The spring was small since the winter hadn’t brought them much rain, there was more mud than water in it. The old fallen log she used to walk across had decomposed into a soggy slick mess that would surely break apart if she tried to walk across it now. For a while, Jenniffer just sat on her favorite rock and pulled her jacket around her, the winter was mild and the warmest part of the day was approaching.
It felt good to be there, it was the one place where she had been able to be alone and play without Todd being mean or laughing at her. Trees were all around her, it was quiet.
She couldn’t remember how Annette summoned the ancestors, and she couldn’t remember what sacred items to use, not that it mattered because she had none. She didn’t know any songs or chants. It didn’t even make sense to her why songs were needed in the first place – surely the gods or spirits would accept normal speech like a prayer.
Jenniffer remembered all the things and games she used to do out there. It was her private world back then, she could be anything and anyone, even Queen of the Amazons with her secret treasure. That old pretend treasure box she kept...... that was it! – her secret treasure chest! She could use it for an offering.
Eagerly, Jenniffer hiked over to a leaning tree she used to climb, it was leaning more now with the years. She cleaned the leaves away from the trunk and began to dig under the rocks at its base. It was still there, Jenniffer wrapped her hands around the plastic jewelry box and opened it to find a quartz crystal, some crinoid fossils, and a dingy ring with a plastic jewel.
She placed the crystal and fossils on the decayed log back at the stream, and said quietly “Ancestors, will you let me honor you with this treasure of the earth? Can I talk with you?” then she sat back down on her rock and waited to see if anything would happen.
It wasn’t long before the sky grayed, it seemed to Jenniffer that the forest grayed slightly as well. She checked the time, it was nowhere near dusk. Everything seemed muted with a fog. From behind her, a non-existing window shattered, startling her.
Jenniffer looked around but didn’t see anyone or anything. The glass shards from the shattering window kept falling and then she heard the clinking sounds form into words that she could identify. The other worldly voice said “It is enough.”
Jenniffer stood and turned around to see a beautiful Native American woman, clothed in a gray silk robe studded with polished hematite and gray gemstones.
Before she realized how jaw-dropping dumb she sounded Jenniffer asked “Who are you?”
“I am the voice of your ancestors, I am Mother Earth.”
“Really.” The flat, disbelieving tone in Jenniffer’s voice could have brought the clouds down to earth. “I didn’t know you were human. Who are you really?”
“I’ll forgive your disrespect just this once.” the woman’s voice was shrill and full of razors.
Jenniffer said nothing, either she’d see who was fooling her or she was about to be severely punished.
The woman said nothing.
The stare-down became a waiting game, a game that Jenniffer was happy to play, she’d had many years of training for it and was prepared to win. With each passing minute, Jenniffer was becoming increasingly suspicious that the woman was indeed somehow Annette, though she looked younger and prettier than Annette ever could. She refused to say another word, she wouldn’t flinch, and she stubbornly waited for the woman to act first. If the woman kept on waiting, Jenniffer set in her mind that she would observe what happened at dusk, then the truth of Annette’s possession spell would come out.
She didn’t have to wait long. The Great Spirit of Mother Earth spoke in the same shrill nails-on-a-chalkboard voice “The ancestors have seen your insolent heart. You have not honored your ancestors in many years, why should we now honor your request to stop the spell of a medicine woman?”
Jenniffer became concerned, the woman standing before her knew about the evil spell. Either Annette was excellent at disguises and could change her voice or it really was Mother Earth reading her thoughts, she ought to be prostrate licking dirt in humbleness.
After some careful thought she chose to test the woman further because it probably was Annette.
“Because the possession spell is beyond cruel; it is wrong.” she answered. “I will change my ways, I see now that the earth and the ancestors care enough to give audience and hear my words, surely the ancestors would welcome another devoted follower. I will not stray and I will honor the Great Spirit always, knowing that Mother Earth leans towards kindness rather than cruelty.”
“So you would listen to and follow your medicine woman?”
Jenniffer clinched her jaw at the abhorring thought of learning from Annette. “No, I will follow the ancestors and listen to Mother Earth directly.”
