Brother(s) to Dragons

We’re months away from the second issue of BtD, but we have a little something to hopefully keep you warm for the winter.
What follows is an all-new, (very) short story I’ve written, which acts as both a prequel to the series and a seasonal offering I hope you’ll all enjoy–it contains no spoiler, so you can read it even if you haven’t read our comic yet. Carlos is far too busy to draw it, but he’s kindly agreed to do an illustration to accompany it.
Read on, and do feel free to send in your comments.

It was the first time I was going to take part in all the celebrations. The village was prepared for the ceremonies, with the church, the feast hall and the long houses having been heavily decorated, bringing light and color to the gray winter afternoon which was ending.

The big and beautiful wooden church, the pride of our valley for its painted walls, was already largely filled by people from all over the neighboring villages when I entered, and after drinking a few drops of the running water from the bowl at the entrance, I looked around for an available seat. As I began walking through the semi-circular aisles after hanging my coat, I heard someone call my name.
“Alaï, over here!”
The son of the blacksmith of one of the nearby villages was pointing at an empty seat beside his, a big smile on his face.
“Thanks, Enric,” I said, extending my hand to shake his as I sat down. He looked very good in his festive clothes, while mine were a bit too tight for comfort. I’d told so to my parents, but my mum didn’t have the time to adjust it, with all the baking to do for tonight.
“My pleasure. I’m glad you’re sitting with me,” he told me, putting a strong hand on my arm.
“I…Uh…I’m glad too,” I stammered, troubled by the sudden attention.
“You know, I’ve…” he started, still stroking my arm.
“Shh, here they come!” I said, putting a finger on his mouth.
The two priests, one man and one woman, were entering the praying room, walking through the aisles and smiling at everybody, dressed in the black and red garments which I’d admired since I was a kid. They stopped in front of the altar where the man-high statue of the Drac of Flames was watching over us, bowed before the Drac, and turned toward us.

“Brothers and sisters, we thank you all for attending the first ceremony of the longest night,” they both said in unison.
I must admit I usually find the Drac of Flames a bit scary, and the Drac of Clouds is, well, too distant for me to relate to. Give me the Drac of Shapes any day, he’s more earthy. Any day, but today. Today was the day of the Unvanquished Sun, and we were going to show the Drac of Flames that we knew and appreciated his unending efforts to protect us from the Cold Ones.
I’ve been through the church part of the celebrations a number of times now, but I never get tired of it. The feeling of doing something right, something more important than our own lives, was intoxicating. We’ve been lucky around here since I’ve been born, we haven’t had any significant presence of Icemen. But we knew that could change anytime during the winter, and this day was the most dangerous of all.
The priests guided us through the ceremony, we sang and prayed for the renewal of the strength of the Drac of Flames, so that he could prevent the Cold Ones and their mindless soldiers from entering our world. Today, and especially tonight, he needed our help, for it was the longest night of the year.
An hour later, the praying and the singing were over, and we all left the church, walking toward the feast hall.

Enric was walking silently by my side, looking in front of him as if in deep thoughts. Then he turned his face toward me, and said:
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had the time to talk, you’re always busy when our villages meet.”
“We both are. I’d…I’d meant to try and talk to you, but…” I told him, and that was the truth.
“Really?” he asked, his face lit up.
I nodded.
“So, do you have someone to celebrate with tonight? You’re of age, right?”
“Yes, I am. First time, in fact. And…no, I don’t, nobody specific. What about you?” I asked, looking all innocent.
“Would you consider going with me? It won’t be my first time, so I’ll be glad to show you the ropes,” he answered, looking all big and large and adult.
“That would be great, thanks.”
Without another word, Enric took my hand, and both feeling a little warmer, we arrived at the feast hall. My parents would be surprised when they’d see me with another guy at my side. They’d often teased me about not bringing a boyfriend home, so maybe after tonight I would.

The feast hall overwhelmed us with smells and sounds. There were musicians already playing, and food of all kinds was waiting for the hundreds of people who’d spend the first part of the evening here. I quickly spotted my parents sitting at a table with friends, and I waved to them, my mother smiling at the sight of Enric holding my hand. But we didn’t intend to spend the feast sitting with parents. The tables for the young men and women of the valley welcomed us, and we sat down in front of a variety of dishes that made our mouths water. But we had to wait for the hall to fill, so that someone at each table would offer libations.
Enric was the oldest at ours, and he collected a morsel of each dish, wine and water from the bottles, before walking toward one of the three large chimneys giving us heat. He took his place in the line, and when his turn came, he threw everything in the fire, among our prayers for the Drac of Flames. He came back, walking proudly among the tables, and gave me a little kiss before sitting down.
We spent the next couple of hours eating, drinking and talking with lots of people, enjoying ourselves.

