The Dragonhunts

Story by Icurthus on SoFurry

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#3 of Tales from Selebore

Summary:

After the fall of the Dark Fortress of Juinkarr at the end of the Age of Legends, the dragons split into two distinct clans: The Umbrin or Shadow Dragons and the Lumor or Light Dragons. For two centuries they strictly avoided each other until, following some unknown sign, the Umbrin Dragons actively started to hunt down and wipe out the Lumor clan. In the madness, a Lumor Dragon's family was killed and he is desperate to save his daughter. From a previous clutch, she remained with him for some reason when the rest of her clutch-mates left the den. Only, she has come into her heat while they attempt to escape with their lives.

Contains: Dragon; Dragoness; M/F; Incest; Father; Daughter; First time; Impregnation; Violence; Death (pre-storyline); Despair.

Author's notes:

After the great feedback following "The Cave of Wonders", I decided to try and build an extensive (though still a little patchy) world around my characters. I am quite happy with what I created this far.

This story is supposed to be something of a prequel to "The Cave of Wonders". I've always wanted to do a story where the one main character was conceived through incest, so I decided to have a go at it now. I know incest is not to everyone's taste, so you can give it a skip without losing track of the main storyline that the other stories are going to follow.

There is a lot of sadness and fear at the start. The idea with it is that, if I understand correctly, sex often acts as a shock absorber after a traumatic experience. Hope you like it.

And again, this story is open source, so feel free to use it in stories and art of your own. Just reference me if you do so, and please let me know :-).


The unknown blue dragon screamed in pain as Ignehur's claws found purchase beneath the scales and he drew blood. The blue counter attacked, but Ignehur easily avoided the rather clumsy blow before lashing out once more. Though it was easier to strike in a downward motion, his sire had taught him that the secret in fighting other dragons was to strike up: against the lay of the opponent's scales. The black dragon's attack caught the blue across the cheek, drawing another deep, painful line just below the eye. Having nearly lost his eye, the blue's confidence wavered and he opened his jaws to spit fire. Though a highly effective assault weapon even against other dragons, they never used it lightly as it was time consuming and resource intensive to replace. Much like the venom of the spitting cobra in fact. The one exception was the Battle of the Cinderskies, when the fire in the skies west of Juinkarr was said to swirl like storm clouds.

Ignehur expected the blast of fire even before the blue had thought of it, and a well-placed slash nearly ripped the duct to the blue's one fire-gland open. There was a good reason these ducts were hidden on either sides of the lower jaw, behind the lip. Though the wound itself would have been small, it will have proven a mortal blow had it landed, with the dragon's face lighting up in an inextinguishable fire.

As it were, the blue yet lived to fight another day, and wisely preferred to remain so. He started to backtrack just as the black advanced once more. Ignehur struck again, but this time his claws only caught air: The blue had wisely turned and fled, flapping his great wings in a desperate attempt to escape into the sky despite the gathering storm.

For a moment instinct drove Ignehur to chase the stranger down, to make an end to him before he could find help from the other Umbrin Dragons, but he realized quickly enough that such a chase would be foolish. There were too many of these 'Shadow Dragons' that were still loyal to Barathrum in the immediate vicinity; their only chance was to escape the region, maybe go south in the direction of the elven territories. He forced himself to calm down with a deep breath, which he held for a count of five before letting it out with a heavy huff. It helped somewhat, but not much.

"Daddy?" a soft feminine voice whispered worriedly behind him. That scared voice helped him to remember what he had to do.

"Quickly, this way!" he snapped at her in an almost snarl as he was still very much on edge. Without looking to confirm that he was followed, he rushed down the slope even as the beaten blue dragon disappeared around the mountain side. Ignehur rushed headlong over the clumps of dark green grass, heedless that their long, thin leaves did not offer very secure footing as he ran straight for a grove of Yellowwoods that grew surprisingly thick in a protected valley. Yet, before they reached the safety of the tree-line, Ignehur stopped.

"In here, quick!" he ordered the young female that was following a little behind him. As she reached him, he indicated to her a rather small slit in the rock, nearly completely hidden from view unless a dragon were to stand directly on top of it. For several decades now, he had been on the look out for these types of caves and hiding spots, for just this day. He didn't like this one particularly much, but right now they had no other real choice.

"Dad?" the young draine hesitated, but Ignehur cut off any protest she may have had.

"Trust me, Ortussa, it is big enough!" he replied, a little hoarse with nerves. "Quickly now, before any more of the Umbrin Dragons find us."

Ortussa stared at her father wide-eyed for a second, but then nodded and quickly complied with his wishes. She scrambled on her belly into the very narrow slit, and was pleasantly surprised when the almost too narrow passage widened into a comfortably large cavern with plenty room for them both. Enough to stretch their wings if they were so inclined.

"Okay, dad!" she called as soon as her surprise at the hiding spot subsided. "I'm in! Are you coming?" To her relief, she heard her father also start to crawl in after her, but then the roar of another dragon echoed down the valley.

"Great Gullivarth's ..." Ignehur bit back a muttered curse under his breath and immediately started to scramble outside again.

"Dad!" Ortussa called after him in despair, but he hushed her.

"If they trap us in there, we are dead!" he snarled as he managed to escape back into the gloomy midday. "Wait for me; If I'm not back by dark, go to the cave behind the waterfall, you know the one, and wait for me there! And remember: Whatever you do, don't fly!"

"But dad!" Ortussa begged, but Ignehur had already taken flight. She heard a couple of far-off roars as one dragon challenged another. Then, all was quiet.

Suddenly she felt very alone.

"Dad?" she whimpered, more as a small prayer for him to return safely than to actually call to him.

How could all of this have happened? Only four days ago they were still a happy family. Then her uncle Tuaranen appeared with a couple of Umbrin dragons of all things and everything just fell apart. She knew her mother was dead, attempting to defend her youngest clutch of hatchlings. Her own clutch-mates had luckily left the nest some ten years before; she was the only one that still remained in her father's territory. They still kept in touch with her and their parents as they sought their own territories, but she hadn't heard from them in months. True, they would eventually lose touch with each other, that was inevitable. But now she feared the worst.

As far as she knew, it may only be herself and her father that were still alive, having been away on a morning hunt when the attacks had started. With a heavy sigh, she collapsed to the cavern floor exhausted, yet never daring to take her eyes from the narrow opening.

***

It was getting late and the storm had already broken by the time Ignehur had managed to return to the small hide away where he had left his remaining offspring. He hoped that she was still okay, and had remained in the cave as he had ordered her. The latest three Umbrin Dragons had managed to pursue him into the next canyon, before he had managed to evade them in the darkening storm clouds. But even then they had remained in the vicinity, determinedly searching for him even as the winds started to pick up in strength and the light darkened to resemble twilight more than afternoon. As the skies darkened, he worried more and more that the other shadowspawn would join the hunt for them. But luck was for a change on their side since he never smelled even a whiff of orc nor troll.

Still, it was more than an hour later, before he had had the chance to slip away unnoticed, and by then the storm was already becoming too dangerous to risk flight. And anyway, he had to travel by paw all the way back to decrease the chance that he might be detected from any significant distance. Therefore he was quite irritable when he finally reached the slope where the hidden cave was located. Yet despite his eagerness to reach Ortussa, and despite the lightning, the rain that was just starting to fall, the strong winds and late hour, he held back. It was critically important to still make sure that there would be no chance of being spotted entering their hideaway.

As he sat there just within the cover of the tree-line, he felt himself grow hot with anger. What had driven the Umbrin Dragons to hunt them down again after being quiet for so long? It was two centuries now since the end of the Great War, a rather long time to wait for vengeance! Most of these dragons had not even been hatched when Juinkarr had fallen. Lunintur himself has even passed away peacefully several decades ago by now. That old Black Fortress had fallen well before even he had been hatched for crying out loud!

Or were they hoping to rebuild Juinkarr and reestablish Barathrum? For that they would need to remove the greatest threat to the old black fortress: The Lumor Dragons. He snorted irritably at the thought of it.

But what had irked him most the past few days was that he had known this would come! He was hatched with an innate ability to sometimes perceive what could come to pass, and several decades ago he had foreseen that his sire's family would be hunted down like this. Of course he had prepared for it as best he could, planning escape routes and finding hiding spots for all his siblings, half-siblings and even their offspring who had by now taken territories.

But what he failed to foresee was Tuaranen's treason. In his misplaced trust, he had confided in his elder half-brother all of his planning, told him every detail of how he would ensure the survival of Lunintur's bloodline. And in the past three days he had to watch as each of those plans were foiled, each escape route guarded and each hiding spot laid bare. All overseen by Tuaranen.

He failed to suppress a snarl: If he were ever to find his half-brother alone, he would kill him! Their blood ties be damned!

