Dragon 3 Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Two days had passed since the magic range. And if I was honest, I was avoiding Yev and Tyrande.

When we went to the magic range, because their schedule had them there, I opted for my own room and even spent some time at the coffee shop across the street.

Yev had seemed fine after we’d wrestled, but my dragon was feeling on edge. I wasn’t sure if I needed to stretch my wings or if all this waiting had sent the beast into a spiral. But the last thing I wanted was to cause another big incident with Yev.

Eventually, I became jittery to the point that I caved. Now, I found myself before a Highaen guard, holding out a QR code. The Highaen estate was right up against the base of the massive tree, and it seem miniscule against the tree, yet thousands of the Highaen and their clan lived here.

Kelly was practically vibrating at my side.

“Alright, you are clear. Please step into the circle. Keep your hands, feet and anything you want to keep inside the circle at all times.” The guard repeated words he’d clearly said too many times.

“This is so exciting.” Kelly said, clinging to me as the runes glowed brighter and brighter. Soon, they were so bright they washed out the rest of my vision.

When they cleared, we were in the same circle, or at least, one that looked exactly the same. But the scene beyond it had changed.

We were not looking at a guard station; we were looking at a massive tree branch that extended out for miles.

We were up in the limbs of Sentarshaden itself.

“Hold this.” I gave Kelly the spatial artifact.

She held it like it was precious as I got out of my clothes and stuffed them into the artifact.

“Damn.” Her eyes roved over me, and she let out a soft howl.

“Enough. You said you were going to help me with my dragon.” I let the shift come, growing larger as gold scales covered my body.

I grew and stretched my neck out, shaking like a wet dog before craning my neck and getting a look at my whole body. It felt good to stretch out. “How long would you say I am?”

Kelly stepped back so she could take me in. “I don’t know. Maybe twenty, twenty-five feet snout to the tip of your tail. The main body is about the size of one of Scarlett’s black SUVs.”

I grunted. “More than twice the weight of one of those.” Cars were actually pretty hollow; dragons were not. I’d put myself between four and five tons. Even in the last week, I’d continued to grow at a rapid pace.

“Yev is bigger than you.” Kelly said, prompting a growl. “Not by much, though!” She quickly raised her hands in her defense.

I huffed out a cloud of smoke in her face for that one. “Hop on. So, what are you thinking? I let my dragon out for a run?”

“Fly, let out a few roars. Mostly, I just came to ride a dragon.” She gave me a big grin.

Nudging her up my back, I let out one last little shake that nearly threw her. I paused, letting her readjust herself at the base of my neck. “Don’t fall off.” A smirk crossed my draconic face.

“I’m not going to—” Kelly cut off with a scream as I jumped off the massive branch. Her hands shifted, and she dug her nails under one of my scales as she tried to hold on.

It wasn’t much more than a slight discomfort, and making her jump sent a little thrill through me. It was fun messing with her.

My wings were tucked into my side as I let myself free fall down through the branches. The wind in my face felt amazing. It was freeing in a way that I could never have experienced before.

“Zach! We are going to die! Flap those wings.” Kelly apparently wasn’t as at home in the sky as I was.

Letting myself fall a moment longer, I snapped out my wings, but continued to fall. It was only slightly more controlled.

I let the beast guide me, tilting them slightly and slowly angling up.

My speed caught the wind, and I leveled out, rocketing on a curved trajectory back up further into the branches.

Kelly whooped and pumped her fist. “That was better than any rollercoaster ride.”

“I thought we were gonna die?” I teased her.

“You try riding on a dragon that has admitted it’s only his second flight. Let me tell you, that’s a terrifying way to start.” She stood up for herself.

“I wanted to generate some speed.” Without even realizing it, I had done what I wanted. My instincts from the beast had guided me.

Slowing down to a gentle glide as I continued upward, I beat my wings and rose back to our starting level amid the branches.

