The three dragons looked at Sarah shocked by what she had just said. Their eyes darted to Martha, Lisah, and even Carlos, hoping perhaps they were saying something that contradicted the woman, but no one said a word. Indeed, from their looks, it was evident that all of them firmly believed in those words. "Would you let yourself be killed by us...?" Serengal finally whispered. "Why? It doesn't make sense..."
"Isn't that obvious? It's because we love you!" Sarah exclaimed. Her body was visibly shaking now. "I don't know how that's possible, but... I, and all of us... have learned to love you as if you were just like us. We've learned to consider you... friends. And friends don't hurt each other. If one of you jumped on me now, I... I wouldn't find the strength to fight back. I'd lie still on the ground, letting you bite my throat, and all I'd do is wonder why. And even if a part of my mind could keep a shred of rationality... I still wouldn't do anything. I wouldn't be able to hit you, even if I had a chance. And I probably wouldn't either. Because that's what happens when you love people... you become incapable of harming them"
The three dragons looked at her not knowing exactly what to say. "You are making a fool of me!?" Corgorin exclaimed at one point. "You consider us so much that you don't even want to hurt us? Do you remember that we killed your master?"
"Yes"
"And that we don't care about him? That we didn't even show an emotion when he died? That we never even apologized to you?"
"Yes"
"And that we blackmailed you for a whole year and forced you to become outlaws?"
"Yes. And in any case, it was our choice to become outlaws"
"Then how can you... love us to the point of not reacting if we wanted to kill you? It's absurd, it's illogical!"
"Would you let yourself be killed by one of your brothers or sisters?"
Corgorin froze at that question. "What... What does it mean?"
"If one of your brothers or sisters attacked you, and your only choice to survive was to kill him or her, would you do it?" Sarah asked again.
The dragoness let out an irritated snort. "No... no, I wouldn't. I'd probably let him or her do it. But what does that have to do with it now? We're a family, it's different"
"Haven't you figured it out yet after all the time we've been together? Family isn't where you come from, it's where you choose" Sarah said. "You didn't let yourself be killed by your father or your mother, but on the contrary you killed them. But on the contrary, if any of your siblings attacked you, you would not be able to fight back. You were also related by blood to your parents, but that doesn't mean they were your family". She pointed to Martha, Lisah, and Carlos. "None of us are related by blood... yet we wouldn't be able to kill each other. No matter how serious the offense would be, we could never do it. Because we are a family, even if we are not related by blood. And whether you like it or not, now you too are part of this family, at least from our point of view. That's why we couldn't kill you... and why a betrayal or a lack of trust hurts much more than normal"
Corgorin was speechless and looked at her sister and brother, but they were even more speechless than she. None of them had expected that twist in their conversation. "I don't understand" she finally admitted.
"Neither do we. But these aren't things you can understand, they're things that just happen and are beyond our control" Sarah replied. "When I first met you… I hated you. I thought you were monsters and wanted to avenge our master and free my friends. But then… slowly… everything changed. You were so gentle… and even though you were our captors, you always performed small gestures to support us. You taught us many things and showed us the deep bond between you. And when you supported me after our meeting with Thora, I realized that I no longer hated you for killing my master. Apparently it's much easier to hate someone when you don't know him and you can imagine him as a hideous being with no family and no morals who kills just because he's evil. If soldiers were able to know that what they're fighting is someone like them, who has a family, friends, a job, dreams... they probably wouldn't be able to fight again, and wars wouldn't exist". She shrugged slightly. "I thought after we freed our brother that we'd just separate, and I was ready to put the past behind me… but then you stayed. And not only did we do amazing things together… but that fragile bond we had initially formed became much, much stronger. Until one day I woke up and I realized that I didn't think of you any differently than I thought of Efren or Carlos or Martha or Lisah. I realized that we had become friends. We had become… part of the same family". She shook her head violently, as if trying to swat away a pesky insect. "Don't get me wrong, there's a part of me that's still angry... and it will always be angry... but that howling of that small part of me that still wants to avenge my master is now so faint that I can hardly hear it. And so, here we are, today... together, having an adventure together, and arguing amongst ourselves to solve our problems, just like trusted friends. Do you understand now?"
The three dragons each opened their mouths a couple of times, with no words coming out of them. "So... is that why?" Rhaegal asked. "Is that why you are so angry? Why did you trust us and we didn't trust you?"
