#ddfic

A twinge of pain erupted from her shoulder blades but with Ydris’ help the worst of it was circumvented and two massive red draconic wings spread out before the ringmaster. Once she had completed her transformation including a long red scaly tail and matching clawed hands and legs Ydris stepped back to admire his lover. Heat emanated from her as her magic simmered just below the surface of her skin and scales. Her wings took up the entirety of his vision and they were a sight to behold, always causing his breath to catch in his throat. However his attention was broken as she folded the massive appendages in and turned around carefully so as not to hit the magician with her wings or tail.

“Admiring the view again are we?” Az teased as she caught him staring.

Ydris simply smiled in return and nodded before he used a touch of magic to transform himself to match her. They had taken to dueling with similar skill sets since Az had begun learning to use her wings. Ydris avoiding using anything too out of the ordinary from her own abilities other than to manipulate the circus interior to fit their needs.

“Well I was thinking about maybe trying some aerial combat… Do you think I’m ready?” Az gestured vaguely upwards, trying to hide the nervous edge in her voice with the excitement that made her heart race.

The magician’s brows rose in surprise and he tapped his chin with a claw. “Well I suppose you are but I feel like I should go easy on you since you’re still adjusting to flight...” He paused as Az gave him The Look and he smiled. “How about I lower the gravity in here so you don’t have to fight it so hard to stay aloft? Then I promise I’ll give you a proper challenge.” Az nodded and walked over to the center pole, stretching as Ydris began to work his magic over the interior.

Around them the normal appearance of the circus melted away and as Az stood back up from leaning down to stretch her back she found herself no longer in the middle of the ring. Instead she stood atop a grassy chunk of land floating in the middle of Pandoria’s eternally twinkling skies. All around her rose up mounds of stone and dirt with a few trees scattered about, everything built to handle the weight of the fighters with plenty to grip onto with claws. Az grinned wide as she took in the sight, Ydris knew exactly what her favorite battleground was and he always blew her away with the detail he put into the illusion. Her talons spread out in the grass as she moved into her fighting stance facing the pandorian.

“Well, shall we begin?” She called out to where he stood covered in purple scales several feet away. She motioned with her hand for him to come at her and the training commenced.

Despite how slender Ydris’ form usually was he still could pack a punch. Where Az often relied more on her muscle mixed with her fire, Ydris used his speed and knowledge to his advantage and rushed the dragoness. However as he was about to land a hit Az swept out of the way, tucking her wings in before slamming her taloned foot into the magician’s back and sending him into the tree that the center pole had become. Ydris felt the air knocked from his lungs, not that he needed it but the feeling of making such harsh contact against the tree left him stunned. Az used the opportunity to launch herself up into the air, wings beating as she carefully flew backwards to land on an arch of stone.

“That's all you got?!” She shouted from her perch, grinning cockily as Ydris turned back around.

“Oh hardly...” An equally sly grin spread across his lips as he flew up to meet her, more cautious as he approached. Az crouched, preparing herself for his attack but this time Ydris had the advantage. He feigned a punch and caught Az trying to slip past him again, successfully raking his claws across her stomach. She let out a yelp of pain that grew into a snarl as she jumped back along the top of the rock and grabbed for Ydris’ tail as he tried to fly past. With his center of gravity thrown off the pandorian plummeted down off the rock and landed hard on the grass below. Az leapt down and attempted to slam him with another hard kick but Ydris managed to roll out of the way. 

He let out a hiss as her claws clipped a wing instead and lashed his tail out, trying to trip the dragoness but she launched herself up into the air once again. Catching his breath quickly Ydris followed suit and chased the red figure through the mounds of dirt and rock. His heart thumped in his chest not only from the thrill of the fight but at how much his love had progressed. It had not been long since she struggled to even maintain flight and yet now she was ducking and weaving with natural skill. A smile spread over his lips watching her as she led him through the arena, her flying was far from perfect but it was glorious to see her finally in her element. However his thoughts distracted him as she suddenly ducked out of the way and left the pandorian to slam into the branches of one of the willows.

Ydris coughed and sputtered out a few leaves as Az laughed from atop a nearby hill. “You got distracted again!” She shouted, a playful grin on her lips. “You’re making it too easy!” She flapped her wings excitedly, smirking at him before launching back into the air and flying off. “How about you hunt me down properly now?~” She called out teasingly as Ydris watched her disappear into the hills on the other side of their battleground. He hummed softly in thought as he collected himself, trying not to think of other times they had done hide and seek so to speak.

