by Erik Weir
“Blackwood is about fifty miles to the South East. It will take us two to three days to get there,” Dawn said matter of fact.
“We should begin now and try to gain some ground,” Lily added.
“What about the Caster and Spell sword army between Blackwood and us? We will have to come up with some kind of strategy or it will take us longer to get around them,” Victor said as he rubbed his chin.
Lily stepped closer to the Blade and gave him a confident smirk, “I’m sure you can take them.”
Victor raised an eyebrow, “Don’t you mean we can take them?”
“Remember, I’m the leader,” Lily said with a sarcastic edge.
Dawn tried to hide her smile with her hand. Skye and Kira looked on with blank gazes.
“We are going to have to work out these team dynamics,” Victor chuckled.
“We are coming with you,” Skye blurted out.
Victor, Lily and Dawn turned to face the two women. Skye took a step closer, Kira off to the side.
“Thanks to our shop burning down, we have no reason to stay here,” Skye said with a hard edge.
Kira moved to Skye’s side and coiled her fingers between the redhead’s fingers. “We also know Vala has brought us together for a reason. We can help as well.”
Victor looked to the two women and smiled, “The more the merrier.”
Dawn turned to the south east and began walking. The rest of the group looked to the elf and slowly boots began to shuffle in her direction. White puffy clouds glided across the blue sky as the group began to march. Victor looked up to the west, seeing the clouds grow thicker and darker. The sun dimmed as some clouds floated overhead and a small shiver filled his heart.
***
The sky grew darker as the small group made their way through the thickening forest. Dawn led the way, silent as a thief in the night. Victor and Lily walked side by side, the two of them keeping the rogue elf in view. Behind them, Skye and Kira walked side by side. Hours had ticked by as they moved through the forest, the sky now covered in a thick layer of gray clouds. The air cooled in the lack of sunlight and Victor wondered if they should make camp and build a fire.
“How long should we travel before we make camp,” Victor casually said to his demonic companion.
“When it gets dark,” Lily said with a faraway gaze.
Victor looked to the succubus, noticing she was mentally a million miles away. “Is everything okay?”
The succubus blinked a few times until it appeared, she was back in her body, “I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine.”
Lily gave her companion an annoyed glance before looking forward.
Victor waited for a response, but the demoness remained quiet. Feeling she wasn’t ready to talk, he decided to change the subject.
“So, Skye and Kira. They’re acolytes, but I’m not sure how this is going to work. They seem to be in a committed relationship and I sure don’t want to come between that.”
“What do you mean,” Lily asked.
Thoughts painted Victor’s mind. He was all for connecting with Vala’s acolytes, but he didn’t want to be some relationship wrecker. Glancing back, he saw they were both beautiful women, but he had a hard and fast rule of never messing with other people’s relationships.
“I mean…how do I...um...connect with them to release Vala’s power,” Victor said uncomfortably.
Lily looked to Victor as they walked, remaining silent. Victor gave her a nervous look while making a circle with his fingers on his left and pointing a finger with his right. He then stuck the finger in the hole and moved it back and forth.
Lily’s expression exploded into laughter. Victor continued with a nervous smile as the succubus laughed. Holding her stomach, she nearly stumbled walked as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. Dawn looked back as Skye and Kira turned their attention to the laughing succubus. Laughter rose up along the trees as Lily found it difficult to contain herself. Soon the laughter died down, but Lily was smiling from ear to ear.
“You never cease to amuse me,” the succubus grinned. “Vala encourages prayer through our bodies, but that isn’t the only way to unlock her divine power.”
“So…this might be a test?”
Lily shrugged, “Maybe, I’m not sure.”
The demoness was silent for a moment before speaking again, “Remember when we were on Xull with Wynn and the others?”
Victor nodded.
“I don’t believe you slept with everyone, but you managed to unlock their divine orbs.”
The young man nodded again, “I thought it was because we were all sharing a moment.”
