Trial by Fire...

Chapter 36

"Magayla, you have really made this a true trial by fire. I was reading what the candidates have to do and they are in for a bumpy ride." Lauren said.

"Well, that cute guy you sent to help, um, Carlos…"

"Carlton." Lauren corrected.

"Carlton suggested that the trials should not just be about strength, speed, and combat. So, I followed the pattern of the unicorn races and added intelligence, diplomacy, leadership, and problem-solving. I figured that since they will be relied on to lead when Cartrell has something else to do, They should be the cream of the crop. Levi and Davis have been making sure that everyone gets to participate. There are a few people that still think they run things around here. They have been put in their place, which is in the magical jail I created for now. I figured Cartrell would want to handle them. Magical surveillance as well as technological surveillance have been put in place and allows you and Cartrell to watch everything from this room when you don't want them to know they are being watched. Antonus, the other cutie you sent to help, suggested that we could use the animal secret service that is only loyal to Cartrell and that was the first group that was imprisoned when the witch had control of her brother, be our eyes and ears on the ground by wearing viewing pins. They have a mic so everything they see and hear will be transmitted. Most of them do not want to participate in the trials because they like their current positions. They have all been vetted by me and the Almighty stopped by and checked them all out to make sure they are not spelled. He truly loves you."

"He is God and God is love. He wants things to succeed and for me to have a successful reign as keeper. I am his daughter after all."

"Yes, well, I wish I had him for a dad. Okay, so I skirted around the subject as long as I could. Who are the two new guys?"

"My new heavenly consorts."

"You have two new men you are supposed to have sex with?! I wish I was so lucky. I will be happy when I find one guy that can put up with me and my magic. You have five."

"Well, Gaia insisted so I can make sure to have a goddess that will be the next keeper."

"What will she do if you only have boys? I mean the baby you are carrying now is a boy. So will she throw a fit if all of your children are boys?"

Lauren had stopped listening. "I'm pregnant?" That was all she could think. Gerald heard her thoughts.

"You are what? How long have you been pregnant? Is it our baby or you and Cartrell's?" Gerald asked.

"MaGayla, stop talking for a second and back up a few thoughts. You just said I was pregnant. When did I get pregnant? Who is the father? How do you know it's a boy?"

"Oh, dear. I am just rambling on. I thought you knew since you have the power of discernment." She started to ramble again.

"MaGayla, please answer my questions."

"Oh, yes. Gerald is the father. It happened the night when we were getting ready to come to Earth. The night you two made the whole universe grow and prosper. I didn't know you would be with his human form, so I wasn't expecting a human baby. He is going to change things for dragonkind. The first dragon born in a human form." she began to ramble again but Lauren began talking to Gerald again.

"Is she right? He will be the first dragon born in human form?"

"Yes. A son born human. We are going to have a baby boy."

"Will he be treated differently than the baby dragons? Are things different for him? Does he need to be in the dragon kingdom to grow and mature correctly? I have too many questions." Lauren began to panic.

"Calm down, my love. Call your father and get answers from him. He'd know. He is the creator after all." Gerald said.

Lauren excused herself and went to her room and created a virtual image of Gerald. She then called for God. He appeared next to her. "Yes, my dear child. What can I do for you?"

"I am pregnant by Gerald."

"That's wonderful. You already have four baby dragons and now you will have another. What does the egg look like?"

"No. Egg. I am carrying a baby and Gerald is the father."

God paused for a second and then he smiled. "I knew you were like Gaia!" He exclaimed. "Gaia!" He called and she appeared. "Gaia, Lauren has created a baby with Gerald."

"Oh my. She is the one. She is the next Mother Earth. She has created a new life from within her."

"I'll accept that, but will things be different for him? Does he need to be in the dragon kingdom to grow and mature correctly? I have questions but no answers. I am scared."

"Calm down. What you think in your mind will be what his world will be like." Gaia sat down next to Lauren. "It might be easier if you and Gerald sit down and write down how you want things to be for him. Do you want him to have to live in the dragon realm in order to grow and mature? Do you want him to be able to turn into a dragon or just have all the strength and abilities of a dragon? Do you want him to have some of your traits and powers? He is your creation and you will be setting the grounds for any future … What do you want to call them? Well, whatever you call their species, you are setting their being now. A new being that I did not create. I can finally help someone else." Gaia was full of joy. "Don't worry. I will be here for you whenever you call. Don't be afraid of this process."

