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Samuel let out a long, enthusiastic yawn and looked around. The pale light of the glowing gemstones engraved into the rocky walls of the cavern made things look static and monotonous. Of course, that was precisely the kind of sensation they were supposed to induce. It wasn’t like the tunnels were dark or labyrinthine – the levels of light inside them made it easy enough to move around and perform assigned tasks – but they sure were disorienting in a completely different way.

Time.

One couldn’t tell for how long they’d been there unless they trusted one of those clocks positioned near the resting areas. And Samuel wasn’t entirely sure they could be trusted. Sometimes he felt minutes were twice as slow in those tunnels. Whether it was his perception or something that happened for real, it was hard to tell.

But obviously, the last time he’d tried to ask any other member about their opinion, he’d been reprimanded. Could he ask again or would that make it too obvious? Samuel felt like he needed to find a different topic to raise people’s eyebrows.

The tanuki scratched the back of his head as he carried the half-full book cart to its designated corner. They’d been all approved by the Dragon, obviously, or else they wouldn’t be there. Perhaps that was one good line to instill curiosity in his fellow cultists? He could always approach someone and ask “Hey, why do you think the Dragon approved this one? I personally would have discarded it”, and then prompt a conversation that would end up with them delving into forbidden matters.

Samuel wasn’t entirely sure he’d used that one yet. It sounded too risky, though. Too blunt, perhaps? He shook his head and placed the books on one of the beautiful ebony shelves that had been arranged around the room.

Or maybe being perfectly blunt was just what he needed.

He approached the other worker who’d been assigned to that place with him and smiled amicably. The sleepy-looking tiger hadn’t looked particularly happy to have him there at first, but he smiled back.

“Hey, I was thinking,” Samuel started, realizing only afterwards that he’d already used some of the most problematic words one could use down there, “what’s the worst thing you’ve done that you’ve been punished for?”

The tiger looked slightly surprised at first, then glanced around and his smile got a bit thinner.

“Are we… Uh, do you think it’s safe to speak about that?”

“I don’t think the Dragon minds us talking about this,” the tanuki replied. “We’re merely reminiscing about all those times when he proved us wrong. Isn’t that what he’d like us to do?”

The tiger seemed to think about it for a few seconds. His smile recovered just a bit and Samuel felt relieved.

“Well, there was this one time when I…” The feline lowered his voice. Then, he giggled a bit. “I sneaked this one fantasy saga into the library that painted dragons in a bad light.”

“Ooooh, really?” Samuel was actually surprised. You could get into trouble for that one. “How did you get those books?”

The tiger shrugged.

“Straying from the path isn’t hard. That’s what the Dragon says. And books aren’t that hard to find nowadays, not even here.” The tiger paused and considered the tanuki for a few seconds. “I dread to think about it, but what would be the worst thing you’ve done?”

Samuel hesitated. There’d been a few things. The tiger probably knew of his reputation, which explained his reluctance to accept Samuel as a worker in the library. At least he seemed open for conversation, which was a good sign.

“I’m not sure,” the tanuki answered honestly. “When I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever behaved that badly.”

This answer made the tiger chuckle.

“Obviously you don’t. That means the Dragon has set you on the right path.”

“No, but I mean it. There was this time when I refused to clean the common areas because they were already too clean. Looking back, I feel like a child who was throwing a tantrum.”

“Every time we disobey the Dragon is like we’re children throwing a tantrum,” the tiger recited, sleepy eyes sparkling beautifully over his big, relaxed grin.

“Well, yeah, but I think that’s probably the silliest of them all,” Samuel explained, slightly frustrated. He pointed to the wall with a book. “I tried to steal one of those glowing gemstones once.”

The tiger’s gaze widened just a bit.

“Punishment for that one must have been… thorough.”

Samuel tried to remember.

“Oh, yeah. It was only a matter of minutes before the Horns came to fetch me. And they brought me directly to the Dragon.”

