A/N Dear Gods, FD is turning 50. My little dip into a saucy story meant for a single arc has grown...I blame the reviewers, if y'all didn't write in with your encouragement, thinly veiled requests etc letting me know you enjoyed this story...I would have ended it long ago. So I am hoping everyone will enjoy my take on how a Female Dragon Slayer works, I've not seen anyone really delve into it in other fics and believe me I've hunted for that. Well, without further ado I hope you all enjoy this larger chapter...DESNA
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Rogue narrowed his eyes at Sting who had just kicked him for the fifth time, he did it every time he noticed the Boscan Dragon slayer look their way. "Sting, if you kick me again your hobbling home without a foot." Rogue warned.
"She doesn't bite….wait…I take that back, Cristoff says she does…hard." Gajeel snorted.
Rogue stole a look at her, better set up to do so with the shadow over his eyes from his hair.
She was laughing at something Levi or Bickslow had said, Gods she was beautiful, and when she turned slightly he could see fangs, nasty looking elongated canines glinting against deep red lips. He'd not seen them on a woman before, Nola had sharp teeth but hers were almost dainty, no, Emzadi had the fangs of a Dragon. Cristoff came to stand behind the woman, tugging on her long golden hair and she jumped up, nearly toppling the large man hugging him fiercely.
Cristoff, Rogue knew was nearly the size of Laxus, just a little less heavily muscled. Emzadi did have to tilt her head back and yank her brothers long black hair to get his cheek to her red lips.
He said something to her that made her dance back from him and spin, taking up a couple of poses "Fioran fashion little brother! I rather like it, though I miss the easier movement I had in my Boscan clothes." She grinned, her fangs showing again.
"You should show the guild a proper veil dance while you're here Emzadi, Xally never got the chance." Cristoff was saying.
Emzadi beamed, hugging Levi and Nola suddenly "our new sisters shall join me, I brought all of them Boscan clan garb and I know Laki has one, you bought it for her I know you did, I can teach them the moves…" Emazadi said. She looked over where the slayers were sitting and suddenly, in a neat and graceful bound, she was standing on their table, a high heeled boot in front of Gajeel.
"Iron Dragon, your wife, she can dance, find out if she would like to learn a veil dance." Emzadi dropped to a crouch, and Rogue sat stunned, her jean clad rear was nearly in his face, the fabric stretched tight over her…holy gods…flawless ass.
"You will enjoy her learning it my Dragon brother, and females in a Tatsu need to form bonds, lest they fight." She'd smiled and spun, regarding Natsu whos eyes had suddenly become huge "What of your mate Fire Dragon?" She demanded.
"I…I'll ask her." Natsu swallowed, watching the long golden nails at the tips of her fingers.
She turned her head and suddenly Rogue had large eyes the color of a sunrise on him, filled with challenge and fearlessly locked with his as she lunged forward right into his personal space, her golden hair brushing over the sleeves of his shirt, the sudden sweet scent of warm spice cake washing over him.
His lips lifted slightly, and his growl at her intrusion was barely audible. Unlike the mated males, his inner dragon responded powerfully to a strong female lunging in challenging him. Especially this one.
Her eyes dialated and her hand shot forward, a golden nail dragging over his cheek. "You…I smell no mate on you…" She said softly and he saw her, felt her scenting him, drawing in deep breaths of his scent, her light tough had his whole being responding and it amazed him but the dragon in him, it became almost crazed.
This is a potential queen, we must have her, she is not mated, feel that power, the battle to take her would be a challenge beyond anything we've ever faced!
The loud and clear demand from within him was stronger than anything he'd ever gotten from his second soul, the dragon soul that dwelt within him.
"I have not yet taken a mate." He said, his voice slightly rumbling, the growl rising as he spoke because she had leaned in closer, her nose almost touching his. She smirked, long lashed lids falling half way over the brilliant sunrise eyes.
"Tch, too afraid to try and dominate even a normal mage Lei'She Dracan?" She taunted, the vibrant defiant challenge in her making his dragon rage within him. He knew Boscan, and knew what she'd just called him.
"! Am not a "little" dragon... Lei'She Imai." Her eyes widened and the full ruby lips curled back as long canines were bared, the growl from her had all four males around her and her brother across the room all frozen looking at them.
None of the four men around her had ever heard an adult female Slayer growl before, it stirred all of them differently, in Gajeel and Natsu both became immediately protective, leveling hard glares on Rogue, Sting jumped out of his seat and took a step back and Cristoff started toward them, dark eyes blazing with protective fury.
In Rogue, it made his body burn, made desire roar to life in him like nothing he'd ever known, violent, raging, furious desire that made his usual calm shatter and had his clothes moving slightly as shadows gathered to him.
Take her, take her challenge, females like this are rare, she was born for us, no other male could hope to tame her, claim her, dominate her, we can, slam her to the floor, sink your fangs into her and establish your intent!
What happened next shocked everyone. Rogue lunged, grabbed Emzadi by fisting his left hand in her hair on her right side and yanked her head to the side hard before he lunged down and bit her.
He couldn't think, all he knew was the dragon within him was roaring as her blood flowed into his mouth, as he felt her heart rate soar, heard her hiss, then the elegant drawn out soft thrum from her that had him smiling against her mocha colored skin, she approved his intent, would consider him, how he knew that though he could only attribute to the dragon part of him that had stepped to the forefront.
He was tilting his head back from her, running his tongue over his lips to catch every trace of her copper and fire tasting blood. Her eyes locked with his again and he saw shock, maybe a hint of…sadness, and then lust flare in the sunrise colored depths.
Then she lunged. Rogue was ripped from his seat and slammed to his back on the floor his head hitting the wood hard enough he saw stars and felt a sharp stab in his neck as his head was wrenched to the side. When his eyes focused he found Emzadi on top of him, pulling back from him licking his blood from her lips.
"You approve my intent." He said quietly, his tone heavy with emotion, excitement he couldn't even hope to contain because it was too foreign to him.
The orange eyes fell to his as she took Cristoffs hand and rose from where she had been straddling him holding him down on the floor. "You're a fool." She snapped.
That got him to his feet, somehow he knew, that though it was not his usual way of handling things, right now, with her, he could let no slight, no insult remain unchallenged, from the moment he had reached for her, he had set himself on a path of establishing dominance, his.
"A fool whose challenge is still bleeding on your neck." He returned.
