"

"Oh, that... well I err... that's not important." I pulled the sleeves of my shirt down and also adjusted it a bit to cover up my shoulder.

"Come on, I actually didn't bother at first but now you've triggered my curiosity. Tell me!" I stayed silent. "I know that gaze. It was something involving your... dragon-friend, wasn't it?"

"Well... yeah. He was so kind to pick me up on my way home after Benton has-"

"Hold on. You brought your dragon into town AGAIN!? Are you out of your mind?!"

"No! I didn't! He did it on his own this time!"

"Well, tell him to not do it again! Do you have any idea of what will happen when someone sees him here?!"

"I know, I know! I've already told him to stay outside the walls! It's all been taken care of! Geez man, you don't always have to freak out so much."

Levi just groaned. "It is not easy to know that there's a dragon dwelling around our town, Mervyn. You better handle this. Oh -speaking of which... by the way..." He quickly looked around, making sure no one was there. "The stock your dragon has provided me with has pretty much run out, and... well, I'm busy with the store all day and don't have time for huntin'. You mind... going on a little hunt 'yourself'? But don't make your dragon bring as much as last time, that'll only raise concerns!"

"Are you being serious- okay, fine. But from the money you make from it you'll hire some more people that can go hunting for you. The dragon isn't your employee."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say. Oh- and one more thing. Benton is still looking for you. Not because you went lost yesterday, he eventually figured that you ran off with the dragon and that you're safe. But he still wanted to talk with you about something."

"Benton? What does he want? I'll say this right away, any manners with the dragon don't concern him."

"He wouldn't tell. Just wanted to speak to ya and- oh, a customer! Shoo! Get out of here and get workin'!"

I didn't catch a glimpse of who went through our door, I was being pushed off and pointed towards the back door too fast. "And don't forget about Benton! He should be home, in his office or whatever he calls it!" Levicus loudly whispered after me as I went through the backdoor, before he turned around and all I heard was the typical 'how can I help?' behind the shut door. Groaning a bit, I walked out into the partially sunlit, partially shadow covered backyard. I sat down onto the little step by the door, noticing an uncomfortable pain in my hind caused by yesterday's doings, that made me stand back up, leaning against a wall instead and rub my still somewhat sleepy face in my hands. What would Benton even want from me? Doesn't he know enough already? What a strange guy... I hope I was right to trust Levi's word he gave me for him, and that he wouldn't snitch it out to anybody... I decided that what I'd be doing today was to clear this up with him, maybe lend a hand to Levi if there's still time, and then leave for the forest on time and see Fahren again... I wonder what he's up to now? ...

Breaking out of the masses of the crowds, I arrived by the building which I hopefully remembered correctly to be Benton's. It was a fine-looking house, standing out by the stone's whitish color and the dark timber frontage out of a row of various other multi-storied buildings with the same height. They were practically sharing their walls, a row of houses to each side of the road that lead to the town's center to my right, the houses' looks varying from dark and dirty to bright and fancy. Even the ugliest of them, they all looked like neat places to live in, except that you have the town's daily chaos right on your doorstep. The streets were busy, the bottom row windows were covered, the doors thick and metal gates barricade the little aisles formed by irregular small gaps in between some of the buildings. A bit overcome by the sight, I forced my gaze off the looming buildings, which laid the entire road in shadows, and stepped forward onto the three-step stairs to the dark thick wooden door on its end. A heavy iron doorknocker hung off a small iron panel in the center of the door, a metal sign which had 'Benton Mitch Beaufort' engraved on it in cursive letters right beneath the handle. Ever since the founder of the 'hall of the sick' healer-place has passed over the ownership to him, he got into a higher place, and it showed. Luckily, the wealth didn't affect his personality, at least that's what Levi told me. He was the same Benton now as he was then, back in the day when Levi met him in the Legion. That attitude of his, which was something between undisturbed and ignorant, had always been a part of him. He did have his good sides, too. Without him, at least without his occasional financial aids and his free treatments he granted me and Levi when one of us managed to get ourselves injured again, the store most likely wouldn't even exist. A bit hesitantly, I grasped the ring and gently smacked it against the door a couple times. Even with my rather weak knocking, the iron sent a bunch of dull yet loud sounds through the room ahead; sounds that no one could miss. I didn't have to wait for long until I heard steps untroubledly travelling down some stairs. There wasn't much of a rush. A small piece of wood on the other side of the door moved aside and an eye glared through a hole in the door which I had just now noticed. Then, a familiar voice spoke through the door, sounding a bit muffled by the thick wood. "I was wondering when you'd show up." A couple of iron hinge-locks slid over, a key was twisted and then the door swung open, Benton standing there, wearing a comfortable coat, looking me over with that unamused look that he always had. "You went onto your own way yesterday, didn't you?"

"Uh... yeah, that..."

"Come in." Benton didn't wait for an answer, stepping off into the room, leaving the door open for me to go through. As I got a peak inside, I stood still for a moment. Waiting for me was a room made out of bright, clean and fine wood of various kinds, a table with patterned legs and a bunch of cushioned chairs neatly distributed around them, surrounded by kitchen towards the backwall and the one on the right, which held a staircase leading into the second level. I was so baffled by the sight I damn nearly forgot to close the door behind me, and as I did, I noticed the many additional locks on its backside, connecting it with the wall with multiple chains. I looked around... the walls were covered in paintings and there were flowerpots standing on the table, counters and sideboards. What an amazing place, I thought to myself. I never knew Benton lived in such royalty-like conditions.

