Scales of Love

by luxshine

Summary:

After the events of Jai, Lava, Kusa, Jai survived but he and his brothers need a peaceful place to rebuild their relationship and get away from the darkness. Kasi, one of Jai's underlings, suggests the town of Rangasthalam, where he grew up. What the triplets didn't expect was to call the attention of the Water Dragon who watched over Rangasthalam.

Chapter 1: Rangashtalam’s Dragon

Jai Kumar looked through the window and across the street from their new house and smiled when he saw the man he was looking for, standing at the corner. The man wasn’t still, and Jai was convinced he was actually unable to stay still, as he hopped from one foot to the other, obviously a bundle of energy who should not be drinking any amount of coffee.

And yet, Jai knew the man would be crossing the street as soon as they opened the little shop and order the same thing he had ordered every time. A cappuccino with as much foam as Lava could put on the cup without it spilling over.

They had moved to Rangasthalam four months ago, and opened the Coffee-Flower shop three months later. And that man, with the colorful lungi -to date, Jai had never seen the man repeat a lungi- and the ray-ban glasses had arrived the first day, asked for “those fancy coffees with the foamy milk” and ever since then had become Jai Lava Kusa’s most faithful client.

He was also the only client who didn’t seem curious about the triplets and why had they moved to a tiny village that many people didn’t know existed. Everyone else who had come to the shop had ended up trying to ask. Some even had recognized Jai Kumar as a recent elected politician who had given up his seat right after the election due to health matters. None got answers, of course, the triplets, even Kusa, had become quite good at not giving up information that was none’s business but their own, but Jai wondered why their best client had never asked.

Then again, they hadn’t asked his name either. It was all very respectful in all directions.

Jai looked at his watch, and saw that it was 5 minutes to opening hours. Seeing their client so excited, he looked at Lava, who was busying himself with the coffee makers and the different blends as to not be as open as Jai at watching the man across the street and smiled.

“I think we ca-can open up a bit earlier to-today, yes?” He asked Lava, being rewarded by his brother smiling brightly at the idea.

They all liked their constant client. Jai knew that, and it had been a bit of a sore point regarding who had seen him first. Kusa insisted it had been him. Lava, very politely as he always was, said it had been him. Jai was adamant he had been the first one who noticed the man, and thus, was the one who had the right to woo him. They had reached a stalemate and that was why no one actually spoke to the man.

It was funny, how easily they all had forgotten Priya and Simran. But then, Simran had always been a bad idea. Jai had no idea why he had wanted her now, much less why he had thought asking Kusa to seduce her in his place would work.

To be fair, back when he was Ravana, he didn’t think thoroughly. He just took and took and took, without giving anything back.

It had been eight months since Ravana had died, and Jai couldn’t be happier for that. Sure, Ravana had protected him, kept him from a world that constantly hurt him, but when Ravana had tried to kill Lava and Kusa? That’s when Jai came back, ready to protect the brothers that, no matter what Ravana said, he had never stopped loving.

Ravana died protecting his brothers, and Jai was the one who lived, because he had realized that all the admiration, all the acknowledgment he needed was from his brothers, and he’d be damned if he’d died before showing them both how much he still loved them.

Of course, the one reason Jai had survived had also been that Kasi, his second in command after Tapan’s death, had not only disobeyed orders and followed him, but also disabled the bomb Ravana had ordered to be put under Lava and Kusa’s car, and called an ambulance before getting to the fight scene, so that Jai was treated for his wounds immediately and thus could live to see another day.

Kasi had been the one who suggested they moved to Rangasthalam, saying that it was small enough and far away enough that they could heal and get a completely new life if they wanted. The town was, according to Kasi, protected by a water dragon who made sure that there was no crime or corruption, so there wouldn’t be any temptations for Ravana to resurge.

The dragon was the only thing that worried Jai, if he was to be honest. From the moment they had arrived, he and his brothers had tired to meet him in order to give their respects and tribute. After all, it was just to be polite, and to make sure they didn’t anger the dragon accidentally. For years and years, dragons and mankind had a nice relationship where dragons protected certain villages in exchange of items for their hoards. While now a days it was rare to see a dragon out in public, everyone knew they still existed. After all, they could shift between their full dragon form, a hybrid form and, according to legend, full human form so they could pass unnoticed if they wanted.

Jai had only met a dragoness once. A fire dragon who had gone to see his brother’s act, visiting their uncle’s theater in her hybrid form. She had been majestic, elegant and otherworldly as she watched the play with her red rubi eyes fixed on Lava and Kusa. And yet, at the end of the play, she had insisted on meeting Jai too, when Jai had only been in a small role as a grunting demon. She had petted his hair and told him that his soul shone brightly like embers about to burst in flames.

It had been her he had been thinking of the day he set the theater on fire, the day Ravana was born.

So he was very curious about the water dragon of Rangasthalam. But absolutely no one in town would tell him about him, not even what kind of hoard he had, or if there were any rituals he and his brother should follow to appease him.

Kasi insisted the tribute had been taken care off, that there was no way the dragon would take offense at the triplets, and the rest of the villagers just chuckled at them every time they asked.

It was an infuriating mystery.

He finally opened the store, and just as he expected, their most treasured client practically flew past him, not forgetting to say hi, and ran to the counter where Lava was already waiting for him with a tall cup of cappuccino.

“I put extra cinnamon in the foam today,” Lava told their costumer, who beamed him a bright smile, lowering his dark glasses to see Lava on the eye.

“You’re going to make me think you want to seduce me!” The costumer crowed, and then went to his preferred chair at the back of the store to sip his coffee as he always did.

Jai tried hard not to be jealous. But then, it was obvious the costumer would go for Lava. After all, Lava was not defective like Jai was, and he gave him coffee, while Jai only took care of the flower arrangement side of the store, so he really didn’t have much time to socialize with him.

 

*          *          *

 

Lava Kumar tried, and failed, not to blush as their most constant costumer flirted with him before leaving the counter to go to the chair that he always preferred in the back of the small coffee shop that Lava had opened with his brothers.

It had become a routine, as that particular client was always first when they opened. He stayed long enough to have his cappuccino, which he always called “coffee with foamy milk”, and always left as soon as he finished, paying with cash. Sometimes, another man, whom they had learned was named Maresh, came to get him. Lava had the idea that Maresh worked for their costumer, or his family, because he called their costumer “Sir” and was very respectful.

It was thanks to Maresh that they all had learned that their costumer was hard of hearing, and sometimes -very rarely- would use a hearing aid. So Lava was careful not to yell at the costumer, but also, not to mumble, being as clear as he could. He didn’t know if the costumer appreciated that, but at least, he didn’t complain or yelled at Lava. So he kept doing it.

Lava really liked to see the costumer smile. It made him feel something in his heart, that he hadn’t felt ever since Priya.

Lava sighed, as he took another order, trying not to notice that Jai had looked up at his sigh. Months have passed since he and Priya had broken up, and while it didn’t hurt as much as it had at first, it still hurt.

Lava knew Jai felt guilty about that. When he had been released from the hospital, and asked Lava and Kusa to move in with him to a completely different place, somewhere where they could be a family, Priya had not been happy. She had supported Lava all the time when he had been trying to be a brother to Jai again, but the idea of moving to a “small village in the middle of nowhere” -her words, not Lava’s- hadn’t been appreciated by her. She thought that Lava should be happy just… knowing his brothers were alive, visiting them sometimes.

Lava couldn’t do that. He didn’t want his brothers out of his sight ever again, if he could help it.

And so, when Priya had made an ultimatum, making him choose between her or his brothers, Lava hadn’t hesitated.

His brothers were his life, and he’d follow them anywhere.

It had broken his heart, and Priya had been furious. But now, with distance both in time and miles, Lava knew he had made the right choice. The feelings that the costumer created in him made him even surer, because while he had never been infatuated with a man, he also knew that before re-encountering his brothers, he had been a bit obsessed with being perfectly normal. And that meant that he had never allowed himself to look at a man.

Now, he was allowing himself.

Even if he knew that the costumer would never be his. Because Jai also liked the costumer, it was obvious in his eyes, and so, Lava would never, ever take something from Jai ever again.

That was why he didn’t ask the costumer’s name. He felt that Jai should be the first one to know it, and so did Kusa, who sometimes also looked at their costumer with interest. But just like Lava, he only watched, never touched, never approached more than to smile and joke.

They had decided, without any conversation or debate, that the man had to be Jai’s, if he was to be with any of them. And even if it broke his heart a little bit, Lava knew that he’d be happier if his brother was happy.

Still, he watched. And learned a lot about the man besides his unending love for cappuccinos, and that he had a helper named Maresh.

He knew that their costumer was very liked in the village, as from time to time, people would come to their store and pay for his coffee. There was a woman, Rangamma, who loved the floral teas that Lava made and the arrangements that Jai created, who would more often than not come, see their costumer there, shake her head and pay for a week worth of cappuccinos.

The costumer called her auntie, so he assumed they were family, even if there was not much resemblance between the two.  She was also the only person in town he had seen that would come to the costumer and grabbed him by the ear if he wasn’t paying attention to her.

He also knew that there was some sort of story between their costumer and Kasi, Jai’s underling who had both saved Jai’s life and brought them to Rangashtalam. He knew this because Kasi was always very, very careful not to come to the coffee shop whenever their favorite costumer was around. Lava didn’t know if Jai knew this, because Kasi usually came in from the back door, the one in the kitchen, so that only Lava saw him stop and go away whenever their costumer was there. Given that Kasi had been born and raised in Rangasthalam, Lava was curious about it, but he respected Kasi enough not to ask.

Besides their favorite costumer, Lava liked Rangasthalam. People were nice, no one had tried to con him into anything or asked for money with a sob story -now both Jai and Kusa checked anything that Lava was told when it came to money, and he loved them for caring so much for him.

There was the society, of course, which had once tried to come to get money from the store. Jai was about to deal with the man, a fat, balding guy who introduced himself as Saresh Nadu and started telling Jai about how important it was to keep their new shop safe, when suddenly their favorite costumer coughed.

It had been nothing much, just a cough, probably because the foam of the cappuccino had gotten in the wrong part of his throat, because of the way the costumer flinched at his own cup, seemingly not paying attention to what was going on between Jai and the bald man.

But Lava noticed that the bald man paled immediately upon seeing the costumer, and immediately changed his tune. Instead of asking for “a donation” to insure the safety of the coffee shop, he just mentioned that the Society would be happy to get them any help they needed, that the safety of the shop was insured and that anything that Jai requested could be easily found. Then he had bowed to Jai and left.

Lava knew his brother had been speechless. Jai was used to be treated with respect, but only after he had threatened people himself. Or cut their tongues. Or killed their bodyguards. Lava knew Jai had a lot of sins in his past. But his brother had never, ever been treated with such respect without a threat.

Or perhaps, Lava wondered, there had been a threat. Not just one that Jai had seen.

That alone made their favorite costumer even more intriguing.

It made Lava wish that Jai would just stop being shy, and just asked the costumer out for a date… or at least his name, so that Lava could know how to call his impossible crush.

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa Kumar smiled as the wind hit his now grown hair, as he pedaled the bicycle he had found outside the café in order to deliver the first packages of the day. He could hear the owner of his loaned bike yelling behind him, but Kusa didn’t stop. Once he arrived to his first stop, he’d let the man have his bike back. He wasn’t stealing, he was just borrowing.

And while the town was small enough that everyone knew it was him who took their vehicles, Kasi had done enough leg work to make the villagers know that they would get their possessions back. After all, Kusa wasn’t a thief.

Not anymore.

It had taken some adjustment, to actually find something he could do to help Jai and Lava with their plan of a new life. Jai may have been a cruel crime lord before, but he also had hobbies and practiced them with care. So the fact that he had loved flower arrangement and thought a nice flower shop would be a nice change of pace wasn’t a surprise nor a hard thing for him to do. And Lava loved cooking and while he hated coffee… he was very good at preparing it, especially all the different kinds that were invented all over the world.

(Kusa had the suspicion that Lava didn’t actually hate coffee, but didn’t drink it because his adoptive father didn’t drink it and Lava was all about following examples of his authority figures.)

So that left Kusa as the useless one, the one who would have nothing to do except sit down and take space. Until Jai pointed out that if there was something that Kusa was good at was at getting from point A to point B as fast as humanly possible. So after a bit of convincing, Kusa was declared the delivery boy for both the coffee and flower shop. Jai had even bought an Auto and modified it so that Kusa would have a vehicle to do the deliveries, but Kusa always left it behind, preffering to use whatever he could find parked outside the shop.

Whatever, except of course for the bicycle of their favorite client, that was easy to distinguish because it had a basket in front of the handlebars, where more often than not, a rooster with a colorful bead necklace slept soundly as if it was a cat.

Kusa had been originally warned about taking that bike by Kasi, without an extra explanation as to why, which of course meant that Kusa had made his mind that the second he found a bike with a rooster sleeping on it, he was taking it. Except that before he could do that, he sort of met the owner of said bike, a man with a beaming smile, a curly beard, and the most energy Kusa had ever seen in someone who wasn’t himself. Kusa had forgotten all about Simran the second the man took off his ray ban glasses, looked at him with the most gorgeous brown eyes Kusa had ever seen and then winked at him before getting on the bike and pedaling out of Kusa’s life.

Well, not really. The man came to his brothers’ shop (Our shop, Lava said in his head, but Kusa still didn’t feel it was his. Not even if he was pulling his weight being the delivery boy) every day to drink one of those fancy coffees Lava knew how to make. Kusa wasn’t there to see him every time, as he had to be outside, delivering flowers and coffee, but Lava or Jai would fill him in on their favorite costumer’s lungi of the day later if he missed him.

None of them had managed to get the name of the costumer yet, and Kusa had no idea how it had happened. Rangasthalam wasn’t a big town, and everyone knew everyone. Yet the name of the ray ban wearing man was a complete mystery for all of them.

Kusa wanted to ask. He was itching to ask. But as much as he liked the man, he also had seen how both Jai and Lava looked at him. And after taking Simran from Jai -even if he knew that Jai didn’t really loved Simran… just like Lava following his figures of authority, Jai seemed to model his own life before after what he thought was what was seen as a perfect life. Which of course, had to include a wife. Whatever, Kusa had still taken Simran from Jai, and then she had broken up with him when he decided to follow Jai to Rangashtalam, so it had been all for nothing. So Kusa was really reluctant to take a second crush away from Jai. Especially one that, from Kusa’s point of view, was a lot more honest than Jai’s interest in Simran.  Lava seemed to think the same thing, as he didn’t approach the costumer except to give him his coffee, then hid in the kitchen to watch in and sigh.

They were a stupid trio, Kusa figured. All of them wanting the same man, none of them making the first move.

As he rode through Rangasthalam, he let his thoughts go to the village, rather than to the man who kept him enchanted. It was a nice little village, with a growing population and, according to Jai, a great farming community. People were in general very nice, and seemed to be thriving under the protection of a water dragon, since Kusa had seen a lot of fountains both big and small in yards with a tiny dragon statue each, showing the town’s devotion to their protector. The only thing that made Kusa pause was that none of said fountains looked older than himself, which was silly. If the town had a dragon protector, the dragon had to be as old as India itself, right? At least all the dragons he had met claimed to be older than the British invasion to the country.

As a thief, Kusa had learned very early on how to spot dragons, and keep out of their sight. Making a dragon angry, even if said dragon wasn’t nobility or a town protector, was only bad news.

But no one he had greeted by hand had ever shown the tell-tale signs of being the dragon. It was easy, really. Earth and Fire dragons’s skin was warmer to the touch, no matter how cold it was outside. Wind and Water dragon’s skin was colder, and in the case of water dragons, a bit humid.

The first dragon he had met after leaving jail had been a wind dragon, who was in his own words “not affiliated” with the local dragon council. He liked to travel from place to place, from country to country, and thus, didn’t even have a hoard. Or so he claimed. Kusa knew that all dragons had hoards, and all of them kept them jealously. In any case, he had become sort of friends with the wind dragon, who refused to take any human as herd, and regaled Kusa with tales of other places.

It had been that wind dragon the one who had planted the seed in Kusa’s mind that he should go to the United States, as he could be freer in America, than he was in India.

Kusa had never seen the wind dragon again, and he knew he was probably now in Japan, or maybe in the USA where Kusa had wanted to be, but he remembered his words about America being the land where everyone could become rich very well.

After that dragon, Kusa had met others. Mostly earth dragons who liked to help people in small districts, and didn’t like Kusa stealing unless it was from rich people, but the occasional Fire dragon who acted as if they were the lords of everything they could burn -which granted, was everything. But he had never met a water dragon, so he was really curious about Rangasthalam’s dragon and why no one just send him and his brothers to give him his right tribute.

Kasi was no help there, which was unusual as Kasi tended to be on top to let them be accepted by his town. But then, Kusa knew that Kasi was busy trying to reconnect with a childhood friend. Given how the taller man blushed every time Kusa mentioned the nameless childhood friend, Kusa was pretty sure what Kasi wanted was not just a conversation and maybe a coffee once a week.

He finally arrived to his first destination, and left the bicycle at the side, as he picked up the box he was bringing.

“Rangamma! Flower delivery!”

Yes, he was supposed to say the name of the store, but neither Jai nor Lava had agreed on a name yet, and he refused to yell “Jai Lava Kusa’s Flowers and Coffee” out loud so he didn’t.

Soon, a woman came out, grinning. He had brought flowers to her every week since they had opened, so he knew exactly who they were from.

“Kusa! I wasn’t expecting you today!” She said, as she took the box and opened it to reveal a gorgeous arrangement of white, red and pink roses.

“Liar,” Kusa replied, grinning back. “Your husband may be in Dubai, but time runs the same there and he was very clear about you getting flowers every Monday.”

“Is there a note with these too?” Rangamma asked, blushing like a school girl. It was this part of the job that Kusa loved as a delivery boy. Seeing people’s day brighten thanks to Jai’s flowers.

“Here it is!” Kusa handed it to her since Jai hated to put notes in the arrangements because they ‘ruined’ the effect -Jai’s words, not Kusa’s-. She took it and opened it to read it, jumping to hug Kusa as she did.

“He’s coming back next month!” She said, smiling. “Oh, thank you Kusa! You always bring good news!”

As she was cooing over the note and the flowers, Kusa looked up to see his brothers’ favorite costumer riding in his bike, sleeping chicken included, in their direction. Figuring that he’d have something to talk to Rangamma, he just walked away and grabbed the first motorbike he found in the sidewalk to ride back to his brothers’ store.

It wasn’t until he had arrived that he realized that he could’ve asked Rangamma the costumer’s name… just to help Jai and Lava to get a bit of more intel.

 

*          *          *

 

Chelluboina Chitti Babu had never learned patience. If you asked Kumar Babu, his older brother and sort of father figure, given that it had been Kumar the one who found his egg and took care of it until he hatched from it, Chitti had been impatient since the second he started cracking the egg shell and wanted out immediately. He was also very, very keen in getting everything he wanted as soon as he put his eyes on it. It was not that he had been spoiled, no. Being raised by a human, Chitti was one of the dragons who understood the value of hard work, and the importance of the symbiosis between dragons and humans: he was meant to protect Rangasthalam and his herd, not rule over them.

That didn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy the tributes. His hoard of fabric had grown so much, he figured soon he’d have to look for a new lair. He just loved fabric, the textures, the colors, and how his father could make some of them into the most gorgeous lungi and shirts, which were also part of his hoard…  And in the meantime, he accepted other kind of tributes. Like for example, the daily cup of foamy milk coffee that the triplets always had for him.

His triplets, he amended. They were his. They just didn’t know yet.

And given how he knew that he was not the most patient person, hell, the most patient dragon in the world, he was quite surprised at himself that he hadn’t just taken them to his lair and informed them of the fact.

So maybe he had learned some patience.

He had first been informed of his triplets’s arrival by Kasi, who did the traditional thing of asking Chitti’s permission for them to move into town. It was one of the many, many responsibilities Chitti had as the town’s dragon, even if by looking at him in his human form most tourists believed he was an unemployed man who just liked to ride along with his pet rooster.

Little they knew that Chicken was not a rooster, but a very well behaved Basilisk who had learned to control his stone gaze.

Now, Chitti didn’t like Kasi much. Well, that was not the truth. He liked Kasi, but that had been before he found out that Kasi liked Kumar. Because Kumar was his brother, and the one who had taken care of him when he had been hatched, and even if he saw Koteswara Rao as his father and Kantham as his mother… Kumar Babu was his everything. And he was not going to let anyone take his brother away just because they were tall and had curly hair. Worse, Kasi had broken Kumar’s heart by leaving town, so yes, Chitti had a bone or two to pick with Kasi.

And yet, Kasi had had the courage to come to Chitti, and beg for him to let the triplets stay in Rangasthalam. He even had said that if Chitti didn’t want Kasi around, he’d leave, as long as the triplets could stay.

That had intrigued Chitti.

He had allowed Kasi to return, if nothing more because he knew it’d made Kumar smile -although he had warned Kasi that no one ever got two chances again, so he better be careful with his brother- and then agreed to accept Kasi’s gift of a beautiful silk fabric, wine red with gold embroidery as the triplets’ first tribute.

But he had been very, very curious about the idea of three men who were identical.

As every dragon, he had been born with a predestined soulmate. Well, no. That was again somewhere in which Chitti had defied tradition. He had not one, but three areas in his body where his scales were a different color. His shoulders both had a completely white area, and so was his left forearm, just below the elbow.

White didn’t mean that those were his soulmate’s scale colors. It meant that his soulmates still didn’t have scales.

Now, that had been a recent development in dragon kind, according to Chitti’s teacher, a grumpy water dragon who lived four villages down and who hated to get out of his underwater lair. In the past, dragons only mated dragons, and that was it. Your soulmark was the color of their kind, and you knew it easily. Red for fire dragons, Dark blue for Water dragons like themselves, Brown or green for Earth dragons, and Light blue for Wind dragons.

But a little after the British Raj had massacred almost all dragons in India, and then they finally left after the Second World War… a dragon had been born with a white soulmark.  And people had thought it meant his soulmate was maybe a wind dragon with very pale scales, but instead, the young dragon had fell in love with a human.

Suddenly, dragons could love humans, and humans love dragons as equals. And not only that, but a human who was destined to be a dragon’s soulmate, if he was loved by the dragon equally and romantically, would turn into a dragon themselves.

Chitti’s teacher thought it meant that they were the souls of those murdered dragons coming back, and, having no dragon bodies to be born to, adapted. Chitti just figured it was evolution. They were too few now in India, even with the added new soulmates.

So he had human soulmates, and they were three. That was what made him curious about his triplets. And when he had seen that they opened a coffee-flower-shop, he had to go and meet them, not as a dragon born, not as the dragon who kept watch over Rangasthalam, but just as himself, Chitti Babu.

Except he hadn’t introduced himself. He had gotten tongue tied the moment he had met his triplets.

The very first one he had met had been Kusa, who had long hair and seemed to always be moving, in a hurry. They had bumped onto each other when Chitti was coming into the store, dressed in a beautiful purple undershirt, denim pants and a blue shirt over it, before jumping onto Maresh’s bike and leaving… but not before patting Chitti on his right shoulder, right above where one of his soulmarks were. There had been no electricity between them, as Chitti’s shoulder was covered with cloth, but the fact that it had been the first place where Kusa touched him was not missed by Chitti.

Jai had been the next one he met, as he mumbled a quick welcome to the shop. Chitti hated mumbles in principle. If anyone who didn’t know his true nature asked, it was because he was half deaf and he hated not being able to understand people. The truth was that for some reason, when he had his dragon ears, his real ears, hidden, everything sounded as if it was underwater to him. But in this case, he noticed that Jai’s lips moved strangely, as if the words he wanted to say didn’t come out right, or immediately, so Chitti decided to forgive him.

Jai hadn’t touched him. Jai didn’t touch anyone, as far as Chitti could tell except for his brothers. From where Chitti could see, Jai was like a dormant volcano, keeping all his passion and fury inside.

 

Yes, his triplets intrigued him.

 

The last one he had met was Lava, who was behind the coffee making. Chitti had asked for a foamy milk coffee, because he never remembered the actual name of the drink, because he loved the flavor of the foamy milk. When Lava served him the coffee, Chitti went to grab the cup immediately, but Lava grabbed him on his left forearm, just below the elbow, to stop him from burning himself.

This time, Chitti felt a spark because Lava’s touch was right where his soulmark was, without any clothes to get in the way of their contact.  Lava didn’t seem to notice, but Chitti didn’t expect him to. After all, his dragon was still buried under a human body.

It was Chitti’s job to make sure that he, and his brothers, got their dragons out… somehow.

Chapter 2: The Dragon's Triplets

Summary:

After some misunderstandings, Jai, Lava, Kusa and Chitti finally talk. Except Chitti is still witholding very important information, it seems.

“You should ask him his name.”

Jai looked up from his flower arranging station and towards Kusa, who was sitting on a desk, swinging his legs like a little child who was bored at their parents’ work.  It was an apt comparison, Jai thought, because when there were no deliveries to be made, Kusa always seemed to be vibrating with energy trying to stay still and being unable to. Like today, he usually ended up giving Jai some company, given that at least in the flower side there were less things that he could break and/or make explode.

Lava had made it very clear that Kusa was not allowed in the kitchen anymore after he had managed to make a coffee maker explode. They had been cleaning coffee from the ceiling for three days and it had been the only time Lava had been scarier than Ravana himself. Jai smiled a bit at the memory. He knew very well that Lava had not gotten angry because of the lost coffee maker, but because Kusa could’ve been hurt. Hot water burns were nasty things.

“I du-dunno what you mean,” Jai replied, looking at the current arrangement he was making, with roses and blue bells. It was not for any customer, it was just for him to practice and to keep himself calm. It had become his to-go comfort activity.

