Chapter One-Hundred & Three

Theron and Berodach could not control their laughter as Eskil became the center of the conversation and the reason for their enjoyment. The four dragons spoke with each other for most of the afternoon and well into the evening. The red-scaled dragon had laughed harder than he had in years, finding ultimate joy in Eskil's latest adventure while Berodach snickered at Eskil's unfortunate round of events. Vegeir even chuckled, knowing his brother was feeling some embarrassment in the situation.

They turned their head to Davyn who exited the monastery, his expression relieved as he approached them. "The slayer will survive, she just needs time to rest and replenish her strength."

Vegeir sighed, "Good. Very good."

Theron nodded. "I'll stay here until she wakes. I would very much like to see her."

Eskil glared at him, baring his teeth.

"I mean it in all ways innocent. I have no ill intentions, brother."

"I would like to stay, but I must return home. I answered the slayer's call, therefore, I have repaid her. Tell her that when she is well." Berodach snickered again as he pushed himself up to the sky to return to his home.

Eskil snorted at Berodach, shuffling to look at the mortal man. "Thank you for tending to her."

Davyn's eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded and bowed to him, then turned and walked away back to the warmth of the temple. Eskil sighed, he wanted to call out to Libelle yet knew better; she was resting. He should probably rest as well, but his brother's incessant harassment seemed like it would never stop. For the first time in his life, his brethren teased him as if they were equals. They did not act as if they were his fearful subjects, instead, they joked with him like the brothers they were. He wasn't used to it.

Theron subsided his chuckle. "Eskil, if you two are mated, how you are two going to, um, mate?"

He didn't want to share the fact that, in his mortal form, the two had already made love numerous times and enjoyed every minute of it. He had asked himself the same question when he returned to his true form, and he didn't have answer for it. He wanted to hold her in his arms and feel her drift off to sleep against his chest, but none of that was going to be possible in his dragon form.

Theron chuckled again. "I assume that if you were cursed and took the form of a mortal, in that form it would be easier, don't you think?"

Eskil turned away, trying to keep his thoughts to himself. Instead, it only piqued Theron's curiosity more.

"You mated with her, didn't you? In your cursed form, you mated?" Theron laughed, stretching his long neck and shaking the snow from his back. "What was it like? Do mortals mate like our kind? Is it even pleasurable?"

"It's not something you need to know," Eskil said, but he wouldn't stop with his questions.

"I am curious though. Do they mate like dragons where the females claw at your back?"

His mind drifted to the image of Libelle's delicate hands wrapping around to his back as her nails dug into his skin. Her moans of pleasure stinging his ears as he ground himself against her while they made love in the warmth of each other's arms. He growled, his tail slamming against the frozen ground.

Theron chuckled again. "Alright, I won't push further."

"Eskil, perhaps you'll still be able to hold your lifemate," Vegeir said calmly, catching Eskil's attention.

"How, Vegeir? If I were to hold her as a dragon, I would kill her."

He shook his head. "I am not saying to mate with her as a dragon, I am saying to mate her as a man."

Eskil's head tilted in confusion. "How? The curse is broken and I have my true form again. How can I possibly return to the form of a man?"

Vegeir's voice carried over the wind. "You told me you returned to your true form when you felt an intense desire to protect her. Perhaps you can remember those feelings, those emotions, and take back the form of a mortal?"

It sounded plausible. He had broken the spell so easily when all he wanted to do was protect her, so it was worth a try at the very least.

Vegeir spoke again. "Focus on the feeling you had when you broke your curse."

Eskil sighed but listened to his brother's advice. He remembered every emotion he had felt when he returned to his true form, and he remembered how much he had wanted to rip Gaalin to pieces. Anger, frustration, love, and the desire to protect his lifemate; he'd felt them all at once when Gaalin had nearly killed him. He closed his eyes and focused hard on those emotions, reliving the experience though his mind again. His blood boiled and rage raced through him at the memory, but nothing happened.

"Keep trying, perhaps it is a specific emotion or thought," Vegeir said.

Libelle. He'd wanted to protect her. He never wanted her to leave his side, and he never wanted her to be touched by another man. She was everything to him and the anger he had felt when she was left crying with her soul torn apart had nearly broke him. He had been so frustrated with himself that he hadn't been able to protect his lifemate, his precious little elf. He loved her so much, he never thought he could love anyone like he did her.

"There!" Vegeir said hastily. "Whatever you just felt, that is what you need to focus on!"

Eskil looked at him confused, he had been feeling a rollercoaster of mixed emotions. Which one had he just felt? His desire to protect her? His anger and jealousy? His frustration?

His love?

His heart ached when he thought of her, and when she wasn't by his side he didn't feel complete. She was always on his mind and he always craved her touch, her beautiful features, her dimpled smile, her gentle eyes and the way her hair teased his chest when she... Eskil growled low to himself, yes, he loved his lifemate with every fiber of his being. He wanted to be with her now and he wanted to comfort her. He wanted to hold her and never let her go.

Warmth rushed through his body and he felt a familiar energy engulfing his body like ticklish electrical currents. It felt strange yet pleasant. He heard both Theron and Vegeir inhale sharply, the sound of the air being sucked in their nostrils pierced his ears as he focused on his emotions with his eyes tightly closed. He didn't know if his body was undergoing a transformation, but he did feel like he was changing. What would he look like when he opened his eyes?

Soon, the warmth around his body faded as he exhaled slowly and blinked. He looked at Theron and Vegeir, noticing his stature was now much shorter than theirs. Lifting his wings, he stared into two human palms and sighed with relief. He now knew that changing between the forms was possible, and he now knew how to control the change.

Theron laughed hysterically and Eskil glared at him. "What?" he snapped.

The red dragon could hardly contain his bellowing laughter, gasping for air while choking out his words. "Why is your tail so small?"