Chapter Text
The southern dragons had blocked the considerable magic of the king's mages. Once the head guard and the first group of soldiers had vanished through the gate the mages's power had been rendered impotent. They had been frantic, trying to open more gates to satisfy the king, but with no success. Harris had marched among them, shouting his displeasure, but it had done him no good.
No matter how loudly he demonstrated his anger the gates reminded closed to him. He had whirled upon the leader of the southern dragons and told him with deadly quiet that he would soon return and this foolish insolence would be ended. He had kept power over the southern dragons for too long to be defeated by them now. All the mages and soldiers marched back to the palace behind Harris.
King Harris marched down beneath the palace dungeon and into the treasure room. Two guards holding lighted tourches accompanied him while he stormed toward the artifact he sought. His prize in hand he returned to the top and paraded straight back into the nest of the southern dragons.
He found their leader first and unleashed the power of his artifact. A new leader could be found later.
After that he spent the day and night punishing the dragons for their disobedience. He made it clear to them that he was the one who controlled them and such mutiny would not be allowed again. At dawn his men arrived ready to mount the beasts and be transported to the heir at Harris command.
In a clear patch of earth the dragons lined up with the humans on their backs. With bowed heads the king's brown-cloaked mages formed a circle around them and as one cast open a gate that moved every beast and man simultaneously to the air above the heir. One moment they were there, human soldiers sitting ramrod-straight on the bowed backs of their rebuked steeds, the next, the area was clear of them.
"Help! Help, I'm on fire!" Scott shouted as he frantically patted himself down trying to put out the flames. The flames that weren't actually touching him, or burning him, at all.
"Stop that," Stiles said, trying to get Scott to stop hitting himself, "You are not on fire!" he shouted. Scott wasn't listening to him at all, still convinced he was somehow roasting to a crisp.
"Fine," Stiles huffed, "I give up. Give yourself bruises, see if I care."
Allison decided to take matters into her own hands and reached over and kissed Scott. It worked perfectly. He stopped smacking himself and focused on kissing her.
Stiles turned to Derek, "So, good to see you, glad you're here, how have you been? Why are we not on fire now?" As much as Stiles wanted to throw a party because he was finally with Derek again, he really felt the fire situation needed some explaining. He, Derek, Lena, and all the others were currently surrounded by a tunnel of flame, it was completely engulfing them, and yet they weren't on fire. The flames were passing right through them it seemed and Stiles wanted to know how in the hell that was possible.
He pulled a huffing and panting Derek onto Lena's back, making sure to keep a tight grip on his hand; now that they were together, he wasn't keen on being separated from Derek. Derek climbed up and sat facing Stiles, perfectly content to keep holding hands.
"I think the egg is protecting us. It kept me safe from the dragons when the dragons of the north first found us. They tried to claw me, and step on me, and roast me, but everything the tried just went right through me. They couldn't touch me. It made them angry."
"And now that you're with us, it's protecting us too?" Stiles asked.
"I guess so? I haven't exactly been talking to it. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad it's working on you too," Derek told Stiles.
"I agree completely," Stiles said adamantly.
"So what do we do now?" Scott asked, breaking into Stiles and Derek's heartfelt staring contest. Scott had been calmed by Allison and was now looking around curiously at the flames engulfing them.
"Find out who the egg belongs to and turn it over I guess," Stiles said uncertainly. "But if the dragons are attacking us, turning over the only thing protecting us from them might not be our best plan."
"I came here this morning to try and trade the egg in exchange for the dragons bringing me to you," Derek said.
"Really?" Stiles said, touched.
"Of course," Derek replied, "couldn't have you wandering around the mountain by yourself. You've have been eaten for sure."
"Hey," Stiles protested, smacking Derek with the hand that wasn't still clasped in his. "I did just fine in the mountains, only imprisoned once, and no one even tried to eat me. But really, what are we planning to do here? I don't think we are going to get very far reasoning with the dragons. We have what they want, are willing to give it to them and they still want to roast us."
He looked up at the dragons breathing flames on them.
"Do you think they're getting tired? It can't be easy to keep up a steady breath of flame. Do you think they'll do shifts to keep us covered or eventually just give up?"
"I doubt they've put that much thought into it," Derek said.
