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Copyright 2024 Kashel Char.

CHAPTER ONE

ARSIOS

The bright light of the dashboard pierces my brain, signaling another call from Langford. “Incoming call from bloody fucking boring idiot!” Siri blares over the Bluetooth system, interrupting the conversation about the weather we’re listening to.

We’d saved his name as Bloody fucking boring idiot in my contacts as a private joke between me and my dragon.

“I told you that rich twat doesn’t understand, no,” my dragon says cheekily. “It’s not in his small dick-tionary,” she jokes, with not-so-funny-anymore chuckles. She loves that comment because she used it at least once every hour since we met him, and during our long airplane flight, at least twice.

“Sometimes more, especially if he’s irritating me.”

I sigh, and a tendril of smoke escapes my nostrils as my dragon snorts disgruntledly. “Stop it! I told you on the airplane more than ten times each hour to stop it. Smoking’s not allowed in this rental either,” I say.

She harrumphs.

“Incoming call from bloody fucking boring idiot!” Siri blares another announcement, and the lights flash again. I grit my teeth, my thumb pressing the button on the steering wheel, as a wave of irritation flares inside my chest, like it usually does when my dragon gets upset and wants to shift and charcoal something.

“Incoming call from bloody fucking boring idiot!” My dragon copies Siri.

“For fuck’s sake!” I press the button on the steering wheel to send it to voicemail. Bloody fucking boring idiot flashes across the onboard screen on my dashboard again. A flaming hot knot forms in my stomach, and my dragon stirs inside me as I read the message. She rolls her eyes behind my sparkling topaz ones, making me see the screen in 3D.

“So many buttons and screens. It’s distracting us, and you think it’s safer than flying,” my dragon tisks.

Bloody fucking boring idiot:

Are you never going to talk to me again?

“No, we’re done with you,” my dragon lashes.

“Yes, yes, I know; cool your fires!” I holler and press delete.

“Find a mate, build a nest, and pop out many eggs. Smart and strong, beautiful hatchlings,” she purrs. “Langford’s dumb, and his cock is too short. Just like his small dick-tionary!”

This time, I roll my eyes at her.

We’ve been stuck on an airplane for twelve hours, flying halfway around the globe to attend my best friend’s wedding. The plan is simple—find a male dragon capable of reaching my dragon’s womb, have sex, find a cave, and build a nest.

“I know, we will find him. The closer we get to the mountains, the surer I am. Feel the energy, the pull! My womb pulsates, more and more the closer we get. Hurry! Our dragon is there. He’ll have an enormous dick-tionary,” she says with a swoony sigh.

“He also has to look past the fact that we have male genitals in our human form,” I added.

“Don’t worry. You will see. I know we will find him.”

I don’t know who came up with the idea first, but we’re on a mission. My dragon’s womb will only open for the worthiest dragon. I call it adolescence; she calls it a matter of life and death.

“We’re determined, picky, and just left…”

“Or right,” she added.

“Yeah, left or right. It doesn’t matter. We’re fucking bordering on insane. This plan better work, because your plan to shag up with Langford…”

“It was a good plan. We have a chest of precious thingies now. We suffered long enough. Now we search for our mate! We want eggs, lots and lots of eggs.” She rattles excitedly in my chest.

I smile. “I admit. I am excited too!”

Luckily for us, Reaganos met his mate, moved to the Silvereyes Mountains, and is now getting married. His mate swooped in and saved him from the streets—Pretty Woman style. And that’s why we’re traveling by plane and now driving. This rental’s trunk is stuffed with all our belongings. We are ready to mate and move on—positively determined, we’re about to meet the dragon meant for us, even if it means sampling every dragon attending the wedding.

Whether by luck, destiny, or purely our imagination, we feel something pulling us to these mountains, and since the airplane touched down, the closer we get, the more it tells us to hurry up.

Reaganos’s wedding has every dragon’s attention, and we, like every other dragon, are going to be searching for a mate. This is one wedding no dragon would miss. Everyone would be there, and everyone would have the same mate-finding fever as we do.

The Silvereyes mountains belonged to his future husband’s clan. We met Reaganosas in the orphanage when we were just dragon toddlers and have been friends since kindergarten. Both of us were dropped off and hidden away at the shifter orphanage for the weird, unwanted, and humiliating children.

