29

I waited for the portal to close before removing my mask so I could smile at my bonded.

"It seems as if the barrier is holding," I opened the conversation.

"The barrier," Ethan was slightly confused by the sudden question.

It seemed like he thought that we would do more reminiscing this time.

"As long as we keep the stones charged we don't have any problems," he answered my curiosity.

"That comment suggests that you made a mistake," My tone turned way more serious.

"We didn't have enough people to keep the barrier charged at first," Ethan shrugged, "After a few of the slaves started volunteering to charge the barrier. A few others wanted to help with food storage. The influx of slaves you've freed, and sent here have really helped grease the wheels on this whole operation."

"You haven't forced anyone?" I shrugged.

"No," Ethan shook his head, "We open the portal once a week, and let them go through, but some of them came back after a few weeks. Only one or two at first. Then a few dozen."

"How are the food stores coming?" I moved on to the next most important subject.

"We're collecting quite a bit." he nodded.

"And the hollow mountain?" I knew we weren't getting much help from the humans of earth.

"The housing project, and the great halls are all coming together slowly," he was all business now, "You pet psycho is doing a great job of building a nice community. The new forest of houses he's growing for family housing will make quite a few lovely homes once the trees are big enough. Plus the practical magic skills he's spreading is creating a self sufficient community."

"The slaves are learning to be free again, and they're grasping it properly," I smirked.

That would help further my plans quite a bit.

"For the most part," Ethan nodded, "I just don't know if a few hundred slaves is going to be enough to convince the rest of the human world to accept you. Even if your right, and the humans that just found out that their loved ones are alive decide to take our side."

I enclosed us off with wind so that our voices wouldn't carry.

"The whole point of all this is to come back looking like hero's," I cracked my neck, "Most of it is just a show meant to make us look good. The more slaves we free the better we look. If it were up to me we'd take every single slave off this planet, and move them to earth right now, but we'll have to settle for the few thousand I can manage, and hope that that's enough."

"So you think you'll be able to pull off two or three more big hauls like this?" Ethan whistled.

"With some proper planning," I nodded as I confirmed that I did in fact plan to do this at least two more times, "I need to figure out what cities would be best to hit next. As long as the three of you have it here then I need to return before someone notices my absence."

I finished the mental conversation I was having with Savannah. Briefly touching on Jax's mind while I was close enough to do so. He preferred his mental privacy. I wasn't all that surprised. He, and I weren't as good a match as the other two.

Stood to reason that he would rather have more freedom. Quite frankly I was debating on freeing him from my bond, but it seemed kind of wasteful. Once I gave up that bond I wouldn't be able to form another. I wasn't ready for that loss yet. Jax wouldn't be able to form a bond with another dragon, and I would lose that tiny piece of myself.

Plus Jax, and I needed to agree before we severed our bond. He was just as on the fence as I was about our bond. Not all of my bonded would be a perfect match for me. It stood to reason that I would occasionally bond to the wrong person. The mental contract I had with Sekka wasn't a proper bond.

That's how I could get away with connecting to him without losing any part of my mind in the process. I was honestly thinking about extending that forth open bond spot to Sekka when all of this was over. He was short tempered, willful, and had a great deal of potential. Most of which had been suppressed by the very elves that he was raised by. I had a feeling that this revenge, and return of his mother would take a great weight off of his shoulders.

That would allow him to relax, and really properly grow. Allowing him to get past his fear, bloodlust, and insecurities. Having his mother stand with him would give him a lot of support. Support he hadn't had in a very long time. He'd finally be able to spread his wings, and really fly.

Figuratively thinking. I would prefer for that bond to develop naturally. The first thing I needed from Sekka to get that process started was trust. Thus the reason I wanted to spend a lot of time alone with him building that trust. The first step was to get him to trust me enough that he would stop flinching every time I growled or showed anger of any kind.

My irritation was less controlled when I wasn't around my bonded. Thankfully my adulthood had calmed me a great deal. I was glad I didn't have to deal with that childish petty anger I'd had as a hatchling. Another thought occurred to me at that moment. I was constantly angry.

Why didn't Aurora share that same constant anger? She was always joyful as a hatchling. You mind weighing in System.

***

Anger is a common response to stressful situations for young dragons. Violence is a good deterrent to predators, and challengers alike. Causing the trait to often carry over into adulthood.