Crossing Boundaries Pt. 08

She smiled as if pleased with him too.

"Only in how you responded to it. Though that is something that we will come to. I assure you that the dragons have been dealt with, but I think that you did the best there, in showing them that their powers were not to be bragged about so callously."

Oshun's lips twisted minutely, perhaps only something more noticeable due to her long, elegant muzzle.

"By pushing their skills into the spotlight, they think that they profess their powers. However, they've only succeeded in showing that they have so much more to learn when it comes to using magic in battle, their minds slow and bodies weaker than they should be at this stage, having trained for such things already. That, however, is a discussion for me to have with them."

Giselle nodded, Kael sitting back. To expect to hear more on that was out of bounds.

"What I am interested in hearing, however, is how you did what you did... That was not magic that I am familiar with, but humans do not share much of their magic with us. Can you tell me a little about how you fought back?"

Kael shifted. Why did everyone want to know so much about that? It felt as wrong to brag about something that he could just do... But everyone else seemed to be impressed by it? Maybe what they envisioned was him spending hours upon hours pouring over texts, scrolls, practising, studying, working hard on his abilities until they, apparently, became what was already second nature to him? That would have at least made him feel a little better about defeating the dragons so easily, though it was not quite so.

"But I think these sorts of things are best placed in a sparring match -- a proper one, not like the one that they so rudely attempted to bully you into."

Kael blinked.

"A sparring match? With me?"

It could have been Giselle, of course, for she was the trained fighter between the two of them, though the dragoness' smile told him otherwise.

"Of course. I want to test my magic against the form of it that your people use, to feel the power of it. It may be useful to our teaching here, something that we can blend and bring forth to better the lives of humans and, of course, anthros alike."

She had to be playing to his inclination and affiliation with his people, but Kael's hesitation lingered. Was it fair when he had outmatched the other dragons so easily? But Oshun was much older, much more experienced, the kind of dragon who was more than skilled enough to be entrusted in passing down her knowledge to future generations. Surely, there was no harm that he could do to her?

He took a breath.

"I guess..."

The dragoness stood, not giving him a chance to change his mind.

"Excellent! Please allow me to change into something more appropriate. There is a small clearing nearby that is nicely framed to catch any magic that goes astray."

Oshun smiled tightly, as if to say that her magic never went astray, and he did not doubt that she would hit her mark time after time. That was the most basic of battle magic and she was strong, aged and yet not old, per se, powerful and with a sense that she could spring into motion at any point. He was not dressed specifically for sparring, yet he was grateful that his clothes would still allow him both agility and flexibility when he would suddenly be found to need it the most.

"Look, Kael -- that must be the clearing."

The dragoness had pointed in a direction and they quietly paced there, moving lightly and gently as if they were afraid for their footwear to dig any more into the ground than necessary. It was not the sort of forest where one could have at all felt as if they should have been leaving prints behind, disturbing nothing as a blackbird called in the tree. The light warmth of the day filtered down through the trees, though it was still more than cool enough for Kael to be comfortable, at least until he had to start moving. The body, after all, would have to respond sooner or later and it could not be helped if he became a little sweaty, moving from foot to foot.

Should he be stretching out? Should he be practising? What was customary when it came to a sparring match? It was impossible to say, having never faced one before, bar what he had crudely been dragged into out in public -- and that had not had any time to prepare at all. What was to take place in the small forest clearing felt both more formal and informal at the same time, all in a very strange way.

Giselle sat cross-legged on the ground, at ease despite what was to take place.

"Aren't you going to stop her from hurting me?" He joked, bumping her shoulder with his hip as the dog yelped playfully. "I thought you were my strong, powerful bodyguard, set to protect me from all harm."

"Do not worry, master," she said, smirking as she showed her teeth in the hint of a feral snarl. "She will not harm you. If she makes one move to do anything more than spar with you, do you not think that I will be there between you, stopping her?"

