The Second Movement

Space Opera: The Second Movement Stephanie Burke All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2008 Stephanie Burke

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ISBN: 978-1-59596-572-1

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Space Opera: The Second Movement Stephanie Burke Free at last! But everything comes with a cost. Gara and Javen have finally realized their dream of living on their own planet, free of the white-coats, free of the space stations and their restrictive beliefs, free of new Earth’s Sphere and the taint of being “second class.” Free to play and explore the mysterious Evergreen Lands, free to live as they choose, by the strength of their bodies and the instincts they now allow to rule their actions. Free to construct a new society based on the ideals of justice and honor. With dangerous factions at work, a mysterious prophesy, and an old enemy amassing, this stunning melody may ring out with the perfect notes to save the worthy and unworthy alike. They were truly free. But that freedom demands an awful price.

Prologue I’m cold. It was the first thought that came to Javen’s mind as he struggled to process what was happening to his body. He was shivering, barely functioning in the darkness of space. But he could feel his mate, offering some small degree of heat, a small spark that kept his blood flowing. And he could feel his friend, the energy signal from Mizuki unmistakable. So they must still be floating. He forced his eyes open, ignoring the sting of bitter cold as he tried to guess where they were. The stars looked so unfamiliar, so foreign, and yet they felt comfortable, like a long ago memory or a reoccurring dream. “Sleep.” The deep voice sent a shiver through his body as he recognized the warmth of his mate’s psychic touch. “G-Gara?” he attempted, his body almost too cold to carry out normal functions like speaking. “Sleep, my Moon Dragon,” his mate insisted, allowing a bit more warmth to flow through his ryuu’s body. “I am keeping watch.” “Mi-Mizuki?” “Is well. Shinji will not allow anything to happen to him. All is as it should be, my precious one. Close your eyes and sleep.” Javen sighed his agreement, but before he relaxed back into the darkness of his mind he sent a tendril of power to check the new spark of life buried deep within him. It pulsed with an energy signature all its own. Content, he closed his eyes and gave in to the darkness, allowing himself to drift once more.

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*** Soon little one, the voice whispered in his mind. Soon you will be here, and all will be well.” Where…? Home, the gentle voice insisted. And then the rest will come. When next Javen opened his eyes, he was in paradise.

Chapter One “Come on, my Moon Dragon.” Gara was speaking. “Time to awaken.” Javen groaned, then managed to make one eyelid lift. He snorted a thin puff of smoke, and then blinked. His red-haired Gara was just a small spot way too close to his eye. He blinked again, and this time pushed his lover back as he tried to lift his head. “Take it easy, Moon Dragon,” Gara urged, sounding concerned. “I don’t know how long we were floating, but you have lost too much weight, my Moon Dragon. You need to awaken to eat what I have gathered.” The massive head dropped back to the soft ground. “Javen.” Gara’s voice took on a commanding tone. “Awaken.” Wanting to ignore that persistent voice but knowing he couldn’t, Javen forced his eyes open again, to acknowledge the existence of his mate, when all he really wanted to do was to tell him to fuck off. “I know you’re not happy with me at the moment.” Gara chuckled, easily reading the emotions and unspoken words from his mate. “But you need nourishment. It is not the same as an energy feed from me, but this place has some of the most luscious fruits I have ever seen.” Javen snorted and tried to roll his eyes, but it was difficult to express that kind of disgust when you could only get one eye open. He grumbled at his mate’s laughing response, then attempted to lift his head once more. “Good dragon.” Gara knew he was playing with fire… but then fire had always been a friend to him. “Very good dragon. Now if you get both eyes open…” Javen let out an annoyed snort, sending a dark puff of smoke at his mate before peeling his other eye open.

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Then Javen gasped, swallowing a deep trill of surprise. Where were they? Home, that laughing, familiar voice informed him, and Javen was too shocked to respond. He was in a paradise. It was like the dreams and legends his people told when depressed or when they wanted to be entertained. It was the perfect happy place that they all held deep in their wildest fantasies and their hopes for freedom. There were tall, emerald trees all around them -- taller than even his own ryuu form -- which bore the most amazingly colored fruits. The grass he lay upon was soft and lush, a pale green carpet for his comfort. The sky was a pure blue so bright it made his eyes water from its beauty. And the smells… The air was perfumed with the scents of brightly colored flowers, fertile earth, clear water… Gara? he sent to his mate, his eyes refusing to believe what his mind was telling him. Tears began to flow, massive droplets of disbelief as it slowly began to sink in. His dream… the dreams he’d been having… they were real. “Shh, my Moon Dragon.” Then Gara was touching him, running his hands through his long, tangled, silver mane, tugging gently at the silken hairs, and he knew this wasn’t a dream. “Shh…” “I… I didn’t kill us all?” Javen asked, his breathing hitching as more smoke poured from his snout. “I-I… the dreams…” “We are safe, my mate,” Gara responded, walking closer to that massive head to stroke and caress the reptilian face. “You have brought us to this… this paradise. You were correct, my Moon Dragon. But then, I always had faith in you.” Javen inhaled deeply, then snorted out a sob, accidentally knocking his tora off his feet. “Gara!” he cried out, closing his eyes and holding back his sobs. He needed to transform. He needed his mate’s arms around him. He needed… hell, he needed his master.

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Faster than a heartbeat, Javen sent energy zinging through his body. He pulled and tugged, and sent his secondary form back into its resting place, withdrawing the power that held the form solid. The massive body of the dragon began to shift and quiver, to glow and shrink. Then, in a quick flash, his tall, humanoid form seemed to drop out of the air, naked and graceful. He descended in a tangle of bright silver hair to the soft grass beneath his feet. Instantly, heated, muscular arms surrounded him. He felt the comfort and the love that traveled through their bond, reassuring him, engulfing him in warm acceptance. “It will be fine, my mate,” Gara purred, holding Javen’s cool body close to his warmth. “You did it. I am not sure how, Javen, but you brought us to this paradise. We will be safe here, you will be safe… our child…” “It wasn’t a dream.” Javen sniffled, still fighting back tears as he shook within the safety of his mate’s arms. “It wasn’t a dream…” “No, my Moon Dragon.” Gara lowered them to the ground, keeping a careful grip on his emotionally wrecked mate. “Not a dream. You are here, and I am here, and we are together.” “Together,” Javen whispered, his arms encircling the body that supported him, even as they eased into a sitting position. “We are not dead, and we are here.” “Wherever here is.” Gara brushed the long, silvery hair back from his mate’s face, lifting his chin and staring deeply into his eyes. “Home, Gara.” Javen smiled, finally. He believed. This was not yet another dream that would fade as he awakened to the reality of the cold space station and the miserable threat of being sent dirt-side. This was real. “We are home.”

*** “Nothing, nothing, nothing!” Giraldi threw his clipboard across the lab in a fit of anger.

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His scientists stared nervously at each other, their eyes widening at this latest temper tantrum. Ever since the man had returned from the primary Space Station, his tail between his legs, the workers in the New Earth creation centers had been forced to bear the brunt of his displeasure. “Can’t you people isolate one fucking gene?” he bellowed, kicking over a garbage can, his eyes narrowed in anger. “We… We have incomplete data because of the lack of a proper specimen --” one of the technicians ventured. “You have enough to isolate the difference between that ryuu specimen and the others,” Giraldi argued hotly, nearly foaming at the mouth. “We don’t have another sample that compares to the one you brought us,” the technician replied. “We have tested this sample against all the samples we have here, and they’re coming up the same. There’s just no foreign matter showing up. As for the minor anomalies… there are not enough factors to test them accurately. These changes could be caused by the exposure to the Phoenix Strand, outer space radiation, exposure to extreme heat and cold… There’s no way to tell without knowing what we’re looking for.” “I want any differences categorized --” “The differences are showing up in all our space-going ryuujin across the board. There is nothing special in this sample.” “Then run more tests!” “We need more blood.” “Well, there isn’t any!” Giraldi screamed, slamming his fist down on the metal table, causing all personnel who didn’t have to be in the immediate area to vacate as fast as possible. “This is it! The bastard went and died in space!” “Then retrieve its corpse,” the technician suggested. “It may be contaminated, but at least we would have a bigger sample to test.” “Leave.” The calm word shocked the arguing tech for a moment, her eyes showing confusion as she blinked.

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“What?” “Leave me, get out of my face, vacate. Is that not clear enough for you?” he snarled. “Get the fuck out of here.” The tech blinked for a moment before backing away from the obviously overworked and deranged man. Finally alone, Giraldi took a seat behind his desk and glared heatedly at the metal surface. Without proof, they had no reason to call for the destruction of the winged pairs project. But maybe… A sinister gleam came into his eyes. Maybe he could manufacture another reason for the extermination of the beasts. They really weren’t needed since the people of New Earth now had the technology to defend themselves against the bugs from the sky. He would do anything -- sacrifice anything -- to stop the spread of these creatures. And if they were going to all start evolving like the now-dead pair, he would personally see to it that they were stopped, for the sake of the world, for humanity itself. There could be no more of these creatures. This infestation had to end now. His mind made up, Giraldi began to plan.

*** Gara watched his mate flutter from tree to tree, his eyes sparkling as he closely examined the foliage. Gara was carefully memorizing all his mate had to say about their new world, but also keeping a cautious eye out for danger. “And even on New Earth,” Javen was bent low, his naked ass on display as he crawled around the base of a bush heavy with fruit, “we could not grow something as bountiful as these fruit bushes.” Huffing, he sat back on his heels, pouting. “I wonder where Mizuki is.” “Shinji and Mizuki are here,” Gara offered. “We were following the same path but were separated when we breached the outer atmosphere. I’m sure they’re safe, my Mate. We will give them some time and then go look for them.”

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Javen sighed deeply, then nodded, his long silver hair sliding over his body, framing his pale perfection. “Yes, my Bonded.” He bowed his head, peeking at his lover from beneath long, silver lashes. “In the meantime, you must eat, my Mate. You need to keep your strength up.” Gara critically examined his mate’s naked body, his eyes taking in the new but healing scars and the weight he’d lost while they’d floated through space. “You are far too thin, my Moon Dragon. We must do something to fatten you up.” “I will be fat enough soon enough.” Javen pouted, his eyes glittering. Gara looked a bit wilder than usual. He had lost quite a bit of weight himself, and there were dark circles underneath his eyes. Javen knew that his mate had not dropped into a deep level of sleep, but instead had been in a semi-conscious state to monitor their movements and watch for danger. Gara loved him and would sacrifice anything for his family. He had proven that well enough by willingly giving up the position he’d fought for for so many years. He’d tossed away power and prestige like it was nothing when it came to keeping his whole family together and out of the hands of the white-coats dirt-side. It was a very honorable thing to do, and Javen knew Gara would do it again without a thought. “But you look like you could rest, Bonded. This trip has not been an easy one for you,” Javen said. “I’ll rest when I know you’re protected,” Gara insisted, rising to his feet and moving to where his mate knelt in the lush grasses. “When you are cared for, my beauty, then I will see to my own needs.” “I could… see to your needs, as well…” Javen let his words trail off, licking his full lower lip as he watched that magnificent body move closer to him. “My need is to see you happy and healthy.” Gara’s eyes flashed red as his desire for his mate grew, his growing erection evident as he knelt beside Javen, his tail lashing in the warm, fragrant air.

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“My hair… It’s unbound, my Bonded.” Javen tilted his head so his horns peeked through the mass of silver hair. “I feel so… exposed.” “Exposed.” Gara moved in closer, sniffing the growing musk, the smell of arousal that covered his mate. “It feels so… forbidden,” Javen trilled, the vibrations moving through Gara, making him want to touch. He fully lowered his head, exposing his vulnerable neck, a small smile playing at his lips. He didn’t have to wait long. He felt Gara’s fingers sift through his hair and hissed softly as they brushed over his sensitive horns. He moaned as he felt those fingers fist the strands, forcing his gaze upwards. He licked his lips and leaned closer to the erection Gara was now sporting. “For me?” Javen asked playfully, leaning in close enough so that his warm breath caressed his lover’s hard cock. Already, beads of clear precum leaked from the rose head, making it glisten in the warm sunlight of their newfound paradise. “For you,” Gara growled, his grip urging Javen’s lips closer. “Why don’t you show your appreciation?” Eagerly, Javen leaned forward, looking up into his lover’s face, his tongue easing out slowly as he lapped up the spilled seed. Holding his lover’s gaze captive, he reached up, letting one finger travel over the hard plane of muscle that made up Gara’s stomach. Then one finger became two, and two became the whole hand that caressed his skin, traveling upwards and outwards, sending sparks flying through his body. Gara snarled, exposing his fangs as he fought the urge to just grab Javen’s head and force his way into that hot, wet mouth. But he held onto his control, barely, and waited to see what his Moon Dragon would do next. He didn’t have long to wait, for Javen, growing impatient with his lover’s restraint, found a hard nipple, abruptly pinching at the flesh, pulling a hiss from his bonded.

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“You play with fire, my Mate,” Gara rumbled, his fist tightening in Javen’s hair, pulling that delicious tongue away from his cock, teasing both of them as he added a little dominance to their love play. “I am descended of dragons, Mate,” Javen smirked back. “Fire holds no fear for me.” “Hmph,” Gara snorted, then buried his other hand in Javen’s hair, using the grip to pull the ryuu to his feet, his eyes caressing the miles of pale-scaled flesh as he rose. “Mine.” “Yours,” Javen readily agreed, wrapping his hands around his mate’s waist, almost salivating at the feel of his mate’s skin. “Yours,” he repeated, brushing his face against Gara’s stomach, allowing his tongue to travel the path already set by his hands. And when he reached the other hard nipple, he couldn’t resist licking at the nub, pulling murmurs of pleasure from Gara before he sank sharp teeth into the yielding flesh. With a roar, he was jerked upright, the painful tug in his hair adding to the lust flooding his blood. His tora wanted it rough, and Javen was ready to play his game. He opened his mouth -- to whine or gasp, he didn’t know which -- and immediately was invaded by a slick, wet tongue. Pulling back from the kiss, Gara threw his head back, roaring his desire, before dropping his head once more to bite at his mate’s neck. Javen’s hands scraped along his mate’s back, trying to find some purchase as he was bent back for Gara’s pleasure. “Mine!” Gara roared out again, his free hand traveling down his mate’s beloved body. His fingers stroked down to the thin covering of curls that surrounded Javen’s growing erection, then slowly back up, feeling the silky skin, the harder scales, the heat and the burgeoning sweat that glistened on his pale, cool body. Gara chuckled at the shivers that shook Javen’s body, then cupped one firm cheek. “This ass… It is mine.” “Yours,” Javen readily agreed, his voice catching as he fought to hold back the trills that wanted to escape his throat.

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Snorting, his nostrils flaring with the scent of increased arousal, Gara gently ran his talons over the soft flesh, watching as his mate’s cool, blue blood rushed in to color the marks Gara left behind. Then his hands traveled around to Javen’s cock, lifting the growing weight, infusing the cool flesh with heat from his soul. “Cock,” Gara snarled. “My toy.” “Yours,” Javen agreed on a moan, his whole body shuddering as he, too, scented his bonded’s intent to lay claim to every part of his body. Gara’s hand traveled lower, cupping the tight, rolling balls in Javen’s sack, tugging gently but firmly. “My cream,” he purred, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the deliciously debauched picture his ryuu made, panting and needy in his arms, held up by his sheer strength alone. Javen’s face was beginning to flush. His lips were swollen from his small, sharp teeth biting at them, his eyes dilated with arousal. The scent pouring off him was addiction, the little whimpering sounds that emerged from his mouth as enticing as the total picture of helpless fragility he made. “For you.” Javen licked his lips, swallowing on a moan. It felt as though his bonded were caressing him with his eyes, so intense was the heat he emitted. Then his world spun as Gara swiftly turned him around in a swirl of hair and pastel scales. Now Gara held him face down, the hand that had once knotted in his hair supporting him across his chest, leaving his free hand to further explorations. “So pretty,” Gara murmured, brushing the long strands of silver out of his way, running his fingers over the scaled pattern that flowed along Javen’s spine. “So cold to touch, Javen.” “Warm me,” Javen urged, wiggling enough to make the flesh of his ass move enticingly. “Warm me in your fire.” Then he was being lowered softly to the ground and those soft, heated lips were traveling down his back.

