Blazing red eyes and flaming breath awaited me when I neared the little log home.
The male had been circling the area when I had arrived and caught his attention.
Rather than be forced from the area again, I hardened and prepared for the worst.
Now that Ari and the children were safe at home, I didn't need to worry or hold back.
We beat each other with fire and furious slashes of our claws in our mid-air duel. The male even went for my neck when we grappled and fell toward the ground.
As we fell, fighting, I remembered the feeling of the dance and faltered. We were unknowingly in the same position as if we were a couple testing each other before the fateful decision.
The ground rushed up before I knew it and we both crashed into it. I tried to pull myself up before the male who already staggered to his feet and slammed my face to the ground with his claws. He pinned me there while I thrashed for escape, filling his transparent scales with more fire.
I heard a yell and looked to see the old man rushing from the back of his house towards us. The male dragon held back the blast which simmered from his mouth in a plume of smoke as he waited for the old man.
"You know better than that!" the old man scolded the male and slapped his arm still gripping my throat "let it go."
He huffed and did just that, glaring at the old man who watched me carefully get back to my feet.
"You can't be out here" the old man waggled a knobby finger at me now "this territory is taken."
"I'm no here for that" I argued back, realising how useless that was and snapping my mouth shut.
The male turned his glare on me now and snapped his teeth at me to get me to back away from the man.
"I honestly just want to know what is going on" I whimpered back and tried to withhold the tears brimming up with my fear "I have no clue what to expect over there and this was my only option to find out why everything is leading here."
The old man looked to the male whose eyes scanned over me then turned away.
"She's afraid" he finally spoke, his voice gruff and hardened.
It wasn't draconic either. It was english.
"You leave much to be desired with a greeting like that" the old man muttered back then waved his hand to me "come, come. You must be exhausted."
I checked the male who kept his eyes glued to me when I followed the man to his front door he held open for me.
I looked to the male again, uncomfortable with heading in alone where I wouldn't be understood.
He sighed with irritation then shifted into a perfect copy of a human man, right down to the skin. His orange hair was just like mine but shorter than Ari's. And his skin was a beautiful light brown that had a light speckling of darker marks down the arms and shoulders.
I saw him pull down a shirt and pants from inside the front door he stomped through.
I shifted and followed, seeing another outfit hanging there.
"That's not yours" the male growled from the fireplace he was keeping alive with his breath.
I retracted my hand and was thrown a blanket from one of the chairs to wrap myself in when I took my seat.
The old man came over with a teapot and three cups he left on the trolley he wheeled.
The male poured the both of them a cup but left mine untouched, slurping his noisily as his red eyes scanned me again.
"Honestly, Knot" the old man tutted, pouring me a cup to hand over "you aren't this rude to Zimena."
Knot and Zimena. I had heard the names briefly before. Now that they were spoken freely around me, I felt more comfortable using them.
Knot huffed and turned his shoulder on the man who sat down in our little curve of seats around the fire.
"Zimena isn't a nest thief" he shot to me in draconic.
"Nest thief?" I scowled back "I'm not here to steal anything! I just want answers."
"Get them somewhere else" he muttered bitterly with another sip of the cup "no-one just turns up, sneaking around, to get answers. And you were dumb enough to come back after I chased you off! You can't think I'm that stupid!"
I boiled with irritation at his glare and drank my own tea to avoid shooting hateful words to the cocky male sitting to my right.
The old man watched our fued fall to tense silence.
"Tell the old man I want answers" I bit to Knot.
"Tell Vaughn yourself" he chided back, but relayed the message anyway.
The old man, Vaughn, smiled and placed his hand on mine to make me jump at the sudden contact.
"What do you need to know?"
Where did I start? Most of it had been pieced together already, but whether or not it was all facts was another thing.
Maybe I should start with what was unclear first and go from there?
"Why do you have so many babies out there?"
Knot snorted into his cup at the question and set it down.
"That would be something you ask me, not him."
"So, they are all yours?"
He shook his head, holding up a finger to Vaughn when he wanted to know what was being spoken between us.
"None of them are. We are incompatible."
That word again.
"Because you don't want to raise them" I glared now at him.
He didn't take to the misguided accusation well. He leant forward in the chair, gripping the arm of it roughly as he did.
