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A soft breeze caused the marshy groves of trees to sway like waves in an ocean. Overcast clouds blanketed the sky, promising rain. Skimming across the top of the leaves was a single dragon with scales matching the damp green of the forest below. Golden yellow scales were splashed around the underside of his legs, mixing oddly with the darker green of his scales. Clutched in his claws was a fabric canvas, folded around some large object that forced the drake to beat his wings with greater effort than usual. Despite this his mouth turned in a smile, dodging through the wind gusts with great eagerness as his scorpion-tipped tail guided his movements.

He came to a small hill, where he dropped through a small gap within the overgrowth, dropping down to a raised area of dry ground. He hovered for a moment, gently placing his package on the ground, before landing next to it with a huff. Ahead of him was a darkened entrance of a small cave, with teeth like stalactites reaching down from the roof.

"Willow!" he called into the cave, "I'm back!"

A dragon poked her head out from the cave, adorned with the same dark green scales, though instead of splashed yellow around her legs, she had red. Her eyes lit up and she gave a relieved smile.

"Spyral! You took your sweet time. I was getting worried," she trotted out from the cave, glancing at the package with a frown, "I thought you said you were getting something to... eat. Oh... what is that smell?"

Spyral inhaled deeply, "Amazing, isn't it? I think it's some sort of honey mixed with some strange herbs. I don't know. The human who made it said some really complicated names that I couldn't be bothered remembering."

The dragoness sat down on her haunches, looking at the package intrigued, "So it's honey?"

"Not quite," Spyral smirked, using the tip of his tail to unwrap the package, revealing a large well-cooked pig, dripping sweet liquid and covered in spots of green herbs.

Willow's stomach audibly growled at the sight, and Spyral let out a laugh. She glared at him, "Hey, I've been waiting here for hours."

He paced over to her, giving her a small nuzzle, "I know. But I wanted to celebrate you know, get us something special."

She purred softly, "And what is the cause for this celebration?"

"Well, as of today, we have been mates for exactly a year," he responded, "I think that deserves some recognition... especially because of how we met."

"Aah," she rumbled, pushing her snout up under his chin, "It's been a year already?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... and you said it would only end in our death."

"Well... don't talk too soon. They could still find us."

"Out here, in the middle of nowhere? Good luck to them," she sat back, before looking at the roast pig again, "Now, enough of this talk. I'm hungry!"

"Me too," grinned the drake, "But hold on a moment, before you dive in."

Willow had been leaning forward to bite into the juicy-looking morsel. She stopped, tilting her head toward him in a question.

"This is a human delicacy... apparently. It's not designed to be just scoffed down as us dragons usually do," he said with mock superiority, stepping to the side.

"Oh?" Willow said with a short chuckle, "Then tell me, how is this supposed to be... enjoyed?"

"Just a moment," Spyral said, taking a deep breath as his body suddenly dissolved into a ghostly white mist, before solidifying again in a completely different form.

His new body was entirely white, like freshly fallen snow, with two bone-white horns sprouting from the top of his head. His was slightly smaller as well, with a thin tale that ended in a wickedly sharp spear-tipped point. Willow let out a small rumble of appreciation at his transformation.

"Bringing out your original self for this day are you?" she smirked.

"Well, according to you this is my handsomest form, so of course," he smirked right back, before turning his attention to their meal.

Using the sharp tip of his tail, he gently carved off a piece of the flank, gently spearing the lukewarm meat with the tail and walking over to his mate. She watched with curiosity as he sat in front of her.

"Now, close your eyes, and open your mouth," he told her.

She snorted but did as he asked, her snout twitching with anticipation for the taste she could smell on the meat. He could already see the saliva gathering around her razor teeth as he gently placed the slab into her mouth. She immediately bit down, letting out a rather pleasant rumble as she quickly snapped the food into her gullet. The juices of the pig dripped from her muzzle.

"Oh my... that is delicious," she said with wonder, "You're going to ruin normal meals for me forever you know."

Spyral laughed, "I've only ever had something like this once before. Humans usually have it when it's very warm, just cooked. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to retain all its heat."

"Still... it's amazing. I do miss having a bit of blood in the meal though."

"The only bad part about it. But I think that honey and herb seasoning kind of makes up for it."

"Definitely!"