The tree was massive, and the branches made an almost orderly section of tiers among the branches. The space between them was wide open, certainly large enough for a dragon to play around with flying.

Here in the green shade from the tree, my gold scales were dim and reflecting green. It almost made me look like Yev’s green scales. “Do I look green to you?”

Kelly paid attention and barked a laugh. “Yes, but not in the color changing kind of way.”

I knew that.

Banking hard to the right, I did a small dive, pulling out of it and swinging back left. It was supremely fun to build up a little speed and take those hard turns, yet I knew my agility in the air was nothing compared to an angel.

I’d seen one stop mid air and reverse.

As the thought crossed my mind, I felt a new challenge. A draconic smile spread across my face as I pulled my shoulders back and tried that kind of maneuver, quickly flapping forward with the shift of my shoulders.

“Warn a girl.” Kelly clung onto my horns as I arrested my flight after several flaps.

My wings strained from the effort, and I had to beat my wings hard to hover. Even then, I was slowly sinking, just less as I struggled to remain in the same place. Treading air was not as easy as treading water.

Tucking my wings, I dove again before snapping them out and returning to a glide. “Just trying out a few things, learning my limits.”

“You should let out a big roar. A howl always makes my wolf happy.” Kelly brought us back to our trip’s goal.

But somehow, just roaring didn’t feel right. Like a wolf wanting to howl on a run, I needed momentum.

Diving to build up speed, I arched back up and at the peak pushed my beast forward as I roared into the leaves.

The smaller branches quivered in fear of my mighty dragon. Or at least, that’s how I liked to think of it.

“That's it.” Kelly cheered. “Again, really belt it out.”

I took a deep breath and let out a roar so forceful that a small jet of fire sprayed out and my vision spotted.

But it felt so damn good after.

“Good idea.” I turned, ducking into another dive.

“What did you say?” Kelly cupped her ear. “My hearing is shot.”

Chuckling, I hoped she was joking, but I knew she’d heal quickly if she wasn’t.

A flicker above me caught my attention, followed by the feeling of something burning hitting my back.

Surprised, I lost the angle on my wings and I tumbled into a branch.

“Haha.” The phoenix laughed, perched on my side. “Got you, Yev— oh shit.” A high-pitched yelp came from the phoenix before darting away.

I roared, this time in anger, and blasted fire at the phoenix.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I thought you—”

My claw tore up the branch as I launched myself at the stupid burning chicken.

She twisted mid-air gracefully in a flourish of flames and dove straight down between the branches. She was far smaller than me, but I’d just have to force my way through.

“Zach! I don’t think she meant to attack you!” Kelly was tugging at my horns, not that it did anything.

I ripped my way through the small branches and hurtled down like a meteor after the phoenix.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop. Hitting me and running away had set my dragon instincts on fire. My entire brain was focused on catching her.

The phoenix might be more agile than me, but in a straight dive, I had far more mass to throw down.

She looked over her flaming wings, saw me catching up and spun, cutting into a layer of branches and leveling out her flight.

I smiled, up for the challenge.

Putting my trust in the beast, I twirled, flaring out my own wings. It hurt, but I tore forward, still chasing after the phoenix.

Seeing me keep pace, she spun onto her back while still flying. “It was an accident. My bad?”

Unfortunately, the only answer my beast could give in that moment of primal chase was a small burst of flame that didn’t quite reach her.

I continued beating my wings, trying to catch the stupid bird.

If only I could catch her… then… then… something.

I couldn’t think straight as my instincts demanded I catch the running bird.

“Big sister! Big sister!” The bird screamed at the top of her lungs as she banked hard to the right. I couldn’t quite follow her turns, swinging out farther and losing ground, only to make it up in the straightaways.

I was so close I could practically taste the phoenix before another piercing cry echoed through the branches, and a second phoenix more my size flew down between us.

There was no time for me to stop.

Throwing my claws forward, I grabbed the new phoenix, and the two of us went down in a tumble until she landed on a branch, my weight crushing her down.

