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Chapter 580: 36



April 4th 2016 Brightedge City 12:00 AM EDT

Amy did not, in fact, start without me. When I entered her room she was lying in bed, back facing me. I could tell from her breathing she was awake, but she didn't turn over when I came in. I walked over to sit on the bed. "So...I know I'm a bit later than expected." My wife didn't turn over, lying in bed with her back to me, clearly sulking. I reached down to rest my hand on her thigh, and to my surprise she didn't brush me off.

She was pissed, but wasn't going to stop me from making it up to her. I could work with that. I started making slow circles on her thigh with my finger as I kept talking. "I found out some important information and had to check in with Zee about it. She just swing by with some books." I started massaging her thigh slowly. "I noticed you didn't bring Emerald in here, is that because you wanted us to have some alone time?"

Slipping my hand between her thighs I found her already wet, and smirked as I slipped a finger into her cunt. She gave a muffled squeak, but did her best to keep up her silent treatment. I slipped in another finger, and lightly ran them both over her G spot, slowly teasing her soaking pussy. The low moan she managed to choke back made me smile. I put my back against the bed, picking her up and setting her on my lap without stopping my teasing with my fingers.

She gave up pretending to be asleep, and instead just shifted her head away from me, gritting her teeth to hold back her whimpers as I played with her cunt. I started kissing my way up her neck. "Come on princess, you aren't mad at me are you? It was important, I promise I'll spend all night making it up to you. Why are you so mad? You said you didn't even mind sharing, and it's not like anything happened?"

Finally breaking her silence her head snapped around to glare at me. "Because this was supposed to be OUR time. Today was our day together. I was joking about bringing Emerald in here, clearly, but instead of coming up to spend time with me you called Zatanna to come over. You think I care that you didn't stick your cock in her? I know you were drooling over those fat tits the whole time she was talking."

Pulling herself off my lap she turned around, shoving me into the wall as her hands fell to tear open my pants, letting my cock bounce out. I saw that she was wearing panties, they were just crotchless, and tghey made it easy for her to mount up on my dick and shove herself down me roughly with a grunt. It was pretty surprising, but I wasn't an idiot. I let her start fucking me and just laid back to enjoy.

Or would have, but she yanked my head down to meet her eyes as she slid that vice grip pussy up and down my cock. The bed was banging and groaning, but it was reinforced so just the fucking wasn't enough to break it. Amy looked...pissed. In a really hot way. "Say my cunt is better than hers!" She hissed. "Tell me you love this!" Her hips were fucking flying as she rode me, and I wasn't ashamed to admit this whole thing was hot as hell.

I reached up to grab both ass cheeks roughly. Shoving her harder down my cock but not helping other than that. I pretended to be thoughtful. "Hmmm, I don't know. Not much beats magic pussy." Her eyes flashed with anger, but I kept going. "I mean, you're a great fuck princess, don't get me wrong, but you're far from my best. I mean forget Zee, Sindy is probably my favorite. Nobody fucks like an opal girl."

Her hips almost doubled in speed, but more than that, I felt a surge of magic flood through her body, specifically into her cunt. I didn't know she could even do that. Her pussy became almost...cold. But not like erection killing cold, like menthol cold. So cold it was hot, my eyes went wide at the sensation as my hips bucked slightly. I'd had hot pussy, magic pussy, and vibrating pussy, but this cold was new and it felt fucking amazing.

I was ninety percent sure that if Mordiel had done this it would have fucking injured me. Amy's cunt was like an arctic volcano, but the fucking humming buzz of the burning cold was absolutely addictive in a way I hadn't ever felt before. She grinned savagely in triumph. "You like that? You like that pussy? Still like that opal cunt better? Still prefer Zatanna to me?" She yanked me down into a hungry kiss. "Tell me I'm the best, tell me I'm your favorite!"

My ability to talk was somewhat compromised by the agonizingly blissful sensation, but I managed to get enough of my head back to reach up, grab her, and flip us both so she was on her back so I could smash my hips into hers. She felt like the best fucking torture I could imagine and I needed more of this pussy. I kissed her roughly as I started to fuck her. "Someone is getting a bit demanding aren't they?" I grunted into her ear.

She keened in excitement. "Fuck me! Do it! None of the other girls can take this dick like I can. Even Emmy isn't built for taking a pounding. Emerald magic is all remote. Amethysts are warriors. This is the only pussy you can really let loose in, so DO IT!" She clenched down as she squealed at me, and I decided to give her what she wanted. I picked up the pace, pounding into her harder than I'd fucked anyone.

I hadn't even given it to Mordiel this hard because I hadn't hit D rank yet. I reached into my body and pulled in my power vitalizing my muscles with Primal Force as I pounded into my mouthy little wife. She cackled with joy and pulled in more magic, her body converting into a statue of purple stone that was somehow even softer and tighter, with that frightewning sexually charged cold exploding into something even more intense.

