He dreamt of it whenever he slept. That fateful day when his dearest treasure had stumbled into his lair. He'd been sleeping in his cave among his treasures, a few torches lighting the space and glittering brightly against the mounds of gold and silver.

He'd been woken from his slumber to the sound of someone knocking over a stack of large gold coins, making them scatter all over the cave. He sat up and looked around, figuring that it was another idiot trying to take what was his, or someone trying to slay him.

Then, he saw her. A young girl of about thirteen, hiding between a large pile of wooden chests and the wall. Her skin was very tan, and she had ritualistic tattoos in gold all over her small body. She screamed as her fearful green eyes met the dragon in front of her.

He winced, his ears being hurt by the high-pitched sound. He quickly moved out of her sight, changing into his human-like form, before going to look at her again. His skin was extremely pale, his eyes silver with an underlying reddish tint. His hair was long, going past his knees and a silver color.

The girl stared up at him, more mystified rather than scared now. He watched her closely, his long, pointed ears twitching unseen under his hair. He could easily tell that she was cold, so he removed his thick gray cloak and offered it to her. She watched him for a moment, unsure of what to do, before quickly snatching it and wrapping it around herself. Her own torn cloak wasn't enough to keep her warm.

"What's your name?" he asked softly, watching her with his slitted eyes.

"I don't have one," she replied with a raspy voice. She'd been crying herself into voicelessness lately. "...What's your name?"

"I don't have one either," he replied, taking off the much lighter cloak that he wore underneath the heavy one. He offered that to her as well, then sat down on the coin-covered cave floor in front of her.

"Are you the dragon...?" she asked, pulling the second cloak up over herself as she nestled down onto the floor as well, thankful for the warmth of his clothing.

"Yes," he replied with a slow nod, a few strands of his hair falling in his face. "Why did you come to my home?"

"I was looking for somewhere to hide... Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean any harm. I didn't come for your gold!" she cried, hiding her face in his cloak.

"I have no interest in harming you. I only wanted to know why you're here," he replied, his eyes focused on her.

She looked up at him, stunned. "You aren't going to kill me...?" she asked in wonder.

"No. There's no reason to kill you," he replied, standing up. It was then that the girl saw it: A large, thick chain hanging from the man's neck. It stopped just above his waist, and was attached to a collar around his neck that looked like it belonged on a prisoner of the king.

"But it's severed..." she whispered under her breath.

"What's severed?" he asked, looking down at her.

"That chain. On your neck..." she said, fearing she'd made a mistake in mentioning it.

"Of course it's been severed. Or else I wouldn't be able to move freely," he replied, walking back over to where he'd been sleeping. He laid down on the coins on the cave floor, remaining in his human form so he wouldn't scare the girl.

The girl, knew better than to continue the conversation, and simply watched him as he moved away and laid down. She watched him as he fell asleep with his back to her, until finally, she fell asleep as well.