Narka was fuming, she was this close to breathing fire from lips that weren't meant to do such things. Ever since that boy had come here she'd had to walk a fine line. One that no one else knew about. Bezhar was starting to get suspicious about her intentions, but he really knew nothing. It all came down to the fundamental question one must ask when two humans show up on your doorstep.
Why them?
Many didn't understand what the barrier was, how it was formed, and how it was maintained. She knew all too well its history. When Wyla of the Viyan Sea had brought the humans before her she'd known then that something was changing. She'd kept that to herself until she noticed it. Noticed that human.
How was a human so strong? It wasn't apparent in the current setting because no matter how strong a human was it would never be anything to a dragon's strength and energy. However, that did not diminish the fact that for a human, this one was a monster. He'd also come before her as had the other human bearing marks that should not have existed in their human realm.
Before she'd known what she was doing she used her ability. She looked inside him, just a little. What she'd discovered in that moment had influenced every decision she'd made since then. She'd made a plan on the spot. A plan to convince the council to keep them alive, she showed them a hint of what he could do. Her ploy had worked. The humans probably didn't understand what was happening at all, she could understand that. As for her fellow dragons, their interest in the humans had become purely academic and defensive. They were something to observe with caution. The little human had proved to be nothing more than a simple human since that time, but the other one, Tate. Well, he was keeping the dragons of academia very interested. Tate was probably unaware that the dragons who often circled above his training or watched from the parapets at times were mostly made up of scholars.
He'd gotten their attention by holding them at bay in their first meeting with domination. Every dragon in that room had assigned an expert they personally trusted to observe him from that point on. They could no longer be content with just killing them and doing away with what to them was a problem. Now they had to uncover why a human from the human realm had such an ability and discover if it could be a danger to them in the future. Since dragons were so much longer lived than humans it was not outside the realm of possibility that such an ability appearing in a human from the other side of the barrier could affect them in the future. After all in their minds, if one rat had gotten through the barrier that made the odds higher that the anomaly would repeat e in the future.
They needed to understand this human, needed to know if he was an anomaly of his kind or something more. However, she knew that this concern was not relevant, but she didn't tell them that. I suited her purposes perfectly well for them to study him like some small creature they were keeping in a lab.
She knew that he was not a test subject, because she knew without a doubt that he was one of a kind. She'd been excited about the future, even if he didn't make it through the Trials she'd planned to use them as they would be used for a dragonling, to simply get an idea of his capabilities. She would have used it as a justification. She'd intended to reach out to a mage who would help him get his little friend back on the right side of the barrier if he didn't prove strong enough to encounter the "dragon mage."
Now that had all gone out of the window. She couldn't risk it, not again. She'd made the mistake of underestimating that female once, she wouldn't do it ever again. She'd paid that price and it had been too high. She had no actual evidence of that female's crimes, if she had then as the highest authority in the nest she would have beheaded her back then.
No, unfortunately, that female was too well connected, too smart for her own good. The most Narka had been able to do with her influence was to banish the woman from the Nest proper and send her into a reclusive lifestyle. The villa she owned on the edge of the nest was seldom visited, at least in daylight, by anyone.
Narka had known that she and that male were coming near dusk from time to time to observe Tate but she'd allowed it. She'd underestimated her once again, never thinking that she'd actually be bold enough to approach him.
She growled under her breath. Bezhar could only stand there as she transformed and took off leaving him behind. He might have some idea of where she was going, and she was grateful that he didn't try to stop her.
The night had completely fallen now, and there were no stars in the sky. The inky blackness of such a dark night suited her mood perfectly. She flew over the nest, over the city that surrounded her home. She passed a few others in the sky making their way back to their own residences or perhaps going out for a night of fun. She knew a few of them recognized her even in the horrible lighting but she didn't take a moment to acknowledge them. She was too angry and focused to be like her usual self, the Elder who acknowledged all under her care and made time for them.
She had no time for them right now.
She landed in the street just outside the villa with its brightly lit windows. The structure was five stories tall, it was an elegant building to be sure. Speaking to the wealth of its occupant.
She shimmered into her human form and stormed up to the door uncaring if anyone was around or not. She doubted it at this hour in this secluded part of the city, but even if there were a hundred onlookers she wouldn't care.
She lifted her hand to pound on the door but found it being opened before she even got a chance to touch the wood.
He was standing there, she hated the sight of him. She was sure her face was twisted unattractively at his appearance but he seemed unfazed.
In a polite manner, he opened the door and nodded his head to her. "Elder, welcome. Please come in."
She huffed and stomped past him. A home like this had many layers. The bottom floor was usually a reception area for guests. The large space was strewn with pristine and uncomfortable-looking chairs for the human form as well as the typical area full of cushions for those in dragon form.
No one was in this area, not even the one she was looking for. Without waiting, or asking for permission she walked to the opposite side of the room where a large opening in the ceiling was present. The square hole was of course large enough that anyone in their dragon form could fit through easily as long as their wings were respectfully folded.
With a light bounce, she jumped from one floor to the other, landing lightly on her bare human feet in the second room. This floor was where food was often prepared and stored. Hanging from hooks on the ceiling were many deer and cow carcasses, a few of them fresh. Along the walls were various vegetables in baskets or dry goods on shelves, for the times when one wanted to eat in human form. In the far left corner was the stone slate, the slate was where one could place food if they desired to cook it, again for human form consumption. The human form could eat raw meat just as their original forms could but the human tatebuds didn't find it as pleasing. In many high-end homes, this area was a common feature, a safe place for a dragon's breath to cook meat if wanted.
She ignored all of this and walked to the opposite side of the room from where she was. Another opening in the ceiling was present. She felt him behind her but didn't acknowledge him. She leaped to the next landing. This floor was a private lounging and eating area. She didn't bother to look around but stalked once again to the opposite side.
When she jumped to the next floor she found her quarry. The light brown and orange dragon was curled in luxurious silks and cushions which took up over half of the room. She'd always been a smaller dragon, that female, so she was almost lost in the bedding.
As soon as Narka's feet touched the floor, she raised her head and smirked.
"Elder, here so soon?"
"I'd watch it if I were you."
"Come, it's been so long are you really going to be this way to me? I didn't hurt him, I have no intention of hurting him I just wanted to see it for myself."
"You stay away from that boy!" She snarled. A dragon's grumbling chuckle was all the response she got.
From behind her "he" had transformed into his original form and slipped past her like water to go and curl around the female.
Watching them, she felt bile rise up in her throat. She wanted to scream, she wanted to rip them to shreds where they lay. She even felt her teeth lengthen and the snarl escaped her throat.
Again that oh so calm voice came to her. "Elder, with all due respect I'd thank you not to bear your teeth to my mate. She has done nothing wrong for you to be so unpleasant."
She wanted to scoff at that but ground her teeth instead until they returned to the bluntness of her human form. He wasn't wrong, unfortunately.
"I allowed you to watch without saying anything, but you crossed the line today. What were you thinking." She got out with the barest hint of cold civility.
The tawny dragon tilted her head. "I was just curious."
"You were curious?" She said with disdain. "You don't have the right to be curious. You terrified the poor boy, not to mention you told him to call you Yakahna?" She snarled the last bit unable to help herself. "You don't have a right to that title." She spat.
"Why not, it is my title."
"No."