Branches and leaves rustled as he stalked through the growth, brilliant blue hide mixing with vibrant greens well enough to keep him marginally hidden.  With his wings folded flat against his sides, he was able to slink low to the ground, barely disturbing the foliage above him while golden eyes blinked from side to side, tracking.  His target’s scent was thick in his nostrils and Leo trembled in silent rage at the audacity of such fools.

                Wicked talons sank into the loam and the dragon crept over a fallen log, squeezing under the next one right beside it where bark scratched his back, making him pause for the sound that emerged, raspy and rough.  For just a moment, he allowed himself to stop and listen, waiting for any sign of being detected, but when no alarm was sounded, he sank down again, frowning up at the traitorous debris that wanted to give his location away.  It was going to ruin his element of surprise.

                Shaking his narrow head with a crown of small spikes jutting back just behind his ear ridges, he continued his trek until he reached an overhang that allowed him to look over the terrain with much greater accuracy.  The dragon’s eyes narrowed in angry satisfaction when he noticed his quarry, hidden amidst the protective vines covering a fallen tree, the center long since cored out, leaving a husk behind.  Around the mouth of the partially invisible entrance, gnarled roots clawed into the air like some monstrous creature and he exhaled slowly.

                Around flickers of subdued firelight, he could make out four of them: amorphous shadow soldiers crafted from the miasma to the north and imbued with anger and hatred.  Difficult to kill, they were like no man, lacking blood to bleed or hearts to feel.  And such conjured golems held within their grasp another figure, bound and gagged.  Made entirely of flesh and blood and too much heart, Leo could see Hakyeon curled against one tree wall, folded in on himself as much as possible.  His dirty, silver hair stood out starkly against the dark riding leathers and he stuck out like a sore thumb.  Even amidst the choking, acrid scent of his captors, Leo could smell him, fear and worry mixing with everything else to become an unsettling perfume further incensing the dragon.

                His tail twitched from side to side and Leo waited a few seconds more, observing the pattern of the shadow things.  They held no weapons, for they needed none, their bodies better than sword or spear or axe already.  Nor did they need food or water, but Hakyeon did, and apparently they were to keep him alive for he could just make out something heating over the fire.  Another sniff told him it was a lean leaper, one they must have caught on the move.

                A glance upward showed the light of day filtering through the canopy above and Leo nodded to himself.  One of their truest weaknesses was sunlight and they would not travel during the day if they could help it.  The fact they had traveled so far already indicated just how badly the twisted rulers to the north wanted him, and those like him.  And in turn, they would also have Leo for no dragon gave up his rider willingly.  Not with the bond that connected them and allowed him to find Hakyeon anywhere, aggravating rider that he was, no matter how far apart they were.

                Leo pulled back from his ledge and crept around to a further point where he would not be spotted when he shifted beyond the safety of his cover.  He kept his ears open for any unexpected approach, eyes flickering from side to side warily, before he eased over the edge of the outcropping, front talons digging into the side of the ledge.  His back haunches remained planted as his tail found a tree to wrap around, steadying him so he could spread his wings out preemptively, keeping as quiet as possible.  The damn golems had regrettably good senses despite being afraid of the light…

                 His muscles shifted with liquid grace beneath his skin when he let go, falling for a few heartbeats before the air filled his wings and slowed him down.  His bottom feet hung beneath him in a very undignified appearance but the position allowed him to land gently on his hindquarters before settling on the ground, hunched over like the predatory cats they’d seen while traveling.  Only, Leo was far more dangerous and pissed off to boot.  Walking forward, his form shifted, sinking down into a humanoid guise until he was standing on two feet, uncovered save for a patchwork of blue scales centering around his core, from mid thigh to abdomen, and spreading outward in winding tendrils.