“Our favorite customer, of course,” Kusa half- glared at him. It was good, as it meant Kusa was losing his fear for Jai. For Ravana. Jai didn’t want Kusa to fear him anymore. “Why won’t you ask him his name. You’re the one who is out front more often.”

“He li-likes Lava better,” Jai said, just as Lava came out of the kitchen from the side door, washing his hands. There weren’t any customers at the time, so they had the store for themselves.

“Who likes me better?” Lava frowned as he sat on the chair opposite to where Jai was working. “If we’re talking about Kasi, no. He likes you best, then Kusa when Kusa is not stealing his wallet.”

“Your favorite customer who likes the cappuccinos,” Kusa explained. “You know, Foamy Milk – guy.”

To Jai’s surprise, instead of looking pleased by this, Lava frowned.

“Oh, no, no. He just likes that I give him coffee…” Lava shook his head, making Jai frown.

“But you like hi-him,” He stated, trying not to narrow his eyes and intimidate his brother. “I’ve seen ho-how you lo-ook at hi-him.”

“You like him too,” Lava and Kusa said at the same time,  then turned to look at each other, as if they hadn’t realized that the other knew.

“And so do-does Kusa,” Jai said, shaking his head. “So wh-why do you thi-think I should ask hi-him his name?”

“Because you like him,” Lava said, and Jai for a second thought that he was looking at Kusa, having a silent conversation with their triplet that Jai couldn’t hear. Now that angered him a bit. Because it made him feel left out again.

“So do you-u,” Jai said, trying hard to control his anger.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, brother!” Kusa exploded. One more show that he was no longer scared of Jai. Which at the moment, was a bit annoying. “We’re not taking him away from you! We have done that too many times before, so we want to be nice for once! You like him, so we bow out. He’s not going to be the next Simran.”

Jai blinked at that, confused. Then he remembered that of course, he was supposed to love Simran, before Kusa fell for her. He had completely forgotten that part.

Honestly, what had Ravana been thinking when he decided he wanted to marry Tapan’s sister?

“I never lo-loved Simran,” He finally admitted. “I ju-just wanted to keep you bu-uhsy.”

Kusa tilted his head, as if he was trying to understand what Jai had just said.

“But… you were furious when I said we fell in love…” Kusa said, his voice suddenly taking the same soft tones as Lava’s.

“Be-because you-u said you were going to ki-kill me!” Jai exclaimed, realizing that they had never actually talked about that. How he had felt betrayed not because Kusa had fell in love -in hindsight, he had sort of expected that since what else would Kusa do, if asked to seduce a girl?- but because he thought his brother was betraying him for her. “You told Lava and Priya they ha-had to leave since sh-he was killing me so…”

“I told you! Sure, I thought I was talking to Lava, but still… I told Lava because I thought Lava could have a plan to stop her!” Kusa shook his head. “And what do you mean you never loved her? Let’s go back there!”

“I only…. Th-hink I only wanted her be-because she was Tapan’s sister… and I mi-missed him.”

“Jai…” Lava looked at him with pity, and just as Jai was going to protest, he found himself being hugged by both Kusa and Lava, just as he had been in the quarry, the day Ravana died.

They stayed like that for a long time. Hugging, and maybe crying a bit, although Jai would deny it to the grave. Finally, they let him go.

“You are no-ot taking hi-him from me-e, if you-ou also fancy hi-him,” Jai finally said. “I want you-u to be ha-happy. And if he-ee makes you ha-happy, you should have hi-him.”

“But what if he’s what will make you happy?  We also want you to be happy Jai!” Kusa and Lava said, almost at the same time.  

“We-ell, we all can’t ha-have hi-him!” Jai protested, brushing off the tears he certainly didn’t shed.

“Why not?” A fourth voice interrupted, and that’s when the triplets turned around and found that most of his conversation had been heard by their favorite customer, who was leaning on the counter, smiling at them with the most beautiful smile Jai had ever seen, wearing a beanie that hid his ears, probably to hide his hearing aid, since he had to be wearing it to have heard all the triplets’s conversation. And then, he said the words that changed their lives forever. “He… that is, I, certainly want you all.”

 

*          *          *

 

Their favorite customer’s name was Chitti Babu.

Lava would never forget the name, now that it was seared in their brains, much less the way they found out who he was.

Chitti had listened to him and his brothers argue about who had the right to woo him, and announced that he didn’t mind dating the three of them, leaving them all speechless which in the case of Kusa was a miracle. It had been Lava the first one who had managed to find his voice back after Chitti’s brazen words about him wanting them all.

“What do you mean?” Lava asked, although in hindsight, he should’ve asked for Chitti’s name right then and there.

“I mean,” Chitti said, walking closer to them and grinning as he almost got to the counter where Jai was working his flowers. “I want to date the three of you. I’ve been watching you all, and there’s no way I can choose a favorite so…”

“We’re not just toys that you can treat as duplicates!” Kusa managed to complain. And it was a very true sentiment. They had talked about that, now they had the luxury of distance from their Uncle. Their childhood, when they had been pretty much forced to always be identical, always be the “Spare” for the other, had not been as happy as others thought.

“You’re not duplicates,” Chitti had answered, shrugging. “I can see the differences between you three perfectly, and those are the ones I like.”

“Pro-ove it,” Jai glared at Chitti, but the man didn’t look fazed. Which Lava had to admit was impressive. He had never met a man who could hold Jai’s glare and not shiver. Later, much later, he figured that had been their first clue that Chitti Babu was not an ordinary man.

“You’re Jai,” Chitti kept grinning, leaning even closer to Jai as he grabbed Jai’s left shoulder. Jai tried to move him, by grabbing Chitti too, but he only managed to make Chitti’s smile grow wider. “You like to pretend you’re always angry, but you smile whenever you get a call from a husband to make a flower arrangement for his wife. You’re grumpy, but sweet and I love that.”

And, to make his point, Chitti leaned over and kissed Jai deeply in the mouth, catching Jai unaware so he had opened his mouth too.

Letting Jai go, Chitti turned to Kusa, who was looking like a fish out of water, his mouth open in surprise.

“You’re Kusa,” Chitti continued, moving around the counter to stand between Jai and Kusa. “You love being outside, but will stay inside for your brothers. You also like talking to people and getting to know them, even if they get angry. You’re very daring and loud and I love that.”

And just as he had done with Jai, he grabbed Kusa by his right shoulder and pulled him closer to a kiss. Lava thought that Kusa had really not resisted much as he just leaned into Chitti’s kiss and looked more than a bit dazed when the other man finally let him go.

Then Chitti turned to see Lava, and Lava froze. He knew, he just knew that he was next, and he tried to move away fast, but he found himself hitting the wall. Why was the space between the counter and the wall so small?

“You… you don’t need to go on… I believe you…” he started saying, but Chitti cornered him, putting his hand against the wall. When Lava tried to move away, Chitti slapped him on the butt, making him turn around again, scandalized and offended. “Why?”

“You’re Lava,” Chitti looked at him, catching him with his amazing brown eyes. Brown, and yet, he thought he saw small flecks of blue inside them. They were mesmerizing, and he just couldn’t move away. “You’re shy, but at the same time, you want to trust everyone, no matter how shifty they may look. I love that too.”

And just as he had done with his brothers, Chitti leaned in and captured Lava’s mouth in a kiss.

The second Chitti’s lips touched his, Lava understood why neither Jai nor Kusa had tried to move him away, to yell at him, to push him. Chitti’s lips were soft, and moist. Being kissed by him felt like having a glass of cold water right after being a day without touching any liquid, an oasis in a desert Lava didn’t know he had been in. Then Chitti’s tongue, that felt strangely thin -not that Lava knew how other people’s tongues felt like- pushed its way into Lava’s mouth, touching Lava’s own tongue and any thought that was not being kissed by their favorite customer fled Lava’s mind.

By the time Chitti let him go, with a smile that showed that he knew exactly how much he had affected Lava, he had an erection, and was praying to every god and goddess he knew that his jeans were thigh enough that it wouldn’t show as a tent in his kurta.

“See? I like you all, different as you are,” Chitti finished, then winked as he went back to his usual table. “Now that we’re all in agreement, can I get my foamy milk coffee, please?”

It took Lava five attempts to make the cappuccino, still dazzled by the kiss. And as he made it, he kept looking at how Jai kept touching his lips, and Kusa just remained where he was until the phone rang and made him jump, just as Lava finally gave Chitti his coffee.

Of course, by then, they still didn’t know his name was Chitti. Chitti didn’t tell them, instead, when he finished his coffee and Maresh came to fetch him, as he usually did, stopped at the door and grinned at them all. Lava’s heart skipped a beat at that grin, and he wondered if it had happened the same to his brothers.

“If anyone asks, by the way, now you’re taken. You all are my boyfriends, and I’m not kind to competition,” he said and left, muttering something to Maresh that at the distance sounded like if he was telling the other man that he had been right, and his marks would change soon.

It made no sense at the time.

It was much later that day when they finally found out Chitti’s name. Lakshmi, one of the many girls who worked the fields and came in the afternoon for coffee and gossip, was taking a nice latte when Kusa, being himself, offered her a rose.

“Oh, no,” she had replied, with a glare. “You’re not getting me in trouble. I know better than to mess with one of Chitti Babu’s boyfriends!”

And that had been how they found out that their customer’s name was Chitti Babu, after a whole month of wondering about it.

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa felt as if he was flying.

They had been Chitti Babu’s official boyfriends for a week and a half now, and the experience was nothing that Kusa had ever felt. As he rode a scooter -that he suspected belonged to a tourist, but wasn’t sure, and he sure wasn’t going to turn around to see who was chasing him now- to make his deliveries he marveled at the fact that none of them were jealous of the other. Once Chitti had made clear that he wanted them all, that he loved each triplet for their own qualities and not because he thought he could date three identical guys and be amused by the novelty of it, everything had fell into place.

The jealousy that Kusa had felt when he saw Simran with Jai, every time Simran confused them both, was not present. He knew that Chitti knew who was Jai and who was Kusa, so when Chitti was with Jai, Kusa could be happy that his brother was being loved, and was happy, and when Chitti was with him… Kusa knew it was because Chitti wanted to be with him.

It was freeing in a way that made his soul want to leap out of his body and soar the skies.

They hadn’t had sex yet, although it was not because any of them wanted to take it slow. Even Lava had become a horny teenager when he was with their boyfriend. It was another funny thing, Kusa thought, only stopping for a second to hand the coffees he was bringing to the mechanical shop, in the way to Rangamma’s house, as there was another bouquet for her in his bag, and he knew it was the last one before her husband came back.

He really wanted to talk to Rangamma about their relationship with Chitti.

But going back to the sex. Chitti accepted and understood that they were not a circle relationship. What Jai, Lava and Kusa felt for each other was brotherly love and not even Kusa was as narcissistic to want to have sex with a copy of himself, but they all wanted Chitti, just separately. So they were negotiating nights and days for that, even if Chitti still came every day to the coffee shop for his foamy milk coffee, and always made it a point to kiss the three of them in order. And if for any reason Kusa wasn’t at the shop when Chitti came? Chitti hunted him down, kissing him with a tongue that still tasted slightly like coffee.

Now, Kusa knew that the reason why Lava hadn’t had sex with Chitti yet, despite having to wrestle an erection every single time Chitti as much breathed in Lava’s direction, was because his Anna was thinking that Jai should be first, being the oldest and because Lava still thought that they owed Jai for all the mistreatment at his hands when they were younger.

Kusa also felt guilty about that, of course, but Jai had made it clear that once Ravana had died -the way Jai tended to talk about his past as a Crime lord as a different person sometimes worried Kusa- the slate had been clean. They were equal, they all had suffered, it was time to put the past behind them.

Now, why Kusa hadn’t had sex with Chitti yet was not because misplaced guilt. Oh, Kusa wanted Chitti. He wanted Chitti so much that it hurt, especially in the mornings when he woke up after yet another wet dream. In those dreams, he was making love to Chitti as they flew through the sky and even if he knew that couldn’t happen in real life, he still loved the images, of him and Chitti unburdened by gravity and joined in complete pleasure. But he was not going to touch Chitti until he knew it was safe.

Oh, not safe from illness or his brother’s jealousy, no. The thing was, Kusa was sure that everyone in Rangasthalam except for them were the mysterious water dragon’s herd. Yes, even Kasi, who kept insisting that the triplets’ tribute was not necessary, that everything was squared off with the town’s protector.

You did not woo or take a dragon’s herd without asking permission first. A dragon was not like an overprotective parent… they could be worse. Taking someone from his herd was not as bad as touching any part of their hoard, but it was close.

So no sexing Chitti until he knew for a fact that there would be no angry water dragon coming after him or his brothers for breaking protocol.

Problem was, it seemed that Rangasthalam was the first town in the world that had an invisible, or even worse, a discrete dragon. There were simply no signs that Kusa could see of where the dragon’s lair was, what his hoard was like, what kind of things he liked to be done in his name. Only the statues and fountains.

He had insisted Jai got one for the coffee shop, which was now displayed proudly at the door. It was a tiny fountain that made the water wash a dragon, lazily asleep in a rock. Kusa didn’t think it was grandiose enough, but Chitti had told him it was perfect, and no one would take an insult to it, even if some tourists kept throwing coins at it.

Chitti was even less help than Kasi when it came to the town’s dragon. Kasi at the very least told them that he was taking care of things. Chitti insisted that they didn’t need to worry. As if a dragon would take being ignored lightly.

And since no one else in town seemed to be ready to talk, Kusa’s last resort was Rangamma. If she didn’t point him to where the Dragon was, and how Kusa could make sure the dragon was fine with them, he didn’t know what he’d do.

“Rangamma! Flowers for you!” he yelled as he stopped the scooter and got ready to hand the flowers.

Only then he realized… no one had been following him this time.

 

*          *          *

 

There were only two people in Rangasthalam who had the right -and the courage- to yell at Chitti.

One was Kumar Babu. But then, Kumar had found Chitti’s egg, and Chicken’s egg, and he had dutifully looked over them both until they hatched, and then protected both Chitti and Chicken from anyone who wanted to take them away -of course, it had been harder with Chicken, but thankfully, no one really thought that he was the same Chicken that had been born with Chitti anymore. Only those who knew his true nature as a basilisk knew that no, the Chelluboina didn’t change Chitti’s pet rooster every three years or so to keep him happy.

Point was, Kumar could yell at Chitti. He could even ground Chitti -not that Chitti had listened to that in almost 10 years, but he could try. And he could do it even when Chitti was in full dragon form, foaming at the mouth in anger for some reason or another.

It was one of the reasons people respected Kumar, and had been quite scared when he left for a year to work in Dubai.

The other person was Rangamma.

No one knew why, Chitti himself included. But ever since the woman had looked at him in hybrid form, back when he was five or so and had tried to steal some very fancy sari from her for his hoard, and told him that if he wanted to have all the perks of being the town’s dragon, he better start doing all the work that the town’s dragon had to do, he had liked her so much, that he allowed her to yell at him.

He yelled back, of course. But she was never cowed. She never flinched, or show any sign of fear. She didn’t even smell like fear. At most, she sometimes smelled like annoyance, as if Chitti’s yells and growls were some sort of nuisance she had to put up with.  That had been the first time Chitti actually used his powers to water the fields of Rangashtalam, and got the beautiful blue Sari that Rangamma had as a reward.

It was still one of his favorite pieces in his whole hoard.

Chitti loved her, called her Auntie, and everyone in town knew that if they needed help to convince Chitti of anything, she was the one to plead to.

Which was why that afternoon absolutely no one paid attention to Rangamma pulling Chitti by his very human ear towards her house, while Chitti let himself be dragged, even as he made some grunts and noises of annoyance.

Rangamma was also the only person in town who could make Chitti go somewhere he didn’t want to.

“You are the most irresponsible being in this town, I swear!” She was muttering as she threw Chitti into the room, closing the door so that no one could listen to their conversation.

Chitti grumbled but sat at the eating area, and massaged his ears. He refused to make it as if they had hurt, since he knew that that would worry her. So they stayed human. Then, he realized that she’d want him to actually be able to hear whatever she wanted to say, so he shifted to his hybrid form, glancing at the still white scales of his forearm as he did so.

“Why are you so angry now? Isn’t uncle coming next week?” He asked, as Rangamma put some rice and fish curry in a plate and gave it to him. At the very least, Chitti figured, what he had done wasn’t that bad. Not if she was still feeding him his favorite food.

“Why haven’t you told the triplets who you are?!”Rangamma finally said, as she sat next to him and Chitti began eating.

“They know who am I! And they know they’re my mates, what are you talking about?”

“Chitti, Kusa was here this morning to ask me where they could find the dragon of Rangasthalam,” she said, slowly. He stopped eating and looked at her, confused. “Why would he ask that if they know who you are?”

“Uhm… well, I didn’t tell them at first,” Chitti shrugged. “I didn’t want them to think they had to … like me because I’m a dragon. But…”

“No, that I understand,” Rangamma nodded. “You didn’t want to impose, even from what I heard, you also declared them your boyfriends without asking their opinion.”

“They were talking about how much they all liked me!” Chitti defended himself. “I waited a whole month for them to make their move and they all were arguing about who got to make it! I couldn’t wait for longer!”

“A whole month for an immortal dragon, that is like, one second for you,” Rangamma shook her head.  “But now that they are yours, and they agree they are yours… Why haven’t you told them?!”

“They know!” Chitti insisted. Because they had to know, after all, he had threatened Seshu Nandu right in front of Jai and Lava, showed off his eyes and everything.

Wait, no. He hadn’t needed to show his eyes to the fat bastard. All he had to do was cough and the coward had stopped threatening his mates.

“Tell me, oh wise and powerful dragon… Were your mates born in Rangashtalam?” Rangamma asked, as if she was explaining something very basic to a small child.

“You know they didn’t, Auntie,” Chitti shrugged. If they had, they would all have their scales now. HE wouldn’t have waited past their eighteen birthdays.

“And what was the very first law you put on stone when you took the role of the Town’s Dragon, dear?”

“Oh, that’s easy! That no one had to tell outsiders I’m the dragon because I don’t like tourists bothering me when I am out and about!” Chitti grinned as he repeated his own rules, then frowned. “Oh, but they’re not outsiders! They came with Kasi! Kasi must have told them by now!”

“The same Kasi who was so afraid of you not approving of him dating Kumar that he left for years to make his fortune?” Rangamma pointed out. “We both know that boy would never reveal your identity without your express permission.”

Chitti finished the fish, and frowned. That was true, Kasi had been very well behaved since coming back, bringing Chitti a different fabric tributes every week, both in the name of the Triplets -even if Chitti had told him that was no longer necessary since he now got his foamy milk coffee- and himself. The last one had been a gorgeous cotton blend with a beautiful pattern of rubies and flowers that Chitti thought felt almost just like his own wings.

“Fine, Kasi wouldn’t do that but…”

“They don’t know, Chitti,” Rangamma insisted. “Kusa was here asking about ‘the dragon’ because he doesn’t want to woo a dragon’s herd member without permission!”

“But… I gave them permission,” Chitti told her, confused. “I mean, I tickled Jai’s tonsils with my tongue… that is permission, right?”

“Chitti, you need to talk to them! They’re not connected to you yet, it’s not as if they can read your mind!”

“But they’re my soulmates!” Chitti pouted.

“That doesn’t make them telepathic,” Rangamma slapped him over the head. “You want to mate with them? You need to explain things to them. Not surprise them with scales and horns and wings in the middle of the situation!”

“They really don’t know?” Chitti asked, now reconsidering every single interaction he’d had with his mates. And the appearance of the little fountain with the sleeping dragon that he loved so much, right outside the store.

“No, they don’t. No one has told them, so you should.”

Chitti sighed and nodded. But really, how could he just go to them and tell his triplets that the reason why they shouldn’t have to worry about the dragon was because he was the dragon?

Chapter 3: Rangasthalam's lovers

Summary:

As the relationship between Chitti and the Triplets advances, some very important information needs to be given, because if not, there is a huge scare for the triplets coming.

Jai looked at the beautiful sleeping creature in his bed and wondered which gods had he pleased in a previous life -as he was very aware of the sins he had committed in this one- to be rewarded with such a lover.

Even the fact that he was sharing Chitti with Lava and Kusa didn’t bother him. In fact, it made things even more special in a way. They were so identical, of course they had similar tastes. But Chitti saw the differences in them, not just the small physical ones, but also the ones in their hearts.

Jai took a deep breath, and got up from bed, careful not to wake Chitti up. He needed to be up and about, take a shower and be ready to open the store, but his lover could sleep a few more minutes. Although Jai had a feeling that the second Lava turned on the coffee machine, Chitti’s eyes would open wide.

Their lover seemed to be a bit addicted to caffeine, and before last night revelations, Jai would’ve worried about it.

Now, he was just curious.

The day before, Chitti had arrived to the store, almost at closing time. That had been a surprise for them all, as Chitti had told them that he had things to do in the afternoon so he’d not be around much at those hours. He also seemed very subdued, in a way that had worried Jai, as well as Lava and Kusa.

They all had heard about Rangamma being mad at Chitti earlier in the day. And while they had no idea what that had been about, they had worried. Kusa had gone earlier to see the woman, to ask her about the dragon because Kusa had a bee under his bonnet about not insulting the mysterious and hidden dragon by wooing Chitti -never mind that Chitti had done most of the wooing- and then when he heard about her being mad at Chitti he had been fretting at the store that he may have ruined the best thing that had happened to all of them since finding they were all alive.

“We can have sex! I give permission!” Chitti blurted out, confusing them all.

“We-e go-ot the idea whe-ehn you ki-kissed us the first ti-ime,” Jai said, frowning behind a flower arrangement he was making for the president, of all people. “Wha-at are you talking a-ahbout?”

Chitti pinched his nose, and shook his head, as if he was trying to clear his thoughts.

“I know that Kusa thinks we need more formal permission, so I am giving it!” Chitti replied, and that seemed to make Kusa understand whatever the hell their boyfriend was saying, because he jumped off from the counter he had been sitting on -their brother was like a cat, Jai swore, always on top of things where he shouldn’t be sitting- and ran to Chitti.

“Wait… you mean it?!” Kusa asked, grabbing Chitti by the shoulders, then dropping his hands like if he had been caught stealing something. Which was a very strange reaction for Kusa to have. “You’re him?! But… how?!”

“Chitti… Kusa… you are confusing us,” Lava said, putting a cappuccino in front of Chitti, who smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. “Can you please start from the beginning? As if Jai and I are five-year-olds?”

“I’m the Rangasthalam’s Dragon.”

“He’s the Rangashtalam’s Dragon!”

Chitti and Kusa said at the same time, before looking at each other and laughing. However, Jai was still stuck on what they had said, because Chitti looked amazing as always, but he did not look like a dragon. And he said so, out loud.

“Oh, that’s because I don’t like people gawking at me when my scales are out,” Chitti grinned, and as he did, he let out his tongue to lick the foam off his coffee. His tongue, that had been inside all of their mouths many times, but now it looked… thinner, and longer…

And forked.

As he licked the foam, his skin crackled. There was no other description to what they were seeing. It crackled and started shinning in a beautiful purple and blue pattern, as they saw his skin leave way to scales. Chitti’s ears also grew, changing color as they did, looking like a fish fins, and two sets of horns, that resembled pictures of coral that Jai had seen in many books, grew on his head. Finally, a long, long beautiful tail that also seemed like a fish, or a mermaid tail, came down from under Chitti’s lungi.

Jai gulped, as all the blood in his body seemed to run towards his crotch in a way that he had never felt before. And a side glance at Lava and Kusa made him realize that his brothers were equally affected by their lover’s true form.

“You don’t have wings,” Kusa managed to stutter. Chitti shrugged at that, but he was smiling. Their lover knew exactly how much they wanted him at the time, it seemed.

“I hate shredding my shirts to let them out,” he said. “But if you really want to see them…”

Without waiting for an answer, Chitti took off his shirt, and his undershirt, letting them see his glorious naked torso, where his scales faded into skin again to show off his six pack, created no doubt by hard work in the fields.

Jai dropped the flower he was about to put in the arrangement.

Then he saw as two gorgeous wings, just like the fins of a fighting betta fish unfurled behind Chitti, making him look like one of those fishes, who looked so beautiful but hid a secret, dangerous fury behind their looks.

And then Jai couldn’t hold out any longer. He walked towards Chitti, secure on the knowledge that Chitti, the water dragon of Rangashtalam, wanted them, and grabbed his wrist, right above where an extra fin had grown, and started pulling him towards the back of the store, where the stairs to their apartment were.

“I’m the oldest,” he growled at Lava and Kusa. “I go first.”

And that was how Jai ended up being taken by Chitti on his bed, and learned that Dragons, among other things, were capable of having multiple orgasms, one after the other.

 

*          *          *

 

Lava frowned at his reflection in the mirror, just coming out of the shower.

It had been a week and a half since they had found out that their boyfriend was the Rangasthalam’s Dragon, and a week and three days since Lava had found out exactly how horny dragons were. In that sense, it was lucky he was sharing Chitti with his brothers, because if not, he’d have died of exhaustion after day two. Now that Chitti had permission to not just kiss them, but to touch them, he did so all the time. And Lava, despite having always considered himself almost uninterested in sex, loved every second, touching back as much as he could too.

They had had to put some rules, of course. As the three of them were dating Chitti, and Chitti, even if he was a dragon, only had one body, they had more or less divided the week for all of them. Jai had Mondays and Thursdays, Lava got Tuesdays and Fridays, Kusa’s days were Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Sundays, Chitti either choose which one he’d be most around, stayed just to hang with them without extra-activities, or let them have time for themselves.

It worked, for the most part, but by the time his second Tuesday came around, Lava had already become a horny teenager, waking up with a huge erection just thinking about seeing Chitti that morning. And, while they didn’t talk about it among themselves, Lava suspected his brothers were equally affected by their dragon.

