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The great beast climbed up the cliff, clenching a sword in it's teeth. It's lithe and slim-muscled arms and legs were topped by clawed hands that found purchase on the rocks that no human could. Its back showed great orange and black stripes under the light armor, not a fashion statement but a condition of having an animal-headed god for a father. When it approached the top, its eyes- one green and one blue- beheld a giant dragon that roared in challenge. When the tigerish figure roared back, the spray of seawater crashed against the cliffs, and the blade of the straight-headed axe they carried cast wide arcs of spray against the scales of the dragon, seemingly freezing the ocean itself in slow motion. The gem-encrusted hide took no damage, the seawater sizzling harmlessly with latent electricity against them. But the bare scales split and withered, and the tiger jumped suddenly towards a particularly bad gash in the neck to finish them off. The wondrous golden axe-blade was clenched in two hands, the full force of the blow about to make impact and sever the head of the beast. Their strange eyes froze in my mind, and a swell of love filled my heart.

***

I awoke from my dream with a start. Though I didn't know why, I lazily turned to my lover to see if he was awake. My intuition paid off when his great cool, metallic eyes caught mine. My dream started to drain slowly out of my mind as I spoke half-asleep with my God, the great Rakshasa that I had meant to be a sacrifice to.

"I slept and dreamed and saw a fighting God. His blade was made of gold and cut the sea."

"Some nights are filled with visions that are odd. I hope this God is one who looked just like me."

"My Lord! How great you peer into night hours- a striped and brawny frame could not be missed. Their eyes were strange but light and like to ours."

"Please wake, my treasured one, and come be kissed."

I opened my eyes fully and looked around, the past fleeing from my mind and the present setting in. Though my dream and our talk was forgotten, something was bothering me. Before I could start talking, a whiskery kiss disrupted my half-opened lips. This melted away every worry, as I lifted my heavy-feeling arms to embrace him. Only one fear carried over into my now-alert mind.

"My God, please, I must know. Tell me of dragons." My arms slipped back to my sides as I looked into his steel eyes. Apparently he did not yet understand that I accepted my place under him, because his paw that had only a moment before been caressing my shoulder was suddenly gripping with painful sharpness. The pleasant dream was fully gone.

"Aren't you a pure soul? With no knowledge of the real world? What use would you have of such facts? Why would you ask me such a thing?" He roared into my face, his eyes suddenly wild with light and drawn into demonic lines.

I didn't have a clue what to do, so I put my hands on the massive paw and tried to say as meekly as possible, "Genshinju-sama? Moushiwake arimasen." My eyes started to fill with tears- not at the pain, but at the harsh reality of who I was with.

His paws removed themselves from my shoulders and he stood, going to stand in front of the mirror in nothing but a twist of cloth around his loins. "I've changed my mind about something."

He disappeared behind the mirror again. The loneliness was rapid and crushing. Only the last morning I was worried about my new responsibilities as an adult- then it turned out I was sold to a devil instead of a boy. A glint of metal caught my eye, and the revealed shower was cold but cleansing.

He came back with a huge boar that looked like he killed it with his bare teeth. He dropped it into the area that I had just been cleaning myself in and revealed a single long claw. I watched in horror as the intestines spilled out and he emptied them into a gray metallic container after cutting away a huge slab from the belly. Leaving the rest of the kill behind, he said a series of feral sounds that made his hand magically fill with sea salt, and rubbed it into the meat. His claws sank into it and deftly flayed it into strips in a way that made my tiny smarting puncture wounds from them seem like blessings.

As he fried the pieces from the huge slab on top of the fire, my stomach awoke like I did not know was possible in the underworld. The sizzle and the constant leaking of grease from the meat made my mouth water. His next words were most welcome, and I took them to heart.

"Eat, Little One. And don't disrupt me."

***

The Genshinju did nothing but stare into the mirror for a long time. I was not sure whether my new owner was angry or just contemplating- the face of a tiger did not reveal emotions, at least not ones that I had learned to read.

