75

* This part concludes the fifth volume of A Monster Life (although without the bonus).

I've scheduled releases on a shorter period now, and if I can stick to it, there will be new triple releases about every fifteen days from now on (well, submissions anyway, them becoming live depends on Literotica schedule).

Wish me luck. I'll definitely need it.

*

73 - In the Heat of the Fight

The group of dragons landed close to the party and surveyed the situation, while the earlier three dragons picked themselves up. A nearly black one and the largest stepped forward, a low rumble emanating from his throat as he breathed deep. He glared at Iphigenia and Elzbieta as they took a defence step back. 'I'll give you one chance to leave and never return.'

Ulric landed in front of the girls and sized up the surprised creature nearly three times his size. 'We did not come here to fight.'

The dragon bent forward and growled. 'Cease your lies, filthy demon spawn.'

Ulric sighed. 'Look, we're not with the evil kind of demons. We're here on a special quest and need to travel through here.'

The dragon rose on his legs and glared down on him. 'We will stomp you flat if you don't leave right now.'

Ulric groaned and pinched the bridge of his muzzle, then looked up at the dragon and balled his fists. 'All right, if you want to fight over it, I'll take on anyone who wants to.'

The dragon gazed at him for a moment, then laughed out loud. 'You dare to take on a dragon on your own!?'

Ulric growled low. 'Whenever I have to.'

The black dragon thought the strange bloodwolf with wings might impress him a little, and looked back at his fellow dragons. 'Will you take on the strongest of us all?'

Ulric flexed his back once. 'Any of you.'

'Wolfie, are you sure?' asked Iphigenia.

'Seems like there's no other way they will listen.' he said and gave her a quick smile. 'Besides, I can't lose with all the strength you girls give me.'

The dragon stepped aside. 'Very well, you'll face the strongest of us.'

Ulric and the girls gazed in surprise at the dark purple dragon with dark blue eyes stepping forward on all fours, barely larger than Ulric himself.

'I'd question their judgement if I wasn't open to not letting appearances fool me.'

he said.

Iphigenia glanced at Elzbieta.

'Yes, be very careful, Wolfie. Elz and I will assist if we have to.'

The dragon stretched its wings once as it approached Ulric, and fixed its gaze upon him. 'I will not let you live, even if I might let the others if they leave at once.'

Ulric thought there was something peculiar about the dragon.

It opened its mouth instantly and spewed a sharp stream of fire at him.

He deflected with one wing as he jumped aside.

He decreased the size of his wings because he was faster on the ground while the wings acted as a shield, and jumped and ran around the dragon to dodge the stream following him until the dragon finally ceased. He panted and pat out the burning tip of his tail. 'Just how much fire do you have stored in you?'

The dragons at the side laughed. 'That's our princess for you.' said the black one.

Ulric stared at his opponent. 'Wait, you're a girl?'

'The strongest dragon there is, our princess Yingshien.' said the black dragon. 'She can control her breath so well, it lasts longer than any of us could muster.'

Ulric turned to him and gestured at her. 'I can't fight her!'

The dragon laughed again. 'Too scared now, eh? Taking back what you said, weakling? Afraid of dragons now?'

Ulric looked at Yingshien, then back at the black dragon again. 'No, but I don't want to hurt a lady.'

Yingshien shot a blast of fire at his feet and he barely jumped away. She rose up on her legs and glared at him. 'Are you saying I'm weak!?'

Ulric held up his paws. 'No, I'm sure you're strong, but dragon or not, you're still a woman.'

She looked dumbfounded at him for a moment. 'You say that even though there are women here fighting with you?'

'Well, yes, but I don't fight against them. That's not what we do.'

Iphigenia giggled. 'We do wrestle when we can though.'

Ulric blushed when Yingshien gave him a questionable look. 'That's, different.' he mumbled.

Yingshien took a deep breath. 'I don't care about any of that! You demons murdered my father, and all of you will pay for that!' she said, and shot another stream of lethal fire at Ulric.

Ulric ran fast and jumped to evade more of his fur being fried to ashes, and Yingshien turned and twisted as she chased her lance of fire after him.

'You'll have to come close to her and stop her fire, darling!'

said Elzbieta.

'I'll try, my love!'

said Ulric and looked for an opening as he back-flipped over the dragoness.

