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Fates of the Unicorns - Chapter 26 - Invasion

_ SPOILER WARNING : If you are new to the story, this chapter contains plot and character development spoilers for the over all story. This is an onging story, and this chapter assumes you know the story and characters._

Rahmor stretched in his chair, diagrams of the current line of defenses spread out in front of him. The war had been at a standstill for almost a generation now. They had pushed the enemy back as far as they could. The land they were now fighting in was starting to wide, increasing their line of defense as well as being more open, making it easier for the enemy to maneuver. As hard as he tried, he didn't see how they could make any further progress. And he didn't like that at all. They were as safe as they ever had been. They had pushed them back and built a new fortress a dozen times since the Great Retreat. But it did not feel right to just sit behind defenses. They should take the war to the damn insects, but as history showed, they were just too many of them even when the dragons had allies and a continent's worth of troops.

He was interrupted by a knock on his door. Just as well, he could use a break. "Enter" he said.

A green dragoness opened the door and walked in, a female guard closing the door behind her. Cavanel smiled a toothy dragon grin. "Good afternoon, Sir" said Cavanel.

"You again? Shouldn't you be cleaning up after my drake?" said Rahmor. He considered ordering her out of his lair entirely, but he could use a break.

"It's very clean, Sir. I spent all night and did all the tasks your slave required of me, as you ordered." she said and approached the desk. She almost purred as she said, "May I.. clean anything here?" and licked her muzzle with a long dragoness tongue. All she needed to do was fuck him. The parasite in her womb was ready to sting, and making noisy sex would disguise any sounds of a struggle for the few seconds it would take to paralyze him.

Rahmor preferred dragons that could put up a fight. Submission was for furry slaves who were too weak to pose a challenge. He motioned Cavanel to come closer and watched as the dragoness stepped up to the deck and leaned over it. He grabbed her by the throat and yanked her down, bending her over his desk as he sat in his chair, pulling her head into his lap.

Cavanel squirmed as the dragon grabbed her. Did he suspect? She considered her options, then looked down to see Rahmor's cock erect and jutting up, pushing his leather kilt out of the way. Her nose almost touching the tip she knew what the male wanted and opened her mouth obediently. So close...

Rahmor held the dragoness down as he pushed her muzzle over his cock, ahhing as he felt the warm mouth and tongue begin to work on it. He leaned back in his chair, thrusting his hips slowly, each hand holding one of Cavanel's horns to keep her head in place. "Thats it, you slutty bitch... suck hard and maybe, maybe I'll consider fucking you some day."

Cavanel squirmed and sucked, her body knowing what to do even if there was no desire left in her broken mind. The parasite in her urged her to take him.. infect him.. make him one of us! She was in the wrong position she knew.. he would see her if she tried now. So she continued doing what her memories said a male dragon would like, letting his have her throat.. stretching her tongue to cup his balls.

Rahmor rocked in his chair slowly as he fucked the dragoness, intentionally choking her. He growled as she didn't even gag.. must have a LOT of practice at this. Impatiently he slammed into her harder and rougher, and let out a soft rumbling roar as he came, his hot and thick seed spurting into the mouth of the dragoness head in his lap, hearing her gulp it down noisily. He panted, pulling her head up and slapped her face before letting her go.

Cavanel long ago lost the ability to feel shame or humiliation or lust, but faked them as best she still could, needing to get closer. "Thank you for letting me please you, sir" she said and edged around the desk, trying not to sneak.

Rahmor felt the dragoness put her paws at the back of his neck and start to rub and massage. He grunted and allowed it, leaning back and relaxing.

Cavanel continued to rub, silent as the second parasite in her womb slowly squirmed out, her tail pulled forward between her legs to catch it. She carefully, slowly lifted it on her tail. The creature squirmed silently, looking for prey, it's tentacled stinger ready and quivering.

Rahmor hmmed, "I think..." he said and jerked in his chair as he felt a painful stab in the back of his neck. Was she biting him. He spun around as the hands clamped down around his neck, choking off his cry. Moments later he fell back, sprawling onto his desk. He couldn't move. What did that bitch to to him. He watched with sudden horror as she moved into view holding.. something. It was clearly an insect of some sort, but without a shell or any weapons other than the lone stinger it so successfully had just used. He tried to speak but couldn't say a word, or move. Fuck!

Cavanel pried open the dragons mouth and dumped the creature into it. Males didn't have a convenient womb to make a home in, but she knew the creature could live inside the stomach for a time. Long enough to take control and then burrow deeper into the body to make a safe home.

Rahmor couldn't even gag as the foul thing was dumped into his mouth and with barbed tentacles began to squirm into his throat. He felt it moving down, a large lump that made him feel sick, but unable to do anything about it. With the greatest effort he managed to move his eyes just a bit, looking at the dragoness. He shuddered. She wasn't carrying eggs.. she was full of these things. How many were they? How far had the spread? He lost track of his thoughts as he felt the alien thing slide into his stomach. He had seen dragons who had been taken over by insect riders, but they were big.. and merged with their victims to form horrible mutations. He screamed silently as he felt a stabbing inside him, panicking. No amount of training could prepare anyone for this. He fight to move and howled silently as he felt the first tingle of something touch his mind.

...

"Bitch!"

"Whore!"

Tamira stood between Dana and Sabeth and said, "Calm down!"

"Thats right" said Sabeth. "Calm your lesbian whore down. Do something useful for once you shit."

Dana struggled but wasn't willing to hurt Tamira who was keeping her separated from that stuck up whore of a bitch. "How dare you call her useless" she said, ignoring the lesbian insult. She wasn't, and Sabeth knew it. She fumed. It had all started earlier when Tamira had made a rude comment about their dragon Master. Dana thought nothing of it until one of the cat guards had hauled Tamira up and given her a paddling for saying it. It was humiliating, watching the cat paddle her friend, especially knowing Tamira could have kicked her ass if she had wanted too. Her anger turned to fury however as she sad Sabeth looking smugly. That bitch TOLD the guard what Tamira said.

