on crowns they hung the dragon-fire
pairing: wonhuigyuhao genre: angst, fluff, dragon!hao au, fantasy au, rated m warnings: mild gore, minor violence, implied sexual content near the end words: 10340Â
summary:Â Minghao was born from fire and to the fire, he shall return. He has always known this to be true.Â
But when a prince, a warlock, and a knight enter his castle, Minghao finds that fire isnât the only thing that will keep him warm.Â
Humans are stupid. One of the stupidest species Minghao has ever come across actually.
They have to be if they think slaying him is a good idea.
Which he can admit that he doesn't really understand in the long run, but he's been doing this long enough to know.
Still, humans truly are the dumbest species he's ever seen.
That's what he thought. What he always knew. At least until he met Junhui, Wonwoo, and Mingyu.
    Most days for Minghao start out like this: He'll wake up, lick his scales clean as he stretches out, then he'll hunt for some mice for his breakfast, because contrary to what humans believe, only the most desperate of dragons actually eat humans.
Minghao prefers mice and his castle has an ample amount of them to last him for a very long while. He also enjoys the occasional bird and their eggs, but the number of birds in or around the castle is disappointedly low. Still, Minghao gets by well.
After he's had his breakfast, Minghao breathes into the largest fireplace near the entrance hallway and curls up before the warmth. He tucks in his tail and settles in for a long nap.
It is usually at this point in the day when a knight comes knocking on the castle door to slay Minghao and save the princess that Minghao is sure isn't living in his castle. Sometimes, they won't even knock and just stick their shiny needles into Minghao's leg in some delirious hope of harming him.
Rude doesn't begin to cover it.
There are different ways that Minghao likes to care of trespassers. None are pleasant, but at least none of these knights become his mealăźthat would spoil Minghao's appetite and he's been trying hard not to do that.
Minghao personally enjoys burning them into a crisp. He loves watching the knight's armor meld into his skin, searing the first few skin layers until the metal begins to melt into a foul-smelling, bubbling mass and the knight with it. Afterward, Minghao will scrape the puddle off his castle's floor while it's still hot and fling it out of one of the many windows with his tail. Minghao curls up in front of the fireplace again and naps until lunch once his morning business is done.
For lunch, Minghao treats himself to more mice and the dragon fruit from the tree in his smallest courtyard. The juice from the fruit soothes his thirst and flames the embers in his lungs, keeping his inner fire alight. Most things aren't able to give him nutrition and make his flame brighter, the flame that keeps him alive, what he is at the core of his very being, so he's glad for the tree. It is one of his few joys in life and he pities the fool who'd ever try to chop it down.
This is, of course, another opportunity for the stupid humans to bother Minghao again. Obviously, Minghao doesn't generally receive two visits in one day, but his record so far is five and Minghao likes being prepared for the worst. And he still clearly remembers when one of those stupid humans sliced off a branch from his tree and Minghao blacked out for a few moments. He came back to a charred wall, blood splattered on his tree and the human's head in his claw. Minghao put that head on a spike and smugly set it up beside the front entranceway: a warning to all those who thought of bothering him and a promise to all those who dared enter.
Once the afternoon begins to drag on, Minghao stretches out and flaps his wings to rise into the air and roar as loud as he can. If the humans want to keep bothering Minghao, then he'll be sure to let them know that he won't just roll over and let them have their way.
Minghao was here first and he'll remain here long after the humans have gone. His kind kindled the fires that kept this world bright in the early ages and his kind will be the ones to destroy this world when it's all said and done. Humans can tear down their monuments, fight amongst themselves and kill and kill and kill, but in the end, they are nothing when compared to the dragons.
Humans are nothing.
Minghao lets the cold air glide across his wings and scales then checks if the red found in the base of his tail has expanded any further. It always does and Minghao would be worried about the fact that the beautiful green of his scales had faded away enough that his hide is pitch-black, but he likes acting like he doesn't know what's going on. When Minghao was newly born, his scales were greener than the forests that surround the castle, but over time as more humans began attacking him, hate bled the color away.
Hate is what's making the red found in the base of his tail grow with each passing day as well. Once Minghao's scales have taken on the same color as the blood that he spills too often, he will no longer be himself. His sense of awareness and his consciousness will dim as his inner flame consumes him. He'll be a living, walking pillar of fire and nothing will be able to stop the process. He'll rely on a millennium of evolutionary instincts and no longer be able to recognize himself.Â
Hate consumes all and Minghao wishes that there was some way to slow down or reverse the process.
For now, however, he is content to circle above his castle and enjoy the air. Content to enjoy the way that he can't smell the stench of his rotting mind with only fresh air around him. In the castle, he is surrounded by his scent, knows it well enough that when he first caught a whiff of the odor of hate clinging to him, he was shocked that his life had come to this. He doesn't know what to expect or what to do, but whenever he catches a whiff of himself, his own self-hatred only expands. Up in the clouds where there's only the rush of his wings and the strong wind currents, he can forget about all that. He can focus on this and enjoy it, can let the little feelings of happiness become logs that he adds to his inner flame, to the core of his being. He lets himself forget for the time being.
As he lands, Minghao usually has a few eagles and other large birds in his claws. They are his supper and after he's had his fill, he retreats back behind the castle walls and sleeps. Two times out of ten Minghao will wake in the middle of the night to yet another human sticking their pitiful needle into him.
It ends as well as it always does and even half-asleep, Minghao is still stronger, quicker, bigger, and smarter than these stupid knights.
This is how most of Minghao's days play out. He's annoyed by the humans and their constant presence in his castle and he loathes the hate he harbors for their kind and how it chips away at his very being. However, Minghao can admit that his days would be boring without them. The longest he's gone without having to fight a knight is two full moons and when one finally appeared, Minghao was excited to be of use againăźto have a purpose.
As bizarre as it is, Minghao is the teeniest bit grateful to those annoying pests for keeping him fit and busy.
