Dragon 3 Chapter 24 (Patreon)

AN - Devin is changed to Helena, cause that's what I put in book 2 before I derped. Sorry for the confusion.

“What do you think he meant by ‘take his strength’? I don’t feel any different.” I stared down at my hands, like somehow some magic would all of a sudden show.

Morgana stood next to me, hesitating before she stated, “I think… I think he wanted you to eat him.” She looked at the massive corpse before me.

I froze, turning my gaze from my hands to his body. My stomach turned a bit at the idea. His body had been used against him for years by the celestials. Breaking up his body to eat him seemed too much.

“I don’t know if I can do that.” I replied, unable to tear my eyes away from his body.

“I know, Zach. But it isn’t like you’re taking. He’s giving.” Morgana tried to console me. “And Zach, remember what that bone did for you. He can make you stronger, and I think he’s right. I think you’re going to need it.”

There was nothing I could say to that.

What she said was true. My chances against the team that took Tyrande at my current strength weren’t looking great. Being stronger could turn the tide.

I looked back at the silver dragon, sitting down on my back legs next to his body.

I sat there for a little bit, needing a moment. Morgana stood quietly, understanding and giving me a little space.

When I was ready, I took a deep breath and leaned forward to where his stomach was ripped open and took a bite.

I hated it instantly, not because it was terrible, but because it tasted so good. I hated to admit it, but he tasted amazing. As dragon meat melted in my mouth, it warmed my insides and trickled out towards my skin, making it tingle and itch.

It reminded me of how human bodies were made to process sugar and fat as fuel sources. It tasted good to us because it was perfect fuel. Dragon bodies seemed to have mana rich meat that satisfied dragon bodies in much the same way.

Already, from just that one bite, I could feel myself growing.

“Morgana.” I mumbled around a piece of scale that was crunching like candy glass between my teeth. “Keep an eye out for me. This is going to take a while.”

“You got it. Just do what you have to.”

I wrinkled my snout and pushed forward, eating the massive silver dragon. I loved every bite, which almost made it harder.

***

Time flew by as I ate away at the massive dragon.

It wasn’t until Jadelyn’s voice roused me from my task that I finally looked up and swiveled my head, looking for my mate. “Jadelyn?”

I realized it was growing dark and my eyes were well adjusted to the darkness, but I couldn’t find her.

“Down here, love.”

I looked down, trying to figure out how Jadelyn had shrunk so much.

“What time is it?” I asked, lifting one of my bloodied claws to get a measure of how big I was compared to her.

“It is almost nine.” Her arms were wrapped around herself, wearing a heavy coat. I realized she was likely freezing.

I scooped her up and pressed her to my warm chest. “I’m sorry, I have to do this.”

“That’s why I’m out here, to be with you.” She huddled up against my chest.

Looking around, I realized the rest of my wives were there as well. They’d let Jadelyn break my focus and bring my attention back.

The Silver Slave was now silver scraps. I had been devouring his corpse for the better part of the day, and as I’d grown, it had gone faster. There was still some left, but for the most part, I was done.

“You’ve gotten pretty big.” Scarlett stepped up next to Jadelyn against my flank.

She was right. Compared to the Silver Slave, I was still small, but I had more than doubled in size. From snout to tail, I could probably cover half a football field. My torso was the size of two stacked school buses, and I didn’t even want to try to guess my weight.

A throat cleared beyond my mates, and I realized we weren’t alone.

Yev stood behind her mother, who was the one who had cleared her throat. An elven man stood next to her. I assumed he must be Yev and Tyrande’s father.

“Yes?” I said slowly, wondering what had brought them out beyond the protection of Sentarshaden.

“You have caused more trouble today. Do you have any idea how hard it has been to quell the videos popping up all over the internet? It is hard to explain a massive dragon falling out of the sky?” Her mother walked up to me angrily, jutting out a finger at me accusingly.

I was tempted to bite that hand right off. I raised an eyebrow. “You’re welcome for saving your city. And stopping your daughter from charging off and making you lose both of them.” I leveled a hard look at her. “Now, it’s been a long day. Go away.” I felt Jadelyn’s soft touch on one of my legs, but I was still annoyed.

Yev’s mother was not picking a great time to push a very testy, large dragon.