Tamira glared at Sabeth, then forced Dana to walk back and away from her. She was pissed too, but it wouldn't help for all of them to get punished for fighting.

Dana seethed. "How DARE she tell the guards what you said. Whose side is she on, anyway?" She yelled out to Sabeth, "You rat!"

The guard that had spanked Tamira said, "Watch your mouth, one of my friends is a rat and she would beat your ass if she heard you say that."

Tamira finally got Dana calmed down and said, "It's fine. I'm ok." She was, even if her ass hurt and still throbbed painfully from the paddle. She flushed once more in humiliation. She would rather have just gotten beaten up. She had been in many many fights, but being spanked, that was just wrong.

Dana sighed and slumped against the wall. "How COULD she?" She remembered several days ago when they had told storied and shouted, "Your just like that traitor friend of yours! Your whole town is rotten!"

Sabeth has been feeling pretty good, watching that useless whore Tamira get her ass beat. She deserved all of it. She was one of the warriors that was supposed to protect them, but because she screwed up and lost now they were all slaves. Slaves! When she heard Dana's last insult she started in her direction. Was she comparing her to Rickie! That bitch! That was completely different. She came to a sudden halt as arms grabbed her, "Let me go!"

"He's coming... quick!" said a mare, pointing at the door that was opening.

Everyone froze, and scrambled to form a kneeling line in the room. Usually their Master took his time entering, but today he simply flung the door wide and was inside before half of them were in position.

Tamira saw the dragon walking right in her direction. Oh crap she thought, did he find out what she said? She yelped as she was grabbed by her shoulder and hauled to her feet.

"You will come with me NOW." said Rahmor, giving no other explanation and dragging her out of the room.

Dana paled, "No..." she said as the door closed, slaves and guards alike watching with confusion.

Rahmor pulled Tamira down the hall, her hooves clopping and skidding along the floor as she struggled to keep up. He suddenly turned her and slammed her back against the wall, glaring into her eyes. "You will do exactly as I say, slave. Disobey or ask questions and I'll kill you and the rest of your sister slaves. Understood?"

Tamira was terrified, she had never see Rahmor like this. She nodded with a quick, "Yessir" and was hauled along again.

Rahmor explained while he moved. He seemed to be be taking a shortcut through empty passages. "I am going to bring you to the acting General's office. She will have one guard inside with her. You will mouth off to that guard and as punishment he will be told to rape you. Be loud. Yell. Cry. But watch me. When I attack the General you will take out the guard. Yell to cover up the sound of it, and to cover the nose of what I will be doing."

Tamira couldn't believe she was hearing this. What was going on, a coup? An assassination? She said, "Do you want me to kill him Master?"

Rahmor said, "Kill him if you can't subdue him. I will need him alive later, but if it can't be helped, kill him. No more talking, shut-up." He pulled his slave along, one hand reaching down to feel a small pouch at his side, feeling the small squishy insect creature within, making sure it was secure.

Tamira nodded silently, wondering what was going on. Was she going to die today? Something was very wrong and she had no way to know what it was. Soon they passed the guards stationed at one of the exits to Rahmor's lair and were in tunnels common to the dragon capital. Rahmor walked calmly now, moving swiftly, but not obviously rushing. She got more looks than he did, being a unicorn, but was used to it. She had a million questions but dared not open her mouth. She wondered if he really would kill all of the other unicorns if she screwed up, and decided that yes, he would.

They eventually reached more populated areas, clearly some sort of administrative wing. It made sense she thought, for him to be close enough to get here quickly when needed. She still had no idea exactly what his position was, but it was clearly important. She looked around as she walked, room after room of busy dragons, and guards everywhere. Finally they reached a large open room with several dragons standing about.

"I need to see the General" said Rahmor to a dragoness seated behind a desk.

"May I inquire the reason, Sir?" asked the dragoness looking up?

"No" said Rahmor. "I can't tell you anything, I must see her."

The dragoness frowned but nodded, eyeing Tamira with suspicion but then saying, "Go on."

Rahmor walked to the doors and the two outside guards opened them. He walked in, taking Tamira along with him.

"Rahmor" said a golden dragoness from behind a huge desk. "What brings you here, and with one of your pet unicorns in tow?" said General Dehela.

Rahmor seemed to think hard for a moment before saying, "I have had some... interesting information come to my attention and realised it needed dealing with right away. " He gave Tamira a poke in her thigh with his tail-tip as he stood just inside the doors, not allowing them to close.

Tamira gulped at the poke and looked at the single guard inside, "What's a wimpy little runt like that doing guarding a General?" she said dismissively, eyeing the guard up and down and snorting. That brought all the attention onto her immediately, both inside and outside the office.

Rahmor backhanded Tamira and growled, "I brought you here because I thought you might be useful, NOT to mouth off, bitch. Maybe you need another raping to teach your your place, hmmm?" He eyed Dehela, "Think your guard can teach my slut a lesson while we talk?"

Dehela smirked as she watched the unicorn cringing. She didn't mind the idea at all, it would make for interesting background musing while she talked about whatever Rahmor came here for. She wasn't sure what he had in mind, but his track record was spotless and he never did anything without good reason. "Give her a good fuck, solider." she said. "Now, Rahmor.. come tell me what has brought you here."

Tamira let herself be grabbed, then roughly bent over, her hooves kicked out from under her. She heard the door close, leaving just the four of them and she whinnied loudly, "Oh... no... please.." she said, the fear in her voice not all an act. This dragon was NOT scrawny, and she hoped she could handle him. She had no choice. She yelped and owed as she felt the cock pressing up against her sex, wincing at what was to come.

