FSE

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c. 2012, Grey K.

The world was gray and white and silver, shot through with black and other, baser, less pristine colors as the winter's day swirled like fog about the lone figure striding lightly through the milky white upon the ground. Though he was tall and full of frame his feet barely made a dint upon the crust of the powdered snow beneath his soft leather boots. Tandoril's clothes were the same silvery-gray of the world above him, covered over with a light fur cloak of pure white like the snow beneath him, making him a barest shadow crossing the clean hoar of frost beneath his whispering foot-treads. Beneath his hood his finely wrought features; delicate, almost beautiful, but masculine were wrapped in pale alabaster skin, belying his heritage. His immensely long, smoothly tapering ears lay against the inside of his hood, nestled quite comfortably in his long hair of silver-white like spun platinum.

His large, almond shaped eyes were green like the sea foam that washed upon the shores of a distant island, keen and ever roving in the silent, slumbering winter landscape. The forests were thinner in the valley plains between the mountain peaks, the spire-like evergreens and barren silver-skinned aspen and gray pine blanketed with snow and rimed with frost respectively. The lone elf male moved like the wind between the trees, stirring barely a branch in his wake, as all elves of his kind knew from birth. A long slender, curving knife with a handle of carved ivory and wrought silver was sheathed as his belt and a long, curving bow of ash was held loosely in his hand as his eyes stalked the forest for any sign of movement. Even with the swirling mist and fog of white and silver clouds above him, making the sunlight a pearly shine over all he knew it was approaching the mid-day and he would have to turn back before long if he wished to make it back to camp before night-fall.

Even as his eyes scanned the forest for game his ears and other senses were tuned ever to his surroundings, feeling the whispering of the trees in their twilight sleep, the breath of the wind carrying any hint of warning, the earth below any tremble of motion. The pale elf froze as from above and behind him a blood-curdling shriek rent the cloud swollen sky and he whirled, taking up the slack of his bow. A long, silver arrow with a deadly point now scanned the sky along with his eyes. The shriek redoubled, becoming two, one shriller and seemingly feebler than the other as a dark, brooding shape swung low through the mist above and into Tandoril's keen green gaze. He gasped aloud, the noise startlingly sudden in the clearing as a raptor as large as a small cabin with wings at least 25 good strides of a man in their span sailed below the crouching clouds.

The oversized raptor resembled a carrion bird, with an overlarge head, thick, wattled neck, bulbous body and gangling legs. It was a leprous greenish gray color, like fungus, with black eyes and a beak and talons the hue of dark iron. The roc took no notice of its surroundings as it fought and tore at the screeching bundle within its claws. Tandoril's eyes were drawn to the prey within the roc's talons and his hood nearly flew back as his ears flexed sharply. It was silver, like a man's armor, and screaming as a human might though it was smaller than any man the elf had known. He set his jaw and raised his bow once more, guiding the wicked tip of his silver arrow-head up as the grotesque raptor raised its ugly head to tear once more at the writhing shape in its grasp.

The elegant bow gave a twang as musical as any elf wrought harp and the arrow flashed through the pearly light like a bolt of liquid silver. The roc gave a muted scream as the gleaming arrow impaled its head from beneath, cleaving its beak shut and burying itself completely within the evil bird of prey's skull. The dull grey body gave a great shuddering flap then went limp and plunged to the ground, throwing up the soft blanket of snow in a great furrow barely 200 yards distant beyond the trees in a clearing. Tandoril slung his bow upon his hip and sprinted to where the great fell beast had fallen, crossing the distance in but a few minutes. The roc lay upon its side, crumpled, with one wing broken beneath it and its neck twisted where it had impacted the ground. The beast still twitched in its death-throes and Tandoril gasped aloud again as its great black talons released the bundle of silver almost at his feet.

The tall elf sprang back as the metallic silver body hissed at him like a raging wildcat and a wedge-shaped head larger than his foot sprang at him and snapped venomously. Thick clots of dark silvery-gray liquid, like quicksilver sprayed him as the seriously wounded but very much enraged dragon whelp that the great raptor had snatched lunged at him. Tandoril danced on his feet, too quick for the wounded wrymling as it feebly lunged at him, dragging itself as it hissed and gasped. One of its wings was obviously broken, as was one of its legs, with slashes all over its beautiful quicksilver hide, some shallow, some deep where the roc had torn at its thick metallic skin. The elf whipped his white cloak from his shoulders and holding it like an outstretched blanket pounced upon the injured whelp as gently as he could, whispering to it soothingly as it wriggled and fought its new furred prison.

Tandoril felt the glancing scrape of teeth, claw and tail as he strove to calm the wounded dragonling, finally resorting to singing to it in Elvish; a lullaby he had known from his own mother and grandmother. As the soothing elf tongue washed through the snow muffled clearing the struggling whelp soon slowly stopped its thrashing and merely looked at him with wary, baleful eyes the color of a spring sky. The lean elf sighed gently as he extended his fingers peacefully into the range of where they could be snapped, "Peace little one, peace. You must cease to fight me before your wounds are made worse. The roc is dead, you've nothing to fear from me, but I must take you home with me if we are to keep you from death yourself."

No bite was forthcoming, so the elf laid his long, strong fingers upon the wide, blunt muzzle of the little dragon, feeling its vibrant warmth and life, even wounded as it was. As he touched its bright silver hide Tandoril sent thoughts to the little wrym, hoping to convince it at least that he wished it no harm, "You must come with me, till we can decide what to do with you."

The elf sighed softly, picking himself up once more and gazing at the panting dragon whelp beneath his cloak. He slowly drew the cloak away, ready should the wounded whelp spring at him or attempt escape with its injuries again, but the little silver dragonling lay still, looking up at him still with its clear blue eyes. As if sensing his intentions the whelp relaxed and pulled itself into a fetal position, uttering rasping sounds of pain as its wounded limbs twinged. Tandoril leaned down slowly, his cloak in his hands, "Please do not bite me little one... I seek only your safety, and mine."

As the little dragon whimpered the lean elf gently wrapped it within his soft fur cloak, now stained with the whelp's shining blood and a few drops of his own crimson and hefted it into his arms. Tandoril could feel the whelp shiver as he clasped it to his breast; it weighed only perhaps as much as a small child, its breath and pained gasps making it heave gently like a bellows within his arms. The pale elf whispered soothingly to the fur wrapped bundle against his chest as he turned and started back for his camp as swiftly as he had set out from it, chuckling wryly, "Wait till they see what I have brought back from the day's hunting in place of supplies, eh little one..."

In the leagues back to camp the tall elf stopped thrice, resting for but a moment. On the second stop he pulled the leather and silver flask from his hip, taking a long draught of the liqueur made from the winter berries and fruit of the ice tree found almost rarely. Once the icy draught had passed the throat it lent a wonderful warmth to the body, driving away the chill. He offered the flask to the small snout, "Tis medicine little one, mayhap it will help, but I know little of the ways of dragon healing."

The drowsily blinking dragon whelp took a few halting laps of the dark violet draught, giving a chirruping hiccough as it belched a tiny plume of mist from its nostrils, but seemed to perk up as the strong elf carried it farther toward the sheltering foothills where he was encamped. Tandoril passed between two gentle rises and could see the large, rounded dome of his tent, calling out and making the whelp stir fitfully against his breast, "Silver! Life-friend, come and see what I have found!"

The heavy fabric door to their tent twitched as a growling tenor called back, "If it be not meat ye bring mayhap I shall skin and joint you for myself and the little ones eh Tando-BY WATER AND STONE!"

As the lusty dwarven curse rang across the slopes above them the short, stocky male that had uttered them gripped the tent with his broad, short-fingered hand, staring in horror at the small winged bundle his friend had returned with. The dwarf shook his head, "Nay, nay, nay. Tan, elf-friend, brother, what have ye done?! Ye've brung doom tae us all on swifter wings than death herself with this! Leave it there Tando; I beg of ye, we must take the little ones and-..."

Tandoril held up his pale hand, "Peace Silver, peace! A roc had snatched him and I felled it thinking I knew not what it had... I never would have dreamt it to be a silver wyrmling and I could not leave it to die in the snow brother. Tis but a youngling as much as our own; let me bring it in where it is warm and we may see to its wounds, if we can."

The shocked dwarf shook his head vehemently, making his long golden-blonde beard fly as well as the plait of hair down his short, thick back, "Nay Tando! We mustn't be here when it's kin come tae look, the wrath of a dragon is-..."

"Mark its color Silver, like your namesake. The silver dragon-flights of the north are a peaceful kind. Your kin know this as well as mine! I saved one of their own whelps from a roc, they would not kill us for that, I would lay safe claim."

As the tall and short males exchanged beyond the tent at the gap in the doorway a pair of burningly inquisitive eyes appeared, one above the other by almost a foot and a half. The taller of the pairs was one half brilliant green, like grass and the other half violet, whilst the shorter was a thoughtful deep gray. They both vanished in a flash as Tandoril bowled his way past the gesticulating and hoarsely protesting dwarf though he stood barely half the height of the long-eared male was nearly twice the breadth of him, "Tandoril, Tan, I'm beggin' ye! Dinnae do it, we'll all be killed!"

"Nonsense, now come within, this youngling needs tending to and you've much more by the ways of the healing arts than do I."

"On yer own head be it brother..."

The golden skinned and haired dwarf scowled deeply at his taller friend, then stumped within after Tandoril. As Tandoril entered the large, domed tent the wash of warmth invigorated him, making the clinging frost and moisture on his clothes and boots steam gently. The halved sphere tent was spacious; with a large crystal shard, set within a cage of steel and armature of iron at its center, casting heat with a cheerful reddish-golden glow, with a thick iron disc placed atop the woven steel cage holding the crystal for cooking. A small table and 4 spindly chairs made of collapsible metal and cloth stood to one side across from a quartet of bedrolls next to where 2 large and 2 smaller rucksacks sat, nearly empty. The tent was strewn with objects of every-day life from the mundane to the arcane, all that could be stowed into a pack or shrunk to fit within one, anyway. The curtain separating the makeshift dining area from the make-shift pantry and larder twitched as Tandoril carried his burden to before the brightly glowing fire-crystal, gingerly laying it before the warmth.

Spying the movement the scowling dwarf barked deeply, but softly, "Talus! Talen! C'm out o there boys, but keep yuir distance, yer father's brung home what could be all our dooms instead of supper."

The older male sighed at his stalwart companion, gazing to the twitching curtain as two much smaller males, very mismatched in appearance, appeared before him, "It is but a baby sons; have a care, we must tend to his wounds. A roc attempted to kill him and I shot it down."

"Yes father."

The taller, older male moved cautiously to his father's side, gazing down in wonder at the small dragonling that lay half-dozing before the fire. He looked nothing like his father or younger brother; almost 13 summers old, growing tall and stronger by the year. The elder of Tandoril's sons seemed a surprisingly elegant mix of feline and elf. Talus was coated from head to foot in, short, thick, soft black and white fur, arranged in stripes here, spots there, with an almost leonine mane of black and white streaked hair dangling to his mid-back. The youth had no tail, nor claws upon his feet, with long pointed ears like an elf, only where they normally sat upon one of the feline race. His face was fine and delicate like his father's, but with a blunt, broad muzzle and feline nose and mouth upon it. He was dressed as his father was; in simple if worn, light silvery breeches and a tunic, lined with pouches and pockets for he was a lover of collecting things of nature from stones and pebbles to leaves.

The younger male was almost the image of his father in miniature, save for finer features, slimmer cast and larger ears. Talen's wide, expressive gray eyes gazed warily at the small, helpless whelpling as he inched toward the still scowling dwarf standing well away from the whole affair. The younger elf's skin was paler than his father's; with an almost albino whiteness that extended to his hair that was just a shade or two more silver than pure, stark white. Talen pressed his small, long-fingered and clever hand into Silver's strong, blunt grip and the dwarf's expression softened. At barely 7 summers the elfin boy was already almost the same height as the dwarf, but barely a third his size. Talen was dressed as he was wont to be, in a loose shirt and breeches that barely reached his calves, with soft slippers upon his feet.

The golden-bearded dwarf squeezed the elf boy's hand with his rough one, smiling at him, "Your father is being daft again I fear Talen my luv. Why can't he and yer brother take after your more sensible side, eh?"

The look of timid apprehension on the young elf's face lessened as he giggled softly, his expression clearing like the sky after a brief summer's storm. Talen's long ears bobbed eagerly in his own curious, though cautious excitement, "Is it truly a dragon Silver? We have never seen a real, live dragon Talus and I..."

"I daresay ye probably have lad. Dragon-folk can walk about looking as you or I can if they wish tae."

The stout dwarf glowered at the small silver dragon whelp, but Talen knew that the expression was merely one of apprehension. He had known his father's dwarven companion since his birth and was familiar with the stalwart way in which the short folk guarded their expressions and emotions at times. The frown upon the bearded dwarf's face didn't reach his deep brown eyes which were soft as they gazed down at the wounded wrymling. Dressed in the fashion of his own people, with his thick woolen breeches, stout, iron shod boots, leather and fur lined jerkin and a wide hand-tooled belt of leather and copper, thonged to hold an axe or two, around his thick middle. The dwarf was no picture of fashion to an elf's eye, but to Silver sensible people wore sensible clothing.

At barely 4 feet tall, but broader and heavier than all of his companions put together the dwarf was a handsome example of his race, if any of them could be said to be handsome compared to the other more beautiful races and species. Everything about the dwarf was stout and thick, hard and blunt as the earth and stone his people loved. To any other the short male could seem as unyielding as granite and as warm as a frost coated boulder, but to those he loved as family, he was as warm and tender as any could want. Silver's long, tailed hair and equally long braided beard twitched as he moved to stand next to Tandoril, looking up at his tall elf friend and companion, "I'll suppose ye'll be wanting me tae tend to the little one. Tis a tall order for a dwarf and make no mistake Tando, I know but little of the bodily workings of a dragon-kind."

The scowling dwarf thudded his smiling elf friend in the side of his thigh, making it go numb as Silver's wide, blunt fist, hard as stone marked him, pointedly, but playfully. He sighed gustily, "Talus my lad, fetch my bag would ye my luv?"

As the dwarf kneeled before the heavily breathing wyrmling, the two eyeing one another warily as the tiger-striped boy bounded to one side of the tent and fetched up a satchel of worn brown leather. As he brought it to Silver the dwarf laid his broad hand between the younger male's fuzzy pointed ears and ruffled his long black and white hair lovingly, "There's a good lad. Come sit here with me and help."

As the feline youth crouched next to Silver, helping the dwarf pull bottles and jars and pouches of herbs and powders from his satchel Talen eased against his father, looking up at him. The small elf boy grinned shyly, as was his way, his intense gray eyes looking up to his sire, "You slew a roc father? Truly?"

"Aye my son. You know Silver's arrows never miss."

The taller elf plucked his younger son's long ears affectionately, making the slim youth giggle and hang his arms about his father's leg as he watched his older brother and Silver tend to the dragonling. Silver didn't turn his head as he mixed various powders and shredded herbs beneath Talus' watchful mismatched eyes, heating a ceramic bowl full of tallow on the hob and letting the mixture steep into the liquefying waxy fat, "Yer father is as good with a bow as any elf of the forest I've seen in me life Talen."

"Forest elves? The golden folk in green instead of white skin like we?"

Tandoril nodded at his son's words, "Yes. The forest elves have golden skin and hair most times, and like to dress in green as we like to dress in lighter colors."

"I should like to see one of our forest people some day, if they'd have me..."

The young elf's face pinched almost sadly as he spoke, feeling his father's lean hand between his ears, stroking his silvery hair gently. Tandoril's voice was soft with his offspring as he nodded, "I know my son... We'll soon find a people who'll have us. I promise."

Talen's deep grey eyes held his father's light green ones for a moment and the older elf felt a deep twinge. His young son's eyes were far too deep and thoughtful for a child yet, even a child of elf blood, and it worried and pained the older male as he stroked Talen's hair gently, "Silver's kin have bade us come to them in the Burrow-Downs."

Talus looked back at his father with his jewel bright mismatched eyes, his feline features giving the older elf another pang as his elder son looked so much like his mother. Talus' own keen gaze seemed to look both upon and into his father, "We shall be able to stay with them? For long?"

"As long as ye would wish tae my luv. My folk know ye and yer father, and they dinnae care as their dealings with your clans this far north are brief and mostly with your darker skinned cousins. And yer dark cousins themselves aren't as biased neither, even if they be so flighty and paranoid."

Silver smiled behind his beard at the half-feline boy as he used a wad of soft cotton to smear the thick paste of healing herbs on the silver whelpling's gashed hide. The wounds had ceased bleeding and showed signs of knitting as the dwarf and Talus tended to it. It made no hostile signs as they cleaned its wounds, binding and bandaging the baby dragon as best they could. Silver's beard twitched again as he harrumphed in his gruff way, looking to the splints and wraps they had applied to the whelp's broken leg and wing, "I dunno Tan, I think I've set them alrigh' but I dae not know half so much as I should like to when it comes to healing."

Tandoril nodded, resting his hand on the stout dwarf's shoulder as he gazed down at the dozing whelp, "It seems to no longer be in pain at any rate. I think it's the best we can do for now but as to how we will find its family I have no idea..."

Silver grimaced softly as he looked up at his elf friend, "They'll find us before the day tomorrow is out. Mark me Tando and let us pray to Morthandril they be peaceable folk."

The dwarf turned his head and growled gruffly, but affectionately to the boys as they had both scooted near enough to the fitfully resting whelp to stroke its beautiful hide, "Mind yer fingers luvs; don't poke nor prod it too much... Tis a baby, but could freeze yer hands solid if it had a mind tae."

Talen's wide eyes grew even larger as his pale hands paused, "F-freeze?"

Tandoril laughed gently, "Yes son. All dragon-kind are of an element, sometimes two, and they can breathe that element and use magic of its kind if they are wont to. Silver dragons live in snow and cold; they can breathe frost and mist and make ice and snow, if they wish it."

"Ohh..."

The pale elf boy's eyes remained wide, but his stoic face was thoughtful again at his father's use of the word "magic". As he resumed gently petting the baby dragon Talus looked up to Silver and his sire, "Can it speak father?"

Tandoril rubbed his chin, exchanging a glance with Silver before looking at the dragonling pensively for a long moment, "Mmm, I think not son. Not yet. This little one is too young yet to be sentient. Dragon whelps mature slowly, as a rule. They speak not till they are in their tens of years, and this one seems much younger to me."

The elf took a step forward before his ears gave a twitch, as did Talen and Talus' a second after their fathers. Seeing all 3 elf-kind in the tent pause Silver took a step toward his own bedroll on reflex. As he moved there was a resounding crash from outside the tent and the earth shuddered with an impact that made the baby dragon stir and belch a cloud of mist and both younger males jump, though they remained silent. Tandoril spun; his bow in his hand as Silver leapt to his bedroll and withdrew a long, fur-wrapped shape. The dwarf muttered grimly, "I told ye so..."

All elf ears twitched as a deep, growling voice sounded loudly from without the tent, "Hunter! Come out, we wish to speak!"

Tandoril set his jaw as he looked at both his sons, crouched near to the whelp, Talus holding his younger sibling closely, "Stay here. Silver will look after you."

"Like bloody hell, ye know what's out there Tan!"

"Yes. So please don't argue Silver."

The scowling elf fell silent as he hefted the long, wrapped bundle against his shoulder, "Aye."

Tandoril flexed his spine, his bow still held loosely, arrow-less as he shoved the cloth door aside and stepped from the tent. The proud looking, pale elf's stoic mask almost faltered as he felt his entire body go cold at what sat waiting in the snow. The mammoth body of the roc he had slain lay where it had crashed to the ground, barely 50 strides from the tent, dropped from a modest height by the pair that awaited the elf. Tandoril swallowed more from reflex than from fear as he forced his mind to go blank, stifling fear, shock and apprehension as he gazed up upon the forms of the two silver dragons that sat near to the crumpled body of the great carrion bird. Two gigantic pairs of stark silvery-blue eyes regarded him, though the larger of the pair of dragons had a milky cataract crossing one of his as a scar seamed its snout on one side.

The dragons were both male, as Tandoril could see from the long, sweeping horns and ridged crests upon their massive skulls, as well as their size, nearly 20 good long paces from tail-tip to snout-tip and longer from wing-tip to wing-tip. Their silver hides shone in the sparse, pearly sunlight, their wings flashing like polished mirrors as they rustled them. The smaller of the two males looked down at the pale elf, those piercing blue eyes scanning him from the inside out it seemed like to Tandoril. As he still lived, the handsome elf took it as a good sign and he slowly crouched, placing his bow upon the snow and holding out his hands spread wide. The larger, older looking dragon growled something in their own tongue and the younger swept his long tail slowly, "We seek no harm to you master elf, but you led us a merry chase. Your folk are as swift upon the ground as we are in the air, and with your skin and cloak you made it no easy task to follow. We brought you your trophy, though these are the lands of my clan."

Both towering dragons bent their necks to look at the tall elf approaching warily, "We can tell of what you have done, and you know why we come."

Tandoril nodded, the icy knot in his belly slowly unwinding as he bowed to the pair of draconic males, "Yes milords. But tis within the tent and wounded, though we tended to your whelpling as best as we could. Would you come with me, then?"

The younger dragon bowed its great head, making Tandoril seem dwarfed as it lowered its snout to almost level with his own ears. The elf male could feel the cool draught of the dragon's breath on his face as he held his hands wide, "My family is poor, as elves are reckoned but we would welcome you as best we can for sparing us your wrath in search of your whelp."

The older dragon growled again, making the younger huff in what Tandoril realized was amusement, "We did not seek your death little elf. We merely wished to find you to see if our youngling still lived."

Both dragons looked up at the tent door flung aside and Silver came stumping out, making Tandoril hiss between his teeth. The dwarf still had his wrapped bundle against his side, looking up in awe at the pair of fully grown dragons towering above Tandoril. The dragon-kind both blinked at the sight of a dwarf come stumping from an elf's tent, the younger watching at the stout male came within a few strides. Silver shook his head softly, gazing from the crumpled roc to the dragon-kind, then to Tandoril, "Tan my luv ye don't do things by halves, do ye? Pity t'was a roc that's the only thing you managed to hunt today. Their meat is foul."

"We brought the carcass as a gesture of peace. The claws, beak and feathers are highly prized and 'tis no small feat to fell a grown roc with a single arrow. We wished to see the being responsible for this."

The younger dragon twitched his head as he took a stride back, "We can forgive hunting in our lands if your provisions are low. Now, what are your names, from whence to you come and where do you go little ones?"

Silver grunted at the term "little ones" but held his tongue as Tandoril bowed to the towering Dragon, "I am Tandoril, I have no family name any longer. This is Silverbarrel the dwarf, my companion for many years and friend to my family."

Both dragons bobbed their heads, the younger flexing his long, ridged neck, "I am Theanon, this is my eldest brother Thanaros."

He probed his snout down toward the stout dwarf, "Why are you then called Silver_barrel_? I thought dwarves made their casks of wood."

Tandoril laughed softly, the musical sound of elvish laughter making both draconic males prick up their heads and ears, "His clan is skilled in the makings of things that burn and burst and weapons thereof."

Silver slowly unwrapped the long parcel upon his shoulder, exposing a long, shining silvery weapon with a thick, slightly bell ended barrel at one end and a stock of delicately carved bone and ivory at the other. The ornately wrought rifle gleamed like the hides of the dragon males, polished like a mirror and inset with gems and runes. Theanon issued a tiny puff of mist, "A projectile weapon. I had heard-tell of the dwarves making such arcane things as surpassed bows."

As Theanon examined the rifle in the dwarf's hands in fascination his older brother gave a rumble, flicking his long tail. The younger dragon huffed, "Yes. It will be dark soon. Thanaros will go on a short errand and I shall come with you Tandoril and Silverbarrel."