With a huff he forced his attention away from the hate that was now brewing in his chest. Before he could think of vengeance, he had to protect what was left of his family. Now satisfied that there was no-one around to see him, he slipped from the cover of the trees and quickly made his way towards the narrow entrance.

"Tess?" he called after checking a last time that the coast was clear.

"Daddy!" came a relieved sob almost immediately.

"Are you still alright?" Ignehur asked worriedly, glancing up at the ridge above them again. It was barely visible in the downpour, but still he feared being spotted by accident.

"Just - just scared." Ortussa admitted.

"I'm coming in." he said and with a last look around the area, crawled into the cave. Ortussa jumped him as soon as he was able to stand up straight again, rubbing her side vehemently against him.

"Oh, daddy;" she sobbed, rubbing her shoulder against his chest for comfort. "Please don't leave me again!"

"Hush, young one." he crooned, closing a wing around her as he started to nip at the tiny crest that lay flat between her horns. "We are safe for a while here! We'll wait a bit until the worst of the storm is past!"

Some might have thought that this storm would be the perfect opportunity to escape, but he didn't want to risk getting lost while they were still being hunted down. In fact, he had nearly gotten turned around himself on his way back as it were! No, for now it would be better to wait for the worst of the storm to clear up before they dared move from here.

They would be safe for a while at least. Sadly, he had told Tuaranen of this cave as well long ago, complaining at the time that he didn't like it as it was too small to hide his entire family and more importantly it was too difficult to enter or to escape from. So it would be only a matter of time before that traitor will remember of it and come here to investigate. No, the only real safe place to hide left to them was the cavern behind the waterfall he had discovered by accident only weeks ago. The perfect place now, he had only had time to tell his immediate family. He had intended to use it as a gathering point from where they could escape west if needed. Now, it was their only hope.

"What if they find us here?" Ortussa whimpered, calming a bit in her sire's embrace.

"They will have to wait out the storm as well;" Ignehur replied, hoping that their fanaticism wasn't such that they would risk themselves to continue the hunt. Indeed, the storm seemed to have picked up in ferocity and he was glad not to be outside still. He nuzzled at her cheek again, but then snorted in surprise when a particular scent caught in his nose. He pulled his head back sharply, locking a surprised gaze with Ortussa who on her part looked absolutely terrified.

"You ... you're in heat again?" he stated bluntly. Ortussa did not answer, only glanced away with a shameful nod. He risked another sniff at her neck again, and was surprised at how strong it was. But short of sampling her scent straight from the source, he could not tell much more. And he wasn't about to risk that! He had been so absorbed in staying alive the past few days that he had completely missed noticing it. "Since when?" he finally asked, still rather deadpan.

"Two days now," she whimpered.

He sighed worriedly: Of all the things that could still go wrong, why this? Her heat was by now in full swing, and now that he knew of it, he was suddenly acutely aware of all its signs. Why had she not left the nest already? True, young dragons remained in the vicinity of their parents' lair for years after leaving the nest when they are sexually mature. But that had been twelve years ago for her. The rest of her clutch had already been away to find their own lives for years now.

He understood that young females usually remained with their dames a while longer to help with a new clutch, and some drakes with their sires. This way they learned how to be parents themselves. But not this long! Ortussa should have been able to have settle down with a mate of her own by now, not be stuck here in a small cave with him. True, her help with the latest clutch had been very welcome and even more importantly, he knew she was still okay unlike the rest of her clutch-mates he had not heard from in a while. But still, she deserved her own life!

Ortussa interpreted his sigh rather badly.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly burst out, as she started to cry. She had reached her limit under the constant tension and heartbreak of the past three days, and now her sire's disappointment was one too many. Ignehur sighed, realizing he had reacted rather poorly to the shocking news. She needed his support in this difficult time, not his condescension.

"It is not your fault that you are in heat now!" he soothed her, hesitating before licking the back of her head to comfort her. Though he wanted to comfort her, he was also a little wary nonetheless.

"But I ... I wanted to come into heat again." she wailed, her confession bubbling up. "But not like this! I did not want mom to ... to ..."

"What do you mean?" Ignehur asked confused, but Ortussa failed to hear him.

"I'm so sorry, Mom!" she wailed again, leaning hard into his chest as she cried nonstop.

"Oh, Tess!" he crooned, once he realized he was not going to get an explanation from her in this state. Gingerly, he reached his snout forward, still wary of her heat. But he knew she was an emotional wreck at this point and though she was a young adult now, his fatherly instinct still demanded to comfort her. "Hush now, young one! I'm not sure what you think you have done wrong, but what has happened to us these last few days is not your fault!" he whispered as he tenderly started to lick at the little crest again.

As Ortussa continued to cry, the full weight of the past few days hit Ignehur as well. His chest shriveled as he remembered the horrible scene that had greeted him and Ortussa when they had discovered Tuaranen's treason. They had been running on their desperate flight from the Umbrin Dragons ever since that horrid discovery and this was the first time they didn't have to continuously look over their shoulder. With a shiver he banished the memory, and instead focused on comforting the young draine with him. He did not want to remember, and to his delight he found that somehow, the gentle licks across her head was not only soothing to her, but to him as well and he focused on it with single minded determination. They were safe now and he could afford to let his guard down for just a bit.

As the young female's crying calmed down to a soft whimper, the tension they were feeling also seemed to slip a bit. But in its place came a bone-deep weriness. Days of running and hiding and fighting nearly non-stop finally took its toll and with this rare reprieve of persecution, they reveled in the solace each other offered. The draine finally stopped whimpering and relaxed into the older drake's embrace, glad for the tender attention and for the chance to simply let her guard down a bit. They hardly noticed when the older drake's gentle licks slowed to longer, more sensual caresses after he had been comforting her for some time. His attention lazily drifted lower and he gave her ears a playful nip before he started to nuzzle at the soft scales just below her jaw. The young draine moaned as she started to enjoy this foreign attention. Without thinking about it, she turned her head to return the affection in kind, nuzzling the drake's snout in return. Their lips touched and to her surprise, she felt the other dragon's tongue press up against her mouth. Without even thinking about it, she tilted her head slightly to comfortably lock her maw to the other dragon's and allowed the probing tongue to slip in between her lips. She moaned in surprise and a sudden rising desire as she tasted the other dragon and allowed his tongue to play with her own. As their tongues wrestled with each other, the tension and fear and sorrow of the past few days dropped away, replaced with a welcome haze of happy contentment and desire where the outside world didn't matter and thoughts seemed to drift by slowly, as reachable as mist in the morning. The older drake's tongue slipped from her lips and she moaned delightedly as he licked and caressed the scales of her neck, exploring his way down to her shoulder.

The cave seemed to have become a lot warmer despite the strong storm outside. So much warmer, in fact, that it seemed to her that her body was about to catch fire. The worst affected of course, was the region below her tail, from where all the heat seemed to radiate. The burning and itching was so uncomfortable that it was driving her insane. She clamped down with her abdominal muscles and even tried to grind the base of her tail against herself in an attempt to sooth the irritation, but to no avail. She needed help to scratch the itch she could not satisfy herself. Then, suddenly she wondered: The male with her should be able to help her, instead of merely licking and nibbling the base of her neck. Though his attention was wonderful, she needed something else from him. At the thought, a strange, warm, musky scent she barely remember having smelled somewhere before drew her attention away from her posterior and back to the older drake with her. This male had by now curled his wings and forelegs around her in a possessive hug. He was nibbling at the hard scales on her shoulders whilst his forepaws massaged her sides in gentle circles and his wing-claws scratched idly at her own wing-shoulders. She nibbled his scales in return for a bit before his smell got the better of her and she broke from his embrace. He allowed her, but she did not move from his reach. Instead she extended her snout curiously towards him, sniffing his shoulders and then his chest. She followed the wonderfully male scent down and down until she found the small protruding spire of red flesh between his haunches which he was holding open for her. She knew what it was, she had seen it before: When her parents had tried to explain mating and eggs to her clutch-mates and herself. And it had been the object of her desire ever since. But now that it was within reach, all the fantasies she had dreamed of evaporated. Thoughts were like water, dribbling from her mind even as she tried to grasp it. It was eventually the smell that had trapped her, that also came to her aid. She wanted more, and carefully reached forward for a deeper sniff. And then a gentle lick. The drake above her moaned in delight as her tongue glided along his flesh and to her delight more of the rigid flesh spilled from his loins. The taste exploded onto her tongue and she eagerly lapped at him. She snorted in surprise as the sensation became too much for him and he bucked forward with a delighted gasp to drive the sharp tip in between her lips. A glob of something sweet and savory at the same time splashed against her tongue and with a delighted groan she started to eagerly suckle, hoping for more of the delightful treat. The drake whimpered in delight and started to make small thrusts, grinding himself against the inviting contrast of tongue and palate. A paw grabbed hold of her one horn to hold her head in place as he picked up speed. She accepted him eagerly, crooning in delight as she tasted yet another splash. It was delightful, but the smell and taste of him drove her desire and need to unbearable heights.

