The Pearl Ch. 05

attention in front I was scolded.

I was instantly aware of the other dragon bringing his claw down at my face and jerked out of the way. Some inner instinct informed me that giving ground was bad, so I curled back around and I went for his throat. The move was unexpected and the other dragon coiled upward to escape. He hadn't given ground, unfortunately, but was standing reared back and in an awkward position. I merged a little further with the river looking for some other unexpected line of attack. The river showed me the roots of the trees sunk deep into the water. Because they drew sustenance from the river, the river had flowed into them. I focused on them and they grabbed the upper half of the dragon's body, pulling him over backwards into the water.

Even though his upper body writhed against the tree roots, his lower body was still free. And I wasn't paying attention to it. His tail came up, smacked me hard against the head, and then hooked around while his back claws racked against my snout. I managed to catch part of his leg in my mouth and bit down, but the angle was too strained to inflict any damage. He managed to get the leg out, but had to release my head in the process. He then managed to shred the roots and we stood facing each other, both of us pretty wet, winded, and pretty damn unhappy.

* * * *

I stared down at where the pearl entered. My abdomen was slightly distended as if I might be, say, four months pregnant, but there was no other outward manifestation. However, as soon I realized that there was no pain and I wasn't changing into a dragon, my panic began to subside. Actually, the pearl felt like Sebastian and when I considered what the pearl really was, that made sense. I not only held a piece of Sebastian within me, but the central, core piece. I pushed against the area and felt the pearl move inside of me. That sent a shudder up my spine and a pulse of heat through my groin. I'd had men get inside of me before, on pretty much every different level there is to interpret that quaint phrase, but this was something different. So much more intense. I rubbed slight bulge, sending the pearl rocking, and my hips began to move in rhythm. As the heat began to build, my panic disappeared and the desire, the need to masturbate moved under my skin like a living thing. My hand was at the tie of my waistband when I came to my senses and stopped myself.

"Focus, Pinky, focus," I said out loud. "Battle, big mean dragon, gotta get out of here." Then I forced myself into a run. Of course, the running caused the pearl to roll around even more, further hindering my concentration. So I tried to do what I would do if I had minor pain during a meet; I focused on it and incorporated it into the rhythm of the run. It seemed to be working. It also caused me to focus on Sebastian and what I thought of him.

Even though we only knew each other for a very short time, about a week, I was already quite fond of him. When it looked like he might be going, I was terribly upset by it, and equally overjoyed when he said he was staying. He was really a very sweet guy and I was making excuses to my friends to come see him. The local Toxic Taco loved me to no end. But, while his human form was kind of cute, I never considered a physical relationship. This little experience was beginning to make me think differently. Because, it seemed to me, if his pearl had this effect on me I most likely wanted him on some level to begin with. The more I examined my feelings, the more that conclusion became obvious.

Of course, this wasn't my primary, or even secondary concern. Primarily, I had to keep the pearl from this other dragon. Well, this was certainly the most secure place I could think of at the moment. But, God, I hoped the other dragon didn't figure it out and try to take it from me. Which led to my secondary concern. How in God's namewas the pearl coming out? Well, Sebastian should know... Right, what was I thinking?Chang should know at least something about that. I hoped.

* * * *

We stood surveying each other. I could feel blood oozing down my snout. However, I could see something like rope burns from the tree roots on the other dragon and he was missing some scales.

"Surprisingly well played,gweilo," he admitted begrudgingly. "Still, you're not a match for me. Give me the pearl, and you can go back to whatever passed for your previous life. It will be much worse for you if you fight me."

"Wow, that's a really generous offer," I replied. "How to respond... How about 'piss off and die'? And 'ohhell no' is always good. I also like 'go fuck yourself.'" I smiled broadly.

He did not appreciate my wit. He was practically trembling with rage. Good. Hopefully, he would make a mistake.

"How dare you?" he seethed, lowering his head towards me. I watched carefully, not wanting to get caught off guard. "Don't you know your betters?"

"Yeah, Chang is my better. Yours, too. You, however, just strike me as a piss-ant jackass." Not entirely true, but damn it, if I was going down, I was going down defiant. He lunged and I braced.

