Redemption

The truth

Ronny's Pov
-Sheep-stealers, wyvern-snorting, snake-eating! All of the Dubhmadinn line!-
Andarna stomped her feet, whirled around and swatted away the snow with an irritated sweep of her tail.
-May their wings never fly and their chest always remain cold! May they never catch a goat! May they/-
-Andarna,- I sighed, -You're making your point quite clear.-
-Not bringing me with them! They're shaping history, and I'm stuck here playing!-
-You aren't. You are improving your flight skills, and currently giving me a headache. Besides, they're talking with the Navarrian forces, and not shaping history, as you so dramatically put it.-
-Yes they are! You are only bitter because they thought your rider wouldn't be of use there!-
My voice was sterner, -The sooner you settle down, the better. You're only wasting my time now, and I have better things to do.-
-Yeah, well because your rider isn't there! Just like I said!-
-And they aren't making such a fuss about it. Aifos is working on the armour, and Chex is keeping them company, I believe.-
-My brother is a fat lazy winged lizard who'd rather eat goats and burp all day long instead of being useful in the war.-
I tilted my head, -That's... Graphic.-
-That's the truth.-
She snorted a plume of smoke, and I rumbled amused.
-If you put in your wing an ounce of your commitment you do in your colorful insults, you'd be flying across the ocean by now.-
-If you stopped standing around, perhaps I might.-
-You are the one shouting for all Navarre to hear. I am simply avoiding getting clawed at.-
-Well, it isn't working!-
She stomped again and sat down. Her scorpion tail was tightly coiled around her flanks, and she faced away from me.
I mimicked her, and calmly let time pass by. It was a trick I'd learnt through Aifos: not being dull as I used to, but rather being detachedly watchful. The snow-covered branches creaked above our heads, and an eagle flapped by.
-I killed Solas.-
I vaguely remembered Chex hinting at him.
-The orange Daggertail whom Tairn sliced off his eye, if I am right.-
-Yes. He would've killed Violet.-
-When did it happen?-
-Yesterday.-
-How did you kill him?-
-Poisoned him.-
-Throat?-
-Yes.-
-Good.-
The eagle shrieked far away.
-I thought you were vultures flesh, when you challenged Tairn.-
-I put up a dignified fight, though.-
-Perhaps so.-
The whiteness of the snow glistened off her scales, of a lighter shade of purple.
-What do you think of the wards?-
-Always known they wouldn't work. My brother is too much of a soft-hearted not to hope.-
But she didn't expand her thoughts on the subject, so I decided I'd best ask Chex when I'd run into him.
I raised and shook off the snow on the tip of my wings, -Stop standing around and let's get to work.-
Andarna grumbled, low in her throat.
-I am serious, and I am your Ebrithil.-
-My what?-
-Your master. Teacher, if you like the sound of it better.-
After a while, I managed to persuade Andarna to get to work, and we flew in circles, then I told her to flank her wings and gently attempt a descent. Her left wing, however, trembled when she snapped both open, and she crumbled on the ground.
-That's an improvement. Last time you couldn't even properly open it.-
-Snake-eater,- she groaned, her muzzle deep in a heap of snow.
After I had her furling and unfurling her wings, I deemed the lesson finished and ran into a couple of dragons when I flew towards Aifos. They'd just managed to put the helmet on Chex's head, and were absolutely adorable as they pouted and ran after the distressed golden dragon, the rest of the armour laying around.
-It's tight!-
-Stand still, c'mon now.-
-No!-
-If you fucking stay still/-
Aifos promptly ducked when Chex swung his swordtail around. I took a step back, just in case.
"Chex!"
-It's tight on my temples!-
Aifos groaned in annoyance, "If you stand still, I'll adjust it!"
-I don't want to!-
"Ronny!"
