Kingdoms of Ohm: The Lonely Dragon #1 ✓

My Sweet Nayre

~ ▬ι═══════ﺤ ~

Dear reader, might I confess a truth to you all?

It's impossible to tend to a scar, especially one that lingers from beneath a dragon's scales. I've had my fair share of such scars; I lost my parents to old age twenty-two years ago. When the nightmare starts, the world seems to turn upside down, beyond your control. Time starts to slow, turning seconds into minutes, and days into weeks. A silence grows, the breeze settles, and all of that hidden anguish unwillingly boils to the surface.

There is no remedy for loss in this world and the next -- even all the wonderous magic in Ohm couldn't tame a crack in the soul. Time was all anyone needed. Knowing so, there wasn't much I could do to help Islinea. And even when I dismissed them, a hollow hole collapsed in my hearthstone to remind me of her pain.

I folded in my wings as the seconds passed by, falling silent while the stars faded from my sights. Islinea's words struck more than just my ears and brain -- my heart had crumpled like paper in a human fist. Her grief was something no power could dare tame. It sure wasn't as pleasant for me either.

And that worried me. Had it happened to me or my friends, this pain would be far worse. I couldn't imagine living life with a burden to the throat, and an untended guilt that cannot be fixed by a gracious nuzzle. Sighing away my miseries, I then turned around to walk back from whence I came.

But I was stopped. A new visitor had appeared. But, rather than be exploited to talk, my eyes and heart had swollen up, fueled the second my shadow fell over a blue and grey dragoness, who smiled right over to me.

"Vaanku!" purred the female. My wings flapped twice in excitement.

"Nayre."

I cooed as I approached the female, quickly scratching my snout against her cheek before giving her a quick lick upon her metallic snout. The armored dragoness smiled, nuzzling the underside of my chin by the hilt of her own gleaming silver armor, and purred in return. As the moment reigned onward, my tail began to curl in, and my hearthstone pulsed to life once more, shredding away all the horrors that had gripped me from before.

Unbeknownst to some, me and Nayre were more than just wings of fire beneath the ancient mountain. We had been mates for at least a month, her being the one asking first for that title, which I found rather cute and brave of her. I, unfortunately, didn't have the guts to be that daring from the start.

I'm sure Kantar wasn't so pleased with my fear.

While it was unheard of to witness two royal guards express pure love for one another, given that our duties are 'royals over self', we didn't question our morals, or what defied our connection. Yes, we both knew our duties, and were fully aware of the consequences of this newfound affair. Even if we were forced to sacrifice our other's lives for the greater good of the kingdom, we'd understand completely. Perhaps 'until death due us part' had a more meaningful proclamation rippling between our love.

Of course the other guards didn't see this as any good. They were quick to blame our affection as a sign of weakness to the royals, but after weeks of trying to separate us they eventually gave up. Like nature to her children, Love prevails over all, as the forgotten saying probably goes.

The frisky moment passed pretty quickly, with Nayre having pulled away first with a short snort of amusement.

"You licked my armor again, didn't you?" she snorted, pressing her paw against the frame of the wet spot. "Goodness, I haven't cleaned the blasted thing in over a week you know!"

"I imagine it to be your snout," I chuckled, dipping my tail as a reflex of my growing embarrassment. "Then again, all I see is you, mi amor..."

"Oh you-" she slightly blushed to my humantalk, shaking her horned head while nuzzling the underside of my chin. "You are funny, Vaanku. And tempting."