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Cyrvanyx lay on the grass near the forest that would be surrounding the human village if it weren't for the large lake. For quite a bit of time, he has been watching the humans in their little village, seeing them trade and talk with one another. There even were human children playing together with dragon hatchlings, a sight one would only get to see in this very place. The humans were fighting the hatchlings with wooden swords, acting as dragon slayers. It was a game he also used to play as a hatchling, especially because he liked to spend time with humans more so than with others of his kin.

In the past, that game brought him a lot of joy, but after having fought and real wars, seeing the true horrors of war, he couldn't help but cringe just at the name of the game, "dragon slayer". As he watched them play he wondered what a wonderful place the world would be if more places were like the valley. A world were dragon and men lived together in harmony, as equals, would truly be a dream come true. But it is clear that that will never come true, not with all these divided factions ruling over the world that is known as Eldoria.

At least Albia had that harmony, once, but those days have been gone for a few centuries already. Maybe someday someone will arise who will be able to unite the dragon clans and the humans as the first king of Albia has done. After heaving out a sigh his eyes wandered towards the sky. The position of the sun told him that it was midday, the exact time he and Ary wanted to meet near the forest so they both could fly to the hot springs together.

After having waited for a good while he was beginning to lose his patience. Could it be possible that she just forgot about their little trip? No, surely not. Although it could still be a possibility, one that he didn't want to consider though.

As he was still lost in his thoughts, watching the sky and the sun, a sudden sound of cracking wood behind him caught his attention. He would've jumped up in surprise if it wouldn't have been for that weight to drop on top of him, luckily not crushing his wings in the process. "You let your guard down." He heard a female voice say, Ary's voice. "Don't you remember the training? That was one of the first lessons: Always be on guard."

Before he could answer or try to shake her off she already jumped off on her own accord, gracefully landing next to him with a smirk on her face. "On guard? Why should I be on guard? this here is the safest place for us with no enemies around." He looked at her smirk and answered it with a warm smile. "I guess I will just count you as a potential enemy then."

"Ahaha, you do that and next time I'll see if you hold dear to your word." She came a bit closer to whisper in his ear, a grin replacing her smirk. "And next time I'll be aiming for something more vulnerable than your back."

Just her grin was enough to send a small shiver down his back, but her breath upon his scales and her words even made him feel a strange tingle between his hind legs. In an attempt to focus he shook his head, trying to not let his body get the better of his mind. Cyr forced a smirk on his face, gently pushing her back with a paw. "You can try, Ary."

All she did in response was grin and wink at him before turning her back to him. The wink kind of got him off his guard, causing a bit of warmth to flow to his cheeks. As he watched her take a couple of steps forward he collected his thoughts again. His self a few weeks ago wouldn't have managed to do that. Although he was still far away from his goal he was slowly but surely getting used to talk and interact with her normally as two befriended dragons would.

"So..." She said, looking back at him. "Do you still remember the way to the hot springs?"

He glared at her funny, getting up from the ground at the same time. "Do I still remember the direction to the place where we two used to have so much fun at as we were little? Of course, I do!" He spoke, followed by a chuckle. "What a strange question to ask when it should be obvious that we both remember the way, right? Do you?"

The intentional sarcasm in his voice got Ary to raise her head, all her frills standing at attention. That was a clear sign that she didn't know the answer to his question. "I... sure, of course, I know the way."

Lying was never her strength which was clearly showing at the moment. He couldn't help but smirk at her as she tried to think of an answer while she didn't even realize that her frills and the slight blush on her cheeks had already given her away. It was kind of cute even if he wouldn't say it out loud.

"If you know where the hot springs are then please..." He waved towards the mountains around them with the smirk still on his muzzle. "Lead the way."

As she looked around it actually seemed like she might still remember somewhere in the back of her mind. He could almost see the wheels twisting and turning in her head. Then, at last, she let out a defeated sigh, lowering her head and her ears. "Yes, fine... I forgot the way. It's been a while since we last been there so..." Her gaze met his. "Sorry."

Cyr tilted his head in confusion at her apologize. "Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"Mhm?" In a low pace, she rose her head to his eye level again. "I thought you'd be angry or something at me for forgetting such an important part of our friendship?"

