Trelon's dragon gave the meadow a quick sweep to make sure its mate was safe before he laid his head down along her slender neck and closed his eyes. For the first time in his life, Trelon felt totally sated. The constant hunger, the feelings of something missing was finally gone. His dragon gave a contented purr as his little mate snuggled even closer. Together, they basked in the early morning light, enjoying the soothing breeze and the sound of water from the nearby stream. Trelon closed his eyes and rested knowing his dragon would remain alert for any danger to its mate.
Several hours later Trelon woke to the feel of a soft hand caressing his face. Trelon kept his eyes closed for several minutes. He was enjoying the feeling of waking for the first time with his mate by his side. It took a moment for him to realize she had transformed back into her human body. Trelon opened his large eyes and looked down on the ground under his wing at the tiny body still pressed up against his.
“You are so beautiful.” Cara said as she laid in the shade of his wing. She stroked her hand along his face which he had tucked down near her. “I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing you this way.”
Trelon puffed out a small, warm breath causing Cara's hair to fly out around her head.
Cara giggled as she continued stroking him along his jaw and over one ear. “You like this, don't you?” She whispered softly. She knew she liked it. His scales felt hard and soft at the same time. She traced one with her finger before she pulled on his chin to let him know she wanted him to look at her. “I love you, Trelon. I love you, your dragon, and Symba. You are the family I always wanted.” She said as she pressed a light kiss in the center of his elongated nose.
Trelon had thought he couldn't be any happier or love anyone more until Cara had said those last few words to him. In the blink of an eye, he held her in his strong arms and was burying his face in her neck. Words could never describe the feelings coursing through him. He drew in a deep breath before he pulled back to look into her eyes.
“I love you, Cara. I love you as a dragon and as a man. My symbiosis adores you. You are my heart, my life, my true mate. We are honored you call us your family.” Trelon said solemnly before adding with a slight smile, “We also hope you will be willing to increase our family. We would love to see you rounded with our child.”
Cara pulled back in surprise, “Kids? You want kids? Is that even possible with us being different species and all?”
Trelon laughed at her expression. “I have every intention of finding out. If you have no objections, we can try finding out sooner, rather than later.”
He didn’t add it was up to him to decide when to plant his seed in her womb. He had come very close several times. The only thing holding him back was the knowledge that Cara had been through so much in such a short period of time. He wanted to give her time to get acclimated to his world, her transformation, and being his true mate. He also had a very bad feeling if he didn’t give her a choice in such a big decision it could come back and bite him on the tail, literally.
Cara suddenly pushed him over until he lay flat on his back and sat on him. She was wearing his shirt that she had put on before her transformation. She grinned down at the huge, naked male under her. He had obviously forgotten to put clothes on before he transformed.
Oh, yeah,
she remembered with amusement,
he had been a little ‘tied’ up.
“This is something we need to talk about in depth, Trelon. Kids are a lot of responsibility. They need a stable home with two loving parents. I plan to be very active in their education and development and I would expect the same from their father.” Cara said, running her hands up and down Trelon’s bare chest.
“I will be the father of those children.” Trelon growled. “I will teach my sons how to be great warriors.”
“What if we have a bunch of daughters? We could have a bunch of little girls running around instead.” Cara argued. She leaned down and nipped him on the chin.
“Daughters?” Trelon choked out imaging a dozen little girls with Cara’s red hair and unlimited energy running through the palace. He turned pale at the thought. “No daughters! Well, maybe one. But that is all. I don’t think the palace could survive another female like you.”
“Oh, really?” Cara asked sitting straight up and crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, for your information, I think a dozen girls like me would be good for the palace! Can you imagine what they would be like as teenagers?”
Trelon had turned pale at the thought of having a dozen little girls that looked like Cara; but, the vision of having a dozen beautiful daughters who were old enough to attract the attentions of horny males was enough to cause him to turn a deathly white. He was back to thinking no daughters when he felt the tremor of hostility coming from the small symbiosis which had acted as armor for Cara. It had taken the shape of a small werecat and was standing near the stream looking up towards the sky. Its golden coat had spiked out and it was creating a hissing sound in warning.
