A very lucky day

I am going to say this once: I don’t like people. That doesn’t mean I can’t stand to be among them, nor that I want to live alone in a shack in the woods or something like that. I love modern day commodities too much to be bothered to run away from all of the duties, rituals and conventions that plague or society. I don’t want to work but that doesn’t mean I do not enjoy working on some fun stuff from time to time and that doesn’t mean that I live in my parent’s basement or that I am unemployed, no, it’s the opposite: I move out of my old house when I was twenty. It’s a bit late compared to some people I know but where I am from it’s perfectly normal to live with them until you are twenty five or something like that. I rented an apartment and began to work odd job to get by. I love doing manual work and that made me fit but not muscular in any way that would make me stand out too much. I came out of the university without too much debt and began immediately to work and carve away that bothersome thing, but rent and all that other shit has been dragging the last dribbles for way too long.

Now, here I am, a lone twenty three year old man with not enough money to extinguish a debt and barely enough to pass by and no girlfriend in sight. At least I enjoy my work.

Last month some dude heard that I liked to paint and that I was pretty good at it from a common friend, one of the few that I have, and proposed me to come and work for him for some time, painting the side of a building in graffiti for a joint art installation. The pay was good, not amazing thought, but lunch and dinner was free and that is the best way to convince the ten odd men and women that work with me to work harder and longer. I liked this job: I was surrounded by creative people and had very little interaction with them for most of the day, save for the occasional lunch conversation or invitation to go somewhere.

“Hey, Aidan, how’s your side going?” Yes, my name is Aidan, so what?

“Johanna, didn’t hear you coming.” The very much dark-skinned woman that just appeared by my side smiled and poked my arm with her fingers, nails digging in my skin and leaving an ever so faint impression. “I’m good, probably on schedule.”

“Probably?”

“Yeah… it’s been hard lately. It’s like I have a block.” She frowned and looked at the portion of the large landscape I was making at the moment: a section of the fantasy town that had been assigned to me was mostly done, save for the minute details and the shading. “For example: I was asked to paint a scene of a public execution in this square, but I am not good at depicting violence and that is making all the rest of the setting crumble.”

“Was it Gerard’s idea?”

“Of course: he pays us and his backers ask us what to make. Who else would have put an execution in my scene?” She nodded.

“Sounds like him: last week he asked me to make my dragon female and that everyone would be able to tell that. I mean… how the hell am I supposed to know what a female dragon looks like? I can’t add a pair of tits!”

“But that would look nice.” Johanna scoffed and slapped my arm. “How! What was that for?”

“Men and tits… always the same. It’s a dragon, Aidan, not a mammal: breasts are not included in the species package, no matter what furries say.”

“Furries? You into that stuff?” For a split second she blushed so hard I thought she’d ran away, but given that she was Johanna, she composed herself. I had to hide from her that I had taken a liking for that stuff lately, and I had gotten a large collection of images and even a couple of videos. I was not that far into depravity yet but I was beginning to question my own sexuality: I had been hetero for most of my life but some of the art was so hot it made me think that maybe men were not so bad. Not human men, though, only furries. Was that weird? Sure it was and that was the reason why I was hiding it.

“No… I am not a furry, but I have to give that some of their artists are damn good. There is way too much in the way of asses and cocks, though.”

“It’s porn, Johanna, what were you expecting? It pays damn good too apparently.”

“If you like them so much why don’t you start your own porn style or something? That way you’d stop complaining about money.” Now it was my turn to blush: I tended to complain about my economical situation a bit too much lately and she kept pointing it out. The thought of me in a dark room drawing furry tits was not something I was willing to do, although the payment plan was enticing. “Are you really considering that?”

“What? No, no way.”

“Good, I’d lose my respect for you if you did that. You are too innocent for that stuff.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Dude… you’re twenty-three and still a virgin…”

“What’s that have to do with anything?!?”

“Cause you’d suck at drawing porn.” She poked me again in the arm and laughed. “I think you should stick with regular stuff. Hey, let’s stop talking about them furries and let me show you my dragon.”

“Thank god! Sure, let’s go.”

