Chapter 17
Annora was sitting beside the eggs in her human form, running her hand over them lovingly. She’d missed being with them the last few days, but since it was Calador’s job to keep them warm and she wasn’t speaking to him, she had stayed away from them.
She knew the moment when Athelos arrived though, and leaping up, she turned to rush to him. “Athelos!”
Athelos chuckled and pulled his mother into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. He dropped his cheek to the top of her head, nuzzling it softly before moving her back to smile down at her. “I’ve missed you.”
She tilted her head to the side while she reached up to cup his cheek. “I’ve missed you as well.” Then she hugged him again. He was finally home and if she had her way, he wouldn’t leave again, at least, not without his powers.
“I have somebody I want you to meet, Mother.” Athelos moved her back again and offered Danika a hand. He gave her a wink. “This is my mate, Danika.”
Annora’s smile grew wider as she looked the small female over. It was so hard to believe Athelos finally had his own mate, but it made her heart warm. It was obvious from the look of adoration Danika gave Athelos that she adored him. She didn’t need to know anything else about his mate but that.
She clasped Danika face between her hands. “Oh Athelos, she is a beautiful female.” She glanced up at him with a wink. “But I’m sure you’ve already discovered that on your own. I am so pleased to meet you,” she said to Danika when she returned her gaze to her.
Danika leaned closer to Athelos. She had never thought to meet a Trueborn, much less the Firstborns, but here she stood in their home. It was a bit overwhelming.
Annora was beautiful. Danika always knew she would be, but the radiant beauty in front of her was not exactly what she expected. She was only a few inches taller than Danika was, with the same black hair with gold, silver, auburn, and brown highlights as Athelos. And her eyes, they shined with love while she preened over Danika and Athelos.
“Athelos!” shouted Zarina when she and her father flashed into the den. She ran over and leaped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re back, which means now I can go home after the younglings hatch.”
“I haven’t given him all of his powers,” growled Calador.
Athelos patted Zarina’s arms and she slid off his back while he faced his father. “You can’t punish her just because you’re mad at me.”
“He will give you your powers before you leave today,” said Annora in a matter of fact tone. She narrowed her eyes on Calador. “Won’t you, mate?”
Calador lifted his chin. “Everybody needs to transform for when the younglings hatch.” He pushed his way through his family, completely ignoring his mate and Athelos.
Looking behind him, Calador flashed his bed out of the room and then stood back when the rest of his family did to give each other space. He spread his arms and wind started to blow around him, lifting his dark hair off his shoulders as he started to transform.
Danika moved outside of the room with Athelos, but she watched Calador make his transformation. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen a dragon transform, but to see one of the Firstborns in their true form was magnificent.
Large, peacock colored wings pulled out of his back, spreading wide while his arms became front legs and his legs became haunches. He was close to one hundred and fifty feet from the tip of the horns on the top of his head, down to the pincher barbs on his tail. His entire body was peacock colored, with dark shades of violet, greens, and blues. His long neck lifted and he released a roar before dropping his head down to the eggs that twitched and rocked with the younglings trying to force their way out of them.
She heard another loud roar and watched Athelos finish his transformation. Other than being only one hundred feet, he looked identical to his father, as did his mother and twin sister. She stared at their beautifully colored bodies. She had never seen their equal, but she figured that only made sense since they were the Firstborns and Trueborns, the only dragons with that coloring.
Athelos lowered his head to her and gently nudged her shoulder. “You need to transform. When the younglings hatch, they will be afraid if they see anybody not in dragon form. They don’t know about human bodies yet, but they’ll learn in a few weeks.”
She nodded and stood back from him, spreading her arms as she started her transformation.
Athelos watched her change, her body sleeking out into a large fifty-foot dragon with deep blue hide. She shook her mane out, allowing it to settle over her sleek neck. Then she looked back at Athelos. She was so beautiful in her dragon form, and his natural instinct to take his mate in this form rushed through him, wave after wave of desire rolling over him.
“Beautiful,” he said and nuzzled the side of his face all the way down her sleek neck. He felt her shudder and his fire flashed.