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“Oh, Kami! Javen!” The heat was intense, and Gara followed up on those tender kisses with long laps of his tongue, spreading fire through his lover’s spine, his throbbing erection, and his churning balls. His heart began to race in his chest, smoke spurting from his nose as his limbs began to tremble. “I think you want me to slide into this body.” “Yes!” “To heat you from the inside.” “Yes!” “To stretch this little hole so wide that you will feel me there for days.” “Yes, Gara, please!” Javen sounded desperate. Gara wrapped both hands around his waist and pulled him up to his hands and knees. “Yes, my One,” he breathed, moving in behind his dragon, his hands never losing contact with his cool skin. “All will be well.” He reached around to grip Javen’s velvety softness, making Javen lurch forward, his ass cheeks flexing as he pumped his hips. He whimpered as he thrust his cock through the firm grip his lover held on it. “So perfect,” Gara breathed, moving to cover his mate. “Let me, my One. Let me in.” “Yes!” Javen arched his back, sending his hair flying about him before looking back over his shoulder at his mate. “I’m going to stretch you, my One. And then I’m going to slide you down over my prick so you can ride me.” Javen whimpered at the words, feeling his body flame even more, feeling his swollen cock release a spurt of precum as his control began to slip. “And you are going to ride me long and hard, my One.” Gara leaned over his mate’s back, fisting a hand in all that hair again, pulling his head back and to the side to nip at his neck. “You are going to feel so good pounding me,” he breathed into the pointed ear. “So good you are going to cry for me.”

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His free hand rubbed circles over his mate’s back while the hand holding his cool length began to pump, his thumb sliding over the slick precum that leaked from the head. “Now, please, now!” Javen demanded, whining as he felt his hole begin to contract hungrily. He felt so empty, so needy. He needed his mate to fill him, to fill up that emptiness in his soul. “So pretty,” Gara purred again, sliding his free hand down his mate’s cleft, feeling the hole contract greedily against his light caress. “So wet for me.” He allowed his finger to press hard enough to shallowly enter his mate’s body. Instantly, Javen threw back his head and trilled, his passion and his joy spilling out of him. “Just like that,” Gara urged as he tugged on his mate’s hair and slid his finger deep inside his cool, wet silk. “Ga-Ga-Gara!” Javen trembled in his grasp, held between hunger and an almost painful desire. His mate was teasing him! He needed more, needed to be filled, to be stretched, to be spread wide and drilled deep. “P-Please!” “Mmm.” Gara shuddered at the cool clasp of his mate’s welcoming body. He felt so good, so right. “You are going to be so tight around my prick.” He slowly slid his finger deeper into his mate, smiling as Javen jerked in his grasp, knowing he had struck the ring of prostates. Javen trilled yet again as another finger was added and he felt his hole being stretched. “For you,” he panted, his eyes watering as the need took over. “For you, my Mate.” In response, Gara thrust a third finger deep into his mate, twisting and scissoring them, spreading him for his possession. Javen went wild in his grasp, rocking his body back and forth, fucking himself on his mate’s fingers. “More! Yes, more!” Gara smirked as he used his hold on Javen’s hair to pull the ryuu upright, seating him firmly on his fingers as his teeth clamped around the binding marks on his neck.

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He himself began to whimper as he lapped at the marks, feeling his mate’s pleasure doubling back onto him. “Mine,” he chanted again, licking down that long neck, his hand leaving his hair to again reach around to Javen’s cock. “Take me!” Javen wailed, his own hands going back over his shoulders to tangle in his mate’s wild red hair. He pulled desperately, trying to force Gara to give him what he needed. “Now!” “Yes.” Gara pulled his fingers free from his bonded’s body with a wet, sliding sound and quickly replaced them with his cock. He slammed his hips upwards, hard. “Gara!” Javen wailed. “Sing for me,” Gara gritted out, his eyes flashing red as he began to slam his hips upward into the cool silk of his dragon’s body. And Javen was scratching at him, his head tossed back on his lover’s shoulder, his voice trilling madly as he felt his cock stiffen even more. His insides churned, twisting in pleasure as he gathered himself and slammed downward against his mate’s thrust, increasing the force. The sound of the birds ceased as the primal sounds of raw sex, grunting and slapping flesh, filled the air. “Mine, mine, mine!’ Gara chanted, tossing his head back, allowing his hands to grip his mate’s waist to aid in slamming him down harder, faster. “Deeper!” Javen wailed, tensing his thighs and riding his mate faster. “Oh Kami, Oh, Kami, Kamikamikami… Gara!” Javen was losing his control, feeling this intense pleasure rocking him as well as the love and desire that filled his heart from their bond. “Gara, please!” Gara broke. He pushed his mate forward until Javen was forced to brace both hands on the ground. He put his face nearly into the soft grass and lifted his ass higher, knowing that his taking was truly about to commence. And Gara, fierce Alpha that he was, covered his mate, snarling and growling, his hips slamming forward with all his strength.

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“Take it,” he panted between pounding thrusts. “Take… my… heat!” He worked his hips faster, making sure to grind at the end of each down stroke, making sure he stimulated the ring of prostates before he retreated, only to do the same thing again and again. This was primal mating, raw and rough, and both Javen and Gara reveled in it. “Can’t hold it!” Javen felt his muscles tense and his body freeze as orgasm prepared to tear through his mind. “Can’t… Oh, Gara! I -- I -- c-can’t!” “Let it go!” Gara’s hands tightened on his mate’s waist, his claws leaving small scratches and welts. “Let -- it -- go! Now!” His next thrust was enough. Javen wailed. Rising up, tossing his head back, he trilled his joy to the world. In a burst of high pitched song, he told the world how well his mate loved him, how he satisfied him in every way, how nothing in the world could replace this feeling of completion. Gara groaned as his mate’s body clamped down on his. He almost slipped out as Javen lurched upwards, but he managed to hold on. With his balls tight and tingling, his cock swelling to its hardest, he let out a roar as he felt his seed pulled from his body. Again and again he thrust, reflexively, instinctively trying to plant his seed as deeply as he could. His eyes burned and his breath tore painfully through his body. His heart felt as if it were going to explode, and it was all such wonderful pleasure he nearly cried. Soon the intensity eased, and he felt his Javen relax back into him, head hanging, breath panting as he descended into afterglow. “My Moon Dragon,” Gara purred, easing them both over onto their sides before he closed his eyes, nestling at his mate’s back, protecting and warming him. “Mine.” He tightened his grip on his lover, ensuring that he would not get away. “Yours,” Javen responded, nestling back into the wonderful heat his mate offered him, content that he knew his place and was loved.

Chapter Two You are here, little one. Javen relaxed in the dream, the voice offering comfort and amusement. Again he floated in a gentle black ocean, almost like his beloved space, but more welcoming. Some light surrounded him, but it was muted, soft and not harsh at all. He thought maybe this was what it felt like in the womb, but those memories were long since lost to him. Besides, he was synthesized, not the creation of loving parents who would do all to protect and care for him. Yes, he replied, a feeling of love and acceptance flowing through him. I am… home. Very good, little one, the voice purred. You have begun to accept this place as yours. But… but where am I? he asked, his confusion showing. Not that it isn’t a beautiful place, because it is. But… but I just want… I need… Like all of your kind, child. The voice seemed to giggle. Curiosity is a natural part of who you are. Do not fear to ask questions. Okay, Javen said finally. I have many questions. First… who are you? The darkness seemed to part, and a shimmering gold light, not unlike the sun, pierced the darkness and allowed a small figure to become visible. The figure spoke as she moved forward. You may call me Otohime. Javen blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light and the figure became clearer. For a moment, he swore he saw a turtle. Yes, there was a turtle in his dream, a large, bright iridescent green turtle. He smiled, enchanted by the delicate vision, its shell reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. Its deep green eyes were almost black and filled with boundless patience and wisdom.

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As he watched, the form began to shimmer and soften. His eyes grew wide with wonder as the form melted and reshaped itself, growing taller and more delicate until the golden light hid it from view. Then, just as rapidly, the light receded, and standing before him was a tall willowy woman. Otohime, he breathed. The female stepped toward him, a smile on her full pale green lips. Her skin was tinted a pearlized green, several shades lighter than the deep green and gold of her long, flowing hair, all that covered her naked form. Her skin seemed to glow with an inner light that only those with the legendary powers of a god were said to possess. Her nails were almost claws which she used to beckon him closer. Even with the power this creature radiated, Javen felt no fear. If anything, seeing the body that went along with the voice that had filled his dreams and ultimately had led him here was a bit of a blessing. Messenger of the Elder Lords. She stepped closer, allowing him to gaze into her inhumanly beautiful face. Elder… There is much to do, little one. She cut off any comments he would have made. And there is not a lot of time in which to accomplish it all. Javen nodded, trusting this person, this Otohime, implicitly. For now, you must rest and recover from your journey. You must also have a care for your mate, little one. He remained conscious through your whole journey, seeking to protect you. It is part of what makes him worthy of you, Imperial Dragon, but it may also lead to his downfall. He always overextends himself, Javen agreed. It was one of the things that I could not train out of him. Otohime giggled at his put upon expression and parental tones as he thought of the tiger that was his mate. Nevertheless, he does it all in an effort to please you. You are a very fortunate being.

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Javen blushed at her words. Yes, he was very much a fortunate being. His Gara had done so much for him, and, more importantly, Gara always believed in him. So rest, little one. Otohime’s voice intruded on his thoughts. You must prepare a nest and find your companions. Soon, the Celestial Dragon of the skies will follow in the path that you have created. Mizuki… Will bear the first child conceived in your new world. The Elders have been waiting for you and your people, little one. They have never forgotten you. They have prepared this place for the treasures you will bring. What treasures? Otohime smiled, then stepped closer for a moment, her soft hands cupping his face, pulling him close enough that he was required to look up at her. Odd, but he hadn’t realized how tall she was until this moment. She topped him by several inches at least. But then all thought ended as she knelt down and pressed her lips against his, a soft, gentle kiss devoid of passion but filled with affection. Those same lips pressed against his forehead and each eye, closing them, and he felt himself begin to drift again. Sleep, little one. There is much to do, to discuss, and when you are rested, we will speak more. Before he could protest, the darkness enclosed him again. He felt more than saw Otohime step away, and then a deep sleep enfolded him in its gentle embrace. Treasures, he mused, then he knew nothing but the warmth of his mate behind him, the softness of the ground beneath him, and the overwhelming feeling of being loved.

*** Javen heard them before even Gara could spot them. A giggling Mizuki and a stoic Shinji were exploring their new home. “Well, if you can smell them, you great big beast of a cat, why haven’t you found them?”

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“Because,” the ever patient Shinji growled, “they were not… ready for company.” “Poo, Shinju.” Mizuki’s gentle exasperation was clear. “It’s not like we are invading their quarters! We just woke up on a whole new plane of existence! We are in uncharted territory! We are --” “As loud as ever,” Javen called out, much to a snickering Gara’s amusement.

“Javen!”

They heard Mizuki squeal, then his body tearing through the leaves and grasses

as he exploded onto the clearing where the Ryuu Major and the High Lord rested. “Javen!” he exclaimed, his green hair flowing around him. “I’ve been so worried, and you smell like a mating frenzy!” An unaccustomed blush spread across Javen’s cheeks, and he glowered at his friend. “Jealous?” he purred, watching his friend’s eyes light up at the challenge. “My, we are carrying,” Mizuki sneered, his green eyes glittering with the heat of the oncoming verbal skirmish. “I understand those humans who carry dirt side are often hormonal and bitchy.” “Hormona --”

But Mizuki cut him off. “Which would explain your constant need for sex --”

“Constant need!”

“And your current, um, attitude problems.”

“Or maybe it’s because you couldn’t entice your tora to actually mate with you.

Jealousy is said to be green, and as we are all aware --” “Jealousy?” Mizuki all but shrieked. “Green actually looks good on you, therefore we are given to believe that jealousy is your constant state.” “Bitch!” Mizuki snarled, his eyes narrowing to emerald slits. “Whore… But wait! You can’t get laid.” Javen smirked. “Asshole!” “White-coat!” Javen shot back.

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“Sliver Horn! God, I missed you!” Mizuki giggled, throwing himself down into Javen’s arms, arms that opened wide to invite his friend and brother into his embrace. “And I you!” Javen cried, ignoring the snorts from both their mates. “I was so worried.” “As was I, but Shinji assured me you were nearby, that we had been separated when we first entered the atmosphere here, but that you were nearby.” Gara shook his head, rolling his eyes at the actions of the two ryuujin. “Any trouble?” he asked his second. “Our landing was amazingly gentle.” Shinji spoke softly, as was his way. “As if you were guided down,” Gara said knowingly. “You, as well?” “And Javen seems comfortable here.” “Mizuki, as well.” Shinji nodded. Gara frowned. “This place seems to touch him in odd ways.” “Nothing bad, I hope?” Shinji raised one black eyebrow, his concern evident as he looked over his shoulder at the two naked dragons, hidden only by their hair. “No.” Gara sought out the perfect words to explain. “It’s like he feels a connection to this place. He seems more like… He seems free here.” Shinji tilted his head to the side, his tail lashing behind him as be absorbed his Alpha’s words. “Yes, there was no awkward transition on Mizuki’s part, either. He reacted as if he had been to this place before, as if it were his home.” “Home,” Gara mused. “That’s the word Javen used again and again.” “Maybe there’s more here than meets the eye, Gara.” Shinji looked cautiously around, as if he expected some hidden danger to leap out at them. “Maybe there are… powers at work…” “Oh, of that I have no doubt.” Gara nodded in agreement, his own red tufted tail lashing in the warm air. “I know Javen was led here. By whom or by what remains to be seen. And their purpose in leading us to this paradise? I have no idea, Shinji, but no one ever gives us anything for nothing.”

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“Your mate asks nothing of you,” Shinji pointed out. “He reared me, Shinji, and he made sure I knew my place was ultimately to protect him.” “And you regret this?” Shinji asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Of course not.” Gara chuckled. “My Moon Dragon is my life. But I know I was created for him, to be used by him, to use him in return. My rearing came with a cost I would gladly pay a thousand times over, my friend.” “Yet there is a cost,” Shinji mused. “There is always a cost, Shinji.” Solemn, Gara turned his head to gaze at the now cooing ryuujin, who seemed lost in their own world. “I am just praying, to whatever power that exists, that the cost won’t be too high.”

Chapter Three By the time Shinji and Gara pulled themselves away from their conversation, Mizuki and Javen had moved away from the clearing, toward the scent of hot, steamy water. “Should we tell them where we’re going?” Mizuki asked, looking over his shoulder at his mate, standing still and proud beside his High Lord. “Why?” Javen rolled his eyes at his friend. “They have eyes and noses. If they are all that concerned then they will follow.” That said, the pair wandered off toward the area where they sensed the water was the hottest. “This place is filled with hot springs, Javen.” Mizuki reached out and grasped the pale dragon’s hand. “Shinji passed no less than three dozen, though most are small and barely big enough for a weir to roost inside.” “There are larger ones here,” Javen agreed. “We found a few ourselves, but the one we are going to now seems pretty large.” “You know…” Mizuki paused in his walking, pulling Javen to a stop in the tall grasses and large leaves. “Javen, I didn’t think… I never thought that I… This isn’t a dream, is it?” he asked in a rush, bowing his head and allowing his long, green hair to fall in his face. It was uncommon for the overly confident Mizuki to carry on so. It made Javen place all his attention on his shorter friend. “I mean, because if this is a dream and I’m still floating in space trying to fight those awful bugs, then I don’t think I want to wake up.” “You’re not dreaming, Mizuki,” Javen soothed his friend. More than anyone, he understood wanting something so much that you would be willing to risk death just to catch a glimpse of it. “We are here, Mizuki. You and I are here. Shinji and Gara are here.

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We escaped. You will not wake up from this dream, my friend. We are not dirt-side back in the centers or on some tables for the white-coats to examine and dissect. We are here. We are…” The Evergreen Lands. Javen smiled as the voice whispered in his mind. That same all-knowing smile was on his lips as he pulled his fellow ryuu into his arms, pressing him as close as he could to his heart. “We are in the Evergreen Lands, Mizuki. We are safe, and we are home.” “Home,” Mizuki breathed, taking in the scent of his friend and constant companion. He felt his nervousness begin to ease. “We are home.” “And,” Javen pulled away from the embrace, but held fast to both of his friend’s hands, “we are going to bathe. Our torajin can catch up if they want,” he called out loud enough for the two tiger-breeds to hear. Two completely different but similar snorts of exasperation answered him. “Bathing is fun!” Mizuki called back, a smile again on his lips as he grinned up at his friend. “It would alleviate some of that… tora musk.” “You like my musk,” Shinji called back, his voice calm as ever. “You like it so much that we were delayed in our search for the High Lord by your need for fu --” “Bathing!” Mizuki shouted, drowning out whatever Shinji was about to broadcast to their friends. “Bathing sounds good. We are off to bathe.” The laughter that came rolling back was deep and impassioned. Huffing, Mizuki rolled his eyes at his bonded’s antics, turning his blushing face toward his friend. “What was it you called me again?” Javen asked, his eyes twinkling merrily. “Oh, yes. I believe the term was hormonal and bitchy?” “Oh, go shed your skin,” Mizuki mumbled, but without much heat. He was trying to fight his embarrassment, and his friend was not helping. “You first,” Javen laughed, shoving his green-haired friend before taking off running through the trees. Breaking out of his embarrassment, Mizuki giggled and gave chase.

