Thaelia, Nyana and Aurel stayed in the city for a few more days while the princess set her affairs in order and collected everything she wished to take back with them. It was lucky the princess wished to resolve things quickly and be off, because in just those few days her belly started to bulge, a clutch of kobolds on the way as with Nyana before her.

While both her lovers had warned her about the possibility, it still caught Thaelia by surprise, leaving her quite distraught. Thankfully, Nyana and Aurel's loving support soothed her worries, and she was shortly after getting comfortable in the Lair with them. There, Nyana excitedly introduced the princess to her own clutch of kobolds, her infectious love and enthusiasm melting away Thaelia's remaining concerns.

Now settled in her new home, the princess spent the remainder of the two weeks of gestation resting while getting smothered in love and cuddles from her mates. Despite carrying fewer eggs than Nyana had, her frame was so small she was immobilised by her growing belly even faster than the sun elf. At first the princess was annoyed by her convalescence, but the long hours of kissing and snuggling with Nyana while Aurel lovingly licked her belly quickly won her over, and she spent her days in a happy warm haze.

Finally delivering the eggs was a long and exhausting process, though as with Nyana it had been mostly painless thanks to the draconic power flowing through the princess. Thaelia could scarcely believe that those three enormous eggs had come from her body, and while shocked, her eyes couldn't hide a smidge of pride. The Lair's kobolds settled the eggs in with their own, where they quickly grew in size as they matured.

Nyana prepared yet another "Happy Hatchday" celebration for the Lair's new inhabitants, with everyone happily accepting that this was now an official tradition for them. Thaelia was at first hesitant to meet her kobolds, but when they were introduced to her at the party, the princess broke down in tears while hugging and kissing the trio. Her life had been dangerous and confusing, and she couldn't quite process the joy she was experiencing that day.

Their new kobolds hatched and named, Nyana and Aurel went back to their research, ploughing through information once more to find who and where another of the missing pieces could be. Thaelia joined them in the room they used as a study and library, initially simply to enjoy their company while they worked. The princess arranged for herself a small cosy corner with pillows, wine, and a pile of less academic books. Nyana took to calling it the "kitten's corner," and a blushing Thaelia never complained nor corrected her.

After one of Nyana's particularly mischievous moods and a passionate night together, Thaelia blushed red when she found the kobolds had installed a dancing pole in her corner. At first, she avoided it, giving it timid looks with her silver eyes, but eventually curiosity and boredom got the better of her, and Aurel and Nyana caught her trying some moves on it.

In just a few months she was dangling and spinning from it like a professional, adapting many of her existing dances for the pole. Nyana and Aurel often had to take a break from their research, utterly mesmerised by her movements. The princess was thriving on their attention, and it gave her a thirst to perform that she hadn't felt since her youth. 

Aurel found the whole thing enormously amusing, when he had first met Nyana, something about her had made him picture her on a dancing pole like this, yet it was the otherwise demure Thaelia she had got into it instead.

While Thaelia had assumed she wouldn't be much help with her mates' research, the wealth of knowledge and rumours she had absorbed through years of courtly intrigue proved invaluable. Aurel had deduced that the next easiest piece to find would be from the dark elves. They were secretive and lived in remote underground cities, but at least they kept records the traditional way, unlike sylvan elves.

Once, at a royal ball, while politely listening to a man trying to impress her with his portentous knowledge of elven genealogy, Thaelia had heard something useful. Amidst much boring fluff, the man mentioned that one of the last remaining underground cities of the dark elves had fallen to magical abominations. One of the last daughters of the priesthood had been evacuated and placed in the care of a surface temple.

This was the clue Aurel needed, and in no time the three of them were visiting different cities, collecting books, making notes and questioning clergy about this mysterious dark elf. At a remote temple in the countryside they finally found confirmation of what they were looking for. A dark elf woman of mysterious origins had been left there as a child, raised as part of the clergy until she eventually took her vows as a paladin.

Not even knowing her name, but wanting to be respectful of her lineage, the temple had given her the rather common dark elven name of Umbrel. She had been a devoted student, and while it had been almost a century ago, many people in the surrounding lands still sang her praises and recounted her adventures.

Following the old trail left by the paladin, the trio discovered that some years ago a still-wandering Umbrel had found the city she had been born in. Moved by the discovery, she had set out to explore its corridors in search of an ancient artifact, the Hallowed Circlet.

The quest attracted little interest from most, for the city ruins had been plundered many decades ago, with the sole exception of some very dangerous areas. The Circlet itself held no arcane or mystical power, being merely an important cultural relic, for its wearer had always been the matron high priestess of the dark elves. Dejected but determined, Umbrel embarked on the quest alone, and was never seen again.

This is where the trail ended. Despite it feeling like a dangerous fool's errand, the trio decided to follow this last clue and venture forth into the ruined city in search of the lost paladin. Elves had absurdly long lives, so there was a remote possibility she was still down there, stubbornly searching for the lost Circlet where most would have long since given up.

Having never gone on an adventure like this, the three of them took every necessary precaution, using what resources they had to equip themselves with supplies, potions, and some magical equipment. 

Nyana threw herself into her spell casting with even more enthusiasm, learning as many offensive and defensive spells as she could. 

Thaelia at first wasn't sure what she could contribute, but her lovers quickly pointed out that her expertise in evading spurned admirers and escaping the dungeons of scorned monarchs could be invaluable in the depths.

Aurel, meanwhile, trained with the kobolds in the castle dungeons and surrounding caves, learning how to best use his natural size and physical prowess in enclosed spaces, and when to hold back.

After a couple of weeks of training and preparation, the trio set out for the ruins, trepidation filling their hearts like never before. Finding their way there was not troublesome, for others had mapped the area thoroughly years prior. Getting through the ruins was a different story. Crumbling infrastructure, labyrinthine streets, and more disturbing things blocked their way.

While humans had only recently started integrating minor magics and arcane flows into their cities, elves, dwarves, and other older species had been doing so for millennia. Everbright lamps lit streets with ethereal glows, purifying engines filtered water through pipes, so homes always had access to it, and so on with other mundane yet immensely useful devices. The counterpoint was that if these devices and arcane flows were left to rot, the ambient power eventually caused things to materialise from it, arcane abominations.

These creatures were incredibly dangerous, though not living creatures in the traditional sense. While they lived and died like most others, they lacked almost any emotion or instinct a regular creature might have. The only exception was a ravenous hunger for arcane power to sustain their existence. Most were little more than mindless hunger, but even the smarter and more powerful ones, capable of speech, lacked even the most basic empathy for other beings, including their own kind.

Because sapient beings were walking batteries of arcane power, even if untrained in its use, abominations were drawn to populations, which they sought to devour. Their rampages never stopped unless they were destroyed or ran out of sustenance. When the latter happened, they turned on each other, devouring their kin until only the strongest remained, which would normally die from hunger all the same.

This ancient city had once been filled with arcane amenities, and their withering, broken systems had created and attracted hordes of abominations. All the surrounding areas had done their best to isolate them here, but the rotting arcane flows still created more. Wherever possible, the trio had opted to avoid direct confrontation with abominations, but it had not always been possible.

It had been almost a week since they started slowly moving through the ruins, trying to find any clues that might direct them to Umbrel. Knowing she was searching for the Circlet, they focused on anything that shed light on its location, thinking they might find information on her whereabouts by following that trail. What they had found indicated the Circlet may be secured in the deepest levels of the Grand Temple, one of those areas never fully explored due to the powerful abominations residing there.

Thaelia was currently crouching by a gateway, carefully examining it and what lay beyond before signalling to the others that it was safe to proceed. After a couple of minutes, the princess stood up and nodded at her companions. "It's a bit damaged, but I didn't notice anything dangerous… well, aside from everything else," she explained, waving her hands around. Aurel and Nyana nodded back. 

The princess looked so unlike her usual self down here. She had tightly put her raven hair in a bun, and instead of her usual dresses and skirts she wore a sturdy jacket, a pair of comfortable shorts, and thick socks in place of shoes. It had been rather amusing to find proper equipment for her. 

Nyana and Aurel had discovered that Thaelia had a peculiar disdain for trousers and thick shoes, and she had gone through many combinations of equipment before eventually giving up and settling on her current getup. The shorts she wore were so thin and tight that no tailor could have given them pockets without the use of magic, so she instead carried her tools on her jacket or strapped to her legs.

"As long as Master can get through without making a big ruckus, it should be fine I hope..." Nyana added while adjusting her hat. 

The sun elf had at first fallen in love with the idea of dressing up like a stereotypical sorceress for this adventure, wearing a trailing robe inscribed with arcane symbols. Unfortunately, everything she tried kept catching on things and made it hard to move around, so Nyana defaulted back to her travelling clothes and boots. She had kept the red and gold pointy hat though, which she was somehow still pulling off despite the rest of her getup.

"I'll be fine," Aurel assured them while stretching his back like a lazy cat, "just keep an eye out for the packs…" While they had acquired a couple of bags of holding, they were using them for fragile things like potion bottles and such. The rest of their equipment, such as their folding mattresses, cooking utensils, and other heavy essentials, were strapped to Aurel's body like saddlebags on a horse. He didn't enjoy how it affected his movements, but it made the most sense for him to carry all of it.

The dragon slid under the gate slowly, careful not to hit any loose masonry with the bags strapped to his body. Once on the other side, he concentrated his senses, keeping guard while his companions followed behind him. Right ahead of them was the Grand Temple, its structure still magnificent and imposing even after all these centuries. The pillars and statues flanking its entrance were so grandiose and enormous they even made a dragon feel small, clearly designed to signal to everyone how minuscule they were compared to the gods.

Aurel's nose twitched, catching the whiff of something off in the arcane flows. A group of small humanoid abominations meandered around a corner, no doubt looking for something to consume. They appeared to be a mockery of goblins, but their shapes were wrong... limbs too long, skin too rubbery, faces too vacant yet hungry. Aurel didn't give them a chance to react, unloading a blast of his fire breath with such force the revolting creatures were left as nothing more than a scorched mark on the ancient stones.

"It almost feels like cheating to have a dragon with us..." Thaelia mused to herself as she peeked from behind Aurel, "not that I'm complaining..."

The dragon couldn't help but smirk. "Thank you, princess. I think it compensates for our general inexperience, though I am limited by how much my furnace lasts," he explained.