She reached up and ran a nail over the bite and he felt a strange wave of…pleasure as she did it but he didn't react, keeping his face calm, his eyes on hers. He'd been right, she was nearly as tall as him, the top of her head even with his nose. Not a small woman, decidedly taller than average since Rogue stood 6 feet.
"That it still bleeds shows nothing but your inexperience little drake." She sneered and he grabbed her arm pulling her to him with a growl "There is nothing "little" about me. Imei" He sneered back.
"Not much of a "maiden" left in me either, your Boscan has a strange accent you should work on." She tossed out the last bit, eyes narrowed on his. "So you would have me…I hope you know what you are doing, …this challenge no man has survived yet." She said, her boldness thrilled him, she pressed herself against him since he still held her arm in a bruising grip that didn't seem to bother her.
He could feel every delicious curve, was drowning in her scent again and his dragon was beside itself within him over it. This was no normal mage he held, that bore his bite in her neck, whose fiery blood he could still taste. This was a female Dragon Slayer, one that knew her strength, understood every instinct and drive he had because she had them too.
Every small challenge, a lift of his lip, a deeper breath drawn to catch more of her scent drew a reaction from her, she missed nothing because she was as much a Dragon as he was and that was beyond thrilling. "Both of you, move.." Cristoff was there then, and he pushed the pair drawing snarls from both that had the Slayers midnight eyes turning silver.
"You can not finish this here, MOVE…Gajeel…Natsu" The other two males moved in and Cristoff, who fortunately had experience dealing with his sister, was able to catch the wrist of the golden scaled long taloned claw that swung at his face when he touched Rogues shoulder.
Her growl sent shudders through all of the male slayers except Cristoff, he'd heard them before, had grown up sparring with his sister, helping her deal with the aftermaths of the relationships she had tried so hard to make work.
He and Kaleb had been by her side through some of the worst points in her life, the death at her hands of her first boyfriend when she was 16, the times she tried to be "normal" and date and try to build relationships.
She'd learned to keep herself in check in the bedroom but that had been an ordeal as well, one Kaleb and Cristoff decidedly could not help her with. Pellos, the fire mage who had tried to claim her, had been fascinated by her, was 11 years older than her, a seasoned double s class mage of White Sea who had been there and watched her grow up. When she was 18 he had made his bid for her and she had learned how to better control herself in bed with a man in his arms.
He'd definitely paid for it in plenty of injuries as she'd learned, and their relationship had been purely sexual for nearly a year, then mating season had come and Pellos had insisted he could claim her, could be the one to become her mate.
Cristoff could still remember her hopefull expression when he had left her to go to his own place of seclusion for the season, he himself was far from safe to be around during the season.
Xally and Kaleb had brought Pellos to Emzadis island, had waited out on a Grass Boat off shore and had watched the sky go brighter than day on the island for an entire night and well into the next day before it was over and the signal flare had gone up calling for help.
The island was ruined, an entire island. Scorched beyond the point of recovery. Pellos was dead and Emzadi badly injured though her heart had been hurt far more than her body. She had not been in love with Pellos, but she had hoped he could win, become her mate so she could love him.
It had been months before she had started to smile again, fights between her and some of the other female guild members had Kaleb on his toes endlessly and Grinlow about ready to just kill all of the Pradesh children his guild had been cursed with.
But Emzadi had settled, and the other women in the guild were reminded that Emzadi was a Dragon Slayer, far from a normal woman, and could not be held responsible for what her instincts drove her to when a male challenged her, especially during the mating season, which was the only time a non Dragon Slayer male could claim a female Dragon Slayer.
So Cristoff knew how to handle his sister, he also knew that the two Dragon Slayers had started something that Fairy Tails guild hall wasn't equipped to deal with.
Hell, this was new territory even for him, as the only male Dragon Slayer in Bosco it wasn't like Emzadi had needed to worry about how a challenge from another Slayer would pan out for her, and Emzadi being the only known female dragons slayer on Earthland from Grinlows research at the time, it wasn't likely Cristoff was going to be taking one as a mate himself.
So this scenario, a male dragon slayer challenging her, wasn't something Cristoff knew how to help with. He was out of his depth. A glance at Gajeel, the only other slayer he'd yet met who seemed to have a clue about Dragon customs and instinctual drives, told him Gajeel wasn't any better off. The visible shudder Cristoff saw run through the Iron Dragon when Emzadi growled spoke volumes, none of these male slayers had been around an adult female slayer, and Cristoff had heard Wendys growls and even purrs, she was still a child, and of healing magic too, not a battle class mage, he knew how the magic differed, he was like Wendy, a healer, with natural empathy, as such they were both softer hearted than pure battle mages were.
So Wendys growls and such still had that "cute" edge to them. Not Emzadis, the cute had left her when she was 16, and now? Her growls and snarls still had him snapping to attention even against his own will. Such was the effect a female dragon had on males. It was about a 10 to 1 birth rate according to his dragon when he had asked her, 10 males born to every 1 female.
So females were bigger, stronger, lived longer and wielded the true command of the race. Listening to them, acknowledging them, was built right into the very DNA of a male dragon. If a male wanted to pass his genes on, to truly become a king among dragons, his highest aspiration then was to become the mate of a Dragon Queen.
A deadly prospect, females could not help their drives, their instincts that were there to assure only the strongest males got to reproduce. Igneel had nearly died taking his Queen. But his status as a King was cemented when he survived the process and claimed Raniera. On Natsus prompting one evening Ora had told the assembled Slayers and their mates and friends the long story of Igneel and the Storm Dragon Raniera, the Spirit of the Palace didn't leave details out either, Cristoff had been grinning enjoying Laki blushing as the mating process between Igneel and Raneira had been described.
It was no different for the Slayers, when a female dragon slayer was in the mix, unmated males would rise to challenge her and the mated ones would be driven to protect her. Wendy enjoyed the natural and very powerful instincts of her older Dragon brothers in part because it was built into them to protect her, to assure she would grow strong so she could one day become a Queen and thus key to the survival of their kind.
While Emzadi was not a Queen it was only because no male had yet survived the battle with her to reach the point where they could claim her. That she had already wrecked other strong males made her, to the dragon within Rogue, an ultimate prize, true proof of his strength, a Queen that could make him a King. The risk was in proportion to the prize. Rogue was reeling with it all, the heady scent of her, the taste of a dragons blood on his tongue, a dragoness in her fucking prime too, Gods her blood had been scalding, tasting of metal and molten fire.
