#coven head thories

[artinclined-jointheartside]

I have come upon a compulsion to delve into the nature of the Coven Heads and what things might have been like for them leading up to the DOU. Most of this is just my interpretation and is only really relevant to my fanfic, After the End, but I figured it might be interesting to some. So, here we go!

Okay. First thing that we can all agree on is, quite simply, the coven heads were lied to. To my understanding, this is canon. They thought they were working with a witch. Granted, one who's been around for centuries claiming to be the mouth of the titan, but a witch nonetheless. This witch, who has been around for centuries, who has been working towards some grander goal, shares with them this goal. To attain paradise. AKA, bring the titan's skull into the human realm where they will be seen as "royalty." Presumably as a reward for carrying out the titan's will, but who knows really what the point of that promise was (other than to further entice the ruling coven heads at the time).

Now, on to my interpretation/fanconon: As Amity has just so blatantly pointed out in the latest chapter of my fic, them being lied to and manipulated doesn't excuse the way they acted while in their seats. And she's right. It doesn't.

But consider the reality they've all been living in up until the DOU finally happens.

Belos wasn't necessarily the poster child for team unity and kind cooperation between the covens. If anything, he wanted them to be wary of each other, distrustful of each other – while being forced to work together. After all, you're already creating a separation by dividing magic into its individual crafts and stating they have to be individual. It's easy to take that another step forward and make tweaks here or there to make it just that much harder to trust each other and work together because "you don't understand how this works," or "you're getting in the way of how I do my part" or whatever.

Not only that, but the coven heads were made into political entities at that point.

After all, when you have a whole sect of people dedicated to a single craft of magic, that sect of people is going to want rights in alignment with that craft, right? They're going to have their own needs and requirements and they're going to have to vie for those against the others of the "opposing" crafts. So naturally "leaders" emerge – which is how the coven heads were probably sparked into existence anyway. These leaders were supposed to be the figureheads for their craft and the people of their craft, with the point and purpose of preserving and protecting both. This is going to create factions. Which was exactly what Belos wanted.

These factions then, as stated, have their own goals to strive for and agendas to serve. And because it's just this *pinches fingers* hard to work together, trust each other, cooperate with each other, you get friction. This friction manifests in many different ways, generally none of them positive. From passive aggression to full-frontal insults, to clandestine operations to get what they want to straight up murdering someone because they're in direct opposition of a desired goal. This naturally leads to hatred, contempt and bitter rivalries. Of course, on the other side of the coin, this also leads to alliances between coven heads. Whether it's because they share a goal, if only for that one purpose, or because they just happen to like each other, or because they recognize their covens need to work together for the greater benefit of both (the plant and beast keeping covens are an example of this last one). These rivalries and alliances are never set in stone, unfortunately, whether it's just because of the natural occurrences that accumulate over time, or the subtle manipulations of Belos himself. So, as you can imagine, it's not easy – it's in fact harsh and even dangerous – to be a Coven Head.

Now, take this shitty social and political climate that exists at the top of the food chain and insert into it a common goal.

It's my belief that not long after the formation of his empire, maybe ten years in or so, Belos revealed his plan for the DOU to the coven heads. Because anyone with a brain could tell at that point he was up to something. And even if they couldn’t, he needed them on his side. He needed them to be aware enough to actively work as his appendages for this purpose as this was the next phase of his plan.

So. He shows them. Tells them it's the titan's will they "achieve paradise." Tells them the goal of "unifying the people to escape wild magic." Now, while he's still on this train of "wild magic bad, coven magic good" he's not hiding the fact that this is just a front, something they're going to tell the populace instead of the actual purpose of the DOU which is "paradise." AKA – transporting the titan's skull to the human realm. The specific reasonings he might throw out at any given time could vary, but the gist of the whole thing is – a new world with more resources and new opportunities.

This is very appealing. Each coven head has their own reasons for seeing this as appealing. Some are looking forward to a better life. Some are looking forward to better resources. Some are looking forward to more freedom to operate. Whatever. Their individual reasons for wanting this brings them together, whether they want to work together or not, to reach towards this singular purpose.

Belos periodically goes over the DOU with them over the years, always when a new coven head is inducted, and occasionally just as a reminder and general overview of the progress. But the point of repeatedly going over this plan, this lofty goal, is to reiterate that they all share this purpose. They all, himself included, are working for this. This is the end result of all their hard work and they ALL want this, after all – it's the "will of the titan" of course you want this, this is our grand achievement as leaders of the people, and we will lead our race into safety and prosperity!

