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Dragon's mate (Psionic and I)

Talver leaned into Sya's embrace as she tightened her wings and tail around him protectively, while he brought his own arms up around her back underneath her wings to return the embrace. He blinked at Sya as she spoke to him, instructing him to remain in the cave while she let go of him to move away. Talver immediately moved back a little further to the ember-pit with the eggs and looked them over to double-check that they were safe. By now, Talver well knew the layout of Sya's cave system, and if anything went wrong, he could grab the eggs and bolt to a more secure part of the cave to escape with them and find another place to nest and warm them. The eggs wouldn't be harmed by being away from heat for a short time, as Sya had taught him, but he still had to be ready to protect them. He couldn't bear if anything were to happen to his children. That said, he couldn't bear anything happening to Sya, either. Once Talver had checked over the eggs, he moved to the part of the cave where he kept his own belongings, including a bow and a quiver of arrows. Talver took both while hastily putting on some pants. Against Sya's request, he started moving further up the cave. He crept along until he could just barely peek his head around a corner to see the mouth of the cave and the daylight outside in the distance, and the silhouettes of the two dragons. Talver then remained still, listening and waiting to see if he needed to do anything.

*****

Zelkius wrinkled his nostrils from the scents he detected while he remained in an impressive a pose as he could while he heard the inhabitant of the cave approach. As the dragoness finally walked into view, it was only stronger. There was no mistake, she had a powerful scent of mating about her, and a heavy scent of a human, too. Zelkius had heard rumors of deviant dragons who enjoyed dominating and mating with lesser creatures, but never thought much of it. No matter. This dragoness had a real mate now.

The white dragon maintained his posture as his prize presented herself, announcing that her name was 'Sya'. To the male dragon's senses, her mottled grey coloring was exceptionally beautiful in its own right! Zelkius nodded to Sya. "Well-met!" He then made a show of sniffing and taking a look over Sya's back deeper in the cave, before turning back to look at her. "I don't know why you would lower yourself to the level of a filthy human, but you don't need to debase yourself any longer, for you now have a proper mate before you! Submit yourself to me, or give me a challenge to prove my worth of you, and I will cleanse you of this stink of a human. Or..." Zelkius glanced over Sya's back again. "Since there is no real male here to lay claim to you, I can take my right of you by force to display my strength and worth, if I must..." The male dragon challenged haughtily, keeping his puffed-up pose to show off his own body. He too was quite a stunning dragon for Sya to feast her eyes on; his scales were a brilliant shimmering white with the reflected sunlight, he looked fit and in his prime with no scars to mar his body, and with his wings fanned up and his pose showing off his muscles, he looked to be perfectly healthy. A real choice male for any female, who would be guaranteed to sire strong offspring...
 
Noting his gaze over his shoulder, Sya wanted to puff up and block his view. That rankled her a bit when he called Talver a filthy human. "Talver is bound to me by our laws. He is paying for a crime done against me." No need to tell him what that crime was. He had already gathered that she and Talver had been mating, but doesn't know anything about the eggs tucked away yet. However, right now, his attitude is bothering her. Farrith had no such cocky and arrogant manner. He had courted her, trying to charm her with his playful and light manner. When he looks over her back again, Sya is really hoping that Talver had hid himself away, but staid silent at the real male comment. She doesn't care how fit and pretty he thinks he is, she still isn't go to take him for a mate. "I have no interest in taking a mate. The human bound to me serves his purpose well," she growls, hoping this male will get the hint and move on. She doubts it, since he had just been spouting about taking her by force to prove his worth.
 
Zelkius tilted his head as Sya explained just why she had a human under her wing. Ah, that was a fair point... "Well, I suppose that is understandable if you are taking what you will from the human as repayment for whatever he has done...but it is still not quite relevant..." The white dragon said, before his maw turned a frown at Sya's next declaration. "If I prove my worth, then as an unclaimed female, you must be my mate." He said with a narrowing of his eyes and a ruffling of his wings. Zelkius still couldn't quite figure out why Sya was not warming to him. He was a fit, gorgeous, and young male--a fresh male, even! Any female should be glad to have a prime stud like him! Zelkius supposed he could go search for a more grateful female of his qualities...but it had taken him a frustratingly long time just to find Sya. Zelkius was impatient, and he could have Sya now if only he could succeed in demonstrating that he deserved her.