He picked up a gold coin and tossed it into the air in a wide arc. It hit the mirror with a loud clang, making me gasp a short scream as it fell to the ground again. He turned his face so that his eyes were burning into mine, reflected in the mirror. As he then turned, and his evil gaze actually fell on me, I shivered and got gooseflesh all over my naked skin. He handed me a cloth package and turned back to the mirror, growling, "Quiet."

I unwrapped the package that had appeared from nowhere. It was a set of clothes- a strange set of clothes, to be sure, but much warmer than even the fire. I pulled a pair of warm stockings on over my freshly cleaned skin and relished the feeling of something between me and those cold eyes. The dress had straps on the front that seemed to be easily unhooked, and as I donned it and lifted my breasts into the cups, I shivered as I imagined him taking advantage of me. As I put on the boots, I mused to myself that I didn't even know if he still wanted me, now.

My eyes welled up. He had just said last night that he wanted me to carry his child, but he was obviously drunk and said too much. Would he turn me away now? Surely he could not. What if he did- the ocean of ooze that he thought was destined to slay me already burned inside me. A tear dripped down my naked face as I imagined being seperated from him while I raised his child. I would have rather stayed a prisoner and sat there with him ignoring me than have to go through that, I thought in no uncertain terms. And his- cursed weapon- feels amazing, evil thoughts whispered to me.

I bowed my head as the last tear fell from my face. Something in me knew it was incredibly foolish, but I wanted my master to comfort me. Before I knew what was happening, his paw was indeed on my face, wiping away my tear. As I lifted my head, I saw his massive, bright pink textured tongue slip back inside his wide mouth. A sigh escaped his lips.

"This happened in one night? You taste like you belong to me." His smile seemed as wicked as ever as he caressed my face once again. "You have had a change of heart. I was almost worried to take you to safer ground before. Will you truly do as I ask you?"

I got up from the bed in his livery and bowed low to his feet as I was taught, kissing them softly. The monster chuckled and lifted me easily over his shoulder like a hunting trophy as I screamed. A sharp slap on my already beaten bottom made me bite my lip as we started to move.

We were about to run into the mirror. I gasped as I passed through and came out the other side, in the inky and muffled blackness of the underworld.

The tiger walked confidently through the nothingness, glowing with his own light through the pure white fur of his chest and the uncovered pawpads that planted themselves on the void. A single note like that of a bell rang in my ears as we moved, and I tried my best to screw my eyes closed and not scream.

Whenever my eyes opened, I saw nothing but his cloak floating against the darkness. I bobbed up and down, but the arm gripping me was so tight that the fear of falling was mostly replaced by the fear of my legs becoming crippled. After a while, we stopped suddenly and he put me down onto the void, holding onto him by only one hand that I could not grip tight enough.

***

My hand felt like it was slipping in his grip for a moment, but before I knew it we had gone through some sort of portal and had arrived at our destination.

As he placed me gingerly down on the ground, I dared to look around at my surroundings. My eyes widened as I looked up at the ceiling and saw a huge natural sculpture of firey orange quartz shedding light on the entire scene. The sharp angles of the crystal made the light that burned from within it fall in jagged rectangular patterns.

And what the light glinted off of! Weapons of every size! Strange figurines of wax and jars of glass filled with strange ingredients! And a pool that looked luxurious. Rimmed with jungle green like the edge of a lake cutting through the wood- and streaked like a great bronze shield that had been overturned.

The shelves and racks seemed incredibly disorganized. As he shifted me to yet another area with soft bedding, I sat and dangled my legs off of the huge structure. This meant he was going to stay with me, I was sure of it. And when he didn't know what he was saying the night before, well, he said "we" would go back to find the man who bought me. For right then, he couldn't find what he was looking for, cursing in a feral roar at the top of his lungs a moment before I heard a titanic crash.

He stormed back behind the metal door that I was hiding behind with a loud bang. I tucked my knees up into my chest and hid my face behind an arm. He chuckled as he entered and lowered my arm. "I am sick of you cowering like that. You are to be presentable as my pet, do you understand?" I swallowed and nodded. He ruffled my hair and turned back around. "I'm glad you were dressed for our journey, but it's almost time to bathe. First I would like to burn off some frustration." His paw connected with my backside.

