Bonds of Fire

  ~

  Dragon snoring was more like the sound of a rasp being run over wood, and, living around many of the big reptiles, Drekken was familiar with the noise. However, a fast, high-pitched version was new and the rather cute sound accompanied him out of sleep for a second time. His senses were not so heavy this time, and, although tired, he opened his eyes without the exhausted repression of earlier to discover that D's delicate snout was actually resting on his chin and she was snoring because of the way it tipped her head backwards. The little dragon had slipped down into the cosy spot between his shoulder and neck on the pillows, but with the one resting point on his face, she had him pinned to the bed for fear of waking her.

  His limbs were leaden and achy and Drekken wanted to stretch badly, but the somnolent contact welled up so much peace in his chest that his instincts were torn.

  'She won't wake,' Miri read him perfectly as she shifted from where she had been sitting beside his bed. 'We have moved her twice for the doctors to monitor you and as long as she remains in contact with you, she remains sound asleep.'

  As soon as he was given leave, Drekken stretched and then groaned as it felt like every muscle in his body let him know where it was.

  'Gently, Dre, you do not get a full upgrade every day.'

  The thought-voice made Drekken wake up quite a lot more, not only because the news of a full implant replacement was a shock, but also because the person who delivered it was not Miri, it was one of his mothers, Orin.

  "Ma?" he checked, just in case his senses were fooling him, and he looked past Miri.

  "We all came as soon as we heard," his human mother, Wen, drew his attention by taking his hand from the opposite side of the bed to Miri.

  It took Drekken a few moments to work out what his mother was saying; it wasn't the first time he'd been hurt in combat, and even an upgrade didn't usually mean his whole family trekked out to see him. However, then he saw the cast of Wen's eyes and he realised she was looking at D.

  "It is only a temporary bond," he stammered irrationally, suddenly feeling cornered by the way his mothers and Miri were all looking at him.

  Wen apparently ignored that and, patting his hand, told him, "The doctors have said you must rest for a month to let your implants assimilate and then you'll have to undergo the usual six month training to make sure you're familiar with the new functionality."

  That information wasn't news, Drekken had had upgrades before and the long rehab was standard procedure. Still, Wen wasn't finished and continued, "You and Miri will be able to stay with us while you train at the academy."

  "Academy?!"

  That was not standard procedure.

  "Of course, where else could you go if you want her grandparents to be part of your child's upbringing? We have discussed this with Miri, and we are all agreed that you must stay with us until the weaning is complete, then it is only logical that you retrain at the academy, since Orin teaches there and it is so close. Until this dreadful war is over, the child will then need her grandparents when both you and Miri return to the front, and of course, that pair of capable young uncles you have found for her, too."

  Drekken hadn't spent any more than a few weeks at his mothers' house for more than fifty years, one of the reasons being that, although he loved them all dearly, they never seemed to remember he was an adult, let alone closing in on four hundred years old and they always tried to organise his life. Yet, this time, he held back from objecting as his need for independence was beaten down by consideration of the needs of the tiny creature still snoring in his ear. Coupled with the fact that Miri was not usually one to agree with his mothers, Drekken had to consider what was being said, and, although a small part of him was annoyed with being organised, he had to admit, it made sense.

  He had not thought much beyond getting his charges to safety, everything from his protective instincts towards Baby D and his budding attraction to Malachi and Yakov had very much been in the moment, and it seemed that most of the thinking for the future had been done for him.