Roommates

by Valerie Reyes

  Chapter 6

  When morning came, Rasenth was up and ready to make arrangements to tackle the day. Given that Tazour was gone, he assumed that Syrenth would be staying for a few days, and so he wanted to be up and amongst the other dragons as he usually would in the mornings, so that no one thought his behavior was odd. He would have loved to stay in bed with Syrenth until late morning, but unfortunately that would just give rise to suspicions and gossip within the clan.

  “Has that Inferno dragon left yet?” Lyshara asked as soon as she caught sight of Rasenth. He hoped that she hadn’t heard any of the noise from last night, but it was hard to tell. She was pissed off, that was plain enough, but he didn’t know if it was from knowing that Syrenth was there, or if it was something more.

  “No, Lyshara. The poor boy isn’t even awake yet--but you should really give him a break. The hatchlings could be dead by now if he wasn’t helping us gather food for them, you know,” Rasenth replied, though it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on her. She was still as angry as before.

  “He will be leaving once he is up, right?” Lyshara asked.

  “He will leave once he is ready to leave--and you will behave yourself around him at that,” Rasenth replied, growling a bit at Lyshara so she would stop being so difficult.

  With Rasenth out of bed, the chamber seemed so cold and empty, and it couldn’t keep Syrenth in his peaceful sleep for long. The young dragon woke up with a long yawn and stretched, but soon began to feel uneasy as his lover wasn’t around. He didn’t feel very safe without Rasenth watching over him, so, he got up and got himself dressed so he could find his lover.

  As he arrived at the entrance to the chamber, the young dragon could hear raised voices, one of them being Rasenth’s. That couldn’t be good. He was starting to wonder if the others knew about their night of passion. Syrenth believed it was best to stay back for now, learn what he could. So, he lingered by the wall of the chamber and listened out to what was being said.

  “I just don’t see why he can’t drop off the food and leave. He’s a fire dragon--and the son of that bastard who won’t even let us hunt during a season of plenty. I can’t see why we should keep him around,” Lyshara replied, still hating the fact that their leader was happily keeping an Inferno dragon in their midst.

  “He may be the son of Tazour, but I won’t have you speaking negatively about him. If you’re going to ramble on all day about it, then you can either go back to your chambers, or get out of these caves altogether,” Rasenth growled, and Lyshara did indeed back down when she saw that her leader wasn’t tolerating this anymore. So, she just began to retreat, planning on going back to her chambers for a little while.

  When Lyshara started walking away, Syrenth finally came out of the shadows and walked up to Rasenth. There were numerous mixed feelings circling the youth’s stomach, and he wasn’t too sure what he should do. He cared about Rasenth, that was certain, but he was also causing a lot of trouble for him in his own tribe. Was it really worth it?

  “Are you okay?” Syrenth asked, not exactly feeling all lovey dovey anymore after hearing his name and family being slatted by the female dragon. Still, Rasenth defended him and was loyal to him. As wonderful as it was, Syrenth couldn’t help but question if it was worth it.

  Lyshara was surprised to see Syrenth, but she just glared at him. “I’d be better if you’d leave. You don’t belong here. The second that Tazour finds out that you’re sneaking off here in your free time, he’ll try and start a war with us, knowing him. We don’t need that on our plates right now. We’d be better off finding a way to get our own food,” Lyshara replied haughtily.

  Such an act of aggression really caught Syrenth off guard. He was rather unaccustomed to being yelled at by anyone but his father, so he instinctively hid for a moment behind Rasenth, unsure of what to say for a moment. He knew he had to defend his presence here, otherwise he wouldn’t see Rasenth again. That was just not an option.

  “My father won’t find out about this. I’m helping you keep your young alive. I’m not an enemy, please don’t treat me like one,” Syrenth piped up after his moment of silence. He wasn’t one for confrontation, so this wasn’t exactly easy on him but it was what had to be done.

  “You might not be an enemy yourself, but your whole tribe is a threat, as well as a pain in our ass,” Lyshara replied. “Your people are selfish and short tempered, and if they had it their way, they’d be glad to see us dead. So, why should I treat you any better than your people would treat us?” Lyshara hissed.

