The World of the Dragons

Book 1 - The Beginning

Chapter 1 - The Offer

Eve sat in the bar, alone. Around her, people, in various stages of intoxication, were enjoying themselves. It was early on a Thursday evening, but the place was beginning to fill up. Already it was too noisy, the sounds of people having a good time echoing inside her head, everyone with their friends but her.

A man walked up to her table, despite her best attempts to put out a "leave me alone" aura.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.

"Go ahead," she replied, "just so long as it doesn't mean that you expect me to talk to you."

"Bitch," he said, and walked away. Eve felt slightly ashamed of her behaviour, but she needed to be alone. She was not even sure why she had come here in this mood, but something had pulled her here, had drawn her from her apartment, out into the pouring rain, and to this place.

She looked down at her drink. It was nearly empty, and she wished that she had taken him up on his offer. The free drink would probably have been worth having to spend a few minutes with him, especially at the prices this place charged. Considering she was a girl on her own, what else could she expect? Maybe that was why she had come, some subconscious part of her suggesting that she find company, that she should not spend another night alone.

She sees the wings.

They unfurl as the creature comes through the door. Iridescent scales reflect the fluorescent lights, seeming to bend the room around them.

She looked up. The bar looked no different. No wings. No scales. Just the lights and the crowd.

"Mind if I sit down?" The voice came from behind, startling her.

"It's not my table," she replied, without looking round. That was usually enough to persuade most people to sit elsewhere.

"I'll take that as a no, shall I?" he said, and Eve turned to look at the speaker. Her first impression was of a young man, but there was something not right about him, a slight androgyny, and an agelessness. But something else as well, something she could not quite put her finger on.

The creature stands over her, filling her vision. The sinuous body shimmers, moving gently with each breath, with each heartbeat.

Eve blinked, and the image disappeared. "Sorry, it's been a long day. Go ahead, sit down. Maybe the company would do me good."

"Thanks. I'm Reg." He walked round the table and took the seat opposite her, putting his drink down in front of him.

"Eve. So, are you going to buy me a drink?" she asked.

"What're you having?"

"Rum and coke. A double, if you'd be so kind."

"And if I wouldn't be?"

"Then I guess we just won't be able to get along."

"A double it is, then." He stood up, and went over to the bar. Eve sat at the table, waiting for his return. He seemed nice enough, on first impressions probably not a serial killer, and she would tolerate him at least one drink. She looked over at him, standing alone at the bar. That was unusual. Normally there would barely be room to move, but around him there was nobody.

She watched as he returned to the table, the crowd parting for him. There was something strange about the way he walked, too graceful for a man, almost flowing towards her.

"Here you are," he said, putting the drink in front of her. "You'd better be worth talking to, the price they charge here."

"I'll try my best. Reg, was it? I didn't think anyone has been called Reg since the '50s."

"I suppose I'm just old-fashioned."

"Short for Reginald?" Eve asked.

"Something like that, yes."

There was something as he said that, a slight hesitation, almost nervousness, and her next question went unsaid. For a minute neither of them said anything, and she took a mouthful of her drink.

It looks her up and down. She is tiny compared to the beast, but there is no fear.

"Eve?" His voice brought her back to reality.

"Sorry. I thought I saw... no, forget it."

"Eve, do you believe in dragons?"

"Excuse me? As in big flying reptiles?"

"Rather a crude way of putting it, but yes. So, do you?"

"Well, of course not. They're just fantasy creatures, aren't they? Why do you ask?"

"Eve, look at me."

Suddenly, she was the nervous one, doubting her initial good impression, deciding that, even if not a serial killer, he was definitely a suspicious character. "Actually, I think I'd better be going," she said, finished her drink, the warmth of the alcohol doing nothing to dispel the shivers running in her spine.

"Eve, see me for what I am."

This time, the vision is clear. She still sees the androgynous man, but at the same time she sees the dragon, the very material of the building bending around it, wings outstretched, far wider than she knows the bar to be, and yet not extending past the table

"I... I see you."

"For I have shown myself to you. But I do not come just to show myself off. I have an offer to make."

More than seeing, she believes.

"I guess you have my interest. What can you offer me?"

"A new world. A new life. A new body. Immortality. Yours for the taking."

Now she sees the patterns in the people's movements, shying away from the reptilian body, dodging an outstretched wing, stepping over the gently moving tail. And she sees that they do not recognise it, that their minds will not believe what their eyes tell them to avoid.

