Sired

Story by Bellicose B on SoFurry

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Hello all! Hope you've been doing well!

For those of you who have followed me for long enough, you'd know that stories about feral dragons were how I first dipped my foot into this community. Tales about colossal, scaly creatures doing dark, dirty things in the deep underground have always excited me, as I hope they do for you as well. Anyhow, I thought that I'd give it another shot after eight or so years. This particular idea has been swimming around in my head for a while now, and it's the first to feature my sona (Yurio), so I do hope that you enjoy it.

As always, please read the tags found to the left to determine whether or not this kinda thing will jive with you, and if it does, please let me know how you felt about it in the comments below. I always appreciate your support. Lastly, if you happen to be aged 18 or under, I'd kindly advise you to seek out a site less saturated in debauchery. Now, onto the dragon smut!



The caverns reeked of sex.

It was an unsettling realization, and one that caused Yurio's long, flat tail to curl even more tightly around himself. Such a protective gesture was only natural for an anxious young dragon - an unconscious effort to put a bulwark between himself and the unknown - but it was futile all the same. Tucked away as he was within that small, damp corner of the cave, with the invasive darkness of Alhetztandt surrounding him from every angle, no amount of self-comfort could help him to feel any more secure.

The scent of rutting, he thought grimly, his gaze wandering across the face of the darkness in pointless sweeps.That's what it is. The scent of egg-making, and the shadows... this is all that I know of Alhetztandt.

At this depth, the gloom of the caves was so thick and obscuring that even Yurio's well-adjusted eyes couldn't sort out colors or forms from amidst the murk. In such a total absence of light however, his other senses only became far more acute. His long ears perked up as he homed in on the sounds of scaly movements in the corridors nearby; there were other dragons about.

The thought was enough to make him nervous, and the slick, cold texture of the stone floor caused his toes to feel clammy as he anxiously shifted from paw to paw. Even the air here was uncomfortable. Chilled, stagnant... and then there were the smells to consider. His nostrils flared widely as he took in the overwhelming scents of dragons both familiar and new.

I can smell them, he thought, his head whipping back and forth upon his long neck as his eyes feebly probed the darkness for recognizable shapes. I can feel their scents clawing at the back of my throat... there are females in heat nearby... and older dragons, much larger and stronger than myself... newly-laid eggs... dried feces, blood, raw meat... there's just so much history here. It's smothering.

The caverns were absolutely saturated with these unsettling scents, and yet, they were the scents of his family, of home. He was home, he tried to tell himself, although that didn't help him to feel any more comfortable about his current situation. Nothing about this situation was comforting.

The Alhetztandt caverns had been the home of the Alhetzern clan since its ancient founding, back in those long-forgotten days when highland dragons such as himself had first settled among the alpine heights of the Breran mountains. He'd been told that these caverns were once a 'humble' system of natural caves back in those earlier centuries, but over time, the passing generations of his ancestors had dug them deeper and wider, creating the vast network of hollows which they now called home today. The main branch of their clan still dwelled here in their colossal entirety, all three hundred or so of his aunts, female cousins, nieces, grandmothers... and of course, the patriarch of the family, Yolh.

But until today's unfortunate ordeal, Yurio never had sufficient cause to visit the ancestral home of his extended clan. His own father, Yorin Alhetzern, had established their family's offshoot household many miles to the south of these caverns, far out of range of a casual flight. Situated upon the more temperate slopes of Brera's lower hills, their home was a modest abode in comparison to these endless, abyssal chambers. Yurio found himself wishing that he were there once again. Surrounded by the unfamiliar darkness, he tried to conjure up thoughts of his birthplace: the safety of his own cave, the warmth of its sunbaked stones, and the comfortable scents of his mother and sisters. Such thoughts were swiftly dashed away as a new, unfamiliar smell came upon his sensitive nose. Another dragon was close. He'd been found.

"Yurio," a soft voice suddenly called out to him from the nearby shadows. The sound was a whisper; silk sliding over the rocks. A tremble ran through the young dragon's frame as the unknown voice echoed around him, and he huddled deeper into his corner as though the act would somehow help him to escape it. He didn't dare to respond. An oppressive silence then followed, but soon he could hear the stranger moving about in the darkness, searching for him. The sound of footfalls - the "tick tack" of claws upon stone - echoed dully in the dusky gloom, until surely the other dragon was only a few meters away from him. When the voice came again, it was suddenly much closer.

It was softer than he expected.

"There you are, little one," the voice said tenderly. Yurio could feel the other dragon's breath - her breath, he was now quite certain - upon his snout. At this range, her scent held strange pangs of familiarity to it. Perhaps she was a distant aunt of his? In the darkness of the cavern, it was impossible to be sure.

"We were wondering where you had taken off to," the voice continued. Her tone was comforting, motherly, and she spoke with the soft tenor of one who was used to reassuring fretful young dragons. "You cannot be running off like that. Alhetztandt is vast, and your eyes are not yet used to such darkness. You might have gotten lost in parts long abandoned. What were you thinking?"

Yurio raised his head slightly, brushing the soft tip of his snout against the other dragon's scaly chest and taking a few cursory sniffs. He could sense that she was much larger than himself, most assuredly one of the older den-mothers of the clan, and the thought somehow put him at ease. A part of him inherently knew that this dragoness would never do him harm. He gingerly huffed at her warm scales, familiarizing himself with her scent. Safety, it told him.

"I was frightened," he admitted at last, pulling away to tuck himself back into his corner. His scent had already rubbed off upon the rocks there, and it'd become the one place in that infinite span of corridors and hollows where he could pretend to feel safe. With his wings and tail curled protectively around himself, he felt as though he might somehow be able to fend off the unending darkness which surrounded him. The thought had sustained him for some time now. Surely hours had passed since he'd fled into these depths.

"When my father brought me here, to the Alhetztandt, he seemed so angry with me... so ashamed. He said such hurtful things to me, as though somehow, I'd betrayed him and the family. He kept telling me that I was sick... that something was wrong with me..."

There was hurt in Yurio's words, and he struggled to keep his voice from cracking as he spoke. He'd cried long enough down there in the darkness before this stranger had arrived, and he'd promised himself that he wouldn't any longer. Crying was for hatchlings.

"T-then he left me alone in these caves, and I didn't know where I was or who he'd left me with. There were so many strange voices in the dark, so many scents that I didn't recognize... I just scrambled, ran, until I found this corner." He looked up into the inky darkness, hoping to find a kind visage to take comfort in. He could see nothing.