"Fair point," Stiles said. "They'll probably just keep it up till they pass out. Then maybe we can get somewhere with the ones still conscious."
"Why don't we just wait for Porter to show up and ask him?" Scott asked.
Stiles froze. So much for breaking it to Derek gently. He had been looking at Scott when he'd started talking and now he wasn't willing to turn back around and look at Derek. He could feel Derek's hand tighten around his and knew this wasn't going to go well. Even without looking he could tell Derek was holding himself still enough to be mistaken for a statue.
"What did he say?" Derek growled. His voice was quietly furious.
"Um..." Stiles started, still not looking at Derek, "see the thing is-"
"You've been working with Porter!" Derek shouted. "Look at me, Stiles!" he demanded. He had ridden through the desert, been kidnapped, and had planned to bargain away the most precious egg in the kingdom, all for someone working with Porter. All the time he had spent worrying about Stiles now seemed foolish and wasteful. He had been going behind Derek's back the entire time. For all Derek knew, Stiles might have been partners with Porter before he'd even come to the bazaar. He was pissed.
Finally, Stiles turned around and faced him. "See the thing is that Porter's actually been helping me for a while now and he's the reason that we were able to find you in the first place. He's actually be trying to help us, Derek. He's not a bad guy."
"He has been threatening my family, Stiles. My family! And you're trying to tell me he's a good guy," Derek shouted. He couldn't believe Stiles was trying to vouch for that creep.
"Well, technically I said 'not a bad guy', not 'a good guy'."
This was not the right thing to say to Derek. Stiles could tell right away he had made a rather large tactical error. And he was definitely someone able to admit when they had made a mistake so he tried to fix it by hastily backtracking.
"What I meant was, has he ever actually threatened your family directly? I know he's being hassling you, but did he ever say he would do anything to your family specifically?" Nope. That wasn't going to make things better. Stiles might do better to just throw himself to the dragons now and save Derek the trouble.
"Stiles!" Derek roared, now waving their join hands wildly. "You're defending him? Have you lost your mind? He's trying to drive my family out of their rightful place and you're nitpicking?" He couldn't believe the nerve.
Stiles opened his mouth again. This time he would definitely make things better, "I'm not nitpicking. I'm asking a valid question. You never mentioned what exactly he said he would do to your family. You just told me he was trying to sabotage you. That's the not the same as threatening members of your family." So was there something around here Stiles could use to gag himself? This whole trying to make it better thing was really not going the way he had planned. From the look on Derek's face, somewhere between erupting volcano and run for you life, he wasn't too pleased with what was coming out of Stiles's mouth either.
"Stiles," he said slowly, "how long have you been working with Porter?" The answer had damn well not be 'since our time at the stalls'. If Stiles had been keeping this from him the entire time he didn't know what he would do. It would probably involve whacking him over the head several times.
"He first appeared the day you lost it in the desert," Stiles said cautiously. He felt a bit guilty about bringing it up.
"Lost what?"
"Your mind," Stiles laughed nervously but Derek didn't join him. "He showed up while I was trying to get away from you. He told me to give you the egg and that would make you better. I didn't exactly have a better plan so I listened to him and gave it to you. And if you'll recall, it worked. Then he appeared a couple more times and I figured since he was right before, and I didn't really have anyone else to ask, I might as well listen to him. I didn't do this to hurt you, Derek. I just needed the help," Stiles said. He cautiously reached out and grasped Derek's other hand. He took it as a good sign that Derek let him.
The roar of the flames and the stomping of the dragons around them was nothing compared to the tumult inside Derek. Stiles had been taking help from Porter without telling him. Porter had been threatening his family. Hadn't he? Derek's life at the bazaar felt quite far away at the moment. It almost seemed like someone else's life. But now Porter was helping Stiles and Stiles was still alive, and now they were together. Could he be a good guy? Derek was so confused.
"Derek?" Stiles asked, not wanting to push him, but wanting to know if things were going to be okay between them.
"Give me a minute," Derek said. He didn't know what he was feeling. It would probably have been easier to figure out somewhere private and quiet instead of on the back of a dragon surrounded by strangers, fire, and pissed-off dragons.
"Just figure out if you trust me or not," Stiles said, "That's all you've got to do."