"Because I can't" he snapped through his flickering mouth "something of fire does not naturally mix with water. It creates flaws and weakness against the laws of nature."
"Those flaws were mine."
Knot saw how defensive I was and glanced to Vaughn in surprise.
"That's your supplier" Knot jerked his head to me.
"You're Scala?" Vaughn breathed back and set down his cup quickly so he could take my hand between his bony ones "it's a pleasure to actually meet you. I've heard many things but would never think I would see you in person myself."
"I'm just as amazed as he is" Knot sat back now, still skeptical but a lot calmer "you've been a huge help here, honestly."
"With my flaws?" I shot my narrowed eyes at him.
"Well, you know..." he waved a hand lazily and drank.
"What exactly have I been doing here?" I shot as I looked around.
Nothing about this place seemed out of the ordinary. The interior was neatly decorated with aged paintings and elaborate works of art made from nature. The only thing that seemed out of place was the rows of scales neatly lined up on the kitchen bench by size and colour.
Knot got up from his seat and went over to pick up a few to drop into my hand.
The shimmering purple changed to blue when I turned it. It wasn't from anything I had provided. It didn't even look like anything from Knot or Zemina.
Each scale had a neat hole punched into the tip of the scale too. There was a different curled dragon stamped into the varying sizes of each one.
"Humans use it as currency" Knot spoke in English as my fingers rubbed over the raised surface "small ones are less than the big ones. The colours are how valuable they are."
All hostility towards Knot faded to be replaced with confusion. He saw it and leant forward again to poke at them with a long nail.
"Common colours are less" he jabbed the green one "then you have mid tier colours like the orange and red" he picked it up to turn it "and the top grade like the purple. Condition affects value too."
So, there was nothing sinister about anything here? They were just literally counting thier coins.
I felt relieved and a little deflated at the revelation.
"And you take them from the babies?"
Knot retracted in offense and showed his disgust for my assumption.
"God, no" he spoke with a hiss on his voice "we would never put them through something like that. We take them from the eggs."
From the eggs. That explained why Bee was still interested in the blanks. I had been literally laying money for him all these years.
No wonder he wanted to keep me close by changing my conditions back home. I was the thing keeping the mansion afloat and able to care for the children.
"Scales don't grow back" he pointed to the missing scales on my arm that revealed a red patch where they had been "larger dragons have better and more valuable scales anyway. But stripping a dragon of thier scales forcably is frowned on."
Vaughn nodded in silent agreement as he sipped his tea.
"It also shows lack of respect for them" he added thoughtfully "and you don't want to be parading the fact you abuse your creatures."
"You can probably tell from the lack of bald spots on me that I am quite happy here" Knot added with smugness on his voice.
I handed the scales back to Vaughn and sat back to process it all as I drank.
"What do you do with the eggs after?" I thought aloud "surely, you don't just throw them away?"
"They are collected for food" Vaughn replied with a smile "one stripped dragon egg can feed ten people. They also sell for fifty or one-hundred dollers each, depending on the size, rarity, and colour"
"Each one has thier own colour underneath" Knot added helpfully "and that copies the one that was on the scales."
I felt the pride bubble up again when I imagined how many people I had fed this time. They weren't just going to waste; every part had its own use.
And ten people! No-one would go hungry with just one dragons egg.
I felt like some sort of martyr rather than a money-making machine.
It was good to know there were good people with good intentions out there. I was worth something to someone.
"And the babies are raised for the eggs too?"
"The babies are raised for homes" Knot replied, refilling my cup "only females lay eggs; they are more valuable then males naturally."
"Naturally" I chuckled back and saw Vaughn smile over the cup he raised to Knot.
"I'm sure you know about the loophole of ownership?" Vaughn spoke to me.
I nodded.
"People want dragons because they horde. Humans own whatever the dragons bring back to thier homes."
It made sense. The ownership of the horde I had was already out of my fingers. I was only keeping it from tempted outsiders.
"Humans like to push dragons to collect more valuable things for them. If that doesn't work, they can fall back on the eggs" Knot spoke "we trade scales for vaible eggs, raise them, and then find them new homes. In return, Zamira and I get a safe place to raise our bought brood and good hunting grounds nearby. Vaughn gets whatever we horde and access to eggs and babies."
"Its a harmonious way we do things here" Vaugh added as he crossed his fingers.