I sighed, -I've been wearing my armour for ages. It doesn't bite you, and it deflects the strikes of your enemies.-
-It slows me down! And I don't see you wearing one now!-
-Now I see the resemblance between you and your sister...-
Chex whirled again, and Aifos had to throw themselves on the ground.
"For fuck's sake! Chex!"
The sun got momentarily blocked by Tairn flaring his wings while landing, and Sorrengail slid off his outstretched leg, but Aifos didn't seem to acknowledge any of them as they stared at the pieces of armour scattered around.
-How did the meeting with the Navarrian forces go?- I asked Tairn, who rumbled in annoyance, -Codagh is an old hag who can't accept defeat for the life of him. The others are simply scared bunnies.-
Now I knew after whom Andarna had taken with her insults.
-Andarna was annoyed at you during our lesson. She spat curses to all your ancestors.-
-Wouldn't be the first time.-
Sorrengail squared her shoulders, and Aifos said with a calm voice, "I know that you know."
"About what?"
They turned to meet her eyes, "About his secret. He told me just last night he'd finally admitted it to you."
"For how long have you known?"
We all picked up the edge of accusation in her question, and I narrowed my eyes.
"For months."
She shook her head and looked up to the sky, "I can't believe it. So he told a fucking stranger about his... His ability and not me? The woman he technically loves?"
-You'd better tell your Rider to tone it down,- I growled, but Tairn snapped his teeth instead.
Aifos flashed her an amused smile, "He didn't tell me anything, Violet. I felt the movements of his mind all on my own."
"So you are one of them, too?"
"Yeah, in a way. I can feel someone's mind with my own, up to the point I can control it if I want to. But all of us Shur'tugals can, just like our Dragons and the Elves and the Wizards. It's nothing out of the ordinary, really. I felt Xaden's ability back in Samara, and I self-appointed as his... teacher, let's say, ever since. He's stubborn and proud as any dragon, but a fast learner."
"So you don't get... Hanged? On your island?"
"No! Of course not. Honestly, it doesn't make any sense why your Goverment kills them off. They are Riders it obviously needs, and yet they get murdered!"
She nodded thoughtfully, "Last year I witnessed Carr snapping Jeremiah's neck. His signet had just manifested, and he was one of them."
Chex snapped his head up and flashed his teeth, -I'll mar his bones if he dares take a step towards my mate!-
He stepped closer to Aifos, and tightened his wings around his flanks.
Aifos glanced at Sorrengail, and said, a bit shyly, "I know I shouldn't be intruding but... He said you still love him."
Her shoulders sagged and she took a long sigh.
"I do. Or at least, I think I do. It's just that... I'm so tired of being kept in the dark. Is honesty too much to ask for?"
"He's the heart of the revolution, Violet. He's bound to have ghosts and secrets. We all do. But yesterday, when he ran to me and told me that you still love him, his eyes shone as bright as starlight. He may be the heir of his father's legacy, but you may just be his reason for which he's carrying it on."
Sorrengail dipped her head, but said nothing, and Aifos went back studying the pieces of the armour scattered on the ground.
I turned to Tairn, -What's the deal with the wards? Andarna believes they are malfunctioning, and I whisked up a similar mutter from the gryphons.-
He blew out a long sigh, -They are right. Silver One and her sister have just checked the wyverns who flew past the wards yesterday, only to find their core still pulsing with life.-
-That's a pity.-
-It's worse than that: it's a bother, and too easily the blame of their failure will be put on Silver One's shoulders. They all seem to be forgetting that she's only a second-year, and she should be thinking on how to survive, and not on how to save all of us.-
-If she were selfish, you wouldn't have bonded with her.-
-No,- he admitted after a while, -I wouldn't have.-
"Well, uh... I gotta go then," said Sorrengail, "Good luck with the... With the armour thingy."
"Thanks, I'll be needing it. Someone here is being squeamish."
-I am most definitely not!-
As she walked towards the palace, Tairn spread his wings, -I'll be catching a sheep. Care to join?-
-I am not hungry at the moment, but one day we shall hunt together.-
He nodded at me, then took off.
