Rylie DeMari's Story

People in downtown stared as the new comers moved into their new home. There were all dressed differently than the locals. The men and woman flashed a smile at those who watched and made sure to put on a small show for them, especially if they wanted customers while they stayed in the city. But the real reason they were here was a secret. They had to get the redheaded man and leave. James was waiting on them.

Beluar woke early so he could do his chores on his family's property before heading over to Ofelias. Once there he read the note and did exactly what she told him. He started with reading up on the dragons he would be taken care of, then he went clean stalls. After he decided to take the whistle and go out to the spot she took him. If he was going to name the dragon, he should at least pick the one he liked best.

He blew the whistle and the dragon flew down, staring at him. "Okay, buddy. It is time to name you. I will start to name one and you make a sign that you like it, okay?" The dragon tilted its head and blinked. "Okay... first one, Zaineit." The dragon did nothing again, but blinked. So Beluar went on to the next one, "How about, Gammaintenth." The dragon's eyes glared at him. He had listed five more names and was shut down by the dragon. Beluar walked around him and thought about it, "Okay okay, how about, Regha?" The dragon got up and nuzzled him. Beluar laughed and petted him, "Regha it is."

"That is pretty cool that you own a dragon." A voice came from the side of them. Regha screeched at him. Beluar partially held him back with his body. "He is my boss', if you are looking for her she isn't here. Also... please never sneak up on a dragon." Beluar turned around and motioned with his hand like Ofelia did and Regha stared at the stranger before taking off.

Rylie looked up and watched the dragon fly off. He was actually interested in this new guy and that dragon. "Sorry... new here and kind of stumbled on to you and the dragon. I am Rylie Demari." He walked closer to Beluar and reached out his hand. Beluar took his hand and shook it. Rylie's grip was firm, but not too firm. "It is fine, just... get someone if you want to look at them or something. I am Beluar Keavaris. My family owns the property next to here. So what brings you to the island?"

They walked to the hatchery, "Family business... so do you train the dragons too?" He asked, changing the subject quickly so Beluar would avoid asking him what the business was.

"I just started today actually." He chuckled and opened the door and waiting for Rylie to go in before picking up one of the babies and closing the door. He put the baby where it should be and wrote Regha's name on the bottom of the paper. "But I believe Regha is my responsibility now."

"Just started? You look like you have been handling dragons for sometime." He leaned against a pole and looked down at Beluar. Beluar pulled down his shirt, feeling a bit uncomfortable with being stared out. Rylie looked like a cool guy, something out of his league to even have a friendship with.

"Well dragons are just bigger livestock and I work on my family's farm, so. If you want I am done here and I can show you around."

"Sounds good." Beluar nodded and lead him out of the hatchery and closed it carefully before showing him around the ranch, his family's farm, and the lake.

Lorelei blinked and shrugged, "You couldn't really see them without me anyway." She closed the door before walking with Adrian to the ranch. Her brother was working there and she saw the familiar man he had been hanging out with a lot lately. "Hey Bel... and Bel's boyfriend."

Beluar turned around and glared at her, "He isn't my boyfriend, he is just a friend. What are you and YOUR boyfriend up to?" Lorelei looked up at him. She didn't know what to call him, "Adrian has a tooth fetish and wants to check out the dragons and their teeth." She said.

Rylie was smiling. Beluar and him had been hanging out a lot, he liked it. It gave him something to do when he didn't have to work. He had the house to himself since Ollie had quit and was pregnant. He liked Beluar, but Beluar seemed to only like girls, so he didn't really force anything on him. Rylie just flirted with him on occasion to get a blush out of him. "Well most of them are in hibernation, but we have some winter dragons if you want to check them out... though I suggest you don't mess with their teeth. Sorry, Adrian." He said.

Bel and Rylie walked together with Lorelei and Adrian. It was a bit of a walk and Lorelei stayed quiet the whole time. She was slowly slipping back. They got to the dragons and Bel side step so he could walk into one of the stalls.

Adrian walked along with them, he didnt comment on the tooth fetish thing, or being called Lorelei's boyfriend. He wasnt sure if he could be called that though. Lorelei didnt say anything to correct it either, so he just let it be. They walked to the stalls and Adrians eyes got big. "Aww I cant? That's not fun at all" He sighed, getting a bored look on his face. Then he turned just in time to hear the pitter patter of feet running towards them.



