"Ugh. I can't believe we have to do this again, Quinn love," Jay said in disgust as he stared out the living room window.

I was seated on one of the settles, halfway through setting up the draughts board. I glanced up at my mate and smiled, even though his back was turned and he couldn't see my expression. Beyond his slender, sandy-haired form, I could see the play of lights as multi-coloured forks of lightning played across the skies, barely visible past the trees surrounding our cabin. The howl of the wind and the drumming of the rain against the roof and the walls was loud and more than a little ominous.

"It's only a mage-storm, love," I replied mildly. "We've lived through many of those before. And you know we can't go out in them."

Jay just nodded glumly and he sighed, the muted turquoise shades of his unease flowing bright and easily over our soul-bond. The mage storms were the handiwork of Toby, our mage-friend who lived in a valley-bound town some ten miles to the west of our own. He'd warned us via message-runner not to go out that evening; he knew that we, as dragon-shifters, often liked to go flying in the evenings and some years ago, we'd once been caught out in one of his mage-storms. Jay had been injured and it had been left to me to nurse my mate back to health again.

I sighed and patted the table heftily before I said - "Come and sit down, love. Take your mind off things with a nice lengthy game of draughts. I'll even let you win."

Jay laughed over his shoulder at my comment, as I knew he would. That had been my intent after all. Jay was naturally better at draughts than I was as he'd been playing the game for longer - draughts was a game that the high-born in my home-valley never played. Jay being low-born in his own home valley had often played it.

"How about I let you win for once, Quinn?" Jay corrected cheekily as he finally left the window and sat opposite me on the other settle.

I just huffed and raised an eyebrow at my mate. He grinned and showed both dimples as he did so. I couldn't help but smile back at him; I could never resist that deeply dimpled smile.

"All right. So I knew you were the champion draughts player of Blackloch," I said and rolled my eyes despite the blast of amused apricot that I sent over to Jay via our link.

"Nope. The Blackloch champion was actually Roland," Jay said but was not pleased with the mention of the mysterious player.

I shrugged in response as I had never known Roland. I was not from the same valley as Jay was so had never formally met anyone else other than Jay himself from Blackloch proper.

"You must have at least wanted to play draughts when you were at Adiren, Quinn," Jay observed as he made the first move on the draughtsboard.

"There were plenty of things I wanted to do at Adiren but I was never allowed," I said solemnly.

Jay sighed and shot an apologetic look over the table at me but said nothing more on the subject. I just smiled and winked over at him which earned me another of his dimpled smiles. We continued playing and did not remark upon the subject again.

Halfway through the evening and yet another round of draughts, I left the draughtsboard to cook us some dinner. When I paused to check out of the window, I saw - and heard - that the mage-storm still brewed outside. I sighed and continued to the kitchen where I prepared some steak with potatoes roasted in goose fat; once the meal had been fully cooked, Jay and I ate in the kitchen and talked of inconsequential matters - anything to distract us from the boredom of being cooped up in the cabin.

Soon after we'd washed the dirty earthenware dishes, we saw that the mage-storm had finally played itself out. We waited for another half an hour, just to ensure that there were no more flare-ups and when we ascertained that all was indeed calm once more, we went outside, transformed into our dragon selves and took to the skies for a later-than-normal - yet still jubilant - flight.

****

The next day was a Saturday and I checked the skies past the trees that ringed our cabin to ensure that all was fine. I was glad to see that it was a sunny cloudless day, free from rain and utterly still. I nodded to myself and smiled before I re-entered our cabin.

"Jay love? I'm heading over to the gecko-shifters' valley just to make sure they were all right last night," I said. "D'you want to come with?"

"Yes, please," Jay said in sudden delight even as he hopped out of the bedroom on one foot.

He was clumsily trying to pull a boot onto the other foot and I laughed even as I strode forward to steady my mate by the shoulders. Jay laughed at me and nodded in thanks before he successfully pulled on his recalcitrant boot; he stood properly then and grinned.

"Thanks, Quinn. All sorted now," he assured me even though I could very well see that for myself.

"You could have just replied from the bedroom. I do have keener ears even than you, don't forget," I reminded him with a smile.

As I was an Alpha dragon and Jay was a Beta, my senses were slightly sharper than his. Jay merely stuck his tongue out at me and gestured rudely at me for the reminder.

"Yeah, yeah, Quinn, all right. I know you're better than me at everything just 'cos you're Alpha," he said and gestured rudely again.

I just laughed and shook my head.

"Not everything, love," I said gently. "Just some things."

