Dragon 6 Chapter 3 (Patreon)

The portal dumped me out in the middle of a snowy field. I looked around, noting that we were in a new location from the last time I’d emerged.

I’d been told the portal moved around the fae world, but it was different to see it.

The Spring Lady shivered in the cold before waving her hand and melting the snow around her. “Hurry up. I do not much like the cold.”

“How do you normally travel?” I asked, stepping away from the portal and taking off my shirt, stuffing it into my bracer.

“Though this land is tamed, it still has ways within it.” She pointed to an area that almost formed an archway. A tree grew up over a rocky outcropping. “Archways always lead somewhere.”

I eyed the archway, deciding not to take my pants off for the moment while we traveled on foot. “Okay, is that where we are going?”

“Yes. Come along.” Spring stepped forward, melting a path through the snow.

“Come on, this way. Make sure to keep everyone moving.” I called out over my shoulder to Kelly as she came through the portal.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the fae world but nodded.

Following the Spring Lady, we went through arches that were all similar in style before we stepped out onto a large slope, enjoying the warmth of a bright summer day.

“Up there.” She pointed further up the hills. “That is my mother’s chateau as she calls it. But, this isn’t France.”

“Fits the bill.” I commented, looking at the colossal manor. The structure appeared to have three wings and six towers, two on each wing. I cringed just thinking about having to keep all of that clean.

The chateau was placed high on the hill with a small stream running down around the side of it.

“Are we taking the dragon king express?” Morgana came up behind me and ran her hands over my back, running them down my front and caressing my exposed chest. “Looks like a solid hike otherwise.”

I turned to look at the other women who were still coming through the latest archway.

Jadelyn had heard Morgana and batted her eyes at me. Lifting her foot, she showed off the giant heels she’d decided to wear. They weren’t the most practical, but they did make her legs look even more amazing.

“I guess we are taking the dragon express.” I unzipped my pants and dropped them easily. I was far more comfortable with nudity than I used to be.

Polydora gave a solid appreciative whistle, and I felt a lot of eyes on me.

I rolled my eyes as Kelly joined in.

Lady Spring watched me out of the corner of her eye.

I stepped away and shifted, my bones cracking and popping as my body elongated. My bones grew, and new joints popped into place.

In just a few seconds, I expanded into a gold and red dragon that was well over a hundred yards from head to tail. I still wasn’t nearly the size of the silver slave or Brom, but I was well on my way to being a very large dragon.

Before I even said anything, the ladies and Frank were climbing onto my back. Even the fae took the ride.

“You don’t want to sit by the wings.” Morgana warned Frank and Maddie. “He won’t even feel you when he flexes those and sends you flying.”

I craned my neck around to make sure everyone was situated. “I’m a much better flier now.”

Morgana snorted.

Kelly perched herself behind my horns, holding on as she threw her head up to catch the wind in her face. “Let’s go!”

I arched my back and beat my wings. It was still amazing that a creature as large as me could fly.

The grass and trees around me bent backward as I lifted myself into the air, going in a slow lazy circle. I tried to be as gentle as I could for the new riders.

“Wow.” Maddie shouted over the wind. “It’s so beautiful.”

Below us were rolling hills at the edge of a mountain. Everything was a rich, vibrant green, spotted with blooms of flowers and trees in full bloom. It was picture-esque. The land was carefully nurtured.

After getting high enough, I leaned forward and flew in towards the chateau. But I took my time, circling around the area and letting everybody get familiar with it. I knew Scarlett would want a good idea of the area for her protocols. I felt her slightest stroke on my scales, telling me she appreciated it.

Down below, I spotted a number of fae ladies tending the grounds. Rather than big machines to take care of the lawn, a woman was walking forward with a magic scythe, cutting huge swaths from the grass with each swing.

And the women watering the flower beds never seemed to need to refill the canisters as they wandered the sprawling back garden tending to each of the plants.

“That’s so beautiful. Think we can have picnics out there?” Yev asked.

“You can do whatever you want. The place is yours for a month.” The Spring Lady didn’t exactly sound pleased with that fact. “Can we land already?”

I circled back around, not wanting to land on the building itself or the garden in back. I kept looking for the right spot.

The front had a large bricked drive, and I decided that was my best shot.

I worked to slow myself down, catching wind with my big wings as I coasted down to the drive and landed as softly as I could.

Despite my attempts, I still felt a few bricks break under my claws.

I lifted a foot, shaking the remnants off of it as subtly as I could.

I wasn’t sure how much I weighed, but I was pretty sure that I wasn’t allowed on highways anymore.

“Welcome!” The Summer Queen threw open the large arched double doors that led to the chateau a moment later. Her green hair and golden eyes stood out immediately.