“True, we were, but it goes beyond just our bodies. Vala’s love transcends all and we may be gifted to be her Champions but we don’t have to pray the same way.”
“I feel someone should be writing this all down,” Victor quipped.
Lily’s smile faded as she looked down, darkness covering her eyes. “There used to be. Cassandra told me stories of scribes gifted by Vala to chronicle her knowledge. The Rage War wiped out most her teachings. Books were burned and scribes slaughtered. Most of her teachings were lost long ago. It is one of the many duties we must perform before she returns and long after her resurrection.”
Victor looked off, “Sounds like we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but right now, I wish I had the ability to fly. Two to three days to reach a border town might be too long and I’m not happy with the thought of fighting a small army before we get there.”
Victor glanced back to Skye and Kira before turning his gaze to Dawn’s back. “Plus, I don’t know if we should put the rest of the group in a fight. Skye and Kira lost everything and Dawn doesn’t seem like she wants to talk either.”
“Dawn has a strong spirit, she’ll be fine. Skye and Kira held their own in the shop.”
The Blade shook his head slightly, “Yes, but a bigger fight could put us all in danger.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Lily said as they walked.
A cool breeze washed over the Blade as he walked along. He thought back to his jump ability and surely that would cut his journey down, but there was no way he could carry all of them. The image of blindly jumping along and holding four ladies didn’t sit well with him. Mind working, he wondered what they could do to shorten the distance. Maybe buy horses at a small town or find a mage willing to teleport them to Blackwood? The ideas shined bright until they dimmed from doubt. The last thing Victor wanted was to alert anyone else to what they were doing.
Thoughts flowed back to Nyphy. The goddess made it clear she wanted to help, but if it was a ploy to set up a trap, Victor felt they would all be screwed. There was no way to know for sure, but the hint of Vonn and Yimer being on Eddor was too tantalizing to not follow up. The odds seemed to grow and that only caused Victor’s mind to work harder. Calling up his list of abilities in the corner of his vision, he went down the list until he stopped at one ability.
Victor gently grabbed Lily’s arm and slowed to a halt. The succubus looked to the young man with curious eyes. Skye and Kira slowed down seeing Victor and Lily stop.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before,” Victor laughed before turning his attention to the elf. “Dawn, stop, I have an idea!”
The elf stopped her march and turned around to the smiling Victor. Walking back, the group converged on the Blade as the idea took root in his mind.
“We have to keep going if we want to make good time,” Dawn said with an annoyed edge.
“I know, but we have too many obstacles in our way if we just travel through the forests. We have to go over it,” Victor smiled as he let go of Lily and faced the small group.
Lily crossed her arms against her stomach, “What do you have in mind?”
Victor paced before them, hands behind his back. “We need something big to carry all of us. I have the ability to shapeshift into animals. We just need a flying animal big enough to carry the four of you an
d fast enough to get there in a short amount of time.”
“A dragon could do it,” Skye said simply.
Victor stopped pacing and smiled at the red head. “Yes, a dragon could do it! I have only used my ability twice turning into small creatures, but I haven’t tried it yet to change into anything larger. Technically speaking, we are all animals, even the mythological ones.”
“Dragon’s aren’t myths,” Dawn said impatiently.
“A better reason on why we should try it,” Victor said with a toothy smile.
Lily’s eyes took on a warm hue even as her voice came out commanding, “It is a good idea. Turn into a dragon.”
Victor felt the sting of Lily taking away his thunder a little bit. Mentally laughing it off, he spent a point of Strength. The energy flowed into his body as it was released, waiting to be used. Focusing his thoughts, the image of a dragon filled his mind. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to become a mighty dragon.
Nothing happened.
The four women stared as Victor stood like a statue. Blinking, he couldn’t understand why his body wasn’t changing. It worked automatically when he used it before but now the energy flowed and nothing came to pass. Brow wrinkling, thoughts whirled into finding a solution when it struck him.
