Rayne returns to Magnus to have or avoid the conversation about the dragon slayer.

MINE.

~Angel~

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Chapter 5: The Dragon's Amusement

Confusion, a sensation Magnus wasn't used to. He was used to shock, surprise and bemusement but not confusion. His claws touched the band in his paw, silver and shining from lack of use, the tiger etched where the bird once was pulling at his insides.

He had been sure the dragon slayer card would have made her slip, but when nothing was mentioned of the white dragon from her mouth he was sure that having to kiss a complete stranger would have made her turn tail or allowed him to follow her. His portrayal of an obnoxious knight hopefully had been accurate, he had little knowledge of their tendencies from what little interaction he had before eating them. He had taken most of his accounts from the mortal stories he'd collected over the centures.

He adjusted himself to lay on his side, still holding the transformation band and staring at it as if it had the answers he sought. Why had she kissed him? Keeping her word? Wanting to?

The kiss made his body suddenly ache, her anger at him made it worse. That was what was very confusing to him, the kiss and the sudden abrupt end to it, the idea she would go against her own kind to protect a dragon who barely tolerated her presence some moments.

Dragons seldom tried to kiss, it wasn't as large a part of their courtship as mortals but rare instances did happen. Not to Magnus of course, he didn't have time for such foolish things as dragoness' and court ship rituals. The mere thought of having another large being in his cavern, or worse...HATCHLINGS in his cavern made him turn away from long term relationships even when offered.

But Rayne's slight tilt and sudden meeting of his own mouth made his mind dark and perverted, a place he thought he had under control a long time ago. If he had just held onto her...for a little longer...

'Stop it,' his mind warned, 'stop it or you'll drive yourself mad. You had your test, she passed now throw the band away and never look for it again.'

But the band seemed to be a way into a place where another Rayne existed, another more fierce and passionate Rayne he couldn't touch in his dragon form. He first saw a weakling, then a slightly more interesting learned being, then a genuine mortal with a thirst for knowledge.

But there was something else underneath, a spike of another fire inside her. He saw it in the way she spoke, the way she growled at the possible threat to his own life, well the dragon's life. She didn't act the way most mortals did, which made all the rules he had previously made about them null. Dragons were predators, were sport to most mortals, save her.

He closed his eyes, reveling in the quiet of his lair but groaning with the snaking thoughts in his mind. Why wouldn't they cease their chatter?

“Damn it!” he growled, slamming a clenched paw down on the cavern floor, “Leave me BE!”

The only voice that answered him was his own, echoing miles and miles in the mountain's cavernous lair. His intelligent mind made him aware of the fact he was alone, and something in his chest made him feel how lonely that fact was.

He stood up and walked around his cavern to the scrolls and books room, band still in his claw. Maybe his scrolls would bring him something to focus on. What was he thinking of COURSE they would! Infinite words, infinite wisdom and infinite ways to escape the little mortal in this life.

Until she returned anyway...

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Rayne lingered next to the creek in the early morning, the sky barely beginning to show light from the sun. She threw rocks in, she sat and stared at herself for a while. She had moved as much as she could during the night to get here fast, wanting to tell Magnus about the dragon slayer and his potential danger outside his lair.

But then how would she explain how she got rid of him? Trickery? Stealth? Screaming until someone else showed up to take him away? She didn't want him out there defenseless, not knowing about this. At the same time he WAS a dragon, and had dealt with these things before, he said so.

Why did the slayer have to be attractive? Didn't they have scars and wounds and mean demeanors? She tried to picture the slayer with large scars through his neck and arms, no that just made him look better, which made her feel worse.

She wanted nothing but to get back up to her studies, but when she found she was along the creek she stalled herself. She was early by a few hours, hoping that would impress her mentor, but then the tightness in her stomach grew of what to tell him and what not to.

She made her decision when the sun peered over the horizon, if he asked she'd say something, if he didn't she wouldn't. It was fair, it wasn't lying and she wouldn't have to tell him about the awkward circumstances of her getting the slayer to keep out of Magnus' territory. She doubted he would really care about it, and she pushed back the feeling that thought stung a little.

She scooped up some water, splashing it over her face and neck to get some of the dirt from her travels off her fur, before splashing across the creek and heading into the prairie. She carefully found her footing on her ladder and began to climb up it, hoping with the little added weight it would hold. She had learned how to tie knots and make ladders from the monks of the old order, where they taught her to read and write and other knowledge. It was her favorite place when she was younger, but the new Gods demanded the old ones be shunned, and one day all the old knowledge was burned to the ground.

She crawled up over the edge of the lair's large cavern, the scraps from old claw marks giving her some footing to get up easier. She brushed herself off, freed her hair before re-braiding it and tried to look presentable before trotting inside.

Most of the torches were out but there was still adequate light to move forward without running into anything. She found her cart bed and blanket, putting her things in it before looking around. Magnus would have heard her if he was here, but everything seemed empty. Maybe he was hunting for breakfast for himself?

“Master?” she called out to see if he was around. It was still early, he could have been asleep. She covered her mouth quickly, maybe she shouldn't be trying to wake him...

She stalked around the cavern, not really knowing where he slept but only the direction he disappeared to sleep. She heard heavy breathing down a darkened corridor and slowly stepped down it, eyes looking for any movement and ears listening for a change in breathing. She followed the curving path, where a small amount of light sparkled over the damp floor and peered around.

