The Centenary Dragon Hunt

Not My Mate

Lightning

"It's been almost an hour. Are you ready to find your mate, brother?" Thunder asks his older brother and King.

Lightning ignored his question, "Why aren’t you running in this race? You know you need a mate just as much as me." Lightning asked.

"I'm just not ready yet." Thunder said as he looked longingly at Embers, surprised to see her with a baby.

"Well, you know you'll have to," Lighting said, only turning to realize that his little brother had walked off.

Maira

The five kings, Ocean, Earth, Fire, Frost, and Lightning, stood waiting for the hour to be up. All confident they will get the strongest woman.

Moira and Freya were not far off, sipping tea, ready for the fun to begin.

"So, Moira... how many of your dragon kings will find a mate on the first run?"

"Oh, I imagine only one or two; you know it's no fun when they all find their mate on the first run, deary."

"Any luck on finding that last mate?" Freya asked, hoping Moira would finally admit to having not.

"I told you last time you asked, deary. Moira said with irritation, "I have found all six of them."

"Six? But there are only five kings. How did you find six?"

"Oh, you'll see, deary just set back and watch the show."

Moire was glad that Freya would be too distracted about the possibility of a sixth she would stop asking about the one she had not found. She was still looking for not just one but two and that is something she didn’t want anyone to know. It would rune her reputation. This was the most complicated hunt yet. She has never had to find six queens before and she had never, not found one. Two were still missing. She has looked in the human realm, the fay realm, and even in her own, the higher realm. There was just one more realm to check, and she dreaded it the most.

Lightning

It was time; the dragon kings and almost 50 other dragons ran through the forest looking for the perfect mate. Fire the king of kings in the lead, was followed by Ashland, the Earth King, Lighting king of Lighting and weather, and Ocean king of the sea. Frost the king of winter and ice, didn’t seem to care about being in the lead at all. He stopped and looked at every female.

Lighting didn't know if he was ready for a mate, much less a father. The woman he finds will have to understand they won't be having children for a few years or more. He just took over as king and doesn't have time for that kind of distraction; having a mate will be hard enough without having kids any time soon.

There was something sweet in the air. Anyone who smells that good can't be bad. Lightning stopped running and followed the delicious smell to what looked like a Hord hole. The Hord started stealing dragon females long ago to breed, hoping to become more powerful. That was about the time the dragon females stopped reproducing. So now the Hord are trying to take the human females.

Lighting didn't have time to give it much thought. This hunt just turned into a rescue mission. He has to get there before the Hord takes her.

Lightning was starting to wish it was Ashland, the king of the Earth dragons who was here instead of him. Earth dragons have long curved claws, made for digging. He was more equipped for being underground than he.

After several minutes, of crawling through the muddy tunnel that was barely big enough for his large frame, he came to an opening; a cavern was right under him. He could see the girl unconscious on the wet ground with four Hords men around her, discussing the vile things they would do with her.

Without wasting any time, Lighting jumped into the group and started fighting. They were small for a Hoad man, which explained the tunnel's being so tiny. He made quick work of them, leaving none alive. And only sustained minor damage. Miner damage for a dragon, that is.

Rayne

When Rayne opened her eyes, she was in the same warm room she was in before. The last thing she remembered was falling down a dark, wet, cold hole. She had no idea how she got back to the room but was very grateful.

Just as she was starting to wonder where her daughter was, Embers came in holding her as if she was her own, "Oh, good, you're awake. I think it's feeding time" Embers carefully placed the baby into Rayne's arms, "How are you feeling? Talking about a good hiding spot, you’re lucky that Lighting found you when he did; the hoard could have gotten you."

Rayne was sore all over but was more concerned about who rescued her and who the Hoard were. Weren’t they supposed to be safe.

"Who found me, and who are the Hoard?" Rayne asked, confused.

"No matter, you're well and safe now. I have some errands to run. I'm sure Lightning will want to check on you soon. I'll talk to you later." Embers said as she quietly left the room.

Lightning

Lighting was worried about the woman he brought in. He couldn't wait for her to wake up; he wanted to know if her eyes matched her dark brown hair. He hadn't spoken to her yet, but so far, she seemed perfect. She was pretty, not too skinny, and smelled very good. She looked young; Lighting was sure she wouldn't mind waiting a year or five to have children. A child was the last thing he needed right now.

When Lighting couldn't wait any longer, he went to check on his future mate. The first thing he noticed when entering the room was one of her large breasts was out; the second was that there was a baby on it. He was frozen to the spot for a second.

He expected to walk in on his beautiful future mate, not a baby.

Rayne & Lightning

Rayne was a little startled when a huge shirtless man walked in without knocking. The man's blonde hair was sticking up all over the place like Lightning had struck him, and he had a large gash on his smooth, tanned chest that looked only a day old.