Rahmor moved around the desk, hands behind his back as he said, "It concerns the insects and a new way to fight them." His voice dropped slightly, "I think it might alter the entire outcome of the war."

Tamira let out a scream, not at all faking as she felt the hard, brutal cock slamming up into her soft, vulnerable sex. Oh damn that hurt... she grunted and panted, the dragons hands on her shoulders. This was no good, she couldn't do anything like this. She turned her head and gritted her teeth before forcing out a moan, "Do me, bad dragon... ohhh..." She reached up to rub his wrists with her hands, pretending to caress them. She whispered a mumble... softly whispering... hoping her Master made his move fast. She felt dragon breath on her neck as the guard bent down to listen to her soft whispers.

Rahmor said, "Look here" as he pulled out a rolled up paper. As Dehela tilted her head down to look at it he slammed the heel of his hand up into her jaw, making her dragon muzzle close with a loud crunch, then grabbing her neck with his arm, getting the stunned dragoness in a headlock and choking her.

Tamira saw Rahmor hand flash upward, and then she was concentrating on the dragon raping her. She screamed and yanked hard on the dragons wrists, pulling them off her shoulders just long enough to twist her upper body hard, her head swinging in the same direction and using her horn like a club.

A unicorns horn had many magical properties, the tip was sharp enough to pierce the hardest of armor, it provided them with their supernatural ability to heal from almost any wound, and was as close to unbreakable as any material yet discovered. It was also dense. The dragon guard only had time to start smirking at the twisting unicorn under him, thinking she was just squirming and trying to get away when the horn swung like a steel pipe into the side of his head. His vision exploded in stars and he grunted, his thrusting faltering as he blinked back tears, trying to recover. Then the horn swing around in a circle to slam into the other side of his head and he dropped to his knees, dazed, his cock sliding out of the wet unicorn cunt with a slurping noise. His vision was just starting to clear when a blurry hoof came down onto his forehead and he saw nothing more.

Tamira panted, then yelled again, "Oooww.... stoooop..." as she watched the dragon finish crumpling to the ground. Any other furry would be dead she was sure, but he looked like he was still breathing, if badly bruised. She panted hard and continued her fake yells, ready to move if the guard stirred. Now what? She clutched at her crotch with a hand, it hurt bad.. but nothing seemed too injured. Worse than when her Master first took her, but nothing she couldn't ignore for now. She thought about how strange it was that being raped was just something to deal with, nothing special. And it wasn't.. not here.

Rahmor had Dehela bent over her desk, a sharp knife pressed to her eye as she struggled. Her tail was pressed up against her beck, pinned between her golden back and Rahmor's blue chest. "I'd rather you live to serve under me, bitch... but if you struggle I'll simply kill you and take command over your dead body. Scream and you die. My grip is all thats holding this knife at bay.. if I relax.. you will die."

Dehela grunted and stopped struggling, staring at the point of a small spring loaded knife. She could alert the guards easily enough, but Rahmor was right.. a twitch of his finger and it would all be over. She said softly, "What are you doing? You know your place, and it's not at the top.. you like your free time too much.. playing with your pets."

Rahmor growled, "I've had a change of heart... now it's time I lead, and you follow... and I'll prove it to you now." He pushed up against her, his cock hard and seeking her cunt, pushing.. ramming.. invading her against her will.

Dehela struggled, using her vaginal muscles to squeeze hard, trying to keep Rahmor from taking her, but it was no use, he power his way in and she gasped. "Trying to dominate me with a quick rape? I'm not going to agree to this you bastard.. I don't know whats gotten into you but I am NOT weak and ready to step down."

Rahmor snarled, "Shut up bitch" and slammed into her hard and rough, and hardly before it started he shuddered and came. He held the knife firmly, finger on the trigger, keeping it pressed.

Dehela hurfed under him, feeling him climax and snarled, "Thats it? Your a fool, Rahmor... you couldn't break me if you got me in your torture chamber alone for a year."

Tamira watched it all with confusion. Was he trying to take over? Take over what? And it didn't seem to be working.. what if he failed.. would he still be allowed to keep his slaves? Would they be split up, auctioned off again?

Rahmor panted, pulling wetly out of the dragoness. He pulled the knife away and stepped away from the golden dragoness, watching her warily.

Dehela straightened up, wincing and hissed, "So... thats it? Whats WRONG with you Rahmor? You have lost it.. it's clear you are no longer fit for your command. Did you really think a quick rape would make me drop to my knees and let you lead?"

Rahmor grunted, walking to a chair and sitting down heavy, a hand on his stomach as he watched the general. "No.. I just needed a reason to fuck you. Quickly."

Dehela pulled her dress down, smoothing it out and looked at Rahmor with a strange expression. "What?"

Rahmor sighed and turned to Tamira, "Repeat a WORD of this to anyone and you DIE." He looked back to Dehela and said, "Since you are still alive, they did not get to you as I had feared." He pulled the sack out of his belt and opened it, dumping the contents onto the desk. The insect parasite landed with a wet splat, unmoving and dead, covered in slime and some blood.

Dehela swore and took a step back, "What the FUCK is that?"

Rahmor said, "I don't know... but I will tell you what I know. A few hours ago...."

Rahmor told of his meetings with Cavanel, leading up to today when she came to his office and he had been stabbed and paralyzed. "I told you I had been working on a new insect poison, and it was testing well. As you know the current poison we use is effective, but slow.. and makes us quite sick after only a day taking it. The unicorn based batches are MUCH quicker acting, and seem to have few side effects. I had been taking doses to test it's side effect. Enough must have been left in my system... the.. thing inside me.. that. It died as it was trying to take over my mind. A minute longer and I'd be like Cavanel. Shes dead."

