FSE

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In this world where wolves and dragons don't see eye to eye, where they fight over the most trivial of things. Where war has broken out between the two and to be seen with the other outside of combat is a death sentence in itself... where do I fit in?

My name is Malakye; I'm a dragolf, part dragon part wolf, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term. From the day of my birth I have been hated. My mother, a wolf was raped when she was younger, barely out of cub-hood, raped by a dragon and fell pregnant with me. At least that's what she had told everyone else. The truth is that she fell in love with the dragon that sired me and to prevent both their deaths and my own, my mother claimed that he had raped her. My mother took great care to make sure I was born out of love not a moment of violent rape like everyone believes and makes sure that I know that she loves me every day of my miserable life. The only reason I wasn't killed when I was born was because my grandfather was the leader of the tribe and my mother begged him to spare my life, lest she take her own. Should I be grateful that my mother was willing to sacrifice her life to save mine? Some days I wish she hadn't. Growing up I didn't have any friends and the adults scorned me and drove me away with stones or sticks, should I stray too near their children, homes or shops. I was an outcast, and I would always be.

The love my mother showed to me was the one beacon of light in my life. No matter how bad a day I'd have I couldn't help but smile and be happy when she looked at me. She was the one fur in this world that loved me regardless of my heritage... to everyone else, I was the filthy half breed that could never be accepted. That made it so much more painful when, at me being only eight, my mother died. No longer would her smiling face be there to greet me after a long day of abuse, no longer would I have that pillar of unconditional love and support that every other child in the village had. I hadn't even been allowed to go to her funeral. I think that was the hardest part of it all, not being allowed to say goodbye to my own mother. At the time, I could never understand it, I understand it now.

Left alone and with no one to care for me I nearly starved. I spent the best part of the next three months in the hut that we had lived in, leaving only to scavenge some food, relieve myself and occasionally bathe. No one cared about me. No would care if I died. But lying there in that hut for all that time I made a vow to never give in to the abuse; I would not curl up and die like some pathetic half breed that my tribe claimed I was... I would deny them that! I would deny them the pleasure of that... I would live, I would be strong! I would not be afraid!

That was eight winters ago. I'm sixteen now, and as far as tribal law goes I'm still a member... in the eyes of my tribe though, I was still nothing but scum. No matter how hard I worked, how hard I trained, I would never be regarded as anything more than scum.

For years I would spy on the others my age being trained how to fight, how to hunt, how to survive. In secret I would practise what I had watched them do and I learned well enough to survive.

Most furs my age were either already married or about to be married and start their own families, this was not the case for me. Any female who would have had a heart big enough to forego the social stigma to actually bare feelings for me in public would be treated as I had, and I wouldn't wish that existence upon anyone... not even those that had condemned me to that same said existence.

In the sixteen winters since I was born, I had grown tall and strong. I stood head and shoulders above most of the wolves of my tribe and my body was well toned due to my harsh life. My body was covered mostly in scales, they were tougher than the others pelts, offering me more protection. My scales however did not help to conserve heat like the pelts on my fellow tribesmen meaning winters were particularly harsh for me.

It was harvest time, the middle of the summer, and most of the tribe were busy taking in the crops that they had grown. I had grown a small amount of crops within a nearby forest, Out of the sight of spiteful tribe's people, who might want to destroy them for kicks. I didn't grow much, but since I was also not sharing my crops with anyone, I didn't need to grow a lot.

Today, I walked the two miles across the plains to the small growth of trees that hid my crops. It was days like these that I was glad I didn't have a pelt. Like all the other Tribes people I wore a simple loin cloth to maintain my modesty but that was about all it did. I also had a spear, which was slung across my back and held in place by the leather strap. Hugging my left thigh was a simple knife.

Across the plains I could see the various herds of feral animals moving, slumbering or sleeping under the shade of trees, trying to avoid the heat of the midday sun. I made good time in reaching my destination and quickly got to work harvesting my crop. It took all afternoon, but I managed to get the job done before the sun fully set. Before leaving, I rechecked the ropes I had tied round my four bundles of harvest. . I slung two over my shoulders and hefted the other two so that they were balancing on my shoulders. They weren't light, but after years of pulling the carcasses of the animals I had hunted home, it wasn't too much of a problem.

When I made it to the entrance of the village, the sun had sunk below the horizon just mere minutes before. This was to my advantage really, because I didn't risk running into any of the tribes people who, at this point, were all in their homes eating their meals with their families. My hut was just on the outskirts of the village and I wouldn't run into anyone if I walked around the edges. I was tired though, and my arms were beginning to ache from carrying my load so I decided to cut through the village to save time.

As I quickly walked through the village, I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched. When I'd stop and looked around though, I'd see nothing, so I chalked it up to be my paranoia. When I entered my hut, I dumped the bundles of my crop down just inside the door, rested my spear against the wall, and pulled the draw curtains back in place. It was dark inside as the light of the moon didn't reach inside, and my eyes had not quite adjusted fully when I saw a rush of movement in front of me. I attempted to react but didn't have the time as I felt something ram into me and knock me off my feet and out the entrance of my hut. I slammed into the ground and rolled quickly into a crouching position and went to grab my knife. It was missing.

"Looking for this?" Came a smug voice from inside my hut as the curtain was pushed aside to reveal a wolf I recognised. He was holding my knife in his paw, holding it up for me to see. I heard footsteps behind me and turned quickly to see three other wolfs appear from the inky depths of night, and surround me, bristling with spears. By the look in their eyes, I knew they wouldn't hesitate to kill me if I did anything brash... hell, they'd probably not even be punished for my death but instead be held as heroes of the village for finally ridding them of my existence. I turned back to the wolf that held my knife and snarled at him.

"What is the meaning of this Kaleb?!" I growled.

"This? Oh we thought we'd pay you a visit, my friend." He replied with a smirk. Kaleb was the son of the Villages greatest warrior and due to that, considered that he could do anything he wanted with no consequence. It didn't help either that out of all the other tribesmen his age he was easily the best warrior out of them. He was taller than the other wolves as well; but I still stood a few inches taller but he had a lot more muscle on his frame.

"We're not friends!" I growled back trying not to let myself show any fear to my attackers.

"That hurts Malakye!" Kaleb said in a mock tone. "After all I've done for you."

"All you've ever done is beat me when you felt like it." I snarled. "I thought after you got married last year you would leave me alone and just beat on your wife, since she won't put up a fight!" This gets him.

"Watch your tongue," He growls menacingly, "unless you want me to cut it from your maw with your own knife!" Judging by his tone, he was fully ready to do it too. I didn't say any more and instead just glared at him silently. "Good, that's better. Now for why I'm here Malakye. I am going to remove you from this village and get myself in good with the Elders and the rest of the village."

"WHAT!?!"

"Don't get me wrong Malakye, I don't hate you, but the truth is no one cares for you here and I'm going to use you to become a village hero and take the first step to remove myself from my fathers shadow."

Kaleb's father was a world renown warrior, a K'tan. To be a K'tan was a great honour. What it entailed exactly I didn't know, my education was some what lacking but I had heard it referred to as to be chosen by the gods.

"You're naive!" I spat. "You think that my death will catapult you fame?"

"No, Malakye. You are merely the first step to me achieving the greatness I'm to have!" Kaleb smirked before nodding to the wolves behind me.

As soon as I heard the grunt, I knew what was coming. Quickly, I spun around and grabbed the end of the approaching spear, shoving it aside with one paw and with a roar I swung my other paw as hard as I could into the muzzle of the wolf holding it. He yelped in pain as my paw connected and I felt something snap under the force, hopefully his jaw, and he collapsed to the ground.

The other two were on me in a heartbeat and I singled out one of my assailants. I jumped to the side to avoid a spear tip. Before he could recover I crouched low and spun my body, swiping my assailant's feet out from underneath him with my tail. With a painful thud, the wolf fell onto his back; the air driven from his lungs by his awkward fall.

The third wolf attacked and I had barely managed to dodge his spear. The blade cut across my right shoulder but I did not let this deter me. Before the pain could even register I tackled the wolf to the ground were we scuffled for a few moments. I roared in pain as I felt his claws dig into my flesh and scratch across my face and right eye. I felt the blood trickle down my face knowing that it would probably leave a scar. Finally I got the upper hand thanks to my strength. I straddled his stomach and begin to land blow after blow to his face. He managed to block most of them with his arms but not all of them. It was after I had thrown my fifth punch that something struck the back of my head and I collapsed to the ground. I desperately tried to get up but was struck in the head again.

"Get him up!" I heard someone yell, it took me a moment to recognise the voice in my dazed state, it was Kaleb's. Rough paws grabbed me, and I was dragged into my hut and tied at my arms to the wall. As I lay semi-conscious on the ground, a slap to my face roused me somewhat from my dazed state enough to make out the face of Kaleb above me. "You're more hassle than your existence is worth you know that!" It wasn't a question. "Now I've sent the lads away, their standing guard to make sure no one comes near this place while I finish this up." I felt him tug at my loin cloth, ripping away the piece of cloth.

"What..." I tried to talk but it was too difficult, I could formulate any thoughts I was so disorientated.

"I know you're still a virgin Malakye!" Kaleb said with cruel smile. "No one would be seen dead with you let alone make love to you, so I'm going to take your virginity as a trophy!" I heard his words but couldn't make them out, that was, until he began to force his way into me. The searing pain snapped me out of the daze I'd been in and I roared in pain, thrashing against my bindings. My resistance made the excruciating experience intensify, and I could only cringe and clench my jaw as he continued to press his length in to my tail-hole. Finally I succumbed. The burning pain was too much, I let out a pathetic whimper and tears blurred my vision.

"Yes! That's right Malakye! Feel the pain! Doesn't it make you feel alive?" Kaleb taunted as he hilted himself inside me.

He wasted no time in abusing my body for his own pleasure. I bit my lip and stifled the whimpers of pain that threatened to spill out of my maw; I would not give him the satisfaction of my suffering. It didn't stop his movement inside of me though. He was big and with no preparation of lubrication I knew that my tail-hole would not be in good condition, even if I somehow managed to escape the death that Kaleb had planned for me. I could feel his length forcing its way though my gut, forcing it to stretch to accommodate him. I tried to focus on anything else, the numbness in my arms from the tight restraints around my wrists; the pain as the rope chaffed at my scales. His musk assaulted my nose, it was so pungent that I could not smell anything else. Even when I held my breath I could still feel it clogging my nose, burning my nostrils.

His rutting into me lasted only mere minutes but the pain and shame of the whole event made it drag on, and seem like hours. I felt his knot enter me, forcing my tail-hole wider. I felt his seed spill into me it's burning heat, soiling me, tainting my very soul. He pulled out with a slurp and a satisfied sigh. Grabbing the few tufts of fur on my head, he made me look him in the eyes, I could feel his breath on my face and I couldn't have felt more disgusted if I tried. All I wanted to do was knock that smug smile off his face but since I was bound, I settled for spitting in his face.

"Fuck you Kaleb!" I growled.

"No, fuck you." Kaleb said calmly thrust my dagger into my side and left it there. The pain where the knife had penetrated my scales was nothing compared to that of the burning pain in my tail hole, but the relentless stabbing pain from the wound was still too much to be ignored. I heard him leave the tent and enter again shortly after. I looked up at Kaleb once again, he was setting fire to my hut, setting alight anything that would catch fire with a torch. Before leaving he turned back to smile at me and then without a word, left me to my charred fate.

Already I could feel the intense heat building. My scales offered some protection, but it wasn't going to be enough to ensure my survival . The little fur that I had was already becoming singed with the heat. I pulled relentlessly on the rope that bound my hands to the wall, trying in vain to free myself. I couldn't. My body, exhausted and battered from the abuse just couldn't take it. With a defeated sigh, I fell limply to the floor coughing as the smoke began to fill my lungs. The reality of the situation sank in, this was really it... I was going to... die.

NO! I would not lie down and die like they wanted. I promised myself all those years ago that I would never submit to the abuse, never give up... today was no exception.

I WOULD NOT BE AFRAID!

With a roar I pulled once more on my bindings, putting every ounce of remaining strength I had into it, and received as satisfactory crack as the wood I was tied to began to fall apart. Reinvigorated I climbed onto my knees and pulled with everything I had till the wood finally gave way under the strain. I pulled off the ropes and began to run through the putrid black smoke to the door of the hut, stopping only for a second to grab something off the table next to where I had been bound.

I ran, I ran out of the hut, out of the village and didn't stop till fatigue took over me, with a grunt I doubled over and collapsed to the ground on my knees. I panted heavily trying to stop the burning in my lungs. I looked down and saw my dagger still protruding from my side. Tentatively I gripped it and with a deep breath and yanked it out of myself, letting out a howl of pain before collapsing onto the cool grass. I rolled onto my back and looked into the direction from where I had come from. Way off in the distance I could see a pillar of smoke and embers rising into the night sky. I couldn't go back there now. Now that they had tried to take such extreme measures against me, it was inevitable that more would try and sooner or later one of those attempts would succeed. Everything I had once known was now gone, everything that held the memories of my mother was gone, all except...looking down into my paw I saw the charm that had once belonged to my mother, the thing I had grabbed as I escaped my burning hut. It had been a gift from my father to her after they had agreed their forbidden relationship. It was all I had left of her and I would protect it with my life. I would not lose the last reminder of the one person in this world who actually cared about me for who I was not what I was... a monster, a freak of nature. I clenched my paw around the charm and pulled myself back to my feet, ignoring the protests of fatigue and pain that my body gave. I began to walk away in a random direction; any direction that took me away from that horrible village was a good one. I would find my place in this world or die trying!

************

As I awoke to a sea of pain, the first thing I noticed was I was moving. My muscles ached and a sharp pain in my side awoke whenever I moved. My tail-hole felt like I'd had a tree shoved up it at some point. After a few moments my mind began to clear, and the events of the previous night filled it... I couldn't help but let out a whimper.

"Ah! So you're awake!" My reveries were interrupted by a voice. I turned my head to hone in to the source, and saw an ageing avian of some type, most likely a Falcon from the looks of it. He was dressed in plain dirty robes, and was eyeing me with a look of idle fascination and sympathy. There was an overwhelming silence as we sat there and stared at each other. I wasn't sure what to say and he looked perfectly happy sitting there watching me. After a few long silent moments I decided to speak.

"Where...am I?" I asked in a raspy voice.

"You're in one of our caravans." he replied. "We are merchants and we travel around the Tribal lands selling goods from other villages. Would you like some water?"HE bent down and offered me a bowl. I nodded eagerly and he held to my lips tilting some water into my mouth. The cool refreshing drink felt fantastic against my hoarse dry throat. Actually,I'd tried to drink a little too fast, and began to choke. "Easy now young one. It seems as though you've been through a lot." The avian said. I nodded and took a moment to survey my surroundings. The caravan was a large wooden cart with a cloth covering its roof and sides. It was filled with various miscellaneous items, some I recognised and others I didn't. Rugs, wooden crates, jars filled with unknown things, baubles... the smell in the air was heavy with the aroma of spices.

"Thank you." I said quietly after my coughing fit had ended. "How did I get here?"

"We found you on the road half dead and we took you in and treated your wounds the best we could. You obviously have been through quite an ordeal. We didn't know where to take you as we found you on the boarder of one of the wolven tribes, and since you look like a dragon, we didn't think it right to hand you over to them with the grudges and all." He stopped for a moment. "But what strikes me as peculiar is that you don't look like any Dragon I've ever seen before, and I've been around a long, long time." He smiled at me.

"I...I..."

"It's all right. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to. But where do you come from?"He questioned.

"I came from one of the wolven tribes." This remark earned a look of confusion from the elderly Falcon. I feared the approaching admittance, but I continued non the less. "My... my mother was a Wolf but my Father was..."

"A Dragon?" He finished and I nodded shamefully. "Well now isn't that a rare thing. It's not often two separate species are able to give birth to a child such as yourself."

"My tribe tried to kill me...I managed to escape but..."my fuss was politely cut off by the Elders kind voice.

"It's all right young one." the Falcon cooed, like a parent would to a child. "Rest now, you need to rest."

"All right." I agreed and laid back down, my eyelids becoming heavy. "What is your name?" I asked drowsily.

"My name is Eric, young one. What is your name, if I may ask?"

"Malakye..." I managed to say before sleep came over me.

******

I awoke again and felt far better than I had the first time. So much better in fact, that I decided to try to get up. That was a mistake. A stabbing pain in my side made me fall back into bed. I must have cried out because no sooner than I had landed had Eric come rushing in.

"Easy now. You're still not healed! You'll risk opening your wounds if you're not careful."

"Please, I don't want to be a burden on you."

"Nonsense! You are not well and what kind of person would I be if I had just left you to die where we found you. Anyone with a drop of compassion in their soul could never abandon someone injured and in need of help. I am a proud follower of teachings of Shal'Naresh."

"Shal'Naresh?"

"You are not familiar with her teachings?" Eric asked.

"No, I'm afraid I only know that she is one of the Twelve Guardian deities that watch over our lands. I know only what my mother had time to teach me as a child."This seemed to only further confuse Eric, and he said;

"Do they not follow the teachings of the Twelve where you grew up? Surely they would have taught their children about the Twelve?" I shook my head.

"I was an outcast in my tribe. When my mother died I had to fend for myself." I stopped to take a breath. "I had to learn to survive because no one would have cared if I had died... they simply tolerated my existence. So long as I kept to myself they would leave me alone. But the other night... some of them took it a step further..." I was struggling to hold back the tears but somehow I managed.

"It seems as though you've had a hard life, much harder than most." The Falcon pitied "Well, you should stay here till you are healed, and then you are free to do as you wish."

"Thank you, Eric." I said sincerely. He smiled again, so reassuringly.

"No thanks are needed Malakye. Now while you recuperate I'd be more than happy to teach you about the Twelve, and anything else you might feel you may have been deprived of during your cub hood." He grinned and I smiled in return.

"That's very kind of you Eric. So long as it doesn't put you out I'd love it if you would."

"Don't be silly, I'm an old bird now and if there's one thing old birds like me like to do, it's educate you young folk with stories of folk lore and religion." He stops and chuckle to himself. "But mainly, it's the rambling we can't get enough of."

We both laughed.

************

It took several weeks for me to be well enough to move around by myself, and in that time, Eric taught me much about the Twelve Guardian deities, and about the lands and the relationships between the tribes and trade. He also provided me some clothes; a loin cloth similar to the one I had had and a poncho that thankfully didn't interfere with my wings, I think it was something Eric had picked up on his travels. Eric was the leader of a trading Caravan which was well known throughout the tribal lands and had a small but loyal group of workers working under him. I'd only started to meet them when I was allowed to move about by myself.

Out of all the members though, Cody was one of the furs I had come to respect the most. He was a fox, about my age, and we became close friends pretty quickly. We would spend all our free time together; I would tell him about tribal life, leaving out a lot of my own experiences, focusing mostly on where I'd came from and my tribes custom, and he would tell me about all the places he had visited.

Aceh was Eric's second in command, and was responsible for everything running smoothly. He was a White Tiger, who stood a good couple of inches taller than me and seemed to always have a scowl on his face. He was a well toned fighting machine, I would often see him run through a series of moves from some form of martial art. He also carried a deadly pair of Scimitar swords across his back, which only added to the intimidation factor he carried all the more.

I had been told that once, he single handily defended the caravan from an attack of a dozen bandits. He didn't even draw his swords. I was told that with a single roar, made the group flee for their lives. I wasn't really buying it, but it was based on a true story... maybe one day I'll ask him about it, when I get the guts to approach him. He just doesn't come across as all that friendly.

The last two of the crew were brothers, named Michael and Jason. They were Stallions and the muscle of the operation. Michael and Jason where about my height and well built. Their muscles would ripple at the simplest of movements, and the only way to tell them apart was that Jason had a Brown spot of hair on his neck and other than that they were essentially identical.

While I'd been healing I hadn't been allowed out to explore the villages we had visited. Truthfully though, I wasn't that keen, because I'd expected them to treat me just like how my village would have. But Eric had reassured me though, that most villages weren't like that at all, and the next village we were heading for was far more accepting than most. I was excited and nervous and Cody said he'd show me round because he'd been there a couple of times in the past.

What they had failed to tell me was that the village we were going into was a Dragon Village. When I had learnt of the news, my excited nervousness was quickly replaced with oppressive anxiety. They stopped the caravan outside the village as it was customary to meet the Elders of the village before setting up shop. Sometimes in larger trading villages the Elders appointed someone to this job instead of themselves. Eric asked that I accompany him into the village, Cody came along as well.

I noticed a fair number of the locals looking at me as I walked along next to Cody and Eric. I began to get nervous, till I noticed that they weren't the looks of disgust or hatred that I was accustomed too but curiosity. I remembered then how Eric was so interested about my heritage when he'd first met me, and I could only assume that it must be the same case here, since I looked fairly unusual to these people.

Eric had dismissed us once we had reached the traders hut saying that I would have a more enjoyable time exploring the village. Cody dragged me to the stalls to browse the goods that they were selling.

"S'kuse me mister!" A little voice said behind me. I turned to see a three young Dragons standing behind me.

"Umm...yes?" I replied unsure as to what was about to happen.

"What are you? You're not like us." One of the children said, with innocent curiosity.

"Umm...well...I'm what's called a half breed..."

"What's that?" Another asked.

"Well..."

"Joseph! Karin! Henry! Leave that dragon alone and get over here!" A female Draconian yelled from across the street at the children in front of me.

"Aww... but Ma!" One of them said.

"Don't ma me young man! Stop bothering that poor man before I smack the lot of yas!"

"Bye mister!" They said in unison before scurrying off. We continued walking.

"You handled that well." Cody said with a smirk, as we'd made out way around a bend. I turned to him.

"Shut up! What was I going to tell them?"

"I don't know how about the truth?"

"Look, I don't want to get thrown out of this village for what I am okay?"

"So what if there is a war between wolves and dragons? There hasn't actually been a major incident between the two for years. Those kids probably aren't even aware that there is even a war. You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are Malakye." Cody argued.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am, I'm ashamed of what I am okay? It's not my fault I was born like this."

"You're too hard on yourself. Look, no matter what happens, Eric, Aceh, Michael, Jason and myself all have your back. So relax a little."

"I'll try...but no promises."

"Fair enough. Hey you hungry? You haven't lived till you try some Draconian cuisine. They specialise in spicy dishes here and I bet you'll love them!"

"Yeah...sure...why not?" I asked a bit warily. As I followed Cody, one thing I couldn't get over was how big the village in fact was. The village I grew up in was made up of a grand total of fifty huts, but this place could easily have been twice, if not three times the size not including the market itself and a lot of the buildings were easily ten times bigger than any of the ones back in my old village, and it was bustling with travellers. According to Eric, the village was located on one of the main trade routes, which meant that traders from all around would come here to trade their goods. My nose tingled from the smell of spices when we entered the food hut, it was big, and had about 10 tables and a kitchen with two dragons cooking a variety of meals. Without haste, we made our way up to the counter to be served.

"Hello there. How can I help...?" The server, a grey dragon wearing clothes that were covered in food from having been cooking all day, asked, trailing off as they laid eyes on me... suddenly that nervous feeling I had been having earlier came rushing back. "Sorry, sorry!" The dragon apologised. "I didn't mean to stare but I've never seen a Dragon like you before. Now what can I get you?"

"Don't worry about it." Cody said to the Dragon. "He gets it all the time. Now my friend here has never tasted spicy food so I thought I'd get him to try some Zambal Stew!*"

"Oh is that so?" The Grey Dragon smirked looking at me again. "Well then, since it's his first time, and as a bit of an apology for making him feel uncomfortable, I'll give him one on the house!"

"Really!" Cody beamed as the Grey Dragon ladled out some stew into two wooden bowls and handed them to us. "Thanks!"

"If I may ask," The grey Dragon said, looking at me. "What species of Dragon are you? You have some of the characteristics similar to my breed, but you're obviously different. I'm guessing you've got more in you than just Zangarian* blood?"

I felt my face flush at his questioned, and worry crept into my mind . I looked to Cody, who gave me a friendly smile. It's meaning was clear 'just tell him'. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves I looked to the Dragon and said;

"I'm a half breed. I don't know what species of dragon my father was, but my mother was a Rovarian Wolf*

The look of shock on the Dragons face as I mentioned my heritage made me incredibly uncomfortable. With haste, I picked up my bowl of stew from the counter. "Thank you for the food." I said humbly before making way to a table at the back of hut, as far away from the Dragon as possible. Cody followed me and sat down opposite from me.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Cody asked.

"He hates me now. You saw the look on his face." I whispered, scowling into my bowl of of stew instead of looking at Cody.

"Don't be silly!" Cody scoffed. "He was just shocked to hear about your wolven heritage. I was too when I heard it. I mean the wolves; in particular your old tribe, hate Dragons! Imagine his surprise that one of them actually mated with a dragon."

"Yeah I guess..." I replied reaching under my poncho and grasped at my mother's pendant, my last reminder of her. My father had given it to her because they were in love, at least that's what my mother told me. How did they expect their relationship to work?

"Guess nothing. If he truly hates you he would have kicked us out by now!" Cody reasoned. I simply nodded and took a spoonful of my stew. It was tasty. The thick, flavoursome, gravy and the lumps of Horishmas practically melted in my mouth. Then came the spice. It burned like fire and made me gasp aloud.

"Yeah it's good isn't it?" Cody asked with a chuckle. I simply nodded, unable to talk just yet. My eyes were streaming with tears and I felt my nose begin to run. Despite the initial shock the spices left a pleasant tingling sensation in my mouth. I took another mouthful, and cautiously swallowed, finding that it wasn't as bad as the first time. All too soon I had finished my bowl. Cody finished soon after.

After leaving we slowly made our way back to the caravan, stopping to look at the various wares that were for sale. "Man I love Draconian designs!" Cody exclaimed as he looked at various pieces of pottery, strewn across the table of one of the stalls. I said nothing I just watched my friend having fun...friend...I never thought I'd ever have one of them. It made me feel all warm inside. When we made it back to the caravan Eric was all ready there.

"We have permission to set up in a stall tomorrow and till then we have a hut reserved for us in the trading district." Eric said. "They don't have many rooms, so we're going to have to share. I'm sure though, that you all agree it will be nice to sleep in a real bed for a change, even if we have to share."

"If it's all right with you Eric, Jason and I will stay and sleep here with the Caravan." Michael said. I saw a knowing smile creep onto Eric's face. I saw the same look on Cody's face and I gave him a confused look.

"Well, I guess you haven't noticed then... Jason and Michael are lovers." Cody whispered so no one else could hear.

"Seriously?!" I asked. I just managed to keep my voice down.

"Yeah, they tell everyone their brothers because they look similar and because they're so close, but the truth is something else entirely." Cody explained.

"Wow..." I said glancing their way and imagining the pair of them making love. I winced as a flashback of Kaleb raping me assaulted my conscience.

"Something wrong?" Cody asked.

"No...no, I'm fine." I assured him as I tried to force the memory to the back of my head.

"Now then, anyone who wants to come to the hut is more than welcome." Eric said as he turned to leave. Aceh, Cody and myself followed him.

It was now late afternoon, and the village market place was beginning to quieten down. In the Market Place each stall had a hut allocated so that the vendors could store their goods. If they were travelling traders like Eric, it gave them a roof over their heads for the night.

"Well this is it!" Eric exclaimed as we stopped in front of an empty stall with a small hut directly behind it. "We got lucky really. The previous vendor here left this morning." Eric explained as he opened the wooden door to the hut and entered, we all followed him in. It was small, no bigger than my mother's hut had been back in the village. There were two decent sized beds on either side of the room, big enough for two people if they didn't mind sharing. Both beds had a curtain that could be pulled shut to give a bit of privacy if needed. Suddenly realising that I'd be sleeping very close to whoever I'd be sharing with, I felt a bit embarrassed. The others didn't seem daunted by this prospect, so I decided to just suck it up. But then I also realised that I might actually have to share with Aceh, and that was a terrifying idea. I hadn't even managed to have a conversation with the Tiger, and now I might have to share a bed with him.

"All right then, since we have to share, and Aceh and Malakye are the biggest, it wouldn't be fair to make them share a bed. Cody would you share with Aceh?" Eric asked.

"Sure thing Eric!" Cody giggled. "I get to cuddle up to the cuddly kitty cat!" Aceh didn't find this amusing, and he glared at Cody for a few moments before snorting and turning to sit down on the bed. Cody jumped on the bed next to him and began to bounce around. I would have laughed, if I wasn't worried that Aceh would kill me for doing so.

Cody showed no fear around the massive Tiger. I was grateful however that I wouldn't have to share with him myself. I didn't mind sharing with Eric as he had in all honesty become the closest thing to father I've ever had. He taught me things I need to know to survive in the wild and in social situations as well. He nursed me back to health and took the time to talk to me so I wouldn't be bored when I was bed ridden. Yep, if I've ever imagined what it would be like to have a father, then it would definitely be along those lines.

"Come over here Malakye so I can check your wounds." Eric said, motioning to the bed. I made my way to the bed and pulled off my poncho, revealing the bandages on my shoulder and side. Eric immediately began to remove the dressings, and examined my wounds gently running his fingers along them as he checked for any remaining tenderness and possible infection. Once he was satisfied he put my bandages back on. "They're healing nicely, in a couple of days you won't need to wear the dressings at all. They will leave a couple of scars but considering the outcome if we hadn't found you I think that's an acceptable compromise." He said critically. Once he was finished I put my poncho back on. "So, have you decided what you're going to do? You're now healed enough to leave if you so wish, and make your own way in this world." Eric asked. Cody obviously heard what Eric said about me leaving and showed a face of worry.

You're now healed enough to leave if you so wish, and make your own way in this world." Eric asked. Cody obviously heard what Eric said about me leaving and showed a face of worry.

"I...I don't really know." I said. "I suppose I'd like to try and find my father...if he's still alive."

"Any ideas about how you're going to do that?" Eric asked. "Well...if it's not too much trouble...I'd like to keep travelling with you, till I'm able to find any clues of where he, or his family, might be.

"And you're sure that's what you want?" Eric asked in a serious tone. "You want to travel with us? You must know that you may never find anything about your father, so long as you stay with us... would you be happy as a travelling trader?"

"In truth...you guys are closest thing to family I've ever had...even if...even if I never find out anything about my father or his family...this would be a step up from my previous life. I would love to keep travelling with you...if you'd have me." Eric stared at me with an expression that betrayed no emotion and the silence in the hut was deafening. After a few moments the falcons face softened into a smile.

"Of course we'd be happy for you to stay." I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief... I smiled. "But if you're going to live with us, you have to earn your way."

"Not a problem. I've had to fight to survive all my life... I'm not afraid of a bit of hard work." I said with zeal.

"Excellent! Tomorrow you begin your training." The Falcon replied, nodding. Cody cheered and literally bounced across the room to hug me. Aceh merely grunted.

"I'm so glad you're staying!" Cody exclaimed, tightening his grip on me.

"Me too." Cody's enthusiasm must have rubbed off some, because I grinned and squeezed him back.

"Now then, I think it's time for a celebratory drink." Eric stated. "Cody if you'd be so kind as to go and tell Michael and Jason to join us at the Travelling Maiden."

"No problem Eric!" Cody said and rushed to the door. "I'll see you guys there!"

