We have the second day of travel with Rayne and Gaerwn and Rayne reveals the dragon scale to him.

MINE.

~Angel~

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Did he really know how to use the sword strapped to his hip? No, not in the slightest. But as long as he carried it others seemed to believe he knew how to. Rayne even believed it. They stopped for her to fill her canteen and he went to find something to eat with his talented huntsman skills. She didn't question where he got the two fat birds and he didn't really tell her he'd taken them from a passing merchant. Not taken...asked for strongly. Instead she busied herself with cooking them, and Magnus enjoyed every moment of the meat. He had a few local cows in the middle of the night to keep his normal intake up but the little bits and flavors Rayne found in nearby plant life were no comparison. Rayne saved half a bird for later, rolling it in some large leaves to keep the grease from seeping into her pack, and to keep Magnus from eating the left overs. Although hunger wasn't really the problem with him currently, it was hard to stop eating.

After Rayne's little admission Magnus knew she trusted him, or Gaerwn. There was something more playful about her now, hitting him becoming far more a pass time. They didn't have as much physical touching when he was the dragon, the teacher but he knew that was proper and to show respect towards him—or it was the fact he could eat her in two bites. It was hard to say which.

Mortal Gaerwn was a different case, and the more Rayne opened up, the more Magnus wanted to know and keep. How had this little female ensnared him so easily? He hadn't felt this—dare he say young? For some time. Females had come into his life, but they were as much into the physical needs as he was and drifted off quickly. Except for Xipil, of course. He couldn't seem to get rid of that crazed female.

Magnus hadn't felt the need to keep something besides his possessions, but he knew better than to call Rayne one of those now. She was becoming a necessity like air. One doesn't own the air, one is thankful for its presence every moment and could not live without it.

“DRAGON!” someone shouted on the roadway. Magnus' head jerked up as he looked to see a frazzled looking male raccoon—dressed like the farmer he may have scared last night. “DRAGON ATE MY COWS!”

“A dragon?” Rayne perked up and before Magnus could grab her, was asking the farmer as many questions between breathing as possible.

“Yes! It looked grey in the dark but its wings were black! Its eyes were glowing—demon's eyes!” the farmer screamed as Magnus caught up to them.

“How far is your farm from here?” Rayne asked in a gentle but firm manner, eyes focused on him.

“Rayne,” Magnus stated, grasping her bicep. “We should keep going.”

“You—you can help, can't you? You are a knight sir?” the farmer asked, grabbing hold of Magnus' striped arm and hanging on him desperately. “What if it comes back for the rest of the herd? My livelihood!”

“Calm yourself,” Magnus growled down at the farmer, eyes locking with his and trying to keep from tossing the raccoon off his arm. The farmer's eyes grew huge, before he backed away and started running for it, screaming demons were among them as he went.

“What was that?” Rayne asked in a slightly bewildered manner, trying to figure out exactly what happened.

“I don't know,” he responded with a small innocent voice, watching the farmer go with the same expression of shock. “He seemed—crazed.”

“I thought you would have taken the job...” Rayne replied in a calm tone, but skeptical manner. “Or at least wanted to check it out.”

“If the dragon fed on his cows, its long gone by now. They aren't easy to track flying unless they're right above you,” he responded calmly. “Sad but true. They eat and leave. I doubt I would've been able to track it down to avenge his cattle.”

“What if it comes back?” Rayne questioned as she started walking again, he could see she was beginning to put something together. Some of the knowledge was falling into place, the suspicion was there for his true identity and Rayne was the type to see it without some real distractions. He was surprised she hadn't figured it out already but Rayne didn't have the proof she needed, yet. He needed to keep the yet from coming. If she found out who he was now, she could pull away. He wouldn't have that.

“You told me no dragon killing during this trip,” he replied, before grasping her tail slightly. Rayne's tail stiffened in his grip before she swatted at his paw, grinning at him. “I intend to keep my word, you know.”

“I did say that, didn't I?” she grumbled, trying to sound angry through her smile and to get free of his grip. “Gaerwn. Let. Go.”

“Did you think the dragon would catch my attentions so easily?” Gaerwn questioned, looking at her tail carefully as her paw swatted his again.

“I'm beginning to wish it had,” she teased him, before full on swatting his arm. “Would you let GO?”

Distraction covered. Magnus released her tail and grabbed her paw instead, pulling her forward and holding her close to him.

“Really? Here?” She asked in a droll manner, looking at him with a raised brow. “With the pig cart going by? It's very romantic.”

“It would be if you would give it a chance,” he growl-purred at her. Her face began to turn a pleasant red as her ears fell shyly on either side of her head. His mouth leaned forward but wasn't greeted with her own, instead her palm felt the weight of the kiss.