"Am I in trouble?"

The female moved closer to him then, and with a slow, careful movement, she slipped her muzzle down to his neck to gently preen at his delicate, feathered frills. The warm, calming strokes of her tongue placated the young dragon on an instinctual level, and soon he found his eyes lidding heavily as she carefully groomed the scales of his neck, cheek, and throat. When at last the trembling flutter of his anxious heartbeat had calmed, she pulled back to speak to him once more.

"I won't lie to you, young nephew. Your father was very unhappy, and not without good reason. Yolh himself is displeased at your behavior... you've been very selfish."

Yurio's heart sunk as he heard those words, and with a soft sigh he lowered his head back down onto the cold, slick rocks. The dragoness in the dark gave him a few more gentle licks to calm him, smoothing the fretful feathers that lined the back of his head and neck. A low purr rumbled out from the vast cavity of her chest, filling the silence of the cavern as she worked.

"But you needn't be afraid," she said between strokes. "They care only for your well-being, as do we all. We only want you to be well."

Yurio raised his head at that, indignant. "But there's nothing wrong with me!"

Above him, Yurio could hear the older dragoness restrain a chuckle. She gently nipped at the long length of his soft ears, drawing a surprised, hatchling-like squawk from his throat.

"That's not for you to say, little one. You must trust in the wisdom of your elders." She bent down, softly pressing the tip of her snout between his eyes. It was a gesture that females often used to mollify their young. "Now come along. You have hidden from your family long enough."

As much as he would have liked to hide further still, Yurio knew in his heart that such an act would only delay the inevitable. He had not been brought to the Alhetztandt by his father, on a flight which took many days and crossed the whole of Brera, just to skulk and cower in the dark like a hatchling. He was here to have audience with his esteemed grandfather, to have these 'issues' of his addressed, and he could not very well leave until the matter had been resolved. Sighing, Yurio stood, allowing himself to be extracted from his corner. Without another word of complaint, he followed the now-familiar scent of the elder female out of the cavern, and back into the reeking halls of his greater kin.

The strange, alluring scents of Alhetztandt only intensified as he was led back into the heavily-occupied systems of the main tunnels. His nose wrinkled as he took in the myriad smells of a centuries-old dragon warren: the dried slop of rot and birth, the freshness of bloodied meat brought back from the hunt, and the countless scent markings of hundreds of females. Here and there, they passed by these other dragons in the dark, identifiable only by their unfamiliar scents and by the soft sounds of their claws upon the stone as they went by. By the smell of them, they were mostly cousins or aunts like the one who led him, and all females, taking cursory sniffs along his hindquarters and making low, hissing sounds of curiosity or surprise as they passed. He shuddered at each unwelcome contact, but he couldn't find the will to make any objections. He was in _their_home, after all.

It's only natural, he supposed. Best not to cause a further fuss.

It was no secret why the females here were fascinated by his presence. The reason was, after all, partly to blame for why he'd been brought to the Alhetztandt in the first place. Males such as himself were exceedingly rare among the highland breed of dragons. Even mighty Yolh, who had fathered hundreds of eggs in his lifetime, had only succeeded in raising four of his sons to adulthood, with Yurio's father among them. Yurio himself was the only son of Yorin's brood, among more than a dozen sisters. It was only to be expected that the females here would be curious. Besides Yohl, many of the younger ones had likely never even seen another male in the warrens.

Pushing through the desultory investigations of his kin with as much politeness as he could manage, Yurio let himself be led further and further through the darkness, passing clear of dizzying weaves of tunnels and the fathomless spaces of ancient, bone-strewn caverns. At last they arrived back at Alhetztandt's upper cave systems, where Yurio had been so ungraciously deposited by his father only hours before. Here, closer to the surface, veins of cracks and crevices lined the earthen ceiling, throwing thin strips of sunlight down upon himself and the female. Even in such dim lighting, Yurio had to blink for a moment to adjust his sight accordingly.

He could finally see with some clarity the dragoness who'd been guiding him. She was, as he'd earlier assumed, much larger than himself. Her dark, aged hide sagged along the lines of her belly and joints, and her useless, tattered wings trailed behind her in a manner that was both pitiful and stately. By the looks of them, she had not flown in decades; such a thing wasn't uncommon for females who spent years at a time in the caves, managing the affairs of the den. Her scales, which had long-since lost the lustrous, youthful sheen of gold, had dulled and grown dark in the murky climate of the caverns. Like most females, she'd also trimmed the length of her horns short, ensuring that they would not rake along the low ceilings as she traversed through the cramped depths of the egg-caverns. All of this aside however, the old den-mother still radiated strength. There was firm muscle yet hidden behind the loose folds of her hide, and she carried a quiet confidence in her stride that came from decades of walking through these same dark halls. She was a queen here, and she carried herself accordingly.

Yurio himself felt no such confidence, even in the freshly-found light. He'd only just risen out of the awkwardness of his adolescence, and his limbs, wings, and tail were still ungainly in their length and newfound musculature. His dusky hatchling feathers still lingered about on his head and joints - signs of earlier years that had yet to be shed even with the onset of puberty - and his tusks and horns were far short of what would be considered proper for any adult male, least of all one of Yolh's distinguished progeny. Yurio had always been told by his father that he was clumsy, that he was a disappointment, and walking beside this aged matron he felt all the more so. At times, he wished he'd been born a female.

"Are we going to see Yolh?" he asked, peering around the broad side of the dragoness to catch glimpses of her careworn face amidst the faltering light. "I've... I've never met him before."

The dragoness turned her head around to peer back at him as she walked. Her eyes were a wondrous shade of auburn brown, like the last leaves of the fall or the color of the mountain rocks at sunset. She was beautiful, he decided, even in her old age.

Perhaps things would have been easier if father had arranged for a dragoness like her, he thought sullenly._ Anything other than that fretful Vale. Maybe, with a more experienced female, things might have gone differently..._

"Yes, little one," she said, answering his question. "Can you not sense it? Take a note of the air."

Having become accustomed to the light once again, Yurio realized that he'd been neglecting the input of his other senses. He paused to breathe in deeply from the still air of the cavern, only then becoming aware of a new scent that lingered amongst the others. This one was deep, earthy, and utterly male, like that of himself and his father... only magnified tenfold. With each slow, steady lungful, the scent spread out from his chest, radiating throughout his body like the warmth of the sun. A sudden thrill ran along his spine. He knew instinctively that this scent belonged to a dragon far superior to himself. This was the scent of the patriarch.

