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"Your blight ends here."

Caroline giggled as Klaus flipped them over, his stubble scratching pleasurably against her neck with each kiss he pressed to her skin. Her hands wound into the back of his tunic as his palms settled on her hips.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured, nipping her ear.

She flushed, arching her back as he ground his hard cock against her thigh, moaning softly as his fingertips made light, teasing circles between her legs. "Touch me," she demanded, rolling her hips, and she huffed when he chuckled, though he obligingly slid his fingers inside of her, her entire body trembling when his fingers brushed her clit.

She moaned into his mouth when he bent to kiss her, parting her lips invitingly for his tongue and rolling her hips when he tugged her lip between his teeth before nipping at her neck.

"I want you inside of me again," she gasped, trying to fight down the heat in her cheeks at his soft laugh, wrapping her hand around his cock and guiding him to her entrance.

He pulled his fingers away and sheathed himself inside of her, meeting her eyes as he began to move. His gaze was magnetic, and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away, too entranced by how he looked at her.

It was late by the time she reluctantly left his bed, reminding him in hushed tones between tempting kisses that her family was nosey and she needed to be there when they woke to avoid questions.

She tried to keep her footsteps light as she made her way back to her family's quarters, wincing at the patch of sunlight already shining through a window. She was wary of her little sister, who was a light sleeper and an early riser. With a little luck, perhaps she wouldn't be caught.

Her hopes were unceremoniously crushed when she slipped through the wooden door to see her sister at the roughly-hewn wooden table, thistle tea clutched in her hands.

"You're up early," Camille said suspiciously.

"Good morning to you as well, little sister."

"Where were you?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"The Hall of Scrolls," she lied.

"All night?"

"Obviously," Caroline dryly. "I should go to bed."

Camille frowned, inhaling slowly as Caroline passed by to get to the door to her chambers, and she gasped in the kind of overly dramatic way that made Caroline want to smack her. "You've had your first mating. I can smell him," she whispered, a smug smile spreading across her face. "Who is it?"

Caroline blushed brightly, unable to make eye contact with her sister. "None of your business."

"You and the scholar?" Camille pressed.

"None of your business."

"So that's a yes then?"

"Goodnight, Cami," Caroline said firmly, and Camille huffed, leaning back in her chair, toes curling against the cold stone floors.

"You never tell me anything."

"For good reason. You're a nosey gossip."

"I just care. Is that so wrong?" Camille asked with wide, too-innocent eyes.

"Yes," Caroline said grumpily. "My secrets are mine to hoard unless I wish to share them."

"But—"

"Good night, sister," Caroline said, emphasizing the note of finality as she walked into her bedroom.

It was an open secret that Klaus was courting her, but she still wanted to hoard their moments together, keep them private. The way Klaus had touched her the night before had made her back arch and her toes curl. He'd done the most sinful things to her body with his tongue, had growled sweet promises in her ear about how much better his claws would feel on the sensitive skin of her wings...

As they'd laid together twisted in his sheets, she'd felt the dragon that she'd never had the chance to free stir within her, content with her choice. She'd never felt more desperate to be free of the tower walls.

She wanted to stretch her wings and fly, wanted to explore every corner of the land that had been denied to her for her whole life.

And she wanted to do it with him.

XXX

"We believe that Mikael will soon consume enough power to break down the barrier protecting us," Silas, the leader of the council of elders, announced to the dragons gathered in the lobby of the temple tower. "We have decided to relocate in hopes that he will turn his attention to other sources of food..."

As the elder continued to talk, Caroline felt her stomach clench in annoyance. She looked at Klaus, who had his fingers tangled through hers. He was watching the elder with an expression that would have looked blank to anyone else, but she could see the wariness in his eyes, the stubborn set of his jaw. She had to do something, to interrupt, and she steeled herself for the reaction that she knew would come before she opened her mouth to speak.

