Chapter 52

While I was sure I could have stuffed that lion into a cup and pushed him through the bars of my 'security' window, that would have started an irrevocable problem between two nations that were almost at war already. Honestly? It wasn't that I cared much about that.

But the Queen had worked hard to stop exactly that from happening. And even though I'd only met her in person... less than twelve hours ago? I respected her almost as much as Royman. And for the record, Royman was one of three people who could tell me to do something, provided he could prove I was the only one who could do it. Like say, assassinate someone. Thankfully, he hadn't asked that of me. But if the Freya Familia, or any Familia for that matter, needed their God brought in? He would just have to point at the proof, then the God in question.

Anyhow...

It took me a minute or two of forced slow breathing to calm down, and once I did, I started to think I wouldn't need to entertain anyone else.

But no, I heard the 'clank' of the guard outside my door as he snapped to attention, then a light knock on my door. So, just to keep up my appearances of 'being serious about my job, I started to make something else in the alchemy set before calling out, "Enter."

The door opened, admitting the wizened dragon-newt priest. Now that he was standing alone, it was clear he was old. Not infirm, but age was starting to make his 'staff of office' into a 'staff of support'. "Honoured Hero, Kodori." He bowed just enough to call it that, stepped over a half pace, then closed the door behind him. "I hope my visit isn't disturbing you?"

I could also tell, he was reading off the same 'script' I was. Polite greeting, polite interjection to gain my attention. What was it Wukong said? 'Age encourages a certain kind of efficiency'.

"So long as you don't mind me not stopping what I am doing to look you in the eyes while we speak? No. Please, sit."

"Ah..." His feet shuffled, there was a quiet scrape of wood over stone, and he eased himself into a nice chair, the only other one in the room. "What is it you are making?"

"Since most of my party has it, this is going to be soap meant for fur." I replied, "While I am not home, where my Goddess watches over me, I still make every reasonable attempt to follow the first commandment."

I could feel his eyes on me as I added a few things here and there, but he waited until I'd turned from the glass-works to ask, "And what is that, if I may ask?"

"Hygiene is important." I said, then added, "What? I'm serious! Back home, soap is cheaper than bread, unless you want fancy stuff added past 'get clean'."

He smiled indulgently for a moment, then went a little wide eyed when he saw I was serious. "Fascinating." He smiled, carefully taking off his fancy dragon skull hat, "But sadly, I am far past the need for soap for my hair." He rubbed a hand over a scalp that was part scale, but also part 'skin' like a human. The rest of his face, past the wrinkles brought on by age and weather, also had patches of scales and skin, and his eyes were much like mine or Tetsu's.

Okay, he seemed far less uptight than the other two. "If I could find a few things, I could fix that." I shrugged, "What brings you by, so far past our bed times?"

"I was told that offering to buy your dragon companion, Tetsu, would offend you." He raised his hands, palms out to placate the first thing I would likely say to such an offer. "So instead I will ask. How did she come to be? Who's soul is joined to hers? And-"

"Peace peace." I made my own calming gesture, "One at a time. The first, is partly luck, both fixed and blind. And the second... well..."

So I told him a very abbreviated version of Tetsu's history. The lottery, the Shield futzing about with her stats and growth, the Zombie Dragon, me absorbing the curse on it, Tetsu bonding with Gaelion's soul, growing wings, talking with her 'second personality'... I cut much out, and he didn't ask many questions, but he nodded a few times, almost like he was committing it to memory.

"Alas, the great Gaelion enters the cycle anew. And that foolish Sword Hero..." He sighed, "But, it gladdens me that young Tetsu has taken up the burden."

"Burden?"

"Dragons, the great Dragons, are very long lived, but not immortal as most think of the word. Unlike the least of the dragons, the Knight Dragons, the Great Dragons pass on their souls to an heir. It is likely that Tetsu has inherited a thousand years or more of ancestral knowledge and power." He said with a smile, his features looking almost fatherly. "Of course, like any child, by blood or not, listening to their elders is optional."

"Well... He helped her grow wings. And he's taught me a few things too." I said, "Like any child, she can listen. But most of the time you have to motivate her to stay focused."

We both laughed quietly, "Indeed. May I ask my next question then?"

