A Dragon's Slave Ch. 06

"It's not that," he mutters. "Something's up with Nightwing."

I frown in return. "Wait, what? What d'you mean?"

"I noticed it when she brought up stuff from her past, when she discussed what she learned about elves, and then now, again..." He scratches his stubble in thought. "She's being...oddly guarded about it. I mean, she doesn't let on much about her personal life in the first place, but...she's never been straight-up mechanical or vague about it, like she's being with this stuff."

"Well...what do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do you mean?" He asks, clearly surprised. "Isn't it obvious? She won't clarify on who her friend is, she's been really quiet while we were walking..."

"Maybe she just feels awkward with...well, y'know..." We both blush as I bring up what we did last night again. We had mostly moved past it after walking and talking so extensively, but my comment brought back all the shame.

"Maybe, but...I'd still like to know what we're getting into," Peter mutters. "I don't know anything about her friend..."

"Why don't you ask her?"

"I dunno, I...I feel like it would be a very personal conversation, and...it'd be best not to have it while we're walking."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Look, just – not right now, okay?" He responds, harshly. Sighing, he shakes his head and starts to pick up his pace. "I...I'm just going to ask if she's okay, but...I won't ask her about her friend just yet."

I roll my eyes. Nightwing is right – he's a little shit. And an overly emotional little shit at that!

He hurries ahead, and keeps step with Nightwing. I watch as their conversation unfolds, and decide to use this time to think about...stuff.

Mostly last night. I mean, last night was...wild, and erotic, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed myself. But...it's just lingering now, and we're all trying to ignore it. Like a big wad of gum on the bottom of a shoe – we're trying desperately to ignore it, but we're also trying to scrape it off at every curb.

Unfortunately, this wad of gum mostly consists of semen, sweat, and shame.

I sigh to myself and continue walking, trying to keep my mind off of this shit so I don't keep blushing harder and harder with every passing second...

Whoa, their uh, 'conversation' is getting kind of heated. I wonder what they're saying...

--------------

Peter

"I just...don't want to talk about it, alright!?"

"But why not? C'mon Nightwing – you know you can trust me! I mean, who am I gonna tell? Seriously?"

"It's not that, it's just..." The dragoness falls silent for a moment, and looks away. She visibly steels her nerves before speaking again. "I...I don't like thinking about it."

She remains silent, refusing to look at me as we walk. My shoulders sag as I remember something important: despite having just become human, and being 21 in human years in terms of development – wait, was it 21? I forget her age already – she's over a century old in reality. She has a long, possibly complex past, with things that may make her happy or sad.

That's is another thing I have to remember – even though she feels more emotions as a human, she still felt emotions as a dragon. So something that made her sad as a dragon probably makes her depressed as a human.

I sigh as I place a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Nightwing. I just...I don't want to go into some dragon's cave and get burnt to a crisp because I'm accidentally disrespectful. I don't know who this dragon is, how to properly address them, or how to behave in a conversation." She releases another sigh, so I hurry to get to the point. "You don't have to tell me who this dragon is to you – just tell me what to do when I see him. Or her."

I remove my hand from her shoulder, and we walk in silence for a few moments. I turn back to look at Demetrius – uh, Demetra – and give a small shrug. She nods. But she has the face of a guy.

I mean, I have nothing against transsexuals, but...after having sex with her, and knowing that her masculine face is just a mask, it's kind of unsettling...

Man, we're handling this whole "had sex" thing pretty damn well. I thought we'd be stammering over our words and struggling to even look at each other. I guess I had a few misconceptions about sex between fresh strangers, huh? I mean, still, it's kind of awkward, but –

"He's the leader of a small group of dragons."

I blink a few times, torn from my thoughts as I look to Nightwing in surprise. "Wait, what?"

"He leads a small group of dragons – most of them related by blood, some brought in as slaves won from draconic battles, and others let in by what humans refer to as 'adoption'." Nighting looks to me, and I remain surprised that she divulged any information whatsoever. "You were right, Peter. And I apologize. And I am glad that I do not have to tell you who he is to me."

She averts her gaze, and is about to say something else when I gently rub her shoulder. She gets the message as she briefly places her hand on mine, before clearing her throat and continuing. "Get Demetra. She'll need to hear this."

I do just that, and Nightwing begins to explain how to act before the dragon.

"You must address him as 'Sir'. He leads a group of dragons, what humans and elves refer to as a 'clan' of dragons. As such, he is greatly respected by all dragons in the region, including myself and other clan masters." Demetra and I nod before she continues.

"You must stand straight, and keep your hands open by your sides. You will bow before him – as will I. I do not know how he will receive me in my current form.

"He has a great deal of tolerance for humans and elves – more so than his father before him. As such, you need not fear death due to invasion of his land, as long as I announce your presence first."

She falls silent for a moment as we come to a small stream. Nightwing briefly checks the position of the sun before nodding to herself, and carrying on towards the, uh...right. I don't know what direction it is on the compass. I lost track of my bearings a long time ago.