"We cannot simply move and hope the problem goes away," she interrupted, and the room fell deathly silent as everyone turned to look at her. Klaus had frozen beside her, though his hand was now clutching hers so tightly that it almost hurt from the pressure of it. She gathered all of her courage and pressed on. "Mikael will continue to grow in power, and the sooner we neutralize him, the sooner we can live in peace."

The sooner we can be free...

Murmurs broke out among the crowd, and they parted so that the elder could approach her. She felt Klaus stiffen beside her, though he did not let her go, and for that she was grateful. She was slightly regretting speaking up when she saw the anger in the elder's eyes.

"Do you truly believe you know better than an elder ten thousand years your senior, little whelpling?"

Caroline felt her heart pounding, her cheeks flushing, but she stubbornly held the elder's gaze.

"Do tread carefully, Silas," Klaus said from beside her, his voice low and tinged with warning. "Caroline is young, but I was born barely a decade after the youngest elder. I too believe that we must kill Mikael before he grows even stronger than he already is."

"I need not tread carefully to avoid your wrath Niklaus. I am an elder, and my decision is final."

"Your friendship with my father before he grew corrupt is ancient history, Silas. Your nostalgia makes you weak."

"I do not care for that monster, Niklaus."

"Then kill him," Klaus growled, and Silas held his gaze for an uncomfortable length of time, the rage and hate thick between them.

"We leave for our new home in a year's time," Silas said firmly.

As the crowd dispersed, Klaus turned to her, body rigid, jaw clenched, and she could tell that he was angry, having learned to recognize her mate's body language in the hundred years they'd been together. His hand was hot against the small of her back as he walked with her to their rooms, the possessive stroke of his thumb against her spine a slight comfort considering his clear rage.

"Are you mad?" he hissed as soon as he closed the door to their quarters, and she felt her chest tighten.

"What?" she asked, her spine straightening as she stared him down. "Were you just defending me out of loyalty? Do you not agree?"

"Of course I do," he snapped, and she felt the tension leave her body despite his harsh tone. "There is no doubt in my mind that you speak the truth, sweetheart. I simply wish that you had waited until a more advantageous moment to voice your concerns. I'm sure they believe that we're planning a rebellion now."

"Well, they're not wrong," she said loftily, crossing her arms over her chest.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We need allies for a rebellion, love. It will take time to plan. Even then, the elders may not stand down. Are you truly prepared to do what is required to take command?"

She bit her lip, letting her eyes settle on the stone floor and shifting from foot to foot. Though Klaus had phrased it diplomatically, they both knew that the only way the elders would step aside for dragons they considered to be beneath them would be to force them. She knew that the needs of the many outweighed the arrogance of the few, and though she had been raised her whole life to defer to the elders, it was her flight they were putting in danger.

She met Klaus's eyes with determination, nodding slowly. "I am."

"You're sure?" he asked quietly, and she nodded, sinking down on their bed and shifting so that her back rested against the stone wall, her bare feet dangling off the edge of the mattress.

"I want freedom," she said simply, and he nodded, sitting down beside her, his palm resting on her thigh over her skirts.

"We can't do it alone," he said, and she could hear the reluctance in his voice at the admission. He loathed asking for help even more than she did.

"I know. Do you have any ideas for allies?"

"A few. You?"

"A few."

She laid her palm on his hand and let her head rest on his shoulder. Though the fight would be difficult, she had no doubt that it was the right thing to do. She couldn't let Mikael control the lives of her or her flight any longer.

XXX

Klaus watched Matt with barely-concealed dislike as Caroline thanked him for coming with a bright smile and pulled him into a warm hug before directing him to one of the cushioned chairs in their sitting room. The two of them had been playmates as children, apparently, their mothers close friends, and though every instinct was demanding that he walk over and lay his hand on her back to remind the boy that she was his, he managed to refrain. Caroline knew very well who she belonged to, and he'd also been unnecessarily reminded that he was hers more than a few times when another woman got too close.

Though he and Caroline both excelled in many areas, sharing was not a skill that either of them had taken the time to perfect.

