They landed in the trees. All the while that they fell Blaine thought of the man on his back, the frail human and yet not human rider who would surely die if Blaine did not do something to prevent it.

He twisted and he lurched, ignoring his own injuries as best he could as he fought for purchase in the trunk of the tree, sinking talons in as deep as they would go, letting them drag so that they might slow their fall. When he smashed into the ground Blaine twisted his neck so that his back took most of the force, protecting the demihuman male as best he could. And that was all he could do because as soon as they hit the ground Blaine knew nothing more.

######

When Kurt opened his eyes he wished he hadn’t. His whole body hurt, most specifically his head, and he could feel a wet trickle on his neck that didn’t bode well for him. He pressed his hand to his head with a groan and when he drew them away his fingertips were stained with blood.

He tried not to let that overly worry him. Apart from the dizziness and the blood he felt fine, and head wounds always tended to bleed freely. He had expected a lot worse than a little bump on the head plummeting out of the sky on the back of a dragon like...

And that was when it occurred to Kurt that most of the pain that he felt was faded, that it didn’t belong to him at all.

Kurt heaved himself up with a groan, realizing that it wasn’t ground he was laying on but the soft and warm underbelly of the dragon. Blaine wasn’t moving, and if the echos of screaming pain in Kurt’s body were anything to go by, he had taken the brunt of their fall and probably wouldn’t move again anytime soon. If ever.

Trying to hold panic at bay, Kurt scrambled off of Blaine. He slid down his belly and spilled out onto the forest floor on legs too shaky to properly hold him. Kurt stumbled about, searching for his satchel where he knew he’d stored some medicinal supplies.

He had no idea how to treat a dragon, but he had to try considering this particular dragon was either his ticket to freedom or a hellish life of slavery. A fall like that probably meant broken bones, internal bleeding ruptured organs even. God’s teeth! Where was his satchel?

And then he spotted it, crushed beneath the dragons flanks, a portion of it peeking out from beneath him.

Kurt grunted as he strained to pull the leather bag out from under Blaine, wiggling it forward inch by slow inch, cursing the dragon’s size. When he finally yanked it free he fell backwards, landing roughly on his back, face pointed towards the sky.

“If I get out of this, I swear I never want to see another dragon again” he muttered to himself as he climbed back on his feet and approached Blaine’s side.

Without warning the dragon stirred, rolling onto his stomach and lifting his head to peer down at Kurt. Kurt gulped, taking an instinctive step backwards, clutching his satchel tighter.

This was the first time he was really seeing Blaine, not through fire and smoke and not just pieces of him, but all of him from the tip of his tail to the point of his snout; and he was as dangerous looking as he was beautiful.

Crouching on the ground he was about two horses high. He was long of neck and tail, his body short but lean. He was covered in green scales, but not really green, because when he moved and the sun shone on him from new angles there were too many shades of brown and green for Kurt to even categorize.

His wings hung listlessly at his side, one of them jutting out at an awkward angle, and Kurt bit his lip, taking note of the long streaks on his body of bare flesh, missing scales, areas that were bleeding freely.

Kurt felt a particularly sharp echo of pain just as Blaine’s head dropped to the ground, as if he didn’t have the strength any longer to hold it up. Cautiously Kurt drew closer until he was beside the place where the dragons neck met shoulder, where there was an particularly deep wound seeping blood.

He was afraid. Blaine’s injuries were too extensive and too far out of his knowledge of how to heal. Not to mention Blaine had nearly killed himself trying to stay in a human form for too long. Who knew what kind of lingering after effects that had?

He was still dying, that Kurt was sure of, and even if it was just from the fall Kurt was still at a loss.

For once he wasn’t thinking about Blaine being his only hope for freedom. As he laid a hand against his warm scales, felt his life and energy beneath his palms, he thought about how their fall should have killed him. How the dragon must have done everything he could to protect the man riding on his back.

It didn’t make any sense to him. Blaine knew he was operating under Wes’ orders. Why save him from the fire and then save him again from the fall? Whatever his reasons Kurt owed him his life now, and that was the deepest sort of debt.

‘I’d prefer you killed me elfling, rather than call your master.’ Kurt shivered as Blaine’s voice slithered inside his thoughts, just as shocking as it had been the first time.

