Firedrake x Sini
Part III

 blazing_maniac

 xsini



This is the third day I’ve known Firedrake for, Sini thought.

That was the first thing that came to mind when he opened his eyes and the sun flooded into them and he squinted over at his friend sleeping well with an enormous gut from all yesterday’s meals. He glanced at his own which was nearly as big, but one dragon short. Stretching himself out across the grass clearing, he yawned, well-rested, opening and closing his mouth over and over until he flung onto his belly-side and, wobbly, stood himself up. The weight of the prey inside him.

“Ungh… I think I’ll lay back down,” he said with a chuckle.

He made a loud thud landing on the ground.

Firedrake stirred at the loud noise coming from beside him and noticed Sini was awake but falling back asleep.

“You ok there Sini?” Firedrake chuckled slightly and tried to roll over but his girth made it harder than usual. His hind legs not even touching the ground beneath him.

“Oh… yeah. I’m just experiencing the after-effects of the biggest meal I’ve ever had. It’s like being hung-over except the predatorial equivalent…” he forced himself to stand up again, as much of a work-out as it was.

Walking behind a row of bushes, he said: “Hold on. You might not want to see this.”

The greenery shielded him in the process of puking up all of the eighteen tigers he’d eaten the night before but didn’t mute the grotesque vomiting sound.

“Want me to help you with that?” Firedrake asked, getting up on his feet while absorbing Zeraph and his eighteen tigers and walked over to Sini behind the the brush.

“U-uh, yes please.”

“Here we go, just relax for me please. Also Sini, you don’t have to hide behind something for me. I’m just more concerned about you in the end.” Firedrake reached up with a paw and gently pressed it against the bulge forming in his friend’s throat. After a moment the bulge was gone and Firedrake reached further down and rubbed Sini’s still large belly. Firedrake rubbed deep into the belly and nuzzled it with his nose. A few moments later, Sini’s belly was back to it’s normal size.

“Better?” Firedrake asked and nuzzled his nose into Sini’s chest.

Sini sighed, relieved. “Yeah. That was a lot easier than regurgitating everyone. Thanks.” Sini grinned. “Guess what time it is?” he asked Firedrake.

“Judging from that look you’re giving me. It could either be good or bad…” Firedrake sat and gave Sini a curious but slightly concerned look.

“It’s time for me to give you the morning noms!” he exclaimed cheerily. He grabbed a hold of Firedrake’s head and suddenly shoved it into his drooling mouth as he grinned. Firedrake jumped in surprise but it was too late to react, his head now being covered in saliva and the light was quickly dimming.

“Sheesh Sini, give a guy a little more warning next time.” Firedrake joked “But no funny business… I trust you so please don’t pull anything.” Firedrake held himself in place but didn’t pull free. He truly did trust Sini but part of him was hesitant. Hoping he wouldn’t betray him after all they’ve been through these last three days.

“Okay, sorry,” said Sini, already with his mouth full swallowing the blue dragon. “Next time I’ll give you a better warning.”

“To be blunt just don’t kill me-- All I ask.” Firedrake glanced off into space. Hopefully it won’t come to that further down the road.

“You can trust me, Firedrake. I won’t hurt you. Promise.”

And with that, Sini took hard gulps, gently pulling Firedrake into his bulging esophagus. It seemed impossible to down a dragon larger than him at first, but somehow he managed to swallow more, filling his esophagus with an abnormally huge bulge as he flopped onto the ground, focused intensely on each gulp. The bulge in his belly was beginning to form when Firedrake’s wings, back-legs and tail were vanishing from the outside of his mouth. Then, with a few more powerful gulps, he swallowed Firedrake completely, his stomach expanding and growing larger than himself.

“Ah,” Sini sighed out.

Firedrake slipped into Sini’s stomach with a wet plop and curled around himself in Sini’s confines. It felt warm and somewhat safe to him as through the darkness Sini’s heartbeat and breathing filled his ears. He rubbed Sini’s belly from the inside when he remembered something.

“Uhh Sini? My tail blades out there right? I swear I didn’t put it back on last night…”

“There it is.” Sini spotted it on the ground back in the clearing, coming to it to pick it up in his paws. “It’s really sharp-looking. Do you want it now?” he asked, worried.

“Let me get it for you.” Firedrake gently nuzzled his nose back up Sini’s throat, careful not to distress Sini until his head was back in Sini’s mouth. Firedrake concentrated on it and in an instant it was gone.

“There we go. Thank you buddy.” Firedrake then retreated back into Sini’s stomach, visibly happier with that close call out of the way.

Sini smiled. “No problem, Firedrake.”

Sini rubbed his enormous dragon-filled stomach. It was so warm inside and it felt better than having all the tigers inside of him yesterday. To his belly’s pleased gurgling, he let out a long, low-toned belch.

“Uuuuuuuuuorp…” Sini blushed. “I never planned on having you for breakfast, but it’s nice. You’re so much more snugly than the tigers were.”

“Well I’m glad I was better meal for you and surprisingly enough. I’m enjoying it in here! Never thought those words would escape my mouth...” Firedrake laughed and squirmed around as much as he could for his friend.

Sini giggled and felt around Firedrake’s bulge with his paws, hugging it tightly. “I can control the temperature in there. If you want to be warmer or want me to turn the heat down, just let me know.”

“Nice and I’m good for right now. How about you though? How you holding up?” Firedrake continued squirming and splashed slightly in the stomach acids.

“I’m doing good. Hey Firedrake, has anyone ever told you that you taste magical?” Sini asked curiously, wagging his tail.

“Well considering this is the first time I’ve been eaten. No. And I wish I could tell you what you taste like but… It may be a little weird coming from down here.” Firedrake nuzzled as far as he could in Sini’s stomach, making a funny looking bulge from the outside.

Chuckling, Sini rubbed the bulge of the dragon’s head poking out of his belly considerably. “It’s okay. Maybe you’ll get a proper taste of me later.”

“You bet I will seeing how you ate me just now.” Firedrake giggled and squirmed a little more.

“So umm. Quick question for ya. When do you want to go get an actual meal? I feel that with me in here I’m only going to slow you down.”

“Right.” Sini was reminded that he was still hungry and he couldn’t keep Firedrake in him all day. “Just a while longer…”

Firedrake chuckled and squirmed a little more. It was like taking a bath but in a very stretchy bowl... and the fact you weren’t actually getting anywhere one the cleanliness part.