He looked at Derek who had his eyes closed and looked like he was in pain. He wanted to reach out and hug him but refrained. Instead he ran his thumb over Derek's hand.
"Do you think he could hurry up a bit?" Scott asked loudly. Stiles turned and smacked him on the head.
"Hush and let him think. He's got enough distractions without you hurrying him along," Stiles told him.
Derek's mouth quirked into a small smile at that. It seemed like it should be more difficult, figuring out how he felt about Stiles, figuring out if he could forgive him and move past his collaboration with Porter, but it wasn't. In fact, it wasn't something he really had to put any thought into at all. Stiles was his friend. Stiles cared about him. He was honest, and hardworking. Derek trusted him and even though he didn't understand how Porter could possibly be a good guy, if Stiles had taken help from him there must be something Derek was missing. It wasn't possible for Stiles to betray him. He could feel it in his heart that Stiles was, and always would be, loyal to him. So whatever Porter's deal was, he would just have to figure it out as they went along.
"Okay," Derek said looking up at Stiles.
"What?" Stiles asked, hopefully.
"Okay, I trust you."
Stiles flung himself at Derek and hugged him enthusiastically. They nearly pitched off Lena's back but Scott grabbed the back of Stiles's shirt and kept him and Derek from topping off.
"Now we need to figure out what to do about the dragons," Derek said.
Stiles looked around, kind of hoping Porter would pop up and help out because he didn't have the first clue about getting enraged dragons to calm down enough to reason with. As he looked around he heard something over the sound of the fire. He looked up, dragons were flying overhead, hovering over the clearing they were in, and roaring their arrival.
"The southern dragons are here," Scott shouted. The soldiers all tensed. The king would be angry they had come into contact with the egg and hadn't tried to bring it to him. He wouldn't care that that contact had only occurred a few moments ago.
"They must be here for the egg too," Stiles said. "The mages must have been able to locate it."
"Oh good, more flame breathers are here. That's so much better," Scott said. "And look at that. King Harris and the army. Fantastic."
"At least they won't be able to touch us either," Derek said.
"How can you be sure?" Boyd asked as he looked up at the new arrivals.
"When I was with the two who kidnapped me, they said they couldn't touch me. It was the only reason they kept me around. Otherwise they would have taken the egg for themselves and left me."
"Well, I for one am very grateful they left you alive," Stiles told Derek as they both looked into the sky at the dragons hovering above them.
The newcomers had formed a noisy circle above the blue dragons on the ground. They were out of range of the beasts on the ground. Now that the southern dragons and King Harris had arrived the dragons of the north had stopped fighting amongst themselves. No one could touch the humans on the ground but the southern dragons didn't know that yet. King Harris had his eyes locked on Stiles, now easy to see since no one was breathing fire on to him.
"Is it just me, or does he look like he wants to eat me?" Stiles asked Derek. He couldn't make out the exact expression on Harris's face but somehow he could just tell the vibe he was putting off wasn't one that bode well for Stiles's continued well-being.
"Hold your ground, men," Guard Stilinski called. He and the other soldiers had drawn their swords at the arrival of Harris and the southern dragons. "Protect Stiles," he ordered. Harris would be coming for them if he could. They held the egg he wanted. While he and his men could fight, Stiles was unarmed and untrained. He would be the most vulnerable. Derek seemed like someone who would be able to hold his own. Guard Stilinski counted on him to help protect his son as well.
Having their enemy out of range didn't stop the dragons of the north from shooting columns of flame into the sky. It seemed to only encourage them to try harder to hit their targets. None of the southern dragons returned fire. They were strangely calm as they flapped their massive wings to hold themselves aloft.
As Stiles stared at the beasts flying above him he realized they weren't calm; they were resigned. These were creatures who had accepted their fate, puppets waiting for Harris's orders. They didn't look like dragons that had the will to fight for themselves any longer. They were now, more then ever, completely under Harris's thumb.
On the other hand, the dragons on the ground looked furious and ready to fight to the last scale to keep their heir for themselves. Which made sense to Stiles since it belonged to them. If Harris got it he would turn it on them and bring them under his rule as well. He didn't think the dragons in the air exactly made great poster children for the wonderful world of Harris. The dragons of the north were right to look as fearsome as possible.
"What do you think Harris is going to do? Attack?" Scott asked Stiles.
