Dragon Bound

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Chapter Five

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Jason had started the day much as the same as the one before. Lune was brought into the circular stone room and the rider spent a good two hours grooming him from nose tip to tail until his scales gleamed and Lune was relaxed. He also wore the bridle over one shoulder until the sound of the clinking metal no longer made the little dragon flinch. Lune couldn’t help but notice just how subdued Damon seemed today and that worried him. The massive black dragon stayed particularly close and snarled at any stablehand passing too close by the corridor. This was odd behaviour and his concern only deepened when Jason informed him that there would be no food until later that night.

‘Trust me, you will want an empty stomach,’ Damon had added. Lune looked from one to the other without understanding. Jason stayed with him all morning. He wasn’t sure if it was the bond they now forcefully shared but Lune could feel the tension. Something was going to happen. His own nerves began to fray closer to noon when more people started appearing from the corridor. At first, Jason turned them away but then other riders, Lune recognised them from their similar uniforms, came into the space and Jason either wouldn’t or couldn’t get them to leave. The heavy metal netting was cast over his tail as the medics arrived and he had the horrible idea that maybe they would be giving him another physical.

What if Jason had agreed to them removing one of his teeth!?

‘Easy Lune, I would never allow them to take one of your teeth,’ Jason said with a rather forced smile. He was petting Lune’s neck and it was like the rider’s nerves were sliding from his own fingertips into Lune’s hide.

The noise of the little crowd suddenly became very hushed. One could now hear a pin drop. There came a sound from the depth of the corridor of boots clacking against the stone. Riders and servants alike soundlessly parted as a figure appeared in the archway.

Lune stiffened. He remembered faintly, his dream a flaming gold demon standing in his stall. The scent of the man was somehow inorganic, like heat, ozone and woodsmoke. This man was power, sunlight and death.

Lune reared back in his chains and not even Jason’s quiet words could get him to stop pulling. Eventually Jason just stopped trying. Damon was as close as he dared, torn between his instincts to retreat from the king and his wish to comfort Lune and aid his rider for what was to come. Candles were lit and a strong crisp incense was burning from several small round copper dishes. The ornaments were not particularly necessary to perform the spell, but Jason would take every ounce of help he could get.

He tried to ignore the nasty looks from several of the older knights, all doubtless wishing for Jason’s failure. By asking the king for aid, he had shown a lack of confidence in his own abilities but truly, any other knight who might capture such a rare and unknown species would be called stupid not to do the same thing.

Jason tried to centre himself. His only focus now should be Lune. The rider stripped off his jacket and unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt. He pulled a short well-used black pipe from his pants pocket. It had belonged to his grandfather, passed down from dragon rider to dragon rider. He took out a small tin and extracted a large pinch of crush exotic herbs. He placed them in the pipe and ignited them with a snap of his fingers.

The smoke was sweetly scented and itched the nose. It curled in soft pale orange plumes. Jason put the pipe to his lips and drew in a deep breath. The smoke filled his lungs, burning and powerful. Eyes closed, he pulled his own magic, curling it together like thousands of small strands being woven into a ball. The smoke helped him focus, a rare combination of high mountain juniper berries, ragwort leaves and the ground shredded seeds of the Yopo plant. The first time he had ever inhaled the substance as a young teenager, the concoction had him seeing stars and violently ill for the next few days. Each magic user had a particular mix that worked for them. It had taken a few years of tinkering to make it the way he liked it now.

Taking long slow breaths, he allowed himself to sink down into his own consciousness. The noise of the crowd fell away to nothingness. There was only himself, his breathing, his power. Damon’s own spirit was present in that place. It vibrated warmly in the back of his mind. More distantly still was the link he had created with Lune. It was still small, still fragile and it would be this link that he would use to finish the spell. His skin prickled with power, the air stilling around him.

Lune was panting with fear. Smoke was curling from his nostrils as he tried desperately to summon his own dragon fire. Dragons were sensitive to magic. The air was now so thick with it that Lune thought he might be suffocating. He shook, the chains rattling and cutting into his neck as he wrenched back with everything he had. His eyes showed their whites, his nostrils pinched. He could feel Damon’s sympathy but that only made him wilder and more afraid.

