Cut and Run Ch 25 P 1 of 2

Cut and Run Chapter 25
Part 1 of 2
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As it turned out, my father’s death tore at me a lot harder than I could’ve conceived. True, he had been a bit of an asshole ever since I could remember. But, in the last few months, he changed for the better. I thought it was great, what with his having developed a sense of humor.
It was, and still is, a refreshing thought that my Dad finally changed into someone I could like, even respect in my own twisted way. It was kinda weird that this change had come about because he’d been sexually molested by a horde of hot Dragon-babes.
Would that we all could have that kind of fate. Huh? Well anyway, back to my story.
After his died, I just wanted to quit. I wanted to tell the world to stop so that I could get off. Yet I couldn’t do that. I had too many responsibilities to fulfill. First, and foremost were my unhatched kids. I couldn’t give up on them, no matter how much I wanted to then.They were going to need their daddy. Not to mention that Frazziss would need me too.
Every day I kept asking myself the same question: “Is this all really worth it?” And, every day, I kept refusing to answer the way I really wanted to. Which was to say: Fuck It!
 Why? Because I was afraid that if I said that, then I’d go and off myself. Which would’ve made things worse.
 Now, you ask, why would I even contemplate that? Because I’d been there before. I’d been set to kill myself because of the shit sandwich my life had become in times past.
I’ll tell you something, once you start contemplating suicide as a valid choice, that’s when the Abyss peers into you. Pardon my quoting Nietzche here. I’m a bit of nerd that way.
Instead, every day I would answer myself the same way: That Yes! Yes, it is worth it. Even though every time I gave myself that answer, I felt that I was lying my tail off.
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“A couple more questions before we go Mr. Belushi,” Special Agent Gordie stated as he got to his feet, signaling that he was (FINALLY!) ready to go.
“Yes?” I asked with my best tolerant smile, while doing my best to resist the urge to either bite one of them, or blast both with a fireball. Unfortunately, neither of which would keep me in the good graces of my Boss/Lilim Mara. (Long may she reign). Darn these Dragon urges!
“From what you’ve told us, shouldn’t all of those home invaders have been imprisoned in the walls of your cave, put there by you. Correct?”
“I know what you’re going to ask,” I began, looking at the two MBI agents, ‘Why weren’t they there for the local constabulary to take into custody?’” I asked. They both nodded silently. I looked away and sighed.
“That’s because not all of them were imprisoned. One of them, the Wurm, I left unconscious in my workshop. She came to and went to the aide of her companions, just as I was, uhhhh, AHEM!” I said, while clearing out my throat. “Beginning my ‘interview’ with the ringleader.”
“Ah!” Didi sighed, my eyes and her eye met as we shared a nod. “I tried my best to detain them all, but by that time most of the remainder had been freed. Whereupon my priority then was to protect my family first.” My statement seemed to disappoint them. I frowned.
“But!” I began again lifting up a finger-claw and getting their attention once more. “I did manage more information from the ring-leader.” Agent Didi cocked her uni-brow at me then, which was an odd thing to see on a Cyclops I can tell you.
“They were mercenaries for hire. I’m sure that they wouldn’t have minded having a Male Dragon to themselves. But, the fact of the matter is, is that they’d been hired by a third party to do the abduction.”
“Did you get the name of who hired them?” Agent Gordie asked me all stone faced.
“Yes, her name: Herrassiss. My wife’s disgraced mother.” I’d have thought that they’d be wondering ‘Who the hell is Herrassis?’ But instead, they gave each other a knowing look. Naturally I demanded why. Eventually they told me.
“She’s suspected as being complicit in a number of other cases unrelated to yours.” Gordie deadpanned. I tried my best to get them to fork over some more info, but in the end I’d have had a better chance of getting an Ushi-Oni to let go of her boytoy.
Oh, and what was the last thing they asked for before they left?
“Tissue samples.” Agent Didi requested
“What tissue samples?” I asked, trying my best to act nonchalant.
“Mr. Belushi,” Agent Didi began while staring at me severely, “You mentioned that the Ryu had her remaining antler broken off, didn’t you?” she demanded as she folded her arms at me.
“Oh yeah, I guess I did mention that,…” I began lamely, but I was cut off by Agent Gordie.
“Additionally, you mentioned that you had drawn blood, several times, in your fight with the home-invaders, didn’t you?” he pointed out.
“Uhm, yeah I think I did say something along those,…..” I hemmed and hawed as best I could, not meeting their eyes.
“Those tissue samples constitute evidence, Mr. Belushi.” Didi continued, “Properly processed they’d help us track down the individuals responsible. You do want that don’t you?” she asked me sternly.
“Uh!” I tried again, but she cut me off.
“So. Hand them over.” She continued, using her best Authority-tone.
‘Damn it!’ I silently harrumphed, and gave in. Within a few short minutes, I gave them what I’d already collected during my repair work. They tried to intimidate me further. In an effort to make sure I wasn’t holding out.  But they got what I could give them.
Why? What was the big whoop? What on earth, could a mere Dragon, do with a bunch of personal-dweomer-laced tissue samples? After all, it wasn’t like I was a Dark-Mage, or some such.
Besides, it’s not like there were wizards for hire anymore. They went away when the Great Maou combined our world with hers.
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After that, I escorted them outside to their waiting vehicle. During the fare thee wells, I couldn’t help but notice that Special Agent Didi, seemed to be preoccupied with something. She kept looking thoughtfully off into the distance, all the while absent-mindedly stroking her firearm.
Right then, I had a hunch that her thoughts were solely on Donnie. Who knows? Maybe the two of them would have a happy reunion.