                Golden eyes remained sharp and draconic in nature while his face bore strangely prominent eyebrows reminiscent to his ridges in dragon form.  Blue spiked hair stayed in play with unnatural stiffness and he took a slow breath, bare, muscled chest rising and falling with the action.  Too sharp fingertips twitched in lieu of his now missing tail and he padded forward on unnaturally hard soles, the bottoms rasping against the debris covered ground.  Experience and elder dragons had taught him not to face them in dragon form: the bastards targeted their wings without fail and a dragon without wings was a mere shadow of himself.

                Normal, human lips peeled back to reveal white teeth instead of fangs in a quiet snarl, pale skin offset by a smattering of blue scales around the perimeter of his face and down his neck.  His gaze narrowed upon seeing the entrance filled with shifting shadows, flecks of dark gray orbs swinging outward in his direction before turning back to the interior once more.  Either they were ignoring him or they truly didn’t see him yet.

                Leo doubted the latter and the prospect of the former irritated him further.  Without waiting to further detail the scene, he sprinted forward, throwing himself at the first enemy in range.  The shadow golem fell hard under his substantial weight, crumpling beneath his hands when Leo squeezed and yanked, tearing a dark head from stiff shoulders.  There was no death keen and the monsters around him made no sound as they rounded on the man-dragon, tendrils of mist and smoke writhing from their figures like enchanting curlicues.

                “Run, Leo!” Hakyeon shouted through his gag, the words unintelligible but the dragon could feel them this close to his rider, singing through their bond.

                “No,” he growled, standing up and stepping back when the three converged.

                Panic and fear blossomed in him, not his own but integral to his awareness all the same, and Leo tamped it down furiously, focusing instead on his anger and the fight ahead.  Obsidian limbs became claws and swords, reaching arms that threatened to rip him apart if he lingered too close.  Leo met their attacks with talons and skill, sharp eyes focusing on the nearest threats.  He could feel them around him, trying to circle and conquer as was their way.  Their presence at his back made his skin crawl and Leo surged forward, ripping a shadow limb off in his haste to defend before he tackled it to the ground.

                His target writhed beneath him, regenerating lost flesh in a matter of seconds, and its companions joined in the fray, attacking at his back.  In the last second, Leo rolled over, carrying the first target with him to use as a shield so their blows fell upon his flailing form.  Hakyeon screamed from the side, struggling to get free so that he could help, but their fight was otherwise silent.

                A claw strike ripped across Leo’s chest, revenge from the creature he was holding, and he snarled before ing it away, sending the body careening into the other figure on his right.  The third shadow golem fell upon him then, all hard fury and liquid smoke making it difficult to counter.  Leo grabbed its throat in his hand and kicked backward when he had something solid to focus on, throwing his target over his head and using his inhuman strength to follow with an otherwise impossible reverse handspring from the ground, ignoring the myriad of minor wounds he’d already suffered.

                The windpipe crumpled under his anger but it wasn’t until he ripped the golem’s head off as well that it fell quiet, claws relaxing from their vantage point in his shoulder and side.  With his senses sharpened by the pain and danger, Leo stood up and roared at the remaining two golems who regarded him warily, dead gray eyes unblinking as they watched his person.  They appeared to have forgotten about Hakyeon with their newest target in mind and he didn’t know which to attack first, gaze swinging between the pair.

                His only warning was Hakyeon’s cry through the bond, screaming of danger he did not hear or see.  He fell flat on his belly and felt something large pass over his head, the air screaming as it was cut.  In front of him, the other two shadow golems were sliced in twain by a sickly scythe, their bodies falling into two halves.  Leo rolled over and onto his feet for a better look at his new opponent and his nostrils flared upon seeing where the first two golems had merged, seamlessly becoming something larger and more unpredictable.  The four legged mass shifted like some strange crab with a shapeless body, the shadows constantly shifting into something else with each passing heartbeat.

                “Run!”  Again, the mumbled cry from Hakyeon who had only managed to work himself into a trapped bundle on the ground, even more vulnerable than before.