Still, as soon as she sat down he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his side, responding to her raised 'seriously?' eyebrows with a quick squeeze of her waist. Matt sat next to Camille, Caroline's sister, who always seemed to eye him with something between appreciation and suspicion.

While Caroline had been drawing in her sister and friend, he'd pulled aside Stefan and Damon and asked them to attend. He wouldn't call the brothers his friends by any means. Neither were particularly clever or sensible, and he found their almost incestuous loyalty rather trying, but they were Silas's grandchildren and both loathed him for killing their mother.

After Caroline had offered the group thistle tea (everyone declined politely), it was time to begin planning their strategy. Klaus had expected Caroline to easily agree to his plan. Yes, sending in the population as an army in one wave was risky, but the chance of success was high. There were a few hundred of them versus his father. With a little magical help, they'd easily succeed.

Unfortunately, he hadn't predicted correctly.

"We can't just go in with an army, Klaus," Caroline said exasperatedly. "It'll be too dangerous."

"Why not? As long as most live, we can repopulate."

"Yes, but we'll still lose the lives of people we love."

"And how are we supposed to sneak up on Mikael, Caroline? There's no way to know where he is, and sending scouts would be just as dangerous for them. The only thing we can do is have strength in numbers and know that he can't eat us all before we kill him."

Caroline scoffed, tossing her hair and glaring at him. "How exactly are we supposed to kill him with numbers, then? What's your grand plan?" Caroline asked, and Klaus shrugged.

"Even with all of his power, Mikael isn't invincible. We just have to injure him enough. It's not complicated. It'll just require a lot of dragons and some sacrifices. It's a numbers game, sweetheart."

The other four were watching their argument with interest as Caroline sat up straight and scooted out from under his arm so that she could face him more fully. "It's not a numbers game! These are our people, Klaus. You can't just send them off to be killed."

"It's the best way."

"No, it's really not, and I can't believe you'd seriously suggest it."

"What's your idea then, love?" he asked, and Caroline sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"I don't have one, but there has to be one better than that. Haven't you found anything from your research on the Titans?"

"Well, there are many spells that could potentially be helpful, but none that I've investigated thoroughly enough to be sure, or that do not come at an unpayable price."

"Like?" Caroline prompted.

Klaus sighed, reluctant to suggest the most powerful option, knowing that Caroline would most likely be willing to go through with it. "With help from those skilled with welding we could create a talisman of great power to suck the essence of his soul to destroy him."

"What's the price?" Damon asked, his brow furrowed.

"It would require as many of us as possible to contribute part of the essence of our souls. In order to control it, the talisman would have to be infused with soul magic. That sort of sacrifice provides great power, but it's permanent. It would make us vulnerable should the talisman be destroyed or fall into the wrong hands. I do not think it wise."

They all made murmurs of agreement, and Caroline laid a hand on his arm. "Are there any other possibilities?"

"It would also be possible to infuse an object, such as a crystal, to magically paralyze anything it touches for a few moments after being broken. That would not require the same sort of sacrifice, since it's simple magic. Just a few minutes of recovery after each casting to rest up. I do not know how many we'd need to immobilize Mikael for long enough to reduce the death count by a significant amount, and it would take a lot of time to produce enough for us to have a chance."

"We'll just try to create as many as possible before the move," Matt said, clearly latching on to the plan that didn't involve them giving up parts of their souls. "If we recruit enough of the flight and time the rituals well we should be able to create more without tiring out the flight before the battle."

"Not many people will be willing to help if it requires weakening their powers right before the elders have us set to move," Damon said grimly, and Stefan nodded in agreement.

"That's why we'll be replacing the elders and telling the flight that we're not moving," Caroline said firmly, and he had to suppress a smile at her certainty that it was doable.

Stefan and Matt didn't seem to be convinced, but Damon leaned back in his seat, a smirk twisting his lips. "I hope that by "replace" you mean "murder"."

He grinned as Caroline rolled her eyes with a bit too much drama for it to have been accidental. "No, we meant kindly ask them to give up their power," she said, the sarcasm heavy in her tone. "Obviously murder."