His painfully whiskered face found my lips to kiss yet again, and he swiftly removed my boots, hat, and cloak. I bowed low to him and then turned around, lowering my top half on to the bed and putting my bottom in the air. When I looked back imploringly, I saw that he had nearly finished undressing.

He roared a laugh and spanked me yet again, then lifted the dress and went to work on me for the third time in the span of a day. Before he entered me, his burning eyes and dangerous paws traced themselves up and down my legs, making me shiver uncontrollably. Just the strangely textured tip was needed for me to wriggle under him with pleasure after that, and he unleashed himself quickly when I screamed with pain at his testing thrusts that probed deep inside me. As he lost control, I felt my body stretching to embrace him, and finally I felt him leave another load of sticky slime from his fat member inside of me. My deepest point sucked it up greedily while I lay there under him, and his once-frustrated body now quaked with primal bliss. He placed a protective arm over me as he took a moment to collect himself after filling me up yet again.

"My Treasure, you saw a coward today. Were I in control, I would not have let a dream disrupt me so. But it was so real- a dragon appeared, and ripped the heart from your chest. I woke and felt as though you were just a dream- I slept for so long while the old man did his work. But you are real. And you are mine."

His heavy arm gave me a squeeze that forced a grunt and a sloppy string of semen out of me. It burned on my skin, so I bit my lip and tried my best to push it back inside of me with a finger as he left. I grinned and leaped to join as I heard a huge splash.

***

I saw that my lord was already washing himself off, using the pure water to clean himself and throwing his head back and forth to spray water all round the surface of the pool. I smiled and kneeled at the edge, lowering my hair into the water and washing it with even strokes of my hands. I sighed at the perfectly warm temperature of the water as I removed my gifted dress and stockings to enter it.

I first stepped lightly into the shallowest point, savoring the slow warmth spreading to the ankles that he held me by for so long the night before. Before I could wink, the giant beast had grabbed me and dipped me into the water almost too low, while I thrashed and yelped. His deep chuckle was offensive. Wasn't he swearing to protect me? Then why would he try to drown me like that? I looked up at him and couldn't help but smile- this was the kind of thing my sisters of my age would do. I spat the small amount of water I swallowed with a cough and we stared at each other for a moment.

With some sort of mutual, unspoken agreement, he put me down and we started to clean each other while talking silently. Perhaps I felt silly for acting that way, but I understood that to an immortal it might be perfectly natural to act like a child sometimes. This feeling of childlike joy was suddenly shattered by the conversation we had. My mind spun with so many questions that when he started to talk I barely knew how to respond.

"Do you know any phases, Little One? I sense great magic in you."

"I thought magic was all tricks before I came to the temple of the old man, Great One."

"Kyrameha! What a bastard. One of the first one of your race to discover their magic. He taught me gambling and I took his soul in a game of chance. Then he put me to sleep for five hundred years once he got a curse that my gold could only help me, not benefit him. In the end, his immortality seems to have been temporary, so no harm there. But I still want that gold back."

"The gold he used to buy me? It was what he won from you, then, My Lord."

"That's right, Little One. But something happened. I can't find out with the mirror how he used it. He must have only spent it on things that are made from earth. An unspoiled girl, a mountain of gems, a great patch of land...." he trailed off as he carefully washed my back and under my reddened bottom.

He chuckled darkly and continued. "Well, whatever he bought is mine now, according to our agreement. And no one on the mortal plane ever has the gall to face a Phantom when he stakes his claim." He rinsed me with a double paw-full of water and I stepped out, grabbing a drying cloth from a pile he pointed to.

"Where are we, my most powerful one?"

"Before we were in my trophy room. Now, we are in the war room. This is where I come to choose a weapon, cast a protective spell, or practice forms for combat. It's also the safest place I can think of if a dragon decides to use his powers to appear where they please. I have my magic here." He stepped out, his beautiful and terrible form shedding water and drying in a frizz.