The pandorian rose up on purple wings, feeling the sting of his wounds remind him he wasn’t necessarily winning just yet. Carefully he flew over to where he had seen her disappear and looked through the scattered trees and rocks. You would think a big red half dragon would stick out but to his surprise he couldn’t find a sign of his lover. Slowly he descended, walking quietly across the grass while keeping his eyes occasionally up to make sure she wouldn’t be pouncing on him from above. Something felt off and he knew she had probably led him into a trap. Just as he was about to launch himself into the air he felt her slam into him and pin him to the ground from behind.

“Too slow.” She snarled in his ear, claws wrapping around his arms. In this position there was no way he would be able to get her off. Ydris let out a growl of his own and began flapping his wings before he felt sharp talons press against the membrane close to his back. Swallowing he held still, not wanting to risk ripping it. There was no healing until the end and if she ripped his wings with her feet he was going to be left grounded for the rest of their fight.

 “Well you got me… did you want to call it quits?” He wheezed out as she was sitting on his back making it difficult to speak.

Az hummed softly, claws curling a tiny bit tighter into his flesh and making Ydris’ heart hammer harder at the precarious position. “Well I feel like that was too easy now...” She smirked and tapped a foot against his wings. “I suppose I could let you go and we do best two out of three?” Ydris simply nodded and Az carefully stood up before helping the pandorian up.

“Ah alright, best two out of three.” Ydris rolled his shoulders and smiled back at the powerful dragoness. “Positions?”

“Yep.” Az simply responded as the two stepped back from each other and got into their stances. “Don’t go easy on me.” She growled out before taking the initiative and lunging forward. The pair exchanged blows on the ground for a bit, ducking and weaving with wings curled close, tails swiping to knock each other off their feet. Soon Ydris realized despite his speed that Az was landing enough hard blows on him that he wouldn’t last long. He leapt backwards out of her range before launching himself back up into the air.

The red dragoness followed suit, catching up faster than Ydris expected. He let out a yelp as claws raked across his tail, trying to pull him backwards. He spun around, flapping his wings to hover before diving back at Az. He grinned as he flew at her, watching as Az narrowly avoided his claws. When Ydris turned back around however he felt her slam into him, not expecting the still amatuer flyer to be able to rush him so soon. Grunting, Ydris kicked her off and flew up higher but could feel the sting of the scratches she had left on him.

“You’re getting better!” He called over his shoulder, now leading her in a chase this time as she flew after him. He could barely hear her laughter past the rush of air around him. He knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up and it was only delaying the inevitable. It was only after a fireball flew past his head nearly singeing his hair that he whipped back around. The pair nearly collided, Az narrowly tucking her wings in but managing to land a solid kick to the purple half-dragon’s stomach as she plummeted under him. 

Gasping for breath Ydris summoned his own magic with a wide grin on his lips. “Oh now we’re playing dirty are we?!” He called as he sent a ball of magenta flame after her. He could hear her shriek as it hit her shoulder but he doubted its effectiveness. Az spun around and came back at him, hair ablaze and looking like a raging goddess. Ydris swallowed as he took in the glorious sight, nearly freezing up in mid air before he remembered to dodge. The burning entity that passed him left him feeling like he had just stood too close to an open fire. Every blow they exchanged left hot marks across his skin that sizzled and caused the pandorian to hiss in pain.

His excitement grew as he felt Az was truly pushing herself again. Something about seeing her unleash her full potential sent his blood rushing. But now the real challenge was to make sure he didn’t lose too soon or tire her out just yet. Ydris opted to fly back down to a rocky outcropping, tempting the dragoness to follow to get her out of the air. He let magenta flames crackle around his own claws as he stood ready for her next attack. Az landed with a loud thud, talons scraping and melting the rock beneath her feet. She let out a feral snarl, lips curled up into a dark grin. Despite how far more serious she was now in her fighting she knew this was still simply training. While she wanted to thrash Ydris a bit to prove herself she certainly didn’t want to put him out of commission.

Az dodged magenta flames as she rushed forward with blazing claws, slashing at the pandorian and attempting to take him down. Ydris focused on avoiding her attacks, gasping as a fireball slammed into his back after he tried to spin out of the way. Groaning he tried to sweep Az off her feet but felt her claws suddenly wrap around his tail. He let out a yelp as she instead lifted him off his own feet by tugging him back by the scaly appendage. Before he could get back up or roll away he felt her intense heat slam into him and pin him back down. 

Opening his eyes Ydris gasped as he gazed upon the flaming dragon atop him. He let out a shuddering breath at her brilliance that nearly rivaled Aideen’s for a mortal. His face flushed as he looked up at her and watched her features soften, the flames licking at her scalp died out and returned to a mess of orange hair hanging limply down and framing her beautiful features. 