"Pff, you just forgot the location of the hot springs. I'm not mad because of that. It was quiet of obvious that you forgot." His face twisted with a grin. "I just wanted to see what answers you could come up with."

Her gaze intensified, her eyes narrowing to slits like she was angry while still having a smirk on her face. "Oh, I'll so get you in the balls for that later." She spoke in a teasing tone, acting all angry and mad.

"Will you then?" He chuckled as he walked past her, tail lowered just in case. "Maybe instead of blaming my balls, you should blame your memory for this embarrassment." While still smirking at her he spread his wings. "And blame your memory for this next one too because I'm going to be at the hot springs first."

With that said he flapped his wings and took to the skies after just a few running steps forward. Right after he was in the sky he heard Ary do the same, roaring after him. "In your dreams maybe! Don't think just because you know the way better than I do that you can beat me in a race!" She was already gaining more speed than him as the two flew higher and higher. "You never have and never will!"

"There's a first time for anything!" He roared back at her before focusing on the way ahead and the race he had started, a race he desperately wanted to win. He beat his wings as fast as he could manage, trying to somehow be faster, or at least as fast, as Ary. With the wind at his back, he was confident that he could actually be victorious. Up he went, rising higher into the sky to fly over the large mountains that surrounded the vale. The hot springs were not too far away. Just over the eastern mountains and a little bit further east where they already were, surrounded by smaller rocks and hills.

As he passed over the great mountains he could already see them, alongside them his victory. Ice cold winds were carrying him towards his destination while he beat his wings as fast as he possibly could to fly faster than he ever did before. At that point, he was certain of his victory. Until he saw a blue and green shadow in the corner of his eye, blasting past him at almost double his speed. Almost immediately after he saw that the figure was already way ahead of him, already slowing down to land near the hot springs.

"How even..." He gawked at Ary landing very gracefully, turning around in the same motion. Although she was too far away to really see he could basically feel the smirk she had on her muzzle. As he let out an annoyed groan he slowed down his pace, getting closer to the hot springs. Once he was almost there he stretched out his hind legs to land. His landing almost went wrong. There was a rather large stone in his way as he landed and he would've walked straight into it if he wouldn't have managed to slow down fast enough.

"Well..." The mocking tone in her voice was impossible to miss, almost seeming like a little payback for teasing her before. "Say it!"

He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, fine, you win... again." He murmured the last word trough grit teeth. One day he will beat her, he was sure of it. One day.

"Ohhh, you are sounding a bit frustrated." An almost evil grin twisted on her muzzle. "I wonder why that is..."

"Enough, Ary. Where are here to have fun, not to annoy each other."

"Well, I am having a lot of fun right now." She said, her words accompanied by a couple of giggles. Cyr just snorted and turned around, heading towards the hot springs. "Ah, I see how it is. When it is you who does the teasing it is fine but when you are the one getting teased the fun is over. Is that how it is, huh?"

"No." He blandly answered, twisting his neck to look over his shoulder. "I just think you won often enough and also bragged about winning more times than I can count." Before he turned around he could see an amused grin on her face and also a slight movement at her rear. "Also, I know you are planning to hit me in the balls with your tail, so you better stop."

That got her to freeze for a moment before she recollected her thoughts and followed him to the hot springs. "Tssk, for now..." She silently hissed behind his back, still loud enough for him to hear which could have very well been intentional.

The two of them walked the short distance to the hot springs together, Ary walking by his side. The water and everything that surrounded it looked just like he remembered. Expect that everything looked smaller, but that was of course because he was smaller himself back then. Water that was clearer than any other lake or river in all of Albia made up the hot springs, as blue as the sky and deep enough for a dragon to swim in it.

Surrounding vegetation was quite sparse since the hot spring was in the mountains. A few bushes and scattered around the otherwise rocky area. It was just like all the other parts of the highlands, pure nature. As much as he loved human architecture and admired their ways of life he still loved the highlands for what they were, beautiful hills and mountains, untouched by the hands of humans, apart from the village in the vale and the smaller ones that scatter around the southern mountains of the highlands.

"I'll be in first!" Ary said all of a sudden and then leaped forward without a second warning, landing inside the water with a loud splash sound. She kept her head underneath the surface for a few seconds before coming back up again, shaking the water off her scales. "Ah, this is soooo good!" She enjoyed the warmth for a while before speaking to Cyrvanyx with her eyes closed, still taking in the comfortable temperature of the water. "Come on now, what are you waiting for?"