Yingshien spun around quickly. 'You may be fast, but how long can you keep that up? You can't run from my fire forever.'

'You're right.' said Ulric, and changed his fur colour as he jumped at her.

Yingshien lost sight of his movements long enough for the bloodwolf to tackle her and push her down. She roared and rolled over with him, and wrestled with him for a grip on each other's wrists.

The dragons grunted and intensely followed the fight they hadn't expected.

Ulric growled and locked his fingers between hers as the only way to keep a hold on her, and rammed spikes on his knees into the ground to anchor himself on top of her. She wriggled hard but she couldn't topple him again, even if she pushed with her wings.

'I won.' he growled.

Yingshien ceased her struggle and looked straight at him. 'You forgot one thing.' she said, and opened her mouth to take a slow, deep breath.

'Oh shit.' he muttered.

'Seal her mouth!'

said Valdys.

'She can't spit fire while her mouth is closed!'

Ulric watched Yingshien's muzzle and racked his brain for a way to close her mouth while Yingshien enjoyed his panicked look as she prepared to roast his face. Until he gave her a determined look. 'I'm really sorry to have to do this.' She froze as he closed his mouth around hers in a deep kiss.

The dragons and the girls gasped while Yingshien stared with wide eyes at the demon bloodwolf literally taking her breath away. She struggled but couldn't break the kiss until he pulled back. 'You fiend! How could you!'

'I couldn't think of another way to stop you!' said Ulric. 'Unless we can stop fighting, I will do it again if I have to.'

She shot fire with her eyes at him. 'I will have your head for this.'

'Listen, you can do what you want with me all you want later, but I need you to stop fighting because there's something more important at stake.' He glanced at Elzbieta folding her arms and tapping her foot, and the enraged huffing dragons on the other side. 'If there's anything left of me after my beloved ones and your dragons have had a piece of me.'

Iphigenia laughed. 'That's one smooth way of preventing her from breathing fire, Wolfie.'

Elzbieta frowned at him. 'Darling, we're having a long talk when you're done here.'

Valdys smirked. 'You're looking for something hot as a contrast to my cold body, lover?'

Conchim and Caylais blushed and giggled.

Tipper rolled her eyes. 'I am very glad I didn't end up fighting with you.'

Yingshien glanced from Ulric's embarrassed expression with his flattened ears to the girls and back. 'Wait, all of you are..?'

Ulric cleared his throat and averted his gaze. 'Apart from Tipper, the dwarf, they are my most precious girls.'

She frowned at him. 'And you kiss me in front of them?'

Ulric sat up straight. 'I didn't know what else to do! It was a spur of the moment thing.'

Yingshien raised an eyebrow.

'Honestly! I wouldn't dare to kiss a beautiful lady like you if they're not bonded with me. I was desperate to stop you from turning me into a furry torch.'

The other dragons moved closer and cracked their knuckles. 'Let us take care of him, princess.'

Ulric held up a paw. 'At least hear us out on why we're here!'

Yingshien sighed. 'Stand back, Ederhaj. We'll listen to what they have to say.'

The black dragon grumbled but stepped back, and Ulric stood up. He held out a paw to help Yingshien stand up, but she rolled away from him to stand up. 'Talk.'

'We're on a quest to find parts of an old artefact, and it leads us to somewhere in your country.'

'What kind of artefact?'

'It's something to help us find the demon lord. The demons themselves are after it as well.'

Yingshien pondered for a moment. 'If it's about artefacts, my mother has some knowledge about them. We'll take you to her.'

Ederhaj reared up. 'But princess! We can't allow demons to enter our country!'

She glanced at the bloodwolf shrinking and flattening his ears under the elf's frowning gaze while the human moved up to him and stroked his neck, and the amused and worried expressions of the undead sorceress, the harpy, and the feline. To even have a dwarf travelling with others was rare sight. 'Seems to me, these are not your typical demons. I think we can risk it.'

***

The entire party bowed before the queen when they arrived at the palace. Susi leaned against Ulric for security, as did Isazea, who wasn't used to being around other big creatures beside the golems she had built.

Queen Giuang looked over the party members. 'Tell me more about that artefact.'

Valdys stepped forward and took out the artefact she had taken from the hidden storage in Cat, and held it up on the palm of her hand. She thought the gaze of the dragon queen flinched briefly.

'What is its purpose?'

