The Dragon Experience
An experience is not the same as an encounter...
The Dragon Experience
The man groaned quietly as his eyes fluttered open. It was dark. Either that or he was blind. Hard to tell, since he was still living through flashes and spots in his vision. He was living though, which was a good sign. As to everything else right now? Yeah. Not currently any good signs in sight. Or anything in sight for that matter.
Pausing to take stock of his situation, he was struck with the realization that what he'd just done was so extremely stupid it was nearly criminally so. When the fireworks started, he should have run. In fact, he honestly shouldn't have started with the thing.
Magic spell? People don't send magic spells in email. Not from anonymous email accounts. He wasn't the kind of person to even begin to start trying to look stupid by falling for such things. So he should've deleted the email and been done with it.
Instead, he followed the directions. Nothing could possibly happen, right? Just a silly thing in the privacy of his own room, right? Riiiiiiiiight. Judging from the feel of the ground beneath him, he was nowhere even vaguely close to his own room anymore. At least the headache was fading.
"Free Dragon Spell" the subject of the email said. People didn't send spam like that unless it had something completely different inside. Spam also shouldn't know about that story he read, "The Dragon Encounter". In fact, he'd have thought that he was being spied on by a roommate, based on how much the email knew. But despite how creepy the email was, something tugged at him to try it. If somebody wanted to spy on him, they could have a great view of him playing along. Not like it was anything complicated or embarrassing to do.
"Just print out the attached picture and focus on it from two feet away," the instructions read, "Desires will be fulfilled!" An attached JPG, not even something trying to hide as a .jpg.exe and infect him. And from everything he could see, it was blank, so it really wouldn't take any ink either. Run a page through the printer, it acted like it was printing something, but he'd be damned if he could see anything on the paper. "By activating this spell, you invoke a binding geis to the details listed in this message." Whatever.
Going so far as to hold the paper at arm's length and stare at it should have been way too much playing along. He shouldn't have even opened the email, honestly. However when he started seeing flashes of energy arcing across the paper and his vision blurred... when his body tingled despite being numb and a droning chant echoed in his ears... That is when the first thought that went through his head should NOT have been "really elaborate joke" and the second thought should not have been "candid TV show", because it was pretty obvious he wasn't in Kansas anymore. Relatively speaking.
Okay, back to the moment. The flashes and spots in his vision were gone, leaving pitch black assaulting his eyes. Blind? Hard to tell. Definitely not carpeted floor beneath him. The surface he laid upon was better described as "damp" and "slightly fuzzy" and definitely "not flat or even". Moss, maybe? Hmm, very possibly. It did sound somewhat like dripping water in the distance.
A quick inventory of his person found no breaks or bruises or cuts. Or clothing. So no cell phone or anything else useful like that either. Even the backlight on his watch would have been useful, but the watch was nowhere to be found either.
He rolled onto his side and then onto his hands and knees, starting to get up cautiously. Then he froze as he heard a soft hiss from nearby. Snake? He turned his attention very slowly toward to source of the sound, trying to make out anything.
People who said "my heart caught in my throat" and never experienced such a thing just really didn't know the full impact of this sensation. Your throat. Swallowing, breathing, talking... all that stuff. And your heart. Like beating and keeping you alive, normally staying well in your chest. Put the two together - even figuratively - and it's just a hell of a thing. The choking sensation. Gasping for a breath that won't come as it feels like you can't possibly get your blood flowing fast enough, despite the fact that your heart is beating a million miles an hour.
Suffice to say, it was a challenge to keep his bladder and bowels at the moment as the first thing that he could solidly see here was a pair of eyes the size of dinner plates, glowing a faint blue and maybe a whole seven feet away at best. Of course the eyes being seven feet away put the hot breath coming from the creatures nose a few inches from his side as it sniffed him and then exhaled again, the moist air expelled from lungs that bore a hint of brimstone and ash and a tinge of smoke. Not like cigarette smoke, mind you. More like a campfire. Actually somewhat pleasant.