Both Jason and the man of fire and death were murmuring. The language was ancient, the words lost as a hot wind began to blow inside the round stone room. His scales itched. Lune shook his head, snarling as the spell began to settle on him like a giant thick wet blanket. He felt pinned by it.

Jason swayed slightly on his feet, the words coming faster and more urgently. Once the incantation began it must be finished. It was like holding a particularly heavy weight. He felt his own body’s desire to release the magic, to complete the spells and uncoil. The magic was hot and biting inside his own flesh. There was a harsh buzzing in his ears, like a sandstorm wind and he was only vaguely aware that the king was still casting with him.

Lune was fighting them both. Willingly or not, it was self-preservation to try and prevent the foreign magic from taking over. Lune must submit fully for the spell to work, and Jason regretted that for this time, at least, this would have to be done with sheer force. He pushed.

Lune’s roar was a scream of fear, pain, and anger. The presence was filling his skull until he thought it would burst. His breaths were so hard his lungs ached.

Smog.

The world was orange and gold smog. His eyes burned so he shut them. He could no longer sense Damon. He couldn’t sense the humans watching anymore either.

Jason took another long drag on the pipe. Sweat slid down his face. He had been right in thinking this would be worse than Damon’s conversion. The magic was still eating its way through his body, and he knew he would not be able to hold the spell much longer.

The sensation was painful and deeply invasive. Lune screamed as he felt the smoke enveloped his body. It curled around him in mock presentation of a small hurricane. People were gasping, things were falling off shelves and hooks. The heavy weight of the metal net on his tail fell away… or was it... was it his tail that fell away?

A minute passed and then another.

As the smoke cleared, the stockade where the white dragon was held appeared to be empty. Damon reached out his snout to his rider. Jason was chasing oxygen, his body limp now the spell had been cast. He leant gratefully against his black dragon, tapping the pipe, and putting it out. The king looked ever magnificent, gold eyes fixed on the posts. Only a slight dapple of sweat on the man’s brow told that he to, had exerted a massive amount of power.

Jason steadied himself and then stepped forward, limbs weak and little shaky. There, unconscious on the floor between the posts and face down, was a young boy with long snow-white hair. Jason carefully turned the boy over. It was always hard to guess with dragons, but he looked to be about seventeen, maybe a little older. He was beautiful and pale, and he knew that when Lune opened those long-lashed eyes, they would be the same gorgeous lilac. The king stepped up beside him along him, along with several medics. Jason, feeling overly possessive, growled low.

‘Come back to yourself Jason,’ the king murmured, resting a warm hand on his tense shoulder. Jason took a slow breath, the air clearing. They all looked down at the porcelain boy in his arms. The medics moved quick and efficient, checking the boy’s pulse and aura. He was healthy, but the rider knew from experience that it would be a while before Lune woke.

‘Well done,’ the king purred.

Jason nodded weakly. ‘Thank you sire,’ was all he could manage.

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When Lune woke, he felt awful. He had never remembered feeling worse, not even when he had, as a hatchling, made the mistake of eating a giant rotten oyster. There wasn’t any part of him that felt good. He didn’t know what it was exactly, but he felt… wrong. As he rolled over, he let out an odd, strangled noise. A pan was pressed to his chest, and he vomited.

‘The first time is always the worst,’ said Damon’s voice. The first time for what? Memories drifted sluggishly back to Lune. The posts, the pain, the thickening smoke. He opened his eyes. He was sitting in a large bed inside what looked to be a human’s living chambers. He stared up in wonder at the tall ceiling. The room was massive! Or… or was he smaller?

Slowly, unwillingly, he looked down at his own hands.

He had hands.

Damon took the pan away as Lune shrieked. Jason barely caught the boy as the white dragon scrambled backward off the edge of the bed.

‘No!’ The scream was piercingly loud.

‘What have you done!?’ Tears, white and pearly slid down soft pale cheeks. It was the most beautiful and sad thing Damon had ever seen. Jason tried to hold onto him, but the boy squirmed free. He tried to stand but collapsed, unused to alien limbs. Trembling like a newborn foal, Lune tried to escape them both.