“I need more power,” Victor whispered and spent four more points of Strength.
Energy poured into his body, connecting with the point he already spent. Remembering that if he spent five points of his influence, he can create a greater effect, the energy swelled under his skin and his body began to change.
The group took a few steps back as Victor’s body began to grow larger and longer. Scales burst from his skin, sliding down along his body. Horns sprouted from his head as did a snout and sharp teeth. Black wings burst from his back, spreading out with webbed skin. A tail emerged from his lower back, snaked into the air and came down against the ground. The transformation took mere moments but when it was complete, a black majestic dragon with patterns of green scales stood on all fours.
Victor mentally smiled to himself as raw power ran through his new form. Wondering if there was any kind of time limit to his dragon form, he tried to call up his visual display. A long second ticked by, nothing happening. Victor tried to call it up again and was greeted with the same result.
Something tells me you cannot use your other abilities in his form.
“I think you may be right,” the dragon said in a deep voice.
Skye looked on the dragon and frowned. “You’re a pretty small dragon.”
Victor craned his head down to his body. Eyes drinking in his size, he was just larger than a big horse. The main trunk of his body was streamlined with scales and muscles, but Skye was right, comparing his size to Shyryth when she changed during the attack on Vala’s realm, he was smaller.
“It’s not the size that counts,” the dragon chuckled.
Lily smirked; arms still crossed. At her sides, Dawn and Kira’s eyes widened and filled with stars. The elf and silver-haired woman rushed ahead, hugging Victor by the neck. Skye smiled as she watched Kira nuzzle her faze against the smooth dragon scales.
“I love dragons,” Dawn said as she too snuggled Victor’s neck.
“Me too,” Kira said with a girlish laugh.
“Ladies ladies, there is plenty of me to go around,” Victor said with a gentle deep voice.
“This could work,” Lily said as she stepped closer.
Skye followed. “We will need to fly above the clouds if we want to go unnoticed. Does he even have the power to carry all of us?”
The dragon craned his head and gazed on the redhead, “Climb on and we can find out together.”
Dawn and Kira were quick to climb onto Victor’s back. Lily was next, climbing up behind Dawn. Skye was last, climbing up and sitting behind Kira. Victor flexed his wings, but quickly noticed the extra weight on his back. A sliver of doubt crawled into his mind as he wasn’t sure he was big enough to carry all of them. Flapping his powerful wings, the air shifted to each stroke. Leaves and debris blasted away with each powerful flap of leathery wings. Concentrating, he pumped his wings again and again.
Lily looked down, seeing that they had not left the ground. Sighing in defeat, she was about to tell Victor to stop when the dragon’s body began to lift off the ground. The succubus’s eyes widened as a wicked smirk formed. Lily held onto Dawn while Kira held onto Lily and Skye held onto Kira. The ground seemed to shrink away as Victor climbed into the sky.
The dragon huffed while focusing his power. The weight on his back was causing him to struggle, but now that they had lifted off, he hoped it would be easier to fly when they reached a higher altitude. Grunting, he flew higher and higher. Clearing the tops of nearby trees, he continued to pump his wings. The four women held onto each other and the dragon as they slowly climbed higher and higher.
“You can do it,” Dawn said as she leaned closer, holding onto Victor’s neck.
The dragon grinned with sharp teeth as he flapped harder. The clouds hung low in the sky and when Victor flapped into them, visibility fell to zero. A chill bit at their bodies as they hugged one another until they burst from the low cloud cover. Sunlight bathed their bodies in warmth before Victor made one final powerful push and he glided into the heavens.
Huffing, Victor caught a thermal and he flew higher into the sky. Tired muscles smoothed into relief as the wind and air took over against large wings. The four women on his back patted his sides as they soared high above the dark clouds.
Exhilaration washed over the Victor’s dragon body. Flying high above the clouds, he basked in the glory of flying. Wind whipping at his scaled face, he couldn’t believe he was actually doing it. Soaring from side to side, a sea of dark clouds rolled by underneath while the sun sank low in the afternoon sky.