 

Their dragon.

 

Just thinking about Chitti like that sent chills down Lava’s spine.

Sex with Chitti was incredible, like magic every time. Lava loved sucking Chitti’s dick, feeling the texture of his scaled penis as he deep throated the dragon with an enthusiasm he had no idea he could have for sex. He tasted like spring water too, something that made Chitti laugh when Lava had mentioned it, and then kissed him long and hard, twisting his tongue around Lava’s own, or, even better, around Lava’s dick when Chitti returned the favor of mind-blowing blow jobs.

He finished brushing his teeth and got ready to get dressed when he noticed something in his reflection that made him frown.

In his neck, right where the shoulder began, his skin was peeling, as if he was healing from a sunburn. A very bad one for the looks of it, but the thing was, his skin around it was not red, it looked perfectly normal. But that was not the case of the skin underneath… instead of reddish or brownish new skin, he was seeing a dark brown surface, almost looking polished.

Frowning, he touched it. It felt hard and cold to the touch, but it didn’t hurt. Nor it seemed to move.

“Lava? You’re hogging the bathroom and… what’s wrong?” Kusa came into the small bathroom they all shared holding his toothbrush, and Lava turned to see him, not knowing what to say. But as he was opening his mouth, not sure of what to say, his eyes focused on Kusa’s forearm.  A little under his wrist, he also had a patch of peeling skin, with a hard, polished lump under it. Only that in Kusa’s case it was not brown, like Lava’s, but pearl colored, almost milky.

“What’s that on your arm?” Lava asked, his voice shaking.

“This?” Kusa looked at it, shrugging. “Dunno. I might have burnt myself on something… or maybe I’m allergic to a plant outside.”

“No… I… have the same thing, look…” Lava pointed to his shoulder, and winced a bit as Kusa touched him there.

“Does it hurt?” Kusa asked, worried.

“No… but…” Lava had no words. It didn’t hurt, but it was not normal. And that scared him a lot. “What if we are sick? What if we… gave it to each other.”

“That makes no sense, Luv,” Kusa said, using the old nickname that made Lava feel a bit better. “If we were sick, then Jai would be sick too. We practically live in each other’s pockets.”

That made Lava move. He ran out of the bathroom, hearing Kusa call him back. He only stopped at Jai’s bedroom door, opening it without knocking just as Jai was putting on a wine colored kurta, that they all knew Chitti liked.

“La-ahv? Wha-at’s wrong?” Jai asked, but Lava didn’t reply. He walked into the room and made Jai take off the kurta again, so he could see his naked torso. At first look, there was nothing, and for one second, Lava could breathe again.

But then he turned Jai around, and right there, in the lower back of his brother, he could see peeling skin and a bump underneath.

Only Jai’s was completely black.

“We can’t open the shop today,” Lava said, very slowly. “We’re sick.”

 

*          *          *

 

It was official. Their boyfriend was an idiot.

While Jai and Lava panicked at the bumps in their bodies, with just reason as black and brown were not precisely colors that indicated health, Kusa had managed to keep his head on his shoulders and had called the one person he knew could get them a doctor in no time, and whom Jai would trust enough.

Kasi.

He had explained to his brother’s former henchman, current personal assistant, their symptoms, and that Lava was worried it was contagious. To make the situation clear, he had turned on the video of his cellphone to show Kasi his wrist, and the peeling skin on it, and was quite surprised at Kasi’s reaction upon seeing it.

“Chitti didn’t tell you,” Kasi said, closing his eyes in what Kusa thought was resignation.

“Tell us what? He’s sick? Can dragons get sick?” Kusa began panicking, but Kasi raised his hand to make him stop talking.

“You are not sick, boss,” Kasi said. “I… I can’t explain over the phone. Tell the big boss and the soft boss that we’ll be there in five.”

And then Kasi had hung up, before Kusa could ask anything else.

Not five minutes later, someone knocked at their door. It took Kusa another five minutes to convince Lava to let him open the door, that they were not contagious, because Jai had started picking at his peeling skin and now the bump was not “A” bump, but at least four very clear ones, and the last one wasn’t black, but red. Lava had started to hyperventilate right then and there.

But Kusa finally managed to open the door, to find Kasi, Chitti, and a man who was right between them in height wearing glasses on the other side. Kasi and the man looked quite stern, while Chitti was pouting.

“Hello,” The tall man said. “I’m Kumar Babu, Chitti’s brother. And I’m sorry that my brother is an idiot.”

“We didn’t know that there were two dragons in Rangasthalam…” Kusa began saying as he let them in, but Kumar shook his head.

“I’m not a dragon, it’s… a long story,” Kumar said, greeting both Jai and Lava with a bow. “And… the number of dragons… that’s… complicated now.”

“I didn’t think it would be so fast,” Chitti mumbled, and, to Kusa’s eternal surprise, Kumar turned around and swat his head. He had never seen a human being so casual with a dragon before.

“You said you forgot to tell them! Are you trying to change the story now?”

“Te-tell us what?” Jai asked, seeming calmer now that Kasi and Chitti were there.  Kusa took note of that. He had been worried about Jai changing his life so completely for them, leaving his Lanka behind. Because all his life, Jai had been surrounded by his henchmen, his second-hand commander Tapan, his trusty Kakah, and of course, Kasi. 

He’d have to talk to Kasi, tell him to come over more often now that he didn’t officially worked for Jai.

“Can I see the scales?” Chitti asked instead, earning himself another slap on the back of his head.

“Chitti!” Kumar said, at the same time as Kasi, who didn’t slap the dragon, but seemed quite willing to do so.

“What? I want to see them! And then I can explain!” Chitti replied, petulantly.

“Scales?” Lava asked, touching the bandage he had put over his shoulder to avoid peeling his skin, like Jai had been doing.

“Well, yeah, what else would a dragon have?” Chitti replied, blinking innocently. At his words, Kumar and Kasi slapped their own heads.

“Chitti! You are not explaining anything!” Kumar insisted. Now Kusa could see perfectly how they had to be brothers, even if Kumar said he wasn’t a dragon. He acted just like how Jai and Lava acted whenever Kusa did something they disapproved of.

“Chitti, I know you don’t want this,” Kasi said, his voice a disapproving growl that Kusa remembered quite well from his days pretending to be Jai. That was the tone Kasi used every time Kusa did something Jai wouldn’t do. Like smile. “You are scaring them, Lava thinks they’re dying.”

That seemed to do the trick, as suddenly Chitti stopped smiling and turned to see Lava, his face pale.

“You’re not dying!  Not now, not ever!” Chitti said. “Not now that I’ve found you!”

Yeah, that didn’t make anything clearer, and Kusa said so.

“I… forgot to tell you… I just didn’t decide that I wanted you on a whim,” Chitti looked down, as if he was… afraid of Kusa and his brother’s reactions. “I… you are my soulmates. The ones I’m supposed to spend my eternity with.”

Oh. Now Kusa knew a little bit about dragons and their soulmates. How they would die if their soulmates rejected them, how they were always tied to another dragon.

 

Wait. Another dragon.

 

“We’re not dragons, nor immortal,” Kusa pointed out, suddenly worried about the idea that, because he, Jai and Lava were human and thus, had a limited time on earth, that would make Chitti miss on the immortality all dragons had.

“Uhm…” Chitti bit his lower lip, which Kusa thought looked incredibly cute. He wanted to kiss that. But it was a Friday. If anyone was going to kiss Chitti, it had to be Lava.

Once they heard the whole explanation, Kusa guessed.

As Chitti hesitated to continue speaking, Kumar raised his hand again as if to slap his younger brother, and Kusa’s admiration for the man who had absolutely no fear of the dragon grew.

“Becausewe’resoulmatesoncewehadsexyourbodiesarestartingtochangesoyou’llbedragonslikeme!” Chitti quickly said in one breath, so quickly that Kusa almost missed what he actually said.

“We’re so-soulma-ates?” Jai asked, his confusion evident. However, it was Lava the one who asked the most pertinent question.

“We’re turning into dragons?!”

Which, to be honest, didn’t sound that bad to Kusa. In fact, it sounded awesome. Being dragons, just like their Chitti? To be able to fly, to shift, to be forever entwined with an element, and with Chitti himself? Kusa could totally sign up for that.

Although, he would’ve liked a bit of a warning first, that was true. So would Lava, judging for his tone. Kusa knew that tone well, it was the same tone he had heard when Lava asked him point blank why he had tried to rob the bank where Lava worked instead of asking Lava for help. A tone that indicated some disappointment, but the willingness to forgive and help no matter what.

However, Chitti seemed to misunderstand the tone, as he deflated even more.

“You don’t want to be with me?” Chitti asked, his eyes growing wide and shining with unshed tears. And Kusa didn’t miss the fact that Chitti didn’t ask ‘you don’t want to be LIKE me’, but ‘with’ me. It seemed like their boyfriend, despite all his apparent bravado, was as insecure as they were.

“Lava didn’t say that,” Kusa said quickly, glancing at Lava, who nodded. It was good that no matter what, no matter the long time they had been separated, they still could understand each other without words. “We were just surprised.”

“Changing species is… shocking,” Lava agreed, apparently letting go of his fear and anger. Kusa suspected, just like him, that there was something else Chitti was not saying. And that Jai understood, given how Jai had asked about them being soulmates, not about them turning into dragons. “I would’ve wanted a bit of a warning… and to know what to expect about it all.”

“Wi-will we be wa-water dra-dragons?” Jai asked, a bit more calm now, as Chitti shook his head . Then frowned, and shrugged.

“I don’t know,” their boyfriend said, and given that neither Kumar nor Kasi glared at him, Kusa figured that Chitti was, for once, not withholding information. “You might? But you might end up a completely different element, depending on what your true dragon soul’s element is.”

“We have dragon souls? Or is that another change?” Lava asked, now more confident. Kusa nodded, that was an interesting thing to know.

“Oh, no, no, your souls never changed. That’s why we’re soulmates!” Chitti explained quickly, going to touch Lava, but stopping short, as if he wasn’t sure he had the right anymore. It kind of broke Kusa’s heart. “You all… you all have dragon souls. And if we hadn’t met in this life, and you had been reborn as humans… your souls would still be dragons. And I would still be looking for you all.”

Lava looked at Chitti, then back at Kusa and Jai.

“Explain everything, please,” Lava finally said. “From the beginning.”

“No, before that,” Kusa interrupted, as he had now a more pressing question, now that he knew that neither him, nor his brothers were dying. “Tell us how is that Kasi knew what was happening to us, before we knew!”

 

*          *          *

 

Chitti took a deep, deep breath before knocking on the Triplets’ door.

After he had explained to the triplets what was happening to them, they all had insisted on staying inside until the changes finished, not wanting to call attention to themselves mid-change. Chitti had assured them that once they were full dragons like him, they would be able to shift between human and dragon forms, but Lava had been adamant.

“I refuse to shed skin all over the coffee shop kitchen! It’s unhygienic!” his usually quiet mate had said, and that had been it.

Still, he counted his blessings. Despite everything, none of the Triplets had rejected him. His soulmates still wanted him, and while they had been surprised at their sudden change of species -as Kumar and Kusa called it, no matter how much Chitti insisted that their souls had always been dragon souls so it was just more of a correction of species- once everything was clear, they had been on board to continue the changes. Kusa in particular seemed quite eager, Chitti smiled as he remembered the very enthusiastic blowjob the former thief had given him when he found out that Chitti’s semen would accelerate the changes.

Lava and Jai were taking pictures of the changes, documenting them all because while they understood that there was a certain need for secrecy about how dragons had repopulated India after having being almost destroyed by the British Raj, they also didn’t want any future soulmate of another dragon to be caught as unawares as they were.  The fact that they were thinking about others, who might not even be born yet, warmed Chitti’s heart.

That morning, he had woken up to see that his soulmark scales had finally changed color, something he had been waiting for ever since the first time he kissed the triplets. Now, the one on his left shoulder, where Jai had touched him first, was a beautiful deep red, with black flecks; the one In his right arm, where Lava had grabbed him, was a gorgeous brown, just like tree bark, and finally, the one in his right shoulder, where Kusa had touched him, was a pale blue, almost like a pearl. So now he knew which element each of his beloveds would turn to. Not only that, he could also pinpoint the specific type of their elements, and he wanted to let them know.

He had promised solemnly that he would never, ever keep a secret from them again; and if he was right, which he was, then some of the changes would make it hard for the triplets to stay in their small apartment.

“Chitti! We were thinking of you!” Kusa opened the door and greeted him with a deep, loving kiss that let Chitti realize that now Kusa’s tongue was forked. Kusa’s scales had also advanced more, covering his whole neck and shoulders, which also let Chitti see his own mark on Kusa, the patch where his pale pearl-like scales turned darker, the water tone Chitti’s scales had. No wings yet, but he knew they were coming soon.

“Kusa, if we start this, I’m going to forget what I was coming to tell you!” Chitti laughed, licking Kusa’s cheek with his own dragon tongue as he was led inside.

“If you have something to tell us, I am holding on to this until you do,” Lava half joked, holding a huge cup with foamy milk. Now that they were together, Chitti had admitted that the flavor of coffee itself didn’t do much for him, so Lava had started giving him just the milk, although he had promised that, once they went back to the store, they would start experimenting with flavored beans to see if there was a specific flavor Chitti would like more.

Chitti opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. Lava’s head was now crowned by a small pair of horns, that were starting to branch off like, well, branches. His ears were also starting to point, and turn a bashful tone of green, confirming Chitti’s suspicions.

“Iknowexactlywhatkindofdragonsyou’returninginto!” he blurted out, rushing to kiss Lava, eager to see if his tongue had forked just like Kusa’s had, and grinning as he saw a bit of Lava’s skin peel off his nose to reveal his ridge scales.

“I’m so gla-ad we cut off your co-offee intake,” Jai deadpanned, as Chitti kissed Lava, confirming that yes, Lava’s tongue was a proper dragon tongue now too.

“Are we sure you are not a coffee dragon, Chitti?” Kusa joked, and Chitti hissed at him playfully, just as he shifted to his hybrid form, as he did now every time he was alone with his mates, preening at them as his hair became more foam than hair.

“If I was a coffee dragon, my wings would be made of foamy milk!” he said, fluffing his wings at them, in a very, very obvious mating display, just as he grabbed Jai to kiss him. Jai’s tounge was still human, if a lot longer than a normal human’s tongue, so Chitti decided right then and there that Jai needed bottoming a bit more. Even so, Jai’s scales had grown more, covering his whole back in a gorgeous pattern of red and black diamonds on his scales.

“No teasing us like that, ba-bangaru,” Jai gently reminded him. “You sa-said you knew what ki-ind of dra-agons we are?”

“Oh, yes!” Chitti grinned, then pointed at Jai’s ears, which were now pointed and red. “You’re a Fire magma dragon! Lava is a Earth-tree dragon! And Kusa is a warm Wind dragon! You’re going to be so cool! But… we might need a different place for the rest of your changes.”

“What do you mean Warm wind? Is that different from another wind dragon?” Kusa asked at the same time that Jai frowned.

“Wha-aht do you mean a di-different pla-ace?”

“Each element has different type of dragons,” Chitti explained, taking off his clothes to fully shift, not ignoring the way in which his triplets’s gaze went right to his crotch. Oh, yes, soon it would be time to accelerate their changes more. “I’m a river water dragon, so I’m longer and thinner in my dragon form than a sea water dragon… like my teacher that I will introduce you to when you finish your changes.”

“You keep doing that and you won’t finish explaining,” Lava half-complained as Chitti kissed him hard, before his muzzle grew completely. “Why would we need a different place?”

“Because water dragons are the smallest dragons at full size,” Chitti replied, telugu sounding strange in his full dragon form. “You’ve never seen me at full size… but… I can fill this room. Easily.”

To make his point, he let himself grow to his full size, almost pushing the three of them to the walls, and only missing breaking stuff because he was thin enough and flying, but at least one book was thrown to the floor due to one of his back fins, and he knew that he was tickling Kusa with his tail, because the man laughed.

“Ok, yes… I see ho-how thi-is can be ha-ard if we all get to be thi-is size,” Jai said, caressing Chitti’s scales in a way that made Chitti thrill. “Bu-ut you can go sma-aller, right? We’ve see-en you.”

“Yes, I can,” Chitti explained, but refused to go smaller. “But you won’t be able until you have fully changed and that might mean that you’ll be stuck in your biggest size for a while. And as I just said…”

“Water dragons are the smallest,” Lava whispered. “Uhm… who are the biggest? Fire?”

“Nope,” Chitti grinned, his whisker tickling Lava as he liked his mate cheek. “The biggest dragons are always the Earth dragons. And Tree-earth dragons can be bigger than a house…”

Lava blinked, then blushed.

However, that was when Kusa found the perfect spot to caress Chitti between his wings, and thus, soon everything was forgotten for a while.

Chapter 4: The Dragons' Lair

Summary:

As the triplets change, so does their perspectives on the world. And of course, now dragon instincts are starting to flare up.

Jai stretched his shoulders as he got up from the bed in their new home. He had barely gotten used to his room in the small apartment over the coffee shop, and although Chitti had assured them that they’d be able to go back to it if they wanted, now he missed it as he had to make this new place a home.

Kasi had helped them found a huge abandoned Haveli about half an hour away from Rangasthalam -actually, 5 minutes when flying with Chitti which was an experience Jai wanted to repeat, often, even if he never got his own wings- and they all had chosen different rooms, even Chitti who had clarified that it was a good place for their communal nest, as it had a nice pool and was very close to the river.

Except… Jai hadn’t woken up on his room. The room he had chosen for himself was big, closer to the road than to the river, Lava’s choice had been one in the first floor,  a lot bigger as he was worried about how big he’d get, Kusa had picked one in the third floor, closer to the skies, and Chitti had gotten one in the first floor too that was right next to the pool. Obviously, they had made their choices because of their elements.

Except now Jai was waking up from a pile with his brothers and boyfriend in a room that he knew was in the second floor, almost at the same distance from all the other’s rooms. Once again, at some point of the night, they all had left their chosen rooms and ended up in a pile, all together around Chitti, who was in his full dragon form for the night, so each could have him as a pillow In one way or another, and his wings covered them all.

Chitti had explained to them that, while Dragons in general were usually loners, mated dragons or family units, liked to be together more often than not. So yeah, it was pretty normal that they looked for each other’s company and ended up together, and it would continue until they had fully changed. Then, it would vary. There would be days in which they would want to be together, there would be days in which they would want their privacy.

When Kusa pointed out that Chitti didn’t seem to want days away from them, Chitti had smiled, licked Kusa -and how Jai loved to see that forked, long tongue come out of Chitti’s mouth or muzzle, depending on what form his Bangaru was at the time.

His back was itching, which he assumed meant that his wings would start to come out soon. Of them all, only Kusa had started to show wings, but they were currently very small, like an almost recently hatched chicken, all covered in fluffy down.

Chicken, Chitti’s pet basilisk, had gone insane over Kusa’s tiny wings. He kept trying to groom Kusa, much to their brother’s annoyance and Chitti’s mirth. Now they knew that Chicken was as old as Chitti, as Kumar had found their eggs together, abandoned in the corn fields, and had decided to try and save what he then had thought were herons.

The Chelluboinas had been quite surprised when both eggs hatched, and there was not a bird in sight.

“Come back to bed, Jai,” Chitti grumbled, not even opening his eyes. At the moment, he was at his biggest size, so his head was, more or less, the size of a small couch. “The nest grows cold without you.”

“I’m re-estless, love,” Jai replied, but he sat next to Chitti’s head as Lava and Kusa were still asleep. Lava slept more now, as he was starting to grow. Their brother was now a proper giant, three heads taller than Kasi, who had until then being the tallest person Jai knew. Then again, nor him, nor his brothers, qualified as a person now. They were well in their way to be dragons. “I don’t know why.”

Chitti sighed, and, without moving much as to not to disturb Lava or Kusa, licked Jai’s cheek. It was completely covered in scales now, and Jai knew he’d be growning his muzzle soon. He was waiting for it as much as he wanted his wings. Perhaps, he guessed, some other person would be afraid of becoming a beast, but he wasn’t.

For the first time in his life, he was feeling as if he was becoming what he was supposed to be.

“What are you feeling, Jai? Tell me. It was the deal, right? I don’t keep secrets, you don’t keep secrets,” Chitti rumbled. He switched to draconian with the last word, as the triplets were slowly learning it.

“I… feel an itch,” Jai said, sitting down next to Chitti to start scratching him between his horns, that up close looked like photos Jai had seen of Coral reefs. Chitti had said that once they were fully changed, they’d be able to breathe underwater as his mates, and see the corals in person. “But… not outside. Not in my scales, or in my bones, like Lava, now that he’s growing, or in my back, as Kusa did when his wings first came out but… in my soul. As if something was missing.”

“Have you brought a bit of your hoard to the nest? That’s how I deal with that itch,” Chitti chirped, as he enjoyed Jai’s touch.

Jai frowned at this, and looked around. There was no gold in the huge nest of sheets, pillows and quilts that they used as a bed.

“Wh-what do you me-ean?” He asked. “I sho-ould bring cold money here?”

“Who said anything about money?” Chitti frowned, a bit of water steam coming off his nose. “I said your hoard… unless your hoard is money?”

“A-aren’t all dra-dragon hoards go-old and jewels?” Jai asked, softly. They both heard Kusa groaning, and they knew he was about to wake, which was great since then he could get breakfast going, and then Chitti could try moving without waking Lava up, and maybe go with Jai to his room to accelerate Jai’s changes a bit before breakfast.

“I have never met a dragon who hoards gold,” Chitti replied, softly blowing a bit of dew on Jai, making Jai’s neck scales glisten. “I know one who hoards yellow stuff, as in, anything yellow, but not specifically gold.”

“So… wha-at are hoards made of?” Jai asked, at the same time that Kusa, now completely awake, leaned on the opposite side of Chitti’s head, scratching him with his newly created claws. All of them still had human shapes, even if judging by the long, snake like body that their Chitti had in full form, Jai assumed that wouldn’t be the case for long.

“Yeah, what is your hoard? You kept telling us our tribute to you was paid, but never told us what Kasi got for you when we moved in!” Kusa finished.

From the middle of the nest, Lava grumbled, and dug a little deeper into the covers.

“You’ve seen me with part of it every day,” Chitti laughed, as he shifted into fully human form, which proved to Jai that yes, both he and Kusa had also grown as they were now at least two heads taller than Chitti. Kusa’s torso was also elongated, a bit out of proportion with the rest of his body. It was like being a teenager again.

Horniness included.

“What do you me-ean, Bangaru?” Jai asked. “Your earrings and beads?”

“You are very obsessed with shinny things, my beloved,” Chitti laughed, and kissed him, deeply and lovingly. “But no. My lungis. I l hoard fabric! All kinds, cotton, silk, wool… anything that is beautiful and colorful and my favorites, Dad makes them into lungis or shirts so I can take them with me.”

“Wait… we’re sleeping in your hoard?” Kusa asked, looking down at their nest.

“Part of it, yes,” Chitti grinned, kissing Kusa. Jai smiled warmly at the sigh, wondering why he didn’t feel jealous. Well, he knew why. Chitti was theirs, not his, and it was ok. He could share, as long as it was with his brothers. “And before you ask… no, I wouldn’t let just anyone touch my hoard. Only my father… and you, my mates.”

“So… ho-ow do we find out what our ho-ho-hoards are?”

 

*          *          *

 

Lava grumbled as he hit his head against the doorframe, once again.  This had been happening more and more often, because he just couldn’t calculate his new height when it kept changing every time he had sex with Chitti.

Not that he wanted to stop having sex with Chitti. Especially not now, when he was stuck as some sort of weird tall freaky human/dragon hybrid. He really wanted to finish his changes, and be able to look fully human again.

As he managed to get back to his room, he laid down in the huge pile of blankets, duvets and comforters he had amassed in just two weeks. His hoard, Chitti called it, and Lava could understand that. It made him feel so much better, calmer, whenever he was surrounded by them. It was not the same as Chitti’s fabric hoard, because his hoard had a purpose. They were made to comfort, to keep people warm and safe, as he wanted them to be.

He sighed, his head on top of the fuzziest comforter he had, his half muzzle feeling a bit less itchy thanks to it.

It was not that he didn’t want to be a dragon. The more he changed, the more Jai and Kusa changed, the more he understood that this was what they were meant to be and that meeting Chitti had only bring that part out of them. Now, when he thought about a lot of things in his past, they made sense.  How he had always felt far more comfortable in parks and gardens than inside of buildings, how he needed to nest himself into blankets in days that were personally hard at the bank, or just, sleep under a tree, as close as possible to his roots. But at least for him, the whole thing was like being a teenager again and it was so annoying.

It was not just hitting his head everywhere because he miscalculated his height. Or how now he couldn’t comb his hair so it was all disheveled because he now had horns, and they were so TALL, taller than the hubs on Jai’s and Kusa’s head. Or the four weird twigs that were growing on his back, that Chitti assured him would become gorgeous wings even if Lava just felt like a freak. Or the fact that he was growing a tail.

It was everything at the same time. He wanted his changes to be over, not just so he could look fully human, but also so he could feel fully dragon.

He didn’t know what he wanted.

“Lava? Luv?” Chitti came into the room, speaking as quietly as he could. Of course, his soulmate had to know that Lava had a headache. And Lava sighed, as he felt the scent of warm milk get to his now too big nosetrils. “I got you something.”

“I don’t wanna move,” Lava whined, hating how telugu sounded slurred now with his new mouth. He now got why Jai spoke so little. It was torture not to be able to sound the way he wanted to sound. “I just wanna die here in my blankets.”

