They rode for hours unending, stopping at intervals for a short break. It was almost sunset when they arrived at the heart of the earth, the original location of Islandia where the portal once opened. They stopped their horses and got down from them. Raisel reached for the box, it was slightly heavy, she handed it to Dragomir, “I believe this belongs to you” He hesitated, “Raisel…” She shook her head, “No Dragomir, this is not debatable. This rightfully belongs to dragons, this belongs to you…”, she smiled, “And what will I do with this after all?”, she asked, “It will only put a target on my back, I do not know where or how to keep it safe…” He nodded, “Thank you Raisel, thank you so very much. I could not have done this without you” Her eyes glistened with tears, “We make quite a good team”, she smiled through the tears. And more, he said to himself. She reached for his face and cupped it, “It is time Dragomir, you did it, it is time. Time for you to do what you have promised

As Raisel rode through the all too familiar streets, it hit her again, how could she forget? This was home, the home where she lived with her parents. Where she had made her first mistakes as a child, gotten her first scolding and grown into the strong woman that she was today. It was not the beautiful scenery that got to her, no this time it wasn’t perfection that Islandia was, the clouds were not excessively blue and did not look like soft foams that you wanted to reach out to and take a piece from, there were not much beautiful flowers and trees as the streets in Avalon assumed a more business-like front. Carriages and horses packed here and there, men were smartly dressed and attended to their different businesses. There were no dragons in all the wonderful colours you can imagine, in the most beautiful patterns, Avalon was dull and bereft of loud colours of any kind. Heavens forbid that you wear bright yellow or neon green, the fountain in the middle of the street did not have w

They drank a lot of rum and chatted about everything and nothing. It was far into midnight and the bar was beginning to empty out. Coal didn’t have much customers to attend to, so he was able to engage them.   Coal took one long sip, “It was always about the ladies when he came here”   “No definitely not”, Dragomir argued.   “Of course Dragomir”   Raisel took a short sip and scrunched her nose in disgust at the awful taste, “Who was it, tell me?”, she bobbed up and down in her seat like an excited school girl.   “First it was Esmeray…”   “Oh”, she interrupted, her face fell.   “Then Raisel…”   “Oh shut up Coal!"   Raisel was smiling now, “Really?”   Dragomir looked at her, “Why do you care so much?”   She stared back at him, she couldn’t conjure up any bef