Edited 05/03/2020
The essence of tens of thousands poured into him. It was effortless. There was a pulse in his chest. Something was connecting to his mind. Essence continued to pour into him as the connection grew. He felt pieces of Gondor, the unicorn, and bicorn merge with the organ in his chest. Something was happening to him.
He raised his very human hands to his face. Harry sucked in a breath and felt something was missing. His senses felt dulled. The coppery scent of Gondor's blood was all he could smell. Something told him he should be able to smell more. Various shapes came to mind for what his nose should be like. His human nose was the weakest. Even his eyes were weaker than a dragon's. Harry froze in thought. He didn't feel like himself.
"What's going on?" Harry asked. The presence in his chest thrummed as it connected with his mind. A copy of himself was slowly downloading to his spark. Where were these answers coming from?
As if reading his mind Imo answered. "They are from your spark Harry." Her voice reverberated through him. Harry collapsed to his knees. Had he robbed his friend's corpse?
"What have I done?" Harry asked.
"You've done nothing. When a human is bathed in the blood of a dragon, they develop a spark. I'm proud of you Harry. Most go mad from the connection process." Imo said. Her voice shook him.
"I fear for your health Harry. I've forgotten, humans don't fare well near my breath. There is a sickness in the air that spreads from my attacks. For centuries nothing grows, and animals die."
Harry could feel his qi drop as purity spiral worked passively on his body. It had been so subtle Harry hadn't noticed before.
"What is a spark?" Harry asked.
"It is an organ that functions as a second brain, a genetic library, and a fount of knowledge. It first develops as a small crystal the size of a grain of sand. Humans who obtain an incomplete spark by bathing in the blood of a dragon are called dragon slayers." Imo supplied.
"What makes it incomplete?" Harry asked.
"You've only been given half the genetic spark of Gondor. You need another copy to complete your spark. We've ensured that dragon slayers don't know how to complete their spark." Imo said.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"You'll have to discover that yourself. Now I must take you to safety." Harry watched her place the corpse of Gondor in her maw and swallow him down. He watched the lump travel down her throat and vanish in her bulk.
Harry sighed and leapt upon her side and clung to his spike. Her great wings flapped unleashing a terrible gale. The dust below exploded sending the remains of the goblin city to the four winds.
The flight was short. He eased himself into the cave and crawled to the cave pool. He laid within it letting the blood wash off his body.
For the next few days, he expanded the lair. He found it easier than ever to wield fire. On a whim, he tested his control. He conjured ball of flame after ball of flame until fifteen hovered around him. It was easy, the strain wasn't on his human mind but the spark in his chest. He could feel it pulse as he controlled the flames.
The pulsing feelings helped him realize his inner monologue wasn't based in his head anymore. He might survive damage to his brain. His sense of self had shifted. This one was guarded by his rib cage and whatever armor he could craft.
Harry hunted the forest across the canyon killing two elk. He skinned the animals and used a spell from his blacksmith text to dry out and tan the hide. Harry worked to cut it into strips and tie his new chest plate together. True enchantment was beyond him. He needed a greater understanding of runes for that. He did infuse the essence with purity spiral. It had an interesting effect on the chest plate.
Hysisa slapped her tail against the plate to test it denting the pig iron. The armor sucked in essence and bent itself back into place.
"That would be amazing if the plate was useful." Hysisa said. She crossed her arms under her breasts.
"I've seen better steel in my shite." Imo added. The massive dragoness spent most of her time snoozing in the cave. Only speaking up on rare occasions.
Harry let out a sigh and tossed his breast plate back on the forge. He added his own flames to the fire as the plate slowly returned to molten metal. Harry took a shovel he made and added some limestone to the mix. Over the course of a day, he refined the pig iron into steel.
Over the course of a month, he remade the breast plate. He was out in a lake digging limestone and clay up when he heard a hiss.
"Liar," three voices hissed. Harry dodged and threw a fireball. It exploded on the ground with blinding light. Harry used his speed to get behind the hydra. The creature hissed and lashed out. Its heads were even larger than before. It managed to bite down on his chest. The steel plate bent cracking one of Harry's ribs.