"Come on then Malakye." Eric said, but I hesitated.

"What's the Travelling Maiden?"

"Oh, it's just one of many little establishments that caters to the needs of the travelling merchants that travel through town." Eric explained. The three of us made our way through the market place. The merchants were beginning to pack away their stalls for the night, and the stars had began to peek from their hiding places in the sky. After a few twists and turns, a Stone building, labelled 'The Travelling Maiden' by a hanging sign outside its front door, loomed in front of me. Stone buildings were rare, as it took a lot of time, money and effort to build them. When Eric had said a small establishment this was definitely not what I was expecting.

As we entered, I was pummelled by the noise of laughter and music. The heat was incredible and the stench of all the sweaty bodies, entwined with other smells I couldn't quite place, lay heavy in the air . We forced our way through the crowd and I began to get a bit nervous about anyone noticing me. Thankfully everyone else seemed preoccupied with what they were doing. We made it to the bar where the bartender quickly spotted Eric.

"ERIC!" The bartender, a dark blue coloured dragon, came round to the other side of the bar and shook hands with Eric who gave him a friendly hug. "The twelve be good! It's been too long my friend!" Now that he had come round to this side of the bar I could see he was wearing a pair brown leather trousers and a dirty white shirt.

"It has indeed." Eric agreed. "Do you have any tables available?"

"For you, old friend, there is always a table open... a table for five, as usual?"

"A table for six if you'd be so kind Francis, we have a new member in our family." Eric turned to me. "Francis, this is Malakye our newest addition. Malakye this is Francis, a very good friend of mine." Francis looked at me curiously for a moment before reaching out his talons.

"A pleasure to meet you Malakye." He said with a smile, I took his hand and shook it. Facing me now I could get a good look at him, he had a stripe of white scales on his throat that ran down to his chest only to be hidden under the clothes he wore. Unlike other Dragons I had seen he didn't have any horns.

"Thank you. And you too." I responded.

"Now then, follow me and I'll have you all seated. First round of drinks are on me!" Francis said leading us up a level, where a collection of empty tables stood. I noticed that there seemed to be a couple of Zangarian Dragons guarding the stairs. They were big, very muscular. Towering over even Aceh by several inches.

We were lead to a table that was positioned next to the edge of a balcony, which allowed us to view the floor below. Curiously gazing over the edge, I noticed that there were several other big, burly, Dragon bouncers standing in other places around the building... ten in all... excluding the ones that we passed on the stairs (So there was twelve). They all seemed to be scanning the crowd looking for something. Turning curiously, I asked Eric about it, and he explained that they were there to stop any fights that might occur as all the drinking went to the guest's heads. I was about to ask exactly what he meant, but stopped as I noticed two familiar white Stallions making their way through the crowd, following a fox I instantly recognised. I shouted out and waved, catching Cody eye. He turned and waved back before leading Michael and Jason in the direction of the stairs. They arrived at our table just as Francis arrived. The platter that he's carrying has six large wooden cups, each filled with a frothy liquid. As we're served, I'd sniffed at mine carefully, screwing up my nose at its bitter smell.

"What's wrong Malakye? Never tried Draconian ale before?" Jason asked as he took a large gulp of his own drink.

"No..." I replied, "What is it?"

"It's alcohol my dear boy! Sweet, sweet Alcohol!"

"It doesn't smell all that sweet to me." I mumble. This made Jason laugh.

"No no... the sweetness isn't in the taste but how it makes you feel."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Try it and see." He urged me on and I took a mouthful... it tasted bitter, and I just stopped myself from spitting it back up. Noticing my disdain, Jason said. "It won't happen right away but give it a little time and you'll learn to love it!" He picked up his own pitcher, and downed the rest of his drink before slamming it down on the table with a satisfied sigh. "I hear you're gonna be staying with us for a while."

"Yeah, hope that's all right with you?" I asked.

"Don't be silly!" Jason exclaimed, "We are all glad you're staying. Well all of us except Aceh. I don't honestly think he cares one way or the other. Damn cat barely says a word. But don't worry, now that you're officially one of us he'll protect you with his life."

"Really? How come?"

"It's the kinda guy he is." Jason explained. "He doesn't talk a lot nor does he even seem that friendly but, when he does speak it is always deep and meaningful. You'd be a fool not to heed his words. He'll protect each and every one of us with his life because that's who he is." "Really?" I said, glancing sidelong at Aceh, who was at the other end of the table looking down at the crowd below. "What kind of things does he say?" I asked. Jason smiled.

"Last time he spoke was a week back in the last town we were in. You were still bed ridden at the time. We had all been out drinking the night before. Jason and I were the first to wake, and he spoke soon after."

"Well? What did he say?" I asked impatiently.

"He said," Jason paused for dramatic effect. By the Twelve, if he stalled a second longer I would have probably tackled him to the floor and demand answer. "He said, 'I think I'm going to throw up!'"

"What?" I asked, my face betraying confusion and disappointment. "How is that deep and meaningful?!"

"Well it might not be deep but it was certainly meaningful. Jason and I managed to get out of the way before he rushed out! If he'd said nothing he probably would have trampled us to death on his way out!"

"That story sucks!" I object.

"Well they can't all be awe inspiring and action packed!" Jason chuckled. I sighed and turned back to my mug of ale and took another mouthful before screwing up my face at its bitter taste again. As bad as it tasted it the more I seemed to drink of it the better it began to taste, or at least, the less I was able to taste it. I sat in relative silence as the group talked and laughed amongst themselves and let my gaze wander around the establishment. I was amazed at number of bodies this place could hold within its walls. I looked across the way to the other side of the building on the same floor we were on and noticed several Dragons and furs being led away by various females into one of the many rooms that lay over there. Despite my own inexperience it didn't take me long to work out what was going on in those rooms.

"What's up Malakye?" Cody asked as he noticed me staring off into space.

"Uh? Oh, nothing. Just thinking." I'd said sheepishly, taking a moment to finish the last of my ale. No sooner had I placed my empty mug down did a waitress appear with more ale followed by several others carrying platters of food. They placed the food on the table and I muttered my thanks to the one closest to me, a dragoness with ruby red scales. She smiled and gave me a wink before she scurried off to complete the rest of her duties.

"Well ain't you a stud?" Michael teased, giving me a playful shove.

"What?"

"Come on don't act dumb! She was totally eyeing you!" Michael insisted. "I think she's got the hots for ya!" I'd felt my face flush.

"I don't know what your talking about." I said, grabbing a bread roll from one of the basket that had been placed at the table. I took a bite and vigorously chewed it, hoping that this conversation would come to an end.

"Yeah, sure you don't!" Michael teased, giving me another nudge but he left it at that... I was very grateful.

In all truth, I honestly didn't see how anyone could be attracted to me. I definitely wasn't a wolf but because of my Wolf heritage I looked abnormal even by dragon standards... at least I thought so anyway. I tuned out the conversation around me and began to eat from the platters that had been supplied. Each one held a variety of foods, mostly meat based from some animal that I was not familiar with, garnished with boiled vegetables. I made a point of drinking the ale that was provided for me and somehow just as I finished a fresh batch of ale would arrive at our table. After my fifth mug of the ale I began to feel really...good. It's kind of hard to describe but I felt myself relax and for the first time in a while, possibly my whole damn life I didn't have a care in the world. I didn't care about the fact I was part wolf part dragon, didn't care about even hiding that fact from anyone. I didn't even care about the fact I had been run out of my old village, because at that moment, I was very happy. I had my friends around me and all of us we just talking and having a good time. There was plenty of food and no shortage of drinks, things were good. Even the ale began to taste really good, Jason had been right.

Suddenly the music changed from a pleasant, laid back, background noise to an in your face upbeat tune. I'd looked down to the floor below to see everyone begin to dance with one another, each one letting out either a hoot, whoop or a holler while clapping their hands in time to the music. I couldn't help but watch in amazement as the throng of bodies below us moved in time with each other. I was so enthralled at the sight my attention was only pulled from the sight when Michael plopped himself back down in the seat next to me, I hadn't even notice him get up. He gave me a playful wink and beaming smile before taking a large mouthful of ale.

"Enjoying the show?" He asked, his tone cheerful but with a hint of mischievousness to it.

"Yeah!" I replied, looking back down at the crowd who were still going full swing.

"Don't they have dancing back where you're from?" Michael asked curiously.

"Yeah I guess...but I was never allowed to join, or even watch for that matter." I said a little glumly.

"You've had a pretty hard life didn't cha kid? I can promise, Malakye that so long as you're with us we'll look after you and make sure you get to experience everything that you should!" he's smiling, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks...for everything."

"Oh, no need to thank me... not yet any ways."

"What do you mean?" I asked but he simply smiled and took his time to finish his mug of ale. Before he finished I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned to see that red dragoness from before. She smiled at me and I felt my face flush.

"Hey there handsome. You wanna dance with me?" She asked with a grin. I felt my stomach tighten and tingle in nervousness.

"I...uh...don't know how to dance." I said sheepishly looking down at the mug of ale in my hand.

"That's all right, we don't gotta dance but I'd love it if you could keep me company." She said sweetly. I stayed silent for a moment too long. "What? Don't you wanna keep me company?"

"No...I mean yes! I..." I felt myself flush in embarrassment. My scales wouldn't show the fact that I was blushing but I felt as red as her scales looked. She laughed and gave my arm a squeeze.

"Don't worry about it Hun, come on. Let's go talk somewhere a little more private." She gave my arm a gentle but insistent pull and I looked to Michael who nodded at me and gave me a gentle nudge and that wink. I looked to Jason who had a huge know-it-all-smile on his face. They had set this up! Taking a deep breath I downed the last of my ale and stood up. The dragoness led me by the paw across the way to the rooms on the other side of the building we had been sitting at. I gave another glance back at the table before I was lead into the room to see everyone watching me and Jason yelled out something that I couldn't make out over the noise within the tavern. The dragoness brought me into the room and closed the door. It was a small and cosy room, plenty of space to move about in but small enough that you wouldn't be cold. It had a bed and chair in, but that was about it. I stood in the middle of the room doing my best not to look nervous.

"What's wrong hun? You nervous?" She asked. I guess I wasn't doing a good job at keeping my composure.

"Yeah." I said, looking at the floor and shuffling my feet.

"Well, don't be. I'm not gonna hurt a strapping young guy like yourself." She cooed moving up to me with a sultry swing of her hips till she pressed her body against mine. She only came up to my chest meaning I had to look down at her. "You know, you're very attractive." She cooed. "I'm sure you've had to fight the ladies away."

"No...not really..." I muttered feeling my face begin to flush again. "I've never..."

"Really?" She asked but it wasn't a mocking tone like I'd expected. It was one that suggested that she was actually surprised. What I didn't understand is why she was surprised. I wasn't attractive, I was a freak. "Well don't you worry hun, I'll look after ya. What's your name?"

"Mal...Malakye." I stuttered. "What's yours?"

"Mmm...my name is Rose." She whispered as she craned her neck and pecked me on the lips. I felt my face flush even hotter, if that were possible. Rose gave me a gentle push and I fell without resistance onto the bed. She climbed atop me, her skirt riding up to reveal her thighs as she straddled my waist. "Now, why don't we get you out of these clothes so Rose can get a better look at ya." She tugged my poncho off over my head revealing my bandages. "Been in a fight lately Hun?" She asked to which I simply nodded. She leaned down and kissed me full on the lips and soon I actually found myself kissing her back. She let out a small moan her hands began to explore my chest and abdomen, her fingers trailing over and around each of my muscles. I began to relax and felt a surge of confidence from her touch and moved my hands to her thighs and slipped them under her skirt. I began to massage her thighs thoroughly, enjoying the feeling of her legs in my hands. She moaned once more as I caressed her legs and I felt her tongue trace across my lips. I parted my lips slightly, as if on instinct and she wasted no time in slipping her tongue into my maw. Her tongue traced the roof of my mouth as if tasting me before entangling with my own. The sensation was exhilarating. I couldn't get enough of her taste. She tasted...ironically enough like roses. Not literally, but it was the best way to describe it. She pulled away from the kiss and sat up and I panted heavily as I remembered for the first time in a while to actually breath.

She looked down at me lustily before lifting her blouse up over her head revealing her breasts to me. I felt my crotch tingle at the sight. She grasped both my hands which were still caressing her thighs, and lifted them to her breasts where I gave a gentle squeeze. She moaned softly which made me feel that surge of courage once again and I gave her breasts a more forceful squeeze. She threw her head back and moaned loudly as my hands explored her breasts. I didn't even notice until I felt her grasp my cock that I was hard, almost painfully so.

"Mmm... looks like you're enjoying this." She whispered seductively, stroking my cock, making me gasp in pleasure. "You're a good kisser. It's been a while since I had someone kiss me like that. Most males just jump straight to it and get it over with. But since it's your first time, it's only right we do this proper. I'm gonna teach you how to treat a woman right." She stood up, and with a few skilled movements reached behind herself tugging at her clothing and stood still as it fell away to the floor, pooling at her feet. My eyes widened as I took in her naked form, the moonlight that filtered in through the lone window behind her complimented her subtle curves as it silhouetted her, making it difficult to make out her face in the low light but her eyes seemed to glow brilliantly. Her amber eyes, looking down at me lustfully sending sparks of excitement through my very soul. Apart from my loin cloth which didn't cover much now that I was at full mast, I was completely exposed to her. She knelt between my legs and traced her talons over my thigh making me moan at the sensation it caused. She took deep breathes as she breathed in my scent, her nose mere inches away from my cock and murred seductively before licking the length of my cock. Her tongue was like fire against my sensitive cock and I couldn't help but throw my head back against the soft feather filled mattress of the bed and moan loudly, not caring about anything else but the sensations coursing through my body. Before I was even able to speak, after she had finished licking me from based to tip again, I felt my cock being taken into her maw. My body shuddered at that, however hot her tongue had felt it was nothing in comparison to her maw around my cock. She began to bob her head and each time she would take more of me into her mouth.

My mind was mush by the time she had taken half of my length into her maw, unable to string words together to form sentences, hell, I was barely able to form words. As she bobbed her head up and down my cock she always stopped a second at its tip to give it a good suck before making her way back down. Her tongue all the while had rubbed itself along my cock, finding all the sweet spots that only increased my unconditional pleasure. I could already feel the impending climax begin to build; it started as a tingle in my balls but slowly climbed up my length. I tried to warn her, but I wasn't able to speak... I did though, manage to call out her name in between my moans of pleasure but this only made her try harder. She sucked harder and began to massage my balls... that was all it took. I roared, not caring about who heard me as I came in her mouth. My hands grasped at her head instinctively to hold her in place, but such action was unnecessary as she gulped down my load, mouthful after mouthful, sucking harder and harder each time as if desperate for my cum. By the time she was done my cock had been sucked dry and was now extremely sensitive. I almost had to pry her off as I could no longer take the intense sensation of her maw. My cock was so sensitive that her eager sucking was so intense it was almost painful but I only seemed to get harder despite having just cum moments before. When I finally managed to get her to release my cock I just lay there, panting, as if I had just ran several miles without stopping. She crawled up my body and pressed her lips to mine. Her tongue found its way into my mouth and I murred at her taste once again. This time though, there was more to it, an underlying saltiness that complimented her taste... it took me a few moments to realise that I was tasting my cum in her mouth. I felt my cock twitch at the realisation, and I found myself kissing her harder. After a god knows how long she forced us to break the embrace.

"Now then Hun." She began, pausing for a breath a moment before she continued. "I've pleasured you so now it's only fair you pleasure me." She said lustily, and gazed into my eyes. I blushed.

"How do I..." I said but stopped as she pressed a finger to my lips.

"Mmm...use that tongue of yours." The waitress said before she moved away from me to the other end of the bed and parted her legs... this exposed her sex to me. Her sex glistened with wetness in the moon light and I slowly moved, positioning my head between her legs. Breathing deeply my nostrils were filled with the strong scent of her arousal. It made my head spin and my cock harden once again. She smelled as she tasted; like a rose...but so much sweeter this time.

"Mmm...don't be afraid hun. Just do what comes naturally." She moaned cupping her breasts and wriggling her hips. I nodded and slowly moved forward. I pressed my tongue into her folds and licked her. I paused after put my tongue back into my mouth to savour her flavour... I had never tasted anything so good. Quickly I licked her again, and again, and again. Soon she had begun to moan wildly, her thighs pressed against my head as if to hold me there... but I wasn't going anywhere. After I had finished lapping up most of her juices on the outside, I pressed my tongue into her and felt her body convulse in a pleasured orgasm. I had paused, not having expected that reaction.

"Oh Hun! Don't stop!" She moaned.

Confident now, I repeated what I did before and got the same reaction. I continued this until her reactions lessened slightly. I then decided to move to a different area within her pussy. I licked higher and higher till I found a little nub of flesh at the top of her pussy. When my tongue pressed against that nub of flesh her previous reaction had been nothing compared to this one. Her legs clamped tight against my head and her breathing became laboured. Her pussy began to leak more and more flooding my senses with her scent and taste. Despite the pressure of her thighs that pressed into the sides of my head, I didn't stop until I heard her cry out.

At first I'd thought I had hurt her but the sudden gush of her sweet juices into my mouth made me realise that it was exactly the opposite. I drank down as much of her juices that I could before I felt her pull gently on my horns, urging me upwards. I moved up to face her, her tongue and mine meeting in the open air before our mouths clashed once more. I felt my cock, fully hardened and throbbing painfully, press against her hot body. The soft yet pleasantly textured feeling of her scales against my cock head made me shiver in pleasure. Her hand found my cock, and she directed it to her pussy. I instinctively pressed my hips forward, sinking the first few inches of meat into her, making us both moan in pleasure. I pulled out a little bit before sinking even more of it into her. A few more thrusts and I was fully into her... excluding my knot, its width was tightly pressed against her folds. She reached down and grasped it making me ecstatically gasp in pleasure. She looked up at me with a playful smile.

"So you got a knot eh?" She said and I felt the familiar shame of my heritage wash over me. "It's been a while since I had a chance to have a knot in me. You're just full of surprises, aren't you Hun?"

She smiled and pressed her lips to mine. I smiled. As quickly as the shame had come over me, it dropped away... I began to slowly rut her as we continued to kiss. My gentle rutting tempo quickly became hard forceful thrusts. She moaned loudly each time I sank into her. Our bodies dripped with musky sweat, and our breathing was ragged and heavy. She wrapped her wet legs round me as she climaxed yet again, and pulled me close as I thrust. When I finally felt my knot pop into her, I couldn't help but roar in ecstasy as her hot folds greedily enveloped it. I felt it throb as I unloaded into her, filling her with my cum. We shared another heated kiss, my lips drowning out her shrieks of pleasure, her claws digging into my back. As my orgasm dwindled I rolled onto my side, my knot locked us together and I wrapped my arms around her shivering body. For a while we just lay there, enjoying the afterglow our bodies were bathing in.

Our wings hung limply from our backs as I held her close to me. I felt like a part of me had been filled by this closeness. Yes, I knew in my mind that this was probably a one night thing, and that as soon as we recovered, and my knot had shrunk enough, this closeness would end. Aside from that fact though, I knew I would never forget this night. In truth, it had been such a long time since I had felt the loving touch of another being, even in a non-sexual way. I had practically forgotten what it was like. Till now it had just been a hole in my soul that I had no idea how to fill. I felt my knot slip out of her and she moaned. I tightened my hold on her slightly trying to gather as much pleasure for these last few moments as I could. She nuzzled my chest and murred.

"Oh hun, this is wonderful." She cooed. "It's been so long since I've been held like this. But unfortunately our time is up." She said with a sad tone.

"I know." I replied careful, making sure my voice didn't betray my sadness. I tightened my hold on her a little bit more. "Just another minute...please." She didn't answer me but I felt her nod her head and press it against my chest. After another moment we silently got dressed. We shared another hug and she kissed my cheek in thanks and we made for the door. Just as she was about to open it she paused and turned to gaze sidelong at me.

"I'd love to do this again." She said.

"I'd love to." I smiled, feeling my heart soar.

"But next time, I would like this to last longer." She said... a hint of something in her voice. I felt myself flush with embarrassment. I remember overhearing the wolves back in my old village talk about how well they pleasured their females... how they made love to them all night long... did I not do well? I took a dash to my pride.

"Did... did I not do well?" I asked timidly.

"Oh hun!" She exclaimed, her tone suddenly apologetic. "I didn't mean like that, you were great! Especially considering it was your fist time. Most males I've been with never do as well as you... because they're only in it for their own pleasure. What I meant was that I'd like you to spend the night with me... at my place."

"Really?!" I asked, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

"Yes. It's been so long since I had a male hold me like that. I miss it. Malakye I would love it if you could." She said with a smile. I nodded and smiled back sheepishly, thankful all the while that my scales hid my embarrassment. She smiled back and kissed me on the lips. "So tomorrow night..."

"I'll be here." I said answering her question before she finished.

We shared another kiss and walked out of the room and onto the stairs on the upper floor, where we parted ways. She went downstairs and I went over to where the others we still seated. Michael was the first to spot me and his face turned into a giant grin. I sat down silently and grabbed a mug of ale that was apparently for me, finishing it in one go. I placed my mug down and let out a satisfied sigh... it was then that I noticed that everyone at the table was looking at me with know-it-all smiles plastered on their faces, that is, except for Aceh, who looked as indifferent as always.

"What?" I asked.

"Come on man!" Jason said. "How was it?"

"It was... fantastic." I replied earning a hoot from Michael and Jason.

"Consider that your welcome present." Michael said. "Rose is one of the few barmaids in here that won't bed every male that's willing to give her coin. In fact a lot of the males here come night after night to see if they can finally convince that smokin' hot dragoness to let them bed her." Michael explained. "But, when I went and asked her earlier, I was pleasantly surprised that she said yes straight away."

"Really?!" I asked, surprised and shocked at the story he was telling me.

"Yes, apparently all the barmaids here found you very attractive." He winked and I felt myself blush.

"Don't patronise me!" I snapped. "I'm not attractive." I muttered sadly.

"Buddy!" Jason interrupted. "You got some serious self confidence issues! Let me reassure you that you are one prime bit of meat! Hell I'd bed you if ya let me!" He grinned and I felt a mixture of emotions wash over me. Shock over the fact that he had just said he thought I was good looking, confidence from his kind words that at the back of my mind I felt that I didn't deserve... doubt at the truthfulness in his words as well. I couldn't forget the happiness that maybe, just maybe, he was actually telling the truth, and finally a wave of lust at the prospect of him actually being willing to take me into his bed. I didn't know if I was gay, but the thought of seeing him naked made me fairly aroused. But then, when that thought progressed, and I pictured him making love to me, I felt disgust as the memories of Kaleb raping me came rushing back.

"You okay buddy?" Michael asked with a tone of concern. "You're not looking so good."

"I'll be fine." I said as I forced back the welling emotions.

"Perhaps we should be heading to bed." Eric recommended picking up on my mood. "We all have an early start tomorrow and it's nearly closing time anyway." We all agreed and everyone quickly finished their drinks.

We made our way through the mass of bodies that still filled the tavern to the door. When we finally got out the cold night air hit me, and I felt my vision blur. My legs become a bit unstable and I grabbed onto the wall of the tavern for balance. Cody came over and helped me.

We said our goodbyes to Michael and Jason, who went back to the caravans while we made our way to the hut in the market place. I don't honestly remember the journey there but I think that Cody kindly helped me maintain my balance as we made our way. Next thing I knew I had collapsed onto the bed. After a few seconds, I felt someone pull off my poncho. Looking up I saw Eric, who he himself had gotten undressed and wasn't wearing anything. He lay down next to me and pulled the covers over us before pressing his feathered back against my stomach. I knew there was nothing meant by that, it was just because of the small size of the bed that we would have to be sleep close together. I relaxed and tried to get comfortable, but my wings were pressed against the wall and I couldn't get them to rest comfortably.

"If you find it more comfortable you can drape you wings over us." Eric whispered, not opening his eyes. With a grateful nod, I spread my wing and covered Eric with them almost like another blanket. This was a much more comfortable position to sleep in. I closed my eyes and attempted to fall asleep but my lethargy was interrupted by noises coming from Aceh and Cody's bed. As if reading my mind, Eric spoke. "Do not worry." he whispered. "They are simply having sex." They were having sex!? My mind raced as images of Aceh fucking Cody flashed through it. I couldn't believe it, and the way Eric spoke about it so casually... I didn't understand. "Sex is nothing to be ashamed about Malakye." Eric spoke again as if he was once again reading my mind. "It is simply two beings taking pleasure in one another's body. Sometimes it has a deeper meaning than that but ultimately sex is just sex. It's like bathing, everyone does it and when you've done it you feel better about yourself. Never be embarrassed about sex Malakye, it is just a simple truth of life." I let Eric's words sink in and in return, felt a little more accepting.

Just like tonight, after I had had sex with Rose, I gained more pleasure from the closeness we had shared after than the actual act itself... I mean, not that it wasn't pleasurable. In fact it was mind blowing, but that feeling after words when I held her close... I smiled as the truth finally sunk in. Cody and Aceh weren't fucking because they loved each other; they were fucking because it gave them a feeling of closeness, of contentment. Feeling better I closed my eyes once again and despite the noises I was soon consumed by sleeps embrace.

"Malakye, Malakyyyeee!" I squinted my eyes to see Cody standing above me gently shaking me awake. "Oh good, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to wake you. It's time to get to work!" I made to get up and was greeted by what felt like something dashing my head. With a groan of pain, I gripped it, putting pressure on my temples. "Ahh... you must have one of those nasty hangovers!" He told me sympathetically.

"It feels like someone's hammering on my head!" I complained. "What is this about? What's a hangover?"

"That, my friend, is what happens when you drink too much ale. Here, I brought one of Eric's remedies with me." He said, handing me a cup of a thick vile looking black liquid that smelled like... I had no idea what the hell it smelled like but after one whiff of the stuff I felt as though I'd rather shove a pile of manure up my nostrils.

On seeing me eye the drink suspiciously, Cody laughed. "Yeah I know it looks and smells about as appealing as a cup of Malanci*-and in all truth it tastes just as bad after drinking it as well- but you'll feel right as rain in a few minutes." Cody assured me. Taking a deep breath I pinched my nose and began to gulp down the foul tasting concoction as quickly as I could. When I finished I couldn't help but to screw up my face and stick out my tongue in disgust as a reflex. All in all, that was quite possibly the vilest thing I've ever tasted, and after having to scavenge for food to survive when I was younger just to survive, that was saying something. Cody couldn't help himself but to laugh at my expression and he sat down on the bed next to me. "Told ya Malakye!"

"That. Was. Disgusting!" I choked, suppressing a heave and fearing that I was about to throw it up and taste it once again.

"Yeah well just give it a couple of minutes." The topic was suddenly changed on a new tangent. "So you had fun last night?"

"Yeah. It was possibly the most fun I've ever had since my mother..." I slumped my head and looked down at the floor in sadness. Picking up on my mood immediately, Cody said;

"Well, if it's any consolation to you, I'll make sure that you have many, many good times ahead of you. We are your family now, you know." He then gave me a hug. I smiled and hugged him back.

"Thank you." With that aside, the conversation picked up again.

"So how was she?" Cody asked with a mischievous grin.

"Who?"

"The barmaid last night. What was her name...Rose!?"

"Oh! That!" I laughed. "It was incredible. I won't ever forget it."

"So you gonna meet up with her again? From what Michael told me she wasn't cheap."

"Well...she actually invited me to come back to hers tonight when she finishes work. No charge."

"What!?" Cody shrieked jumping up in joy. "You're a lucky devil, you know that?"

"Yeah...I know. But I wasn't the only one got lucky last night was I?"

"What do you mean?" Cody asked the smile not dropping of his face.

"I mean about you and Aceh." Now that made Cody's smile falter and he began to look very guilty.

"You know, I guess we were a little loud." He murmured guiltily.

"Don't worry about it. I mean I was surprised sure, but I don't mind."

"You really didn't?"

"No. I mean it's just sex, right?" I assured him. "I don't mind what preferences people have."

"I thought you'd hate me if you found out."

"Why would I hate you?" I asked confused.

"Well, the way you looked when I told you about Michael and Jason being a couple and then last night when Jason said he would like to bed you... you look almost disgusted so I assumed."

"I'm sorry." I said standing up and giving Cody a warm hug. "It was just...the night I left my old village because they tried to kill me...the leader of the group... Kaleb... well he raped me." Cody gasped. "And then when I thought about Michael and Jason making love, it just brought back a few bad memories, is all."

"I'm so sorry Malakye! I didn't know!"

"I asked Eric not to tell anyone."

"I... I understand." Cody hugged me once again and rested his head against my chest. "I'm so glad you don't think less of me."

"You're my best friend Cody, my first real friend; I'm not going to start hating you because you like guys instead of girls."

"Wow, I'm really relieved... so how are you feeling now by the way?" Cody asked, looking up at me. It was just then I realised that I actually felt great. No hang over, no headaches, no nothing.

"I feel great!" I said, surprised. "I guess that stuff really does work!"

"You bet it does! Now we'd better get to work. Eric and Aceh went to get Michael and Jason and asked us to set up the stall for when they return."

"Well then, let's get to it!" I said, and we made our way outside to begin our day of work.

The morning went by quickly, and by the time Cody and I had finished setting up the stall, Eric had returned with the others pulling along several crates of stock for selling. Afterwards, I returned with Aceh, Michael and Jason to the caravans, which had been moved into a walled off area where the other merchants stored their carts while they stayed in the bustling settlement. This private location allowed the merchants to store their goods without the worry of thieves stealing them when their carts were untended to.

We all gathered more stock to take back and after another two trips we had all but emptied the three carts that belonged to Eric, and had the stock stored safely in the hut in the market area. Once that was done Eric went about explaining how to properly set up the stalls in a way to catch the attention of possible customers, and how to correctly position the expensive products in the best locations. I tried to remember all that he said, but there was a lot more to it than I had initially thought. It was a skill, that's for sure, one that I'd need to learn... I was going to try hard to make my new family proud.

Next came how to sell the goods. There were a number of techniques too complicated and difficult to explain, but to sum it up; a lot of it came down to body language and tone of voice. Bartering was one tactic . If a customer, uneducated in the art of haggling, buys our product at the full price we set, then all the more for us... but more often the customer is not quite willing to pay the price then you set and you lower it to make it seem as though they are getting a good deal. Now, I could of go on and on about how to make sales, in fact, Eric did... all day. He was a fountain of knowledge and I eagerly listened to him, even making a few sales under his mentoring. Eric assured me that I would eventually find my own techniques to sell; but that to keep in mind, a true master would always adapt their technique to the customers they were dealing with.

By the time the sun began to go down the market began to settle, and only a few stragglers remained. Eric informed me that most of these stragglers were often people looking to get last minute bargains at the end of the day from traders who would be leaving the next morning. We quickly packed up and gathered in front of the hut. Eric walked up to me and handed me a small brown pouch that fit in the palm of my hand, the pouch was filled with coins.

"That is your earnings for the day Malakye." Eric explained. "Everyone gets a share of the profits we make..." I go to interject, but he silences me with a wave. "That is the way I do things. I believe it's fair and entices you to do better at your job... the more money we make, the more money you get." He smiled. "Normally I give out everyone their earnings on the last day but since you don't have any money I thought it only fair that you have some tonight since you're going to be entertaining a certain dragoness." I felt myself blush. How did Eric know? Looking at Cody I saw him give me a sheepish smile.