“Oh good, we stopped. But you got the wrong bird, golden boy.” Kelly mocked me. “Calmed down yet?”

I growled at her before focusing on my stunned prey beneath me.

The phoenix groggily opened its eyes and chirped at me before burning brightly and blasting me with fire.

After a moment, her fire went out, and I still stood over her, proud and unscathed. Her fire had no effect on my golden scales.

“Uh. Please let me go?” She squeaked.

That only made me wonder if phoenix tasted like chicken. She probably tasted like spicy chicken. My mouth was watering.

“What’s going on?” A deep draconic voice roared as Yev swooped down to this level, the smaller phoenix hovering behind her. “Zach, get off of her.”

Kelly jumped forward, standing on my snout and getting my attention as she grabbed the scales on my face. She put herself as the primary thing in my vision. “Hey, dragon boy, you need to focus on me..”

I huffed a puff of smoke out my nose and it floated over her. A deep grumble came from my throat, but my logical human brain was starting to catch back up with my body and my instincts.

The branch shook as Yev landed, and my eyes were drawn to the smaller phoenix, who was cowering behind Yev.

“He’s crazy!” It was yelling.

My instincts zeroed in on the squawking fire chicken when Kelly tugged at my face, drawing my attention back to her. “I need you to calm down and get back in the driver's seat.” She turned to Yev. “Tell the little bitch to shut up. The last thing we need is her setting him off again.”

I beat my wings but didn’t go anywhere. It was more of a statement.

“Look at me.” Kelly bopped my snout again, forcing my attention back to her. “Don’t you want some of this?” She brushed her chest against my dragon face with a smirk as one of the scales caught her shirt and pulled it down, displaying her chest to me.

She planted a few kisses along my face, and my beast became distracted. As it relaxed, interested in Kelly, I started being able to calm down.

I took several deep breaths, snorting out smoke as I regained control and stepped off of the other phoenix. It shot up and flapped away from me.

“There you go.” Kelly cooed and corrected her shirt before crawling back up to hold my horns. “Well, folks, we’ve learned one way to get a dragon off a murderous rampage. I’m going to call that a success.”

“Showing him your tits?” Yev laughed. “Not sure that would work on my dragon, and had to admit it hadn’t been my plan, but it was rather effective.”

I didn’t have to say anything.

Kelly pointed her hand over my head at the smaller phoenix. “That little brat tackled Zach while he was flying, then ran away. It set off his predator nature.”

Yev whirled on the pair of phoenixes. “Is that what happened?”

“Maybe?” the smaller phoenix hedged. “I thought it was you.”

Yev shook her big draconic head. “So, you attacked a random dragon, and he chased you around the tree?”

“He was going to eat me!” The small phoenix flapped itself several feet higher as its wings sped up. “Then my big sister saved me.” She chirped.

“Saved is a nice way to put it.” The larger phoenix wasn’t flying, still swaying on her feet. “I got in the way of a dragon barreling at my little sister. I’m an idiot.”

Yev seemed satisfied with their answers and looked at me. “What’s your excuse?”

The way she said it made me want to raise my hackles. “She attacked me and ran. I chased. It’s not hard to understand.” I growled.

Her head rose a couple feet above mine, and it was making me feel a little scrappy. My dragon wanted to prove I was superior.

My claws flexed, tearing up the branch under me.

Yev’s eyes dipped to the sound, and she took a single step back.

My eyes zeroed in on her, waiting for her to run.

But she didn’t. “I see.” She dragged out the word slowly.

“Don’t run, please.” Kelly said. “He’s so wound up.”

I tossed my head, not liking what Kelly said. “I am not.”

“You are.” Yev agreed with Kelly, taking another step back. “Wound up too tight. Ladies, I think it’s best that you go home.”

“I’m not some monster.” Her taking slow steps back and telling others to run was not necessary. “Kelly and I will go.”

Jumping off the branch, I let my wings snap out and flew away from the situation.

