So I guess the ship name for Kaine and Syrra is Kayra, a lot of you guys seemed to agree on that so I'll just call it the official ship name unless you've got another one :)

I did not edit this one at all because it's kinda long and I'm tired and I just wanted to get another chapter out for you guys. I hope it isn't too bad and please comment if you find any mistakes or errors :)

I hope you enjoy!!!

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If Lucifer was a human, he'd be smacking my arm and shaking me right now.

Dude! Dude! Did you just see that?

You saw it so obviously I did too, I growl in annoyance.

That was the hottest thing I've ever seen!

Yes it was now stop talking, you're ruining this for me.

I push him to the back of my mind so I can focus on my mate. She sits tall on her golden throne, her violet gaze cold as ice as it sweeps the room. I can honestly say I have never felt prouder than I do at this moment.

She locks eyes with me and motions for me to come forward. My hand rests on the hilt of my sword as I walk across the room to stand beside her.

"This is Prince Kaine, a warrior of the Dragon Guard and son of Queen Zari," Syrra says, "I expect the clans to pay their respects to such an esteemed visitor considering the unfortunate circumstances under which the Dragon Queen previously visited."

Damn, I mutter.

How much you wanna bet she's been lessening her vocabulary and dumbing herself down just so you can understand? Lucifer snorts.

Oh shut up, I'm not that stupid, I growl.

When I snap back into reality, the room is empty. "Hey where did everyone go?" I ask.

"I dismissed them," she says and I notice how much more relaxed she is.

"They must have been in a hurry," I remark.

She smirks. "Blood magic frightens them."

"It might just be the case since you're my mate but I found it really sexy and a little empowering to be honest."

She grins at me before stepping down from her throne. I brush the hair away from her face and lean down to kiss her. I feel her fingers run through my hair and then she jerks away with a sharp hiss.

She stares down at her hand with a grimace. "I cut deeper than I intended," she murmurs.

I bite my cheek at the pain on her face. I gently take her hand into mine to inspect the wound. "It's pretty deep but if you can still move your fingers you should be okay. How bad does it hurt?"

She smiles. "I will be fine, we have excellent healers here," she says.

"You know, ever since this morning you've been talking really differently―"

"Yeah sorry about that. I've found over the years that speaking with eloquence and a particularly refined vocabulary tends to make them forget I am only 18 years old and reminds them that I am mature enough to hold the title of Witch Queen. I just forget to stop doing it when I don't need to," she chuckles.

"It's really impressive, definitely makes you seem well bred and well learned," I say and she smiles.

"Yeah it just gets annoying sometimes, that's why I like talking to you so much. You're not gonna judge me on how well I speak―or at least I hope you're not."

I make a face. "I would never do that. That'd be a stupid thing to judge someone on," I mutter.

"True. Anyway I should probably see one of the healers to get this fixed really quick but then I'm free for the rest of the day so we can go down to the lake?" she suggests, leading us down the winding staircase.

My eyes wander as we descend from the massive tree. The witch territory is beautiful; definitely a more diverse environment than the dirt and volcanoes of the Devil's Circle.

"How can you be free for the rest of the day?" I ask Syrra.

She shrugs. "I have people doing pretty much everything for me. The former clan leaders still run their own clans for the most part, they just report everything to me and have to ask for permission if they want to make any drastic changes," she explains.

"Yeah if I become the Dragon King I'm not gonna have those luxuries, my mom made it so the leader of the dragons does just about everything," I growl in irritation.

"Wait what? Jaxon is your older brother, shouldn't he be the Dragon King when your mother steps down?"

"Normally yeah, but he told my mom that he'd rather be a warrior. Also he's not really a big fan of punishment or the process of forcing young dragons into submission so they learn control faster."

"Well that definitely doesn't sound like a very pleasant process."

"It's not, it's painful, bloody, confusing, and just awful. But I guess it's easier than how they used to do it."

"You mean just let you figure it out for yourself and hope you don't kill each other in the process?"

"Yeah pretty much. My mom said when she was young that most of the Fury dragons ended up killing each other over stupid things because they couldn't control their tempers or their dragons," I sigh.

Syrra snorts. "Yeah that sounds like a Fury dragon."

*******

"Gods this is amazing," I sigh.

She smiles, shaking her head at me.

"What?"

She shrugs. "Nothing." She digs her fingers into the sand and stretches her legs forward so that they touch the water.

I dip my head under the waves and run my hands through my soaking hair. "Why don't you come in the water?" I ask.

"I'm good thanks," she says.

I scowl, climbing out of the water. "Oh come on, please?"

She sighs. "Alright fine," she mutters and suddenly she's wearing a bikini.

My eyes widen and I feel my breath catch in my throat. "Wow," I murmur.

"You like it?"

"I do." I lean down to give her a kiss. She locks her arms around my neck and I swing her up into my arms with a smirk.

She pulls away as I start carrying her into the water. "Kaine no―what are you doing?"

When I'm about waist-deep I stop. She glares at me warningly.

I let go of her and watch as she goes under the water. She resurfaces with a glare but she can't hold back the smile on her lips. "You asshole," she grumbles, pulling her hair out of her face.

I laugh a little. "Oops."

She splashes me with a scowl as she stands again. The water almost reaches her shoulder.

