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Two dragon riders attempt to ignore their mutual attraction to each other. Meanwhile their dragons both try their best to act as matchmakers, and they've got plans of their own.

If you're just here for the sexy bits, and you really hate plot or character set-up, then search for "Day After" to skip to the payoff. You make me sad.

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Pre-Trial

Tanya pulled back the string of her bow and sighted her target. She held the weapon at full extension for a second before letting her shot fly. The arrow flew through the air with great speed and slammed straight into the middle of her intended target—which was nothing more than a practice board.

Nice shot, said a familiar voice in her head.

Thank you very much, Tanya replied. In a well-practiced motion she reached for the quiver on her back and drew out a fresh arrow. Draw, aim, release. However, this second arrow didn't land quite where she'd been aiming—instead it hit just off the centre of the target board, beside the first arrow.

That one was not so nice, said the voice in her head.

Tanya sighed aloud, then she threw her thoughts in reply. No one's perfect.

No that is not true…I am perfect, replied the voice, sounding so unbelievably smug that Tanya couldn't help but grin.

Yes you are, Jurantis. So perfect in every way—especially humility, she said, letting her mental reply drip with sarcasm. Anyway, one shot doesn't matter. All this archery is just for exercise anyway.

It does matter. What if we are attacked by bandits or outlaws? You would have to use your bow to defend us. And if you missed a shot like that, the outlaws could injure you. Or worse, me!

Your concern for my safety is heart-warming. Tanya snatched another arrow from her quiver and prepared a third shot. However, I fail to imagine any possible threat that I could eliminate with my bow which a dragon like you could not. And if we were actually in combat I would use magic instead of my archery skills, so the whole point is moot.

Tanya turned her gaze inwards and allowed her mind to trace down the mental bridge which linked her to Jurantis. It took very little effort to read her bond partner's mind and see what he was doing—her dragon was resting on all fours and reading an oversized book (although it was the correct size for him to flip the pages). Noticing her mental attention, Jurantis raised his head to look out the window, and Tanya caught a glimpse of something paradoxical—herself, standing out in the training fields and holding her bow.

In was early in the morning and the sun had barely risen, but the training fields were already filled with activity as dragons and their riders ran through a variety of different exercises which could train skills such as physical strength, endurance, dexterity, muscle control, flexibility, and so on. Many of the dragon riders were operating as a pair of dragon and rider, but many were also training separately. The sight never got old.

Tanya loosed her shot, and her arrow streaked towards the target board—it hit even further off centre, this time landing above of where she'd been aiming.

Your shots are getting worse with every try, Jurantis observed drily. By the way, you might want to avoid looking to your right.

Tanya grabbed another arrow from her quiver and drew back her bow. Why don't I want to look to the right?

A flash of mischievous amusement echoed through their shared mental link. Because it would definitely make you lose focus. It seems that Vale has returned, and her rider is approaching from your right.

Tanya's next shot missed the target board entirely and landed in the grass. Steffon is back? He's here? She lowered her bow and glanced to her right, and sure enough one of her fellow dragon riders was carrying his own bow and strolling down the archery range—Steffon, dragon rider of Vale the Grey, and a good friend of Tanya. He had been the dragon rider who had recruited her in the first place by letting her touch Jurantis's egg just over a year ago; Tanya's life had been completely changed from that one moment when she'd first become a dragon rider. “Steffon!" Tanya called, raising her hand to wave.

Steffon grinned and waved back at her. He had a lean, graceful figure, and a rider's sword made from grey metal was strapped to his belt. His hair had grown even more dishevelled from the last time Tanya had seen him, almost three months ago, but in all other aspects he looked just the same. “Tanya! I didn't see you there."

This is false. He saw you from across the field and headed right towards the archery range, Jurantis said. Tanya ignored her dragon.

“Steffon!" she repeated. “You're back! Well, obviously."

“Obviously," Steffon agreed. “Vale and I just flew in last night. It's good to be back—I've missed this place and the people here. And what better way to start off the day then with some exercise?" Steffon took up a position aiming at the target adjacent to Tanya's, and he readied an arrow.

“I hope you had a smooth flight?" Tanya asked.

“Could have been worse. We managed to dodge a couple of thunderstorms even though the winds at this time of year are unfavourable. You know how it is."

Tanya nodded in agreement, her archery now completely forgotten. “Hmm. So how was your assignment?"

“Good—it was good. Ellesméra's a magical place, but there's not much really happening there. They don't need riders to defend them or act as healers, so Vale and I didn't do much. The elves are all so polite and courteous but it just gets a bit…tiring…after a while, having to speak the ancient language nonstop." Steffon pulled back his bowstring and smoothly released it. The arrow flew straight and true, hitting right in the middle of his target board.

“Oh, are you still having trouble with gramarye?" Tanya asked. Even from when she had first met him, Steffon's mastery of the ancient language of magic had always been weak. He had a habit of relying a bit too much on Vale, his dragon, to translate and interpret on his behalf.

“I'm not having trouble with gramarye. I'm a good spellcaster; it's just that my ancient language isn't quite as fluent as some other riders such as, for example, you, who make things difficult for me." Steffon pointed a finger at Tanya. “Every time I talk with an elf I get the feeling that they're judging my grammar. It's the same feeling I get with you. The exact same."

Tanya chuckled. “Ha. Different people have different strengths." Before she had become a dragon rider, Tanya had already had been a mage, which meant she already knew about the ancient language and how to use magic.

Steffon drew then loosed another arrow which hit dead centre of his target board. Unlike Tanya, who was wearing both a bracer and an archery glove to make sure she didn't injure herself, Steffon's arms were completely bare. Tanya tried not to stare too hard at his muscles as drew back his bow. “And how have you been, Tanya?" he asked.

“Great, great! I…uh…" Tanya was briefly lost for words as she struggled to find a concise, interesting, and descriptive summary for everything which had happened to her over the last three months since Steffon left the rider stronghold for a deployment to Ellesméra, the elven capital. There had been many exciting developments in her training to become a fully-ranked dragon rider. In the end she settled for talking about her dragon, who was himself also in training alongside her. “Jurantis has been breathing fire for a few weeks now, and he's grown pretty big. Not as big as Vale, obviously, but he's catching up."

Yes I am! Jurantis proudly declared, mentally interrupting Tanya, who once again ignored her dragon.

“That's fun," Steffon said, “Breathing fire is one of things which the elders will test when you do your final test to pass out of rider training. It's not the most difficult thing to do, but some dragons just get nervous when you ask them to perform on command."

“Oh, I know. Jurantis has been practicing as much as he can. We're taking the tests this week," Tanya replied, casually dropping that piece of information as if it wasn't a big deal. It was a very big deal.

Steffon didn't get it at first. “No, they won't test firebreathing during the preliminary trials. It's only during the…uh…the final sequence of apprentice trials where they'll check every bit of your training. Magic, flight skills, communication, combat, diplomacy, everything all together."

Tanya nodded. “I know. We've already finished the preliminary trials last month—our final trials start tomorrow. I hope we pass on the first attempt."

Steffon had been reaching to pull another arrow from his quiver, but now he froze mid draw. “What? Seriously? You're doing the final trial already?"

“Yes…"

“But you've only been an apprentice for…a year or so!? I took three and a half years of training before the elders let me do my rider trials, but you're doing them after only a year?"

Tanya tried to look modest. She drew her own bow and shot another arrow, which once again hit off-centre. “It seems like the elders mostly scale your training on how well you can use magic. But since I was already a mage before I became a dragon rider, I'm getting it easy."

Steffon shook his head in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? So by the end of this week we'll both be the same rank? Already?"

“Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether we can pass on the first attempt."

“You say that as if there's even a chance you won't pass. The elders don't let you take the trials until they're almost certain you can pass them." Steffon took the arrow he was holding and jabbed it at his forehead. “Gods, it's like you're mocking me. Vale's laughing. She thinks it's hilarious that I'm jealous." In a smooth motion he nocked, drew back his bowstring, and sent the arrow flying to land right in the middle of his target board. “I'm not jealous."

Tanya raised her own bow and tried to imitate Steffon's snap shot, but her arrow went wide and almost missed her target board entirely. “I didn't say you were."

“Ok good, because I'm not; not at all." Steffon ran his free hand through his hair. “But I am impressed. That's…nice work. You must have worked really hard to be able to take the trials so early; you and Jurantis both. I'm sure you two won't have any trouble with them. Good luck!"

His compliment made Tanya feel warm and happy inside. “Thank you!" she replied.

“You're welcome. I'll be there to watch you take the combat trial." Steffon paused. “Unless you'd rather I not be there. It's your choice."

“Why would I not want you to be there?" Tanya asked.

“Some riders prefer to take the trial in isolation, with no one but them and the elders present. They say it helps them focus by reducing distractions, but there are other riders who perform better when they have friends cheering them on. So if you'd rather I not be there, I'll just see you afterwards—unless you'd rather not see me at all, in which case I'll just vanish…"

Tanya smiled. She certainly would not complain if she got to see more of her fellow dragon rider. “No, no. I could use the encouragement. It'd be great if you're there."

Hello hello please stop ignoring me, Jurantis said, interrupting Tanya's thoughts.

What is it? She shot back at him.

I just thought you should know that Elder Keagan is walking down the archery range, so perhaps you might want to focus on actually making your shots instead of flirting with Steffon.

I'm not flirting with him! This is just friendly conversation, Tanya retorted, feeling a bit defensive from her dragon's astute observation.

Friendly conversation with someone you are attracted to is flirting. Or are you denying that you are attracted to him? Would you like to know what Vale says about Steffon's feelings towards you? Through their shared metal bond, Tanya realized that Jurantis was sitting beside Vale. Both dragons were in the main compound, staring out over the training field and watching their respective riders.

Go back to reading your book, you judgemental dragon you, and stop gossiping with Vale. Tanya raised her bow and loosed another shot. Right as she was doing so, a dwarf strolled up from behind—Keagan, the elder who was in charge of the archery range and also the bowyer responsible for producing the weapons that Tanya and Steffon were holding. A signal horn dangled from the dwarf's neck suspended by a loop of string; he also carried a rider's sword, but the weapon was strapped to his back instead of his belt.

“Steffon! Welcome back to the mountain; I hope your deployment went well! Has your new bow been serving you well?" boomed the dwarf. Despite being diminutive in size, Keagan's voice was loud and hearty.

Steffon lowered his bow and ran a finger down the weapon's upper limb. “I must thank you again for it, ebrithil. This is a fine weapon indeed; it shoots straight and reliable. My only regret is that I had precious little chance to use it while I was in Ellesméra. You know how it is with the elves—they don't allow hunting in their realms."

Keagan made a disgusted face. “Werg! I have been to Ellesméra only once, fifteen years ago, and after that I swore never to return. The elves are so…you know how they are. And the worst part is the food—vegetarianism." He said this word in the same manner one might say sexual deviancy or genocide. “But I see you have returned to our stronghold without starving to death. How fortunate!" The dwarf walked over to the next shooting position where Tanya was standing. “Tanya! It is good to see you at my range. I have heard you are taking the final trials this week!"

“Yes, that's correct," Tanya said.

Keagan clapped his hands together. “Congratulations! How time flies. It seems like only yesterday your dragon was this tiny little thing the size of a housecat, and I was teaching you how to even hold a bow. Yet now you are already going to leave apprenticeship. Marvellous!" The dwarf squinted at the target board which Tanya had been shooting at. Her arrows were widely spread out across the whole board, and even beyond it. “But everyone still has things to learn, of course. Have you given thought to what your rider weapon will be? If you choose a bow, a crossbow, or something similar, I will be the one to help you craft it."

“I actually haven't considered that part yet." Her days were normally filled with practicing magic and learning about the world and all the races in it, but Tanya also knew that as part of a long-held tradition, every rider was granted a weapon forged using special metal and magic. Most riders chose swords for ceremonial purposes, but those who were more interested in practical combat used lances or bows so that they could fight from atop their dragons.

Unfortunately, Tanya ability to use a sword, a bow, or most any other weapon was severely lacking, and for this reason she hadn't put much thought about what weapon she would choose. There was no denying that Elder Keagan was a superb bowyer who had trained under some of the greatest craftsman known to all the sapient races; but no matter how good his bows were, Tanya knew that she would still miss her shots. “One of your brightsteel bows would be wasted on me. I don't think my archery will ever be as good as yours, ebrithil, or even as good as Steffon's." She nocked an arrow and loosed it, only for it to miss the target board entirely.

Keagan stroked his beard in a sagely manner which only dwarfs or old men could truly pull off. “The choice is yours. If you ask me to make you a bow, it will be one which feels like a natural extension of your arm. Where you look, there your arrows shall fly, with speed and power and determination! Although…I must admit that seeing your current skill level, I would hope you did not select archery for the combat portion of your rider trial."

“Not at all. I know my limits and my talents." Tanya slung her bow over her shoulder and grabbed her quiver, which had a dozen or so arrows remaining. The mark on her palm began glowing faintly. “My skill is magic. Orya!" She flicked her quiver and scattered out all her remaining arrows in an arc in front of her, but the spell she invoked held them suspended in the air like a spread of frozen raindrops. Raising one arm, Tanya pointed two fingers towards the target board and whispered a different command of magic. “Finna!"

Instantly the arrows flew into action like a swarm of insects. They all whizzed through the air and sped towards the target board from various directions. Each arrow slammed right in the middle of the target, hitting it in rapid staccato succession with enough force that's the final arrow knocked the whole board backwards onto the ground.

Tanya heard Steffon chuckle. “Hah. Show-off!"

“Well that's one way to do it, but I personally prefer the bow," Keagan muttered. He took his signal horn and blew into it, producing a repeated series of deafening honking sounds. The sound of bowstrings being released and arrows landing in targets went silent as the shooting stopped. Then the dwarf blew into his horn a second time, producing three honks, and this was the cue for archers to step forward and retrieve their used arrows.