Dehela looked with horror at the thing on her desk. "You killed her?"

Tamira was staring at the thing too, covering her mouth. That... was INSIDE him? And is in others, here? She looked around.. insects in the city... maybe in the rest of the furry lands? No!

Rahmor said, "No... I was paralyzed for some time.. it stung me a few times as it died. Luckily she didn't realise anything was wrong... there must have been enough poison in my cum to kill it. She started to convulse, then collapsed. The thing crawled out of her, trying to escape. I found it halfway across the room when I recovered and threw that bastard thing up. Cavanel was dead... maybe it killed her.. or maybe you die when they are removed."

"You said you felt it in your head?" Dehela said, looking at Rahmor warily.

Rahmor waved a hand, "I'm not one of them... but I could have been. If I was, I wouldn't have just told you about them, would I? Sorry about the rape.. I had to get a dose into you as close to that thing as possible, if you had been infected.. and not let it know I was onto them."

Dehela nodded and waved a hand back at him, "Indeed. I would have preferred you just had given me a dose of the poison instead though."

Rahmor shook his head, "I didn't have the time to get any, and I also feared if you had been taken, the supplies could have been tampered with or watched. That still might be the case... that id a disturbing thought."

Dehela said, "Indeed. You did well. How many more of these things are loose do you think?"

Rahmor frowned and said, "I don't know... not many I have to guess. Cavanel just returned from the front lines, and had spent a lot of time trying to get to me... I have no idea how fast, or if these things can reproduce or she brought more with her, but we know the insects can't breed much faster than we do, luckily. If any have escaped into the mainland among the furries..."

"If that has happened than we have lost. For now, we have to dose EVERYONE. All dragons, all our slaves, all guests of the empire. No exceptions..." she paused. "We don't have enough of the standard poison, do we?"

Rahmor shook his head, "No. Not by far. I'm hoping if we get our bug experts on this, give them the two we found and example Cavanel's body that they can find a way to spot them. I don't know how they work, but Cavanel showed no signs of infection. She seemed completely normal."

Dehela nodded, "I'll get started right away. I'll give everyone high up doses, anyone in important positions. And anyone she had contact with. Work our way backward. We must keep quiet, we can't let any others know we are onto them." She leaned over her desk and asked, "Is he dead?"

Tamira shook her head, "No... umm... Ma'am? Just knocked out."

Dehela nodded and said, "Thats some slave. Keep her under control."

Rahmor said, "I plan to. Now... I should get a batch of the poison and test it on a captive insect. I'll be as secret as I can to not alert them. In the short term we must have a way to detect them. For the long term, the new inoculation I developed should be strong enough we could put it in the food or water supply." For now I need to dose everyone in my lair, once I know it's clean I will lock it down and coordinate with you from there. I must go, now. Cavanel's body is in my office." He stood with a groan and nodded to Tamira, "With me."

The general said, "Before you go, you said you had information for me when you entered. Was that just a.... pretense?"

Rahmor winced and nodded, "Sorry Sir.. I had to have some reason to see you on such short notice. But I did have information for you." He knew he had not had a choice but still felt disobedient for stretching the truth, especially to a superior. Dragons hated lying, both being lied to and telling them. Saying one thing and doing another.. it was like disobeying orders that you gave yourself. Disturbing and confusing. But they could do it if they had to. Rahmor was thankful he didn't have to tell a blatant lie. It would have left a bad taste in his mouth for days, and there was a good chance he might have been caught in it. Misdirection and evading questions and being sneaky, that they were actually good at. Dragons loved intrigue, as long as it didn't interfere with their duties. He motioned to Tamira to get moving and headed back for the door.

Tamira helped move the guards unconscious form out of sight before leaving the office, hearing Dehela call out to an aide, then they were back in the direction of Rahmor lair. She shuddered randomly as they walked, eyeing dragons and slaves suspiciously. It was their greatest fear, that the insects would break through the dragons and finish wiping them out. But this was worse.. they could be here, now! She yelped as Rahmor have her muzzle a light smack.

"Stop it. Don't make a scene, calm down." he said as he led his slave back into his lair. He told the guards, "Nobody in or out." He swore to himself, could that be an infected? He told himself now was no time for paranoia and panic, but snorted in grim amusement. It was time for that, actually.

Tamira clopped along, following in the dragons footsteps and quietly said, "Master...?"

"What?" said Rahmor, distracted.

"How did you know I wasn't one of them?" she asked.

"I doubted any of my slaves were infected. Safety in numbers, you were never alone" said Rahmor. He nearly stopped dead in his tracks. Chakal! She was alone down there, and had spent the night with the infected dragoness. Dammnit! He swore a dragon oath and grabbed Tamira, turning around and heading in the direction of the drake's cave.

"No time to be subtle. We are going to visit Chakal. When we are alone with her you will hold and muzzle her, understood?" said Rahmor.

"You think... oh no" cried Tamira. She shivered... not wanting to think about what this meant. "Could... could the others... Dana!"

Rahmor shook his head, "Alone, none of them have been alone. It takes time for them to take a body, trust me..." This time he shuddered, remembering the colt thoughts that had begun to whisper to him, the pain he still felt in his body from the invading tendrils. He hoped it would heal. It would be.. unfortunate if he were to have to live with it for the rest of his life. He hoped he would be lucky enough to have a life to live. They had to have caught it in time. There simply was no other option. Soon he led Tamira to the drakes lair, passing by the guards who made sure nobody got in to see his ride without his permission.

Tamira moved grimly in Chakal's direction as Rahmor closed the doors behind him. Before the startled mare could say anything, Tamira had grabbed her, pinning her arms, a hand over her mouth. The mare struggled in her grip.

"Stay still!" ordered Rahmor as he approached.