"If you will not give me a task to prove my worth of you and fulfill my right to have you..." Zelkius backed up a several steps with his large stride, and turned forward from his preening pose to a wide-set and low stance as he spread his wings out. "...Then I challenge you to a contest of dominance by combat. When I win, you must submit to me...and you may take the first move. But if you don't, I will." He said, as he then gave a long, loud growl of masculine strength, baring his teeth to Sya as he tensed his muscles up in preparation for the fight. His heart was pounding and the flames within him were stirring, filling him with glorious draconic might.

Inside the cave, Talver still couldn't understand anything Sya and the other dragon were saying in their own language--he'd really have to ask Sya to start teaching him if they got out of this together. Talver kept crouched down with his back against the wall as he peeked around the corner, and his heart dropped as he saw fragments of the other dragon on the other side of Sya going into what looked like some kind of predatory pose, but if that wasn't enough, the growl was unmistakable indication that the dragon meant business. Talver nocked an arrow in his bow, and prepared to sneak out of the cave if Sya led the other dragon away. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't going to leave his newfound love to fight this on her own!
 
That word must was a sticking point. Even before she had mated with Farrith, Sya has been quite independent after she had seeked out her own territory when she was old enough. "I must do nothing," Sya growled, signifying her total annoyance with this situation. The bullheaded, stubborn male should just take to the skies again and save them both some trouble. But of course, this couldn't happen the easy way.

And there again, most annoyingly, was that word must. She watched with cold eyes as he moves from his showboating pose to a fight ready position. Sya loosed her own growl, a bit louder then his own, clearly declaring that she will not back down and submit.

Sya bunched up her muscles and lunged for Zelkius, all of her teeth and claws bared. If she could pin him into submission quickly, this fight would be over and he would be on his way. She keeps her wings pinned to her side, knowing that those are the most valuable spot to be attacked. She had already had enough experience being injured there and the tip of her tail from the human attack in the woods. She tries to immobilize his neck and head, which would make it so much harder to fight.
 
Zelkius watched Sya carefully as she returned his challenging growl. When she lunged for him, he was ready. Zelkius gave a mighty flap of his already-spread wings and pushed with all his legs, leaping almost straight backwards and out of reach of Sya's lunge. Sya held most of the advantages in this fight; she was older and thus bigger and stronger than him, as well as being more experienced; Zelkius didn't know enough to keep his wings pulled in, he wanted to rely on getting above Sya. On the other hand, Zelkius was in peak physical condition, fast and agile, whereas Sya had just recently laid her eggs.

Zelkius took advantage of Sya being a little more sluggish than him and went on the offensive, rushing towards Sya with his wings still spread, which he then flapped once while leaping to get some air to get above Sya. Zelkius tried to get over Sya's head while he turned his wings in opposite directions, trying to use his youthful acrobatics to twist around in mid-air directly above Sya. Without anything to maintain his flight, however, Zelkius then dropped straight down, trying to land on Sya's back as he intended. If he managed that, he worked to turn Sya's own tactic against her--he tried grasping her neck in his claws and teeth, going straight for the dominance-play, gambling in his arrogant perceived superiority that Sya wouldn't be able to throw him off with brute force. He of course was not at all trying to hurt Sya, in fact he was being careful not to use his talons or teeth too hard. It wouldn't do to damage his future mate. Zelkius also still had not folded in his wings, leaving him vulnerable to counterattack if Sya escaped his pin attempt...

Meanwhile, Talver had started inching his way up the cave-entrance into view the moment the two dragons engaged each other. By his luck, both Sya and Zelkius--the latter of whom was trying to mount Sya's back--were both facing away from him. In controlled panic brought on by worry for Sya, Talver rushed the rest of the way out of the cave before moving perpendicular to the dragons, positioning to kneel down behind a nearby bush while he pulled his bowstring and arrow back. The wood of the bow creaked and Talver took aim at the white dragon, waiting for Sya to put some distance between them so he could take a clear shot. Talver's heart pounded and the blood rushed in his ears as the fury of battle overtook him, hating this other dragon for trying to harm Sya!
 
