{"sf1_id":605456,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Revelation","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1853,"posted_at":"2013-10-22T17:29:00.000Z","tags":["Dragon","Horse","Human","Story Progression"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/605456-revelation","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/605456","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=605456\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#14 of Robbin Red","content":"\n It was\nlate in the day before the dragon was sighted flying in from the sea. His wing\nbeat was uneven and he looked tired and defeated. When he collapsed in the sand just where\nhe had taken off, he looked as though he would perish on the spot. Sybeele was\nthere in an instant, knowing full well what had taken place, but not the reason\nfor his present condition. One wing had a hole torn through it, and in places,\nscales were smashed or missing. \n She had\ntears in her eyes. \"Dammit Jon-Tom. What the hell happened out there? And why\nhaven't you fixed the damage? Your power...\" He coughed a little. \"My healing has\nbeen overused as of late. Keeping me from burning up taxed it more than I\nrealized, and night after night of pleasant, if strenuous exercise has pushed\nit over the edge I think. I'm on my way to reverting to a normal creature, not\none powered by excessive magic. Even a unicorn has a limited lifespan. Without\nthe magic it's used to my body is bound to fail.\" He wheezed a little and laid\nhis head on the sand.\n His\nwife was openly crying. \"Don't you go dying on me! If you can't fix yourself,\nthen I will!\" His head came straight up, and in a tone of voice she had never\nheard before, he growled. \"Like hell you will! Helping people who need it is\nonly a good thing when they want the help. I DO NOT! Either I'll recover, or I\nwon't. I am well past my natural years. My head is full of more things than the\naverage human should ever have to experience. And the worse thing is; they\nhaven't even happened yet! I'd need a damn good reason to accept help right\nnow. Otherwise, I'll let nature take its course.\" He fell back, eyes closed.\n Huntchy\nwas there, as were a few others. The horse raised an eyebrow at Jon-Tom's\nwords, but he said nothing. It wasn't his place to interfere. Sybelle was of\ncourse presently in human form. He knew full well that she carried impressive\npower, as was shown by her nonchalance in making her kidnapped friends appear\nout of thin air. No spells, no powders, and no instrument; just a mere thought\nand they were there. She could do the same for him. But if she had morals, then\nshe was in a quandary. If she helped when he refused help, she would alienate\nhim. If she accepted his refusal and he died, she would lose him to the stars.\nIt was a lose-lose situation.\n She\nleaned down and whispered in his ear. His eyes came open; wide open. He growled\nagain. \"That's a rotten thing to say! I never took you for a liar!\" It was her\nturn to shout.\n \"I'm no\nliar! I just told you the truth. It's not my fault if you don't believe me. I\ntold you I loved you. You have no idea what I have gone through to be here with\nyou. And like hell if I'll stand by and see you die! I need you around for\nthis. Power or not, I can't do this alone!\"\n He\npropped himself up on one scaly elbow. \"Then you had better start explaining. I\nhave no problem with keeping secrets. But in this case, you aren't telling me\nsomething that you should. I'll no longer go forward blindly. A future is what\nyou make of it, but it always starts in the here and now. So spill it, or shut\nyour trap. I do love you, but I'm too worn to care anymore about keeping\ninformation from each other. Either we do this openly, or we don't do it at\nall.\"\n Sybeele\nlooked green. \"I can't tell you. Eve said if I did, it would ruin the whole\nthing. I want to tell you, really I do. But she made me promise.\" Jon-Tom\npuffed a few smoke rings her way. \"What did she make you promise?\" \n \"She\nsaid I had to promise never to tell you about the deal we made. She said I had\nto keep that promise, or she'd negate the deal.\" Jon-Tom nodded, thinking. \"Ok.\nFine. I'd never want you to break a promise, especially one as important as\nthis one apparently is. So tell Huntchy.\" Her eyes narrowed. \"I can't tell\nhim!\"\n The\ndragon settled back down into the sand, blood leaking from the wound in his\nwings. \"Suit yourself. But if what you just said is true, your promise extends\nto not telling me directly. It says nothing about not telling someone else.\nTell him, and he can tell me, and I'll know, and you'll still have kept your\npromise.\" \n She\ncontemplated that idea for a moment. \"OK, so that might circumvent the deal\nwithout causing any harm.\" She walked up to the horse and whispered in his ear\nfor a few minutes. The way his eyes widened told Jon-Tom that the secret must\nindeed be incredible. When his legs started shaking, he knew it was very nearly\nunbelievable.\n Sybeele\nfinished her tale and stood to face her husband. \"I'm going back home. Can you\nmake it back to Huntchy's place as you are, or would you like me to heal you\nnow? I'll abide by whatever decision you make.