“Went for a walk. Tired. Must’ve fallen asleep.” Casimir had already lifted off into the air. Katya hurriedly flew up beside him.

“Fell asleep? Damn well you did! When did you leave? The middle of the night?!?”

“Yep.” He started flying at a steady pace in the general direction of his house.

“Casimir!!” Katya flew in front of him, “Why were you really out here?”

Casimir rolled his eyes and dipped down under her, “Just needed to check something. Really. I’m fine. Stop being so protective. I know this land better than you.”

Katya frowned. “Crap. You think there was a dragon? And I missed it?”

She flew back to Casimir. “If you did, I swear to god I’ll shove that damn pendant into your dragon’s face!”

Casimir laughed. “You’ll do no such thing. And no such dragon would stay in that damned valley either. If you’re thinking about asking my sister to get rid of him so we could go after him, you’re wasting your time.”

Katya swallowed hard, carefully flying as close as she could to Casimir. “Right, I know you know that. So why did you leave? Why were you here?”

Casimir lifted his head up, “Are you just going to hang around and torture me, Katya?”

“No.” She swallowed hard, “But I can’t stop asking questions now can I?”

He sighed loudly and looked up at the sky, “Truly, I am tired. Probably should have done this earlier. See if I could grab a bit of rest.”

Katya gave a small smile. “I was worried, too.”

Casimir snorted in laughter, his dragon breathing a sigh. “Yeah, really. What do you want me to say? I’ve been an idiot. This dragon is a monster. I’ve been stupid and blind. And now I’ve ended up alone in this valley with this dragon and his dragon buddies. And they’re keeping me in the damned cave!”

Katya stopped laughing. “Didn’t I hear something about a dragon going around town earlier?”

“Funny.” Casimir huffed, “But that’s nothing. That’s just a story.” Katya giggled. “Really.” Casimir sighed loudly, “Fine. He didn’t come to me or anything. He had someone send his message. Like I said, he’s gone off to do whatever dragons do.”