Another new chapter, we have three dragons and a mortal all together in the same lair...

MINE.

~Angel~

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“Two dragons we think, my lord.”

“Where?”

“Spotted east of Sagewynd, the Morio forest was on fire for a day or so there, half of it is burned to the ground in the valley towards Lord Rholdin.”

“Dragons...first burn the forest then burn my lands...Gather the other knights. We need to take care of this dragon problem as soon as possible. Half the forest is gone, the trek inside will be far easier. The bloody things have to be in there somewhere.”

“But—my lord Morio forest is said to be full of sprites, evils—demons!”

“And dragons. Aren't you a knight of the king's realm? Would you like me to cut your throat now for insolence and fear? For going against your Lord's orders?”

“...I will gather the other knights, my Lord Bywren.”

“Good, and head for Sagewynd village. Surely you can get some information from the locals about these—dragons.”

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A paw, then a head rose up. Where Magnus had to climb up, a dragon almost stepped in as much as he could fit. White scales with red guard scales shimmered with luster as the rest of him followed.

“Y-your male hatchling—says he has a mortal—for a MATE!” the she-dragon cackled, wiping away tears of laughter with her white claw. Rayne wasn't expecting it to be easy for the she-dragon to accept what Magnus had already decided, but laughing about it wasn't even in Rayne's deck of cards. It was better than being eaten though, Rayne thought.

“It be female?” the large male asked in his thunder-like voice.

“I know what—” the she-dragon stopped her laughing and frowned at the large male as he crouched and rubbed along her side with his head and wing, settling as close to her as possible and extending a wing over her blue scales. “Wh—yes.”

“Thank the gods, good on yeh boy,” the white grinned. “I were beginnin' to think yeh'd like the male tail. Now do yeh'r mother happy and breed the lil' things brains out and giv'r some lil' ones. All she yaps about be yeh don't got any hatchlings and yeh'r sister has six lil' monsters—Where it be?”

“Where what be?” Magnus growled at his father full on looking like he was going to charge the muscular beast out the lair's door.

“The lil' female—thing.”

“You—don't care about the mortal thing?” The she-dragon asked with a large amount of bewilderment.

“Why should I butt into his life? That's yer job, female. He can rutt what he likes, I'm just glad it be a female and willing—where it be?” he asked again.

“SHE, father,” Magnus snapped at his father vocally and with his teeth.

Rayne was beginning to get irritated again, all this talking about her without actually truly acknowledging her was the culprit. She had been through too much recently to listen to the bickering between family any longer, who cares if they were ten ton beasts that could breathe fire.

“Fine, where SHE be then? Yer mother didn't eat her, did she?”

“I didn't,” Magnus' mother snapped in the same fashion Magnus had, baring teeth.

“EXCUSE. ME,” she said deliberately as she made her way around Magnus' mother and in between all three dragons. Eyes were fixated on her, blank stares like she hadn't just yelled her lungs out, a challenge when they were still recovering from all the damned smoke. “THE THING YOUR SON IS SUPPOSED TO BE RUTTING IS RIGHT HERE.”

To make sure she looked good and crazy, she pretended to curtsey to the big white dragon even though her face was red with anger. Magnus snorted outright, before covering his muzzle with his paw and snickering into it.

“Youngling,” Magnus' father frowned a bit. “Yeh can't rutt that, she's—puny.”

“Your son has stolen transfiguration magic,” the she-dragon stated in a calm manner.

“Trans—what yeh say?”

“Changing form, Arjun.”

“Oh, right,” Arjun was it? Rumbled with slightly narrowed eyes looking at Rayne. “She's got a voice on her, ain't she?”

“SHE IS NOT DEAF and SHE CAN SPEAK FOR HERSELF!” Rayne snapped, beginning to make her way closer to the big oaf known as Arjun. It was probably as intimidating as if an ant charged up to Rayne, but she didn't care. Magnus snagged her in his tail and pulled her back, holding the back of her vest pinched between two claws to hold her still.