After I had concluded the business with the MBI, I made the necessary arrangements for my father’s funeral. Being as he was a Marine. I made sure that he got full military honors.
Thankfully, the local air force base was nice enough to do a fly over at the appropriate time for his memorial service; in that they chose the ‘missing man’ formation. Which I felt was fitting, considering the events of his passing.
What I hadn’t counted on, was Frazziss’ reaction to it.
She freaked out at the sound of the jets flying overhead. She started screaming and started lashing out at everyone around her. At first, I was just as dumbfounded as everyone else had been. Then I realized why!
For you see, when Frazziss had lost her first daughter, it had been because of an Air Force pilot flying where he shouldn’t have been; below the rim in Yosemite Valley. Now, after the death of another family member, I’d been the cause of her revisiting that painful memory.
Oh, I’m just a real winner, aren’t I?
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I dreamed.
I knew I was dreaming in that surreal knowledge that comes about during a dream. Not that it did me much in the way of any good though. I couldn’t seem to divert it to something nice- like banging a bunch of Lilim or the like.
In that dream I could tell that I was in a courtyard, and it was dark. It might’ve been night time, but I couldn’t be sure.  There was no way of knowing if it was night or day.
For you see, there wasn’t a sun in the sky nor a silver moon. Instead, way up there was only an overly large blood-red moon-thing high above me, framed with thick turbulent clouds that flashed occasionally with lightning. It would’ve set the mood for some ancient TV-horror movie.
Looking about, my eyes soon focused upon a knight dressed in somewhat shining armor. Unlike the tales of the Arthurian knights that I’d been taught of while I was growing up, this one was acting like an asshole. The reason being, he was sadistically harassing a Mamono child. A gazer I think it was.
She kept trying to scuttle away from him as best she could from him there in that courtyard. But he just kept running around and cutting her off just before she could manage an escape.
My chest clenched every time I heard his sneering laughter. My anger flared in spurts at her cries of mortal fear that he induced with his cruel games.
There was someone else nearby me in that dream, a Blue Oni I think. She was dressed in a severe business suit made of Jinko fur. She was shouting at me, shouting at me to do something. Anything.
And I? In that dream state, I was exhausted, I was unable to do anything more than lift a finger. In that dream-memory, I had done something important recently, something that had drained me of much of my power.
 What it had been? I had no idea right then. In an automatic response, I tried to flap my wings so as to rise up and attempt to come to the child’s aid.
It was then, that I realized that I had no wings. That somehow, in this dream, I was human again. But, I was a weird sort of human. Nor was I a human-seeming Incubus, oh no. But I was a powerful human none the less.
I began to ‘realize’ in that moment, like one does in a dream, where I was. I was in a place that I’d never been to before while awake. I was in Royal Makai. The capital city of the Great Maou. The Order had invaded there, like it was wont to do. Somehow, this particular asshole of a knight had gotten separated from the rest of his band. Instead of rejoining them, he’d chosen to harass an innocent Mamono child he’d stumbled across.
When I ‘remembered’ all this, I had thrown caution to the winds and tried to jump into the fray. I was determined to do something, anything to protect that child no matter the cost.
All too soon, I became aware that I had miscalculated the depths of my fatigue. For in that moment he was too powerful for me. After a few tentative seconds, the best I could manage was to shield that child with my body.
Whereupon that ‘knight’ took the full opportunity to abuse me to his fullest ability. The bastard.
After a few sneering seconds, he tore that child out of my arms and began to kick her around that courtyard. And me? All I could manage then with my injuries- was to cry bitter tears of frustration and impotence.
It was a terribly feeling, realizing that I could do nothing to help that poor child, other than just lie on the flagstones of that dream courtyard, and bleed out. It was more than just a physical agony to bear mute witness to the incipient murder of that innocent child.
Then something happened to change that vile outcome.
In that moment, I heard a voice from within me. It offered me a way to gain all of the power I’d need, and then some. I could make things right for that child.
Yet, there would be a price. It was high, extreme even.
For you see, the price of saving that child’s life was the cost of someone else’s. That other person was someone near and dear to me for what seemed the longest time.
I hated that choice. I hated it, because I realized that once more, I’d been caught in yet another one of those ‘Lady or the Tiger’ decisions.
I almost outright rejected it. Before I did, I looked up and that was when I caught sight of the Order Knight. He had tired of his sadistic sport, and was now advancing towards that child with his face set into a grim determination. I could see the gleam of that bloody moon, shining along the curved blade of that murderous weapon as it was lifted above his head. His intention was clear, and I had to do something to prevent it. The child saw him and screamed out her mortal terror.
So, I made my choice.
I opened my mouth and…
…and I awoke from my nightmare with a breathy gasp. My heart was pounding in my ears. I immediately pushed myself up and looked around. I began to breathe deeply in fear when my eyes couldn’t pierce the darkness that surrounded my warm slab of sandstone. I kept looking upwards for the Sun? Or was it that blood-moon above me?
One thing I was assured of with that dream, was that it left me feeling bereft of any and all contact. Instinctively, I shakily reached out a paw/hand to seek out my beloved Dragon-wife: Frazziss.
I did so, to seek some reassurance and comfort in her scaled arms. Even though I was the sole (known) male Dragon in this universe, I still needed her. For she was the one woman who I could always count on to be there. If anything else, I could always count on her to leave a puddle of drool on my chest.
My breath caught in my throat when I realized that I couldn’t find her in her usual place. With mounting frantic, I expanded my search for her on her favored sleeping spot on our connubial bed.