“You don’t want to die, do you?” Chitti suddenly sounded very worried and Lava lifted his head. The last thing he wanted to do was to worry Chitti or his brothers. He was just… tired. And achy, and his back itched and he couldn’t reach to scratch himself. “I’m sorry, Luv. This is all my fault. I should’ve told you everything… I should’ve let you said no to become a dragon…”

“I want to be a dragon!” Lava huffed, and Chitti sat next to him holding what was seemed like a two-gallon bag of warm milk. “I just wish it was easier for me… as it’s for Jai and Kusa.”

“What do you mean?” Chitti asked, as he started scratching Lava behind his ears, on that one spot he hadn’t been able to reach since his last grow spurt.

“They don’t look like an awkward tree walking,” Lava pouted. “Or hit themselves with the roof and every doorframe in the haveli. And even if Kusa’s wings are still only covered in down feathers, they at least look like wings. Mine look like dried twigs. I bet you can’t even look at me without wondering why your soulmate looks so ugly!”

“You aren’t ugly, my Cettu,” Chitti smiled and kissed his half muzzle, then licked the milk from Lava’s lips. “You’re just growing, and I bet you will be gorgeous when you finish.”

“It doesn’t feel as if you’re in a hurry to see me change,”  Lava whined. He hated that he was whining but he felt it was true. He had sex with Chitti of course, but it was always him who started it. Never Chitti.

“What makes you think that?” Chitti frowned. “My Cettu, if it was up to me, I’d be balls deep in you all the time! I love you! And I want to see you in all your glory but…”

“But?” Lava asked, lifting his head and noticing that yep, his neck felt a bit longer. Again.

“Well, I don’t want to pressure you,” Chitti said, as he leaned forward, and licked Lava’s growing muzzle. “I never want to make you feel as if I am forcing you to… well, change. I thought you weren’t very comfortable with this so… I wanted to give you space.”

Lava blinked, then blinked again as he realized what those words meant. Something felt warm in his chest, and he would try to identify it but he was too busy feeling happy.

“You… want me to set the speed of this?” He asked, just to make sure, and was very rewarded when Chitti nodded. “That’s all this has been? You letting me choose?”

“Well, I took away one choice because I was a dumbass and didn’t…” Lava didn’t let Chitty finish. He just pushed the now empty gallon container away, and pounced Chitti. He was naked, and Chitti was only wearing his lungi, so that was perfect for Lava. All he wanted right now was his soulmate, and the knowledge that his soulmate loved him and wanted him as much as he did.

It wasn’t until much, much later when he wondered how a bunch of cherry blossoms had somehow found their way to his hoard nest.

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa hummed happily as he looked at his now almost fully draconian body in the mirror.

There were still some humanoid looking parts, yes, although he couldn’t walk upright anymore and his legs and arms… well, his four legs now, were shorter. He thought he looked a bit like those Chinese dragons he had seen more than once in parades, only he had wings.

Small, baby bird wings, but still, wings.

He couldn’t wait for them to get bigger so that Chitti would teach him how to fly. In his dreams, he soared the skies, still in human form as that was the only one he knew perfectly well, but Kusa figured that would change sooner rather than later.

Chitti had said that once their changes finished, they would all be able to shift to hybrid or full human forms with no effort at all. Or so he thought. The truth was, there was not much written about humans turning into dragons, except for Jai and Lava’s notes, that, much to Kusa’s embarrassment, included exactly how often they had sex with Chitti. Especially because Kusa was the one who did it the most, so he was of course the most changed.

Jai could still walk upright, even if his wings were a lot bigger than Kusa’s. Of course, his brother’s wings were not feathered, but more like bat wings, like the ones Kusa had seen in many dragon pictures all over the world. Kasi -who knew far more about dragons than the triplets, because he had helped Kumar research when they were younger and Kumar was raising Chitti because he had found and hatched his egg- told him that it was because most illustrations were of Fire Dragons, and the other types of dragons didn’t get their wings drawn as often.

Kusa figured it was true, and sad, because he couldn’t think of anything more beautiful than his Chitti’s wings, almost gossamer in color and texture, just like fighting betta fish’s fins. He loved when Chitti covered him and his brothers with them when they slept in their communal nest, but part of him was aching to return the favor, and to also feel Jai’s wings covering him, and Lava’s, which were growing to look like huge leaves.

 

Lava.

 

Thinking of his brother made Kusa smile. Lava had been the one who was changing the least for a while, but after he and Chitti had a talk -and neither of them were telling Kusa or Jai what it had been about- suddenly he had had a growth spurt.  Kusa laughed at his own pun, because it was true. Lava had surpassed Kusa in his changes, and Chitti was sure Lava would be a full dragon in just a day or so more. And nothing would make them happier, as right now, in full size, Lava was confined to the yard, unable to cross the door of the haveli anymore. They had, of course, brought his hoard to him, to make him a nest, and that in turn had become the communal nest for the time being, but it was just a temporary solution, as neither Jai nor Chitti could bring their hoards to the nest without making Lava feel uncomfortable.

They where a polycule, but they were still dragons, Chitti had explained. And dragons were nothing if not territorial about their nests.

Kusa sighed. He was the only one in the haveli who hadn’t found his Hoard. Lava’s had been quite easy, as his and Chitti’s were very similar and he started his by literally stealing a rug from Chitti’s hoard. Chitti hadn’t minded as he liked fabric that had no set purpose or was made into clothes, so a rug was just there because, well, someone had given it to him as a tribute and Chitti was not one to get offended by the wrong offering as long as it had been made in earnest honesty. When Lava took it, Chitti insisted that the reason why he had accepted it was because, deep down, he had known one of his mates would want it. And so, Lava’s hoard was rugs, and comforters, and quilts and sheets and blankets. Oh, how his brother loved fluffy blankets. Kusa had made the decision that as soon as he could turn back to human, he’d get Lava the best weighed blanket he could find.

It had been thanks to Lava that they had found Jai’s hoard.

When Lava finally accepted that he was happy with his changes, that Chitti loved him as much as he loved Jai and Kusa, his anna had… bloomed. There was no other way to describe what had happened, as his horns suddenly became full with cherry blooms that would fall on top of anyone who was near as long as Lava was happy. When he laughed, they got Cherry blossoms. When he was with Chitti, there were also red roses. When he was with Kusa or Jai, jasmines. It was suddenly very easy to know what his usually most reserved brother was thinking now.

And while the blooms and petals would soon perish, Jai had started picking them. One particular night, he had even tried to pluck one of the jasmines from Lava’s head before they fell. And it was then when Kusa pointed out that, of all the fabrics in their makeshift nest, the ones he preferred to lay on were those with floral prints, same with Lava’s blankets. If it had a flower, Jai liked it.

Which was going to make the flower shop hard to keep up, if Jai’s instincts saw them as his hoard, but they’d get to that hurdle when it reached them. For now, what they had was a growing garden on the haveli, and every single flower-themed thing Kasi and Kumar had been able to find. Jai’s hoard was flowers, and once the garden was grown enough that he could lay on it? His brother was happier.

That only left himself, Kusa. He had tried everything. Checked all the fabrics that Chitti let him touch, trying to find a pattern that called his heart, but none did. And he was starting to fear that he was somehow broken, that he had no full dragon instincts, that his soul was human, no matter what Chitti said.

 

*          *          *

 

Chitti watched his soulmates sleep, and chirped softly to himself.

They had finished their changes into their full dragon forms, and they were sleeping peacefully given how much energy it had taken. When they woke up, Chitti would teach them how to shift to half form, and to human form, and then he’d have to tell them their new responsibilities as the town’s dragons.

Later on, he’d have to introduce them to his teacher, and later on, to the full court. But Chitti didn’t want to think that far yet, right now, he had his soulmates, and they had him, and nothing else.

Lava had grown as much as Chitti had expected, and was on the outer side of the nest, surrounding them like a second wall. Chitti knew why this was. Lava had the most trauma of the three brothers regarding their safety, he knew. He had never heard the whole story, but he knew that at some point, Jai had been badly hurt, almost died if not for Kasi and a man named Kakkah. That Kusa had fought to try and keep Lava safe during that situation, but Lava had been shot and thus, unable to help.

It was a good thing that the men who had dared to hurt his soulmates had been all killed, or he’d have to leave Rangasthalam for a bit to make sure that they would never breathe again.  He also owed Kasi a big debt.

But coming back to his Lava, he now had the size he needed to be able to protect his brothers, and he was using it, even if unconsciously. His scales were almost as big as Chitti’s head, brown and glistening under the stars, and his horns were like small trees, filled with cherry blossoms that were creating a small blanket of petals all over his lovers. Chitti was currently curled up in one of the horns’s branches, a flower about the size of his hand tickling his muzzle. In his sleep, Lava chirped, and his wings, that looked like four huge leaves now, green and lush as they were in spring, shuddered a little as he moved them, to put them all over his brothers. Or maybe, Chitti mused, Lava knew that Chitti was not inside his protective circle. He’d move soon, to let his lover sleep better.

Next in size, cuddled between Lava and Kusa, was Jai. Of them all, he was the one who looked most like what people imagined when they thought of a dragon. Long neck, lizard looking muzzle, straight horns, and the most wonderful pattern of red and black scales that made him look like molten lava that had cracked through earth. Just like how Jai was. Calm in appearance, but with a temper hotter than Chitti’s under the surface. His wings were tucking in Kusa, and Chitti also knew why.

Jai now felt guilty about the time Kusa spent in jail, because of a crime Jai committed. Sure, now that he knew the full story, Chitti and Kusa thought Jai had been completely justified in his actions, but Jai still showed his feelings being extra protective of their Kusa.

It warmed Chitti’s heart, almost as much as just being Jai’s body, which was now hot like a well lit bonfire, warmed his scales.

Finally, curled into a tiny ball which had just the right space for Chitti to go and curl inside that protective circle, was Kusa. Kusa’s body had elongated, making him look like a snake with legs, or a ferret. His scales were very pale, iridicent, and so right now they were mirroring both the browns and reds of his brothers, as well as the multiple color of his wings.

He had shed the last of his down, and now had full, ready to fly feathers. They were pink, purple, blue, light blue, and light violet, and Chitti was pretty sure he had seen a tiny bit of red in them too, but wasn’t sure. Kusa just kept moving, preening like a peacock, teasing him with them in what was the beginning of a mating dance.

Oh, they had mated. A lot, but he still wanted to do the mating flight with each of them. Once he introduced them to the court. Once they figured out what Kusa’s hoard was.

Chitti kept thinking about that. Finding Jai’s and Lava’s hoards had been easy, and, in hindsight, pretty obvious. So they were missing something.

Sure, Kusa loved to steal vehicles, and had whined a bit about being unable to while they were changing. But he never kept them, never had the desire to keep them, according to Kusa. He said he just liked the challenge of taking them.

Hoarding challenges? That was a hard concept, and Chitti frowned. However, that made him remember something, from when he was little, before they discovered he loved fabric.

He used to steal tiny bits of the fabric his father discarded, sure, but also once… he had stolen Lakshimi’s dolls. They had the cutest skirts and saris, and Chitti had wanted them so bad, he had not fought his instincts a tiny bit.

Lakshimi, who had not yet learned that dragons were to be feared and respected, had cried up a storm, and stomped right into the Chelluboina house, pushed Chitti away from his pile of scraps of fabric, and gotten her dolls back. It was only when Chitti started crying, and Kumar came in, that she relented and gave Chitti the clothes, but not the dolls. After all, Chitti didn’t want the dolls.

But that give him a bit of an idea. He stretched like a cat on Lava’s branches, and grinned. It was yet a couple of hours before sunrise. If he flew at his top speed, it would give him time to get home, wake Kumar, find what he wanted and come back before his lovers woke up.

And with any luck, he’d have a special gift and a surprise for his Kusa with him.

Chapter 5: Dragon's Traditions

Summary:

Now that the triplets have finished their changes, it's time for them to find their new places in Rangasthalam... and the Dragon world.

Jai stretched as much as he could in his full dragon form, arching his back and spreading his wings completely. He had been practicing shifting sizes and found that he was at his most comfortable being the comparative size of a horse.  A horse that could breathe fire, even if he was still getting the hang of it and if he sneezed, everyone ducked, and who could, in theory, fly.

Flight was not coming easily to him. Not like it had to Kusa, who was now more often than not flying around the Haveli, either in full form or in half form, showing off his rainbow-colored wings and creating rainbows everywhere. They still haven’t gone to town, as both Jai and Lava wanted to get better at shifting before they did that. Chitti preferred to be in human form whenever he was in town, so they wanted to respect that.

And of course, at some point, they had to reopen the coffee shop, and doing so in dragon or hybrid-form would invite more curious onlookers than clients. Yes, the town’s people would know… probably already knew that Jai and his brothers were now dragons. Perhaps they even thought they had always been dragons, and that was… amusing to Jai now. Especially because now he understood that yes, they had always been dragons, even if their scales had been hidden, even if they hadn’t been born from eggs.

He had asked Chitti about how his thinking had changed, but his Bangaru hadn’t been able to help make it clear. After all, Chitti had been born with his scales out, had always known he was a dragon. But then his beloved said something that made Jai start thinking about the fact that now, now he and his brothers had a long future ahead.

“The prince consort of the Court king may be able to give you some insights, legend say he was born from an egg, but didn’t know he was a dragon until he met the king,” Chitti said, shrugging. “We will have to go to the Court, sooner or later.”

The dragon court.

Chitti had not been good with details about it, since he, in his own words, hated all that fancy stuff and protocol, so he avoided the court as much as he could. Kasi, as good a fountain of knowledge as he had been about pretty much everything else dragon-related, had no idea either, because dragon courts were something that was never discussed with humans. Kumar had promised he’d try to get the one human-written book that was considered the ultimate guide about dragons, that may have some answers, but the book itself was rare now. So Jai had to wait.

Wait, and be nervous.

At the very least, now all of them had their hoards. His garden was growing beautifully, and he had now some gorgeous crystal roses that Kaakah had sent to congratulate him for finding his place in the world, as well as one small cross-stich square framed, with a bouquet of Daffodils, violets and lilies, made by Simran herself. That had a place of honor in Jai’s horde, as he knew that those flowers had a common meaning to them: Forgiveness.

The one thing he hadn’t think he’d ever get from Tapan’s sister.

Lava´s hoard of comforters, quilts and rugs kept growing, which only made Jai think that not only the town of Rangashtalam knew they were dragons, they had been already informed of what kind of tributes they had to offer. It couldn´t be a coincidence that every time Kumar or Kasi visited, they had another comforter for his brother.

Kusa’s hoard had been such a puzzle, and now Jai loved Chitti even more because it had been their soulmate who had solved it. The day after Jai, Lava and Kusa had finished their changes, he had gifted Kusa with a tiny toy auto, made of wood, painted bright yellow.

It was hard to describe how Kusa had reacted. It was as his brother suddenly was a child again, as his eyes opened wide and he touched the toy with reverence and love. It reminded Jai so much of how Kusa had been before Jai’s actions sent him to jail, an open, innocent joy at that tiny thing, as his brother cradled the toy auto in his hands.

 

Toy vehicles.

 

The answer had been so simple, so clear. Kusa stole large vehicles, yes, but never kept them. Those were too big, too… adult. Yes, that was the word Jai was looking for. Real vehicles were adult, something for grown up life. The toys, however, were back to a childhood that jail had cut short.

A childhood that Kusa had always tried to keep within him, no matter what.

Jai sighed, as he focused on the exercises that Chitti had taught him in order to shift to half form. After so many years of thinking he had been right, justified even at what he did, of thinking that the fire he had created had killed his brothers? Now he felt guilty. Because now he understood that neither Lava nor Kusa were to blame for how he had been treated. They had been children, influenced by their hated uncle. Jai hadn’t seen that when he was a child, but now, he could. And he was blessed that the fates had given him time and the opportunity to fix their broken bond.

“Anna, you’re thinking so loud, I’m sure Kusa can hear you up there where he’s flying,” Lava’s voice rumbled above his head, in stilted and hesitant draconian. They had also been learning the language, in preparation for when they’d have to go to the dragon court. “Are you ok?”

Jai looked up to see his brother, in full dragon form, at his full size. It was incredible to see him like that, so big and powerful, his horns themselves as huge as trees, and covered with small cherry blossoms.

“I’m just thanking the gods I’m so lucky to have you back in my life, and that we found Chitti,” Jai said and smiled.

Life was now very good for them.

 

*          *          *

 

Lava stretched his arms as he watched Chitti take off his shirt and lungi, and shift quickly into his full dragon form. They were in Veera Babu’s field, as he had requested Chitti for a blessing and rain for the whole town, bringing a gorgeous blue silk  bolt, of about 30 yards, embraided with gold and red thread. It must had cost the old man a small fortune, so Chitti ahd promised to give the best blessing for his harvest.

They had just been back in town for a week, and kept in human form within the store, still unsure of their new role as dragons. Chitti had told them all that they could just be their consorts and leave “all the boring ceremony stuff” to him, but neither Lava nor his brothers felt comfortable with the idea.

“We’re not your sugar babies, Chitti,” Lava had said, as Jai and Kusa nodded behind him. “We can work and do whatever we’re supposed to do now that we’re dragons.

“You were always dragons, my Bangaru,” Chitti had replied, licking Lava’s muzzle as they were in dragon form at the time.

When they were in the haveli, and the only humans who came to see them were Kasi or Kumar, they preferred to be either in full dragon form or hybrid, keeping their brand new scales on sight. Lava wasn’t sure what his brothers’ reasoning to do so was, but he needed to see them just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. That he really was a dragon, soulmate to Chitti, and that he’d live forever with his lover and brothers.

But right now, in the field, they had arrived in human form, respecting how Chitti didn’t like people oogling at him when he was showing his scales. Once they had arrived, Veera Babu and his sons had emptied the field, to give Chitti and Lava privacy. Well, Chitti. Lava had no idea what they thought he was doing there, although he was pretty sure they knew that they were Chitti’s boyfriends. Lakshimi had known, after all.

“So… I’m going to make rain come,” Chitti explained, turning to see him with such a sweet expression that Lava couldn’t help but pet his bangaru’s mane, right between his coral-like horns. “There are two ways for me to bring water, my water breath, and my flight… but the water breath can be very destructive so that’s not good for blessings.”

“Jai keeps sneezing and setting things on fire,” Lava nodded, still petting Chitti who started to thrill. It was a wonderful sound that made Lava want to answer to it, even if his throat at the time was not in a shape to do such noises. “It makes him very angry when he sneezes in his garden.”

“I need to teach you all how to control your breath,” Chitti nodded, his eyes closed in pleasure. He might be reptile looking, but when he was like this, Lava thought his lover was a big cat. Or maybe a ferret, considering how elongated his dragon body was. “When I was six, I kept flooding the house’s bathroom accidentally. Kumar may have pictures.”

Lava chuckled. Kumar indeed had pictures of Chitti growing up, and he had shared them with Lava and his brothers when he came to visit. In fact, he had so many, that Kusa had joked that Kumar had to be a dragon himself, given that he hoarded pictures of his brother.

Kumar had laughed, but his eyes had moved towards Kasi as he did so.

“No, I am totally human, and my heart also belongs to a human, so that works perfect for me.”

They really had to convince Chitti that Kasi was a good man, so that Kasi could woo Kumar properly.

But before that, there was another thing that Chitti’s words had brought to Lava’s mind.

“Chitti… what is my breath power?” He asked, shyly. “I mean, Jai’s obviously fire, and I guess Kusa will be able to create hurricanes if he focus, and you just told me you could make a tsunami come out of your mouth but… what about me? I’m an Earth Dragon, and my horns bloom flowers… that… doesn’t seem like something that would come in a breath power…”

Chitti grinned, moving away from Lava’s hands and changing his size so he could have his muzzle right at Lava’s mouth height.

“I have never seen an Earth dragon use his breath, my love,” he said, licking Lava’s nose. “I’ve heard that some Earth dragons can cause sand storms with their breath, and others will drown you in leaves… But whatever you do… I know it will be wonderful. Besides, we have other magic besides our breath.”

“Like you bringing the rain?” Lava asked, curious, and Chitti nodded, enthusiastically.

“Watch this!” He said and took flight. Lava loved watching Chitti fly. He looked so wonderful in the blue sky, like if he was swimming in the air. He also had to admit, Kusa looked equally in his element, and he had been the one of the trio who had learned to fly faster, followed by Jai.

Lava could fly now, but he didn’t specially like it unless he was with one of his brothers or Chitti. He preferred to be on earth, touching the soil.

His element, he guessed.

High above his head, Chitti chirped, calling his eyes, and he opened his wings wide.  As he did so, the sunlight went through them, creating a rainbow of blues and pinks that covered the field and Lava. It reminded him of how it had looked like when he went to an aquarium and had the chance to take a tour under one of the tanks.

Chitti made a pirouette on the sky, making Lava marvel at his lover’s agility.  After the pirouette, Chitti continued looping around the clouds, and suddenly a drop of water fell on Lava’s forehead, and then another, and another until there was a perfect spring rainfall falling right on the field where Lava was standing.

Lava opened his arms, laughing and, before he could think better of it, he was shifting to his full dragon form, not caring that he was shredding his clothes as he did, growing to his full size, big and strong. It had been instinctual, because that’s what water did to plants, after all. Water and sunlight fed them and made them grow.

Still going on instinct, Lava suddenly knew he wanted… no… he needed to put roots down. And he had one root, after all, so he pushed his tail deep into the soil, letting himself feel for the first time not just the nutrients of the earth, nutrients that he could suddenly taste, and find wonderful, but also hear the tiny seeds in the ground, the ones that were still small, but alive.

Not quite understanding how, but knowing he was doing the right thing, Lava started whispering in his mind, telling the seeds to grow, to chase the light, because more water and food was waiting for them…. He was so focused on that, that he didn’t notice when his Bangaru suddenly flew down to try and tackle him, not actually succeeding due to their size difference, but still, laughing and licking him with joy.

“Lava! You found your earth magic!” Chitti laughed, shifting to half form to point to the field with his hands. “And what a blessing this was!”

Lava opened his eyes, and shifted to hybrid too, in order to be able to kiss Chitti if he wanted. But first, he was amazed at the sight before them. Because the seeds that had just been planted that day, were all now healthy sprouts that looked at least a month old.

And he felt his horns bud and bloom, because he felt so proud of what he had been able to do to help Rangasthalam.

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa loved flying.

 

Every morning since he had learned how to, when his wings finally stopped looking like a baby bird’s nubs, when his flight feathers came in, he fully shifted, got to his smaller possible size in order not to call attention to himself just yet, and took to the skies.

He had found out, to his eternal joy, that he could in fact curl around a cloud as if he was a cat, just like in children’s book illustrations. That when he flew, he created rainbows on his trail. That he could make clouds become less angry, or help them get ready to rain, ready to answer to Chitti’s beck and call.

He could race with birds, who treated him like one of his own, even if he had more scales than feathers.

He only came back down to Earth when he started needing to see his mate and brothers. He needed to see them and touch them and know they were there, safe with him. So if he was not flying, he was either cuddling Chitti -when Chitti was not busy with his town’s responsibilities- or with Jai and Lava at the coffee and flower shop that they had reopened to great success.

They had lucked out, because Jai didn’t see the flowers at the shop as part of his hoard. Well, he sort of did, but he also saw all of Rangasthalam as his territory, so as long as the flowers were still in Rangasthalam? It was fine.

The town’s people knew now that they were Chitti’s mates, and thus, they all suspected they had always been dragons. None of them shifted when at the store, following Chitti’s example, and while the villagers now treated them with more respect -and Kusa kept getting children handing him toy cars and trains and planes, and he just teared up every time, hugging and playing with them until they were laughing heaps on the floor- they in general left them continue their lives as normal.

It helped that Lava had also found his role as town dragon. He blessed the fields, and thus crops grew bigger and stronger. It also meant that now people came to pay for their coffees with bed covers, afghans, rugs and quilts.  Lava accepted them all, touched them and committed them to memory, and then begged Kusa to take them to their haveli, because keeping them in the kitchen would be dangerous for everyone involved.

Neither he nor Jai had a place as town’s dragons yet. Kusa knew Jai worried about what he could do, since his element was destructive in nature. While he knew his Anna would protect Rangasthalam now the same way he used to protect his fortress -with more strength now, thanks to his fire breath- Rangasthalam was not in danger. Even if the President and his goons tried from time to time to get more money from the farmers, they didn’t dare to cross Kumar due to his connection to Chitti.

 

To his connection with them.

 

Kusa just waited. He figured that, just like his hoard, the answer to what his role in the town would be would come to them. If not, he’d be very happy just as the Water Dragon’s consort and the Earth Dragon’s brother. Kasi had made it clear that that was not just a “pampered boyfriend” position, at least not where dragons were concerned.

“I’m just telling you this, loud boss, because Chitti is going to forget and I rather not have Kumar freaking out on me, not now when he…” Kasi began, then shook his head. They were at the haveli Kasi had gotten for them, and Kasi had arrived with some tributes from town for Jai, at the same time Kusa had arrived with Lava’s new rug. “And because you have my wallet. Again.”

Kusa, who at the time was in human form and had been riding a scooter he got from a tourist, grinned and threw the wallet to Kasi. It was a game between them now, as Kasi kept trying to find better hiding places for his wallet… and sometimes put a toy plane in it for Kusa to find.

Kusa really liked Kasi. If he wasn’t Jai’s underling, Kusa would’ve totally claimed him as his human.

And of course, that was another instinct he had to learn about. Because he really, really wanted to claim Kasi as his own.

“Dragon court is not unlike the royal courts of old, with a Maharaja and princes who would obey their law,” Kasi explained, as they walked together towards the Haveli’s yard, Kasi carrying a huge basket filled with paper flowers that had been obviously folded by children. Some of them on drawing paper, that had cute drawings of dragons of them.  “But now, there’s only one real royal left.  The last Gold dragon born in India, who rules over all dragon with his own consort, a Water dragon.”