Jay gave vent to an amused snort before he said - "Modesty. I love it."

I just shook my head in silent amusement of my own and gestured for him to follow me outside. Because the gecko-shifters lived such a short distance away and it was such a mild day, Jay and I decided to walk there. Normally we would have flown even that short distance.

We arrived at the appropriate valley to find that the gecko-shifters were all out and about busying themselves with their normal industries. I saw bakers baking, smiths smithing and various other industries at work.

Jay and I were soon spotted by Kyrylo who gave us a barely there smile as he left his post keeping watch over the other geckos. As the colony's scout, it was Kyrylo's job to provide warning and intelligence to the others if anything should happen to threaten them or even be slightly awry. Several of the other gecko-shifters worked underneath him providing ears and eyes for all manner of reasons.

"Hello, dear dragons," Kyrylo said as he reached us. "Some storm last night. Thank you for warning us about it."

I had had the foresight to pop over to their valley as soon as I'd heard word from Toby about the mage-storm fallout from his spell-casting and had explained the matter directly to Kyrylo. I knew that the gecko-shifters would be unprepared for such an event as they had not lived through one before. I did not want to see any of the friendly geckos come to harm, simply because they didn't know what to expect.

"You saved a lot of my colony through your intelligence," Kyrylo continued.

"I'm glad to hear it," I said and felt relieved by the news. "We've just popped over to check up on you all this morning, to make sure everyone's okay."

I gestured at Jay and then at myself even as my mate nodded in vaguely amused silence. A faint hint of surprise crossed Kyrylo's normally stoic face at that news before his kind brown eyes softened and he graced us with a proper grin - something we rarely got to see from the handsome Beta gecko-shifter.

"Thank you so much," he said meaningfully. "That is so very kind of you to think of us. Again. You are true friends to us."

"We do worry considerably over our friends," Jay assured him and he wasn't smiling.

Instead, my mate looked serious and although only I could see the sky blue wash of his concern over our link, Kyrylo also could not fail to notice the physical representation of the same emotion displayed on Jay's face. Kyrylo nodded and reached out to shake our hands even as he thanked us again.

I was surprised then by a sudden small leopard-spotted gecko scampering up to us; he even ran up my leg and alighted briefly on my shoulder, licked my cheek and scampered down to the ground again. I laughed at the unexpected visitation even as Kyrylo gave vent to one of his rare chuckles.

"That's Sasha," he said even though I had already guessed the identity of the gecko.

Sasha - more formally known as Oleksandr - was the Alpha gecko-shifter of the colony and Kyrylo's mate. Oleksandr returned to us in his human form, his bearded figure cutting through the industry with ease that far belied his tall and stocky form. He grinned at us and when he reached us, he pulled me into a warm hug. I returned the hug gladly and smiled when Oleksandr afforded my mate the same greeting.

"Thank you so much for last night," Oleksandr said. "We're all safe thanks to you."

"I know; Kyro was just telling us," I said as I nodded at Kyrylo.

"But did he tell you of the thing he found? The thing I was just looking at?" Oleksandr asked slyly as he slanted an amused glance at his mate.

"No, Sasha. Because some idiot gecko didn't give me a chance," Kyrylo shot back, his lips twitching into a barely there smile as he attempted an indignant stance. "Considering you climbed dear Quinn like a tree just now."

I turned away with a laugh even as Jay also hooted out his own laughter. Oleksandr grinned again at us, his own dimples showing beneath his beard just slightly.

"Yes! Sorry about that, Quinn. I hope you don't mind the climbing," he said but his apology seemed more cheeky than actually meant.

"Of course not," I assured the still-grinning Alpha gecko. "We're friends. You can climb me any time you want."

"Easy," Jay said and hooted with laughter again. "Or I might get jealous."

I grinned at my mate even as Oleksandr laughed and Kyrylo gave another of his barely there smirks. I knew as well as the others did that I was committed to Jay as staunchly as Oleksandr and Kyrylo were committed to one another. None of us would stray from our prospective mates, after all, even though we cared deeply for each other otherwise.

"What is this thing you were looking at anyway, Sasha?" Jay asked brightly by way of changing the subject.

Oleksandr smiled and beckoned us to follow him even as he said - "Follow me and find out." Kyrylo quietly gave instructions to one of his underlings to take over his duties while Kyrylo himself was gone. Andrii - the one now left in charge - nodded and got on with his newly appointed task with stoic aplomb. Kyrylo padded typically quietly in our wake as Oleksandr strode towards the edge of the geckos' valley.