For about ten minutes more Sini kept Firedrake inside of his belly, patting it lazily until finally, he summoned the energy to stand up on his four feet and regurgitate Firedrake. The dragon landed in a wet bundle of stomach acids and salivation on the ground. Then Sini helped Firedrake get up and dried Firedrake off with his tail and his muzzle, licking him clean of all the gastric-y fluid.

“There!”

“Thanks for that Sini.” Firedrake said hugging the dark dragon tightly and smiling. “So what prey do you have in mind? I wanna try something out, if it’s ok with you.” Firedrake licked at Sini’s nose and sat close to his side. “It has to be ok with you in order to work properly.”

“I woke up early this morning before I fell back asleep and saw a lion pride headed east. Maybe we could follow them for breakfast,” Sini suggested. “I’m open to trying new things. What was it you had in mind?” he asked.

“Alright then. Allow me help you out with your hunt…” Firedrake murred and bit gently down on Sini’s nose in a quick movement. Firedrake flashed blue and became a dusty mist that settled into Sini’s scales.

“There. Now that I’m a part of you, you now have access to my abilities. Those lions won’t know what hit them.” Firedrake said in the back of Sini’s mind. “I’ll also try to bend the light around you so you can get close… Why didn’t I think about that ages ago? Would have made things a lot easier…” Firedrake trailed off. “Oh well not as fun otherwise I ‘spose. But if you have any questions feel free to ask.”

Sini looked around, surprised, as Firedrake suddenly vanished and was speaking to him telepathically. “Y-you’re… apart of me?” he asked. “Cool! I guess two is better than one,” Sini said.

From the combination of Firedrake and Sini a dark-blue dragon of a purple underbelly, ears, claws, and wings arose. He stood at thirteen-feet at Sini’s height and he retained most of Sini’s physical features (most notably, the two inverted fangs), but at the end of his tail there was a tail-blade, like Firedrake’s. With both the poisonous abilities of Sini and the plasma and healing abilities of Firedrake, the result was a dragon who was pretty damned immaculate.

He sniffed the air and stared off into the jungle vines and trees which were off the clearing’s side. That was the direction of east. So he stretched out his wings wide and took off, following the faint trail that the pride had left overnight-- er-- over-morning. It was a little less than a half hour when he found the pride which had stopped in another clearing of the jungle near a lakeside. There were two mature lions and lioness and a couple of cubs that came with them. The dragon stood over on a cliff about thirty meters away from the open site.

“There they are,” Sini said to Firedrake, smiling. “We’ll have breakfast together this time.” Firedrake hummed in agreement. This’ll be interesting to say the very least.

“Alright I’ll let you do your thing but I’ll be keeping things in check back here. You’d be surprised at how much is going on with our two minds trying to occupy the same space.” Firedrake said and looked through the dragon’s eyes. It was kind of odd being a part of another creature, being able to see and hear what they were doing, feel what they were feeling and yet be able to control it along with his partner.

“Hey Sini wanna try something out?” Firedrake asked and located the dragon’s shoulder in the vast mind he was residing in.

“I like to try new things,” said Sini.

Firedrake laughed a little. “I think you’re gonna like this.” Firedrake focused on the dragon’s crook of it’s neck and slowly made a second head connecting and the first ones base. With it, it somewhat split their control but Firedrake allowed Sini most of it and turned to the other head. The first head returned to Sini’s shape and the newly made second was Firedrake’s, however they still retained the color of them fused together.

“So what do you think?” Firedrake giggled and licked the first head.

“Y-you’re…” Sini stammered, staring at the new head. “Firedrake-- I see you!” he smiled and licked Firedrake’s head back, wagging the tail.

“In the flesh! Well sort of anyways. We’re more like conjoined twins now.” Firedrake laughed and nuzzled up against Sini’s head. “Two heads for twice the nomming power!”

Sini took control and the dragon flew into the clearing where the lions were. The lions noticed the blue-and-purple dragon, not sure what it wanted. But seeing its two drooling mouths and its growling stomach, it didn’t take them too long to figure what that was. The lion stood in front of the lioness in the cubs, tall, as if it’d make any difference. Sini smirked.

“Aw. How cute,” he said.

He came closer as the lion backed up, trying to escape when Sini scooped the lion up in his mouth and tilted his head back, letting the back-legs of his prey flail in every direction.

Firedrake craned his neck and swooped down on one of the other lions. Using his tongue he wrapped the lion and dangled it over his maw where he released his grip and let it fall into his throat. The lion tried to struggle but only slipped deeper still and it’s claws could find nothing but air. Firedrake hungrily gulped it down, it’s bulge meeting the other lion Sini just swallowed, and looked for another close by seeing as how Sini was in control of their fused body.

Sini continued to gulp at the tiger in his maw, bringing it a bulge into his esophagus, slurping it up and watching it fall into the fused dragon’s filling gut. It added to Firedrake’s recent prey. The lioness and one of the other cubs remained and tried to escape but, after licking his lips, Sini noticed the attempt and leapt in front of their path, towering over them menacingly with his intimidating shadow. Before the lioness could step back, she was curled up in the dragon’s tail and brought to Sini’s open maw, taunting her with licks across the furs and face as she whined before bringing her in and salivating everywhere, carelessly, coating her thick. The tongue washed over the lioness and the maw closed around her. As sudden as she was brought in, she was gulped down with a powerful swallow and sent to the central stomach, which gurgled happily. Sini purred. There was a warm sensation in his belly.

As Sini was playing with his meal, Firedrake scooped up the cubs the lioness had attempted to flee. Just a mere two but it was just another course for the others to follow in time. They easily fit in his maw and he licked them all over and gently toyed with them as they cried out helplessly. He gulped them down slowly and let them stick slightly in his throat so as to allow the bulge they made together persist for a few moments longer. They eventually joined the others in the central belly and Firedrake shivered slightly from the enjoyment of the hunt and trying to satisfy the dragon’s hunger.

The dragon fell back onto his belly and Sini wagged the tail, sighing in enjoyment. He rubbed the central belly and listened carefully to the squirming of the active prey inside. To think what some considered to be the ‘kings of the jungle’ were so helpless and easy to devour for a dragon. Sini wanted to lay there and rest, but, absorbing some of the energy from the prey, he was in fact, energized. It was a good feeling.

“So Sini, what do you think? Have fun with the new, well everything? It’s a lot different than I had thought but I’m glad I got to test it with you.” Firedrake nuzzled Sini’s head and took over one arm and rubbed the dragon’s belly.

