A Teenage Dragon.

Just as the ATV pulled up I could hear "You found another one!" in Ava's squealing voice. Paul walked to the two strange tied up men. Mabel ran to Xander and I. Ava however just ran to Xander, and was instantly in Xander's face. Mabel opened her mouth to speak to the two, and I took that opportunity to sneak away to Paul. I felt bad leaving Xander with Ava, but not bad enough for me to have to deal with her.

"So what do you think?" I asked Paul who was crouched next to the still unconscious men.

"They probably need medical intervention, they have been unconscious for a long time." Paul started.

"They are fine. Telee just scared them. Showed them their deaths with a little flair." I said with a smirk.

Paul rolled his eyes before continuing his report. "They both have the same tattoo under their chins."

He pulled back their heads to reveal two identical tattoos under their chins. They were of a coiled dragon, outlined in blue, both having a sword cutting through the dragons' hearts."

I gritted my teeth then spoke.

"They must be part of some dragon killing cult or gang. Some of those have member tattoos. That or these psychos have some seriously weird couples tattoos in a pretty hidden place." I guessed.

"Hmm." Paul started, "I think it might be closer to a member ID of sorts. A mark showing that they sell dragon parts, or even live dragons to a black market.".

Paul's theory sounded more plausible, but I really didn't want to believe that that was something that existed. I would much rather it be a cult or gang that I could wipe out. If it is a market, I can't use these guys as leverage, and who knows how large this market could be. I can't shut down an international black market, Hell I could knock out a national black market, without people learning about False Humans. Paul saw that I was starting to panic, and leaned in to place a hand on my shoulder. Before Paul could touch me though Cortelco wrapped his body around me, calming me down. He licked one of my horns, further calming me down. Paul stared in awe.

"You know I forget you are a dragon sometimes. Then you remind me by doing things like be comforted by a dragon." Paul said with a small smile.

Paul turned back with his phone this time, most likely calling the DDP. I walked back to Xander who seemed to be in a bit of trouble.

"So you say you are a boy, but will you kindly proo" Ava was saying to Xander before Mabel cut her off.

"Mother! You can't just ask to see someone's genitals! Plus he is a minor!" Mabel screamed.

"Well I ask only for scientific reasons. After all there are no other cases of male False Humans." Ava said calmly.

"Mother, if he said he is a boy, then he is a boy." Mabel spoke reasonably.

"Mabel dear, you never know these days. He could be living an...alternate lifestyle." Ava said, whispering the last two words.

"So what! You can't just say whip it out! That is all kinds of immoral." Mabel yelled.

I had had my fun of watching Mabel have to be the one dealing with her mother, and Xander be humiliated. I stepped in and stood next to Xander, laying my arm across his shoulders. The boy looked relieved, knowing I would be able to stop this.

"Ava he is a male." I said as matter of factly.

"Well how are we supposed to know unless we see his..." Mabel quickly covered her mother's mouth and pointed to Daisy.

I grabbed one of his horns and yanked his head back so he was looking up.

"Ow!" Xander said dramatically, "I thought you were on my side." Xander said, causing his adams apple to bob up and down. I let go of his horns. and spoke to Ava.

"See, his adams apple is too large to be that of a pubescent girl. Not to mention he reeks of male hormones. Try to give people their privacy." I told Ava. She responded with crossed arms and a displeased smile. She was trying to use a mom face on me, but I was too old for her to be my mother, and a different species, so it didn't work. "Ava this is of no disrespect to you, but it is of respect of the BOY., and his privacy." I explained, further pointing out he was a boy. She nodded with a huff of defeat. Mabel was doing a silent cheer at her mother's defeat.

I walked over to Daisy who had been sitting on the ATV silently chatting with Meadow. They both looked perplexed about something.

"Hi sweety thank you fo.." I started to say, but was cut off.

"Sissy what did Mabel mean men she said "whip it out"?" Daisy asked.

Daisy was sweet, six, and pure. At least she was until she learned a phrase I was sure she would end up repeating.

"You know what? Mabel is going to teach you what that means. She is going to tell you about how girls and boys are different." I told Daisy, directing all of the awkward conversation to Mabel. "Now can you go watch Clem while I talk with Xander?"

Daisy looked excited about the sudden responsibility. She saluted me then flew off towards the cabin. Meadow followed her as per norm, but I sent Wisp and Nymph to supervise.

"Okay Xander before we go to the cabin I need to test you a bit." I told the boy.

"Are those crazy people at the cabin?" he asked.

"Yes, they live there." I responded casually.

"Then take as many tests as you want. The longer the better." he said with a happy tone, obviously wanting to avoid the crazy humans.

"Okay then match my pace." I began running at an average humans pace. He kept up with ease I continued running a little bit faster, before He finally started heavily breathing and lagging behind.

"Okay kid, it looks like you run about sixteen miles per hour. Which is pretty fast, but it isn't inhuman. I brought him to a pile of rocks that was covered by a large sack. Each rock was about the size of a tennis ball, but each had different densities causing differences in weight.

"Alright each of these grey rocks weighs ten pounds, the brown rocks weigh twenty pounds, and the black ones weigh one pound. I want to see how many you can lift." I instructed.

He smiled a bit, before rolling all of the rocks onto the sack, then easily slinging the whole pack over his shoulder. It was easily over five hundred pounds. He then switched arms, then dangled it from his mouth. He tried to balance it on his leg, but couldn't keep balance. With limbs that strong, though he didn't appear to have strong muscles, coordination must be the only thing holding him back from being fast.