“You don’t like your medicine woman?”
“Please, Mother Earth, I can’t like someone who has hurt me as much as she has.”
The woman smiled but with a voice like broken glass, it was difficult to show mirth “You think I’m her.”
“I’ll know for sure at sundown.”
“You can know now.” The woman uttered some unknown words that were highly distorted with the splintery shards. A mirror appeared in her hands, she extended it to Jenniffer.
Jenniffer took the mirror and looked at her reflection, her eyes were brown again. She did a double take and then fell prostrate to the ground and kissed the leaves on the forest floor.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you Mother Earth! I’m yours, always, willingly yours.”
“Then rise and be mine, MY VIXEN.”
As Jenniffer rose her mouth felt funny and a queasy feeling washed over her, her stomach was momentarily in knots and she fell down with dizziness.
Her sinus cavities felt hollow and cold with air as if she had just eaten wasabi or hot mustard. Her mouth hurt, she touched her face with her fingers, only to notice then that her palms and fingers itched like mad as tiny barbs emerged from her skin. A new purpose filled her being.
Jenniffer grabbed the mirror again with her barbed grip. She inhaled carnally as she examined her new teeth. Though she still looked human she knew she wasn’t. She was better than human. She had fangs, lots of long fangs, still the same number of teeth but they were very, very different teeth. Her whole jaw had been reshaped to contain them and it was narrower. Her incisor teeth were slightly smaller, pointed and sharp to penetrate skin, her bottom canines were vicious solid points, and her upper canines were three times their former length and were now translucent, hollow needles for envenoming prey.
Her taste buds had been re-wired to desire something other than food and venom sacs developed below her sinus cavities. Her endocrine system was now enhanced to trigger stronger reactions to her sense of smell, especially targeting the exquisite odor of testosterone. Just the memory of how a man smells was enough to make Jenniffer wet and her mouth water.
Her thoughts were singular, not for blood, but a primal urge for men. The desire to bite was strong within her, causing her to run her tongue over her teeth. Her venom would travel in men’s bodies, riding the strong currents of sexual tension that made them rise and flush with heat. Her venomous bite wasn’t an ugly discoloring, flesh-rotting poison but a tiny, erotic, clean wound that would change their ejaculation, making it not only give semen but also all their testosterone forever.
The Vixen spell took hold and settled into her, the pain subsided, her body had changed. All she wanted was to bite and feel a man give her what only a man can give. Jenniffer liked the predator she saw in the mirror, although she wondered how could any man want to look at her. Even as she thought about it she watched her main fangs fold up and recess into the roof of her mouth. Her barbs retracted and her hair smoothed as if she’d spent hours in a makeup studio to look naturally perfect. Her face assumed a gorgeous shape, the monster was hidden inside.
With a velvety voice Jenniffer purred “Thank you”.
Mother Earth’s voice shattered on t
he wind “Go hunt.”
Chapter 16
Sunrise was moments away, soon it would illuminate the flat-topped mountain that towered above the canopied jungle. A circlet of clouds graced the regal mesa and veiled monolithic boulders found on top that were testaments to a former frosty summit. The lone giants were scattered about as they waited on time to finish breaking them into dust. Some were bigger than others, and behind one of the largest Ravanan was crouching with folded wings, covered in deep shadow, the blue of his scales made him all the harder to notice. If one stared hard enough, they’d see the air around him shimmering from his long-lasting air coat armor, aside from some mental protection, it was an insulator against heat and flame-breath, making it a good defense against a brown dragon’s heat attack. Piled next to him were five dead bulls just in case the battle ran long.
He was waiting for sunlight to spill over the edge of the abysmal lair. From his vantage point he couldn’t see the fern-covered walls but he didn’t need to – he knew the occupant would emerge up and into the trap.
The warm rays of morning would set the bait for Ravanan’s trap, it was invisible to the eye and covered the opening like a net. It had taken a while to enchant the air and rock with the crafty spell that would mimic the wrath attack of a green dragon’s aura. But the time spent was planned for, as well as time to recover any exerted aura. Yes, Ravanan was quite ready to pounce.
