Part 6: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/19336282/

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In the dim candlelight, Rex and Gaaren lay relaxed together on the large, and comfortable bed in the golden dragon's room. Gaaren was lying on his back and staring without purpose at the ceiling, deep in thought as he slowly scratched the wolf's ears. Rex was happily cuddled up to the warrior dragon, with his head comfortably resting against Gaaren's chest. The pair had been enjoying the peace and quiet after their earlier activities and Rex was only waiting to fall asleep, though the same could not be said for the dragon. The movements of his huge hand on the wolf's head slowed as he exhaled deeply through his nose. The silence of the past hour was broken when the dragon suddenly spoke.

"You could come with me, you know."

Rex's ears perked a bit, and the wolf opened his eyelids halfway, revealing his medium brown irises and the confused look within.

"Back to Drakespire, you mean?"

"No... Well, yes. If you want to come back with me, spend some time in Drakespire, I could find a reason for bringing you..." the dragon said, closing his own eyes. "I was talking, about when I leave Drakespire."

Rex closed his eyes and yawned. "Then, you're really going to escape?" He asked with a neutral expression.

"Yes. It won't be right away, It's going to take time. But I'm leaving. I have details to consider... so, a few months." He replied.

"Uh huh, so... When did you make the decision? And what made you realize you wanted out?" The wolf mumbled, enjoying the attention his ears were getting from Gaaren.

The dragon remained silent for a few moments, the only sound he made being the sound of air entering and leaving his nostrils. "What do you know about the warrior's pledge?"

Rex adjusted the arm he had lying across Gaaren's chest, and brought his hand down to rest atop the dragon's abs. "Well... I don't know much besides the rumors that get tossed around. It's... for Drakespire's warriors only, and... It's a yearly religious thing, I know that."

"Mhm...", Gaaren mumbled, reaching a hand behind his head to reposition his pillows, "That's right. Every year, on the anniversary of Drakespire's creation. It's not for all warrior dragons, though. Only those who have killed an enemy in battle. Of course, that really just excludes warriors who haven't been deployed yet, or those who didn't see combat..." the gold dragon shifted his position a little, allowing one of the pillows to slip down from behind his head, supporting his back enough that he wasn't lying flat on the bed.

"We have a feast to celebrate the founding of the nation. Followed by all the proven warriors retaking the pledge to serve and protect Drakespire..." the dragon continued, "then, there's the final act of the ritual", he said, as he stopped stroking Rex's ear.

"Oh... yeah, I've heard about it. Everyone, uh... they say, everyone eats a hatchling", the wolf said, not knowing how true the rumors might be. "I always thought it sounded, I don't know, improbable. Do you actually have to do that? Eating hatchlings?"

Gaaren exhaled. "Yes, that's right. Each warrior is given a hatchling to eat. Not newly hatched, but not old enough that they've started to grow. That way, they're still small enough to swallow whole."

"I see...", the wolf said, stroking a hand slowly along Gaaren's chest. "They say drakespire hatchlings are always really little, even the warriors. 'Course, I've never seen one."

"Warriors are... about four inches tall when they hatch, at most. Bigger than servant and half-breed hatchlings, but not by a lot. And they stay that way a long time. Drakespire dragons have long lives... and it's because we age so slowly. Most hatchlings don't start to grow until they're... seventeen, sixteen, in your years", Gaaren explained.

"Wow... I never knew that, Gaar", Rex whispered, pondering how absurd it was that someone as huge as Gaaren could ever have started off so small. "I've gotta say, It's... hard to imagine you ever being that little."

"Well, I was", the dragon said, moving his hand down to Rex's shoulder. "I was barely larger than the hatchlings I've eaten every year during the ritual."

"...How many?" Rex asked bluntly.

"Seventy two", Gaaren answered. "Can you guess how the little ones are chosen to be offered up?"

"I don't... no, I couldn't guess." The wolf responded. He was beginning to feel down from hearing Gaaren reveal these grim secrets.

"They go to the hatchling grounds... that is, the sections of the temples were all our young are kept. They pick out the ones who are smallest, or the ones that look weak, and deliver them to the feast halls, where they will end up becoming another meal to be digested in the belly of a warrior. It doesn't matter what their names were, doesn't matter who sired them, who laid their egg..." Gaaren began stroking his hand slowly up Rex's neck, gently kneading the wolf's ears once more. "Not that it would matter otherwise. They don't let us raise our own young anymore. All eggs are property of the state, it's been that way since the king took power."

