I was sitting in on a lesson as my paladin master, Delvo was teaching the younger recruits and apprentices. I was trying my hardest not to fall asleep during another one of his tirades, when my lover Sharonna started whispering sweet nothings in my ear.
“Right now I really want to lock you in a closet with me. Again,” she magically threw her voice from across the room.
“Not now, love,” I tried to whisper back, but my magic isn’t nearly as precise as hers, so several younger paladins definitely heard me.
“Adiran, boy,” Delvo said, “You and Sharonna better not be up to something again, or do want latrine duty extended for another three months?”
“No sir,” I said folding my hands behind my back.
“Good, where was I? Oh yes, our world Cadionia has enemies from all sides, metaphysically speaking. There are the demons of Pandemonium, and the Chronovores from the Time Between Times, as well as all manner of monsters on this very world. All of these horrors are beyond mortal capabilities, but we are beyond mere mortals. We are paladins and we-”
“Pardon me, Master,” a younger recruit said, “What about dragons?”
“Dragons, yes. I don’t think we need to fear them any longer, at least not for a very long time,” Delvo said, “The last invasion from Sindara was over a century ago, and three of the five times they’ve tried ended in failure.”
“True,” the apprentice continued, pointing out the window, “But they are the closest threat.” I turned to look out the window and as always, Sindara, the dragon homeworld, hung splendidly in the evening sky, flanked by its two bright moons.
Everyone grew up hearing tales of our sister planet, that it was as hostile to human life as it was difficult to reach. Supposedly human magic didn’t work on that world, so only a magician of dragonblood could even hope to reach SIndara by portal. The only man I knew who had been there and lived to tell the tale was in the room with me, Master Delvo.
“They aren’t a unified threat,” he explained, “Sindara is home to four races of half-dragons, and only of those, the drakes, have ever shown any organized hostility towards humanity. And even then, three of the five invasions have been a single king and his army with more ambition than sense. Individual dragons may still be a threat to us, but Sindara as a whole is not.”
“I wouldn’t mind another invasion,” my friend and comrade Hastor said a little too loudly, “Considering most of them are women.” This caused a chorus of groans and sighs from the entire room.
Then there’s that, the thing that made Sindara infamous more than any invading army of half-drakes ever could.
“Let it go, Hastor,” I said, “You’ll never even see a Sindaran harem, let alone be the king of one.”
“This again…” Master Delvo said rolling his eyes, “Yes, it’s true that female half-dragons outnumber the men, and yes it’s true that the women are naturally inclined to join harems, and yes, the men do hibernate for up to two decades at a time. But it is not, and I quote “a constant orgy of sexually repressed, feral women.” And no, I did not have a harem of followers when I was there!”
“Nobody asked that, you old scoundrel,” Sharonna teased the old man.
“Fine, if you’re all going to bother me about this all night, let’s get all of the misconceptions out of the way,” the old paladin said.
“In the distant past, a unified human and dragon civilization tried to create a hybrid race that could live freely on both planets. They created four races of half dragons, drakes, lungs, coatls, and sea-serpents, or merfolk. For some reason, wyverns and hydras were not chosen for the experiment, although it’s likely because of their extreme aggression.
“What about dragonbloods, sir,” Sharonna asked, “You and I don’t look like dragons.”
“And yet we can’t even tell the difference,” I said to her.
“I take that as a compliment, you know,” she threw her voice back to me and I grinned. She had a point. Although she was human, dragonbloods like her were universally more attractive from the high saturation of magic in their veins. Even Master Delvo was still handsome, I supposed, in his old age.
“The dragonblood was their first attempt,” the old paladin explained, “And it wasn’t what they wanted, otherwise there were be a lot more of us today.”
“Second misconception,” he continued, “most Sindaran’s do not have wings, and even fewer breathe fire, ice, or whatever. Only half-drakes have any kind of powerful magic breath, and only three of the four races have wings at all. Lungs are the only ones that never do. Wings are also a recessive trait passed on by the father, however women can also reproduce asexually, which is called parthenogenesis. So, women born without a father cannot grow wings, and these ones make up most of the population.”
