Chapter 150: Episode 149: He isn’t the only one.

"Isn’t it too early to fly again after all that?" Rue asked.

She stood on the soft grass of the new courtyard. The morning sun warmed her pale skin. She wrapped her arms around her waist. She still felt sore from the birth. Her bones felt soft. The thought of rushing up into the wild sky made her stomach twist into a nervous knot.

Drax didn’t answer with words. The Dragon King just offered a slow, knowing smirk. He stepped away from her. He walked right into the center of the wide yard.

Thick black smoke poured from his skin. The sharp scent of burning wood and raw magic flooded the crisp air. The sunlight vanished. A massive shadow swallowed the courtyard whole. He grew fast. Black scales replaced his dark clothes. Huge, leathery wings snapped open with a sound like thunder.

Rue looked at the giant black dragon and swallowed hard.

He was massive. He was a creature born from nightmares and old myths. His dark eyes glowed with a deep, ancient fire. He lowered his huge head. He blew a warm puff of smoke right over her silver hair. It was his way of promising to keep her safe.

The heavy wooden front door creaked open behind her.

Knox walked out onto the stone steps. The Southern panther held little Seika carefully against his broad chest. The baby girl was wrapped snug in a soft wool blanket. She slept right through the loud noise of the dragon shift. Theron and Mochi peeked out from behind Knox’s legs. The toddlers stared up at the giant beast with wide, amazed eyes.

Rue turned around. She walked back to the steps.

"Are you sure you can handle them all?" Rue asked Knox. She brushed her fingers over Seika’s soft, dark curls.

Knox rolled his golden eyes. He gave a soft, rumbling laugh. "I am a warlord, Rue. I command an army of feral cats. I can watch a sleeping baby and two toddlers for a few hours. You need to go. You spent the last month trapped inside a tiny bedroom. Go look at the sky."

He leaned down. He pressed a warm, lingering kiss to her forehead.

"Have fun," Knox murmured. "Don’t let him drop you."

Rue smiled. She felt a deep wave of gratitude for the panther. He knew exactly what she needed.

She turned back to Drax. The black dragon lowered his left wing. He rested the sharp tip flat against the grass, making a perfect ramp for her.

Rue took a deep breath. She grabbed the thick, rough edge of his wing. The scales felt warm to the touch. They felt like sunbaked stones. She climbed up slowly. Her legs wobbled a bit. It took some effort to pull her soft body up his massive side. She finally reached the familiar dip right between the thick spikes on his neck.

She settled down. She gripped a thick, curved spike with both hands. She pressed her knees tight against his warm hide.

Drax let out a low rumble. The sound vibrated right through her bones.

"Ready?" he asked through their quiet mental bond.

"Ready," Rue answered out loud.

The takeoff was terrifying.

Drax crouched low to the ground. His powerful back legs coiled tight like giant springs. Then, he launched himself straight up. The sudden force shoved Rue hard against his neck. The world dropped away in a dizzying blur of green and gray. The wind roared in her ears. Her stomach did a wild, panicked flip. She squeezed her pink eyes shut. She held her breath, praying she wouldn’t slip off and fall back into the yard.

His massive wings beat the air. Thump. Thump. Thump. Each powerful stroke pushed them higher and higher.

"You can open your eyes now, little one," Drax urged softly in her mind.

Rue opened her eyes.

She gasped. The fear melted right out of her chest.

The view was breathtaking. The sky felt very different up here. It felt bigger. The air tasted sharper and thinner in her lungs. Down in the southern swamps, the sky always felt heavy and thick with humidity. Even at the old forest cabin, the tall trees always blocked the horizon. But here, high above the mountain peaks, the world just stretched on forever.

She saw deep, plunging valleys below them. Rushing blue rivers cut through the dark green forests like bright ribbons. Jagged, snow-capped mountains stabbed the clouds in the distance. The sheer scale of the landscape made her feel wonderfully small.

She didn’t feel trapped anymore. She didn’t feel like a weak, healing mother stuck in a bed. She felt free. The cold wind whipped her long silver hair wildly around her face. She laughed out loud. The sound got lost in the rushing wind, but Drax heard it through their bond.

