Chapter 6

Gli was freaked out. Who knew what this dragon could do to her? Now she had to go more than ever.

“I-I’m sorry, but I’m v-very l-late for a s-special m-meeting,” Gli stammered.

“Then take me with you,” said Scythina with a creepy smile.

“N-no, it’s a s-secret meeting,” Gli spluttered out.

“Then I’ll tell Chief Ufara [you-far-a] of the Goti Village. He doesn’t like secrets, you know. Not unless I’m keeping them.”

“Why?” asked Gli.

“Because, little Wet-Leaf Dragon, he is my partner.”

“Really,” said Gli. “How old are you? I’m three whole-days old.”

Whole-days were basically five human years, so Gli would have been almost sixteen.

“I am three and a fifth whole-days old,” said Scythina.

Wow! thought Gli. She is young to have a partner already! Since a whole-day contained five human years, a split-day was basically one human year, though some said one-fifth for a year, two-fifths for two years, and so on.

“Yes, I know what you are thinking,” Scythina continued. “But my partner and I want little ones. Sure, we like each other a little bit, but the main reason we are paired up is to raise little ones together.”

Gli was horrified. Paired up with someone you didn’t even care for?! Only paired up to raise new-hatches? This was terrible and Gli wanted to leave, even with a pain in her shoulder.

“It is our custom to be paired up early to raise little ones. It gives us fierce protectors and helpers when we’re to old to even blink. Unlike the outsiders of Goti Village, we do not allow that ‘love’ and ‘delicate partnership’. We choose our partners in a blink of an eye and live with them for the rest of our life. Unlike others, I choose quite carefully for someone who would suite me well. We are stuck with each other for the rest of our life, you know.”

“I’m leaving, no matter what,” Gli announced. She had had enough of this creepy, strange village.

“Alright, I’ll be close behind you!” Scythina sang. Then she whispered, “Please, get me out of here. I love my family, my friends, my job, but not our customs or my partner.”

Gli knew it was a bad choice, but she said, “Fine. Come along then.”

Gli was now positive she made a bad choice when Scythina gave a little devilish chuckle.