Darifer was hanging from the ceiling again. The collar around his neck had three chains that led to piercings on his chest and a particular ring that his master had fastened to the base of his second head. Each of his wings had two sets of piercings running down their length, with black ribbons running down through the loops in an intricate manner.
A clawed hand scratched the underside of the lavender astral dragon's tail and trailed along the soft scales with the sole purpose of stimulating arousal. A set of teeth bit down on Darifer's shoulders possessively as the clawed hand slid around to pump the hardened length. One of the blue fingers slid up to press the pad into the dragon's slit, drawing forth a whimper from Darifer. "Astral filth," were the words hissed into webbed ears.
::::::
The council room was large and round. The middle of the wall was embedded with windows that ran around the entire circumference. The room was in one of the taller towers of the fortress. The only way to enter and leave it was through a long, spiral staircase. From there, the Sentains could see all of the different segments of their homelands. Sindri, Gonuret, and the Gallants followed the Sentains into the room. But, it was difficult for the younger dragons to keep from gaping at the different angles of the view.
The Sentains sat down in an orderly manner from youngest to oldest, leaving Sindri to sit beside Vitara. Gonuret sat beside him, and the others filled up the remaining chairs. Madhal sat to Gonuret's right followed by Ilohir, Kelius, Emyve, and finally Ruthed. The conference table was large and heptagonal in shape. Two dragons sat in each of its sides. Sentain Vitara stood up to be seen from everyone's point of view. "Let me introduce to you each of the council members. To my left is Sentain Dranel, from the sea. To his left is Sentain Liana from the rainforest. Followed by Sentain Riah from the taiga, Sentain Arasie from the grassland, Sentain Lyre from the Volcanic Isles, and the grand Sentain Yuneza of the desert."
"They say 'grand' as if it's supposed to be some sort of reverent title," Sentain Yuneza scoffed to Ruthed. "We both know that it merely means 'grand of age.' Ninety years old is only a decade away from one-hundred, after all." She jested with a snicker that made her appear at least three decades younger than her actual age.
"We are here to discuss the repercussions that the shifting of the tectonic plates has caused on the planet," Sentain Dranel began.
"You mean, we're here to bash our heads over this table as to why the world seems to be peeling itself off like a banana," Sentain Yuneza suggested.
"Y-yes, in plainer terms," Sentain Dranel added with a slight blush forming on his face.
"If we're going to do something about it, we can't sit around using fancy words all day," Yuneza pointed out. "Let's hack it all out and be done with it."
"Sentain Yuneza is right," Sentain Lyre agreed. "We need to form a team that is willing to personally investigate what is truly happening on the other side of the planet."
"But we need to go in prepared." Sindri reminded them both.
Ilohir nodded. With a slight frown, he noticed that Kelius had barely said a word. Normally, the copper dragon called for action! He reached out and gently shook his shoulder. "Kelius? Are you alright?" He asked, and then, he heard the sound of snoring. "H-he's sleeping..."
Ruthed snickered, having a pretty good idea as to why Kelius was so tired. "Guess he had a little too much fun with his new roommate." He whispered in Ilohir's direction.
"I volunteer to investigate that area with the Gallants," Gonuret suggested. The Sentains looked at one another, but it was Sentain Yuneza who spoke.
"Guess it's time to dust out one of those small aerial ships that our Sentain ancestors were so fond of before they realized that they used them to travel for so long that they had forgotten how to fly."
"…is that why we can only glide now?" Ilohir asked, his curiosity spiked.
"Oh, I'm sure of it," Sentain Yuneza agreed with a snort. "But, in this particular case, it will make the journey to the other side a lot faster." She stood up. "I'll need the Solare, the Lunare, and Gallants to follow me. The rest of you should take the time to go to your home biomes to brace the tribes for any worsening conditions."
Sindri felt a pang in his heart when he thought about his home biome. But, he had a feeling that all of them were feeling the same kind of pain in their hearts. If the entire planet were suffering, their home biomes would cease to exist.
"Sentain Yuneza, what about the desert biome?" Sentain Liana asked in a concerned tone of voice.
Yuneza sent her a wry smile. "Gallant Mavius is more than capable of taking care of the desert in my stead."
"He will be most pleased to be of use once again," Sentain Vitara responded.