Rex let out a quiet, depressed sigh. Coming from a culture with strong family ties, such thoughts were beyond reason in his mind.

"Eating them, it's something we're used to. Every year, like clockwork. We accept it... I never used to think about it a lot. Nobody does. The priests tell us the weak hatchlings serve Drakespire better as food to sustain our warriors, and nobody speaks up."

"Hmmmmm..." Rex murmured sadly.

"It was different for me, this year", Gaaren said, maintaining his usual calm, deep tone.

"...Tell me", Rex said, stroking his hand along the dragon's chest. "Anything you want, you can tell your wolf."

"... After the warrior's pledge, when it was late in the night, I left the feast hall alone, after most of the other warriors had gone. I was outside the hall, when a temple priestess caught up to me. She was upset, and timid. Which is unusual, if you know the sisters of the order."

Gaaren took a deep breath and moved his arm, lightly holding Rex.

"She was short of breath... and said she was sorry, for being too late. I gave her time to pull herself together... She composed herself, as much as she could, and then, she asked me about the warrior's pledge. About the hatchling I had eaten..."

Rex listened on, looking into the dragon's blue eyes, which weren't focused on him, but were looking straight ahead, fixed on nothing in particular.

"She described a hatchling... the one I had eaten. Before I told her anything, she knew which one. A small, blue dragoness. When I said that was the same one given to me... that upset her. The hatchling..."

There was a long pause.

"She was my daughter."

Rex felt his heart miss a beat. The wolf closed his eyes, and hugged Gaaren's huge torso, resting his head on the dragon's neck.

"Gaar... I'm sorry."

Gaaren sighed quietly.

"That priestess had been the one who accepted the egg, from the hatchling's mother", the golden dragon said. "She was one of the warrior dragonesses I'd trained with in the academy. All warriors who are successful in battle are required to help carry on the species... and while she wasn't the first dragoness to bear my offspring, she was the first of my own choosing... the drakespire breeding program doesn't always give warriors the luxury of making that decision."

Rex remained silent, listening to the dragon's heartbeat and contemplating his words.

"We wouldn't have been allowed to keep the egg", Gaaren continued. "So, before it came along, we both agreed she would take it to a temple, where she had a friend- the priestess. She told her the egg was mine- the good sister promised she would keep the secret, and watch over the great General Gaaren's hatchling. Which she did... but there was nothing she could do when the day of the warrior's pledge arrived. She tried to hide my daughter, but she was discovered, and locked away. She escaped her cell... but it was already too late..."

"Oh, Gaar..." Rex whispered, stroking a hand along the stoic dragon's side.

Gaaren paused, and lightly stroked his fingers across his midsection.

"She would have been seventeen, this year... if things had gone differently. The priestess had become quite devoted to her over the years... even though they're forbidden from forming attachments to any hatchlings. Since my daughter was old enough to understand things, the sister had been telling her about me. Showed her pictures of her parents... she couldn't talk back- hatchlings' vocal cords don't develop speech until they start growing, but she understood..." Gaaren said.

"..." Rex didn't know what to say.

"She knew who I was. When she was eaten... she knew who was eating her..." the dragon continued.

"Gaar... you didn't know. There was no way you could have..." the wolf sadly whispered.

"I know, Rex", was the warrior dragon's response.

For a minute or two, the pair remained quiet, with the wolf holding onto the larger dragon and occasionally stroking his hand slowly across the surface of Gaaren's body.

"...What was she like?" Was the next thing Gaaren heard from the wolf.

"She was small... more than most warrior dragonesses her age. Thinner too, but not by so much. Something did seem different about her, when she was given to me. She didn't resist much..." Gaaren said.

"...I'm sure she would forgive you, Gaar. I'm certain, she wouldn't blame you, for what happened", Rex said reassuringly.

"...Well", the gold dragon said, putting a hand on his belly, "we'll never know."

There was nothing said for most of the next hour. The pair just lay there, alone together in silence, until the wolf spoke up.

"Where will you go, when you leave Drakespire?"

"I'm not sure yet. West, probably. To the far west. A lot of deserters who escape end up in that part of the world." The dragon answered.

"Well, wherever you go, you can count me in." Rex said, affectionately.

"Good... good. I'd prefer to keep my wolf."

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Long time, slow progress, but this part is here.

Comments and thoughts appreciated!