‘Where can she be?!!!’ I thought to myself in an increasing worry, as I began to scratch and clutch all around the stone in my haste.
“Fra…!” I started to yelp in my anxiety, but then I stopped.
“ziss,…’ I trailed off, when I realized why she wasn’t there. She hadn’t been there for about three weeks now ever since her freak out at my Dad’s funeral. It was then in the darkness of our shared bed-chamber, I turned and looked in the direction of where I knew she’d be.
Over there, beyond the door into the brooding chamber; I extended my Ki-sense and perceived her. Out through the darkness of our bedroom, and through the solid stone walls of our cave, I was soon calmed with an awareness of her. She was slumbering, all curled up into a ball with our two children clutched desperately to her bosom. Like Fafnir did with his nieblung ring.
I wanted to get up and go snuggle with her, but I dared not! For I knew that if I tried, she’d probably spit a fireball at me in her maternal over-protectiveness.
Wincing at the memory of another one of those scorching fireballs, my heart began to ache. Not only from the dream fear, but also from guilt.
Unfortunately, well over a month ago I had foolishly boasted about and had allowed the press to cover the ‘fact’ of, our children being born. Or, more importantly, I had allowed the fact of my SON, the first born male Dragon/Mamono in existence, to be aired far and wide to all and sundry.
In my pride, I’d forgotten that Dragons weren’t known for their restraint when it came to acquiring valuables. The first juvenile Dragon-male in existence since before the Great Maou took power, proved too desirable a prize to resist an attempt to capture.
Valuable indeed, for shortly after I nearly lost my son to a cohort of Dragon-kind. I had managed to save him, but his life came at a steep cost- my father’s life.
Thinking all that, I immediately went into high alert My heart started beating a rapid staccato in my chest as I sensed a great disturbance in the Force!
Someone had teleported themselves into my cave! I didn’t know who then, but I knew that whoever they were, they were going to pay fiercely for their impertinence!
Not to mention the fact that someone had managed to bypass all of my new magical restrictions that I had created, as if they weren’t there.
With a loud roar, I barreled down the hallways towards the one I had sensed. Angelique was there in the hall. Just for a moment, I saw her raise her arms trying to get my attention, but I ignored her.
That was because that damnable invader was in my workshop!
As soon as I arrived there, I slammed the door open with a loud bang!
“Who the hell,…!” I began to bellow and then I stopped in shock. The invader, turned out to be my Mom. She was in her full Dark-Mage outfit and she had her hands full carrying a large wooden box. The sight of which left me agape. I just stood and stared at her, I was left wondering just what-the-hell was going on.
Normally, she always let me know ahead of time when she was going to ‘pop’ in. It was awfully strange that she hadn’t this time. I carefully moved closer to her and then stopped once more to take her in more fully.
She seemed to not notice that I was there, even though I was only a few feet away from her, my wings spread in intimidation and smoke rising from my mouth and nose.
Instead, she just placed that box onto a handy table and lifted its lid. I could hear the sound of glass bottles clinking dully inside as she rummaged through in the box. As I relaxed my wings, I noticed then that my Mom’s eyes were streaked wet with tears. Tears that were still flowing occasionally as she spoke, but not to me oh no. No, she was talking to herself.
“Ah! Here we are!” she said, holding up several bottles of what I recognized to be her signature ‘Dragon-Brand Healing Potion’. All of which was made with ‘freshly-squeezed’ Dragon Semen. You get three guesses who was the source of that, and the first two don’t count.
“Now we’ll just put you all into Allen’s First Aid box!” she continued, not once noticing my presence, as she stood up and walked herself over to same. But she was having trouble opening the box up. This was because she refused to let go of the bottles long enough to put them in.
“Where you belong!” she continued, with a bit of shakiness in her voice.
“Mom.” I called out, as I stepped closer to her. She didn’t seem to hear me. She just kept talking to herself and to the bottles, almost as if they were talking back.
I had to admit that it was a rather one-sided conversation, as she kept getting more and more frustrated trying to open my first aid box, without once setting down a single bottle. She may have been a powerful Dark-Mage, but as far as I knew, she never had a spell for Telekinesis.
“Mom?!” I tried again, this time louder.  She didn’t seem to hear me that time either.
“Stop that! You naughty bottles!” she continued, “Now is NOT the time to be so recalcitrant! You need to work with me here!” she stated as she stumbled around my workshop. I noticed that once more her eyes crossed over me as if I wasn’t there. I realized in that moment that she’d been quivering the entire time, practically shaking in her high heel shoes. Then she said something that made me pause.
“I’m so sorry Alonzo!” she cried quietly, as she lurched towards a worktable, “Please forgive me Alonzo, I didn’t make enough!”
‘Huh?” I thought. ‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ I wondered, as I came within arm’s reach of her. It was right then that she bumped into me and finally noticed me.
“ALLEN!?” she yelped as she jerked fearfully away from me. She almost dropped her double handful of bottles then, her eyes going wide in shock. “There you are!” She stated with a quaver.
“Mom? Are you all right?” I began, as I raised my arms to try and steady her. She blanched and then she scooted out of my reach.
“I brought these Allen! More healing potions!” she half-cried. “More than just a measly two bottles this time!” she stammered as she lifted the double handful of potions and held them like a protective shield, her whole body shaking. I looked at her, her eyes still weren’t focused on me. I reached out and one by one, I quietly took them out of her hands. When I did, she dropped her hands and strode over to the still overly full box of potions.
“See Allen!” she indicated to me as she turned her head and looked beseechingly at me. “I brought you more!” I nodded my head as I gently laid my gift of several healing potions onto a nearby surface.