"Of course."

"The weapons you companions were carrying..."

"I made them." I admitted. "When we killed what was left of Gaelion, his 'soul' had fractured into a few pieces. The largest held the soul, some of it that remained cursed will be purified over the next generation or two, and the little bits that were left after that were used as the cores of those weapons."

Thankfully, his advancing years had not weakened his heart. "I..." He shook his head, "Purified? The Great tree!"

"Yes. Something I..." I motioned to my horns, "Only partially knew how to do. The effort has burdened me somewhat, but what I didn't eat myself, now sits in a very large tree. Ah... My party and I also killed the Tyrant Dragon Rex. Tetsu wanted nothing to do with that ball of madness, so its entire core is undergoing the same treatment."

"Incredible... There is a way to cleanse the madness from a corrupted dragon soul? I... Where? Where are these places? These trees?"

"If you promise to be a good guest, to bring no trouble, to cause no trouble, I will tell you, and you will be welcome."

He was almost falling over himself to find out, and would probably have promised me his life, or to cut off his own tail, or anything to see where I'd placed my trees. But I told him his promise was enough, and he left my room with something close to a spring in his step.

If was going to make an attempt to get me to stay in Siltvelt, he'd either forgotten, or gave up for his real goal to learn more about Tetsu.

So of course, my forth guest arrived just as I started to pour my new bottle of fur shampoo out of the last beaker of my alchemy set.

"Enter." I called out.

The Genmu Representative entered quietly, pausing only to mumble something to the guard outside my door. "Be someplace else a while, hmm?" I pretended to ignore that, and her, until she closed the door, "Sir Kodori." A pause, "What is that scent?" And yes, she was wearing the same nice toga/dress.

"Some of your local flowers pulped, boiled, strained then added to this shampoo." I said, tapping the glass beaker a couple more times to get the last of the finished substance into a 'generic clay pot'. "If you know the maid who put the flowers in that vase over there, thank them for me." I turned in my chair to face her, motioning to the empty vase (that would hold 2673mL of water... watching beakers bubble is even less interesting than calculus).

She laughed, her hands motioning delicately towards her perfectly smooth pate. "Alas, it would be no use to me. It's actually a sign of my bloodline, to be perfectly hairless save for my eyebrows and eyelashes."

At first glance, she looked 100 percent human. But looking just a little closer, I couldn't even see hair on her bare arms. "So what brings you by at this hour?" I asked.

"Well..." She rubbed a palm over the arm I was looking at, a deliberate act to show off, "Since the other three have visited, I would feel left out if I didn't make an attempt as well." She took a half step forward, "I'm sure they made their offers, money, power." Another step, "Calling on your sense of duty and honour for the weapon you carry." She was just out of arms reach when she stopped.

"And something about 'women' was thrown in there too." I said, standing. She was shorter than I was, (not uncommon in 4 of 4 worlds for some reason), but only enough so I could just look over her head.

"Indeed." She purred, "Melromarc and Zeltobe, as far as I know, are the only two countries who do not take pride in having a Hero in their bloodline." She stepped just a little closer, not quite touching me, but close enough that I could feel her breath over what little skin I had showing at my collar. "As much as I dislike Jaralis, he isn't wrong."

She reached up to touch my face, but I captured her hands. I was gentle, but didn't let her hands 'wander'. The wrong (sigh... or right) touch would give away my disguise. "Oh?"

She accepted my 'hold', her fingertips playing over my cheeks and along my jaw, and even a little over my horns. "Yes." She said, a pleased hum forming in the back of her throat, "At a word, even if you didn't choose to stay, though you would for at least a little while... I'm sure I could find a woman willing to bare your child for every room in this castle." She gave up trying to move her hands away from my face, and instead leaned into me, "Starting with this one of course."

When I didn't react to her leaning into me, she backed up a half step, one hand slipping from mine, and did a slow turn in place, like a dancer, my hand over her head, her hand in mine.

"I know you like my dress, I assure you it looks just as good on me, as it does on the floor."

I gave my wrist a little twist, and her shoulder a tiny push. Her back to me now, I put both hands on her shoulders, and moved them apart, stripping the dress/toga off her shoulders. She assisted with her divestment, wiggling her arms just a little, then her hips, then her knees, and all at once she was naked.

