The Dragon's Fangs
Chapter 1
A/Ns: Here's the sequel to The Dragon's Stone, my friends! I hope y'all enjoy this! :D
Had it really been two months since then…?
Kaito could only stare up at the ceiling. One of his hands rested at his side, feeling the fur blanket beneath him, while the other clung to the necklace that the queen of this village had given him; a stone that resembled a dragon's eye. He closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly, and wished that he could change for the better, avenging Rio's death.
Instead, he was turning more and more into an insane monster by the day.
It was dark now; darker than usual. Night was settling upon the Dead Man's Forest, and Kaito couldn't sleep at all. It seemed natural; most of the creatures that roamed in this place seemed to thrive most when the sun was not up. His sleep schedule had completely switched; he was now wide awake when he should be asleep. Even Galaxy was out and about, searching for food for his mate, Veiss. The blonde was thoroughly surprised when he learned that the pregnant female dragon had betrayed her own rider, siding with Droite and her group of creatures instead of the Seven Kingdoms.
Kaito turned onto his side, opening his eyes to stare at the woman who had started it all. She was asleep, even though the rest of her comrades were likely to be awake. It was all she really did now; too exhausted from carrying a baby inside of her, she slept, trying to keep her energy for the birth, which was now less than two months away. When she was awake, she mostly kept to her bed, rarely venturing outside of her tent. He had to admit that he felt sorry for her; he was starting to feel the same way.
Night after night, nightmares plagued his mind. Nightmares of blood, fangs, and fighting. Death was abundant in those dreams; the woman and man who proclaimed to be his parents, or the girl who was his apparent sister in the dreams, the last two died the same way. Sometimes there would be inklings as to who had killed them, but he never saw who; now that he thought about it, he actually never saw the faces of the woman, man, or girl.
Seiren came to him often after he had awoken from these dreams, yelling as if in pain. The girl and her vampire mate, Vector, were cautious with the blonde, for some peculiar reason. Neither said why they were so protective over him, although he had once caught Seiren speaking about him to Droite, but he had only caught a snippet of the end of their conversation before they had changed subjects. He was always left out of the loop; he wanted to know what that female vampire knew of him.
Kaito sat up in his bed, yawning. He couldn't sit around any longer; he had to move before his mind exploded. Throwing the fur blankets off, he stood and stretched, reaching for his shirt, which he had slept without.
"It is unusual to see you awake at this time of night."
The blonde turned to look at the Chrysanthos who lay in a mass of fur blankets amongst silk sheets on her bed. She gazed at him tiredly, her face even paler than he had seen it ever before. His eyes softened upon seeing her finally awake; a rare occurrence. "I should be saying that to you, Droite."
She smiled. "I merely said it first," she replied, a weak attempt at humor. "Where are you going? The others will surely be confused as to why you are walking around during the night."
"I'm going to the river," he said. In truth, he was hoping of just getting anywhere, but a nice bath in the river that ran through the Dead Man's Forest sounded quite appealing.
"That sounds like a good idea," she replied, pushing herself up on her elbows; it looked as if it took all her strength to do so. "Do you mind if I come? I have wanted to get out for a while now."
"Droite," he began, "are you sure that you have enough energy for the trek? It's quite a walk for a person in your condition."
"I think so," she answered. "That is, if you help me get there, of course."
"Sure." As soon as he had his shirt on, he came over to her and lifted her into his arms, making sure to grab a change of clothes for her as well. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her out of the tent, and together, they slipped into the dark forest.
…
The river was near pitch black as it ran slowly past the trees. Absolutely no sunlight, nor moonlight, got through, keeping the water at its dark coloration. Kaito gazed down in the river, watching the waves lap at the sides. Droite, who had been in his arms for the trek, was sitting near the base of a tree next to the bank, running one of her hands through the water. She seemed peaceful, for once in her long life.
He finally knew how old she was; despite appearing seventeen, just as old as he was, the truth was that she had been born nearly eight centuries prior, and yet, she was barely reaching adulthood. Apparently, the dragon she had met as a very young child had told her that the Chrysanthos age very slowly, almost as slow as a vampire. It would be nearly ten thousand more years before she would reach old age and die.
"Kaito," she murmured, eyes downcast, "aren't you going to dive in?"
"Um, yes, here in a moment," he replied. No, he wasn't afraid of undressing in front of her (she was the first of two women that had seen him fully unclothed). He was just nervous that something might happen between them that he would later come to regret. Hurriedly, he slipped out of his clothes and stepped into the slow-flowing water, shivering as the cold liquid seeped into his skin.
Droite watched him through narrowed eyes. At least the water came up to his chest, but it was obvious that she was pleased with what she was seeing. Her pupils and irises had turned orange while her sclera had turned black; a sign that her Seer of the Chrysanthos ability was activated, a behavior she had explained that, when she wanted something badly, would turn her eyes into those colors. Her fangs were elongated, and she let out an erotic purr.
God, that right there made him shiver.
"What's keeping you, Droite?" he asked, eyes also narrowed. "I thought you said you wanted to join me."
She smiled, using what energy she had to pull her clothing off and slide into the water. The liquid helped her move without placing too much stress on her body. She came over to him, purring deeply. "I'm not refusing time with you, Kaito."
He snaked his arms around her and pulled her flush against him, planting a kiss on her lips. Her wings unfolded and cocooned them in a gentle, warm, golden blanket. Lowering his arms slightly, he gently picked her up, and she laced her legs around his waist.
Yes, in the short two months that he had been away from the Empire, he had completely changed. The Tenjou Kaito who was the loyal dragon rider and fiancé of Kamishiro Rio was no more. He was just Kaito, the rider turned lover of a Chrysanthos.
…
…
Ryouga used his cane to get from room to room nowadays; ever since he and his sister had relocated to Baniron, he was under a permanent handicap, his leg disabled slightly from whatever creature had snapped it. That was the least of his worries; his kingdom was in shambles and now Baniron, his arch enemy kingdom, was going to be his home base until he had a proper view of what he was going to do next.
That wasn't going to be for a long time, he could imagine.
Then there was Rio…
The former king shook his head. She was his sister; he couldn't simply give up on her, even if she had been turned into a monster that craved human blood. Even if she had lost a pregnancy because of that. Even if…
He couldn't think any longer.
Ryouga pushed open the heavy door leading to the chambers that his sister was currently locked in. There were no windows, heavy black curtains draped over every wall, grey carpet stained with blood covering the floor. The purple-haired boy sighed deeply; he was bound to meet the sight of his sister here in a minute, which would probably give him unwanted nightmares for a while.
Shaking his head, he stepped inside and shut the door tightly. In the background, he could hear the empty mewls echoing off the walls and the clanking of heavy chains against the bedding platform. As he approached the platform, which was draped in red silk, he could see her twisting form, her arms and legs kicking against the restraints as she tried desperately to free herself. The moment he came near the bed, her head turned to him and she snapped her jaws at him.
Huge fangs elongated, eyes completely black, she wasn't the Rio he had known before the wedding; no, she was a complete and utter monster. Dressed in a black kimono that looked like she had torn at it when they had released her once, she continued to twist her body into unnatural positions, roaring and snapping her teeth together. A single, mangled word came from her, as if it were the only one she now knew: hungry.
He approached her, coming to the side of the platform. Her eyes widened and she screeched, pulling hard on her chains, reaching for her brother as if he were prey.
They said he was the only one that was allowed to do this. He was glad they let him.
He lowered his wrist to her and she roared, biting hard into his skin and drinking greedily.
A/Ns: That answers some things, eh? XD Review!