Sya snapped at the empty air from where Zelkius had been, but that doesn't deter her one bit. She keeps moving, still noting that the fool hadn't pulled in his wings. Unfortunately for him, he still has points that Sya has clear access to. Sya whipped around, moving her the balk of her thick solid tail as a weapon, trying to knock him off course with what he suspects she isn't going to use; sheer brute force. Unlike him, Sya has no problem injuring him, so as long as he can still make his way out of her territory, or at least concede that she will not mate with him. Two un-mated dragons coinhabiting a space isn't unheard of, particularly if one of them is injured and needs a place to heal. Should she win this battle, she would offer that to him. She keeps on the defensive, trying to land a blow very close to his wings, not to injure the delicate tissue but something good enough to show she means business.
 
To Zelkius' frustration, Sya managed to bring her tail up to whack him as he was trying to land on her back. She struck him around his hindquarters, enough to throw his alignment off so that he couldn't land on Sya as he intended, and instead slipped over onto the ground. He had to hurriedly try to pull in one of his wings before he accidentally landed on it, but Sya's flailing managed to land a glancing blow on his other wing. Zelkius let out a brief trumpet of pain--that wasn't seriously damaging, but a bruise on his wing-structure hurt! Zelkius quickly started backpedaling away from Sya, putting some distance between him and her. He fumed over her stout resistance. It wasn't supposed to be this way! Even with her apparently wanting him to prove his strength and skill directly by forcing her into submission himself, she wasn't supposed to fight back this hard! Zelkius then spread his wings out again, and started flapping them. She had made it come to this--he would have to take her to the air and make her his that way, and he'd dive-bomb her until she joined him in the air.

But just as Zelkius' shining white body began lifting into the air, Talver finally saw his opening. The dragon that dared attack the mother of his children was far enough from Sya that Talver could shoot him without risking hitting Sya, and as he rose into the air, it just presented even more of a target. Talver waited, timed it...and at the right moment, let go of the bowstring, shooting the arrow forward with a twang. Talver immediately drew and nocked another arrow.

Zelkius heard the sound right before he felt it. He didn't even have time to process why he would be hearing a human bow before the arrow easily punctured straight through the membrane of one of his huge wings and sailed all the way through, leaving behind a small hole that began to bleed profusely. Not enough to physically ground the dragon, but enough to... Zelkius let out a very loud, high-pitched draconic wail as he felt the sting of the hole in his wing. It felt like a searing-hot point in the membrane! Zelkius let himself drop back down to the ground, as he swung his head around to face the one who dared shoot him.

Zelkius saw a man, crouching behind some bushes, shirtless and clad in pants while he had a bow and arrow prepared. Zelkius sniffed...the smell of the man was the same as the human stench that clung to Sya, the stench that Zelkius longed to wash away, to make Sya a proper dragon again. But not only was Sya fighting back hard against him, but now her human toy was actually doing him real harm! Zelkius snarled as he turned his head back to Sya, speaking in the dragon-tongue as before. "(How dare you allow your toy to harm me! He cannot interfere! That is not fair! Send him away, I am supposed to prove my power over you and you alone!)" He growled out as he puffed his chest forward and contemptuously bend his head down. Talver blinked in confusion, as he still couldn't understand the dragon, but he flicked his eyes to Sya for a split-second to keep watch on her for her reactions.
 
Sya hunkers down, keeping her body moving as Zelkius gets thrown off his balance. Young one should have known better to keep his wings tucked in and he wouldn't be trumpeting in pain like a hatching that had just found out severe cold is unpleasant on the delicate tissue of their wings. She keeps her eyes on him, wondering just what he thinks he's going to do now. When he starts to lift off from the ground, she realizes that he wants to take the battle aerial, which is fine for her. She knows the air currents around her territory, and she will use that to her advantage.

The all too familiar sound of an arrow being released from a bow and the zing of it flying through the air made her still before Talver's arrow pierced through her rival's wing. Sya even winces, feeling pity for Zelkius as he cries out in pain from the puncture. Sya looked around to see Talver standing ready with his hunting bow, before turning her attention to Zelkius when he speaks to her.

(Talver is protecting his home just as I am! I told you to move along otherwise you would be hurt! However, since I am an honorable dragoness, we will continue this fight between the two of us!) To Talver, the conversation between the two dragons probably sounds like a bunch of rumbles and snarls punctuated by deep growls and threatening body language. She turns her head slightly toward Talver, motioning for him to go back to the cave while keeping an eye on Zelkius for any sneak attacks he may make.
 