"Hi, are you Lightning?" she asked sweetly, as if there wasn't a baby sucking on her boob.

"Yes." Lighting said. "Whose baby is that?" He wasn't happy.

"O.. Um.. She's my daughter. Thank you for saving me." She said, unsure how to interpret the look on his face. After all, she hasn't met many Dragons. Perhaps shocked and mad was just his usual facial expression.

Without answering her, Lighting turned and left, leaving a confused Rayne.

"Moira! Moira!" Lighting roared at the top of his lungs.

"What is it, darling?" his mother, Kerryn, asked calmly as she walked into the room.

"She has a baby! I need to speak to Moira; that old pink ball of fluff- has lost it. There has to be a mistake. Moira needs to take her back and deliver me a proper mate." Lightning was now pacing.

"Oh, dear. You found Raynebow, didn't you? I was really hoping you would have brought back that tall blonde." His mother said with disappointment.

"Don't worry, there are 11 more hunts this year. You have plenty of time to find the perfect mate."

Lightning calmed some. His mother was right. He did have more time.

"What am I supposed to do with her for four weeks?"

"I suppose It would look bad if you just threw her out. You'll just have to bring her home. I'm sure we can find something for her to do for a few weeks."

Rayne was holding her sleeping daughter, trying to think of names. "Cherry, Alex, Carman, no, still not right."

(knock, Knock)

Rayne was happy when Kerryn entered the room. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you. I have so many questions. I was told Lightning saved me, and he was going to be my mate, but he didn't seem happy about it, and did he get that cut because of me, and who is the hoard?"

Kerryn raised her hand to stop a rambling Rayne. "Yes, that was my son, Lightning the King of Lightning dragons, and yes, he got the cut from saving you," Kerryn said in an accusing tone. "and no, he will not be your mate."

"Oh, but I thought whoever found me was going to be my mate," Rayne asked.

"After a dragon catches a female, they have four weeks to get to know each other and decide if they want to become a mated pair. If one of them does not. They will both participate in the next Hunt. And will do so for the next year until they find a suitable mate." Kerryn said without any emotion. " You are not a suitable mate for my son the king. If you stay out of his way and don't give us any trouble we won't make you work the next four weeks"

"What if neither one finds a suitable mate?" Rayne was both relieved and disappointed at the same time. On the one hand, she was happy she wasn't going to be forced to be with someone, and on the other, she was upset that Lightning dismissed her in the first two minutes of the meeting.

"The kings will settle on a mate before the year is up; it's their duty. If no one wants you, you'll either have to work in one of the castles or find something in one of the villages."

Rayne didn't like how Kerryn said "you," as if something was wrong with her.

"And you don't think I'll find a mate?" Rayne asked.

"If you do, it will be with one of the lower ranks or a man from one of the villages. No one really wants a woman who had a child with a male who's not her mate. I don't know how it's done where you came from, but here women like you are called whores, and their children are bastards. And people like you don't rise above their station," Kerryn said.

"I'm not a w***e, and my daughter is not a bastard!" Rayne would not have anyone talk about her or her child like that, not even a queen.

"Did you not have a child with a male who is not your mate or, as you say, husband?" Kerryn asked as she stood up.

"Well, yes, but we were together for five years, and" Rayne tried to defend herself but was interrupted by Kerryn.

"So what you are saying, you spread your legs for a male for five years without him marrying you. That is the very definition of a w***e. And with your attitude, I don't think you'll be fit to scrub the floors of my castle. You'll have to find work elsewhere; perhaps I'll recommend you to the Frost castle." Kerryn said coldly before she left, not giving Rayne a chance to defend herself.

Kerryn was not the nice lady Rayne was led to believe.

Rayne realized that, just like back home in the human realm, life would not be easy for her, but one thing was for sure, she was not a w***e, and she would never be.

"How many flights of stairs are left?" Rayne asks Embers after the fifth flight of stairs. She was happy that Embers was carrying her daughter because she needed all her strength.

"Only three more to go. Luckily you weren't staying on the bottom floor." Embers looked at Rayne worriedly "are you sure you are OK? I can carry you too, you know."

Rayne was grateful for Ember's kindness. It wasn't often that you come across someone so kind for no reason. "No, thank you." She didn't tell Embers about what Kerryn said. She didn't want Embers to feel sorry for her, and deep down, she was afraid that she would confirm what Kerryn said about no one wanting her.

They came out on a large flat roof that looked more like a landing pad than a roof. Lightning was standing beside another man who looked a lot like him but nicer.

"Your late," Lightning said.

