Teeth and Talon (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Thirteen.

Kal steadily woke the next morning, his face still hidden in Nazaverts chest and his body exceptionally warm for the early autumn morning.

He sat there for a moment trying to ignore the heat that was enveloping him, but when the warmth got too much, he steadily unraveled himself from his mates arms and slowly stood to make sure the man would not wake.

Kal first stretched languidly before setting the cauldron above the fire to boil while full of water and a few deer bones saved for these meals.

He then carefully opened the door to the bedroom to peek in at Bel, only to see him awake and sitting on the bed with a wandering look on his face.

"Goodmorning. How did you sleep?" Kal greeted, stepping inside the room and shutting the door so that his talking did not wake Nazavert.

"Good. Thank you for letting me stay." Bel muttered quietly, his hands resting on each bicep and his legs crossed out in front of him.

"Of course, I only hope that you are safe from here on." Kal said with a small smile as he sat on the bed a couple feet from where Bel was sitting. "Have you given thought to what you want to happen to them? Razania and Cardan?"

Kal spoke softly and tried not to make the boy think that this was something he needed to decide now, even though Kal would prefer if he did.

"I do not want to live with them anymore. I... I really do not want to see them, but I know that Razania will try to talk to me and convince me to come back." Bel said quietly and Kal nodded in understanding.

"Do you want them to leave?" Kal asked, "Because although I do not know much about the laws that were in place in Vragad, there were laws against abuse and assault of children; and I am sure that Nazavert and the others will understand that if you want them to leave the settlement."

"I- I do not know. There are not many Dragons to begin with, and Razania is a good fighter if anything; it would be good for everyone if she stayed and helped." Bel shrugged, his fingers rubbing against his clothes between them.

"None of that matters now, Bel. We have plenty of people, and hopefully more will come; There will be babies being born in likely only a few years. It would be no problem to tell them to leave, there is land far enough away that we will never have to see them again."

"She will not like that. She will not leave without a fight."

"Then there will be a fight." Kal quipped shortly, his face hard. "She might be strong, but I will be stronger if need be. I will not let her hurt you ever again, Bel."

Bel frowned and Kal's heart stuttered at the sight of fresh tears welling in his eyes.

"Why do you care so much? Nobody ever noticed anything happening, but you knew right away; why?" Bel questioned, his face reddening and salty tears rolling down his face.

Kal frowned also, scooting closer and taking one of Bels hands in his.

"I have gone through so much hurt ever since I was twelve. I am sure mostly everyone has gone through the same, or worse. We were targeted only because we are strong, and I will not let you or anyone else continue to be hurt when we have made it to the place we are supposed to be safe at." Kal started, squeezing the boys hand to emphasize. "Dragons should not hurt Dragons, especially not after what we have gone through as a people. I have seen hurt before and could tell that you were drowning in it. Not only physically, but also because nobody noticed and you felt like you were not going to be saved. Sometimes, you need someone to notice and to save you."

Bel was crying by the end of the speech, and when Kal did not inhale again to continue, the boy threw himself at Kal and gripped tightly onto his tunic as he sobbed.