There is a fine line between a dragonling who fulfilled their duties and those who wasted their lives. One who never bears children does not fulfill their duty.

This is Our Law.

~ From the Dragonling Grimoire

Professor Alek Lavrov sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tell me again what happened?" He could help but glare at the wyk in front of him.

Irisa was gripping the table in melodramatic fear, clearly putting on a show. Not like she needed to - her throat was decorated with bruises like a necklace. Alek

"T-that bitch attacked me!" Irisa sputtered. Her eyes were wide and incredulous, like she couldn't understand such a thing. "Out of nowhere! No provocation!"

Despite several other students corroborating the story, the professor didn't believe it for a second. Anita Rhyan was loud and aggressive, but that was just normal Ryn stupidity. She was a good student and, as far as he could tell, generally in control of herself.

So why would Anita attack Irisa so violently? It makes no sense. Alek rubbed his temples. He had only allowed Dominika to place the Ryn in his class as an experiment, and now he was regretting it with every fiber of his being.

Alek stood up from his desk and took a deep, measured breath before replying. "Very well. Go back to the medics. I'll get this sorted out."

"You're going to expel her, right?" Irisa sniffed.

"I don't know," Alek replied plainly, suddenly very ceratin that Irisa had said something deliberately to make Anita attack her. The young Lira was one of the shining stars in his class before Anita had arrived, and he knew nothing hurt her ego more than having a Ryn show her up in class.

"What?" Irisa jumped to her feet, face darkening with a scowl. "She attacked me and you're not even going to punish her?"

"It's technically not against the rules," the professor replied, silently noting to himself that such a rule didn't exist because Liras didn't generally attack each other, "so I'm not sure how to reprimand her."

Irisa sputtered with rage for a moment before throwing the chair away and storming out. After standing up and fixing the chair, Alek began to pace through his office. His sister was going to be furious that Irisa was attacked. The wyk wasn't even one of Dominika's draggies - she had sent most of her own children off to be raised by distant relatives - but Irisa was pampered and spoiled like a princess nonetheless.

With a growl of frustration, Alek slammed his fist on his desk.

Irisa would be the one to antagonise a Ryn into attacking her. Alek didn't care what she had said - he wasn't blind. He had heard the taunting remarks and seen the way Irisa and her friend attempted to isolate Anita. He had assumed she would tire of it soon enough and let it slide, collecting his information like the good little professor he was.

Anita had seemed strong enough to deal with Irisa's bullying. The Ryn had turned a blind eye to it all. He had trusted her not to attack or distract anyone or... well, be a stereotypical Ryn.

You're a moron. Alek silently berated himself, staring out the window. He could very well lose his job over this. All he'd wanted was to experiment on whether or not a Ryn could adapt to the daily life of a Lira. He was assured Anita would only be in his class for a little while before she took a position of a guard.

And now this stupid, stupid Ryn could have just killed both of us.

There was a light knocking and Alek's head snapped around just in time to see his sister stride through the doorway.

"Aleksandr," Dominika said, "I thought I could trust you with the safety of my darling Irisa."

Alek eyed the wyk warily. They had never gotten along, though they weren't exactly antagonistic either. "The attack happened before I had even arrived in class. I was in a meeting this morning and could not be there early like I normally am."

Dominika's lip curled into a sneer. "I thought you were... civilizing that Ryn."

"I'm simply teaching her. If she's already a beast, I can't do anything about it." Alek replied curtly, opting not to tell the wyk that Irisa had most likely initiated the fight.

"Whatever you call it." Dominika waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. I want you to hunt down this Ryn and bring her back to me."

Alek kept his face still, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Wouldn't a group of Ryns be better suited to hunting down one of their own?"

Dominika's eyes practically glowed with self-righteous anger. "Are you challenging my order?"

"No, Domka." Alek used her childhood nickname, hoping to strike a nerve as he opened the doors to the balcony. He shfited as soon as he left the room, closing his eyes to the sudden bright light. The wind was light and the sun was pleasantly warm. It was the perfect day for a leisurely fly.

Shame Alek had to waste it away tracking down Anita.

Taking off from the balcony with a few powerful wingbeats, Alek banked around the castle, scanning the ground for any signs of the Ryn.

Mentally, Alek began to list in his mind where someone like Anita would be. Not the city. From what he had heard, she wanted far away from other dragonlings. She never cared for learning about marine life in class, so not the lake to the east. The wyverns were particularly annoying this time of the sun cycle, so not the canyons to the west.

That left... the forests with trees tall enough to hide a dragonling. Lovely. Alek skimmed above the treetops, peering through the gaps in the foliage. Deer and boars took cover when his shadow drifted over them, but the wolves and bears patiently waited for him to pass. Birds of every sort flitted through the trees, chittering loud enough to make Alek's ears ring.

The forest was teeming with mouth-watering life, but there was no Ryn to be found.

A terrified shriek from Alek's right startled the fyn from his thoughts. A younger Mora he didn't recognize practically careened into Alek. The first thing the professor noticed was the blood spattering the dragonling's scales. His heart skipped a beat. Did she attack another dragonling?

