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And so we reach the end of The First City. Kaer and Tyren's story is wrapping up now, and all will be revealed! Rather than chatter away here like I always do, let's just jump right into the final chapter of this series!

• Faora, of the Flowing Tide

Serevokin Nature

So much could have gone wrong. Tyren knew that it was possible that his mate may have been betrayed, that he was captured or even killed by the Serevokin involved in the plot that the pair had uncovered. He understood that when dealing with traitors that riled against a system that kept peace and order throughout a chaotic world, violence could ensue. He was all too aware of what could already have been lost.

He paced back and forth in the room he had been left by his Serevokin mate, Silikaerati, and Kaer's brother Sholaranati. The black-furred vulpine knew why he had been left behind, and even knew that it made sense. He felt the warmth inside his belly, the life that had begun to grow inside him. It was almost hard for the Lissak fox to believe that barely even an hour earlier, he had left his father to seek out a Serevokin mate.

The elder vulpine - Survivor himself of a Serevokin mateship - had all but begged Tyren not to go into the gardens. He had asked Tyren to wait, to hold out hope that some female of their own people would show an interest in him. Tyren himself knew that there was no hope of such a thing happening, though. The black fur that marked him was the same as that worn by his father, and only the Lo'tyren'naka - those rare vulpine offspring of a Lissak and Serevokin union - carried that mark. Tyren's eyes had blazed as he pointed to his face, to his silver orbs, and demanded what true Lissak female would wish a mate who was second-generation Lo'tyren'naka. Tyren's father had always had little to no luck in that area; Tyren himself hadn't the slightest interest in that war. It had taken everything in him to not simply point out to his father that he had similarly little interest in females of any form.

But his father was gone, away at home or perhaps in one of the city's many taverns. All that was left was Tyren, pacing impatiently as he awaited the return of a mate who he suspected more and more to be in trouble. They had known when they approached the mighty Serevokin Citadel that they could be betrayed by any draconic inside it. They had no way of knowing who the master of the scheme they had uncovered was. They couldn't possibly know who served that master. For all the warmth of the life growing inside him, Tyren found it harder every second to stand in that room and simply wait for Kaer to return. A harem of unwilling breeder-toys kept by a couple Serevokin was one thing. A conspiracy to overthrow the entire new order of the Serevokin Alliance was something else entirely. It was something that could result in the deaths of hundreds, perhaps thousands of beings. The majority wouldn't be Serevokin, either.

Finally, Tyren's patience snapped. He strode over to the weapon rack that sat against one of the walls, and yanked a sword from it. "'Just stay here, Tyren,'" he muttered as he tied the sword's attached loincloth around his naked waist. "'Just wait and hope for a female, Tyren. Just stop. Just wait. Just be patient.' Bah! This has gone on too long. Something's wrong, and I'm not waiting here anymore." He nodded as he spoke, convincing himself of everything as he said it. He knew it felt right, and he knew he couldn't simply sit around any longer.

After all, even a fight with a Serevokin was much better than waiting for them to come to him. Tyren took a deep breath as he released the sword and felt its weight settle comfortably against his side, before he pushed the door open and headed off into the citadel.

Despite the sharp tang of artificial musk and pheromones in the air, Kaer forced his mind into a proper thought process. He ignored as best he could the heat of his brother beneath him, and the snug squeeze of Laran's tailhole still wrapped around his malehood. Instead, his eyes focused on the black-furred vulpine before him. His ebon robes waved slightly near the ground despite how still the Lissak fox stood; some part of Kaer's mind still capable of that level of thought figured it to be because of the hot, thick air being rushed into the room from below. "I know you," he growled as he looked up into the fox's icy eyes. "Or... I would know you. You have a son. Tyren."

Almost immediately, the fox's eyes narrowed and his muzzle curled into a snarl. "I warned him against the Shal'kol," snarled the Lissak as he drew the hood of his robe back, his ears flat atop his head. "I tried to tell him it wouldn't be necessary, that he needn't worry about the Serevokin. I see he didn't listen to me. You are his mate, then?"

As Kaer nodded once, the vulpine relaxed a little. "Then he may take comfort in that he will be the last Lissak required for such a demeaning purpose. All that I have worked for here has lead to this." One corner of the fox's muzzle curled into a half smile. "After all, you saw the vision. You know what happened."

"It is impossible," protested Kaer. "How? The vision comes only when the breeding is successful. No two Serevokin can produce a healthy child. This is fact, since the curse of your ancestors! And what do I call you, anyway, you who commands Serevokin?"

The fox simply rolled his eyes as he snorted once, and he folded his arms across his chest. "I am Lotyr. And you will find that the facts here are different because of me." He strode over slowly towards Kaer, and placed one paw gently on the middle of Laran's back. "I have devoted all of my life to discovering a way to reverse the curse that plagues your kind, Serevokin. When I came close to a solution, I was discovered. I thought I would be in trouble."

Somewhere in Kaer's mind, realization dawned. "The Cult of Rolkotarni. They were the ones who uncovered you."

