Disclaimer: Do Not own Dark-Hunters or it's characters. My co-author and I only own our own characters and the plotline.

Acheron made his way over the uneven ground, searching for a better place to train his newest batch of Dark Hunters while they slept during what was left of the daylight hours. He hesitated as he spotted a cave up ahead, feeling immense power emanating from within it.

What he didn't know, was that deep inside, a large dragon slumbered. Sleeping off having to deal with idiot minions again to make sure they didn't expose themselves to humans in the modern day. The dragon shifted his head slightly and now faced the mouth of the cave.

Acheron paused outside the cave, hearing the unmistakable sounds of deep breathing by something that sounded rather large. He sighed, hoping it wouldn't come to a fight as he stepped inside the cave to do some exploring.

The dragon heard a few rocks make thumping noises as they moved, someone was walking into the cave. He was now awake and alert, but kept all outward signs slow and his eyes closed, waiting for whoever it was to come closer.

Acheron made his way into the cave and began to look around, being careful where he stepped.

The dragon had to suppress a smirk as he sensed whoever it was, was now completely in the cave. About a few meters in front of him and hadn't seen or sensed him yet, which he wasn't surprised at. He excelled at hiding in plain sight. The dragon sat up and brought a front paw down on the intruder, easily pinning them to the floor as his lips pulled back from his teeth and his poison green eyes glared down at them.

'Who dares to enter my lair?' He snarled in the intruder's mind, since In full dragon form, he was incapable of actually speaking aloud.

Acheron snarled right back. "Get that big ass claw off of me before I rip it off."

The dragon chuckled in amusement. This one had an attitude, that was nice to see every so often. 'I'd like to see you try... Atlantean.'

Acheron shoved the claw off of himself and stood to his feet, glaring up at the dragon. "I'm not in the mood. I was just looking for something."

Quite amused by this particular being, the dragon transformed in a swirl of black until he stood before him in human form. He stood about an inch or two taller with black hair that swept down passed his waist and the same toxic green eyes. He only wore a pair of low cut, form fitting black pants and black leather gloves over his hands. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a slight smirk. "Oh? Perhaps I can be of some assistance."

"I was looking for a place to train my men out of the sunlight."

The dragon gestured behind him. "There's a large network of caves back there, most of which are about the size of small arenas. This is the only one that ever comes into contact with sunlight."

Acheron raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "What is the price you require for access?"

The dragon shrugged. "Just tell your men to not disturb me or try challenging me. I will eat them." Then a small smirk, enough to let his fangs show, slid across his face before he brought a hand up under Acheron's chin and tilted his head up. "But also your name and a bit of blood from you will do."

He growled under his breath but knew he shouldn't have expected any different. Everyone wanted him for two reasons... to fuck him and to make him bleed. But he would do anything to ensure the men he had to train were kept safe and in an area where they were safe to train to fight the creatures they were being forced to hunt. "My name is Acheron Parnethopaeus," he replied as he shrugged out of his loose tunic to bear his back for the dragon to be able to whip, knowing it was Artemis' favorite way to exact his payments of blood.

The dragon simply raised a brow at him, honestly a bit confused by his actions. He lifted his head again to look him in the eye. "That's not what I meant." He said slowly was he ran a hand down to lightly rub against the skin of his neck. "I only desire for a little blood to know you are telling the truth." Then he shrugged a little. "And I just happen to like the taste of it."

Acheron found himself shivering in response to the touch on his neck, but it wasn't with the revulsion he usually found. He frowned a little as he looked at the dragon. "You just want to drink some of my blood? You don't want anything else in exchange for access to your caves?" He found it hard to believe the dragon didn't want to fuck him, too.

"No." Was all he said before he tilted Acheron's head to the side just slightly. He leaned in towards his neck and licked the skin. Then he bit down into the Atlantean's neck, making sure he only felt all of the pleasure and none of the pain of the bite.

Acheron closed his eyes, his arms reaching up to wrap around the dragon's neck and pull him closer as he tilted his head a little more to the side. He felt strange, almost as if something was burning him from within without hurting him, and his knees buckled slightly.

Dimitri wrapped his arms around the Atlantean's waist and back, holding him against his body as he feed. He knew just a bit of his venom was going into his veins, but he knew it wouldn't be enough to cause any real harm.

Acheron surrendered himself to the dragon, going limp in his arms as pleasure consumed him, moaning softly.

At hearing his moan, the dragon pulled out his fangs, licking the wound shut with his tongue before pulling away from his neck, but still holding the Atlantean so he wouldn't fall.

Acheron slowly opened his eyes, the swirling silver interspersed a little with flecks of poison green. "Is that the only payment?" he asked in a thick voice.

"That's the only one." He nodded. "Just remember to tell your men not to bother me."

Acheron inclined his head in acknowledgment. "They will not," he said, promising the dragon.

With that, the dragon turned to go back to his bed of pelts, only pausing after taking a few steps and looking back to Acheron. "My name is Dimitri."

Acheron smiled to himself as he repeated the name under his breath before moving into the other caves the dragon had mentioned so that he could make sure everything would be arranged.

Dimitri watched him leave to explore them shifted back into his dragon form before curling up to sleep once again.

Acheron spent the night bringing in his group of half a dozen Dark Hunters and getting them settled into the caves.

