The Passing Ch. 02

Tara didn't seem to share my feelings though; her left foot trembling in my eyesight while her scared whimpers barely made it over the lasting din of the roar. "But... There aren't any left. How?" Her question brought about some of my own, but it was all lost as the sky suddenly brightened.

Down came a firestorm, as if brought by a god himself. The swirl of it sending down a kaleidoscope of reds and oranges to play just above my vision before it hit the canopy of leaves and branches overhead. The fire was merciless, as was the one behind it. Roars screamed with anger, as plumes of flame reduced the visible world around me to ash and cinders.

I felt entirely untouched, not even the heat that should be cooking me alive could be felt, though just feet away the trees burned and disintegrated before my eyes. It was an experience that filled me with awe beyond words. The ultimate destruction that this creature wrought was amazing. It took but minutes, the world around me just filled with the sounds of fire and gusting air as this creature made meticulous work of the forest.

The fires were all that lingered, the night sky filled with ash that rained down over our bodies. Then came a jarring thud behind me, the earth shaking with its landing."Don't be afraid, master. It's over."Came the voice in my head, a smoldering anger heard in her voice.

I waited, silent. I was still held down by these roots, probably dead but still embedded deep into the ground. It only took a minute though, before I heard footsteps behind me, and could sense as she knelt down, her fingertips touching and burning away the wood. It should have felt hot, yet I still felt nothing as I was freed and my charred imprisonment fell to the ground like dust in the wind.

I sat up with a groan and a small mutter of thanks as I watched her repeat the same with Tara. Honestly the whole episode left me in a bit of a shock so I was still slow to express gratitude or questions at that moment. I just sat there, cross legged in a pile of ashes, admiring this odd yet beautiful creature before me.

She was quite taller than me, unsurprisingly enough, and would have never been mistaken for a human. She was certainly humanoid, with a deep bronzed skin that seemed to glisten in the light of the fires around us. Bipedal and with all the amenities given to humans, a generous bust that lay bare, hefty weight(I assumed) causing them to sag into beautiful teardrops. Never mind the curvaceous rear that I could only glimpse the side of as she burnt away Tara's root bindings. Even those lengthy legs, smooth and ending in normal bared feet, would have passed her for a human, but it was other parts that caught my attention even more.

First came the twin horns that twisted up through her hair; each was like a double helix, bone that twined around another in a spiral that ended in a tapered tip maybe 8 inches above her hair. Hair was unnatural as well, this mixture of a deep red and black cascaded down like a waterfall across her back, ending just scant inches above her rear. Most amazing was how her flesh seemed tattooed though, from what I could see it covered her for arms and legs, a 3D tattoo of scales that each reflected the light of the fire and made her glow.

I was in sheer awe at her, though Tara obviously felt something else. The moment she was freed she jumped away, a hiss escaping her lips as she crouched and faced our apparent savior.

"Dragon!" She crouched low, face twisted in a grimace as she stood naked among the ashes. She truly seemed angered and afraid, her tail perked up straight behind her as she inched backwards, eyes never blinking from their hate filled gaze.

"Yes, dragon. Silly fledgling, I have saved both you and my master so the least you could do is return to me the respect I am due, rather then crouch there and hiss like a brat." I could see her words had stung, Tara's eyes glancing away momentarily before she shook it off, her hair framing her face like a messy mane as she stood her ground defiantly.

To hear her speak outloud was quite a shock, her voice much different then when we communicated mentally. In my mind she sounded almost girly, a sweet voice that was tinged with age. Hearing her admonish Tara was entirely different and almost indescribable; she had a soft yet deep voice, one that felt like a whisper yet seemed to echo on itself as it commanded attention, all this while tinged with a lisp that felt out of place yet endearing in my eyes.

"You're all supposed to be dead. You bring nothing but destruction. You're an abomination!" She cried out, one hand raising to point out all the destruction we were in the center of.

I could see the other about to respond but I quickly jumped in, having finally gathered my wits. "Uhh, look. We can have a hissy fit between you two later. As is, some of us are hurt, naked and for fuck's sake we're in the middle of a battleground. I have no idea what you're talking about either," I pointed to Tara as I finally stood and slowly made my way between the two, "And I don't even know who you are. But I do owe you for saving my life. Now I suggest we co-exist for the time being and get somewhere safe. Do I make myself clear?"

I had no idea where this surge of confidence came from, this natural feeling that even gave me the nerve to walk between the two of them. It worked however, with Tara taking a deep breath before she finally stood up, walking just out of range of me. Her nudity brought no apparent concern and she began walking off, treading carefully among the carnage. "We continue to Kroy then." She said, emotionless.

