The visage is as grim as it is obvious of its portent. Hidden amidst the morbid decay of inky mountaintops nestles a deceptive wound in the earth. A h...llowed-out cavern, inaccessible by any walking route, gazes like an unblinking sentinel over the coastline. A sprawling haze further obscures the summit, and this cloud is the smoke of dragon fire. It is this gaseous shroud, coupled with the murky blanket of scorched earth that earned these mountains, once known as the Mauritz Mountain Range, a. ”Laura waited until she heard the front door close and was sure Claudia left the house before she got up and went downstairs. When she stepped into the kitchen, Jakob was sitting at the table drinking another cup of coffee and doing yesterday's puzzle. Laura watched him. 'How can he act so nonchalantly like nothing has happened, like he didn't cheat on me and fuck that bitch of a babysitter?’ she thought to herself, trying to contain the bitter tears which threatened to well up in her. A wicked smile spread on David’s lips but he tried to hold it back.“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your dirty little secret. That is if I get what Peter got,” he said, turning to look at her.Lara gasped in surprise; was David trying to blackmail her into sleeping with him? She looked at him up and down. She had found David very attractive ever since she first met him, he was tall, he had big muscular arms and he was very handsome. The idea of having sex with him had crossed her mind more than. . .”She paused and I waited for the rest of the sentence.“ . . .and I am a virgin.”Holy crap, back the train up, what did she just say?Her disclosure came as a shock to me. She clasped her hands together, interlocking her fingers, as she stared back at me.“Are we okay?” she asked as I tried to process her declaration.‘Oh yeah,” I quickly replied, “but are you sure about this?“Yessss,” she declared. “I’ve been thinking about this for years, and this is exactly what I want and how I wanted it.”I.