Page 10 of My Dragon Lovers

“Do you want us to come in with you?” I asked Kyra.

She shook her head. “I think it’s better if I talk to Mom myself. I don’t know how she’s going to react. Either she’s going to be pleased that I’m starting to get my life together, or she’s going to be annoyed that I’ve gone back to you. It’s not like she has any real affinity for her past either.”

I nodded. “Then I’ll use the time to return home and tell my parents. When night falls again I shall return to you and we can move forward.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Brock said. Kyra nodded. There were still plenty of unknowns to address, but the thought of exploring them excited me. All my life I had been waiting for somethingexciting to happen, and it had finally occurred to me what that was, a relationship with Kyra and Brock.

Of course, it would have all been easier if Kyra could just accept her dragon and fly alongside us, but she seemed adamantly opposed to that. I had hoped that in our years apart she could have come to terms with the dragon inside her. It was ironic really, she hated my parents for being suspicious of her, yet she was frightened because she did not know what she was capable of. The shadow of Ilvar loomed over her, casting her in murky despair. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to free her of it, but it did not matter. I would love her no matter what.

I had no problem embracing the dragon inside me. I felt the sweet, exquisite pain of my skin turning to scales. They spread all over my body as the arcane energy took hold. I bent down, forced on all fours as my tail stretched out behind me and wings spread from my back. Bones cracked and ligaments snapped as everything shifted into place. The world came alive as all my senses were heightened. It felt as though this was my true form, that this was the thing I was supposed to be.

I lowered myself as Kyra climbed onto my back. I barely recognized her weight, so light was she in her human form. She could have been even more beautiful as a dragon, but she had condemned herself to remaining in this prison of flesh, denying herself the glory that was our innate legacy. I felt the wind caress my scales as we soared through the night, heading down the mountain, back to Kyra’s home. She tugged at me, reminding me to land away from her house so that Jade wouldn’t see us. When she climbed off me she kissed my cheek and then walked away. The parting now was sweeter than our last one, as we knew we would see each other again soon.

Brock and I rose again as the first trails of sunlight were beginning to spread upon the horizon. We flew towards thedawning sun, feeling the air growing warmer. It felt like a good day, it felt like a new day.

*

Our feet touched the mossy ground. The ruins were lodged into the grass as though they had been hammered into the ground by a titan. It was half a building, more like rubble really, and yet it was home. There were remnants of stairs and the echo of a tower, a sign that once this had been an impenetrable fortress. It had not remained impenetrable forever, though. It was a melancholy remind that things did not always last, that things were fragile and would often be broken over time. Few things could ever last in the wake of such enduring pressure. Even the traditions of dragons could break. Our home ran under the surface though in high chambers and wide tunnels that had been hewn through the underbelly of the earth. There we stayed and hid, our thunder deciding a long time ago that it was safer to live within the earth than upon it. Instead of having houses and homes, we condemned ourselves to the darkness.

There was a mighty pit in the middle of the fortress that led down into the chambers below, where the rest of dragons would be moving about industriously, making the decisions that would shape our future. At night they would emerge and soar through the sky. We still had plenty of freedom and liberty, but it was still somewhat depressing to find ourselves returning to this concrete tomb again and again. Sometimes I wished that we could find a way to live in the human world. It would at least provide us with more possibilities, and perhaps some of us would feel more at home.

“Are you ready for this?” Brock asked.

“I have no idea,” I sighed.

“I mean, I get why you went after her. I can’t believe you kept her a secret for this long though,” he said. I smirked.

“Well, I wasn’t as open to sharing as I am now.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I am. I really am. It was amazing last night. It just made me even surer that this is what I want going forward. I think before I was too afraid of disappointing my parents. I thought I should try and be what they wanted me to be, rather than showing them what I am. I can’t live like that Brock. I can’t just be a shadow of the man I’m supposed to be. I just hope they understand,” my gaze drifted towards the entrance to the chambers below.

“I’m sure they will. They only want what’s best for you, right?”

“You’d think, but then with Kyra they’ve never exactly been able to see my side of it.”

“How did you meet her anyway? I don’t remember her ever coming around here.”

I gulped and averted my gaze. “I was pestering people about the story of what happened with Ilvar. I heard about Jade and I wanted to know where she went. She wasn’t the only dragon to escape, you know. A few others managed to fly off the island and they went God knows where. Anyway, the more I heard about what happened the more I was intrigued, and I wanted to know what things were like from Jade’s perspective as well. I mean, if she hadn’t left then maybe things would have been different. I felt like I kind of owed her, in a way. I guess I just wanted to see her, to put a face to the name, to make all of that seem real. It’s quite surreal given that it happened before we were born. So I talked to some of the people from Mom’s old thunder. A few of them had been more concerned and they had kept watch over Jade. I did some favors for them and managed to get them to tell me where she was living. I didn’t intend to speak with her, but then I saw Kyra. There was something about her, something that compelled me towards her. We started speaking. She was reticent. I guess her Mom had taught her tobe guarded. I told her who I was and we started spending even more time together. It just worked. It felt natural for us to be together. We had great chemistry, but then things started to go wrong when we began to talk about the future,” I winced a little at the memories. “We kept putting it off, kept deluding ourselves that everything was going to be fine, but eventually it reached a point of no return. I told my parents and they made it clear in no uncertain terms that Jade could not be trusted, and I guess by relation Kyra couldn’t either. It felt as though everything was against us and I wish now that I had fought against them harder. I want her, and there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from being with her.”

I gritted my teeth in determination and my entire body bristled with tension.

“So what are you going to do if they say no?”

I looked straight at the entrance before me. “I’m going to be with Kyra. If we have to make a life for ourselves out in the wide world then that’s what we’re going to do. Are you willing to leave this place behind?”

Brock rolled his shoulders and nodded. “It’s not like I have anything else here waiting for me without you. And like you said, she’s worth leaving everything we know behind,” he said. I was glad he had my back. This whole thing was less intense knowing that I had him to support me, not that he could come with me though. I had to speak to my parents alone.

We embraced and then I descended into the chamber. Darkness enveloped me. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust. There were areas that were illuminated by torches. I passed other dragons and nodded towards them. They had no idea what kind of furious emotions were raging within my heart.

I found my parents in their wide chamber. Mom, Kadie, was draped over a long seat. Mason, Buck, and Brett were near her. Buck was massaging her shoulders. Brett was eating, whileMason was reading a book. I didn’t know which one of them was my biological father. They were all Mom’s husbands and lovers, and so they were all my fathers as well. I thought I was lucky compared to Kyra, who had no father, but I couldn’t help but think it made everything that little bit more complicated.

“Aidan, how are you today? Have you given any more thought to what we discussed the other day?” Mom asked.

I felt a lump form in my throat. I wished that Brock and Kyra would have been with me. Thinking of them helped breathe strength into my limbs though. I remembered that I was here for a reason, and that I did not have to do as they said just because they were my parents. I was my own man, my own dragon, and I could not allow anyone else to decide my destiny for me.

“I have, and I would like to tell you that I have made my decision,” I said.

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