It was here, that she tried to turn, but my hands were still quite firmly on her shoulders. While I couldn't risk my disguise, I couldn't help but pull her close to me, my arms crossing over her chest, hands wandering her slender yet still pleasantly curved torso, my nose taking in the scent of the light perfume she was wearing.

She had just enough time to make that nice purring noise, her hands coming up to mine to try and direct their paths (yes... perfectly hairless...) before I forced myself to push her just a little apart from me, and towards the bed. Face down on the nice fluffy bed, she looked back at me with a look that was just that much warmer than I was already feeling.

It was by no small amount of luck, that the oil I'd made earlier was in reach. So, with one hand on one half of her perfectly smooth rear, I reached for the oil and pulled the cork with my teeth.

I was sure that the guard (who had returned about two minutes after I'd gotten the nice lady onto the bed) was having his head filled with all kinds of ideas. To be fair, I was being just a tiny bit more aggressive than the 'before bed/after exercise' attention I gave the rest of my party.

She was also playing things up, at least at first. It actually hurt my pride just a little to have her 'fake' things... At least, until she wasn't. I spent the better part of an hour alternately relaxing her muscles, and working them up again. At first, her moaning and giggles were playful, but for my benefit. Then her aroused noises took on a more breathy tone, but I'd relaxed her muscles to the point where she couldn't roll over to urge me to 'join in' a little more directly, as much as she (we) wanted me to.

Finally though, she had given up, or forgotten about me, and she fell asleep with a final sigh. I waited about a minute, undid the lacing on my house kimono so it looked like I'd 'thrown it back on', and quietly opened the door to my room.

The guard, a different one than before (sigh... I was going to regret missing that sleep...) gave me an 'up and down' look, smirked and tried to look into the room past me. I let him get exactly one second of 'rear view', before moving my body in the way.

"I'm going to need a different room until morning." I said quietly.

He chuckled quietly, "Give me a minute to find one. Maybe put a blanket over her."

I took that minute between him leaving, and returning with a quiet knock, to put my alchemy set back into the Shield, along with the half empty bottle of massage oil. And just because I could, I left the flower Kunshu had given me by the insensate Genmu woman's hand.

When I left, the guard locked the door behind me and slid the key under the door of my former room. I was then led (with the guard practically biting his lip to stop himself from asking questions) to another room that was just as 'secure' as the last one and told to not keep the rest of the castle awake if I could help it.

Of course, and not just because he'd made it clear that the wood and stone of the room wasn't enough to keep the noise down, I went about leaving bite marks in my own pillow before I could go to sleep.

"Sir? We have a situation! Wake your fuzzy ass up!"

Before my brain could connect a few brain cells together, I replied with a mumbling, "tail fuzzy, ass smooth."

"I didn't catch that. Wake up!"

The light seeping through the curtains was painful to look at as my eyes cracked open and I realized I was hearing Frost's voice. Not even my lack of sleep could override the reflexive adrenaline rush, though it tried. It took a moment longer than it should have, but I had the Occulus out of its pouch at best speed. "Frost?"

"Who else. We can talk about your rough night later. We've got a squad of guards here surrounding your wagon, and they want prisoners. Best we could get out of them was 'suspicious individuals' and 'here to cause trouble'."

Considering the only two people in that wagon were a girl who might have been a danger to a cup of noodles if you helped her find it, and the brother who would help her find it... "You're in the way I'm guessing?"

"Well yeah." The implied 'duh' was respectfully left out, but disrespectfully implied.

"Ask them under who's authority they're doing this."

There was a pause as his bear-eating face looked away and he said/asked, "Hey shiny! Yeah! The cat wearing his own shiny toy! Yeah yeah, glare all you want! Who's the one who gave the order?"

It was too far away from the Occulus to pick up the reply.

"Well if you don't tell me, we're gonna stop standing here, and actually resist." Pause, "I don't care who you are, just who sent you." Pause, "Thank you!" Then a mumbled, "bloody clanking rust licking..." He turned to face me, "Under orders of the head of the Hakuko."