I dipped my head. “Thank you for having us.” I made a mental note of that thank you; if I did too many I’d find myself owing her a magically enforced favor. And I didn’t quite trust the woman not to abuse that power.

“Of course. Now, you won’t fit very well like that.” Summer’s smile was blindingly bright, far more than her daughter’s.

Maeve came out from behind Summer with her assistant, Evelyn, trailing behind her.

“Shifting.” I gave my passengers warning as they were sliding off my back.

Jadelyn stepped up in front of me with a large smile on her face as she went up and hugged Summer. “This is absolutely beautiful.”

“Aren’t you just a darling?” Summer hugged her back. I’d never seen Summer look so motherly as she squeezed Jadelyn.

I stood up, naked amid the women.

Something about Maeve’s gaze made me feel more self conscious than usual, so I snagged out my clothes quickly. The blue-skinned beauty was watching me carefully.

“Right.” I pulled pants from my bracer and hopped into them. “Larisa, still have that piece of the crown?”

“Yes, my king.” Larisa handed me the piece and my nature shifted to silver and white to bear the cold.

“What’s that?” Summer grew interested immediately, staring at the piece.

“The Wallachia family came bearing gifts.” Lady Spring spoke first. “They believe it to be a fragment of the first Winter Queen’s crown.”

Maeve stepped up closer to get a look at it, as did Summer.

“It certainly is rich with Winter Fae magic.” Maeve said, touching it briefly before pulling her hand back.

“Don’t want it?” Summer asked.

“I rather like my current freedom. Taking that would be the same as claiming my mother’s throne.” Maeve frowned at the crown. “Can you hang onto that for me?”

Summer and Maeve shared a meaningful look, one that I didn’t have all the context to understand.

Maeve shook her head. “Not now. Let’s all come in. Summer, would you like to show them around?”

“Happily.” The Summer Queen gestured grandly. “This is the entrance. The doors are carved from a giant tree from when the Queens first tamed the land. The bracing on the exterior is silver, made to look like iron.”

“Why make it look like iron?” Maddie asked.

“Because we are indeed weak to iron. Stab a fae with iron and they’ll have trouble with their magic. And that happens to be another reason we dislike vampires. Their weapons made of blood are actually fairly effective against us.” Summer explained as she led us into the entryway that had a red and gold carpet that made me feel a little uncomfortable walking on it.

Servants, which I noted were almost entirely female, were lining the hall.

“To the left is the wing we’ve allocated to the Fae visitors, and to the right is your party's wing. It has enough rooms that if you’d like to pick a few fae ladies to impregnate, they can have a room too.” Summer covered her mouth as she laughed.

I got the feeling she was only half joking.

“The back wing is the largest and will house your guests as they arrive. My understanding is that there will be quite a few of them. But don’t worry, we have room. In the center of this building is a lovely ballroom that we can use to serve guests meals. The wedding will be outside as planned.” She gestured down the right side. “The wing’s rooms will remain empty. All of you can squeeze into the tower.”

We trooped on behind Summer as she excitedly gestured at various artifacts or tapestries, telling us the history.

I was just stuck in wonder taking it all in. Her chateau was beautiful and at the end of a long hallway, there was another set of double doors that she opened to the first floor of the tower.

“Kitchen and dining area. It is a fairly casual setup. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s perfect.” All three of Scarlett’s tails wiggled behind her. She was young to have her third tail, and I was immensely glad that we’d gotten past the scratchy phase of her growing a new one. “I see we have two staff.”

“Around the clock.” Summer confirmed. “We also have a fully staffed kitchen tucked away on the grounds. My understanding is that the dragon king eats like an army.”

“Too bad I don’t still have a nephilim maid.” Tyrande sighed and looked back at Helena as her wings filled the doorway.

“I’m not sorry at all. I can’t believe you made me scrub toilets for days on end.” Helena glared at the high elf, who only shrugged.

“No more toilets.” Till patted Helena on the shoulder.

The nephilim looked away sharply, causing her severe bob to sway like a curtain across her face.

“Why are you here again?” Morgana still didn’t like the nephilim.

“Because your boy says we both have to be. I’m not loving it either. I’m burning valuable vacation time.” Helena crossed her arms.

I had hoped that maybe with a vacation we could spend some time together and start to work on her trust and love issues.

I had marked her, which meant that my dragon saw her as a mate. And it wouldn’t let anybody else be with her. Which meant she was more or less stuck with me. But there was also something there between us, and I wanted to give it a chance, even if she wasn’t exactly ready for love at the moment.