Ofelia looked out her window just in time to see Lorelei and Adrian walk past and meet up with Bel, and Bel's boyfriend?..Ofelia wasnt sure, but he hung around a lot while Bel was working. Not that she really minded. She remembered she had a question for Lorelei but when she looked back they were gone. She wanted to catch them while they were still around so she ran out the door and kept running to the stables. She stopped and rested with her hands on her knees, panting slightly. "Good...I caught you..." She said before catching her breath completely and standing up. "I can...Still ride the dragons..Right..?" She said, playing with the hem of her sweater.

Adrian seemed to get bored and she wondered if she could leave no since he knew his way around. Her face was back to the lifeless dead girl. Lorelei heard running and turned around to see Ofelia. She took a deep breath. "Running can put strains on..." She stopped mid sentence and thought about it before continuing. "Actually... I think you would be good running... though if you feel like something is wrong, any little thing, come to me. I will be home a lot more now. So please don't hesitate. Also, I don't see why you can't fly... unless you fall off and die... but other than that the baby should be fine. Also... could Adrian look at the dragon's teeth. He needs them for dental records or something... just in case one of his bodies is bitten. He can rule if it is a dragon bite or not." Her face was as emotionless as her voice.

Adrian looked over at Lorelei, her face had gone lifeless again and he didnt like it. But there wasnt much he could do about it at this point. He'd have to wait and see how things went in the morning. He didnt really need to look at the teeth for dental records, there hadnt been a dragon attack in years. Well other than the lab rat, but he never got that body. But he put on a smile and nodded. He was only just curious about the teeth since he had never seen a dragon up close.



Ofelia blinked a couple of times and then gave a giant sigh of relief. "Oh good...I woldnt get anything done around here if I couldnt so thats a giant relief..." She paused and thought for a second when Lorelei asked about the teeth. Did she want him poking around and learning about their teeth? She decided it didnt matter since he dragons didnt bite people, they were too well trained. "I dont mind. The dragons wont either, theyre used to me poking around in their mouths, so it wouldnt be an issue. Its a weird request though. " He said putting her hand on her hip before taking a dragon out and having it sit with its mouth open. "Only this one for now though, this is the only breed I have that stays awake during the winter. Well that had teeth big enough to really look at closely." She said. Adrian poked around at the teeth for a minute before shrugging and walking back over to Lorelei. Ofelia raised an eyebrow. "So does he just not speak or is it just around me?" She joked a little. Adrian just looked a tad confused. "Oh, Beluar, I need to talk to you about your friend in a minute too." She said with a smile.

Lorelei stayed in the background when everything went down. She didn't care about the teeth, only the scales. She looked over at her brother and his friend. Rylie was staring down at Bel like how Rowan stared at Roshia. He caught her staring and smiled, pressing a finger to his lips. Bel was oblivious to it all. Her brother was dense, so unless you said everything straight up he wouldn't get it. Lorelei looked back when she heard walking and saw Adrian coming back towards her. Then Ofelia asked the question, "He speaks... just not very much. Thanks again for letting him poke around. Remember to take it a bit easy and if anything, and I mean ANYTHING, feels strange or out of the ordinary you come to me." Her emotionless face change for a moment to that of a parent being a bit stern with that child. She turned and headed away from the ranch and out of the village. "Did you get it out of your system?" She asked him in a monotone voice.

Beluar and Rylie stayed put. Bel looked over at Ofelia, "You wanted to talk, boss?" He asked.

"The curiousity? No. Kill me if it ever does. I'd be dead inside anyways. Just end it for me at that point, it would be cruel to let me live." He said raither plainly as they walked. "I hant realized that I apparently dont speak very much. Do you think she thought I was mute? I probably should have said something when she asked but i was busy thinking and forgot to.." He sighed. He looked down at her for a second, she was just as emotionless as when they met. Adrian didnt know what to do, and found himself reaching over and grabbing her hand as they walked. He didnt know why but he felt like that what needed to be done.



"I wanted to offer your friend a job if he's up for it. Lor's restricted me from doing pretty much any of the work I normally do since i'm pregnant and all. So I have to hire someone new while im on restrictions anyways. And he's already here with you most of the time. He wont get his own dragon to watch over till spring when they wake up and I can evaluate him though. He'll need to do the same thing you did once i pick a breed for him." She said glancing over at Rylie. She needed to get a feel for his personality before matching him with one. But she figured if he was going to be around, he could help with the work and make some extra money.

Lorelei looked down at her hand. His hand was warm while hers was cold. She blushed and held his as if she wouldn't let go. There was a small playground her father and Ofelia's father had built together sometime ago. She decided to lead him there instead of the one in the city. Lorelei didn't want to let go of his hand so she didn't sit on the swing. Instead she turned around and looked up at him. "My father and Ofelia's father built this some time ago. I used to come here when I couldn't think and needed to clear my head... or when I needed to get out of the house when I was sick." She said softly. Emotion had crept back to her face as she looked down.

