by Eric Vall
I didn’t feel anything different with them on my back. It was like I was carrying some Chihuahua puppies.
“Hold on,” I growled out as the muscles in my body tensed in preparation for the run to Hatra. I wished I could fly, but with everything that had happened in the last few days, I hadn’t been able to test out my wings.
And I didn’t want to go tumbling out of the sky and into a tree with passengers on my back.
I exhaled sharply, and then I was off.
The run was just as freeing as it was before, the only difference being that this time I was able to move even faster because of my longer limbs. The rush of wind felt cool and calming as it coursed gently past my scales. The trees almost seemed to make way for me, and I made quick work of reaching the outskirts of Hatra, where a small group was already waiting for us.
The little fox Alyona had sent ahead of us gave off a smug expression as it curled itself on Ruslan’s shoulders.
“I see you’ve come back with an entourage.” Ruslan stepped forward with a welcoming smile. “Welcome to Hatra, our home shall be yours for as long as you want to stay.”
The welcoming committee moved quickly, and I was impressed, if a little concerned, at how well they led the Asuras away from me and into the ruined city. It was almost like a military operation, the way they had ushered off the Asuras. Only Ruslan and the four other adventurers from the Blue Tree Guild were left in front of me.
“I’ll be your transportation for today.” I shifted my position on the ground so that it would be easy to get onto my back. “We need to move fast, so hold on tight once you’re up there.”
“This definitely beats running,” Anton muttered as he climbed onto my back.
“This is my first time on a dragon!” Polina chirped cheerfully to her sisters as they scrambled onto my back behind Anton.
“Of course it is!” Marina shifted behind Trina and reached out to tug on Polina’s hair. “No one else has a dragon as a friend. They’re usually food.”
“Evan,” Trina called out sweetly, “if we weren’t friends, would you eat us?”
“Of course not,” I reassured the dryad sisters, “I would go after a cow or maybe a boar.”
“But what if I want you to eat me in a different way?” Polina giggled.
Her comment drew out a shriek of laughter from the dryad sisters, and my lips pulled away from my fangs in a smirk.
“Never thought I’d be on a dragon’s back,” Ruslan mused as he looked up at me. Then, with one leap, the fox Elder settled on my back and patted my massive shoulder. “We’re ready whenever you are.”
“Hold on,” I growled back to them as I launched myself forward into a run.
I moved faster through the forest, and my dragon instincts guided me along a quicker route to the Asura’s village. The dryads cheered with delight on my back, and Anton made a few exhilarated howls. Even Ruslan let out a yip of excitement as I bounded over the massive roots of the oak trees and leaped over creeks.
When we reached the village, Alyona and Laika were waiting for us with grim faces.
The Demi-Humans jumped off my back, and I concentrated my power to shift back into my human form. Every time that I shifted forms, it became easier and easier for me to do, so I guessed I was slowly gaining power.
“You four, follow me.” Laika walked in the direction of the small dragonsblood saplings, and the four adventurers followed her. “Carefully dig all of these up and store them in your storage spaces.”
“Where are we going to put them?” I asked Ruslan as the adventurers walked away. “Back in Hatra, I mean.”
“Near the farms first,” Ruslan explained as he looked over the destroyed village, “until they’ve recovered and are strong enough to be planted around the walls of the city and within the city itself. We need to propagate them carefully.”
“Oh, these poor saplings,” Polina’s voice trailed off sadly as she knelt in front of one of the drooping plants.
“You need to see this,” Alyona’s grim voice drew my attention, and she motioned for Ruslan and I to follow her.
Alyona led us to a black circle that was burned into the ground. There were strange symbols within the circle, and a line stretched from one side of the circle to the other.
“Tell me this is the only one.” Ruslan clenched his jaw as he stared at the burnt circle. “Tell me there aren’t more.”
“There are six more,” there was regret in Alyona’s voice as she answered Ruslan, “all around the village.”
“Curse whoever made this summoning circle,” Ruslan growled as he slammed his fist into the ground. “I curse him and his ancestors to the eighteenth generation.”
“What is it?” I glanced between the burnt circle and Ruslan. “What is that thing?”
“It’s a summoning circle,” Ruslan grit out, and there was pure anger in his voice.
Polina had mentioned that she thought a summoning circle had brought me to this world, but this was my first time seeing one
“The demons were summoned through this?” I asked Ruslan as I walked around the one foot wide circle. “Through these circles or through the bigger circle they make?”
“Through the bigger circle,” Ruslan growled. “The summoning circle was created in sections inside the village, that’s how they got past the protection of the dragonsblood. The summoner was actually here.”
“Has there been any demon attacks here recently?” I glanced down the length of the summoning circle. “Maybe not Hatra, but the surrounding areas?”
The summoning circle spanned the length of the village and had been impossible to notice at first. Even if the Asuras had noticed it, it would have been too late for them. They would have already been under attack and slaughtered by the incoming horde.
“There hasn’t been a single demon attack in this area for almost a thousand years.” Ruslan took in the village with sorrowful eyes. “The last one was when Hatra was destroyed.”