“And what did he do to you?” the tiger asked, his soft voice tainted with a mixture of longing and fear.

Samuel opened his mouth to open, proud that the tiger was so fascinated by his story, and then—

“Huh. I’m not entirely sure.” He scratched his belly, frowning as he tried to dig deep into his brain, looking for the right memories. “I think we simply had a chat and… that was it?”

The tiger giggled a bit.

“That’s impossible, tanuki. The Dragon wouldn’t simply let you go with a chat after such an offense.”

“Well, that’s all that happened,” Samuel insisted. However, he was not so sure anymore. He decided it’d be best to change the topic and looked straight into the tiger’s big, dreamy eyes. “I take it you’ve been to the reeducation chamber, right?”

The other cultist hesitated, a strange expression taking over his otherwise drowsy appearance. Samuel didn’t know whether the question had made him feel pleased, anxious or nostalgic.

“What makes you think that I’ve behaved so badly?”

“I don’t… know. It’s just a feeling I have,” Samuel admitted.

It was the tiger’s turn to look a bit disoriented.

“I don’t think I have,” was his final answer.

Samuel had a feeling that their conversation was coming to a standstill, so he threw a line in hopes of making it float again.

“Do you also feel… good when he punishes you?”

“… excuse… me?”

There was a lot of hesitation in those last words, but Samuel knew he and the tiger were on the same page. He took it as a sign to keep pushing.

“You know what I mean. Like it feels good to be reeducated. Do you ever… seek it?”

The tiger’s mouth hung open. His eyes stared straight into Samuel’s who felt slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“I… I have…”

But the tanuki never got to know what he had. The doors of the library opened all of a sudden and a group of heavily armored guys wearing lizard-shaped masks walked into the room.

Samuel recognized them as Horns immediately and it didn’t take him long to imagine what they were doing there. The tanuki regretted their bad timing – he’d been willing to make them appear, sure, but he’d got invested in the conversation he was having with the tiger. Couldn’t they have waited for at least a few more minutes?

“Tanuki,” one of the largest Horns said, his voice deep and devoid of all emotion. Samuel regarded his imposing physique and wondered whether the creature underneath all that armor was a bull or a gorilla. “Come.”

“What have I done?” he asked. He didn’t intend to sound defiant, only curious. It’d be in vain, obviously. There was no way a Horn was giving him a proper answer after all.

“Come.”

Samuel sighed and turned to the tiger next to him. He could find a hint of envy on his otherwise relaxed face. So he definitely likes it as well. I knew it, the tanuki found himself thinking. The realization made him a bit proud.

“I guess I’ll be back soon,” he said, just to tease the tiger even further.

“Mhm. Have fun and learn your lesson,” the feline replied, turning to his books. He didn’t look particularly interested, but Samuel knew that he was, on a certain level.

The big Horn let out a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a scoff, letting Samuel know he didn’t have more time to say goodbye. He left the room, following the armored group, and decided that trying to have a conversation with them would lead nowhere. Rumor had it that they’d been reeducated so long, so thoroughly and so many times that there was not a single shred of agency left in those big, strong bodies of them. It was no surprise they’d ended up becoming the armed wing of the Dragon, even if they technically didn’t have any weapons on them.

It wasn’t like people offered any resistance when the Horns came looking for them either. Most cultists just accepted their fate and followed them quietly to the Dragon… and some of them, like Samuel, not only accepted it but welcomed it with open arms.

The Horns took Samuel through several tunnels as they moved deeper down to the Dragon’s chamber. The tanuki had been there several times. He knew the Dragon waited on the lower levels of the caverns for those who were foolish enough to disobey him. He’d been there a few times already, but nothing interested had happened.

Hopefully, things would be different this time.

The tanuki was pushed through the big open doors that led to the Dragon’s spacious room and looked around. The last time he’d been there, he’d noticed the glowing gemstones were slightly different than in the rest of the Dragon’s Lair – their radiance a bit dreamier, subtle and disperse. Under the soft purple light emanating from the walls, the Dragon regarded Samuel with a knowing grin.