His heart turned over. Why was she so much more erotic and sexier with that look on her face, the look that said that she could and would take out anyone that came between them, that dared to get between them in any way at all? Anyone that sought to take his life or hurt him would meet their fate at the business end of any weapons at her disposal, even if that meant the canine anthro using her teeth and claws, resorting to cruder methods of dispatch. In that moment, everything that he had found so attractive about her before came rushing back, bringing the heat of colour into his cheeks.

The strength in her, how he could feel her muscles so acutely through her fur when he ran his hands over her body. The power in her glutes, how she could spring and run and jump as if the feats themselves were nothing at all to her. Giselle was a specimen of a dog, it had to be said, but he was there to adore her, to lust for her, to be a friend to her too, as much as his eyes were apt to wander. There, however, with Oshun not yet reappearing, he was free to admire as much as he liked, even the line of her sharply intelligent muzzle, eyes pointing forward, a little greyer than he had ever paid notice to before.

Without thinking about it, his arousal fleshed out just a touch, forcing him to think, to calm himself, closing and opening his hands from and into fists, shaking off the tension in his shoulders.

"Is something wrong, master?"

She wasn't supposed to call him that anymore, but Giselle could have called him absolutely anything at all that she liked with that tone on, licking her lips, deliberately running her tongue salaciously along her face. He groaned and waved her off, striving to calm his pounding heart, nervous sweating, need for her pumping through, curling deep in the pit of his stomach where it should never have been held back.

Yet Oshun was not about to make things any easier for him as she reappeared in what seemed like leather armour -- though it was not the kind of armour that covered very much at all. Giselle's ears pricked up, but it was all Kael could do not to stare, torn between two females at that very moment, more of Oshun's violet and rich fuchsia scales on show than ever before. Sure, she wore a brassiere type contraption that covered her breasts fully, though there was still a hint of cleavage there, making him wonder just what the purpose of breasts on a reptilian type anthro was (though dragons, as his research had proven, were old blood types, after all).

"Thank you for your patience. This should be very interesting."

Kael was sure, Giselle stifling a laugh, though Oshun, surely, would not know what had amused the canine so. The rest of her body was similarly uncovered, the leather not restricting her limbs in the slightest, which was, perhaps, the reason for her wearing so little. At her hip was a belt and what could have only just about passed for undergarments, though he didn't quite dare look at what was behind her, for the leather did not give the impression that it covered very much of her backside at all.

Keep it together...

He had to, fingers twitching, attraction rising in him like it never had for people that he'd seen around when he'd still been living at home, back in the human lands. Anthros, however, even Giselle (well, more her than anyone else) brought a flush of warmth to him, simmering and curdling, rising within him like the head of a serpent that craved release. Tongue flickering out, it was that very serpent that bobbed and swayed back and forth, scenting the air, picking up eroticism and passion, teasing it out where, before, he would not have even known it had existed.

At least there was something to cover the sides of her hips, leather straps of some kind hanging down, though he did not know what the use or the purpose of those was and, at that moment, he didn't like to ask either. Every ounce of his being was taken up by trying not to become obviously aroused, to focus, to concentrate on the sparring match that was about to begin. Yet he had noticed too that the leather straps of her halter top, brassiere...thing... Well, it went up around her neck, defining the length of it and her collarbones in such a way that a part of him, without any will or bidding, yearned to run his lips and teeth along the lines of her scales.

Focus!

Giselle may have been amused by his distraction, but the dragoness, thankfully, did not know him well enough to see his attraction, though she could have noted how he looked at her. But what was he meant to do when so much of her body was exposed to him? It was not as if humans either walked around with everything bared most of the time -- no, that was only for private places, maybe a communal bath house, something like that, and, even then, only when known and accepted. She had covered up everything important to remain modest, but he could not drag his eyes from her, feigning intensity as he waited on her order.

"So, Kael, let's make this interesting, shall we?"

Oh, it's already interesting...

