This is an unofficial sequel of the Crossover story Dragon-Bound By DONOVAN94.

Even tho I will try to write it in a way that makes it easy to follow for those that didn't read the original story, I strongly suggest anyone interested by this sequel to read the masterpiece that inspired it because it is nothing short of the best fanfiction on the site.

...

Six years later..

The three siblings had grown much bigger.

Saphira's motherly instinct had long faded and her fondness only lasted thanks to the sweet memories she had with her hatchlings.

Aureye was about the size of a small whale : twenty-five meters in length and about fifteen ton of weight, Calvar and Mithriel were smaller especially Mithriel whose slimmer and smaller body wasn't even weighting a third of her amethyst-colored brother despite the two additional limbs.

On another note, Aureye's sister and brother had been able to start flying on their own, they were far from master of flight but they were getting there while their brother never dared to make the jump.

Calvar had given up hope for his brother but that wasn't the case for Mithriel.

She landed in the cold desolate territory, the charred remains of trees had been bitten to a black dust making the air very hard to breath, no life was to be seen, the rays of the sun, so beautiful and warm everywhere else dared not to show themselves.

She had brought a gift that she had hidden in her mouth hoping that this time her brother wouldn't catch the scent right away like the other times.

Aureye was lying on his back in his own personal cave, his head rested on a too small mound of gold that had lost its shine. He was munching on a mythril vest frustrated at how gentle he was forced to be so as to not break it like the others. Those things were terribly expensive and he wasn't so small that he could sneak around stealing stuff without anyone noticing anymore.

Sure he thought about raiding merchants or claiming a territory close to a trade route and asking for a tax for passage so as to not be considered a scourge but all those plans remained just that, plans..

"Aureye? You here, brother?" asked the young dragoness whose bright whiteness had been dulled by the black dust.

He hummed an affirmative, for a very long time, he had liked it better to use his vocal cords rather than telepathy to speak.

She frowned when she saw his big belly:

"Oh my! Look at you, you're even fatter than you were a month ago! You can't keep going like that! it's not healthy!"

"Give me that gift you brought and leave me alone, I don't need to be healthy"

She frowned harder.

"And what do you need then?"

"Mythril and gold, that's the only things I need, and stop bringing me amethyst, I like being black, I am not taking a bath and no you can't groom me"

"How did you? That was luck isn't it, you couldn't have smelled it in my mouth.."

She opened and handed him a beautiful golden necklace with a radiant amethyst crimped in.

Then frowned even harder as she realized he wasn't even going to move to take it.

"Are you kidding me?! Aureye, Below all that fat and cinder dust, you are a beautiful dr.."

"I AM NOT BEAUTIFUL! I AM A FREAK! Leave me alone"

They were silent for a moment.

But she was a bold youth, she wasn't going to back down like that.

"And you think you don't need to be strong? Tell me, don't you understand we're at war? You could be the strongest dragon! What if Sauron tries to capture you? Being a freak or not, that's up to you! Show them how great you can be!"

"I am not afraid of Sauron besides he doesn't need to capture me If he wants to talk to me, he can, whenever he wants"

Now she was worried, she scouted his mind :

"Hey! Stay OUT!" But his mind was easily dominated and she got what she wanted.

She saw a ring and the presence of Sauron prevented her to see more.

"It's just a gift" he wasn't on his belly anymore, he was arching his back, on the defensive.

It was their first time. Calvar had already fought for real against Aureye before but Mithriel had never been serious.

She tried to justify herself:

"If you had been training like me and Calvar, you would have been strong enough to fend me off your mind. Now, give it to me."

"Go away.."

She couldn't believe her ears.

"You're meddling with Sauron and you tell me 'Go away' as if all of it was normal!?"

Aureye knew that if he hadn't said something weird, she'd have just repeated her order to give her the ring. Now that she had spoken her bafflement, it was his turn and he could lead her wherever he wanted..

"You know, he was just thankful that I hadn't betrayed the flame of Thangorodrim in favor of the Bound flame of Alagaesia.. he's our great grand-father! The creator of the dark flame that was passed on to our father and to us!"

She snapped at him :

"I don't want to hear any of that! Our father abandoned us!"

"NO He didn't! He's under a powerful spell!"

Now the size difference really showed, he was up and had a menacing presence.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes :

"Sure.. who told you that? Sauron? Don't believe anything he says!"