"Take heed, young Solare, and Lunare," Sentain Yuneza said as her gaze fell on the two. "Your positions will change in ten years, but your tasks in protecting your fellow dragons will never be finished." He informed them as they stood up to follow her. "Someone wake that grassland Gallant up and we'll be ready to go."
Ruthed, eager to please his now favorite Sentain, quickly rushed over to pinch Kelius awake. "Come on, when's the last time you've ever seen an actual spaceship with your own eyes!"
"Owww, what the fuck?" Kelius groaned as he sat up and blinked, slowly looking from side to side at all the empty chairs. "Is the meeting over already?"
Emyve chuckled and replied. "Yes. Come, grace us with your presence. I'll fill you in on our mission along the way."
Sentain Yuneza led them back down the spiral staircase and into a separate hallway that had yet another spiral staircase that led somewhere beneath the fortress. "So many blasted stairs…this is one of the very things I look forward to not doing anymore once I turn one-hundred." She grumbled on her way down.
Sindri tried to not laugh upon hearing her complaints. "There are quite a lot of stairs. At least it's good exercise?"
Beneath the fortress was, what appeared to be, a hangar. In the distance, a runway could be seen that opened up to the forest beyond. Everyone looked on in awe. How could something so extensive exist beneath an entire fortress?
"This place is amazing! I would never have thought that something like this was under the fortress." Ilohir stated, Sindri nodding in agreement.
Emyve had studied the blueprints of the fortress about a day or two ago. He was the only one that was not surprised. "During the construction of the solar powered bullet trains, our ancestors used these ships to ferry the workers back and forth without their becoming too exhausted to fly themselves home."
"I didn't even know this was here. I could have sworn Ansar, and I looked all around the fortress," Ruthed added.
Madhal, who was keeping an eye on Kelius to make sure he didn't fall asleep and tumble down the entire flight of stairs, was pleased to note that the copper dragon was now fully awake and gaping at their surroundings. "So, we are to use one of these ships to travel to the opposite side of the planet?" He asked.
Sentain Yuneza nodded gruffly. "The simulation room holds only two dragons at a time, but I want all of you to learn how to fly them before you take off as a group. The program lasts for two hours, so you will have to take turns." She glanced at each of them in turn. "Be prudent and attentive, for you will serve as our eyes." That being said, she left them to their tasks and walked up to Sindri. "Bid farewell to your life mate and come with me, young Solare."
Kelius glanced at Sentain Yuneza upon hearing that, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to give his own life mate a proper goodbye. "Sindri, tell Ansar for me, will ya? I wouldn't do things this way if I had a choice, you know?"
"Well, operating this thing can't be that hard if the simulation is only two hours long, right?" Ruthed asked.
"The lessons are far more condensed than you think. Though you are only inside for two hours, it will feel more like two months." Emyve explained.
Sindri frowned when he realized that he wouldn't be allowed to go with the others. It was probably for the best, but it did nothing to ease his concerns... "Yes ma'am," He said before hugging Gonuret. His grip hinted to the other dragon how he wished he didn't have to let go.
Gonuret squeezed his beloved tightly as well, waiting for him to pull back enough to lean down for a soft, tender kiss. His hands reached up to thread through the Solare's hair as he pressed their foreheads together. "I'll do my best to return as soon as possible."
"You better come back as soon as you can," Sindri said quietly. He nodded towards Kelius in acknowledgment, smiling a little. "I'll be sure to do that. Though, who knows when I'll get to do so if he's as tired as you are!" He added, sticking his tongue out to mess with him.
Ruthed couldn't help but snicker. Apparently, Sindri had an idea as to why Kelius was napping earlier, too.
The Solare looked to the others after he let go of Gonuret. "Everyone, stay safe, okay?"
Ilohir nodded, taking Madhal's hand. "We will."
Yuneza waited until Sindri was finished with his goodbyes and well-wishing before walking with him back up the spiral stair cases. "I know how you feel. When I was Solare, I always wanted to be in the forefront and wanted to do all the leg work myself. But, you have to realize that you are now the representative for all tribes now. You have to be at the center, the core. You must gather the information and re-distribute it as necessary."
Sindri nodded, slightly frowning. "I know. I just feel a bit useless staying here while they're out there." He sighed. "But, my place is here, unless otherwise needed." Though, the real fun part was having to tell Ansar the news.
