Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 678 - 677 - Dragon Bonds

Ethry had been learning from Mira about alchemy when her soul stirred.  At first, she worried Lind had been hurt but instead she felt joy!

His progenitor path had been solidified!  Warmth spread through her and the world fell away as her own soul path was still connected to him.

At that moment, the obstruction of the Law Binding fell away but that was when she felt his emotions.

There was the joy and liberation of settling to his path but also terror and anger.  The anger seemed to be from several sources but the terror was new.  Something Lind was experiencing was scaring him.

She tried to reach out but a barrier still stood between them so she could only look on, but then something changed.

A new presence came into her bond!  Her eyes narrowed but then calmed as she felt the new presence was so weak and near death.

A variant bloodline was being brought into their connection and based on how it felt, it would have died if he had not acted.

"Lind, you are too soft."  She smiled as she spoke but she then firmed her heart and pulsed out her dominance.  While she could not reach out to Lind, the bond itself was hers.  She formed it with Lind at her birth as she felt he was hers.

It had nothing to do with being a dragon as that came much later.  She had felt his soul in his flames as they gave her life.  He was in so much pain yet kept reaching out to help others.  He loved his family deeply but saw their pain as his own.

She also felt his desire to simply let her be born as the final wish of her parents and their friend.

He put no expectations on her nor did he think to tame her.  She knew through her race memories how rare such a person was.  She chose in that moment to bond to him.

She had been too young to fully grasp what she was doing but she followed her instinct.

She never regretted it and after Lind became a dragon, it was like their bond had become a thousand times more powerful than before.  She felt his love not only for her but the others.

She had been jealous when she was younger but eventually they got through to each other.  Now, another had been added but the conditions were very different.

Lind had acted to save a life, regardless of the method but the price was a bond of blood between him and the newly born dragon.  Even if there were no feelings of desire between them, the bond would arouse their blood.

Unlike her bond, it was one of blood and instinct.  She knew it would make it difficult for them to restrain themselves but thankfully, she was there.

Her bloodline was superior to the new dragon as was Lind's.  She would actually feel restraints to consummate the new bond until Ethry had.

"Naughty boys will be punished."  Ethry felt the wall rise back up as Lind collapsed from exhaustion.  She then saw Mira looking at her oddly but Ethry simply smiled and explained that the bond had drawn her attention but refrained from going into depth.

She would save that for her sisters.  A smile crossed her face as the likely responses from Shoti and Cyntilla were going to be excellent.

Ethry returned to her lessons and began to plan the greeting she would have for Lind when he finally arrived.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Lind woke up incredibly sore.  His body and soul felt odd to him.  He was used to examining his harmony and dantian along with his body's balance to it all but at that moment, it felt like it had all been remade from the ground up.

"I was holding back too long."  He was about to try and get up when his mind froze.  Where once there had been the blocked bond of Ethry alone, there was now another one!

"Wha–?!"  He laid back and closed his eyes as he focused on the new connection.  Unlike Ethry, the new one was wide open!  Further, he felt it was very familiar.  As he focused on it and studied it, a chill went down his spine.

"S-surely I did not—I mean I did not intend–"  Lind tried to excuse himself but his own memory came back as his instinct had warned him of the consequences of his actions.  He let out a tired sigh before imagining the rough welcome he would have when he got to his family.

"Emperor?"  A voice pierced his thoughts as he opened his eyes to see a young man waiting in his door.  He was back in his quarters in the Core Hall.

"Let the others know I am awake.  I need some time to adjust but no more than a day."  He already felt like his body and soul were recovering and strengthening.  He suspected his physical strength would need some fine tuning if he did not want to hurt anyone.

He also wanted to test his transformation to see if it was like he remembered in that special space.  He also felt a lingering terror but it was hard for him to recall why.

What had he found in that strange space when he saved Lanbao?

If he could not recall it, it was likely due to it being beyond his ability to understand or perhaps it was Heaven protecting his existence from something on another level.

As he slowly stood up, one of his fears was alleviated as he did not shatter any of the wooden poles at each bed corner.  He could also drink a cup of water without destroying it.

Battle would be another matter but before he could even go through his normal routine, his new bond suddenly flooded his mind and body!

