The great beast Razivi was awoken from her deep slumber by a sharp sound. It echoed around her with such intensity that it made her shake her massive head. The sudden violent movement caused nearby rock to crumble and fall, but she ignored the cascading debris of her lair as she continued to shake her head to rid her of the most annoying noise.

  Eventually, the piercing noise subsided. The irritation released, and with great relief, she settled her large triangular head back down into her long arms. A low grunt sounded from deep inside her, and a cloud of hot steam expelled through her oblong nostrils. Razivi shifted her head a bit to get comfortable so she could return to the soft sweet dreams that were echoes of an almost forgotten life of her younger years.

  “Great One, we do not wish to disturb you, but we have come once more for the aurous.”

  Razivi lifted her head once more to peer into the darkness of her lair. It took a moment to see the two tiny forms standing near the foot of her large nest. They looked like they were a part of the shadows in the dark coverings they adorned their bodies in. She nearly chuckled at the wyrn-kin. They were such silly creatures with their bizarre customs and mannerisms. They were quite needy too.

  Again? Must you plunder my life force so often? I have only just settled into sleep from the last harvest. Razivi said into the minds of the wyrn-kin as irritation coursed through her. She knew her part of the deal that required the giving of a part of herself to these wyrn-kin, but they seemed to needing more and more of late, and she would much rather be lost in her dreams of better times, than be awoken back to this dismal existence.

  “Great One, it has been nearly three years since the last harvest,” the small creature replied back. He spoke this out loud as the wyrn-kin preferred to do. The sound of the small creature bouncing in the great expanse of her domain.

  Three years? Truly? Hmmm… well, maybe next time many more years will have passed before the wyrn-kin came to her. Razivi lifted one of her front legs, slid the sharpest edge of one of her long claws across the other arm, and thick golden aurous beneath the hard brown hide began to ooze out. The wyrn-kin hurried forward with large containers to catch the aurous before it could drip onto the dirty cavern floor.

  The golden flow lasted only a few beats of Razivi’s double hearts before the wound she’d inflicted on herself began to close and heal as if it had never happened. The wyrn-kin backed up with their two large containers brimming with her vital force. Even now, she could feel the resonance of herself as the wyrn-kin moved away with their precious prize.

  In fact, if she cared to concentrate, Razivi could feel all her blood that they had collected over the years. It was scattered across great spans of time and space, and those living vessels who held her blood inside them were like shining stars in her mind. They and her beloved dreams were what kept Razivi from total despair. She shrugged off her irritation from being woken from her deep slumber as she realized her blood would be shared with more wyrn-kin soon. That thought pleased her very much.

  Will one be bonded soon? She asked the wyrn-kin. But of course, she knew the answer. They would not be here if they had not had one of their vessels ready to be blessed with her blood. But now that she was awake, it felt good to make conversation.

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  The tallest wyrn-kin shrouded in black bowed deeply at her. “Yes, Great One. That is why we have come. We have a Pledge ready to bond even today, otherwise we would not have waken you.”

  Razivi shuttered in pleasure. That is good. Then I will stay awake until it is done.

  The creature bowed again, “As you wish, Great One. We will leave you in peace then.”

  The second wyrn-kin bowed, and then both settled the containers containing her blood on a levitating platform. Afterwards, they guided their prize through the small archway that led to their own lair. Razivi watched them go, hoping she would not have too long to wait before the bonding. She wasn’t often awake for them. She could feel when they happened, every single one of them. Each bonding sent thrills of ecstasy through Razivi as her aurous melded with the chosen wyrn-kin, but it was a far stronger experience when she was awake.

  And so, even though her dreams and the heaviness of sleep called her back to slumber, Razivi rested her head back on her arms and waited. As she did, memories of her past plagued her, reminding her of all that was now gone. It was almost enough for her to stop resisting the sleep, but the promise of the bonding to come kept her from slipping back into hibernation.

  Her will kept her awake, but that did not stop the onslaught of memories of her mate, friends, and children coming to keep her company. They played through her mind like a slow and agonizing torture, but the worst was remembering their deaths. First a friend, then another and another, then her mate, but the worst had been the children. All of them––all the wyrn she knew––expiring one by one through disease, disaster, or old age, until Razivi had been left all alone.

  Had death forgotten to come claim her? Or was it a cruel fate of the Old Ones to make her languish in this underground hollow where only the cold, damp, and dark lived? Just the wyrn-kin came to her these days, and the giving of herself was the only way she could feel any connections now that all her kind were gone. It was a pittance of what she had once enjoyed, but it was better than nothing at all.

  Razivi snorted and another puff of steam exited her nostrils as she longingly thought of her dreaming. In that safe place, all her people and family were perfectly preserved. There was no death, no separation as they all lived together as wyrn should––with bond and in complete contentment. That was until an Old One had turned against her kind.

  Embers of her anger still smoldered within, and while the passage of time had curbed much of her rage, it refused to be extinguished entirely. Or it could be she was just too tired to be properly angry any more. It took great energy to keep the flame of fury alive––this she knew all too well. These days, it was far easier just to allow herself to be pulled into her beautiful dreaming.

  Her eyelids drooped as she felt the familiar tug of sleep. She had almost forgotten why she was supposed to be staying awake, when she felt it––the thrill. It started as a tingle at the top of her head, and soon the great shivers of ecstasy coursed through her in shuttering waves.

  “Ahhhh….” She heard her groan echoing in her cave.

  Another wyrn-kin was receiving Razivi’s blessing. She could tell this one was a male. They weren’t always male. Some were female. Those she enjoyed the most. But all the wyrn-kin vessels were special to her. They kept the darkness of despair away, and in return, she gave them the gifts of her blood. Gifts she would have normally shared with her wyrn tribe, but since they were all gone, this was the best she could do. It at least kept some of the loneliness at bay.

  After the thrill left her, Razivi sighed with contentment, for at least in this moment, she was happy. And while the temporary satisfaction lasted, Razivi closed her eyes and allowed the slumber to take her into the loving embrace of those she had once known and loved.