Pink and purple hues colored the eastern sky, giving Ravanan’s watchful blue eyes a hint of Kalara’s beautiful orbs. The corners of his mouth curled in silent anticipation, his massive chest expanded and waned with slow, quiet breaths.....
As predicted the brown dragon rose with powerful wings towards the brightening sky. As he shot out of the ground the trap covered him like a cloth of acid. Now as he climbed higher he was drenched in the corrosive liquid, his scales began smoking and dissolving. His eyesight was gone in a sizzle. Instantly enraged, the dragon’s aura heated and fused the rock ledge of the lair into hardened glass, a lethal attack of terrible heat that caused all nearby vegetation to burst into flame.
The blue spectator watched from behind his boulder. From his safe distance Ravanan quickly followed up the acid trap with a hold spell to give the acid time to eat deep into the brown dragon’s thick scales. The smoldering dragon was now suspended in the air, the only thing that moved was the rising fumes from his body.
Ravanan was about to throw a lightning bolt when his blood curdled. Poison!
A chill ran along his spine as the poison worked its way like splinters between his scales. His aura instantly lit up with electrical charge in a knee-jerk reaction. He was so angered by the surprise poison attack that the edge of his aura was well-defined, a perfect, bluish, opaque sphere of electricity with a blue dragon at its core.
Where had the poison come from? There was no way the brown dragon could be responsible, he hadn’t even seen him to target him, and Ravanan knew the hold spell was still active, despite his waiver in attention. He was so thankful he had added a duration to the hold spell, it would continue to hold while he dealt with this new foe.
There had to be another dragon nearby, a red dragon most likely, and his armor was not prepared for that. He looked around wildly but saw nothing. Was the poison from a spell or an aura? He didn’t sense any dragon near him so it couldn’t be an aura attack which meant that he couldn’t be certain of the attacker’s color or how best to defend himself.
One thing Ravanan did know for certain was that he had to deal with this problem quickly. Poison wasn’t instant death, but death was a sure thing unless he could get antivenin. The more movements he made, the less time he had and he needed time to find the dragon behind the attack. Ravanan commanded his aura to slow the poison in his system, trying to buy himself more time.
An invisible dragon, it wasn’t near him, Ravanan knew this only because he could sense that his aura wasn’t hurting the mystery dragon, but he wished it was. Conserving energy, he commanded his aura to drop the arching lightning.
The need to quickly finish the fight became urgent. Battling two dragons was never good, he needed to even the odds. Taking a deep breath, Ravanan held his calm resolve. He would not fail. He could not fail, his territory was at stake. He cast “BOLT”, causing a tremendous bolt of lightning to shoot from his pointed talon and explode into the acid-covered dragon. The air cracked loudly from the intensity of the spell. His enemy’s body convulsed from electrical shock, Ravanan knew death was near, two more unprotected hits would stop the heart.
Then from the same invisible source Ravanan was hit with red flames of dragon breath. It had no effect on him because of his heat-shielding armor, and it revealed the hidden location of the poisonous problem.
His attacker had made a foolish mistake. Ravanan turned, feeling the poison drive nearer to his heart, his veins were now throbbing and his muscles were starting to feel tight as swelling intensified. The fiery breath wisped away and Ravanan saw who was responsible. Before he got to his target though the red-robed enchantress, flying backwards away from him cast “SILENCE”.
Ravanan cursed a muted rant at her.
She had been within his aura and he hadn’t detected her. She had been unaffected by his shocking aura because she was covered entirely in an armor of salt water, looking very much like a raindrop of blood, even her head was covered. Salt water was an excellent choice of armor, appropriate for fighting a blue dragon as it was effective against electricity. The particulate matter in the water acted as a Faraday cage by forcing Ravanan’s crackling lightning web to pass harmlessly over her. And all the while her vile poisonous aura was hurting him just as bad as any fire would, more so because it was inside his blood, permeating throughout his body with each heartbeat.