In the meantime, Aifos rolled their shoulders and crouched low to pick up a neck plaque.
-Tairn told me the wards aren't working,- I said to them both, with a pointed glare to Chex, who lowered his head and shuffled his feet.
Aifos stilled and pursed their lips, -That's a pity.-
-Indeed it is.-
-That's why Violet ran away. But I'm sure she did her best.- Then, they straightened up and seized up Chex, -Now, let me finish this up. It's difficult enough without you grumbling.-
Chex chuffed and sniffed haughtily, but stood still.
After what seemed like hours and endless complaints from the golden dragon, they wiped off the strands of hair from their eyes, "Made it, at last."
I stepped nearer Chex, and explained to him how the armour was made.
-The plaques are multiple and interwoven on your neck, legs, tail, back, stomach, wing tendrils, and they are molded together on the expanse of your chest and head. It's elfic steel, so it's as light as the steps of its people. It rarely gets chipped: I have led many battles wearing a similar armour, and it shows only a couple of scratches here and there.-
-How do you feel? Like it's eating you whole?-
Chex huffed self-conscious, -No. But it could've!-
Aifos rolled their eyes, then gestured around, -Go on, walk around. Try it out.-
Chex complied, and the sun gleamed on him, now a silver-scaled dragon wearing a silver armour. It was sleeker than mine, modelled precisely for his body; and the straps were tight at maximum, so it would follow the wearer's growth, at least for a while.
He stretched out his neck, twisted his head, flicked his tail and feigned to stab at an imaginary enemy; flapped his wings, and set fire to a tree.
Instinctively, I looked at Aifos and waited for them to put it out; but they remained still, their eyes fixed on Chex. Their mind wavered with heat, and they didn't lower their eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chex brought down his head, and Aifos tipped up theirs. I admired the curve of their neck, the curls of their hair and the sensuality of their plump lips when they parted for Chex's tongue.
A low grumble left his throat, and his wings dropped. Aifos' mouth opened up more, and a choked sound told me Chex was probably pushing his tongue deep in their throat.
I remembered their tightness and heat, and my claws dug in the snow.
I slowly walked to them despite Chex's warning growl which had our human's desire spike through our bond. My snout brushed their neck, and the shell of their ear; then the broad slope of their shoulders, their proud back, and their muscled ass. I nudged at it harshly enough they rolled on their tiptoes and whimpered.
Chex withdrew to snarl at me, and they could finally gasp breaths as they clung to his muzzle.
-They're mine, Ronny!-
I licked between their legs and they bucked their hips with a sharp inhale.
-It seems they're mine, too.-
Upon not receiving any answer from the golden dragon, I straightened up and saw Aifos licking the steely border of his helmet, his chin clasped between their slender hands.
Chex whined that his armour hurt and I nuzzled their coat and tunic up so that I could feel the heat and the softness of their skin. They shivered, and twisted around to try and look at me.
I simply grinned at them and went on licking every patch of skin I could find.
-Love, love, it hurts,- Chex said again with a strained voice, -I am hard, and it hurts.-
They waved a hand and the armour unlaced itself and went on clustering itself under a tree. At their carelessness, I flashed my teeth at their neck, and earned a sharp gasp.
-All of this work, only for it to be thrown haphazardly around because you want to be fucked as soon as possible. How disappointing.-
Chex rumbled when they whirled around to look at me, but they couldn't quite glare at me as they should, most especially not when Chex went down to their ass. Instead, they moaned and shivered, their eyes glazed over and their lips constantly parted.
In their defence, being fucked by two dragons at the same time must be quite overwhelming.
-Clothes off!- snarled Chex, and they complied, almost tearing off every button of their coat. We both took a couple of steps back to properly admire our human, whose brown skin seemed to glow, surrounded by the whiteness of the snow and the clarity of the sky.
They truly were gorgeous.