Lotyr nodded once as he leaned his head back, smiling. "They saw the promise of my work. They saw the potential for their race. They saw exactly what could come, if the Serevokin could breed amongst themselves again. It was a vision worth aspiring to, and I have worked here ever since. I studied your form, inside and out. I have compared your bodies and their inner workings to those of my own people, and the other beings of this land. I have cut deep into your flesh, Serevokin. I have seen that which makes you function, and different from us. And I've learned much."

"You have learned genocide," Kaer replied, his voice flat and hard as stone. "Do you know what the Cult of Rolkotarni stands for? Do you know what they would do, if Serevokin became self-sufficient once more? The Lissak would be wiped out in a new cleansing of this land. The Nakeletori would fall soon after. The Virilo live close enough to the sea to escape on ships for a time, but their escape would be purchased with the lives of the Linorika. And once this land is completely covered with Serevokin, they will expand beyond the seas..." The red draconic trailed off as he watched a smile creep across Lotyr's face. "Do you understand what I am saying? There will be no need anymore for your people! You will have no purpose! You will merely be an impediment to the acquirement of more land, more resources."

It took Kaer a moment to realize that the smile on the fox's face hadn't abated. It only seemed to grow wider at the Serevokin's words, and something completely alien sparkled in Lotyr's eyes. It took Kaer a moment to understand that it was madness. "You... do understand, don't you? You know what will happen."

The fox nodded. "Of course I understand. I know your people's true nature better than you do. I have studied you so closely you couldn't even imagine the things I have seen." He lifted his arms as he looked around the room. "How do you suppose I was able to make this all happen with musk I brewed myself? It is stupid to believe that it's even possible to affect a Serevokin's mind like you do to ours... it's insane to believe that a scent could reverse the curse on your bodies!" His smile turned into a wide, toothy grin as he glanced back down at Kaer. "Unless... unless you know exactly how Serevokin bodies work. And I do.

"I looked, draconic. I cut you open; so, so many of your kind fell beneath my knife. I cut you deep, and I peeled away the scales and the flesh, and I saw you at your most basic. I found where your musk comes from. I saw how it differs from our own. I saw your seed, and through magic I was able to discern its differences as well. I was able to see how the gods changed it, what power turned you away from that which you truly are." Lotyr reached down to gently stroke his left paw along Kaer's hip, before he wrapped a finger and thumb tightly around the base of the Serevokin's still hard shaft. "I saw all that makes you what you are, and I saw how to change it. How chemicals in the air can affect your mind, make you need to mate... and how chemicals in the air can enter your body, and change your seed."

Despite the shiver of pleasure that worked its way from Kaer's malehood through his body, the Serevokin forced himself to keep his focus as best he could on Lotyr's words. "If you know how to do all of that, why does this musk not affect you? For that matter, why does mine not affect you?"

Lotyr smirked as he twisted his fingers slowly around Kaer's length, and he squeezed tighter as he felt the Serevokin grind lightly forward. "Because, as I said, I studied your forms closely," he replied smugly. "Serevokin are not affected by your own musk, despite what it does to other beings. I was able to use my magic to isolate what causes that clouding of the mind, though not what allows you to command our thoughts. I simply created a musk with similar properties, but works in opposite. It affects you, Serevokin. It drives you into deep rut. And yet, we are not affected." His smile turned cruel again. "Similarly, I worked in secret to develop a counter to your ability to command my mind. Only my mind. No Serevokin musk will ever affect me again, and I will not be sharing that particular chemical. My plans demand it stay with me."

Despite the twitch of his hips, Kaer recognized that too much was at stake to allow himself to simply give into the pleasurable sensations that sparkled along the nerves of his malehood. "But if you hate the Serevokin so, then why did you not change us in a different way? Why did you not make us completely sterile? Why did you not make us poison one another?"

Again the fox snorted, as he released Kaer's shaft and backed away again. "I have no interest in the Serevokin becoming extinct," he bit out. "No, you need to be very much alive if you are to grow in number once again. So limited in number, it is impossible for you to go to war again."

A completely different shiver wrapped around the draconic's spine as he looked over the Lissak again. "And we return to genocide," he said. "You will die too, Lotyr. Your son will die. Your people will burn beneath a Serevokin purge, and you will probably be the first to fall in the crusade. The Lissak will perish-"

"And so they should!" the fox roared, and his fur bristled as he jabbed a finger at Kaer. For the first time, the draconic noticed that Lotyr's right paw was adorned with a golden wrist band. Golden sheaths covered his fingers, and that gold melted into a formed, platinum plate that coated the back of his paw. "The Lissak need to be purged! The Lissak, and the Nakeletori, and the Linorika, and the Virilo, and anything else! Know you nothing of the Lo'tyren'naka? We are reviled, Serevokin. We are hated with the intensity that your kind was, in the days of the old wars."