She could not take this any longer. Just as he started up a comfortable rhythm, she spat him out and a little reluctantly pulled back. He whined in need, humping forward in search of her hot, wet maw. Yet, after she licked up a stubborn strand of saliva and goo that connected her to the sensitive flesh with a last tender stroke of her tongue, he allowed her to escape from under him. But she did not pull away very far. As soon as she was able to, she turned around and with a slightly raised tail, displayed her own need to him. There was a lightning strike particularly close to their cave, and in the illumination he could see her folds, puffy and already wet with desire. In a haze, he reached forward to sniff her. Her aroma was delightfully strong and hot and fresh, and he had to have more. With a sure, deliberate lick, he smeared his tongue through her juices straight from the source and sampled her taste directly. It was divine and the powerful effects bit deep into his already muddled mind. He was vaguely aware of her delighted moan as he licked her swollen folds again. With a third pass, she pushed back against his snout and with a little more pressure from his side, he slipped his tongue a little ways into her body. She gasped delightedly and clamped down on the intruding muscle. He smirked and wiggled around inside her passage, drawing her gasp out into a lustful moan, before pulling out with a noisy slurp. Rubbing her flavour over his Vomeronasal organ, he was able to taste everything he could ever need to know: She was healthy and though young, she was deep into her heat. And still without a mate! She must be out of her mind with desire by now.

His body moved on its own accord. In a flash, he had draped himself over her prone body and was eagerly probing for her opening. She gasped as she felt the drake's weight settle on her back and by sheer instinct she spread her hind legs wide, both to help her support the extra weight as well as to give easier access to the eager drake that has mounted her. Though she was now completely out of her depth, he had successfully sired many clutches by several draines and his experience was more than enough to make up for her lack thereof. Within seconds, his tip had found its mark and with a sharp jab forward he sank most of his shaft into her warm, inviting, wonderfully tight tunnel.

She yelped in pain as she was taken for the first time, but she was so overcome with instinct and lust that she was powerless to do anything but take it. Her pain filled cry was drowned out by a satisfied snarl from the male above her as he pulled a little back before plunging back in, reaching even deeper this time. She yowled again, but this time in delight as the drake's thrust sparked the most wonderful, physical sensation she had ever experienced.

By the third thrust the older drake gave, the pain the young draine had experienced upon losing her virginity had been soothed away by the delightful grinding of genitals inside one another. Her moans joined his grunts as he worked up a comfortable rhythm. Her raised tail curled around his side, twisting possessively around his own as if to make sure he would not try to pull out. As they started to mate in earnest, the world and everything in it became lost to them. All that mattered was the here and now.

Outside, the storm seemed to have reached the pinnacle of its intensity, throwing rain and wind and lightning at the mountainside as if in an attempt to break the stone itself down. Yet the anger of the storm was barely noticed by the two mating dragons, who finally found an escape from their troubles in each other's bodies. All the continuous tension and worry and sadness of the past days melted away against the searing onslaught of sexual pleasure as he drove himself home again and again.

Absentmindedly he squeezed at her thighs as he mated her, his claws digging in past her dark green scales to lightly prick her as he hugged her body close to his own. His tip brushed up against a very sensitive spot within her and she gave a particularly hard gasp of delight as her loins exploded with even more pleasure.

She howled again as he came forward and touched that spot again, and without thinking she drove herself back against him just as he pushed forward. Their groins collided and for the first time she became aware of a hard bulbous lump of flesh that pressed up hard against her entrance. It was vaguely familiar, as if she had heard of it somewhere before, but actually feeling it for the first time was an experience that took her already short breath away.

It seemed to be too large, that it would split her once it entered her body, but instinct demanded she take it. She desperately wanted it inside her! Something wonderful was building within her, and somehow she convinced herself that to find release she needed all of him. It was all she could think of, as if the whole mating would be for naught if she could not take it.

Though without experience, she somehow managed to time her own movements to his and as he came forward again, she pushed back. The thick ball of flesh strained against her lips as he tried to bury himself all the way, but it wouldn't relent. His movements ragged now, he pulled back in preparation for another push in. She pushed back into his groin again in perfect unison with his forward movement and this time she felt her lips slide over the thickest part of the ball before he popped fully inside.

She yowled in pleasure as she could feel the knot expand within her. The male tried to pull out, but he was stuck. Instinct drove him on as he continued to try and grind himself inside her.

He bit down possessively at the thick scales on her neck, right between her main shoulders. The keratin there was strong enough to withstand the passionate mating bite of a rutting drake, yet the sensation was still electric to the young female.

For the first time in her young life, her orgasm broke over her senses. She roared in delight as she came, clamping down hard on the drake inside her.

He shivered and whimpered with delight as she held him fast. It was so wonderful to be inside an orgasming draine again.

He tried to hold back his own release, to prolong the pleasure, but it was a futile endeavour. It was just so good. So goooood ...

He pushed forward whilst hugging her close to himself, sinking one last time in as deep as he could.

For an endless second he held still, quivering upon her back as well as inside of her.

It was so wonderful.

Then, he came.

His roar of release joined her own as his own orgasm exploded from him. A powerful stream of life-giving goo shot from him to pierce deep into her fertile body. It was joined almost immediately by a second and then a third, each as thick and powerful a release as the first. Their roars of climax were drawn out long and powerful as they rode the delightful wave of orgasm to its mind-numbing conclusion. As their voices died down, a weaker fourth and fifth shot filled her to capacity before he tapered off to a weak trickle. Endorphins flooded their minds, and they stood there, huffing and gasping for breath as the powerful afterglow enveloped them in a much needed sense of peace and tired happiness. And pride at having sparked new life within her young body. The hot liquid lust from the drake had quenched the worst of her heat, for the time being at least. They will mate again shortly, but for now at least she was content. Yet the young female was unaccustomed to the tremendous height of orgasm and the glorious exhaustion of the afterglow. Though she had been able to support them both with ease as they mated, she suddenly felt her legs start to quiver as the fading orgasm drained the last of her strength. Her own body suddenly felt too heavy to remain standing, and with the weight of the older drake still gasping on top of her added to what she had to support, her strength gave in and they collapsed into an undignified heap on the cavern floor. She whimpered at her failing, but he only chuckled and, as he was still securely locked within her, he shifted awkwardly to resettle himself. Once he was draped comfortably over her again, he started to lick at her neck in soothing strokes in a wordless praise that she had done well for her first mating and also a thanks for allowing him to seed her eggs. Slowly, the world started to return to them: The worst of the storm had passed over them and though there was still a lightning strike or two off in the distance, the angry winds and rain had made way for a gentler drizzle. Their small cave had become hot and the scent of their copulation hung thick as smoke around them. For some reason, he became acutely aware of the young draine body he was hugging to his entire ventral side and especially the rippling grip of her vagina around his penis as she milked the last drops of his semen. Something seemed wrong, but he was not sure what. The wetness of his release within her was what they were aiming to achieve, right?

Then he remembered himself.

Ignehur stopped licking Ortussa's neck mid-stroke. A cold ball of horror suddenly forming in his gut. Absurdly, he tried to pull his still leaking dick from her body, but his knot held them fast together. The sudden yank seemed to wake Ortussa from her orgasmic stupor and she gave a rather satisfied moan.

"What have I done?" Ignehur gasped, horrified and disgusted with himself.

"Daddy?" Ortussa moaned a little dazed, lazily relaxing her tail's death-grip around her father's own. She turned to look at her father, where he was still sitting prone over her body. Slowly, recognition lit her eyes up, of who he was and what they have done. "Oh, wow!" she gasped, squeezing her vaginal muscles experimentally around her father's dick. "Daddy, that was incredible!" she moaned, still a little dazed with her first orgasm.

"I ... I am so sorry!" Ignehur whimpered, pulling away from her as far as his inflated knot allowed. "Please forgive me!"

"Forgive what?" Ortussa asked, her mind still fogged over. As he tried to pull away, she pushed back into his groin and even reached up to nuzzle her distressed father. "What is wrong, dad? I feel much better now; this is exactly what I needed."

"You don't understand!" He hesitated before he continued, as if not speaking it out loud would cancel out the repercussions of their illicit act. Yet it was done, nothing could stop the consequences. Finally, he had to admit the truth, even to himself: "You ... you are going to have my clutch!"

