FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's Note: I had to split the final chapter of my first story arc again. Now I don't plan on doing it again, I can't make any promises. I only have two scenes left and it should fit in one chapter.

I have the RTF version here, http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2272341/ .

Confessions of a Dragon: Chapter 13

Facing the Music:

"Without further ado, this way sir." Pete leads me out outside the elevator while David and I wave each other goodbye. David sure an interesting character I must say. As the elevator door shuts behind us, Pete and I stroll down the hallway and arrive at a large secretary desk. A one Miss Dorris Felikalf sits behind the nice mahogany office desk, barely looking at me just like any one else on appointment.

"Hi, wait here while I buzz Mr. Baker. He is expecting you." Dorris flips on the intercom and says to the microphone of her headphone, "Sir, a one dragon is here to see you. Yes, I will send him in right away."

Well, now is the time to get that grilling from Jim. I nod at Dorris, "Thanks, if I don't came back, tell my friends I lived a good life."

Dorris shakes her head. "Dragons. If I don't meet another, I be just fine. Now git you." She then looks at Pete. "You there, you can wait in the room to the left. There is a TV and some drinks to make yourself comfortable. I think the meeting will take a while."

Here goes, I open to the double doors to the main office. I step inside and close the doors behind me.

"Ah, there you are. Come here and take a seat. On second thought, just push the chair to the side and sit on the floor. I don't need any more broken furniture." Jim is the most imposing human I know. I think it is those eyes of his that does it, so chilling in their intensity. On I can take him physically. But those eyes, hard not to look away.

"Yes sir." I pad to the front of the desk, a bigger more elaborate one than Dorris', and do as I told.

Jim stands up and leans forward with his hands on the desktop, staring right at me. "I am sure you know I am very disappointed in you. What you did was the most disgusting thing this organization ever faced." He then stares lower to my belly. "I can't believe what you done. Do you know how hard it is to run this place? Not an easy job even before you showed up. You presence made things all that much worse. I dragon living among humans is hard enough to keep under wraps. But now a man eater in our mist. Keeping the lip on that is going to be a nightmare. Luckily with the help of Ted, I was able to convince the latest victim that you was just a figment of her imagination. Yes, I am glad you saved her. But I have a tough job and you prancing out in public not helping matters."

Jim sure has a way of piercing into your soul. Decades of military service harden his features like stone. His glaze cuts deep. "Well sir, it is my fault. I should have been more careful but got lost in the moment."

"Lost in the moment indeed! I expected better from you!" Jim sighs heavily, slumping back against his leather chair. "Okay, granted you are a dragon. I guess you don't act like humans. But you need to understand the dangers of the situation. Eating a human being is bad enough. If word gets out, I don't know what will happen. Therefore I am forced to lay down some conditions. First, no more excursions off base unless I specifically authorize it. Not even Ted can override that. I will allow you to fly around in the confines of the base since you need the exercise. That lump in you belly you need to get rid of as soon as possible. Too many questions that I am not prepared to answer."

I nod in agreement. "Yes sir," is all I could reply.

Jim continues, "Second, your internet usage is hereby restricted for thirty days. I would have made it permanent but you still need to do your research so all I can do it a token punishment here.

I didn't like it but accepts with another nods. "Yes sir."

"And finally no more crime fighting. I know you saved countless lives taking out Talget. But the risk is too great. Our job is to protect the gates, not run around chasing after criminals. We have people for that. If Ted needs you for your special interrogation techniques, I allow it but only with my permission. And that is only because of its effectiveness. But no more outside missions. I can't afford any breach in security."

"Will all due respect, Talget been operating for years unmolested. If it wasn't for me, his reign of terror would have continued for who knows how long. I ended it today and I don't regret it. Now it wasn't the most conventional method but it got the job done. Besides, I'm here originally to do research on human history and behavior. I learned so much just in following with case. I know Talget is atypical, but he provides contrast to normal human behavior."

Jim leans forward again and just when I expected him to go off in a tirade on me, he says something unexpected. "Well my friend, let me tell you something. I would have killed Talget too if I was in your place. Not with the same method you employed. But dead all the same. Here, let me tell you one of my war stories, except this one I told no one. Not even Ted knows of this. It started when I just joined my unit, a few months out of boot camp..."