Nightwing begins to speak again as we walk.

"I honestly do not know whether or not he will agree to examine your Spectrum, Peter. However, if he does, then it will be a process, and you must not take it lightly.

"You will be alone with him for an extended period of time. As a clan-master, he has received the ultimate training in how to utilize and read the Spectrum, but still requires a certain degree of concentration to do so. You must not speak, but if he asks you a question, you must answer as truthfully as you can. Not because he dislikes lying, but because it can help the process. Also, he doesn't like lying.

"Furthermore, you cannot leave his presence until he dismisses you. I don't think he will take too long, due to his training. Albeit, do not assume that he is done until he says so."

There is a lull in her lecture as the stream begins to widen. I look forward, and see that it comes from an admittedly beautiful river that curls away into a mist-shrouded valley. If I listen carefully, I can hear the roar of a waterfall – but it sounds more like a gentle mumble from this distance.

"The last thing to discuss is that we are his guests. However, we cannot leave whenever we please – we can only leave when he allows for us to do so. If he asks for us to stay for dinner, we must accept."

"What if he asks for us to stay for dinner, and then it turns out we're the dinner?" I ask, nervousness starting to creep into my gut as we approach the valley. I mean, this is a dragon – a dragon that, so far, sounds much more powerful than Nightwing, even in her draconic form.

"If that occurs, I will attempt to talk you out of being devoured. If I am unable to, then I will revert to my draconic form and carry you out. However, he is much faster than me, and may end up killing us all."

I gulp. What an uplifting scenario. "But...what if we escape?"

"Look, I don't think we'll have to do that, okay? He doesn't like the taste of human – he thinks they're too fleshy." She glances at Demetra, who is visibly sweating. I don't blame the poor thing. "The same goes for elves."

I nod, and ask her where exactly the entrance to the clan's home is.

"A cave near the waterfall in that valley," Nightwing responds. "About two days of walking away."

I nod, secretly dreading so much more walking, when Nightwing abruptly stops walking, and looks to the sky.

"What's the matter?" I ask, looking to the clouds.

"Th-th-that," Demetra stammers, pointing to what seems to be a rather small thunderhead.

"That? It's just a cloud, I don't see anything wrong with – "

Oh my everything.

That's not a cloud.

I thought it was a cloud shaped like a giant bird.

No.

It has wings.

Those wings are moving.

Yep. Yeah, no – it's not a cloud.

It's a dragon.

A giant fucking dragon.

The size of a small thunderhead.

It's coming down.

At us.

Yeah, I'm gonna run. Nightwing can have fun greeting this fucker, I'm – ACH!

"You're staying here," Nightwing announces, her hand wrapped tightly around the collar of my shirt. Demetra looks at me, and then to the dragon – which is still descending, and growing larger – and decides to book it. Nightwing trips her with her tail, and then reaches over to hold her by the wrist. The elf stands, disheveled and disgruntled, as she rubs her sore shoulder. Nightwing lifts me to my feet, and Demetra and I exchange a glance as we watch the dragon in silence.

It finally lands before us, and its eye is larger than my torso. I know that the valley is big, but how in the fuck does this thing fit in there? If it even lives in there to begin with...

I see Nightwing nod out of the corner of my eye. They must be having a telepathic communication.

Nightwing finally speaks after a few moments. "Peter, Demetra...this is my friend."

I sigh in relief, but Demetra still seems pretty scared. I mean, at least we're dealing with a dragon that Nightwing knows, and not some random dragon that wants to gobble us up. Then again, given this thing's size, I doubt it'd get much nutrition from us, and wouldn't even bother trying to –

/What is your name?/

I blink, startled by the voice resonating through my skull. I look to Nightwing, who nods to me. I gulp, my nervousness returning as I speak.

"My name is Peter," I respond. "S-sir," I quickly add on.

/Your surname?/

"Resignor, sir," I respond. The dragon nods.

/So, your father is the leader of Amallhia.../ I nod, somewhat surprised that he knows about my father. Then again, he's a dragon – he probably knows a lot of shit I don't expect.

The dragon turns to Demetra, and she jumps slightly as it asks her the same questions. She responds with "Demetra", which is obvious, but it's her surname that I find interesting.

"Amlhian, sir." Huh...I don't know why, but I expected a...harsher, name. Like, more hard consonants and whatnot. Oh, well – we can't all fit our last names.

The dragon nods, and turns to Nightwing. They seem to have a short discussion, before the dragon kneels down and lowers its wings.

"You should be honored," Nightwing announces. "He is going to let you ride upon his back to the home of the clan. We'll be there by nightfall."

Demetra and I thank the dragon profusely before carefully climbing onto his back. I accidentally kick at part of his wing, and freeze in fear as he turns to glare at me.

"Uh...sorry?" I give him a nervous smile. Nightwing grabs me by the wrist and drags me onto his back, having already flown up top.