Minghao doesn't remember how he ended up in this specific castle or who his first kill was, but he does know that he came from fire. He knows, logically, he must have had biological parents, but he has no memory of them or their existence and he'd long ago given up on the hope of someone coming back for him, to claim him and give him a home. He was born from fire like the dragons before him and the fire will always welcome him into its midst, no matter the amount of blood he has shed nor however much he feels undeserving of its warmthăźhe will always be welcomed. The hearth is his home and the flames are his one and only mother, keeping him safe and warm on those cold nights when the entire castle is beginning to frost over. Minghao remains warm.
And despite the repetition of his everyday routine, the constant sparring with knights and their demands for him to release some imaginary princess, Minghao's found that he actually likes his life.
For him, there is no other way of livingăźof existing. He wakes, he kills, he eats and he flies, then sleeps only to do the same thing again the next day. His life is familiar and anything else surely wouldn't be able to accommodate him. He likes this life because he's never thought of having something different.
He's never had a reason to anyway. Not at least until a prince, a warlock, and a knight asked for a place at his hearth.
    The day starts as any other.
Minghao has just finished breakfast and already has the fireplace crackling with fiery warmth when he smells the familiar musk of a human.
He huffs out a gruff sigh that leaves many candelabrum lit and stretches out his limbs as he uncurls from his spot before the fireplace. He'll just have to nap after he's done with the dumb knight approaching.
Except, as Minghao catches another whiff of the smell, he pauses.
The knight isn't alone.
There is the usual musk-and-sweat smell of a knight (although this one has a sourness to it that Minghao can't place), but there are two other scents accompanying it too. A sweet and calming waft that makes Minghao's stomach rumble with hunger which catches him so completely off guard that his throat burns with the desire to eat. Human meat has never appealed to Minghao before until now and he isn't sure that he likes this new development, but the next smell his nose registers makes Minghao stop in the middle of the entrance hallway as he tries to wrap his head around it.
It's spice and ash, the undeniable scent of another dragon.
Butăźno. There's the dull scent of human blood mixed with it too.
The entrance hallway's doors burst open and Minghao stares down at the three tiny men standing before him.
No other dragon. Just three men.
Minghao watches them, nose twitching as spice and ash fill his nostrils. It's a dragon, it has to be. There is no faking that scent, but there are only three men here.
A knight, a snack, andăźoh!
A halfling. Half-man and half-dragon. That has got to be it.
The humans say something to each other as they stare at him, their low voices barely audible and Minghao knows what they're saying, he just doesn't care. His attention is focused on figuring out which one of them is the halfling in question.
But before he can really start in on anything, the sweet and calming scent intensifies until it's eroding at Minghao's nostrils. The man on the very right with hair a dark black steps forward holding a staff up and begins chanting as the scent becomes even stronger. Minghao feels a pull low in his gut as something hotter than any flame begins crawling over his scales.Â
It's painful in a way that Minghao has never been accustomed to when it comes to touching fire. It's eating away his scales and leaving him naked to the cold, frigid air of his castle. His inner flame is dimming, growing calm and Minghao feels like something vital about him has been ripped away when he can no longer feel his inner flame at the back of his throat. He has no idea about what's going on, but the delicious-smelling human only holds his staff up higher and chants even louder as Minghao burns away. He has a fleeting thought over the irony of succumbing to the same fate he dooms all the knights that trespass into his castle, but it all cools down after that, his thoughts steadily slipping away.
He doesn't know what's going on, but Minghao's pretty sure he isn't going to like the outcome of thisăźwhatever this is.
    "Change me back."
The three men begin muttering amongst themselves again as his high and reedy voice fades out with a slight echo in the freezing entrance hallway.
Minghao really hopes that he won't grow used to this strange sensation because he preferred it better when he was huge, pitch-black, and could only roar. This tiny fragile body Minghao inhabits now will never do.
"Not until you tell us where the princess is," the knight says after taking off his helmet to reveal a man with a weak chin, hair as black as the delicious-smelling human, expressive eyes, and a curl to his mouth that Minghao finds very threatening.
He feels his teeth snap together in anger and tries for a growl, tries to appear brave. What comes out of his mouth is a squeak that sounds too familiar to that of the mice in his castle that Minghao feels a morbid rush of shame wash over him. The three men in front of him only stare at Minghao in varying levels of curiosity, but none of them are afraid of Minghao like he wants them to be. The knight steps forward, sheathing his sword and Minghao steps up as well before he crouches into his usual stance of attack.
Minghao's pretty sure he might have actually looked like he posed a threat if he wasn't completely and one hundred percent naked though.
The halfling steps in between them before Minghao can embarrass himself even further, his brown hair glistening in the sunlight while he pushing the knight back with a hand on his chest. He turns to smile at Minghao with an emotion that he doesn't recognize and Minghao hesitates. He stares awkwardly between the humans as they exchange glances.
Minghao still doesn't know how he turned into this weak and scrawny human, but he's pretty sure that the delicious-smelling one is to blame for this. The halfling takes another step forward, his scent muted but Minghao could never forget the fiery mix of spice and ashăźnot even in this new form.
"I'm Prince Junhui. What is your name?" The halfling asks, leaving Minghao to do a double take because he had never in his life expected for a human's voice to sound so pleasant to him.
Minghao clicks his tongue, still not used to using this rough language lying heavy on his tongue. The other two men step up close behind the halfliăźJunhui, behind Junhui, Minghao reminds himself. They step up behind Junhui and flank him, taking the defensiveăźas if Minghao is honestly stupid enough to attack three armed men when he isn't even taller than any of them anymore. As if Minghao is actually that stupid. Really.
Junhui keeps looking at him though and Minghao forces himself to take a deep breath, stepping back and trying to appear as harmless as possible. He doesn't know what makes him do it, but if Junhui is a halfling, the least Minghao can do is find out more about him. So he sucks in a large breath, missing the way fire used to rest at the back of his throat and looks Junhui in the eye.
"Minghao." The name is still the same in this jarring tongue of the humans, and for that, Minghao feels a little piece of comfort wrap itself around his new body. "My name is Minghao."
