FSE

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"Are you okay?" Samantha asked as Stacy sat down at the table she was at for breakfast.

"Yeah. Little sore from last night." Stacy said.

"What happened?" Samantha asked. Alice and Jenny were still getting breakfast.

"They both used a strap on, on me..." Stacy said very sheepishly.

"I really have the wrong roommates..." Samantha said and noticed her comment caused him to turn bright red.

"Does that mean you want to do it to me to?" Stacy asked quietly.

"Do what to who?" Jenny asked. Her and Alice both sat down.

"Screw him with a strap on." Samantha said.

"I think you are a bad influence." Alice said.

"Funny, I don't hear you or Stacy complaining." Jenny teased.

"You got me there... So what do you think they needed to talk about that we aren't supposed to ask about?" Alice asked as she cut into a grapefruit.

"I'm the new kid, so I don't have a clue." Stacy and Jenny both made bacon and egg sandwiches on a bagel.

"I had almost forgotten about it... Probably some top secret stuff, or a new mission. Maybe they want the two of them to go kick some alien ass on Mars." Jenny said.

"Pretty sure they have proved many times over there are no aliens on Mars." Samantha said.

"I think you need to watch less B rated movies and more actual news." Alice said.

"No way, I hope aliens do have lots of tentacles to use during sex." Jenny said with as straight of face as she could manage.

"Can I stay with you tonight Samantha?" Stacy asked as Jenny laughed wickedly.

"Yes you can." Samantha said and winched as Alice poked Jenny in the ribs.

"You're not funny." Alice said.

"I was being one hundred percent serious on the matter." Jenny said and took a bite of something before she smiled or laughed.

"How do you know they are talking about something that you are not supposed to ask about it?" Samantha asked.

"Mr. October said they would be with him for a week and a half and that he had things to discuss with them, that we are not supposed to ask about." Jenny said.

"Okay... Than wouldn't talking about it only make you want to know more and not less?" Samantha asked.

"In her case most likely. I just figured he would tell us depending on what it was." Alice glanced at Stacy and Jenny who were stuffing their faces. "Slow down and chew your food... carnivores I swear..."

"And you need to watch where you are aiming that grapefruit..." Samantha said as she grabbed a napkin off the table to wipe her arm off.

"Sorry. Do you have any plans today Samantha?" Alice asked.

"I was going to go work out, but that was it. Why do you ask?" Samantha asked.

"We have a busy day and I was thinking maybe you could show Stacy around a little more then we have." Alice said.

"I could do that, it would get me out of the apartment." Samantha said.

"How much is there left to see?" Stacy asked.

"I don't think we have even showed you twenty percent of the facility. With an ID card you can set up appointments for medical checkups, change your prescriptions to the onsite pharmacy, there are gym facilities, a beauty salon... lots of things." Jenny said.

"We didn't bother showing most of it to Nodrog, because he doesn't need it. Which is why he didn't have to go through the majority of new hire orientation. I will warn you, that will be boring." Alice said.

"Probably pretty standard stuff." Stacy said.

"Mostly. The only big difference is the rules for living on site." Jenny said.

"Most of those are relatively common sense." Samantha said.

"We should probably get going if we are going to meet Frank and Kathrin on time." Alice said.

"You two have fun." Jenny said as her and Alice got up to leave.

"See you later." Samantha said.

"We have gym facilities here?" Stacy asked.

"Yup, even personal trainers." Samantha said and leaned back in her chair. "Obviously this is the main cafeteria, and it is open all the time."

"So if I want cheese cake at three in the morning..." Stacy said.

"You can come here and get some." Samantha said.

"Now that is cool." Stacy said.

"Yes it is. No sense sitting around here." Samantha said and they both got up to leave.

While Stacy and Samantha toured the facility, Jenny and Alice were both on their way to a museum to do a little work. Nodrog and Sherman were in the air once more.

"It is a nice city now that they quit persecuting anyone that did not follow their faith. I am glad to see a fair amount of the architecture survived." Nodrog said.