Harry forced his feet on the ground before placing his hand on the serpent's neck and unleashing a flamethrower. The sudden extreme heat made the hydra let go before the other heads could latched on. It all happened in an instant. Harry retreated out of range of the hydra.
"What happened to our deal Harry?" She asked him. The wounded head quickly regenerated from the wound. Harry looked at the hydra with desire. Bicorn and unicorn wanted him to add them to their growing herd. Gondor seemed wake a little clearing the desire from Harry's mind.
"Gondor was slain by the goblins. It couldn't be helped. He wanted their treasure for his horde." The hydra hissed in rage and struck at him. Its slithered with incredible speed.
Before Harry could react, she bit into his breast plate with her middle head. Harry raised his hands and blasted the hydra's mouths with fire before they could latch on. The hydra's tail came around just as the middle head let go and smashed Harry across the shore.
Harry fell and skipped across the sand. Small rocks lodged themselves into his arms as he rolled to a stop. A sharp rock gashed his leg cutting deep. Harry saw it and identified it as flint. He slowly made his way to his feet.
"I'm sorry he died to. If you need someone to take your anger out on, I'm here for you." Harry said.
The three heads paused instead of striking him again. "He saved me when the goblins killed my nest mates. I've wanted him as my mate since then. He isn't like other dragons I've met. He still called me a defect. My kind are hated by everyone. We are defects, a mad alchemist attempt to bond many dragons together. Gondor gave me a fair chance at life." She bit his chest plate to gently lift him to his feet.
"I tried to heal him, but his heart was damaged. I didn't see the wound until it was too late." Harry said.
"You owe me, and you smell of dragon's blood. He gave you his blood willingly." She said. Harry nodded. I'm hungry, feed me and I'll spare your life. I want a special treat. I think a dragon slayer will have a better chance to slay her." The hydra said.
"I'll do what I can but what should I call you?" The three heads turned to one another for a moment.
"Nomine is our name. Every dragon slayer has a mount of a sort. You are Gondor's dragon slayer. I'll be your mount, but I need more power. There is another defect that is stronger than me. She is a chimera. Trap her so I may merge with her flesh and I'll be your mount." Namine said.
Harry let out a sigh. This was a fetch quest. He needed some time to let his body settle before he scouted the vampire lands. He nodded his head to hydra.
"Excellent, chimera love hot lands and she has nested to the south near giant territory. I'll wait here and nest at this lake." Nomine said.
Harry nodded and finished loading his cart with limestone before turning back to the lair.
The sun was setting when he finished hammering the plates for his gauntlets together. After some thought, he decided making pockets for steel plates would be easier than full plate mail. With that idea he still needed better leather for his armor. After Namine's love bites the leather straps were falling apart. Acid from her saliva had melted through what leather wasn't severed. As for the plate, it was mostly recovered. Harry wasted no time throwing it back on the forge and adding another quarter inch of steel to the plate. He added an angle to it to turn away fangs.
"Harry if you need more steel, I've taken a shite near the river. I'm sure if you clean the armor in the river, some of it will fit you." Imo said.
"How many armored knights have you eaten?" Harry asked.
"More than existed in Europe when the Mongols invaded Georgia. Far more than when the Mongols left." Harry sighed and found Hysisa.
She was in her room. It was an addition he sculpted for her. In a few days, he melted a small apartment out of the stone.
Harry found her sleeping in a bed sewn together from ram pelts stuffed with wool. Her long black tail extended from her waist nearly fifty feet. Several lumps bulged from her tail after her last feast. He walked to a shelf and pulled a small pale of oil from it.
He poured some on her snake half and began to work it across her body. Hysisa gasped in her sleep as Harry made his way across her body sliding his hands across her scales messaging sore muscles. Blearily she opened her large human eyes. They were crystalline blue larger than human eyes with emotions that Harry could only guess at. Harry lifted a wide section of her tail to rub the oil in between her scales.
"What do you want Harry?" Hysisa asked.
"I wanted to treat my pretty friend to a rub down. Why do I need something?" She closed her eyes and let out a moan.