So.

You have people who are forced to become hard, suspicious, sly, vicious, even cut-throat and ready to kill convinced they have something grand to achieve, something the titan itself wants them to make happen.

They're gonna wanna make it happen!

Enter people like Darius, Eber, and Raine. Each has their own reasons for seeing this as something other than what it is, seeing through these lies and suspecting this isn't exactly what it appears. And it just so happens that the three of them are all having these thoughts at the same time for once since Belos had first shared the DOU plan with the coven heads. See, in the lore of my fic, Terra goes into the reality that is the tenure of coven heads. The average tenure is between 12 and 15 years – an average taken since the inception of "coven heads" (give or take 200ish years), before even the title of Coven Head had been established. The reason for this tenure average is Belos. He has always found some way to keep a coven head from being in power any longer than that. Whether that be through "retiring them" either through persuasion or force, or finding a way to instigate their unfortunate death, sometimes even straight up murdering them if that's what it took. The reason he wanted this shortened tenure was because the longer a coven head sat, the more likely they'd start piecing together the puzzle of HIM and he couldn't have that. And this fear of his is valid, as there have been some coven heads through history that have become blatantly suspicious of him. And of course he's dealt with them. However, as previously stated, he's never had more than one with enough suspicion to act in power at the same time.

Now, I'm taking a bit of a detour to go over Terra, lol

She's the longest sitting coven head at 46 years, "running the coven for fifty if we want to get technical." There are reasons Belos was unable to get rid of Terra, and it wasn't because she was such a loyal prawn. Terra, through the simple desire of wanting to improve upon what already existed, made herself too valuable. Because she single-handedly turned a coven previously seen as nearly inconsequential and subservient at the time of her induction at the age of 30 into the largest coven by volume of members, most lucrative by value of items produced, most important in regards to asset management, and it's also considered one of the best to be a part of for the sake of "coven life" due to the community she's fostered between members. This collection of reasons alone make Terra a hugely valuable person to keep in power. Another point to add to her value, however, is that she's an immensely powerful witch. She doesn't brag, nor does she make a show of things (believe it or not) but she's not afraid to wield her power either. So A) she's grown her coven into the largest coven on the Isles and is so very respected and loved by said coven that removing her would actually be detrimental, B) she herself is a supremely powerful witch, and that power will absolutely come in handy should he need it and C) such a powerful witch will only allow for the draining spell to work even better and faster. Now, there are other reasons Belos couldn't remove her even had he decided he wanted to. However, those are spoilers and I'll not be getting into those, lol

Back to the main point – shorter tenure is something Belos wanted amongst the coven heads. And the sweetest irony is that concept is what allowed three new (Raine at less than a year), newer (Darius at 5 years) and newish (Eber at 8 years) members to come along and be like "Something ain't right here…"

The problem arises however in the fact that Darius, Eber and Raine see what the others just don't. There are a whole host of reasons why they don't see what's going on, whether it be that they're stuck in a particular mindset, or are too focused on duties to their coven and keeping their heads and watching their backs and trying to mediate this and instigate that, or even genuinely believe what Belos is telling them. Notable exceptions would be Adrian, who just doesn't give a shit – he's literally like "fuck yeah, I want to be royalty, you peons should have been kissing my feet years ago" and Terra, who actually does see through a fair amount of Belos' shit, but believes his end goal, the final result he's trying to achieve, is what's best for the whole of the Isles – and she is only working with him to achieve this goal and when it's finally fucking finished? … well. *shrugs*

The point remains, however, that the three are fighting against the other six because the other six, for one reason or another, believe they have to fulfill this grand purpose. So. This brings us to the DOU.

The six believe they need to make this happen. They are also hardened leaders who have been through some shit and had to do some things and if they have to make threats, either just for show or for the real deal, they will. Because this is what they've been working for. This is what they need to make happen because it's the promise of status, or the promise of reward, or the promise of safety and prolonging of their race.

Everything they have done has been to make this day happen.

And here we have some youngbloods (figuratively speaking) who want to wreck shit up for what?

Because they don't like Belos? Because they don't like the status quo?