"It's unfortunate the city of Venice did not weather the changes as well. It was a beautiful city. One of my grandfather's favorite cities to visit." Marko said.

"That is one of the problems when you build a city in a swamp... Same with New Orleans." Sherman said.

"I guess they both sunk." Nodrog said.

"Most of Venice did. New Orleans was built below sea level and completely flooded after the climate violently changed. Many coastal cities were partly or completely lost." Marko said.

"I have noticed many places I had heard of or had been too are gone or completely unrecognizable." Nodrog said.

"Really the last one hundred years have brought the most violent and radical change. Including the appearance of beings such as Sherman and myself, which caused its own problems." Marko said.

"Ah humans, so complex in your absurdity. It is quite fascinating some days." Nodrog chuckled.

"And what is it other days?" Catlin asked.

"Annoying." Nodrog said.

"At least no one can fault you for being honest." Marko chuckled as Catlin scoffed at them both.

"How do you manage to live with Alice and Jenny?" Kitty asked.

"They don't worry about the details and small things most people do. Both of them live in the moment and worry little about the past or future. I find the way they interact with each other cute." Nodrog said and chuckled when Marko looked at him puzzled.

"You find their antics cute... I have never heard it put that way before." Marko said.

"Well I think we all would like someone who loves us so selflessly like they do." Catlin said.

"If only to be young again." Marko said.

"Did you let one get away?" Nodrog asked.

"You could say that. According to everyone our backgrounds were too far apart for it to work." Marko said and picked up his coffee cup to sip from.

"I have heard that someplace before." Sherman said.

"Lots of people have. I am sure Jenny heard it a great deal and not just because Alice and her are the same sex." Nodrog said.

"Yes, when you are brought up a certain way certain things are expected. And dating someone from a family of much poorer standing is greatly frowned upon. Or in Jenny's case, dating someone who not only worked with her hands, but hung out with a less then desirable crowd." Marko said.

"Odd how I always thought those who had, had a better life then I did." Sherman said.

"That's no joke." Kitty said.

"It is ironic how the grass is not always greener, or in some cases, it doesn't grow at all." Nodrog said.

"If not for her illness, Alice truly has everything a person could ever want." Marko said and glanced at his watch.

"Do you think she will tell Jenny?" Catlin asked.

"I don't know." Nodrog said as the plane banked to the left.

"She will have to if it doesn't work." Sherman said.

"It will work!" Nodrog snapped, catching them all by surprise. "I told her not to think otherwise and no one else should think it either."

"I didn't know you loved her." Catlin said.

"Doesn't that make it harder to live with them?" Kitty asked.

Nodrog sighed. "No, because I love them both."

This of course was a surprise to everyone but Sherman. And the stunned and awkward silence was thankfully ended by Ginger as she announced their final approach. There were in fact several meetings over the next few days, the one for the Black Blood treatment trial here in Europe was one of them.

Nodrog was a bit surprised that the slight trick used to get them to come along didn't upset him. Actually he found it slightly amusing. The side trip to Rome seemed to make it easier to get them to come along in the first place. While drawing his blood was a considerable ordeal compared to drawing Sherman's, it still was to help other people.

Since Kitty and Catlin had to accompany Mr. October pretty much everywhere, Ginger and Laura were more than happy to take Nodrog and Sherman out and around town. Both ladies spoke German fluently, Nodrog's was considerably outdated by this point but it was not taking him long to pick up the newer terms.

Much to the annoyance of Sherman, who only knew English. Still it wasn't any worse than he got from Alice or Jenny... Thankfully this pair kept the innuendos to a minimum and their skin cover up.

It was shortly afternoon and they were walking along the Androscoggin river after eating lunch. Nodrog stopped as he heard a voice call out to him in monster. From their reaction none of the others heard it.

He glanced to the river and an enchanting young woman called out to him again. He was very surprised she was out in broad day light and so freely speaking their language. As he made his way over, it accrued to him the reason for that was, he was the only one who could see or hear her at this point.

She smiled warmly as he came over to her. "You never came back like you promised Nodrog."