The two of them sat near the pig, eating it slowly, using their talons to gradually cut it up, eating a piece at a time. It was a little strange, as a dragon usually just ripped things apart with their teeth, but it was a fun challenge, and the taste of the pig made it all worth it. As the sun began to set on the horizon, the mates flew to the top of the will, where another small clearing waited for them, watching as the sun broke through the cloud cover to sprinkle beautiful pinks and oranges over the horizon.

Willow let out a satisfied rumble, leaning against Spyral's side. She was slightly larger than him when he took his original form, but it didn't stop him from covering her with a white wing and entwining his tail with hers, careful to avoid the poisonous tip at the end of her tail.

"I want to live like this forever," she murmured to him as he gently used his tongue to clear some of the leftover juices of their meal that had got caught on her neck when he had tried to fling a piece into the air, and she had tried to catch it.

"That would be amazing," he purred back, "But it would be difficult."

"I know," she sighed, "But it has been a couple of months since we found this place. They have yet to bother us. It's just the perfect little home. I could imagine three little hatchlings loving it here."

He hesitated a moment when she mentioned hatchlings, "It would be dangerous Willow... you know that."

"I do," she replied, "I just wonder... do you ever think there will be a time to have a family...?"

"One day," he promised her, "But as long as the hunt continues it would only bring us pain. And I can't cause you anymore... anymore than I already have."

She looked back at him, "It wasn't your fault they sent you after me. I was the one that was digging too deeply into your secret society."

"And now that you know so much they want to kill you as much as they do me."

"But that isn't your fault either Spyral," she rolled so she was facing him.

"I know... I just wish I could give you the family you want."

"Hey, we're dragons. Both of us still have centuries of life left to live. I'm sure that one day we'll find a way to have a family. Until then though, we'll just enjoy each other as mates. And fight off anyone that dares bother us," she touched her nose against his.

He smiled, "I love you."

The two dragons pressed their muzzles together, sharing a dragon's kiss as the sun slowly disappeared into the horizon.

* * *

The next day Spyral woke early. The two of them were curled up together in their nest, deep within their cave. The white dragon let out a huff, slightly annoyed that he was already awake. But it couldn't be helped. He lay in the nest for several more moments, enjoying the warmth provided by the dragoness, before giving her a slight nuzzle and getting to his feet. She gave a soft rumble of protest, trying to grab him again with her forelegs, but he quickly jumped out of her grasp.

"Morning beautiful," he chuckled, "Just going for a quick flight. I'll be back soon okay."

She let out a murmur of annoyed recognition but didn't open her eyes, curling back into the nest.

He smiled at her, before walking to the cave entrance. His body dissipated back into a ghostly mist, once again solidifying in the slightly bigger form of a dark green acid dragon with the yellow splashes around his legs. As he poked his head out of the cave, he couldn't help but give a slight growl of surprise as he spotted another green acid dragon poking around the remains of Willow and his previous night meal.

"Hey!" he called out, hopping out from the cave, "Who are you?"

This other drake let out a yelp of astonishment, turning to face him. They both eyed each other for a moment. This other drake was slightly larger than Spyral, with blue under his forelegs, and several scars warping his snout. He recovered quickly from his surprise and was now studying Spyral with rather cold and calculating eyes.

"I apologise for the intrusion," the mystery drake bowed.

"Apology accepted," said a skeptical Spyral, "Is there something you are after poking around the leftovers of my meal?"

"I thought this might have been the leftovers of some human meal."

"My mate and I have good standing with the human village not too far away," replied Spyral easily, "Is there something you wanted?"

"Mate... huh?" the acid drake nodded his head thoughtfully, "I have been sent by elder Zagen to find any element starved water and acid dragons and... invite them to the city. I heard one lived around here. A drake by the name of... Spyral."

Spyral's heart leaped at the mention of his name, but ignored the sudden panic, "Well, unfortunately, I have heard nothing of a dragon named Spyral, nor do I know anything about any element starved dragons."

It was a risky lie, but if he was called out on it, it would give him all the information he needed to understand exactly what this dragon's motivations were. There was something about this dragon that did not seem friendly to Spyral, and after years of subterfuge and trickery, he knew all the tricks in manipulating someone into thinking he was not who he said he was.

"That is... unfortunate," said the other drake with a slight soft sigh, looking to the sky, which had since cleared up since the previous day, "Perhaps you would be willing to help me find this drake then?"

Spyral twisted his tail in slight agitation, the question had caught him off guard, "We have lived here for many years. We would know if there was a dragon named Spyral somewhere nearby. A couple of dragons have passed through over that time, and we didn't catch all of their names. Maybe it was one of them?"