Something about my words, or maybe my blood-stained snout, made her pause.

“You have to get my daughter back. They hired you to protect my daughter.” She demanded, her voice betraying the slightest bit of weakness.

I covered her face with a smoke-filled snort.

“We were hired to protect Yev, and we did. The fact that they changed the play and went after Tyrande isn’t on me.” I was being stubborn as their mother blamed me. That and chasing after them now would do little.

I was exhausted, and my body desperately needed to rest and recover from my rapid growth. Not to mention going in without a plan was suicide.

“Zach.” Yev’s voice was pleading. “We have to get Tyrande. You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.” I softened as I turned to Yev. She’d been through too much today.

She looked at her mother and father, who nodded in agreement, seeming to authorize whatever she was about to say next. “Tyrande is the heir to Sentarshaden. She’s keyed to the tree. With her in their hands…” She paused, struggling to say the next words. “They would have access to the tree.”

Morgana’s eyes were the ones that went wide in understanding first. “Shit. They could move it, use it on the city itself. The Church could steal your family tree.”

The Highaen matriarch refused to meet any of my family’s eyes.

I realized the implications. Tyrande’s capture meant possible destruction for an entire city of paranormals.

I groaned, my choice clear. “How long do we have?”

“What they did to the dragon would have taken years, but something simpler could be done to an elf. She’d have to go to the celestial plane for the Archangels to work on her.” Morgana thought out loud. “It will take time, we don’t have to rush.”

“Austria.” I said in understanding. “They are headed to Austria to bring her to the celestial plane. Once there, how long would it take to make her obedient?”

Morgana shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s not exactly something I practice. It won’t happen in a day or a week though.”

For that, I was thankful.

Glancing back at the rest of the silver dragon, I sighed. “I have to finish this, then rest. Tomorrow, I will work with you to plan how to rescue your daughter.”

“Thank you.” Yev hugged one of my legs. “For protecting me today, and for helping get my sister back.”

I grumbled and turned back to the remaining scraps of the silver. A part of me had thought to give them to Yev, but I was being selfish. It was becoming more and more apparent that I needed every ounce of strength I could get.

Giving up a portion of it to Yev might just endanger my life down the line.

“Eat up, then we’ll go home.” Jadelyn encouraged me.

***

I glided over the city, spotting Jadelyn’s home from above.

I wasn’t worried about being spotted. According to my mates, my secret was out. There were already videos of me running naked out of the magic range and shifting on the front steps.

Unlike all the coverups we performed on the normals, there was no one taking down those videos and changing the narrative.

The paranormal world was already up in a tither about the gold dragon appearing in Sentarshaden.

So as I flew low over Jadelyn’s home, I was unsurprised to see camera flashes from pedestrians on the street trying to get a picture of me.

“Think we should video chat with your parents and see if we can beat the news?” I asked as I landed amid several very nervous looking security guards.

Jadelyn’s home security watched with wide eyes as my mates all slid off my back, and I shifted back into myself, naked in the middle of the circle drive.

“We might need bigger circle drives if you plan on getting any larger.” Jadelyn said, not worried in the least about the other ramifications. “But yes, we should call my dad before he learns it from other sources. It’ll be front page news even in the Philly para community tomorrow. Sooner if he’s keeping tabs on this city, since I am here.”

“If my dad hasn’t already figured it out.” Scarlett added, grabbing a blanket from inside the door and throwing it over my shoulders as if that solved my modesty issues.

I let the blanket hang over my shoulders, comfortable with my body around my mates.

“Let’s get it over with.” I told the two of them. Detective Fox’s investigation wall likely only needed a few more pieces to realize what I was.

As I walked into the kitchen, and lounging area, the news was still running. Either one of the guards had been watching it, or it had been left on when the girls left this morning.

The elven news anchor was trying to make constant conversation, spewing out all kinds of thoughts about the gold dragon. It seemed I was the hot topic and the green dragon had become yesterday’s news story.

“Gold dragons and silver dragons, both thought extinct, have reappeared today. The entire world is wondering who the young gold dragon is.” A blurry picture of me was cropped and hanging over his shoulder. I knew it was me on the steps of the magic range, and if it wasn’t cropped, my junk would be out for the entire new audience to see.