"That scent is Yolh?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, stifling a chuckle at his reaction. "It's quite something, isn't it? His chambers lie further ahead, and it would be best if we did not delay him any longer. Word has already reached him of your arrival. He'll be expecting you."

The scent of Yolh only grew stronger as Yurio allowed himself to be led further within the reaches of the upper caverns. Dragonesses of various ages now passed them with more frequency as they went along, each taking their own turn to sniff and huff at him as he made his way through their halls. They watched him go with curious eyes. At times, their expressions looked hungry, perhaps even covetous, and Yurio couldn't help but feel somewhat scandalized by the way they observed him. He only hoped that he had not offended them in some manner.

"Why do they stare at me so?" Yurio finally asked his guide. His frills pressed back against his neck, another sign of nervousness. "Do they also think that something is wrong with me?"

The dragoness turned to look back at him. Her expression was soft, perhaps even pitying, and she shook her head sadly as she regarded him. "You needn't worry about them, little one" she said. "They know better than to, well... they'll certainly not give us any pause. Now look sharp. We're here."

The pair had finally arrived at the grandest and most glorious of Alhetztandt's caverns, the nest-chamber of Yolh the Greater. The young dragon stood in awe as they passed through its towering thresholds, his jaws parting slightly in wonderment as he stared up at the vaulted ceiling. The vast roof of the cavern was adorned with a dense, glistening forest of stalactites, each of which gently dripped with rivulets of cool water that rained down upon the floor far below. Small holes in the earthen roof scattered light across the damp stones, creating a field of shimmering reflections that nearly resembled the stars themselves. A breathless sigh slipped out of his muzzle as he looked up at the lights, until at last his sense of propriety reminded him to keep moving.

The rocky floor of the cavern was filled with older, more distinguished dragonesses much like the aunt who'd led him here; they watched Yurio with various expressions of interest or curiosity as he was brought further within. Scattered amidst small pools formed from the drippings of the stalactites above, most of these females had been engaged in conversation, or were dining upon freshly-caught, bloodied mountain tapa. These activities ceased as he and his guide stepped forward.

Suddenly, the cavern shook with a low, rumbling voice. Yurio's frills instinctively swept back against his neck at the sound of it. His heart began to hammer in his chest.

"So... this is Yorin's son..."

Yurio's eyes followed the thundering voice to its source. There, residing in magnificent state upon the furthest, highest reaches of the cave, was a massive dragon which could only have been Yolh, the current patriarch of the Alhetzern clan. Even seated as he was, Yurio's grandfather was surely no less than three times his size, and his thick scales had long-since faded from their shining gold to the dull, heavy shades of bronze which signaled the onset of his final decades. His vast wings were loosely spread around him, and his long, flat tail curled around a thicket of nearby stalagmites, where it then became lost in the darkness. Yolh's head hung low as he regarded his grandson, burdened as he was by a vast set of towering horns and the largest pair of tusks that Yurio had ever seen. He was monstrous, and regal, and every bit as imposing as the young dragon had expected him to be.

Humbled, Yurio bowed low at the older dragon's acknowledgement. He tucked his foreleg in front of himself and extended his wings flat against the ground in a show of complete submission. His father had drilled him on the etiquette of this particular formality a dozen times over before their long flight to Alhetztandt, and Yurio had admittedly practiced it several times more in the darkness below, so fearful was he of making a mistake. At his side, his aunt repeated the gesture briefly before stepping aside to join her sisters around the pools.

"Honored forefather," Yurio began, still bowing. His voice cracked despite his best efforts. "Y-you have summoned your humble heir?"

To his surprise, Yolh only made a short, derisive snort in response. Looking away from his grandson, he turned aside, reaching down to grab at a dead tapa which lay near his feet. Ignoring Yurio, he then proceeded to tear into the beast, sending messy spatters of organs, hide, and entrails down upon the damp rocks of his seat. The old dragon's muzzle was quickly bloodied as he feasted upon the animal, and Yurio could only watch on in indignant confusion as his grandfather ate. His bowing posture held unsteadily while he waited.

"You're smaller than I expected," Yolh finally said between mouthfuls, and only after having eaten a large portion of the tapa. Setting the masticated carcass back down at his side, he swallowed, returning his focus to the individual bowed low before him. His expression was dour and cheerless. The weight of his grandfather's full attention was nerve-wracking to the poor young dragon, and it was the best that Yurio could do to keep himself from trembling as he was observed.

"So, what is this I hear from your father," Yolh rumbled, raising a massive claw to pick at the stray scraps of meat hanging from his tusks. "Some bit of trouble between you and your designated mate... ugh... what was her name again?"

One of the dragonesses at Yolh's side craned her neck upwards to whisper in his long, drooping ears. He nodded before shooing her away with the flick of a claw.

"Vale. Yes. She was a pretty little thing if I recall correctly. Born from a fine bloodline, fertile. What seems to be the trouble, then?"

Yurio's tail-tip flicked apprehensively behind him as the question reverberated throughout the cave. For a moment, he could think of nothing to say. His mind raced.

The trouble.

It'd been hard enough explaining things to Vale, even as the 'trouble' had made itself apparent within the very caves where they were to be mated. It'd been even more humiliating to explain it to his father and mother afterwards, and to have to endure their endless rounds of questioning and blaming. Now he had to repeat those same, tired excuses before Yolh himself, and nearly the whole of his harem. The young dragon kept his eyes low to the ground as he tried to find the right words. He cursed himself for not thinking of a better response during the long flight here, or when he was skulking about in the lower caves.

"Sir," he began, swallowing nervously. "There is no trouble, as I've tried to tell my father many times. Vale is... exceedingly lovely. I'm grateful for her company. I-it's just that-"

Yolh suddenly spat, expelling a small shard of tapa bone into the darkness.

"Then why haven't you mated?"

Yurio felt his face become flush with heat as the question bounced off the cavern's walls, echoing again and again with the intensity of Yolh's voice. Twenty pairs of eyes swung to regard him where he stood, with his wings still splayed out and his body lowered in humble submission.

Why indeed... it'd been a question posed so often lately. He supposed that it was better to be honest. He took a deep breath before answering.

"Sir... the reason is, well... I have no _interest_in mating with her."

Silence was the first response to his statement. Silence, followed by a low murmur of voices as the dragonesses whispered amongst themselves. He could just make out the surprised statements from amidst their chatter, the accusations; their lines of conversation were much like those between his mother and father when he'd told them that same excuse. Then a deep, thunderous growl reverberated from the other side of the chamber, quieting the gossip before it could even truly begin. Yurio didn't need to look up to know that Yohl had stood from his seat.