Tanya went to go pull her arrows from her target board. Since Steffon had only just arrived at the range, he hardly had any arrows to pull from his own board and he went to help Tanya with picking up the embarrassingly large number of her arrows which had missed her board and landed in the grass. “Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with archery. I don't think I've very good at it," she admitted.

“You don't have to be good at something to enjoy it," Steffon told her. “It's still good exercise, and with enough practice anyone will eventually have to improve. Especially you."

“That's true," Tanya agreed.

Or perhaps you still practice archery because Steffon is very good at it, and you are trying to impress him with your perseverance, if not your skill, Jurantis suggested. Tanya didn't bother to deny this—they both knew it was true.

Shouldn't you be studying? She retorted, as she walked back to the shooting line with Steffon.

I've been reading this book since I woke up, Jurantis grumbled. Who cares about the history of all the elven houses? I am not an elf and neither are you.

But we are Shur'tugal. One day this information could come in useful. What if we were required to negotiate an agreement between two elven houses? That is certainly not out of the realm of possibility for dragon riders. Soon will be our final test as apprentices, and there is the chance they might ask something like that.

But I'm bored. I would rather be flying. Through their shared mental link, Tanya saw Jurantis close the book and get to his feet. I have had enough of studying, and your archery will not help us in the trials. Come, let us fly.

Very well. Much as Tanya would have liked to remain at the archery range with Steffon, she had to concede that this activity wasn't going to be useful during their apprentice trials. “Looks like I'm done. Jurantis wants to go flying."

Steffon nodded goodbye. “Alright then, I'll see you around. Good luck with the trials!"

Trial of Wisdom

“State your names."

“Tanya, rider of Jurantis."

Jurantis, dragon of Tanya.

“Then let the trials begin."

There were eight elders assessing them for the trials; four dragons along with their four riders, with one rider from each of the major races—human, elf, dwarf, and urgal. As befitted their status as elders, the dragons were all much older and therefore much larger than Jurantis, but he refused to be intimidated. He kept his wings tightly furled and held his head high, making sure to look them in the eye. Tanya was sitting on a chair behind a table, and he was sitting beside her. His tail briefly curled around his rider's leg, but then he straightened it out.

The elf elder was the first to speak. His lips curved into a smile, but the rest of his face remained immobile. “Atra esterní ono thelduin," he prompted, using an elven greeting where a specific response was expected. This was a very basic test and Jurantis knew the answer immediately, but he let his rider speak.

“Mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr," Tanya replied, giving the proper response.

“Un du evarínya ono varda," the elf said, finishing off the greeting. “What is the meaning of the word 'kveykva'?"

“Lightning."

“Weohnata?"

“Effort."

“Aiedail?"

“That's the name of a star."

For every question asked about the ancient language, Tanya answered immediately and without hesitation. Jurantis was deeply proud of how well his rider was answering, but the questions soon became practical.

The elder who was a human—Jurantis recognized the woman as being the elder who was in charge of the library—starting asking them about more specific scenarios. “Do you know where Gil'ead is?"

Now it was Jurantis's time to answer. Tanya knew much more about the ancient language and magic then he did, but he had studied navigational charts and geography. It is a human city in the northern portion of their empire, he answered.

“That's correct. For the sake of hypothesis, let us say that you two are assigned as the Shur'tugal team there. The city's mayor is suddenly embroiled in scandal over rumours that he is cheating on his lawfully wedded wife, and the majority of the city's population wants him to resign. As dragon and rider, what is your response?"

“In such a scenario, I believe…he may not have the moral authority to continue, but legally…"

Jurantis let his mental barrier drop so that Tanya could see his every thought, and he could see hers—linked together, they began to answer the questions thrown at them by all the elders.

During the summer, in which direction do the winds blow over Du Weldenvarden?

“Who is the current leader of the Broddring Empire?"

How do you make a compass?

The questions went on and on, ranging from pragmatic problems to moral dilemmas to theoretical philosophy over right and wrong. Sometimes these questions would clearly have a specific answer, whilst other times they were vague and it was obvious that their critical thinking was being tested.

“An urgal warrior comes up to you and says that he was told by his tribe chief to assassinate you, but instead he pledges his loyalty to you and claims that he has captured his chief for you to interrogate and take revenge. What do you do?"

“You are acting as mediator between two dwarfen clans who have been involved in a bitter dispute over mining rights. Right when you believe you are on the verge of reaching a deal within the next day, you receive a message from a nearby town that one of their people been taken deathly ill and needs a healer. How do you respond?"

What about if it was a child that was sick? What is your response then?

“Whilst flying over the Hadarac Desert, you spot a trader's caravan which has broken down. You find the trader delirious from lack of water, but he is dreamily mumbling about his missing wife who supposedly wandered off on foot. You search near the broken caravan but you cannot find any trace of anyone else. Do you keep searching? For how long?"

“An elf promises to give you riches and ten years of total support from her house and all allied to them if you agree to be her intimate mate for at least a month. Or longer if you so desire. What do you do?"

“Really? So how would you turn her down without offending her? What about if it was a male elf instead of a female? Or what if she makes this offer to your dragon instead of you?"

Jurantis and Tanya answered as best they could, which often involved asking the elders for more information or simply making a guess along with an admission that a real scenario could have minute differences which would change their responses.

And then there were also questions that seemed invasive and personal, which forced both the apprentices to be brutally honest with themselves and each other. For these questions they were both expected to answer in turn; and often times they were required to use the ancient language which made lying impossible.

“Are you feeling nervous right now?"

“Have you ever regretted becoming a dragon rider?"

What is your greatest weakness?

“If you had to kill in self-defence, do you believe you could do it?"

What is the trait you admire most in your bond partner?

What is your greatest fear?

“If your bond partner died, how do you think you would react?"

“Do you think you deserve to become fully-ranked Shur'tugal? What makes you think that you two deserve to stop being apprentices?"

These questions went on and on for hours. Every now and then they would pause for water, and they did stop for lunch, but afterwards the questions continued. By the time they were finally finished it was late in the day.

An elder dragon—Jurantis knew her name was Letras—finally nodded. I think that is enough. You two have demonstrated sufficient wisdom and knowledge, and so pass this stage of the trial. Tomorrow we will test you on using magic and flight skills, then on the final day we will test your combat and teamwork.

Most of the elders stood and bowed, including the dragons. The one exception was the urgal elder, who tiled his head upwards and exposed his neck as was the tradition for his race. “Thank you for your time and your responses, learners. Best of luck with the rest of your trials."

Tanya stood and bowed her head respectfully, as did Jurantis. And then they were done for the day.

They had started in the morning, but now the late afternoon sun was streaming in through the window. Jurantis felt so tired that he wanted to lie down, and he could feel a similar level of lethargy coming from Tanya. This was more tiring than flying all day, he said to her.

It was, she agreed, but it was only the first day.

Trials of Magic and Flight

Despite their worries, it turned out that the second day of trials was easier than the first. Instead of the four pairs of elders from the first day, now the head of the dragon riders himself came to test Tanya's magic, along with his own dragon who absolutely dwarfed Jurantis in comparison. She looked like a wall of blue scales in comparison to Jurantis's purple.

Jurantis knew that Tanya had been naturally skilled with magic even before his link to her had given her enhanced powers, and now he watched with unabashed pride as his rider performed most every task thrown at her. She was tested on scrying, manipulating objects through the air, creating illusions, producing enchanted items, demonstrating defensive wards, and much more, but magic had always been one of her natural talents. The elders tested more than just practical ability, of course—they also asked about how spells were supposed to work, about the ideas and concepts of magic, and even about the specific techniques used for safety and efficiency. Tanya couldn't answer every single question (or she would have been an elder, not an apprentice), but her answers were sufficient to pass this trial of magic.

In the afternoon Jurantis took to the air with Tanya riding on his back. She did the magic and he did the flying—that was the most obvious division of labour for dragon riders.

First they were quizzed about geography and flight navigation by elders who were in the airspace around him, throwing questions via thought projections. Jurantis already knew much about route planning and air navigation, and Tanya helped by referring to maps and charts which she read from while sitting on his back. Once they had proved that they had accomplished basic flight competency, the tests moved on to more advanced techniques.

Circling around the mountaintop fortress that was the rider stronghold, Jurantis began flying through a complex sequence of aerobatic manoeuvres as tasked by the elders. He had to dive quickly then recover, or climb as fast as he could to test his strength, or demonstrate that he could hold a precise heading and altitude for many long minutes. Out of all the various tasks he had to perform, the most difficult was when he had to soar—this involved gaining altitude and speed without flapping his wings, and instead by riding the rising air in the thermal columns that the warm afternoon sun created over the mountainside.

Besides just the elders who were assessing his skill, there were also other dragons in the sky who had come to watch him perform; some carried their riders, some did not, but all eyes were on him as he flew. Jurantis danced through the air, feeling sheer exhilaration as he proved his prowess. He was young for a dragon, but he could fly—oh, he could outfly them all. As his final task, he opened his jaws and spat out a burst of fire in a sweeping arc, proving that he had that skill as well. The elder in charge of the flying trial let out a roar, declaring that Jurantis had successfully shown enough ability, and this sound was echoed by all the other dragons.

Tanya laughed and she bent forward to hug his neck. Nice work!

Thank you! Jurantis hummed in pleasure, and then he did a quick vertical loop in celebration, making Tanya clutch his neck tighter to hold on as they suddenly dropped. Her legs were secured with straps to the saddle on his back, but she let out a gleeful whoop as they spun. Jurantis took a deep breath and roared as well, declaring his victory to the world. “Rryaaah!" His sound was not as loud as the larger dragons who circled around, but all heard him none the less.

Suddenly a dragon with scales of dark grey swooped onto them from above, with wings set in a combat dive. Jurantis immediately made a defensive snap roll which would have let him swipe with his claws if it had been a genuine attack, but of course it wasn't a real attack and the diving dragon rolled away before they would have collided; it was Vale, with Steffon riding on her back.

Pulling back into level flight, Vale rocked her wings from side to side and Steffon raised a hand to wave at them. Jurantis rocked his own wings to return the greeting. There was something strangely captivating about watching Vale's wings as she beat her way through the air; her grey scales reminded him of a rolling thundercloud. Jurantis! You fly well…for an apprentice! She said to him, her mind brushing against his as she sent the message over.

“Ryaah!" Jurantis didn't bother to reply in words; instead he roared again and spat out another short burst of flame, declaring to her and the whole wide world that, damn right he knew he could fly! Vale let out a cheering roar to echo his, and something about that sound made Jurantis feel like his heart had jumped.

For a dragon which was old enough to breathe fire was old enough to mate—Jurantis had picked up this ability later than most dragons, but now…now he was suddenly wondering what it would be like to hold Vale close and feel their tails intertwined as they flew across to sky together, belly to belly with claws interlinked. His curiosity seemed to ignite a primal desire in his body—a hunger which he hadn't known before. What would it feel like to satisfy this basic, simple desire which most every creature felt? Would it feel good? Would it feel very good?

Jurantis let out a snort and shook his head to clear his mind. There would be time later to explore these urges after, and only after, he and Tanya were confirmed as full dragon riders. Perhaps this was what had even inspired these thoughts in the first place—he knew that his rider had strong feelings of attraction to Vale's rider, Steffon, and dragons were so closely bonded with their riders that he could not help but wonder if he was feeling his own desires or Tanya's.

Over the past few months when Steffon and Vale had been deployed out away from the Shur'tugal stronghold, Tanya had increasingly begun to realize that her emotions towards the other rider ran a bit deeper than a merely platonic friendship. She had embarrassedly tried to hide these feelings from Jurantis, at least as far as one could hide something from their bond mate, but Jurantis had seen the obvious. In particular, he knew about Tanya's fantasies regarding what might happen after the combat trial tomorrow, and it almost felt like it was his responsibility as dragon to ensure his rider's happiness and comfort.

In fact, just yesterday Jurantis had asked Vale about her and her rider's plans for the day of the combat trial, and Vale had cheerfully informed him that no, they were not busy, and yes, Steffon was having thoughts which were equally lewd regarding Tanya. So if their riders were having salacious thoughts about each other (even though the two humans both seemed too embarrassed to admit it), Jurantis decided that there was nothing wrong if he did the same of Vale.

Nothing wrong at all, he thought to himself, as he watched Vale swoop through the air, her wings sweeping gracefully. He pushed himself into a gentle dive in preparation for a descent towards the training field for landing, although coincidentally this also happened to let him get a better view of Vale's underbelly. Watching was nice, but feeling, touching, and smelling would be much better. Tomorrow will be a most interesting day!

What was that? Tanya asked, patting the side of his neck.

Oh, nothing. I'm just looking forward to the combat trial tomorrow, Jurantis replied. But if he had been on the ground, his tail would have swished from side to side in amusement.

Trial of Combat

Reaching up, Tanya swept her hair back and used a hair tie to keep it from covering her face. All the while she muttered softly—not speaking to anyone, but chanting the ancient language to place defensive wards which would automatically protect her from physical or magical harm. Even though dragon riders and mages used some level of wards at all times, Tanya made sure that she layered on her magical protection far more than she would normally require, especially focusing on wards which would block high-speed projectiles, sharpened blades, and other offensive strikes. Once she was satisfied with her defences, she turned to Jurantis and began performing the same process on him, making sure that her dragon was equally protected from harm.

Jurantis was feeling strangely calm despite the imminent trial. The two of them were standing by the side of the training field, inside the armoury where numerous different types of armour and weapons were stored. There were even several sets of dragon armour in varying sizes, taking the form of huge plates which could cover a dragon's whole body except for their wings. However, Jurantis had never worn armour before and he doubted he would be able to move under the weight of all that metal, even assuming it could fit his size. He likewise ignored the blade gloves which could be worn over his paws so he could slash without risking injury to his claws; those also seemed excessive and possibly unwieldy. The only equipment he wore was a plain saddle so that Tanya could ride on his back during the combat trial.