"I'm sorry. They locked me up and forgot I even slept in their dungeon." Nodrog said in monster.

"I can not tell you how happy I was when I felt your presence walking along the river shore once more. The world has become dull and lonely... now that so many have moved on." The young woman said.

"How have you fared?" Nodrog asked.

The young woman turned and leaned on the railing looking down to the river. "I and the river are managing well. Thankfully water carries and holds magic better then the land or the air."

"Who are you talking to?" Sherman asked.

"I think he might see me." The young woman said and moved closer to Nodrog.

"He is a young immortal, so he might see a faint outline. If you want you can take magic from me so they can see you." Nodrog said in monster and turned to look at Sherman, Ginger and Laura.

"Henrietta is a Nixie, or a river nymph if you prefer." Nodrog said in English.

"Are you sure it is all right?" Henrietta asked.

"I have plenty, and they won't hurt you, even if I was not here. They are a little more open minded than most humans." Nodrog said in monster.

Sherman could faintly see the young woman reach out and gingerly grab hold of Nodrog's wing. When she did the very enchanting young woman became instantly visible to them. Where she held onto his wing glowed a soft blue. He was a little surprised, but not nearly as much as Ginger and Laura.

"Hello, I'm Henrietta." She said softly.

Nodrog introduced the three of them to her. "How did you do that?" Laura asked.

"Magic. Generally fairy and nymph have to use magic to be seen by normal humans. Since in this day and age, magic is limited she can draw mine just from touching me." Nodrog said.

"Dragon's by their very nature produce great amounts of magic all the time. What they do not use themselves is soaked up by everything in the environment. Sadly there are so very few dragons left in this world. I hope you do not mind my interruption, but it has been a long time since I have had a chance to talk to another creature of the night." Henrietta said.

"No problem at all. We had this problem in the Bone Jungle. At least you are wearing clothes." Sherman said.

"Some of us have a little more dignity then fairy folk." Henrietta said.

"Why don't you bring her along with us?" Ginger asked.

"Because even using my magic she cannot stray too far from the river. If I were a water elemental dragon that would be different." Nodrog said.

"What element are you, metal is not an element I remember from mythology." Laura said.

"He is a child of the earth." Henrietta said.

"But you called him a creature of the night... I think you lost me someplace." Ginger said.

"A monster can be more than a single thing, I am part vampire. So technically I would be an earthen creature of the night." Nodrog said.

"How long will you be in town? I know you don't sleep, maybe you can come back later tonight." Henrietta said.

"We will be in town a few days. I will come back later tonight." Nodrog said.

"It was nice meeting you." Henrietta said. As soon as she let go of Nodrog's wing she vanished into thin air.

They did hear a distinctive splash just before they headed off once more. "I get the feeling all of you are connected in some way." Ginger said as they walked.

"We are, we can sense the magic of others. Some of us like myself can connect to anyone, anywhere at any time we want. I can telepathically talk to someone in the same room as easily as I could with Alice who is nearly half way around the world. Or to someone like Nightrunner who is not even in this star system." Nodrog said.

"You can really talk to people that way?" Laura asked.

"Of course, it is fairly easy to learn. Alice managed to pick it up in under an hour, at least talking to me that way." Nodrog said.

"What about Jenny?" Ginger asked.

"Right now she can't, her mind is too noisy and unfocused." Nodrog said.

"That actually does not come as a surprise." Laura said and giggled at the thought.

"Why not just use your magic to take care of people? Couldn't you just make Black Blood disappear with little effort?" Ginger asked.

"If it were that simple, I all ready would have done it. A cut, a broken bone are one thing... illness and diseases are another thing all of their own." Nodrog said.

"You don't have to get snappy about it..." Ginger said a little hurt.

"Sorry... It's just this is the second time I can't help the person I care about. And unfortunately I don't know how to deal with it any other way then by getting angry." Nodrog said.

Sherman, Ginger and Laura all looked at each other and paused. It was the first time any had seen the powerful monster that could fuel nightmares look... helpless.

Chapter.