" What was that?"

The dragonesses who'd settled close to the patriarch quickly shifted to make room, clearing a path as the elder stepped down from his throne and moved towards him. The younger dragon didn't dare raise his head to watch. Instead, he crouched in silence and humility, listening helplessly as those tremendous, weighty steps signaled his grandfather's approach.

"You have no interest?" Yolh snarled, disbelief heavy in his voice. As the distance between them closed, Yurio could feel the floor tremble slightly with each word.

"No interest in mating? Are you ill?"

"N-no sir," he replied meekly. "Mother does not believe that I'm sick... I've been examined."

"Then are you injured? Is there some physical deformity that prevents you from performing?"

"No sir. I-"

Yolh snapped his teeth sharply, silencing him. "Enough. I will see for myself." He made a twisting gesture with a bloodied claw. "Onto your back. Now."

At this unexpected command, Yurio finally found the gall to raise his head. He looked up, meekly meeting his grandfather's gaze; although he didn't realize it, his expression was almost laughably similar to that of a hatchling begging for tapa scraps. To his horror however, there was no sense of compassion or leniency to be found within Yolh's eyes. The patriarch loomed above him, unshakable as a mountain. Blood from his earlier meal still dripped down in messy rivulets from his jaws.

"On. Your. Back... Now."

Shamefully, Yurio knew that he had no choice but to oblige. Here, in front of over a dozen females, he'd have to expose himself so candidly. If his sisters ever found out about this, there would be no end to their teasing.

Sighing, Yurio did as he was told. Tucking his wings in close against his sides, he carefully leaned down and rolled onto his back, exposing the soft colors of his underbelly to his grandfather's stern gaze. The cool, damp texture of the cavern floor settled into his hide as he tried to relax, opening his legs, and letting the soft, pliant flesh of his testicles settle out evenly over the base of his tail. Even from his new, upside-down vantage point, Yurio could still observe his surroundings with some relative ease. To his dismay, he could plainly see that every pair of eyes was now upon him, ogling, as dragonesses he'd never known looked curiously at parts of him that he'd never intended to reveal publicly. A blush swept across his muzzle. He'd never felt so appalled, so-

"Ahhh! Unghh, sir!"

A sudden gust of warm, humid breath swept across his nethers, snatching his attention away from the prying eyes of the females as Yolh abruptly shoved his tusked snout down between Yurio's spread thighs. A weak, stifled cry fled from his throat; no one had ever touched him there before in such a manner, let alone with so little tact or care. His left leg kicked out reflexively at the unanticipated contact, smacking the older dragon in the jaw with a dull sound. Yolh only growled in annoyance. It was as though Yurio had kicked a stone wall, for all the effect that it had. Grunting, the patriarch reached out with a heavy paw to snag the offending limb, holding it in place as he continued to huff and snort at the younger dragon's most intimate regions.

"Please, uhnnn... this isn't... I'm not-"

If Yolh could hear any of his grandson's stammering complaints, he certainly didn't show concern over them. Instead, his thick, bloodied muzzle only pressed in more insistently between Yurio's legs as the smaller dragon writhed in place, nudging aside each healthy, young testicle, huffing along the delicate skin of his taint, and taking deep breaths from the scent-rich flesh where Yurio's balls met the wrinkled hide of his sheath. The soft, warm flick of his powerful tongue brought another pathetic squeal from Yurio's throat, before at last Yolh pulled away. Smacking his lips loudly, he regarded his grandson with an irritated expression.

"Enough of that whining," he grumbled. "You plainly seem healthy to me. There should be no reason why you haven't mated. No reason at all."

Yurio squirmed and struggled furiously, but the larger dragon's paw showed no intentions of letting him go. That firm grip upon his leg was resolute, and all of that useless thrashing only served to make him feel tired and weak. He hadn't felt so helpless since he was a hatchling, wrestling against the indomitable strength of his older sisters in the midst of their childhood games.

"I already told you," he begged, puffing out exasperated breaths against the stone floor. "It just doesn't work! I have no interest in her!"

Yolh lowered his massive head down to regard his grandson more closely. At this range, Yurio could smell the meek residuals of his own scent upon the larger dragon's muzzle, mixed in with the pungent aroma of tapa meat and Yolh's own, stinking breath. His nares flared fearfully as his grandfather peered back at him. Then - with no explanation or forewarning - that vast, heavy tongue swept out upon his face, making a line straight across Yurio's slender snout. He sputtered indignantly as the lick blinded him.

"You have no interest?" Yolh asked, pulling back and watching as Yurio wiped at his face with the back of his paws. "Has your father not told you of the importance of mating?"

"Sir... he has." The older dragon's thick saliva was difficult to clear off, and he struggled to clean himself. His cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. It just wasn't proper to treat a grown dragon this way.

"He's told me many, many times. Please."

Yolh snorted.

"Clearly, he hasn't. This isn't some matter that can be dismissed because of a 'lack of interest'. The very survival of our clan, of our species, depends upon the successful breeding of the few males of our line. You have a responsibility to your family, to your clan... to all future generations who will be raised within these mountains."

Yolh leaned back upon the enormous muscles of his hind legs, raising his upper body to gesture around the cavern as he balanced with his tail. Although he didn't seem to realize it at the time, this movement also happened to bring his hindquarters forward, closer to where Yurio's head still writhed upon the floor. A sudden wave of pungent, earthy musk abruptly washed upon him, stunning him in the midst of his cleaning, and it didn't take him long to figure out the source. Wobbling about a foot away from his snout... was the ponderous bulk of his grandfather's sheath.

The young dragon blinked, staring at it.

"Just look around you, Yurio. Each of these females depends upon me to provide them with young, to help them further their families, our family, and to bring new blood to these ancient caves. I've already mated with each of them today. Some of them, twice."

Yurio knew. He could smell it. The tantalizing scent of dragonesses still clung to the weighty folds of Yolh's sheath, hidden deep within each dark, musky crevice of flesh. Every movement of his grandfather's wide hips caused that sheath to bob and jiggle in front of him, as though the old dragon were trying to tease his delicate senses with the rich aroma of estrus. Although he'd never held any sort of sexual interest in dragonesses before, the scent still provoked Yurio's body through instinct alone. His heart hammered in his ears. He could already start to feel the stirrings of arousal in his sheath.

And it wasn't just the scent that was affecting him, either. A low, piteous whine snaked out from between his fangs as Yolh's fat sheath tapped him on the nose.