Chakal didn't obey, struggling and kicking, fighting to escape. She knew something was wrong. Danger! What could she do... she struggled to think of a plan, her parasite urging her to find a solution, but she wasn't a spy or warrior, she didn't know what to do. The parasite thrashed inside the soft womb of the unicorn. It wanted out, to get away, hide. It didn't like this host, and now it was discovered.

Rahmor said nothing as he pulled out a knife.

Tamira widened her eyes, but didn't let go of Chakal. She was too afraid of what might be inside her. She squirmed, suddenly wanting to throw the unicorn to the ground, get away from her... what if that thing in her comes out.

Rahmor held out his arm and made a quick slice, drawing blood. He pulled a slim riding crop from his belt and soaked the end in his blood, then turned to Chakal with a hard expression. Without a word he spread her sex with his fingers and slid the leather tool into her pussy. Deep.

Chakal screamed into Tamara's hand, eyes tearing. She may be controlled by an insect parasite, but the rest of her nervous system and reflexes were still working normally. It hurt and she responded appropriately. She grunted, wondering what the dragon was doing even as he body yelled and thrashed. The parasite deep in her squirmed and trembled, knowing something was wrong too. It stabbed out with his stinger at the invading object, trying to kill it, not knowing what was going on, it's limited intelligence not knowing what to do, it depended on the host to do it's thinking for it, but she was no help.

Rahmor held the crop deep in his slaves sex, feeling the end press firmly against the unicorns cervix. Should he go deeper? No... he will try this first. Just drinking his cum was enough to kill the other one in time, this should be much faster, if it was in there. He hoped with all his might he was wrong.

The parasite inside Chakal twitched, then again. It... it itched. Something was very wrong. Something was in here with it, something bad. It had to get out. It began to struggle, using the short controlling tendrils in the hosts womb to order it to relax and let it out, detaching from the much longer ones going to the hosts brain.

Rahmor swore long and hard as he saw Chakal's eyes flutter then roll up into her head, her body slumping into unconscious. "No.. NO" he shouted, pulling the crop out of her and grabbing the mare with both hands. He was furious at the thing inside her, daring to claim his property... and.. Chakal... his poor mare. He said she would be safe and happy if she took care of hid drake, and now...

Tamira whinnied in fear... there was one in her! She panicked and let the limp unicorn slide out of her grip and stepped back. She looked up at Rahmor, "Help her!" She saw an expression on Rahmor she had never seen before. Sadness. Regret. Then it colored with anger. That she was familiar with.

Rahmor trembled in impotence. There was nothing he could do. Helpless. It wasn't a feeling he was accustomed to. He didn't like it. He swallowed and said, "I can't..." He snarled, seeing movement between her legs. Small tentacles were writhing, pulling a small lump the side of his fist out. He howled and kicked the thing away from the mare, hearing it splat against the wall and fall in a heap, only twitching now. He ran over to it and lifted his floor, screaming.. and then backed off, trembling. They needed to study it. But it killed Chakal! He struggled as his rage fought his need to protect and serve, and his rage slowly lost. He heard motion on the other side of the door and snapped out, "Stay there!"

Tamira knelt down over Chakal, stroking the mares muzzle as her unconscious body twitched and jerked, then slowly fell limp. She sniffed, looking up as Rahmor knelt down beside her. "How... how long does she have?" she asked her Master.

Rahmor shook his head, "I don't know... I wasn't in much of a position to see what happened with Cavanel. It was over before I recovered. But... not long I think. We will stay with her."

Tamira nodded, now moving to cradle Chakal's head in her lap. After a few minutes Chakal's breathing steadied, as if she were simply sleeping. Tamira sniffed softly, and worried anew about Dana and the others. Rahmor said they were safe, but he thought they all were only a few hours ago.

Rahmor hmmed deeply as he watched Chakal. She was still unconscious, but was no longer twitching or thrashing, and was breathing steadily. He stood suddenly, moving to pick up the dead parasite and slide into the small sack he had used for the other one. He returned to a puzzled looking Tamira and bent down, lifting Chakal into his arms. He stood, carrying the unconscious mare to outside to his waiting drake. He growled in annoyance, it wasn't prepared with the carrying bags. He ordered his drake to lay down flat, allowing him to climb into the saddle and strapped himself in, using a few extra lengths to tie Chakal securely into his lap. He looked down at Tamira, offering a hand, "Behind me."

Tamira only hesitated for a moment, then took the hand and yelped as she was hauled up and behind her Master. She was always forgetting how strong they were. She settled in, grabbing onto whatever handholds she could and screamed as the drake suddenly launched, turning and gliding downward fast. She nnnnghed as she held on for dear life, hoping it would not be a long flight. It wasn't, the drake landing heavily in what was clearly a landing zone of some sort, a wide circle surrounded by buildings. She saw a number of dragons and slaves rushing forward, one with a stretcher. This must be the medical area he had told them about after the party. She slid off the drakes neck, backing up from the beast and getting out of the way.

"This isn't really where you should take slaves for treatment, Sir..." said one of the dragons who had arrived. The others were pausing as well, seeing the form of the unicorn slumped in Rahmor's arms.

Rahmor let out a growl that sent the head and neck fins of many of the dragons flattening. "This is a military emergency, I need a room and a messenger sent to General Dehela. Tell her Master Rahmor has a patient and to send specialists."

Tamira watched as all the dragons looked a little cowed. They were all rather small compared to Rahmor, clearly none of them felt they were fit for military duty, probably due to their size. Not all dragons were huge and muscular.thought Tamira. But even the so called little ones would still be more than a match for almost any furry. She shook her head and focused on the present. Seeing that.. thing come out of Chakal.. it was making her mind wander to try and avoid thinking about it.

