The time traveler
Chapter 1: Awakening
by MTT3

Cold. The first thing he noticed that the left side of his face was painfully cold. Then he felt a pounding ache at the back side of his head. When Matt opened his eyes and wondered why his mattress was so hard, he realized that he wasn't lying in his bed but on a cold stone floor.

"Where am I?" he whispered.

He looked around only to realize that he wasn't wearing his glasses. He had to kneel down, squinting his eyes to look for them. After a few seconds he could find the black and gray eye-wear. Now could see that he was in a cave that was pretty dark, only illuminated by four torches.

The young man tried to remember what happened and how he got into this cave, but his headache was so bad that he couldn't concentrate. He took several deep breaths, trying to focus only on the cold air that filled his lungs.

After some seconds,when enough oxygen reached his brain, he was able to think straight again. He tried for the second time to remember what happened and suddenly he could remember everything. The crack, the tunnel, the sconce,....... the dragon.

---

Matt had been tramping up in the mountains in the south of his hometown to release a young fox, he found nearly a month ago on the side of a street. Though the wounded fox tried to to fight him, Matt was able to catch the canine. He brought the fox to the animal shelter where he was working. There the vet told him that two its legs had multiple fractures and that it had lost a lot of blood and that it was unlikely that the fox would survive. But despite all these difficulties the fox was still living the next day. When the little furry had totally recovered, he decided to release the fox in the mountains in a side valley, where it was kinda unlikely that the fox would get struck again by a car or anything else.

On his way back to the parking lot, Matt decided to take a shortcut through the woods. When he came to the base of cliff that dominated that part of the forest, something caught his attention. Inside the rock was a large, triangle shaped crack, nearly three meters high and about half a meter wide at its base . He couldn't remember that there had been a crack the last time he took that shortcut while wandering here.

When he came closer to the crack he saw that it wasn't only a crack. It was a gap that seemed to lead in some kind of cave. Matt remembered that in the radio news they said that just yesterday there had been a light earthquake somewhere in that area. Probably that's the cause for that crack, he thought. He tried to figure out how big that cave is, but it was no use; the inside of the cave was pitch black. He was already turning around, when he remembered the flashlight in his backpack. He found it after a few minutes (in the last pocket, as always). He pointed into the dark and saw that it was more a tunnel than a cave.

Although his curiosity had brought him into trouble from time to time, he couldn't resist to explore the tunnel. At first Matt threw his backpack through the gap, then he crawled into the tunnel. When he got up and illuminated the tunnel, he could see that one side of the tunnel was leading downwards below the surface. The other side of the tunnel was leading to the top of the cliff. He took a closer look into that direction and saw that the ceiling had collapsed, blocking the tunnel totally.

But the way down looked intact. Matt took his backpack and went deeper into the tunnel always watching for stones that could make him stumble. After several turns and a distance of nearly one hundred meters, he found something surprising on the floor: an iron sconce with a wooden torch inside. It looked really old, maybe a few hundred years. There were several abandoned mines in the area, the oldest ones were made in the early middle ages. Matt didn't expect to find something like that. But when he thought about it: What was was he expecting to find anyway? When he examined the sconce, he suddenly noticed that his flashlight began to flicker.

"No, not now!", he groaned with annoyance, feeling more than a little bit of fear with being stuck so far underground with no light-source.

He just turned around to go back to the surface before the batteries of the flashlight would die, when exactly that happened. From one second to another Matt was surrounded by nothing but darkness. His breathing got fast pretty quick and though it was kinda cool in the tunnel he began to sweat. He forced himself to calm down although it felt like the darkness was crawling towards him, through his clothing and upwards his body.

He nearly began to panic, turning around, looking everywhere for a faint glow of the crack when, suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his left jeans pocket. Matt had never welcomed such a stinging pain more than now, when he realized what caused the sting. He took the lighter out of his pocket, which had a small metal tooth at one end he used as a bottle-opener, that was why it hurt him. He lit it in a single move. He pressed the regulator to its maximum and got a five centimeter big flame. He sighed in relief that he could see again. The relief from the darkness was palpable and he shook himself in an attempt to relax his tensed up muscles.

The lighter wasn't as bright as Matt hoped it would have, so he made a few small steps into the direction where he thought the way to the crack should be. But despite his careful steps, he stumbled over the sconce, nearly loosing the lighter. Because of his desire to get as fast as possible out of the cave he had totally forgotten about the sconce. But now he was glad that there is something he could use to illuminate his way.

He took the wooden torch out of the sconce and held the lighter towards the pitch on the top of the torch. Matt was pleasantly surprised that it began to burn nearly instantly. The glow of the torch illuminated the tunnel even better than his torch, because now he could see the entire tunnel and not only the small cone of light of his flashlight. Matt's heartbeat began to slow down, now that he was no longer surrounded by darkness.