"Upstairs, Mervyn!" he shouted out from the second level. Snapping out my trance, I made my way for the stairs, still letting my eyes wander and finding new interesting things to gawk at. Finally upstairs, I slowed down again. This... was this his office? It looked... even more astonishing. I stood there on the last step of the staircase, looking the place over... Almost like a library. By the far end of the room, Benton was sitting by a large desk, covered in opened books and a brightly lit lamp standing by the corner. The wall behind him was covered entirely by bookshelves, so filled that they didn't have one gap not occupied by a book. There was a large map of Tivania, the province of Dummerston and the town Dummerston itself, each of them easily as large as a table, hung next to a comfortable fireplace. Behind me was a large panorama window, the sunshine that lit through it illuminating the whole room in a bright orange, and to the side of me was the skull of an elk hung on the wall.

"Why don't you have a seat... Mervyn." I didn't know why, but each time he said my name, it felt like he said with an almost aggressive tone behind it. Either it came from knowing that with this dragon on my side, I'm making this town a much more dangerous place, or it might just be part of his general attitude. I stepped forward over the carpeted floor. There already was a chair ready by the opposite side of the table. As I got closer, I caught a glimpse of the opened books laying around. There were multiple dragon-lexicons, most of them showing the page that presented the Night Fury. All of them had different headlines. Some of them reading like 'The mysterious Night Fury', 'The living shadows' but also like 'Scientist's biggest hoax: The Night Fury' and 'Night furies - real or fiction?'. There also was that one book again, the one that Benton held into my face back in the hall of the sick. Except that this time, someone scribbled a lot of additional notes on it. Lots and lots of them, the page was covered by them! I couldn't read what they said however, Benton's handwriting was horrific, how it was often the case with healers. Finally, I sat down on the chair, trying my best to ignore the sharp pain in my butt remaining from last night and leaning far back with my arms crossed, glaring at him the same way he was looking at me, except that mine was a bit more expecting whilst Benton had that look he always had.

"Listen Mervyn" he finally broke the silence, leaning forward and glancing up at me from his books. "I hope you remember all those times I helped you out, and now I... I never thought I'd have to say this, but I need your help with something."

"Anything that has to do with my dragon stays between me and him."

Benton seemed unimpressed. "Do you even realize the sheer significance of that... relationship of yours? And I don't mean that for your private life, I'm talking about the scientific meaning behind it."

"Scientific? What do you mean?"

"I have been looking through everything. And by that I truly mean, everything. Every lexicon, every biology book concerning dragon's, every journal... you name it. And not once have I seen a description or a mention of a case which told of a friendship between a dragon and a human, not even nearly as close as yours. Even people that claimed to have met a dragon in a peaceful manner, standing eye by eye and so on, were called insane, liars... scammers... you get the idea. And then you show up out of nowhere with that thing and just- put multiple entire branches of science in question." He leaned onto his table. "Do you know what a huge opportunity this is?"

"Uh... well..."

"This is not just about whether you're able to befriend, tame or train dragon's, but... I've thought about what you have told me. Your story, how you and the dragon met under which circumstances you became... friends, if we can call it that. Speaking of which, how do you hold the dragon in your life? Is it a relationship that resembles the friendship with another human being, or more of a... pet-like relation?"

"Well, uh... if I'm honest..." I looked down, my face turning a bit red. "He's even more to me than just a... friend..."

"He is- Oh my, that is quite...interesting..." Muttering to himself, he added some more notes, struggling to find space for them on the filled paper. Subsequently, he looked back up. "So, before we end up digressing, there's been a couple theories about dragons, some of them considered less and some of them considered more credible, regarding their intelligence level. Currently it is written in every book that they have feral minds, since they are animals just like any other living species. Eevery species but us, that is. However, there have been analyzations of certain behavior schemes which concluded to a... higher capability, so to speak. Back to the story you've given me... assuming that you hadn't blatantly lied, the dragon came back to you after that first rough encounter, yes?"

"Uhm... yeah. It's true."

"Care to state any details?" He grasped his pen, ready to write.

"Well, uh... I... Err... I had just gone outside that Inn I stayed at, and when we met behind it... he did stuff like pressing his snout into my-"

"No, not those details! Just... when you met that second time, did your dragon show any signs of regret?"

"Oh- uh... yeah. I guess it did."

"How? What gestures did it use?"

"It... got really low to the ground and made some weird noises. Then it... licked me, and later on he... y'know, took stuff further."

"So he did not only show regret, but also tried to... make up for it by... well, pleasing you?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"...Interesting... very interesting..." He took some notes.

"Just that you know, so far no one was able to prove yet that animals could feel long-term regret. Not even dogs or cats, which are the most trainable and therefor intelligent animals there currently are. So, it was believed that it must be an emotion of higher intelligence. This would indeed confirm the sentience of your dragon, but that alone doesn't suffice for a proof. Are there any other signs?"

"Why is my dragon even so important to you?"

"Why is it- did you really just ask this? This not important for me, it is important to everyone! Do you have any idea how much the fact that there are indeed intelligent animals would revolutionize science? Our view on dragons? That there are living beings equal to us?"