He brought his paw up to point at the brand upon his forehead with one golden finger. "This, this and our fur is the mark of the hated. We, who are not to blame for our appearance! We, who were born to these bodies in a manner completely unnatural!" Lotyr began to snarl through every word he spoke, and spittle flew from his muzzle as he angered further. "Do you think that we're accepted by our people once we are branded Survivors? Do you think that they look past the fur and the mark, to see us as Lissak? You are wrong!

"Instead we are treated as diseased. We are given no chance to seek a mate. The years spent as a Serevokin First were the only years of comfort and company I ever had, and will ever have! No female Lissak would look at me! Even the males would turn me away! Such is the fate of all Lo'tyren'naka; doomed to a life of misery by people who cannot look past the exterior! We are dead to our own people!"

Kaer hissed out his breath as he looked over the vulpine. "And as you are dead to them, so they must die."

Immediately Lotyr calmed, and he smiled coldly down at Kaer. "And they will. They will suffer under the Serevokin, once the curse is lifted for all your people. The true Serevokin nature will show itself, and you'll take my vengeance for me. I won't live to see the day that my people are eradicated from the face of the world, but I will live long enough to see the purge begin. That is vengeance enough."

The madness in the vulpine's eyes had spread to the rest of his body; his trembled as he spoke, his nostrils flared and his arms gestured wildly with every word. "And what of the Serevokin?" he asked. "You hate us even more, do you not? Do you not hate your father, for agreeing to be the mate of one of us?"

Lotyr smirked as he folded his arms again. "Of course. As my son will hate me for what I have done. Your people are even more to blame for what has happened than the Lissak. And I will never see your punishment meted out." He chuckled quietly as he leaned down to look over Laran's unconscious face. "Your nature, Serevokin, is not one of peace. It is of war. You destroy all that you touch, in time. You take what you wish by strength of arm and sharpness of claw. What do you suppose will happen when the Serevokin are the only beings of intelligence and reason within this land, or even upon this world?"

It was a simple question with a simple answer. The histories spoke of the times when the Serevokin thought that they were alone in the world. Factions and sub-factions were created, and the Serevokin people were divided by everything. The truth in Lotyr's words was undeniable; the Serevokin were beings of war and strength. With no other people to war with... "We would destroy ourselves," he replied quietly. "Slowly. Very slowly."

"And there is no more fitting a punishment for vile creatures such as yourselves," Lotyr spat, as he stood up tall again. "The world will be left with a constant cycle of Serevokin destruction. When one element of your people succeeds over all others, they will reign with peace for a time. And then they will fracture, and war anew. Your people will live forever, draconic, and they will die forever in the filth of war and destruction."

Kaer tilted his chin up as he leaned his head back against the wall. "And what of your followers? Do they know the full extent of your plans? Do they grasp your insanity, Lotyr?"

Lotyr simply chuckled as he shook his head from side to side. "Of course not. They would still help me if they did, though. Long have the Serevokin of the Cult sought a way to reverse the damage the old gods did to your bodies. Until I brought my magic and alchemy to them, they did not truly believe that they could succeed." A wicked sparkle in Lotyr's eye sent a shudder through Kaer's body. "Besides, I possess magic enough to twist their thoughts, to channel my desires into their minds. It's a pity that the Serevokin never learned how to control magic. Nothing could stand against you then." The vulpine leaned in closer to Kaer as he strode to the Serevokin's side. "It's the only thing you're susceptible to, really."

"What about Tyren?" Kaer growled as he struggled towards the fox again. "What happens to your son when the purge starts?"

A flicker of concern flashed across Lotyr's face for a moment. Then it was stony again, emotionless. "He will die, of course. He will be slain by the Serevokin on the march. Better that he die now, before he needs to endure the pain and misery of what awaits him later in life."

Anger flared through Kaer's body as he wrenched himself against the straps holding him, but he still couldn't break free. Instead, he settled for spitting up into the vulpine's face. "You would sacrifice your own son for your plans? Cor'th suun'kel!" It was the oldest of Serevokin curses, meaning, "Irredeemable heathen."

In response, Lotyr curled the fingers of his right paw into a metal-coated fist and brought it down in a harsh punch against Kaer's cheek. The draconic's head snapped to the side, and his lower lip gashed his own teeth as his blood sprayed thinly across the floor. "Fine words from the one to defile his body and cost him even the slightest change at a normal life," the vulpine snarled back, even as he watched Kaer's lip heal up. "Tyren will be blessed with a quick death, more than I would allow for any of the other Lissak. Perhaps I will allow you to live long enough to watch it come to pass."

Before Kaer could issue any rage-driven response, the sound of clawed feet on stone ground clicked closer and closer. He turned his head to find Usara had entered the room, and the blue-scaled Serevokin hurriedly approached the fox. "Lord Lotyr. Forgive the intrusion, but I bear grave news. The labs are under assault!"

"What?" The query came as nothing more than a snarl as Lotyr's ears flattened, and his eyes almost frosted over as he glared at Usara.

The intensity of the glare alone seemed enough to make Usara cringe back slightly. More than just Lotyr's usefulness to Usara's agenda, Serevokin rightly feared those who could channel magical energies. "A force of draconics has discovered the labs beneath this level. High Councillor Sevreikanal leads their charge!"