He considered going back to the surface but at the same time he wanted to go deeper into the mine or cave or whatever this tunnel was. It was a bit weird but now that he wasn't surrounded by the dark anymore, Matt did not feel like turning around. With the burning torch in his right hand he became rather more encouraged to go deeper into the tunnel. He went for nearly another five minutes when the tunnel became wider and finally became a cavern with a diameter of what he guessed over fifty meters. Matt was really surprised to find a cave of such a big dimension.

He noticed something glittering on the other side of the cavern, something that looked like a big flat rock. Although the torch was kinda bright he could not define what it was. Finally, his curiosity won and he hurried to the other side of the cave. Maybe he could find something valuable.

When he nearly reached the object and he could see what it was - all his movements froze in an instant. Even his heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment. This couldn't be! His mind was imagining things. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the blue dragon didn't vanish. He could see now that the glittering came from the scales on the back of the dragon, running along his spine. Matt couldn't help but to step closer to the dragon. This was something so incredible, he had to examine this creature. It did't seem to be alive, maybe it was dead, conserved by the cold of the cave.

The dragon was big. Although it was lying flat on the ground, its back was at the same height as his chest. From the tip of the snout to the end of the tail the creature surely measured ten to twelve meters. The folded wings probably had a wingspan of twenty or thirty meters, he could not tell for sure.

He made some small steps towards the head of the dragon. Two big, slightly curved ember colored horns were at the top of the head, while on each side of the head was something that looked like three smaller horns with a membrane between them. They were located where a mammal would normally have its ears. He hold the torch nearer to the dragon, when suddenly the dragon abruptly moved. Before he could even make a single step backwards, the dragon's right wing hit him directly into the face, knocking him to the floor.

He tried to roll himself to the side but he failed. His head hit the floor very hard. He didn't black out instantly, but his head seemed as it wanted to explode because of the pain. He lost his glasses and the torch was rolling somewhere else. His vision began to blur and the last thing he could see was something blue and very big stretching above him, like a big sheet. It was the last thing he saw before his consciousness fled.

---

Yeah, that was what he could remember, but did it really happen? There was no dragon, no evidence that this creature was ever here. Maybe he slipped on the stone floor and just dreamed everything. He staggered to his feet, shaking out the dust from his coat, which made him him sneeze, the noise echoing in the cave. Suddenly he heard a clacking noise. No, not a single noise, it was a sequence of clacks, like someone or something was....walking. A creature with claws instead of fingernails.

Now Matt couldn't fight the urge to panic. With every second the noise was coming closer and Matt was looking around like crazy for a place to hide or even something he could use as a weapon. But there wasn't anything at all. He was trapped. When he thought the dragon could enter the cave any second, he found a crack in the massive wall, similar to the entry crack.

Matt hurried to the gap, it was barely big enough for him to fit into, but it was more than four meters deep. It would be hard for the big predator to reach him here.

He crawled into the gap until he couldn't move any further. He somehow managed to turn around, so he could see now that the dragon had just entered the cave. The dragon seemed irritated. It was moving his head in all directions, looking for the human.

Please go away., Matt thought. Go somewhere else.

But the dragon didn't go away. Instead he began to move around, out of sight of the young man. A few seconds there was nothing but the slow clacking of the dragon's claws on the hard stone floor. Then Matt heard the beast making a peculiar muffled huffing noise. That was no normal breathing. It was sniffing. In another situation he would not have heard this noise. Weird, he thought, why are your senses sharpened so much only in dangerous situations?

First the dragon wandered in another direction but then he heard the dragon walking towards him again.

Please, don't find me, don't find me.

But just three seconds later the dragon's head appeared at the opening, blocking the light. It was a terrifying sight, the big scaled head surrounded by the flickering light of the torches, the jaw slightly opened, revealing long, sharp-looking fangs.

The dragon now tried to reach him with his left forepaw, his trying leaving small scratches on the stone floor.

"Leave me alone! Look for someone else you can eat!" Matt kicked out at it, stirring up yet more of the fine rock dust. It was a helpless gesture, but in his situation it was the only thing he could do.

"Eating you? What a weird thought."

His kicking movement stopped instantly. Did the dragon really just talk?

The dragon took a few steps back, giving Matt a better sight on the creature. The human was shaking and his breathing was erratic now, the fact that the dragon could talk, that he was not some kind of mindless creature was even more frightening.

"You really don't have to be afraid. I will neither eat you nor just kill you nor will I do any harm to you."

Matt couldn't believe it. Not only that in front of him was a blue dragon, a creature he thought to exist only in fantasy-novels or legends from the middle ages, but it was actually talking to him. Or perhaps a 'he' rather than an 'it'. It was definitely the voice of a male person, it sounded like a young man in his mid twenties, just a bit deeper.