                With his eyes flickering between his rider and the new monster, and well aware of what the other two could become at any moment, Leo backed up slowly, giving himself room to move outside of the fallen tree.  “You can’t have him,” he hissed, longing for his tail in that moment, the likes of which would be twitching behind him just then.

                Just a little further.  His eyes narrowed on the twitching remains of the shadow golems, the separate pieces slowly coalescing together.  Another step back required him to duck under a second scythe attack, the weapon emerging from the mass without warning and disappearing just as quickly.

                “Come on!” he taunted, backing himself into the corner where the wall rose at his back, a ledge above proof of where he’d spotted them previously.

                His opponent swayed from side to side, wary and unsure but still more than a threat.  Flickering sunlight kept it dancing, never staying still in one place too long where the beams could banish its nightmare existence, burning away the smoky darkness with ease.  The other creatures at the back twitched, trying to become something like what he already faced and Leo knew his time was running out.

                “I won’t let you have him,” he warned, reaching back to rip a glob of earth from the wall so he could throw it at the creature; the projectile exploded on strangely hard flesh and showered it with debris.  The attack did no damage but it goaded his opponent into charging, a myriad of skewers coming his way to try and spear him to the wall.

                Leo jumped and twisted in the air, clawing into the wall to gain himself ground before he leaped off, form changing as he did so.  His lean figure twisted over the monster beneath him, wings and tail sprouting just enough to boost him further so he could land on the reforming mass in front of the tree in dragon form, squashing it into the ground, though limbs rose up anyway, as if trying to grab onto him when he passed.  Sharp fingers grazed his body and wings, grasping futilely for something to hold onto before he stopped in front of Hakyeon.

                Dark, teary eyes blinked up at him in a bizarre mixture of hope and fear.  Stupid dragon.  You should have just left me.

                Stupid rider who was captured.

                The exchange happened almost instantly, passing through their bond even before the thoughts were fully formed.  But it was normal for them and necessary.  Hakyeon shifted enough to reveal his tied hands and feet so that Leo could bite through the ropes, though they didn’t have enough time to free him completely.  Frantic steps warned them of the first creature approaching, form bubbling in its haste and fury, so Leo scooped Hakyeon up in one claw and careened ahead, aiming for the wall of the trunk.

                Be careful!

                The warning was stupid and unnecessary but Leo was grateful all the same when he almost knocked himself senseless, crashing through the dried, weakened hull against unexpected resistance.  On three legs, he stumbled, nearly smashing Hakyeon beneath him, but recovered with an awkward wing flap that left him feeling both off kilter and exposed, the risky maneuver begging for something to take away his ability to fly.

                A sharp crack behind him made his heart beat faster in his great chest and Leo risked a look back in time to see the one side of the tree beginning to fall in on itself.  Hope blossomed for a second before shadows filled the crumbling opening, exploding the barrier from within as writhing hatred made real crawled through in determined pursuit.

                “Go, go, go!” Hakyeon screamed when he finally managed to cut through his wrist bindings on one of Leo’s claws, freeing his hands to remove the disgusting gag.

                The dragon needed no additional prompting and he turned to bolt, keeping his wings flat against his back while he tore through the wooded area on foot, undulating around trees and paying homage to his wingless kin.  Their foe crashed through as many obstacles as it avoided, giving them plenty of warning as to where it was.

                “Roll, Leo!” his rider warned while awkwardly trying to crawl into position on the dragon’s back.

                Long sparring sessions and practice bouts kept him from questioning, doing what was asked of him in a heartbeat, though it put the full weight of his body on top of Hakyeon for a split second.  It saved them both from a chunk of rock that crashed past, pelting them with bits of debris in its wake.

                Are you alright?

                “Just keep going,” Hakyeon responded, his voice weak and the answer heard more through the bond than by ear.

                Sprinting forward, Leo felt his rider slowly crawl into place, fingers latching onto the raised shoulder ridges that made perfect handles.  His feet anchored into place beneath the wings folds at the beginning junction, wedging himself into a secure position along the length of Leo’s spine, keeping his profile low.  Up!

