Page 23 of Bred By Fafnir

My face is slick with sweat, my breath panting by the time I get it in. No one helped, and for some reason, my smile is even wider because of it. They didn’t treat me as less than,justas a human. They held me to the same standard as themselves on a night of such importance, and now my log burns with theirs. It’s a mark, a small one, but one nonetheless. An acceptance few humans are given among the stars.

When I collapse back onto our spot, earning myself a small gaze of approval from Helgoid, my chest swells impossibly. Fafnir passes me a flask of water quietly. When I lie back, my eyes are heavy, watching as the clouds turn violent above us. His hand makes a soft, reverent pass through my hair, and I wish I could appreciate it. I’m lost to the world by the second one as the stories and warmth continue around me.

fifteen

Fafnir

Lenora sleeps like the cursed, but slightly less so tonight. I’d like to delude myself into thinking it’s because, early on, after her eyelids finally gave up the fight on her sleep, she’d shifted toward me. Her head landing on my stomach soon after. I ignored the murmurs and stares, used to them, but knowing this time it was for a different reason entirely. The males' eyes shone with confusion, anger, and envy. Our females, ourpeople, are not an affectionate kind. We don’t… snuggle or lie upon each other in this way, unless it is to couple.

The females looked on curiously, some with barely restrained fear, the smell of it unsettling the mounts. They looked down on my human, cuddled up next to me, fast asleep, as if she were no more than a kit and I were no more than a Glacivyr. A long, iridescent ice serpent, highly venomous, highly aggressive as it slinks through thesnow. Sometimes taking out herds of prey, one to ten, without ever being seen.

If I am every bit as dangerous as a Glacivyr, then they should think twice about the way they stare at her. The males should not linger, huddling together, plotting, puffing their chests. Not even the stories of our gods, of our people, had stopped the thread of unease filtering through the air.

“You did the harder thing.”

Her words filter around me, wiping away most of the red threatening to take my vision. Easing the rage seething in my chest as it claws its violent ascent up my throat. Her delicate form and the stunning swell of her curves hidden beneath a thick pile of furs, perhaps more than she needed at first. Now she lies against me, warm, safe, dusted by the first snow. Most others long departed for their homes after the first light. She’s…consuming.

I had thought it was because she was small and delicate, then because she was to bear my young, war madness after that, I had thought of everything to explain the scorching affection I feel for her. The warring desire to keep her hidden and tucked away, but also to show her off. To bellow her name from the highest mountain so that the world around might know that she is mine and mine alone.

But she’s not mine.

She can’t be.

It will be a fate crueler than she deserves.

I’m lost in my thoughts when the sound of approaching hooves hits me. My head doesn’t snap up, but finds the source with a lethal, disciplined fluidity. The same male who attempted to take her favor strides up to me with all the misplaced confidence of a new warrior straight from the training field. My female rustles, his self-assured stomping putting an end to her rest.

I hadn’t been done watching her. Red filters in my vision once again. I know what’s coming.

Why he’s here.

What he intends to do, to say.

Why there is a group of males waiting just around the community building and why they waited for the rest of the crowd to disperse before they gathered.

I can’t even fault them for it.

But I will kill them either way.

Lenora shifts, sucking in a slow steady breath as she stretches, not unlike her newpet, Valoryx. I let out a call, summoning him. His savage warning snarl is enough to wipe off her lingering dregs of sleep.

“Fafnir, I challenge you.” The male booms, but my attention is on her again.

“Faf?” Her upturned, sleepy eyes darting between him and me.

“By reason of dejected honor, I challenge you to a death battle.” He continues.

Yes,youchallengeme,but you have brought help. I all but roll my eyes, something I picked up from my female.

“Wait, you can’t do that. For what reason? If it's over me, then you can shove your challenge up your—"

She yelps as I lift from the ground, taking her with me, a chill overcoming her as she’s exposed to the wind. I pay it no mind, or her fighting me as I hoist her onto the back of Valoryx. “I will be home shortly.”

“He can’t do that!”

“He can.”

He’s not wrong to.

---