Matt was scared. The dragon went to the other side of the cave and was now sitting there, only a few small rocks between them. He didn't know what to do. Could he really trust the dragon? Before he entered this cave he hadn't even thought about the possibility that dragons would exist. The only "facts" he knew about dragons were from old legends from he middle ages and this legend-dragons were depicted as mindless brutal beasts, not as talking sentient beings, so that would not help. So Matt had to look what were his options.

He could trust the dragon and simply crawl out of this hole. But it could just be a trap.

His second option would be that he would simply wait. Maybe the dragon would fall asleep and he could slip past and out of the cave.

He even had a third option. He reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out his Swiss army knife, flipping it open. He could try to fight the dragon, maybe somehow hurting him. But this wasn't really a good option, the scales of the dragon looked like they could withstand even machine-gun-fire, not talking about a pocket-knife. And before he would be to reach the dragon's eyes or any other vulnerable parts he would surely be killed. An attack would be more a desperate action if there were no other options left.

When he was thinking about his options, a fourth one came into his mind. But it would be drastic, painful, it would... .No, he didn't want to think about it. He was still alive, with his other options, there was no need to think about ending his life here in this dark cave.

---

He waited. He waited for what seemed like hours but the dragon showed no signs that he was getting sleepier. He was hardly blinking. Just from time to time the blue lizard moved his head into another position, but still facing him, what frightened Matt each time. It seemed like the dragon was doing this on purpose, to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep. Or he just wanted to see if Matt was still alive.

The dragon on the other hand was thinking how he could convince the human that he was really no threat to him. He was kinda surprised to wake up with a burning torch just centimeters away from his snout and finding this human in his cave.

When the dragon noticed how scared the human was, he walked to the other side of the cave. He didn't want to scare the young man, so he wanted to give the human some room for his own to calm down. But he stayed in Matt's sight, so both could see each other.

He had always been curious about humans. Their society and their way of living were very different compared to the society of dragons and now he was able to ask the human everything he ever wanted to know about humans and their way of living. That means, he would be able to ask the human if he would come out of that little gap.

He was still thinking what he could say to calm the human down when suddenly something metallic was thrown out of the gap. It looked like a very small version of a sword. He was wondering why the human would throw this micro-sword in his direction, he could never reach him, not mentioning that it would be highly unlikely that this thing could ever hurt him.

He was still wondering about this act when the dragon noticed that the human was crawling out of the gap. He did it very slowly, and when he got up, he was holding his hands at the height of his head. It looked a little silly to him.

Despite the fact that the dragon assured Matt he wouldn't kill him, the human wanted to show that he was no threat, as if he had ever been a threat to the dragon. The young man tried not to tremble, but if was futile, his hands were shaking.

He was hoping that the big lizard would keep his promise. But then the dragon did something he really did not expect. The dragon was actually chuckling. Because of his act to look harmless or because he was looking sort of silly Matt couldn't tell. But the chuckles were soothing Matt's nerves a bit. But only a little bit.

"You can take your hands down. I already told you, I won't do any harm to you."

Still nervous, Matt lowered his hands slowly. "Well, I thought it cannot hurt." He voice was hardly audible, but at least his voice wasn't shaking.

"I must admit I was pretty surprised to find someone like you inside my cave. I didn't think that humans would ever have the courage to explore a cave hidden so deep in the woods." the dragon commented.

"Well, it wasn't my intention to find you here. I...was just curious what is in that cave." Matt tried to prolong the conversation. He was still unsure if he could trust the dragon.

With his knees feeling like they were made out of rubber, he sat on a small rock beside him. At least he tried to do so. But he nearly stumbled over this simple act. When he was finally sitting safely, he couldn't help but to hold his head and take a breath so deep he thought to have sucked in all the air in the cave.

"Are you feeling alright? You didn't look hurt when I found you."

Was the dragon really worried about him? Matt couldn't believe it.

"Uhm,...no, I'm fine. It's just... . Sorry, it is just that since when I woke up so many things happened I thought that could never happen. First I find you here inside this cave, then I found out that you can talk and now you are even worried that I'm hurt. All things someone would attribute to a human and not to a creature from some old legends."

"What do you mean 'old legends' ?"

"Uhm,...legends. How do describe something like this?" Matt was covering his face with both his hands in a helpless gesture trying to figure out how to tell what he thought he knew about dragons. "OK, let's forget this legend-thing. What I wanted to tell you is - Please don't take that personally - that I...I thought that dragons do not exist."

"What do you mean with that? Why shouldn't we exist?" the dragon was obviously surprised by this comment.

"What I mean is.....there was never any evidence that your kind ever existed. There were only this really old stories. No one has ever seen a dragon nor did we find any kind of remnants. So we thought that dragons were just a myth, legends, stories our warriors invented, pretending they've fought something very powerful." Matt hoped that the dragon wouldn't be offended because of this statement. Or anything worse.

"But how could someone not have noticed me? I was flying above the nearby city just a few days ago."