"Okay I get it hot shot. You weren't lying when you said you were strong. We will have Myself and Switch figure out just how strong you truly are. You know with strength like that you could be faster, if you work on your coordination.

He nodded obviously thinking of the possibility.

"Now what have you learned about those scales?" I asked, though I sounded more serious than I intended.

"Umm... they are fireproof. Oh they get extra shiny when it gets super hot outside, and are more dull when I it gets cold. It doesn't really matter though, because since they came in I can't feel hot or cold. Which is kind of inconvenient because sometimes the scales get so hot they burn people. That is an issue because they are on my palms too. Oh and I shed sometimes, it is super gross and itchy." he explained. "What about your's and the kid's" he asked.

"My scales are essentially indestructible I am the only person who can remove them, and they are the only thing that can pierce my skin. They are dull and hard to help me camouflage and fight." I spoke of my scales proudly. "Daisy's scales are light, and somewhat fragile. That is because she wasn't built for fighting. Her scales create a perfect camouflage that covers herself, and anything she touches. They are also light in weight so they don't add extra weight for her when she is flying." I smiled while explaining these things. "Also once you are fully grown you will stop shedding your scales, or at least that is the working theory. Mostly because I have never shed my scales.

"Okay so I am strong and blow fire, the kid can fly and camouflage herself. What do you do?" he asked genuinely curious.

"I lead. To all dragons in my territory I am the mother, master, leader and protector. In cases such as yours I am in charge of the dangerous things that may harm my dragons, but I also instruct my dragons on how to help, or protect themselves in these situations. Because of this as I would them, all of the dragons will follow me even if that means death. I am extremely strong, to the point of making you look weak. I am fast to the point that any Deer Chaser would envy me. My senses are stronger than any hound of military grade items. I am nearly indestructible as my scales and skin are so tough, and I am damn near immortal." I said not realizing my voice had turned serious and seemingly threatening. My eyes had also at some point changed to their yellow restricted forms, and my claws had elongated.

Xander had wide eyes and had backed up a bit. He looked absolutely terrified. I cleared my throat while changing my eyes and letting my claws fall.

"Sorry about that." I said.

Xander simply nodded and stayed quiet.

"OH all of us have eyes that change into a restricted form, and of a different color. It happens when you talk to dragons, which you do telepathically. This only works with other dragons, not animals or humans."

This statement seemed to get Xander out of his shocked state into one of excitement.

"How do I do it?" he asked excitedly.

"Okay try with me. Just think about what you want to say to me. You know all of those times you tried to make a friend say something by staring at them? It is like that, but we can actually hear it." I said out loud trying to coax him. Then I looked at him with my yellow eyes and greeted him telepathically.

"See I can talk to you like this, I can't read your thoughts though. Kind of like talking in a smart phone." With that last sentence clicked with him.

"OH this is awesome! You can hear me right? What color are my eyes? Are they like snake eyes like yours?" Xander said quickly through our minds.

"Yes I can hear you. It really is awesome. Your eyes are a bright red, like your scales, and they are like mine." I told him telepathically.

"Alright enough of that, that will become as natural as speaking out loud soon, the only difference is that humans get annoyed when you speak like that in front of them. Something about not being included." I explained. "Now has your diet changed at all since your horns came in?" I asked

"Yeah actually only meat fills me up, other than that everything I eat ends up as vomit, or it simply doesn't fill me up. I can't even taste anything other than meat, except salt. I eat a ton of salt. If I am hungry and don't eat, I go on a bit of a rampage, and will even eat raw meat. I ate a cat once, like I killed it, then ate it raw in an ally. I couldn't help it" he said looking down embarrassed and ashamed. He obviously hadn't wanted to bring this up.

"Well we don't have any cats here," I joked "but most of us, and mean me and the stereotypical looking dragons here, eat raw fish from the river. For most of the dragons though it is mostly a snack. Switch will teach you how to catch them, If you prefer them cooked, we can do that too. We also have other wild game on the property. Vainglorious can help you with hunting smaller animals. As for salt, the DDP can give us a big supply." I explained, so that he didn't feel weird.

"What's the DDP?" he asked.

"They're annoying that's what they are, but we need them to survive, because we can't go shopping, or anywhere really. DDP stands for Department of Dragon Preservation." I stated. "Basically if we need it, they provide it, though some sweet talking... or threats, are needed to get unnecessary items. Mostly they come here to test us, and by us I mean: Meadow, Cortelco, Daisy, me, and now you. We are all rare species, so with a million different tests they learn about us. Personally I hate it, and it scares Daisy, but it will help in the future. Oh and everything I have told you and that we are is a secret, so the people that live here are now your family, friends, or whatever you want to call them." I explained everything. I stood up and patted him on his back.

"Come on let's go eat dinner."

When we got to the cabin there was a buffet style layout of hamburgers. Everyone had been served already leaving vegetables, condiments, buns, and patties left. I smiled at Xander. I made myself a salad of the leftovers, as he ate seven plain burger patties, then searched for the salt shaker. Everybody was staring at them, then they looked at me for answers. I am sure Paul called the DDP. They can review him out loud for you all to hear then, and that is only if Xander feels comfortable with it." I explained as I sat down. I looked at my salad highly disappointed with it, but I didn't want Xander to feel bad for eating all of the meat. I looked over to see Paul on his phone. It is very unlike Paul to use his at the table. I would have to figure that out, but for now I had to think about where Xander was going to sleep.