"Probably. If he wants to control the dragons of the north he needs the heir. Most likely he's just planning how he's going to get to us," Stiles said.
"Can he do that? What about all the dragons around us, how's he going to get past them?" Scott asked.
"Look at those dragons," Derek said, pointing at the sky. "They look much worse than normal. Harris must have more power over them than we knew. Whatever he's using on them will probably work on the dragons of the north too. Especially now they don't have a king to give them extra power."
"Oh good. Harris with heretofore unknow power. That should be good for us," Stiles said, sticking his tongue out at the thought.
King Harris looked down at the scene below, contemplating his descent. He had easily spotted his guards on the back of a dragon and assumed the egg was with them. Unbeknownst to anyone he had had the mages cast an impenetrable barrier around him so he would be impervious to the fire and claws of the many dragons. He felt no such protection necessary for his men.
He still had the artifact with him. It would be the work of a moment to destroy any dragon that got in his way as he moved toward the egg. The other soldiers and their beasts would attack the dragons of the north and subdue them. He smiled and crouched lower upon his ride.
"Attack!" King Harris roared. He directed his dragon downward and it descended swiftly, on a direct course for Stiles and the egg.
"Aim for the humans," Harris ordered the dragon he was riding. It made for them as he commanded, weaving in and out of bursts of flame, dodging the beating wings and slicing claws trying to bring it down. Harris had his eyes locked on Stiles, and evil gleam in his eye. He was so close to victory he could taste it. As soon as he took the egg he would be the most powerful person in the land, all dragons would bow before him. He considered dispatching a few northern beasts on the way down with his artifact but decided to save it for later, should he need to put any dissenters in line.
Almost there. He was almost there. His hand was reaching out for Stiles, ready to grab him as soon as he was within reach. The boy had the egg. Once he was in his hand he would make him turn over the egg. His fingers were reaching out greedily, tongue licking his lips in anticipation. He was almost there.
The southern dragons and their human riders were now fast descending on the dragons of the north who rose to meet them. The humans had been given pouches filled with small balls of magic which they hurled with accuracy at the blue dragons. After a dragon had been hit several times it would fall to the ground unconscious, it's large body landing with an earth-shaking crash, but not before taking out a southern dragon of its own.
The group of humans and Lena stayed put on the ground as the bodies from the two dragon sides plummetted to earth around them. Lena was only obliged to move when one blue beast landed on top of her. It was a most peculiar feeling Stiles decided, being one minute out in the open air with the sun shining down of the carnage, and the next being in the blackness of a dragon's stomach. He was glad when Lena move herself back into the daylight.
The dragon covering them had caused Harris to momentarily lose sight of them but he recovered quickly. He had one hand outstretched and as soon as his dragon flew over the waiting party and clamped his hand around Stiles's collar. He would have flown away with him if not for the fact that his hand had closed around air and he came away with no part of Stiles at all.
Furiously, he turned back around and made to try the same move again, but again he could not close his hand around Stiles or his clothing.
"What is the meaning of this?" he screamed at Stiles as his dragon's wings beat the air around him. "Why can I not grab you, insolent boy?"
"The heir to the dragon king is protecting me you horrible pain in the -"
"What my son means to say, King Harris, is that we are under the protection of the next king of the dragons and for that reason we are all untouchable," Stiles's father said, glaring at Stiles who had Scott's hand clamped around his mouth. He was gesticulating his displeasure wildly, and by association so was Derek.
"Magic can be fought with magic," Harris shouted as the wind from his dragon's wing whipped his cloak about him.
"What the hell does that mean?" Stiles asked. He had licked Scott's hand and thereby been set free.
"Probably nothing good," Scott said. All the humans were tense as they looked at Harris, unsure of what he would do. They had not drawn their weapons for metal would do no good against magic.
"I really hope this egg has thought things through," Stiles said. "I don't want Harris to magic us all into next week."
"I doubt he would want us still alive next week," Derek said.
"Not helping," Stiles told him.
"Look out," Stiles's father shouted at the king turned some strange object in his hand toward them. A burst of magic shot from the center of the artifact and headed straight for Stiles.