My hips smashed into hers, drawing screams of glee and happiness out of her as the bed frame collapsed and I was pounding the mattress flat with her purple gemstone ass as I let loose on a woman with all my power for the very first time. At E rank my magic hadn't been part of my flesh, so there had been a limit to the strength I could command, but now I had the Primal Force within me and it fueled me.

I groaned in ecstasy as I fucked my wife into the floor, glad my E ranked house was sturdy enough not to break without a concentrated attempted. Pounding Amy into the floor was too diffuse, and I was helping the force disperse a bit with my magic, not that I could put words to how. I was lost to it, to all of this. Force and fury and cold and fucking. I started growling in her ear, telling her she was mine and I wanted her and that she WAS my favorite, because at this moment it was true.

I'd never had sex like this, I wasn't sure ANYONE had ever had sex like this. Our magic was starting to mix, I felt her getting tighter and colder and wetter and better and my body picked up the pace. The purple of her gemstone body was sparking through with green lightning as I poured everything I had into her. I realized with shock that I was going to be TIRED after I finished this. I was using every ounce of power and energy I had.

This whole thing probably wouldn't have even worked given how strong I was magically, but my Primal Force energy was supercharging Amy as we fucked, reinforcing her crazy gemstone form even more and letting her keep going far past what she would normally have been capable of doing. My head started to get fuzzy as my draconic instinct took over and I plowed her into the floor even harder,

She'd cum at least a dozen times since we started, but I could feel another orgasm building. A deeper, harsher one that I decided would coincide with my own release. She was clawing at my back, adding hot lines of pain to the cold and the motion but I didn't fucking care. It felt good to just let loose, to become an animal and fucking demolish her. Just a dragon destroying his princess. I think it was the closest I could get to actual sentiment.

I felt my balls tighten as I pounded down into her, ready to nut in my wife for the first time without someone else around. I was glad she'd come up with this idea, because I was pretty sure with how ramped up her magic had gotten none of the other girls could have survived being in the room for this. I felt her orgasm coming and with a few last pumps unloaded my balls into her hungry pussy with a literal roar, my draconic side feeling sated for the first time since I'd gotten this bloodline in a way I couldn't explain.

I collapsed on top of her, the explosion of magic having bled off most of the raw power and the rest of it slowly dissipating. I groaned softly as I felt myself relax for the first time in what felt like ages. Someone banged on the door. I turned my head and yelled. "We're fine, had sex, go away!" Smirking at Amy's giggle when someone on the other side cursed up a blue streak and stalked away. I looked around, wincing at the damage to the room. I wasn't sure if Amy would be pissed about the damage when she came down from the sex high, but I'd figure it out later.

My wife nuzzled into my side like a contented kitten. "Ok, I'm not feeling insecure anymore. Even you have to admit I'm the best in bed now. Plus, two birds one stone, I can't think of a better way to show I'm top bitch that that." She dissolved into another wave of giggles, and I rolled my eyes at the statement. It was hard to argue though. I was pretty sure we shook the house. In fact... I shifted slightly, hearing a groan. Yup, there might be some structural damage. Looks like the house is on the list of things getting upgraded to D rank.

I considered doing it now, but a quick appraisal told me the damage wasn't too serious. I snorted and buried my head in Amy's blonde hair as we lounged on a thoroughly destroyed mattress on the floor. "So, I have to ask, does this mean you aren't going to fuck Jade? Because I'm not the only one in the house who was really excited to see that." I expected annoyance, but Amy just snorted and rolled her eyes, not deigning to answer me. Which to be fair, wasn't a no.

As I laid back down to drift off to sleep I realized that my worries about the whole fairy mom thing were mostly gone. Everything else too. I was exhausted as hell, but in a good way. I hadn't felt like this in ages, it reminded me of coming down from a good workout when I was a normal human. I would still look into my origins and prepare, but I wasn't stressing about it anymore. For now I'd mostly focus on dealing with Amazons and with the Court, who I still had to meet with soon, but even those seemed like far off concerns. Amy might have been right. I think she WAS my favorite girl.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City 10:00 AM EDT

The house didn't collapse while we slept, which was nice. I'd seen in the appraisal it wouldn't but some small part of me was relieved anyway. Repairing it would have been a bitch. I'd still upgrade the place, but I had to find the right ingredients for it. There were so many options. I woke up, dragged headed to my room to change, and left Amy to drag an outfit out of her destroyed dresser. The clothes were fine, just buried under a pile of broken wood, but I was informed in no uncertain terms I'd be buying her a new wardrobe.

I figured given the absolute destruction I'd wrought on her stuff while I was absolutely destroying her pussy a bit of shopping wasn't a huge ask, so I agreed and she gave me a giggly kiss and practically skipped down the stairs. Despite the incredibly rough sex Amy wasn't in pain or anything, her gemstone form had been strengthened by my energy and the more we fucked the sturdier she became.

