Zira slowly approached Kyrith, never once taking her eyes off of him. Driven by pure instinct, the two dragons stared at each other. Zira came to a stop, mere inches away.

She felt the need to ask him one final time. “Kyrith, are you sure? This is your last chance.”

“I am,” he responded, his tone sound and resolute.

“Close your eyes then. I will form the bond.”

Kyrith did as he was told and lowered his snout down, presenting the ridge of his head to her. Zira did the same, speaking one final time.

“Felix, Eri, I don’t know what will happen from this point on. This could take a while.”

“That’s fine, we will stay here as long as needed.” Felix responded.

She paused, taking a deep breath and…

The two dragons connected.

In the depths of her mind, she pulled at ancient knowledge. Something that all dragons had and knew.

There was a note, a hum, that resonated from her soul. She called upon it, letting it play out into her mind.

Are you sure? The voice was hers yet it felt unconnected and dissonant.

I am.

And Felix? Are you not worried about your bond with him?

No. We will always be connected, nothing will separate us.

She felt a smile. Then, you are ready–

An explosion of sensation, of emotions and feelings, rushed through her. An old memory came back to her, from before she had hatched.

Zira felt the warm and safe touch of Felix, of his mana seeping into her egg, the instant trust she felt for him, the yearning and belonging, the… Love.

She felt it again, here and now. But instead of Felix’s touch or his mana, she felt Kyrith’s warm scales. She felt his mana underneath, a blazing yet calm inferno. Further down, his soul yearned to connect with hers.

Kyrith didn’t just want love and attention, he wanted to give that love and attention. He wanted her to smile, to feel welcomed, to be… Wanted.

For the first time ever, she understood what it must have been like for Felix. To feel such love and devotion, and to feel completely inadequate in comparison. It was almost too much for her, almost.

But this was what he wanted, this is what she wanted. This was what Eri and Felix wanted. This is what they wanted. To quit now would break her. To quit now would be to reject Kyrith.

She sank further into him, giving in to his overwhelming emotions.

But it wasn’t just Kyrith she was feeling, two others joined her. One familiar and one not.

The familiar reached for her, caressing her mind in such a known and comforting way. The unfamiliar likewise brushed Kyrith’s. She felt the delight from the other dragon.

Let’s do this together. She wasn’t sure who said it, but they all agreed with the sentiment. Her and Felix embraced their consciousness as Eri and Kyrith did the same. They would form this bond, together, as one…

For a single moment, a singular instant of time, four became two.

Two became one.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Felix slowly opened his eyes, his world spinning and his stomach churning. Next to him, Eri leaned against him, one hand holding onto his shoulder the other on her forehead.

And in front, two dragons stood, their heads touching. They slowly separated, just enough to properly look at each other.

Did it… Did it work? He asked, fighting through the swarming sensation within his mind.

I…think so, Zira answered, sounding distant and tired.

It was then, as his mind slowly cleared, that he felt it. An itch, one deep within his mind. He was not alone.

Turning his head he found Eri staring at him wide-eyed. C-can you… Can you hear me?

His expression turned to one of pure glee. Yes! Yes I hear you!

Oh, oh! What about me?! The voice was clearly Kyrith’s.

Gods! Could you all not shout?! My head… That was Zira.

I can hear you, Kyrith! he said, ignoring Zira.

Felix suddenly felt a consciousness slip into his. It was different from Zira’s, strange and foreign, yet familiar all the same.

Hmm, this is…strange. It was Eri, and she entered further into his mind, sending a shiver that reverberated all the way down to his soul.

Hey! What are you doing?

Hmm? Nothing, really– Actually, I wonder what you actually think of me…

That caused him a moment of hesitation. Do you… Do you not trust me?

Eri ‘smiled.’ No, I trust you. I’m merely curious. She said before delving into his memories.

Meanwhile, he felt Zira watching from the bond. Having fun– Wait, Kyrith what are…

Apparently, Kyrith was just as curious. Felix felt no sympathy for Zira, and instead he reached for Eri. Did you find what you are looking for?

Huh?! Oh… Yeah. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

That caused him to frown. What’s wrong?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

She pulled him into a memory, the one from when she had presented him the ring. I… I never knew you felt this strongly towards me– I mean I knew you loved me, but feeling it from your perspective…

Her body shivered next to him.

Felix physically smiled at her as he took her hands into his. Eri, you have no idea how you make me feel. He let some of his more…primal urges through, causing her to blush. I want to–

Eri… Felix… Please stop, Kyrith whined.

It was bad enough when I only had one set of emotions leaking through! Zira added in agreement. Gods, I will have to learn how to shut out two minds now…

Felix chuckled. Sorry you two, we’ll have to work on that. Letting go of Eri’s hands, he glanced up to the sky…

Shit! It’s already noon!

***

Felix held on tightly to Zira’s neck as she and Kyrith raced back to the clearing. The general mood of the group was that of worry. The dwarves and gnomes would almost certainly be there.

However, as they entered into the clearing, what none of them expected was Oralyn. She stood exactly where they entered from, her arms crossed and fuming. Behind her were Eri’s guards, all looking rather sheepish…

The two dragons immediately dug their talons into the ground and came to an abrupt stop right before the angry elven woman.

“Where in the hells have you all been?!” she hissed out. “I’ve been waiting for you for well over an hour!”

“Sorry,” Felix said, peering over Zira’s neck. “We had, uh… We had something important–”

“What could be more important than being here for the Sages?! Could it not have waited?!”