The entire time we flew, my beast was up in arms, wanting me to go back and pick a fight with Yev for blocking me from the undoubtably tasty spicy chickens.

The beast was jumpy as hell. I had no idea why my instincts were rearing for a fight and ready to go on some murderous rampage.

Something was bothering my instincts; I just didn’t know what it was.

Part of me wanted to blame the fact that we’d been sitting around waiting for an attack the previous few days. It had frayed some of my nerves; patience didn’t seem to be one of my strengths.

But it had to be more than that.

Yev crept up in my peripheral vision, but she stayed far enough away that it wasn’t a threat. I assumed she wanted to keep any of her other friends in the tree safe.

“Maybe you should talk.” Kelly said, bonking me on top of the head.

“My dragon wants to fight. Why would your wolf itch to fight?” I asked her.

“Wolves want to fight all the time. Though mostly it’s play, or practice.”

I tossed my head slightly, making sure not to throw Kelly. “It isn’t play.”

“Then wolves fight because they feel threatened, or because they have something to gain.” Kelly said.

Those two options sunk into my head, and I slowed down, landing on a branch and turning to Yev in an agreement to talk.

Did my beast want to kill and eat Yev? Or maybe establish dominance? No, the aggression wasn’t pointed directly at Yev. She was just one of the available options at the moment.

Yev backwinged, slowing her flight and abruptly landing. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

I respected the directness.

Kelly snickered. “Yes, he has.”

“I can speak for myself.” I rumbled, padding in a small circle on the branch before sitting my rear down with a thump. “Yes, I’ve been avoiding you.”

“Is it because of the other day in the magic range?” The green dragon before me lowered its head apologetically.

“No.” Even though I didn’t quite know what was bothering me, I knew that wasn’t it. “I’m finding myself irritable in Sentarshaden.”

I hadn’t felt this way before entering Sentarshaden.

“The city is bothering you?” She asked, her head rising and tilting in a way that reminded me of a cat. “Is it your women?”

Kelly’s head came over the top of mine. “Are you not enjoying the blue berry?”

“No, damnit.” I tossed Kelly back up over my head and stood, pacing on the branch. “I don’t know what it is, but something is driving me up a wall, like a constant itch.”

Yev watched me as I paced the branch several times before speaking again. “You could be reacting to something magical in the city. Maybe one of the Highaen wards is bothering you at a low level? There are some to try and drive normals away.”

“Do I look human to you?” I stopped and stared back at the green dragon.

“No, but there are more wards than I know. There could be something.”

I paused, sensing. I didn’t feel like I was being pushed out. It was as if I wanted something; I wanted to fight something.

Lifting my head, I stared at Yev and tried to probe that feeling.

“You said there was another dragon in the city, another male. Do dragon males fight?” I asked Yev.

Her eyes opened wide and blinked. “Maybe. You are the only male I’ve ever met. There’s less than ten male dragons in the world.”

Chewing my lip, I prodded the beast and brought up the image of another big male dragon, trying to imagine one standing right here with me on the branch.

The beast went rabid, and I had to rein it in and shove it deep down before the aggression made me do something stupid.

I smiled, glad I at least knew what was getting under my skin.

“I think I’m somehow sensing this other dragon, and it’s setting off my instincts.” Letting out a breath, I managed to stay in control. “I just tried to imagine another male dragon here and nearly lost it.”

“Need me to show you my tits again?” Kelly asked helpfully.

“Men.” Yev scoffed. “But if you can sense him, is that something we can use?”

I didn’t know, and I was getting tired of questions I couldn’t answer. “Who knows, I’m flying blind. But I’ll have to see what I can figure out.”

But if I could sense this other dragon, we could go on the offensive and find the celestial ambush before they sprang it. It was worth trying.

“Thanks for talking through this. We’re going to head back.” I told Yev, leaning off the branch and letting myself fall backwards. As we plummeted, I snapped my wings open and wandered back through the tree for our portal out of there.