Junhui smiles, the good nature behind it blinding Minghao. He unknowingly takes a step forward but flinches back when the knight draws his sword in the blink of an eye, pointing it towards Minghao. Minghao shiversăźfrom the cold, nothing else. He isn't terrified of the sword point in his face. Not at all!
At least now Minghao understands why all knights carry them.
Now that Minghao isn't trailing wings behind him twenty-four-seven, he can clearly see the way light shifts across the already gleaming blade of the sword. The "needle" isn't so much a needle anymore.
Still, Minghao does his best to appear fearless when he's feeling anything but because he knows how expressive human's faces can be. The knight regards him, only stepping back again as Junhui puts a hand on his chest, murmuring something that Minghao's new, weaker ears barely manage to catch.
"Mingyu, it's fine. Put that away and let me handle this."
Mingyu frowns but does as Junhui tells him to (although it doesn't go pass Minghao that Mingyu keeps his sword out). Junhui frowns at him, pouting at the unsheathed sword, but steps forward confidently, not minding the fact that his two companions are still sticking close to his, flanking him. Minghao watches them, unsure of whether he should step forward to meet Junhui halfway or step back and scout out an escape.
"It's nice to meet you, Minghao," Junhui says with a bow that confuses Minghao. "Can you tell me something, please?"
Minghao watches him warily as he stands upright again. His companions step in even closer until the delicious-smelling one has a hand on the small of Junhui's back. He's muttering something under his breath that Minghao can't understand or make any sense of. There's a tingling in his throat that makes Minghao ache for his fire to return and even though Minghao shouldn't really be able to notice, he can make out the sweet and delicious smell intensifying again in the air around him, but it's different now somehow.
With the tingling in his throat and the rumbling in his stomach, Minghao nods his head and feels his heartbeat begin to change in his chest when Junhui smiles at him.
"Where is the princess, Minghao?" Junhui asks.
Minghao barely has to think about his answer, the tingling in his throat growing strong enough to make him uncomfortable. "Alone."
"Huh?"
"Alone... I'm alone," Minghao manages to say, the language jarring and blocky on his tongue.
Junhui nods and smiles, pressing a hand to Mingyu's chest to keep him back when he inches forward again. He takes another step closer until Minghao feels like he might be suffocated by his proximity alone, but does his best to pretend like he isn't bothered.
"Are you the prince?"
Minghao's answer is instant like before, leaving him no room to question why. "No."
Junhui smiles at him again. "You could've fooled me."
Minghao doesn't get why his face begins to feel warm or why the delicious-smelling one just snickered under his breath. He doesn't get the chance to really expand on the reasons behind all this though because Mingyu steps forward again, completely ignoring Junhui as he holds his sword out. He levels the point at Minghao's face again and glares at him, his mouth screwed up into a strange sort of pout.
"You're lying! Where is the princess that the villagers nearby speak of?" Mingyu spits out, eyes boring into Minghao's own.
The other human steps up beside Mingyu and pushes his arm aside, effectively knocking the sword away from Minghao's face. Mingyu starts to say something, but the delicious-smelling human who Minghao still does not have a name for speaks.
"I cast an honesty spell on him. He's telling the truth," the deep voice cuts off Mingyu's protests while also surprising Minghao as well.
"Oh yeah? How would you know that he doesn't have some secret dragon power that makes him immune to magic?" Mingyu shoots back, face pinched together in a sour expression. "Just because you're the best warlock in the kingdom, Wonwoo, doesn't mean that magic will work each and every time! You know this better than anyone."
The delicious-smelling oneăźWonwoo Minghao makes a note ofăźreadies himself to fire back and is then cut off by Junhui calmly stepping in between them.
"I think he's telling the truth," Junhui says quietly, his voice soft but leaving no room to argue.
"Prince Junhuiăź" Mingyu begins to say.
"Answer me this, my dear knight," Junhui interrupts, his voice still soft. "Would you or would you not trust Wonwoo with your life?"
"Of course I would! What kind of question is that?" Mingyu sputters, face turning an interesting shade of red.
"Then I shall kindly tell you to sheath your sword and shut up. Wonwoo's the only reason this dragon isn't burning you to bits right now," Junhui replies, calmly, his voice so at odds with his words that Minghao can't help but feel a spark of pity for the poor, outranked knight.
Junhui then turns to face him again, smiling until his eyes travel down and he seems to realize that Minghao isn't wearing a stitch of clothing. "Oh. Clothes. Minghao needs clothes. Wonwoo, he looks about your size. Can you...?"
Minghao watches as Wonwoo immediately kneels down and sets his staff down on the floor before slinging a pack that Minghao didn't notice until now off his back. He rummages through it before pulling out a few pieces of cloth that he immediately hands to Junhui's waiting, outstretched hands. Junhui takes them and smiles kindly at Wonwoo before facing Minghao again and holding the pieces of cloth out to Minghao. Minghao takes them and holds them to his chest, having no idea what he's supposed to do now.
"Right," Junhui says as he claps his hands together once. "Let's get you into those clothes and then we'll talk about why the villagers seem to think a princess is being held captive here."
From the tone of his voice, Minghao can tell that Junhui won't accept any arguments and so he leads the way towards the fireplace he was previously curled in front of and hopes that what comes next won't hurt.
    Junhui and Wonwoo help him into the clothes quickly, explaining which limbs go into which holes for certain articles of clothing and Minghao really wishes he wasn't in this new form.
He really wishes Mingyu would stop holding his sword up and lean into a defensive stance whenever Wonwoo or Junhui linger for a moment too long when they pull the shirt and breeches onto Minghao too. The clothes are itchy and Minghao thinks they might be a little too big on him, but when Junhui steps back to study him then smiles and proclaims him perfect, Minghao can feel his heartbeat accelerating again. Wonwoo stays by his side for a moment longer as he fixes the back of Minghao's shirt, but then he, too, steps back and Minghao is left standing with the fireplace to his back.