The feeling of Athelos brushing his face across her sensitive hide had Danika ready to pounce him, even if he was twice her size. His strong masculine scent enveloped her and she had a difficult time remembering they were here for a birthing. “So whose birth are we witnessing anyway?”
Athelos tilted his head into the den. “My parents decided it was time to have new younglings.” He wondered if any of that decision was because his father was tired of fighting him, or if his mother was just lonely for new younglings. She’d enjoyed the few times Athelos brought Storm here to visit, doting on the youngling as if he was her own. It was possible, he knew, but with the way things were between him and his father lately, who knew.
His father still didn’t seem pleased that he was here, despite the fact that he wasn’t keeping Athelos from bonding with the younglings when they hatched. However, what worried him the most was the distance he sensed between his mother and father.
He had seen his parents have fights over the numerous millennia, but they never stayed angry at each other for long, and never before had there been so much distance between them.
He knew it was his fault and he wished he knew how to fix it, but until his father was ready to listen to him, there was nothing he could do.
“All of you wait at the entrance until we call you in,” said Annora while she dropped onto the ground about ten feet in front of the eggs.
Athelos watched his father moving closer. He nuzzled Annora’s neck, but she turned her head and snapped at him, with a furious glare in her eyes. His father chortled softly, but moved away from her to drop onto the ground as well. It broke his heart to see his parents like this, especially knowing he was responsible for it.
Quietly, he settled his large body at the entrance where he could still watch his brother and sister emerge from the eggs, but far enough away so that they would bond with their mother and father first. He turned his head to look at Danika when she settled beside him and nuzzled his neck. Zarina laid down neck to her, and the three of them returned their gaze to the eggs.
“Have you ever watched younglings hatch before,” asked Danika softly against Athelos’ ear.
He shook his head. “No. Mother and Father had Zarina and me long after they abandoned the dragon clans to live their lives on their own. Since Father decided all the females should give birth the way the humans do, in his wise choice to make sure dragons appeared as human as possible, there haven’t been any hatchings since Zarina and I were born. Our mother is the only dragon that still lays eggs now.”
Danika nodded and watched the eggs with fascination. She felt Athelos’ body tense when the shell of one of the eggs cracked and a small part fell to the ground. A small head shoved its way through the opening, forcing more of the shell to break. It lifted its head with a loud squeak while trying to shove its wings through the shell.
It wiggled back and forth, the shell cracking further with the effort until suddenly, its wings burst free, scattering the remains of the brittle shell. It rolled down the warming stones and landed upside down on the ground, its butt with a short stubby tail sticking up in the air, while its eyes stared at everything upside down.
Danika chuckled and snuggled closer to Athelos, watching the little three-foot dragon roll to its side and try to stand. Athelos purred softly and dropped his long neck over her shoulder, his body still tense with his eagerness to meet his new siblings.
The little hatchling finally made its way onto its legs, but as soon as she took a first step, she stumbled and fell onto the ground again.
Calador reached over and lifted her by nuzzling his snout beneath her chest. She chortled softly and nuzzled his snout, finally managing to regain her feet. She lunged at her father, landing with her front legs straddling Calador’s snout. Chuckling softly, he lifted her and turned his head to settle his daughter onto the ground with Annora.
Annora cuddled her new daughter against her breastplate, one claw wrapped around the tiny creature that nuzzled against her chest.
All eyes turned to the other egg when it started to rattle while shaking vigorously. Suddenly, the egg shattered and the male lifted up its head, his wings wide while he shook his head. He gave the surrounding egg a snort and with a shove of his legs, the rest of the shell broke away.
He attempted to pull his legs beneath him to stand, lifting his tail and neck high in a superior than thou act that had them all laughing. But when he took his first step, he tumbled down the rocks to land onto the ground in a heap.
“Looks like my twin brother isn’t the only arrogant male around,” laughed Zarina.
The hatchling lifted his head, searching around him for the voice.
Calador turned sharply to his daughter.
“Silence!”She dropped her head back down to her legs and continued to watch.
A low rumbling moved through Calador’s chest and he finally turned back to his newborn son. He lowered his snout and nudged him, encouraging him to try to walk again. The male screeched at him and nipped at his snout, but he pulled himself up again. Once more, he lifted his head and tail high, managing two prancing steps before falling on his face.