"Somewhat pleasant"?! Seriously, what the fuck? That thought should be nowhere close to his mind right now. He should be thinking something along the lines of "Oh shit" or "OMG I'm gonna diiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!" or even just gibbering incoherently - although incoherent gibbering usually worked better with words than thoughts, but still.
Back to the issue at hand. Eyes that big didn't exist, and definitely didn't glow, and be behind noses the size of OMG huge that smelled like smoke, and...
"Free dragon spell"...
Fuck.
Despite an overwhelmingly powerful urge to run away as fast as he could - darkness be damned - he managed to force his throat to open and suck in a breath of air. If he took this at face value, he was currently being sniffed by a dragon. Which could only mean one of a few things: Either he was about to die a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad chomping death of crunchy tastiness, with or without pre-dragonfire-cooking, or he ate something that was WAY past its expiration date.
"Desires will be fulfilled!"
Wrong thought, brain. Really. Down! Bad food. Maybe a spiked drink. Spells and hot dragon sex were not a reasonable explanation. Even if this was real and not a food-poisoning-induced delirium, self-preservation would be a much better idea. This creature looked quite big enough just based on its eyes to fit him completely in its mouth quite easily.
Just like in the story.
"Shut up!!" he snapped at his brain.
The creature drew its head back a foot or two. "I didn't say anything," it growled softly.
"Ohshit... did I say that out loud? I didn't mean you," he said quickly, hoping to avoid the ire of the creature just in case through some complete failure of the laws of reality he knew to be applying at the moment he had to take this situation seriously. "Talking to myself," he explained.
"You do that often?" the creature asked. "Insanity tends to be common in humans, I understand." The nose hovered closer again.
"No, I'm not insane," he responded. "But... This shouldn't be happening. Are you real or am I dreaming or what?"
"If I told you I was real, that wouldn't prove this wasn't a dream," it observed, lifting its head to sniff more at his back. He couldn't twist his head around enough to see its eyes now, so he continued to look in the direction it had been. "So technically you could be insane. Though now I wonder how you got here. That's an interesting thing in and of itself." A huge tongue touched his back lightly. "I could find out, but I'll let you tell me. If it's not a bad reason, you won't be lunch," it said.
"I-it was a free dragon spell thing," the man stuttered. Even if it wasn't real, being lunch was not something he looked forward to waking up from. Or worse: Not waking up from.
There was a hotter snoof against his back in response. "A spell? I'm not keen on mages. They tend to enjoy causing trouble for me. Are you trouble? Just what was this spell?"
"No, n-no. I got an email that talked about a story I read and I liked the story and the email said it was a free dragon spell and had a picture of nothing attached and said to print out the picture and stare at it and then my d-desires would be fulfilled." He could sense the size of the nose hovering above him and cringed, looking down worriedly.
"Your desires?" it asked dangerously. "Stealing treasure? Slaying monsters?"
"N-NO!" he exclaimed, shaking his head furiously, imagining the massive jaws parting and closing on him, teeth piercing his flesh and making a snack of him.
"What, then? What was this story? What was this spell meant to do? What are your desires?" the creature demanded.
The story was dragon porn? He had no idea the spell was even real? He desired to have mad, hot, passionate sex with a dragon? He couldn't say that! "I-it was a happy story," he said quietly. "It had a dragon and a human who... who got along very well."
"A human not trying to slay the dragon or steal its treasure? Just what DID this human do, then?"
"He... um..." He could feel a blush coming to his face. "He was going to be killed by other humans and the dragoness saved him from them. Then he thought she was cool and she took a liking to him and... um... helped him. Yeah."
"So a story where a human and a dragon got along. You got a message saying it was a spell for free dragons? You wanted to get along with a dragon? Yet you say you think this is a dream? Hmmm." It sounded thoughtful now. "Obviously no magic of your own, so you probably don't even think or know dragons exist, or even magic. What convinced you to trust this spell you received?"
"I thought it was a joke. A kinda creepy joke, since it knew about the story I read, but it couldn't be for real."
"Here you are, unable to see a thing in the darkness of this cave, inches from being a snack, because you thought it was a joke, yet you desired to get along with a dragon just like in the story. So you used the spell."