He slammed against my chest and I slid several inches. But the river swelled against me, keeping me from moving further. I was winded, but still managed to snap my jaws on the back of his neck. I didn't pierce the scales, but he felt the bite. Realizing just how vulnerable his position was, he shook off my jaws and surged suddenly on top of me, pushing me down into the river. I wasn't going to drown, but it did put him on top, an overall bad thing. I lashed with my tail. I didn't have the control he did, but I did manage to smack him hard in the face. He stumbled slightly. He caught himself, but it was enough for me to get out from under him.

We now stood side by side. Though the fight had been relatively even, I was beginning to tire. I was unaccustomed to this much exertion as a dragon. He wasn't, on either count. This wasn't going to end well.

* * * *

I crossed over into the shopping area. As I hoped, it was crowded with weekend shoppers. I had to slow my pace to a fast walk. Fortunately, under my shirt you couldn't tell anything was amiss. I made my way through the crowd as quickly as I could. I figured I would start lapping the area and wait for some sort of indication of what to do next. Of course, I had no way of knowing the outcome of the fight, or how to get back in touch with Sebastian. I imagined he had to have a way of finding the pearl, and so maybe he could track me by that.

Assuming he won.

God, I hated not knowing.

Suddenly, someone was in my path. I noticed too late to swerve and walked right into them.

"Excuse me," I said, without looking at them. When they grabbed me by the arm, I started to round on this person. A golden-eyed Asian man regarded me with some concern.

"Chang!" I shouted, throwing my arms around him. He stepped back a moment, surprised. I wondered briefly if I had broken some taboo. But then he hugged me hastily in return.

Stepping out of the embrace he asked, "Dakota, what is happening?" He looked down to my abdomen. "And why are you carrying Sebastian's pearl?"

I quickly told him the story of our morning. As he listened, his expression grew dark and very fierce. When I reached the end, he was clearly furious. I now understood what Sebastian meant about how frightening he was when angry. I swore I heard distant thunder. Despite his clear anger, he very gently took my hand.

"Come this way please," he said, moving into the crowd. They seemed to almost unconsciously part to let us through.

"Where are we going?" I asked deferentially.

"Simply somewhere I can change with minimal fuss."

We quickly made our way through the crowd to a small sitting area. He looked around and within moments everybody there wandered away. He released my hand and shifted so that he was somewhat curved around me, his head facing me. He raised his claw and carefully ran it across my abdomen. The pearl slid out and landed in his palm. He placed it in his mouth while hunkering down and offering me his back. I climbed on. Even with the pearl gone, I felt a lingering ghost of Sebastian's presence still within me. Chang looked back at me with a mischievous grin, and I realized he could tell what I experienced. He moved the pearl over to his cheek.

"It seems you and Sebastian have quite a bit to talk about," he said. Regardless of his sweet, if mischievous, smile, I still blushed all the way to the bone.

He crouched to take off, and I clung tightly. He glanced back, saying, "Do not worry. I will not allow you to fall."

* * * *

He snarled at me and leaped. I didn't really have much room to move and he slammed against me again. And I went down, again. The river surged around me, dumping what energy it could, but I had a much harder time squirming out from under him. I did manage to get back upright. His front half moved past me and was looking back in my direction. I realized too late that at his length, he effectively had me surrounded. His tail grabbed my head while his front claws drug my back half down. He crawled his front claws up my body while his tail pulled my head down. I struggled against him, but he had enough of his body in the fight that his weight and size advantage was really coming into play. When his front claws reached my middle he managed to get a loop of his body around my tail, effectively controlling it. As he worked his way up, he continued looping until he had me trapped in his coils like a snake. His tail released my head shortly before his front half reached it. By that point I was subdued. I took some pleasure in the fact that he was at least winded from this fight.

"Now,gweilo, this ends," he said, closing his eyes. He quietly began to chant, and the words reverberated in my head. I buried my head in the river to try to block it out, but it didn't work. He seemed to have reached the end, but nothing happened. He looked down at me confused, and started again. And again, nothing happened. He paused for a moment, appearing to be thinking. Then he became very, very pissed. Releasing my body, he hauled my head up towards his.