"What's this Malakye?" Jason asked with a raised eye brow, giving me a playful nudge. "You're planning on spending the evening with Rose again?"

"He he, yeah he is!" Cody added. "Apparently, Rose asked him back to her place after she finishes work tonight. No Charge."

"Cody!" I snapped, blushing all the more.

"Well aren't you the stud!" Jason cheered, giving me a hard slap on the back

"Guess he's just a natural born lover! Wonder what he's like in the sack?" Michael pondered.

"I dunno, but now I really wanna bed him and see just what he's packing." Jason teased.

"Guys!" I groaned but their teasing never stopped. Not until we reached the tavern ten minutes later, and even then they would steal glances at me and then mutter amongst themselves before smiling at one another. Cody helped them tease me as well but it was all in good fun.

Despite my embarrassment I couldn't help but smile at their antics, and feel just that little bit more welcomed into the group. We ate and drank into the night and I would occasionally see Rose who would smile at me and I would smile back in return before she turned to resume her work. I had a good while to wait before the tavern closed and she would be finished her work but I was willing to wait if it meant I got to have feeling of fulfilment holding her in my arms once again.

I had a great time with my new family, laughing, drinking and just enjoying the feeling of friendship that we shared, one was growing every passing minute. This was one of the things I had wanted growing up; a feeling of acceptance.

Cody was constantly by my side the whole night, and when he was simply sitting next to me I could swear he was leaning towards me, as if he needed to be as close as possible to me. It was probably my imagination but even if it wasn't I wasn't going to make a big deal about it over nothing. Cody also seemed much happier than the previous night, in fact he had had a bounce in his step and a mischievous glint in his eye ever since our little talk this morning. I knew that Cody was gay, I had no problem with that at all, but the thought had crossed my mind a few times that night as to whether Cody might have feelings for me beyond friendship. When my mind drifted to these thoughts however Rose would enter my field of view and I couldn't help but remember our night together and anticipate what was to come tonight. It was starting to get late but the tavern was still in full swing and Eric stood up catching every ones attention.

It is getting late; I'm going to head to bed." Eric announced before turning to me. "Malakye, have fun tonight... oh, and don't worry about coming to work tomorrow." I was about to ask why, worried that I messed up badly on my first day, but Eric raised his feathered hand to silence me before I could even get a word out, his face was hard and his eyes showed how serious he was. "We are only young once Malakye. Take the day to spend time with your lady friend and for once enjoy what life has to offer." He winked and everyone at the table let out a giggle or a chuckle. Jason patted me on the shoulder and gave me a wink. "We leave the day after tomorrow. We will meet you here at the Tavern tomorrow night."

"O...okay." I stammered, my heart slowing down, the dull throb of pain from its hard work out a few moments ago still in my chest. One by one the others rose to their feet and with a curt goodbye made their way to the stairs, leaving me by myself at the table. Cody paused at the top of the stairs and gave me a pained look before forcing a smile and waving at me. Why would he be upset? I was only going away for the night. We'd meet up again tomorrow. Or did Cody know something I didn't? My thoughts were interrupted by a hand coming to rest on my shoulder. I spun round to see it was Rose.

"Hi!" I said, unable to keep a smile spreading across my muzzle. She smiled back at me softly and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"Apparently I'm off duty now." She told me. "Seems your friend Eric spoke to Francis, and he let me off early." I looked down to the tavern entrance and watched as Eric walked out followed by the others.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I said, mostly thinking to myself. "He's given me tomorrow off. Apparently he wants me to...sample what life has to offer." I quirked my eyebrow in a ponderous manner and Rose simply giggled.

"We had better not waste time then should we? Time is short, and there's so very much to sample." She replied in a playful tone and grabbed my paw in hers pulling me to my feet and guiding me towards the exit of the tavern.

We walked paw in paw through the street and the moon and stars were hidden behind the clouds. Only the torches that lined the main paths, which burnt brightly in contrast against the all-encompassing darkness of the night, casting enough light for us to safely navigate our way.

However, before we got to her house, our path was blocked by three Dragons. Two large black scaled Zangarian Dragons stood at either side of a slightly smaller Dragon, who was about my size, and had dark blue Scales. He wore a fancy shirt and trousers that told any who looked at him that he had money. The other two Dragons that stood either side him however were huge! They even put Aceh to shame. Both of them were wearing nothing but loin cloths.

"Now what do we have here?" The Blue scaled dragon asked with a mocking tone. "You cheating on me Rose? With this poor excuse of a male no less?"

"Go away Vireon!" Rose begged, and it was laced with fear as she clutched at my arm and stood behind me as he moved closer. I growled quietly not taking my eyes off of any of them. Whoever this Vireon was, he wasn't going to lay a finger on Rose, that much I swore to myself silently.

"I can't have my girl cheating on me!" He growled possessively. Moving a couple of steps closer his goons moving off to the sides attempting to surround us to trap us in. "It makes me look weak!"

"I'm not your girl! I left you months ago!" Rose shouted, "Just...leave me alone!" Rose's bravado though was diffused into a pathetic whimper as the trio approached nearer, closing in the ranks. I didn't move, didn't blink; my eyes flicking between all three of them.

"You! Runt!" Vireon growled at me. I looked at him but didn't say a word, my hand moving slowly to my knife that was hidden by the darkness, strapped at my thigh. "Run along now and you won't get hurt." I didn't move a muscle. I glared at the blue dragon. "So...we have a tough guy in our midst. Well kid, don't say I didn't warn ya!"

No sooner had Vireon stopped speaking had I heard a scuffle and saw blur of movement either side of me. I pushed Rose back causing her to stumble and land on her ass a few feet away before ducking beneath a muscled arm that intended to grab me. I lashed out, now in a crouching position, and roared. I drove my fist into the knee of my would-be-attacker and heard him let out a sharp yelp of pain. The big oaf stumbled and I suspected I had broken his knee joint... I barely managed to roll away in time to stop his tremendous bulk from landing on top of me.

The other black dragon paused a moment as he looked in shock at his partner howling in pain clutching his knee on the ground in front of him. He cast his gaze back at me just in time to see me running at him. Just before I reached him I spread my wings wide and jumped, flapping my wings as hard as I could, the additional force from my wings giving me enough height to drive both my feet into the larger dragons face as I began my decent. We both crashed to the ground but I rolled somewhat gracefully to my feet. The titan of a Dragon had not been so lucky, and his head struck the ground hard as he fell... he lay motionless, knocked out from the collision.

Vireon took that moment to charge me. He was much faster than his companions and landed a powerful punch to my snout before I even noticed him, the force of the blow causing me to stumble backwards several steps. Vireon wasn't done however. He used the moment of me stumbling backwards to throw another punch and it struck me with full force. The punch was powerful but Vireon was over confident, much like the wolves I used to fight, and I would use that over confidence to my advantage. Using the force of his blow to spin I grabbed his elbow firmly with on hand, digging my claws into his scales and drew my knife with my other hand. I thrust the knife into Vireon's arm and he roared in pain, instinctively pulling away. I let go of his elbow as he did this and he fell backwards onto his butt. He gripped at the wound with his good arm and looked at me in a mixture of fear and anger.

"Now you get the fuck away from here or I'll do a lot worse!" I growled fiercely. "And if you ever come near Rose again...I'll kill you!" Vireon didn't say anything. He stood up and glared at me, snorting his disgust before running off, leaving his companions behind. Once I was sure he was gone and that the other two Dragons weren't going to attack I turned to check on Rose who looked fearful, her face streaked with tears. She ran at me and wrapped her arms round me and cried into my chest.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" She sniffled. "I was so scared! I was sure Vireon was going to kill you!"

"Shh, it's all right see?" I said trying to comfort her wrapping my arms around her. "He won't be bothering you again."

"No!" She cried. "Vireon will be back and next time, and he won't just have two goons! He's one of the richest and most powerful men in the village... He even controls the black market here! When he comes back He'll kill you, and probably me as well!" She cried.

"Why?" I asked confused.

"I was in a relationship with him once, it only lasted a couple of weeks before I broke it off but he has never stopped hounding me since then. He is a cruel possessive bastard. Before I would entertain the males in the tavern like the other girls but when Vireon found out who they were they would be beaten, robbed and sometimes killed. I stopped sleeping with other males so that no one else got hurt! He pesters me constantly about coming back to him but I can't go back to that life. If I hadn't escaped when I had who knows what he would have..."

"Shh, shh, shh. It's all right. I'm here now. Come on let's get you inside." I said comfortingly. She nodded and sniffed trying to force back the tears before pulling away from me and leading me to her home just a few doors away.

After locking the wooden door to her home I guided Rose to the bed. Her home was a simple hut that had little in it; other than a few pieces of furniture and a cooking pit in the centre of the room. The bed had a small wall built around it to give it some more privacy. Compared to my hut back in the village this was a step up but after seeing some of the places in this village while it was certainly comfortable it was far from being the best. I sat down next to her and placed an arm over her shoulders while she clung to my torso, crying a little bit but a lot calmer than she had been before.

"I'm sorry." She said sniffing as she attempted to wipe away her tears. "I had expected this to go a lot differently. If you want to leave I'll understand."

"Don't be stupid!" I scolded her. "I'm not going anywhere! What kind of guy would I be to leave you alone like this? Besides, I want to be here."

"Thank you Malakye. You're so sweet." She pecked me on the cheek and we just sat there in silence enjoying the warmth of each other's bodies as we hugged.

"Rose?" I asked to which she hummed, showing me she was listening. "Earlier when you told me about Vireon, you said you stopped sleeping with guys because of him. So why did you sleep with me?"

"Well... it was your eyes." She responded, stopping to look up into my eyes before continuing. "They were so full of kindness, but at the same time, full of hurt. A yearning for something, but you were never able to get it... I think..." She paused for a moment and looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "I think I saw myself in your eyes. All I've ever wanted was to be loved by a kind and gentle male. I guess... I guess because I could tell you had lived a hard life I was drawn to you. I knew that Vireon was still watching me but when I saw you with Eric's group I guessed that by the time Vireon could make a move you'd be long gone. I didn't think he would act so quickly though."

"Don't worry about it, I can handle Vireon." I reassured her before leaning down to kiss her on the lips tenderly. Falling back against the sleeping furs we embraced each other, kissing gently, her touch was electric against my scales, her scent washing over me, becoming my entire world. My heart wouldn't stop racing, this was all I needed and I could tell that this was what she needed as well. Not sex, but love and companionship.

Bleary eyed I looked around the room, I blinked repeatedly trying to adjust to the early morning sun that was streaming in a nearby window. Eventually my sight stopped on Rose, sleeping soundly against my chest. Her arms were wrapped round me and she had a content smile on her face. I couldn't help but feel happy. In all truth, I hadn't felt this way since I was a kid... when my mother was still alive...

"Mmm." Rose stirred, pulling me from my thoughts. She blinked her eyes a few times and lifted her head to look straight at me. "Morning."

"Morning." I replied. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, it was the best night's sleep I've had in months... how about you?"

"Fine, but the best part was waking up and seeing you." I grinned and she giggled.

"Well... I'm sure I could do something to make this morning even better!"

"Oh? And what would that... BE!" I felt a paw grasp my shaft and begin to stroke it... as you would expect, my penis did not remain flaccid for very long. I moaned loudly as she continued to caress my shaft to full hardness and closed my eyes to savour the sensation of her scaled paws on my cock. She stopped stroking my cock for a moment and just before I was going to ask what was wrong I felt the hot, wet sensation of her mouth enclosing round the head of my cock. I moaned loudly and arched my back, my toes curled and my claws dug into the mattress. After several bliss filled minutes Rose released my length and grinned slyly.

"Hmm, I think it's time for the main event, don't you agree?" Rose said in a seductive tone, moving up my body to press her muzzle into my own. She kissed me while positioning herself to sit on my cock, and I felt her rub her pussy lips against my meat before pressing her hips downwards. My cock sunk into her with a wet pop and she let out a moan of elation, breaking the kiss to sit upright and take the full length of my shaft inside her. I couldn't help but moan myself, my claws flexing and sinking into the animal pelts that made the bed we lay upon as she began to slowly ride my dragon-hood. After what seemed like an eternity of bliss Rose made one final push with her hips and my knot popped inside her, in that instant I came, loudly moaning and shifting my hips as my balls released themselves deep inside of Rose, who let out her own pleasure filled cry as I did, her pussy becoming tighter as she orgasmed.

Afterwards she collapsed on me, and after a short while my now soft cock slid out without much resistance. A small river of my cum and her own juices flowed out of her pussy and onto the sleeping furs. We kissed passionately and nuzzled each other until we lost consciousness. I awoke once again to Rose sleeping soundly atop of me, her head resting on my chest our legs and tails intertwined, my wings felt sore after being trapped beneath me while we slept but I didn't care nor wanted to move and ruin the scene before me.

Sunlight of the mid-morning sun filtered in through the single window in Roses home, shining over her and highlighting the intense red of her scales. Watching her sleep I couldn't help but feel the same tightness in my chest that I had before, when I had looked at Rose's sleeping form. This tightness continued to evolve to a tingling sensation in my belly, and then a wave of warmth spread through me. It felt good, so good I didn't want it to go away. It wasn't as intense as the feeling I got when Rose and I had sex but it was a sensation that felt just as pleasant, and I felt calm and happy. What was this feeling? I continued to lie there silently, watching Rose slumber peacefully until a thought occurred, could this feeling be love? I dismissed the thought but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. I loved Rose. A movement beside me and Rose rose, yawning and blinked several times before looking at me and smiling.

"Hi." She smiled, "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." I smiled back at her.

"Mmm... I fancy some breakfast, want some?"

"Sounds good." I said my stomach deciding to let out a loud grumble to voice its own agreement to the matter.

"Well then, let's get cleaned up and go have some breakfast. I know this great place to eat that serves the best food in town."

***********

After a quick washing to get rid of the scent of sex from our scales we left Roses hut and headed towards the market area, where her favourite food place was apparently located. We walked slowly, arm in arm, enjoying each other's company, laughing at each other's stupid jokes as we weaved our way through the morning crowds. The smell of all the different foods and spices from the market place filled my nose as we walked, making my stomach rumble loudly.

Finally we stopped outside a familiar looking hut, the one, I realized with dread, which I and Cody had ate at the first day. I felt my heart sink.

"This is it. Zalamar makes the best food in the whole village... is there something wrong?" She asked, obviously I wasn't hiding my fear of facing that dragon again, the cook on that first day who had seemed to disapprove of me.

"No, no! I'm fine!" I assured her, forcing a smile onto my face.

"You're not a very good liar." Rose quipped, giving me a look of suspicion. "What's wrong?"

"Well... I'm sure that the guy in there hates me."

"WHAT!?" Rose exclaimed. "Who?"

"He was a dark grey coloured Dragon... that's Zalamar, right?" She nodded. "He served me and Cody when we ate here before and he found out about my heritage... the look on his face...I'm sure he must hate me."

"Don't be silly Malakye! Zalamar is pretty much the closest thing to family I have in this village! I can tell you with a one-hundred percent assurance that he doesn't hate anyone... well, maybe Vireon, but that's beside the point. Zalamar wouldn't care if you were full blooded wolf. So long as you don't cause problems for him, he doesn't have a problem with you."

"If you say so." I mumbled, trying to convince myself.

"I do! Now come on. I'll get Zalamar to make you the best breakfast you've ever had!" Rose said cheerfully, leading me by the paw into the hut. On entering I quickly scanned the place. It was already pretty busy. Most of the tables had at least one animal sitting at it, and there was even a few more waiting at the counter to be seated and served. We joined the end of the queue, and I stood there shuffling my feet in anticipation.

"Now what can I... ROSE!" Zalamar cheered when he saw Rose he leaned over the counter to give her a hug, one which Rose happily returned. I on the other paw, stood behind Rose, trying to remain invisible. "How are you today sweetie? You look a hell of a lot happier than you have been lately."

"Oh I'm doing great! And it's all because of this guy." Rose said, indicating to me. Zalamar looked at me and his smile disappeared. "Zalamar this is Malakye. Malakye, Zalamar."

"Hi." I said, raising my paw in a pathetic wave, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. I wasn't able to meet Zalamar's gaze.

"You're that kid from before... look, I'm really sorry if I offended you last time. It was a bit of a shock to hear about your heritage." Zalamar said with an unmistakable tone of apology.

"So, you don't hate me?" I asked timidly.

"Hate you? Why on earth would I hate you?"

"Because I'm part wolf?"

"No! In fact, after I got over the shock I was kinda happy. You represent how life should be kiddo. This feud the Wolves have with us Dragons is bloody stupid. It is a rare thing for a cross breed to occur between species, and even more so for one to happen between a Wolf and a Dragon! They say that Shal'Naresh must be moved by the love that two members of the opposing species have for each other before they can have a child together. You're parents must have loved each other very much."

"Yeah, they did." I said with a mixture of happiness and sadness.

"That is what this world needs more of these days, love. Pure untainted love." Zalamar continued.

"Zalamar! You're doing it again!" Rose mocked.

"Hey! Give a guy a break for being a romantic at heart! Now then what can I get you two? It's on the house."

"YAY!" Rose cheered. "We'll have two of my usual."

"Coming right up. You two go sit down, I'll bring it over when it's ready."

"Thanks Zalamar." Rose said, giving the older Dragon a hug.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." I said with a smile, feeling a lot better now that I knew he didn't hate me.

"Think nothing of it. You make my Rose happy, that makes you a friend of mine. So long as you keep her happy, consider yourself family as well." Zalamar smiled, placing his right paw to his chest. I remember Eric explaining that gesture, it was the gesture of trust and loyalty. it wasn't commonly used but did pop up from time to time. I returned the gesture showing my appreciation and followed Rose to one of the vacant tables.

"So what do you think of Zalamar?" Rose asked.

"He's certainly an interesting guy." I replied with a slight smile. "I guess I was wrong about him." Rose smiled back at me and I felt my heart flutter, she was so beautiful and her smile seemed to brighten up the room. We just sat there looking into each other's eyes until Zalamar placed our food on the table in front of us. Without a word, we began to devour our meals... both of us being hungry from the morning's activities. We left after saying goodbye to Zalamar and Rose dragged me to the market place where we began to browse the various stalls full of clothing, jewels, food, crafts and other trinkets. I could see the various cultures represented in some of the items, and even if I didn't have a clue myself of which, I could see the diversity in them. Fascinated, I made a mental note of finding out about all these cultures someday.

At one stall that was full of jewellery I saw Rose staring at a pendant hanging on the back wall. It had silver chain, and the pendant's base looked as though it was made of silver as well. It was oval and the edges were carved the shape of a feral dragon, wrapped around a dark blue jewel -possibly a sapphire. I watched Rose stare at it, and the glint in her eye told me that she wanted it deeply. With hesitation she stood there for a good couple of minutes before tearing herself away and moving to the next stall. I remained behind, quickly motioning for the owner of the stall before Rose noticed my absence.

"How much for that?" I asked the female feline. She was all black, slender, and wore fine clothes, she was obviously well off money wise. I guessed she was a panther, Eric told me that Panthers rarely came this far north from the southern forests on the edge of the Tribal lands. The Pantheress looked at the pendant and smiled as she lifted it.

"For the pretty dragon-lady?" She asked, her voice was thick with an accent I had never heard before. It made her sound superior, but her eyes showed an understanding.

"Yes." I whispered, glancing over to Rose who was busy examining some clothes nearby, she thankfully had her back still turned to me. "How much?" I asked, reaching for my money pouch, expecting to have to give her everything for it. It was a fine piece and obviously was not going to be cheap.

"Do you love her?" She asked. I was taken aback by the unexpected question but quickly composed myself. I didn't even get to answer her, obviously she had read my reaction to the question. "Then take it." she said placing it in my paw and closing my fingers around it.

"Really?" I asked shocked, the Pantheress nodded and smiled.

"It is rare. Where I come from the dragon represents a fiery and protective spirit. I got it from another Panther, whose wife had passed away. All he had asked was that it would be given to someone who's loved one needed protection. I can see in your eyes the love and concern you have for her...you should have it. Love should always be protected." She said. I smiled and thanked her before jogging over to Rose who was still examining some clothes at the stall.

I sneaked up behind her and placed the pendant round her neck, tying it quickly in place as she turned round in fright. She calmed as soon as she saw it was me and looked down to see the pendant. Her expression was priceless. The surprise as she tentatively picked up the pendant around her neck and lifted it to examine the craft. She looked up at me and smiled and I saw hints of tears form in her eyes as she hugged me and kissed me. I closed my eyes as our lips came together and the hustle and bustle of the market place slowly fell away to silence. A whistle brought us out of our little world. Looking round I saw Jason giving me a big thumbs up and everyone else was standing at the stall just behind him, looking at us and smiling. Laughing, Rose and I made our way over, hand in hand.

"Hi guys." I said, still feeling my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "You all know Rose. Rose, you know Michael." I said motioning towards the large stallion.

"Nice to see you again." Rose said, and then giggled as Michael gave her a wink.

"Likewise."

"And this is Eric, Cody, Aceh and Jason." I explained, pointing to each one in turn. Everyone smiled and gave her a wave. Eric approached and grinned sweetly at her.

"I trust you're looking after Malakye? He needs all the help he can get after all." Eric chuckled.

"ERIC!" I growled with embarrassment and Rose laughed sweetly.

"Oh, don't worry I am...but I think he's more than capable of looking after himself, especially after last night."

"Oh? Did something happen?" Eric asked, and his brow furrowed with concern.

"Just some thugs trying to give Rose a hard time is all." I explained, not wanting to make them worry.

"Just some 'thugs'? Please Malakye you took out Vireon and his two brutes without breaking a sweat." Rose explained.

"Vireon?" Eric asked, his frown deepening. "This isn't by chance the black market criminal I'm thinking of... is it?"

"Yes unfortunately." Rose answered and everyone in the group went silent. Looks of worry were etched into their faces and despite the hustle and bustle of the market around us, I was sure you could hear a pin drop. "He's taken a fancy to me and won't take no for an answer."

"Hmm...this is most worrying." Eric said aloud but to no one in particular. "Vireon is a powerful dragon with many lackeys... he won't take kindly to this... we should leave tomorrow morning first thing... before Vireon decides to retaliate."

"But Eric..." I was about to argue with him but he silenced me by simply raising his feathered talons.

"No buts Malakye. Vireon will fight back and when he does it won't be pretty. Once the Market closes we'll pack up the wagons and head off in the morning. You would do well to be careful, meet us at the tavern later tonight." Eric's tone held a finality that ended the conversation. I knew it would be pointless to argue but then it struck me that if we were leaving in the morning then it would mean I wouldn't be able to see Rose any more... my heart skipped a beat.

"Eric..." I was silenced again when Eric raised his talon once more.

"I know what you're about to say Malakye and I have a solution to that very problem, but only if Rose is willing."

"Willing to do what?" Rose asked and her head tilted to the side slightly.

"Well it's obvious that Malakye likes you very much dear. If we were to leave tomorrow Malakye would more than likely stay to be with you, which would mean our leaving would be pointless. So if you'd like to, you are more than welcome to come with us." Eric finished and Rose was silent for a few moments as she processed what he had said.

"Eric... thank you." I said " I'm truly grateful."

"You're more than welcome. You're part of our family now Malakye, so if something is important to you then it's important to us as well." Eric explained with a smile.

"Damn straight Kiddo!" Jason agreed. Aceh and Michael nodded in agreement and Cody let out a cheerful hoot.

"You're offer is so generous Eric..." Rose said, stopping for a moment to compose herself as she wiped away a tear. "I'd truthfully love to... but my job at the tavern..."

"I'll arrange everything with Francis, now you two go and enjoy the rest of the day and get ready for the trip, we'll meet at the Travelling Maiden later tonight and leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"Thank you so much you guys!" Rose said as a tear rolled down her muzzle..

"Think nothing of it Miss." Michael said with a grin before turning to me. "Malakye, be careful okay? Vireon is not someone to take lightly."

"I will Michael, thanks. See you all later tonight." With that Rose and I ran off to get her ready for the trip. We stopped at a few Market stalls where Rose bought a few things she thought she'd need for the trip before we hurried back to her home to gather he few possessions. There weren't many things she was taking, but by the time we had gathered them all and packed them into a large shoulder bag the sun was already setting.

"I'm so excited Malakye! It's been so long since I've left the village!"

"I'm excited too. You know, before Eric offered to take you with us I was going to tell him that I would stay here with you." I said.

"Really? Even knowing that Vireon would attack you again?"

"Yes, I would do anything for you Rose. I... I love you." When I heard those three words leave my lips I thought I'd be embarrassed but I wasn't... it felt so right to say it.

"You do?" Rose's eyes tiered up and she threw herself at me knocking me over, her arms wrapped round me in a hug as she kissed me passionately. "I love you too Malakye...I was afraid to say it and scare you off."

"I'm glad, and it'll take more than that to scare me off!" I laughed.

"OH!" Rose exclaimed and jumped up.

"What!? What's wrong?!" I asked panicked by Rose's action.

"I just remembered that I need to tell Zalamar I'm going! If we leave now we can catch him as he's finishing up for the day."

"Okay... but we can't take too long as Eric and the others will be waiting for us, they'll be loading the wagons now as we speak."

"I know, I know... it won't take that long. I have to see Zalamar before I go! He's like my own father!" I nodded grievously.

"Don't worry, I understand. Let's get going or we'll miss him."

************

"Zalamar!" Rose yelled as she saw the Black scaled Dragon leaving his store. He turned to face us and instantly smiled on seeing Rose running towards him. He opened his arms and gave her a big hug as she arrived.

"Hi there sweetie!"

"Oh Zalamar I've got such wonderful news!" Rose beamed, "So please don't be sad."

"Sad? Why would I be sad if you've got good news?" Zalamar gave her a concerned look.

"Well... it's umm... I'm leaving."

"You're leaving? When? How? Who? Why?"

"Well Malakye and his group have offered to take me with them when they leave tomorrow." Rose answered. "It means I won't have Vireon pestering me and making my life hell. On the other hand, I won't be able to see you any more either." Zalamar gave Rose a tight hug and Rose hugged him back, matching his strength. Zalamar stared at me silently for a minute or so in before speaking.

"You better protect her Malakye. Rosie here is like the daughter I never had so you'd better."

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her. I love her and I would die to protect her. I don't care if I have to fight my way through an army of demons!" Zalamar nodded at me and then released his hug on Rose to look at her.

"You be good now you hear!? Live a happy and full life and never regret anything!" Zalamar told her while being on the brink of tears. "I'm so happy for you Rosie, now don't forget to swing by and say hi when you're in town."

"I will, I promise I will!" Rose herself broke down into tears, the pair of them hugged once more tears of happiness and sorrow rolling down their muzzles. I just stood there and let them have the moment.

"Rose..." I said getting her attention. "We have to get going, the others will be waiting for us." She hesitantly nodded.

"Bye Zalamar, take care!"

"You too Rosie! I wish I'd known that this was going to happen sooner, I'd have made you your favourite, Frambos Buns*.".

"I'd have liked that! Tell you what, next time I stop by I won't leave without them." Rose laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's a deal. Now get going, don't want to keep those nice furs waiting! And keep that boy in line, he'll make to be a fine dragon someday, so long as you make sure he turns out all right, he's still a boy."

"I will, bye-bye." Rose kissed Zalamar on the cheek before turning and walking back to me. I wrapped an arm over her shoulders to comfort her, there was nothing in this town for her except Zalamar, and she was leaving him behind to go onto a better life, they both knew it but this was still a sacrifice Rose had chosen to make. "Come on Malakye, let's go." Rose lead the way, looking over her shoulder from time-to-time hoping to still see Zalamar, even though we were long out of sight of his shop and nearly at the Tavern.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah... I have no regrets." She said with a smile. "I love you Malakye."

"I love you too Rose." We stopped walking and kissed, a long passionate kiss; one that left nothing to the imagination. We broke the kiss and rested our foreheads together to gaze into each other's eyes.

"Now isn't that sweet!" Came a voice from the shadows, I spun round to face the direction of the voice, and saw that Vireon was standing there, blocking our way. The faint light of the lanterns lining the streets gave enough light for me to see that his left arm was bandaged and in a sling and he was surrounded on either side by both furs and Dragons of varying sizes, all of them wore hardened faces that told Malakye that these guys weren't going to show any mercy. "Now then Rose, come over here." Vireon said sternly. I felt Rose hug me tightly from behind.

"She's not going anywhere with you!" I yelled.

"Confident are we? You may have gotten the drop on my goons last night but there were only two, this time there are twelve. Think you can still win?"

I hated to admit it but he was right, even if I would be able to somehow beat all of them I wouldn't be able to do so while protecting Rose. I glanced behind me to Rose who looked at the mass of bodies threatening us in fear and then further down the street. The Tavern was a couple of minutes away, Eric and the others would be able to help us but we wouldn't be able to outrun all of Vireon's goons. If I could hold them off long enough for Rose to get away....

"Rose. Rose. ROSE!" I yelled finally snapping her out of her fear induced trance. "Go to the Tavern, get Eric and the others, I'll hold them off."

"But... you can't..."

"Rose, I can't protect you if you stay here and we can't outrun them... I promised Zalamar that I'd protect you and this is the only way... just go get Eric and the others... they'll protect you."

"But..."

"Go!" Rose hesitated for a moment but then quickly spun round and ran as quickly as she could.

"I don't think so!" Vireon yelled and his goons launched into action. I reacted as well. Drawing my knife I charged the mob. The first body I came into contact with was a large Bull, easily twice my weight and at least a foot taller than me; not including the horns. My charge was unexpected so I took the advantage while I had it. Ducking down low at the last second and then launching my full body forward I drove my shoulder into the bull's stomach, knocking the wind from him and making him fall like a sack of bricks. A pair of paws grabbed me as I tried to get up off the bull and I spun round and slashed a dragon across the muzzle with my knife, making him roar out in pain and release his hold of me. I quickly got to my feet and had to immediately dodge the swing of yet another Dragon. I got out of the way of the swipe, and then retaliated with a punch of my own to his muzzle. As he reeled backwards from the blow I gave him an uppercut to the chin, which ended up levelling him rather effectively. Next thing I know my face is being driven into the ground hard as someone smacked me in the back of the head with something. I tried to get up, ignoring the pain and wooziness but several of Vireon's goons began to kick and stamp me, and I couldn't do anything but try and protect my head from the blows.

After who knows how long, the beating stopped... my whole body ached ruthlessly. I'm sure I had a couple of broken ribs and there were cuts all over my body. I could hardly see, the number of blows I took to the head had left me dizzy and one of my eyes was so badly swollen I couldn't see out of it. A couple of Vireon's goons picked my mangled body up and held me up by the arms, I looked over with my good eye and saw Vireon standing next to Rose, who had been restrained by a couple of the Felines. I hadn't been able to protect her! I felt so weak, the one time I was fighting to protect someone other than myself and I failed, I had never felt weaker. My promise to Zalamar rang through my head, I had sworn to protect her, and I felt angry at myself.

