''Found you!"

''______? I thought you were with the shaman?"

"Oh, I was, but she said it's enough for today," you said and sat in the grass.

The celebration night was two days. Shaman lady got you to help her with her herbs. You were happy to help. You could learn more about herbs and healing.

Today, when you were free to go, the smith asked you to return Atem's sword to him. He gave it to him for sharpening earlier. The chief told you that he had seen the half-dragon near the river. You found him lying on the grass.

Somehow you enjoyed his company the most. Yugi usually was just quiet and shy and Laegil wasn't one to chit-chat. Atem sometimes told you about things he came across in the past, or about Mt. Top Turpu and other dragons. And of course he walked with you when you couldn't sit in the saddle anymore.

"What is Lord Pegasus like?" you asked after you got comfortable. He looked at you and then again on the river. You asked lots of questions about that mysterious man. He was your savior in some sense, so you wanted to know something about him.

"He's quite an eccentric person," he said. "But he's not bad. Actually, he helped me and Yugi when we were little."

"How?"

"Many years ago there was a war between dragons. Yugi and I were rather young then, around sixty years old. At some point the mountain started to shake and lots of rocks fell down. I was fighting with some other dragons. Ah, then I was still able to change into dragon form."

"I thought you were half-dragons."

"Kind of. Anyway, Yugi was unconscious and more rocks started falling down. We were trapped with the enemy and I was tired. Big rock hit me and before I blacked out I saw Lord Pegasus flying towards us. Next thing I remember was his manor."

"So he saved you? Amazing."

"Yeah. But then we learned that Yugi and I could no longer change in dragons." His face darkened.

"Is there any way to restore your forms?"

He looked at you hesitantly. As if not sure if he should trust you.

"We're twins, so there is a way. Priestess Kisara told us that," he said slowly. "One of us has to die."

You were speechless. One of them has to die? That was horrible.

"There is no other way. Not yet, " he said reading your expression. "But I will find another."

His face was determined. His fist were clenched tightly. Without thinking you put your hands over his fists.

"I'm sure you'll succeed," you smiled squeezing his hand.

He blinked at you and muttered something under his breath. You sat there like this for a moment.

"Thank you," you said quietly.

"Eh? For what?"

"For drawing me out of the cave," you looked into his amethyst eyes, now wide. "I know I don't know much about the outside world. Few things went wrong and now I attract trouble all the time. But I'm really happy about every moment spent travelling."

For a moment you heard only the steady flow of the river and chirping birds on the trees. Wind swirled between you two and made your hair flutter. You heard your own heart beating fast.

"______, about that incident in Nagaram City...," he started and scratched his cheek. You tensed. "I'm sorry about lashing out at you."

"Huh? No, it was my fault."

"As you said, you don't know much about this world, so you didn't know what might happen."

"But-"

"You were under my protection and I failed."

You frowned at him. You knew that he wouldn't budge from his position, he was just this stubborn. You made a decision.

"I will forgive you for snapping at me," you started. "If you forgive me for being careless."

He stared into your eyes as you stared back. You saw that those reddish reflects in his eyes flickered.

"Alright," he said and nodded his head. You smiled at him with relief that it worked.

You laid on the grass enjoying the sun. Then you thought of another question.

"Hey, what's with Yugi and the chief's daughter? That Rebecca girl?" it was funny to watch those two. She always made confessions while Yugi tried to be polite.

"That's a funny story," he smirked. "At first she didn't like us. She was against us staying in the village, because she thought we would steal. You know that we helped the villagers with thieves, right? While they were attacking, Yugi saved Rebecca from one of them. Since then she believes that he is her knight in shining armor that one day will marry her."

You started laughing. The girl couldn't be older than twelve.

"That's sweet," you said.

***

"I don't believe you."

"How come? You travel with dragons, you've met forest trolls, yet you can't believe I'm friends with Gwyllgi?"

You pursed your lips. He had a point, but how could he be friends with a dog? Okay, perhaps big and scary dog, but still.

"If I meet him, I'll believe. Let me be skeptical for a while," you said.

You and Atem were walking back from the river to the village. He wanted to thank the smith for sharpening his sword. Apparently, it was hard work since steel was some kind of special one. You learned that sword was named Osiris, after some legendary dragon.

"Can I hold it for a while?" you asked when he was checking his sword.

Time to get over your fear of swords, you thought.

He looked at you briefly reading your expression, then nodded.

"But be careful, it's heavy," he said turning towards you.

"I'll be fine," you assured him, and yourself too. You grabbed its hilt. As he said, the sword was heavy, but you still could hold it with both of your hands.

You inhaled deeply and clutched the sword harder.

Osiris shone in the sun as you tried to swing him a little. It was indeed beautiful sword. Atem chucked beside you and moved towards you.

"Like this, ______," he said as he grasped your hands still holding the sword. He slowly led your arms to the right position and cut through the air.

Suddenly you became aware of your close proximity. Closeness never bothered you - after all you were riding on the same horse all the time, you embracing him. You couldn't say if it was a bad feeling. Actually, quite the opposite. You could feel his strong arms around your smaller form. You were amazed how easily he handled the sword. His touch felt nice.

"Hoho," you heard somebody's laugh. "So this is a new way of teaching fencing, huh?"

Atem let you go and you turned around to see the source of the voice. It was the village chief, grinning at you two. You remembered that Atem taught the chief's son fencing a little.

"Good afternoon, chief," you greeted the merry man, of course unaware why he was laughing like this.

Atem sheathed his sword and rubbed his neck while greeting the chief.

"______, I believe our shaman is looking for you," the man said, moving his shovel over his shoulder.

Earlier you learned that lots of men in the village built irrigation channels near the fields. You guessed he was coming back from work.

"Really? Then I should hurry or she'll hit me with her staff!" you exclaimed and started running. You remembered Atem behind you and turned around. "See you later!"

You waved and bounced towards the shaman's hut, humming some melody.

You weren't joking when you said that she'd hit you. For a fragile looking old lady, she was rather strong and had a loud, commanding voice. And when you messed something up she was quick to point it out, quite aggressively. But you liked her, she was very knowledgeable. Plus, in her hut you found lots of books. They were old, sometimes damaged here and there, but were honestly endearing. For a bookworm like you, of course.

You were in front of the shaman's hut and you were going to knock when the doors opened.

"Good, you're here," the woman smiled and gestured for you to come in. "I needed someone to help me with my books. Those fools don't know how to handle them."

"Of course!"

She led you towards her library and told you that her books need rearranging. Some of them weren't readable anymore. The library had that kind of relaxing atmosphere. The smell of the books and the sun rays lighting the room made it all kind of mystic.

The shaman left you alone as she went to prepare tea. You swiped your finger along books backs. It was familiar feeling - you used to read a lot
in the cave. You loved reading, it was a way to immerse yourself in another world. Sadly, you possessed only a few adventure books.

Your eyes fell on a big book, framed in brown leather. You took it from the shelf and put it on a table. You were curious about what the book contained and the shaman didn't say anything about not opening books. You felt the rough structure as you turned pages. After reading a few
sentences you realized that what you had in your hands was a magic book.

You gasped and smiled widely. If bows and arrows were not your forte, maybe magic would be suitable for you. Laegil said that you had Light magic within you, so you definitely had potential to become a magician. At least you hoped you did.

"What are you doing, child?"

"Please, teach me magic!"

A/N:

Ooh, finally some decent Reader x Atem moment! No song this time, sorry. And now we know what Reader-tan going to do! Next chapter - first steps to learn magic :3
Big thank-you to InnerGlow for correcting my mistakes, you're the best ^^

What do you think~?