"Hold them there. I'll get that order rescinded, by the current head of the Hakuko, or their next in line."

"Understood Sir." He grinned, "Boss says hold the line!" And the Occulus went dark.

I turned to the door of my room, did an equipment check, and took out my 'party' sound stone. I gave it three 'pings' not just to get everyone's attention, but to signal an emergency. "They're trying to take prisoners. Wait for my signal, then resist. Kunshu, nearest opportunity, return to the wagon, expect arrows. Tetsu-"

"still sleepy... listening though... yes pet that spot..."

"Tetsu, if you can't fight as you are, you may transform. No biting."

"heehee... someone is being naughty... not me... clever girl..."

I sighed quietly, "Understood?"

I got three 'yes's, one 'grr-click', a mumbled, 'kay...' and an angry 'buzz'.

Then to my surprise, the Queen spoke, likely through Melty's sound stone, "Try not to burn the place down if you can help it."

"Frost asked the guards trying to take two of my party into 'custody', and got 'head of the Hakuko' in reply."

"Ah, subtle as a falling tree, that one. I will pack my things."

The little glass bead in my palm went dark as everyone else put theirs away, and I tucked mine away under my shirt.

I then opened the door and gave the guard (different one again) standing there a flat look, "Where is Jaralis?"

"The honoured Hakuko Head is not to be-"

"If I have to, I will torture you until I get an answer." I growled, the glass lamps around me frosting over and guttering out even behind their protective glass, "Take me to him."

He (also a Leonid like Jaralis) considered my words, reconsidered them when I slipped the Shield off my back and onto my arm, and said, "Ah... This way Sir."

The Guard walked with purpose, but certainly not confidence. Much like last night, this was the second Leonid I'd given cause to put his tail between his legs. The castle was just waking up, so there were very few people around. There were other guards, of course, but seeing the one leading me, and me walking behind him just barely able to contain my anger, we started collecting more guards as we went.

He stopped just before a nice gossamer covered archway that led to one of those wide circular stone seated balconies, you know, for encouraging shorter talks about politics. Jaralis was sitting in the middle, on a nice chair, having breakfast on a little portable table.

"Ah." He finished chewing, swallowed, and took a sip of something from a metal cup, "A little earlier than I expected." Unlike last night, he was all smiles now, confident, smug.

"Let them be." I said as I walked out onto the balcony, the dozen guards slipping in behind me and blocking my escape, as well as any hope of reinforcement. "I know you sent some guards to my wagon. Call them off."

He looked 'shocked', though even with his inhuman face, I could tell it was fake. "Well well, how unfortunate. If you weren't harbouring known fugitives, we wouldn't be having this problem, now would we?"

"A pair of self exiled children? Really?" I shook my head, "You know, I don't care anymore. You have just done exactly the wrong thing. Call them off, or I will treat you like I did Idol Rabier."

There was a meaningful rattle of armour and weapons behind me, and Jaralis leaned forward just a little, "And what, pray tell, did you do to him?"

I felt my anger starting to crystallize, "You wouldn't survive the demonstration."

"And how would you manage that? Now that your party is lost among the myriad rooms of this castle, hmm? Now who's the one making threats?"

"I am the-"

As soon as I started chanting, my tails felt someone moving behind me. So I paused, hopped to the side almost far enough to touch the stone benching to my right, leaving behind a smoke bomb in my place. One of the guards finished the swing of his pole arm, missing the space my knee would have been. Instead of hitting me, he was instead at ground zero when the vial snapped open, spilling out a thick cloud of black smoke.

"-distraction you fell for." I finished, meeting Jiralis's gaze a moment before we were both consumed by the sudden black cloud. I tugged out my sound stone, "Resist."

(Usa)

As asked (Kodori almost never ordered 'out of combat'), Usa was being a good guest. The guard outside his room asked, in that 'this is not actually a request' tone, that he stay in his room until further notice.

The communication after Frost had reported 'the situation' however, put him into action. Calmly, he moved the chair and table of his nice little room aside, moved the nice fuzzy carpet aside as well to expose the bare stone floor, and drew a circle.

Well practised by now, he quickly worked a magic amplification circle into the floor with a bit of chalk Kodori had insisted he keep on him at all times (along with his spare knife, bandage, heat stone and a few other small items).