The pair were escorted carefully back through the portal to the palace where Gajeel wasted no time summoning Ora.
"Ora, these two have..uh..bitten each other…explain what's happening, and what needs to happen." Gajeel called.
Ora materialized and hovered for a few moments, Rogue now being held fairly securely by Sting and Natsu, Emzadi held by Cristoff and Gajeel.
"They have begun the mating ritual. The Shadow Slayer initiated correct?" Ora asked.
"Yes he bit me first." Emzadi snapped, glowering at Rogue who didn't take his eyes off of her and stood staring back at her defiantly.
"Then the Solar Dragoness returned the bite accepting his advance and offering it consideration?" Ora asked. Emzadis red lips parted, her eyes snapping to the orb "I did no such thing you wretched firefly, I bit him back because he challenged me! I never back down from a challenge!"
"Thus accepting his advance with one of your own and considering it, even if under the context of a challenge." Ora replied. The spirit really never showed emotion.
"I…did…he is a fool! I have killed every man that had tried to claim me!" The snarl was a terrible mixture of emotions even Emzadai couldn't completely sort out. She didn't know the dark man whose ruby eyes were locked with her own, she'd been drawn to him, but a little bit of lust wasn't a bad thing, or it hadn't been for her in a number of years at least.
She was beautiful, powerful, inhumanly strong and fearless, she handled men better than most women, even monsters like Beck and Rowan she'd found pleasurable delights with, had emerged with fewer marks on her body than the bruises and broken bones they had dealt with…taunting and trying to play at torture for pleasure with a mature dragoness wasn't safe.
Not knowing the man still didn't keep the pain of knowing he may die at her hands if they pursued what he had started from welling up in her.
He was not Fairy Tail, but he was still a rare and precious Dragon Slayer, they were so few, risking one like this seemed wrong.
"He has correctly begun an ancient ritual the Palace has not seen played through in many centuries. You were right to bring them here, the Palace can accommodate the needs or a mating pair." Ora said.
"Fucking firefly! We are not mating, the idiot challenged me and if he continues, once my instincts kick in I will KILL him! I have killed before!." She hissed.
Ora hovered closer to her.
"Your reactions are typical of a challenged female Emzadi, Solar Dragon Slayer but you are incorrect, I am not a firefly or an insect of any kind and, if Ryos, Shadow Dragon Slayer, son of Skiadrum manages to subdue you, you will mate, you are a true Dragoness, you will want nothing more than him if he succeeds." Ora told her.
She narrowed her eyes on Ryos. "You should not have done this…I would have gladly had sex with you and we could have both walked away happy." She said bitterly.
Rogues eyes narrowed when she spoke his true name, the sound of it coming from her thrilled him.
"It would never be enough." He said, knowing as soon as he said it that it was true. How could he, with a dragons soul within in, walk away from the golden haired Dragoness in front of him? There was no way one night, would ever do anything other than make him hungry to possess her. No, his dragon loudly denied it could ever have worked, he was born to mate with a dragon female, and here she was.
He would have her, or die trying to.
The two slayers were separated then something that agitated both of them, though Emzadi swore her irritation stemmed from not wanting to give her adversary time to plan.
Sting gaped at Rogue as Natsu helped him get the nearly irrational slayer into the room Ora opened and indicated for them.
It was a large comfortable chamber, with a few chairs a table and a large window that looked out into the largest of the practice arenas.
Magic was swirling in the ring and it drew Natsus attention from Rogue and Sting, the Fire Slayer turning to watch as the arena flooded with magic and the very sands that made up the floor started to change and swirl and move into vague shapes.
"What the holy Fucks did you just do?!" Sting demanded. Rogue glared at him "You heard Ora, did you not understand? Maybe Natsu could explain it more simply for you." He snapped. He was pissed he'd been pulled away from Emzadi, his mark was in her neck, his instincts screamed at him he had to make that permanent.
"Oh for fucks sake can you drop the pissy bullshit for a bit, you just fucking attacked that woman!" Sting yelled now and Rogue stood, suddenly right in his friends face.
"I bit her, set my intentions into her, I've never…NEVER felt like this Sting, you know me! That woman…she's like a drug, the dragon in me screams for her, I couldn't even have hoped to have stopped myself when she was right there on the table in front of me!" Rogue raged
"Your dragon wants her that bad, she's your mate, no way your dragons wrong, they never are." It was Natsus voice, the Fire slayer was still standing by the large window, watching the arena outside still changing.
"I've never cared before, been with women here and there but never, not once have I felt so much as a flicker of any real interest in any of them, but her, watching her training earlier…then her scent…I can't get it out of my head." He shook his head starting to pace, another thing that was unlike him.
"She smells pretty good, big strong girl too by the looks of her." Natsu said, leaning against the wall and angling himself so he could still sort of look out the window.
"She smells like warm spice cake…" Rogue sighed, Stings eyes widened "I…I didn't smell that." He said.
"You wouldn't, it's not your favorite thing but I bet it's Rogues…" Natsu was smirking as Rogue stopped and looked at him.
"It is…I adore spice cake…I don't have it often but…it's my favorite treat." He admitted.
"Uh huh, mine is fiery red hots and guess what my mate smells like to me?" He asked.
Sting blinked…Yukino smelled like water lilies….his favorite scent.
"Look, when you meet your mate you meet them, the Dragon magic starts working on you both the moment it happens. I'll be honest, females are so rare in our kind I have no idea what all is supposed to happen with Emzadi, but if she smells like your favorite food and your inner dragon is raging at you that you have to have her? Yeah, odds are pretty good she's the one meant for you." Natsu was really enjoying being the "wise" Slayer in the room, it didn't happen often.
Rogue looked hard at Sting "See?! I couldn't help what I did, it was like Skiadrum was screaming at me every step of the way to the point I couldn't even think on my own at all, I was just reacting."
He sat heavily in a chair then, looking out the window, his eyes widening at what was happening in the arena.
"Is…is that for me..us?" Rogue asked softly. Natsu smiled, the terrain of the arena had changed into something with obstacles, high and low spots. "Looks like it, probably where you're going to get your chance with Emzadi." Natsu said.
