Chapter 1

17 years later...

The sound of steel on steel rang out in the courtyard under clear blue sky. It was a beautiful summer day in the heart of the Dragon Kingdom. Everything was green and in bloom, the light of the sun warming the scales of the citizens below and dancing off the golden rooftops of the city. The only noise besides the birds and wind was the grunting and stomping of one frustrated black and green dragon with a mane of blue feathers going from his head down his back. He jumped to the side to avoid the swing of blunt steel sword from a white and grey snow Leopard with bright blue eyes. They circled around each other a few times before the dragon growled and shouted "Come on, Arieh! We both know this isn't a fair fight, lets just call it!"
"That's not how it works Levi!" Arieh laughed, jumping forward and back making Levi jump.
"Well if you're going to keep acting like a chicken, I'm going to go eat by myself." Arieh mocked while he lowered his sword and put a hand on his hip. The two made eye contact and in a flash their swords slammed together right in front of Arieh face.
"Ha! I'm getting faster, almost had you that time!" Levi cheered, shoving into the snow leopard to try and throw him off balance. Levi may have a weight advantage but Arieh had impeccable balance and reflexes better than anyone else. Levi had the advantage of weight, strength, and a strategic mind. Arieh winked at the dragon and ducked down under his blade while dropping his own and dived between his legs into a roll, stopping on all fours. Levi whirled around, dropped his sword and lunged at Arieh, landing a tackle. Arieh wrapped his arms around Levi and the two wrestled and growled on the cold stone floor of the courtyard. Their growls turned to laughs when Levi rolled on top and kissed Arieh on the nose.
The two laughed and held each other in a loving embrace in the empty private court yard of the Dragon King. Arieh looked up into the green eyes of his dragon lover and smiled. All stress and pressure melted away for the snow cat whenever they were together. Leviatis the second, prince of dragons and heir to the protectors throne. It was an intimidating title, but anyone who really knew Levi knew that he had a kind heart and was the sweetest dragon many have met. His eyes can go from sharp and cold to soft and loving in an instant, Arieh had noticed. The both of them were sixteen years old, almost seventeen actually. They grew up together as royalty even though Arieh was obviously not King Leviatis's son. The story Arieh had always been told when he asked was that his family left him to the dragons to care for since their dying race race could not raise him themselves. Despite that, Arieh was always treated like the son of the Dragon King, and Levi treated him like his brother. Or he did until a year ago when they had both discovered their feelings for each other. No one could ever be allowed to know, not only because Arieh was sure it was incest of some kind, but because the King wanted Levi to mate with a female and have sons to take his place some day. They were both terrified of what would happen if anyone ever found out, but it never stopped them from finding comfort together. Since they were almost brothers no one ever questioned why they were always together, and a hug or two wasn't suspicious to anyone. They actually still shared a room even after being offered their own separate ones multiple times.
Levi relaxed and placed a kiss an Arieh's lips, the pair relaxing in the sunshine together.
"So... Call it a tie then?" Arieh chuckles. Levi snorted and nuzzles his body against Arieh's soft fur, his exposed black scales warming under the sunlight. They had the castle mostly to themselves for a few hours since the king was away at some meeting and Levi had dismissed the guards and servants to their quarters.
After laying together for about an hour, Arieh felt Levi's stomach growl against him. "Oh right, we never went and got lunch. Want to get up and eat?" Arieh asked in a hushed voice.
"Nnngh... I want to eat, but I don't want to get up. This is the hardest decision of my life." Levi groaned while hugging Arieh tighter.
"Come on you big baby, lets get some food and we can bring it out to the courtyard. You just have to get off me first." The leopard teased from under Levi's bulk.