“She's funneh,” Arjun rumbled a bit. “She ain't even pissing herself, or fallen over from fright.”

Rayne took in a deep breathe ready to release her own form of flame, a dozen or so swears she'd reserved for inside her head only when Magnus covered her with his paw, letting the swear words be muffled by a scaled palm.

“She always like that?” Arjun asked from beyond the void of the dark protected paw.

“She's had a trying few days...” Magnus replied with a little grin to the tone. “I'm sure you're courteous nature is just the thing she needs to relax, father.”

“What yeh on about, youngling?”

“Rayne had to fight Xipil a few days ago, even chased her off,” the she-dragon replied as Magnus pulled Rayne up against his chest scales, hooking her there to keep her from trying to charge anyone else. Rayne shoved at his paw angrily, yelling,

“MAGNUS! YOU GET YOUR GRUBBY CLAWS OFF ME NOW!”

“Rain? Yeh'r not makin' sense mate.”

“Rayne is the name of the mortal, Arjun.”

Arjun let out a ground shaking laugh, a few rocks and stalactites crashing to the ground, Magnus covering Rayne with his neck and head as a few smashed around them. Arjun coughed a little before he replied,

“She couldn'ta done that, Malandra.”

“Arjun, would I lie about something like that?” Malandra responded in an evenly droll tone. Arjun grunted and huffed smoke out his nose, staring dead in his mate's eyes before looking towards Magnus, then at Rayne. She froze, knowing she suddenly had the full attention of Arjun and beginning to realize she never wanted the stern stare ever again. Where Magnus could hold her eyes with his own, his father could hold her whole body immobile.

“You. Here. Now.”

For the first time Arjun spoke to Rayne directly, which made her press into the scales of Magnus's chest harder. Magnus in turn didn't release her from his protective grip, growling at his father in warning but Arjun's stare still made her want to bolt.

“Yeh told me yeh ain't deaf, now do as yeh'r told,” the white dragon said in the same demanding voice. Rayne had to do it, she knew she had to. If she didn't stand in front of Magnus' father without Magnus, she would never be acknowledged again by the large beast. Why did she want his acknowledgment? Because she defeated Xipil, she could have killed Xipil and he wouldn't belittle her for her size and mortality. Somewhere inside her motivated her to slowly begin to stand from Magnus' protective chest, sliding from his grip and over his arm as he still glared and stared down his father. She took careful steps towards Arjun as the silver eyes lowered to look at her far more carefully, the breath passing through the nostrils hot and smelled of blood as they passed through Rayne's fur and hair.

“Yeh don't look like much,” Arjun rumbled, teeth the size of her head exposed. “Yeh chased Xipil off? With what yeh'r puny paws?”

“She came after me,” Rayne said in a lower voice, her teeth clenching from fear but she hoped it made her look angry. “And I did what I had to do to survive.”

The silver eyes beyond the scent of blood blinked once, red scales along the snout making the stare all too consuming in Rayne's small vision.

“I believe my mate, but yeh got no proof of yeh'r claim, little thing.”

“I don't need to prove it to you, I know what happened,” Rayne growled as her anger gave her more courage. “Xipil tried to kill me, eat me then burn me alive. I remember the smoke, the burning of cinders in my face, the roaring, the ground shaking, everything. I remember the fear I felt, and I remember the fear in her eyes when I...”

For one moment, Rayne's eyes left the silver eyed stare as a flash of Xipil's twitching body under her feet appeared, the arrow drawn and pointing at the pupil of the red dragoness, the shaking of her own resolve when she couldn't bring herself to kill Xipil.

“I did what I had to do to live,” she stated as her gaze met the dragon's focus once more. “You can growl and grumble anything you like, you weren't there and I don't care what you believe.”

The brow of the white dragon quirked up higher, before his head reared back and he scratched his chest a few times, before looking at Malandra who tilted her head at him, ears perking forward. Rayne felt weaker all of a sudden, her legs beginning to shake. Maybe she had over exerted herself with all this showmanship, and when the cavern lurched to the side she definitely knew she had. She remembered falling into a white paw, then there was silence.