He nodded and gulped, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
"You are honest for the most part. That goes in your favor. So I will give you a choice. I recognize the spell that brought you here. I can send you back if you say the word. Or you can stay if you think you want to try your own dragon encounter as you seek." The man's head jerked up slightly at those words. "Though I caution you: Offers of spells are always literal in what they mean and often unclear. Think hard on what promises the offer made and whether you are comfortable with them. If the offer didn't guarantee safety, then I may not be able to either, depending on what it did contain."
He thought back on the offer. Desires fulfilled, and he definitely didn't desire to be chomped or squished or maimed or killed. Binding geis? He had no idea what that was. He hadn't read any further, really, as the font was small and light gray. But this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Probably less than once in a lifetime, since most lifetimes passed without anything like this. The thought of getting to snuggle up to a nice, warm dragoness, her lithe body against his skin... Ack! DOWN! Not appropriate thoughts for the moment. But still...
A deep breath filled his lungs and he gave it likely less consideration than his brain thought he should have and way more than his groin thought he should have. "I... I'll stay," he said softly.
There was a flash of light and it felt like something coalesced around him. He blinked sparkles out of his vision and his heart stopped for a moment as there was a hiss from above him. "Then you are mine," the creature said decisively.
A huge, damp tongue slid around beneath him and he had the sensation of hot breath all about him as the massive jaws parted to either side of him. He yelped as the tongue lifted him into the creature's maw and the jaws closed, clearly able to take off an arm or a leg had he not tucked them in. Calm down! This is just like in the story!
Sure enough, movement, but no chomp or swallow. His heartbeat did not slow quickly though. Fear gave way to anticipation. If this wasn't really happening, it was the most awesome dream ever! Then the movement stopped and a crack of light appeared. Now onto something soft...
He splashed down in cold water.
Sputtering, he surfaced and drew in a deep breath, choking and coughing at the icy liquid that surrounded him. His body was not up for the plunge he had taken and he was already colder than a person should be as he managed to spot the nearby edge of the pool. Some splashing and effort and his feet found the sandy bottom, then he stumbled out, shaking violently with the cold.
"There. Clean enough for the moment," the dragon said, taking a deep breath and blowing warm air across the man, drying him quickly and easing his shivers.
"Wow," he said, gazing up at the huge dragon.
"Meets your approval?" the dragon asked, turning her body to the side and setting down onto her belly. The creature was less soft-looking than he expected. Sharp, protective ridges formed a wicked-looking set of armor down her spine. Other than the muzzle, nearly every scale along her body bore a ridge that looked thick and likely razor-sharp. A massive tail that ended in a club somewhat resembling an unopened pine cone curled around her near side and she tucked it under her forepaws, wicked talons digging into the ground lightly. Her back was a murky, muddy color, likely to blend in well and look like a rock formation, while her underside faded to a substantially lighter shade.
He nodded, swallowing with difficulty. It wasn't easy to tear his eyes off her, but he did so and looked around. Where he'd been was summer, but there was snow here on the ground. Despite this, he wasn't shivering in the air, just the water was cold. The whole place was a greenery-filled caldera, the upper rim curving inward enough to make it impossible for a person like him to climb out, but allowing open access to the sky above.
Snowmelt filled the small, clear lake here and a stream ran off to the side before vanishing under a ledge with maybe inches to spare if that. Grass and trees and vines and flowers grew in a fine volcanic soil. Except for the gaping, foreboding cave opening that faded into darkness, the whole place was very calming and pretty. It was something he'd expect to see in National Geographic. Well, except for the massive, winged, living, breathing dragon in the middle of the scene.
She nodded, smiling toothily. "I'm glad you approve. The reality of things doesn't always match what you find in stories. One thing that's important to remember though is that if you decide you want out, just say so, and this experience will all end."
He swallowed and looked around. "Why'd you drop me in the water?" he asked curiously. "It's freezing cold."
"Carrying you in my mouth is convenient, but trust me when I tell you you don't want my spit to dry on you." She considered. "Since you'll be here awhile, I should find a way to wash you in warm water. Humans are not too good in the cold." She started looking around at the caldera.