"Well, if you don't believe me, maybe we should go check it out.."

He thought she wasn't going to pass out on a chance to have him move from his den which is why he used that ace right at this moment when he had the opportunity to shift the source from Sauron to himself.

"But.. Mom said we should never, ever, under any circumstances pay visit to him!"

However, as much as it tempted her, she wasn't particularly one to disobey.

"We aren't going to see him, just smell for a trace of the spell!"

He carefully avoided to bring back Sauron.

She thought for a moment and sighed, she wanted to leave this place, she wanted him to leave this place, she wanted to have him show how bright and jolly he can be.. she wanted to bathe in the sun, roll around in the grass, hunt with him..

If that can prove him that mom is right and Sauron is a liar..

If that can give him some exercise, bring a bit of joy and positivity in his life..

"Alright, we're going but whatever it is we find there, you're not getting back here before you can fly!"

She was confident he wouldn't want to bury himself in this dark hole once he's discovered the joy of flight.

He considered the condition for a second.

"I can swear that I'll let you teach me"

She gave him a satisfied smile and they headed off.

…

"Dang! I miss my gold! So.. how's it going for you, sis?"

They had been walking for a while, mostly thinking about what to say to each other..

Mithriel was certainly trying to plan how their discussion about the ring should go and how she could keep control of it, she was smart enough to know that her brother was very good at having her where he wanted, at least that's what said brother was thinking she was doing..

He sure was pretty confident in his abilities but he still knew that Mithriel was smarter than him. She had shown him time and time again when they were younger.

"Ow c'mon, No one is going to get to your awful place or dirty their hand with your gold" she chuckled a bit..

"Not much happening in my life, I'm like learning stuff here and there under the tutelage of Lord Elrond.. Calvar has much more interesting things to tell : he's fighting alongside the dragonriders, he's even killed a crazyhuge warg nearly as big as me"

She knew better than to return the question..

He looked around him :

"Been a while since I saw so much green.."

"Yeah it's really pretty"

"Makes me want to burn everything.."

"-_-"

"Make them trees all crispy.."

"-"

He had taken his mythril vest and took a little bite for added effects.

"Piss on the cinder to make sure absolutely everyone get the message : this is my desolation, trespass at your own crisp"

It was obvious she was trying not to laugh..

"What's up with the crispation?"

It wasn't funny enough to make her break a fit and she was able to regain her composure with a smug look on her face.. He couldn't help but pout in disappointment.

"Bro, you're so old school, what's up with calling your territory a 'desolation'?"

"Tradition! Crispy, Tradition is important, Father have a huge desolation, I want one too"

He knew she hated when he called her "Crispy", it was the first nickname she ever had but to be fair, it was from a time when Aureye called everything and everyone with crisps related monickers.

Mithriel stopped.

"uh? what's going on?"

"Shh! Something's coming"

Dang that's bad, if anyone sees I'm out, they'll go for my hoard!

"Where?"

As if to answer his question, something that looked like a warg running on top of its lungs came into view from the other side of the hill in the distance.

"Fiew! Just a wolf! my treasure's safe!"

… Followed by a troupe of mounted hunters..

"… Of course!"

"C'mon, don't worry about that, they're focused on their thing and it's like four kilometers away, they probably didn't recognize you"

"I am twice your size and I am black!"

"No, you're just dirty.."

"Irrelevant.. I am darker and bigger."

"Doesn't change the fact that most of this darkness comes from dust which can easily be washed away.. wink.. wink.."

"But purple is so girly!"

"Aury! Do you realize how rare amethyst scales are? I would love to have your color!"

"I know.. and you're a girl so.. Hey! Ho! The fuck you think you're doing!?"

The warg and his pursuers had reached them and the furry rascal had no qualms against using him as a shield. Certainly the mounted archers wouldn't risk firing next to the wings and belly of a dragon.

"If anyone's acting weird it's you! They see you out of your desolation! Away from your hoard! Kill them!" retorted the bull-sized canine.

"Wait a.. Wow! you're crafty! But I can't.. my sister here won't let me and beside I can also do that : "

He intruded the mind of the horses to have them buck off their rider and flee away but it had no effect other than getting steely resolute gaze from the equines..

"Wow! These are some badass horses!"