Tanya was wearing standard rider garb—a tunic, a pair of trousers, and a well-worn pair of boots—no different from what she would wear on most any other day. Whereas some apprentices chose to don chainmail armour or plating for their combat trial, she instead was relying only on her magical defences. Since her strength and skill was the use of magic, she would fight like a combat mage. She wasn't even carrying a sword, pike, bow, or some other sort of weapon—the only piece of equipment she used was a gauntlet made from flexible leather, with a large gemstone placed right in front of her palm. This design had been specially crafted by the armourer at her request several months ago, using a design she had once seen in a library book which talked about the magicians of old. The gauntlet was worn over her left hand—the hand marked with her gedwëy ignasia—and the gemstone was filled with raw magical energy she had stored in it during her free time over the past few weeks.

“Are you ready?" asked the armorer. He would normally have helped the apprentices with their armour and weapons, except that Tanya and Jurantis weren't using much equipment. The armorer's dragon was lazily lying on the ground, taking up most of the floor space and occasionally breathing a short burst of flame directly into the forge.

I am ready. Are you? Tanya asked, speaking directly to Jurantis through their bond.

Yes. Let us go become Shur'tugal! Jurantis dropped down onto his belly so that Tanya could climb up onto the saddle—they were dragon and rider, so they would move as such.

On her dragon's back, Tanya took a deep breath and nodded. She gave a final pat to Jurantis's neck. “We're ready." This was the last trial—the last step before they finished their basic training as apprentices and became fully ranked dragon riders who could be assigned to missions, specializations, and assignments.

The armorer pushed open the doors to the armoury, revealing a marked pathway which led out to the training fields. Out on the training ground, a large section of the field had been cordoned off and filled with various obstacles, temporary structures, and barricades made from wood and stone. Around this circular arena were dozens of dragons and riders—some were elders who were preparing complex spells which would be used for the trial, but most were just spectators come to watch the two apprentices complete their final trial. Besides the riders, there were even more non-riders who had come to watch—scholars or support staff who lived in the rider stronghold but who were not themselves bonded with dragons, as well as a pair of wild dragons who were sitting separately from the rest of the spectators.

Jurantis strolled forward confidently, keeping his head held high and wings carefully furled. He could feel Tanya's nervousness, but his rider outwardly showed no fear as they approached the combat ground. Riders cheered and dragons let out roars as they approached, loudly yelling approval and support. Tanya spotted Steffon standing near the edge of the boundary, with Vale sitting down just beside him. Steffon smiled and raised his hand in a casual salute when he saw her attention. Tanya smiled back, and then she turned to focus on the trial.

Looking across the whole combat area, she tried to quickly memorize as much of the terrain as she could see. This part of the training field had been altered to create mounds and trenches in the dirt, as well as having wooden barricades erected, and what looked like a small one-storey building placed right in the centre of the circular area.

It was the middle of the day and the sun was blazing down from above. Yet the moment they stepped into the combat ring, dense clouds of smoke or black fog seemed to partially obscure their view of the world outside. Jurantis paused at the sudden shift, but Tanya could see the magical spells which had just been triggered. Those outside could still seem them clearly, but from inside they could only just barely see the crowd. Jurantis continued to walk forward, now feeling just a bit more apprehensive than before.

From the opposite side of the ring about fifty meters away, the head rider suddenly strolled out of the dense clouds of smoke. He was a human, even if looked half-elf, and his famous blue sword was strapped to his waist. He greeted the two apprentices and began to speak to them and all those assembled about the responsibilities of dragon riders and about how they had a commitment to the many people of Alagaësia, but Jurantis didn't care for such dramatics. There was only one thing which he paid attention to—when the head rider mentioned how dragon riders always needed to be prepared for anything, because they might be called to defend themselves or others when they least expected it.

Right on cue, shadowy shapes leapt out from the smoke and moved towards them, running on four crooked limbs. The head rider stepped backwards and left the circle, leaving the two apprentices alone to defend themselves. These twisted creatures appeared to be made of shifting smoke, but when they solidified they took the form of wolves with flat white eyes and wickedly sharp teeth. There were half a dozen of them in total, and Jurantis growled softly as the shadow-wolves formed a circle around him and Tanya. “Grrr…" So are we ready? He asked, picking out which targets he would take and which he would leave to his rider. Opening his mind, he felt Tanya's mind brush and intertwine with his own consciousness, letting them share every thought and emotion.

Tanya leaned forward and used her right hand to tighten the leg straps which kept her on Jurantis's back, then she raised her left hand to aim at the wolves. The gauntlet she was wearing began to glow faintly with light. I am ready.

There was a moment of still silence—the calm before the storm.

Then a rumbling boom echoed across the ring, like the sound of distant thunder or a drum being struck, and the wolves leapt at them. The shadowy creatures moved together as one, but so did the dragon and rider.

Jurantis opened his jaws and spat out a burst of flame, catching three of the wolves and setting them alight. Simultaneously, Tanya aimed her hand at two more wolves and called a spell of death. “Deyja!" Her magic summoned neither light nor sound, but her targets instantly dropped to the ground, immobile.

Jurantis spun around and flicked his tail like a whip, slamming the appendage into the final wolf to destroy it. As they died, the wolves faded and turned into the same black smoke which bordered the combat ring, revealing them to be artificial constructs made from magic. The crowd of onlookers let out an applauding cheer.

There was hardly any time to even take in their success before the next wave came to test them. Their attackers now took humanoid form, walking on two legs and carrying knives, daggers, and even a few one-handed axes. Thick plates of armour covered their whole bodies, including their faces, and Tanya hesitated briefly before raising both hands and sweeping them in a circle as she called out another spell. “Thrysta vindr!" The air in front of her compressed and rippled for a second, then the shockwave leapt forward with unrelenting force and sent three of the attackers flying backwards. Their armour seemed to shatter and break off their bodies, revealing skeletal creatures which had no flesh and were made from the same dark smoke as the wolves.

Jurantis leapt forwards and used his jaws to grab another of the attackers by the leg. The shadow-skeleton felt lighter than a normal person, so he flung it into another skeleton which shattered them both. Why do you hesitate to use the killing spell like before?

Because I was unsure if they were more magical illusions or real people wearing thick armour, Tanya answered. Even if they were warded and it wouldn't have worked, it makes me uneasy to use a spell of death on real person. “Deyja!" Yet more of the skeletons exploded apart as her magic destroyed them, but even more kept lumbering forward into the ring.

Jurantis darted forwards to meet the assault. He used his claws to slash and slap the skeletons away, and used his jaws to crush even more of them, but more just kept coming. The skeletons stumbled forward mindlessly—a small army of soldiers that were now carrying proper weapons like spears, pikes, and swords. These weapons deflected off the wards placed to protect his scales, giving Jurantis time to leap back before their blades could pierce through the magical defences Tanya had created. He opened his jaws and spat fire again; but although an older dragon might have been able to breathe fire for minutes on end, he could only sustain this for a few brief seconds.

Tanya was casting spells nonstop, her words spoken quietly and so quickly that they sounded like a monotonic chant. The killing spell took little energy, but more and more of the skeletons also had wards of their own which blocked such simplistic spells and attacks. It seemed that the elders had adapted their combat trial to test her strength in magic, and now they were seeing just how creative she could be in using her spells. Two dozen skeletons were in the ring now, and she worked at a feverish pace testing out different types of magic until she found the right weakness which would destroy each one.

The same shadow-wolves as before leapt into the ring and attacked, but now there seemed to be at least a dozen of them. They also had some wards which blocked simple magic, making them more challenging to defeat. The skeletons moved with greater speed and agility as well, and Jurantis could not fight them without taking blows in return. For now his wards kept him safe, but he could not rely on defensive magic indefinitely. He could still use his fire to scorch the attackers, but he also used this ability sparingly for his strength had limits. Instead he darted around the combat ring, leaping over dirt mounds and barricades to give Tanya just the few extra seconds she needed to work her magic.

Tanya was fully engrossed with her spellwork, and she was reliant on Jurantis to keep moving and protect them both. The gauntlet over her hand was warm and the crystal glowed with energy as she channelled her power. Bursts of light flew from her hand towards the hostiles, but more often than not her magic splashed off their enemies' defensive wards. Tanya targeted the shadow-wolves first, for they were faster and often could outrun Jurantis, forcing him to directly fight with his claws and teeth; though any single wolf could not hope to defeat a dragon, they were chipping away at his protective wards.

The apprentices used hit and run attacks, and at times Jurantis even spread his wings to leap completely over their attackers and bring them over to another side of the combat arena. He wondered what they looked like from the outside, dodging and running in circles around their opponents. The crowd of spectators was chanting something, but he spared no time to unravel their words.

After being evaded multiple times, a couple of the skeletons stopped using close-combat weapons and drew crossbows from their backs. The first shot missed and instead hit the small building placed in the middle of the arena, but the second shot had greater accuracy. The crossbow bolt flew right at Tanya, only to freeze just before it would have struck her chest as her defensive wards shielded her from harm. She jerked away, partly in surprise and partly from the force of impact—though the bolt did not penetrate, her wards merely distributed and dissipated the force of the blow across her body instead of completely countering the attack, which would have taken far more energy. In spite of her surprise, Tanya recovered smoothly and plucked the bolt out of the air. Tossing it back at the shooter, she used a spell to accelerate it to lethal speed. “Finna!" The skeleton fell apart and collapsed into smoke as the bolt smashed through it.

Steffon tapped his fingers against the hilt of his sword. Only two years ago, it had been him and Vale fighting inside that same combat arena, taking the apprentice trials to become full Shur'tugal. He remembered that moment fondly, although their combat trial had taken a slightly different form from the one they were now watching. There had also been shadowy skeletons and wolves, but instead he had been fighting on foot and using his sword to parry and cut while Vale used her claws to pummel and slash. Simply watching the current action made him wish he were part of it instead of being a passive observer.

Are you jealous, or perhaps impressed? Vale asked teasingly, nudging her snout against his shoulder as she too watched the trial. Steffon rubbed his dragon's muzzle affectionately but didn't bother to answer the question.

Some of the spectating riders let out gasps as a crossbow bolt suddenly slammed into Tanya's chest and knocked her back, but her wards caught it easily, so she turned it around and used the bolt to destroy that skeleton that had shot at her. Impressed murmurs went round the crowd, soon followed by cheers. Steffon exhaled slowly, releasing the breath he'd been holding when Tanya had first been hit.

They fight together—their teamwork is strong, Vale commented.

“Better than us, you think?"

Of course not! But still a commendable effort. They are putting on a good show.

Tanya and Jurantis were taking things differently from how he and Vale had fought in their own combat trial. Jurantis was still a very young dragon, and it was clear that his size made it difficult for him to destroy the attackers without taking blows in return. So instead their strategy was to remain elusive and use magic to strike from afar. Their opponents fell one by one as Tanya found their weaknesses and broke them, while Jurantis kept weaving and dodging to use speed instead of strength.

Steffon wasn't the best at using magic, but it didn't take a master to appreciate talent. “They're good at this—almost making it look easy. Just look at how fast she's throwing out spells."

Vale nodded her head in agreement as she watched the purple dragon dart around the combat arena, carrying his rider. Tanya is adept with magic, and Jurantis is agile and swift… But of course, it is easy to be fast when you are small. I could still outrun him easily and pin him down, she added after some consideration.

Steffon chuckled. Although he had no qualms about admitting Tanya was better at magic than he was, Vale was less willing to concede Jurantis might possibly be better than her in any way. Dragons tended to be prideful creatures.

Suddenly he glanced upwards and spotted something in the skies above them. “Oh, now things are getting interesting. Let's see if they can keep their fight disciplined."

Jurantis's heart was pounding with the excited rhythm of battle—he spat a burst of flame at a skeleton, making it explode back into dissipating smoke. Whirling around, he looked to pick a new target, but there were no more hostiles in the combat arena. Did we defeat all of them?

Tanya slowly lowered her gauntlet—with all the skeletons and wolves gone, she had nothing more to aim at. Slowly the clouds of dark smoke that bordered the arena began to thin out, fully revealing the cheering crowd of spectators. Tanya grinned. I think we did. Is the trial over? I guess that's a pass.

Abruptly the border spells reformed themselves—instead of dissipating, the smoke thickened to totally block out the outside world. The smoke climbed higher and higher, spreading to cover the entire hemispherical edge of the arena. Jurantis had been about to roar in victory, but now the sound died in his throat and turned into a surprised squeak. “Ra—eep." Or not. This isn't over yet.

The sky was obscured and went completely dark, plunging a bright afternoon into shadowy dimness. Spheres of floating magical light blinked into existence at regular distances, providing scant illumination of the arena. “Garjzla," Tanya murmured, raising her hand to create her own small ball of light that floated alongside them. The noise of the crowd cheering was gone now, faded away into dead silence.

Out of nowhere, a giant figure fell out of the sky and landed on one of the wooden barricades, destroying it with a loud crash and throwing up a large cloud of dust. Tanya's first impression was that this was another skeleton, but she soon realized this was no simple conjuration. The humanoid figure was wearing thick plates of metal armour which looked so thick that they could have been dragon armour, but now their opponent stood up on two legs and towered over the apprentices. The giant was staring down at Tanya even though she was riding Jurantis, and it might easily have been twice her normal height. Its face was obscured behind a metal helmet that had a beak like an eagle's—Tanya recognized it as a kull war-helm.I think that's…that's Elder Narog under all that armour!

That's Elder Narog? How did he fall out of the sky like that? Jurantis wondered.

