Trusting Gore may be a mistake, Mr. Clearwater may have been right on that, but he was also unaware of that very same dragon saving his two sons. Rosalie debated on whether she was going to tell the man of that, but supposed it would only complicate matters when she was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened to cause her to share the same dream with Gore. She folded her arms, wincing slightly at the pain of her wrist. That dragon should keep his dreams to himself and while it may have already happened, Rosalie doubted that trusting the creature had a part in causing it. The girl would not say if she had gone as far as fully trusting the winged beast, but going by what she had seen so far, as her thoughts had often drifted back to, was that Gore was keeping his word. It might have been a code of honour that he had abided by or maybe just a ruse, but unfortunately, Rosalie had no sure way of confirming that.

“I..promise..” It was a promise more to herself than it was to Mr. Clearwater, she realised, her mumbled response probably not reaching his ears at all as he had turned to walk off, leaving her to stare at his retreating form. He had most likely left to check on his wife after the initial shock over there being a dragon in the vicinity. Rosalie would visit the woman but for now, she had not the urge nor the strength to stray far from the kitchen after the events and reasoned it was better that she wait for things to settle before making contact.

Pulling out a chair and slumping in its seat, Rosalie rested her head in her hands, closing her eyes whilst taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves and trembling body. It was times like this where she wished she had someone to confide in - that she had her father by her side to tell her that things would work out eventually. It was why she had committed to her decision of buying the Blood Dragon whilst knowing well the ‘list of problems,’ as Gore had put it, that came with said decision. 

She was starting to falter, though, knowing now that there was magic involved as one of her growing list of obstacles. Magic, though rare, can be powerful and destructive if used incorrectly and although the carnage she had witnessed on day one of her journey had been a combination of both machinery and magic, it served as an example to reinforce her fears of what it was capable of doing. Going by that, it was not magic that she wanted to dapple in but magic that she wanted to be aware of and avoid. If Gore was able to sense it, she wondered then if other dragons could do the same. Either way, she had earlier nodded to the dragon promising her that she would know in advance if something of a similar threat was near. He had succeeded in keeping her out of harm’s path, but it didn’t mean she had to be completely sheltered and kept unawares. 

The girl wasn’t going to fault him too much on not keeping her notified as it seemed as if Gore had his own list of problems that kept his thoughts occupied. His brothers and sisters - those she had seen gathered in discussion along with a key figure Gore had spoken against. They looked similar to each other or as similar as Rosalie could tell as far as dragons go. An older brother perhaps?

___

Aisen tried to swear angrily at the beast but it came out as a choking cough that caused pain to wrack through his battered body. It hurt to even take in a deep breath at this point and as the man stared into the teal abyss that glared back at him, he felt only one thing: Resentment. Resentment that a dragon, of all things, was taunting him in such a smug tone. The Blood Dragon was pleased with his ‘work of art,’ and as much as it bothered Aisen, giving the winged beast any satisfaction of that was not going to happen. Besides, as far as the man was aware, Gore was under ownership which meant the dragon did not have permission to do much even if Aisen was caught. 

His gaze hardened on the dragon, when it mentioned what it had done to Delna and the final moments she must have suffered through. It filled the man with rage. “For.. a monster like you, you should.. have no trouble reliving the past. It clearly reflects who you are...” Aisen bit through the pain, forcing out his words through grit teeth, “no matter what time and age it is.” The man’s glare was as cold as ice. “You deserve to suffer after all you have done to her!” He tried to summon forth some of magic to attack the dragon but found that it was to no avail. He was too weak in his current state - especially giving the fact that he had expended most of his strength trying to take down his targets when they least expected it.

Again, he cursed as he cast about for the girl, the man thinking that surely this winged beast would not be out here without an owner as that would surely be against the rules of the Order. Aisen then decided to wait, trying to sense if there was another here besides himself and the dragon. It took a few moments of staring into Gore’s deadly maws to realise that the fields here were oddly quiet. No birds were nearby and not even a rustle of the leaves despite the whole field being covered in forestry.

That was when he looked at Gore in confusion which quickly melted into realisation then fear. Either the brat who had run a knife through his shoulder was hiding away somewhere -whilst this pet of hers did the dirty work- or Gore had escaped. Aisen was willing to go with the latter thought on this one considering the history this dragon ca– wait! Where was the dragon taking him?! The man started to struggle weakly in Gore’s grasp, trying as much as his body allowed him to get free. “When..when I escape, your life and hers will be forfeit!” A weak threat even in his ears but it was all that he could do to stop himself from screaming.

____

Gore was taking a while to return, Rosalie mused to herself, realising that it had been almost two hours since his departure. Did Gore think this was a time to stop and smell the flowers, to enjoy the view while having a nice meal? She shook her head with a sigh, trying to calm down. She was anxious after what had happened, but it was no reason to get snippy, she told herself. Within that time, she had reflected on earlier events and was now thinking about what she could do to cause as little trouble for the Clearwater family was possible. As nice and welcoming as they were, she felt she was burdening them with her stay. She was going to have to replace John’s gun somehow, too. 

She glanced out the window just in time to see a dash of red among the clear blue backdrop of the sky gradually getting bigger and bigger with each passing second. “Took him long enough..wait..what’s that?” The girl got up, exited the house and started jogging to the airborne creature, curious and somewhat furious.