Even as a wordless growl of anger slipped from Lotyr, Kaer allowed himself a tight smile. Councillor Reika was as firm in his belief in the power of unity as Aliastikora had been. "Gather what you can," Lotyr instructed the blue Serevokin, as he turned back to a smiling Kaer. "Take as many of my notes as you can. We will leave this place and conduct our endeavours beyond the city. And you," he added as he tilted his chin up and stared at Kaer, "I do not rightly know what to do with."

"You would do well to release me from these restraints," Kaer replied, as he echoed his first words to the vulpine since he had awoken. "I promise you no harm if you do, and a great deal if you refuse."

One of Lotyr's ears perked up as he lifted both eyebrows. In the silence of the fox's pause, both Lotyr and Kaer were able to hear the clang of steel and the shatter of broken glass rise up through the vents. "I do not suppose what we have done here would change your mind at all?" Lotyr asked, as he looked Kaer up and down. "You would be very useful within our ranks. You would not need to adhere to any of the laws of this city, this alliance. You would be free of the burden you carry as Serevokin. Am I not offering you a gift?"

Kaer drew himself up straight as he could and met the vulpine's gaze evenly. "For over a hundred years, Astikorranna has stood. For over a hundred years, Aliastikora's vision for the Serevokin people has brought us peace. We have no factions in the Alliance, only groups who seek to tend to their needs within the Alliance. We have law, we have order... things we could never attain without this place." The draconic leaned forward and spat down at the Lissak's footpaws. "The Serevokin Alliance is not just a way for the Serevokin to rule, Lotyr. The other races help temper our nature. They keep us at peace, as we keep them safe. Civilization is worth more to me than any gift of barbaric psudo-freedom you could offer me." A smirk spread across his face. "Is it not ironic that your son is what will temper my nature, that his presence in my life will shape me into a better Serevokin?"

Anger flashed across Lotyr's face as he slipped his left paw into the right sleeve of his robe. It flashed out a moment later, and the blade of a short, curved dagger glinted in the light as it came to rest against Kaer's throat. "It is a terrible shame that his body is already filled with your kind," Lotyr all but snarled, as he leaned in close to Kaer's face. "It would be a blessing indeed to rid the city of your lineage completely. I suppose I will have to take what pleasure I can from spilling your blood, and then the blood of your brother."

A sharp cry of surprise came from across the room, and turned both Kaer's and Lotyr's heads. The sound came from Usara as he stood in the doorway, the Serevokin's arms laden with boxes filled with paper and crystal. Those boxes were dropped with his cry, as he reached down quickly for the sword still at his side. Kaer's eyes widened though as a blade slid out of the darkness beyond the room, and it stabbed right through the middle of the draconic's throat. Usara's cry became a gurgle, sharply cut off as the sword was twisted in a vicious turn to the left. His blood drooled over the floor as his body trembled, desperately trying to heal itself despite the sword embedded in his throat.

His body lost the fight, as too much of his blood spilled onto the stone beneath him. Usara crumpled as the sword was yanked back through the doorway again. There was silence for a moment where Lotyr pressed the blade of his dagger tighter against Kaer's throat, before both Serevokin and Lissak heard the clatter of that blooded sword against the ground.

Then a single, black-furred figure strode into the room. His paws deftly unslung a bow from across his chest and reached to his back to withdraw an arrow from the quiver that rested there. The bow was lifted quickly as the arrow was drawn back against the string, and a silver eye sighted down along the shaft towards Lotyr. "Hello, father," Tyren said, ears flat.

Lotyr's eyes widened and he froze up, as he focused on his son. "Tyren... what in the name of the gods are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" the younger vulpine retorted as he strode slowly closer. "The battle below is almost won. Those Serevokin allied to you were more than happy to tell us what they know about you... about who was trying this scheme." The Lissak began to breathe more heavily, and his arms trembled as he held the arrow back. "You shame me, father! You shame our family!"

The anger began to return to Lotyr's face as his fingers squeezed tighter around the hilt of his dagger. "Our family is shamed enough, Tyren. Nothing I could ever do would make things worse for us. All that I have done - all that I still will do! - will set things right. If people cannot stop being so cruel, then none of them deserve to live!"

But Tyren simply shook his head slowly as his eyes began to sparkle with tears. "No, father. There's nothing more for you to do here. I came here ahead of the Serevokin below to reason with you... to make you see sense. Surrender now... please." His lips twisted as his shakes began to flit through the rest of his body, though his arms became still once again. "Please, father... do not make me do this."

Instead, Lotyr's eyes flashed over to Kaer again. "I will not surrender," he growled. "I will not allow the Serevokin or the Lissak to pass any more judgement over me. One day, Tyren, you too will understand." He smiled coldly down at Kaer. "However... I could save my son a lot of trouble right now, couldn't I? With one good cut by this blade, he would become a Survivor. Free of the Serevokin for the rest of his life..."

