Chapter4: 

“Balthezar”, Airee whispered. “My Balto…” That was the first time she had called him that. But Balthezar liked the calling. She closed her eyes as she continued whispering silently, and the two dragons drifted to sleep together. 
Balthezar woke up the warmest he had ever been after any sleep he had had. He looked up and realized the icicles were slowly disappearing. They had melted to half their size from the heat produced by the two dragons living there. The crystals behind the ice shined though and turned beautiful colors. He was glad that keeping Airee warm in the winter would not be as hard as he imagined. Airee was not in the nest when he awoke. Instead he heard a familiar smacking sound. When Balthezar peered out of the nest and looked at Airee, she was licking blood from her claws and snout. Balto growled and groaned at her as he sunk back into the nest.
“You sneaker”, he whined. “That was MINE!”…
“Finders keepers”, she replied smugly. Balth groaned at her again for acting so naive. He sat there rubbing his own empty belly while Airee grew plump and fat with his food. Balthezar curled back into the nest until he heard her shuffling around.
“Um… Balto?” she pleaded. Balth grunted. “I need your help”, she said softly. When Balthezar looked over the edge of the nest again, he realized that Airee’s stomach was so big that her legs did not touch the ground. Balth smirked at her and slid back into the comfort of the well-made nest. She could not move from her spot.
“No really”, she said sadly now. “I can’t do this alone.” As Balthezar watched, she shed a tear that froze and flaked off her face. Balth could not resist the face he was staring at. Balthezar climbed from where he lay, reluctant to have to help her yet pleased he could show off now at the same time. Balth ran in circles chasing his tail between Airee and the nest.
“That’s enough…” Airee whined.
“Ok.” Balthezar cuddled beside her and let her side rest on his. As Balt got up, Airee put her left legs on Balth’s side. Airee could scoot herself along as long as her belly was propped up with Balthezar’s help. He set her down two feet from the nest. “You’re going to have to climb in yourself baby.” She lifted her front two legs onto the lip of the nest. Airee looked back and forth between her giant belly and the inside of the nest, trying to figure out how to get all of herself in. The lip of the nest was only about four feet high, but it was still a hefty leap for Airee’s stomach. She tried to jump in and land her hind feet on the ledge where her front feet left, but before her legs got there her massive stomach got in the way and pushed her front legs off the lip and into the nest before she was ready. Airee yelped, as she feared the lip would pound her belly hard, but before she fell, Air felt a heave on her rear and landed on all fours in the nest. She spun around and eyed Balthezar very suspiciously for how he had helped her. Balth blushed for touching her where he had. Airee’s anger slowly faded as she turned around again and set herself down gently on her stomach.
“Thank you”, she said to him quietly.
“Your welcome”, was Balto’s reply. “My fair dragoness.” Whit that, she slowly rolled onto her back with her belly side up. Airee closed her eyes and let the nest cradle her fat as it bulged all around her. She did not see Balth get un-easy at her doing so. Having eaten the food Balthezar had killed for himself, she slept most of the rest of the day while Balth hunted for himself. She was asleep when Balthezar entered with his meal. He ate quickly and silently as not to wake her. The days seemed to get longer and longer. All Balthezar allowed Airee to do was eat and sleep. She could not move from her nest as the eggs grew inside her, making her stretch fatter and fatter. Balth was sad that the two dragons slept separately now. Some nights, Airee found her lover nestled at her feet, on the cold floor at the base of her nest. Air knew that Balthezar was loyal to her, but his loyalty was showing more now than it ever had. The blue dragon got bored during the longer days. One day, Airee was woken by Balth scraping his talons on the rocky floor. He was carving a small bowl in the ground.  Being bored herself from having to lay in one spot, Airee watched in confusion and tried to figure out what he was doing. When he had finished the bowl he turned and smiled at Airee.
“I will be back shortly”, he said. Air nodded as he flew out of the cave. She remembered seeing a small bowl carved in the floor of Balth’s old cave, but she did not know what it was for. Airee did not have to wait long for her mate to return. He carried with him four large rabbits. Balth took the first rabbit and flipped it onto its back. With a razor sharp claw, he cut its belly open from the throat to the tail. After pulling out the insides, Balth squeezed all the liquid into the bowl in the floor. Airee was drooling and licking her lips by the time Balth had drained the first rabbit. He smiled at her and threw the meat of the rabbit to Airee. With a snap of her teeth and a quick jolt of her neck, Airee caught the flying meat and swallowed it whole in one bite, bones and all. 