"A few days ago? But how...?" Matt was really confused. There was no way out of this cave. But even if the dragon would have been able to get out, it would have been all over the news. But it did not seem as if the dragon lied to him. So the dragon did not know that the cave entry was blocked.

"That doesn't make any sense. Are you sure? I mean.." He stopped talking immediately, surprised how bold he was to contradict this powerful creature.

"I'm absolutely sure. My memory of this day is still fresh."

Matt thought about that for a few seconds. If the dragon was really telling the truth, than this would mean that the dragon would have been sealed in this cave for at least.... But that was impossible, it meant that.... But it would explain the situation. But he needed more information to be sure.

"Can you...can you tell me what happened yesterday? I mean what happened before you woke up and found me here?"

The dragon opened maw to speak, but before he could even form a single word his motion froze. Matt could see the eyes of the dragon moving from the left to the right, like he wasn't able to concentrate on what to think. Then he looked directly at Matt.

"You can't remember, do you?", Matt simply determined.

"I do remember something, there is...coldness,....and...darkness,....but nothing else. I don't understand, just a few seconds ago, I thought that I could remember everything, but now there is something else, something I can't define, it's like... ."

Suddenly the dragon's body twitched like he had grabbed an electrical cable. His eyes were opened so wide that although it was so dark Matt could now see for the first time the dragon's eye color, it was a beautiful jade. But his pupils where only little slits , staring into nowhere.

Without warning the dragon swung his head wild around, roaring, like he was in intense pain. His long and powerful tail swung through the air like a giant whip. His wide wings waved through the air, putting out two of the four torches near him, while his claws were scratching over the stone floor. And all the time he roared out, shaking the cavern.

After several minutes the dragon finally calmed down. He was panting like crazy, his heart pounding hard against his chest. Then he realized that the young man had disappeared, he wasn't in the cave anymore. Did he run out of the cave while he had lost control?

As he was thinking about the where-about of the human, he heard a whimpering noise. The human was still in the cave, he fled into the small gap again. When the dragon lost control Matt managed to turn around and flee into the gap within just two second. And now he was here in this small room again, fearing for his life.

"Hello?", the dragon asked, trying to sound as calm and friendly as possible, but there was no answer.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to loose control. You don't have to be scared." Still no answer.

"Please, come out. I...I am truly sorry. Please."

He had to wait for several more minutes but finally Matt crawled out of the gap again. This time he did it even slower than the first time. He was still scared but then he saw how the dragon reacted to him. He laid himself flat on the floor, his wing folded tightly on his back. He was trying to make himself as small as possible to not look too intimidating. For the second time the dragon tried to convince the human that he was no threat.

When Matt got up again, the only thing he could ask was:" What - was - that?"

"I....I don't know. When I was thinking about yesterday, suddenly my head was somehow flooded with pictures, feelings, all kinds of impressions." The dragon's voice was slightly shaking, still under the influence of his violent outbreak.

When Matt looked into his direction, the dragon avoided his gaze, looking somewhere else. He didn't want to look into the eyes of the young man, not after this incident.

Matt sat down again and waited a few minutes to let them both calm down. It was for both a horrific experience, for the dragon because he has completely lost control and scared the human to death and for Matt because he could already see his life passing by.

"So you had a flashback?" That was the only thing Matt could say.

"A...what?"

"A flashback is..., well, this is...aah man, how do you describe something like that? I guess you have already characterized it very well, your minded flooded with pictures and you simply can't control them. The only other thing I know about a flashback is that they are mostly triggered by an emotion or experience that is linked to these memories."

"Thanks for telling me." The dragon slightly shook his head, a quiet sigh escaping his maw. "I can't even apologize properly, because I...I don't even know your name."

Matt's eyed widened in surprise. He really didn't tell him his name. He had been too busy dealing with the situation.

"My name..., I am... . Matthew. ....My name is Matthew. But most people just call me Matt."

"Well, then... . Sorry Matthew. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I...I...I don't know what else I can say. I am just sorry."

"Nah, don't worry, you did not do it on purpose. While we're on the subject...what is your name?"

The dragon looked at him again, his ear-like fins hanging down. He chewed on his lower lips, while his face had a kinda embarrassed look (that is at least what Matt thought).

"Don't tell me that you have no name."

"I do have one, but it's...difficult. You know, we dragons don't communicate like you humans do, we don't speak."

"I've already thought so. I'm still wondering how and when you learned to speak my language."

"No, no, you don't understand. We dragons don't talk at all. We don't have something like what you would call a language. If we communicate like you humans do, you know vocally, we only use a small number of noises like hissing or something like that, something that you can't misunderstand."

"But...you seem too intelligent only to hiss or grunt to communicate. If you really 'talk' like this - when and how did you learn to speak like I do now?"

"Well, this is quite complicated, on the other hand it's really simple, but I don't know how... ."

"Please, just tell me. Don't make it more complicated than it already is, OK?"