The flames are warm behind him and how Minghao wishes he could just curl up in them and sleep. But he's a human now and humans are very flammable, meaning that he'll burn if he were to come too close to the fire. So he sits down where he is and pulls his legs into his chest until he's able to rest his head on his knees.
The others remain standing and Minghao figures that they're giving him a moment to settle in before they start questioning him. Minghao studies his hands as he waits, watching the way tendons and muscles move with his fingers. He presses his palms together and marvels over the soft padding that his claws never had and then he looks down to study his new feet. His toes are like his fingers except much shorter and rounder. He wiggles them, smiling at them slightly when he finds them amusing.
Junhui clears his throat and Minghao looks up to meet his gaze, the smile falling off his face when he sees the serious expression on Junhui's own.
"Whatăź" Minghao stops, clears his throat and tries again, doing his best to look small so that Mingyu will finally take pity on him and sheath his sword. "What would you like to know?"
"Are you absolutely sure there isn't a princess here?" Junhui asks, jumping right into it to get what he wants like Minghao expected him to.
"Yes, I'm sure," Minghao replies without a second thought, the tingling in his throat making another appearance. "No one else is here but me... and you three now."
Mingyu scoffs behind Junhui and Minghao looks over in his direction to find that the knight has taken a seat as well, legs crossed one over the other with his sword resting across his knees. Wonwoo pokes one of Mingyu's legs with his staff and shushes him, waving a hand in front of him to tell Junhui to continue.
"How long have you been here?" Junhui asks next.
Minghao takes a moment to think about that because even he isn't too sure. He doesn't remember if he once had parents, but the earliest memory Minghao can recall is one where the dragon fruit tree is bigger than him. His scales were still a glimmering jade green and his tail was speckled with white spots. The flame inside of him was small but strong and the taste of the fruit was something entirely brand new. The tree's branches had shadowed over him and offered him protection as he feasted on the few pieces of fallen, heavy fruit that the tree could no longer hold up anymore. He had eaten until he was full and curled himself around the trunk while he slept. Because there, he was comfortable and there where the tree's branches gave him shade from the hot summer sun, he was safe.
He doesn't know exactly how long ago that moment, in particular, may have been, but he is bigger than the tree now, big enough that their roles have changed. Minghao thinks that if he were to stand beside the tree now though, he wouldn't even be able to reach its lowest branch.
"I don't know," Minghao finally answers, biting his bottom lip when he thinks Junhui will lash him out at him for not giving him a clear answer.
But the prince only smiles and Minghao lets his lip go, focusing instead on Junhui's mouth. "Have you been here for a long time?"
Minghao nods because he doesn't have an exact timeframe, but he must have been living this life for long enough already if his scales had changed from green to black. "A long time."
"By yourself?"
Minghao nods again.
Before anything more can be said, however, there's a shift around him that sends a shiver down Minghao's spine. Minghao inches away from the others and sniffs at the air, amazed that he's still able to pick up scents even with his new weaker senses. There's another knight approaching, on horseback, and Minghao is going to die.
He isn't large enough to defend himself anymore. His limbs are too skinny and too frail to even hold off an attack from Wonwoo, the weakest looking one out of this trio in front of him. He's tinier than every knight that's come knocking on his castle's door and he knows that he's going to die if he isn't changed back in the next few seconds.
"Change me back," he demands again. "Please change me back."
It takes a moment for him to realize the reason it looks like everything is shaking is because he is the one who's trembling in fear like all the knights he's killed. He has become the prey now and he's going to die, he's sure of it.
Junhui tilts his head to the side and studies Minghao with eyes that are kind, but words that are anything but. "We haven't gotten the information we need yet. We can't change you back until we know why the villagers say there is a princess living here even though you say there isn't."
Minghao's shaking only gets worse. His heartbeat is becoming louder by the second and Minghao hates the fact that he's preparing to run. He's a human now, weaker and smaller and more prone to breaking. He misses the heat of his flames in the base of his throat and he aches to fly again, but Junhui isn't going to let him change back anytime soon.
"Please," Minghao tries again. "I'm going to die if you don't change me back. I have to defend myself, please."
"Defend yourself from who?" Mingyu pipes up, pushing himself onto his knees before he stands and lifts up his sword once more. "Is someone coming to kill you?"
Minghao nods his head frantically, his vision going blurry as his eyes become wet. "A knight. A knight is coming to kill me. They always come. They always want to kill me. Please, change me back or I'm going to die. The knight will kill me to save the princess that doesn't exist and I'm going to die."
"Minghao, calm down," Wonwoo kneels beside him, snaking an arm around his shoulders and usually Minghao wouldn't allow this, Minghao wouldn't usually curl into Wonwoo's body for protection and stability, but Minghao isn't his usual self right now and so he allows himself this for the time being. "You're not going to die."
But Minghao shakes his head, not believing Wonwoo's false promises. "I am going to die. Humans hate me and I hate them because they always try to kill me. They come into my castle, they destroy my things, and they always try to kill me."
Minghao can't breathe. He can't breathe and his face is wet and there's white noise in his ears as he continues to ramble, but Wonwoo only sets his staff down and throws his other arm around Minghao, pulling him into his chest. "They do all this for a princess that isn't here, for a princess that doesn't exist. And they keep coming back because I can't tell them there is no princess here. They wouldn't believe me anyway. Who would trust a dragon that has spilled enough blood to fill entire oceans? No one is that stupid or that kind. Please, change me back. I beg of you to change me back now!"
"But you're not," Junhui murmurs, cutting through the thoughts spiraling in Minghao's head. "You're not a dragon. Not anymore."
And Minghao stops. He stops shaking, stops hiccuping and stops thinking because Junhui is right. He isn't a dragon.
Minghao is human now.
"Iăź Youăź" Minghao tries for words but is unable to come up with anything coherent enough.
Minghao buries his face into Wonwoo's chest when the musk of a knight alerts his senses right before a horse's neighs are heard from the entrance hallway. It's only now that Minghao remembers the three men before him hadn't shut the door behind them before they changed Minghao into a human and he cowers in the face of his death.