Ravanan could only assume that she had crafted her robe for invisibility and hadn’t been in the area long enough to leave any signs of her presence or else she had been staying in the lair with her own reason for not leaving it. Either way, there was no way he could have known of her presence in the area.
With no voice and a useless aura he approached, breathed his blue fire back at her but it extinguished as it hit her water armor. To be able to hurt her Ravanan needed to cast a verbal spell or start a physical battle which he knew would speed up the poison. He cursed himself for giving her the opportunity to take his voice with the silence spell and he hoped she was young enough and her spells were so low in level that they wouldn’t last very long.
“Release Kianthyx.” she commanded. “You are trespassing and have no right to be here. Release him and leave!”
That wasn’t going to happen. Only a few select times in his life had Ravanan retreated, this time, battling amateurs, wasn’t one of them. Even though the pain was building and his mind was working double to keep focus on two dragons Ravanan wouldn’t give in to her demands. Instead he raced with a powerful thrust towards the red enchantress, he may have been muted but words were not needed for ripping a body in half.
With every beat of his massive wings the poison was acting faster, it was already bruising his delicate wing skin and blackening it. Flying was making his heart pound hard against his rib cage.
The red-robed enchantress became alarmed when she saw Ravanan coming at her. In disbelief at his determination she dismissed her robe and let her little human form go before he reached her. Her water armor had expanded and thinned with her, her entire red dragon body was covered by the coat of water, and it did nothing to hide her serpentine shape base form. She was a diamid, her slender body, mirrored feathered wings of two pairs – one over the shoulders and the other over the hips, and pronged horns all spoke of the land across the water. But that was not all her body revealed, Ravanan could see she was about to give an egg as she snaked through the air.
Ravanan hesitated. He knew what he saw was true, there was no hiding an egg bulge. Her pregnancy changed the battle instantly for Ravanan even as he chose to charge on. She never should have entered the fight.
&
nbsp; Her mate, Kianthyx, still hung in the air above the hole of their lair, blinded and mad. He worried for her and their egg. As the acid dissolved its way into his ear canal, Kianthyx the Malefic Copper could barely hear their battle before going deaf. At the moment he was not at all as regal as his title suggested - the self-proclaimed king was bound and helpless. Like Ravanan, he too was hoping the spell holding him would end shortly, until it did he was as good as dead and unable to help his mate. He wanted to fight, wanted to protect his egg and her. He could feel his attacker was outside of his aura and there was nothing he could do to stop the fight. He could only painfully remember those last sounds he had heard, the last sounds he would ever hear.
The chase was on, the red dragoness was desperate to keep the upper hand, she looked behind at Ravanan and cast “CALM”. His heart relaxed from the spell, but his will did not change.
With a quiet energy Ravanan continued to close the distance between them. His menacing body flew through the air, his wings were pumping fast. The eyes of the red dragoness grew wide with fear.
Her heart sank as Ravanan strengthened his pursuit despite his weakening aura. Silent and deadly, he was set on a collision course, he was foaming at the mouth and fighting the convulsive forces welling up inside him, but he refused to stop. There was malice and determination in his cerulean blue eyes that calmness only amplified. He would not tolerate careless thieves intruding in his home. There was no escape for the young dragons, not even her continual poisonous aura would stop him.
As Ravanan had hoped, her low level silence spell ended quickly; in her youth and panic she forgot to renew the spell immediately. That was all the time Ravanan needed. He felt his voice come back and with his next breath he cast “I’LL CONTROL YOU”. Immediately he made her aura stop pumping poison into him. But because of her egg he did not attack her with his deadly lightning.
It wasn’t enough that he owned her now, he needed to grab hold of her. Ravanan grappled her in the air, his powerful muscles were more than enough for both of them. His body plunged through her water armor even as he commanded it to mist away. The red dragoness was smaller than Kalara, lighter and younger. Even with her egg she was svelte and nice to hold, it had been so long since he’d flown with a dragoness, and never one as slender as her. Ravanan tightened his grip and wrapped his long neck around hers.
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