"Be here awhile?"
She nodded absently. "Two years if you fulfill the whole geis. Less if you want out early, though I do hope you don't want out early."
"Wait, two years?!"
"Absolutely. It was in the spell information I sent you. That's why I asked if you were comfortable with the spell offer and wanted to stay, or wanted to go back."
"Spell information you sent?"
"You didn't know dragons have email? Next you'll tell me you didn't read the rules."
"The really tiny, light gray text?"
"Yes. The stuff you agreed to by casting the spell and then agreed to again by not having me send you back. Then you continue to accept it by not opting out like I said you could at any time. Technically just the first acceptance is binding. The second one multiplies the bind by itself." Her gaze turned back toward him. "I hope you're not going to say I tricked you or something. Have I been anything but kind to you? Well, except the water, which I am sorry about. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"But... but you did trick me! The text was all small and light and there was a whole lot of it! Then when I got here, you didn't tell me you sent it."
"Yet it was all words you know. You are the one who chose to not read it." She squinted at him. "Not to mention the size of the stones you must have to be talking back to a dragon whom you geis-bound yourself to. Nothing in the agreement states that your safety is guaranteed while you are here. Just that you will be maintained alive while the geis is in effect and returned safely after it is fulfilled. Of course if you decide to depart early, that's a different matter."
"Different matter?" He was not sure whether to panic or feel deceived. The dragon hadn't been cruel to him and he was somewhat lacking in options, and he really did have only himself to blame for not reading.
She nodded. "Very different. But I prefer not to dwell on such a thought." She peered at him, then sighed and swung her head down to him. "This is a different world," she said softly. "There are rules, and they need to be followed. I'm not spending hefty magic to just bring you here and do horrible things to you though. That would be a waste of a lot of effort and energy for no good reason."
A massive tongue snaked out and licked his shoulder. "The agreement doesn't require me to be nice, but I have good reasons to anyway. You just need to decide whether you want to freak out about all this or whether you want to take it as it is and go with the flow."
She turned her attention to the water behind him and squinted. There was a small Poomph! and the water started steaming gently. "There. That should be better for you. I don't want it to be too hot for downstream, but this should be comfortable enough for you and still cool enough to not cause problems." A nod of her chin. "You should wash your shoulder before it dries."
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Turning cautiously, he got his hand near the water. Not too hot. He touched it lightly. Hmm. Not as hot as he'd shower in, but still comfortable. He stepped in and to deep enough water to rinse off his shoulder. "What... what would happen if it dried?"
She laughed. "There you go! Finally asked. It becomes extremely slippery when it dries and it doesn't really dry completely. If you had it all over you, standing up would be nearly impossible. Makes catching things without killing them a little easier when you can spit and then wait."
He looked at her accusingly. "You made it sound more sinister than that."
"I just said to trust me when I said you didn't want it to dry on you. I know humans don't like falling over. Anything else was not said at all." Her tailtip flicked out from beneath her claws and splashed water on him playfully. "It is also an important lesson. A lot of the magic world involves trickery and hinting and implying without actually saying. Statements and words hold a lot of weight. While I can lie to you, it would perform a small bind on me that would be costly to break. Better to redirect and mislead than to outright lie. There is almost always more in what is not said than in what is."
She pursed her lips. "Though sometimes not telling is to help you. For example, a gryphon might tell you that they'll be really happy if you rub their shoulders, and not tell you that they intend to eat you if you don't. But then also, they might say that they won't eat you if you rub their shoulders even if they won't eat you even if you don't rub them." She chuckled. "Just keep in mind that I spent a lot of energy to bring you here for a reason and I have no interest in you being eaten while you are under the geis or after you fulfil it."
He thought about this for a while, then looked up at her. "So, you mean like you didn't say that you have no interest in me being eaten if I decide to leave early?"
She pulled her head back suddenly. "Eh, yes... Might be a good example of something that I don't tell you so you feel better instead of stressing about what might happen if you decide you want to quit early."