I just sat there, looking at him with a confused brow on my face.

"Oh, come on-" Benton hastily stood up, looking for something in his bookshelf until he grabbed a book out of them, rushing back to his seat and holding the front side right in front of me. "Do you know what that means?"

It read 'Anthropology' in big letters on it. "Uh... it's like... human-science, isn't it?"

"Sort of. This is everything we know about ourselves. Not from a biological, but more from a philosophical view. Our role in this world, our position among the living beings, our meaning, what makes us humans and so on. The thing is, nearly every theory ever created revolves around the fact, that what differentiates us from other animals our consciousness. Our level of intelligence is what makes us human, is the main hypothesis of this book. All this time we thought we'd be alone in this world. If we can prove otherwise, then not only can everybody who owns this book throw it in the trash, but it'd spark a whole new chapter of the history of humanity. Well, the way I see it, there are two ways sentient species can live with each other. In peaceful cooperation or competitive warfare. If we can prove the level of dragon's intelligence in connection with your friendship... we can exclude the latter. Do you see why I consider this so urgent?"

I leaned back on my chair and sighed out. I felt conflicted, as I was tempted to spill out everything I knew and experienced, but also simply didn't feel comfortable sharing any details. It just wasn't what I wanted, it wasn't what Fahren wanted... or would have wanted. Or would he? Peaceful cooperation did sound better to me than... the other outcome.

"If you want to sit there and have humanity find it out the hard way then go ahead" he interrupted my thinking with a smugly voice. Benton leaned back on his chair too. "I don't force ya. Just know that anything that happens due to this is on you, Merv."

I was about to resist, but multiple unpleasant memories held me back... this George guy... the people at the Inn, what they did to my dragon... Indeed, if they would have known beforehand, none of this would have happened... A bit sadly, I sighed again, staring up the orange-lit ceiling, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Benton for a moment who kept staring at me.

"Come on" he quietly said, having switched from being confronting to being sentimental. But that attitude didn't survive for long. "Look, if you don't give a damn about other's, then could you at least do it for me and Levicus? Please?"

"Alright alright!" I almost shouted out, tilting forward with my elbows on the table. "Good Christ! Tell me what you want to know and I'm outta here."

Benton didn't show any emotion. No smile of success, no smug chuckling. He looked back down to his table, rummaged around the many papers on it to hastily some fell off, seeming to get excited a little -though his poker face remained, glancing up to me every now and then to make the impression that he's still serious- and finally got ahold of one and held it in front of him, intently skimming through it. I was able to pick up the headliner 'Levels of animal and human intelligence' and that were multiple paragraphs, some of them ticked off by Benton.

Stopping from his typical reading-mutter, he glanced back up to me. "We have already talked about this, but... are there any other cases in which you noticed your dragon feel remorseful about something? Any signs of empathy?"

"Uh, yeah... there also was this one time me and Levicus got attacked by wolves... I think you still remember how his arm looked..."

"I do indeed... I have already told the watch to be on the lookout about those wolves. But back to your story... What actually happened?"

"Well, we were trying to visit my dragon but those wolves suddenly came out of nowhere! We ran away, but they locked on us... and then the dragon came to save us, and then..."

"So, your dragon has developed some sort of protective sense for you?"

"Uh... yeah. I think so."

"Huh... interesting... and concerning..." He wrote down several lines in mere seconds. "Very... very... concerning."

"So uh... what then happened that when he had fought the wolves off, he stayed by one of them who was critically injured... and... he looked so sad..."

"How did your dragon express that?"

"Well, uh... its eyes were big and watery, its ears drooped... it whimpered... Hey, don't you have better things to write down?"

"What? Gestures like those are important."

"Yeah... well, I could feel it... he had intended to get rid of the wolves, but ended up causing more than it wanted to. As the wolf lay dying my dragon decided to... take it out of its misery... then we just hugged it out."

"So your dragon doesn't only comprehend the concept behind mercy-killing, but also knows the hugging gesture? Could it already do that when you met or... has your dragon learned that from you?"

"Yeah, he... well, it was a bit strange for him at first, but I think he now knows what it means."

"Your dragon is able to adapt habits from you? That is... indeed quite fascinating..." Benton didn't really seem touched but what I told him... Levi was right. He was a man of science. "Anything else worth mentioning that happened that evening?"

"Well, when the wolves were gone, both me and Levicus were pretty injured... so it gave us a flight home."

"So your dragon helped you?" Benton asked interested. "Did you command it to do that? Or was it a voluntary deed?"

"He did it on its own."

"Woah, those... are indeed signs of empathy..." Benton was busy writing again. "So, what's next... I assume since Levi knows about your dragon too, your dragon also has a certain type of relationship with him, has he? How did that start? Or in other words, what is your dragon's attitude to other humans?"

"Well... he is a little mistrusting sometimes. But once he noticed that Levi is my friend, he became pretty open to him."

"Your dragon is able to distinguish between humans as friends?"

"Yeah, and he... well, I guess he thought since... I was okay with the stuff he occasionally did to me, Levicus was open to it too and there was this one misunderstanding... this incident where he... got a little into Levi. Like... sexually. But he also made up for that with those deer he brought him-"

"So that's why they appeared in his garden all of a sudden? That... explains a couple things." He pulled up another paper, crossed some things out and wrote down some more.

