The sounds of battle and the roar of a dragon awoke Yeyin and he sprinted to the edge of the cliff, nearly falling to his demise. He looked in horror upon seeing his brothers engaged in a life or death battle with the dragon that had carried him off. A sudden leaden weight hit his gut as he realized he needed to hurry.

"Hold on, guys!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'm coming!"

. . . . . . . .

Ky'gall and the rest scrambled again in their attempts to distract them move away from the great beast which they had literally stumbled upon. They had seen the flames from the funeral pyre Yeyin had lit the previous night and headed out in that direction. By sunrise, they were only a couple hundred yards from the giant, rock monolith. They had been approaching it when Hi'tashi had tripped over what, at first, appeared to be a reflective piece of steel, he grumbled for a moment, before giving a bark of surprise as the sand beneath began to move! Slowly a huge form became visible as it continued to push itself up from underneath the green male. It soon became apparent that they had quite literally awoken a sleeping giant. The great dragon, which had partially buried itself in the sand to stay warm the previous night, shifted and pulled itself free of the dune and set about attacking the four boys. At first, they could only stare, mouths agape, as it stood before them with sand running off of its great serpentine body like water.

Only after the thunderous roar and swing from its club like tail did they spring into action. A great puff of sand had erupted from the impact and Hi'tashi backpedaled on hands and feet as the beast turned to face him. He slipped in the sand as the great head lunged towards him, the giant teeth flashing white before they were all of a sudden blasted to the side. Rul'wan had picked up a fairly large rock and heaved it at the head of the great dragon. The impact knocked the head off course and stunned it for a moment as well as knocking a few teeth loose; they skittered across the sand to the green male's feet.

Hi'tashi quickly grabbed them and bolted away, tossing them to Ky'gall and Rutaroo, who stuck them in their belts to use if necessary. After shaking its head, the great monster scanned for its attackers. The great, iridescent eyes narrowed as they sighted their target. Ky'gall had rallied the other three to him and took cover behind a small rock as they tried to devise a plan of action. The dragon was much larger than they had estimated, at least eighty feet or more, and the armored scales were much too thick for any of their crude weapons to penetrate.

Suddenly the rock exploded into pieces as the massive, clubbed tail smashed it apart. Before the rest could even react, the tail swung again and sent Ky'gall flying through the air before hitting the ground and rolling uncontrollably for a several hundred feet. He lay where he stopped, his head ringing, vision swimming, and his whole body aching. The soft thudding and cries of his kin reached his ears and he managed to roll over and sit up somewhat. His eyes widened and his skin paled at the sight he met.

The giant, silvery body of the dragon was coming right for him, rippling and coiling through the dunes, literally swimming through the sand. Within in moments, it was upon him and reared up like some giant cobra. The vicious, steel shredding jaws opened wide as it prepared to strike and Ky'gall felt frozen. He couldn't move, couldn't even scream. Time seemed to slow as the great head lunged forth, aiming right at him. He closed his eyes in resignation of his fate.

A whooshing sound met his ears before a squishing thud and a roar of agony, followed by one of challenge. He opened his eyes to see that the dragon had stopped and something had buried itself in its eye. Black blood dripped and gushed from the soft, mangled flesh that had once made up the eye. It recoiled backwards and clawed in fevered agony to rid itself of the alien object.

It fell to Ky'gall's feet and he picked it up, looking at it. It was Yeyin's belt knife. Suddenly, a ferocious roar sounded and the great black bulk which was Yeyin shot past Ky'gall and leapt onto the dragon.

The other three had been running to Ky'gall's side and helped him to his feet as they watched, dumbfounded, while their black brother clambered onto the neck of the beast.

"Go for the underbelly!" Yeyin roared at the top of his lungs, "It's his weak spot! We can beat him!"

The dragon bucked and reared up as Yeyin stabbed in-between the scales on its neck with his spear, drawing more black blood. He caught sight of Ky'gall and tossed him something. It was an axe, the head of which he had taken and attached to a pole.

Ky'gall gripped it tightly and turned quickly to rally his brothers, "Let's go! Stay low, keep sharp, and avoid the tail and his claws! Go in turn, attack and rake the underbelly, then get out before he shifts again! Those not attacking need to keep him occupied! Let's bring this monster down!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The four charged into the fray, all set with the plan, fueled by adrenaline and the knowledge that they could beat it.

Ky'gall had charged in first using Yeyin's razor sharp knife to slash and hack at the soft belly scales. Blood burst and soaked his body and he tucked and rolled as the dragon shifted and moved again.

Rutaroo bolted in next, a knife in one hand and a tooth in the other, he whirled and spun like a top, slicing, ripping and shredding everything he could reach before rolling back out again.

Next was Hi'tashi, then Rul'wan; again and again the cycle repeated and each time more damage was done.

The Mirror Dragon roared and shrieked in agony, its belly on fire with pain, and more and more wracked its massive form with each cut and slice inflicted. Black blood stained the sands and it kept trying to fight, the mad fury of survival instinct driving it on.

"Keep going!" Yeyin roared out from his perch, "He's starting to flag; we got him!" he yelled triumphantly before suddenly being thrown off. The dragon had whipped its neck back and flung Yeyin and his spear free, then spun and knocked all the others flat.

Yeyin landed on his back with a thud and his spear lay several yards in front of him. He stood groggily and, realizing the dragon was charging straight for him, dashed forward; he had to get his spear.