Trelon was so deep in thought he had not been focusing on his surroundings like he should have. Letting out an expletive, Trelon grabbed Cara and lifted her up as he stood. He pushed her behind him and scanned the sky. His dragon was growling a warning as it felt the danger to its mate. He let his senses expand outward. At first, he didn’t see or hear anything but then the distinctive sound of Curizan skimmers approaching at a high rate of speed caught his attention. He would know the sound anywhere after having encountered them in the Great War.
He turned and began pulling Cara across the meadow. Their only hope was to reach the woods and hide in the thick undergrowth. If he had been alone, he would have shifted immediately and gone on the attack but he couldn’t with Cara there. His first priority had to be to the safety of his mate. The golden werecat ran beside them. Trelon extended his arm and a golden arm band formed even as he reached down to pick up Cara who could not keep up with his longer legs.
“What’s wrong?” Cara asked breathlessly. She was looking all over the place but didn’t see anything but their peaceful meadow. Still, she could sense her dragon was afraid.
“Curizan skimmers.” Trelon said tensely as he ran.
He seemed to be concentrating on something so Cara didn’t ask any more questions. She wrapped her arms around his neck and just kept looking all around. She gasped at the first glimpse of the sleek, metal ships appearing just over the tops of the trees. There had to be a dozen or more of them. She was just about to warn Trelon when he stopped suddenly with a curse. He spun around so fast; Cara was dizzy for a moment. He hadn’t taken more than another step when he spun again, only this time he didn’t move.
“Cara, listen to me.” Trelon said urgently. He set her down and pulled her close to his body trying to shield her as best he could. “I can’t fight them all while I’m on the ground. I have to shift to my dragon. I am going to clear a path towards the forest for you. I want you and my symbiosis to head for it as soon as the path is clear. Go as deep as you can and hide. Symba has called for help and is on her way.”
Cara was shaking her head. “No! I’ll fight with you. I can turn too. Abby roasted a bad guy. I can roast one too. I know how to fight.”
Trelon gripped Cara’s face between his hands. “I can’t fight like I need to if I am worried about you. I need to know you are safe.” Trelon brushed a kiss against Cara’s lips before pushing her away from him. “Go! Run, Cara. Go!” Trelon roared right before he called forth his dragon.
Cara turned and ran as fast as she could towards the forest as Trelon lifted off the ground. She dodged back and forth when small micro-bursts of energy flashed in front of her causing small explosions. One burst came so close that if it hadn’t been for the small symbiosis covering her, Cara would have been toast. Cara pushed herself off the ground and started running again as soon as the symbiosis had released her. She had just made it to the forest when several more skimmers appeared over the top of the trees directly over her. Cara stumbled over a root and fell again. This time, she moved to huddle under the bushes near the meadow where she could see what was going on. She had to know if Trelon was alright.
Trelon’s huge body slammed into another skimmer sending it spiraling into the treetops where it exploded. Without the protective armor of his symbiosis, he had little protection from the energy bursts coming from them. His only hope was to avoid them as much as possible and destroy as many of the skimmers as he could until Symba and re-enforcements arrived. While their symbiosis could move at incredible speeds in space, they were limited in an atmospheric environment. A disruption within the planet’s atmosphere could have devastating effects. Trelon grunted as an energy burst sliced a thin line in his lower thigh. He rose in the air breathing a line of dragon fire at the skimmer. There were too many for him to fight alone. His only hope was to try to draw them away from the meadow and Cara.
Cara bit her lip as she watched the sleek metal ships circle Trelon. Powerful burst of energy flashed from them as they swarmed him. She heard his roar of rage as time after time one of the burst would hit him. Cara turned to the small golden symbiosis crouched next to her.
“Go to him.” Cara whispered desperately. “Go to him and protect him.”
The golden creature shook its head and rubbed against her sending warmth through her. It would not leave her. Trelon had told it to protect her and it would.
“Go to him or I will.” Cara said fiercely. “If you won’t help him I will.”
The gold symbiosis shook as it felt her determination. It looked at her then up at Trelon who was losing the battle as he received more and more cuts from the energy blast. They were slowly draining his own energy as large drops of his blood rained down over the meadow. The golden werecat brushed up against Cara leaving just a thin gold band which moved up around her neck before it turned and changed into a small flying creature. Within moments, it had burst out of their hiding place and headed straight for Trelon transforming in mid-air to wrap around his chest.