Ydris simply smiled up at her. “Well, looks like you win.” He tried to chuckle but the pain in his body caused him to cough instead. Az’s features morphed from pride to concern in a heartbeat as she clambered off of him and looked over his body.

“Oh jeeze are you okay? I didn’t go too far did I? I got so carried away...” She fished out one of the runed stones from her pocket that Ydris had made for her, picking out a healing one and placing it on his chest before feeding it her magic. Ydris tried to tell her to stop but the words died on his tongue as he watched her focusing on helping him. Quickly all the aches and pains ebbed away, leaving him feeling good as new. Once it was done he sat up and carefully lifted a clawed hand to Az’s cheek.

“You were marvelous my fire flower.” He murmured and used his other hand to pulse healing magic over the few scrapes he had given her. Az flushed and smiled, she couldn’t help but giggle at the nickname but it brought back fond memories. She softly thanked him before leaning in for a slow loving kiss. When the pair opened their eyes they found themselves back in the circus ring as Ydris had dispelled his illusion.

Az helped the pandorian back to his feet before both returned to their normal forms, Ydris assisting once more with Az’s wings. He watched as she rolled her shoulders, the muscles flexing and shifting under her skin before she turned back around to hug him. His heart fluttered in a way only her and Rebecca could cause as he hugged her back.

“I meant what I said mon amour...” He whispered softly, leaning down a little to kiss her cheek. “You’ve come so far and it was my pleasure to see you fight.” He smiled as he pulled away, watching how her emerald eyes widened and a grin broke out across her cheeks at his praise.

Az flushed and rubbed her arm as she stood back. “Mmm well you weren’t too bad yourself ya know...” She couldn’t stop grinning, it had been such an amazing rush and one she hadn’t felt in so long in their training sessions. “I hope we can do something like that again soon...”

“Ah, well I can certainly do that! Now, hold still...” Eversong shut his eyes, not accustomed to the pandorian’s magic and let Ydris do his work. He felt his body change, not painfully but it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Before too long the newly made human wobbled on his two legs before falling to the grass. Ydris held out a hand, lifting Eversong up onto his still weak knees.

“I took the liberty of making sure you had clothes, I don’t think anyone wants the image of your body burned into their minds.” Eversong snorted, managing to copy the grin spread across the magician’s face and nodded. He let Ydris lead him inside, his new form earning him a collection of shocked reactions and questions he couldn’t answer. Thankfully Ydris shushed them and led the transformed Eversong back to Az’s room.

At the sound of the door creaking open Azalea slowly opened her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as she took in the two figures in the doorway. Surprise and shock was quickly washed away as her connection confirmed it was indeed Eversong standing before her. Az moved to get up, making it to a sitting position before her soulmate stumbled forward to hug her. He fell to his knees, still unaccustomed to the two legged form but instinctively held her close. Azalea wrapped her arms back around him, hugging him tightly as tears pricked at her eyes. She buried her face against his thick neck, finding he smelled like home despite Ydris’ clothes.

The magician smirked as he watched the two struggle to get Eversong comfortably on her bed. Once they were fine however he gently shut the door, leaving them be while he returned to the rest of the group. Az curled up against Eversong’s new body, one hand moving to cup his face.

“I don’t know what I thought you were going to look like but I can’t imagine you any other way now.” She grinned, laughing softly as Eversong returned it with his tongue sticking out playfully. “I’m guessing you can’t really talk yet though, but that’s fine. I don’t mind...” she nuzzled against him, tucking her head under his chin as he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m glad you did this...” she murmured softly followed by a yawn. “I wish I had thought of it sooner...” She felt Eversong nodding and grinned a little. “Thank you…” she mumbled into his chest as sleep swept her away again.

Ydris returned to the main room to a collection of confused and curious faces. “Eversong desired being closer to Azalea, I simply assisted him in that.” He shrugged as he found a place to sit down amongst the others. 

Rebecca glanced over at the hallway leading to the bedrooms before scooting over to the pandorian. “Is she doing better?” She asked softly, concern etched across her features.

He hummed softly and nodded. “I believe she is doing far better with him in there now.” A small smile graced his lips but he knew they were all still worried, even him. Especially him. While he lacked the memory of the experience, out of all of them Ydris knew what it was like to come out of the druid’s mental tinkering. Az had been quiet about what she experienced so far but it certainly seemed like she had been tortured instead of mind wiped. He was grateful she had left in one piece, even if it was a further scarred piece. His lips curled into a frown as he fretted over the dragoness.