The beast poured on more speed as it charged toward its primary tormenter, deciding that this one would die first. The pain in its belly drove it as much as its great rage and a massive roar of triumph sounded from its mouth.

Yeyin answered the roar with one of his own as he realized how close this was going to be. Grabbing his spear, he held it high as he saw the beast raise itself high to strike. A cry of defiance sounded from him as the great jaws came crashing down on top of him and an enormous puff of sand and dust erupted before everything went suddenly silent.

Ky'gall stood first and looked over at the great body of the dragon which was lifeless, limp, and unmoving. The great mirror like scales glittered in the sunlight and a trail of dark blood followed it to its resting spot. He bolted forward, axe ready, but it was already done; the great dragon of the desert was dead. He moved to the head and heard the sounds of strained grunting where Yeyin was using all his might to force the dragon onto its side before crawling out of its mouth.

His spear stuck out the back of its skull, un bent, un-damaged, and still perfectly intact. Both gawked at it. By all means, it should have been broken beyond any imagination or hope of repair, yet it stood as stiff and straight as it had before its killing blow. Yeyin grasped the part of the shaft that was still sticking out the roof of the jaw and, after wiggling it a bit, yanked it free with a sickening, stomach-churning, wet, crunching noise.

The dragon gurgled somewhat and its chest suddenly collapsed. Ky'gall stiffened and raised his axe high, ready to strike, but Yeyin put a restraining hand on him. Ky'gall snapped his head at his brother, but paused at the relaxed, somewhat saddened stare of his brother. He followed the line of sight and saw what Yeyin did. Blood was pooling in the mouth of their slain foe, his lungs had finally collapsed under gravity and had overflowed with blood which was now leaking out.

The rest approached and all looked on almost in a similar fashion. What had been a great rush of blood and adrenaline moments before was now the slowed and calm movements of the civilized mind.

A strange guilt suddenly pulled at them; a feeling that they had done wrong, even though they knew what had been done was necessary.

Yeyin spoke for the group, "We have no shame here. We killed to survive this day, did we not?" A unanimous round of "yes'" answered him, "Then we have done what we needed to." he finished, bowing his head.

"We slayed the dragon." Rul'wan said slowly and quietly.

Hi'tashi then repeated his words, somewhat louder this time, all the while staring at the great beast, "We slayed the dragon."

All of a sudden, as if a wave washed over the group, they stiffened and felt their blood rush through them. The veins could be seen in the arms of Yeyin and Ky'gall and the rest began to fidget and shake somewhat as the realization of their monumental, impossible feat began to sink in.

Ultimately, it was Yeyin who threw back his head first and roared, for the first time in his life, as a truly, dominant predator. But when his brothers joined in, it sounded like thunder across the plains.

. . . . . . . . . . .

A week passed. The staff were sent out to find the five boys, along with 5 very stubborn females who refused to be dissuaded. Ta'lee was very nearly put in a holding cell when she knocked out a guard for trying to hold her back, but in the end, it was Ju'dha who had calmed her down. During the time their respective males had been away, the two had gotten to know each other very well and had become good friends, almost forming a sisterly bond.

They lead the group as they set out into the desert, each refusing to rest until their respective males were back with them. They were shocked as they came across the scene of battle on the dunes. Black blood was everywhere, staining the golden sands a sickly tar color. Ju'dha blanched slightly; carnage of this magnitude was unseen unless a hunt went wrong.

Ta'lee, however, had frozen stiff. She was still unused to violence, let alone bloodshed, and to see so much turned her stomach somewhat.

"Come, Mei-jadhi, let's go." Ju'dha said, putting a hand on Ta'lee's arm. The thin, orange female stared at the blood a moment longer before catching up to Ju'dha.

"What in Paya's name happened here, Ju'dha?" she asked in a hushed tone, her eyes still bright.

"A battle of some kind, that much is obvious, though whatever they encountered here must have been one hell of a beast. A real kujhade for sure." she answered with a shrug. Ta'lee blanched this time and, needing support, held onto to Ju'dha, who willingly lent her strength, "It's alright, Mei-jadhi. I'm sure they're ok."

"MORE THAN OK, TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST!" a sudden booming voice called out.

Both looked up and saw Yeyin coming out from the mouth of a cave at the top of the sand hill around the base of the rock. He was wearing pieces of strange armor and using a long spear as a walking stick.

After a moment's pause, Ju'dha broke out running straight toward him. The last few feet, she flung her arms wide open and nearly knocked him over as she hugged him tightly to her. She held him close for a moment, then grabbed him by the sides of the face and stared deeply into his ruby red eyes before pulling his face to hers and intertwining her tusks with his for a long and very passionate kiss.

Yeyin was momentarily stunned, but wrapped his thick, sinewy arms around her and returned the kiss with the same level of passion. Both could be heard purring gently, hers a soft droning murr and his a deep throbbing rumble.

She eventually pulled back and looked at him with a gentle smile on her face as she whispered to him, "There was something a while back you tried to tell me, something that I understood perfectly well, but was afraid to acknowledge. I tell you now, however, before Paya and all her creations, that I love you, Yeyin'its-pa, and not for your strength, or honor, or rank. I love you…"

"… Because I love you." Yeyin interrupted, finishing for her knowing what she was going to say, before smiling gently.

She grinned back as tiny sparkling tears formed in her eyes.

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