Once done, he checked his work over, made a single correction, and sat in the middle. Of course, he didn't want to use the circle. As capable and (still a little weird for him to think it) reliable of a fighter that he was in Kodori's party, he still didn't like fighting. So, he sat in the middle of the circle, waiting for the 'all clear' or 'signal' with his usual nervousness.

"Resist." Kodori said, the sound stone around his neck quivering with its activation.

The guard outside, was a rough looking bear demi-human who was chosen not just because he was a guard, and guarding is what he was paid for, but because he was naturally intimidating and guarding a (usually) timid Demi-human rabbit.

He grumbled as he felt the scruffy patches of fur all over his body start to tingle and itch.

Then something in the room he was guarding exploded. There was a horrendous burst of noise and static, the door next to him (thick wood with iron reinforcement made to look like tasteful decoration) vanished in a blast of splinters and fragments, and even though he was behind the thick stone wall next to the door, he was thrown off his feet like a toy.

He staggered to his feet a moment later, wobbled his way over to pick up his weapon, and looked into the room.

Gone. Almost everything in the room was gone. Bed? Splinters, padding and shredded fabric. Desk and chairs? Even smaller splinters and a few coal-glowing nails sticking out in places. Door to the small privy? Even worse than the door to the room.

Wall that once held the nice window with the iron security bars? Gone. Not just gone, but part of the stone around the window was gone with it.

And the occupant? Yup, gone.

One arm or not, nervous to the point of needing the occasional bit of medicine (or a hug) to help him sleep or digest properly, Usa was better than you might think at climbing. Of course, this was mostly due to his ability to jump, and a life of only having one hand to rely on. But past that, he had been gifted with various small bits of magic equipment. Like a spell storage bracelet. Charged with one of the few defensive spells he could learn as a wind/lightning adept, it was a blast of wind that could deflect all but the heaviest of arrows, or knock someone unprepared off their feet.

After the wall to the outside vanished, he was on his feet and looking out and up. Four floors up, but only two floors under a nice slanted roof. He stepped out as far as he could on the ledge he'd made, gave it a good stomp with his foot to make sure it would support the power of his jump, and leapt into the air. He had no trouble clearing the roof, but since it was a straight up trajectory, he used his armband and used it to push himself over it.

Taking a moment to recover from his landing, he got his bearings, and started to cast the spell again manually, since he'd probably need to use it to jump over the wall to get outside of the castle grounds.

(Raphtalia)

To anyone who knew her, it wouldn't have surprised them to see Raphtalia pacing like a caged animal. After the order to 'get ready for the signal', it only got worse. She started to look around the room for a weapon better than her little survival knife.

To be fair, it was a survival knife made from a dragon's tooth. But still a knife.

She paced, no, prowled around the room, thinking about how to leave the room in a hurry if need be, and if the corner post of the nice bed would make a good weapon, when a sudden vibration between her breasts snapped her out of the slowly growing fugue state she was spiralling into.

"Resist."

Like a spring, all that bottled energy came undone, and Raphtalia used that very sharp dragon bone knife to cut the door to her room in half. Iron and wood parted like parchment, and with a heavy kick Raphtalia put her boot through the door and rushed out into the hall. The guard, surprised at the suddenness of the exit, stood no chance as Raphtalia's knife cut through the shaft of his pole arm, and his broad Leonid nose caught a small but fast moving elbow.

Three seconds after that, the guard had his own little knife taken, and the shaft of his pole arm too, and Raphtalia was running down the hall on angry, but silent feet.

(Clive)

(As narrated by Morgan Freeman)

Brother Usa was a most reliable companion. He understood his limits, but also his talents. Add this to his appreciation and trust in his allies, and I knew where our weapons had been taken. He had heard the guards mention it, and passed the information on to me about three minutes after they'd been taken from us. While I had no idea if it would be useful information to know at the time, I respected his trust in my skills and committed that information to memory.

Just in case I had to retrieve them.

As a matter of fact, I will admit that as soon as Lady Kodori had told us about Frost's report, I escaped my room and started my efforts to retrieve them. It wasn't insubordination, not waiting for her order. It was prediction. I would lose my title of 'good listener' if I didn't catch the expectation of this situation in Lady Kodori's voice.