I smiled at him then to Knot who hid his quickly.
"Can I see them?"
Knot checked Vaughn nervously. His hard expression returned and he was tense again.
"My dragons don't like to take chances" Vaughn spoke warmly, holding out a hand towards Knot to let him know he understood "you have to understand that they treat them all as thier own family and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe."
I sighed at the dissapointment but understood and agreed.
Knot glared at me, huffing.
"If... she stays on the pier, she can come" he grunted out "but only in her human form."
I gasped and grinned at the opportunity and leant over to hug Knot tightly who seized up.
"Thank you! Thank you! I won't do anything, I swear!"
"I'll accompany her" Vaughn nodded and got to his feet first "it's time to feed them anyway."
"And Zimena should be back from hunting again soon" Knot added with a hopeful smile to the back glass sliding doors.
Knot joined Vaughn's side to the kitchen to our right. There was a hatch in the ground at the kitchen bench that Knot heaved open and climbed down into.
I stayed up the top with Vaughn, feeling the frost from within drifting upwards to freeze the air.
"One or two?" Knot called from somewhere further under the kitchen."
"Would you like to help me feed them?" Vaughn whispered to me with a cheeky wink.
I nodded enthusiastically.
"Two please" he smiled back.
I heard a grunt and saw steam join the cold mist when a frozen bucket of fish slammed onto the ground at our feet. I dragged it out of the way so another could join it.
"I'll get you some more today, Vaughn" Knot spoke when he climbed back up "there's a good school of them out near the last hunting grounds."
Knot picked up both buckets then kicked the hatch closed again so he could lead the way out the back doors.
The bucket was still upturned on the pier end. Knot checked the nest as he walked, turning from it when he saw no-one else was there.
"Here" he laid both buckets down at the edge of the pier for Vaughn "I've got to check on them."
Vaughn nodded and smiled when Knot stripped off to place the clothes on top of the other wooden pole so he could snap back to his dragon form and slide into the water to swim to the nest.
"Would you do the honours?" Vaughn gestured to the upturned bucket while Knot moved and burnt his brood "just hit it and they'll come."
I grinned back and did as I was told to make the waters around come to life.
Knot growled when he saw me summoning the babies and hissed at Vaughn.
"You said she couldn't leave the pier" Vaughn called back cheekily "you didn't say she couldn't feed them."
"Damn you, old man."
We both giggled when the snapping mouths appeared below with the persistent squeaking.
The little faces and writhing bodies of the things I didn't have made something surge within me.
I wanted to protect and nurture these babies, despite them not even being mine. The way they depended on me for food right now was the closest I was to being a mother.
It felt good. It was what I needed to lift my hopes.
I could have this in the future. There was no malice behind Bee's actions. He had been doing everything for the better and brighter things ahead.
I wanted desperately to shift back and join the swarming babies in the water. I wanted to be like Milena and provide them with food I had caught for them rather than frozen chucks thrown from a bucket.
I wanted it all so badly now that it was right below my fingertips.
But I wasn't going to betray Knot's trust like that. I was already pushing it far enough being so close to them.
"And the mother returns" Vaughn pointed to the sky.
I looked up to see Milena soaring towards us. A half-eaten fish was gripped by her legs as she descended so she could drop it and call for the feast.
Immediently, the mouths left me to swarm it instead.
Milena smiled at her brood, her smile instantly vanishing when she saw me standing there.
Vaughn immediently stepped back and I looked to him in confusion before I was sent flying off the pier and into the water by a blast of it.
The murky water immediently wrapped around me and tried to drag me down. I thrashed and gasped when I managed to snag in some breaths around the thick surface I threw about desperately. I felt slimy bodies wrapping around my kicking legs, and stabbing teeth try to gnaw through my scaley skin.
I didn't know how to swim. There had been no need to learn in this form.
I felt Vaughn's hands grip mine and try to pull me up. His arms felt like they were going to snap from the effort alone.
Suddenly, he mustered enough energy to not only drag me from the water, but also hold me above it while I choked out the water and gasped for air.
But Vaughn wasn't the one who had saved me. It was Knot, holding me up my my arm between his teeth.
Milena took the opportunity to blast me again when I dangled in his grasp. She hit me two more times before Knot even managed to lower me to the pier.