Get in line, kids! We all got bones to pick and beefs to throw, but that's not what's important right now – what's important is "achieving paradise" and we have MINUTES to make this happen and you need to get in line RIGHT FUCKING NOW!

So yeah, some hands were thrown, some knives came out, some empty threats were made, and some words were said in anger (looking at Terra with that stupid "should have killed you when you were kids" comment that she absolutely realized was a low blow and unnecessary but – OH LOOK, shit's hit the fan and Paradise isn't real and she's on the floor now).

So. Without getting into all the gritty details of what happened in the 14ish months between the DOU and the start of my fic – at some point trials were held where each of the six were interrogated and evaluated and it was seen that all but Adrian held no guilt of true and actual wrong-doing. See, not only was Adrian in it for purely selfish reasons, but his tenure record was pulled and he was assessed to be incompetent for the role and also guilty of several crimes, including and especially the highly illegal act of going around to schools on the Isles issuing coven sigils to children who weren't of age to make such decisions. At the very least, those children weren't forced to take a sigil they didn't want at that time (not counting the situation with Gus because up until that point his act hadn’t been seen through) but considering they don't know how to actually remove the sigils, those poor kids are now stuck with that snap judgement.

This is how five of the six have been allowed to retain their seats. And now that they've been made aware of the truth, they are each working towards rebuilding and healing the Isles in their own ways.

This has been my dissertation on the realities and motives of the Coven Heads! (Again, all just my own interpretation and mostly relevant only to my fanfic.)

Possible assessments of each individual coven head to come in the future – let me know if you're interested, lol Thank you for reading! XD

[officialleehadan]

Gold-Eyed Leak

Hello darlings! Here's the winner of your Weekly Poll! This story was brought to you by Brandon! Thank you so much for all your support!

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Their run back to the encampment was one that Brandon would really prefer not to remember any time soon. Xaenxa staggered at his side, and Thori silently fell back to support her while Brandon himself braced Rhys. Together, they ran as fast as they could for the protection of the camp’s patrols.

By the time they got there, even Brandon and Thori were starting to stumble.

Blaec and Evelene met them at the trail head. As soon as they came into sight, Evelene ran to meet them, her pale blue sun dress at strange odds with the forest around them. She immediately reached for Xaenxa, who let Evelene take her weight gratefully. Blaec came to Brandon, but rather than take Rhys’s other side, he pressed a hand to the Firebird’s chest.

“Breathe in,” he told Rhys quietly. “Slowly.”

Brandon didn’t get a chance to ask what they were doing before flames blazed up around them. A small part of his brain wanted to panic. No human did well with that much fire in their face. Except the flames weren’t hurting him as they licked over his arms where he supported Rhys. In fact, they weren’t even all that hot.

Rhys took a deep breath, and the fire sank into him, pooling in his chest like a miniature sun before iit was gone entirely.

“Nothing like dragonfire from the First Dragon to warm up after a few hundred deaths,” Rhys said when the fire was gone. He was still leaning on Brandon for support, but he seemed to be stronger on his feet after whatever Blaec had done. “Thanks.”

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE!

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HGE - Mismatched

What do you get when you put a dragon, his mermaid, a dark elf, a half-dwarf, and a firebird into a zombie apocalypse?

A very frustrated human, who really isn’t sure how he ended up in this situation to begin with.

Too Fast to See

Hot Desert Night (Free on Patreon!)

Dial Emergency

Death Valley Sand

The Regency

Red Scales and Golden Hair

En Route

Silver-White Knife

A Question of Faith

Coven Court

Aftermath

Under Stone

New Arrivals

Battle Lines Drawn

Deep Defense

Pineapple Box

Oncoming Tide (Subscriber Only!)

Nothing Special

Fiery Negotiation

Pearls and Claws

Fire Brought Low (Subscriber Only!)

Long Distance Call (Subscriber Only!)

Cruelty’s Kindness

Switchblade Ward (Free on Patreon)

Flying Leap (Subscriber Only!)

Bone Bars

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More Stories!

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[officialleehadan]

Switchblade Ward

Hello darlings and happy Tuesday! I hope you're having a good one!

Today's story was brought to you by Stacey, who requested HGE - Mismatched! Here it is, darling. I'm always so happy to see your comments, and I hope you love your story!

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It seemed like a long time since Brandon had been in a strike team.

