Dragon Scales

by Sasha L. Miller

  "I'm not going to hurt you!" Amantea blurted out when Isaia approached and offered him the knife. "I have to cut them out?!"

  "No, no," Isaia said, smiling. "You'll be prying them out. The knife is just the only thing I could find quickly. I'm going to shift into dragonling form. The scales under my front legs are loosest. Just find a few that are ready to molt and pull them free. It won't hurt at all."

  "Oh," Amantea said, taking the knife gingerly. It was heavy and the blade was thick. He swallowed against a surge of nerves. What if he screwed it up and did hurt Isaia?

  "Try and get three," Isaia said. Amantea didn't get a chance to ask why, as Isaia started to shift. Amantea took a few steps back, giving him room to change.

  Dragonling form was apparently Isaia's smaller dragon form, the one without wings and with the spiky, bobbed tail. It took Isaia several minutes to shift, and Amantea approached him nervously, nearly jumping out of his skin when Isaia flopped over and then rolled to lie on his back.

  "I guess that's easier," Amantea muttered. Why did he have to be the one to do this? Why couldn't Teria? Why couldn't Naldo have asked for Teria's scales? But that was easy to answer: Teria wasn't a full dragon.

  Sighing, Amantea surveyed the scales under Isaia's left leg. They all seemed the same, and he hesitantly poked and prodded at them, trying to find a loose one, which wasn't helped by the soft growling Isaia made every time he exhaled. The scales were soft but firm, strangely textured like some of the weirder plants Amantea's forest boasted, and even warmer than Amantea remembered Isaia's hands being.

  Amantea finally found one that was paler than the rest and pulling away from Isaia's body at one side. Gingerly, he slipped the tip of the knife under it and teased it away from the rest of the scales. It came easily, leaving Amantea with a paper-thin, pale red disc about the size of his hand. Underneath, there was already a more vivid scale in place, which was a relief. Amantea had been afraid he might see skin under the missing scale, and he wasn't sure he could handle that.

  It took him several more minutes to find two more loose scales, but finally he had three. They were all slightly irregular, and Amantea hoped their age didn't work against the antidote. He might not like Naldo, but he didn't want to let anyone die. Maybe that was why Isaia had said to get three, just to make sure there was enough potency.

  "You can shift again," Amantea said. He set the last scale on top of the other two, marveling at the way they were paper-thin, but didn't shift or bend. Isaia growled, rolling back over. He hissed, his tongue flicking out to taste the air by Amantea's head. Amantea stared at him, baffled, but dismissed it when Isaia started to shift.

  He fetched Isaia's wrap from where it had fallen when he'd shifted previously and brought it to Isaia as soon as he was back in his small form.

  "Thanks," Isaia said. He tied it in place while Amantea scurried to get the discarded knife and dragon scales. They were lightweight, and Amantea handed them off to Isaia, along with the knife, not wanting to hold either. His stomach sank as he realized that was his part done. He could go home.

  Isaia headed toward the house, but Amantea didn't follow. He bit his lip, wondering what to say. Goodbye sounded so final, but it was final. He was going home. Isaia would also be going home, and Amantea didn't know where that was. He took a deep breath, trying to force the words past his lips.

  "Amantea?" Isaia asked, turning a few steps from the house. "You coming?"

  Amantea shook his head. "You don't need me anymore. I don't want anything from him. He's... I'm..." Amantea took a deep breath, lifting his gaze to meet Isaia's. "My nest is safe. I should go home."

  "Oh, right," Isaia said. He set the knife down on the porch, along with two of the dragon scales. He carried the third back over to where Amantea stood, grabbing one of Amantea's hands and pressing the dragon scale into it. "For everything you've done."

  "What?" Amantea asked, startled. "No, I can't—"

  "I insist," Isaia said, cutting Amantea off. "Just don't use it in spells against me, all right?"

  Amantea scoffed because that wasn't how faerie magic worked, and Isaia should know that. "I won't." He curved his hands around the scale, biting his lip. He should go, before he said or did something stupid. "I promise."

  "Thank you," Isaia said, softly, like Amantea had done something great for him. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Amantea's forehead. Amantea blinked, shocked into silence, and Isaia stepped back after a second, something like disappointment crossing his face. Had Amantea missed something? "See you around, flit."

