Dragon Drive

Chapter Two:

The Clan

It took them over six hours of Roume’s insane driving to get to his home deep in Oregon. A painful six hours, as the large man had displayed little more than tense annoyance, switching between blasting the AC and the blaring radio as if he were trying to keep his mind off of something. During that time James asked a thousand and a half questions as he fought off the cramps ripping through his abdomen, none of which were answered except to turn his radio up so that he could no longer hear his nephew’s ‘bitching.’

James was damn fed up with everything by the time they pulled into a long gravel driveway that was surrounded on all sides by tall trees. It was afternoon and their shadows were long as they crept up to a large mansion nestled in a cleared out section of trees. Everything was green and lush and it smelled so much like nature that James thought he was going to be sick.

Roume looked over when he cut the engine and growled, “What’s wrong?”

“It smells!” James barked, then paused, “Where are we? What are we doing here? What the fuck is going on!”

“Shut up!” He snapped, “I’ll explain it all in a minute, right now you need to – GET DOWN!” Roume reached out and grabbed the back of James’ head and shoved him down into a very painful bend that pulled on his tail, “Stay down, alright? Don’t you move until I clear out the house. It’s for your own safety damnit.” He popped the door open and jumped out swiftly before closing the truck door and running off a ways.

James poked his head up and saw Roume run up the driveway towards the massive house. A smaller man had come out and was walking down the path. He was stopped when he saw the man talking, and they conversed shortly before the white-haired man nodded and glanced over to the truck; James ducked swiftly in the hopes that Roume did not see him peeking.

When he looked back up they were both gone. James took the opportunity and popped open the door, then jumped out. As soon as his feet hit the gravel walkway he turned and took off.

He had no idea where he was. He had no idea where to go. He was still wearing only a shawl, but damn it all he ran with the back side of the shawl flashing his skinny white ass with every ounce of power he had. James made a promise to himself that day. He would never again run naked in cold weather.

A growl from the trees had made him jump, and no sooner did a large purple beast jump out into his path. James backpedaled so swiftly that he lost his balance and hit the ground with a skid, sharp gravel rocks digging into his skin as he let out a yell of surprise. Unlike himself or Roume this creature was long and slender, very angular and reminded James of a cobra, a fact that did not help when the beast lashed out and grabbed his shawl with his large teeth, pulling him up and leaving him completely naked.

A crash from behind him gave him further shock and the purple dragon flinched back, sending James flying across the gravel once more. Roume was snarling and roaring, forcing the purple dragon back suddenly. James jumped up, prepared to flee again when he was snatched up by a large clawed paw. He struggled and flailed and shrieked and spat his curses until he was literally blue in the face, but Roume ignored them all as he was carried back up the gravel pathway back to the house.

When they reached the porch the dragon shifted back into the man who slung James over his shoulder, ignoring ever kick and punch he threw. When he tried to use the axe on the tip of his tail Roume grabbed his tail and squeezed it so hard that James let out a squawk and thrashed hard as pain shot up his spine. They were both naked and Roume walked casually across a large living area with vaulted ceilings. He hardly had time to admire the scenery however as he alternated between thrashing for freedom and from the pain in his tail.

They walked into a hallway and as they entered James reached out and grabbed the corner of the wall and hung on tight, causing Roume to stop for a moment and give another squeeze on his tail that caused a yowl of pain before his grip gave out. He was aware that he was dragging pictures off the wall as he was being dragged away and finally a door was opened and he was thrown inside.

The door slammed closed and James was aware of a locking noise from the other side. He ran to the door and slammed on it, “HEY!” He screamed, “Let me out! God damnit you can’t keep me locked in here,” he continued to slam on the door for a few minutes before he spun around.

The room was very large and open, with two large windows on either side of a four poster bed. The carpet beneath his floor was deep blue and the white washed walls were bare. He noticed little of this however as he ran to the window nearest to him and realized with a pit in his stomach that it was barred. Stubbornly he decided to try opening them anyway, and found them welded shut.

James was left with nothing to do but scour every inch of the room. He found a bathroom, a closet and several stashes of jewelry that he collected on the bed. When he gave up finding an escape route, the frustrated dragon crawled onto the bed, curled up around his gems and just brooded the rest of his time away.

Roume returned, dressed, after night had fallen. He slipped into the room quickly with a plate in his hand and a bag on his arm. James jumped up and the two stared each other down for a long minute before Roume stepped forward and offered out the food. James took it, looking wary.

“Now that the insanity is over, I can finally answer some questions.” He said, folding his arms over his chest, “But make it fast, I can’t stay here long.”