The dragon hesitated for a moment. Then he said: "I searched in your mind."

"You did WHAT?!" Was this dragon really talking about what Matt was thinking he said?

"I knew you wouldn't understand me if you wake up and you would have been even more afraid. So I connected our minds and searched for what you humans call language and so I learned how to talk." The dragon's sky blue colored ear-fins changed their colors to a deep pink one, like he was blushing.

But Matt didn't notice this little change. His mood turned from calm and relaxed to furious in an instant. "YOU USED TELEPATHY TO CONNECT OUR MINDS AND COPIED MY MEMORIES? I CANT`T BELIVE IT." he yelled at the big lizard.

The dragon didn't know what the word telepathy meant but the meaning of the word was clear, he meant the connecting of their minds. The dragon was very fast to respond "No, I didn't do something like that at all. I never went that deep in your mind. I...,sigh...it's difficult to explain how it works, I don't know the words to explain it. But I can assure you I did not copy your memories, I neither know what you have done last summer nor what you have eaten yesterday. I only connected our minds that far that I can learn the human way of communication. I'm so sorry, I didn't want to offend you."

Matt needed a few minutes to calm down again. With his face still red like a fire hydrant, he apologized to the dragon.

"Sorry, I didn't want to yell out like that. I was just...you know... ." He shrugged, although he didn't know if the dragon could understand the human body language.

"It's okay, I understand you very well. We dragons don't have many rules, but this is a very important one: Don't look into someone's memory without permission. I can assure you, I really did not copy any memory at all. That would have needed a more intensive connection."

"That's a very good rule in my opinion. I wouldn't feel very comfortable with somebody knowing everything I have done in my life.” Matt sat down again, finally calmed down.

“Anyhow, how did we start this topic? Ah, right your name. So, you said that you dragons only use some noises and expressions vocally, do you use them also to name other individuals?"

"Yeah, that's one of the only times when we 'talk'?"

"And your name is now...?"

The dragon made a noise that was a mix of a hiss and a rumble and some vocals. It was quite difficult for Matt to say what this noise could mean.

"Syron, Sydren, Syrren....hmm?" Matt was questioning what would be best to fit.

"I guess Syrren would fit best."

"So, it's Syrren now. I'm glad that we can talk properly now."

"I am too." Syrren said, looking directly at Matt for the first tome since he lost control, even smiling a little bit. Now he had someone he could really talk to. He had watched the humans for years and even used his telepathic ability hear through the humans what they were talking or to have a look into their cities and fortresses, of course without reading their minds. He really envied the humans. Although telepathy was good in reading emotions, it was difficult to get across the message if you have no words for something.

"So, do you want to talk about your flashback, or do you fear that it will cause another one?"

"I hope it will not cause another flashback." the big dragon shivered at the thought of loosing control again. "I think I will be okay."

"So...what where these memories about? It seems like they were kinda traumatic."

"What does traumatic mean?"

"I thought you learned how to talk when you connected our minds?"

"I know how to talk and there are a lot of words in my head now. I don't know how I manage to use all these words now. I just talk although I don't know what some words mean. I just...do it."

"I'm sorry that I filled your memory with such an amount of words, I've always been a big reader. I guess that's why you got so many words in your brain."

"That's okay, the more, the better, isn't it?" Syrren ignored it that Matt had used again words he don't know. But he didn't want to interrupt the conversation again so he decided to ask the young man later what they meant.

"But only if you know their meanings. I guess that's something where I can help you."

"You...you would really do that for me?"

"Let's do step by step, okay? You stopped because of the word traumatic. A trauma occurs when you come into a really bad situation, for example when you get hurt really bad or when you witness something really cruel. And you can live through these experiences again if you come into a similar situation, or remember something similar, that's the flashback." Matt tried his best to explain things as plain as possible, because of the dragons lack of knowing word-meanings.

"Yeah, it was really a tough experience I had yesterday, or whenever that happened."

"Do you still want to talk about these memories?"

"Yeah, although there's not much to tell. All I could remember now is that one day when I was in my cave here suddenly everything in the cave began shaking and rocks started falling down the ceiling. And when everything was calm again I wanted to get out of the cave, but I couldn't, the entry was totally blocked. I tried the get all the rocks away but they were just too big. I guess I've been trapped for several days inside the cave, I don't know for sure."

With this statement Syrren silenced, letting Matt think about these new information. Syrren didn't thought that this little amount of information would help Matt.

But the big dragon should be proven wrong. Matt knew that there have been several earthquakes in the last few centuries, but the only one strong enough to crack these massive granite walls of this cave here occurred in the 14th century. Matt knew of this earthquake, because it had caused a great amount of damage, some of them still visible in the historic part of Matt's home-city.