"So you thought that you could play the hero eh?" Vireon walked up to me, grabbed my muzzle and spat in my face. "This here is my town and I don't take kindly to anyone who interferes in my business!" Vireon bent over and picked up my knife from the ground before turning back to me and running the tip of the blade across my chest. "I should gut you where you stand!"

"Vireon! Please! Just let him go! I'll do whatever you want... just don't hurt him!" Rose pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

"Rose, no!" I yelled but was quickly silenced with Vireon's fist across my muzzle.

"Quiet you!" Vireon turned his attention to Rose and walked over to her, rubbing the side of her muzzle with his hand almost affectionately. "I loved you, did you know that Rose? I gave you chance after chance to come back to me, I figured 'hey, she's probably just intimidated by my love and affection, but she'll come round.'" Vireon's expression became a savage snarl and he slapped Rose across the face. "But instead, you decided to go and try and run away with, with... with this fucking runt over there? Unforgivable!" Vireon looked up to the sky and took a deep breath before returning back to earth and looking again at Rose. "You know Rose, I'm a jealous guy, I can't help it. It's in my nature, and because of that when I can't have something I want... I make sure no one else can have it."

Rose let out a pained grunt as Vireon thrust my own knife into Rose's abdomen three times. I let out a roar, and despite my condition struggled to free myself from the two that held me, they obviously weren't having an easy job of it but I still couldn't break free. I continued to struggle, calling out Rose's name as she fell to the ground, three bloody stab wounds in her, her eyes streaming with tears and not once leaving my own. I watched as her life was draining from her and I was helpless to do anything. The world around me began to darken, my vision focused on nothing but the dying dragoness in front of me, my beautiful Rose... I could see her lips moving silently... 'I love you'... the world went black.

When I regained conscience I was kneeling down, holding Rose. After however long I finally took the time to look around me. Everywhere there was smoking husks of furs and Dragons alike, nothing was left of any of them but the smouldering ash on their twisted bodies, none of the bodies could be even identified... all except one. Unlike the others that had been burned to a cinder, Vireon, that bastard, was pinned to the wall of a nearby building by the weapons of his own men, driven through his arms and legs to suspend him three feet off the ground against the stone wall of a building, his face was stuck in an image of pain and fear even after his life had been extinguished. He had literally been gutted, his organs lay on the ground before him. I looked at my paws that held Rose, they were sticky and covered in blood, and from the scent it was Vireon's blood. I had done that to him... I felt the bile rise in my throat and turned to the side to spew the contents of my stomach onto the street along with the ash and blood that already stained it.

All too soon my attention returned to the lifeless form of the dragoness in my arms, and holding her like this drove home the undeniable truth, Rose was... Rose was... dead. I let out a heart broken howl that would have made any wolf proud and buried my muzzle in Rose's hair, I drank in her scent as I cried my heart out. Rose was the first to make me feel complete, to feel accepted and loved, and now that feeling was gone. The pain in my chest was unbearable, it felt like someone was trying to rip my heart out of my chest. I heard the sound of furs approaching, someone was running towards me but I didn't care, I just continued to look at Rose's face, her peaceful face. It was like she was sleeping but only this time she'd never wake up, never smile, never laugh... all those things that made my heart flutter.

************

Someone was talking, I wasn't listening to them. No. I just couldn't hear them. My attention was on Rose, my beautiful Rose. The dragoness who I had given my heart to in just a couple of days, a dragoness who had returned my love.

Someone was grabbing me, the contact made me look away from Rose's face for the first time. It was Eric; he was looking down at me with pain filled eyes. He was saying something but I couldn't make out the words. Jason, Michael, Cody and Aceh were there as well. The expressions on their faces told the entire story of the scene before them. What had happened here? I wished I could remember. Aceh moved to my side and helped me up, I didn't resist... there was no point. Rose was dead and that wasn't going to change.

I remember being picked up by Aceh and slung over his shoulder... and then running, a lot of running. Why were we running? Were they in danger? No... I was. I had scorched all of Vireon's goons and literally ripped Vireon himself apart. The Guard would be there soon and I would be arrested. They would execute -or at least incarcerate- me for the rest of natural born life.

Aceh dumped me in one of the wagons and then it started moving, I don't know how long it was before we stopped but it was still night time. Eric and Cody had come to check on me a few times but I didn't respond to them. I couldn't bring myself to do anything but lay there and watch the scene over and over again in my head, the one with Vireon stabbing Rose.

From time to time I would get flashes, memories, glimpses, of what I had done. In those flashbacks there would be fire, lots of fire, and pain felt screams around me. Another flash and there would be Vireon, he'd be begging for his life. Darkness for seconds at a time and then another, usually with Vireon again, his face twisted in an expression of pain. The thought sent shivers through my whole body, what had I done to him before he died?

I don't remember falling asleep but I do remember waking up, it was daytime then. Cody was there fiddling with something and he sat a few feet away, looking rather worried. I just lay there watching him; I had never seen Cody so glum before. Was it my fault that he was like that? It probably was...

I wasn't strong enough to protect anyone, not even myself. I needed to be stronger, so that people like Rose and Cody didn't suffer because of me. Cody was my first real friend in this world, and Rose was the only one I had ever loved. I was going to live my life without regrets, just like Rose had chosen to do, and to do that I needed to become stronger.

I felt the cart slow to a halt and I pushed myself up to my feet. Cody let out a cry of surprise. I smiled at him and left the cart, jumping to the ground and looking around for the furson I needed to talk to. Eric, Michael, Jason and Aceh were all gathered by the lead wagon two wagons ahead.

My feet moved without thought towards them. I heard Cody shout from behind me and it caught the attention of the others who then looked in my direction. Each one of them held a look of amazement when they saw me, but something else as well. Fear and worry was also etched on their faces, were they afraid of me? Or were they afraid for me? It didn't matter, my mind was made up.

I walked right up to Aceh. The giant tiger looked down at me with curiosity, and I stared right back at him with a look of determination. The others didn't say anything, probably waiting to see what I was going to do. Even Eric looked apprehensive.

"Make me stronger, I need to be stronger." I said with all the determination I could while trying to keep my voice steady. "I don't want those that I love and care about get hurt or suffer because of me. All my life I've been by myself. All my life I've had nothing to protect but myself and that made me strong... but I need to be stronger. Help me please." His head tilted at my request and after a few moments of tense silence he nodded.

"Tomorrow, we will begin. Today, you rest." His voice was deep and commanding, and it sent a shiver up and down my spine. I realized with a start that it was the first time I had ever heard him speak. He patted me on the shoulder with a massive paw and walked away. He walked past Cody and the others without a word and climbed into one of the caravans.

"It's good to see you're up and about again buddy." Jason said with a smile.

"Malakye, what happened back then?" Eric asked.

"Umm..." I stopped for a moment. "We were on our way to the tavern to meet you guys when Vireon and his goons jumped us." I explained. "He... he stabbed Rose and then the next thing I know you guys are there and I'm surrounded by torched animals." There was a silence for a few minutes until Eric finally spoke up.

"So you don't know what happened before we got there?" Eric asked.

"No... everything just went black." I answered; all of them shared a look that peaked my curiosity. "What?"

"Well... around the time you were attacked there was an incident. All of the torches, lanterns and fires in the tavern and the streets flared and caused several small fires around town. Then when we found you there were all those burned bodies around you..." Eric's voice droned off.

"What are you getting at Eric?" I asked.

"I think you might be a Manipulator Malakye. An Elemental Manipulator."

"A what?"

"Yeah Eric what's that?" Cody asked.

"Some Dragons have the ability to manipulate specific elements such as water, fire, earth... I think that's how you killed all of Vireon's guards." Eric explained.

"That's a little hard to believe Eric. You're saying I have the ability to control fire?"

"Yes that's exactly what I'm saying!"

"That's so cool!" Cody announced

"Yeah that's pretty awesome." Jason added. "Any ideas as to how you actually do that Malakye?"

"None... I've never heard of anyone being able to control elements like that before. I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

"Well perhaps... hmm... I need to think about this a little." Eric said closing his eyes and rubbing his chin in thought. "In any case, it's good to see your feeling better Malakye. You've been unconscious for nearly three days now."

"Three days!?!"

"Mmm... I bet you're hungry. All right then, we'll stop early today and let Malakye rest." Eric turned to Cody. "Cody if you'd be so kind as to get a fire started..." he turned to me. "Malakye, you go with Cody." A cough. "As for the rest of us" He said to the group, "Set up camp."

************

I was woken by someone shaking me. I blinked several times before my vision focused enough to see Aceh crouched next to me, his massive frame taking up most of the wagon I was in.

"Time to train." Aceh's deep voice reverberated through the small space we were in. I simply nodded and began to ready myself, both mentally and physically, for some gruelling training that would most likely leave me sore for several days. Stepping outside I saw that dawn was still yet to break. The sun was merely minutes away from making an appearance over the horizon, and the sky was a beautiful combination of red and orange. I was captivated by the view to say the least, but a quiet growl from Aceh drew my attention back to him.

"Oh, sorry." I said, walking over to him. He didn't reply back.

"I will train you in the martial combat known as Tiger Palm." Aceh said, his voice still sounding strange to me. "Tiger Palm is based on counter attack. Good for defence. It doesn't matter if your enemy is big or small, Tiger Palm works the same."

"Okay."

"Now do as I do." Aceh stood beside me and got into a stance which after some trouble, I was able to carefully copy. The stance seemed to revolve around having a good sturdy base, feet wide apart, knees bent, and the right foot a step further forward than my left. My right arm was bent at the elbow, making my forearm rest in front of my chest, and the palm of my paw was facing away from me. My left arm on the other hand was placed firmly against my side, so my forearm pointed directly ahead of me; the palm of my hand pointed directly upwards.

To say the least I felt a bit uncomfortable in this position, I knew from my little experience watching the wolves training back in the village that you could tell how aggressively someone would be attacking by their stance. That's when I realised that the wolves had a very aggressive nature when it came to the attack and were always on the offensive. The training back then was basically about overpowering your opponents into submission; I even doubt that any of the wolves would have an idea of how to perform a defensive technique like this one, I certainly wouldn't have.

"The point of Tigers Palm is to deflect your enemy's attacks and throw them off balance." Aceh explained, not moving a muscle. He simply stared ahead of himself like he was facing off with an opponent. "From this position you can easily dodge or deflect your enemies attack." Aceh continued this time, slowly stepping forward, swinging his right arm to the side and bringing his left arm up to the same position his right arm had been and then repeating... elbow bent, palm facing upwards.

I copied him the best I could; his slow pace allowed me to keep up. We continued like this for a while, stepping forwards and then each time reverting to the starting stance. After a while I began to visualise an opponent rushing at me. It was a very simple and basic manoeuvre that would throw your opponent off balance and create an opening for you to strike back at them.

"Your enemies will not always attack you the same way." Aceh said, stopping his motions; we had walked a small distance from the camp. He never broke his stance. This time instead of stepping forwards he stepped backwards immediately dropping his right arm and bringing up his left to the same position his right had been in; I had called this the Guard position in my head. "If you wait for your opponent to strike you, you can see how he will strike, by doing this you create distance and allow yourself time to switch positions to perform the best counter attack." He was right, I could see it all in my head, visualising my enemy attacking so that my current stance would be ineffective. Aceh and I continued with our slow movements, drilling them into my head so they would become instinctive. I knew that this was just the beginning, the beginning of a long hard training session and that they would only get harder from here.

************

"Ha-ha, the breakfast of champions." Eric joked before climbing up onto one of the wagons. I was about to follow suit till Aceh's massive paw clamped down on my shoulder.

"We train while on the move." He said.

"How?" I asked.

"Tigers Palm like other martial arts require good balance."

"Yeah I know that." I said... In a lighting quick move Aceh immediately shoved me backwards. I landed on my ass with a thump. My breakfast fell to the ground. "Hey! What's the big idea!?" I growled.

"You no balance." Aceh said flatly, crossing his huge arms across his chest.

"Well I wasn't ready!"

"You must always be ready. Never lose balance; your enemies won't care if you're ready." I growled but he had a point so I looked down at my ruined breakfast in annoyance. Aceh pointed to the top of the wagon. "While we travel you will stand on wooden beam." The wagons all had cloth coverings to concealing the contents we were carrying and give us shelter when the weather was bad. Along the top of each caravan there was a large wooden beam. It held the cloth up. Each beam was roughly twelve feet long and about as wide as my foot.

"You've got to be kidding me! I'll break my neck!"

"You won't break neck if you keep balance." Aceh retorted. What he said was true enough but these carts gave a bumpy ride at the best of times. I sighed, remembering that I had asked Aceh to train me, and that was what he was doing. I needed to get stronger and if this was the only way for me to do it then that is what I was going to do. I climbed the side of the wagon and hefted myself up and carefully stood up, slowly moving to the centre of the beam. I heard Michael and Jason chuckling behind me laughing and whispering. I turned to yell at them to shut their muzzles but nearly lost my balance. A lot flailing limbs later I managed to regain my balance, taking several deep breaths to calm myself. The Wagon began to move and immediately I had to adjust to the movement... but ended up falling to the ground with a thump before the wagon had rolled more than ten feet. The wagon slowed to a stop and Aceh got off and walked over to me and stood above me.

"You okay?" He smirked. Like hell I was okay, I had landed on my wing and it hurt like hell. There was a sort of numbness down my side as well... but I wasn't going to let him gloat.

"Yes, I'm fine." I grunted, pulling myself to my feet. I got up and dusted myself off before climbing back up and resuming my position. The wagon once again began to move. This time I was ready for it and managed to remain standing on top of the wagon. My arms and wings were outstretched to help me maintain my balance.

As the day went on I did fall when there was a particularly bad bump or when a sudden strong gust of wind caught my wings. I had fallen about twenty times actually over the course of the day before we had finally stopped to make camp, my body was sore all over and I was physically and mentally exhausted, but while dinner was cooking Aceh insisted that I run the drills I had learned that morning again, this time he simply watched me. Correcting me when I made a mistake. He was picking on every little thing I was doing wrong and it was beginning to frustrate me. I bit my lip however, Aceh was for all intents and purposes my Master now, and as his student his word was law. That didn't mean however that I had to like it, I just had to simply obey it.

By the time dinner was ready my whole body was aching, I was barely able to move the spoon from my bowl to my mouth. Straight after dinner I excused myself and climbed into a wagon. I laid down on the thin mat that served as my bed and closed my eyes. I tried to ignore my muscles that were screaming at me in pain, I had no clue how long I laid there but I felt the wagon move as someone climbed in. With a grunt I lifted my head to see Aceh crouched above me.

"Please... no more training..." I pleaded.

"No, not today."

"Thank god!" I muttered. "So what can I do for you?"

"From now on you will sleep with me."

"What?! Why?"

"You're muscles will be sore so I will help. Roll over." Aceh commanded; it was obviously not a request so I rolled over onto my stomach as I was in no condition, physically or mentally to argue. Aceh pulled out a bottle of something and poured some into his paws. He then proceeded to grip my calf muscles and massage them. What he had poured into his paws was sweet smelling oil; oil that as it made contact with my scales made a cooling sensation that sunk into my muscles. That, combined with Aceh's massage, made them feel relaxed and pleasantly numb compared to the throbbing pain that had been in its place moments before. Aceh slowly made his way up my leg, kneading my muscles to a state of relaxation before doing the same with my other leg.

Once he'd finished I swear I probably couldn't have move my legs if I wanted to. It felt really good and I was beginning to feel sleep grip me. The only thing keeping me awake was Aceh's moving paws. Now while I was fairly certain that Aceh wouldn't force himself on me, I still had this niggling sensation at the back of my mind which forced me to remain conscious. He poured some oil onto my back and began to massage it as well; a moan escaped my lips and I immediately felt myself flush with embarrassment. Aceh never said anything about it though and continued to massage me. Once he had finished my back he began on my arms, and by that point I was barely conscious. The pleasant sensations of the oil and Aceh's paws on my body were the only things I was aware of until I felt a pressure on my crotch and I realised I was hard. I immediately flinched which made Aceh stop.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Umm... no... it's nothing... sorry." I mumbled trying to conceal my little issue from him.

"You know it's nothing to be ashamed about." He said which in turn made me flush again in embarrassment.

"W-what's not?" I asked trying to act like I didn't know what he was talking about. He simply shook his head and chuckled.

"It's an effect of the oil. Manseer oil*, relaxes muscles, but is also an aphrodisiac.

Manseer Oil* - An oil extracted from the flowers of a Tamile tree*, the oil acts as both a muscle relaxant and a potent aphrodisiac. Used in many Harems for their relaxing and sexually arousing properties. The oil can be converted into a drinkable liquid which many alchemists pass off as love potions, many would be lovers have poured these potions into the food of those they wish to seduce.

"What?!" I asked unable to believe what I was hearing.

"It makes you..." He paused as if trying to think of the right word to describe it to me. "...horny."

"Are you trying to... to..." I was beginning to panic now and I had rolled over and sat up making my arousal fairly obvious from the tent in my loin cloth.

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Then why are you using... that!?" I asked. Panic and confusion was an obvious overtone in my voice.

"It good for sore muscles." He said flatly. "I know you uncomfortable with two males being together; Eric explained."

"He did?" Aceh nodded his head. "Look it's not that I mind it or anything because I know that you're... that you're... yeah... but I just get a bit uncomfortable."

"I understand." Was all he said. "If you don't want me to help, I won't. I won't force you but you better take care of it yourself at least. It'll be uncomfortable to sleep with and you'll have wet dreams." He explain moving over and laying down on his own rug. I sat there and watched him settle down. I also saw him begin to pull down his own trousers and grip his erect feline cock.

Wait... what are you..."

"I told you. The oil is an aphrodisiac."

"And you're just going to do that here?!"

"We're both males. Nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm not touching you, you're not touching me, nothing gay about it."

"But still..." I fell silent; deep down I knew that he was right. All my fears and paranoia's were in my head. My cock was also beginning to throb with need now, almost painfully. I decided to at least try and sort through my predicament. I knew that with Aceh's training most nights I would be sore and it would be difficult to sleep without the massages, and if I was going to get a massage then I'd end up in the same situation I was in now.

"Okay... I'm just going to... yeah..." I said nervously, moving to lie on my back like Aceh. I nervously glanced over and watched him pleasure himself; his cock was huge! At least 14 inches of thick meat, so thick that even one of Aceh's massive paws couldn't wrap round it. The oil that was on his paws made his cock gleam in the dim moonlight that filtered in from the entrance; his barbed head stood proud at the top of that massive cock. He let out a lusty purr which made me look away immediately and flush with embarrassment. Why was I paying so much attention to his cock? A throb from my own helped me push that line of thought aside for the moment and focus on my own. I lifted my loin cloth aside and let my cock stand in full glory in the cool night air. I ran my hand over my scales and gathered some oil and began to rub my length, barely stifling a moan that threatened to escape my maw. The oil felt fantastic! I gathered some more oil and rubbed it along the length of my cock, slowly rubbing my full length from top to bottom; all twelve inches of it.

I closed my eyes and lay there as my paws stroked the full length of my dragon-hood I could feel every vein and ridge as my paws slid slowly across my length. All too soon I felt the familiar increase of pressure, so I rubbed a little faster. I bucked my hips into my hands, lost now in my own little world of self pleasure. More and more the pleasure built up, I could feel it rising up my shaft all the way to my cock head and then with a choked gasp I came; my eyes opening for the first time since I had shut them from the intensity of the orgasm. I watched my load shoot into the air and hit the canvas 8 feet above me and splash back down onto me. My cock continued to spurt large amounts of cum all over my chest and stomach and I idly rubbed my length, taking deep breaths and sighing contempt. I looked over to Aceh and noticed he had not only finished but was watching me with a perverse grin on his muzzle. I immediately felt my face flush and my whole body froze up.

"Yes, that was very good." Aceh said in that deep accent of his, his deep voice seeming so loud it echoed in the silence even though he only whispered. "Feel better?" He smiled. I made myself nod in confirmation since I was so embarrassed I didn't think I could speak properly. "Good." He tossed me a rag of some kind. "Clean, or it will be uncomfortable." I understood what he meant. A little dried cum wouldn't bother me but I could only imagine what it would be like on fur like his. I didn't argue and simply grabbed the cloth to wipe away the cum. "Wipe oil as well. Oil will make it difficult to sleep." I did as he asked, realising that the oil would more than likely keep me hard all night long if I didn't remove it. Once I was satisfied and had removed all the oil, I threw the rag aside and saw that Aceh was already asleep. I could all ready feel sleep pulling at me as well and I closed my eyes.

************

"Wake up sleepyhead." I felt someone nudge me and

I slowly opened my eyes. "Finally! I thought you would sleep the day away!" Rose giggled. I smiled and pulled her close to me and kissed her softly on her snout. I couldn't stop looking at her eyes, they were so full of life. "Come on. Let's get up." Rose said, pulling, but I pulled her back into my arms as she attempted to stand.

"Why do we have to get up?" I asked her, wrapping my arms tightly round her and kissing her neck. "All I want to do is spend the day here in this bed with the most beautiful dragoness in the world!" I rolled over pinning her to the bed below me and kissed her neck some more.

"Oh you!" she giggled some more. "But we have to get up!"

"Why?"

"Because...."

"Because what?" I asked sitting up to look down at her. I felt my throat close and the breath catch in my lungs as I looked down at her. Her eyes had become pale and lifeless, her colourful and vibrant red scales had faded and I felt all the warmth leave my body as I saw the bleeding wound and the knife sticking out of her stomach. I felt myself gag and I looked back to her dead eyes, which suddenly flared to life, becoming blood red and powerful before she yelled.

"BECAUSE YOU KILLED ME!!!"

*************

"AAARRRGH!!!" I bolted upright with a shout and wrapped my arms around myself to try and calm down. I noticed with a start that my body was covered in sweat and I was finding it hard to breath. I stared into open space, but all I could see was Rose's corpse looking up at me, her words echoing in my ears.

Something touched my shoulder and I jumped, scrambling as far away as I could from it till I backed into some wooden crates. Something moved in front of me and I began to panic until I saw that it was Aceh. The moment I realised it was him, I began to calm down, and I remembered where I was. Aceh was kneeling in front of me, a worried look on his face. He slowly reached out and placed a paw on my shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked. I simply nodded and he reached with his other paw and wiped away a tear from my muzzle. I hadn't realised that I was crying but I now felt them, tears streaming uncontrollably down my muzzle. "Shh... it be okay." He cooed softly. I don't know what came over me then, but I practically launched forward and wrapped my arms round Aceh in a hug and cried into his chest. He simply rubbed my back and let me cry.

Soon after, while my face was still buried in Aceh's chest, I heard the voices of the others, they had heard me scream and had come running to see what the commotion was about.

"What happened!?" I heard Cody yell as he scrambled into the wagon. Aceh must have given him a look because no one said anything else and Aceh never spoke a word. I felt someone kneel next to me and rub my back; I pulled away from Aceh to see Eric, who had a sympathetic look on his face. He didn't speak but gently took my paw and placed something in it before standing again and walking back to the others.

"Come along everyone. Let's get some rest." Eric said calmly and I watched as everyone followed him. Cody hesitated at the entrance, but I nodded at him in a silent message that I was now okay. He nodded back in understanding and left with one final look over his shoulder.

Turning back now I looked at my paw and saw what Eric had placed in it. It was Rose's necklace, the one I had gotten for her at the market place. I smiled as I remembered how happy she had been when I'd given it to her. I then recalled what the merchant had told me. 'Love should always be protected.' Remembering those words I grasped at the necklace tightly, making a solemn promise to myself that I would never fail those I loved again; that I'd always protect them, no matter the cost. I put it around my neck and looked up to Aceh, who was still there next to me.

"Better now?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yes. Sorry about that." I said wiping away my tears.

"Is all right. Any time." He turned and settled back down where he had been sleeping. I continued to sit there; I didn't want to sleep any more. The dream had been too vivid, too frightening and I was afraid I would see Rose's corpse once again if I closed my eyes.

**************

The next few days were pretty much the same. Aceh would wake me up before dawn and begin training me, and we would rotate through the different moves and stances, and how to link the moves with each of the stances. Tigers Palm was complex and precise; each and ever move had to be timed perfectly or you would never get the chance to throw your opponent off balance. At this point Aceh was teaching me how to move quickly and fluidly, he would spar against me forcing me to defend myself, forcing me to learn how to counter different types of attacks.

After the morning session we would stop so that we could travel. As before I would be made to balance on the wooden beam along the top of one of the wagons till we again reined it in for the night. I was glad to see that every time I went up, I'd fall less and less.

Then before dinner Aceh would put me through my paces by calling out a certain stance and/or move and I would have to do it instantly without hesitation or he'd make me do push ups; five push ups for each time he deemed me too slow. He would also constantly criticise my motions, telling me to widen my stance, to lift my elbow an inch higher, how to breath when moving... it was constant, relentless criticism. After all that was done, I'd retire to the fire to eat. A couple of times Cody actually had to help me, because I couldn't move my arms enough or keep a tight grip on my spoon due to my exhaustion. Cody seemed more than happy to help me; in fact he seemed to enjoy it.

After finally finishing my meal I would retire to the wagon early to sleep and rest. Before I'd get a chance to fall asleep though, Aceh would appear and get out the Manseer oil, insisting on giving me a full body massage. The massages were great, they really did help ease the pain and stiffness in my muscles and I was sure on more than one occasion that without them I wouldn't be able to move the next day. The way each massage session ended though was the bit that made me uncomfortable. Each time, no matter how much I willed it not to happen, I would get a raging hard-on and have to... deal with it. Aceh would deal with his as well but the fact that we would do it in front of each other was the bit I found most disturbing. He even offered on the nights I was particularly sore to help me out, but I forced myself to deal with it myself. I just wasn't that comfortable with another male touching me in such a way. After dealing with our mutual problems we would fall asleep and each night I would awaken from another nightmare about Rose. Like the first night, it would always start off happily and each time it would end up with her dead and blaming me for it. The eyes were what stayed with me though, those savage blood red eyes, there was something that terrified me about them beyond the actual dream itself. It was as if there was something incredibly evil and powerful behind them and whatever it was it wanted to hurt me, maybe even kill me. I'd tell myself it was just a dream but that didn't help, the more I thought about the more I felt fear building up, where that fear was coming from I didn't know but whatever it was I had realised last night while laying there trying not to sleep after having one of the night terrors that I was more afraid of those eyes than I was of the dreams.

************

After the usual morning routine of Aceh's training and one of Eric's ready made breakfasts I was standing atop the wagon as usual as we travelled. I had learned to close my eyes and keep my breathing steady and focus on the moment entirely. I shut out everything around, entering almost a meditation like state my body reacting to all the bumps on the road by itself. It's a very relaxing thing, just clearing your mind and not thinking about anything. It makes you feel like all your problems don't exist.

"MALLL-AKYYYEEE!" I heard someone yell from behind; snapping me out of my trance and making me almost lose my balance. I managed to regain my balance and turned round to see Jason smiling at me in the wagon behind the one I was standing on.

"Yes Jason?" I asked with an annoyed tone but a smile on my muzzle.

"Just making sure you're doing all right up there bud!" He smirked. "Ya haven't fallen at all today."

"Yeah well the day is young. It's only just gone midday."

"He-he true but we'll be at Rengilar Village in the next couple of hours."

"Really? Never heard of it."

"It's a little place, not much business there but it's the first Village, or the last depending on which way you're going, heading north from Zangar until you hit the Archillian Desert*. Good place to take a wee break before heading further north and restock on some supplies. We usually make a point of staying there for a day before continuing on to the next village. We got a lot of friends there."

"Can't wait to see it." I smiled.

"You'll love it. Lots and lots of pretty young males and females. Perfect for a guy your age."

"Gee...thanks." I rolled my eyes.

"Aww come on!" Jason whined. "You're only young once and ya gotta have your fun while you can. Besides I'm sure you'd appreciate someone else other than Aceh giving you a massage." Jason winked.

"We'll see." I replied before turning round.

"Pffft! Trust me, you'll have hot young males and females throwing themselves at you when they see you!" I cracked a smile at his remark, I still didn't believe them when they said I was good looking, even if that were true I don't think I'd be ready to move on just yet. The memories of Rose and I are still fresh and the scars they'd left with me even more so thanks to the constant nightmares every night.

Deciding to worry about it later and focus on not falling fifteen feet to the ground I closed my eyes and cleared my mind focusing on nothing but the sound and movements of the wagons and the occasional squawks from the Dando's* that pulled the wagons along.

Each shift of the cart over uneven ground called for immediate action on my part so I could maintain my balance. I learned a lot over the past few days about all the little things to help you maintain balance. Keeping a low centre of gravity was a main one; a simple raising of an arm, wing or tail could prevent me from having a nasty fall. This training also allowed me to hone my reflexes.

I was pulled from my trance when a whiff of an unfamiliar smell assaulted my nostrils. It was a sweet fragrance, one that almost brought happy memories to the forefront of ones mind. Opening my eyes I saw that on either side of the dirt road were fields of purple wild flowers, as far as the eye could see. I couldn't help but smile as I surveyed the land and took deep breaths of the sweet air. I noticed that in the distance there was a village, Rengilar Village.

"Don't breath too deeply Malakye!" I heard Cody giggle and looked to see him peeking up at me.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Because these flowers are Lytium flowers. They only grow here in Rengilar Valley."

"Is there something special about Lytium flowers I should know about?"

"Lytium flowers are used by some as a powerful hallucinogen." I heard Michael behind me say. "If you burn or smoke fresh Lytium flowers, it gives the one inhaling it a high, but in high doses it causes them to see things that aren't really there and in extreme cases, death." I gulped nervously and held my breath. "HAH! Don't worry though Malakye, Cody's only pulling your leg. Breathing in their scent like this isn't dangerous at all, it's only if you inhale the smoke from burning Lytium that you need to be careful."

"Phew..." I began to breath normally again. "Anyway we're nearly at Rengilar Village." I said looking ahead.

"Yup." Michael replied. "Although it wasn't always called Rengilar Village. It was renamed that about ten years ago after the last attack on the village. It wasn't until the surrounding tribes agreed to protect the village that it was officially recognised as a settlement, so it was given a new name. What it was called before was an insult to all those who resided there so it was decided it was best to rename it."

"What was it called?" I asked curiously. Michael opened his mouth to speak but paused as if he was hesitant.

"It's probably best I don't tell you... if you say it while we're there you might get into some bother, some folks there are still pretty sensitive about their origins."

"Well ain't cha Mr. sensible and caring!" Jason mocked giving Michael a playful nudge. "And yer a know it all too!" Jason smirked.

"Well one of us should be." Michael retorted. "After all you only think with that thing in your pants!"

"I wasn't hearing you complaining last night!" I laughed and tuned out their little tiff. They did that once in a while where they would argue over something trivial. They'd argue for hours then make up with each other by having sex. I swear that they did it just to have an excuse to have sex.

"Ha-ha!" Cody giggled looking away from Jason and Michael and back up at me. "So how are you doing up there anyway?"

"I'm doing fine, I'm getting used to how the carts move."

"You think Aceh will give you the afternoon off from training?"

"Dunno. Probably not. He's a harsh and strict Master, but I can't really complain since I asked him to teach me. Why do you ask?"

"Well I was hoping we could spend some time together. We didn't really get to hang out much after the first day back in Zangar and you've been training with Aceh all the time since then... it would be nice to just hangout for a change. I could show you the sights!"