"How is that holding out?" Nyana asked while petting his scaly chest, Aurel unable to hold back a purr.

"I'm good so far, not looking forward to having to eat some masonry, or worse, dead abominations..." Aurel added.

Dragons do not need to eat, not in the traditional sense. Their bodies and power are fuelled by the elemental furnaces inside them, the same source of their legendary fire breath. As long as their furnace was burning their power wouldn't diminish, but constant use without rest could deplete it too fast, forcing a dragon to refuel by consuming something. Thankfully almost anything could be devoured to power their furnace, but dragons loathed to consume any rubbish just lying about.

Despite this, Aurel had not consumed any of the food they had brought, instead consuming any leftover damaged magical relics he had found to top himself off. It had left a horrible taste in his mouth, but he refused to even risk his companions running out of food.

With the immediate threat neutralised, they continued towards the temple, climbing up its imposing stairs. No further abominations seemed to roam this area, leaving everything in an eerie quiet. The trio slipped into the main temple hall right behind Thaelia, who was trying to guide them through the shadows.

Ruined didn't begin to describe this place. While the exterior had maintained some of its grandiosity, the inside had been horrifically damaged by the passage of time and what appeared to have been several battles. Scorched marks and smashed marble dotted the place, alongside a myriad of odd crystalline structures growing from the walls and floors. Aurel looked at the crystals with an odd expression, as there was something wrong about them, he couldn't quite place.

Nyana suddenly gasped, startled by the piece of crystal she had been examining. With a disturbed look on her face, she rotated the piece to show the others. Frozen inside the glassy violet mass, one could make out the remains of a face, one that was screaming in horror.

Aurel carefully took the piece from Nyana's hand, giving it a long look with all his arcane senses. There was only a faint scent left on it, but this had once contained a living sapient being. Something had frozen them into crystal and then devoured them.

The dragon instinctively moved in front of his two companions, covering them with his body despite there being no obvious danger in the vicinity. "This explains why there are no more abominations around here. A big one must be nesting here, and it has been eating everything else that gets into the temple..." the concern was palpable in his voice, "I think it must somehow trap victims in crystal, so they can be consumed later."

"I would rather not end up as part of a monster's larder..." Thaelia complained while hiding behind one of Aurel's hind legs.

"Never letting that happen..." he replied, his tail lovingly coiling around both of them, "stay close and keep your eyes open."

They moved further into the temple at a painfully slow pace, checking every nook and cranny for potential danger. The disturbing crystalline structures got bigger and more solid as they advanced, whatever had frozen them bringing them further in for later consumption. Many were missing substantial fragments, but you could clearly make out the creatures trapped inside, forever stuck in that violet limbo.

"Could we free them?" Nyana asked, the sun elf concerned for those that had come before them.

Aurel shook his head. "If they were intact enough, maybe, but it would take a lot out of me to do so, and we may need me at full strength for whatever is back there," he explained.

"Do you think Umbrel could be in one of these?" Thaelia whispered, her eyes carefully checking the nearby structures.

"Possibly. She was quite competent from what we heard, but whatever is down here is very dangerous, and she was alone," he replied.

"We should look for her, then..." Nyana suggested, "if she's here, and we find her, we might not need to head further into the temple."

Aurel stopped, his long neck swaying from side to side as he carefully looked around. "That sounds like the wisest thing to do..." he mused, "but let's not split up even if it takes longer to search. Whatever did this could be hiding around any corner."

The three of them nodded at each other and started searching. Most frozen creatures appeared to be other abominations, the creature that had captured them clearly seeing them as another source of nourishment. Any that were recognisable seemed to be unlucky or careless adventurers, their quest for glory or riches cut short before they could return home.

Aside from the abominations, all the crystals they found containing possible allies were too old, either partly consumed or utterly drained, death having taken them while they were still in that unsettling limbo.

After a disheartening and tense search, Thaelia waved at them frantically from a nearby hallway, pointing at one of the crystals. It had been placed right at the end of the passage, as if the creature were using it as a decoration. Within the violet crystal, an elven woman was clearly visible.

She was clad in armour and stuck in a defiant position with her shield raised, the force of whatever froze her having partially blasted her helmet off. Her features and the iconography on her armour left little doubt about it. This was Umbrel, the one they were looking for.

"It's her, isn't it?" Thaelia asked.

"Without a doubt," agreed Aurel.

Nyana approached the crystal with curiosity, examining it thoroughly. "It's in perfect shape too... that's lucky!" she exclaimed.

"Almost as if fated..." Thaelia mused to herself.

Aurel nodded. The odds of finding her had been small, yet here she was in front of them. Maybe there was a god or two supporting their quest. The dragon wasn't the religious type, but he was genuinely grateful, and if any divinity was on their side he would have loved for them to announce themselves so he could thank them properly.

Then again, sometimes gods preferred to work in the background, so as not to arouse suspicion or stoke jealousy among each other. Perhaps that was for the best.

"Should we free her here?" Nyana asked.

The dragon shook his head. "No, it will take me a bit, and we're exposed here. Let's pick her up and go back to a safe zone," he said. Thaelia and Nyana nodded, it sounded reasonable, and neither really wanted to remain there.

With utmost care, Aurel picked up the heavy crystallised paladin and hoisted her onto his back with the help of his tail and one of Nyana's telekinesis spells. Once she was firmly secured, they slowly and quietly made their way back, past the many broken crystals and out onto the stairs of the Grand Temple.

Having mapped the surrounding area over the past few days, the trio made their way to an old building they had confirmed was clear of danger. They barricaded themselves inside as soon as they arrived, breathing a long sigh of relief once they felt safe.

With everything secure and the trio comfortable, the crystallised paladin was slowly lowered from Aurel's back, and carefully placed in the middle of the room. Aurel examined her closely, taking long sniffs while observing her from the ethereal realm. Umbrel was still alive inside, the arcane flow all living things possess fixed in place but not broken.

"I think I can free her…" he mumbled, squatting on his hind legs and holding his chin. "Each layer of this enchantment, for lack of a better word, needs to be peeled away one by one, carefully…"

Nyana moved closer to Aurel, placing a hand on his belly while looking at the crystal. "Can I help?" she asked, eager to put her power to the test.

"Yeah… stay close to me and keep an eye on my arcane flow, make sure nothing interrupts it…" he explained, placing her between his thighs.

"Got it… if it does, I'll use a bit of my power to give you a boost so it keeps flowing…" she confirmed with a smile.

"Smart girl! That would help a lot!" he purred.

"You two are such nerds when it comes to magic…" the princess said, beaming them a proud smile. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Touch yourself while you spy on us nerding out, like you do in the library when you think we're not looking?" Nyana teased with a wink.

Thaelia blushed crimson. "Y-y-y-you saw that…?"

"Sweetie… I smelt it…" Aurel added with a grin.

The princess looked down at the old cracked floor. "I mean… I could, if you command it…" she mumbled, cheeks still burning.

Nyana and Aurel smiled and chuckled. "Later, princess. We need to concentrate on this… and you are deliciously distracting…" Aurel teased, flicking his long tongue.

"Why don't you prepare some potions, blankets, water, and food? I suspect she's going to need some comfort once we get her out…" Nyana suggested.

"That's a good idea…" Thaelia replied. "I'll get to it while you both work your magic…"

"Thanks, beautiful," the dragon said, drawing one last blush from the princess.

While the princess worked in the background, Aurel focused on the crystal. As he concentrated, his senses began to filter out his senses, the world growing smaller and quieter until only the arcane flows of the ethereal surrounded him. With utmost care, he moved his hands through this immaterial space, gently tugging at the threads holding the crystalline prison together.

It was a crude but tough lattice, like crumpled paper lathered in glue. Removing each layer was nerve-wracking, for he didn't know whether pulling on one side might rip things loose from a completely different place.

Nyana sat quietly between his legs, her hands resting on Aurel's thighs while her mind monitored his arcane flow. It was hard to believe she hadn't known how to cast a single spell just months ago, for her focus now would have been the envy of many sorcerers.

The feeling of his mate's hands on his scales soothed Aurel as he continued peeling back arcane layers like a surgeon cutting into a patient. Had he been human, a torrent of sweat would have been dripping from his forehead, but as a dragon his stress manifested as heat rising off his scales.

Nyana winced at the rising temperature of his body but didn't budge, gritting her teeth while ensuring there wasn't a single break in her mate's arcane flow. Aurel could feel her discomfort, but pushed those thoughts away, for their combined efforts would be for nothing if he stopped now.

He wasn't sure how long the process took. He had been so focused that all perception of time was lost. After painstakingly removing every layer of the enchantment, Aurel raised his ephemeral hand in the ethereal realm one last time and cut the final thread with his claw.

With a loud grunt of relief he let his senses return, then inelegantly dropped onto his rear, completely spent, while Nyana hurriedly stood and shook out her hands. The crystal began cracking in front of them, the fissures spreading and growing until it snapped loudly into a million pieces that vanished in a purple puff.

Umbrel's helmet hit the floor, the paladin blinking twice in confusion just before her legs failed her. Thaelia lunged forward to stop her from smashing into the ground, but Umbrel and her armour were too heavy, and the princess could only slow her fall, even with the strength boost she drew from being Aurel's mate.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Nyana complained, nursing her burnt hands. "Please open one of those healing potions for me, princess!"

Thaelia nodded at the sun elf and uncorked a potion with her teeth, handing it to Nyana. The sun elf clumsily held it with her wrists and drank it in a hurry, her hands visibly healing as she did so.

"I thought being a dragon’s mate gave us fire and heat resistance!" the princess complained while turning her attention back to the unconscious paladin and checking the woman for a pulse.

"It does!" Aurel exclaimed, his chest heaving as he allowed his furnace to cool and slowly build power again. "It took a lot of concentration to unravel that. If it wasn’t for her resistance, Nyana would be cooked!"

The sun elf let out a sigh of relief and carefully put the empty flask away. "It was like putting your hand in a blacksmith’s furnace! I didn’t even know you could get that hot!" she exclaimed. "It hurt like hell, but I’m OK now, don’t worry…"

Aurel slowly leaned forward on all fours and tiredly nuzzled and licked Nyana, eliciting a series of happy coos and giggles from the sun elf. "That must have been so tough! I’m so proud of you…" he purred.

"Now I feel extra bad for not being able to help…" Thaelia mused to herself, carefully dripping a potion into the paladin’s mouth.

