More Teeth, More Fire

Ch. VI

The raptor vocalizations sent chills down Dany's spine. It was an almost inhuman squeal, and the minute Blue saw the movement in the trees, she hesitated. But Owen soon came into her view, and Charlie's as well.

Blue barked and trilled, moving towards Owen and purposefully brushing her body lightly along Dany's hip. A total sign of acceptance. Nothing a raptor did was without reason, Dany had come to realize that.

"Hey gorgeous," Dany murmured to her lightly, letting a hand skim along the smooth, pebbled skin of the velociraptor's back. Owen had knelt down to watch, trying not to interfere much, but he did stroke Blue's face as she came over to him and lowered her nose to him, her head very nearly the size of a horse's.

Charlie came over as Dany knelt down and pushed her head into her chest, and Dany couldn't help but smirk, taking the moment where the raptor actually let her cradle her head, if even for a couple seconds.

"You guys aren't helping," Owen said jokingly. But watching Blue's actions, Dany could see one slitted pupil watching the tree. She knew. Dany was sure she knew.

"Try to get Drogon down here. He and Blue are going to be the best ones to introduce first." He told Dany. Looking up, Dany saw the black and crimson scales of Drogon as he craned his head out of the tree, squealing his indignance as his flaming red eyes fixed on the velociraptor below.

"Drogon," She called. "Come here, love."

Drogon eyed her reluctantly before he stretched his wings and took to the air, careening around before coming to land on the ground near Dany. Blue tilted her head while chittering, eyeballing the dragon as though unsure of how to react.

The raptor took a step toward and Drogon took a couple more steps forward, stretching his neck out and his nostrils flared, releasing smoke that rose up over his face like a veil.

Dany waited with baited breath, and there was a tense moment where it could have gone either way. But once Blue seemed content in the dragon's presence, both creatures seemed to settle with coexisting, and Charlie became more brave while investigating the dragon further. She stuck her nose under his wing, sniffed, sneezed, then drew her head back. Drogon swung his head around with opened jaws, his razor sharp teeth visible but it was more like a dog playing than actually going to bite, rearing up and flapping his wings. Charlie squealed and darted forward, and Drogon flapped into the air, and the pursuit commenced.

"That went better than I thought it would," Dany said with a laugh. Owen chuckled, his arms crossed over his chest.

"They're going to be buds," Owen said, and he looked over to the far side just as Blue darted after her sister and Drogon. Soon, both Viserion and Rhaegal also took flight and circled the Octagon, and something about the sight brought tears to Dany's eyes. It really was beautiful, watching the three dragons flying next to each other and the raptors underneath.

The next introductions were Echo and Delta, trying to just get them accustomed. As Owen turned to talk to Barry, who was also grinning from ear to ear watching the encounter, Dany looked up as Delta had turned and started advancing on her, hunkered down with that same rattle that sent chills down her spine.

"Delta, get out of here," Dany growled, eyeing the raptor but that cold fist of dread clutched at her insides. Owen turned and immediately saw what was going on.

"Delta, leave it." Owen snapped. But Dany suddenly felt a whoosh of air and the shriek of rage from Drogon as the spines on his neck raised, having landed on the boulder Dany was near, raising his wings in threat directed toward the forest green raptor. Delta snarled while releasing a battle scream, moving to lunge at the dragon after seeming to think twice for a moment.

"Drogon—" Dany yelped, concerned that the raptor was about to attack the largest of her three dragons, but a stream of fire blackened the ground just inches away from where Delta had leapt back from with a startled squeal. The forest green raptor reeled around with a snap and Drogon snaked his head out, raising his leathery wings and screeched his fury, his posture threatening in every way.

Delta trumpeted absolute panic, quickly balking and deciding she wanted absolutely nothing to do with this winged, fire breathing creature protecting the human she'd been harassing and stalking relentlessly, prompting her sisters to whirl around at her alarm. Blue moved in front of Delta as though to protect her sister, assessing the situation before deciding it appeared to be done and over with, instigated by her more aggressive sibling.

Drogon huffed loudly, his fiery gaze still fixed on the raptors as they all settled back into a semblance of normalcy, and his brothers who had started to come back over to aid in the confrontation before the tension had died down. Dany's heart hammered within her ribs, and she laid a hand on Drogon's neck softly before releasing the breath she'd been holding. Owen seemed speechless, for that appeared to be the first time either of them had seen one of the dragons actually breathe fire, and his gaze darted from Drogon to Dany.

"That was him protecting you," He observed, his brows climbing even higher than they had before. "Delta threatened you and he was having none of it."

Dany nodded slowly, gently stroking Drogon's neck and could feel his neck arch upward into her touch. "I wasn't expecting that. He's usually so ornery."

"He may be ornery and a pain in the ass but that was a pretty damn clear indication of how bonded he is to you. The other two were about to dive right in to help him out if it actually turned into a scrap," Owen remarked, then gave a surprised bark of a laugh. "It's gonna take work but you're going to have a hell of an ally when he's full grown at this rate. That dragon would literally give his life for you."

Owen's words made Dany's heart swell, and as she looked down at Drogon, the dragon chittered softly and turned his head, eyes like smoldering coals fixed on her face as though trying to read her expression. She gently cupped his head, her thumb sweeping over her jaw as she gently tilting her forehead against the top of his own. Drogon's eyes closed into slits as he allowed the tender moment for a couple seconds before drawing his head away, extending his wings and pushed himself off the rock into the air.

She had more understanding of what she had with the dragons in that moment than she had in the months that she'd raised them, and it was priceless