“So… they’re the King and Queen?” Kusa asked, shifting to hybrid form as he practiced his draconian. It was funny that Kasi, a human, spoke it better than the triplets.

“King and Prince Consort,” Kasi shrugged. “I’ve never met them, because well… not the place for a human to be. But Chitti has. He really likes the Prince Consort, because he’s a protective water dragon, just like Chitti. Only that… his herd… well, his herd is long gone. So now, all what he does is take care of his mate.”

“What I’ll have to do if I don’t become a Town’s dragon, right?” Kusa tilted his head, feeling sad for the unknown water dragon. He didn’t want to think what would happen to Chitti’s heart if Rangasthalam suddenly disappeared. “Take care of Chitti? And my brothers?”

“Yeah, make sure they’re happy, first and foremost but… also healthy, and safe,” Kasi nodded, then looked at Kusa with a seriousness that was not common on his face. “Sometimes, that might mean not letting them do something they want to do. Especially when talking about Chitti.”

“Like… having sex with his mates without telling them they’d become dragons?” Kusa laughed, and Kasi shook his head.

“More like, not letting him eat Seshu Naidu because he threatened Jai once, because he doesn’t know where that fat man has been eating,” Kasi said, so serious that Kusa realized he was not joking. Chitti had really wanted to eat a man for insulting Jai.

Kusa didn’t know what surprised him more. The fact that knowing that Dragons ate people didn’t actually bother him, or the fact that knowing that Chitti was that protective of Jai made him want to find his mate right that second and have his way with him.

Dragon’s instincts he guessed.

Something must have showed in his face, because Kasi shook his head and pointed at the east. “Chitti must be at Lakshimi’s field, blessing it today. I’ll finish putting these on place, loud boss.”

Kusa barely muttered a thanks before shifting fully to fly in that direction. Yes, he wanted his mate right now, and his wings would take him there faster than the wind he now commanded.

 

*          *          *

 

Chitti was nervous.

No, strike that. He was beyond nervous. He was anxious. He was anxiety itself.

They had been summoned by the dragon court. An official summoning too, brought by one of the King’s human herd, in a fancy envelope and everything, addressed to the Dragon Lord of Rangasthalam and his consorts.

Dragon Lord of Rangasthalam. That was Chitti’s official title, even if he never actually used it. He had never needed to, as there had been no other dragons in Rangasthalam who could fight his authority nor any dragon had ever wanted to move near his territory. But now he had his soulmates. Now Rangasthalam had four dragons living in town, and even if Chitti would never, ever, claim authority over his mates, Dragon protocol was clear. He now had a court of his own.

And he had to introduce his mates, and their intentions to his herd and town, to the Dragon Court of India.

 

To the Golden King.

 

Anxious didn’t start to cover how he felt.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Kusa asked, while they waited for Jai and Lava to decide what they would wear to the audience. Chitti usually didn’t care and wore just whichever lungi was his favorite at the time, but this time was different. This time he was presenting his mates.

His mates that, because he had not considered this a possibility, had no idea what Dragon court was like.

“Th-they can’t ma-make us leave you, ca-an they?” Jai asked, bringing a gorgeous deep blue kurta to see how it looked on Kusa. His tone made clear that, if Chitti answered in the affirmative, he’d be ready to fight the whole court himself.

“No,” Chitti answered quickly, extinguishing the brief flame of arousal that came with knowing that one of his mates was willing to fight the whole dragon court for him. “That is the one thing they can’t do… We’re together, forever.”

Kusa, sensing his anxiety, hugged Chitti, just as Lava came out of their communal closet with another Kurta, this one white, and a lungi, bright blue with a wave pattern.

“Maybe we should dress for our elements?” Lava asked, frowning. “What is the dress code for this?”

“I… don’t know?” Chitti looked down. Now his lack of interest on the protocol of the court was going to make his soulmates look bad. “I… Usually just don’t go?”

“Has Chitti started hiding inside the teacups?” Kumar asked as he came in, carrying a big package. That was it for Chitti. He shifted to his full form, in his smallest possible size, and hid behind Lava’s horns. He loved curling on Lava’s horns.

“Not u-until you a-ah-arrived,” Jai replied, looking a bit angry. But Chitti couldn’t get the courage to get back and face Kumar. Kumar would probably yell at him for not getting his soulmates’ ready for the court.

“My horns are not teacups,” Lava sighed. “Does he hid in the teacups a lot?”

“Not since you guys arrived,” Kumar said, and handed the package to Jai. “These are your tributes for the Dragon King and his consort, I figured Chitti would forget he needed to get some.”

“I didn’t!” Chitti defended himself in draconian. “I just… thought I’d have time to get them later.”

“What are those?” Kusa asked, ignoring Chitti. “Have you met the Dragon King?”

“Books for the King, river pebbles for his consort, one from each of you,” Kumar replied easily. “And yes, I am allowed, as Chitti’s special human.”

“Special hu-human?” Jai frowned and Chitti would’ve hit himself on the face. He had completely forgot to tell them about the fact that even if they didn’t have a herd, they could choose a special human from his own herd.

“I’m the worst mate!” he bemoaned, while Kumar ignored him and explained to the triplets that pretty much all of Rangasthalam except for the President and his men were Chitti’s human herd, that he protected them and the town, just as the town protected him. But that from all of them, Chitti trusted and loved Kumar the most, so Kumar was seen by the other dragons as the representative of Chitti’s full herd.

“You probably haven’t felt the need to mark anyone as herd because we’re all marked as Chitti’s,” Kumar finished. “Well, except for those no one would want. But I’m sure that if you think about it, there’s one human you guys trust more than anyone else in the world.”

The triplets didn’t answer, but by the way they looked at each other, Chitti knew they were thinking about who was their personal special human. Although Chitti suspected that maybe, just as they shared one mate, they could maybe share their special human. And if they did, well, Chitti had a feeling he knew who that was.

“So… that special human could come with us?” Lava asked, while Chitti curled even smaller on just one of his horns. He really missed his teacups right now. “Could you?”

“Not this time, the summoning was clear for just you dragons,” Kumar explained, then smiled. “But seriously, I am sure everything will be all right. It’s probably just to introduce you to the court. And if you don’t know the protocol, the Gold King will understand. He was also raised by humans.”

“So you’re saying, Chitti is making a tempest in a teapot?” Kusa laughed, and as he did, his horn feathers puffed. Chitti wanted to both bite him for teasing him and kiss him.

In the end, he decided that it was better to kiss Kusa. And if by shifting to hybrid he gave Kumar a show of his naked body? Well, that was Kumar’s own fault for teasing him in front of his mates.

Chapter 6: The Dragons' Road

Summary:

Jai, Lava, Kusa and Chitti travel to the Dragon's Court. The triplets learn more about their nature and new instincts, while Chitti meets again with an old friend.

Jai looked at the enormous waterfall in front of them, and then at Chitti. They had been flying for three days and a half (Well, Chitti had been swimming, following the river against the current, but Jai, Lava and Kusa had been flying following his lead) and now they had reached the base of a waterfall that looked as if it had never been seen or touched by human hands.

Now that Jai thought of it, he hadn’t seen any humans for about a day now.

“There’s a magic spell that makes humans not see this place,” Chitti explained. “Or us, once we’re near the palace. It was made by a human of the King’s Herd, to make sure that the court wasn’t attacked again, as it was when the British invaded India.”

“This is gorgeous, but… high,” Lava muttered, in draconian. They were practicing it for the court, because Kusa kept stuttering words. Jai found that quite interesting, because in draconian, he didn’t stutter. The words that were so stubborn to come out of his tongue in human language just flowed out of his mouth in draconian, no matter what shape he was in.

Because of that, he wanted to help Kusa. He knew the feeling of frustration and shame when words didn’t come out the way you thought them.

“We’re going to cli-climb this?” Kusa asked, frowning as his stutter showed. But to his credit, he didn’t try to speak in telugu. He kept to draconian, no matter how much his tongue betrayed him. And Jai wanted nothing more than to wrap him in his wings and protect him from everything.

That was another thing that was not quite new, but also a bit different. When they had thought they were humans, Jai had always wanted to protect Lava and Kusa, before his soul was poisoned by the hate caused by their uncle. But it was mostly because that was how his mother raised him: he was the oldest, he had to protect his tam’mudu.

But now, as a dragon, that instinct had grown tenfold. He didn’t know if it was that now either in dragon form or hybrid form, they were quite different, but for example, he felt less need to protect Lava. Lava might be seen as gullible by humans, but he was strong, and now Jai could see that. Lava had, after all, stood against Ravana. He had been unflinching about reuniting them as brothers, about not letting Jai get lost in his own hate… and once Jai had been in the hospital, the rock that kept Jai’s enemies from knowing how badly he had been hurt.

Sure, Khakaa had helped, same as Kasi. But still, Lava had been there.

Kusa, Jai could see now, was fragile. It was not just that his dragon form was smaller -although Jai guessed it could be part of it- but that he kept trying to hide and run away, and neither Lava nor Jai had seen it until the scales had appeared and, thanks to Chitti, their breezy brother had found a place where he wanted to stay.

“We’re going to fly,” Chitti replied, dancing under the waterfall. The best part of the trip, in Jai’s opinion, had been seeing Chitti so close and hear his element, and learning that because they were Chitti’s soulmates, they could indeed breathe underwater, and water didn’t hurt them.

Wind could still blow Jai’s fire off, and he didn’t think a falling tree would be nice to him, but Water? Water was almost as good as fire for him. “It is possible to climb it, but as far as I know, only one dragon has done it the hard way. And he’s… well, you will meet him soon. He’s always at the court.”

The court. As they got closer to the palace, Chitti’s anxiety appeared to have lessened. He talked more freely about the court, about how usually there were only about five or six  dragons as part of the daily crew in the castle because the Golden King didn’t like the pomp of a full court as there were in other countries like Brazil or Japan.

As far as Jai and his brothers knew now, they’d only meet the Golden King and his consort, and probably an Earth dragon who had been the guard of the ancient palace for longer than everyone had been alive because he had survived the British massacre somehow, a snow dragon who was, in Chitti’s world “too much for the human world”, and probably his mate, another water dragon.

No wind dragons or fire dragons, Jai mused. That’d make him and Kusa the odd men out.

“Well then,” He said, confident in draconian as he extended his wings. “Let’s start before we lose the light of day!”

 

*          *          *

Lava really didn’t like flying. 

Sure, he liked flying with Chitti, and the idea of the mating flight -which wouldn’t be until after they met the dragon court- intrigued him a lot, but in general, he liked his feet on the ground. He had wings, sure, but so did Chitti and Chitti obviously preferred to swim.

So when Jai said that they would fly up the towering waterfall in front of them, he couldn’t stop the groan that came out of his lips.

“That’s a long flight,” he whined. Chitti had warned them that in dragon form, their instincts would be harder to contain.

“You don’t have to fly, my dearest,” Chitti said, laughing as he licked his muzzle. “Just like Jai doesn’t need to go in the cold water, and I don’t have to remain on the air. The Court has special paths for each of the elements, so all dragons feel comfortable reaching it.”

“Seriously?” Jai tilted his neck, and so did Lava, looking back up at the huge mountain. A path for him? He could see branches, and trees, and rocks all over the place but too far between each other for a human to…

Oh.

“A small dragon or a human could not use the rocks as stepping stones,” He said, slowly. “But at my biggest size… They’d be like a flight of stairs for me…”

“Exactly!” Chitti preened, hanging on one of Lava’s horns that immediately bloomed. He loved having his mate there. “And going against the waterfall is a good exercise for my gills, while Kusa can fly up, just following the river. And Jai…”

“I can feel something… near,” Jai said, and Lava smiled at his brother. He missed the stutter that Jai had in human language, because it was so uniquely Jai’s, but he understood why Jai preferred to speak draconian. No one could mock him now. “A cave?”

“Yep. It’s close by the base of the river, and it goes into a magma river in the mountain that follows the waterfall,” Chitti explained, grinning. “You can swim in it.”

“In magma?” Lava suddenly growled. “That’s deadly!”

“For humans!” Chitti, Kusa and Jai told him at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed, their chirping echoing in the valley.

“We’re not humans anymore, tam’mmudu,” Jai said, going closer to Lava, nuzzling his front claws to make him calmer. “I know I can surive magma… I… I’ve dreamed of swimming on it.”

“You have?” Lava blinked, as he looked at his brother, his stilted red ruby dragon eyes fixed on him. Jai wasn’t lying, and Lava himself had had dreams, of himself, being in a beautiful forest, full of green trees that grew as high as the sky. He wondered if Kusa dreamed of his element to.

“I have,” Jai nodded. “Sometimes, you, Kusa and Chitti are there. Sometimes I’m alone. But… the thing is… I want to try. Just as I know you’re dying to grow as big as you can and climb the mountain.”

“That’s the thing,” Chitti nodded as he groomed the flowers on Lava’s horns. Lava couldn’t see him, but he could feel him and loved him more. “This climb… is made to reward our instincts, before reaching the court. There’s… some connection to our elements. I can’t tell you how it will be for you three, but for me… It’s as if I become part of the water. I can tell everywhere the waterfall has been, and seen, and I’m at peace. So I hope it will be the same for you all.”

“I… I get it,” Lava nodded. “Ok, I will listen to my dragon side… and to you, Bangaram,” Lava smiled as he turned to see the mountain. He suddenly wanted to touch it, to grab the stones he could see creating a staircase that probably only he, or other Earth dragons, could see.

“Race you to the top!” Kusa grinned and shoot up to the sky, as Chitti grinned and jumped from Lava’s horns to the waterfall, jumping and swimming like a colorful salmon.

“We can’t let them win, tam’madu,” Jai said, as he turned his eyes towards where Lava figured the cave was. “See you at the top.”

Lava nodded and then looked at the mountain, running towards the first cliff. When he put his claw on it, he felt a need to… be part of the rock, same as he had done with the field when he had discovered his tail was also his root, his connection to Earth. He hesitated for a second, but then he remembered his Chitti’s words about following his instincts, so he did.

He let his huge body turn from scales to rock, and suddenly, he melded with the mountain. It was a strange feeling, where he felt both incredibly small compared to the huge mountain and her long, long story within the planet, and as big as the earth itself, connected to every little particle of dust. He could feel the water running through the mountain/his back, and Chitti happily jumping on it/him. He could feel the breeze created by Kusa’s wings on the mountain’s tree’s leaves/his mane. And deep in his heart, in his blood/the mountain core, Jai swimming with joy in the magma that made the mountain warm.

He could feel them all.

And as he climbed within that feeling, he suddenly felt a warm, almost familiar touch in his soul, and a gentle choir of voices reached his ears.

“Welcome, our child,” the voices said, and Lava suddenly knew he was surrounded by all the Earth dragons that were no longer physically alive… the souls of all those who had come before him, and had chosen to stay as part of the Earth rather than reincarnate again. “We have been waiting for you.”

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa landed despite himself, right next to Lava.

His brother was in hybrid form, standing in a tiny island in the middle of the waterfall where a single tree grew. On the tree trunk, there was an arrow that had to have been fired centuries ago, as the bark had grown around it, and there were even little leaves coming out of it.

But Lava didn’t seem to be looking at the tree. His eyes were glazed, looking onto the distance.

“Lavaru?” He asked, switching to half form to be at the same height as his brother.

That made Lava turn to him, and Kusa gasped because Lava was crying.

“You died protecting me,” Lava said, softly, almost too soft for Kusa to hear if the wind hadn’t carried the soft voice to his ears. “The night the British humans came with their canons and foul magic… Jai tried to keep them away from our home with his fire… but… he wasn’t… he… And then you…”

Before Kusa could reply, Lava hugged him tight, sobbing in his shoulder, not able to form anymore words, not in human, not in draconian.

Not quite understanding what Lava was saying, didn’t mean Kusa couldn’t understand what Lava was feeling. His brother, his Anna, was distraught, and thus, it was Kusa’s job to make him feel better. So he hugged him back and started muttering small reassurances, reminding him that now they were alive, that Jai had saved them from the crime bosses in Odisha, and Kasi had saved them all, that they were together, and had Chitti, and nothing would ever separate them again.

That was how Jai found them, and their oldest brother immediately shifted and joined the embrace, also unsure of why Lava was crying, but ready to comfort him, just like Kusa had been.

They stayed like that until Lava stopped crying, and could finally explain why he had been so sad.

“I saw our past life,” Lava explained, as he sat down in that tiny island, surrounded by Kusa and Jai’s wings. “We were born dragons then, three different elemental dragons born out of one egg. The Earth Dragons said that was… unusual.”

“I bet it was,” Kusa smiled, as he used his claws to groom Lava’s mane. He sensed Chitti was near, but their mate was wisely letting them have this moment alone. “I can imagine that the size of that egg was huge!”

“You ta-talked with the eh-earth dra-agons?” Jai asked in human, as he groomed Lava’s mane on the opposite side to Kusa. “How?”

“I…” Lava shook his head. “It’s hard to explain but… when Earth dragons die… we can choose not to reincarnate. We can choose to stay on the earth, and guide the future dragons. This mountain… This mountain is all those Earth Dragons…”

Kusa looked down at the mountain with a new respect. He could imagine how important had been to Lava to be able to meet… to talk with their ancestors.

“We were so happy… and so young…  only ten… when the Humans came,” Lava continued, but his sobs were now softened. It helped to be groomed, Kusa guessed, and he saw how little by little, small flower buds started to appear on his Anna’s horns. “Everyone panicked… Jai… you tried so hard to protect us… but your fire… your fire was still growing. I saw… a canon hit you right on your neck.”

At this revelation, Jai touched his neck, as if he was remembering some phantom pain. And then Kusa wondered… had that wound, suffered in a past life, suffered to try and save them, the last wound his brother received then before dying, caused the stutter in this life?

“Kusa… you carried me out of the city…” Lava continued; half lost in memories of a past life.

“You don’t need to go on, Anna,” Kusa said, muttering on Lava’s mane. “Not if it hurts you.”

“I need to get it out,” Lava took a deep breath, and laid his head against Jai’s shoulder while trying to get Kusa to come closer to him. “I wasn’t a tree dragon then. I was a rock dragon… a small one. So you could carry me easily… But you were also small… so we barely reached the outskirts of the city… And you hid me, inside a tree hollow… before turning around and promising you’d keep them away from me.”

At this, Jai extended his wing more, to cover Kusa, and Kusa came closer to them, listening to Lava’s sorrow filled story.

“I felt you die,” Lava whispered. “I didn’t see it, but I felt it… in my soul. And although you had told me to survive… without you and Jai… I couldn’t go on. My heart just stopped beating because… I wanted to join you.”

“Lava… you didn’t…” Kill yourself, Kusa wanted to ask, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even form the words.

“La-ahva… you…” Jai seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“My heart gave out,” Lava sighed. “I wasn’t… consciously doing it. I remember now… the Earth Dragons gave me the choice… to stay with them, here, in the mountain, part of the earth. But I couldn’t. Not without you. I had to be reborn with you… my brothers.”

They stayed like that for a long time, Kusa didn’t know how long. But finally, Chitti spoke up, having stayed in the water, waiting for them to talk. Giving them time to be together.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking down, as he did whenever he thought he should’ve warned them of something about their dragon’s existence. “I… I didn’t know this would happen now. But I had been told that sometimes… dragons reborn as humans remember their past life… I should’ve…”

“You couldn’t have known, Bangaru,” Lava was quick to console Chitti. “You weren’t there… you were one of the lost eggs, right?”

As he spoke, Lava motioned with his wings, which were still over Jai and Kusa, for Chitti to join them.

“Lo-lost eggs?” Jai asked, as Kusa started hugging Chitti.”

“Long story… maybe we should keep that one for after the court?” Chitti asked, his voice trembling a little. “I also want to know how Lava knows about that… after.”

“After,” Lava agreed, and kissed Chitti, before letting Kusa and Jai do the same.

They stayed like that, together, for another long time before their mate told them it was time to finish the trip.

 

*          *          *

 

“CHITTI!!!”

 

Chitti barely had time to yell to his mates that he was not in danger before he was bulldozed by what he knew would look to them like the biggest ferret with a dog face and tiny wings on its back and both rolled down the hill, snow falling all around them.  And of course, then said dog face started licking Chitti with gusto, showing how happy he was to see his friend again.

“Shiva!” He greeted equally, trying to hug his friend, even if he knew by experience that it was like trying to hug five golden retrievers at the same time.  As he knew that they were confusing his mates, instead of going through their usual mock fight, he just went to Shiva’s weak spot: He started scratching him right behind the ear, making Shiva stay still for a second, before he started thumping his tail.

“I’ve missed you, Chitti!” Shiva said, almost purring at him. Chitti grinned, because even if before he and his mates had been silent and even a bit somber, it was impossible to be sad when Shiva started purring. He wasn’t sure if that was a specific trait of Shiva, or something that every snow dragon could do -since his friend was the only snow dragon he knew. “You promised you’d come to the palace more often!”

“Bangaru?” Kusa asked, his tone cheerful. Still Chitti thought he could hear a small tinge of jealousy in it. Of course, his mates had been raised human, and were still new to dragon’s customs. They didn’t know that Shiva was being just very friendly. “Who is your friend?”

“This is Shivudu, Royal guard of…” Chitti began explaining, but then he lost his grip on Shiva who changed sizes a bit, and tackled Kusa to the ground, giving him the same treatment that he gave Chitti, yelling “New friend!” as the only warning. Only, of course, Kusa didn’t know Shiva, so he tried hard to get away from the overeager snow dragon.

“Get off me!” Kusa yelled, pushing Shiva away. The snow dragon, who was still in his dragon form, went as small as he could, and hid behind Chitti, whimpering scared. Kusa immediately looked guilty, but still confused at the whole thing.

“You have to forgive Shivudu,” A voice that Chitti knew very well said behind them, and Shiva flew fast in the direction of it, to hide behind the newcomer. Chitti knew this was once again part of Shiva’s upbringing. He very rarely turned to his hybrid or human form, if he could help it. Even if it would help him. “He was raised by wolves.”

“Sorry,” Shiva said, from behind the Earth Dragon that had arrived. Of course, Chitti’s mates didn’t know that Old Kattappa was an earth dragon. While Shiva rarely took human characteristics, Kattappa almost never showed his dragon side. Chitti had never asked him why, because the old man intimidated him.

“And you are?” Jai asked in draconian, obviously to avoid stuttering. His mate was standing straight, ready to defend Kusa, Chiti knew. And he loved his mate more for it, even if he knew that Jai, as savage and strong as he was, had no chance against Kattappa if the old dragon decided to get serious.

“Kattappa,” the man said, lowering his head in respect. “A humble servant of the Gold King. I was sent to fetch you four.”

“You’re not just a servant!” Shiva piped in. “You’re…”

“Shiva…” Chitti warned, at the same time as Kattappa did. It was not that Chiti didn’t think that his mates would find really soon the truth behind Kattappa’s post in the court, but that he knew the old man hated to have his business discussed when he was not ready for it. If Kattappa wanted to introduce himself as a servant, Kattappa was a servant.

Jai, Lava and Kusa looked at each other and then at Chitti. Chiti knew that he’d have to explain to them dragon court politics later, but he smiled and shrugged right now.

“Sorry, sir,” Lava said, looking at Kattappa. “We’re unfamiliar with Dragon’s costumes. We just got our scales a few weeks ago… My brother Kusa didn’t mean to hurt… Shivudu?”

“It’s fine,” Kattappa smiled, that smile that had disarmed so many people before. Chitti smile grew. Kattappa was a rock dragon, not a tree dragon, but still an earth dragon. He could be an amazing teacher to his Lavaru. “As I said, this youngster was raised by wolves. Sometimes he forgets dragons are not dogs.”

“Sorry,” Shiva said again, and then, as if following an unsaid order, shifted to his hybrid form. Only then Chitti saw his Kusa and Lava take a slight step back, and he chuckled. That was also normal upon meeting Shiva’s human form. As a dragon, he looked harmless and adorable, especially as he kept to his smaller sizes. But as a human, he was the second tallest person Chiti knew, almost as tall as Kasi.

He totally needed to introduce Shiva to Kasi somehow, even if Rangasthalam was too warm for his snow dragon friend.

Of course, it was not his size that was impressive, as Shiva was not only as tall as a tree, but he was also pretty solid. And he dressed in the style of the Dragon Court which was… well, more than a little old fashioned. So he looked like an epic warrior from a drama, the likes of which his mates had acted in as children. The dragons of the court had some magic that Chitti hadn’t mastered yet, where they could take human or hybrid forms without losing their clothes. That would be very useful, but to be fair, Chitti also liked to be naked.

Especially with his mates.

As if he knew what Chitti was thinking, Kattappa looked at him and shook his head.

“There will be time for that later, young hatchling,” the old man said. “For now, we shouldn’t keep the King and his Consort waiting.”

Chitti nodded, sheepishly and held out his hands to grab Jai and Lava, entwining his tail with Kusa’s.

They were going to face the Golden king, and they were going to do it as a family.

Chapter 7: The Dragon King

Summary:

The Triplets finally meet the Golden King, and learn a lot about Dragonkind's past. Also, Chitti gets to voice some of his fears.

Jai looked around the castle, no, the fortress, as the man named Kattappa led them on. The man called himself a servant, but Jai could feel the power coming off him. It was… unnerving.

He reminded him of Kaakha, his second in command. Sure, Kaakha was not half as ruthless as Raavana, but that didn’t make the old man powerless.

The snow dragon named Shiva was a lot easier to read. His size in hybrid form had been a surprise, but he seemed quite harmless despite it. His wings, smaller than any dragon’s wings Jai had ever seen, kept twitching in his back as if he had more energy than he could stand, and his tail was wagging, just like a dog’s.