"Holy shit Rogue…" Sting breathed, looking out the window. "Seriously man…you're my best friend, practically my brother, this is starting to worry me now…we watched that woman fight this morning, her magic is serious shit."
Rogue suddenly smiled "She is the sun, but I am shadow, and you can't have one without the other…no…I like the way this ring looks….I like it a lot."
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Gajeel sat back, watching the arena changing out the large window, keeping his eyes trained carefully on that instead of the tall woman changing clothes who had started stripping faster than Fullbuster as soon as they'd gone into the large viewing room.
She cursed in Boscan until Cristoff had finally yanked her long blonde hair hard enough she turned those curses on him then, tossing her bra aside, which had ended Gajeels participation and sent him over to the window, she'd gotten some signal or look from Cristoff that had changed her language over to common.
"I'll not do this in these restrictive clothes, Wendy is bringing mine, damn! Why do men think with the brain between their legs?!" She snarled.
Cristoff, completely unperturbed by his sisters fury shrugged, leaning against the wall his gaze shifting between the window and his sister "More fun most of the time."
"He seems like a reasonable enough man, not that I got to speak with him, I was busy dealing with his lecherous friend, who's MATED and still a damn lech!" She sneered.
"I'm not much better, just because I am mated to Laki doesn't mean I went blind to women, I'm just no longer interested in or drawn to any woman but her. Sting isn't bad, his mate is quite nice. Rogue I know less, he's always been somewhat quiet." Cristoff admitted.
His dark eyes turned to Gajeel "Do you know him Gajeel?" He asked and Gajeel nodded, keeping his eyes on the ring, Emzadis very naked body was barely reflected in the glass, like Cristoff, he was neither interested nor drawn to the tall blonde, only Lucy could stir that in him, but Emzadi was gorgeous, on par with his wife, with that added exotic look and her height.
"I've known him since he was little, he's well educated, a tactician in battle and he's strong…very strong." Gajeel drew a breath. Almost looking at the woman, he hoped Rogue was strong enough to do this, he knew very little about what mating with a female dragon slayer involved, they were incredibly rare.
However, he needed to learn, because he was raising one and he wanted Layla to know well everything about being a dragon slayer.
"Strong enough to subdue a dragon?" Cristoff asked "Killing isn't his goal, and that's easier than subduing, he's going to have to get in on her, catch her, subdue her and take her, she wont be able to stop fighting him until he's literally got his dick in her. Then, once he's set his mark, he'll still have to survive her setting hers. Doesn't work like it does for mating with a normal female either, ALL of the magic will pump between them all at once, it'll work like all three bites in one day." Gajeel turned to look in sharp surprise at Cristoff, who met his eyes and smiled slightly, pushing off the wall as Wendy came in.
"I think I'd better go talk with him before this starts." Cristoff said and Gajeel nodded at him gratefully. He still saw Rogue as Ryos, to him, the Shadow Slayer was still the adoring child that had followed him around, begged him for training, annoyed the shit out of him.
There was a certain paternal care still there and he was sure Rogue had no idea what his instincts had gotten him into. The man was strong though, Gajeel had fought him and taken some pretty painful hits, he'd beaten him, but he chalked that up to experience as much as skill and strength. Gajeel had just fought more, knew more about how to use his power and skills against another magic user than Ryos did.
"You know him well?" Emzadis voice was quiet as she pulled on her clothes…if you could call the intricate chains, scale armor and sheer silk veils clothes.
"Pretty well, not as much now as I did when he was little, I've fought him though and forgive me but, I don't really want to give you any tips that might help you. I know you wouldn't hurt him if you could avoid it, but your dragon sounds like a serious bitch." Gajeel faced her, she was covered enough he wasn't concerned anymore.
Emzadi sighed, looking at Wendy "Female Dragons…could be the definition of the word. Believe me Gajeel, I do not want to hurt your friend, if I had my way, I'd have mated when I was 16 to a blue eyed Earth mage. Or when I was 18 to a huge Fire Mage named Pellos…I do not enjoy the outcomes of these battles…but the more I have grown, the more men seem to want to risk their lives taking me on."
Wendy looked out the window, turning back to look at Emzadi, who stood now, proud and tall in her glittering Boscan attire, the same set she had been wearing that morning.
"Because you're beautiful." She said softly. Emzadi sighed "Beauty is a lie sitting on the surface, only what lies within a person can be called beautiful. I have always believed that. While there was lust in his eyes, it was dragon born, no…I…felt him…I want him on a deeper level, like he wants me, there was not just lust in his gaze, the demand I saw was for complete possession…I've never met a man who smelled as good either."
Wendy and Gajeel exchanged glances and Gajeel became more hopeful that the outcome of this might not be just Sabertooth loosing a dragon slayer.
Emzadis heart was racing in her chest at the thoughts all trying to capture her full attention. After all she had been through where love was concerned she had no longer worried about it, stopped dreaming about it. It would not be hers unless a man could defeat her in battle, and as of yet, that hadn't happened. Only Cristoff could beat her, Kaleb too but Kaleb was a fucking wizard saint, she doubted there were many wizards in Earthland that could hope to beat him.
Cristoff could, and had, they had grown up together sparring, training, and while she had beaten him a few times, he usually won against her. He was strong, powerful, careful and calculating in battle and, a Dragon Slayer.
Maybe that was it, and she felt a glimmer of hope she quickly locked away, perhaps it took a dragon to tame one in her case. Cristoff had said it before, he wasn't even a pure battle mage like she was, his magic worked on two very different levels, healing as well as offensive and defensive abilities were in his arsenal.
He'd fought her once, and it was not long after she had killed Pellos, when she had been truly nearly lost into dark self hatred, spewng endlessly about how she was too powerful, no man could stand against her for long, even her own powerful brothers ended fights with her quickly.
Cristoff had stood, let her attack him and had gone pure defense for hours, until she had passed out from magic depletion. Proving to her at least he could stand up to her all damn day, not even try for a hit of any kind and still beat her. That had sobered her, let her see she wasn't a relentless monster. She loved all of her siblings dearly, but Cristoff she was closest to. Their clans had meant them to mate actually, when Arman had come into their lives their clans had been meeting to negotiate marriages and she was to be promised to Cristoff, but one of the other clans, as so often happened in large meetings among the clans, had begun to fight and the situation had spiraled out of control.