"No." Tyren's response was firm as rock. "Father, you will not. This is not the way. This is not who you are." The younger vulpine took a deep breath and held it as his fingers tightened. "You will not harm my mate. Please... do not make me choose between you."

The dagger pressed tighter up against Kaer's throat, just under his scales. The red draconic felt the edge grind against his flesh, and his blood began to stain its blade as Lotyr turned back to his son. "I am going to kill this one, Tyren," he said, his voice quiet. "I will spill his blood... and I will drain him dry. And you will watch him die, here and now, because you simply do not have the will or the strength to-"

Thwack.

Silence came to the older fox as the head of the arrow lodged itself in his brain. His eyes drew as wide as they could go as he stumbled back for a second. Then he fell, and his body lay limp upon the floor as red and grey began to trickle out around the arrow embedded in his head. Kaer's eyes were fixed on Lotyr for a good short while, stunned with what had happened. Finally he turned up to see Tyren, frozen in place with his bow still raised. "Perhaps I'm stronger than you think," the Lissak finally mumbled, as he slowly let the bow dip. The fur of his cheeks grew damp, matted by his tears as he sank down to his knees.

It wasn't long before other Serevokin entered the room. With the labs below destroyed, the opened vents meant little to them. They left Tyren alone as the younger vulpine hung his head over the body of his father, though they freed Kaer and Laran quickly from their bonds. The latter remained completely unconscious, kept comatose by Lotyr's powerful sedatives. Then the other draconics were gone, with Kaer, Laran and Tyren left alone in the empty room. One lingered long enough to ask Kaer to have everyone come see the High Councillor before they left the citadel.

Kaer had simply mumbled a reply before he walked over to Tyren. The Serevokin dropped into a crouch beside the Lissak and placed one hand gently on the fox's shoulder. He held himself silent, and the only sound in the room for a few moments was the occasional shaky hiss of Tyren's inhalation. Eventually, Kaer could bear the quiet no longer. "You did not have to strike him down for me," he said, his voice as soft as a Serevokin's could be.

"I did," came the equally quiet reply. Tyren slumped a little further forward as he shook his head. "You know what he was doing even better than I do. From what the Serevokin who followed him were saying..." He shook his head harder before he turned up to briefly look over Kaer's face. "And he would have killed you. You are my mate, aren't you?"

But the draconic simply shook his head. "That does not mean that you had to make that choice, Tyren. Between the Serevokin you met perhaps two hours ago and the Lissak who raised you... you had no need to prove anything to me. You had no need to defend me. Certainly I would not have blamed you if you had fired instead on me."

The fox's lower lip curled slightly as he sat himself down lightly on the floor and turned to face Kaer. "Then tell me what you would have done, if the situation had been reversed. Would you have shot the arrow at your parent? Would you have saved me over him?"

The question didn't even warrant hesitation, and Tyren knew it. He knew the Serevokin way as well as Kaer did. "You know I would have," replied the draconic. "You are my mate. It is my purpose to protect you, and the lives that we will create. But that purpose is not mutual, Tyren. You could have-"

"Don't give me that," the vulpine interrupted almost angrily. "You are my mate as much as I am yours. Anything you would do for me, I would do for you. That is our bond, Kaer. Don't try to tell me otherwise. And don't you dare trivialize what I did here by suggesting there was another way. Don't." The anger melted away beneath a fresh wave of grief, and Tyren's head hung low as fresh tears began to flow. "Just... don't."

Words escaped Kaer as he watched Tyren begin to openly weep anew. He knew the fox was right, and he knew well exactly what he needed to say to make things better. He knew that he needed to say nothing at all. He knew that he simply needed to be there, one hand gently at rest on his mate's shoulder, as he grieved.

And as the fox cried, Kaer was there.

Three days and nights passed where neither Kaer nor Tyren had as much time alone as they would have liked. The first day brought a rest, a reprieve from the trials of the night that had at one point been solely about the creation of a new bond. For their part, both males spent the majority of the day asleep. Tyren and Kaer were allowed to recover from their ordeal within the citadel, after they had provided all that they knew of Lotyr's scheme and his allies. Tyren had been braver than any Lissak Kaer could even remember knowing as he'd told the whole story. Throughout it all, he kept his silence and held his mate's paw in a gentle grip.

The second day brought tests and examinations. Kaer was subjected to all manner of unpleasantness as Serevokin alchemists, mages of the other races and even simple physicians had attempted to determine what had changed inside the young draconic's body. Laran had been taken away for similar study by other Serevokin, though he was finished with much later than Kaer was. Throughout it all, Tyren watched on and gently held his mate's hand.

The third day brought the truth to Astikorranna. All within the great city were informed of what had truly happened within the citadel that night, and what Lotyr had managed to create. Too many rumours abounded, too many people had told the story to others to keep it a secret. The Cult of Rolkotarni surfaced again and confirmed that they still had the formula for the chemical musk that Lotyr had cooked up in his lab. Serevokin left the city and the Alliance in droves. They were allowed to leave by the Serevokin Alliance and the guardians of Astikorranna, even when the Cult promised that the old ways of the Serevokin would rise again.