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The pair of them ran through the flora, nimbly leaping over logs and plowing through brightly colored flowers. Every once in a while, Javen would send a puff of smoke in the shape of a ring at his friend, urging the wild chase to continue as they drew closer to the steaming water they both smelled. As they broke through the greenery, Javen froze, his eyes wide with wonder. “Got you!” Mizuki called out, triumph in his voice, and nearly ran over his fellow ryuu. Then he, too, paused, his mouth dropping open at the beauty displayed before him. The hot spring was lush, surrounded by huge, colorful flowering plants of white, green, red, yellow, purple and blue. They made a wild yet serene flowering wall that encircled the spring, perfuming the air with the scents of lemon, vanilla, spice and musk. A steamy haze lay over the water, softening the edges of the embankment that led to the bright blue waters. Surrounding the pool of water itself were several large, flat-topped boulders, perfect for sunning or napping. A soft path lined with the softest of pink and white sands led directly to the water’s edge, as if created especially for them. “Divine ancestors,” Mizuki breathed, breaking the silence and jerking Javen out of his stupor. “Merciful ancestors,” Javen sighed, and then turned to his friend, a wicked grin on his face. “Last one in is a white-coat!” he called, playfulness taking the place of his usual stoic and reserved nature. There was just something about this place, something that made him want to revel in his freedom, to do all the things that were once denied to him, to not hide his true nature behind a wall of rigidity and rules. Kicking aside the worries of the past for the moment, Javen plowed forward, laughing and running, experiencing an easing of his soul that he had never thought possible. Like a foolish cub, he ran. With his long, silver hair trailing behind him, he ran. With the sun shimmering on his pale, winter-colored scales, turning the purples

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into amethysts, the blues into the deepest sapphires, the white into priceless diamonds, jewel encrusted, he ran. With a cry, Mizuki followed, watching the beauty of his friend and confidant, unaware of the joyous picture they both made. With the sun beaming down on him, Mizuki was an emerald. He was shades of green richer than the lush foliage that surrounded them. With his hair waving behind him like a banner, he was a tall willowy fairy of Old Earth legend, a dancing, happy sprite who lived for joy and all the wonders that life allowed. He was a diamondencrusted emerald, whose tinkling laughter enchanted the two who carefully kept watch over their bondeds from a discreet distance. With a splash, the two entered the water almost simultaneously, loud purrs and trills of pleasure rolling from their throats. “Have you ever…?” Mizuki giggled, settling against the bottom of the spring, delighted to note that the water was hot enough to warm away the lingering coldness of space that not even the energy of his mate had dispersed. “Only in my dreams,” Javen sighed, also settling into the pool, luxuriating in the feel of the soft water caressing his skin. Then, just as suddenly, his mood switched. He lowered his head and sighed deeply, tears beginning to form at the corners of his purple eyes. “Do you imagine it gets deeper?” Mizuki asked, running his fingers through his hair to untangle it, unconcerned that he was baring his horns to his friend. He looked up from his task. “I hope it --” His words stuttered to a halt. “Javen, what troubles you?” He reached out and touched his friend’s arm cautiously. A deep sob wrenched from the taller Imperial Dragon’s throat. Immediately Mizuki wrapped his friend up in his arms, pulling his head down to his shoulder as he crooned and purred in a comforting manner. “What is it, Javen?” “I…” Javen stammered out between his trilling sobs. “I am not…”

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“Not?” Mizuki asked, growing more concerned each second. He had no idea what this pregnancy would do to his friend, and Javen’s reactions were worrisome. Mizuki was debating whether to run and find the High Lord or trill for assistance when Javen began to speak again. “Not… insane,” Javen finally gasped, lifting his head from Mizuki’s shoulders, his eyes sparkling with flowing tears and an incredulous joy. “I am not insane!” “No,” Mizuki chuckled, now understanding the reason for his friend’s distress. “You are not crazy. You were never crazy, Javen. You, out of all of us, heard and believed.” “And now we have this place,” Javen went on, rubbing at his eyes with his fisted hands. “We have this new enclave… I can’t stop crying!” he wailed, throwing his head back and trilling in both joy and disbelief. “Hormonal bitch,” Mizuki laughed, tilting his head back and joining in the trilling, letting his joyful tunes combine with Javen’s, creating a tinkling, wonderful klaxon of sound. They trilled and laughed until finally Javen quieted, a tumultuous smile on his lips. “If we keep going on, they will come.” He moved back a bit from his friend. “And this should be just for us, for now,” Mizuki decided. “Let them find their own place of meeting. We claim this place for ourselves.” “Outrageous, Mizuki,” Javen chuckled. “Already you are planning our meeting places. There are only two of us now!” “And while there are only two of us,” Mizuki went on, not even wondering why they were both implying that more would be joining them, “we should take advantage of things.” His voice lowered as he again took in the cool elegant beauty of his Imperial counterpart. He reached out, instinct driving him, and ran his fingers along Javen’s cheek, turning amused purple eyes to his green ones. “Mizuki,” Javen breathed, sitting up as he began to read the look in his friend’s eyes, and he began to grow hungry.

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But this was a different type of hunger. This was not the hunger for domination. By rights, Javen himself was a dominant ryuu, but had willingly and gladly submitted to his precious tora when the time was right. But with Mizuki looking up at him, with his hormones driving him, he began to feel the desire to penetrate, to dominate, to take control, if only for a little time. “Do you know what you imply?” Javen’s eyes glowed like hot pools of amethyst as he looked deeply into smoldering green. “Do you know what you ask of me?” “Only what I always ask from time to time, Ryuu Major.” The response was tight with growing desire. The smell of arousal began to mingle with the smell of the perfumed flowers and the hot, steamy water. “Will you give me what I require? Will you ground me in this new reality?” “Grounding,” Javen breathed, moving closer to his friend, reaching out and fisting his hand in his wet, flowing hair. It felt like raw silk and carried the scent of his need. “Just ryuu to ryuu, Mizuki?” He lifted the slighter male from the water, placing him on the edge of the embankment, laying him back in the soft sands. “Well,” Mizuki allowed his head to be tilted back, willingly exposing his vulnerable neck in an act of submission he only allowed to this one Ryuu, “Some things just have to be for us.” “Just for us…” Javen’s words trailed off as long fingers tangled in a fall of silk. Soft lips, wet tongue, hot mouth. They trailed over the wall of muscled flesh, igniting flames under the skin, drawing out gasps and hisses from parted mouths, moans from an arched throat. “Just for us.” The words were whispered as that wicked mouth trailed lower. Lapping up the sweat that began to flow over glowing pale skin and the softness of raised scales. “Sometimes we just need…” Lick. “What…” Lick. “Only…” Lick. “We…” Lap. “Can give.”

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A deep moan trilled up from that arched throat. Soft lips and a hot mouth trailed over Mizuki’s hard cock now, not pulling it in, but letting him feel the wet paradise that waited for him… just out of reach. “Please?” Mizuki whispered, his blood on fire as the soft caress of fingers toyed with the base of his erection, as a soft cheek rubbed against it, petting, worshiping, teasing. “Soon,” answered the dulcet tone that set his body quivering, sent tendrils of lust rushing down to his swollen groin. Mizuki forced his eyes open to stare at the purple orbs that seemed to laugh at him and to lust for him all at the same time. The cool fall of silken hair rained down over his back as those eyes sparkled wickedly. “Yes!” His ass tightened, his hips arching upwards. Cold fire enflamed the tight skin of his sac, making the balls within churn and roll. He moaned again, his eyes closing and his head tilting to the side in submission. He was giving his all to his passion, to this fire that only the man kneeling between his spread thighs could give. “Poor baby,” Javen purred, a wicked lilt in his voice as those long, soft fingers trailed over Mizuki’s shaft, caressing the fluid that flowed freely from the head of his cock. “So needy for what I offer.” Mizuki could only moan in response and pray that the man who was his god -for the moment -- would grant him his release. “Sometimes, it’s just better… with us.” The words were whispered against Mizuki’s inner thigh as that head lowered and the mouth moved on to the next burning patch of skin, making his legs shake in hungry desire… denied. “Please!” His throat went dry and his head began to spin, his need tearing gasps from his lips as he tried to remember how to breathe. His lungs seemed to have seized in anticipation, as did his heart and his mind. He needed to be touched, to be held, to be caressed, to be needed in return. “Please, oh, please…” “Shh.”

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The cool breath blew over his balls, tearing a grunt from his throat. His hips arched up, grinding air, desperate for contact, any contact. He pulled his head back, those silken tendrils of hair tangling around his cock and balls, forcing a cry from his parted lips. “So… hungry…” Mizuki’s ass tightened as his knees drew back, offering his whole self, exposing the winking rosebud between his parted cheeks, his balls too tight and filled with need to drop and tease with their usual game of peek-a-boo. He was about to start babbling incoherently. He knew it, and he didn’t care. He was hungry for this, wanted this connection to the only person in the world who could understand him like this, who could give him the sweet completion he craved. “Javen,” he screamed. Then those smiling lips parted, lowered over his cock, licking at the painful heat, soothing it with another softer, wetter heat that ripped his reality in two and sent his senses soaring among the stars. A smooth, wet tongue traveled over the head, caressing underneath as the mouth closed over him tightly. Sweet suction began, pulling him deep into the heaven of Javen’s throat, sending sparks shooting down to his legs, curling his toes, before shooting to his lower back. “Oh, Kami!” he whimpered, tears burning his eyes as his body shook under the hot, wet assault of that talented mouth. His whole body threw itself upwards as fingers tugged at his balls, rolling them gently as they slowly tugged them downwards. The deep ache grew into a beautiful pain that sent his senses roaring and shredded his control. His hands tangled into cool silken hair, holding Javen’s head still as he began to fuck that beautiful, perfect face. Slowly, in and out, the swollen shaft of his throbbing flesh invaded and retreated from that amazing cavern, hisses filling the air as his desire grew hotter. He was now taking control, shedding the submissive skin and allowing his dominant side to peek through.

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“Take it,” he hissed, as his eyes fluttered closed in pleasure. “Fucking take it all.” The trilled response sent vibrations shooting through his prick, sent his balls rolling and emphasized the emptiness in his ass as his muscles contracted around nothing. The memory of a rougher body pressing against his ass, of larger balls, prickly with hair, slapping at him, made him groan hungrily for more. “Javen,” he hissed again, almost a question, and was answered as those fingers left off torturing his balls to run along the base of his cock, to gather the cool spit and seminal fluids that lay there. And then those slim, clever, damned near perfect fingers moved back, running over his perineum and softly circling his clenching opening. “Ah!” he groaned, pumping faster into Javen’s hot, tight, yielding throat as those fingers began to explore. He felt more than heard Javen’s small trill of laughter as one finger pressed softly to the center of his opening, caressing him sweetly before retreating to awaken the nerves around the small, muscular opening. “Tease…” he panted. “You are teasing me…” Suddenly Javen pulled back, ignoring what had to be a painful tug on his hair as Mizuki’s wet, needy cock was exposed to the hot tropical air. “Of course.” Javen’s words were rough as he licked his lips. Lips that were swollen from Mizuki’s kisses, swollen from nursing on Mizuki’s cock. The dominance began to shift again as Javen rose above him, a tall, pale body covered in scars and the cool blue and purple scale patterns, the sun making his markings glitter like jewels. “You would not be satisfied any other way.” “Javen,” Mizuki whimpered, his body on fire, his blood rolling through his veins, his cock hard and hungry. “Complete me!” “As you wish…”

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Mizuki stared, wide green eyes connected to purple ones as Javen tossed back that wicked long hair, exposing the tips of his perfect horns as he bent his head once again and drew Mizuki deep inside. As his cock was engulfed once more, a finger slammed deep into his ass, striking his prostates dead on, tearing a scream from his throat that echoed in the hot, humid air around them. “Javen!” he screamed, hips arching upwards as that wicked tongue began to flutter along his sensitive shaft even as he was swallowed deep. He would not last long -- he knew it. Even as those thoughts crossed his mind, his prick grew harder in Javen’s caressing throat. “Gonna…” he panted. “Gonna have to -- Javen, gonna cum!” He closed his eyes, his hands again tangling in the fall of silvery hair as his body arched upwards, as his muscles tensed, as fingers thrust in and out of him as fast as they could, striking his prostates every time. “Javen!” His tone rose as his release grew closer, as his body gave in to the instinct to thrust. “Ah… ah… ah… Yes!” Then he was there, flying as his muscles fought again the tension that filled them until that tension broke. His cock exploded, quaking as it delivered shot after shot of cool seed deep down Javen’s throat. His anal walls tightened and strangled the invading fingers, sending even more glorious waves of release through him as his muscles rhythmically spasmed. His body arched completely off of the damp embankment, and his head flew back, a triumphant, shrilling scream parting the air. Javen swallowed around him, pulling free, making small, lapping licks with his perfect tongue as he eased his fingers free. Finally the sensitive head of Mizuki’s rapidly wilting shaft popped free, making him moan and shiver as his whole body fell into a deep lassitude that seemed to overwhelm him. “Better?” he heard whispered before that cool waterfall of silk hair again trailed up and over his chest. “Yes?” “Yes.” Mizuki gathered enough strength to wrap his arms around his ryuu brother, to hold him close and softly trill his thanks.

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“Yes, I know.” Javen snuggled into his friend’s arms, pulling him closer into the shelter of his larger body. “Sometimes it just has to be for us. Just us…” His words eased as he settled comfortably against the smaller Celestial Dragon, caressing his silvery green hair, feeling his body thrum in contentment. “Yes,” Mizuki sighed, sleep overtaking him even as he wiggled back onto the hard erection that pressed against his back. Javen could take him if he wished, and he would eagerly comply, but Javen had never taken that step. He was content to minister to the needs of his friend and seek his own release with the High Lord. “They were watching, you know,” Mizuki added as he felt the contained heat of his mate and his leader nearby. “They always do,” Javen chuckled. “And tonight, we will be richly rewarded for our efforts.” The two shared a conspiratorial laugh before snuggling in for a nap. Their torajin would reward them well… later. But for now, this gentle loving was something they would share, something only the submissive halves understood. Sometimes, it just had to be between brothers.

Chapter Four “You know what they are doing?” Shinju asked Gara as they eased away from the hot springs. They had both grown concerned, moving toward their ryuujin when the trilling had begun, but soon the air was not split with the sounds of mournful yet joyful wails, but with the sounds of pleasurable moans and hungry screams. “Yes,” Gara sighed, running his hands through his wild mane of red hair. “While we worry over their safety and future, they are off… grounding one another.” Both torajin looked at each other, the seriousness of their situation, the gravity of it, in their eyes. Then they exploded into laughter. “You do know this means we will never be allowed in that spring?” Gara said. “You do know this means they want us to watch?” Shinji added, a sly look flowing into his black eyes. His black hair nearly stood on end as he imagined the gorgeous picture the pair of jewel-toned ryuujin would make, intertwined and delicately giving -“We should take them up on their offer.” Shinji felt the blood rush below his waist and, without thinking, his hands moved to fist at his swelling flesh. “Yes,” Gara agreed, a sheepish, hungry look coming over his face as he eyed the other tora. “It would be rude of us not to watch, knowing they are performing for us.” With almost fiendish delight, the pair moved silently back, crawling through the tall grasses until they could share a clear view of their bondeds. Gara hissed as he watched his Moon Dragon take control and lift tiny Mizuki onto his back on the embankment. He turned heated eyes to his friend and watched as Shinji looked back, turning away from the spectacle their ryuujin were putting on.

