FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The harsh desert sun beat relentlessly down on the vast expanse of brown and yellow sand, the only exception were the small shadows cast by two dragons that circled high above the arid landscape. Despite the scorching heat below them, Viina didn't feel any warmth as she held her wings out wide and rode a thermal rising from a tall sandy dunes. The large limbs that stretched out on either side of her moved on their own, occasionally beating, but otherwise simply adjusting here and there to keep her steady. After all, once a dragon learned how to fly on their own, coaxing the winds to help them fly quickly became second nature. Of course, no dragon could ever truly control the wind, and the relationship of borrowing its energy to keep them aloft was just one of the many things a hatchling learned as they took to the sky.With her wings outstretched, Viina soared high over the land that she held no love for. Her lip quivered as she looked to her side and at the silver and blue drake who stayed at her wingtip. Under the desert sun, Riimack's scales sparkled like chainmail as his muscular body moved through the air with the grace and confidence of a dragon that knew their own strength. Despite his size, the drake was far from a dumb brute and looked to her with bright, intelligent eyes and a grin that drove a dagger through her heart.

His deep voice resonated through the wind as he spoke. She clung to each word like the treasures they were and tore her eyes away from him to look down. Viina spotted them, far below, the small specks of a convoy driving down a long road between nowhere and somewhere else. She should have called them in; it would have been so easy. All it would have taken was for her to reach to her shoulder, press down on the transmit button on her radio, speak a few words, and fate's wrath would have been directed toward them instead of her and her mate.

"....I was thinking of putting in a special request with the base cooks. To celebrate!" Riimack explained cheerfully. The innocence in the drake's voice made Viina's chest tighten, and her eyes became glossy. She knew Riimack's past and why he enjoyed good food, even if the base's kitchen paled in comparison to what he deserved. Seeing the look of excitement in his eyes, she forced herself to swallow past the lump in her throat and continue their tortured performance.

"Celebrate? What are we celebrating?" Viina asked, her voice wavering as she focused on his beautiful smile.

"Our anniversary!" Riimack exclaimed with glee. “One year ago, I first met you! Remember?" he added and drifted his wingtip to brush against hers. The gentle contact made Viina's chest tighten as she failed to feel the warmth, and if she wasn't watching him do it, she wouldn't have known he did anything.

“Oh, you are sweet," she whimpered, yet the drake simply smiled cheerfully. With a small rock of her wings, she brought her wingtip in contact with his. However,, she only felt the numb detachment and not the comforting contact that she so desperately longed for. "I remember, I asked you if I could sit near you, and you just kind of froze."

"I did not!" Riimack retorted, but the corners of his lips curled into a sheepish smile. He was ignorant of the pain and torment wracking Viina's mind as he looked at her and jokingly added, "I had a mouthful of jerky."

"Uh-huh," Viina croaked before scanning the landscape again. The convoy had stopped, and this would have been the best time to call in a strike. They had already been given pre-approval to call in artillery if needed, and with nothing more than a few words, a battery just over the horizon could launch a few dozen explosive rounds and obliterate anything she desired. Should, by some miracle, the ordinance fail to eliminate the threats, a squadron of fast-moving jets could be on station in minutes to provide air support and finish the job. The cost of this ongoing war wasn't lost on Viina, but to her, the cost of losing her mate far outweighed the price of everything currently deployed in this godforsaken desert. Instead, she was forced to watch helplessly, a marionette destined to reenact the same nightmare, night after night.

"Well, I'm glad I sat next to you," Viina added genuinely as she looked across at Riimack. His smile was so warm and charming, a far cry from the stunned, awkward look he had given her when she had approached him on their first day of training.

"Me too," Riimack said, adjusting his wings. He had been flying since before dawn, and Viina knew full well how the weight of their heavy radios could take its toll on their bodies.

"You should head back, your shift is over," Viina said sadly. Guilt wracked her mind as she knew it was her turn to take over the surveillance of this sector. The fact that she was meant to take over from him, and he was no longer meant to be in the sky weighed heavily in her mind. She knew that if it were anyone else relieving him, he would have returned to base. Instead, it was because she came to him that he now felt obligated to stay in the air and share her fate.

"Nah, I've got plenty left in me," he smiled, making Viina's lip quiver. No matter how long he flew for, no matter how hard they had trained, the drake always said he had more in him. She wasn't sure when she had first noticed him saying it, but his determination was as predictable as the warmth from the sun, and something she had admired him for.

"I like hanging out with you," he added as he reached into a pocket in his harness and opened a bag of jerky he had brought with him to the desert. They had been deployed for weeks now, yet the drake still had more of the sweet, dried meat. A testament to his self-control and love for the delicious treat his sister back home had made for him. Despite his desire to ration them, he always offered her some, and this time was no exception. Holding the bag in one forepaw and a large piece in his other, the silver drake extended the thin sliver of dried meat upwards for her to come close and take from him.

With two small flaps and a swish of her long tail, Viina positioned herself above him and gripped the hip strap of his harness to steady herself in flight. The look of giddy excitement that filled the drake's eyes as she dipped her head down and took the jerky from his forepaw made her chest tighten and her stomach plummet. It was such a fleeting moment, one that had happened so many times before, yet would be the last time she saw it. After a small flap to bring herself forward, she gave him the briefest peck on the cheek with her jerky-filled mouth before pulling away and returning to his wingtip. She remembered how good the jerky had tasted, but the memory had soured as she continued to look at Riimack. She should have sent him back to base, where he would have been safe, where he might have lived. Instead, she had chosen to selfishly keep him by her side and continued their small talk.

Now, she watched him with bated breath as he answered her now trivial questions. She asked him how his tour had been so far, and if it was living up to his expectations. Her questions could have waited, and she longed for nothing more than to cut him off and beg him to leave her so he could be safe. No one deserved what would happen soon, but least of all Riimack. Instead, she had started a silly game, a selfish charade, that had made her smile at the time.

"Have you thought about what you will do when your time is up? Like, once you've served your time, what then?" she asked, knowing full well that they had already made plans together. It was meant to be a sweet moment between them, a jest that had developed after Riimack had blundered so hard asking her out. Since the day he had accidentally confessed his feelings toward her while stunned and blinded by a training flashbang, Viina had started pretending to ask him out, even though they were already mates.

Playing along with a coy smile, Riimack shrugged. "Depends. What are your plans?" he asked, giddy excitement in his voice. The fact that he so clearly enjoyed their little roleplay was incredibly endearing to Viina. Like a large puppy, he looked at her with sweet, warm eyes that twisted the knife buried in Viina's stomach.

"Well, I was thinking of finishing up when you do," she said, her voice wavering slightly as she remembered the promise she had made him. Despite her pained voice, the drake continued to smile at her, oblivious to the fact that she wished for nothing more than to fix this broken record. "Maybe we could hang out together on the outside?" she added automatically, unable to stop herself from giving him hope.

"Of course! I would love that!" he quickly exclaimed. The way his smile broadened to flash his bright white teeth, and how the corners of his lips dimpled slightly as he looked at her with joy, was agony. "You mean like, as mates, right?" he asked, continuing her stupid game.

"Well, yeah!" Viina replied quickly, making him chuckle. She hated the sound of her own voice—so optimistic and ignorant of the looming danger below them. The convoy had been stopped for a suspiciously long time, no doubt dialing in their altitude into the gun sights to be more effective. She should have noticed that something was wrong, but now it was too late. “I was thinking we would find a place somewhere, and maybe get to know each other more," Viina added quietly.

"Do you mean, like, what we do when our breaks line up?" he asked with hopeful optimism in his voice. "I think I would like that very much," he chuckled.

"I think you would too," she replied, knowing it was the truth. There was nothing she would rather do than hold him close right now and feel the secure, loving embrace of his limbs around her. "Maybe one day, we could think about a little Riimack or a little Viina?" she asked gently, looking at his face to gauge his reaction. She remembered how vulnerable she had felt asking him such a question and had quickly corrected herself when he looked at her with wide eyes. "Like, not straight away."

"Of course!" Riimack replied quickly, filling her with hope. Now, his words only tortured her further with the idea of building a future with the gentle drake. He would have made for such a great father, far better than her parents, who were always so quick to pass judgment and remind her of their mistakes. She tried not to dwell on her past, but instead, the mental image of Riimack chasing a hatchling or two around a home came to mind. She could see him, playfully bowing, to then bolt after a scampering hatchling, their combined laughter filling the air. Or perhaps him teaching their child how to fly, his shoulders becoming a bastion of security for the little one to cling to as they stretched their wings into the wind for the first time. Her dreams, their dreams… all would inevitably be stolen from them by a few hundred grains of lead and her own incompetence.

