Dragon Valley part 2

..............Part 2: The Savior, The Guardian, The Partner........1

Two days later, at night, Joanna was sitting in a tavern, in another city, and pretending to be drinking bear – she never liked it.  She put her hand into a huge man’s pocket and grabbed a wallet. It was almost out of the pocket when suddenly the huge man, who was standing to her with his back, turned his head and looked at Joanna. 2

“What are you doing?!” he took her from her hand and pulled her up. 3

Joanna kicked him in his stomach but it seemed that the thick layer of fat and muscle was better than any shield. He didn’t even shake… 4

“I… I…” hesitated Joanna realizing that her attempt was a total failure. 5

“This b*ch was stealing my pocket!” the huge man shouted. He raised his massive hand and slapped Joanna. She literally flew three meters away over the tables and people. She landed on which a group of men was playing cards. 6

“What have you done!” one of them shouted. “I was winning!”7

He took out his sword and turned towards the huge man, who pointed at Joanna and said, “She is a thief!”8

“A thief?” whispered the man with the sword and pointed the edge of his sword at Joanna. “I hate thieves.”9

“Allow me!” said the huge man. He took out an axe and yelled, “You b*ch will know that stealing is bad. This will give you a lesson once and for all.” He grabbed her right arm and raised his axe and…10

“This is not a way to treat a lady,” Joanna heard a very familiar voice. The huge man hesitated and looked back. Marin was walking with his black sword leaning on his shoulder.11

“Do you seek for troubles?” the huge man shouted.12

Marin grinned and raised his sword. The huge man released a horrifying yell and rushed on Marin. Marin avoided the slash and hit the axe. The axe fell on the floor with ringing sounds echoing all over the quite tavern. Everyone was speechless. The huge man threw the remains of his axe away and ran onto Marin. With on move, Marin managed to knock the huge man of his feet and leave him unconscious. Immediately, all who was present in the tavern went back to their jobs as if nothing ever happened. 13

“Let’s go young lady,” Marin said and took Joanna’s hand. They went out of the tavern and walked towards the forest.14

“You want me badly, huh!” stated Joanna trying to free her hand from his grip.15

Marin gave Joanna a sarcastic look and said, “I am married.”16

“Yeah… married,” mumbled Joanna. 17

They stopped in a place with fewer trees. Marin released Joanna’s hand and said, “You own me two already.”18

“What do you want then?” asked Joanna. She was a bit more confident than two days ago because she felt that Marin had pure wills. She also understood that he literally saved her from death…19

“I want you to come with me to the Dragon Valley,” Marin said with what sounded like begging. 20

“Alright…” she agreed at last. “You win this time… And besides, a strong guardian like you won’t be superfluous.”21

“…Then this means that you are a RedDragon,” inquired Marin. Joanna said nothing. He looked at her short blond hair and blue eyes and remarked, “But you don’t look like a RedDragon?”22

“And you don’t look like a BlueHeart,” Joanna counterattacked.23

“BlueHearts are not having any similar physical appearances unlike the RedDragons. But wait…” He took out a small knife and with no vacillation; he moved it across his hand. 24

“Oh my god!” Joanna exclaimed. Blue shiny blood went out of the wound. “This wasn’t necessary…”25

Joanna closed her eyes and slowly moved her hands to her sides. The barely seen mark on her hand started shining. She got covered by a crimson light and seconds later…26

“Wow! Now you look more like a RedDragon,” said Marin with satisfaction. Joanna’s short blond hair turned into long red hair; her blue eyes turned to red; her small but elegant dress turned to red. “You look better now. You should always wear the red.”27

Joanna blushed and looked away so that Marin wouldn’t see it. “I am Joanna RedDragon,” and she held her hand out for a handshake.28

“Marin BlueHeart,” he smiled, took her hand and kissed it. 29

“You are married, aren’t you,” Joanna quickly said, pulling her hand.30

“I am just being a gentleman… and no, I am not married. I am just too old for you,” Marin said.31

“Well how old are you?” asked Joanna pressing on her luck.32

“Huh? Twenty-seven.” 33

“Not too old…” Joanna wondered while counting the age difference –she was seven years younger than him. When she realized what she had just said, she rushed to add, “…er than me… I mean… Um… I mean…”34

“I know what you meant,” he smiled and looked at the ground. “Can you light a fire?”35

“Fire? Yes… sure,” whispered Joanna, not looking into his eyes. 36

She just moved her hand and a fire started burning. “That was fast,” Marin said. 37

“This was easy,” whispered Joanna.38

“Alright then… we have to go to sleep. We will need our energy tomorrow – we have a long trip ahead.”39

They lay on the ground by the fire. Joanna formed a small tent of fire and went in. She ignored Marin’s amazed look. She lay down and closed her eyes.40

“Stupid me!” she thought. “He doesn’t even care about me… He just needs me… And by the way, I must keep that stupid promise… What made me promise such a thing… Uh! What did you like in him Jo?”41