"Why?" Eve asked.

"I've been watching you. I know you have few attachments, little to keep you here. And I know that you dream of us, that you fear us, and yet how you love us. I know your desires and your longings, to join us, to become one of us. To become a dragon."

More than believing, she knows. The dragon is as real, no, is more real than the room around her.

"But why do you do this? Why do you make me this offer?"

He ignored the question. "You have one day to decide. You can live out your life here, or you can live forever as one of us. The choice is yours. Now, I have to go." He stood up, his drink still untouched.

The bar is gone now. It is just her and the beast. It takes a last look at her, and then begins to fade, the sounds of people coming back to her.

"How do I contact you again?" Eve asked as he started to walk away.

"I will know your decision. I will find you."

More than knowing, she lusts. The vision fades, but the image remains burned into her memory.

She watched him head towards the door. Before he reached the exit, the crowds closed in behind him. She stood up, putting on her coat, and followed him, fighting through the crowds. By the time she reached the street, there was no sign of him, and she walked home in the pouring rain.

Chapter 2 - From one world...

It only took until halfway through the next day for Eve to make the choice. She hated her job, she despised her co-workers, and now she had been told that she would have to find new accommodation after her lease was finished.

As she walked towards the shops to buy lunch, she saw him. A brief moment of doubt came over her as he approached.

"You have chosen?" he asked.

"I think so. You said you would know. Have I chosen?"

"You can still turn back. But you will not. I know. Come, you have a journey to make."

"Will it be long? Because I haven't eaten all day, and was just about to have lunch. How do I make this journey, anyway?"

"Your hunger will soon not be a problem, I assure you. The journey will be easy. All you must do is leave your body, and I shall take you."

"Leave my body?"

"You must die in this world. I must kill you, so that you can be freed from your form."

"Being killed by some man I met yesterday is not my idea of easy!"

"Fortunately, no man will be killing you. I must enter this world in full, as my true shape. Compared to the agonies of moving myself through universes, dying is easy."

"Even so..."

"You have decided. We should find somewhere without people. I would reveal my true self to as few as possible."

"I know a place. There's a clearing in some woods nearby, and there's almost never anyone there. Follow me."

Eve lead the way out of town, her empty stomach forgotten, filled instead with nervous anticipation. It was a short walk to the woods, and thoughts raced through her mind. Was it a trap? Why had she just invited a strange man to take her into the woods where no-one would see? Was she really being accompanied by a dragon? Could such a thing be possible? How would she be killed? Would she feel pain?

"Fear not, Eve. Though you will suffer great pain, you know that it will grant you what you desire. Though you find it hard to believe in my existence, I know that deep inside you have no doubts."

"I do believe. But how can I not be afraid?"

For a while they walked in silence, before he spoke.

"You asked about my name, last night. I do not have a name as you would recognise it, we do not need them as a species. But when I come here, I take the name Reg."

"As you said. But what did you mean when you said it was something like being short for Reginald?"

"It is not Reginald, but Regina."

"Regina? As in queen?"

"Yes. Though I take the male form here, I am no male. I am the queen among my group, similar to how bees have a queen."

"And what did you mean when you said that you call yourself Reg when you come here? Does that mean you've been here before?"

"We lay only male eggs. For female children, we must bring a life from outside into an egg. You will be such a life. But you will be my last."

"Why?"

"I know that soon I will die. I do not know how soon, or how it will happen, but it will. My other daughters have left to start their own families, but you shall be my successor."

"I'll be a dragon queen? This is just unbelievable."

"But you do believe. And that is why I have chosen you."

"I suppose I should feel honoured for that. Maybe, were it not quite such an imminent prospect, I would do. But this is probably the sort of place you're looking for, and knowing that this is where you will kill me makes me slightly apprehensive."

"So now it is time for you to leave your body behind. I shall enter this world fully, and together we will make the sacrifice."

With that, he was gone, leaving Eve standing alone in the middle of the clearing. The ground was still wet from the previous night's rain, and her feet were soaked from the walk. Standing alone, she started to shiver.

Suddenly there was a loud crack above her, echoing among the trees. Eve looked up at the sky. It looked normal, and yet there was something slightly wrong, as if the air had been split and then put back together. She watched as a line spread across above her, almost invisible, but distorting each cloud it passed through.

