The Golden Dragon's Hoard

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"Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live."
― Nora Roberts

Hey guys, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Part One - Chapter Ten
"The Brave Little Dragon"

Once winter's shed most of its chills and springs had the chance to take over, the coven deems the little dragon healthy enough to venture outside.

With the entire house being magic—something that is more extensive than the hatchling first realized—they have a doorway to a field in the middle of a forest that they own. The house is technically there and here, both in the town and not, though the shop doesn't transfer over and is instead another living room over there.

It's weird but he's too excited to be in the sun to question the how.

Though they're not scared he's going to run, because he's not going to, Athanasius and the others are still rather wary about letting him outside.

The big dragon still thinks it's a little too chilly out there for him and pulls him back to the nest at the tiniest of shivers; Ras is paranoid that a dangerous animal is going to come out of nowhere and just scoop him up; Oziamon simply does not like being in the sun too much.

But with grass being below him and being able to get fresher air than the balcony railing can provide, Stray is absolutely loving this new freedom.

He can run and play and be as loud as he wants. As long as the hatchling stays in the yard and has supervision, he can do whatever he would like to. It'd be easy to escape, really—but Stray finds that he no longer wants to.

There's nothing for him out there and entirely too much here to lose if he were to go.

He has a nest here, a hoard with lovely things and lovely people. There's warmth and kindness, there's touch that does not hurt.

There's Athanasius, his favorite. His protector.

If he can, Stray's going to stay with them forever. He's going to stay and he's going to try like he has been trying. He's going to stay until they don't scare him at all anymore and even after that.

They've never said anything to make him think he can't.

When he's outside (and truly, all of the time), Athanasius is the best to play with.

Outside, when the big dragon's busy, Oziamon's the most fun to play with.

The big dragon is, well, rather big to play with and is too concerned to wear him out and the phoenix is too cautious to have careless fun if it involves fire.

The witch, however, is the perfect height to play fight while sitting down and has no problems throwing him up into the air a couple feet to let the baby glide and twist on the way down.

Plus, on days they don't play, Oziamon sings him songs and has him bring the witch random things to fit into his lyrics. He laughed until he cried, once, when Stray caught him a ladybug but it wouldn't get off his snout.

The little dragon really likes it here, more than he likes anywhere else.

It's nice, being able to be warm and have fun—to play and not worry about surviving. It's also nice to be loud and, as loud as Stray gets, Ozzy's even louder!

When they get into their squeaking matches—the hatchling yelling for the sake of yelling alone and Oziamon with a purpose of mocking him—no one hurts them for any of their noises and if they're being too distracting, they'll simply be asked to quiet down.