"I'll handle this," Mingyu speaks, sheathing his sword as he walks off and Minghao stares after him in shock.
Mingyu had seemed to be the one least likely to come to Minghao's aid from his first impression of him. However, the line of his shoulders is sturdy and strong and Minghao doesn't know what makes him think ităźmaybe instinct, perhapsăźbut he knows in his gut that Mingyu will handle this. He's more than capable of handling it really. The clank of armor is so loud that Minghao flinches at the sound and hides his face behind his hands.
Minghao can barely hear Mingyu's voice as he greets the knight and Minghao tenses in Wonwoo's arms, unsure of what to do or how to hold himself with danger nearby. Wonwoo runs a hand down Minghao's back and stares at the arch that leads from the room they are currently in, to the entrance hallway. A voice deeper than Wonwoo's can be heard echoing across the walls and Junhui steps closer to the two men huddled on the floor when Mingyu's voice raises in that way it always does when he's arguing with someone.
His breath rattles in his lungs and Minghao hates how afraid he is.
He was born from fire. It poured itself into him and lit up his core, making him feel invincible. But, he is only a man nowăźweak, frail, and unable to nurture the flames of his very being. He is nothing but a man now and he's afraid.
Minghao doesn't want to die.
Wonwoo takes up his staff when the voices grow louder and Junhui kneels on Minghao's other side, quickly wrapping his arms around him when Wonwoo's fall away. Wonwoo stands and begins to chant again and the smell that Minghao thought as delicious when he was a dragon makes his stomach churn in an entirely different way now that he is a man.
He knows what mating is, he knows what it looks like, but he's never felt the urge to mate before. At least not before Wonwoo's delicious scent invaded his sense of smell and made him want, sending another shiver down Minghao's spine.
Junhui shifts beside him so Minghao knows that he isn't the only one affected by it as well. Something hard brushes across the side of Minghao's thigh, but he has no idea what it may be and so he forces himself to focus on what Wonwoo is doing and not what Wonwoo's scent is doing to him.
The knight is yelling now, his deep voice sounding more shrill with each passing moment, but then he cuts off suddenly and there's a loud sound that leaves Minghao's ears ringing. Armor and metal clatter against the ground and Mingyu returns soon after, a frown marring his face as he walks straight towards Wonwoo who is clinging to his staff for dear life. Mingyu sheaths his sword and wraps an arm around the warlock's waist, holding him and supporting his weight.
Minghao freezes in Junhui's arms when Wonwoo turns in Mingyu's embrace so that they are face to face and then slowlyăźvery slowlyăźlets their lips meet gently.
Junhui doesn't say anything when Minghao buries his face into his neck and inhales his scent deeply, letting the familiar spice and ash wrap around him in comfort.
    Minghao doesn't know what Wonwoo did to the knight exactly and he does his best not to think so much about it either because he truly does not wish to know.
What he does know is that when the three men finally coax him back into the entrance hallway, the knight is unconscious on the floor. Minghao watches them lift the limp knight and push him back onto his horse, wrapping a rope around his chest and tying it off before they let the horse wander off with its sleeping rider on it's back. They all watch the horse cross the bridge and disappear into the surrounding forest on the other side and then retreat back to the fireplace.
Junhui sends Mingyu to fetch firewood to tend to the slowly dying flames and Minghao tenses before he politely asks Mingyu to get wood from the forest instead of his courtyards. Mingyu glares at him for a long moment before Junhui tells him to hurry up and then he trudges out past the still open door and walks across the bridge. Minghao watches him, turns back to see that Junhui and Wonwoo are busy getting comfortable, then runs towards his tree.
He was right about being smaller than it again in this new form. He can't reach any of the branches and so he settles for picking the ripe pieces of fruit off the ground instead. He takes an experimental bite out of one and smiles to himself, relieved to know that the fruit still tastes as delicious as it did when he was a dragon. He's protective of his tree and he would never let anybody but him take fruit from it, but these three men protected him. They went up against that knight for him and, granted, they are also at fault for why Minghao needed protection in the first place, but it isn't like they had expected for a knight to come by the castle on the same day they would. He can't blame them for the unexpected and so he sighs as he bends down on one knee.
He picks a few more pieces and carries them in his arms back to the fireplace where he knows Junhui and Wonwoo would have noticed his absence by now. He finds the two crouched down before the fire, looking at what Minghao assumes is the runes carved into the opening of the fireplace. Minghao sets the fruits down beside the other food Wonwoo had been busy with before Minghao left and scoots over until he's close enough to the fireplace to feel the warmth of the flames against his back once more.
Now that his wings are gone along with the fire that had always been nestled at the back of his throat, this is the next best thing.
Mingyu returns as well soon after and Wonwoo immediately rises to help him with the firewood in his arms while Junhui settles himself down beside Minghao. Without thinking much of it, Minghao turns so that most of his body is facing Junhui now and holds his hand out for Junhui's. Junhui smiles at him as he places his hand in Minghao's and smiles even wider when Minghao presses a piece of the dragon fruit into his palm before letting go. Junhui takes a bite out of the fruit and Minghao carefully watches his reaction, hoping that Junhui will like it.
He doesn't know why it matters so much, but it does and so he waits, smiling when Junhui hums appreciatively and quickly takes another, bigger, bite out of the dragon fruit. Wonwoo and Mingyu soon join them and accept the food that Junhui hands them. Minghao tries bread, cheese and other types of fruit that he hadn't even known of their existence until now. The knight and warlock laugh at him when he refuses the water they try to make him drink, but Minghao gets his revenge soon enough. He snickers as Wonwoo and Mingyu take a bite out of the fruit and immediately spit it out, matching expressions of disgust on their faces.
(Minghao doesn't miss the way Junhui looks at them either and Minghao is new to this human business, but he isn't blind. He's smart enough to know what attraction is and the way they had smelled when they first showed up, Minghao can tell that they're mates.)
He eats quietly after that and only takes a sip of water when Junhui reassures him yet again that the water won't kill him.