War Stories - Ghosts Among the Fog of War:

I sat there listening Jim starting one of his war stories. However, I can sense this one very different than those many others. Much more serious I can tell already. His demeanor becomes vastly darker and somber.

"Our forces made many patrols in a particularly bad area, searching for pockets of the hidden enemy. We was ambushed and a firefight broke out. Some of my comrades got separated and three solders went missing. We looked everywhere but they disappeared. The captain figured that they were captured."

I remain silent as Jim relates his story. His face expressionless but I can feel him having a hard time going on with the tale. "The captain's assertion was correct. We found the bodies a week later. They..." Jim sighs heavily before going on. "They were horribly tortured before being killed." Tears begins to well on the corner of my boss' eyes but he never shed a drop. "They did terrible things to our boys. All three uniforms stripped, beaten savagely, and then urinated and defecated on. Joe was beheaded and his head stuck on a spike. Cliff chest spilt open with his various organs strewn in a circle. His intestine wrapped tight around his neck, strangling him. And then poor Harry. They burned him alive."

I finally break my silence. "That is horrible. Humans can be so cruel."

Jim pauses for a few seconds and then continues. "As you can imagine, we was shocked and very enraged. We sort of snapped, insane with rage. So we went to a nearby village that harbored members of the enemy before and... well, Mathew, who we called Big Mat, gone inside the house of the leader. When he came back out, his hands and arms were covered in blood with much of it splashed on his front. He told us, 'I got the information we need. The bulk of enemy is underground in a system of tunnels. I was able to extract the exact location'. We start to head in that direction but as we head on out, we torched the buildings... all of it. Most of the inhabitants ran away though I could hear the screams of those that wasn't able to escape the flames while walking to set fire to new houses. The whole place alight by the time we left."

Jim the storyteller pauses again. "Things got worse, much worse. We arrived at the location that Big Mat 'persuaded' from the village leader. We dug around and found the entrance. It was well defended but Mathew had a map of the place and we took over in short order. We killed many of the enemy combatants and end up capturing four of them."

I look at Jim. "You didn't..."

"I'm afraid we did. After dragging them off back to our base camp, a few of us beat them up real good. Then Big Mat took one of the semi-conscious body to a tank nearby and slams him on the ground with the guy's lower half just in front of one of the treads perpendicular to it. He motions the drive to drive forward and..." Jim runs his finger through his silver dray hair while sighing once more. "I tell you that guy lived for far longer that I though possible. His lower body squished under the treads, screaming his head off for a few minutes. Once he finally dies (or just before as I couldn't tell), Jack took the butt of his rifle and pounds the head till bits of bloody skull and and chunks of brain matter splattering all over."

Jim now holds the sides of his forehead with both of his hands, pushing them back over his hair. "It didn't stop there. Jack scooped up the brain bits and plop the jelly looking matter on a plate. Then he served them to the three remaining survivors and force them to eat it. Two who did it was so frighten that they obeyed after some more beating. The last held out though, no matter how much beating he took. Jack was highly displeased and picked up his blood smeared rifle. He then jammed the muzzle of the weapon into the ass of the one that refused to eat the brain and pulled the trigger. Of course he screamed at the pull even though only a loud click came from the gun. We all had a laugh from the unloaded gun being used to torment the fellow. But Jack wasn't finished. He took a live round and showed it being loaded into the breech. Jack shoves the barrel back into that person's anus and this time the trigger pull resulted in a louder report. The shot a bit muffled by the exploding flesh, tearing open by the kinetic energy of the speeding bullet as well as the overpressure of the outgassing. He died almost instantly, groaning his last breath. The guy's guts turned into hamburger, a big bloody mess"

I couldn't believe what they done. I know war can do to one mind as I had some battle experience myself as well. "Jim... I don't know what to say to that. War is truly hell."

"Well, someone yelled 'What the hell are you doing? We became animals just like them.' That was enough to snap us out of our killing frenzy. I hate to say it, that is all it took. I myself got caught up in it though I didn't do any of the torture/killing. But I didn't stop it. Not even speaking up. We ran over the two dead bodies with the tank, crushing them flat like roadkill. Then burned them with the fuel we had. The other two that survived, we marched back to the main base and turned over to the local forces. I heard some rumors that they were killed after interrogation anyway but not entirely sure."

