“I had forgotten that Anunnakisarratum was visiting with all the excitement of meeting new people.”

“Why didn’t she respond to the roaring? No, nevermind that!” Zag looked on the verge of panic. “Everyone is too close!”

“It is fine, I would not let anything occur that would harm a guest,” Shar responded. “I am concerned about my grandson and you, Zaganursarrurum, becoming entangled with each other as you both try to fight her.”

“This is stupid!” Zag complained in a rushed voice. “She is on equal ground with me, how would he have any chance of defeating her? This instinct is beyond idiocy!”

Bron sprinted forward and shifted, no longer able to restrain himself, he flapped his wings and took off towards the now visible silhouette emerging from the sun.

Shar reached out and clamped a hand on Zag’s shoulder as he took a step forward to follow. He stopped in his tracks and stood there as he trembled.

“Now we should not have to worry,” Shar said in a satisfied tone. “I would advise that all of you stand behind me. The moment I release him from my grasp he is going to be rather out of control.”

“That...is the same thing that the suppression metal does!” Thea exclaimed in shock once everyone had safely placed themselves behind Shar.

“What is suppression metal?” she asked without turning her head.

“A metal that forcefully shifts a being into their human form and restrains shifting out of it,” explained Liangfeng. “I have no idea what the process of making it involves.”

“Zag was able to resist and eventually ignore it entirely,” Thea used the shortened version of his name without thinking since she was so shocked by the development.

“I see, that would explain why this is so difficult to maintain,” Shar stated in a voice that belied she was experiencing any difficulty.

“She just slammed into him and knocked him out of the sky,” Chouyan pointed out the quickly resolved battle in the distance.

The next thing they knew they were surrounded by a cloud of dust as Zag was unleashed from his mother’s clutches.

“That was clever, he retained enough control to cause his own defeat completely manipulating the instinct,” Shar said of Bron’s short scuffle.

Bron flew back to them quickly gaining distance as his father blew past him and slammed into Anunnakisarratum. They were almost immediately obscured by a cloud of dust and sand but by the feel of things he knew he wanted no part of the violence causing it all.

“I think I saw an arm fly out of that,” he said as he shifted to his human form.

“Last time they fought they collapsed from exhaustion and took three days to heal,” Shar explained. “This time Zaganursarrurum will win, probably within the hour, I am quite glad as the neverending string of draws was beginning to try my patience, although your existence does render it all quite moot.”

“The Old Man did say I inherited the bloodline the strongest,” Bron started to gloat. “Wait, what do you mean by rendering it moot?”

“I have other grandchildren?”

“Ah…” Bron froze, he made an awkward statue of a man who was reaching into a pack for a pair of pants.

“The family lines...died out in the war between The Covenant and what we now call the Forgotten Kingdom,” Liangfeng said through some hesitation.

Chouyan noticeably braced herself against a hostile response directed at Liangfeng.

“I see,” Shar’s tone left them feeling a cold sweat as she turned back towards the fight between her two children.

The giant wall of dust and sand was now interspersed with crimson and golden flames.

“Um, grandmother,” Bron interrupted the silence, “what did you mean when you said I rendered their battles moot?”

Shar turned to him, “If you becoming a pureblood was not a possibility, how is it do you think a pureblood dragon would have to be born?”

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“Are there no other dragons in the world?” Liangfeng started to catch on.

“I have seen no others since I was forced to put down my mate in his madness.”

“What did he do?” Bron asked as he finally unfroze himself and began getting dressed.

“My lovely children were born of the same egg, and he, being one who fell into the falsehoods spread by Agios, saw such an egg as a detriment to the species. He wanted to crush it, I burned him to ash.”

“Oh…” Bron didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Zaganursarrurum has won,” Shar pointed out.

Zag had pinned his sibling to the ground and although he was favoring his right forelimb quite a bit, she looked much worse for wear than he did.

From her position below him, she started to make a low crooning sound, almost like a very deep purr and tried to wrap her tail around his.

Zag moved off of her and walked back towards the group, he shifted to his human form in the process. She made a sound that could only be an expression of frustration and shifted as well, she was in the form of a tall woman, as tall as Zag, and could only be described as what he would look like if he was a woman with exquisitely feminine features.

“What in the name of Ifrit’s balls are you doing Zaganursarrurum!” they could hear her yelling as she trotted after him. “All of that, all of this time and you fucking pull that stunt?”