“Back here already?” he asked. He found that funny, apparently.

Samuel tried to reply, but he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t supposed to lie to the Dragon – and even if he’d broken the rules a few times just to be sent there, that one directive still stood like a solid pillar. What could he say? That he’d been prompting his new coworker to discuss dangerous topics just so he’d be sent there?

“It’s okay,” the Dragon said, taking a few steps closer. “I just want to have a chat.”

Samuel felt slightly disappointed. He regarded the taller and bulkier dragon in front of him – the green scales shimmering under the purple glow, the thick black fur that covered his head and the tip of his tail, the rectangular glasses resting on his snout that shielded those eyes full of promises.

No, ‘just a chat’ wasn’t what he wanted.

“I didn’t do anything too bad this time,” was the first thing Samuel felt like saying.

The Dragon chuckled.

“I hear you were trying to put some ideas into your new coworker. And you know what I think about that, don’t you?”

Samuel nodded submissively.

“Say it for me, then.”

“Only the Dragon is allowed to put ideas in our minds,” Samuel diligently recited.

“Very good. I see you haven’t forgotten that one.” The Dragon placed a big hand on Samuel’s shoulder. “But in light of how easily you seem to act against it, perhaps we’ll have to reinforce it a bit more. You know, to make sure you don’t make more mistakes.”

So this wasn’t just a chat after all, the tanuki found himself thinking. He secretly thanked the Dragon for not sticking to his own words. Being fetched by the Horns just to have a normal conversation didn’t sound like the optimal way to spend his time.

The Dragon cocked his head to the side, eyes staring straight into Samuel’s.

“Care to repeat your last sentence one more time?” he asked, his tone dropping to a deeper, more serious rumble.

The tanuki gulped.

“Only the Dragon is allowed to put ideas in our minds.”

“That’s right.” A confident smirk spread across the Dragon’s face. He took a deep breath and his broad chest rose – then, he exhaled. As he did, a cloud of green smoke flowed from his mouth, fully enveloping the tanuki. “Only I get to put ideas in your mind.”

Samuel felt a shiver as he took a shallow breath of the green smoke. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt its effects on its mind. It smelled slightly minted yet sweet, and had a way of putting his thoughts at ease. Another shallow breath was enough for the tanuki to feel all the tension in his body unraveling like a ball of yarn, his arms hanging loose and limp at the sides of his body as a soft sigh escaped his lips. The powerful hand holding his shoulder felt like an anchor now.

“I bet you remembered that, don’t you?”

Samuel nodded. His eyes wandered to the Dragon’s, who had started to glow just like the gemstones in the walls. Their purple gleam caught the tanuki’s attention almost instantly, creating a magnetic bridge between their two gazes. Even if Samuel had wanted to look away, which he didn’t, he knew doing so would have felt absolutely impossible.

“And I bet you remember this.”

Another nod. His head felt really heavy for some reason. Samuel thought, from a distance, that his own eyes must be glassy. Mirroring the purple glow. Unable to break visual contact. Eyelids dropping down, down ever so slowly.

“You’ve been trained so many times that by now this is natural for you,” the Dragon kept saying. His voice echoed inside Samuel’s head as if he was speaking directly to his soul. Another intense shiver went down his spine as the next words were pronounced. “You cannot escape my grasp. No matter how hard you try. What must you do?”

The answer came automatically to Samuel’s mind, even though it felt like the gears making it work had been turning slowly for the past few seconds.

“I surrender my will to the Dragon.”

“Of course you do.” Those words came with a new cloud of green, dreamy breath that made Samuel’s body melt. One of those strong hands moved to lift his chin, forcing his head to keep staring up into those eyes. The tanuki hadn’t noticed it dipping down, but it was no surprise to him. Everything felt heavy. Slow. “And tonight we’re going to make sure you understand what that means. Now, sleep.”