“Anyone with details on the gold dragon should call our tip hotline. The world would love to meet him.” The anchor continued.

The co-host cut in. “But I’m sure the Bronze King will address this in his announcement tonight. If you are out there, gold dragon, the city of Sentarshaden thanks you for your actions today.” She stared directly at the camera in a way that sent a chill down my spine.

Being directly talked to by news anchors was creepy..

“When is the Bronze King’s announcement?” I asked.

Kelly already had her phone out. “Forty minutes.”

“We can put off the call to my father?” Jadelyn suggested.

“No, let's get that done with. Then we’ll see what sort of bomb the Bronze King is going to drop.” I had a feeling that a doozy was coming.

Jadelyn nodded, grabbing a tablet from her room and arranging some books on the coffee table in front of the couch to prop it up.

“Dads say they’ll be ready in just a minute.” Scarlett announced, looking up from her phone. “Ready?” She asked me, sounding concerned.

“Nope. This is going to be harder than fighting a colossal silver dragon.” I said, honest with myself.

Fighting the Silver Slave had been an exercise in heroics, and that somehow didn’t extend to coming out to her father.

Jadelyn’s tablet rang, and an image of Detective Fox sitting next to Jadelyn’s Father popped up on the screen.

Scarlette’s father, Detective Fox, looked just like usual. His permanent five-o’clock shadow gave him a slightly messy appearance. It made him unassuming, but I knew better.

Rupert, on the other hand, looked like a marble bust of Poseidon come to life. The old siren had managed to remain impressively fit, even as his hair turned white. The white hair was a stark contrast to Detective Fox’s orange.

As I looked them over, I had a thought. “You should text your mothers to join them.”

“Already done. They’ll be there shortly.” Scarlett informed me, before swiping accept. I guess this was it.

I took a breath, bracing for the moment I knew would eventually come.

“Jadelyn.” Rupert ran right over anything I was going to say in greeting. “We are already arranging a way out of Sentarshaden for you.”

“Yes, after we saw the reports today of the Church attacking the city, we are pulling every string we have to pull all of you out of the city quietly and safely.” Detective Fox was quick to follow up.

I held up a hand to forestall anything further. “Thank you for your work on that, but it won’t be necessary. I —”

“As much as I appreciate your bravado, there are angels and even dragons in play around the city. Those aren’t things you can stand up to.” Detective Fox glared at me from across the globe. Despite the distance, I could still feel the heat of an angry father trying to protect his daughter. “You are a lost one, and you might not understand just how terrifying dragons can be. You all need to get out of the city.”

Rupert looked to the side. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” Jadelyn’s mother came around into the camera’s view. “Just coming to see my daughter.” A small twitch of her lips betrayed her.

“We are working on getting them out of the city and back home. Dragons are coming out of the woodworks. Angels are fighting in the streets. It’s mayhem.” Rupert shook his head. “That is no place for my daughter.”

“Dragons.” Jadelyn’s mom stared right at the camera, staring at me while she spoke to her husband. “I heard there was a gold dragon that showed up and dealt with the problems.”

Detective Fox turned. A slight pinch to his eyes told me he read something off in her statement.

But Rupert continued to blunder forward. “Yes, well, it isn’t as if we have the kind of firepower over there to deal with a dragon. Now, we have a friend in the area—”

“Dear.” His wife laid a hand on her shoulder. “I think you should give your daughter a moment to speak.”

We had all given up on trying to interject into the conversation as the two overprotective fathers steamrolled the conversation.

“Fine.” The muscular siren crossed his arms, agreeing to let us talk. His face twitched, at odds with his agreement to let us speak.

“Well, we had news to tell you.” Jadelyn smiled and looked at me to continue.

Scarlett’s mom had entered and stayed behind the two men. She chose that moment to position her hands as jaws in front of her mouth and clamp them open and shut as she pretended to fly behind them.

I tried to keep it together as the two men watched me, oblivious to the woman behind them.

“You're pregnant?” Rupert blurted out. “Then we definitely need to get you out! You have a baby to protect! That’s even more reason that you hurry and leave the city.”

Her mother laughed hysterically in the background. “She’s not pregnant, at least, I don’t think. Are you, honey?”