Trelon roared in outrage at the symbiosis. He could not afford to take the time to forcibly remove it. He had tried to break free to draw the skimmers away but every time he moved in one direction a group of them would cut him off. His only hope was that Cara had done at least part of what he had told her to do and hidden deeper in the forest. He could feel the symbiosis as it absorbed some of the energy blasts and turned that power into a healing energy instead. It was too small to protect him completely but it was doing everything it could. Trelon ducked and swerved as he went after another skimmer. Slamming into it, he noted with satisfaction as it swung around, the tail end of it tangling in the tail of another. Both went down with a resounding crash. His triumph was short lived as a blast hit him in the back knocking him into the top of a large tree bordering the meadow. Before he could recover, several more bursts ripped through his left wing. Trelon’s dragon roared out in pain as the membranes were torn apart. Unable to use the wing, he fell heavily to the ground. The impact of the fall left a small crater in the ground. Unable to move and with too much damage to his body for the small symbiosis to heal, he watched as the skimmers circled around heading for him.
Cara watched as Trelon struck out at one skimmer after another. She silently cheered as she watched the two skimmers collide and crash. Her cheer was cut off in a cry of dismay as a skimmer appeared behind Trelon and fired almost point-blank into his back. Cara stared in horror as Trelon’s huge dragon hit the tops of the trees and three other skimmers took advantage, firing at his wings. When he fell to the ground, she knew she could no longer stay in hiding. Her dragon was in full agreement. Neither of them could stay back and watch as their mates were killed in front of them. Cara stood up and called forth her dragon. In a burst of energy, Cara ran from the dark shadows of the forest shifting on the run. With a cry of rage, she flew straight at the four skimmers heading for her mate.
Trelon and his dragon fought to turn themselves over. His left wing was practically useless. It hung limply by his side. The pain was excruciating but he pushed it down. He staggered as he stood on legs that were bleeding profusely from more than two dozen deep gouges where he had been hit. His back was on fire. He could feel the blood flooding down it from the deep wound he had received. He had lost too much blood and the blast to his back felt like it might have punctured one of his lungs. He fought to stay on his feet and not pass out but it was a losing battle. He had no sooner stood up when he felt his back legs collapse under him. He tried to roar out in rage but he couldn’t seem to get enough air into his lungs to do so. He couldn’t even get enough breathe to breath dragon fire at the approach skimmers. Trelon’s front legs gave out suddenly and with the damage to his left wing he was unable to control his fall. He landed heavily on his left side crying out in pain as his body landed on the damaged wing. As he collapsed, he and his dragon mourned they would never hold their tiny mates again. He lay helpless watching as the four skimmers approached in triangular attack formation.
Cara was beyond pissed, she decided. She was up to berserker level. She let the flow of adrenaline consume her as she flew like a tiny avenging angel towards the four skimmers. She let loose a long stream of dragon fire. The fire poured over the first skimmer, engulfing it. As the pilot pulled up, the slightly angled wings on each side caught the two skimmers next to him throwing them off course. When they over corrected they spun out of control, to close to the ground to correct, and slammed into it just meters from where Trelon lay helpless. The fourth skimmer slammed into the back of the first one as it pulled up into a steep climb trying to get away from the fire engulfing it. Both of them exploded as they collided. Six down, Cara thought, eight to go. A burst of energy swept by Cara’s right shoulder but she had already changed directions. Moving as fast as she could, she was a tiny blur flying in and out between the skimmers who were having trouble keeping her in their sights. She moved towards one that had angled down to target Trelon. She might not be able to slam them the way Trelon did but that didn’t mean she couldn’t jump on them. She did spiral twists as she came up under it and gripped it with her front and back claws. Her weight threw the skimmer off and she jerked down opening her wings to act like a parachute. The skimmer flipped over and spun out of control into the trees on the far side of the meadow. Cara quickly did a mid-air somersault and headed for the next skimmer. One skimmer was on her tail, firing bursts of energy at her. Cara spun around in a circle, barely clearing another skimmer which had come at her from the other side. As she spun between the two, their bursts hit each other tearing through the wings of one and the cockpit of the other. Both careened out of control into the forest. Cara soared up into the air with the last five remaining skimmers on her tail. She took off across the tops of the trees moving in and out as they followed her. She felt a burning scorch her leg as one of the energy bursts made contact. Ignoring the pain, she swerved down into the canopy hoping the skimmers wouldn’t follow.