I turned then to see how the dragon was taking it, though all I could see from the larger women was contriteness, her head slightly bowed as she walked to my side, "Sorry master, I did not mean to engage in petty banter at this moment. I will explain all to you when we find some place to settle."

Seeing women constantly bowing was unnerving, but this master stuff was a bit over the top. My nose still ached and this continued confusion was giving me a headache, "Look..." I gave a questioning shrug of my hands as I didn't have a name for her, "Please stop calling me master. I don't know what's happening at the moment and after all of this I just want to rest and heal as soon as I can so I can try to make sense of this with a clearer mind."

"I am the one known as Lume." She answered quietly before following in my footsteps.

It was awkward going, the land was razed to the ground for miles in almost every direction. Yet we trudged on through the night, a wide single file line with myself in the center. Everything was silent and it was honestly a little weird after experiencing of all the natural sounds of the forest. Now all that filled the silence were the cackling of smouldering fires and the sound of ash being blown in the breeze.

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It wasn't till the sun began to rise that I could finally see through the haze of ash, and the sight astonished me. I could see these massive domed structures that hovered in the sky, one central one with various offshoots that hovered at different heights around it, almost as if they were locked in some motionless stasis around the center.

"...How?" I could only gasp dumbly as we continued walking, those being the first words spoken in hours.

"Magic, not from a person, one could never wield that much. Rather some technologies have allowed the humans to place their magic inside an object and amplify it for purposes such at that." Tara was the one to respond, though Lume merely snickered at the answer.

"Not all cities are like this though. Most are natural and grounded and use magic and technologies for more mundane tasks. Others still are like us, eschewing more technology and magic aside from what is most useful." She seemed to just pretend as if Lume didn't exist, which I was fine with at this moment. We were all dirty, and I was exhausted. I saw no sense in them even bothering with each other until we got to sit down.

"So where are we headed?"

"To a tavern by the entrance to city. Mostly used by Weres and the like as a stop between there and everywhere else. As you can see, transformations aren't kind on the clothing." She motioned to herself, unashamedly.

I merely smiled at that, my gazed drawn to her rear now that I was reminded of it and the sunlight brought it into view. It was rather nice too, her natural walk had her rear swaying ever so slightly from side to side, and it was kind of cute to see how her tail acted as a counterbalance in time with her.

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Finally we arrived at the edge of the carnage, by my estimation it seemed we were just a bit before noon. The scorched earth slowly seemed to end, as we walked more and more foliage appeared beneath our feet, grasses and bushes greeting us for the rest of our trip.

It seemed as if the forest would have thinned out into a trail, as a dirt road greeted us and guided our path towards what seemed to be an under evaluation for the word tavern, as I came to know it. In my world it could have passed for a Hilton. I expected a shanty little place to recover in but what I gazed up at astonished me.

It was perhaps my first semblance of normality since coming to this world, while not a skyscraper the building seemed to stretch upwards at least 15 stories or so. "This looks like my universe." I commented as I stepped forward, till I stood beside Tara who'd waited just before the building. From here I could see the entire glass front, which gave glimpses into a rather posh interior. If I didn't just walk here I could have assumed this was my own world.

"What now?" I whispered to Tara, before stealing a glance back at Lume who stood back a few feet from us.

"Now we wait. In situations like this we'll be guided in through the side, be allowed to clean ourselves and then be afforded a room for the night. It is improper to enter through the front and track in dirt, or ash as our case may be."

Her nostrils flared for a moment as she then seemed to notice our proximity. She cautiously took a step, then another away from me and waited. Almost in tune with Tara, Lume stepped up to take her place at my otherside. Unlike Tara and the others, she seemed to have no qualms about our proximity and I was grateful just to have someone on this world who didn't see me as something dangerous.

I must have let out some motion, cause Tara then turned to scowl in our direction before turning to face our greeter. I almost wasn't surprised as it was another Were who strode out and towards Tara first. Another werecat I assumed, as orange ears perked up through her blonde locks, and a similarly colored tail swayed happily behind her.

She was certainly dressed for the part too, clad in a full dress suit. Black skirt came down right to her knees and her blazer was only buttoned once, drawing subtle attention towards the white blouse underneath and what I assumed was nothing else, given how sheer the garment seemed to be.

I wasn't taken with her as I was with these two beside me however, her bright smile turned dark as she eyed Lume, but it seemed professionalism overcame anger that I still couldn't understand. The look was gone and her hands found Tara's in a friendly shake, "This way." She said with what I assumed was false happiness, and we all fell in line, following out towards a service door at the building's side.

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Next chapter will probably involve more learning of himself, and his current companions. And.. maybe something a little more raunchy! And again, feel free to leave any comments! I make sure to read them all.