He smiled at her words, dipping in a single claw to see how warm the water truly was. Without another moment he jumped into the water head first, causing an even bigger splash than Ary. He Twisted and turned underneath the water's surface before coming back up. "Oh yes, you were right! This is really good!" With a satisfied sigh, he sunk in deeper still. "I almost forgot how warm this water was."

"Oh, did you? I would have thought the name of this 'hot' spring would have given away that fact." She said with a chuckle.

His answer to her cheeky remark was narrowed eyes and a big splash of water on her face. Apparently, he managed to get her off guard since she let out a small yelp of surprise as the water hit her muzzle. She shook her herself, glaring at Cyr who was now chuckling and smirking instead of her. "What did you say earlier about always having your guard up?"

"You cheeky..." Ary trailed off glaring at him with narrowed eye, slowly shaking her head. "Oh, you deserve far more than just a kick in the balls for this."

Cyr retreated his head slightly, curling his neck into an S shape. Just as he was about to answer her threat with a bold question he hesitated for a brief moment. Although he had already gone very far with her compared to before he was still afraid to say the wrong things at times. But at this moment he just brushed off his fear, as he should always do. So he cocked his head to the side and gave her a funny look, soon opening his mouth to speak. "Ary you... you seem to be awfully focused on my balls lately. Would you mind telling me why that is?" His voice was soft and warm as he was talking, his head lowering to meet her eye level with every word he spoke.

"Ehehe..." His words gained a brief chuckle from her, followed by a piercing gaze, like the one a hunter would give his prey. "Well, they would make for a great target practice." She smirked widely, tilting her head to the side. "there would be no doubt of my deadly precision if I'm able to hit targets that small."

"You..." He stared at her wide smirk. "They're- they're certainly not small!" He quickly stated after being frozen for a while. A bit of red was beginning to rush to his face, only underlining more how off guard he was struck by her joke.

"Whoops, have I struck a nerve, Cyr?" She asked in her usual teasing manner, getting a bit closer to put a paw on his shoulder. "I'm sure the size of your member makes up for the size of your balls... or does it?" She got even closer, sending a shiver down his spine.

Excitement was beginning to spread through his body at the way she spoke about his privates. A bit of blood was already flowing towards his rear, he could feel it. He was quick to take a small step back, trying to shut off the thoughts and pictures going through his head. No, he couldn't allow himself to get hard. she might very well notice and that would make him look like a hatchling, unable to control his lust, in her eyes and in his own. "can we, ehm... talk of something else?"

"Sure we can," Ary said with a suddenly cheerful voice, sitting down on her haunches, head barely sticking out of the water. "There was something I wanted to ask you anyway." She tilted her head slightly to the side. "Why do you sleep in that lonely cave in the vale instead of going north to be with your family?"

That was an unexpected question, but one he could easily answer. "It is because of my father." He sighed as he said that, taking in a deep breath before giving her the rest of his explanation. "You know well enough that our relationship is... difficult, so I am happy that I was able to avoid him so far. Although I still need to talk to him about my younger brother. I have not seen him so far, anywhere. I asked my older brother, but he just quickly tried to change the subject. So, eh, yeah... things aren't going too well with my family it seems."

"At least you have a family to return to..." Ary murmured almost incomprehensible.

He barely caught what she said, but still heard her loud enough to understand what she has just whispered. When he looked into her eyes, for a moment, he could see something cold within her. That cold vanished as she blinked and looked away. Cyr took a step closer to her, water making way for his movement. he almost forgot about her family, her parents. But it wasn't his fault that he revoke that old memory, right? It was her who asked him and he answered. And yet he felt responsible for the dread in her heart.

Slowly he lifted a paw to gently stroke the scales on the back of her neck. "I'm sorry, I forgot about that."

A small giggle was her answer to his caring words. "Oh Cyr, that's not your fault. It was me who asked started with family after all. And... I'm... not really mourning them as you might think. I mean... they left the clan after I joined the order. What troubles is not what happened to them, but that I don't know what might have happened to them. They made their home near the eastern coastline, which was as we know where Ulric landed with his many, many ships. So I... don't have much hope for them."