Lauren calmed and Gerald wrapped his arms, well essence, around her. God brought Gerald and the brood completely to Lauren's side. She smiled. She understood the importance of what she and Gerald had created and was going to develop a way of life for. Now she felt the strangeness her grandfather must have felt when he had created the pixies.

She gave her father a hug and then she hugged Gaia. Since she calmed down, the elders said goodbye and left. "So, We need to create rules of life for our child. If you could have planned how your future generations were to live and everything about how they were to be born, everything, what would you put in the plan? We will put it all in a book and I will read it every night. That should make it the grounding for a new species."

"What we put in the book together," Gerald said. They took down a small notebook and began writing. Draekons will be able to change into dragons if they want to but will also have all their dragon abilities when they are in human form. Gerald added that they would be drawn to their perfect/fated mate and that she would come from any humanoid species. He wanted the Draekons to live and thrive anywhere they wanted and not to have to adhere to dragon law. He created Dreakon Laws.

"Do you think we should mention the new species to the dragon council?" Lauren asked.

"Not until there is an actual species. One child is not a species. He is a child. By heavenly law, there have to be ten beings alive or five generations for there to be a species. We have time."

"How will he have a fated mate? Will he mate with his sister or will I create more of his species like I am doing the Alicorns?"

"That seems to be the logical answer. Create more like you are doing the Alicorns and give birth to more as well. Create females and give birth to males."

"Why do you say it that way?" Lauren asked.

"That way the genes will be passed through the males until there is a full species. The males will feel more responsibility to their children and mates if they carry the responsibility for their kind."

"Okay. That makes sense. We are going to be good at this, right?"

"Yes. Because we are working this through together. Maybe we can take some advice from the entire entourage in Dr. Gavin's class when things settle down."

"Good Idea." By the end of the day, Draekons were on their way to being created. Humans with Dragon powers and gifts.

The next morning, Gerald brought Tom, and Cartrell into Lauren's room. "Hey Gerald, When did you get here? I'm always with Lauren, but I physically got here a little earlier today. Antonus and Carlton were also brought in. All of Lauren's bonded were in the same room with her and she was feeling anxious and shy again.

"This is the first time all of us were in the same room so to all I say, hello," Lauren said.

"Lauren, stop talking to us like we are strangers to you. We are here for you." Cartrell said. "There is nothing you could do to make us leave you or hate you. Even the new guys know how important you are and the bonds you make. We are happy to be counted among your consorts."

Lauren calmed down and sat down next to Gerald. "You know that I am new to the multi-man thing. I just think that having open conversations will help me to adjust."

" I can understand that," Tom said.

"We do have something to tell you though." She pointed at Gerald and herself then she continued. "I am pregnant and Gerald is the father. MaGayla tells us it is a boy and God says it is a new creature."

"Wow. Congratulations!" Antonus said. "He was your first mate so it is reasonable for you to have a child first with him."

"Yes, but that should not stop you from spending time with the rest of us and getting to know us." Carlton pointed out. "It is wonderful that you are already with child."

Gerald reached into his pouch and let out the baby dragons and took out the eggs. All of the men oohed and aahed over the little creatures and Tom and Cartrell played with them, throwing them up in the air and allowing them to float back down using their little wings. Carlton was fascinated by the eggs and their coloring. Antonus moved closer to Lauren and watched the fun. Everything was so comfortable for Lauren and she was glad that everyone accepted each other. She realized that her future children would have a strong group of protective dads. They stayed together the rest of the night.

"For me to become more comfortable, we have to do this more often. We have to live together as one family unit. I need this."

"We will work things out so you can have your entire family unit around you every evening. It will be like we go to work during the day and come home at night." Antonus added.

"But before we can do that, we have to get Cartrell's kingdom back in order," Carlton says.

The next day was the day that started the trials by fire. All of the applicants were gathered in the auditorium. Spectators were permitted to watch via televisions and their phones. There were 200 applicants and MaGayla had vetted all of them. She disqualified 300 applicants because of deceit or fraud on their applications, criminal records, and negative abuse or harassment reports. The applicants were from all walks of life and various ages. Magayla had done a very good job.

