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Sasha knew that the suggestion was a good idea and she couldn't argue with it. And yet...

She looked over at the couch and caught sight of Amir and used him as the distraction she needed for the moment, "Perhaps later... For now, I think it would be best for Amir to lay with Dancer. He's having a few issues at the moment that the energy in the healing cave will help with. Later, I think I need to speak with Amir's father. He's done a few things that he shouldn't have..." she said simply.

She hadn't turned Indra down on talking. But she wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. She was struggling with a few things, but she wasn't sure how to voice them yet.

For all of her age, Sasha was still relatively young for a dragon. Especially in experience... In many areas of her life... Truthfully, Indra was more experienced with life than Sasha was. She'd only ever lived on Sebastet's island or here in the dragon islands. She'd only ever been with Raid and Cedric. And she'd known a great deal of pain in her life.

Even as long-lived as she was, Sasha could still be considered innocent in alot of ways...

For now, she used the distraction. She shifted to her dragon form and gently picked up Amir from the couch then carried him into the healing cave to lay him next to Dancer. She put them close enough to cuddle if they needed to as they slept. She also included Amir in the healing she was doing. It was a little more of a drain, but she felt that it would be worth it in the end.

She shifted back to her human form and moved back into the living room, looking at Indra for a moment then she moved to the kitchen area to start getting things ready for dinner. She thought a stew would be good for tonight.

But as she started pulling out vegetables and meat, she suddenly couldn't remember if she'd eaten lunch. Had she done so? She hated it when she couldn't remember if she'd eaten. Healing two badly injured in such a short time could do that to her, but she never showed the strain that put on her.

"I was thinking of a stew for dinner. I'll have to wake Dancer up long enough for him to eat anyway. A stew would provide the needed nutrients for him to sleep as long as he needs to..." she said softly.

Finally, she gave a soft sigh and looked up to find Indra still looking at her and knew she'd have to give him something, "I don't know how Cedric died... He was away with his father when it happened... I was in the cave there... When I woke up, I simply knew he was gone. The crystals had healed me of the physical trauma from it. I'm just not sure how much I'm ready to share yet..." she admitted that much and hoped that he would understand....

Dancer moved to hold Amir to him, giving what comfort he could even as he stayed in the healing sleep Sasha had put him into. He shouldn't have been able to do anything with as deep as he'd been put under, but he still managed to give a touch of his brand of healing to Amir, unable to resist it.

Meanwhile, the healing energy surrounding them both worked on helping them both heal, no matter how long it would take or how deep the pain.


Sasha looked up at Indra briefly then continued to set up the stew, preparing some sweet tea as well. She used the work to keep her hands busy while she spoke in her soft voice, her face still in her usual serene and calm appearance.

"I was raised human. I didn't know I was a dragon until I met Raid. It was unexpected. He was quiet. He didn't like to speak unless he ha something important to say. But he had a nobility about him, and a gentleness that I needed at the time. Shortly after that, I found out that I was Bane's second daughter. He'd sent me away to keep me alive as an infant. He didn't know that the guards had sold me instead. They told him I'd died and he had no reason not to believe them.

"We had a year... Maybe a little longer... Then the attacks started... There was a power play in the dragon realm. Some wanted my sister to mate, others wanted her dead. Either way someone else would be on the throne. Then they found out about me and decided to eliminate me so I wouldn't be able to claim it. They managed to kill Raid and Bane's new mate within a week of each other.

"It was difficult for a while. We were both wrapped up in grief and pain, unable to comfort the other. Remember, I was still new to being a dragon. Every chance I got, I slipped away to practice flying. There was something about flying that I absolutely loved. I still do... I guess it's the freedom of it..." she paused there briefly, giving a soft blush as she remembered that talking about how she felt about flying shouldn't have been included.