He jumped off his dragon, obviously! Tanya replied. As they watched, the giant reached to his back and drew a massive double-edged battle-axe that was easily longer than Jurantis from nose to tail—the head of the weapon alone could probably have weighed as much as both apprentices combined. Oh dear…

Jurantis fanned his wings out to try to make himself look bigger, but the giant still looked more intimidating. Elder Narog was a kull who was the undisputed champion of hand-to-hand combat amongst all the dragon riders—urgals were the largest of the humanoid races, and kulls were the largest of the urgals. Some other riders might have hoped to stand against Narog in terms of swordsmanship or weapon skill, but few could compare with his sheer strength or immense endurance.

If that's Narog, how are we supposed to beat him? No one can beat him, Jurantis said.

Before Tanya could reply, the giant raised the huge axe and charged towards them, moving with deceptive and terrifying speed for someone so large. Jurantis barely managed to leap out of the way before the axe came crashing down where they'd just been, digging a deep trough into the dirt and making the ground shake from the force of impact.

Tanya raised her gauntlet again and began casting off spells as fast as she could—spells of blinding, of slowness, spells which would sap strength, or confuse. Magic flashed from her fingertips and splashed out against the giant, illuminating the darkened combat arena with flashes of light, but nothing worked. The giant waited for about ten long seconds, as if amused or confused by the magical onslaught, then he charged towards them again and Jurantis had to dash to evade the next attack. All the while Tanya was flinging as much magic as she could manage, but all her spells bounced off the giant's defensive wards. At several places on the giant's battle armour—shoulders, knees, and right in the centre of his chest—there were glowing amethyst crystals which must have been enchanted with protective spells, for they flashed in response to Tanya's magic.

The giant moved with ponderous slowness, pulling his axe out of the ground and gently brushing dirt from the edge. This was just another part of the test—Tanya was quite sure that if he'd really wanted to, Narog could have charged nonstop at Jurantis, continuously attacking for as long as it took to run down the dragon. But instead he slowed himself down to give them a chance to prove themselves. This test of combat wasn't really to see if they were better than the best warrior of the Shur'tugal, for they obviously were not, but just to see whether they were good enough to be Shur'tugal.

Acting on shared impulse, the two apprentices immediately reused the strategy which had worked on the previous enemies—Tanya kept trying to use magic, while Jurantis kept trying to evade the giant's charges. This isn't working, Tanya soon realized. As the giant charged at them again, she tried to send a blast of air—this attack cost far more of her magic, but it had sent the skeletons and wolves flying. The giant shrugged it off without even slowing down, and using so much magic was beginning to take its toll on Tanya. His defensive wards are too strong—I can't break them. I think they want us to change strategy for this part of the test.

Jurantis had openly begun to pant from the exhaustion of continuously having to sprint away. He too was feeling the strain as the fight dragged on. I agree—a change of strategy is in order. Tanya saw what he was thinking, and Jurantis felt her approval even as he immediately began to carry out his plan. He dashed away from the giant and scrambled up onto the roof of the one-storey building in the middle of the combat arena. Flicking his wings open, Jurantis took a single second to read the winds, then he leapt into the air and took flight. In the confined space of the arena there wasn't much room for him to fly, but now they could attack from a different angle.

Jurantis swooped down to pick up one of the wooden barricades with his claws, and with a considerable amount of effort he pulled upwards and turned towards their opponent. Then he swept his wings back and sped towards the giant, intending to swing himself away and toss the barricade like a projectile. Tanya cast her spells as well—though she could not directly attack the giant, she could affect the environment around him. She called up a dust cloud to obscure vision and prevent their opponent from knowing which way they were attacking from, then she softened the ground and made it uneven to weaken the giant's footing.

Their attack did not go as planned. The dust cloud which surrounded the giant and blocked his vision also served to prevent Jurantis from tossing the barricade until the last moment, as it made it difficult to tell exactly where the giant was. Similarly, it quickly became apparent that the giant had not lost his footing when a huge hand came out of the dust and grabbed Jurantis by his wing. The young dragon let out a panicked squawk as he was abruptly snatched out of the air. Ahhh! Tanya!

The jolt made Tanya smash her head against her dragon's neck. With her concentration shattered, the artificial dust cloud created by her spell quickly settled.

Jurantis was flailing and trying to use his claws or his other wing to break free, but the giant held hid firmly by his left wing, leaving the dragon dangling in the air. The only blow Jurantis managed to land was with his neck, and it was a glancing blow that bounced off one of the amethyst crystals placed on the giant's armour without even damaging the gemstone. It was not enough to affect the enchanted crystal and its defensive wards which were protecting the giant.

Still holding onto Jurantis's back, Tanya was left dangling without a clear line of sight. She pulled the quick release straps to free her legs from the saddle, leaving her hanging on with her arms alone, but this was enough to let her sight their opponent. There was no choice—she released one hand so she could aim her gauntlet towards the giant's fist, where he was holding Jurantis. Her other arm could hardly take the strain of her whole weight for more than a few seconds, but a few seconds were all she needed to whisper a quick spell. “Losna—"

Tanya didn't manage to complete the phrase. In a deep voice, the giant suddenly boomed out a spell of his own. “Jierda vanyali un gramarye!"

Stop all magic.

The magical ball of light which Tanya had created earlier suddenly flashed out of existence, and there was a flicker around both her and Jurantis as their defensive wards all were reduced by some amount. But the one worst affected by the counter-magic spell was Jurantis, for dragons were creatures of magic—magic ran deep through the body of a dragon, and he jerked as some of his power was burnt away. It felt like he'd been punched right in the chest. A simple “stop all magic" spell wasn't something that could permanently harm him, but dragons relied on more than just their wings to fly—they also need magic to be able to stay aloft, and now he had been briefly grounded.

It took Tanya a few seconds to gather up her power again to try for another spell. Once again she aimed her palm at Jurantis's left wing, where the giant was holding him. “Losna Jurantis—"

Before Tanya could finish the spell, the giant used his other hand to snatch her off Jurantis. Before she knew what was happening, she found hurled all the way across the combat arena and rolling in the dirt. Her defensive wards caught most of the impact, but she accumulated a collection of minor scratches and bruises in the process.

Jurantis suffered a similar fate—because they had to be able to fly, dragons weighed less than animals of comparable size that only walked on the ground, and Jurantis was also a young and therefore relatively small dragon. The giant could carry him about as easily as Tanya could have carried a large cat, and he ended up tossed to the opposite side of the arena, away from his rider.

Jurantis?! Jurantis, are you injured? Came the mental shout from Tanya.

I'm fine, Jurantis replied immediately, before even taking the time to assess if this was true. The dragon rolled over and forced himself back to his feet. His body was aching in a myriad of places, but he had never felt more alive as he stood up and roared, declaring that he was not defeated and was entirely ready to continue the fight. “Raaah!" I have no doubt about those stories of Elder Narog anymore—the ones where he supposedly killed a pair of enormous cave bears with his bare hands, alone, while on vacation, and also while sick with the flu, Jurantis said. How are we supposed to beat him? He could see Tanya standing on the opposite side of the combat arena, with the giant standing in the middle between them. For a moment the giant turned one way than the other, as if deciding which of them to go after.

Tanya was considering her options and thinking about how best to meet up with Jurantis again, when suddenly she realized what had just happened. Ah, I think I know. He just gave us a pair of massive hints—he literally said 'stop all magic', and he tossed us apart. We aren't supposed to be using magic, and we aren't supposed to just fight as a pair sticking together; the key to this test is working together but separately. Quickly she came up with a new plan, and Jurantis did not hesitate to turn it into action.

The dragon roared again and charged towards the giant, bounding over the ground and baring his teeth. Instantly this drew the giant's attention, and he turned to face the sprinting dragon. Tanya also resumed her attack, running towards the giant and once again using her spells—but now she did not try new techniques, but instead reused the magic she had tested earlier which had not worked. Flashy spells which might outwardly look busy and impressive, but which had no real effect against the strong defensive wards.

The giant ignored her assault, and Tanya realized that she had guessed correctly. No competent warrior, especially one as capable and experienced as Elder Narog, would have turned their back on an opponent while they still could pose even a small threat. This was a deliberate signal that they had finally cracked the test—she and Jurantis had shown they could fight together as one, and now all they had to do was show they could fight together as two.

The giant picked up his axe again and prepared to swing as Jurantis approached. With a loud growl, Jurantis prepared to make the final leap at the giant, but then at the last moment he only made a small hop forward. Instead he opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of fire, engulfing the giant in bright flame.

The giant stumbled backwards and patted himself to try and put out the burning, even though Tanya could tell that the defensive wards had actually stopped the fire entirely. By now she had gotten close to use her magic to grab the wooden barricade that they had earlier tried to throw. Using as much of her magic as she safely could muster at once, Tanya sent the barricade rushing towards the giant from behind.

The wooden panel crashed into the back of the giant's legs, visibly throwing him off balance. Now Jurantis leapt—he jumped upwards and bounced off the giant's chest, flipping through the air to land on his feet again.

Tanya darted out of the way as the giant slowly fell backwards, letting out a long groan and flailing his arms to try and regain balance. Elder Narog was the best fighter of the riders, but he apparently could also be an overly dramatic actor when the situation called for it. With a tremendous impact that shook the ground, the giant landed in the dirt and went still.

Jurantis remained equally still, waiting in a half crouch to see if their opponent would try to rise again. Did we do it? Did we pass?

With a booming sound like thunder, the smoke clouds dissipated from the edge of the arena, revealing the noisy crowd of spectators who were frantically cheering and shouting their names. Afternoon sunlight shone down brightly again, briefly making Tanya and Jurantis both squint. When they could see again, Elder Narog had sat up and removed his helm. “Well fought! You have passed the trial of combat, and thus all the apprentice trials!" he declared. The thunderous booming sound echoed again, and the crowd cheered even louder.

Nice work, Tanya said, grinning at her dragon.

Yes! Yes, yes, yeeeesss! Jurantis could hardly contain his excitement. He darted forward and sprinted towards his rider, almost knocking her over on impact. He nuzzled at her and dropped to his belly so that Tanya could climb on his back. You know what this means? We're dragon and rider! Shur'tugal! With Tanya hanging on tight to his back, Jurantis flicked his wings open and did a quick backflip. He kicked off with his forepaws then his hindpaws, also using a flap of his wings to complete the jump flip. Then the young dragon let out a proud roar, followed by a short burst of flame directly upwards. “Raaah!"

The crowd went wild. With the elders signalling the trial over, other dragons, riders, and apprentices rushed into the arena to congratulate Jurantis and Tanya alike. Jurantis was so excited he kept jumping all over the place, and Tanya couldn't stop grinning.

They had done it.

Post-Trial

The traditional view of elders was that they were supposed to act with wisdom and great dignity, but some of them hadn't yet gotten this message. Elder Keagan jumped up onto the table and raised his tankard up into the air. “A toast to our newest Shur'tugal! Jurantis and Tanya!" bellowed the dwarf, “Congratulations to them on being apprentices no more!"

A hearty cheer went round the dining hall as other riders added their own shouted messages of congratulations, while dragons rumbled their agreement. It had taken surprisingly little effort for a regular dinner meal to be converted into a celebratory feast—the dining hall of the rider stronghold was now packed with people, all come to enjoy the food and offer their congratulations to Tanya and Jurantis.

As far as Jurantis could tell, the purpose of a feast was simply to have lots of delicious food everywhere and to stuff one's face until your stomach could take no more—this was a sentiment he could completely agree with. However, one thing he could do with slightly less of was having to repeatedly thank and chat with the endless stream of people who came up to give him and Tanya congratulations, along with advice for the future and pointless anecdotes about their own time in the apprentice trials (from riders more experienced than them), or questions about their apprentice trial and request for advice (from riders less experienced than them). So many people talking all at once! It was overwhelming, and he let Tanya do most of the talking. After having eaten his fill, Jurantis went to go sit quietly by the side while Tanya remained at one of the tables engrossed in conversation.

A grey-scaled dragon strolled up and sat beside him. Not enjoying your own party? Vale asked. She was carrying a wooden barrel in her jaws, which she put down between her paws.

Just feeling a bit tired, Jurantis replied. His body was aching from the combat trial earlier that day, and there was a tightness in his chest.

It is not unexpected for you to be tired after such an ordeal. You've had an exciting few days. Vale carefully used a claw to pull out a cork blocking the top of the barrel before pushing it towards him. Want a drink? She offered.

Jurantis sniffed at the barrel. What's this?

Faelnirv—distilled berry juice. It's an elven drink.

Holding the barrel in his jaws, Jurantis tipped his head back and took a mouthful of the liquid. It had a sharp yet sweet taste, and it seemed to make his throat tingle as he swallowed. This does not taste like juice at all. It tastes very sweet.

Suddenly Vale leaned in and licked the side of Jurantis's neck, making him almost choke in surprise. The warm contact sent a shudder down his spine. You have a scratch on your neck, right here. Did Tanya not heal you both up after the combat trial?

She…she did, but only where I…saw there were injuries. I think that's just a small scratch. Just a minor thing. It doesn't even…hurt…really… Jurantis found it surprisingly hard to reply as Vale gently licked his neck—something about what she was doing seemed to short-circuit his mind. Without realizing what he was doing, he found himself leaning into her and enjoying the warmth from her body.

Vale looked amused when Jurantis took a second gulp of the faelnirv. Take it slow! You're still pretty small.

“Grr…" Jurantis growled in annoyance. I am not small! Over the past year he had been growing quickly from a tiny hatchling to a much larger dragon and slowly catching up to Vale's size. She was still about half again bigger than he was, but they were both young dragons who were much smaller than elders. Jurantis suspected that even with his size disadvantage, he could probably beat Vale in a fight. Maybe. You're not that big yourself. I ought to show you just how not small I am.