“I'll just have to find that out another time,” she teased before wiggling free and continuing without him in stride. “Without the crowd!”

“Better luck next time!” the pig cart driver called out. Magnus shook his head slightly before waving off the passing cart driver, strutting up behind Rayne.

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A grey dragon? No, not possible. It had to have been white in the darkness. She would have thought a raccoon had better eyesight at night, but perhaps the fear of a dragon eating the cattle had fogged his mind.

White dragon, eating cattle, nearly a few miles from where Rayne and Gaerwn were sleeping. She supposed Magnus' territory could easily encompass the farm, and he was merely feeding..but something was amiss there.

Magnus, in all the short time Rayne had gotten to know him and his habits, seldom left his cave at night. He usually ate his fill during the day and then slept through the night like a bear in hibernation.

Magnus hunting at night signified something...something that she couldn't figure out. Was he trying to keep an eye on her somehow? Was he keeping his distance because of Gaerwn? Or had his habits changed since she left? Did he even know she'd been so close? She took in a deep breath, holding it to ground herself, before releasing it again.

Second night, half a day's trek from Sagewynd. Only a little time to go before she could sleep in her bed and wait. She knew where she usually nestled into a safe place for the night, but with Gaerwn she wasn't sure about his climbing skills. She let him choose the place off the road for camp, a little clearing nestled in a few taller trees, the trunks would conceal the fire light and hopefully keep them safe from anyone traveling to steal or kill in the night.

Rayne was nestled in between the large roots of an impossibly old tree, letting the camp fire dance in front of her while she was lost in her thoughts. Darkness had taken over and the stars were pin pricks of light between still branches. She knew the sounds of the forest well, the difference between the worms and snakes moving through the rustle of fallen leaves and needles versus Gaerwn's hefty steps which scared most of the wild life away.

“You've been gone a while,” Rayne stated as she looked up from the fire to his lit form. He looked around a bit as he unstrapped his weapons.

“I got lost,” he grumbled but admitted to her, stepping around the fire and standing in front of her. He draped his weapons over her pack in the next little seat the roots made. He offered his paw suddenly, her face frowning in his shadow. “C'mon, the trunk can't be comfortable.”

“The trunk is fine,” Rayne stated, not knowing where else he would put them.

“The fire won't last all night, we need to stay close,” he said a little more firmly, his paw still waiting for hers. She let out a little huff, but it was the last night traveling with him. She took his paw and let him pull her to her feet. With some wiggling he took up the space she had been and pulled her down to lean into his torso, her back resting against his rising and falling chest.

“Where are you going after you've gotten me back?” Rayne asked in a very quiet tone.

“I have...something to take care of,” he stated vaguely. Her body turned around to look at him with a scowl.

“The dragon?” she demanded. He shook his head.

“Not the dragon,” he answered calmly, “But I will be back, if you want me to be.”

Her body tensed and she felt her own defense go up with those words. She didn't want to admit anything and she certainly shouldn't have been this close to him when he said it. He caught her waist before she could spring from his chest, pulling her back to lean against him, hands pinned between his chest and hers.

“We need to talk about this,” his voice, dark and demanding.

“We don't need to talk about anything,” she informed him as calmly as she could. His lip curled as a lower growl vibrated in his throat.

“You don't scare me,” she muttered.

“I think I do,” he answered. She could hear her heart in her ears, beating louder and harder than it had moments before. “I think you are afraid you care for me.”

Her glare was evident, but she didn't answer. How could she? She could try to lie, but truthfully she didn't want to. She however didn't want to say it out loud, internally she could hide it, but if she said it out loud she couldn't take it back. She leaned back a bit, before beginning to untie her vest and shirt, staring at the strings and not at his face. He would have to know that she—was dedicated to someone else, and if he knew about dragons he would know what lay in her chest. She slowly looked at his face and saw his eagerness, thinking she was giving into him. She opened up her shirt enough to show the scale shimmering in her flesh. His face shifted, eyes wide with brows drawn down. His grip around her waist tightened and his fingers were almost painfully digging into her hip.

“You know what this is,” she whispered in a tender tone. “I can't be with you, I am loyal to someone else. I care about you, but...I won't choose you.”

His breathing quickened, his face reddening. Soon he would spring up and run off in anger, Rayne knew that. He was clearly enraged with her loyalty to his enemy, the dragons. This would solve everything.

Wait, what was he doing? She felt the touch as his mouth met the scale in a firm kiss, sending a shiver through her body. Where was the rage? Where was the screaming she was now the property of a beast?

His mouth traveled up her exposed fur, and she felt thoughts clear as day begin to fade into nothing. When his lips met hers she lost herself completely.