Heat burst through the crack, an inferno against the cold November air, followed by a blinding light, forcing Eve to turn away and cover her eyes.

From the split in the sky came a great sound, starting as a low roar, then increasing in tone until it became a scream. Eve ducked to the ground, and held her hands over her ears as the volume shook the ground. It did nothing to stop the noise, and her own screams of pain as it pounded her ears joined the greater sound.

And then there was silence. Eve stood and looked upwards. The brightness and heat were gone, but against the grey sky soared the unmistakable shape of a giant flying reptile, the shape of a dragon.

It circled down towards her, wings outstretched but not moving. As it grew larger above her, Eve realised how much she had underestimated its size, and how high it must have been when she had first seen it.

As it flew directly overhead, close enough that she could make out the scales on its belly, a single flap of its great wings turned it in the air, and it dropped gently onto the ground in front of her.

"See me, Eve!" The voice spoke directly into her head, recognisable as that of Reg.

"Yes," she gasped, unable to say more.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"First, you must drink of my blood. It will take away the pain from what I will have to do to you, and it will help you to make the journey back to my world." The dragon stretched out its right wing, and lowered its head underneath. When it removed its head, a bead of crimson blood was forming on the wing surface. The dragon offered it to Eve. She put her lips to the redness, swallowing the blood. With her tongue, she could feel the beats of the dragon's heart pumping the blood to her.

"More!" the dragon commanded, and she stayed at the wing, taking three mouthfuls of blood before the dragon withdrew its wing. The blood was warm and salty, almost undrinkable, and she fought the urge to vomit.

"Lie down, and I shall begin to make the sacrifice," the dragon ordered. Eve found her legs buckling beneath her, and she collapsed onto the grass.

The dragon spread its wings, casting a shadow across the clearing, and brought a foot forwards. Five immense claws, each as long as her arms hung above her for a second, and then were brought down, the centre of them piercing the skin between her breasts. She gasped in anticipation, but there was no pain. The claw raked across her body, down to the left hand side of her pelvis. From there, it traced a line up to under her right breast, and then across to under her left, down to her right hand side, matching that on her left, and then back to the beginning, between her breasts again.

She expected a great flow of blood, but as the dragon lifted its foot away, only a trickle came from her chest. She traced the lines with her finger, amazed at the precision and delicacy of such a huge beast.

With another crack the sky split again.

The wings of the queen shaded her from from the heat and the light this time, but nothing could mask the sound. First the crack, and then the roaring, this time staying low, not rising to the same scream as last time.

The queen placed its feet either side of her body, bent until its belly was flat against Eve, and then jumped upwards, bringing its wings down with a great rush of air. More flaps, flattening the grass around her, blowing what leaves remained from the trees, and it was airborne.

Above Eve came a great slapping noise, and the queen landed heavily on the ground. The left leg just missed her, and with a sickening crunching noise it bent under the force of the landing dragon, but held most of the weight of the body, saving Eve from being crushed.

The queen reared backwards, with an unmistakeable scream of pain as it pushed off the broken leg, and Eve heard the splintering of trees. A great rush of wind, and the dragon was off her and into the air. For the first time she could see what had caused the interruption: another dragon, sprawled upon the split trunks of trees. It was not as large as the queen, but still terrifyingly massive.

It struggled to right itself, just freeing itself from the tangled branches as the queen flew in, and lifted into the air. The outstretched claws aimed for its belly missed, one foot catching just behind the wings of the newcomer, leaving a twenty foot long cut down the length of the tail. Even as blood started to flow from the split, it was turning, twisting its body round the queen, and sinking its teeth into her back.

The queen cried out, and quickly turned so that her own teeth could be used. She bit into the sinuous neck of the other dragon about a foot below its head, and pulled backwards, trying to force it to release her. With a great tug it came free, pulling scales from her back.

No longer holding her, the attacker twisted to snap at her eyes. The queen let go of the neck, dodging just in time to make the razor sharp teeth miss her eye. One tooth pierced a cheek, and sank into her lower jaw. With a reflex action she jerked away, ripping the tooth from the other's jaw.

Her attacker flew upwards, rapidly gaining height above her. Eve watched as the queen started to follow, knowing the power of the diving dragon.

"Hide!" the frantic voice of the queen spoke into her head. "He is a male from a rival group. He will try to kill me and then he will come after you; find something solid to protect yourself."

Eve crawled out of the clearing, making for the broken trees, mindful of the battle above her. She hid herself in a secure spot, between the uprooted trunks.