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“Am I your High Lord?” Gara asked, tilting his head as he examined his second. “You know you are.” “Am I worthy to command you?” “You know you are.” Gara’s eyes flashed red, and he bared his teeth at his second. Shinji immediately did the same, their growls low and menacing. “Obey me,” Gara snapped, his eyes narrowing as he rose to his feet, circling his second, searching out every weakness. “I am worthy by your own words.” Shinji said nothing, but retuned the favor, circling his High Lord, looking for any openings that would allow him the upper hand. This was not done lightly, nor was it a challenge to Gara’s authority. It was more like a tempering, a testing. It was to prove to Gara and to Shinji that Gara was still strong enough to hold the top position. And that Shinji himself was a strong fighter, more than capable enough to be High Lord if the situation ever arose. No Alpha would follow a weak leader, no matter how close they were. “Your order, my Lord.” “Kneel to me, my Second.” There was a pause when Shinji grinned, the thrill of the hunt filling him, making his cock swell, as he noticed the same reaction in Gara. But before he could move further, Gara pounced, his slim, muscular body flying through the air, nearly catching Shinji off guard. It wasn’t a total takedown, but it was close. Then the fight was on. Hissing and spitting, the two male Alphas fought for dominance. It was no holds barred. Kicking and scratching, the two inflicted minor wounds on each other, nothing life threatening, but enough to prove superiority. “Give in to me!” Gara gritted out, gripping a handful of Shinji’s hair and pulling his head back, exposing his neck. The position was alien to Shinji. He snapped out with his teeth, nearly taking a chunk of Gara’s nose, but the wily Alpha moved out of the way in time. His tail lashing,

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Gara shifted his hold on Shinji, tightening his arms around his chest as he attempted to force the other tora face down. But Shinji reached up and raked his nails over Gara’s neck, drawing blood and making the High Lord spit in fury. Snarling, his face contorted in anger, Gara slammed his second’s head into the ground, stunning him, while he locked both hands behind Shinji’s back. “Submit!” Gara roared, thrusting his now full erection against his second’s ass. The small skirmish had heated his blood, and his desire to dominate altered into a desire to dominate in every way. Shinji snarled, snapping and hissing, but Gara reached down to grip his tail, holding it out to the side as he dropped his full weight onto his second. “Submit to me. I am the High Lord. You are my second. Nothing will ever change that until I am dead and gone.” His hot breath hissed in his second’s ear, sending shivers of more than anger down Shinji’s body. Yet Shinji remained silent, his eyes slitted as his own erection was forced into the soft grasses they lay upon. Growling in impatience, Gara knew how to end this battle. He reached down, jerked his second’s head up, and sank his teeth deep into the back of his neck. Shinji wailed and bucked but Gara held him firm, purring under his breath as Shinji began to calm. Finally Gara released him, lapping at the wounds. “Calm. I can hold the both of them.” Shinji bucked again, and Gara was forced to use both hands to grip on his arms. “Submit, my Second. There is no shame in acknowledging your Alpha.” Shinji hissed, growling, and slammed his head back, hoping to catch his Alpha off guard, but to no avail. “You deny me this righteous submission, my Second?” Gara growled, freeing one hand again to grip Shinji’s hair, struggling and finally pulling his neck to the side. “You are bested.”

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His response was an attempt to buck him free. Shinji was still testing him, ensuring that even if he fell in combat or for some other reason, Gara would be strong enough to take on both Mizuki and Javen. “Stubborn,” Gara snarled out before he lowered his head and sank his fangs into his second’s neck again, igniting the leadership bond they both shared. Suddenly the heat of battle transformed into a spectacular heat that had both males clawing and writhing against each other. “Alpha!” Shinji finally acknowledged, hissing as he arched his back, forcing his ass against his friend’s cock, wrapping his tail around Gara’s waist. “My Second.” Gara lapped reassuringly at the stunning bite. He purred deep within his throat, rubbing against his friend, taking what was offered, as was his right as Alpha. He inhaled Shinji’s rich scent, taking in the clean musk of tora, the faint traces of Mizuki, and reveling in the strength of the male beneath him. Their skin slid together, wet from sweat and heated in a way neither was used to. Familiar with the cool skin of their bondeds, heat on heat was a novel sensation. It led to exploration. And soon Gara was sliding his cock into the trench between his second’s ass, moaning as those hot, firm ass cheeks surrounded his leaking hardness. Shinji, for his part, moaned in enjoyment as never before stimulated nerves were brought to life. The feeling of surrender, so taboo in his makeup, was a heady thing, enhancing the feelings of arousal and, oddly enough, trust, that he held for his Alpha. And Gara felt the familiar need to protect along with a new need -- the need to share as equals. He freed his hands to reach around his second and grip his swollen cock, tugging and pulling at the unfamiliar hot flesh, but feeling his own erection harden further at the evidence of trust and desire. Not entering, but sliding his slick cock along his second’s trench, tugging on his tail, Gara slowly began to thrust against his second. “Kami, yes!” Gara growled, feeling his domination over the powerful being, but tempering his reaction with respect.

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Shinji was his second, a position they both had fought for, nearly died from, and constantly battled to maintain. There was shared strength and camaraderie with his friend. But instincts proved stronger than genetics, and he had to take his second, to mark him as his as well as show his position in their pride. Gara was Alpha. He was second to none. He took what he wanted, and all that he wanted he took. But because he respected and loved his second, he tempered the lesson with understanding. Still snarling, he reached around and gripped his second’s throbbing cock, feeling the hot head slick with his own desire. He gripped it tightly and began to pump it in time with his own thrusts against his second’s ass. Shinji snarled, then rose up to his knees, his own hand joining his Alpha’s, and they pumped him together. “Harder,” he demanded, trusting and knowing that his Alpha would deliver what he needed. The tightness and the speed of their hands increased as Gara humped harder against his ass. Black hair tangled with red as the two males began to sweat, silver droplets sliding off their muscular bodies, making them glisten in the bright sunlight. Not too far away, they could hear the moans and grunts of their bondeds, sharing themselves as they, too, shared, renewing their bond and establishing their places in the pack. Faster and faster the Alphas moved against each other, an amazing pleasure filling them as they felt their bodies start to tighten in preparation for release. Teeth gritted, his claws tearing into the grass, Shinji threw back his head and gasped as his seed tore from his body. Spurt after spurt of steaming hot cum shot from his sensitive head, painting the grass beneath him in white stripes and releasing the tension that had suddenly built up in his body. Aware that his Alpha had not yet found release, he pushed backwards, moving harder against the petal-soft pillar of flesh his Alpha yielded. “Going…” Gara panted, his sweat-drenched hair sticking to his face. “Going to go!” he shouted, his body tensing as he began to shoot his white-hot seed across his second’s back. “My Second,” he panted, dropping to lie beside his friend.

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“My Alpha,” Shinji managed, breath still heaving in his chest. “My good Kami,” Mizuki breathed, turning to his fellow ryuu as they both spied on the two torajin who were rude enough to interrupt their nap with all that sweaty hot coupling. “You think we can get them to do it again?” “Only,” Javen responded, licking his lips, eyes wide at the animalistic display their torajin put on, “if we are allowed to help.”

*** Giraldi growled at the remaining technicians in the lab as he again stared at numbers that just didn’t make sense. He had done everything he could to recreate the conditions on the space station ­ - well, as much as he could without the High Lord’s most recent DNA coding -- but even with the substitutions, he should see some variances in the numbers. Running his hands through his thinning hair, he turned to face his latest setback. Through a window of glass and steel, he quietly observed an egg in the beginning stages of hatching. Several wires and monitors were connected to the golden egg, telling as much as science could tell about the miniature being inside. “Doctor?” a lab tech asked, concern evident in her voice. “What?” he mumbled absently, staring at the egg and hopefully the mysteries it would unlock. “Something… something’s not right.” “Hmm?” He turned away from the golden egg, only the second of its kind ever attempted, and stared at the woman. “You,” he said. “I’ve seen you. I’ve seen your face before.” “Yes, sir.” She spoke hurriedly, her eyes glued to the computer monitor in front of her. “We had words… in your lab.” “Yes. Argumentative female.” He looked closer at her then, examining the nametag on her pristine green jacket. “Doxon…” “Sir?”

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“What is it, Doxon?” He sneered. “Got another reason to doubt my work here? Want to complain to someone who actually gives a shit?” “Sir…” “I’m telling you, Doxon, the work I’m doing here will save lives. Do you not realize the magnitude of the problem we’re facing? We have to find and isolate this anomaly before it starts occurring in all the specimens. We need to know if this is a fluke, a one-off thing brought about by exposure to something out there, or if this is a natural part of their evolution. I hope you can see the significance of my --” “It’s hatching!” Doxon cut him off, her deep brown eyes glittering in anger, awe, and something approaching fear. “Nonsense,” Giraldi argued. “It has not yet reached the optimal gestation phase for hatching. You need to go back to school to learn how to read --” “Look, you pompous, wind-blown ass.” Doxon’s eyes flashed fire as she ran her fingers through her short, dark hair. Her outburst caught the attention of the remaining scientists in the room, who silently applauded her outburst while mentally gathering the good luck cards for when they kicked her ass out. “Look at the fucking screen! Neither you nor I were around when they first attempted a golden egg, and there are laws on record to prevent this. It was over seventy years ago when the first one was hatched, and it was a monster until its mate was synthesized. There were reasons the old scientists destroyed the remaining DNA and refused to let anyone harvest more from the Sacred Caves.” She gestured toward the heart of the center, the place where the dreaded administrators dwelled. “If they knew what you were doing, it would cost us all our jobs!” “I took no DNA from the archives, Doxon,” Giraldi said. “Everything I have here, I have harvested from our space station. I have every right --” “You harvested DNA from the only Imperial Dragon --” “Takada himself allowed me to --” “He never gave you leave to create another, a clone, of the one that was nearly destroyed!” she screamed. “You created a ryuu with no control partner! For the first

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one, they used his active DNA and RNA to transfer into the ova they used to create his tora! We have no tora prepared for him, and he is hatching!” “Leave!” Giraldi bellowed, face flushing red with anger at the technician’s scathing words. “I will not have you or your negative energy around my project!” “Fuck you and your project!” Doxon shrieked, ripping her headpiece from around her neck and tossing it to the control. “I’m getting out of here before you kill us all. The Administrators will hear of this.” Before she could take two steps, Giraldi reacted. His hand lashed out and struck the young woman across her cheek, sending her flying into a nearby bank of computers. The remaining technicians rose to their feet, uneasy and angry at the treatment of one of their own. But they paused as the scientist began to speak. “Now you listen to me, Doxon.” Giraldi’s chest heaved as he leaned over the stunned woman who had yet to rise from the ground. “This thing is bigger than you or I, or even the whole of New Earth. If those things are capable of evolving, of adapting, of turning into what I feel they are capable of, there will be no place left on this world for any of us.” She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing as he lorded over her. “Understand?” he growled, reaching down for her. “Do you -- oomph!” Giraldi staggered back as Doxon lifted her leg and delivered one swift kick to his balls. He folded over and toppled to his knees, looking up at her in disbelief. “You stupid ass-fucking troglodyte!” she bellowed. “Don’t you ever lay a hand on me again! Don’t you dare!” She rose to her feet, leaning against the bank of computers while she gained her balance as the good doctor wheezed. “If New Earth is in trouble, it’s because of your dumb ass, creating a powerful ryuu without a control. You have ranted and raved for so long that I’m beginning to think you’re part of the rebels that have been attacking the creation centers. If you can prove the winged pairs are violent and a danger, then the Administrators would start talks of destroying them all. And what better way of stirring up that trouble than creating a ryuu without a control?”

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“I --” he wheezed out, but Doxon wasn’t done. “Shut up!” she screamed, backing toward the exit. “You have put this whole center in danger! You crated this disaster, you bastard. You created that egg. You cloned that Imperial Dragon. And now that fucking egg is hatching. I’m sounding the alarm and clearing out.” Then she was gone, nearly all of the technicians filing out behind her, leaving Giraldi alone and kneeling on the floor. “Bitch,” he groaned as he struggled to his feet. But then the alert alarms, the silent chimes and pings of an impending hatching, began to sound. Giraldi spun around to face the wall of glass and stone, and gawked at what he saw. Blindly, he reached out with one hand, his fingers scrambling to find the headpiece Doxon had tossed down in her anger. He slid it on and instantly the wall of glass before him flashed and was filled with a sea of flowing holographic numbers in an eerie, glittery green. “Oh, dear.” His eyes grew wide as he absorbed the information. “Looks like the bitch was right after all.” He turned back to the chamber behind the wall. “Mother of --” All the air exploded from his body as the large shell burst open. The piercing, roaring trill that erupted shattered the glass wall.

Chapter Five He was sleeping again. Javen could no longer feel his mate in his arms, nor smell the earthy fragrances of flowers, musk, and male. He lifted his head to find that he was once again floating in darkness. Otohime? he asked, calling for that familiar presence. Yes, little one. Her amused voice filled him with comfort and light. You are doing so well, Javen. But I have done nothing. You have led here the one who will keep order while you are away. But… but I thought this was home? Javen sounded frightened, almost like a lost child, as he looked around for the voice. What have I done, Otohime? Why must I leave? Calm yourself, little one, Otohime soothed. You have done nothing wrong. It is your destiny to lead the others here. Once they have all arrived, then you will earn your rest. Haven’t I earned it now? Javen wanted to cry. How long must he and his mate suffer? Had they not fought against the scourge of the skies for what seemed like eons? Had he not submitted himself obediently to the white-coats and allowed them to poke and prod at his body? Had he not accepted the fact that he was a tool for a higher power? Yes, he thought sadly. Even here, he was still nothing more than a tool. But you are much more, Otohime assured him. You are so much more, Javen. It is your destiny to see the end of what you have started. The end? Why must he look for an end? He had thought he had found his end. Now he wanted to rest. It was all so confusing, and it made him sound like a whiney selfish hatchling, he knew. But now all he wanted was to wake in his mate’s arms and

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have a good cry. Why was there always more to do? When would he have suffered enough? The end, Javen, Otohime sighed, suddenly appearing before him, a tall, greenhaired woman with bright, glowing, green eyes. Soon you will find your ending, little one. Please do not fret. Your destiny has been written in the stars for many a century. You have no idea how the Ancients have waited and prayed for your arrival. And now that you are here, and not only here, but you carry within you the small one --” She paused to float closer and rest her hands against his still-flat abdomen. They are more than overjoyed. So why…? Why does it seem like a punishment? Oh, little one, she sighed. You are not being punished. But because of what you are, Imperial Dragon, you have a heavy burden set upon your chest. Burdens. Javen sighed. Will I never be free of them? His anguish was clear, and he didn’t even have the energy to try to disguise it. But some are pleasurable, little one, Otohime assured. Right now, your next task is to prepare a nest, a place your child will call home. Javen looked up at her, his eyes wide as he took in the task she had put before him. How… Where does one go about making a nest? He wanted to sag to the non-existent ground as he thought of what was being asked of him now. What did he know of building a nest? He was raised in a creation center! He knew about hot springs because every dragon knew of the best way to heat their bodies. He knew his mate because his mate was created especially for him. He knew space stations and the Phoenix Strand because he was trained to fight them. But no one, absolutely no one, had ever taught him how to build a nest!

Your instincts should guide you. Otohime smiled down at him.

My instincts tell me when to eat and when to mate, and when to draw energy from Gara.

Javen knew he sounded miffed, but at this moment, he didn’t particularly care. They will lead you to a lot of decisions, little one. Like how to build a nest? Do you live in a nest?

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No. She giggled. I carry my house on my back. After all, I am a messenger and travel a lot. On your back? There was a flash, and suddenly the tall gorgeous female was a small, cute, green turtle. Oh, Javen rolled his eyes, ignoring her laughter. Just follow your instincts, Otohime urged as she began to fade away. Your instincts will never lead you astray. Then, in a flash of light, Otohime was gone, and Javen was wide awake. “What do I know of nest building?” he muttered to himself as Gara pulled him back into his arms. “Whatever you wish to build can wait until tomorrow,” Gara growled, butting his face in the long pale hair of his mate. “After I get some rest.” Snorting, Javen settled down again, smiling as he felt his mate place one hand on his abdomen. Maybe… maybe building a nest, a place to have and rear his child, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.

*** “I don’t know about this nest thing.” Mizuki laughed as he watched Javen try to find building material that didn’t just fall apart when he let go. “I think you are better suited to burning things up and screwing your mate.” “And I think that you would be better off helping me than making stupid comments.” Javen pouted as Mizuki exploded into laughter. “You are so adorable and hormonal,” Mizuki chuckled as his wild, uncontrolled amusement began to wind down. “I wish the rest of the enclave could see you now.” “And I wish the rest of the enclave were here,” Javen shot back. “Maybe then I could get some help with this nest instead of having to eat your stupid comments.” “But what fun would that be?”

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Javen looked up from his crouched position and sneered. “Fun… Right,” “And where is your mate? Shouldn’t he be helping you with this little building project?” “He is off with your mate, doing that… hunter gathering thing, I suppose.” Javen hefted a large leaf in his hands. “I think he is following his instincts.” “And what are you instincts telling you to do?” Mizuki had to ask. “Right now,” Javen growled, rising to his feet, “they are telling me to set your tail on fire. And after I spend a small amount of time laughing at the spectacle you will no doubt make running in circles and crying for your bonded, they are telling me to go back to our hot spring and soak this day away!” “Not to mention the mud.” Mizuki giggled again. “You look like a dirt-dauber.” And it was true. Javen was thoroughly coated in a thick layer of pink mud. He wasn’t too far away from the springs, and for some strange reason, he’d thought the pink earth surrounding the springs would make a wonderful sealant. But all he’d gotten for his troubles were a mud bath and more frustration than was healthy for his unborn child. With his face smeared, and his legs -- he wouldn’t even think about how the mud had gotten into and around some very personal areas -- he looked more like a creature from legend than a self-respecting ryuu. “I think I miss my robes.” He sighed, absently running his hands through his hair, then began cursing as he got another handful of the stuff in his long tresses. “Well, that should keep your horns hidden.” In response, Javen narrowed his eyes, then hurled a handful of mud at Mizuki, striking him in the middle of his laughing face. Mizuki paused, his hands coming up to smear the pink gook from his eyes, as he stared at his friend in shock. “You -- you --” “Dirt-dauber,” Javen sneered. “Now we match.” Mizuki stood there, dripping in pink mud, then a slow smile filled his face. “It’s supposed to be good for the skin -- pink mud and tora seed.”

