The Pledge

I recently won a raffle from an artist I admired for a long long time long before I knew I had inclinations for interspecies relationships. The artist in question is Red Izak: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/red-izak/

She was drawing interspecies pairs, and she enjoyed my pair enough to want to paint them and oh my gosh the result blew my socks off with its refinement, great detail, awesome shading and lighting, and of course, one too many emotions expressed through what I can only describe as amazing visual storytelling. Seriously, the picture itself practically describes the relationship these two share, but because I'm a writer and you are here for my stories I decided to give my version of the story behind this painting. I am beyond grateful for the humongous surprise Red Izak pulled on me by choosing my pair as one of the winners. It's so beautiful and expressive ^^

Anyway, the short story is below if you wish to read it :D

*

Magnus’ heart began pounding with renewed intensity the moment Erebyth’s paw alighted upon it, the soft scales of her yellow toes rustling against the smooth oiled leather of his tunic. He considered grabbing it in his hands, to stroke it like he did so many times, but his fingertips remained glued to the pebbly surface of her jaw, the surprising warmth pulsating through her natural armor intimate and intoxicating. 

He had one too many thoughts he wished to share with her, but none that seemed as worthy as the first and only. It was a cliché promise, obscene in its simplicity and laden with the heaviness of guilt. He would never stray from her side ever again, no matter the circumstances, and spend no night away from the protective surface of her wing. 

Until the inevitability of his demise, at least. 

Whether it came through the tip of a sword, with the whoosh of an arrow or at the behest of time, his pledge wouldn’t last. It was all that Magnus could think of beneath his warm, calm gaze and reassuring smile, painfully aware of his mortality, yet deceptively serene. He did not condemn this fear, but relished it, for it meant that the dragon whose amethyst eyes bore into his mahogany ones had filled him with a love so thorough that he couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the immensity of it. 

“Rrrrh,” Erebyth’s soft growl preceded the touch of her snout tip against his lips, her expressive blink suggesting that she understood the storm raging within him far too well. 

Magnus didn’t contradict her, nor did he explain himself. For once, he borrowed her means of communication, letting his eyes share his intention as he held the graceful head of his beloved, his unruly brown locks caressing the smooth plates adorning her brow. Thought by thought, worry by worry, his mind began to clear, allowing his previously forced, practice smile to bloom into a genuine grin at how rich her dark green scales shone in the warm light of early evening. 

“You are mine until the very end,” Magnus whispered, no longer concerned of how and where that might be, adding further meaning to them with the kiss he planted between her widening nostrils. “And I’ll be with no other but you, regardless of how odd that might appear to you.”

Her inevitable protest at him being able to relish the affection of his kind never came. He could tell from her gaze that it was no longer mere infatuation that bonded her to him, but something deeper and greater, unnerving in its passion. 

“At least until you meet a male dragon,” Magnus couldn’t help but tease her in that childish, stupid way of his, containing her protest by sliding his hands over to her frills to rub their leathery texture between his fingers. “But until then, you are stuck with me.” 

He felt undeserving of her purr for his crude jape, a relic from a time where he considered himself an inadequate replacement for a real mate. Perhaps that was why it bothered her no longer, for unlike him, she had chosen her mate long before this moment, where he finally found the courage to accept his role in this relationship. 

“Mrrrm,” she nuzzled his lips, setting her forepaws on each of his shoulders to stare at him expectantly. She wanted to hear it just as much as he needed to say it, and this time, the word flew past his lips with shocking ease. 

“Mates. If only because I grew addicted to sleeping against you.”

“And on top of me,” Erebyth’s tail tip suggested as it brushed against his groin, her subtle touch setting Magnus’ cheeks aflame. 

“It’s like you always said,” he shrugged the lewd thoughts off his shoulders. “Mates mate.”

And from the way she stared at him with arousing passion, she definitely expected it to happen tonight.  

*

Hope you enjoyed it. And you won't throw too many stones my way for not finishing the book yet. I'm working on it but I'm a tad undecided on some elements and also mega easily distracted and also a bit perfectionistic maybe that's why it's taking so long haha but I promise I'll have it done soon!

Magnus(c) and Erebyth(c) are my characters

Art done by: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/red-izak/