We soon reached the particular spot that the Alpha gecko had presumably darted away from before he'd met us and Oleksandr disappeared into a cave that hadn't been there before. Puzzled and more than a little curious, Jay and I plunged into the darkness after him. Kyrylo soon followed in our wake and yet, of course, he alone remained amused and unmoved by the course of events.

OIeksandr was swift to hand out blazing torches and we each accepted them, even though all of us had keen night-time vision; the flames helped to beat the darkness back and to make the stygian gloom a little more palatable. Oleksandr's cheerful observations also took our minds away from the creepiness of our surroundings as we made our way further away from the cheerfulness of the outside.

We soon discovered that a labyrinth had opened at the side of the geckos' valley, all twists and turns and deliberate dead ends that appeared at odd moments. We kept hitting those dead ends and had to keep turning back to try another angle. It seemed as though Oleksandr's and Kyrylo's previous explorations had not provided them with an accurate knowledge of the place - at least not yet.

"What even is this place?" I asked in breathless wonder.

Jay chimed in with - "And where did it even come from?"

"We don't know," Kyrylo said and he sounded frustrated at the lack of knowledge. "Not for certain. It just opened up last night during that mage storm."

"Kyro thinks it always has been here, hidden, yet that magic blast opened it somehow," Oleksandr said as he reached out to take his mate's hand. "We haven't reached the centre of it yet. We haven't had the time and this place seems to go on for miles."

"That's impossible," I said and stared around. "It would have to go underneath our own valley surely in that case."

"Perhaps it is magic. It's probably only an inch square and it just seems larger," Jay said and grinned at us in the flame-guttered darkness. "You know how magic works, love."

I had to concede to my mate's point even though I doubted that the labyrinth really was as small as he claimed. I knew that my mate was prone to over-exaggeration at times and so was used to it.

"I doubt we have the time to fully explore right now. I think I shall go with some of my scouts whenever we have the chance just to see whether this place offers up a threat to us," Kyrylo said and immediately earned himself a worried look from Oleksandr.

"Be careful," Oleskandr said quietly.

"Always. For you," Kyrylo replied and he exchanged a tender look with his mate that immediately made me smile.

It was rare to see Kyrylo so unguarded yet I knew that he loved Oleksandr desperately. It was never more evident than it was at that moment, however. Kyrylo broke the moment with a sharp and almost embarrassed cough that made Oleksandr laugh and pull Kyrylo into a gentle hug. Oleksandr chased that hug up with a kiss to Kyrylo's temple, which Kyrylo immediately turned into a kiss on the mouth.

I exchanged amused glances with Jay yet neither of us said anything. To have done so would have broken the moment and made less of their private moment.

Oleksandr winked over Kyrylo's head at us before he said - "Kyro is very thorough. He doesn't ask anyone to do anything that he's not willing to do himself. Even when I tell him it's not safe."

"I think he's very brave. It's an admirable trait to have," I said quietly and I meant it.

"I know what that's like. Quinn's exactly the same as Kyro," Jay said and grinned. "One of the reasons why I love him actually."

Kyrylo shot me a smirk then, understanding passing between us and left unspoken. It seemed as though we were more similar than either of us could have imagined and I was suddenly glad for that fact. It made our friendship just slightly deeper and more special. I winked at the gecko-shifter and Kyrylo surprisingly winked back.

"Seriously though, take care of yourself," I said to Kyrylo. "If there's anything down here that you need our help with, don't hesitate to come and ask us."

I gestured towards Jay and then at myself. Both geckos immediately nodded.

"Of course," Oleskandr said and his handsome face turned serious. "You are powerful dragons. You helped us out in the past and will do so again. We know this and we thank you for this. You are good friends to us."

Both Jay and I nodded - we knew that the same could be said in turn of the geckos and they knew it without ever being told that fact.

After one last forage that led nowhere in the labyrinthine tunnels, we then returned to the daylight so we could share a meal, provided ably by the geckos.

****

A couple of days later, the annual Esterloch Lawthing was held and once I'd settled down with the other Elders of Esterloch, I steeled myself for another boring day of petty complaints and inane rivalries that were frequently brought forward at such events. I wasn't prepared for the exact opposite happening.

A few of the farmers in Esterloch had lost a few of their sheep apiece while they wandered the hills and grazed. Natural hunters were put forward as common culprits for the sheep disappearances yet that suggestion was quickly denied - mainly for the fact that no remains had been left behind as was common in such cases. Those complaints left us more than a little concerned and baffled, yet we promised that we'd look into the problem as soon we were able.