  “Because he is not just an extension of his tribe, he is an individual, and you will treat him as such,” Rasenth replied, growling. “Now, if you’d like to fight this out, Lyshara, I’d be happy to take things outside with you. Otherwise, I’d appreciate it if you canned this incessant chatter. If you have a problem with Syrenth, then you evidently have a problem with me.”

  “Why are you taking that brat’s side?” Lyshara asked, getting angry at the older dragon for defending Syrenth so vehemently.

  “Because, he’s my mate, and I won’t have anyone mistreating him on my watch,” Rasenth replied with a deep growl, and the room fell silent. Lyshara couldn’t believe her ears, and honestly Rasenth was a bit surprised with himself. He was so concerned with keeping this whole thing a secret, but now the cat was out of the bag.

  That came as quite a shock to Syrenth, as he wasn’t expecting Rasenth to call him his mate in front of his tribe. Was that intentional or a slip of the tongue? He just didn’t know. It felt like all eyes were on them, and so Syrenth retreated slightly behind the elder dragon, not really sure what to say or where to look. He really had caused more trouble than he was worth now.

  “So, you chose this fire dragon welp?” Lyshara asked, angry to hear that Rasenth was now calling the Inferno tribesman his mate. It felt like betrayal to her.

  “Yes, and if you continue on with this sort of behavior, Lyshara, then I will take Syrenth off and leave you to defend the tribe yourself, and we’ll see how eager you are to pick fights then,” Rasenth threatened. Considering he was by far the strongest dragon in the tribe, and no one else was even close to being strong enough to lead the tribe successfully, that quickly shut everyone up.

  With that, Rasenth took Syrenth back into their room so that they could be alone, and there would be no more bickering on the issue with his clan. “I’m sorry for their behavior--they’re idiots. The lot of them.”

  Syrenth didn’t know what to say. He wanted to stop Rasenth there before he made a huge mistake. Choosing a new mate over his whole tribe just seemed like Rasenth was risking too much here, so Syrenth was incredibly worried. He didn’t hesitate to follow the elder dragon into the chambers, though he was incredible on edge after all that.

  “Am I really worth all this trouble? Your tribe… The hate me. Surely this can’t be good for you?” Syrenth asked, a worried tone penetrating his voice as he just sat down on the bed. He couldn’t believe this. So much for keeping it all a secret. They hadn’t done well with that at all.

  “Don’t ask such a stupid question. If you weren’t worth the trouble, I wouldn’t go out of my way to defend you,” Rasenth replied, but he realized that was being a little harsh, so he just gave Syrenth a kiss. “Besides, that was a bluff. No one in the tribe would risk losing me for protection. They’re all rather weak, you see, so if anyone tried to start a fight with them, if would be hard for them to defend themselves,” Rasenth explained. As of right now, everyone would be talking amongst each other about what just happened, and if they were wise, they would all be agreeing to take in Syrenth without complaint, or they’d lose their clan’s alpha. If that should happen, the whole clan would be completely defenseless, and so it was pretty clear to Rasenth that everyone would decide unequivocally that they needed to be a bit kinder and more accepting towards Syrenth.

  Syrenth wasn’t convinced by this, but he did appreciate the kiss and the softer tone in his lover’s voice. He didn’t believ
e he was worth all this trouble. This was supposed to be a wonderful new thing, but all Syrenth could think about was his father finding out, and trying to kill Rasenth for it. At this moment in time, he wasn’t sure if he could go through with it.

  “No. I can’t let you do this,” Syrenth replied, and stepped away from his lover. He felt awful. It was as though his stomach was ripping itself apart with guilt. There was no way the tribe would look to Rasent the same way they used to after this. He would be looked down upon and talked about behind his back. The elder would become an outsider, and that wasn’t right.

  “This is going to ruin you. You can’t go through with this. I’m not worth it. Call it off,” Syrenth demanded, though it was clear this wasn’t an easy decision to make. This whole thing was making him a little teary eyed as he didn’t want to lose Rasenth. He wanted to stay with him here in these caves, but it wasn’t worth the trouble. Tazour would go insane if he found out, and Rasenth would become hated. It just wasn’t worth it.

