Draconis 7

[kiraynn]

Title: Draconis chapter 7
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jared's a prince who always does what's expected of him, even as he dreams of following his heart. When his father signs an allegiance with a dragon clan and he meets Jensen, everything changes.
Disclaimer: Neither of these beautiful men are mine. I just play with them sometimes.

Previous Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six



(Awesome header made for me by the talented Inanna-Maat)

The ice cold feel of the stone beneath Jared’s body pulled him back from the darkness, and he slowly gained consciousness with a shiver as it penetrated his clothes. Pressing his hands to the stone, he swayed slightly as he pushed himself to sit up. His head swam and he gingerly touched his temple then hastily pulled away with a hiss. Ansem hadn’t held back that was for sure - a good size lump and bruise discolored his skin and was clearly visible despite his bangs.

His green eyes focused from left to right in an attempt to gather his bearings. He was situated in the middle of what looked like the dismal remainder of an old castle. The floor was still intact for the most part as were five thick pillars surrounding it. Piles of rubble ranging in size littered the ground, and Jared imagined they had once been enormous walls.

He crawled over to the nearest thick pillar and traced his hand over it, the pads of his fingers locating an engraving of a dragon upon the rough exterior. It’s wings were extended towards the sky, the long tail twisted upon itself as fire erupted from the gaping mouth. One of the front feet extended frontward, claws extended as though to ward off enemies.

“Draconis..” he murmured.

“So you know of it?”

Jared jerked his hand away and stood, facing a man he hadn’t seen in weeks but would never forget. Jeffrey Dean’s smile sent a flutter through Jared’s stomach as though a butterfly was trapped inside it.

“I’ve read stories, but I wasn’t sure if it truly existed.”

Jeffrey Dean walked over to the pillar and placed his hand over the carving, the look in his eyes a mixture of fondness and mourning. “It doesn’t exist. Not anymore. Tell me, what have you read?”

“Well…” Jared looked at the symbol again, “it was supposed to be like a dragon utopia. A place of nobility and strength, where dragons could live and prosper. It was also considered a holy place by those who worshipped dragons, and I heard that only the most worthy of people were allowed here.”

“I’m afraid that sometimes the views on worth aren’t always the same between individuals.” Jeffrey Dean turned away from the pillar to face Jared. “What you read was true. This place used to be magnificent, and had been our home for centuries. We allowed humans to come to us with no regard to their background or status. Anyone who wanted to have a taste of our world was welcome, and that is where we went wrong.”

“Humans did all this?”

“Not by themselves. Some of it was our own doing. The thing about absolute power, Jared, is that it corrupts. That’s true of your family as well, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’ve begun to learn that, yes.”

Jeffrey Dean nodded a little. “I’m sorry you had to learn it this way. I never wanted things to come about the way they have, but it seems my influence among my clan is fading.”

He gestured for Jared to follow him as he made his way out of the remainder of what used to be a great hall, and down a dirt path.

“The first time I met you, I was impressed by how entranced you seemed to be with my kind. It’s rare to find that in a human these days, especially when they come from a bloodline such as yours.”

“I’m not like my ancestors,” Jared insisted. “Besides if you knew my family were dragon hunters, why’d you come to the castle?”

“I don’t suppose your father ever got to tell you why he stopped hunting.”

“I was going to ask him, but I became kind of distracted by the attack and destruction of my home.”

Jeffrey Dean’s lack of reply was lost on Jared as his attention was taken by the place he had followed the dragon to. It was an humungous courtyard surrounded by a crumbling wall with more ruins of various size here and there. Some towers were still basically intact, and on a few of them perched dragons that were even larger than Jensen’s true form. They looked down at Jared like massive statues, only the rumbling growls emitting from them coupled with the wisps of smoke from their nostrils proved that they were very much alive.

Other dragons of various colors were around as well, soaring through the air or taking up residence on the ground. Never before would Jared ever have dreamt of the chance to see so many in one place, and that childish glee that he once owned wound itself back into his heart.

This time however he didn’t let himself forget that most of these creatures had no trust for him. He was a unwelcome stranger in their territory.

He also noted that Jensen was not among the masses, and hated himself for feeling a burst of disappointment over it.