  Amantea scowled, but Isaia hadn't sounded like he'd meant it like an insult, so he let it go. He nodded, not sure he could trust his voice, and Isaia cast him a last look before heading back to the house. He disappeared inside, leaving Amantea alone in Naldo's backyard.

  Stifling a sigh, Amantea tucked the dragon scale into his pocket and shifted to his smaller form. He'd fly out to the forest and then either build a portal or fly back to his nest. Naldo's town wasn't too far from the nest, and a good long flight might help him gather his scattered thoughts.

  Taking off, Amantea started the flight home, focusing on the wind in his hair and not the thought that he'd likely never see Isaia ever again.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "Amantea!"

  Amantea shifted, burrowing his face further into the soft down of his pillow.

  "Amantea! I know you're up there! Come out, sweetie!"

  Muttering under his breath, Amantea pulled the pillow up over his head despite knowing it would do nothing to block out the sound of his mother's voice. The only thing he had in his favor was that she wouldn't enter his nest; it was incredibly taboo to enter a nest unless one was explicitly invited, and Amantea had no intentions of extending an invitation to anyone.

  No, his intentions were to stay in his nest for as long as possible and pretend the world outside the leaves he was snuggly ensconced in didn't exist. That his mother wasn't after him to make grandchildren now the nest was safe again, that the elders of the nest weren't after him to sit him down and talk at him about how dangerous it had been for him to leave (completely ignoring that he'd fixed the problem), and that Isaia didn't exist and therefore, wasn't at the forefront of Amantea's every thought.

  He wanted to leave again, which was ridiculous given he'd only been home for a week and a half. He'd spent most of that time sleeping and hiding, and yet, he still itched to port himself back to Isaia's house. Except Isaia wouldn't be there because it wasn't his home. He doubted Naldo knew where Isaia was, and he wasn't sure even Teria would still be at Naldo's house. All Amantea had was a lone dragon scale, and nothing more.

  He should stop moping. He should stop re-living the moment when Isaia had kissed him on the forehead. He should stop analyzing everything that had happened over the few days he'd spent with Isaia. Was that short a period long enough to get infatuated with someone? Amantea ran his fingers over Isaia's scale, frowning miserably at it. It was, at least for him, but he wasn't stupid enough to think Isaia had felt the same way. Isaia had been nothing but direct, so he'd have said something.

  "Amantea!" His mother's voice cut through the leaves of his nest again. "Honestly, this is getting ridiculous. I'll be in the center if you decide to deign us with your presence."

  "Not when 'us' is going to include someone you want me to mate with," Amantea muttered into his pillow, knowing she couldn't hear him. He hadn't been home one day before his mother had started in on that again. Amantea heaved a sigh. He heard the soft sounds of his mother's wings flying her away, but he still didn't move, staring at the leafy ceiling of his nest morosely.

  The soft sounds of the forest were usually lulling. Birds, insects, the wind in the trees; those were the sounds of his life, the sounds that he fell asleep to and woke to in the morning. Now they grated along his nerves, reminding him he was stuck in his nest lest he be subjected to all the things he was avoiding.

  Sitting up, Amantea glanced around. His nest was cozy, on th
e smaller side. Individual nests weren't meant to be large; they were for sleeping and for mating, and most of the faeries spent the majority of their time in the center of the group nest or in one of the nooks for schooling or harvesting seeds or otherwise not in their own nests.

  Amantea had several flowers tucked around the nest, growing carefully along leafy seams. He also had several mushrooms growing at the head of his sleeping leaves, their earthy smell pervading the whole nest. Amantea bit his lip. He liked their presence. They were comforting, and he loved the way they smelled.

  They would be perfect to port out of the nest without anyone noticing. If he left his nest to find mushrooms, someone might find him, force him to the center, force him to speak with the elders or his mother... but he should do that anyway. His life was here, not out searching for a dragon who was probably counting his lucky stars he wasn't stuck with a flit any longer.

  Amantea snapped a mushroom stalk. He'd go out, clear his head, and then come back and deal with his mother and everything else. He could plant more mushrooms later. Biting his lip, Amantea focused on the lake shore and set his anchors.