Jim stands up and leans toward me. "You probably wondering why I am telling you all this. Well, there is a phase called 'fog of war'. Things happen in war that one regret. Things that someone swears that they never do but end up doing despite there conscious saying otherwise. I know I would never believe I can participate in such a thing. But I did, much to my horror later. So I do understand your motive... all too much. I don't want you to sink into that darkness. I want to be that voice that yelled to stop. Do you understand now."

I nod. "Yes, that path to darkness is a long path that I don't want to travel. I too gone too far. But I am afraid that I would do much the same if I find myself in the same boat again."

"I don't expect you to be an angel despite that code name Ted gave you. I don't think Guiding Angel suit you. Perhaps Avenging Angel would be better. Anyway, I am asking you to be on your best behavior. I know it can be hard at time. People like Talget couldn't control their urges. Look how he ended up.. and I don't mean just in your belly. I don't want you be blinded by hate like he became."

"Well, I don't plan on making a habit of eating people. That certainly an aversion." I look away, a bit embarrass at what I done to Talget even though that scumbag deserved it... and more.

"Tell me dragon, did you ate a human before that officer?" Jim looks me again.

"Um, not exactly," I answer rather cryptically.

"What you mean not exactly. Either you ate one or didn't. Explain what you mean by 'not exactly'" I swear that stare burns right into my soul.

"Well, sir, it is an involved story."

"I have nothing else schedule for today. So I have plenty of time to hear you out." Jim sits back while folding his arms.

I sigh and begin to tell my tale. "Well, it was during a war too. You see there was a kingdom that was harboring some fugitive demons that fought the empire during an earlier war. Old King Dalen figured that providing the demons a safe haven would add clout. When he refused to hand them over, the empire decided to invade his kingdom of Salgin to capture the wayward ones."

I continues after a pause to collect my memory. "Since our group was the closest, we was ordered to take control of a hilltop near the king's castle in advance of the invasion force. As you are well aware, taking the high ground very helpful. And we didn't have much time before the Dalen's army establish themselves there. So our group of twelve dragons with an equal number of human riders flew down and land on that hilltop quickly. We dug ourselves in before the enemy realized we beat them to the objective."

"Since the main force won't be there in a week, we pretty much had to fend for ourselves. A few more dragons with riders trickled in over the next couple of day to swell our ranks to thirty.. But our small force had to defend against hundreds of enemy solders gathering at the base." I take another short pause.

"The next morning they attacked. We had the high ground but it didn't matter. They knew that this is their best change to take the hill before it was too late. So they came out of the light fog, rushing up the incline. I was one of the lucky ones with a machine gun. A nice 50 cal that the empire manage to get from earth during the Demon Wars. I opened up, mowing down dozens of the enemy solders. Most of them armed with only with swords. Guns are rare and more so back then. More had spears along with bows and arrows. Still they came in waves, dying before our barrage of gunfire before they could do much damage. Our rain of lead torn them up and forced a retreat. We where victorious... for now. A much larger force of thousands of enemy solders congregated down the base during the rest of the day. We knew they are going to attack again at sunset."

Jim looks on at me storytelling, nodding at the key points. "I see, a hopeless situation seemed to form. Why didn't you all fly off then?"

"Our orders was to hold that vital spot. Besides, we never run away from a challenge." Now it was my turn to fold my arms.

"I see and understand. Carry on." Jim lays back on his chair, still looking at my face and trying not to that sizable bulge in my belly.

"The much bigger waves of enemy rushed at us again, stepping over the dead bodies of their comrades. We mowed them once more, chopping the first line as well as the ones following. But our ammo ran low and they knew it. They was using their larger numbers to wear us down. My own machine gun's barrel blazes cherry red in the waning light, getting so hot from the constant gunfire. My rider Ginin almost burned his hands reloading the hot gun. But eventually I, along with my fellow combatants, ran completely of ammunition. You can imagine how much trouble we were at that point."

"Yes, running out of firepower a bad thing indeed." My chief strokes his chin, ponders how I got out of that predicament.