“Third misconception, the harem process is not a free for all orgy; it’s meticulous, and highly regulated, involving long drawn-out breeding contracts. It’s more like a meritocracy. While the men hibernate, the women compete with one another in all fields of pursuit. Some take on grueling quests and treasure hunts, some hone their magic, others try to create a single work of art or project so they will be noticed, and the ones with the greatest accomplishments are given first breeding rights.”
“And the final misconception for the night, the men are not all violent, uneducated, hulking brutes, although gods know they haven’t ever tried to make a good impression. If anything, their training and education is even more rigorous because they have to make up for spending most of their lives in hibernation. So, if you do ever find yourself on Sindara, you won’t impress an entire harem by proving you can count past ten.”
“You don’t talk about your time on Sindara very much, master,” someone said.
“Partly because I have to debunk everybody’s hypersexualized prejudices every time it comes up.”
“But if you had the choice, would you go back?” the student asked.
“No,” Delvo said, “I made far too many enemies on that planet. There is nothing that could make me willingly go back.”
Years later…
“Hastor what have you done?” I screamed over the roar of raw magic. The other paladin stood over the broken portal ring with his equally broken hammer hanging uselessly in his hands.
“I thought I could end this!” he shouted back as Sharonna tore a demon limb from limb with her mind. A pillar of stone which was easily fifty tons crashed within mere meters of the three of us.
“It’s time to leave!” I commanded.
“What about Master Delvo?” Hastor asked as we tried to run for the exit, but another pillar fell and blocked our path.
“I’m right here!” the old man croaked while holding a dirty rag to his bleeding shoulder.
“Master, you’re hurt!” Sharonna said.
“We don’t have time to worry about it now,” he said, “Make for that portal!”
“We don’t know where it goes!” Hastor shouted.
“It goes away from here!” I shouted back as we ran for dear life. All around us more and more portals opened like gaping mouths, and demons poured out like locusts. Somewhere in the fray, I spotted the summoner responsible for all of this, but he was soon swarmed by an army of his own making that he had no hope of ever controlling. Hastor made it first, checked to make sure we were relatively safe, then dove through the portal that didn’t lead to Pandemonium, the realm where all the demons were coming from.
“Master, get in!” I called to the old paladin who stumbled through and disappeared. Sharonna stole a foolish but desperate moment for a passionate kiss.
“Whatever happens I love you!” she shouted.
“I love you too, now go!” She dove through and I dove in right after. Unfortunately, before the tower collapsed on top of us, killing all of the demons that had appeared inside of it, one of them like a huge bat or a gargoyle flew through it right after us. As soon as I came out the other side, I was falling.
For a brief second, I screamed in sheer terror, fearing that I would fall to my death. Fortunately though, I was only a few meters above a body of water. I still landed hard enough to knock out of me though. My whole body stung where it had impacted the water, and I was stunned for a moment before remembering to swim. Then I thrashed my way back to the surface and gasped for air.
The portal was still wide open, but as I wondered how to reach it, dozens of shadowy tendrils reached out and I dove back underwater right before the demon swooped down and nearly snatched me in its talons. I hurried towards the shoreline and hauled myself up onto the muddy bank while coughing up water. I turned around as the demon circled back and howled at me, then I drew my sword and made ready for the inevitable swipe of its venomous claws. However, right before it collided with me, an arrow whizzed right past my head and hit the demon in the shoulder. It shrieked more in shock than in pain and I dove out of the way as it tumbled uncontrollably into the mud. I tried to take its momentary confusion to chop off its head, but then I heard a warning cry.
“Behind you!” I turned just in time to see a creature like a crocodile, but much larger and covered in scales made of crystals, lunge at me from the water. I sort of dodged out of the way, but the creature hit me with the side of its head and tossed me into the mud. The demon saw it was outmatched by this other creature and flew off, but the other predator turned back to me and opened its maw again. Then another arrow hit the predator right in its eye, it roared in pain and anguish, then slid back into the water. The demon flew back into the portal, the tendrils of shadow retracted, and the portal closed leaving me stranded… wherever I was. I sighed with resignation and sat up rubbing my temples. This day just become a lot more complicated. Footsteps squelched in the mud behind me, and I had no time to reach my sword. Not that I needed to.