Calador chuckled and grabbed the end of the hatchling’s tail in his teeth, lifted him off the ground, and turned his long neck to place him with Annora as he had done with their daughter.
Once more, Annora cuddled him against her chest, purring softly as her younglings nuzzled against her, their noses pressed against her to learn her scent. After thirty minutes and several failed attempts, the two finally managed halting steps between mother and father, each of them nuzzling against their father’s breastplate as well to learn his scent.
Athelos chuckled when the female, Elora, leaped onto Canteros’ back and bit his neck. “Hmm…seems familiar,” he whispered against Danika’s ear.
She laughed softly until Zarina moved closer and dropped her head so she could whisper with them as well. “If he’s anything like you, she better get in her licks now while she can. In a few weeks, he’ll be bigger than she will be and then she won’t be able to bully him anymore. Do I ever remember those days.”
The two younglings squeaked loudly and Calador turned his head to the three again. He gave them a dark glower, but he didn’t snap at them this time.
Athelos understood though. The younglings had to bond with their parents first, ensuring they would know how to find them if they should ever be separated. In a few weeks, they would learn the fundamentals of speech, and would be able to talk to their parents easier, especially through their telepathic bond, but until then, their scent was important for them to learn.
While Elora was only three-feet long, Canteros was four-feet, but within a month, they would double in size, learn to speak, and how to fly low to the ground. Within three months, they would know how to transform into their human bodies, and that was where they would have to learn new things. Mastering a human body, especially as a youngling, was much more difficult than that of a dragon body.
In dragon form, they had their tail and wings to help balance them, but as a human, they only had their arms and feet.
Another thirty minutes passed while Elora and Canteros grew familiar with walking, flapping their wings, and learning their parents. They romped around the den, Elora pinning her twin several times. Canteros snorted at her and when she backed off again, he lunged at her, but once more, she pinned him beneath her.
Calador chuckled, but he finally stood and moved to the entrance. “You two can go in now,” he told Athelos and Zarina. “However, I would like Danika to wait until they have bonded with you two first.”
Athelos nudged Danika and then stood, moving further into his parents’ den with Zarina at his side. They both dropped onto the ground.
Athelos nudged Canteros with his snout, snorting when the little male bit the end of it. Lifting his head, he shook it and rubbed a claw across it, but the next thing he knew, Canteros charged him, head butting him on his breastplate.
The male dropped back onto his butt and shook his head, screeching up at Athelos.
Chuckling, Athelos dropped his head again, but Elora came at him from the side. She nuzzled her body across his face while Canteros went back to attacking him. He grabbed hold of Athelos’ long mane between his tiny and sharp teeth, growling and snarling while he pulled, shaking his head as if he was trying to tear into his older brother.
“Looks to me as if our baby brother has the right idea, even if it futile,” said Zarina. She lifted a brow over her elongated eye when Athelos gave her a dark glare.
As soon as the two hatchlings were finished playing with Athelos, they charged Zarina, once more Canteros trying to dominate her. She shook her head and lifted him by his tail before plopping him in front of her. Lowering her face, she gave him a low growl.
He squeaked and ran for his mother.
Zarina laughed and cuddled Elora against her chest.
Once Athelos and Zarina were bonded with the hatchlings, Calador called to Athelos. “Leave Danika here with Zarina and your mother while you and I talk.”
Athelos sighed but he stood and backed out of the den. He stopped next to Danika, dropped his head down to nuzzle her, and then followed his father. When they reached the edge of the steps, they both transformed. Calador had his white iridescent pants on while Athelos put on a pair of his black leather pants and a half-robe opened at the front and hung down to mid-thigh, made out of the same iridescent material his father preferred. It wasn’t exactly what his father approved of, but it was as close as he was getting.
Calador snorted at him, his eyes turning stormy, but he wasn’t going to argue with his son this close to the den. “Meet me in the valley.”
Athelos watched his father disappear, but he hesitated, trepidation about the impending confrontation, especially since his father wanted it at the valley where they usually battled. He hoped it was only because he was trying to move away from the den while they talked, but he wasn’t so sure. His father was still angry with him.