Throughout that morning, several others complained about deliveries not turning up to their related establishments as the traders had not showed up at their accustomed times, travelling market traders going missing or perhaps other livestock also going missing.

By that time, the whole town of Esterloch was in uproar over missing people and animals and as soon as the Lawthing had reached its natural close, we all set out to look for the missing people and livestock.

We each took to the hills and fanned out - either singly or in pairs or perhaps in groups of four or more, depending on the searchers. Jay and I went alone to find the missing few.

It was as my mate and I were taking a break on the top of one of the hills that separated the valley of Esterloch from the valley of the geckos that Kyrylo panted up the side of it. He immediately approached Jay and me, near panic in his usually guarded brown eyes. I felt intense concern for that as Kyrylo had never looked quite so panicked in the short time I'd known the gecko scout as he did at that moment.

"Sasha has disappeared," he said without preamble. "And I can't find him."

"Where did you see him last?" I asked, thinking of all the other people and animals that had been reported missing that day.

"Near the labyrinth that we showed you the other day. We'd been exploring it together, I came out for a while to get something for us to eat and when I returned, Sasha had gone," he said and his heavily accented tones were clipped and choppy with his anxiety. "Please. You said you would help us. I need you to help me find my mate."

"And we will," I said even as I began to wonder if the newly opened labyrinth might be behind the entirety of that day's disappearances.

Jay looked on in concern even as I assured the anxious gecko-shifter that we would help him after I'd informed some of the others in our search party of where Jay and I were going.

I informed Rowan and Sarosi - two elf Elders - as briefly as I could of the appearance of the labyrinth a few evenings before and of how one of our close friends had disappeared inside. The two elves assured us that they'd cover for us if anyone asked about our whereabouts and wished us luck in looking for Sasha.

Jay and I nodded and left them to descend upon the geckos' valley with Kyrylo in tow. As soon as we'd reached the cloying darkness of the entranceway, the three of us plunged into the labyrinth, torches and rush lights held ablaze in our hands as we scurried through the stygian depths.

We made a wrong turn after the wrong turn, exploring deeper and deeper into the twisting turning maze of rock and stone. Kyrylo, normally stoic and silent, was even more silent and I knew that he was worried for his mate. I also realised the reason behind his extra silence - I, too, would have been worried if my own mate had gone missing. I'd faced that very same scenario in the past so could sympathise first-hand with the stoic gecko-shifter.

Soon, we heard bleating - scared, insistent and very loud - coupled with the sounds of screaming. In amongst them, I heard the sound of Oleksandr crying out desperately for Kyrylo and Kyrylo spurted ahead of us, spurred on by the sound of desperation heard in the Alpha gecko's voice. It broke my heart to hear that in his time of need, Oleksandr called for Kyrylo, even though he had no way of knowing that the scout was even there. I knew that both Jay and I would have also done the same in turn.

We hurried onwards and soon, Jay and I caught up with Kyrylo. An odd stamping snorting sound came from ahead, and the air was filled with the stench of ox. I crinkled my nose in vague disgusted recognition - though the smell was oddly familiar, it also was imbued with the scent of an unwashed human. I was uncertain as to why I was smelling such an odd disparity of aromas and I could tell that Jay too was just as confused.

We made our way further in and all of a sudden we stumbled into a circular cavern, ringed around by caves barred shut by strong steel rods. In each one were the missing sheep and people - including Oleksandr.

I told Kyrylo to stay back as the being that had made the unearthly smell stamped forward from out of the shadows. He had the head of a bull yet the body of a malformed yet stocky human and he wore few clothes.

I roared at him, angered that he'd dared to take so many people - including Oleksandr who I'd specifically sworn an oath to protect. Without even thinking of taking off my clothes first to protect them from ripping, I changed into my dragon form and flamed the strange half-man-half-ox being into a pile of charred ash before he could get any further.

Even though the immediate threat had been removed, I remained in my dragon form as I watched Jay and Kyrylo attempt to remove the prisoners from their cells. I even tried to free them, with the full might of an adult Alpha dragon's paws and fiery breath - to no avail. None of us could get through the bars that separated us from the prisoners, though we should have done so - I could only assume that the cells were imbued and guarded by some kind of magic.

Jay offered to fetch Toby from where he lived in Sunderloch and I nodded my assent; of course, I couldn't speak in my dragon form so had to rely on mere gestures to get my meaning across. Jay nodded solemnly in turn and raced off, back the way we had come. Kyrylo remained with me yet did not stray from where Oleksandr was kept; Kyrylo had reached through the bars and was holding onto his mate's hands, pressing kisses against the Alpha gecko's bearded mouth.