\" He knew he wasn't as bad as he\nlooked, and for some reason the pain he was experiencing felt refreshing. It\nwas weird, but he went with it. \"I'll make it back on my own thank you. Once I've\nheard what he has to tell me, then we'll go from there.\" He leaned forward and\nwith a quick flash, he licked her cheek with his sooty tongue. She smiled and\nkissed his chin. He could feel a small surge of power, and knew that she had\ncheated. But then, she was young and in love. He couldn't blame her actions. He\nwould have done the same.\n She\nturned and walked away, leaving petite footprints in the sand. The horse followed;\nthe look on his face less than reassuring. Jon-Tom fell in step behind him,\nleaving a small group alone, wondering what had just transpired. All they knew\nwas that their new mayor and his wife were an odd couple, but that they seemed\nto be the best thing to have happened to the town in a long time. Whatever their\nproblem was, they hoped for a quick resolution.\n Back in\ntown, she went to their home to await his response, while the two males went\non. As he walked, Jon-Tom could feel the healing in his body. The hole in his\nwing closed, the scales reformed, and by the time they reached the horse's\nhouse, he was as good a dragon as before he headed out to sea. He even felt he\nhad power to spare again. Huntchy noticed, but said nothing. It was a gift, his\nsilence. Jon-Tom hated trying to explain things, even to someone as intelligent\nas he.\n The\ndragon sat down, and spread his wings to absorb the sunlight. It felt good. The\nhorse dropped down on his butt, looking a bit awkward. He took in a deep\nbreath. \"She's pregnant.\" The dragon snorted. \"So she said. It shows how much\nmy power has diminished. I would have noticed right off the bat if it was in\ngood working order. But that is hardly something you keep from your spouse.\nThere's no excuse for it!\"\n The\nhorse coughed. \"Perhaps there is. There is an explanation too for her constant\nchanges. The two are simultaneously connected. But I am at a loss as to the\nbest way to relay the information she gave me. The details were stark and\nstraight forward. I am unsure that this is the best method to give them to\nyou.\"\n The\ndragon shrugged, as much as a dragon can shrug. \"Look my friend, I've been\naround this world, and have passed through its years like a hot knife through\nbutter. I know things no one should know. I highly doubt you could tell me\nanything that would shock me. However, details behind her erratic behavior\nwould be welcome. I have so far failed to come up with a suitable answer for\nher actions or her constant changes. If there is a connection, I would like to\nknow what it is.\"\n The\nhorse drew in another breath. \"She is pregnant. I believe her when she says\nthat. It is not something to lie about, for the truth comes out in the end. She\nis carrying your child, my friend.\" He then fell silent.\n Jon-Tom\nstretched his wings a little wider. \"OK. That's it? It's hardly news. I have\nchildren in numbers greater than any living creature should have, and in more\nspecies than a centipede could count using all its toes! One more will not\ndisrupt my day, nor two, or three, or four. How does her pregnancy have to do\nwith her changes? Except for this form, I have been human the short time I've\nbeen here. It's not like our child can be anything other than human.\"\n The\nhorse gulped. \"I said she was carrying your child. She is not carrying her\nchild.\"\n The\ndragon froze. His face twitched as he thought. He knew that there were times\nwhen his brain failed to work as he wanted it to. His child...not her child. It\nmade no sense. He had to have sex with someone before they could become\npregnant. Well, not true! He could have used his power to create life, but where\nwas the fun in that? She took that power away on his first day (which seemed\nlong ago already), meaning that such a thing was impossible. He was at a\ncomplete loss.\n \"I give\nup Huntchy. I assume she told you the details. How is she carrying a baby that\nisn't ours together?\" The horse moved around to the dragon's side. He wasn't\nstupid. He was also thankful his friend was sitting outside, facing away from\nthe house. He squeaked out one word. \"Eve.\"\n It\ndidn't register with him. Of course Eve had something to do with this. She was\nalways interfering with people's lives. Heck, she herself was carrying his\nbaby...\n The\nflame that shot from his mouth nearly put the artificial one, back at the\ntavern, to shame. Trees caught fire, and even poor Huntchy, now flatten against\nthe cobbles, felt the hair on his mane curl and smolder. The roar was as loud\nas a jet engine, though he had no idea what one of those might be. All he knew\nwas that if he survived this, he was going to live his life to its fullest. The\nroar, the heat and the smoke rattled the whole town, who knew something bad was\nin the works. They wisely stayed away from the vicinity of the problem, hoping\ntheir mayor would come to the rescue yet again. But this was something that might\nbe beyond even his fixing, seeing as he was presently the cause.\n"}