The fresh snow all about them flew as the larger dragon male's wings made a mini-gale, lifting him from the ground as easily as a leaf and Thanaros wheeled away over-head, leaving them with the amiable younger dragon. Theanon's eyes glowed softly blue as Tandoril and Silver watched and the massive draconic male seemed to diminish rapidly before their eyes, shrinking down into humanoid form. Tandoril gaped as the dragon male stood before them, naked, looking as a tall, broad bodied elf, with slightly exotic features that marked him as a disguised dragon. Theanon snapped his now long, shapely fingers and a thin robe of almost sheer white gauze sprang from mist about his body, cladding his blue-tinged pale skin. The draconic male stood taller than Tandoril by almost half a head, broader in body, with a leanly defined muscular cast. He had long, pale hair cascading down his back, with proud, immense, scalloped edged pointed ears like an elf.

The draconic male's nose was ridged up along to his forehead almost like overlapping scales on his slightly pearly skin. The draconic male was as striking as an elf as he was a dragon, with his beauty and elegant posture carrying through. He moved his hand as he bade the elf and dwarf male to guide him. The tall draconic male gave a soft cry as he crossed the threshold of the tent, seeing the whelpling lying before the glowing fire crystal with Talus and Talen on either side, stroking and petting it with tender affection. At the sight of the tall, pearly skinned dragon-kind both younger males pulled back warily, but Theanon called to them gently, "Peace little ones. Do not be frightened of me, I beg you. I am here as a friend."

"We heard you speaking to father and Silver."

Talus stood, his feline features being thrown into contrast in the warm light of the fire as he approached Theanon without fear, smiling. The draconic male looked at the half-blooded boy, glancing for an instant to Tandoril before he laid a long-fingered hand upon Talus' black and white haired head, "Indeed. Your father has saved one of our younglings. My brother's as matter of fact. For this we owe him a great debt."

Theanon smiled as he crouched down upon his heels, next to Talen and the now softly purr-rumbling dragonling in its sleep, "And what is your name little pale one?"

"Talen sir."

The smiling draconic male laid his hand along the smooth-skinned elf's cheek, "I am Theanon, Talen and..?"

Theanon looked up expectantly at the green and violet eyed Talus who twitched his ears and ohh-ed in understanding, blushing softly, "Talus..."

"Talen and Talus, then."

The draconic male withdrew his hand from Talen's face and settled himself on his heels next to the injured whelping; touching it and making it stir. Theanon looked back to Tandoril, "You did much in soothing his wounds; you have my thanks."

The older elf looked slightly chagrinned as he nodded, smiling softly after a moment, "Silver has some of the arts of the healer. We know not much about dragon-kind, but we had to try."

"I helped!"

Talus threw out his white-furred chest proudly, making Theanon chuckle and ruffle his mismatched hair, "You did. You could easily be a shaman or a druid one day."

The draconic male's eyes were regarding Tandoril side-long as he spoke, watching the older elf as Talus beamed, catching the draconic male's hand and running his living leather finger-pads over the Theanon's oddly smooth, pearly skin curiously, "I could?? But we-..."

As if he were stung the hybrid boy's muzzle snapped shut and he looked to his father with wide eyes. Theanon's bright silver-blue eyes met Tandoril's as well as he allowed Talus to swing from his strong arm, trying to cheer the self-chastised Halfling boy up as he looked to his father, "Shamen and druids do not use arcane magics little one. You could be one if you so wished."

Tandoril looked as if someone had dropped a shard of ice down his back, his face smoothing once more as his already pale features became almost bone-white. Theanon smiled kindly as he held a hand out to Talen, feeling the shy elf boy grasp it gingerly. He drew both younger males to him, perching each on one of his knees as he sat on his heels, "You are outcasts. This I already know, so you needn't hide it from me or my kind."

At the shocked expressions surrounding him the dragon male chuckled softly, "I am a dragon. Magic flows and pulses at the very cores of our beings. We can see it and feel it and sense it, and I cannot sense any of you but barely save your stout dwarf friend. You cannot deceive my nose either. You are elves, this is true, but you are Halflings with some other race."

Theanon pointed gently to Tandoril and Talen, "Your scent is different, I have smelled it only once, and only in passing and I have never met another of that kind since."

He ruffled his fingers through Talus' long, soft hair, "And you little one, are feline, but you have no tail and elfin features beneath your fuzz."

In response to the young feline's red, tucked ears he kissed Talus' forehead soothingly, "But beautiful fur and fuzz it is little one. You take after your mother?"

Tandoril nodded in response to the draconic male's words, "He more so than Talen. But the blood in our line is quite... unpredictable."

Silver looked up from where he was checking the whelpling's bandages, "Ye might a'well level with him Tan my luv. He's got the mark of the wise and powerful about him."

The dwarf's shrewd eyes looked at the draconic male with both lads seated on his knees, "He's probably many a millennia old 'n seen the world from end to end. I dare to figure there's naught that could lie to his eyes, nose or mind, if he sets his will agin' it."

"Kindly words master dwarf."

Theanon bowed his head to Silver who gave a shrug and inclined his bearded head. Tandoril shifted from foot to foot, glancing at his sons and Silver before he smoothed his long bright hair back and sank down onto his heels easily, coming almost to eye-level with Theanon, "I'd sooner this didn't leave this tent, or your people."

Theanon ran his fingers idly through Talen's hair as the shy elf lad shyly, with the unabashed innocence of impetuous youth was touching the funny little ridges that ran over the dragon male's nose and forehead. He smiled, twitching his scallop edged ears to make both younger males giggle as he bade Tandoril continue with a wink, "My folk are dragons master elf, our secrets guard themselves."

The elegant male chuckled lightly, "But if you wish, I'll trade you a secret one for one."

Theanon brushed his finger up Talus' black-tipped ears; leaning in conspiratorially despite the fact he knew all in the tent could hear him, "I'm almost 4000 years old."

He grinned theatrically as both Talen and Talus gasped like the wonderful audience only youths could be when hearing something they believed to be a miraculous secret. Tandoril laughed softly, watching the draconic male interacting so good-naturedly and gently with his sons comforting him, "Very well, very well. I believe I can trust you and your people..."

He tugged one of his long ears, making it flex and spring back to its full length, his bright silvery-green eyes holding the draconic male's bright silvery-blue ones, "My sons and I are part Selani."

"Mmm, I thought as much. The lost race. But not all who wander are lost, perhaps merely hiding."

Theanon rubbed his chin, the surprisingly humanoid gesture making the two other older males sure the dragon male spent as much time disguised as a biped as his natural form. He flexed his fan-like ears again, gazing at the disquieted elf male, "So one of those who came before you mated with a Selani, so your line is considered tainted by your common elven brethren. They cast you out and marked you as exiles, taking away your magics as punishment."

The draconic male's nose and forehead ridges deepened as his expression pinched, "The vanity of elves... They think in their semi-immortality all others beneath them and shouldn't like to think that any came before they did, despite both the Selani and my kindred did."

"Yes; as well as angels and demons and Gods."

"Well, they came before all, my friend."

Theanon nodded sagely, stretching his back as he gently hefted both younger males to their feet, patting their heads, "Now my little ones. I do believe Thanaros shall be returning soon, I must see to the littler one here."

The draconic male gathered his silken robe about himself as he kneeled before the drowsing whelpling, "You did wonderfully in your tending, but his broken wing and leg need mending before they knit wrongly. You may wish to step back; I have no idea if your taboo will be discomfited by the presence of magics."

Both Talen and Talus stepped back to stand on either side of their father who laid his hands upon their shoulders soothingly. Talen's ears stood out on either side of his head with his interest, his stormy gray eyes locked intently on the dragon's every movement, "I like magic..."

"You shall see some and more, no doubt before our time is over my little one."

Theanon laid his lean hands upon the wounded little whelp before the warm fire crystal, feeling it stir beneath his fingers and open an eye, giving a chirruping squeak of recognition, nuzzling into his uncle. Theanon inhaled and exhaled, making wisps of cool mist curl from his nose and lips as his hands and fingers seemed to frost over. A shimmering blue glow curled between his long fingers, crackling faintly in the still air of the tent as bluish-white fire rippled down along his arms and hands and caressed over the injured wyrmling. As Theanon's silvery-blue eyes glowed with the rippling neon fire that was bright as moonlight, but cast no heat the energy of his magic encased the dragonling in a glowing cocoon of healing energy. Talen and Talus gaped as the bandages they had applied unwound and slumped away and the gaping wounds on the small dragon's body knitted and healed over, sealing the holes in his gleaming hide till it was as pristine as the day he was hatched.

The temperature about the dragon pair had dropped, making the fire crystal flare and crackle fitfully to combat it. A mist sprang up around Theanon as the temperature differential between himself and the tent made the frost riming his arms turn into a spontaneous fog. The tiny dragon opened its eyes, stretching its wings and legs, now healed nicely, gazing about itself in keen interest at the assembled group. It uttered a gentle purring-rumble to Theanon before yawning widely and curling it's long neck back down, dozing once more. Theanon chuckled lightly, stroking the whelp's ridged silver spine and wings affectionately before standing once more, "Good as new, but fatigued still, I think. At any rate he seems comfortable enough till travel arrangements can be made."

The tall draconic male twitched his ears, looking toward the door, "My brother returns."

He smiled, laying a hand upon Tandoril's shoulder, "He is... slightly shy of using his mortal form. He has not spent much time amongst your kind, and he is not as proficient as his shape-changing or his language as he should be. We tease him mercilessly about it I fear."

Everyone but Theanon startled as the tent door wriggled and Thanaros' massive snout nudged its way into the enclosure. Talen and Talus clung to their father at the sight of the dragon's scarred head but Theanon laughed loudly, resting his hand on the shimmering end of his brother's muzzle, "You could have changed your shape you ass. You'll scare the little ones half to fits!"

Thanaros leveled his good eye at his younger brother, casting him an aggrieved look before he rumbled something, making Theanon shake his head and sigh, stretching out his hands, "Spit it out then my sweet fool of a brother."

Thanaros opened his maw, giving them all an uncomfortably close-up view of his snout full of nearly foot long, pearly dagger-like teeth before he unfurled his forked tongue and spat a hefty bag into his brother's waiting arms. He turned his massive head, looking to the peacefully sleeping whelp on the tent floor in front of the glowing fire crystal, growling something low and soothing before he looked from Theanon to Tandoril, saying something at length to his younger sibling in their own tongue. Theanon nodded and patted his brother's wide muzzle before slapping the tip of his nose playfully, "Yes, yes, yes... I will, now out, out before you have a tent stuck upon your head and all of us up your nose for your troubles!"

As his brother's massive skull withdrew, leaving the younger ones still trembling from adrenaline Theanon hefted the middling sized rucksack upon the spindly table and loosened the cord binding it shut, "I see he brought back some few small tokens for you."

Tandoril arched a brow as the draconic male pulled what looked like the freshly dressed haunches of a deer from the sack, wrapped in oiled cloth. The tall male smiled and presented the large slabs of meat to Silver who gaped, "As your hunter got no provender today in having his destiny waylaid, we thought we could at least provide something. Little ones need to eat."

The dwarf nodded, hefting the slabs of fresh meat, "As do big ones, our thanks."

Theanon chuckled as he continued to draw things from the bag, much more than a sack of its size should have been able to hold, making Talus and Talen's eyes go wide, "Tis enchanted. The whole of this tent's contents could fit inside it and more, if needs were."

The draconic male laid out some more meat, only dried in strips, a block of hard cheese, some dried fruit and a pair of loaves of bread. He reached into the sack and pulled with some difficulty a small wooden barrel the size of a watermelon from its depths, presenting it to Silver, "My brother could think of no fitting token for you as of yet master dwarf. But he thought this might be to your liking, though he robbed it from my own personal stores..."

The long eared male grinned, making it plain his words were in jest as he handed the cask to the short male, "From the So'thren Province, they brew well."

The dwarf looked delighted and kissed the polished wooden cask, lifting it with praises till Theanon waved his long hand and turned back to the sack. Theanon pulled out several small paper sacks from the depths of the bag as well as two other wrapped bundles, one oblong, about the length of a hand, the other flat and rounded. He sat down upon his haunches before Talus and Talen, offering the paper sacks first much to their delight, "A few sweets, just as a token. And with your father's leave, this is for Talus."

Theanon unwrapped a small oddly shaped knife, held in a finely tooled leather and silver sheath. The handle of the knife looked like bone, carved in minute details and he unsheathed the blade that glinted in the light. The blade was curved almost like a hook, with a sharp point. Tandoril looked on in approval as Theanon handed the small knife to his elder son by the haft, "Tis made from a claw. One of my cousin's, I believe. It will never need sharpening, can cut almost anything and can best most common steel blades."

The black and white furred youth looked stunned as he held the knife gingerly, withdrawing his own battered little metal dagger from his hip and affixing the new sheath to his belt almost reverently. Theanon smiled as he turned to Talen, "Little Talen is a mystery. But we shall get to know his likes and dislikes better over time, I'm sure. But for now, I hope this shall suffice."

Talen unwrapped the cloth bundle in his hands, uttering a tiny gasp as a bright bracelet dropped into his fingers. It was carven of a single piece of bright, pearly stone that was a light, silvery gray, shot through with veins of darker, almost steel. Theanon helped him slip it past his hand, "I think it matches your eyes. It is also enchanted to ward off cold and heat. Thanaros had to shrink it a bit, but I think it fits decently well."

As the two brothers and Silver plied the contents of the bag filling the table and chair Theanon turned to Tandoril, grinning playfully for a fully grown dragon, "Now master elf. Tis your turn."

The handsome elf raised his hands, his ears flushing as the draconic male advanced on him, a bag in his hand, "I need nothing... In truth Theanon..."

"You lie Tandoril; you and your family need much. But humility from an elf-kindred is a novelty. Come."

Theanon tugged the protesting elf out of the tent. Dusk was swiftly falling, turning the pearly silver and white sky of clouds ruddy toward the west and dark as slate toward the east. Theanon pressed a delicate golden necklace into the stammering elf's hand, the pendant made from an oblong shard of what looked like hammered silver. The draconic male chuckled, "Tis a special gift. It is a scale of one of my kin, worked and with spells woven over it. It can call one of us to you in time of need, it will mark you to one of my kin, conceal you from others and with it you may understand our speech."

Theanon pointed to where Thanaros waited near the fallen roc, the dragon male's silver hide catching the ruddy cast of the weak sunlight and making him shimmer orange and red, "My brother is not fluent in the common tongue, and he wishes to be able to talk freely with you. It is his wish you will come away with him tonight, so he may thank-you in his own leisure, and his own ways. He is bashful around so many mortal beings at once, but in time he will relax."

Tandoril's ears flared as he looked from Theanon to Thanaros waiting expectantly with his wings and tail folded somewhat haughtily to catch the light, "G-go? Go... where?"

Theanon rested his hand on the elf male's chest, smiling, "I've a roost not too far from here that is more suited to a mortal's comfort than his own. He wishes to take you there, for a while, at least. I shall remain here and take care of your boys and your dwarf and his own child."

"But..."

"We've just met. I know, but we dragons are a proud, oft strange and sometimes hasty folk with flights of fancy that come of long life. I promise you, your kin will be safe, as will you, and I suspect you could use a night's relaxation out of a tent in the wilderness."

Theanon slapped Tandoril's chest heartily, grinning, "Now go master elf, new life-friend of dragons. He awaits."

Tandoril swallowed as he allowed Theanon to slip the necklace about his throat, looking to the draconic male then his unshape-shifted brother, "Wi-will I have to ride him?"

"Only if you wish to. I have no doubt that would make the pair of you much closer much quicker, yes?"

Theanon's laughter made Tandoril blush as red as the sky as he pushed the sputtering elf toward the waiting Thanaros, "Go, go, go... All will be well here, go with him or he'll tire of waiting and simply carry you off of his own accord like in the old wives tales."

Thanaros crouched low as his brother and Tandoril approached, he lowered his long neck obligingly as Tandoril stared, still unsure of how to proceed. The tall elf uttered a surprised sound as Theanon laughed and simply hefted him up as if he weighed no more than a feather and lifted him up upon Thanaros' back near the base of his neck. Tandoril trembled softly as he looked to the dragon-elf, "You are much stronger than you look."

"I merely look like an elf my friend, if you recall. Seat yourself securely; no dragon in this world would accept a saddle. Thanaros will not let you fall and upon his back is no doubt more comfortable than carried in his claws. Hook your legs about his neck there at the joints of his wing and hold firmly."

Tandoril cried out as Thanaros rose beneath him, hurriedly adjusting himself as best he could on the dragon's smooth, metallic scales. His seat was almost slippery, but with his legs and hands gripping Thanaros he felt he would not slip too easily from his seat. Theanon lifted a hand as his brother's wide wings flexed, "Be at ease Tandoril my new friend. I will tend to things here till you return."

Theanon thumped his brother's forelimb, "Be gentle brother. And do not be shy the both of you! Now go before the sun falls completely."

The tall draconic male stepped back as his brother sprang from the ground with the handsome elf upon his back. Tandoril's nervous cry at his sudden gain in altitude was lost as Thanaros wheeled off into the low clouds. Theanon chuckled as he turned back to the tent, plucking up Tandoril's forgotten bow before the snow could ruin it, passing back through the door. All eyes in the tent were upon him as he returned alone, Talus and Talen looked at him expectantly when he spoke, "Your father and my brother have much to discuss. I shall spend the night here as your father spends the night with him."

Silver's wry smirk beneath his beard let Theanon know he had comprehended much more of the word "discuss" than had the two younger ones. The dwarf grunted, "He could use it; 'tis many a year since he's had a proper night in a proper bed with someone his own age."

Theanon chuckled brightly, "Well, perhaps own age is slightly exaggerated. Thanaros is nearly 375 score years."

Talen's sweet voice was serious, though he had misunderstood the draconic male's words, "Father is nearly 350."

Both Theanon and Silver chuckled, making both younger males look puzzled as Theanon swept about, examining almost everything in the tent. The draconic male looked to the younger male's care-worn clothes, their packs and bedrolls, "You've traveled long?"

"Nearly 3 months now; from the west and south."

"Where do you seek to go?"

"The Burrow-Downs. My kin there, though small in number these days, would hae us come."

"I have been there often, along with the halls beneath the Coldfell Mountains and the Black Hills of the dark elven folk of the north."

Silver stroked his beard as he looked at the tall draconic male, "You travel these lands much. Yet you've a southern accent."

Theanon laughed gently, "I come here when I may. Most of my days I live in the south toward Panthalassa."

The long-eared male rolled up the empty enchanted sack, handing it to Silver, "You may keep it. I daresay you'll find it more useful than I. I was abroad here to see my brothers and sisters when the little one was snatched."

Theanon's face darkened, his blue eyes crackling with fire, "We thought we had slain all the rocs in our lands. This one came suddenly, from where we do not know."

"Tis well Tan was swifter."

Theanon nodded at the dwarf's words, stretching his long, lean, broad form as he looked to the two younger males amusing themselves with a small leather bound book near the fire crystal, "Yes. T'was lucky he intervened or my clan would have lost one of the only whelps born to it in near to two centuries."

"I heard dragons breed only infrequently."

Theanon nodded, smiling slyly at the dwarf, "With their own females, yes."

Silver barked in laughter, making both youths look up questioningly till Theanon shook his head. The handsome male fingered his ridged nose with a finger, "But the question stands, what to do with all of you now."

Talen, Talus and Silver all gazed at the draconic male as he sat in one of the spindly chairs, watching him sigh as he relaxed, "There is a life-debt now between our families."

Theanon smoothed his shimmering hair back as he leaned on his knees, "We dragons take those very seriously, as we live long, and your family seems to live under peculiar circumstances."

He twitched his long ears, "Dragons could give less of a care for the preening vanity of elven sensibilities, but ere the long centuries our fates had been mixed with magic and now the growth and nurturing of the mortal races about us. We knew the Selani in days of old, too long ago to count now as mortal minds would be able to understand them. We knew the elves when they were young and mortal, we've known the wars of light and dark that almost clove the world and did our parts.

"Now in these later years when my kind prefers to guard and watch and teach more than anything else, we've watched the immortal-kind grow cloistered and hedonistic and vain. The mortal races still wage their wars and delve deeper than their ken, but that is how young races become old ones and we cannot begrudge them for it. Whilst over all the celestial and lower races watch and wait, though they fear both my kind and the elves and mages, not without good cause."

Theanon looked to Silver, "I like your people. They're quiet, pensive, learned, proud, but few are vain. Your kin have the love of beautiful things and making them, you love the earth almost as much as my kind does; the deep places and far things. You make war seldom, but when you do, none are fiercer nor more kindly in your own way. I wish men and many of the furred kind could be more like your people, and the elves at times. Their love of the earth and all things in it betimes is more unto desperate control; they love things that grow, but not that which change so much."

The dwarf grunted softly, "Yer the first of yer kind I've ever heard to tell anything bad of an elf, truth to tell, not that I've met many dragon kind."

Theanon raised his hands softly, "Not that I do not love them as all things. But all living things must grow or rot and die, and in their vanity they grow stagnant. The mortal races are catching them up in many ways, though the elves usually think their kind vulgar in means. I do not love men-folk so much either. They and many of the younger races will kill my kind if they can, for want of our teeth, claws, scales and other dear things for their weapons and crafts of war and magic. I do not care if men slay wicked dragons, but at times they are indiscriminant of whom they slay."

"Aye. I fear there some of even my own kind who do such things, though we suffer them not lightly."

Silver harrumphed again, stroking his beard. As the thickness of their speech had made the littler males fall silent both older looked to one another. Theanon chuckled, brightening up quickly as he flicked his hand and made sparks of many colors dance from his fingers. The dragon male had many ages of the world upon him, but seemed still to retain a youthful exuberance that many of his older kin lacked, as he still was a youngling to some of his oldest relations. Sensing that the two younger boys were growing restless lacking their father he stood and looked to the hob-topped fire crystal, "How does one cook upon one of these?"

"Easily, or nearly so, once you've become accustomed to it."

Silver stood, stretching his thick legs as he stumped to the space set aside as a pantry and food preparation area. As he drew back the curtain he waved the draconic male to him. Theanon rolled back the sleeves of his robes, smiling as he stood behind and much above the dwarf, "I fear I know but little of cooking much. I am no chef."

"Perhaps then master dragon we can teach you a few small things. T'would be a feat."

Tandoril clutched at the slippery smooth silver scales beneath his hands as the white and gray world of ice and snow beneath was traded for one of a ruddy, pearly white one above. He swallowed as the cold wind whistled in his long ears, adjusting his grip around Thanaros' great neck, feeling the dragon's wings beat on either side of his legs. As the cloudy mist swirled around them Thanaros curled his long neck back and gazed at the handsome elf whose long, pale hair was streaming behind his skull. The elf's eyes, slightly streaming from the icy wind widened as the dragon male faced him, raising his voice to be heard above the whistling air, "Can you see to fly with your head turned round like that??"

The silver dragon rumbled to him soothingly, and to Tandoril's great surprise after a moments dizzy disorientation that seemed to ring through his skull and ears he could understand the winged male. The deep, bass grumble was still there beneath the words now carried to him in common, but Thanaros' words were smooth and clear, if accented, "Yes, I can. Can you understand me freely now little one?"

"Y-y-yes... I hear and understand you now, though I do not know how."

"Do not let it plague you master elf, let it be. Theanon's roost is not far from here, but do you object if I sped our flight? I do not wish to have you out of doors once the sun falls and you have no thicker barrier against the cold. I do not feel the cold, but flying as we are, I can feel you shiver."

Tandoril nodded, as resistant as his people were to snow and cold, amongst the low clouds he was beginning to shiver slightly in the chill, "I have no objections, I suppose."

Thanaros rumbled, giving his head and tail a twitch as he turned his head once more back toward the horizon, "Then hold on tighter and I hope you have not a soft stomach."

