Succubus Inquisition Ch. 04

As the dust settled the large beast stood there panting with his long tongue hanging out his open maw. It truly looked like he was smiling. The ground around him littered with defeated foes, snakes, spiders, and bugs of many different varieties. He surveyed the area and admired his handy work, noticing two things that made him chuckle.

The first, being a group gathering as if about to counter-attack. They looked terrified, as they should be. The second had been above him. Athan looked like a little bug up in the tower. He stood at the large hole Ysho had made, looking down at the battle. Ha, battle... That was a joke, more like squishing ants.

He had tried to get Athan to attempt changing forms but he said it felt foreign and refused. At first glance he thought the man would just stand there and watch. However by using his spectacular new vision he could see several prone bodies lying around his former student. Pride swelled within his chest at the man as Ysho focused back on the gathering force before him.

They were physically shaking with fright, yet bravely gathering. The large crimson dragon took a deep breath, puffing out his body to look more frightening. He loved the intense smell these woman gave off when they were scared. He winced at the thought of calling them women. It'd be such an insult, to even the worst human female. These creatures were more like parasite imposters; if it wasn't for their magic and lust inducing scent, many of them would never catch a man.

Enough thinking, it's time for their reign to end. Ysho raised his large head towards the sky and roared with all his might. The sound shook the very foundation of the demonic tower. Athan disappeared back into the building as the dragon bolted into action, charging forth at full speed. Those gathered before him felt the impact of each limb upon the ground as he closed the distance.

The monster-girls attempted to hold their ground in a line formation, only to find their courage flee when it had been needed most. The line faltered and broke apart as a few attempted to get away. In such numbers they may have stood a chance against him if they fought as one. Yet it would appear fear controlled even the mighty demons that sought to conquer mankind.

The monk in dragon form remembered how Dragus had used fire back in the cavern, and imagined this would be a great time to try it himself. He took a deep breath and let it out...

A blast wave of sand tore a monster-girl apart. Ysho had to stop mid gallop as he began a coughing fit. That had not been how he expected that to go. His mouth had become dry, like a desert before the line of sand burst forth from his gullet. It took a few moments before he snorted the last remnants out of his snout.

During his distraction twenty or so monster-girls found enough courage to advance, bringing the fight to him. Magic whips lashed at him only to bounce harmlessly off his thick hide. The dragon arrogantly laughed at their attempt before his eyes widened in shock.

A snake-woman wrapped around each of his limbs as they pulled outwards, stretching him so laid upon the ground. He lashed out with his tail, sending two others flying off to their doom, only to have a large thick web spun around the appendage by two spider-woman. It all happened so fast he hardly had time to snap his large jaws at them.

A new form of demonic half breed boldly held his head down with large pincer claws. The thing had eight legs and reminded him of an oversized crab. The woman's upper body appeared very well-endowed; but the worst part being the smug look upon her face, like she had just performed the impossible.

That look fueled his anger as he took a deep breath and flexed muscles to return to his feet. The effort cost a lot of energy, to no avail. The snake-women had tightened their coils and boy were they strong.

A shadow formed over the crab-woman just when Ysho thought himself truly beaten. The dragon strained his neck, trying to look up. Athan had been busy breaking apart more of the tower. The shadow being a section of an interior wall, sent to his rescue. The object soared through the air landing with a thud on top of the crab-woman.

With his head freed the dragon whipped its head around and blasted his entire right side in heavily concentrated sand. Both snakes and a spider, along with half the webbing, were down for the count. His legs flexed and pushed off the ground, rolling his body over to squash the remaining foes. Afterwards his tail lashed out and sent the remaining spider flying against the tower with a splat.

This time when he shot out the sand attack the dragon didn't have any trouble. It appeared to help when he didn't inhale at the last second.

He prepared to chase after the rest of the monster-girls as they fled in all directions. A whistle from above pulled his attention instead. Athan was calling him back up. Perhaps he saw something that needed attention. Wings extended, and with one powerful flap, the large dragon took flight.

A moment later he landed with a loud thud next to his bald former student.

"WHAT?!" He spoke through his new mouth. It sounded like an angry shout so he reverted back to speaking into his mind.

'Sorry, it's still new to me. What do you see?' He turned to look out over the vast corrupted land.

"Nothing out there, Mentor. I made a little surprise in here." Athan said with a light chuckle and went about strapping a harness around the large beast's body. "Now fly out there and tug this hard."

