Silas' POV:
"That was a fail," Lyle sighed out as he hit Aurelio on the back of the head. We had made it home after Aurelio's slip up on aging Hesper. "I can't believe you're rusty on your own people's language. You cost Silas his son." I frowned as I sat down, my crystal aching in pain as my body felt numb. That dragon just carried him right off again... and Hesper is full grown in size.... He'll mate with Hesper. He didn't have to wait for Hesper to age at all. He's probably deflowering my little boy as we breath.... I didn't get him back... and the way he hugged that dragon after it showed up....
Would he even want to come home? He might never want to see us again... especially if he turns out to like being with the dragon and being it's sex bunny.... My little boy.... I gripped my pants leg then hung my head. All I wanted was for him to come home and finally be safe from that menace.... He's too young to understand that the dragon isn't ever going to let him out of his hoard...
I couldn't even get my son back. What kind of parent am I? My eldest misbehaves and runs off who knows where all the time, and now he's even staying with Kingsley and not wanting to come back with us at all... and one of my little boys is mated to a dragon king that'll deflower him when Hesper probably can't understand what mating means. He's only eleven! I felt a tear slip down my cheek then slowly brought my knees to my chest, curling up on the couch as I felt my crystal starting to retreat from my body, trying to pull away from my body like it didn't want to feel any of this anymore.
"I'm sorry," Aurelio whispered. "I thought I was right about the spell." Ross jumped onto the couch and gently nuzzled my hand, giving it a small lick. I picked my head up and glanced at him before I rubbed his head slightly.
"We've got to try again," I mumbled then rubbed my chest with a slight whimper as I pulled my hand back from Ross. He looked towards my chest in alarm then up at me. "I think I'm going to go lay down," I muttered then got to my feet but fell to my knees from the numbness in my body. My crystal pulsed in fear, retreating even further into itself as I groaned in pain then fell face forward into the ground.
"Come on brother," Lyle whispered. "We'll get him back... I promise." I curled up on the cold floor and gripped my chest as another tear rolled down my face. What if my son doesn't want to come home? He's too attached to that dragon.... He doesn't love me near as much as that dragon.... The look on his face when we took him said it all, and he didn't put up a fight to stay with us when that dragon king reached us....
"What if he doesn't want to come home? What if he hates me? He's being deflowered by that dragon," I mumbled and sniffled, burying my face into my knees as I pulled them close to hide my chest. "It hurts so much.... My body is numb...."
"He still loves you... He won't hate you if you father him. He needs fathering!" Aurelio told me. I glanced towards him then felt Ross jump on me with a purr, looking down into my eyes.
"Don't worry. We'll get him back," Ross told me then licked my cheek. I sniffled then grabbed him, pulling him into my arms as I curled up to him. "He'll be whining to see you again soon. Trust me. Hesper wouldn't leave you for a dragon for too long. He used to come see for a few minutes then would run off. The dragon king will eventually have to bring him back to let him see you. All hope is not lost, and when he comes back or we get him back ourselves, we'll return him back to his true age and the dragon king won't mate with him again till he's older."
"Yeah... we'll get him back eventually." I glanced towards my brother then reached for him, feeling like a helpless child as my crystal ached.
"Lyle," I mumbled and went to sit up but whimpered as my crystal sent a spark of pain through me. I felt some of my roots getting pulled back into my crystal, making me fall back over as I groaned and felt my fangs expose instinctively.
"Silas," he whispered and gave a hurt look. Ross nuzzled his head against my chest, giving a small purr to me.
"It'll be okay," Ross whispered to me then licked my cheek. I groaned and held onto Ross, my crystal aching.
"Lyle," I whimpered again, wanting him. He reached out and pulled me into his arms quickly. I curled up to him and held onto him. "My crystal hurts. It's trying to pull away."
"No... Don't let it! I love you and so does Hesper and Rei and all your children." Lyle brushed my hair away from my face then. I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I won't," I promised him then kissed his cheek. "I can't." I won't let my crystal get it's way and curl into itself because of this. Not till I've lost everything....