Tandoril clutched himself tighter to the dragon's neck as he gasped, inhaling an icy draught and coughing as Thanaros' wide, mirrored wings shimmered like a rainbow on either side of them and the air seemed to crackle. He uttered a minute cry of shock as they gave a breath-taking spurt of speed forward, making the clouds about them ripple with a tiny booming sound like thunder. Tandoril gaped as the hills that had seemed distant now loomed directly in front of them, Thanaros losing altitude as he flared his wings, aiming for an outcropping of rock at the pinnacle of the tallest hill before them. He looked to the back of the dragon's skull, "You just teleported us!"

"I know elf-friend, I know. How do you think I left and returned to your tent so swiftly just a short while ago?"

Thanaros alighted nimbly for his great size on the spindly outcropping of stone, surrounded by sheer cliff face all about it. As he bent himself low once more, pressing his barreled chest to the rock he faced Tandoril, "I will not let you fall master elf."

Tandoril scooted himself along the great dragon's neck, grunting softly more of bashfulness than discomfort as he felt the ridges of Thanaros' back rub against his thighs and rump. He slowly brought his leg over the dragon's spine, letting himself drop lightly to the bare stone beneath them. In the gathering dusk he could see only a great flat stone that stood out from the cliff face before them. Thanaros lifted himself onto his haunches and raised his foreleg, sliding the slab of stone aside as easily as a door, exposing a tall, wide, arched doorway in the cliff, leading into darkness within. The dragon male rumbled, "Go within. I shall join you in but a short moment."

The massive male gestured with a claw and Tandoril stepped cautiously into the dark opening of the doorway. As he entered he jumped, startled as a shivering blue-white light sprang up all about him. Crystals, the size and width of a thick roll of parchment were arrayed around the cavern room, each one holding a flickering blue flame. The cave around him was large and roughly oblong, with smooth walls and a high vaulted ceiling. The floor was roughly hewn stone, but covered in thickly, beautifully woven carpets and fur rugs. The walls were hung with ornate tapestries and hanging scrolls, colorful and masterfully worked and inked. All around between the tapestries were tall bookcases of polished wood and glass, shelves and tables, scattered with fine things and bits of statuary and sculpture that might have been at home in a manor house.

All of the furniture was man sized, though the massive bed standing at the far end of the chamber was large enough to fit a dragon, if it were slender enough. The bed was round and slightly concave, like a nest, covered in blue and green silks and satins and soft woven blankets of wool. As Tandoril shook himself from gazing about in wonder he looked back to the doorway into the now almost completely darkened night outside, clearing his throat, "Thanaros? Do you still live?"

"Yes master elf. I merely... try to make myself presentable to your eyes."

Tandoril chuckled gently, brushing his long hair out as he smiled, "Theanon spoke of your difficulties in shape-shifting. You needn't fear."

Thanaros growled more deeply than he had before, "He would."

Tandoril took a stride toward the doorway, hearing the rustle of wings from without, "Were anyone to tell me a dragon could seem bashful till this moment I would have thought they raved... Come master dragon, let me look upon you."

Thanaros exhaled loudly from beyond the range of the lamps, and then stepped forward across the threshold of the door. Tandoril took a step back, gasping; making the draconic male rumble in consternation till the handsome elf lifted his hands, "Nay, nay... You merely surprised me, looking so different from your sibling."

"Theanon has lived longer amongst your kind. He is more adept at shape-shifting than I am..."

The embarrassed draconic male entered the light fully, allowing Tandoril to gaze upon him in closer detail. Thanaros looked very different than Theanon in his bipedal guise; the dragon male was almost no less massive in his humanoid guise than his natural form. He towered over Tandoril by almost a head and shoulders, and was twice as broad as he, if not more. The draconic male had an immensely broad chest and shoulders, thick with muscles and seamed with old scars over his pale, silvery-blue skin, the jagged slashes of past battle showing almost violet on his hide. Thanaros' arms and legs were long and thick, heavily cabled and strong, with broad feet and hands that held silver claws still. His waist was broad with heavy, powerful thighs, covered with only a waist-cloth that dangled hardly farther than his knees in front and much shorter behind.

The draconic male's arms, legs and chest were adorned with swirling tattoos of bright, sapphire blue, the tribal markings extending across his back and over the scarred half of his face. Thanaros' thick neck held a broad skull, and though his features were elven, they were thicker, more angular and sharper. His broad visage held a hint of the bestial about them with his large, almond shaped eyes, one the bright silvery blue, the other milky with a scar that ran down the side of his face from forehead to chin. The dragon's more feral features showed heavily in the deeper ridges of his nose and forehead, and a pair of silver horns arched from his temples. He had no tail, but he still possessed wings, perhaps 3 paces long each fully extended, sprouted from his shoulders, silvery, but more like leather than metal, rustling in the stillness of the chamber. His ears were larger than his brothers, holding almost serrated edges rather than the finer scallops of Theanon's, one of them notched and the other missing its very tip. The draconic male's rougher, more bestial features held a stark contrast to his brother's, possessing more of the dragon in them than the humanoid.

Thanaros tossed his long mane of pale hair, arching his back and thrusting out his already proud chest, making the deep ridges of his stomach ripple as he looked to Tandoril almost as if in challenge. The handsome elf made no answer, stepping forward and laying his long hand upon Thanaros' massive chest. He looked up into the draconic male's face and smiling, shifted his hand to the taller male's arm and gave a tug. Tandoril could no sooner shift the larger male than lift the hill on which they sat, but Thanaros took a step forward on his broad feet, his blunted claws clicking on the bare stone. Tandoril looked to the opening of the cave, "How does one shut the door?"

"Touch the tile, there, set into the stone next to it."

Thanaros pointed with his massive hand, watching as Tandoril pressed the tile lightly and the massive door slipped shut once more, silently for a slab of stone. The handsome elf looked about as he stood next to the taller male, "Your brother loves comfort, does he not? This looks as if a palace next to a tent in the wilderness."

"He does."

Thanaros watched curiously as the lean elf circled him slowly, inhaling and exhaling a tiny puff of mist as he felt Tandoril's lithe hands on his scar seamed skin. The elf's hands traced the bright cobalt swaths and whorls of pigment on the dragon's arms, back and chest slowly, running his fingers over Thanaros' smooth wings, feeling them flex. Thanaros startled and exhaled a jet of powdery plume of snowflakes as he abruptly felt the elf's slightly calloused hand run across his nicely pronounced rump. Tandoril uttered a bright chuckle, innocently stepping away from the taller male and moving deeper into the chamber. He sounded highly amused as he glanced back to the draconic male now flushed almost as deeply as his tattoos, "If you exhale snow when you're surprised, one might wonder what a silver dragon puts forth when he's suddenly aroused in other ways."

Thanaros uttered a deep, growling rumble that didn't translate into anything, making Tandoril laugh again as he assumed he'd piqued the dragon male's interest. The elf crossed to a large hearth set into the carved wall near to the bed, running his finger across the smooth granite of the mantle, "I see we could make a fire if we wished. Does your brother keep provisions here, or a place to wash a little? I've not had one since I set out this morning."

Thanaros nodded, snapping his fingers and making the logs stacked in the hearth ignite; the hidden chimney within it catching the smoke and venting it away from the vaulted chamber, "There are both, if you wish them."

"I do, please."

The taller male strode to the nearest of the large bookcases set into the stone walls, pulling it forward, revealing a small chamber beyond a doorway with a raised lip. The room was barely two paces wide and three deep, holding a wash-stand and a tiled alcove beyond another raised lip of stone with a metal grate in the rock floor. A silver sluice stood above with a simple lever, pulled with a braided cord and the wash-basin had a spout above it that drained away below. Thanaros looked to the elf as he pulled open the next bookcase, revealing a larder, "I fear master elf, that my kind can bathe in cold water as easily as menfolk can bathe in hot, so it may be a cooler shower than you are accustomed to."

"Any wash would be a welcome. My people are hardy enough in the cold to stand it a moment or two enough to bathe, if there's a fire and some food thereafter."

Tandoril grinned and began to pull off his travel worn clothing, piling it over the back of a nearby chair as Thanaros watched keenly. The taller male blushed again when Tandoril glanced back from unlacing his breeches, "Do you wish to lend me a hand?"

Thanaros cleared his throat, casting his gaze away and making Tandoril giggle softly, shucking his breeches to the floor, standing naked before the wash basin and looking to the draconic male, "No? I suppose I shall have to make due."

Thanaros rubbed the back of his neck, jumping softly as Tandoril uttered a shrill squeak of shock when he pulled on the cord of the shower and a cool cascade of water sluiced down over him. As the elf's pale skin broke out into gooseflesh he shook himself, grabbing up the nearby soap and lathering himself quickly, gasping at the cold water, "You were not in jest Thanaros!"

The dragon male coughed softly as he watched the tall, lithe elf squirm and bend in the water, washing himself as quickly as he could before he shut off the cool sluice and shook himself of the excess water. Tandoril wipes his eyes, "Towel?"

The winged male rustled his wings, "I know not if Theanon has any, but I can help you there, at least."

Thanaros pointed to the pale elf, making the moisture jump from his skin and hair in a spray, leaving him merely slightly damp and his light hair swiftly drying even in the still air of the chamber. Tandoril blinked, running his hands over his pale skin and smiling, "My thanks."

The taller male rumbled softly, stepping back as Tandoril emerged from the washing chamber freshly clean and stark naked still. He let his eye rove over the handsome elf's lean form, feeling a flash of warmth in his ears and face. Unclothed from his worn garments the pale elf verged on beautiful; his limber body might have been slender had he lived the peaceful, studious life of an academic, but as he was accustomed to lifting and hauling and running and flexing it was leanly muscled and pleasant to look upon. The handsome elf looked as if he could use a few more good meals and less hard travel around his chest and hips, as his ribs nearly showed through when he flexed just right. Tandoril's limbs were long and lean, taut rather than bulky, with a nicely sculpted chest and flat belly, showing more than a hint of a ripple.

The lithe elf stood obligingly still, his hips canted smirking gently at the draconic male, "Would you like to see the back as well?"

Before the taller male could sputter a response Tandoril shifted on his toes like a dancer and exposed his pale back to Thanaros, shifting his hips more to make his rump stand out. He glanced back, making his silvery hair ripple, "Do you like it?"

"Yes."

The winged male tipped his head, his pearly lips tweaking to show his sharp, silver teeth. Tandoril nodded, shifting back and stepping toward the draconic male, "Good."

The naked elf made the dragon male draw himself up taller, thrusting his chest out once more as he looked down at Tandoril. Thanaros gave no ground to the lean elf's teasing, his silver-blue eye boring into Tandoril's soft green ones as they stood almost chest to chest. Tandoril rested a long fingered hand upon the draconic male's naked breast, "Your brother said you wished something of me?"

The elf's slight smile said more than Thanaros wished to answer to, but he nodded, "Yes... This is so."

The winged male seemed conflicted as to how to voice his thoughts, rumbling softly, "Tis so much easier when one can express more than words. Dragon-speak is much more efficient, or to share thoughts..."

"Then go slowly, and carefully. We can eat whilst you think and speak?"

Tandoril ran a finger down the winged male's broad chest, feeling his smooth skin that held almost the faintest hint of scale-like texture as Thanaros nodded. The elf chuckled, "I will likely need the strength of food and drink anyway."

He looked Thanaros up and down slowly, "I do believe ere the night is over."

The wide pantry was not large enough to fit both Tandoril and the broad draconic male, so Thanaros simply stood at the threshold while the lean elf browsed the shelves of packages, boxes, jars and bottles. The elf touched a stone chest standing almost hip height, startling as it was ice cold. He lifted the lid of the enclosure and saw that it held fresh meats and fruit, Thanaros rumbling an explanation, "Tis enchanted to keep ever cold, meats and fruit within will keep for months."

Tandoril glanced back at the tall male, "Your brother eats men-food, but do you?"

He paused consideringly, "What do silver dragon-folk eat when they're not amongst mortal folk?"

Thanaros stretched out his hands for the things Tandoril extended him, "We prefer meat, freshly killed, avian, if we can get it, but to be truthful we are not picky. We make as much use of grocers and butchers as any other folk."

Tandoril spied a tightly sealed jar on a higher shelf, made of brightly glazed pottery. He took it down and loosed the lid with a pop, sniffing the contents and uttering a sound of surprised delight, "Tobacco! Oh, I've not had any in an age. Do you think your brother would mind? If he's a spare pipe about..."

"I do not think he would mind."

Tandoril nodded, making his ears flare as he searched amongst the bottles of wine and cordials, picking out a pair of bottles as he looked to the growing stack in Thanaros' hands and arms with pink ears, "My apologies. It has been a while since I had access to a full pantry."

"To be expected; traveling the wilds with children."

Thanaros rumbled, placing all his burdens on the largest table, making Tandoril wiggle his ears softly as he looked longingly between the dining table and the thick fur rug before the crackling fire. The draconic male chuckled, the deep sound in his chest making Tandoril smile as Thanaros simply removed everything to a lower table nearest the fire and picked the stout piece of furniture up, placing it half on the rug. The pale elf sank down on his backside onto the thick pelt rug, patting the space next to his hip as Thanaros looked unsure of how to proceed. The tall, broad male uttered a strained sort of rumbling cough, making his nose steam with a wisp of mist, looking down at the naked elf grinning up at him. Tandoril giggled playfully, "You may as well seat yourself master dragon. From this height I can see up your loincloth anyway."

Thanaros almost tripped on the edge of the rug as he shifted his massive feet, huffing loudly before he hastily seated himself down onto his heels next to the grinning elf. Tandoril ran his hand over the winged male's arm, "Well, it got you to sit down, at least."

The massive male shifted a bit, nodding as he watched the lean elf who chuckled, stroking the ridges running over his forehead, "I never would have taken an ancient wyrm for being so nervous."

Tandoril jumped as Thanaros growled gently, his scalloped ears flaring. The horned male's eyes narrowed, "That is an uncouth name for my kind..."

"I apologize. I had no notion t'was a rude word amongst your kind."

Tandoril bowed his head, but saw that the draconic male's flash of indignation was fleeting. The lean elf pulled the platters of food forward and began to feed himself bits of this and that, the hard bread he'd found, good cheese, fresh fruits not normally found so far north, slices of smoked and salted meat. He began slicing thin bits of a fresh red meat that had been in the cold store, offering them to Thanaros who obligingly took them from the elf's fingers. Tandoril blushed brightly as Thanaros licked a spot of pink blood from his finger, discovering that the winged male's long, smooth tongue was almost purple in color and forked.

As they ate and talked the horned male seemed to relax, his mannerisms becoming less stilted as he adjusted to his humanoid form again after so long disused. By meal's end the large male was resting with the elf snuggled up against his side, the pair drinking from a single glass of wine as Tandoril took long pulls on the fine jade pipe Thanaros had found for him. As the wad of shredded tobacco in the bowl of the pipe glowed cheerily he inhaled, then exhaled, sending wafts and rings of smoke toward the vaulted ceiling above them. The winged male had refused the pipe, but was amusing both of them by sending rings of cool mist from his mouth and nose up to break apart Tandoril's smoke ones. As the rumbling male looked to Tandoril he ran his clawed fingers through the rug beneath them, "You have offspring, but I saw no signs of a female companion with you. Have you a mate?"

Tandoril's face darkened as he leaned into Thanaros' side, "I did once... She passed from life some 5 years back, when Talen was but a young one."

"I am sorry. It must wound you yet to speak of it."

The lean elf shifted, sighing, "At times. She was a fine feline, beautiful."

"I could see your one son bears her resemblance. Theanon told me some of your tale when I returned, enough to know your pain."

Tandoril perked his ears, "Theanon told you?"

Thanaros chuckled softly, stroking the elf's pale hair, "As I told you, dragon-kind need not speak in words, if we do not wish to."

"You can share one another's thoughts, then. How about you then handsome dragon? Have you a mate?"

The horned male nodded slowly, giving a deeper rumble, "Yes, my life-mate, our offspring which you saved."

Tandoril smiled, his face brightening as he leaned into the taller male, "And how bears she, then?"

Thanaros sighed, his forehead and nose wrinkling more deeply as he looked to the ceiling, "She-dragons are... haughty and belligerent when it is not their time and our offspring is barely 4 years from his shell yet."

Tandoril nodded, "When is their time, then?"

Thanaros grimaced, "Once a century, as mortal folks reckon time."

"By Cirin... And I thought I was hard-by at times."

Tandoril chuckled gently, "So I'm to assume what she does not know, cannot hurt her?"

"Oh, she knows, but does not care. Dragonesses can be aloof, but they are not cruel."

"Well, that's a blessing; I would hate to have to contend with the wrath of a dragoness."

Thanaros drew up, squaring his jaw as his ears flared, "You saved our offspring. She would not wish to maim you for this..."

"Oh, that much I figured for certain. Tis the other reason I find myself here with you that I would not wish to invoke her wrath."

"Other reason?"

The bluish flush was creeping up along the ridge of Thanaros' ears and forehead as he gazed down at the smiling elf who prodded him gently in the side. Tandoril smirked thinly, "Yes... The other reason; Theanon said you wished to thank me."

Thanaros nodded slowly, his silver-blue eye focusing on the long-eared male, "Yes. There is now a life-debt between our families. My race is ancient; we live long, but so does yours. Theanon told me that you are of the lost race. There is no shame in this to my kind."

The dragon male shifted, running his blunted claw-tips over the side of Tandoril's face gently, "I would invite your kin to be part of mine. I would adopt your kin as dragon-friend, to honor the debt between us."

He slowly opened his other hand, running his claw over the palm of it, making a bright thread of his blood blossom forth, like spilled quicksilver. With his finger he traced a line of runic symbols the elf had never seen before over Tandoril's pale, alabaster-like skin, adorning his naked chest and shoulder with his bright blood. The elf shivered softly, as the draconic male's blood felt cool on his skin. He offered his own hand to the winged male who with surprising tenderness kissed the palm of it, then gingerly pressed his claw-tip into the center of it, drawing a tiny bead of crimson. Thanaros daubed the elf's own sanguine blood against his own, mingling the two before he inhaled deeply, exhaling across Tandoril's pale chest.

The elf make cried out softly as the cold gust of the draconic male's breath washed over him, making his skin contract into goose-flesh and his nipples perked almost instantly. The bright blood on his skin flashed with silver fire, then evaporated, leaving only a small, bright cobalt mark on his shoulder, akin to the tattoos covering Thanaros' strong form. The winged male licked his palm, making it heal over, then repeated the motion with Tandoril's, sealing his flesh, "We are bonded now, you and I, as are our kin, till they be no more."

Thanaros rumbled, "We shall take in your exiled family as our own, if this is your wish, despite the dwarf..."

Tandoril laughed softly, "Silver should be pleased you don't consider him too much of a burden."

He stroked the winged male's face and chest, "The children should be quite thrilled. They were taken with your son the moment they saw him."

Thanaros rumbled sedately, leaning back lightly to allow Tandoril's hands to caress his chest and throat, "Your offspring will be welcomed. Children are cherished to dragon-kind. We do not have many, nor often. Our offspring are birthed in pairs, once a century... if we're lucky. Celanaros' twin perished from sickness not long from his shell. Had we lost Celanaros... I do not know. Theanon has no life-mate yet."

"Celanaros? That is a beautiful name."

Thanaros smiled as he ran his claws through Tandoril's pale hair, stroking the elf's back slowly, "These are merely our names in your tongue. To speak our true names you would need 4 lungs, 2 throats, a forked tongue... and well, to be a dragon."

Tandoril giggled, shaking his head, "I have enough problems being an elf without being an elf, I should not wish to be a dragon as well, though I see nothing wrong with being a dragon thusfar."

The elf's playful tone as his eyes roved the taller male's body made Thanaros rumble softly. Tandoril pressed himself closer to the winged male, "You and your brother are beautiful in both your forms."

"I am scarred and no doubt slightly bestial to your eyes though, in this form."

Tandoril laughed softly at the look of doubt on the taller male's face, "Who am I to judge by looks alone? Look at Silver. He's a handsome specimen amongst his own people, but they judge one another by the length of their beards, at times, even their women."

Thanaros' expression was serious as he nodded, till he realized the elf's last statement was in teasing, then it softened as he smirked, exposing the tips of his silvery fangs. The draconic male nudged the elf in a surprisingly relaxed gesture, making him laugh harder, "You've relaxed finally, have you Thanaros?"

Tandoril smiled, "I thought you would be a tough stone to crack, till you'd had your say and said your thanks. I am surprised you've lasted this long, sitting here with me, as we've talked."

The winged male ran his fingers over Tandoril's long ears, rumbling softly, "I've learned much merely sitting here with you, I can sense much, I've glimpsed much, though your body does not flow with magic."

The elf shrugged, "It flows with many things, even without magic. Want being one of them."

"Want?"

Tandoril smirked at the taller male, "I've seen it in your gaze since we arrived. You needn't hide it."

He looked into the dragon's silver-blue eye, smiling, "We are much alike, you and I. We have needs, and as much good, no doubt as your brother is to you, and Silver is to myself, there are things they cannot furnish us."

To Tandoril's surprise Thanaros' blue tinged skin broke out into a darker flush than he'd yet seen, making him chuckle lightly, "Well, perhaps not often enough, then?"

"Perhaps."

Thanaros' blue flushed ears flickered as he gazed evenly at the smooth, pale elf. He twitched as Tandoril grasped his shoulders and pulled him closer. The smiling elf whispered in his long, ridged ear, "Relax..."

He leaned into Thanaros' massive form, pulling himself close to the winged male's smooth body, which was warm, but cooler than any other beings would have been so close to the crackling fire. Thanaros' heavily muscled form was dense and alluring against Tandoril's as he leaned his head and kissed the draconic male's chest and throat. He shifted his face, bringing it up and touching his lips to Thanaros' gently, kissing him. To his pleasure the tall, winger male reciprocated almost instantly, and with an intensity that surprised the elf male. He felt Thanaros' hand slip up his back and hold his nape as the massive male kissed him back, rumbling loudly. Tandoril rested his hands on Thanaros' wide chest, parting his pale lips softly, uttering a tiny sound as the dragon's long, warm, wet forked tongue invaded his mouth. He sucked on the horned male's long tongue softly, feeling Thanaros' body shiver against him, though not from cold.

As they kissed Tandoril let his long fingers wander down and caress over Thanaros' waist. He gripped the thin waist-cloth about the winged male's hips and pulled it away with a jerk of his wrist, hearing the material part as it flew off and fluttered to the floor. Thanaros uttered a growl of surprise at the forwardness of the elf male's motion, and then rumbled deeper in his chest. The sound turned to a groaning stutter into Tandoril's mouth as the elf's long, nimble fingers delved down between his thighs and touched him softly. Thanaros broke their deep kiss with a grunt as his dense body responded almost quick enough to make him dizzy, springing to life against Tandoril's fingers. The elf's bright sea-foam colored eyes went wide as he gasped, "My Gods..."

With Thanaros still rumbling in his ear the elf craned his neck, glancing down at what was now gripped in his hand, his mouth falling open. Now freed of his loin-cloth and painfully aroused the draconic male's body was fully exposed to Tandoril, making him gape as he gingerly caressed Thanaros' sex. Much like the winged male himself, his cock was massive. Tandoril had expected to be impressed, just from the horned male's size, but the less than demurely thudding length in his hand was no less than a foot-length long. Thanaros' giant maleness was almost too thick for the lean elf to close his fingers around fully, the width of at least 3 fingers across, with an amazingly wide base, smooth, pale shaft and a tapering glans that flared at its base. At the base of Thanaros' glans, where it flared out at its widest point before tapering sharply to meet his shaft was ringed in a row of tiny, backward facing spikes of flesh. While the barbs around his glans looked wicked, they were actually quite soft, flexing as Tandoril rubbed his fingers across them. The underside of the dragon's thick shaft was textured almost akin to his nose, the smooth skin rippled in tiny, overlapping ridges from the base to just short of his glans.