The water is lukewarm and soothes his dry throat and before Minghao knows it, he's gone and drunken a few mouthfuls of it. Junhui takes it away from him soon after that and Minghao eats more fruit, taking another piece of cheese when Wonwoo offers him the rest of his. Something that Mingyu frowns at as well, but Minghao is too busy enjoying the new tastes and textures on his tongue to really care anymore.
They eat in relative silence and Minghao listens to the crackle of the fireplace behind him, crooning and calling for him to come back. To come home.
    The sun has fallen behind the skyline when Junhui establishes he'll be taking the first watch and Minghao becomes confused about what exactly he'll be watching.
Wonwoo agrees immediately and starts to pull out sheets that he lies down on, curling into himself right then and there, quickly falling into deep slumber before the fireplace. Mingyu argues for a little bit about how he should be taking the first watch since he's the knight and all, but Junhui shuts him up with a look and Minghao watches as Mingyu curls himself around Wonwoo's back and holds him in his sleep, grumbling under his breath until Wonwoo turns so he can bury his face into the other man's neck.
It's only him and Junhui left awake by the time the air grows cold enough in the castle for their breaths to be visible. Junhui pulls out another, thicker sheet of cloth from the knapsack he'd been carrying and lays it over his mates, tucking it in around them so they are completely cocooned in their own warmth.
Minghao barely feels the cold though and he crawls on his knees over to where Junhui sits beside the sleeping men. Junhui smiles at him and pats his thigh, giving Minghao all the incentive he needs to lay down and use him as a resting place when he lies his head down on Junhui's thigh. They say nothing as Junhui watches his mates and Minghao stares into the fireplace directly behind them, letting the dull heat wrap itself around them slowly.
Crickets chirp out in the forest and Minghao can see the moon hanging in the sky from the highest window above them. Stars twinkle beside the moon, sharing its space and sharing its light, and Minghao aches to fly up to them, to fly away and never look back.
Junhui's hand tentatively rests on his head soon after and Minghao blinks in surprise. He lets Junhui continue though, too tired and worn out to deny himself this. Junhui's fingers run through his hair slowly, pushing Minghao away from the anxious feeling fluttering around in his chest.
"What are you thinking about?" Junhui asks, his voice so quiet that Minghao has to strain to hear the gentle tones.
Minghao doesn't know if Wonwoo's honesty spell is still affecting him or not, but there's no tingling in his throat when he asks, "Will Wonwoo be okay?"
Junhui's hand stills in his hair for a short moment before Minghao feels his fingers lace through his hair again. "Wonwoo? Yeah, he'll be fine. He's just not used to performing spells on such a grand scale because youăźwell, don't mind me saying this, but you were huge. He looked fine after he'd done it, so I didn't focus on tending to him, but then he had to do the honesty spell on you and that other spell to knock out the knight. It's only a little bit of magic, but so soon after performing such a big spell, and back-to-back as well, really wore him down. He ate a lot at lunch and supper, now he just needs to rest and he'll be fine. He should be able to change you back after breakfast, so don't worry, Minghao."
Minghao's surprised that the topic of Wonwoo being able to change him back wasn't his first or primary concern when he asked the question. He asked because he truly cared about the warlock's state of being and health. That was all.
Minghao stares at the crescent moon, wondering if he should ask the next question that's on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it down and settles for something easier. "They're your mates."
He doesn't phrase it as a question, but Junhui answers him as if it were one anyway. "Ah, I wouldn't call them my mates, humans don't really use that term, but yes? I call them my lovers as they call me their prince."
Minghao looks away from the moon to study Junhui instead because he doesn't understand why he sounds so uncertain. Junhui's skin resembles a golden amber in the firelight, the reds and oranges bringing out the lighter tones in his skin, and his honey brown eyes sparkle with flames. The scent of ash and spice rises to greet Minghao like an old friend and he shouldn't be so comfortable with this halfling so soon, but Minghao has no memory of ever being held or touched in a way that wasn't violent. These soft and gentle caresses of Junhui's are more than welcomed by Minghao.
"They smell of you," Minghao tells him, wanting to assure him, wanting to make the prince smile again. "They are your mates."
Junhui looks down to meet his gaze, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "They smell of me? You can smell their scents even in this form?"
Minghao doesn't falter, merely keeps the halfling's gaze and asks. "Don't you?"
"Why would I be able to smell Wonwoo and Mingyu like you can?"
"No one's told you," Minghao observes.
Junhui frowns and pokes Minghao's nose. "Told me what exactly?"
"Hm. It's probably why you weren't forced to be locked away in a castle with a dragon actually. I don't think your parents would have taken kindly to a dragon trying to mate you," Minghao says simply, brow furrowed together in thought. "I'm surprised that you don't know. Or, I guess I should say, I'm surprised that no one has told you yet."
"Told me what?" Junhui demands, poking Minghao's cheeks this time. "Minghao. What haven't I been informed about?"
Minghao huffs, a little annoyed with Junhui's too-casual touches. "You tell me something first and then I'll tell you what you don't know."
"Fine, but you better keep your word," Junhui immediately agrees, tangling his fingers in Minghao's hair again to prompt the dragon to speak.
Minghao finds himself smiling at the prince's antics and asks something else that he has been thinking about. "Why did you come looking for a princess when you already have two mates?"
Junhui stills above him, hands freezing in his hair, but Minghao doesn't let him look away. He wants to be able to see the emotions flickering in Junhui's eyes so that when he finally answers, Minghao will hopefully be able to understand him better. The prince sighs and closes his eyes when Minghao still hasn't looked away. Junhui's hands fall away from Minghao's hair to grip at his legs instead and Minghao watches as Junhui tries to think of what to say, eyes flickering behind his closed lids.
"My step-mother wishes for me to wed. She nor anybody in the kingdom knows that my heart belongs to them, and being with more than one person isn't very... accepted. But I love these two men, and they love me. I could never choose between the two of them, so I accepted my step-mother's terms on the grounds that she would allow me to bring them along with me so that I could explain to the princess that I would marry her, but I could never love her like I love them," Junhui explains, his eyes still closed while Minghao studies him carefully.