She took my hand and dragged me to her corner of building, literally: her part was to make a large dragon, well, dragoness, that came out of the ground and attacked the army that Markus, the one next to her was making. The whole setting of ‘magical world’ was coming along nicely and Markus was going wild with his little army, making up all kinds of devices and types of armour. He waved hello and returned to his work. Johanna stopped and pointed at her masterpiece: al very big and detailed purple dragon emerged from a crack in the building and seemed lo lunge for a knight in front of her.

“Purple? Really?”

“What else would fit? Pink would make her not threatening and any other colour felt wrong. This is the best attempt yet.”

“Looks fine to me, more than fine actually.” I looked at the combination of colours that made a perfect combination with the rest of the scene. “It’s beautiful.”

“Now you are saying that only to make me happy.”

“Well, maybe… is it working?”

“Mmmh, yes.” She smiled softly and looked away for a moment. She breathed in and out several times and then looked at me straight into my eyes. “Say, how about dinner tonight?”

“Ehm… what?”

“Yeah, for… your block… we could talk about some ideas, maybe watch a movie to give you inspiration…” She was blushing again… oh, holy shit… she just asked me out for a date, didn’t she? What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Ok, brain… let’s be clear about this….

“Fuck yes.” Ok, not what I was expecting and not what she thought I’d say. What the hell, brain?? “I mean… I’d love to.”

“Great! Do you want to meet at my house later then? I already have a place in mind.” How much would one bet to think that she had picked it a long time ago? A lot I think.

“Sure.” She made a little jump in the air before composing herself again. “Later then.”

“Later…”

I gave her one last look before leaving. We stood in front of each other for a few moments and didn’t say anything. It may have been a trick or something else but in the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw the dragoness move. The sudden illusion of movement startled me enough to shake me off the trance. I turned on my heels and walked on a carpet of feathers. I had a slight crush on her for a while but I’d have never thought she’d aske me, me of all people, out. A better day could not have been seen in the existence of all mankind.

For the next two hours I could not do anything except think about what to wear later that day or what I’d have to do and not do in order not to fuck everything up. Around five in the afternoon she left and sent me a message that said to meet her at eight for a very late dinner. Something had come up in her apartment and we’d have to postpone. I was bummed out for a moment before I realized I had more time to rehearse whatever I had to say in every occasion. Fuck ups were not allowed.

Since I had three hours to prepare and since her house was very close to my apartment, I had all the time in the world to get back and get ready. Thank god for man’s very low need of time when grooming. I kept painting lazily for ten more minutes, too nervous to really make any progress so I decided to go and have another look at Johanna’s dragon.

It was way too beautiful to actually exist but if it did, then I’d have no regrets even if it killed or ate me. My furry side told me that even sex was not out of the question and that made me realize that maybe, just maybe, I was a bit too far gone. Until that point I had never considered sex with any of the imaginary creatures I saw but this one was different, it had something that made me want it. I touched the painted concrete, expecting a cold surface and rough texture but all I found was smooth scales and a warmth that should have not been possible for cold concrete. I looked at my hand, unsure of what I had just felt and then put it back on the paint. There it was again.

Suddenly the painting moved under my hand and I felt the clear passage from scale to scale. The dragoness looked at me, turning her long neck and staring at me with deep golden eyes. Jeez, I was hallucinating but that was one beautiful hallucination.

I took a step back and admired the now moving painting and how it moved around the battlefield knocking over the soldiers and tearing arms and legs with ease. Markus didn’t seem fazed in the least and kept painting, the soldier he just made getting crushed under a large paw as soon as he took off the brush. The dragoness returned to me and swept with her tail, which came right out of the wall and grabbed me. I clearly felt the muscle and the scales coil around me and drag me in the wall and into the painting. What the fuck was happening? Wasn’t this just an hallucination?

The next moment I came out of something and found myself surrounded by the same scenery that I saw on the side of the building: men dying and attacking a bunch of dragons that were not in the original version. They were all somewhat similar to the one that had just kidnapped me, though some had spikes or an extra set of forelimbs and wings.

As soon as they saw me they all spewed fire and smoke and took flight. A few got hit by siege weapons, the ones that Markus called Stormbolt Ballistae. Harpoons embedded themselves in the scales and the engines behind the machines dragged the dragons back on the ground. Howls of pain and rage echoed as the dragoness carrying me flew far from the reach of the ballistae and of the rest of the artillery.