“Many more!” she sob/gasped as she began reaching her hands into the box.
“Mom!” I said again, as I stepped closer to her. She ignored me.
“Possibly even enough to cover any scenario!” she continued hoarsely.
“Mom?” I said as I finally got close enough to her and placed my paws on her shoulders. She stopped and froze up when I did.
“I think I understand now.” I said as softly as I could manage. She wouldn’t look at me.
“You blame yourself for Dad’s death, don’t you?” Her breathing stopped.
“But it’s not. It’s not your fault Mom.” As soon as I said that, she tore herself away from me and looked at me XXXX.
“I’m sorry Allen, but it IS my fault Allen!” she cried, “If I hadn’t been selfish and had given you just one,… more,.. bot,” she gasped as she stared into her hands,” just…one,…more,…bot…!” she began again, but couldn’t keep going as she started to choke up.
“It wouldn’t have mattered Mom!” I interrupted her. Her head shot up then and glared at me accusingly.
“How!?” she demanded angrily
“You know how unfair life is! As I recall you taught me that while I was growing up.” I reminded her, “don’t you remember?” I asked. She didn’t answer then, she just closed her mouth. I tried to grasp her hands, but she waved me away.
“There’s always one more bill to pay,…” I began as I stepped closer to her. “One more trouble to overcome,…” I continued as I got close enough to put my hands on her shoulders, she didn’t resist.
“And one more hidden flaw.” We stated together. Our eyes met then, hers were holding back a rush of tears.
“I should’ve been able to do something Allen! Something….” She whispered. “I’m a full Dark-Mage now….” She croaked.
“Mom.” I said firmly, she stopped and looked back at me. “All of the healing potions in the world- won’t bring Dad back.” I said. At that, she looked at me aghast for several seconds, until finally her face screwed up and she began to sob in earnest.
She didn’t resist me this time, thankfully. So, for a long while, I did my best to comfort my mom through all of her tears and sobbings. There were plenty.
I don’t how long we were there, but I could feel my skin and chest scales get drenched. After a while, she stopped crying and had commenced to just the occasional sniffle.
“You still loved him, didn’t you?” I asked, out of the blue. She stiffened for a second, and then nodded hesitantly into my chest.
“Why didn’t you tell him?” I asked. She drew away from me a bit and looked up at me. Her eyes were all swollen and were red enough to match her head hair.
“I couldn’t.” she breathed, and sniffled once.
“Why not?’
“Because of Pirin.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t want to get in between their happiness.”
“Oh?”
“They were such a cute couple, and so much in love. I could see that. I didn’t want to spoil it.” I was about to say something more, but that was when another voice piped up.
“He loved you too.” Came Pirin’s voice. Mom and I both turned and saw her standing in the workshop’s entrance. She was crying as well. Mom said that and broke her embrace with me to lift an arm- to invite Pirin to join our hug. After looking at me with a frown for a second, I stood away from my Mom, and that was when Pirin grabbed us both in a grizzly bear type hug. We stayed locked together for a bit.
“I just wished that I could’ve had at least one of his babies!” she cried after a few moments.
“I think,” Mom immediately replied, “that you would’ve been an excellent mother to them.”
Well that set off a whole new round of water works all around. Myself included. We stayed like that for the longest while. But eventually we did part. Pirin decided to go back to bed.
And Mom? She tried to get me to take the whole box of potions. But I wasn’t going to do that. I reminded her that there were other folks, who would need them far more than I ever would. In the end I did relent and accepted three bottles. That seemed to placate her.
After that, as she got ready to teleport home, I told her all about the MBI agents.
“Physical Evidence?” she stated with an intense interest. “what physical evidence?” she demanded of me with her ‘Mom’ voice. I then told her about the ‘dragon-pieces’ of tissue samples.
“Did you give those agents, ALL of it?” she asked me archly. I looked around us both for a second, and then shook my head.
She then put her hand out, palm up.
“Give.” She said quietly.
“Uhhhmm,” I began nervously.
“Now.” She said in a tone that would brook no denial, while catching my eyes with hers. I blinked and went to my secret stash of that ‘evidence’ and placed that bundle atop her outstretched hand. But I refused let go as I felt her fingers intertwine with mine.
“What are you going to do,…?” I began. She turned her head up to me and smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. It sent a shiver down my spine.
“They killed my Alonzo,” She said quietly, “and they nearly killed my grandson, plus they made Pirin cry.” she said with gravity in her voice.
“The MBI doesn’t always catch their quarry, Allen. But if I catch up to that gang before they do, I guarantee that they will never be found.” She stated in a way that made a chill wind blow through my soul. With that, I relaxed my hold on the bundle remainder.
“Good.” I whispered.
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In the days afterward, Pirin continued in her mourning.
 Oh, Frazziss, Angelique, and I did our best to comfort and console her. But in the end our efforts just weren’t enough.
As the days turned into weeks, Pirin spent more and more of her time in bed, doing nothing more than to clutch at a bundle of my father’s clothing, breathing in his fading scent, and dampening them with her tears.
She’d eat, but only after being coaxed, and even then just barely enough. When she stopped eating at all, was when I managed to convince Mitzi the Shoggoth-doc to come and pay a Cave-call. She inspected Pirin and then reported to me.
“What can we do?” I asked.
“Nothing, Allen.” She stated quietly, all her yellowish eyes blinking sadly in her head, chest, and other places all over her. “It is a condition that we Mamono call: Saudade. She could continue, but I doubt that she will.”
“What is Saw Date?” I demanded.
