Now that Caldor and Idriseth are together, everything seems to be going right for once. Cal is still bitter and angry after what happened to his guildmates, but he tries to put it all aside, move on, and focus on the new life path that's in front of...
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Idriseth landed near the forest he had been looking for, a heaviness settling in his chest. He knew that Caldor would want an explanation and that he would have questions. And while Idriseth would like to indulge his mate, the sooner they left the better.
It would upset Caldor, but that would be something Idriseth would have to make up for later. It was too dangerous to stay here for long.
"Will you please tell me what we're doing here?"
Idriseth looked over at his mate as he changed his form, shrinking down to Caldor's height. It was always so disorienting, going from having four legs to two due to rarely doing it over the last few decades, but the dragon was getting better at it.
"What I am doing here," Idriseth corrected him gently, taking his robes from Caldor when he offered them to him. Zarleth was a dragon—she was much more likely to be bothered by Idriseth's mostly human form than his nakedness—but the dragon would admit that wearing a layer of clothing did make him feel more protected, as ridiculous as that was.
Humans and their soft, delicate skin.... How they got around their everyday lives had always been beyond him, and surprisingly taking Caldor as his mate had not helped him understand it better, either. But knowing how easily even his somewhat human skin could be cut through, Idriseth couldn't help but worry about Caldor at all times.
That was why he'd brought him with him in the first place.
"All right," Caldor said, folding his arms over his chest in annoyance. Idriseth didn't like that look being directed at him. "What are you doing here? Who's Sarleth?"
"Zarleth," Idriseth corrected him immediately as he slowly got dressed, earning an eye roll from Caldor as the man put the spell book under his arm. "She is skilled at both magic and alchemy. I need to acquire something from her to cast my spell."
"Right, so why didn't you just tell me that earlier?"
Idriseth avoided his mate's suspicious eyes. Sometimes he wished Caldor wasn't quite as smart as he was. Of course, the dragon was thrilled at his mate's intellect—particularly how easily Caldor seemed to sometimes solve problems Idriseth would have agonized over—but it made it difficult to hide anything from the human.
"She is a dragon. I realize you do not quite know what that implies," Idriseth said with a sigh, finally managing to get both of his wings through the slits in the back of his robes. "My kind are not...friendly. Particularly to humans."
Caldor frowned, tilting his head. "Right...?"
Idriseth lowered his gaze as he finished tying his robes. "I am concerned she may kill you on sight. Or worse. Particularly because of my claim on you."
Apparently not very bothered by this, Caldor's frown simply deepened. At least he didn't seem as annoyed anymore, but he did look very confused by what Idriseth was saying.