My eyes immediately slid down and on their cock, which stood red and hard. And behind it, there was their pussy.
My cock jerked and I swayed my hips, while my eyes slowly treaded the path up their swollen mouth.
-It would look good stretched around your cocks, mh?-
At Aifos' low voice, both Chex and I almost choked on our saliva and we regarded our Rider with widened eyes. They threw a grin at me, -Care to watch? Last time, you had me first, so now it's Chex's turn.-
I narrowed my eyes, and harrumphed, -Fine.-
-Good boy.-
Chex shuffled around and twisted his neck so that he would watch Aifos kneeling by his cock and brushing it with their fingertips.
He whined and immediately bucked his hips, but Aifos chided him, -Stand still for me, baby.-
Then, they spat on their palms and wrung their hands together before gliding them on Chex, whose muscles tightened almost painfully.
He straight-up groaned when they licked up a stripe, -Fuck, you're so hot.-
My talons were diggings holes in the ground as I watched them licking and rubbing and fucking scratching Chex's cock, their whole upper body draped on it.
Chex's wings were loose, and his hips had snapped forward more often than not.
-C'mon, kid,- I grumbled, -You promised us your mouth, not your hands.-
Chex wailed when they sank their teeth in his cock, and I gulped, suddenly at loss for words. My whole body was burning, and I only wished for them to crawl to my dick and give it that same attention.
-And to think you're way thicker than him,- said Aifos while sending me a cheeky grin above their shoulder.
Then, they shuffled backwards and gripped the tip and finally, finally brought it close to their mouth.
-Are you ready, baby?-
-Yes! Please!-
It was a slow, careful thing, and they stretched their jaw at maximum and sputtered and choked. Their eyes watered and their fingers flexed.
-So, so tight!- roared Chex, his wings flaring. He rolled his hips and swivelled his tail, as Aifos bit out a choked sound at all of his movements.
They looked so dirty, with saliva ticking down their chin, and their ass pushing out. They jolted when my claw skidded on its curves, but straight-up cried out when I skimmed it over their wet pussy. I watched as they could only nail at Chex and buck their own hips, their cock caught between their stomach and Chex.
-Suck him, kid. Don't let me be a distraction.-
But I went back softly scratching their hidden heat, so that they choked back a sob and gulped. I could see the strain in their throat, and I followed the line of their spit-shining lower lip with my tongue.
Their mind was whirring with heat and need and desperation and ache in their jaw and throat and pussy and cock; I doubted they could string any sentence together.
So, I started scratching them with my claw, and they moaned and gasped and went on choking, until Chex whined high-pitched and cummed and they drew back and got bathed in his white semen.
I immediately licked Chex off them, and waited for them to catch their breath before shoving them on their back.
Their cheeks were flushed, and their lips were swollen and parted, and their hands sank in the snow when I pushed myself in.
A strangled shout left their mouth at this sudden intrusion, but their little play with Chex had left me too wanting to do any other fore-play. They were as tight and as hot as I remembered; they clenched around me, and their legs wrapped themselves around my flanks as much as they could, and I flung my wings around them.
Noises were torn out their throat at every snap of my hips, at every dragging of my cock and its spikes across their soft inner walls; at every brush of their cock on my scales.
-You're made for me,- I groaned, -Your pussy is made to accommodate me, to hold within my semen. You're made to have my eggs. You're made for me!-
I growled deep when they squeezed me, and they could only gasp and whine and buck their hips in rhythm with mine.
Their desperation was mine to feed, their heat was mine to sink in; such pleasure rocked between our bond I thought I would never go away, I would stay there deep in them until the ends of time.
My Rider.
My partner of head and mind.
My kid.
Mine!
I let out a roar as I finally came, as did they; my tail whipped forward, and fire blazed fiercely from my mouth.