Talver watched tensely and nervously, fearing for Sya, as she and the other dragon made funny snarls and rumbles at each other. He figured they must be talking to each other somehow, given the irregularity of the growls, but Talver remained on edge, wondering just what they're saying to each other. But then Sya stopped and turned her head towards him. Talver tensed up further, but Sya just gestured back towards the mouth of the cave. Talver's eyes slowly widened. She still wanted him to go into the cave? Talver could barely stand leaving her to fend for herself, but if she was talking to the other dragon and came to some sort of agreement...slowly, Talver began to walk sideways towards the cave entrance, all the while keeping his bow trained on the white dragon. Fortunately, Zelkius doesn't move aside from alternately glaring at Sya and Talver. After a moment, Talver found himself just within the shade of the cave, though he remains where he is with his bow still up.

After watching the human back off, Zelkius turned his gaze back to Sya. His wing was still smarting, but fortunately the puncture in the membrane was already starting to clot up. He could still fly with it, though he'd worsen it slightly and make it take longer to heal. On the other hand, that was a small price to pay to claim this female dragon. Fortunately she had seen reason to send her pet human away, now Zelkius could properly beat her. "(Very good then. Now, let's continue and get back to me proving my worth...)" Zelkius said back, before he again spread his wings and flapped, working to gain air.

Zelkius rose slowly at first, but once he rose above the treeline and caught his wings in the air currents, he began soaring upward, getting as much height as he could. Once he was a good distance up, he stopped and flew in lazy circles, looking down at Sya and watching her follow him up. He kept his gaze on her until she was about halfway between the ground and him, then he tucked his wings in and went into a dive for her. He wasn't going to try and hurt her, just buzz her and get her off-balance for him to fly loops around her, eventually force her back to the ground with him on top. He was a bit smaller, so he counted on the advantage of being more agile in the air. But the air currents above the mountain forest twisted and flowed in strange ways that he didn't care to take note of...
 
Sya knows that Talver is probably smarting himself from her asking him to retreat, but it's better then something happending to him such as being smashed into a bloody pulp on the rocks during she and Zelkius' row. Although she still thinks he's an arrogant snot, Sya takes wing as well, willing to play cat and mouse with him for a bit. She rises from the ground as well, clearing the tree line but going as high as him. If one didn't know there was a fight going on, one could almost assume it was two dragon taking a pleasurable flight together for a bit.

The one thing that Sya notices instantly is the differences in air temperature. The higher up one goes, the lower the temperature drops, making even a dragon's body work harder to keep itself in balance. However, the warmer air from the land rises, giving a boost to those on the wing who know the ride the thermal updrafts. She levels out half way up, tilting onto her side and almost gliding, a bare flap here and there to keep her airborne, waiting for to make his move. She listed to her side as he dives to her, unfolding her wings a bit more to gain some altitude herself, testing his speed and reaction. He would have to pull out his wings again to slow himself from plummeting into ground at a high speed.
 
Zelkius sped down towards Sya, adjusting his course with his tail and his almost-folded-up wings to keep on target to shake Sya around with a wave of wind when he passed. But at the last moment, he saw Sya tilt on her side--and she was then carried right out of his path by the air itself! With frustration and wide eyes, Zelkius zoomed right past Sya, missing her entirely and failing to knock her around as he had intended.

The white dragon snapped his wings open to pull out of his dive, but without the expected resistance of passing close to Sya, it was harder than he was anticipating. He furiously flapped his wings to halt his dive, but that suddenly agitated the puncture wound in his wing, making it sting terribly as he was forced to flap his wings off-balance to keep some of the pain off, leaving him stalled in the air with no momentum. Zelkius' smaller size normally would have made him more agile, but only at a properly controlled speed. Without the strength of Sya, Zelkius couldn't rapidly accelerate by flapping his wings alone. Already he was turning and trying to climb into the air, but now he was below Sya and hardly moving at all as he fought to gain altitude and speed; it would take him too long to build up enough to dodge effectively. He had gambled all on a single tactic to try and win the contest quickly, but now he was vulnerable. For the first time, Zelkius' confidence was shaken as he realized Sya had a perfect shot at him.
 