"And your dragon picked up on that quickly, yes?"

"Yeah. I mean, he didn't do that again."

"So you can assure me that your dragon has a competent ability of rule-learning?"

"Uh... yeah, if you put it like that."

Again, notes were rapidly flooded across Benton's paper.

"Does your dragon react to certain signal words? Callings? Names perhaps?" he asked without even looking up.

"Oh yeah- he does have a name."

"Is that so?" Benton mumbled, grabbing his pen again. "So Merv. What name did you give him and how long did it take your dragon to learn it?"

"Oh no- it's not like that." Benton glared up confused.

"It was... his name. Like, originally. I didn't give one to him."

His jaw dropped a bit. "Your dragon has a name?" he raised his voice at me a bit. "How do you know?"

"He told me."

"He what!?" It looked like he almost fell off his chair. "So your dragon can talk?"

"Yeah. I mean, verbally it's still a bit hard for him, but... I don't know how he does it, but he can somehow enter my mind with his voice."

Benton just sat there frozen, staring at me flabbergasted. "Like, he also knows what I'm thinking and lets me know his thoughts. Sometimes we can even feel what the other is feeling, whether we want it or not..." While I was talking, he slowly turned around, grabbed another book from the bottom row of the shelf and almost unwillingly laid it down onto the table. It read 'Telepathy- why it is real'. The book itself was rather thin, and also looked old. As if it was straight up abandoned during the process of creation. The author's name struck something in me... Benton Mitch Beaufort, it said.

"This... this..." He went a bit pale. "This is getting to the point... where I have to see for myself. I'm sorry, Mervyn. I'm not calling you a liar, but this evidence isn't worth much when it simply came out of the mouth of one. I know it is not easy for you... but me and your dragon must come eye to eye." His gaze wandered down to the book intently. "We must."

"Uh... we were planning on meeting again this evening."

"Out in the forest as usual, eh?"

"Yeah. Wait, how did you know?"

"Doesn't matter. Just be on your way. I... have some preparations to make."

He just sat there, staring. Not even taking any notes. "Go."

I got up, slowing down and looking over my shoulder back to him as I headed for the staircase, seeing him open the book and grab a pen. A good pen, this time. But I was already descending down the staircase, and I couldn't watch any more of it.

...

...

The bell of the chapel struck 10pm. If everybody wasn't in their cozy warm houses already, they surely would head for it now. Time for me to get out. A rather nervous feeling in my guts, I pushed myself up from my bed. I peeped out the window... it was dark. Dark enough for the dragon to not be seen. Perfect timing. This time remembering to grab a jacket off the chair and a lamp off the table, I stepped through my door. A look to the left, a look to the right... even in this house, everybody seemed to have gone to rest. They won't even notice that I'm gone... not like they would bother since I am almost never home. The air felt cold as I stepped outside, as it always did at night time. I could see my breath lit by the lanterns in front of me. Quickly pacing, I made my way to the gate, looking around me occasionally just in case Fahren got impatient and went onto one of his own adventures again. Approaching the gate, I saw Benton, standing there in this large brown coat and this hat he always wore when he was outside. Except this time, he also had a backpack with him, and it sure as hell didn't look empty. He was chatting with the guards, none of them looking like they'd suspect that anything unusual. I slowed down a bit. What was he doing? Maybe this was a set up after all? I got closer, wanting to eavesdrop onto their words before I'd step into sight, but was noticed pretty quickly. As if I had been expected. "There you are!" Benton said. "My research partner. Now we can get going.

"It's good to see someone finally do something about this wolf issue. We've got better things to do than scare them away from the paddocks" one of the guards said.

"Yeah, me and him will have a look at this. I'm certain we'll find something" Benton spoke to them, dragging me with him through the gate.

"Just come back in one piece, will you two."

"Of course, of course..." The gate shut. A couple steps away from it, out into the open darkness of the forest, and Benton acted like nothing had been different. "There we are."

"What was that?" I asked him.

"Told them we were doing some research on the pack behaviors at night. Was good enough to fool them."

"Uh... why though? I mean..."

"See, this is what has you into suspicion in the first place, Mervyn. Just exiting and entering the town like that at night? Without a word and hunting gear? No one who has good intentions does that. Even those guards know that."

"Oh... right..."

"Well, you're covered up for now. But remember, if I can get behind it, so can others. Now, where's your dragon?"

"I uh... I actually don't know. Around here somewhere. Usually I have to walk off the path to find it."

"Off the path, huh? Guess that makes sense. Your dragon knows to stay away from public zones like those."

...

Somewhere beyond the reach of my lantern, a tree rustled. But it wasn't the usual kind of rustling, which both me and Benton realized. It sounded... deep and loud. Something big had caused that, without a doubt. We both slowed down, going quiet. I swayed my lantern around, illuminating different areas with bushes and trees, but couldn't find anything.

"Uh... this is pretty common. Finding him never is an easy task. Actually, most of the times it is him that finds /me/-"

"That isn't surprising. This kind of dragon is as stealthy as it gets." He paused, looking around. "Many sources have stated that it is only seen when it wants to be seen."