"Sounds nice, but I can't go asking for time off from my training. I'm sure if you ask he might let you have you're way."

"He-he! Maybe you're right!" Cody giggled before sinking back down out of sight. I could still hear Jason and Michael arguing behind me, they were almost outright yelling at each other now, insults flying. I tuned them out and once again cleared my mind like before, closing my eyes.

************

I felt the wagon stop, opening my eyes I looked to see that we were outside the village. One of the guards that stood at the entrance walked towards the front of the wagon where Eric and Aceh sat. After a brief exchange of words the guard waved us through. I remained atop the wagon as we entered the village, and looked around and couldn't help but smile. This place was amazing! Everywhere you looked there were stone buildings, no wooden ones to be seen, the wolven village I grew up in didn't have a single stone building and even in Zangar only about a third of the buildings were made of stone. Here every building was made of stone, the only wooden structures were the stalls that vendors sold their goods at or the occasional wooden shed around the back of a building. The village was certainly a lot smaller than Zangar, only around twenty or so buildings, not including the markets that lined the streets, but each building was large and had two or three floors.

To top it all off, everywhere flowers and trees grew, most villages clear away all forms of natural vegetation to build or farm but here it almost seemed like the village was one with nature. Everyone had a smile on their face and cubs ran around playing, their laughter piercing the air above the other noises of this place while adults went about their daily tasks. I got a fair amount of attention from the locals since I was standing atop the wagon, not your typical sight to be fair. I waved to some of the cubs and smiled as they pointed and stared and ran along side the wagon.

We moved to the far end of the village where there were large wooden enclosures with lots of wagons parked inside. We were guided to a place to park and then our Dando's were unhooked from the wagons and taken to a large stone building just outside the enclosure, which must be where they looked after the animals. Eric paid several gold pieces to the attendant who thanked him and made his way off.

"You can come down now." Aceh said looking up at me. I smiled and leapt to the ground, landing with a graceful thump. "You doing well, keep your balance."

"Yeah well it's easy once you get used to it."

"We do more training now."

"Umm... Aceh?" Cody interrupted, his voice timid and his ears flat on his head in nervousness. Aceh looked to Cody and made a noise to show that he was listening. "Could you maybe let Malakye off with the training today? I'd really like to show him round the place since it's his first time here and all." Aceh just stared at Cody for several long moments and I could see Cody literally shrink under his gaze.

"Malakye do some exercises, then can go with Cody." Aceh responded and Cody's ears perked up and he couldn't help but smile. "You do fifty push ups and fifty squats. Then you go with Cody." Aceh said to me.

"Got it thanks." I responded with a smile. Cody giggled happily, his tail swishing behind him.

"Well then, once you and Malakye are done come by the usual place for dinner." Eric said before turning and walking off with Aceh, Michael and Jason in tow. Cody stayed behind with me.

"Well then, I'd better get to my training."

"Okay! I know a great spot for it!" Cody said grabbing my hand and dragging me behind him as he ran. Cody led me to a spot just outside the village next to the river. It was amazing, wild flowers grew everywhere and the Gummi trees* that littered the area gave it a very private feeling, the sound of the river made for a relaxing sound. A warm breeze blew through the area rustling the flowers and trees, wafting their scents throughout the area.

Gummi Tree- A tree that bears white flowers during the summer. It grows to about twelve feet in height. Vines grow from the branches and the white flowers grow from the vines. The flower is poisonous, despite the pure beauty of it it has been nicknamed the widow-maker flower, from a time when scorned wives would add the flower to their husbands meals. They would then die in extreme pain from stomach cramps, until their stomach would burst from the corrosive poison of the flower.

"Wow... this is amazing." I said taking in the beauty of the scene.

"Yeah... I found it a couple of years back when I first visited. I was going through a bit of a rough patch then... it helped to have this place to escape to."

"Rough patch?" I asked. Cody didn't reply, he just walked over to a large Gummi tree and slumped against the trunk. "Cody?" I moved and sat next to him.

"It was back when I first joined the group. I had run away from home after my parents found me in the arms of another male. Being their only child they took it pretty badly and my father beat me." A tear ran down his muzzle.

"Oh Cody..."

"I stowed away on one of Eric's wagons when he travelled through town and managed to remain hidden for a day before the found me. I was so sure that I'd be taken back home... I was terrified. I begged Eric to let me stay." He laughed, the tears still streaming down his muzzle. "This village was the first one we came to, we travelled up the Dalton River* from the West where the Fox tribes reside. In truth, I think Eric did it for me. He's never travelled back over that way since then. We stayed here for a few days and I would constantly come here, it was like my own little world. I was homesick, and wanted to go back desperately, yet was terrified of doing so. I remembered how angry my father was, I thought it was my fault that I liked other males. That I was worthless, scum... and a whole lot of other things my father had called me between the beatings."

Dalton River - A river that flows from East to West across the Tribal Lands*. A wind known commonly as Hesh'na's breath or Hesh'na's favour, blows from West to East allowing boats to sail up river against the current if they have a sail.

"Cody, I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It's not your fault. It was while I was here that Aceh found me. He showed me that it was all right to be gay. For a guy that doesn't talk much he can certainly get his point across." Cody joked a smile crossing his muzzle, we both laughed.

"You say he showed you?" I asked curiously thinking on what Cody had said. Cody simply smiled and I immediately got the picture. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"So are you and Aceh... you know..." I struggled for the word to finish my question.

"Mates? No, simply... friends with benefits." I nodded in understanding. Cody wiped the few remaining tears from his muzzle and turned to face me, his muzzle inches from my own, I could feel his breath on my face. I felt my breathing hitch as the air changed, my heart began to pump hard in my chest, I felt the gap between our muzzles get smaller until Cody abruptly stood up. "Thanks for letting me get that out. This place kinda gets me a little emotional."

"It's all right Cody. You're my friend, I'm glad you're willing talk to me about something so personal." I said, feeling my heart rate return to normal and a strange feeling of disappointment wash over me...

"You'd better start you're exercises or we won't have time to visit all the places I want to show you."

"You're right. Aceh will know if I don't do them, I don't know how he does it but he seems to know every move I make even when he's not in sight." I joked, getting up and walking over to a clear spot to begin my push ups. Cody watched me and gave some light conversation while I grunted through my push ups, the last ten proving to be particularly gruelling. Upon their completion I stood up and stretched my arms and saw that Cody was watching me with a smile. I smiled back and began to run through my squats. I looked at Cody as I did them and thought back to a couple of minutes ago, he had tried to kiss me hadn't he? I didn't know what had happened at the time but now I realised that that was what had happened, but for some reason he was the one to stop it. Why did he? I know that Cody has feelings for me, even I'm not that naïve not to notice them. I honestly don't know how I would have reacted if he'd kissed me, thinking back on it I felt... excited. Did I want it to happen?

"Fifty!" I said aloud breaking me out of my thoughts as I realised I had finished my exercises. I hadn't realised that I was counting as I did my squats; I had been deep in thought.

"Great!" Cody chirped, jumping to his feet. "Now I can show you the sights."

"Sounds good." I replied and began to follow him into the centre of the town

As we walked into the centre of town I looked around, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Cubs of all ages were running around playing, while the adults were busy doing something or other. There was a small market place with a few merchants selling their goods, come to think of it, why didn't Eric open up a stall here?

"We don't trade here." Cody said as if reading my mind. "While we could make a little coin here, Eric likes to treat this place as a place of rest, a place where everyone can just kick back and enjoy themselves for a while without any worries or responsibilities. Or at least that's what he said when I asked him." Cody smirked. "This place is great, good food, soft beds, plenty of drinks and... pleasurable company." He giggled, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively which made me laugh. "Then there's the Lytium*. Many of the locals like to smoke it, so just be aware of that if someone offers you a pipe. It makes you feel so good, but it can be quite addictive if you're not careful, Eric has developed quite a taste for it over the years."

"I'll keep that in mind." I smiled, Cody was acting normally but I couldn't help but think back to that moment back by the river, was Cody going to kiss me and did I really want that to happen? My initial thought was no, I had just lost Rose, how could I let myself think that I wanted that. But there was still this feeling of want, of excitement at the thought of it.

"Oh wow!" Cody exclaimed running over to a nearby stall, once again pulling me from my thoughts. I walked over to join him as he picked up a wooden slingshot. "I haven't had one of these in years." He said experimenting with it, pulling back on it like he was going to fire something from it. "How much?" He asked the merchant, a middle-aged Panther who wore a simple dirty green robe.

"Two gold pieces." The Panther replied with a deep accent, just like the one the Pantheress had when I got that necklace for Rose. I diverted my attention, trying to pull my thoughts away from Zangar and Rose. I looked across his stall and examined the various trinkets he was selling. That's when I saw it, a knife. I picked it up and examined it closely. It was a good knife, not like the one I had had before where I had attached an old spear head to a wooden handle. It was made entirely of metal, the handle was wrapped in leather for comfort and grip. It was a simple design. I needed a new knife, I had lost mine when Rose was...

"All right! One gold coin and I'll have the bag of marbles as well!" Cody yelled, still arguing over the price of the slingshot. The Panther let out an audible sigh and agreed, he was obviously not going to win this one. The Panther took Cody's coin and handed him a large bag of stone marbles. As soon as he was done with Cody he was over to me in an instant.

"Ah very nice, very nice choice." He said with a beaming smile. "Fine piece, very practical, very high quality." I looked from the knife to the panther and back again. "You want?" He asked. I did need a knife and it was a nice piece, it even came with a leather holder that had a metal trim along the bottom where the tip of the blade would be. Shaking off all the memories of Rose I decided that I would buy it.

"How much?"

"Very cheap, I charge only eight gold pieces for it." I was shocked at the price, I could feed myself on some of the best food and drink for the best part of a month on that kind of money. It took me a moment to get over my shock and I remembered some of my training that Eric had given me. I composed myself and began my negotiations.

"No deal!" I said acting disgusted practically throwing the knife back where I had picked it up from and turned to walk away. Before I could take my second step the merchant shouted to grab my attention, I stopped and looked over my shoulder acting like I was ready to take off if he didn't speak quickly.

"Do you good deal!" He said hurriedly, almost desperately. "I give it to you for... five gold coin." He said, holding the knife up to me in both hands as if presenting me with a gift. That price was a lot better but I wonder if I could get him to lower his price a little further? I turned to face him but crossed my arms across my chest and looked at the knife as if I was seriously considering his deal, letting him wait in anticipation for a few moments before speaking in a slightly aggressive tone.

"Three." I said sternly. This was where the true negotiation would begin, he had initiated it, which meant I had the advantage, or that's what Eric told me. Since he lowered the price it meant I was in control, but if I did this wrong I could blow the whole deal.

"No, no, no." The Panther shook his head, but he couldn't back out that easily, he had begun this and so would have felt obligated to at least try and get me to raise my price. "Four gold and five silver." That was a step in the right direction and even though I wanted to take it now at the reasonable price presented, I wanted to prove something to myself and to Eric by using the skills he had taught me.

"Three gold and eight silver." I countered, it was a larger increase to his decrease so it gave him the impression that I was beginning to cave, but in actuality I was getting him to lower his price just that little bit more. He thought about it a few moments before speaking, considering my offer.

"Four gold, final offer." He said, it was a good move pushing the price up just a small amount like that to entice me to seal the deal.

"Done." I replied reaching into my money pouch and handing him nearly all my money. He took the money and handed me the knife, bowing his head before turning his attention elsewhere. He was smiling, obviously happy at how he had managed to get that extra bit of cash out of me. I felt a rush of adrenaline go through my body, I had held my composure and gotten a good deal, I had only paid half the price he had offered initially.

"Well done!" Cody grinned, "Guess some of Eric's lessons sunk in then?"

"I guess they did. It felt good."

"Yeah, everyone feels like that when they get a good deal."

"So what's with the sling shot?" I asked.

"Oh well I had one when I was a kid and when I saw it I just had to have it. I used to be a really good shot." He boasted.

"Oh yeah?" I smirked looking round and spotting a possible target. Across the road there was a wall with a discarded bit of fruit sitting on it, it was at least fifteen feet away. "Hit that then."

"Okay then!" Cody grabbed one of his marbles and readied the slingshot, pausing as he aimed. He let it go and the marble bounced off the wall, just inches to the left of the fruit. I looked to Cody who huffed and grabbed another marble. "I'm just a little rusty, I'll get it this time!" In truth I was impressed at how close his first shot had been, his reaction told me that he was genuinely that good with a sling shot... or at least believed he was. Cody waited, making sure that no one was going to step between him and his target before letting the second marble fly, this time hitting the fruit dead on, it practically exploded from the impact.

"I'm impressed." I said nodding my head.

"So you should be." Cody said sticking his tongue out at me playfully. "So what do you want to do before we meet up with Eric and the others?" He asked.

"I don't know." I responded looking around the area. "I suppose we can have a look round the market a bit more." We both remained silent until Cody spoke out excitedly.

"Lets check out that one!" He said grabbing my paw and dragging me over to a nearby stall. It belonged to a clothes merchant and they had quite a large selection of clothes in various designs and in lots of different colours. Cody was rummaging through a pile of clothes eagerly; I chuckled at his enthusiasm before examining some clothes that were piled up in front of me. There were a lot of designs I had never seen before, clothes that had lots of frilly fabric round the edges, obviously for those who liked to stand out. Most of the clothing was useless to me however, since my wings prevented me from wearing them. I looked over to Cody as he was holding up a body warmer, it was a similar design to what he was wearing now except instead of a light green, it was a greyish brown and had some trim around the edges in a different coloured material. He held it up against himself and turned to face me.

"So what do you think?" He asked. I looked him up and down and nodded my head approvingly.

"It's a much better colour than your other one, it suits you."

"Then I'm buying it." Cody turned to the merchant, a tigress who wore a long flowing robe in a vibrant purple and wore almost too much jewellery. I turned away to let Cody do his bit and browsed the stall a bit more, not expecting to find anything that I could wear. I came across a pile of loin cloths and paused to look down at my own, it had become dirty and tattered over the last few weeks and was in need of changing. I rummaged through them and found one that was a similar colour to my poncho, Cody at that point had finished his negotiations and had already changed into his new outfit.

"Oh yeah, you should totally get a few bits of clothing!" Cody exclaimed excitedly. "You should get a fancy one for special occasions." He rummaged through the pile and pulled out a loin cloth made from a light purple. "How about this?" I just shook my head, there was no way I was going to wear that. His ears flattened to his head in disappointment but quickly perked up and began rummaging again, this time pulling out one made from a deep red fabric that had some fancy swirl design in the centre of it in gold. I chuckled and relented, it didn't look too bad and I doubted I was going to get away from here without buying more than the simple brown loin cloth I had picked out.

"Okay but that's all I'm getting." I told him, taking the loin cloth from him and walking up to the Tigress.

"A fine choice sir." she said with a smile. "That will be twelve silver pieces." I nodded and reached into my pouch, I found the price more than fair and began to count out her coins when I noticed a roll of fabric behind her, it was a roll of bandages. I pointed that out and she handed it to me. "That will be another silver." I handed her the money and thanked her before joining Cody.

"What's the bandage for?" He asked curiously. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, nothing like that." I assured him. "Let's go get some shade." We walked back over to the river where I had previously done my exercises and settled down under the Gummi trees, out of the hot midday sun. I began to wrap the bandage I had purchased round my right thigh, Cody taking great interest in what I was doing. Once I had finished, I strapped the dagger I had bought to my right thigh. I then proceeded to wrap the remaining bandage round both my wrists for some padding for when I was training with Aceh. I looked to Cody who gave me a trademark foxy smile, making me smile back at him. We both lay back against the trunk of the tree, and enjoyed the peaceful setting.

After a while I began to think about myself and Cody once again, what would it be like to have sex with him like he and Aceh did back in Zangar? Would it be strange? Would it be awkward? After having sex with Rose I felt a bond to her that made me feel fantastic; would it be the same if I was to do it with Cody or would it ruin our friendship? How would I feel about having sex with another male? The wolves back in Rovarian Plains* despised same sex relationships, they beat or killed any who were found to have had a relationship like that. I had heard others talk about their disgust at the very idea of sleeping with another male, was it really so bad? Perhaps it was based on preferences, some furs prefer one fruit over another, but that doesn't mean the other fruit is bad... perhaps I'm getting a little too philosophical about this. I turned and looked at Cody who was on the brink of falling to sleep in the afternoon heat. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to just try it and see what happens, what's the worst that could happen... I could ruin my friendship with Cody, that's what. I let out a loud sigh and looked off into the distance, my mind returning to the same question that had started this whole train of thought.

'Why did Cody pull away when he tried to kiss me?'

Cody was gay, there was no question of preference for him. Perhaps he was worried about ruining our friendship as well? No that couldn't be it, he has sex with Aceh and from what I've heard he's had sex with Michael and Jason as well... probably Eric too. So he knows he can be friends with those he sleeps with. So why?

That's when it hit me, the answer was because of me. Cody knew all about how I was raped, he stopped because he didn't know if I liked it. I laughed quietly to myself, do I like that kind of fruit? Well there was only one way to find out, wasn't there?

Cody and I had sat by the river all afternoon, and now it was early evening. We had begun to walk back into town towards the place we would be sleeping during our stay here, The Garden of Eden*. It was a tavern, hotel and eatery all in one and according to Cody had a number of staff willing to offer some extra services to those willing to pay a little extra coin. We were almost there when I saw a young cheetah standing under a tree. He wore a simple pale blue robe which came down to the middle of his thighs which contrasted with his yellow spotted fur, I don't know how I knew but I knew why he was lingering in that spot and I decided it was time to find out the truth about myself.

"Cody." I said, he stopped to face me. "I've got something I need to do, I'll join you and the others in a little bit." He gave me a confused look.

"I'll come with you."

"No it's fine really, I'll only be a little while and if we take any longer they'll probably start to wonder where we are." I said trying to convince him to go. I didn't want to tell him the truth about what I was going to do and I could see it in his eyes that he was suspicious of what I was up to. I smiled to reassure him. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise." He still wasn't convinced but I saw him waver and he nodded before continuing on his way. Once Cody was out of sight I turned to the cheetah boy and began to walk slowly up to him. Once he saw me I saw his muzzle curl into a smile.

"Can I be of service?" The cheetah purred. I stopped in my tracks and felt a lump form in my throat, butterflies in my stomach made me feel queasy and my heart pounded so hard in my chest I could hear it beating in my ears. I had lost my nerve, my body wanted me to turn away and catch up with Cody and continue as normal. "Can I help you, sir?" The cheetah enquired once more, his voice a little less seductive and slightly more forceful, there was no annoyance or hostility in it, but it did put pressure on me to make my mind up and whether he meant it to or not it gave me that final push.

"Yes..." I stuttered, I can't remember ever feeling as nervous as I did right at this moment. "I... I..." I couldn't form the words... hell I didn't even know what I was actually going to say. 'Can I fuck you and see if I like it?', Yeah right!

"You want to fuck me?" The cheetah purred, making my eyes go wide eyed, he had an accent similar to the other felines I had spoken too, he must not originally be from this land. "You want to see if you like fucking males?" He smirked was this guy a mind reader or was I just that painfully obvious? I felt my cheeks flush and forced myself to nod, this made him smile. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. Come with me." He purred softly, gently taking my hand and leading me somewhere. I didn't know where we were going but I didn't put up much resistance. I felt myself calm a bit but the nervousness was still there. "You're not the first guy to come to me looking to experiment." The cheetah explained, "The signs were all there, you're just more nervous than most." He chuckled, his comment making me blush in embarrassment again. I was thankful that my black scales would hide my blush but I felt like I was blushing so hard you would be able to clearly see my blush through my dark scales. He led me a short distance to a small stone building that was in the garden of a larger stone building, from the noise coming from the building it was definitely a tavern, the garden was full of bushes, many of them in full bloom with a wide array of flowers and gave the garden an intensely sweet scent. The cheetah let go of my paw long enough to unlock the door before pulling me inside.

The inside of the building was warm, comfortably warm, and had a simple wooden floor. There was a wooden divider down the middle of the room and a bed on either side of it. The one thing I did notice immediately was the faint scent of sex, it was mixed in with the scent of various furs, the most prominent scents was that of the cheetah and what I believed to be another feline. I stood there at the door awkwardly looking round the room while the cheetah sauntered towards the bed on the right, he turned to look over his shoulder with a sexy smile before gesturing me over. I took a deep breath and made my way over, my knees feeling a little wobbly due to my nervousness. With little resistance the cheetah manoeuvred me and pushed me onto the bed and straddled my stomach, I felt me cock stir slightly as he looked down at me. I gulped nervously before speaking, trying to get rid of my nervousness.

"So..." I paused trying to think of something to say. "...what's your name?" He smiled sweetly and bent down so his muzzle was inches from my own, I could feel his breath on my muzzle.

"My name's Travis." He purred. "Don't worry, you don't need to get to know me honey, just tell me what you want and I'll be more than happy to oblige." He leant further forward and nibbled gently on my neck which sent shivers through my whole body.

"I... I... I..." I stammered before letting out a moan, Travis's rough feline tongue felt fantastic on my neck. He sat up again and stared down at me with a playful smile on his muzzle.

"Let me guess..." He purred leaning closer so that our muzzles were just inches apart. "You want to know if you would like to have a relationship with a male... perhaps that cute little fox you were with before, no?" I didn't say anything but my reaction to what he said was obviously all he needed. "He is a cutie! And a lucky little fox at that to have caught your attention... you are quite a catch I must say."

"Don't patronize me." I said looking away. Travis was visibly upset by my little out-burst and used his paw to gently move my muzzle so I was looking at him again.

"I wasn't, trust me. You are quite the catch, any male or female would be lucky to have you." There it was again, someone saying that I was desirable, was everyone pulling my leg or was I actually good looking? "But..." Travis snickered teasingly, "For now you're all mine, and I'm going to show you just how good fucking a male can be." He licked my nose with his rough tongue. "I'll make you feel like no female could ever hope to make you feel." He licked at my neck making me gasp lightly in pleasure and slowly made his way down to my nipples. His tongue ran round my nipples sending jolts of sexual pleasure through my body and I felt my erection grow considerably. He began sucking on my nipple before gently nibbling on it, he seemed to enjoy making me squirm and I couldn't do anything but... he certainly knew what he was doing. As he continued his attention on my nipples, moving from one to the other tweaking the other with his paws, he began to grind his rear against my erection enticing further moans of pleasure from me.

Travis murred happily as he went to work on my nipple, I could feel him smirk at the noises he enticed from me as he sucked. My erection was rock hard and standing at attention and Travis rubbed his soft fur covered rear up and down my length, my cock sliding between his cheeks. He began to slide lower down my body, my erection rubbing prodding his furry body as he slid down, his tongue leaving a wet trail down my body as he went. Eventually he stopped when he was sat between my legs and gripped my erection with a gentle grip, enough to let me know that he was in control but no where near hurting, a practised and experienced grip. He gave me a smirk, both of us knowing he was in control and we both knew I wasn't going to fight him on it. He never broke eye contact when he began running his tongue from the base of my cock all the way up to the tip, giving my cock head a gentle kiss, his rough tongue once again making my body quiver in pleasure. He then took me into his mouth, bobbing his head a few times before plunging all the way down to my knot, I would have let him know of my surprise of taking most of my twelve inches so easily if I was able to speak. My body convulsed, my legs bracing themselves on whatever they could, I dug my claws into the fabric of the bed and I stared upwards towards the ceiling my maw wide open, I was only able to make various gurgling and pleasured noises. I could almost feel him smiling round my length as he deep throated me, it was then that he started purring, the vibrations ran the full length of my shaft and I began to squirm, I wasn't going to last...

"Oh... fuck!" I stammered as I felt myself blow my load down Travis's throat. I couldn't believe the intensity of my orgasm, my entire body felt numb... I couldn't feel my legs, all I could feel was my cock pulsing and hear Travis's purring. After the first few pulses I felt him pull up and begin to suckle on my tip like a cub would suckle on its mothers nipple for her milk. He never stopped purring, once he had sucked me dry he licked the head of my still hard cock clean and looked down at me and smiled.

"Enjoy that?" He purred, his tone obviously knowing the answer to the question. I could only barely feel my legs, I had never felt anything like that before. "Females are not quite as adept at pleasuring a male as another male is." He smirked. "After all, they don't have a penis themselves to experiment with... do they?" He chuckled, laying down next to me and licking my cheek, I could smell my cum on his breath and surprisingly I found that exciting me more. His paw slowly ran up and still hard shaft, caressing it like a precious treasure. "Murr... now you are a stud." He purred. "Even after that impressive load you're still nice and hard. Do me a favour would you?" He asked seductively, knowing that I wouldn't say no. I simply nodded my head, not trusting myself being able to speak properly yet. "Take that cock of yours and fuck me up the ass, nice and rough." He smirked. I hadn't quite expected him to ask that but it was the main reason I had come to him, to find out what fucking a male was like.

He didn't wait for my reply, he crawled up to the head of the bed and bent over, his blue robe creeping up revealing his rump. He yellow fuzzy balls hung between his legs, he lifted his tail which caused the robe to rise higher, revealing his pink ring. He looked over his shoulder at me with a look that blatantly asked me what I was waiting for. I hurriedly got to my knees and positioned my self between his hind legs and pointed my cock head at his tail base. I slowly and tentatively peeled his robe higher up his back revealing his taut sexy rear to me in all its glory, I felt a rush of excitement rush through me and a tingle run from my knot to my cock head making me moan.

"Don't blow your load yet honey." He purred, looking over his shoulder at me. "Don't be afraid to get a little rough..." I gripped my cock and pointed it straight to his tight looking pucker and wasted no time in pushing myself into him. He arched his back as I entered him and let out a slight gasp followed by a pleasured moan, his reaction to entry encouraged me to push further into him, after three long slow thrusts I was sunk into him all the way down to my already inflated knot. Travis felt like silk along my length and he had moaned in pleasure as I easily sunk into him. This was obviously not his first time taking a cock as big as mine but he was still nice and tight. If I hadn't cum a few minutes before I doubt I would have lasted much longer inside him. "Oh... fuck yes!" He purred, pushing his body towards me trying to sink further down my cock, but as experienced as his tail hole might be, it wasn't going to take my knot that easily. I placed both my paws on his hips and slowly pulled out of him, I felt his ass tighten its hold on me like it was trying to stop me escaping, once I had pulled half of my length out of him I rammed it back into him with all of the force I could muster. Travis let out yet another pleasured moan and I repeated the action driving yet more pleasured noises from his lithe body, I watched him squirm in pleasure as I impaled him over and over, the noises he was making me hornier and drove me to fuck him faster and harder. All too soon I was hammering my cock deep inside him with all my might, my legs and back began to feel sore from the effort but the noises Travis continued to make made me not care and continue to use him like a bitch in heat. Finally I understood the full meaning of that term, I used to hear about the wolves talking about their wives in bed when they had their heat. Travis moaned and squirmed, pushing himself into my thrusts like the only thing of any importance in his world was impaling himself deeper onto my cock. I kept fucking him until my body couldn't keep up with the pace my brain was wanting to go at. I collapsed across his back, my cock knot deep in his ass, panting breathlessly into his ear, Travis managed to support my full weight as I tried to catch my breath.

"Murr... oh fuck that felt 'so' good." Travis purred, a little breathless himself. "Here, roll over sweety." He insisted rolling his body to the side making it easier for me to roll onto my back. He managed to manoeuvre us without the need of pulling my cock from the warn confines of his tail-hole. Once I had settled he pushed himself up and lifted himself halfway up my cock and with a grace that I could only imagine a feline having turned to face me, quickly sinking back down my cock.

Before he could continue we both heard the door open, I craned my neck to look past Travis and he cast a casual glance over his shoulder. I saw a large muscular Tiger walk in, he was easily taller and beefier than Aceh and he had the more traditional orange and black stripe colouring compared to Aceh's white and black. He wore nothing more than a simple red loin cloth that left nothing to the imagination. The loin cloth looked like it was more suited to someone of Travis's size, who probably would only come up to the tigers chest and was no where near as buff. His sheath made a very obvious bulge. A small meerkat walked in behind him, she only came up to his navel and wore fine clothes, obviously a female with some considerable money considering how good quality they appeared to be. The pair of them glanced in our direction and I blushed at having been caught in this position with another male, I expected some sort of name calling and negative reaction before getting dragged out and accused of some crime but they barely batted an eyelid before moving out of sight into the bedroom on the other side of the wooden partition that divided the room.

"Don't worry sweety." Travis whispered, leaning down and licking my cheek. "That's my room mate, he's doing the same thing for her that I'm doing for you." He winked, his voice low so that the others across the room wouldn't hear. That thought boggled my mind, the size of that tigers bulge obviously meant he was considerably well endowed, I imagined him ripping that female in half as he attempted to penetrate her. I was torn from my thoughts as Travis began to slide up and down my shaft. "Oh fuck! Yes, yes! That feels so good!" He moaned as he rode my cock, I couldn't help but let out a pleasured moan myself and began to buck my ups upwards as he pushed himself downwards upon my cock. Watching him pleasure himself using my cock, listening to the noises he made and the sensations of his hot tight ass around my cock were all too much, I could feel my climax coming, I had no way to stop it, no wanting to stop it and it was coming hard and fast. As if sensing this Travis pushed down harder than before and with an audible 'pop' my knot slid into him, tying us together and the added sensation pushed me over the edge. I roared loudly as I came, the force and intense pleasure of my orgasm caused me to see spots, and these were not Travis's spots either. Travis let out a pleasured grunt as he came shortly after I did, spilling his seed across my chest and abs. A few moments past and we both collapsed onto the bed, physically exhausted but our lust satisfied.

We remained tied as we lay there, enjoying the after glow of our passion and after a time I noticed the grunts and groans of Travis's room mate and his female companion across the way, she was screaming in throws of their own passionate union. I couldn't help but blush at the sheer amount of dirty talk coming from her maw, I had never heard some of those words before. They kept going for quite a while until they reached the extremely audible yet climatic end of their union. It went quiet and I began to reflect on my own experience with Travis.

It had been a pleasurable experience, very pleasurable, perhaps even more so than the time I had spent with Rose... yet it lacked something, something that I had experienced with Rose. I had cared for Rose more than I could remember caring about anyone else, the sex was amazing yet I had just as much pleasure being in her company as when we had had sex. It was then that I remembered Eric's words that night in the trading hut when I heard Cody and Aceh having sex.

'It is simply two beings taking pleasure in one another's body. Sometimes it has a deeper meaning than that but ultimately sex is just sex. It's like bathing, everyone does it and when you've done it you feel better about yourself. Never be embarrassed about sex Malakye, it is just a simple truth of life.'

Eric's words echoed through my head and they began to make more sense now than they had back then. Sex is sex, but love is something entirely different. I loved Rose, I will never forget her or the bond that we shared. Another realisation struck me as well, I wasn't afraid of losing Cody's friendship any more. The bond of friendship that we share will always be there, whether we had sex or not. Perhaps I always knew that, maybe I was using it as an excuse to distance myself from Cody because I was afraid I would be guilty loving someone else like I had Rose and risk betraying her memory. But our bond was never in sex, it was everything else that formed our bond; each others understanding of the pain we had been forced to live with, the loneliness.