Sya let the warm air fill her wings, carrying her upward like a light weight bird. They both know now that Zelkius has lost the upper claw, Sya being able to move about better by simply letting her heavier weight take her out of the air before he can turn about again. The added benefit to her is that she hadn't gone as high above him as he had, meaning she has a shorter distance to go.

She folded her own wings in and angled down, dropping like a rock from the sky above him. She braces herself by spreading her wings out and limbs out, ready to but him into a submission hold. She doesn't want to bring them both to the ground, as that could do more damage then needs done to both of them. With her larger with then him, she should have an easier time wrapping herself around him. The closer she gets, the closer it looks like he isn't going to be able to move out of the way on time.
 
Zelkius twisted his head upward to keep an eye on Sya...and watched horrified as the dragoness approached him, the world almost seeming like it was moving in slow-motion as Zelkius desperately flapped his wings to get out of the way. But it just wasn't enough. Between his stall and the pain still in his wing, he just couldn't get enough horizontal distance before he suddenly felt Sya's heavy body collide onto his back and latch onto him with all four of her legs. And just like that, the white dragon's hopes were crushed. He felt how stronger she was, he couldn't hope to break the grab before they hit the ground together. He would get a lot worse than Sya if that happened.

He had lost.

"I...I yield!" Zelkius cried out as the ground approached. He prepared to snap his wings open again to flap and lower himself to the ground once Sya released him. His mind was in turmoil, burning with shame at how he had just lost, after putting on such a show for himself. He had been so sure that he would get mating rights with Sya, that he would be able to start his first clutch of dragonlings. He deserved it, he was a strong and beautiful dragon and his offspring would be the same. He hadn't done anything wrong, he was sure, so his mind raced to desperately find something, anything he could blame his loss on other than himself...and as the damned hole in his wing that had cost him his victory stung again, he glanced back at the mouth of Sya's cave and narrowed his eyes at it.
 
Hearing his cry of yield, Sya worked to let him go and take to the air again, but she still keeps a wary watch on him just in case he decides to do anything else boneheaded. Now that he had lost, he should take to the skies and leave her territory, seek another female to mate with. She followed his gaze again, a deep set growl coming from her. "You lost. Either take your option to rest peacefully here and recover from the battle or take to the skies and get out of my lands." Which should imply that if he tries anything funny towards her den she would happily beat him senseless without a second thought.
 
The white dragon glided down to the ground, in sight of the cave's entrance, but some distance away and made no move to approach it, aside from glancing in its direction again. Talver had again come to the mouth of the cave to look out and watch the two dragons. Zelkius then swung his head to look at Sya, landing after him and giving him the ultimatum. He snorted in irritation and pawed at the ground. "It wasn't fair." He declared, using Tavler's language for the first time. "I should have won. I would have won...if it weren't for your pet injuring my wing and costing me my victory." Zelkius again turned his head to glare in Talver's direction, who just stood with his bow ready but lowered, staring right back defiantly. Zelkius continued glaring...but then his draconic muzzled spread into an ugly grin, before he looked back at Sya. "Well. I may have had to concede the challenge for dominance to you, even if it was illegitimately gained. But...your pet must have come from that human nest I smelled not too far from here." Still grinning, Zelkius gave Talver one last look. "It ought to learn a few lessons about not interfering with things that aren't its business."

Suddenly, the white dragon whirled around in place and dashed away from Sya, quickly flapping his wings to get airborne, quickly setting a course down the mountain. Talver had heard and understood Zelkius' words, and his mouth dropped in horror as he realized what the other dragon was going to do. Still only in his pants with a quiver, Talver rushed out of the cave towards Sya. "No, no! Sya, he's going...he's going to attack the village!" He looked at his draconic mate desperately. "They may have banished me, but...I can't just let this happen!"
 
The grey dragoness settled herself in a good position to get to her den in a moment's notice again. He still sounds like a whiny hatching, complaining because he didn't get to eat first or get the choice pick of meat. "Talver injuring you wouldn't have mattered. You're to inexperience and arrogant to have won," Sya growls lowly, not liking one bit the horrible grin that comes over Zelkius' muzzle.

