Dathnar's Fated Flame

Chapter 22: Dathnar

Dax's consistent whining pulled him from his blissful dream, as he continued to plead his case. "Even Eliza would not be able to stop you from crushing the male into dust and you know it. Come on, just invite me as, what do humans call it? Your plus one."

Dathnar was ready to cave, but first he replied. "First tell me the real reason you want to go and don't say it is to keep from attacking Uric. I may want to kill the male, but I will not jeopardize my relationship with Eliza over him. I will just do it at a later date."

The male's grin grew two sizes bigger than Dathnar had seen it before when he replied. "Alright. You caught me. I wish to spend more time with Claire. For educational purposes, of course."

"Of course.", Dathnar said with a chuckle. "In that case, you are welcome to join me. I just hope Eliza's parents do not mind."

"Thank you, brother. I owe you one."

"That's right. Now, get out and let me finish this dreking paperwork, so I can get to my female." With that, Dax hightailed it out of his office, possible going to torment poor Claire, once again. It seemed to be his favorite pastime.

The pile of papers took him four additional yiros to complete, and it seemed he was going to arrive late to the family dinner. "Great. Another thing for them to hold against me." It could not be helped. He had to get through the new employee forms and contracts for the work crew he was hiring to dig new tunnels for his mine. Normally, he would just do it with his own small crew, but there was too much to be done. Tinging Dax that he was finished for the day and to meet him at his tuz, Dathnar exited his office.

At his home, Dathnar took a quick shower, changed into his best robes, and left his tuz in under thirty mons. Dax stood outside his door, waiting on him. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No, sir. I just got here."

"Call me sir one more time and I am uninviting you."

Dax held up his claws in a mock surrender and laughed. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

Then they spread their wings and took to the sky. It was already dark, and the land was bathed in the moons' light. The green and purple lights bounced off their surroundings bathing the citu in an ethereal glow. They continued their journey in silence, taking in the peaceful serenity of their home.

Finally, the males arrived at Eliza's family tuz unit and as soon, as they touched the ground, Dathnar found himself suddenly nervous. He paused, stopping abruptly where he stood. This could go wrong in so many ways. Dax must have seen the worry on his face.

"Everything will be fine, Dath. Come, let's go. You don't want to keep your female waiting any longer. Plus, I am starving."

The mention of his female, Eliza brought Dathnar out of his frozen state. He could not worry about the what ifs. His female was going to announce their coupling and he needed to be there for her. He knew her family's acceptance meant a lot to her, and he could not disappoint her.

"Yes, let us go." They stepped to the door and knocked. Eliza's father Daniel answered the door. Dathnar mumbled through an apology for being late, his eyes instantly finding Eliza's. She appeared relieved and he knew he had made the right decision. He briefly took in everyone sitting at the table. He saw as Eliza scooted to the side, giving room for Dax to sit beside Claire.

"Hello, everyone.", he heard himself say, but his attention was still devoted to Eliza.

Finally, he took his eyes away from her, taking in everyone else at the table. His old friend Urme sat beside Eliza's brother Luke. Next to him was Sydney who sat beside the infuriating male, Uric, a look of disappointment evident on his face. By him was Rob, who was as usual quiet. The male never said much and was the only family member that did not work in his mine. Beth and Daniel sat at the opposite ends of the table. At his side of the table, sat Clay, then Claire, Dax, and Eliza.