                The brief warning was more than enough to prepare Hakyeon for the next leap Leo took, their progress stopping as he grabbed onto a tree with all his limbs like some giant tree climber.  Claws slid through weak bark, sending them down a couple feet before he started pulling himself up, higher and higher with each hold.  Wood bowed and keened under his weight, sending them backwards until he had to let go and leap onto another tree, repeating the process, and getting further up with each vault.  With his rider he needed space to take off quickly and the thing below them wasn’t going to make it easy.

                A frightening crash and sudden lurch made Leo hold harder to the tree that started to fall of its own accord, base of the trunk severed by the shadow golem monstrosity.  It peered up at them with dead eyes, waiting for the pair to come back into range with the patience of a grand master.

                Hakyeon screamed, not unlike a girl, when he saw the thing below, and pressed harder to Leo’s back.  “Fly!”

                Instinct warred with the command but even Leo knew they were out of time and space.  Feeling fear turn his innards to ice, he opened his wings and jumped, flapping hard through the tops of the trees.  Branches clawed at the thin membranes and he was sure they would fail at any moment, ripped to shreds by the shadow thing beneath them.  He was almost right.

                Just before he cleared the canopy, a hard rain of sound tore through the leaves to his right, mincing the foliage apart even as smaller fragments of stone peppered his wing.  One larger chunk punctured the membrane at the base of his wing and another punched into his gut, the impact leaving him to wonder if it broke the skin or only bruised him.  Leo keened, his wingbeats becoming erratic for a few breaths as he continued to fight through the canopy.

                Sunlight graced their faces first when the dragon hauled his rider above the foliage, leaves and twigs clinging to both of them in an ugly wreath.  It didn’t matter though.  They’d made the light, the one place the shadow golems could not follow.  Only, the sun was already setting, tainting their joy with an edge of fear and worry.

                “Over there!” Hakyeon announced from his back, sitting up at last to point ahead and to their right where a plateau practically called to them.

                Dark red globs of viscous fluid peeled away from Leo’s body while he labored on, leaving a trail for anyone to follow as the blood spattered on the canopy below, seeping through slowly.  There was no time to worry about that now.  Warm wind raced past his face as Leo angled down, gliding for the small landing zone.  Get ready, he announced to his rider, giving just enough warning to prepare the other so he wouldn’t be caught unawares.

                Leo pulled up sharply, wings snapping as they caught the air, membranes stretching out with the force while he flapped hard once, stalling them above the ground.  The brief pause didn’t last long and then the pull of the earth caught him, dragging them both down with bruising force.  He groaned when his back feet touched ground, promptly falling to all four and nearly sending Hakyeon flying over his back at the too quick shift.

                “Leo?” Hakyeon called, already moving to step down.  He was unprepared for Leo’s sudden collapse when all the strength simply seemed to bleed from him, throwing them both to the ground in a small plume of dust and lingering leaves.  “Leo!” Hakyeon shrieked, scrambling to his feet so he could check on his dragon.

                Weakly, Leo pulled his wings back to make room for Hakyeon, the right one aching more than the left due to the stupid hole in it.  With a muffled groan, he actively rolled over onto his side, exposing his belly in a move he wouldn’t dream of with any other person.  Something hit me from below, he explained, turning his head to finally get a better glimpse himself.

                “Oh, baby…” Hakyeon murmured, shuffling close to get a closer look of the jagged and bloody wound where the stone shard ripped through.

                It’s still inside, he huffed, taking shallow breaths to keep it from hurting.  By the feel of it, the shard hadn’t hit anything vital but it certainly ached like a banshee.

                “What do I do?” his rider asked in a panicked voice, fingers tracing around the wound with tender, albeit nervous, care.

                Pull it out, Leo winced, trying to find a more comfortable position while he turned his attention outward.  With the warm sunlight still on them, he felt marginally secure from the shadow golems, but that didn’t mean he was going to relax just yet.