His face went a touch pale. "Right... In it for the long run." He cleared his throat and sunk down into the water a touch. "Soooo... what am I going to be doing for two years?" he asked cautiously.
"Well, we could end up napping for most of them, though that would be pretty boring. So maybe tiddlywinks? Is that what it's called?"
"Tiddlywinks?!" he demanded, making a face.
She brightened and laughed. "Just joking!" Suddenly she was substantially smaller, maybe four feet long in body, though wings and tail and neck made her substantially larger in whole. Nearly faster than he could follow, she slunk into the water, dipping below the surface.
His eyes searched through the water as he had another missed heartbeat, not sure what was happening but holding on to hopeful anticipation. A swirl near the surface caught his attention to the left, but it was merely a tailtip distracting him before her head surfaced just in front of him.
What were previously sharp spines and razor ridges on her head were smoothed down now, merely textured but no longer dangerous to him. She nuzzled his face as she moved closer. "Why would I be looking for somebody who read that story if I just wanted to play tiddlywinks? Then I'd look for a dragon playing tiddlywinks story."
He was sitting on the black sand bottom of the small pond and she was not being shy. Moving further, she pushed him back just enough to keep his head above water as she pressed her warm body against his front. He had little choice but to move with her. It was like being pushed by a very slow-moving car. You just weren't going to stop it. Her body surface resembled fine beads over a soft layer atop liquid steel.
"I get a feeling you might know what I brought you here for," she purred.
He sucked in a sudden breath as her tail curled around his thigh and tickled his balls, the cone-like club just a small, smooth-surfaced, bumpy nub at this size. One could say he stiffened if one took it both in body and in anatomy. Her tail snaked around that newly-interested bit of him and got its attention even better.
"Desires to be fulfilled, right?" she purred. "But since you didn't bother to read the details, you might have missed some important parts." She moved closer to him, her tail tugging against his thigh and pulling him against her front so he could feel her stiff cock press against his hip.
Wait, WHAT?!
The dragon grinned at him. "Based on the look on your face, I think you weren't expecting that," he said softly. But what was teasing and joking before was more careful now. It did feel like the dragon was trying not to stress him too much despite this being a sudden, unexpected revelation. "If you need more time to be comfortable, it's fine."
"B-but...!" he protested lightly.
"Having second thoughts anyway? Here you were thinking I was a female and were excited despite the fact that I'm not human." He nuzzled the human's neck and the tail twitched, making any lack of rigidity unlikely.
"But... but...!"
"You protest a lot," the dragon said gently, his tail still teasing the man lightly as the inch-wide club tip slipped back behind his balls. "You've gotten past the not-human part just fine. You can push past the male part too." The tail tip took a different angle and prodded, making the human jump and gasp as it pressed against a sensitive place. "Just relax, push past your fears and uncertainty, just like I push into you."
The dragon moved away from him and duck beneath the water again, nuzzling down his belly to distract him as the tail pressed about half an inch into him. Then the slick tongue would around his flesh and he gasped, having a much more difficult time being worried or upset. He felt lips and the close threat of teeth, but nothing but a soft maw that didn't do a lick of teasing and much more than a tease of licking.
He was nearly unaware of the pressure from the tail, lost in the moment. If he didn't focus on the situation, it was nothing but a super-great feeling. Then the dragon's wings lifted from the water, bringing his attention back to just what he was being suckled by, and it was too much for him.
With the obvious reaction of the man's body about to pop, the dragon wriggled his tail tip. The sensation inside was astounding to the human and made the explosion within the dragon's maw that much more intense. Only luck prevented him from arching his back so solidly that he dunked his head beneath the water. That and the dragon's attentive hold behind his back.
Panting furiously, the human tried to get his wits back about himself as the dragon surfaced with a wide grin. The dragon just stared at him as he tried to get the glazed look off his face.
"Soooooooo..." the dragon purred, "a bit different than the story." He gave the tip of his tail another wriggle, making the man gasp, before he let it slide out. "But if you try to tell me you didn't enjoy that, I'll have no problem calling you a liar."
