Ties (Dragon x Dragon)

1

admission and remembrance

Flames lick from my mouth as I glare at the dragons in front of me. "Let me go. This is my den."

"Oh, we're not going yet," says the one at the front. The ringleader. His eyes gleam hungry, reddish orange like glowing coals in the dark. His scales are the colour of nightmares - blacker than black. I shiver.

"It's mating season, after all-" he begins, and a burst of rage explodes in my heart. I leap forwards suddenly and knock the leading dragon over, slashing his face as I go. No way am I staying.

I detest the mating season. I detest how groups of males (and, very rarely, females) form and go hunting for solitary dragons to forcefully mate with them. It's a horrible business. Luckily, I always manage to escape it.

There's a screaming cloud of dragons outside, whirling in a huge vortex of drakes and dreals making friends and mates before the Migration. I managed to avoid it when I came back from my hunt, and hid in my den, but there's no chance of that now. 

All of those thoughts pass through my head in three seconds. During those seconds, I duck and dodge and spin and twist and slash, and then I'm by the cave entrance and I leap into the storm.

The noise hits me like a wave, and my ears and brain automatically adjust so I hear less of it. That's how we're all able to talk normally and hear each other in huge flocks - our brains and ears have a clever feature.

I swallow the fire that was glimmering out of my mouth and join the flood movement, the current. Next to me is a small golden female chattering to her friend. On the other side is a two-headed Hydra, its heads arguing with each other. I can't quite tell what gender it is. Above me is a Wideflap with huge blue wings, larger than any I've ever seen before on a Wideflap. Below me is a group of tiny Crocoriles arguing loudly with each other.

I hope they'll leave my den. It took a while to get such a good place in the side of the volcano.

On my right side, the bright gold female squeaks and dives as she sees her soulmate. I roll my eyes.

Another thing we have, as well as automatic noise-specific-cancelling ears. Soulmates. Every dragon has one.

They're awful and shouldn't exist, in my opinion. What if my soulmate is someone I know? Someone I hate? I'll be stuck with them forever. Chained to them. Never to escape.

I dive, too, pretending I see my own soulmate. The dragons below me move aside enough to let me through, but don't even look at me. Nobody cares.

I have no friends in this flock. I don't even belong here. This is a Western Territory flock, the Volcaeneans, and I'm from the North Territories.

But I'm here, and I have no friends except the ones I've left behind in the Tristaisa flock. I'm pretty sure they don't remember me. I have a hard time remembering their names.

I've been part of this flock for a year now. Secretly, I know my mind and body and heart all want a change. I'm a traveller by nature, and a year ago I spent my entire time travelling around and meeting dragons I barely remember now. It was amazingly fun, waking up every day in a different place with different dragons. I'd like to do it again...

But my cave. 

My cave is one of the best caves on the mountain. I had to kill someone to get it.