She kept her eyes locked with his as he looked at her with conviction. In his mind, he was about to spend his entire future with her, but she now knew what was about to happen, yet was unable to warn him, but was instead forced to relive it again and again. Ignoring her duties, her radio, and the convoy below, she distracted the drake from his fate. Folding her wing and sweeping her tail to one side, she rolled inverted and briefly dropped in altitude before maneuvering under him and flicking her wings out to full extension. Angling her powerful wing arms, she corrected her course and rose up under the drake with her chest and belly exposed to his loving gaze. Despite being completely exposed to him, he held her gaze as she came closer, using his forepaws to guide hers to his harness. Pulling herself up against his chest, she felt his strong, muscular forelegs wrap around her shoulders and his thighs grip around her hips. The powerful flight muscles that wrapped around his barrel-like chest flexed as he beat his wings, supporting her weight. After he had been flying for so long, Viina could tell by the way his jaw briefly tensed that he was hiding the fatigue and strain that ran through his body. Her selfishness got the better of her as she let him hold her close, pressing her lips against his. She should have broken away, begged him to go back to base and leave her, but her warnings never materialized as she deepened their kiss. Compared to her tapered and narrow snout, his was considerably broader, stronger, and more masculine—a desirable trait that had caught her eye when she first met him. Although she was far from helpless, his whole body exuded a comforting strength that made her feel safe and deeply loved, especially when he kissed her gently. Her heart pounded in her chest with built-up rage at her own stupidity as she rolled her tongue against his, prolonging their tender moment.

Only after he broke their kiss to breathe did she relax her grip on her harness and signal for him to stop carrying the burden she was. Falling away from him, she rolled in the air to right herself and then flared her wings to soar back up beside her mate. The giddy excitement in his eyes pained her, and she tore her eyes away from him to look down at the danger below. At their altitude, and with the knowledge she now had, she could make out the details of the convoy. The five pickup trucks were parked further apart than normal, as civilians would usually park close to the destination and often in tight clusters, inevitably held up by the slowest vehicle. Now, each one had enough distance between them that they could triangulate their fire to be more effective. After all, one invading dragon providing surveillance was an ominous threat to their way of life, but two foreign dragons flying together? That was an opportunity too good to pass up.

"Has anything interesting been happening out there?" Viina asked, already knowing the answer. At the time they had been so absorbed in each other's company, but now as they both focused their attention on the trucks, reality dawned on them. Viina glanced at Riimack with a look of fear and in return saw a flicker of worry flash in his eyes.

"Just civilians evacuating, no military vehicles..." His words drifted off as he began to understand the gravity of their situation. The drake, ever the optimist, had second-guessed himself for days after calling in his first strike on a legitimate hostile target. Even now, he hesitated and deferred to her judgment. "Do they have something in their beds? Technicals?" Riimack asked as Viina was already reaching for her radio.

She knew it was already too late. If she hadn't been so distracted by her selfish desire to be close to the drake, she would have called in the artillery sooner. Because of her, he was still in danger, and there was nothing she could do now to change that. Holding down the transmit button on her radio, her words were cold as she retreated behind the mental walls she had put up to protect herself, giving an order she knew would be interrupted. “Guardian Delta Seven to White Knight. We have a convoy of unknown vehicles setting up outside the hamlet here. They look armed and—"

The flashes of white from the five trucks below them cut off her words, followed by the angry zips of supersonic, high-caliber rounds racing past them. Long amber streaks cut up through the sky around them, even in the bright desert sun. The burning metals left long lines through the air, helping the convoy cement their aim. Without hesitation, she beat her wings to try and evade, but she was too slow…

Like leather being run through with the needle of a sewing machine, the large membranes of her glorious wings were punctured in a long line. Starting at the trailing edge near her right hip and running diagonally across the flight surface, small holes were created before they stretched wider under the strain of her wings. Daylight could be seen briefly through the tears before they began to bleed, and long rivulets of crimson blood streaked across her pale hide. Her instincts pulled her wings in close against her sides to protect them from further pain, cutting her climb short. Tears of pain welled in her eyes at the sharp, tearing sensation, and her momentum stalled before she began to fall.

Snarling through the pain, Viina forced her wings open and tried to focus on redirecting her descent in any way she could to make herself a harder target. Looking down, the long streams of amber tracers swept through the sky. Any one of the countless shells could end their lives instantaneously. Flicking her tail to one side, she began a tight spiral as she tried to find any semblance of a safe passage through the hail of gunfire. The holes in her wings began to expand as she heaved herself around in a tight turn to avoid a barrage of shots that cut across her path.

Viina tried to focus her mind on finding a way through the sprays of tracers as she erratically rolled and pitched, as best as her torn wings would allow, but it was like finding a path through a maze that was perpetually changing at the whim of a madman. Every time she thought she saw a gap, another line of tracers ripped through the empty space and cut her off.

She had lost track of Riimack, but she knew now that the drake was dancing and weaving to get to her. Putting her safety ahead of his own, just like he always would—and shouldn't have. Snapping her head to the right, her heart froze as a long line of fire whipped up to intercept her. There had been countless choices Viina had made that had led her to this moment, but now the fate of her mate had boiled down to this one critical decision. She could have rolled left, or she could have rolled right. Both would have saved her from this swarm of tracers, but she had been selfish. In the heat of the moment, she had chosen the less painful option without considering him. Folding her injured wing to save herself from the brief moment of pain of using it to turn, she rolled right—and sealed her fate… and that of Riimack.

Viina should have rolled left, she knew that now.

Pirouetting left, she avoided the shots she had seen coming, but white-hot pain seared through her mind as a new burst of gunfire from one of the other trucks ripped through the elbow of her left wing. The shots had come from just outside her field of vision—she should have been paying more attention. Now, she was hundreds of feet above the hard ground, helpless and at the mercy of gravity and the wind. Her pale white scales offered no protection as the conical lead shot tore through them like they were nothing more than paper. An agonizing roar filled the skies as her whole world spun wildly, but her desperate cry was not for the pain or the disorientation that dominated her thoughts, but for the silver and blue shape diving down toward her.

With one critical joint of her wing shattered, the limb flailed in the wind, and she tumbled over herself like a broken kite caught in a thunderstorm. Her tail lashed wildly, and her instincts forced her to flare her broken wing into the air current and catch the wind without recognising that the large limb was cripled. She began plummeting toward the ground at breakneck speed. Glimpses of the sky, the sand, the road below, with trucks and tracers racing all around her, were the only things she could make out as she flipped over and over. Her hind legs became trapped against her body as her broken wing wrapped around herself at an unnatural angle. The pain threatened to tear away her consciousness. Passing out would have been a mercy, but she knew she didn't deserve it.

The rib-cracking crash of Riimack colliding with her drove the wind from her lungs in a pained huff, but the feeling of his strong, muscular arms snatching around her shoulders offered some semblance of security. The impact made him tumble with her, but in an instant, he began to extend his wings and curl his tail to try and stabilize them together. It was no easy task as Viina's broken wing became untangled from her hind legs and caught in the wind. The added drag tore them into a painful spin, but Riimack worked quickly. His powerful paws moved around her body, rolling her over in his grip as they fell until he was able to nestle her back against his broad, muscular chest. Using his hind legs to hook his rear paws around her tailbase, he curled his tail around hers to keep her secure, then reached along her broken wing with a forepaw.

Reaching as far as he could, he sank his claws into her membrane and heaved her wing closed against her side. Clutching her ruined limb, he wrapped his forepaw around her and used more care to close her other wing. Then he flared his own wide. The rushing wind became trapped in the drake's deep blue wings, causing the membranes to bulge beyond their limits. The drake whined as the strong, corded flight muscles that wrapped around her mate's chest began to tear, yet he held her close and snarled through the pain.

Gravitational forces tore at Viina's body as the drake pulled them out of the rapid dive and redirected their energy into horizontal speed. With her tail safely held by his, she focused as hard as she could to keep her neck parallel with his and maintain their mass as closely aligned as possible. The wind screamed past her ears, and as she looked to Riimack, she saw that his eyes were ghostly grey, the nictitating membranes shielding his vision from the high-speed wind.

