31.2

I'd have to tell him myself or he'd hear it from the other two. Our bond wasn't conventionally formed so it had been slow to grow. I'd been halfway tempted to sever it more then once. I'd stopped because I didn't want to cause him pain. Despite our bad introduction I'd found him to suit me rather well for our unconventional bonding.

"Regala did it on purpose," My tail lashed in agitation, "She killed all of the dragons on purpose."

Confusion flashed across his face, "I thought she said that dragons were headed in a bad direction."

"Yeah," I felt my mana stirring, "She did. Apparently that bad direction was on her last bit of sanity."

"How do you know that she isn't just telling you a scary story?" he didn't want to believe it anymore then I did.

"I've always felt she was hiding something," I settled my mana with deep calm breaths, "I don't think she was hiding anything this time."

"So she just snapped, and killed all the dragons?" Jax was taking this better then I did, but he wasn't a dragon.

"Yeah," I nodded slowly, "She just snapped, and went from ruling them to slaughtering them all. It didn't take her long to do it either. I've seen some of the memories from the dragons that lived in her time. There were hundreds of thousands of dragons in her time. None of them saw it coming."

"Ruthless efficiency," Jax looked down.

This was something he was familiar with. Savannah was familiar with this kind of ruthless efficiency as well. This was a big bombshell to drop on me. I have Regala's core. I'd been nurturing this core for years now.

It worried me to think that I might have the same homicidal nature she did. Having the core of a murderer was disturbing in more then one way. Rocks slammed into my head with enough force to make my neck bend. I snarled at Jax before I realized it was him that had done it.

"Are you listening to me now?" Jax had a few more rocks floating above his head.

I hadn't heard a thing he'd said until now.

"What is it?" I snarled.

"Are you really that worried about having her in your body?" Jax dropped the rocks.

"What if some part of her homicidal nature sticks around?" I flicked my tail passively.

"It doesn't work like that," he crossed his arms, "You said my grandpa is a murderer. I've been around him my entire life. Am I a murderer?"

"You don't know for sure that he's a murderer," I argued.

"You do," Jax shrugged, "Am I a murderer?"

"No," I sighed.

"Then will you become a murderer just because your around Regala?" the way he tried to look up at me without raising his chin was kind of funny.

"Probably not," I answered reluctantly.

"Can you learn something from her?" he started walking closer.

"Yes," I was forced to look down at an awkward angle.

"Then take advantage of her knowledge while you can," Jax smirked, "And be glad that she didn't kill anyone you know."

"I don't want to learn from a killer," I looked off to the side.

"Stop whining like a little kid," he slapped my scales, "You get what you get. You're not going to find a better magic teacher. And you've got limited time with this one. Learn what you can while you can. You don't have much of a choice."

My tail flicked as I thought it over. He was right. I didn't have another magic teacher, and her knowledge was helping hugely. I'd advanced a great deal since she became my teacher. I was advancing through my natural elements quickly, and would fuse with all of them before the end of the year.

I'd fuse with a few of the unnatural ones by the end of the year as well. There was no denying that Regala had helped me. I couldn't deny her part in my upbringing either. Without her I would have never become a dragon. Earth would have fallen, and many of the weak like myself would have gone with it.

It might not have happened in a normal human lifespan, but it would have happened. I would not have had a good life. I might not have had any life at all. My life expectancy was pretty damn grim before I became a dragon. I may not have had much of a choice when I bonded to Jax, but he wasn't a bad choice.

I surged forward suddenly. Scaring the living daylights out of Jax as I grabbed him. Pulling him into my chest with an unusual amount of clinginess for me. Normally Ethan was the one that clung to me. I actually needed to cling to someone in that moment.

As much as I hated to admit it. I couldn't change the unstable way I felt in that moment. Hugging Jax into my chest made me feel a little better. Jax was so stunned that he didn't know what to think once the moment of fear passed. Jax had never seen me waver.

I curled my neck around so when my neck hit the ground I was facing toward Jax. I didn't remember falling back asleep, but when I woke up I found that I'd relaxed enough to let Jax go. I shook the sleep out of my mind as I stood, and stretched properly. I noticed that Jax hadn't stopped to rest while I was out. His mana reserve was nearly dry, and he was sweating profusely.

"You should stop," I extended my wings as I stretched them next.

"I'm not done yet," Jax huffed.

I flicked out my tail. Wrapping it around his middle, and lifting him off the ground easily.

"Yes you are," I set him on my back a bit roughly.

"I haven't perfected the spell yet," Jax yawned slowly, "I'm close. I need to finish it."

"I don't care," I curled my lip up, "You're sleeping as soon as we get back. I don't care how close you are to finishing the spell."