“Ydris!” Rebecca’s voice cut through his thoughts and he blinked as he realized she had been trying to get his attention.

“Yes my goddess?” He asked, gaze returning her as she let go of his arm and sat back.

“Does Eversong even know how to be a human? Are you sure this was a good idea?” She glanced nervously back towards the room, the others looking up from where they had returned to their own tasks. Scott’s brows rose but he held his tongue. “I mean I know you don’t remember when you transformed Midnight and I but he did struggle initially with getting the hang of being human. I’m doubtful Eversong’s any better at it and he’s just a normal horse from what Az has told me. He’s never been turned human...”

Ydris hummed softly in thought, to be honest he rarely did think these things through which often lead to Rebecca giving him a long talk afterwards. “Az has admitted they share a… connection yes? Perhaps they can share knowledge through that?”

Rebecca gave him a suspicious look before relaxing back into the couch. “Maybe, she did make it sound rather similar to what I share with Midnight after all...” She paused a moment before poking Ydris in the arm. “You’re sticking around here until he’s turned back to normal. I don’t want Az panicking over him because neither you or Eversong thought this through.”

“Two?” She squinted out across the foggy expanse between them and the pasture, taking another sip of caffeine before her eyes widened. Just as her wife had said there were indeed two black marwaris out in the field, one was grazing with his herd mates as the other stood head raised and now looking right at them. He looked identical to Smokey even at a distance. His bright eyes were two different colors and he had the same facial markings and singular sock as his doppleganger behind him. Curled ears flicked towards the two women watching before he seemed to prance away, teasing or tempting them over.

Az narrowed her eyes in suspicion, there was no way that was a normal horse. “I’m gonna go investigate, can you get started on feed without me?” Lisa nodded and planted a soft kiss to her lover’s cheek before finishing off her own coffee and heading in the opposite direction. Az pulled her coat on and left her half finished mug on the kitchen counter before walking over to the mysterious new horse.

The memory of the day she had gotten Smokey came back clearly, how she had been working with her horses at the circus trying to train them in liberty. Despite the group all being stallions they worked surprisingly well in tandem together as long as a mare wasn’t present. Though Az chalked it up to her wild whispering, with most onlookers having no idea she could connect to the small herd on such a deeper level. What was special about that day was she had a particular audience, namely Ydris sitting on the edge of the circus ring watching. He had been curious about this liberty work since she mentioned it and wanted to see for himself. The circus tent was a perfect training spot especially as she could use his help to simulate crowds without worrying about endangering anyone or making a fool of herself.

However the last thing she had expected was for the magician himself to suddenly create a new member for her little performative herd out of thin air. Smokey, official name being Smoke and Mirrors of course, was a beautiful, sleek and graceful marwari that as far as Az knew was “created” by Ydris. That she had doubts of but despite her prodding Ydris stuck firm to his claims that he certainly did not steal nor borrow the horse from anywhere. Az seeing as she didn’t want the poor stallion poofed away adopted him. She found Ydris was right though, the dark marwari did make an excellent performer and in a way rounded out the small herd perfectly. Az never intended to go big with her liberty work but it was great for bringing in some extra cash for the sanctuary as well as using it with her training and teaching.

She paused at the fence, watching as the strange new marwari did the same, stopping his prancing to once more to look directly at her. There was no way Ydris wasn’t involved in this but the real question was who exactly was this mystery stallion? She doubted he would come all the way out here to give her an exact copy of her newest performer. While rare, the pandorian did like to pop in occasionally and play tricks on the couple and their sanctuary inhabitants. Typically it was harmless and she could tell the other horses in the herd didn’t care about this random new horse. A couple of them looked up at his antics but the rest continued grazing.

Az let out a particular whistle, one that she and Lisa trained all their horses to come when called. The whole herd lifted their heads and she smirked as the new marwari spooked a little from the several stallions suddenly rushing past him. She petted the boys' noses and necks, praising them before letting them wander back out into the pasture. Just beyond the group she could see the new horse snort at her and shake his mane before turning around and throwing his nose up into the air. That definitely wasn’t a normal horse if he was snubbing her. She suppressed a laugh, managing to only snort herself behind her hand. A soft nose nudged her and she looked up to see a familiar curious face looking at her with brown and blue eyes. Smokey had moved closer, the most timid of the group he of course had hung back. She gently cupped his face and planted a kiss to his nose. This was definitely the real Smokey but that still left the other horse a mystery.

