Claimed By A Dragon Prince

Dran led her to the closest farming compound that had the most sun exposure. It looked like the ones with very little of the black toxin on them could worked here. The ground was dark and smelled rich to Lily indicating this was one of the best farms here. Dran went up to the farmers who quickly came out to greet him. "Dragon Master, the crops have been sent into the settlement that weren’t destroyed by the slugs, even the emergency food we ourselves stashed away."

Lily could tell these were good people who were just doing their jobs. Kneeling down she stuck her hand deep in the soil feeling the life and nutrients active there. The whole farm was on a flat rounded hill with a huge opening above it letting just enough light in to let the plants grow. *Oh yeah this should be enough.* Lily stood walking back over to Dran and the farmer talking together.

"Do you have seeds or do I need to provide those as well?" The farmer went into his home, coming back with a large bag of seed in his arms. Using her powers she reached for air as it wrapped itself around the bag of seed pouring it out in the air. It looked to be floating down a river as she worked her magic. In that instant she threw her arms out almost like spreading a blanket over a bed as the seeds spread across the hill settling on the ground.

"You may want to step on those boulders over there for this next part." Lily gathered the energy needed to grow all the seeds she dropped in the field. The air pulled around, hair looking electrified as her eyes glowed green, feeling the life ready to burst from the ground.

Dropping to her knees, digging her hands deep in the soil, she pushed the energy to grow into the ground, spreading it all over the hill. Like on farm she healed, this was no different as the seeds burst from the soil, growing at an alarming rate. What usually took an entire season grew within seconds before their eyes. Dran had never seen this level of power before as she continued to force the growth of the whole hillside.

By the time the field was fully mature, Lily sat back feeling the drain on her body. It had been too many times in between big energy usages, and it was starting to give her a massive headache. "I hope this will be enough because I need to sleep for like...a week." She mumbled to Dran half asleep, who had walked up next to her watching the last of the plants finish growing.

"No problem." The sight before him was so shocking he had nothing else to say to her. Looking down he saw her head drop as she slumped to the ground out cold again. "Looks like she hasn’t had much practice with her powers if this is her stamina level." Dran picked her up listening to her soft sounds of sleep as she curled into him.

He wasn’t used to anyone being this kind of close to him since most were afraid of him. He still wasn’t sure who she was to him but she felt like more then just his sister in law. He walked over to the farmer informing him to harvest immediately. "This is for the people, ration according to the number of people per dwelling. No one is to be charged for this. You will be compensated for the use of your land. "

The farmer thanked him and his family got to work with the harvest. Lily was in a deep sleep in his arms staying still the whole time. At one point he thought she might be dead until he leaned in to her her breathing. Walking through the settlement people saw him with Lily acting in a way they had never seen him before.

He reached the structure where he resided moving up the stairs seeing the clean up that had been done so far. His door had been replaced and all the slugs removed from the room. He set Lily down on his bed removing her boots and setting them to the side. Turning back to watching her for a moment she began to toss in her sleep, whimpering. "NO....please.....I....didn’t do....it....."

Her groans of pain sounded as if someone was beating her. He could feel the shadows of her mind closing in when he started to pet her hair back pushing them away. She had too many dark shadows in her mind that wanted to over take her. He could sense them as they tried to attack her as she slept. *This must be what she’s been fighting all her life. Someone really wanted her to suffer.*

Dran knew what that was like having watched his brother grow up from afar, never being able to tell him he was alive. His mother had been under the impression he had died, but with his last breath he begged to live. In that moment the toxic slugs covered his eggshell and him in the toxic slime changing him forever. As the years went by other dragons that had been discarded also gained a mark like his the back shadow that covers half his chest and arm.

Lily settled down whispering a name. "Dimitri." He let his hand drop hearing his brother’s name knowing it wasn’t him she dreamt of. *Stupid thought. She is mated to my brother." Dran almost gave into thoughts of temptation, thoughts he didn’t even know he could have for another person. He shouldn’t be having them for a mated woman, but there was a part of him drawn to her in ways he never thought possible.

*What am I thinking? It can not be." He walked to the door stopping before he pulled the door open seeing her face relax as she whispered his brother’s name again. Opening the door Dran left knowing he had no chance with her.

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Dimitri had been trying to get through the mountains of the forbidden territory for two days now that he had only gotten a few miles in. The amount of creatures trying to attack or push him back were in numbers he never couldn’t conceive of in this remote of an area. As he tried to get through the second valley the man size rats kept popping out of their holes in the mountain side anytime he tried to fly by.

He had to take this mountain range on foot because anytime he tried to fly they would attack him. Dimitri was a quick healer and most of his wounds he sustained had sealed up but his food supply was running low. Lily would know where to look for food in a place like this. She was always good at finding what she needed in places most wouldn’t look.

He had been monitoring the mate bond to see if Lily was hurt, and there had been a few times he couldn’t reach her. *She must be exhausting herself or being used for her power. Either way I need to get to her faster.* He tried to see if the coast was clear, but their were no bugs in the air and the winds were quiet. To his left a loud screech echoed though the canyon.

From above, huge bat looking creatures came flying down sweeping right past his hiding place taking a right going through a tunnel that was opposite him. He waited for them to pass before he continued to the top of the mountain seeing the range for the first time. It was a wild and majestic sight that he imagined few had the chance to see.

Dimitri could see in the distance a huge cave in the mountains with a light at the mouth. *That must be where she is. I am coming Lily.* He continued to stay out of sight making his way along the tops of mountain range. The closer he got to the cave the more obstacles he noticed and came to the conclusion there was more going on in these mountains then the world knew about.

Finding a place to camp for the night wasn’t all that easy either because most of the caves were taken by creatures or the trees where so dead they didn’t provide good cover. The one commonality with the landscape was the black looking burn marks everywhere. Dimitri could see how all these deterrents would make a good defense setup.

His brother must have something to do with this, even if he wasn’t raised as a dragon prince. He had the mind for power and the ways of a leader. Hopefully he was similar in integrity as well and would treat Lily with the respect of a princess. Just then a huge level of energy could be felt for miles and whats more it felt like Lily’s plant energy again. "What the hell are you doing woman?"