Arman had saved the children, his arrival had been delayed, and he'd barely gotten to the island the clans were gathered on as the fighting began. He'd come to the tent the children were in and had seen them all to the grass skimmer ship he had arrived on before trying to calm the clans.
He had not been able to do so, had been forced to withdraw, and when he had returned the following day, the children he'd taken whos parents had died, became his own children, Cristoff and Emzadi among them.
Growing up knowing they had once been intended to each other had become a joke they often laughed about. Their hearts had always been meant to be siblings.
Cristoff lacked the interest in arts and music that Emzadi had, he made fun of it when she would start going on about truly loving some piece of art or a certain song she had heard.
While he was not mate material though, Cristoff had always been the best brother she could have hoped for. His calm compassion had soothed her fiery blazing frustration many times, and she'd lost count of how many times she had cried on his shoulder or Kalebs, or Bickslows. It was always one of the three.
Farron was loving, but he'd been gone a lot, always schooling, studying, so he could help their father. Their youngest brother, Vander…he'd always been too wild, too young for her to turn to.
Now though she wondered if, because this man was a Dragon Slayer, did he have a better chance at her? Part of her hoped so. She was tired of being unable to dream, unable to hope. Of trying to be satisfied with just physical relationships when she honestly wanted more.
She'd thrown herself into working, taking job after job, finally reaching a point she would call in, stay away for months at a time from the guild and just call for new assignments. Kaleb allowed it, and she could always check in at one of the White Seas branches when she needed to. She worked solo so she could set her own schedule and not get too attached to anyone. She'd grown to fear relationships, even friendships outside of her own family.
When she had killed Pellos, the guild had turned against her for a time, and the friends she'd had…had no longer been her friends. She had killed a guild mate. Even Arman and the council knights explaining carefully why she would not be held responsible for his death, would not be punished for it, had not stopped the anger and hatred she'd had to face, from her guild and former friends both.
That had been nothing compared to how much she had hated herself though. Only Cristoff at first could even talk to her, then Bickslow, who had rushed home when he'd heard what had happened, she'd never been able to resist his humor and couldn't even then.
Kaleb had been the final one, and had been the one to pull her out of her self loathing and get her back to the guild, back to work. How he and Grinlow had calmed the guild down she still didn't know, but they had. Nobody gave her trouble, nobody whispered harsh things she couldn't help but hear, and all but a couple of mages were still there, though she learned they had threatened to send many away to branches or kick them clean out of the guild if they didn't accept the decisions made.
Rogue was not of White Sea or even of Fairy Tail, he was from Sabertooth so the repercussions of this would not be quite as bad as if he were, but he was liked, cared for. She knew Gajeel little, had only been in Magnolia and Fairy Tail for a couple of days and had spent most of that time at the Palace, but she liked him, she liked Natsu too, and Wendy, oh Wendy was a sister already, she felt herself just driven to love the child and she freely accepted it.
She just wished this were not the first big thing Wendy would learn from her, this harsh reality of being a Female Dragon Slayer. She knew, from watching the girl react as things had unfolded from Rogues bite, that this deeply troubled her.
There was no way around it though, the girl had to know, so she did not have to endure the horror Emzadi had when she had killed her first love.
"The realities of this are simple young one. Rogue will have to subdue me, take me, once he's restrained me, dominated me by doing so and begun to take me, instinct to kill a challenger will vanish and…I can accept him…then, once his bite is set…I can chose to claim him." She was silent for a moment. "If I do, his bite will set permanently in me and we will be mated. If I do not, his will fade in a few months though I may still bare children of his…birth control has no hold with these couplings. Here, only Dragon magic rules." She said, noting as she did that Gajeel was as interested as Wendy.
"So even if he bit you again, all three times, you wouldn't be his mate unless you bit him?" Wendy asked. Emzadi nodded
"That is right, the female decides, her choice is the final one. It is such so that tyrant males, renegades, could not claim powerful mates to forward themselves among the dragons, the Queens always ruled." Ora spoke this and Emzadi smiled faintly hearing it, at least now she knew why a males claim could not override a females choice.
"While the Solar Slayer must accept this challenge from the Shadow Slayer, she can still chose not to accept him as her mate." Ora stated.
"Is it the males bite alone that starts this? If a normal male not a Dragon Slayer wanted to be her mate would she still have to do this?" Wendy asked, no way she could hide the hope in her tone.
"In order to claim a mate a female must test him, he must prove himself her equal or no bond will form and there will never be offspring. In order to reproduce, a female must be dominated by the male." Ora responded coldly.
"Oh…" Wendy looked shattered for a few minutes, and Gajeel reached her before Emzadi did, pulling her into a firm hug. Hard reality, his own daughter would face this one day, be forced to fight who she loved if she wanted to have a real bond, raise children of her own. If it had been something he'd had to do in order to be with Lucy…
He wasn't sure he could have done it. He didn't doubt she would want to, she would have taken it on without hesitation, and, knowing her so well now, she might have been able to beat him too, but at what cost? How many broken bones and other injuries would she sustain to get there?
He wasn't sure he could have faced that. Knowing Emzadi hadn't just faced that, but had killed a man she'd loved? Dear Gods there were steep prices that came with Dragon Slayer magic and while he'd been elated his daughter had been born with such a rare gift and that he had been the reason for it, he couldn't help but feel now he'd placed a heavy burden on her as well, one far heavier than he himself had grown up with.
Lucy was considered a Queen by the Palace because she had dominated him, re-claimed him, but his inner dragon had driven him to submit, he had not fought her, and she hadn't had to fight him to become his mate.
Emzadi would become a Queen if Rogue succeeded, a pure, real Queen with dragon blood pumping in her veins. The first one in centuries. She had certainly paid dearly for that distinction.
There had to be a way to help with it, education was one thing, Emzadi had learned the hard way with her first love how her instincts worked. At least Wendy and the female Dragon Slayer children would learn this and not discover it by coming out of Dragon Rage with their lovers dead at their feet.
Emzadi walked to the window, she was regal, Gajeel had to give her that, she had the proud bearing of someone who had been forced to endure terrible thing with grace, like Lucy. He made a decision then.
"Move around a lot, stay low, I can see this field the Palace has made for you to fight in, you're solar, light and fire, stay low and burn bright to fight Rogue." He said. Emzadi glared at him "You want him to die?!" She snarled "Don't help me, I appreciate it, but don't forget, once this starts I won't be able to pull punches, I will be driven to kill him if he can't subdue me, my strikes will be meant to harm, to cripple, so I can move in and kill. DO NOT help me!"