"Anyway... I was out flying one day when some of them found me. I managed to get to the islands here, not far from Lao and Ebony's cave. I was hurt by then, some claw marks and bites. I was still so new to everything, you see... Then one of them got in a lucky hit and I crashed... I damaged my wings when I fell. Lao came to my aid, killed a few of them then chased off the rest. He got me to Ebony and she patched me up. Bane came and found me there. We moved to another cave in the mountains and he tried to take care of me. But we were still hurting... Then he left..." she paused there again as she moved the stew pot to the fire pit in the part of the cave that was sized for dragons then returned to finish making the sweet tea.

"A friend of Ebony's came to help her with me. My wings were still in splints and my injuries were taking a long time to heal. He got me from the cave and into the sunlight then into the water. We found the crystal cave that day. It was deep under the water back then. That crystal healed me and released my healing ability.

"Later, Lao raised this island for me and helped me furnish the caves here.

"I set up to heal other dragons here after they stopped trying to kill me. I still think Lao had something to do with that, though I can't prove it.

"After a while, I considered Sleeping," she mentioned a very old condition some dragons fell into. A sleep-state where they dropped into such a deep state of hybernation that they were often mistaken for actual stone. Such a state could last for years. It was rumored that some dragons had fallen into Sleep before humans evolved and were still Sleeping even now...

"Well, that day, Cedric showed up to ask for my help. Apparently Dancer had been hurt badly and they'd asked Cedric to come ask me to heal him," she couldn't help the small smile as she remembered that day, "He was arrogant, full of swagger and self-importance. He'd been raised by his angel-father and knew very little of his mother's people. I agreed to help and healed Dancer that day. Cedric tried to charm me, then he outright seduced me.

"He was so different from Raid... One was a gentle quiet, the other an arrogant tornado..." she gave a soft sigh as she let the memories fade along with her small smile.

"Cedric and I raised one clutch. They all developed his angelic powers and had to go to the angels to train. I haven't seen them since. Cedric always told me how they were doing, how proud he was of them..." her voice faded there as she realized that she wouldn't be hearing about them any more.

She took in a slow breath to steady herself as she realized just how alone she was now. But she didn't let that show. She'd deal with it later, when she could be alone. She'd always cried in private, dealt with pain in private. It was what she'd always done and was now a very hard habit to break.

By now, she had the stew over the fire to simmer and the sweet tea in the icebox. She had also gotten bread put together and ready to bake near the fire, all she had to do was put it in place.

She didn't realize she'd talked so long. It had all simply come out.

She finally looked up at him and offered a small smile as she laid a bread-towel over the bread dough on the table, "I think I need to lay down for a little bit. I'll get the bread done when I get up. It's been a busy day..." she offered as she moved past him to her room, blinking her eyes a bit more than usual.

She managed to get to the bed and laid down with her back to the doorway, letting out a soft sigh that shook as the tears simply started flowing. In that one moment, as she'd looked up at Indra, she'd realized that she was alone again. She knew it, of course. But in that moment, she'd fully felt it and the emotions had simply overwhelmed her.

It was probably the first time he'd seen her upset in any way in the time he'd been here...

Sasha stiffened when Indra sat on the bed, thinking that she needed to get up for something. Then he moved to lay behind her and put his arms around her, silently holding her. She knew that he'd be able to feel the tiny shudders moving through her as she silently cried and knew that there was no hiding it now. After a moment of him simply holding her, she relaxed into him and let him hold her as she cried.

She didn't know how long she cried. She actually lost time with it this time. She stayed quiet for a little bit after her tears stopped, now noticing that Indra was holding her tighter against him and that it made her feel...

"I've always been alone more than being with someone... My adoptive parents died when I was young... The village on Sebastet's island raised me... I didn't have Raid very long... Bane wasn't with me long before he left... I had a little while with Cedric but then he died... Our brood left to live their own lives... I'm alone again... Part of me wishes it wasn't like this... It just hit me that I'm alone again... I know I have to get used to it but..." she said in a hoarse whisper, her voice a little raw from crying but soft enough that only Indra would be able to hear her.