Wind screamed around my ears and the pop that signalled a change in altitude came not long after. Ok, this is not a dream and not an hallucination: it’s way too real to be and I am not sure that I could have imagined such a vivid and lifelike battle.

“Don’t worry, we are not going to kill you. Answers will come soon.”

The dragoness above me spoke to me, head craning below and looking at me upside down. She tried to comfort me or something but I think I was too shocked to form any coherent thought and fainted a moment later.

I came to my senses maybe a couple of hours later and the first thing that came to my mind was that I was going to miss my date with Johanna. In an instant of anxiety and fear I jumped on my feet and promptly banged my head on something hard that growled. Wait… growled?

I looked up and saw a sea of purple scales covering my view. I extended a hand and touched them, feeling the muscles shift beneath. Though very confusing, the feeling of smoothness was almost addicting. Then the sea of scales moved and got out of my sight, allowing me to see their owner: the purple dragoness that Johanna drew and stole me from inside the graffiti.

“I see that you have awakened, human.”

“Ehm… I don’t mean to be rude but… what the fuck is going on here??” I had to resist the urge to shout and freak the hell out in fear of what this dragon might have done to me in case I did scream.

“Since you have been so firm and have not pissed your pants as soon as I took flight, I’ll be kind and explain everything you need to know.” She got on her four legs and moved on the stone floor. As soon as her frame moved a little further I saw what she was hiding: the entrance of a cave, whose first room was the one we were in. A few feet from us there was a huge drop of who know how many hundreds of meters. Wind was blowing from below and pushed upwards. Dozens of dragons of all shapes and sizes were flying around with grace, pairs, singles, trios and whatnot, chatting, arguing, carrying stuff… This was much, much beyond what I could have ever imagined possible.

“What the hell…”

“This is Aerym, human, the last of the dragon cities in this world.” There was both pride and sorrow in her words, clear even to me, a mostly socially inept person.

“The last?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Wars have ravaged these lands for far too long and dragons, as much as many other races, have lost a lot. This is where you come in, human.” She looked at me with her golden eyes and I took a few steps back. What the hell did that mean?

“I-I don’t understand…”

“You will, now get on my back, there is someone that wants to meet you.”

“Who?”

“Just get on and shut up.” Jeez, she was touchy alright. Was that whole ‘gentle dragon’ and ‘I won’t eat you’ face all a façade?

I complied and clumsily got on her back, sitting between the wings. She complained about my lack of agility and had to help me up with her tail. Once I was done and secured, holding on a small bone protrusion on her neck, she snorted and then jumped out of the cave. The sudden loss of ground twisted my bowels worse than being on a rollercoaster because I didn’t have a seatbelt and because I immediately lost my grip on my legs and floated for a moment in the air. When she opened up her wings I slammed my ass, and my balls too, on her scaly back. The pain stole a whimper out of me but a growl from her shut me up on the spot. Do not piss off the dragon. Mental note taken.

Once I lost the fear of falling and the one of being eaten alive, the sight got quite interesting: above and below dragons flew and went about their lives, moving in a way that humans could only dream of. In the air there were no road signs and no cops to stop you, if there was traffic ahead one only needed to go up of down and reach an area clear enough to keep moving.

I did see a couple of dragons bump into each other and begin a fierce conversation on whose fault it was but the only thing that surprised me was how I could even understand them: their language was clearly not English, nor German or even Chinese and yet I knew exactly what they were talking about.

“Can you tell me why am I able to understand you?”

“I don’t know, it’s not my job to know these things.”

“And what is your job then?”

“Fight and protect you… and take you to the elders.” As soon as she said that she steered abruptly to the right and headed for a huge pillar that was standing alone in the middle of the valley this city of dragons was nestled in.

Those that saw us seemed to make way for her and got out of her path, making the flight over to the one and only entrance to the pillar much easier. The pillar, tower, stone skyscraper or whatever this was, must have been hundreds of metres high and maybe more than one hundred in diameter, almost defying everything I had ever seen before. Inside, stone pillars held the ceiling and dozens of dragons perched or hung on the ledges or just latched themselves at the rock. Some shouted at us and some roared.