"Because you haven't left the forge in the last month, except to gather more materials." Hysisa said.
"I was in mourning. Beating steel into shape was how I dealt with it. I'm sorry if you felt neglected." Harry apologized.
"You have no responsibilities to me. I'm not yours Harry." Hysisa said.
"Do you want to be?" Harry asked.
She paused as Harry made his way up her tail to her waist. There he messaged the long slit that stretched from her midriff to the beginning of her tail. Harry felt her squirm as he slowly made his way up her chest. His hands played across her body. With every twitch of the finger, he learned what improved her sensations and what didn't.
Eventually, he made his way to her breasts. Their eyes met when his hands cupped them. His head filled with cotton as he oiled them. They were softer than he expected and packed with muscles on the side. Harry felt entranced. As he stared into her blue eyes and desire to latch on came over him.
When he lowered himself, she caught his mouth with her own. His tongue explored hers finding two very sharp fangs and a wealth of saliva pooled. She tasted spicy on his tongue. Their eyes met and Harry felt himself melt as she gathered him in her arms. Eventually they broke apart leaving Harry gasping for breath.
She lowered her face to his shoulder and opened her mouth. Harry felt her walk needle sharp fangs over his shoulder before she nuzzled his ear. "The only way to have me is to take my bite. I don't think your ready yet Harry. My venom is deadly." Hysisa said.
"I'm going to leave soon." Harry said.
"I know, when will you come back?" She asked.
"It may not be for a few decades your time." Harry said. She smiled gently at him.
"I'm in the service of Imo the rabbit slayer. I'll be here when you return." She said. Harry nodded.
…
Days later, Harry began to stalk a deer with golden antlers. It pranced through the forest. A cougar pounced on it, but claws and fangs found no purchase. The deer simply kicked the cougar snapping its bones killing the creature. The unnatural deer proceed to walk upon the cougar. Harry watched as the deer lowered its head. Its mouth split open revealing a long tentacle sucker. It stabbed into the cougar and began injecting it with powerful acids. Once the cougar's insides were soup it drank.
Two days later Harry saw a troll break its club upon the deer. The deer impaled the troll with golden horns before draining the troll dry. Each time Harry inspected the corpse of the deer's victim. There was only skin left.
After a few days, Harry was sure he knew the deer's territory. He was in the far south and the air was hot. Any further south and he'd run into fire giants. Harry had made a powerful series of spring traps for just this type of prey.
Hidden from the animal, Harry watched it as it drew closer to Harry's trap. It drew closer to the trap along its normal path. Harry waited in anticipation.
The deer drew closer to the trap then sniffed the air. It took a step forward over the trap and kept walking. After a few steps Harry froze.
There was a loud snapping sound as the real trap took hold. The sound of a spinning wheel rang through the forest as the deer was caught. The deer shook as it was hoisted up and quickly changed form. From the golden horned deer, it transformed into a massive spider. It's now slender legs slipped from the trap before transforming into a new form. It became a large red skinned oni with a single great horn. It shot towards Harry at an incredible speed.
Harry had never fought a chimera before and didn't know what to expect from a shapeshifting variant. Twelve disks of sever all shot out cutting the oni into several pieces. The pieces quickly reconnected before it turned into a raging bull. Its horn smashed into Harry's breast plate before its head split open revealing a sucker.
The tentacle sucker shot out aimed for Harry's neck. Harry wrapped his hand around the sucker and unleashed ice. Surprise lit up on the bull's eyes before they glazed over. Harry took a step beck. The fangs of the sucker were dripping with its potent venom. Purity Spiral wouldn't have been able to keep up with it.
…
Days later and multiple freezings Harry returned to the lake with the chimera in hand. The creature sluggishly looked at Nomine in fear. The hydra wasted no time ripping into the chimera and devouring it. A change quickly came over Nomine. Flesh rippled as another head grew. She rippled once again changing into the form of a woman with blood red eyes and skin pale as moon light.
"I said I'd be your mount. As your vehicle, I can do more than merely take you from place to place. I can also grant you access to places forbidden to wizards." Nomine said with a brilliant smile showing off her fangs.