~Blu’s P.O.V~

I let out a small sigh of relief as we crossed from the plains and back into the mountains.They were at least familiar territory to me, and with the threat of Garagain constantly behind us it felt good to be back on safer ground. We were all on edge, especially Aaron and me, but being here helped take off a little bit of that edge.

I looked behind me to see a massive line of carriages as well as people and mythical creatures walking, stretching behind me for a couple miles. New people had been joining as we had come through the kingdom as well, putting the numbers we had to take care of up even further. Survivors from the many destroyed villages around the kingdom had been joining along the way, not really caring where we were going. It seemed not many did, but they wanted to be as far away from the kingdom as possible.

I was walking beside Aaron, the mage atop a horse with his two magical staffs tied to the side. He had a royal gold and purple cape stretching down his back with the kings symbol on the back. He had refused to wear a crown, saying he was only filling in for his brother, not taking over from him.

“We're getting closer to Lysia,” Aaron said to me, looking across from his horse, “Your old home.”

I looked at him with a weak smile. “I know. At our pace we’ll probably get there tomorrow afternoon. But we’re also getting closer to Crag Mountain.”
“Yes, the place we met,” he laughed.

“I’m interested to see whether it’s still how we left it,” I sighed, “I wouldn’t mind spending a night in my old cave again.”

“You miss it ha?” said the mage with a grin.

“Well… it was my place for… what? Ten years I think,” I thought for a moment, “Wow, it’s really been that long?”

He laughed, “Tab’s not five anymore man.”

“True,” I replied, “But still, ten years can go by so quickly.”

I looked up to see Tyron circling above us, beating his powerful wings to keep himself in the air. We had decided to take turns in the air. Once one of us got tired of flying around, we would switch. It worked because it allowed us to rest our wings while on the ground, and rest our legs while in the air.

I sighed softly as I watched the red dragon for a couple more moments. I couldn’t help but feel completely comfortable with him. What we have is strong, and I really hope it stays that way. It’s only really been about a month since we met… but it feels like I’ve known him forever. It may be that way because of the relationship between what our dragon forms used to be, but either way, I’m glad for it.

Aaron saw me watching him and smirked, “So, have you two ‘sealed the deal’ yet?”

I turned to him, shocked, “What?”

“You know what I mean,” he said with a small laugh.

I blushed and stammered, “I… aaah… well… we’ve discussed it… but no. We’re not even married yet!”

“I didn’t think dragons worried about that sort of thing.”

“Well I’m not just a dragon. I’m a... well, partly human as well. I think it’s important,” I snorted and held my head high.

He laughed again, “Alright, I’m just teasing.”

As the day continued and the sun began to dip I found myself in the sky again, gliding slowly through the air. Mountains stretched out in either direction, creating great rock walls around us. Below the crowd meandered onwards, sticking to the relatively small trail below. The company stretched out for miles, being forced into nearly single file as we journeyed. Soldiers were spread thin along the line, trying to keep order in as many areas as possible. Any flying creatures, including myself, had set a long lazy circle around the masses, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. But with nothing happening it began to get a little boring.

As I followed, my gaze fell upon the sight of a familiar mountaintop in the distance. Crag mountain. My….home. We’d be back there soon. Part of me I wondered if my hay bed was still there, or my horde of “Collectables” perhaps?

“Hey Blu!”

I turned to see Tyron winging his way up toward me, seeming curious about something. I smiled at him.

“Hey, what are you doing up here? I thought you wanted a chance to rest your wings for a bit,” I said.

He snorted, “It’s been an hour since then, I’m fine. Besides, I wanted to ask you something.”

He came up alongside me as I slowed down to allow him to catch up. I tilted my head, waiting for him to continue.

“You used to live around this area, didn’t you? Crag Mountain?” he said.

I nodded my head, “Yeah, you can see it in the distance.”

From this far away it would have been pretty hard for human eyes to spot, but for a dragon it was quite clear. The mountain was a jagged outcropping in the sky, the peak towering above many of its brothers near it. It looked similar to a talon in my mind, coming to a near sharp point at the top.

“There’s a cave up there, near the top, big enough for a couple of dragons,” I stated, “It’s great because it’s very hard to get to if you can’t fly.”

He smiled at that, “I wouldn’t mind seeing it.”

I glanced at him, “I can do more than that. Why don’t we stay there for the night? Just me and you.”

“That would be great,” he agreed, “Harry can stay with Tabitha for the night.”

I rumbled softly. It would be great. It had been a long time since I had been alone with him. We hadn’t really had a chance with the wars that had been going on, and the constant planning and the worry. This would be a chance to relax and just forgot about everything else. Just focus on each other. I smiled as I imagined us sitting together, side by side, in the moonlight.

He chuckled softly, “You know, we’ll be all alone, maybe we could… take things a step further.”

I nearly fell out of the sky, “What?”

He laughed, “You know what I mean. I love you Blu, and I know that you love me as well… so why can’t we?”