"Wow, it is really unbelievable but it's the only explanation. When this earthquake occurred in 1348, blocking your cave entry, you somehow must have cooled down that much that all your body functions came to a halt. There are some species that can survive winters like that, certain frogs and toads can do it. But they they need freezing temperatures. How you managed to survive for nearly seven centuries - I can't tell you. But that I am talking with you is proof enough that you did survive."

"I hope so that I am not just a dream of yours." Syrren said, grinning widely.

His attempt to make a joke amused Matt. Suddenly he noticed how dry his throat was. All this talking and the dry air of the cave had made his throat kinda hoarse. He tried to clear it by coughing, but it didn't work.

"Are you alright?" Syrren asked, slightly concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wished I had taken a bottle of water with me."

Syrren didn't know what a bottle was but Matt had made clear that he was really thirsty. Now it was time for him to help Matt

"That's not a problem, there's a spring right here in the cave."

"Really? You got your own water supply? Where? I didn't find something like a spring when I came down here."

"Well, there was one when I was awake the last time. I hope it's still there. Come, follow me it's just in the next cave."

With this words the dragon got on his four feet, raising his head to a height nearly two and a half times the size of Matt.

The human couldn't help, but he leaned instinctively back, somehow trying to enlarge the distance between them.

That really hurt Syrren. He could see that Matt didn't do this on purpose, but still it did somehow hurt him.

"You still fear me, do you?", Syrren asked, his voice lowered.

"No, it's not like....I am not...... Yes, I still do. I am sorry, I can't help. Now that we have gotten to know each other better I don't fear you now as a person. But you are so....big. Sorry, I don't want to be afraid, but my body somehow does not react as I want him to. It's like some kind of instinct, when I see you, my body sees a big predator with claws big enough to rip my chest apart and a maw so big it can chew my entire body in two. I'm sorry I didn't want to upset you. I guess I can control the urge to run away now."

"If it's only because of my size, I guess I got a solution for that problem." Before Matt could ask what he meant, Syrren somehow lend back, nearly vanishing in the darkness. The only burning torches were at Matt's back, but they were not very bright., so Syrren was mostly covered by darkness. He could only see that Syrren was crouching on the floor. It seemed that he was getting.....smaller.

"Uhm, Syrren what are you doing?"

Instead of an answer he saw suddenly a human-like creature getting up and walking towards him. Was this really...? Then Syrren walked into the light. But it wasn't the same Syrren Matt saw just a minute ago. Now his appearance was more like a human, walking on two digitigraded feet with four toes and with his neck now attached at the bottom of the head and not at the rear end. But that were the only similarities. He was still undeniable of dragonic origin.

"Syrren...is that really you?" Matt couldn't believe it, somehow the dragon had transformed his body into a more human like shape.

"Why are you so surprised? Didn't your legends told you about our ability to change into this shape?" His voice was now like that of a human. If someone would have to tell who is who, just by hearing the voices, he couldn't tell that Syrren is no human.

"No, as far as I know there is no legend about dragons with such an ability." Matt was still in a stunned mode, unable to move.

Syrren took the seven meters between them in just a few big steps. On half the way, Syrren picked up Matt's Swiss army knife , but not with his hands but with a single motion of his tail. After two more steps Syrren hold his tail in front of Matt's face. Matt was really fascinated how flexible Syrren's tail was, wrapped tightly around the pocket knife. Syrren released the knife, when Matt held his open hand below the knife. Then Syrren offered the still stunned human his left hand to help him to get up. Syrren was left-handed, just like Matt was! He also showed him a big smile but without showing his teeth, to sooth Matt's nerves.

Matt took the hand, wondering how warm the dragon was. So dragons were not cold-blooded like other reptiles. His palm was like very fine leather, smooth, but with a good grip at the same time. The rest of his hand was covered with scales, just half the size of the nail of Matt's thumb. With a swift move Syrren pulled Matt on his feet again. Matt was really impressed how strong the dragon was, his weight of over seventy kilogram did not seem to bother Syrren at all.

"Are you still scared?" Syrren couldn't hide his concerns in his voice.

Matt could only stare in awe. The dragon was over two meters tall, and his wings, folded on his back, added surely ten centimeters to his heigth.

"No, not really. More like....really impressed." Matt said licking his lips to wet them a bit.

"I guess we better get to the spring, before you die of thirst."

With this words the dragon turned around, his tail swinging slightly from the left to the right. Now Matt could take a closer look at Syrren impressive wings. A strong looking membrane stretched from the middle of his back, about five centimeters to the left and right of his spine, along the lower parts of his wing-arms. But he had only four fingers that were formed like the ones of a bat, very long and thin, with no thumb or anything that would come close to it, not even a claw at its place. The slightly curved horns atop his head were now pointing behind him, and not like in his feral form aligning along his neck.