That was the second part of the day’s ceremonies. The third part was new to me. Enric and I had been lucky, we hadn’t been chosen to look after the valley children and could decide where we’d spend the remainder of the longest night. Enric wanted to go to the same long house as last year, one of the houses for the men, and even though I’d told friends I’d go with them to another one, I agreed. I was sure they wouldn’t miss me too much.
“What do you prefer to do? Use the commons, or try and find a private room?” asked Enric as we arrived in front of the long house.
“If that’s alright with you, I’d rather get a room,” I told him. I was nervous enough as it was at the idea of sharing this with Enric.
Thankfully, a few rooms were still free, and we took some burning incense and a candle at the entrance before climbing the stairs. The room only had a bed and a couple of chairs, besides a small table to put the incense on. We could hear other men praying in the room next to ours, and the muffled noise rising from the commons was at the same time exciting and a bit daunting. We undressed and put our clothes carefully on the chairs. I certainly didn’t want to damage anything, my parents would have been seriously displeased, and I would have been ashamed. We then stood naked, smiling, and Enric took the incense bowl, making me inhale some before doing the same thing. It was time to dedicate our first pleasure to the Drac of Flames, as we’d dedicated the first food and the first drink of the night. But prayers don’t keep a body warm. Even though the whole building was heated by the hidden steam conduits in the stone walls, I was beginning to shiver. Enric put the incense back on the table beside the candle, took me in his arms, rubbed my back, and then we went to bed.

Enric was definitely not my first man, but the solemnity of the circumstances made me feel weird. It wasn’t only sex, and good sex at that, it was also a communion with all the other people throughout the village having sex right now, all the other people who never forgot they were giving strength to the Drac of Flames, so that he could survive the longest night.
But yes, it was really good sex.

We kissed a lot at first, caressing each other under the eiderdown which was providing an enveloping warmth. Enric had an impressive body, but then, he’d helped his father since he was a child. He was also rock-hard, and so was I.
I could feel the heat from his cock against my thigh, as his already calloused hands kneaded my back. I slid down my hands over his chest and took hold of his cock, making him moan a little. That was a sound which would have given strength to the Drac of Flames for a thousand years if he’d heard it. Then, going down in the darkness and the warmth of the eiderdown, I began sucking him, his hands on my head, my hands on his chest. After a while, he pulled me up, and jerked me off slowly, his other hand on the nape of neck, kissing me deeply.
I straddled him, smiling. He didn’t ask me any question, but opened the small drawer of the table, where a little pot of fuck-cream was waiting for us. Or maybe I should call it by its less raunchy name, “dragon’s spit”, in honor of the situation. I quickly found myself holding the tip of his cock against my asshole, taking it in slowly. He waited for me to be more comfortable before beginning to move his hips up and down, and we fell into a nice, slow rhythm, both moaning, both lost in fulfilled desire, my hands on his chest, his hands on my hips, my cock blocked between his stomach and mine as I stayed half-bent over him to keep the eiderdown over my shoulders. I don’t know how long we maintained this rhythm, but at one point, the down ended up sliding from my shoulders.
“You’ll get cold, come here,” said Enric, making room for me next to him.
His cock came out of my ass as I lied down, my back to his front, and he guided it once more to my asshole. Hugging me tight from behind, he fucked me, slowly, then fast, then slowly…He began jerking me off again, and this time, I couldn’t hold it for long. I came violently, overwhelmed by pleasure, the first pleasure of the night, and he came in my ass, keeping his hard cock where it belonged. We’d done our best to give strength to the Drac of Flames, and I think we hadn’t done too badly.
We remained like that for a long time, without a word. We probably fell asleep for a while, and started again only half-conscious. We must have had sex at least twice more during the night, but it’s all a blur to me. I’m sure I fucked him hard once, and we finished the night with a good, long, mutual jerk-off. After that, we fell asleep again, for good.

The morning after saw us waking up still entwined and in need of a good washing. Fortunately, all the long houses have good, heated baths, and we cleaned up for at least an hour there, chatting with the other men who’d spent the night here, congratulating each other for helping the Drac of Flames to survive another longest night. We put on some common clothes we would bring back later, and left the building, our festive clothes on our arms.
The spirits of everybody in the village were very high, and we had a few good laughs being called out by people in the streets, telling us we looked like we’d given a lot of strength to the Drac. But Enric had to go back home now, his father had need of him that afternoon.
“Will I…Will I see you again? I mean…” I asked, not sure whether or not it only had been a good time and nothing more.
“Well, I’m sure my father will have to send me to your village for business rather often”, he answered with a wicked smile. This guy knew what he wanted, and I guess I should be glad it was me.
“You travel a lot?” I asked.
“I’ve had my share of travel,” he answered, boastfully.
“I’d like to go to the big city, someday.”
“I’d go with you,” he said, caressing my cheek.
“Really? I want to see the stone church, that must be something.”
“The stone church. Right…Among other things,” he sounded amused.
“I can see us, walking together in the colored streets of the city…” I began.
“Maybe someday. Now I must go, or my father won’t let me hear the end of it.”
“Alright, see you soon, I hope,” I said, stepping closer to kiss him.
We waved as he walked away, disappearing behind a house.
My first participation in the three ceremonies of the longest night had gone even better than I’d wished, and I could hope Enric and I would see each other again. But who knows what the future holds? Nobody, not even the Dracs.