The Pine was here, but on a grassy hill overlooking what looked to be a mansion with a fluorishing garden. Women and men crowded on the grounds having an outdoor dance, encircled by tables laid out with oramental foods. I could hear the music clearly from the short distance. 

"Yes, this is lovely!" Puff said, stretching his wings and casting their shadow on me. The Scribe looked around with a more scrutinizing gaze before consulting her notebook.

"Another issue is we have too many characters, so we'll combine your brother and Puff into a were-dragon. A completely new twist on the dragon theme.

we'll create a whole new subgenre!" She beamed.

Puff eyes widened, but he remained speechless.

"Uh- What's a were-dragon?" I asked.

"Exactly! No one knows!" Scribe chirped clapping her hand and book together.

"But that's not me." Puff looked at her.

"You'll be less...you. And more 'were'" Scribe agreed. "And mostly her brother."

"You're writing me out of the story?" Puff said quietly; I looked up at his dejected face, my heart started to ache.

Scribe rubbed her hands excitedly, "Combining and transforming."

"Let's not write him out altogether. He belongs in my story; he could be a librarian or something."

"In the Empresses court...!" Puff said clinging to the small ray of hope.

"I'm not sure the Empress is even important. I don't think we need her." she paused in deep thought.

I looked over at Puff who looked scandalized.

"Then who and what are the Ranger's working for? Because I'm not flying for some power-hungry warlord."

"Maybe you could be the Empress. What do you think Puff?"

Puff looked conflicted, as if he wanted to agree but wasn't so eager to align himself with the person that threatened his entire existence.

"It would have a more civilized quality, but I wouldn't want Cleo to rule over the kingdom."

"I have to agree with him, I'm more of a 'right-hand' then a leader." I chimed in.

Scribe sighed and scribbled furiously in the book, looking frustrated. "I'm trying to better the story you know, be different, more original. I know you might not like it but this is a common case of 'kill your darlings'."

"Listen, all I want is a Ruby dragon so I can get into Avalon's class."

"You're obsessed with Avalon; you two would make a cute couple. I know what we need...a love triangle!" She gasped softly. "Between Avalon; the silent, tortured soul who you can fix and the were-dragon!"

"But you said I'm the 'were-dragon'." Puff stammered. "I practically raised Cleo since she was a fetus you can't make us a couple!"

"Well, you wouldn't be you so it won't be a problem." Scribe said off-handed as she scribbled in her notebook.

"You said I was also her brother!"

"Well, we'll change that. No one will know."

"I'll know!" Puff bellowed.

"My story is fantasy, action-adventure." I countered.

"It doesn't have to be romance to have a love triangle."

I tossed my hands up in frustration. "Have you talked to Avalon? He should have a say in this."

"He doesn't talk to me. I don't think he's forgiven me for killing off his family."

Puff scoffed. "I can understand how he feels."

"You're so bloodthirsty."

She shrugged. "Breaking people is how you measure how strong they are. Then you can figure out what will break them even more."

"That's the sound logic of a psychopath." Puff sniffed.

"You're rewriting everything," I said. "You're killing our story!"

"I'm just making some changes."

"No!" I shouted, I sheepishly glanced at the party which didn't seem disturbed. Puff and Scribe seemed affected and looked at me with shock and curiosity. I coughed and gained my composure. "Why are you doing this?"

Scribe looked pained. "This guy, at the conference. I was talking to him because he was new, we got on the topic of our books, and he's writing something similar to this. He said dragon stories are at an all-time high and new stories need a unique twist or they get overshadowed. He had a girl and a dragon she doesn't want, a strong female following in her father's footsteps. She's saved by a scout who becomes her mentor and they team together to overthrow the leader of an army. Our books are practically the same!"

I stared at her, mulling over her words as the realization dawned on me. "That's why it took you so long to come back. You didn't want to."

Scribe avoided eye contact, hugging herself as she shifted her weight. "It's not that I don't love you two. It's just, the story isn't unique enough. Maybe I should just let him take this one and write something else."