"Your value is not measured by how helpful or useful you are, princess…" Aurel said, lovingly licking and nuzzling Thaelia’s face. "Besides, you have more than proven your mettle with this whole ordeal…"

The princess raised one of her hands to stroke her mate’s scales, his loud purring making her insides happily flutter. "Thank you… my lord…" she whispered as her skin turned crimson with blush.

"You know she’s either touched or horny… or both, if she calls you that…" Nyana teased. She knelt next to Thaelia and enveloped her in a tight hug, pressing the princess’ face against her ample bosom.

"I think definitely horny after that hug…" Aurel purred, Nyana’s only response a wink with her tongue poking out between her lips.

"How is our paladin doing?" the dragon asked as he took a good look at Umbrel.

Thaelia carefully rested the paladin's head on a pillow. Umbrel lay there unconscious with a peaceful look on her face. "She has a pulse, and I'm not a healer, but she seems to be breathing normally…" the princess added, unconsciously petting the dark elf's alabaster white hair.

"I saw she had her eyes open when the crystal shattered around her," added Aurel, "coming back to consciousness after being out for so long must have been a shock… but if she is OK otherwise then she should wake soon enough…"

As if on cue, the paladin stirred, a confused grumble coming from her lips. Umbrel's eyelids slowly opened, revealing a pair of still hazy yet beautiful purple eyes. They were almost fluorescent in the dim light of this underground house. She looked around as her vision adjusted, a loud gasp escaping her chest as she laid eyes on Aurel.

"It's OK!" shouted Nyana while raising her hands, "we're friends! And Aurel is a nice dragon! We mean you no harm!"

Umbrel looked at the dragon with a glimmer of fear in her eyes, but Nyana's words and Thaelia's worried look calmed her nerves. "Who… who are you? Where am I?" she asked, with a tired tone. Despite her exhaustion, her voice had a firm and loud musicality. It made them think of an organ.

"You are in the abandoned capital of the dark elves… and we're friends," the princess explained, trying to use her most diplomatic tone, "my name is Thaelia, and these are Nyana and Aurel." The dragon made a small bow while Nyana cutely waved one hand by his side, an excited smile on her lips.

"Are you a… dragon?" Umbrel asked Aurel point-blank, a look of surprise in her eyes.

"That I am…" Aurel confirmed, his lips curling into a friendly smile as he sat on his haunches like a relaxed cat.

"My apologies…" Umbrel said as she tried to sit up with tired movements. "My last memory is of fighting a fearsome abomination that was somewhat… dragon-like."

Aurel leaned forward, intrigued by her words. "The creature that encased you in crystal?" he asked.

The dark elf nodded. "Yes… it was a terrifying visage… and despite summoning the gods to my side I was unable to fend off its horrid breath."

"You were so lucky…" Thaelia added. "You were the only crystallised person that was still alive… all others had chunks missing, or they had been sucked dry of life force."

Umbrel's eyes gazed into the distance, her fist clenched against her breastplate. "I am forever in your debt… thank you for saving me…"

"We're just happy to have found you… we have a quest of our own, and we may need your help…" Nyana explained.

"It will be my pleasure to assist you with it, lady Nyana… after I complete my current quest." The dark elf's words were quite definitive.

"You still plan to delve deeper here and find the Circlet? You've seen how dangerous that temple is!" Aurel's words dripped with concern.

Umbrel shook her head with a look of determination in her eyes. "I made an oath to recover the Circlet, and with it an important piece of history from my people…" She looked up at the trio. "I cannot back down… I will either die here or recover it." The trio looked concerned and dejected, for Umbrel seemed adamant despite her close brush with death.

"You will just get yourself killed…" Thaelia mused aloud. "What a waste…"

The dark elf crossed her arms. "So be it… I cannot back down from an oath… I would be bringing shame to the gods and my people…" She looked defeated already, her eyes fixated on the old cracked floors.

Thaelia let out a long exasperated sigh. "Fine… what if we help you then?" she suggested. Nyana and Aurel gave her a surprised look.

"You would assist me in this endeavour?" Umbrel asked, her purple eyes pleading with the princess.

"As we explained… we need you for our own quest. If you die, we may lose the chance to complete it… and that would really disappoint someone I really care about…" The princess gave Nyana a sidelong glance.

"However!" Thaelia raised a finger. "We will ask that you make an oath in return…"

Umbrel placed her hands on her knees, a look of determination returning to her face. "Name your price, princess…"

Thaelia's lips curled into a barely noticeable smirk. "First off, you must let lord Aurel confirm that you are the one we need… then we can discuss the oath proper…"

The dark elf tilted her head to one side with a curious glint in her eyes. "And how would he do that?"

Aurel took a step forward, his lips curling into a smile as he caught on with the princess's plan. "I only need to smell you…" he explained.

"Smell me?" The dark elf seemed confused.

"Indeed. Are you familiar with the curse that afflicts all elves? The one by which elven births are almost non-existent, dooming your species to extinction?" he asked.

Umbrel looked dejected. "I am aware, unfortunately… it's this very curse that eventually led to the downfall of my people here…" she said. "What does it have to do with you… smelling me?"

The dragon couldn't help but chuckle. "Thanks to the lovely Nyana, we discovered the key to gaining an audience with the ancient spirit that cursed your kind. What's needed is to put together four people directly descended from the original four elven families… the ones that would go on to create the four types or tribes of elves."

"That's why lady Nyana and princess Thaelia are of two different kinds… I assume you think I am the person you need from the dark elves?" Umbrel asked, quickly catching on.

"Correct!" Aurel agreed, beaming her a smile. "Nyana and Thaelia both carry in them a 'piece', for lack of a better term, and if we put them together we should be able to gain an audience."

The paladin held her chin, deep in thought. "Dispelling that curse would indeed be a boon for what's left of my people…" she mused to herself. "But how would smelling me help you here?"

"Draconic senses!" Nyana excitedly explained while rubbing Aurel's nose. "Master can smell the power in our pieces deep inside us… and it tickles when he does so!" The dragon couldn't help but loudly purr, nuzzling and licking his beloved mate.

"Oh…" Umbrel looked to one side, trying not to blush at the effusive display of affection before her. "That makes sense… thank you for answering my questions." She stopped to think for a moment. "Very well… letting you smell me seems harmless enough. What do you require from me?"

Aurel gave a final nuzzle to Nyana before giving the paladin his full attention once more. "Would you be so kind as to remove your breastplate and expose your belly? It would make it much easier for me…"

Umbrel blushed while resting her hands on her chest for a brief moment. "Of… of course… my armor is enchanted, so what you say makes sense…" With the utmost care, the dark elf started undoing her armour, removing it from her arms and shoulders first before finally unbuckling her chest plate.

"Wow…" Nyana exclaimed at the sight of Umbrel's torso. The paladin had an incredibly athletic figure, her well-defined muscles gleaming on her dark onyx skin. She nervously hugged her chest, her modest but perky bosom tightly contained in a flexible bra.

"You could grate cheese on those abs…" the sun elf blurted out with a giggle. Thaelia subtly elbowed Nyana in the side, giving her lover a scolding look.

Umbrel blushed once more as she leaned backwards, exposing her belly for the dragon. "Is this enough?" she asked, clearly wanting to get this over with.

Aurel nodded and leaned forward, his eyes level with hers as he moved his nose closer to her belly. "May I?" he asked. The dark elf gestured for him to go ahead with a nod.

Unable to stop himself from smiling, the dragon pressed his muzzle against her warm skin and started taking a long sniff, his focus slowly shifting to the arcane flows. The room melted around him as his nose became attuned with the magic coursing through Umbrel.

Unsurprisingly, it had a divine tint, its raw power making the dragon's nostrils tingle. Her conviction and dedication were fierce, making her power suffuse every inch of her being like a radiant sheen. It made sensing anything deeper tricky… but Aurel had plenty of practice by now.

Knowing what to look for from his two mates, he took a longer and deeper sniff. Umbrel gritted her teeth to avoid making embarrassing noises from the feeling of the dragon scales against her skin. Pushing aside the overwhelming brightness of her divine magic, the dragon's focus plunged deeper and deeper, until a familiar tingle made his scales shiver.

"She has it…" he purred as he opened his eyes.

"Yes!" Nyana shouted, pulling Thaelia into a kiss so effusive it left the princess dazed and breathless. "Another one! Woo!"

"Calm down, gorgeous," Aurel said to his mate with a chuckle. "She still hasn't agreed to help us yet…"

Umbrel quickly shifted in place, kneeling before the dragon, though not to him. "I will help you, this is a noble cause!" she pledged, her face once more filled with a determined look. "My only request is that you help me with my current oath first!"

Thaelia, still dizzy and smiling from Nyana's kiss, moved closer to the paladin. "Hold on, my dear Umbrel…" the princess said as she raised her hands. "That's not the full oath I would ask of you…"

Umbrel stood up. While she was not as tall as Nyana, she was still at least a head taller than the princess. "What would you have me pledge, princess?" the paladin asked, her purple eyes burning with purpose.

The princess' lips curled into a smile that reminded the others of a mischievous cat. "If we help you and succeed… I request you pledge yourself to Aurel… as his mate."

A long silence filled the room.

"You would have me pledge myself as… what?" Umbrel asked, looking at the princess in shock.

"His mate… just like Nyana and me…" The princess confirmed, crossing her arms. "Dragons take mates amongst other species… and since both Nyana and I are his mates, I think it's only fitting you join us…"

Umbrel blinked twice, her face frozen as she processed what the princess had just requested. "Y-y-you would have me become a dragon's… mate? But I am a paladin, in my oath to the gods I swore to uphold certain tenets and obligations…"

"And do any of them stop you from settling down and helping your kind avoid extinction?" the princess pointedly asked.

"I…" the paladin was beyond confused, she had never even contemplated something like this. "I… don't think so…"

"See?" Thaelia added with a smile. "We heard of your adventures… you have helped so many for so long… this is the only thing you have done for yourself…" The princess tenderly held Umbrel's hands. "So let's complete this quest of yours… recover a lost relic of your people… and then come with us. I promise you won't regret it…" Thaelia teased with a wink.

"Besides," the princess added, "how is this different from pledging yourself to a lord or lady that has earned your loyalty?"

"Well… you normally don't have to 'lay' with the lord or lady one pledges oneself to…" Umbrel clarified, yet her shy smile betrayed that she was intrigued by the idea.

