been exaggerated. I grew up in these mountains, soaring over that ocean," he said, gesturing in the direction of the ocean, "and we never once had pens.
"I will not lie to you. We ate humans. We ate the ones who challenged our authority as a demonstration that we were the better hunters. We ate ones who failed to honor the
rituals. We ate the ones who overhunted and overfished and then hoarded their catch from their kinsmen. We ate the humans to control their numbers, just as they killed lesser
animals to control their numbers."
"And who ate you?" Beth bitterly demanded.
"Oh, other dragons, for one. We were constantly fighting with one another. We had given our protection to the people in our territory, but so did other dragons in their territories. We were always fighting with them to try and keep our humans safe."
She shook her head. "That's not survival of the fittest. You weren't preyed upon. You were just trying to keep your land safe. Worse, it's trying to keep your food supply safe!"
"It was indeed survival of the fittest. The fittest were the warriors strong enough and smart enough to survive our skirmishes. The survival of the fastest, smartest, and strongest,
gave birth to my generation, and in turn my generation will give birth to a new caliber of dragon."
"Fine, but it's still not the same thing as being killed for food like you killed humans."
"Of course it was not. We dragons are the top of the food chain. Therefore, we fight each other. You humans are at the top of the food chain now, are you not?"
"Well… I suppose. Occasionally someone still gets eaten by a mountain cat or a bear or a shark or something, but not in the same numbers that we kill them."
"And do you fight each other to keep your numbers down?"
She shook her head. "We don't do it with the intent of keeping our numbers down. They fight for stupid reasons, like religion or land or politics."
The dragon took a moment to process this information. "Just how many people live in this land now?"
"In this country—ah, Canada," she said tentatively, uncertain how much he had learned since the events inside the cavern, "there's about thirty million people."
"Million?"
"Yeah um…. One million is one person more than nine hundred… um." She stopped, and thought about it another way. "You know how many a thousand is, right? What about ten
thousand? Okay, ten thousand people, a hundred times over, is a hundred thousand. A hundred thousand people, a hundred times over, is a million people. And there are thirty of
those groups of people in this country."
"Such numbers!" The dragon shook his head. "How do you feed yourselves? No, no. I must answer your questions now. I have many questions, and I will have much time to learn
the answers. You asked what would have happened to you in my world. Back then, all those years ago, had you the ability to become an animal, you would have been a liaison
between our groups of people. You would have carried messages and orders. Sometimes you would have been animal, and other times you would have been human, as you were
now. The humans would have believed you were somehow semidivine."
"You mean I would have been some kind of a… a spirit guide?"
His dark eyes lit up, pleased that she knew the term. "Mackenzie made it sound as if all of our ways had been lost. I am pleased to see he was incorrect. Yes, a spirit guide. You
would have been sacred to them, untouched, for you were semidivine. You would have also been untouchable by us, to show honor to the humans. You could have died an old maid
with honor, but you also could have had sexual encounters with humans and been free from persecution, for you would have done them honor by laying with them. You could have
also had a dragonlover, and though he would take precautions to ensure no child would come of the marriage, having such a man would have been an honor to you, reaffirming the
trust and love between our kind and the humans."
"And if I couldn't have changed my shape?"
"Then no one would now the origin of your birth and you would be just another girl, perhaps stronger or hardier than the rest, but no different from them. By now, you may be
courted, or perhaps already married, provided that you had started your woman's blood and were fertile." He watched the blush spread over her cheeks. "No woman's blood, then?"
Anger flashed in her eyes. "That's really none of your business," she snapped. "Why wouldn't you have wanted to have a child with someone who was halfhuman?"
"Because there is never any guarantee that the child would be like you, and be unable to change. While sexual relations with a human girl is acceptable, mating is not. It is a
weakening of our blood, and would endanger us. We dragons are to remain strong to protect our lands from the other clans. We cannot do so when we lose our power by mingling
our blood with humans. In the same way that… that a man may seek solace with an animal for companionship, breeding between the two should not take place."
The snapping anger in her eyes turned to outright ferocity. "Are you comparing us to some kind of a pet dog?!" she roared, her vice echoing in the forest.
He frowned. "One with a very bad temper in your case." Her cheeks turned beet red, and it amused him. There was a patient smile on his face Beth wanted to claw off. "If you
promise to behave and not try and do something foolish like attack me or run away, I will untie you, if you wish."
"I'd prefer some clothes, thank you," she snarled. Regardless her defensive attitude Beth straightened her legs so that he could untie them without getting close to him. As
handsome and as kind as the dragon was turning out to be, he was still her enemy and captor. He also had a major attitude problem. The pride he exuded was quickly becoming a
turnoff.
The dragon cracked his knuckles, extending claws. They took Beth by surprise, but they made sense. He had to have some way to defend himself when he was in his human form.