It is tempting to simply let him burn the human settlement to the ground... After all, she does remember the pain that had come with them killing Farrith, for the sheer offense of trying to keep themselves alive through a scarce winter. The thought is dashed when Talver comes running out to her, his fear very clear for her. "We drive him off then. Show him we're going to protect what's ours." It's odd for her to speak like this, so it's slower then in her bipedal form, but she lowers her body for him to mount up. She's guessing that he can do some damage before they reach the village due to her slower speed, but he wouldn't be able to raze the village to the ground. She waits for him to mount before taking to the air herself in pursuit of Zelkius.
 
Talver let out a relieved sigh as Sya accepted the idea of going to save the village. He had been afraid that Sya would decide to leave them to their fate, which he...couldn't exactly argue against very well, given how they had participated in Talver's original expedition that hurt Sya so much. But as Sya crouched down on all fours, Talver first instead stepped forward and threw his arms around her neck, hugging her with his whole upper body and feeling her scales on his shirtless chest. "I know they may not deserve it, but....thank you, Sya. Truly." He said with a heavy voice, before he then quickly let go of her neck and clambered up her shoulders. "Now let's go stop him!" He said as he made sure his bow and quiver of arrows were secure before he closed his legs around the base of Sya's shoulder and held onto her with his upper arms.

****

Down in the village, life had continued on. One of the village wives had a baby recently to much celebration, some merchants passed through town with exotic goods, and there was a brief attack by bandits who thought the village was easy pickings and that they could steal away with goods and women one night, but Norman kept the villager's guards sharp and led a defense that soundly repulsed the robbers. As somewhat of Talver's protégé, Norman owed much of his skill to the village's former guard commander. It made some in the town gossip a bit about being remorseful, knowing how Talver had loyally led them for years, but there wasn't any talk of revoking the banishment. What Talver had done was just...unnatural.

Oh this day, one of the sentinels on an active shift with one of the town's partially-constructed walls stood on a ledge behind the wall that let him see over the top as he scanned the nearby forest for activity. He then heard a strange muted thudding sound. He almost thought he was hearing things, but it happened again and again, and was getting louder...the sentinel's eyes widened as he realized he recognized that sound. Was Talver's reptilian consort returning? The sentinel turned around and bellowed "Dragon approaching!" over the nearby village streets, alerting other nearby militia. The sentinel turned around again--and saw a sparkling white glint in the sunny sky approaching over the treeline from the direction of the mountains. That was not Talver's dragon. He then saw a plume of fire coming right towards him. "DRAGON ATTACK!" The man yelled as he turned and lept off the wall just before the flames hit it.

****

Talver was starting to wish he had taken the time to at least throw on a tunic before rushing out the cave to help Sya, as his chest was getting a bit sore from leaning on Sya's neck while in flight. He was also getting anxious with each passing moment, until they were close to where the village was...and already, Talver could see one or two smoke streams rising into the air. "Oh no..." He whispered to himself over the rushing wind as the village was finally revealed past where the trees stopped. It...wasn't actually as bad as he had feared. At least three cottages were on fire and one of the walls, but Zelkius could be seen hanging out high in the sky, waiting for an opening before he dive-bombed the village. To Talver's pride, the village archers he trained weren't giving Zelkius many opportunities, but neither were they able to actually hit the dragon in the air. Not from below, at least.

"Careful, don't throw me off, now!" Talver yelled to get Sya's attention as he let go of Sya's neck with his arms to only keep himself in place with his legs. He drew and arrow from his quiver and nocked it in his bow and sighted down the spiteful white dragon. From a greater altitude, Talver had a better shot angle. He released the arrow with a twang, and it soared through the air, just as Zelkius was preparing for another dive. This arrow managed to puncture right through the white dragon's other wing, tearing another hole in it and causing Zelkius to stumble mid-air with a shocked cry. Talver let out a satisfied grunt, then leaned forward and called to Sya again. "I'll shoot until he leaves, stay above him if you can!"
 
Sya can't help her scales rubbing against his skin, but is trying her best to make sure he doesn't get blown off her back. It's both a good and bad thing for her that the villagers below are already mounting a counter to Zelkius, good that they're trying to defend themselves, bad because if she gets to low and someone either accidently or purposely shoots at her she loses even more power then she already has with Talver astride her. She tries to keep level, giving him the best shot she can. If he drops off her, there's a high chance that she wouldn't be able to catch him safely. She nodded to his words, keeping track of the younger white dragon's movements. "I told you to go, but you wouldn't listen to me would you hatchling," Sya calls out in dragon speak, taunting Zelkius now that he had been injured again. "Never learned not to play with hornets did you?"
 