  Rasenth felt all the warmth of the previous night disappear in an instant, and he just frowned. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure how to react to Syrenth telling him that he wanted to get out of this whole affair. It felt like a stab to his heart, and just made him a mix between terribly and soul crushingly disappointed that he’d lost Syrenth already, and angry that Syrenth wasn’t going to stay with him any longer.

  “If that’s how you feel about everything, then I can’t very well force you to stay,” Rasenth said, a low growl in the back of his throat following that statement to show how upset he was by this.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just not worth it,” Syrenth replied softly, a few tears trickling down his cheek. It was as though he had woken up from a heavenly dream into a horrifying nightmare. He didn’t think he’d lose Rasenth so quickly, but they couldn’t keep this up. If it had stayed secret, then it would have went on for a bit longer, but they would have been found out eventually. Their relationship just wasn’t worth the chaos it would bring.

  “I’m so sorry,” Syrenth said again, then went to the door to leave. At least now Rasenth could just say that he had kicked him out for the good of the tribe, and keep his name and his honour. It was for the best as far as Syrenth was concerned.

  Rasenth took Syrenth’s comment that this just “wasn’t worth it” in the worst possible way, and assumed that Syrenth just didn’t think that keeping contact with Rasenth would be worth the trouble it would cause. If that was how it was going to be, then Rasenth wouldn’t go to any great lengths to chase Syrenth down--it was his own choice.

  “Very well. That’s your decision, after all. Well, gather up whatever you like, and I’ll take you down to the base of the mountain, and see you off,” Rasenth said, his voice as cold as ice as he spoke. He didn’t like being shunned by a man he thought would be his lover. It came off as a terrible insult to him, and if he could he would have lashed out in anger. However, he was still somewhat infatuated with Syrenth from last night, so he didn’t let himself get too worked up.

  “No, i’ll fly myself. I don’t want to cause you anymore trouble,” Syrenth replied, his voice barely even a whisper. This was heartbreaking for him, especially having Rasenth being so cold towards him. Rasenth had never spoken to him that way before, but maybe it was for the best so this didn’t continue.

  Syrenth gathered his things then went out of the chamber, turning into his dragon form and leaving as fast as he could. He really wished he could wake up from this terrible nightmare, but that didn’t seem to be happening any time soon.

  Once Syrenth was gone, Rasenth spent the rest of his day in his room moping. At one point Lyshara came in, just to see what Rasenth was doing. After all, he usually was out and about a bit more. She soon regretted entering, however, as he lashed out at her, and told her to get out of his sight, and make sure that the others did the same. He was in no mood to play games with anyone, or to tolerate the people who ruined his new relationship with their damned ignorance.

  Rasenth stayed in his room, moping and keeping to himself for an entire week, not eating at all, and sleeping far too much. Once he finally broke out of the funk he was in, his clansmen were all suffering without having been able to eat much while he was refusing to hunt. However, now he was ready to be a proper leader again, and so he took out Lyshara and they went a day’s journey to the south, going to a great gulf and fishing for everyone with nets made of ice. This pattern continued for some time, and Rasenth continued getting creative to feed everyone. He had to be, after all. Sure, it wasn’t easy, but he was doing his best to provide, and to distract himself from the thoughts and memories of Syrenth.

  Chapter 7

  Three months had passed since Rasenth and Syrenth’s night of passion, but it had certainly not been forgotten. Syrenth wasn’t the same when he got home. He wasn’t the happy go lucky youth he once was. No one could go near him without being snapped at or threatened. Even when Tazour returned he couldn’t make his son see sense. Syrenth was miserable, and things were only getting worse.

  Over the last week, the young dragon had felt ill. He had stayed in his dragon form, unable to turn human, but he didn’t care, and he didn’t seek the attention of the elders to see what was wrong with him. Tazour believed he was just sulking, though he didn’t know what it was over. There had been endless arguments between them, only stopping when Syrenth got upset and Tazour would try and comfort him. Then they would get along for a little while, but the vicious cycle would normally resume soon after.

