text: Walter pulled out his flashlight as twilight fell upon them. He looked up to Benvolio who patiently lumbered alongside him on foot as they walked towards the village. “Odd question.” Walter spoke. “That is a statement, not a question, so I am a bit perplexed by your meaning.” Benvolio responded. Walter shook his head and continued. “Sorry, it’s an expression where I’m from. Anyway, I was curious, it seems like humans haven’t always been kind to you.” “That is putting it mildly.” Benvolio noted in a serious tone. “Why then, are you so kind to me? Why do you spare the lives of humans who attack you?” Walter asked. Benvolio swished his tail back and forth as he walked. He looked at the large open area around them, it was bordered by some trees. The meadow shared some similarities with a field he had seen before when he was still a hatchling, a field filled with strange stones. “I had every reason to hate humans, until I met someone very dear to me.” Benvolio replied. “It was she who introduced me to many wonderful books.” Benvolio’s thoughts drifted to the past. He remembered being transported to a strange place, the field he found himself in was filled with tall stones covered in writing. As a hatchling, Benvolio found himself curled up on top of one of those stones, shivering in the winter air. Due to his young age, he had not yet developed his internal flame. He looked to the gray sky above, the dance of the snowflakes as they drifted down onto his snout. He closed his eyes and began to wait for death. He was hungry, shivering, and his mind seared with the images of his mother’s eyes as they parted, the shattering sound of her death cries still resonated in his ears. After all her efforts to save him, he would die in a strange place away from their cavern, away from their mountain. It was all the fault of the humans. “Dad, look, a lizard!” A girl’s voice called out. “I’ve never seen one that looks like him before, it almost looks like he has wings and he’s bright red, like a tiny dragon.” Benvolio slowly opened one eye. A human, a bit smaller than the ones he had seen, but much bigger than himself loomed over his form. Benvolio let out a snarl, but as he was only a few inches long, the sound was not as ferocious as he had hoped it to be. “Samantha, leave it be,” a man’s voice responded. “He’s cold.” The girl called Samantha whimpered. Her eyes looked up, pleading with her father. “He could die.” Her voice was tender, but Benvolio knew better. Humans were cruel, he had witnessed it with his own eyes. “Sweetie, please.” The dad urged, trying to pull his daughter forward. The girl reached out to Benvolio. Benvolio snapped feebly at her, but he moved slowly in the cold air. Her hand scooped him up with ease. He moved to bite her fingers, but the warmth of her hand was comforting. Young Benvolio nestled into her palm as she pulled him close to her. “Please Dad, he was on Mom’s tombstone, it’s a sign. Mom wants us to care for him.” Samantha cradled Benvolio and once again looked up at her father with wide eyes. The man looked to his daughter and sighed deeply in resignation. “Fine, but if it makes a mess in the Airflyte I will fling that little lizard right out the window.” “Yes sir.” Samantha sighed. Benvolio should have tried to resist being taken, but they moved him towards some strange metal shape with wheels. As they entered the vehicle and Benvolio was out of the cold air, he swiftly drifted to sleep. When he awoke, he was laying on a bed of sand, there were a few rocks scattered here and there. There was a small dish filled with some sort of vegetation and strange pellets. Benvolio was skeptical at first, but his hunger won out and he eventually braved the food. The pellets tasted terrible, but they helped. He surveyed his surroundings, noticing the light acting strangely a few inches from where he was. He ambled forward, hitting an invisible wall where the light reflected strangely. Across the room, Samantha was stretched out on a bed with a book in her hands. “Oh, you’re awake!” Samantha smiled as she set down the book she was reading and walked over to the enclosure where Benvolio was trapped. Benvolio tried to snarl. Samantha reached down, gently scooping him up into her hand. It annoyed him how warm and comforting her skin was. “Would you like to read with me?” She asked. Benvolio was confused, but seeing as she was much bigger than he was, he could do little to protest. She carried him over to the bed and set him down by her book. “I am reading some plays by Shakespeare. Currently I am reading Romeo and Juliet, have you ever heard of it?” She asked. Benvolio blinked. “I think you will like it. It has feuding families, lovesick teenagers, swordfights, poison, and more.” Benvolio did not fully understand the words she was saying, but as Samantha began to speak, her voice had a soothing rhythm. Benvolio nestled next to the book. The paper had a pleasant scent, he liked it. Samantha gently rubbed his back with her finger. “Come to think of it, you need a name.” She smiled looking at her book. “I don’t think you’re a Romeo. Maybe Tybalt? No, Tybalt’s kind of a jerk.” Benvolio tilted his head. “Or, how about Benvolio?” Something about the sound of the word pleased the young dragon. “Benvolio suits you, he is cautious and gentle, like you.” Samantha smiled. Benvolio’s thoughts returned to the present as they neared the village. Upon their approach, some of the men ran out of their homes with spears and shields. Benvolio looked to Walter, then back to the armed men and sighed deeply. “Lower your weapons!” A man cried out. He walked out of his house wearing strange clothes. Walter blinked, noticing a small skull dangling from the man’s belt, it didn’t appear to be a human skull. The man approached Benvolio and raised his arms in greeting. “Benvolio my friend!” “Grimm, a pleasure as always.” Benvolio lowered his snout in greeting. He then turned his eyes to Walter, “Walter, I would like you to meet Grimm, a necromancer.