“Hmf." Vale made an amused rumble in response, and she playfully snorted a puff of smoke towards him. Perhaps I would like that. Perhaps I would like to see just big you are, Jurantis, especially in certain places. She leaned in and licked his neck again, which made Jurantis forget to be annoyed even if he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about.

Anyway, what does my size have to do with drinking juice? He asked.

Vale took back the barrel and had a swig of her own. This isn't just normal juice, this is distilled juice. It is liquor, and its effects scale with inverse proportion to your body weight.

Jurantis was aware of what liquor was—Tanya had said that it was a special type of drink which made people act silly—but this was his first time trying it for himself. Do you drink this faelnirv stuff often?

I'm not an alcoholic, if that's what you're asking, but I do enjoy sharing a barrel with a friend when there is reason to celebrate. And we do have reason to celebrate tonight, don't we? Congratulations to you and Tanya on becoming Shur'tugal! Your performance during the trial was most impressive.

Thank you. Jurantis inclined his head in thanks. He glanced over the table where his rider was sitting at; Tanya was chatting with Steffon and she was showing off the enchanted gauntlet she'd used during the combat trial. Tanya did most of the work killing the skeletons and wolves—all I did was run around and dodge.

Do not underestimate your own contribution. She is your rider and you are her dragon, so your accomplishments are shared. But the way you flew in the aerial trial yesterday? Vale nodded towards Jurantis's back, gesturing at his wings. That was all you. Agile and swift—you flew very well indeed.

Jurantis felt a surge of pride at this compliment, and he shuffled his wings to show off the black stripes running across his purple hide. He took another small sip from the barrel filled with faelnirv.

There is also one other thing you can do with faelnirv. Observe this. Vale took back the barrel and had another gulp, then she raised her head and spat it out along with a small burst of flame. The liquid immediately caught fire, but it burned with several strange colours ranging from red, to green, to purple.

Jurantis's eyes went wide. Wow, colourful. How did you do that?

Vale looked pleased with how she had impressed him. Faelnirv is an elven concoction, and it is pure enough that the heat from dragon flame can ignite it. When the elves distil the berry juice, they use magical enchantments to alter and enhance its flavour; this magic reacts with the magic in firebreath to create…well you saw what it looked like. It's a bit of a waste to burn such a nice drink, but it does look pretty. Here, you can try.

Jurantis took the barrel and tried to imitate what Vale had done. He took a tiny sip of liquid and spat it straight upwards, then he immediately tried to channel his firebreath…but without success. His mouthful of liquid simply landed on the ground in front of him with a splat. Jurantis opened his jaws again and tried to breathe fire, but for some unknown reason no flame came out from his throat. He shook his head in embarrassment. My fire is…I can't breathe fire. I don't know why. That's never happened to me before.

Vale didn't tease him about it, and for that he was very grateful. Oh. No worries. Sometimes that is the result if you use too much of your strength at once—you've put in a lot of effort over these few days.

I guess you're right. Jurantis nodded in agreement, but it still bothered him that his firebreath had failed. Even in the past when he had tried to breathe fire until he exhausted his internal magical supplies, he could still produce some tiny amount of flame or smoke, but this didn't feel like that. His earlier lethargy seemed to have suddenly disappeared, but now his scales felt like they were getting all flushed with blood. His internal sense of balance also seemed to have vanished, so he could no longer intuitively tell which direction was magnetic north. My…head feels kind of weird, and my scales are tingling. Is that normal?

Are you already tipsy? Vale took the barrel back and replaced the cork. I think you've drunk enough for now. Perhaps you should return to your quarters and get some rest. I can walk you back.

That sounds like…like a good idea. Jurantis carefully got to his feet. Now there was a weird ringing in his ears, and his paws and the tip of his tail felt numb. He sent a quick mental message to Tanya, telling her that he was going to head back to their quarters, then he walked out of the dining hall, followed by Vale.

Steffon stared at the gauntlet he was wearing, then he raised his hand and muttered a spell. “Flauga." Under the power of his magic, his empty dinner plate flipped upwards on end and started to spin around. “I'm still not feeling any difference in the magic."

“Not at all? The crystal's position over your palm should provide a more direct link from stored energy to active spell," Tanya replied.

“Is that actually a thing? Or did you just make that up as an excuse to have the armourer craft you a cool piece of gear?" Standing up, Steffon whirled around and pointed the gauntlet in various directions, imagining that he was aiming at invisible enemies. “Because I do admit—this is pretty cool." He saw Tanya grin in amusement as he played around with her gauntlet, and he smiled back at her.

“It's not just cool! I read about it in a book of spells—Deloi Adurna Vindr. It's a simple idea, right? It takes more energy to work a spell on distant objects compared to nearby things, so it makes sense that energy transfer from a gemstone would follow the same rules. Thus, the gauntlet…" Tanya's voice suddenly trailed off and her gaze went distant.

Steffon lowered his hand and turned to his fellow rider. “Something up?"

“No, no. Jurantis is just feeling a bit tired. He's going back to our room."

Steffon briefly made contact with his own dragon, and Vale confirmed what Tanya had just said. It wasn't very late into the night—in fact it was only just after sundown, but there was no question that Tanya and her dragon had been working hard for the past few days. “Are you tired too? The apprentice trials are pretty gruelling. Do you want to go get some rest?" he asked, speaking aloud to Tanya.

Tanya frowned, then she shook her head. “I'm not that tired, but I wouldn't mind going somewhere quieter to just talk." She stood up as well, and the two riders headed out of the dining hall. “I don't think I've gotten used to not being an apprentice. It feels strange to say that I'm a fully ranked dragon rider."

Steffon normally walked with a brisk stride that looked almost impatient, but now he slowed his pace to keep step with Tanya. “It doesn't feel strange to me. For as long as I've known you, you've been stupidly good with magic. You probably outclassed me even before Jurantis hatched—you deserve to be called Shur'tugal."

“Steffon, are you trying to flatter me?" Tanya asked, with a faint smile on her face.

Steffon grinned back. “That depends. Is it working?"

“More than I would like to admit."

“You're welcome. But I was being honest, though; you really are very good with magic." Steffon gestured to the magical gauntlet which he was still wearing. “In the arena you were just using this thing to throw out spells like it was nothing." He pulled the gauntlet off his hand and offered it back to her. “Here."

Tanya grabbed the gauntlet…and his hand along with it. For a few seconds they just walked side-by-side, hand in hand, and then Tanya took the gauntlet and slipped it back over her other hand. “Thanks." She pushed open the dining hall's door and held it open for him. “So where are we going?"

“If Jurantis is heading back to your room to rest, we can go to my room, or we could go somewhere else to talk."

Tanya bit her lip. “Yeah, talk. Your room it is." As they kept walking, she took Steffon's hand again and entwined her fingers with his.

“Alright then." The two riders made their way down the corridor, away from the dining hall and back towards the rider accommodations. Steffon was enjoying the nice feeling of Tanya's hand holding his. He debating if he ought to just stop beating around the bush and kiss her right now, or if that could wait till they had reached the room.

But they had taken no more than a few steps down the corridor when Tanya suddenly gasped at clutched at her chest. Her face contorted into a pained grimace. “Hang on, I… Ow, ow, ow…"

“What's wrong?" Steffon turned to the other rider, but before he could react Tanya slumped against the wall and almost fell before Steffon caught her. “Tanya? Tanya, can you hear me?! Oh gods." He lowered her down so she was sitting on the ground, lying back against the wall. “Tanya!"

There was an urgal apprentice rider who had been just a few steps ahead of them, and he heard Steffon's exclamation. “Is she alright? What has happened to her?" asked the urgal, running up to them. Though he was still a juvenile for his species, he was already taller than both the humans.

Steffon shook his head. A flash of panic and worry suddenly echoed over his mental link coming from Vale, but right now Steffon was focused on Tanya's unexpected collapse. “I don't know." He raised his hand and tried to use a revealing spell which might reveal major injuries. “Heill kópa—"

But Tanya grabbed his palm before he could complete the spell. “Steffon…" Her eyes snapped open, but her expression had changed from pain to terror. Steffon had never seen her look so scared. “Not me. Jurantis! Something's wrong with Jurantis. He's…" Her hand was shaking as she pointed further down the corridor, in the direction of the residential accommodations. Tanya tried to stand back up, but she was clearly unstable on her feet.

“Calm down. Just calm down," Steffon said, speaking half to Tanya and half to himself. He gestured to the urgal rider, who looked too stunned to do anything. “Help her!" Turning around, Steffon pointed right at the urgal apprentice's dragon, who had stuck his head out of the dining hall and was looking confused. “You there! Call the healers, now!"

Without waiting to see if his command was followed, Steffon sprinted down the corridor in the direction Tanya had pointed. As he ran, he widened his mental link and opened his mind to Vale's thoughts so he could see as she did and what was happening. He quickly saw that what had caused Vale to panic was the same thing which had caused Tanya's collapse—Jurantis.

As he rounded the corner, Steffon saw everything with his own eyes. There were two dragons. One was had scales of a smooth dark grey—his own dragon, Vale. The other dragon had scales of royal purple, broken up with vertical stripes of black—Tanya's dragon, Jurantis.

Jurantis was lying on the ground on his front, with limbs sprawled out and eyes closed. Vale was repeatedly trying to prod the smaller dragon, but to no response.

“What's wrong with him?!" Steffon ran up to Vale's side, carefully avoiding Jurantis's limp tail, which he almost tripped on.

I don't know, he isn't responding. Steffon, help him!

“Heill kópa Jurantis," Steffon whispered, placing his palm on Jurantis's head, between his horns. His spell began tracing out through the dragon's body, searching for major injuries, obvious wounds, or even some poisons, yet he was unable to find what was wrong. Despite the desperation of the situation, Steffon forced himself to remain calm. He whispered another healing spell which lacked specific aim, but which would act in a general manner to heal. It was far less effective than using magic in a directed manner, but it was better than doing nothing. “Waíse heill, waíse heil, waíse heill."

As he kept trying to work with his magic, Steffon spoke to Vale through his mind. How long ago did this happen?

A few seconds? At most half a minute? Steffon, what's happening?!

If Jurantis had collapsed just a half minute ago, that event would match up exactly with the moment Tanya had also almost collapsed. Linked together by their bond, dragons and riders were so closely connected that even minor injury to one partner could always be felt by the other, let alone whatever had gone wrong with Jurantis. Steffon continued to pour magic into Jurantis's twitching body, even as he also spoke with his own dragon. Vale, remain calm. I need you to tell me what happened. You said Jurantis was feeling tired, and you were taking him to go rest?

“Hmr…" Vale let out a terrified whimper—it was a sound Steffon hadn't heard her make ever since she had been a young hatchling. He was fine just a few minutes ago! We were just walking back to his room and…and he got all dizzy and wasn't walking straight, then out of nowhere he just froze up and I couldn't get him to move or say anything. He was just staring straight forward with a blank expression and then suddenly he just…went limp… I don't know, but you have to fix this!

Acting on a sudden impulse, Steffon redirected his mental probe from Vale and towards Jurantis's mind. Reaching out into the dragon's mind, he found not a controlled stream of conscious thought, nor did he find the ebb and flow of sleeping dreams, and it wasn't even the flat blankness which came with a deliberate mental shield. Jurantis's mind was in chaos and repeating the same patterns over and over again—but not cohesive images or memories, but simply…noise. Not physical noise that could be heard by the ears, and not remembered noise in the form of memory, but chaotic irregular patterns that meant nothing at all. Steffon was not a healer, and he was far from the most experienced dragon rider, but this was obviously not normal.

But before he could do anything, Jurantis's mind went completely blank and dark. The young dragon made a sudden jerk, and then his body went still and completely relaxed. Steffon's healing chant sounded suddenly loud compared to the quiet. There was an unpleasant smell in the air—Steffon recognized it as dragon urine. Vale made another terrified whimper. Is he…did he just…

Jurantis's eyes blinked open, and Vale jumped in surprise. Steffon was still repeatedly chanting his healing spell and letting his magic flow. “Waíse heil, waíse heill. Jurantis, can you hear me?"

Yes? The dragon's mind and his thought projection sounded confused, but otherwise completely normal. His gaze was focused and clearly conscious as his eyes darted from Vale, to Steffon, to the corridor around them. Steffon? Vale? What's going on?

Before Steffon could reply, Tanya came running around the corner of the corridor. She tripped up on Jurantis's tail, but she ended up landing on her dragon's wing and throwing her arms around his neck in a hug. Neither Steffon nor Vale could hear what was being said between the two, but relief was deeply obvious in Tanya's posture.

Also coming from around the corner, an elven rider came sprinting. She too tripped over Jurantis's tail, but with typical elven grace she did a forward roll and ended up crouched next to the prone dragon as if she had intended to make sure an action. Steffon recognized the elf as Elder Dilanir, one of the most experienced dragon riders. Dilanir's dragon also came running down the corridor, but Jurantis shifted his tail so that the larger dragon wouldn't trip up.

Elder Dilanir had a calm, but melodious voice as she spoke. “Jurantis? Jurantis, can you tell me what's wrong? Are you in pain?" She placed a hand on the young dragon's neck and started murmuring a more complex version of the diagnostic spell which Steffon had first used.

Jurantis swallowed nervously, looking uncomfortable at all the people suddenly surrounding him. No? What are you doing?

“I'm checking your heart rate and your other vital signs. Do you know where you are?"

Jurantis glanced around quickly. In the corridor outside the dining hall, I think. Why is everyone looking at me like that?

“Don't you worry, son, everything's going to be fine. Just fine. Tawn! Get over here and pick him up." Dilanir waved her own dragon over. Jurantis made no more to resist as he was picked up by the larger dragon, being slung around her neck and back like he was a small hatchling, easily carried. Elder Dilanir gestured to Tanya as well. Her tone gave little room for argument. “You too, Tanya. Climb up."

“Me?"

