As wakefulness slowly returned, I felt a smile cross my face.
It was the second time I woke up grabbing a blue scaled ass. This time, though, I gave it a little squeeze.
Ember stirred awake. “Mmm, good morning to you, too.” She returned the favor. “As much as I would love another round, we might want to bathe before any dragon arrives. I’d rather not smell like sex.”
"Oh, so you don’t want the others to know you’re mine?" I teased.
Ember giggled. “Silly dog. I’m not yours. You’re mine.”
I pretended to think that over. "Uh... nope, I’m pretty sure I’m the alpha of this relationship."
“Oh, really?” She gave me a playful glare before forcing herself on top of me. “Who’s the alpha?”
"Seeing as I got you exactly where I want you, I still say me."
“What’s that supposed to-Ah!”
So much for not having time for another round.
After washing each other off in a stream in the forest (and another quickie), we decided to go to the top of the volcano and see if we could see anyone approaching.
“See anything? Ember asked.
"Not yet, but who knows. We might see someone by the end of the day."
“I just hope it’ll be a dragon I know and actually like,” Ember mumbled. “Oh, hold on. I just had an idea.”
I looked at her, curiously. She lifted her hands as they started to glow. She closed her eyes in concentration, the glow increasing until it burst. Motes of light swirled around us for several seconds until they gathered to the west and slightly north.
“Ha! It worked!” Ember chered.
"What worked?" I asked.
Ember smirked. “A small group of five will be here by a little after noon.”
I raised an eyebrow at that, looking at the motes of light. They were gathered in five little bunches and glowed a bright yellow.
"You’re getting good with your magic," I commented.
“I told you she was given knowledge.”
Me and Ember jumped in surprise, twisting around to find Star laying on a large rock right behind us.
"How is someone as large as you so quiet?"
“How is someone as small as little Ember so loud?” Star rebutted. “‘Oh, Luke! Yes, yes, luke! Breed me!’”
Both me and Ember blushed brightly.
“Wh-what were you doing listening in on us?” Ember demanded.
“I wasn’t intending to,” Star defended. “I was just going down to the stream for a drink. You were the ones to decide to use such a commonly used watering hole for your fun.”
Ember groaned and hid her face in her hands.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Star said, waving off Ember’s embarrassment. “I’m actually happy for you two. Though, I am a little saddened by the fact that an egg can’t come from this.”
Ember looked back up in surprise. “What? But I thought you said that Luke had enough magic that we could?”
“That was when I thought he had magic,” Star explained. “His powers aren’t magic, though, and your magic isn’t powerful enough to alter his seed. I’m sorry, but an egg isn’t possible.”
"Actually, that might not be true," I stated. "Pokemon are, by their nature, genetically flexible. Because of that, they can breed with pokemon of completely different species."
“You don’t say?” Star said, scratching her chin in thought. “Then, come time, I would recommend caution unless you wish to have an egg.”
“That’s still a while from now,” Ember said. “We don’t have to worry about that yet. Also, can we please change the subject?”
"Any idea who would be coming so soon?" I asked, nodding toward where the dragons were going to be coming from.
“Other than you two?” Star asked with an evil smirk. “No, I have no idea who it could be. Probably just some drake that was nearby and bored.”
Ember groaned. “If I could, I’d fly over and see, but, well...” She flexed her still torn wing.
I winced. "It looks better, at least. The smaller holes are all closed up."
Ember sighed, “I know. I just can’t wait to be able to fly again. It sucks being grounded.”
I shrugged. "It doesn’t bother me."
“Yes, well, you aren’t a being that’s meant to fly,” Star pointed out. “Well, I think I’ll go let Torch know the first guests will be arriving today. You two might want to use this time to get the hormones out of your system. Once they arrive, you’ll likely be expected to be around, being the dragon lord’s daughter, and all.”
With that, Star took to the air, using the heat from the volcano to rise up high before turning and lazily gliding toward the next peak over, where I assumed Torch’s cave was.
I turned back to see Ember bent over a rock with her tail waving in the air. “You heard her. Best get to it.”
I grinned. "Yes ma’am."