The stuttering elf swallowed; his throat clicking as he gazed in awe at the fully exposed draconic male before him. He gripped Thanaros' proud length harder, feeling it give a twitch between his fingers. Tandoril sputtered, his long, delicately pointed ears flushing pink as he looked at Thanaros' immense length, taking in the thick spike of smooth flesh sitting above a pair of equally large testicles dangling in their smooth skinned sac below it. The dragon's prowess was obvious, along with his battle scarred body and strength and Tandoril could feel his belly squirming gently as his mind was suddenly filled with less than demure thoughts. He raised his bright green eyes, Thanaros' good blue eye on him expectantly as the dragon male rumbled deeper and louder.

Thanaros clicked his teeth softly as he felt Tandoril's firm hand rubbing him, making his densely muscled frame twitch on reflex as his hips threatened to take over for him. The blushing elf licked his abruptly dry lips, leaning into the winged male as he squeezed softly, "Mmm, does it hurt you to lie back upon your wings?"

Thanaros shook his broad, horned head, arching his back slowly as he ran one of his clawed hands over Tandoril's naked chest, making him shiver, "They are quite flexible."

The elf couldn't resist, "As you, no doubt, hope I am...?"

"More, I would hope you can relax enough to enjoy the coming tasks at hand my little elf."

Thanaros' grin made Tandoril chuckle softly, allowing the larger male to shift upon the soft rug. As Thanaros stretched himself out to his full length, head tilted so he could gaze as Tandoril seated on his haunches. He raised his hand and caressed the pale elf's naked chest, running his mercifully blunted talon-tips across his soft skin to make him shiver. Tandoril gasped in a sharp inhalation as the dragon's hand slipped down and began to rub against his flat belly, just above the juncture of his thighs. The elf's own arousal was obvious, standing at about half the length and thickness of the horned male's. Tandoril's maleness was well suited to the tall, leanly muscled elf, sleek, proud, with a tapered tip and a pink flush that matched his ears. He watched the massive draconid slowly make himself comfortably, reclining onto the thick fur rug.

Tandoril cast his eyes about, giggling as he spied a cushion resting on the nearest chair, plucking it up and easing it behind the horned male's head, "There! Now you look supremely comfortable."

As he lay recumbent, yet erect before the grinning elf the horned male rumbled, flexing his dense body as he watched Tandoril settle next to him, turning his broad head to watch him with his bright eye. The long eared male startled, "Oh! I'm so sorry, forgive me..."

Thanaros rumbled as the pale elf ran a hand over his massive chest, blushing. Tandoril stroked over Thanaros' dense pectorals, "I accidentally sat on your blind side..."

The elf male gingerly, with no small amount of mischief in his eyes slowly climbed atop the massive horned male, straddling his middle. The dragon flushed over his pearly blue tinged skin as he felt Tandoril's lean weight settle onto him, the elf's amazingly warm body pressing into him in more ways than one. Tandoril shifted back till his hips were straddling the horned male's thick waist, squeezing gently as he flexed his legs. He leaned in, making his long, pale hair cascade over Thanaros' chest as he rested his hands on either side of the massive male's torso, kissing his chin, "Can you not heal your eye master dragon?"

Thanaros mmm-ed with a tiny rumble, lifting his immense hands to Tandoril's shoulders as he shook his head, "Tis a cursed wound little one; it has been healed as much as it possible as you see it."

"Another dragon?"

Tandoril slowly kissed over the larger male's lips and throat, rubbing against him gently. Thanaros nodded, growling in his chest, making it vibrate against the pale elf who giggled, "A red dragon."

"It must have been a titanic battle."

Tandoril smiled, feeling the dragon male's chest thrust up beneath him with pride as Thanaros growled; both from the memory and from the feeling of the elf's lips kissing over his hard pectorals. Tandoril chuckled a bit as his pale lips found the large, pert bumps of flesh situated on either side of the horned male's chest, "I'm surprised you have these."

Thanaros returned the chuckle, flushing deeper, then groaning as he felt Tandoril's lips and teeth stimulate his nipples, "Well, t'was a suggestion from Theanon... actually. Our kind is unused to having external genitals at all, but he pointed out the fact that humanoid races seem to like the breasts of both genders, even if they have no purpose on males."

The horned male grunted, "And that does feel good..."

He arched his back as the elf became more aggressive with his nipples, grunting and nearly squirming as Tandoril's blunt teeth and fingers tugged and rubbed, alternating with his tongue and lips. The elf giggled, lifting his face from the larger male's chest, kissing his chin. He teasingly pushed the draconic male's lip up with a finger and exposing his sharp, shining fangs, his mind wandering to Thanaros' claws that were running over his pale skin as well, "I hope you will be gentle... when my own turn comes."

"I have no wish to hurt you... Tis not my first time mating in this form either, thankfully."

Tandoril pouted theatrically as he slowly shifted, scooting himself from the larger male's broad form and onto his backside next to him, "So I don't get the honor of deflowering you as a humanoid?"

The teasing tone in the elf's voice made the dragon male huff, raising one of his broad hands and giving Tandoril a soft spank across his pale ass, making him squeak. Tandoril grinned, "Yes, yes, don't push my luck. Tis honor enough to be chosen by a dragon in itself. Now..."

The long eared male ran his leanly fingered hands down the reclining male's body, eagerly stroking his smooth skin, feeling the raised areas of the scars seaming Thanaros' body and tracing his tattoos. The elf's attention was drawn down, leaning over and pressing his chest against Thanaros' hip. He smiled as he felt the dragon's hand caressing over the back of his skull and nape, running his long-fingered hand over Thanaros' mammoth erection. As he studied the draconic male's cock closer the elf felt slightly overwhelmed, the sheer size of the male laying at his side and the size of his cock made his head feel slightly dizzy. Tandoril licked his lips, bundling his hair at his nape and fixing it into a rough tail, before he slowly leaned in and gripped Thanaros' towering prick around its thick base.

The horned male's voice was gentle as he stroked Tandoril's back, feeling the elf shiver, "You... do not have to feel forced, if you do not wish to, little one."

Tandoril stroked the dragon's twitching length, rubbing it slowly, "D-d-does your member look like this, naturally?"

"Yes, save in my natural form t'would be the length of your leg."

Tandoril's ears flashed crimson red as he swallowed, his throat clicking gently, "You... should show me that... at some later date..."

Thanaros' surprised sounding grunt was lost as Tandoril smiled, gripping the horned male more firmly, "But the men and dwarves have a saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."."

The elf lowered his face, drawing the horned male's throbbing length close, letting its dense warmth caress his lips and cheek. Thanaros rumbled, inhaling and exhaling deeply as he felt the elf's warm breath caressing his straining cock, groaning as Tandoril's deft tongue darted out and touched it. The elf inhaled, the horned male's musk strong in his nose and on his tongue as he slowly manipulated Thanaros' thick cock, licking the shaft in slow, delicate, deliberate strokes. He let the dragon's maleness rub against the side of his face as it wished with the slow, tentative movements of the larger male's broad hips. The tiny slit at the end of Thanaros' wide glans was beginning to drool warm, clear fluid, the drops sliding down over his barbed tip and shaft, dribbling onto Tandoril's face.

The elf lapped over the dribbles of pre-seed, finding it sticky, while slick and sweet with a salty tang. He panted softly, feeling Thanaros' tension telegraphing through the horned male's thick cock, making it twitch and dribble more copiously. The steady flow of the dragon's pre-cum was swiftly coating his length and the blushing elf's face as Tandoril allowed Thanaros to thrust his cock up and down against his pale skin. The small, sensitive barbs around the dragon's tip glistened moistly, drawing the elf's tongue as he lapped over them slowly. They flexed against his tongue, flaring and relaxing in time with Tandoril's smooth up and down strokes around the draconic male's cock. The long eared male teased the growling dragon as he dragged his tongue up and down the rippled ridges lining the underside of his thick shaft.

Tandoril giggled breathlessly as his teasing was swiftly driving the large horned male to distraction, feeling Thanaros' large hand tighten on the back of his skull. The dragon male bucked his hips more forcefully, pressing Tandoril's head gently against his length, making it thrust and grind against the elf's face. The horned male's growl paired with the hard jerk of his hips made Tandoril pant, feeling the dragon's mammoth cock grinding hard against his face now. He gripped the widely flared base of Thanaros' length, almost twice the width of his shaft, moving his head deftly to catch the leaking end of his glans between his lips. Thanaros groaned loudly enough to make the elf's long, pointed ears ring as his cock gave a throb and more of that sweet, clear fluid squirted over his tongue. Tandoril opened his mouth wide, letting Thanaros' wide glans to jab between his lips as the horned male's hips gave a buck.

As the elf's mouth closed about the tip of his straining prick the horned male uttered a growl, tensing all the muscles in his hips, thighs and lower belly, letting his stiff cock twitch. The tingling sensations flowing through his belly and thighs heightened as he felt Tandoril's lips slide down his cock, taking several inches into his sucking mouth. The dragon male gripped the back of the elf's head harder, making Tandoril shiver as he felt the horned male's strength. The massive male could have broken his neck with but a twitch of his thick fingers, had he wished, but the pressure on the back of his skull merely pushed his face down another scant inch as Thanaros uttered a guttural moan. The elf's bright green eyes widened as he felt the muscles in the horned male's belly and thighs flutter before the mammoth cock in his mouth gave a hard series of jerks and exploded.

Tandoril gasped as his mouth was so abruptly flooded with hard pumps of the horned male's seed. The gushes of sticky, salty sweet fluid almost overwhelmed him, forcing him to swallow the bolts of Thanaros' orgasm filling his mouth. The elf shivered, feeling the warm knot of dragon essence build in his belly, marveling at the volume of the horned male's climax. He fondled Thanaros' dangling sac, squeezing it as it slowly relaxed against his fingers. As he pulled back from the dragon's barbed tip with a tiny gasp the elf male licked his sticky smeared lips, watching the flow of milky fluid turn clear once more as it slowly oozed from the end of Thanaros' cock. Flushing, Tandoril lapped over the end and length of the dragon's cock, panting gently himself as his own cock was swiftly leaving a wet spot against the inside of his thigh.

Thanaros' length showed no signs of softening, thudding between Tandoril's fingers. The long eared male uttered a stifled shriek as the horned male's hand insinuated itself in the gap between his thighs and belly and hefted him up. The dragon male rumbled as he lifted the squirming, red-faced elf and himself up, hefting Tandoril around and over his shoulder. The elf wriggled, his face suddenly being thrust into one of the draconic male's rustling wings, "H-hey...! We c-can't be finished..."

Thanaros silenced the squirming elf with a slap on his upturned ass, rumbling, "I merely thought you would be more comfortable on the bed silly elf."

Tandoril sputtered as he was deposited on his pink-tinged rump on the wide, deep bed, landing spread-eagled, "Oh... I-I merely thought that after..."

Thanaros chuckled, huffing as he stretched his towering form, flexing his wings wide before letting them snap back against his spine, smirking softly, "My kind can orgasm at will, if we wish to little one. I can be as ready or as finished as your fatigue will allow."

Tandoril blushed brightly as the dragon male sank down onto his knees before him on the bed, watching Thanaros bend over him. The grinning dragon male lowered himself against the elf male, making him flush harder at the weight of the horned male's massive form against his. As their smooth bodies, sheened lightly with sweat pressed Tandoril wrapped his arms around Thanaros' broad waist, letting his hands fall to the larger male's hard, smoothly defined rump, squeezing it. He could feel the horned male's massive length resting against his belly, making it slick and wet. The lean elf slowly leaned back, raising his legs and spreading them obligingly but Thanaros brushed them back down gently, rumbling, "In time enough my sweet elf, but now... Perhaps I can make you feel good as well."

As the taller male bent his massive form obligingly low Tandoril flushed brightly, resting his hands on the dragon's ridged ears and rubbing them softly. The horned male's rumbling accompanied the slow slitting of his eyes, making Tandoril giggle softly as the dragon purred affectionately. The elf grinned, "Tis the first time I've ever heard an elf purr like a feline."

"Mayhap I shall see if we can make you purr my sweet one."

Tandoril uttered a tiny gasp as Thanaros' tongue slipped over his ear, whimpering cutely as the dragon's long, forked appendage dragged up and down his sensitive auricle. He panted, "I take-take it then, you approve of our intimacy thusfar?"

Thanaros nodded, growling amorously as he shifted himself slowly, licking over the elf's handsome face and slim throat, making him shiver with the tiny rasp of his fangs, "Yes. The myriad of ways you smaller races have of rutting for pleasure rather than procreation is... wonderful. Learning the ways of... what did Theanon call it... foreplay alone has been extraordinarily enlightening. We dragon-kind have nothing like it, to speak of."

Tandoril perked his ears in surprise, his bright eyes widening both from the dragons words and the fact that Thanaros' forked tongue circled his nipple, "UH! Dragons do not engage in any foreplay rituals either in mating or in leisure?"

"Very little, you could consider foreplay. With life-mates the act of procreation is normally quite formal, and very swift with few frills."

"How disappointing..."

Tandoril's pretty face pinched in sympathy as he buried his fingers in the horned male's long, palely shimmering hair, arching his back as he cried out. The elf bit his lip as Thanaros' long, wet, forked tongue snaked back and forth across his lean chest, licking his pale, rounded pectorals and flicking teasingly across his pink nipples. The sinuous motion of the horned male's tongue and the gentle rasp of his long fangs made Tandoril shiver, his twitching fingers closing around the long, pearly horns jutting from the dragon's temples. The almost foot-length long horns curved upward gently, with a half-twist near their tips, their smooth, silver catching the light as well as the wicked tips to them.

The elf male let his fingers slip over the points of the dragon male's horns, shivering as Thanaros' long tongue played with the indentation of his stomach, "Your... horns are magnificent, but pray, don't gore me Than..."

The elf's coy giggle made the draconic male rumble, "Mmm, do you think me clumsy, with my size?"

"Of course not; but if you lower your head much more, t'will be more than your cock digging into me, sweet dragon."

Thanaros chuckled, his deep, rumbling huffs of laughter making Tandoril grin. The silver-blue eyed male stretched his long wings, regarding the semi-recumbent elf with a smile, "Then perhaps I can think of some ways to amuse you, more fully, without resorting to either horns or cock, eh lovely?"

Tandoril's ears perked as he looked down, jumping as Thanaros' eye glittered softly, a series of crackling pops filling the cool air of the chamber as the dragon male set his jaws and his wings trembled at their extended length. Thanaros hissed through his glittering fangs as his wings cracked like someone popping their knuckles and the bat-wing membranes shifted fluidly. They separated into their individual fingers before lengthening and smoothing, losing their rigid form and becoming almost tendril-like, still made of the pale, silvery living leather as they waved idly. The dragon huffed softly, the exertion making his livid scars stand out more vividly against his pale skin. His expression was teasing as he gazed down at the shocked elf, "That takes a lot of effort. I only hope you appreciate it."

Tandoril gaped at the tendrils waving slowly from where they sprouted from the dragon male's shoulders, his eyes sliding to Thanaros' face as the horned male smirked at him, "What do you mean...? What are yo-AI!"

Tandoril uttered a tiny shriek as two of the slowly flexing tendrils of living flesh; one pair from each of Thanaros' shoulders shot between them like lightning and seized him around his knees and elbows. The surprisingly strong appendages gripping him were the thickness of his wrist, tapering to points at their tips, rippling gently as they flexed like snakes. The pale elf grunted as the dragon male's transformed wings held his limbs firmly, Thanaros grinning as his serpent-like tendrils lifted Tandoril's hips and shoulders. The horned male pressed his large hands into the elf's chest, pushing him back gently as his wings held Tandoril's arms and legs spread.

The pale-skinned elf squirmed, his body flushing on reflex as the predatory gleam in the dragon's eye made him shiver. The other rippling tendrils of leather wove slowly, joining Thanaros' hands in exploring Tandoril's lithe body. The horned male's growl made the elf's belly quiver, "Just relax master elf..."

Tandoril uttered a strained cough as he felt his body flush, the pink blush creeping over his pale skin making it look like he'd spent an hour too near a roaring fire, "I... d-d-o not think that will be possible, currently..."

The long-eared male's body was busily betraying him as Thanaros chuckled. The horned male lowered his massive head and exhaling, his suddenly cold breath washing over Tandoril's chest and belly, making him stifle a shrill noise. His pale skin broke into shivering bumps, his nipples perking instantly, making Thanaros chuckle. The horned male's long fingers brushed over Tandoril's leanly muscled chest, seeking those pert bumps of flesh. Tandoril whimpered softly as Thanaros' fingers frosted over and it suddenly felt as if someone were dragging a shard of ice across his smooth skin. The squirming elf moaned as the tendrils not engaged in holding his arms and legs were slowly drawn over his body, each one with its cold tip steaming against Tandoril's warm skin.

"AH! T-T-Thanaros!"

Tandoril shuddered as the dragon's cold-wrapped appendages slithered over his pale body, caressing him as the horned male's fingers rubbed, tweaked and tugged at his nipples. The elf male uttered a shocked cry as one of the dragon's sinuous appendages snaked down between his thighs and brushed against the cleft of his rump, touching the entrance to his body and making him buck wildly. Thanaros rumbled, grinning as he allowed the tendril of living leather squirm between Tandoril's rump-cheeks to fade back to warmth, teasing the long-eared male mercilessly as he bowed his broad skull and inhaled the flushing male's heady scent. Tandoril's peaked length was jutting up proudly, weaving back and forth between his spread thighs as the elf bucked and squirmed against being held in place.

Thanaros extended his long, forked tongue, letting it snake over the moaning elf's lower belly and around his crotch, licking the insides of his upper thighs slowly. Tandoril bit his lip at the sensation of the horned male's long, slippery tongue, his length giving a twitch. Thanaros smelled the musky pre-seed dribbling down the elf's cock, slowly dragging his long tongue up over Tandoril's pale shaft, making him tremble harder. The elf's strong hips bucked, his widely spread thighs flexing as he fought against the dragon male's grip. Thanaros growled in an undertone as he wrapped his long tongue around Tandoril's straining cock, pulling it into his mouth. The elf male gasped loudly as his length was engulfed in the dragon's flexing tongue, then mouth. The fleeting memory of the draconic male's glittering fangs coming to his mind for an instant before it was obliterated.

The long, sinuous tentacles holding the elf's twitching arms tensed and relaxed, slipping down to wrap themselves about his wrists, holding them against the soft bed. The gasping elf moaned, almost losing his bolt as Thanaros' surprisingly deft mouth suckled his cock-tip. The winged male rumbled sedately as he pulled back for a moment, allowing his forked tongue to slip all over Tandoril's drooling glans, "It has been a long time, has it not?"

"Yu-yesss..."

Tandoril squirmed, panting as he tried to relax in the grip of the dragon's hands and tendrils, his body betraying his need. Thanaros set about his task with surprising gentleness, using his lips to cushion his sharp fangs as he lapped up and down the elf's sleek length. He used the end of his forked tongue to gingerly spread the tiny pair of lips at the end of Tandoril's glans, lapping up the pre-seed that drooled from it. One of the dragon's leathery appendages slowly wound itself around the base of the elf's cock and encircled his hanging sac, squeezing both gently. Tandoril groaned as the stimulation made his length blush, twitching harder between Thanaros' lips as they engulfed him once more. The horned male's broad skull moved slowly harder up and down, sucking the panting elf with more force.

Tandoril's bright eyes widened, rolling up a bit in his skull as he felt the tip of the tendril wriggling in the cleft of his rump press against the entrance of his body. He groaned breathlessly, arching his hips hard against the resistance of the dragon male holding him as the agile appendage pressed harder, testing the tightness of the elf's body. Tandoril bit back a cry of slight discomfort as the teasing appendage spread him open slowly, thrusting into his body deftly. As the tapering end of the flexing tendril of warm leather eased into his body the elf's cock gave a spectacular twitch, making a bolt of his arm pre-cum splash over Thanaros' slick tongue. Thanaros rubbed his long, sinuous appendage around the elf's inner walls, stroking them as he sought the raised bump of flesh within Tandoril. He knew he'd found the right spot when the squirming elf moaned loudly, shuddering gently against him.

With the flexing and rubbing length within him, prodding and stroking his pleasure spot and the dragon male's long tongue and lips wrapped around his cock, milking him the elf couldn't hold out long. The slim elf's bucking body tingled, twitching hard as the heat roiling through his thighs and belly erupted into electric fire. He cried out loudly as his cock throbbed hard, then fired into Thanaros' sucking maw. The horned male grunted, rumbling deeply as he swallowed the pent up bursts of seed that rushed from the pretty elf's length. As the hard shivers and tight twitches of the elf's body peaked Thanaros could feel Tandoril's body clenching down around the snaking appendage within him. As the flushed elf slowly relaxed, he panted raggedly, going limp against Thanaros' grip. His sea-foam eyes rolled, his breath catching as he felt Thanaros squeezing his length, milking him for every drop, "Ohhh Gods..."

"Was that good, little elf?"

Thanaros rumbled slowly, licking his now sticky lips as he grinned up at the panting elf. Tandoril nodded, and then moaned freshly at the dragon's flexing appendage within him. The flexing tendril swelled slowly, bulging till it spread the shivering elf's body open wider. The horned male stroked his hands over Tandoril's chest and smooth belly, "You need to relax, for this next part, my handsome one."

Tandoril nodded shakily, his stomach fluttering with nerves as he felt Thanaros' mammoth length rub against his thigh. The handsome draconic male slowly pulled himself against the flushed elf, pressing into him. Tandoril could feel the hard, dense wall of the taller male's body flushing against him, pressing into him, grinding with an almost hypnotic grace against his lean form. He could feel Thanaros' perked nipples, the sculpted expanse of his chest, even the hard, rippled ridge of his belly grinding against him in time with the mammoth length teasing his thigh. The weight of the draconic male against him, hard and lightly dappled with sweat, made him utter a tiny sound, the almost bestial desire flowing around them steadily intoxicating him. The scent of the draconic male's sweating body and musk, heady and astringent in his nose, mixed with the mingled smell of their spilled seed made his pale skin blush deeper.

The blushing elf gripped Thanaros' warm, sweat filmed form as best he could with his arms and legs still held loosely by the horned male's transformed wings. He moaned softly as the swollen appendage within him moved gently, making his body stretch even farther. Thanaros leaned over the spread elf, kissing his chest and throat affectionately, like a lover might in the throes of passion. The kisses of desire brought a deeper flush to Tandoril's pale skin, his cock giving a tiny twitch as the horned male pressed their faces together once more. Tandoril could taste his own familiar musk on the larger male's tongue and lips as Thanaros embraced him. He sucked on the draconic male's forked tongue eagerly, shivering as he felt the horned male's long, broad fingers caressing him, his blunted claws scraping his smooth, pale skin almost imperceptibly.

As they kissed Thanaros shifted his hips, making his crotch align with the panting elf's; thrusting his massive cock up into the juncture of Tandoril's pelvis and thigh. The horned male pushed his thick length up against the elf's own, letting them slide past one another as his blunt tip prodded insistently into Tandoril's smooth lower belly, nearly reaching up past his navel. He whimpered into the horned male's mouth, tugging at his ensnared arm, uttering a satisfied sound as the draconic male allowed him to shift enough to reach that mammoth length grinding against his belly. Tandoril gripped Thanaros' throbbing length, squeezing it hard, making its tip ooze streamers of fresh pre-seed over his pale skin. The horned male's musk was pervasive, clinging to him, filling his nose, making the tingling passion in his belly build to a raging torrent.

Tandoril panted gently as Thanaros released his lips, giving them a lusty nip with his long, shining fangs. He returned the gentle bite, hearing the horned male growl deeper in his chest, Thanaros' prick giving a throb between his fingers to show his approval of their love-bites. He shivered, stroking the dragon harder, "Well... You need m-me to relax, and we need to get you slippery enough to take me, don't we?"

Thanaros nodded his magnificently horned head, rumbling into the elf's ear as he moved his broad hips, jerking them toward Tandoril's stroking hand, "Yesss... We do. Do you wish me to make a mess, master elf?"

"A-a-all over me..."

"Enlightened thinking."