Nodrog waited until everyone was asleep before he ventured back out into the city. There was still a large number of people out even at the late hour despite being a week day. He paid little attention to them, and they to him. That was not entirely true, because a few did catch his eye, it was another bad habit left over from a time now forgotten... Besides if they did not want guys looking at them, they would not dress that way.

Nodrog was thankful the walk along the river was mainly empty. A few couples strolled along in the soft glow of the lamps. Henrietta was leaning against the railing where they had talked earlier. Even without the magic that made her more enchanting to males, she was pretty in her own right. Granted finding an unattractive nymph would be even harder than finding the dungeon he was locked in.

"At least this time you kept your word." Henrietta teased.

"I would have made it back here eventually." Nodrog said with a smile.

"True you never said 'when' you would be back. Although five hundred and thirty two years is a little bit of a stretch to keep a girl waiting." Henrietta said.

"And yet here we are. I would imagine the two wars were the hardest." Nodrog said.

"Unimaginatively so... Humans are the real monsters, not us, not even you." Henrietta said and looked up at him.

"At least I was 'lost' during those times. I did enough killing for them, that I will never be able to atone for." Nodrog said.

"I cannot imagine the pain you have endured or the loneliness. There are a handful of Nixie around, but I still get lonely... If only you and a few other true monsters rallied, we wouldn't have to hide, we could rule." Henrietta said.

"Oddly that is not the first time that subject has been brought up." Nodrog said.

"Well, we are considerably more powerful than they are. They need fancy lights to keep the dark at bay so they can sleep." Henrietta said and gestured to the street lamps.

"You will get no argument from me on how fragile they are. They only have managed to hold this world and one other, we have thousands." Nodrog said.

"You are a dragon, you don't have thousands of worlds... you have all of the worlds. Of all creatures ever created you have the most freedom. As easily as I can cross this river your kind can cross the voids between galaxies." Henrietta said.

"We only watch over them, we do not rule them." Nodrog said.

"But you can, that's what is so frustrating about your kind, the power of gods and you are content to piddle away..." Henrietta said her frustration clear to those unaffected by the magic that surrounds her, to a mortal it would seem she was just very passionate about the subject. Which is why she could tell someone to jump in the river to drown so easily.

"I would hold your tongue when talking like that little river Nixie." Nightrunner said as he appeared out of nowhere like usual.

"But it's true and you know it." Henrietta said.

"That is beside the point." Nightrunner said.

"Elves are infuriating too." Henrietta pouted.

"What brings you out to this part of the world?" Nodrog asked.

"A warning. I hate to cut things short but you might want to go back to the hotel and get your friends out of here. The church has set their Hunter loose." Nightrunner said.

"You don't mean..." Henrietta said the terror in her voice very clear.

"I do, you should stay hidden as well." Nightrunner said.

Henrietta let out a scream as a hole was torn in the Iron Dragon's chest followed by a near cannon blast echoing off the buildings. Nightrunner shoved her into the river where she disappeared and just managed to deflect the round aimed at him.

Nodrog grabbed Nightrunner's arm. "Just go and tell Sherman. This is the third time he shot me and I am going to wring his scrawny little neck. I don't give a damn about the edict rules between them and us."

Nightrunner managed to call Azule and make his escape just before Nodrog released his magic and went critical, as Alice and Jenny would have called it.

Sherman woke up as Azule announced his presence. Though Sherman was not sure how, he just sat up in bed as Nightrunner came out. "He isn't here."

"I know that, you need to round up your coworkers and get out of here." Nightrunner said and glanced out the window.

"What's going on?" Sherman asked as his adrenaline kicked in. Nightrunner only showed up if he was called or shit was going to hit the fan. He was partly dressed and wished he was armed when someone shot at Nightrunner.

"I'll ask later." Sherman said and pulled on a shirt as he ducked into the room Marko had to himself. While it was a private room it was connected to Sherman and Nodrog's room along with the girl's rooms.

"Was that a gun shot?" Marko asked as Sherman came into his room.

