ÎN CRESTERE ÎN GLORIA SA DE ODINIOARÃ That was what was written on the tablet from Camp Gigant’. Raisel read it over and over again, “None of this makes sense”. She went over it one more time, “I can’t believe this was what we stayed back for at Camp Gigant’ and almost got crushed by giants for”. “Let me see”, Dragomir took it from her hand, “I don’t know but I felt a pull to it like it was important to our quest. Just like how you feel with the stone calling out to you" Raisel nodded, “I understand but how do we decrypt this?” “This is some kind of language…let me see”, Dragomir sat on the floor and studied closely. They were still in the woods. After a while he spoke, “This is Romanian, just like Gigant”, he explained, “Rising… Raisel scribbled. “Rising to….it’s…former…reign? glory, yes glory”, he finished, “Rising to its former glory” “You speak Romanian?”, she asked, “Are you sure?” He rolled his eyes, “No I do not. Maybe you can decrypt it?" “Okay okay whatever!", she r

Dragomir watched her disappear underneath the water and when she popped back up, it was a heavenly sight, her long black hair was matted to her face, her lips, even more, rosier than it usually was, it slightly quivered as a result of the cold water, her blue eyes underneath the moonlight was like gazing at the clouds on a beautiful sunny day. The white dress she wore clung tightly to her, revealing every crevice of her body. He wanted to trace patterns with his fingers, it was crazy but his attraction to this woman was undeniable. He knew he wasn’t supposed to stray or look at her like that, but he couldn’t help it. He was thankful for the fact that he was in the water and not watching her from the outside, else his arousal would have been evident for her to see. She seemed to not have noticed his intent stare or she was doing a good job at concealing it. She was perfect in more ways than he could imagine. It was wrong, she was human, he was a dragon king, and much was expected of h

Raisel had noticed his sour mood since he woke from sleep, he couldn’t fathom what the problem might be. He was lost in thoughts and it was clear. She had asked a couple of times but he had played it off. “Dragomir would you please tell me exactly what’s wrong”, She asked. He began to say something but she cut him off, “And no….don’t tell me it’s nothing because it does not look like nothing” “Raisel I just want to find the stone as soo…” “Is that not what we have always wanted?”, she interjected, “Is that not the reason why we both set out on this journey in the first place? Why we have travelled through countless kingdoms and survived numerous trials. We want the same…” “I know that Raisel, I just want to find this immediately…” “Where did this newfound seriousness sprout from?”, she asked. He shook his head, “You see it right?, It is crystal clear that we haven’t been putting so much work into this…” “How dare you say that! How many times have we nearly been killed trying to

Raisel looked at her in puzzlement. She leaned into her, “You are human…”, her scaly coarse fingers caressed her face, Raisel moved her away, her hands were coarse against her skin. She could see her scrawny ghost-like fingers up close, dirt from ages ago lodged in her hard and long nails, “What is it about you?”, her voice was hoarse with a slight hiss to it. She smoothened Raisel’s hair backwards repeatedly. Raisel leaned backwards desperately trying to her away from her grasp. Meanwhile, Dragomir's hawk-like eyes never left her. He looked on, panic clear in his eyes. “Nothing?” Isolde leaned in closer towards Raisel and squinted her eyes curiously, “It is impossible, you can’t wield the stone and not be some supernatural creature of some sort”, she suddenly turned to look at Dragomir, "Maybe you know something?" She stood erect and walked towards Dragomir, confusion still etched on her features, “Our Dragon prince, dare I say king? Too bad that will not be a reality now would it?

Luckily for them, they were able to locate the inn in the small town. It was not too far away from where they were. Dragomir knocked on the gate of the large inn, a plump tall lady with her hair tied tightly behind opened up to them, she looked them over, “How can I help you?”, she asked. “We need two rooms please?”, Dragomir answered. She looked them over again, “I think you need more than two rooms, you’ll both need to see a physician too and the dressmaker and a…” “The rooms please?”, Raisel asked in exhaustion. “One night, one silver…” Raisel reached inside her purse and handed the lady two silvers. The lady opened the door wide. With their arms around each other, they entered inside. Suddenly Dragomir stopped and spun around facing the lady, “One more thing ma’am?, Are you a witch?”, he asked. *** Dragomir was back in Islandia, this time around, he was in the royal tent in his father’s chambers, it was like how he remembered it, nothing had been altered. There was a man