She heard the roar of the male as he started to dive towards the queen, then the slapping sound as he crashed into her. For a few seconds there was silence, before it was broken by a scream of pain from one of the dragons, though which it was she could not tell.

Something dripped onto her back, a warm splash. She looked up, seeing blood soaked branches, a few broken dragon scales hanging like silver leaves, and tried to hide further under the tree, out from underneath the falling blood as they fought directly above.

More cries of pain assaulted her ears from the fight above her, some from the queen, some from the male. Occasionally she saw them, twisting together in mid-air, jaws and claws reaching for the other, searching for vulnerabilities between the scales.

Then a great scream from the male, cut short. A crash as it fell through the trees, and then the shaking of the earth as it landed. For a second there was silence, and then came a gurgling, a rasping as it struggled to breathe, sounding almost directly above her. A loud crack from the trees prompted Eve to duck back into the safety of her hiding place as something landed on the ground, then all was still again.

"We can continue." The voice of the queen within her head broke the silence. Eve crawled out from between the trees, then screamed with terror as she found herself looking into the eye, as big as her own head, of the male dragon. A faint flicker of movement showed in the eye, and then was gone.

Eve climbed around the dragon's head, bleeding heavily from the mouth and nostrils, and with the other eye just a bloody mess. The vomit she had struggled to hold down earlier arose again, and this time could not be stopped. The contents of her own stomach, empty save for the mouthfuls of the queen's blood she had swallowed, joined the pooling blood around the head, and she scrambled away, her stomach cramping.

Finally she reached the clearing. The queen stood there, looking little better than the dead male, numerous wounds bleeding freely.

"Come, we must proceed as quickly as we can." The voice in her head showed no signs of the injuries suffered by the dragon, but Eve could see its weakness. "Lie down, and I shall finish."

Eve did as she was bidden. The dragon, standing on its good leg, raised the other foot above her. Only two of the claws now remained intact, one ripped entirely from the foot, and the other two broken and torn.

Again the dragon placed the claw between her breasts, but this time sunk it deep into her. Eve started to scream, before the air stopped as the claw sliced through her ribs, piercing her heart, then into her lungs. By the time the pentacle was once again traced, the body was no more than empty flesh and bones.

Chapter 3 - ...Into another

The heat burns her flesh, scorching through the scales. Massive forces pull at her, trying to rip her apart, to scatter her across the dimensions. She knows that her injuries will be fatal. But she must hold on.

He waits. Soon his mate will return. He knows this will be the final time. But he does not know fear. He does not know regret. He just waits.

She sees the light now, the end of the tunnel, her home world. She barely acknowledges her own screams of pain as she hurtles towards release.

He sees the sky ripped asunder, feels the heat between the worlds, hears the screams of his mate. And he waits.

The void releases her, flings her into her world. She is too weak to fly, too weak to catch herself as she falls to the ground.

From the rocks he leaps, soaring into the air, catching her in his claws, digging them between her scales. On his wings they glide to the ground, to the safety of solid earth.

She can not stand.

He lies with her, tight against her body, feeling the reassuring sensation of her heart beating.

She sleeps.

The dawn wakes her. She lies alone. There is stiffness in her muscles, and a long red line burning in her chest. Each breath bubbles in her throat, and she coughs up blood, but never clears her lungs, never shifts the pain.

He hunts in the morning light, diving on animals still sleeping. He feeds, swallowing all whole. This is his land. This is his right.

She spreads her wings, catching the heat of the sun. A large tear reveals itself between two fingers of the right wing, but it will hold. It must hold.

He feels her, awake, pained. He wheels in the air, turning back towards her.

The warmth gives her energy, gives her hope. Some life still remains in her body, some strength still flows in her centuries-old veins.

He sees her, soaking up the sun. He sees the tear, sees the wounds.

His shadow falls across her body, cutting off the heat, sending a shiver along her spine. His presence comforts her, but reminds her of what must be done.

First, she must slake her thirst. Yet to do so she must fly, must take herself to water. Her legs must support her, her wings must carry her. She pulls her legs beneath her, and pushes into the air, beating her wings. And she is airborne, though her muscles scream with every flap, the wound in her chest tightens, threatening to split open once again.

He swoops down, flies around her, inspecting her, watching her. There is no hiding the severity of her injuries, no disguising the pains in her movements.