'This is one part of a ring of similar pieces. Connected in the correct sequence and using the matching incantation, it should open a portal to the residency of the demon lord.'

'And another piece is in this country, you say?'

Valdys used the location spell on the piece, and it rotated slowly on her palm. 'Somewhere close to here.'

Yingshien looked closer at the piece. 'I've never seen something like this before. Could it be broken and point to the wrong location?'

Valdys paid close attention to the queen. 'It hasn't been wrong before. The piece could be hidden or buried, or maybe even used as a regular rock in building material. They were made and spread around a very long time ago.'

Yingshien looked at her mother. 'Could it be?' she said silently.

The queen stood up from her pouffe and looked out the window. 'We can help you search the palace and the grounds, but if it's not found, you will have to leave.'

Valdys glanced sideways at Ulric.

'She knows. I'm sure of it.'

'She can't trust us.'

said Elzbieta.

'That's why she won't say anything.'

'Even though she now knows why the demons likely attacked them?'

said Iphigenia.

'We must convince her to give it up to us.'

Yingshien was okay with taking the party here, but a search went too far for her. 'Mother, we can't just let them wander and search around here freely!'

Giuang looked back at her daughter. 'No, they will be escorted by guards, of course. And there are certain restricted areas that are forbidden to enter without me or you present.' She looked at captain Garlac. 'Captain, assign a few of the royal guard to our guests, so they may begin.'

Awaiting their escorts, the party divided up the area to search and went on their way as soon as the guards arrived. Yingshien went with Susi and Ulric to search the garden. He knelt and stroked Susi's head when they arrived outside. 'You know what we're looking for, don't you?'

Susi wagged her tail and pricked up her ears. 'Susi knows. Daddy and mommies need another pretty stone.'

He chuckled. 'Indeed. But since we don't know where it is, we need to look for anything that does not belong.'

'Does not belong. Yes.'

'All right, girl, let's search.' said Ulric, and turned to Yingshien. 'I'd like to begin at the various structures.'

Yingshien nodded, and they went to the closest one, a round stone platform with a roof supported by pillars, with some pouffes placed around a low table. Ulric used a stick to tap around and listen for a possible hollow area. 'How bad was it?'

Yingshien glanced at the surroundings. 'How was what?'

'How bad was the fight where you lost your father?'

'Why do you ask?'

Ulric stood straight and looked around. 'I have no experience in matters in this world, but I figured when a king dies, there's signs of mourning everywhere. Instead I see many guards patrolling around.'

Yingshien huffed. 'It's none of your business how many guards we have here and what we do.'

Ulric shrugged and continued tapping the end of the stick against the stone base. 'It just looks like something has you all pretty spooked.' Yingshien looked away and Ulric focussed on the girls.

'There's definitely something going on. I think there are way too many guards patrolling the outside walls.'

Valdys exchanged a glance with Kaui while they looked around the palace library.

'Indeed. We've seen guards walking up and down the hallways here constantly, and checking every corner and room. Even the library here has a permanent guard. We're going to see if I can add the books to our library.'

'All right. Good luck, but take no risks, my dears.'

Valdys gave Kaui a nod, and Kaui quickly sniffed a pinch of a powder from a hidden pocket in her dress. A few moments later she began to cough, and leaned against a wall. The library guard and their escort focussed their attention at her and Valdys looked up from the shelf she inspected. 'Kaui, are you all right?'

Kaui waved at her reddening face. 'Allergy.' she wheezed. 'My nose and mouth are irritated from dust or something else in here.' She shuffled and swayed towards the door. 'I need fresh air, fast.'

The escorting guard looked from Valdys to Kaui, then at his fellow guard. 'Keep an eye on our guest, she's not allowed to leave without me. I will help the pig orc out.' he said, and took Kaui by her arm. 'I'll take you to a nearby balcony.'

She looked up at him with red eyes. 'Thank you very much.'

After they left, Valdys glanced at the guard, and continued looking around the shelves for clues, until a little later Trixy jumped out of her hood, chittered, and hurried out the door. 'Trixy, come back!' she said and gestured at the door. 'She's nervous sometimes. I'll go and fetch her quickly.'

She had hurried to the door when the guard called out to her. 'Wait! You're not allowed to go around alone.'

Valdys looked back at him. 'But she might become lost or make trouble. I have a bone that will lure her to me.' she said, and pulled out a small bone from a pocket.