Gajeel held his tongue, not turning from her blazing orange eyes, certain he'd done the right thing.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Rogue blinked in amazement at Cristoff. For the last several minutes Emzadis brother had been feeding him tips on her weaknesses.
"I've beaten her many times, a few times when she was so enraged by other things going on at the time that she wasn't pulling punches anymore. Trust me, you're a Shadow mage, you want to defeat the sun, that's how it's done. Hopefull she doesn't fight high up and try to flood the room with too much overhead light." Cristoff said "If you can keep her moving you'll get more shadows to work with too because her own light will cause them."
Cristoff shifted in the chair he'd sat in, looking intently at Rogue. "I don't know you, but Gajeel thinks highly of you, and I respect Gajeel, Fairy Tail would not have given you permission to use their guild portal to the Palace if you had not somehow earned Makarovs consideration, trust and respect. It's enough for me…so, when you hit her come at her from her right, you grabbed her hair on that side, I can tell you the only reason you could is because she sustained an injury to her eye and her right peripheral vision is poor. She's also a little weaker on her right leg than her left, same battle she got the eye injury in also tore up her right side pretty bad and it didn't heal perfectly."
Rogue nodded "Thank you…" He said quietly. Cristoff smiled "I won't hold it against you, any injury you cause her here, but this will be the only time, if you survive, and he accepts you and you become her mate, you should know, that Woman will be one of the finest you will ever know. I hope you like art and music too…because she's crazy about both."
Sting snorted "So is he."
Cristoff grinned, eyes brightening. "Good, she's a dancer too, Bickslow and her used to sweep dance competitions when they were young, it's why she prefers the Boscan Clan gear for when she fights, she's agile, fast on her feet even though her magic lends her to be better when she's stationary so she can build up attacks she prefers to fight on the move, if she stays low, that will benefit you a lot."
Rogues mouth went dry with images of the tall blonde dancing in those clothes he'd seen her in that morning. Gods…how had gotten into this…that woman was beyond stunning, she made Jenny from Blue Pegasus look plain and here he was, quiet, somewhat bookish and reserved, shy. The more he learned about her the more he realized just what he'd literally sunk his teeth into.
It doesn't matter, she was born to be yours, her strengths will be yours she will fill every empty part of you, she will be the sun that you need to strengthen your own power.
He managed a faint smile, if he did this and she accepted him, his whole life was going to change, he certainly had not had that in mind when he had gotten up that morning, even when he had first seen her, felt his body stir watching her fight, felt the surge of interest, he'd attributed it all to lust, no man could hope to look at her and not appreciate her beauty, he'd seen even the mated males react to her.
There is no room for doubt here whelp, she is meant to belong to you, no man in all of Earthland but you could ever tame her.
He knew it was right, the firm voice in his soul, he'd felt it the moment he'd touched her, when her silken hair had filled his fist and his mouth had closed on her neck, she was his.
Cristoff nodded toward him "I'll give you another piece of advice, not to sound odd or anything…but the less clothing you have in your way when you finally pin her down? The better off you'll be, trust me, you don't want her able to get loose because you're fighting with your clothes."
That made all of the men in the room frown. Cristoff was right.
"Ora? Do you have some sort of clothing better suited to allow Rogue…um..easy access when he pins Emzadi?" Cristoff asked.
Ora materialized, and with it, a small bundle of clothing on the table. "These are traditional attire for this ritual." Ora stated. Rogue was already standing, pulling off his layers of clothing. His modesty could be damned right now. He was already fully committed because of the Dragon instincts and soul within him, he might as well go all the way with it.
Cristoff pulled something from his jacket pocket and even Sting who had been holding up the clothes Ora had brought looking them over curiously stopped and looked wide eyed at what Cristoff held up.
"I'm not wearing that." Rogue said flatly. Cristoff snorted, he was holding up the bottom piece of a Boscan womans clan gear, from the bag Wendy had brought that had contained the two sets of Emzadis. "It's her armor jackass. I want to show you how it opens or you'll be banging your dick against scaled armor." He shrugged "I mean if that's your thing I'll let you figure it out on your own…"
"No! Show me." Rogue blushed but couldn't turn his back on this no matter how embarrassing it may be.
So Cristoff showed him how the armor came apart and Sting whistled "Shit…I have GOT to get a set like that for Yukino…" He breathed. Cristoff smirked "I know a trader who travels into Hargeon you could order a set from. We'll discuss it later."
Rogue stood, he felt beyond odd in the light clothing he wore, the fabric was strange, it breathed yet his magic didn't pass through it .
The lower piece was a wrap that came to his knees, the upped a vest that tied shut and then there were bracers of a light leather that covered his middle and ring fingers and went all the way up his arm to his bicep. All in black with embroidery along the edges in silver.
A pair of supple black leather boots that covered his knees and he realized he really was decently covered, especially when Cristoff set black leather pauldrons on his shoulders and tied them into place.
"Not bad…I can fight in this." He said confidently.
"Palace designed for this ritual…go figure huh?" Sting smirked at him. He drew a breath but his time was up. The door by the window opened.
"You must enter now." Ora ordered, the orb flew in front of Sting when he moved to follow. "None but the mating pair may enter." Ora told him firmly and Sting frowned. Rogue managed a small smile before he moved through the door and out to the ring, standing on the edge as Ora flew up above the arena, he saw another Ora orb join the one that was leaving him from the other side of the arena and knew Emzadi had entered, though he couldn't see her through the obstacles that stood tall.
He gathered his magic the light wasn't bright in here, dimming until only lacrimas on the walls lit the outer perimeter and Rogue smiled, plenty of shadows. Catching her scent and seeing light suddenly flare at one edge of the ring, he sank into the shadows and flew toward it.
The ring was designed to force them to hunt each other, to stir that drive right from the beginning, get their adrenalin pumping hard and strong. Hunting was instinct, and Rogue enjoyed it as much as any slayer did.
He sometimes would leave out on his own to hunt, needing that sometimes, it sated a part of him that became hungry often. He enjoyed taking jobs with Sting that forced them to hunt dark mages, loved it when they ran or tried to hide. His own doubts, reservations vanished from him quickly when he was hunting and this time was no different.