"Oh, when you pledge yourself to him that won't be an issue… trust me," Nyana exclaimed while giving Aurel and Thaelia a look so lewd it felt as if even the walls blushed.

"Right…" Umbrel said. "I had heard that dragons took mates from other species, but I always wondered how exactly that worked…" A long sigh left the paladin's lungs. "I do not have much choice… and I owe all of you my life…" She placed her fist over her heart and made a small bow. "Very well… I accept your terms."

"Woo!" Nyana exclaimed, happily bouncing around the room while giving everyone, including Umbrel, loud passionate kisses.

The paladin stared into the distance with a confused look. Her blushing cheeks and nervous fidgeting telegraphed that she had enjoyed the kiss, but this was all very unfamiliar territory for her.

"I swear to you that I will do everything in my power so you never regret this oath, Umbrel," the dragon vowed. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Umbrel crossed her arms. "I still haven't pledged my service to you, and the Circlet is not yet recovered… but I thank you for your words," she said with a timid look.

"Of course…" the dragon agreed with a bow. "For now, let's rest and prepare our approach for tomorrow… we will need our full strength to take on whatever has made a nest of the Grand Temple."

"Indeed…" Umbrel said with a nod. "Let's rest, I'm still dizzy from my captivity… and you obviously went through a lot to even get here."

The party shared a nod and got busy making the room as cosy as possible for the night. Nyana unbuckled the saddlebags from Aurel, who was happy to be rid of their encumbrance, stretching his limbs like a cat. At the same time, Thaelia assisted Umbrel out of her remaining armour, leaving the paladin only in her top and the thick soft trousers she wore to avoid chafing.

Much to the paladin's surprise, Nyana grabbed the princess and undressed her almost completely, leaving the blushing woman only in her thin white panties. Thaelia's pale skin gleamed like marble in the dim light from the lamp illuminating the room. "There! Much more comfortable! Right, kitten?" Nyana said, giving the princess a big hug and a kiss.

"Y-yeah… much more… comfy…" Thaelia agreed, sitting down while a chuckling Aurel set up their cooking utensils.

Nyana grinned ear to ear and undressed herself like Thaelia, chucking her clothes onto Aurel's horns before dropping cross-legged next to the other two women. "Gods I needed to let them breathe…" she exclaimed with relief while fanning her generous bosom.

Aurel continued to chuckle and snicker while lifting Nyana's discarded clothes to uncover his eyes, yet otherwise unbothered to let them hang from his horns. "You are so precious, Nyana…" he swooned, throwing his mate a kiss.

"You try carrying these around in that tight bra in this stuffy dungeon for hours," she said, lifting her breasts less to tease and more to prove a point.

"They do look rather… cumbersome…" Umbrel agreed while blushing. The princess passed her a canteen of water from which the paladin drank with gusto.

Nyana leaned closer to Umbrel, eyeing her up and down. "How are you not stuffy after being in a crystal for so long? Those look very uncomfortable…" the sun elf said, pointing at the dark elf's trousers.

"Em… apologies, lady Nyana… but I'm not wearing anything under them…" Umbrel explained nervously.

The sun elf just stared at her for a moment before a mischievous smirk curled on her lips. With a deftness that betrayed her practice, Nyana slipped out of her thin undergarments and tossed them over towards Aurel, the silken fabric landing perfectly on the tip of his left horn. "There! So am I!" Nyana teased. "Now get those off, it's making me uncomfortable just looking at you…"

Thaelia pressed her face against Aurel's scales to muffle her laughter while Umbrel stared at Nyana like a blushing cornered animal. Defeated, and secretly enticed by the sun elf, Umbrel removed her trousers and top, leaving them in a small pile with her armour.

The paladin sat hugging her legs against her chest with a shy look in her eyes. It was impossible to fully cover herself sitting like this, giving the others a small glimpse of her smooth lower lips framed between her strong firm thighs.

"I didn't say anything about your top… but good on you, it seems your chest also needed to breathe a bit…" Nyana cooed with a mischievous look.

Umbrel blushed once more while she buried her face against her legs, the realisation dawning on her from Nyana's words. "A-at least it is more c-c-comfortable like this…" the paladin agreed, trying and failing to play it cool.

"Don't worry, Umbrel, Nyana has a knack for getting us all undressed one way or another…" Thaelia said while pulling some food from their bags to cook dinner.

"Speaking of…" Nyana mumbled while crawling towards the princess. "Off… now…" the sun elf commanded, pulling at Thaelia's knickers.

The princess blushed but didn't even bother complaining. She stood up and sensually removed her underwear for her lover. Aurel politely lowered his head so Thaelia could hang it from his right horn, opposite Nyana's. "There? Happy?" the princess grumbled while pressing herself against a purring Aurel.

"And they say you cannot train a cat to do tricks…" Nyana teased before giving the princess a playful nip on her rear. Thaelia let out a surprised and lewd yip that left Aurel purring even louder and Umbrel boiling with blush.

"The kind of fun you have in mind should probably wait till we're done helping the paladin, gorgeous," Aurel told Nyana while giving her a long lick from her belly to her lips.

Nyana loudly scoffed. "Party pooper… especially after you give me a lick like that…" she complained, poking her tongue out. "Let's just eat and cuddle then… I'm starving!"

And with that the party got busy cooking, Aurel kindly providing the fire they needed for it. Dinner was mostly quiet, each of them enjoying their meal while sharing a few bites with the dragon. He may not need to eat, but sharing in the flavour was very pleasant.

When dinner was finished, they spent some time putting things away and washing themselves as best they could, aware that hygiene was vital on a long underground trip such as this.

Their bellies full and bodies cared for, Nyana, Thaelia and Aurel made a small cosy pile of pillows and blankets, the sun and moon elves making themselves comfortable in it. Umbrel made an attempt at settling herself away from the group in her own corner, but Nyana would have none of it and pulled the paladin into their warm cuddle pile.

Aurel coiled around them as Umbrel blushed like a tomato, the paladin embraced by Nyana and Thaelia's naked bodies on each side. The dragon smiled as he tightened his body around them protectively, his loud purrs slowly lulling the three tired women into a pleasant trance.

Neither elves nor dragons needed to sleep per se, but they were all so tired their restful trances were particularly deep. Thankfully, they suffered no interruptions, Aurel's keen hearing picking up some movement from the creatures nearby but nothing that put them at risk.

Morning arrived uneventfully, and the party prepared their bags and equipment for the upcoming battle. Weapons were checked and double-checked, spells were readied and potions carefully placed in belts and pockets for quick access.

The way back to the temple was eerily quiet, even more so than the day before. No abominations blocked their way, and the party climbed the steps of the grand temple with the same trepidation they felt when first coming into the ruined city.

Whatever creature prowled this place, it seemed aware the party had been there yesterday… and had taken someone with them. Many of the crystal statues had been smashed or cleaved, and those that couldn't be saved had what life force remained drained dry by the furious creature.

The party advanced cautiously, with Umbrel leading the way, her shield raised in a defensive position. At first this had bothered Aurel, who felt that from the front he could better protect them all. However, Umbrel's enchanted armour and shield, plus her martial training, were nothing to scoff at. From the front she could partially cover Aurel and the others, while the dragon offered additional protection and could easily drag her to the back line if needed.

As they advanced deeper into the building, the party noticed that the creature only seemed to prowl the wider corridors and halls. Umbrel's memory was hazy, so she could only roughly describe it, but from what she could recall, and the locations the creature preferred, it was likely bigger than the dragon.

Focusing on their main objective, they pushed towards the inner sanctum, where Umbrel believed the Circlet had been stashed for safety. Nothing attacked them on the way there, which ironically only made the tightness in their chests worse from the anticipation.

"The inner sanctum should be right ahead," Umbrel announced in hushed tones. Her companions nodded back at her, following the paladin as she advanced past a pair of ancient doors that had been smashed into splinters long ago.

For a moment, the group were in awe of the magnificent chamber. Elaborate columns and statues lined the walls and niches, reaching all the way up to the temple's vaulted ceiling. It must have been a sight to behold back in its heyday, one surely even the gods that were being honoured were impressed by.

Unfortunately, their admiration of the sanctum did not last long, for they noticed a pair of unnatural purple eyes glaring at them from the darkness. The party scrambled to assume defensive positions as their eyes adjusted to the eerie twilight the room was filled with from the remains of once mighty ever bright lamps and chandeliers.

From a jagged crystalline nest emerged a hideous quadruped creature. Umbrel hadn't lied when she compared it to a mockery of a dragon, for it was covered in an irregular pattern of glassy purple scales and slimy hide that looked as if ready to slide off its bones. It advanced towards them with a menacing look on its eyes, the creature's useless misshapen wings unfurled in a threatening display.

"That thing is revolting!" shouted Nyana as she dashed to cover behind a pillar holding her pointy hat.

"Keep your distance and observe its movements!" commanded Aurel almost instinctively, "we're not sure yet how it crystallises its victims!"

"Oh, I'm not getting anywhere close!" Thaelia agreed as she rolled behind Nyana.

Umbrel advanced towards the abomination slowly but firmly, ignoring the creature's threatening snarls and cacophonic roars. She raised her shield high, invoking divine protection for her and her party.

"That's probably how he got you last time!" Aurel shouted at the paladin, rushing to move her out of the way.

The creature's jaw dislocated with a hideous "crack", and a purple flame boiled on its mouth for an instant before blasting ahead in a foul jet. Aurel tackled the paladin right on time to shove her out of the way.

"Ow…" complained the dragon looking at the crystallised tip of his tail, "I don't think the enchantment of your shield and that protection spell is enough for this!"

Umbrel stood up, dazed but safe, and gave the dragon a concerned look. "Are you OK?" she asked, rushing towards his tail.

The dragon smashed the tip of his crystallised tail on the stone floor, glassy fragments flying everywhere. His appendage was safe, but the dragon's golden scales looked brittle. "I'm fine, but this is going to take a while to heal…"

Just as Aurel and the paladin were getting up, the creature lunged at them with a speed at odds with its misshapen form. A hail of sharp icicles knocked it to one side before it could reach its prey, arcane power still shimmering on Nyana's fingers.

"Move!" shouted Thaelia as she looked around the room for anything that may aid them against the creature. Aurel and Umbrel didn't need to be told twice and quickly dashed to either side of the abomination, attempting to flank it.