It was after speaking at the great address from the High Councillors to the people of Astikorranna that Kaer returned home to Tyren. The young draconic's home was spare; it had been a place shared by Laran and the older brother's mate. Laran and his mate had left after the tests of the second day, moved into the citadel to keep a close eye on the Serevokin's developing pregnancy. Kaer had decided not to follow, but to instead enjoy a quieter home with Tyren. Tyren was all too happy to voice his approval of the idea.

The Lissak was waiting for Kaer as he walked in the door, as naked as Kaer himself was. "I heard the yelling from here," he said, as he stepped forward to offer the taller draconic a brief hug. "Loud enough to wake me, actually. I had hoped that we would have a day to ourselves where we were both conscious, but I suppose it was not meant to be."

"We may not have the pleasure of much quiet time in the near future," Kaer replied as he gave the vulpine a gentle squeeze back. "Many Serevokin have left the city to at least hear what the Cult of Rolkotarni have to offer. I should not be so surprised; many Serevokin have chafed under Aliastikora's laws. Young Serevokin hear the stories of old, and they wonder why things could not continue that way. They do not understand what brought Aliastikora to found this society in the first place."

Tyren frowned as the pair walked out of the room and into their bedroom, the soft mattress beckoning them both to sit. "Do you think it will lead to war?" Tyren asked, as he settled in against Kaer's side.

The draconic simply shrugged. "It is hard to say, really. They have a large number of Serevokin who could support them, but many Serevokin continue to defend the Alliance. There is talk of enlisting even the other races as soldiers, and creating a grand army. The hope is that it will scare the Cult off, prevent them from attacking us in the short term."

With a sigh, the fox closed his eyes and leaned in a little heavier against his mate's side. "And in the long term, there will be a society of Serevokin separate from the Alliance within a generation or two," he added. "Raised to see the Cult's way as the best or only way. And the longer they bide their time, the greater their numbers will grow. There will be less Serevokin here than there within a relatively short space of time, and then what happens? Do they siege the city?"

Kaer shook his head as he wrapped one arm lightly around Tyren's middle and drew him close. "I cannot say," he replied. "I will be long gone by the time the Cult have the numbers to assault Astikorranna. That will be the duty of our progeny to tend. All we can do is hope that we teach them well." He smirked as he rested his chin down on the top of the fox's head. "And, of course, make many of them."

A smirk spread across Tyren's face as he rolled his eyes, and he turned up to Kaer. "And speaking of such things, we never completed all that we were supposed to on our first night, were we? And, if my memory serves, you owe me some fun for depriving me during our little scouting mission."

A quiet chuckle rolled from Kaer's muzzle as he leaned back on the bed. He knew what the fox meant; after the Rite was completed, both partners were meant to return to their shared home. Part of it was to gain knowledge of one's new mate, but still more of it was about sharing still more pleasure. "I suppose that I may well owe you something," he drawled, and his eyes closed as he propped his head up by folding his arms behind it. "Of course, the question of what exactly you wish to take in trade for that frustration-"

"Oh, I already know exactly what I'll be taking from you, Kaer," replied the fox with a wide grin. He moved quickly enough that the Serevokin had no chance to react. Tyren rolled himself over Kaer's leg, and he knelt up between them as he gripped the draconic's scaled hips tightly. "And no, I do not imagine that you will be given any chance to argue with me."

As the tip of Tyren's shaft began to peek up and out of his sheath, Kaer allowed himself a grin of his own. "Oh? And what, pray tell me, would such a decisive wolf desire from me?" He began to leak his musk up into the air, relaxing himself just enough to allow that scent free of his body. It was thin and weak as he spoke, and he held it at just that level as he looked up and over his mate's face.

Tyren's response was to immediately shift his grip from the Serevokin's hips to his legs. He lifted them slightly as he shuffled closer, and the tapered tip of his canine shaft twitched as he trailed it ever so gently along the bottom of Kaer's slit. "What I desire is what you gave me that first night," he replied, as he began to lift those legs up higher. Lower and lower drifted the tip of his shaft, and Kaer's tail curled around beneath him to help elevate his rump as Tyren drew closer and closer to his goal.

Then he reached it, and the fox wasted not a moment more of time. He pushed forward and mashed his tapered tip against that tight ring of muscle, fast and hard enough to even draw a gasp of surprise from Kaer. "I saw Laran today, while you were out," he said, as he continued to hump forward and grind his tip up against Kaer's tailhole. "I went up to check on him, for you. He said how rough you liked to be with him. I want to see how you handle it."

Kaer's eyes widened a little; he'd not expected such a dominant streak to run through his fox. Those eyes widened further as he felt Tyren push forward hard one last time, pressing his tip up and against his entrance and not drawing back. The draconic forced himself to relax a little as he looked up at the determination on Tyren's face. He felt that tip pulse against him, and a warm dampness against his tailhole heralded a spurt of his mate's pre against him. "I do not know if you will be able to- ah!"