“There’s many things I’d like to discuss with you,” Jeffrey Dean said, clapping a hand on Jared’s shoulder to gain his attention. “Again I apologize that our meeting had to occur this way, but it’s best to turn this opportunity to our advantage. However at this moment I have other matters to attend to.”

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” Jared tried to joke, but it came out forced.

The older man squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. “I’ll send someone to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m not going to cause trouble.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about.” He cast a meaningful look at the dragons around them. “Stay here for a moment.”

Jeffrey Dean disappeared through a doorway to one of the only remaining buildings, and Jared forced himself to keep his eyes on the ground. The last thing he wanted was to give any of the dragons an excuse to consider him hostile.

Two tiny feminine feet entered his line of vision, and Jared lifted his eyes to see a young, small figured red-haired woman. She gave him a once over, blue eyes zeroing in on the bruise.

“Ansem’s handiwork, huh?” she asked, looking disgusted with the other dragons’ behavior. “My name’s Danneel. Jeffery Dean told me to keep an eye on you, Padalecki.”

A couple of the dragons around them growled at the sound of his name.

“Uh, call me Jared. Please.”

“Jared,” Danneel repeated, testing the sound on her tongue. “I think I can do that.”

They ended up sitting on a pile of rubble, the stone cold beneath Jared’s butt and he wiggled a few times trying to get comfortable. The silence between them was unsettling, but he was reluctant to break it. Jared was farther out of his element than he’d ever been and he was at a loss of how to act. He’d told Sandy that he didn’t think the dragons would kill him, but he was sure that he could live after losing a limb or two. Hopefully no one would get any ideas.

“I can’t say I understand.”

Jared jumped at Danneel’s voice, not expecting her to talk especially since she wasn’t looking at him. “Understand what?”

The redhead glanced at him, her long ponytail swaying against the backs of her shoulders. “What Jensen sees in you. You’re.. cute for a human, I guess. In a pet sort of way. But I wouldn’t say you’re cute enough to cancel a mating ritual.”

“Mating ritual?”

Danneel wrapped her arms around her legs, curling in on herself so that she looked even smaller than she was. “Once dragons reach a hundred human years, they’re old enough for the mating ritual. It’s a majestic aerial display between two dragons and by the end of it they’re life-mates. Jensen was supposed to be mine, but then he met you.

“After that, he told me that he wouldn’t go through with it. Because of a human!” she sounded so completely flabbergasted that Jared would have found it amusing, if his heart wasn’t beating so hard against his ribcage.

Jensen had cancelled his mating ritual? It made sense if he didn’t want to cheat on Danneel or something. But why would he cancel, instead of just postponing it?

“Um.. Did he say why?”

Danneel looked at Jared as if he were an idiot. “Not right out, but I got the gist. Jensen’s just lucky I kept that little tidbit of information to myself, because things would have gotten bad for him here if everyone knew.”

“Well I don’t know if--”

“Did he fuck you?”

Jared sputtered, surprised at Danneel’s blunt tone. He averted his gaze and tilted his head forward slightly enough to construe as a nod. From the corner of his eyes, he could see her shoulders sag.

“I guess the ritual really won’t happen, then.”

He wanted to apologize, but how would he go about doing such a thing? Sorry for stealing your mate sounded weird, and he was sure Danneel wouldn’t think he was being serious. Jared wasn’t even sure how serious it had been, despite everything.

Although he had never said the words, to Jensen or to anyone, Jared had fallen love not long after they’d met. But now he wondered if all of that was just because of Jensen’s act. But had it been an act at all? Or something else. Jensen had said that not everything had been a lie.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Danneel complained. To Jared’s surprise, she gave him a slight smile and patted his knee. “It’s okay… Jensen has that affect on people. When I heard he was to be my mate, I admit that I was excited. Jensen is a strong male, and he’s gorgeous. I care for him very much, but if he doesn’t feel the same about me then I won’t trap him with a ritual. I’m disappointed of course. Besides you won’t live as long as us.”

The last part was meant to be a joke, but it wasn’t even close to being funny.

A roar pierced the air, but it was unlike the ones that Jared had heard before. There was a lighter tone to it and the sound of it caused Danneel to gasp and jump to her feet with quick grace. Watching her do it, Jared was faintly reminded of a rabbit.

