Geoffrey looked up at the human woman. He'd never seen anything like her before, covered head to toe in black plate and wearing a skull mask, but with the most beautiful and long auburn hair he'd ever seen.

"Are you one of Mommies' friends?"

"An old one actually, name's Babs'."

Geoffrey laughed.

"That's a silly name."

Babs shrugged her shoulders.

"I've been called worse. Wait, Are you Geoffrey? Your mom told me you're an early flier."

Geoffrey fluttered his wings and hovered in the air.

"I can hold on for two whole minutes."

Babs nodded, and sounded genuinely impressed.

"That's pretty cool. Listen, I heard a few rumors, and picked up a notice in town...is your mom alright?"

"She's been a little cranky. It all started after that woman came. She was really pretty, and she had silver eyes. But her dress was all fancy and she didn't wear any shoes. I thought she might be cold, but when I looked down, the snow kept melting really fast under her toes."

Babs gripped her fist.

"Did she and your Mom talk at all?"

Geoffrey was a little embarrassed.

"Mommy was yelling a lot. And that's really loud because you know, she's pretty big."

Babs chuckled a bit.

"That's what happens when you're a thousand year old dragon. What did they say?"

"I got a little scared actually, because it sounded like the other lady wanted to take me away. Then the yelling stopped, and the lady left. Afterwards, Mommy told me to leave for a few days, until one of her friends came."

Babs' voice became very tense.

"Did you notice anything different?"

"She said that she loved me, but she says that a lot. Then she looked at the new tattoo on her arm and walked away."

"Tattoo?"

Geoffrey nodded.

"Yeah. I think that lady gave it to her. It glowed silver just like her eyes."

Geoffrey kept talking.

"I hear mom fly out sometimes, and sometimes it sounds like she's hurt. She always makes that noise when there's something annoying her."

"I think it might be a little more than that."

Babs knelt down to look at Geoffrey, who was quite small, and put a hand on his head.

"I need you stay here, maybe hide in the trees."

The young dragon nodded.

"Sure. Are you going to say hi to mom?"

"Yeah, a few other things too."

Babs walked off after that. And was gone for some time. During her absence, Geoffrey heard the cling of steel and his mother's roar...until both noises died.

Finally, Babs returned.

"Geoffrey, you better come with me: I'm going to take care of you for a while."

"Did mom say it was ok?"

Babs stood straighter, and her voice tightened.

"It was the last word I heard from her."

"Oh, well we better do what she says then."

"Yeah...lets."

So Geoffrey followed Babs down the mountain, completely oblivious to the heaviness of her steps, and the blood on her knuckles.