"Your clutch?" Ortussa asked, her mind still a little slow. Then, as understanding sunk in and much to her father's surprise, her face lit up as if she had just received the best news of her life. "You mean, I'm going to be pregnant with your eggs? Oh Daddy, thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

She reached up to nuzzle him affectionately, but he pulled back surprised and a little distraught from her.

"Tess, you don't understand!" he gasped as he looked at her beaming face. "This is not a good thing that has happened!"

"Why not?" she asked, purring delightedly as she leaned back against his chest. With his knot still fully inflated, he could not escape her affectionate caresses, much to his dismay.

"Tess," he sighed, reluctantly allowing her to show her affection towards him. "I ... have taken your virginity. I am now the father of your first clutch!"

"But, my virginity was always yours to take!" she replied innocently, nuzzling his jaw in an attempt to sooth away his anxiety as he had done for her, her entire life.

"What do you mean?" he asked astounded, so shocked by her admission that he stopped trying to avoid her nuzzles.

"I've always needed you to be the father of my first clutch." she admitted, a little shyly though she tried to hide her emotions with a playful nip at his throat. "Ever since you and mom taught us about mating and eggs I just knew that I needed you to be my first. I don't know how I knew, but it had to be you!"

"Is ... that why you remained behind after your clutch-mates left to find their own lives?" he asked astounded. She glanced away, a little shyly but nodded. "To ... to breed with ... me?

"A big part of the reason, yes. I understand why you didn't mate me during my first heat; I was still too young to understand then. But I was really upset when you didn't take me during my next three heats either." she admitted, distracting herself by nibbling on the scales of his shoulder. Then her playfulness returned and with an abdominal squeeze at his penis within her, she jubilantly added "But at least you've bred me this time round!"

"Tess!" he reprimanded her, and she flinched a little at his tone. "This is not a good thing that has happened!" he repeated with a defeated sigh.

"Why not?" she whimpered, suddenly a little unsure of her own dreams and desires.

"I am your father!" he tried to explain. His tone had lost his disappointment and anger, and he allowed himself to nuzzle her reassuringly in return. "The right to your eggs is not mine!"

"But why not?" she repeated, still not really understanding.

"We are blood family!" he replied. "It is not right towards you, nor to your ... to our hatchlings! And now neither the Lumor Dragons, nor any of the races of Selebore will accept them if they learn of this!"

"But, you said yourself that your own sire and dame were half-brother and -sister!" she replied stubbornly.

"That's not the same!" he sighed. When she only stared at him unconvinced, he explained. "You see, after the Great War, there were not many dragons left. Even fewer of the Lumor clan. Blood-related matings were common in those times, yes; but they had no other choice back then!"

"But things have not changed that much in just two generations!" Ortussa countered. "Our numbers are still recovering." Then with a smirk she added "Unless I take an Umbrin Dragon as a mate, I'll still be related to any mate I take!"

"Tess!" Ignehur growled, not impressed by her attempt at humor. "I am your father! A mating between such closely related dragons has never been done before. Not even between full siblings, let alone parent and offspring!"

Ortussa whimpered, and lowered her head in shame. "I ... I am so sorry!" she muttered, dejectedly as she started to understand some of the repercussions of their actions. "I just couldn't imagine any other drake having my first clutch. The other clutches are okay, but the first ... I don't know how to explain it. I so desperately wanted it to be you!" Even though she now seemed to understand, her depressed mood stabbed at Ignehur's heart and he nuzzled her reassuringly.

"I just wish that you openly told me before this, so I could have explained it to you better!" he whispered, nuzzling her behind an ear for a while.

With a surprised grunt, Ignehur felt his knot give way and he popped from her with a wet shlop. In an instant, he had pulled from her folds as if electrocuted. However, as she lowered her tail humiliated in an attempt to hide herself, he nuzzled her tail up again. Confused, she allowed her father to tend her, and he started to clean her of his shame. He even dared to push his tongue into her again, scooping up as much of his seed as possible as if hoping to rid her of his presence before it could take. Yet, even as he licked her out, a weak premonition came over him and he just knew: there was going to be a clutch! Even though mating dragons usually copulated several times a day for over ten days to conceive, this one mating had been enough to ensure a pregnancy!

Ortussa reached back to her sire's groin to return the favour, but pulled back when he warned her off with a deep growl, even though he was near snout deep inside her. Once he had cleaned her as best he could, he turned upon himself to tend to his own mess.

"We should be going!" he muttered, a little disgruntled once his penis had retracted into his body once more. The rain had quieted to a constant light drizzle and now was their best chance to escape. He would have preferred to leave earlier, but tied at the waist as they were, they could not leave the safety of the cave. By the gray light from outside, he guessed that the sun had not yet set completely and despite the darkness of the storm they should be able to reach the true safety of the cave behind the waterfall before it became completely dark. Though how they were to handle this latest turn of events, he wasn't yet sure.

"Yes, dad." Ortussa replied, a little subdued. Her dream of the past sixteen years didn't turn out so great as she had hoped, and the reality was a little hard to take. Yet, they were still not out of danger and had to start moving again. Reluctantly, they crawled from their warm hiding spot, into the light rain. Ignehur lead the way, making sure the coast was clear before calling Ortussa forth.

"Should have known you would remember this little cave!" a strange voice suddenly growled from just within the cover of the trees. Ignehur whirled around snarling, already in a defensive battle stance in front of Ortussa as the new dark red dragon male stepped nonchalantly from the trees.

"Tuaranen!" Ignehur snarled, making sure he remained between his daughter and the traitor.

"I've left that name behind me;" the other dragon replied, sounding almost disinterested. "I am called Umbrunor now, the Bringer of the Shadows. Fitting, don't you think? That was our father's true name, before he decided to call himself Lunintur."

Ignehur didn't reply as Umbrunor sat down close to them, seemingly relaxed but clearly cutting them off from the safety of the forest.

"You were always a smart one Ignehur;" Umbrunor continued, pointedly ignoring his half-brother's threatening growls. Instead he glanced up at the light drizzle as if it was the only thing that he considered a nuisance. "You probably thought I forgot about this hiding spot and I must give credit where it is due; I did. But during the storm I had time to think, and then I remembered that it was only you and one offspring that were left! I've sent some of my new friends to check on some of the other caves you said were too small; Luckily, I decided to have a look at this one! It means I get to face you myself!"

"Why are you doing this?" Ortussa whimpered from behind Ignehur, daring to look over her father's shoulder at her once beloved uncle.

"We as dragons came from Barathrum to defend the great fortress of Juinkarr against the Alliance of Light! We were the greatest, the strongest of the shadowspawn." Umbrunor snarled, suddenly getting to his feet, a fanatic gleam alight in his eyes. But then his tone changed to a disrespecting sneer as he took a step closer towards them. "Then our dear sire decided to lead a group of dragons and betray Juinkarr, abdicating to the Alliance!

"It is Lunintur's fault that Juinkarr fell!" Umbrunor screamed. "The blood of the traitor must be destroyed!"

"You are also of his blood, remember!" Ignehur snarled, stepping back as Umbrunor advanced. "Don't you think that they will kill you once they have no need of you?"

"I have returned to the shadows where we belong! My blood will be cleansed when I have avenged the Cinderskies!" Umbrunor repeated a mantra he had obviously told himself over and over again. "I will not let ..."

He suddenly stopped when he caught a particular scent on the air. It was faint in the drizzle, but the light breeze that had started up carried enough of it for him to smell. Yet it was such an unexpected scent that he had to purposefully sniff at the breeze to be sure that it was what he had smelled.

"Did you ..." he started, utterly astounded and genuine for the first time "... fuck your own daughter?"

Ignehur didn't reply. There was nothing to say. It was useless to deny it, as even he was painfully aware of the scent of her feminine juices that still clung to his groin. He snarled in defiance, but could not help but look slightly away in shame.

"Great Gullivarth's divine seed, you did!" Umbrunor gasped revolted. "Damn it, what possessed you? Not even the gremlins fuck their own offspring!"

Ignehur's growls faded into a low whimper at Umbrunor's words. It was true, and there was nothing he could do to undo what he and Ortussa had done inside the cave behind them. Umbrunor, sensing Ignehur's failing resolve, decided to press forward with a verbal assault. A beaten down dragon would be easier to kill.

"Are you that desperate to assure the line of Lunintur continues? How could you even bring yourself to this? To force yourself on her, for surely she did not take it standing up!" he snarled.

"I wanted it!" Ortussa blurted out, horrified to see her sire crumble under the accusations against him.

"You, what?" Umbrunor gasped, caught off guard yet again. With a snarl he turned his attention back to Ignehur. "And this? Did you prepare her to be a future mate since she was a whelp? Or were you just such a poor excuse for a father that you never taught her better?"

