A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 2
Natsume and the dragon hunter snapped back to their own fight at exactly the same time. Or rather, they both realized that the bronze's backup was unavailable at the same time. The hunter dove towards the human boat probably in a last ditch effort to save himself by saving them. Natsume followed close behind latching on to the bronze's wings from behind.
The dragon hunter thrashed madly and roared while trying to buck the red off. He kept whacking Natsume with his tail and tried repeatedly to get his claws into some part of the red's flesh.
Down in the water, the humans still on the boat started shooting at the water randomly in an effort to scare away their attacker. One panicked human came up with the brilliant idea to throw something explosive into the water sending a huge spout of water into the air.
Alarmed that he couldn't see the sea dragon anywhere in the churning water, Natsume spun around with all his might and launched the bronze into the cliff face, making sure that he viciously clawed down both wings rendering them both useless. It was a wound that any healthy dragon could recover from eventually; if they survived the crash into the cliff or the fall into the water that is. But given the way half the rock face was coming down around it, the red doubted the bronze would survive the fall.
Turning his attention to the water below the red spotted much to his horror, the sea dragon whose attention was still on fighting the humans on the boat, surface near the cliff face he had just destroyed. It was the first time he had ever really seen a sea dragon. They were normally isolationists that ignored their flying cousins but for some reason this one had chosen to come to his aid.
And he was about to repay their help by dumping a bronze dragon hunter and half a cliff face on their head.
The sea dragon had surfaced to cause a wave big enough to capsize the boat completely and was clearly unaware of what was happening above it. Natsume only had enough time to let out a harsh bugle of alarm before his view of the sea dragon was obscured with falling dragon hunter and rocks.
Stupid careless fool! Natsume yelled in his head, not sure if he was yelling at himself or the sea dragon. Most likely both.
The red dragon swooped low passing over the human boat and using his fire to destroy it and the remaining survivors. He couldn't afford to let them live with the chance they might come back to try and snatch one of his clan again.
Once they were taken care of, he tried to find the sea dragon again. He circled over the area twice without spotting anything before climbing higher.
Where did it go? Was it still alive? As he rose higher he was surprised to find what he believed to be the sea dragon several hundred meters away. It was incredible how fast they could travel in their element.
He watched as the dragon tried to make its way towards a small cove a several kilometers away. Concerned, and a little curious, he decided to follow to make sure it got to shore okay.
He took the opportunity to study his almost ally.
Air dragons were like the classic European fable dragons. They had large muscular bodies, leathery wings, and the ability to control fire. Sea dragons however looked more like the classic Asian dragon. Although they had the spiked tail, teeth and claws like an air dragon, they were long and serpentine and their shorter legs doubled as flippers for steering in the water.
The sea dragon managed to get about two thirds of the way to the cove before it started to slow down dramatically. By then it had come closer to the surface and Natsume could easily see the darkening of the water around it. Clearly it was wounded and bleeding badly. Feeling a bit responsible for its injuries, Natsume figured the least he could do was to try and help it to shore. If need be, he could even offer a bit of first aid.
When the sea dragon's movements started to get more erratic, he swooped low and smacked the water with his tail startling it enough to move forward a little more. He repeated the process a few more times but on the fourth try when the cove was almost within swimming distance, the sea dragon barely moved.
Come on; don't give up on me yet. He encouraged silently in his head, just a little further. He slapped the water again but the dragon didn't do much more than twitch and flick its tail.
Don't you dare die on me now! You're almost there! He thought alarmed. Quickly, he looked at the shore then down at the dragon in the water. It was still too far to swim, especially if he was dragging someone. "Luka! I need you to meet me down at the beach and bring medical supplies!" he yelled mentally.
Carefully he pulled back and circled around. He would only have one shot at this. Once too much of his wings touched the water his dragon form would be useless and he would need to change into his human one to avoid drowning. He angled himself to come up from behind the other dragon and swooped as low over the water as he dared. At the last moment, dove his tail into the water and wrapped it around the lithe body of the sea dragon.
The shock he got the instant he made contact almost had him dropping his passenger back into the water.
With the exception of size, generally, dragon genders aren't normally very apparent in their dragon form. Genitals aren't visible in dragon form and they never have sexual contact in anything other than their human form. But the instant Natsume touched the sea dragon and their mutual energies clashed he was absolutely one hundred percent certain she was female and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to have her sleek body coiled hot and tight around his from snout to tail tip.
Ruthlessly shaking off the unexpected surge of dragon lust he used the last beat of his wings to throw them both another couple dragon lengths closer to shore. When he hit the water he transformed while broadcasting his energy hoping she could understand what he wanted of her. Miraculously, she must have felt something from him because she transformed as well revealing a slim, badly damaged female body, wearing a torn t-shirt and shorts, floating in the water. He quickly hooked his arms around her torso and tried his best to carry them both to shore while ignoring the inappropriate lust that she seemed to trigger when they touched.
He didn't get far when Hotaru and Luka showed up on a strange looking water scooter that was shaped like a goose. "Natsume! Are you alright?" the blond asked.
Panting with exhaustion, he nodded his head "Yes, but we need something to carry her in." he said indicating the burden in his arms.
"Who is that?" Luka asked while Hotaru pulled a small box out of a side compartment in her scooter.
"Sea dragon. For some stupid reason the idiot tried to help me." He answered gruffly. Even he couldn't say if the sudden hoarseness of his voice was because of irritation or raging hormones.
Tbc
Thank you to those of you who reviewed!
A few of you noticed that I had said this story was rated 'M' in chapter 1 yet I set it up as 'T' on . Okay here's the deal. The story will eventually be 'M' rated, but not for quite a while so I marked it as 'T'. Now having said that, I've been debating whether I should have just left it at 'M' because before that there will be moments of insight into Natsume's brain and… well… he is a bit of a pervert and I don't want to corrupt any impressionable minds with his perverseness. Chances are I'll probably change it soon so if there is anything that offends anyone let me know right away.