“Yes, you. Climb onto Tawn unless you want me to carry you."

“I can just walk."

“That's what I hear just before people collapse. Now get on and stop arguing with me, youngling."

Tanya climbed up to sit beside Jurantis, riding on the elder dragon's back. Jurantis raised his head and nuzzled his rider. Wait, did I collapse? Does this happen often?

“Not often, but more than it should," muttered Elder Dilanir. “Take them to the infirmary! Let the healers figure out what's wrong with them." Elves were supposed agnostics, but this did not stop her from swearing. “Good gods, this is a bad end to such a good day."

This sucks, Jurantis said. He was lying on his front, resting on a bed in the infirmary.

Tanya was sitting on a chair beside the bed. She was nervously playing with the tip of the dragon's tail, coiling and uncoiling it around her finger. I'm just glad you're alright. When you blacked out it was…I was so scared for a minute there.

Jurantis turned his head to stare at his rider with a sombre look. I don't remember anything. One moment I was walking in the corridor, then suddenly I was on the ground with Vale and Steffon standing over me. What was it like in that minute, when I was…out?

Tanya met his gaze. It was like you were gone. There was a sharp pain in my chest, and then suddenly it felt like you were completely gone. It wasn't like I was back to being unbonded, before we became dragon and rider—it was…as if a part of me had died. Tanya reached a hand up and wiped her eyes. She didn't like to think of herself as overly emotional, but the thought of losing their bond partner would affect any Shur'tugal.

Jurantis made a soft rumbling hum. He didn't say anything in words, but Tanya could feel that he was trying to reassure her. Their quiet moment was interrupted when another rider pair entered the infirmary—Steffon and Vale. About ten beds (half rider-sized, half dragon-sized) were in this infirmary room, but Jurantis and Tanya were the only ones present; all the other beds were empty. The place was quiet, and dimly lit by several magical lamps.

Steffon walked up to the bed and stopped. “Jurantis, how you feeling?"

Could be worse, Jurantis replied. All things considered, he didn't feel so bad. He felt tired, of course, but everyone else seemed more worried that he was. Vale came up to the other side of the bed and gently nuzzled her snout against his.

Steffon nodded. “Did the healers figure out what happened?" He pulled over a chair and sat down beside Tanya, who took his hand and squeezed it.

With her other hand, Tanya picked a small metal tray off the bedside table and showed it to Steffon, then Vale. Inside the tray was a tiny sliver of amethyst crystal which looked like a spike or a needle made from glassy material. “This was the problem. Well, part of the problem. Dragons are magical creatures, and disrupting the magic in their blood causes side effects including, as we have just learned, seizures."

Steffon stared at the sliver of crystal, wondering what it was. He reached to touch it, but then thought twice. “This small thing? What is it?"

“You were watching our combat trial, right? When we were fighting Elder Narog, his battle armour had these, uh, crystals which were enchanted to repel magic. They blocked all my spells from working on him."

Steffon knew exactly what she was talking about. “Yeah. When Vale and I did the trials, I had to target those crystals with my bow and knock them free, which made him slow down enough that Vale could knock him down. Wait, so you mean that this tiny bit of crystal was…it came from one of those crystals?"

Tanya carefully put the tray back down. “Yes. When we were fighting Narog, Jurantis bumped his head against one of the crystals. I didn't realize…we didn't realize it was anything serious. It looked like just a scratch, but it turns out that the crystal splintered and a tiny shard broke free."

Jurantis used his forepaw to tap the back of his neck, where a bandage was now wrapped. Here. The shard got stuck in my neck here, just buried under the scales in a small scratch.

“I thought that I healed up that scratch after the trial, but I didn't notice the embedded splinter," Tanya continued. “Somehow that tiny shard held on to the countermagic enchantment that had been placed on the whole crystal, and it was slowly poisoning his bloodstream and eating away his magic. A tiny crystal like that shouldn't be enough to stop a dragon, but Jurantis is…honestly…a small dragon. The last few days have been very strenuous, and today was especially tiring. It was just too much for even the bravest of dragons to take, as Elder Tywin put it."

Jurantis made a soft huffing noise of amusement. Elder Tywin also called me a tiny hatchling who was far too young to be safely taking the apprentice trials. I think he is just jealous because his rider is an urgal, and he could not even carry him in flight until they had been apprentices for years.

Vale was still gently nosing at Jurantis. She whimpered softly—it was the first time Jurantis or Tanya had heard the other dragon make such a sad noise. Was the faelnirv part of it? I am so sorry. I just wanted to share a drink with you.

No, it's not your fault. I know that you did not mean me harm. It was just…bad luck.

“So what's the verdict? Are you alright now?" Steffon asked.

I am fine, Jurantis insisted.

“The healers have checked Jurantis from nose to tail and they say he's healthy, just tired to the bone. But just to be safe he has to stay here overnight under observation, and he's barred from flying for the next week. Also no drinking faelnirv in that time," Tanya said. “They said that I also have to stay under observation tonight too, but I would obviously stay here regardless."

Steffon squeezed Tanya's hand, then he stood up. “Not a good way to end what should have been a happy day. Get well soon, Jurantis. I'll let you two get some rest. The healers didn't even want to let us in, but I just…wanted to know you two were alright."

“Thanks for coming," Tanya said.

Steffon walked over and tugged on Vale's tail. “Come on, let's go. Let the dragon get his rest…"

Jurantis snorted in amusement, and Vale licked the side of his snout. Rest well.

Day After

The next morning, Jurantis got several other visitors—fellow riders and friends, as well as elders who had overseen their training or their trials—who all came to see if he was well.

Even without his battle armour and axe, Elder Narog was still an intimidating sight who seemed to dominate the room, but the kull crouched beside the bed and spoke in a quiet voice. “My sincerest apologies to you both. The apprentice trials are meant to be hardship, but not harm. Strain, but not suffering. Training, but never torture." He took out a cracked amethyst crystal from his pocket and placed in on the bedside table—the crystal was dull-coloured and inert, lacking the enchantments it had previously possessed. The crack in the crystal matched exactly with the tiny splinter that had been embedded in Jurantis's neck. “None of the elders have seen anything like that before. Most of the time it is the larger crystal which holds onto the spell, not the tiny broken piece. For apprentices in the future, we will have to implement more thorough checks for safety."

But by midday, Jurantis had forgotten his tiredness. The verdict of the healers was that he would recover just fine now that his magic was unfettered, but they had also insisted he stay for at least one full day under observation, and now he was feeling restless and bored. There was nothing to do in the infirmary but lie around and stare out the window to the training fields, where dragons and riders were outside doing far more interesting things. He and Tanya were spending their first day as fully-ranked Shur'tugal sitting around and doing nothing! Not that Jurantis really wanted to rush out onto a mission on their very first day, but he was so very bored.

It took some insistence, but he finally managed to persuade Tanya to leave the infirmary. There is no reason for us both to waste around here. Just leave me and go do something else, Jurantis told her.

Tanya raised an eyebrow. I'm just feeling a bit…reluctant to let you out of my sight. I know this is paranoia, but I worry that something might happen to you.

Jurantis used his tail to poke at his rider's side, pushing her off his bed when she was sitting. If I can't leave the infirmary, you will have to or I will die of boredom just lying here. Go to the armoury and have them design your new rider weapon, or go to the library and read some of the books forbidden for apprentices. I don't know…just go do something.

Tanya could understand Jurantis's need to see or do something, even if it was a proxy through his bond partner. Alright, if that's what you want…

Tanya went for a walk around the rider stronghold. She could feel Jurantis piggybacking in her mind, reading in all her sensations even as she strolled around. He didn't actively say anything back through their mental link, but she sensed that he was relieved that their shared monotony had ended.

The dining hall was being cleaned and was mostly empty (she and Jurantis had both already eaten in the infirmary), and the noon day sun made it too hot to go out to the training fields. In the end, Tanya headed to the accommodation wing, where every Shur'tugal pair had a room shared by both dragon and rider. She stopped right outside their room, but the place would just seem empty without Jurantis, knowing that he was still in the infirmary. Instead she went to a different room and knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, the door swung open partially and a grey-scaled dragon stuck her head through the doorway. Oh, it's you, Vale said. Where's Jurantis?

“Still in the infirmary. They won't let him out till dinnertime. He got bored, so I'm just…walking around to keep things interesting," Tanya replied.

Vale peered closely at her, and Tanya got the distinct feeling that the dragon was looking not at her, but through her to Jurantis. Bored, you say? I'll go keep him company. Without saying anything further, Vale pushed past Tanya and used her tail to pull the door shut behind her. The grey-scaled dragon headed back down the corridor.

“Uh, is…is Steffon in there?" Tanya asked, pointing at the door.

Vale answered without looking back. My rider is not in there. If you wish to find him, you should look in the gymnasium.

The rider stronghold had many different rooms and halls of various sizes and for various purposes. One of these was the gymnasium, which was a large open-aired indoor area with enough space for dragons and riders to exercise if the training fields could not be used due to weather.

When Tanya got to the gymnasium, she quickly spotted Steffon doing push-ups as part of an exercise routine. By the time she had walked over, he had switched to doing pull-ups from a bar mounted in the wall. Despite a full year of strenuous rider training, Tanya herself could only do a single pull-up (after much practice and suffering), but Steffon was doing repetitions like they were nothing. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, and Tanya found herself staring at his arm muscles as he trained. “You make those look easy," she muttered, just loud enough that he would hear.

“Challenge…accepted." Steffon released one hand and used it to grip the wrist of his other hand. Then he did another pull-up, using the strength of only one hand to lift his whole body weight. It was a show of athleticism she could never hope to match.

Tanya couldn't hide her amused smile. “Show-off."

“Just for you." Steffon released his hold and gracefully landed back on his feet. “Tanya, hi! How's Jurantis?"

“Terminally bored, but otherwise his usual self. He's recovered from magical poisoning really quickly. The healers say they'll let him out in the evening, so I'm just wandering around to give him something more interesting to see than the infirmary walls."

“Dragons recover fast. I see that Vale has gone to visit him." Steffon took a towel which had been hanging from the pull-up bar and wiped his sweat. “Are you here to train?"

Tanya shrugged. “I should, but exercise is tiring…"

“Come on. That's no excuse and you know it, rider! Get to warming up, and we can spar." Steffon turned away and walked towards a rack where several training weapons were placed. There were spears, swords, axes, and so on, but spells had been placed on all the weapons to dull their edges and prevent them from inflicting harm when they were used for practice. “Hm. So have you chosen your rider weapon yet?"

Tanya walked over and looked over all the weapons. “Not at all. I'll probably just end up going with a sword—the traditional pick. Not that I'm any good with a sword."

“Let's practice then. Pick one and see if it suits you." Steffon reached down to his belt and unsheathed his own sword—the blade of his weapon was dark grey in colour, the exact same shade as Vale's scales.

Tanya's own weapon would be coloured purple to match Jurantis's scales. She picked up a few of the training weapons to get a feel of their weight before finally settling on one specific sword. “Alright, I'll try this."

Looking over the weapon she had chosen, Steffon nodded. “Short sword with one straight edge—good for thrusting and stabbing attacks. Almost short enough to be a dagger, but it'll let you be quick with your attacks."

Tanya hadn't chosen this sword for any such strategy, but simply because it felt lighter and easier to hold. She and Steffon both walked onto one of the sparring rings and faced each other. On either side of them, other riders could be seen exchanging blows and practicing technique in other sparring rings.

Steffon murmured a quick spell which would dull his sword and prevent it from cutting—just like the training weapons such as the sword Tanya was using—and then he rubbed a finger across his blade to check it was blunted. He passed his sword back and forth between his hands and adjusted his footwork. “Ready?"

Tanya felt awkwardly uncomfortable as she stood there holding her own sword—in a real fight she'd use magic, not a bladed weapon, and she had no idea how she was supposed to position her body. “I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Alright, Steffon. Just…go easy on me."

“Sure." With a lunge that seemed impossibly fast, Steffon darted forwards and swung his sword. Tanya reacted on instinct and raised her own sword. The two blades deflected off each other without touching as the magical wards repelled the contact point. Steffon slid smoothly away with his sword raised to guard, while Tanya flailed and made ineffectual slashes in his general direction.

The two riders continued to spar with each other, neither landing a proper strike. Tanya was quite sure that Steffon could have easily disarmed her if he wanted to, but instead he merely deflected her strokes and made obvious strikes that she could almost always block.

As they exchange continued over the next few minutes, Tanya became more and more sure that she would never actual fight any real battles with a sword. There was something excitingly terrifying about hearing the swish of sharp metal slashing through the air near her, and it was blatantly obvious that she had no skill at all with using a sword.

Steffon was no master swordsman, but his technique was well practiced. Occasionally he would give some advice about footwork or how to hold her sword, but Tanya could tell that she had yet to grasp even the most basic of concepts. “Ah!" she gasped after Steffon gracefully blocked another one of her slashes. Instead of trying for another cut, she simply let their blades lock so that they were both staring at each other. “I'm terrible with this! Magic is so much easier than waving a big metal stick around."

Steffon grinned and met her gaze. “Use your magic then! Show me how you'd really fight. Just go easy on me."

Tanya shoved her blade as it was pressed against Steffon's to try and distract him, and then she sent a mental projection lancing towards him to try and enter his mind. This was how magicians fought—by testing their willpower against each other until one opponent managed to read the thoughts of the other, which would allow them to cast spells without fear of being countered.

Steffon's brow furrowed as he concentrated to block her mental attack. He sent counterattacks to test her own defences, and Tanya had to focus her thoughts to prevent Steffon from reading them. This was a test of how disciplined they could each keep their minds. Though outwardly there was no sign of the fierce exchange going on, both of the riders froze up as their training duel switched from swordplay to magicwork.

