Chapter 1
Those unfulfilled with life consume what makes them happy, only to be met with short lived happiness. Sometimes it is much more fulfilling to contribute to others’ lives, bringing much more fulfillment to not only their life, but also your own.
~oOo~
Trevor stood on the roof of the Voutneth Academy looking out over Drake Town. April had finally come and in true Michigan fashion, the snow was finally starting to melt. While Trevor was a dragon that didn’t mind the cold, he really did enjoy spring. The birds returned, the beautiful insects like butterflies were coming back, and the griffins had laid their eggs and were tending to them until they hatched.
Trevor never expected griffins to lay brightly colored eggs, it was quite a sight when he returned to the stables one morning and there were colorful eggs in each griffiness’ stall. Malice had explained that the eggs told what color griffin would hatch from the egg. Snowflake had only white eggs, Roselia had a mix of pink and green, Midnight had some very dark indigo eggs, the yellow griffiness they had on loan had all yellow eggs, a few with gold speckling on them, and Stephanie had two blue eggs and a single purple egg with gold speckling. This season was fruitful, they had a few royal griffins due to arrive in June. And that wasn’t all that they were expecting...
“Trevor?” a sweet voice spoke. Trevor turned to smile at Vatuna. His girlfriend. His mate. His eyes betrayed him as they landed on Vatuna’s swollen middle. Just a few months ago, the night after their battle with Wrath, Trevor and Vatuna had a night of passion and it gave them quite the gift. They were starting a family. “What are you doing up here?” Vatuna asked.
“Just thinking about stuff,” Trevor said, approaching Vatuna to pull her into a hug.
“Oh? Like what?” Vatuna asked with a giggle.
“I guess with spring finally coming has me thinking about all the new arrivals coming soon,” Trevor admitted, looking down at Vatuna’s small bump. It was crazy to see, only two months in and she was already sporting a bump.
Trevor had asked a lot of questions when Vatuna started to show a couple weeks back. He learned that due to the magic in their bodies, dragons could have varying gestation times. It was all guessing games as to when Vatuna would have their baby, Trevor couldn’t wait.
“The birds, the griffins, the insects, us?” Vatuna smiled.
“Yeah. All of it. I honestly never thought that I would be at this point in my life though. Brenda, Aya, David, and I have almost been here for a year and...well...” Trevor blushed a bit.
“You’re finally getting settled into a dragon’s life, Trevor. It’s good to see you embracing it,” Vatuna said, resting a hand over Trevor’s heart. Trevor brought his hand up to hold Vatuna’s over his heart.
Trevor couldn’t wait to be able to see his mother again. Being away from Evanna has been hard on all of them and he wanted to tell her about his exciting adventures, the battles he’s faced, and how amazing Vatuna was. And the fact she was going to be a grandma soon. Trevor hoped she would be excited for him. She was very supportive of them since it had only been her and his siblings since his father left. He wasn’t sure about this instance though.
“I just hope everything works out,” Trevor mused. Vatuna hummed and nodded.
“I can understand the concern, but you’ve really adjusted well. From everything you’ve told me, being raised as a human, you’ve accepted dragon life very well. The way you move, train, and fight is like a dragon. You’ve come so far.”
“Yeah... I have, haven’t I?” Trevor smiled and leaned down to kiss her sweetly. They smile at each other once the kiss breaks.
“You know there are other perks to being a dragon,” Vatuna brought up.
“Yeah? Such as?”
“You don’t need a machine to hear your fledgling’s heart.”
Trevor’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
Vatuna nodded. “Mhmm. Close your eyes, let your dragon senses take over. Breathe slowly and quietly. If you listen closely, you’ll hear your heartbeat, mine, and a fluttering thrumming.”
Trevor closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and bowed his head, listening. He could hear his heart first. Then another rhythmic beat close to him. Vatuna’s heart no doubt. And she was right, he heard what was almost described as a fluttering beat.
Their child’s heart.
Trevor’s eyes flashed open and he looked up at Vatuna, jaw dropped and amazed. “Wow... and to think it was that simple. I remember when my mom was pregnant with David. The way the sound of his heart came through the doppler, it was so weird. It didn’t even sound real.” Trevor said.
“Human machines can only replicate so much and it either exaggerates the sound or distorts it so much that it doesn’t even seem real,” Vatuna explained. “It’s best to use your own senses to experience something so beautiful.” Trevor smiled and rested a hand on Vatuna’s belly, rubbing it with his thumb.
“Guess even after ten months of learning how to be a dragon I still learn more every day,” Trevor chuckled. “I’m just glad I can stay in the air when flying now.” Vatuna hummed.
“You struggled a lot, didn’t you?” She asked.
“I was a football player before I knew I was a dragon. So my body type was hard on my wings. Speaking of flying, what are we gonna do to teach our kid how to fly?”
“Dragons usually learn on their own how to fly. But it won’t be hard, they’ll figure it out with some time.” Trevor smiled.
“Well, that’s good. I struggled to fly, I don’t want our baby to struggle,” Trevor said.
“I can understand that. Have you thought of any names yet?” Trevor was caught off guard. He never actually thought about names.
“I... haven’t really thought about any but... I like the name Felix,” Trevor admitted. Vatuna smiled.
“That’s a cute name. What if we have a girl, though?” She asked. Trevor hummed.