"Poison," Klaus elaborated. "I have herbs, and the three of us are next in line. I'm only ten years younger than the youngest elder, and you're from an unfortunate gene pool."

Damon seemed like he was about to object, but Matt talked over him, clearly sensing oncoming conflict.

"I'll try to recruit more of the flight," he said. "We have a year. It will go by quickly, but I should be able to organize enough of the flight by the end of the month, assuming the...replacement plan goes well."

Camille looked vaguely uncomfortable but nodded, shooting Caroline a questioning look, and Caroline gave her a reassuring smile before glancing at Klaus.

"All right. We'll start tonight, then."

The others left, and Caroline let out a sigh of relief after the doors closed. "I dislike Damon," she said bluntly, wrinkling her nose.

"As do I. His goals align with ours, however."

"For now."

He let his hand skim her hip, satisfied when she leaned against him for comfort, letting out a soft sigh, her eyes closing. He loved the way her reactions were all for him, how she trusted him and gave herself to him completely. She'd often given him chastising looks for show when they were in front of others and he brushed his fingers on her skin pointedly to mark his claim, but she still moved closer, pleased by his attentions.

She'd hesitantly asked him why he was always touching her one night, early on before she'd allowed him to call her mate and when he still marveled at the vision of her body tangled in his sheets.

"You don't like it, sweetheart?" he'd murmured, stroking her hair.

"I do like it," she admitted after a moment. "I've been told it's natural to be protective of your... mate, to want to touch and claim. It makes me feel wanted."

A slow smile spread across his face at her declaration, and he could see the flush spread along her cheeks in the low, flickering torchlight.

"You agree, then? To be mine?"

He tried to conceal how much her answer would mean to him, the weight of the knowledge that she would willingly linger in his rooms.

"As long as you are mine, my mate," she answered, pointedly tangling her legs with his and looking at him. All he could do was drink her in, her eyes full of heat and need and pride.

Love.

XXX

"Are you ready?" Caroline asked, gripping Klaus's hand like a lifeline and shooting him a nervous look out of the corner of her eye.

Once the elders had been unceremoniously disposed of (the flight's unexpected but welcome sigh of relief at the news bolstering their confidence), Caroline had managed to get everything organized as well as she could.

However, now that it was the moment of truth, she was more than a little nervous.

Klaus and a few other older dragons had led everyone to get the crystals, but once they had enough he sat in the Hall of Scrolls with Caroline, helping her translate texts and stroking her hair as they researched.

Matt had worked tirelessly to recruit people, and Camille and Stefan worked non-stop on the crystals. Damon had been generally useless, though he grudgingly helped when directly asked. They'd made as many crystals as they possibly could, and had countless meetings with those they'd convinced to join them. It had been a long and tiring process, but they were finally putting their plan into action.

"Yes."

She gave him a small, hesitant smile, standing in the front doorway of the temple before taking a deep breath and stepping outside into the sunlight. She could feel the heat of it on her skin, the sweetness of the outside air filling her for the first time, and she closed her eyes and willed herself to transform.

She felt her skin bubble as scales erupted, her bones twisting painlessly to new shapes, her body feeling like she'd woken up and stretched for the first time. She looked down at her clawed feet, her red scales gleaming in the sunlight, and she smiled.

She could feel Klaus's presence beside her, and his nose rubbed against her neck affectionately as she shifted, testing out the weight and feel of her new form. "This is amazing," she said softly, her voice low and rough from her dragon's throat.

"I knew you'd be red."

"You've mentioned that a few times," she said teasingly, bumping noses with him.

"Are you ready, Caroline?" Matt interrupted from next to her, his bronze scales glittering in the sunlight, and she nodded, stretching her wings out, beating them experimentally, her toes hovering a few inches from the earth for a moment before she touched back down.

"We will fight," Caroline said loudly, turning to face the rest of the dragons, slightly awkward on her feet in her unfamiliar form. The older dragons had already transformed, clearly relieved to be cloaked in their scales again. Some of the younger ones had followed suit, most trying to find their footing, and many still lingered in their human forms at the doorway. "We must kill Mikael to protect ourselves. You all know the plan?"