For the briefest moment, she allowed herself to believe that she was safe, in the tight clutches of her mate, with safety on the horizon and their enemy behind them. They were still high off the ground, but also within range of the jeeps, and it was a matter of moments before renewed gunfire zipped past them in chaotic and desperate arcs. Riimack kept one forepaw wrapped tightly around her broken wing as he fumbled with his other paw across Viina's harness to find a coil of steel cable that all dragons carried. To keep the weight of the dragon's payload down, one cable wasn't strong enough to support the full weight of a dragon, and it was meant to be used in conjunction with Riimack's own to fully support her weight. She tried to help him, but her paws trembled uncontrollably. He didn't seem to mind as he clicked one end of the cable around a solid metal eyelet integrated into her harness, just above her one working wing.

Before Riimack had a chance to fish his cable out from his harness and complete the tether, zips of bullets came dangerously close to the pair. Riimack cropped his wings briefly to jink under the stream and evade the subsequent shots. He kept moving, rolling, and banking from side to side to try and make them harder to hit while reaching for the transmit button on his radio.

"Guardian Delta One-One to White Knight, mayday-mayday-mayday." His voice was always so calm and in control. All through their training, he had always sounded so confident and clear when giving orders. Now, however, Viina could hear the fear creeping into his voice as he hailed their command. "Both guardians are off station, Delta Seven has been hit. casevacing to FOB Kodai, requesting a priority fire mission, over."

Nestled up against his chest, Viina's neck and head were just below and beside Riimack's as he looked at her with an expression that gave her pause. She hadn't taken stock of her injuries, but she could tell by his expression that they were bad. There was a brief pause as command processed what Riimack had said, but by declaring an emergency, no one dared interrupt their transmission.

"White Knight to Guardian Delta One-One, understood. Standby, patching you through. Over." A crackled voice came through both of their radios. Another rake of gunfire ripped past them as Riimack banked and twisted in the air. With her added weight, his wingbeats were slow, and his movements were quickly becoming sluggish. Something that wasn't ignored by their enemy, as the rounds began getting closer and closer to them, despite Riimack's best efforts.

Riimack glanced at her as he pulled them off course suddenly and dropped a few feet to regain some speed. Viina felt so helpless, forced to watch and slow her mate down. If it weren't for her, he could regain altitude, move to a safer position, and survive.

"Everything is going to be okay," he said before glancing over his shoulder and adjusting the course once again. "I've got you, and I'm not letting you go. I promise."

“Promise?" Viina hissed between clenched teeth as his paws pressed against her broken wing and continued to hold her close.

“I promise, we're getting out of this." Riimack grimaced as stray shots came within inches of his left wing, and he quickly banked right. “We're going to get you fixed up, and then have an egg together, remember?" he added in an attempt to put her at ease. Deep down, she knew that he too was panicking and was trying to comfort himself just as much as her. “So, I ain't letting you go. Not now, not ever. I promise!"

“Guardian Delta One-One, this is Steel Reign. Send traffic, over." came a southern drawl over the radio from an artillery battery just over the horizon.

Viina caught a flash of relief in Riimack's eyes at the sound of the operator's voice, and he immediately brought his free paw to his radio and held down the transmit button. A bombardment, even if it missed their enemy, would likely disrupt their attack and give the pair the time to get to safety. Riimack inhaled quickly and spoke swiftly, the throat mic capturing his voice clearly despite the rush of wind and zips of shots flying all around them. “This is Guardian Delta One-One. Fire mission, fire mission, fire mission. Grid: Golf Romeo 1-7-3-5, 9-6—"

Viina felt it more than she heard it—the sudden jolt as the drake's whole body shuddered once, and his voice was cut short. Despite his size, despite his protective scales and dedication to his training, nothing stopped the singular round from finding its mark in the back of the drake's neck. Even though the shot had lost most of its energy from the friction of the air, it still tore through scale, muscle, and vertebrae with enough force to be fatal.

Time slowed to a crawl for Viina as she felt the drake's paws tighten briefly around her as his body convulsed, and then the large drake's strength washed out of him like a breeze through an open window. His expression became etched in Viina's mind as he looked at her with confusion in his unfocused, glossy eyes. She felt his limp paws slip over her, and his tail failed to hold hers as she began to fall away from him. She tried to hold onto him, but she was too weak, too helpless to save him as she left his clutches and fell.

The singular coil of cable Riimack had secured between his harness and hers began to unravel as she dropped away from him, and her whole body tensed. The drake's wings had remained half-extended, as the life in his muscles left his body. Not strong enough to truly glide, but enough to keep him aloft. Viina watched in horror as her mate continued to glide, and the coil connecting them went taut… and then snapped.

Pain, like she had never experienced before today, shot through her body as the long cable whipped back towards her faster than her eyes could make out. The cable sliced through the root of her one good wing, tearing through flesh and scale without mercy, and pulled an agonized roar from Viina's throat. Both of her broken wings became playthings for wind and gravity as they folded over themselves at unnatural angles. Tumbling head over tail through the air, she caught a glimpse of Riimack half-falling, half-gliding on limp wings away from her. In the background of her mind, she heard the voice of the operator asking for the rest of the order, but it was no use. Riimack wasn't responding, and she was in too much agony to respond.

Falling and pain—that was all Viina knew. She wished she could close her eyes and make it all end, but she didn't deserve that mercy. Instead, she watched on as she tumbled from the heavens, plummeting toward the unyielding ground. The large membranes of her wings caught the air, but without the structure of her wing arms, they simply flailed and flapped uselessly as the wind tore past her. Her instincts flared, and she tried in vain to make her wings work. Years of flying and millenia of evolution had taught her exactly how to correct her spin. However, while nerves still told her muscles to clench and flex to rotate her broken wings and catch the air, it was useless.

Wind screamed through her horns, and drowned out the flapping sound of her broken wing flailing wildly in the air. Her adrenaline-rich blood rushed through her pounding heart as the ground came up to meet her, and she braced herself for the pain. She knew it would hurt. Even with the drag of her large, useless wings, she was still going to hit the ground with enough force to kill a dragon.

When the dunes came close enough for her to make out the ripples in their sandy surface, only then was she able to close her eyes. Squeezing them tight, she tensed her whole body and waited for the inevitable agony. The deafening sound of the wind shrieked through her mind as she braced for the bone-breaking impact. Alone, without her mate, without her family, she was sure this was the end.

Then it came—the impact that shattered most of the ribs in her chest, broke vertebrae in her tail, and tore her already crippled right wing from her body with a fleshy ripping noise. Impacting the top of a dune at an angle, Viina's limp body punched a chunk out of the peak of the hill. The crash absorbed some of her energy and caused a massive cloud of sand and dust to be displaced in her wake before she began to fall again and slam back into the side of the dune. The slanted ground made her tumble over and over, each time her one broken wing folding back and forth over itself in ways that shouldn't have been possible. At her speed, the friction of the soft sand tore scales from her hide and shredded through her wing membranes like she was skidding on asphalt. Leaving a bloody streak down the sand, Viina continued to flounder across the ground, even as the angle of the dune softened until she finally came to rest at the bottom of a sandy crater.

Arching her back off the soft ground, Viina let out a breathless, silent scream. Her eyes snapped open, only to be met with a confusing darkness that enveloped her, and pain burned like wildfire throughout her entire being. Heaving for breath, the pale dragoness convulsed and shuddered as she squirmed in agony and the feeling of ice cold adrenaline rushing through her body. Her heart pounded so hard that she could feel it in her ears. The rapid and erratic pace almost blocked out the mockingly joyful song coming from across her hotel room. Against her chest, she clung desperately to the thick pillow she had fallen asleep holding. Its limp and lifeless form failed to comfort her and matched the haunting memories of Riimack's slack body, unable to hold her as life left his body. Scrunching her eyes closed again and snarling, Viina let out a long, frustrated growl through her clenched teeth. The only warmth her pillow had was that which her scaled body had given it; its plump shape—a pathetic imitation of the comforting security of Riimack's chest. The music continued, the ignorantly polite and cheerful piano melody filling the small room in an attempt to draw the dragoness out of her bed and fulfill her obligations.

Keeping her eyes closed, Viina forced her rapid breathing to slow and ignored the adrenaline that quickened her heart. Focusing her mind on the comforting smells of the cool morning air that wafted through the open balcony door, she tried to block out the pain that tore through her heart and body. Slowly, like a tide receding from the shore, she began to feel the phantom pain of her missing wings ease into a dull throb. After a minute of listening to her alarm, she slowly relaxed her grip on the pillow and began to open her eyes. The darkness around her began to ease as her slitted pupils dilated, taking in the soft, amber glow filtering through the open balcony from the streets below.