“Are you alright?” my rescuer asked.
“Get back!” I said trying to scoot away in the mud. She had a human face, a very attractive human face at that, but her four, curly horns made me think she was a demon at first. As I looked closer though, I was only slightly more relaxed. Her eyes were entirely bright green, and her pupils were slits like a cat or a snake. Her cheekbones and chin were covered in fine, purple scales which continued down to her long flexible tail which swayed back and forth behind her. She wasn’t a demon at all, but a half-drake. I also noticed two moons in the sky, and deduced that there was only one place where I could be.
“Who are you, and where am I?” I asked, “Is this Sindara?”
“Wait, you’re a human, aren’t you?” She got a little too close for comfort and I tried to scoot back but she reached for my cheek with one of her scaly, clawed hands.
“And a man at that!” she said.
I caught her wrist before those claws could potentially slash at my face and repeated my first question, “Who are you?”
“Oh, sorry,” she said pulling away, “My name is Ilnara, and yes, welcome to Sindara. And you are?”
“I am Paladin Adiran Horas. Not Adrian, Adiran,” I said. People always messed that up, so I had to always had to clarify.
“You’re a knight? What brings you to Sindara, Paladin?” Ilnara asked as she offered me her hand.
“I promise I won’t hurt you,” she said. I cautiously accepted and she helped me to my feet.
“It was an accident,” I explained, “We never meant to come here at all.”
“We?” Ilnara asked.
“Yes, myself and my other-” but looking around I saw no sign of my comrades, “Did anyone else fall through that portal I arrived in?”
“You’re the only person I’ve seen all day,” she said, “And the only man I’ve seen in-”
“I have to find them. MASTER DELVO?” I shouted as loud as I could, “SHARONNA? HAS-” but then I heard a low rumble from the huge reptile that had tried to eat me earlier. It had retreated to a small island and was staring at the two of full of hate for taking its eye.
“Could you please get us away from that thing first?” I asked.
“Right. Follow me,” Ilnara ordered and guided me out of the marsh, but we didn’t get far before I started violently shaking from the cold.
“Your hands are like ice,” Ilnara said, “We need to get you out of those soaked clothes. It’s the start of winter in this hemisphere and its only going to get colder tonight.”
“My, my clothes?” I found a blanket first and hung it up to hide my crotch while I undressed. I handed her my loose clothes and she grabbed each one in turn with her tail, then hung it up on one of the wooden posts she was building in a ring. With her hands she was busy making a campfire, but I couldn’t help but notice her sneaking little peeks back at me every chance she got.
“I’m sorry,” she said blushing with embarrassment, “It’s just I haven’t seen a man for over twenty years.”
“Twenty years?” I asked in astonishment and wrapped the blanket around my waist.
“The men are all hibernating right now,” Ilnara explained, “It’s just us ladies awake all over the planet.” She removed her cloak and spread it out over the ground so she wouldn’t have to sit in the dirt. With the baggy outer garments gone, I noticed how her leather armor fit her body like a glove.
“Who did you say you came here with?” she asked.
“My allies,” I said, “Three other paladins. Two men, one of them is around my height and weight with a red beard, and a much older man. The woman was in a red cloak and she had a runed spear. You haven’t seen them?” Ilnara shook her head.
“Damn! They could be anywhere then!”
“Can you find them?” Ilnara asked.
“Maybe,” I said, “I have some of their effects.” I reached into my satchel and withdrew three glass vials, each one containing a strand of hair. “I could cast a tracking spell to tell me where they are if not lead me to them.”
“Uh… Adrian,” she said skeptically.
“Adiran!” I said then began the ritual. I drew a circle in the dirt with my finger to enclose the magic, then held one of the three hairs between my thumbs and forefingers, whispered the incantation and- nothing.
“What?” I was dumbfounded. I tried again, and again, but each time the spark of magic popped to the ground and fizzled out.
“Don’t you know? Human magic doesn’t work on Sindara,” Ilnara said.