It may have only been a test and a taste of a real sparring match for Oshun, eyes twinkling as her tail flicked back and forth, tempting his eyes to come along with it. Yet he strained, facing her across the clearing, Giselle sitting to the side, though the canine was as quietly watchful as ever.

"If you can hit me during the match, I will ensure there is a prize in it for you. Is that motivation enough for you to not hold back?" She breathed out smoke through her nostrils, eyes intense, sharpening as if the pupils were flickering to slits and back again. "You fought the first time with the will and challenge of a dragon and I'd sorely be amiss if I did not try to tease that from you again. You might make a good battle mage."

Her meaning was wrapped up and hidden behind good intentions, though Kael was not to know what she was doing, a dragon who was older and wiser than him, who may have even fought in the war herself. But that meant that she had more experience, of course, could be seeking to trip him up, and it was not as if he could shake that feeling that something was wrong, that he was about to face some kind of retribution for not using anthro magic and boasting about his psychic powers. He outclassed them in that way -- but that very much wasn't what he was at the university for!

He had to calm himself, breathing slowly and evenly, nodding in answer to Oshun's question, for silence could not stretch out between them for too long.

"I'm ready and I agree. I have nothing to offer though."

"That does not matter..." The dragoness sank back into a fighting stance, an arm pulled back behind her as if to let fly an arrow from a bow, though there was nothing there. "We begin in three, two, one... Spar!"

She changed the usual language of dragons in beginning a sparring match to make it easier for him, for the coarse sounds would not be understandable to his ears, unless that was a part of his studies that he wanted to dig into. But such things could be discussed later, at another time, as birds burst from the trees above, shrieking and flying, the clearing suddenly a flurry of action and motion.

She started gently -- for her, that was. Forming three bolts of fire, crackling and spitting flame, using the air around them to bring breath and life to them, she took one, leaving the others suspended in mid-air, flinging it forth as if she was throwing a spear. The target, of course, was Kael, the fire leaping and spitting, but he easily blocked the single attack, using his psychic powers to form a block.

The flames fizzled out the moment they hit the block, magic petering out, and Oshun smiled, eyes bright with the thrill of the fight -- even if it only was a friendly sparring match.

"Very good... But what about this?"

The other two bolts trembled up without the aid of her hands, flung forth with another spurt of kinetic magic, attacking him from both sides. Those were not for him to block and he tightened his grip on his own body with his psychic energy, shoving himself back, feet leaving the ground, though a part of him still wanted to brace his stance. He stood as if on a platform made of solidified air, lips pressed together, muscles aching where he was contracting too hard. It had been too long since he had fought against another and, even then, it had not been something seriously undertaken, not something that anyone had done seriously back at home when there were dogs to protect them, others more skilled preparing weapons, defences, the sort of thing that his age group had had no reason at all to consider that they could be broken through.

The fiery bolts fizzled out against one another, sparks of flame bursting off, only to be consumed by the air itself when there was no longer any magical source for them to consume. Magic, after all, was finite and needed to have a source, even if magic was used to link it to that source, even from a distance. His understanding of it, when not put into practice, was rudimentary at best and, even then, he felt woefully out of his depth, his powers crude and blocky in comparison. Where magic would be refined and made elegant, great feats made possible, his was a build-up of power, something rougher, crasser, not something that felt at all like being placed in any kind of spotlight.

But he was there, in a new land, someone who could defend themselves but not in the way that one could have expected, not those that were new to him, his presence, breath catching, tugging at his throat. Giselle was there but Kael most certainly had no inclination to want to rely on her even in the slightest, chest heaving as lightning crackled before the dragoness.

"Let's see how you do with this!"

The lightning crackled, bolts trying to lance off as she contained it, allowing the power to build and build, all while Kael cursed under his breath. He blocked it in time, the lightning ball lancing at him from her hands more swiftly than the fire had, upping the ante, the game well and truly on, though the electricity merely washed over him as if he was encased in a dome. But the one thing that Kael had to keep in mind too was the fact that Giselle was right there, able to get hurt if he did not deflect appropriately. If he didn't focus, would Oshun be able to leap in and get Giselle out of the way of harm? It was not as if they were exchanging blows and kicks in a more physical form of combat, after all...