Zelkius whirled around in midair to look up at the higher-altitude Sya with Talver astride her. The petulant young dragon snarled and let out a few useless bursts of flame as he wasn't anywhere close enough to Sya. "(The nests of hornets burn easy! And these pests ought to be removed!)" He shouted back in dragonspeak, then started trying to beat his wings to gain altitude and get closer to Sya to attack her. But another arrow shot from Talver struck the white dragon's wing again, puncturing another painful hole and making him stumble, unable to gain altitude as fast as Sya could. And yet Zelkius persisted, trying to rise up to Sya, and four more arrows from Talver finally discouraged him from that, as his flight was getting more and more unstable with every hole.

Down below, the townspeople watched, seeing how the strange new white dragon who attacked them was now being attacked by Talver and his dragon! A few were tempted to try and shoot at the grey dragon on instinct, but all knew better, considering how they had already harmed her and saw that she was now helping to defend them by giving Talver a vantage point from which he could hit the rampaging dragon. The arrows stopped as the archers watched to see how things were going to play out, while the rest of the townspeople continued trying to put out the fires Zelkius had started.

Talver looked on with satisfaction as each of his arrows struck true on the other dragon's wide, large wings, sapping his flight performance from the easy higher vantage point. With a small amount of pleasure, he watched the spiteful dragon tumble and blow plumes of flame ineffectually. Talver's triumph then turned to horror as he saw Zelkius noticing that the arrows weren't coming up anymore, and went in for another dive to the town. "No, dammit, dammit! He's getting out of range! Sya, can you get me closer?" Talver yelled into the air so Sya could hear him.
 
Sya isn't exactly threatened by his feeble attempts to gain altitude. She counted five arrow twangs from Talver, five more holes in the younger dragon's wings. At least the villagers down below are saving their arrows instead of wasting them trying to reach Zelkius. She tilted her wings down when Zelkius dives again, trying so hard not to send Talver plummeting off. At first sign of him slipping, she would abort the dive. With Zeklkius dive the villagers have a chance to fire and hit him again, aiding in their defense.
 
Talver clutched Sya's neck with his legs as tightly as he could as she began to go into a dive to catch up with Zelkius, leaning back as he nocked and drew back another arrow. He took aim, leaning almost all the way back against Sya's back as they dove down to catch up with Zelkius. Some of the archers noticed that the white dragon was coming in for a dive again, and tried to send up a few arrows, but they were too few and too late. Zelkius inhaled, preparing to send out yet another plume of flame over the town, while Talver was sighting down his bow at the dragon with wings mostly folded in. It was a difficult shot, but Talver let his bow go with one last loud 'twang', releasing one last arrow. Unfortunately, the act put Talver off-balance, and he started to wobble out of his precarious perch on Sya's neck, but just barely managed to grab onto her with his arms to keep from falling off.

The shaft flew straight and true through the air to strike Zelkius in the side of his neck. His prepared plume of flame sputtered out in a distressed squawk as he quickly started working to pull out of the dive. It wasn't a mortal wound. But on the other hand, it was certainly enough to stop Zelkius in his tracks. The white dragon had had enough. He was done. This wasn't worth it anymore. Still squawking in a very undignified manner from the irritating arrow in his neck, he fought to gain altitude while yet more arrows were shot up from below at him, striking his legs and belly, and he started trying to fly his way out of town. Zelkius flapped his tattered wings hard, not going near as fast as he should, but he managed to make it outside of the town's limits and flew off over the hilly forest, heading for parts unknown that nobody cared about anymore as long as it wasn't here.

Talver fought to get back into a stable position on Sya with her help, and once he was, he looked down and surveyed the damage to the town from an aerial view. The sudden advantages of such a view were not lost on him, as he could see everything--the several burnt-out buildings, the knocked-down wall, and the few fires still going but were quickly being put out by a bucket brigade. He patted Sya on the neck appreciatively as he called out to her. "Can you land just outside the town? These are still my people, I want to be sure they're alright." He called out to her. He was still banished, so he couldn't enter the town. Landing in the square with Sya would probably be a bad idea, all things considered.
 