The dragon nodded after recovering from the growl, reaching up to take the unicorn and lay her onto the stretcher the others were holding. He did it with ease, used to dealing with much more massive and unwieldy dragons. He saw Rahmor pulling Tamira along with the stretcher bearers and he started, "Sir..."

Rahmor growled again and said, "Do not tell me what to do again. And do not tell anyone else we are here or I'll have you in chains. Clear?"

The dragon medic gulped and said, "Yes Sir" before rushing off to send the message. He didn't know what the big blue dragon was doing here, but it was clearly important and he decided he had best help or get out of his way.

Rahmor grunted and ordered the stretcher bearers, "A private room. With an attached lab. She has encountered an unknown.. substance we may need to analyze." He said, "Tamira.. you will stay with her at all times. If anyone tried to remove you or her without my permission, use my name."

Tamira nodded, watching Rahmor head off into another building and followed the dragons, watching Chakal with concern, but also a little hope. She was still breathing.

...

Pain. It hurt. That was her first thought. Her thought. Why was that strange? Should she be thinking? It seemed wrong somehow. Her eyes fluttered and she heard voices.

Tamira noticed the movement and yelled, "Her eyes are opening!"

The insect specialist and another dragon doctor soon appeared on the other side of the bed, looking down at the unicorn. Jakor leaned over and nodded, "Yes.. she is waking up. This is an extremely good sign."

Tamira nodded at the specialist. She didn't like that dragon. He was in charge of a large group of dragons who studied how the insects took over and controlled their victims. But from what he had said, all the other cases were very different. Whatever attacked Chakal was something the had never seen before. Which was what annoyed her. The dragon was excited about this. He clearly did not care at all about Chakal, and had to be held back by other doctors several times wanting to perform invasive and damaging experiments or actions. She bit her lip as Chakal's eyes opened... "Chakal" she whispered. But there was no response. She just stared up at the ceiling.

One of the dragon doctors at the side of the bed leaned over to look into the unicorns eyes. "Chakal.. can you hear me?"

Chakal slowly said, "Yeeees..."

Tamira sighed with relief, she was going to be ok. "How do you feel?" she asked Chakal. She frowned as there was no response. "Chakal?"

The doctor looked puzzled and said, "Chakal? I am Doctor Flent. I'm here to help you." He got nothing but silence and tried again, "Chakal, can you answer me?"

Chakal again spoke slowly, "Yes." She however made no other response, simply staring straight ahead.

Flent asked, "Can you sit up? Is there something wrong with your body."

Chakal answered, "Yes. No."

Flent frowned and slid an arm under Chakal's back, propping her up. But when he release her she simply slumped and he had to catch her before she slid off the bed, getting her back to a lying down position once more. He rubbed at his chin and said, "If she wasn't speaking, I'd say she was catatonic. She doesn't seem to have a will of her own.. only answered direct questions."

"Will... will she get better?" asked Tamira.

Flent looked at the slave, he wasn't as insensitive as the specialist was and he said, "I don't know. These.. terrible things that were inside them. I examined the dragoness. It grew things in her body.. into her brain. It was very widespread, much of her head was filled with some sort of tissue from the creature, like it had eaten part of her brain. I have no way of knowing how much of her it damaged, but it can't be as bad as the dragoness. She must have died instantly as soon as the creature left her."

Tamira swallowed heavily, trying not to cry. She looked down at Chakal, "Oh my poor sister.. what did it do to you?"

Surprising Tamira, Chakal answered, "It put Chakal to sleep. It made her mind obey it instead of her."

The specialist edged in, suddenly excited. Jakor said "Chakal... do you remember what happened?"

"Yes" she said.

Tamira wanted to yank the dragon away, but knew she would be thrown from the building if she interfered at all, so she fidgeted in frustration. She jumped at a hand on her shoulder.

Doctor Flent said, "Let him talk with her. I have seen head injuries before.. the more stimulation they get the better they always turn out. And we need to know what she remembers."

Jakor leaned in close, almost whispering, "Do you know what it wanted?"

"Yes" said Chakal.

Jakor grunted and rephrased his question, "Tell me what it wanted!"

Chakal said, "It wanted me to hurt the dragons. To spread to more hosts. To serve the hive."

Jakor said, "How did it make you want that? How did it give you commands?"

Chakal showed the first expression since she woke up, her face screwing up in concentration. "It... replaced her... soul? No.. her... will. She was unconcious... it replaced her."

Jakor said, "Amazing. These things seem to be able to find, and disable the conscious mind of it's host, and then replace it. Thats why she is like this now... it's no longer there to tell her what to do." He asked, "What were it's plans? How did it want to destroy us?"

Chakal said, "It had no plans. It wanted me to do it."

Flent broke in, "That is good news, I think. No plans... it used her mind to work for them. That means.... Chakal! How smart was the parasite? Did it talk to you in words?"

Chakal made another movement, a slow shake of her head, "Not smart... just... urges. Desires. To destroy."

Jakor nodded, "I thought as much.. they are so small, no room for much of a brain... they must only have enough intelligence to direct their hosts. Using them to do their dirty work, and their dirty thoughts and planning. Chakal, you mentioned the hive. What is the chain of command? How did you get your orders? Did you and that dragoness have a contact?"

Chakal seemed to have trouble following the questions and was hesitant when she said, "The hive... it... I heard it... so far away."

Jakor almost jumped up and down in place as he said, "You heard it? It spoke to you?"

Chakal said, "The thing, in... in her.. it could hear the hive. So far... so faint."

Jakor said, "We knew the bugs had some sort of telepathic communication... but it's very good to know it has limits. That means it can't know for sure what is going on here, or give clear directions. Chakal... did the parasite in you talk to the hive? Could you hear it? Do you know what it said?"

