Another update? Where do they keep coming from? It's crazy, I tell you! Crazy!

Luna's Meow- Glad to know someone has! ^_^

Rainbowrose- Well, it wasn't really me. My sister found this roll of duck tape, and…

Luna's Meow- Hmm…Haven't I seen you before? You look familiar…*squints* …*grin* And yes, it should be… interesting. Bwahaha!

Please see introduction for disclaimer regarding this work.

Chapter Twenty Six

Pride Before a Fall

Sentience was slow to return to the dragon's unconscious body, awareness surfacing one moment only to vanish into dreams the next. All the while that his mind oscillated between wakefulness and sleep, steady hands were at work over him. A cool cloth soothed his brow at regular intervals and there was a murmur of voices and footsteps about him.

As he slowly regained control of his senses, he became aware of his aching body and the prevailing weakness that had overwhelmed him. Not since the last of the disastrous battles with the human Yom had he felt so feeble.

One of the mortals attending him put pressure against one of his wounds and the Divine- Emperor moaned softly in protest. The offending individual withdrew, startled, and the other mortals seeing to his care did so as well. A hushed discussion was carried out over his head and the dragon's sensitive ears picked up the sound of footsteps leaving the room. Fou-Lu let himself slip back under for a moment, too tired to care what the mortals were up to as. It mattered little to him as long as they allowed him the rest he desperately needed.

Sometime later a pressing need roused him from his healing stupor. He opened his eyes with some difficulty and discovered a pounding headache lying in wait for him. The rest of his body took up the chorus and a paroxysm of agony threatened to drown him. Another small moan escaped his lips, and from the sudden silence around him he knew it had been heard and recognized. His own heart pounding unpleasantly in his ears, the dragon closed his eyes again and tried to block out swimming images of the ceiling.

Once again, the humans were speaking around him, their voices quiet not to disturb him. "Can't you give him something for the pain, doctor?" a familiar voice asked, and Fou-Lu attempted to distract himself from his suffering by trying to remember it. It was a deep voice, yet a gentle tone hid amid its gravely depth and softened its words

"We've tried, General," another voice replied patronizingly, the tone grating on Fou-Lu's nerves and prompting an almost instant dislike for the speaker. "But as I'm sure you've noticed, His Majesty isn't exactly human and none of the dosages we've been used to have been enough to affect him."

"You could then, perhaps, try a higher dosage, doctor?" the first responded, losing some of its softness. The speaker was clearly of the same mind as Fou-Lu where the human doctor was concerned. The tone jolted the dragon god's memory, and he realized that it was Rhun speaking to the other human.

Even with his eyes closed, Fou-Lu could practically see the disdainful look the doctor gave the general. "General, perhaps you don't understand. We have no way of knowing what dosage to give the emperor and an overdose could prove fatal with him already in his condition. Now, while you are in my sickroom you will have to acknowledge that I know what I am doing and you do not. You, General, are trained to kill people. Allow me to pick up the pieces."

Irritated at the human's insolence toward his friend, the emperor opened his eyes and strained to speak. "Cease thy babble, mortal," the dragon said, managing a voice somewhere between a rasp and a growl. The other aides who had attended him earlier had apparently left him to the doctor's tender care and it was thus only the doctor and general that jumped in surprise at his voice. Fou-Lu observed the doctor's surprised face with some satisfaction, then continued, "This full well may be thy sickroom, but thou shouldst bring to memory that this be mine palace ere thou reproach the general such." The doctor flinched at his tone of voice and quickly excused himself from the room. Winded and sore from the effort of speaking, the dragon sagged back against his bedding and rested his eyes until some of pain receded.

He opened them again as he heard Rhun step softly to the edge of the bed. The human was smiling at him, obviously relieved to see him conscious. "Fou-Lu," the human greeted him warmly, taking a seat at the dragon's bedside. "The healers told me you would wake soon," he said, explaining his presence.

The dragon blinked, then managed a slight smile toward the mortal. "I believeth this be the first time thou e'er hast spoken mine true name," he commented, though he was not particularly displeased with the development.

"The second, actually," the human corrected, adding, "You may not remember. You were near collapse the first time, if I recall."

"… Indeed, I mayeth recollect such," the dragon admitted after a moment of thought. He was glad that it had been Rhun who had been in the area when his strength gave way. As it stood, the general was one of the few people Fou-Lu would willingly trust with his care in such a condition.

"The doctors tell me you should be dead, Fou-Lu," Rhun told him more seriously, meeting and holding the dragon's golden eyes.