The dragon inside him was in its full glory now and he gave himself over to it more swiftly and fully than he had in a very long time. Every drop of his strength mattered here, every bit of his instinct and power mattered. His prey was a hunter like him, meant to challenge everything he was.
While his drive was to capture, hers was to eliminate, to her, he was a threat. He flew past her suddenly, feeling the fire of her, brushing his hands across her mid-section as he passed and laughing when he felt her heart surge. He couldn't help it, the scent of her was beyond intoxicating, spice cake and arousal with just a hint of fear, dear Gods the shadows surged with glee at that.
Emzadi moved swiftly, already feeling instinct rising, clouding her mind as she moved, fear pulsed in her, fear of what she was going to try to do. She didn't want to hurt this man. She feared nothing…except herself. That fear ran deep too.
When she felt him move past her, scented him, sweet Gods the man smelled good, no hint of the Grass Sea, it was odd but invigorating, masculine and nothing in her experience could compare with it, it was uniquely him. She felt the shudder of excitement as a shadowy hand slid across her middle as they passed each other, the sensation so thrilled her she nearly moaned and hadn't the presence to pull up a spell it happened so fast.
At his laugh though her dragon raged in fury. He would not taunt a dragoness, would not be left able to even think he could do that. Emzadi then felt her human half shoved back, the dragon consuming her when it fully scented masculine arousal, a predator hunting her.
Now, as before, instinct took over her and she knew she would not see what happened consciously until it was over, until nightmares came to remind her of what had happened. Of the monster she really was.
Rogue felt her moving, found swiftly he could pin point exactly where she was in the arena based on the movement of shadows in the vicinity.
It shouldn't have surprised him that the ring was the perfect size, nearly exactly the size of his best range for perceiving how the shadows moved. Where the deepest darkest shadows were, were closest to her because her light made every shadow cast by the things around her as black as a moonless night.
He had to weaken her, had to start wearing her down, and so he started taunting her. He could move shadows without being in them, reach out and touch her, even whip and slice at her and his dragon did not hesitate to do so, over riding his own aversion to causing injury to the woman he wanted as a mate.
It was a few minutes in that the scent of her blood was suddenly in the air and he lost more control, his dragon positively drunk with that. She roared in fury when the lash came from the side and her arm was cut open. It wasn't deep but it bled, and stung and enraged her.
Rogues shadows were momentarily burned back and he hissed quietly at the pain of it as she cast a blazing ball of roaring fiery light across the ring in the direction his strike had come from. Sweat broke out on his brow as he moved swiftly to get up a pillar so he could cast his own spell down on her before racing back down to deeper shadows again.
His shadow dragons crushing fang hit and he heard her gasp and barely made it behind a pillar in time as light roared up and leveled half of the pillars including the one he'd been on. Surprisingly, as she stood panting, clutching at her damaged shoulder, the sands of the ring reformed into the pillars again and she cursed, her frustrated growl permeating the ring, shaking the ground and sending a thrill through Rogue as his own answered it against his will.
It was a mistake, one his dragon cursed as much as he did as she practically flew to his location, blazing solar light searing him, "Solar slash." She hissed and the pillar he'd retreated behind was cleaved into several pieces. One of the tendrils of the attack grazed his arm and he felt it burn through the bracer, dove deeper into shadow, tearing one especially dark one with his teeth and devouring it as he flew to circle back behind her.
The continued for two more hours this way, and he wore her down, the arena allowed her to level pillars, so she could achieve a killing blow if he was slow or didn't move in the right direction, but the pillars always reformed within seconds, so they both had advantages and disadvantages. His was the pillars were not shields, hers was, they provided shadows he could use and blocked her vision so she had a hard time getting a good location on him.
As they sweat and bled and moved the scent trails became useless too and both became excited, the thrill of combat, of hunting and being hunted pumping through them and driving them harder as pain and exhaustion crept into them.
Rogue had landed several good blows to her right side, he'd focused on it deliberately, and was gratified by the sound of her more labored movement.
He couldn't claim to be without injury though, she'd burned his left leg pretty badly and one of her slashes had cut into his forearm deeply enough he'd taken time to rip away the leather bracer and use it to wrap the spot tightly.
It was to her credit and his that neither spoke, they were hunters after all, only fools taunted prey that could kill you.
After another few hours Rogue was struggling but knew that Emzadi was as well. He was exhausted, when forced to move swiftly now pain lanced through his head and his magic was getting low.
He spent more time still, or moving carefully than she did, so his breathing remained even while she was panting and it was after she had chased him to a corner and leveled pillars that he made his move, circling back toward her as the pillars reformed, using their movement to hide his own and knowing if she lashed out again, he would be killed.
She was leaning on a shattered pillar, adjusting where her hand was on it as it reformed and he slide right to her, her right arm gave him the shadow to do it and he used his Shadow Dragons Waxwing slash, wrapping her body in himself, wrenching her arms back and ignoring her scream of fury and pain he kicked right into the gash in her right leg and twisted her hard enough to crack bone if she didn't bend.
It was a risk, he could hurt her severely doing this if she didn't give but she did, though she tried to force the twist farther he kicked her legs out from under her and she went down, him on top of her.
Her growls and snarls he ignored, wrenching her to her hip so he could get an arm around her as he wrenched her wrists up the center of her back nearly breaking them with the force he used, causing her to scream in pain but distracting her effectively as he hit the clasps on her armor that Cristoff had shown him.
Then they struggled, as soon as that piece fell from her she redoubled her efforts to break free and this was no doubt a struggle of life or death for Rogue. If she broke free, she would kill him and he wouldn't have a chance to get back enough to prevent it.
His dragon, more than him, knew what had to be done though, and finally, her face pressed down in the sand, her arms pinned behind her, Rogue groaned as he rammed himself into her. The feeling was beyond intense, he'd never forced himself on a woman before, never would again either, but as soon as he was inside her, Emzadis arms loosened in his hold, her body softened as muscles eased and her enraged snarls died within her.
Rogue moved, his dragon wouldn't let him stop or give her any time, his hips started rolling and he released her arms, grabbing her hair and pulling her up by it and an arm he snaked around her ribs.
He scraped his teeth over her shoulder, ran his tongue over the heated sweaty skin and was consumed as the taste of her came over his tongue. He moved his hand from her hair over the golden band that encased her neck and found the clasp, deftly releasing it so it fell and with it the chains holding up some of the veils at her shoulders, another clasp freed the breast piece and his greedy hand grasped one of her breasts as he continued driving into her from behind.