Jai wondered if when Kattappa said that Shiva had been raised by wolves he was not just joking.

Besides the two dragons in front of him, Jai’s attention was in the huge castle’s walls and ceilings. Too big to have been built for a human size. He wondered how old they were, as he wasn’t sure of the architectonical style. It looked ancient, older than anything Jai had ever seen in person or in photographs.

He stole a glance at Lava, who was equally awestruck, holding Chitti’s other hand. Once again, he wondered about what Lava had seen on his way up here. His own trip had been quite different. He had heard no voices of his ancestors, nor had any visions of their past lives. Instead, he had had the most relaxing swim of his whole life.

Once he was in the magma, he had forgot all his worries, all his stress. It was as if every wound, every scar he had received in his life, just melted away in the fire. Coming out of it, to get back to his brothers and mate had been difficult, because the peace his element brought him was one he had never known. Well, no… it reminded him of how he felt when he was in his mother’s arms.

While he knew there was no way he’d be able to have a pool of lava in the Haveli, he wondered if fire alone would have the same effect.

But going back to Lava… he wondered. His brother seemed fine now, but his tears had touched Jai’s soul. He needed to be sure that Lava’s sweet gentle soul and heart were still intact, that what he had seen of his past was not creating new scars.

 “How old is this place?” Kusa asked behind him, and Jai sighed. Of course, Kusa would ask things, he should have expected it of his brother.

“Older than humanity,” Kattappa replied. “It was only thanks to the great sacrifice of mother Sivagami that it survived the Raj intact to wait for the return of our Golden King.”

“Her sacrifice and yours,” Shiva insisted, before Kattappa sent him a glare that silenced him. Jai was more and more curious about this earth dragon and his secrets now. Perhaps it would be a good idea to make friends with the snow dragon who seemed to have his mate in such high esteem and less mouth control than his brother Kusa.

“Mother Sivagami?” Lava asked, and his tone betrayed that he knew that name.  “The Earth Dragons… they said she was the one who saved the lost eggs. Who was she?”

“My grandma,” Shiva said, turning around and suddenly losing all his seriousness again. “She was the queen regent because the Golden King’s mother and father had been killed by the British Raj… and she protected us all with her life.”

“We all owe the continuous existence of Dragonkind to Mother Sigavami,” A third voice said as they entered a huge room, more decorated than everything else that Jai had seen. Shiva turned around again, and immediately bowed, the same as Kappata. “She will be forever remembered and praised.”

In the center of the room, flanked by the statues of two gold lions, there was a stone throne. Sitting on it, there was a dragon, in hybrid form, about the same height as Chitti. His horns were pointed and similar to Jai’s but his scales were completely gold, all of them except for what seemed to be a bracelet in his right arm, with blue shimmering scales. 

Sitting in a smaller throne, a bit below, there was another dragon, this one about Jai’s size, if a bit more muscular. His scales were all blue, and his horns were just like Chitti’s the shape of corals. And on his left arm, he sported a bracelet of gold scales.

The one who had spoken was the Golden dragon.

They were now in the presence of the Golden King.

 

*          *          *

 

Lava gasped when he saw the Golden King, as his face was… eerily similar to Chitti’s. Sure, their scales, horns and wings were different, but there was a familiarity to their human features. Not only that, but his mate, the Water dragon sitting in the lower throne, also looked familiar to Lava.

As if he was a distant uncle or something. He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to stare, but it was hard not to.

And the Water dragon noticed, as he smiled at him, a sweet, calm smile that made Lava feel… safe. Protected.

“Welcome, Jai, Lava and Kusa Kumar, to the Dragon court,” The Golden King said, raising from his throne and walking towards them. He was wearing an orange dothi, a white holy thread, and nothing more. Lava was starting to get that the Dragon court was much into old time clothing, or at least, as little shirts as possible. “It’s been a long time since we found another of our reincarnated brothers… and the first time we get three of you at the same time.”

“We should’ve expected Chitti to hoard mates, the way he hoards friends and fabric,” The Water dragon smiled, making the Golden King and Kattappa laugh.

“I don’t hoard friends!” Chitti protested, obviously forgetting his nerves and the idea of etiquette as he almost flew to the other’s dragon’s face and hissed. “I share my friends with everyone! But not my mates! And they’re my mates, not my hoard!”

The Golden King laughed, thankfully not insulted by Chitti’s outburst. Although, Lava was starting to fget the feeling that no matter what Chitti feared, the court was not big on etiquette. After all, Shivudu was also chuckling and Kattappa had made no move to defend whom was obviously the Prince Consort.

“Bheem is just joking, Chitti, you know that,” the Golden King said, finishing coming down the steps. “He loves to rile you up.”

“You look adorable when you puff your fins, tad... Chitti,” the Prince agreed, hugging Chitti like one would hug a nephew or a beloved cousin. Lava, however, wondered what he was going to say before he used his mate's name. “Sorry if I made you mad.”

“You’re forgiven,” Chitti shrugged, then looked around. “I thought… this was going to be a bit more formal? I was nervous.”

“You know Raju hates formality,” the Prince said, looking at his mate who shrugged too. “We just had to send the official invitation so you’d know that we’re not treating your mates with disrespect.”

“I was raised by humans, same as Chitti,” the Golden King explained, now standing in front of them. He looked less intimidating now, more like a friendly relative. Once again, Lava was not sure where he was standing, but he knew that things would be fine. The Earth Dragons of the mountain had told him so. “So I don’t really know much of how the Court used to be. All I have are Kattappa’s stories and what little written story survived the Human's attack.”

“You were a lost egg,” Lava said, before he could stop himself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine,” the Golden King smiled. “I figured the Earth Dragons would have told you before you arrived. They told me, after all.”

“But you’re a Fire dragon, aren’t you?” Jai asked in Draconian, obviously not wanting to stutter before the man. Lava stole a glance at him, and, instinctively, wrapped his tail around his brother’s waist. “I mean… I thought… only Earth Dragons could talk to those who were now part of the mountain.”

“Jai Kumar,” the Golden King turned to see Lava’s brother, and clasped his hands, bowing with respect. He was definitely nothing like what Lava was expecting. “Fire dragon of Rangasthalam, and warrior of the flames. Welcome to the Dragon court.”

“Wha?” Jai asked, confused, before Kattappa explained.

“That is your official introduction to the Court, young man,” the old dragon said. “The King didn’t want to insult you by skipping the formalities. We know… about your past.”

Jai paled a bit, but the King shook his head.

“I can assure you, nothing you did was worse than what I did in my past,” the King said, touching Jai’s shoulder opposite to where his soul scales were. “And yes, for years I thought I was a Fire dragon like you. I was always told I was a fire dragon. The whole royalty thing was a surprise.”

“A big surprise,” the prince consort added. “If it wasn’t for his scales, he’d forget every day that he is the king now.”

“Let’s get the formalities done with, and then we can talk normally, yes?” the King said, and turned to Lava, greeting him the same way he had Jai.

“Lava Kumar, Earth Dragon of Rangasthalam, and keeper of the crops, welcome to the Dragon Court.”

Lava blinked, because there was something in those words that echoed in his soul. Keeper of the crops. Yes. That was what he was supposed to do, make sure the harvests of Rangashtalam were always prosperous and fed their herd.

Then, the Gold King turned to see Kusa. He stopped a bit, looking deep into Kusa’s eyes, before greeting him as he had Jai and Lava.

“Kusa Kumar, Wind Dragon of Rangasthalam, and messenger of heavens, welcome to the Dragon Court.”

And then, in a move Lava was absolutely sure was not part of the formalities of the Dragon Court, the Gold King hugged them all.

“Welcome home, brothers,” he said, and Lava realized the King was crying.

 

*          *          *

 

For the first time in his life,  Kusa had no words. The formal greeting of the Dragon King had echoed not in his head, but in his heart and soul.

 

Dragon of Rangasthalam.

 

He now had a place to live. A place to come back. He was no longer drifting in the breeze, without a place to land. He had a nest.

 

Rangasthalam.

 

Messenger of heavens.

 

Now he knew why he wanted to be up in the sky all the time. To listen to the clouds, to the winds, to the messages that the cosmos had for his mate and brothers, for his herd.

He had a purpose.

And so, when the King let them go off their embrace, he was crying too, having to fight the impulse to kneel and touch the King’s feet. He had gotten the feeling that the Gold dragon was not much for protocol unless forced to.

“Well! Now that’s done, Hi, my name is Rama Raju, and no matter what Chitti says, I prefer to be called Ram or Raju rather than Gold King or whatever title they want to give me,” the Gold King said smiling as he led them away from the stuffy thrones and into a smaller, more intimate room where they could all sit “My mate is Bheem, and you have already met Kattappa, our most treasured protector, and Shiva, his… uhm…”

“Godson!” Shiva piped in. “Kattappa garu promised my father and mother that he’d protect me forever, when I was an egg. If not for the whole getting lost thing, he’d have blessed me at birth.”

“Lava mentioned the lost eggs too,” Jai repeated, in his draconian. Kusa knew his brother loved to speak the language, not just because it was their birthright, but also, because his stutter went away. “And you, now… What does it mean?”

“Ah, this comes back to mother Sivagami,” Raju said as he sat in a small cushion, and motioned them to sit with him. At the same height. At the same place. Yes, the Gold King was definitely not into protocol and pomp. “She was a noblewoman back when my mother was the Queen, and the regent of a huge kingdom not far from here… and Shiva’s grandmother. She held the throne for her territory and herd, while her sons grew of age and found their mates… she was also here, in the palace, when the British Raj attacked.”

The King took a deep breath, as Bheem and Shiva brought them all tea.

“I was just an egg then. My mother had laid me… not long before the attack happened, according to what Kattappa tells me. When the attack began, she handed me to her most trustworthy human and told her to flee. For what I know… most of the Dragon species died that day. There are very few survivors of that battle. Kattappa is one, Bhallaladeva, Shiva’s uncle, and his mate are others. Shiva’s mom survived the original battle, but unfortunately…”

“She didn’t survive my dad’s death,” Shiva said sadly, shifting to his full dragon form, no bigger than a golden retriever now, and put his dog-like face on Raju’s knee and the king, in a move that made Kusa immediately feel like he could actually follow this man into battle, started petting the sad-looking snow dragon. “Uncle Bhalla tried to make her want to live for me but… he couldn’t. And then he wanted to die, but he had my egg to take care of… and he had just found his mate too. But he really, really hates talking about those days. He still feels that he failed my dad.”

“Which is why he’s not here right now,” Raju continued, petting the sad snow dragon. “He’s not trying to be rude but… new Dragons make him think of all those he couldn’t save.”

“You will like him, Jai,” Chitti said, from between them all, obviously itching to also shift into full form. “You are a bit alike.”

“In any case, Mother Sivagami saw my mother and father die… and she saw that dragon kind wouldn’t survive if things kept going as they were. So she used all her magic, all her power, to cast a spell that would insure that all the eggs that hadn’t hatched yet would disappears and hide, and not hatch until they would be safe.

“And we didn’t,” Bheem said. “Me and  Raju hatched around 1900, 200 hundred years after the fact. Chitti is even younger, but he was laid about a week before the invasion if we read the records right.”

“That’s… very powerful magic,” Kusa finally found words, and realized what was worrying him. “Wait… does that mean… there may still be lost eggs around? Eggs that haven’t hatched?”

“Yes,” Raju nodded. “If the registers are right, we’re still missing about two dozens or so. That is why we ask all dragons to come to the court. We can find out then if they’re lost eggs or reincarnations. Of course, with you we knew early on as you are Chitti’s mates and until he met you, his soul scales were white.”

“How did the register survive?” Jai asked, hugging Lava close. The memory of the story Lava had told them crossed Kusa’s mind and he moved his tail to wrap around Lava’s close. “How did the palace survive?”

“The last spell of Mother Sivagami, the one she gave her life for… and Kappatta,” Raju explained, looking at the man who refused to move closer, standing guard at the door of the room. “He is a rock dragon and he grew as big as he could… drawing strength from the mountain itself, in order to cover the whole palace, and the few survivors inside, covering them with his wings, and making a protective cocoon that no weapon could pierce. But the price of that was high.”

“A price I’d willingly pay a thousand times over, my lord, if I could’ve saved just one more of our kind that day,” Kattappa said from his place at the door, and Kusa’s respect for the man grew.

“He can’t leave the mountain anymore, nor the outskirts of the castle,” Bheem explained. “The ring he made around this place, is the limit of where he can go.”

Kusa shivered at the idea. As much as he loved the fact that he now had a nest? The mere thought of not being able to leave it ever was like chaining his wind soul.

“And Mother Sivagami spell… put all the surviving dragons in a… sleep state. Hidden as their element, where no human could see them until it was time for them to come back. Until they were found again by one of the lost eggs,” Raju finished.  “Some of them haven’t woken up yet, and we can’t seem to find them.”

“That’s why I was raised by wolves,” Shiva said from Raju’s lap, purring a bit as now Bheem was also petting his head. “Bhaalla Babai and Kumar Babai were keeping my egg safe, but when the spell hit, they went dormant. Only a pack of wolves was around when I hatched.”

“From how he tells it, it was a shock, going from wondering how to keep his mate and his brother’s egg safe, to suddenly being sniffed by his grown-up nephew,” Bheem said. “But you see, outside the court, there are many dragons now. Both from India and other places. Dragonkind is healing, little by little.”

Kusa nodded, thinking about the wind dragon he had met as a child, about the fire dragon that Jai remembered from their childhood, and the earth dragon Lava said he met as a teen.  He wondered if any of them had been to the court, and if he’d see them again.

Then he also realized that they would end up leaving the court, soon too. Chitti, Jai and Lava had responsibilities that tied them to the town. And while he was tied to them…

“What can we do to help?” He asked, as he realized that yes, they had a responsibility to Chitti’s herd, to their herd. But as long as he was Kusa, wind dragon of Rangasthalam and messenger of Heavens? They could also help their king and kind.

 

*          *          *

 

Chitti couldn’t be prouder of his mates.

His tail feathers were puffed as they were, and he couldn’t stop grinning whenever he saw them. Shiva even joked that he was going to grow a full peacock trail if he kept that up, which of course made Chitti retort that Shiva was even worse with his own mate, and well, they both had ended of play-wrestling in full dragon form until Kappata separated them, and the King, laughing at their antics, sent them all to their rooms to rest, before they began the trip back to Rangasthalam the next day.

After all, a dragon shouldn’t be away from his herd for long, the King had said.

(And yes, Chitti knew he could call him Raju, that the King even preferred that, but there was something that always made him stop and be more respectful. Maybe because he felt that, if he lost sight of the fact that Rama Raju was the king, then he’d see him as a brother. After all, they both had been lost eggs, raised by human families, and alone in the world for a long time. But he couldn’t treat the Gold king as he treated Shiva, so instead, he kept his distance, by keeping his respect high as a wall)

He hadn’t mated with any of his triplets in the palace, because they only had one room and he knew they didn’t like to do it all together at the same time. So he cuddled with them, as he groomed Kusa’s mane, telling him how proud he was that his Wind mate had offered to fly around the towns near Rangasthalam, always on the look-out for any signs of eggs or any possible dragon sighting that was not already on the records. He also purred and curled around Lava’s horns, as Lava had also offered to talk with the tree roots, as that didn’t require leaving Rangasthalam.

Lava was the first tree dragon to reach the court in decades, as the other Earth dragons that had appeared were rock and sand dragons. Lava was the first who could in fact, talk to the trees and ask for their guidance, and he was happy to collaborate that way.

Jai, as a fire dragon, had less abilities for communication than Kusa and Lava. But he had something others didn’t have: Experience at seeing when humans were keeping secrets. And he figured, even as now dragons were more seen and respected than when the British Raj had killed most, there had to be families that were still afraid of those who hated dragons, as there were still some self-proclaimed dragon hunters in the world.

He offered to change his whole criminal organization, that had already started to become legal in any case, to try and find if there were any dragons who weren’t as out an open as Chitti, or even if there was a way to figure out where the reincarnated dragons were before they met their mates. Mostly, he said, because he and his brothers had always felt that they were missing something, and if they could help it so no one else would feel like that again? He wanted to help.

Yes, Chitti was very proud of his mates.

As they slept, all cuddled together, when Chitti felt the need of communing with his element.  So he got off Lava’s horns, making sure that his mates were still huddled in the pile they usually had, with Lava around Jai, and Kusa on top of Jai. Now it made sense that they slept like that when together… it was not just about their sizes, but about their past. Jai had died first, defending them, and Lava had been last, feeling he hadn’t been able to protect his older brothers. So now fate had given him the chance to always keep watch over them.

Thank Mother Sivagami, he figured.

He flew down to the yard, to the beautiful pool that connected to the outside river, and let himself get to the bottom of it, where the light of the stars barely reached. He didn’t do that much at Rangashtalam, as they hadn’t built a pool for him there since he refused to be treated that much differently, and the river was not just for his own pleasure: The river was his other mother, the one he respected the most.

But here? In the Dragon palace? Here he could let himself drift in the beauty of his element all the time he wanted.

“Your mates are very interesting,” A voice said in his head, the second he was in the water, and Chitti turned around to see the consort prince, laying on top of a huge pile of pebbles, which were not his hoard -Chitti knew, as he had once thought they were and apologized profusely for touching it- but he had organized as a nice bed for himself. “You are very lucky, you know?”

“I knew I was blessed because I had three soulmarks,” Chitti agreed. It was easier for him to Prince Bheem than to the King, probably because of their shared element. “But I certainly won the lottery because the three of them are amazing.”

“And very smart,” the prince beamed, his golden scales contrasting with the blue of the waters. “It took me a lot longer to get the hang of my element, and I was born a dragon!”

“But.. you told me that you didn’t know you were a dragon until you met the King…” Chitti said, only to be hit on the head by the Prince’s tail.

“Raju hates it when you call him the King, he thinks you’re afraid of him!” Bheem said, and Chitti pouted, as he went as big as he could, which was not as big as Prince Bheem was.

“He tried to eat me when we first met!” Chitti defended himself. That was true, but then, he had been hiding behind a school of tuna as the Gold King had come to Rangasthalam to see if the rumors of a child dragon there were true.

“You know perfectly well that was a misunderstanding, and he didn’t even bite you!” Bheem laughed, as he went smaller, as if to play to with Chitti. “Seriously, Chitti, you of all people should understand why neither Raju nor me care for pomp and status. Why do you keep acting as we do?”

Chitti deflated, and went as small as he could, which was so small that he could fit easily behind Bheem’s mane. But he didn’t hide, instead, he decided to voice his fear, looking straight into Bheem’s eyes.

“I know that Kumar Babu is my brother, and Koteswara Rao is my father, and Kantham is my mother and Chinni is my sister,” Chitti said, his words coming out like bubbles in draconian. “But I dunno who my mam or my sire were. Who laid my egg, and lost their lives on that day when Mother Sivagami saved us all…”

Bheem looked at him, his eyes full of understanding.

“I only know my sire was an Earth Dragon and my mam was a Water Dragon because of a good friend of us, who had studied Dragons before meeting me and Raju,” Bheem said. “But as you, I considered my tribe my family. I still do, even if they’re long gone.”

“But… the King.. Raju… and I we look similar in human guise,” Chitti said, voicing the one thing that everyone knew and no one acknowledged. “And we’re both lost eggs, even if we hatched at very different times, we were laid at the same time so…”

“You’re afraid of being Raju’s family?” Bheem asked, tilting his head, confused.

“No! I’m afraid of believing he’s family and then finding he’s not!” Chitti yelled and then, realizing who he was yelling at, covered his muzzle with his tail. “Sorry.”

However, Bheem laughed, changing sizes and shapes, so he was now in his hybrid form, and held his hands to hug Chitti.

“Little tadpole,” he said, using a nickname that only he had for Chitti, and usually only when they were alone. “It doesn’t matter who laid our eggs, you said it yourself. Family is what we make together. You have been our brother since the day you bit Raju’s muzzle to make sure he didn’t eat you, and nothing will ever change that.  And.. just because you have a dragon family, it doesn’t mean that you will leave your human one behind.”

“You did,” Chitti muttered, very low. But of course, Bheem heard. Bheem’s ears were far better than his, both human and dragon.

“What makes you think that, tadpole?” Bheem asked, frowning a bit, but not letting Chitti go. Instead, he started scratching his mane with his fingers, the way a father would do with his child.

“Well… you live here, not wherever your tribe is,” Chitti said, trying not to look at Bheem. “We say that you lost them but… why didn’t you bring them here?  There used to be a human tribe living close to the castle, Kappatta told me so.”

Bheem stayed silent for a moment, and Chitti was afraid he had insulted the prince. However, he soon sighed and continued petting Chitti’s mane.

 “My brother Lacchu… he was a great shaman,” Bheem began. “He had learned many of the dragons’ old magic, despite being human. And because he felt guilty since… he did something to me when we were younger… he wanted to make sure that no human would ever find the Dragon Court, that we would not get exterminated again, he made a spell to keep us hidden, one that would take the place of Mother Sivagami’s spell. But it came to a great cost…”

“He died?” Chitti asked, enthralled by knowing this much since while Bheem was always friendly with him, but this was the first time the Prince opened up about his past.

“No, he lived a long, long life,” Bheem smiled. “ And had many children, that had many children of their own. But because of the spell, he couldn’t see or remember how to get here. None of mine or Raju’s herd could. So they… dispersed far and away. We couldn’t force them to stay when they couldn’t build a city that would grow, as people would forget that said city existed. So… to let them free, we stopped claiming our tribes as herd. But we still follow their descendants… because in our hearts, they’ll be always herd.”

“So… you know where they went?” Chitti asked, wondering. He was thinking about Rangasthalam, and how sometimes Kumar feared that the town would end up being eaten by a bigger city, or disappear due to poverty.

“I know that my dearest Malli, who was my chosen human of my herd, had a daughter, and that daughter had another daughter whom she named Kolli Rangamma, and that she married a good man named Ramprasad, although he goes a lot to Delhi leaving her alone,” Bheem grinned, as Chitti’s eyes opened in recognition. “And I know that both of them are your herd, so I’m at ease, knowing that you will keep them safe.”

“We’re family,” Chitti repeated, marveled, as he purred in his prince’s arms.

“Like the rivers, they all have their own voice, and you know that, all rivers, all ponds, and seas… but in the end, we’re all the same water as the Ocean,” Bheem finished, then let Chitti go. “Speaking of… want to race around the palace, before we both go back to our mates, Tadpole?”

“You’re on, Consort Prince!” Chitti laughed, forgetting his fears, and swam away from Bheem’s arms, not waiting for the Prince to change shapes.

By the time dawn came, Chitti was exhausted, sleeping soundly as he listened to his adored Jai’s heartbeat, while curled around his beloved Lava’s horns, and lulled to sleep by his darling Kusa’s snores, his own heart a lot lighter after having talked to Bheem.

Notes:

This is now OFFICIALLY a part of the dRRRagon!Verse, as yep, the stories are connected, so now you can see that this is part 13 of the whole story. Parts 1 - 12 are ALL about how Ram and Bheem got to meet each other and lays a bit more of the world building here. Hope you enjoy reading them, in case you haven't read them yet!
(And Part 14.... is being plotted. With a DIFFERENT pair of dragons, who are NOT played by either Charan or Tarak! Look at me expanding the dRRRagon!Verse into the Tollywood!verse)

Chapter 8: Ranghastalam's darkness

Summary:

As the four dragons return to Rangashtalam, the true nature of their new positions is shown to the triplets, and Chitti has a bit of a breakdown.

As much as he had enjoyed the Dragon’s court, despite their original misgivings, Jai was happy to see their nest again, as they flew together back the next day, early in the morning.

However, as they came closer, he frowned.

The town was covered with a strange black aura, one he hadn’t seen before. It was like a thick smoke curtain, that seemed to eat all the light from it. He stopped in his tracks, hovering in the warm wind of Kusa’s trail, confused at how his brothers and Chitti didn’t seem bothered by such a sight.

“Jai? What’s wrong?” Chitti asked, flying back to his side.

“Ca-ahn’t you see-eh that?” Jai replied, forgetting his draconian for a moment. That was how disturbed he was by the sight.

“See what, anna?” Lava asked, also stopping. Jai felt bad for that, as he knew that Lava must have been itching to get his paws back on the solid ground.

“The smo-ohke,” Jai said, pointing at the town. “The darkness!”

“I can’t see anything, bro,” Kusa frowned, as he looked in the direction of the town, at the same time as Chitti looked concerned, not at the town, but at Jai.

“But it’s so-oh Da-ah-ark!” Jai insisted, pointing at the cloud with his claw.  “Hoh-ow ca-ahn’t you se-eeh it?”

Jai was aware that his stutter was getting worse as he got more anxious, but at the same time, he couldn’t make himself switch to draconian. His town was in danger. His mate’s herd -and thus, is own herd- was in danger. And they needed to do something.

Chitti landed on his muzzle, as small as he could get, and bumped his forehead like a cat. That made Jai calm down a little, even if he was still looking at that horrible cloud with dread.

“You’re the warrior of the flames, Bangaru,” Chitti said, repeating the role that the Gold king had assigned to Jai. “As much as I protected Rangasthalam, my role is to be the bringer of the rain. You are the protector that the town always needed. Only you can see the dangers we can’t.”

 

Oh.

 

That made sense, Jai thought. There was old magic in their veins, and that magic had been awakened when they were at the Dragon’s court. Of course King Raju’s words hadn’t been just a fancy title and stupid protocol.

He should have known, given how Kusa had reacted to his title. But he had been too worried about Lava, too overwhelmed about finding a place to belong, that he hadn’t considered that.

He had grown soft in his dragon age, Jai guessed.

“Le-eht’s land,” he said, considering Lava’s discomfort on the air again. “The clo-ohud doesn’t re-each our nest. The-ehn I will tell you what I see.”