"Yes and they are aimed at us. We need to get out of here, the quicker the better." Sherman said.

Kitty and Catlin came in, fully dressed and all ready armed. "Here" Kitty said and gave Sherman a pistol.

"You even know kind I like." Sherman teased as more shots were fired.

"Were is Nodrog?" Catlin asked.

"He is still out, and we don't need to worry about him. We need to worry about ourselves at the moment." Sherman checked the gun over.

"Would you like some help?" Nightrunner asked.

"Stop right there!" Kitty yelled and aimed at the dark clothed elf...

"Hold it, he is a friend!" Sherman yelled and put a hand on top of her gun and pushed it so it was pointed down. "An old friend of Nodrog's who has saved some of us a couple of times."

"Stand down Kitty, Sherman is correct. If you could explain the situation Nightrunner." Marko said.

"Lets just say your unwavering conviction to keep those books did not sit well with some people. How familiar are you with Rip Van Winkle?" Nightrunner asked.

"The Huntsman? It has been a while since I have heard that tail." Marko said.

"I don't think we time for fairy tales." Catlin said. They could hear shouting in the building now.

"He is real, and he is working for the church hunting monsters... Thankfully your monster only gets mad when shot with magic bullets and does not simply die. The men after you here, are not here to kill, only to take you back with them for more bargaining." Nightrunner said.

"What about us?" Kitty asked.

"We are cannon fodder." Sherman growled. "Can Azule take us to the plane?"

"If you can picture it well enough he can." Nightrunner said.

"It would be the quickest way out of here. I hope you three will trust me." Sherman said.

"Lets not keep Ginger and Laura waiting." Marko said with a smile.

"Better call them first or they might have a heart attack as soon as we get there." Sherman said and pulled out his phone.

There were a few reasons to completely release his magic. It greatly increased the speed at which he could heal and secondly it made it harder to focus on other things apart from him. Magic bullets could be stopped with magic greater than the other person possessed. Few had more power than a dragon.

The difficult part was determining where the shots were coming from because unlike normal marksmen, Rip could bend the bullet's trajectory. The round could be fired from behind cover and not even in his direction but still hit him. Thankfully the giant rifle the Hunter was using this time was a large enough caliber nothing could silence its sound.

It took a little while but Nodrog eventually found the Hunter and his few supporters. All men of faith they were noticeably rattled when the Hunter's round did not penetrate his magic field. It was dark magic, but the greater those around him feared him, the stronger his magic became. "I think you are confusing me with someone else."

"My bullets punish all without distinction. You are not exempt from that dragon." Rip Van said. The rifle the thin man had was as long as he was tall, the barrel thicker than his arms.

"I was referring to the clergy with you... Anti demon magic will not protect you from me." Nodrog said and crossed into the holy barrier that surrounded them. He raised his arms out and made a quick down ward motion with his index fingers. "Impale."

The two closest to him were quickly struck by iron lances, impaling them like bugs in a display case. The monster rifle added its nearly deafening bark to the fray the shell smashing into the field that surrounded him pealing apart. Nodrog chuckled as the holy magic infused needle shaped penetrator pierced his magic and his flesh.

"Given enough divine conviction even your magic yields monster." Rip Van said and smiled his cruel and sinister smile.

"Only one problem Hunter. You can not kill me now matter how many blessed bullets you fire. And their blood can heal me." Nodrog made another gesture. "Rivers of blood."

The last of the clergy and Rip watched in horror as the blood of their comrades left their bodies and flowed to the dragon. The blood ran up his legs and to the wound in his chest. "Virgin blood does wonders to heal."

"No!" Rip Van yelled and fired the last nineteen rounds into the dragon.

They breathed a sigh of relief as Nodrog stopped his forward advancement. "The word of god always over comes." One of the clergy said.

However the Iron Dragon did not fall despite the grievous wounds and once more missing a major portion of his head. A rather peculiar thing started to happen. Everything around him quickly began to decompose. The two dead clergy, the cars, lamp posts even the concrete he stood upon.