“Damn,” I leaned back against a stump and the realization sank in. No magic. Not that I knew very many spells, but enough that I used them regularly, even for mundane tasks like cleaning my clothes, starting a campfire, or sharpening my sword.
“Damn!” I repeated. It was in the back of my mind when ever since I arrived. I just didn’t realize the ramifications until now.
“There’s a sorceress in Nelanthas,” Ilnara suggested, “She might be able to help you. She could probably send you home by portal too.”
“Nelanthas, where’s that?” I asked.
“It’s a two-day walk from here,” she said, “But the sun’s going down. We had better make camp.” I sighed but agreed, knowing it was probably safer not to travel in the dark on a strange world.
“Will you take me safely to Nelanthas?” I asked, “I can’t pay you because I don’t have any local money, but I promise you I will pay you in full however and whenever I am able.”
“You don’t need to pay me,” she said, “It’s my next stop anyway.”
“Still, I feel like I should repay you for saving my life,” I said.
“Twice,” she said.
“Pardon?”
“I saved your life twice,” she said.
“If you’re referring to the demon, I could have handled that on my own,” I said.
“Not from where I was standing,” she said, “Where’s your armor?”
“My armor?” I asked, “Oh that. My order has developed a spell so that we can summon our armor when we need it. It means we can travel lighter than we normally could. Let me demonstrate.”
The half-dragon girl raised an eyebrow and jerked her head toward my failed magic circle.
“Oh right…” I said sullenly.
“All the more reason to get to Nelanthas,” she said, “There’s a blacksmith there, I’m sure she could fit you for some new armor.”
“I hope I won’t be here long enough to need new armor, but thank you” I said. The fire was quite hot now, I was finally starting to warm up, and Ilnara pulled some sausages from her satchel. She offered one to me, I stuck it with the end of my sword and stuck it into the fire to cook, and we made idle chatter as we ate.
“You said it’s been twenty years since you’ve seen a man,” I said, “But I’ll be honest, you don’t look a day over nineteen.”
“You’re kidding, right,” she said, “I’m almost sixty.”
“SIXTY!”
“Yeah. Why, how old are you?” she asked.
“I’m not even half of that,” I said, “I’m only twenty-five!” Ilnara spat out the drink she had just taken and the spray nearly put out the fire then started choking on the remainder.
“TWENTY-FIVE!” she finally spat, “That’s only a year older than my little sister! I knew humans aged fast, but gods! How do you get anything done?”
“There’s a lot of us?” I suggested.
“There would have to be!” she said, “And damn it there goes the fire.” She knelt down and started coaxing it back to life with a stick.
“Why didn’t you just breathe fire on it?” I asked innocently enough, but then she glared at me at with a look that made my testicles retreat all the way into my body.
“Just breathe fire on it, like it’s that easy!” she shouted, “Ilnara the dragoness is expected BREATHE FIRE!” she snapped the log she was putting onto the campfire right in half then walked away a short distance. I nervously readied my sword, but I didn’t think I would need it.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” she said, “You didn’t know.”
“What don’t I know?” I asked.
“Exactly,” she sighed and returned to sit by the campfire, “I’m a parthen. It means I was born without a father. My mother didn’t have wings nor could she breathe fire, so neither can I.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t didn’t realize that was a source of contention here,” I said.
“It shouldn’t be,” she said, “Actually it usually isn’t, but my family have been parthens continuously for much longer than any family should. Four generations to be exact, and we’ve lived in abject poverty for almost that long too.” She finally coaxed the fire back to life and stuck her hand into the flames without even flinching.
“Other families say we’re cursed because we’ve never been chosen for a harem since my second-great-grandmother,” she continued, “I’m my family’s last hope of finding a mate to bring in some fresh blood.”
“If you can reproduce without a male, why bother,” I asked, then realized I had practically stuck my foot in my mouth again. Ilnara didn’t get angry again though.
“Our bloodline is stagnant,” she said, “It’s a miracle I was born without any birth defects, my sisters and cousins weren’t so lucky.”