Reaganos and I ran away at the age of sixteen and survived on the streets together. We’re both twenty years old now, which is nothing in dragon years.

My dragon and I hatched as two opposite genders. We are two spirits stuck in one shifter body. As far as I know, all shifters are the same gender in their animal and human forms. If they shift from human to animal form, they retain their gender, but not us. We are scrambled eggs. Too scared to shift in front of other dragons, fearing being laughed at and not worthy to be a dragon.

My dragon giggled. “Langford thought we can’t shift. Stupid-stupid dragon.”

“We can and we will wait until we find our mate!”

“We’re going to shift, fly, mate, and have many hatchlings!”

“Mate, mate, mate!”

We’re a small topaz dragon, and we got shunted because we’re an embarrassment. Not a perfect dragon. I’m gay. I love cock. My dragon is straight. So all we have to do is find one dragon we can agree on. There will be thousands to choose from at the wedding.

To get off the streets, we shagged up with Langford, hoping the size of his hoard would make up for the lack of dragon cock. But it didn’t.

So now we’re on the hunt for an extremely rare and very hard-to-find dragon, because dragons hide; they don’t socialize except for weddings. Dragons love weddings. The celebration, the love, and most of all, the ceremony of two hoards being showcased and made one. No dragon can resist the Two-Hoard ceremony.

A large room is filled with every treasure the pair brings to their marriage, then is ceremonially pushed together into one heap, representing the union and commitment for life. And that is thousands of years. It’s the only time all the other dragons can see the riches of another. That is also why dragons are extremely reluctant to mate and marry; because they have to be very sure they want their hoard mixed with another’s.

“Slippery road ahead,” the car’s GPS blares.

“We should have flown, it’s safer than a car,” my dragon nags. “We could have flown three times back and forth by now.”

I switch on the radio to listen to the local station. There is a cacophony of voices, a welcome distraction from Langford and my dejected dragon.

Langford only caught our eyes because of his enormous wealth, but the first time my dragon caught a glimpse of his dick size, she’d rejected him. I tried my best to let the man down nicely. I couldn’t tell him my dragon refused to mate with a small-dick dragon that wouldn’t reach her womb.

Yeah, seducing a dragon for his money and judging him by the length of his cock might sound shallow, but to my dragon, who needs a monster dragon cock, it’s the only way we are going to fertilize her waiting eggs, and according to her, she needs lots of buckets full of the stuff. She told me, with more than the fingers on both my hands, that she needs to swim in it.

A low, rumbling male voice detailed the unexpected changes in Silvereyes Mountain’s weather patterns. “Lots of snow and wild weather, especially as winter hit,” he said, his voice almost giddy about the impending storms. “Drivers out there, stay home and only drive if it’s necessary,” he says.

Reaganos told me Silvereyes never saw snow as we did in Canada. One inch of snow was nothing for me, but these assholes driving in front of and behind me don’t have any experience.

“We saw a lot more rapid changes in temperature and pressure, which could lead to anything from hail to sudden snowstorms. Silvereyes, wrap up warm and stay inside.” A woman adds with a chuckle, “Right then, and for those of you driving on the highways, slow down. Changes in weather patterns were getting more erratic. Be safe.”

“Yup. Be sure to have kitty litter, a shovel, and an emergency kit in your car. Arrive alive, people!”

“Flying is safer than a car,” says my dragon, as if I don’t know that.

“Hmmm, no! If you want to move in with your mate…five crates, remember?”

The Jeep hummed. I’m glad I picked up a 4x4 at the airport. We had already sunk way too deep into our chests to pay for the move, the airplane ticket, and the hotel stays. And holy shit, they charged a lot for extra baggage, plus ours was overweight. I thought our troubles were over when we met Langford. He was paying for everything, but it wasn’t as easy as we thought at first. The urge to nest and mate was too overwhelming, and it was not going to be with Langford.

“We forgot to take his gold watch,” my dragon says, irritated. Usually, when I think about spending her scales bristle.

I cluck my tongue, listening to her going into a ramble, talking about our shrinking hoard. That leads to comparing dragons with bigger hoards and many eggs. Then, she goes into tricks on how to find a mate with a larger hoard, and a dick-tionary. She talks nonstop about her depression, unfertilized eggs, and hatchlings.

“And this is why we are moving around the world.”