“I for one jumped at the idea of seeing the fae realm and having a posh vacation.” Agent Till grinned, looking around the room. “I am not disappointed. Besides, I don’t need another meeting, borderline interrogation, from the department.”

Maeve perked up. “How goes Philly with the scrutiny? I apologize for not being much help.”

“You have to cover your mother’s absence. No one blames you for that.” I replied gently.

Summer smiled patiently, waiting for them to continue while some of the other ladies poked around.

“Thank you. But I’d still like to understand what’s happening.” Maeve focused back on the two agents.

Helena perched herself on the edge of a table, relaxing her wings from the tight bundle she’d pulled them into as we’d walked the halls. “We were grilled by the agency at least three times a day. Our lips are sealed and we stuck to the crafted lies from the council. The NSA was easy, but then the DEA rolled in thinking there was a drug connection based on the lie.”

“Don’t underestimate the DEA.” Till warned. “They don’t fuck around. Those guys run their agency like a military operation.”

“Any concern for the park?” Maeve asked.

“No, they all seem to believe it was a fire. Most people just saw bright lights. With the power out, most people stayed home and only saw it from their windows.” I replied, sitting next to Helena as she scooted to make room.

I noted that she scooted a bit farther away than was necessary, but I let it go.

“There were some videos that we promptly buried.” Agent Till rubbed at her forehead. “I guarantee that the DEA has some of those. The NHS has been circling, but so far haven’t gotten involved. We can just hope that what the NSA got ahold of wasn’t enough for them to act.”

I nodded along. I’d heard most of it before from them. 

We also had the issue of occult obsessed videographers that were swarming into the city.

They were like cockroaches, popping up where you least expected and trying to catch something. It was constraining the paranormal community.

None of us knew when we’d be filmed around the city; it was like they were everywhere.

Even Morgana’s Silverwing Mercenaries had shuttered for the time being, which at least lined up well with our trip to the fae realm.

Maeve nodded a few times. “But we can all hide out here for a bit, which is easy.”

“Sounds about right.” I grinned, happy to slow down and spend time with my mates, and a few others that my greedy dragon was damn tempted to draw into his hoard.

“What’s this?!” A shout rose up from down the hall.

I frowned and got up from the conversation as we all went to see what had gotten Larisa excited.

Summer laughed. “I see that someone found my surprise. I knew we were going to be hosting dragons.”

I turned, my interest growing.

My stride lengthened and I caught up to Larisa, who had a door opened.

Beyond it was an enormous room decorated lavishly with gold. There were coins sprinkled on the floor and the bed. If I had to guess, it was a large meeting room once upon a time, but now it clearly had another purpose.

I was drooling.

“It’s all magically conjured gold. It won’t last more than a month or two.” Summer said as she came up behind me. “But it should be fun to use, and I made sure to make a bed large enough for your current mates and then some. Who knows? Maybe you’ll knock up a few summer fae for me.”

I was half tempted to do just that with the gold decorated room.

“Come now. You don’t want to lose your entire staff to a greedy dragon king.” Maeve’s assistant slid into my view. Without her glamor, she had soft blue skin and wore see-through silky clothes that begged to be ripped off. The nymph bit her lip and stared at me with bedroom eyes. “Maybe I could sacrifice myself.”

Maeve grabbed Evelyn by her ear and pulled her aside. “No glamoring.” Though the Fall Lady didn’t look too upset.

“It’s just natural. I swear.” Evelyn cried out.

I cleared my throat and straightened my pants.

Summer just laughed. “That’s what this room is for. It’s the only bedroom on this floor. Anyone else is welcome to take up rooms upstairs. I’m sure the girls will want some space for themselves.”

She rubbed her hands together, smiling. “Now, I’m sure you all had a long trip. Let’s eat!”

The Summer Queen walked back to the dining area, and with two sharp claps of her hands, beautiful fae nymphs paraded out with delicious platters full of food. They placed the platters around the table, making a buffet fit for a dragon king. “Eat. Let’s all enjoy ourselves and your little pre-wedding honeymoon. We all know you are already his.”

“She’s really going all out.” Maddie commented, looking up at me. “Think she needs something from you?” Before I could answer, she saw Frank ogling one of the nymphs and hurried off to keep her man in check.

It was chaotic and lovely, but Maddie had a point.

It was a hell of a welcome and a celebration, far more than our agreement required. What was Summer trying to get?

“Once you are all done eating, I can show you the outdoor stage. We can look at different options for the weddings.” Even as Summer finished saying it, I could see all the women’s minds brimming with ideas.

They scrambled over to grab some food, chatting with each other. I had a feeling it was going to be a quick dinner as they all wanted to get out to see the venue.