“I’m sorry,” you said, “This is a strange world to me. My family was never exactly what you’d call noble either. I didn’t want to spend my entire life farming dirt and not even reaping any mud, so i went to the city hoping to make a name for myself. Fell into a life of crime until one day I was offered a choice between serving my sentence in prison or under the tutelage of a paladin. I’m still trying to get my family out of their dirt farm.”
“Then you know exactly where I’m coming from,” Ilnara said, “For the past twenty years I’ve been trying to find a grand quest, some feat that I can attach to my name. Then a man will have to choose me. He’ll have to…” her voice petered off and you felt that your conversation had come to a natural stopping point for the night.
“It’s late,” she said as if reading my mind, “We have a long day of travel ahead of us, so try to get some sleep.” I nodded sleepily and spread out a blanket to sleep on. Ilnara started removing her armor, but she seemed to be taking her time and exaggerating every movement. Finally all that remained were her undergarments which left very little to the imagination. She was slim, fit, and her arms and legs were roped with tight muscle, but also perfectly curvy with an ample butt. When she turned around I noticed her moderately-sized breasts were incredibly perky and her abs were like a washboard. The coup de gras was when she undid the bun in her hair and let it cascade down her back and shoulders like a red waterfall. Not red like a human, red like a cardinal. Unfortunately, my blanket was practically open in the front, and I had to fold my hands in my lap to hide my growing erection, but if Ilnara noticed, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Goodnight,” she said with an enticing stretch.
“Uh, yes,” I said, “Goodnight.” I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the ground, but I slept restlessly. The ground wasn’t very comfortable, surprise, surprise, and Ilnara kept making strange little noises behind me. Finally curiosity got the better of me and I turned over to see what she was up to.
She was facing away from me, but it was no secret what she doing. One of her legs was up so I could see her tail was pumping in and out of one of her holes, though from my angle I couldn’t tell which one. I could also easily see her fingers rubbing her sex as she made little coos and moans. When I wondered what her other hand was up to, she turned slightly and I realized she was fondling one of her breasts and twisting her nipple. She almost caught me watching her but didn’t say anything if she did. This was an… interesting turn of events.
Since we were both naked and sleeping just across the campfire from each other, that made it difficult to just put her out of mind. Whether she knew I was asleep or not, she was putting on a show. Given that neither of us had any privacy, I figured some harmless voyeurism wouldn’t hurt.
Her thighs glistened with moisture in the dying light of the campfire, and the tip of her tail was covered in the same drippings. She replaced it with her fingers, driving them into her pussy three at a time then brought the tip of her tail up to her mouth to lick her own juices. A shiver run down her spine and she slowly lowered her tail back between her legs.
If only Master Delvo could see me now. Well, actually not, that would be weird. If he knew what all of us younger paladins did during the night, he would probably pop a blood vessel. I respected the old warrior like a father, but he was of the old school of thought: that our order’s code of honor demanded celibacy. I had read them myself though, and nowhere did it say that, but many older knights insisted it was an unwritten rule.
As I watched Ilnara succumbing to sexual bliss, I couldn’t help but imagine it was my fellow Paladin Sharonna lying there instead. Her bedroll was always an open invitation for me, but this girl wasn’t her, so for the moment I might have been able to look, but couldn’t touch her. But even watching the Sindaran girl pleasuring herself in front of me, I still couldn’t help but think of Sharonna.
She was not the only woman I’d been intimate with, but she was the fairest woman I had ever met, and if I had lived a hundred years ago, I would have fought to the death with anyone who claimed otherwise. Weird customs they had back then, but I can see where they were coming from. Since she was of Dragonblood, the magic flowing through her veins made her uncommonly gorgeous, but even then she was exceptional. Her hair turned from gold to silver depending on the light, I swear her piercing blue eyes had hypnotic powers, though she denied it, and her body supposedly made goddesses envious. The perfect mix of strength, beauty, and fertility, but I’d be lying if this girl I had just met today wasn’t a very, very close second place.