“So, it couldn’t have been something random?” I asked as I walked around the circle with Ruslan. “An accidental summoning circle by someone inexperienced?”
“Not at all.” Ruslan shook his head. “This was planned by someone. We have to destroy this circle. Cut the circuit so it can’t be used again.”
Ruslan and I tore up the earth that the circles had been burnt into with our claws.
“Whoever did this is a fucking monster who I can’t wait to sink my claws into,” I muttered angrily as we worked to destroy the summoning circle.
I glanced back at the sapling dragonsblood plants that were being carefully dug up and placed into storage spaces by the five adventurers from the Blue Tree Guild. It wasn’t a surprise that the dryads were the ones who worked the quickest when it came to preparing the trees.
When the saplings were put inside of the interspatial storage spaces, they simply stopped existing to all of my senses. They slid in through the fabric of reality, and I could no longer smell or see them. It really was an entirely different dimension.
Wicked.
It was so strange that someone was so desperate to destroy something as innocent as trees and would decimate a village that had done nothing but take care of those trees. My blood boiled at the thought, and I could feel how my claws threatened to puncture the flesh of my palms as I clenched my fists.
Once I got my claws on whoever was responsible for this, I would tear them apart and show them why dragons were feared.
No one messed with what was mine.
I blinked as the thought rang through my mind. I didn’t know where that possessiveness had come from, and it unsettled me. But I shoved those thoughts and instincts aside and went back to work.
Even with the use of the oh-so-wonderful storage space, it still took the rest of the day to dig up the dragonsblood saplings and bring them over to one of the farming areas in Hatra until they could be replanted.
When we arrived at the farms, an area had already been prepared for the dragonsbl
ood saplings by the people of Hatra.
“These are the farms?” I stared in awe at what was two, maybe three, blocks of the city that had been turned into a sprawling urban farming initiative.
“Why don’t you go take a look around?” Ruslan laughed and patted my foreleg. “We can take care of the saplings.”
I nodded and concentrated on changing into my human form so I could walk around the farms.
Vine vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and squashes were planted along the walls of the buildings and more crops were planted in the center. All the rows of plants were neat and orderly, but they still had a sense of chaos to them. Just as the people of Hatra had found a way to live in harmony in the destroyed city, that’s how the crops grew.
A teenage girl with dark blue hair in a long braid popped up from behind a row of pepper plants, and she smiled at me.
I smiled back as I focused on summoning her information.
Classification: Fox Demi-Human.
Condition: Healthy.
Priority: None.
Status: Healthy.
“Hello, Master Dragon!” The girl was cheerful as she adjusted the strap of the woven basket slung over one of her shoulders. “Welcome to the farm!”
“It’s an amazing place,” I praised as I sat down on a wooden bench, “there’s so much being grown here. I don’t recognize half of these plants. Do you take care of this by yourself?”
“Oh no, I just needed to bring the kitchen more chilis for the evening meal.” The girl walked over to the bench and set the basket full of chili peppers on the ground in front of me. “There’s usually fifteen of us, and we start taking care of the farm a little after the sun rises. Ah! Excuse my manners. My name’s Afra, Master Dragon.”
“A pleasure to meet you Afra. And please, call me Evan.” I patted the open space on the bench next to me for her to sit down. “Why don’t you tell me more about the farm?”
Afra’s cheerful smile grew even bigger as she sat down and started telling me about the farm. It was clear to me that she was passionate about the crops and everything that was good and green and growing.
It was cool to meet the people who were the main reason that Hatra was still populated, even if the population was firmly underneath one hundred citizens. The farms inside of the ruined city were a massive attempt at urban farming. Destroyed buildings that lacked roofs were the main plots that were used for crops such as wheat and corn since the missing roofs provided just the right amount of sunlight. The people of Hatra had figured out a way to use the space they had to their advantage, and they had more than enough space for their farming.
The problem wasn’t the way they had worked the space, but figuring out a better way to maintain the water supply and transport it to the farms. At the moment, they were watered manually using buckets, and it was such a time-consuming task. There was no shortage of building materials, so there had to be a way of making something better or even fixing some of the original structures of the city. Aqueducts, maybe?
I thought about the Roman aqueducts that had been built all around the Roman Empire. Many of them had lasted for millennia and still functioned. All I had to do was find out if Hatra had any aqueducts during its glory days and if they survived the fall of the city.
It was twilight by the time I walked back into the infirmary, but I had no idea where I was going to sleep. Laika had offered up the quarters she shared with her comrades, but I felt more comfortable around the infirmary. I thought it had to do with my background as an EMT, and it just felt like the right place to be for me even if there weren’t any emergencies at the moment.
I heard a soft sound come from the back of the infirmary that sounded like humming. I turned in the direction of the sound, and it came from right behind the tapestries that blocked off Alyona’s living and sleeping area from the rest of the infirmary.
“Alyona?” I called out as I closed the door behind me and strode toward the tapestries.
I had already pulled back the curtain when I saw one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen that left my heart thudding in my throat.