“I like it, Firedrake. I always thought we had good chemistry but I never thought of it quite like this.”

“A little chemistry, a little magic, for lack of a better term, and the stars are the limit for us.”

Firedrake let out a large belch and with it a blue orb flew out onto the dirt. “Zeraph! No one said you could come out just yet.” The dragon stood up and went to pick up the orb, but it started to glow. “Umm… Get ready for anything Sini. I’ve haven’t seen this happen before.”

Sini nodded, but before he could react, the glowing orb grew and morphed into the dark form of the dragon, Zeraph. There Zeraph stood again, re-materialized, gazing down on the fused dragon with an expression of vendetta.

“Where’s the amulet?” Zeraph roared.

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” Sini lied.

Zeraph shook the head of Sini maddenly, his eyes flickering left and right for the amulet to reappear suddenly. “I know you have it! It’s not around my neck anymore…”

“Umm I’m here too you know… And besides what’s it to you?” Firedrake snipped and bit down on the black dragon’s neck. Zeraph roared and let Sini’s head go and started swiping at Firedrake’s head now firmly latched onto his neck. Firedrake took control of the tail and wrapped in around Zeraph’s head and mouth and forced it down into his own chest attempting to subdue him. Firedrake released his mouth off Zeraph’s neck and after struggling to get his hands and feet together and with some crystal, tied the black dragon’s limbs together.

“Let’s see you get out of that. And what is this amulet anyways? Why do you want it so badly?” Firedrake asked with a swift kick to the tied dragon.

“Oomph!” Zeraph groaned. “It’s none of your business! The amulet is mine and that’s all you need to know. Weren’t you taught to keep your hands off the property of others?”

Firedrake grabbed at his throat. “So taking the lives of others doesn’t seem to count!? You really ought to think before you open your mouth!”

“You have no room to talk about taking lives...” Zeraph retorted. Earning him a hard punch from Firedrake.

“Shut up! You weren’t there! And stay the hell out of my head!”

“The amulet,” Sini murmured. “I have it in my satchel still. But you’re not gonna get it back!” he stuck his tongue out at Zeraph.

Zeraph was covering his throbbing forehead from the pain of the punch. He growled at the dragon heads. “Why, you…”

Firedrake slammed the tail blade hard into the ground just an inch away from Zeraph’s head. “‘Why you’ what? Come on I wanna hear it!” Firedrake practically roared. His anger was getting the better of him. Calm down Firedrake… Not in front of Sini… Not ever for that matter.

Sini took the amulet out of the satchel strapped to his shoulder and dangled it in front of the taunted Zeraph.

“Is this what you want? You want your shiny amulet back, don’tcha?”

And at that second Zeraph’s eyes lit up like the flame of all hell and he lunged at the amulet when Sini quickly jerked back and Zeraph, caught off balance, fell on his face.

“Too slow!” said Sini. “Oh hey, Firedrake. There’s something on the back of the gem in this amulet I didn’t see yesterday. It’s another language or a symbol or something…” he held the gemstone up for Firedrake to see.

Firedrake looked at it for a second then went wide eyed and retreated from it. No… please no… Firedrake looked at the dirt rather distraught as the painful memories came flooding back to him. The whole world was on fire and he at it’s center… Screams of pain and agony filled his ears and he buried his face. Firedrake took a lot of deep breaths trying to calm himself down. Come on now. You’re part of a team now and you can’t let him down.

“I know what it’s trying to say roughly but…” Firedrake glanced away. “It’s not good is what that is. Not at the slightest but...” It all was making sense to him. History was repeating itself once again but with another soul this time.

“What should we do, Drake? Should we get rid of this thing? Burn it?”

“No,” Zeraph mumbled. “Dim-wit dragon… the symbol itself has no value. There are dozens of amulets like that one on the necks of other members in the inner city.”

“I don’t care what you do with the amulet but… I’m unsure of how we’re going to approach this. This isn’t something we want to let go unchecked but at the same time we could be in over our heads before we even begin.” Firedrake muttered and was trying not to fall apart in front of the others. Why did it have to return?

“If you kill me now, it won’t matter,” Zeraph continued. “The inner city members will find me and resurrect me once more. The second time, I will receive more sacrifices and be reborn more powerful. It’s unavoidable.”

“Shut up,” Sini said. “Who are these inner city people you keep talking about? What is your goal? Who are you?”

“My guess Sini… They’re trying to destroy the world and rebuild it in their image… Or something along those lines… Seems cliche but…” Firedrake shook his head. “I’ll have to talk to you later when we don’t have company.” Firedrake rested his head on the opposite shoulder of the fused dragon. He was starting to feel tired from this revelation.

“If I remember this correctly. The city he’s talking about is called Auberon, about twenty miles out from here.” Firedrake said looking towards the sun, shielding his eyes and taking in a few other geometric landmarks. “At the very least we can probably learn more about their movements.”

“Thank you Zeraph but for the time being, your services are no longer required.” Firedrake bit down on the black dragon, lifting his head up and started stuffing it into Sini’s maw.

Sini opened his maw wide, letting Firedrake stuff Zeraph in further.

“No-- wait, let me out!” Zeraph roared.

“Not a chance,” Sini murmured.

He was swallowing Zeraph’s head and his mumbling and pleading became muffled. Salivation drooled all over him. Sini had his mouth full. He took his two front paws and began pushing Zeraph’s backside in as hard as he could, squeezing Zeraph in, with effort, down his esophagus. It bulged out and reached its limits and looked like it could explode at any second, but Sini didn’t give up. He kept gulping and, steadily, the bulge of his prey fell down and wriggled into the central belly, which started to expand. And expand. And expand… Well. By the time he’d reached the other end of Zeraph and was slurping up Zeraph’s tail, half of the prey was still sliding down the bottom of his throat but his gut hung all the way out below him. Beginning to touch the ground and continuing to grow. With one last slurp, he finished devouring Zeraph’s tail. His eyes were shut in pleasure so he didn’t realize that Firedrake’s head was still connected to the tail, nomming on the end, so he swallowed a little bit of Firedrake’s head before opening his eyes and seeing the other neck down his throat, almost completely swallowed. He yelped in surprise.

“Sini if you’re really that hungry I can spawn a few more tigers!” Firedrake laughed and squirmed a little in the dragon’s throat. “Although I did let myself get carried away…” Much better than thinking about repressed memories. Firedrake gently pulled himself free and stared into the distance. Almost on the verge of breaking down he shut his eyes and lowered his head as low as it could go and a few tears ran down his head and off his nose.