Dimitri couldn't return to sleep. He was interested in how exactly Acheron was training his men. After they arrived and went pass him, he shifted into human form and watched from the shadows.

Acheron put his men through the paces once each of them had chosen the part of the caves they would be sleeping in. He quickly figured out the best fighters from the bunch and got them set up working with the others to improve the skills of the entire group. "Keep working," he spoke to them. "I'll be back before the sun rises, and we'll get some sleep. Tomorrow night, we'll train again. I want you each ready to go out and fight before the week is over." He turned and started making his way back out of the caves.

Dimitri slipped back into his part of the cave and settled onto his pelts before Acheron came in. "So you're Dark Hunters." It was a statement, not a question.

Acheron narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the dragon. "The only one who is supposed to know of their existence other than myself is the one who created them," he stated. "Who are you, Dragon?"

"Someone you can trust. Trust me, the marks make it obvious who they are working under the orders of." The dragon said. "Only two Olympians really use a bow and arrow as a preferred weapon. And your men would be able to walk in the sun if they served Apollo." He shrugged as he sat back against the wall behind him. "And I've seen one of your boys before, sadly got eaten by a stupid cousin of mine."

Acheron sighed. "Lavon," he murmured. "I knew something had happened to him when he didn't return."

Dimitri rubbed his neck as he sighed. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

Acheron frowned. "I thought you said your cousin was the one who ate him. How does that make you the one who needs to apologize?" He sighed and rubbed his temples. "I've got to get out there and dust some Daimons. Keep an eye on them for me?"

"Mostly because it's my job to keep all of my kind in line." He said before shrugging. "And sure I'll babysit. It's nothing I haven't done before."

"Thanks," Acheron said before turning and walking out of the caves and into the night to fight the Daimons that threatened the humans.

The dragon sighed before looking down to a black tiger tattoo on his stomach. "Hato." He said quietly. The tattoo moved and shifted around on his body before coming off and taking the form of a human teen of twelve. He appeared to be African American only with bright golden eyes and dressed in deep browns. "Follow him and take out anyone who tries to kill him, but don't let yourself be seen."

The child Charonte demon nodded before turning and taking off outside the caves.

The Dragon's Heart

By the time the sun began to rise over the distant mountains, Acheron was bleeding sore and covered in the golden dust that exploded all over everything any time a Daimon was killed. He trudged back to the caves and collapsed just inside the main entrance from pure exhaustion at having to battle every night on his own since his men were not fully trained yet and he refused to risk their lives until they were.

Dimitri saw him, stood and made his way over to him, kneeling down next to him. He scooped the Atlantean up into his arms as he felt Hato sneak back into the caves and became a tattoo of a black tiger on his body again.

Acheron's head fell back over Dimitri's arm. "I can care for myself," he murmured with slightly slurred words. "And I'll heal eventually. It just takes a little time."

Dimitri snorted. "Not tonight you're not." He sat down on his bed of pelts again with Acheron's head on his lap. "Go to sleep, Atlantean."

He shook his head and attempted to push himself up. "I have to see to my men. They need to eat and get bedded down for the day..." He groaned as his head swam, almost falling over as he tried again to sit up.

Dimitri sighed and pushed him back down again. "Stay. I'll see that they're bedded down for the day. You just rest and heal."

Acheron opened his mouth to argue that it was his responsibility but found he was too weak from having to do all of the fighting himself right now and fell back against the pelts with a sigh, closing his eyes.

Dimitri stood and went deeper into the caves to yell at the men to get some sleep. After arguing with one and proving he /was/ the dragon they saw when they came in and wasn't afraid to eat them, they all went to their designated parts of the cave network to sleep during the daylight hours. Dimitri sighed as he came back to his cave and was glad to see that Acheron hadn't moved from where he had left him.

"Do they need anything?" he asked in a quiet voice without opening his eyes, sensing Dimitri coming back.

"Nah. They're all good." The dragon said as he sat down against the wall next to where Acheron laid. He looked down to the Atlantean. "/You/ need anything? You look like hell run over."

Acheron's eyes rolled under his closed lids at that comment. "Thanks," he muttered before sighing. "I'll be fine after some sleep."

Dimitri snickered at the eye roll. Then he yawned behind his hand. "If I'm not here when you're up again, I'm out dealing with my own minions."

Acheron mumbled something incoherent as he slid into a deeper sleep.

Dimitri chuckled and leaned against the wall before closing his eyes. Falling asleep minutes later.

The next day, the dragon was long gone before anyone else was up.

Acheron groaned as he began to wake up. There were still a couple of hours remaining until the sun went down for the night. He slowly sat up and stretched his arms over his head.

Right where Dimitri had been the night before was a piece of parchment he left with a note on it.

'Left some game deeper in the caves for your men. Had no idea if you actually eat or not but left one for you anyway towards the entrance to the other caves.

-Dimitri'

Acheron leaned back against the rock wall of the cave. He knew his men wouldn't be up for at least another two hours, and he didn't eat, so he simply sat there to wait.

About half an hour before the sun set, the dragon came back to the cave. He shrunk down to his human form when he saw Ash was awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a dozen chariots, but I'll survive," Acheron replied.

Dimitri chuckled at him. "I know the feeling."

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