"Come on.... don't worry so much," he whispered in my ear. "You haven't completely lost him yet." I nodded and leaned in towards his neck, biting into him.
"I'll go see if Toma is okay... and we'll come up with something to get him back," Ross whispered to us. "We'll do what we can."
"I've got Kingsley plans," Aurelio said quickly and disappeared, ditching the situation. Lyle kissed my cheek before picking me up and started to carry me. I drank his blood for a few minutes before I pulled back from his neck, feeling a little better and leaned my head against his shoulder.
"Lyle... am I a bad parent?" I asked him, looking up at him worriedly. "He should be home with me if I was a good parent.... I am a bad one...."
"You just have so many kids... Even I would have trouble keeping up with them all... I think our parents struggled too with all of us... but they never stopped loving us." I relaxed at his words and nodded. My parents.... I purred at the memory of following them around with Lyle then kissed his cheek.
"You're right," I mumbled to him. "They never did stop loving us even if we gave them trouble. Maybe...." I looked at him thoughtfully as I started to consider other options besides just taking Hesper by force. "Maybe I could meet with the dragon king and work something out with him... something Hesper would like."
"Maybe," Lyle purred. "That's a good idea."
"We could have Hesper there so that way the dragon king doesn't bite our heads off," I mumbled and watched Lyle before I rubbed my chest slightly. "I want an invitation sent to them.... We'll do it under peace negotiations of some sort... no fighting or stealing Hesper from one another during the meeting. If I need to, I can wage war later...."
"With what power?" Lyle asked in a teasing tone. "You're apart of the resistance, remember?"
"I'll threaten to sell his children," I growled back. "No... I'll give him hell though to get Hesper back if he doesn't meet in the middle with me. I'll be his worst nightmare." Lyle kissed my cheek then.
"I know you will. We'll senda letter with Ross..." He trailed before dropping me. "I'll get down to writing it," he suggested. "We'll have tea here by next week."
"No! Tomorrow," I told him firmly. "I want that dragon here by tomorrow or I'll go into the dragon realm myself and snatch Hesper away."
"Okay," Lyle groaned out. "I'll get right to it... but you need to be getting down to business too. I want those hide outs.... I want names Silas." I looked at him then took a deep breath.
"O-okay... I can give you one. Her name is Lavender. She's the human I was talking about...." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I don't think you should go after her yet though. If she's one of the leaders of the resistance, her being taken out just as I've gotten back will be highly suspicious." Lyle nodded in deep thought.
"Maybe we could use her... kidnap her and mess with her mind while we suck information out of her... then we'll have Aurelio make her forget she was kidnapped." Lyle smirked at the thought. I swear that is one of the more devilish things I've ever heard him say.... I purred slightly at him.
"You know, if you keep that talk up, you'll sound just like a resistance leader. The resistance did set a ghoul on the council once after starving it," I reminded him, wanting to mess with him.
"We're only getting even with them," Lyle hissed. "If we have to do a few mind tricks to get what we want, then oh well." I widened my eyes slightly as I recognized that kind of talk... getting even.... He definitely sounded like part of the resistance, whether he realized it or not.
"Of course Lyle," I whispered to him. Maybe there is a darker side to him than I realized. He looked me over and frowned.
"Don't you want rid the resistance? It's what we wanted all along. We want peace don't we? A leader would be perfect to have in our clutches." I nodded then hugged him.
"Of course I want to be rid of them.... They've done horrible things... even to you," I whispered then kissed his cheek. "You can kidnap her, but be careful. I don't want to be caught yet. I want to get into a higher position if I can't get all the way back to being the full leader again."
"Silas..." Lyle hissed. "Don't forget what you're doing it for. Us."
"I know, but if I'm leader... I'll know everything... all the outposts, all the names, everything," I told him then looked him in the eyes. "We could get them in one fell swoop with me at the top. That was the plan... to get me back on top."
"Fine... we'll wait until then," Lyle sighed out. He looked so impatient. "I don't like you there... I feel it's giving you bad ideas and I don't like it... maybe we should make Dmitri get to the top and pull you off this case. I don't want it messing with your state of mind. We're the good ones. They'll tell you all these pleasurable desires.... but that's because they're sinning.... they're breaking the law. They're little demons luring you in to get your mind, body, and soul." I frowned at him then.