We remained silent for a bit, us both being a bit hesitant about having Benton face it for the first time. Despite me being familiar with Fahren, and Benton being familiar with dragons overall, it was a risk nonetheless. Last time I took someone with me I almost got killed! Better be more careful this time... One reassuring look and we stepped into the bushes. I found it strange how Benton had his hands in his pockets the whole time. Was he hiding a dagger in there? I didn't know, and didn't care to ask at the moment. I hoped he knew what he was doing... though he probably had more knowledge about encountering dragons than I had. There was another rustling noise, making us freeze, waiting for it to reappear. It did come back, but this time it was somewhere else. We flipped around... I held the lantern up high. "...Fahren? You there?"

There was no response, and we heard nothing but the forest's nightlife for another moment. But then... there were thuds on the ground. Quiet, yet seeming heavy. I held my light out, and for a second I believed to see a black outline by some bushes, losing track of it too quickly. The noises continued, there was a thump here... a bit of leaves swishing there... it circled around us, my lantern wandering along with where I thought the sounds to come from. I could barely make them out against the darkness. But then I lost orientation. They were gone for a moment, and once they came back, I couldn't locate them, turning around into all directions. Not good...

"Ahem... Mervyn?"

There was a soft huff on our shoulders and Benton tapped my shoulder, and as I flipped around I quickly realized why. My dragon! Fahren! He was right there! Snuck up right behind me! I lifted the light to see. He smiled at me, but then shot a mild glare at Benton. I didn't mind that, forcing the lantern into Benton's hands and stepping forward to embrace my dragon. "There you are!!" I knew, I was only away for a brief time, but reuniting with it always made my heart warm. My hands slid all over Fahren's sides and I pressed my face into the hide of his chest, forgetting Benton for a second. Fahren chuffed happily, diverting his gaze off our visit and instead focusing on me, giving me all of his love with his arms hugging me around my back and his tongue licking down on it. The deep growly purring was saying how happy it was to see me. "Aruu! Rau!!" We even flopped over, Fahren wrapping all of him around me... arms, legs, wings, even his head and tail, licking my head like crazy. Benton did but stand there, watching all of it in fascination. Though it was a weird form of fascination, as what he was seeing deemed absurd in a way. Hearing about it had been one thing. But watching happening... in person... it baffled him so much he didn't even begin taking notes yet. A bit encouraged by the overall happy atmosphere, he dared to step closer, checking the characteristic signs the body of a night fury would show. The flat head... the large eyes... the long and finned tail... the black, slender body... Indeed. It was a night fury which he had only seen in books so far. That sight let alone was worth coming here. However, Fahren soon noticed him moving closer. His head popped up and shot him an intense stare. He let me go, hurrying to get up. Usually he was careful around people he didn't know... but this time it was bad news. My dragon walked up right to him! Locked into a staring contest, the dragon approached Benton in a rather aggressive way. A way that clearly showed that he was willing to resort to violence. Benton, however, didn't back off. Not one bit, standing the dragon's storm like a boulder in a surge. He knew that this kind of behavior discourages predators, or at least confuses them. He had actually once told me about that, but I didn't have the guts to pull it through a single time in my life. I wondered how he was doing that... just standing there upright, his will like iron, his hands dug deeply into his pockets. Fahren got close. Really close, nose to nose even, growling at Benton. Immediately, I sensed the potential conflict happening between them and came to rush in between them, however was stopped as Fahren had stretched out a wing to hinder my advance, just wanting to have this moment with him. I pushed against the wing at first, but I could tell by the look on Benton's face... he didn't need any help. He showed no emotion to the dragon's glare. A look of unamusement, almost, looking at the dragon like he was looking at me most of the time. Except they both didn't let an eye off one another. Whatever he was doing... it seemed to work, as it made the dragon gain respect from him. Making himself taller, Fahren puffed up his chest and sat down which made him rise higher than Benton, looking down to him. Even then, Benton didn't back down, not even taking step back from the looming dragon. The snout flared as the dragon sniffed him... Fahren got back onto all fours, finally removing his wing from me. But I didn't step in between them. I figured that maybe... this is the way they'd need to get to know one another... Slowly, my dragon stepped around him, checking his waist and back for weapons, Benton not turning around, only keeping track of the dragon stepping behind him by tilting his head and looking over his shoulder. I spotted a glance of curiosity in the dragon's eyes as he kept circling Benton, sniffing him up and down. He came back around in front of him only to step behind again. There, he stopped, sniffing at the back of his head... and nosing it from behind, making contact. Benton flipped around. But not in a hasty or jerky way, but calmly and slowly placing on or two steps on the ground until they were facing each other again. The dragon backed off a bit... but didn't look angry anymore, as it did before. Fahren shot me a side-look, as if asking me one more time whether he was okay and safe to approach. I nodded reassuringly. The dragon nodded back, closing his eyes, sitting down onto its haunches and leaned his head forward, presenting it to Benton to touch, if he so wishes. But Benton didn't do anything but stare at it... looking over the many features. The vertical row of scales, the many ears, the details of its hide... "He did that with Levicus too" I quietly talked to him over his shoulder. "I guess that's some kind of gesture to-"

"I know what this is, Merv" he cut me off.

