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After Aisko, the golden forests and fields of Serenia were like dawn after a long night. Warm. Beautiful. And peaceful. Though neither he nor Casseth were fool enough to think that they — Casseth in particular — would be welcome in the land of orderites out in the open, they did want at least to stop in less populated areas to rest and appreciate the landscape. Serenia was beautiful, glimmering and almost radiant, and though Lithian had only been on a rare few occasions in his youth, the opportunity to share it with his mate was too much to pass up.

So, flying high for safety, they scouted the land as they passed over, finding a great stretch of space — well beyond the range of any visible city, or even small town — wherein the surrounding forests stretched for miles and a great, gleaming lake awaited, still as glass. Still in his draconic shape, Lithian trilled, wings outstretched.

«The area here is all but empty and the day is fading…we could take a rest without issue, I think,» he said, eyeing the surface of the lake for a long moment before his snout stretched with a toothy grin. «Care for a swim?»

Lithian waited for no response before twisting and plummeting. In a sinking dive, he broke the surface, sweeping deep, all the way to the lakebed and then skimming there until he neared the edge. At the shoreline, he shifted, coming to a spilling halt at the water’s edge in his more humanoid form and stretching to a stand, fingers threading back through his wet hair as he eyed the neighboring forest. Yes, he thought as he observed, surely they could camp here.

There were no signs of significant habitation — other than the beasts of the wild — for a great stretch of space. Casseth, even as a half-oblivionite hybrid in the territory of the goddess of dawn, ought to be safe. For now.

Enjoying a rare day off from not only her job on her father's ranch, but from Honoka as well, Avani had no clue what to do with herself. She stood looking at her small garden on the side of her house seeing nothing had to be done there, except water them. That could wait, though and she was at a loss for what to do. It was getting just right for a swim, but even that didn't tempt her. Reading? No, she did that before bed. Cleaning? No, nothing had to really be done.

She was just pondering going in to bake for no reason when two shadows fell over the little clearing of her home. Two large shadows. With wings.

Avani shivered. Dragons. Where was Criani when she needed her? There were no dragons around that claimed this land as territory though. She could handle Khehoras, they were close enough to two-leggers in her mind that they could be reasoned with. But dragons? She was heartily afraid of them for. most often, they didn't like two leggers.

She looked up and saw the tail end of one of them, it's color possibly suggesting the water element. No mind. She would have to go look for herself since no one was around. Perhaps they were just thirsty and wanted a drink? If they weren't here to harm her, she'd just leave them be.

She went in and got her small sword she used when shepherding, and put on her soft leather shoes so she could sneak around. It would be a while before she got to the lake. Sneaking up on dragons was not a good idea, but she didn't really want them to know she was there. The plan was that she would move more slowly the closer she got to the lake.

Surprisingly, she was not bored anymore.

“Mmm…” Casseth hummed as he acted as if he were mulling over his choices. “Both have their good points,” he said as he nipped back at Lith’s lips, planting quick, brief kisses there. “I am hungry.” Despite his words, his tail wrapped around Lith’s leg and his hands delved down over Lith’s chest, fingers plucking at any ties or buttons in their way. “And we do need to discuss where we might head next.” He kissed along Lith’s jawline and nipped at his ear. “Perhaps Soudul?” He tugged at Lithian, pulling him closer to shore and dragging him down to the ground with him.

“Though, option two does sound more fun.” Cas smirked as he shifted and moved to crawl on top of Lith and push the fabric of his tunic up and out of the way. He leaned down, pressing a kiss directly above Lith’s naval and trailed more, smaller kisses up and over his chest and onto his neck. “Yes, I think I would like door number two, please.” He grinned as he caught Lith’s lips with his again.

Lithian grinned. Having fully expected Casseth’s response as it was had no dampening effect, and if anything, it served only to please him more, beaming into the kiss as he pressed into it. “Door number two it—”

At an audible SNAP from somewhere in the surrounding treeline, followed by obvious words — though what, precisely, they were, Lithian couldn’t begin to tell — froze him mid motion, his fingers poised at the hem of his mate’s pants and shoulders stiffening. A moment later, he was pulling away, on high alert and wary, his body rippling with change all but on instinct now, growing into the massive, house-sized shape of his dragon form as he loomed protectively over Casseth and narrowed his eyes on the treeline.

Someone was here.

Nominally, there wouldn’t be as much cause for wariness, but on Serenia, he felt naturally on edge and prepared for the worst. Despite being pureblood, even he looked as though he might share a strain of oblivionite blood due to his particularly dark skin, and he knew from experience that orderites felt ill at ease in his presence. He was not eager to see their reactions to his mate. A sniff of the winds, however, told him first that — at the very least — they did not have much company. Just one person, so far as he could tell, and probably a woman, though he was not yet completely comfortable with the mesh of his animal instincts and senses and couldn’t be positive. The tone of voice, though, from the snippet he caught, reinforced his suspicions on that level, and he edged forward towards the tree line.