“I’m not pregnant.” Jadelyn’s face was bright red. “Anyway, Zach had something to come clean about.” She practically shoved me into the jaws of her parents.

Scarlett was on my other side, eagerly awaiting my announcement as well.

“Well… you see…” I scratched the back of my head, trying to figure out the best way to say it. And maybe also hesitating a bit. This was a big step.

“Get on with it, boy. We have other things to talk about.” Rupert grumped and earned a small smack from his wife.

I nodded, going for a rip the bandaid off plan. “I’m a dragon.”

“Alright, now back to the extraction pla — Wait, what?” Rupert did a double take.

“Dragon, Father. My husband is a dragon.” Jadelyn bounced on the seat next to me, looking at me like I was the best and greatest thing in the entire world.

Her mother cleared her throat. “Yes, and what color dragon, dear?” Prompting more out of me.

“Gold, ma’am.” I said, politely addressing her.

The two fathers on the screen didn’t move for several seconds.

“Is the call frozen?” I whispered to Scarlett.

“No, just our fathers.” She said with a barely contained laugh on the edge of her lips.

“Gold dragon.” Detective Fox said slowly. “I think we’ll need some proof.”

His wife tugged at the fox ear on top of his head. “We already have verified. And I would think your daughters would know a gold dragon when they saw one.”

Rupert began laughing, but it cracked, bordering between hysteria and elation. “You're a gold dragon. You’re… a gold dragon.” He broke into more hysterical laughter before his face cleared with excitement. “Golfing! You need to come golfing with my buddies and me. Oh, they won't’ believe this. I can’t wait to shove this in Tony’s face. He’s always bragging about his son-in-law the unicorn.”

Then another thought crossed his face, and he leaned forward. “You aren’t pregnant with a dragonling, are you, daughter?” His eyes were wide with excitement.

“No, I’m not pregnant. For the last time, none of us are pregnant.” Jadelyn laughed. “I thought the dragon husband was big enough news.”

Rupert coughed into his hands, and I realized Detective Fox was scanning between the four women around me.

“Ah. Some of this is starting to make sense.” Detective Fox said. “I assume you approve, love?” He looked behind him to Ruby, who answered with a single sharp nod.

Claire leaned over her husband. “I saw the articles already coming out. You fought the angels and the silver dragon?”

But then a frown came over both men. “You are part of the conflict in Sentarshaden.” They clearly didn’t like their daughters being even closer to the conflict.

I ignored their comment, focusing on the mother’s. “Yes. But it isn’t as impressive as you think. The silver wanted to die, to be free of the church’s influence. So we took his life. And as for the angels, we were just trying to protect the Highaen family from having their daughter kidnapped. And unfortunately were only partially successful. The other has been taken.” I quickly explained.

“Scarlett, you are doing everything you can to keep Jadelyn safe?” Detective Fox asked.

“Yes, father. It also helps to have a gold dragon with her most of the time.” She answered with a roll of her eyes.

Both men nodded slowly at that. “Indeed, that would change how you react to many dangers. The answer is simply get her to the gold dragon if he isn’t part of the conflict.” Detective Fox was already rolling through the new protocols in his head. “A gold dragon is probably the safest place to be.”

“Then do you need help getting out of the city?” Rupert asked.

“No, we are fine. Worst-case scenario, I just take them and fly us home.” I replied.

The idea of flying over the Atlantic was terrifying, but I thought I just might be able to do it. With my current size, I was pretty sure I could make it in a day.

I was still far slower than a plane, but it was doable.

“Yes, of course.” Rupert nodded, seemingly fine with me taking care of his daughter all of a sudden. “Do you need anything from us for the conflict in Sentarshaden?”

“No daddy, it’s fine. We just wanted to be sure you learned the news from us. After today's events, Zach is worried his secret will be out.” She paused. “And we learned more about dragons on this trip. We need to start stocking mana-rich foods for him. He eats a lot.”

Her mother giggled. “Eight courses last time he was here.” She bragged.

“Of course! He’s a dragon.” Rupert agreed. “Twenty courses of the finest food we have, and no less.”

I was somewhat uncomfortable with the change in tone from their fathers now that they knew I was a dragon. But I had the feeling it was the first of a lot of changes as the world found out.

AN - Parent scenes ^^