The dragon had already opened its eyes to look, a bit unassured by nothing happening so far. But it was just then when Benton finally raised his hand, moving it slowly and allowing the dragon to have a look at it to see that it was empty, flat out and meaning no harm. He placed it down, touching the bridge of the nose. Fahren smiled a bit, even starting to purr. This behavior clearly confused Benton a bit... He hadn't read about this kind of dragon behavior in any books so far. "Huh..." The dragon glanced up, again, looking at Benton's hand. Fahren waited for a bit before slowly pulling back and licking it. "Grreh"

Benton forced himself to keep holding it there, as I chuckled a bit. He clearly would have pulled back if he could, but it was part of the process if he wanted to gain the dragon's trust. And if it meant that he got a good look at the special tongue, it was worth it. The dragon lifted its head, back to eyes level, staring at him for a bit... and stroked a big huge lick all across his face! "Mlllaaaaahhh!" Even now, Benton stood his ground, only leaning back a tiny bit... but the restraint it took him to do so was very well visible. By how baffled he looked... he didn't expect this kind of hospitality. Not from a dragon that met him the first time. He was prepared to stand the dragon's anger or distrust if he'd need to, like he had already shown, but this? It was almost weird how a little bit friendliness perplexed him entirely! I couldn't resist laughing. Fahren saw me laughing and walked right over to me, licking my face too, over and over and clearly not as careful as he did with Benton since I was more used to that. Laughing out again, I grabbed held his head, Benton using that unseen moment to wipe all that saliva off of him. In the back, Benton took another close look at Fahren, an expression on his face I had yet to see: he was impressed. Impressed by how I got such a dangerous creature to do such nice things. After a bit, Fahren laid down, looking around at us, letting us talk if we wanted to. Benton swung the backpack off his shoulder, rummaging around in it and pulling out some papers clipped onto a board and a pen, wasting no time to hastily sketch a view of what he was seeing. "So... yeah. That's him. My dragon. Don't think weird of the licking, it's part of getting to know one another. He did that with me too. And with Levi as well!" I chatted with him. "I guess it's some kind of friendliness-gesture. But... I think you knew that already" Fahren watched Benton's doings curiously, but just for fun, he did that whilst upside down, rolling over and sticking his tongue out playfully. Benton tried to keep his focus and resumed with his drawing. It was nearly entertaining to watch a scientist like Benton being so utterly confused by the dragon's playful behavior. He might have expected lots of things when he came here, but not that. Once he seemed satisfied, he turned to me. "...You said your dragon has a name... didn't you? Mind telling me?"

"Uh... it's Fahren. Scír Fahren." "With... a double E, an I or an accented I?"

"I don't know actually... an accented I perhaps? Right... Fahren?" I turned to my dragon. But having no knowledge of written human languages, it took its head off the ground and only looked back a bit confused. "Rr?" "Just go ahead and write it down."

Addressing the dragon had ignited its curiosity, and it glanced over to Benton just as I did. To see what on earth he was doing, Fahren got up and sat behind him. Benton tried to show as little attention to that as possible, resisting to look back over his shoulder and finish writing the name down in big letters.

"Right... there are still some things I've been meaning to ask you about... 'Fahren', if you don't mind" he said whilst grabbing a sheet from the back and clipping it onto the front of the board. I got a bit carried away by how the funny look of the dragon poking its snout forward to get a better look on Benton's papers. "Uh... yeah, sure. Go ahead."

"Beside that... hugging thing you did earlier, are there any kind of other human gestures your dragon here has adapted from you?"

I pondered for a bit. "Yes, actually. He can also do this!"

I stepped right up to the dragon, got ahold of his head and pressed my lips onto his, Benton being sort of between us as the dragon's head had still been over his shoulder. Fahren held my head too, forgetting about Benton just as much as I did and kissed back, tilting his head a bit and growling in a lovingly tone. "Oh... oh my..."

