Book 7 - New Dragons

evanche returned from London pleased with how well Neil was handling things at Tetly's, he had a flare for business and making a deal. Sitting in the library his long legs stretched out, feeling relaxed and glad to be back home Revanche commented to his mother that he had been by Raimi's cottage twice and it looked deserted, had she moved to a different place. Seeing the look that passed between his parents he sat up leaning forward asking what was going on. Natalie sighed saying that Raimi had gone up into the mountains and she doubted that he would see her again, Revanche frowned "why not? I don't see a problem with going up to the mountain to say hello." Natalie shook her head "I'm going to try and explain, I know you won't repeat anything I tell you. Something happened between Raimi and Connor, your father knows more about that then I do, but whatever it was, it sent her up into the mountains, all the new dragons have tried to talk to her, Alex spent two days up there trying to get Raimi to return to the cottage but it didn't do any good, I've been up there once, it was too hard to watch I had to leave, she's gone up to the mountain to die Revanche and that's just what she is doing, for over three weeks now she has not spoken or moved from where she is curled up on that mountain." Revanche frowned "I can't believe that, the last time I saw her she was doing fine, touchy as hell and on the edgy side but I didn't see any severe depression or anything like that, this sounds like nonsense to me, it's ancient dragons that return to the mountains to spend their final days before returning to the skies." Natalie looked down at her cup of coffee "it wasn't depression, darling, it is fear that has finally gotten the better of Raimi, she has fought it all her life, I think she just got tired of fighting, she fought as a hatchling to stay alive, she was turned on for her half human half dragon side, taken in by a band of roving warrior women, amazons from the way Shelaw told it, the human Raimi was allowed to be both human and dragon with these women but she was taught as a woman to ride, fight, how to defend herself and kill in a dozen different ways. Like Laurel living a nomads life always roaming, when she got the cottage she clung to it much like Laurel clung those first few years to Zinmer and the Manor House, it was a place of safety and of stability, a place to call her own. Then the race that eventually conquered their world came and the Amazons along with every other being on their world fought to stop them, it was a futile fight. The first thing that happened was the slaughter of anything with magical abilities, including the dragons, so to protect herself and try to survive a while longer Raimi turned to her human form and stayed there, constantly fearing they would find out she was half dragon. The Amazon's were defeated, most died those that didn't were captured and turned into slaves, chained together like animals, degraded at every turn as their captors tried to prove who the victor was, Shelaw said they used to drag their chain of amazons from town to town and in public squares rape them, abuse them, to show the towns people the if the Amazons could be defeated then it was a lost cause to fight. Raimi was branded with the mark of her captors and sold at public auction, eventually she managed to escape and Morpaw found her, freezing and starving, that's when she joined with his small group, she turned to her dragon side and but for a few times never became a woman again." Revanche stared his mother "go on" Natalie sighed "Raimi was brought here to our world, a place she hoped would be safe, when she turned to her woman's form the fear that radiated from her was almost visible, but she wanted the cottage, she wanted to be a woman as well as a dragon again, so she tried to hide her fear, her fear of being a woman again, her fear of being hurt, her fear of her dragons magical abilities. I can only imagine the horrors she has lived through in her short life, whatever happened with Connor was the final straw that broke her, that's why she's gone into the mountains to die." Revanche looked at his father "what did Connor do?" he asked quietly, Rav sighed tiredly seeing the look in Revanche's eyes, he was thinking the worst and Rav couldn't let that happen. "He went over to Raimi's, Connor is used to the women of London, giggling behind their fans and flirting with their eyes, married women who give a man a cold shoulder then pass him a note saying her husband would be gone that night, older women who enjoyed playing with young men. Connor thought Raimi was teasing when she told him to leave, she wasn't but he was thinking with his breeches by then. In a way I feel badly for Connor and your mother will pardon me for saying this, when he returned from that last adventure with Christopher and Kirk he should of fucked his way through every whore house in London, to relieve the stress, the fear he had of dying, the days filled with anxiety, but he didn't, they returned to find Miranda gone, and once again he found himself fighting to get her safely home, adding more tension to an all ready stressed young male body. So he sees Raimi, a woman the likes of which he'd never seen before and he pounced on her, in turn she slashed his chest with her talons, sending him snarling home, once his sanity returned he knew he had been wrong but the damage had been done. She thought they would take the cottage away from her for what she had done and come after her for hurting Connor." Natalie rubbed her temples "I had no idea, I thought they had just gotten into a fight of some kind that pushed her fear over the edge" Revanche stood up "I'm going to go try and talk to her, I just can't sit by and let her do this." Nedra purred "come softly my delightfully concerned one, Nedra can not bring back a spirit that is unwilling, sooooo we must make her want to stay, come to the Mountain but say nothing until Nedra tells you too." Both Rav and Natalie looked at their son in surprise when he grinned, seeing the curiosity on their faces he chuckled "Nedra is with Raimi, she doesn't stand a chance now, she has to come down off the mountain or face a very annoyed kick butt Nedra."