                “But I don’t have any of my tools or anything!” Hakyeon exclaimed with a frightened gleam in his eyes.

                Leo took a long but shallow breath and sighed.  Useless rider, he mumbled through their bond, heaving his body up so he could curl around to try and inspect the wound further.  If you won’t then I will, he goaded, teeth set against the pain.

                “No!” his rider commanded in a firm voice, pointing his index finger at Leo sternly.  The dragon paused halfway up and waited, regarding Hakyeon with unblinking, golden eyes.  “Lay back down,” he instructed, shucking his riding leather jacket to place it over the wound.  “Stubborn, impatient dragon,” he added under his breath, shivering against the brief chill that took him when he was left with only a thin undershirt.

                Where are you going? Leo demanded when he watched Hakyeon start to walk away at a brisk pace, head whipping around to follow his rider intently.

                “Over there to see if I can find something to help you!” he shot back, pointing towards the edge of the clearing where smaller bits of growth crowded for dominance.  The prospect of possibly losing sight of Hakyeon immediately alarmed Leo and he lurched forward on the ground, dislodging the temporary wound covering in the process.  “Leo!” his rider shouted when he looked back, rushing over to his dragon’s side.

                You don’t need anything else, Hakyeon.  Just pull the shard out.  I’ll be fine after that, Leo promised, his head level with Hakyeon’s while he peered at his rider.

                Hakyeon frowned and sighed, finally reaching forward to wrap his arms around Leo’s head in a loose hug.  “You are such a troublesome beast sometimes,” he managed a forced laughed, placing a kiss against the nearest eye ridge lightly.

                You’re one to talk, Leo rolled his eyes, submitting to the attention before Hakyeon hurried back to the open, weeping wound.

                “Just your regular damsel in distress,” Hakyeon mocked himself, biting his bottom lip as he took a breath.  “Brace yourself,” he whimpered, cringing at the wound as he awkwardly stuck his hand into the opening.

                Leo was going to retort but then the pain took his breath away and he simply crammed his jaws together and dug his claws into the ground, ripping through rock as he tried to hold onto something.  Time felt like it stopped while Hakyeon was digging around in his guts for the stupid shard and he figured his rider must be dragging it out on purpose.  That or he was simply incapable of finding the piece.  The latter was more likely and he was just about to say as much when the acute pain stopped, replaced by the dull ache he was more familiar with.

                “Yes!” Hakyeon cheered, bloody hand raised in front of him with the hefty piece of shrapnel safely trapped in his fingers.  Elation turned to nausea right after and his complexion managed a fairly green tinge.  “I’m gonna be sick,” he admitted as he turned around to empty the pitiful contents of his stomach while he dropped the bloody rock.

                Blinking slowly, Leo looked at him with his mouth quirked to the side.  I still don’t know how you became a rider.

                Hakyeon laughed at the comment and nodded with his back still to Leo.  “I wasn’t supposed to be, you know.”  He looked over his shoulder with a wan smile, still slightly green but somewhat better.  “You picked me too.”

                You wouldn’t leave me alone, the dragon muttered, dropping his head to the ground so he could force the change easier.

                “Nope,” his rider confirmed, pivoting in place so he could crawl closer, snagging his discarded leather jacket in the process.

                Leo’s view of the world shifted even as his body did: his eyesight and sense of smell became less sharp, while his hearing shifted in a different manner, broadening in scope.  He ended up on his side as a human and grimaced at the way the hard ground dug into his softer hide.  But then Hakyeon was there, rolling him onto his back and carding slender fingers through stiff hair.

                “Easy,” he soothed in a gentle tone, using the clean side of his stained jacket to pillow Leo’s head while he removed even his thin undershirt to tear into strips.  “I’ve got you.”  Tanned skin, some of which was beginning to bruise on a large scale, practically glowed in the light of the setting sun while he savaged his shirt for Leo’s sake, making an improvised bandage and patch for the larger wound and using the remnants to clean up the smaller ones that hid better on his dragon hide.