"Well Aury-bro, they just went through a bit of mental fortitude and magic defense TRAINING, it's a natural reaction, part of the healthy skepticism towards the sudden popularity of Alaegesian dragon-kind in Arda.. You should know that.. Keyword, TRAINING" she let that sink in, a smug look on her face.

Aureye wasn't satisfied by this answer, he already knew that.

He looked the horses in the eyes, he inspected their riders.. Finely dressed elves, no mythril but high quality arrows and blades.

I need to appear shocked.

It wouldn't be wise to allow them to realize I got it..

Afterall, why would they also train against Ardan dragon-spell since me and father are the only active users is an easy question to answer, how they were able to find a way to train against dragon-spell is the true question..
If I kill them, whoever they work for will automatically assume I know they've been preparing to take me down because I wouldn't kill elves without being threatened. Furthermore, they took the risk to show themselves to me and expose themselves to my dragon-spell.. all for that wolf.. He's an ally!

"Er.. Bro? You okay?"

Dang! I've been thinking for too long! I can't explain her, she's a very bad liar but she's also very curious, can I get away with lying here? I know!

"er.. Yeah, sure.. I didn't know that.. But I mean, isn't that a bit antagonistic?"

By the power of Diversion! They've all been fooled! Don't let the satisfaction show on your face!

"Ow c'mon! You can't say that wanting to keep their thoughts private and control of their bodies is antagonistic.. Mother herself acknowledged the right of the free folk to prepare and had the dragon council finance half of the training, she's also monitoring the cost to allow even humans and non-noble dwarves to have access to it.. Of course, useful beasts profit from a part of the cake"

More distraction! let's feint annoyance! Needs to sound genuine in context..

"Ow so that's how it is! 'Useful beasts' vs 'free folk', the free folk have the 'right' to defend themselves while beasts only 'profit from the cake', interesting choice of words, sis.. And then you wonder why I don't want to have anything to do with that little war of theirs.. The free folk is no better than the force of evil!"

"C'mon! I meant they pay for it, that thing isn't free except for some horses and eagles.. That's quite the privilege you know!"

The horses nodded proud of their lineage.

"Ow 'privilege'! 'Privilege' now! Well MAYBE they wouldn't have to have this 'privilege' if they were actually paid for their service!"

One of the horse had enough of the disrespect towards its master and intervened :

"And how is food and shelter not.."

But it was quickly interrupted by Aureye who tried to appear as triggered and flabbergasted as he could :

"HOW DARE YOU! You talk to me as if your words were worth my time and consideration! For a mere SLAVE! to have the balls to talk to me! ME! one of the last wild fire drake!" he boasted intimidating and booming his voice like thunder, then chuckled darkly as the tip of his tail approached the daring buck..

"Now now.. talking about balls.." He pushed the horse over to expose its belly. The rider jumped and tucked an arrow ready to shoot. The other ones had readied their bow too but Aureye, confident paid no mind to the threat.

"Well well well! What do we have here? Lucky Boy! You weren't cut up!.. Here you are! with the balls to talk back to one of the most powerful being in existence YET! You aren't brave enough to free yourself from your chains.. There is food a-plenty, free, everywhere for you, you don't have to hunt for it, you just have to lower your head! The forest is plenty enough shelter for your need and were you a weakling, wouldn't it be good for your kind for you to be taken by the fangs?! Now let's see how appreciated you are, Slave! If I did that to a human or an elf, your little masters here wouldn't hesitate a second to shoot at me"

The sharp end of his tail went to stroll around the horse's privates.

"I'm going to cut you up and no one is going to defend you, do you know why? Because that's what happen when beasts speak up and face off against a superior authority.. In this unfair world that you defend, when assigned lower beings don't respect the hierarchy, they loose their balls! Your masters and fellow slaves know I'm right, if I don't do it here and now, you'll probably be castrated for daring to talk in front of a supreme authority anyway.. Your only chance is to fight and escape but that was probably bred out of your blood, right? Here I am threatening your bodily integrity and yet you don't even think about fleeing away or fighting back.."

"Blah blah blah blah! Shut the fuck up! I can talk back to you because you're just another beast, No! you're lower than a beast! you're a mere worm, filthy fork tongue! I am guilty of no disrespect, you're the one that should be castrated here! So much strength that you could serve the free folk with and here you are doing nothing, castrate me if you want, I'm not meant to be a breeding stud anyway.."