Sighing, he flashed himself to the valley, staying on the far side of it, across from where his father stood. His skin crawled, an ominous feeling hanging in the air. He’d never been afraid of his father before, and even now, he wasn’t, but he didn’t know what mood his father was in. If he was still angry enough, this confrontation could blow up into a full-scale battle and truthfully, he was tired of fighting his father.
Calador cocked his head to the side while he searched his son for some sign of remorse. He felt a small sense of it, but there was still a strong rebelliousness burning in him. He shook his head. “Ever the defiant one.”
Athelos shrugged his shoulder and crossed his arms over his chest. “What did you wish to speak to me about?”
Calador snorted. “I would think that would be obvious. I want to know if you have learned your lesson yet.”
“And what lesson is it that you would like me to learn, Father? Perhaps the lesson that the strongest is capable of taking from the weaker? Maybe how it is acceptable to abandon your son to the mercy of the slayers because he made a mistake? Which of these suit you?”
“Don’t push me Athelos,” growled Calador. “I’m not in the mood for it. In case you haven’t noticed, this business between you and me has separated your mother and me. I’m not thrilled with that at all. I brought you here to find out if you are willing to submit to my rules or not.”
“And what if I say I am? Then you return my powers to me until the next time I piss you off. Then you bring me here, tear into my hide, and possibly take my powers again. Yet if I say I’m not, then you banish me again, leaving me to fight my enemies without the benefit of my powers, which will most likely end up with me dead. But perhaps that is what you would prefer. After all, you have a new son now, so what use am I to you anymore except for a continuing headache?”
Calador growled low and narrowed his eyes. “Are you listening to what you’re saying son? Do you really think I want you dead?”
Athelos scoffed. His father hadn’t lifted a finger to save him from Desiderio and he could have. What was he supposed to believe? He sighed. “I don’t know what to believe anymore except for the fact that I had Desiderio after me and you did nothing to help.”
“
You were fine.”
“And I guess that’s all that matters, right?” growled Athelos. This was an old battle only a new day. It would never end between him and his father. He shook his head. “The almighty dictates how others should live, and to hell with everything else.”
Calador stormed over to Athelos, fire blazing in his eyes. “I do not dictate how others should live, only how I expect my son to obey me and my rules. Nothing more.”
Athelos snorted and glared up at his father. “And I should believe that one why? After all, you’ve more than proven your point that you can take everything away from me. My mother, my sister, my den, hell, even my life if you want it. Have I learned my lesson? Oh yeah, I’ve learned it all right. I’ve learned the father I’ve loved and admired my entire life is nothing more than a Funking asshole on some kind of power trip to make sure everybody else bows down to his demands. Heaven forbid he should have to compromise. No, everybody else does what he says or they’re screwed.”
Calador backhanded Athelos and then grabbed him around the throat. “I am tired of this crap. I am not on a power trip. I have made laws and you chose day after day to disobey them. There is no compromise Athelos.”
Athelos clenched his jaw, but he refused to back down from his father. He swore he never would again and he meant it. He was tired of always being the one in the wrong, always having to bow before his father and submit to him. He was strong as well, but he hadn’t spent his entire life hidden away on an island, ignoring the life he created.
“Of course there isn’t. How can there be when you are never willing to admit you might just be wrong about something. How do you know I wasn’t meant to kill those slayers? Granted, I didn’t have to do it so gruesomely and for that part, I am sorry, but not for killing them. If you gave a rat’s ass about the dragons, you would see what I did benefited them, but you hide here on the island never fully understanding what’s happening out there. Yeah, you get glimpses, but you can’t see the full picture because you’re too busy being selfish and arrogant, unwilling to mingle with the life you and mother created. You are nothing more than a bullying coward, hiding here because the dragons aren’t perfect. Because they don’t bow down and worship at your feet. After all, you created them, and because they made you and mother unhappy, you locked yourself away from the real world to hide in this fantasy one.”
Calador roared his fury and flung Athelos away from him. He clenched his fists while glaring at his son. “I am not a coward! I brought your mother here because it broke her heart to see what the dragons were doing to themselves, the destruction they caused.”