  A few minutes later, he was sitting on the rocky lakeshore, staring out at the water. It looked so small, but Amantea could still recall the cold and dark, the way the water invaded his lungs and smothered the air from them. Shivering, Amantea climbed to his feet. The hill where Isaia's house was situated wasn't far off. Amantea started walking toward it, breathing deeply as the wind brought the smell of sun-touched grass to him.

  Isaia wouldn't be there. Amantea knew it. Maybe he could find one of Isaia's wraps, or some other memento. As though the dragon scale wasn't enough. Amantea slipped his hand into his pocket, running his fingers over the smooth surface of the scale. The house was still hidden, but when Amantea slipped through the trees, he could see it. The stone building looked unchanged from the last time Amantea had seen it, and he walked up to the door.

  Should he knock? Or just let himself in? Isaia wasn't there, Amantea reasoned, and opened the door.

  He promptly squeaked, stepped back, and shut the door, because Isaia was there, and he was in his smaller form, and he was entirely naked again.

  Amantea smothered his face with his hands. He should've knocked. He shouldn't have squeaked. Now what did he do? He'd embarrassed himself thoroughly there, and his only thought was that he should leave before Isaia realized who the strange flit on his doorstep was—the door opened.

  "Amantea," Isaia said, and Amantea dropped his hands. Isaia had put on one of his wraps, a black one that stood out in stark contrast against his red scales. He was also smiling, likely at Amantea's expense. "Good afternoon."

  "Hi," Amantea said. Hi. This had been a horrible idea. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole, but it didn't seem to be obliging. "Um. Sorry. I should've knocked. I didn't think you'd be here."

  Isaia stepped back, holding open the door for Amantea. "Where did you think I'd be?"

  "Your home," Amantea said, slipping inside. He had to walk close to Isaia to do so, and was able to tell that Isaia smelled like sun-warm grass, a fact that did nothing to calm his nerves. "Your real home. Where your hoard is and your family. Um." Amantea bit his lip, stopping inside. Why had he come inside? He didn't have a good reason for being here, and Isaia would ask—

  "So why are you here, then?" Isaia asked. He shut the door, a smile still curving his lips. He didn't look mad or like he found Amantea amusing. He simply looked happy, and Amantea hadn't expected that.

  "Um," Amantea said, looking down. He sighed, running a hand through the mess of his hair. He hadn't even tried to make himself look presentable. He was wearing a simple smock shirt and trousers that had only one pocket, and that one barely fit Isaia's scale. His hair was a mess and he probably looked a fright, given he'd spent most of his last week inside his nest.

  "Well?" Isaia asked. He leaned against the door, and Amantea shrugged. How did anyone do this? He'd had a few liaisons with other faeries (none that had produced grandchildren, to his mother's everlasting regret), but the other faeries had always instigated, so Amantea had been sure of their affections.

  He didn't think Isaia felt that strongly for him, and he didn't know how else to explain why he was there. Perhaps it was better to simply say it and leave; then he could let go of the stupid daydreams in his head and focus on returning to his normal life. Looking up at Isaia through his hair, Amantea said quietly, "I missed you."

  "Yeah?" Isaia asked, his smile widening. "Did you now?"

  "I just said that I did," Amantea said, crossing his arms defensively. So Isaia was going to make fun of him, then. "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just—"

  "What did you miss?" Isaia asked, taking a huge step forward. It put him barely a few inches in front of Amantea, and Amantea swallowed, suddenly unsure what was going on. "The way I dragged you around?"

  "No," Amantea said, scowling. He shoved Isaia's chest. "You don't need to make fun of me." He tried to move around Isaia, but Isaia was quicker, throwing an arm around Amantea's waist and pulling him flush against Isaia's warm body.

  "I missed you," Isaia said, using his other hand to brush Amantea's hair away from his face. "I missed you yelling at me and not backing down from me. Not many do that. Even Naldo was a little afraid of me."

  Amantea snorted, his heartbeat kicking up without his permission. His face felt too hot, and he didn't know what to say. "You don't think I'm a silly flit?"

  "Sometimes," Isaia said, grunting when Amantea drove a knee into his thigh. "But we're all silly flits sometimes."