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Javen blinked, then exploded in laughter, leaning forward as his amusement doubled him over. “Seed and mud?” He chuckled. “Then I guess we will be two of the most perfectly fleshed ryuujin in existence.” “What do you mean we?” Mizuki tossed his hair behind his shoulders and struck a seductive pose. “You are the one with the little nest assignment given to you by the great green turtle. I don’t have any manual labor assigned to me.” “You are still not going to help?” Javen demanded, his arms akimbo. “You are just going to abandon a fellow ryuu and run off to do Kami knows what?” “Oh, Kami knows.” Mizuki smirked lustfully. “Slut!” Javen rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to nest creation. “So says the one ripe with child.” Mizuki laughed. Javen rolled his eyes at his friend, a puff of agitated smoke rising from his nostrils. “If you are going to go, then go. I have to figure this out.” “Well, since I have been dismissed,” Mizuki feigned offense, “I will endeavor to find my Bonded and get him to help with the skin treatments. I already have the mud…” Javen snorted in laughter and shook his head at the pale, departing backside of his fellow ryuu. He still had to figure out this nest building, and thus far nothing was helping. How did the humans of New Earth accomplish anything after they were separated from their home world? Mud and sticks? Bricks? A decent cave? Didn’t the dragon legends of old tell of cave dwellers? Maybe he needed to look for something big and fluffy and soft.

*** Shinji? Mizuki sent out a mental call. Mind speak had worked for Javen, so maybe it would work for him. Shinji, my bonded? Where are you hiding, pet? Snickering at his own foolishness, a pink-streaked Mizuki tossed his hair over his shoulders and began to race through the tall grasses.

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This place was so… Beautiful was too mild a word. Spectacular, he decided. This place was spectacular. It contained everything he had ever dreamed about -- everything in the old legends transcribed from the walls in the sacred cave was here at their disposal. There was plentiful fresh water. The hot springs were numerous and all surrounded by large rocks just perfect for sunning. There were fruits and tubers to supplement the energy they took from their mates, and the warm, slightly humid air was almost always perfumed by the scent of flowers. He had seen many insects, like the bees that had been on the ship centuries ago when the first ships had crashed, and a few other flying and burrowing bugs, but none had attempted to do him any harm. He assumed there would be some kind of game here, for even a ryuu could not exist on fruit and energy alone, and the torajin needed meat in order to survive and thrive. Though his mate was full grown, he still worried over his health and comfort. After all, he had raised the cub and was most proud of his achievements. And speaking of his cub… Shinji? he called again, hoping to get some kind of impression or signal from his bonded. He snorted in annoyance, a plume of green smoke rising around his head as he paused by an unexplored area of forest. He and Javen had not been exploring much, with all the mating and the nest building, but the pair of them had begun to cover some territory, and his instincts were pulling him in the direction of a small glade that was filled with lush grass and brightly colored flowers. He slowed his running as he spied his tora crouched lazily in some tall grasses, sniffing at the pale flowers that grew in abundance there. Snickering to himself, Mikuzi dropped to all fours, scurrying, as his ryuu nature allowed him, up a nearby tree. Using his nails and his strong arms and legs, he silently maneuvered through the trees, his claws sinking quietly into the wood. He inched closer until he found some

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branches that hung above his mate. Grinning, he moved out along the largest branch until he was in jumping distance. Just as he prepared to pounce, his mate stood and looked up, easily picking him out of the greenery of the large tree. “You’re green, my Own,” he chuckled. “But in this bright sunlight, even your pale skin glows.” Mizuki jumped, then tossed himself from the branch, expecting correctly that his mate would catch him. Shinji rolled his eyes at his mate’s antics, knowing even if he had not caught Mizuki, the ryuu would have not been hurt by a fall of a few feet. He and the other torajin knew of the unique abilities ryuujin hid for fear of the white-coats doing more experiments. Mizuki’s love of high places, his ability to climb trees and walls, even his ability to hide in plain sight among the trees, were all instinctive. And Shinji knew their instincts were becoming more powerful of late. But he easily caught his mate, grinning at the open smile on his face, something he would have rarely seen at the space station, and then only sparingly in their quarters. “What is this?” Shinji asked, placing his mate on his feet, staring at the pink stripes that covered the ryuu’s face. “Javen is being creative,” Mizuki said. “He hurt my feelings.” “And I am sure you did nothing to create the situation.” “You know me well.” Mizuki sniffed, grinning down at his mate. “Really?” His lips twisted sarcastically. Mizuki dropped to his knees. “This ryuu knows his place, my Lord.” Looking down at his mate, Shinji exploded into laughter. “So you did cause this altercation. Javen only retaliated and got a little of his own.” “I am your mate, on my knees before you, and you accuse me of duplicitous behavior?” Rolling his eyes, Shinji leaned over his bonded. “Well, my Own, since you are down there…”

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Mizuki giggled, reaching out to grip his mate’s hips. “You require something?” he asked, before the rich, musky scent of his mate hit his nostrils. His eyes went to his lover’s uncovered groin, noting how his flaccid cock began to rise in its nest of dark hair. Mizuki could almost smell his growing arousal. In response, his mouth began to water. He leaned forward, sniffing at Shinji’s cock and balls. “Mizuki?” Shinji looked down and gasped at the dazed, slitted look in his mate’s eyes. His face was flushed, and his breathing quickened notably. “Mizuki?” “Have to have you,” he moaned before he leaned forward and pulled his mate into his mouth. Shinji gasped at the feel of the cool mouth enclosing him. His hands flew to his bonded’s hair, fisting his grip as his hips automatically began to move, fucking that beloved face. “Mizuki,” he struggled to say again, stilling the movements of his hips with an effort. He looked down as his mate’s eyes glared up at him. “Give it to me!” Mizuki screamed, pulling off of the still cock, green smoke rolling from his nose. “Mizuki,” Shinji tried again, his face twisting in concern. “What’s wrong?” “You are withholding my due!” The ryuu almost snarled as he reached for his prize -- his mate’s now fully engorged cock. “I need it!” “If that is all,” Shinji laughed, then tilted his head to the side. He caught the scent of something tantalizing, something that made him purr, that set his blood aflame. His eyes widened when he realized the source of this scent was none other than his mate. As he watched, Mizuki spread his legs, still glaring up at him, and cupped his own cock. He began stroking it, but after one or two passes dipped his hand lower. He rose up on his knees, a smile on his lips as he reached past his balls and then hissed in pleasure. From the movements of his hand it was easy to see that he was fingering his hole, teasing his mate with his actions.

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The smell of hunger increased and before he knew what he was doing, Shinji was snarling, knocking his mate back in the flowers, wrenching his thighs apart and replacing his small, pale, cool fingers with the thick heat of his own. “Silly dragon,” Shinji purred as his mate spread his legs wider, inviting a deeper touch. “You went and got yourself all wet.” Shinji gasped and arched his back as his tora reinserted his fingers deep within his cool body. He whimpered his lover’s name and pushed his hips upward, wanting more of his sizzling touch. “So pretty,” Shinji moaned, watching his mate slide gracefully into his submission. “So pretty and all for me.” Mizuki tossed his head to the side, his hair tangling among the flowers and grasses strewn about them. He hissed his pleasure, feeling another of his mate’s fingers breach his body, feeling his own cool wetness soak Shinji’s fingers and run down his crack. “Shinji,” he breathed, pulling in the hot scent of his bonded, spreading his legs wider in invitation. “Soon.” Shinji lapped at the soft skin of his mate’s neck, admiring the pretty green scales that traveled down his neck and onwards toward his shoulders. “You are so delicious.” He began to nip and lick at the cool flesh beneath him, delighting as he felt his bonded begin to draw on his heat, his body warming noticeably. “You make me feel delicious,” Mizuki giggled, reaching up to caress his bonded’s beloved face. “You make me feel perfect.” “You are perfect,” his Tora responded, burying his face in his neck, carefully biting at the skin there, marking him slightly. “You make me so,” Mizuki responded, then hissed, tossing his head back on the bed of flowers as his mate found several of his pleasure spots. “Oh, Kami, Shinji!” “Yes,” Shinji breathed, increasing the speed of his fingers. “Submit to me, my Own.”

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In answer, Mizuki offered up his neck, closing his eyes, trusting his mate to bring him the release he needed. “Yes,” Shinji hissed, lapping at his mate’s face, his closed eyes, his parted lips. He moved to cover him, first running his face over his neck and chest, his lips capturing and tugging on one hard, swollen nipple. Mizuki buried his hands in his bonded’s hair, pulling him closer, feeling the heat welling off his body. “Suck me,” Mizuki begged. “Please?” Then he let out a small trill as his lover wrapped his lips around his nipple and pulled the cool bit of flesh deep into his hot mouth. Mizuki hissed at the heat and friction, arching up to slide his body against Shinji’s, moaning at the heat of the other male. He pressed his erection close to his mate’s thigh, allowing the slippery precum to coat his skin, leaving more of his scent on his mate. But all too soon the frottage was not enough. He wanted more. Reaching down, he gripped one of Shinji’s thighs, kissing the pale flesh before raising it to his shoulder, spreading his mate open for his taking. He pulled his fingers free, ignoring the whine his bonded let out in protest, before he moved in close and placed the head of his leaking cock to his entrance. He could feel the coolness from his mate’s body and shuddered in hunger. He craved that coolness almost as much as his bonded craved his heat. “Melt you from the inside.” He slid forward, pressing against the slick entrance. “Shinji!” Mizuki wailed, arching his back as he felt the hot flesh of his lover sear his insides. So intense was the sensation that Mizuki momentarily lost control and began to spew green smoke into the air. “Oh, Kami, yes! Shinji!” Shinji eased forward, moaning his lover’s name as he felt the cool clasp of his body envelop him. This was perfection. He kept pushing until he felt his balls rest against his mate’s ass. Then he froze, giving them both time to adjust. “Now!” Mizuki cried, his fingers tightening in his bonded’s wild black hair. “I need it!”

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“Shh.” Shinji claimed his mate as he adjusted his stance, settling that pale leg down over his waist. “Move, move, move,” Mizuki chanted, feeling a deep yawning hunger from his soul. There was a new hunger growing here, and he knew he would not be satisfied until he felt his bonded’s heat shooting high inside him. “Shinji!” Noting the desperate sound to his dragon’s voice, Shinji gripped both of Mizuki’s hands, holding them to the soft ground. “Now,” he agreed, seeing the need in his mate turn almost painful. He pulled his hips back, then slammed them forward, grinding and twisting as he settled as deep as he could go, stimulating his mate internally. “Yes, yes, yes,” the dragon panted, whining and writhing beneath him. “More! Give me more! Fill me!” These words broke Shinji’s already tentative control. Rearing back, he began to pound into his mate, driving into him as far as he could go and rapidly pulling out to do it again. Sweat sheened both their bodies, and the air was filled with raw primal sounds as the two slaked their lust on each other. Mizuki wrapped both legs around his mate, tightening around his body, urging him on, screaming his name and begging for more. Soon it was all too much. Shinji gripped his mate’s waist and slid him up his thighs, this new position opening his hole for the rough pounding it was about to receive. “I-I-I’ll fill you!” Shinji snarled, tossing his head back as his hips worked like pistons. He shook his head, knocking away the sweat of his exertions as he concentrated on pounding his mate through the grass. “Yes!” His voice turned into a loud trill as his internal tension wound tighter and tighter until his body was frozen in place. “Shinji!” Mizuki cried. Then Mizuki’s mind exploded, his body spasming around the hot, hard shaft that pierced him, milking him, trying to pull his seed from his body in a never-ending orgasm.

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“Yes,” Shinji growled, hunkering down and moving even faster as he felt his own end approach. “Oh, Kami, Yes! My Own!” The tora felt his cock stiffen and his balls slap up against its base before pure fire shot from him, warming the cool channel that tugged at him, filling his mate to overflowing with his scalding hot seed. “Shinji!” Mizuki bellowed again, another release tearing through him as his bonded’s seed was eagerly accepted into his body. Then he knew nothing else as his world turned dark. Shinji panted atop his sated mate, struggling to hold his weight off Mizuki. He looked down at the sweating mass that was once his elegant and refined ryuu and had to hold in a laugh. “Drilled and filled,” he snickered, remembering a statement one of the white­ coats had used to describe a tryst with another. Pulling free, he settled beside his mate and pulled him close. Later they would bathe in a hot spring and maybe explore some more. But for now he was content in his bonded’s total submission to him, a submission he could feel was tempered with love. Love, he decided, made it all the better. With that thought, he snuggled against his ryuu, ensuring that he was warm, and drifted off in the afterglow, unaware that the coupling was brought about by more than a desire to reclaim each other to the fullest.

Chapter Six Giraldi moaned, the demons pounding his brain in his dream becoming very real pain as he forced his eyes open. Where was he? He tried to move and nearly vomited up his meager breakfast as his brain slouched to one side of his head and his stomach attempted to rise up and claim what space was left in his skull. He stopped moving and tried to mentally assess the injuries to his body. There was no pain in his arms or legs. His back felt fine, and he was lying on his chest, though not in any warm pools. His crotch felt dry, so he didn’t have the added embarrassment of voiding his bladder as the accident… There had been an accident. His tortured brain began to recall what had happened, the flight of the other scientists, the shattering glass, the horrendous monster coming right for him. But what had happened after that? Had security arrived in time to…? “Death.” Giraldi forced his eyes open once again, pushing his own discomforts aside, to examine his surroundings fearfully. “Death.” The word was hissed in his ear in a menacing, inhuman voice that seemed to speak in three octaves at once. He shifted his position, blinking rapidly, then again froze as a malformed lump of purple eyes glared into his. “You…” The thing hissed as it moved back, and Giraldi got a good close look at what he had created.

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Then he lost his battle for his bladder and his breakfast. His body jerked, creating horrible sounds as well as sending his head reeling as his body emptied itself of all fluids. But that wasn’t enough to prevent him from trying to scurry away from the growing pool of filth beneath him. He had to get away from that particular wet spot… and the hideous thing that was staring at him. It was tall and pale, its body twisted like the burnt remains of a tree. Flesh sagged from the slightly humanoid shape, covered in a fall of silver purple hair. Its nose was more of a muzzle where rows of razor-sharp teeth glistened from gums of the deepest black. Twisted, gnarled hands reached for him as one beautifully colored purple eye glared at him from beneath a fall of long, ratty wet hair. The eye color was perfect, his scientific mind automatically categorized, but it was encased in a mass of jumping, writhing pink flesh and pulsing scales. The thing seemed to be in a fair amount of pain, its naked body spasming and twitching every second, but it held its gaze steady, that eye boring deep into his own. “Death,” it hissed again. “Death is coming. Death in droves. Death is coming. Destruction is coming.” Its tone became more urgent as it slid its malformed body closer to his. “You! You, bringer of death!” it prophesied. “You! Despoiler! Because of you!” It raised one hand, a bony appendage that appeared to be a talon-tipped finger pointing in his direction. “The die is cast! The world is spurned! The protectors forsake us! We all fall in a blaze! You!” “Stay back!” Giraldi screamed, panicking as the thing moved ever closer. “Stay away from me!” “You!” it hissed. “You! You! You!” It was then that Giraldi heard the other voices and realized where he was. This thing apparently had carried him from the destroyed labs to the nearest defensible space it could find -- the crèche where the next batch of ryuujin headed toward space were housed.

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Space Opera: The Second Movement

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He looked around as the weir of winged warriors stared in rapt contemplation at the creature he’d created, muttering among themselves as the words were heard and assimilated. “Our savior comes,” the creature hissed, still glaring at the good doctor. “Our savior comes! In wild wind he comes. Bearing fruit of the future, he comes. On freedom’s winds, he comes! The light, the bearer, the new mother, he comes!” The thing rose up to its highest, its eyes glowing in unholy fury as it spoke, a strange light suffusing its whole being. It inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling, its arms spasming wildly at its sides. “He comes! And when he leaves, death will fill the void.” Its head dropped until it was once again glaring at Giraldi. “Witness what you have wrought! You, bringer of the plague of ancients, harbinger of destruction, death’s herald. You alone have brought this folly upon our heads. Death is coming, and our saviors are leaving.” The ryuujin hearing this all began to mutter madly, glaring at the doctor who, up until a few short weeks ago, they had all admired and respected. “Things are gathering, amassing,” the creature taunted madly. “Things are changing, death is coming, our saviors are leaving.” Then it froze, and a strange, white-blue glow surrounded the beast. It began to smoke. Slowly it tossed back its head, keening as the intensity of the heat grew, and the smell of burning hair and flesh filled the room. “Death is coming,” it screamed, bending over, writhing in pain as its flesh melted from its bones. But all the while, that purple eye glared at Giraldi, challenging him, frightening him into a new consciousness. “They are all dead!” the thing bellowed, one hand reaching out, that accusing finger pointing at him again. “You have doomed your kind. They are dead, and it is all your fault!” Then it began to laugh, laughing as it burned, as it was being reduced to a stinking pile of ashes and twisted bone on the ground.