"Let's see if this works…" the dragon growled as his furnace roared in his chest. An incandescent flash of white flame consumed everything between him and the creature, its hideous screams echoing through the room.

The party stared at the pyre for a moment in the hope it had destroyed the abomination, but to their dismay it crawled out of the flames looking as threatening as ever. Every part of its body not covered in crystalline scales was burning, thick lines of sludge dripping onto the floor as if it was a wax statue melting under the sun. Yet it appeared no worse for wear, if anything more furious and hungry.

"We need to put it down in one hit!" Umbrel screamed while deftly deflecting a tail swipe from the creature.

"Lead it towards the middle of the chamber!" shouted Thaelia as she climbed a pillar like a cat up a tree, "I have an idea!"

Nyana, Umbrel and Aurel nodded at each other and took positions, shooting spells and taking swipes at the abomination trying to lure it where the princess had requested. The furious creature vomited a jet of foul purple flame once more, sweeping its head in an arc to bathe all of them with it in one swoop.

Umbrel dropped prone to avoid it with a clang while the dragon jumped in front of Nyana while raising one of its wings like a shield, crystal painfully growing on his scales yet unable to fully encase him.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Nyana, her green eyes aflame with arcane power, "no one hurts my Master!"

An enormous piece of masonry was ripped clean from the floor by her arcane power and catapulted at the creature as if tossed by an angry giant. It smashed into the abomination with a bone crunching thud, sending the creature rolling towards the centre of the chamber like a hideous rag doll.

"Keep it there!" the princess shouted from atop a column, her magical dagger grinding against withered old steel.

Snapping into action at her request, Aurel charged at the abomination. The dragon pounced onto it with all his weight, walls echoing with the sound of scales smashing against crystal. Both wrestled in place in a storm of snarls and growls, claws and teeth swiping and snapping.

"Master! Move out of the way, NOW!" Thaelia screamed as the withered chain above her snapped with a horrible metallic screech.

Umbrel tried to disengage from the melee, but the creature refused to release him despite the dragon's furious kicks. Just as an enormous chandelier crashed upon both of them, a discarded piece of column smashed the creature's claws and pushed Aurel out of the way with a painful thud.

"Sorry!" apologised Nyana, arcane power floating about her still.

"I’m OK! Thank you!" shouted a winded but safe Aurel.

The creature roared as it scrambled to chase the dragon, but the chandelier crashed on it with a gruesome wet sound. Despite the grievous damage it had suffered, the abomination refused to yield, its broken bones fighting against the weight upon it while purple flame boiled in its dislocated jaws once more.

"Umbrel, NOW!" the dragon shouted at the paladin.

Casting her shield aside, the paladin rushed forward and lunged at the creature, her sword impaling the abomination's skull right above its eyes. With a howl of pain the creature flung Umbrel away with a swing of its neck, but just as the paladin painfully raised and drew her dagger, the abomination sputtered black ichor, groaned, and dropped.

The party silently stared at the creature for a few moments, ready for anything that may happen. Yet, nothing happened, no movement, no growls, no purple fire. It was dead.

Thaelia slid down the column and joined Nyana, the two women rushing to the side of Umbrel and Aurel, who were limping towards them with a smile.

"We did it!" Nyana shouted as she hugged the dragon's head and covered him in kisses.

"We sure did…" Aurel agreed while pulling the others into his arms, nuzzling and licking them as he loudly purred.

"Is your wing OK?" Thaelia asked, pointing at the dragon's half crystallised wing with some concern.

"It hurts like hell, and it's probably going to take a while to properly heal. No flying joyrides for a bit, I'm afraid…" he explained, trying not to move his sore appendage.

"As fun as those are, I'm happier you are in one piece. I was so scared when you blocked it!" Nyana clung to her Master as she spoke.

Umbrel, still dazed and fatigued from the encounter, stared at them for a moment before her lips curled into a happy smile, and she joined in the hug. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart, everyone… I couldn't have defeated this abomination on my own…"

"Don't thank us just yet… we still have to help you find that circlet…" Aurel added as he slowly released them from his hug.

"Let's just catch our breath for a moment, and we will look together… it has to be here somewhere…" the princess interjected while dusting off her legs. They all agreed with a nod and stopped for a few minutes to check their wounds, drink some healing potions and get their bearings back.

Once the party felt ready to continue, they all started to explore the ruined inner sanctum. The place was littered with the crystallised statues of the abomination's victims, though sadly they had been there for so long that the people inside were irrecoverable.

Perhaps the only positive was that due to the creature fiercely defending its lair, the sanctum had not been looted. Among its ruins the party found many wondrous things, including ancient texts, jewellery, and even the still-intact regalia of the high priestess, its enchantments having preserved it far longer than any common item.

But the most important discovery was found by Thaelia behind a false wall in the high priestess's personal chambers, a simple black metal box without a visible lock mechanism. The princess presented it to the party with an excited smile on her lips, convinced this was what they were looking for.

"It may look simple, but a powerful enchantment has been woven onto it," Aurel mused out loud. "Umbrel, put your hand on it."

The paladin gave the dragon a puzzled look, but went ahead with his suggestion regardless. She carefully placed her palm on the box’s flat surface and was rewarded with an audible click.

"As I suspected, it only opens to a direct descendant of the last matron," Aurel said with a grin. "Go ahead, open it."

Umbrel held her breath as she lifted the lid, her eyes tearing up at the sight of the Circlet, her quest finally at an end. She carefully lifted it, admiring the simple silvery artifact and the small but bright purple gems adorning its front.

"Thank you so much, everyone. This... I'm at a loss for words," Umbrel babbled in between sobs. The others came together for a hug, sharing in her excitement.

"Time to head home, I think," Nyana stated. "I don't know about you, but I need a break from these ruins."

"You won't hear me complaining," added the princess.

"Well, thankfully I have enough power left for a group teleport spell before having a nice rest," Aurel informed them with a grin, "as long as you have everything you need, Umbrel?"

The paladin placed the circlet back into the box and wiped her tears. "No, I have everything I had hoped to find. Let's head out, we all need a rest, and I haven't forgotten my oath to you."

Aurel gave her a small nod and concentrated on a spell, his claws weaving its magical threads. With a few words of power and a flash, the party was swallowed in the growing glow, vanishing in an instant.

Their forms rematerialised in the dragon’s lair. The kobolds gave them a look of confusion before excitedly shouting happy, welcoming yips. After briefly showing Umbrel around and instructing the kobolds to prepare some food and a bath for them, the party did their best to relax and lick their wounds.

Umbrel was so elated to have completed her quest that she didn’t complain when Nyana and Thaelia dragged her with them to the bath, enjoying both the company and the relaxing atmosphere.

After dinner, with all of them rested and Aurel’s wounds tended to, the group invited Umbrel to join them at their private chambers for the night. The paladin blushed with some apprehension at the invitation, but she was not one to back down from an oath and agreed to join them with a bow.

Knowing what was coming, the dragon and his mates prepared the bedroom as best they could, sorting pillows, dimming lights, and spreading some nice fragrances around the room. They invited Umbrel to join them as soon as she was ready, and insisted she wear the high priestess's robe they found in the ruins and bring the box with the Circlet. Once everything was ready, the trio patiently waited for Umbrel, excited smiles on their faces.

The paladin quietly entered the room, her bare feet silent on the stone floor as the simple yet elegant, flowing white robe clung to her figure and trailed behind her. She gave them a nervous look, unsure what they had in store for the night, yet decisively advanced toward them with the circlet’s black box in her hands.

Her new friends waited for her, with Thaelia flanked by Nyana and Aurel. The princess was barefoot as well, a short white dress hanging from her shoulders and glimmering under the room’s warm, welcoming light. Nyana was dressed much more provocatively, sporting a form-fitting and dangerously short red party dress with matching, vertigo-inducing heels. Aurel, for his part, had got his scales so well polished that their golden shine was almost blinding.

Umbrel’s cheeks flushed as she approached them, the paladin clearly taken aback by how beautiful they all looked. "Th-thank you for inviting me here tonight. I have not forgotten my oath," she uttered with an uncharacteristically shy tone. "May I ask, though, why did you request for me to bring the circlet and dress like this?"

"To give you your inheritance," Aurel explained in a sweet tone. "Umbrel, please open the box." The paladin gave him a confused look but did as requested, the box opening with a soft click as she once more placed her hand on it.

"May I?" asked Thaelia, moving her hands closer to the Circlet. Umbrel gave her a polite nod, and the princess retrieved the delicate artifact while Aurel carefully placed the box aside.

"Tradition dictates that a member of the royal lineage of the matrons consecrates a new high priestess, but since that lineage is gone, we felt a princess was the closest thing," Aurel explained with a smile.

"W-wait... high priestess...?" Umbrel asked with a shocked expression.

"Umbrel, noble paladin, please lower your head," Thaelia commanded as she lifted the circlet high in her pale hands. The paladin, while still in shock, bowed to her solemnly, her hands together against her chest in a sign of prayer.

"As the last surviving descendant of the ancient matrons and heir of your people, it is my honour to invest you with the Hallowed Circlet and ordain you as High Priestess." Thaelia carefully brought down the circlet onto Umbrel’s head, the artifact gleaming against the paladin’s alabaster white hair.

Umbrel raised her head, her knuckles white from how tightly she was holding her hands together. Tears were slowly dripping from her purple eyes as she looked at them, a storm of emotions thundering in her chest. "I... I cannot accept this. I’m not worthy of it," she protested.

"Nonsense," Aurel countered. "You almost sacrificed it all to recover this artifact, so the memory of your people is never lost. You are pious and courageous, and many spoke fondly of your deeds even before you embarked on this quest."

The dragon leaned forward, placing one of his huge hands on her shoulder. "No one is more worthy of carrying both this honour and burden." His words lingered in the room, echoing in the paladin’s ears.

"I concur with Lord Aurel," Thaelia agreed. "I cannot think of anyone better."

"Likewise!" Nyana shouted excitedly. "You’re amazing, and it really suits you!"

Umbrel just broke down sobbing, her usual strong demeanour and self-control shattered by their kind words and the honour of carrying the circlet on her head. "Thank you, everyone," she said in between tears. "I swear I will carry out this duty as best I can and honour my people."

The dragon and his mates broke what little protocol remained by pulling Umbrel, now the high priestess, into a backbreaking hug. She happily cried tears of joy against them, a feeling of relief washing over her. At the same time, the honour, and burden of her new role, even if merely ceremonial for now, filled her chest with determination.