Ortussa snarled and started to step out from behind her sire, but Ignehur stepped in front of her once more and with a gentle touch of his tail guided her to remain behind him. Still, his demeanor remained shameful at his actions. Umbrunor smirked at the pair before him: one so beaten down he could not meet his eyes and one so angry that she had trouble to control her actions.

"You are disgusting!" he spat at them both, reveling in his power over them. "I should let you go, and allow you to live with your shame, taunted and humiliated wherever you go! ... But no, all the blood of Lunintur must die!" He stepped forward threateningly, and Ignehur didn't pull back again. "Think of it this way, I will be putting both of you out of the lifelong misery that is to come from this! And you can go explain to Laethia why you fucked your daughter so soon after she was killed-"

That last insult backfired. Instead of crumbling at the mention of the mate he had betrayed, Ignehur's emotions exploded. All of the anger and hate towards Tuaranen, all of the sorrow and regret at being unable to save his mate and hatchlings, and all of the shame or worry at inseminating his own daughter burst from him in white-hot fury. With a deafening roar he lunged at Umbrunor. The red dragon tried to backtrack away from the black mass of scales and fury, but he was caught completely off guard by the sudden assault, focusing on degrading the other dragon as he was.

Ignehur caught Umbrunor across the snout, ripping scales from the red dragon's snout and leaving a serious wound. Umbrunor could not react as Ignehur struck again, this time catching Umbrunor across the neck and nearly ripping his throat out. He struck again, but this time Umbrunor finally managed to twist from the attack, hitting Ignehur across the face with the backhand of a wing. For a second, the two drakes growled at each other as they recomposed themselves before lunging for the other as if at some unknown signal. Blows were exchanged, both sides scoring painful but not dangerous hits against their opponent. However, the two males were rather evenly matched in skill and strength, so after only a minute they pulled away again to reassess their battle strategies.

Deciding to change tactics, Umbrunor suddenly lunged for Ortussa who still stood there, rooted to the spot as she watched her father fight for their lives. But before the Umbrin Dragon could reach her, Ignehur rammed into his exposed side and sending him skidding down the slope.

"Tess, Run!" he ordered without looking at her, placing himself between her and the red dragon once more.

"But," she started to say, only to be cut off.

"Don't argue!" he snarled, furiously enough to even scare her. "Go now!"

As Umbrunor regained his feet, he looked up just in time to see the dark-green draine take to the skies. For a moment he tensed, intending to chase her down on the wing, but Ignehur slammed into him once again. He quickly managed to throw the furious father off him, but found he was still too late. The young draine had realized her folly in fleeing on the wing and dove sharply to disappear among the trees. He turned back to his rival and managed to avoid another strike at his neck by only inches.

"I'll kill you first!" he snarled at Ignehur "then we'll go after her! She cannot escape us!"

Ignehur didn't reply; he only roared defiantly and he rushed at Umbrunor once more.

***

Night has descended properly. Though the storm's initial intensity had passed, it had not stop raining. Ortussa lay in the damp cavern behind the now raging waterfall, a complete emotional wreck. It had been hours since she had abandoned her sire and fled here, and still there was no sign of him.

She whimpered, trying to banish the memory of the pain filled shriek that had echoed down the valley as she had neared the waterfall. It was the last she had heard of her sire. True, the drumming of the waterfall drowned out anything else, but that scream still haunted her.

What if she never saw her sire again? The thought terrified her. Yes, she was a young adult that should have left on her own life long ago; but he had always been there for her. And what about their clutch? He had said that his seed had taken, he probably foresaw it. Again yes, she had helped to raise her youngest siblings so she will probably not be completely out of her depth, but her parents had always taken the lead in raising them. Could she raise a clutch completely on her own?

With her once beloved uncle hunting them?

Over the thunderous roar of the water, she barely heard the sound of a stone tipping over after being stepped on. Yet it was enough to startle her and she jumped to her feet. There, distorted by the thinner part of the wall of water, she saw a shadowy figure approach the cave warily. She lowered herself into a defensive stance, growling a low warning at the shadow even as fearful tears started to stream down her muzzle.

"Tess?" Ignehur whispered. Though his voice was muffled by the water, she could still hear that he sounded tired and spent.

"Daddy!" she sobbed, pouncing eagerly forward and crashing into her sire even as he passed through the water. He was unable to resist her and they crashed down in an untidy heap of tangled limbs and scales in a shallow pool of water.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." he chuckled, despite himself as she nuzzled him as if he had returned from Barathrum itself.

"I was so scared!" she cried, both from happiness and relief. "I'm so glad you are okay!"

"Please, let us get out of the water." he smiled.

"Of course," she returned his smile, allowing him to get tiredly to his feet. She winced as she saw the state he was in: he was bleeding profusely from several deep cuts across his entire body, but especially his face and neck. A deep burn on his foreshoulder suggested that the two had resorted to fire at one stage. As he stepped from the water she noticed that he walked with a pronounced limp, a devastating wound to his one forepaw where Tuaranen had undoubtedly bitten him during their fight.

Quickly, she rushed to his side and supporting him, lead him to the dry part of the cave, which was now much smaller due to the higher river, swollen as it was with rainwater. Still, there was enough space for them and once he had settled down, she started to lick at the wound on his paw. Instinctively, for dragons cannot wield magic through conscious thought, she molded some of her Mana into a healing shape before letting it sink into the wounded paw. Immediately, it stopped the bleeding and the wound even started to scab over a little. But although the magic had taken hold, it will still be days before he would be able to put any weight on it.

"Is ... Uncle Tuaranen ... dead?" she asked, shocked for a moment at the venom in her own voice. She turned her attention to the other cuts and bites as she spoke. If Ignehur noticed, he did not say anything about it, most likely sharing her feelings about the traitorous dragon. Instead he only answered her question.

"No," he sighed with a disappointed sigh. "Just as I was getting the upper claw, he managed to flee, to find help I presume."

They were silent for a while, as she tended to him. Slowly the wounds stopped bleeding and most of the weariness started to ebb from his body. Ignehur smiled as he felt the weak magic revitalizing him a little.

"How long do you think we have before we have to flee again?" she asked worriedly, licking at yet another cut until it stopped bleeding.

"Don't worry, young one;" he sighed, starting to feel much better. "We are absolutely safe here. No-one knows of this cave, and no-one will be able to track us here in this rain."

"We can't stay here forever!" Ortussa muttered, scrunching up her snout in disgust.

"Of course not!" he laughed; genuinely laughed for the first time in days. "No, I'm thinking of hiding here for three or four days, enough time for the Umbrin Dragons to think they have lost us. Once the coast is clear, we can make our way south and be rid if them completely."

"South?" Ortussa asked surprised. "Didn't you always say we should go west when the time comes?"

"Yes;" he admitted with a sigh. "I have thought much about it over the past day or so. Tuar- ... Umbrunor knows what our initial plans were, so we have to adapt. And now that he knows ... our secret, I fear we cannot show our faces near here again."

"I'm sorry about that, dad." she muttered a little dejected, curling up against his side now that she had tended to his wounds.

"It cannot be changed, so don't worry about it anymore! We need to focus on what we still can change." he soothed her, licking the little crest on top of her head again to sooth her worries. Hadn't this been how it all started? Even as he thought of it, he noticed her heat had picked up again. Though he knew she had undoubtedly conceived after their mating only hours ago, it will still be a week or more before her heat would pass completely. Yes, they have flown on this wind before. And he didn't need foreseeing to know where it will lead.

"Dad?" Ortussa suddenly asked a little worriedly. When he mumbled an affirmation for her to continue, she asked "You said there will be a clutch;"

He stopped licking in surprise and looked at her worried face, consciously keeping his own eyes soft and clear of his own worries. Though he was terrified of what was to come, even more than for his own first clutch more than a century and s half ago, he didn't want to unsettle her more than she already was.

"Yes, there will be." he said with a little of a forced smile. "I foresaw it right after our ... mating."

"What will they be like?" she asked, her old near whelp-like curiosity returning for a moment. He laughed heartily again, not needing to hide his true emotions for such an innocent question. It was good to laugh again.

"Oh, Tess," he chuckled. "I don't know; I only saw two healthy eggs."

"Two eggs?" she repeated almost dreamily as she thought of her first clutch. Normally, a draine would lay three to five eggs, but she didn't care that her first clutch would be small. Instead her heart soared: She was going to have a clutch! But then she remembered her uncle's reaction and her mood soured. She moped for a while, when a worrisome thought occurred to her. "You ... you will help me with the clutch, right?"

Ignehur sighed at the question. He knew they had to talk about it. In fact, it had dominated his thoughts as he limped back from his confrontation with Umbrunor. He was hoping to wait a bit before confronting the question in the open, but now was as good a time as any to commit to a decision.