It was a simple matter to pry the window out of the frame without breaking it. Hardly much more effort was needed to pull the iron bars of the 'security' window apart to allow me to slip between them. And now that the more... bestial side of my heritage was taking over, the climb down from the fifth floor, to the second floor, was only slightly more difficult than walking.

By the time the little glass bead around my neck said, "Resist." I was crawling along the ceiling towards the guard room where our weapons should have been held.

I felt, more than heard an explosion ripple through the structure under my fingertips, and I went motionless. My own skin, and the enchanted cloak I was wearing blending in even further as I waited over the door of the guard room for the response to... If I were still a gambler, I'd bet that was Brother Usa.

(Melty)

After the initial report, the mother/daughter pair were quickly and efficiently packing things up. There wasn't much to pack, since most of the Queen's things were supplied by people of Siltvelt, but there was some.

"Kodori does not waste time." Mirellia commented with a bemused expression, "I rather admire that."

Melty was surprised at the compliment. It wasn't often her mother complimented anything, unless she was trying to flatter someone for favour, or make them overconfident to make a mistake.

"It is quite tiresome." Melty said, unable to lie without pain, she was finding 'blunt honesty' almost fun. "But it might not be just that this time."

"Oh?"

"Kodori has told us stories of home. Mostly when we ask 'why are you doing it like this?' after a lesson on combat or the like." Melty held up a nice finely woven shawl.

"Leave that." Mirellia said, "A good parent, or teacher, should explain why they correct a mistake."

"After..." Melty hid a shiver, though she was sure her mother noticed, "Rabier was dealt with, we were told about Hestia, a Goddess from Kodori's home. Hearth, home and family. Idol violated everything about those three things, and..."

"Say no more." the Queen gave Melty one of her rare signs of comfort (the giant hug and lap pillow were the exceptions, not the rule for the relationship between them) and put a hand on Melty's shoulder, "Let us hope it does not come to that, again, here."

"Resist." Kodori's voice spoke from under Melty's shirt.

The Queen sighed just loud enough for Melty to hear, "Shadow."

From... someplace in the room, a voice spoke. "Ma'am."

"We're leaving." And the Queen took one regally determined step towards the door, just as a shudder went through the foundations of the castle.

Followed by a very polite knock on the door.

On what seemed like reflex, the Queen answered, "Enter." And also on reflex, looked at Melty, who already hand her palm over the hilt of her little dagger/wand.

The door opened, revealing the almost glowing Genmu Representative. "Lady Mirellia, Queen of Melromarc." She greeted, the red dress/toga having been replaced by something similar to Kodori's combat kimono, except in vibrant green and gold. Also of note, was a red flower that had been tucked into the collar. "We have enjoyed your company for long enough, and have a cart being prepared for you."

Melty caught an exceptionally rare moment of her mother being surprised, but it was so fast she'd have missed it if she hadn't been looking directly at her. "Oh?"

"Indeed." The dark skinned woman smiled, "The current... incident will be quite firmly put on the Hakuko, and so long as there is still a castle here by the time you are gone, peace will remain between our countries."

Melty saw the situation for what it was. The other three leaders were going to blame everything on the Hakuko to diminish their political power, all while making sure, or at least trying very hard, to keep Melromarc (and the Shield Hero) as a friend.

Mirellia raised one regal eyebrow, "And the others?"

"No doubt they are making their way out as we speak, and we have taken steps to keep things from escalating outside." She replied, stepping aside for them.

"Very good. Thank you for your hospitality, and I hope we can talk further, once things settle down again." And the Queen left the room.

"tell her, thank you, but that was very mean." The Genmu woman whispered to Melty as she bowed to the Queen one last time.

Melty would have done her mother proud at hiding the shock she felt.

(Kunshu and Tetsu)

The two 'animals' of the party were being treated only a tiny bit worse than the rest of the party. They'd both been put into a single room on the second floor. This was still a 'single' room, and thus only had one bed. But neither of them cared about that. Tetsu could sleep on just about any mostly flat surface, and Kunshu could sleep on any surface at all.

