~Blu’s P.O.V~

I smiled widely as everyone laughed. I looked and saw Tyron chuckling, shaking his head. We were standing with our wings spread out, sheltering as many people from the rain as we could. A number of children and their parents had gathered under the shelter and were now listening to us joke and talk, trying to make our current situation a little more lighthearted.

“Tell another!” laughed Harry with his friends, as I finished a small story about Tyron’s first attempt at hunting.

“Hmm…” I thought for a moment, trying to think of something else that would make them laugh, “Alright, how about the story of....”

I was cut off as the gates of the nearby town banged open, the sound echoing rather loudly through the falling rain. I looked up to see Aaron, followed by the mayor of Lysia and a number of soldiers, walk out from the gates toward us. The kids turned as well, immediately distracted by the turn of events. I glanced at Tyron and he frowned slightly, trying to figure out what was going on.

Aaron led them over towards us, seeming to be quite proud of himself. The mayor wasn’t so eager. He approached us warily, hand on the broadsword strapped to his back. His eyes were full of a strange hatred, targeted specifically toward me it seemed, though why that was I couldn’t be sure. He seemed a little surprised at the small gathering we had however, much to my delight, and his eyes wondered over the small crowd of children and their parents.

“Blu,” said Aaron, “Meet Mayor Eric Broadsword, Mayor Eric, the dragon Blu and his mate Tyron.”

Eric watched us for a moment. His name was a familiar one. I had used to have a friend named Eric before I became a dragon. I hadn’t seen him in a while however, so the familiarity between the boy I once knew and the man that stood in front of me was lost. I bowed my head, lower than I usually did to show deeper respect.

“Greeting, Mayor Broadsword, I can assure you I mean no harm, and neither does Tyron.”

He scoffed softly, “If you truly meant no harm, then why did you take that name?”

I was surprised, and looked up at him, “Because I have no other.”

Eric was a hard man to read at this moment. He seemed lost between that seething hatred and a new emotion that he wanted to fight back. I glanced at Aaron, wondering what this meeting was supposed to accomplish. I thought he was bringing out the mayor so that it may be easier to convince him to allow us entry into Lysia, but there was another motive behind this. One that I had not figured out yet.

“That is a lie!” exclaimed Eric, “Blu was a friend of mine, killed by the dragon, you, over ten years ago!”

I hesitated, studying the man in front of me again. I had never met him before, I was sure of it, at least not recently. But then again, people did change a lot between the ages of ten and twenty. Inside, some part of me wondered if it was the same person after all.

“You… your last name… it isn’t… Calenhad is it?” I said softly.

He froze, staring at me in surprise, “How did you know that?”

“You told me… years ago… when we went out hunting together and ended up having to spend the night in the forest after you fell and broke your leg. I refused to leave you, and we talked… about a lot of things. I think we were only nine.”

Silence met my words. Eric was wide eyed, confusion and hope and utter surprise running over him, “Blu… it… it really is you.”

I nodded my head with a small smile, “I wondered what became of you. It seemed the years have done you well.”

“But… but how? How did this happen?” he said, “How did you become… this?”

“A long story,” I smiled slightly, “But I’d be happy to share it with you.”

He hesitated, looking back at Aaron, before turning to me again, “Of… of course.”

He looked up at the people on the rampart and with a flick of his hand and a booming voice yelled out, “Let them in! Let them in! Give them shelter and food! Whatever they need! They mean us no harm.”

His demeanour changed rapidly within the space of a couple of seconds, surprising us all. There was a beaming smile on his face, like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He gestured to us to come forward, and for a moment I hesitated, looking at everyone around me in surprise. Aaron grinned.

“Well, you heard the man, tonight we sleep with full stomachs!” exclaimed the mage.

A chorus of cheers echoed up from the travelers and I couldn’t help but smile. Finally we would be out of this rain. I don’t know how much longer we could have lasted. I got up from where I was seated and, with the rest of the crowd, walked into the town that was my childhood home. The Lysian soldiers were still a little wary of us, but with Eric at the head they seemed to accept it.

“Blu, my old friend,” he said, “Come to my home, bring your friends. I want to hear everything that has happened. Everything!”

I smiled and nodded my head, “Gladly.”

~Tyron’s P.O.V~

I followed behind Blu and his old friend, Eric. I don’t know why, but part of me didn’t really like him. Maybe it was because they seemed to get along so well together, or that they seemed really close as friends. I don’t know. With a silent growl to myself I shook my head, that wasn’t like me at all. Was I feeling jealous? I silently laughed at the thought and forced myself to relax.

“Tyron dear. Are you alright? You seem troubled.” I looked and saw Meriwether.

“Yes ma’am. I'm fine.” I did my best to smile.

