The End And The Beginning

When I was sure Christopher was gone, I hurried back to Abernathy. He smacked his lips and opened one eye. "Awww, young love." He paused. "We both know it isn't real."

I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. It wasn't his place to say anything. After Dorian's kiss - the love that had surrounded me, filled me - I knew the dragon was right. But Dorian was dead.

"Love is dense," Abernathy continued.

I snorted; grateful I could jump on his unusually lousy comment. "That's romantic."

A laugh resounded in his throat. "What I mean is, real love, is more than what you see, what you feel, in the moment."

"Really?" I asked with thick sarcasm, but I was interested. It wasn't like I ever had someone to talk to about love.

"Certainly," he said with a wink. "Think about a lush forest, rich with all manner of foliage. A person could spend eons discovering its secrets and still not find them all. It's the same with love. True love, anyway." He gave me a pointed look. "Deep, abiding love is discove