“And we will all figure out how to fix it,” Lava nodded. “After all, Rangasthalam is our responsibility and our nest.”

Chitti purred on Jai’s muzzle, as he heard them talk about his birth town with pride. And just like that  Jai knew that, no matter what that darkness he was seeing was? They would vanquish it together.

 

*          *          *

 

Lava sighed as he stopped in the middle of the field, getting ready to do his job.

They had only been about three days away from Rangasthalam, but the changes inside of their souls made it seem like an eternity. The magic of their real souls had been awakened and now, at least for him, it was as if he had been born a dragon, instead of spending the first years of his life as a human.

He wasn’t sure how his brothers felt about it yet, but he wanted to talk to them soon. Especially with Jai, who still snarled every time he looked in the direction of Rangasthalam, seeing the dark cloud that only he could see.  Fortunately, he said that the dark cloud didn’t touch either Kasi nor Kumar, but it covered other people from town he had seen pass near their haveli.

Jai hadn’t gone back to town since his transformation, and now he was afraid of doing so, Lava knew. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control his instincts and attack anything or anyone whom he thought was connected to that dark cloud.

Kusa was mostly staying home with their brother, but he was also flying higher and higher every day, learning what it meant to be the messenger of heavens.

That left him, the Earth dragon of Rangashtalam, the Keeper of the Crops, to try and figure out what the effect of that dark cloud that Jai saw was. And Chitti needed to figure out how long it had been there, as none of them thought that it had just appeared when they had been away.

It was too big, Jai said, to be something new. Kusa had suggested that maybe Jai could fly to other towns to see if there were similar clouds he could see, but Jai refused on the grounds that he was the protector of Rangasthalam, so it came to reason that he’d only see the threats to their town, not to other places.

Kusa then decided that, once he understood what his new role meant, he’d fly back to the court. See if Kapatta or Raju or any of the dragons who lived there knew anything about darkness that only the protectors could see.  Neither Lava, Jai or Chitti liked the idea of being separated, even if it was for a little while, but they all understood it was for the good of their territory, and more importantly, for the good of the herd.  Still, they all talked Kusa out of immediately flying out to the court, insisting he had to wait at least a month to figure things out.

As it was, Chitti already didn’t want Kumar or Kasi to go back to their homes; for what Lava understood was the first time in his life, Chitti had used his dragon voice and authority to command Kumar and Kasi to stay at their Haveli, whether they wanted it or not. Later, Lava knew, Chitti had apologized to Kumar, and bribed Kasi saying that he could take the time to seduce his brother -Although for what Kasi had said, those hadn’t been Chitti’s EXACT words and Lava was afraid to ask what had Chitti said. He also wanted his father, mother and sister to get as far away from the dark cloud as they could, but as he had forbidden Kumar and Kasi to leave the Haveli, he didn’t want to do the same to them.

In short, their mate was a worried mess.

So yes, Lava needed to find out what the effects of that cloud were.

He let his tail get in the ground, and once it was rooted, he grew as big as he could, the biggest tree in the region. He could almost see all of the town from where he was now, in Lakshimi’s family’s field, near the river. And yet, he felt small. After meeting the Earth Dragons of the past, and Kattappa in particular, Lava had realized that he was but a tiny branch in the huge tree that was the planet’s nerve system.

And he felt peaceful with his place.

Deep underground, his tail root grew. And soon, the tiny roots of the crops that Chitti had watered came to greet him, to ask him where he had been, to show him the wonders that he could see with his eyes.

Lava had learned how plants communicated, more with scent and sound, but they were all so curious about the idea of image, since they had no eyes. So he shared what he could, before he asked the one question that had started bugging him when he had come to the field in the first plac65t7ye.

“Why are you still so small? You haven’t yet felt the sun in your leaves, and you were so eager to feel the light last we talked.”

The answer was a barrage of emotions and sounds that Lava had a hard time translating at first. Mostly it was sadness, tears the plants heard from the farmers, wailing and the strong sense of loss.

The farmers were telling the plants that they would not be helping the town, feed their families. They would be taken by others, far away, to make someone else a rich person. The plants themselves didn’t understand what that meant, but they didn’t want the farmers who worked so hard to let them grow be hungry.

Lava frowned. He knew part of the harvest always went for commerce outside the town. That always happened. But that was part of it, not the whole harvest.

What was going on there, that Chitti didn’t know about?

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa yelled with joy as he took to the skies, ready to go to his second favorite place to rest: the top of a cloud.  It was a strange thing, now that magic was part of his life, how clouds were now solid for him.

Yes, he knew they were steam, and the whole scientific reasoning as to why they existed and what they were made of. But for him, both in dragon and hybrid form? They were the soft cotton he had imagined they were in his childhood. Softest place to sleep, besides his brothers’ backs and his lover’s wings.    

Just to prove it to himself, he shifted to his hybrid form. The cloud he was sitting on held, making him think of a cartoon he had once seen as a kid in prison, about a cloud that would only hold those who were pure of heart.

Well, Kusa wasn’t going to fool himself thinking he was pure of heart, much less when he remembered all the things he had done with Chitti and all the things he wanted to do next, but it still made him flutter his wings with laughter.

His life was so much better now that he knew who he really was, that he was reunited with his brothers, and had found his soulmate.

Now, the only dark cloud in his life was the one that only Jai could see, covering their town.

“It’s the President,” A voice said behind him, making him almost jump out of his cloud as he shifted into his dragon form and grew, like a cat hissing at an unseen threat.

However, it was not a threat. At least, not one at first sight, Kusa thought.

Standing in midair there was… well, he looked like a man. And Kusa instinctively knew he had been a man, only that now, he was dead. He was seeing a soul. A young man, not much older than him or Chitti, dressed in brown shorts and a dirty white undershirt, with a green towel around his neck. Kusa didn’t know why, but he knew the man hadn’t died that long ago. At most, a little before he and his brothers had moved into Rangashtalam.

And he also knew that his death hadn’t been an easy one.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the ghost said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You di-didn’t scare me!” Kusa replied, angrily, not even noticing that he had stuttered just like Jai. “You just… startled me! Because I was not saying anything out loud, I was thinking and you replied to my thoughts!”

“Sir, you were speaking out loud. All due respect, sir, we all think you’re a bit loud,” the ghost said, ducking his head a little as if he was afraid to anger Kusa. Kusa, for his part, was still reeling at the realization that he was actually talking to a dead person.

“What’s your name?” He asked, pretty much ignoring that the ghost had just implied that there were other ghosts around.

“Erra Sirnu, sir, I used to live in Rangasthalam,” the ghost, well, no, Sirnu, replied. “Now… I keep watch over it and my family. But until you came around, I couldn’t… do more than watch.”

“What do you mean?” Kusa asked, going back to hybrid form and sitting with his legs dangling off the cloud. It was fascinating, to figure out where his abilities went. How much he could do. “I mean, I will help you where I can but… Rangasthalam seems pretty peaceful to me.”

“Because Chitti keeps mostly everything in control, but there are things he doesn’t see… things we don’t tell him because…” The man looked down, ashamed. Kusa didn’t know ghosts could look ashamed.

“Because?” Kusa prompted, trying not to sound menacing. Even if he was thinking very seriously about biting the ghost if he badmouthed his mate.

“We don’t want to burden him… he’s… very young for a Dragon. You’ve noticed right? You’re young too. When you’re in your dragon form… you feel… younger?” Sirnu asked, with a touch of concern for Kusa which made the dragon feel strangely honored.

And besides, he was telling the truth. Kusa had always been impulsive, yes, but when he was in his dragon form? The instinct to just go with what he wanted grew a thousand times harder to ignore. And he had noticed that yes, Jai and Lava acted a lot younger in their full dragon forms. Jai, in particular, became a lot cuddlier and joyful.

“Yes, a bit,” He conceded. Then he figured that Sirnu knew because the ghost had probably seen him and his brothers a lot, before he decided to talk to Kusa. “It’s like being six all over again.”

“Because dragons grow older a lot slower than humans, so as a dragon… yes, the four of you are children,” Sirnu said, then sighed. “Chitti does a lot to protect us, and keeps the worst impulses of the President at bay. But… none of us in town want him to get… burdened. Him… and now you and your brothers, you protect us. But… as your herd, it’s also our duty to protect you all.”

“Keeping someone in the dark is not really protecting them,” Kusa pointed out, thinking about how Chitti had, accidentally, kept their dragon nature hidden until it was literally staring at them in the mirror. Or the story he had heard in the Dragon court about Bheem not knowing he was a dragon, a born, egg-hatched dragon, until he had met the King.

“I figured that out when I was killed, in Chitti’s River,” Sirnu sighed. “I didn’t tell anyone that I told the President I was going to campaign against him, that I would nominate myself to take his place, as to not to involve them if I failed. So I was alone… and I got killed, and hurt my dad and my sisters a lot more.”

“Who killed you?” Kusa asked, now a bit worried. There was a darkness in Rangashtalam that Jai could see, and now one that he could hear about.

The Heavens were sending a message, and him, as the messenger of heavens, had to listen.

 

*          *          *

 

Chitti grumbled, pinned beneath the combined weight of his three mates. Now, he knew that he could probably go small enough that neither Lava nor Jai would be able to hold on to him, but Kusa? Kusa was not able to go as small as Chitti could, but his smaller size was enough to make sure that Chitti couldn’t wriggle away.

So he was, in a word, trapped.

“Get off me, you guys! I calmed down!” He yelled, even if he was not calm at all. Kusa, who was on top of Jai, who was on top of Kusa, laughed.

“If you’re calm, I’m an honest and upstanding citizen!” Kusa barked at him. Oh, Chitti glared. His mate was going to get it next time they were alone. All of his mates were going to get it. Or, more clearly, not get it.

He was going to stop having sex with them for a whole day if they didn’t let him go.

“That man is killing my herd!” Chitti responded, forgetting he was trying to pretend he was calm. “I told him if he threatened my herd I’d eat him! So I’m going to eat him!!”

“You don’t want that poison in your stomach!” Jai retorted in draconian. “What if he’s the source of all that dark smog? What if he poisons you?!”

“Well, then I will chew him up and spit him!”  Chitti insisted, considering biting Lava in the butt.

His mate round, big and delicious butt.

Chitti took a deep breath again. He was getting sidetracked and distracted and he bet that his beloved mates were counting on him to get distracted.

He was not going to get distracted. Not about this. Not again.

“Chitti, we know that you want him dead, we want him dead too,” Lava said, his voice booming as he had gone as big as he could. That explained why Chitti couldn’t even see his legs from where he was. “But if you fly off without a plan, without any idea, you may end up hurt…”

“He has never hurt me! He’s just a human, a mean human whom I should’ve killed long ago!”

“Yeah, he is probably more than a bit afraid of you,” Kusa agreed. “Chitti, it’s hard to talk to you if I can’t see you. Will you shift to half human and promise to talk to us if I let you go?”

Chitti sighed.  Anyone else asking him that would get a lie as an answer. But he couldn’t lie to Jai, Lava or Kusa. They were his mates. Lying to your mates was the best way to lose your mates, and he knew that very well.

“Just because you want to talk,” Chitti said, and, as the weight of Lava started to diminish, he let his mass grow to human size. He still kept his scales and claws, but folded his wings, to show that he was not flying off.

That didn’t stop Jai from grabbing him the second he had a wrist to be grabbed.

“Do-ohn’t fly away,” Jai said. And even if his tone was harsh, Chitti could tell that he was pleading. “Ple-ease.”

Chitti nodded, and, just to make clear that he was listening to Jai, he put his head under Jai’s chin, embracing his fire mate.

Now that the anger was simmering, Chitti could understand why Jai was worried. They now knew that the President had been going behind Chitti’s back, getting the farmers to give up more and more of their harvests, and that he had killed at least two of Chitti’s herd. That he only didn’t kill Rangama’s husband because that would’ve been impossible to hide from Chitti, but they still had managed to make sure he wouldn’t go against the President in elections, at least according to what the now dead Sirnu had told Kusa.

Chitti had cried when Sirnu’s body had been found in his river, dead and unmoving. Now that he knew that someone had used HIS waters to drown a member of his herd? One of the very first he had claimed as a child? Oh, his soul screamed for revenge.

“Sirnu said that you would fly off your handle, and that he trusted us to keep you safe,” Kusa muttered, as he also hugged Chitti. “Don’t make me into a liar, love.”

“I just…” Chitti said, and then, the enormity of everything hit him. Sirnu had died. Uncle Ramprasad could’ve died. And Chitti had no idea of what was going on behind his back. He couldn’t even say that it had been because  he had been distracted by finding his mates. Abbulu, another of his herd that Sirnu had said was also floating around as a ghost, had died a month before Kasi wrote to Chittu asking for permission to return to Rangasthalam, with the triplets on tow.

A whole month.

And who else had died that Sirnu hadn’t told Kusa about? How many people had been hurt or worse, while Chitti just… flew around like a pampered peacock, thinking he was doing the right thing as the town’s dragon instead of actually protecting his herd?

“Stop that,” Lava said, joining the group hug, still in dragon form so he’d be big enough to hug them all, protect them all with his wings. “You’re still young Chitti, and as Rama Raju said at court, we don’t have anyone to teach us what to do. We don’t know what the dark cloud that only Jai can see is, we didn’t know Kusa would be able to see the spirits of those departed, or that I’d be able to speak clearly to seeds and plants… and of course none of us imagined that anyone would dare to act against a dragon’s herd! The disrespect against dragons… it should’ve ended when the British left our country… there was no way you could imagine that someone born in your town would be so…”

“Eh-evil,” Jai finished, shaking his head before changing his language to draconian again. “Not even Ravanna would’ve gone against a dragon’s wishes, if a Dragon had made Odisha their territory. None of my enemies would’ve gone against me, had they known I was a dragon, had I known I was one. What the President and his men are doing is… unthinkable.”

Chitti sighed, and looked at his mate in the eye. He knew Jai hated thinking about his days as the crime lord Ravana. That he was ashamed of what he had done, all in the name of wanting recognition and power. And yet, he was dredging those memories back for Chitti, to give Chitti a new perspective. An excuse for not having seen what was going on in his town and…

“You think the President has something to do with the dark cloud you see,” Chitti looked at Jai, concerned. That connection hadn’t come to his mind. Not until now.

“Sirnu said as much to Kusa... but I think we need a plan, to protect all your… our herd, Bangaru.” Jai continued. “But we can’t do that if you are afraid to let Kumar and Kasi go back to town.”

 

Chapter 9: The Dragon's Preparations

Summary:

Now that they have an idea of what is surrounding Rangashtalam, our four dragons plan and find more information. Jai starts getting some closure, Lava understands his gift better, Kusa learns patience and Chitti... Chitti marvels at how many dragons are there in Rangasthalam now.

Jai looked down at his old haveli in Odisha, wondering what was he expecting to find there.

He had flown all the way there on his own, insisting to both Chitti and his brothers that he needed to do it alone. It had been a bit of a battle, especially with Lava and Kusa, especially after how he had left Odisha originally with stitches after his last fight, but at the same time, he knew he couldn’t do what he wanted to do with them on tow.

If they were with him, he knew he’d be tempted to keep this place. To keep this herd, that he hadn’t realized he had gathered because his dragon half had been dormant then, the territory he had hoarded… the authority he still held. Not because he needed it, no. He was now Rangasthalam’s protector, and he was happy that way. But because it was, at the end of the day, a reminder of the past.

Of the first time he had felt control in his life, when he had raised to become such a great leader in the coal business. Of the first time he had felt really respected through his own power, although he now suspected there might have been something more to it, the way the town’s people had always cowered at him, when he was only one man with an axe and they were thousands. Of the moment he had reunited with his brothers.

Oh, yes. Even if then he hadn’t seen it as a blessing, he now held those treasured memories in his heart. The way in which both Lava and Kusa had jumped upon seeing him for the first time in years, how Lava had immediately tried to make amends, to fix things between them, to bring them back together. How Kusa had been jumpy and afraid, trying to escape from the get go, before he suddenly changed his mind because…

Well, because he didn’t want Sanjran to really kill Jai.

Yes, the haveli held many memories for Jai.

It was also the last place where he had seen Tapan, whom he now understood would’ve been his favorite human from his herd, even above Kasi.

Jai landed on the courtyard where, before, his henchmen would be practicing judo, shifting to his hybrid form easily. Then he walked inside, where he knew Kaakha would be waiting.

“So… this is how you kept a grip on my brother?” A voice asked behind him and Jai turned around to meet Sanjran’s eyes for the first time in a year. “Because you were a dragon in disguise, and had claimed him as herd?”

“Ah-I didn’t kno-ow I was a dra-agon when your bro-other was with us,” Jai said, wondering how Sanjran would react if he turned completely human, given that he was not wearing clothes.  He had hoped Kaakha wouldn’t have packed all of his old theater kutras yet, so he could wear one while in Odisha. “I-If I ha-ad kno-own… If I ha-ad my scales then… No one would’ve da-ared to-ouch him, as he wa-as my right ha-and.”

That was one thing that hurt Jai more than anything. The knowledge that, had he known his nature earlier, he’d have been able to protect his men better. And perhaps, understood that he needed to protect the town’s people too, not make their lives more difficult.

He had learned a lot about himself in the last year, and not everything had to do with his true species.

Ever since his brush with death, ever since he had saved his brothers, he had realized he had done too much harm to be truly forgiven.

“Why should I believe you?” Sanjran spat at him. Just like Rangamma, he guessed, she seemed to hold no fear in her heart. And that was good. He would never hurt her. Not given how much he had taken from her already. “You could have liked to laugh at the idea of humans trying to hurt you! You certainly were never afraid of my gun.”

“Ah-I was so a-afraid of your gu-un and kni-ife that I had my bro-other take my pla-ace to talk to you,” Jai said, his wings and tail low. Sanjran didn’t know it, but right now she was still part of his herd, and thus, he still had amends to do.  He figured, being honest with her was as good a place to start. “A-and de-eh-ep down I kne-ew… You we-ehre right.”

That seemed to take her by surprise. She frowned, and tilted her head, as if she was trying to decode his expression, his words. Find some tell of a lie.

“How is it that when I see you with scales and horns and truly looking like a demon from hell… I trust your words more than when you shared Kusa’s face?” she asked, still angry, but obviously more ready to listen.

“I still share Ku-usa’s face,” Jai replied, a bit offended for the first time. “Bu-ut he le-et his ha-air grow lo-ong again.”

“That is not what I asked,” Sanjran shook her head. “When Kaakha garu told me that you had written, telling him you were a dragon, that your brothers were dragons and had found your mate… I couldn’t believe it. I was so angry that the gods would keep giving you chances, giving you rewards, and my brother is still dead.”

“He shou-uld have ne-ever be-een here that night,” Jai decided to interrupt. “The-ere was no ne-ed to protect this place if I wa-asn’t here.”

“Oh, I told him that!” Sanjran yelled angrily, but made no movement to get closer to Jai. “That was the last fight we had! Why was he so intent on protecting you, your reputation, when you were just a murderer and a criminal?! Do you know what he told me?”

Jai shook his head. Back then, he didn’t talk much with his henchmen. It had taken almost dying for him to start talking to Kasi.

And he regretted it.

“He told me that you were a good man deep down, and that he wanted to be sure you had the chance to prove that to him,” Sanjran said, now tears in her eyes. “I was so sure he was wrong.”

“He wa-as,” Jai said, and Sanjran looked at him, with fury in her eyes. “Ba-ack then? I wa-aas the monster you tho-ought I was. I a-ah-almost killed my bro-others out of pri-ide. If you ha-ad killed me, you wo-ould’ve done Odisha a fa-avor.”

“You only say that because now I can’t kill you,” Sanjran glared at him, but her glare had less hate behind, he thought.  “Now I have to respect you.”

“No,” he said, truthfully. “Ah-I’ve come to-oh re-enounce my cla-aim on Odisha. If yo-ou or ah-anyone here re-espects me… It sho-ould be be-ecause I’ve e-e-earned it. Not be-ecause of ma-a-y scales.”

Sanrjan looked at him, confused. Then she shook her head.

“You’re just leaving? After all the damage you did, you think you can just… leave and say sorry?” She growled, and then she walked all the way to him and started punching his chest. “You broke this place! You broke the people who live here, and you think just leaving will fix it?”

Jai looked at her, confused and a bit lost. He had expected her to be happy to know she’d never see him again.

“Wha-at would you wa-ant me to do instead?”

 

*          *          *

 

Lava sighed as he looked at the field in front of him. They still hadn’t returned to Rangasthalam proper, as they still have no idea what the cloud of darkness Jai keep seeing was even if they all agreed it came from the President and his goons. It had taken forever to convince Chitti to let Kumar and Kasi to go back to the town, as long as they promised to come back to the Haveli every single night, so that Chitti could see they were still safe, but of course, their mate had also insisted that they brought at the very least, Chitti’s mom and sister with them to live in the Haveli for the time being.

Chitti had also wanted his father to come, but Koteswara Babu was… Well, Lava sighed, Chitti may not be Koteswara’s birth son, but he sure had inherited the man’s stubbornness. The way Kumar told it, when they were told that Chitti wanted them to leave the house where the family had lived for generations the man had just gone to his sewing machine and started working without saying a word.

The message: If you want me to leave, you will have to carry me and my sewing machine together; however, was very clear and loud.

Jai was still in Odisha, doing every single thing that he needed to do in order to free the territory from himself, but still make sure that everyone knew they could call him if needed.  It was a complicated dance, Lava knew, but he still wished he and Kusa could be there for their brother.

This was the first time they had been separated since finding each other again, and it made his scales itch. Every morning he woke up wanting to fly to his brother’s side, and he HATED flying. Not feeling the earth under his claws? That was the second worst feeling in Lava’s opinion.

First worst feeling was, of course, not having awareness of where his brothers’ and mate were. And right now, he could only feel Chitti, because Jai was in Odisha and Kusa had flown to the court, and it was driving him insane, even if Chitti, their beloved, tried hard to keep him calm.

The fact that Chitti was himself a tangled mess of anxiety and anger and worry, twisting in his soul as the confused roots of a forest that had been growing too close to itself, was a bit of a problem. But at least Lava could also try to focus his own anxiety into helping calm Chitti.

They had each other, the river and the trees, while right now, Jai and Kusa were alone and Lava hated that.

Which brought him back to the filed in front of him.

It was technically outside of Rangasthalam’s town limits, but still well inside their dragon territory. No one used it for their harvest because it was considered Chitti’s field, and Chitti, so far, had no interest in harvesting anything from himself, and not even the President would be so bold as to try and take what was Chitti’s out in plain view.

Thing was, Lava now understood Earth and vegetation a lot better than when he had a human brain. The Earth Dragons of the past had taught him so much in that brief moment he had been one with the mountain, not just everything about their past lives and how they had died. He knew now how to talk to the plants, and how to listen to their language since seeds in particular could be very confusing. More importantly, he now knew that every single plant in the world was connected through their roots.

A tree in their haveli, as long as there were other plants nearby? Could easily bring them news of what was happening in Japan.

There may be some information lost in the trip, but they would get the gist of it.

Now, they didn’t need any information from Japan, but more spies in Rangasthalam? Was always a good thing.

But more importantly, they needed a source of grain for the farmers that couldn’t be touched by the President, no matter one. One that was free of the sadness the seeds in Rangasthalam had shown Lava, and would be happy to feed the people that right now couldn’t work this field.

Later, much later when the President was dealt with? Lava figured they could pick some of their herd to come and take care of this field too. Probably Ranalakshmi as the leader, since they all knew how much Chitti liked to see her try and get Mahesh’s attention to no avail. Mahesh too, for sure, as he had been Chitti’s best follower and messenger when Kumar and Kasi were away.

But now? It was just Lava. And Lava, the human, had never worked a field in his life. He had been taught to crunch numbers, not make rows of corn.

It was a good thing that Lava, the dragon, could ask the very Earth to help.

“Can you hear me?” He asked, as his tail burrowed down, deep in the soil. He had been told by the trees and tall grass that sometimes the wind carried seeds to that field, seeds that remained dormant, unable to grow, and were covering the place. “Are you there?”

“We’re here!” a hundred, no, a thousand voices replied to him. “What took you so long?”

Lava smiled. He had been warned that certain seeds were as impatient as his beloved Chitti. But it was ok.

Between Chitti and Kusa? Lava knew now how to deal with impatient ones.

 

*          *          *

 

Kusa landed right in the waterfall that led to the Dragon Court, and let his paws be caressed by the water of the river, wondering why the hell had he volunteered for this mission in the first place.

Well, he knew why. He was now Kusa, Messenger of Heavens, and no matter what, he had a job to do. He liked having a purpose to his life, even if that meant that sometimes, he had to be away from his beloved and his brothers.

As soon as he got back, however, he planned to have a long, long lovemaking session with Chitti, one that would bring the rains down into Rangasthalam for weeks, while later, a longer cuddle session with Jai and Lava.

But now, he needed to talk to the king. Because the ghosts over his mate’s town, his town, keep telling Kusa that the dragon court had to know something about the darkness that was floating over their town. And so, Kusa had flown to get that information, while Lava and Chitti remained behind, keeping watch of their town, and Jai fled to Odisha. Because Odisha had been their territory, and they also needed to protect that place… even as Jai was letting it go.

Kusa was still getting used to how now he thought of places as his, his territory, his land.

At the same time that yeah, land was no longer something he cared much about.

“You’re a bit short for a wind dragon,” A voice over his head said, and Kusa turned around quickly. On the top of the tree with the arrow there was a big dragon, about as big as the tree itself, watching him intently.

Kusa immediately shifted to half human form, trying to look both bigger and less threatening, as complicated as that sounded even in his own head.