Lifting her head, Viina turned to glance across the room to the counter where she had left her phone. Squinting, she made out the details of her alarm and felt her heart sink, it had been trying to wake her for almost an hour.

She was late.

“Get up," she hissed at herself as she continued to hold onto her pillow. The bed was soft, softer than she deserved, and as she stroked a paw down the back of the plump cushion, she inhaled a long breath before letting it out in an angry hiss. “Get up," she repeated, reluctantly pushing the pillow away. Now truly alone in the large bed, getting up was easier. With a curl of her tail against the mattress, she rolled her hips and used the momentum to turn herself over, falling out of the bed onto all fours. The toned muscles in her legs shifted under her scales as they supported her lithe weight, and she allowed herself a long stretch to limber up.

Her alarm continued, ever optimistic and cheerful sounding, despite the mixture of rage, regret and anger that smoldered inside the dragoness who had begun to stalk toward it.

“I'm up," she muttered through clenched teeth as she snatched her phone off the counter and mashed a digit against the flashing button. “And I'm here," she added, feeling a pang through her chest as the alarm app vanished from the screen and was replaced by the image of Riimack flying, giving her a warm smile. She remembered the moment—flying over the city on one of the few days off they had during their training. They had enjoyed a lunch date, noodles, where she was introduced to his sister. Viina's jaw clenched at the memory, and guilt that washed over her for not just getting her mate killed, but also someone's brother.

She quickly locked the screen of her phone and began fitting the tablet-like device into a neoprene case, which she then strapped to her forearm. Pulling the straps tight, she felt the phone vibrate as the collection of sensors on the back of the device detected the pressure of her scales and began reading her heart rate, body temperature, and other vital signs. The phone was the most expensive thing she owned, and while normally she wouldn't care for something so costly, its health tracking sensors had been highly recommended by her therapist, as they could be shared with the woman ahead of their pointless sessions. Viina knew what the app would say—elevated heart rate, high levels of stress—nothing new. Despite her therapist insisting, she never wore the phone while she slept. She lied and said that it was itchy, but in reality, Viina knew that her tortured sleep pattern would only be the next target of the doctor's critical eye.

Doctor Prin wasn't a bad person, not by any means, and she came highly recommended by other veterans. However, Viina had long grown tired of the woman trying to explain to her that everything was normal and her anger was justified. She didn't want it to be justified; she wanted Riimack back! And it was her fault he was gone! However, their sessions were a requirement for her veteran benefits, and thankfully, the sessions were done remotely, allowing the dragoness to hide her frustrations behind pretending the signal was bad or blaming her mood on the time difference.

Glancing briefly at the phone, she saw the circular bar of her health scan slowly progressing, but more importantly, she saw the time. She couldn't be late; that just wasn't an option. Her chest tightened, and she quickly stepped toward a tall mirror on the wall and dipped her head down to pick up her discarded harness with her mouth. It was incredibly light, especially compared to the armored rig she used to wear while deployed. While her standard issue harness had been a mottled mix of desert tan and brown that did little to camouflage her against the landscape, her new one was a sleek black design with thin silvery stitching that almost glowed when it caught the light. It was incredibly stretchy too, designed to hug the curves of her shoulders tightly. Made primarily for wingless dragons, specifically aquatics, it wasn't meant to cover a dragons folded wings, but it now wrapped around her stumps just fine and hid them from view.

With a practiced motion, the dragoness dropped the harness onto her shoulders and began using her snout and lips to unfold the elastic material, letting it drape over the scarred nubs of what were once her large, beautiful wings. She hated them. As hard as the doctors had worked to make them symmetrical, they were useless and always caught the attention of those around her. If they had removed her wings completely, she might have looked like an aquatic dragon, or some sort of hybrid, although, her size and shape of her frill made it clear that she wasn't. The water breathing dragons were usually quite a bit smaller and almost always sported a membranous ruff that circled their heads rather than the crimson sail-like frill Viina had. Her thin membrane swept up from the middle of her head and ended just ahead of her horns, then ran down her neck, and ended between where her wings should have been. Every dozen or so inches of the scarred skin, a slender spine starting at her neck and ending at the edge broke up the membrane to provide structure and give the frill the ability to flick up or lay flat against her neck. A neck frill wasn't a particularly uncommon trait among dragons, and her harness thankfully had provisions for it in the form of a thin cutout, which she used to help locate the garment on her body.

Gently shaking her body from side to side, she made sure that both sides of the harness had fallen over her flanks and then sat back onto her haunches. One by one, She slipped her forelegs through the leg holes and then quickly grabbed the halves of the elastic harness around her midsection. A single chunky plastic zipper ran up the underside of the harness, and she began trying to insert the bottom of one half through the fiddly slider. The troublesome parts were frustratingly small in her strong paws, and the rest of the harness flopped down her back with a wet slosh as she struggled to get the two sides to mesh. Sewn into the spine of the harness was a pocket for a water bladder, nothing massive, and it was almost unnoticeable once worn, but enough for emergencies. It was far from full, but she knew she didn't have time to fill it up.

Viina shook herself to try and get the waist of her harness to sit right and tried again to get the zipper to behave. She could feel her frustrations beginning to build and contemplated leaving the harness behind, but that would mean exposing her wing stumps to the world. Though it was before dawn, the idea of dodging stares from others on her way back made her chest tighten. Even with her sharp eyes and the mirror to help, she struggled with the simple activity and clenched her jaw as she tugged the two halves apart and tried to shove them together with more force. A small voice in the back of her mind told her to relax and that it would go together better if she were more gentle, but reason was stifled by the growing frustration that made her paws tremble and the zipper fail to engage. Tugging hard on the harness, she stretched the material to its limits as she tried to make some slack and get the two halves to go together.

A delicate chime played from her phone, and she felt the vibration in her wrist. In the mirror, she saw the array of icons on the screen and didn't have to read the text to know what it said. Elevated heart rate, abnormal stress, and an optimistic recommendation to perform the useless breathing exercises her doctor had so strongly recommended.

“Fuck off," Viina hissed between clenched teeth, ignoring the app's advice as she violently shook the zipper and tried again. “You promised," the dragoness snarled, her lips curling back to reveal her sharp fangs. Her crimson frill flicked up to full height as her anger threatened to overwhelm her self control, and the motion in her reflection tore her eyes from the zipper for the briefest of moments. With her erect blood-red frill contrasting against her paper-white scales, her lips curled back to reveal her ivory, dagger-like teeth, and her pupils contracted to narrow slits, Viina looked wild. She looked away from her reflection and focused on the troublesome zipper. “You promised–" she muttered again, tugging on the zipper. To her relief, it moved a few teeth, and then she yanked it up with more force than necessary. The elastic material pulled itself together with a loud, protesting zip but clung tightly to her pale scales and covered her wing nubs. The pull tab of the zipper slipped from her paw as it reached the top stop, and in an instant, Viina was on all fours. She didn't give her reflection a second glance as she turned and bounded across the room toward the balcony.

The large double doors were already open, the thin curtains tied back. He never liked sleeping with the doors closed, and keeping them open had become a habit she had adopted. With a bound and a leap, Viina lunged over the iron-wrought handrail and fell toward the street. She didn't care about locking the doors; it was unlikely anyone would climb up the balcony while she was away, and everything valuable she owned was tucked into the pockets of her harness anyways. Instinctively, what was left of her wing arms spread as she dropped, but having booked a room on the first floor above street level, she didn't fall far. The toned muscles in her legs bulged as they absorbed the impact and like a coiled spring, her hind legs kicked off the ground to launch herself down the street. Mid-bound, her forelegs stretched forward to grab the ground and pull it under her while her hind legs curled under her to kick off in another lunge. Without her wings to counterbalance herself, her long tail weaved from side to side with every gallop, and she took off at breakneck speed.

The cool morning air rushed through her flared nostrils as she ran down the street, her four paws pounding against the paved walkways that wove between the buildings. Like a creature possessed, she swept through the narrow streets with nothing more than the dull thuds of paws landing on the ground and a soft clicking sound as her talons struck the pavers. Guided by the amber glow of streetlights mounted on the sides of the buildings, Viina rushed past a small fountain beside one of the buildings and burst out onto one of the many single-lane roads. Her paws skittered across the cobblestone as she turned sharply right and took off through the town, heading north.