Milena was hissing furiously. Her winged arms were splayed out on either side of the nest to try and cover as much of it as possible when she rocked on the spot defensively.
Knot used his body to cover me from another attack as he swam back to his mate to comfort her and make her cease her attacks. His head nudged into hers and crooned, making her rest her head on his and keep her hardened eyes on me.
Well, I had got my wish of joining the babies in the water...
It was so ironic, I had to laugh.
"You didn't swallow too much water?" Vaughn fretted over me when I rolled over to lay there "are you feeling fine?"
"I'm good" I snorted and smiled weakly up at him "better than OK, actually."
"She's fine" Knot rolled his eyes and went back to snuggling his mate on the nest.
Vaughn helped me up and I took the buckets for him while he held the clothes tight.
We headed back inside where I dried off in front of the fire again.
"I'll need to get you your own pair" Vaughn commented when he hung the clothes back up behind the door "I'm assuming you'll be coming around again?"
I thought on it for a moment then nodded to see him smile.
"That's great news! Every person we get to meet in this short life is a gift. Humans don't last forever, you know."
"I know."
I wanted to head back to Ari and spend every moment with him now that I knew I had nothing to stress about. We could finally live our lives as mates without worrying about what could happen.
Nothing would. It was going to be a bright future bound to him.
"I don't have long left in this world" Vaughn smiled when he sat with me, bringing a towel for me before sitting "I've been here for eighty-nine years already. I've been lucky enough to meet the love of my life and raise our own son. I was very lucky to smuggle Knot into this country back when times were a lot darker" he smiled at the memory "and then Milena joined us a few years later. Everything has been complete since then. And now you play your part; as you have for many years now. Finally meeting you today is just another wonderful memory for this old man. I'll tell my family all about it when I join them."
I smiled with him and took his hand he held out to me.
For someone so full of life, it seemed cold.
"Your Bee only has the best interests for you, you understand. He has helped you out tremendously and you don't even know half of it. He is a great man; and you'll want to keep someone like him close as a friend."
"What don't I understand?" I frowned back "what has he done?"
Vaughn patted my hand and chuckled.
"Humans don't last long, Scala" he winked "I may have one year left, I may have ten; we are odd creatures. But in my death will be a new beginning, starting with you."
I looked down at his hands wrapped around mine then up to his smiling face and twinkling eyes.
He wasn't afraid at all. His life was fulfilled. He had been waiting for this moment; living for it.
"When i die, all of this will be yours" Vaughn looked around at the house "your Bee has made the trade all these years and helped keep me afloat through the tough times. He has made all of this possible... for you. I have no family to inherit it now and Knot is not interested in material things. He will find his own way and raise his own family once my time here ends. We have a balance, you see."
I listened in shocked silence. Vaughn held me, comforting me, when tears welled up in my eyes.
Bee had done all of this... for me? And I had doubted him, thinking he was sneaking around behind my back for his own greedy needs.
He only cared for others. He always had since I had made my way into the shoebox beside his bed all those years ago.
I didn't know what to say or do. A simple 'thank you' seemed so little for something so large.
All I could do was let my tears of happiness run.
Ari could have his own place to finally belong. We could live here as blissful mates and build a family here. It really was going to be a new beginning for us all.
All because Bee decided not to let my years of loneliness and blank dreams go to waste.
"You shouldn't keep him waiting" Vaughn tapped my hands while I wiped my eyes on the towel "your human mate will be missing you. You can't keep a man like that waiting."
I chuckled at his grin and pulled off the towel to hand it back so I could cross over to the front door.
"Thank you for everything, Vaughn" I smiled back at him, fresh tears threatening to blind me when I stepped out to prepare to shift back "I'm glad I got to meet you too."
Vaughn only watched from the doorway when I carried myself upwards into the sky.
I saw Knot and Milena still in thier nest, watching me go as thier brood splashed about happily.
I let out a screech and a flume of fire in celebration of what had been accomplished. With the pure elation searing through me, I felt powerful and unstoppable.
There was no sadness in my voice, only hope.
Knot and Milena replied with thier own call of victory. I left them, calling out again to hear more returning with thier own celebrations.
And with the air buzzing around me with dragon song, I flew back to my waiting mate; ready to start a new chapter of our love together.
ns 15.158.61.7da2