"Well this is certainly a new development." Nightrunner said and he chuckled as those around him were surprised by his sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here elf?" Rip Van asked.

"I just wanted to see the face of the man that broke a nearly five hundred year old truce." Nightrunner said. The dead circle slowly growing larger around Nodrog. Drain life or death and decay... no matter its name, thankfully only dragons could do it.

"All this time I was expecting it to be a monster that broke the truce." A young man said. He looked mid twenties but was older than Nightrunner. With finely crafted silver and golden armor. One of Heaven's divine soldiers.

"You always underestimate humans Gabriel." Nightrunner scoffed as the clergy bowed before the angel.

"It is an impressive feet to have so severely wounded a dragon that it needs to pull the very life out of its surroundings to heal itself. To attack one unprovoked as you did Hunter was shear madness." Gabriel said. Unlike Nightrunner who was generally cloaked in darkness Gabriel was almost glowing in light.

By this point the death and decay had spread nearly twenty feet from Nodrog. The mortals and the Hunter forgotten by the angel and the monster. "What do we do from here?" Nightrunner asked.

"Any dealings with dragons are tricky... Especially when the dragon in question is an aspect of death. While your involvement can not entirely be over looked, you were simply trying to protect your charges." Gabriel said.

"Just trying to keep things from escalating... With those he cares about safe, it will dampen his temper... some." Nightrunner said.

"That is a point we will need to consider. Judging from his recovery I think this situation will resolve itself rather shortly." Gabriel said. The death and decay slowly spreading further.

"Agreed, I will make sure I am easily reached if needed." Nightrunner said. The Iron Dragon had drained even the color from the world in his need to feed.

"Always courteous Nightrunner. Your Council was wise to keep you on this world. Have a good evening and if at all possible maybe you can keep him from draining to much life." Gabriel said.

"What of us?" One of the clergy asked.

"You crossed a line when you attacked a dragon. Whatever he does to you will be considered fair punishment in the lord's eyes." Gabriel said and took to the air swiftly disappearing into the cloudless sky.

"That is why there are such rules in place. I am sure you are well aware of them Hunter." Nightrunner left them groveling for help and forgiveness as Nodrog's laughter filled the air once more.

Eventually the police did arrive on scene. Only Rip Van Winkle was alive but he was babbling incoherently, Nodrog had fully consumed the bodies of the clergy and left the Hunter broken minded in the street with the monster rifle. There was an unexplainable lack of color or life within fifty feet of the scene. Stranger still was no one actually saw what had happened in the street at all.

Explaining how Mr. October and company were able to get out so unnoticed was a little harder. He kept things calm as always and assured everyone that it was the quick actions of his staff. It was those of his enemies that had a difficult time explaining the actions of their followers.

However anything even hinting about Nodrog was missing from any and all reports. Which was the way Nodrog and Nightrunner preferred it. Fairies and Goblins do have a terrible habit of playing with reporter's things. Also disturbing was the lead reporter ended up drowning by some terrible twist of fate. As with most dealings involving dragons it was quickly and conveniently forgotten.

The flight back was rather quiet. The four women were very unsure about having the monster with them at this point in time. "I am curious as to how Nightrunner found us." Marko said.

"I told him, he has interacted enough with Sherman, he can find him anywhere." Nodrog said.

"But why would you send him?" Kitty asked.

"Because I was busy dealing with the other part of the problem. Nightrunner is also a far better healer than I if something had happened." Nodrog said.

"We know you can heal cuts and gun shots... What more is there?" Sherman asked.

"Nightrunner could reattach severed limbs, or make you whole after being cut in half. That's the reason he could save Jenny and I could not." Nodrog said.

"I thought you said magic was easy." Sherman teased.

"It is, but it does take time. You seem to forget until very recently my whole existence was to kill, not heal. It would take me nearly two hundred years before I could magically stitch up internal organs to that level." Nodrog said.

"How long has he been using magic?" Catlin asked.

"Well he is close to seven, so at least six and a half." Nodrog said.

"Decades or Centuries?" Marko asked.

"Try millennia..." Nodrog said.