His Agency generally sent small teams to deal with issues that popped up, but this wasn’t the same thing. This was a fight for the world, hidden among the trees and lakes of Canada. Out of sight, out of mind for any number of world powers.

Distinctly in mind, for several others.

“Are you ready?”

It was Xaenxa, with Thori at her back. They were both clad in dwarf-made body armor. Thori had guns on both hips, and an impressive axe slung across his shoulder. Xaenxa, of course, had her rifle, her knives, and a glitter in her eyes that was very nearly a weapon itself. Brandon holstered his weapon, yanked the buckles on his body armor tight, and nodded once.

“I’m ready,” he told them, and wondered what his life had become that he was getting ready to storm a necromancer hold with a dark elf priestess, and a half-dwarf king. “You?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Thori grinned. Brandon had sparred with him a few times and knew the half-dwarf was a formidable fighter, and way faster than he should be with that axe in his hand. He didn’t envy any necromancers who happened to cross their paths. “Blaec knows we’re heading out.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

READ THE WHOLE STORY FREE ON PATREON!

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HGE - Mismatched

What do you get when you put a dragon, his mermaid, a dark elf, a half-dwarf, and a firebird into a zombie apocalypse?

A very frustrated human, who really isn’t sure how he ended up in this situation to begin with.

Too Fast to See

Hot Desert Night (Free on Patreon!)

Dial Emergency

Death Valley Sand

The Regency

Red Scales and Golden Hair

En Route

Silver-White Knife

A Question of Faith

Coven Court

Aftermath

Under Stone

New Arrivals

Battle Lines Drawn

Deep Defense

Pineapple Box

Oncoming Tide (Subscriber Only!)

Nothing Special

Fiery Negotiation

Pearls and Claws

Fire Brought Low (Subscriber Only!)

Long Distance Call (Subscriber Only!)

Cruelty’s Kindness

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More Stories!

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[officialleehadan]

Fiery Negotiation

Blaec was tired of dealing with monkeys.

The threat of a hoard was enough to keep him involved in the farce that was planning, but he was becoming more and more irate.

If he had his tail, it would be lashing.

Sunset came quickly so far north and Blaec went with Rhys to the top of the cliff. The firebird was jittery and it showed. To Blaec’s inhuman eyes, he shimmered with the outline of flames that no one else could see.

“Calm yourself.” Blaec told him. He rested a hand on the nervous bird’s shoulder. Rhys looked over at him and nodded before visibly forcing himself to breathe more slowly.

“I’ll be back by sunrise or a bit after,” The blonde said quietly. “I’ll need a good meal.”

“I’ll see to it,” Blaec assured him. “And that you have time for a rest as well.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course.”

He knew the limitations of his team, and they were his. He would take care of them.

As the sky turned from shadowy blue to glowing orange, Blaec watched Rhys let his human body burn away into his true form.

Blaec’s human shape was tall for a man, and Rhys’s head was almost level with his when the bird wore his fiery feathers. Anyone besides Blaec might have been bothered by the heat that poured off him.

Farther away, Brandon talked quietly with Evalene and Thori. From the shadows, Xaenxa’s eyes were fixed on her lover. Blaec knew how much she enjoyed seeing Rhys in his proper form, but he had long ago decided that he didn’t need to pay much attention to the odd pair and their habits.

The dark elf didn’t get close. While Rhys could control who his flames would burn, she still didn’t enjoy the light. Blaec had seen the couple stealing a quick fare-the-well in a corner before they came up to the overlook.

“Be safe,” he said at last. Rhys bobbed his head and briefly touched his beak to Blaec’s shoulder before he took wing almost directly up into the low-hanging clouds.

Blaec spared a moment of absent envy. The Firebird was far more maneuverable than he was in the air.

When the bird was out of sight, he turned to the rest of his team. Evalene drifted over to his side on silent, bare feet and he gathered her close.

For fear of his vengeance, the dwarves would not dare to touch her, but no dragon took even an implied threat to his hoard lightly. After so many centuries of marriage, she understood how much he needed her close.

They were filing down the stairs once more when Brandon’s phone buzzed softly in the quiet.

“Leith.” The human answered. His voice was surprised, and a quick dip into his mind told Blaec why. It was Razz on the line, sounding urgent.

The human tensed. “Razz, I don’t-” he started. He threw a nervous glance back at Blaec and seemed to make his mind up about something.