Alek grabbed the young fyn by the wings and held him still. "Tell me what happened." He demanded sternly.

The trembling fyn shook his head frantically. "I don't know! I was hunting near the canyon and then they all just swarmed me, but I wasn't even in their territory so I don't know what made them so mad and I tried fighting them off-" Alek wrapped his claws around the rambling fyn's snout.

"Go get to a medic," Alek ordered before letting him go. The fyn nodded frantically and bolted, flapping his wings rapidly.

Alek growled under his breath as he redirected his flight to the canyon. He knew exactly what must have angered the wyverns. A particular idiotic wyk with a death wish.

As he neared the canyon, Alek boosted his speed as he heard the squawks of wyverns and the occasional snarl of a dragonling. When he crested over the lip of the canyon he was met with a bloody massacre.

Of only wyverns, of course.

Unlike dragonlings, wyverns are foolish creatures that rarely think past their next meal. Their scales were soft snakescale and they only had two legs. Many dragonlings in the southern colonies kept them as pets. The less reputable colonies were rumored to capture wyverns and force them to fight.

Alek found them disgusting pests to be exterminated. It appeared Anita had accomplished that task - about half a dozen adults were herding their chicks out of the bloodstained part of the canyon in a hasty retreat while the others were still foolishly attacking. With a snarl, Alek launched himself down and landed beside her.

Anita whirled around, hackles raised and bloody fangs bared. Alek almost faltered - he was a Lira, not meant to fight, especially not with a Ryn, - but stood tall. "Anita, you are in so much trouble."

Moving closer, Alek had to step over several mutilated corpses. "I thought you were better than this."

"They attacked me first," Anita replied petulantly.

Alek's tail lashed once. "I don't care about the wyverns. I care that you attacked Irisa. Both of us are going to be in a lot of trouble because of that."

The wyk gave him a glare of contempt. "So what? Are you gonna throw a book at my head, professor?"

Alek growled, feeling a flash of frustration. Using the tip of his tail, he flung a nearby rock at Anita's head. It hit her square in the forehead. The stunned look on her face was almost comical - too bad it only lasted for a few heartbeats. Quick as a flash, the wyk grabbed a substantially larger rock and flung it at him.

The professor gave a startled yelp as he hopped back. Mentally cringing at the indignity of it, Alek growled and bit into the disgusting hide of a wyvern before tossing the corpse at Anita. She shrieked and blasted it with fire.

Alek found himself in a standoff with Anita, both glaring at each other. He dug his claws into the sand and silently raged. He wanted to attack her, but the fight would be even at best. Alek was older than her, but he wasn't a Ryn. He was a scholar.

Anita didn't let Alek make the choice. With an angry shriek, the wyk lunged at his shoulder. Her teeth dragged up his armor-like line of scales and slipped between, sinking into the sensitive flesh underneath.

Alek snarled and thrashed, trying to dislodge the wyk. Her bite hurt. Something must have been on her teeth. Maybe poison? Did Ryns really coat their teeth with poison?

But Anita immediately pulled away and shrank back, her limbs stiffening. Alek shook her away and launched himself into the sky. The pain in his shoulder felt like the time a student had accidentally spilled acid on Alek's wrist. Whatever the wyk had on her teeth wasn't normal.

As he hovered over the canyon, something tugged on Alek's mind. The pain was slowly fading from his shoulder. He was startled to hear a sharp whining sound behind him.

Twisting his head, Alek felt a sharp pang of surprise to see Anita cowering on the ground, head against the ground. What was she doing? He turned back to her, wondering if he had hurt the wyk somehow. Straining his wings so he could twist midair, Alek hovered just above Anita, wondering what was wrong.

It hit Alek like an avalanche.

Oh fuck. The professor internally cringed as he landed. He folded his wings neatly on his back and stared down at Anita. The wyk was nervously watching him, admittedly a nice change to the usual scowl and glare. Still, Alek wasn't happy in the least bit.

Every book Alek had read, every case he had studied, every interview he had done was about biology and dragonling life.

Alek knew every aspect of a dragonling's biological composition. He knew their every weakness and how they died. He knew wyks reacted intensely to a Mate Spark.

But he also knew he didn't want a Mate Spark.

Especially not a Mate Spark with a Ryn who couldn't hold her temper or her tongue. He wasn't deaf - Alek could hear the snide remarks under her breath and the complaints whispered to Lyosha or Phoenix. Her eyes conveyed her emotions like an open book, two sapphire mirrors that displayed every hint of rage or glee.

Alek watched Anita squirm under his gaze as he thought, letting the color of his scales snake from deep red to a midnight blue. He didn't want a mate and had never thought about it with the exception of a few passing ideas while studying.

Anita shifted, lifting her head to bite softly at the bottom of Alek's jaw. She wanted an answer.

And Alek did too.

Why Anita, of all dragonlings? Why a Ryn, who thought of nothing but hunting and killing? Why her? It would have been easier if it were a passive Lira who he could show off at whatever boring party his sister dragged him to. Not a hot-headed Ryn.