"You have magic here that can protect the baby?" I asked hopefully up to him, since he was not budging from the subject. I quickly added, "Great One?" before he scolded me.

"I can protect you- you and the baby- if I try. But hopefully that won't have to happen." His tenderness was out of character as he rubbed my sore hindquarters. "Just watch."

***

The demonic lord strode with confidence to the high shelving system made of hardwood. He pointed out the five levels and commented, "Obviously, everything is appearing in the proper place for the four elements- fire, wood, water, metal- in correspondence with the reaching direction of our territory."

He took a jar that was marked with the rune for iron and took the huge cork stopper out with a loud pop! The metal was in a white powder, almost like salt. He took some out with his fingertips and made a small circle on the ground.

The circle fizzled with the barest hint of a spark, and the Beast God nodded and raised his eyebrows at me. "White, circle, tiger, metal, understand? This is classic magic."

I suddenly remembered- back at the ageya, during the tea ceremony, there was the center plate. I never understood what it symbolized, but something started to take shape in my head.

"White circle tiger. Red triangle bird, green rectangle dragon?" I ventured, picturing the cups from above. My master put his heavy paw on my head and smiled at me as my loving glow started.

"Excellent. And black wave tortoise. That's very good." He gave me a pet that ironically would have been fit for a cat. I filled with warmth from my head to my toes as his praise washed over me. That made me feel confused for the next part. "Now, the kind of magic I have a specialty in isn't classic. That's too easy. By deconstructing how magic works, you can make your own spells. That's what you humans learned how to do in this sphere."

I held my head in my hands as my mind melted. "Master, it all is as fascinating and confusing as I thought magic would be."

His look was half raised temper, half concern. "I haven't gotten to the confusing part yet," he said as he pushed the lid back into the barrel-sized jar and placed it back on the shelf. "That was the simplest magic I could do, a basic metal spell. It would make a dragon spell stop dead, but that's about all. You were doing so well, I thought you would want to see something more impressive." He pulled down what looked like a carved wooden knife, but when he put it on the ground, it clattered like it was made of stone.

"Not earthblood, but wood that sat in the earth for far longer than I ever slept. I found it and used my talents to fashion it into a spirit focus. Now look at this." He took out a sheet of parchment paper that had a symbol drawn onto it, and sliced it in half with ceremony that took nearly a full minute, the strange knife making a loud sound as it dragged its way to split the symbol ruggedly in two.

The air adopted a chill as the paper halves softly rustled to the ground. A cloud began to rise around the outline of my master, and then another blast of chill air embraced me as he touched my hand gently.

My nipples leapt to attention like a cat thrown into water and my body was rocked with shivers almost as hard as when he drove his powerful member into my guts. I took my hand away with a laugh and retreated backwards towards the living quarters.

He prowled after me, grinning or grimacing and growling deeply. When he caught up to me, the cold was still clearly on him.

"That's far to cold for one with no fur, my Lord," I pleaded as he advanced on me. His head tilted quizzically.

"Very well then. This cold shield will be active for a long while. I will keep you at a distance until then. I do not want one who is carrying my child to catch a freezing death."

***

"My Lord, are you truly going to stay with me?" I asked as I wrapped a blanket around my body.

His paws started to adjust his magnificent robe with a sense of undignified urgency as he sputtered, "Of course I'm going to protect someone that can survive bearing my child."

"You said something like that last night."

"Last night I was not seeing you as an equal, but as a mortal sacrifice that would not survive exposure to my seed. I was trying to give you an honorable death as is your people's custom, not pleasure." The tiger-like warrior said it so naturally, as if killing me would have been a fine way to wake up from a long nap! I shivered again despite my warmth.

"I much prefer that my frustrations could be applied towards something that did me good. The life energy contained inside of me has been yearning to escape for thousands-" he got up from his seat and the tone of his voice changed to something dark. "I need to see to something."