We landed in the very middle, in front of three humongous dragons, bigger than anything I saw before. Even an allosaurus must have been like a baby to these grey creatures. She dropped me on the stone floor and then folded her wings on her head, covering it. She didn’t look at them and I did the same, staring at my feet.

“Johanna, I see that you have taken him to us. Very good, it was the right decision to let you handle this matter.” Johanna? This one was called Johanna? I looked at her bowing her horned head at the leftmost dragon.

“Thank you my lord.”

“So, young human, I take that you must be quite confused.” I didn’t utter a word, too scared to open my mouth. Johanna slapped my head with her wingtip.

“Uh… ah, yes, your… dragonship… lordship…” The dragon laughed heartily and I felt the cave vibrate a little. Holy fuck, this guy was worse than a million bass boosters…

“How interesting… just call me Evan, if you want.” When the dragon that called himself Evan spoke, a murmur washed over the cave, every dragon shutting up on the spot.

“My lord! How could a human call your lordship by name?? He is simply not worth it!” Johanna shouted above the silence.

“He is the one sent for us by the gods, Johanna, his actions will shape our future, how could I not at least give him this honour?” What the… I was left even more confused by his words, my curiosity now overriding my fear of being eaten driving me to talk.

“I’m sorry, lord Evan, but I don’t understand… how can I be of help? How did I even get here in the first place?? First I was at work and then a painting that looks exactly like this dragon starts moving and she drags me into this… world…”

“Human, please calm yourself, it’s not easy to talk to someone that is so nervous.” The dragons waited until I was in a better disposition before talking, which took some time. I was getting really anxious and somewhat afraid. I mean… the fate of dragons in my hands? What the fuck was that all about? “Good, let me explain then: this city, Aerym, is the last city that we dragon possess, the others were destroyed and burned down long ago, during one of the many wars that have been fought. This is all that’s left of our old empire.” Many dragons sighed and wept at his words. These wars must have been close for them, or maybe they took them really at heart. The dragon at the centre sighed and took over the explanation.

“Things are getting even more out of hand now: the humans are getting close to our city and threaten us with destruction and death. Dialogue is out of the question, we tried many times already.”

“And where do I come in? What is my role in all of this?”

“We have prayed to the gods for weeks to receive a blessing and last month we learned that an envoy would come to our world to aid us in our predicament. The humans must have learned of this too because they sent all of their forces to prevent us from rescuing you.”

“You think that envoy is me?”

“Of course: we saw you appear in a beam of light that filled the sky, just like the oracle said you would.” Oh, that was a bit different in my mind.

“How am I supposed to help you? I am no fighter and no diplomat. I can’t fight with you.”

“We have received instructions for this as well: we will take you to a secure location, a temple of old, filled with the magic of the gods and then there you will receive the power to help us.”

“Then why don’t you go there already?”

“Because such is the prophecy: you are the one that will decide our fate.”

“And you are fine with putting all of your hope in the hands of one man that barely know anything about your race? One that doesn’t even belong to your world?”

“Such is the will of the gods.” Wow, they really trusted their gods. This was getting even worse than before… how was I supposed to save them?

“Ok, then, what is this power you speak of?”

“The gods told us that you will receive the power of a dragon and become one of us and then lead our race to prosperity.” The way the dragon said that was almost like a whisper, like it was an insult to me.

“I am going to become a dragon? Like you?” I barely avoided stuttering, my heart skipping a couple of beats, my throat dry as a desert. That was some heavy stuff for me to digest.

“Well, yes. I know that for a human it must be a horrible thing, to become something you are not, but we all beg you to help us.”

“Are you kidding me?? Become a dragon??” I was somewhat fine with helping them but with this new light… I was not so sure anymore. How would I go back to my family? My mother would surely get a heart attack as soon as she saw me. What about my Johanna? How could I keep going after her if I become a scaly creature?

“Yes. It is quite unfortunate that you must abandon your humanity for our sake but this is the will of a higher power. But you don’t have to worry: we will compensate in case you decide to help us.”

“What kind of compensation?”

“Anything you want.” For a split second I looked at Johanna. I have no idea why but I did. The dragon lords seemed to have noticed this and smiled.