The dragon, whom Kusa guessed was a fire dragon, given that he was bright orange with yellow spots, like an open flame and whose tail was very much on fire, jumped down from the tree and also took hybrid form.

The dragon in front of Kusa was still tall in his hybrid form, about five inches taller than Kusa, not including his horns that curled over his head like a crown, almost creating a perfect halo. He  had long black hair, that reached almost the place on his back where his tail started, and his clothes were almost the same orange as his scales. Except that now Kusa could see more clearly that he had a patch of light pink, almost white, scales on his left cheek. White scales that said that his soulmate was a wind dragon, like Kusa.

On his forehead, the dragon had a bindi. It was a small dot, with an arch on top almost like a rising sun.

Kusa had no idea who this dragon was, but given how he was dressed made him think that he had to be a guard of the Court, like Kappatta. And then he remembered that Shivadu had mentioned that his uncle hadn’t been present when Jai, Lava and Kusa himself had been introduced to the court.

Was this fire dragon related to the chirpy, joyful Shivadu? Maybe, Kusa mused. After all, the dragon reminded him of Jai. Calm and collected, but like a snake, ready to strike when one least expected it.

“No one told me there was a height requirement,” Kusa replied, wary. He didn’t know this dragon, and although he assumed the ghosts, or Kappatta, would’ve warned them if there was an evil dragon somewhere, he didn’t want to be overly trusting.

He wasn’t Lava.

The fire dragon laughed, and as he did, a thin cloud of smoke came out of his mouth. He was threatening, but Kusa was not going to let down any ground. He had the suspicion that this dragon was a guard that was hazing the new guy. In his youth, before he decided to go solo in his crime endeavors, Kusa had seen his share of gang enforcers like him. Big bullies, who only needed to be shown their place.

“You’re funny,” the dragon said, slowly as he walked towards him. It was only then that Kusa realized the dragon had a dagger in his belt. Uh-oh. “Reminds me a lot of my Yuvaraju.”

Kusa frowned. While the golden king was not the stuck-up royal Chitti had told them he was, Kusa wouldn’t call Rama Raju… “Funny”. Much less a mere prince.

“Laughter is a good weapon,” Kusa agreed, being careful. He didn’t want to step back, but he was keeping his eyes on the other dragon’s waist.

“BABAI!!!”  Kusa barely had time to react at the fact that he recognized Shivadu’s very enthusiastic yell to move out of the way, but the fire dragon, who Kusa assumed now was ‘Babai’, wasn’t fast enough and he was tackled by the white blur that Kusa knew had to be the white dragon, and both of them tumbled down the waterfall.

Kusa ran to the edge, ready to shift and help, but before he did the fire dragon, now back in his full dragon form, was flapping his wings, holding Shivadu in his muzzle, biting him by the scruff looking like a tired mother cat with a very hyperactive kitten.

“Kusa! Hi!” Shivadu greeted him in Draconian, waving his huge paws at him. “You’ve met my uncle, Bhallaladeva?”

 

*          *          *

 

Once upon a time, there had been only one dragon in Rangashtalam.

Chitti was now realizing that despite the respect dragons had in the continent, mostly because of the work the Golden King and the Consort Prince had done to help free India from the British conquerors, the fact that he had been alone, and so small when he had hatched, meant that there were some that didn´t see him as the really dangerous creature he was. Didn’t see him as a worthy protector of his land and herd.

Now, he was furious about that. And there was nothing he wanted more than to fly to the President´s house and show him exactly how powerful and mighty he was. But he was not a young hatchling anymore, and he knew he couldn’t just fly off his handle like that. He needed to plan. He needed information.

Besides, there were more dragons in Rangasthalam now.

First there were his mates, Jai, Lava and Kusa.  The Protector, the Keeper and the Messenger, who also took Rangasthalam as their territory, and his herd as theirs.  And while they didn’t want to eat the President -well, Lava and Kusa didn’t want to eat him on principle of not wanting to eat humans. Jai, on the other hand, had made it clear that he was not against killing the President, just that he didn’t want to risk their stomachs with whatever filth he had inside- they all wanted justice for their herd, even those who had been lost before they got to the town, before they got their scales.

And, coming back with Kusa from the Dragon court, sent by the Golden King himself to help them understand what was going on in the town and as official representatives of the court to approve whatever Chitti and his mates decided to do with the President, there were two more dragons now.

General Bhallaladeva of the flames, and his mate, Prince Kumar of the Clouds. 

Now, Chitti knew Prince Kumar very well. He was one of his best friend Shivadu’s step parents -not counting the pack of wolves that had raised him-, and one of the few surviving dragons from Mother Sivagami’s time. But more importantly, at least for Chitti when he had met Prince Kumar, he shared a name with Chitti´s brother. And he was nice, and while he held to etiquette much more than Rama Raju and Bheem, because he wasn’t a prince anymore, not really, well, Chitti felt more at ease around him.

Having Prince Kumar visit Rangasthalam was amazing, even if it was for a dire reason.

However, General Bhallaladeva was a very different story.

Chitti would never quite admit it out loud, but he was terrified of Shivadu’s other uncle.

He was a fire dragon, like Jai -and in that regard, he was grateful Bhallaladeva was there, because he could teach his mate more about his element- but he was… far more intense than his mate. Chitti rarely saw Bhallaladeva at the Court, as the general tended to… loom. Or, in Shivadu’s words, brood. So most of the time, Chitti only saw the other dragon perched on top of some of the palace’s towers, looking at the horizon as if he was waiting for some threat to come.

Even if no one who wasn’t a dragon could even find the mountain where the Court was. The younger dragons, the ones who had their own territories away from the court and sometimes crossed paths with Chitti, said that Bhallaladeva was still afraid the British would return, that they would try to attack the Court again. That Bhallaladeva had lost his mother, brother and father and still wanted revenge for them.

That he was stuck in the past, a past only a handful of dragons remembered, and that because of it, he looked down on all the dragons, lost eggs or reincarnated ones, who had not lived through those days.

Chitti didn’t know what to think of that. But he knew that if Bhallaladeva was here to help Rangasthalam, he’d put his fear aside and listen to the older dragon.

“Do you know what this darkness that Jai sees is, General?”  Chitti asked. They were all in human form, sitting on the bigger lounge in their Haveli.  Both Bhallaladeva and Prince Kumar were wearing modern clothing, something that Chitti had never seen any of the Court Dragons do, and it made him see how much they really respected him and his territory, as they were trying to blend in.

“Yes,” Bhallaladeva said, his grave voice echoing on the walls. His next words, however, didn't help Chitti fear the other dragon less. “Unfortunately… it is my father.”

Chapter 10: Rangasthalam's Enemy

Summary:

As Bhallaladeva tells the story of his father and his sins, Chitti realizes that there's one big piece of the puzzle that is Rangasthalam that he had never considered. Meanwhile, Kusa gets a bit distracted with something else that may be very important for Dragon kind.

Jai sat down in his garden, considering all that Bhallaladeva had told them the night before… and how lucky he was he had found his brothers and his mates before he knew he was a dragon.

Because the story of Bijjaladeva had set heavy on his heart, as a warning of what might have happened to him if he had let the anger and resentment build deeper in his heart.

According to Bhallaladeva, his father had originally been a copper dragon and that was where the trouble started. While every dragon had their own territory and hoard, among the court, the only dragons really considered nobles, at least back in those times, were the metallic dragons, with the gold ones being the rulers of them all. But back when Bijjaladeva had been born, there hadn’t been a gold dragon hatched in generations, and thus, it fell on to the other metallic dragons to keep the court until a new gold dragon was born.

But Bijjaladeva had been born with a bad wing and a withered arm, so his father had decided that it would be his younger brother, Vikramadeva, the one who would held the throne if something happened to him, despite Vikramadeva being a brass dragon and technically less powerful than Bijjaladeva. And then, when Vikramadeva had been killed while defending the Dragon court from the British humans, Mother Sivagami, who was just a fire dragon, had been chosen as the regent, instead of her husband Bijjaladeva.

At that time, Bijjaladeva had accepted it because at least he was sure that then, it would be his son, Bhallaladeva, who had just hatched, who would get the throne if something happened to Sivagami. After all, he was the son of the regent, and there were still no golden eggs laid by anyone.

But Vikramadeva’s mate had laid an egg too, and Mother Sivagami, in all her wisdom and kindness, had decided to raise the egg as her own, as Vikramadeva’s mate died when he did. And even if Amarendra Baahubali, the dragon born from that egg, had been born not a metallic dragon, but a water one? Mother Sivagami had declared Baahubali the true heir, the one who should be regent in her place.

Bijjaladeva had raged at that, and, Bhallaladeva admitted as he related the story to the younger dragons, so had he. His heart had been poisoned by the words of his father growing up, made him think he was owed the power, the position of being the Dragon Court’s regent, and that as said regent, he had to be not only obeyed, but worshiped as if he was a gold dragon himself.

“But we don’t worship King Raju,” Chitti had said at that point of the story, utterly confused. Jai had been confused too, because the way Bhallaladeva was describing the past of dragon kind… well, it sounded a lot less equal than what it was now. “He’d bite anyone who even thought he was different from any of us just for the color of his scales.”

“Ah, but he was not born to that court,” Bhallaladeva shook his head. “Not many of us survived, and the ones who did… well, we agree with him now. We even agree that his position is… mostly ceremonial. We all are free to do what we want, only really come under his rule when it comes to defend our herds and friends.”

“You speak as if… you didn’t use to agree with the king,” Kusa answered to that, as always quick to read danger when it was near his loved ones.

“Oh, I was almost as bad as my father,” Bhallaladeva laughed without humor, when Prince Kumar finally spoke up in the reunion, putting his hands on Bhallaladeva’s knee.

“You were never close to be as bad as he was, Bhalla,” the Prince had said. “You were just misguided.”

“I was planning to kill my own mother and brother, my love,” Bhallaladeva responded, not reacting at the gasps from Jai, his brothers and their mate. As if confessing to attempting matricide was a common thing for him. “I only stopped because of you. You took the darkness out of my heart with just a touch.”

As he spoke, Bhallaladeva touched Kumar on the tip of his nose, and the prince responded by touching his cheek and Jai remembered that that was where their soulmate scales were, wondering for the first time about their first touch. He guessed he and Kusa were lucky, as theirs were in their shoulders. Lava was on his right buttock, because their mate Chitti was a flirt.

“This darkness… your father’s doing?” Chitti asked, bringing Jai thoughts back to the conversation.

“Yes,” Bhallaladeva nodded, then sighed. “I didn’t know then… didn’t really find out until after he betrayed the Court in a way no one could’ve ever expected. But my father had started to experiment with dark magic… no, evil magic. Trying to gather more and more power. Trying to change his scales, and his power.”

“Long story short,” Prince Kumar said, obviously sensing that the subject was hurting his mate. “Billaladeva betrayed the Dragon Court to the British in exchange for the science the men had, and mixed it with our magic. And then he became… well, what young Jai described. A dark cloud that manipulates and controls people’s hearts… possessing those who are weak enough to be tempted by his promises of power, as he lost his own body when he changed.”

 

*          *          *

 

 

Lava sighed as he flew to the field outside their lair, ready to ask some questions to the seeds.

Prince Bhallaladeva’s story had shaken them all, but he thought that the one who had taken it the worst was Chitti. After all, their beloved had been born a dragon, and had known a lot of the things that now Lava and his brothers were learning by instinct alone.

Jai was used to powerplays, to the betrayal of men, as he had had to protect his territory in Odysha before he even understood why he was far more territorial than all the other crime lords in the country. Why he cared more about the land and the people in said land, than about the power.

Oh, yes. Jai had talked for a long time with Lava as he came back from Odysha, not quite separated from the territory he had created when he thought he was only human. Jai couldn’t, wouldn’t, claim the people there officially as his herd because he knew he had caused them too much damage, but wouldn’t hand the territory to any human. He needed a dragon to take his herd, a dragon he could trust.

The money, on the other hand? The results of all of his operations? He had given it up easily even before he got his scales. Money was a human concern. Power, the way Ravanna had craved it, was closer to the dragon desire to have a herd, but not quite the same.

Kusa was the same, and Lava knew it. Sure, when they had reunited, their tam’mudu was obsessed to the point of insanity with getting five crore to get to America. Absolutely nothing mattered more to Kusa than getting his ticket to freedom. But when it came to it, what Kusa wanted was not the money. It was not even going to America.

It was the desire to leave. To look for the place where he belonged. To the land where he belonged.

And now that Kusa had that land, that place to call his, the place where he fit perfectly with Jai, Lava and Chitti? Kusa no longer cared for stealing money. And the only reason why he still stole vehicles -well, got them on loan, if you asked him- was because that’s what Rangasthalam’s people had come to expect from him. It had become a game between his tam’mudu and Chitti’s herd.

Their herd.

Finally, there was him, Lava.  Now that he put his mind to it, that he saw all his life with a different lens, seeing what he did now knowing that his dragon’s soul was always there, influencing him even if his scales wouldn’t show, he realized that the only time he actually hesitated to give loans to people was when it was to buy land, unless they told him it was to help others, as it had happened with that last disastrous loan.

That he had only decided he wanted Kusa to help him with getting that loan back, instead of figuring out a way to get the money otherwise or convince his bosses to give the man who had conned him more time, was because they hadn’t used the money to help the land, but to poison it.

Dragons were territorial, yes, but Jai, Lava and Kusa saw it still with some human understanding.

Chitti was full dragon, and he had been hatched after the Golden King took the throne. All he knew was dragon’s politics and the mere idea of a dragon who would betray not just the King but also his soulmate, like Billaladeva had done as he had planned to kill his mate, Mother Sivagami? Was unthinkable.

According to Bhallaladeva, Billaladeva was no longer considered a dragon. He didn’t have a shape, or a body really, having cast his body away with dark magic given how much he hated his lame wing and arm. But that meant that he could easily take over the hearts and bodies of humans who swam too close to the darkness.

That meant that someone in Rangashtalam was being host to the evil that had been BIllaladeva once. Their main suspect was, of course, the President and they all were glad that they hadn’t let Chitti eat him. But Bhalalla wasn’t sure.

“My father is a good strategist,” He had said, at the same time he leaned onto Prince’s Kumar touch. There was a story there, of their meeting and union, Lava knew, but he didn’t want to ask. It was not his place to ask. “But if he was in a place of power? Of authority? I don’t think he’d be able to hide himself that well. He’d be yelling it from the rooftops and would’ve tried to kill Chitti long ago.”

That had made all of them growl. The idea that someone, something, could’ve taken their Chitti away before they could meet, shook Lava and his brothers down to the core.

So Lava was now in the field, ready to talk to the seeds, the sprouts, and every little weed that had roots in Rangasthalam. While yes, the President was the most obvious possibility for being the host of Billaladeva, he could also be an unknowing puppet. A man who had been offered the world by a dragon who wanted something more than just ruling over a small town.  So Lava needed to know if any plant had heard or sensed something strange around the few people in town who weren’t herd.

Anyone who could be a treat, not just to Chitti or Rangashtalam, but also to the Court.

 

*          *          *

 

Before he found his own nature as a dragon, before he reunited with his brothers even, Kusa had known how to read people.  It had been necessary so he could survive in jail, and later, when he was trying to fly on his own.

Now he could fly, but he knew he wasn’t alone and that made him smile when he was in the clouds, either with his mate, his brothers or the multiple spirits that watched over Rangasthalam.

Except this day, he was not flying.

He was keeping his scales hidden, as he rode a bike he had found near their haveli into town -he had no idea who the owner of the bike was, but he figured they would be able to find it when Kusa didn’t need it anymore.  Ever since he had officially become Chitti’s mate, people no longer chased him when he loaned their transportation, and while that took a bit out of the fun of his day, the fact that now people were actually putting gifts for him or his brothers in the vehicles he took made it up for that.

Now, they all knew that the President and Billaladeva had to know they were dragons. They probably knew before Jai, Lava and Kusa knew, because while the way in which they became dragons was not general knowledge, according to Kumar and Kasi, the fact that dragons only mated with other dragons was. So the second Chitti declared they were their boyfriends -before Jai, Lava and Kusa even knew Chitti’s name because their mate was an insane dragon in a perennial sugar rush, and now Kusa needed to know if there were sugar or caffeine dragons because if there were? Their mate was one- then the whole town knew they were dragons.

But that was not why Kusa was hiding his scales as he rode into town, waving at children as he went towards their café slash flower shop. After coming back from the Dragon court -and their long absence while they fully changed- the place wasn’t closed perse… it had been run by Kasi, his brothers, and, on occasion, by Kumar and Chitti’s Chelli.

And Kusa knew that Kasi had his ears on the ground, always ready to protect them from danger even if they were immortal dragons and he was only human.

“Loud boss! You came to get Chitti’s foamy milk?” Kasi asked loudly as Kusa entered the coffee shop that at the moment only had three other customers. Lakshmi, Mahesh and another guy that Kusa didn’t recognize immediately. “I know he likes the one from this machine better than the one at your lair.”

Kusa shook his head, wondering why Kasi was being so… clear about Kusa’s nature and the fact that Chitti loved the coffee shop. But he didn’t question that out loud. Back when he was human, and Kasi had been his bodyguard/jailer/babysitter back in Odysha, Kusa had realized that the taller man was far smarter, and far more observant, than most people thought.

Even if Kusa still could steal the other man’s wallet from his back pocket without Kasi realizing it.

“I just needed to get out of the lair for a bit,” He replied, jumping to sit in the empty counter that Jai used to make his floral arrangements. While Kasi busied himself with the customers’ orders, he checked if there was anything he had to take back to Jai. They still hadn’t tried to make Jai sell a floral arrangement, not since he had discovered his hoard was flowers, and Kusa knew they had to do an attempt as soon as possible, because if Jai couldn’t part with flowers, then they needed to make a change in their business.

Not that they were needing the business now for money. Besides the whole mess about Odysha still being somewhat under Jai’s control -another thing they had to deal with once they had dealt with Billaladeva, dragons were usually exempt of human’s economy. They usually went to the barter system, and that was yet another change they had to make to the coffee shop. Lava no longer wanted to charge for the drinks, more than was needed to get the ingredients. More than what was needed to keep Kasi and Chitti’s family’s comfortable.

It was weird how Kusa, who once had only wished to bury himself in money, agreed.

Ever since his first scales had shown up on his neck, Kusa had started to think about money as funny colored paper, rather than an actual need to live.

It would worry him, if it didn’t feel so natural.

“So, what can I do for you, loud boss?” Kasi came towards him, cleaning his hands with a dishcloth. Looking at him, Kusa couldn’t believe he had ever been anything but a town’s boy, a man who liked his neighbors, helped those in need and would never hurt a fly.

Except that he had killed people under Jai’s orders. Except that Kusa had seen him fight, laying waste to ten or so men as he fought to save Jai, Lava and Kusa that fateful day at the quarry when Ravana had finally died, leaving only Jai.

And because Kusa had never mastered having two trains of thoughts when talking to people, what came out of his mouth was not he question that he had wanted to ask originally.

“When you told us to move here, to Rangashtalam…” Kusa asked, surprising himself. “Did you know that we had dragon souls? Did you know we were Chitti’s mates?”

 

*          *          *

 

Chitti sighed as he extended his long body in the river, swimming close to the bottom of it, where no human could reach.

He knew he couldn’t stay long there, because if he did, his mates would worry. His humans would worry, and Kumar was crazy enough that he’d try to figure out a way to manage to reach the bottom of the river even if he half drowned in the attempt. And while he wasn’t sure if Bhallala would care that much -his relationship with Shivadu’s uncle had always been rocky, even before he learned that the older fire dragon had once planned to kill his own mother! Mother Sivagami herself- he knew Prince Kumar would worry and probably send word to Bheem and the King and…

And really, the last thing Chitti needed right now was to have the whole Dragon court minus Kattappa on Rangasthalam’s borders.

Because they would tell him it wasn’t his fault that Bijjaladeva had managed to get into the President’s heart, to get powerful enough that his darkness, invisible but powerful, enveloped the whole time. That he had been too young, too inexperienced, too alone to know what was happening, and that he had done his best for his herd.

When he knew that all that was not true. This was his fault.

He had failed to protect Rangasthalam, and now everyone was hurrying to fix his mistakes.

He couldn’t just sit idle in his hoard, licking his metaphorical wounds and let his mates and friends do all the heavy lifting.

Now, no one in town would accuse Chitti of being self-introspective. Everyone agreed that the young water dragon was impulsive, and fierce, like a Typhoon.  He acted before thinking, and was as quick to anger as to become happy again.

But Chitti knew how to be patient.

Sure, he hadn’t shown much patience the second his soul realized that Jai, Lava and Kusa were his mates. He had only seen one photo of them, in a letter Kasi sent to ask for permission for his “human” bosses to come to town, and had realized that he wanted them. That they were his, even if he couldn’t be sure they were dragon souls until he met them in person.  So when he met them, when he saw them and realized that yes they were dragon souls, and yes, they were his, he just couldn’t wait to have them.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t wait if necessary.

That didn’t mean that he couldn’t think, and make plans, and wait for the right moment to enact those plans.

Rangasthalam deserved him to be careful and patient, and so he was going to be the best dragon he could be for his people, and his herd.

Bhallaladeva thought that his father had possessed one of the President’s men, probably Seshu Naidu, and was helping the President to keep his control through fear, killing and secrets. The problem was… it didn’t quite fit.

The President had been in power long before Chitti was born. He had known about Chitti’s egg appearing when Kumar thought he had gotten a heron’s egg to care for, and had while he had never been overly respectful to Chitti, he had not tried to turn Chitti to his side. It would’ve been so easy when Chitti was younger, before he met Bheem and Rama Raju, before he knew the history of dragon kind, to poison his mind with the same ideas that Bhallaladeva had heard in his youth.

When he was younger, Chitti would’ve believed anything an older dragon said to him.

Not to mention, Old Kattappa had told Chitti that Mother Sivagami’s spell had made it so that no lost egg would hatch unless it was in a safe place. Sure, Chitti had never felt in danger when with his parents and Kumar, but surely, if the President or one of his men was possessed by Bijjaladeva, the spell wouldn’t have let him hatch, would it?

Lava had told him that no seed knew of the darkness. Only the trees and plants that had come out to the sun had noticed something, and mostly it was that their fruits didn’t stay in Rangasthalam. Kusa said that the ghosts only saw the darkness after they had died, and all of them had died when they had announced their intent to go against the President by joining the opposition party, led by a man named Dakshina Murthy, because those like Lakshimi or Kasi who went against the President but stayed in town, stayed outside politics, remained alive.

Sure, no one would dare to touch Kasi now that Chitti’s mates were in town and had made it clear that Kasi was their honored human, just like Kumar was Chitti’s. 

No human would dare touch the honored human of a dragon… But the dragon who had planned to kill his own soulmate, to kill the Gold King himself? Well, Chitti was sure Billalladeva would have not only killed their humans, he’d have used that as a way to make Chitti and his mates lose their temper and go at him unprepared.

Or maybe, he’d have killed them while Chitti and his mates were busy, getting Jai, Lava and Kusa’s scales, before his mates could claim Kasi formally.

That would’ve been something that the dragon that had convinced his own son to plan the death of his brother would have done. Hurt them horribly when they weren’t prepared.

But Kasi and Kumar were safe. So was Lakshmi and Chitti’s parents, and the kids that Kusa loved to play with, and the women who came to Jai to ask him about their flowerbeds, and the farmers who asked for Lava’s blessings.

While the President was evil, and had always kept an iron fist in the politic and religious side of the town, the only actual deaths they knew he had caused were of those who had gone against him in the actual politics area.

Finally, Jai had told him two things that made no sense. The things that had made him decide to get in his loved river, to the only place he could actually think calmly, surrounded by his element, connected to all the world, because all rivers were connected to the ocean, and the ocean covered the planet.

The first was that, when he saw the dome of darkness, it actually didn’t touch the ground. It hovered above Rangasthalam, like pestilence, almost reaching the houses’ roofs, but never actually touching Rangasthalam.

A threat, yes, but a threat kept at bay.

The second thing was something from Jai’s human life. When he had been Ravaana, the demon king crime lord of Odysha, and had decided that he needed more than the fear that people had for him. That he wanted the cheers and the admiration that he saw the Ministers and local Presidents got and thus, had decided to throw his metaphorical hat into the fray.

Chitti had his own theory about why Jai had craved that admiration. After all, even if he didn’t know it, his mate’s soul had always been a dragon soul. What he wanted was a herd to protect, but the life he had as a human had not let him see that a herd was not just a Dragon’s possession but a responsibility. It didn’t matter though, as now that was in the past, and that attempt at politic human power had made Jai find his brother, and, in time, they had found their way to Chitti.

Back to human politics.

Jai had explained to Chitti that human candidates required a party to sponsor their campaign. They couldn’t just come and claim they were ready and were going to be the protector of the people in their city or town, like a dragon would. Chitti didn’t know what was the President’s party, and frankly he didn’t care.

But he knew that all of the people the President had killed, had tried to get the help from the same party. Dakshina Murthy’s party.

Jai had told him that it was not uncommon for men of opposite parties to make deals under the table, in order to become richer, and more powerful. That they would visit places where no votes were given to them, just to find a weak spot, or even to try and gain one or two followers.

But Dakshina Murthy, who lived not far from Rangasthalam, had never once set a foot in the territory of the village.

Just like the dark dome that was Bijjaladeva, while the President, while evil, had no problems even facing Chitti himself from time to time.

Chitti’s eyes opened wide, and he flew out of the river, and right to his lair.

He needed to talk to Bhallaladeva right now.

Notes:

So... I was thinking about season 2 of my Drrragon!Verse and suddenly... this came up. It's sort of a sequel AU? But it is connected to the original Drrragon!Verse so I do recommend reading that one for a bit more of world building. :) Meanwhile, I do hope you enjoy!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 14 of DRRRagon!Verse