‘Try to calm down Lune. You are still you,’ Jason promised softly. Lune shook his head and then started back as his own long white hair startled him.

‘You should have killed me! I would be better dead,’ Lune sobbed. Both rider and dragon went to the boy, carefully bringing him back to the bed. Jason wrapped his arms around Lune, holding on whilst the boy shook and sobbed.

Every dragon handled the change a little differently. Damon had done what he had always done and flown into a rage. After he finished vomiting his guts up, he had threatened to kill Jason in almost every way imaginable and a few ways that weren’t.

Jason rocked the boy in his lap for a long time. When he finally stopped crying the room was deathly silent.

‘What do you want from me?’ The boy’s voice was choked.

Jason tilted his chin. ‘I need your obedience Lune. I want your trust, your submission, and your body.’

Lune shrank away from him, eyes wide with fear and shock. ‘I can’t give you any of those things! I won’t!’ he yelled.

Jason nodded. ‘And that is why the spell was necessary. You will come to trust me Lune. It doesn’t feel like it now, but you will.’ Lune just shook his head.

‘No. I hate you. For turning me into this. I hate you.’ The words were a mere whisper, but they hit their target harder than Damon’s rage ever had. Lune refused to say another word, shrinking in on himself. There was a knock on his chamber door. Leaving Damon with Lune he went to answer it.

‘The king has summoned his knights.’ Jason frowned. He felt bone tired and really wasn’t in the mood for another lengthy meeting about his potential failures.

‘Why?’ Jason growled.

The squire looked at him nervously. ‘Sir, there’s been an attack.’

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Jason and Damon had been forced to leave. Lune had been clothed and taken back to his stall. That was two days ago. Other than to deliver food, no one had come to see him. Lune had been stuck as a human for two days and he was thoroughly sick of it! He could not comprehend how such a badly equipped species had lived for so long. His soft fleshy body didn’t seem to be able to protect him from even the draft in the stables. He was stuck in a state of continuous discomfort. He had no claws, blunt teeth, and a soft flabby frame. He hated that he constantly needed.

Humans needed so much! He needed coverings on his feet. He needed clothes to protect him from the cold. Lune felt as though he needed food all the time. Instead of one large meal lasting him several days, humans apparently needed to eat at least twice every day!

The heated floor in his stall which was normally particularly comfortable was now too hard. If he lay down, even on the bamboo mats, his shoulders, neck, and head would ache. More importantly then even this, Lune was horribly aware that for the first time in his life, he was smaller than the humans around him. Jason stood several inches taller than him, and Damon towered over him by more than a foot. Whenever any humans came to see him Lune feigned deafness and refused to acknowledge anyone. This bravado was painfully thin though. He had never felt so small and helpless. Would Jason beat him if he refused to obey?

Was this his life now? Lune hugged his knees close to his body, trying to keep warm. He heard boots approaching. If he weren’t human, he could have told by scent who was coming. As it was, his nose was so cold it was currently dribbling.

Ridiculous.

The human body was ridiculous.

‘Lune.’ Lune wasn’t sure if he was glad to hear Jason’s voice, but he did look up. Jason had stepped inside his stall, Damon dressed in black leather, following.

‘I’m sorry I was away for so long. It was not my intention. How are you feeling?’ In response to this incredibly stupid question Lune gave him a look that was one-part disgust and one-part cold fury. Damon snorted.

‘If looks could kill,’ the black dragon said.

Jason sighed. ‘Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and warm,’ he murmured, voice deceptively gentle.

Lune’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re changing me back?’ he asked. His own voice sounded strange to him. It was light, higher, and younger than theirs.

Jason shook his head. ‘No Lune. We are going to the hot springs.’

Lune shook his head, pressing himself back against the cold stone. He didn’t want to be naked in front of them ever again. Jason took his arm and pulled him to his feet.

‘Damon will carry you if you don’t feel like walking,’ Jason offered. Lune glared up at him. There was no way he was going to be carried like a sack of rice down the corridor.

‘I hate you both,’ Lune moaned weakly.