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Rylie looked down at her, "Sure, I can help if it helps you and Bel. I have nothing to do during the day so I am open for it. Oh... and uh congrats on the kid. Kids are cute, especially the ones who waddle when they walk." He laughed.

Bel looked up at him and smiled. "That would be a big help. There is one of the smaller dragons that seem to be smitten with him. If she wasn't in a stall she would follow with him, but I think she is learning to climb up the door." He laughed nervously before looking at her.

Adrian walked with her quietly to what seemed like a park, though it was older and looked like no one had used it in a minute. She didnt pull away so he kept holding her hand. "They knew each other? I guess that makes sense though, theyre neighbors. It must have been nice to grow up with a neighbor like that." Adrian got lost in thought for a minute. "I wonder why it took so long for them to get married then..." He said, more thinking out loud than anything else. He was talking about Ofelia and Nasir of course. If they lived so close they must have known each other when they were growing up. He shrugged. "Maybe it was the jitters" He sighed.




Ofeila smiled and nodded. "Well unfortunately she gets shipped out in the spring, its too warm for her here in the summer, so she goes to a man up in the mountains where she can stay cool enough" She said patting the dragons head and putting her back on the stable. "And please dont laugh at me when I start to waddle, thats not gonna be cute at all" She said with a drawn out sigh. "Anyways, Beluar can show you the ropes, he does his job well. If I catch you two kanoodling at work you're both done for though." She winked and started to walk away but then stopped and turned again. "Oh, and dont mess with the Airi too much, Bel knows what im talking about. The new species i'm raising. I'll take care of the work for them myself. You two can look, but dont handle them till ive finished training all of them, please." She said then went to meet Rowan, who was supposed to be helping her take one to show Roshia.

Lorelei shook her head. "The family sort of stopped talking to each after an incident back when I was six. I couldn't go out, of course, but I saw from the window. Beluar was outside with my father and the were practice fighting, but my father had to go out in the back to get something... I don't remember. I saw a dragon coming for Bel full force, I really don't know how he isn't afraid of them now, but it attacked Bel and I can still hear his scream and remember his face. My father came running... he was also so fast. I never knew a man could so easily kill a dragon, but my father did. It was a new dragon that Ofelia's dad was about to start training, but it got out somehow. I thought my father was going to kill her's that day. The look on his face... but my sister patched him up, I got to watch. We stopped talking to them for a long time, until Nasir saved Ofelia from a falling tree." She realized she was still holding his hand. Lorelei wanted to ask them what they were, but she didn't know if he knew the answer himself. Did it really matter when he was about to leave?

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Rylie chuckled at the thought of Ofelia waddling around with a tummy. "Aw, she was my best gal, but if it means she is safe, how can I deny her that?" He chuckled again.

"We are just friends." Bel sighed, hanging his head low. Rylie patted his back smiling. "If they think we are that close, we are good friends." Rylie said reassuring. He looked up at Ofelia, "I appreciate you letting me help around the place. I think your dragons are pretty cool. I promise, no kanoodling. And I won't touch the new dragons." He said before she walked off. Bel sighed defeated and took him to start cleaning.

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Roshia hadn't left her bed unless she had to use the bathroom or eat. It was only day one and she was going nuts. "I am going to end myself if I have to do this for two damn months." She growled at her empty room. Rowan was somewhere in the house... or was out. She didn't know. Her mother had brought her books that taught her how to crochet, she was going to start that once her body was calm enough. She just wanted to go walk.

"Ooooh. Well thats an interesting story. Nothing since then huh? Ofelia must have a better hold on them, even though shes so little. Maybe she is scary and she just doesnt let us see it...Hm.." He thought about things for a second. It was kind of unnering that she had lots of dragons at her disposal and could destroy the whole island in a day if she felt like it. But Ofelia herself seemed harmless enough. "You think they fell in love because of the tree incident? Nah that would be silly. Thats just a momentary rush of adrenaline and endorphin's, it would have been a temporary feeling." He said, trying to figure out the whole love thing.