Minghao raises his hand and cups Junhui cheek, relying on instinct because he doesn't know what he should do and so he does what he wants to do instead. And right now, he wants to touch Junhui's beautiful, vulnerable face and comfort him. "It's normal for dragons to take on more than one mate. We are creatures born from fire and thinking that only one other creature such as ourselves may be able to tame us is ridiculous. We were born from fire and no one man is able to control the flames of life after all."
"It's normal for dragons?" Junhui's eyes are open now, the fireplace's flames dancing in their depths, following a tune that Minghao might be able to hear if he strained his ears enough.
"It's always been our way. Since the beginning. We are older and larger, our hearts are big enough to love more than one," Minghao replies, voice nothing but a hoarse whisper now as Junhui stares at him.
Minghao pauses, breath hitching in his throat when Junhui leans his face into Minghao's palm, closing his eyes again. He takes a moment for himself to etch this into his memory, the look on Junhui's face as he lets Minghao comfort him, the relief evident in the line of his shoulders. He was worried about nothing really. Minghao is new to this whole human business and he doesn't know for how much longer he'll have to endure it, but even after they leave him, he'll keep this memory and cherish it until his dying breath.
"Junhui," Minghao says, his tongue feeling oddly heavy in his mouth. "What were you going to do after marrying the princess?"
Junhui doesn't open his eyes, just shrugs his shoulders and wraps his hand around Minghao's wrist to keep his hand where it is now. "Pretend for those at court that we are happy in our marriage, but continue to see Wonwoo and Mingyu whenever I could. Maybe even attend their wedding when it came time for it. But, after I become king, I intend to change the laws of marriage so that I can wed them as well."
Minghao shifts in his lap and takes in a deep breath. "What if you were to fall in love with the princess after marrying her?"
"Then I would love my wife and my lovers. My heart is big enough," Junhui's eyes flicker open to meet Minghao's gaze again as he murmurs into the quiet of the room, the firewood crackling where the flames engulf it.
"It is. Your heart is more than big enough," Minghao says back, a smile spread across his lips that makes Junhui smile back.
"Will you tell me what I don't know? I answered your questions," Junhui reminds him, his grip on Minghao's wrist tightening and Minghao doesn't know if he did that on purpose or accidentally, but it's comforting to him a strange way that he can't explain.
So he nods and inhales deeply, closing his own eyes so that he won't have to look at Junhui's face in case he reacts badlyăźeven though he really, really wants to look Junhui in the eyes when he says this. Junhui taps his cheek and Minghao opens his eyes to look at him, smiling when Junhui does, silently urging him to speak without fear. Minghao exhales and lets his body go limp in Junhui's lap, keeping his gaze and accepting whatever outcome he may receive.
"You've got dragon blood running through your veins. You smell like I did when I was a child."
Junhui blinks at him, hand locked around Minghao's wrist in shock. "What?"
"You're a halfling. Half-dragon, half-human," Minghao says, deciding to go the simpler route. "I didn't know if you knew, but I think you deserve to know."
"A-Are you sure?" Junhui asks, eyelashes fluttering as he blinks rapidly, sitting up straight and releasing Minghao's wrist. "Are you positive that Iăźthat I'm...?"
He trails off and Minghao knows it's because he isn't ready to say it yet. Saying it would make it all that more real and Minghao can understand that he might need a moment to wrap his head around this. Junhui can take all the time he needs, Minghao just wants to make sure that he isn't in the dark anymore.
Because Junhui is only half, but he, too, is a creature of flames and fire and light and warmth and he deserves to know.
"I know the smell. Spice and ash are much too hard to fake, Junhui. You are of the dragons," Minghao murmurs, not missing the way Junhui's breath catches in his throat when he does. "You have no wings and you breathe no flames. You are soft and you don't hate, but you are like me. You have warmth and a core of fire in you and you love. You love like a dragon and so you are one."
Junhui's eyes sparkle and before Minghao can say anything more, something wet falls on his cheek and Junhui's chest heaves before Junhui wails, a noise so heart wrenching and ugly that it claws at Minghao's chest and rips his heart out, leaving him to bleed dry while Junhui continues to sob. Junhui's face is all scrunched up and twisted to look ugly and he is loud as he cries so it doesn't surprise Minghao when Wonwoo and Mingyu wake up soon after and crowd around the prince, asking him what's wrong, touching him and wiping his face again and again while Junhui ignores them.
Minghao slides off Junhui's lap and tears his hand away, not allowing himself to touch the prince now that he's hurt him by telling him the truth. He's caused this and maybe he should just let Mingyu run him through with his sword, but he says nothing as he closes his eyes, curls up into himself, and turns his back on the trio and the fire alike, opting to brave the bitter cold of his castle instead.
It's a long time before Junhui's cries stop and an even longer period before Minghao manages to sleep.
    The next morning, no one mentions the fact that Junhui's eyes are red-rimmed and puffy.
Nor the morning after that or the morning after that.
When Wonwoo reveals that he still doesn't have enough power to cast another large spell so soon, Minghao reassures the warlock that it's more than okay and that he can take all the time he needs until he's okay again. Junhui, Wonwoo, and Mingyu end up staying in Minghao's castle while Wonwoo builds up his strength so he can change Minghao back to his original form.
But as the days go past, Minghao realizes that he may not want to be changed back.
As a dragon, he was filled with pure hate. He killed and took the lives of all those who dared enter his castle and he let the hate he had for knights and humans alike consume him enough that the hate began to corrupt his weak heart. Let it control him as his scales darkened and the goodness from him fled.
Because for all the strength Minghao had as a dragon, his heart was weak and so he was weak as well.
Now that he's a human, he thinks he might actually be able to learn how to let that hate go and let love strengthen his heart instead.
Love, or something akin to it, is already affecting him as the days go past. He's falling so steadily and so quickly that he doesn't really understand what's going on in the first few days, but then they're there to catch him. Some are slower to get there than him, but they are all still there in the end.