As a healer, she had to be steady and serene, calm and collected... She couldn't let anyone see her like this because it would undermine her ability to get others to trust her when she needed them to. Especially other dragons. They were a volatile lot on a good day. When they were injured? Well... They were a nightmare... So she couldn't let anyone else see her like this. She wasn't sure about Indra seeing her like this. But there was something about him holding her right now that changed something for her... She wasn't sure what it was but it made her open up right now.

There had been one moment a few days ago... She'd left the door open when she had to change her dress and Indra had gotten a glimpse of her bare back. Her back was covered in nasty scars. When she was in dragon form, those scars showed as greyed scales against her usually lustrous scales. They carried over as physical scars in her human form. Admittedly, she had other scars, but Indra had gotten a brief look at some of them.

He knew why she wore the dresses that she did. They hid her scars. She'd always been sensitive about those scars. Cedric hadn't minded them, but he hadn't talked about them either.

Sasha was still sensitive about those, considering them to be a flaw that no one would look past.

"I still don't know what Cedric saw in me... I don't know why he chose me... I loved him, but I don't think I was enough... I know I wasn't strong enough... I'm still not... I wasn't strong enough to save Raid... I wasn't strong enough to help my father when he needed me... Now I'm not strong enough to protect my home... After everything... I have to wonder why I keep going..." she admitted in an even softer whisper.

She could never have said any of it while looking at him. She didn't think she could admit to being weak while looking at him. She hated that she'd never been strong. She wasn't even strong as a dragon. Her only abilities were healing, flying, and keeping a home. All the males she'd known preferred a strong female, one that could defend themselves instead of being a burden.

This was what Sasha hid from everyone. No one had ever known this about her. She'd never told anyone about it. But this was what she hid behind that serene exterior that she showed to everyone. And in this moment, she softly admitted it to Indra...

Of course, she never really realized that some males preferred a female that wasn't a fighter, one that kept a home and family, one that nurtured and needed protection. Some males preferred that kind of female rather than one that rushed into danger. Some preferred a female that did need them... But... Sasha hadn't encountered very many of them...

She did listen to him. And somewhere in it, she stopped crying. After he finished speaking, she waited a bit longer then moved a bit. She knew he thought she was planning on getting up but she turned instead and curled up with her face in his chest.

She missed being held like this. She missed someone caring enough about her that they simply wanted to hold her and make her feel safe. She missed someone holding her like she mattered to them...

She was exhausted. She'd done alot of healing today, put together a meal, kneaded bread dough, and cried herself out. As she buried herself into Indra's chest and inhaled his scent she fell asleep before she knew it was coming. Indra knew her well enough by now to know that she'd sleep for a few hours then get up and get herself back to working herself into exhaustion. He also knew by now that she didn't sleep peacefully unless she was exhausted.

Indra had been with her for over two weeks by now and had learned alot of her habits by now as well as the fact that she was plagued by nightmares.


He got to hold her like that for about an hour before he could hear the sound of wings outside the cave. But when he managed to get away from her to check on it, it wasn't anyone he would have expected...

Michael the archangel raised an eyebrow as he caught sight of Indra and simply settled his four wings behind him so that he could enter the living area of the cave, already able to tell that Sasha was asleep. He kept his gaze on Sasha's doorway but spoke to Indra, "When do you expect her to wake? I need to speak to her," he asked, knowing that his tone came across as arrogant and imperious but there wasn't any helping it. Still, for her sake, he would try to tone it down.

He didn't need her mad at him again...

He finally turned to look at the male and easily guessed why he was here, "I take it that you were sent to protect her? Good. Because there's another threat to her. I would have come sooner but I had to check the validity of the threat first. There were rumors..." he shook his head and moved to the cave entrance to look outside, making sure that the place was still save, "I'm Michael, by the way. I promised my son I'd protect her and I mean to keep that promise. The threat is coming, but even you will need a little help for this one," he stated firmly, determined to keep Sasha safe, then ask her forgiveness for staying away for so long. But he'd had to make sure...