“Not sure, maybe Lilith,” he guessed with a shrug. “There will be time to think of names before they arrive. Just judging by my size alone, there’s plenty of time,” Vatuna said with a giggle.
Their little bubble was interrupted by the sound of three pairs of wings beating the air as a cyan dragon, a white dragon, and an ocean blue dragon ascended in the air and hovered a few yards from the roof. Trevor’s siblings, Brenda, Aya, and David. Trevor grinned and watched them.
“Hey, Trevor! We’re gonna go fly around above the forest! Come with us!” David called.
“Yeah we haven’t had much time together in a while, come on!” Brenda encouraged.
Trevor looked to Vatuna, almost pleading. Vatuna just laughed. “I can’t say no to you, go fly with your family,” she told him. “Just stay out of trouble!” Trevor beamed and kissed her.
“Love you, Vati!” Trevor graced and hurried to the edge of the roof. “One of you better catch me if I can’t do this!” he called, jumping from the roof.
Trevor’s body glowed ocean blue before being enveloped by light. His body grew and shifted before the light disappeared and revealed the clear scales of his Water-Ice Dragon form. Trevor spread his wings and gave them a few powerful flaps, catching himself on the wind as he led his siblings to the outskirts of the academy and Drake. Brenda, Aya, and David followed behind him.
“Ha ha! Man, I’ve missed this!” Trevor laughed, smiling over at Brenda. Aya and David flew ahead of them, doing various acrobatic displays and having fun with it. Trevor watched them with a smile. “Can you believe it’s almost been a year?” He asked Brenda.
“It really is hard to believe. And we’ve seen so much. We’ve gone to the Underworld and fought Hell Dragons and extinct dragons. We took down the Dragon Hunters. We’ve fought an army of demons and undead, and took down Agony, Lust, and Wrath. We’re just yearlings and we’ve seen so much,” Brenda said.
“Not only that, I’m gonna be a dad. It’s crazy that only a few months after meeting someone, we’re having a baby together,” Trevor looked down at the forest below them. He tilted his head and smiled as he thought about it. He looked back up at Brenda. “So what about you and Ractor? I saw you two getting a little friendlier recently,” Trevor hinted.
“Trevor!” Brenda exclaimed. If she could blush right now, she would be, Trevor knew it too. “I don’t know, he just... he’s so polite. Almost too polite. Like he’s afraid to do anything. Do you think it’s a dragon thing?” Brenda asked.
“Maybe, who knows? I could ask Vatuna,” Trevor offered.
“Thank you, Trevor. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem, Brenda.” Trevor and Brenda exchanged smiles.
They flew in comfortable silence watching Aya and David fly about. Though Trevor’s content smile seemed to drop a bit and he looked down at the forest below them. Brenda looked over at Trevor and noticed his frown.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. Trevor looked up at her.
“What? Oh... it’s nothing to worry about. Not really,” Trevor denied.
“Trevor... come on. It’s me. We would always talk about our worries.” Trevor exhaled.
“Okay, okay. I guess I’m just... Worried.” Brenda watched him gather his thoughts.
“Worried about what exactly?” she pressed.
“I guess... just all of this really,” Trevor started. He watched Aya and David fly around together for a moment before he continued. “Is it even smart to imprison the Council in the same place? And what happens if we defeat all of them? The seals on them didn’t hold, we don’t know what seal is on Rakasa and if it’ll weaken without their help,” Trevor said.
“Wow... that’s a lot to worry about,” Brenda realized. Trevor exhaled heavily.
“I know. I’m gonna be a dad soon and I’m just worried about bringing a kid into a world we already lost. If Rakasa wins... it’s over. For all of us.”
“Trevor, Kathey and the Compass Dragons won’t let that happen! They won’t give up the fight against the Council and Rakasa!” Brenda encouraged. “They didn’t stop fighting against Deathbore, and look where that went!”
“He only switched to their side because he had to team up with the Gods against a greater evil,” Trevor huffed. He looked over at Aya and David, noticing they had started listening in on their conversation.
“You can’t give up, Trevor,” Aya said.
“Yeah. The fight isn’t over yet. Even if Rakasa comes back, the fight isn’t over,” David chimed in. Trevor smiled at his siblings.
“Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. All we can do is keep fighting and not lose hope. As long as we have the Compass Dragons and the team, we can’t lose hope,” Trevor said.
~oOo~
Kathey typed away on her computer, seeing the various classes her students were finishing up with and those that would be away for the summer. Just over a month left before summer. While Voutneth stayed open for summer, the classes would be cut in half, the days acting as half days so students could still enjoy summer. Kathey’s days in a human school had given her at least some tools about running a school. That and the leadership skills she was taught under Zoymey.
There was a knock on her office door and Kathey looked up. “Come in!” She called.
Dryber opened the door and poked his head in. “Ms. Royals, there’s a naga here requesting to see you, he says he knows you,” Dryber said.
“Let him in,” Kathey said, leaning back in her chair. Dryber moved aside and allowed the naga to step in.
The aquatic creature had royal blue scales and wore plate armor. On his back was a shield and at his hip a longsword.
The naga brought his fist up to his opposite shoulder and bowed his head in respect. “My liege, I have come as requested.” He said.
“General Reys.” Kathey greeted and stood. “Welcome to the Voutneth Academy.”