“Shut up, you foul-mouthed, selfish, terror of a woman,” Zag yelled back over his shoulder. He actually stopped at his severed arm and threw the limb at her, a sight to behold given the size difference. “I actually came here for something very pressing!”

“More pressing than the survival of our entire fucking species?” she yelled as she nimbly dodged the projectile.

“I don’t need you for that!” Zag pointed to Bron.

Bron promptly hid behind his grandmother who was glaring daggers at Zag with her arms crossed.

“You found another female dragon to cheat on me with?” Zag’s sister blurted out while several emotions played across her face.

“No, you daft fool, mother’s theory about half-bloods was correct!”

“Zaganursarrurum,” Shar sharply called to him when they had gotten closer. “Please explain the circumstances of my other grandchildren’s demise.”

Zag looked like the volcano they were in the shadow of had just erupted in his face.

“Ah, what, how much did you sleep around? Do you prefer human women so much?”

“Be silent Anunnakisarratum, this does not require your input at this time,” Shar shut her down completely.

“They died defending their homes, The Covenant divided their forces and struck in multiple places and sent several groups simply to goad me into distraction.”

“What was the purpose of said warfare?” Shar asked.

“If I may, I am almost completely certain it was out of fear of his offspring and just the sheer number of humans,” Liangfeng supplied.

“I see,” Shar took a deep breath and quietly turned and walked towards the entrance of her lair.

“She’s pissed,” Anunnakisarratum stated the obvious.

“Anu, I found one of your descendants,” Zag decided to get away from the subject.

“Oh, yeah…that,” her head drooped.

“Are you ashamed of it?” Zag asked in a gentle tone that contrasted a great deal from the yelling between them earlier.

“Some, the Emperor of the humans drugged and impregnated me while I was unconscious. In a way I was impressed, I keep his mummified balls in a clay jar.”

“There’s a drug that can affect us that much?”

“Not anymore,” she said as Zag walked over and hugged her. “I spent the time to thoroughly exterminate the plant and the empire.”

“How did you lose track of your family?”

“My heart and mind broke when my son committed suicide after his mate died,” tears ran down her face as she tried to bury it in Zag’s shoulder. “I wound up here, I don't remember how.”

“Zaganursarrurum, please explain why you brought members of The Covenant here after such a thing had occurred, and why you did not bring it to my attention after it had happened?” Shar had returned, everyone jumped at the sound of her voice.

“I nearly drove both the qilins and phoenixes to extinction, it did not bring them back. Agios prostrated himself before me and begged, he brought the heads of those he said were responsible for it, some of which would have belonged to people these ladies are descended from. They were not alive at the time, mother. If you blame them for their ancestor’s sins, do you blame me for father’s?” Zag’s tone held such conviction in his words that the non-dragons present were left in a mild state of awe.

“Notwithstanding, we would have prevented all-out extinction in retribution,” a voice belonging to what looked like a nondescript old man who had not been there a moment ago firmly denied Shar’s bloodthirst. “Even you will not be allowed to muck up our plans to such an extent, young Sharmelammusarratum.”

“Why are you even here, Wind God?” Shar spat out the question and scowled in disgust.

“I already told you that, were you so spoiled that you simply cease to listen when a deity speaks to you?”

“Lord Jann, do you know what has happened with my family?” Liangfeng took the opportunity to ask.

“No, child, I came here as soon as I finished speaking with young Zaganursarrurum in Tiantang,” Jann responded before he turned back to the dragons. “I know you have a terrible perception when it comes to time, however, you have left guests standing around with nothing to do but stare at your nude forms.”

“Go mind your own business you meddlesome breeze maker,” to everyone's surprise Shar was being very petulant with him.

"I am minding my business, little girl,” the surrounding air seemed to take on an ominous feel. “Are you going to bring them to Ifrit or should he just come out here and start a cataclysmic event instead?”

Shar turned her head away and wouldn't speak to him anymore. The volcano rumbled causing the ground to shake for a moment.

“Young Zaganursarrurum, bring the young lady phoenix and the eggs to Ifrit, I will fill the rest of them in on what the ‘shadowmen’ are,” Jann finally ordered.

Zag looked as irritated by him as his mother. He did, however, release his sister and motion to Thea to follow him.