«We mean no harm…» he said, and then frowned, shifting from Draconic back into Magescian Common, in case their unexpected guest could not speak it. “We are here peacefully and intend to hurt no one, but will defend ourselves if necessary…please show yourself.”

Avani blinked as she looked at the sky. Draconinc? She knew a bit, Honoka having to learn it for her studies she tried her hand at a few words so she would know what the two were talking about when not speaking Magescian, however, she really couldn't pronounce the words... but hearing seemed to work well enough.

She rolled around and popped up out of the bushes and reeds that lined the edge of the lake, and gaped at what was before her. Apparently there was a dragon... But it spoke Magescian? She heard the words, but the fact there was a dragon in front of her stalled her from thinking further.

Her gaze, thankfully, was drawn by a movement from a much smaller form, and normal looking magescian, one of the two who were just there before her.

"I-I'm sorry," she sputtered. She had dropped the small thin sword she had brought, much good it would have done her anyway, "I-I saw a dragon..." She looked back at the dragon that now stood before her, "I-I was a ta-tad worried since n-none are usually around here..." She pointed back the way she had come, "I-I live there in the wo-woods and just wanted to m-make sure it was just getting some wa-water..."

Avani wasn't one to faint, but this was her first dragon ever, and it rather scared her. Truth be told, she was about to buckle at the knees if it wasn't for her courage.

"P-please don't eat me." she said backing up a bit, "I'm just a fa-farmer. I ha-have children..."

She bumped into a tree and grasped it as if it would save her from the huge animal before her.

Casseth let his fingers fall from his axe and he crossed his arms as Lithian shifted back to his Magescian form. Unlike Lith, Cas was not sorry they had scared the woman. He had come to learn that it was never good to underestimate the opposite sex. He had met plenty of strong women in his lifetime and a lot of them had looked small and harmless. Cas eyed the orderite female standing before them and raised an eyebrow. Either she was a good actress or she was genuinely afraid of Lithian’s dragon form. He nodded at her at Lithian’s introduction, wings stretching out and folding back in. “We can be on our way, if you you’re worried about us being around.”

Lithian blinked and then shook his head. If anything, the woman seemed to have far more words than weapons on her, and that bode well for them. “Curiosity is a venerable trait,” he said. “You’ve nothing to apologize for.” She clearly, though, had little experience or knowledge of dovaa — or, at least, of those who reached to the ranks he and Casseth had which, he supposed, explained why she might rationally not know much. “If you have experience with khehora, then you may know of those unbonded ferals who can, through great strife and risk attain another form to which they may shift at will?”

He glanced to Casseth, and then the woman again.

“Dovaa who reach a rank and aptitude with their magic enough to allow it can also undergo a ritual which allows a tap into the dragon blood gifted to us by our god. Casseth and I…well—I am dovaa, and he shares enough dragon blood to allow him to complete this ritual. We can take the form on as we choose.” To demonstrate, he took a step back, putting some space between them so as not to seem overly threatening this time before calling on his magic and shifting shape. Once there, he tilted his head, stretching his wings out, slowly, over Casseth and then back in to his sides before releasing the dragon form and shrinking into his more humanoid shape. “In any case,” he added, “…we do not mean to impose and would not want to make ourselves a burden on you. We are here only for an evening or two at most to appreciate the beauty of the countryside, during which time we hope to cause as little upset as possible. Or, ah…embarrassment.”

He cleared his throat, more than a little abashed in retrospect, that of all times to be walked in upon…

Two dragons?

Avani was sure her eyes would pop out from staring at the brief presence of two dragons. If she had Dovva friends who could do that she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I am well aware of a khehora's ability to transform." she smiled brightly, though still eyed the form of Casseth that was a dragon, "I have met only one khehorian, but he is away at the moment tagging along with my daughter wherever she and her teacher have taken off to... I believe it is the beach this time." She smiled brightly, "Anyway, if you two were able to obtain a form such as that, and the ritual as harsh, then I appreciate your abilities to the fullest."

Avani laughed at Casseth. His dragon form not so bothering now, "It was, as I said, my fault. You had no way of knowing I was there, and I should have left as soon as I saw you."

Avani's ears twitched when they said they were here for a while to see the land. She had heard all they had said. One was a hybrid, and one was a pure blood, but that did not matter to her. They were not here to make trouble, and it seemed all they wanted was to be alone. She would offer a bed and roof and food for them, and would do her best to allow them the privacy they sought.

"If you are here to vacation and to enjoy Serenia, I would be happy to house you as I have no one but my little fea, my other 'child' I care for, as company." She smiled brightly, "I know the area and can point you to some of the best places in the forest, many that are very private, and only the wildlife would intrude." She blushed a bit, yet smiled again, "I can assure you that not only my land which is here, but my father's adjoining it are free for you to use for your pleasure. It is the least I could do after interrupting you. I will be away from the house during the day, for I work the farm on my father's land, but you are welcome to use my house as a place to stay while you are here."