"Perhaps..." agreed the other drake, whose eyes were steadily narrowing in suspicion, "But this report was rather... recent. Only a week ago."

"Maybe he stopped by and we missed him," Spyral shrugged his wings trying to come across as nonchalant, "But unfortunately I can't help you. Now, if you excuse me, I would like to get back to my mate."

The other drake nodded his head in understanding, "I apologise again for the intrusion. But before you go, I would like to ask the names of you and your mate, just so we don't make this mistake again."

"You first."

"Of course. I'm Vaegre."

Spyral felt his blood freeze at the name. It could just be a coincidence, but Vaegre was a unique name. One that he had never heard before except accompanied by tales of blood and death. And the Vaegre he knew was no acid dragon. A drake he had once called a friend, until he found that he couldn't continue doing what he was trained to do since his hatching. Vaegre let out a slight grin, a smile that told Spyral all he needed to know. The spirit drake narrowed his eyes.

"I guess there is no need for pretenses anymore?" he said, his tail twitching.

"You are growing rusty Spyral. Letting yourself go after hearing but a name."

"That name is enough to make any freeze if they were aware of the dragon who held it," Spyral replied with a growl, lashing his tail, "I see they finally sent you after me."

"Yes. You have been a pain in the tail to track down my old friend. Though I suppose that isn't a surprise."

"How did you find me?"

"The human village told me about a strange human who just occasionally comes from the forest. I always knew you had a taste for human foods."

Spyral growled at that. In the past month, he had grown a little complacent he supposed. But he had always made sure not to leave a trail. Leaving the leftovers of the meal outside had been a mistake. He glanced back at the cave with slight worry, before turning to Vaegre with a dangerous snarl.

"Aah yes, the mate that you supposedly have. It's that little acid dragoness you left alive, isn't it? What was her name? Willow? A pretty thing she is... but you can't seriously consider her a mate of all things. I know you. You found yourself with more dragonesses than I did."

Spyral ignored that, "If you lay a talon on her I will shred you to pieces."

"Ooh... that is the old Spyral I used to know. Cold, heartless. A good spirit dragon. One that did what he had to do. Since when did you fall so far from the way?"

"I found a new way. One that spirit dragons lost millennia ago."

"What? The way of love is it? You don't seriously expect me to believe that crap do you? Especially coming from you of all dragons. Or do you forget some of the supposedly horrible things you've done huh? Things that you enjoyed doing?"

Spyral was silent, though his talons dug into the ground in anger.

"You remember? Don't you? Because you did what was necessary to complete your missions, as you always did. You truly believed in our mission. To observe the world, control the power, and if needed, act. No matter what that meant! No matter how far you had to go. And then because of some snarky acid dragon you gave that all up."

"I was on the way to giving it up long before I met her."

Vaegre snorted, "You know... I was supposed to give you an offer. An olive branch if you will. If you killed that acid dragon, right your wrong, Elder Eledior was going to allow you back into the conclave. You would be in a different sect of course. But you would be back. But you betrayed us, and for that, you deserve to die. You and your mate."

"You will try."

Vaegre roared, before suddenly launching forward as his body dissipated into a ghostly white mist. Spyral waited as the mist rushed toward him, then Vaegre solidified as a pure white dragon, smaller than Spyral, but with a pointed tail tip launching for Spyral's throat. Spyral instantly dissipated, the tail meeting nothing but air as it passed harmlessly through the mist. The drake solidified again, also as a white dragon with the dangerous tail tip, aiming to stab Vaegre through the heart, but he was quick, quickly unsolidifying into his own mist, making the attack harmless. This time however Vaegre launched forward, aiming to entrap Spyral's ethereal form in his own. For a moment the two fought back and forth before Spyral was forced to transform back. This time, however, instead of changing into a small white spirit dragon, his form nearly doubled in size, the mist hardening into the dull green and brown scales of an elder earth drake. Spyral battered the wings of his new form, forcing Vaegre's ethereal form to be flung backward by the hurricane of an elder dragon's wingbeat.

Spyral was filling up near half the clearing in this new form and swung the spiked ball on his tail down at the mist as hard as he could, aiming to break it apart. It wouldn't do much damage, but it might separate Vaegre's ethereal form enough to give him the advantage. His spiked tail smashed into the ground, causing it to shake with the impact. Much to his surprise, instead of dodging the attack, Vaegre's ethereal form seemed to almost absorb itself into the tail.