Sini finished the meal and the central belly gurgled a little bit and he turned with a smile at Firedrake’s head when he saw Firedrake’s head low below him. He frowned and Sini’s head went down and nudged Firedrake’s and nuzzled the tears away from Firedrake’s cheek.

“F-Firedrake, what’s wrong?” Sini asked.

“I-I’m sorry Sini… I’ve done things. Terrible things because of that damn cult. They tried to use me. Tortured me until I finally broke… I-I-...” Firedrake stammered on. Tears streaming down his cheeks as he couldn’t hold back any longer. “I don’t know how many I hurt or killed… possibly worse… I destroyed an entire city in my rage… and I was helpless to stop it… I’ve been alone for so long I can’t remember the last time I actually sat next to someone and didn’t want to just run. To disappear and to never be heard of again. But then there you are… Something about you just makes me feel like I’m normal. That I can have a good life and not have to hurt another soul. I’m envious of your innocence and wish I could be like you… But I can’t… I can’t repair the damage I’ve done and the lives I’ve ruined. I can only hide and just wait till it’s all over…” Firedrake put his head on the ground and covered it with the dragon’s right paw and wing. So many years has he had to hold all of that in and finally he could vent it out to someone he felt he could trust. He couldn’t stop crying at this point and just let it go.”I’m sorry Sini…” He croaked in between breaths.

“Firedrake, listen to me,” said Sini, lowering his head to Firedrake’s. “You don’t have to apologize to me, buddy. If you had all this on your mind and you kept it in for so long, I can only imagine how you’ve felt inside. Now-- there’s nothing you can do about the destruction of the city. But I’m not gonna turn my back on you because of it. I’ll be here for you regardless.” His voice fell silent. “If y-you try to change, that’s good enough for me. The change is all.”

Sini licked some of the tears away from Firedrake’s face. “If you keep crying, I’ll just keep on drying. I’m here for you, Firedrake. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. And- I couldn’t if I wanted to,” he said, looking down at the fused body, chuckling softly.

“Sini… You don’t have to do it for me but. Thank you.” Firedrake sniffled and picked his head a after a long pause. He looked at the fused dragon and the bulge therein. So many things rely on trust and both sides giving equal parts effort, determination, and heart. Why was Sini so different? What made me trust him so quickly were all others ran at just my own shadow?

“Sini? Why did you trust me so quickly? We’ve only known each other for three days now and yet here we are-- Fused together into one being,I’m nearly tearing my heart out with guilt from ages ago, and we both relying on each other.” Firedrake pondered and looked into Sini’s eyes.

“That first night we slept together on the tree branch, I realized I could trust you. I don’t know why. I just knew it. And it’s not in my nature to doubt first. It’s in my nature to trust first and have doubts when reasons show up. No reasons ever showed up and not once have I doubted you, Firedrake,” Sini said softly. “That’s just the way it is.”

“And yet I’m the exact opposite. I doubt so much, even myself, and was uncertain when I first met you. But, again, there’s just something about you. Do you think all this happened for a reason?”

“Well, I’ve never been one to believe in things happening for a reason. But I never believed in luck, either. So maybe it has. All I know is that I’m glad it has.”

“Me too… I’m glad to finally start crawling out from this hole I’ve been digging myself into. And I’m glad I’m spending time with you Sini. It truly means a lot.” Firedrake rubbed his head against Sini’s, grateful to have him by his side… erm… in his side… Whatever, screw semantics.

Sini smiled and stared into Firedrake’s eyes, rubbing his head back and keeping it close.

“So- uh, Firedrake? I don’t know where the city- Auberon, is. You can take over for a while and fly us there.”

Firedrake nodded slightly. “Yeah it shouldn’t take us very long should we have a tail wind to take us there.” Firedrake assumed control and with a few powerful wing beats took off into the sky and hovered over the trees to get an idea of where he needed to go. Auberon was a lush jungle-village but he hasn’t been there in years so he was unsure of what he would find. He turned around and flew near a few of the treetops until he finally found what he was looking for. A livid green marking of the mountain due south-west of them and so he made for the space between the two. At least the trade routes were still open.

They flew in relative silence in the short time it took them to at least see the large tree that was the epicenter of Auberon. Sometimes it’s good that some things never change. Firedrake landed on the outskirts of the town and was greeted by countless faces, bearing every kind of emotion, before then. Mostly surprise to those he had landed near.

Auberon was a rural expanse of a city, spread far for miles with a vast network of homes in the upper jungle vines and tree-branches connected by aerial roadways of the strong vine, and wooden homes and a flourishing society below. In the lower-reaches, at the floor-level of the jungle, there was a long stretch-- a central road-- which seemingly cut directly through the city, ten or so meters wide. The commoners, the merchants, of tigers and lions and elephants and antelope; every jungle species you could imagine; they all made their way bustling about mainly through this main pathway. At the center of the road’s stretch, the road closed off into a circle around the large tree which the dragon landed in front of. It seemed to be of importance, to the people, to Sini, as the people gathered round it and mumbled words of wisdom. Held their hands up and sought advice.

Sini looked around and saw furry faces staring right back at him, appearing surprised and a little afraid of the two-headed dragon that just landed in the town by their most sacred tree.

“It’s okay. We’re friendly,” he assured the citizens. “Firedrake,” he said, turning to the other head. “While we were flying here, I noticed the gemstone in the amulet started to glow a little bit. But look. When you turn the amulet, the glow still points in a certain direction. That direction!” he said, amused. “It’s like a compass.”

“Well I guess we’ll go that way!” Firedrake jokingly pointed the opposite direction and made a goofy face. “Anyways let’s go see where this takes us.” Firedrake turned to the direction the compass was pointing. Somewhere east of where they were currently standing.

Sini smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

He took control of the dragon and took of in the eastern direction, carefully following the occasionally swaying glow of the compass. He flew high over the lower-section of the city but low enough to be below the higher-section where the strong vines and large branches hung over. The compass started to glow brighter and Sini saw a large tree, as tall as a sequoia but as thick in width as a skyscraper, up ahead. He began to fly around it, for it was blocking his path. However, the glow of the compass seemed to follow the radius of the tree and directed the dragon there. So he landed in front of it, at an entrance; a gap in the tree, twenty-or-so feet tall. Less in width. There were doors but the arms of the doors were spread wide. As if awaiting one to arrive. The gap led into a wooden, archaic-seeming ‘building’, you could call it, inside of the tree. In the center of the inside was a staircase that spiraled upwards toward the very top. As they were landing, Firedrake retracted his head back into the fused dragon. Sini got so excited about entering the tree to climb the staircase that he bumped into the two wolf-guards which halted him with spears in front of the entrance. The wolves were abnormally tall. Almost as tall as Sini. Eleven, twelve feet.