"Lyle, I'm fine, really. Let me do this for you and everyone else," I told him then kissed his cheek. "I'll get you some outpost names as soon as possible. Don't fret." He sighed before nodding a little and gave me a small kiss on the cheek.
"Please stay pure," he mumbled.
"I will," I promised him and then smirked at him. "Trust me, I'll wrap them around my fingers and make them think they have me." He nodded before sighing.
"I need to go lay down... I don't feel too good." He started to walk away from me then. I frowned as I watched him going then rubbed my chest. He did have a big night with me.... I guess you could not feel too well after that.... I surely don't feel well.... I think I'll go find Rei and tell him my plans. I started down the hall quickly, going towards my bedroom to find him and went in.
"Rei, I'm having the dragon king over on peaceful terms for negotiations. Hesper is going to be with him, and I think we should try to work something out... something for Hesper," I told him as I walked up to him. He was rubbing Phoenix's head while he was curled up asleep with Echo in our bed. Rei looked up at me from the book he was reading.
"You didn't... get our son?" He asked and frowned. "How hard is it to tell a boy to come home?... I guess I'll never know because A'slin said goodbye." He growled softly before looking at our young ones. "They wanted to sleep with us tonight." I purred softly as I saw our sweet, innocent children, the same as I had left them. I walked up to the bed and gently sat down.
"I think that's a great idea," I told him then looked at him. "Aurelio accidentally cast an aging spell on our son instead of a dragon charm, and the dragon king grabbed him right after," I mumbled to him then frowned. "He seemed so happy that the dragon was carrying him off...." Rei gave me a mad look of disgust.
"You better get our kid back!" He hissed at me. "I trusted you tonight to get him back," he gave a pained look then. "You mothered him... You should be more protective." He rubbed his head then. "I never imagined this for our children." I frowned at him then as I saw him getting angry. I'm just as upset....
"Rei, I love our children. I'm not going to let the dragon king take our son away from us!" I sighed and looked away from him then, glancing at our twins. "Maybe they're all better off in Hawaii... where it's safer.... If we had never come here, Hesper wouldn't be gone... and A'slin might be with us...." I felt my crystal ache again as I watched our children slumbering peacefully. What if I can't protect these two? "I'm sorry," I whispered to him, my voice quiet.
"No.... Don't look like that...." He sighed. "We both know Hesper has always attracted the eyes of dragons and... well A'slin is rebelling because he aches for our attention.. after all he's a teenager and the oldest. We also have business to attend to that calls to us besides our kids... maybe we had too many- but they're ours and I love each and every one of them... we have to get Hesper back. I want to finish raising him." I looked towards him and smiled slightly before I crawled over to him and kissed him gently.
"We'll finish raising him," I promised him. "I want each and every single one of our children. They're precious to me.... We'll get Aurelio to fix Hesper's age, and we'll get something worked out with the dragon king. Obviously trying to take him by force isn't working so far... and I don't want him dead. Hesper would hate us forever if we did that. I saw how attached he was to the dragon tonight," I told him then curled up in his lap with a small purr. "We'll get our son back and we'll spoil each of our children again soon. I'll hurry it up as much as I can with what Lyle wants so I can be back right where I belong with mothering each of them and holding them in my arms." I miss them.... Phoenix opened his eyes a little and giggled before reaching out for me.
"Mommy," he giggled out. I purred louder towards him and gently picked him up, pulling him into my arms.
"Hey sweetie~" I lightly tapped his nose then kissed his forehead. "Were you having a nice nap?" I asked him sweetly, looking down at him in pure happiness. I haven't held my twins in awhile.... I hugged him to me and looked towards Echo, gently pulling the blanket up to her chin. She snuggled up to the blanket with a sweet smile on her face, a small sigh coming from her as her purple hair fell into her face. I laughed and brushed her hair back out of her face then kissed Phoenix again on his head. "Mommy missed you," I purred to him, rubbing his cheek gently.