The grinning male huffed, tensing his dense muscles as he rocked his hips, relaxing his grip on the handsome elf enough for Tandoril to use his hands more freely. Thanaros inhaled in surprise as the elf's free hand slid down his hip and gripped the swell of his flexing rump, squeezing it. He smiled, moving his hips harder, letting the handsome elf feel the rock-hard musculature of his rump flexing deeper as Tandoril's surprisingly strong hand gripped his cock, tugging it wantonly. The two panted against one another as Thanaros bucked harder, almost making the massive bed shift in his eagerness to plow into Tandoril's clenched hand. The elf groaned, stroking the horned male harder, feeling the massive wall of muscle and heat suspended over him flexing and banging against him. He wanted to feel that heat within him, to indulge in the nearly savage rutting that the dragon male was only beginning to show him.

Thanaros' now hot breath was blasting over his face as the horned male jerked his hips, making his massive prick slam into the elf's gripping hand over and over. The dragon's length was swiftly getting coated in his own pre-seed, but the elf wanted more, slipping the hand that had been aggressively kneading the horned male's rump between them and gripping his hanging sac. Thanaros groaned loudly as Tandoril's fingers closed around his sac, nearly too large to fit in his hand, kneading them almost roughly as they tensed. The horned male uttered a deep roaring growl as he clenched hard from his pectorals to his knees and his thrusting length exploded. Tandoril gasped as the dragon male's slick length erupted against his belly like a miniature volcano, covering his chest, stomach and crotch in his hot, pearly seed. He used both hands to massage the squirting silk all over both their crotches. The long-eared male moaned as his hands became sticky and wet up to the wrists, his pale skin coated in the horned male's thick semen. A rivulet of the draconic male's cum oozed between his thighs, slipping back behind his hanging sac and into the cleft of his rump. He shivered as the tendril still wedged within him writhed, painting the entirety of the cleft between his buttocks with Thanaros' slick essence, neither of them caring as it continued to drip down onto the bedclothes.

Thanaros growled softly, his chest flaring even wider as he rubbed his now slick coated cock between Tandoril's sticky hands, gingerly pulling his still twitching length away from the elf. Tandoril shivered, flexing his fingers slowly, giggling faintly as it felt like his hands were coated in thinned honey, sticky, but slippery. He licked one of his digits, savoring the sweet, salty tang of Thanaros' seed as he looked down at the mess the horned male had spread across his flat belly, "That's so good, all over like that..."

"You like to make a mess, master elf?"

"Oh yes... But it has been a while since I was indulged so freely."

"I wish to indulge, deeper..."

Tandoril moaned as the swollen end of the tendril within him gave a tiny twitch, then shrank slowly to half its size. Thanaros gripped the appendage, tugging, making the flushed elf squirm and gasp till his body eased open enough to allow the bulb of flesh to exit him with a tiny pop. Thanaros slowly pushed Tandoril flat on the wide bed, lifting his hips and legs, making the elf shiver, nerves jolting through his pleasure swamped brain. The dragon's massive, slippery prick skated down, slipping between his buttocks, aligning itself with help from one of his broad hands. Tandoril uttered a breathless whimper as he felt the tapering tip of the draconic male's cock press against the loosened ring of muscle guarding the entrance to his body. Thanaros licked his cheek soothingly, "Just relax my little one... I will go slowly."

"Y-y-yes..."

Tandoril panted, his hips arched against the horned male's dense form, feeling Thanaros' seeking cock pressing against him harder. He bit his lip, the sensation of pressure building against his entrance, the discomfort making him shiver as Thanaros' glans eased into him. The elf's body resisted the widest part of the horned male's tip, making a subtle jab of pain lance up his spine before his loosened hole accepted Thanaros within him with a jolt. Tandoril groaned as the flare of discomfort faded, leaving the almost surreal sensation of the dragon male's barbed tip gliding against his inner walls. He tried not to whimper as the horned male's prick pushed deeper, inch by inch, his ridged shaft impaling him farther and farther till Thanaros was sheathed within him almost all the way. Tandoril gasped as his body was stretched open wider, the flaring width of the last quarter of the draconic male's cock pulling at him.

"Nnnnng! UH! Than... Not so deep yu-yet, please!"

Tandoril panted, his body gripping and clenching wildly around the horned male's cock, adjusting to the mammoth length plunged within it almost to the hilt as Thanaros rumbled, nodding. The horned male brushed the damp, clinging hair away from Tandoril's face, trying not to move his hips too quickly too soon as the pale elf squirmed, trying to relax. Tandoril's mind was still trying to process the almost foot-length of diamond hard draconic flesh twitching within him, feeling every vein, every ridge, every smooth ripple and soft texture rubbing against him from the inside. He uttered a strident gasp as Thanaros moved his hips, making the ring of flexible barbs around his glans flare, stroking his smooth inner walls. The elf had never felt anything like the textures and contours of the draconic male's length in all his long decades of sexual experiences, sampling from a broad spectrum of races, species and breeds.

Tandoril moaned; clutching his sticky hands against the horned male's broad chest, arching as Thanaros slowly moved his hips. His body slowly relaxed around the mammoth length spreading it open, the vice-like tension surrounding Thanaros' length lessening with each gentle, tentative buck of the horned male's wide hips. The strong tendrils gripping the elf's legs flexed, drawing Tandoril's long, lean appendages up around the horned male's waist. The elf wrapped his legs around the solid wall of the draconic male's lower torso, his heels digging into the horned male's lower back, spurring him on as if Tandoril were riding a horse. Thanaros bucked his hips faster, pushing his thick, thudding length deeper into the writhing elf, falling into a steady, deep rhythm. The gentle sucking sounds of his seed coated crotch meeting the elf's sticky smeared rump counter-pointed the tandem rasp of their breathing and the thudding slap of the horned male's swinging sac impacting Tandoril's heart-shaped rump rode over it all in the air.

Tandoril bit his lip as Thanaros' thrusts grew more eager, deeper, faster, harder, pressing and grinding that sharply flared bulge of throbbing flesh at the base of the horned male's cock against the entrance to his shivering body. Each deep thrust stretched Tandoril a little farther as the draconic male's length impaled him over and over and over, faster and deeper each time. The soft barbs around the horned male's glans raked over Tandoril's inner walls with each bucking shove of Thanaros' hips, making him shudder. The dense muscles of the draconic male's body stood out breath-takingly as he thrust harder, bulging and flexing, showing no signs of tiring. Tandoril gripped the horned male's proudly flared chest, moaning into his throat as the dragon's thrusts buried that foot long spike of flesh within him almost to the root, "Hu-ha-arder!"

Thanaros' deep growl, paired with the steady huffing rasp of his breath increasing was his only reply as he pressed his mammoth weight down into the panting elf and jerked his hips harder. Tandoril felt his pale body pressing down into the soft mattress, the wall of muscle and heat driving down against him over and over as the horned male's length speared into him quicker and harder. He gasped as Thanaros jerked his hips from side to side savagely, almost losing control as it made the horned male's massive prick grind back and forth within him, those flexing barbs rubbing over his pleasure spots. The long eared male cried out as the massive dragon male thrust his broad head down and bared his fangs, biting down on the side of his pale throat. As the horned male gripped Tandoril's throat his flexing tendrils snapped tautly around the elf's arms and legs, dragging the long-eared male's wrists above his head and pinning them down.

Tandoril gasped breathlessly as he was held immobile, pinned fast to the massive bed by the rutting dragon male as that spectacular cock plunged into him deeper, stretching him out all the way. The flared base of the horned male's member popped into Tandoril as Thanaros shoved harder, burying his cock to the hilt within the pale elf, grinding his hips mercilessly. The horned male's hips humped against him in a blur of silvery-pale flesh with their ruthless rutting frenzy. He dragged his cock over Tandoril's trigger from within as the elf's sleek length was reamed against the washboard ripple of his ridged belly with predictable results. The long-eared male uttered a strangled scream of pleasure as his crotch convulsed and his flushed cock exploded against Thanaros' belly, almost reaching his throat with the first bolt of white seed.

Tandoril's bright green eyes rolled up in his skull as his body clenched down around the draconic male's impaling cock, making it throb dangerously. Thanaros' wildly swinging sac was battering Tandoril's smooth, sticky rump almost hard enough to raise a bruise as the horned male rumbled deeper, feeling his belly and thighs fluttering in anticipation of loosing his seed within the clenching, panting elf. Tandoril's desperate panting flooded the dragon male's ear as he bore down on the lean male beneath him, his entire body tightening as his cock thudded within him, flooding him with warm, slippery pre-seed. Tandoril could feel the wild beat of his own heart as his racing pulse hissed in his ears, the pressure of the dragon male's jaws leaving a bright pink and purple welt on the side of his throat, blooming against his almost white skin.

Thanaros' muffled roaring howl made Tandoril moan loudly, clenching down as hard as he could around the long, thick cock jabbing into him, "Y-y-yes! Inside me..!"

The horned male couldn't hold back anymore as his hips jerked erratically, slamming into the lean elf beneath him, grinding so deep as his length twitched, then exploded into Tandoril. The panting elf moaned louder at the almost scalding bursts of heat that flowed into him in jetting flurries, feeling Thanaros shudder from the tips of his toes to the tips of his ears. The dragon male's thick, hot seed pumped into Tandoril, flooding him to the core as the horned male continued to let his stiff hips jerk reflexively. Tandoril gasped as the horned male released his throat with a tiny sound of suction, leaving two bright rows of teeth marks in his pale flesh, the bruise blossoming on his skin to spread. The dragon panted raggedly, his weight settling down against the long-eared elf for a moment of squirming panic as Tandoril felt his ribs compressing under the mass of the horned male's dense form. Thanaros pushed himself up, kissing the elf male with a dazed, blissful expression across his severe features.

Tandoril coughed, inhaling and exhaling deeply before he trusted his voice to not give out, stroking the horned male's face and throat gently, "I... take it, you approve of me, then?"

A slow, lazy grin was spreading across the draconic male's handsome face as he uttered an after-glow laced huff, leaning his broad skull into the elf's caresses, "Ohh, I could do that 10 times a night for 500 years, I think, and not tire of it."

"Ten?!"

Thanaros barked out a laugh as he felt the elf's body clench unconsciously around him, stroking Tandoril's chest slowly, "Mmm, perhaps 5, then?"

"I don't know if I'd survive, but it would be fun to attempt, eh?"

Thanaros grinned, licking his lips with his long, snake-like tongue, focusing his silvery-blue eye on the sweat-soaked elf, "A happy death is better than a slow one, at least?"

"He died pinned beneath a grinning dragon with a foot-length prick and a wine bottle's worth of cum up his ass. That'd be an epitaph."

"Can't die yet; we're not done..."

Thanaros rumbled, smirking as he licked the elf's lips, feeling that tight rump squeeze around him again. The horned male chuckled again softly, "And Theanon hasn't seen you naked yet."

Tandoril blushed nearly scarlet, shivering as he pictured being sandwiched between the pair of tall, broad, handsome draconic males despite himself, "D-do you two always share?"

"Sometimes, when we find someone who's amenable and skilled enough, and you're by all rights part of the family now. Mating rights included."

The pale elf swallowed, his battered body flushing, "Mating rights within your clan?"

"Indeed."

Tandoril stroked the horned male's massive chest, "Sh-should I be concerned?"

Thanaros looked down at him consideringly, "Did you enjoy what we just did?"

"Y-y-yes..."

"Then no."

"Oh good..."

Tandoril's wide green eyes made Thanaros chuckle, shaking his head as he licked the lean elf's chest, tasting their mingled essences and salt. The horned male rumbled, moving his hips gently, making Tandoril grunt and shiver, "Does that feel good inside you master elf?"

"Yes."

Thanaros smiled, taking Tandoril in his strong arms, using the transfigured tendrils of his wings to hold him securely. The pale elf grunted as he felt the horned male's length shift within him, making him blush brightly as Thanaros slowly lifted him and rolled himself onto his back, settling back into the slightly concave bed contentedly and laying Tandoril atop himself. Tandoril stretched his aching limbs slowly as Thanaros unwound his long, sinuous tentacles from about him, letting them lay limply upon the damp bedclothes. The long-eared male tossed his pale hair back and settled himself onto the dragon male's broad body, kissing his chin, "I'm not too heavy?"

"Nay Tandoril; you are quite light."

The rumbling male ran his clawed hands over the elf's back and nape, relaxing into him as they kissed tenderly, "Tis pleasant."

Tandoril nodded, smiling, "It has been a long time since I took a lover; much less one from a family. Do you think the children would like to play together, once your son has recovered?"

The dragon tipped his head, nodding as he ran his fingers through Tandoril's long, pale hair, "There are no other young close to his age, currently. Once he is taught that your younglings are slightly more fragile than his own kin, he should enjoy it."

He paused, chuckling, "But perhaps a few enchantments guarding against cold, for the young-ones, all the same."

"A youngling with the ability to breathe cold and ice, and I thought Talus was difficult in his infancy with his sharp teeth and claws, eh?"

"You have no idea."

Tandoril chuckled, running his hands over Thanaros' wide chest as he kissed over the horned male's face and throat, "I hope they're doing well."

"I can feel Theanon. He seems amused. He adores children, but has had none yet, for reasons best known only to himself. But he heads a school in the southern province, so he has many surrogates."

Tandoril perked his ears, making them flex comically, "I see, that's why he's accustomed to the ways of mortal and elf folk."

"He's quite cosmopolitan, compared to the rest of our kin. Some think him slightly odd, but he's a good male."

"He would seem so. I look forward to getting to know him and your relations as well as you."

Tandoril blushed at the dragon male's chuckle, stammering, "We-well... Perhaps not as intimately, but one or two, perhaps, yes?"

"Yes."

Thanaros grunted in amusement, rubbing Tandoril's hips idly, making the elf squirm lightly, "If you wriggle like that, you'll make me wish to rut again."

The tone in the draconic male's voice brooked no doubt that the two would be rutting again before the dawn regardless, barring some catastrophe. But his playful tone only served to ensure Tandoril wriggled more on reflex despite himself. Thanaros grinned, his bright eye wandering over Tandoril's pale body in satisfaction, "You're quite beautiful, and your rump is wonderful."

The elf blushed, kissing the horned male softly, "You're a flatterer. But my life has been too hard to have grown up beautiful. It is my hope that Talen will grow up to be as pretty as his mother, if his hardships are lessened."

Thanaros rumbled as he nodded, "He is already as striking as his father. He will be pretty for quite a long time."

"Yes. He will age much more slowly than his brother. When he comes of age he'll look as he will for many centuries."

Thanaros chuckled, "The Selani blood paired with the elf blood in you. He'll look 17 or 18 summers for longer than the ages of some men's nations. I don't know whether to pity him or wish him well in escaping his suitors."

Tandoril giggled gently, nodding, "Yes. Talus will grow into his age more so than his brother, but he too will live a long, long time."

"All the better for my people to get to know you all. We should be sad if those become our relations are only with us a short time."

"Flatterer."

Tandoril grinned, kissing Thanaros harder, shivering as he felt the draconic male's hips move again slowly. The horned male's hand slipped up and down his back and rump, cupping it tenderly. Tandoril thought he guessed what the dragon wanted, moving himself against Thanaros teasingly, "Will you let me sleep at all tonight?"

"Perhaps... We shall see."

"I think Theanon will have a better night's sleep in a tent in the wilderness with a hard bed, 3 younglings and a curmudgeonly dwarf. Poor me."

"Oh yes, poor master elf. Now hush."

Tandoril chuckled as the horned male spanked him across the rump gently, groaning as Thanaros nibbled his already sore throat, "Yes... I think you've energy to expend again my handsome dragon, do you not."

The morning light had dawned pale and silver, the sun shining only lackadaisically through the mists and clouds cloaking the sky. Tandoril stood, stretching and yawning next to the opened door to Theanon's roost, glancing back with a smile as Thanaros finished placing things into another one of his brother's enchanted rucksacks. Their love-nest was cleaned up from their amorous romping and they had both washed themselves, but the elf was looking forward to a warmer bath. He was dressed in his own clothes again, cleaned by the dragon male, who said he would find some better trappings for his new lover as soon as they reached the Burrow-Downs. As Thanaros emerged into the cold morning light he handed the small pack to Tandoril. The horned male was still naked, eschewing clothes as he needed to shed his bipedal form to transport them both comfortably anyway.

He handed Tandoril a long, white fur cloak to wrap about himself during their trip, finding it in Theanon's closet. The draconic male kissed his shorter lover upon the lips before he bade him to stand away. Thanaros slid the stone doorway to Theanon's roost closed once more, then squared his shoulders, smiling to Tandoril as he allowed his tall, broad form to shift back to its natural state. As the dragon male's massive, metallic silver bulk swelled back to it's original proportions; nearly 60 foot-lengths long from the tip of his snout to the sail-finned tip of his tail, with a sleek neck, massive horned head and streamlined body with his incredibly strong legs. Tandoril smiled, running his smooth hand over Thanaros' sparkling hide affectionately as the dragon lowered his broad skull and looked to him. The elf rubbed a hand between his winged lover's eyes, feeling his sharp, smooth horns, "You're still handsome, despite how large you are."

"Thank-you my sweet. Do you need help to gain my back again?"

Tandoril chuckled, shaking his head as he adjusted the bag against his back, swinging his body over Thanaros' thick neck, "I rode you well enough last night, don't you think?"

The massive horned male rumbled, recalling it vividly, "Yes, you did, quite magnificently."

Tandoril laughed as the winged male sprang from the rock-cliff and into the air, "Don't get distracted being sentimental!"

The cold wind whistled and bit at the pale elf as he held himself closer to Thanaros' neck, gathering the warm cloak about himself. He looked down, barely seeing the landscape through the swirling snow and fog, "The camp is back the other way my luv."

Thanaros twitched his head, "Theanon has taken your brood on before us, to the Barrow-Downs at first light. They have already arrived, unless I miss my guess."

"It was going to be nearly another 5 days to take to reach the city. I suppose Theanon took them by way of teleportation. I imagine the boys loved it."

"The inn-keeper and tavern master of The Silver Scale in the upper eastern district of the city is our cousin, he will have taken them there, I would think. Till something can be arranged."

"Your cousin?"

Tandoril's ears flapped in the wind as he waited for an explanation from the horned male who bobbed his broad head, "Aye. Our great-uncle took a human woman as his wife."

"You dragon folk do like your variety, don't you?"

Thanaros snorted, making a long stream of mist fly back into Tandoril's face, "Aye, now hold tight."

Tandoril held himself tighter against the horned male's neck as the same rainbow coruscation of light shimmered around them, rippling off the bright silver membranes of his wings. The breath-taking spurt of speed made the clouds around them part with a crack like thunder once more and Tandoril's eyes watered with the cold whirlwind around them. As the winter world resolved about them once more Tandoril took a deep breath, coughing on the cold wind. He sputtered, then looked forward as Thanaros uttered a deep growl, "What is it?"

"A dire wolf... Below us."

Tandoril looked down, but could see nothing through the pale silver murk, "I see nothing."

"'Tis there. I can sense and smell it. It must have come down from the mountains to pester the rams of the ranches about the city."

The winged male craned his head back to the long-eared elf, "Shall we take care of it for the Steward of the city?"

The dragon's grinning fangs made Tandoril chuckle, "Do you think you can hit him from above?"

"Hit?"

The dragon male barked a guttural laugh, tucking his wings and making Tandoril's stomach abruptly leap into his throat. Thanaros' eye glowed and Tandoril suddenly felt as if the seat of his breeches had been glued to his draconic mate's hide, a cry of abject terror mixed with swooping excitement ripping loose of him. The ground swelled up at them as the massive dragon male fell like a stone. As the mist cleared Tandoril could see the giant form of the wolf below, coal black against the snow. Almost 18 foot-lengths from muzzle to tail the lupine was loping across the landscape toward the mountainous hills in the distance which held the massive dwarven city. The elf wished he had his bow as Thanaros swooped down parallel with the running wolf, easily overtaking it and gliding in a half circle back toward it.

The dire wolf saw the titanic silver beast barreling down upon it skidding through the snow with a snarl that Tandoril heard over the whistle of air past his ears. The massive wolf was too late to mount a defense against the gigantic dragon, more than thrice its size, it shrieked as Thanaros landed upon it with a crash and then seized it in his sharp claws, swooping back into the air with the thrashing, howling lupine. Tandoril laughed, hearing Thanaros' growl, "Watch this my sweet."

The silver dragon lunged higher in the air, leveling off at nearly yards from the ground, giving the foul wolf a squeeze between his forelegs, then letting go of it mid-air as neatly as dropping a ball. Tandoril watched the black-pelted lupine pinwheel down like a dropped rag-doll and slam into the snow-cushioned ground with a titanic thud. The furrow it gouged in the fresh snow skidded for nearly 30 feet, and then came to a stop in a slumped drift of powder. Tandoril laughed, applauding as Thanaros glided down nimbly and used his foreleg to snap the twitching beast's neck, picking up the remains and peering at it, "The pelt is mostly intact. The guards will pay handsomely for it along with the bounty from that roc you slew yesterday."

Tandoril chuckled, nodding as he ran his hands over his mammoth new lover's smooth, shining neck, "You're a blood-thirsty beast, aren't you?"

"Only with evil beasts that plague decent beings. Besides, you had no objections last night."

The amusement in the winged male's voice made Tandoril giggle as they swept toward the gates of the Burrow-Downs. The rocky hills in which the dwarves had made their city were dotted with towers and stone mansions that stood upon the hill-tops, marking the homes of the wealthier denizens of the Downs that didn't abide with dwelling beneath-ground all the time. The stone road leading to the city gates, massive, shod with iron, steel and silver towering above it, was free of ice and snow, a long ribbon of smooth whitish-gray stone. The entrance to the city had once been a giant cave, enlarged and scooped even farther from the face and heart of the hill, smoothed by the dwarf stone-masons and sculptors. The path between the gates and into the half-dome of the entrance to the city was wide enough to troop a small army through, lined with statues and ice sculptures for the winter months. A large barracks stood at either side of the gate, with a comfortable tower for the guards, open at the bottom-most level for them to come and go freely. Tandoril could see the squat, broad forms of dwarfs and several taller bodies that milled about the gates and entrance to the deeper city.

"They will have spotted us by now. But they know my kind."

The dragon male indicated a coat of arms inlaid into the arch of the gates; shaped like the wings of a dragon, wrought in silver as he swooped lower, circling above the barracks till he settled down upon the road between them. A pair of dwarves, both dressed in leather and furs, with axes upon their belts and long beards, reaching almost to their ankles strode forward to greet them. The older of the two with silvery blonde hair raised a hand in salute to the towering dragon, "We were asked to watch of your approach. One of our dragon-kin with an elf upon his back."

Tandoril watched from his perch upon Thanaros' back, having never been referred to with such deferential treatment before as both dwarves bowed low and waved to the gate to indicate their freedom to go along as they pleased. Thanaros rumbled, bowing his head as he proffered the carcass of the dire wolf to the dwarves and growled to them. Tandoril sat smiling till he realized the pair of dwarves had no idea what the draconic male had just said. He giggled faintly as he felt the cool silver scale against his breast and both bearded males were gazing up at him expectantly. The elf blushed as he called down to the squat males, "Whilst we were approaching the city Thanaros spied a dire wolf stalking near to the road. He killed it for you. He wishes you to pass the skin and fur to the Steward of the city with his compliments."

Both dwarves bowed low to the dragon once more and Thanaros rumbled again in his own tongue for Tandoril to translate, "He says it's been well tenderized. It should make a fine stew or some pies."

Tandoril laughed with the stout dwarves as he gingerly slid from the winged male's back. He stretched himself, fishing in the pack upon his back as Thanaros made both short males gape by shifting his shape before them. Tandoril handed his draconic lover a long breechcloth to wrap about his hips and clicked his tongue, smirking, "Tease."

The horned male flexed his bipedal form once more, hiding his hips with the cloth Tandoril offered him and then laying his broad, clawed hand between the elf's ears affectionately, "They could never be as pretty as you are my sweet."