“I’m gonna put you on speaker Razz. You know I’m not the one in charge here,” he said. His voice was resigned and he came over to Blaec as he pressed something on his phone.

Razz’s voice filtered through the tinny speakers.

“Blaec?”

The dragon hid a sigh. “I’m here.” He said. Evalene ran a hand down his back soothingly and he spared her a smile. His mate was often wiser than him. He wanted to hear what Razz had to say.

“We need you and your team to come back, Blaec,” Razz continued. He sounded like he knew exactly what he was asking, and what Blaec would say in return.

It would be a shame to disappoint him.

“No,” Blaec answered shortly. “I will not be returning to the camp of an imperious human who thinks I can be commanded.”

He was still seething about that, and if the situation with the necromancers were any less dire, he would have killed the human on the spot for that insult. As it was, he was already plotting to give the man a slow death suspended over one of the fume vents in his lair.

That would have to wait.

For now.

“Blaec, I talked to him. He’ll stay away from you for the rest of the campaign and leave working with you to me, but we need you here. If Melaena arrives with her vampires and you’re not here, she might well decide to kill everyone in the camp.”

It was interesting to hear the tight worry in Razz’s voice. Particularly since, as Demonkin, he had nothing to fear from a vampire.

Bar beheading of course, but Melaena didn’t often get her hands dirty like that and no vampire wanted to risk offending someone from Below. There wasn’t much demon in Razz’s blood, but Melaena was unlikely to take that chance.

“And why do you care so much?” Blaec asked directly. He didn’t have the patience for the agent’s tiptoeing around the subject.

“Because I don’t want to deal with a Horde on our own!” the man replied hotly. “I can’t take the Necros, and you know it. We need these people. Alive, preferably. The elves are working with me for now, but when the vampires get here-” he trailed off.

“Blaec, he does have a point,” Thori said reluctantly. He and Razz were friends, but his loyalty was to Blaec. “I don’t really want to go up against those numbers without the elves. They might bail if someone isn’t holding Melaena’s leash.”

That was also true.

Blaec growled low in his throat. Evalene slipped her hand up under his shirt to stroke his wings. For her sake, he bit back his temper. He was no hatchling. Now was not the time to act rashly.

“The director leaves camp, and does not return.” He said finally. The man’s foolishness would put them all at risk. “If, and only if he is gone, we will return.”

Around him, the others relaxed and Blaec saw relief on their faces. They had been willing to trust his leadership, but like Razz, they were afraid of going up against the necromancers without backup.

He kept half an eye on their human. While Brandon was close with the director, even he seemed pleased that there would be no more conflict with him. Blaec mentally upped the man up a few more notches in his mind.

Loyalty was a pleasing thing. He hadn’t expected that out of the human.

“Deal.” Razz said quickly. Absently Blaec wondered if that hadn’t already been a part of the talk he had with the director. “He’ll be gone as soon as I’m off the phone with you.”

“Where will he go?” Brandon asked quietly. He sounded subdued. Interesting.

“To the Toronto Agency office.” The man assured him. “He’s gonna feed us information and try to root out the mole we have hiding in our ranks.”

That would keep him out of Blaec’s way for the time being.

“Good enough.” He allowed. “If I see him again, he dies.”

“That’s what I figured.” Razz admitted wryly. “And what I told him. I don’t think he’ll test your patience again.”

“Fear does well for keeping humans in line.” Xaenxa said. She skulked out of the shadows to stand beside Thori. The half-dwarf was keeping an eye on her, but he wasn’t overly worried by her nearness.

“It can, yes.” Evalene murmured. Blaec didn’t need to read her thoughts to know them. She wanted to return to the command center. He agreed, though he didn’t like it much. When she looked up at him, she smiled. She understood.

“Give him the word. We will return shortly.” Blaec said at last. “Melaena is due to arrive tonight.”

He would have to be there when she pulled in. No one else had enough authority to deal with her.

The sounds on Razz’s side got quiet briefly before the man returned. “The director is leaving now. You shouldn’t even pass him on the road.”

It would have to do.

Blaec looked at Gardr. The dwarf was listening in carefully, and they shared a nod.

“Tell Rhys where we have gone,” He said after a long minute of thinking. The firebird would be annoyed that they left without him, but he would understand.

“I’m sending ten of ours with you.” The old dwarf said, half to Blaec and half to Thori. “I wish we could spare more.”