As he saw it, he had two choices. One: He could leave her to her own life as soon as they were able to escape the Umbrin Dragons. This was the only way he could be sure they wouldn't shame themselves again by indulging instinct and mating each other senseless again. But he knew that even though she would remain in heat for days still, no drake would take her now, not when they could taste him within her. She would be forced to raise the clutch on her own and that, as both her own father and the father of her clutch, he could not bring himself to do to her or the young ones. Or Two: He could accept the consequences of his actions in the fathering of her clutch and remain with her to take care of his new hatchlings. But he knew this would mean that he will no longer be her father but truly her mate, in every sense of the word. And that revolted him; he shivered at the thought of himself having to do that to her again.

No matter which wind he chose to ride, he will be doing something that he doesn't agree with. Yet, the answer to his dilemma was actually crystal clear. Though he had argued with himself on his way to the waterfall, he had always known what he was to do: He will take the knock to his name and remain with her. It was already too late to withhold himself anyway, the shame of siring his daughter's clutch will remain with him no matter what he does from now on. And he will be damned to let Ortussa and the hatchlings suffer the consequences of their combined actions alone.

"Of course I will!" he declared, sounding surer than he felt.

"Thank you, daddy!" Ortussa beamed. She leaned against his shoulder, feeling not so scared of the future anymore as she softly purred in contentment. However, she stopped abruptly with a surprised snort when her father stood up without warning. "Dad?"

He didn't answer, but wordlessly turned around and very deliberately reached his muzzle down to nuzzle at the base of her tail.

"Dad?" she repeated worriedly, suddenly very unsure of what was happening. Hadn't this got them in trouble in the first place? Though she thought of fighting it, her tail raised slightly almost by itself, to allow the questing snout easier access to her pussy. "What are you doing?"

He licked over her puffy folds, wet once again with her heat. She moaned in delight, but then managed to pull her tail down again. He smiled to himself, savouring her flavour as he licked her juices from his lips before he answered.

"I thought you wanted me as the sire of your first clutch;" he replied as he looked back at her and she could actually hear a naughty smirk on his voice. She could imagine it was one she had always associated with some prank or another he was about to play.

"Yes, but ..." she hesitated. Only a week ago, she had been trying to think up clever tricks to get herself and her father into this exact situation. But now, everything had changed. "I now know that it is wrong ... Uncle Tuaranen made that crystal clear." The last part she muttered vehemently as if accusing him for ruining her whelphood dream. "And anyway, aren't I supposed to be with your eggs already?"

"Yes, you are already pregnant with my clutch;" Ignehur replied, a little uncomfortable at admitting it aloud. But then that smirk returned. "So we might as well enjoy the entirety of your heat, don't you think?"

"I ..." Words failed her as she stared wide-eyed at her father. How she had longed to hear words similar to those! Yet she remembered her father's reprimand right after they realized they had mated. And she clearly recalled Tuaranen's reaction at the news. Why had her sire's attitude suddenly changed so drastically? She could not understand. "What, what do you mean?"

"Tess, dear!" Ignehur smiled as he started to explain, sitting down comfortably on his haunches again. "Do you remember when your mom and I tried to explain mates and eggs to you?"

"Kind of;" she replied, not sure where he was going. "I was more focused on you thrusting into mom at the time."

"When dragons come together to reproduce, they mate with each other several times." he started again patiently, suspecting she had forgotten about this part. Not that it would have mattered at the time, since instinct would have guided her with her own mate, had she taken one the right way. "And I don't mean four or five times, but four or five times a day! For as long as the draine's heat lasts and often a while thereafter as well."

"But your seed took;" Ortussa replied confused. "Why mate again?"

"Yes, dragons mate so much to ensure the seed takes," he agreed with a nod of his head. "But even more importantly it helps to form a very strong bond between the two mates; one that is necessary to help raise a clutch of hatchlings together for twenty five years long."

"So, we will have to mate again? To make sure we ... stay together?" she asked, emotions clashing within her and her body betraying her as her excitement and dread soared together. She had always wanted this, and yet she now knew it was wrong. But her sire believed this to be the best course of action to take, and she had always trusted her father.

"Something like that, yes." he replied, though with a hesitation she clearly noticed. Still he tried to explain his reasoning to her; she was after all fully grown, and now his latest mate as well. "Like it or not, I fear if we shy away from this, it might be worse for our hatchlings than if we follow through now."

He stood up and she suddenly scented that male musk again. Though it was completely dark in the cave, she suddenly knew that his erection was flagging once more. And he wasn't hiding it! Her body also reacted powerfully to his scent and she suddenly felt that infuriating, burning itch; the need to be filled once more. This was really going to happen again!

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, nervous and excited at the same time as she also stood up.

"No," he admitted, worry audible in his voice. "We are going to be stuck in here for several days, and given what happened earlier today, I doubt we will be able to resist instinct;" he continued. She heard her sire move in the dark as he positioned himself behind her. Her heart was beating wildly as she felt him place a forepaw gently on her croup. "So we must make this decision while our minds are clear."

He sighed, giving his daughter's rump a reassuring squeeze.

"I fear the consequences of being right and not acting more than acting while being wrong. So I have made up my mind: I am going to take you as a mate should." He paused to let the gravity of his words sink in. "Do you trust me?"

She only gulped before answering truthfully. "Yes, daddy." She sounded as unsure of herself as he was, but they were in this together.

He sighed a little relieved. "Thank you;" he whispered before nuzzling her tail again. "Now be a good girl and lift your tail for dad-dy ..." He hesitated, a little shocked at how eager and dirty he sounded now that they both had committed to their incestuous copulation. And the title 'Dad' now bothered him immensely; he was going to need to get rid of that!

Though she was still nervous, she found her excitement increase sharply as he committed to her and she complied to his wishes. She gasped as she felt her father's tongue press up against her vulva without hesitation and found herself push back a little into his licks. He licked her twice more, eliciting a delighted moan from her and slowly her nerves started to relax as her desire spiked. Then he pushed his tongue completely in again, wiggling it about in search of all of her sensitive spots. This time he was in control of his actions and he was going to make sure he gave her the best time he could.

She screamed in delight and pushed back again and again, nearly sinking her sire's snout into her snatch as well. He only smirked as she humped back into his face. But this time, he didn't stop once he had sampled her, instead he continued to tease her, driving her need and desire for him higher and higher until she thought she was going to lose her mind again.

"Please, Daddy!" she wailed as she shuddered with excitement. "Stop teasing me already! I can't take anymore."

Still smirking, he finally pulled from her. Absentmindedly he rubbed her juices that covered his tongue over his Vomeronasal organ once more and the taste of her heat nearly clouded his mind again. With a snort, he barely managed to fight off the haze of lust a little longer. He needed to know exactly what he was doing when he penetrated his daughter again.

He took a deep breath to clear his mind as he stepped closer to her posterior, but then hesitated once more. Once he mated her consciously, there would be no going back. Then again, they had passed the point of no return hours ago.

'Forgive me, Laethia!' The guilt stabbed at him as he thought again of his now dead mate. But he needed to do this so he steeled himself and in one quick motion, mounted his daughter again.

Ortussa shifted beneath him, instinctively widening her legs for him again. He probed forward a little, the tip of his penis finding her pussy easily. Yet as he touched her, he stopped. He took another deep breath even as Ortussa whined in need, conscious this time of what he was about to do and letting the moment sink in.

A sudden, strange sensation came over him. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, his ability to foresee, or even the spirit of his dead mate that had joined them. But he suddenly felt at peace. Somehow, he just knew that Laethia would have been angry and upset with their initial mating, furious in fact! But for the sake of the unhatched whelps, she would have supported his decision to take Ortussa as a proper mate afterwards; she would probably even have encouraged it in the end. Though not common, it wasn't strange for a drake to have two mates who stayed with him simultaneously, and taking his daughter as a proper mate was now the only proper thing he could do.

"Are you ready?" he asked her one last time, suddenly very eager to sink himself into her depths.

"Yeeees!" she wailed desperately. "Please Daddy, give it to me!"

With a smile, he pushed forward and reveled in the delighted gasp his daughter gave as he entered her once more. She wasn't a virgin anymore and he slid easily into her. His moan of delight joined hers as she eagerly accepted him into her abdomen. In no time at all, he was hilted all the way inside of her, the bulge of what would become his knot pressed up tightly against her folds, yet still resting just outside her body.

Her vagina rippled and pulsed around him, trying to entice the male inside her to start his mating thrusts. Yet he held still there, reveling in the warmth and tightness of her young body around his penis as she whimpered with the ecstasy of being mated again. He started to lick and nibble at the thick scales on the back of her neck, much to her delight as her tail found his and curled possessively around it again. But enjoyable as the moment was, their bodies craved more.

