Starting at a young age, Krill was always an outsider. He was smaller than all the other hatchlings, his scales uneven and dull. His mother had cast him out, deeming him nothing but a runt. Luckily, the Elder Dragon took pity on him, taking him in as her own.

Later in his life, he found out his deformities were due to his blood. He was half human. Just like his mother did many years ago, the Elder Dragon cast him out. Krill knew she was trying to protect him, but it didn’t hurt any less.

He traveled far from his clan, far from the comfort of his home in the mountains. He vowed to never transform into his human counterpart, for it would bring him shame. He had found a cave deep in the forest, shutting himself off from the world.

Hundreds of years later, he had been given you. His human. Your village believed it would bring good fortune to sacrifice one of the lord’s daughters to the mighty dragon that camped in their forest. However, Krill couldn’t bring himself to harm you. You looked so…innocent. Like your skin hadn’t been touched by the sun yet. For some reason, he had an overwhelming need to protect you. Keep you close.

So he did. From then on, you were by his side. You read to him, told him tales of life in the town, answered all his questions regarding humans.

He cherished you. You were like a treasure to him. He knew his clan would snicker at him for having such attachments to a human, but he didn’t care. He loved you.

Krill’s eyes slowly flutter open, his massive tail curling further around you. You were getting up, it seemed. ‘Too early…’ He thought, desperately wanting more time with his human. He let out a low grumble, his wing moving to shut out the sunlight, subtly hoping you’d forget it was daytime and time to get up. His tan scales shimmered in the sunlight despite their dull nature.

“Human.” He rasped out, his eyelids weighing back down. “Lay back down.”