Still... Alek knew mates didn't come often. He wasn't exactly newly-blooded. It had been a long time since his Trial and the memories were hazy. While he was still considered young, statistics showed that fyns who found a mate around his age would only find one mate in his lifetime. There was no second chance.

You've got to be kidding me. Alek internally seethed, though he wasn't quite sure what he was mad at. Not Anita. She probably didn't want it either - the wyk already had a mate and was probably looking forward to her mating season.

Still... Alek didn't have to be with Anita. He could just as easily be a distant mate, only seeing her during the mating season and living separately. Just the thought of it made his heart hurt. He didn't want to be like that. Do I even have a say in the matter?

The choice was obvious - Anita was probably Alek's only chance to have a mate, and he definitely didn't want to waste his life by never having draggies. He would just have to grit his teeth and get over having a Ryn as a mate. Dmitri wasn't an ideal mate-brother - being yet another vicious Ryn - but he wouldn't get in Alek's way. Anita herself at least didn't look too bad, and she had passion, unlike the ceaseless stream of wyks his clutchmates thought was absolutely perfect for him-

Anita's patience must have slipped because she snapped at Alek, barely grazing his muzzle. It felt like he had been stung by a wasp, despite the fact that her teeth never even went below his scales.

Alek straightened up and awkwardly touched his muzzle to Anita's. How does this work again? Did I have to say something?

Just as he began to turn over possibilities in his head, a sudden rush of urgency filled Alek's bloodstream. He followed his instincts and reared up, grasping Anita's shoulders in his claws as he began to sniff over her body. Nothing was injured - all of the gore staining her scales was from the wyverns. He began to clean it away with his tongue, spitting out the disgusting blood every few moments.

Idly, Alek felt Anita shift under him and try to move away from his grooming, but he just felt compelled to grip her tighter and keep her in place. He distantly felt her eyes over him, but he diligently avoided her gaze as he

Then something solid and huge slammed into Alek, ripping him away Anita. He scrambled to his feet, trying to see what had happened. Did the wyverns come back? The canyon was close to the border; was it another colony?

The rational part of his brain scolded Alek for being so foolish, but the confusing emotions from the bonding oh-so-helpfully clouded any reasoning.

A black blur pounced on Alek from above, berating him with savage thumps from wings and claws that ripped his scales clean off. When Alek breathed fire, the blur retreated long enough for him to regain some rationality.

Another blow, this time from behind, knocked Alek on his face. Now it was pissing him off. Twisting his neck around, Alek sank his teeth into a paw and wrenched his attacker down just long enough to inspect him.

The dragonling was a fyn. He was younger and therefore smaller than Alek, but his body was practically rippling with muscle and scars marked his ebony-colored scales. Alek barely had time to register this before the fyn attacked again, this time with jaws aiming for his throat.

Alek ducked his head to protect his neck, but a furious shriek too feminine to come from the fyn made him look up. Anita had shoved herself between them. The other fyn had obviously stopped short, his legs folded awkwardly under him. If Alek hadn't been confronted by his new and now furious mate, he would have laughed.

Anita turned a freezing glare on both of them. Alek felt like finding a nice cave to hide from it. "What are you two doing?" She snarled, her tail lashing dangerously. It struck a nearby rock, shattering it.

"Ani, I'm sorry - tch!" The fyn was cut off by Anita clamping her teeth down on his shoulder.

For the second time that day, Alek was hit with a painful realization. This was no random attacker. The fyn had to be... what was his name? Right. Dmitri. Of course he got to the canyons fast. He wouldn't have wasted time thinking Anita wouldn't purposely start a fight.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of unfairness, Alek realized he was far behind in knowing anything about Anita. I've made a mistake. He silently said, but he knew deep down he didn't really mean it. It wasn't ideal, but it was hardly the first time Alek would have to adapt to unfavorable conditions.

Alek appraised his new mate-brother over Anita's shoulder. Dmitri regarded him back with undisguised hatred.

Anita started walking away and Alek felt like Dmitri would spring at him again, but the fyn just glared at him before following. "Where are you going now?"

"Does it matter?" Anita shot back, clearly still annoyed. "Why did you follow me? And why did you follow me?" She glanced back at Alek, making his heart skip.

"I was sent to retrieve you," Alek admitted, feeling suddenly self-conscious.

"A trained dog playing fetch," Dmitri replied before Anita could. "Imagine my surprise."

Alek felt his blood beginning to heat up. "You've got a lot of nerve calling me a dog, considering you're trained to attack anything in sight."

Dmitri's lips pulled back into a snarl. "I'm not-"

"Enough." Anita snapped, the flat of her tail blade slapping Dmitri's shoulder. "Stop bickering."

Dmitri looked bewildered. "He just insulted us-"

"I insulted you." Alek couldn't help but cut in.

"Enough!" Anita repeated, her voice turning into a shout. She whirled around, her tail lashing furiously. "Both of you! I've not had a good day and you two are not helping that."

Alek's heart fell. "Oh. Right. I think your day is about to get worse." He shifted on his feet nervously, trying to pick out his words carefully. "You... you're going to have to come back with me. Dom- Queen Dominika wants to see you."