"You yourself will one day bear these same responsibilities, young one. Your father must expect very little of you to have arranged for only one mate, when you should already have at least four by now. Why, when I was your age-"

But Yurio was no longer listening. Yolh's sheath was practically kissing his muzzle at this point. Its broad, musky lips pressed gently upon the tip of his snout with every gesture that the older dragon made. He could almost taste it now: the earthen, masculine flavor of Yolh's malehood, the heady tang of females in heat that stirred his blood, the acridness of stale urine. It was a feast that he'd never asked for, had never wanted, but his body still reacted to it in ways that he couldn't control. His own sheath started to stiffen, and the blunt, heavy head of his young cock started to push its way out.

"It was my pride to provide them with so many eggs," Yolh continued, oblivious to the reaction that he was drawing out from his own kin. "To extend the reach of Alhetzern was..."

Yolh suddenly paused, taking a moment to sniff deeply from the stale air of the cavern. A surprised expression slowly spread across his muzzle, and he looked down, only then realizing what it was that he'd sensed. His horned head cocked in confusion as he regarded Yurio's upturned belly, his eyes fixating upon the long, throbbing length of his grandson's engorged shaft. A snort suddenly burst free from his nostrils, and a low, thundering laugh shook his belly. The movement caused his sheath to jiggle obscenely, tapping rapidly against Yurio's parted muzzle. With a gusty sigh, he released his hold on the younger dragon's leg. Yurio, still stunned beyond repair, didn't even bother to right himself.

"Of course," Yolh said at last. He looked down upon the smaller male with an expression very near to pity. "I should have seen the signs, fool that I was. Yorin will be so disappointed... but this isn't the first time that such a fate has befallen a male of the clan. It was only a matter of time before it showed up again."

The dragoness who'd led Yurio along earlier raised her head to speak. She too had noticed Yurio's growing arousal, and she watched the bobbing length of the young dragon's cock as it flexed in the air. A glazed look lingered over her eyes as she tracked its subtle movements above his belly.

"Before what showed up, father?" she asked, concern rising in her voice. "Is it disease? Is he indeed ill?"

With a sigh, Yolh returned to his grandson's side, this time maneuvering himself so that the vast bulk of his body was positioned atop Yurio's prone form. The smaller dragon could only stare, dumbstruck, as his forefather gingerly stepped over his spread legs, settling on top of him. An involuntary shudder ran along his frame as Yolh's heavy sheath dragged against his own engorged member. Now straddling the younger male, Yolh simply stood above him, belly to belly; he didn't dare lower his full weight, since such an act could very well break Yurio's ribs.

"It's an old condition," Yolh said plainly, grunting with effort as he took each of Yurio's trembling forepaws and pinned them to the ground. "As old as dragons themselves, and difficult to stamp out. But it can be managed, with a bit of careful effort. Let us be grateful that the matter is nothing more serious." He motioned with a tilt of his tusks towards two females who reclined in the back of the chamber.

"Violta, Vyra. Fetch us a young female from the lower caves. Ensure that she's healthy, and that she descends from a further bloodline than Yorin's... I don't want Yurio's first clutch to be inbred from some silly accident."

The staggering scent and proximity of Yolh's body had temporarily shaken Yurio's senses, but even in his semi-drugged state he was still apt enough to understand what his grandfather had just said. He looked up with wide, fearful eyes at the bloodstained face of the dragon above him.

"Clutch?" he asked drunkenly. He couldn't believe it. Throwing the full brunt of his young muscles into the effort, he desperately tried to struggle out from under the pin of the larger dragon, only to find that his position was quite nonnegotiable. In fact, every motion he made only served to press his body up against Yolh's own in different ways, stimulating him further. He was acutely aware of how close they were... and by the mercy of the ancestors... how right it felt. Were it not for the shame and embarrassment that he was feeling, pinned and humiliated in front of so many others, he would almost say that what Yolh was doing to him felt good.

What is happening, he thought. Why am I reacting to this? What is going on with me?

Above him, Yolh finally settled into his proper position. He moved those wide, heavy hips of his directly over Yurio's spread legs, positioning his sheath so that the thick mass of flesh was fitted snugly against Yurio's own. Behind them, Yolh's massive tail entwined against his, keeping the thrashing limb pinned in place just like the rest of him. The heat radiating off of the older male's testicles saturated into the sensitive hide of his groin.

"Yes, a clutch," Yolh rumbled, as though it was the simplest thing to say. The words reverberated solemnly through Yurio's chest. "You are going to sire a brood today, young one. Be grateful of it."

Then, with a slow, resolute motion of his hips, Yolh ground his sheath down into the vulnerable space between Yurio's open legs. The sudden pressure caused by the contact between their bodies sent jolts of warm, stunning pleasure through Yurio's inexperienced nerves, and he moaned powerlessly as a second, and then a third thrust sent his helpless legs kicking up against the larger dragon's belly. Yolh carefully made note of these reactions as he continued to stimulate the younger dragon, tilting his head to regard his grandson as he worked his hips in steady, rhythmic motions. It was the same practiced movements that he'd made to breed hundreds of dragonesses, only applied now in a different context.

"You see," he said, continuing with his motions. "Your condition is not unknown to me. It has been seen before, in these very caves... and we have long since learned of means to circumvent it."

Between thrusts, Yurio struggled to find meaning to the patriarch's words. "Condition?" he gasped. "I'm... ugh... not ill!"

Yolh thrust again, hard. This time, the combined pressure and heat from the movement forced a warm jet of pre out from Yurio's trapped length, where it was quickly squashed between the pressed masses of their bellies. By now, even Yolh himself was starting to harden from the repeated pressure of their frottage, and the wide flare of his own malehood was just starting to peak out from amidst the dark folds of his sheath. The shared skin between their thighs was beginning to become damp; the scent of warm musk, sweat, and precum inundated the air about them.

"Ill? Not in the sense that you're used to, I suspect. But flawed, yes. You say that you're not interested in Vale, or in females like her, and yet your body is clearly responsive to this." He drove his hips home once again, tearing a breathless moan from the young dragon's throat.

"There is a word for what you are... but I won't say it here, in front of the females." Yolh leaned in close. His hot breath tickled the fine, sensitive feathers along Yurio's neck. "Suffice it to say, it will not keep you from your duties. You have been running from them for long enough."