"Give her a break. She just had a baby a few days ago and fell down a Hord hole just last night." Embers said without any fear towards him.

"You have to strap the baby to you and ride my back. It's not safe for me to carry you and the baby in my claws." Lightning said as if it wasn't any big deal.

"Ride you? Like in your dragon form? In the sky? That... that doesn't sound safe. I think I'll just stay here... until the next hunt." Rayne said as she took a few steps back.

Lightning rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. He was sure the paperwork on his desk was taller than him by now. "It's the only way. You can't walk. It would take days, and it would be dangerous," he growled.

"No. I think Rayne is right. I'll ride with her to make sure she and the baby don't fly off." Embers said.

Lightning's hair was standing up more than usual; he was ready to breathe fire. Putting a hand on his shoulder, the male beside him took a step forward.

"I'd be honored if you two lovely ladies would ride me," he said with a wink. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Thunder, second in line to the throne of the Lightning kingdom.

Thunder seemed a lot nicer than his brother. Rayne calmed down some between him and Embers. She felt safe. That is until the two males turned into two giant gold dragons.

Lightning's dragon was bigger and more gold than his brother's dragon, but not by much. They both had long necks and tails with large sharp spikes going down their spine. It was a wonder that the roof did not cave in due to the weight of them both.

With Rayne's baby strapped safely to her and Embers sitting with her long arms around them both, the ride was smooth and beautiful. She couldn't remember a time she felt so free. She was surprised she wasn't more afraid, but she felt safe.

The next morning when Rayne woke up a maid came into her room with a tray of food. "My name is Mouse, I’ll be your maid for the next four weeks.” Mouse said with a sad smile as she walked across the room to place the tray of food she was carrying and set it on the table next to the window. “The queen mother said you’ll be taking your meals in your room for your stay.”

“The queen mother?” Rayne ask confused. She didn’t think there was a queen.

“Oh, yes, Mrs. Kerryn is the king's mother, so she is called the queen mother, and that’s how she likes to be addressed. Mouse was a tall young woman with long mousy brown hair and big, forest green eyes. She was wearing a simple brown dress that had no shape and an apron that looked as if it used to be white. As Mouse was about to leave she turned and said: “Please don’t wander around the castle without an escort. It’s not safe. Another male may try to calm you, then the king would be forced to kill that male and you could get lost.”

“Not safe, another male may try to take me. I don’t understand. I thought I was safe here but now I’m starting to feel like a prisoner. What about you? Your human right? Why is it safe for you and how did you become a maid? Did you not find a mate on the last hunt?” Rayne was starting to worry and she had so many questions. She wanted her freedom, she wanted to go exploring this new place she was in. Not be a prisoner.

Mouse took a step away from the door. “I’m safe because I’m just a plain-looking girl from the village. No one notices me. This is the first hunt in my time. They only take place every hundred years. Only the high ranking humans get to run in the hunt. The rest of us are too busy working.” Rayne felt sad for Mouse. She wasn’t plain at all. She was beautiful and everyone should get a chance to run in the hunt if they wanted to.

Lightning and his family were sitting at the grand table where they always had their meals. “Where is Raynebow?" Lightning hated it when people were late.

"She's having her meals in her room as she should be, dear." His mother, Kerryn, said.

"What do you mean as she should be. She's a guest; all of the guests are expected to eat here with us.' He disagreed with the way his mother treated people most of the time.

"Oh, do be reasonable son, you are a king, and her well.. she has a bastard's child. That in itself should speak of the kind of person she is. I will not be sharing a meal with her. It would make us all look bad," Kerryn said as she sat to the right of her son.

"Mother, Moira would not have sent her if she was unsuited." Thunder, who was set to Lightning's left, said.

"It's as Lightning said just yesterday she's an old pink ball.. what was it you said, dear?" When Lightning didn't respond, she went on, "When I spoke to her just yesterday about everything, she had a nasty attitude with me; she's lucky I didn't have her whipped."

Lightning had, had enough of his mother for one morning; he had a lot of work that needed to get done, and he had to figure out what to do with Raynebow. If he didn't find something for her to do, his mother would have her scrubbing the floors soon and that would make him look bad.

"Mam, the King has summoned you to his office." Mouse said to Rayne.

"Oh, OK, when does he want to see me?" Rayne was nervous as to why he would want to see her.

The maid looked confused by the question, "Now, mam, he wants to see you right now; I’ll show you the way."

Mouse opened a large door with a golden dragon design on it. "Your majesty, I brought Ms. Rayne as asked."

As soon as Rayne was through the door, Mouse left with one last sad look at her. Before Lightning responded.