The dragon pulled the man to sit up in the water again, lowering his voice. "Maybe it was the other story that originally turned you on, but you'll have to be dead to not get turned on by the things you'll encounter with me," he purred. "Each day you'll look forward to with Dran. Maybe after two years, you'll want to stay."
"You... your name is Dran?"
"It is," the dragon murmured, swirling lazily in a curl around the human. "And yours?" His tail was still being a delightful distraction.
"I... I'm..." He moaned, unable to get a word from his mouth or a solid thought from his mind.
"Husssssshhhhh... It's okay," Dran purred into his ear. The dragon slipped his entire body around behind him and hugged him from behind, giving his ear a lick. "I'm not making it easy for you, I know. I just want you to enjoy."
Some tugging and the human found himself lifted in the water just enough for the dragon's stiff member to slip beneath him and prod at the place the tail had been just a moment before. He drew in a ragged breath, squirming worriedly. "You... you're..." He let out a small whimper.
"Rrrrrrrrelax..." Dran murmured comfortingly. "You've had fun, now I want to also. You felt the tail. You know you'll enjoy it." His warm breath was so cozy against the man's ear and the forelegs wrapped around the bare body were comforting. As he felt the human start to relax as he suggested, he let the man's weight down, his tip slipping into the warm human body.
The invading flesh... it was... it was... it actually did feel good. Especially with the tail still treating his own shaft so nicely. As it slipped in further, his ear was treated to a whoosh of breath from the dragon and he got a comforting squeeze. He hadn't expected this, but he could tell Dran was enjoying himself.
It wasn't too long before he realized there was no more of the dragon's shaft left to go in. There was no deeper it could go as his rear was solidly against scaled haunches. He took a deep breath and gave a shiver of delight. It did feel good. He liked this. It went this far, everything more was just the same thing over again.
"You feel sooooooo good," Dran said. His grip tightened on the man, holding him closer as he started to work himself into the tight depths over and over. "Sooooo.... rrrrrrggggrrrrrr..." His words faded into a feral growl as he stopped being able to take his time.
Each push was delightful to both of them and each one came sooner on the tail of the last as the dragon became more enthralled with the sensation. The man knew there was texture, softness, and firmness, all together, but where it was was not well-designed to feel anything but whether it felt good or not. It definitely felt good.
The seconds ticked on and the water was soon feeling cool to the man's flushed skin. A dragon was holding him! A REAL dragon was loving him! That thought combined with the physical feelings to draw a second peak out of the human to flow away in the warm water, and the tensing and feel of the human brought the dragon to a roaring explosion deep inside. A dragon just came in him! And good god it all felt so wonderful.
"Oooo...rrrrr.... Soo... so long. Far too long," Dran growled softly. "You enjoyed it too. I could feel it." He nuzzled the man's neck and shoulder. "Thank you, I think this will be a very good two years to come."
"Too long?" the man asked, breathing deeply.
"Did you read Sandwich Meats too?" Dran asked, just now catching his breath.
"I don't remember," he admitted.
"You should have read more of the stories. Sometimes the fiction has more fact in it than people realize. When the right mind reaches to the right places, stories may be born from realities that seem unreal to the reader." He squirmed and hugged the man closely. "But who knows where they will lead? It's not like they can just go any way a writer wants when they're based on something defined."
Dran carefully lifted the human off himself and moved away carefully. "Come on, this was a wonderful time with you so far. Let's go have you read that story, maybe for the first time, maybe as a refresher." He curled his tail around the man's waist and led him out of the water. "And then we'll have you read this story again. You'll be amused that you forgot it, I think, despite marking it as one of your favorites."
"Read... this story?"
Dran looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Ah, how quickly things steal your memory. Don't worry, it'll come back to you. I made sure this bit of fun made it into a story for you to read. Mind you, many others read it as well, but you're the one who is here. Tomorrow we'll start meeting the others."
"Others?"
"When you read the story, you'll understand. Don't worry, my dearheart. You are very important to me, and to many of us." He considered carefully for a moment, then turned to walk and lead again. "And when you read this for the first time, even though you'll forget it before long, I'll still be happy for you, because I'll see you soon."
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