Immediately, Derek lept upon Stiles, covering Stiles's body with his own, protecting him as best he could from whatever unknown horror was coming their way. Derek braced himself, waiting to feel pain, but none came. He wasn't blasted away into nothingness. He wasn't hurled bodily from Lena. Nothing happen. Slowly he raised his head and looked at Harris who was furiously and fruitlessly blasting magic at them.
"You saved me," Stiles said, his voice full of wonder. He knew with certainty now that Derek had forgiven him, there had been no hesitation as he had put himself between Stiles and danger.
"Always," Derek told him.
"Thanks," Stiles told Derek and the bag Derek carried. The egg had just saved them all yet again.
"How dare you defy me!" King Harris screamed at them, waving his artifact through the air.
"Actually," Porter said calmly from where he had appeared beside Harris, "I defy you." And with that he plucked the artifact from Harris's hand and ground it to dust.
"What? How? What?" Harris stared gobsmacked at Porter, his hand still frozen where it had been when he'd last held the artifact.
"That is something you should never have had. I was simply setting the world to rights," Porter told him. "And now," he turned his head to look at the fighting dragons, "I think I'll go take care of that little scuffle too."
"Little scuffle? Little scuffle? How in the hell is that," Stiles waved his hand to where the two sides were tearing each other out of the air, "A 'little' anything?"
"I think we have underestimated Porter's abilities up to this point," Allison said.
"Agreed," Erica said as Body and Issac nodded.
Everyone was looking at Porter now. He had walked calmly through the air towards the melee, looking for all the world like a man out for a casual stroll, and raised his right hand. The dragons froze. As soon as Porter had raised his hand all fighting had ceased. The confused beasts now hung in the air, completely immobilized, in exactly the positions they had been fighting in, claws and fangs still locked in battle.
"Yep. Definitely underestimating him," Stiles nodded.
"I'm sick of your fighting," he told the dragons as he moved his hand slowly downward. As his hand moved so did the dragons, all of them drifting gently down to earth. His hand slashed sideways through the air and all the dragons separated from one another and faced him, still unable to move on their own.
"And you," Porter said, turning to face Harris whose own dragon was now in line with the others, "You are no longer to be in control of any dragons: north, south, or from the moon. You have had power over them for far too long. And no more shall you harvest the eggs of the southern dragons. We will come to collect the ones you have already taken."
"Are there dragons on the moon?" Scott asked, excitedly. Allison hushed him.
Porter now turned to face the dragons with the air of a teacher addressing naughty schoolchildren.
"Your differences and inability to compromise led to the war that ripped the dragon kingdom apart. It is high time it was knit back together. The old king did not wish to see our two halves reunited but he is gone and reunited they shall be."
Porter looked around the torn-up clearing, eyes searching like laser beams as though he could look through every being and object in his path. His eyes settled on his targets.
"Come forward," he ordered. After he spoke two dragons, now under their own power, crawled slowly to the forefront and knelt before Porter. Their heads were bowed and their wings folded tightly against their sides. They looked as though they meant to put off an air of remorse and sorrow but Stiles thought they just looked pissed at getting caught. He was throughly glad he wasn't the one Porter was gazing so sternly at.
"You two, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Porter asked, like a parent scolding a child.
"Well," the female began. It was the two red and gold southern dragons who had invaded Derek's mind and later kidnapped him while leaving Stiles in the dust. Neither Derek nor Stiles was too pleased to see them again.
Porter interrupted her, "You filled the mind of the one who now holds the heir with false fear, made him turn upon his companion, rent them apart and stole the heir of the dragons king for yourself. What did you think you were going to do with it? Did your piteously small minds truly believe that you would be able to control the king of the dragons? Did you think yourselves capable of harnessing such power for yourselves? Why do you all believe that the dragons king is someone that any of you can control? Did it never occur to you that the one who could rule such fearsome beasts must not be the most fearsome of you all," he looked directly at Harris, "and certainly not a creature a cruel, small-minded human could ever hope to rule."
The two dragons remained silent, there was nothing for them to say.
"Why did you do it?" Porter asked the dragons at his feet.
They were silent.
"Why?" he repeated, his voice like a blade's edge, ready to slice through whatever arguement they put forth.
"We wished to take the egg for ourselves to free our people from the rule of the human King Harris. He ordered us to bring the egg to him but we refused."