“And if I don’t want to help? Will you kill me?” The gaze of the three dragons became hard and they bared their fangs, many other behind me replied in kind. They couldn’t think of doing that, right? Right? I could also notice that some were scared and seemed on the verge of desperation. They really counted on me to save me. If I said yes, I’d lose my humanity, if I said no… death? The three lords calmed down a bit after a few moments, their expressions turning into ones of compassion, I think. Was it compassion? Pity? Masked murderous intent?

“We won’t do anything like that. We are not humans and we won’t kill for no reason.”

“Even if it means losing your only hope?”

“Yes… even if it means losing our only hope at survival. You are your own person and as such we can’t kill or force you just for our gains. We do hope that you will choose to help us of course.”

“Now you need to rest, you can’t make a decision like this, you are tired and hungry. We’ll have someone bring you food and Johanna take you back to her house later.”

“Thank you.”

“There is no need to thank us, we have requested so much of you already, it’s the least we can do.”

A moment later two smaller dragons, about the size of a horse, came to escort me to a dining hall made for those that were of their size and had me sit on a table. The hall was empty at the moment and the treatment that I received was most likely their very best. The cook, a black scaled dragon with four forelimbs, came to give me the food personally, trotting on his legs. The way he, or she, moved, reminded me of Toothless, without the adorable face and toothless smile of course: this one had an overabundance of teeth.

The meal prepared for me tasted like chicken and beef, with tons of side dishes and even fish. Since they didn’t know my preferences, they made a little bit of everything.

“We have dragons of all sorts here: some eat fish, some only greens, some only meat and a few here and there all of the rest.” Johanna told me on our way back to her cave.

“I see.”

“By the way, not all of us can breathe fire and very few can use magic.”

“Why is that?”

“Some species are just not built for that kind of stuff while others are.”

“And you?”

“Me? I can spit smoke and fight well, but for the rest I am not that good. I make do with what I have, which is not much.”

“And yet you came to get me? Against that huge army?”

“Don’t misunderstand, human: I am not weak. For the past hundred years, I have been one of our top fighters. Very few among out kind can defeat me in close combat. The fact that I cannot use magic only makes me deadlier.” A hundred years? Damn, that was old! Then again… dragons. Maybe it was like being twenty for us or something on that line. Still... one of their best fighters? From the looks, she didn’t seem that deadly. “Do not let my scales fool you: for a fighter, having scars is only a way to show how weak you are. The more wounds on your body, the more hits that have landed on you. Having none is a sign of strength.”

She kept flying for a few more minutes and then we finally reached the cave I woke up in. This time we didn’t stop at the entrance but went further in, entering a room that was clearly decorated to be a bedroom: large, large pillows of all colours and shapes were dropped around the place and there was even a painting of a landscape on the wall opposite the entrance. She dropped on the largest pillow, a very green one, and invited me to do the same. The one that I chose was red and very, very soft.

For a few minutes we didn’t speak at all, she just stared at me and I looked around the place for anything that could start a conversation. The only thing that I could think of was the painting.

“That painting over there…. It’s very nice.”

“Yes, it is very nice. It’s the representation of my old home, before the humans burned it down and chased me and my family away.” Ok, that was some heavy and personal stuff. “It’s a nice memory and reminds me of why I fight.”

“What is even the cause of this war? Money? Power? Land?”

“All, of them: the human kingdoms united decades ago to fight all of the dragon species. We are strong and live long, but they are much more and have more resources. Tiny and nimble hands make good weapons but frail fighters.” The conversation had turned ugly real fast. I wracked my tiny brain with another topic to change course to a less grim one.

“Ok… ehm, are you really called Johanna?”

“Yes, why? Didn’t you hear my name right? Is there something weird about it?” She cocked her head sideways and something hit me. God, that was so cute!

“N-no it’s just that… a friend of mine, she’s also called Johanna. She’s the one that painted you on the picture that you took me from.”

“Oh, really?” There was a glint of interest in her eyes. “How is she?”

“Well, she likes going for long walks at sunset, likes to paint and she’s really good. I have seen her go and train to be a boxer, a kind of fighter, not for war but for fun and I think she has won a few… tournaments when she was younger. She’s nice and beautiful and strong…”

“And you have fallen in love with her…”

“W-what?”

“Oh, it’s so obvious on your face. I am not good with human expression but yours is so blatant it’s almost funny.” She chuckled and the vibration reached me. Was that a dragon thing? Laughing so hard the room shakes? I couldn’t say that I didn’t like it… “Is she your lover?”