                “You are troublesome, Hakyeon,” the dragon sighed as he held his rider’s hand when the other was finally finished, his shirt spent and the light almost lost.

                “I know,” he smiled in return, brushing back silver bangs reflexively and hunching closer against the growing chill in the air.  “But if I didn’t cause you grief, who else would?” he chuckled, clutching Leo’s hand against his bare chest.

                Leo closed his eyes and exhaled, “I’m sure someone would show up.”  Resting felt good while the last rays of the sun continued to seep into his battered hide.  Hakyeon’s presence was a small comfort and though he knew nightfall would bring further dangers, he was glad for the moment.

                “Thank you,” Hakyeon eventually offered, lying down beside Leo for comfort as much as the extra warmth they could share.  “For saving me today,” he explained when no response was forthcoming.

                “You are my rider,” Leo answered after a brief pause, as if that explained everything.

                “But still,” Hakyeon urged, raising his head to look Leo in the eyes, searching for something.

                “You’re welcome,” he finally murmured, freeing his hand so he could extend his arm under Hakyeon’s head, providing an impromptu pillow to pull him closer.

                “We’re gonna be okay, you know,” his rider murmured, curling closer with one hand across Leo’s chest and his head resting on the closest shoulder.  “We are,” he reiterated when a rustling sound nearby drew both their attention.

                Leo groaned as he sat up, taking Hakyeon with him while he kept his arm around the smaller male protectively.  He fixed his gaze on the greenery nearby and grit his teeth.  Neither of them were in any condition to fend off the shadow golems and he had no idea how he was going to keep them safe if that was what was just beyond their sight.  “Stay behind me,” Leo hissed quietly, forcing himself to his feet as he pushed Hakyeon to his back, creating a weak barrier between the rider and whatever was in front of them.

                “You can barely stand,” Hakyeon whispered, bending down to retrieve the bloody rock from earlier and holding it close, ready to throw it at whatever was there.

                The rustling grew louder and both held their breath as the sun’s light brightened for a heartbeat, the last glimmer of true day, before a growing gloom settled in its stead.  Nothing jumped out at them the unseen creature shuffled past, disturbing the shrubs with minute motions in its passing.  Neither was paying any to their back and the pair jumped in tandem in the next moment.

                “Hello the ground!”

                Hakyeon jumped against Leo, one wrapping around his waist as he pulled the stone back as if he was going to throw it.  The dragon stifled a pained cry as he bared his fangs in reaction, looking up to see who was there.  Only when he saw two other dragons flying did he allow his features to relax, the beginnings of a relieved smile appearing on his face.  “It’s Ravi and Hyuk,” he whispered, focusing on the dragons themselves.

                “Thank the Dragon Master we found you!” Hongbin beamed from atop Ravi’s back, the deep orange dragon appearing red in the failing light.

                “You certainly left enough of a trail for us to follow,” Ken added from Hyuk’s back, dark leathers nearly blending in perfectly with the dark brown hide.

                “See?” Hakyeon laughed with relief, dropping the rock shard so he could hug Leo carefully, his arms tense but tender.  “I told you we’d be alright.”

                “Yes,” Leo nodded, shifting enough to drape his arm over Hakyeon’s shoulders, hugging him close.  “You did.”  Bothersome rider.

                “I heard that,” Hakyeon muttered dryly, though amusement danced in his voice.

                “I know,” Leo snorted softly once, turning his head to press his lips against Hakyeon’s silver hair while the dragons carefully touched down in front of them, their forms almost too large for the small space.

                “Let’s go home, Leo,” Hakyeon whispered, fingers tightening against his dragon’s body.

                Leo nodded his head in mute agreement while he guided them both towards their waiting friends and rescuers.  Home sounded like a wonderful idea indeed.

(a/n: Huzzah!  I do so enjoy fantasy and dragons.  hehe  Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!)