Chapter 8
Blaze flew the dark skies of the strange planet, letting his wings spread wide. He searched for another portal that might lead him to where his people had gone. He traveled through two portals to two different planets. The first planet he called Lonestar did not have any bodies of water like rivers or lakes but it did have plants that contained pockets of water near their roots. Otherwise, the planet surface was dry and barren. He found his food source lacking as well with only small creatures that he could eat. After being there for a few weeks he thought surely he would die alone and wasted away.
A dragon sonar call alerted him of activity in the distance and when he tried to follow it, he found the second portal and traveled through it. He didn’t bother to question why another portal opened — he refused to die on that barren planet alone.
Going through the second portal closed after his passage through it. This time, the small planet he found himself on had a more livable environment with plants, animals, and water. He was grateful to also discover a small group of Drakonians — just not the ones he hoped to find.
This small group of twenty came from a different region of Drakonia and separated somehow through the portals. The group consisted of six adult males, eight adult females, and six dragonlets under the age of ten. They had been living on the small planet for a few weeks before Blaze arrived. None of the adult males were properly trained to a warrior. Nor did they have the skills to organize the group. Blaze was immediately elected, via a vote, to be their leader.
He had not meant to take on this heavy responsibility but he found out that the group originally started with thirty and lost ten within a few weeks. He could not turn his back on them. They needed guidance and the strong hand of a leader. It came to him easily. It felt like he had been training and preparing for this role his whole life. Everything he learned from his warrior training he applied toward ensuring the group’s safety and survival. His first priority was establishing a safe living arrangement.
*****
“We need to scout the area to find the most appropriate area to set up our camp,” he told the males.
“I don’t see why we need to settle in one place. We’ve always moved where the food was,” Cor grouched loudly.
As one of the six adult males who voted against Blaze’s leadership, Cor felt he should have had the position. Yet in the year he spent with the group, he never stepped forward. However, he made it known he felt that Blaze was an outsider, and he resented the interference.
“In the year that you’ve followed the food, you’ve lost ten people. That’s unacceptable. We’ll look for a location near water which will have fish we can eat all year long despite the weather, but also where the soil is rich so we can grow our own food.”
“I’m not a damn farmer!” Cor stomped away. Several of the other males followed him. Blaze ignored them and turned his attention to the males remaining. These would be the ones he would trust to follow his orders.
“I’ve done some scouting.” One of the males stepped forward and spoke. “The eastern region is more fitting. I tried to tell that to Cor and his friends but they insisted we move west or south.”
“What’s your name?”
“Tatumbrog — but my friends call me Tate.”
Blaze reached out to clasp his forearm. “Tate. Why don’t you show me the region you scouted.”
*****
It had been the start to a great turn in the survival of the group. The eastern region proved to be ideal. They found caves that they converted to living dwellings. The temperatures there were more stable than the rest of the planet, so the winters were not so cold and summers not so hot. The fish were plentiful, and when they needed more meat, it was easy enough to hunt. Their dragons were free to fly the skies in peace. And so, for ten years, Blaze lived with his new village and made it home — only he felt like something was still missing in his life.
Blaze could see another dragon in the distance flying in his direction. That would be Shanna, the female he had shared an on-and-off relationship with over the past few years. The females outnumbered the males and only a few mated pairs were found in their group. True mates were fading into non-existence. His dragon tolerated Shanna but lately she had been pushing for them to mate officially. He wanted to hold off. Some part of him refused to give up on the hope of one day finding Arena.
Arena visited him in his dreams often at first. Her image slowly faded over time to where he saw her eyes and her hair but all her other features were not as clear. He knew that finding her now was a long shot, and he should give up that last bit of hope. Shanna wanted to have dragonlets and, to be honest, he too longed to hold a son or daughter in his arms. He had no other family left and liked the idea of starting one of his own.
However, there was no guarantee that he and Shanna would even have a dragonlet. Since he joined this group, only two dragonlets had been born in ten years. It worried him that their species would die out here.
Blaze flew to the shoreline and landed, then shifted into his two-legged form. He watched as the other dragon, much smaller than his, approached and landed. The pretty pale blue scales sparkled before reabsorbing into silky flesh. He knew firsthand how supple and smooth that flesh was.
“Sire, why do you fly alone?” Shanna asked, walking toward him and swaying her plump hips side to side. She certainly knew how to accentuate her curves. He couldn’t help but compare the two females. Arena was not as curvy but he remembered glimpses of her slight form from time to time and it never failed to excite him. The thought of Arena made his body harden. Shanna assumed his arousal was because of her. She reached for his member and began stroking it.
“Shanna, I came out here to be alone.”
“You are alone — with me. Isn’t that better?”
Her talented hands worked his flesh, and he closed his eyes and tilted his head back. She knew her way around a male body, but it was the images of Arena touching him that had his body respond. His breath came out in gasps as he thickened.
He heard her kneel before him on the sand and her warm lips took him inside her mouth. Images of Arena taking him like this filled his thoughts, and he leaked a little. Shanna sucked strong suctions and lapped up the spillage. The gods knew it felt so good. He could lose himself in the pleasure, only it wasn’t fair that he was picturing a different female. He opened his eyes to watch Shanna’s golden brown hair and big brown eyes. He kept her in focus as a reminder, Shanna was real and here with him. Arena was only a fantasy. If he wanted a future with dragonlets, he had to let the fantasy go.