Athan climbed up on his back and kicked his heels, as if urging his horse onward. That only caused Ysho to laugh. Here he was, with all the power he could imagine at his fingertips, and he kept acting like a normal human. He had always been stubborn when it came to learning new things but he'd come around eventually.

On the other hand, Yshomatsu relished learning new things, and for a long time felt the desire to become a dragon. He couldn't explain it and had never known anything but of myths about the beasts. Yet deep down his body was trying to tell him about his connection to the animals.

The line rippled as he jumped out the window and extended his wings. The dragon flapped harder and pulled with all his strength to no avail. The monk on his back chanted on in encouragement and Ysho could only guess at what was about to happen.

Six times he relaxed the line and surged forward, pulling it tight. On the last attempt he felt it give a little. A rumble that rivaled any heard before began from the tower. Another tug and they were rewarded as an entire layer of the tower ripped out to plummet to the ground.

The dragon soared in the air and whirled around to watch their handy work. Without the support gravity pulled the upper portion down into the lower.

The bang rang in their ears as the tower's support structure cracked under the pressure and the whole thing came crumbling down. Ten thousand pieces tumbled into the earth below. Dust and dirt rose into a tidal wave that blew out in a circle. It felt like seeing a sand storm from above. Both monks enjoyed the view. The aftermath truly being a sight worthy of the effort it took to make it happen.

The tower stood no more, nothing but a pile of rubble.

The dragon's eyes zoomed in on a large group of dots forming on the ground. Relief filled his chest when all of their brothers came into focus. The day had been won!

Ysho took his time circling down to the ground. The wind caressing his tired muscles felt too good. He couldn't imagine being isolated into a cavern for almost a hundred years like Dragus had been. Not after three hours of cumulative time soaring through the air. It had been fun in his normal human form but nothing compared to this as a dragon.

He landed gracefully and trotted towards his assembled brothers with his head held high. They regarded him with worry and confusion. That was until they saw Athan upon his back. The younger bald monk hopped off to the ground as Ysho changed back to human form.

The dragon shrunk down in size and appeared as a baby reptile before the hard scales softened into pink flesh. The tail vanished into his rear as he face became alien until human features became noticeable. The large wings wrapped around his body and changed into robes. The last change he had to focus on; and imagined the wings would normally melt into his back, leaving him naked.

In the spot where once a large angry dragon stood, a strong looking human regarded them with kind eyes.

"Gather around, my brothers, and let us discuss future plans."

Quite some time later, all of the freed monks had finally been returned to their bodies. Only the two saviors remained. They looked around and wondered why all the corruption remained after they so clearly had won. All those clusters of overgrown vines remained. At a closer glance they realized the plants were growing towards them.

Ysho turned to Athan. "We've lingered long enough." Athan nodded to him.

They sat on the ground with legs crossed, back to back as before. Deep breaths helped calm their minds as they focused on returning to their bodies.

The cool breeze drifted from their thoughts until it remained but a distant memory. Their heart rates lowered as their breathing slowed to a crawl. The world around them faded into the black nothingness of their minds; completely oblivious to the approaching vines intending to wrap them up into their thorny embrace.

The two bodies became transparent just as those sinister plants reached them. Out stretched vines slid right through them as if they weren't even there. Eventually the ghost images of the monks disappeared completely.

Warmth filled their veins slowly as their minds came back to reality. Athan felt the tiny hairs on his arms stick up. He opened his eyes to a dark cave with little to no light. Blurry eyes came into focus and he realized the fire burned low, about to go out.

The bald monk rose to his feet, knees cracking before he stretched out his back and then arms. His mentor stood behind him, doing the same. They looked around and back at each other with confusion. Bree slept soundly next to the fire, wrapped in furs with Emilia watching over her. A concerned and tired expression formed on her face. Blake knelt by the dragon's head examining a broken blade. Dragus turned his attention over to the standing monks.

"We were attacked while you sslept. They took the demon sspawn, while I ssaved this one." The dragon motioned his head towards the kitsune.

"What!? They took Amber?" Athan gasped in disbelief.

Author's note

Thank you all for the words of encouragement, there will be two more chapters for this story, hope you all like where I have been taking it so far. Please remember to vote. Regardless of how you feel about it please feel free to comment your thoughts, I'd like to know if my writing has been improving and any other thoughts you might have!