Michael glanced at him over his shoulder for a moment then turned to look at Sasha's doorway again before he refocused on the male and spoke again, "Humans being aided by a few disgruntled dragons. Funded by the Church, and being aided by an idiot that will regret stepping on this pathway," he said simply then turned to look outside again.

"I have no idea when they'll be here. It could be today, it could be the day after tomorrow. But I was told that it would happen soon. Unfortunately, I got a little carried away when the informant told me that Sasha was the next target," he paused there and considered that momentary laps in judgement, "My blade slipped..." he admitted, his tone a little harder on that line than on anything else.

After a moment, he cleared his throat and continued normally, "I made a promise to keep her safe. I will not be foresworn," he added before moving back on to the important facts.

"They attacked Ebony. Stupid move, if you ask me... She left one alive then gave him over to me to question. In the process, I found out a lot of information once he was properly motivated to speak. Apparently, someone didn't like a dragon mating with an angel, then objected to one of those hybrids breeding further. They went after Cedric and their children. I didn't know it was a trap or I would have acted sooner, I swear it. Now, they plan on capturing her and doing some rather nasty things that do not need to be repeated," he looked at Indra again, his face a hard mask of determination and anger.

"I plan on making sure that they do not succeed..." he finished with the important information then considered the male a little differently this time.

He gave a soft sigh and spoke in a softer tone, "My son told me something once... 'Instinct is the most basic truth a dragon knows. I don't plan on ignoring it. She deserves to be loved and cherished as the gift she is. If I can make her smile or laugh just one more time then my life was well-spent.' ... He was speaking of Sasha, of course. I didn't understand it at first. But I did later. She was never meant for living alone. She deserves to be loved, perhaps more than most. She gives without any thought of herself; sometimes she gives too much. She needs someone that can love and cherish her just as much as someone that can pull her back from doing too much. And you deserve to be loved as well..." he said softly then turned to look outside again.

"I'm going to see if I can spot anyone. Make what preparations you need to," he finished simply before stepping outside to see if he could spot where they'd be attacking from....

Michael landed as Indra came outside to join him and shook his head, "They're already here. They landed their boats at the other side of the island. They're being well-concealed for the moment. I suspect they've either got a Priest with them or-" he paused and looked up, "Ah... Well, three dragons seems a bit excessive, but makes sense," he gave a shrug over the three figures flying high in the sky. They were high enough that detecting details was difficult.

Michael considered the possibilities then made a decision, "Wake her. She'll be able to defend herself if one of them manages to get inside the cave. I don't intend them to be able to, but I never claim to be overly arrogant, just arrogant enough," he instructed then gave him the next bit, "I'll man the entrance to the cave. You take care of the flying idiots. Leave one alive if you can," he added, knowinf that it was the best split of resources.

He wasn't sure of the exact number of humans they had to deal with, but he had no porblem sending them to their maker to answer for their mistakes. While he'd been commanded to love them, that didn't mean that he avoided disciplining them whenever needed. It seemed that it was needed this time.



Inside the healing cave, Dancer frowned as he fought against the sleep-command from Sasha. Eventually he managed to break it and woke up Amir as well, "Amir... There's a problem..." he said softly, sending his own powers out to detect any threats to the island. He found the fanatical humans easily. Finding Michael was a bit of a shock, though. Still he ignored it for now, "Apparently there's only one dragon and one archangel to defend Sasha. What do you say to evening the odds with a leopard and a hyaena?" he finished with a teasing half smile.

He knew they'd be able to work together easily, even in a fight. And they would be unexpected.

For now, Dancer was healed enough for this. Amir would have been fully healed and able to process that he needed to speak to his father later. But, for now at least, there was a threat to be eliminated and Dancer was giving him a teasing smile that couldn't be resisted. Especially when he leaned in and gave him a teasing kiss that would hint at rewards to come after the fight.