"You…are…mine." He gasped out as she braced her hands on the pillar in front of them, pushing back against him, meeting his thrusts with a throaty purr that made his eyes close and rumble rise in his throat of approval.
Dear Gods she felt intensely good, her core was blazing hot around him, but it only thrilled him more, like he was fucking the sun. "Yes…yes…I…submit." She panted and within him every part of him that was dragon roared in blazing victory.
He drove into her relentlessly, her gasps and moans, soft purrs and ragged growls driving him out of his mind with need. Tension built painfully until finally he felt her hot center clenching around him, heard her snarl out a ragged cry and his own body tensed, yanking her head back against his shoulder he dipped down and sank his teeth into her neck as they were drowned in the pleasure of their release and he felt his magic practically pour into her, pulled from him almost painfully as he swallowed her hot blood for the second time.
She collapsed beneath him and he fell on her, unable to help it, his legs gave out, his exhausted battered, magic deprived and injured body unable to move, crushing hers into the warm sands for several long minutes before he could move, roll off of her so she could breathe.
She turned her head so she could look at him and he turned, meeting her stare as they both panted and tried to regain their breath. Her eyes narrowed "I will have you Ryos, I will take you as my mate." She said raggedly. Part of him celebrated this, his dragon was beside itself but only for a few minutes before her orange eyes flashed dangerously.
"You…are mine" She snarled and was on him so fast he had no time to react. His mind raced, what did he do now? He remembered Ora telling them the story of Igneel and Raneira, how claiming her had nearly killed Igneel, not just the initial battle to get his mark into her, but then surviving her claiming him.
Ora hadn't said how that worked, or why Igneel sustained more injuries during the process and he realized he probably should have asked about this part before he had entered the fucking ring in the first place.
He'd been so damn consumed by his dragon, so overcome by what he was doing, just overwhelmed by everything involved in getting to this point, he hadn't thought about asking about what her claiming process of him would be.
He was still half mindless, numb, dear Gods the farthest thing from his mind when he had come to visit the palace was finding a mate, but here she was, halfway toward belonging to him, tall and gorgeous, wickedly powerful with a sinfully built body he had already taken once, poured himself into, his thinking halted as she settled over him and slammed herself down, driving the breath from him.
"Submit." She snarled and he bared his teeth at her, growled his defiance, but he did what she demanded, didn't move against her or resist her in any way and he felt it, the reason he hadn't known what to do, his dragon completely submitted.
She rode him relentlessly but it was so good, so hot he was drowning in the pleasure of it, and thrusting up to meet her body, his eyes feasting on her as she rode him, Gods she had amazing breasts, large and the mocha skin gave way to rose colored centers that begged for his attention but when he reached for her she grabbed his wrists painfully and slammed them to the sand on either side of his head, her orange eyes searing into his.
He leaned his head back then, letting his eyes fall closed, submitting. Hissing when her golden nails racked down his chest, moaning when she changed her hands angle so she could run her hands over his abs then grip his pectorals as she kept her harsh pace over him going.
It dawned on the farthest part of his mind still able to function. Igneel had been a dragon, a real one, and Raneira a true Dragon female, nearly twice his size, as Emzadis nails scraped over him again and he felt himself teetering on the edge, felt her walls start pulsing on him it made sense, Raneira claiming Igneel, just the act of a massive creature like her with claws like daggers and teeth like swords, naturally the process would cause him injury.
Within human bodies, their females so deliciously curved and soft in the right places, a males submission wouldn't leave him open for the injury it would for a pair of dragons.
He'd had no reason to worry about this, her claiming of him was nothing but delicious pleasure as long as he let her do whatever she wanted with his body. When her hands slid into his hair and she pulled him to her as he groaned out his second release within her and her body rolled with pleasure, her core milking everything from him, her fangs sank into his neck and he stiffened as magic flooded him, the heat of the sun coursed into and through his veins and his vision faded out for several long moments.
He felt himself loose all ability to move then, collapsing and she fell on top of him, laying panting on him, both of them so far spent they were shaking.
"Mine…" she breathed weakly, her breathing still ragged. "You…are my mate Ryos..mine" He managed to open his eyes, they were hazy, but he smiled faintly meeting exhausted orange eyes half covered by thick dark lashes that curled so beautifully at the edges.
He managed to lift a hand, push it into the damp heavy soft waves of deep golden hair "I am…and you…are mine."
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo
How one could be shy and unsure around someone you had shared rough but incredible sex with not once but twice was a feat Rogue was sure only he could manage. He did it well too.
Ora had helped them to leave the ring through a third door neither had seen that led to a luxuriant hot bath chamber that had familiar sweet scented waters in it, waters like the massive pool in the central chamber.
Emzadi did not suffer his shyness, she seemed purely elated, her eyes never leaving him and her hands quick to pull away the clothes that still covered most of him from her hungry eyes.
Two flicks of her fingers and her own remaining attire fell to the floor. She was happy to help him with his, seeming unaware of the gash in her leg or those on her arms and shoulders that he nearly grimaced at seeing.
"My dragon is shy." She smiled as he blushed when she pulled the wrap from his waist. Her hands came to his face after tossing the wrap aside her eyes searched his for a moment "You've no need to be…you…are perfect." She said softly.
He nearly growled as another blush tried to flood his face "You don't need to seduce me Emzadi, we're past that part…never really visited it." He realized with a small chuckle.
She grinned, pulling him with her to wade into the pool, both of them groaning as the restorative invigorating waters surrounded them.
She turned once they were in the water, moving against him and as her nose brushed over his, her cheek slid over his and she nuzzled into him with a soft sound he closed his eyes, burying his own face in her neck and doing the same.
It felt so perfect, so calming, his chest warmed, his dragon thrummed inside him. Dragons showed affection this way, soft nuzzles, rubbing their bodies against each other, the soft rumbling purrs were all so perfect his shyness evaporated into the steam coming off the water.
Energy was slowly flowing back into him, he knew the waters worked this way, it was what they were for, why this bath was here, so a newly mated couple could recover from the ritual…regain strength enough to continue the bonding they needed to do.
It dawned on him then, his four days off were definitely going to have to be extended…by a lot.