His blood felt like fire in his veins and his heart was racing.  He felt the desire ride roughshod over his normal controls like they were paper!  He realized if Lanbao was in front of him, he would take her right there!

As soon as he thought of Ethry in guilt the feeling evaporated like it was an illusion!  His body was covered in sweat and he even felt weak!  What was that?

He carefully reviewed what happened and tried to piece together what triggered it when another wave hit him!

He collapsed as his body wanted one thing yet once more, Ethry cleared it all away.

He focused on the instinct and finally grasped why.

"Children.  I have to produce children before Lanbao can be with me, eh?  Dragons are weird."  He had been with his wives many times but he had held back on one aspect they all wanted.  Children.

Now, he was never so glad he had been putting it off as he was dealing with an undesired consequence of saving a life.  What was he going to do?

His bloodline was superior but if Lanbao lost restraint, there was damned little he could do to stop her!  Further, his own blood would react outside of his control!

He slowly downed an elixir and was happy no further uncontrollable waves hit him as he stood up like a weak newborn.

"Oh the mighty Divine Progenitor, behold his great power as he is forced to crawl back into bed after trying to stand up!"  Lind was feeling a bit negative as he collapsed onto the mattress.

He might need more than a day to recover even with elixirs.

He was about to drift off when a knock came at his door.  Lind was about to answer it when his new bond warned him who it was!  He put a firm image of Ethry in his mind before answering.

[Come in, Lanbao.]

A woman came in that had familiar coloring but her beauty had been enhanced massively.  It was not merely his own perception that might be affected as he saw the guards were just as floored by her!

She was always voluptuous before but now her human form was like the apex of beauty.  The only being that was above her was Ethry.  Dragons seemed to pride their appearance in any form they took.

Lind felt a slight stir but Ethry's image calmed him.  He saw Lanbao was blushing but she also seemed in control.

He waved to a chair and she sat down.

"So, I am glad you are alive but I doubt that is why you are here."  Lind was proud how calm he sounded despite the small storm in his mind.  He saw her turn even more crimson and it made things so much worse!

"L-l-l-lord Frey.  I am grateful beyond words that you saved me, b-b-but I did not desire to be your mate."  He had never seen her struggle to speak before.  She also refused to look at him!  She was a shy maiden all of a sudden?!

"Lanbao, look at me."  Her shyness and Ethry's image helped calm him entirely.  He knew she could overpower him if she lost control but he trusted her.  She slowly looked up and her azure eyes were glistening with tears.

"I–I–I can barely hold back!  If not for your wife not having a child I do not think I could have come here!"  He felt it.  His bond was practically overflowing as he now understood what had nearly wrecked him was her thoughts of him!

He had been wrong, she could destroy him from within without even lifting a finger.

"I knew the consequences of my actions.  I will not lie.  I care for you but not in the way our bodies desire.  Whether that will change is not something we will know but my wives will have their say.  Assuming I am not flayed alive, I hope you can at least be in amicable relationships with them."  It was not Lanbao's fault.

Even Kora, despite her likely harsh reaction to another dragon, would not blame her since it was about saving a life.  Lind almost smiled to see that particular fiery temper once more.

Lind then pictured his memories of his wives and their precious moments between training, battles, and struggles.  The journey had been hard but he would not trade away any moment with them no matter how hard it was to get there.

Lanbao slowly calmed down and began to seem lonely.  Lind smiled at her.

"You are not alone, Lanbao, but we will have to clearly state our boundaries.  We are friends for certain but no more than that at this moment."  Lind spoke not as a progenitor or Emperor but as a dragon to another.

Lanbao slowly nodded as she felt his sincerity and it warmed her heart.  She had been alone by that mountain for so long that she had forgotten how much she had once been close to other beasts of her generation.

They were all gone and she had been left trapped by the Law Binding so long she wanted to keep the world at bay.  Only Lind had pierced that bubble but it had been seeing him as a superior dragon and progenitor.

She had not had to deal with these emotions for a very long time and Lind was helping by defining the scope of it.  She nodded and they began to talk.  It was little things but far more personal than before.

The new bond was strong between them but it was still vague.  The future was unknown but Lanbao promised to be earnest and honest about her true feelings as they moved forward.  The bonds of dragons were normally straightforward but LInd was a new kind of dragon and the bonds he created were not so simple.  The future would be interesting indeed.