‘My name is Kurt, dragon, and I have no master.’

Blaine opened one eye, piercing him with his golden gaze.

‘Fine then. Don’t call Wes. If you call for him I will kill you.’

This dangerous beast with teeth and claws threatening his life should have terrified Kurt. In a part of him it did, but there was another part, a wild part that was all too aware of the quivering flesh beneath his hands and how weak the dragon was.

He felt strangely sure of himself, powerful even, knowing that Blaine was at his mercy. Odd, but he was half Sidhe. Their people had to be mortal enemies for a reason.

“Somehow I find that difficult to believe.” Kurt said aloud, running his hands close to the wound in Blaine’s shoulder, feeling both the wince beneath his hand and the ghost like smarting in his own shoulder.

‘Please then.’ A deep rolling shudder went right through Blaine and danced up Kurt’s spine. ‘Please. I just wanted to be free.’

Blaine was begging him. Something about the pleading in his voice, something about seeing such a mighty creature laid low and desperate filled Kurt with strange and conflicting emotions. Revulsion, anger, and a frightening sense of gratification. He realized that there was some part of him that found Blaine’s utter dependence on him pleasing, very pleasing indeed.

He quickly rejected the feeling, for he hated it intensely. That was not him. He wasn’t that kind of a person. He wouldn’t torture anyone just because he could, even a damned dragon.

‘You don’t have to beg me. Not for freedom.’’ Kurt didn’t plan out the thoughts, they simply just were, they came to his mind unbidden and they had an instant effect on the dragon at his side. Kurt watched in fascination as the scales beneath his hands began to heat up. They lit with a dull glow that grew suddenly brighter, so intense that Kurt had to shut his eyes. Even with his eyes shut he felt the burn of magic beneath his palm, the shift and stretch of bones and flesh.

When he opened his eyes there was a naked man at his feet.

#############

Blaine woke some hours later just as the sun was beginning to set in the sky. He was immediately confused by his surroundings, as well as the vines that had grown out of the forest floor to cover his body like a living blanket. And then the days events all came rushing back to him and he leaped up and took quick stock of his body. He was achy and sore, and there were bandages on his arms and around his middle, but other than the stiffness and the slight headache he appeared none the worse for wear.

With barely a passing thought Blaine changed his inked skin to smooth flawless and perfectly human looking flesh. He was pleased to see that he could do a glamour again. In fact none of the symptoms from earlier that day and the day before seemed present at all.

The elfling had been right. All he’d needed was time in his natural body.

Remembering the demihuman Wes had sent to trap him he looked around for him but the man was nowhere in sight.Blaine had no idea why the slave had decided to hear his pleas and allowed him time to escape but Blaine needed to find him. He had Blaine’s pendant in that satchel of his. If he’d left to head back to Wes Blaine would have to track him and rather quickly, his rule about leaving magic behind him be damned. Apparently he couldn’t without killing himself anyway.

He flicked out his tongue and immediately he caught the elflings scent, both old and new. Kurt had left, and Kurt was coming back. That sage smell was coming nearer.

Blaine’s belly tightened, his skin breaking out in light goose flesh. He was used to this reaction to interesting males by this point in his season but his reaction to Kurt was a little more troubling than most.

He had let a man ride him. The only thing that could be worse about the situation is if Kurt had started to leech him.

#########

“I got you some clothes to wear” Kurt didn’t know what else you were supposed to say to the naked dragon who had saved your life, who you would probably have to betray at some point in order to save it again, but it was as good as any a place to start.

They needed to come up with some sort of a plan if they were going to stay free of Wes, something that seemed to be a common goal between them, and Kurt could concentrate a lot better on that task if the other man weren’t naked.

He wasn’t a man. He was a dragon, Kurt fiercely reminded himself as Blaine took the clothes he held out to him. Their arms brushed and Kurt couldn’t figure out who felt their skin prickle first, him or Blaine.

“Thank you. Humans don’t really like it when you walk around bare, and I ruined the last of mine when I polymorphed.” Blaine said as he stepped into a pair of trousers. His voice in this shape wasn’t as deep. It was light and playful, fitting of the gleam in his eye and slight bounce in his step.