The first trials were tests. Intelligence, reasoning, problem-solving, talents, and skills were tested on paper. They were graded and rated. The top 50% passed on to the next trial. Carlton suggested that the hundred minus the top ten be placed in positions that need trustworthy, strong people. Problem-solving, use of talents and skills, and reasoning were tested again in real-life situations. Rescues, escape rooms, and puzzles were used to gauge the applicants' abilities. That took the count to twenty-five.

The last twenty-five was interviewed by Lauren's team. Laventavia, Sam, Chris, Peter, Silvia, Tina, and Grace joined them in the capital to aid in the process. The wolves and the bears mingled through the applicants monitoring behavior and temperament. At the end of the day, the team cast votes and the top ten applicants were introduced to Cartrell and Lauren.

When they discussed the applicants, they decided to keep the council at ten. They were introduced to the animal kingdom and went through a training process and internship. Many of the new council were some of the old council members that MaGayla found to be strong emotionally and mentally. They were able to resist the witch and were imprisoned by the others.

At the celebration, One of the new council members walked up to Cartrell while he was with Lauren. "Well hey there Tiny, I mean your Highness." he draped his arm over Cartrell's shoulder and winked at Lauren. Lauren was taken aback by the guy's familiarity.

"Hey, there cousin. And do not call me that childish name. I am the King of this kingdom."

"That you are. I am so glad I was able to earn my seat back. I have been and always will be loyal. I told those nut-heads that you would never order us to war with the humans or dig up all of Africa's diamonds. None of the orders sounded like you and when we couldn't reach you, well, I knew then something was wrong. By the time I figured it out, they had me imprisoned."

"Yes, well, things have been resolved and I am glad you are still on the council. You will be the head chairman of the council. That way I will know my kingdom is in safe hands when I leave to be with Lauren."

"And that must be this gorgeous Queen you have by your side?"

"Oh. Yes. Lauren, this is my cousin, Kenneth. He has always been on my council, even when we were children and I played at being king."

"Nice to meet you." Lauren extended her hand. Kenneth looked at it and then pulled Lauren into a hug.

"We are family, your Highness, and in our family, we hug." He let her go, gave her a bow, and went to mingle. All Lauren could do was laugh.

Next to approach them was a tall handsome man in his sixties. "Awe, Emmanuell, I am so happy you are still on the council. I couldn't show favorites but I am glad you made it through the fire."

I have always been loyal and I am not weak-minded. I was one of the first that they put in prison. They snatched me out of bed one night. I knew you would return and fix things. And you brought such a beautiful queen back with you." He bowed and then went to mingle.

"He is interesting," Lauren observed.

"He was my trainer and Minister of Defense on the council. I think he could hold his own with Cosh and Tosh.

"Wow. That's saying a lot."

"Yeah, he is the greatest teacher I have ever had. I'll tell you some stories one day."

The festivities continued through the night and in the evening, Gerald spent the night with Lauren and the baby dragons. Then he went back to the dragon realm and the team was gathered to go back to the keep. "I think I need to stay here for a little while longer. Will you come to pick me up in a month?"

"Yes. I will send you a portal door in a month. I won't be traveling much once I get to the keep since I am pregnant. What I do while pregnant will imprint on this child since it is a new species. I have to be really careful."

"Right. Of course. So, this portal door is a new thing you are creating?"

"Yes. The door will only allow the one it is sent to only be able to go through. It will trap anyone that tries to go through it without permission."

"That sounds cool. I will miss you. I hope you will remember to stay in contact with me."

"You know that contact goes both ways. Since this is new to me you all will have to help me create habits." With that, they hugged and he gave her a deep sensual kiss.

The group was finally all together and ready to go to the keep. With a wave of a hand, Lauren created a chamber around everyone. She moved to a door and turned a key. The chamber opened up to the keep.

The first thing Lauren did was go to Evandalyn's room to tell her everything that happened. Only she wasn't there. She did a mental check on her and saw that she was sleeping with Tosh and Cosh nearby.

"How is she doing?" Lauren asked Tosh in his head.

Shocked, he jumped up looking for the source of the voice. "I'm in your head Tosh. It's Lauren."

"Oh, uh, hey there, Lauren. Evandalyn is doing better. She is remembering things in the right order and removing the things she added to her life story. Her mind is healing and she is much stronger."

"That's good. I wish I could come to visit but I can't because I'm pregnant. I think it would be good if I limit my travels." That was one of the things Gerald suggested for the mothers of Dreakons.

"Congratulations! That is smart, not traveling. Just contact me or Cosh when you want more details."

"Okay."