“Well… no… she asked me to go and eat together before you… took me. Oh god, she must be so worried. What if she hates me because I skipped her invitation? Oh, this is so bad!” Now Johanna broke into a full on laughter, and a hearty one at that…

“Sorry, sorry… it’s just… I find it funny how you have the weight of an entire race on your shoulders and the one thing that worries you is a female that might get angry because you didn’t go on a date with her…”

“Yeah… it’s pretty stupid.”

“Not at all, I think it’s good.”

“How’s that?”

“If you were to brood too long on your… destiny or duty or mission or whatever you want to call it, it’s not going to be good. Good decisions are not made when you are pressured. Take your time to answer, we have been fighting for more than fifty years, one or two more days won’t matter that much.”

“Thanks…” I didn’t say anything for a few moments, trying to find the courage to say what was on my mind. “If I refused to help… what would happen?”

“We’d keep on fighting until the last dragon and then our spirits would fight for us. It’s either us that win, or the humans, no other way.”

“But why? This is senseless! A war for nothing but the war itself!”

“I know, but so many have already died on both sides and both want revenge. The circle of violence will not be broke anytime soon, only you can decide our fate. We need a third party, an external judge that will settle all of this.”

“And how is me becoming a dragon a solution?”

“I told you before: I am not the one that as these answers. If you don’t want to give up on your humanity for us, then it’s ok, the lords have said so. We will keep going and who know, maybe we’ll win in the end.”

“But at what price?”

“That only time will tell.” Suddenly, she got up from her pillow. “Enough of this sad talk, let’s drink something!”

“Drink? Like alcohol?”

“Yes! We need to lighten the mood. I hate being this sad with a guest.”

She didn’t even wait for my opinion and darted out of the room, the floor shaking a little bit under her steps. She came back pushing a large wooden barrel on a cart holding a cup in her tail, a big one at that. She tossed it to me and put the cart between us. The barrel might hold even a hundred litres of whatever spirit was inside.

Johanna popped the cork and let a golden fluid flow out before plunging her muzzle on the hole and drink it. I got close and let some spill in my cup. About two litres later she put the cork back on and wiped off some foam that had stuck to her lips.

“It’s a damn good beer.”

“Of course it is! A friend of mine makes it.”

“Let me guess: his name is Conrad.” Her eyes shot open and her jaw dropped enough to let me see the dozens of sharp teeth and the back of her throat.

“How did you know that?”

“I just guessed: My Johanna has a friend called Conrad that has taken a liking for homemade beer. She took some to work a month ago when we started. I figured that maybe you two have much more in common than I thought at first.”

“Well, you are right. Connor is a smaller drake but makes up for his size with food and booze. Does you Johanna have also a friend named Seth that has a missing horn?”

“Not a horn but a finger that he lost…”

“When he was a child playing with some big machinery!”

“Yes!”

It may have been the beer, which was damn strong or maybe it was the fact that we had found something in common for the both of us, but from that point on, talking was the easiest part. Time passed in a flash as we compared our knowledge of each other’s friends based on their names. There were obvious differences made by the difference in species and the world, but I was very surprised to learn that most of what our acquaintances did, was extremely similar for each other. We both had a friend called Helen that had gotten dumped several times by her partners and kept hopping from one to the next in the hope that she’d find the right one and a friend called Harold that loved making trouble everywhere he went.

The point in common was that all of these people or dragons were friends of Johanna, my Johanna, that I met over the course of the weeks we had been working together. It was like I had jumped in a parallel world where everyone I knew was a dragon. Everyone except me.

“Maybe that is exactly why you are here: because you are the only one in both worlds!” Johanna was just as drunk as me at this point but still lucid enough to make some coherent sentences.

“Yeah sure… as if I am that special.”

“Dude… dude… you have been chosen by a god to come and save a whole race. If that ain’t special then what is?”

“Maybe you are right.” I took one more sip out of the cup and found with disappointment that it was almost empty.

“I am always right.”

“And so is my Johanna.”

“Of course she is… we are like… soul sisters…” She laughed and then stopped suddenly. “Hey.. you love her, right?”

“I… yeah, I think I do?”