“Polymorph?” Kurt asked moving away from Blaine, looking for a spot to sit that was clear of rocks and sticks. And to avoid looking at Blaine while he dressed. That too.

“It’s what we call changing shapes.” Blaine explained, pulling the linen shirt Kurt had brought him down over his head.

“So... you can change into other things too?” Kurt asked. It would be good to know for the future if he wanted to continue avoiding dragons.

“No, just between this shape and my natural one. Every dragon is born with the ability to take the shape of a man. And not just any man, a specific form unique to themselves. No one knows why” Blaine explained, lacing up the front of his shirt. Halfway up he seemed to grow bored with it and let the strings fall, peering over at Kurt through his thick eyelashes instead.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably beneath the bright light of interest in the dragon man’s eyes, trying not to let his eyes linger on the parts of Blaine’s chest still uncovered. He felt strangely drawn, flushed in his skin, but again he had trouble separating his feelings from the shadowy impressions he was getting from Blaine.

“Most dragons think it’s a curse, one of the spells the Sidhe used when they tried to destroy us all those centuries ago. We’re easier to kill like this.” Blaine recounted with a shrug, walking gingerly on his bare feet as he came to stand in front of Kurt.

“And apparently if they can lock you in this shape they don’t have to do anything but wait.” Kurt pondered aloud. He stiffened immediately after, realizing it was probably not such a good idea to remind a dragon he was alone with that he was part Sidhe and that their people were out to destroy each other.

“Apparently so. I thought that was just an old hatchery tale but now of course I know better.”

Kurt didn’t respond to that. Blaine was smiling, talking about his brush with death as if the likes of it happened every day, as if he enjoyed making light of himself. Of all the things that Kurt had expected to learn about dragons, the fact that they had senses of humor (or at least this one did) was not one of them. He found Blaine incredibly strange. Kurt wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to make of him.

“Why are you running from them?” Kurt asked the one thing he really wanted to know, only faltering a little when the merry gleam faded from Blaine’s eyes and was replaced by something much harder and cooler.

“To be free.” Blaine pinned him with a questioning look. “Why did you agree to this task?”

Kurt didn’t need to think about his answer, he and Blaine truly did seem to have a common purpose.

“To be free.”

Blaine’s mouth pulled down into a frown of confusion as he considered Kurt’s reply, and Kurt could feel the turmoil inside of him. Being able to feel Blaine like this scared him. He didn’t know if it was because he was demihuman and bred to serve him or what, but he wished it would stop.

“I don’t understand. The binding is permanent. Unless Wes were to die you would always be drawn back to him. How could he promise you freedom?”

“Because he didn’t bind me.” Kurt answered, his tone more abrupt than he’d have liked. Blaine’s thick eyebrows shot up.

“A free demihuman? But there is no such...”

“No such thing?!” Kurt filled in for him .“Because you force your Sidhe slaves to breed with humans and make them slaves before they even know how to speak. They never take a free step or speak a free word. I was very lucky my mother escaped her master. She met my father and here I am. One of a kind, the only free demihuman that either of us has ever heard of and with one word your little catcher friend could take that all away.”

Kurt was so angry that he wanted to hit Blaine, wanted to strike at him until he bled, until he hurt so deeply that he’d never be in a position to hurt anyone else again. How could they do this to people? How could they justify what they did?!

The silence stretched dark and heavy between them until finally Blaine knelt before him and simply said. “I see.”

Kurt was about to protest that, because he very much doubted this dragon saw anything at all, but Blaine shocked him by placing both hands gently on his legs and speaking before he could.

“You told me freedom is not something I will have to beg you for. I suppose I knew that already... perhaps I smelled it on you.” Kurt’s eyes widened as Blaine leaned forward, pressing his nose behind the shell of his ear, dragging in a deep breath. Kurt could feel his face flushing, could feel the familiar panic he got whenever another man got too close too fast.

Feeling the pressure of Blaine’s hands on his thighs, the heat of his breath against his skin as he breathed deeply in and out stirred strange desires in Kurt, strange desires that were frowned upon in the lands of men. Blaine seemed to sense his discomfort, or maybe he could scent it, either way he backed up, a sheepish little grin on his face.

“Do you sniff everyone you meet?” Kurt asked pushing him with his hands, trying to put even more space between them.