"I was wondering when you'd come to bed," he whined to me. "You seem busy mommy... Echo spilled Kool-Aid on her hair again today. Daddy had to clean her up- oh and the others miss you too. We made cards for you. To tell you how much we miss you- some of the older kids made a fuss-I didn't find Hesper and A'slin though to force them to make one." He pointed to the night table where they were. "We love you." I widened my eyes a little as I looked towards the small stack of cards and felt my crystal pulse. My kids made me cards? Have I been gone that much? I looked back down to Phoenix and frowned. I'm away too much if my children feel they have to make me cards- even if it was such a sweet gesture and I'll cherish them forever.... I'm missing their lives.... I kissed his head quickly then.
"I love all of you too. Thank you so much for the cards. It was very sweet of all of you," I purred to him then brushed his hair out of his face. "Mommy is going to take a night off real soon for all of you. We'll have a great time. I'm sorry I've been gone so much." I looked towards Rei then purred. "Let's have a big family night." I told him quickly. "We'll call A'slin home for a night, and we'll get Hesper back. I want to spend time with our children and with you," I purred to him then held Phoenix close. "Would you like that my sweet little baby?" I looked at him and smiled sweetly. "I've been gone too long." He nodded and let out a cute yawn.
"Yeah... but I want to continue my nap." He kissed my cheek. "Mommy, you're doing important business and that's ok. We understand." He rubbed at his eyes then. "As long as we get our day." I purred at him then nodded.
"Okay Phoenix," I whispered to him then laid down beside Rei, holding my baby in my arms. "We'll have a night together real soon...." I kissed his head then looked towards Echo before I purred and gently pulled her onto my chest, keeping Phoenix in the crook of my arm with my other hand on Echo's back. My sweet twins.... I smiled happily then looked towards Rei with a loving purr.
"Daddy needs some time with mommy and his children too," I told him and smiled at him. "The resistance can wait a bit longer. It's not going anywhere." Rei laughed a little.
"I've been having time with them." He gave an amused look as he looked me over. "I'm glad you came to bed."
"I'm glad I did too," I purred to him then took my hand from Echo's back and reached up, rubbing my lover's cheek. "We'll have a date too, just us after we spend time with our children as one big happy family. I'll take a couple of nights off. Lyle will understand, and if he doesn't, then he'll just have to get over it. I don't care if the council gets upset. You and our children are more important to me."
"Yes... but shouldn't you get what you promised you'd do done first? The quicker you finish it the more our children will be safe and the easier it will be to raise them up in this world." I nodded to him and gave a soft smile.
"Don't worry. After my two days off, I'll work as quickly as possible. I won't let it take long," I promised him. "I'll start collecting names and outposts for Lyle and give them to him. I'll see quite a few of them as an outpost leader anyways- having to trade with others somewhat."
"Are you sure you should take time off? You need to make it appear to the resistance you're serious."
"Travis and that girl are currently making a shopping list for me. I'm waiting on them anyways so we can fix the place up that I got so I can impress the resistance leaders. After that, I'm going to be getting connections as quickly as possible, but I have to have an excellent outpost first, or else I definitely will be looked down upon. Two days isn't going to hurt anything. It'll give the two more time to look online and to make plans."
"I don't think it takes two days to shop," Rei mumbled and closed his eyes. "Goodnight sweetie," he mumbled. I purred to him softly and pulled him close to me then kissed his cheek.
"Good morning, my love," I mumbled to him then closed my eyes, holding my lover and my twins close to me as a small purr rumbled in my chest.
~~~
I felt Echo stirring on my chest before she let out a small whine then paused and giggled. "Mommy~ Mommy, mommy, mommy~" She purred out and kissed my cheek, waking me up. I groaned and opened my eyes to see my baby girl giggling up a storm at the sight of me and kissing my cheek. "Daddy, mommy is here! Mommy, I missed you so much~" She giggled again and tackled me into a hug, wrapping her arms around my neck. "My mommy~" I blinked a bit, feeling the sun going down then frowned. Shouldn't kids sleep in just a little? I was having such a nice sleep....