Apparently he had claws. She eyed his hairline. He also had horns, she knew, wondering where they were hiding under his ebony hair. His hand brushed her ankle, his touch
shocking her. He paused at the sensation and drew his hand back slowly, staring at the back of his hand as if it were something traitorous or disgusting, yet the emotion only
showed in his eyes. The rest of his face was as emotionless as ever.
"Strange… I have been asleep for so long, it feels so good to have contact. For so long, there were only dreams, and the fading memories of what constituted sunshine, or the scent
of the ocean air, or… or touch." He turned from his hand to Bethany. She had her arms crossed over her forming breasts and she was leaning over, trying to hide her belly, her legs
crossed to hide the junction of her legs.
The color of her skin was smooth and even, and her body looked so soft. Every part of him yearned to lean over and to touch her shoulder, to feel the warmth and delicateness of
her skin and the muscle beneath it, just to remind himself that he still knew what touch was. He wanted to lean over and smell her hair, faint traces of an exotic, flowerscented
shampoo still clinging to her hair.
Years of propriety stopped him. He knew that once had he felt such urges he would not have hesitated on them, but that was when such an advances would have been welcome.
Beth had made it clear that she wished no such advances from him in her body language, protecting herself from him with her weak arms. "You… you are ashamed of your nudity."
She nodded. "Why?"
She arched an eyebrow. She didn't like her body. She hated her body. It never did what she asked it too, and she didn't look like other girls in her class. She hated the pudge she
still had on her sides and her cheeks, and she wished that she had enough breasts to at least support an Acup properly. She felt awkward and gangly and it was
n't fair. Worse, now
she had a man eyeing her and she kept wondering if he was going to eat her or force himself on her. God knew that he was strong enough to do it.
"It's not considered appropriate to go naked anymore."
He rubbed his chin, pondering what she had said. "Yes. There were vestments piled up in the cave. The hawkshifter brought your coat for you to act as a blanket to keep your body
from becoming cold or dirty. She told me that they had clothing for me as well, but they would have hindered my ability to hunt. I do not wish to be confined."
She shrugged. "No one wants to be confined, but you'll be confined more if you walk around naked. You might as well get used to wearing clothes. Just wear pants and sandals.
That's considered appropriate enough for walking around." She blinked. "Aren't you cold?"
"No. I will be when the winterrains begin, but a welloiled skin will keep the rain from me." He eyed her again. "It is a shame you rely upon vestments. I do not think that I would
like to see you clothed. Then I would not be able to see your body and admire it."
The dragon smiled at her, his eyes warming with laughter when he saw the leaves clinging to her hair. He leaned over the coat to pluck the leaf from her hair for her. Her face was
pink form what he had said and she flinched when he leaned over her. His fingers gently grasped the leaf from her hair. She froze, and she heard the air escape from her pert mouth as she relaxed. Her body, it turned out, was nice and warm. He could feel the heat from her blush striking his cheeks.
There were faint traces of her soap and shampoo on her body, but the last three days of travel had worn them away. She smelled attractive. He leaned his head toward her, letting
his cheek press against hers. His fingers entangled themselves in her hair, and he just stayed like that, with nothing touching her save his hand in her hair and his cheek against
hers. He could hear her heart pounding in her chest.
"What are you doing?" she asked nervously.
"I want to kiss you. I do not think that you have been kissed before. I will be the first. You may even like it enough to kiss me back."
He bristled when he felt her recoil from him in fear. He hadn't meant to say that. He had been thinking about it. He had been thinking about it since his hand had touched her ankle
that he should like to kiss her. He hadn't meant to say that, though. And then, there was strange sort of puzzlement when he realized that though she had heard the words, he had
not spoken them out loud.
She had recoiled from him, and yet her cheek was still pressed against his. She had not moved, but he was aware that somehow she had distance himself from him. He could feel
her thoughts. She was thinking about her lips, about how funny they would feel and how it might feel to have him kiss… and then came the rolling wave of shame and ferocious
anger when she realized he had heard them.
The dragon opened his eyes—which was strange because his eyes had always been open. He was still in a forest, but this was different. It was night in this place, and Beth stood in
front of him, and yet it was notBeth. He focused first on the surroundings, looking at the plants. Each of them, he saw, were thoughts and memories. Once this had been a barren mind and now it was a thick jungle, paths obstructed by ethics and morals. The girl who stood in front of him was constantly shifting, as if she were some god of legend.
First she was a young girl, and then a wellformed woman, and sometimes part cat, and sometimes all cat. When she was mad, she was all cat, snarling at hissing at him to warn
him away. Get out of my mind! she snarled at him, human words coming out a feline mouth. The words echoed around him, screamed at him from even the darkest depths of her mind.
He snarled. "You let your guard down. Do not think to yell at me, fool, when your own mind is also to blame."