Glancing skywards, she saw that the sky was still dark, but snarled as she noticed a soft tint of dark blue as she looked between the tightly packed buildings. Lashing her head from side to side, she hissed in frustration and put more effort into her lunge-like gallop. Clenching her jaw, she focused ahead and drifted to the right side of the street so she could take the next left turn at almost full speed. If she still had wings, they would have brushed against the corner of the building as she leaned into her turn. With a controlled swing of her tail, she adjusted her course as she almost crashed into a man who was erecting an elbow high A frame sign outside his bakery.

Like a poorly animated cartoon, the man leapt back in startled surprise as she rocketed past him, a hair's breadth away from taking him out. The scream of surprise, followed by what she assumed were profanities and curses, was lost on her as she didn't give him a second look. She made a quick mental note to avoid that bakery when she returned and renewed her sprint down the narrow, winding road.

Ahead of her, she spotted the ivy-covered arch through which she had entered the town and knew she was heading in the right direction. Even under the amber glow of the streetlights, it was beautiful. The lush green leaves complemented the sandstone and terracotta colors of the old structure. Built tall enough for a dragon to walk through unobstructed, it was wide enough for two dragons to pass through side by side, provided they kept their wings folded. The thought of how it would feel to be here with Riimack made Viina's eyes gloss over before she whipped her head from one side to the other to bury the idea. The image was a pleasant and one she would think about when she returned, but she didn't have the time to delude herself with wishful dreams.

Parting her jaws, Viina began to pant as she ran past buildings that were older than her own country. She didn't give them a second look as she kept her eyes locked on the aperture of the arch and the countryside beyond it. At this time of day, the sleepy town had no traffic and with many of the small cars and motorbikes parked on the sidewalk, she kept her sprint down the middle of the road. The cobblestones she ran on were incredibly cool from the night, a small mercy as she felt her body temperature begin to climb. Opening her maw further, she tried to take in as much of the refreshing air as possible while running at full speed through the archway.

Her heart hammered in her chest, but she ignored it as she ran out of the town and tore off through the countryside. The cobblestones of the road suddenly ended and abruptly transitioned to the black asphalt of a more modern road. Despite being hundreds, if not thousands of years newer, it was only ever so slightly wider as it continued off into the distance. Tall and narrow trees flanked either side of the road, their branches tucked tight against their trunks and leaves densely packed to give them an almost pencil-like appearance. Each tree was planted a dozen feet away from the next, forming a long, neat row that raced past her in a hurried blur. Now that she was away from the knobbly cobblestones, Viina was able to build even more speed, however, her paws quickly began to ache from running on the unyielding road surface. She ignored the pain; after all, it was trivial compared to what she had caused. Her lungs began to burn, but still, Viina didn't slow—not even for a moment as she galloped down the road.

Viina continued down the road at a full sprint for almost a mile before spotting a sign in a language she didn't know. It was a small sign, pointing towards a path to the west, and she would have missed it if it hadn't been for the soft light creeping into the sky behind her. Transitioning from smooth asphalt to gravel, she hissed as the sharp stones of the unkempt path stabbed at her paw pads, though even if they had torn through the sensitive skin, she wouldn't stop.

She couldn't stop—not now, not after what she had done.

Her pupils narrowed as the muscles in her legs burned, begging her to slow down, but she continued. The dragoness was far from unfit and ever since she had hatched, she had been lithe and thin. Growing up, she kept herself thin by often skipping meals or spending days out of the house to avoid her parents' unpredictable moods. After enlisting, her body had been honed into the lethally graceful figure she had been before her crash. Stripped of her ability to fly and forced to walk everywhere, her legs had become stronger and more athletic. Every muscle was toned and strong. Her paws lacked the dainty grace they once had, and the talons she had kept meticulously sharp were now blunted by unforgiving pavements. Likewise, the once plump and soft pads that cushioned the palms of her feet and dotted under each of her digits had long since become calloused, hardened, and coarse from constant abrasion and abuse. Her hips and shoulders were more defined than they had been while serving. The powerful muscles were now pushed to their limits as she maintained a ferocious pace up the rolling hills.

“You promised—you fucking promised!" Viina growled, her words stoking her rage and forcing the pain from her legs as she blinked back tears. Her chest tightened, and her body felt like it was on fire, but she forced herself to continue despite the knowledge that she was putting herself at risk. By maintaining such an aggressive pace, and without a cool bath or pool at the end of her journey, there was a high chance that she would come to regret her actions.

Minutes ticked by as she sprinted as fast as she could. Every time she started to slow, she glanced towards the sky in the east to remind herself how late she was. She could make out clouds in the sky now, long and streaky, like tears in the fabric of the heavens. Not long ago, she would have once been able to soar over them, or used them for shade from the sun. Every bound along the gravel track felt like a dozen small blades being driven into her paws, but she pushed on. If there had been more light, she would have been able to avoid the harshest of the rocks. However, if she had gotten up at the time she was meant to, and had not slept in on her soft bed, she could have taken her time and not needed to push herself. The regrets wore down her soul as she ran and she buried it under the fact that if she hadn't failed him, they could have flown here together. The consequences of her flying with Riimack and keeping him aloft while asking him stupid questions, it all built on the already overwhelming rage that welled up inside her, driving her to push through the pain and continue her unsustainable pace.

A rapid chirping noise rang out from the wrist of her foreleg, but she ignored it. She could guess what her phone was saying: her body temperature was too high, and her heart was beating faster than a healthy rate. “Come on, you—crippled bitch, you—you promised!" she repeated, berating herself and forcing another lungful of air without breaking her unsustainable pace. Mantling her wing stumps, she stretched the elastic harness and allowed some air to strain through the fabric. A rush of cool air flowed across her sides, and while it helped cool her, the drag and awkwardness of running with her wing stubs extended made her tuck them back close to her sides. She pushed through the sweltering pain, which was starting to make her head throb.

Like almost all winged dragons, her body used the large, thin membranes of their wings to regulate temperature. Every inch of the thin flight surface was networked with countless narrow veins that transported blood through the body and across the large surfaces. The wind rushing over the skin helped sap away excess heat. If she still had her wings, she could give them a few flaps to help cool off. Now, she had no such luxury. Other than the frill running down her neck and her open maw, her body had no means of cooling itself off. She would need to rest or a cold shower—or even better, a swim—to bring her temperature back to a safe level, but she didn't spare a thought for that. Her future wasn't her concern right now, instead, her guilt and fear drove her mind to focus exclusively on reaching her destination in time.

The constant throbbing of her heart in her ears blocked out most of the sound as she sprinted down the path that now led through a field of tall plants. The gravel track narrowed tightly, and Viina snarled. If she had her wings, she could have flown over the fields, but now she was forced to run through the tight, winding path. The long plants were as tall as her shoulder and flanked either side of the path. Without slowing, she barged through the path and hissed as they repeatedly struck her wing nubs. The thin harness she wore offered little protection, but she didn't let the pain slow her down. Every strike stung, but she kept her vision locked on the hill ahead as she battled her way through.

The constant chiming and vibration of her phone was a reminder to Viina that she would have to explain the data to her therapist. She would lie, of course, saying she was simply exercising as the doctor had recommended. What she would say to explain why she was pushing herself so hard was a thought for another time.

The gradual increase in the incline was double-edged. She knew she had to be getting closer to her destination, but the strain on her body built, and every fiber of her being begged her to slow down. Lifting her head above the tall plants to glance over her shoulder, she saw the soft amber glow begin to creep across the edge of the horizon. Snapping her head forward, she put more power into her gallop and winced as the plants continued to whip against her sides. With only one narrow path, she ran the risk of colliding with anyone else walking the track, but she threw caution to the wind and continued on as fast as she could.

Her head hurt with the throbbing pain of her heated blood rushing through her body, combined with her lungs burning with every breath and the sharp pain of gravel tearing at her paw pads. Instead of slowing, she let the pain fuel her pace, let it consume her, and she growled low in her throat as she tore through the field and up the hill. Viina felt the incline become even steeper, and began to slow down. Gnashing her teeth, she forced herself to bound ahead to make up the precious few seconds she lost. The sky was becoming lighter now, and she began to land her paws in the compressed footprints left by hikers. She was sure that her paw pads had been split by now, given how they ached with every lunge, but she didn't have time to check.