Ilnara finally quivered and stifled a loud moan then relaxed. I realized she was finished now, but just as soon as I fell asleep, a howling shriek issued from the marshes. I bolted upright and reached for my sword. Ilnara was right beside me not a moment later with her sword already drawn. I stole a peek and noticed her cheeks were still flushed with lust and her thighs still glistened with her juices, but I made no mention of it. She looked away shamefully but we didn’t get the chance to speak about it though because there was movement on the shoreline, though in the dark I couldn’t make out what it was.
“What is it?” I asked right before another shriek.
“Night drakes,” Ilnara hissed.
“Night drakes?” I asked, “What is that, a creature of some kind?”
“It’s complicated, no time to explain,” Ilara said then stuck her bare foot right in the fire, again without even flinching, and stamped it out. Then she picked up her cloak and hastily tied it around her shoulders.
“They’re sure to outnumber us,” she said, “We need to hide now.” I looked around, not that I could see much, but I remembered in the daylight that there hadn’t been any cover in the marshlands.
“Hide where?” I asked. Ilnara simply grabbed my arm and dragged me along behind her. I followed blindly putting my trust in her night-vision. The way our feet sank into the mud with every step, I knew the two of us had to be leaving behind a very easy-to-follow trail. However, I got the impression it was most important right now to put some distance between us and these night drakes. I at least hoped it was dark enough to hide our tracks until morning.
There was another shriek, much closer this time, and Ilnara led us away from the shoreline and into the lake. It was shallow enough that my blanket stayed dry, but that also meant I had to tread lightly so I didn’t make a splash. Finally she showed me our hiding place: a camouflaged hunting blind hidden among the reeds. It floated gently on the surface of the lake like a raft, and while it was drafty, it was at least dry. She bid me to climb in first while she made sure we weren’t followed, then crawled in next to me.
“I think we’re safe for now,” she said.
“How dangerous are these creatures?” I asked, “I’ve fought hordes of demons all at once, they can’t be any worse than that.”
“I assume you had armor then,” Ilnara said. I raised a finger to protest and remembered I wasn’t wearing more than a blanket, let alone my armor which I couldn’t summon.
“Better to wait this one out, sir knight,” she said and I nodded in agreement.
I heard one of the night drakes shriek again and peered out of the blind to try and catch a glimpse of the creature. At first there was nothing. The only light was the moons and their reflection off a glassy pond. Then something disrupted the water and there was a vaguely humanoid silhouette. What little I was able to see of the creature made me very glad I didn’t have to fight it. It looked to be the same general shape of Ilnara, but its proportions were all wrong, and the way it moved and carried itself looked much more feral. Its long spindly fingers ended in claws which gleamed in the moonlight. Its horns, in contrast to Ilnara’s short curly ones, were long and angular, and I noticed they came to a point forward instead of behind its head. Finally, I noticed a row of short spines that ran down the length of its back to its the base of its muscular tail, then it disappeared back into the dark of night.
“What are they exactly?” I whispered.
“Legends say they’re a cursed bloodline,” Ilnara said, “You want to know why I’m so desperate to find a mate, that’s partly why. They have been parthens for countless generations after they were corrupted by foul blood magic. Now they are neither half-dragon nor beast, but something in between. It’s said they don’t need to eat because they draw sustenance from their own cruelty, spurred by their reckless hate for all of Sindara.”
“I imagine they are called night drakes because they only come out at night,” I said.
“They fear the sun more than anything else,” Ilnara answered, “And they love the winter months because the nights are longer and they are as cold and as cruel as them.”
“And you sure they can’t find us in here?” I asked.
“No but it’s better than waiting for them out in the open,” she said, “I’ll keep watch, you try to get some sleep.” I wondered for a second if her keeping watch would involve more playing with herself, but I was exhausted now that the wave of adrenaline had passed. Now I was having trouble keeping my head up and my eyes open, so I spread my blanket over me and stretched out on the floor of the blind.
I woke up later shivering. The blanket was too ragged and thin to keep out the cold without a campfire. I tried curling up and pulling it tighter but it didn’t help any. Ilnara heard my soft whimper and crawled up beside me.
“Adiran, are you alright?” she asked.
“So cold,” I said through chattering teeth. She felt my hands again and sighed.