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“You, you, you!” it chanted, still eyeing Giraldi as it burned. “You, you, youyouyouyouyouuuuuuuuu!” It began to howl out its pain and anguish, the keening sound turning into the familiar ryuu trill of sadness, of death, as if the thing was mourning. But it was obvious its own passing was not being mourned as the other ryuujin in the room took up the trill. No, the thing was trilling for humankind on New Earth Sphere. The thing was singing and knelling the death toll for all humanity. And the accusing eye, as well as the bright eyes of the winged warriors, all bore into the one they held responsible as they wailed out their grief. In particular, a set of blue eyes, intense sapphire eyes, paid very close attention to what was being said. And as Giraldi watched, those blue eyes seemed to fade, seemed to lose their innocence and light. Determination filled that face, determination and something dangerous and intense, as he turned in a swirl of blue hair, many others following his lead. Giraldi shivered in fear of what he saw, of what seemed to be an elaborate prophecy made by a creature who had been forged by his own hand. As the last of the creature finally collapsed in on itself and security rushed the room, one thing was clear, in the eyes of the young ones and in the realization dawning on his own fearful brain… Something was coming, death was following, and in the end, the blame would rest on his shoulders, and his shoulders alone. It had appeared, if one were to believe in such things, that despite his wellmeaning intentions to save the people of New Earth, he had apparently doomed them all. If one were to believe in such utter nonsense -- his scientific brain tried to hold onto the screaming remains of his sense of morality -- he had doomed them all. And it was extremely unfortunate that he himself, like the superstitious ryuujin, was beginning to believe.

***

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Space Opera: The Second Movement

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Javen leapt to the top of a nearby rock, his naked body gleaming with sweat, and trilled out his victory. A nest! He had done it! He had created a nest for his mate and his… Egg? Little lizard? Cat? Tiger? What the hell was he having, anyway? His trill abruptly cut off into a confused whimper. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Just what exactly was he going to give birth to? And how was it going to get out? A low chuckle brought him out of his ever-growing storm of swirling thoughts and back to the present. “Celebrating, my Moon Dragon?” Gara asked, feeling his body swell at the mere sight of his naked mate. “Yes?” “That doesn’t sound too positive,” Gara mused, stepping up to grip his bonded by the waist, to gently lift him to the ground. “It sounded very confident, celebratory, for a moment. What gave you cause to trill your pleasure to the world?” Gara stepped back and took a good look at his mate, and then held in another laugh. Javen was covered from head to tiny taloned toe in rapidly drying pink mud. It crusted and flaked off his body as Javen turned to look at him, running a hand through his mud-crusted hair. “I built a nest.” He spoke softy, almost absently, waving in the direction of a huge pile of mud and sticks. “Oh.” Gara pursed his lips and nodded, trying his best not to give in to the laughter that lurked in his eyes. “How ingenious of you.” “It was hard…” Javen trailed off, not really paying any attention to his bonded at all. Gara tilted his head to the side and waited. Javen would puzzle out the questions in his mind and then would share his discoveries when he was ready.

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Space Opera: The Second Movement

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“Hard,” Gara encouraged gently, taking his mate’s hand and putting it on his ever-growing hardness. “Like this?” “No.” Javen almost ungallantly ran his hand over his lover’s prick, not really paying any attention to what he was doing. “I think that was part of the problem…” “Problem?” Gara yelped as Javen jumped at his loud tone, instinctively clenching his hand around the now softening prick he’d just realized he was holding. “Oh, not that.” Javen sighed, dropping his head lower and tilting it to the side, exposing his neck in a submissive, apologetic gesture. “Then what is the problem, my One?” Gara carefully peeled Javen’s hand away, then took a seat on the rock. He spread his legs and pulled his bonded to stand comfortably between them, pushing back mounds of hair to look up into his eyes. “What is troubling you so?” “Gara, what… what am I having?” Javen chewed on his bottom lip, his eyes earnest as he stared at his mate. “What…? I’m afraid I don’t understand.” “What am I having? What shall I give birth to? Will I lay an egg or will I give live birth? And how will the child be born? How long will gestation take? Will it hurt? Will you --” “Slow down!” Gara breathed, eyes wide as he realized the problems plaguing his bonded mate. It was the unknown, and Javen hated not knowing what was happening in his circle of the world. Gara knew that he survived because Javen, his One, had managed him this far. He would never discount the guidance and advice his Moon Dragon had given him. But now, his One was beginning to be plagued by things they had no experience dealing with. “One thing at a time, yes?” he admonished, reaching up to nip at his lover’s lips. “One thing and then we go on to the next piece of the puzzle.”

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“Yes,” Javen agreed. “That is the time-honored way to prevent oneself from being overburdened.” “First, the nest --” “Which I built alone,” Javen snapped, recalling his struggles in the mud and straw and how everyone seemed to have abandoned him in the undertaking. “Yes, about that… Um, I have a surprise for you.” Javen arched one eyebrow and glared at his tora. “I’m listening.” “You talk in your sleep, love.” Gara laughed. “And you say the most interesting things, too.” “Really?” “Yes, so I understand the need entirely. So, for the last few days, Shinji and I have been working on something.” “Indeed?” Javen raised one white eyebrow, his purple eyes intent on his bonded. “Um, yeah.” Gara snickered. “It was to be a surprise, but I think you have more than earned it.” Gara pushed his bonded back a step and rose to his feet. Taking his hand, his tail wrapping around his waist, he urged his Moon Dragon onward. Javen curiously followed his mate, his eyes taking in the area they were moving toward, recognizing it as being near the first place they’d mated when landing here in the Evergreen Lands. “I overheard your conversation with the turtle, love,” Gara explained. “And because I didn’t want you to worry, I devised a plan to help you with our nest.” Javen remained quiet, but he quickened his steps a bit to keep up with his excited mate. “You… you knew?” “Of course.” Gara paused to turn and roll his eyes at his mate. “I am aware of the needs of all my people.” His imperious High Lord Chancellor persona was peeking out. “So why would I ignore the needs of my Bonded?” There was just a little reproach there, and Javen bowed his head, acknowledging that he had hurt his mate by assuming he had not been attentive to all his needs.

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Gara accepted the gesture by tightening his tail around his mate’s waist and urging him onward, a smile tugging at his lips. “While exploring, Shinji and I came across a most wonderful clearing, my One. It is near the area where we landed, close by a wonderful hot spring and a small walk to what we are referring to as your private place. Again, you will have your own enclave to rule over, and when you wish to be alone, it will be your place of refuge.” Javen felt a grin tugging at his lips. How could he have ever thought his mate would abandon him at this juncture? He had raised his cub too well for that. “There are beautiful flowers and a cold stream, and it’s hidden from plain sight by a stand of very old-looking trees. But it was almost like the fates decreed this place to be found for our nest. You’ll love it.” As he spoke, he led Javen past the landing spot, past the colorful flowers and trees and deeper into the forest. And, as Gara had said, Javen would have walked right past the copse of trees his bonded paused by. Carefully, Gara led Javen through a small maze of trees and bushes, then stood back as his bonded stopped, his eyes wide in wonder. Colorful trees created a living canopy above a flat plane of grass and flowers. He could hear the gurgling of water nearby, smell both the sulfur scent of the hot springs and the sharp tang of fresh water nearby. It was cool in this place, the temperature just a little lower, with less humidity than outside the copse of trees. And nestled beneath it all was a small thatch hut of branches and dried grasses. It was almost as if the foliage had created a natural glade to hide and protect their home. “How…?” “It was easy.” Gara moved close to wrap his arms around his mate. “The grasses were just there waiting to be harvested and bundled. The branches seemed to just litter the ground here, as well as the dying vines that seemed to cover everything. It was a small matter to gather and select what we needed right here.” Taking his mate’s hand, he led him toward their new home, an eager smile on his lips.

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Space Opera: The Second Movement

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“I didn’t know if it rained or not here, but the protection was necessary in case it does. This place… is small,” Gara noted, leading Javen onto the straw-covered floor. “But for Mizuki, Shinji, you and I, it is enough for now.” “This is beautiful,” Javen breathed, amazed and awed that his mate would do this for him, for them. “It is rough work.” Gara blushed a little as he watched the admiration in his mate’s eyes. “But I followed the old legends we were given about how the people of New Earth Sphere spent their first few years, and decided until we can think of something better, get a better knowledge of this place, that this would work for protection.” “Protection?” Javen asked, ducking and walking into their new home. It had a large center pole and several large branches as a support structure inside. It was dim, but smelled wonderfully of new earth and growing things. “You mention that, but in the days that we have been here, I have discovered little to fear.” “One must always be diligent,” Gara chided his mate, walking over to brush his hand against a soft, pale cheek. “Just because one doesn’t see the danger, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” “This is paradise,” Javen argued, not wanting to think there was any danger in this fantasy place. “And this is also an unknown place, Javen. I know you are able to protect yourself and Mizuki, even Shinji and I if it comes to it, but I don’t want it to come to that. What happens when you grow large with child?” Gara let his hand drop to his mate’s still-flat stomach. “Will I?” Javen asked, looking deep into his bonded’s eyes. “Will I grow large with child?” “Um… hm,” Gara mused, taking his mate into his arms. “I haven’t a clue, my One. Maybe Otohime will visit you in your dreams. But I do know that the dragons of old, the root of the torajin existence, our ancestors, gave birth to their young alive.”

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“And ryuujin laid eggs.” Javen sighed, just as confused. “I don’t know what will happen. It frightens me.” Worried, Gara pulled his love into his arms, nuzzling at his neck and purring softly to comfort him. “I don’t know what will happen,” he finally responded as he felt his Moon Dragon’s anxiety ease a little. “But remember this, my One. Before we came here, we both thought this place was the fodder of dreams and fantasies about our wanting to be free. But a way was found for us to escape, to be safe, to have our child in freedom. I am sure that these answers will come to us.” “Yes.” Javen leaned on the strength of his mate, feeling some of his energies pour from him into his own body. “Maybe the messenger of the Ancients will pay me another visit.” “Yes.” Gara pulled away to step back and let Javen again take in the whole room. “So in the meantime, what do you think of your new humble abode?” It was larger inside than Javen had expected, but then it would have to be in order to house the four of them. The floor was covered in the fragrant dried grasses, something that pleased his senses. There were no windows, but it was apparent that very little time would be spent in this hut if the weather remained as it had for the past days. There was a shallow pit dug near the entrance, above which Javen noted that the grass was the thinnest on the roof. For the smoke to exit, he supposed. He spun around, taking in the large, circular area, a smile on his lips. “I love this.” His face shone with brilliant light. “I love this place, Gara. It is ours -- it is our new home.” “Home.” Gara grinned. “And when we determine that this area is safe, we will build for Shinji and Mizuki.” “And for the others,” Javen added. “The others will come, and then we will all be safe.” “You don’t think on a small scale.” Gara loved the fact that his bonded was taking so much delight in the odd changes and turns their lives had taken.

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“Of course, I can’t be selfish and think only of ourselves, Gara. Our people are still out there, and they need to know what it is like to be free.” “Freedom,” Gara agreed, walking over and pulling his mate to him again, “is a heady, delightful thing.” “Yes, it is,” Javen purred, sounding more like a tiger than a dragon. “And all of our people will have that choice.” “Choice,” Gara agreed, moving in closer, then tangling his hands in his mate’s grimy hair, pulling his head down to lick at his lips. “Choices,” Javen repeated, before his mate’s soft, full lips pressed against his. Then the only other choice he made that day was whether to be taken on all fours like an animal in heat, or to have his mate take him lying on his back, with the scent of new earth filling his nostrils. Either choice, as far as they both were concerned, was correct.

Chapter Seven Takeda looked over the newest group of Winged Pairs, absently listening to the reports he was receiving from the escorting scientist, Doxon. The small black woman took great delight in explaining the plight of her colleague, Dr. Giraldi, and his failed mutated experiment. “It was hideous,” the scientist continued, her voice trembling in horror at what she was describing. “We didn’t have enough materials to synthesize this particular ryuu, Takeda, and I don’t even want to know what he filled the gaps in the double helix with.” That caught Takeda’s full attention. “Double helix?” “Yeah.” She shook her head at the stupidity of playing God with genetics. “He was trying to create an Imperial Dragon from some sample he had managed to take here. But it was missing some components, or was corrupt, because there wasn’t even enough matter to run a full battery of tests. He kept going on about anomalies and how they were all a danger to the Sphere. I tell you, that man was obsessed, violently obsessed.” “Violent, you say?” Takeda probed deeper. “Yes.” She absently rubbed her arm where the doctor had bruised her not so long ago. “He attacked me and then ran all of us from the lab. That’s when that thing he engineered escaped.” “What did it do?” “It was the most hideous thing I have ever seen, and I am so glad that it burnt itself up. It was completely unstable.” “Unstable?”

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“Mentally and energy-wise. It rambled on about death and destruction before it imploded. It was a good thing it went that way because I tell you, any team sent in to euthanize it would have been hard-pressed to go near it.” “Amazing,” Takeda breathed. “Yeah.” Doxon shuddered. “Amazing is one way to describe it. But it broke out of containment, and its rate of growth was phenomenal. By the time it attacked Giraldi, it was the size of a full-grown ryuu. It took Giraldi and carried him off to the crèche.” “Did it harm any of the new batch?” Takeda asked, again turning to look over his newest troops. He was hoping he would find another extraordinary pair like the late, lamented High Lord Chancellor and his second. To lose both in battle meant that the Phoenix Strain were growing more powerful or that he had had an atrocious run of bad luck. Takeda did not believe in luck. “The new batch were shaken, of course, and had to be encouraged to spend more time with their torajin to reassure themselves, but other than that, there is no issue with them. This is an extremely intelligent batch,” Doxon continued, “and that works in our favor, because they just may be the last group created.” “What?” Takeda had never heard anything about them ending the Defense Project. “Well, after what Giraldi pulled, the High Council is looking into ending the program. They say the threat is not as bad as it once was and that after this group, they should let the Winged Pairs die a graceful, natural death.” “And what, pray tell, have they decided will protect our skies?” he asked, his anger growing. It was one thing for him to oversee the destruction of his family’s life’s work, but it was another thing altogether to allow bureaucrats to make that decision. “They feel that the equipment we have, our technology, is enough to keep the Strand at bay. There hasn’t been a Phoenix attack on the Sphere in generations.” “Because of what we do here.” Takeda shook his head. “I don’t understand this.”

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“The council thinks people are getting too power hungry. If someone like Giraldi was able to successfully generate a type of ryuu he could control, he could easily attack and take over our main cities. He could demand anything he wanted with an army of three. They were researching how the Winged Pair programs developed, and no one forges the rampaging monsters that the ryuujin are without the calming and grounding influence of their torajin.” “But it hasn’t happened… the safety measures…” “Giraldi side-stepped them all. And it’s created a panic on the Sphere. This truly may be the last group from the creation centers.” “That is too bad,” Takeda bemoaned. “A little space sickness and the man costs us our final hope.” “Final hope?” “The attacks.” Takeda nodded his head toward the large spaceport, gesturing toward the night. “They are growing in number, their attacks are more fierce. I don’t like it. They are planning something,” “But our technology will deal with them.” Doxon nodded, totally confident in her science. “We will always prevail.” “Yes,” Takada agreed reluctantly. “And Giraldi?” “When I left, he was ranting and raving about the world’s destruction and how all demons will be exterminated. It is sad to see that once-brilliant mind reduced to that.” “It happens.” Takeda turned his full attention to the newest winged warriors. They were gathering in groups, establishing a pecking order, behaving normally for newly arrived winged pairs. “Thank you, Dr. Doxon.” Takeda nodded at the scientist. “I thank you for the information and the safe transport of my fighters.” “My pleasure.” Doxon looked out at space, smiling. “I always wanted to come out here and see the stars up close. It’s beautiful.” “Deadly beauty,” Takeda agreed, a tingling sensation, a frisson of fear, running up his spine.

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“That is what guns are for, Doctor.” Doxon turned to take her leave. “Have faith. Humankind will always prevail. It is in our nature to win.” She walked away, her eyes wide as she tried to take in all of space that she could before being shuttled back to the Sphere. “Yes,” Takeda drawled. “Faith in humanity.” The words seemed to leave a sour taste in his mouth.

