Nipping at the great creature’s scales, Patrick drove the reluctant beast to his mate. Laying his body over hers, the larger male pressed her down. “Not too hard!” Patrick snapped. The rogue lifted his weight so she was pinned but not squished. Patrick went back and draped himself over the injured dragon's neck.
Seeing that they held the dragon as best they could, Patrick nodded to the mages. “Go!” he cried.
The two men turned their attention back to their work.
The female dragon let out a roar of pain as they prodded the sore flesh.
Two more dragons, a green and a blue, climbed out of the water. “My Lord!” the green chirped.
Patrick looked over at them as he bounced around on the dragon’s thrashing neck. Help had arrived. Finally!
“The eggs!” he cried.
The new dragons looked at the clutch dangerously close to the side of the thrashing dragons.
“My Lord?” The blue dragon cocked his head, unsure what Patrick wanted.
Bloody male dragons!
Growling, Patrick jumped off the writhing dragon. “Hold her!” he snapped.
If you want something done right…
The dragons quickly came up and pinned the injured dragon's tail and neck.
Backing up, Patrick turned his attention to the fragile eggs. Two of them had already been knocked over. Please let the babies be okay. Carefully, he came over and nosed them. They were whole, but they wouldn’t stay that way long if he left them there much longer. He couldn’t do anything for the female, but he could make sure her young were safe. He had to get them away from the chaos. Pushing it with his nose, he rolled the first one across the sand until it was well away from the struggling dragon.
Patrick was surprised when he saw Kathryn grab the two terrified girls.
“Come on,” she cried as she pulled them towards the eggs. Together, they laid a third and fourth egg over and rolled them across the sand.
Leave it to women to know what needed to be done! He could kiss them all. “Carefully,” Patrick chirped at the women.
Taking each egg in turn, he arranged them together on the sand and fussed over their placement until he was happy. The eggs sat in two neat rows with a space between them. Finally, they were safe, but the sand here was much too cold for the young. It was time to get them back up to temperature. “Watch yourselves,” Patrick rumbled as he slipped between the girls and the eggs. He drew in a few deep breaths, stoking his fire before letting a stream of white-hot flames out towards the eggs. The girls backed away from the heat as Patrick circled the clutch, warming them.
Patrick lowered the intensity of his flames as the sand started to melt. He needed to warm the eggs, not cook them. After two full circles, he slipped into the space between them and lay down. Spreading his wings out, he covered the eggs, holding in the heat radiating from the hot sand. God, he felt foolish incubating eggs, but the roll across the cold ground would not have been easy on the babies inside. It was best to get them back up to temperature quickly before any permanent harm was done.
Kathryn watched as Patrick tended the clutch. He made taking care of the dragon’s young look easy. In the short time Kathryn had been in the cave, she had avoided going near the fragile-looking eggs. Their black shells looked like they were made of sparking glass. In truth, they were somewhat soft, like hard leather—their glossy surface gave the wrong impression. Hopefully, Patrick knew what he was doing and wouldn't cook the poor babies in their shells.
Turning back to the scene behind her, Kathryn tried to figure out what to do. It didn’t appear that her help was needed anywhere. The missing man had come back with another armload of supplies and was busy preparing to take the bolt out of the thrashing dragon. The girls who had gone with the mage knelt near the men, ready to help if they could. The other maidens had settled to the sand a safe distance from the dragons to watch.
Kathryn looked around one more time before heading over and standing in front of Patrick’s head. She could feel the heat radiating from him, but his wings held most of it in. The thought of sitting next to a dragon gave her a moment of pause, but the look of longing he gave her eased her fears. This was Patrick. He may be a dragon, but he was the same man that she had come to care for.
After a moment of indecision, she braved the heat and folded herself down on the sand next to his head. It was a little warm, but not uncomfortably so. His head thumped softly into her side as he rolled it against her and let out a very contented sigh. Kathryn smiled and raised her arm up to rest over him. His scales were smooth and warm under her hands as she traced their patterns.
“You really are beautiful.” Kathryn sighed as she shifted to watch the mages work. Her fingers played across his scales, driving a purr of contentment from him.
Another dragon climbed from the water. Patrick looked up at Daniel. Although the grin didn’t show on his face, amusement twinkled in the dragon’s eyes as he watched his lord sitting on eggs, nestled next to a maiden.
“Don’t you even dare!” Patrick growled, shooting him a look that could kill.
Daniel feigned innocence. “I would never dream of it.” His eyes followed the hand petting his lord’s head.
Patrick glowered at him. There were going to be limericks about this tomorrow.
Turning towards the pile of dragons, Daniel took stock of the situation. The three mages worked to clear the bolt from the wound as the female dragon thrashed about in pain. “I see you were right.”
The injured dragon screeched as the men ripped the barbed head from her side. One of her wings slipped out from under her mate and smacked the men by her side. Two of them fell backwards into the area where the delicate eggs had been.
Daniel chuckled as the men scrambled up and back to the gushing wound. He looked down at Patrick. “Good call.” Daniel settled on the sand to watch the men pack and enchant the wound.
Patrick just snorted and rolled his head a little farther into Kathryn’s side. Now they just had to wait.
11
Eventually, the chaos settled down. Once the herbs and magic eased the female’s pain and her life was no longer in danger, she curled up with her mate, exhausted. His contented purrs rumbled through the sand.
Patrick rested his head against Kathryn’s side. He knew exactly how the rogue felt. The feel of Kathryn’s fingers scratching over his scales had set him purring a while ago. His contentment was interrupted when Mica came over to check on the eggs. The mage cringed away from the heat as Patrick raised his wings to show off the precious hoard.
“You sure have them hot enough.” The man braved the heat as he got closer to them. “Where did you learn to tend eggs?”
Patrick let out a resigned snort. If actually sitting on the eggs hadn’t earned him new limericks, this surely would. “You know the queen is very hands-on with her subjects,” he grumbled.
Mica nodded. He went to the other side to check on the second set of eggs.
“Well, she used to take me to the hatcheries when I was little.” The queen had coaxed Patrick into helping heat and turn eggs.
“And I am sure she is glad you did.” Mica nodded back to the resting dragon. “You have done a fine job here.”
Patrick lowered his wings once more, trying to hold the heat in. Yeah, tending eggs was a fine skill he never thought he would actually need. Just went to prove that you never learn anything completely worthless.