"Please, grandfather," Yurio stammered. "I only want-"

Any further protests were rendered moot at that point, as Yolh dipped the immense weight of his horned head down, opened his jaws, and locked them against Yurio's own in a deep, arresting kiss. The young dragon's eyes flew open in shock as his forefather gripped him in this most intimate gesture. To lock jaws with another dragon was a display of closeness that only occurred between mates, and the suddenness of the act took him completely by surprise.

The wet, heavy bulk of Yolh's tongue drove into his mouth before he could gather himself, easily overpowering his own and rolling down the length of his throat in a single, swift motion. Yurio could only gag, sputter, and make weak noises as his body was now violated in an entirely new way. Trying to pull away didn't help him either; it only caused the older dragon's fangs to clutch harder at the sensitive lining of his gums, and that tongue to twist and push more relentlessly against his own. Thick streams of saliva - still saturated with tapa blood and the scent of his own arousal - flooded into his mouth. He had no choice but to swallow, and a pleased rumble emanated from Yolh's cavernous chest as he did so.

All the while, Yolh continued with those slow, measured thrusts against his grandson's body, aiming the bulk of his half-hardened sheath directly at Yurio's unprotected cock. Each motion caused his massive testicles to sink and smack into Yurio's own with a dull, heavy sound. Dimly, Yurio realized that he was being forced into pleasure by the same set of organs that had brought his father into existence, and by extension, himself.

Please, he thought. Please just let me go. I don't understand...

A low, weak whine escaped from the fierce hold upon his muzzle, ringing out in the otherwise deathly silence of the cavern. As the piteous sound echoed around them, Yolh finally released him and pulled away, extracting his tongue with an audible "slorp" from his grandson's throat. Yurio was left coughing and sputtering in the aftermath, the patriarch only licking his lips as though he'd tasted something foul. The thin strings of saliva that had connected them snapped as he rolled his tongue along the stretch of his snout.

"Pathetic," he hissed. "You whine like a female."

Lowering his hips, Yolh pressed their sheaths together once again, this time rubbing the thick, hefty mass back and forth briefly before holding still. Then he flexed, and Yurio could feel the powerful muscles in his grandfather's inner thighs as they contracted, his hardening length bobbing between them. It was a subtle gesture, intended to demonstrate in the most guttural way the differences between their respective bodies.

"Grandfather," Yurio moaned out, the word little more than a wretched sound uttered between fits of coughing. "W-what is wrong with me? Why are you doing this?"

Yolh didn't bother to respond. Raising his head up, he instead regarded the dragonesses scattered about the room. "Leave us," he roared. "This will be difficult enough without an audience. You alone may stay, Varha," he added, motioning towards the elder female who had brought Yurio there. "I may need your assistance yet with the coupling."

Varha bowed in acquiescence, and the rest of the females departed in short order. Most carried some measure of disappointment upon their faces. They looked down at him with mixed expressions as they filed out through the cavern's entrance: unrestrained desire, pity, sometimes even jealousy. The young male was certainly a sight to look upon. His neatly-preened feathers had been completely ruffled by the patriarch's attentions, his golden scales dirtied by the cave floor, and he coughed and hacked pitifully upon the ground as he attempted to spit out what his grandfather had deposited within his throat. When at last the majority of the females had finally departed from the room, Yolh leaned down close to Yurio's long ears.

"You are Milovník muži," he growled softly, extending his tongue to warmly lap at the soft length of his grandson's left ear. He followed this lick with another, slow and smooth, and then another, before suddenly surging forward to seize Yurio's vulnerable ear in his jaws. This immediately sent the younger dragon into another fit of helpless squeals, his impotent struggling only further serving to grind his aching hardness up against Yolh's body. It was only after his poor ear had been thoroughly soaked and gnawed upon that it was released, dampened and sore. Pulling back, the older dragon then turned his head to regard Yurio with one eye, rather like how a bird of prey would look down upon its next meal.

"Hmmmm... in the tongue of our ancestors who lived beyond the mountains, it means 'lover of males'. You, little one, were born with twisted desires, and where a normal male would seek females, you do not." He licked Yurio's shocked face. "It is nothing to be ashamed of. Such things are beyond your control... but the condition can be managed. It falls to me to assist you now, and to your father in future years."

He gave Yurio another insistent thrust at that, and suddenly the young dragon began to understand what was happening. He recalled what Yolh had said earlier about his first clutch, and about the fetching of a female from the lower caves. As Yolh continued to grind against him, a look of horror dawned upon the young dragon's features.

He was being prepared.

"You will mate," Yolh said, grunting with concentration. "Tonight, in this very cave. If your body will not respond to the scent and touch of a dragoness, then I will fulfill my responsibilities and prepare you myself."

Suddenly, the vast bulk of Yolh's weight shifted atop him. His paws were briefly released as the older dragon turned about, but there was no time for Yurio to free himself. Before he could make any sort of effort to struggle loose, Yolh's hind leg swung around his torso, and he abruptly found himself face-to-face with the vast, leathery mass of his grandfather's sack. A weak sound slipped out from his muzzle as he looked up at it. It was all that he could manage. Then the dense weight of that wrinkly flesh was deposited upon his snout, swiftly burying his senses in a thick fog of sweat and musk that smothered all thoughts of freedom. His instincts screamed at him as the patriarch's pheromones immediately seeped into his lungs.

This is dominance, they told him, even as he desperately tried to find space to breathe. Yolh's massive testicles - each nearly as large as his entire head - bobbed in their sack as he writhed beneath them. This is what a real male tastes like. This is what you wanted, even if you could never have admitted it to yourself.

Yurio's faltering efforts failed to amount to any real progress, and worse still, it wasn't long before he felt Yolh's own muzzle between his legs once again. Suddenly, warm, wet heat surrounded his leaking shaft, and he moaned out into the musky space between Yolh's thighs as his cock was swallowed whole. The older dragon's maw was unlike anything that he'd ever felt in his own personal explorations of his body, and certainly far beyond the timid, inexperienced attempts of Vale. That broad tongue swept across him in messy strokes, covering his length in hot, sticky saliva even as it swirled and curled along him. His hips writhed of their own accord.

He could feel something coming... a tight coil of blissful, sweltering pleasure, swiftly building between his legs, boiling behind his perineum with each motion of Yolh's tongue, and with every breath he took from the older dragon's musk. It was rising in him with every moment, drawing out sounds from his throat that he'd never made before. His wings flapped helplessly along the ground. It was rising, coming closer...

