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Lothar was furious. In spite of everything that had happened, from the fel to the orc invasion to almost losing both Llane and Medivh, in spite of all of that, Lothar had grown to feel like there was one person he could truly rely on out in the field. To realise that his friend, his companion, that boisterous, boyish, bookish little mage had been deceiving them, all of them, right under Lothar’s nose? It infuriated the commander.
“Anduin, calm down,” Taria spoke gently, watching her brother pace before the throne.
“I’m sure Khadgar had his reasons for concealing this from us,” Llane offered, but his tone betrayed the doubt he held.
“A dragon. A freaking fire breathing dragon. Do you know how much we could have used one of those in the field? How many lives we could have saved had we known?” Lothar took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Is his name even Khadgar?”
“Khadragos,” Medivh supplied, startling the commander briefly with his sudden appearance in the throne room.
“When did you know?” Llane asked quietly.
“The moment he freed me from the demon. I know dragon magic when I feel it.” Medivh had been the one to out Khadgar as a dragon, the discovery made moments after Lothar had leapt off of Karazhan and raced off to save the King.
“I’m sure he had his reasons,” Llane repeated. “Perhaps we should talk with him.”
“I’ll talk with him,” Lothar volunteered, not waiting for a reply from his friends before storming off. Even if Khadgar didn’t want to help out on the field, even if he had been scared of fighting as a dragon, why hadn’t he told Lothar the truth? Why had he let Lothar believe him to be someone he was not? Why had he lied?
Marching towards Khadgar’s quarters, Lothar didn’t bother knocking before barging in. At first he thought the room was empty, but then he heard a soft rustle of something moving on the other side of the bed.
“Khadgar?” Lothar called, rounding the bed and crossing his arms. He could see a small form pressed against the side of the bed, huddled beneath the bed sheets which had either fallen or been dragged down to cover him. Whatever was hiding under the sheets emitted a frightened little squeak, causing Lothar’s anger to seep away as confusion took hold.
Kneeling down beside the bed, Lothar cautiously lifted the sheets, and was briefly rendered speechless. Crouched beside the bed and shivering slightly was the smallest, cutest little creature that Lothar had ever seen.
“Chuurr?” the little creature asked nervously as it lifted one of its tiny blue paws.
“Hello, what have we here?” Lothar asked softly, his anger forgotten entirely. He reached out to gently run his hand over smooth blue scales, eliciting another squeak from the little dragon.
“I see why you didn’t want us to know,” Lothar said, grinning when the dragon pouted grumpily in response. “It’s ok Khadgar, nobody’s going to hurt you. I’m sorry I was angry at you, I just... felt like you had lied to me,” Lothar admitted. “But it’s ok. You are far too adorable to stay mad at!” With that, Lothar put his hands under Khadgar’s arms and lifted the little dragon into his arms, holding him close to his chest as he would a toddler. Khadgar immediately clung to his shirt and made a series of noises that Lothar could only describe as “adorable baby dragon sounds.”
Carrying Khadgar back to the throne room, Lothar couldn’t help feeling a little clucky. He hadn’t carried someone like this since Callan was a small child, and suddenly realised how much he missed that feeling. Khadgar had quieted down, resting his head on Lothar’s shoulder and gently kneading his shirt with his thankfully not too sharp front claws. He murmured slightly when Lothar descended some stairs, but was otherwise silent on the short journey to the throne room.
Llane, Taria and Medivh were still in the throne room, discussing potential responses to the orc invasion. They turned upon hearing Lothar enter. Taria was always good at remaining composed, but Llane’s jaw dropped slightly at the sight of the tiny bundle of dragon clinging to his brother in law, and even Medivh appeared surprised at this development.
“Just as you foresaw dear husband, Khadgar had a good reason for concealing his true nature,” Taria said gently, reaching out to gently run her fingers along one of Khadgar’s delicate wings. Khadgar warbled in response, turning his head to look at the Queen and huffing at her inquisitively.
“I’m afraid this tiny little thing won’t be of any use on the battlefield,” Medivh commented with a pointed look at Lothar. Khadgar took the guardian’s temporary distraction as an opportunity to gently nip at his fingers.
“Hey, none of that now,” Lothar scolded softly.
“Dragons grow in each form independently,” Medivh said as he withdrew his fingers to a safer distance.
“What does that mean?” Llane asked, not shifting his gaze from the dragon in front of him.
“It means Khadgar has spent most of his life in his human form, growing to the age of a young adult. As a human mage, he is a young adult. As a dragon, judging by his size and wingspan, I’d say he’s about toddler in age,” Medivh decided.
“So... he doesn’t think the same way as a dragon? Will he even remember this?” Lothar asked, glancing down at the little dragon in confusion.
“As a dragon he thinks as a youngling thinks, and will act as a youngling in response. As a human, he thinks as a human thinks. He will remember what he saw and heard as a dragon, but the memories may be unclear due to his young age, and he will be unable to process them in his human form,” Medivh explained.
“I’m still confused,” Lothar admitted. “When he’s a human, will he remember me holding him like this?”
“He will probably remember you taking care of him, but will not consider it undignified in the same way that he would if you tried to pick him up as a human.”
“Is it unusual for a dragon’s age to be so different in each form?” Taria wondered.
“Dragons live for hundreds of years. It is very unusual for their human form to grow older than their native form. Khadgar will have a lot of catching up to do.” Medivh’s tone became more serious. He gently stretched out one of Khadgar’s wings, examining it critically as though trying to better estimate the young creature’s age. Khadgar mumbled in response, eyeing Medivh briefly before turning his attention to sucking on the collar of Lothar’s shirt.
“So what you’re saying is, we should encourage Khadgar to spend as much time as possible in this form,” Llane said, trying to suppress a grin as his eyes met with Lothar’s. Between the kneading and the sucking, Lothar’s shirt was starting to look a little worse for the wear.
“A dragon this young shouldn’t be separated from its parents. He can’t even speak,” Medivh said with a frown, releasing Khadgar’s wing which immediately folded back into place.
“We’ll have to take care of him then,” Taria decided.
“Let me guess, you want me to volunteer?” Lothar knew his sister too well.
“He does seem rather attached to you,” Llane pointed out, unable to suppress his smile any longer.
“I shall provide you with reading materials pertaining to dragons,” Medivh announced.
“Babysitting and homework?” Lothar complained. Khadgar warbled gleefully, huffing at Lothar’s cheek before giving it a gentle lick much to the amusement of the commander’s friends.
“So it’s decided. Lothar will take care of Khadgar while he is in dragon form, and not allow him to spend more than one week in the month as a human. Medivh will provide assistance as required,” Llane announced. Medivh nodded gracefully before departing, heading straight to the library to find appropriate books for Lothar.
“You always did say you wanted to have two children,” Taria reminded her brother as he gave Khadgar an exasperated look. The little dragon yawned, resting his head on Lothar’s shoulder again, and quickly drifted off to sleep in his arms. Maybe having a little one around wouldn’t be so bad.