Where would James begin? “Why couldn’t I ask you questions in the car?” he spat as he cut up the handsome steak on his plate, then poked at the diced potatoes.

“Because I had to focus on getting us here quickly. It was near impossible to concentrate.”

“Why is that?” James asked, glaring through another mouthful.

“Because I don’t think you’d appreciate your dear old Uncle trying to jump your bones.” He rumbled, squaring his stance defensively.

James dropped his fork with a loud clatter as he sat there stunned, “W-WHAT?! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT!”

“Because your scent is just beggin for it!” he shot, “None of us have scented a female dragon in a long time, get it? And there you were lazing out in the middle of the woods laid out for any male that came by and yelling at them to come find you!”

“I’m not a woman!”

“Well your dragon form certainly is!”

Another bought of stunned silence as James’ mouth hung wide open. “That’s preposterous!” he bellowed, “How can I be a man and a woman? That’s physically impossible!”

“Are you honestly telling me that a month ago you thought changing into a dragon at all was physically possible?”

“Well, NO! But that has nothing to do with the situation!”

Roume reached up and rubbed his temples, “Look, I can’t explain it, I’m not a science kind of person. But your scent will attract every male dragon in a hundred miles or more, and once word gets out, there will be a whole lot more out here looking for you. I’m not here to keep you a prisoner, I’m here to keep you safe because you’re family. We’re going to figure this out, but I need for you to trust me alright?”

“YOU JUST SAID YOU WANTED TO FUCK ME!”

“I TOLD YOU I HAVENT SCENTED A FEMALE IN OVER TWO-THOUSAND YEARS!”

“THAT’S WHAT THEY HAVE DATING WEBSITES FOR YOU OLD PERVERT!”

Roume just growled and threw the bag on the floor before he left, slamming and locking the door behind him. “Just stay in there. I’ll be back to bring you food in the morning.”

 

#-#-#

James had been in that room ever since. At least six days. Roume came three times a day to give him food or clothing, and after the first night he was brought a television so that he would not go entirely insane. James remained curled up with his gems, fighting off waves of cramps. He had seemingly random flashes of irritability and had shredded several pillows and his blankets with teeth and claws.

Recalling on the past events did little to ease his mood, especially since Roume spent less and less time around him as the days went on. Sometimes if he looked out of the windows he could see other men outside on the grass or walking in and out of the forest. He guessed that there were at least six people who lived in the house save for himself.

Slowly James crawled off of his bed and made his way to the bathroom as another wave crashed over him. Haggard, he stumbled to the counter and braced himself as he looked up into the mirror. To think that only a month ago he was normal, he was just average! He would give anything to have that back!

He stared at himself…every day he changed a little more. His brown hair was fluffy and getting rather long. His skin was getting thick and he was swiftly losing fat and gaining muscle, his jaw looked stronger as well he actually admitted that he liked how strong he looked. How could anyone call him a female when he looked like this?

Another wave hit him and he crumpled over with a growl. In his frustration he slammed his hand down as his tail lashed out behind him and put another cut into the wall. He looked back to see the pain peeled and scratched away with chipped drywall revealing a metal wall behind it. Most everything in his room was actually lined with metal he found as he looked to where he had chipped away the corner of the granite countertop.

James washed his face with cold water, then frowned and turned the heat up to scalding before washing his face again. This, however, did not satisfy him. With a growl he went to the large Jacuzzi tub and turned the knob for hot water as far as it would go. He had learned quickly that heat did not bother him, why should it?

He crawled into the tub and spent over an hour there, fogging up the bathroom until he could barely see his hand in front of his face. He draped himself over the edge of the tub and found himself unwilling to move.

“James?” Roume’s voice rumbled from the other side of the bathroom door with a knock, “I got some food out here for you.”

He let out a sigh, “Just…put it on the bed please?”

There was a long pause and James noted that Roume did not move, “Actually, you want to come out and eat at the table with the rest of us?”

The offer was surprising and James lifted his head. “Uh…you serious? You sure the others won’t try to jump me?” There was a bitter tone to his voice as he lowered his head to the edge of the tub.

“Hey, don’t ruin this. You’re taking a hot bath and you won’t have that scent on you for a little bit. Should be long enough for you to come out and meet the others safely. So get out, put on the clean clothes I’m leaving for you, the door will be open. Just make sure you don’t touch anything until you’re out of the room.”

While it sounded like an odd request, James had come to realize that dragons must have had an incredible sense of smell, even in a human form. This was a quality he had not acquired yet however, and was still uncertain about. He sat back and kicked the drain open, “Alright, thanks.”

