The Hunter and His Dragon

He Can Stay, For Now . . .

***Magnus's POV***

He was awoken by the feeling of something wet splattering on his nose. Faint light trickled in through the entryway, allowing him to make out the outline of the room. Magnus was back in a cave again. His back itched uncomfortably. Whatever he was resting on, it was something cold. Magnus shifted slightly only to be stopped by a voice.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He knew this voice. It was too familiar for him not to recall it. "Alec, what're you doing here? Why can't I move?" Magnus felt like he was high on pain medication. His limbs felt limp, head aching as he turned to see Alec. The sight made his stomach flip.

For once, Alec was in his shifted form. Blue eyes regarded him curiously as Magnus took him in. The dragon had pale skin and a well-toned figure, an expanse of hair as dark as his scales rested at the top of his head, slightly messy. He was unbelievably handsome, much more than any dragon ever had a right to be.

"Stay still Magnus. You've been given a lot of medicine so you'll be numb while you heal." Alec explained.

"So I can heal? W-what happened?"

"I think you can answer that question yourself."

As if prompted by Alec's words, the memory came back in a flash. The king had stood before him —a perfect target— and Magnus wasted no time attacking him with a stalagmite. Alec had stopped him though, sending pain all the way through him like a train forced to come to a screeching halt before colliding with a car. The sad thing is, it takes a train a mile to come to a complete stop. And Magnus did not stop in time to avoid the pain.

He was sure a look of betrayal flashed across his face. "You-You betrayed me! How could you Alec?!"

Alec glared at him with a surprising amount of anger. Blue stripes were glowing as smoke billowed out of his nostrils. The stripes were much smaller in his human form, but still visible underneath his plain long sleeved shirt. "How dare I? No. How dare YOU. You tried to kill my Father right in front of me Magnus! What is wrong with you!?" His voice rose into a near roar. The small pebbles on the ground trembled with the ferocity in it.

Magnus could feel his own anger dampening down. Of course Alec would save his Father. He was out of his mind if he thought the dark dragon would just sit idly by while he tried to assassinate the king.

"I'm sorry Alec. I truly am." He had never meant to be so careless. One look at the King and that was all I could think about. Could anyone really blame him for forgetting everything else. Killing the king had been his life goal ever since he murdered his first dragon.

"Well sorry isn't good enough. That's my Father you tried to kill Magnus! How. Could. You!?"

Magnus shrunk under the sight of Alec being so angry. His eyes were hot coals, and he could almost imagine how much more scarier the dragon would be in full form. "I should have never done what I did." Not in front of you. I'll have to plan better next time.

Alec sighed. "You're lucky the Council doesn't have you killed right where you stand. If I hadn't argued for your sake you'd be dead."

He felt a flicker of surprise. A wandering piece of possibility clicked into place at the back of his brain. Of course, who else could it have been after all? Alec was the perfect subject.

"Thank you for saving me. I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, except maybe trying to be better behaved. I understand you don't feel . . . swell about dragons, but if you want this war to end then you'll have to try to be good. Understand?"

"Yes. I think so handsome."

Alec looked startled. "What did you call me?"

Magnus grinned despite the pain he was in. The look on the younger man's face was priceless indeed. He was so innocent, so pure. It was rare to find a person like Alec, a once in a lifetime sort of rare.

"Handsome. That's what I called you."

"O-oh. That's-that's . . ." Alec trailed off. A trail of pink was flush on his face, easy to see with such pale skin. Magnus wondered just how far this blush would travel. Would it go to the tips of his ears? The bottom of his neck?

"Are you going to call me anything, or just act like a bashful puppy?"

"I'm not bashful!" Alec snapped. "I- you know what. You don't get a compliment for being a jerk! Not after what you did!"

The light of the stripes died down marginally, but the glare in Alec's eyes still remained. Magnus wouldn't be surprised if the dragon remained angry with him for some time for what he did to Robert (or in this case attempted to do). In his opinion, just would not do. Alec was so special. Even after years of not seeing each other, Magnus still felt a pull to the dark beauty. Of all the dragons in the world Magnus knew Alec had to be the one to be saved. The dragon his Father mentioned in the prophecy. There was no doubt about it now.

The question was would he be capable of doing what had to be done? And, would Alec forgive him in the end?