"Echo! I WAS SLEEPING! You're too loud," Phoenix groaned out. "It's bed time!"
"Nuh uh," Echo purred out. "My mommy is here! I'm not going to sleep when mommy is here~ Mommy, I love you~" I purred a little then rubbed her head, watching as she giggled at the attention.
"Shhh sweetie, I'm here, but you need to be quiet. Your brother wants to sleep still," I told her softly. I could hear Phoenix growling at her. Rei had his eyes shut and a pair of headphones in. I laughed and looked towards him. He was smart. I looked towards my twins then kissed them both on their heads.
"Are you two hungry?" I asked them with a smile.
"I'm sleepy," Phoenix grumbled. "Not hungry." I purred towards him then.
"Okay," I told him then looked to Echo who shook her head no at me then tackled me into another hug, giggling.
"Mommy, spend time with us tonight! I miss you mommy," she said sweetly then looked towards Phoenix, going to mess with him. "Play with us too~" I chuckled as I watched her then looked towards Phoenix. He groaned and slipped further under the covers.
"I want my own room!" He said in determination. I purred to him.
"Maybe when you're older," I told him and laughed. "You can have one then, but you two need to look out for each other for now." I rubbed his head then pulled Echo down into my embrace with one arm. "I love you two...."
"Besides.... we don't have enough family rooms for that," Rei teased lightly. "I wanted fifteen but got an extra one." He rubbed Phoenix on the head. "You'll have to continue sharing." I laughed a little then looked towards Rei, kissing his cheek.
"Good night my love," I purred to him happily then let Echo go, slipping her off me as I moved closer to Rei and kissed his neck. "Did you sleep well?" I asked him and wrapped my arms around him, curling up to him. Echo whined then crawled over me, trying to get between us.
"Nooooo! Mommy! Don't hug daddy! You're supposed to be giving me attention! Daddy can have you later!" She whimpered and managed to squeeze her tiny body between the two of us.
"How about you take Echo down to the kitchen and get her a nice warm bottle of blood. We'll come join you two when he's ready to wake up," Rei suggested and pulled Phoenix into his arms to baby him some more as he kissed his head and rocked him to get him to fall back to sleep. I purred towards him then leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"Okay, we'll be waiting for you two," I told him sweetly then started to sit up. Echo giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck then purred at me.
"Mommy, I spilled more Kool-Aid in my hair yesterday, and daddy had to clean my hair up," she told me and smiled hugely. I laughed and got out of the bed, holding her in my arms as I began to carry her off.
"You did? You should be more careful," I told her then kissed her head lightly. She nodded and then kissed my cheek. I heard a small growl coming from downstairs, definitely a dragon's growl that rumbled through the house, making me widen my eyes. The dragon king.... I was having him over tonight.... Crap. Three days off then- one to take care of this, one to spend time with my kids, and one to spend time with my mate. "Rei..." I called worriedly to him, glancing over my shoulder at him. "He's here...." Rei frowned as he scooped our boy up and started for the door.
"I suppose we'll nap later," Rei whispered to our boy. I heard Phoenix whine. I heard Lixue growling back towards the dragon king. I frowned. Lixue shouldn't growl at him. She could get seriously hurt.... I started to rush with Echo down the hall then down the stairs, finding the dragon king near the door to the castle. He had Hesper on his back as he glared at Lixue and puffed smoke her way as he stood up tall. I looked towards Hesper with wide eyes and felt a purr leave me. My baby boy is actually here~!
"Hesper!" I called out quickly, holding onto Echo tightly. I heard Rei stop beside me.
"Hesper!" Phoenix yelled out and giggled. "Big brother!" Hesper giggled and waved towards him. "When did you get so big?" Lixue laid her ears back and gave a pissed look at the dragon king. The king growled at her and started to go after her, but I stepped between them quickly, making him pause as he looked me over.
"Oh... it's you," he hissed my way. "This better be good, or else I'm leaving, and I will not talk to you again. He's mine, and if you don't know that by now, then you must have rocks for brains," he growled at me then puffed smoke at me. I coughed and waved it away then frowned as Echo started to cough.