“So… since we are soul sisters… does that mean you love me too?” I laughed at her words and realized a moment later that she was completely serious…

“I…”

“We like the same things, we hate the same things… we just look different!”

“…. Sure.”

“Hey, let’s make a deal: I teach you what I really like and when you go back to her, you can show her how much you can make her happy!” That drunken idea resonated with my mind so hard I jumped in the air and tossed the almost empty cup on the floor.

“Great idea! Where do we start?”

“With this!” Her tail darter towards me and pulled me closer to her muzzle. She stared at me for a few seconds and then kissed me. The shock of my lips on hers, soft against scaly, was almost overwhelming and soon eclipsed by the feeling of her tongue pushing down my mouth. I knew that it was wrong, kissing a dragon like this, but she said it herself: she was just like my Johanna, just… wearing scales, bigger, stronger, tougher, with a bigger ass and with wings. Nothing too different after all. I gave myself in and after a few moments of struggle, I realized that I was making out with her tongue, instead of her. The slimy organ was several times bigger than my own and had much more strength. But I’ll be damned if it didn’t feel good! She pulled her mouth away from me and for an instant, I almost felt sad. “You’re good.”

“Y-you too. What… what do you want to do next?”

“Hmm…” she tapped her claw on her chin, pretending to think for a moment and then breaking into a mischievous smile. She got up and turned her tail towards me, lifting it and showing me the small slit it was protecting. I swallowed the largest mouthful of saliva in my entire life as she lowered her haunches on my face. “I think we both know what comes next, don’t we?”

We did. She pressed her vent inches to my face and I began dragging a finger on it, caressing the outer layer of scales and the inner thighs. She moaned and inched closer to me. I plunged a couple of fingers inside her: it was hot, hotter than anything living I had ever touched but not burning. It was magical, the physical embodiment of hotness. She was tight, but not enough for me to now be able to fit one more finger and begin pumping in and out slowly, caressing every fold and exploring her most private area for several minutes. I felt her entire body shudder in pleasure and I was met with a small gush of fluids on my face. She was panting hard, tongue out and lolling like a dog would. How could she get even more sexy that before? How?

“Small fingers seem to make, ah, also for good toys. Damn, had I know humans were this good, I’d have kidnapped one before. You must make your females very happy, Aidan.”

“I… this is my first time….” I was blushing so hard I thought I’s catch fire then and there. Johanna didn’t seem to be all that surprised and purred happily.

“Then I’d better make it special.”

She then pressed her vent right on my face, so close that I could lick it and that I did. I dragged my tongue all over it, savouring the fluids that tasted nothing short of nectar and then inside her, digging into every little nook and cranny I could find. I knew that dragons must have had longer tongues but I doubted they had my dexterity or attention. She shuddered one more time and flooded my mouth with more fluids. Was I really that good? I hoped so…

A moment later I felt something tear my pants and underwear and my junk was set free from its cotton prison. Warm air met my dick and just that was enough to make me a very happy man. The tongue that came next threatened to make me the fastest quick shot in the world. She enveloped my entire dick with it and slowly used it to stroke it up and down like a hand before putting it in her mouth.

The fear of sharp teeth on soft flesh melted in nanoseconds as I came in her muzzle. Her surprise was fast and quickly overwhelmed by the curiosity of the novel taste. She sucked and milked me for all I was worth and even dipped her tongue down my urethra to get a few more drops of semen. She rolled her tongue in her mouth, seemingly to spread the taste on every conceivable inch of her taste buds.

I slumped on the floor as she turned around and looked at me. I expected a haughty expression but I only saw a sweet face and an eager look.

“Was I good?”

“I don’t think I could ever go back to humans after this. It was not good, it was better.” She purred happily and licked my face, her breath smelled a little but in the heat of the moment it was all the hotter. She kissed me again and I was immediately ready to go again.

“Is this normal for humans?”

“I think so, but if it isn’t, I am not going to complain. Care to turn around?”

“Sure.”

She hopped back and turned her tail to me, legs splayed apart, enough to get her vent down at my level. I waited very little before penetrating her. The heat was even more amazing like this and it made pulling out even harder. If it hadn’t been because the feeling of her soft folds was incredible as they caressed my member, I might have just stood there forever. Johanna was contracting ever so often, squeezing tightly on my dick and trying to coax my seed out again in the span of a minute or so.