I didn't move away until the last drop of semen reached their pussy, and even then I lingered there; they moaned when I shifted, and I grumbled, -Keep making those sounds and you'll be fucked again.-
Despite my warning, I was gentle in my sliding off, and Aifos turned aside and took gulps of breaths, again. Chex whined softly and rubbed the tip of his snout across their sweaty back, -You were so beautiful under him.-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Their chuckle was rough, and I laid down and opened my wing and watched them slowly crawling under it and plopping by my side.
-It's too intense with you guys,- they huffed, as they put on their clothes, -I can't keep up as much as I'd like to.-
-You're doing awesome, kid,- I admitted, -You make us both lose our minds during every mating.-
Chex nodded eagerly as he stretched out in front of me, his muzzle on his crossed talons, -We mated only twice so far, but he's right.-
-I do so, too, of course,- they yawned and rubbed their eyes.
I tightened my wing around them and heated up my belly, -Now sleep, kid. We'll watch over you.-
They only had the strength to mutter something before falling asleep like a hatchling.
Then, after the sun was starting to give way to the moon, Chex cracked his eyes half-open and slurred, -I know why the wards don't work.-
-Why's that?-
-It's because... They don't know the wards were created with seven Dens, and not six.-
Aifos perked their head up, and I went fully present to myself. Chex didn't move, but closed his eyes again and sighed. Guilt rippled across our bond, and Aifos silently slipped out from my wing to properly look at Chex.
-Nobody knows. Only the Elders do.-
-Why haven't you told us this before?-
My voice was a bit stern: all of the struggles to raise these shields were absolutely avoidable if he'd spoken up beforehand.
By now, we would've been surrounded by fully-functioning wards, and nobody would've told us otherwise.
Chex shuffled, and when he didn't answer me I thundered he'd better provide us an answer immediately, or else I'd pay the Elders a visit.
-Last time I did so in Alagaesia, I slaughtered them all.-
-Now, I'm sure it won't get down to that,- stated Aifos, -But I'd like to know as well. Why haven't you told us this before?-
-Because... The head of my Den ordered me not to.-
Aifos frowned, and their eyes looked up just like every time they were in deep thought; I mimicked them, in hope that perhaps the wind would whisk down some wisdom for us.
Their mind was brightened up with a revelation, as I said, -Andarna herself is the head of your Den. Isn't she?-
-Yes. The head of the seventh Den.-
-Why did she tell you to keep it a secret?- asked Aifos.
-I... I don't know, for sure. She told me it's because she wants Violet to know, because she has the mind of a scribe and the heart of a rider. Or something like that.-
Aifos and I fell quiet again.
A whole other Den; neither of us could grasp exactly the meaning of this admission, but from the decision of Andarna to keep it a secret despite the consequences of such, and Chex's willingness to do so, it must be something along the surprise of Eragon and Saphira's discovery of the remaining free Eldunaris hidden in the deep of the Rock of Kuthian.
Aifos asked again, softer this time, -Why haven't you told us this before?- A hidden flow of thoughts morphed itself behind the question (-We are mates, you said everything that is mine is yours to have, then why have you kept it all a secret?-), and an old feeling of inadequateness threatened to shape itself again. They pushed it down, and waited for his answer.
Chex must've picked it up too, because he brought his snout closer to Aifos and whispered, -I know, my love, and I am so sorry. But Andarna is the head of my Den, and I must abide by her rules.-
I let out a low growl, -So, she's sitting back waiting for her Sorrengail to piece the dots together.-
-Yes.-
-She is young, and naive!-
-I believe there must be a reason behind this, Ronny,- interjected Aifos, -Their Den got wiped away from everyone's knowledge apart from the Elders'. There must be a reason for this.-
I sighed slowly, then closed my eyes, -Perhaps so. But in doing this, you both are putting us all in danger.-
-This is a war. Either way, we are surrounded by danger.-
-It doesn't mean we don't have to seek out safety and defense for us. Those who don't do so are lying within a heath.-
-Yes,- Chex whispered, -I know.-