Then, just as he felt it about to spill out of him, Yolh pulled his maw away with a slick, wet sound. The young dragon's cock, now covered in a slick sheen of warm saliva, throbbed needily in the air, spurting weak trails of precum onto his belly. Yolh turned his head to regard it, huffing in approval. The old dragon was slightly out of breath.

"There," he said with an assured air. He pulled himself off the smaller male with no further ceremony.

"It is good enough. Up on your feet, Yurio."

The task wasn't so easy as Yolh made it seem. Breathless, throbbing, and with his thoughts swimming from an overdose of potent draconic pheromones, Yurio could only lay there for a moment as he recovered. His every breath carried with it the hint of a piteous whine, just barely restrained out of a desperation to maintain even the slightest scrap of his dignity. Eventually, his blurry vision cleared enough for him to regard his surroundings once again.

To his surprise, he saw that the two dragonesses whom Yolh had dispatched earlier had returned. Violta and Vyta, if his memory served. Between them stood a third female whom Yurio did not recognize, far younger than the other two, and nearly as small as he was. It was difficult to distinguish her features in the dim lighting, but Yurio could just make out the shining reflection of gold on her scales, and the tufts of adolescent feathers which lingered along her neck and joints... and there... that scent. A soft gasp escaped his lips, and he struggled drunkenly to push himself to his feet.

She must be the one that they were talking about... ancestors, I can smell the heat upon her...

Yolh stood guardedly at Yurio's side, frowning as the young dragon pulled himself up on unsteady limbs. He brought his head low to Yurio's level, nodding towards the trio of females.

"You are ready, Yurio. Countless dragons have done this before you..." He turned his great, horned head towards the three. "Violta, Vyta... you are dismissed. And you, little thing... can come closer."

As though in a daze, Yurio watched as the two females departed, each giving him one final, longing glance as they passed him by and made their way beyond the threshold of the cavern's entrance. Vyta's tail brushed briefly against his own as she went by, a final gesture which could have meant anything: the support of an older female who sympathized with the anxieties of that 'first time', or perhaps even just an excuse to touch him in some small way. It was irrelevant, in either case. He had a much more pressing concern to occupy his attention.

Yolh had brought the other female before him, and he watched through heavy-lidded eyes as she was bent forward. Then the patriarch's heavy paw moved that long, slender tail aside, exposing the damp, puffy folds of her swollen sex. A wave of pheromones suddenly struck the poor dragon, adding to his euphoria, and without meaning to, a shot of slick pre was pumped from his cock onto the cold stone floor. A part of him knew that he didn't want this, that he didn't want his first clutch to be with this nameless, unknown female, that he didn't even desire a clutch at all for that matter... but other parts of him, more aroused, overpowered such thoughts.

A gentle set of claws then suddenly pushed upon his rear - Varha, helping him along - and suddenly he found himself standing before the female's upturned rear. Then Yolh's strong jaws clamped down hard around his nape. A surprised squeal burst from his lips as he was briefly lifted and dropped down, his hips deposited squarely atop those of the dragoness beneath him.

"Please, I don't even know her name!"

It was a pointless complaint. He certainly knew her scent, and it filled his head: airy, sweet, and fertile. He didn't know how he knew that, but her body screamed it. His cock throbbed below him, rubbing slick fluids into her hide.

"None of that, now," Yolh said, moving to a place behind him. As Yurio tried to wiggle backwards and dismount, he found the patriarch there, blocking his retreat. The larger dragon stepped forward, straddling his back even as he himself was settled further atop the female. Beneath him, he could feel her slender limbs quivering under the strain as she held his upper body up.

"This is the easiest part, Yurio," Yolh growled. "It's the simplest thing in the world to create life... let me show you."

He bucked his hips then, pushing down upon Yurio's haunches and grinding his sheath up against his rear. The colossal force of Yolh's muscles was enough to force Yurio's hips down as well, and worse, sent his cock forward between the female's wide-spread legs.

"Nooooo!"

A slick, wet sound rang out in the cavern. His shaft had made contact with flesh, but it'd slipped too low, sliding up against her belly. He'd missed.

"No matter," Yolh grunted. He pulled his hips back. "Varha, guide him, if you please."

The elder female approached them from the sides, giving Yurio's panicked face only a sad glance as she reached below them. She didn't meet his eyes as her claws passed the curve of the younger dragoness's haunches.

"It really is for the best, Yurio," she said. "You'll see."

He felt a paw wrap around his turgid length, gripping it and moving it upwards. Then, the heavy weight of Yolh's hips sank forward once again, and there was no more room for thought. His cock sank deep into the female's body, deeper, and further still, until at last Yolh's hips pressed him flush against her. A weak sound escaped his throat. Beneath him, the dragoness only shuddered silently.

"There," Yolh said, snorting in satisfaction. "Was that really so difficult?"

The older dragon stepped off of him, and without the overwhelming presence atop his back, he was free to take in the sensation. His cock was wrapped in incredible heat, slick, welcoming, and alive, clenching and pulling at him in a way that was entirely different from what Yolh's maw had felt like. It wasn't unpleasant, but he tried to pull himself free all the same. A firm paw on his rear held him in place.

"No, not yet," Yolh rumbled. As much as Yurio wanted to force himself off, he was worried that he might inadvertently injure the female beneath him. He remained there, trembling, still inside her, as Yolh gently kept his paw resting against his haunches. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Yurio turned back to look at the patriarch.

"Sir," he began. "I know how these things work. I'm not that naive. It won't happen unless I want it to happen, and I don't. Not like this."

Yolh regarded him coldly. It was clear that the older male wasn't used to being spoken to in such a manner. His massive paw flexed lightly into Yurio's haunches, pricking at his hide with those thick claws. Yurio winced, struggling to retain his composure.

"You are mistaken there... on several points. I thought I'd made it clear earlier that your condition is irrelevant. We have_means_."

That paw upon his hips suddenly shifted down to his tail, lifting it. Then, before Yurio could even ask what the elder was doing, Yolh lowered his head. He felt only the most cursory warning - the brush of ivory tusks and a gust of warm air - before Yolh swiped his tongue across his tailhole.

"Ahhh, n-no!" Yurio stammered out, wiggling forward to escape as that tongue returned again, this time with enough force to dimple his entrance. The motion only succeeded in bucking him deeper into the female however, with the resulting pleasure stunning him long enough for Yolh to get a proper grip on him. With one of those colossal paws holding up his tail, and the other keeping his narrow hips steady, Yolh feasted.