Magnus was on his back sleeping, wings flat on the ground, mouth wide open and tongue lolled out, a book settled on his chest, a very LARGE book. He looked like a dog, a large sharp-toothed dog but he didn't look dangerous in the slightest. Rayne bit her lip to keep from laughing, before stalking back through the dark corridor.

She let her hair fall free and crawled up into her cart, the moldy hay that had been her mattress for a week now replaced with new and pristine hay. When had he done that? She tilted her head a little before digging for her new journal and a piece of charcoal, flipping to a new page and beginning to sketch. The page filled over time with a dragon sleeping on his back, tongue lolled out of an open mouth and a book on his chest.

Rayne smiled, her dragon slayer problem a very far off memory now.

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Paws covered in charcoal, Rayne worked furiously after her lesson on serpents, her mind was off somewhere else as she worked and Magnus watched her carefully on her cart. The large book in front of him lay unread as if he was trying to see what she was thinking through the back of her head.

He didn't ask about her travels when he woke and saw her waiting for him. She didn't say anything in return about it. Had she forgotten about the dragon slayer Gaerwn so easily? And why couldn't he stop thinking about it?

He slammed the book closed, expecting her to jump but she was gone, focused on tasks inside her mind. His eyes narrowed before he went and placed the book in its proper place, stalking back out and sitting behind the cart to peer over her shoulder at her work. He waited, hoping to catch her attention without truly taking her from the knowledge flowing from her scribe.

Her head lifted up and her eye caught him out of the corner of hers, making her turn abruptly around in her cart and look up at him curiously.

“My lord?” she asked as he stared off suddenly towards the cave entrance then to the ceiling. “Did you need something?”

“From you? No,” he stated bluntly, unable to meet her gaze up at him. She frowned at him, her head turning slightly as her eyes read curious. “Oh alright, perhaps something...I've become bored, and your incessant scribbling caught my attentions.”

“I can stop, if you like,” she replied in a sweet tone, closing her journal and slipping it inside her pack. He hadn't asked her or told her to, but she now gave him her full attention without his answer being said. He resisted showing any emotion at all as her gold eyes waited for him to respond.

He humphed before looked away from her and pouting slightly, running his claw under his chin in thought.

“Tell me more about your family,” he requested as he looked down at her calmly. Her face changed, he saw a sudden flash of pain as her eyes went to the cart's edge. He scorned himself for causing it, but it could easily be a good side step into what he wanted to know. “Alright don't look so wounded, then tell me something interesting that happened while you were gone.”

Rayne's head jerked up like he'd struck a bad cord on a harp, obviously she hadn't been expecting that. HA! He thought, she DID remember the dragon slayer! She couldn't hide anything from him, not with the sudden guilt...guilt on her face?

“I ran into a problem when I was...in town,” she replied calmly. “I'd bound all my journals and slept and ate and was leaving when I almost ran into a knight of some sort, face first.”

“A knight? Is that common where you come from?” he asked in a general curious manner.

“No, not at all,” she answered shaking her head. “He surprised me, and asked if I'd help him find a dragon in the area.”

Magnus' eyes narrowed so much Rayne almost thought he closed them.

“And what did you say?” he questioned, calm and collected. Oh he was playing his part well, he could feel it in her sudden quickening heartbeat.

“I was late going to visit family,” she answered as she tugged at the hem of her shirt. “And went on my way, well the bast—” she stalled for a moment, looking up at him. “The knight followed me to the edge of the forest and said I had to tell him what I knew or he'd just follow me to find out. I couldn't let him do that!” she suddenly yelled, not at Magnus, but the fire in her was beginning to bubble up and she growled slightly in her throat, paw clenching around the edge of the cart. She took a steadying breath in, before finishing her story. “So I made a deal with him, and he won't be coming into the woods to try to hunt you.”

“Did you trick him as well?” he asked with a small hint of amusement in his tone, which made her smirk up at him and made it very hard not to smile back down at her.

“He tricked me,” she stated, “But I won't let anyone know where you are. No matter what, my lord.”

“Indeed,” he stated, poking his claw in her chest at the scale he placed there, drawing her eyes to the long black claw instead of his face. He needed a moment without those eyes looking up at him. “What did you give him to deter him from following you?”

Her eyes didn't look up at him, even with his claw inches from her face. She didn't flinch at it, she was absorbed in trying to find the right words.

“A kiss,” she muttered as she tugged on her pant leg to straighten it. Magnus' brow quirked up, still playing his part.

“That's all?” he asked when the silence became unbearable. Rayne's head jerked up, her face reading slight anger before she quelled it.

“And my name!”

“Meh, I should have gotten a little pupil a long time ago if that's all that keeps knights from my lair-step,” he stated blandly, eyes looking out into the cavern. Rayne's glare came, he could feel it on his scales like when she glared at the dragon slayer, or him as the dragon slayer. He looked down at her and she looked away, pouting slightly. “Was it HORRIBLE or something?”

“NO!” she snapped, her eyes snapping open they darted back and forth in thought. “I don't really want to talk about it anymore.”

“Don't mortals kiss often? Isn't it some sort of prelude to—”

“AND I have to pee,” Rayne suddenly announced, sprinting off her cart and heading for the mouth of the cave. Magnus was impressed at her speed, tilting his head slightly as he watched her flared tail go. Well, he thought, it wasn't horrible obviously, he had gotten under her skin somehow. He smiled, teeth gleaming at his new found amusement.

“Touchy! Are you?!” He yelled as he watched the little silhouette disappear over the edge. He heard her say something, but he knew she'd said it quiet enough he wasn't supposed to hear.

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