Spyral let out a strangled growl as another presence seemed to flood his body, struggling for control of his every movement. For a moment the two battled back and forth for control. But it took only a couple of moments for Spyral realise that Vaegre had a will that far surpassed his own. Thinking quickly, he dissipated back into an ethereal form, splitting the two of them up before Vaegre had a chance to take full control.

Vaegre's ethereal form quickly swished forward to strangle Spyral again. This time Spyral took the form of a creamy brown wind dragon, flapping his large wings to try and put some distance between himself and the rushing ethereal form of Vaegre. Seeming prepared for this, the other spirit drake transformed as well, back into the pure white of his original form, and flung himself forward through the air, spearing Spyral's wing with his tail and ripping it open.

A scream escaped Spyral's mouth as he fell to the ground, rolling a couple of metres, and laying, huffing for a moment, slightly stunned. Vaegre landed on top of Spyral, a snarl stretching across Vaegre's snout as he pinned his old friend to the ground with his talons. Spyral froze, eyeing the curled tip of Vaegre's tail with trepidation. Even if he were to become ethereal now, Vaegre could easily counter with his own ethereal form. It seemed, while Spyral had been busy running and hiding, Vaegre had trained his powers to an extreme extent. There was no escaping him now.

"You've grown soft, my old friend. It's a pity," said Vaegre, huffing, "But I'll tell you what. I'll make sure your mate knows what a true spirit dragon is. After I kill you, I'm gonna pin her to the ground and.... Aaaaah!"

Vaegre's scream pierced the sky, causing the very forest to shudder in terror. Spyral didn't know what happened, but he didn't hesitate. He faded into ethereal, escaping the other dragon's clutches, and solidifying back into a spirit dragon, plunging the tip of his tail into Vaegre's eye. Vaegre shuddered, his scream cut short, before falling to the ground, limp and unmoving. The spirit dragon let out a breath of relief, looking over to see Willow standing there, looking shocked. He pulled his tail out of Vaegre's eye with a squelch, the tip stained and dripping red. A sizzling green liquid was slowly eating its way through the back of the corpse, and Spyral shuddered as scales and flesh were dissolved under its hunger.

"Spyral!? Are you okay?" asked Willow, running up to him.

He let out a relieved smile, embracing her with his wings, "You saved my life."

"Just returning the favour," she said, nudging his snout, before stepping back, "Your wing!"

He looked at the large rip down the middle. It had always confused him how wounds from one form transferred to all the others, something not even the most powerful spirit dragons were able to prevent. Now that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off he was beginning to feel the ache as well. A small growl left him as he gently folded it against his side.

"It'll heal," he told her.

Willow looked at the dead spirit dragon with disgust, "They found us again."

"Yeah..." he rumbled, lowering his head, finding himself a little saddened at the death of his old friend.

"You alright?"

"His name was Vaegre. An old friend of mine. An old partner. We were quite close."

"Oh," the dragoness looked at the dead dragon, "Then why...?"

"Why did he try to kill me?" growled Spyral, "Because of the twisted thinking of the rest of my kind. Because he thought I betrayed them, and because of that deserved to die."

Willow sat back on her haunches, a little shocked at his sudden outburst.

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head, "Vaegre deserved to die. He was a horrible dragon... I just wish it didn't have to be the case."

She gave him a kind smile, "It's alright. I understand. The loss of someone close, no matter how bad they are, can hurt."

He nodded, before shaking himself, looking into the trees, "It won't take them long to realise he is gone though. I doubt he would have been scouting for me alone."

Willow frowned at that, giving her own annoyed growl, "So I guess we move... again?"

"Again," he nodded his head with solemn agreement, loathing the thought of giving up such a home.

"Where to next?" she asked with soft sadness in her tone.

"I might have an idea. But we'll have to wait for my wing to heal."

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So there you are! What did you think of Spyral and Willow? They ended up being rather fun characters to write. An interesting story as well that I may follow up with at another point of these chronicles, should I feel inspired to. Vote if you did enjoy and comment on what you thought of it. And as always, vote on which chronicle you want to see next.

The Perfect Mate: Shyal, Light dragoness - 16Yrs BTA

The Essence of Equilibrium: Zay'ues, Weather drake - 11Yrs BTA

Till next week! See Ya!

Pennator^^