"Oh, yes! Daddy!" she finally managed to say. "Please, don't hold back!"

"My sweet baby girl!" he crooned, suddenly sad when he realized that it would be the last time he ever called her that. Still, he willingly gave in to the demands of his instincts and giving his daughter a sudden, possessive bite, he started to mate her in earnest.

Ortussa gasped in delight as her father started to move within her and she eagerly pushed back into his lap, meeting his thrusts with her own. Though she was still rather inexperienced, he compensated by adapting to her speed. Soon enough they had established a good rhythm together, and the cave echoed with their gasps and grunts and moans, accompanied by the continuous shlopping sounds of his turgid flesh disappearing into her puffy wet folds.

Luckily for them, the drumming of the waterfall drowned out their cries of passion, so it was only they who could hear and revel in the sounds of pleasure they were able to drive from each other. Yet after an eternity that seemed much too short for either of them, Ignehur felt the telltale tightness that he was on the verge of release again. His movement suddenly ground to a halt and he took the opportunity to reposition himself for the grand finale.

"Dad?" Ortussa managed to ask confused through a haze of desire when she felt him stop.

"I ... am going to tie you now!" he whispered, his voice hoarse with lust and excitement. Though her own gaze seemed clouded with the passion of their mating, he could still see comprehension light up in her eyes.

"Oh yes, please Daddy!" she moaned, pushing back into him again. "Do it!"

He hugged her tightly and with all of his strength pushed his hips forward. Ortussa yowled as his knot strained her folds, but she pushed back as hard and the thick bulbous flesh popped inside on the first go, much to Ignehur's surprise. He grunted shocked as he slipped inside unexpectedly. His grunt turned into a desperate groan as he felt his knot swell to its maximum, but the feeling of her vulva clamping down on his shaft behind his knot was too much for him to take.

Hugging her as tightly to himself as he could, he came with a victorious roar. Her own climatic roar joined her father's as she felt a fresh wave of liquid heat wash deep into her body. They remained like that for an endless couple of seconds, riding the current of orgasm together to its wonderful conclusion. As the spurts of his penis trailed off into a weak dribble, he started to rub himself in small movements once more, rubbing as much semen into her and keeping them on their sexual high for a little while longer. The wonderful warmth of afterglow washed over them and this time they reveled in it. This time, it had been their conscious choice and no sensation of horror or guilt was going to ruin their moment.

"Wow dad!" Ortussa finally managed to say, a little out of breath. This time Ortussa managed to remain standing, though just barely. Her legs quivered with the strain of holding her and her father up after yet another mind-numbing orgasm, and at his direction, she crouched down to rest and he crouched protectively over her.

He started to lick at her neck and shoulders as she purred in delight.

"You have done very well for your first mating, my young one!" he crooned between licks. It was interesting that the feeling of her body around his dick didn't bother him that much anymore, in fact he felt proud of her.

"Actually, it is my second time, remember?" she smirked as she turned to glance at him. He nipped at her cheek playfully, as it was now within reach.

"True," he said with a smile, before licking the soft scales beneath her jaw, much to her delight. Just as she started to purr, he added. "Still, I think you have done well."

She did not reply, only leaned up against him with a happy croon as he groomed her. They remained like that, she cuddling in his strong, protective embrace as they waited for his knot to go down enough for him to extract himself from her.

"Dad?" Ortussa suddenly asked when another experimental yank suggested that they won't remain locked together for much longer. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he smiled, but then in a serious tone added "but you shouldn't call me 'dad' anymore. I've lost the right to that now that I became your mate."

"Well, I don't care!" Ortussa declared, jovially. "No matter how many times we are going to mate, you will always be my Daddy!"

"My name is Ignehur, remember?" Ignehur tried to press her, but she only giggled and licked at his mouth.

"Sure, dad!" she replied with an obviously exaggerated annoyed huff, "I won't call you 'Dad' when other dragons are around. How about that?"

He smiled a little exasperatedly, but let the subject drop. Somehow he suspected he was not going to win this argument. And since he had dropped his title as her dad, he couldn't force the issue.

"You wanted to ask me something?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Oh yes!" she suddenly beamed with excitement. "When you pull out, will you allow me this time to clean you? Pleeeaaassse!"

He could only laugh at her eagerness to lick the leftover cum from his spent dick. "Sure!" he chuckled. "Anything you want!"

***

Ignehur tightened his grip on his latest kill as he angled his wing against the wind. The deer wasn't something small enough to be carried safely in his crop and it wouldn't do to drop the carcass from this high. The air current caught him and he tumbled in a tight, controlled spiral down to the bright, spring-time green mountain side below. With practiced precision, he back-winged to slow his air speed before he landed gracefully on extended back legs. Descending to all fours, however was less graceful.

He stretched his wings a last time to relieve them of the strain of carrying him and his kill, before neatly folding them to his sides. He picked up the carcass of the feral deer where he had dropped it and dragged the fresh meal into the nearby cave.

"You were away rather long;" Ortussa called when she heard him enter. He heard his mate approach from deeper within the cave, and he dropped the heavy kill to the cavern floor, grateful not to need to haul it any further. "Did you run into trouble?"

"It turns out that the deer in these parts migrate to the higher pastures in the next valley when spring is in full swing!" he complained as his mate reached him. She nuzzled him affectionately, happy that he had returned from his hunt, and he greeted her in kind. "I never knew deer could move so quickly across rough terrain!"

Ever since they had accepted each other as mates, he had become a lot more open to her, sharing everything about himself regarding hopes and wishes and fears and failures. And though this had shattered her perfect illusion of him, it also had deepened their love for each other.

"Oh, dad!" she replied with a giggle and a lick to his cheek. "Stop complaining! You brought back a wonderful catch!"

Ignehur snorted indignant. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" he asked, but without conviction. His complaints and her refusal to adhere to them had become something of a running joke between them.

"As many times as I'm going to tell you that I don't care how often you leave your seed in me;" she retorted immediately. "You will always be my daddy!"

"Oh, Tess!" he sighed, but failed to fight back his smile. They nuzzled each other again and this time when their lips brushed against one another's, their maws opened and they eagerly pressed their tongues against each other in a passionate kiss.

It had surprised him how quickly he had become desensitized about mating with his own offspring in the days they had hidden behind the waterfall. By only the second day, he was as horny and lustful for her body as a young drake experiencing his first rut with a draine in heat. They had mated and groomed and cuddled and mated again for their entire stay behind the waterfall, never leaving their sanctuary and barely finding the time to sleep in all that time. Eventually they managed to break out of their rut long enough to escape south as planned, but even then they made sure to find the time and security to mate at least twice a day. They actually continued at it for well over a week after her heat had passed, longer than was the norm. And even then, after they had found this territory and she had lain her eggs a month after her conception, they still indulged in the pleasure of each other's bodies as mates often do.

"How are the eggs doing?" he asked eagerly as he broke from their kiss after only a short time. Though he was hungry and tired after the long hunt, he wanted to check on the eggs first.

"They are still fine!" Ortussa smiled and followed after him as he padded into their incubation chamber, also leaving his kill for the time being. Feeding was best while the meat was still hot, but this kill has had time to cool and rigor mortis have started to set in, so now it would be best to let the meat rest the remainder of the day before consumption.

She found him just as he settled down next to their nest of smooth stones gathered up from the nearby river. As he started to check on the clutch she added "I've already replaced some of the stones with freshly fired ones and turned the eggs twice while you were away. Just as mom taught me."

Dragon eggs require constant heat, yet cannot stand direct flames. Therefore dragons usually heat up smooth stones with their fire-oil before placing those amongst the eggs to provide the necessary heat.

"I did not doubt you;" he smiled as he nosed each of the three eggs in turn. "You are a wonderful mother! I just want to feel useful!"

"Without you regularly hunting to provide for us, I don't think I would have been nearly as good." she replied as she settled down next to him. She smiled when she noticed him lingering longest on the smallest egg: He had foreseen that she had conceived this third egg during their stay behind the waterfall and though he denied it vehemently, she knew that he liked that egg the most.

'The other two were conceived through lust, but this one was conceived through love!' he had once accidentally mentioned in passing. Not that he despised the other two; she knew he loved all three eggs very much. But that small one was special to him. He denied having had favourites amongst his other clutches, but it often made her wonder who from her own clutch had been his favourite.

She smiled as she remembered her clutch-mates. To their relief, some time after settling down here they had learned that some of her siblings have managed to escape the Umbrin Dragons' hunt, scattering too wide for the shadow dragons to launch another surprise attack. However, it was understandable that Ortussa and himself decided not to make contact with the rest of the family again, other then letting her siblings know they were still okay that is.