“How's Blu?” she asked me.

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head

“The day before we met you, Blu was just a mess. He hurt Tabitha twice, healed her, and ran away in shame and regret. But once we met you… well...I’ve never seen him this happy since before his father’s passing. What I'm saying is, Please take care of my son. He's a sensitive person. It would break my heart to see him hurt.”

I nodded, studying her for a moment and wondering what had brought this on. She seemed… worried about something. Part of me wondered if she had knew about the strange voices in my head, and what they were saying, but I quickly dismissed it.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “I would never willingly hurt Blu. Not ever.”

I picked up my pace so that I was walking beside Blu. He turned to look at me and smiled.

“Hey Eric,” he said, “I haven’t introduced you to my partner yet. Meet Tyron.”

He nodded his head in greeting, to which I responded, “It’s good to meet you Eric, I don’t think Blu mentioned you.”

The mayor shrugged, “Well it’s been a long time since we last met each other. Things tend to change as the years go by.”

“Well, you know, with everything that has been going on recently, I haven’t really been thinking of my old life,” said Blu, “Especially people I haven’t met in over ten years.”

I laughed, “Fair enough.”

“Alright, here we are,” said Eric as we reached a rather large and new building sitting along one side of the main street, “Mayor’s manor.”

Blu hesitated, looking at the building in surprise. It looked like a mini castle, with hard stone walls and a pointed roof that looked well defensible. There were massive hard oak doors set at the front and thick glass windows on each floor. I was surprised to see such a robust building there already. Last time I had been here there was a pile of rubble where it now stood.

I glanced at Blu, judging his reaction. There were still scorch marks along the pathway and blackened stumps of what had once been trees along the edge of mayor’s manor. He seemed as surprised as I was that it had been rebuilt, but there was also guilt in his eyes. The previous building, which I had seen before, was one of beauty and leisure, while this was a building of war.

“I don’t know if you two dragons will fit inside comfortably,” said Eric, “But out the back should be alright.”

“Aaron’s brother mentioned the same thing when we came to the capital,” Blu muttered to himself.

I chuckled and nodded my head, “Yeah, I think that might be best.”

There was a large gate leading into the back, also made from heavy oakwood. It took two people to open up so we could walk through. The backyard of the manor was a little less intimidating. It was a rather open space with newly planted trees running along the back and a massive grass lawn that allowed Blu and I some freedom to move. It looked like a gathering place that people could come in times of strife for a little extra protection. If needed, it could probably hold the entire town.

“It hasn’t been completely finished yet,” said Eric as he saw us look around, “A lot of the inside still needs work and I want to add some stronger walls to the outside. Make it kind of like a small castle where people could come if the town was overcome by the demons at our walls. Though, at this rate, it may be a bit difficult to finish everything before that happens. If Teleran itself has fallen, I doubt we will last too much longer.”

“Don’t say that,” said Blu, “Garagain seems to have mostly overlooked this area. I mean, it would be pretty hard to get an army in here.”

“But not impossible,” sighed the mayor, “I fear that eventually He will decide that we have lived long enough. That’s all it will take.”

A solemn silence descended upon us.

“How about you come with us?” I asked, “It would be safer, and we could use the soldiers.”

He smiled and shook his head, “No, I can’t leave this place now. Not after I’ve put so much work into it. Others will say the same. But enough of this. It’s no time to be thinking such thoughts. We should be celebrating!”

The others nodded and laughed. I smiled slightly. Maybe Eric wasn’t so bad after all.

The survivors of Teleran set up camp through the town. They were welcomed into homes and given food to eat. The entire town doubled in size. Those that weren’t able to find a place to stay were welcomed in mayor’s manor and given one of the many spare rooms that were inside. Joyful voices flooded the town as everyone settled down for a well deserved rest.

Food was brought out for us as well, and I gladly dug into the meal of roasted boar. It had been a very long time since I had eaten a well cooked meal. While my own fire could suffice, it was extremely difficult to get it just right. Stories were exchanged and Blu finally told Eric what had happened, how he had become a dragon, and everything that followed.

“So you’re a girl now?” Eric laughed, teasing his old friend.

Blu snorted, “No! Well… kind off. Not exactly.”

“I find that strange,” said the mayor, “I don’t know how I would feel if that happened to me.”

“It was difficult to get used to at first,” my mate admitted, “But I’ve grown used to it. At least I now know how the girls feel.”

“Haha, that is true!” exclaimed Eric with a grin.

The night continued and at some point I found myself dozing off toward one edge of the field. Blu walked up to me and lay next to me. He yawned loudly and I smiled, rumbling softly as he placed his head next to mine.

“Goodnight Blu.”

“Goodnight,” he replied tiredly as he drifted off to sleep.