Junhui slowly begins talking to him again, asking random questions about dragons, asking if certain things are normal for creatures of flight and flames. Minghao answers each and every one to the best of his abilities, not in the least surprised that Junhui's mates already know.
Minghao cries when Junhui asks him how it feels to know that fire made you and fire will be the one to reclaim you once it's all said and done because it feels lonely. It's lonely and comforting to know that when it's all over, what made you will welcome you with open arms in the end. Junhui wraps him up in his arms and lets Minghao cry himself dry, smiling when Wonwoo and even Mingyu kneel beside them to comfort the dragon-turned-human.
The moon is still a crescent when Mingyu pulls him close during his watch at night and grabs his chin, much more gently than Minghao expected from the knight that usually can't look him in the eye unless he's glaring at him. Mingyu's eyelids flutter closed and Minghao is left to look at his eyebrow while their breaths intermingle between them. Minghao exhales and sighs in relief when Mingyu's lips press to his, similar to how he kissed Wonwoo on that first day, but still different somehow. Musk and sweat are all that Minghao can smell right now and usually that scent alone would have him ready to defend himself, but he's helpless when it comes to Mingyu. Minghao doesn't know what he should do with his body, so he opts to wrap his arms around the knight's neck and lets him lead.
The morning after, Mingyu is much more nicer to Minghao than he was before which makes Wonwoo and Junhui snicker at them when Minghao presses two dragon fruits into Mingyu's hand at breakfast. Mingyu thanks him and bites into the fruit before handing it back to Minghao with a sour look on his face. Minghao laughs along with the others until Mingyu shuts him up by kissing him again.
No one is laughing when Mingyu and Minghao pull apart and Minghao can't explain why his face feels so hot, but then Junhui's smiling at them like he's radiating pure happiness so Minghao focuses back on his food and finishes breakfast in silence.
Mingyu and he sneak in a lot more kisses afterward though.
There's a half-moon in the sky when Wonwoo kisses him.
It's wetter than it was with Mingyu, but it's still just as nice and just as warm as well. Wonwoo moves his mouth in ways different than Mingyu and Minghao's eyes flutter open when Wonwoo's tongue traces his bottom lip. Minghao's lips part in surprise and then Wonwoo's sucking on his tongue and tugging his hair, hard. Minghao grips his waist and presses his thumbs into the warlock's hips, feeling that same urge to mate again when Wonwoo's scent wraps itself around him. He beats it into the back of his mind and groans when Wonwoo climbs into his lap and presses up against him, pushing his hips into Minghao's until he's able to feel something very hard skim across his stomach.
Wonwoo leaves him breathless and raging with want, but Minghao doesn't do more than kiss the warlock that night.
Mingyu tackles them to the floor at lunch the next day after Minghao hands Wonwoo a piece of dragon fruit and Wonwoo hands it right back without even taking a bite then presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth in apology. Wonwoo laughs between them and kisses Mingyu before he kisses Minghao full on the mouth and Minghao almost forgets that Junhui is there too until the prince starts laughing at them for being sprawled across the floor. Mingyu drags him down on top of them and Minghao can't stop laughing at the scandalized look on the prince's face when he gets squished between his mates. Wonwoo kisses his nose and Mingyu presses his face into the back of his neck while Minghao watches them from right underneath, his heart fluttering in his chest when Junhui's expression morphs into something else, something soft. Something more.
When Junhui kisses him, it's on the night of a full moon.
The fireplace is crackling with light and warmth, but Junhui feels even warmer pressed against Minghao. Wonwoo and Mingyu aren't sleeping like they were that first night and it's much too easy to lean into Junhui's embrace and wrap his arms around him. Minghao doesn't care that Wonwoo's predicted he'll be ready to perform the spell again by tomorrow because right now, he's kissing Junhui and that's more important than anything else. Junhui moves them until Minghao is straddling his thighs and then he lies back slowly, Minghao moving with him without even having to think about it. Ash and spice explode on his tongue when Junhui's mouth opens for him and Minghao dives right in without another thought. Junhui's hands toy at the back of Minghao's shirt before they clamber up his back, fingertips fluttering across the ridges of his spine. Minghao groans against Junhui's mouth, his hips bucking up of their own accord and Minghao hums appreciatively when Junhui lets a sound so pretty slip past his lips that he's determined to hear it again.
New hands join Junhui's on his back and Minghao knows without looking that its Wonwoo and Mingyu. Minghao leans even further into Junhui and sighs as the other two men follow him, quickly getting rid of Minghao's shirt soon after.
Minghao doesn't know how mating works for humans, but he's certain that these three are going to show him tonight so he follows their lead and works Junhui's shirt off him, pressing his mouth back to his once he's done. All three of their scents mesh together around Minghao until he isn't sure where one begins and the other ends, but for the time being, for tonight, he pushes his thoughts away and focuses on being here with them in this moment.
By morning, Minghao is tired and worn out and his limbs feel like jelly, but he's happy and he's content. He's warm where he lies in the middle of a nest made from blankets and the bodies of his new mates.
He's really, truly happy for the very first time in his life and that's the only reason he needs to tell Wonwoo he's changed his mind.
Minghao will remain human and he will go back with them to their kingdom. Junhui will marry him as the prince they slew a dragon to rescue and when Junhui becomes king, he'll be able to change the law. Mingyu and Wonwoo will marry as well in the meantime and they will spend any moments they can together until the time for Junhui's coronation is upon them.
He won't live his life as a dragon destroyed and consumed with hate anymore. Minghao has a chance at a real life filled with not only warmth but with love and the gentle touches of his mates that will keep him warm at night like his inner core of fire once did.
They wrap themselves around him and Minghao lets them because he has no plans to let these men go anytime soon.
Minghao's sure that if he were to ever take his dragon form again, his scales would be green like they were when he was youngăźwhen he was fresh and new and still had hope in his heart. He's okay with remaining human though.
As long as he has Junhui, Wonwoo, and Mingyu, Minghao knows he'll be alright.