Travis began to circle his claw on my scaled chest, purring loudly as he did. I looked down at him and he had a very satisfied look on his muzzle, he was content, happy. He looked me in the eyes and smiled.

"So, how was it?" the question caught me off guard somehow, and I wasn't quite sure how to respond. How was it? Mind blowing, fantastic. It was those things but I was unsure how to tell him. "That good huh?" He chuckled, I guess I took a little long in responding. He sat up and with a little bit of effort pulled himself off my knot, leaving my still hard cock bobbing in the cold open air. "Now I have to say that I am impressed." Travis chuckled as he sat down next to me. "Still hard after two very good fucks. That little fox is a lucky guy."

"Thanks... I guess." I muttered, a little embarrassed.

"Your welcome." He began to redress and I followed suit, thankfully my erection went down quickly so it didn't make too noticeable a tent in my loin cloth. He walked me to the door and paused for a second looking at me expectantly. Of course! He was wanting paid, I had completely forgotten.

"How much?" I asked, we had never even discussed the price.

"One gold piece." He said and I began to reach into my pouch knowing that once I had paid him I was more or less broke, but I wasn't going to argue, he had allowed me to realise my true feelings and that was worth everything. His paw grabbed mine before I could open my money pouch and he just stared at me intensely. His intense blue eyes met mine and I couldn't help but be captivated by them. "But for you honey, I'll take a kiss for payment instead." A kiss? I was more than a little confused. "But not just any kiss, I want you to kiss me like I'm that fox you're going to go meet. Would you do that for me?" He said almost pleadingly but his voice still seductive, controlling, I couldn't refuse him. I nodded in agreement and it was almost like he changed into someone else, no longer was he in control, his dominance over me melted away and I felt like I was in control, for the first time since I had met him I felt like I was in control of myself once again. I pulled him into me, he purred softly, nuzzling my chest before looking up at me. His eyes no longer captivating me, before they had a sharpness to them, sharp like claws, but now they looked as soft as his fur felt as I ran my paws through it. He tilted his muzzle upwards and I lowered mine to meet his slowly, I closed my eyes just before our muzzles met, picturing that it was Cody I was kissing. His muzzle parted for me and I felt his tongue entwine with mine, our tongues danced with each other, not for dominance but like two lovers would dance on the dance floor, a dance of passion. I don't know how long the kiss lasted but when I pulled away Travis was obviously a little disappointed that it had ended and was still acting submissively.

"Wow..." He muttered, acting giddy and giggling to himself. "He's one lucky fox." Travis reached behind him and opened the door, I stepped past him and after a few steps looked back to see him still standing there looking at me. "I hope he makes you happy." I felt a smile creep onto my muzzle and I nodded, no more needing to be said and began to head towards the tavern where Cody was. I wasn't going to live my life full of regret and full of fear, I was going to live life.

As I made my way through the village the sun began to set, casting a pleasant orange hue over everything, the evening sky a beautiful mix of red and orange making me feel at ease. I couldn't help but smile and you know what it felt like it had been a long time since I had smiled like this, a burden lifted off my shoulders, a dark cloud no longer hanging over me. I breathed deeply and my lungs were filled with the fresh evening air filled with the scents of the nearby flower fields. I rounded a corner and there it was, a large building made with a combination of stone and wood, standing at three stories tall, a low wooden fence off to the side that acted as the garden for the large structure along the fence were many over sized bushes giving the garden plenty of privacy, the bushes had many small red flowers budding on them giving them a most appealing appearance. I approached the entrance, many furs stood outside with a mug of some beverage or another chatting away to each other while enjoying the beautiful evening. I looked up and saw the sign confirming I was in the right place, 'The Garden of Eden', several vine like plants had grown out from the garden and wrapped themselves round the door way sign and several windows of the floors above.

I entered and immediately I could feel the carefree atmosphere that radiated from every fur in the place. The place was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside, there must have been at least thirty tables in this place all of them filled with various species of furs and reptilians, all of them having a good time... some more than others it seemed... directly on my right as I walked in there were a couple of canines, a male and female, a breed of which I wasn't familiar with making out and touching each other in places that made me blush slightly, the scent of their arousal was obvious even in this place with a so many other scents. I looked away and made my way further into the establishment, having to side step several very drunk furs who were trying to dance to the music that was playing from the band on the stage on the far side of the room next to the bar. The music was lively and energetic and captured the carefree feel of the place perfectly, the cheers and laughter that could be heard over it only seemed to add to the songs charm and energy. There was two reptiles and a fur on stage, two of them I guessed were crocodiles or perhaps alligators, Eric had told me about them, they came from the swamps from the south west, a long way from here. I remembered that there was a distinct difference between the two species but I couldn't remember what it was, what I do remember was that Eric had said that they tended to get rather aggressive if you called them the wrong one and looking at the set of jaws they had I wasn't wanting to upset them for no reason. The pair of reptiles were playing some sort of long wooden plank with four strings attached to either end and they plucked at the strings to make a rather catchy tune; if memory served me it was called a Varja*. The fur that was up with them, a fox, was holding a short wooden tube up to his muzzle, I had no idea what it was called. His fingers moving along its length to create different notes, and he had his eyes closed and danced a jig of some sort which seemed to be infectious, several of the rather drunk furs I had passed a few moments ago were attempting the very same dance but I doubted that even when sober they could have matched the speed and grace that that fox had when dancing.

I pulled my attention away from the performers and once again tried to find my friends. After several minutes I couldn't see them and made my way over to the bar to get a drink, the number of bodies in here was making it very warm and I was getting thirsty. I leant against the bar and a female raccoon came to take my order, I wasn't sure what to ask and heard someone ordering nearby ask for a house special so decided to order the same. The Raccoon quickly poured me a drink from one of the large wooden kegs that were behind the bar and handed me a metal tankard. I handed her a silver coin and told her to keep the change, she gave me a wink in gratitude and went on her way to serve the next patron. I sniffed at the drink I had been handed and it smelt really sweet, it was a golden coloured liquid with a slight white froth on the top. I sipped at it and was amazed at the sweetness, I had never tasted anything like it. I took a bigger swig of it and once again the sweetness exploded in my mouth but then as I swallowed I got a fiery burn in the back of my throat that made me cough, it was spicy, but the burn actually felt pleasant. I leant back against the bar and scanned the place once again for my friends, I thought that with friends as big as Jason and Michael they wouldn't be hard to spot but I guess I was wrong. Sighing to myself I took another drink and let my attention drift to my right where on a nearby table I saw a dragon, but not just any dragon, a fully furred dragon.

I was amazed and had to look twice to make I wasn't seeing things, but there he was another dragon hybrid. He was covered head to toe in white fur, not a scale to be seen, the top of his head was covered in a thicker set of white fur that flowed down to the back of his neck and had a couple of horns protruding from it that ran along his head and split of into several smaller horns, like antlers. He laughed as his fox companion made a joke that I wasn't able to hear, but his laugh was infectious, I couldn't help but smile at the sound of it. He was dressed in what was obviously travel clothes, they looked worn and dirty, my guess was that he had just got into town and was looking to have a good time. The wandering hand of his other companion, a canine with soft looking golden fur, made it quite obvious how their evening was going to end. Part of me wanted to go and introduce to myself to him, he was a hybrid like me and I wanted to get to know him but I had someone else I needed to see tonight and it would be rude of me to interrupt him while he was having such a good time, it was time to find Cody and the others. I took another swig of my drink letting out a satisfied sigh as I felt the tingling burn run down my throat and returned to my search.

I gave the room a once over and still I had no luck in finding them, that's when I noticed that the floor above over-hung the main part of the ground floor and that there was a second floor, several bodies leaning against the banister of the floor above, I quickly made my way over to the stair case and made my way up, having to squeeze past several couples who had decided to have a make out session on the stairs, one of the couples was a pair of males, a Cougar and yellow scaled dragon. I couldn't help but stare, at first couldn't believe that they were doing that in such a public place and then chuckled to myself at how no one actually cared, this place was truly different to Rovarian Village. I carried on up the stairs and saw that there was several tables located up here and right there in the centre of the room were the very furs I was looking for. Aceh was as silent as ever, focusing only on his drink and plate of food in front of him, Eric was speaking to Michael and Jason was flirting with a young male Raccoon, who was obviously loving having the attention of a stud like Jason; but no sign of Cody. As I approached Aceh was the first to see me, he nodded his head in acknowledgement before returning to his dinner.

"Malakye!" Michael called when he spotted me.

"How's it going guys?" I asked while a smile.

"Great!" Jason cheered. "I love this village, the locals are very... very... accommodating." He chuckled grabbing a large handful of the Raccoons ass making him squeal playfully. I couldn't help but notice Michael roll his eyes at his partners antics.

"Where's Cody?" I asked.

"He was here a while ago but said he needed to go get some fresh air. Poor guy looked really cut up over something." Michael replied, a look of concern on his muzzle.

"I think it would be good if you went and spoke to him Malakye." Eric added, "He might open up to you."

"Okay, any ideas where he might be?"

"I'd suggest trying in the garden out back first, Cody likes being surrounded by nature when he's upset." Eric suggested. I placed my drink on the table and went in search for Cody, I hope he was okay. I had intended to tell him about my revelation from earlier but now might not be the time if he's troubled.

I made my way into the garden after finding the back door to the place and was surprised at how big it was, the bushes that grew round the perimeter made it seem like you were in the middle of nature and not in the middle of a village, the wide array of scents from the plants was almost overwhelming but at the same time strangely relaxing. The sun had finally set and the intense red and orange coloured sky had been replaced by a clear night sky, the stars and moon were clearly visible. The garden itself was extensive, a wide variety of plants, flowers and bushes grew, there was an order to the garden, I felt like the place should have been over grown but the owners careful tending to the garden had allowed the plants to flourish and keep the place tidy while maintaining the sense of nature. I followed the dirt path down the length of the garden until I heard someone sobbing just ahead. I approached slowly and rounded a bush and saw Cody sobbing quietly to himself, sitting on his rump with his knees up and crying into his arms. I didn't want to disturb him but at the same time I couldn't leave him here so upset, the sound of him crying was like daggers in my chest.

"Cody?" I whispered softly, trying not to frighten him. He sniffled a bit more before looking up. Even in the dim evening light I could see that his eyes were blood shot and the fur under his eyes was wet and matted. "Cody..." I cooed sympathetically and moved to kneel beside him but to my shock he turned so I was facing his back. "Cody?"

"Go away!" He sobbed, his speech muffled as he spoke into his arms.

"I want to help Cody. Please..." I rested a paw on his shoulder and he shrugged it off before getting up and walking away from me and sitting by another nearby bush. I got the impression he would have kept walking if we weren't at the back of the enclosed garden. He resumed his sitting position and continued to sob into his arms. Had I done something to upset him or was he just wanting to be alone? I wasn't sure but I didn't want to leave him alone, if something was bothering him then I was guessing it was at least related to me, I wanted to help him feel better. I stood up and walked towards him. "Come on Cody, I'm your friend and I just want to help." I tried to reason with him. "I will do anything to help you, you mean a lot to me. Please just talk to me." What I said had an obvious reaction, but not the reaction I had expected. He looked at me, no he glared at me, I was shocked from the anger and ferocity in his eyes and it was directed straight at me.

"Help me!?" He spat standing upright and shoving me away. "It's all your fault I'm like this!" I couldn't believe what he was saying, what had I done to hurt him? "I've had feelings for you or like... forever! Ever since I met you! I held back to not to offend you because I didn't know how you would react! I was this close to telling you my feelings... you couldn't have missed them. We were a second away from kissing and don't tell me you didn't notice!" I looked at the ground, he wasn't wrong, that was what had been on my mind all day. "I stopped because I didn't want to frighten you off, because I'd rather keep you as a friend and forgo my feelings for you than no not have you in my life at all!" I had thought the same thing earlier, I wasn't sure if I could cope having a relationship with another male and so I had gone to Travis to find out... oh don't tell me... "Then you off with a fucking prostitute, a male no less! Don't deny it! I can smell him all over you! Get the fuck away from me!" He yelled pushing past me but I grabbed him by the arm. "GET OFF ME!"

"CODY!" I yelled grabbing him with both paws and shaking him. He quietened down and stared at me, his tears still flowing from his eyes. I had his attention but I didn't know what to say, he was right, I knew about his feelings but the problem had been not that I didn't want to be with him but I hadn't known my own feelings, I had gone to Travis to try and figure them out and now that I did, I was seconds away from losing Cody as a friend let alone anything else. He began to struggle again after I remained silent for too long, I didn't know what to say to him. Out of options and desperate I kissed him, full on the muzzle, for a moment he was stunned and went still but then began to try and push away but I never let up on the kiss. I kept kissing him and slowly he stopped fighting and began to kiss me back. His maw parted and his tongue brushed mine before entwining with my own. Cody dragged me to the ground, I offered no resistance when he did, our muzzles never parting. His paws roamed over my chest and abs while my own wrapped round him, pulling him tighter against me.

Cody moaned into our kiss and I felt something hard prodding at me, it took me a second to realise that it was Cody's erection poking me through his trousers. He rubbed his erection against me and kept moaning, the smell of his musk and the thought of how aroused he was coupled with the noises he was making soon made my own length grow hard and rigid. I couldn't believe that this was going to happen, I was in disbelief but it felt so right. A pair of voices startled us, Cody broke our kiss and looked around alarmed. He pushed me off of him and scrambled behind a nearby bush, I quickly followed suit not sure what was happening.

"Fuck! How could I have been so stupid!" Cody cursed in whisper. "One of the few laws in Rengilar Village is that sex must be kept indoors."

"But..."

"I know it sounds a little strange considering that sex is one of this villages main sources of coin but if the wrong furson caught us we would be in big trouble." He explained. "Last time we were in town they were punishing a pair of males for that same thing, and lets just say that the punishment from what I heard was not all that pleasant."

"Okay, but we haven't had sex yet, so what's the big deal?"

"That..." He said indicating to my still hard cock, my loin cloth leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. "...would be enough to get us done if they caught us."

"Okay, I get it." I sighed. "So what now?"

"Well we could continue this inside..." Cody suggested, peering round the bush in the direction of the inn. "We've all got rooms in there, meet me at mine once you're... decent." He snickered, I rolled my eyes at his comment. "I'll go in just now, get the place ready, the rooms on the top floor."

"Okay, I'll be in as soon as I can. Oh! And stop by and tell Eric that you're okay, he was worried about you." Cody nodded and jogged back in the direction of the Inn, leaving me alone with my erection. I stared at it and tried to think of something totally off putting but my thoughts would roam back to the fact that I was going to be meeting Cody and I would begin to get hard again. After a while I managed to get it in line and stood up and walked back to the Inn. The place was still in high spirits, and seemed busier than before. I quickly made my way up the stairs, glancing over to see Eric and the others still at the table and I went over to join them, Cody was there as well.

"Malakye!" Jason cheered as he spotted me, the young male Raccoon was now sitting on his lap. "Try this." He handed me a small glass with a brown transparent liquid in it. I sniffed it and recoiled at the strong smell that came off it. "You've never tried spirits before have you Malakye?" I just shook my head. "Well drink that up and the other three I ordered for you while you were away." I looked at him in disbelief, and true enough the was another three shots of the stuff sitting on the table, about a dozen empty glasses littered the table, obviously Jason, Michael and the Raccoon had had them. The Raccoon was completely drunk and was giggling as Jason licked, fondled and groped him. Michael seemed to ignore the whole thing but he didn't seem mad about Jason's behaviour. I sighed and downed the first shot, I swallowed it one go, and nearly choked as the burning sensation hit the back of my throat. "That's the spirit! Come on, next one!" Jason cheered, the young Raccoon still giggling and rubbing his hands all over Jason's massive chest.

"What the is this stuff?" I gasped, my throat still burning.

"Eden's finest spirit!" Jason chuckled. "Can't remember what it's called but it has fucking good kick to it!" I nodded in agreement to that, and grabbed the next one and threw it down my throat. Fuck that stuffs lethal! I was hunched over the table gasping, my throat on fire, two more to go.

"I'm going to head to bed." I heard Cody say to Eric.

"Very well, sleep well Cody." Eric replied, turning and lighting a long wooden pipe with one of the candles on the table. He let out a puff of smoke and leaned back and relaxed, the smoke had a sweet smell to it which I found quite odd but I didn't think too hard on it because what sprung to the front of my mind was how Eric could puff on a pipe when he had a beak? I grabbed another of the shots that Jason had bought me and downed it as well, it went down a bit easier than the previous two as I was getting used to the taste.

"You drink like a pro Malakye!" Jason smirked. I just smiled at him and grabbed the last shot and downed it.

"If you'll excushe me... excush... excuse me..." Oh my god, I was slurring so badly and that was only after four of those shots. "I'm... going... to bed." I pushed myself up right and staggered slightly but quickly caught myself. I made my way over to the stairs and climbed them all the way up to the top floor. I looked down the corridor and realised I had no idea which room was Cody's. I slowly made my way along the hall, using the wall to maintain my balance, those drinks were really starting to affect me now. I came across a door that was partially open and peered in through the crack. "Cody?" I slurred as I peeked in the gap and couldn't help but blush at what I saw. That furred Dragon that I had seen earlier down stairs was in a very compromising situation with the two furs he had been with earlier. I turned away and continued down the hall trying to find Cody. A few doors down I found another open door and looked in and saw Cody sitting on the bed. He saw me and smiled, getting up and walking over to me only to catch me as I stumbled drunkenly into the room. Cody grunted as he caught my larger frame but said nothing as he helped me to the bed.

"Had one too many drinks?" Cody said jokingly, raising his eyebrow in a judging manner.

"Nu-uh!" I denied shaking my head in an exaggerated manner, a big smile on my muzzle. Cody giggled and climbed atop me, straddling my stomach. He lowered his muzzle so it hovered inches from my own .

"I've been waiting for this for such a long time..." he whispered before pressing his muzzle to mine in a delicate kiss. I returned the kiss with fervour, our kiss becoming more and more passionate as time went on. My hands slipped under Cody's waist coat, my paws running through his fur as his own paws explored my chest and abs. This felt right, just like out in the garden, why did I worry about this? I felt connected to Cody in a way I hadn't been before, I felt like I understood Cody in a completely different way... and I had been scared of this? Cody began to murr aloud, his tented trousers a sign of his arousal as it rubbed against my stomach, his musk filled my nostrils, my tongue could taste him, my paws could feel him... Cody was my world in this moment, anything beyond this sweet fox was not of any concern of mine right now.

"Cody..." I whispered between kisses and I heard him whisper mine back in a pleasured groan, my erection was rubbing against his tail, his soft fur rubbing along my sensitive flesh. Cody began to undress in a hurried manner, he never removed himself from atop me and his hurried movements told me all that I needed to know, he wanted this badly and I wasn't going to stop him. Once his trousers had been kicked to the floor he sat upright and grabbed my erection and began to aim it for his tail-hole. I looked up into his eyes, his deep blue eyes which gazed back down at me. I felt myself slip into him, my cock head engulfed in his warmth, he let out a pleasure moan as he began to push himself further down my length. I let out my own groan of pleasure and pushed my hips upwards sinking over half of myself into him. "Cody..." I whispered once again, my paws gripping his hips.

"Mala... kye..." He moaned, his head thrown back and his paws rubbing down his chest and stomach as he began to rock his hips, his own erection jutting out proudly in front of him, bobbing in the open air, the pink flesh almost beckoning me to it. A small pearl of pre formed on it's tip and glistened in the candlelight giving it an almost magical and majestic appearance. Cody's body moved almost hypnotically as he sat top me riding my arousal, I felt him slip down so he had my full length minus my knot inside of him, by this point his knot had fully formed and I couldn't take my eyes off that beautiful rod of pink flesh that bobbed up and down in the air in front of me as it's owner rode my own. Suddenly I began to feel my erection deflate, I tried with all my might to get it back up but it just continued to soften. Cody noticed immediately and looked down at me with a disappointed look, his face telling me what was going through his mind. 'Is it over already?' I felt myself flush with embarrassment, there was nothing I could do about it. I felt like a failure, and what's worse is that I had disappointed Cody. Cody leant down and kissed me on the muzzle, his display of kindness helping me feel less ashamed of my performance but not able to rid me of it entirely.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered.

"It's okay..." He whispered back, giving me a peck on the cheek. "It happens, we'll just have to try again another time." He got off of my softening length and snuggled up against my side.

"Do you want me to... finish you off?" I offered, it was only fair right?

"No... you're fine." He said with a yawn and closed his eyes and nuzzled into my chest. I think the fact that he refused me only made me feel worse, was I that bad a lover that he didn't even want me to help him 'finish'? The thought ran through my mind as we lay there, after a while it was obvious that Cody had drifted off as he began to snore quietly, but I couldn't. My mind was racing, after everything, the build up, the fight... everything! It had to end like that. I'll do better next time.

************

The morning sun streamed in through the curtain, illuminating the room with its glow. My eyes fluttered open and for a moment I felt nothing but a feeling of content. It took a few moments for me to realise that I was by myself, Cody was nowhere in the room, but it was the first night for a long time that I hadn't woken up with nightmares at all. I pulled myself from the warmth of the bed and groaned as my head throbbed in pain and my maw went dry, I tried to ignore it and pushed on and readied myself for the day. I sauntered downstairs and found everyone round a table eating breakfast. The tavern was quiet, only the sound of those eating breakfast could be heard unlike the night before when the place was filled with the sounds of merriment. I took a seat at the only empty seat left at the table at the end across from Jason and next to Eric. Jason looked up and gave me his usual know it all smirk.

"Morning stud." Jason chuckled and I felt myself flush with embarrassment. Had Cody told them all about my... lack of performance last night? I expected some sort of quip or fun made at my expense but none came, after a few long moments I decided it was only polite to respond.

"Morning." I said quietly, still not feeling at a hundred percent. I heard Jason snicker at my response.

"Feeling a little delicate this morning are we?" He chuckled. "Well you can't be any more delicate than that raccoons tail-hole after I ploughed it last night. Even my own is a little tender after Michael was done with mine."

"Jason! Shush!" Michael scolded him, before turning and taking a big bite out of a piece of bread he was holding.

"Aww, come on now!" Jason pleaded. "What harm is it in telling the boy what a stud you are?" He winked at his partner and gave another chuckle which only made Michael roll his eyes. I felt myself blush a little at how open Jason was being but I was now beginning to get used to his 'stories'. Eric turned to join the conversation.

"Jason, talk of the bedroom is hardly suitable for the breakfast table." Eric said in a calm yet stern manner like a parent telling off a child, popping his pipe back between his beak when he was finished and giving it a few puffs, letting off several small clouds of that sweet smelling smoke. Jason just let out a disgruntled snort before continuing his meal in silence. "How was your night Malakye?"

"Fine..." I responded, not feeling like saying much more.

"A little rough round the edges I see." He said sympathetically. "Once you get some breakfast in you you'll feel a lot better." He turned away to continue his own breakfast after that. I looked at the food on the table, there was a bowl of crusty rolls and some boiled meat of some sort that had been ripped off the bone as everyone had helped themselves to it; and a pan of broth, obviously the pan the meat had been boiled in and then made into a simple soup. I grabbed a plate and several pieces of the meat that had already been cut and then ladled out a bowl of the broth as well. I began eating and found the meat to be tasty but not what I wanted, ignoring the meat for now I began dunking my bread into the broth and took a large bite of the sodden bread. This went down much better and I began to eat with gusto, and was quietly thankful when a raccoon, the same barmaid who served me last night, came and delivered more rolls to the table. I quickly polished off my first bowl and had a second and third bowl of the broth, by that point I felt revitalised and satisfied. I let out a contented sigh as I leant back having now finished my breakfast.

Aceh stood up and looked at me, "We train now." His tone carried with it a finality, there was no debate or argument over it; he turned and began to head for the exit and I quickly followed him. We walked to the garden of the Inn, we walked as far back as we could, you could barely see the roof of the Inn over the top of the bushes and trees that inhabited this incredible garden. Aceh had me begin with some warm up exercises; push ups, squats and sit ups. By the end of them I was already feeling a little out of breath but Aceh was relentless in his training, obviously we were making up for lost time yesterday when he let me go off with Cody for the day. He ran me through the moves he had already taught me and even sparred with me. Well... I say sparred but he was simply throwing a few attacks my way and expected me to block and counter them. Needless to say he kicked my ass, I managed to block the first few but when he threw a combination of blows my way I struggled to keep up with his speed or I'd leave myself open and he would knock me on my ass. He did nothing to seriously hurt me but he made his point quite clear, I need to be faster with my moves. I needed to learn to predict my opponent as well, speed and reflexes would only get me so far, unless I was able to predict an attack I could not properly defend against it, let alone plan a counter strike.

We stopped for a brief lunch that Cody had brought out to us consisting of some bread, cheese and a couple of slices of meat and a large jug of water. Cody sat out with us for the rest of the day watching me train. After lunch Aceh began to teach me an offensive technique called Striking Tiger, I had one arm out stretched in front of me, my hand open and the palm facing to the side, the other arm was level with my chin, palm facing the ground, my legs bent so that I was low to the ground, my feet apart and positioned so I felt like I was ready to start sprinting at a moments notice.

"Striking Tiger very different from Tiger palm." Aceh explained as he slowly walked round me, examining my stance as I stood there. "Tiger palm defensive, Striking Tiger offensive." He said matter-of-factly pausing a moment before continuing his explanation. "Striking Tiger dangerous to both you and your opponent, all energy focused on attack, defence not possible."

Wait, what? He was telling me I wouldn't be able to defend myself? Even the wolves who were offence orientated in their attacks were able to defend themselves, how was I not able to? I didn't say this out loud, it would be disrespectful to Aceh, my Master, as he was still explaining.

"This technique is different in how there is no real moves to it, it is more a philosophy." Aceh continued. "Strike down your opponent no matter the cost! This technique is rarely used and was used to overwhelm defensive techniques like Tiger palm and end a fight quickly. You must be ready to accept death to land a finishing blow to use this technique!"

"What?" I questioned a bit shocked at his last statement.

"Silence!" He roared and I immediately closed my maw and resumed my stance. "There are various kill and crippling spots in every species and gender, but only eight are always present regardless of species and gender. Jugular, heart, liver, kidneys, spine, temple, armpit, between the shoulder blades and finally the throat." Aceh punctuated each one he mentioned by touching each place on my body. "Some locations are effective in hand to hand, others are only effective when using weapons... such as a knife. Striking Tiger is effectively able to integrate weapons into its attacks." Finally it made sense, Aceh was teaching me a technique to effectively integrate my weapon in my hand to hand training. A sword or a spear is not convenient when you are specially trained in hand-to-hand combat as they are a completely different skill set, a knife was small enough to be integrated into most hand-to-hand techniques. "When using Striking Tiger you must take down you're opponent or your opponent will take you down." He took a few long strides away from me and entered the Tiger Palm stance. "Attack!"

I did as he ordered, attempting to strike one of the locations he had shown me. My stance made me throw myself forward at him like I was a bolt in a cross bow, but before I even got close to landing the blow he did a simple counter and I stumbled backwards, but managed to remain standing. My entire head felt fuzzy and my snout was particularly sore where he had struck me. I raised my paw and wiped my snout and found myself bleeding, quite a lot. I could tell that his counter hadn't been particularly strong but it had felt like he had smashed a rock into my muzzle.

"You hesitated, fearful of being struck, no good for Striking Tiger!" Aceh criticised with a stern tone. "You need to be faster, treat your attack like it is life or death, because it will be. Your own momentum works against you, you either overpower your opponent or your opponent uses your own strength against you." What he said made sense, my bloodied snout especially drove it home. If Aceh had put any amount of force into his last counter I would have easily been knocked out, possibly have a broken snout as well. What a dangerous technique to use, you may as well be throwing yourself off a cliff when you throw yourself at your opponent, either you grab something to stop your fall or you plummet to your death.

Aceh came up to me and offered me a piece of cloth which I used to wipe away the blood that was still leaking from my snout. "Meditate on Striking Tiger, you need to learn it in here and here before you can use it out here." He said pointing to my chest and my head. I nodded and he began to walk back to the Inn. As Aceh walked away Cody approached with a worried look.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "That's a ridiculous thing Aceh is teaching you, if I didn't know better I'd have said he's trying to kill you! And what did he mean when you had to learn it in here and here before you can use it out here?"

"I think... basically he means if I'm not ready to use it and accept the possible consequences then I won't be able to use it." I tried to explain.

"That makes no sense." Cody snorted. "I thought he was meant to teach you how to use it."

"I think this is one of these things that you have to learn yourself." I said walking away into the shade of a nearby tree and sitting down cross-legged. Aceh had told me to meditate on it, he had explained how to do it a week ago, but I hadn't used it, but he said that it took time to learn to use it effectively. Essentially you sit with your eyes shut and put everything out of your head, except that which you want to reflect on. Aceh said that sometimes answers came easily other times you would have to meditate on the matter many times before you would come up with an answer. Well... here goes.

************

After an unknown amount of meditation I was disturbed by the presence of someone standing over me. Opening my eyes I saw that it was Aceh and he looked down at me with a curious expression, standing with his arms crossed and his head tilted slightly.

"How meditation go?" He asked with his deep rumbling voice.

"Fine... I guess." I replied standing up, feeling revitalised and a little stiff at the same time. "I don't think I've really worked anything out though."

"It no matter."

"Huh? I thought it did matter, that's why I thought you told me to meditate on it!" I replied slightly annoyed at my Master's dismissive tone.

"The answer comes when the answer comes, you cannot force it and no one can teach you it. You must find your own answer." Aceh countered, completely calm despite my outburst. "It nearly dinner time. Run three laps round village then come for food." Aceh ordered turning away and walking back to the Inn. Well... I guess I had no choice in the matter, the sooner I start the sooner I can eat.

I began my laps and kept a steady pace, Aceh never set a time so obviously the time was however long I could go without eating and despite my inactive afternoon of meditation my stomach was making noises as I ran. Despite the few buildings in the village it took a while to run round it due to the size of the buildings and large gardens with open spaces of nature between the buildings, but keeping to my steady pace I soon found myself halfway through my third lap, I was on the far side of the village from the Inn and soon I was going to satisfy my stomach with some delicious mouth watering food; the thought encouraged me to run a little harder. I was pulled from my thoughts of food and came to an abrupt halt as I heard a fear filled shriek pierce the air. I spun round to face the direction it came from and saw a little rabbit kit appear from around a corner running for her life, at first I dismissed it as her being chased by a group of cubs that had jumped out on her, but seconds later a group of a dozen grey pelted wolves appeared, all of them wielding weapons and torches; the village was under attack.

"Kill that little cunt quickly before someone notices we're here!" I heard one of the wolves say in a loud whisper, obviously trying not to get them any more attention. The village had very little in the way of security and since most folk were at the taverns the remaining locals who stayed at home were in extreme danger. Knowing the wolves, there were likely several more packs attacking the village as well, I couldn't let them slaughter this village or harm my friends! I immediately grabbed my knife and ran straight at them. Only when I was a couple of strides away did the first wolf see me, he didn't even have time to raise his spear before I raised my foot paw and smashed it dead onto his muzzle. He yelped and knocked over two of his brethren as I skidded to a stop. I lashed out at the nearest wolf, slashing my blade across his throat before turning to the next. I grabbed the spear of a wolf who was still confused due to my surprised assault and with all my strength I yanked the spear towards me, pulling the wolf along with it and at the same time lashed out with a kick wolf in the gut, knocking him down. I spun round swinging the spear as I did and caught another wolf in the head. I quickly sheathed my knife and grabbed the spear in both paws, two of the remaining wolves attacked simultaneously, I quickly back stepped using my stolen spear to parry their attacks as they pushed me back until I held my ground and lunged at the attacking wolves, forcing them back.