“We should be there by evening,” Dawn shouted through the wind.
The four women huddled closer for warmth, but soon noticed the heat coming from underneath them. Looking down, they all felt Victor’s dragon body giving off waves of heat as he flew. Victor turned his scaled snout to them, eyes connecting with Lily and giving her a wink.
The succubus gave a sultry exhale as she hugged Dawn. The elf looked back to see Lily’s eyes fluttering and she smiled. It was apparent the succubus was enjoying the ride with a hot dragon between her legs and she showed no shame in enjoying it. The elf moved her hand over Lily’s arms around her stomach. The four women felt warmer as powerful muscles flexed underneath them.
Lily is going to have her way with you when we land.
“I hope so,” Victor mentally said to the shadow in his heart.
The air felt pure as Victor drank it in. They flew on, unaware of three creatures flying in formation far behind them. Sunlight glittered off scales as hawkish eyes spotted the small flying dragon and its riders. Leathery wings flapping, they sped across the sky, snouts pointed at Victor and a heat in their gazes.
Seven
Victor’s serpentine smile began to wane. Weakness bled into tired muscles, gliding along above the clouds. The sun sank lower in the sky, hues changing with the late afternoon into early evening. Shaking his horned head, he tried to power through the weakness, but it seemed to only get stronger. Victor had been flying for over an hour and the way the weakness seemed to grow, the more convinced it was because he was losing his ability to maintain the dragon form.
“We have to land,” Victor said as he craned his head back to his passengers.
“We should be close anyway,” Dawn shouted over the roar of the wind.
Victor gave a head nod when something sparkled in the distance behind them. Keen eyes caught the glimpse of three forms before they dove into the clouds and disappeared from sight.
Victor’s dragon eyes narrowed, “I think we are being followed.”
The four women on his back turned their heads to see nothing but sky and clouds underneath them. The tiredness consumed the weakening dragon and Victor couldn’t keep his
current form forever. Needing to land, he banked to the right and dived toward the thick cloud cover. The dragon and passengers were engulfed in gray clouds before quickly emerging from the other side. A light rain fell as the black dragon continued his dive and when he reached the top of trees, wings flashed out. Wings pumping, he slowed their descent until the last bit of strength left him.
Lily and Dawn looked on the dragon with wide eyes as he began to shrink under them. Skye already took hold of Kira’s waist with one hand, pulled a potion from her robe. Popping the cork, she guzzled the vials contents as Victor’s dragon form shrank with every passing second. Leaping off, Skye and Kira floated down, the silver-haired woman clutching to her fiery partner.
Lily and Dawn jumped up and launched off the shrinking dragon. Victor let out a small weak growl before his body regained his true form, ten feet off the ground. Legs swinging out, he hit the ground and rolled to a halt, arms and legs out while breathing heavy.
Rain fell from the gray sky, painting the tired young man’s face as he lay. Strength slowly returned to spent muscles, but he continued to lie on his back. Four shadows stood over him with various expressions from frowning to amused smiles. Dawn and Lily reached down and each took one of his hands. Victor sighed as he was hoisted to a sitting position and then to his feet.
“What do you think you saw,” Lily asked.
“Don’t know. They were big though. I only saw some glittering before they dived down into the clouds,” Victor said as he lifted his collar to chase away the chill.
Lily seemed unaffected by the cool air while Dawn began to hug herself. Skye and Kira had thick robes on, but it was only a matter of time before they absorbed enough water to touch their skin.
Eyes on Dawn, Victor took off his armored trench coat and put it over the elf’s shoulders. The elf with glasses closed it around her body and smiled her thanks. Lily’s tail vibrated for a moment before the succubus looked to the East. Skye and Kira stood close to one another as the rain began to fall harder.
Victor spoke up, “I’m not sure who or what is following us, but I don’t think we should wait in the rain to find out.”