He was no less ok with essentially being a prisoner in the house, in fact he had screamed at Roume several times about it. However, he had little choice in the matter.

He exited the bathroom wrapped in a towel, feeling freezing now that he was not surrounded by the near boiling water. He looked around and spotted a plastic bag with clothes inside. A pair of jeans and a beige turtleneck, both of which just barely fit him, not that he minded because he had no problem with how in-shape he was looking anymore. As Roume had promised, the door was left open for him, and he slipped outside into the hallway.

Immediately it hit him. A colorful menagerie of smells that filled his mind and was almost enough to give him a headache. It was wonderful, yet stank at the same time.

“James,” Roume stood at the end of the hallway, arms crossed, “Something wrong?”

The man just groaned, “Smells weird…”

“You’ve been cooped up in that room. It’s not surprising. That room smells only of you, since I always made sure to bathe before entering. We have six people other than you in this house, and right now you’re getting all of their scents at once.”

He took another breath and his mind was filled with rainbows, something which he found odd. “Why do I see colors?”

“Colors?” Roume asked, looking confused for a second, “Oh. Scents are as much a mental aspect as a sense. Every scent will bring something to your mind, for most dragons it’s different. Don’t worry, once you get used to it you’ll learn to be able to ignore it until you need it.”

James huffed, “Why couldn’t you be this helpful before?” he shot.

He turned and started walking, motioning for James to follow, “Well I’m fucking sorry Princess, I’ve been trying to keep you safe if you hadn’t noticed. I have actually been looking forward to the day you became a dragon, because your father wouldn’t have been around to do it.”

James followed Roume out of the hallway, his eyes scanning over the photos and paintings that were all over the walls. None of them matched any of the décor, ranging from photos to paintings to maps. “Where is my father anyway?”

“Rian is posing as an archaeologist, I think he’s currently out in Egypt somewhere. He sends his regards, I’ve spoken to him quite a bit in the last few days. He flew your mother out to him to keep her safe as well.”

James looked down at the deep blue carpet as they walked, frowning heavily. His father had spoken to everyone but him about all of this…

“I-Is that him?” A quiet, meek voice attracted James’ attention. He looked up and saw the white-haired man again, this time much closer. He was tiny, with slim shoulders and everything about his scrawny body screamed that he was the physical incarnation of a mouse.

Roume grunted, “Yep. James, this is Dante.”

James hesitated as the smaller man approached and held out a tiny hand, barely outstretched as he appeared ready to flee at any moment. “It’s…nice to meet you. Um, I’m sorry that things have been so crazy.” He smiled brightly, “But you’re strong, you’re very strong. Um…I mean, personality wise…”

Roume cleared his throat, “Dante is a white dragon. They’re rare because most dragons will eat them if they get the chance. Easy prey.” Dante flushed out of shame and pulled his hand away, “But they have the ability to sense other dragons and can tell their auras. Dante here had quite a few run-ins.”

“But I’m ok! Don’t worry. The others protect me.” He smiled pleasantly.

As all of this was going on, Dante’s scent had begun to creep into James’ nose. White, pale white, almost ethereal and he scented of a pure and crisp winter breeze. It was pleasant and powerful, overriding the other scents around him. He blinked when the other two looked up at him.

“James is still getting used to everything.” Roume said.

“Oh! Well, I can imagine that this house is very over stimulating for a brand new dragon.” At James’ confused look Dante continued on, “Oh um…there are six dragons living on this territory. It’s a rather unusual amount actually. Dragon clans don’t usually exceed three…” He blinked, realizing that he was confusing James more.

Roume interjected, “Dragon Clans, or Families, are usually very small because dragons don’t often get along well with each other. Especially when you get into the different Scales…er, colors. Each Scale has their own ingrained personality types, along with an attribute that is unique to them. Such as a white dragon’s ability to sense other dragons and their colors.”

James pondered this, then offered, “We’re…brown?”

“Bronze.” Roume corrected, “We’re what is known as a Meta dragon, and we don’t have a special attribute. We’re generally smaller, but sturdy and strong with real good senses. That nose you got there is only gonna get better as you grow.”

“Oh…” He just took all this in, then tipped his head up and smelled the air, “Something smells really good.”

Dante stiffened, “Oh goodness, the roast!” He turned and fled across the living room and ducked into an alcove.

James must have looked confused because Roume just shook his head, “He’s like the Clan mother. He takes care of us. You should thank him ‘cause he’s been cookin all your meals.”