The two dwarves watched the exchange then bowed to both of them once more. Thanaros growled softly as he picked up the dire wolf corpse and slung it into a nearby cart for the two short males, then he rumbled to Tandoril who smiled to the dwarves, "He says we will be at The Silver Scale in the eastern district, if anyone should wish us."

"Yes milord. Go in peace."

Tandoril bowed to the broad dwarves as Thanaros swept him off with a rumble. When the short males were out of ear-shot he chuckled, "I've never been spoken to so respectfully before."

"Of course; you are my consort now, and part of my clan. Theanon will have no doubt already spoken to our cousin here and passed on the word. As my kin were the ones who gave the dwarves leave to build their city within our borders, they afford us respect almost akin to royalty."

Tandoril blushed, taking Thanaros' clawed hand gently as they walked, "It will take me some getting used to."

As the sprawling city unfolded about them Tandoril got his first good look at it, "Silver often speaks of this place with fondness. I can see why."

The body of the underground city was contained within the massive underground network of natural caverns beneath the hills, the mammoth vaulted chambers of stone smoothed and enhanced, bolstered with pillars and fine carvings. The wide stone streets and avenues were lit with both torches and lamps of fire and enchanted crystal lamps that cast bright haloes of silvery light, illuminating the beautiful underground vaults above them with their networks of metal and gemstone veins, making the expanse above their heads glitter like the night sky. The air within the city was warm and slightly sooty, as was the atmosphere in most dwarf cities. The pale elf could smell the scent of the massive forges and smithies that labored in the heart of the city, the scent of hot metal and burning coal and wood fires.

The clean, brightly lit streets were lined with shops and houses, comfortable brick, mortar and stone homes and places of commerce and business. The low, squat, bulky architecture of the dwarves contrasted with the tall, spindly organic buildings of the elves and the rough, somewhat haphazard architecture of men and other beings. Almost everything about them was made of stone and metal, with very little wood outside of the homes and businesses. Thanaros knew where they were going, so the pale elf followed him into the depths of the sprawling, bustling city. All about them were men, dwarves, furred races and less often elves, carrying about their business with hardly a second glance at the pair as they walked easily through the avenues. Thanaros rumbled to his lithe lover as they passed a low building of handsomely carved marble and granite, "I need to step within for a moment my sweet."

Tandoril nodded and perched himself upon a low stone bench, availing himself with watching the commerce about him whilst the horned male set about on his errand. As Thanaros stepped into the finely carved building Tandoril noticed a tall, thin feline male looking at the both of them from across the avenue. The golden pelted feline had brown eyes and a short head of auburn hair. He was dressed in a long robe of ashen gray, looking intently at the pale elf. Tandoril looked back till the feline skirted over to him. The elf looked at the feline quizzically till the former spoke in a low tone, "Is your companion a demon master elf?"

Tandoril frowned, uttering a scandalized click of his tongue, "Have a care. My companion is a dragon, not a demon."

He gazed at the feline, "And what are you?"

The feline deferred at the term "dragon", plucking at his robes as he cleared his throat, "I am an adherent to the temple. I meant no disrespect to your friend-.."

"My consort."

Tandoril grinned softly, "Or rather I his."

"Yes... I meant no disrespect to your consort, but one can never be too careful of their company."

"Obviously."

Tandoril felt a flash of annoyance with the spindly priest, wishing he would depart when he heard Thanaros rumble close at his elbow and the feline stood up straighter. The horned male squinted at the feline who, though he was tall was still dwarfed by the draconic male, "Is this... person bothering you my sweet?"

"No. He was just leaving, I think."

Tandoril grinned in amusement as the feline nodded, slinking away muttering his apologies under the flashing gaze of the horned male. Thanaros watched the gaunt feline go, shaking his horned head in bemusement as he rubbed a horned finger over Tandoril's nose affectionately, "I sometimes think that the mortals' infatuation with the affairs of the gods was the worst thing to happen to this world in living memory."

"Which in your case is quite long."

Tandoril giggled faintly as he allowed the winged male to stroke his face. The dragon male had been steadily more affectionate as the night and morning had progressed. Tandoril had found himself struck by the gentle affectations the larger, non-humanoid male had been paying him. He felt oddly flattered that Thanaros was comfortable forsaking his natural form so easily in order to engage him on a visceral level. The dragon male's obvious loneliness mirrored his own somewhat, the isolation of their existences drawing them closer together, even without the benefit of the blood-debt the dragon seemed eager to re-pay. Tandoril smiled as he ran a hand over the horned male's chest, "It's been a while since you had someone new in your life, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

Thanaros blushed lightly, unaccustomed to feeling himself so exposed as the elf chuckled. Tandoril pressed himself onto the balls of his feet, kissing Thanaros lightly on the chin, "Well, you have me now, if you wish me."

"This is good, I think."

The rumbling male lifted a large leather purse, offering it to Tandoril who's ears flared in surprise. Thanaros shook the pouch so that it jingled, "I am a dragon, you know. Did you think I slept on my riches like our meaner cousins? When one spends one's time in the company of dwarves, he puts his hoard into a bank, so it can be invested and spent wisely. Red dragons have no business sense; they accrue no interest using their gold as a mattress."

Tandoril laughed softly, shaking his head at the irony in Thanaros' words, he pressed the purse back toward the horned male, "I don't want your money Than."

Thanaros rumbled, his stubborn side flaring up, softened with his already deep affection for the elf, "But you have no gold, and a family to attend to, as well as yourself, and I have more treasure than I could spend in a lifetime that I do not need. I wish you and the little ones to be happy and it does not make me hard by, so why should you not take it and more?"

Tandoril's pinched expression eased a bit but he shrugged, "I'm not accustomed to having things done for me by people."

Thanaros inhaled, making his broad chest flare as he rumbled good-naturedly at the shorter male, "I am not people, I am a dragon. You know what they say about insulting dragons my sweet."

"Don't do it, but I hardly think you'll eat me."

"I did last night, you didn't seem to mind."

Tandoril blushed hard, the pink flush springing into his face and ears as he uttered a mock-disgusted sigh and extended his hand, "Your tongue is skilled enough, I don't think anyone could not enjoy themselves."

Thanaros grunted as if the matter were magically settled, setting the large pouch into Tandoril's hand and making the elf grunt in surprise as his arm was dragged nearly to his waist by the weight of gold. The elf adjusted his grip around the leather strap of the purse, his elbow popping, "Anyone ever tell you you're stronger than you look?"

The elf smirked as Thanaros grinned and lifted his thick arms, flexing them idly and making his chest and rippled stomach stand out. Tandoril kissed Thanaros on his bulged bicep, then his lips, swinging the heavy bag of gold by the leather strap as he chuckled, winking, "I think you could lift this if you took off your waist-cloth too."

The horned male made no comment, merely rumbled and tapped the snickering elf across his pert back-side. They walked idly through the cavernous underground city, Thanaros occasionally pointing out shops and shop-windows where nice clothing and products were displayed, nudging Tandoril gently when he saw something that would look nice on the lean elf. Tandoril laughed softly as they passed one window, "Those clothes were for females!"

"So?"

Thanaros grinned, making Tandoril blush and prod his chest, "Maybe later."

The keen-eyed elf pointed to a hanging shingle that sat on a wide, curved stretch of the avenue, "Is that rather conspicuously large silver sign it?"

"Yes."

Thanaros nodded, chuckling as the large shining sign of beaten steel and silver swung gently in the breeze that circulated through the underground ville by means of large sunken shafts that dotted the hills around them. Some of the wide shafts were at the tops of the hillsides, others were down deep, with exits amongst the deep gullies, setting up a circuit of air that washed in and out with the temperature changes of the day and night. It made the underground vaults almost seem to breathe, bringing in fresh, if chilly air from the snowy world outside. The large door was polished wood studded with metal that creaked gently under Thanaros' hand as he opened it and lead them inside. The tavern cum inn was large, roomy, luxuriously appointed and brightly lit. Tandoril could hear music, voices and laughter coming from within as he followed his pale-skinned new lover into the tavern. The bottom-most storey was given over to the tavern, with tables, chairs, rugs and other paraphernalia scattered around on one side of the large, wood paneled room, a long, low bar rounded out one corner and a higher one next to it, both scattered with stools and chairs.

Tandoril noted with a chuckle that the chairs and tables were a mixture of heights and sizes, usable by both men-sized folks and the littler folks such as dwarves. Dwarves usually took no notice of the height of furniture, they used whatever was to hand regardless, without complaint, but Thanaros' cousin had taken pains to cater to the shorter folk in the city. Tandoril saw gigantic barrels and casks sitting behind the bars, with all manner of glassware, large tankards, mugs and flasks of varying sizes. A kitchen was somewhere on premises as the scent of cooking came drifting out from the far end of the building. A large, slightly cramped staircase ran down from one side of the bar, showing the two higher stories above were given over to living quarters and rooms for travelers. Thanaros pointed out that the building had three cellars as well, one for food and drink, the other for a larger kitchen and dining room, should one be needed and the third had living quarters for the staff and any travelers who eschewed the top floors.

Tandoril was smiling as he looked about at the light traffic of the early morning, pausing as he heard a blood-curdling shriek echo across the tavern. He looked about till he saw a pale blur of silvery-white hair and pale blue-white skin shoot across the bar behind one of the dividing walls. Thanaros recognized his brother and hurried along with Tandoril till they skidded to a stop in front of Theanon who was holding Talus by the scruff of his jerkin away from a fair skinned human boy who looked to be slightly younger than the black and white furred youth, but almost the same age who was lying in a heap, winded as he rubbed furiously at the side of his neck. Talus' ears were tucked and his bright-mismatched eyes were looking up into Theanon's face as the draconic male held him gently, his toes swinging a few inches from the floor as the human boy caught his breath.

Theanon looked upset, but his silvery-blue eyes were amused as he ruffled Talus' hair, "No biting Talus dear. Don't play so rough with Del, please sweetness."

He settled the furred boy down on his broad feet, smirking as he watched the two settle down once more amongst themselves. Theanon turned and almost ran into his older brother, smiling as he saw Tandoril and his elder sibling, "About time you two love-birds got here."

Tandoril chuckled, looking to his older son as Talus' ears swiveled in the familiar way that let him know another pounce was forthcoming, "You may wish to intercept Talus again, before-..."

The furred youth landed on his playmate again with a subdued screech, uttering a scandalized yelp as Thanaros waded in and scooped him up as easily as a feather, bringing him face to face with his father. Tandoril smirked as his son's eyes dilated, watching his fur puff comically as he wriggled in Thanaros' grip, "Talus, be nice. Listen to Theanon please."

"H-h-hello father."

The younger male pasted on a dazzling smile of innocence, his eyes drawn to Thanaros as the older dragon rumbled out a chuckle. The older male looked to Tandoril, "He's spirited, this one, eh?"

Theanon slipped into his native tongue, chuckling as Thanaros made Talus squeak by tossing him up in the air, making the nearly teenaged feline boy dizzy as he was juggled affectionately, "I think Del was pulling his ears. He's never seen a mixed breed boy so close to his own age. Other than that they've been playing quite nicely, if a little boisterously; probably just trying to establish a little dominance amongst the ranks."

Tandoril rubbed his forehead as Thanaros sat his son back down, watching Talus wobble on his feet as the younger male looked up at the towering dragon male with a keen interest. The black and white furred male hugged his father tightly, looking up into his face, "This is Theanon's brother? Theanon and Silver said you slept the night with him."

There was no guile in the boy's words, despite his age; Talus knew what adults did when they needed time away from children after a long, frank discussion with his father and a highly embarrassed Silver. The feline boy took their words at face value that "he'd understand better when he was older" and paid no heed to anything his father did outside the scope of their own home thereafter. His piqued interest with his father's new companion was purely academic; their little family spent so much time by themselves, any new stranger was something of a source of intrigue. The sudden trip to the underground city had been quite exhilarating and the fact that they were to be staying at an actual inn in the dwarf city had been met with some small delight by the youth and his brother.

Tandoril nodded, stroking Talus' soft, mismatched hair, ruffling it, "Yes. We had fun. Did you and Talen have a good time with Silver and Theanon?"

"Oh yes! Theanon turned back into a dragon and brought us here this morning after first light. We got to fly, it was amazing!"

The broad smile on the younger male's face was a good sight to Tandoril. He untied the leather purse and took out a handful of fat golden coins, making Talus' eyes go wide. The younger male took a step back on reflex as his father offered them to him, making Thanaros chuckle, "Like father, like son."

Talus glanced up at the dragon male's rumbling laugh, looking to his father in puzzlement and making Theanon slap his own forehead, "I forgot, I'm so sorry. The little ones don't speak draconic."

Talus nodded on reflex, "That's dragon-speak; that growling?"

His father nodded, "Yes. I can understand it because Theanon gave me something to help. We'll have to think of something for you, your brother and Silver."

The elf smiled, sitting on his haunches before his older son, "Where's your brother and Silver? I have a little explaining to do."

As if on cue Silver's voice reached them from the doorway opening into the cellar and the dwarf stumped into view carrying a tankard almost as tall as he was wide. The long-bearded dwarf was singing something rather bawdy in his own language, herding Talen along in his wake as the younger boy held a tall bottle of blue glass. A third male was following them, making Tandoril blink as he recognized the same pale, blue-white skin and bright eyes of Thanaros and Theanon's kind, only in a human male. They looked to be somewhere between 20 and 30 summers, with an easy smile, long, spiked hair that was a bright silvery platinum blonde. The lean male was holding a trio of cups, grinning as he spied Thanaros and Tandoril, "Looks like Theanon was right. Here they are."

The human boy, forgotten in the fray, slunk to the side of the bar where his father grinned at him. Del gazed balefully at his sire, who shook his silvery head and laughed softly, "Well, you pulled his ears, he bit you, that's fair, don't you think? We heard your shriek down in the cellar. Be nice to Talen and Talus, they're technically our cousins now."

Tandoril chuckled, realizing the fact that the near-human relations of Thanaros and Theanon could communicate without speaking aloud as well. The human male gestured to the group, pointing to the far side of the bar, "Why don't we go into the parlor? Won't be so crowded in there."

As the door shut behind them Theanon gestured to the silver haired human, "Tandoril, this is Karais, he's the second son of our great uncle."

The grinning human male took Tandoril's hand, squeezing it, "Theanon filled me in about the new additions to the family. I'm glad you were hunting yesterday."

"T'was in the right place when I was needed."

Tandoril demurred, blushing as the grinning Halfling winked at him. The elf sat down between his sons, looking to the assembled draconic males with a smile as he rested a hand on Talus and Talen's shoulders, "I talked with Thanaros, Theanon's brother and sire to the dragon whelp we saved yesterday. As we saved his son, his clan wishes to make us a part of their family."

Karais chuckled softly, "No "wish to", I think you're technically already a part of it Tan."

The draconic human pointed to his nose, making Tandoril flush, "Thanaros has already got you claimed, if my nose and my other senses are to be believed."

Theanon chuckled, "Well, regardless, your family, all of you, Silver included are welcome in the clan now. It's been a good long while since we've had some new folks."

The dwarf nodded, "Aye, t'would be a good thing for my own kin. As most of 'em live hereabouts within the hills already by the silver dragon's allowance."

Theanon nodded, "There wouldn't be much to it. The benefit of being mated in, there's no real ceremony; you're not expected to do anything other than the obvious, of course."

The dragon male's grin made Tandoril flush and Silver chuckle as Thanaros nodded, twitching his wings in amusement. Karais looked to the two boys, "These two would be inheriting some new playmates and relations, and a goodly portion of territory and wealth, if they wished it. If their father is the consort to a silver dragon in good standing, I doubt Thela would object, she loves younglings."

"Your life-mate?"

Tandoril looked to Thanaros who nodded, resting his wide, long-fingered hands on Talus and Talen's fair heads, smiling. The elf looked to his sons, "I don't think you boys would have any objections to having a few new adoptive uncles, cousins and an adoptive male role model."

Talen's customary expressive eyes were keen as he looked to each of the pale skinned draconic males. The pale elf boy looked to his father, then up to Thanaros, nodding gently as he allowed the strong, broad dragon male to pluck him up affectionately. Talen giggled gently as he ran his hands over the dragon male's long, pearly horns, making Thanaros rumble in amusement, "Like father, like son."

Karais chuckled, "He's a cute little fellow. Doesn't talk much."

Silver shrugged into his tankard, "He'll warm up to ye. He's been a pensive boy e'r since his mama passed."

Karais looked to Talus with a grin, making the feline boy twitch his ears, "And the biter."

Talus had the self-control to flash a coy grin to the Halfling male, blushing.

Silverbarrel snorted into his tankard, ""Ee's jus bein' affectionate. Don' mind him."

Karais snickered into his hand, looking at the ceiling with a roll of his silver-blue eyes, "So long as there's no mounting behavior in being affectionate, I think Del will survive, just blunt your claws little one, and try to bite the fleshier parts, shoulder, arm, calves, eh? It won't leave a mark then."

Talus nodded, his mismatched eyes showing a growing affection for the human Halfling already as he looked to his father and Thanaros cradling Talen in his lap. His brother's stormy gray eyes were wide as he held onto Thanaros' thick arm. Talen stroked it gently, feeling the draconic male's smooth, slightly cool steely blue flesh, following the whorls of cobalt that marked him. The elf boy's normally inscrutable expression was soft, thoughtful instead of the deep philosophical slant it normally carried, "We'll finally have a family who wants us?"

Theanon's scalloped ears drooped at the young elf's bald-faced query. Thanaros rumbled soothingly as he laid his wide hand between Talen's long, delicate ears, looking to Tandoril as he knew the young elf couldn't understand a word he was saying. Tandoril nodded, smoothing Talen's hair back from his face, "Yes my luv, we'll finally have a family who wants us."

Talen digested for a long moment, then nodded, smiling shyly, "Can we play with the little dragon again? That was fun."

"Celanaros? Yes, I daresay you'll see a lot of him in days to come. We'll have to teach him the common tongue, along with his father."

Theanon grinned as Thanaros rumbled a brief expletive at him, a foul look crossing the horned male's face, making his brow ridges deepen. The younger dragon male chuckled, and then stood behind Tandoril, "If I may?"

Theanon plucked the silver pendant from around Tandoril's throat, settling the tine chain around Talen's slim neck and watching as the young elf went cross-eyed for a moment, "There, now you should be able to understand Thanaros."

Talen uttered a surprised squeak as Thanaros lowered his broad head till they were almost nose to nose and uttered an inquiring growl in his native tongue, "Can you understand me now little one?"

"Y-y-y-yes!"

The dragon's deep voice was amused as he nodded, "Then you know I speak truth. I wish to take your father as a mate, and you will join with my clan. My clan delights in children and my son lost his twin so it would be good to be able to count you and Talus as his brothers, though you are not dragon-kind."

Talen nodded, glancing to his brother who was eyeing him enviously, making Theanon ruffle his black and white hair affectionately, "Patience Talus, we'll fix things so you can hear us as well."

"You better."

The young feline's violet and green eyes squinted into Theanon's face, making the older male burst into a giggle, "Of course, of course. I only regret I cannot teach you and your brother at my school. But there are other schools of learning that we can pass onto you."

Theanon gently lifted the necklace from Talen's throat, making him blink once more as Thanaros' grumbling speech faded back into indecipherable rumbling, "I think your father has need of this at the moment though sadly. We'll get you and Talus means to understand dragon-speak as soon as we can, till other arrangements can be made."

Silver nodded, "Aye, I'd like tae be able to understand ye as well, if you dinnae mind. Now..."

The dwarf swung his legs against the chair in which he sat almost comically, "The boys and I thought we'd go visit one of my sisters in the lower district today, it's been a year or more since I've seen her, and I tol' her I'd bring news once we'd arrived. She'll be glad tae see we're here early. So we'll be outta yer hair till likely tomorrow or day after, if yer so inclined."

The dwarf inclined his head knowingly over the rim of his tankard, winking to his old friend and Thanaros who nodded back and rumbled in an appreciative way. Tandoril opened the purse dangling from his hand and fished out a handful of coins to thrust at Silver who gaped, "Here, take these, share some with your sister Silver, for putting you and the boys up. I seem to remember she has 6 children of her own to feed."

The elf gave Talus and Talen a half dozen of the round gold coins as well, watching as they fumbled with them briefly before slipping them into their pockets. It had been so long since they'd had any money, the heavy coins felt like lead in their pockets, jingling as they walked, "I think the boys could use some new clothes as well."

Theanon nodded brightly, "Yes, something nice to go with your new knife Talus, and your bracelet, eh Talen?"

Both boys nodded shyly, Talen kissing Thanaros' cheek, making the large dragon male growl softly and stroke the younger's hair. Talus gripped the larger male's finger, squeezing with his deft paw. Theanon patted both boys on the head, "No more being poor."

As Silver took the boys back to the room he was sharing with them. As the beds were all the same size, built for dwarves, the boys were comfortable enough. Although Talus was almost too tall for the low, wide beds he normally slept half curled into himself like a cat, a small quirk of his feline heritage that never ceased to amuse his younger brother. Tandoril stretched himself against Thanaros, running his hands over the dragon male's arms as they were laced around his waist. Karais grinned, "You two look comfortable already."

"It was a productive night, I think."

Theanon grinned, making his older sibling rumble at him with a smirk, "Yes, it was indeed."

Tandoril examined his pale hands, grinning gently as he felt Thanaros' fangs nibble the tip of his ear. He glanced to Karais as the human Halfling stretched, "Any chance of a hot bath here? Theanon's shower was pleasant, but too cold for my tastes."

Karais chuckled, nodding, "Yes, the full dragons in the family like their cold baths and showers far too much. I always tell them soap never lathers properly in cold water, but they ignore the Halfling cousin."

The silvery haired male inclined his head thoughtfully, "Well, you could use the baths upstairs, if that were to your tastes, there's hot water in plenty, but you could also go prevail upon the bath-house just on the other side of the district. They use water to cool the forges and then pump it around to the bathing houses through the city to supplement the natural springs. They're much more luxurious than the bath tub upstairs, despite the fact it's my own and I should shill it more aggressively."

Karais chuckled, shrugging, his bright blue eyes twinkling, "Besides, the bathing pools in the private baths there are much larger, more accommodating for size, as it were, if you catch my drift."

The Halfling inclined his head toward Thanaros and Theanon, winking at Tandoril as he stood and stretched his lean body with a crackle, "Theanon can guide you, I'm sure. You should see about some new clothes whilst you're out, pardon me saying so, but those breeches look a bit worn out and there's dragon blood on your tunic still."

Tandoril looked to his chest, noting the silvery metallic stain now dark against his tunic, nodding, "Yes, perhaps it's time to retire these."

"To the furnace."

Thanaros grinned, scooping Tandoril up and onto his feet as he stood, resting his hand against the elf's lower back, almost fondling his rump. Karais snickered, "Well, the furnace here isn't picky, that's for sure."

Tandoril blushed, nudging himself against Thanaros as he smirked, "You wish me to go buy that scrap of cloth you saw earlier and walk about in it?"

Karais arched a brow, watching his older cousin go ruddy as the draconic male flipped his shoulders in a casual manner. Thanaros rumbled lightly, obviously intrigued by the idea, "Not in public perhaps, you'd catch cold."

"Must be some outfit."

Karais shook his head as he swung the parlor door back open, "Have a good time; you know where I'll be."

Tandoril giggled softly, blushing as he found himself sandwiched between the large draconic siblings who steered him once more out into the smooth paved street once his pack and purse had been stowed in a large room just down from the one shared by Silver and the boys. Theanon pointed to a shop as they walked, "How about in here?"

Tandoril looked at the polished stone and wood shop, the large window showing a staggering variety of silks and satins on display. The variety of cloths available for tailoring into clothing or buying pre-made items made Tandoril shrug shyly, "If you think it would be best. I have little experience in shopping."

"Well, you only need a few things for now; something to wear other than your breeches and tunic."