"Fucking dragon!" One of them snarled. "I'm going to mount your head on a pike!"

"Try it dog breath!" I jeered, making him snarl and attack. I parried his thrust with my spear, quickly parrying the other wolf's attack afterwards. I stepped forwards swinging my entire body to bring the tail end of the spear across the muzzle of Dog-breath, letting it go and spinning round to grab his partner's spear, pulling it downwards and head butting him, making him yelp and stagger backwards. I staggered backwards as well but shook off the effects of the head butt quicker than him and quickly closed the distance and delivered a jaw breaking right hook, making him crumple to the ground. I heard movement behind me and looked to see Dog-breath back on his foot paws and scrambling to grab his spear. I grabbed the spear dropped by his partner and charged at him, he had reached the spear and thrust it at me, I jumped to the side just in time to dodge his attack. He attacked furiously, swinging his spear in an overhead attack that I blocked with my own spear. I pushed his spear to the side and prepared to attack when I saw the wolf use the momentum that I gave his spear to spin on the spot and bring it full circle, I had no time to block or counter the attack, so I jumped backwards, narrowly dodging the spear tip. The wolf snarled as he lunged at me again, he was a seasoned fighter, not like the warrior wannabes that would pick fights with me when I was a cub. His attacks were fast, accurate and deadly.

"Prepare to go to the Underworld*!" Dog-breath snarled, lunging at me once again with his spear.

"Not today!" I retorted, narrowly parrying his attack and stepping close to him to limit his use of his spear, quickly grabbing my knife and attempting to stab him in the neck, he dropped his spear and caught me by the wrist, stopping my attack and we began to wrestle over the knife.

I had the advantage in height and strength and slowly began to overpower him. Once he realised he was losing he used his foot paw to sweep one of my legs from under me causing us to land heavily on the ground, the wolf atop me and quickly turning the tide of our battle. He gripped my paw tightly so I could not release the knife, he had turned my wrist so the blade now pointed at me and was bringing his full weight to bear to push it down towards my neck. I pushed back as hard as I could but the wolf had too much leverage for me to overpower him from this position, I felt fear grip me as I realised that in a matter of seconds this wolf was going to kill me. I couldn't let that happen, I wasn't going to let a wolf kill me, I had survived too much to let that happen! With a grunt I gathered all my remaining strength and pushed, slowly the knife was being pushed back, I saw a look of disbelief briefly cross Dog-breath's muzzle before he increased his efforts. His efforts paid off and I felt him push my paw lower, the blade once again crept closer to my neck. I kicked my legs desperately trying to get some extra leverage or to kick him off but it was no use. He began to chuckle, proud that he was going to rid another dragon from this world; his laughter fuelled my efforts for survival. I rolled as far as I could to my right, the blade creeping ever closer I could feel the tip touch my scales, I threw myself to the left and once I was as far as I could roll I stopped pushing back and I felt my arm pushed right into my chest, the tip of the blade digging into the earth a mere inch from my throat.

Dog-breath was confused for a second, and I used that second to free my arm to punch him in the nose. He reeled back allowing me to push him off and roll to my foot paws. I looked up and saw him pulling himself to his foot paws, having drawn his own blade as well.

"Tough son-of-a-bitch!" He spat, blood leaking from his nose. "I'm going to carve you up good!" He launched forward once again, swinging his knife at me, I jumped back a step each time, trying to maintain the distance. This continued until I backed into a wall and realised that I had been played, his attacks weren't as fast or as deadly as they should have been, I knew from when he wielded his spear that he was not one to make poor attacks. He had been manoeuvring me, leaving me no way to escape, and he had done it. I saw a smile creep across his bloodied muzzle, he had me right where he wanted me. I could see him ready for it, the final attack, he was poised and ready... a metal pot hit him in the head, he winced and staggered from the blow. I rushed forward grabbing the wrist of his arm that held his knife and in a swift movement plunged my knife into his throat. I looked him in the eyes, they were wide and full of fear, he let out a gargle as blood flowed into his maw. I felt his hot blood flow over my paw and felt him begin to fall, I lowered his body to the ground, not able to tear my eyes away from his, watching as the life slowly drained from them until he was dead. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me and I turned to the side and spewed up my dinner. That was the first time I had watched someone I had killed die, I couldn't get his eyes out of my head, those fear filled eyes.

"You all right?" I heard someone call above me. I looked up and saw a tigress looking down at me from a window, she had thrown that pot and saved my life.

"Yeah." I muttered as I pulled myself to my feet, I looked back up to her. "Thanks."

"No problem, now do me a favour and go kill those bastard wolves!" She ordered. I smiled and nodded my head, I looked around and saw that I was alone, the rest of the wolves that had been with the two I fought must have went on to attack the rest of the village, they must have been sure that Dog-breath and his partner would beat me; they nearly did. I grabbed two of the spears that lay on the ground before turning in the direction of the fighting. As I ran I tried to push the image of Dog-breath's eyes out of my head, once I rounded the corner however that horrible image was replaced by another.

Several buildings were ablaze, furs trying to pull others to safety from the burning buildings while others attempted to keep the wolves at bay. Numerous furs lay either dead or severely wounded on the streets, spears and arrows jutting out of their bodies. I hurried past the dead and dying to try and at least save some other poor soul that would cross the paths of those wolves. I reached the main street, the fighting was even worse here and I could see several packs of wolves at work, they slaughtered everyone that crossed their path. A couple of large groups of furs had gathered together to try and force them back, but even while out numbered the wolves still had the upper hand, the people of this village were not trained fighters but they would put everything on the line to protect their homes. A cub's shriek to my left caught my attention and I saw a wolf chasing down a couple of cub and a kit, the rabbit from earlier and a tiger, they ran to an adult rabbit who wrapped herself round the cubs to use herself as a shield. The wolf raised his spear preparing to strike as he closed the distance; eager to make his kill. I dropped one of the spears I was holding and raised the other to throw, I didn't know if I would make it. I hurled the spear and watched as it closed the distance, the wolf running unaware into it's path, the wolf leapt from the ground as he prepared to impale the rabbit and cubs in one blow. It was as if the world was in slow motion, I was helpless to do anything but watch and pray, a mere second before the wolf's spear struck, the one I threw struck him, striking him in the side and embedding itself deep into his torso. His body fell limp to the ground, his spear flying loose from his paws and clattering onto earth as his body landed with an audible thump. He wasn't moving, I had at least pierced a lung and that would prove fatal in a matter of minutes. The rabbit looked at the body and then over to me, she gave me a nod of gratitude before grabbing the two kits and running to safety.

I grabbed the other spear and headed towards the tavern where Eric and the others were likely to be, I had to make sure they were okay. Everywhere I looked there was fighting, wounded furs littered the streets and little cubs cried. I stopped to catch my breath, the smoke in the air was making it a little difficult to breath, the smoke was sweet, sweeter than smoke should have been. It smelt like... Eric's pipe, the one he was smoking at breakfast. I heard someone crying, I looked round the next corner to see a female horse crying as she clutched at a foal, lifeless in her arms. He couldn't have been older than eight winters. I felt a wave of sadness wash over me and looked about, I could see many other furs crying over the dead and wounded, their family, lovers and children taken from them. I felt my sadness washed away and rage took its place, I had never felt rage like this before, I wanted to hurt those responsible for this atrocity, those that caused this pain and sadness to all these innocent furs. I felt the rage surge through my body making me feel stronger, driving me to kill. I set my eyes on a group of three brown pelted wolves that were just finishing off their latest victim and laughing.

There was an ear shattering roar, I couldn't tell where it came from, whatever it was it was angry and was out for blood; the savage roar of a predator. The wolves and every fur in earshot all looked in my direction, it was only then that I realised; I was the one that had roared. The three wolves were momentarily startled but quickly recovered and readied their weapons, two of them had spears and the other held an axe and torch. I had lost control of myself, at first I thought the wolves were approaching me but it was me moving towards them, my body was moving on it's own accord.

I stalked towards the trio of wolves slowly, I could hear the guttural snarls and growls coming from my maw, the trio of wolves were visibly intimidated and I couldn't blame them because I was scared of the noises I was making. After I stopped focusing on trying to control my body, which had proved futile, I began to feel... powerful. As I submitted control of my body to whatever force that was controlling it I could feel the raw power flowing through my body, the thirst for blood and violence. I could see clearer than ever before, I could sense the fear from all those around me, not just the wolves, I could feel the presence of every living being nearby, could feel them looking in my direction, could feel the fear that they were experiencing. I turned my attention back to the wolves that my body was stalking, I could sense that the wolf in the middle was about to attack, how I knew I had no idea but moments later he launched forward trying to impale me with his spear. I caught the end of the spear with my left paw and wrenched it to the side and brought my right paw crashing down at the midpoint of the spear and watched it, felt it, snap like a twig, the attacking wolf was frozen in shock. I stepped forward and raised the end of the spear I still had grasped in my paw above my head and quickly, and without hesitation, impaled the spearhead into the neck of wolf. He tried to grab the spear before he staggered backward, his blood flowing down his pelt, staining red with his life essence. He collapsed to the ground, his body still flailing about in its death throws. I could sense the life slowly fade from his body, I could almost see it burn out like a candle that had reached the end of it's wick. I could feel a sense of satisfaction course through my body as the wolf's life ended, like a thirst was being satisfied; but that wolf's death was not enough to satisfy it.

The other wolf armed with a spear attacked, I could sense no fear from him, he had been spurred to avenge his comrade's death. I back stepped, dodging his thrust and let out a savage snarl. He attacked again and I grabbed the spear like I had before, yanking it forcefully out of the wolf's grasp with ease before swinging it and hitting him in the head with it in one quick move, the end of the spear breaking with an audible crack, he staggered and was sent sprawling across the ground. Before I could finish him off his companion came to his aid, swinging his axe at me in a practised and experienced manner. I avoided his attacks, trying to find an opportunity to strike him down but was unable to. The other wolf had managed to recover and had grabbed what remained of his spear from the ground and came to help his axe wielding brethren to kill me. I was forced further and further back unable to find an opening, the wolves' prowess for teamwork was showing, they moved as one, each other's moves complimenting the other. I heard myself let out a loud roar causing the two wolves to step back in shock. I glared at them, I felt intense hatred... was this my hatred? It didn't feel like mine, at first it did but now it was... savage... bestial... evil... this wasn't me; what the hell was happening to me?

I felt a surge of power flow through my body, this was different from before, it wasn't surging through my body... it was flowing outwards. Moments later the torch that the axe wielding wolf was holding flared, exploding in a large ball of fire engulfing him. Suddenly the wolf was ablaze, his fur alight and he was screaming in extreme agony as his flesh began to cook, I felt like I was drinking in his pain, his anguish like I a mighty mug of water; I felt the satisfaction of it before I began to feel sick. The remaining wolf had completely lost his focus on me and was staring at his comrade in abject fear, unable to react, think or defend himself as my body launched itself at him. My paw clasped around his throat and I lifted him off the ground, his foot paws a clear foot off the ground. He kicked and thrashed at me, I felt each and every blow land but none of them hurt. I felt my hand clench harder round his throat and once again I felt his life begin to slip away and I felt my body feed on it, I watched in abject horror at the scene unfolding before my eyes. I watched as the wolf's body begin to stop thrashing and began to twitch, when I finally felt the wolf's life extinguish I tossed his body to the side like you might a soaking wet towel. I heard myself laugh, why was I laughing? Soon though I began to move again, stalking through the shadows like a hunter looking for its next prey.

I moved quickly, silently, with purpose. My body hungered for blood but I was thankful that it ignored the inhabitants of the village entirely, it hungered for more challenging game. I rounded a corner and felt a surge of excitement from whatever force was driving my body and I felt a moment of relief followed by one of dread. Across the street I could see them; Aceh, Eric, Cody, Michael and Jason were blocking the entrance of the Inn along with a couple of other furs from a pack of wolves.

Eric and Cody stood by the doorway, Cody was using his slingshot to great effect by creating openings for Michael and Jason by hitting the wolves with his pellets. Eric had a crossbow and seemed to be a crack-shot with it, there were several wolves either dead or wounded littering the area with crossbow bolts jutting from their bodies. Michael and Jason were doing what they did best, using their brawn to smack-down any wolves that got close, using large chunks of furniture as clubs. Aceh was a force to be reckoned with, he stood a good few strides from the rest of the group holding off six wolves single handedly, using his large scimitar swords. At least half a dozen wolves lay upon the ground with wounds caused by those swords. I felt the blood lust surge and I knew what my body's next prey was going to be... it was going after the strongest... it was going after Aceh. I stalked forwards, no one was aware of my presence, as I approached I felt a surge of annoyance and anger; the wolves were in the way. Like before I felt an energy flow from my body, invisible to the naked eye but I could feel it, feel it wrap itself round the wolves, snaking round their bodies and slowly towards the lit torches above the doorway of the tavern. When the energy reached the lit torch it blazed brightly, tendrils of fire shooting out, following the flow of energy, fire engulfed the wolves setting them ablaze. They all shrieked in pain and confusion, some began rolling on the ground and eventually fell still. The few surviving wolves who had not been affected by the fire began to retreat, running in every direction. One wolf ran straight at me, not able to see me lurking in the shadows and when was close enough my body pounced. I grabbed him by the throat and used my other arm to wrench his head, snapping his neck like a twig. I threw his body onto the pile of burning wolves catching everyone's attention, they all readied their weapons and peered into the darkness. I stepped into the light and I saw everyone's face relax and a look of relief appear, except Aceh's, he looked at me like he knew something was wrong.

"Malakye!" Cody yelled jogging towards me. "You're all right!" he cheered. Aceh blocked Cody's path, confusing the fox. "Aceh?" Cody questioned the large feline but Aceh only let out a low growl. I felt my pulse rise, excitement running through my body. I couldn't let this happen, I wasn't going to hurt my friends!

"Not Malakye!" Aceh announced, hiding the fear from his voice but I could sense it, taste it.

"What the fuck you talking about?!" Jason yelled, "That's Malakye!"

"No! Not Malakye!" Aceh yelled and began to slowly step back, pushing Cody back with him. I stepped forward, slowly closing the distance between myself and Aceh. I was desperately trying to gain control of my body again but was still a helpless spectator as my body stalked my friends. I could feel the thrill, the blood lust and the anticipation of whatever had taken control of my body, it was eager to fight... no not fight... destroy; it wanted to destroy Aceh. I crouched low to the ground, as if ready to pounce and let out a throaty growl and felt the familiar energy release from my body and the flames around me grew considerably bigger, the flames licking at my ankles and legs but I could feel no pain, no heat like I expected. The others seemed to realise that something was a miss now, I could feel the fear flowing from all of them, especially Cody, I felt the force controlling me revel in their fear. What was the reason I had asked Aceh to train me? To protect those that I cared about, and now I was going to kill the only real family I have ever had? NO!

"NO!" I yelled, I could no longer feel the blood lust, the hunger, the thrill of the hunt... I had taken back control. I had a brief moment where I revelled in my victory in taking back control before intense pain crippled my body and I found myself collapsing to the ground like a rag-doll. My muscles felt like they were on fire, I could feel my heart pounding hard in my chest. I couldn't breath, it felt like someone was squeezing the very air out of my lungs.

Pain, my whole body throbbed with it, I can't move, I can't even open my eyes. It hurts so bad, what the hell happened to me? I can hear movement, voices, I can hear voices as well, there are furs nearby. Is it Cody and the others? I attempt to call them but I can't even do that, it feels like my body is a lead weight. What happened to me? And just like that it came flashing back, the violence, the killing, the innocent furs being slaughtered by the wolves.

"Hey, you awake buddy?" A familiar voice sounded from nearby. I couldn't recognise it, but it was familiar. I attempted to nod my head and even that was a challenge. "Easy there, I'll get you some water." I recognised the voice now, it was Jason. I had now managed to open my eyes, I couldn't focus as the candle light hurt them, but I could make out Jason moving next to me. "Here, drink up." He held something up to my maw and I soon felt the cool water flow around my tongue and down my throat. The water was refreshing and soothing.

"Th-tha-nk... y-you." I managed to splutter, the strain causing me to cough harshly causing me even more pain.

"Take it easy buddy." Jason said resting his hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. "You've been out cold for over a day. I'm going to get Cody and the others. Cody's gonna be pissed, he's spent every waking minute with you and I just managed to go convince him to go washed up, and you go and wake up now." Jason chuckled. "I'll be right back."

I watched him turn and leave before taking a look around me. I didn't recognise the room but it was similar to the one I had spent the night in with Cody, so I could only assume we were still at The Garden of Eden*. I once again tried to move but hissed when the stabbing pain once again shot through my body. Well... I wasn't going to be moving any time soon. I just closed my eyes and tried to remain still.

************

I opened my eyes and squinted as the bright sun light blazed in the window, I must have fallen asleep. After my eyes had adjusted to the light, I looked around and right next to me there was Cody, he had his head resting on the bed as he leaned forward in the chair he sat in, sleeping. I looked up when something moved behind Cody, it was Eric. He motioned to me to remain silent then pointing at Cody, I nodded my head in understanding.

"He's not left your side since Jason told him you'd woken up last night." Eric explained in a low voice, pulling a blanket over the unconscious fox. "By the time we got here you had fallen back asleep. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I did last night." I replied, moving ever so slightly, my body still sore and stiff but lacking the stabbing pain of the previous night.

"That's good to hear." Eric smiled, "Now, do you know what happened? Why did you attack us?"

"I didn't..." It wasn't me, but how could I convince him of that? "I didn't attack you."

"Hmm?"

"It was me, but it wasn't me..." Eric looked at me slightly confused, but patiently and with a look of intrigue, he was waiting for me to finish. "I could see everything but I wasn't... something was controlling me." I looked at Eric again and I could see no judgement in his eyes, it was pure curiosity. "I could feel this anger, it came from inside me but... it wasn't my anger." There was a drawn out silence between the two of us as I waited for Eric to say something.

"Well... perhaps," Eric ran his talon along the length of his beak as he tried to word his thoughts, "Perhaps, the anger was yours but you just didn't know it was." I didn't know what to say and I could feel my muzzle contort in confusion, Eric continued to explain his thoughts before I had a chance to interrupt. "You've had a hard life Malakye, harder than most. You grew up with the absence of parental love, in a village that prosecuted your very existence. They tried to kill you and raped you... then there's Rose." I felt my throat tighten at the very mention of her name as I tried to hold back the flood painful memories. "You haven't dealt with any of these issues Malakye, they are there at the back of your mind and you've bottled them all up, and the other night they somehow manifested themselves through your actions."

I hated to admit it but what Eric was saying had a merit of truth to it. My anger was mostly directed at the wolves, the species that had caused me untold misery and pain as I grew up. It was during the chaos of the attack the other night my anger and hatred of the wolves manifested itself.

"Say... say you're right... What can I do so that I don't lose control again?" I asked and once again there was a long silence which only helped me to feel agitated.

"I don't know Malakye. You will need to find that answer yourself." Eric said with a tone of frustration. "But if you want to talk or if there is anything that I can do to help, you need only ask. I'm sure everyone else would be willing to do the same."

"Thank you Eric." I couldn't help but smile, at the same time I felt like I wanted to cry, how helpless I felt, but knowing I had five furs that I considered family at my back made me feel like I couldn't fail.

Cody began to rouse and I attempted to force my emotions back into check, I didn't want to worry Cody unnecessarily. He was obviously worried enough with me in my current condition, I didn't want to burden him with any more at the moment. A quick glance to Eric got a simple nod and a gesture which confirmed he would remain silent which put me at ease. Cody lifted his head and blinked tiredly letting out a yawn with which he let out a cute squeak which I couldn't help but smile at. Once he had been able to focus he saw me looking at him, he let out an excited squeal as he threw himself at me, wrapping his arms round my neck in an over excited hug.

"Oh thank Asurmen you're okay!"

"I'm okay Cody." I said with a chuckle.

"Are you sure!?" Cody asked worriedly, releasing his hug. "Do you need anything? Food? Drink?" I stopped a second to think if I actually wanted anything, it was then that I realised what I really needed.

"Yeah, I really need to pee." I chuckled, this lightened Cody's mood and he let out a chuckle himself.

"Well, you've been in bed for over a day now." Eric chimed in. "Cody, would you help Malakye to the bathroom and assist him if required, and I'll go get some food and drink for him and let the others know he's awake."

"Sure thing!" Cody said with a wag of his tail. Once Eric had closed the door behind him I threw off the covers and attempted to stand. I wobbled a bit but Cody was there to make sure I didn't fall, it felt good to stretch my legs but it was a bit of struggle to stay standing. Once I had balanced myself, with the help of the wall, Cody ran and got the chamber pot from under the bed. After relieving myself, I sat down on the edge of the bed and began to massage my legs while Cody went to get rid of the contents of the chamber pot. He returned a few minutes later and slid it under the bed where it came from.

"Eric was asking if you're okay to go downstairs?"

"I should be." I replied as I made to stand up, I wobbled a bit, but managed to stay standing under my own power with no assistance from Cody or any nearby walls. "Right let's go!" I said, eager to get downstairs and quench my growing thirst and hunger. Cody stayed within arm's reach while I tackled the stairs, but I managed them with little trouble, my legs were feeling better every minute, like I was walking off whatever it was affecting them. Jason and Michael were just taking their seats as we arrived, Aceh was leaning against a nearby wall, wearing his usual scowl, his eyes shut as if was he contemplating something of dire importance. Eric was sitting at the table puffing his pipe. The place was deserted; the only other furs in the place were the staff, a complete change of atmosphere, even from the previous morning. The staff seemed tense and almost detached, like they were just going through the motions. Not too surprising I suppose, since their home was attacked by the wolves just two nights ago. I had no idea of how bad the attack had been beyond what I saw and experienced myself, so I could only imagine what had happened.

We all took our seats and a tense silence hung in the air, it seemed like no one was sure what they should say. The heavy silence was broken when the waitress came over with a tray of drinks and told us our order would be brought to us in a few minutes. We all sipped at our drinks as I felt that heavy silence settle over us again. Thankfully, Eric spoke a few moments later.

"We will be leaving as soon as we are able. Our Dandos* escaped the stables during the attack. The stable master said he should be able to s et us up with some Fooshnar*."

"That's good, I'll miss Chavo though." Jason said with a sigh. Chavo was one of the Dando's; he was Jason's favourite. Cody had told me that Chavo was Jason's favourite, mainly because he had amused Jason to no end when Chavo started humping the other Dando's when they had first got him to become the dominant male in the group.

"So... what happened after, you know... I passed out?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"From what we were able to work out from some stories we heard from the other survivors, you took out a number of wolves before you reached us, which allowed everyone to regroup and force the remaining wolves out." Michael replied. "I don't know what happened to you but you were scary!" Michael added, the comment made me cringe.

"Yeah you were scary, when the fire started burning those wolven bastards alive, I got the fright of my life!" Jason exclaimed. "Dude, that was awesome! The rest of them went running for the hills! When you appeared out of the shadows I thought you were going to rip us to shreds but then you just collapsed, we were all a bit freaked out!"

"Sorry about that." I muttered, ashamed that I had lost control the way I had.

"We know you didn't intend us any harm Malakye, so don't worry about it." Michael said with a smile, obviously trying to reassure me, but I knew that if I hadn't stopped myself I probably would have seriously hurt them or worse.

"I heard when the wolves retreated they took a few captives with them, one of them I heard was just a cub!" Jason announced to the table. "Some of the locals were talking about whether to go after them when a dragon said that they should stay in case the wolves decided to attack again and that he'd go after them."

"One dragon against a pack of wolves? I don't see him having much of a chance." Michael said.

"From what I heard this dragon was bad ass! He took out at least a dozen wolves single handedly! I'm guessing he's got a better chance than most." Jason exclaimed.

"Once some help arrives from the neighbouring villages they'll send some after that guy, but by that time it'll probably be too late." Michael said with a tone of sadness, it was understandable. The wolves are ruthless, and if they did take a cub with them then that just makes the tragedy of what they'll do to their captives all the worse.

"It'll be at least another two days before help arrives." Eric added "The nearest village belongs to the Yanzo dragons*. It's at least two days journey from here, if they travelled through the night then they might make it there in just over a day, but a significant force will take at least two days to travel. They will arrive tomorrow at the earliest, but more than likely they will arrive the day after."

"What about the rest of the village?" I asked.

"There were a lot of deaths, last I heard, at least sixty lost their lives. I heard the body count for the wolves were about half that. Several buildings were completely wrecked by the fires." Michael explained. The losses for both sides were significant, but more tragic for the furs of this village.

"I expect the war between dragons and wolves will flare up again." Eric sighed, taking a puff from his pipe. I was about to speak when a couple of waitresses, a tigress and cheetah, brought our food to the table. I muttered a quiet thanks when they placed the food on the table, it smelt delicious, but suddenly my appetite was gone. Two large roasts of meat and several bowls of veg and other accompaniments sat on the table, even the normally insatiable Jason seemed uninterested in the food. Once the waitresses had left I asked my question.

"Why would the war between dragons and wolves start again?" I asked in a slightly hushed tone, just in case the waitresses were still in earshot.

"This village is under the protection of the Yanzo and Zangarian dragon tribes. An attack on this village will be viewed as an attack on them, if they don't respond they will appear as weak." Eric explained. "War is coming... and I don't think it will be stopped as quickly as last time."

"Last time?" I asked.

"Yes, about sixteen years ago. The war ended shortly after the fall of Zangar."

"Zangar?"

"Yes, Zangar was originally a a village in the Zangarian Mountains*." Eric explained. "The Rovarian*, Dakkatta* and Mordian Wolves* launched an all-out attack on the village of Zangar. The tribe managed to evacuate most of its inhabitants through some hidden tunnels on the mountains, but the village fell nonetheless, many were killed. Shortly after that, both sides massed large forces but agreed to another truce."

"What happened?" I asked, horrified at the story.

"Most of the Zangarian dragons* built the new village of Zangar* and have thrived ever since. Some were said to have headed south, through the Dark Forest* to make a new life for themselves away from the wolven tribes."

"No, I mean why did they attack Zangar?"

"Oh!" Eric said and then went silent as if trying to remember. "No one actually found out why. If they did, it wasn't made public knowledge. I have a theory however."

"What theory?" Michael asked, his curiosity peaked. Everyone round the table was showing great interest in Eric's theory, even Aceh seemed intrigued.

"Well, all we knew back then was that the Rovarian wolves* were the ones who gathered the other wolven tribes to attack Zangar*. But now I think I know why." Eric said, pausing to puff on his pipe.

"Well then! Why?!" Jason asked impatiently.

"Malakye, you said that necklace belonged to your father did you not?" Eric asked. I nodded and reached up to grip it, the one memento my mother had of my father and the one thing I had to remember her by... wait... Eric couldn't mean...

"The war... was because of me?" I asked in shock, everyone in the table turned to look at me in surprise.

"What the hell!?" Jason exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. "Eric what the hell are you suggesting? How could Malakye start a war?"

"Not Malakye... his parents." Eric replied calmly. "Malakye is the child of a Rovarian wolf* and a Zangarian dragon*, and that necklace he wears bears the symbol of the House of Anaris*. The war sixteen years ago was because of a forbidden relationship."

"The House of Anaris*... no... frickin'... way!" Jason said with his muzzle agape, staring at me. I felt everyone stare at me, I couldn't stand it. I felt like I was an outcast again, like I was different... I didn't want to be an outcast. I had so many thoughts running though my head I felt like I was going to burst, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I felt my claws dig into my legs threatening to pierce my scales, I couldn't calm myself... I felt something touch my paw. I looked down and saw Cody's paw on mine, gripping it assuringly. It made me feel a little better that Cody was still there for me and helped me calm myself a bit.

"What's the House of Anaris*?" I heard Cody ask, a question I would like to ask myself.

"The House of Anaris* was one of the three clans of the Zangarian dragons*. Rich and powerful, and their clan members were commonly known as powerful fire manipulators." Eric explained. It was like suddenly several pieces of a puzzle were revealed, things suddenly began to make sense. The war, my ability to control fire... who my father was. A question that had plagued me all my life, suddenly I knew something about my father. "Unfortunately, the House of Anaris* was wiped out during the last war with the other two houses." Eric added. I felt my heart sink at his words, I'd never have a chance to meet my father. "No one has heard from any of the houses since the fall of Zangar*. Stories from the survivors of the village said the clans stayed behind to fight off the wolves to give them a chance to escape."

"Are you okay Malakye?" Eric asked, I looked up to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine... it's just a lot to take in."

"Just remember buddy, we're all here for you." Jason said with a smile and a wink, which made me smile a little. Jason turned to Eric and asked, "So what are we going to do now? If the wolves really are kicking off another war then that's going to affect where we can go right?"

"Yes, quite true." Eric replied. "It's not safe to travel west, they would certainly attack us on sight to get to Malakye. If we travel South we're going to end up back in Zangar*, which wouldn't be the best course of action as it's a long journey, and if the wolves are going to set up any ambushes, it's a long way to go, and we'd have nowhere to run."

"So that leaves north and east then." Michael said matter-of-factly.

"North would take us into the Northern plain*, not many places to go up that way." Jason chimed in with his opinion.

"Then that leaves us with east." Eric replied. "Probably the safest choice, we'd be heading deeper into dragon territory and straight for Bac'tou*. There are plenty of villages in the east for us to do trade with and we're far away from the wolven borders."

"Then I guess east it is then." Michael agreed. Jason nodded his head in agreement as did Cody and Aceh. I had no reason to object, but I was certainly beginning to feel like a burden on my new family. The only reason they were being forced to travel east was because I was with them. If I wasn't here, then they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted. I was grateful they were willing to do all this for me, but at the same time I felt like a hindrance. I was going to have to step up and pull my weight, I wasn't going to be a hindrance on this... my family.

************

After breakfast we all headed round to the stables, which had a large penned up area for keeping wagons next to it. As we walked through the town I could see the true extent of the damage from the attack, several stone buildings were burnt out shells, some wooden buildings were now just hunks of burnt wood that littered the ground. The smell of death was still in the air, a group of furs were scrubbing blood from the ground and walls. Several wagons sat piled with bodies of the dead waiting to be buried, they could only dig so many graves in a day. Unlike the day we had arrived there was no sounds of cubs playing, no hustle and bustle of day-to-day life, the lives of these furs had been shattered and only sorrow and a deathly silence filled the void. It was then that I saw Travis, he was helping to move debris from one of the burnt out buildings, the large tiger that I had seen with the meerkat was with him. I felt a sense of relief knowing that he had survived.

As we approached the stables I saw that they had been badly damaged by the fire as well, half of the structure was blackened from where the fires had touched it and several dead bodies of the animals that had been housed there still littered the ground around it. I guess the bodies of the villagers were more important. Jason had said that some of the animals had escaped during the fire, some had been taken by various furs as they sped off to seek aid for the village. About half the animals which had been kept here died from the fires. We walked round the back of the buildings to where the wagons were kept, several burnt out wagons lay near the stables, the fires had spread to them. Thankfully for us, our wagons had been placed further away and had been undamaged during the attack. I climbed up and looked inside to see that they had been untouched, no one had come and looted them, surprising considering most of the furs in the village had lost nearly everything.