It was hard to think clearly, his body tingling with energy, the feel of his powers wrapped around him pushing him up onto his toes. He held himself there, having to fight back, for merely being on the defence was not part of a sparring match as she prepared something more, the ground rumbling under him. She must not have realised that something like that would not affect him while he was levitating, but that was none of his concern for the moment as he raised his hands, imagining shaping the air around him. It was rougher than any magic would have been, but he was able to pick up a fallen tree branch, grunting as he hurled it at her.

It was a pathetic attack, but Kael hardly knew what else he was to do or what at all he had expected. He couldn't go all out, as that would be one-sided -- and what could a fully trained battle mage do anyway? Human accounts were so twisted and anthro accounts showed only one side too: was there an in-between, an interim that made more sense?

She, of course, dodged the tree branch easily by stepping out of the way, the ground bursting under him with tongue-like tendrils of curling, weaving rock, the battle mage bending the very fabric of the earth to her will. It was a taste, to him, of what magic could do, though Giselle yelped and leapt to her hind paws, growling, pacing back and forth. It was one thing to understand what a practise match was when it was going on and quite another for her to not feel like the ground was at all steady under her anymore, bucking and writhing like the back of some wild beast.

"Easy, Giselle, there will be no harm here..."

The growling German Shepherd, however, was not so sure, eyes intent, her back stiff and her tail similarly positioned. Kael tried to form a bolt of his power, like she had with the fire bolts, but he couldn't do that without knowing how much force was behind it. If he slammed it forth as she had, would it pierce her? Would it knock her aside? He didn't know, not practised in such things and finally finding himself frustrated that he neither knew nor understood the extent of his powers. It may have been something he was born with, but, even for him, there was a level of finer tuning that could have gone on there.

She pressed the attack, forcing him to dodge, slamming his power into the ground, psychic abilities cracking the earth, forcing her to drop the rocky ropes of magic. They crumbled back into the ground, leaving the clearing as if it had never been disturbed, though Oshun stepped forward and forward, closing the distance between them, giving him no chance to react. She forced him to dodge a jet of water, a flurry of magically created leaves gusting into his face, hindering his ability while he was "hamstringed" by his own power.

"Keep up, Kael, you're doing excellently so far."

She meant that genuinely, though he was clumsily in his presentation. He didn't want to simply tank everything with a shield of his power, but there hardly seemed to be all that many other options available to him at such a time, panting and heaving, sweat marking dark patches under his arms. It was intense, even as he tried to throw small rocks at her, appearing weaker than he was even while he didn't want to use his whole power, which felt like a farce in itself, growling under his breath in frustration. What was the point in sparring if he could not use his whole power? It would have been better, wholly so, if he had just been able to use magic. Sure, he would have been the one outclassed then, but at least they would both be doing and using the same thing, which was inherently fairer.

His fists came up, blocking attacks, water pouring over him, distorting his vision, though his shield-like block was not enough to stop it streaming down his back. He had not considered that and sucked in a sharp breath as the ice-like temperature of it sent a shock through him, Oshun launching two small fireballs forth, moving quicker and quicker, the sparring match well and truly on. Of course, he would have been a fool to suspect that she was not holding back, more testing his abilities, though it came off, in a way, merely as a cat toying with a mouse. And Kael had not come to magic university to be a mouse before a cat.

Oh, it was a line that he had to walk, even though it was not a line that he was used to walking. His power lanced out towards her, but he misjudged, falling short when he did not put enough force into it, though that was most likely better than knocking her flying. Even the other day, he had not known, not truly, how much force he'd put into knocking the dragons down, unpractised and raw, yet all had come off then as far more ruthless than he had had any intent for it to be.