“Thank you”, she said demurely as she laughed.  Balthezar smiled at her as he cut up the next rabbit in the same way. Once he had drained the rest, he threw all the meat to Airee. She gulped down every last one like it was desert. He made several more trips until the bowl was full of broth. Every rabbit he threw to Airee accept for three which Balth ate himself. Balthezar had collected thirty hides by the evening of the day. The blue dragon found a silver bowl Airee had not used in her nest. Balth gathered fresh grass and leaves and some small spices he knew about. After filling the rest of the bowl with water from the misty falls, he poured the contents into the broth. Balth stirred it with the tip of his tail. As he simmered it with a light flame. Once the grass had dissolved in the broth, Balth scooped some of the soup with the silver bowl and took it to where Airee sat. She took a small sip of the hot soup, and smiled when she tasted a hint of Balthezar in it. Airee drank the rest slowly while Balth quenched his own tasted from what was in the hole he had made. Air slowly flipped over so her belly was showing. She rubbed herself, appreciating the good meal Balth had made for her. Balthezar could not help staring at Airee’s massiveness. He squirmed when she caught him watching, but she did non know why he was embarrassed for looking at her. They both knew that Airee had almost grown to full size. She rolled back over onto her stomach before she went to sleep. Balth put some logs on the dyeing fire before he too went to sleep. Balth slept in his cove that night, and watched the red dragon purr herself to sleep. When Balthezar was not hunting for his mate, he spent his time turning the rabbit skins into a blanket for Airee. It would be winter soon, and she would need to be kept warm. Balth found dyeing vines that he could use to sew the hides together. He made the seams over-lap in such a way that the vines could never be seen or felt. After many more rabbit soups, his blanket for Airee was almost completed. The blanket was furred on both sides, and used over 200 rabbits. Balth had waited to make the blanket in the fall because the rabbits multiplied greatly right before winter. Their numbers will not have shrunk come the next year. Airee grew fond of the times Balth made warm rabbit soup. She especially liked when he would throw the dried meat into her mouth. Airee smiled every time she tasted Balthezar in the soup. She liked his smell, and his taste. Balth handed her the silver bowl one last time as he made soup from the last of the rabbits Balth had collected. As usual, Airee gulped down the soup. As she finished it, she slowly rolled onto her back to show off her bulging belly. As Airee smiled and looked at Balthezar, he squirmed again. Airee liked making him shy, though she still did not understand why he was. Then it his Airee what was making Balthezar blush: he thought her massive stomach to be attractive. This time, she looked back at him, knowing that he would love her no mater what. Air held up a claw and motioned her lover to come closer. As Balth nuzzled her snout, she took his paw and gently pressed it to her stomach. Balth grew wide-eyed as she let him rub her tenderness. After prompting him some, he gave into temptation, and Balth let himself touch her. The texture of her skin surprised Balth. He thought it would be stretched tight and taut, bulging like it was about to explode. Instead, it felt soft and mushy. It had grown with the eggs to gently spread around them as a cocoon. 
“I know you’ve wanted to do this every day since I told you I was pregnant” she whispered. Balto nodded as she pushed his paw deeper into her skin. At first, Balth hesitated again and squirmed at the privilege she was giving him. After being forced again, he closed his eyes and let himself go. As Airee let him push harder and deeper, Balth could feel a hard shell beneath her surface. Airee smiled as he touched the egg. “I’ve counted seven”, she said simply. Balth thought to himself as he continued to rub her stomach. Seven was one more than usual.
“You are fully grown now”, Balt said back to her. She nodded; he was right.
“Six more months…” Balthezar pulled the finished blanket over the red dragon’s pregnant belly. He stood back and admired his work. The furs looked good on Airee. Balth was glad he had finished the blanket right as winter came. Airee let Balth rub her every day after that. They counted the eggs together often. Having nothing better to do, the two dragons talked together when Balth was not hunting. The blue dragon learned that Airee’s father was a black dragon, and her mother was bright red. She got her fire from her mother, and the power of wind was self-taught. Balth somehow thought that she was holding something back. He did not know whether it was about her powers, or her family, or both. Once while Balthezar was rubbing her eggs, he looked at his mate with a very concerned face. “What’s wrong Balto?” Air asked. He hesitated before he gave an answer.
“How hungry do you really get?” Airee chuckled as Balth asked.
“Enough to eat the world if I could. Why?”  Balthezar turned white as she said the words. He looked very displeased at her statement. “Balthezar”, she whispered. “What’s wrong?” After a long pause, he finally came out and said it.
“Would you ever eat our young?” Airee looked at him, astonished.
“How could you EVER think that!” she yelled. “NO! I would NEVER eat our young!”
“You have to promise me Airee”, Balth said softly to her. Airee just shook her head stubbornly.
“It is a promise that doesn’t have to be made.” She watches Balthezar shed a tear as she continued to yell at him. He turned his back to her, and she realized she had made a mistake, that Balth was very serious about the topic. Airee settled down and fell silent as they both cried.
“My father left my mother, before I was born”, Balth started to say. “He left her because she would eat their young as they hatched. She couldn’t resist the way they fed themselves by licking the contents of their egg, and then ate the shell itself. Every time my father would go hunt for her, she would gobble another one up. I was the only egg that did not end up in my mother’s stomach. You have to promise me Airee. Promise me you will be a good mother.” The two dragons looked at each other now, both with tears in their eyes. It had not been a problem in Airee’s family because she and all her siblings were born live. She had never known about Balth’s parents.
“I promise Balthezar. I promise.” She rubbed her un-born children as she looked at her Balto. Their snouts met and they kissed a long kiss. Airee was now determined to be a good mother to her young. She could not break her promise to Balthezar. They two dragons were silent the rest of the night. As darkness fell, it began to snow. Winter had finally come.

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