The few days following Ember and I getting together were busy days. Mostly, it was her showing the dragons that arrived early where to stay and most of that was in her father’s mountain, so we didn’t get a whole lot of time together. Though, at night when we went to bed we more than made up for it.
I was just glad Ember wouldn’t be fertile for another few months. Otherwise, I was pretty sure we would have been expecting before things even officially started.
The Gathering was divided into two main sections. Her father’s mountain held the elder dragons while Ember’s had the younger ones. Of course, there were exceptions. Star, for example, stayed on Ember’s mountain, but that might have been because she lived there.
Then, finally, they arrived. Ember called me to the top of the volcano where I was greeted with an amazing sight.
The sky was filled with the colorful shapes of dragons. It had to be thousands of them, ranging from Ember’s size to some that looked like they were almost as big as Torch.
"Beautiful."
Ember smirked. “Yeah, it’s an impressive sight. It makes me wonder how we’re so low on the world’s totem pole.”
I managed to tear my sight from the spectacled flying toward us and looked to my mate. "Because they lost their way. But that which is lost can find its way. They just need someone to guide them."
Ember gave the incoming dragons a fierce look. “And this is where I start making a name for myself.”
"And I’ll be by your side the whole time."
“And I’ll be by yours,” Ember said with a smile as she leaned to to give me one more kiss before things got crazy. “You mind being a guinea pig one more time?”
"What kind of spell?"
“Hopefully one that’ll keep you from being instantly incinerated if one of them decide to play rough.”
"Hmm," I pretended to think it over. “Risk incineration now from you, or risk it later from someone else?”
“Oh, fuck you,” Ember chuckled.
"Finally picking up some of my lingo, eh?" I teased. "Fine, let’s do it."
“Alright, let’s hope you don’t blow up,” she said.
I laughed.
Then I realized she was serious.
"Wait-"
Too late, I tried to stop it as a beam of pale blue shot out and struck me right on the chest.
I flinched, half expecting pain, but instead, all I felt was a coolness flowing through me. I suddenly felt less like I was hanging out in an active volcano and more like I was back in the forest in spring.
“There,” Ember said with a nod of approval. “How do you feel?”
I checked myself over real quick. "I feel great, actually. I think it worked."
“Wanna test it out?” she said with a teasing grin.
"I might be, regardless," I said, pointing at the sky.
The dragon flock had arrived, the first dragons landing in the crater and staking their claim. A few fights broke out almost immediately for the best spots.
One large dragon, about the size of Star, landed, looming over us on our perch. He glared down at us and roared, “Move it runts! This is my spot!”
Ember looked at me with a bored expression. “Would you like to handle this or should I?”
I gave a bow and gestured for her to go ahead.
“Why, thank you, Luke,” Ember said, playfully.
The big dragon just looked at in and laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about-”
That was as far as he got before getting slammed into the side of the crater by an invisible force.
“What was that?” Ember asked, sweetly.
“N-nothing!” the dragon quivered.
“That’s what I thought, now get off my perch,” Ember glared death at him.
She didn’t even wait for an answer before turning around and walking back to where I waited.
As expected, the dragon decided to take advantage of her dropped guard and tried to pounce at her.
Unfortunately, all he got was a high speed fuzzy foot to the face, courtesy of yours truly.
"She told you to get off her perch," I said, calmly. “I would suggest you do what she asks.”
The dragon slowly got to his feet and with a beat of his wings, took to the sky. “You little worm! I’ll burn you to ashes for that!”
He inhaled a deep breath and spit out a massive fireball that slammed into the mountain and exploded in a deadly inferno.
When the flame cleared, and all he saw was Ember, he grinned. Ember, though, just pointed above him.
Confused, he looked up, only to see me with a fully charged Aura Sphere above him.
I launched my attack at point blank range, giving him no time to dodge. It slammed into him with the force of a meteor, blasting him back down into the volcano.
I landed just as he struggled to get to his feet. “You little...”
He trailed off at the sight of Ember, floating three feet off the ground, and eyes glowing white.
Her voice reverberated through the crater. “I said off!”
The dragon’s eyes widened in fear as he scrambled as fast he could to get as far away from us as he could. A few seconds later, we saw him take to the air, flying away from the Gathering.
