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She was very polite, and he would have liked to trust her word (especially because her clan was light), but her eyes seemed to speak a different story. Instinctively, he shrunk away from them, looking at her nervously and shyly.

He couldn't run away - there were few places to go, and she would likely catch him. Thus he had to continue on. And now, he had to present a dissenting opinion.

Keep being polite, Raemos. he thought to himself, You might get through this yet.

"Well." he began, "Philosophically speaking, what if, um... Harmony was not possible?"

Once he began, it was easier to continue, inevitable almost, like a boat crash.

"What if the dragons were not harmonious creatures? What if such a peaceful existence is impossible for them?" he asked, "The one I encountered was far from peaceful. I would happily..." he remembered the Ysali dragon encounter of not too long ago and shivered at how close he had come to death, "... have left it be. That you say that self defense is acceptable means that it is also often necessary, because otherwise why would you say that? That implies a violent nature. Violence is not harmonious." he moved a big further from her, ready to draw his sword against his new... friend... if need be. Philosophical discussion or not, he was treading awfully dangerous ground. "They attack and eat Orderites. They attack and destroy our livelihood. I have heard that they attack and destroy each other. Do you really think that such beasts could live in peace?" Oh Seren save me... he might as well finish his thought... in case it was the last thought he ever had.

"I don't know what would happen if the hunts stopped, or if that is even possible, but I do not think it would be the result you want..."

(923/900)

Raemos was reassured... somewhat. He was glad she had promised - and was keeping her promise - not to eat him, because he could feel more arguments building inside him, and he didn't think he could hold them back.

"Well. If the hunts stopped, then the dragon's territories would increase. They would begin to hunt us, and khehora... And maybe..." he added, realizing he'd forgotten one more important party, "Each other as well."

That was a disturbing thought... dragons killing each other. "So instead of a harmonious world, it would be a world of blood and death. That would not be very pleasant to live in."

"... but then the goddesses created their people, and there was war." Raemos retorted, "I do know the story." He did. And it hurt so much every time he realized that he was on the wrong side of it. It was not his favorite story, except for the part where Seren created her people in retaliation. He was happy she had.

"And Abronaxus created the Dovaa and their plane." he remembered that story too. And he remembered many other stories of heroes and legends, things he had been told, things he had read, and things he had found when on expedition with his mother. "Which means it is not the same world that it was. Things have changed. I bet that the balance of magics has changed too, or... " he hesitated - he had no idea what he was talking about now. "Something. The point is, as long as the Great Engagement is active" and he didn't believe for a minute that that truce would hold, nor did he hope it would,"people will want power. Dragon souls grant that power. So, people and khehora will hunt dragons for power and I don't think you can stop that." he stopped, realizing that he had just told a enormous predatory and intelligent beast that it couldn't do something. He forgot about his philosophical bent, and the promise to keep him safe and cringed. "I.. I mean..." he stammered, tensing, readying himself for some sort of retaliatory strike...

Raemos cringed back, hand shaking uncertainly over his sword. But she did not seem to be attacking, which was puzzling. Had he not angered her? It was so hard to tell with such a terrifying beast. But she wasn't eating him, and that was a good sign.

"I'm not going to argue with a god's opinion, whatever it may be." he said, deciding for the moment to concede for the sake of diplomacy and not getting eaten. "I was just putting a... philosophical idea... out there." he swallowed. There. That should assuage her a bit more.

He was grateful, needless to say, for the subject change. "Yes." he said, "I have heard of it... vaguely. What about it?"

He knew that it was a monster that Aevah Avi had ordered hunted and slain. Obviously, then, it was something truly foul...

"All right." said Raemos. That sounded... interesting enough. He certainly would not look for such a disturbing-sounding entity on his own. "Hmmm..." he raked through his memory for what he remembered on the Babosa from his Fauna of Serenia book. "It leaves... slime, behind it, correct? I will look from the ground, and you will look from the sky...?" More ground to cover, and easier for her to help him if they found the beast. Plus, that would separate them. He could escape to the barn, possibly without her noticing.

Then again... she had put it in such an interesting way. Despite his usual caution, he did kind of want to find a babosa and kill it... wouldn't that impress his father? "All right with you?"

Raemos had stuck with it, but was starting to believe the little side note in his edition of the Fauna of Serenia that the beasts were extinct, and that it was a good thing they were. Or, at least, not in this area.

He looked up as the great pale shape flew overhead. He agreed - and he was hungry besides.

"Meet you there!" he called, stomping his way to the lake.

By the time he got there, he was quite hungry indeed. He saw the great shape of the khehora sitting on a rock near the shoreline of the lake, shaded by the great and beautiful trees of the Serenian forests. There were two shimmering, scaled corpses at her feet.

"What are those?" he asked curiously, approaching cautiously.

He was. They didn't exactly look appetizing, but he was hungry, and he knew that Olrarik were delicious, and she was offering. It would be rude not to accept. He approached and, with little trouble, butchered himself a hind and foreleg. He started a small fire and began to roast them.
"Thank you." he said, watching the meat blacken and crisp in the flames.

"Mmmm..." Raemos said, taking the oppurtunity provided by eating the olrarik flank to hesitate. He swallowed. "Perhaps." he said evasively. No he did not say. But he meant it. "I'll think on it..." Raemos had been taught never to lie, but it was a white lie. Perhaps he would think about it, but he was not convinced, and he didn't think he would be.

"Oh dear." he said, looking up at the sky, "Look at the time!" he was relieved to find so easy an excuse - a true one at that, "My parents will be worried. I should return to them." he stood up and bowed, "It was a pleasure to meet" and not be eaten by "You, Suluksati, and I thank you for the company and conversation. And, of course, the meal." He smiled politely, "But I must be going now." He turned to go. "Goodbye. Please, take care of yourself."