I hear a distant splash and turn my head to look over the lake. A shadow suddenly leaps out of the water before diving back in and disappearing. "What's that?" I ask.

Syrra follows my gaze. "Oh, those are the water dragons."

My eyes widen. "No way, they can't be much bigger than you," I say as another breaches.

"They're really small. They're not like fire dragons at all, in fact they're practically the opposite in almost every way. They don't even have a human form."

"Wait what?" I ask.

"Yeah the witches that created dragon shifters only did it to fire dragons. They were the biggest threat and so they forced only them to share bodies with humans. The water are the only social dragons though, the others remain hidden so much that seeing one is rare," she says.

"Why? They're not hunted are they?"

"No one really knows why, they just don't like attention or anything that requires seeing people."

"I don't blame them," I mutter.

"Prince Kaine!" I hear a voice call.

I search for the source of the voice and my eyes lock onto a girl waving at me a few meters deeper in the lake. "Who is that?" I ask Syrra.

"Oh that's Cora, she lives in the lake with some of her friends," she explains and four more people pop up out of the water.

"Why are they waving us over?" I ask nervously.

Syrra laughs. "They want you to play a game with them, it's usually just smacking a ball around. It's actually pretty fun," she says.

"It sounds fun, wanna go play?"

She shakes her head. "I'm good. I'm exhausted so I'm gonna go lay down but you go ahead. Just a warning though, they can be sneaky little shits so pay attention," she tells me.

"Okay I will, get some rest," I say, kissing her lightly before turning to swim out to the group of people now smacking a ball around.

There are three guys and two girls that start shouting when I swim over. "Come play with us Prince Kaine!" One girl―Cora says.

I feel confusion settle over me as I get closer. They all have brightly colored hair and their eyes look like they're glowing.

Cora suddenly dives into the water and something shiny flashes. Realization hits me. They're mermaids.

Then I notice the gills on the sides of their necks and the translucent webbing between their fingers.

"You can be on our team! All you have to do is hit the ball," Cora says, waving me towards her and another girl.

As I swim over they toss me a strange looking ball that kinda looks like a sponge. I make a face as I take it into my hands. Last I checked, sponges aren't supposed to be slimy.

That's probably what makes the game harder, now just hit the damn thing! Lucifer growls impatiently.

I roll my eyes but do as he says. I play the game with them and am doing well for a while until I take a diving leap to catch it and miss.

I hold my breath as I go under water and open my eyes. I start to swim up again and when I surface, Syrra is beside me. "Hey, did you come out to play with us?" I ask.

"I just wanted to kiss you," she says, grabbing my face in her hands and pressing her lips hard against mine. My eyes widen in shock and I am frozen until she pulls away.

I blink a few times then close my eyes and run a hand through my hair. I take a deep breath. "Wow okay that was a little unexpected."

"Kaine!" I hear her shout and look around. She is wading in water just a couple of meters off the beach.

I swim towards her, my eyebrows furrowed in complete and utter befuddlement. "Can you teleport too? How the fuck did you get over here so fast?" I mumble under my breath.

Her lips are pursed and she shakes her head at me. "I warned you," she sighs, as I move closer.

"What are you talking about? The mermaids were nice, we were actually having a lot of fun," I shrug.

"Kaine those weren't mermaids."

"They weren't? But they had tails and looked just like every mermaid I've ever seen in the books." She shakes her head again. "Well then what were they?"

"They're sirens."

"Sirens? But I thought those were just stories to scare kids and keep them out of the water," I mutter.

"No they're completely real and they can be really nasty. That's what I was trying to warn you about. For example, I've been over here since you went to go play ball with them," she says pointedly.

I frown. What? Then it hits me and my jaw drops. "Oh gods, so that wasn't you that kissed me―oh gods I am so sorry," I breathe.

"It's fine, they're really good at manipulation and imitation. It's nice to know that you saw me though," she chuckles.

"What would have happened if you didn't call me over here?" I ask.

"Well they would have dragged you under the water and you would never be seen or heard from again," she says.

My eyes widen. "Okay well thanks for that then and again, I'm so sorry about that―"

"Kaine stop apologizing you're fine. But now that you know what they are, if it happens again I'll let them drag you under," she snaps and I find myself swallowing a hard lump in my throat.

"Fair," I mutter.

She smiles a little. "And now you know why I didn't go out to play with you guys. It's fine so long as you have someone to keep an eye on you. They're sweet and beautiful and have voices like nectar and unless you have someone to remind you of reality, you're dead as soon as you step in the water," she sighs.

"Okay if those are sirens, then what do the mermaids look like?"

"Oh that's how mermaids look. The sirens look just like them during the day. But under the moonlight you can see what they really look like and it's absolutely horrifying," she shudders.

"What do they look like?"

"Black hair, ashen skin, glowing eyes, slimy gray tails, and a hundred razor sharp teeth."

I cringe at the image that pops into my mind. "Gross, that sounds so fucking creepy," I growl.

She laughs. "Yeah that's one thing people don't realize about this territory. In the daylight it's an absolute paradise. But at night," she murmurs, "the monsters come out to play."

*******

Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it and if you did please VOTE and leave a COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!

Do you guys want Ash or Jaxon's POV after this chapter?