"THE WARG IS GETTING AWAY!"

The riders resumed the chase.

"Let me go, I need to be useful!"

"No"

"LET ME GO YOU WORM!"

"Your rider mounted another horse, they're gone.. already a kilometer away.."

"Let me.."

"I am going to reform you, you'll be free, you'll be great.."

In an instant, the cocky stallion's throat was shredded.. he tried to muster a cry to call for reinforcement when he realized how it happened but he was mute and dying.

Aureye was shocked :

"But I.. I told him I would, he was restrained, it's my fault he couldn't defend himself because I.. No.. Why?!"

The huge corrupted wolf stood there with a big chunk of bloody mess in his jaws..

"Don't worry, he wouldn't have been able to defend himself anyway, I am not one to be messed up with, you don't need to know my name and you won't know how I made them think I was getting away either.."

"I saw it : illusion magic, wasn't quite as good as I expected from a legend like you, Greymos Draugluinsson"

No way! I have three thousand years of practice and a mere-born dragonling saw through it! What kind of ridiculous magical affinity does she have?

Aureye had a perplex look for his sister and sighed :

"Sis, knowing things is great but you're too proud for your own good, it's even more important to keep your enemies unaware of what you know."

"uh? Well okay but then why would you tell that piece of knowledge in front of him?"

"Because I've already secured the information that he knows I'm a good strategist and also that he's not an enemy."

"Hehe not bad, kid, so you realized I wasn't the real prey of those hunters, right?"

"Are they after my treasure?"

If he could face-palm, the immortal pup would do it right now.

"No! Moron! They just want to kill you because you're a threat : your meddling with Sauron is known to some important people in the white council"

"Don't believe anything he says, Aureye! Mother wouldn't allow it and also this is illegal, they wouldn't try to kill you, you have an official authorization from the dragon council to occupy and desolate your territory as you see fit. Illegal dragon slaying is a very grave matter that the white council too take very seriously, Even Ardan drakes are allowed to live wild and free as long as they refrain from causing harm to the free folk. They even have the right to kill trespassers on their territory if the territory was approved by the dragon council, approval that they can ask for easily and they just have to justify 10 years of occupation which is easily done by analysis of.."

"Mith, sis.. I know.. I know the law, okay?.. but these horses are trained against dragon-spell, Father and me are the only known users, don't you think it's a bit weird?"

"Obviously you were manipulated into thinking that was the case! it's impossible to train against dragon-spell, there is no trainer available, as you said, Smaug and you are the only known users! don't be a fool, you're a great strategist, you know that you are more likely to believe something and will put less attention to verifying the claim if you believe you're the one that came up with it.."

"So you think that Sauron would be able to infiltrate horses trained against dragon-spell into an elven mounted unit just to make me believe elves want to kill me?"

"Of course if you say it like that it's going to sound ridiculous.. although as you said, making sure your enemies do not know of what you know and your abilities is a big part of strategy, right? So who are our enemies, if there is another dragon-spell user, for who do you think he would work? Sauron.. Also I think it's a bit suspicious that they'd just follow the warg to us.. I mean, it's not in their interest to allow you to know their horses are dragon-spell resistant, so why would they do it?"

"The point isn't to make sure one theory is 100% correct, the point is just to keep the most likely in mind to be safe and test it further later on, then potentially see if it has any predictive capabilities but I am definitely going to keep in mind the possibility that Sauron might be raising bright elven horses and somehow infiltrate them just to be safe, ok?"

Greymos the warg interjected :

"Anyway, they'll probably come back, they needn't know I stayed here, you need to camouflage my bite on the horse's neck.. wait, I am a bit hungry, are you okay camouflaging more? Maybe you want the balls for yourself, it's my favorite part, I'm pretty sure castration was invented to spite me.."

"er.. ow.. yeah, sure help yourself"

Aureye couldn't help but think how his sister would have reacted if the carcass wasn't that of a horse.

They ate meat of course, they had killed many times already, he had even eaten a few humans that he knew whose death wouldn't be traceable to him. But Aureye had always been against the idea that some preys are just off limits for some entirely subjective reasons.

A few minutes later they would part ways with their new acquaintance and resume heading toward their father.

What mystery would await them there?