Rowan was up and in the kitchen drinking coffee before he had to go outside and help Ofelia with her animal or whatever it was. Some weird mythical beast Ofelia had talked about since she was little. He hoped they were bringing her some kind of hapiness while Nasir was gone. He finished his cup and peeked into the bedroom. "I'm goin out to get Ofelia and her...Uhh..Whatcha-ma-callit." He said before disappearing out of the door and walking to Ofelia's where she met him at the front gate with the animal already on a lead. "I thought you were waiting on me to do that. " He scolded her. "Well it was easy and she didnt fight it..." Ofelia said, handing the lead over to Rowan. They walked back to the lake, to the house again and Rowan went in to let Roshia know. "Hey, she's here, and this things really super adorable. You might just die." He said with a smile on his face as he helped her up and into a sweater, then taking her out to the porch where Ofelia stood with the dainty black deer like Animal.

Since Ofelia got pregnant Beluar had more work put on him, which he didn’t mind it kept him busy, but then Rylie came on board and it was a bit more fun. He seemed more natural at taking care of the dragons than Beluar, who was actually born and raised on a farm. He cleaned out stalls with ease. He could get two done where it took Beluar to do two. Rylie never complained about it though, he would just end up help Beluar finish his up.

Rylie had a habit of picking on him when it came to things being too far up so he couldn’t reach. Or taking his tools and putting them in places he would have to climb and get. Beluar’s reactions always had him chuckling or laughing. Beluar didn’t mind, it was rare that he was laughing or even smiling. There was always a neutral look on his face and rarely was there a smile, maybe a smirk, but never a full-blown smile or laugh.

Now the two were on break from work. They stayed in the barn since it was too cold to stay outside. Beluar laid in the hay while Rylie leaned back against his hands, hanging his head back, eyes closed. “It is crazy how Ofelia had all of this to do by herself. How did she have time to even get to know my brother?” Beluar asked, mostly to the air.

Rylie was silent for a bit, “I guess when you have done it for so long it is easier and you can do it quicker, but then there is you and me.” He smiled looking over at Beluar. He glared at Rylie and sighed.

“Go away Rylie, with your good points.” Beluar laughed. They got silent for a moment, “So you know how I was telling you about Violet the florist and how she straight up thinks I am some kid and I bother her?” Rylie nodded. “I think she is ignoring me now. I haven’t seen her in a good while. I mean… I haven’t really been back to her shop, but when I see her riding she doesn’t seem to even look at me.”

Rylie laid down next to Beluar, his arms placed behind his head, “I told you, you can’t just creep from the sidelines. You actually need to go up to her.” He said.

Beluar sighed and rolled on his side to look at Rylie. Rylie glanced at him, but he didn’t turn to him. He found Beluar to be extremely cute. He liked the way he always blushed when he ruffled his hair or the fact that he was so eager to learn. Beluar had the drive that Rylie was missing. “I did… when she was riding her horse the first time. I tried talking to her, but she seemed to brush it off.” He pouted and Rylie saw. He had to fight the urge to run his thumb over his lip. “Plus, it has been months… I give up.” He sighed.

Rylie shook his head, “Maybe she just wasn’t the one, dude. There are other ladies out there.” He said.
Beluar glared at him, “Easy for you to say. You have almost every woman in the city pining for you.” He said before laying back on his back. “Are you ever going to tell me what your night job is?” He asked.

Rylie blinked, “One day.” Was all he said. He didn’t want to tell him what he did just yet or the fact he was a part of the group who kidnapped his brother. Or the fact that he was the one who would go in and out of Elwin’s house at night. He was scared, for once, about what would happen if Beluar found out about that. He liked Beluar a lot more than just a friend, but he also didn’t want to lose him.

“One day… I am just going to have to sneak around and find out.” Beluar smiled. Rylie’s face changed to anger. Beluar had never seen him angry before and he was scared.

“Please don’t do that, Bel.” Rylie said, his voice was deep. It sent chills down Beluar’s spine.

“Okay… I won’t.” He replied, his voice was low and soft. Rylie turned on his stomach and rubbed Beluar’s hair softly and his hand lingered a bit longer than it should have. His face didn’t show anger anymore, it was softer and apologetic. Beluar blushed but didn’t say anything. He didn’t know why his heart was pounding so fast.

“We should get finished. I have to shower and get ready for tonight.” Rylie said and stood, holding his hand out. Beluar grabbed it and Rylie plucked him up like he weighed nothing. They were so close to each other that they could feel the heat coming off each other. Rylie fought the urge to tip Beluar’s chin back and kiss him. Beluar couldn’t understand why Rylie was looking at him like that or why his heart was pounding in his chest. Rylie was the one to move away and head back to the stalls. He looked back at Beluar and smirked, “You coming, Kid?” He asked.

Beluar playfully glared, “I am not a kid and yes I am coming.” He said and hurried to meet up with Rylie.