Benton only took the sight for a second, before looking down to his paper and making one or two notes. Showing our cuddling-skills off, I pulled back a bit and pressed myself into Fahren's chest. Purring louder, he nuzzled his snout against my cheek, even happily groaning here and there. Fascinated, Benton watched the paws rub me up and down my back. "Rah rah!" Eventually, Fahren flipped over with me in his arms again, kissing all over my head. "Luv yu" I happily went along with it, hardly minding that Benton was seeing all of this and possibly even documenting parts of it. I pressed myself into the dragon's arms and chest, but then Fahren grabbed my head... and kissed me right on my lips, and out of the corner of my eye I saw his slit puff up... Uh oh... So far I had been comfortable with someone else witnessing this, but now we're crossing the line... Making things worse, he started licking my neck and even play-biting it, of which he exactly knew that I liked that... this son of a... My face red, I glanced up to Benton to see if he noticed things turning weird. The only thing I saw was that he stopped writing and was just... looking at us... Fahren noticed me staring up to him and did the same, his eyes darting up to Benton just standing there. I hoped that perhaps my dragon had figured I was looking up to him for a reason, as he had stopped seducing me. But then, his eyes darting back and forth to Benton and the space on the ground between us, Fahren lifted a paw and made a pointing-gesture to that exact spot. Benton was just as confused as I was. ...I wasn't sure myself if obliging was a mistake, but Benton surely regretted it pretty quick. Curios of what the dragon was intending, he had stepped forward, after taking a note of course, most likely about Fahren knowing how to point and the meaning of it. The dragon had let me go, giving me a quick kiss to the cheek as an apology, got up, stepped behind Benton and hugged him from behind. Seemingly grabbing him off the ground! The dragon flopped over like we did, dragging Benton down with him and having him lay on his front. I was about to jump up and get him out of there, but... Benton didn't resist or anything... Sure, his body was pretty stiff and his face looked quite uncomfortable, but else... it wasn't so bad. I sat up, watching those two. Fahren had wrapped his arms and legs around him, nuzzling against his cheek and purring, even rocking back and forth on the ground with him... all those things I liked the dragon doing with me... He must have figured that Benton would like that too. Wanting Benton to open up a bit, he nuzzled the back of his head. "Awruuurrr~!" With a paw he reached down, he rubbed his belly in the same fashion as I was petting the dragon occasionally. Groping him all over, he ruffled Benton's hair, breathing into it. "Raur!" Finally, the dragon loosened his grip in case Benton wanted to leave, remaining purring. Benton stayed frozen for a bit longer, before pushing himself up... however not getting away from the dragon yet. He took the unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of all those details of the body of a night fury up close... a truly interesting sight... The dragon stayed still, watching Benton examining him and giving him time and space to do so. "...rr?" Benton laid out a hand, properly testing how the hide would feel like on the dragon's belly. Indeed, the bellies are a bit softer than shoulders, arms, back and so on, as those were more armored. Quickly, Benton did eventually spring to his feet, grabbing his stuff off the ground and taking more notes, writing eagerly. Fahren watched his hands as he wrote... again, getting up to see what he was doing. Just now the dragon realized that Benton was in fact sort of studying him, seeing the sketches and the many written speech. Fahren got up, standing tall in front of him and opening his wings to spread them wide such as his hip and tails fins, posing for him. "Aru?" Benton stopped for a second... the dragon voluntarily helping him study it was the last thing he expected when he came here. But he didn't waste a lot of time admiring. He whipped out another paper, making a more detailed drawing this time. We stood there for about six full minutes until he was done. Occasionally, Benton asked me to tell the dragon to stay still as Fahren wasn't quite as patient.

"So that's the general overview, but I want to go from head to tail now..." He looked at me, a bit unsure about what he was about to ask himself. "Do you think he'll mind me touching his mouth?"

"His mouth? Uh... I'm not sure. I've never done it. But then again, it's not like you're going to lose your hands about it" I laughed out a bit.

"We will see... can you tell your dragon to... get into a more suitable position?"

"Sure... uh, Fahren?"

His gaze swung over to me.

"Can you... lower your head and hold still or something?"

A bit confused about why I wanted him to do that, he did as I said, seemingly understanding my words which Benton took notice of. Cautiously, he leaned forward, keeping his hands in Fahren's sight so he could anticipate what he was going to do. Yet, he did not expect Benton to go for his maw, which I could tell from his eyes suddenly widening. Benton, trying his best to remain gentle, shoved his hands between the lips towards the teeth, pushing a bit to gesture Fahren to open his mouth. So he did... groaning in a weird tone. Benton took a glance.

"Huh" he mumbled. "I knew that biting wound you showed me a few days ago was off. I expected a dragon species to have more... fangs." Indeed, the teeth were surprisingly blunt and similar looking, next to differences in size. Benton slid a finger across a couple of the teeth, carefully from the top to the base, which made Fahren shudder slightly. Noticing his weird responses, Benton figured that something might a bit off... He placed a hand on the hide of Fahren face.

"Mervyn... is it a normal occurrence that your dragon's face heats up so much? Is this some sign of distress or...?"

I was a bit baffled by that question at first, but then it hit me too. Fahren's feelings resonated over to me, from which I could tell that he wasn't scared, rather... ungodly turned on by this. It took some self-control to not let those sensations he was radiating get the better of me.

"You err... might wanna step back a bit. His mouth is a... It seems to be a sensitive area..."

"Sensitive area?"

Benton stroked over the inside once, checking what reaction it would produce. Fahren closed his eyes, huffing out audibly.

"Oh... that's what you meant with sensitive area..."

He let go, but Fahren left his maw open a bit longer, before pressing his head forward and nuzzling Benton's neck, sheer curiosity keeping him from immediately backing off. I stepped in between them, grabbing Fahren's head and holding it gently. Being so close, I could especially sense how aroused he was, my heart beat going up from it. I was as surprised about his maw being a sexual area as Benton was... I have to remember this for next time. While Benton wiped his hands dry on his clothing and wrote more stuff down, I held my dragon's head tighter, my hands starting to tremble a bit. The arousal Fahren, and therefor I, was feeling didn't back down. I leaned my head on, which brought us the closer and made the effect stronger.

"What is going on?" Benton suddenly interrupted.

"Oh! Err, nothing" I tried to talk us out of it, but my blushing face told the truth.

"Is this what you meant earlier? What you described as... 'feeling each other's feelings'?"

"Uh... yeah, I... I think so..." It was hard to talk when Fahren was gently pressing his snout into my neck.

"This does not only apply to arousal, doesn't it?

"U- usually not..." I stammered.

"What else?"

"Can't we...-" I stopped for a second as I felt Fahren's tongue lap at me. "Can't we talk about this another time?"

"I still have a few things to sort out, if you don't mind."

"Right now, I kinda do mind."

"The less you protest, the quicker you can have your alone time with your dragon! Now, what other emotions do you share?"

"Uuuh everything, really."

"Can you give me examples? At least one, besides cases in which you shared arousal?"

"Well, there was this one time..." Fahren stopped teasing me, as he felt me think back to that incident with the wolf, the memories replaying in his mind as they did in mine.