The corners of her vision became blurry as she sprinted up the hill and sped up even faster as the incline began to ease once more. She was near the top now and finally broke free of the tall plants as she came towards a large grassy clearing. Ahead of her lay a collection of sturdy timber tables and benches nestled together with a ring of bollards around them in a wide circle. “I'm here!" Viina gasped under her breath as she tore towards them. She noticed that she wasn't completely alone but ignored the homeless-looking dragon who was curled up asleep beside one of the benches. “I'm here, I'm here," she repeated as her claws dug into the gravel and skidded to a stop beside the easternmost bench. “I'm here… like I– like I… promised," she heaved between ragged breaths. Heaving repeated deep breaths of the cool air through her mouth, she circled around herself in a restless walk to try and calm herself. Running her tongue across her snout, she licked her lips of the froth-like spit that had built in the corners of her jaw and spat a heavy glob of mucus onto the gravel. “Like I promised–" she gasped between rapid and shallow pants. “-Like I promised you."

Stepping towards a bench on the eastern edge of the lookout, Viina sat back on her haunches and began to unzip her harness. Her paws trembled with exhaustion as she fumbled with the zipper, but she eventually pulled it down to the middle of her chest and reached into the inner breast pocket. She felt the familiar firmness of the laminated picture and extracted it with care. It was warm and slightly curved from being pressed tightly against her heaving chest, but Viina straightened it with her paw before looking down at the picture. She had taken it a few days after their combined training exercise, the very one in which he had finally confessed his feelings towards her. He still looked slightly stunned and out of his element but wore a genuinely happy smile on his snout as he looked at the camera. Viina had needed to balance her phone on a pallet of training ordinance to capture the shot, but she had managed to capture them both perfectly. He looked so handsome, and he had been so happy as she buried her snout under his jaw. The moment had been captured forever. She liked this picture the most, and she could almost still feel the warmth of his scales against hers and remembered how his breathing had hitched when she had first nuzzled him.

Blinking to try and focus her eyes and cherish the picture, Viina swayed from side to side and quickly rose to all fours again. Wedging the bottom of the photo between the thick slats of the timber bench, she faced Riimack towards the east and began pacing once more while panting hard. She unzipped her harness further until the two halves parted, letting them dangle limply by her sides as she circled around herself. Her head burned as if someone had driven a hot poker through her skull, but she pushed through the pain and glanced towards the orange glow on the horizon. “I promised you–" she wheezed and coughed to clear her lungs. Stretching her wings out as far as she could, she felt the harness becoming tight and constricting around her shoulders. Pausing briefly, she untangled herself from the garment and let it to the ground with a soft thud. The only soul in sight was the singular black dragon huddled on the far side of the lookout, and given the noise she had made so far she was surprised that he was still asleep. Grateful for the fact that he was dead to the world and not looking at her ruined wings, Viina paced in wider circles and continued to try and cool herself.

Forcing deep breaths, she grimaced while pacing in wide circles as her body continued to burn like she had a fever. She had overdone it, she knew it, but she had made a promise—one that she wouldn't live with herself if she broke. Walking to her discarded harness, she flipped it over and wobbled on three legs as a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over her. Scrunching her eyes closed, she forced herself to deeply swallow and rummaged around blindly with one paw to find the long mouthpiece that led to the water bladder within her harness. Shuddering as she almost vomited, Viina opened one eye and focused on the harness. Finding the mouthpiece, she dipped her head down and latched onto it with her mouth. Sucking deeply, the first few drags brought nothing but air, and then, finally, she found the sweet relief of cool water. It tasted rubbery from being stored in the thin bladder since yesterday, but she didn't care and took two deep draughts of the liquid until her heart sank as it gurgled empty. She should have refilled it.

Snatching up the harness with a paw, she gripped the bladder section tightly and pressed it against her chest, trying to squeeze the last few drops out of it. When only a pathetic dribble came, she snarled in frustration and cast the whole harness aside, letting it scatter across the gravel. The little water she had managed to extract didn't settle well in her stomach. The sudden cool liquid, mixing with her overheated body, made her stomach roll and clench in protest. Shudders wracked her body as she resumed pacing in a jagged circle. She wanted to stop. She wanted to sit beside the memory of her mate and watch the sunrise, but the heat and her racing heart compelled her to keep moving. If she had her wings, she would beat them repeatedly to cool off or even just keep them outstretched to let the morning air cool her thin membranes. Instead, she kept her wing nubs out in a poor imitation of the pose and resorted to panting while walking, hoping to entice the faintest breeze to cool her scales.

Circling around, she paused, her broken wings catching the first light of dawn as she turned toward the horizon. The sun was just beginning to breach the sky, spilling a warm amber glow across the land. The light spread outward, awakening the world in its embrace. Above, the clouds—thousands of feet high—caught the sun's rays, igniting into a fiery radiance of orange and gold. They shimmered and swirled as if alive, each one an ever-changing masterpiece, a perfect reflection of the moment. With shaking paws, Viina half walked and half stumbled over towards the bench and tried to calm herself to appreciate the view with her mate beside her.

The sky itself was a canvas, its hues gradually shifting in a breathtaking gradient. Brilliant yellow painted the eastern horizon, giving way to a soft, cool gray-blue above her, and deepening to a rich, almost indigo blue in the west, a shade reminiscent of Riimack's wings at dusk. It was as if the heavens themselves were breathing, slowly awakening to the promise of a new day.

Viina's breath caught in her chest as the sun's rays kissed the rolling hills. They stretched before her, each hill a soft curve, bathed in a warm, golden light. It was as though each one had been crafted by the finest artisan, its contours smoothed and shaped with deliberate care, every fold of the landscape a masterpiece in itself. The long grass and tall plants, which had seemed dull in the pre-dawn light, now shimmered in the sun's embrace, their blades coated in dew that sparkled like tiny diamonds. They fluttered and swayed, as if the earth itself was waking up and greeting the sun with her.

The scent of earth and wildflowers hung in the air, fresh and intoxicating, carrying a soft sweetness that mixed with the coolness of the morning breeze. The wind whispered through the fields, a soft murmur that brushed against her scales, reminding her of the quiet strength of the world around her.

Toward the east lay the small Tuscan town where she had spent the night, nestled against the base of the hills. Its sandstone buildings, each aged and weathered by time, stood close together like old friends, their terracotta shingles catching the first touch of sunlight. The town's simplicity didn't jar with the splendor of the surrounding landscape; instead, it seemed to belong to the land, an integral part of the timelessness of the view. The warm hues of the buildings blended seamlessly with the earth, adding depth and life to the already breathtaking scene.

The landscape stretched out in gentle swells, bordered by long rows of pencil conifers. These dark, slender trees lined the edges of each field, their sharp outlines cutting through the soft morning light. They wound and wove across the hillside like the threads of a tapestry, the very seams of the land itself, holding everything in place. Each tree stood tall and proud, an evergreen sentinel, casting long shadows that seemed to embrace the daybreak with reverence.

Viina paused beside the wooden bench where she had placed the photo, her wings rustling softly in the morning air. For a long moment, she stopped moving entirely, her gaze fixed on the photograph. The scene before her—this vast, beautiful landscape—seemed to blur at the edges as a wave of emotion rose in her chest, pressing against her ribs like a dam ready to burst. She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself, but the effort felt useless. Her breath grew shallow and tight, and a tremor ran through her, almost as if the earth itself were shaking beneath her talons.

Tears began to well in her eyes, trailing down the sides of her snout, but she couldn't look away. Her lips trembled as she fought to hold back the sobs, and her nostrils flared as she tried to take in the serenity of the scene, though it only felt like a cruel contrast to the storm inside her. The sun, the hills, the trees—they were beautiful, but they seemed so far removed from the darkness that clung to her heart. She could almost feel Riimack's presence, as though he were here beside her, his steady gaze on her as he would have once done.

Her heart twisted at the thought, and she tore her gaze away from the vast landscape to focus on the photograph. It was the only thing of him she had left, and it felt like the only thing anchoring her to the memory of him. Her paw, trembling with the weight of guilt, hovered just above the photo, as if afraid to touch it, afraid of the connection it still held. She wished with every fibre of her being that he were here—somehow, anywhere, just to share this moment with her.

Viina's breathing became ragged, and she tried desperately to steady herself, but each inhale only seemed to bring more pressure, more weight to the grief pressing down on her chest. Her body trembled like it was made of stone, cold and heavy, her legs unsteady beneath her. The world around her seemed to spin, the beauty of it all a sharp contrast to the war inside her mind. She tried to blink the tears away, but they blurred her vision, and the edges of her sight began to darken, as if she were slipping away from everything, caught between the past and present.

She felt a sharp pang in her chest, the guilt, the self-blame, all flooding back. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to push the dark thoughts away, but they clung to her, coiling around her heart like chains.