“Sau-dade.” Mitzi oozily replied, correcting me. “It is an emotion that Mamono feel when parted from their males. It is a form of deep melancholy that develops when both a Mamono and her mate, are forced to be apart. It usually means that the longer the parting continues, the deeper she goes into Saudade. If she is forced to be away from her mate for too long, she will die.”
“What?!” Surely there is something,..!” I began.
“No.” Mitzi sighed firmly, shaking her head. “You do not see Allen, I forget at times that you were not born Mamono.” she replied, looking at me sadly.
“Then explain it to me.” I demanded grumpily.
“When a Mamono loves,” she began, looking at me indulgently, “she loves with ALL of her being. She does not hold back even the tiniest bit. Not like a human woman does. It is one of the reasons why Mamono are so fearsome when it comes to keeping their mates.”
“I get that, but other Mamono manage to continue to live on after their husbands have died.”
“Yes, Allen they do.” Mitzi shook her head sadly again, one of her tendrils dripped off a portion of herself onto her chest. Which then reformed itself into her doctor’s coat. “But that is only because they have been with them for many years first.” She stated. That caught me off guard.
“But Pirin was with my Dad for only a few short weeks.” I replied thoughtfully.
“Precisely.”
“Huh?” I asked all intelligently. Mitzi sighed once more and rolled all of eyes.
“Look,’ she began. I tried to do as she asked but have you ever tried to stare down a Shoggoth? It ain’t easy I tell you!
“When a Mamono comes to love a male, she invests her innate energy into him through sex. Some may call it Demonic Energy, but that is only half-correct. The other half of that energy is called ‘dweomer-energy’ and it extrudes from that particular Mamono. For example, Pirin infused Alonze with her Dragonewt energy, and Frazziss infused you with her own Dragon energy.”
That statement, jogged one of my memories from way back. Back to that time when Frazziss had invited me to drink her family’s heirloom Succubus Nostrum. It had been only one-half of two liquid-energy potions, the other half came from a pendant that she’d been wearing around her neck.  A pendant she never wore again.
“Now, I know that you’re aware that Demonic Energy is what causes a male to turn into an Incubus; Yes?” she asked, I nodded and she continued.
“The individual dweomer-energy that comes from a Mamono, is what causes her desired male to turn into an Incubus suited for her.”
“Oh!” I replied, “I had no idea.”  Mitzi smiled. “But my dad was already a Dragon-Incubus!”
“Yes,” she nodded, “but not one suited for Pirin alone. Additionally, once a Mamono has started on the path to change her male, it acts as a sort of ‘sense’ as it continues to compel her to complete the transition.”
“So why doesn’t that dweomer-sense give up? There’s no way that it can be accomplished, not now!”
“Actually, it can.”
“But how?”
“She can follow him.”
“Follow him? Where?” Mitzi didn’t reply, instead she kept her face still. Then after a bit I got it.
“Into,…death?” I gasped. She nodded once. I gulped, suddenly afraid.
“You mean THAT is why she’s pining away? Her innate dweomer-sense is killing her?” Mitzi nodded again.
“Yes. For only in death can they be rejoined.” Mitzi looked at me sadly.
“So that’s it? I’m just supposed to let her die?” Mitzi refused look at me by way of answer.
“Surely there is something can I do to stop it?! I refuse to allow it! I won’t let her die!” I cried in fear.
“You may have to, Allen.” She replied. I then demanded more information from her. I just about begged in an effort to get her to try and find out if there was a way, any way to bring her back. Mitzi promised me she would research it.
After several days of consultation, she gave me a reply.
“To keep her alive, you will have to find something that she wants more than she wants Alonzo.” Her answer left me feeling less than satisfied, but it was all she could dredge up from the lore.
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I stopped what I was doing when I sensed a gate to the Dragon Realm open up just outside my Cave’s entrance.
Instantly I was on high alert as I jumped to my feet and spread my wings! I was all set to do battle in that moment. Every one of my senses, both magical and not, went into high gear. By the time I arrived and the gateway had stabilized, I had ‘chambered’ a fireball- all set to go for some payback!
I was crestfallen to discover who it was that came through. It turned out to be Dame Nizzyl, Chief Archivist of the Dragon records. Even as old as she was, she still cut a fine slim figure of a woman, her green-winged silhouette stood starkly against the greyish granite of my home’s outside.
As soon as she stepped foot onto the ground, she looked around and caught sight of me.
“Lord Loknarr.” She stated with a frown.
“Dame Nizzyl.” I replied stiffy, for some reason the gateway behind her remained open as we spoke. Which was odd. I tried not to look impolitely over her shoulder into the recesses of the Gateway.
“What is the meaning of your sudden and unannounced arrival?” I demanded pointedly. If she took any umbrage at my curtness, she gave no sign.
“I have been sent here on behalf of the Dragon Council.” She replied efficiently. “Your recent troubles with your son and family, have caught their attention and they wish to offer their assistance”
“That’s nice of them.” I almost didn’t growl back then. “What kind of assistance?’
“A contingent of security personnel to help guard you and your family.” She replied.
‘Oh, that’s really fucking helpful,’ was my first thought, ‘where the fuck were you folks, when my old man needed you?!’ I groused.
“Uhhhh,”I began as I bit back my first reply, while I did my best to keep my wings politely bunched up against my back. “That’s very nice of them to make such a generous offer,…but,…” I continued, but was interrupted.
“It is not a request, Lord Loknarr.” She shot back while she turned and made a gesture towards the still open Gateway. Immediately a dozen or so Dragons of every species poured out and took position around and behind her. There was even a freaking Jabberwock of all folks! Each and every one of them were dressed in the official Dragon Realm-Guard armor.
