15

Four guys left to go retrieve something for me to eat, and the rest all just stood there tensely. Ethan woke, and realized that I was no longer next to him where he was sleeping on the floor. He rushed out the open door, and ran straight to me. Slowing as soon as he was close enough to touch me. Running his hand along my scales until he stopped at my chest.

"What the fuck do you people want?" Ethan practically snarled at all the people there.

Some of them actually flinched, and others stepped back. Seemed as if Ethan had gotten into some trouble after I passed out. I grabbed Ethan by the back of his armor. Surprising him a little when I suddenly picked him up. Turning him, and lowering my head so I could look him in the eye.

"I'm awake," I stated, "I can take care of myself. Now go take a shower, and put on some clean clothes." I could tell he was still wearing the same clothes he had been a week ago, "You smell like you've been dragged through a pile of shit."

Part of me wanted that statement to come off as funny, but no one so much as cracked a smile as I set Ethan down. Ethan walked away hesitantly. Giving a few specific guys dirty looks on his way out. I scanned the people that Ethan focused on. The tip of my tail slowly making circles as I tried to figure out how much they'd pissed off Ethan.

"Some of you tried to attack me after I dropped," I smirked, "Not very bright. I'm sure Ethan threw a nasty fit when that happened."

My wings twitched as I observed their expressions. They each looked away when my gaze fell on them.

"I never thought you would feel guilty about attacking a beast," I smirked.

Savannah came out shortly after Ethan disappeared into our lodgings. My stomach grumbled loudly. Making those that were close enough to hear it back away. Savannah just started laughing.

"You could have let him go hunt if you were so terrified of him," Savannah crossed her arms as she tried not to laugh at them, "If he wanted to eat you he would have so relax. People aren't on the menu." She patted my chest then whispered, "Lay down. Your muscle pain is giving me a headache."

I sighed heavily before laying down like she'd asked. Offering my arm as a place she could sit down, because she looked tired. She took my offer, and used my chest as a backrest. She was right. My body was still in pain.

Laying down did help. It made me think of when two days without food was torture. It was painful to be as hungry as I was right now, but it wasn't anything I needed to be worried about. Food was coming. I could still wait.

Ethan brought Jax out with him when he came back. Jax looked like he'd been sleeping. The just of what I got from Ethan's memories was that they had been taking turns protecting me. My bonded were some of the strongest people there. Their ranking was still pretty low according to the new ranking system, but ranking didn't tell true strength.

I flared my wings casually. Startling a few of the men there. I tapped the ground gently with the talons of my free hand. What I didn't expect was Calen walking toward me from across the way. He had a healer with him that looked really irritated.

He wasn't supposed to be walking around yet. Even I could tell that from how pale he was.

"Are you supposed to be walking around?" I was the first one to notice him.

The healer stared at me with a surprised expression. Calen wasn't used to me speaking either, but he took it better since it wasn't a surprise.

"We have a raid party coming in two days to help us deal with the spiders nest," Calen snapped as loudly as he could with how bad he felt, "Go. Get ready." he glanced up at me, "Nix isn't going anywhere."

The crowd that had been guarding me this whole time dispersed. Only Calen, Clifton, and the healer remained.

"I thought that you'd be worried about me trying to kill you," I chuckled to myself, "With me deceiving you all this time, and all."

"I can understand why you thought it would be safer if you played dumb," Calen nodded, "Intelligent Archaics are universally recognized as dangerous so pretending to be a tamed beast was safer for you. Plus the fact that you're an Earth born Archaic, which I still find a hard time believing by the way, sounds impossible, but we ran your blood through three different labs." I could practically see him wincing at the thought of how much those tests cost him, "One flagged you, and the other two confirmed that your genetic material in consistent of a creature that comes from earth."

"I understand your skepticism," I snorted, "It's not often that an extinct species comes back."

"You wouldn't believe how stunned I was when I found out," Savannah cut in, "An earth born Archaic species, and a dragon at that. Sounds like a childhood fantasy. Seeing it, and believing it are two completely different things." She shook her head, "This big guy was pretending to be human when we met so it's safe to say that I was more then a little shocked when he showed me what he really was." she patted my chest, "He knew the risks when he showed me what he really was, but he did it anyway because he needed to to save my life. I literally would have died if he hadn't spread those big wings for me."

"I met him right before the military captured him," Jax yawned, "He let me practice a spell that gave me access to his dream world. Pretty much let me into his head." he smirked, "You wouldn't believe how much space he's got in there by the way."