The shop door held a bell that jingled sprightly as they pushed past it. The clerk was a demure looking fox male with ruddy, bright red fur, strawberry blonde hair and expressive jade green eyes. The slight vulpine bowed to the trio as they entered, his bright green eyes widening at the tall, well built dragon males, Thanaros' horns and wings catching his attention. He looked wary till Thanaros tipped his head and growled softly to Tandoril, "Tell him what you'd like."

The teenaged vulpine looked surprised, straightening up once more, "Dragons! Please excuse me sirs, I do believe father will wish to see to your business personally!"

He fluffed his ruddy hair as he swept from around the counter, bowing to them again with a smile as Tandoril gaped, "Please wait here, I'll be right back!"

The vulpine swept off amongst the shelves and bolts of cloth, robes and other items of clothing draped across frames and the general contents of the shop, coming to a staircase beyond and alighting swiftly, "Father!"

Tandoril blushed as he shifted his feet, feeling worse for wear in his threadbare and worn clothing of cloth and leather. A taller, stockier fox came sweeping down the stairs in an elegantly embroidered outfit of velvet and satin, matched trousers and a wide sleeved shirt and a handsome waistcoat in purples that clashed magnificently with his ruddy fur and auburn hair. The older male smiled deferentially to them, bowing, "Sirs, it's not often we find your kind in our shop, is there anything I can do for you?"

Theanon bowed, sweeping his arm to Tandoril, "Our comrade needs some new items of clothing; for leisure."

"Of course, of course! Please come this way!"

The older vulpine led them to an alcove with curtained booths for trying on clothing, a floor to ceiling mirror of polished metal and several chairs that were too small for Thanaros' bulky form. The dragon male simply stood by as Theanon settled himself into a chair and grinned at Tandoril who stood blushing loudly. The vulpine's son padded back with a tape in his paw, bowing his head to Tandoril, "I'll need to take a few measurements sir."

The older shop-keeper swept back with a few bolts of silk and satin cloth in his paws, "Your friend's size is slender enough, we should have a few things of interest without tailoring anything specific."

As his son busily made Tandoril's ears turn almost crimson with his tape, the older male proffered the light, gauzy materials for Theanon's inspection. The younger fox smiled cheerfully as he ran his measuring tape along Tandoril's legs, arms, over and around his torso and noted the lengths on a small piece of parchment with a lead stylus. Tandoril cleared his throat as he felt the younger male's fingers pass over his nape and shoulders, getting the width of him. The vulpine smiled, "Your hair is lovely sir."

"T-thank-you. Yours is so pretty as well, such a bright color."

Theanon nudged Thanaros in the hip, "You'll be seeing him in these more so than I brother, have a look."

The older dragon rumbled gently, nodding to his sibling as he ran his hands through the soft, light materials, fingering the soft silk that felt like air woven into cloth. He plucked at the gossamer-like cloth, holding it up, "This one."

Theanon grinned, nodding as he answered the questioning look on the shop-keeper's faces, "He says this one, to start."

The older vulpine nodded his head, smiling expansively, "Your brother has good taste sir, spider silk, imported from the southern continent."

Tandoril's ears went paler than usual as he coughed softly, "Spider silk? T-t-that's-.."

Theanon waved a hand at him lightly, "Don't worry about it luv, our treat."

"Magnificent gifts mi'lords."

The teenaged fox smiled at the pair of dragons who chuckled at the stricken expression on Tandoril's face. The older vulpine came back with an armload of various light items of clothing, including a gloriously shimmering robe, having read Tandoril's measurements. The younger fox giggled gently, "You shall have to disrobe if you wish to try anything on milord."

The elf male blinked, stammering gently as he looked toward Thanaros who was grinning and Theanon who was trying not to chuckle, "I'm afraid I'm not..."

Theanon shrugged, waving his fingers once more, "Oh, I wouldn't worry, tailors are like healers, nothing they haven't seen before."

The younger fox bit his lip with a suppressed chuckle, "If you'd like sir, I can bring you a bit of cloth to wind about your hips, if that would help?"

"Would you... Please."

Tandoril cleared his throat, looking at the young vulpine in relief as the fox nodded, giggling under his breath. The younger male returned with a small roll of silk cloth that was a silvery gray, almost matching the dragon's skin-tones. He handed it to Tandoril and pulled the curtain back on the nearest dressing booth, gesturing to it for the elf who blushed, "T-thank-you."

They could hear the rustling and fidgeting of the elf within the curtained booth, making Thanaros chuckle as he thrust his hand into the space within, taking Tandoril by surprise as the dragon growled, "Your old clothes if you please sweetness."

Tandoril's voice was muffled as he hung his old garments on the draconic male's outstretched fingers, "You could have just asked, and you almost goosed me..."

"Pity I missed."

Thanaros barked in amusement as he withdrew the worn breeches and tunic, offering them to the younger fox who looked highly entertained. The dragon male looked to Theanon who grinned, "If you'd dispose of those please, as you see fit is perfectly fine."

"Yes'sir."

Tandoril pushed the curtain aside with a gentle shove, flushing pink as he stepped back into the room with the bolt of silk wound about his hips. The brief length of silk covered him from only the curve of his hips to mid-thigh, exposing the rest of his slim, leanly muscled form to the cool air of the shop. The elf's pale skin shone in the lamps along with his silvery hair, his blushing ears standing out against his alabaster hue. The pair of vulpines nodded appreciatively at Tandoril, the younger smiling, "Very handsome sirs."

Theanon nodded, "We think so."

As Tandoril's ears burned he tried not to shift his mostly naked body too much, making sure the silk cloth was bound tightly enough to not slip down the curve of his hips. Thanaros handed him the magnificent robe of liquid-like silk, the bright violet shining in the lamp-light. Theanon smiled, "I think that would look wonderful on you Tan."

"It's so soft."

The elf slowly drew the loose robe about himself, doubling the panel about himself and tying the long belt about his waist lightly. The soft, shimmering robe slithered against his skin, caressing him as he moved and flexed experimentally. The long-eared male sat in the nearest chair, crossing his legs demurely and making sure there was enough room to conduct himself. He stood, bending himself at the waist till he realized that the thin material made his rump stand out magnificently to the other males present. The young fox seemed vaguely disappointed as the elf levered himself back upright, giggling as Thanaros patted Tandoril on the hip, nodding. Theanon grinned, "I think it looks very nice, don't you?"

"Quite handsome, yes'sir."

"I think we'll take that one, yes. Perhaps one other robe, some trousers, a shirt and a vest."

The older fox nodded, "The robes are suitable for day and evening wear. I would suggest something heavier for the trousers, for modesty's sake."

Theanon nodded, smiling brightly, "We're going to take our friend to the baths to luxuriate a bit, and then take some lunch, I think."

"That sounds quite pleasant!"

The younger vulpine giggled as he helped his father bundle the appropriate clothing into packages, looking envious of the elf who blushed. Tandoril tugged at the shimmering robe, "I-it's my first time in the city."

"Welcome, then milord."

The younger male bowed, "Hopefully we'll receive your patronage again."

"He'll be needing a new wardrobe for living here in the city. We hope to find him suitable living quarters soon, but currently he's staying at The Silver Scale not too far from here."

The older fox nodded, "We often go there for luncheon or drinks, do you know the tavern-keeper?"

Theanon nodded, "He's our cousin, Karais."

"T'would explain the family resemblance, the silvery hair and skin."

The mature vulpine nodded as he wrote up a brief receipt, handing it to Theanon who fished out a purse from the pocket of his robe and fished out the necessary amount, plus a little extra. He passed a pair of coins to the younger vulpine who blushed and bowed respectfully, "Thank-you milord."

Theanon smiled, "You've been very helpful. Would you mind delivering the packages to the inn for us? Tandoril will wear his new robe out, as we're going to bathe."

The dragon gave the younger male another pair of coins, making him nod eagerly, "Certainly sir!"

"Thank-you, we shall see you again no doubt within the week or so."

Tandoril waved to the pair of vulpines, blushing as Thanaros tugged him along. The two foxes waved and bowed them out, watching the trio go. Tandoril exhaled loudly as he was sandwiched between the taller males once more, "That was expensive!"

Thanaros shrugged, rubbing the elf's long ear affectionately, "You need to be more relaxed with expenses little one. There's no need to be stingy now."

"It'll take me a while. I guess I'm too used to being poor."

Tandoril sighed softly, then smiled at the draconic males on either side of him, holding Thanaros' arm lightly. They wandered through the massive underground sprawl of the city, watching the mélange of races and species going about their business. Hardly anyone looked side-ways at the dragon males and their elf companion, but a few nodded their heads in recognition as they passed. Tandoril sniffed softly as he looked at the single storey building situated nearest the far rim of the underground cavern. The bath-house was hewn of rough stones, with highly polished metal and wood railings and multi-paned windows of smoked glass that shone milky in the light of the lamps within. The subtle scent of smoke, sulfur and the clinging moisture of warm water reached his nose as they lingered in the stone garden in front of the building. A few large red lanterns were dangling from the awning that crouched above the wide entryway, making Tandoril chuckle softly, "Some things mean the same thing in any city, don't they?"

"Yes. Though it's seldom anyone comes here that isn't of age, so you wouldn't think they needed to make the statement, would you?"

Thanaros tugged Tandoril into the wide, lushly appointed bath-house, and Tandoril giggled lightly at the handsome feline male behind the long, almost mirror polished counter just inside the sliding paneled door. The cat was almost the same size as Thanaros, with brilliant black and white striped fur and a head of deep black hair. They were dressed in a mixture of expensive clothes, all of them either ludicrously tight or cut in such a way as to brazenly advertise the feline's masculinity. Their bright golden eyes shone as he looked to the trio entering, his gaze drawn to the twin, tall, well built males and the blushing, albino skinned elf, "Private bath sirs?"

"How'd you know?"

Theanon grinned softly, fishing out his purse once more and discussing the details with the towering tiger as Tandoril let his eyes wander up and down the feline's body, his gaze caught by the gigantic package straining the front of his eye-gougingly bright velvet breeches. Thanaros chuckled, "I think mine is bigger."

"I think so too, but never hurts to look. He has the same fur color and pattern as my mate did."

Thanaros' hand ruffled the elf's hair softly, "I'm sorry you lost her. It must still ache at times."

"At times, but I still have the boys, and you as well now."

Tandoril smiled, pressing his face into the horned male's dense, broad chest, kissing it lightly. Theanon tapped Tandoril on the shoulder, inclining his head toward the closed door of paper-panel lined wood, "Through there."

The younger dragon stretched as he shrugged out of his long, flowing robe, "They'll be sending wine, don't get too comfortable too fast."

The wide room containing the private bath was paneled in wood from floor to ceiling, the lower planks polished to a mirror sheen and lacquered beautifully. The lower third of the walls were the same, but at the top of their length up the wall a rail of molding ran, separating the lower water-tight panels from the upper ones. The upper halves of the wall and the ceiling were paneled with painted murals. Their particular room was painted to resemble the night sky, with just a hint of red, orange and bright yellows at the fringe of the panels at either side of the room, where dawn and dusk would break at the horizons. The rest of the mural was a velvety mix of purple, blues and black, with ruffles of skillfully painted clouds, the tops of trees that looked almost lifelike. Tandoril would have sworn if a breeze had stirred the air in the room the painted leaves might have moved.

Above their heads, where a crystal lamp sat in a half-dome of glass, looking like the naked full moon of a fresh, bright summer night the ceiling glittered with tiny flakes of glass and metal set into the paint, making it glitter like the real stars above ground. The dark stain of the wooden floor was subdued beneath their feet, matching the benches and a slender table that stood near the tub. Calling it a bathing tub was something of an exaggeration; the sunken basin in the floor was more the size of a small swimming pool. Rimmed in highly polished rocks the oblong tub was a massive bowl of stonework set into the foundation of the bath-house. It looked to be almost 4 feet deep at its deepest end, with hot, swirling water filling it from a carved spout that jutted from the wall. The steam drifting through the air made Tandoril's hair cling to his skin as he peeled off his brand new robe, hanging it next to Theanon's next to the door. Thanaros simply tugged his waistcloth loose and draped it across the bench where a pile of immensely thick, fluffy towels sat invitingly. Tandoril perked his ears at a shallow, round, flat-bottomed barrel that sat next to the tub, looking like someone had cut a cask in half, "What's that?"

Theanon plucked the wooden tray up and sat it on the surface of the warm water, watching it float easily, "You put your drinks on it."

"Ohh..."

Tandoril crouched at the lip of the tub, easing a leg down into the water with a sigh, and then slipped himself down into the water's embrace. He groaned, shivering as the hot water made him break into goose-flesh after the coolness of the outside, then sighed in bliss as the warmth cradled his body and bade him to relax, "Mmm, I needed this."

The pale elf ducked his head, shaking water from his ears as he watched Theanon ease into the bath with a grin. He blushed, watching the younger dragon's nicely broad, well defined but still almost slim body slip into the tub. The younger brother's body looked a lot like Thanaros' but lacked the massive scars and tribal markings. The elf wondered idly exactly how Theanon measured up to his older brother, blushing as Thanaros joined them in the tub with a splash, rumbling pleasantly. The tub was deep enough to allow them to sit reasonably unencumbered in the shallower end, as a ring of polished stones sat below the raised lip of the sunken pool. In the shallowest end the water reached up to Theanon and Thanaros' hips, lapping against their thighs and lower stomachs.

Tandoril gazed with interest at the disrobed Theanon once more; the younger of the two dragons was less massive than his older sibling, with the same cool, silvery-blue skin, marked by the occasional small cicatrix of a scar. His form was still broad, densely muscled, with a sculpted chest and a rippled belly, though much less harshly ridged than Thanaros' was. His limbs were long and lithely cabled, with less of the raw, bestial power than his brother's but still magnificently contoured. Tandoril could see the more scholarly lifestyle of the younger draconic male; his toned body being softer and less rigidly muscular than Thanaros'. The comparison between the siblings was pleasing, and Tandoril found his eyes drawn down to the juncture of the younger brother's thighs, giggling faintly as Theanon's heavy sex was completely unlike his more tribal sibling's.

Theanon's genitals were almost as large in their relaxed form, but his maleness was more like the elf's own, with the curious tube of skin guarding the end of his flaccid cock. Theanon's soft maleness was smooth, and thick, even flaccid, eliciting a blush from Tandoril as the younger dragon sank down into the warm water with a sigh. Thanaros chuckled as he watched his younger elf lover watch Theanon sit, lowering himself into the water and making the sunken tub overflow slightly, draining down into the channel beyond the lip of the tub to whisk away to a grate beneath the floor. As they all relaxed the polished paneled door slid back with a whisper, allowing a large tray to bob into the room followed by its bearer a scant foot or two behind it.

Tandoril gaped as one of the most beautiful males he had ever seen strode into the room, making the water seem hotter as the new male entered. They were short, compared to Theanon and Thanaros, and barely came up as high as eye-level with Tandoril himself. The canid male looked to be no more than 20 summers old, though he could probably pass as younger, if needs were. He was slender, verging on skinny, though the handsome padding of flesh on his contours and curves softened the bluntness of his body's leanness. The canine's thick, short pelt was as black as ink, save for a tiny white star of fur that rested against his breastbone, running into a thicker ruffle of fur above it between his pectorals. His feminine curves were distinctly enunciated, the flattened swell of his chest, his nicely broad hips and his full rump.

The canine male's belly was flat, with no hint of a ripple, making him seem more feminine. The only things that lent themselves to him being male were the facts that he lacked breasts and the darkly furred sex nestled between his long, lean thighs, completely exposed by the fact he was naked. The new male had no clothing covering himself, merely large bangles slipped about his wrists, a long golden chain with a blue-green pendant hanging against his chest and a longer, thicker golden chain that dangled low about his hips that connected to a light golden ring that was snugged about the base of his velvet furred sheath against his lower belly. His ankles held bright golden cuffs that were covered in tiny bells that chimed musically with every gentle step he took.

The canine had large, almond shaped golden eyes that were circled with a reddish gold pigment, a dusky nose and lips at the end of his gracefully slender muzzle and large, bat-like ears that stood well above the crown of his head nestled in his hair. His hair was waist-length, a light, pleasant burnished coppery red, bundled into tiny, delicate braids about his face that held it from his eyes. A slightly bushy, not quite fox-like tail wove behind him as he walked with a sensual glide of long practice, placing one foot in front of the other to make his hips cant back and forth with his stride. As Tandoril stared the black canid bowed, smiling as he took the large tray in his long-fingered paws and approached to the edge of the tub, "Greetings. My name is Lea; I come to tend to your needs, and whims masters. Vilan said you had paid handsomely for the largest private tub, and I come with the payment."

The bright-eyed canine slowly sat down on his haunches in an easy grace, extending the tray out and down to the floor next to the tub. It was filled with several slender bottles, drinking cups, several cakes of soap, pots of lotions, and what looked like jars of salts. The canid male placed his paws on his primly clasped knees, "How can I serve you?"

Thanaros rumbled idly, looking up at the sensually smiling canid, his silvery-blue eye traveling his length before it slid to Theanon and Tandoril, "It would seem we've purchased a bonus with the bathing pool."

Tandoril giggled at the faintly puzzled expression on the black furred male's face. Lea tipped his head, "This is the first time I've heard the speech of the dragon."

The canine blushed softly, looking to the large silvery-skinned male and the albino pale elf, "I knew from your wings and horns master, but I fear I cannot comprehend your speech."

"Well, Theanon and myself both speak the common tongue. Thanaros does not much yet, but his actions can speak for him, most of the time."

Tandoril smiled, then chuckled as Thanaros nodded, tipping his head upward toward the canine male. Lea smiled softly, nodding, then gasped despite himself as Thanaros' forked tongue slipped out and licked over the draconic male's lips. The black furred male's large ears blushed as he attempted to smooth over his stutter by adjusting the tray he had brought, "Vilan bade me bring you drink. So I have wine and honey liqueur here, m-more can be brought, if it is not to your tastes masters. I have scented salts and soap, for your bath, as well as lotions and oils, for grooming, or... lubrication."

Lea's pink flushed ears twitched as he plucked up a small bottle of thick, faintly green tinged oil, letting it slosh slowly in its bottle. Tandoril swung his feet beneath him and stood, letting the hot water stream down his pale body, making his upper half steam lightly in the moist air of the bath, "I don't know about these two, but I could use a good scrub!"

"I would be honored milord."

Lea perked his ears, smiling brightly as he selected a cake and a bottle of soap as well as a cloth of white cotton in his paws and scooted toward the tub till he could allow his long, lithe legs to slip into the water. As he seated himself on the lip of the bathing pool he gestured gently to Tandoril, "If you would stand here before me master, I will clean you."

"You needn't call me master please, my name is Tandoril."

The pale elf ducked his upper body and head once more to wet his hair with fresh water, making the canid male giggle as the hot water sluiced from his long delicately pointed ears. Tandoril smirked to both of the grinning dragons as he stood waist-deep in the hot water, watching the canid dip the cloth and cake of soap into the pool to wet them. Theanon relaxed as he waited for his turn, grinning languidly, as he looked to Lea, "Be sure to scrub between his thighs for him, I think he's still sticky there."

Tandoril uttered a huff of breath and splashed water toward the grinning dragon, "Oh hush!"

"Listen to how he speaks to his new brother-in-law. Perhaps I'll have to spank him for it, eh Lea?"

"Yes'sir."

The giggling canid blushed coyly as he coated Tandoril in light scuds of soap suds, running the soapy cloth across his finely sculpted chest and softly rippled belly, scrubbing his arms and shoulders before he paused, making the elf look down. The pale elf chuckled and stood on the balls of his feet, spreading his thighs obligingly as he nodded to the dusky furred male, "Yes, go ahead and do as he bade. I probably could use it."

Lea blushed and nodded, delicately running his soapy paws down and between the elf's lean thighs, raising his bright golden eyes to Tandoril's smiling face, "Seems as if you had a long, pleasant night last night sir."

Tandoril laughed softly as he pointed to Thanaros, "The one with the forked tongue did the damage, blame him."

"I do believe he's currently engaged staring at your backside, sir."

"He's had it. But no doubt he's planning on having it again. Perhaps it's well you're here Lea, I may need to clean up again with these two here."

The bat-eared canine blushed brighter; nodding as he slowly rubbed his soap, slick paws between Tandoril's thighs. With the elf's open invitation he set about to enjoy himself and as none of the handsome males had sent him away or made motion that they were considering sending him away, he assumed that they were allowing to stay and participate freely. He set about to amuse himself and please the handsome elf as he was being paid to do, one of the perks of his job tending to the largest of the private baths in the house was his ability to enjoy himself with well-to-do customers who more often than not welcomed his hospitality. Without having been asked, Lea began to stroke and massage Tandoril's sex with his nimble, soap coated paws, slipping one of them up to cup the elf's hanging sac, making him inhale softly.

The canid paused at the elf's intake of breath, waiting to be rebuked, but Tandoril merely shifted his hips and let one of his lean hands fall to his ruddy hair, stroking it lightly. Lea smiled as the elf made no motions to dismiss his paws, using his skilled fingers to massage Tandoril's body in ways he knew from long experience. When he felt the long-eared male's sex stiffening he stroked it slowly, looking up with his large gold eyes, "Would you turn for me milord?"

"Of course."

Tandoril stretched his lean form, grinning lazily as he relaxed, enjoying the sensation of the feminine canine's paws slipping all over his body, caressing him intimately and in sensitive places. Lea ran his soaped cloth over Tandoril's back and shoulders, slipping it down and rubbing it less than demurely into the cleft of his pale, heart-shaped backside with relish. His soapy paws fondled the elf's ass with pleasure, squeezing it and making Thanaros chuckle and rumble to which Theanon translated, "It is nice, isn't it?"

"Yes'sir, it is."

As he worked the canine slipped his paw about Tandoril's hip and continued to manipulate him slowly from both in front and behind, making the pale elf's body react as was natural to the sensual caressing. Lea giggled softly, lifting his free paw to the elf's silvery hair, "Do you wish me to wash your hair master elf?"

"Do you wish to?"

"T'would be a shame to leave it dirty whilst the rest of you is clean, for the moment."

Tandoril chuckled and sank down in the pool till his shoulders were within reach of the canine, making Theanon smirk, "I do believe he's teasing you rather mercilessly Tan."

The elf laughed, "Of course, he teases me, and likely all of us to make sure we don't send him away or neglect to invite him to play more, isn't that so?"

Lea blushed sharply, but demurred with a soft rumble of his own, running his paws through the elf's long, wonderfully soft hair after pouring soap into them, "I don't know what you mean sir..."

"Tis your job, but seems like you look forward to toying with your customers, to make sure they'll give you a proper gratuity, I think."

Tandoril grinned as he felt the canid's slim paws scrub his hair gently, tipping his head into the water when he was freshly washed all over. The elf eyed the dragon males, grinning, "So who's next?"

Theanon pointed to Thanaros, winking to Tandoril, "Age before beauty."

The massive dragon male slowly stood in the steaming water, exposing his cobalt swirled silvery-blue hide as he stretched luxuriously, making his densely muscled body bunch and flex. Lea swallowed, his throat making a tiny clicking sound as he gazed at the towering wall of muscle and sinew standing above him. Thanaros' broad, hard ridged body made him feel light-headed as his eyes scanned up and down the dragon's magnificent humanoid form. The cloth lay limply in his paw, forgotten with his body's rush of warmth. Theanon chuckled as Tandoril splashed himself back into the warm pool, now scudded over with a light drift of soap suds, "You're clean now, but the serving male seems to have lost his mind temporarily."

"All the blood was savagely emptied from his skull, I think."

Tandoril sounded highly amused as Lea's lean, coal-black thighs snapped together, trapping the burgeoning warmth that sprung loose from his naked pelvis between them and hiding it from view. He giggled throatily, "One of the disadvantages of working naked, I would think. You cannot hope to hide any delight you have in a customer's body."