He was cut off by the feel of that length of flesh suddenly pushing forward and into his body. That little spurt of slickening fluids seemed to have just been enough for Tyren, and the fox grunted as an inch and a half of his malehood found itself gripped by Kaer's inner walls. He shuddered as Tyren leaned up and over him, and the tip of the his ridged length began to peek up through the widening lips of his slit. He found himself unable to contain his musk as completely as he'd like, and the intense scent of Kaer's arousal began to fill his mate's nostrils. He watched Tyren breathe in deeply, and shivered with the knowledge of what was to come.

It came quickly, as the fox pushed forward again with a surge of musk-driven strength. His shaft slid in a little deeper, stopping and starting against the squeezing and relaxing muscles of Kaer's body. He didn't relent in the slightest; his hips kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing. Deeper and deeper he sank into the draconic's body, as still more of his shaft emerged from his sheath. Finally, one last hard shove brought himself right up against the Serevokin's backside, and Tyren murred softly in approval as he ground himself up against his mate.

For a few moments, both males lay mostly still. Kaer squirmed slightly as he lifted himself slowly higher by his tail, and Tyren's hips twitched as he worked himself as tightly against the Serevokin's rump as he could. Kaer could feel every pulse of the Lissak's shaft inside him, and a quiet purr slipped from his muzzle as he pushed himself up firmly against Tyren's grinding. "I thought you wanted me to handle something harder than this," he said, a grin on his face as he looked up at Tyren.

The fox seemed surprised to hear those words, but his smile immediately curled into something almost cruel. His response came with a quick jerk of his hips, first back and then forward once again. Despite the tightness of Kaer's muscles around his shaft, Tyren slid back in with considerably more ease than when he had first worked himself inside. Another, thicker spurt of his pre eased his movement a great deal, and he moaned softly as he hilted himself once more. Tyren wasn't about to wait or give Kaer time to come up with another snappy comment, though. He could detect the Serevokin musk in the air and, coupled with the snug heat wrapped around his malehood, the vulpine wasn't about to stay still.

Instead, he started to move his hips quickly. His thrusts came hard and fast as he squeezed tightly at Kaer's hips, and drew a grunt of surprise from the Serevokin. The sound brought a fresh smirk to Tyren's face, and he gave those hips another, tighter squeeze as he slammed himself up against his mate's upturned backside. That scent in the air, thick and growing stronger by the moment, was more than enough to assuage any concerns Tyren might have had about causing Kaer any pain with his thrusts. He was far, far beyond that, driven by pent up frustrations and enough musk to cloud his mind to anything other than what was before him.

Not that he was focused on anything else, and not that Kaer was injured by the actions. The Serevokin body was tough, and even the pain of being so vigorously taken didn't last long beneath the pleasure of that canine malehood buried inside him. A moan of Kaer's own joined in alongside Tyren's, as he pushed himself up and harder into the vulpine's thrusts. His own malehood stood tall over his belly, pointed up at Tyren's chin as the Lissak leaned up and over him. Kaer squeezed his eyes closed as he lay his head back, and his tail trembled under their combined weight as Tyren pushed down harder against him.

The tip of that draconic shaft tapped against Tyren's chin as he hung his head low, eyes tightly closed as he focused entirely on the scent and the feel of their mating. Again and again he felt that impact before he found himself compelled by the pheromones in the air, and he paused his thrusts long enough to grind up again into Kaer's backside as he leaned over and pushed his muzzle down. The first couple inches of the Serevokin's ridged length vanished between Tyren's lips, and he released a muffled moan around that shaft as he resumed his eager, hard humping.

Kaer's pre spurted up and across Tyren's tongue as the Serevokin thrust up and into his mate's muzzle. His hips drew back again after he felt the Lissak gulp down around his tip, and he arched his back with a fresh moan of pleasure as he felt himself drive his backside right into one of the fox's upward thrusts. The draconic's hips began to roll, his pace matching that of Tyren's as he drew back from the vulpine's hips and into his muzzle, only to shove himself back down hard onto that firm length of flesh.

Sensation bombarded Tyren's mind. The scent, feel, sound and taste of everything around him drove him lust-drunk. His hips were maddened by the intoxicating scents invading his body, driven into an overeager frenzy that had him slamming himself over and over and over again into Kaer's depths. Pre drooled from his tip, a constant flow of slickening fluids that only made it easier for him to take his mate, to fill him and breed him. That was all that Tyren's mind could comprehend; the musk took over, and he became little more than an engine of lust.

Tyren's eagerness was almost too much for the Serevokin to bear. He recognized the signs, knew how his body reacted whenever he and Laran had engaged in such vigorous activities. He knew all too well how long Tyren would last, and how close the fox was to losing all of his control. He felt it in the pulses of that canine shaft inside him, in the ragged breaths that washed down over his belly through flared nostrils, from the way that Tyren's tongue lashed back and forth over his own length. Kaer groaned again as his malehood twitched, offering up another taste of his pre to the hungrily-slurping vulpine. Then he squeezed down tightly around his mate's length, as he drove himself down harder still along it.