“It’s time!”

She grabbed Jared’s wrist and yanked him behind her as she ran. Despite his longer legs, the girl was fast and Jared stumbled a little in surprise at her speed before he was able to properly gain his footing.

They ended up in the nesting ground, the grass littered with large nests that were a tangle of tree branches, leaves and sparkly jewels and molten gold that glistened in the sun. Only one of the nests actually had eggs in it, the others barren and abandoned, and it was around that one nest that a group of dragons were gathered. They were far back enough to give the mother, a large white dragon, room to move around the nest. Not one noticed as Danneel pulled Jared to the inner circle.

The air was thick with excitement, all eyes watched as the eggs shifted and rolled in their nest; Jared held his breath at the first sound of a crack. Almost simultaneously, five little heads, a mixture of green and white, popped out.

Five. Not six.

As the little babies climbed free and ambled drunkenly towards their mother, chirping as she lowered her massive nose to gently nuzzle him, Jared’s eyes stayed locked on the unbroken egg.

“Why isn’t the last one hatching?” he asked Danneel confusedly.

“Sometimes all the babies don’t live, Jared,” she replied sadly. “Even with all the love and care the mother gives them, they die inside the shell.”

Jared looked at the five little babies, all still making happy noises as they butted noses and rubbed against their mother’s face. The large dragon was purring, but her eyes kept glancing at the intact egg.

Making a quick decision, Jared pulled away from Danneel and rushed over to the nest. He fell to his knees and ignored the jagged edges of the shells and sticks poking into his legs as he took hold of the egg. Digging his fingers in, he pushed until the white shell gave way and cracked.

There was an snarl behind him from the enraged and possessive mother. Jared didn’t even seem to notice, and Danneel quickly placed herself between the human and furious dragon as a barrier.

“Wait, Tania.”

Jared carefully but hastily peeled the shell away, sliding his hands in to grasp hold of the tiny limp body that was within. The green baby dragon was the size of a cat, its wings just as long as it’s body, sans the tail, and were folded against it’s back.

Jared cradled the creature close; his arms, hands and chest immediately covered in warm slime, and began to rub his hand speedily back and forth over the baby’s chest.

The minutes ticked by, heavy with the hostility from the mother dragon and the desperation in Jared’s movements. Finally, as tears filled Jared’s eyes, the baby in his arms slowly started to shift. It lifted it’s head and looked at him with bright emerald eyes.

“Hey there,” he sniffed, running sticky and wet fingers over the baby’s moist, soft head. “We almost lost you, little guy.”

The baby dragon squeaked in response, and as Jared put it down it stumbled over to it’s mother and siblings. Both Danneel and the female dragon were watching Jared, fascination on Danneel’s face and he blushed.

“How did you..?” she started, gesturing to the baby.

“There was a puppy in one of the dog’s litter that didn’t move after it was born,” he explained sheepishly. “I watched my dad do that with her, and she lived. So I figured I’d give it a try. What was there to lose?”

“Your life,” Jeffrey Dean said, walking over to Jared. “If you had failed, the mother would have seen you as killing her baby even though it wouldn’t have been true. What you did was foolish,” he smiled kindly, “but it was also amazing. Well done, Jared. You’ve reminded me, and hopefully proven to some of my clan, that not all humans are bad.”

Jared flushed even further under the praise. With the adrenaline over, he realized that he felt incredibly slimy and gross. “Um… is there somewhere I can get cleaned up?”

Jeffrey Dean laughed. “Sure. Danneel would you take him to the--”

“No,” Jensen cut him off, walking over to the three of them. “I’ll take him.”

The two men stared at each other for a moment, a silent communication passing between their eyes and finally Jeffrey Dean nodded.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Jensen.”

“You mean again?”

Jeffrey Dean raised an eyebrow at Jensen’s petulant tone. “Watch your mouth.”

Jared cast a look at Danneel, a frown twisting her pretty features, and once more stumbled a little in surprise as Jensen grabbed his arm and pulled him away with quick, angry strides.

“Get off,” Jared grumbled, yanking away although he continued to follow. “I’m not a kid.”