Nearly the entire body of the dragon was covered in this marvelous blue colored scales. It was a deep matte blue, nearly navy blue. The scales that ran along his spine had the same color, but they were glittering like snow would do after a frosty night or polished metal. Most scales had about the size like the ones on Syrren's hands. The ones on his back, shoulders and front parts of his arms and legs were about half the size of Matt's palm, while on all joints like knees and elbows they were really tiny, just as big as a big sand-corn.

The only area that wasn't covered with scales run along from his chin over his front part of his neck and chest along his belly and pelvis and stops about one fourth of the way down his tail. It seemed like these parts had the same texture like Syrren's palm. Matt now noticed the color of the leathery parts and was surprised that it wasn't blue but a dark turquoise. Matt had to tear his eyes away from the dragon, now noticing that he was already several steps behind the dragon.

Before they left the cavern Syrren took one of the still burning torches. Matt was really fascinated how the scales and horns reflected the light of the flames.

Then both walked just outside the the cave to stop at a partially blocked tunnel Matt had not noticed it the first time he went by. Syrren seemed to be a bit disappointed to find the tunnel blocked too, only a few little holes in the upper part indicating that there is another tunnel behind the rocks.

"Okay, this will probably be a bit difficult. Matthew, can you give me a hand, please?"

"Uhm, sure, and please call me Matt. All my friends do."

"Okay..., Matt." In that moment Syrren realized that with this comment Matt would count him as a friend too. Although he never heard the word before, its meaning was more than clear. The emotion that emitted from the word left no other conclusion. Or did he just said this without noticing it?

Syrren, tried to chase away this thought, offering the torch to Matt, "Could you please hold the torch to this gap here? I have to see what I am holding in there."

"Sure, like this?" Matt asked a bit unsure.

Syrren moved his hand into the small gap, trying to find the optimal grip. "A bit higher...yes that's good. I just have to... okay, I got it. You better step back a bit."

Matt walked two steps back. Then Syrren pulled at the biggest stone that was blocking the tunnel, his left arm pulling, the right arm stabilizing the rock. Although this piece of rock must have had a weight of over 200 kilograms, it did not seem that the dragon was straining very much. The rock looked like it was just falling out of the smaller tunnel, a few smaller ones following.

What a strength, Matt thought.

"What are you waiting for. The water won't come to you on its own." Syrren said, chuckling.

Matt stepped into the tunnel, bending down a bit. Syrren was just behind him. Matt made a few steps, but then waited until the dragon was beside him, letting him take the lead.

Just after one minute Matt could hear the murmuring of a small steam. Then after a few more steps Matt and Syrren entered another cave with only the third the size of the big cavern they just left. But there was a small curved channel with a small bay at the curve. Running through the entire cave, the fast moving stream divided the cave into two pieces.

Matt noticed another sconce at the wall. He put the torch into it, then he stepped closer to the stream. He bent down, forming with both hands a bowl, drawing the water to his mouth. The water was cold as ice but Matt didn't mind, he was so thirsty, he could drink water of nearly any temperature now. He had to drink for nearly a minute to stop his thirst. The water did hurt his teeth, but it was so pure and clear, he had never drank something similar. Even his own spring at his house did not taste that good, not mentioning the chlorinated stuff from the urban water supply they call tap water. Then Matt noticed that the blue dragon was kneeling beside him, drinking as well.

"Had your fill, hmm?" Syrren asked, looking at Matt mischievously.

"Yeah, thanks. That was just the perfect time." The word 'time' triggered a button in Matt's mind. He realized now that he didn't know for how long he had been in the cave.

"Syrren, do you know where my backpack is? The small green bag I had with me when you found me?"

"What do you me...ooh, this thing. I have hung it up in the main cave. Why?"

"I need something that is in it. Something I could use to find out for how long I've been here now.”

They both got back into the main cave. Syrren went straight to the other side of the cave. There Matt could see that his backpack was hanging on a small ledge, just beneath the ceiling. Syrren must have hung it up being in his quadrupedal form. At first Matt thought Syrren would change back to reach it.

But instead of doing so he spread his wings, waving them with great speed for several times. Then he flew, or better, said, jumped without much effort to the ceiling, grabbing the backpack and putting the torch into the sconce while sailing back to the ground. Matt's mouth was still open in awe when Syrren offered him his backpack. Matt took it, murmuring a thank you, searching for his cell phone.

It was still inside the small pocket on the strap. He took his pen-like I-Phone 7, pressing the button on the upper part. The phone split in the middle, revealing a thin foil that is used as the screen. After two seconds the two small aluminum bars between the two split parts reached their final width, the foil was stretched and came to life, showing a picture of Matt in front of his house together with his red and white furred husky Toby. But the picture was not important now. He touched the foil to stop the screen saver. Now he could see the main menu, with the all the sub-menus along with the time. When he entered the cave it was about 7:00 pm. But the cell phone was showing him it was 2:47 am now. He must have been unconscious for at least five hours or less because he didn't know for how long he was hiding from Syrren in the gap.