With the curtains drawn open, the infirmary was brightly lit by the afternoon sun filtered through a skylight. Vale trotted up to the furthest bed, nearest to the window, which was currently occupied by one purple-scaled young dragon. Jurantis.

Jurantis snapped his head around when she spoke to him. He had been staring out the window, watching several dragons who were practicing holding patterns above the training fields. Vale! Hello. Why are you here?

Because I wanted to visit you, of course. Why else would I come? Vale replied. There was no one else in the infirmary except a rider sitting near the entrance of the ward, who was the healer on duty. The healer had her head on the desk and appeared to be fast asleep.

Jurantis looked pleased to see her. Oh! Well…hi. It's very boring being here alone.

Vale placed her forepaws on the bed and sniffed at the smaller dragon. Yes, I heard from Tanya that you were bored, so I am here to keep you entertained. How are you feeling?

I'm fine. I don't even feel tired anymore, but the healers won't let me out even though I say I'm perfectly healthy. Jurantis turned and stared out to the sky again. I miss flying.

Vale also turned to look out the window. Grounded for one day and you already yearn for the sky?

The window was open, allowing a warm breeze to blow through the infirmary. Partially unfurling a wing, Jurantis angled the limb so that the breeze was washing across his flight surfaces. I like flying. Flying is fun. What's better than being free to soar?

Vale answered immediately. Nothing. Nothing feels better than flying, although there are some other activities which come close, and can even be equally as enjoyable.

Such as…? Jurantis shook his head. Flying is to be free, and to be a dragon. What can be as good as tha—aahh… Whatever else he had been intending to say, he quickly forgot it when Vale grabbed his wing and started licking his flight membranes, gently running her tongue across the sensitive surface.

Vale was amused by this sudden reaction. Are you sure you know what I'm talking about?

Jurantis turned his head to watch her, but he made no move to pull his wing away. What are you…what are you doing?

Grooming you. Doesn't that feel good? Vale slid her tongue across the leading edge of Jurantis's left wing, and the male let out a soft trill.

“Hmmr!" It…it does, but not as good as flying. Why are you doing that? I'm not dirty.

Not yet you're not. But when I'm done with you, you might be. Vale kept licking and cleaning Jurantis, moving across both his wings, then the scales on his back, his neck, and his snout. The fact that he was smaller than her made this process a quick one. If you want me to stop, say so. Vale told him, but she did not think he wanted her to stop.

Jurantis was finding it very difficult to think straight. What Vale was doing felt like nothing he had ever experienced before—whenever he groomed himself it felt merely like he was licking his own scales, but now Vale made him feel ticklish and tingly. It was strangely pleasurable whenever she licked his wing, yet her tongue was so different from the buffeting flow of air that accompanied flight. But if just felt so good. Within a few minutes his gaze had gone all glazed, and his breathing started becoming heavier.

A sudden flash of emotion from his mental link with Vale made Steffon lose his concentration. He felt Tanya press forward with her magical assault to try to enter his mind—she might actually have succeeded, if she hadn't at that very moment also appeared to have simultaneously lost her focus. The two dragon riders still had their swords crossed, then suddenly their blades slid past each other.

It was hard to tell who had slipped up first, but both riders ended up tumbling to the floor, tangled together. Steffon acted instinctively and twisted his body so he landed sideways on the padded mat instead of on his back. Tanya fell on top of him, narrowly avoiding his sword because he quickly moved his arm aside. In contrast, Tanya wasn't so quick with her sword—she would have stabbed him in the gut if not for the defensive wards blunting the blade. Instead the blow only stung lightly as it bounced off his abdomen. Steffon grunted. “Oof."

“Sorry, sorry! That's on me." Tanya hurriedly dropped her sword and tried to untangle her limbs from his.

“No, it's my fault for losing my balance. I got distracted by…uh…" Steffon sat up and blinked as he attempted to figure out what exactly had distracted him. He queried Vale through his mental link, but the dragon gave him no response save for a vague but distinct feeling of building excitement. The rider shook his head. “Don't know what Vale's doing. She's up to something." He got to his feet and reached down to help Tanya up.

Tanya grabbed his hand and pulled herself up, but she had a distant look in her eyes as she too tried to check on her dragon. “Up to something? I thought she went to visit Jurantis? He's still supposed to be in the infirmary. How much trouble can those two…oh…" Her voice trailed off, and suddenly she shuddered. “They're…uh… I think you'd better see it for yourself."

Confused by Tanya's expression, Steffon reopened his mental link to Vale and pushed harder. This time instead of sending his own thoughts and waiting for a response, he tried to directly see what his bond partner was seeing and feeling. What he saw made his eyes widen.

It had been far too long since Vale had done something like this, and she could feel desire beginning to run hot through her veins. Distantly she could hear Steffon probing her and asking something, but she wasn't paying much attention to him right now. Without giving any warning she suddenly bit down on the back of Jurantis's neck, nipping him gently. He jerked in surprise, but Vale had already released him and had gone back to gently licking his scales. She could taste a faint metallic tinge from the few drops of blood she'd drawn, and that got her heart pounding too.

Why…? What… Was all Jurantis managed to say. When Vale had suddenly bitten him, he had instinctively wanted to jump up and fight her, yet not out of anger or pain, but out of a deep desire to bite her back and prove his strength. Instead he remained perfectly still, paralyzed by that wonderful feeling of Vale licking his scales. His wings fluttered out of a sudden desire to leap into the air. His heart was beating hard in his chest, flushing his scales slightly redder in colour and sending blood rushing to his muscles…and also to one other place which would have a far more visible effect.

Vale snorted with amusement when she saw Jurantis subtly try to adjust his position lying on his front. She stood up and went to draw close the privacy curtain which ran on a railing surrounding the bed, putting up a screen between them and the healer who was asleep at the doorway. Move over—make some space for me.

Both she and Jurantis were small dragons compared to the immense size of some of the older, elder dragons, so there was plenty of room for her to jump onto the bed beside him. Vale sat in the direction opposite Jurantis, so that his tail was near her head and vice versa. Then she resumed her grooming, targeting her licks down towards her friend's lower half as things gradually began to heat up.

A tidal wave of emotions was rushing from Vale's mind, and through their shared mental link Steffon felt it all—nervousness, excitement, curiosity, attraction, anticipation, and lust. Of all these feelings, lust was easily the most problematic emotion, for it came with a physical response that he couldn't really supress.

Just because two dragons chose to become intimate did not necessarily imply that their riders would do the same, and the reverse was true. This wasn't Vale's first time taking a mate, and Steffon had always kept control of himself with ease. Yet now he found himself unsure about what was to be done. All those intense feelings that Vale was feeling about Jurantis, Steffon could honestly say that he also felt about Tanya—he had always liked and admired her. But where did his emotions end and when did Vale's start? Was there a distinction? More importantly, did Tanya feel that same attraction to him?

Tanya's folded her arms and bit her lip. She was looking just as uneasy as Steffon felt. “Well. They are…they're doing that now," she muttered, in a matter-of-factly tone. “Let's just…uh…ignore them. Act completely normal."

“Alright. Just ignore the dragons—block them out." Steffon tried to close his mental link so Vale's arousal wasn't affecting him, but was mostly unsuccessful. He took his towel and wiped sweat from his arms. “That'll mark the end of this training session. That was some…good sparring."

“No it wasn't. I'm terrible with a sword." Tanya bent down and picked up the two swords they'd fought with. She returned her training weapon to the rack. Then as Steffon watched, she waved his sword around experimentally. “I'm so bad with a sword that even against an unarmed opponent I'd probably still hurt myself."

Steffon chuckled as Tanya pretended to stab him with his own sword. “Maybe you're rider weapon should just be a dagger then. Not even a sword—just a letter opener."

“You joke, but I seriously wouldn't mind. You can keep your sword." Tanya patted Steffon's midriff with her free hand. She flipped his sword around and slid it back into the sheath attached his belt.

Her hand felt disproportionally warm when she touched him, and Steffon adjusted his belt again for a different reason which involved the positioning of an entirely different sword. He felt that he should comment about Tanya's sudden proximity, and yet he felt that he shouldn't. “I'm…going to go back to my room and take a shower."

Tanya briefly had that distant look again as she checked her mental link with Jurantis, then her eyes refocused and her gaze locked on Steffon. “Yes, that's a good idea." She grinned, and without thinking about it he grinned back.

Jurantis was feeling increasingly lost in a haze of lust and desire, but his conscious mind was still trying to assert control. The close presence of another dragon, and all this physical contact—he knew what was happening. Should I be…? I've never done anything like this before. Trying to reciprocate, he leaned in and started grooming Vale's scales, but she wrapped her tail around his neck and gently pulled him away.

No, no, you're supposed to be resting. Just lie back and relax. I want you to you enjoy yourself. At first Vale was merely cleaning the scales on Jurantis's hindleg, then she began to gently nudge and push him onto his side. Raise your leg, she ordered, and he complied.

Both dragons were quiet for a moment as they stared at his underbelly, where a tapered pole of smooth, scale-less flesh had pushed out of his genital slit and was proudly presenting itself, jutting forward at a slight angle. Jurantis had obviously seen his phallus before, especially just after he woke up in the morning, but he had never felt quite as erect as he did now. The tip was slightly wet with natural lubricant, and his erection twitched with every beat of his heart. There was a slight upwards curve in his reproductive organ which was supposed to help him lock with a female dragon as they coupled in the air. In all his dreaming and fantasying, he had always imagined what his first time would be like—dragons were supposed to mate in the sky, but now he was grounded. Yet that didn't seem to matter.

Tanya was finding it increasingly impossible to think straight by the time she and Steffon reached the room he shared with Vale. They'd kept up the conversation as they walked back to the rider accommodations, chit-chatting about menial things like potential mission assignments or the weather, yet all this talk was just a distraction to keep from focusing on what their dragons were doing with each other.

The two riders at least managed to make it inside Steffon's room before they acted on their mutual, burning attraction. Again it was hard to tell who had acted first, but the moment the door swung shut they were kissing. Tanya felt her lips meet Steffon's, and she gasped as she felt his hand around her waist. In response she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer into their shared embrace.

“Mm… I thought we were…going to ignore the dragons? Act completely normal?" asked Steffon.

“What makes you think I wouldn't have done this anyway?" Tanya retorted. “I've been meaning to do this for a while."

“I was hoping you'd say something like that."

“I bet you were." Taking a step back, Tanya reached up and started unbuttoning her shirt. Momentarily she hesitated, but then desire overrode any embarrassment she was feeling. In one smooth motion she pulled her shirt over her head along with her undergarments, leaving her chest completely exposed.

In the year or so she had known Steffon, Tanya had seen the other dragon rider stunned into silence only on very rare occasions—and much to her amusement, this was one of those rare times he was speechless. His gaze darted up and down her body. It might just have been her imagination, but Tanya felt like she could see a bulge in his pants.

“Wow," was all Steffon said when he finally seemed to find his voice. “You are beautiful. Wow."

“Thank you very much." Tanya balled up her shirt and tossed it to the side of the room. “I was just feeling sweaty from our swordfight. You don't mind if I use your bathroom to shower, do you?"

There was a mischievous look in Steffon's eyes. “Go ahead. But first, maybe we should do some more…exercise together." He stepped forward and pulled her into a kiss again, and Tanya felt her bare skin pressing against his clothed chest.

“Mm. Why are you still wearing clothes?" she asked, and then she reached to his belt to help him resolve this issue.

Vale was the first to break the silence. You know, for such a little dragon, you are a good size where it counts.

Jurantis was feeling far too aroused to be offended, let alone embarrassed. Hey! I'm not a little dragon—nrrghh…! The purple-scaled dragon let out an unashamed groan of pleasure as Vale snaked her head down to his underbelly and wrapped her tongue around his sensitive length. Warm, wet pressure engulfed his phallus as Vale slowly slid downwards, taking more and more of his erection into her muzzle. This action made a soft slurping sound that was almost funny.

Vale found it mildly amusing how easy it had been for her to get Jurantis all worked up. It meant that she wouldn't get the chance to tease him out of his slit and feel him slowly grow more and more erect in her mouth, but it was flattering to see clear evidence of how excited he'd gotten in such a short time. She found the taste of Jurantis's penis distinctly male, with a faintly musky taste that was quite different from his scales. Inside her mouth, his erection felt stiff yet squishy at the same time—not hard like rock, but firmly rigid like the spongy rod of blood-engorged flesh it was.

Ok, I…I think I might see your point about…about activities which are as fun as flying… Jurantis said. His thought projections came out haltingly as pleasure flooded his mind. Vale rumbled in amusement, and the vibrations from her throat and mouth made Jurantis groan in pleasure again.

Truth be told, this was Vale's first time attempting to give pleasure in this way. In most of her previous intimate encounters, she had only mated as it was traditionally done—entwined in the air with her partner, or with one of them mounting the other on the ground. A few times she had tried using her paws or tail to touch a dragon's penis as a prelude to a more through coupling, but she had never tried using her mouth before until right now with Jurantis.

From how he was reacting, she was pretty sure she was doing it correctly. As Vale kept suckling Jurantis's length, he started making the most adorable whines, whimpers, and snarls as she stimulated him with her mouth. Though she chose not to ask him about this, it was quite probable that Jurantis had never before experienced sexual pleasure from another, or even from himself.

No matter how he protested otherwise, Jurantis was obviously a young and therefore small dragon. Vale had seen him breathing fire during the apprentice trials, which meant that he was mature enough to mate, but regardless he was still only about two-thirds as big as she was. His penis was proportionate to his size, as was expected, yet he still seemed to fill up her whole mouth with his length. In a way, she was glad she had chosen Jurantis—if he could make her mouth feel full, a bigger male would probably make her gag and choke. Not that she was going to mention this to him or even keep teasing him about his size, for males harboured a certain unique pride about their malehoods.