/You are pardoned. Just don't do it again./

Something completely unexpected happens then. NIghtwing leans over, and whispers into my ear, "he's ticklish." I look at her in shock – how would she know that? And can dragons even be ticklish? Well obviously, but...what the fuck? I mean, what the hell is going on, who is this dragon to Nightwing?

"Hold on to this," Nightwing announces, motioning to one of several spikes that runs down the length of the dragons' spine. I grab onto it, and turn to see that Demetra is holding onto another one behind me for dear life. I tighten my grip in fear.

Nightwing sits before the spike between us, and tucks her wings in tight. She keeps a tight grip as the dragon stands, shakes its head, and spreads its wings. With one mighty flap, we're about two inches off the ground. He flaps again, and gets higher. What, you thought one flap would put us feet above the ground? There's not enough airflow for proper lift down here – I mean, there's the ground effect, but he's not in motion yet.

Finally, the dragon flaps once more, and we achieve the mythical ten-foot jump. I feel the pit of my stomach recede into my balls as we climb, and shut my eyes as the wind whips past me. The sensation of motion is all too strong, and is scaring the absolute shit out of me.

I open my eyes, braving the whipping winds, to see that Demetra's mouth is wide open in a scream rendered inaudible by the speed of the wind. Suddenly, something comes off of her neck – the voice modulator she spoke about before peels off, and she watches it fly into the ether. I'm glad she didn't try to reach for it – that would've been the end of that friendship...

She looks to me, fear visible as day in her eyes, as she continues to tighten her grip. I do the same, and we both shut our eyes as the wind forces tears from our ducts.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Nightwing is fucking laughing. Y'know, just holding on, smiling, watching the landscape go by. While Demetra and I are holding on for dear life.

I gasp as I nearly lose my bag, and use my shoulders to shimmy the strap closer to my hand. I quickly wrap it around the spike I'm holding – I wouldn't want it flying off and slamming into Demetra, or Nightwing.

I gulp as I tighten my grip again, my fingertips and knuckles turning white with pressure and small friction burns developing on my palms and thighs.

I remember that I always said I wanted to fly as a child.

I now know that I lied.

----------------

Nigthtwing

Note: For this part, the speech is in quotes. However, it is all telepathic. Also, it's translated from Draconic, and where the male dragon uses Nightwing's name, it is replaced with Nightwing. If you'll recall, her real name is a mixture of images and ideas. Anyway, read on.

"How are they?"

"Demetra lost her voice modulator, but they're both hanging on."

He nods, returning his focus to his flight. I smile as I hold on tighter. "I remember when we used to do this..."

"That was centuries ago."

"But it feels like yesterday," I respond with a sigh. Melancholy seeps in as I press my cheek against his spine.

"Becoming human has made you much more sentimental, I see," he remarks.

"Yeah...it has," I sigh in my mind. "It's difficult at times, but it's manageable."

There's a small span of silence between us as I watch the entrance to the valley fly by.

"Why were you out here, by the way?"

"The Void is thick around here," he responds. "I was patrolling for groups of it when I noticed you walking."

I nod. I already told him that Peter can control the Void, and he had already noticed that it's returned, so he was ready to believe that we have a fighting chance against it.

"I've missed you."

I smile at the sentiment. "And I you," I respond.

We remain silent for a little while, unable to think of what to talk about. One hundred and twenty years of not seeing each other has left us somewhat out of touch. As I begin to regret returning as a human, due to heightened emotions and possible pain, he speaks up.

"You're not the only one who's becoming more emotional recently."

"What do you mean?"

"Many dragons have been experienced increased emotions. The scholars believe it is because of the void – we can all feel it. It's kicking us into some sort of overdrive – making us feel more and more than we already did, possibly to make us more willing to fight them to defend our clans, and the world. Which means that it is now double for you, unfortunately."

I sigh, and rest my forehead against his spike. "Wonderful..."

I feel a small amount of empathy emanating from him. "Do not fret, Nightwing. These problems can be dealt with once we land. For now, simply focus on the scenery – this is, of course, a one-time ride."

I smile as I take a deep breath and look to the entrance to the valley. I've never flown over it from this perspective, and I can honestly say it's just as beautiful as ever.

We eventually pass the threshold of the clan's territory, marked by a thriving, burned tree.

"Welcome home, Nightwing."

I smile. "Thank you, brother..."

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Sorry that took so long! College is no joke. And neither is writer's block. Took me a while to finally finish the last few parts of this chapter.

So, what do you think of Nightwing's slightly more human demeanor? I know, it's not the best chapter – but it's the only option I actually liked out of all the ones I could see. Maybe I was being narrow-minded, but regardless, I think it turned out pretty good.

And yes, I know – no sex this chapter. Don't worry, you'll get your fill of smexiness soon enough – I promise.

And by soon enough, I mean next chapter – whenever that may be. (May take a while, starting Sophomore year of college and whatnot. Sorry in advance if it takes forever.)