I got up and followed him, curious as to what he sensed. As I saw his back, the spell that was on him seemed to pulsate with a slow, deep heartbeat. The beast was out of his bathing robe and donning a suit of golden armour that stood among several like sets of finery. One of the breastplates was torn open as if by some giant set of claws, in a spot that I noticed matched the scars on his sides. He took a moment after he was done to jump in place a few times, finally clearing his feet above the height of his waist before he fell onto the ground with a resounding boom. He finally put on the grand helmet, more like a crown than anything. The face-plate fell over his eyes, looking as round medallions of silver behind bronze guards.

I clapped my hands to my breast as the Phantom Beast turned to face me. "I did not ask you to follow me," he growled as he set his legs into a low fighting stance. Ignoring me completely, he turned back and executed a series of moves that kept his hands close to his chest defensively, keeping his center protected behind a shield of plating while his elbows made powerful sweeps. He then roared and lashed out with his claws extended past the gauntlet's edges, cutting a wooden post he had set up with a slice that left a gleam hanging in the air. First he sliced the top inch of the post off, then the next inch, then the next, until he was standing in a full squat again, the post in short dowels on the ground. He stood and breathed hard, motioning his hands to clear his center. His head snapped towards me.

"Go back! Back to your room!" He roared, picking up an axe from the wall and looking at me wild-eyed. I screamed and ran, undignified, back behind the metal panel. Trembling, I grasped the panel and snuck one eye past the edge. My God was roaring something unintelligible, but it soon calmed to a level I could understand. I realized that the language he was speaking was actually different from mine, but the sounds he made echoed inside my head as words I understood. I had no time to wonder about this subtle magic because his words made my legs collapse under me, unable to see what was happening on the other side, only his muffled words and the ringing of magic echoing past me and rebounding off the headboard of what I thought would be the bed we shared.

"Dragons coming, lucky me! Let them come! They think I am off my guard? They will find me aroused and ready quite by accident thanks to the new good luck charm I bought! Ha!"

***

I scrambled up and saw a rend in space working its way open. The small circle of white that had been drawn on the ground was ringing like some sort of gong, while the actual magic that swirled on the pool's surface was quite silent. The mad god was now crouching and silent, his body not tensed like a spring as I had been trained, but instead giving small leaps that made him look more like he was going to tackle someone than swing at them with an axe blade. When the water shone for a moment with a green light, he sprung from the pool's edge and turned into a streak of platinum.

He collided with the magic in the center with a loud clang as it formed from a blob of bright green into a shifting, shrouded form. This god was clearly a dragon with a man-like body, unlike the hide I saw back in the treasure room. From behind the helmet, a challenge arose, which was swiftly answered by my master.

"I should know well that you are like to me! A warrior that hides a mind of fears, and ne'er is caught by foes that one can't see, instead we spy and scheme and watch our mirrors! I dream'd that I would fight you with my blade, I loved to picture blood of yours- splattered- my father's skin aveng'd, and festives made when I! And I alone! Proved that I mattered! Know that your doom's the child of a Child too, birthed from a god! Now we fight and you-!"

My God laughed with great intensity and stood on the surface of the water, his boots making steam rise from the surface in small bubbles around the soles. The onlooking draconic enemy stood with mouth agape and sword of clear crystal slightly lowered. My lord had no reservations giving a mocking answer, clearly thinking much less of his opponent than they thought of him.

"You think a Drake can best a Genshinju? Your Father made no show of confidence. So what if 'just like me' you're... special? 'Ooo! I'm Great, and Pow'rful, Born from Gods!' Intense!" I covered my mouth as he flagrantly danced about and then adjusted his kingly helm. The other warrior cut him off with an angry roar and a jet of fire against my master's legs. He leapt over the red stream with a well-practiced hop and turned, thrusting his bottom into the attacker's face. The cold spell suddenly burst back into visibility as my master plugged his nose jokingly and splashed them both under the water. He jumped in another flash of silver and orange back to the edge with stock-straight legs and started to mutter something under his breath with his axe resting on his back and his hands clasped together, while the dragon crawled out, sputtering, on the other side. Before I could discern the meaning of his break in combat, he started to boast yet again.