All Rayne could see was Lightning's hair sticking up from behind tall stacks of paperwork on his large desk. His office was the most unorganized she had ever seen. It bothered her when things weren't organized. There was paper, boxes, and books everywhere; the floor, shelves, and even the window seal. She had a feeling he would not be happy if she started moving stuff around. Luckily, she had her daughter with her or she would have done it anyway. So, she took a seat with her daughter in her arms in the half-empty chair.

As she sat down, he looked up as if he was just noticing her there.

Lightning smelt something sweet. When he looked up, he saw Raynebow sitting there with her baby; at least she wasn't feeding her, he thought.

"Ms. Raynebow, thank you for joining me. As you know, we are not a good match."

Rayne interrupted, "Rayne, please call me Rayne. Everyone else does." She said.

Lightning wasn't used to being interrupted but was too busy looking at her light blue eyes; they were a nice contrast to her dark brown hair. "As I was saying, Rayne, we are not a good match. You'll be running in the next Hunt. We need to find something for you to do while you stay here before my mother has you scrubbing floors, and I will not have you go off telling the other Kingdoms how we made you scrub floors. Is there something you're good at?"

Rayne wasn't sure what she expected, but it wasn't this. She was grateful she wasn't going to be scrubbing floors.

Rayne looked around the office, "Well... before I was pregnant, I was an executive secretary. I was really good at it." She said, eager to organize his office.

"What’s an executive secretary?" Lightning asked. Not understanding what she was talking about but loving the sound of her voice.

"Oh umm.. well, I helped the boss of a large company," she said.

"Helped how?" he growled, hating himself for lusting over the new mom.

Rayne jumped in her seat when he growled, and he regretted it. He didn't want to scare her or tell her why he was so on edge around her.

She bravely went on, "I organized his schedule, office, and helped with paperwork. My desk was in the room outside his office. If anyone wanted anything, they would have to come to me first. If I couldn't take care of it, then I would present it to him."

This seemed like something Lightning needed, needed terrible, he thought as he looked around his messy office. Could he really trust this woman to help him with his kingdom?

"Fine, you can start tomorrow but you'll only be organizing, nothing more," he said as he retook his seat. He didn't want her to mess anything important up and figured it couldn't hurt to have things more organized.

"Really!" Rayne asked, surprised. She didn't really think he would say yes.

"Really what?" he didn't sound happy.

"Nothing; I'll be here tomorrow, thank you." She said as she hurried out of the room.

That afternoon Embers came to visit before she had to leave. "Have you picked out a name yet?” she asked.

“No, not yet. I've been trying to think of one. Nothing seems right." Rayne answered Ember's question while smiling at the baby, "I wish I could have a daughter just like her." Embers said sadly.

"Why can't you? You and Thunder seem to like each other. Is he like your mate or something?"

"No, I will never receive a gift of a child. I'm infertile, and Thunder has to mate with someone who can give him a son. He is second in line. It's his duty." Embers looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Rayne said sympathetically.

"It's ok. That's why Moira finds mates outside the realm; all the female dragons are infertile. I was the last one born." Embers said.

"Why don't you adopt? I think you would make a great mother," Rayne said.

"What is adopt?" Embers asked, now giving Rayne her full attention.

"It's when you take in a child who doesn't have a family and raise them as your own"

Looking at the floor, Embers said, "That sounds nice. But there aren’t any children like that here."

"Why don't you ask Moira? If she can find mates, surely she can bring a child. There are a lot of children who need a home where I’m from"

Embers thought about it and Rayne was right. She did want a baby, maybe even more than a mate. She stood up with determination. " Your right, I'm going to ask her. I'm going to become a mother".

She handed Rayne's daughter back to her and left the room quickly.

Embers walked into Thunder's room without knocking as she always did. "Thunder, I was just talking to Rayne, and she had the best idea." She said as she skipped across the room and jumped into his arms.

Before she could go on, Thunder started, kissing her passionately. She giggled as she said, "really, Thunder, it's important." He laid her down on the bed and started working his way down her collarbone. "I know how you and I can be together and have a baby." She said, now breathing heavily. To her disappointment, Thunder stopped and took a few steps back, "And how is that?" He didn't seem as happy as Embers thought he would be.

"We could ask Moira to bring us a child, and well, we could become mates." Ember's heart started to drop from the look on his face.

"Embers." She knew he was going to say something she didn't want to hear when he used her name like that. He always calls her Em not Embers.

"You know I have to have a child of my own blood! Who would feel your head with foolish hope," he growled. He loved Embers, but there was no way around it. He had to have a child of his own. He hated seeing Embers getting her hopes up, and he hated to be the one to bring them down.

"I was talking to Rayne. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm sure your brother will have a few males of his own. You don't need to produce one too. Don't you see we can be together and have a family?" She begged him to see reason.