"Jeez, I've been passed away pretty long" Matt said, a great sigh escaping him.

Syrren bowed towards the little glowing thing, impressed by the thin, illuminated foil. He has never seen anything like this before. The foil emitted a dimmed bluish light, so totally different from the torches, the only other things he knew that could shine, except for the sun.

"How do you know?", Syrren asked. He couldn't see any clue how much time had passed.

"Well, that's difficult to explain. The only thing I could tell you now that it is in the middle of the night."

Syrren shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't really believe that this little thing could tell someone the daytime.

"It you don't believe me, we can have a look at the entry if you want to." Matt pressed the button for the second time and the cell phone folded itself together again.

Syrren was now really curious, if this thing was right. He took the other torch and both went up the tunnel, towards the crack. At first Syrren could not see the gap. But he could smell the fresh air flowing into the cave. After looking for some seconds he found the crack and he could see that it was really in the middle of the night. This shining little thing did 'tell' him the truth.

Suddenly Matt froze when he heard one, no, two wolves outside the cave howling. He knew that some wolf packs were living now in some towns that were abandoned in the last years and he didn't want to meet them right here in the middle of the night. There were several encounters with wolves and wandering people in the last weeks. The wolves were not afraid of humans that much anymore. Although no one was hurt or killed, all these incidents were pretty dangerous, and Matt didn't really want to risk his life in trying.

Syrren could see the worries on Matt's face. He thought about it for just a second, then he said:

"You can stay for the night if you want to, so you don't have to face our furry friends out there."

"Really?" Matt sighed in relief. "To be honest it's not so much the fear of the wolves. I mean I do fear them, it's more the that I've never been in the forest in the middle of the night. And all this together is not very helpful."

"Really, it's not a problem at all. Make yourself comfortable"

They went both back to the main cavern. Matt grabbed his backpack and took the Nano-Carbon-Fibre-blanket he always had in his the backpack, although he never had to use it until now. The manual claimed it would protect anyone from coldness for several hours without the person cooling out. Matt spread the blanket on the stone floor, big enough to work as some kind of mattress and a small blanket at the same time. Fortunately Matt was dressed very warm, so this would help too.

Suddenly he realized that Syrren had changed back to his feral form. Matt did not notice it. He had been too occupied with preparing his sleeping place. Although he was now totally trusting Syrren, he still felt somehow uncomfortable. But now he was at least able the hide his insecurity. The big dragon was lying in the middle of the cave, Matt just about five meters away in front of him.

Syrren curled himself to a big scaly ball, still watching the human. He was now lying on the black blanket, petting his head on the green backpack. Both of them were facing each other.

"Good night, Matt.", the dragon said, laying his head on his powerful forepaws, closing his eyes.

"Good night,...Syrren." Matt hesitated for a moment, still somewhat surprised how natural the dragon was using human forms of conversation and phrases like he had done it his entire life.

But Matt tried not to look irritated, turned around and tried to have some sleep.

---

Matt really tried to sleep for what felt like an hour, but although he was wearing a thick coat and winter underwear and lying on the Nano-Blanket, he was still freezing. He wrapped his arms around his legs, curling himself to a small ball. His teeth were clacking every now and then because of the cold.

Suddenly he heard how Syrren got up and how his claws made very slow and quiet clacking noises, like he was walking very carefully. Matt tried not to listen, maybe Syrren had just to relieve himself and he was going to the smaller water-cave. But then Matt heard that the dragon laid himself just beside him. He was wondering what the dragon was doing. He did not dare to open his eyes to see what Syrren was doing. He could only hear limbs shifting and wings waving. Then everything was silent again. Matt waited for several minutes but the dragon did not move at all, he could only hear now the purring-like breathing again. Then Matt realized that he wasn't freezing anymore. The air was several degrees warmer than just a few seconds before.

Matt opened his eyes only a few millimeters, but he couldn't really see what happened, the light of the torches was somehow dimmed or something like that. So he opened his eyes a bit more. Now he could see that Syrren had laid his long tail on front of him while the dragon's body was just a few centimeters away from Matt's back. Then the young man saw that the dragon had unfold his left wing and was covering him now, forming a small tent like room, where the air could heat up now.

Matt was totally stunned. Although he did trust Syrren before he tried to sleep, he was still somehow concerned about the dragon. His fears weren't very specific, but nevertheless a bit was left. But all his worries, all his concerns and fears that Syrren would somehow hurt him melted away like ice in the hot sun. The dragon had helped him without Matt asking him for help. He really wasn't a creature that was playing some kind of strange game with him.

Matt crouched backwards, closer to the dragon, feeling the warm, leathery belly against his back now. Both of them didn't say a word. Matt thought that the dragon was already sleeping again and Syrren thought that Matt was moving while he was asleep.

Matt was sure now that he would survive the night in this cold cave. He would be safe, protected by the blue dragon,....his friend.