Samuel felt the familiar sensation of being pushed into a different state of mind spreading inside his head. His eyes shut down, too heavy to keep staring into those purple orbs that demanded his attention. His body grew loose and limp. It would have probably dropped to the floor if the hands of the Dragon hadn’t been keeping him there, standing like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The thoughts in his mind slowly came to a halt.

They only resumed their activity, albeit dragging behind, when the Dragon’s words reached his ears again.

“Good. Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re really here, hmm? What do you really want, tanuki?”

Samuel hesitated for a moment, but there was no way he could keep the truth inside him when the Dragon was asking directly.

“I want to go to the reeducation chamber,” he confessed.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because that’s where the real fun happens,” Samuel droned. His body swayed gently from left to right, his legs too weak to keep him steady if not for the Dragon’s firm grip. “Because that’s where you make me feel controlled.”

“And you like being controlled, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to feel controlled right now, tanuki?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like me to take you to the reeducation chamber?”

Another intense shiver went down Samuel’s spine.

“Y-yes…”

The Dragon scoffed. Even with his eyes closed, Samuel felt wisps of minted breath hitting his face and reality seemed to swirl further away, if possible.

“Of course you’d like that. What if I told you you’ve been there a few times already, hmm? Would you believe me?”

Another shiver. That couldn’t be…

“B… but I…”

“Hey, tanuki. What must you do?”

“I surrender my will to the Dragon.” Absolute truth. Comforting, calming. A small smile appeared on Samuel’s face.

“That’s right. We’re just having a chat. Eeeeverything’s fine, isn’t it.”

Nod.

“You’ve done this many times by now, tanuki. Always so eager to come back to me. Always so needy. I want you to look inside yourself and search for a staircase. I’m pretty sure you’ll find it, as you always do. Let me know when you’re there.”

Samuel felt the weak impulse to complain. Even if the Dragon was the one saying it, that couldn’t be true. But as soon as those words reached his ears, he aimed most of his mental energy at finding said staircase – and suddenly found himself at the top of it. As he looked down, he saw the steps going down. Spiraling to unknown depths.

“Start descending. Counting down with every step, as usual.”

Counting left no room for thoughts. Samuel began doing so.

“Ten… nine… eight...”

An automatic response came with each number being pronounced. His body grew even more relaxed, his mind completely melting away. At the same time, like tied with a string, each number carried the mental picture of himself taking a step down the spiraling staircase, moving down, and down, and down.

“Seven… six… five… four…”

However, the weirdest things about the numbers coming out of his mouth wasn’t that, but how familiar they felt. Like that wasn’t the first time he’d walked down that staircase. If Samuel had been more aware, he’d probably tried to fight against that idea, because he would have remembered if the situation had happened more than once.

But as things were now, he just kept on counting as he watched himself going deeper, deeper, one step at a time.

“Three… two… one… zero.”

The last word was just a whisper. The countdown had been pushing the tanuki’s thoughts away from his mind, but now that it was over, nothing came to replace it. Samuel felt as if the room inside his head was completely empty.

“Very good. Now, what can you see at the bottom of the staircase?”

The picture was clear in Samuel’s mind.

“A door.”

“And where does that door lead?”

Samuel knew it. A rush of anticipation and excitement coursed through his body.

“The reeducation chamber.”

“But it’s locked, right? No matter how hard you try, you can’t open the door. And you want to open the door, don’t you?”

Samuel whimpered.

“Y-yeah…”

“What is the key to opening the door, tanuki? Can you remember?”

It took Samuel only a second to come up with the answer.

“Obedience is the key.”

Again, the words felt oddly familiar. Comfortable in his tongue.

“Let me help you, then. Still in front of that door, still at the bottom of the staircase, I want you to open your eyes.”

Samuel did as he was told.