"Don't blow smoke at my children," I hissed back at him then sat her down. "Go to daddy," I told her then kissed the top of her head. She giggled and nodded, running over to Rei as I turned back to the dragon king. "Now you! You put my son down right now or there will be hell to pay!" I snarled, exposing my fangs at him. He narrowed his eyes at me then snarled back, looking pissed. Rei picked up Echo and kissed the top of her head. Hesper slipped off of the dragon king's back and leaned against him.
"I want to be with him daddy," Hesper told me. I frowned and looked towards him in concern.
"Is he really what you want? You want him for eternity? You won't change your mind in a few centuries? He's got plenty of mates already... and I want you home with me," I told him then walked up to him, ignoring the dragon king's threatening growls. "Hesper, he won't ever let you leave him if you choose to stay with him tonight. You're so young.... How do you know that you'll want to be with him forever?" I asked him and frowned. "He's a dragon- not only a dragon but a dragon king. He only wants you for sex Hesper."
"No he doesn't... he said he favors me out of the others," Hesper whined. "He loves me.. he let me mark him too." I frowned then looked towards the dragon king, smelling him then wrinkled up my nose as I caught Hesper's mark on him. He really did mark that dragon....
"Hesper, he won't let you come see your family, and you need us," I told him then looked Hesper over. "You're still young, even if your body is grown up. We'll make you small again and take care of you. After that, you can pick who you want to be with."
"I want Alfarus," he whined. "He makes me feel good." I frowned at him.
"Hesper, did he mate with you?" I asked him quickly, worried. The dragon king would've defiled my baby as soon as he saw that Hesper was a full grown adult in physical form....
"Yeah~" Hesper giggled out. Oh. My. Lord. I snarled and turned to the dragon king.
"HOW COULD YOU?! HE'S A CHILD," I shouted at him then exposed my fangs. "YOU BASTARD!" The dragon glared at me then held his head up high.
"He's part of my hoard and one of my mates. I don't have to explain myself to you," he hissed at me then growled, moving his wing in front of Hesper. "He's mine, and he isn't a child anymore! He's fully grown even if his actual age is young! You're lucky I haven't eaten you!"
"You're a disgusting filth... Echo, take Phoenix and go play in the night room." Rei sat them both down and nudged them off. "We'll be there in a little bit and we'll take you both to get blood." Echo giggled and grabbed Phoenix, pulling him away excitedly.
"Let's go play~" She purred happily as she left the room with him. I frowned and looked the dragon king over before I started to go around his wing for my son.
"Hesper, come here sweetie. He did a bad thing to you. He wasn't supposed to mate with you," I told him quickly, wanting to get my child away from this pervert. He doesn't care about Hesper at all! If he had, he would've restrained from mating with him till he was older naturally!
"Nu-uh! It's not true. He wouldn't do a bad thing to me. He loves me." Hesper stepped back to get away from my reach.
"Hesper, he did do something bad to you! He wasn't supposed to mate with you at your age! You're still a child!" I grabbed his arm but earned a loud growl before I was tackled to the ground and the dragon king roared in my face, flaring his wings out. Lixue was quick to jump between us and let out a roar before giving him a sharp look.
"This isn't your treasure hoard so show some respect while visiting it! If you don't then I will have to throw you out!" She roared. "I don't want to be mean, but you're leaving me with no choice. Settle that roar or face my wrath." The dragon king pulled back in shock then looked Lixue over before he growled and picked her up by her tail with his mouth, going towards the castle doors.
"HEY! Don't stick her outside!" I hissed and went after him, managing to pull Lixue from him safely before he could stop me. She let out a roar at him and crawled up onto my shoulders before leaping off me and going for him.
"I might be small!" She yelled out at him. "But- I can fight." She pounced at him and got on his head before roaring out an ice blizzard at him. He snarled then smacked her off his head with his claws before he glared at her then turned to me.
"I won't give you Hesper," he snarled at me then turned away, going for Hesper. "Let's go little mate. Say goodbye," he told him then nudged Hesper close to him as he glared us down.
"Goodbye," Hesper said innocently and crawled onto Alfarus' back....