"Design on this, you foul and useless beast! You seek to stop my courtesan and I from lusting? I care not! Not in the least. I only care to see your eyes when they cry. Now shake that pride before it gets you slain-"

His closing statement was cut short by the silent sword stabbing through his middle. The ringing in the air was suddenly overwhelming, and the barest clinking of plates from my owner's armour seemed to echo throughout the entire palace-sized plane. The dragon was panting, jets of angry smoke exhaled every second.

My master was calm, but fell forward and put a sizzling paw on the blade, moving it down until it had cut through his armour and exposed the pink organs underneath his fur. His axe clattered to the ground. "That position... leaves you open...." he taunted in a broken growl, putting his paws on the dragon's shoulders and emptying them of the salt he ensorcelled there earlier.

***

Just as dark jewels seemed to make my master weak, the salt that was emptied on the assaulting dragon made them roar with pain and sizzle like an egg dropped into oil. The constantly shifting, blurry effect that masked their true form was now gone, and they screamed in a high-pitched whine as the sword was let go of and the Rakshasa that protected me kicked it away with both legs mounted on the hilt. It splashed into the pool before he shouted out, "Quickly! Chest! Bone! Break-!" and then collapsed, his head rolling to the side away from me.

I dashed out to the large cabinet, and though my master didn't tell me, I could deduce by the dragon's inability to swim and weakness to salt that I was looking for something in the water section. I threw a couple of jars onto the ground and found the huge bone, dragging it down and breaking it. It splintered on the ground, and I looked around expectantly. The dragon was just starting to brush themselves off and rise, casting off jewel-encrusted armour and moaning softly.

"You? Who are you? The courtesan he spoke of? Are you a mortal? That's convenient, a feast to go with my victory. Only a fool would try to mate with someone when they knew their seed was cursed, and only a Tiger would try to mate with a disgusting mortal. Don't worry, morsel, I can take you even without my powers or my sword- your protector's sacrifice was for naught." I stood there with the fragment of bone, as they finally removed the last jeweled plate of armour and came to within striking distance. I knelt on the ground. The lithe reptilian form above me stated plainly- with many flat triangular teeth exposed in a smile under their helmet, "Begging will not help you avoid... becoming a part of me." They licked their lips.

I stuck the sharp fragment though the scales of the dragon's ankle, and then dragged the jagged edge in a sizzling arc that bled out their calf and lamed the top of their leg as I stood up into the wakizashi position I was trained for. With another slice, I bisected the top muscle of their arm and made bright green blood jet out from this new wound, as well. I drove my makeshift weapon into their groin and they collapsed to the ground, crying with pain.

I didn't care about them as long as they couldn't hurt my master. I rushed over to his side and ripped off his helmet. He was still breathing evenly, his tongue even coming out and licking once or twice. I looked down at where he drew the sword into himself. White blood, shining like quicksilver, flowed from out of his belly wound, and the organs under were threatening to poke out through. I ran back to the crying dragon, ripped off their cloth overgarmets while ignoring their protests, soaked them in water, and wrapped my master's wounds. Before it was even fully on, however, I noticed that the wound was closing up. I didn't dare remove what I had done already, but instead wrapped his midsection the rest of the way and before I could help myself, I was kissing his giant furred face and hugging his huge head in my lap. I finally put the leftover cloth under his head to support him and just watched him breathe for a few seconds.

Worried about the dragon, I left my Lord behind and went to the structure with the spell components. My mind raced as the dragon started to spout sparks instead of coughing without effect.

I couldn't think of anything to do but try to cast a spell. Remembering that the tea table was yellow and square, I poured gold dust out in a border around the humanoid warrior.

***

The scaled horror looked at me with surprise. "You know about the body, but matters of the spirit are our domain. What do you hope to accomplish with such a doodle?" They stuck out their good foot to try to brush it away, but they could not. Before the bare, strangely clawed toe could touch the pattern, they hit a barrier of magic that rippled like the surface of water.

"What is this? How did you do this?" the prisoner shrieked. I was fully satisfied that I had done the right thing when their gout of flame rebounded harmlessly and filled the cube-like shield.