“Yes, and no therapy shopping. It will spiral into a smaller hoard, then no respectable dragon is going to fuck my dragon pussy!”

I sigh, rubbing my eyes. A quick motion on my left jolted me back to reality. As I looked up, I saw a huge truck speeding towards me, swerving into my lane while overtaking another car. My breath got stuck, and I acted on pure instinct. My heart was pounding as the truck bore down, but I managed to wrench the wheel right, sending the Jeep skidding past the danger. A terrifying screech erupts as the tires fight the snow. For a fleeting moment, I brace myself for a crash, but luckily it never comes; we avert a collision.

“Stop the car. We shift! We can phone Reaganos to come help us.”

“Take a deep breath, and be quiet, I’m concentrating,” I tell my panicked dragon, forcing myself to focus on the road ahead.

“Incoming call from Reaganos,” Siri announces. Reaganos’s name flashes on the dashboard screen. My dragon settles as calmness and delight fill me. His clan is worth every cent I spend to get here. He’s our best friend, and he’s been urging us to pack up and join their clan. It’s been tough, but we are here now, only a few minutes longer.

“Answer!” I tell Siri. “Hi, Reaganos!” I greet in a sing-song with my head turned up as if he is sitting on the roof.

He sounds worried. “Hmmm, hey, Arsios? You on your way?” Reaganos’s voice sounds cautious and stressed. I picture him pacing up and down.

“Yeah, we’re on our way,” I glance at the GPS again. “Cradle Lodge, right?”

While I’m speaking to him, the dashboard phone glows again. The name “Bloody fucking boring idiot” flashes back at me from the screen. Though annoyed, I make an effort to focus on Reaganos’s words instead of my fuming thoughts.

“You got it, that’s the spot! It’s tricky if you drive. There is a short, untarred road, marked with a big yellow and black sign saying, Welcome to the Cradle of Mankind, and an arrow pointing to a Cradle Lodge sign. You can’t miss it. It’s on the right after you pass the ruins. Arsios, drive right up there. The road’s a bit twisty, but you’ll be fine.”

My dragon is on edge. I bit my lip, thinking about the storm warnings to stay put. “Do you think the weather will hold up? They’re saying a storm is coming your way. Should we stop and fly? Can you come get us?”

I glanced back at the screen. Langford’s call initially stops ringing, but then restarts with “Bloody fucking boring idiot” flashing insistently. My irritation simmers, but I swallow it down, maintaining a calm voice. I don’t understand what Langford’s problem was. I told him I’m moving to Silvereyes; shouldn’t that be taken as a sign that I’m breaking up and saying goodbye?

Reaganos laughed, brushing off my concern as if the storm was no big deal. “Oh, you know how these mountain storms are. It will snow now, then stop suddenly. I’m very busy getting everything ready here. Perhaps yes, I will ask my brother if you think it’s that bad.”

“Right,” I say. “Reaganos, listen, I have to go, we’re freaking out.”

“Right, but I’m sorry, I’m phoning because I just heard that Tamaryn invited Langford this morning. He’d phoned and asked about making a trip to Silvereyes and asked if he could drop in.”

Bloody hell!

Pretending to faint, my dragon flops back. My chest tightens, and my heart feels like it is stopping. “It’s okay,” I say, but think it bloody well is not okay. Langford and Tamaryn were friends. That’s how we met. So I couldn’t really say no.

“Are you sure?” Reaganos asked. “I know it was a difficult breakup.”

“He’s not the man for me, and he can’t stop chasing after me.”

“Arsios, I’m telling Tamaryn to phone him and tell him he’s not welcome.”

“As long as he stays away from me, I don’t care if he comes. Your castle is big enough to ignore him.” I lie.

“Sure?”

“It’s okay. I can handle the bloody fucking boring idiot.”

“Sure, and I’m sorry. It’s my fault for introducing you to him. Who knew he’d be boring as fuck. He’s just looking for excitement.

“I’ll just avoid the fuck out of him.”

Reaganos breathed a sigh of relief, but his voice still betrayed a touch of worry. “I’m sure of it. “However, if things get too strange, Nebo is here. I can ask him to go get you and keep you company.”

Nebo? I felt a jolt of anxiety when I heard his name, and my dragon churned. She liked him, but he was too old and out of our league. She’s not ready to deal with dragons of his caliber.