One of the wolves said, “Hold it.”

“Where d’you think you’re going?” The other one asked.

“My guess is through that door in 3...2…1… BLAUAURRAGARBL!!” Firedrake’s disembodied head appeared out of thin air right in front of the two large wolves, making them jump and scurry with their tails between their legs.

“I didn’t sign up for this!” One of the wolves exclaimed as he bolted in one direction and his partner going the opposite way.

“Well that was fun!” Firedrake’s head still wasn’t attached to anything as he turned to Sini’s smiling, but as he looked back at the tree his ears dropped. He shook his head and looked back at it with a stern expression. “This time I’m not leaving this unfinished… Let’s go Sini.” Firedrake said and unfused from him. “I have a feeling we’re going to need to split up at some point so keep your guard up.”

“I’ll keep my guard up,” said Sini.

The prey of the fused dragon was concealed in an orb which dropped on the ground. Sini picked it up and put the orb into his satchel. The two continued on in their two separate forms into the tree and climbed up the staircase. It spiraled upwards long and endlessly. The ceiling was closed off around the stairs, however, and there wasn’t any other way to reach the top floor without going through the stairs. Meaning no flying. After some time, they finally did reach the top of the staircase, and it opened up into a new room, clear of guards. There was a hallway in the middle of it that led into another room. There was a locked door at the end of it. Sini and Firedrake came to it and stood.

“I wonder what’s going on back there,” he thought aloud. “I mean. I probably don’t want to know. But still.”

“Well there’s only one way to find out now is there?” Firedrake walked up to the door and pressed his ear against it. He couldn’t hear anything and he quickly and quietly melted the lock and doorknob. With that gone he opened the door and it lead into a large spiral staircase leading further up and down the tree. The staircase was large enough for both of the dragons to stand side by side and not bumping into each other with every step. They kept climbing until they made it to another door up the staircase. Firedrake pressed his eye the the small window in the door. There seemed to be little of interest in the room and kept making their way up. Only stopping at the few other doors along the way did they finally make it to a hallway splitting off in multiple directions.

Firedrake looked down each of the narrow hallways but stopped before a large stone arch leading into a even bigger chamber. The room had a large cage built in and countless markings decorated the floor in the center and the cage extended out from the arch they were standing under. Outside the cage it seemed to be made for an audience to sit and watch with stone seats carved into the wood. There was another door inside the cage that looked to be the only way they’ll be able to proceed, but it carried a funny looking lock and yet another door within the cage itself. However the keys were hanging on the wall opposite of them outside of the cage.

“I really don’t like the looks of this…” Firedrake muttered and looked for another way into the room but it would seem you’d have to be much smaller in order to fit in the other halls. Firedrake tried to pry the metal apart but everytime he did, the metal only bent itself back to it’s original shape. “What the hell is this? I can’t even melt it either!” Firedrake said after he blew a plume of fire at the metal in frustration only to watch it grow back.

“Guess we’ll have to try another way… Hmmm. Sini come here real fast. I’m going to absorb you and see if I can get you on the other side of this cage. But I have a feeling I myself am not going to be able to get through so you’ll need to get the keys and unlock the cage.” Sini walked up to him and Firedrake reached out with his paw, absorbing his friend and turned back to the cage. He tried to press his paw through the bars but it caused the fluid to retreat back so in a small bout of frustration he punched the bars making a hole and threw his other paw through and spawned Sini on the otherside. Firedrake quickly withdrew his paw as the metal was fixing itself.

Sini headed for the other wall where a keyring hung from a tack stuck in the center of it and picked up the keyring. He made his way back to the front door of the cage and played with the various keys on the ring. Some didn’t work. Finally he found the one key that inserted correctly and turned it. The door creaked open.

Firedrake glared at the markings at the floor. Some were glowing and others remained the deep crimson of the paint. He tried jumping up and grabbing onto the bars overhead but was met halfway with a large electrical shock, causing him to tense up and fall back to the floor hard. His foot landed on one of the glowing red symbols and was instantly chained to the ground. Firedrake tried to yank on it but was only met with even more chains that bound his other limbs. He tried to move and another large chain wrapped around his neck and started to suffocate him.

“Could use a hand here Sini…” Firedrake managed to telepathically whisper as the other symbols faded into the ground, leaving only the one attached to Firedrake.

Sini rushed to Firedrake’s side and yanked on the chain that was attached to his neck. It loosened a little but didn’t give much slack. He took one of his claws and grasped the chain close so that he could bring his mouth over the chain. With his teeth, he gnawed through the chain and it broke. Firedrake’s head was mobilized and he was gasping for the air his lungs were screaming for. Sini made his way to Firedrake’s other limbs and chewed the other chains away, spitting the iron residue out.

“That was unexpected,” said Sini. He noticed Firedrake gasping for air. “Hey, bud. You alright there?”

“Much better now thanks to you. Those chains felt like they were sapping me dry of everything. I’m starting to hate this place more and more the further we go.” Firedrake got back to his feet and hugged Sini tightly. “At this rate I don’t know what I’d do without ’cha.”

Sini hugged Firedrake back tightly with his arms clung around Firedrake’s neck. “We gotta be careful around here. But one step at a time, we’ll get through.”

He stared to the end of the room. There was another door but who knew what was on the other side.

Maybe there’s more cages and evil chains, Sini thought, frowning. I hope we get outta here soon.

Firedrake walked up the the door with the strange lock. It bore strange red marking and tubing. “Sini got any keys that look like it goes to this?”

“Yeah. Lemme see if I can find it,” he replied. “I- I saw one with the exact same lock-shape earlier,” he murmured, fumbling through the keyring. “Ah. Here it is.”

Sini took one of the keys, thicker than the one for the cage, and slid it into the door with the strange lock. It fit, but it seemed stuck. He put his weight on it, and turned it. Finally, the lock gave way and turned. The door opened up. Sini tried pulling the key out of the lock and it broke. The shaft stayed stuck inside.

“Oh well. I’m not worried about closing this door later anyway.”