"Thank you once more, everyone," the paladin said, her voice still trembling. She took a step back and gazed at the dragon. "And now... I wish to honour the oath I gave you and your mates. Tell me, what do you require of me?"

Nyana giggled to herself and shot Umbrel and Aurel a wink before retreating back to one of the cushion piles with Thaelia, playfully dragging the princess behind her by the hand. "Just try to relax and look him in the eyes, it feels amazing," Nyana explained as she pulled Thaelia down into the cushions with her, the sun elf wrapping her arms and legs around the princess while she covered her in kisses.

"I... I understand," Umbrel replied, her voice briefly stuttering. "I am at your service, Master Aurel. Please proceed."

The dragon smiled at her and reached out with his hand, tenderly grasping her head while placing his thumb on her forehead. He felt comfortable with the process after already claiming two mates, and with a loud exhalation he allowed himself to relax and focus, the material world melting around him.

Umbrel’s aura shone before him like a blaze, its deep purple colour interlaced with the radiant veins of divine power coursing through her thanks to her faith and devotion. Carefully, Aurel extended tendrils from his own aura, their golden hue digging deep into the paladin’s soul.

She let out a loud, deep moan with such a lack of decorum that it made Nyana and Thaelia blush while quietly giggling to themselves. Both women were aware of the kind of emotions being bonded elicited in a person, but Umbrel had been even louder and lewder than the princess when she was claimed.

As the paladin quivered and trembled, her chest heaving under her white robes, Aurel plunged more and more tendrils into her soul. Each time one latched tightly to Umbrel in the ethereal realm, the paladin couldn’t help but moan once again, her expression slowly twisting from one of strong determination to one of uncontrollable arousal. The dragon held her tightly when her knees buckled, doing his best to stop her from falling. 

He hastened his work, a small grin curling on his lips as he could smell his new mate melting into delight while the final tendrils anchored themselves to the furthest depths of her soul. With a final growl of excitement, Aurel pulled her soul towards him, the paladin’s aura almost crashing into his orbit as her knees finally failed. She dropped onto the pillow below her in the throes of a mind-melting orgasm.

Aurel gazed down at his new mate, her purple eyes fixated on his while she loudly moaned, panted, and quivered. Tears of shock and joy streamed down her cheeks, the high priestess’s whole body burning with a desire for her new Master that she had never experienced in her life.

"Oh… gods…" she whimpered, her eyes taking in Aurel’s form as if the very heaven’s had opened.

"Are you feeling OK, my beautiful mate?" Aurel purred as he caressed her cheek with one of his claws.

"I am so sorry Master…" she profusely apologised, her hands clenched together against her chest once more, "it’s so clear to me now… I have been such a fool…"

The dragon tilted his head while giving Umbrel a curious look. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I’ve been so blind… my place has always been here, at your feet… worshipping you…" she mumbled, her tone one of genuine shame.

Aurel couldn’t help but to chuckle before giving Umbrel a loving nuzzle. "We hadn’t even met, my sweet priestess…" he purred.

She shook her head while caressing his scales with adoration. "It’s no excuse… this is my destiny, what the gods intended for me when they gave me this life… I should have searched for you, thrown myself at your claws as soon as you were born…" she rambled with mad zeal in her voice.

"I think her religious devotion has got mixed up with her draconic bond…" Thaelia quietly stated as she and Nyana stared at the scene.

"It’s kinda hot, though…" the sun elf added with a grin.

"I appreciate the sentiment, my sweet priestess, but do not be ashamed, we met as soon as fate allowed…" the dragon stated trying to soothe her while he cleaned her tears with his claws.

"Please Master… do not dismiss my shame and give me some penitence… I need to be punished for my failure…" she begged.

Aurel raised an eyebrow. "Is this… arousing you?" he asked her, the smell of her excitement teasing his phallus to come out from under his scales.

"Oh Master… I’d be aroused by anything you commanded… but yes, lust consumes me as I was nothing but an animal in heat… Begging or your mercy is like oil on a fire and the mere thought of enduring penitence for you makes my insides burn…" she admitted while pulling at her robes, as if the soft thin fabric was smothering her.

The dragon loudly purred as he knelt before her, his steaming ribbed phallus pulsating mere inches from Umbrel’s face. "Well… if it’s your kink then… I’d be rude not to feed it…" he purred, the grin on his lips grew.

"Yes Master, please… let me show you my repentance…" she pleaded.

Aurel grabbed his cock firmly with one hand and started to stroke it slowly, it’s smell slowly melting what was left of Umbrel’s mind with desire. "Pull up that robe and touch yourself… masturbate as hard as you can while you beg for forgiveness and worship me…" he growled. 

The priestess didn’t wait for even a second, clumsily rolling up her robe to uncover her drenched lower lips. She started by fiddling and rubbing her clit while keeping her eyes fixated on his, a trembling whimper on her lips. "Yes Master… please allow this lowly servant to worship you…" she begged.

"Good girl…" he purred, "expose your breasts too, play with them… I want to see you debase yourself like a happy and dedicated whore…"

Umbrel did as commanded with her free hand, pulling her robe down to reveal her perky breasts. She fondled, squeezed and pinched them, soft little moans escaping her chest. "Anything you wish, please forgive me for having failed to be by your side for so long…"

The dragon purred louder, stroking himself faster for her. "You three are going to make it so hard to stay humble…" he growled, "Nyana, please don’t forget to pull me down if I get too big for my scales…"

Thaelia and Nyana were currently enjoying the scene from their cushions, slowly masturbating each other in between soft moans. "Don’t worry Master," Nyana cooed with a grin, "I’ll make sure to be there if it goes to your head…"

Aurel shot her a kiss. "Thank you, gorgeous…"

Nyana moaned and gave him a wink. "You know the first time when you bond with someone they completely lose their head… give the lady what she needs, don’t hold back…" the sun elf said with a lewd look in her eyes.

Feeling more comfortable with the situation, Aurel looked down at Umbrel once more. The priestess was furiously masturbating while still looking up at him as if in the presence of a god. A full body shiver shot through the dragon’s scales, fire burning in his loins for his new mate.

"You’re not allowed to orgasm before I do," he commanded, the priestess whimpering as hiss words drilled into her mind, "If you please me, I will bless you with my cum, and you will orgasm as soon as it touches your tongue…"

"Yes Master! Your will be done!" she moaned as she shoved two fingers into her pussy, arching and twitching while the surrounding air filled with wet filthy sounds.

"Good girl…" he purred once more, "keep pleading and worshipping… your words make my scales tingle…"

"Yes Master…" she whimpered, "is my penitence and worship good enough? Does the sound of my wet loins please you? Your scales blind me with their radiance and my innards ache for your phallus…"

Aurel growled louder, his cock throbbing from her words. "Keep going… beg me to bless you with my cum… convince me you want it more than anything…" he snarled as his pupils narrowed.

"Oh gods, Master," she sobbed in between moans, "my throat thirsts for your seed like that of a needy slut… I am unworthy of it’s taste on my tongue, but my life would be meaningless without it…"

The dragon shook his head and growled at her. "You don’t thirst after my cum like a needy slut… you are a needy slut…" he told her as her got closer to climax, "we do not belittle sluts in this house, they are divinely beautiful, and I find their lust intoxicating…"

A mixture between a loud wail and a moan escaped from Umbrel’s chest. "Yes! Yes! It is as you command, Master!" she mumbled with a mad look of lust in her eyes, "I will be your slut! Dirty, horny and needy! Always craving your lewd attentions!"

"Marvellous…" he purred, "you learn so quick…" The dragon flashed her a toothy grin, "open your mouth, take my cock with your lips and drink every drop while you give the gods a grateful prayer…" Umbrel stopped touching herself and brought her hands together in prayer, the priestess’ mouth wide open for her Master.

Aurel pushed his tip into her mouth and allowed his loins to release the torrent of cum he had been building, savagely flooding Umbrel’s throat. The priestess’ eyes rolled back into her skull as a mind shattering orgasm detonated in her loins, sending shockwaves to every inch of her body. She greedily latched to her Master’s cock with her lips, doing her best to swallow every drop of the inhumanly thick load he had given her.

As he relaxed and purred, each throb of his cock shooting another big glob of his cum into her mouth, Aurel was taken aback by the way she looked. Umbrel was genuinely lost in prayer as her overwhelming orgasm still echoed through her body. The priestess’ eyes were lost, twitching under her skull while a dribble of cum dripped from her lips onto her hands. Each long gulp made her throat bulge, and every time the overwhelming taste hit her stomach her whole body vibrated as in religious ecstasy.

Despite how blasphemous it all felt, he couldn’t help himself from thinking she looked absolutely beautiful. As he placed a hand lovingly on her head, he vowed to himself to try to make her feel and look like this as often as he could…

Her needy gulps slowed as the last of Aurel’s load slid down her hungry throat, the needy priestess switching from desperate suckling to tender worshipful licks. She gave her Master a look of utter adoration as focus returned to her eyes, a thin trail of tears still running down her cheeks. "Th-thank you… Master…" she swooned, her body still quivering from her climax.

"Good girl…" he purred as he lovingly caressed her face, "you are more than worth it… any penitence you get from now on is because I understand how much it entices you…"

"As you wish, Master," she cooed, "I will forever feel like I failed you for not knowing my fate sooner, so please… punish me as much and as often as you wish…"

Aurel held his chin while dirty thoughts flooded his mind. "Is that so? Well… as the descendant of the matrons it should be your duty to have many half dragons with me to restore your legacy…" his words made her clench her thighs in anticipation, "but before I knock you up, as penitence, I will teach you to enjoy being reduced to a living toy…"

Umbrel almost fainted from the full body shiver his words gave her. She stared at him with her mouth agape, mumbling and moaning incoherently. "Yes… please…" she begged, "teach your worthless slut her place… be rough… don’t be afraid if it hurts…"

"Gosh, she’s totally drunk with this…" Nyana commented as she cuddled with Thaelia, both women still tender from their orgasms.

"She’s even worse than I was… it’s a bit scary…" the princess bit her lip, "but Nyana is right… it’s crazy hot…"

"What? You want the same too, kitten?" Nyana teased the princess.

Thaelia’s pale cheeks blushed crimson red. "Maybe not as rough… but I do enjoy it when you and Aurel… u-u-use me…"

"Gosh you’re cute, how Master hasn’t just eaten you is a mystery…" Nyana cooed as she pulled the princess into a passionate kiss.