Not coming then and there was the hard part as I humped her from behind. At this point I was beyond euphoric and when she contracted once again, I couldn’t resist anymore and came inside.

I had no idea of how a human vagina felt like or what was the feeling of raw sex, but I doubted it came even closer to this. She seemed to come with me and sprayed more clear fluid on the small tuft of hair that grew above my dick. Without a doubt, every dragon in Aerym could smell her on me the morning after.

She slumped on the floor with me and pulled my body closer to her, cleaning up the mess and then licking herself. Had I not been so spent, I might have gotten a third erection. Too bad the human body was not that great. What if I had a dragon body though? Would I be able to keep going for hours?

“Say, what is dragon sex like?”

“Hmm, it’s all raw strength and very little care, most of the time. I met some that were nice, especially the smaller ones, but none came close to you. I don’t think I want to go back to dragon paws after this…”

“If I became a dragon… would you still be with me?” She shook and stared at me before licking my face again, purring so hard I might have confused her for a massage chair.

“Would you do that? For me?”

“I-I don’t know… maybe.”

“What about your Johanna?” She sounded almost sad. “Don’t you want her?”

“I do, I really do but… I can’t go back, can I?” She was shocked and moved a couple of feet away from me. “I knew it. it was Too good to think that I could go back.”

“Aidan… I’m, I’m so sorry. I should have told you.”

“It’s nothing now. If I could do something about it, then I’d be less sad, but since I can’t, might as well make the most of what I have here.”

“Aidan…”

“Shh, it’s nothing, really. Just… let me a moment to process all of this…”

Unfortunately, what should have been a moment turned out to be the rest of the night, one with lots of dreams and nightmares. I dreamed of flying, not on top of her, but at her side, wingtips touching as we glided into the sunset. I dreamed of war and millions of corpses stacked on top of each other, forming towers and digging valleys with their blood. I dreamt of baby dragons and me with them. I dreamt of many things and when I woke up I had made my decision.

“I will help you.” The three lords were overjoyed and the mass of dragons behind me cheered loudly, stopped by the motion on the large claws of the lord at the centre.

“I thank you, Aidan, we are truly grateful for this.”

“The fate of our race is safe now. I hope this has not been too hard of a decision for you.”

“Well, I don’t have many choices, do I? it’s either my skin I save, or the one of thousands of dragons. The cost to benefit is rather obvious if one thinks about it.”

“Then we will depart immediately for the temple. There is no time to lose. We have a war to win!”

Evan rose on his six limbs and roared, the hundreds of dragons looking and listening joining in an instant later. I had to cover my ears for the noise. The stone column we were in vibrated and shook strongly under the influence of this many dragons letting out all of their happiness, sorrow, rage and hope at the same time. I felt proud to have decided to help them, even though the underlying reason was much, much more egoistical and greedy. But if we all could get something out of it, why not make the most profit? Johanna smiled at me and dragged her snout over my head.

Oh, boy. In the span of a single day, I had gone from closet furry and virgin male, to saviour of an entire race and dragon mate to the parallel universe version of my crush. It was so weird I might have thought it was a dream, good thing that it wasn’t. But, in the case that it was, I didn’t want it to end, ever.

*earlier the day before*

“Did you give her the medicine?”

“Yes, my lord. The one that makes a female much more sensitive, according to your specifications, my lord.” The small dragon with the yellow scales didn’t look up when the third lord talked to him. “Anything else my lord?”

“What do you think of the human?”

“Well, the medicine is very strong and makes two dragons incredibly attracted to each other. Regardless of the human’s biology, he should at least feel something for her.”

“I mean as a person, Gyzmo. His character.”

“Oh, that… ehm, he seems… nice. Honest and earnest. Very composed and good material for a dragon, that’s for sure.”

“Good, good.”

“My lord, what if the other two lords find out about this?” The larger dragon pinned the smaller one on the ground, threatening to push and break all of his bones.

“They won’t, because you will not tell anyone.”

“Y-yes….”

“Good, now go and don’t mention this to any living soul, else you know that will happen to your mate.” Gyzmo shuddered at the thought of what the lord might do to her: he was not known as the Butcher of a hundred armies for nothing after all.