Chakal trembled, the movement noticeable after her long stillness, "The.. para.. in me..." She blinked once, her eyes focusing for a moment before glazing over once more as she paused. She didn't say anything for several moments, until her back suddenly arched into the air and she cried out, "Nooooooo!!!!!"

Flent moved quickly to hold the suddenly struggling unicorn down as she writhed and gasped wildly. He was small for a dragon, but easily held the unicorn down as she bucked and thrashed. "Watch the horn!" he warned.

Tamara moved to the head of the bed, looking down, taking Chakal's muzzle in her hands, "Your safe.. it's over.."

Chakal shuddered and spasmed again, eyes rolling up into her head, eyes closing tight.. then slowly opening... crying. "T... Tamira?"

Tamira cried and hugged her friend, "It's me... shhh..."

Chakal gasped and stammered, "I... what... where am I? What happened.. I remember... something..."

Flent put an arm out to stop Jakor from interrupting and said, "Carefull... I think she is waking up. We can question her later, but now she needs a friendly face. Otherwise she might withdraw into herself and stop speaking entirely." He waited for the specialist to nod agreement before turning his attention back to the two unicorns. He wanted to rip the answers from her.. that information was unique, priceless, but he couldn't risk loosing her. He also didn't like the idea of harming anyone when it was not required.

Tamira said, "You.. something happened... but it's over, ok? You're safe."

Chakal nodded, shivering, "I... it hurts to think. Oh.. I hurt all over. Inside... my back.. my head... ow." She looked around at the dragons, then back at Tamira... "I remember you... holding me... thank you." She relaxed, then closed her eyes.. sleep claiming her.

Tamira felt panic rising in her... "Chakal..." she whispered, but once more was guided away from her by the doctor.

Flent said, "Let her sleep now.... she is clearly healing and getting better.. I do not believe she is in any danger."

Tamira nodded, letting him lead her to a chair.

Jakor was nearby, poking at Doctor Flent. "You examined the other body. It killed that one, but not this one? I need to know more."

Flent nodded, "It had inhabited the dragoness for much longer, but that does not explain the damage and why she did. I think.. I think the dragoness fought harder. The unicorn said it put her to sleep. Perhaps she was easier to control, but it needed to destroy the parts of the dragon that fought. Replacing perts of her mind entirely. It would explain how the unicorn is recovering, aside from their amazing healing abilities. I so wish we could use their horns to heal others, but thats never worked."

Jakor nodded, deep in thought. "These new insects... these parasites. They are very different from the riders I have studied. Those were large, partially consuming their host, merging with them. There was never any real attempts to try and save any that were captured, their bodies were warped and changed, infested.. and their heads... terrible." He paced slowly, "We will get interesting answers from her, I am sure. But think.. what if we could catch one alive, intact!"

Rahmor stepped into the small hospital room, silencing Jakor with a wave of his hand. "We have to find them first, then we can think about trying to capture one alive. You got your hands on the two dead ones. What are their weaknesses?"

Jakor coughed and nodded to the big blue dragon. "Well Sir... they have no exoskeleton like all the other insects I have studied. You can kill them with a good kick like you did. They are very weak, and move slow. Their only attack is a stinger which is quite potent, but nothing we have not encountered before. Inside a host they are much safer, but a properly placed blow could stun or kill it. The problem is knowing where is is hiding. It seems to like wombs in females, but can clearly live in other places as, err, you found out."

Rahmor snorted and said, "Yes, yes I remember. Say you did hit a host in the right spot and stunned one of the bastards. What would happen?"

Jakor said, "Well... from the degree of damage the dragoness had, I'd say the host would collapse unconscious at the least. It might even kill the host if it were deprived of the control and support of the parasite for even a moment. A unicorn... unconscious at least."

Rahmor nodded, "Good.. good.. we can use that. Can an examination detect them?"

Flint answered, "With luck, yes.. they are a fairly large mass to hide inside a body, but there are plenty of spots it could squeeze into that could not be easily felt by an exam. We often find tumors and growths that large in bodies only after an autopsy."

Rahmor nodded, "I've taken samples of the parasites blood to be give out to trained hounds. They are sure they can recognise the scent, it's very distinctive but until we find another, we have no idea if hosts smell at all or if being inside masks it. Good. I'll be taking my two slaves back with me." He eyes Jakor, "I will question her myself and send you a report immediately. I want her back in a familiar place so she will be comfortable. She is far too valuable to risk." He looked at the sleeping mare on the couch, very relived to have heard her partial recovery. "Carry her, Tamira... and follow me."

...

Chakal moaned softly. Dark shapes hunted her down but no matter how fast she ran she couldn't escape them. She found a dark hole and hid, hoping they wouldn't find her. But there was one already here, something in the hole with her, no... something... in her.

Tamira jerked away as she heard a yell, seeing Chakal sitting bolt upright in her bed. "Hey... shhh...." she said and ooofhed as Chakal grabbed and hugged her hard.

Chakal held onto Tamira for several minutes before letting go, and slowly leaned back into her bed. "I.. had a bad dream. I think... where... why are you here?"

Tamira slowly said, "You... do you remember what happened?"

Chakal rubbed at her head, "I... I remember a dragoness... I remember... something about you holding me. And... I was on a bed with dragons, and you looking down at me. I don't remember anything else. Just that... something bad happened."

Tamira said, "Chakal, you're safe now.. ok? But... something bad happened to you, yes. A... something... one of the insects. It.. got inside you. But it's out now!"

Chakal looked down at her belly, remembering, but not remembering. "I... I don't remember it.. I mean.. it's like a dream... not real. It... it was in me?"

Tamira nodded, "We thought you... but.. your ok now, and thats all that matters."

Chakal said, "The dragoness... she brought it?"

"Yes" said Tamira.