How long before her caresses got Jurantis worked up enough to release his seed? Vale was still undecided if she was going to let him shoot into her mouth, or if she would have him spill onto his belly. Which would be more impressive?

Steffon heard Tanya gasp as he ran his hands down her body, taking in her slender, lithe form. Her skin felt soft and warm under his touch. He reached up and brushed away a lock of hair which had fallen and was covering Tanya's left eye, then felt faintly silly for making such a gesture. They were both naked now, both sitting on the edge of the bed.

There was a process to this—rushing would leave both of them feeling unsatisfied, and Steffon was in no hurry. He leaned in and kissed Tanya again, enjoying the intimate sensation of her lips pressed against his. He could feel her hands touching his body, rubbing his muscles, then drifting towards the space between his legs. Her fingers curled around his phallus, gently teasing him to full length.

“Look, I found the dragon rider's special weapon. Be careful you don't hurt me with that—it's so big…" Tanya murmured in an amorous whisper. Immediately after the words had left her mouth, she burst out into giggles. “Hahahaha. Oh, that was terrible. Did I really just say that?"

“You did! I heard it and you can't take it back." Steffon chuckled as well. “Haha, but yes. I totally intend to…stab you with my sword. Repeatedly, and with great vigour."

Tanya moved to lie back on the bed, but Steffon put his hand on her knee before she could swing her legs up. Instead he took a page from what their dragons were doing—crouching down on the floor, he spread her legs so that he could begin using his tongue and fingers to stimulate her.

“A little bit higher…yeah, right there. That's the spot…" Tanya said, guiding Steffon as he worked to give her pleasure. His tongue was busy so he couldn't say anything in response, but he winked at her which got another giggle.

Carefully Steffon tried to slip a finger inside her, and then another. The feeling of sudden warmth and slick wetness around his fingers made him immediately wish that he could feel that sensation around his erect length, but for now he resisted the temptation. Instead he slid his fingers in and out, imitating the motions he would soon be taking.

Perhaps it was a result of all the emotions coming from their dragons, but Steffon remained greatly aroused even though his phallus was now deprived of any physical touch. Tanya's face and chest were flushed red with blood, and she was panting softly. Suddenly he heard her gasp. “Ah. That feels really good! Please don't…don't stop…."

Steffon grinned, but he didn't stop. He had one hand resting on Tanya's belly, and he could feel her muscles tensing up.

Vale, Vale, Vale, hey… I think… Abruptly Vale felt Jurantis's paw frantically tap her shoulder and she realized what was happening. She'd done it—Jurantis was on the edge of his very first orgasm. Vale stopped bobbing her head, but she kept her tongue wrapped around his length. Earlier she hadn't been quite sure if she wanted Jurantis to spill his seed into her mouth; but now that the moment had arrived, she impulsively decided to keep going. Switching to her paws would just have been less sexy, or so she supposed.

In a way it was a first for the both of them—this was the first time Jurantis was receiving pleasure from another (or possibly at all), and this was the first time Vale was using her mouth to try and sexually stimulate someone. Given their respective inexperience, Vale felt a weird sense of pride seeing the results of her effort. There was something empowering about knowing that she was responsible for making her friend feel so good.

Jurantis went all tense and Vale braced herself, anticipating his release—she'd heard from other dragons that males could sometimes ejaculate hard enough to make their partner cough or choke, so she wanted to be prepared. And truth be told, she was also rather curious about what his seed would taste like.

But in the end, it tasted like…nothing at all. After about a dozen and a half seconds, Jurantis slowly relaxed and blinked his eyes open. Vale swirled her tongue around his still erect phallus, then she pulled back and tried licking his length again. Feeling slightly confused, she glanced up at the smaller dragon. Did you…?

Jurantis had a pleasured look on his face. Yes? I mean, I think so. That felt really, really good. Thanks for that…

Vale pulled her snout off Jurantis's erection. There was no taste, no texture—no release of liquid at all, really. Though this was her first experience with giving oral sex, she knew what semen looked and smelt like. Vale wondered if there was any reason Jurantis might possible attempt to fake an orgasm, but just as she was thinking about it, a more likely explanation came to mind.

Jurantis had orgasmed, but he hadn't ejaculated because the origin for his pleasure hadn't been his own body—it had been his rider. Opening up her mental link, Vale quickly saw that her guess had been correct. Steffon and Tanya were mating with each other, and despite the fact that the two riders had started later, Steffon had managed to make Tanya orgasm before Vale had done the same for Jurantis.

The grey-scaled dragon let out a sigh, then she snorted in amusement. This explained why Jurantis's climax had been almost anticlimactic for her, and it also meant they still had unfinished business. She savoured Steffon's emotions for a moment, then she returned her attention and focus to Jurantis. Do you realize what just happened?

We mated! Jurantis replied, sounding excited but innocently inexperienced. Or I suppose I mated your mouth, which is not quite how sex usually works, but it felt fantastic and I don't mind returning the favour. He tried to roll back onto his belly, but Vale reacted faster and shoved the smaller dragon back down into a supine position. What? Hey, he protested, but Vale growled softly and she kept him pinned down.

“Grr…" We're not done yet. Do you know what our riders are doing?

Jurantis's gaze briefly went distant as he checked his own mental link. They've taken off their clothes and are sort of…hugging each other. They're mating.

Vale nodded, then she took Jurantis's phallus, still fully erect, back into her mouth and resumed her earlier motions. Since dragons spoke with the minds and not their mouths, she could continue to talk. Yes they are. I don't think you've actually released your seed. What you felt was your rider's orgasm, not your own, which means my work here isn't done. We aren't going anywhere till I've tasted your seed.

Really? I guess that makes sense. Jurantis squirmed slightly under Vale's renewed and more vigorous efforts. He probably wasn't far from an actual orgasm, triggered from his own body instead of his rider's. Will it feel different?

Vale thought through the question, considering her own experiences with Steffon. Sort of. The sensations are similar, but it's usually more intense to feel things first-hand. She used a forepaw to stroke the side of Jurantis's genital slit, from which his phallus was proudly extended. His erection was curved up and down in a slight but distinct 'S' shape, as was the case for most male dragons—Vale knew exactly how that shape would rub against her insides, and that salacious thought inspired her to bob her head faster. She had learned from her previous encounters that right under that S curve was an extremely sensitive spot, so she applied this knowledge with her tongue and coaxed a pleased groan from Jurantis.

“Mmhh—" The young dragon cut of the sound and snapped his jaws shut, apparently remembering that even though a curtain shielded them from view of the infirmary's healer, making too much noise might still attract unwanted attention.

Vale snorted with amusement again, which sent a puff of smoke rolling across Jurantis's belly. He was so cute, lying on his back and trying to keep still as she pleasured him. Do you like that? She asked, and she got a reply almost instantly.

Yes, I like that… I really like that… Jurantis jerked, his hips making a small, probably involuntary thrust, and Vale felt his phallus stiffen. That slight S curve grew more exaggerated—it was would have locked him in if he was coupling with a female in a mating flight—but now it just forced him to take all the more stimulation as his erection was trapped between Vale's tongue and the top of her muzzle. Jurantis's tail tapped against the bed repeatedly, and his snout went all scrunched up. The purple-scaled dragon snapped his eyes closed and he clenched up all four of his paws, and then he let out a soft groan that sounded almost surprised. “Mmrrr…!?"

Then Jurantis ejaculated, properly this time. He came in quick, rapid pulses, and Vale felt warm, salty liquid suddenly flood her mouth—she'd been expecting it, yet she still found herself taken aback. Without thinking about it she swallowed as her muzzle was filled—Jurantis's semen seemed both slick and sticky at the same time as it slid down her throat. It was weird but not unpleasant, and Vale felt a curious sense of pride at her success.

As his orgasm started to taper off, Jurantis collapsed back against the bed and opened his eyes again. He made eye contact with Vale, and both dragons stared at each other for a few seconds. I feel like I owe you now, Jurantis said.

Vale carefully pulled her muzzle away, making sure that none of his semen ended up spilt onto his underbelly, and then she licked her lips clean. Consider it a favour between friends, freely given without expectation of repayment. She stood up on the bed and stretched, then she snuggled up beside Jurantis and wrapped a wing around him. Although if you want, we can certainly do something like this again after you're fully recovered. How long till the healers let you fly?

Resting underneath her unfurled wing, Jurantis leaned against her side. I'm supposed to be grounded for a week, just as a precaution. Do you mean that…that we'll…mate? Properly?

Vale leaned in and licked Jurantis's snout affectionately. It made her glad to hear his excitement. Sure. So you like flying, do you? Once you're back in the air, I'll show you some tricks you might not know. If that's what you would like.

Jurantis licked her snout back. Yes, yes please!

A flash of sensation running through her bond link suddenly made Vale hum in pleasure. And speaking of…of repayment….I do believe Steffon is about to…

Tanya was lying on her side, with Steffon spooning against her back and thrusting into her repeatedly. They were both covered with sweat, yet that was the last thing either of them was concerned about right now.

“Ahh…" Tanya moaned softly as a wave of pleasure swept from her dragon. “Jurantis just… That's really intense."

“Tell me about it," Steffon replied. “By the way, since we're on this topic—I should probably have asked earlier before we started, but do you mind if I finish inside you? You've got about fifteen seconds to decide."

There were several different spells which could mitigate the potential consequences of their intimacy, and Tanya wasn't concerned about a possible pregnancy. “Go ahead."

“Good, because…because you feel so damn amazing and I don't want to stop for anything… I love your butt." Tanya felt Steffon clutch her waist tighter, and his strokes sped up. There was something deeply sensual about feeling him holding her, with his chest pressed against her back, and his arm around her side—beyond just lust, it felt comfortingly intimate.

“About fifteen seconds, you said? Are you getting close?" Tanya murmured.

Steffon's chin bumped against her shoulder. “Yes, yes I am. Oh gods… Tanya…" he groaned, before pulling her close and going still—his rapid thrusts halted, replaced by gentle grinding as he shoved himself as deep as was physically possible. For a moment they were both motionless, then Tanya felt wet, liquid warmth explode inside her in spurts, and Steffon would twitch and clutch her tighter with every shot. “Ahh, grrah…" he moaned, making a guttural noise which almost sounded like a dragon's growl. Even in the midst of such a passionate experience, Tanya almost giggled aloud at that thought.

As Steffon's orgasm wound down, his speech started to grow more coherent. “Whoa, oh…ok. Okay. Tanya, I think I love you."

This remark was enough to coax out a giggle from Tanya. “Hehe. Easy for you to say that when you're balls-deep inside me!"

“No, not just that. I do like you very much, and I missed you while I was deployed away to Ellesméra. You're a good friend." Steffon pulled himself out, allowing Tanya to flip herself around so they were both lying on their sides, face to face.

“Yeah, I missed you too. We should probably have done this sooner."

Steffon shook his head. “We couldn't have—apprentices and riders aren't allowed to love. But I must confess that when you told me that you were taking the apprentice trials so soon, the second thing that came to mind was that if we were both riders, there wouldn't be any more restrictions on us having sex."

“Making love to me was the second thing you thought of?" Tanya chuckled again. “What was the first?"

“Shocked admiration for your skill. That's how I've always felt about you, pretty much from the first moment we met. Not that it was love at first sight or any of that nonsense." Steffon rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. “You were just this…cute, slightly awkward girl who was going to be a dragon rider. But then when I realized you were a mage and your magic skills were already just as good as, or maybe even better than mine… That was when I was started to admire you, and I've never stopped."

Hearing such praise made Tanya feel warm and happy. “Thank you!"

“Not to say that I only like you because you're good at magic, and smart. I mean—" Steffon gestured up and down her body. “Just look at that. You've got a nice butt; it's so fun to hold."

Once again, Tanya couldn't help but laugh. “Hahaha. Oh, come on! How do you expect me to follow up that compliment?"

Still lying down on the bed, Steffon shrugged and pretended to flex his arms. “You could start by telling me how handsome I am."

“Handsome? You don't need me to tell you that! I think your arms are thicker than my calves." Tanya grabbed Steffon's arm and squeezed, feeling the toned muscle just under the surface. “Do you want to know what my first impression of you was? Back on Eoam when you were ferrying Jurantis's egg around to find him a rider?"

“Do tell."

“I thought that you were like a dragon. You were this…powerful, mysterious man with a strange sword strapped to his belt, and wherever you walked around, even the town elders and the guardsmen all deferred to you. It was almost scary."

Steffon grinned. “I like it when you call me mysterious and scary."

Tanya sat up on the bed and turned to face the other rider. “Oh, that didn't last long! At first I was blinded by what I thought I knew about dragon riders—that shur'tugal were supposed to be these all-powerful, wise, ancient beings who were bonded with incredible creatures of magic. But then once I started getting to know you and Vale, I realized that you two were both just…normal people. Like I was. Same with Jurantis."

“Aww, so now you don't think I'm all-powerful and wise?"

Tanya reached out and took Steffon's hand with hers. “No, but that's a good thing because I'm also not all-powerful and wise. And if you were, then me attempting to pursue you would be like chasing after the sun. But instead we're both just normal people—two dragon riders who can enjoy each other's company. Don't you think so? Eee!"

Tanya squealed as Steffon reached out and grabbed her by the waist, before pulling her against his side. “Come here, you. Hurray for us normal people! By the way, have I mentioned I like you butt?"

“Yes, you have; that's the third time. Rest assured, I like your butt too." Without moving from Steffon's embrace, Tanya gestured across the bed. “We should probably go shower now. Your bed is an absolute mess of sweat and other…fluids."

Steffon seemed unconcerned. “Shame that. Maybe tonight I'll sleep over in your bed instead…"

END

Rate, Fave, Watch, or Comment on this story as you feel appropriate. Then if you want more to read more character background, including window-breaking dragon shenanigans and an overly-ambitious but adorable hatchling, see HERE.