She lands in the water, its touch almost icy on the wounds, cooling the aches she feels. She drinks deep, quenching the dryness inside.

He lies beside the lake, watching her.

Satisfied now, she joins her mate, resting across him, just that brief flight enough to tire her. She sleeps again.

She wakes once more. The sun now has passed its peak. It is time.

He wakes as she shifts above him. The smell of infection has grown stronger, but now he senses another scent.

Once more she launches herself into the air, more easily this time. She watches her mate beneath him, waits for him to join her.

His time has come. He stands, and pushes himself from the ground, flying skywards, racing towards her.

Now her injuries must be forgotten. She must do this.

He reaches her in the air, flies around her, over her, under her, just touching her body with his own.

She winces as he brushes against her injuries, but holds firm.

His penis begins to emerge from under his tail, released from between the scales. He plays it across her body, teasing her, touching her. It grows to its full length, swollen with his blood.

She feels sadness now. Her mate of hundreds of years, from a tiny child to his current immensity. And her mate for the last time.

Normally he would play with her in the air, but he feels her sadness, feels her weakness. There can be no warm-up.

She steadies herself as best she can, flapping slowly to hold her position.

Slowly, gently, he lowers himself onto her back, once again grasping between her scales with his claws, feeling her sag beneath him as she allows him to hold his weight. Matching every wing beat to hers, he wraps his tail around hers.

Twisting her body in his grip, turning slightly to one side, she offers herself to him. Her tail coils with his, writhing like intertwining serpents in the air.

As they slide around each other, the tip of his penis traces the scales, following the patterns they make, guiding his movements.

Anticipation now, waiting to take him within her for the final time.

He finds the mark, and enters inside her. His entire body moves upon her, climbing her body, letting him slip deeper within.

Internal muscles contract, stimulated by the warmth of him inside her, the feel of his body against her, pulling him inside her. The bulge of his penis moves up her belly, separating the scales apart.

He lets her draw him in, lets her control the speed, conscious of her injuries, of her pain.

Still she takes him inside her, until he is fully within her, their tails tight together.

He writhes around her once again, withdrawing some of his length, then gradually back inside her. He feels his penis through her skin, through her scales, against the base of his own tail.

Secure with him, she folds her wings against her body, letting him take her weight, held by his claws, by their twisted tails, and by him inside her.

Now, he knows she is ready.

His wing beats stop. Slowly they start to glide downwards, locked together as one. He pulls his wings to his body, letting them fall faster and faster, plummeting towards the earth.

She unfurls her wings, catching the air, whistling through the fresh rip. Immediately she slows, her mate's momentum forcing him into her, pushing their bodies together. She gasps, the pain suddenly returning as her tired muscles take both their weights.

He opens his wings, taking the strain from her, and begins to flap, taking them together back into the sky.

She lets him hold the weight, feeling each pull on his wing muscles all through his body, from the top of her back down to her tail, each beat moving him inside her.

They reach the zenith again, and for a second they hang in the air, then plummet downwards again.

Again she pulls them out of the dive, feeling as though the forces will tear her wings from her body. Again his body slams tight into hers, pushing him deep inside her.

He flies them both high into the air again, feeling no tiredness. At the peak he hovers, waiting for her to regain the strength for another dive.

For a while the pain is too much to bear, and she hangs in his hold. Even uninjured, he is almost too heavy for her. He has grown too old, grown too large.

He waits, manipulating his penis inside her, pushing against her muscle contractions, feeling the blood pound within her.

She is ready once again.

He closes his wings, and together they drop from the sky.

Once more she opens her wings, bringing them from the dive, bringing him further into her.

Quickly he takes the weight from her and flies them upwards, feeling her exhaustion beneath him.

The wound in her chest is open again, blood welling to its surface, flowing between her scales. She can not take much more, yet she must.

Higher he flies, into the afternoon sky, waiting for her to recover. Then once more they drop together.

They fall, spiralling downwards, and she opens her wings once more.

He is pushed deep inside her again, this now enough to bring him to climax. His whole body shivers as he releases his seed into her, and he gently bites the back of her neck, holding them together as he convulses on top of her. He opens his wings, and takes their weight.

Free from the strain of holding them, now she responds with her own orgasm. It runs through her body, overpowering the pain, and she shudders in his grasp, writhing together with him, drawing his come inside her, where a single egg is awaiting a single sperm.

Two become one.

Become Eve.