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Never, in his entire life, had Magnus seen his father react so quickly and softly over something. Magnus' mind stopped when Arjun the Scorching made sure Rayne didn't hit the floor, even more mind boggling he placed her arms and legs neatly in his paw before offering the small mortal to his son.

“Seems she needs her rest, youngling,” Arjun rumbled as Magnus carefully held Rayne in his own paw. “She be yeh'r choice then?”

Malandra snorted through her nostrils hard, looking away as Arjun turned to look at her with a deep glare.

“Magnus, please let your father know she's not your mate,” Malandra ordered her son. “You and her are obviously enamored with each other but she's NOT your mate.”

“She is my mate, mother,” Magnus answered. Malandra let out a cough of surprise before her eyes widened and her pupils turned to slivers in the gold iris'.

“No,” she said in a more commanding voice. “No she's not.”

“Yes, she is.”

“No.”

“Mother...” Magnus stated in a far too tired tone, ready to make what ever argument he needed to get his mother's acceptance and more importantly, his father's presence out of his lair, when his father shocked him yet again.

“Malandra, this ain't yeh'r choice. Accept it and lets be off for home,” Arjun said in his booming voice, nudging Malandra's snout a few times with his own as he stood.

“But—he can't have hatchlings with her!” Malandra suddenly stated with far more wallow in her voice. “Magnus—what about young?!”

Both Magnus and Arjun's paws went up over their brows, head shaking in a scary unison neither of them would ever see.

“Magnus think about it! Having hatchlings is wonderful, and yours would be so handsome!” She pressed further, standing up and coming to nose Magnus' hand with her snout. “You can't have hatchlings with a mortal! How are you supposed to pass on anything without having them, hm?”

“Through WORDS perhaps?” Magnus answered, snapping at his mother who looked hurt, then angry. “Mother, if you're so very keen on me having hatchlings—or offspring why don't you see if there's magics that can help my MATE and I bare something, hm?”

Malandra's eyes grew, before her eye twitched. It was somewhat a challenge to his mother, Malandra was the 5th Keeper of the Word of the Fire Breathing Kind. The portion of the Word she guarded was a section of magic, her talent for it far beyond Magnus' understanding. He could see her mind reeling, the idea of creating life obviously between two beings never intended to be mates in the first place something exciting and terrifying at the same time. To go against the natural order, or to become a greater power in dragon magics than any other known? Power, knowledge.

His mother's eyes narrowed at him, before she smacked him on the head again with her tail blade.

“I will look into it, but there is no promise there will BE something,” Malandra stated. “In any case, she'll be dead soon enough, then you can find a PROPER mate who can bare your eggs.”

“Mother...”

She gently nuzzled him slowly, before licking his forehead and turning to Arjun who had started picking at a bone in his teeth out of boredom.

“OCH! Lets be off, you great white beast,” Malandra ordered as her tail swatted Arjun's muzzle and he bit one of his claws off.

“FEMALE!” Arjun rumbled, swatting her rump with his own tail and letting her leave. “Yeh'r mother means well, youngling. Sometimes just tell her what she wants to know, make my life easier.”

Magnus opened his mouth before his father's paw raised, and he turned and left without another word. Magnus waited to hear the sound of flapping wings before returning his gaze to Rayne, looking her unconscious body over carefully with a black claw. He remembered the first time he'd done that, moments after she'd fainted from the mere sight of him, and he sighed. Would he ever get the chance to be with Rayne alone when she was awake, uninjured and uninterrupted?

He pushed the thoughts back, at least his parents would leave him be for the time being and hopefully that would go the same for anyone else. Careful and slow he went back into Rayne's room before placing her back into her cart bed. He twisted the band on his finger and returned to his little mortal form, crawling back in with her to wait for her to wake and protect her from everything until then.