Thori grinned and bashed his head against his uncle’s. “I’ll be glad to have Dwarvish steel backing us.” He said. “I’ll do my best to bring them home to you.”

“Be careful, Nephew. Throw a grenade or two for me.”

“Always.”

Blaec looked his team over. They didn’t expect him to consult them about the decision to go back. He was vaguely flattered by that.

Xaenxa smiled coldly, all excitable promise of violence.

“Give the word Drache. Give the word and his body will never be found.” She offered when Brandon hung up on Razz after bidding him farewell. “For you, I wouldn’t even charge.”

“No.” Blaec answered darkly. “When this is done I will deal with him myself.”

He had his own plans for the troublesome man.

Evalene smiled and he caught a glimpse of her other form in the razor points of her teeth. He did love the deadly side of her. She wanted a piece of the director as much as he did.

{Later, my treasure.} he said to her, leaving a ghostly kiss in her mind. Her lips quirked just a little more.

{I look forward to showing him our lair, at long last.} she answered with deadly satisfaction.

{As do I.}

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HGE - Mismatched

What do you get when you put a dragon, his mermaid, a dark elf, a half-dwarf, and a firebird into a zombie apocalypse?

A very frustrated human, who really isn’t sure how he ended up in this situation to begin with.

Death Valley Sand

The Regency

Red Scales and Golden Hair

En Route

Silver-White Knife

A Question of Faith

Coven Court

Aftermath

Under Stone

New Arrivals

Battle Lines Drawn

Deep Defense

Pineapple Box

Oncoming Tide (Subscriber Only!)

Nothing Special

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More Stories!

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Support me on Patreon

[officialleehadan]

Nothing Special

For Brandon, who wanted to know more about Brandon's Other blood in Mismatched. Sorry this one is so late tonight. How you like it!

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“I’m nothing special, am I?”

Brandon sat down beside Blaec, but didn’t look at him.

Blaec tilted his head and thought about the question, and the bitterness under it.

“You say ‘special’” he replied, tasting the cool wet air on his tongue. It would rain soon. He planned to go for a fly once night fell. “Did you know there is no word for ‘special’ in the dragon-tongue?”

It wasn’t a distraction exactly, but the new information, information that no human had ever known, was more than enough to catch Brandon’s attention. Ever hungry for knowledge, his focus shifted from whatever morose spiral he had been in all day to the relentless study of the beings that shared his world.

“I didn’t know dragons had a specific language,” he said and looked over at Blaec. He seemed terribly young. “How- I mean, I’ve seen your real form…”

He was wondering how the spoken dragon tongue sounded.

Curious little creature. There was a reason Blaec liked humans so much. They never stopped being interesting, even after his incredibly long life.

Shifting was like breathing in that first whisper of smoke as a campfire came alight. It was the feeling of a match kindling under his fingertips. The kiss of too-hot sunlight on a sunburn.

When Blaec folded his wings, Brandon was staring, wide-eyed and shaken.

(Remember to breathe,) he said, not without a chuckle as Brandon sucked in a breath, and then another. Dragonfear was controllable, indeed it was even possible to resist it given the right mindset, but the human brain would never react well to having such a large predator of their kind so immediately in their space. (If I was going to eat you, I would not have waited this long.)

“I forgot how big you are,” Brandon choked out, and took another breath that seemed to steady him to an extent. Blaec laid his head down on the warm stone and huffed a sigh. “You’re… you’re really huge.”

(I’m a fair size,) Blaec allowed, and stretched his wings a bit. Brandon watched him, torn between wonder and terror. (You are curious about dragon-tongue. I cannot speak it in monkey-shape.)

Wonder won out, and Brandon leaned forward, almost close enough to touch Blaec’s nose. Blaec was definitely going to have to take him for a fly soon. Maybe when everything with the Horde was settled.

Magic curled over his tongue, and waited, ready to ignite. Blaec let it pool for a moment, and then flicked his tongue, and the tooth in the fork of it, against his front teeth. The magic flared to life, and Blaec held it for a moment longer before breathing out, ever-so-carefully.

(Special,) he said in thought-speak as the word in dragon-tongue billowed through his teeth. (My kind have no word for it because no dragon is ‘special’. We are different from each other, but none of us is more remarkable than any other.)