With a weak snarl, she resumed pacing while her wing nubs fluttered. The small appendages instinctively tried to beat the wings she no longer had to cool her overheated body. She couldn't get cool, and as much as she wanted to enjoy the moment with her mate, a wave of sickness built inside her, threatening to overwhelm her. The muscles in her lower abdomen spasmed, threatening to make her vomit, but she forced a deep swallow and shook her head. Coughing a wet, hack-like cough, she spat another glob of honey-like mucus before concentrating on placing one paw ahead of the other. Focused on the ground ahead of her instead of the incredible sunrise, she felt her movements become even more sluggish. Each step felt as though she were wading through water, and she stumbled, placing a paw down knuckle-first. A voice from across the park called out to her, its words oddly disjointed and almost sing-song like, despite being deeply masculine. She couldn't make out what they were asking of her, only that the drake was either confused or concerned. Each step felt like she was walking through molasses and her tail sluggishly swept to one side to try and balance her. The whole world began to sway from one side to the other as if she was a small boat lost at sea, while her vision became even blurrier and darker.

Turning her head to look in the direction of the voice, she caught a glimpse of a pair of amber eyes staring at her from the blurry black mass. The homeless dragon, who had been asleep on the furthest bench, was now awake and watching her. No doubt, he had noticed her crippled body, which she knew was shutting down in an attempt to protect her from the pain and heat it could no longer control. Her right hind leg gave out first, pitching her body to one side. As her tail tried to counterbalance her, she knew it was too little, too late. Her vision darkened as she fell, and she lost consciousness before crashing to the ground in a tangle of paws.

---

“So, that settles it…" Riimack's deep voice said softly. The tone and warmth in his voice brought a sleepy smile to Viina's lips as she pressed the bridge of her snout against the soft underside of his neck. His forepaws were wrapped lovingly around her shoulders, his head tilted down to rest his snout between her horns. When she didn't move or respond, the large drake took her sail-like frill into his maw and gave it a playful nibble. The sensation of his teeth gently toying with the delicate membrane made her giggle, and the crimson frill flicked out. He was so incredibly gentle, despite the power in his large, muscular body.

“Settles what?" Viina asked softly, her voice tinged with curiosity, as she inhaled slowly, savoring the mixture of scents that filled their tent. The air was thick with the faint smell of engine oil and metal, mingling with the earthy aroma of the dry grass that grew sporadically outside the tent's flaps. The distant hum of engines and the occasional clatter of boots on gravel echoed from the bustling airfield, a reminder of the military base's unyielding presence. But within the confines of their small space, there was an odd stillness, a fragile bubble of quiet in the midst of chaos.

Tucked away in the far corner of the airfield, which was being used as a staging area for their deployment, they had managed to find a brief moment of solace. The canvas walls of the tent rustled slightly in the breeze, the opening that he had tied closed at her request threatened to open as the wind carried with it the crisp, metallic scent of jet fuel from the nearby runways. Beyond the makeshift barricades and the row of transport aircraft lined up on the tarmac, the sky was a muted blue, the low afternoon sun casting long, harsh shadows across the dusty earth. The airfield stretched out in every direction, a patchwork of gravel, dirt, and short grass, with the occasional utility vehicle or military personnel passing by in the distance, oblivious to the private moment unfolding inside the tent.

Viina's gaze lingered on Riimack as she took in the quiet intimacy of their shared space. They lay on their sides, the warm, musty fabric of the tent against their sides, and their hips locked together with him tied inside her. The slight vibration of the ground beneath them, caused by the constant activity outside, was a subtle reminder of the tension beyond their little world. However, here, in the quiet corner of the airfield, the outside world seemed distant, muted by the thick canvas walls that surrounded them.

She smiled, her frill flicking out of his teasing maw as she pulled her head back just enough to look him in the eyes. The warmth of his gaze sent a shiver through her, a stark contrast to the coolness of the air seeping through the tent's seams. For just a moment, the weight of the world outside—the looming deployment, the uncertainty of what lay ahead—faded away.

The sounds of the airfield felt muffled here, as if the canvas walls of the tent were a shield that protected them from the noise, the hurry, and the chaos of their military lives. The only sounds inside the tent were their breathing and the soft rustling of their movements, the occasional sigh or quiet chuckle breaking the silence between them. It was a small, stolen moment, a brief respite from the duty and the looming tension, and Viina found herself savoring it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

“Europe," Riimack announced softly as he gazed into her soul with his beautifully innocent blue eyes. “Once I've done my time, we quit together. We go and explore Europe," he explained while tracing a forepaw down her shoulder. Belly to belly, her wing was tucked under his, which he had extended to shelter her in a cocoon of warmth and love.

Viina pretended to think for a moment before nodding. The idea of the unknown excited her, and she began to think of all the places she would go with her mate. “That sounds nice, very nice," she said as she rocked her hips against his, smirking as the drake snapped his eyes closed, groaned in the back of his throat, and held her tighter. He was still locked deep inside her, and the sensation of his swollen knot holding her from the inside, while his tail and legs coiled around hers made her feel so incredibly secure and loved. With a soft chuckle at his reaction, Viina stroked her tongue up the underside of his jaw before resting her head so that the tip of her snout touched his. She could feel his breathing—slow, deep, and content—and she looked lovingly at him when he opened his eyes again.

“Where do you want to go first?" Viina asked, noticing a hint of confusion in his eyes. “Europe isn't a country, you know that, right?" she added, giggling as he gave her an overly quizzical expression.

“Wait, it isn't?" Riimack asked with a knowing grin before leaning closer and giving her a loving lick between her eyes. She crooned at the gesture until he traced his tongue up and playfully nibbled the leading edge of her neck frill.

“Hey!" Viina snapped, swatting a paw against his chest as he chuckled with a rich, deep laugh. “If you keep playing with it, it'll fall off," she warned, pulling her head back against the thin pillows they had assembled to keep her frill out of reach.

“But it's so pretty!" Riimack whined with an infectious smile. “You're so pretty," he added softly, nuzzling his snout against hers. His words, combined with his affectionate nuzzle and the securing warmth of his body wrapped around hers, made her heart flutter and a soft croon escape her lips. “My mate is the best mate ever," he added before pulling his head back an inch and booping his snout against hers.

Shifting a forepaw between them, Viina tenderly stroked the drake's powerful chest muscles as she tilted her head to one side and leaned in to press her lips against his. Riimack mirrored her movements as she ran her tongue along his and deepened their kiss. His movements were delightfully inexperienced, and the fact that he let her take the lead made her heart swell. She thought it strange that the drake wasn't well-practiced at kissing a dragoness, especially given his muscular physique, brilliant smile, and sense of humor. When she first met him, she initially thought that he was out of her league, taken, or would have simply used her for a bit of fun before moving on to a prettier 'ness. Instead, he was as infatuated with her as she was with him.

Breaking their soft and slow kiss, Viina opened her eyes and looked at him with a coy smile. “I'm not the best mate," she mused softly, giving him a gentle lick between his nostrils as his eye ridges narrowed in confusion. “'Cause that title goes to you," she added, feeling a wave of self-consciousness wash over her at the horribly corny line. To her relief, the drake didn't tease her for it and instead tilted his head from one side to the other.

“Nah, you're the best. You have a tasty frill!" he replied with a broad, toothy smile. His grin was brief before turning into a low groan of bliss as Viina giggled, her body quivering around him. The shuddering made her passage clench around his spent but still very sensitive member. “Nnnghods!" he gasped, gripping her tighter with his forepaws and tail.

“My frill isn't for eating!" Viina exclaimed with a chuckle, rocking her hips against his to reward him for holding her close. She could feel him deep inside her, how her walls stretched tight around the thick lobes of his knot. He was a good size—bigger than any drake she'd had—but not enough to hurt. While her previous lovers had often wanted to rut her hard and fast, Riimack had taken her tenderly for their first time.

“Then why does it taste so good–" Riimack's voice became a tense groan as she giggled again and subjected him to another tight clenching fit. “Okay, can we change the subject? That's too much," he asked, his deep voice wavering and his eyes scrunching closed. “Please?"

Viina had to stifle a giggle by pressing her lips to his and giving him a tender nuzzle. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she was tempted to giggle and tease him further but refrained as his eyes opened to look at her with a mixed expression of pleasure and pain. “Okay, fine. But you do make the best faces," she said with a growing smirk. He exhaled sharply in a silent laugh before softening his expression and nuzzling her back in return. “So, Europe?" Viina asked, shifting the subject to something that wouldn't make her giggle and spare him further clenches. “Where abouts in Europe were you thinking?" she asked, pulling her head back so she could focus on him. Seeing a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes as he looked away, she leaned in and nuzzled under his chin. She had a vague idea that his education had been lacking and guessed he might not really know what she was asking. “What about Italy? Greece? France, maybe?"