After the 'report', Kunshu continued trying to wake Tetsu up. However, her insistent headpats, eyebrow rubs, forehead nuzzles and other such little attentions were having less effect than the Empress Bee had hoped.

She had to wiggle her body under the blanket, then under Tetsu, to get her to sit up and finally admit that it was time to wake up. Sadly, at least, it would likely make someone else sad, Kunshu had to shred the blankets to untangle herself so she could continue to urge Tetsu to her feet.

"Fine... fine..." Tetsu mumbled, yawning but returning the favour and patting Kunshu on that one spot she couldn't reach between her wings, "Um... oh!" The mini-dragon perked up as one of Kunshu's middle hands offered her a leftover cookie that the giant bee had hidden from her. "Yay!"

Tetsu stuffed the entire cookie in her mouth and chewed enthusiastically while she stretched herself out. Arms, legs, tail, wings, each one making her groan quietly with effort, then snap back with a happy sigh.

"Do you think we can get more food before we start fighting?" Tetsu asked.

Kunshu leaned down a little, letting her antenna settle on the bony ridges around the mini-dragon's eyes, "maybe. food smell comes from down square tunnel, that way."

The buzzing vibration 'speech' made her head itch, but rubbing the feeling away was almost as good as having someone else do it for her, "I hope it's more of that meat! I dunno what it was, but it was tasty!"

Kunshu shrugged, one of her most human gestures, just in time for the little sound stone around her neck to say, "Resist."

Tetsu blinked, then raised an arm as Kunshu seemed to vanish. A gust of wind, the shattering of glass, the shriek of metal being twisted apart, and a shaft of morning light coming through the new hole in the curtains. The Empress Bee didn't leave so much as a hole, but a tunnel through the nearest exit.

"Wow!" Tetsu laughed, "But food is this way!" And she took a step towards the door.

The Dragon Priest had rounded the corner just in time to hear the sudden exit of Kunshu. He was just about to despair that he was too late, but a moment later, just as the guard to Kunshu and Tetsu's room was turning to open the door to find out what was going on, the door vanished in a blast of wood and metal scraps.

Now laying against the opposite wall, the guard could do nothing as Tetsu walked out of the room like she owned the castle (like a dragon, or a cat would), and looked around, her head moving left and right, her nose sniffing the air.

"Ah! Honoured Dragon! Please wait!" The elder called out, inwardly cursing his age and the delay it had caused getting here. "If you would please follow me!" Except Tetsu was already jogging away down the hall away from him.

He caught up to her a minute or two later. She wasn't hard to find really. He just had to avoid the terrified maids who were running away from the kitchen. He turned the corner, and stopped at the doorway.

Tetsu, in her full dragon form, was doing her level best to eat a hanging slab of meat about the size of an entire cow that had been dry aging on a hook. To most, the sight of her devouring the carcass, bones and all, would have been horrifying.

"Magnificent." The Aotatsu representative said.

His breathy exclamation caught Tetsu's attention, and she turned her head (pulling the chain holding the carcass out of the ceiling) "Hmm? Oh! Hi old dragon person!" There was a pause as she used a hand to rip the hook out of the meat, throw it through the nearest wall carelessly, and "NOM NOM NOM!" the other half of the carcass out of reality and into the void of her stomach, "Nom nom... Sorry... Um, you don't want to fight, do you?"

"Goodness no! No no. Never with a true dragon." He replied with just enough haste to get his words out, but not potentially disrespect the object of his awe. "If you wanted to take that one there with you, I can show you out. No one will bother us as we leave the castle."

Tetsu looked to a second, smaller, giant slab of meat hanging from the ceiling, "I can really eat that too?"

"Only if you follow me right afterwards." He said with the same tone Kodori would when 'bribing' her with food.

"Yay! Um... just a moment... and... Gr too slow!" And that chain was also ripped off the ceiling, but thankfully not thrown through the nearest wall. "Want to hold my hand? I'd offer to let you on my back... but its a little short out there."

"Of course."

And that was how the Aotatsu Dragon Priest took a dragon for a walk.

Notes!

Next episode? We may or may not upset the timeline some more. Oh, who am I kidding?

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!