“Well so far it’s been pretty empty which is odd. But at the same time less resistance for us to break through.” Firedrake said and stepped through the door tentatively and checked the corners. Just another hallways leading down and making a sharp turn right.

Sini was just a few steps behind him. He crept alongside Firedrake through the hallways when they turned a corner. Then there was a large door with a handle at the top of it for knocking on. Sini figured that members of satanic cults could have courtesy too and decided to come forth and knock. As predicted there was no response. Sini looked back at Firedrake with a stare that read, ‘well, what the hell happens now?’ when the door slowly opened and a grey wolf in heavy armor opened it up to the two.

“Yesss?...” he grumbled.

Firedrake was holding his head as the voices within were growing louder and louder making it hard to think clearly at the moment and just waved at Sini. Unless the wolf wants punched into next week he’d better move or Sini do something first.

“We’re here for the- uh, satanic… cult… ceremony,” Sini said.

“I’ve never seen you two before,” the wolf said. “Both of you. Stay where you are. I’m bringing back-up.”

Sini flung open the door wide and pounced on the wolf’s chest, toppling with him onto the floor.

“Oh no you’re not!”

He licked his lips and shoved the wolf into his opened mouth, jerking the wolf down his throat quickly. Some of the guards took notice to the voracious dragon in the doorway and the blue dragon behind him and readied their spears, shouting at each other and advancing. But Sini was already finished with his meal. His belly was bulging with the newly squirming wolf and he simply smiled, slapping the three guards that approached onto their backsides with a flick of his tail. Then he belched loudly and made sure the guards knew what the sound was.

“Your friend really was a good wolf. To eat,” he added. “Firedrake, let’s go and-”

That was as far as he got before he was hit with a blast of orange energy and fell to the floor and a dark wolf in a dark red robe stood over him, his left paw still sizzling.

“How dare you enter my domain so rudely,” the wolf growled, spitting on the carpet beside the dragon. “And you there,” he said, pointing at Firedrake. “It’s been an awfully long while, hasn’t it, Firedrake?”

Firedrake still had one paw covering his head as the voices were now screaming at him. But now with Fenrar’s voice piercing through the noise. He slowly started to see red.

“Not long enough Fenrar… Not nearly long enough. How the hell are you still alive anyway? Last thing I remember was your ugly mug before everything was engulfed in flames.” Firedrake was starting to get angry as the voices in his head were getting louder which would only make matters worse. Much worse.

“I’m so happy you asked Firedrake!” Fenrar piped up. “You see soon after we got our hands on you we realized just how great your blood makes for healing even the most grievous of wounds. It’s how you too survived for so long right?”

“Your a sick bastard, you know that right? And that’s putting it nicely.” Firedrake retorted.

“But unlike you I don’t try to hide it or play on others emotions to make them feel sorry for your lost cause… I'm not the one who can't control his own anger and then destroy an entire city!...” Fenrar snapped back.

Firedrake was losing his temper. How dare he compare the two of us as equals. The voices were becoming a chorus… Not in front of Sini… Wait. He still has that same damn necklace. Fenrar had a large gemstone linked to a gold chain around his neck, but the stone matched Firedrake’s scale color. So that’s how he did it so long ago…

“Well at least I don’t hide behind mere tricks and sleight of hand. That’s why you wanted me. To take everything I ever had and make it your own and when that didn’t work you tried to control me and that blew up in your face, Literally. So stop being a coward and just fight me!” Firedrake’s voice was growing deeper and deeper with every word. He was starting to lose it-- Half the world was crimson red.

“You damned wolf,” said Sini, standing himself up from the floor. “You got me with a cheap shot. I’ll kill you!”

Sini leapt at the wolf with his claws outstretched, ready to pin the wolf down. Then the wolf fired another blast of energy into Sini’s chest and was sent toppling down again immediately. It smoked for a while but Fenrar paid no mind and resumed to staring into Firedrake’s eyes after dusting off his paws.

“You want to fight me?” Fenrar choked out a laugh. “You’ll end up like your dragon friend. On the floor. I’d suggest you leave before I have to make a dragonscale carpet out of you.”

Firedrake had enough of the games. “The only one who’s going to end up as a rug is going to be your measly hide!” Firedrake stomped towards him and Fenrar blasted him with orange energy but Firedrake deflected it to the wall at his right without skipping a beat. He stopped next Sini on the ground and touched his neck to elevate some of the pain and reached to him with his mind. He couldn't linger though as he didn't want to hurt is friend should something happen.

“Sini… If I lose it here I want you to promise me something. Before I hurt anyone else… I want you to put me down by any means necessary. I’m sorry to ask so much of you but… I can’t keep it held back much longer.”

“I promise, Firedrake. I won’t let you down.” Sini mumbled.

“I’m sorry Sini…”

Firedrake blocked another blast with his wing but the fire didn’t even singe the membrane. He paused for a second longer and popped his neck. Fenrar’s eyes grew wide for a second but then his face twisted into an evil grin.

“So Firedrake you’re gonna finally come out and play now are you?” Fenrar taunted and started laughing. “Just like old times eh?”

“Quiet!” Firedrake roared and his wings started to shrivel up into dull ridges and the rest of his body grew taut and his muscles expanded. This times going to be different… Hopefully.

Fenrar made to grab the necklace around his neck but Firedrake made a telekinetic punch and sent him into the pillar behind him. Firedrake dashed at the wolf but Fenrar blasted Firedrake in the eyes as he was running and crashed into the wall.

“Gonna have to do better than that!” Fenrar taunted and grabbed the gemstone, yanking it off the chain and started mumbling into it.

Firedrake roared in the wooden wall and tore his way free. His tail blade came off his tail and moved to Firedrake’s arm it grew and made a large, triangular blade that covered his entire forearm, stopping at his elbow and a few feet out from his paw.

“I’m only getting started!” Firedrake ran at Fenrar again and the wolf blasted more energy at him. Firedrake dodged and reflected the energy with the blade until he was right on top of Fenrar.

Kill him and end it all… End everyone’s suffering in just a single quick movement-- No... He deserves to live as the miserable, sadistic, lowlife he is. Let him watch as all he’s done fall around him. To see his world burn to nothing but ashes. Just like he did to me…

Firedrake swatted the wolf hard with the blunt side of the blade. Knocking the gem to the floor and sending Fenrar in the air but Firedrake paid him no mind. He was after the damned gem.

