Dragon Dance - MaxTul's Story

Part 6 - Return

It worked exactly as Max said it would. The Queen was perfectly furious that Prince Tul, in less than 48 hours, was with his potential bond. Moreover, HE  had the nerve to lie to her. How dare he do that! 

Not only that, it was her own offspring that save that little wretched dragon from dying. Were all her plans going to be ruined by her progeny? Was she never going to be able to bring her carefully laid plans to fruition? If the Dynasty Clutch was to disappear from the annals of wyrm history, her plans could NOT fail.

What had this clutch ever done to support her? Nothing. Nothing... Maybe four millennia (4,000 years) seemed like a long time to hold a grudge, but until the last of those sneaky elders were dead, she would never, ever give up. Even if it meant sacrificing her own offspring, so be it.

Tail swishing, she snapped her fingers and the her favorite tea service appeared. She had grown quite fond of the evil brew over the millennia. It no longer had any effect on her whatsoever. She switched to human form, sat down and sipped the hot beverage as she waited for Tul to appear. 

She could not stop the low growl in her throat at the thought he was with a prince from the Fire clutch. What nonsense had that little boy filled his head with? The bond was bad enough, if it had grown, it would be too late to break. Well, all she could do was wait and see... angrily, she threw the tea cup and it shattered, satisfactorily.

Tul stood in the doorway of his cavern and sighed. "Really, Mother, if you are going to break things, do it in your own rooms, Not mine, please."

"You wretched child! I can break things where I want! You lied to me, you said you were going to break the bond." 

Tul shook his head, "No, Mother, I never did. You drugged me to sleep to avoid answering my questions. Again." Tul walked over to his bed, neatly tucked into a corned and sat down, knowing the prissy queen could just vanish the table and chairs, but not his bed. "Why do you refuse to answer my questions?"

"You're not old enough." Sealing her lips tightly, she shifted to her dragon form, a small, solid gold dragon, with a beautiful bright yellow diamond on her head and bright yellow belly scales. Flicking her tail towards him, "Bring this prince to the court and introduce him this evening. Since he is your twin, he stays with you."

Haughtily, daintily, The Queen stepped over the shattered china and left, using the situation to cover her fluctuating emotions.

Max witnessed the Queen leaving Tul's chamber. He watched her walk out, not paying any attention to the dragons around, but HE paid attention to how the dragons reacted. They were terrified of her. Interesting power dynamic and totally different than his own clutch.

Tul came to his chamber entrance, waving him inside. "Please, enter. It's not much, but it's home." Max gave it a quick look and then with a wave of dirty thoughts, wound his tail around Tul's. The bond was encouraging as much physical contact as possible.

Tul's underbelly began to look like rose gold as the blood began to heat. If he was in human form, it would be similar to a flush rising. Max nosed his neck. "Let's fly."

"We can't, not here." Regret hung with every thought. "Instead, how about you meet my sister?" It was small consolation, the bond was tightening every minute, every second. Tul wasn't fighting it any more, but felt within in his heart, this could only be dangerous. 

It scared him, not for himself, but for Max. Max sent back an affirmative and with relief, Tul called for Teena. Her name was actually Megatina, but for Tul, who couldn't say her name when small, she was Teena. 

All the Royal Dragons only had wee touches of red, some were so small, you needed to KNOW where to look, like in the case of the Queen. Tul's was on the very tips of his wings, and his tail, so when he turned to human, it made his nails appear as if his nail beds were extra pink and healthy.

In Teena's case, it was on her wings, but just the very outside edge of her scales, giving them a rose gold appearance. She looked very much like the Queen, with her bright yellow underbelly and diamond. She was tiny! Smaller than Wayo, which was odd, considering that Dynasty Dragons were known for their larger, fierce warrior dragons.

Teena appeared in human form and flew into the cavern, wrapping her arms around Tul's large neck. "Oh, brother, I've missed you! I have news. Who's this?" She turned and gave a royal bow.

"Greetings." As a courtesy, Tul and Max shifted. Teena's eyes almost popped as Max's body appeared in the basic thin Lycra shorts the dragons all wore. 

Casually, Tul slapped her arm. "Seriously, sister, aren't you past that? Besides, he's mine. Max, this is my sister, Princess Megatina. Teena," Tul turned to Max, proudly, "This is Prince Max of the Royal Fire Clutch, my soul twin."

Teena's eyes widened. "Like Pha and Wayo, soul bonded stuff" A smile bloomed, "Ohhhh, Tul! I'm so happy for you!" She hugged both of them and then her face changed. "Does Mother know?"

Curiously, "What is this magic power your mother has? Why is everyone so afraid of her?" Max walked over to the bed. Teena and Tul shared a look.

Teena sighed, "We don't talk about it unless we mind speak. Let's show him around, Tul. We have a couple hours until court is held. You need to strategize anyways."

"That's why you're here, dear sister, to help me explain what's going on." Tul glanced at Max, who looked both angry and confused. "I also have much to tell you. Mother has kept many secrets from us."

They shifted and walked from the cavern, Max's colorful body standing out. He was stared at, whistled and hit up on by many females as they went through several large common areas. A feast was being prepared, but his sensitive nose picked up two unusual scents. 

"Tul, can I visit the kitchen area?" Tul nodded and led him that way. Max stood in the doorway, and scanned with his sight, carefully until he spotted the unusual scents. 

Sighing, he nodded, more to himself. Tul was right. The Queen was dangerous. The one scent, baneberry, could only come from North America and was so highly toxic to all species of wyrms that it had been outlawed. Why was it being added to a MEAT dish?

The second was the chamomile, again in a tea preparation. He made a mental note to switch out his tea if offered. It would be easy to do, magic hung heavy over the queen, meaning she used it so frequently, unlike his mother, she wouldn't notice his wee bit.

"Tul, don't eat the cooked meat tonight. I have a feeling it will be served as a special dish for 'honored guests'." Max looked thoughtful as they all leaped into the air.