When they finally reached the top of the tower, where it connected to the rest of the fortress, Sentain Yuneza stopped and gazed up at Sindri. "I'm sure you can find your way back from here. You will soon be of much more use than you can possibly imagine. Conserve your energy for now."
The new Solare looked a bit confused at what Sentain Yuneza was suggesting. Did she know of what he could end up doing? He simply nodded in response and headed towards Ansar and Kelius's room. "Ansar?" He called as he knocked on the door.
When the desert dragon didn't answer, he opened the door and noticed that the covers were drawn and the room was cast in shadow. He saw the lump under the covers and walked towards the mess of curly hair that poked out from beneath the sheets. "You're still sleeping?" Sindri asked as he reached out and gently shook his friend's shoulder. "Ansar, wake up."
A small frown formed on Ansar's face as he whined. "Again? Darn it, Kel, I'm dead tired..." He yawned softly and rubbed at his eyes. "You still have that meeting, remem-" His voice cut off when his yellow eyes caught sight of, not Kelius, but his best friend. "Sindri!" He squeaked, lifting the sheet up to his chin subconsciously.
Sindri laughed when he heard the squeak. "Calm down; I didn't see anything." He assured him before smiling a bit deviously. "You two certainly didn't waste any time. And here, I haven't even gotten any yet!" He reached over to ruffle his friend's curls. "The meeting's over, and it's been decided that a team is going to personally investigate what's happening on the other side of the planet. So, the new Lunare and the Gallants won't be around for a while. Kelius told me to tell you that he wouldn't do it this way if he had a choice." Sindri explained as simply as he could since it was a lot of information to take in and Ansar had just woken up.
Ansar's face was a bright pink shade all over when Sindri poked fun at him. But, the expression on his face became more and more serious as he heard the Solare out. "That's so far away..." He pondered out loud. "I hope they get back soon...and safe."
::::::
The Lunare and Kelius had taken the first turn in the simulation and were already inside the ship, preparing it for take-off. "The technology that our ancestors had at their disposal was amazing," Gonuret mused.
"I'm surprised any of this is still operational," Kelius commented, knocking on the wall made of some strange, iridescent material.
"Much like the craft of blacksmithing, it seems as if certain dragons were tasked to perform regular maintenance."
Kelius sighed as he sat down on the co-pilot seat. "I just wish we had more of a warning. It just went from a meeting to 'time to send all of you Gallants off to investigate.' I would have liked to spend a little more time with my Ansar."
Gonuret shook his head slightly. "At least you had some private time with Ansar, to begin with..."
A devious grin formed on Kelius's face. "So, the rabbits did keep you up all night? That's a shame. I would have thought you could have handled the rabbits and Sindri all on your own." When Gonuret remained silent, Kelius gaped. "Wait, you mean the two of you didn't even get down last night? Are you kidding me! We practically handed Sindri to you on a silver platter, and you couldn't even give him the night of his life?"
"Now is just not the time," Gonuret replied stiffly as he ran some tests on a panel. "The safety of the tribes comes first." Before Kelius could reply to that, Ilohir and Ruthed joined them on the ship.
"I see you two have already started to get things going here," Ruthed said as he got to work on another panel of the ship. "This is so exciting! This could be our only chance to run one of these ancient ships! We should take turns flying...can we?" He turned to ask the Lunare.
"Should something happen, we should all have at least some physical experience with flying the ship, so yes," Gonuret replied.
"Sweet!" Ruthed cooed while Emyve looked down at him with a wistful expression on his face.
"Hey, Emyve..." Kelius drawled as his eyes fell to half-mast. "You took advantage of last night with Ruthed, didn't you? I mean surely you didn't let the opportunity pass to consummate your love with your lifemate, right?"
The redhead carefully studied the expression on Kelius's face along with the fact that Gonuret refused to meet anyone's eyes. "Not quite to the point of consummation, no..."
Gonuret crossed his arms and sent Kelius a triumphant look of 'see, we're not all horn dogs here.'
Ruthed merely raised an eyebrow. "Hey now, that doesn't mean that we didn't do a little SOMETHING or other...little Em got quite a little show from his bed."
A blush came across Emyve's cheeks and nose as he feigned interest in the panel that Ruthed had already prepared while Gonuret groaned in disappointment.
"See?" Kelius practically purred. "Shame on you, Lunare. Shame on you."
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