*** “This is the place?” The whispered words filled the enclave where the newest ryuujin had flocked, wanting spaceport gossip and information in exchange for the same from New Earth. “This is the place,” the eldest of the ryuujin reassured. “The Celestial and the Imperial gathered here in this very place. And they passed on the message.” “The message?” The jewel-toned dragons, glowing in all the colors of precious stones and rare things, moved around their elders, learning, sharing, making ready. “The message was that they would return.” “Same as the message the sacrifice made,” one particular sapphire-toned ryuu offered. “You were there?” “We were there,” the blue one confirmed. His eyes showed rich, deep silver with flecks of the sapphire of his hair flowing throughout. He was young, his horns no more than buds, but his voice was powerful in its belief, and his eyes steadily examined his elders. “We were there when the good doctor and his creation came. We were there and heard the message it imparted before it sacrificed itself.” “And the message?” the elder ryuu needed to know. “Death and destruction.” The others, the ones used to spaceport living, the experienced fighters, the ones who knew the High Lord and his Bonded personally, began to murmur among themselves.

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“Death and destruction?” a pink-haired elder asked, leaning forward, his eyes intent. “For them.” The blue one smiled. “He prophesied our freedom, but death to those who would oppose our savior’s words.” “And the death?” “Death from the skies.” The blue one smirked. “And I believe that you can’t get closer to Earth Sphere’s skies than this.” “True,” the pink one sighed. “All too true.” “And it stated that our saviors would return.” “As we were promised.” “Then we must spread the word,” the one in blue decided, looking toward the elders for confirmation. “All must know. Our torajin need to know. Those sympathetic to our cause must know.” “Agreed.” The pink one nodded. “But let us proceed with caution.” “The white-coats?” “Yes.” The pink one spoke softly, the importance of his words made all the more apparent by his serious tones. “They resist change.” “And we are changing?” “Into something so much better than we were before.” “I am Yuki.” The blue one introduced himself, bowing to show honor to his elder. “I am Sonzo,” the one in pink added, returning the nod. “There is much to do.” “For their destruction?” “For our exodus,” Sonzo corrected. “Let the white-coats do as they will. Soon it will not be our concern.” “How soon?” Yuki asked, running a frustrated hand through his hair, his eyes flashing blue fire. “When it happens.” Sonzo smiled. “Patience, young dragon. Your time will come.”

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“Our time.” “The older protect the younger,” Sonzo said. “If it comes to it, the rest of us, Javen’s original enclave, will see to it that you and your bonded escape this place and find the freedom Javen and High Lord Chancellor Gara have discovered.” “And you know that they have found this paradise?” “No,” Sonzo admitted. “But we have faith.” “And if there is no paradise, no escape, no freedom?” “Then we find our ease in death.” Sonzo sat up, emphasizing his great height and authority. “We are ryuujin. We are protectors and fighters, destroyers of those who would destroy us. We will find our ease, one way or another.” Yuki tilted his head to the side, formally accepting Sonzo’s leadership. “And my enclave will endeavor to see that word is spread, and that all are united in this undertaking.” “Unity.” Sonzo doffed his robe and eased into the steaming water. “Unity is our great strength, but can also be our greatest weakness.” Nodding, Yuki tossed his own blue silk robes aside and gestured for the fifty some ryuujin to do the same, to mingle with the war veteran, to share experiences, and to learn. “Well, then.” Yuki grinned, his eyes sparkling as he looked over his ryuujin, watching curiously as a few looked away, but the greater number nodded in agreement. “It is our job to see to it that that weakness is never discovered or exploited.” “Agreed.” Sonzo nodded. “And we organize.” After a few moments of gentle conversation and shared companionship, Yuki turned to Sonzo again, a question on his lips. “Sonzo?” “Yes?” The elder pink dragon turned to his blue compatriot, his bright pink and silver eyes glittering in curiosity. “Sonzo, what is this great change that has the white-coats so baffled and caused the High Lord Chancellor and his bonded mate to flee to safety?”

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“Well…” Sonzo grinned. “Some consider it a gift, others a curse, but all are prepared to hide any of us exhibiting signs of the change.” “The change being…?” “The ability to propagate.” Yuki’s eyes went wide before his hands dropped to his flat stomach, shock apparent in his every move. “To bear…” “Freedom.” Sonzo patted the newcomer on the arm. “To bear freedom. Freedom from the white-coats, freedom from the centers and labs, freedom to live as we once lived, to be in control of our own lives. Is it not glorious?” “Its… it’s…” Yuki didn’t have the words. Instead, he dropped his head, his eyes filling with tears as he contemplated life on his own terms, obeying his tora, bearing him young, having his name and line never die… “There is immortality in what we are becoming,” he finally breathed, looking up into Sonzo’s smiling pink eyes. “And we will live as we lived before.” “And the white-coats?” “Let them go to the fates! Their lives are not ours. The tangled road we travel together will soon be separated. What they do then is up to them.” “No pity, no remorse.” Yuki nodded. “I understand.” “Ensure that the others do, as well,” Sonzo added. “And they have to keep this a secret. If the white-coats discover what is happening, then we all will be sent back dirtside, and our legacy will end right here.” “We must protect the future.” Yuki sank into silence. He had a lot to assimilate, along with the words of the prophet who had died a fiery death after delivering his message from the fates. There would be destruction and death before it was all over, but Yuki found himself eager and longing for this change. They would die, or the white-coats would die. Regardless of the outcome, one thing was clear. Either way, the ryuujin and the torajin would finally be free.

Chapter Eight They are amassing. The words pulled Javen from his sleep and drew his attention once more to the woman in green. Otohime? Yes, young one. I am so proud of you. Javen again floated in a sea of black, the eerily glowing Otohime before him, approval in her gaze. But I have done nothing, he argued. Gara created our nest. Little one, she crooned, shaking her head, it takes more than wood and mud and vines to make a proper nest. Yes. Javen nodded. It takes wood and metal and solar energy, bedding, food dispensers, chocolate… No! Otohime laughed at his disgruntled expression as he began to tick off the things he felt they needed on his fingers. No, young one. A nest takes parents who will love you, family you can count on, rules and discipline delivered in a loving manner. A nest is any place where you feel safe and wanted. A nest is not a thing you can build out of earth, wood or metals. A nest is a place where you are free to love and be loved. Javen’s eyes widened as he absorbed her words, the absolute truth in them. I had a nest on the station, Javen began. And I never felt safe. I had a nest in the Creation Centers, a solo place in the crèche for years, and I never felt safe. I never felt safe and whole until… until Gara. And you will be a nest of peace and love for your young one, Little One. With your heart, your beautiful glowing soul, how could you be anything but? Javen smiled at that, at the thought of holding his very own child. The feeling was almost as wonderful as when he beheld his Gara for the first time. But this warmth,

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this protective, living emotion was… not more exactly, but different from what he’d felt about his cubbish Gara. The feeling made him want to hold this being not yet born close to his heart, to enclose it within his body so that the world could do it no wrong. His child, his and Gara’s, conceived in love without the help of machines and amniotic baths. There were no computers or tests or injections to ensure the correct genetic combination to hold him slave to the grounding that Javen needed from Gara. This child would be free to choose, free to be born, not fated to be in thrall to one… Born. Oh, yeah. Otohime? he asked, his voice weary. Yes, little one? How exactly will my child be… brought into this world? He looked so fearful and eager at the same time that Otohime could do nothing but laugh. Why, she replied, it will be born in the manner of the ancients, the manner that each and every ryuu should have been able to do, despite the genetic manipulations of the humans. Um?

Like the ancients before you, you will indeed lay an egg.

And just where is this egg coming from? Javen asked, his eyes narrowed as he stared

at the messenger of the ancients. Why, the same way it went in. What? Javen’s eyes grew wide as port windows as he stared at Otohime. Nature’s cruel joke. They come out the same way they went in. But… but… Exactly. Otohime laughed. But that is not exactly a large space! Javen nearly shrieked. Large enough, Otohime said. And you were the one screaming to be filled and fucked. You got your wish.

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But… but a ryuu-sized egg! Javen protested. Otohime, I don’t even think with all the stretching in the world, I will be big enough to pass something the size of a cub! Stop whining. My people lay eggs all the time. You are a woman! You are a dragon! But… but… Yes, from your butt. She laughed again. And I have it on good authority that you will stretch appropriately. Javen whimpered. The pictures in his head… He wanted to cry. Cheer up, little one. It will be over soon, and then your bonded gets to share in your joy. He’s gonna lay the egg for me? Again Otohime giggled. No, little one. He will bear a measure of your pain, making it easier for you to carry out this task. It is one of the reasons your connection is so strong now. He has his responsibilities. Well, Javen mused. That is somewhat… comforting. It will have to suffice, because you have another task ahead of you. Another? You must go back. Javen nodded sadly. This he recalled from their last conversation. I understand. Things are progressing faster than anticipated, Otohime informed him, all humor sliding from her face. Far faster than we anticipated. Things have now been set in motion, things we have no control over. Unpredictable variables. Javen sighed. Allowances must always be made. And they have. Otohime replied. You may not like some of the things that we are going to require of you, Javen, but they must be done. What… what things? Javen was almost afraid to ask, fearing what sacrifices he would be forced to make. And he knew it would be a sacrifice of some sort. No one follows someone who was not willing to die for their beliefs. He only hoped that, if he had to forfeit this brand new life, it would be for the greater good.

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Never you mind now. Otohime smiled, but it appeared strangely sad. You will know when the time is right. Have you any more questions? Yes, he sighed, knowing that it would do no good to argue with the turtle. Yes, I have more questions. Then ask, little one. What… what exactly am I laying? A tora. Otohime blushed as if she couldn’t believe those words had passed her lips. You can tell by the stripes and the binding marks he always chews on your neck. My child. Javen rolled his eyes, blushing slightly himself, trying his best not to be amused by the turtle’s crude humor. Ah, she giggled, your child will be a being of great beauty, little one. She smiled. He will be a dawning of a new generation, a new people, but he will be the child of both his parents. A… a boy? You have a fifty percent chance of it being male, but I was using he in the generic sense. Right. Javen felt himself tire, his eyelids growing heavy, which was odd because he was already asleep. You will need more rest, little one. Otohime leaned forward to press a delicate kiss to each eyelid, eyelids that now refused to stay open. Rest now, small one. Things will appear a whole lot better when you wake.

*** “I’m fat!”

Javen fought not to laugh as he watched his friend storm over to the enclave and

stand there, arms akimbo, glaring. “Fat, you say?” “Fat!” Mizuki snarled. “As opposed to me?” Javen snapped, his good humor evaporating quickly. “What about you?” Mizuki growled. “Does everything have to be about you?”

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“Well,” Javen turned around on his sun-warmed rock, “since it’s my peace you are destroying, I guess some things are about me.” They glared at each other, purple eyes blazing into green, smoke ringing around both their heads. “Not everything in this world revolves around you!” Mizuki dug his fingers through his hair, slinging the long mass behind his head, his horns glinting dangerously in the bright sunlight. “You are right,” Javen countered. “When it comes to whining and bitching like a human, it’s all about you!” “Human?” Mizuki shrieked, eyes widening in shock. “I’m no human! How dare you?” “I dare,” Javen snapped back, struggling to his feet, his hands over the massive bubble in his stomach. “Because you come over here, where I finally find some peace, and call that little bump in your belly huge! What do you think I am? The size of the new Earth Sphere? Or is it just that I look like I swallowed it?” As he spoke, tears welled up in his purple eyes, his bottom lip quivering as he stared down at Mizuki. “You think I’m ugly!” “I never said that,” Mizuki countered, biting his own bottom lip, stilling its wobbling as his own eyes filled with tears. “I think you are beautiful.” “But I’m so big,” Javen wailed, loosing his battle with his tears. “I can’t even get into the spring without help, and it took me almost an hour to walk here. Well, I assume it was about an hour because I can’t tell time!” “Where is Gara?” Mizuki demanded, storming over to pull his friend into his arms. “Why wasn’t he helping you?” “He and Shinji are… are… fishing!” Javen wailed. “They said we needed more protein, and since they couldn’t find any wild game this side of this place, they are going to fish for some. Fish is less fattening. I swear they mean.”

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“Those bastards!” Mizuki screamed. “And after all we did for them. We raised them, taught them everything they know about survival, gave them a home within our hearts, and this is the thanks we get?” “We are alone,” Javen wailed anew, burying his face in Mizuki’s hair. “We are alone in our misery. And my ankles are swollen.” As he spoke, he lifted one slim leg, and indeed the ankle and the three talontipped toes were fluid-filled. “I came to get into the water, thinking it would help, when I discovered I couldn’t even sit down in it without help.” “Oh, baby,” Mizuki moaned, commiserating with his friend. “Let me help you into the water.” “I don’t want to.” Javen sniffled, his wailing easing. “My back hurts too badly now.” Instantly, Mizuki began to rub at his friend’s back, easing the tight muscles there. “What have you been doing, Javen?” “Um, I was… building a nest.” Mizuki took a step back, holding his friend at arm’s length. Yes, the ryuu was covered in a thin layer of sweat, but his hands were coated with mud and grass stains. “I thought we had the nest thing covered?” Inside their shared nest, there were two huge sleeping mats covered in petals from huge flowers they’d found. The soft, purple petals were almost as tall as Javen and soft as their old silken robes. Their fragrance lasted for weeks, and they had the added bonus of keeping the nighttime insects away from the nest. Gara and Shinji were experimenting with making usable furniture and tools for their comfort. Among these were the fishing rods they had made using branches and a very thin, filament-like vine that grew near a larger body of water. They were trying to find a good bait, but their attempts with the wooden poles seemed to be more effective than their attempts at tickling a fish out of the water, like the old legends told. Together, all four had been making a good start on civilization. Mizuki and Javen had created a fireplace from gathered river stones and had even developed a kiln to

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create cups and plates from the thick, rich, pink mud that lay around the hot springs. They’d decided it was enough like clay to attempt a pot, and to their amazement, the mud dried harder and sturdier than bricks. Plans were immediately made to create a gross of the things and to attempt a brick shelter after the cubs were born. After that final dream with the messenger Otohime, Javen had awakened and had revealed to the others what he had learned. Mizuki had thought it quite amusing, until he began to read more of Shinji’s thoughts. That was when the others knew that Mizuki himself was now pregnant. Then suddenly anal birth was no longer a laughing matter for the green-haired ryuu. But despite trial and error, and the successes and failures of them creating a usable place for all of them to live, they all remained steadfast and loyal to one another, all dedicated to making life easier by the time the cubs came. “I know we have a nest,” Javen explained, stepping back and rubbing his hands over his face like a child. “But I just… I guess I wanted another one.” He pointed to a sunny area in the midst of a copse of trees. There, almost camouflaged by the natural grasses it had been created from, stood a large, round nest. Green and blue grasses were woven and intertwined to build the walls, and from the sweet scent, the same large petals they used for bedding lined the small bower. “It’s… it looks comfortable.” Mizuki spoke after staring at the thing for a few moments. “But why did you need it? We usually take naps on the flat rocks.” “I don’t know. I just did.” “And now you need to get cleaned up and to rest.” “I was resting,” Javen snipped, just a little. “And then you came and started on about being fat --” “Well,” Mizuki snickered, an impish smile on his lips. “At least I am not as fat as you!” “Funny,” Javen snarled, blowing a puff of smoke into his friend’s face. Coughing, Mizuki waved a hand before his face, glaring at his fellow ryuu. “That was not funny! Smoke cannot be good for my egg.”

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His indignant look coupled with his serious demeanor had both dragons exploding in laughter… until Javen grabbed his back and hissed in pain. “Javen!” Mizuki was instantly at his side, reaching out to steady his friend. “Hurts,” Javen hissed, bending over, arms wrapped protectively around his stomach. “That’s not your back!” Mizuki all but shrieked, his eyes going wide in fright. “Where are those torajin? They should be here!” “Here?” Javen grunted as the pains tearing through his stomach eased. “Here?” he asked again, hissing the word through clenched teeth as the pain gradually receded. “Here!” Mizuki screamed. “Isn’t it obvious? You are having that… laying that egg!”

*** “I hope there is actually some fish in this water,” Shinji complained, glaring at his friend. “There was fish in that other lake,” Gara offered. “And if you weren’t so squeamish, we could have had a healthy set for an evening meal.” “Yeah,” Shinji agreed. “But they were so…” “Cute,” Gara snickered. “You can say it. You thought they were cute.” “Well, they were such wonderful colors. I could not rightly see myself consuming them.” Shaking his head, Gara sank his pole back into the calm waters of the largest river they’d found near their nest. “What?” Shinji ran his hands through his black hair, his eyes narrowing as they looked at his High Lord. “Nothing.” “There’s something or you wouldn’t have that smug look upon your face.” “Well, it is a difference in training, that’s all.” “I am trained to think that fish are cute?” Shinji asked, a growl in his voice.