“It’s even worse now that it was this evening,” she said, “I’m sorry but I can’t build a fire. They’ll see it.”
I nodded and said, “Get yourself out of here. I’ll only slow you down, but please find my friends if they are on Sindara.”
“Don’t talk like that!” she said, “You’ll survive a winter night in the marshes if I have anything to say about it.” Then she laid down right behind me, wrapped her arms and legs around my freezing limbs, and then draped her cloak over the two of us for some extra warmth.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Keeping you warm,” she whispered.
“You sure about this? Shouldn’t you be watching for those night drakes?” I asked.
“Do you see any other sources of heat?” she asked, “If we’re quiet they won’t find us.” I nodded and sank into her warm embrace. Although she couldn’t breathe fire, there was still enough inside her that she was much warmer than a human woman. Finally the life returned to my extremities and I could drift back to sleep.
Yet I still didn’t sleep through the whole night. Come to think of it, this night seemed like it had gone for much longer than one on Cadionia. Whatever the reason, I was wide awake now, though Ilnara had finally fallen asleep behind me. She had nuzzled her way into the base of my neck while resting her chin on my shoulder and breathing softly. As much as I wanted to enjoy it, something had woken me, so I gently let Ilnara down and peeked outside.
I saw nothing, but then there were footsteps splashing in the shallows. And they were getting closer. I scooted away from the edge, clenched my jaw, and drew my sword. Whatever was stalking the night, I assumed it was one of those night drakes, stopped only meters away from the blind, close enough that I could hear it breathing. It was labored and deep, like each breath the creature took was painful. After it was done sniffing, it growled and finally it started to leave.
I let go of the breath I was holding, but then it was Ilnara’s turn to start chattering her teeth, too cold now that she was away from my warmth. Cursing under my breath, I crawled back to her and got under the blanket. She instinctively grasped for my warmth and I wrapped my arms and legs around her. He breathing became more natural and her teeth stopped chattering, but the thing stalking outside had already heard her and was drawing closer. Worse still, something else was approaching from the other direction.
“Back away!” one of the creatures growled, “This one is mine!”
“You overstep yourself!” the other one growled in response, “The human goes to the mistress, along with everything else.”
Well that was surprising and unnerving, I thought.
“I’ll be dead in the ground before I let you tell me what to do!” the first one growled and made a dash for the raft. Thinking fast I took my sword in both hands and stood up. I couldn’t fight them off, but if this worked I wouldn’t have to. The problem was, I didn’t think there was any way it was going to work under the circumstances. The weapon had been forged on this planet by a dragon, though, so at least there was dragon magic in it, so it could work. If it didn’t, we probably wouldn’t live long enough to regret my line of thought.
“Reggia… sespin… LUMINUS!” I shouted the incantation and the blade started glowing as bright as the sun. I was just as shocked as the night drake which stopped dead in her tracks and threw her hands up in front of her eyes while screaming in pain. I spun around just as the other one tried to move in and she did the same.
“You will not touch us!” I shouted, “Go back to the shadows!”
The night drakes kept screaming and they were visibly torn between moving to attack us and cutting their losses and running away. Finally the first one made a break for it and fled blindly back into the marshlands. The other one gave one last snarl and did the same a moment later.
Now even I was starting to get overwhelmed by the radiance, so I willed the light to dim but didn’t let it go out entirely while Ilnara lay there looking up at me wide-eyed and slack-jawed. I sat down beside her and stabbed the blade into a crack between the floorboards.
“Is that enough heat now?” I asked. Ilnara grabbed my face and pulled me into a deep kiss. When she came up for air I swore a little puff of smoke escaped her lips and her eyes were glowing like coals in a dying campfire.
“I’m sorry,” she said looking away. Her whole face down her chest was bright red and she was grinning ear-to-ear, “I got caught up in the moment.”
“Actually,” I said, “I enjoyed that. A lot.”
“What?” she asked.
I quickly turned away and folded my hand in my lap again, but this time there was no hiding my erection from her. When I glanced back at her, she was still staring and the light in her eyes had gotten more intense.