As he fled in terror, three more dragons landed behind us.
Ember and I turned, ready to face the newcomers if needed.
Instead, the lead one, a female, smiled. “That was pretty awesome. You two are pretty tough, for small fry. What are your names? And what are you?” The last question was directed to me, obviously.
“I’m Ember, and this is Luke,” Ember introduced us.
“I’m Ivory, these are my flunkies, Obsidian, and Blaze,” the dragon replied.
"As for what I am, I am a warrior from a far away land," I said.
Ivory looked at me in surprise.
"I apologize, I can’t speak any other way."
“You talk like a pansy, but you fight like a dragon.” Ivory said, as if conflicted. “Meh, I guess you’re cool.” She turned back to Ember. “I just want to know how you did that? The whole glowy, floaty thing was pretty hard core.”
Ember shrugged and said, “You just gotta get a blessing from the spirit of an ancient dragon empress.”
Ivory blinked in confusion before laughing. “Oh, is that all? I like you. You should totally hook up with my little brother. He’s a tough little dweeb.”
“I already have a mate, thanks,” Ember said with a dismissive wave.
Ivory looked at her, then to me, then back to her. “I see. Well, I can’t fault you for that. I guess I’ll see you around, then.”
“Yeah, take it easy,” Ember waved as the trio walked off, talking amongst themselves.
"Well," I said with a grin. "I think you’re off to a great start."
Ember mirrored my expression. “Yeah, I’d say we are.”
“Well, well, well,” came a particularly irritating voice from behind us. “If it isn’t my soon to be mate. I didn’t know you were bringing a pet.”
I didn’t need spirit senses to feel Ember’s irritation.
“Garble,” Ember spat. “I thought I smelled stupid.”
"So, this is the guy that can’t take a hint?" I broadcasted.
Garble, showing himself to be exactly as Ember described him, started looking around. “Who said that? Come out so I can pound you!”
I smiled as I said only to Ember, "Oh, I’m going to have fun with this guy."
Garble shook his head. “Who cares. So, Ember, you wanna do it in your cave, or would you rather just do it out here?”
Ember groaned. “Sorry to break it to you, but I already have a mate. And we’ve already ‘done it’ many, many times.”
Garble scoffed at that. “Oh, yeah? Where is he?”
"I’m right here, dumbass," I said, stepping between him and Ember.
Garble looked at me, confused for a second before he busted out laughing. “You’re kidding, right? There’s no way Ember would choose some mutant diamond dog over me. Come on, Ember, no need to play hard to get. We both know you want me, now stop the act and let’s go.”
I was starting to get pissed. The way he was speaking to my girlfriend was inexcusable, and I was very close to breaking his jaw.
Luckily, Ember stepped in before I could lose my temper. “Listen, you little turd. I don’t like you. I’ve never liked you. The only way you’re touching me will be when my fist is breaking your nose. Now go crawl back under a rock and leave me alone, because if not, my mate here is probably going to tear your arms off.”
I wondered if she thought she was bluffing. Granted, I might not have torn them completely off, but they would have definitely been broken.
Garble scoffed. “Whatever, you know where I’ll be. Come on by when you want a real dragon to show you a good time.”
"That’s it, his arms are coming off."
Ember stopped me, pushing me back before I took more than one step toward the walking corpse.
“Luke, don’t. He’s not worth it.”
“Oh, the doggy’s got teeth?” Garble taunted.
Ember growled, but instead of hitting him like I expected - and wanted - her to do, she instead pulled me in for an incredibly passionate kiss.
Seeing where she was going with that, I reached down and grabbed her ass, pulling her tightly against me.
I could sense the indignation coming from Garble. I had to admit, I was loving it.
Garble let out a growl. “That’s just gross. Whatever, I can have any female I want. I don’t need some disgusting dog banger like you. Come on.” He commanded his toadies and skulked away.
Ember and I broke apart. "You know this isn’t the last we’ll have to deal with him."
Ember shrugged. “Who cares. He’s an idiot, and either one of us could take him without breaking a sweat.”
I just felt bad for anyone he decides to let out his frustrations on. Knowing his type, it would someone smaller than him that can’t defend themselves.
I think I should keep an eye on him.