His breathing was ragged and he stalked over to stand over Athelos. “I know what goes on in that world. I’ve seen the hate and greed they have. There are some that are good, and I do what I can to help them, but I refuse to interfere with their lives. They have to make the choices. If I don’t allow that, then I take their freedom away, and that is as bad as what the slayers do. It’s time you grow up and realize not everything is black and white, Athelos. There are different shades of grey in between and I am all about compromise up to a point, but you don’t compromise son. You merely do whatever it is that you get into your head to do. You don’t think, don’t consider the consequences of your actions, and sometimes, I don’t think you even give a damn.”
Athelos snorted and stood. He refused to lie on the ground like a youngling with his father berating him. He squared off with Calador, his fury just as strong as his father’s was.
“I care more about them than you ever have, so Funk you!”
Calador backhanded Athelos again, meeting his son’s glare. “You will speak to me respectfully son or I swear, I will teach you a lesson in respect that you will never forget.”
Breathing hard, Athelos’ anger barely under control, he stepped closer to his father so their chests were barely touching. He postured his father, trying to back him down, but he already knew what a laugh that would be. “One of these days, somebody is going to bring you down a notch or two and I hope to hell I’m there to witness it.”
“If that is a challenge son, then bring it on,” he growled darkly. “Otherwise, I suggest you back up before I remind you which of us is the strongest.”
Athelos took a step closer and snarled at his father. “Strongest only because you took my powers away. Did it ever occur to you that in all these battles between us that I submit to you because you are my father? I used to have enough respect for you to never considering challenging you. But that respect is gone and at times, I think I actually despise you.”
Calador roared his fury. He swung at Athelos, but his son ducked and moved away from his father. He clenched his fists and released his son’s full powers to him. If he were going to battle him, he would do it fairly. He saw Athelos inhale a sharp, deep breath when his powers rushed over him and then Calador rushed him.
They clashed in the center of the valley, their strong bodies locking in combat. Calador sliced his claws across Athelos’ chest, gouges starting to bleed immediately. Roaring his rage, Athelos attacked his father, his attacks every bit as strong as Calador’s was.
Back at the den, Annora lifted her head when she sensed Calador and Athelos fighting again. Throwing her head back, she roared. She transformed and grabbed Danika. “Transform immediately!”
Danika didn’t know what was wrong, but she didn’t hesitate to obey. The next thing she knew, Annora placed a toga style dress on her and then flashed them to a wide-opened valley where she saw Athelos and Calador battling.
She gasped when she saw the blood running down Athelos’ chest but before she could do anything, Annora roared again.
“Enough!” Annora shouted. A huge wave of power rushed across the valley, throwing the combatants away from each other to land on their backs.
Danika rushed over to Athelos, dropping onto the ground at his side. Using a corner of her dress, she wiped at the blood on his chest.
He grabbed her hands, his eyes burning fury while he stared at his father. He stood, his rage making his body shake with the force to control it.
“I’ve had enough of these battles between the two of you. Calador, you will leave Athelos with his powers and he will go where he wants, when he wants. He has to learn to make decisions on his own just like all the rest of the dragons and tearing into him every time he disobeys you is making me sick! I’m tired of it. You will do it or I swear, I will take the younglings and go to the human world to live without you!”
Calador gaped at his mate. In all the time they’d been together, not once had she defied his decisions like this and never had she said she would leave him. “Just try it mate and I will make sure you and the younglings never leave here. I will not allow you to leave me or to take them from me. You’re mine.”
She reached up and slapped him, her claws raking across his cheek.
Athelos’ anger quieted as he watched his parents fight. He had caused this rift between his parents with his continued defiance. He looked down at his hands, shocked to realize he had truly intended to take his father down, if he could. He had said he didn’t respect him, despised him even, but that wasn’t true. It was his anger speaking, not his heart.
Only today, he realized how right his father was, but instead of admitting that to him, he had gone out of his way to goad his father into a fight. Why? He groaned. He knew why. If he had lost in a battle, his father would force him to submit, instead of him having to admit he was wrong.
Hadn’t he just accused his father of the same thing? Unable to admit when he was wrong? Yet, he had caused the fight between his parents because he couldn’t swallow his pride and go to his father peacefully.