"While I admire your tenacity, I do not approve your methods. While you flooded Derek's mind with falsehood the violence that caused between him and the other human almost caused the egg to be harmed. The heir should have been your priority, not your own desire to claim it."
Well at least Derek now knew what had happened to him in the desert, and why the dragons had seemed so familiar. He still wasn't over his guilt from that incident but it helped to know without doubt that someone had been goading him, that he hadn't attacked Stiles without outside provocation.
Stiles used his free hand to rub Derek's shoulder. He knew it couldn't be easy for Derek to hear about what had happened that day in the sand. It would take time, but he would help Derek to understand that Stiles forgave him, had done so long ago, and was going to be by his side no matter what, for a long time to come.
"I am going to release you now. Do not fight, do not move. We have much to discuss," Porter told the dragons. He moved his hand again and all the dragons found themselves free. The humans who had been riding the southern dragons were now lined up together behind Harris.
The dragons shifted their weight from side to side, grumbling but not moving from where they stood. Porter turned to look at Harris and his troops.
"You I will let go later. There are things that I still need to make clear to you," his voice was a threat. If the men could have moved, they would have flinched.
He turned back to the dragons, "Once all dragons lived in the mountains. Again this shall be true. We are going to return together and no more shall any among us be ruled by man. You will be ruled by your king, and your king alone. We will have much to discuss when we return to the mountain."
"We?" Jackson spoke up. Lydia used her wing to push his head back down but Porter's attention was already on them.
"Yes, we. You do not think I should return with you?" Porter questioned.
"You just said we wouldn't be ruled by man. And you're a man. So..." Jackson kept his eyes on the ground as he spoke. It was easy to see that he didn't want to keep talking, but he also hadn't been able to ignore a direct question from Porter.
"Do not be fooled, I may look like a man, but I can assure you I am not," Porter said.
"Then what are you?" the words were out of Stiles's mouth before he even realized he was speaking. As soon as he heard them he buried his head in Derek's chest as though that would stop Porter from realizing he'd spoken.
Porter turned and looked calmly at Stiles and the others. He seemed to straighten up even more as he stared Derek down. His eyes flicked to the bag still slung around Derek and then up to Derek's face. Slowly he walked to Derek, stopping right in front of him. He spoke.
"I am the dragon king."
Nothing moved. No sound was made. Even the breeze seemed to stop blowing. Stiles appeared to have missed a memo somewhere because he let out a huge gasp as he pointed excitedly at Porter.
"You, you!" he shouted, "You've been the dragon king this whole time and you didn't feel the need to mention that! You were popping up all along our ride in the desert and you didn't think you being the dragon king was important information? You couldn't have slipped it into conversation somewhere along the way? You could have just magicked us all into the mountains, dropped yourself off with the nearest dragons and sent us home again. Derek didn't need to get kidnapped, we didn't need to wander around the mountain," he gestured at himself, his father, and the soldiers. "Seriously, what is your problem?"
"Stiles, shut up," Scott hissed at him. He smiled at Porter as though if Porter just looked into his sunny grin long enough he would forget Stiles's outburst.
"No, I won't. This guy could have brought us to the dragons of the north, from the bazaar I might add, and brought us back home safe in like two seconds, but instead he let's us wander the desert for five days."
"Wandering implied you didn't have a direction," Porter interrupted.
"That's what you're going to focus on?!" Stiles looked like someone was trying to explain why their breaking of all his merchandise was somehow his fault.
"Shut up," Scott pleaded but Stiles paid him no heed.
A muffled snort could be heard and Stiles whipped his head to look at Derek, "Are you laughing at me?" he asked in a mock-scandalized tone.
"No, not at all. I was just-" Derek broke off as he was overcome with another laughing fit. Of course Stiles would be tenacious enough to tell off the king of the dragons. His utter lack of concern regarding who he was addressing was just too much for Derek and he couldn't help but laugh. Stiles slapped him jokingly and stuck out his tongue.
"No, I'm sorry. I think it's cute," Derek said when he finally got his breath back.
"Oh, well in that case. Porter, what were you thinking?" Stiles started again, hoping to set Derek off. It didn't work.
"I needed to be sure of my choice," Porter told him.
"Choice of what?" Stiles asked.
