As soon as Eddie passed out, Richie gathered him in his arms, trying to get him to wake up. He was still breathing but obviously overwhelmed and still losing blood.
The dragon stood above them, focused on Richie. It was still purring, sitting down next to them. It wasn't enormous; around the size of two beds out together, but much more powerful than it seemed.
If what Eddie said was true, maybe it'd listen to Richie?
"Dragon!" Richie called, getting its attention.
It bent down, clearly concerned.
Richie took the opportunity to climb onto its long neck. He pointed up at the cage and the dragon seemed to understand, spreading its veined wings and taking flight.
The rough scales cut Richie's legs, but he didn't care. He needed to get Eddie out of the arena so his cut could be healed. The dragon stopped when it got to the edge of the cage, allowing Richie to hand Eddie out to Bev and Mike, knowing they could save Eddie.
Then, he flew toward where the king was, the dragon following every single command. It was almost as if its goal was to please Richie and to serve him.
"Is your battle over or am I just going to have to sit with this dragon for another forty minutes?" Richie snapped at the king, the Mocca dragon snarling along with him.
"How did you tame it?" the king asked, his own dragons cowering under the intense growls that Richie's dragon was emitting.
"I don't know, but I don't plan on letting it go feral again. Are you gonna let us out or am i going to have to have this dragon do it for me?"
The king looked panicked, nodding at Cassie who smirked and ran to the door inside the arena.
Richie got the dragon to land and slid off of its back. It growled at Cassie, but stopped when Richie scolded it.
"It's incredible," Cassie said to Richie as they walked to Mike's house. She told him Eddie was being healed there.
"What is?" Richie asked.
"Ponanians secretly protect the dragons and our king is quite literally the dragon king. Yet, you're the first person I know to tame a Mocca."
"Eddie says that the Tenebrians rode them into war and that it must've recognized my mark," Richie said, showing Cassie the spade.
"Well, she's bonded to you. If she wasn't she'd have flown off by now," Cassie informed him, looking up at the beast that was following Richie, still purring.
"Does that mean I basically have a pet dragon now?" Richie asked, not sure whether that was a good or bad thing.
"Essentially. Eddie knows more than I do about dragons. He's smart."
"Think he can explain it then?"
Cassie nodded. "Yes, but you should give her a name. At least then we don't just have to call her by her type. Dragons can be sensitive."
The dragon let out a growl, but Richie could tell she was agreeing with Cassie, directing the growl toward him.
"Fine," Richie said, glaring up at beast, who seemed pleased by his attention. "How will I know which name works?"
Cassie laughed to herself. "I don't know, give her some options."
They were in front of Mike's house and Cassie walked up to the door, opening it for herself. It was clear that the house was too small for the dragon, so Cassie told Richie to stay outside until his dragon had a name.
"Okay dragon, you need a name," Richie said, and he swore that she managed to roll her eyes.
"Midnight?"
The dragon let out a disapproving growl.
"Linda."
Another growl.
"Gertrude."
She spat a small blast of fire near Richie's foot, making him jump away.
"I don't speak dragon so don't come at me for not knowing the one name you like! There's a million names in this fucking world!" Richie snapped, causing the dragon to roll her eyes again and lay down.
She was looking up at the sky, which had stars splattered across it from the sun setting. Richie could already see the constellations.
The arrow constellation, Stella Major, and the spade one, Iris Minor. Those two were taught on Divisus, as there was a legend behind the great divide between the two places.
"What about Iris?" Richie asked, looking over at his dragon.
She purred at that, nuzzling into his arm. Richie ran a hand over her scales, smiling softly.
"Richie!" Bev yelled, running outside of Mike's house.
"What's up?" Richie asked, standing up and turning toward his friend.
"Eddie's awake. I think he wants to see you."
Richie turned to Iris, who seemed to understand. She spread her wings and flew off, but Richie could tell she'd return when she felt like she needed to.
"Is his leg okay?"
"Yeah, but I think he thinks you're injured. He's yelling about needed you so he can make sure, and I quote, 'I need to check and make sure Richie's dumbass didn't manage to survive a fucking dragon battle but somehow cut his arm off on his way out of the arena!'" Bev said in a mocking, high pitched voice. "He's also probably going to yell at you for going in there in the first place."
"Who's fault was that?" Richie spat bitterly, still annoyed with Bev for the things she said.
Bev flushed a pink color. "I did it because you were hesitating. I knew you wanted to save him and that you'd manage to survive. I'm sorry for the things I said."
Richie rolled his eyes. "You're forgiven," he said, hugging Bev before running inside the house and to the bedroom.
He found Eddie yelling at Stan about something stupid, which made Richie realize his stress and panic was being turning into rage.
"RICHARD YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Eddie screamed as soon as he noticed Richie.
"Uh, good morning?" Richie said, watching as Stan shot him a glare and left the room.
"No, it's night and you're fucking stupid! You could've died! I was fine!" Eddie yelled, scowling at Richie and crossing his arms tightly.
"Your leg injury told me otherwise," Richie challenged, poking at Eddie's injury and watching him hiss in pain. "Besides, I got a cool ass pet dragon out of it, so fight me."
"Why the fuck did you do it?"
"I think you meant 'how the fuck did I do it,'" Richie corrected before beginning to talk about how he managed to bond with a dragon, but Eddie stopped him.
"No, I know how that works. I mean, why did you risk your life to save me?"
Richie scoffed. "I promised I'd protect you, Eds. I wasn't joking."
"Yeah, but risking your life? Why would you do that? We don't even know each other!"
Richie scooted up next to Eddie and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, pulling Eddie's head to lean on his chest. "I want to get to know you. I really like you, Eds, but I was scared to date someone who wasn't like me I guess," he tried to explain.
"I told you I didn't care."
"I know. Can I have another chance?" Richie asked, forcing Eddie to turn and make eye contact.
Eddie smiled, leaning in a pressing a chaste kiss to Richie's lips. "Always."