Choking back a cry, he glanced up at them, watching the anger between them as a visible entity that surrounded them. He rushed to them. “Stop, please, both of you stop!” He dropped to his knees when he reached them and hung his head, tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. He shook his head and then looked up at his mother.
“He wasn’t wrong Mother. I was. Please don’t be angry with Father. I goaded him into this fight because I wanted him to make me submit instead of me doing it willingly. I accused him of not admitting when he was wrong. I told him I despised him. Oh hell, I told him things that I never should have, things that weren’t even true. I know what I did was wrong and I deserved the punishment he gave me. I can’t bear to see you two fighting because I was stupid and immature.”
He stood and held his mother’s face between his hands. “You’ve always loved Father, even when he is a stubborn ass, but most of the time, he does it out of love for us and I know that. I know he has the best interest for the dragons in his heart and he tries so hard to help them, but sometimes, they are stubborn and do what they want, including me. Please, please don’t be angry with him.”
He turned his gaze to his father, sad to see the guarded look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Father. I know my attack on the slayers was wrong.” He lunged against his father’s chest, giving him a rolling nuzzle until he stood with his back pressed against his father’s chest. He dropped his head and shoulders forward. “I am sorry I defied you. I’m sorry I started this fight. I don’t despise you, I swear it. I love you and Mother. I’ve been a fool. Please forgive me.”
Calador stared at the back of his son’s head, his chest tightening with the pain he felt in his heart. His mate threatened to leave him because of his son’s defiance. It had put a wedge between the two of them that he didn’t know they would ever come back from. It angered him. He wanted to lash out at his son, despite him admitting he was wrong.
Growling, he latched his teeth onto his son’s right shoulder, while he clasped one arm around Athelos’ neck and the other around his shoulders. His breathing was labored, the pain he felt almost unbearable. His mate was everything to him. They’d created the dragon clans because his mate wanted companionship from other dragons. Then they started warring for more power, so he spent years trying to stop the warring among the clans so she would be happy again.
Everything he’d ever done, he done to make her happy because he loved her more than life itself. Yet his son’s rebelliousness had all but destroyed their relationship.
“I could kill you for what you’ve done!” growled Calador in his son’s mind.
Athelos nodded.
“I know, Father. I am truly sorry. It breaks my heart to see what I have done to you and Mother. I never meant for that to happen. There is no excuse and I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you did kill me.”Calador snarled.
“I should except that it would destroy your mother.” He released Athelos’ shoulder and shoved him away. “You will keep your powers, but it will take time before I can forgive you, Athelos. There is no dragon in this world more precious to me than my mate is, yet because of your foolishness, she has threatened to reject me. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that.”
Athelos nodded, but he didn’t look at his father. He was too ashamed of what he’d done, the things he’d said, and the rift he’d caused between his parents. “I understand.”
Calador snarled and rushed at Athelos’ back, but when his son kept his submissive posture, he pulled back. He glared at Annora, and in a flash, disappeared.
Annora reached up and cupped her son’s cheek. She lifted his face to hers, smiling softly when she saw the tears in his eyes. She brushed them away as they rolled down his cheeks. “He will forgive you, Athelos. He does love you, but right now, he’s angry. I love him very much, but I couldn’t bear to see what was happening between you two anymore. It was destroying me to watch.”
Athelos nodded. He couldn’t speak if he had to. The pain he felt, his father’s rejection, it all overwhelmed his heart. How could he have done this to his parents when they meant the world to him?
“Take your mate to your den and heal. Come by our den before you decide to go back home.”
He nodded his head again and then hugged his mother tightly when she wrapped her arms around his waist. He nuzzled the top of her head and then released her. Within moments, she was gone as well.
He dropped to his knees, hanging his head. His mother believed his father would forgive him, but he knew his father very well. He was furious with what he’d done. How could he ever forgive him? He was better off leaving the island and never returning than to sit here and wait for a day that might never come.
He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Danika stood at his side, sorrow filling her eyes. She dropped to the ground in front of him and pulled him into her arms. He let her. He leaned against her, holding her tightly against his body while he cried all the sorrow in his heart. He didn’t care if it made him look weak. Without his family, he was nothing.