"You hid it!" he roared at me.

"Just figured that out, did you?" I asked.

He threw my head back down. I lay there, uncertain if I had the strength to continue fighting.

He glared down at me. "Where is it?" he hissed.

"Like I would go through all this just to tell you that."

He continued glaring at me, but then a snide, calculating smile crossed his face.

"I'm sure I could use that pretty little favorite of yours to get at the answer."

I wasn't sure what he meant by favorite, but since Dakota was the only person he'd seen me with outside of Chang, it was a pretty quick elimination process. That got me going.

I was about to lunge back at him when a sudden and very loud crack of thunder startled us both. Looking up at the sky, I could see storm clouds gathering. I dared to hope it meant what I thought it did.

"You will do no such thing." With this surprisingly calm proclamation, Chang announced his presence. I thanked whatever Deity might be listening.

The other dragon backed away from me quickly. I rolled somewhat upright and looked over to see Chang standing in the river with Dakota perched on his back. His black mane was blowing in the steadily increasing wind, his scales darkened to almost completely black making his gun metal gray underscales stand out all the more and the white flashes more prominent. In that moment, he was the embodiment of the furious majesty of a thunderstorm. I was struck once again by how awe-inspiring, terrifying, and overwhelming he could be.

He lowered his jaw, revealing my pearl.Looking for this? Though it was directed to the other dragon, I heard it in my mind, too. Now, to me this pretty much said that the adult was in the room and that playtime was over. The other dragon, not so much. To my utter disbelief, he lunged for the pearl. I was absolutely floored he could be that dumb.

Chang swallowed my pearl (I wasnever going to get used to that feeling) and snapped his jaws over the dragon's head. His entire head fit into Chang's mouth, with Chang's upper and lower fangs locking right where his neck began. His antlers were forced down against his neck and he was obliged to hold his head at a very strange angle. This didn't stop him from struggling.

"Well jeez, Einstein, even I saw that coming down main street," I snarked.

Predictably, he didn't want to hear smack talk from some wanna be, poser dragon. He redoubled his efforts. From the look Chang gave me, he didn't appreciate it either. Thinkthen talk. I have to keep telling myself that.

Chang sharply shook his head, cracking the other dragon like a whip.Summon your elder, he demanded. The other dragon fell still, but did nothing further. Thunder pealed ominously around us.I am not having sport with you, youngling. Summon your elder before I do something to cause him to come.

He was still maybe minute longer, than I felt something like a pulse. It registered the same way a deep bass does, as a vibration more than anything else. Chang waited a bit longer, then, seemingly satisfied with what had been done, released the dragon's head. He skulked back to where he had been standing. Chang looked at me and with a gesture of his head indicated I should come stand next to him. I complied only too gladly. I reached my head up to Dakota and nudged her in greeting. She ran her hands through my mane, smiling. There was something different about her, but I couldn't quite place it.

"That bass trembly thing, that was the summons?" I asked softly as I arranged myself next to Chang.

He nodded.

"Could you teach me that? 'Cause that would have beenreally useful today," I replied, still keeping my voice low.

He nodded. "I can see that. My apologies, I underestimated his obsession. Speaking of which," he brought the pearl back into his mouth.This belongs to you. He lowered his head to mine and returned my pearl.

I held it in my mouth for a split second as I pushed the river partially out. The river wasn't happy, as it had gotten much further in during the fight. And honestly, I felt a little shitty pushing the river back out after letting it in for the fight. It smacked of using the river. But I just wasn't comfortable with sustaining that level of contact. The river seemed to understand, and pulled back. Not as far as before the fight, the river had gained some ground, but far enough. Somehow, I suspected that in the long run I was on the losing end of this fight. I swallowed the pearl and felt Dakota.

How I could say it was Dakota having never...felt...her, for lack of a better word, I don't know. But instantly, I knew I had some piece of her, essence I guess, and was dumbfounded by it. I looked immediately up to Dakota and she was looking back at me with something sublime in her expression. I looked to Chang.