Meanwhile, Aurel, who was so focused and aroused by his new mate that he hadn’t overheard Nyana and Thaelia, gently lifted Umbrel’s chin with one of his claws. "Take off your robe, my beautiful priestess, we’ve soiled it enough for today and I want to admire my toy’s body…" he purred.

Umbrel visibly shivered as she carefully removed her robes over her head and pushed them to one side. She stood up before him, raising her hands over her head and slightly parting her legs to give him a full view of her body. "I hope what you see pleases you, Master…" she pleaded, "do not hesitate to change or cut off anything you dislike…"

The dragon shook his head. "Cut off… gods your devotion is scary, my lovely mate, but I could smell how much uttering those words aroused you…" he sensually caressed her dark as onyx skin.

As they had seen only a night before, Umbrel was delightfully fit and athletic, the contours of her muscles visible from their gleam under this light. The dragon’s golden brand shone below her well-defined abs, shimmering every time she clenched her thighs. Umbrel gazed at him with a smitten look as her lower lips visibly twitched, their dripping arousal staining her long legs.

"Gods you’re beautiful…" the dragon whispered as he slid his tongue along her belly and chest. She shivered for him as the warm and slick appendage travelled up her neck and over her lips, sliding into the priestess mouth where she devoutly suckled it. Aurel leaned forward, his clawed hands encircling her body as they melted into a passionate kiss, the dragon’s long muscular tongue making Umbrel’s throat bulge.

The priestess gasped as Aurel pulled back, her eyes slowly regaining their focus as he licked her lips. Aurel gave her a grin, arcane power shimmering on the tips of his claws. "I’ve been meaning to test this spell… didn’t expect it to be with you…" he purred with excitement.

Umbrel stared at him with a look of anxious excitement, curious to see what he had planned. Arcane flows were woven together as he muttered some words, the tip of one of his claws shining as he playfully slid it along her skin.

Suddenly, a shimmering thick leather collar materialised on the priestess’ neck, squeezing her neck just tight enough to always remind her it was there. Umbrel’s hands were pulled backwards as a pair of firm leather restraints enveloped her forearms and bound them together behind her back.

Just as she let out a dirty moan of surprise, a pair of leather cuffs appeared over her ankles. An unseen force pulled her feet forward, forcing her to fold her legs over her torso, the ankle cuffs latching themselves to her collar firmly. Had she not been in Aurel’s hands, she would have fallen backwards onto the cushions. Instead, she ended immobilised in his grasp, her holes completely at his mercy.

The priestess whimpered and trembled in her Master’s hands, Umbrel’s already overexcited mind almost melting from her current helplessness and Aurel’s ravenous gaze. She tried to speak, but the only thing that came out of her lips were lewd incoherent babblings.

"Bound like a little toy…" he purred as he fought the urge of taking a bite out of the delightful sight before him.

"Yes Master… nothing more than a toy for you… it’s more than I deserve…" she mumbled, already so aroused it felt she may climax at any moment.

An evil grin curled on Aurel’s lips. "You are not allowed to ever have a climax on your own… you will only cum if you have a partner. Either they order you to orgasm or you cum when they do… understand?" the dragon commanded.

If it wasn’t because of that very command, Umbrel’s would have melted into a mind-shattering orgasm from his words. She shivered and trembled while moaning and babbling, already edged beyond belief. "Y-y-y-yes M-m-m-master… your slut will never d-d-d-dare orgasm first or without permission…" she stutered between moans.

"Good girl… a high priestess must be a good servant to their flock, which means any orgasms you get are a divine reward from your service…" he purred as he teased her lower lips with his tongue.

She swooned, almost sobbing from needy excitement. "Yes Master, the gods will this be my sweet destiny…" The priestess bit her lip, her chest heaving so hard it seemed ready to burst. "Please Master… I beg of you… use me…"

Aurel growled and dropped backwards, sitting on an enormous pile of cushions. He rotated Umbrel so she looked away from him, and towards a huge mirror before them, the priestess clearly seeing her desperately aroused body bound and immobilised while her Master positioned his tip under her ass with a grin.

She held her breath in anticipation and uttered nothing but moans as he pushed her tight back door onto his enormous cock. Knowing their bond kept her safe, and remembering she had asked for it to hurt, he forwent his usual carefulness and simply pushed down with all his might.

Umbrel wailed with a mix of lust and pain as he forced in his ridges before her flesh fully had time to mould to his girth. The priestess gasped and cried as her eyes rolled back into her skull and her tongue dropped out of her mouth, a look of pure ecstasy on her face. "Gods! Yes! Yes! Hurt me like I deserve! Split my insides in half! Break me! Please!" she howled.

With a triumphant snarl Aurel slammed her down onto his knot, the priestess’ tight flesh bulging and throbbing from his girth. "Fuck you are tight…" he growled, "I take no one had ever enjoyed your ass, my lewd little priestess?"

It took a moment for Umbrel to stop shaking and whining enough to form words, the woman gazing upon her impaled body in the mirror with a look of shock and pride. "No Master, no one has ever enjoyed this body but you…" she mumbled.

The dragon raised an eyebrow. "Wait… no one? You have laid with no one ever?" he asked, his excitement momentarily quelled by his curiosity.

"N-n-n-no… M-m-m-master…" she stuttered, her body desperate to orgasm but unable due to Aurel’s command, "I did not know the holiness of being a slut and thus avoided giving myself…"

"Huh…" the dragon exclaimed, genuinely surprised by this information, "well then… I better make this even more memorable…"

"I don’t think she will forget this anytime soon, Master…" Nyana giggled from her cushions, "Also… seeing you do that spell reminded me I was meaning to test one myself…"

Thaelia shivered as she felt the sun elf’s hungry gaze land upon her. "W-w-w-what does the spell do… Nyana…?" the princess nervously asked.

Nyana grinned ear to ear and weaved a spell with her hands. In a sudden flash of light, a translucent pink phallus and testes materialised over her crotch. The princess stared at it with eyes so wide they almost rolled out of her skull, it was like a smaller version of Aurel’s, yet still so big it looked comically enormous compared to Nyana’s frame.

"Like what you see, kitten?" the sun elf teased her lover while stroking her ridges with both hands, her pussy visibly twitching behind the ethereal pink phallus, "gosh this feels nice… it’s as if I could grab my clit with both hands…" Thaelia’s only response was a series of needy whimpers as she stared at the pink monster before her with her mouth agape.

"Thought so… bend over…" Nyana commanded doing her best Aurel impression. The princess scrambled to turn around, kneeling with her head against the pillows. She gazed back at Nyana with a desperate submissive look, her delicate hands spreading her twitching pink holes for her lover.

Nyana flashed the princess a hungry smile and knelt behind her, pushing her tip against Thaelia’s inviting ass. The sun elf groaned as she pushed, both her and her lover shivering and panting from the sensation. "Fuck! It’s so tight!" Nyana shouted as she sensually dug her nails on Thaelia’s skin, "no wonder Master loves ramming it in!" The princess didn’t comment, her desperate moans and whines were more than enough to express how she felt about it.

Aurel stared at Nyana impaling the princess with a surprised, yet not displeased look. The dragon couldn’t help but to flash his mates a toothy grin as Thaelia arched breathlessly, Nyana’s knot rubbing against her butt cheeks. "You have turned into such a lewd creature, Nyana…" Aurel purred, his blue eyes giving the sun elf a smitten look.

"Did I turn, or was I always like this and a savage dragon knotting brought it all out?" she teased, "Who could say!" The sun elf stole a beautiful moan from Thaelia with a loud spank and started thrusting with gusto.

"She’s such an incredible creature…" Aurel swooned as he told the priestess. Umbrel twitched and gasped, barely able to do more than drool and clench her body over the dragon’s ridges. "Are you feeling OK? Does it hurt?" he asked with a purr.

"N-n-not as m-m-much now, M-master…" she answered, struggling to form words.

"Well that simply won’t do…" he growled, "you begged for it to hurt…"

The air grew silent between them for an instant, before the dragon tightly gripped her with both hands and started both savagely thrusting and pushing her down on his knot with a feral look in his eye.

Umbrel let out a chest raking howl, her scream a mixture of pain and delight. The dragon’s hands clenched tighter around her body, Aurel shoving one of his thumbs into her mouth gagging her desperate moans. "That’s it, slut! Take it!" he snarled, "nothing but a holy flesh-light for my enjoyment!"

Tears of joy from the priestess dripped onto his scales, Umbrel’s mind melting at how arousing she found his humiliating words. Her lower torso bulged as the sounds of wet fleshy churning filled the room, only her draconic bond allowing her to survive such a rough railing.

Aurel, held her face in place so she could see herself in the mirror through her blurring vision. The sight of her bound ravaged body, dripping and drooling with undeniable arousal, filled her both with joy and shame. Yet the shame she felt was strangely sweet… intoxicating even. It made her loins ignite further.

The intensity of his thrusting was too savage, and Umbrel eyes grew unfocused as they migrated under her skull. Having achieved what he had hoped, Aurel turned to one side, curling over his mate to ravage her even harder. Seeing as she wasn’t looking in a mirror any more, he uttered a single extra command to his spell, summoning a tight blindfold over Umbrel’s eyes.

In the midst of his hungry thrusting, he gave his other mates a side glance. Nyana looked like a feral creature, her pink hair loose a messy as she groaned. The princess was biting a pillow with an expression of mindless bliss, each hungry thrust from Nyana making Thaelia quiver and the sun elf’s breasts bounce.

"Nyana…" Aurel called her, the sun elf giving him a mad lustful look, "we will cum exactly at the same time…"

The sun elf shivered and groaned, sensually digging her nails on Thaelia’s pale skin once more as Aurel’s command drilled into her psyche. "Yes Master!" she excitedly shouted, "let’s knot their beautiful asses!"

Aurel gave her an approving growl and returned to his new mate, coiling even closer as his hips and wrists hastened onto a blur. He couldn’t help but to lock his jaws around Umbrel’s head, his hungry teeth tickling her neck. The now ungagged priestess moaned and whined against his palate, forcing him to burn through his self-control to not devour her head from the passionate hunger he was feeling.