"I have already told you about it. That thing with the wolf attack."

"You felt the grief as much as your dragon did, didn't you? Did that require physical closeness?"

"In that case..." I sighed out. "In that case, it didn't."

"So, emotions which in occur in a... say, higher intensity, are shared over larger distances?"

"I suppose so" I said, turning away from Benton and instead to petting Fahren who's sadness I could feel returning. I was just about to give him a little kiss, but then froze as I remembered something.

"There was uh... another... thing."

Benton recognized by my stammering voice that whatever thing I was referring to, it must be something quite unusual. And therefor interesting, for him. Giving me his attention, he shot me a curious glance.

"Now, uh... I don't know how that happened, or if it happened at all to be honest, but... I... kind of was in his body once."

"What? You're not saying you've succeeded the trans-animus experiment?"

"The err... what now?"

"Isn't that what you've just described? Your consciousness was in your dragon?"

"I... I think so."

Benton hardly waited for my answer, dropping his backpack and wildly rummaging around in it until he pulled out that book again. 'Telepathy -why it is real'. He spent some time browsing through all the pages, until he stopped at one and held it into my face.

"Read this. I mean, you can read, right?"

After giving Benton a little glare, I turned my attention to the pages.

'The Trans-Animus-Theorem' was the headliner, the sloppy but luckily still readable writing indicating that Benton wrote this. Interested, Fahren turned towards the book too. He couldn't read the words directly, but could still understand them through me, as I was reading them.

'The Trans (lat. Switch) - Animus (Lat. Consciousness) Theory/Experiment describes the process of transferring a part of a person's consciousness to another's, which would serve as undeniable proof of the existence of telepathic-empathetic capabilities. According to the approach of the structure of an intelligent consciousness, by the scientist mentioned in the previous page, all neurological activities in a brain can be divided into two parts: An active consciousness, and a sub-consciousness. To shortly sum up once more, the active consciousness is responsible for actively processing whatever signals our senses give us (not to be confused with the impulses which the sub-consciousness translates) e.g. recognizing a person and connecting certain associations with them etc., such as any rational thoughts/pondering, on a level only intelligent beings can do, such as making decisions or pretty much any thought one might have. The sub-consciousness is what we not notice in our mind. Instincts, urges and reflexes may influence our active consciousness, however fully emerge from below and is beyond the reach out of our own control. What happens in the trans-animus-experiment is basically, that the active consciousness (which I will from now on shorten to a.c, to save us ink and time) of a person is separated from its sub-consciousness (s.c) and connected to another person's s.c, independent from whether the a.c of the second person is still active or not. In order for the experiment to work, at least one of the persons is required to have telepathic-empathetic capabilities in an advanced stadium (preferably the one, who's a.c is not transferred) and a well-developed bond to a second person. Both persons must be in an active-telepathic-aura (see page 4) and in order for the transfer to work, both a.c's must be passive. Or in other words, both persons must be unconscious (ideally asleep) in order for an a.c to be separated. (Note: The aura needs to be maintained while both person's a.c is passive, hence the required advanced telepathic-empathetic capabilities. Otherwise, the experiment will fail.) In order for the a.c of the second person to be successfully separated and transferred (which will also be how the effect is reversed later on), the person controlling the bond must... '

The text ended there. There were some scribbled sentences, but all of them were crossed out.

I needed a moment to take it in. "Oh..."

"So? How did you do it?" Benton took the book away from me, grabbing a pen, ready to write.

"I err..."

I turned to Fahren. "How did we do it?" His gaze switched from me to Benton, over and over, until he let go of me and stepped towards him. Benton was as surprised about this as I was. Once Fahren reached him, he pressed his forehead forward, touching Benton's, who froze upon the touch. Being physically rather far away, I could only catch a glimpse of the memories and knowledge which Fahren shared. Too little to make proper sense of, but I could still tell... within every second that passed, a near lifetime worth of a scientist's research was transferred. After a short time Fahren pulled back, Benton stumbling back a bit with a slightly dropped jaw. "I... I..." He juggled around with his equipment for a moment, totally indecisive what to write down first. "I don't think I brought enough ink for this..." He suddenly stuffed everything back into the backpack. "I need to return to my office. We'll speak again. Tomorrow, same place, same time. If it shouldn't work out, come see me and tell me beforehand." He grabbed the lantern off the ground and scampered away.

I watched the orange light darken and eventually disappear in the distance, turning to my dragon afterwards.

"So?" I asked him. "What did you tell him?"

Fahren just smiled at me. As if he knew that I already had the answer in my mind.

"You told him... everything, didn't you? Showed him all of your memories from the day we met? Or... our memories?"

His smirk remained, confirming what I've said.

"Hold on. Does that mean... that Benton just saw us make out like a lot of times?"

Fahren huffed out, his way of chuckling, and pressed his snout into my upper chest. I wrapped my arms around his head.

"I don't think Benton needs to know that!" I laughed out, laying my head onto his... already closing my eyes...

"You don't mind if we just..." I didn't need to finish my sentence. Fahren knew what I meant, wrapping his front legs around my back and gently dropping down to his side, the hind legs now wrapped around me too. Nudging myself into a comfortable position between the arms and a paw softly pressing me by the back of the head into the warm chest, I found myself dozing off rather quickly..