I am not a fool! Her ears pulled back and the sandycolored fur on the back lifted. This isn't you using telepathy. It's the Soulmate Principle. There is no way to block this. It's a
theory…
"I am well aware of what the principle is," he snapped, looking around her mind again. There were so many plants. How did she find the ones she needed? How did she
so much in her way? "However, you still lack shields on your mind. Even with the principle, I should not be able to see as much of you as I do. Your mind is weak. A telepath could
come in here and wreak havoc, uprooting all of these thoughtplants."
He reached for the plant. At once the feline rushed at him, swiping at his hand. Stop it!
It was too late. His hand delicately brushed the plant. Her memories poured into him. The easiest memories to read were the most recent. They were all about him. He saw himself
as Beth saw him and it startled him. She saw him as some kind of a giant, a foot taller than she was and nearly twice as wide. There was a cold acceptance that if he wished to
harm her she would be unable to fight him off. Underneath those thoughts hid the childish, brawling fear as she prayed to the Maiden that he would not force himself on her.
He didn't think it was a strange thought. For all the blushing, Beth was well aware of her body and how it could be violated. The brutality of her thoughts were no more or less
graphic than a girl her age would have thought in a hostile situation thousands of years ago. Women back then had also been aware of the sanctity of their own bodies and how it
could be violated by their enemies. What had startled him, and even offended him, was that these thoughts were about him.
Of all the people in the world, she should not have to worry about him forcing himself on her. He had promised to protect her and he would protect her even from himself. He was
bound by honor to keep her safe and honor was everything. Without honor he was nothing.
The dragon let the thoughts fall back into place. Words and pictures slowly turned green and coalesced back into the shape of a fern. The dragon turned to face Beth. He found her
pale and naked in fear. He didn't need to touch the plants around him to know her thoughts. She was frightened that he was going to take the knowledge of her fear and use it to
hurt her.
"You're afraid of me," he noted cautiously.
She lifted her face towards him, meeting his eyes. Of course I am.
"I have given you no reason to fear me."
Going through my memories doesn't count? Goddess! All you need to do now is touch me and you can hurt me!
"You are my Soulmate. It is my right and privilege to know you."
Well, I don't want you as my Soulmate! I don't know you and I don't want you to know me!
The dragon spread his hands helplessly. "You haven't even given me the chance."
I don't need to give you a chance. You've told me all you need to. Do you want to see why? Do you!? She threw a memory at him violently.
Bethany stood in front of a mirror. She was thirteen years old, but she appeared younger. It was her birthday. She was a teenager now, and she felt like puberty was just around
the corner. Beth hoped that she would be able to change her shape now. She reached down inside of herself, focusing on her power. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on changing
her shape. She focused as hard as she could imagining what it would feel like to walk on four legs, and have whiskers and feel the world through fur. She peeked out of one eye. Was her skin tawnier than it had been a moment before? Were her eyes more golden than green?
After half an hour of trying Beth had to accept the changes she saw were nothing more than flights of fancy. She was desperate to change. She was trying so hard to force it upon
herself that her head was pounding and every fiber of her body hurt, burning hot to the touch. In the end, she collapsed against the floor of her bedroom, pressing her cheek against
the cerulean carpet, sobbing.
This
wasn't the body she was supposed to be in. She felt trapped and claustrophobic, emotionally and physically weak. This wasn't supposed to be her. This wasn't supposed to be!
Why wasn't she allowed to change? Why!?
The memory faded away. The dragon understood, and he pitied her. He could not imagine being trapped in one shape like that, and especially such a weak and unstable one,
incapable of defending itself. In his world she would be nothing more than his lover, never fully accepted by his society for her inability to shift and never fully accepted by the
human one because she was too strong, too fast, and too wild. No matter what their connection, she would never be seen as his partner, the way things were supposed to be. She
wanted more than that. She wanted acceptance, and that was the one thing he was incapable of giving her.
Worse, they were enemies. He would become strong and when he was done, when he was at his peak, they would bleed her again. There was always a possibility that she would
survive the second resurrection. If she did live, when their war broke out she would continue to be nothing more than his captive, his prisoner of war.
Then there was the age difference, which created a whole new problem. He'd had lovers before, and yet she still shied away at the sight of his body and tried to hide hers,
ashamed. He had much more experiences than she did, and he refused to force anything upon her. Worse still! How could they deal with the racial differences? He had eaten
humans. It was natural for him, no more different than eating a pig or a cow or some other weak creature. He had eaten enemy warriors and heretics and criminals, but they were
all humans. She was part human. How could she ever learn to feel anything for him other than fear and revulsion when she failed to see him as anything other than some humaneating
monster?
Fate was laughing at him. He had awoken to discover a new adventure only to discover that the differences between his society and Beth's barred them from becoming close to one
another. He stared at her, taking in her face and the pain he saw fleeting over it. He could feel the bonds tying them together, no matter how much Beth fought them or denied
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