Beluar had rushed to the flower store when he had heard that Roshia was giving birth. He almost slide into the door while trying to open it. Rylie seemed to only have jogged and Beluar curse his short legs. "What a way to make an entrance, Bel." He chuckled. "S-Shut up, Ry." Beluar blushed before looking over the flowers. "I don't know what to get for babies or their mothers." He said, pouting a bit. Rylie looked around and saw Violet, the girl Beluar was really into.

"Hello, Miss? Can you help up pick some flowers for his sister. She is giving birth to twins and we don't have an idea of what we are doing." He chuckled. He had put on his escort personality. Beluar had called him out om his job and was actually hurt more that he didn't tell him than the fact that he had helped with the kidnapping of his brother.

Beluar turned around and blushed a bit. Rylie tried to teach him how to talk to girls without looking like a complete mess. It was still a work in process.

Violet was walking out from the back of the shop when she watched someone almost slide into the front door, though she didnt realize it was Beluar at first. She stifled a giggle as he and a friend of his walked in. Violet made herself busy behind the counter as they looked over the flowers. She turned and smiled at the the man who spoke up first. "Oh of course." She said putting down the flowers she was holding and walking over to a wall of flowers. "Well, babies breath is always a safe choice, lavender and Lilys would be nice too. I've got some pink carnations in the back too if she had girls, theyd look pretty with the babies breath." She said then peeked around the man in front of her to see Beluar, they hadnt talked in a good while, but she remembered him. "Oh, Hello Beluar. Its been a minute since ive seen you. Congrats on the nieces or nephews." She said leaning forward slightly and smiling at him.

Beluar blushed, "H-Hello, yeah... uhm... it seems like we were both busy." He laughed nervously, "Oh and thank you. I think they are girls... I am pretty sure they are." He walked closer to the counter and could see Rylie want to faceplam. Beluar was trying his best. "I have no idea what any of those look like except baby's breath, maybe you could make a couple bouquets for me? With a little card. I heard their names will be Bo and Arrow..." He shook his head, "My sister really loves hunting." He smiled at her.

Rylie could see Beluar getting used to talking to her. He smiled proudly. The girl was kind of cute, he liked how her name matched her hair. "And if you could make a simple bouquet of a single peach rose and two green roses." Rylie asked with a soft smile.

Violet nodded. "Okay, I'll go get started on it. Shouldnt take too long to do, feel free to either just wait here or you could go to the cafe down the street. Either is fine with me. I'll be right back." She said with a smile before diappearing off into the back of the shop. She started on the pink carnations and babys breath bouquet first, carefully tying the stems together and then moving on to the second bouquet of Lilys. And then finally onto the small bouquet of roses for the man that came in with Beluar had requested. She walked back out with all three and set them out for them to look at. "Let me know if you decide you want to add anything." She said as she wrote out the card for the bouquets for the babies.

Beluar and Rylie had stayed in the shop. They looked over the other flowers and Rylie made fun of Beluar for not knowing what some of the names of the easy flowers were. Then Violet came back. "They are beautiful." Beluar said as he admired the bouquets. Rylie nodded, "You did a wonderful job." Rlyie took out cash and paid for the three of them.

"What are you doing?" Beluar asked Rylie.

"Paying?" He replied.

"I can pay for my own." Beluar said.

Rylie shrugged and paid for his own and Beluar did the same. He felt bad for snapping at Rylie, but he wanted Violet to know he could pay for his own things.

Violet smiled and attached the card to a bouquet and then took their payments and handed back the change. She pretended she didnt hear Beluar snap a little at his friend, though she did wonder what all that was about. She smiled sweetly at Beluar and handed the bouquets to him, and then handed his friend the smaller bouquet. She looked up at Beluar and smiled a little sheepishly.
"Did you still want to go riding some time?" She asked, remembering how he was with her horse when they met at the lake. He seemed like he liked horses, and Violet got lonely riding all by herself. The horses werent fond of being separated either.

Beluar was caught off guard by the question and blushed. Rylie slapped his back and smiled, "He would love to, huh?" He said and Beluar nodded, feeling like an idiot. "Yeah, I would love to. Sorry I hadn't asked... been really busy with helping on my father's farm and Ofelia's dragon ranch, but I should have time in the afternoon tomorrow if you are up for it." Beluar smiled.

Rylie took a step back with his bouquet and excused himself. Said something about needing to deliver the flowers and get to his second job. Beluar nodded and turned his attention back to Violet.

Rylie walked with his bouquet to the village. He pushed his feelings for Beluar aside, he wanted his friend to be happy.