I rushed back to the cabinet and looked in the forbidden section again. Along with many pairs of giant gloves and tongs, there were small fragments of gemstones, mostly what looked like the orange crystal that lit the edifice. Pocketing them in my new outfit, I intertwined my hands behind my lover's head and under his shoulders. I dragged him backwards for a few feet at a time, pausing to catch my breath after carrying the huge spirit.

When I backed into the wall and started to drag him around the corner, I tried to get away with pulling him by his feet for a better angle. On the first pull, his boots came off. On the second pull, I lost grip of him. I settled into a wrestling stance and made up my mind to not drop his legs again, lifting them up to my sides. I gave a short battle cry and yanked, this time managing to hold on very well. However, the beast's head banged into the corner with a loud crack, making him give a short growl. I dropped his feet in shock, his heels banging against the ground- causing him to give another short growl. My eyes went wide and started to fill up with tears as I turned him around and started to carry him correctly again, propping him up on the side of the bed.

"My Lord, please, wake up! I see that you're healing by yourself, but please let me help you...!"

The dragon, who had watched me in silence the whole time, spoke up, "Why don't you try hitting him on the head to see if that wakes him up?" When I looked back around the corner, the draconic warrior had removed the knife from their groin and thrown it into the large pool. They also removed their helmet, revealing a face that was decidedly feminine. All this time I had thought it was a man, but the voice did fit a female much better. She- it was most certainly a she, I knew now!- removed the rest of her clothes, as well, revealing an incredibly athletic body.

Her legs and arms were toned and did not seem to carry any fat on them. She had reptilian scales rather than skin, but prominent nipples stood out- without support from much breast to speak of. Her body had gems placed into it, mostly in a necklace and belt pattern that I thought was part of her jeweled armour before she removed it. She finally finished wriggling out of her clothes with her useless leg and crippled arm and then gave a heaving sigh and seemed to fall unconscious, breathing harshly.

I turned back to my owner and pulled out the fragments of gems from my pocket. I pricked him carefully just under the wound he suffered, trying to get his body to focus energy there. A small sizzle and a gasp of breath rewarded my efforts. Leaving the pin stuck in his skin, I grabbed another fragment and pierced him again, not stopping until I had a network of them laid out over what would be the spiritual pathways of a human. With every poke, his breathing seemed to even out, until I was rewarded with his eyes opening slightly. Though neither one of us spoke, I got him onto the bed laying on his back before he fell asleep again.

***

I laid down with my god and slept fitfully for a few minutes, my body trying to recover from the ordeal. As I woke for the last time, my hand reached out and accidentally pushed one of the crystalline pins into him quite a ways too far. Looking up at his face, he seemed undisturbed, so I frowned with concentration- and guilt- to pull it out as slowly and as painlessly as I could. I then proceeded to pull the rest of the tiny pins out, knowing that any good would have been done by now.

I undressed the armour from him as best as I could now. I covered him with the blanket and dared to pet his head. The fur was soft, and the whiskers brushed up like wire against my palm.

"Hey... hey." A voice echoed once again from near the large, open pool. "Hey... you...."

I kissed my captor and then went to check on my prisoner. She was asleep, breathing lightly and only moaning. I took a wet cloth that was once part of her clothes and wiped off the blood from her form. The green blood had stopped flowing, and the wounds were already knitting themselves into scars.

As her eyes snapped open, I didn't flinch, but instead stood over her imperiously. My fearlessness seemed to work at first, for she just sighed- but then she said, "go on, then. This is just a trap, right? Virginity is metal elemental, is it not?" Her neck rose sleepily, trying to gaze behind me. "He's here, isn't he?" her eyes looked coldly into mine, "He's alive. Gods help me."

I walked out of my spell and put the damp cloth onto the ground. My head was still full of questions. "How are you two the same? Your boast claimed you were the child of a Child?"

"When an eclipse happens, sometimes an Eclipse Child is born from the void, and they lay with an unwed hero and bear them a child. My father was a high dragon god with no equal, but I was born from an eclipse child who loved him for a night. That is where I inherited this mortal-like form from."