“Of course not. Your scent is particularly irresistible. It seems to excite me.”

That so alarmed Kurt that he shoved Blaine roughly away and stood up.

“Don’t! You can’t say things like that it’s...it’s...” Kurt struggled for the right words. Unholy. It was supposed to be unholy but he couldn’t force himself to say the words because he had never really believed them.

“Oh no that’s not what I meant.” Blaine leaped to his feet reaching for Kurt again but Kurt scurried away from him. Blaine withdrew his hand apologetically. “Please don’t be frightened. I won’t hurt you. I... I don’t know how humans express satisfaction with each other.”

“Satisfaction?” Kurt asked, still wary but curious despite himself.

“Perhaps that’s not the right word.” Blaine bit his lip and thought deeply for a moment. “Amongst the dragan, when we meet someone kindred, someone who matches our spirits we can smell it on them. For us it would be extremely rude not to acknowledge that.”

“So, what does that mean?” Kurt scoffed, resistant to the idea that he and this dragon could have matching anything let alone spirits. “You honestly think you and I have anything in common?”

“Aye Kurt I do.”

“Well why don’t you enlighten me?” Kurt demanded, turning his back on Blaine. “Forget it. You don’t know the first thing about me.”

“I know that if I tried to fly away from here right now that you would let me go, no matter what it meant for you.”

Kurt paused, frozen, unable to turn around and unable to block Blaine’s words out of his head. He needed Blaine, he couldn’t let him die and he couldn’t let him run away, the thing he should do and he was probably going to have to do sooner or later was hand him over to Wes. Not doing it would mean giving up everything, trading his freedom for Blaine’s.

Damn it! He was not a terrible person! He had no choice here. He had to do it and he would! He would!

“See, Kurt we are kindred.”

“Listen to me because I’m only saying this once!” Kurt spun on his heel, bearing down on the shorter male with gumption he didn’t even know he had. “I hate you and everything you stand for, and I would give you to them without a second thought so do not utter those words to me again!”

Kurt expected Blaine to get angry, maybe try and hurt him, maybe simply change shapes and fly away. What he didn’t expect was for Blaine to nod submissively, looking chastised and apologetic. Kurt felt the phantom touches of pain and regret and it set him back, unconsciously softening him.

And then just as quickly he felt Blaine’s confusion and a sudden spike of rage that was so strong it made Kurt want to vomit.

“Get away from me!” Blaine pushed him away with a guttural cry torn from the back of his throat, sending Kurt crashing to the ground. Kurt couldn’t make sense of his own feelings let alone Blaine’s, but he moved on instinct and scrambled up and away from the angry dragon male. There were so many intense feelings brewing between them that he seriously thought he’d be sick with them. Someone was terrified. Maybe they both were. Someone felt betrayed. Perhaps they both did.

“Why am I such a fool?!” Blaine yelled at himself, at the sky, at no one in particular. And then he spun back around to face Kurt and Kurt gasped with fear beneath his furious gaze. “You’re leeching me. That’s why I let you ride me. That’s why Wes sent you!”

“NO!” Kurt insisted, his fear only mounting as Blaine advanced on him, all glamour gone, the dragon inside of the man poised to strike. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You gave me an order elfling and compelled me to obey. Don’t lie to me!” Blaine was pushing him now, backing him up against a tree and Kurt could feel the prick of his nails, unnaturally sharp.

He was terrified yes, but also a little bit crazy because rather than retreat or cower he pushed back.

“I’m not lying to you! I gave you the truth dragon, and I never ordered you to do one damn thing!”

More confusion. This time definitely coming from both of them. Blaine wasn’t trying to push Kurt anymore so Kurt leaped on his momentary uncertainty.

“Blaine I swear to you. Wes didn’t send me to do anything but try and lead you into a trap.”

Kurt expected Blaine to put up more of a protest, to maybe even try and run; instead Kurt felt everything in Blaine calm and to his surprise the dragon started to laugh. It was low and dark without any real humor but it was laughter nonetheless.

“Blaine?” Kurt didn’t know what this strange mood of the dragons meant.“You believe me don’t you?”

He looked at Kurt then, something unreadable in his eyes.

“Wes sending you to trap me? Oh I believe you elfling. More than you can possibly know.”

TBC