“If you want, I can send Nebo or one of his friends to meet up with you and accompany you.”

“Coming here was not a good idea, turn around. Not safe,” my dragon says.

“Are you kidding! We came all this way and now you want to turn around?” I mutter, knowing Reaganos was still listening. I cough.

“That’s unnecessary. We’ll be fine. The world is a small place, we’re bound to run into your soon to be brother in law?” I say, more for my dragon’s reassurance than for Reaganos’s. “See you soon, okay?”

“Okay, drive safe, Arsios. Can’t wait to see you!”

I sigh, puffing more smoke. Reaganos is right. He knows the place better than I do. The weather forecast is probably wrong. Surely, it’s not going to be that bad so soon.

I hang up, ignoring the fact that Bloody fucking boring idiot’s name is still on the screen, a call that I have no intention of returning.

I press my foot down on the accelerator. The traffic decreases, and the cityscape transforms into a sparse landscape of dilapidated buildings and ruins. The scent of smoky wood fires wafts into the car, reminding me of my previous visit when we flew here to visit our friend.

“Driving and flying are not the same.”

The sun dips below heavy, but not yet threatening, clouds that hang low against a sky of soft grays and blues. I recognize the snowy cliffs, and that familiar feeling of the clan’s border limit washes over me. Feeling less stressed, I turn the radio to a lively station playing cheerful eighties tunes. I hum along to Dancing Queen by Abba, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. For the first time since we landed in Johannesburg, I feel like maybe everything will be okay.

“You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life. See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the dancing queen…”

I sing, and my sense of calm shatters when I spot something out of place. The sky releases a light dusting of snowflakes, barely noticeable on the windshield. At first, only a few scattered flakes fall. Crap. I briefly check the GPS. Three more kilometers until I reach my destination. No wonder there is no traffic from the opposite direction.

The snow quickly changes from a light dusting to a heavy torrent. It went from a light flurry to a full-fledged blizzard in the blink of an eye. A dense, white veil obscures the road, reducing visibility so drastically that even the Jeep’s hood is barely visible, let alone the snow-covered highway ahead. My heart races, and my dragon is deathly quiet. I clench the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white with tension. This is awful, absolutely awful.

I switch off the upbeat music to see and think better. Leaning forward, I squinted with half-shifted eyes through the windshield, but it’s pointless. It’s suddenly snowing so hard and fast that driving is like navigating through a thick, swirling smoke. I let my dragon come to the forefront, navigating for us. The headlights struggle to pierce the blinding white ahead, leaving the once-clear road completely invisible. Panic sets in. I gasp for breath, each inhale short and rapid. Should we stop, shift, and come back later for the Jeep and the chests? But what if someone approaches from behind, unable to see the Jeep? Where is that black and yellow sign?

I check my phone, hoping to contact Reaganos, but my hope dies quickly as I notice that there is no signal at all. Crap!

“Pull yourself together, Arsios. We are going to crash and our hoard will fly all over the place,” I mutter, with a trembling voice. Are we even on the road? Suddenly, the rear end swerved, and in my dragon’s mind, she imagined flying jewels and gold scattering everywhere. “We should have asked Reaganos to send someone, anyone, even Nebo, to meet us at the side of the road.”

“Stop the car, we fly,” my dragon urged. Just as I decide it’s a good idea, the Jeep slides and begins spinning. Everything outside dissolves into a swirling blur of white and gray. My dragon shrills and panic grips me, and I wrench the wheel, trying desperately to regain control, but it’s too late. The Jeep slides uncontrollably and swerves right, sending a wave of nausea through us as we careen off the road. Chilling weightlessness grabs us. Time seems to stretch, and then a jarring impact sends the car careening—it must be a snowbank. The tires crunch through the deep snow as the car slides down the embankment. The seatbelt is digging painfully into my shoulder, forcing my head back as it strangles us. The airbags explode, trapping us.

My dragon is delirious with panic. “We’re trapped!” She screeches in my mind. We’re completely stunned by the rush of adrenaline as the Jeep came to a sudden halt. I strain my neck, but the only thing in sight is steam coming from the engine and snow.

“I’m trapped!” my dragon yelled. “We’re going to die here, with our hoard. Flames, we must blow flames,” she cried helplessly, unable to shift.