Chakal rubbed at her head again, "It's weird... I know things.. but I can't remember them happening. Like.. I know the dragoness did it, but I can't remember her doing anything. It's all a blank. Like... like I was told about it happening to someone else."

Tamira nodded, thinking it wasn't a bad thing if she couldn't remember anything. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like. She said, "The doctor said.. it was like you were asleep for it."

Chakal nodded, "Yes.. I was asleep. How... strange... I keep thinking I should be terrified, but I'm not. I mean, you said something bad happened to me.. I KNOW something did.. but I just can't seem to connect it to ME."

Tamira said, "There are going to be questions, Chakal.... Rahmor.. maybe others are, well, very interested in what you know. These things.. that were in you. They are loose in the city. The dragons are trying to find and kill them all, and you can help. If.. if you think you can talk about it."

Chakal smiled. "It's ok... I don't feel afraid. I mean.. I remember having a bad dream and THAT is more disturbing than what you are telling me, and the things I know but can't remember. Am I in shock? I feel like I should be a lot more scared than I am."

Tamira didn't want to speak her fear that maybe she was damaged, so she said, "It could be shock, yes... that thing... it messed with your head a little. I guess it's not too hard to believe that could make you less afraid somehow."

Chakal nodded, "It feels like I was standing here saying hello to that dragoness 5 minutes ago, and just woke up after falling asleep. But... if I can help... I want to. You know... I thought a lot about that down here. I wish I could spend more time with you, but other slaves visit to bring supplies and orders. And I get to take care of the drake out there.. oh... he wasn't hurt was he?"

Tamira said, "No... he is fine. He flew you to the hospital when we found you."

Chakal phewed and said, "Good.. I like him.. like a big pet.. he's kinda sweet." She blushed then and coughed, "Anyways... I have thought a lot about being here. The dragons.. they fight these insects.. keep them out. Well.. except now I guess. Our kind didn't do so well, got routed from the whole rest of the continent. Only the dragons could stop them. So... it's almost like... instead of being sent to the front lines to fight and maybe get hurt... we are doing our part here. Giving the dragons that fight some pleasure... being useful, doing domestic stuff so they can be busy with fighting and keeping all our friends and family back home safe."

Tamira hmmed, "I never really thought of it that way. I guess your right.. in a way... but it still doesn't make what they do right."

Chakal shook he head, "No, no of course not.. I'm not saying thats an excuse.. but.. just a way of thinking about ti to make ME feel better. Thinking.. I'm being useful.. helping save people in the end."

Tamira nodded, so glad Chakal was awake, talking.. and not screaming in horror like she should. Then again, she and the rest of the mares had spent the last moon or two being made into slaves. It had been one bad thing after another, so after being captured and enslaved and humiliated maybe she was just too exhausted of being afraid to be affected. She thought that was a better explanation than Chakal's ability to feel fear was broken. Maybe a unicorns ability to heal went beyond the body, and included their minds too. "Well... I can stay here until Master checks on you, then I'll be sent back upstairs if you are ok. Otherwise he said he would get others to look after you. Oh.. I wouldn't expect any visitors for a while otherwise.. Master said they are locking down everything while they try and find these things."

Chakal nodded and layed back in bed, "I'm glad your here. I'm ok.. just a little sore." She closed her eye and soon was asleep again, her mind ever so slowly working on what happened to her. Fixing. Healing.

...

Rahmor sank into his chair, exhausted. He had spent all day preparing and arranging and working out plans. For now, all the pod plants would be switched to producing the new insect toxin. It would require replacing all the furries with unicorns. Luckily there were still plenty in the auction yards. They could take enough females to fill the pods. Unlike the unicorn he sent for punishment, these would be unconscious for their entire stay so they would be undamaged and able to be sold once the emergency was over and they were returned to the slave yards. In time there would be enough to dose everyone, which would keep anything like this happening again. That it happened at all was extremely scary.

But why it happened was no longer a total mystery. General Dehela had informed him of several executions that had taken place once they traced how the dragoness had managed to get into the city while being infected. Bribes of sex and money. He was heavily disgusted. Of course dragons were not immune to such things, but when dealing with the war... he couldn't believe a dragon would be so greedy and selfish to put others at risk. He sighed, there were always troublemakers and misfits no matter where or what species. Hopefully the example will keep any further insects from entering, but he they still had to deal with the ones that were here now.

Best guess was there had to be less than a dozen of them so far. Cavanel had only recently gotten back from the front, and even the worst case guesses on how fast they reproduced meant there could only be so many. Another factor in their favor was that since the unicorn raids, they had not done any more borderlands raiding, so it was unlikely any made it to the mainland. Still, plans would need to be put into action to check that. It was not likely, but even the possibility was too horrible to imagine.

Ever disappearance was being looked into, luckily for dragons that was not many. Violent crime was not very common, mostly because much violence was not considered a crime at all, unless a death or maiming occurred, so dragons made sure to keep their fighting and playing to non-maiming levels among themselves. Slaves were another story. They were killed on a regular basis, either by accident, misuse or on purpose. They could easily be infected and sneak off and there would be no easy way to spot them. All the knew was that the were loose in the city.

But they would be found, and killed. He had no doubts about that. They would slay every single slave in the capital, in the entire empire if it came down to it. Even his own. He pounded a fist on his desk in anger... he would not let it come to that. Although he was willing to sacrifice his slaves, even he beloved harem, he would not like it. Not at all. Most slaves thought dragons were all cruel and emotionless bastards. Well, so we were much of the time. It's simply our nature. But others knew differently. His harem girls... they knew he cared for them. Some of the office slaves were his friends. Friends that knew their place and followed orders, but still friends. It would hurt if he had to kill them all. Hurt badly indeed. He focused, making sure it would never come to that, and went to work on options, plans and most of all.. revenge. For what they did to him, and his poor pet mare. They would ALL die.