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“No, but your bonded has a better appreciation of the natural wonder in the world.” “And yours?” “Has an appreciation for it… so long as he can find a weakness in it to exploit.” Shinji looked at Gara, then they both exploded into laughter. “Exploit it?” Shinji laughed. “You mean discover it and drive a sword through it!” “Yes.” Gara smiled. “I take my temperament from my bonded.” “Meaning that you will probably slaughter any cute fish we come across.” “Raw fish is a delicacy.” Gara licked his lips and waggled his eyebrows at his mate. “Why should one take the time to cook such a bountiful harvest when they are just fine raw?” “Barbarian.” “And I’ll save the scales for you,” Gara laughed, “to make pretty jewelry with!” With a short growl of warning, Shinji pounced, landing on his friend and sending him barreling into the water. The splash they made was huge, reminiscent of the old legends of sea monsters that roamed the seas of old earth. Two soaking torajin emerged, their hair slicked down over their faces, giving them the look of two large, well-fed rats. “That was not funny,” Gara growled, glaring at his friend as they both struggled to their feet. “But you look so cute now.” Shinji snickered, tossing handfuls of wet hair off his face. “Cute this!” Before Shinji could move away, Gara pounced, knocking his friend back into the water. Just as he began to tug at his fellow tora’s hair, he froze, an unbelievable pain making him freeze. There was a tugging behind his navel, and he felt as if all the energy in his body was concentrating, painfully building, leading into he knew not what.

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His eyes grew wide, and a low moan escaped his throat. This pain, it was so wrong, so unnatural, and yet he could feel it, as if his body were being rent into two. Then he felt his energy draining from him, flowing from him in waves, leaving him feeling as weak as a kit. It was a familiar drain, and only one being had ever been able to draw energy from him this way. “Javen!” Gasping the name, Gara turned and practically ran on water, making his way toward land, a stunned Shinji following close behind. “Javen,” he breathed as he ran, racing past the flowing grasses, the rocks and boulders and odd flowers that didn’t seem so strange anymore. He raced past landmarks and signs he himself had placed so as not to get lost on this new land of theirs. He raced past patches of earth Mizuki and Javen had begun to clear out for their experiments in gardening and places where the two enterprising ryuujin had begun to stack the bricks that they’d finally learned how to create after much trial and error. He raced to his mate, but as he ran toward the path they themselves had begun to blaze between the copse of trees that housed their nests and the hot springs the ryuujin used as their enclave for two, he began to realize this place was no longer strange or alien to him. With their work and sweat, it was beginning to feel like a home. “What is it?” He glanced beside him and realized that Shinji was keeping step, a concerned look on his face, his breathing labored as he struggled to keep up. “You mentioned the Imperial One…” “He’s in pain,” Gara managed, breathing hard as he tried to control the waves of continuously building pain and the energy drain through his link with his bonded. “I think… it’s the cub.” “Can you be sure?” Shinji looked worried as he easily leapt over logs and dashed around trees, keeping pace with his friend. “How do you know?”

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“I can feel it,” Gara gasped, one hand going to his stomach as he ran, unconsciously rubbing at the tearing phantom pain there. With that thought in mind, the ryuujin blindly raced toward the enclave, where they both instinctively knew Javen would be.

*** “I will kill him!” Javen growled as his knees hit the soft-packed earth of the enclave, the pink muck sticking to his skin like the growing pain was sticking to his conscious mind. Black smoke rolled from his nostrils, and his eyes glowed purple as the scale pattern on his face began to glimmer and glow. “Not now, you won’t!” Mizuki bellowed right back. “You can kill him after he shows me how he’s planning on getting that egg out of you! I won’t have Shinji worried out of his head over this.” “Shinji?” Javen bellowed, the sound transforming into a growl. “Shinji? I’m dying and all you can think of is Shinji? Just wait until the pains hit you,” Javen sneered, his voice becoming darker, more menacing as his features began to elongate. “You just wait, you sanctimonious, spoiled little bitch!” “Bitch?” Mizuki shouted right back. “I’m not the one moaning and crying because of a little pain.” “Little pain?” Javen shouted back, his body bent over as his form began to melt, to grow, and the larger shape of the ryuu eclipsed his humanoid form. “This pain is horrendous! This pain is unmanageable, this pain is --” “Javen!” Both ryuujin turned at the shout, watching as a panting Gara and Shinji burst into the enclave. “Gara!” Javen trilled, his voice disappearing into a high-pitched sound of despair. “Thank Kami!” Mizuki breathed as his bonded rushed to his side. “I don’t think I would have been able to help him keep control for much longer.” He nestled in his

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bonded’s arms, feeling the heat, absorbing it and his energy, calming himself and ensuring that his own egg was doing well. They both turned to look at Javen and Gara, anxiously awaiting what would happen next.

“I am here, my Moon Dragon,” Gara purred, moving closer to his mate, watching as he seemed to be caught in the middle of transformation. “It hurts.” Javen’s voice was barely recognizable but the fear and pain in those huge purple orbs was obvious. “I know, my One.” Gara moved in closer, raising his arms to push against the scaled sides of his lover and mate. “I know, my Moon Dragon.” “You do not know,” Javen wailed, his eyes squeezing shut as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. “You don’t know what pain feels like, tora!” “I feel your pain,” Gara soothed, his hands reaching up to caress the elongated neck of his mate. “In this, like in everything, we share.” Javen dropped his head, knowing his mate’s words to be true. He could feel through their bond that Gara himself was in intense pain -- his pain -- and that his bonded was attempting to pull more of it from him. “No,” he breathed. “That is enough. Take no more. I can bear this.” “Not alone,” Gara insisted, stroking and caressing any part of his lover he could reach -- the soft scales, the softer skin, the long, silken fall of his hair. “Never alone.” Javen whimpered, his body torn between the desire to shift and the desire to end the pain that was tearing him in two. He didn’t know what to do. Change, little one. Otohime? Gara asked, for the first time hearing the voice of the little turtle, the messenger of the ancients, in his head. Relax and change, she urged Javen. Your body knows what to do, if you but let it. “Let go, my Moon Dragon,” Gara urged Javen at once, understanding what the little turtle was speaking of. “It will ease the pain and allow our cub to be born.”

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But Javen, so used to control, found it hard to relinquish his firm grip on himself even for natural urges. He had been fighting those urges since he had been synthesized, and it seemed so alien, so wrong and foreign, to just allow instinct to take over. “Gara?” he cried out, another pain knocking him to his knees. “Change, my Mate,” Gara insisted. “I can’t!” Javen wailed, tossing his head back and screaming in pain. His body felt cold and hot at the same time, the pains never ending, the urge to allow his form to change growing. It scared him. “Gara!” “Obey my words.” Gara stood back from his lover, forced himself to stand upright, and growled low in his throat. He knew what he had to do. “Do you not hear me, mate? Are you not my creature, mine to rule, to use, to order?” Training and conditioning instantly kicked in as Javen opened liquid eyes to his mate, his full attention on the black-haired, striped male. “Y-yours,” he managed, his head tilting to the side in a sign of submission. “Your control is mine, ryuu,” he snarled. “Yes, my Lord.” For it was no longer the reserved bonded standing beside him. Javen now looked into the fierce black eyes of the High Lord Commander. “Then why are you resisting? Change, my Mate. Change now!” And to enforce the order, Gara raised both hands in the air, his tail lashing fiercely from side to side, awaiting the buildup of energy that signified his ryuu’s shift. Something inside Javen broke -- the wall of control he had built up, had always relied on, cracked. He threw back his head, a loud, pained trill erupting from his throat, but he allowed the change to take place. One second there was a tall, ill-formed, scaled creature writhing on the ground, then in a flash of blinding white light, a towering, cool-colored ryuu stood before his mate.

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He huffed, his long, silver mane blowing in a non-existent breeze, his thin front and hind legs sinking into the pink mud, his sinuous body distorted with a small lump near his hind region. He trilled softly, then dropped his head. But instead of sinking into the warm, pink mud, he felt his face captured by clawed fingers. He felt the gentle touch of his mate as his own snake-like body curled around on itself. The pain was still there, but now it was easily managed. Now a feeling of anticipation filled him. “That’s it, my mate,” Gara purred. “That’s it. Let it happen.” And Gara could feel it, feel the contractions in his mate’s abdomen, feel the large, rounded object begin to slide down a never-before-used passage. Javen trilled softly, a puff of white smoke ringing his head as he bore down, pushing at the foreign but beloved object in his body. He instinctively drew strength from his mate, absorbing both power and calming caresses and words as he labored to expel his egg. It was a slow process, but with his bonded adding heat and encouragement, the time seemed to fly by. All too soon, he felt a tearing sensation in his hindquarters, and let out a shrill whine. “Almost,” Gara gasped out, gritting his teeth, feeling the tear in his mate on his own body. “Our cub is almost here.” With another mighty heave, Javen let out one last shrill trill, then went limp. Gara raced around the massive, curled body to see a small, bloody, pale purple shell. “Oh, Javen.” His breath caught in his throat. “Javen… it’s… it’s our egg.” He laughed as the giant lizard that was his mate snorted sarcastically, once again in control of his facilities now that the exhausting process of labor and delivery was over. “Our egg, Beloved.” Gara laughed, moving in closer to examine his mate and the small tear the egg had emerged from. “Is it… is it whole?” Javen asked, praying to Kami that his earlier confusion had not harmed his child.

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“It appears whole, my Moon Dragon. And your tear is…” He placed his hands on the small slit, noticing that it didn’t look like a bloody wound at all. It appeared to be another orifice, one he had never noticed before. “You are healing,” he informed, not wanting to touch the wound, but sending healing energy flowing through the scales in that area. “So tired,” Javen muttered, gently tightening his body around the egg, all but hiding it from view. Gara, who existed by his instincts, knew better than to move any closer. He watched, a smile tugging at his face, as his mate coiled protectively around their cub, ensuring that it had heat and stability. “Sleep,” he breathed, moving back around to his mate’s head. “Rest, my Moon Dragon. You did it. We did it. Our little treasure is safe.” With me, Javen demanded, his mental voice sounding weak. And Gara nodded, moving to his mate’s head and snuggling against the long mane. As he settled onto his familiar place against his mate’s neck, he began to purr and to send out every bit of energy he could, hearing and comforting his mate, everything else in their little world forgotten.

“So,” Mizuki sniffled, wiping at the tears that flowed down his face. “That is how it’s done.” “And you will not give me any trouble when it comes time,” Shinji ordered, hugging his mate tightly and leading him from the enclave. “I will not, my Bonded,” Mizuki sniffed. “But you had better be there with energy and kind words or I swear, I will smoke your tail!” Shinji snorted, rolling his eyes. He and his green-haired mate left the enclave. “Was that not the most beautiful thing?” Mizuki sighed. “I want us to have our egg in the enclave too,” he added. “It just feels right.” “Whatever you want, my green-eyed tempter.” Shinji laughed. “Now I believe it is time for you to get some rest. There is no way the Imperial one will allow us near his egg, and they both need to rest.”

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Mizuki agreed, closing his eyes, allowing his mate to lead them to their shared nest, visions of eggs and small, squirming cubs dancing in his head.

Chapter Nine Oh, little one, you have done so well. The voice invaded the pale haze where Javen rested. In his arms was a large purple pearl, his egg. Otohime. He smiled. My cub! And you did wonderfully, Imperial Ryuu. The haze cleared, and again Javen was faced with the tall, pale green woman, watching her face light up at the sight of the egg in his arms. So wonderfully. She reached out to caress Javen’s face, her touch bringing another level of comfort to his sated body. But you are not looking so happy, Javen added, noticing the shadows behind those pale, pale eyes. I… I have news. Her head dropped. Not so wonderful news, little one. Immediately, Javen’s eyes went to the purple pearl in his arms. Is it… He tightened his grip reflexively, wanting to protect his cub from any and all dangers. No! Otohime cut him off. Fear not, Javen. Your small one is perfect. There is nothing wrong with your egg. Relaxing a little, Javen sighed and eased his grip on his egg. Then what troubles you, Otohime? It’s… it’s time, Javen. Time? he questioned, tilting his head and closely examining the turtle. To go. Where? Javen asked, then his eyes went wide. I have to leave? But… but my egg… my cub… what…? Not permanently, Otohime was quick to reassure the panicking ryuu. Not forever. Just until your task is done.

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Task again, Javen whimpered, sinking to his knees. But my egg. I can’t leave my egg! My treasure… Sacrifice, Otohime reminded him. Remember, we spoke of sacrifice? But… But my egg! Javen argued. I have to hatch it. I have to keep it warm and dry. I have to turn it and love it, and help it escape its shell. I have to… Go. Otohime’s voice was sad, tears welling up in her eyes. It is not what we expected, Javen, but things have changed. We have to get them out now. And you are the only one who can lead them. Me? Javen wailed, tossing his head back and trilling. Why me, Otohime? Why must I leave my treasure behind? Why can’t I stay until my cub is hatched? Why does it always have to be me? It is not easy being the first, Otohime explained, reaching out to Javen, then wincing as he pulled away with a hiss. You are the Imperial One. It is your destiny. Damn my destiny! Javen screamed. Damn the fates that brought me to this. Why, oh, Kami, why did they give me this paradise and my child, only to take them away? Not away, Otohime tried to reassure the distraught ryuu. Only temporarily. But you have to go, Javen. If you refuse to go, they will all die. The remaining enclave, the winged pairs, the white-coats, New Earth’s Sphere, they will all die! Then let them rot! Javen screamed, tears running down his face as he hunched over his egg. Let them die! Let them blow to dust! But don’t, please, Kami, please, don’t take my cub away! Javen… She won’t know me, Javen sobbed. She will never know me! She will not be mine! She will die or some other will hatch her and she will never be mine! Sacrifice. Otohime remained firm, dropping to her knees beside the sobbing ryuu. Your sacrifice will save countless lives. At the sacrifice of the life I carried, Javen whimpered. All that I have tried to accomplish, all that I have done, all that I have survived, it all means naught. Javen…

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What means anything in this life when I have gained it all only to lose it in the same breath? What means this life when all that I have been living for is to be taken away? Javen! No! he roared, rising to his feet, tears running unabashedly down his face. No! No more stories, no more words, no more comforting lies. He looked down at his egg, his voice breaking as sobs tore from his throat. No more. He looked down at the turtle messenger, felt the tears that welled up in his eyes, and felt nothing. Cold once again eclipsed the warmth in his heart. I will do this thing, Otohime. I am the Imperial Ryuu. I was created to serve the will of the Ancients and that of my people. I will do this thing. I will give up my very soul for you and for the winged pairs. But after this, ask me for nothing else. Javen… I do this because I have to. And after this, damn the Ancients, damn the winged pairs, damn this paradise called the Evergreen Lands. Damn them all to death and destruction, Otohime, for I have lost the ability to care. You don’t mean that, Otohime gasped, shocked at the words Javen spoke almost like a vow. I mean it, messenger, he hissed, turning his back on her, on his dreams and ideals, on his very happiness. How is a ryuu expected to exist without his soul? Your cub will live! she shouted. It will thrive and grow here! And it will call another bearer and sire. It will call another mother and father. It will never trust in me, confide in me, come to me when scared or hurt and in pain. That right -- He gritted out the word. -- will go to another. And when that happens, messenger, I know I will find it hard to exist, to live and thrive. When my purpose is served and this task is done, look to me no more. I will be dead to you -- as dead as the cold lump of rotten flesh where my soul’s happiness once existed. Javen…

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No! he roared, looking down at the egg in his hand. Give me these moments. Give me this time with my bonded and my cub. Then I never want to hear from you again. For the first time, Javen controlled the mists, forcing them to shift, to obscure the view of Otohime and the plane she existed on. Then he found the happiness and joy, the pride he felt in delivering his egg, his hopes for the future and the unconditional love he felt for his mate and their unborn cub -- Gara! How would Gara feel about him now, the ryuu who cost him his cub? -and he gathered them up into a tiny ball and tucked them away in the corner of his mind. Javen was gone. And in his place stood the martyr, the Imperial Ryuu who lived to serve his people. And on the physical plane, a large purple ryuu curled its egg tight in its arms, snuggled as close as it could get into its bonded’s warmth. And it cried.

Stephanie Burke Stephanie Burke, known to friends and readers as Flash, has a warped, twisted sense of humor, and she isn’t afraid to let it show. From pregnant men to six-foot cockroaches, she’s covered the gamut of the weird, the unusual, and the just plain strange. She has about five million books currently in publication with one house or another, all under the name of Stephanie Burke. She says she won’t use a pen name -she’d have to learn how to spell it. Too much like work. Visit her website at www.theflashcat.net and be sure to join Flash’s “Flame Keeper” loop at Yahoo! -http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlameKeeper/join.