“Take away their toys and they suddenly become helpless…” Firedrake mumbled more to himself than anything and then stabbed the gem on the floor, causing it to shatter spectacularly and whatever it held within caused Firedrake to grab his head and fall to the ground as the voices came screaming tenfold and left him open. He was going over the brink-- past the point of no return.

“Sini! Now’s your only chance to stop me before I lose it completely! Please! I don’t want to cause any more pain than what I’ve already done…” Firedrake begged as he felt his mind nearly splitting in two. Not again…

Sini was half awake; half conscious, but he heard Firedrake’s voice from across the room and his eyes flickered open.

“Firedrake.” He muttered.

His legs were automatically forced to stand. His feet shook beneath him. But the blasts he took weren’t too bad. He could handle them. Except he had to put Firedrake down. He stepped slowly to the other dragon and stared into his eyes and a tear came to his eye.

“Firedrake,” he repeated.

Then he lunged at Firedrake’s neck and opened his mouth and plunged his two fangs into the dragon with the most concentrated sleep poison he could give. Blood streamed from Firedrake’s neck and splashed over Sini’s fangs and Sini only cried harder but sank the fangs deeper.

“Sleep tight,” he said.

Firedrake roared angrily as Sini bit down hard on his neck but after a split second or two it grew more to a disgruntled moan as a wave of an intense warm sensation slowly made it’s way through his body. Slowly everything was becoming numb and the world was going dark. But the voices though-- They had left him. They finally left him alone and the silence was music to his ears. “Thank you Sini…” He tried to say but his mouth wouldn’t respond and with a sigh everything went dark.

Slowly, Sini let Firedrake go and Firedrake dropped down onto the floor beneath him. The thing Sini couldn’t stand was the blood dripping from the neck onto his fangs. He didn’t want the blood to be there. It couldn’t be helped.

Fenrar was still sprawled over the floor where Firedrake left him and Sini stood over him menacingly, putting his front-paws on top of Fenrar and squeezing down so he could hardly breathe from the pressure.

“What’s killing me going to do for you?...” Fenrar muttered.

“I’m not gonna kill you,” Sini said. “I just don’t want you to breathe right now. Bastard.”

He kept his paws over the wolf’s chest until the wolf started gasping for breath and finally Sini released the wolf, still standing on top of the wolf. Sini came to the decision that eating the wolf would be the best way to deal with him, for now. So he shoved the wolf’s head into his mouth and gulped quickly, ready to have him done with. It was no more than ten seconds that it took. The wolf was locked away in his belly now. Somewhere he wouldn’t have to be seen. Sini glanced at Firedrake, sighing.

He picked up Firedrake and the blue dragon was heavy. Sini thought about dragging him downstairs. Then he thought about how he’d like it if someone dragged Sini downstairs against rough wood plankings while he was asleep. It wouldn’t be a nice feeling. He disliked splinters. So he settled on sucking it up and using his strength to set Firedrake on his back and carry him out of the room, back into the hallways; back down the central stairways of the tree. Slow and steadily, they made it outside. It was night now. Not even the busy streets of Auberon stirred at this hour on this side of the city. It became quiet and Sini felt lonely. Not sure where to go for the night. It’d be too difficult to try flying with Firedrake on his back. There wasn’t anywhere he could stay for the night. Wait. Stay for the night.

* * *

At the hotel counter, Sini pulled out the golden looking glass, offering it to the antelope receptionist.

“I don’t have money,” said Sini. “But I figured you guys like shiny objects too. So here’s this thing.”

“Is that gold?” the antelope asked, inspecting the trinket more closely. “Goodness. It’s actual gold. Eighteen karat, by the looks of it.” The receptionist said this while writing down a couple of names on a clipboard she’d carried then receiving the looking glass from Sini.

“Sini and Firedrake, you said? Here. This has your room number on it; Room 305. Don’t lose the key. We don’t keep any spares.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you and have a nice night at Auberon Inn.”

It took him a good fifteen minutes to carry Firedrake up the rows of stairs and figure out where the room was that the antelope told him of but he’d found it, at last. Inserting the key into the door, it opened into a beautiful room with a king-sized bed and a window with a view of the jungle’s main river below. Sini carefully picked Firedrake from his back and laid him down on the left side of the bed. Sini leapt onto the right, sleepily, pulling the covers onto the two of them. For a while he lay there staring at Firedrake, sound asleep, wondering if he was okay.

Damn, Sini thought. I wish I could sleep-poison myself. I want to have a nap but I can’t keep my eyes shut.

Ten more minutes of staring at Firedrake then staring up at the ceiling and Sini nodded out. That night the two slept sound.

At sunrise, Sini was still snoring fast asleep and unstirred. He woke up at a quarter to eight when the sun rose higher and his eyes flickered open calmly. He wriggled around under the bedsheets and turned to Firedrake on his right, who was still asleep. Before reaching over to wake the blue dragon up it occurred to Sini that Firedrake wouldn’t be able to wake until the poison had been nulled. So he reached over and patted the dragon’s shoulder, concentrating on the poison. A purple glow emanated from Firedrake’s body then quickly evaporated. It was gone.

“Hey, Fire.” Sini shook his shoulder now. “Can you wake up? It’s me. Sini.”

Firedrake sat motionless for a few moments longer before his eyes fluttered open. He yawned and stretched under the bed sheets, which he looked at slightly confused. He placed his head back in the pillow.

“When did we get an apartment Sini? What happened to Fenrar? Hell, what happened to me?” Firedrake said still mostly asleep and one of his wings poking out from under the covers, spilling over the bed.

“We didn’t get an apartment, silly,” said Sini. “I just traded that gold looking-glass thingy for a room in a hotel for the night and today. Antelopes like gold.” He paused and thought over yesterday. “Yesterday, you almost lost your temper, so you asked me to put you down. So I bit you and gave you my sleep poison. I wasn’t sure what to do with Fenrar so it was only natural that I ate him.”

Sini looked down at his belly and rubbed it but there weren’t any movements.

“Still asleep. But yeah. He’s in there, alright. That was my dinner.”

“Well good for you Sini. I’m sorry I had to ask you to do that though. I really wish it didn’t come down to that but one the bright side.” Firedrake perked up and hugged Sini as tight as he could. “The voices are gone and I feel a hundred, no a thousand pounds lighter! All thanks to you Sini.” Firedrake buried his head in his friend’s belly and felt the wolves within. You got lucky Fenrar… So very lucky...