"I started clubbing many with my gun. The red hot barrel swinging in arcs, smashing those before me. I got pushed back and pulled out my sword that I had for backup. I did slashed at many and sliced a good deal of them in half. Even that I lost in the fight. I was reduced to fight tooth and nail, or fangs and claws in my case. All through the night we fought. The dirt below me turned into a bloody mud, caking the bottom of my feet and squishing between my toes. I was a killing machine, going berserk in my frenzy. This is where I tasted human flesh." I sit back on my heels at the revelation.

"You tasted human blood?" Jim tilts his head.

"More than that. I ended up biting off heads and limbs. I spit them out at first but I didn't have time when I got overwhelmed. I don't remember much at this point. The battle so confusing. But by next morning, I came to and saw the carnage. The enemy bodies stacked several high in places. One could not even see the ground so numerous the dead. A lot of them missing pieces and I noticed my stomach stuffed with human meat. Once I realize what I consumed, I regurgitated the various body parts. A big stack of it formed in front of me, slamming wetly. I didn't count how many but there was a lot of legs, arms, heads and chunks of torsos mixed in the pile. A particular severed head on top of the pile gave me pause. The empty eye sockets stared right back at me, making my spine shiver. The mouth opened in a silent scream. The horror of that image haunted me for a long time. But war has a way of making monsters of us all. I thought I never will devour human flesh ever again. Talget changed that." I sigh some more, getting a big load off my chest.

"I see. I agree was is a harsh mistress. She can force one do things that is against our nature. I know I had. It is a dark road and I want you to know that you can talk to me at anytime if thinks gets to be too much. You are entering the world of humans and we do have our darkside. It can be impossible to avoid, but please try." Jim finally looks down to my belly and finds it hard to tear away. "And please take care of that. It is unsightly to look at. How long you can, um, get rig of it?"

I respond, "In a few days, sir. I plan to release him in the forest just south of here. I don't think deposit the prisoner in the sewer system would be wise."

"Ah, a sensible idea. I, for one, would be glad once he is gone." He finally looks up, not wanting to stare at the lump for too long. "well, we have to talk some more later. I am sure you had a busy day and needs some rest. I'll take care of the loose ends. You need not worry about that. Peter will escort you bad to your room. And please don't scare him too much. I rather like the fellow and would hate to see him running down the hallways screaming his head off."

I nod. "Yessir." I get up and pads off toward that elevator. I wave Dorris goodbye as I pass her. She gives me a quick wave before going back to her typing. I meet Peter at the doorway and we both enter the lift.

Peter tries his hand at smalltalk, breaking the awkward silence. "Um, how did it go?"

"Actually, not that bad. I was sure Jim was going to chew me out but left me off easier than I expected." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, sir. I got some good grilling from the big boss and I tell you it wasn't pleasant. That man can be such a... well, cranky I guess a good word for it." My escort shrugs.

"Well Pete, he is not so bad. Knowing what he himself gone through, I can understand how he can feel at times. Not only his responsibility great, he has o take take of characters like me. A tall order indeed."

"Yessir, I can see that. I am still a bit frighten of you myself. I mean you ate that guy, right? Knowing that shook me to the core."

"You don't have to worry about that, Pete. Unless you are a cold blooded serial killer. I don't think you are. Am I right?"

"Oh no sir, I don't think I could kill anyone. Sure I been trained in the use of a gun. Everyone has to be working here. But I don't think I could fire a shot in anger." Peter looks down as he bares his soul.

"Don't be too sure. I am sure you will rise to the occasion when the situation demands it. Who knows, you might be the hero on day."

"Aw, I don't think I can. But thanks in believing that I could be one." Pete stops at the door to my rooms. "Here we are sir. Just call me when Dr. Sally calls for the checkups. I will be back in a jiffy to accompany you to her and back again."

"Okay. We still have a few hours till then. I am going to rest a bit until I need you again." I open and step through my door. I turn to wave bye to Peter before retiring for a bit.

"Goodbye sir. I'll be back shortly." He disappears down the hallway while I myself get comfortable on a large dragonsized couch. I wonder what Sally has in store for me. I certainly find out in a few more hours... and you all in the next chapter.