"I had stocked up on supplies the day we got here." Eric said as he pulled himself onto the wagon. "I gave away some of our food, but we should still have enough to head East to the next village."

"Yeah, these folks are gonna need all the help they can to get back on their feet." Michael said. "I don't reckon this place will ever be quite the same."

"No... I don't suppose it will be." Eric agreed looking back towards the village with a sigh. A boar approached us while we were going over the wagons, I was the first to see him, Eric was the next one to notice him.

"Ah, Jacob!" Eric greeted the boar.

"Good day to you Eric." The boar replied with a gruff heavy voice. "Those Fooshnar* should be ready within the hour if you're ready for them."

"Excellent." Eric smiled, climbing down from the wagon. He walked over to Jacob and handed the boar a pouch of what I suspected was money. Jacob opened the pouch and suddenly had a look of shock.

"Eric... this is far too much!" the boar exclaimed.

"Please take it my friend. You did us a big favour in getting us those Fooshnar* at such short notice." Eric said with a smile, placing his paw on the boars shoulder.

"Even still..." Jacob tried to interject.

"Please, just take it my friend." Eric insisted. "If you feel you can't use it yourself then please give to some of the others who do need it. I leave it to your good judgement."

"You are too kind Eric, I will make sure everyone knows of your generosity." Jacob smiled, his voice full of emotion. "I will bring you the Fooshnar* as soon as I am able!" Jacob brought his fist to his chest and bowed in thanks, with that Jacob turned and hurried off.

"Just how much did you give him Eric?" Michael asked.

"Enough." Was all Eric said in response, a small smile on his beak. By the time we had readied the wagons for departure, Jacob had returned with some stable hands and three Fooshnar*. I had never seen one up close before, they were huge, about half the size of the wagons and looked like they were made of pure muscle. We had needed two Dando's* to pull each wagon, but just one of these creatures would be enough to pull a wagon. I ran my paw down the side of one of the massive beasts, admiring at just how everything about this creature radiated power. The stable hands went over the new harnesses for the Fooshnar* with us so we could hitch them up ourselves, the process only slightly different from the ones with the Dando's*. Once we were hitched up, we climbed aboard the wagons while Eric said goodbye to Jacob. As nice as it had been to sleep in a real bed during our stay here, I have to say there was definitely a sense of home in these wagons.

We left the village, Cody drove the wagon while I stood atop it, just like I had arrived, reflecting on my time here. I had experienced so much here, I was not the same furson I was when I had arrived. I watched as the village began to disappear into the distance, and continued to stare even after I could no longer see it. We travelled for hours into the day, stopping only when the sun began threatening to slip below the horizon. With practised ease, we set up the camp and got dinner under way. We had all been pretty silent all day, I guess we were all dealing with our experiences in Rengilar in our own way. We sat round a fire for a few hours, again in relative silence. As I stared into the fire I couldn't help but get flashes of the night of the attack, the bodies of the dead and dying, the fight I had with the wolf I would forever know as Dog-breath and how his life slipped from his eyes. But what was the most prominent in my mind was the experience when I lost control. Where had that come from? What was it? Was it something that exists within me and could rear its head again? One thing was certain, I didn't want it to make another appearance, I would need to become stronger to hold it in check.

"I'm going to head to bed." Eric said, breaking the silence and dragging me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to turn in as well." Michael agreed. In the end we had all decided to turn in, the last few days had been pretty traumatic and tomorrow was a new day. I crawled into the wagon and Cody followed, we laid out our sleeping rolls, Cody laying his out right next to mine. We lay down and he snuggled up into me, I wrapped my arms round him and I felt him murr happily.

************

I opened my eyes to find that it was still dark and Cody sleeping soundly next to me. I decided I would try and sleep some more, but I heard some movement outside as someone was walking outside the wagon. I heard them begin to climb onto the wagon I was in, it was most likely Aceh wanting to restart my training. I heard them push through the flaps and I groaned.

"Please Aceh, it's not even dawn yet!" I muttered, but I got no response. I could hear him standing there, breathing heavily. "Aceh?" I muttered, opening my eyes and blinking away the bleariness of sleep. I couldn't believe it, standing there was Dog-breath himself... it couldn't be! His fur matted in blood as it poured from the wound in his neck, the bloodied knife in his hand as he stared down at me with glowing red eyes.

"You killed me!" He growled, "Now I'm going to return the favour!" He roared as he fell atop me. I grabbed his arms as I tried to stop the knife.

"Cody!" I cried, glancing to the side I saw Cody still sleeping soundly, not having been disturbed by our struggle. "Cody, please help!" I cried, my struggle against Dog-breath's attack proving futile. He had pinned one of my arms with his own and, despite my best attempts, I could not stop the blade from getting closer and closer to my throat. I glanced once more to Cody, in hope that he would awake and save me. As I looked I saw Cody's eyes open and glow the same horrifying red as Dog-breath's.

************

"AGGHH!!!" I screamed as I sat bolt upright. My breathing heavy and laboured as my eyes darted around, scanning the area. I took me a moment to realise that I was still in the wagon, and Dog-breath was nowhere to be seen.

"Malakye?" I jumped at the sound of Cody's voice. Once I looked and saw that his eyes were normal I began to relax. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes..." I muttered, wiping my brow and letting out a sigh of relief. "It was just a nightmare."

"You want to talk about it?" Cody asked sympathetically, but I just wanted to forget about it.

"No... let's just get some sleep."

"Okay then. Sweet dreams Malakye." Cody cooed before laying back down and back into a comfortable sleep with little effort. I just lay there and watched him. Why was I plagued with nightmares like I was? The dreams always change but they're always those eyes... I didn't want to think about it. I shut my eyes and just tried to slip back into sleep, silently praying to whatever guardian deity that would allow it, that the nightmares wouldn't return. I lay there, my eyes shut for Asurmen knows how long, but I couldn't fall asleep, that nightmare had shaken me; more than usual. I could tell Cody was having no problems sleeping, his breathing was slow and repetitive, almost hypnotic, I had tried to focus on that a few times hoping it would allow me to slip into sleep, but again I was unable to. I heard movement outside the wagons, footsteps walking to the front. I felt my heart speed up and my eyes were wide open, watching the flap where Dog-breath had entered in my dream. I heard them climb up on to the wagon now, they were just on the other side of the flap, I felt my breath hitch and my heart pounding so hard I was expecting it to wake Cody from the noise it was making. The flap moved and as they entered the wagon, I couldn't move, I couldn't tear my eyes away... was I awake or was I dreaming again? The figure entered fully and I felt myself relax, it was Aceh, his piercing blue slitted eyes staring down at me in the pre-dawn light that filtered in from behind him. I let out a loud sigh and enjoyed the feeling of breathing again.

"Get up, we train." Aceh said bluntly, not waiting for a response, obviously expecting me to follow his orders. Truthfully I was grateful, training would be a pleasant distraction from just laying here struggling to sleep. I carefully got up, so as not to wake Cody, and followed Aceh outside. When I got out he was standing a fair distance away from the wagons. When I was within a few feet of him he turned to me, his expression as stern and as serious as always.

"Morning." I said, a little jokingly. Aceh was not one for giving greetings.

Without warning though, he lashed out with a back-paw strike which I just narrowly managed dodge by stepping backwards. What the hell is he doing!? He followed up with left hook which I blocked, but the force of the blow sent me reeling back a few steps. I was going to shout at him but he didn't give me a chance, he was once again on the attack. He lashed out with a left and then a right, both of which I deflected but he followed up with another left hook, this one I back stepped and leaned back out of the way of. I kept forgetting how quick Aceh was, as he pulled his arm back into position he threw his other arm back using the movement to lash out with a round house kick, his hips and his leg aiming for my torso. I couldn't block it; I couldn't get into position fast enough. It was a split second decision, I threw myself backwards as I was already leaning back from dodging his hook and fell flat onto my back. As I fell I saw and felt his foot paw skim along my chest, I followed into a backward roll, careful to spread my wings as I landed on my back so as not to crush them, and rolled back onto my feet in a crouched position. Aceh had gracefully followed through with his kick and had spun full circle back into position. He glared at me for a few seconds before lowering his arms back into a relaxed position, I stood up straight, wary of him lashing out again.

"Good." Was all he said.

"What the hell was that for!" I yelled, "I only said 'morning'!"

"Test." He responded matter-of-factly.

"A test!?" I said disbelievingly. Aceh nodded his head with a grunt in confirmation.

"You move well, form is good. Good instincts." He said in praise.

"Well, thanks, I guess."

"You have learned Tiger Palm well, but it is not enough."

"What do you mean?"

"No good if you not able to attack. Defence is good but not enough." Aceh explained. Tiger Palm was a defensive technique, it blocks and deflects attacks to allow an opening to counter strike, but a skilled opponent would be able to overpower defence or not allow a counter strike to occur. I saw this each time Aceh and I would spar, each time I would find it harder to find an opportunity to counter strike and he would increasingly overpower my defence.

"What are you going to teach me then?"

"Tiger Palm."

"What?" I said confused. "I thought you said Tiger Palm wasn't enough?"

"Tiger Palm consists of two halves." He explained. "I have taught you 'Open Palm', now I will teach you 'Closed Palm'."

"Okay..." I said a little shocked. Aceh had never let on that Tiger Palm had two parts, I was going to assume that 'Closed Palm' was an offensive technique.

"Tiger Palm was developed by two brothers." Aceh began. "Both brothers came from famous clan and were competitive, the oldest was talented martial artist named Kronos, he created his own technique which made their father very proud. His younger brother, Jaras, was not happy with his brother getting his father's praise when he did not. He fought Kronos constantly and would always lose, but over time developed his own technique to beat his brother." Aceh continued, looking into the distance, the sun was now rising over the horizon and I felt the warmth of its rays as they washed over me. "Both brothers became famous and their clan became more powerful, both were recognised as powerful warriors. The only ones being able to beat them were each other. However an issue sat before their father to name which one would succeed him as head of the clan." Aceh turned to look at me. "Whichever one was named would teach their technique to the rest of their clan and would be recognised as the most powerful. Their father knew that if he picked one over the other, he would lose the love of one of his sons, so he needed a test, one that would allow both his sons to prove which one deserved the title and not lose their love."

"What did he do!?" I asked, completely enraptured by the story.

"He had a third son, Machali, and got Kronos and Jaras to teach him their techniques. They would teach him for two years in both techniques and then test the two brothers against Machali. If either one were beaten by Machali, then they would not be head of the clan."

"Wow, that sounds brutal." I said.

"Always rivalry between tiger clans. To have a weak leader would be their downfall." Aceh explained.

"Yeah, but their younger brother was going to have it rough." I said, two years of harsh training to have a fight with his brothers. "What if Machali was unable to beat either of them?"

"Then he would train and fight them every month until he was strong enough to beat one of them." He explained. I could only feel for Machali, what a cruel task his father set before him, just so he would not lose the love of his sons. "So Kronos and Jaras taught their younger brother, and after the two years, he became a powerful fighter. But he was never able to come close to beating his brothers in their spars, and now he would fight them, both of them eager to prove who was the most powerful warrior. The time came and all tiger clan heads came to see which of the brothers would be named as next head of their clan."

"No pressure then." I said sarcastically, but Aceh continued on like I hadn't said anything.

"Jaras fought his brother first, the fight was long and brutal but in the end... he lost. He was beaten by Machali."

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"Next, Machali fought Kronos and he lost as well."

"How!? I thought you said that Machali couldn't come close to beating his brothers in spars?!"

"When training him, they only allowed him to use their technique and the technique their father had taught them as cubs, they would not allow him to use the other brother's technique against them. Their arrogance and rivalry would not allow it. In the fight, Machali was not as restricted and had practised by himself using both techniques, and combined the two into a new and more powerful one, Tiger Palm."

"So what happened next?"

"As both his sons had lost to Machali, he named Machali as the next clan head. Kronos and Jaras had no way to object to the ruling as they had both lost to him, and recognised his strength."

"That's almost like a fairy tale ending." I chuckled. "So what happened next?"

"Machali Amur lead his clan to new heights of greatness. He is my Grandfather."

"No way!" I said, I was amazed at the story of his grandfather, and equally amazed at the fact that Aceh had revealed something of himself. While it wasn't specifically about him, I now knew he came from a famous tiger clan and where he had gotten his fighting skills.

"Now, we shall begin." He said getting into a stance which I attempted to copy. I raised my paws so they were positioned on either side of my head and had my left foot paw forward and my right one a step back, facing sideways so it acted like a brace, and allowed me to keep my balance better. "Lower your arms." Aceh said stepping forward and positioning my arms correctly. "Arms act like shield, protect head and chest. Closed fist is offensive, but importance is to protect yourself at all times." He explained stepping beside me and entering the same stance. "Basic strike," He said, demonstrating as a simple straight punch, his left followed by his right. "Always have guard up. One guard must be up at all times, even when attacking." He demonstrated again, his punches were rapid but it was clear that he didn't throw the second punch until the first arm was back in position. "Always guard, understand?" I nodded in response and began to practise. It took a while to get it right, I was tempted to throw the second punch before my other was back in the guard position, which Aceh would scold me for.

Eventually I got it and he got me to practise hooks and then the same round house kick he had attempted to hit me with earlier. The kick itself was easy, but the difficult part was that if the kick failed to connect, you must follow through so that you would spin full circle back into position. By doing this it allowed you to throw more force into the kick and still allow you to keep your balance and be battle ready. He got me to practise the kicks for well over an hour but I still hadn't gotten it quite right, but I had improved and Aceh seemed happy with my progress. At this point everyone else was starting to get up and make breakfast, shortly after Aceh ended my training session and we went over to help everyone.

We all sat round the burnt remains of last night's camp fire and ate some bread with a fruit preserve in relative silence, thankfully though, the silence had lost a lot of the tension from the previous night, but it had been replaced by something else. I looked round and saw that Eric and Michael looked to be deep in thought. Were they thinking about me? That was the first thought that had sprung to mind, but I dismissed it as paranoia. However I couldn't dismiss the thought and I began to feel... well I didn't know what to feel. If they were thinking about me were they regretting taking me with them after my loss of control back in Rengilar Village*? If they had wanted to leave me they had had plenty of opportunity, I was bed ridden for nearly two days. No... I had to stop thinking like that. Eric and the others cared for me; they weren't like the wolves I grew up around. Eric was the father figure I never had, he had always been nice to me, even after all the trouble I had caused them and had never shown a hint of regret. Aceh... well Aceh was Aceh. It was hard to figure out how he felt but I doubt he would go through the hassle of training me if he thought I was a threat to the rest of the group. Cody, well no doubts there really. Jason and Michael however, Jason was always a joker but was always blunt with the truth, and I doubt he could hide any remorseful feelings for long. Michael was reserved with his opinions a lot of the time, but he was no liar and had always been friendly. No, it couldn't be me that their thinking about... could it?

"It's strange." Eric said, voicing his thoughts to no one in particular.

"What is Eric?" Cody asked, his left ear going slightly crooked in curiosity.

"We've been travelling the road to Bac'tou* for a day now and we haven't seen another traveller."

"Is that so strange?" I asked ignorantly.

"Very much so." Eric nodded. "This is the main route to travel east or west of the Zangarian mountains* without actually travelling across them, there should be other travellers."

"Maybe they heard what happened at Rengilar and decided not to head that way." Jason suggested. "The threat of the wolves attacking will put many travellers off."

"True, but the other thing that concerns me is that we have not seen any reinforcements from Bac'tou* heading to Rengilar." Eric explained. "We know that several furs travelled this way to seek help for the village, that was over three days ago."

"You're right, that is strange." Michael agreed. "Travelling as light as they did, they should have reached Bac'tou in less than two days. Even if they took a day to prepare we should have passed some form of reinforcements by now."

"Maybe they went by boat." Jason interrupted. "I mean the Yanzo Dragons* have a large fleet. They keep the Mordian Wolves* in check along the Dalton River*"

"That is a possibility." Eric agreed with a sigh. "But I can't shake this ominous feeling that something bad is heading our way."

"You're just paranoid ya old coot!" Jason chuckled.

"I hope you're right." Eric laughed, but I could see that it was forced. "Now then, I think I've eaten my fill, I think we should be making a move. Maybe I'll feel better once we are on the move." Eric stood and began walking over to the wagons where the fooshnar* were already hitched up and ready to go. The rest of us finished up and we climbed aboard our respective wagons, I was with Cody again in the middle wagon. As we rode along Cody decided he wanted to name our fooshnar*, he threw out a lot of ideas but they were either silly or just plain boring. In the end we decided to call the one pulling our wagon Vlad. It was the name of one of Cody's cub-hood friends and I thought it suited the giant lizard, so I readily agreed which made Cody happy. The mention of cub-hood friends did poke at a sore topic for me; I didn't have many happy memories of my past. I excused myself, saying that the midday sun was getting to me, Cody seeming to buy it and I climbed into the shaded back of the wagon. I sat against the side and reflected on how much my life had changed in such a short time.

It hadn't even been two months since I joined up with Eric, but before that I was living day to day, trying to ignore the solitude and loneliness of the life I was living without any hope that it would ever get better. But my life has changed, I no longer live day by day, I look forward to what the next day brings. Cody and the others have changed my life in ways I never thought possible, I have more happy memories from my time being with them than I ever had growing up. But then again, it's not all been happy memories, there have been some painful ones as well. I crossed to the other side of the wagon and knelt in front of a medium sized wooden box, big enough to store clothes and other items, but not that big it would be difficult to carry. Eric had given it to me so I could store any personal items in there, it was locked but didn't have a key. It was a trick lock, it would only open if you knew how to open it. I ran my paws round its varnished sides, feeling for switches, pressing in the sections of the box in order to unlock it. With a loud 'clack' I knew I had successfully unlocked it, opening the lid, I saw the loin-cloths I had bought back in Rengilar* were in here. Cody had stored them away for me when I had been bedridden; he said it was just something to do to take his mind off things.

I pushed them aside and found what I was looking for, the sapphire pendant I had gotten for Rose. Rose had been the best thing to have ever happened to me, but despite the painful memories I have of her death, I would not have traded the memories I have of her away just to escape that pain. They made me who I am and who I will become. I carefully put the pendant back in the box and closed it, locking it safely away. I felt a bit tired, my lack of sleep last night and the afternoon heat was getting to me, so I lay down on my bed roll and let the gentle sway of the wagon rock me to sleep.

************

Fire... it's all I could see through the blinding smoke that was choking me. I fumbled around trying to find away out. Hearing a loud creak from above and a loud cracking noise, I looked up just in time to see a large wooden beam breaking and falling right towards me. I jumped out of the way in the nick of time, landing in a heap on the floor. I scrambled to my feet and looked round, I saw a doorway. I ran through it and fell to one knee and sucked in the cool night air, trying to drive the smoke from my lungs. I heard someone scream and I looked up, I was back in Rengilar, the wolves were everywhere, the bodies of the dead and dying littered the ground, there were so many bodies you could barely see the ground. All the wolves had red glowing eyes, the same red glowing eyes that had been haunting me for weeks now.

"Why?" I cried "WHY!?"

"Why?" I heard a guttural growl from behind, I spun round to face someone I never wanted to see again. "I'll tell you why you dragon cunt!" Dog-breath snarled, his eyes glowing that menacing red. "Because I'm going to kill you!" He snarled as he launched himself at me.

************

I jolted awake, my heart pounding and my breathing heavy, but I relaxed as soon as I realised I was in the wagon. Why was I having these nightmares? It would be nice to be able to go to sleep without worrying about nightmares, they were always so real. It took me a few seconds to notice that we weren't moving any more, I had better head out and see what was happening. I climbed to my feet and was about to step through the curtain when someone stepped in, it was a wolf, a grey pelted wolf... Dog-breath.

Dog-breath stepped in but it took a second for his eyes to adapt to the darkness inside the wagon, but in that second I had drawn my knife and plunged it into his throat. I grabbed his muzzle to stop him from yelling out and dragged him to the floor, I wasn't going to let this bastard haunt my dreams any longer! Once he was dead I breathed a sigh of relief, but then upon looking at this wolf bleeding onto the floor below me, I realised, this isn't Dog-breath. This isn't a dream... then that means... Cody! I scrambled to the entrance of the wagon and peeked out, I could see Cody laying on the ground just a few yards away from the wagon, with another grey pelted wolf standing over him holding a spear. Cody was alive at least. I looked further ahead and I could just see Aceh standing surrounded by at least half-a-dozen wolves, his swords drawn but he wasn't attacking, I could see the hesitation in him, they had Cody and who knows else hostage.

"Stand down now or I kill the bird!" I heard a voice shout, they had Eric as well. Considering the lack of noise from the wagon behind I could only assume that Michael and Jason had been captured as well... I could only hope that they hadn't been killed. I pulled back into the wagon, I had to get out there and help, but one wrong move and they would kill everyone... I had to protect my family! I wasn't going to let this end like Rose.

I moved to the side of the wagon, away from where Cody was and leant over the wooden edge and lifted the canvas, poking my head through. I looked around but no one was in sight, so I carefully, and as quietly as I could, slipped out, careful not to land too loudly in case I aroused attention. I slunk round the back of the wagon, my knife in hand, my fingers were starting to feel sticky from the blood of the wolf I had just killed. I peeked round the edge of the wagons and saw another grey pelted wolf, his back was to me and he had his spear point held at the back of Michael's neck. I couldn't see Jason, I knelt down and saw a little further along that Jason in the same situation. I could only see the wolves' feet but I could tell that that wolf had his back turned to Michael... if I did this right I might be able to save them.

Stepping out from my hiding place I paused as I looked around for any wolves I hadn't seen that might spot me, I held my breath as I heard more shouting from down by Aceh and Eric. Obviously Aceh wasn't surrendering that easily. I was two steps away from the wolf standing over Michael, I paused a second to work out how to do this when I remembered Aceh's words back in Rengilar*.

'There are various kill and crippling spots in every species and gender, but only eight are always present regardless of species and gender. Jugular, heart, liver, kidneys, spine, temple, armpit, between the shoulder blades and finally the throat.'

I readied myself, picked my target and stepped forward, I quickly reached round and grabbed the wolf by the muzzle while at the same time plunging my knife into the side of his neck where his jugular artery was. He squirmed as his life spilled out of him, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I glanced over at the other wolf over Jason, praying silently that he wouldn't hear this and turn around. Once the wolf in my grasp went limp, I gently lowered him to the ground, never taking my eyes off the other wolf. I stepped over Michael who hadn't moved, I could see him looking up at me out of the corner of my eye. Each step seemed like an eternity, I could feel my heart pounding hard in my chest, but not just in fear, it was excitement as well. The thrill of the hunt had gripped me and I was the hunter and these wolves, they were my prey.

Finally I reached striking distance of the second wolf and again I leaped into action. I wrapped my arm round the wolf's throat and began to rapidly and repeatedly stab him in the chest puncturing his heart and lungs. He let out a gargled cry but a quick glance behind me showed that the wolf guarding Cody hadn't heard it, he was focused on the stand off with Aceh ahead of him. I had to act quickly, these wolves won't hesitate to kill Eric if Aceh refused to back down for much longer. Michael was now on his feet and had grabbed the wolf,s spear, it looked rather small and non-threatening in his hands since he was much larger than the wolf that had had him pinned. He silently motioned for me to go for the wolf over Cody while he went round the other side of the wagon, I nodded and we began to move, Jason following Michael.

I was moving closer to the wolf and glanced past him to Aceh, I could tell by the voice of the wolf shouting at him that he was getting impatient, we had to act now! I sped up, bursting into a sprint. The wolf heard me and turned but by then it was too late, I tackled him to the ground, impaling my knife into his chest as I did. I quickly grabbed his muzzle to muffle any cries of warning that he might have given out. He squirmed, and was beginning to fight back now, the knife wound I had given him wasn't a fatal one, or at least not a quick one. I pulled my knife out of him and brought it to bear on the soft flesh of his neck. Moments later he stopped squirming, I looked over to Cody, Cody's face displayed shock, but I didn't have time to worry about that. Cody was alive and that's all that mattered, I got up and began moving towards the front wagon.

I heard a cry of distress and then the body of a grey pelted wolf get thrown to the ground, with a spear impaled through his torso. Several of the wolves surrounding Aceh looked back to see what had happened and I saw their stern expressions falter. I stepped round the front of the wagon to see Eric a little worse for wear but alive and well. Jason had caught the wolf by surprise and freed Eric. Now surrounded and their leader down, I saw the moral of the wolf pack crumble. One of them yelled a retreat and they all began to run, but not before Aceh could cut two of them down. The remaining six ran into the distance and Aceh let out a ferocious roar after them, it made me jump, I can't imagine what the wolves thought of it.

"Is everyone all right?" I heard Eric ask. Everyone was fine, Cody had now recovered from his shock.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The wolves ambushed us before we could defend ourselves, they over powered us." Michael explained. "You saved our lives Malakye."

"Yeah man!" Jason cheered. "That was slick how you took out those wolves like you did. First time I knew about it was when that wolf fell dead on the ground next to me!" Jason slapped me hard on the back and I couldn't help but stumble forward a step, Jason doesn't really know his own strength. "You were scary man! But good scary." He grinned and I couldn't help but grin back and blush a little at the praise I was getting.

"Yes, we owe you our lives Malakye." Eric added, smiling. I looked to Aceh and he gave me a nod, it wasn't much but it conveyed not only his thanks, but a little bit of pride as well. I... I didn't know what to say...

"You okay big guy?" Jason asked.

"Yeah..." I mumbled, "It's just as well I have a good teacher." I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Everyone gave a small laugh and suddenly everything seemed... normal. There was a pained groan from behind us, the wolf Michael had impaled with the spear was alive but obviously dying. We moved and stood over him.

"What the fuck do you want you dragon loving fucks!" He cursed before coughing, his coughs were rough and blood was spraying across the ground when he did.

"Why did you attack us?" Eric asked calmly, but a serious tone in his voice I had never heard from him before.

"Fuck you!"

"Your wound is fatal, but it will take time for you to die." Eric said coldly. "Answer our questions and we will end your suffering." The wolf went silent for a few moments but replied by spitting at Eric, that was the last straw for me. I kicked him hard in the side and grabbed the end of the spear and twisted it, making him cry out in pain.

"Answer or I'll make your last few moments as painful as I can!" I snarled.

"Malakye!" I heard Cody gasp. I glanced at Cody before returning my attention to the wolf.

"Fuck you dragon! Kill me if you want..." he spluttered, "but I'm going to die anyway. Once the rest of my pack regroups with the rest of our forces... they'll hunt you down!"

"Where is the rest of your force?!" I yelled, twisting and yanking on the spear to inflict pain on the wolf.

"ARRGH!!! Bac.... tou." He whispered. "Their attacking Bac'tou*..."

"That's not good." Michael muttered aloud. "If they are in Bac'tou* then we need to head back to Rengilar*."

"No way!" Jason argued. "We can't out run them, not with the wagons!"

"Jason's right." Michael added. "If we are going to out run them then we need to abandon the wagons."

"We can't do that!" Cody cried. "These are our homes, we can't just throw them away!"

"But if we don't then we get killed!" Jason said bluntly.

"Yeah... but... we just can't!"

"It doesn't matter what you do!" The wolf chuckled. "There is to be a second attack on Rengilar*, you're trapped!" He began to laugh hysterically, his amusement was cut short as Aceh ran his sword into his chest, the wolf was dead in seconds.

"Now we really are fucked!" Jason yelled kicking at the ground in frustration. "No matter what we do we're going to be fucked from both sides, we're going to get spit roasted, only it's not one we're going to enjoy!"

"Calm down Jason." Eric interjected.

"Calm down? Calm the fuck down!? How the hell am I meant to be calm about the fact that we are literally dead meat?!"

"We do have another option." Eric's statement caught everyone by surprise, everyone looked at him in silence waiting for Eric's plan to be revealed. "We can't go east or west or we run into the wolves. We can't go north as we can't cross the Dalton River* without a boat. So that leaves south."

"You mean across the Zangarian Mountains*?" Michael asked.

"Yes, precisely."

"We can't do that! We don't have the supplies to cross the mountains." Michael argued.

"We don't need supplies to cross them, we just need enough to get to Zangar*. Or more specifically, the ruins of Zangar* up in the mountains." Eric retorted.

"Why are we going there?" Michael asked. "That village has been in ruins for sixteen years, there won't be any supplies up there!"

"It's a long shot, but I have heard rumours that there are some dragons who've been living up in those mountains for years." Eric explained. "But there is a chance that the rumours are true and that the village has been rebuilt by survivors of the attack sixteen years ago, we could take shelter there."

"We would have heard if the village was rebuilt." Michael interjected.

"Not unless they wanted to keep it on the down low." Jason suggested. "No one ever goes up there, it's easier to take the Labyrinth* to cross the mountains. If they never revealed themselves to be living there, no one would ever know."

"It's a long shot but I believe it's the best option we have." Eric argued.

"No! We need to ditch the caravans and run!" Michael yelled in frustration. "If we're lucky we can avoid the wolves."

"We can't just abandon our home!" Cody yelled.

"Quiet!" Eric yelled, silencing everyone. "We are a family and we shall decide this as a family. We shall vote. Whatever is chosen we shall all do as a family, agreed?" We all agreed to the terms, even Michael after a heavy sigh, he wasn't going to cut and run from this family, he just wanted what's best for all of us just like Eric.

"If you vote for my plan, raise your paw." Michael said raising his own, Jason joining him.

"Really Jason!?" Cody cried.

"Sorry Cody... as long as we are all alive we can make a new home."

"Anyone who agrees with Eric's plan, raise your paw." Michael continued. Eric and Cody raised their paws, Aceh didn't do anything and I didn't know what to do. Jason had a point, as long as we were all alive and well we could find a new home as long as our family was okay... but the thought of just abandoning the wagons was a painful one. They were our homes, the thing that kept us together, if we lost that then there was a chance that we could drift apart, even if we did manage to make it past the wolves. If we head into the mountains and we die... well then that would be pointless as well. But if Eric was right, and the rumours were true that the village had been rebuilt by survivors of the attack sixteen years ago... then could my father be up there? That possibility changes everything.

How long have I dreamed of meeting my father, or any member of my father's family? All my life, and this is an opportunity, a chance to see if that dream could come true. But that'd be selfish, risking the lives of my friends and family just for a long shot at making a childish dream come true. How could I do that to them after everything they've done for me?

"Aceh? Malakye?" Michael asked. "What do you vote for?" I was torn, how could I make this decision?

"We go up mountain." Came Aceh's deep voice, snapping me out of my haze. I looked at Aceh and he nodded to me, telling me that it was all right. Could he have known about my struggle and made the decision for me?

"Malakye?" Michael asked again.

"Yeah... I vote for Eric's plan." I muttered, casting a glance back at Aceh. Michael let out a heavy sigh, but resigned himself to the fact that the decision had been made. We were going into the mountains, taking a chance that there was someone up there that could help us and hope the wolves wouldn't follow us. What waited for us up on those mountains?