"I ken." He knew that all too well, and his agonized body was there to remind him should he forget. As fatigued as he had been, the knife wound he had taken to the chest could alone have put him out of commission. The wounds that he had taken afterwards had been a similar matter. Fou-Lu knew that at the present he was absolutely covered in deep burns. They had eaten through his skin like acid, stripping away layers that no human would have ever been able to regrow. His skin would recover and he would survive them, primarily because assuming his fully ascended form had prevented him from garnering worse. Even so, the outside of his body had taken damage enough, littered as it was with burns that faded from angry red to charred black. His internal injuries were of no less severity. The knife wound he had first taken had punched through and collapsed one of his lungs, an injury that would have suffocated any human in seconds. He lack of need to draw regular breath had saved his life both then and when the warehouse collapsed over his head. Trapped under the smoldering wreckage for over a day, the smoke would have choked him to death in a matter of minutes. As it was, the warehouse had still dealt him sever internall injury when it decided to crush him under its wreckage. From damaged organs to snapped ribs to the two-by-four that drove itself through his back, Fou-Lu had been luck to escape with his life. It had only been the strength of his anger at his attackers that had given him the energy to dig up to the surface, abandon his dragon form, and drag his shattered body back to the palace.

Again, it had been that rage that gave him the strength to kill the usurper, and in doing so he had used up the last of his strength. Had he been thinking clearly, perhaps he could have ordered those assembled to seize Saruk for him to deal with later and thus have avoided driving himself into immediate collapse. Or perhaps not. He had no way of knowing how many of the assembled had been loyal to the usurper in the first place. It was no matter. What was done was done, and the dragon could at least take comfort in the fact that he had sent the humans away before his wounds caught up with him.
"Would you like me to see if the doctors have something for you to eat or drink, my friend?" the general offered kindly as Fou-Lu stirred under the covers and looked vaguely uncomfortable.

Fou-Lu murmured a negative, then added with some humiliation, "I haveth another…pressing need…and mine condition considered I ken not if I canst make mine way there unaided." To require help for such a thing stung the pride of the dragon-god and he dropped his gaze to look elsewhere. There was a fascinating spot on the wall behind Rhun and Fou-Lu eyed it with feigned interest.

General Rhun understood immediately, and opened his mouth to offer his aid when the door opened again and the doctor returned.

The man, apparently having overheard the conversation, said brightly, "Someone needs to use the little dragon's room, I hear,"

The dragon in question gave the human a look of such contempt and scorn that the doctor retreated back towards the door and stumbled over a low stool in his haste.

Rhun, masking a chuckle, glanced down at his friend. "Of course you have my help, Fou-Lu. I believe the nearest lavatory is down the hall to the left." The human eased Fou-Lu up into sitting position and held him carefully as he trembled weakly at the pain that swept though him.

He was naked except for the bandages that wound around most of his body. The dragon could only assume that the healers had removed his clothes to attend his wounds. The garments had survived the inferno only partially charred due to his switching shape at its start. Thus his clothes had returned to him when he resume human shape. Although, it might have been a more dramatic entrance if he had stalked into his throne room utterly stark naked.

"Better now, my friend?" Rhun asked with concern as the dragon leaned heavily against him.

Fou-Lu swallowed a mouthful of bile and replied shakily, "…A moment more, if thou wouldst…"

The doctor, regaining a measure of his courage, protested loudly at the situation, "Your Majesty, you can't attempt to leave your bed yet! You must remain abed until your healers are satisfied with your full recovery…!"

The god-emperor's eyes flashed dangerously at the proclamation and, using Rhun as a support, he swung his legs off the bed and stood. Rhun was there to hold him up as he swayed dizzily. The naked dragon, comfortable in nudity, briefly registered the general helping him into a loose silk robe. Then the dragon clung to his human friend as he dared a step forward, still ignoring the protests of the human doctor.

"Your Majesty! You're going to hurt yourself!" the mortal protested loudly, looking absolutely shocked at the turn of events, then turning a glare to Rhun. "Why are you helping him?!"
Arm around the dragon's back, the general shrugged. "Because he'll do it even if I wasn't, doctor." As the other human spluttered, Rhun added wryly, "You'll find there's very little one can make the emperor do if he doesn't wish it. He's stubborn like that."

The doctor could do nothing but watch aghast as his patient left the room and the door was pointedly shut the door behind him.

True to his word, Rhun helped the infirm dragon down the hall and helped him stay upright as he relieved the pressure in his bladder. Then Fou-Lu made his way slowly back to the sickroom, running out of energy about halfway there and nearly collapsing all over again. Rhun caught him before he could fall, and insisted rather forcefully on carrying the sulking dragon the rest of the way back.

The doctor had apparently given up on his rebellious patient and was not in the sickroom. The emperor couldn't help but be relieved at that, for he had hardly wanted to look the fool between some stupid, lowly human. Particularly the one in question.

Rhun set his passenger back down on the mattress and helped Fou-Lu out of the robe when he insisted upon it. Then the general pulled the blankets up under the dragon's chin and glanced down at his humiliated friend. "I'll leave you to your rest, my friend," the mortal said, departing the room before the dragon had a chance to argue. Still fuming slightly, Fou-Lu glowered at the door until sleep overcame his strained body.