“I thought you were the oldest of your kind?” Brandon asked, unafraid despite the flames that coiled around him without leaving a mark. He examined the patterns of light in the air, and reached out to touch. The heat of the flames warned him away before Blaec could do it himself. “Aren’t you the First?”

(We believe so,) Blaec admitted, and blew the word away into motes of light. (My first memories are of a time when the great ice was just receding. The floods carved out what would be called Egypt in later eras. I did not see my first human until they began to dare the Nile as the floodwaters died down.)

“That’s nearly eleven thousand years ago,” Brandon said dumbly before his mind could truly catch up to the story he was being told. “Maybe more. How old are you really?”

(I do not track in human years,) Blaec shrugged his wings and nearly billowed Brandon off his feet by accident. (The earliest floods washed out my first lair after a while. I flew north, and there was nothing but ice. I flew south until I found a volcano, and made my new lair there. I was not much larger than you are now. But we were not speaking of my history, or indeed dragon history at all.)

“You said dragons don’t have a word for ‘special’,” Brandon remembered. He was quick. Blaec wondered if he would take Melaena’s offer and become a vampire. He might be one of the rare humans to take well to immortality. “Because none of you are special.”

(Yes,) Blaec said approvingly. It was always nice to be listened to for the words, and not simply because the audience was afraid he would eat them. (You asked if you were ‘special’, and to that, I say no.)

Before Brandon could wilt, still so young and so desperate for approval that a wrong word could take his legs out from under him, Blaec blew out the flame-word again. Magic and flames filled the air, shimmering in fire-tones, with a rumble from his chest, and the particular scrape-click of his spark-tooth against his left, back fangs.

(In your human tongue,) Blaec said, and bumped Brandon ever-so-gently with his nose. (It translates to ‘the sunlight falls differently on every scale’)

“I don’t understand,” Brandon confessed, entranced by the flame-word, but ashamed at his ignorance. “I’m sorry. I don’t-“

(You asked if you are special,) Blaec cut him off, because rambling would get nowhere fast, and there was no point in wasting the breath. (I expect that your true question is if you are anything other than human. To that, the answer is no. You are human, through and through. Less common than you might think, even with so many non-humans still hiding their true nature.)

“So nothing special at all,” Brandon said with a self-deprecating shrug of acceptance. “Just human. Thank you for being honest with me.”

He stood to go inside, and Blaec leaned forward to bump him back into his seat. It took a particular amount of force. He was glad his Treasure was about the same size, or he might have crushed the human without meaning to. Practice helped with these things. Humans were so small these days.

(You misunderstand,) he said, and shoved the tip of his nose under Brandon’s hand until the human tentatively began rubbing at the tender skin there. It was always itchy, but he would claw himself raw if he tried to scratch it himself. (Do you truly believe my Great Treasure would proclaim your status to the vampires if she gave you no value? Would Xaenxele, who is no child herself, and Rhys, who is as immortal as I am and nearly as old, give your words weight when you speak them? Would Thori, who is heir to a great kingdom and a king among his people, call you friend and shield brother? Would I, the oldest and largest of my kind, listen to your council when you give it?)

Brandon froze, and Blaec rumbled at him until he applied his clever human fingers to Blaec’s itchy nose.

“She’s really scary,” he offered in return, but Blaec could see the way the human’s cheeks were pink with embarrassment, and maybe also with pleasure. That was good. He was a rare and useful human. Blaec certainly meant to keep him until he died or was no longer amusing. “Your wife I mean.”

(As beautiful as the ocean, and as deadly) Blaec agreed, very smug indeed about his beloved Treasure. He closed his eyes and settled in for a nap. Sundown would not be long in coming, and the vampires would be heading out on scouting runs when it did. Until then, he meant to rest. (You are not ‘just’ anything. Now, I am going to nap, and you are going to scratch my nose until I tell you to stop, or I fall asleep. Whichever takes longer.)

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HGE - Mismatched

What do you get when you put a dragon, his mermaid, a dark elf, a half-dwarf, and a firebird into a zombie apocalypse?

A very frustrated human, who really isn’t sure how he ended up in this situation to begin with.

Death Valley Sand

The Regency

Red Scales and Golden Hair

En Route

Silver-White Knife

A Question of Faith

Coven Court

Aftermath

Under Stone

New Arrivals

Battle Lines Drawn

Deep Defense

Pineapple Box

Oncoming Tide (Subscriber Only!)

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More Stories!

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