They started walking again and James got another view of the living room. It was enormous, with more crap hung up on the wall than a pawn shop. There was a table with chairs and a stack of cards, a massive television and several large couches that could easily double as beds. “Where do you get all of the money for this?” James blurted, noting how much of it was rather lavish, like the amenities in his room.

“Well when you live for several thousand years and hoard treasure like dragons do, money isn’t hard to come by. Though convincing us to let go of our treasure can be kind of difficult. But the house itself we built ourselves. Dorn made sure that all of the walls were lined with steel.”

“Dorn?”

“You’ll meet him. He’s a Stone dragon, another Meta like us.”

“So…my mom told me that female dragons are supposed to be really rare.” James said, the idea popping into his head and making him somewhat queasy as it was touching on a topic that he both wanted nothing to do with and find out more about.

Roume snorted, “Rare? Try extinct,” he growled, “Long time ago back…during the good old time of little villages and terrorizing townsfolk-“

“Wait, all of that was real?”

The man laughed, “Oh yeah, those were the glory days. Humans feared us, we had the land to ourselves. There were a lot more dragons back then.” He paused, waiting to see if there were any more questions as they sauntered their way into a lavish looking dining room with a massive rectangular table that was piled high with food, “Anyway, long time ago there was a witch,”

“Wait there were witches too? Are there like, other things?”

“Would you let me finish!” Roume snapped and waited to see if James would give him more lip. He huffed, “There was a witch, nothing impressive really. Mean old lady. Anyway her daughter was eaten by a dragon and in her unending rage she sacrificed herself to cast a spell over dragons that intended to end our species. None of us took it to heart until all of our women started falling ill. It was a plague that affected all dragon kind, but eventually the males got over it. Most of the females died though.”

James frowned and leaned against one of the chairs as he watched Dante flit about, “And these females were like me or no?”

Roume shrugged, “No idea. Back then dragons had almost no reason to use a human disguise. I don’t think I ever saw a female dragon outside of her scales.”

“So what’s our reason now?”

“Protection. This ain’t the time of knights and monarchy anymore. Villages and towns aren’t made of wood and torches, magic and the like is nearly dead. As humans got more advanced they posed a threat to the dragons. What very few females were left ended up hunted down and killed. Now-a-days human technology outmatches a dragon’s strength and magic.” Roume actually looked sad, “We had to find a way to protect ourselves. There are a lot of stubborn dragons who hide out and refuse to disguise themselves, I know there’s a huge Clan up in the Himalayas where most humans don’t go.”

James thought about all of this, playing with his hands in front of him. He wanted to ask what was going to happen to him now but found the words hard to form. The area was silent save for the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen.

A yelp from behind made James jump and yell in response, spinning around to see another man standing just outside of the dining room. He was long and angular, with thin eyes and…purple hair? The scent of rain hit him, bringing to mind a gray day right after a rainstorm. His eyes were blue and his skin had an almost unnatural sheen to it.

Roume turned and looked up, “Ah. James this is Evran. He’s a violet. Actually I think you two have already met.”

James was confused for a moment before he remembered the purple dragon who… “Y-YEAH! You attacked me!”

Evran blinked and shrank down some, “O-Oh! No,” He smiled weakly, “No please, I didn’t attack you. I was trying to keep you from running off. I meant no harm by it, honest.” He reached out a hand that was small and sharp, with black painted nails, “I do apologize if I scared you.”

James looked at the hand, feeling a little uncertainty. After what Roume had told him he was unsure if he trusted the dragon’s story. The hand retracted after a moment, followed by a polite smile, “In any case, it is nice to finally meet you.”

James nodded, “It’s nice to be out of that room.” He looked between Evran and Roume, “So, what attribute do Violet dragons have?”

Roume nodded, “Magic,” he said, “Violet dragons are the incarnation of Magic.”

From the other side of the living room the front door opened and another man walked in, this one tall and sleek with blonde hair and a handsome face. He was covered in dirt and had a basket of vegetables on his arm. He stopped and looked up, examining James as much as James was examining him.

“That’s Tarren.” Roume said, turning to give the man a smile, “He’s a Green dragon, all about nature and plants.”

Tarren approached and gave a little smile and a nod.

“Oh, and he’s a mute.”

“Oh, well…it’s a pleasure to meet you.” James said and nodded towards him, then watched as the dragon slowly slipped away into the kitchen with Dante. “Are the others going to be here soon?”

“Dorn hasn’t got off of work yet and Syn is…” He looked around, “I don’t know where. Probably fell asleep in  the river somewhere. He’s a Blue dragon, or a Sea dragon as they’re better known. I wouldn’t worry about it, we see him every few days.”