She felt his paws stroke down her back as he hummed in thought, then finally answered. “Let's do them all," he said quietly with warm sincerity. “Every country. Even the boring ones," he added while kneading his digits against her back.

Stifling a snort of amusement, Viina shook her head softly, keeping it tucked under his chin. She knew what he meant, but found his delivery adorable. “Riimy, you can't call a country boring," she countered, slowly extracting her head from under his so she could talk more freely. “I'm sure all countries have something exciting to offer."

“Well… we can find out," Riimack said softly, but the inflection in his voice gave her the impression he was asking for her opinion. The idea of traveling the world did appeal to the dragoness, and she couldn't think of a better way to explore than with her mate beside her.

A small niggle of doubt crept into her mind, dragging her back to reality and causing her smile to waver. “That does sound nice, Riimack…" she started, stroking her forepaw between them and across the broad scales that ran down his chest. “I want to, but that kind of sounds expensive. I've got some savings, but–"

“How much would it cost? We could fly where we wanted, maybe even roost in the wilderness to save money," Riimack explained, his excitement bringing a smile to her snout. He had a playfulness that cut through her self-doubt and concerns like a knife, and she began to wonder what it might be like as he continued. “And if we can't, we could find a nice place and work for a while until we have enough money to keep going. Just you and me, we could take our time, explore everything, see everywhere," he added with growing enthusiasm.

Smiling warmly at him, Viina was entranced by his joy-filled eyes and then pressed her snout under his chin again. “You really want to go to all of them, huh?" she asked, feeling him nod against her.

“Every single one!" he replied while coiling his tail tighter and stroking her back more attentively. “We could do them in order—start with Australia, then Belgium, spend some time in… what's one that starts with C?" he asked as Viina brought her forepaws around his sides and tried to refrain from laughing. “Is there a C one? Eh, then… Denmark! E… E… okay, maybe I need a map–"

“That might be a good idea," Viina chuckled and pressed her forehead along his jawline. “Maybe let me book the flights, though. If we start in Australia, we will never get to Europe," she added and placed a soft kiss on the underside of his throat as he hummed in confusion. “You are thinking of Austria. That's the one in Europe."

“Oh…" Riimack said self-consciously, but Viina rocked her hips against his to make his breath hitch and silently tell him that she loved him. “Well, we could do that one too. Australia, I mean, we could go there too. Once we have gone everywhere in Europe."

Viina inhaled deeply and slowly rubbed her snout against his neck affectionately. “I'm keen, but we better start saving. I'm not against working my way through Europe, but I want to enjoy it."

“Don't worry about the money, I'll handle that," he said confidently, although both he and Viina knew that he wasn't rolling in cash, but she let herself indulge in the fantasy. “Besides, money is meant to be spent. It's like its whole purpose!"

Viina snickered in amusement and nodded against his neck. “What about your sister, or your brother? We might be gone for a while," Viina asked. She wasn't against the idea, but would hate to feel as if she were taking the drake away from his loved ones.

“Mmm, they would probably understand…" he said, but didn't sound convincing. “Maaaybe we would go home to say hi every so often. But we wouldn't linger, just a pit stop before going out on our next adventure!" Riimack added playfully before curling his neck back so he could bring the tip of his snout to hers. “We will go everywhere the wind goes, see the whole world, and do it all… together."

“The whole world? I thought you just wanted to go to Europe!?" Viina exclaimed, but she felt giddy as she saw the excitement in the drake's eyes. She didn't blame him—how could she? He had spent much of his life behind bars and was clearly eager to make up for missed experiences.

“We can start in Europe, then Australia, then… the rest!" he said and gave her a loving lick on the bridge of her snout. Lowering his voice, he spoke softly with a warmth that made her heart melt and doubts wash away from her mind. “We do it all, then finish back home. It might not be until we are old and our scales don't shine, but it will be worth it… there won't be an inch of the globe we haven't been," he said with a loving conviction that took root deep in Viina's soul. “That way…" he started before placing a kiss between her eyes and pulling back with a playfulness that made her focus. “That way, I can say I gave you the world!" he added with a chuckle. “The whole world, for my mate, Viina!"

He looked at her with a broad smile that she couldn't help but mirror, his eyes full of joyful innocence that made her love the drake more than she ever had before. Angling her head to one side, she pressed into him for another kiss, drawing her hips back before rolling them against his. The deep groan of bliss he made into their kiss caused her to deepen it, pressing her tongue into his maw. Their kiss wasn't rushed, and she took her time exploring his mouth, encouraging him to do the same. All the while, his large and powerful paws roamed her back, and her smaller, more delicate ones traced the scales of his chest.

Finally parting, panting softly for breath, Viina angled her neck so that she pressed the bridge of her snout against his, keeping their noses touching. “You can't give me the world…" she said softly, feeling his paws stop their movements between her wing shoulders. “Because if you do that, what am I meant to give you?" she added playfully.

The drake paused before drawing his head up and placing a tender kiss on her nose, then on her snout, and finally between her eyes. “I know–" he said before Viina pulled her head back to look at him with a mock stern expression.

“You're not having my frill!" she exclaimed, though he pouted. He couldn't hold the look, however, as a grin tore across his snout, and he began to chuckle a rich, warm laugh. “It's mine! And it's not tasty!" she added before he could interject, her voice completely void of anger.

“It is!" he retorted with a smile, then shrugged his wings around her. “It tastes like Viina, and I love my Viina!" he explained with a throaty chuckle, resuming his stroking of her back. She went to reward him with a nuzzle into his neck. However, as she tried, the drake pulled his head back and dipped his nose under her chin, guiding her to keep looking at him.

“I love everything about my Viina," he added with more sincerity, his deep blue eyes fixed on hers. “Her pretty smile, her beautiful eyes, her white scales…" his words drifted off as he held her gaze. Unlike the drakes who wooed her with honeyed words to get under her tail, whose eyes darted away from hers with insincerity, Riimack meant what he said. The genuine reverence in his voice and eyes made her heart flutter, and her crimson frill began to slowly lift to full height. The motion made the drake's smile broaden, and eventually, his eyes darted briefly toward it before he chuckled. “And that frill is awesome!"

“Maybe it's pretty cool," Viina said with a hint of cockiness in her voice. Growing up, she had a love-hate relationship with her neck frill; it was as much a part of her as her wings were. However, it hadn't been until she was out of school that she had been able to consciously control it and stop it from betraying her emotions. “But I'll have to get you something else. If you're giving me the whole world, my frill is a bit of a poor trade." she added, pressing her snout under his chin again and rubbing the folding membrane across his scales.

To her surprise, the drake didn't make a move at the frill. Instead, he gently brought his head around to press on the back of her neck. “I don't think so. I think it's a fair trade," he mused as he held her close against him. In the distance, the sounds of turbo fans spooling up reminded them that soon they would need to stow their tent and board for deployment. Neither was sure of the time, but they took the moment for themselves in each other's embrace.

“I'll think of something," murmured Viina as she closed her eyes and enjoyed his warmth. “You can't give me the world and then not expect something in return. That's not fair," she added softly, listening to his deep breathing.

“You don't have to give me anything," Riimack replied, stroking her back to emphasize his point. He could feel his knot start to ease and knew that he would eventually slip out of her. He already had a clean cloth soaking in a bowl of water to tend to her once it happened—a small detail that made the dragoness smile at his thoughtfulness. “I'll give you the world; you just be you."

Viina's lips twitched into a small smirk as she realized how she could one-up the drake. “I'll give you the sun, then," she mused, feeling his paw pause in its gentle caress between her wings. “That's what I'll do," she added, tilting her head to place a kiss on the underside of his throat.

“The sun, eh?" Riimack asked before taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling with a happy hum. “I'd like that… the sun is warm…" he added softly before resuming his gentle tracking of her back with his forepaws. His touch was slow and tender, following the contours of her muscles and spine as he hummed a gentle melody. The song wasn't one she knew, but something he made up as he went along. He continued for a few moments before pausing, circling his talon around a singular scale where her frill met her back. “How–?"

“I'll find a way," Viina chuckled, her eyes gently closed and her snout buried against his neck. She didn't know how she would pull it off; it was meant to be only a silly jest, a sweet nothing between lovers. Little did she know that her next words would one day come to haunt her and bend her future down a path neither of them could have guessed.

“I'll give you the sun, I promise. You just watch me."