The guard grumbled. 'Stay here. I will catch her.' he said, and Valdys gave him the bone as he walked out the door.

She waited until his footsteps faded, peeked into the hallway to make sure it was empty, then moved to the centre of the library and cast her book spirit spell. A ghostly haze formed around the books, and slowly, misty copies of the books pulled themselves free from the originals, and flew towards the sorceress where they vanished into her.

The library guard returned later with Trixy in his hand, holding the bone. He stopped when he saw Valdys sitting on a pouffe in the middle and something in his mind said something was off. He glanced around but saw nothing out of place. Trixy jumped from his hand, hurried over to Valdys, and climbed into her hood. Valdys stroked her head and looked up with a big smile at the guard. 'Oh, thank you so much for finding her.'

He grunted softly in reply and went back to his post.

Kaui returned not long after with their escort, and she smiled at him. 'I feel better now, but I'd better not continue the search here.'

Valdys stood up. 'It's all right. I have looked everywhere in the meantime, so we're done here.' She gave the dragons a nod. 'Thank you for your help. I think we'll go to our vehicle where Kaui can administer a potion to relieve her allergy.'

'I found something in one of the history books of the royal family.'

said Valdys while they walked to Cat.

'There's a note about the then king receiving a piece of an artefact that was imperative to keeping the demons under control. It doesn't say where, but the king did hide it and only his spouse would know the location and hold the key.'

'The queen thus knows.'

said Ulric.

'Just as you suspected.'

He looked at Susi, who sniffed around a large sun dial pedestal.

'There's one thing we found here, the smell of our demon canine friend. Even Susi recognised it.'

Elzbieta inspected the inner wall of a large store room.

'If he was here and tried to steal it, that would explain the heightened tension I've seen, darling.'

'I think we need to have another talk with the queen.'

he said and looked up at several dragons flying fast overhead. The frown on Yingshien's face was not encouraging, and the blaring of horns confirmed it.

'War alarm!' said Yingshien. 'We're going back to the queen!'

Before Ulric could say anything, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him along as she walked quickly to the palace entrance. He looked back at Susi. 'Susi, come!'

She hurried after them. 'Coming, Daddy!'

Yingshien found her mother and the highest ranking officers in a heated discussion. 'What's going on?'

Giuang gazed at her with concern. 'A massive demon army is heading here. They took out a few guard posts on the way from the border before they were detected, so we lost some time for preparations.'

Yingshien looked at the charts on the table. 'But we can still fight them, right?'

Her mother laid a hand on her shoulder. 'The army is twice the size as it was during the border attack.'

Yingshien looked at her mother. She recognised the look in her eyes when she had to make a difficult decision. 'We can't surrender!' she said, and looked at the solemn expressions of the other dragons. 'We can't let them have our country!'

Giuang sighed. 'We have no allies who can be here in time to help us. We are on our own.'

Ulric stepped forward. 'That's not exactly true.'

74 - Fall of the Dragons

The ragtag and loosely disciplined army of orcs, trolls, beast folk marched unrelentingly through the dragon's territory, destroying and plundering on their way and leaving death and misery behind their large numbers. Large monsters at the front, clad with wood armour, pulled the main bulk of catapults, trebuchets, ballistae, and siege towers. They arrived at the wide plains around the city via the main road, and the demons who had marched unseen through the forest poured out of it to the left and the right. Horns blared and drums pounded as they formed ranks and marched forward behind the spread of heavy weaponry.

Tarrence didn't particularly like or dislike the way slaughtered dragon corpses had been staked and paraded near the front of the troops by jeering demons on their way to the capital, but it was an effective means to lower the morale of their opponents, and through enticing outrage, sow discord into their ranks. He was glad enough he didn't have to deal with ordering the troops around. All he needed was for them to keep the dragons busy as they waged war and conquered the country, while he and his party searched for the artefact. Sneaking up ahead and poisoning and weakening the dragons on the route to the capital helped the army to gain a foothold, and the sheer size of it should do the rest.

Tarrence and his party kept to the back, watching over the deployment ordered by the commander in front and the hustle and bustle on top of the city walls where many dragons gathered. It wouldn't be long before the commander ordered the attack.

***

'They're here!' said the messenger who had hurried from the city wall. He gestured in a frenzy towards the main gate. 'They're coming up the road!'