Sasha was confused at first but quickly got the point and simply nodded to Indra before he left. She moved over to her dresser and pulled out a different set of clothes than what she usually wore, quickly changing. She now wore a pair of dark grey tights, a pair of black ankle-boots, and a t-shirt in dark grey as well. She braided her hair down then coiled it to her head, working as fast as she could so that it would be contained and wouldn't be in a position to be a weakness.


While she was changing, Michael drew his sword and stationed himself at the main entrance of the cave, determined to protect Sasha this time.


In the Healing cave, Dancer gave a teasing flash of a playful grin he hadn't used in a very long time and started to remove his clothes. No sense in letting them get ripped up, after all. He simply grinned again at the heat in Amir's eyes before he shifted to his snow leopard.

Admittedly, the snow leopard was one of the smaller large cats, but because he was a shifter, Dancer was larger than the natural counterpart. Still, he knew that Amir's hyaena would be larger than he was. Yet, he didn't mind that. He liked the fact that Amir's hyaena was larger than his leopard.

Still, he gave a playful chuffing sound and a curl of his long tail then moved for the cave entrance with Amir's hyaena hot on his tail.


Sasha saw them both as she made it to the living area of the cave and shook her head, "Dancer, be careful. You're not fully healed yet. I know better than to keep you back so I'll advise caution instead," she said simply, wondering if she was losing her touch with her sleep commands...

Dancer gave her a nod and headed outside with Amir, both of them managing to flank Michael in the process.

The angel looked down at them and shook his head, "It figures..." he muttered and shook his head a bit, "Humans on the island. They're here to capture Sasha. They may have a Priest with them. The plan is to send them to repent to their maker personally. If one can be kept alive for further questioning, it would be useful," he said simply, his eyes focused on the direction away from the beach.

Dancer simply gave a growling chuffing sound and moved off with Amir following him. Thankfully, Sasha had allowed the rest of the island to grow as it wanted to. That meant that Dancer had treelimbs to prowl up high, allowing him to focus on his hunting strength of stealth. And Amir had the trees and grass to hide his approach so that he could use the bone-crushing jaws his species was famous for.


Overhead, they could easily hear the battle in the sky. Meanwhile, they started stalking and killing idiots, allowing a few through for the archangel to deal with...


Sasha hesitated inside, hating, yet again, that she was so bad at defending herself. Someone always had to protect her...

She finally shook her head and collected the small dagger Cedric had given her and secured it at the small of her back under her shirt. He'd taught her to use it, but she'd never felt confident with it. Still, it was better than nothing...

She could already hear the sounds of fighting outside and had to fight her instincts to rush outside to try to help. Her one weakness... She had to heal...

She was so distracted by what was going on outside that she didn't hear the one that had snuck in through one of the emergency exits...

Dancer wasn't normally a violent personality. He was a soul healer, after all. But he did have to admit that he was actually enjoying taking out these idiots...

He freely admitted that he wanted them dead. They were threatening Sasha, one of the sweetest and kindest people he knew. For them to threaten her in any way, quite frankly, royally pissed him off to a level that he'd never felt before. It was like kicking a puppy or beating a baby, maybe like sacrificing a kitten on the alter at high holiday... He really couldn't think of anything bad enough for a comparison with this one...

He knew that Amir was enjoying it because they were doing something together. And he was too. But this one also felt personal for him.

He moved along one branch, tracking a small group of the idiots while Amir was tracking around the side of them when he overheard something that chilled him, "That priest is a little off his rocker... No idea why he's so intent on this one. So what if she got together with a half-angel? So what if they successfully had offspring? I know he's already seen to it that the male and offspring are all dead. Why is he still getting off on this one? I don't care how much they're paying us for it, capturing a dragon to torture them later? Just doesn't feel right to me... We don't do torture..." one of them said, making Dancer pause on the branch to see what else would be said.