That was all it took to fray Tyren's control. The fox cried out as pleasure raced up along his malehood and alighted his mind. His hips jerked and bucked as hard as he could, pumping himself as deep within Kaer's body as he could go. His malehood pulsed hard, throbbing against the Serevokin's inner walls as he teetered on the edge, and his muzzle lifted up from Kaer's shaft as he arched his back and rammed himself in as hard as he could.

Lightning flashed around the corner of Kaer's vision as he pressed himself down against Tyren's final thrust. That electricity flooded through his body as his eyes flicked open again. The draconic could barely see his shaft though, so hidden was it behind the rest of his body. His belly was bulged, fattened by a life grown within him. Tyren's head rested against that swollen belly, a warm smile on his face as he hugged himself against the Serevokin's body, still buried to the hilt inside. Shock added to the jolt of the sudden sight, before it faded away beneath a wave of intense pleasure.

The warmth of Tyren's expression gave way to one of intense concentration, as the first jet of his seed erupted within Kaer. Over and over he erupted, the Serevokin's inner walls soaked with each pulse of the Lissak's fluids. He ground himself up against Kaer's rump as his eyes shot open as well, right as a quick, hard spurt of the Serevokin's thick seed splattered across his face. Despite the shock, Tyren's body continued without him. Kaer's joined in, every pulse of the vulpine's malehood matched by one of his own until the pair had both been drained dry.

Kaer's jaw slackened as he slumped back against the mattress. His eyes were open almost as wide, and shock filled him as he felt the heat of his breeding flow up and through his whole body. He trembled for a moment as his legs twitched around Tyren's waist, and his muzzle worked at the air for a moment before he found himself finally able to speak. "I... I saw..."

"The vision," Tyren breathed, his words spoken between pants for breath. The vulpine looked as surprised as Kaer himself was, though he kept himself pressed tightly against his mate's backside. "So did I! I never... Serevokin are the only ones to experience it! I could not... I couldn't have seen it! Serevokin can't be bred by-"

"But they can," Kaer interrupted quietly. His mind raced through the possibilities as he came down from the high of his climax. "Your father made it so, Tyren. Chemicals in the air, in the room you found me in. He filled me with them, and Laran, and forced me to breed him. He changed all that a Serevokin can be... made us able to breed each other again. And you came into the room, filled with those chemicals..."

Tyren tried to sit up, but his tied shaft kept him from being able to move too far. Instead both fox and draconic grunted at the tug to that girth, and Tyren settled himself back again. "I am not Serevokin!"

The draconic nodded slowly. "But you are second-generation Lo'tyren'naka... you possess traits that other Lissak do not. You carry Serevokin life within you as well. Perhaps there is enough Serevokin in your body and in your blood that..." Kaer shrugged a little as he lay his head back, a grin on his face as the warmth settled deep within his body. "Laran became the first Serevokin in hundreds of years to be bred by one of our own kind... but I am the first in all of history to be bred by a non-Serevokin mate."

A smile started to curl the corner of Tyren's muzzle as he looked down over Kaer's body. One of his paws slipped from the draconic's hip to his belly, and he began to rub slowly over it. "If you are right, then this is an incredible blessing my father has offered us," he said, before the smile became a tight little grin. "For all he intended, he has made both Serevokin and Lissak equal... at least within these walls." He paused for a second. "Though..."

Kaer lifted his eyeridges as he looked up over Tyren's thoughtful expression. "Though?"

"Though... I am not convinced of the vision," replied the Lissak. His hips ground forward slowly and firmly up against Kaer's backside, and the Serevokin gave a quiet little growl of approval as he felt his mate's length stir inside him again. "I do not know that such a thing is possible. I think we must do more to validate this, to find the truth."

"Then might I suggest," Kaer said as he grinned back, "that you start pumping those hips of yours again, very soon..."

There we have it, the finale of The First City! Lotyr's plot is foiled, Astikorranna is safe for now, and Kaer and Tyren have a chance to live stickilly ever after! Yes, I know, I left myself an opening to write still more of this setting. Gods help me; I'm a glutton for bloody punishment. I may or may not revisit this again next March; I may well develop a new challenge for myself for writing in that month. We'll see how it goes. By all means, please leave comments, gimme a score and a fav if you really liked it, and let me know your feelings on this! Not just on this story, but on the whole series! Your feedback helps me improve!

The First City is now complete... but there's still one more Monday left in March. While I'd like to leave this week for others to really give M-Preg March a fair go, I'm not sure if I'm done yet! Whazzat mean? It means that this time next week, you might find another story with the month's theme from me! What will it be? Only I know!

Oh, and the fantastic DaLiz was gracious enough to donate his time and efforts to bringing the characters of Kaer and Tyren to life in colour! Thanks, DaLiz! You can find more of his stuff here: http://da-liz.sofurry.com/ and you can find the piccie he drew on my FurAffinity Account: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/faora/

So keep your eyes peeled, furballs! I may yet see you in a week, with even more M-Preg March!