"That's right" Martha said as she stood up and stood beside Sarah with her hands folded. "We know what you've been through. We can't really understand it, but we know it. And after the description you just gave us, we know even more how difficult it is for you to trust others after what you've been through. But we were terrified of you, and we still are, and yet we chose to trust you. We slept by your side even when we weren't blackmailed anymore, we shared food with you, we talked with you, we laughed with you, and we even went on a couple more adventures with you. We knew how easily you could kill us and We remembered what you had done… but we still chose to trust it. And we thought that was mutual"
"But it wasn't" Lisah said as she got up and stood beside her sister. "You were scared. You preferred to rely on your security rather than mutual trust. We don't blame you for that... but you still let us down. We thought you were braver, or that at least the bond between us was as solid for you as it was for us... but it wasn't like that. We considered you part of the family... but you didn't consider us part of yours"
All of them, both the adventurers and the dragons and Dyana and Atelas, looked at Carlos, who was the only one still sitting. The man shrugged and, knowing he couldn't hold back, stood up and said: "Well... I don't think you're as guilty as they say... but actually I was a bit disappointed too. In short, I was hoping that we were as important to us as you were to us. I didn't expect you to reveal all your secrets to us... but at least show that you trusted us the same way we trusted you"
For the third time an oppressive silence fell between them, and this time it was so heavy and thick that it almost seemed to them that it could be cut. Then, suddenly, Corgorin did something no one had ever expected her to do: she took a couple of steps forward and then lowered her neck and head. "I am sorry"
Everyone was speechless. Corgorin apologizing? Both the adventurers and the dragons, and even Dyana and Atelas who had only been able to know the dragon's temperament for a couple of weeks, believed that it was more probable that a star detached from the sky and fell on one of their heads, or that the fish stopped considering water a suitable place and began to fly while the birds decided to move to rivers and seas. Corgorin had always been arrogant, irritable, and proud, and she had never apologized even to her sister Serengal, at least not sincerely, despite all the times she had scolded her. "You were right. In fact, you're right. You trusted us... and we didn't reciprocate. So, I'm sorry. I didn't even consider your feelings or how you felt, and I just thought selfishly to myself. But I want you to know that I never thought that the bond between us was weak, indeed. You are the only people outside of my siblings that I truly trust. I'm just... I'm more cowardly than you. You had the strength to overcome your fear, I don't. And there's no excuse for that. I can only tell you that I'm sorry"
The adventurers, especially Sarah and partly also Carlos, were speechless: none of them had expected Corgorin to be capable of such words. But while they were still recovering from the shock Serengal also stepped forward and bowed his head. "It's true. We treated you unfairly. We're the only ones who made a mistake, and we also complained that you were angry as if it were your fault. I'm sorry. I behaved really badly... but I agree with what my sister said: I've never considered you unworthy of note, on the contrary. I think that even I wouldn't be able to react if you tried to kill me. I too consider you... something really important"
Only Rhaegal was missing at that point. And he obviously had no doubts about what to say. "I'm sorry too" he murmured, lowering his head as well. "I'm sorry. I've spent the last couple of months trying to reconcile us all, but I've always looked for a way to calm you down. I've never tried to look at the situation from your point of view. I didn't realize how enormously you value our actions, even though I should have. So… I'm sorry. I can only promise you that I will do my best to avoid such a thing happening again in the future. Therefore… can you forgive us?"
Sarah, Martha, Lisah and Carlos were visibly blushing and appeared to be feeling very uncomfortable. How to blame them: Seeing towering and intimidating creatures like dragons humbly apologizing was a sight that defied the imagination. "Well… yeah, I think we can forgive you" Sarah said. "And... sorry for not explaining everything right away. Maybe we should have done this instead of sulking..."
"That's what I said from the start" Carlos grumbled.
Sarah elbowed him in the stomach, then looked back at the dragons. "So... shall we put an end to it? Let's start over, don't you think?"
Rhaegal, Corgorin, and Serengal smiled. Yes, that was exactly what was best to do. Leaving everything behind and picking up from where they hadn't gone wrong. "Let's start over" they answered in unison. The adventurers smiled back, and for the first time in almost two months the atmosphere between them seemed to be as warm and welcoming as it had been before.
Too bad that moment didn't last long, because it was ruined by the rubbing of a pencil against a sheet. "Excuse me, are you taking notes!?" Rhaegal exclaimed seeing that Atelas had opened his journal and was writing something.
"Of course! This is a crucial step in our story, I certainly can not ignore it! The reconciliation of the members of the group after a bitter argument, it's perfect!" the tigerman answered without lifting his head from the pages. "And that's definitely not something you see every day. The touching words of a group of humans who had become close friends with dragons, and a heartfelt apology from the world's most dangerous creatures… extraordinary!"
"Don't you think you should at least ask us permission first!?" Sarah snapped. "Dyana, what did he write?"
The lionman snatched up the journal and before Atelas could try to retrieve it she read: "...after the adventurers finished expounding the deep feelings they had discovered to have for dragons, Corgorin stepped forward and with a humility not expected of a member of his kind bowed to them..."
"What!?" the dragoness exclaimed. "Mine was an absolutely prestigious bow! Erase everything and correct!"
"Don't talk about it! I'll just transcribe the truth!" Atelas screamed as he took back his journal. "You won't make me change our story! It will be read by all future generations of adventurers!"
"All the more reason to rewrite everything!" Corgorin exclaimed throwing herself at the tigerman, followed by Sarah, Dyana and the twins, and in an instant the situation turned into a general stampede where everyone was trying to grab the journal. Rhaegal watched that scene smiling, and then burst out laughing: finally, he felt that things would go back to normal.