Lea let a tiny whimper escape his muzzle as he licked his lips, his paws twitching ever so gently as he raised them, slowly drawing his soapy cloth across Thanaros' massive chest. The canid male had a vividly fleeting thought of abandoning his job, throwing himself at the towering dragon's feet and begging him to take him away somewhere to be his personal love-toy as his loins asserted themselves roughly against his higher functioning brain. The massive draconic male had a body that surpassed even Vilan's by miles, and Lea loved the tall, broad feline's body enough that it had gotten him a very cushy job tending the whims and pleasures of as many males as he wished. The massive dragon's hard sculpted body was something the young canine would willingly worship in a temple to his hedonistic lifestyle if Thanaros had allowed the honor.

"I think you have an admirer luv."

Tandoril chuckled as he stretched in the warm water and found himself suddenly hip to hip with Theanon as the younger dragon grinned and nudged him. Thanaros rumbled in amusement as the expression on the dark pelted canid seemed to expound that Lea would have willingly cut off his own ear to give himself over to the towering dragon male. Thanaros looked down at the dazed canine, prodding his nose with a clawed finger and making him squeak in surprise. Lea's large ears burned scarlet as he bowed his head, his paw closing on the wet cloth in his grip, "Forgive me milord... I was merely-..."

Thanaros cut the younger male off with a growling rumble, looking down to him in warm amusement as he placed a hand between his crimson ears and stroked his head. Lea looked ready to melt into the warm water as the towering dragon stroked his hair and nape, having to depend on the taller male's expression and body language to cross the barrier of their speech. He bit his lip, "I wish I could understand you master..."

Theanon perked one of his scalloped ears as he slowed in his teasing tickling of Tandoril's pale skin, making the elf shake with giggles, "Perhaps I can be of assistance? If you don't mind my imposing on you both for a moment."

Lea perked his bat-like ears, watching as the younger, hard-bodied dragon sloshed toward them and extended a long-fingered hand, "May I borrow a piece of your jewelry little one?"

The canid blinked, his soap-free paw gingerly plucking one of the larger cuffs of gold from one of his ears and offering it to the pale haired male who nodded, "That should suffice."

Theanon grinned, "I should be able to place an enchantment on it to allow you to understand my brother, however without more proper practice it will only be temporary."

The lean dragon held the cuff of gold between his fingers, muttering in a low, even tone as his bright eyes shimmered a violet-white. He gestured over the golden cuff, his nostrils curling with cool mist as he wove a complex tangle of what enchantments he could remember off the top of his head. The little earring sparked fitfully, then glowed an iridescent blue before dimming back to its normal luster and he handed it back, "There, that should suffice, though sadly the spell will wear off after a week, perhaps two. Till then you should be able to understand any language spoken to you... within reason."

Lea returned the cuff to his ear, feeling his skin tingle lightly as the cool metal pressed against his flesh. He tipped his head, a sensation of vertigo crossing him for an instant before fading. Tandoril pointed to his own pendant, "It will take a moment to adjust."

The elf resumed his giggling as Theanon returned to him with a splash and set upon him with his long, clever fingers. Lea nodded, swallowing as he set his paws upon Thanaros' dense chest, stroking the dragon's flared pectorals more than cleaning him. Thanaros' rumbling voice was stronger in his ears now, the dragon's tongue now slowly overlaying with common words the canine could understand, "If you wash me so slowly little one, we shall be here till we shrivel up or die of heat."

Lea flushed freshly, the surge of warmth diverting in two directions once more, to his ears and to his crotch at the deep, rumbling bass of the dragon's voice. He flicked his ears gently, "I would bathe you with my tongue milord, if it kept you close enough for as long as was possible."

"Is that an offer?"

Thanaros' chuckle made the canine feel dizzily aroused, his pelvis now aching as he pressed his thighs together. He gasped gently as he felt Thanaros' hand brush down and grip his knee, tugging his legs apart. The rumbling dragon's amused rumble made him bite his lip, "Oh ho... You seem to be in a small bit of discomfort little one."

Tandoril gasped from behind him as Theanon's long fingers tickled him in less than demure places, making him squirm and try not to giggle, "He's not the only one!"

The elf's pale body was squirming and shifting as he wriggled in Theanon's arms, the younger dragon male having hefted him into his own lap, perching him there ludicrously like a child. Theanon chuckled, "Oh hush."

The dragon male watched his older brother and the young canine, grinning as he fondled his sibling's new lover boldly, making Tandoril blush and shiver. Thanaros snorted at his younger brother harassing the elf as he turned back to the blushing canine, "Would you finish washing me little one? Once that is finished..."

The dragon let his statement travel off, making the younger male nod with a jerky motion of his head. Lea licked his dry lips, moving his paws over Thanaros' beautifully sculpted form. He had to pour dribbles of soap across the draconic male's pale, cobalt stained skin to work up enough froth to clean him properly. The canine let himself sink into the blissful task of bathing the towering male, feeling every smooth, dense, wonderfully toned curve and contour of his body. Lea let his paws work over Thanaros' almost rock-dense pectorals, feeling the pert bumps of his nipples with a tiny whimper of longing. He dragged his soapy fingers down the hard ridge of the dragon male's belly, then hesitated, Tandoril's loud giggle making his ragingly pink ears darken even more, "Oh, I think he's about to find out whether or not to be scared our aroused."

Theanon nodded sagely from behind the elf, eyeing the canid male, "Be brave, it's a bit overwhelming if you've never seen one that size before. But I daresay it won't wash itself."

Lea swallowed, not feeling the least bit comforted as Thanaros tilted his pelvis, thrusting his crotch forward toward him. Other than the fact the horned male's flaccid shaft, dangling down against his balls, was as pale as the rest of him, with its foreskin covering the obviously blunt tip of his sex it revealed nothing unusual save that the dragon's soft cock was the length of some male's erect ones. The young canine poured more soap between his lithe paws then dove to work, slipping his fingers around the towering male's crotch. He gasped as Thanaros' cock gave a twitch to his touch, the horned male rumbling, "It's not fragile little one, you can squeeze it."

"Knead his balls; that always works."

The canid male blinked as it was the dragon's younger sibling that volunteered that information, not his elven lover who nodded, storing it away for next time. Lea let his paw fall down, cupping the dragon's massive sex, almost too large to fit comfortably in his palm, feeling the twin orbs of flesh roll and slip against one another. Thanaros grunted, allowing his massive maleness to fill out in the canid's eager paw. Lea uttered an adorable little whine as the massive draconic male's cock stirred in a graceful arch, filling and stiffening to it's almost complete glory, the barbed tip almost brushing his nose as it jutted proudly. He felt his own body give a throb, whimpering as he pressed his thighs close together again, licking his lips as he gazed at the exotic prick dangling before his nose. The soft barbs ringing his glans and the thick base of Thanaros' cock both flared to their completely erect width, the ridges lining the underside of the dragon's length rippling as he tensed and relaxed his muscles slowly.

Lea felt lightheaded as he cupped his paw around the towering male's cock, his fingers barely fitting around it, squeezing it and rubbing it slowly. He watched those flexible barbs ringing the dragon prick flare and relax as he stroked it, swallowing harder. All salient thought fled from the young canine's head as he simply stared dumbfounded at the largest prick he'd ever held in his hands, larger even then any of his lupine customers or even Vilan himself. Theanon chuckled, "It looks like he's about to burst something. That's adorable."

"I think his cock's so hard he can barely feel his legs..."

Tandoril tipped his head, looking between the canid male's pressed thighs, "Mind you, it's not bad itself."

The elf nodded as he watched the tip of the canid male's horribly aching length drooling continuously. The steady, oozing stream of clear fluid was making a tiny puddle beneath him on the highly polished wooden floor. Lea shivered as his own diamond hard length brushed up and down between his thighs. The sensation of his own fur against the naked skin of his hyper-aroused cock was almost enough to make him whimper. As he struggled to wrap his paw around Thanaros' erect length Lea glanced at Tandoril, measuring the lean elf's body with his eyes as it squirmed against Theanon, the younger dragon's hands now somewhere below the water-line of the tub, "Y-y-you can ah, take this, master elf?"

Tandoril glanced toward the canid, gasping loudly as Theanon's fingers did something to him inappropriate in public, "Ohh, it took a little effort, but yes, it was quite fun."

The pale elf grinned at the now perpetually crimson ears gracing the slender canine, "All that texture feels magnificent, truth to tell."

Tandoril had his attention stolen back away as Theanon's silvery white fangs scraped the edge of his ear. With the slighter dragon male now heavily distracting the elf in his lap Lea looked up at the draconic male towering over him, feeling his belly twist. Thanaros grinned, making the canid male feel slightly faint as the dragon's sharp, pearly teeth glinted at him. The raw, almost feral sexual energy of the dragon male was making him feel almost dizzy. Lea licked his lips, remembering he was engaged in washing the towering male, forcing his paws to resume the slow stroking and rubbing, making Thanaros' erect length froth over with soap suds. Thanaros uttered a chuckling rumble, "Do you wish to see the back little one?"

As hesitant as he was to relinquish his grip on the horned male's magnificent prick, he nodded his head faintly. Thanaros gently tugged his cock away from the black furred male, hearing him whine almost inaudibly, "Oh, don't worry little one, you can have it back soon enough."

As the dragon male turned himself to expose his winged back Tandoril removed his lips from Theanon's long enough to chuckle, "Watch those wings, speaking from experience. These two are shape-shifters, remember."

Lea looked politely puzzled till Tandoril grunted out teasingly, "Ever had a writhing tentacle up your ass while half a dozen more hold you pinned to a bed and wrap around your cock then?"

"C-c-cannot say as I have mi'lord..."

The young canid's expression and tone of voice made it clear he had never thought of such a thing in his life, much less experienced it, but might not be totally opposed to the proposition if it presented itself. He startled gently as Thanaros' large, living leather wings rustled, then flexed in a way that completely defied their natural physical nature. He swallowed and tried to ignore the leather lined wings as he focused instead on the dragon's broad, heavily muscled back. The draconic male's lack of a tail made him pause till his gaze took in the towering male's rump. Thanaros rumbled at the canid's tiny moan of longing and the sensation of Lea's long-fingered paws squeezing his rock-hard ass.

Thanaros flexed his hips idly, making his rump subtly shift in the canid's grip, the glazed look on Lea's face making it clear he could sit and play with the magnificent ass before him for hours, if allowed. Theanon grinned, "Is there anything on my brother you wouldn't worship little one?"

"Can't think of anything off-hand..."

The younger dragon grinned, turning his attention back to the shivering and idly clenching elf in his lap. Tandoril was inhaling and exhaling harder and deeper than normally, biting his lip as he settled more fully into Theanon's lap, arching his lean body. The pale elf grunted, pressing his weight back against the younger dragon, "Uh... You're a-a lot smaller than your brother, but you're still no slouch..."

"Flatterer."

Theanon grinned, rumbling in contentment as he circled the pale elf's waist with his arms, pulling them closer against one another, Tandoril gripping him tightly, "Getting to know you from this angle, I'm somewhat amazed you managed to indulge Thanaros, you're awfully tight Tan..."

"Well, give me a moment or two..."

The giggle elf moved his hips below the level of the hot water, making Theanon grunt in satisfaction as his brother continued to amuse their serving male. Thanaros felt the younger male's paws gripping and squeezing his ass tightly, chuckling, "Aren't you supposed to be washing me, little one?"

Lea jumped as if he'd been scalded and nodded shakily, his body still throbbing painfully, "Y-y-yes... I apologize."

"No offense taken, but t'would be nice to get these suds off before anyone gets a mouthful of soap, eh?"

The cast of the dragon's words made the canid nod eagerly, carrying out completing his washing of the massive draconic male in record time. He normally loved to linger over bathing his high paying customers, to tease both them and himself, enhancing the inevitable pay-off, but as that result seemed to be guaranteed he felt they could dispense with the pointless wasting of time. Thanaros dunked himself down into the swirling water, glancing back as he heard Tandoril's handsome alto voice cry out softly. The larger male rumbled to his brother, "Enjoying yourself Theanon?"

His younger sibling grinned, "Immensely brother, I think Tandoril will make a magnificent mate."

"Well, good to have a second opinion, I suppose. Now..."

The horned male smiled, turning his attention back to the slender coal furred canine who whimpered cutely at the intense silvery-blue eyes settling completely upon him. Thanaros cracked his massive hands and leaned over the large-eared canine that leaned back in spite of himself, "I don't wish you unduly distracted little one. So shall we solve a problem before it gets to be too much to handle?"

Lea blinked, looking confused as he leaned in and offered a tiny lick to the draconic male's chin, "Y-yes mi'lord?"

Thanaros chuckled, inhaling and exhaling slowly and making a fine mist curl from his nose, the blast of cool air against his face inducing Lea to shiver softly. The canid's musk was strong; the pool of cooling pre-seed still gathering below him on the polished floor was fairly sizeable for his slender build. The horned male licked his lips as he rested his hands on the canid's shoulders, "Sit."

Lea swallowed, the subtle command making him whimper softly as he slowly shifted, seating himself at the edge of the bathing pool and extending his slender feet and legs into the warm water. The motion exposed his body completely to the draconic male towering over him. Lea licked his lips as Thanaros gazed evenly at the canid's gingerly throbbing cock as it jutted up from his pelvis. Lea's rosy pink cock was sleek, almost ram-rod straight, several inches over half of a foot-length including the painfully swollen bulb of flesh at its base that thudded along with his heart-beat. The swollen knot of flesh was nearly double the width of the canine's sleek cock, its elegant tracing of veins standing out against the bright pink blush of his length. Thanaros rubbed his thumb over the drooling, tapered glans of the canine's erection, making him moan surprisingly loudly.

The younger male's slender body shivered, arching up into the gentle touch, making a fresh gout of pre-cum slide down his shaft. Thanaros stroked the younger male's length with his fingers, shockingly gently for his size and strength. He rumbled in amusement as he leaned over the panting younger male, "I have heard that canine males are terribly sensitive on some parts of their anatomy. This would be true, I see."

"Yesss...!"

Lea moaned as he nodded, pressing his muzzle into the draconic male's chest and throat as Thanaros manipulated him with a bit more force, stroking him with his massive hand. The horned male nibbled over the canine's throat, making him pant, "Shall we see how sensitive you are?"

Lea shuddered, biting his lip as he mulled his options over mentally, his aching cock making his mind up for him before he actually realized his lips were moving, "Use me in any way you see fit mi'lord. It would be an honor to serve you..."

The black pelted canine's submissive posture and shivering hips made Thanaros rumble, nodding as he smiled, still teasing Lea's pert length as he leaned farther, lifting the younger male's muzzle with his other hand. The gold-eyed canine moaned as he felt Thanaros' warm breath on his face, their lips meeting and parting in barely restrained lust. Lea inhaled sharply as he felt the horned male's long, deft forked tongue sliding against his own tongue, eagerly allowing it to explore his muzzle. He sucked on the dragon's tongue wantonly, moving his hips and rubbing himself against the larger male seductively. As they kissed the canine's paws slipped down the rock-hard ridges of Thanaros' belly and gripped his enormous prick, stroking it hard. He felt the spike of dragon flesh jump in his paws, the shivers of Thanaros' muscles making the fluttering ripple up and down enticingly.

Thanaros uttered a deeper rumble, withdrawing his tongue from the canine's muzzle and licking his face, "Mmm, patience little one. First..."

The horned male used his large hands to grip the canine's broad, feminine hips to scoot him closer to the edge of the tub, giving his softly padded ass a squeeze as he did so. He slowly slid his lips down Lea's throat, giving it a few gentle bites, making the younger male moan and whimper. Thanaros drew his long, sinuous tongue across the younger male's flat chest, seeking out the canine's pert blush colored nipples. The warm, wet snaking length of the dragon's tongue paired with the sharp, almost uncomfortable scrape of his sharp teeth against his nipples, one at a time made Lea shrill loudly. The canine's shaking paws gripped Thanaros' tightly as the older male teased his nipples mercilessly, biting, rasping, licking, sucking and tugging them with his deft maw.

Lea groaned, his head swimming lightly as his nipples almost stung with the horned male's ministrations, but left them painfully perked, jutting from his dark fur. The slender male realized where that long, reptilian tongue was headed, whimpering loudly as he fought the urge to press his thighs together again, instead spreading his legs widely and arching his back, submissively exposing himself completely to the larger male. He swallowed despite himself as Thanaros' sleek horns brushed his chest, then promptly forgot his concerns about their sharp points as the older male's tongue reached its destination. Lea's body shuddered soundlessly as Thanaros' tongue wrapped itself around the swollen knot at the base of his dripping length. His muzzle gaped wide as his body shivered from ears to toes and his black velvet furred balls jerked tight, almost blowing his wad all over Thanaros' chest.

The tiny howl that escaped the canine's muzzle let Thanaros know how close the younger male had come to the edge just from the touch of his tongue. He rumbled; caressing the canine's painfully contracted sac with his fingers as he lapped around the younger male's knot and shaft slowly, "Poor thing, you're ready to cum already."

All Lea could do was whimper as he gripped the older male's shoulders and nape tightly, his broad hips moving of their own accord as was typical with his species, jerking and humping gently with his need. Always having a keen eye, even when engaged in work of his own Theanon rumbled softly from where he was busy with Tandoril, "It's that ring around the base of his cock brother. It's not just jewelry, it's also functional. Just slightly too large when he's flaccid, it probably squeezes him fairly snugly when he's as hard as you've made him, keeps him erect and ready for his clients."

"And horribly sensitive, I'd say."

Thanaros grinned as he slowly circled the tip of Lea's sleek cock with his tongue, swirling his forked appendage idly, tasting the canine's pre-seed as it flowed over his lips and tongue. The gentle ooze of pre-cum turned into a steady drip again as the horned male's lips and tongue both wrapped around the slender male's prick, caressing it. Thanaros took the slender canid's cock into his mouth with no effort, sucking it slowly, keeping his lips curled over his sharp fangs save for when he allowed the tips of his pearly teeth to skate ever so gently over Lea's straining cock. The canine gave a breathless moaning yelp, his belly shivering with heat as his hips jerked harder, his whimpering growing more strident and pleading, "P-p-please mi'lord...!"

Tandoril panted at his horned lover as he took a breather against Theanon, making the younger dragon grin, "Oh let him cum Than. You've teased him enough."

From the way the canine's golden eyes were rolled up half white in his head and his desperate panting the younger dragon privately wondered if the young male would ever be able to get erect from anything else again once his elder sibling was done with him. Thanaros rumbled by way of answer. Giving the younger male's balls a harder squeeze and sucking him harder, using his fingers to squeeze and knead the canine's swollen knot till it was twitching wildly. Lea moaned loudly, shuddering against Thanaros as it felt like his body was attempting to turn itself inside-out from his cock. The slender young male's length finally hit the brink within Thanaros' mouth, exploding into a torrent of his warm, slick seed. The canine's hips did a desperate, writhing dance as he climaxed, his muscles crackling as his orgasm made his eyes roll up white, overloading him with the fiery tingles of electricity that slammed up and down his spine.

Lea's orgasm seemed to go on and on, giving the towering dragon a satisfying gulp of his sweetly-bitter seed. When the shuddering canine finally relaxed against him Thanaros pulled his pre-seed smeared face slowly from the canine's still ram-rod stiff prick. He rumbled pensively, kneading Lea's tight balls slowly, "That was good, would have been better if I'd been penetrating you at the same time..."

Lea groaned, shivering as he regained his senses, his cock actually sore with the aching build-up and violence of his climax. He panted, his golden eyes refocusing as he found himself with his chin resting on Thanaros' shoulder, facing the coupling pair on the opposite side of the tub, "Uhh... Y-y-you can copulate someone at the same time as giving them oral sex?!"

"Given the proper circumstances."

Lea shuddered, arousal still surging through him as he licked his lips, if anything the tantalizingly drawn out orgasm having whetted his lust, "I want you to couple me..."

Thanaros growled in amused lust, standing back up in the swirling water and shifting till his hips were almost level with the younger male's face, "Do you think this will fit, little one?"

Lea moaned as the dragon's massive prick was brazenly shifted back and forth in front of his face, "Yes, I want that..."

Forgetting himself the younger male lunged forward, catching the dragon's massive prick with his paws with a sound of near glee stuffing the tip into the end of his delicate muzzle. The black furred canid closed his golden eyes in pleasure as that mammoth, musky, exotically barbed glans was clamped between the roof of his muzzle and his tongue, the squeezing sucking of his muzzle milking it. Thanaros rumbled in bliss, his approval of the canine's bold movements letting him slip easily into allowing the slender younger male suckle his length, not seeming in the least intimidated by the exotic shape or massive size of his cock. One of Lea's nimble paws kneaded the dragon's heavy balls as his other danced up and down the horned male's novel-shaped cock, rubbing the ridges, feeling the density of the swell at its base, so like his own knot, and those rubbery barbs teasing his tongue as he sucked hard.

Tandoril's pleasure laced voice drifted across the water, barely registering on the young canid's ears till his words sunk in, "Wonder if Lea knows dragons can climax at will..."

"Shall I show him?"

Thanaros grinned, rumbling as the pleasure of the canid's muzzle wrapped around the end of his prick washed through him. He gently gripped the back of the slender male's skull as he tensed his own hips and belly, making his cock jerk and twitch in Lea's muzzle. The canid's golden eyes went wide as the growling dragon's cock went through all the motions of a natural climax, going ever so slightly soft, then diamond hard, then twitching wildly before it burst into his muzzle with enough force to almost make the feminine canine gag. Lea gasped in surprise, his muzzle gaping and allowing the wild spurts of the dragon's milky silk to sputter down across his chin, throat and chest before he could control himself enough to clamp his muzzle back down and swallow. The slender canine growled comically, pumping Thanaros' cock hard, wanting every drop of the draconic male's seed he could get. The horned male was more than happy to indulge the surprisingly eager little male, letting his thudding length spurt till his balls gave him that slightly aching tingle that let him know he had to let them relax and reload after such a copious orgasm.

Thanaros stroked the canine's sticky face gently, "I fear you will have to let my cock rest a few moments after that little one, I will not be able to orgasm effectively again immediately after expending that much semen."

Lea made a tiny noise of disappointment as he milked the draconic male's still rock-hard shaft, licking the tip plaintively as he savored the salty-sweet taste of the milky seed covering his muzzle and chest. Thanaros chuckled, matching Theanon's giggle from across the tub, "He said he couldn't cum again so soon little one, he can still fuck you."

The younger dragon grinned, still moving his hips slowly against Tandoril as the elf panted, "We dragons can keep it hard for a surprising length of time."

The pale elf who was basking in both the warm water and the afterglow washing over him giggled, "As if Than needed another way to convert his almost over-eager new sex-slave."

The teasing barb in the elf's tone made Lea blush red again and giggle, uttering a breathless noise of surprise as the dragon standing above him abruptly lean and heft him up into his arms, "AH! I-I-I would be more than willing to serve you all even outside of work masters, but I'm much to eager to be a sex slave I think."

"He has a point."

Tandoril perked his comically large, pointed ears as Thanaros came splashing over to where he and Theanon were seated, the canine cradled against his broad, dense chest, "Uh-oh..."

He looked over his shoulder at Theanon as Lea blushed from Thanaros' arms, "Is this where you two depraved dragons make us smaller males do erotic things to one another while you rut us for your own enjoyment?"

Thanaros answered before Theanon's mouth got part-way open, "Yes my sweet, it is."

Tandoril wrinkled his pale nose cutely before he smirked, then grinned, accepting Lea against himself and shifting against Theanon as the dragon males exchanged eager looks, "Well, good. I have years worth of sexual frustration to work through! I'm an elf damn it, we're supposed to be implacable hedonists, I expect you three to help me become one, after 400 years I think I deserve it."

Lea's golden eyes went wide as he splashed in Tandoril's lap, gaping, "You're 400 years old?!"

The elf nodded, smiling as he leaned back into Theanon, winking up at his new, massive lover as Thanaros towered over them, "Yes, and I and my sons have a lot of catching up to do on life. I think I'm looking forward to it. Aren't you?"

Fin