Damon grinned. ‘We love you too cherub.’ Damon reached down, affectionately rubbing Lune’s cheek. Lune jerked away. He had no idea what a cherub was, but he automatically didn’t like it. That was another disconcerting fact. His human body was far more sensitive to touch. He felt everything now. The collar around his neck glowed blue, alert but not yet active, ready if Lune decided to bolt. He didn’t try. What would be the bloody point? He followed the rider out into the corridor, shivering violently as a gust of ice wind blustered through the thin shirt.

‘You will become immune to the cold again. You’re still adjusting,’ Damon said. Lune hoped so. He loved the winter cold and yet now it felt like the air wanted to kill him. Jason glanced out one of the slotted windows. It was raining again. Summer, it seemed, was going to be very late this year.

It had not been his intention of stay away for so long. The afternoon after Lune transformation, the king’s knights had been summoned for another meeting. Apparently, several farmers had reported wild dragons destroying their lands and property. Not entirely unusual except that the farms lay quite close to the coast and well into the human claimed territory. The idea of wild dragons coming that far into colonised lands had been disturbing.

Many of the knights were either on their own scouting missions or set with their duties training the new squires. The afflicted region was closer to Estevan’s own lands than Jason’s, but it was he and Garret that had been sent on the scouting mission to see what they could find.

On the day Lune was transformed Estevan had tried to get the other knights to rally with him, hissing his disgust that Jason had needed aid to change his new dragon. Unfortunately for the older knight, most of the others were more impressed with Jason’s success and awed at the new rare dragon. Bitter and furious, Estevan had made his excuses for not going himself.

Unable to refuse the king, Jason had saddled up Damon and taken off. It had taken half the bloody day just to fly there.

The farms had truly been scorched from field to foundation. It had felt too perfectly done for Jason’s taste. Garret had been reluctant to agree simply because to do so would mean a rogue dragon rider or riders had invaded the Sun King’s lands and that was… ludicrous.

Still.

Jason had not gotten to his position in life by making assumptions and ignoring his instincts. When they had given their reports, he had included his own suggestion of a foreign rider to the scoffs and snorts of many of the other knights.

‘Did you find any evidence of another rider? Was this individual seen by any of the villagers?’ the king had asked, eyebrow arched.

‘No Sire. There is no evidence. Just a feeling,’ Jason had responded.

‘Bah. And what would a foreign rider gain from burning a few random fields? Nothing. It’s absurd,’ grunted an old rider named Dane, a distinct highland burr in his voice. There were murmurs of agreement.

‘True. Perhaps not. It could have been reconnaissance. To see what, if any, a reaction they might get from the Sun King,’ Jason replied. The king held up a hand to silence the chatter.

‘That is a possibility however remote. Amara, see to it that a new patrol is put in place. One knight and few of the newer squires. There is a good chance it is a wild dragon that was swept in by the last storms. Either way. I want it done.’ Amara bowed her head.

‘Yes sire.’

Jason had been eager to spend time with his little white dragon and was less than impressed that more precious time had been snatched from him. He could never catch them doing it but he could swear both Estevan and Kyril were trying to ensure that Jason’s duties kept him away from Lune as much as possible.

Lune was stumbled along after the two tall figures. Feeling very small and ungraceful in comparison, Lune’s eyes darted left and right. Thankfully it was rather late and there were not many people about. Every set of eyes seemed to be on him as they walked. Lune felt... Ashamed. Ashamed to have been put in this tiny fragile form. He squeezed his eyes shut. Unfortunately, this meant he didn’t see either of them stop. He bumped hard into Damon’s torso.

‘Shame has nothing to do with what happened,’ Damon rumbled in his deep voice. He could obviously still hear or at least sense Lune’s thoughts through the link. Lune couldn’t meet his gaze though and just stared off to one side, shivering.

‘Come,’ Jason murmured. They turned down the forked corridor and descended many long-worn stone steps. Gas lamps glowed along the walls. The steps went down and down. The low light didn’t give much suggestion of when the tunnel would end. They descended for well over ten minutes. Just as Lune was becoming nervous again, the sound of bubbling water met his ears. There was damp steam and a slightly sulphuric smell to the air. The corridor finally opened out into a vast underground cavern. Lune stared in amazement. Spectacular rock formations decorated the high ceiling. There were pools of many different sizes, dotted about the massive space. Some pools were green in colour and bubbling vigorously. Others only steamed and were a deep blue.