"I wish for the dragons to return to the mountains of the north, where they may live free and united. But as king I also understand that it is important to maintain a good relationship with the humans of this world. To do that I require a human liaison. I chose you and Derek to fill this role but I needed to see who you truly are, needed to be sure I had made the right choice. So I brought myself into your possession and brought the two of you together."
"So this was all a test," Stiles clarified. "Did we pass?" he asked eagerly. All thoughts of anger towards Porter seemed to have taken a backseat to the possibility of passing the test of a dragon king.
"Yes. You, Stiles, showed perseverance, loyalty, and just a moment ago you demonstrated a considerable lack of regard for my power. You will not be one afraid to speak his mind. And I believe you will always speak for the good of your people. That is a quality I admire."
He turned and looked at Derek, "You showed bravery, loyalty, and a willingness to complete a task you did not need to endure even in the face of unreasonable terror," here he turned his head and glared his head at the two red and gold kidnappers. They had looked up to listen to his talk with the two humans but quickly bowed their heads again.
"Of course I had to endure it," Derek said. "I had to help Stiles get you home."
"No, you did not. I was not found in your possession, I had no relation or claim to you whatsoever, and yet you never hesitated. You never for a moment considered leaving Stiles to undertake the task of my safe return alone. Nor did you try to take the egg for yourself. You have many admirable qualities, Derek. Always remember this."
Porter held out his hand, "And now, I ask that you hand my egg over. I will take things from here."
Derek nodded his head, still shocked from Porter's words and the sincerity with which they had been spoken. The king of the dragons thought him worthy, thought him brave and admirable. A warmth, a feeling of gratitude and relief, was flooding through Derek's chest, moving through every vein and filling him with a lightness he had not known before. Carefully he grasped the bag's strap and pulled it over his head. Once it was free, he extended the bag to Porter who took it reverently.
Grasping the bag with both hands Porter took a step back and bowed to Derek and Stiles. They both bowed back.
"I have much to sort out with my people, the wounds of war will not be so quickly healed. When I have need of you, I will find you." With that, Porter turned and walked back to his people, pausing along the way to stop in front of King Harris who was still frozen along with his men.
Derek and Stiles couldn't hear what Porter was telling the king, but from the look on his face it was nothing he wanted to hear.
"He must be laying down the law," Stiles whispered to Derek.
"Better him than us," Derek told him.
"What's going to happen to us now?" Scott asked.
"What do you mean?" Issac asked.
"Well, we were all obviously working with Stiles and none of us tried to give the egg to Harris. Isn't he going to be pretty pissed about that when we go back?"
"Don't worry, Scott," Stiles's father said, "I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
"Guys, don't worry," Stiles said. "Derek and I are human liaisons to the dragon king. You really think Harris is going to mess with any of you if we tell him not to? You'll be fine."
"But the king will be in the mountains. How is that going to help protect us?" Scott asked.
"I'll just tell Harris, if he gives you trouble, I'll call Porter down to light his ass on fire," Stiles said, unconcernedly.
"You don't have the power to do that. Do you?" Scott asked.
"Probably not, no. But Harris doesn't need to know that," Stiles said.
Allison just rolled her eyes at him and Erica gave him a conspiratorial smirk. She usually approved of less orthodox methods of getting things done.
"Either way, I just want to get home. This has been one hell of an journey," Derek said.
"Sounds good to me," Stiles looked at Lena who was calmly watching her king, "Can you give us a lift home? I really don't feel like walking back."
She looked annoyed but nodded her head. "I will bring you home."
"See," Stiles looked at the group, "being human liaison to the dragon king comes with perks. Maybe she can fly us to a nice vacation spot first. Get a little rest in before we get back to work at the bazaar."
"Don't push it, Stiles," his father warned him, "She's being generous enough just bringing us home." Lena preened at the praise and got ready to launch herself into the air.
All her riders got themselves ready for take off, gripping her scales tightly. Everyone but Stiles who was gripping Derek tightly. He could already tell, this was going to be a much nicer ride than the one before.
Stiles and Derek had come a long way and their bond was stronger for it. They would have a lot to talk about when the got home, what they'd done while they were separated, and Stiles's couldn't wait. Being the human liaisons would be good for the two of them. If nothing else it would certainly keep their lives interesting.