Autumn had settled firmly over the land. Gold, red and orange leaves swirled in eddies of northerly wind, telling the creatures it was time to prepare for the coming months of cold and dark. The only creatures who were not worried about winter were two dragons who soared above the turning forest, playing in the sweeping air currents coming from the high mountains. They chased each other through the air, diving and rolling and turning at a thought's whim and the dip of a leathery wing, revelling in the freedom that was their birthright. Maybe they would have had a little more concern, but they were courting.



By day the silver male, Hanorh, would try and impress his mate Aurha in any way he could think of – trying to carry large boulders to the heavens or hunting for wild boar among the trees. He spouted great plumes of fire into the vast blue sky to try and prove himself worthy of her. And all the while she would swoop and laugh and perform aerial acrobatics that the drake could never hope to achieve. She was like a leaf herself, caught on a breeze, but always in control of it.



At night they would lie together and watch the stars turn in the sky, swapping stories about dragons or men or their own pasts. Aurha taught her mate human languages, and about their strange ways, and he would sing dragon fables to her, and stories of long forgotten heroes and the human knights of Camelot. When dawn broke, the pattern would start all over again.



One morning, dawn brought a speck on the horizon, growing steadily larger as the sun rose higher.



'Look at that, dear one,' Hanorh said when he spotted it first. 'What do you suppose it is?' his mate's eyes were more sensitive, though, and she couldn't look into the sun. She tested the air, lips rising over sharp fangs. 'dragon,' she snarled.



'I will go and drive him off,' Hanorh soothed. 'Stay here.'



Aurha rounded on him, showing her teeth. 'Why must I? Were these not my skies before yours? I will drive him away. I will not sit here like a helpless human female. I am a dragon.' And she spread her copper wings wide and sprang into the air, dropping like a falcon before rising to meet the intruder. Hanorh took off as well, following a more direct path.



This dragon was grey, with a blue tint to his scales, like a deep lake in winter. Muscle bunched on his large frame, and many scars crisscrossed his hide. Hanorh realised with cold dread that Aurha would never stand a chance against him if it came to fighting.



The copper drakka let a spew of flame fly from her lips. 'Who are you to invade my skies?' she roared in challenge. The grey drake considered the question, and altered direction to fly towards her. Hanorh flew on with a new urgency, but the drake didn't see him.



'My name is merely Skyar, oh jewel of the skies,' he purred, rubbing his wingtip against hers. She snarled and let loose a jet of flame to separate them both. She was reluctant to fight, because Skyar was almost twice her size; but bulky and cumbersome with his strength. 'I seek a mate and territory of my own,' he growled trying to fly close again. Aurha flipped and flashed her talons at him to warn him to keep away, but he pursued anyway.



'You will find neither here, drake!' she snarled, flying around him. He blocked, herding her away from the relative safety of the cave, further from Hanorh, who was gaining height to attack. A great fury had welled inside him when he saw the drake rub Aurha's wingtip. 'Hold on, my love,' he whispered desperately as he manoeuvred.



Below, Skyar was blocking the drakka whichever way she tried to fly. She was flying as hard as she could, changing direction and swerving every way she could think of, but it did no good. The grey dragon's sheer size was a barrier.



'I think I would like it here,' he was saying, blocking yet again. She turned to strike, drawing blood, but it made no difference. Skyar didn't even seem to notice.



'As I told you, drake, these are my skies, and you will not find what you seek here.' She bit again, and bit deep, but it only brought the two dragons closer together.



'Why not?' he asked blandly. 'This is a fine place, and you are a drakka. I have found both things I seek.'



'I have a mate,' Aurha growled proudly, 'A brilliant silver who flies better than you shall ever attempt!' and she dived, slashing at the grey drake's face with her tail, raking her claws through the softer skin on his belly. The grey roared in agony and anger. No longer were there thoughts of mating in his head. He wanted to kill this disrespectful drakka.



'If you have a mate, where is he?' he roared, powerful wingstrokes pumping him closer to Aurha, who was now flying for her life. She dodged and ducked his fire, swerving with all her strength to avoid the murderous dragon. She turned and flew straight for him, flaming to hide herself, slashing once more at his face. But the drake was expecting it, and rolled, his talons cutting into the drakka's side. Aurha cried out in pain, and at that moment, Hanorh struck.



He shot from the sky like a meteorite, tearing into the grey's side with all the strength that came from the fierce will to defend Aurha, to protect her from all harm. The grey turned, but Hanorh's teeth were already latched on his neck, slashing and tearing in blind rage. They were falling, falling towards the earth.



Suddenly Skyar hooked claws into Hanorh's flesh and threw him off and tumbling through the sky. They met again, the grey and the Silver half his size, clawing and biting each other. The larger's wings carried them both through the sky, but he was heading for the ground with Hanorh caught in a vice-like grip. He was going to plough the silver drake into the ground, even as lacerations bore the grey's innards to the sky.



Suddenly Aurha appeared to defend her mate, tearing not at the head or neck, but at Skyar's wings. She bled from a wound in her side, but rage fuelled her on. She bit clean through the joint of one, and slashed the membrane of the other. His flight became erratic and desperate, and he let go of Hanorh to try and claw his way into the sky.



But in vain. Skyar plunged like a stone from the sky, landing on his back on the forest floor with an impact that could be heard for leagues. He was dead. Even as Aurha watched, his carcass caught with the fire still inside him, and the grey burned quickly, leaving only charred ashes where he had fallen. The drakka landed next to Hanorh, who had gone down in only slightly less chaos, and now lay heavily on his side, weak from a gash in his shoulder.



'Oh, my love,' she whispered, padding over to lie beside him. He was struggling to rise, and she hushed him down. 'Do not move, my love, you have lost a lot of blood.'



'You bleed too,' Hanorh replied, struggling again.



'A mere scratch,' she assured him. 'Rest.' She licked his wound tenderly and it began to heal, thanks to the knitting chemicals in her saliva. 'You fought for me today,' she murmured. 'You almost gave your life.'



'I could not let him hurt you, Aurha,' Hanorh replied weakly.



'Why did you not come sooner?' she asked curiously.



'I saw falcons dive after prey, how high they go,' he explained. 'I knew he was bigger than me, so I had to go in fast. He was just more solid than I first thought.' He chuckled darkly, but it transformed to coughing. He shuddered and slept.



Aurha watched over his still form as the stars crept overhead, and eventually a half moon, brightening the clearing in which the two dragons rested. The great constellation Draco reared in the night sky, and the drakka growled softly to herself.



'No, you shall not have him yet, Rheshrah,' she murmured.



It was nearly a week before Hanorh was fit to fly, and then, only to the cave. Aurha flew steadily beside him, as if knowing that he could not cope with anything else. She flew slightly below him, her wingtip touching his flank gently with every stroke.



'My champion,' she purred, and the drake smiled lovingly back at her and nuzzled closer. Gradually they flew higher and higher, their gazes locked, circling. The rose until frost grew on their wings and the air grew thin, and still they circled, climbing one above the other until they could go no further. The circle grew tighter and tighter, as though they were chasing each other's tails, and then their own, as Aurha flew under Hanorh.



Suddenly she flipped and grasped Hanorh's talons in her own and together they plummeted, wings locked tight to their bodies, tails entwined. They fell together through all the layers of air, passed through clouds in the blink of an eye, the ground speeding to meet them so fast they couldn't breathe.



At the last second they split apart, opening their wings like parachutes to carry them on their own winds through the denser layers of air.Their joined flames marking the bond of true mates.