A special thanks to JonB1969 for his editing. Hope you all enjoy my story and remember to vote and comment, it's what encourages me to keep writing.
This Story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Yshomatsu
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this story or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. The following is meant for Adults only, if you are under the age of 18 leave now.
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"Demonic trickery, all of it!" The giant winged lizard roared, shaking the entire cave, causing rocks to fall all over the place.
Rows of sharp teeth opened in a snarl as his head descended. Amber, the new born succubus, stood in front of everyone else, namely Athanatos. She had run out in front of Athan, disobeying a direct order from her master, to protect him from the dragon.
Behind Amber and the bald monk stood Yshomatsu and Bree, the younger monk's mentor and his love interest. Bree had once been human, but that all changed when the succubus Meridiana changed her into a kitsune. Now she was a foxlike monster-girl as people began to call those new half monster, half girl's started showing up in the world.
The dragon's deadly mouth closed in on Amber but she didn't budge, determined to save the monk's life. Athan started to take a step forward to push her out of the way but Yshomatsu grabbed him from behind, holding him back.
"Don't do it, lad! We have to get out of here." His mentor believed the dragon impossible to fight. Only Athanatos had a memory of long ago, when this dragon had saved the two monk's lives. Sadly it seemed time had driven the dragon insane, or driven the memory completely from its mind.
The dragon's mouth closed around Amber, and Athan's eyes opened wide, at the horror of watching the one he had feelings for be eaten alive. Yet the dragon stopped before chomping its mouth closed, an eye stared right at the young monk. Before this moment those eyes had nothing but feral, savage anger shining from them.
Now that eye stared at him with curiosity, wondering why a mortal would show real concern for a demon. Another question filled the beast's mind. Why would a demon be willing to sacrifice herself for a mortal? These mortals did smell familiar. It had been a long time since he had seen or even sensed another of his kind. Without demons to hunt, he fell into isolation.
He pulled back and closed his jaws, licking along his lips, collecting all the drool that formed while he held his mouth open. As his jaws pulled back, Amber was revealed, shaking, terrified and a little damp. The dragon tilted his head, and looked at everyone.
Athanatos shook free from his mentor's hold and ran over to Amber, turning her over and pulling her into an embrace, holding her tightly against his body. He was hesitant of his feelings for her, but after she was willing to sacrifice herself for him everything changed. The monk looked over Amber's shoulder at the dragon with gratitude.
"Long ago you fought a demon, ash colored in a cave up in the mountains. I was laying on the ground dying and you decided to save my life and that of my mentor here behind me." Athan began to describe the events, hoping the dragon would remember. "What happened to you all these years?"
"It hass been a long time ssince I ssenssed another of my kind, or even demon filth in the world. What do you do when you're the lasst of your kind and have no purposse?" He sat back and let out a long sigh before formally introducing himself as Dragus'Articus, quite possibly the last of his kind. All of his s' we're drawn out, like he was having trouble pronouncing the letter, or just liked the sound of his hissing.
The entire time Dragus regarded the women with distrust. "How iss it that I give you part of my power to fight evil, and yet here you are sstanding along sside evil?"
Bree was the first to speak up, as she looked back at the love of her life. "The demon that changed my life without my consent does not control my mind. It took all my effort to break free of her hold and I've been helping Yshomatsu to do the same thing." It had all started as her teasing him and boldly entering his room at the inn she had worked at.
The dragon nodded slowly and looked to Amber. Her reaction caused Dragus to chuckle as she jumped, obviously still in shock from almost being eaten. He left her alone, for now. The kitsune had answered honestly and even thought he could taste demonic influence on them all it did appear to be involuntary. It took great willpower to break the hold a demon had on one's mind.
The power he gave the two men would be powerful enough to break those chains if they knew how to use it. He studied them closely before realizing the younger mortal didn't have the same demonic stench upon him. Rather the stench on him was the young woman's. From the smell of things he hadn't had direct contact with this greater demon the fox talked about. In the past few weeks he had sensed something odd in the world and now it all made sense.
A powerful demon, the likes of which this world hadn't seen in a very long time, had come and he hardly noticed. Either his skills were rusty or she's in fact that powerful, most likely a mix of both. However, if she's this all powerful demon, how could it be that two of her creations were standing before him, swearing no allegiance?
The answer stood right in front of his face.
The mortals... He really shouldn't be calling them that. He had been responsible, the reason for their gifts, after all. They were more powerful than they realized, especially since he didn't stick around to teach them.
"Sso the firsst demon thiss world has sseen ssince we lasst met, and all of a ssudden we are reunited." Dragus pondered the implications of everything, but in the end he settled with the two monks giving him purpose again. The memory of that night sparked within his mind as if it had been dormant all these years.
"I don't remember ever meeting you or any of your kind." Yshomatsu tried to find the best way to say this. "However my first encounter with the succubus was in the dream state, and in that world I had turned into a crimson dragon and fought to my escape."
"Yess, I gave you both giftss you do not fully undersstand. With the proper training you could very well become at the very leasst sshapesshifterss."
"So all these years, we've had these gifts and thought it came from demons, but it had been you?" Yshomatsu questioned.
Athanatos nodded and his mentor continued. "How long have you known?"
"Since Amber and I fought in your underground facility. She cast a sleeping spell on me, just after I cast a binding spell from one of your books. While I was asleep I dreamt of that night we blacked out. For a while I thought they were false memories."
Amber continued to shake in his arms and looked like she was about to pass out, but being in the jaws of a dragon would do that to you.
Bree spoke up then, saying it's great and all that they were getting reunited, but questioned what they were all going to do now. They wouldn't be safe for long, and they couldn't keep running. Dragus found humor in agreeing with her and replied that the best defense is a great offense. They had to strike.
Athanatos commented that it would be wise to seek out any remaining monks in the world and attempt to unite the world's armies, if nothing else to create distractions all across the lands, preventing the demon from keeping her foot hold.
Yshomatsu agreed, but thought it'd be risky, since the fastest way to do that would be where the demon came from, the dream state. He's hesitant, but didn't go into detail as to why.
Dragus didn't know what they were talking about. For all his power and wisdom there were still things he didn't know.
An hour later they decided that the best course of action would be to use the dream state. If nothing else get a distraction so their group could get close enough to attack the demon. The giant winged lizard snorted out a ball of flame, creating a bonfire. The bright light lit up the cavern chamber, causing shadows to dance on the walls.
Athan and Yshomatsu sat down near it, back to back, legs crossed and arms resting on their knees, palms up. Amber, Bree, Blake and Emelia sat watching the monks. Drakus curled up near the exit.
Drakus had pulled them aside and talked to them in private, explaining some of their powers. He believed if the dream state was in deed an extension of their minds where all mortals went to dream then it should be easier to use their powers there. Yshomatsu showed excitement, because he knew that was the truth. Despite having had past experience with it, but not knowing where his powers came from or what he was capable of.
Athan on the other hand wasn't sure what that meant. He had gotten used to being stronger, faster and able to heal, but that about summed it up.
They relaxed their minds, enjoying the warmth of the fire as they began. By controlling their breathing, they were able to calm down their bodies and center their minds. Their breathing slowed as their minds drifted away from their bodies. The first thing they noticed, all the sounds within the cave quieted. The crackling of the fire stilled to be replaced solely by their own breathing. Next the warmth next to them drifted until they couldn't feel anything. Finally it felt like they were floating above their bodies.