I’ve got this, Eri said to him before speaking aloud. “No, this was far more important.”

Oralyn narrowed her eyes at Eri. “Is that so? Then what the hells was it?”

“A private affair– But, if you must know, we took a major step towards growing our relationship, our bond.” Eri gave her a challenging look, however, Oralyn only stared back, dumbfounded.

“What?” She looked between Eri and Felix. “What does that–”

“Master Aluin said Felix and I must marry before my coronation, and we wanted to grow our own personal connection.”

Oralyn blushed at that. “I… I don’t understand–”

“You don’t need to understand, all you need to know is that we have grown closer and now, we are ready to meet with the Sages.” Eri said with finality.

I think Oralyn is imagining something very different than what actually happened, Felix said.

Let her! It’s not any of her damn business with what really happened. Eri let out an audible huff. “Now, are you all going to escort us back to the manor? I presume that is where the Sages are, correct?”

With how the tables had turned, it took Oralyn a moment to respond but once she did she had fully regained her composure. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

She gestured to the way forward. “Then please, take us there.”

Oralyn bowed before quickly turning around and issuing commands to Eri’s guards. A few moments later, they set off once more for the manor…

The trek back was made in silence, audibly at least. However, with their newly expanded bond, Felix, Zira, and Kyrith were curious. None of them had seen a dwarf or gnome, and wanted to know what to expect. Of course, Eri became their sole source of information.

Both can be quite standoffish, but they are usually good people. They get along quite well with each other, but the dwarves in particular have a bit of a rivalry with us elves. The gnomes on the other hand, tend to not concern themselves with such things.

She went on. Neither the dwarves or gnomes tend to stray far from their homes. It’s why most of the traders and caravans are made out of elves. There are a few exceptions, but they are rare.

But that got Felix even more curious. Is there a reason they don’t normally stray too far from home?

Eri gave him a mental shrug. As far as I can tell, it's mostly to do with tradition. They both spend most of their time working on honing their crafts. Dwarves on their forging and enchanting, and Gnomes on their golems–

Wait… Golems?

Yes, golems. Gnomes are quite lazy– Not my words, they will tell you that themselves. It’s ironic, actually. They claim to be lazy, so they spend all their time making golems. They then use said golems to do everything else. That way, they can continue to sit back and relax. And by that, I mean continue to make even more golems.

Felix was taken aback by that. That honestly sounds like a joke… Do they do nothing else?

Of course, and obviously it's a joke. Still, they will tell you that with a straight face. Personally, I think they just like teasing others. So, don’t think too hard about it.

Kyrith, who had been listening intently, decided to jump in. Oh! Do you think we will see these golems? Wait! Can we trade a few scales for one? I’d love to have a personal back scratcher…

Everyone got a chuckle out of that.

As humorous as that sounds, sadly I don’t think so. The gnomes would definitely bring some golems, but they’ll never trade them. If they did, we would have seen them everywhere by now.

Why not? Zira asked, beating out Felix. And don’t tell me it's because of tradition.

It’s not, at least not entirely. When a golem is created, it's attuned to its creator. Now, I do know it's possible to change who is attuned to it but it's not easy. That, and it's frowned upon. They take great pride in their golems and often treat them better than themselves.

That just seemed strange to Felix and it did make him wonder if there was something more to the story.

There probably is, Eri responded. But I wouldn’t know it. I’ve had limited interactions with gnomes and most of what I know comes from Master Aluin.

He nodded in understanding. Still, you seem to know a lot about them.

I had to, them and the dwarves. Trust me on this, you do not want to offend either one. For instance, do not ever mention their height. And ask before giving assistance. They both hate unwanted help, especially if it's due to their stature.

That’s actually good to know… The last thing Felix wanted to do was offend either group. Anything else I should avoid?

Not really, just be respectful and they’ll be respectful back.

Their conversation ended as the manor grew closer. There, standing as if in anticipation of their arrival, was Aluin. The elf had an unreadable expression, but Felix guessed he wasn’t too happy.

Should we tell him or the other Sages about what we did?

There was a long pause as they all considered his question. But, as they came to a stop, a consensus was reached.

Only if it becomes necessary. Though, I am not opposed to telling Master Aluin, Eri answered, speaking for her and Kyrith.

Agreed, I think we should limit how many people know this about us. It’s one thing to explain bonding between a dragon and human– or elf –but what we did is something I don’t want revealed.

It might be discovered eventually, Zira warned though she did not disagree. We’ll have to be careful.

Indeed… Eri trailed off as Aluin scanned their group.

“I see something interesting has happened… Again. For the record, you all tend to stare into the middle distance,” the Sage said with a knowing, almost humorous look.

Well, shit… Already discovered, Felix thought with a cringe. He wasn’t the only one, Zira was silently cursing while Eri desperately tried to think of a response. Only Kyrith seemed to remain aloof, his thoughts still centered around meeting dwarves and gnomes.

Meanwhile, there was a confused look from Oralyn and the guards, but they wisely remained silent.

The Sage went on. “Now that you all are here… I shall go collect the other Sages.”

The elf turned towards the door but suddenly stopped. “I will forgive your lateness this time, however…”

He threw them a quick glance.

“Next time, please wait until after an important meeting before you try something wondrous…or wondrously stupid.”

Stepping inside, Aluin closed the door behind him and left the group to silently stew.