It was not Catarina's intention to draw attention to herself, but calling forth lightning was not as discrete as she would like it to be. By the time she realized her mistake, there was already at least a dozen pairs of curious eyes looking for the next juicy story. She unclenched the fist that was engulfed in flames to let the ashes of the glove fall to the ground as she extinguished the bluish flame.

"Let this be a lesson," the mage said raising her voice. There was no point in hiding ot running away, she thought. It would only make her look a lot like the offender. Although she hoped that nobody alerted the city's constables.  "For any of you who has ever thought of assaulting a woman in the dark." Thankfully the fake Dragon was still unconscious. Murmurs rose from the small crowd. It was time to make her exit, but then someone approached. 

[I]"Am I speaking with the Dragon?"[/i]

It took Catarina a few moments to understand that the woman was talking to her. In her peripheral, two men broke from the crowd and ran towards the fake Dragon, calling him "Boss." Catarina couldn't care less about the minions taking their boss away. She was focused on the face that managed to look both human and not. 

[I]"I've heard much about your great power, but forgive me if I'm surprised. I'm honored, to be sure,"[/i] the green-skinned woman said. That smile on her thin lips made the mage uneasy.

"I could be," Catarina shrugged. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her braided blonde hair. What could she gain by pretending to be the Dragon? Perhaps she would find out soon enough. "Come, let us talk somewhere with a little privacy." 

She led the way back to the tavern where he spotted the fake Dragon. Furtunately, the table at the far corner of the room was still available. She took it, then gestured to the bartender. "Two of your house blend," she ordered. 

Catarina turned her attention back to the woman. Under better lighting, she could see that the stranger oddly resembled a snake. She was half expecting a slender tongue would peek from the woman's lips. "I hope you drink ale. This place might not look the part, but they serve good ale. You are not from around here, are you?" Catarina made it sound like an accusation. "And why did you think I am Dragon?" 

Everyone knows that the Dragon was a man. The posters did depict a sketch of a man, but then again, she had just made a mistake because she relied on the wanted posters. Perhaps she could learn from the stranger. Perhaps the stranger knew something about the Dragon that Cataria and the rest of the kingdom missed.