He let out a pleased rumble. He leveled out his flight path. He flew smooth and steady, cutting through the cold air like a dark spear.

He was taking her on a sightseeing date.

They didn’t have to fight any monsters today. They didn’t have to worry about the system flashing urgent warnings. They didn’t have to argue over baby names or pack rules. It was just the two of them. A girl from Earth and an ancient dragon, soaring over a wild, magical world.

Rue relaxed her tight grip on his spike. She leaned forward, pressing her cheek against his warm scales. The heat from his dragon fire kept the freezing altitude from biting her skin. She felt cherished. Drax always knew how to show her the big picture. He knew how to lift her above her own petty fears.

"It is beautiful," Rue whispered, knowing he could hear her thoughts.

"This is my territory," Drax replied proudly in her mind. "I ruled these peaks long before the world broke. I want you to see all of it. I want you to know the land you belong to."

Rue smiled against his neck. She liked the sound of that. Belonging. She spent her past life feeling like a ghost haunting a hospital bed. Nobody claimed her. Nobody wanted to show her the world. Now, a king claimed her as his own.

They flew for a long time. The sun climbed higher, chasing the morning shadows out of the deep valleys. Drax banked smoothly to the right, following the curve of a massive mountain. He slowed his wingbeats. They began to descend.

They dipped below the cloud line. A dense, ancient forest spread out below them. The trees here were different. They had dark, iron-colored bark and thick, sprawling branches.

Drax glided over the treetops. He aimed for a large clearing near a sheer cliff edge.

"We are almost there," Drax told her.

Rue peeked over his side. She saw a massive structure nestled deep in the ironwoods. It didn’t look like their new, bright fortress. It looked much older. It had dark stone towers and steep slate roofs. High stone walls surrounded a large, neat courtyard. It looked grand and imposing, like a piece of history frozen in time.

This was Ironwood Manor. The ancestral home of his family. The place where Roxy raised her wild children.

A strange nervous flutter hit Rue’s stomach. She knew she had to meet his brothers soon. She knew they lived here. The system had warned her about the complex family tree. She just wanted a nice, quiet date with Drax. She wasn’t ready to face new warlords today.

Drax angled his wings down. He circled the manor once, casting a huge shadow over the dark slate roofs. He aimed for the wide stone courtyard in the front.

The wind rushed past her ears as they dropped closer to the ground. She saw a large fountain in the center of the yard. She saw tall statues of ancient beasts guarding the heavy wooden doors.

Rue squinted against the rushing wind. She tried to make out the figures standing on the cold stone below. Her rabbit vision was sharp, but the speed of the descent blurred the edges of the world. She saw a flash of bright color. Someone tall stood near the heavy iron gates. Someone else leaned casually against a carved stone pillar.

Her heart did a fast, anxious flutter. Meeting Knox and Axel for the first time was a violent, terrifying mess. Meeting Caius was a cold, calculated trap in a swamp. She didn’t know what to expect from Drax’s brothers. She only knew stories. She knew they were powerful. She knew they carried the blood of the first human mother.

"Drax," Rue called out through their bond, her voice tight with sudden nerves. "Who is down there?"

Drax flared his massive wings. The sudden drag pulled them to a near halt in mid-air. He hovered right above the stone courtyard. The downdraft from his wings sent loose leaves and dirt flying in every direction.

"My brothers," Drax answered calmly in her mind. He didn’t sound worried at all. He sounded like a king arriving at his own court. "Do not be afraid, Rue. They know who you are. They know you belong to me."

Rue took a deep breath. She gripped his neck spike a little tighter. She didn’t want to show any fear. She was a mother now. She survived giving birth to two wild predators. She could survive a polite meeting with family.

Drax let out a low, warning rumble from his chest. He wanted to announce their arrival clearly. He dropped the last few feet. His heavy claws hit the stone courtyard with a massive, earth-shaking thud.

The manor comes into view, sitting like a dark jewel in the trees, but Drax isn’t the only one waiting there.