“Give me a moment, and I’ll be right out,” Alyona sighed sleepily from within a hammered metal tub of water.
Steam rose up from the water, but it wasn’t enough to hide her body from my view. The water only just covered the bottom half of her full breasts and lapped at their sides. I could count the droplets of water that slid down her collarbone, and her wet hair clung to her body like pure temptation.
Her head was thrown back and that left her slender throat exposed. My dragon instincts screamed at me to lay claim to her throat and leave my mark on the smooth planes of her body. I was already half hard at the sight of her in the water, but coupled with my instincts, it felt like I was about to go mad.
One of the priestess’s hands drifted lazily in the water between her thighs while the other dangled outside of the tub. For a moment, I thought her hand would dive under the water and inside of her.
I imagined that it was my hand between her thighs, and I was the reason her head was thrown back in the throes of passion. A low growl built in the depths of my throat, and my pants felt like they were constricting me.
Alyona yawned as she stretched in the tub, and her breasts arched out of the water. Her eyes were closed as one of her hands slid down the length of her body, and another sigh slipped past her luscious lips.
“Alyona,” I repeated her name, but this time my voice came out thick with desire.
The priestess opened her eyes and stared at me from within the warm water. Then she stood up from the tub, and the water dripped from the curves of her body and into the tub. There was nothing of her that was hidden from my eyes, and I stepped forward hungrily to drink her in.
Her full breasts had floated in the water just moments ago, but now that she was out of the water, I could see every ridge of her areolae that surrounded her stiff nipples. I ached to wrap my lips around them, and I clenched my fists to keep from reaching out.
“Please, hand me a robe.” Her voice was soft as her eyes dropped to the tent that was so obviously visible in my pants.
I reached for the first robe that I saw and brought it toward her. I thought that I heard desire in her voice, but I had to be wrong. She was a priestess, and priestesses had to remain untouched.
Right?
“Here, I’ll hold it open.” I turned my head to the side and squeezed my eyes shut as I held out the robe for her to either take or slip into.
A moment later, the silk fabric slid from my fingers, and I hastily dropped my arms to my side.
“You can open your eyes,” Alyona replied, and she spoke in that same soft tone that made goosebumps spread across my body.
I thought she had tied the robe so her body was hidden from view again, so I hesitantly opened my eyes, but she hadn’t. The robe remained open, and it clung to her wet body and made her appear all the more erotic.
I let out a groan as red hot desire burned through my veins.
“What are you doing?” I collapsed in the closest chair and felt my entire being ache to seize the priestess in front of me.
“I am doing what I desire, Evan,” she murmured as she walked toward me and fiddled with the thin belt of the robe. “Would you help dry me?”
My mind blanked as all the blood left my head and headed straight downstairs. “Dry you?”
“Am I asking too much?” The priestess took another step closer to me, and her perky breasts bounced.
The sight of her was definitely too much.
“You want me to dry you?” I repeated as my mind short-circuited. My eyes trailed down her body and came to a stop at the gap between her legs. “Using what?”
Black curls hid most of her entrance from view, and I wondered just how sweet she would taste on my tongue.
Instead of walking toward me, she went and leaned against the wall and lowered her eyes coyly as she slid out of the wet robe. “Perhaps your hands and more?”
If I hadn’t already been standing at attention, that would have brought me right up. Then I was in front of her with one leg between her thighs before I even realized I had even stood up.
The moment our lips met it was like molten fire had been poured inside of me, and kissing Alyona was the only way to stop myself from being burned alive.
I deepened the kiss, but I needed to feel more of her, I needed to be surrounded by all of her.
She whined into my mouth as my tongue entwined with her own tongue, and her hands slid under my shirt.
“I thought priestesses had to be virgins,” I panted out in between kisses against her throat as I pushed her further up against the wall.
I was careful with my claws as I slid my hands down her body and kneaded the soft flesh of her ass as she buckled against my knee. Her wet body slid against me, and she gasped.
“What does purity of the flesh have to do with purity of the soul?” she laughed as she wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me in closer to her body.
I wasn’t going to argue with her logic, especially when I was about to wrap my mouth around one of her spectacular breasts.
“Lady Alyona? Sir Dragon?” a villager suddenly called as he knocked on the door to the infirmary.
Son of a bitch.
I dropped my head against Alyona’s shoulder and groaned. “Maybe he’ll go away if we stay quiet.”
The priestess nipped at my ear and laughed huskily. “That wouldn’t be very heroic of you, running away from someone who needs your help.”
I mock glared at her as I pinched her ass. “There’s already someone here who needs my help.”
“My ass doesn’t need your healing,” she ran her hands down my torso and stopped just before my throbbing cock, “but that man might.”
The momentary use of crude language made me raise one of my eyebrows, but it did nothing to stop my raging erection. But I sighed unhappily when the priestess unwrapped her legs from around my waist.
The villager knocked again on the door.
“I’m coming!” I hissed out as Alyona giggled behind me while I walked around the tub.
How I wished I was coming inside of her instead of walking toward that door.