A sudden twist of horror gripped Lune as he thought that if he fell into one of these pools, he might not be able to get back out. He could barely walk in this body, he certainly had no idea how to make his foreign limbs swim.

‘Easy little one,’ Jason said, and Lune took several steps backwards. The prospect of being naked and drowning in the deep water was all consuming in Lune’s mind. He jumped violently when Jason grabbed his arms. The rider had stripped off his shirt, shoes, and breeches, leaving only thin shorts on.

‘No!’ Lune yelled.

‘It’s alright,’ Jason said again. Lune only shook his feet and tried to make his feet stop moving. The collar glowed blue around his throat and against his choked sob, his body walked on its own. Jason grit his teeth. The look of fear on Lune’s face nearly made him stop. He couldn’t though. He needed Lune to get used to him, to life here. And that meant trusting him.

He took the white dragon to a long pool. It had a gentle sloping bottom to it, starting only ankle deep. When Lune first stepped into the warm water, he nearly shrieked.

‘Easy,’ Jason said. He took Lune’s hands and gently walked him into the water. They went slowly, staying close to the edge. The edges of the pools all had multiple ledges carved in centuries ago. They walked in only waist deep and Jason gently pushed Lune to sit on one of the ledges, the warm water lapping gently at his mid-section.

‘See, it’s alright. We won’t go any deeper. These are the bathing pools. We use them to wash,’ Jason said soothingly. Lune was still shaking, his small frame covered in goose flesh. He had relinquished control of the collar so the dragon could move about.

Lune took several slow breaths. The warm water was rather nice. Jason had let him go in with the thin robe on and it now clung lewdly to his small frame. It really didn’t leave much to the imagination and as he looked over and saw Damon’s naked muscled form, he felt his cheeks become very red. Jason took a bar of soap from one of the shelves and began to work it into a lather.

‘It’s just like grooming, only with hot water,’ Jason went on. He stroked the soap up Lune’s arm. Lune swallowed but didn’t pull back. The human carefully washed each of his arms and his hair. Lune tried to pretend that having the rider gentle massage the shampoo into his scalp wasn’t incredible but really, they could both sense his thoughts so…

‘Lean forward.’ Jason gently pulled Lune forward so he could rinse the long snowy tresses with a small jug of water. The three sat there for several long moments, Jason rather enraptured by the pale faced creature sitting in front of him.

‘You are beautiful,’ Jason murmured.

‘He really is,’ Damon purred. Lune looked from one to the other with wide eyes.

‘Why would you say that?’ Lune spluttered finally. Jason grinned as Damon snorted.

‘Because it’s the truth you little twit,’ Damon said, smirking. Lune opened his mouth and closed it again.

‘But… but that’s not what you- I mean, you said that…’ Lune choked and then tried again. ‘You’re a dragon rider. You want to make me your riding dragon. Like him.’ Lune pointed at Damon. The black dragon’s smirk got a little wider. Jason nodded and stepped in closer, water splashing up around him.

‘Yes Lune. As a beast I will have you carry me into the clouds. As a human I will have you under me. You will serve us both and whether you are capable of admitting it, in the end, it is what you will want to do.’ Jason’s promise was low and slightly husky. It was both terrifying and somehow alluring. Lune scooted back up against the rock wall.

‘You are both insane,’ Lune protested. Jason shrugged.

‘We’ve both been called worse.’ He took Lune’s chin and before the dragon could utter another word, he kissed him. He wanted to master the gorgeous little creature in front of him. His cock was hard and aching in his shorts. He needed to go slowly though and as much as he wanted to turn Lune around and fuck the boy hard, he pulled back. The kiss was chaste, gentle, and short. Damon’s own arousal was burning hot in Jason’s blood and mind. The black dragon growled as Lune jerked away.

‘Come. We should eat something,’ Jason said. He turned away to leave, giving his erection a painful squeeze to stem his own arousal. Damon hissed with frustration but reluctantly followed his master, leaving Lune flushed and confused in the water.

‘Come on brat,’ Damon called. Lune scrambled out after them, still shaking, but now for an entirely different and much more confusing reason.

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END

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