A low, uneasy moan came out from Yurio's lips as the patriarch's tongue curled inside of him. No amount of wriggling or writhing could dislodge him. There was nothing he could do, nowhere he could go that would keep that tongue from delving deeper and deeper, swirling in slow, easy motions that caused unfamiliar pleasure to bloom throughout his core. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before... another terrible first to add to the list.

Ancestors above, he thought, moaning weakly as he tried to keep himself from thrusting deeper into the female. Is this what it feels like... is this how I feel to her?

Suddenly, Yolh's tongue flicked up against a spot deep within him, causing him to yelp and buck further. The female beneath him took in a shuddering breath. He'd pushed himself as far as he could go again, hammering up against her cervix. Instinctively, Yurio knew that this was where he was supposed to be, but that didn't stop him from trying to draw back again. To his surprise, Yolh allowed it, even rewarding him with another curl against that thing deep inside him.

But there was no time for respite. Yolh quickly returned, pressing his tusked snout in deeper, huffing and snarling as he rolled his tongue inside of Yurio's sensitive body, and before he knew it, he found himself buried down to the sheath once again in those warm, tight depths. Again and again. He began to pant hoarsely as the pleasure from both sides started to overwhelm him. Then he realized, as he sunk down to the root, that Yolh hadn't even pushed him. He'd thrusted into her entirely without thinking. He was mating her.

"Oh ancestors," he muttered from between clenched teeth. He could feel that sensation building within him once again. His balls - now dripping with runoff saliva from Yolh's ministrations - began to compress and pull up in their loose sack, smacking into his mate's crotch with every thrust. He lowered his head in resignation, the movement bringing his line of sight even with that the female below him. Her eyes were closed in concentration.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her. His quivering frills pressed closely against neck from the shame, even as his traitorous body continued its motions. "This isn't what I wanted. You deserved to be courted properly... to have a male who wanted you. I'm undeserving... I don't even know your name."

The female's eyes opened at that, if only slightly. She regarded him through heavy lashes, russet pools of bright, luminous color swinging upwards to meet his own.

"Vera," she huffed quietly. At first, he couldn't quite make out the word, uttered as it was between spurts of breathless panting as she struggled to hold up his weight. He was still bucking into her. It felt too good not to.

"My name is Vera," she repeated. "And you_are_ most worthy, young sire."

To his surprise, she raised the slender length of her snout, licking tenderly at his muzzle. The taste of her breath was sweet, especially after his turn with Yolh, and he returned the kiss without a second thought. Compared to everything else that he'd been through, it seemed harmless.

Thrust. Yolh's long tongue curled up against that spot deep within him, this time staying there, flaying it with thick, relentless strokes. Thrust. At their side, Varha reached down with a paw once again, moving to touch at something near the place where their bodies were joined. Thrust. Vera suddenly sucked in a trembling breath against his mouth, and her body tightened upon his length like a vice as the older female rubbed gently at that certain spot along her opening. Thrust, thrust. The tautness of her folds sent Yurio's hips into overdrive.

Instinct took over the young dragon's mind at this point. The pleasure boiled up from that place deep within him that Yolh was stroking, carrying itself through lines of nervous lightning along his balls, his sheath, and then up the long length of his cock, still buried inside of Vera. A growl ripped from his throat - the first time he had ever uttered such a noise - as the first rope of cum shot free from his tip, splattering against the vulnerable entrance to her womb in a heavy splash.

It wouldn't be the last. Edged on as he was by the insistent motions of Yolh's tongue and the desperate tightness of Vera's primed body, he continued to thrust, pumping shot after shot of healthy, virile dragon cum deep within her. In the prime weeks of her heat, Vera's body would no doubt be completely receptive to his seed, and even in that moment her own climax sucked his load deeper inside. Her body rhythmically contracted along his length.

Yurio didn't know how long his release lasted. Had he been cognizant enough to do so, he might have perhaps counted the number of shots that he'd pumped into her - surely no less than a dozen - or the number of times that Yolh had rolled his tongue against that place deep within his body. But he was in no mind to do either of those things. He didn't even realize where he was or what he'd been doing until at last Vera's shaky legs collapsed, sending him falling atop her in a breathless heap of limbs, wings, tails, and quivering sides. With his work completed, Yolh at last pulled his tongue out from Yurio with a loud, wet sound, the pressure causing the younger male to groan as one last, virile pulse was deposited inside of Vera.

The patriarch smacked his jaws noisily as he cleaned his lips, looking down upon the mated pair with an expression almost bordering on approval. His hawkish eyes swept over their prone bodies.

"Varha, check them."

For a moment, it almost looked as though the elder female had thoughts of resisting such a tactless command. She looked down upon the mated pair with great concern, perhaps thinking that they had done enough. Eventually however, she nodded at the command, solemnly stepping forward to lift Yurio's twitching tail and demonstrate the thick rivulets of cum which flowed down from beneath the underside of his balls. Vera's smooth, inner thighs were also thoroughly soaked from his emissions, mingled in with the slick remnants of her own copious juices. With Yolh seemingly satisfied by the results of their coupling, Varha gently lowered her head, taking a brief, cursory lick from the back of the young male's sack. Yurio's overworked balls jumped in response, his flexing cock drawing another weak moan out from the young couple.

"I would say that she is most thoroughly bred, father." Varha pulled her head back, gently releasing Yurio's tail before settling down to sit by the pair's side. "It's... certain to be fruitful, if nothing else."

Yolh grunted. "Good. See that he stays inside of her for a while longer. Better for the take." Reaching down, the older dragon patted his grandson's rump. "And as for you, Yurio... I would say that some congratulations are in older. To be a father is a miraculous responsibility. You'll soon see."

The patriarch departed from them, and soon the thunderous sounds of his footsteps faded from the cavern as he returned back to the fawning company of his harem. In the quietude that followed, the only other sounds which could be heard in the nest-chamber were Yurio's own gentle sobs, which he no longer felt the need to withhold. After all, he'd completed the responsibilities that the clan had demanded of him... if only at the cost of his dignity, his pride, and in more than one respect, his very sense of free will.

Shaking her head sadly at the sight, Varha raised up a tattered wing to cover the pair, draping it over their trembling forms before laying her wizened head down beside theirs. Alongside Vera, she then moved to gently preen at Yurio's soft feathers, murmuring words of encouragement and praise against his sweat-dampened hide. There would be no more matings for him today, no more worries.

They had prepared a place for him in this darkness, in these stinking caves where life was made. He would make for a wondrous father.


Thanks once again for reading! I hope that you enjoyed it, and if that's the case, please let me know in the comments below. As always, I appreciate your support and feedback!