I watched over them and the other prisoners until half an hour later, Jay returned with Toby on his back. The mage then performed the necessary spells to leach the magic from the ensorcelled bars and when each cell was neutralised, the prisoners poured forth with great cries of relief or loud animalistic noises - dependent on the nature of being kept within each cell.

Kyrylo and I took the lead and led the freed prisoners out into the sunlight. Once we'd ascertained that everyone was safely out of the clammy darkness, Toby slammed the labyrinth shut with powerful magic and wards.

Jay grinned at me as he held up a pair of baggy breeches and nodded towards Toby before he gestured for me to lean closer to him. I leaned down towards my mate with a confused tilt of my draconic head as he reached up on tiptoes to whisper in my ear.

"You ripped your clothing earlier so I brought you some of Toby's old working clothes. They might still be too small on you but it's better than going naked," he said.

I whuffled out an amused dragon laugh at his observation even as Jay gave me a dimpled grin in return. He clapped me on the foreleg and shooed me away to change from dragon into human, so we could all talk properly. I nodded and allowed Jay to follow me to a more private place so I could make my transformations away from curious eyes. I pulled on the breeches and though Jay had been right in his assumption that they'd be too small, they weren't entirely uncomfortable. They just pinched a little in strategic places - enough that I had to walk a little more carefully than normal.

Toby was talking to Oleksandr and Kyrylo and Jay and I returned in time to hear what the mage was explaining to the patiently listening geckos.

"The labyrinth must always have been here, in your valley, warded shut by powerful magic and my mage storm the other night must have stripped that magic from the entrance," Toby said with a grim expression on his face. "That minotaur probably was very very hungry indeed - hence his larder filled with potential snacks."

"I've never heard of a minotaur," Jay observed with a confused frown. "Even though I've presumably seen one today."

"If you're thinking of that half-baked monstrosity in the labyrinth, then you're right," Toby said and though his comment could have been construed as a cheeky one, he was deadly serious.

"I've never met one either but it was a brief alliance, considering I flamed him," I said wryly which, I was glad to note, produced a couple of smiles from the geckos.

"Oh, not many people have heard of them in these parts. They're very rare," Toby said stoically. "They're usually mistakes of nature at birth and walled up in elaborate labyrinths to hide the atrocities. Who knew that one was so close to home to us all?"

"Well, make sure you don't open another labyrinth again, Tobe," I said severely and I wasn't entirely joking.

Toby looked chastened yet he shrugged as he gave me a wry smile.

"I'll try not to but you know how my mage-storms work, Quinn. Not even I have full control over what happens - not when my mind's already controlling powerful spellcasting elsewhere," he said and sighed. "All I can do is fix whatever happens afterwards. As both of you know well by now."

Both Jay and I nodded immediately yet only I relented - I had been the only one to remonstrate with the mage after all. I left Toby's side momentarily to approach the two gecko leaders who'd wandered off even throughout the brief exchange Jay and I had shared with Toby.

I wanted to see if Oleksandr was all right and as soon as I'd reached his side and asked, the kindly gecko assured me that he was. He even offered to buy Jay and me a meal for what we had done. He puffed up his chest in pride when it seemed as though I was about to refuse out of sheer politeness.

"No! You let me do this for you, dear Quinn," he said firmly. "You saved me. I will now pay you back in the only way I know how at the moment."

I sighed and gave the Alpha gecko a fond look even as Kyrylo began to smile between us.

"We'll take you to the Tavern tomorrow then, Sasha. Or the Bakehouse. It's late now. Get some rest and be with Kyro for a while," I advised. "Jay and I will meet you both in Esterloch tomorrow."

Oleksandr agreed and to my surprise, pulled me into a tight hug. I returned that hug, glad for Kyrylo's sake that Oleksandr was still there to even do that much. Kyrylo also offered up a rare hug - he was less likely than his mate to be so demonstrative to anyone other than Oleksandr himself and as such, I found that I appreciated the gesture more for its rarity.

****

The following day, Oleksandr and Kyrylo turned up at the Forge when the sun was at its zenith and so I took him to the Bakehouse. We waited for a while outside until Jay had turned up fresh from his morning's work at the Stables.

Once we'd entered the Bakehouse, we sat down and shared a meal that Oleksandr insisted - unnecessarily - that he was going to pay for. Many a tall tale was woven and exchanged over our food and once again, the geckos proved themselves to be engaging conversationalists and firm friends to have around.