  "Hmph," Amantea muttered, not sure he should let Isaia get away with calling him a silly flit that easily.

  "But you're also smart and good at seeing the things I miss," Isaia said. "I didn't even register that Naldo was sick."

  "He was coughing," Amantea said, disbelieving. "Even when he had us in that trap."

  "Right," Isaia said, a smile cutting across his face. He traced a fingertip down the side of Amantea's face, making him want to squirm. "Did I mention that I missed you?"

  "Maybe," Amantea said, giving into the urge to reach out and touch Isaia. He ran his fingers over the scales on Isaia's shoulders, marveling at how soft each little ridge was. Isaia pressed closer, and the wrap around his hips did nothing to disguise how interested he was in Amantea.

  Isaia didn't say anything more, dipping his head to brush a soft kiss against Amantea's lips. Amantea shivered, the soft touch sending a rush of adrenaline through him. He wanted Isaia, and Isaia wanted him. The thought was heady, and Amantea tried to tug Isaia closer, deepen the kiss, but Isaia pulled away with a chuckle.

  He even went so far as to pull away from Amantea completely, leaving him cold and bereft and alone. Amantea pouted, wondering what the problem was. Isaia quirked his fingers at Amantea, leading the way over to the kitchen area. Amantea followed, poring over their interaction. Why had Isaia stopped?

  "Do you know much about dragons?" Isaia asked. He pulled two wooden cups from a cabinet, setting them down on the counter next to a jug that certainly hadn't been there the last time Amantea had been in Isaia's house. He poured two cups and passed one to Amantea.

  "No," Amantea said, sipping at his cup of wine. It was sweet, based off the riethberry, which was possibly one of Amantea's favorite berries ever. He bit his lip, looking at Isaia worriedly. Was there something about Isaia being a dragon that would make this not work? "Why?"

  "Dragons..." Isaia frowned, looking down at his cup. He swallowed a large portion of it, as though he needed the fortitude, and then continued. "We don't mate for life, but we also aren't very good at... flings."

  Amantea bristled, then made himself stop. He didn't need to get angry at the implication. Faeries were well known for being flighty and from jumping from lover to lover. "I don't like flings. I... I've had a few," Amantea said and started when Isaia growled.

  "Sorry," Isaia muttered.

  "Right," Amantea said, scowling at Isaia. "I don't
like them. They're... they don't feel right." He shrugged. He'd never been able to explain it well. He'd tried, several times, but faeries didn't care for commitments or that sort of thing, and his mother had never gotten it.

  "Good," Isaia said. "So you know that if we decide to continue this, it would be a serious affair."

  "Yes," Amantea said. He sipped at the wine. "Um, yes, I want to continue." His eyes dropped to Isaia's wrap, and he jerked them back up because that had not been subtle... but he was allowed to be not subtle now, right?

  Isaia smirked at him, and Amantea rolled his eyes, hiding his embarrassment behind another sip of wine. "And your nest won't mind?"

  "I don't care what my nest thinks," Amantea said. He scowled. If any of them tried to take issue with it, he'd make a new nest, somewhere near Isaia. He could do that anyway. He hesitated. "Would your family care?"

  Isaia snorted. "With Teria as my sister? No."

  "Oh, right," Amantea said softly. He'd forgotten that. He drank the rest of his wine and set the cup on the counter next to Isaia's. He wasn't far from Isaia, and he looked at him questioningly, not sure if he should try to resume what they'd started by the door or if Isaia had more objections.

  Isaia answered that question by stepping in close again and kissing Amantea. He kissed softly, sweetly, like Amantea was a treat that he wanted to savor for as long as he could. Amantea melted against him, taking the chance to smooth his hands along the trails of Isaia's scales again, up along his arms and over his shoulders.

  "How far do you want to take this?" Isaia asked, one hand settling at the small of Amantea's back.

  In answer, Amantea tugged at the knot on Isaia's wrap, pulling it free and letting the wrap fall to the floor. He raised his eyebrows in challenge, and Isaia grinned, a hungry, lustful look on his face that went straight to Amantea's cock. Isaia kissed him again, no longer slow and sweet, and Amantea grunted, startled into nearly falling over. Isaia's hand on his back steadied him, pulled him closer, and heat spiraled through Amantea's body.