“No, you’re an idiot. Do you have any idea of the danger you just put yourself in?”

“Oh that’s rich, coming from you. What I did was no more dangerous than trusting you.”

Jensen flinched at that, but said nothing. He led Jared to a large lake, and Jared wondered just how far they were from his castle. None of his books were positive on the location of Draconis since it had been something of a legend.

Ignoring the other man, Jared walked over to the water and jumped right in. Clothes and all. He broke the surface shivering.

“Holy crap that’s cold!”

Jensen smiled, his features relaxing in amusement. “No heated baths around here, Highness. I would blow some fire into the water, but all the fish would die and even in the open air the stink would take weeks to go away.”

“You sound like you talk from experience.”

“I do. It was not a pretty picture. Or odor.”

Jared wrinkled his nose then turned away, moving to a spot of the lake that he could stand on but still be submerged to his neck. Under the water, his hands rubbed over his shirt and hands trying to rid himself of the egg gunk.

“So will the baby really be okay?”

Jensen nodded. “He’ll be fine. You did a good thing.”

“I thought you said I did a stupid thing.”

“Good and stupid.” He sat down on the shore, arms resting on his bent legs as he watched Jared shuffle about in the water. “Jared, I think we should talk.”

“No thanks. You lie like a cheap rug, and I’d rather not have to analyze our conversations to figure out what’s crap.”

“I told you, not everything was a lie.”

“So you only lied about some things. Well how magical,” Jared rolled his eyes. “I know why you did it, okay? You were just trying to help your clan, and as angry as I am at you I understand that. Doesn’t change anything. You should have mated with Danneel while you had the chance.”

“She told you about that?” Jensen asked, sounding both wary and taken back.

“Yeah. She knows we had sex too.” Jared eased himself out of the water, figuring he was as clean as he was going to get, and stood shivering on the shore as he wrung the bottom of his shirt out. “You gave up having her as a mate to follow through with some plan to earn my trust, and for that I think you’re incredibly dumb.”

In a flash Jensen was in front of him, his warm hands cupping Jared’s face so that they would lock eyes.

“I’ve done a lot of dumb things,” Jensen said. “But choosing you over her was not one of them. I care about you, Jared. I have since that moment I saw you sucking honey from those flowers.”

Jared pulled away. “Did you know I’d be out there that night? Did you know who I was?”

“Jared..”

“Tell me!”

Jensen sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yes… I only pretended not to know you. Tom and Mike had been reporting back to us for a while about your family and you. I was supposed to become friends with you and I did, but the rest? Jared, the rest was all me. The touching, the kissing, the sex.. It was all because I wanted it. Wanted you. I meant what I said about you being my mate.”

Jared closed his eyes, thinking hard about what Jensen said and he started a little as Jensen’s arms slid around his waist. He could feel the other man’s body heat radiating off his chest, even though there was still space between them.

“Stay here, Jared. Forget your family. I know that sounds horrible of me but you’re not like them. You’re more like us and after what you did today, the others will learn to accept you. Some of them already do!” He leaned forward to nuzzle Jared’s neck, his tongue catching a stray droplet of water as it slid down the warm skin. “Please. Stay with me.”

Jared peeled himself away, shaking his head so hard that water flew everywhere. “Living here would be a dream come true, but it’s not right. I don’t belong among your kind, Jensen. That’s how all this happened before and I’ll be damned if I’m the cause of more death.”

“You’re already so caught in the middle it’s unavoidable,” Jensen replied. “You really think that Ansem brought you here for collateral so that your family could make up their mind about us? He brought you here to make sure that the war takes place. He wants them to attack, Jared. That way Jeffrey Dean will have no choice to retaliate.”

Jensen broke the distance between them, and taking Jared’s face in his hands he pressed a kiss against his mouth.

“I took an oath to protect you and that’s what I’m going to do. Like it or not I’m your dragon, and you’re my human. There’s no one else.”

“Are you saying that you..”

“Yeah,” Jensen smiled, “I’m saying what we both already know. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Jared pulled Jensen’s hands off his face. “But I won’t do this. I can’t trust you, Jensen. There’s just… no future for us.”

Dropping Jensen’s hands, Jared walked away.

Chapter Eight