I blushed heavily, “B...but i...isn’t it still… a… a little early for that? We haven’t even got married yet!”

“Blu, we’re dragons now. I already consider you my… well my mate I guess. I don’t need a ceremony to clarify that. What I need is you to accept me as your mate,” he said softly, looking at me.

I was silent for a moment, watching him as we flew through the sky. It was true, I did already accept him as my mate. He was the only one in life that I would, and I needed him more than I cared to admit.

“O… okay… I guess we’ll just have to see what happens,” I said softly, flying over to him and nuzzling him softly.

~Tyron’s P.O.V~

We stopped as we came to the edge of the mountain. The sun was low in the horizon, casting an orange glow over the sky. Stars were beginning to dot the sky above, and there was a full moon slowly beginning to reveal itself in the horizon. Further in the distance, along the edge of the mountains, were the slight firelight of Lysia. It seemed untouched by the war. Safe and well.

Below the camp slowly began to set up. Thankfully the area around the mountain was quite sparse of vegetation, giving plenty of room for the temporary set up we had grown fond of for the past couple of days. It wasn’t nearly as extravagant as what we had at first, but it did well enough to at least keep everyone sheltered and relatively comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as one could be in a trip like this.

Blu and I winged our way up to the top of the mountain. I couldn’t help but be excited for tonight. There was a strange feeling bubbling in my chest, one that I couldn’t quite place. Pride, eagerness, love, whatever it was it made me fly a bit faster.

We landed on the edge of the cave and I walked to Blu and we nuzzled. He smiled at me slightly and looked back down at the camp. The camp was visibly bigger, surrounding the base of the mountainside. Fires were being lit up. Now we were back in the mountains it would be safe to do so. At least safer. Gryphons had landed on surrounding mountainsides, the mages on their back getting ready for a long night of keeping watch. They would switch with their mounts at times threw the night so they both had a chance to rest. It would be rough, but from what I’d heard from Aaron, mages could go a long time without sleep, with the right spells of course.

“So, this is my old place,” said Blu, turning to look back into the cave

I smiled and nuzzled him again.

“How about we go in?” I rumbled with a purr.

We walked inside and I looked around with interest. It was a rather large place, and I'm saw three tunnels leading to different caverns. I saw one full of random junk. There was a shelf of books, some fancy looking rocks and a number of old weapons as well. There was even half a broken down carriage in there. Another was filled with food. I couldn’t help but wrinkle my nose slightly at the smell of rotten meat. Blu winced at the smell as well.

“Forgot I still had some food left in there, I thought I had preserved it quite well,” he said.

I laughed, “I doubt even you could preserve it for over a month.”

He nodded his head and walked toward the small cavern. Opening his mouth he quickly blasted the remains with fire, turning it all into ash. Not long after the smell disappeared from the cave, and we both breathed a sigh of relief.

I chuckled and turned my attention to the last room of the cave. It looked to be his nest. There was another roughly made shelf to one side and a hay nest big enough for one dragon, or maybe two if we got really close. I smiled at the thought. Along the wall I saw what seemed like hundreds, thousands, of claw marks, all in lines. I tilted my head, and looked back at him.

“Three thousand six hundred and fifty,” Blu suddenly said.

“What?”

“That's how many claw marks there are,” he continued, nodding to the wall, “One for every day I lived in this cave.”

I blinked in surprise, taking a moment to realise what he was saying, “Ten years… exactly ten years.”

He nodded his head with a small sigh, “Well, ten years and two months now, since I became a dragon that is. That’s what I really was keeping count for.”

“Ten years alone would drive anyone mad.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “Though part of me didn’t mind it too much. Maybe it was the fact that as a dragon, well, dragons don’t really spend time with a lot of things. Still… it was hard.”

I walked over to him and nuzzled his chin softly, “Well, you're no longer alone my love.”

He looked at me, tears welling up at the edge of his eyes and a small smile along his maw. We gazed at each other for a moment. Slowly I leaned forward and lightly pressed my muzzle against his. He rumbled softly and kissed back, his tail twisting slightly in eagerness. I rumbled slightly and after a couple of moments pulled away, my breath coming a little faster.

We watched each other for a moment again, before moving closer and kissing each other passionately again. We both murmured softly as I broke the kiss and nuzzled him along the cheek. He rumbled softly again, lightly nibbling at my cheek.

“Um….can we...um….continue this i..in the nest?” Blu stammered cutely.

I nodded as I smiled and we both walked and laid down in the nest, practically on top of each other. Not that I minded at all. We nuzzled each other again before being pulled into a kiss, with us both rumbling softly. I curled my tail around his and locked our talons together. Slowly I broke the kiss and began to nuzzle his neck, lightly nibbling the dragon’s neck, long forgotten draconic instincts slowly kicking in.

I growled loudly and let my eyes take in his form, the moonlight streaming in from the entrance making his scales and eyes shimmer and shine. For a moment I just stared at him. The world grew dark around me, as an inner fire was ignited inside me. The last thing I remembered was looking down at my mate, than the rest was a blur.