After a moment’s thought Az hopped over the fence and clambered up onto the tall thin horse’s back. “Come on boy, I got an idea...” She whispered and directed him back towards his duplicate who had his back turned to the pair. The two rushed up behind the supposed stallion as Az cried out his name. “YDRIS I KNOW THAT’S YOU!” Which caused the horse to jump into the air and the equine illusion to falter. Az let out a loud bark of laughter as she directed Smokey to turn back around and prance back to the pandorian now sitting on the ground glaring at her.

“Well now that’s not fair...” Ydris pretended to pout before getting up and brushing himself off. Smokey continued prancing and snorting softly though more out of nerves from his rider shouting from his back. Az slid off him and gently patted him, letting him race back to his herd mates. “I see you’ve been enjoying my gift though...” Ydris murmured as he watched the horse canter away.

“He’s a lovely gift but that doesn’t answer what you’re doing here so early in the morning...” She raised a brow and crossed her arms, looking back at the magician. “Don’t you have some zonies to tend to?” Az’s lips curled up into a smirk.

“Ah indeed I do but Xin manages just fine. I just wanted to pop in, you haven’t been to the circus at all since you received him.” The magician's face morphed into a pretend look of hurt as he laid his hand on his chest. “Is my marvelous circus not worth returning to now?”

Az gave him a gentle punch to his arm. “Oh it is you drama queen but we’ve been busy, come on, Lisa probably needs some help with feeding and then we can catch up over coffee.”

“Indeed flame, but I can adjust my tastes as need be.” Ydris shrugged and picked up one of the spare poles, putting more marshmallows on. “But yes, it is certainly a mixture of sweet and spicy. I believe… you would consider this closest to perhaps cinnamon?” He squished one of the fresh marshmallows as he spoke, smiling at the soft treat before roasting it over the open campfire infused with Az’s natural magic.

“Cinnamon huh… cuz I definitely didn’t taste that, it seemed totally normal to me.” Az carefully twirled the hot dogs over the fire as she spoke, trying to roast them evenly. “Can you make it so I can taste that?”

The magician paused, looking curiously over at his friend before tapping his chin and letting the stick float on its own over the fire. “In theory yes… it would involve making it so you have a pandorian tongue which may feel strange initially but you would be able to taste magic.”

“Didn’t you say it seems like Connie and some others can taste magic? Why a pandorian one?” Az leaned forward, lifting her hot dogs off the fire momentarily.

“Ah well I’m not certain exactly how they can to tell the truth.” Ydris simply shrugged. “I know how our tongues work and I know how I could give one to you. Now the question is, would you like to try it?” He grinned a bit too wide, she knew it was probably a bad idea but so far Ydris’ transformations hadn’t been problematic… yet. 

Az thought it over a bit, figuring at worst she’d probably be able to tease the spell apart by now if it came down to it. “Yeah let’s do it.” She grinned, excited to taste things like Ydris could.

The magician’s grin increased twofold and he clapped his hands together. “Magnifique! Now simply hold still, stick your tongue out and go ahhh for me please.” Az did as instructed, shutting her eyes as he worked his magic. It certainly felt weird and for a moment her tongue felt heavy and huge before it seemed Ydris adjusted. “There we are, now try this...” Az opened her eyes to see one of the marshmallows floating over to her. “You should be able to taste what I can.”

Az couldn’t help but smile at the sight of how excited the pandorian looked. Gingerly she took the marshmallow between her fingers and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes went wide and she gasped a little before finishing and swallowing. “Ahhh you weren’t kidding about that cinnamon!” She fanned her mouth as she looked for a bottle of water they’d brought out and gulped it down. Ydris simply chuckled and put more treats going.

“I suppose now would be appropriate to see how it tastes as a s’more hm?” He grinned and produced the box of graham crackers and chocolate they had brought out with them. Az nodded and set aside her hotdogs in favor of a slightly spicy s’more. It was as they pair were nibbling away at them that Rebecca and Connie returned to the bangalow and found them roasting food outside.

“You guys are having a party and you didn’t invite us? How could you?” Rebecca set a hand on her chest, faking offense before breaking into a grin. “Ooooh s’mores and hotdogs, nice!” She quickly worked to untack Midnight and let him join the other horses before settling in with Connie at the fire.

“Yeah you both should try this...” Az grinned mischievously, Ydris mirroring her as he floated over a pair of s’mores to them each. They watched as first they noticed the sweet and then Rebecca’s face shifted and looked confused. However Connie’s reaction was even better as his brows furrowed and he looked completely taken off guard.

“Why did you put so much cinnamon in a smore?” He tilted his head, looking at the remainder of the somewhat sweet treat. “These… these aren’t even cinnamon marshmallows, is it in the chocolate?”