Sini giggled and grinned, hugging Firedrake back just as tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re feeling better,” he said. “You don’t have to apologize about anything. It was the only thing I could do and it had to be done, right? That reminds me.” He remembered. “How is your neck feeling? Is it sore from where I bit you? I hope that doesn’t hurt too much.”

Firedrake felt around his neck and rubbed a little of the caked blood off and laughed a little. “I’m a quick healer, I’m fine but thanks for asking. It’s just I feel bad for putting you on the spot so suddenly and demanding so much.” Firedrake rubbed deep into Sini’s belly.

Sini purred a little and nuzzled into Firedrake. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy that you healed well.” Sini smiled.

“Oh. Hey,” he began, searching through his shoulder satchel and plucking out the orb that dropped from the fused dragon yesterday then handing it to Firedrake. “Breakfast! This is for you,” he said happily.

Firedrake took the orb and set it on the nightstand next to the bed. “Maybe I have something else in mind for breakfast.” He grinned happily at Sini.

“What’s that?” Sini asked. But he knew.

Firedrake chuckled and got close to Sini. “Why my favorite black dragon named Sini of course!” And with that Firedrake playfully bit down on Sini’s nose.

Sini chuckled back and smiled. “Yay! Tell me what I taste like,” he said curiously.

Firedrake ran his tongue across Sini’s nose. “Hmm kinda spicy but too much. I may have to try a little more.” Firedrake joked and gently pushed Sini a little further in his maw.

Sini was being slid out of his side of the bedsheets, wiggling from his belly down to his tail outside of Firedrake’s maw. But not fighting back. Just playing along as he crept with his paws into the mouth of his friend.

Firedrake opened his mouth wide to accommodate his friend’s paws and slowly made his way to Sini’s shoulders and gently folded his wings in. Sini’s belly wasn’t huge but it’s occupants made a noticeable bulge, albeit motionless but a bulge none the less. As they continued Firedrake’s throat looked as if it was ready to pop and his scales couldn’t keep from revealing his dark, leather skin beneath but it held firm as Sini’s belly was entering his maw. Firedrake playfully bit down and held Sini in place as he ran his tongue around the Sini’s belly in his mouth.

“Having fun yet buddy?” Firedrake asked and rubbed the dragon shaped form under his skin.

“I’ve been having fun,” Sini said cheerfully. “I don’t think I’ve ever been inside another dragon before. You’re so warm…” he awed.

Firedrake giggled. “Well let me know if it’s too hot or cold for you down there and I’ll do my best to please. I don’t know how many times I’ve said it now but I’m glad we met. Your a great friend and I can only hope that I could return the favor” Firedrake continued pulling his friend further and further into his depths. Making it to his hind-legs now.

“I’m glad we met too, Fire. You’re nice. I really like being with you.” Sini wagged his tail as his head entered the dragon’s belly and as his front-paws felt around and pawed the dragon’s stomach walls.

Firedrake murred and tickled Sini’s toes as they were sticking out from his mouth for a bit before sucking up his tail like a noodle. He let out a deep sigh and relaxed on the bed while rubbing his large gut. He pulled the covers over himself and looked at the orb Sini gave him earlier. He picked it up and toyed with it for a bit, staring into it’s infinite abyss before he placed it in his mouth and gave it a hard swallow.

“There Sini, now you can have some breakfast as well.” Firedrake smiled and slowly massaged his belly as the orb made it’s way down his throat.

The dragon inside purred to Firedrake’s touch and, when he felt the orb plop down in front of him, he eyed it excitedly and smiled wide.

“Is this- for me?” Sini asked, to confirm.

“Mmhmm, That it is friend.” Firedrake smiled and nuzzled his belly.

Taking the orb and swallowing it after throwing it up and catching it in his mouth, he didn’t hesitate the gulp and send the orb into his belly. When it had settled into his stomach fluids, he activated it. Suddenly, there was this warm sensation inside of Sini. Like. Dragons were already warm inside, but it was warmer than that. His gut began to expand like nothing he’d ever seen before. It just kept expanding and continued to bulge more and Sini felt the pressure build up against the inside of his belly. That was the pressure of five lions and a dragon materializing inside of his stomach. Halfway through, Sini felt he was about to burst. He rubbed his belly and wagged his tail and soon enough, his prey had completely reformed inside of him, creating a monstrous-sized belly bulge two times his own size, and making Firedrake’s own giant bulge even larger. He sighed out and purred. Zeraph and the lions were apparently awake, squirming inside him. Sini felt it on his nose as he nuzzled.

“Aaah…”

Firedrake couldn’t contain his laughter as he felt Sini within grow to immense size and as the bed covers unable to cover his new girth rose with the growing gut. His arms and legs couldn’t make it past his giant belly and was sufficiently pinned to the bed. He rubbed what he could with his arms, tail, and his head purring as he went.

“So that enough for you Sini? Just let me know when you want out if you wanted to do anything for the day.” Firedrake tried to find Sini’s head in his belly but only found even more of Sini’s squirming gut.

“That’s plenty for me. I don’t think I’m going anywhere for a while.” He stated.

Sini licked the inside of Firedrake’s stomach and hugged it with his paws, muzzling it warmly against his nose. “Neither are Zeraph or Fenrar or the wolf or the lions.”

“Or me for that matter.” Firedrake added and patted his belly. He looked towards the window and opened it with his mind to let the morning breeze blow in along with the sounds of the river and a city bursting with life.

Now that his head was clear, even the little things sounded much more clear to him and he laid his head back into the pillow. Closing his eyes he listened to every little thing, from the birds chirping to people making trades of all kinds on the roads above and below the room. But mostly he listened to his stomach happily gurgle with Sini inside.

“Hey, Firedrake… I think I have a tummy ache,” Sini concluded, before burping long and loud to relieve some of the pressure in his stomach. “Nevermind.”

Firedrake belched loudly and went back to rubbing his belly. “Well as long as you’re ok buddy but if you need anything at all just ask. But I am feeling a little tired. You ok to sleep in a little longer?”

Sini yawned and stretched out his muzzle against where Firedrake was rubbing his belly, nuzzling into the dragon’s paw. “It’s a plan… I think I will sleep in a little longer.” He smiled and dozed off again.

Using his mind, Firedrake opened the door leading to the rest of the hotel and put the ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the doorknob and shut the door before he too started to fall back asleep.

“Good night Sini. Thanks again for everything.” He smiled and rubbed his belly lazily as he drifted off and closed the blinds to the room making it dark.

“Good night to you too, friend,” said Sini half-awake.

“Thank you too.”