"And that is why your seed is cursed?"

"Quite right. We are carrying the seed of the void, and no spirit may know our true forms without dying true death. That is how I know you are a virgin, even though he claimed to lust after you."

"I... no. Why did you come for my Master?"

"I have been looking for him for a long time. His aura had faded for quite a count of years, but I waited. And then, as suddenly as he disappeared, here he was. I thought he would face me in honorable combat and give me glory. Instead he used an accomplice to gain an upper hand. What a pitiful day for my kind."

"A pitiful day for you, perhaps. Are you the daughter of the High Dragon God that my master keeps as a trophy?"

"That Oryugami was indeed my father. He sought out to kill all tigerish eclipse heirs so that the Genshinju would not have their power. He killed your master's sister and then tried to kill him."

"If your mighty father could not slay him, then why did you come here on your own?"

"I... was foolish." The dragon finally lost its air of superiority, looking down and sighing heavily.

"You were foolish to think you were powerful when you weren't, that's right." I paced around her and rubbed my chin. My formal training in conversation was starting to pay off. "You're giving me lots of answers, but only bringing up more questions. You're trying to talk me in circles with a loose tongue. I think that you deserve to be punished for that."

***

I took a pinch of sea salt from out of a jar and sprinkled it onto the dragon's bare scales with a flick of my wrist as I shouted, "Chori!" like I was preparing sushi. With a hiss and an impotent jet of flame, my prisoner responded beautifully.

"You wench! I see the fresh scratches and bruises on you, as well! And I know for a fact that you mortals do not heal as fast as we do. He hurt you, aren't you angry?"

After pausing for a moment, I walked back to gather more water-elemental ingredients to try on her.

"Hey! Don't ignore me, you ignorant mortal! Has he even cast a charm on you yet??? Why are you so obedient and yet lucid?"

I shuffled through the blue-coded section, seeing some things just dissolved in water to make them elemental fluid. I was looking for something more direct. Another fragment of bone, this one much smaller and less jagged, from the earlier fight. A mirror etched in the shape of a foul-looking crocodile? That would do no good. Crab shells? I pocketed one of the strange trinkets and strode confidently back to the magic barrier I drew.

"Are you crazy? Didn't I throw that whale bone away? Get it away from me already."

"Is that what this is? A leviathan bone? Does it hurt when it just touches you?" I asked gently, honestly curious, as I brushed it against her shin. The scales that were not studded with gems sizzled lightly and she winced a little in answer. "I'm going to hurt you some more, dragon. Now tell me about what will become of my child."

"Your child? You won't survive your first night with him. Those of us that have the gifts of being born from the void lack the ability to make life of our own. I know for a fact, because I laid with another- just for childish fun- before my father told me the circumstances of my birth. The dragon I was with- a friend- was not able to last to the point of penetration before his soul was enlightened into the next underworld."

"I see. That sounds like you shouldn't have been so open with your sex, it's not your father's fault you're a whore." I giggled at her shocked expression. "I don't think you know everything, as you pretend. Otherwise you would have known that this square would form a spell."

"I know a great deal more than you-" I cut her short with a short sigh and a shake of my head, before she sputtered, "Wait, I-!"

I slipped the fragment of bone in-between two scales on her thigh, and she gave a protesting wail. "You are going to be nice, do you understand? Treat me with respect. I am the servant of a God that could have slain you in an instant."

"Yes, Mistress," she mocked, fluttering her lashless eyelids.

"Very good," I said in encouragement, and rubbed her thigh where I stabbed it. "I forgive you for now. What would happen if I did bear a child of his?"

"It...." She looked like she was going to shut her mouth permanently for a moment, but then I brought the crab shell out of my pocket. She gulped and went on, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "It... I don't know, understand? It's impossible. Please don't hurt me. All I know is that it's impossible! The child's should would have to enter through both bodies, and only one would be able to take it." I tucked my mouth to the side and absent-mindedly opened and closed the crab's pincers for something to do with my fingers as I thought. The dragon, in turn, broke down and cried pridelessly.