Sya almost grinned as another troubled squawk came from Zelkius as Talver's arrow found his neck. Not a fatal one by a long shot, but it would further annoy him, the villagers backing that up with another volley of arrows, even though to don't reach the lethal sweet spot, the one that Talver had found on Farrith. However she quickly has to worry about Talver, who she can feel trying to get his balance back. She stayed aloft while Zelkius retreats, watching his white mass fade into the distance. For all the trouble he's cause her she does wish him a female that will put up with his youthful block headiness.

To her, the damages aren't that bad. It takes years to make a den suitable for even one dragon, never mind two or a pair with hatchlings. A proper den could take decades to make. Their human shelters had taken months to put up. She heard his request, a snort coming from her as he asked about landing outside the battered town. They had just finished saving it, so banishment smanisment as far as she's concerned. And if they decide to attack them after what they just did, she would certainly continue what Zelkius had started.

She descended in the town's square, giving a look that said just try me as she does so. Some of the stunned villagers still have bows in their hands, but they quickly but them down under Sya's sharp gaze, which soften as the weapons are put down. She waits for Talver to dismount before turning to look at Norman, expecting him to say something about Talver's banishment being lifted, and a thank you for saving the village.
 
Talver settled back on Sya's neck after he asked her to land, but then blanched as he realized where she was going to land. "No no wait, Sya--!" He stammered, but his voice was lost as she flapped her wings heavily to hover, buffeting himself and the ground, until she finally dropped down on her feet. Talver looks around nervously at the rest of the townsfolk. The problem with landing in the town square like this made it seem like he was being imperious about ignoring the banishment or wanting them to lift it, which was not at all what Talver wanted. He didn't dismount (as he could -technically- not be 'in' the village if he wasn't touching the ground himself, not that that would stand up to any real scrutiny), and looked around at the wary approaching townsfolk while stammering. "I-I'm sorry, I asked Sya not to land here, I didn't mean to violate--"

"Talver!" Norman called out as he marched forward. "Talver. You don't need to say anything. That dragon...we wouldn't have been able to hold out for very long against it. We were starting to run out of arrows. If we did, the dragon would have had free run of us, and a lot of us would have died. As it is..." Norman sighs sadly. "We did lose one family, unfortunately. A couple other injuries. But it could have been worse, much worse. We have you and...Sya? To thank for that." The current captain of the village militia pauses, just looking at the dragon and human. "We were...perhaps a bit hasty and rash before. I speak for everyone when I say that you can consider your banishment lifted. We're still not...sure what to think about you, but we can't turn you away after you saved us."

Talver froze in place as he listened, but the tension slowly bled out of his body as Normans words relieved a great weight from him. Slowly, Talver slipped one leg over Sya's neck and dropped down beside her, momentously touching his feet down to the ground. Several people cheered for the dragon and dragon-riding defenders of the town. Talver, overwhelmed with emotion yet again, leaned against Sya's neck and hugged his arms around it. "You made this possible. Thank you." He whispered to her as his people welcomed him back into the village.
 
Sya listened intently as Norman marched forward and gave his speech, pleased that he had gotten her name right even if he had hesitated about it. She looks right back at him, silently pushing him to say that Talver's banishment is lifted. As far what the humans think about their relationship, she doesn't give a damn. Talver is hers, along with their eggs, which she must really get back to tending soon...

She gave a slight rumble in response to Norman's thanks, and another when Talver hugs her neck. "You're..welcome," she gets out, her voice still rough and gravelly in speaking the human tongue. Happy as she is he can come into the village again, she is still concerned about their children. "Eggs," she says softly, not really wanting to burst his happy moment.
 
With the matter resolved, most of the townspeople returned to the task of the immediate repairs needed for the things destroyed in Zelkius' attack. Talver, meanwhile, wasn't paying attention to any of them. He just clung to Sya's neck tightly, nuzzling his face against her scales in joy. They both had come a long way since that day when Sya abducted him.

When Sya grunted out 'eggs' to him, Talver finally let go of her neck and stepped back. "Oh yes! They should be safe, but we should get back as soon as possible." He said quickly, though he still felt enormously happy with a spring in his step. Talver then quickly swung himself back onto Sya's neck and made sure his bow and quiver were still secure on his back. "I'm ready. Let's go home!" he said as he hugged Sya's neck with his arms for extra stability.
 
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