"Ary, you need to have hope, especially in times like this. Hope is all we have left. So have faith in your parents."

She leaned into his touch, raising one of her paws to rest it on Cyr's back, hugging him. "Thank you. I appreciate your calming words, but I cannot help to worry about them. I mean... they were the reason I joined the order. I wanted to make them proud and happy..."

"Which is what you did!" He said, slightly shaking her by her shoulder. "You made them as proud as they could possibly be. You were the fastest flier in the whole order, no, you are the fastest flier in the whole clan, even all of the clans. You have made them proud, Ary. Remember that."

For a moment her eyes remained on the water's surface, looking at her own reflection. A smile then slowly crept onto her muzzle as she met his gaze. She simply smiled at him without saying anything at all. No words were needed to show him that she was thankful for his comfort. he answered her smile with a smile of his own. In that small moment, he felt something between them. A sort of tension that he had felt before, but this time it felt even stronger.

Although it was merely seconds it felt way longer than that to him. There were many possibilities running through his head, many of which he discarded instantly. But one idea stuck in his head, one question he asked himself. Should he tell Ary that he loved her? He knew that at some point he had to tell, he wanted to. This moment seemed perfect and yet he couldn't do it. He couldn't say it. He repeated the words again and again in his head but no matter how hard he tried they wouldn't leave his throat.

After what felt like an eternity she loosened the hug, taking a small step back to sit down on her haunches. "Anyway, now that we are on the topic of the order there's something I'd like to know. I don't think you ever told me why you joined the order, or how. So, would you mind answering me both of those questions?"

The question he wanted to ask still resonated through his head as she asked her own. It felt as if he had a lump in his throat as soon as he tried to speak. After he cleared his throat and took a deep breath he was finally able to gather his thoughts. "Why and how I joined the order?" He repeated her question aloud. "Well... as it was announced all around the highlands that a new knight in the order climbed up in the ranks and should soon be sworn to a dragon many stood up for the competitions that followed that would decide who would be the new member of the order. I wasn't the best in neither of the two competitions. I may have been a decent fighter but certainly not the best."

He licked his nose. "When it came to flying, well, you know me, I'm not the fastest." They both shared a brief chuckle. "But what I had what the others didn't have was unmatchable courage. I fought against opponents I knew I couldn't beat, as I storm turned up in the middle of the race I flew right through it, landing me at a much higher position than I was originally. So at the end that was why the order grandmaster and the highclaws choose me because I matched up with Henry's courage." A smile crept on his muzzle as that name past his lips. "And in the following years, we trained hard and became two of the best fighters of the whole order."

Ary smiled at him, nodding slightly. "Ah, yes, unmatchable courage. That truly sounds like you, the one who charged into the keep in the middle of a battle to save Henry's family, or... at least his son." Her smile vanished as soon as Cry's own disappeared. "Oh, sorry for bringing it up! I just-"

"No no, it's fine, really." He quickly commented to calm her. "I just... think about how things could have been from time to time. All the things that we could have done differently, and better essentially."

"Yeah, I have that too at times." Her eyes watched her own reflection for a moment. "You haven't yet said why you joined the order, have you?"

Just as he was about to promptly answer her question he recalled the real reason he wanted to be part of the order so badly. While it also brought pride to him and his family the main reason was, of course, Arylaryl. But he couldn't just say that, or could he? What would she think of him then? Once again his doubts and worrying thoughts made it much more difficult to talk than it should be.

"I joined because of my family. I wanted to make them proud." He blurted out all of a sudden, unable to look her into her eyes as he said that. It was a lie, not a complete lie, but still a lie. And he was not a good liar.

As he looked back up at her there was doubt in her eyes. With her silver gaze, she glared at him as if looking into his very soul. "Ah, I see." it was very obvious that she was not fully buying what he said, but she didn't know the truth either, so everything was fine for the time being. "Tell me, Cyr, have you been with a female? I mean, have you ever mated with one?"

That question came so quick and so unexpected that he didn't know what to say or even think. For what seemed like hours he blandly gazed at her, not knowing where that question came from or why she wanted to know that all of a sudden. In the end, he just came up with the truest and simplest answer. "No, I have not."

"Oh? So all the rumors about you are true then? Why is this? I mean, you could easily get many females to willingly raise their tails for you. Especially now that you and I are seen as heroes and survivors. So, why?"