"Later," was all he would say.

He reached around and nudged Dakota onto my back. I carried Dakota on my back before, but it felt all together different this time. Like a puzzle piece snapped into place. Something had happened, I could tell. I thought I might be able to figure it out, given time, but the elder arrived moving this concern firmly into the later category.

A massive dragon, close in size to Chang, appeared next to my adversary. His scales were a stunning deep green color with gold shot throughout. His underscales were gold, and his mane and ruff were gold with green shot through. His antlers branched spectacularly above his head. I wondered what his element might be. Since Chang's was storm, I knew elements for the dragons went past the simple earth, air, fire, and water. I thought his might be somehow related to the earth, maybe forests. He carefully took in his surroundings. He nodded politely to Chang, and seemed to make note of me and Dakota. If he had a problem, it wasn't immediately obvious. He then looked at his younger dragon.

"Yes, Qiang?"

He seemed reluctant to look directly at his elder. I stole a glance to Chang, and he had no such qualms. To be safe, I kept my eyes somewhat lowered.

He finally said, "This elder of an unknown clan demanded I summon you." He indicated Chang with a gesture of his head.

The stately dragon looked to Chang.

"Yes?" he prompted. His tone was still level, but I could tell he was starting to get annoyed.

Chang dipped his head in greeting to this elder. "I am Chang, elder in the clan of the Moon's Favor," he intoned. "This youngling," Chang indicated Qiang, "has attacked my fledgling twice without any provocation that has been explained. He is in his first century, and any errors should be directed to me."

He slowly looked back to Qiang. "How do you answer?"

He looked away, but I could see his rising outrage. "Well, just look at him."

He gave me a long, considering look. "He is a river dragon," he pronounced. "Newly brought to being a dragon. Well blessed by his river, with the pearl's generating elder. So what of him?"

Inescapably, his anger came to the fore. "He'sgweilo," he snapped, looking infuriated.

The elder cocked his head at me, studying further.

"So what if he was?" he asked mildly. "What he is now is a dragon."

"But it's an offense, blasphemous in its implications," Qiang seethed.

The elder sighed. "I understand you were born in these later days. So I shall explain to you the law of Heaven on these matters. Once the pearl has chosen, it is interpreted as the will of Heaven. The individual, whoever or whatever they are or have been, is now a dragon. Period."

"Obviously, there was some mistake."

The elder raised his head and imperiously stared down at Qiang. Though he clearly still held his views, he cowered ever so slightly under the scrutiny. "I would not dare such things," he rumbled. "Furthermore, he is clearly accepted by the elder of the pearl, as well as this river. I do not presume an error on the part of Heaven, so it would seem Heaven has no problem with this arrangement. The only problem appears to be yours, and you have no say in any of this. It is not your concern."

He began to turn back to Chang, Dakota, and I. Qiang, not believing his dismissal, started again.

"But he is not worthy."

The elder turned back. "It is not your concern."

"But-"

The elder glared at Qiang until he looked down. "It is not your concern. I am wondering if perhaps you have been here, away from your clan and what it is to be a dragon, for too long. You sound as petty as the worst human." Qiang lowered himself physically to the ground, prostrating himself before the elder. He curved his neck so that the top of his head touched the ground.

"I am sorry, elder. I have not forgotten. I beseech you, allow me to stay."

The elder regarded him, but said nothing. He again turned to where we were standing, leaving Qiang as he was on the ground.

"I am Zongxian, elder in the clan of the Yellow River, and you have my apologies. This will not happen again." He indicated Qiang. "This is Qiang and he is my disappointing youngling. What would you have his punishment be?"

I deferred to Chang.

"A cessation of hostilities is all I seek. I have already instructed my fledgling to avoid the eatery your youngling is attached to."

The elder looked at me. "You have eaten there?" he asked.

"Yes, I have."

"Did you like it?"

"Uh, yeah, it was pretty good."

"Qiang notwithstanding, would you eat there again?"

I shrugged, a bit put-off by the sudden request for a restaurant review. "Yeah, sure." I looked back to Dakota. "What do you think? Would you want to go back?"