"No idea. We're not paid to think, you know. We just do the job. He's in charge of her once we get her. All we're here for is in case she's got someone else with her. So stop your grousing and do the job," came the reply from one of the others.

Dancer didn't like the sound of any of this...

He waited for them to shift a bit more then dropped down on one of them, easily breaking the man's neck before making a leap to grab the throat of another one.

Thankfully, he'd startled them. Unfortunately, he'd startled them...

One of them managed to get a shot off before Amir could get the other two with the satisfying sound of bone getting crushed. Dancer was grateful that it was just a graze but he knew he'd have to assure Amir before they could continue. So he shifted back to his human form and revealed that the graze moved along his ribs on the right side, "I'm okay, Amir. I promise. It's just a graze. But we have another problem. I think someone was able to take a different route to get to Sasha. We have to get back now," he told the hyaena, giving a smile as he leaned in to press his forehead to Amir's before he shifted back to his leopard.

He ignored the blood on him as he simply turned and started running back towards the cave, knowing that Amir would be hot on his tail...


Inside the cave, Sasha could hear Michael fighting some of the humans that managed to slip past Dancer and Amir. She could also hear the dragon fight easily. She was trying her best to not rush outside and help those getting hurt, knowing that Michael would have some choice words for her over that one.

But thanks to the chaos outside, she didn't hear the man sneaking up behind her until he managed one sound right behind her. She turned in shock just in time for him to easily knock her down with him on top of her, his hands going to her throat.

"I'm supposed to just capture you but I cannot allow you to live. Not only did you breed with that abomination, but you actually produced offspring with it. I've made sure that none of them survived. I even took down that half-breed that polluted the angelic lines. Now I'm going to take you down as well. They want you so that they can figure out how you managed to heal. But I can't allow you to live..." he said in a low voice, the evil grin on his face showing how fanatical he was, how much he believed in exactly what he was doing.

He'd just revealed that he had somehow managed to kill Cedric and the only children she'd had...

He had her arms pinned at her sides as he straddled her and started to strangle her. The combination of his weight on top of her and his hands at her throat was making it hard for her to do anything. She kicked her feet, trying to make enough noise for someone to notice and come to help her. She couldn't get to the blade in her boot or the one at her back. She couldn't do anything but kick her feet as her vision started to darken around the edges and tears spilled from her eyes...

He was on top of her long enough that she barely heard someone else run into the cave and simply tackle the man off of her, turning her onto her side as she tried to gasp for air, coughing as she put her hands to her throat.


Michael had managed to keep anyone from going into the main entrance, his sword easily and quickly ending their lives. But he had to frown when he saw Indra land and start running towards him, finally realizing that he was running for the cave. He turned and ran in behind him, finding Sasha on her side gasping and coughing with a hand to her throat.

He waited a bare moment then had to speak up, "Indra! Leave him to me. See to Sasha!" he basically ordered him as he moved to stand over the priest with his sword at his throat for a moment before leaning down to haul him up by the front of his shirt with a glare. Instantly, the priest knew who had him and started babbling about everything he'd ever done before Michael simply used the pommel of his sword to knock him out


When Indra moved over to her, Sasha first flinched away from him. But then she caught his scent and reached out for him, still coughing and gasping, trying to breathe through her abused throat.


Dancer and Amir ran in shortly after and Dancer slid to a stop beside Sasha and Indra, shifting to his human form on the way. He caught the damage to her throat and growled, "I overheard a couple of them talking... He was supposed to capture her and take her back alive... This looks like he was trying to kill her... They also said he'd somehow killed Cedric and their children... I don't know how, but..." he shook his head and changed the subject, "Take her to her bed. I don't know how she uses the crystals in the cave but I think we can help her. Amir and I seem to make a good team," he said simply, not touching her as Sasha tried to pull herself into Indra's body, still crying from fear and relief that he'd come back.