Her stomach growled suddenly and she thought of the deer outside. It would be tough to rip apart now, but she could do with something to eat. Then with a sudden naughty smirk, she thought of another source of protein within easy reach. She reached back and nuzzled low down at Ignehur's flank. He snorted in surprise, and turned to look at her. She only smirked at him and pressed her muzzle insistently in between his stomach and his stifle joint.

"You want to have a go at me in front of the kids again?" he asked surprised, yet he rolled over and eagerly raised his hind leg for her.

"The kids are asleep!" she replied naughtily and ran her tongue along his penile slit, eliciting a needy moan from him.

"You know, they can hatch any moment now!" he warned her, but made no effort to stop his penis from flagging.

She was about to reply when, as if answering to the call, one of the eggs gave a chirp. Instantly, they disengaged from one another and turned to stare wide-eyed at the three eggs, all horny thoughts forgotten.

"Did you know they were about ...?" Ortussa started to ask but Ignehur shook his head. They remained quiet after that, not daring to break the silence for fear of disturbing the moment. For nearly a minute, nothing happened. Then one of the larger eggs chirped again. It was followed almost immediately by a chirp from the other large egg.

As if encouraging each other, the two larger eggs chirped at each other as they started to wiggle and even the smaller egg soon joined in. To Ortussa's surprise, Ignehur nudged a stone closer to each egg to hold it firm, but did not aid the hatching hatchlings in any other way. Then she gasped audibly when the one egg cracked.

It was a small crack at first, but the hatchling inside was relentless. Soon enough the crack spread wider and then a small sharp black snout poked through the shell splinters. The little creature gasped its first fresh breath of life, before a little claw started to scratch at the jagged edges in an attempt to widen the hole.

"Come little one!" Ignehur crooned as the little snout squeaked and the claws pushed more of the shell away to reveal the face of the young hatchling. "There you are! Come, just a little more!"

A sudden crack split a large section of the shell from the rest and the young female hatchling fell out of her egg amidst the last goo from her egg. She squeaked in surprise as she tumbled onto a nearby smooth stone, and again when a black snout as large as her own body reached for her.

Ignehur chuckled as he grabbed the little hatchling, pulling her closer. She squawked and struggled as he started to clean her, but soon enough learned to enjoy the attention, meeping and giggling as she held herself prone.

"Dear young one," he crooned as she tried to grab onto his snout. "I shall name you ..."

"Dad?" Ortussa suddenly said, still smiling as she watched the father of her hatchlings greet the first-hatched. "Remember that we agreed to ... to name her after mom?"

Ignehur smiled. "Of course!" he smirked, returning his attention back to the hatchling. "From now on, you will be known as Laethia!"

As he started to nuzzle little Laethia, the second large egg cracked open and another little snout poked through for a breath of fresh air. Though she wanted to help the hatchling, Ortussa followed her father's lead and only encouraged the little creature. Soon enough, the bright green hatchling also broke free. Almost over eagerly, Ortussa grabbed the little male and started to clean him as well.

"Welcome, small one!" she crooned between licks. "From now on, you will be known as ... Jenour!"

Laethia had escaped her father's loving caresses, and drawn by the squeaks of the other hatchling, wobbled over to Ortussa to investigate. Ignehur chuckled to himself and turned his attention to the last egg. Already, there was a little crack visible on the shell, but the hatchling inside had fallen still. Ignehur nudged at the egg, and to his relief earned an upset peep from inside the egg.

"Come out, little one!" he whispered, nudging the egg again. "Come have a look outside! It is so much better than inside your egg!"

Though the young hatchling would not understand a word, he knew that the tone of his voice would draw the hatchling forward. An sure enough, even as he spoke, the crack widened again until a little black snout poked through. It gasped tiredly for air, and as if the fresh breath was all it needed, the little hatchling pushed weakly at the shell again. It took the little runt of the clutch longer to break free, but eventually the last young male broke free and tumbled in an undignified mess of limbs and slime from his egg.

Ignehur smiled broadly and quickly grabbed the tired hatchling, who did not even struggle as he was lifted onto his father's great paws. The little hatchling, who it turned out was actually a dark green depending on how the light touched his scales, just lay there in his father's paws, catching his breath as he was cleaned.

"Well done, little one!" Ignehur praised the runt between licks. "It is often the hatchling who struggle the most to hatch that become the most strong willed of dragons! From now on, you will be known as Carru..."

But as he started to speak the name, a powerful foresighting fell over his eyes. He saw Juinkarr, still broken and deserted. Around it, the mist swirled in complex patterns, making it seem as if wisps of light clouds were at war with darker ones. He saw his little hatchling, now a strong, fully grown dragon fly in to land atop an outcropping near one of the highest of the broken spires. Then, another presence appeared from the dark clouds. It was vaguely Anthropoid in nature, stretching a threatening finger out to the dragon. The shadows around this creature writhed and all manner of creatures, shadowspawn and Seleborians alike, started to attack the dragon. The dragon roared in defiance and fire leaped up from around his paws. The difference between light and dark intensified and from the flames figures rushed to the dragon's aid. Yet, they were few in number and were no match against the dark army sent against them. The dragon roared a second time, just as the shadowy enemy of the dragon screamed in fury. With an aggressive swipe of his one hand, the anthrope launched a devastating storm at the dragon just as he unleashed a barrage of lightning at the shadows against him. Between them, the stones of fallen Juinkarr started to roll together, stacking themselves on top of one another as the black fortress was rebuilt. Many of the rebuilt spires of Juinkarr fell to the wind and lightning alike, but the main tower itself remained standing. By now the towers of the Circle of Five appeared in the distance, but what they thought about the dark tower rising again or the battle between dragon and shadow, Ignehur could not tell. Shadow continued to clashed with the Light around the dragon, and for a moment it seemed that the darkness would consume everything. But the dragon roared a last time and Juinkarr itself began to glow.

"Dad?" Ortussa repeated worriedly. Between her forepaws, Laethia and Jenour had collapsed against each other and was resting after what appeared to have been a short wrestling match. "What's wrong?"

"I ... I had a foresighting! But unlike anything I have seen before!" he admitted, leaning in to nuzzle the hatchling in his paws. The little one had regained some strength again and had started to curiously nibble on one of his father's claws. "This hatchling is going to have a significant impact on the world! It has something to do with Juinkarr, but what I cannot really see. Yet I feel his name will be as great as Lunintur's himself!"

The hatchling had finally regained some strength and squeaked in delight and he squirmed against the large snout as he was nuzzled by his father. Worried about her hatchlings future, Ortussa leaned in to nuzzle him reassuringly as well.

"Will ... he be okay?" Ortussa whispered worriedly, but Ignehur could only shake his head. He could not recall anything after that last blinding light.

"I don't know;" he sighed, leaning his head down towards the hatchling again."Le guaman cor et taramen, na gahn et tuar ne turuwhen!" Ignehur spoke to the young hatchling, who only giggled at the attention. Not sure why himself, he had quoted a phrase of an old poem he had heard long ago. It was written in the long dead human language of the Catarri Barbarians, and one of the few saying of theirs that was still remembered: 'The road ahead will be dangerous, but journey forth with courage and you will not fail.'

"Journey forth with courage!" he repeated. 'Gahn et tuar'. Then with a broad smile, he nuzzled the hatchling once more. "From now on, little one, you will be known as Gahntuar!"

Little Gahntuar squeaked in delight again as Ignehur nuzzled him one last time, before the large drake allowed him to escape. Suddenly full of energy, Gahntuar discovered his clutch-mates lying together in an untidy clump of limbs, and without hesitation he pounced on them. The two parents laughed as the larger two hatchlings woke with indignant squawks before pouncing the little troublemaker in a bit for vengeance.

"I think it is time for their first meal." Ortussa whispered as she stood up to retrieve a slab of meat from the deer Ignehur had killed earlier. It would have been best to let the meat rest, but she couldn't let the hatchlings wait.

"Good idea," Ignehur replied, but remained behind to watch over the three hatchlings as Laethia and Jenour finally managed to push Gahntuar to the ground, all three of them squeaking and giggling with delight.

"Le guaman cor et turuwhen, na gahn et tuar se ne taramen!" Ignehur repeated softly to himself, suddenly a little sad and worried for his little hatchlings, especially Gahntuar. But he cast the fears aside once more as Ortussa appeared with fresh meat she had ripped from the carcass outside. There was no profit to needlessly worry about what he could not change.

He smiled as the hatchlings stopped playing, curiously nosing at the small strands of meat Ortussa was trying to feed them. Yes, he should enjoy the moment now and prepare them for the life ahead of them when the time comes.

For now, life was wonderful once more!

end.