With a trio of savage groans and slams, the dragon shoved his burning knot into Umbrel’s ass. His loins didn’t hold back, and he exploded inside her like an angry volcano, filling her with his thick burning hot seed. The command stopping Umbrel from orgasming relented, and the priestess tensed and froze as a mind-shattering climax consumed her from head to toe.

Before Umbrel could scream in relief and delight, Aurel gagged her again by shoving his tongue deep down her throat. The immobilised woman convulsed with a mix wet happy moans and whines, the sensorial deprivation making her thoughts drown on the savage climax and her Master’s seed.

From their own pillows, Nyana and Thaelia moaned in unison like a pair of finely tuned lewd instruments. The sun elf had shoved her ethereal knot deep into Thaelia’s ass, who was arching backwards while Nyana pulled her hair and fondled her petite breasts. Their twitching and shivering continued for a delightful long moment before both women crumbled onto the pillows like a quivering pile of beautiful flesh and whimpers. 

Aurel loudly purred at the sight of his mates panting and twitching, and slowly released Umbrel from his jaws. The dark elf was breathlessly quivering in his arms, her face, and short boyish hair slick from the dragon’s mouth. With a wave of his hand, Aurel dismissed the spell keeping his mate in bondage, and the dragon nuzzled her while delighting on her blissed-out expression.

"I’d ask you if you enjoyed yourself… but I suspect you’d retort that it didn’t matter because your penance was to just be my toy…" a soft trail of whimpers escaped from Umbrel’s lips, "...that’s what I thought…" the dragon purred.

Nyana dismissed her own spell, triggering a flood of not ethereal at all seed on her lap as it spilled from Thaelia’s overflowing insides. The sun elf lovingly spooned and kissed the princess, pressing their bodies close in between shivers.

"That was amazing, Nyana…" Aurel commended his mate, who shot him a proud wink, "we need to use it to spit roast one of these two together soon…"

"Gosh, Master, that sounds so hot…" she cooed, "they are going to love it!" Both of them giggled as they cuddled their lovers, who slowly came back to consciousness from the depths of their still foggy minds.

"M-m-m-master…" whispered Umbrel, "I’m so full… my whole torso aches from the pressure of your seed and your knot splitting me in half…" she bit her lip while tightly gripping his claws, "it’s wonderful…"

Aurel just had to chuckle and swoon. "What a crazy masochist you’ve turned out to be…" he purred, "from what I hear, one of my mothers is like you… I never quite understood it… until today…"

The priestess blushed and shot him a timid look while another shiver made her body tremble. "I only just learned this about myself, and I’m anxious to explore more…" she said, nuzzling his big hands. "But asides to my duty to you, I also have a duty to my people…"

Aurel tilted his head as he listened. "What do you mean, my sweet priestess?" he asked.

"As you rightly said, I’m the heir of the old matrons… and thus it’s also my duty to ensure my line continues into the future…" her words framed it as duty, but her tone made it sound like lust.

"You want Master to knock you up…" he purred.

She clung to him, her nails fruitlessly digging into his scales. "Please Master…" she begged with the filthiest tone she had ever used, "ravage my womb and fill me up… knock me up… again and again and again… until I’m either broken or you grow tired of me…"

A wide lustful grin took over Aurel’s lips. "As if either of those things could happen…" he growled.

The dragon started to wiggle his hips, carefully attempting to extract his deeply embedded knot from Umbrel’s rear. His mate started to arch and shiver once more, the feeling driving her over the edge so much she would have orgasmed had Aurel not used his powers to keep her edging until he climaxed again.

With a groan and a dirty pop, Aurel pulled out of the priestess, the dragon purring while his mate panted and trembled in his arms, a flood of draconic seed spilling onto the dragon’s scales and the pillows below them.

"Oh gods…" Umbrel cried, her mouth wide open as she panted with her tongue lolling out, "so much… enough to breed a whole city anew…"

"You want it that bad?" he purred as he playfully nibbled the tip of her ear with his sharp teeth.

She clenched his claws once more, desperately squeezing her thighs and shaking her hips. "Yes Master…" she moaned, "my womb aches for you… I have never felt like this…"

Aurel chuckled to himself, dropping his mate on the pillows face up, the priestess looking at him with her purple eyes with the same hungry adoration she had shown before. "This first time it’s probably you will have kobolds if I knock you up… no elven half-dragons until after I have enough kobolds…"

"Then use me to pump out clutches of kobolds until you have enough… I pray to the gods my body can still handle many more births after so I may fulfil my duty…" she whined.

"You’re so sweet…" he purred as his tongue teased her nipples, "and I assume you still want it rough…?"

"Please Master…" she begged while timidly spreading her legs, "I want to be sore from your love… forever reminding me of the years I wasted away from you…"

"Not that many, gorgeous… I’m younger than you after all…" he teased with a wink, "but I will give it my all so you can’t walk when I’m done…"

Umbrel clawed at the pillows as she loudly whined, her nethers burning from his promise. "Please do not stop until I’m pregnant… regardless of what your seed deems to give me…"

The dragon growled and grabbed her by the legs, carefully lifting them as he raised her drenched pink pussy to meet the tip of his slick steaming phallus. "Don’t worry my beautiful mate…" he impaled her nethers with his tip with a single thrust, making her arch with delight as her body bent and stretched for him with wet sounds, "I won’t…"

Umbrel howled with a mix of shock and pleasure as her insides once more surrendered to her Master, stretching over his ridges as her belly bulged with his throbbing phallus. Aurel grit his teeth, ignoring his usual impulse to be careful and shoving his meat roughly inside Umbrel. His knot slammed against her stretched dripping pussy with a wet slap, making the priestess arch with pain and delight so much she almost snapped her spine.

"Use those strong legs of yours to help me ravage you… beg me to knock you up with every fibre of your being…" he commanded as he released her legs and placed a hand under her back, slightly lifting her from the pillows.

"Y-y-yes… M-m-m-master…" she whimpered as her legs closed like a vice against his scales, trying desperately to hug his huge hips.

"Good girl…" he purred as he dropped on the pillows, trapping her under his weight and squeezing his already tightly gripped cock in her loins. 

Umbrel loudly gasped and moaned, clawing at his scales while smothered by his warmth. "You’re so warm… and… heavy… Master…" she uttered breathlessly.

"This way I can put my whole weight into it…" a single thrust of his hips left Umbrel shivering and desperately panting against his chest, "don’t go fainting on me, my sweet broody slut…" The priestess couldn’t spare any breath to reply, but her desperate clinging and her humping of his knot were response enough.

With a dirty smile on his face and a loud snarl, Aurel started thrusting proper, dropping his hips against her loins like a meteor crashing onto a valley. Desperate breathless gasps bubbled from under his scales as he slid a hand behind Umbrel’s head and another on her back. The dragon bit the pillows with a feral look in his eyes, each thrust making the room shake.

A sweet echo of moans and giggles came from his side, Nyana and Thaelia sensually scissoring while admiring the dragon’s lustful rutting. Wet dirty noises came from their rubbing nethers as both women caressed and fondled their bodies, making the dragon’s blood boil from their lustful looks. 

He held Umbrel tighter against his chest, pressing his snout against the pillows while digging his hind claws onto the stone floor. Despite the savage intensity and the smothering weight, she still clung to him, so tightly her legs looked ready to snap off her hips. She desperately scrapped her nails on his scales, begging wordlessly for him to go harder.

"You are all absolutely mad, and I love it!" he roared, gripping her body tighter in his hands as his knot fell onto her nethers like a wrecking ball.

Umbrel’s loins clenched him with all their might, tensing and relaxing over his knots with each thrust as if trying to milk him. Aurel could feel his testes twitch, dripping wet from her arousal. He wouldn’t be able to hold long, and it seemed Umbrel didn’t want him to. The priestess’ belly bulged so much with his cock that the dragon could feel his own ridges on his scaled belly though her skin. Umbrel pressed her body closer to him, pushing to get him overstimulated from additional friction.

Her Master could control himself no longer and held her so tight while slamming his hips with brutal intensity, Umbrel’s draconic bond being the only thing that kept her alive from such an onslaught of passion. Aurel’s groans and snarls grew louder and deeper, his knot slamming against her pussy like a battering ram.

With a final drop of his hips, Umbrel’s pussy surrendered to her owner and wrapped around his knot with a loud and wet lewd sound. The priestess melted into a shivering mess as Aurel erupted into her womb like a broken dam, his burning seed forcing it to stretch and expand to hold it. 

Her Master’s orgasm allowed Umbrel to climax, and everything she had been holding since he first pushed in his tip came rushing in. The priestess melted into a mess of moans, whines and panting, breathlessly drooling against Aurel’s scales. His nethers kept shooting load after load into the dark elf, Aurel rolling onto his back while still holding his mate tightly against his scales.

He could feel her belly bloat against his own, so full she already looked pregnant. Umbrel laid on her cheek against his scales, her tongue lolling out while she incoherently babbled orgasmic moans. Noticing how much she was enjoying the pressure of his cock and seed in her belly against his scales, he firmly held her from the lower back. Aurel pushed her against his body while caressing her hair and spine with his free claw.

To his side, Nyana and Thaelia trembled from their own orgasms, panting and moaning while giving him dirty looks. The dragon gave them a wink, devouring them with a lewd look in his eyes. 

"I hope you have more to give…" Nyana cooed, "because that was really hot, and we are feeling very needy too…" Thaelia just timidly nodded in agreement.

The dragon laughed, his balls still twitching while small jets of his cum escaped from inside Umbrel through every minuscule gap they could find. "If I ever have to turn down any of you because I have nothing to give, I will feel very deeply ashamed…" he purred.

His mates giggled as they crawled closer, climbing onto his chest at either side of the still climaxing Umbrel. "Gods, she’s still going?" Thaelia exclaimed, "I didn’t expect the paladin to be this kinky… though I guess in a way it makes sense?"

"She is going to be a blast to have around, that’s for sure…" Nyana said while playfully teasing Umbrel’s lolling tongue.

"Absolutely…" Aurel agreed, "three down… one to go…"

His mates looked up at him, wide smiles on their faces. "Yes! We’re almost there!" Nyana excitedly shouted.

"But that’s tomorrow’s problem…" Thaelia added, "Tonight… we need you, my lord…" Both women gave him a voracious and needy look, their nethers still burning between their legs for him. 

Aurel purred and thought to himself what a lucky dragon he was… As Thaelia said, completing the set was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, he had to take care of his mates, and he was looking forward to it.

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