Dante poked his head out, “Ok! Dinner’s ready! Grab a plate, don’t be shy. Plenty for everyone.”

Suddenly all eyes were on James and he looked around between everyone. “Er…something wrong?” He asked, his voice nearly breaking.

Roume reached up to rub the back of his neck, “Well, traditionally a female will eat before the males.”

James twitched, a rush of embarrassment and annoyance, “I AM NOT A WOMAN!”

“Well you sure as hell bitch like one!”

“R-Roume?” Dante’s voice was quiet but seemed to command the man’s attention.

Nobody moved for a long moment. James realized that none of the others were going to eat until he got his food and the thought irritated him to no end. Finally Dante stepped out of the kitchen fully and smiled, taking up a plate to begin serving himself.

James relaxed and the tension subsided. Tarren followed behind Dante and finally everyone began to get their food. Even James took up his plate at last.

Once everyone was sitting James took up his fork and noticed that nobody else had. All eyes were back on him and it took everything in his power not to shriek in frustration. Once more Dante took the lead and began eating, with James close behind. How frustrating.

Evran cleared his throat, “Vagina.” He said quite casually.

James tensed up and found himself nearly choking. “W-WHAT?!”

The dragon laughed, “I had a feeling it would break the silence. So tell us about yourself James.” He said, taking another bite.

James shrugged, “Nothing much to tell. I was an average student…” He shrugged, “My life has been pretty boring up until a few days ago. I’m actually more interested in knowing about you guys.” He said, looking around. The scents around the table were strong and James was having trouble sorting them all out. However something about them had the man relaxed…he felt safe.

They all exchanged looks and shrugged, “Most of us are a few thousand years old.”

“Well, Roume you said that dragon Clans don’t usually get this big. What’s different about this one?”

The man shrugged, “Only one Alpha. Dante is a White and can hardly fend for himself,” The littler man seemed to have no intention of fighting this statement, “One of Dorn’s wings got torn off during a territory fight long time ago… Syn is afraid of open water, Tarren is a mute…”

“And what about Evran?”

“Well he’s my son.” He reached out to pat the man’s shoulder, “By adoption technically. His father abandoned him.”

James got stuck on a sudden thought, “Wait, you said only one Alpha? So, it’s like a wolf pack?”

The man grunted, “Wolves got it from us,” he corrected, “But with Dragons you see, we have a born hierarchy. There are Alphas, like myself, Betas like Dorn and Evran, and Deltas like Syn, Tarren and Dante.” He nodded, “It’s something that we’re born with and most other dragons can scent on one another.”

Dante cleared his throat and Roume looked over, “Roume? Aren’t you forgetting one?”

The man blinked, “Right… There’s one other level. The Omegas. To most humans and wolf packs it’s a sign of the lowest or the weakest but to dragons it’s…well, there is only one Omega per Scale. They’re the strongest, the fastest and the highest of all of us.”

James processed this for a moment, “Alright, so you said it’s something we’re born with, what’s my rank?”

Roume shook his head, “Females take on the rank of whomever they mate with. Their power will either grow or wane depending. So you won’t have a status until you take a mate.”

James twitched and growled, “The only mate I’m gonna have is a woman!” he shot, “And if I have to make that a human woman I will! No way in hell am I gonna hook up with another man! Not gonna happen!” He shoved a forkful of steak in his mouth.

“Yeah yeah, just shut up and eat.”

The man frowned and glared down at his plate, then wrinkled his nose and grimaced when he felt a sudden cramp hit. He grabbed his stomach.

“James?” Dante asked with concern in his voice, “Are you alright?”

He sighed, “Yeah…god but when do these stomach cramps end?” He asked.

Everyone looked at him confusedly. “How long have you been having them?” Dante asked.

James shrugged, “Ever since I woke up after drinking the milk.”

Tarren made some gestures that Dante watched and nodded, “So, ever since you officially began coming into your dragonhood.” James nodded and Tarren went back to making signs with his hands.

Dante’s eyes went wide and he made a few panicked sounds, “O-OH! Oh dear, um… Who wants desserts?!” He jumped up and took his plate, fleeing into the kitchen. “We have um…well, everything we normally do, Roume? Anything? Anyone?”

Everyone except for Tarren was looking around confused. Tarren looked to Evran and made a few signs. The violet began laughing hysterically and Roume’s face went beet red.

“What the hell is going on!” James barked.

Roume cleared his throat, “Well… Tarren is suggesting that you’re on  your period…”

Brain fried for many long minutes, he just stared before… “WAIT WHAT!?”