“Now just a gods-be-damned-fucking-minute!” I yelled as I felt my wings spread to full extent involuntarily. Dame Nizzyl kept her cool, and didn’t match my wing spread. But she did surprise me.
“Be silent.” She stated quietly, while using ’The Voice’.
You know which voice I’m talking about. Mom’s and Drill Sergeants have it.
I found myself obeying her autonomically. Additionally, I suddenly I felt like that one time my Mom caught me rifling through her purse.
I clammed up, and pulled my wings in while I hung my head in shame. My eyes flared when I realized what had just happened, and so easily too.
Dame Nizzyl then stepped lightly over to me and then leaned her head till her horns nearly touched my own. I sullenly looked back at her.
“Lord Loknarr, you just recently lost your father;” she began almost in a whisper. I struggled to listen to her over the sound of the afternoon’s breeze.” and, nearly your son as well.” Ok, that SO got my attention as her eyes and mine met.
“I am sorry for your loss.” She stated contritely. Looking back at her, I could see that she was being honest in her condolence. It humbled me.
“Thank You.”
“I can also understand the anger you undoubtedly feel, at the Council’s invasion of your personal rights and responsibilities.” She continued. “But you are aware of the fact, that both you and your son are considered to be ‘National Treasures’ of the Dragon Nation, are you not?”
“Yeah, I suppose I’d heard something along those lines.” I admitted with a resentful frown.
“Then you will understand that the Council feels the need to protect our Treasures.” She stated.
“But what’s the big whoop!?” I cried, feeling frustrated beyond all measure. “I was able to fight them off!”
“The problem Lord Loknarr, isn’t a question of your ability, but more of your experience.” She said in a way that pissed me off even more.
“Legally, yes you are an adult in Dragon Society. However, in many ways you are practically still a whelp when it comes to Dragon traditions.” I started to protest, but she raised a paw- palm out, demanding my patience. Seeing it, I shut my mouth.
“In Dragon culture,” she began, “there are many ‘gangs’, for lack of a better word; who engage in behaviors that are considered less than savory by the rest of our Society. Yet they are tolerated, because they are useful.”
“Useful? How!?” I demanded, angry again. She gave me a half smile.
“They assist those who wish to acquire ill-gotten goods; such as a House-Treasure, for a price of course.”
“Organized crime?” I asked dumbfoundedly. She nodded.
“You do know that those who hold the greatest treasure of a House, become the Head of that House?” she asked. I smiled humorously by way of response.
“Such has been a tradition with all Dragons since time immemorial.” She explained. I sighed and nodded, remembering Herrassiss’ behavior after she discovered that her precious family heirloom, ‘Succubus Nostrum’ had been finally utilized and how her loss of status had affected Frazziss and I.
“That gang that killed your father, are considered as being on the level of street-thugs. Hoodlums. Which is probably why Herrassiss hired them. She couldn’t afford anything more.” I leaned back and pressed my tail into the ground for support at that point, so as to hear her better. The fact that Herrassiss had fallen so far, amused me.
‘Yeah, I can see that.’ I mused. ‘It does make sense considering how seedy they were.’ Then I stopped, as it began to dawn on me where this topic was going. I lifted my head up and stared at her.
“Ah yes, I see that you begin to understand now.” She smiled then. A sad smile. “There are other gangs out there in Dragon Society. They are much more organized and efficient. They could be considered to be the equivalent of the Zipangese Yakuza.”
“Oh shit.” I gulped at the thought of that horror.
“Thus, you have been assigned a platoon of elite Imperial-Guards. To protect you and yours.”
I grumbled and complained, but in the end, I’ll be honest, I loved it, and hated but I had to accept it.
In the end, I’m glad I did accept. They came in handy as a deterrent. I know this because after that, they brought me the heads of several other ‘gangs’ who had been caught trying to capture my son.
I was tempted to place those heads on display outside my cave, as a warning. In the end I decided against it. The Lilim I reported to, Lady Mara, probably wouldn’t have approved for one thing.
Soon, my Cave and the surrounding Valley became the stomping grounds of dozens of both on and off-duty Dragon Guards. It ended up that I couldn’t turn my head, to look from one end of the Valley to the other without seeing or sensing one. They were in the air, land, or water, every time I looked out.
Hmph. Maybe I should consider putting out some oversized fly-strips?
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A long while after my father’s funeral, I finally managed to ‘convince’ the Dragon Council to allow my old man to be interred in the Dragon’s graveyard. It being the final resting spot that nearly all Dragons will be laid to rest when they die.
Now, if by convince you mean I beat the crap out of the council’s designee to my challenge, then yes I did ‘convince’ them.
I had come to know that graveyard well, because that was where Urmat (which means eternal), had been buried.
I should know, for I personally stone-molded her crypt for her. I did that, because when I first came to the Dragon-Realm, she had done me and Frazziss a good turn. Naturally, I felt the need to do something for her. Particularly since the cost of that good turn, had been her life.
After seeing to and being satisfied with, the final touches of my father’s crypt. I then proceeded over to Urmat’s crypt to pay my respects to her and perhaps to do some stone maintenance and repair since my last visit.
When I arrived at it, I was left dumbfounded!  For when I’d been there previous, everything had been squared away and all of the cornices, (etc etc), had been in the proper place.
But this time? Every stone was left strewn. It looked as if everything had been thrown about; pillars were knocked down, and one crypt wall looked as if someone had punched their way out of it! It looked like a battle had raged there.
‘Grave Robbers!’ was my first impression. The thought of it was insane. Particularly since just about every nearby crypt was left untouched. Why the vandals had chosen hers, was beyond me.