  This was Syrenth’s seventh day of being unwell, and today he just couldn’t sit still. He paced around his room, feeling pains in his stomach and strange feelings all over his body. The whole ordeal was really beginning to frighten him, but he didn’t know what to do. Tazour was out for the day, doing his rounds in the town, and so he was all alone. No one was here to help him or comfort him. Syrenth would have given anything to have Rasenth here with him, especially as things continued to grow stranger.

  Syrenth let out an ear piercing scream as he felt something coming out of him. He didn’t know what it was, or what was happening. All he could feel was something needing to get out, so he pushed it and pushed it. Within minutes, something fell to the floor. The young dragon looked down, only to see a large purple egg sitting there, and that wasn’t the only one to come.

  After fifteen minutes of excruciating pain, lying on the floor were three purple eggs, and Syrenth couldn’t believe it. He was exhausted from the process, and he was terrified that he had even laid eggs in the first place. It could only mean that these were Rasenth’s, and his night of passion had come back to haunt him. He couldn’t hide hatchlings from his father. Everyone would find out that he had mated with an ice dragon, as at least one of these eggs would be an ice dragon.

  Panic was starting to fill Syrenth’s mind, but his body began to feel more normal. He was able to change into his human form now, and he grabbed the eggs and hid them in his bed, covering them with a soft, warm blanket to keep them hidden and warm, then fled the house. Rasenth had to know about this. Syrenth just didn’t know what to do or how to proceed. So, once he was out of the house he shifted into his dragon form and flew to the ice mountains.

  This was not a flight Syrenth wanted to take, not after laying three eggs. However, it was his only choice. He ignored the sentries and flew back to where he remembered the cave was, flying with all his might to get there as quickly as he could.

  By the time he reached the cave entrance he could barely move. He collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath as he called for Rasenth, unsure if he was even here, or if he’d even come to him.

  “RASENTH!” Syrenth shouted as loud as he could, then rested his head on the floor to see if anyone would come to him. He prayed they would be kind.

  Rasenth, though he hadn’t seen Syrenth in months, recognized his voice immediately and rushed to the entrance of the cave, wondering what had brought his little fire dragon back to him? Then again, it didn’t sound a
s if Syrenth was in a particularly good mood. Maybe he’d gotten himself in trouble and needed a big strong elder dragon to help him? Or maybe he just missed his fly by night lover and wanted more? It was hard to say.

  “Syrenth, what’s wrong?” Rasenth asked, kneeling down beside Syrenth, as he was rather concerned with how the young dragon just flopped down on the ground when he entered the caves. Maybe he was just winded from the flight, but it was hard to say with any degree of certainty.

  “We need to talk,” Syrenth replied, turning into his human form and honestly wishing he could just hug Rasenth. He had missed him so much, but now they had reason to speak again. Syrenth wasn’t too sure what would come of this conversation. Maybe they could run away together or something? Raise the hatchlings somewhere safe. But, he could think about that later, right now he had to tell his old lover the news.

  Following Syrenth’s lead, Rasenth also turned into his human form, and he took Syrenth into his arms and began carrying him to his chambers, so it would at least be a bit warmer for the fire dragon.

  Once they were there, Rasenth laid Syrenth down on the bed and covered him up with blankets. Though they had parted on bad terms, Rasenth still often thought of Syrenth, and he was hoping that this homecoming signified Syrenth changing his mind about leaving him, and maybe they could be together.

  “Yes, Sy? What do you wish to discuss?” Rasenth asked.

  Syrenth almost couldn’t believe Rasenth was being so caring. He was actually picking him up and being so gentle with him. It was wonderful. Though, he couldn’t savour the loving moment. He just took Rasenth’s hand as he gazed up to his gorgeous eyes and finally gave his old lover the news.

  “I’ve… There is… back home. I’ve just laid eggs, Rasenth. Three eggs,” Syrenth informed Rasenth, rather panicked. He squeezed the elder’s hand tightly, trying to get a hold of himself as he waited for the older dragon’s reaction.