Levi huffed and rolled off, belly up to the sun. Arieh got to his feet and brushed dirt from his fur before offering his hand to the dragon. Levi grabbed it and stood up, shaking a bit to throw dirt from his scales. They picked up their swords and hung them on the rack inside the castle as they came in through the heavy wooden door. They wandered down the stone halls together, crystals on the wall glowing white and the air smelling like fresh bread. Holding hands loosely in case a servant or guard decided to emerge from their quarters for some reason. They made it to the kitchen without incident and let go of each other just in time as the door flew open and the chef dragon Aruzala came through carrying a plate with a loaf of his famous dragon flamed bread. "Ah, my lords! Just in time to try my latest batch of bread. I was actually going to look for you out in the courtyard, but you must of smelled my cooking and come running."
Arieh could practically feel Levi stiffen at the thought of Aruzala coming out on the courtyard while they were laying there. "Aheh. Yep, we sure did! Dropped our swords and came running." Arieh lied with a smile on his face. Aruzala chuckled and handed the plate to him "Well here you go boys, enjoy."
The chef dragon smiled again and returned to the kitchen, closing the door. Levi let out a loud sigh and let his muscles unclench. "F*****g hell... That was a close one. We got food though, that's something."
Arieh nodded and offered the plate to his dragon lover, having already pulled a piece from it. Levi pulled a large piece from it and started eating right away. Arieh however took small bites, he never really did like dragon loaf it just tasted like burnt bread with hints of iron. But everyone else seemed to love it, and apparently Aruzala made the best. Except "everyone" were dragons, Arieh was the only non dragon he had seen except a few humans and canines a long time ago. He always assumed dragon loaf was just a dragon taste thing.
The two made their way back to the court yard together and sat down under a tree near the edge, looking out over the edge of the large floating island the castle sat on. They could see the rest of the kingdom from here, all the islands and white marble buildings dotting the surface. Other dragons could easily be seen flying between islands, their colorful scales flashing the light of the sun as their wings carried them.
Levi noticed a large group of dragons though, flying towards the castle. About ten it looked, and they were wearing imperial dragon armor. "Dads on his way back!" Levi yelped.
"Yeah, so? He wasn't going to war or anything, just a meeting." Arieh explained, leaning back against the tree. 
"I know, I know, but shouldn't we... I don't know, I'm just nervous..." Levi looked down and put a hand on Arieh's leg.
"Hey, listen. It'll all be OK. You know why?" Levi shook his while Arieh spoke.
"Because I've got you. And you've got me, I know that. They won't find out, and if they ever do they will all just have to deal with it. I won't let them force you into anything you don't want. That's a promise, my prince of dragons."
Levi sniffed and wiped his eyes, hugging Arieh tightly before letting go and looking to see how close the group was. Levi's eyes widen and he shoved Arieh into the bushes and dived in after him.
"Shh! Don't make a sound, dad's got a prisoner beaten bloody... I want to see."
Arieh nodded but thought to himself about how he could of hidden much better on his own.
They waited for a few minutes until the group landed with the sound of rushing wind and clanking armor. two soldiers dropped and naked and bloody dragon on the courtyard. It landed on its hands and knees and collapsed, obviously hurt and exhausted.
Leviatis, in his heavy black and gold armor landed, listened to the whispering of one of the castle guards who had rushed out, and nodded. He glared down with an anger neither Levi or Arieh had seen before.
"You'll be staying in my castle, so I can give you my undivided attention while I squeeze the life from you, traitor." Leviatis growled, crouching to look in the eyes of the poor blue dragon.
"Take him to the dungeon, and make sure you aren't seen or you can lock yourselves in a cell"
The soldiers nodded and dragged the blue dragon into the castle. Leviatis dismissed the rest of them, and as they left he let out a sigh and shuffled his wings. "Alright Leviatis... Handle that later. Find your son's and let them know you're home." He said to himself as if trying to organize what he needed to do. The dragon King straightened up and entered the castle smiling, his sons watching from a bush.
Once the door closed and the courtyard was empty again the dragon and leopard crawled out from the Bush and looked at each other in confusion and fear.