“WHAT! THE FUCK!” I yelled resoundingly at the sight of so much desecration! Loudly enough to make a number of other nearby mourners turn and give me a dirty look. Man, I was so angry then I can tell you! But you know what really pissed me off?
No one, absolutely no one, seemed to care!
A couple of the nearby mourners gave me a dirty look, and then they started approaching as if they were going to chew me out. The weird thing is, once they saw what I was all pissed about, they stopped and stared for a second and then turned away as if it was something embarrassing.
In frustration, I went to complain about it to the Caretakers of the Graveyard, but even they refused to talk to me about it. Why they refused to talk to me about it, I had no idea. It was just so damnably infuriating.
Eventually, I was able to get ahold of Qirri. My advocate from previous Realm visits. What she had to say then, blew me away.
“Loknarr!” she began as patiently as she could, after I explained why I was there.
“I don’t have time for this!” she growled at me heavily, while she spread her wings indignantly at me.  Seeing as how I’d managed to piss her off, I nearly backed down. But as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I remembered how much Urmat had done for me and mine.
“Make the time!” I barked back. “This is Urmat, remember her? That nice old dragon lady,…”I began. Qirri cut me off.
“I didn’t forget her? She was MY mentor!” she snapped. That cut me short.
“Oh?, I had no idea.” I replied, somewhat mollified. “Then why aren’t you as pissed about her gravesite as,…”I began, but that was when she raised a paw to silence me, I stopped and waited for her to go on.
“What you have stumbled across, is something that we Dragons consider to be taboo.”
“I was told that the Graveyard was created to prevent grave robbing. Mist continent medicines and all!”
“IT IS NOT GRAVEROBBING!” she yelled at me.
“Then what the hell is it?!” I demanded. At that point Qirri raised both paws and looked all around her as if she were afraid someone would over hear us. That odd behavior left me mystified, as it was something out of the ordinary. Dragons don’t have the rep for being stealthy on much.
Once she was satisfied with our privacy, she gave me a cold stare, closed her eyes and sighed heavily. She then motioned me to lean closer and then spoke into one my spikey ears.
“It is not graverobbing.” She began, “instead it is something that we Dragons prefer to not speak about. The reason being, is because Dragons have been in existence for far, far longer than the mud-monkeys” she coughed, ”excuse me, humans, think that they have.”
“But what does,…?” I began, still not understanding. She waved me into silence.
“Humans think that they are high and mighty for having a recorded history that extends back to a mere pawful of years.” She said, clutching one paw in front of my face. “A mere five-thousand, at best.” She huffed.
“We Dragons, on the other paw, can trace our recorded history backwards for millions of years.” Qirri glared at me then. I stared back.  She sighed after a moment and continued.
“It was, and still is, a major blow to our pride when we discovered the major flaw in our agreement with the Great Maou.” She started, and then paused.
“And that is?” I asked after waiting for her to finish her thought.
“That the only way any one of us can reproduce…” she began with a sneer.
“Was with one of those ‘Mud-Monkeys!” I interjected and then began to laugh. But I was soon cut of when Qirri slammed both of her paws down onto the desk in between us and growled fiercely while her wings extended to full reach. After about a minute, we both got ourselves under control. I opened my mouth to ask the obvious.
“I’m getting to that!” she snarled, took a minute to get herself under control and then began again. “The urge to reproduce is a strong one in just about every species. You know this from the time you remember being a human, yes?” she asked, I nodded.
“The same goes for Dragons, but even more so. Unlike humans we Dragons look upon making more Dragons as a noble cause. It is a way in which we see as improving the Universe.”
“So, the more Dragons the better the universe will be, automatically?” I asked with sarcasm lacing my voice. Qirri nodded absentmindedly, not paying attention to my wit.
“Thus, we tend to have high standards when it comes to choosing a mate.” She sighed, deliberately not meeting my eyes.
“I still don’t get the connection.” I replied. Qirri rolled her eyes and gave me a pitying look.
“Our mate standards can be so high, that sometimes we end up dying without finding someone worthy enough to be our mate. Urmat never had a mate as far as I’m aware.”
“oh.” I said, still not quite understanding.
“When that happens, even though they are dead the urge to create babies is still there. Still percolating away, determined to create another generation one way or another.”
“Urm?” I grunted, raising an eyebrow as I started to comprehend where she was headed with her spiel. Qirri finally folded her wins across her back before she resumed.
“You mean to tell me, that Dragons can become,…zombies too?” Qirri grimaced at me for a moment and then looked away. I leaned back.
“Damn.” I replied thoughtfully. I’d known that humans were capable of becoming zombies. I knew that the Undead were yet another form of Mamono that the Great Maou had influenced. But this!
“Yes. That urge to mate, has them rise from the dead and seek out a male to reproduce with. Undoubtedly, by now Urmat has found her way to the Human world, or another one that intersects with the Dragon Realm, to seek out a mate. Once she finds a male, she will not be quite so choosy as she was in life.”
“I would imagine that that and that alone is enough to cause Dragons some heart burn.”
“Indeed.” Qirri shot back, “Now if you will excuse me, I have a great deal of important work to attend to.” She finished meaningfully. I took the hint and left. I offered to pay her for her time, but she just waved me off while she buried in nose in some ancient Dragon book of law.
‘Other worlds?’ I thought just before I left the Dragon Realm, so I naturally had to ask someone. I chose a Librarian. As it turned out, Lessa was more than happy to continue our last ‘overdue’ discussion. You know how huffy librarians get when it comes to something being overdue…
After I got done paying my ‘late-fees, for lack of a better term, Lessa told me what Qirri had meant by other worlds intersecting with the Dragon Realm.