He worked his jaws, thinking off what best to say without accidentally saying the wrong thing. "I don't... need that kind of affection."

"No, that is just a straight up lie, Cyr." She said, shaking her head. "I want you to give me a real reason, the truth." She got a little closer, whispering into his ear with an accompanied by a chuckle. "It can't be that small."

"Th-that's not the problem!" She retreated her head, looking into his eyes with a gaze that was practically asking him 'so what is it then?'. He looked into her eyes for quite a while. His thoughts were a complete mess. He did not know what to say. then eventually he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a short moment. "I... I was- I almost did mate with a female before." He gulped down another lump in his throat. "We-we were both ready and willing, but when she lay there before me... I- I couldn't. All I could think of was... it was..."

'All I could think about was you'. The sentence repeated itself over and over in his head but it wouldn't leave his throat, stuck just like the phrase 'I love you' was. He mouthed the first words of the sentence a couple of times again before he just gave up. He lowered his gaze to the water below him, looking at his own reflection. He felt shame for his cowardice. Only a few moments before he had told her about his unmatched courage and now he couldn't even tell her such a simple thing.

"It is fine, Cyr." Ary's soft and calm voice made him raise his head slightly. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I mean... I myself have mated before, but it wasn't a good experience." That caused him to look into her eyes, wondering what she meant. "I don't know if you remember him, but my first and only mate was... abusive. He only cared for himself and his offspring and not for me. Until this day I'm thankful that I didn't give this... monster the hatchlings he so badly desired."

"Yes... I do remember him." He spoke up after not having said anything for a while. "But I have never seen him in the last couple of years. Do you know what happened to him?"

That gained a brief chuckle and a wide grin from her. "Oh yes, I know. My father happened." She said, the tone in her voice suggesting that she was dwelling in good memories. "As he found out about the things he did he fought him and won with ease. He gave him a choice, either go away from the clan and go to another to never return." She smirked at him raising a paw above water level to wave a single unsheathed claw in front of Cyr's face. "Or stay with me and lose his balls. His choice was obvious."

The pure thought gave him a cold shiver down his spine, his eyes fixated on her claw as she sheathed it again. "Yes, quite obvious. No female is worth one's balls." He said with a chuckle.

Ary giggled alongside him, getting close enough to him to rub herself against him. "Not even me?" Immediately he stopped laughing and smiling and gazed at her with confusion and a bit of fear. What was the point of that question? He thought that her former questions got his mind to twist and turn but this one was- "AHAHA!" His thoughts got interrupted by the sudden outburst of laughter coming from Ary, which made him only more confused than before. "Ahaha, I'm so sorry Cyr, but I love the face you make when you don't know what to say."

"You... cheeky..." He shook his head, joining in with her laughter. "I think that your teasing and cheekiness makes up for my own."

"Ehehe, maybe it does." She smirked at him with a toothy grin. "But I'll hit you in the balls anyway, just for fun."

"Ha, you are welcome to try at any point."

That made Ary giggle. "You probably will regret saying that at some point."

"Pff, maybe, but I will have my guard-" He was interrupted by a very loud roar that came from the skies. Both of them glared in the direction of that resonating call and just as his ears told him there was a dragon flying towards the vale. But not just one, several ones, and strangely close together as well. It almost looked like they were carrying something, no, someone. They were carrying another dragon. Perhaps he was wounded, but it would have to be severe wounds for him to be unable to fly on his own.

What caught his attention the most though was the dragon who roared out to the clan. It was a voice filled with anger and strangely fear too. It was his father. whoever they were carrying, he was in grave danger. "Cyr, didn't he sound like your father?"

"That is my father, I'm sure of it." He watched the distant silhouettes flying across the sky, wondering what happened. "I don't know about you but I think we should go and look what happened." He glared towards her, looking for a sign of approval.

She nodded without hesitation. "Agreed."

Without wasting any more time on wondering what was going on they both left the water, spread their wings and took to the skies to find out what actually happened. Cold tingles washed all over his body as he got out into the open after spending a good amount of time in warm water, but he didn't care.

He was eager to find out what was going on since the one they were carrying could be someone he knew, someone he cared for.

And he didn't know if he could cope losing someone close.

Not again.