There were murmurs of assent, some dragons nodding while others simply stood silently, all clutching at least two enchanted crystals in their claws or hands. Caroline couldn't help but savor the cold wind swirling around her new wings, the sensation foreign and right. The dragons murmured in low voices as they waited, all of them rigid and alert, terrified but determined.

She turned to Klaus, about to ask how long he thought it would take for Mikael to realize that they were out of the tower when the thick stench of rotted meat hit her nose. Her stomach lurched, bile burning her throat, and she coughed as the sky darkened, Mikael's form looming in the sky, blocking out the light of the sun.

Mikael dived, snapping up one of the nearby dragons in his jaws, the bones crunching as he chewed, the dragon's wails of agony cutting off abruptly as Mikael swallowed. Caroline could hear the other dragons screaming in terror, but she almost felt like there was something stuffing her ears, muffling her hearing as she rose with a few unsteady beats of her wings to rise into the air.

She, Matt, Damon, Stefan, and Camille circled Mikael, Klaus and a few others lingering slightly below them, preparing to attack Mikael once Caroline had signaled for the flight to throw the crystals.

"Finally decided to stop being cowards and take down the barrier?" Mikael asked, his voice mocking.

"No. We're going to kill you so that we don't need it anymore," Caroline said, her voice reeking of confidence that she didn't really feel now that she was faced with the reality of the battle. "I won't let you turn my people into meals."

"And yet you've given me such easy access to them, little one," Mikael said, and Caroline dodged his claw as he reached to grab her.

"Don't touch her," she heard Klaus growl, feeling him fly to hover beside her, claws out, eyes fiery.

"Niklaus," he greeted, a twisted smile on his face. "How's your life alone suiting you? Thankful I didn't manage to eat you? Or wishing that you'd been consumed so you wouldn't have to live with the guilt of being the only one to survive?"

"He's not alone," Caroline snapped before thinking about it, and she saw Mikael's eyes light up, his teeth bared in a terrifying smile.

"So you finally found someone who wouldn't cringe at the idea of being near you, did you?"

Caroline growled low in her throat. Mikael was looking at Klaus, looking at her mate, in a way that made her feel incredibly protective. She wanted to rip his throat out for speaking to Klaus that way, and she tried to fight down the instinct.

She could disembowel him later.

For right now, she had to signal for the next phase of the plan.

"Of course I do not cringe. He is my mate."

"You have poor taste," Mikael said, and all Caroline could think as Mikael prepared to chase another dragon to eat was whether he was making food puns on purpose.

She waited until Mikael had turned away to dive for another dragon before she sent the signal to the flight, all of whom threw the crystals at Mikael's large body, making them crack all over his scales. There was a bright flash of light before Mikael froze mid-movement, plummeting to the snow-covered ground below, stunned for only a few precious seconds.

Caroline and the rest of the small group dove at him, claws out, teeth gleaming, and by the time Mikael was able to fight back, one of his wings was already badly mangled.

His eyes landed on her, and he reared back before moving to bite her in the leg. She was terrified, clumsily flapping the wings she'd never used to get away, and she felt his tooth graze her shin before Klaus roared so loudly that she flinched.

She was spiraling towards the ground, her inability to catch enough wind to rise making panic grip her. She heard Klaus and Mikael shouting, though in her panic she failed to make out the words.

Another loud roar sounded before she heard a disgusting squelch and the loud thump of a body hitting the snow, indicating that one of the two had gone down. She tried to swallow her fear that Klaus could have been the casualty, slowly forcing herself to look at who had fallen.

She felt an odd tightness at the back of her throat, the turn of her stomach making her gag, and she realized as she looked at the mangled corpse in front of her that this must be what nausea felt like.

Thank you for reading! Do you have any favorite parts or lines? Predictions? Constructive criticism? Please tell me in a review! They keep me motivated and make it easier for me to write more things!