“Oh yes!” she said as she put her clothing back on, and commenced combing her hair. It had gotten into a bit of a tangle during my ‘fee-paying’. “The Dragon-Realm is bordered by a number of other worlds! Any world that has a Dragon in it, can access ours!” she said cheerfully. “The human worlds, Royal Makai, Wonderland, Pandemoni…”
“Wait! What was that?” I interrupted, “Wonderland? You mean to tell me that Wonderland can be accessed from the Dragon Realm?”
“Yes! Of course! Where do you think that the Jabberwocks keep coming from?”
“As far as I’m told, the Gateway to Queen of Hearts’ realm is supposed to be somewhere in the Northwest Mountains. If you really wanted to find it, you could ask a Jabberwock to show you the way. Though I doubt she’d guide you there for free!” Lessa just about smiled knowingly, undoubtedly thinking about what kind of toll said Jabberwock would demand.
‘Didn’t Donnie mention he was trying to find a way to Wonderland?’ I mused idly as I made my way home.
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Normally now, when I returned through a Gateway, one or two Guards would be there to greet me. This time? There were about a half-dozen, all with their weapons ready, and more arriving as I stepped out.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded upon seeing them. After they got done ensuring it was me, the Captain on watch informed me of a little surprise.
“Just a half an hour ago, someone dropped off a package.”
“What kind of package?” I asked, perplexed.
“It would be easier to simply show you.” She replied mysteriously. I kept me peace as we all stomped our way into my Cave. Eventually, we made our way into the main kitchen, now main feedhall for the Guard. A few more of the guards were there, standing around a table looking down at something atop of it.
That something turned out to be a Wurm baby. I looked around and noted that no one seemed inclined to touch it, even though it just lay there weakly on the tabletop, mewling occasionally.
“What the fuck!?” I cried upon seeing the poor thing. The first thing I did was to go over and pick up the poor child. The guards parted as I spoke, allowing me access.
When I did pick it up, it immediately wrapped its tail around my arm and tried to snuggle close to me for my warmth.  As I looked down on it, I could tell that it was the most adorable little thing! It had the tiniest button nose, with just horn nubs atop her head!  It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since it had shelled.
It then mewled at me once. With my Ki-sense, I immediately knew what it wanted: Food!
“Hey you fucking morons! This kid is hungry! None of you thought to feed her?” I sniffed at them loudly, as I began to gently rock the baby in my arms. It was then that I noticed a strange, yet familiar scent. As I bent down to sniff the baby, I noticed that Zomonti the Guard Captain, a XXX, was looking at me oddly.
“What?!” I demanded, raising my head. She didn’t answer at first.
“Explain yourselves! Where and when did you find this baby, and where is her mother? Get some food for her while you’re at it!”
“We found her near the edge of the reservoir, in your ‘stone-skipping’ spot.” The captain began to explain as the other guards began to hurry about to fulfill my orders.
“We had detected a number of gateways opening up at the same time around your Valley. As such we cautiously investigated them; with the impression that someone was attempting to distract us. We were right, but not in the way we expected.” She replied.
“How so?” I asked. Zomonti glanced at me.
“Frazziss and her children are safe.” She stated flatly. “Apparently, it was not an attempt to get us to leave them unguarded. Instead, the distractors were meant to keep us from finding out exactly who,” Zomonti said indicating the still weakly mewling child in my arms, “had left this one behind.” It was then that one of the other guards arrived with food, so I reached out and grabbed a chicken leg.
I offered it to the baby, but it shied its head away from it.
“What the?” I exclaimed. “I know you’re hungry little one. Why won’t you eat?” I asked, all perplexed.
“One,” she replied, giving me a half smile, “You don’t have a breast to give it suck. And two, you’d have to chew the meat first, in order to make it palatable to her.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Duhhh.” I replied, feeling like a fool. So I took a bit of the chicken and began to chew.
“But you may wish to forgo that.” Zomonti suggested.
“What do you mean?” I tried to say through the mouthful of chicken, spitting part of it out. It came out more as: ‘Wha ooh ooo eem?”  She smiled, and then frowned.
“The infant has not imprinted. If you feed her, she will think that you’re her mother.” I stopped chewing at that bit of news, and looked down at the weakly squirming bundle of Wurm-joy and then began to understand why no one had fed her. None of them had been willing to take on such a responsibility. I swallowed my mouthful.
“Who the hell would do such a thing to their own newborn….!” I began to gripe, and then stopped. I stopped because that strangely familiar scent wafted into my nose again.
This time I raised the child to my face and breathed in her scent more fully. She looked back at me with just the tiniest bit of trepidation. As I took it in, my eyes went wide in realization.
I knew exactly why she smelled so familiar. She smelled almost exactly like my Dad had!
I leaned back and then held that Wurm child at nearly my full arm’s length, so I could take her more fully in. When I did, I couldn’t help but notice that there was still a bit of umbilical cord hanging from her navel- she was so young. As I examined her, the wee tyke grabbed ahold of her twitchy little tail and began to suckle at its tip.
Then it began to dawn on me that she had more than a passing resemblance to someone I’d seen before, someone in the mirror.
Initially I was skeptical about the thought that sprang forth at the sight of her facial features. I did my level best to dismiss the fact that the kid did resemble me more than a little.  Alas, my nose refused to let me off the hook.  One prolonged scent/sniff later, I knew exactly whose child this was.
“Sis?” I whispered incredulously. She gurgled back at me around a mouthful of tail tip.
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