The first thing he noticed as he tried to see through the blurry edges of his vision was that he’d been pushed down to a divan. He was lying on it, one of his arms dangling at his side. The Dragon was leaning over him, very close, those big eyes pulsing with their purple glow. There were no glasses now shielding Samuel from that sight, so the fascinating gaze pulled him even deeper this time.

“You’re still at the bottom of the staircase,” the Dragon insisted.

Samuel nodded. His body felt… distant. He was completely disconnected from everything, like the tanuki resting on the divan was a completely different creature he had nothing to do with. The only place where he could think he was at the moment was in front of that locked door… or the bottom of that purple, intense gaze.

“And we’re just having a chat.”

Another nod. Samuel didn’t know already. Whatever the Dragon said. Those eyes made everything so much harder. He couldn’t look away. He couldn’t think. He could only…

“Count yourself down again.”

A new cloud of green, minted breath hit the tanuki’s face. His body sank onto the divan. The glowing light of the gemstones made everything confusing. He couldn’t really see where he was. At the top of the staircase. At the bottom. Taking steps, counting down...

“T-ten… Nine… Eight… Se… ven……..”

The Dragon’s voice pierced through the darkness in his mind before he even knew he’d already reached zero. Apparently, he’d already gone all the way down again and his eyes must have closed at some point. There was no trace of the room, or the green breath, or those eyes, only…

“And where does that door lead?” the Dragon asked. His tone was commanding. No replies would be accepted other than what had already been programmed.

“Rrr… ree… reeducation chamber…”

“And what is the key to opening the door?”

And Samuel heard himself saying the words again, the deeply ingrained message he knew was true.

“Obedience is the key.”

“Still at the bottom of the staircase, open your eyes.”

Eyelids so heavy. The effort to lift them was so big that a soft moan escaped Samuel’s mouth as his glassy eyes tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Green breath. Glowing stones. Eyes. Pulsing. Big, strong Dragon towering over him.

And there was something else this time. Something was swinging. Left and right, back and forth. Pulling his gaze like it had been glued to it. It took Samuel a few seconds to understand what it was, but by then it was already too late. The crystal swinging in front of the Dragon’s eyes had caught him like a fish on a web and he couldn’t stop staring.

There were words coming and Samuel was supposed to listen and do as he was told. He was supposed to obey.

“We’re just having a chat. You’re counting yourself down again. Down the staircase.”

Samuel’s tongue felt heavy. He tried to speak, unaware that a firm hand was gently pressing between his legs now, where a telling bulge had been for a rather long time.

“T… t… tuuhn… n-nine…”

In front of the door. At the bottom of the staircase. Locked. Can’t open it. Green scales shimmering under the purple light. Left and right, back and forth.

Obedience is the key. Obedience is the key.

“And what must you do, tanuki?”

“I suh… rrender my will…. to… Drah… gon…”

Nothing made sense anymore. Waves of pleasure went through Samuel’s body, pushing any possible rational process even further than it was already. He wasn’t entirely sure where that pleasure was coming from, but the firm grip around his throbbing length might have had something to do. He didn’t know. The words kept coming. The eyes. The swinging crystal. The gemstones. The green breath.

The staircase. Down, down, down.

“Obe… obedieeeence… keey… thrrrree… two…”

“And you want to open that door.”

Samuel wanted to open that door. So desperate. So needy. He had to know what was behind that door and perhaps then things would make sense. Obedience was the key. The pleasure overwhelming him only grew bigger and bigger as he walked down the staircase again, and again, and again. The Dragon kept talking and he kept making the extreme effort to open his eyes and find his pulsing gaze, which only made things more and more difficult to understand.

Completely lost. Completely empty. Pleasure building. So, so needy. About to reach climax, but not quite. About to enter the reeducation chamber, but…

But perhaps just one more countdown was needed to open the door. Perhaps he was obedient enough already, or perhaps he wasn’t even being obedient at all. Samuel didn’t know. He left knowing to the Dragon and he’d be the one to decide when enough was enough and the conversation was supposed to end.

After all, they were just having a chat.