When I walked into the kitchen though, everyone else was eating breakfast, and I got a whole bunch of very harsh glares. I put on an innocent expression. "So, did you guys feel that earthquake last night? So many aftershocks." I said it in the most sincere tone I could manage, which given my skill at lying was saying something, but even I couldn't stop my lips from twitching a bit.

Dinah gave me a wry but tired smile. "Yeah, it was pretty crazy. The house was making the strangest moans. I almost sounded like at was squealing for the earth to quake harder. You might want to get the foundation looked at. I don't think houses are supposed to make those kinds of noises. While you're at it, maybe look into some soundproofing."

I snickered at that. "We HAVE soundproofing. It just doesn't work when you crack the floors." The glares mostly didn't abate, even if Dinah wasn't looking annoyed so much as exhausted. I sighed. "Alright sorry. That got a little more...enthusiastic than expected. I've got some upgrades in mind for the house anyway. I'll make it up to you that way." Figuring a change of subject was in order I looked over to Barbie. "Oh, by the way, when is Donna getting here?"

Apparently having decided she was more excited than annoyed or tired, Barbie just rolled her eyes and accepted the subject change. "Tomorrow. She's waiting for Cassie to pack her things for the move. She lives in Happy Harbor, and the move is...jarring for her. Try to make them feel welcome. Shouldn't be hard. Clean up after yourself, replace the toiler paper, DON'T nail your wife so hard you cause structural damage to the house. You know. The usual."

Everyone looked at Amy, who just giggled. "What? I'M not going to ask him that. I liked what he did to me last night. But if it makes you feel better I doubt that's going to be a nightly thing. I'll make sure when he makes our new bedroom her reinforces it so no one else will be disturbed by our lovemaking." She looked at me dreamily, sighing in contentment. "Last night was so special."

I was pretty mystified how fucking her so hard anyone else in the house would have been paralyzed from the waist down was 'special' or romantic, but I wasn't stupid enough to question it. She'd flipped from jealous wife to happy bride and if all I needed to do to make that stick was stuff her stocking without holding back I was more than happy to oblige. Sadly sex was over, and even my implacable ass was a bit tired. So I turned to business. My eyes flicked to Barbie. "Oh, by the way, did you get in touch with Silver?"

She sneered at me. "Oh yes. It was wonderful. I got to spend twenty minutes listening to her give me backhanded compliments for managing to survive intact. I mentioned you wanting to meet, though I used your alias just to be sure. Based on what you said I thought there might be hard feelings." I resisted the obvious erection joke, because I was better than that, and noted that Barbie seemed to have been waiting for it before she moved on. "Regardless, I got a meeting set up in a warehouse downtown later tonight." She stared at me flatly. "I'm guessing I don't have to tell you that it's a trap and the whole place is going to be full of zombie ninjas."

I just shrugged. "Fuck em. I'm a dragon. If they have zombie ninjas that can handle me then I'm sure I'll figure out how to give them the slip. I admit though, that's a bit quicker than expected. Last I heard of them the Court wasn't known for polite meeting practices. I expected to be on the hook for a while."

That got a snicker from my redhead. "Please. The city is a mess. They're at defcon one. Any proposed meeting is going to be treated with serious consideration, at least if the person in question is important. You made quite a ruckus in town and Penguin has been talking you up as an asset." She scowled. "I still don't like working with him. I get the logic, but it's just...it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"I get that." I said gently. "But we do what we need to do. So we have a meeting with the court, which I'll be attending, along with presumably Amy if she wants to go." That got a firm nod from my wife. "What else is happening in town. Did you guys talk to Jinx about her whatever academy? Having an active supervillain high school renting out students as mercs is going to complicate shit." Jinx had mentioned Hive when I met her, but Zee mentioned to me in passing when she was leaving that Hive was apparently some kind of supervillain prep school.

Barbie looked annoyed again, but not at me this time. "I've been digging into them best I can. My sources are a bit drier than they used to be. After being gone a few months on top of having been so out of touch for a bit before that most of my informants are hesitant to talk to me. My old job has less resources in Brightedge than they would like, so those sources are tough too. Luckily my dad is still tapped in at the GCPD so I'm getting SOME information."

We both avoided mentioning her cape identity, or mine. Most people here knew, but no use being sloppy. Still, it wasn't ideal that her sources had dried up. She could always redevelop them. No reason not to let her keep being Batgirl. She wasn't going to go after me personally or my people, and having my own private superheroine could be useful in ways other than how satisfying it was fucking her pretty face in that mask. I could aim her at my enemies, and as long as she was doing her work the League wouldn't think twice.

She could even steer Donna and that Cassie girl when they showed up. As an E ranker she had more than enough power to protect herself. "Well." I said carefully. "Maybe you should try getting back to work. I know you've been missing it. As long as you're willing to put the family first there's no reason you can't start taking shifts again." I wasn't worried about her doing cape work and turning on me. Barbie was firmly under control. I knew she wouldn't be able to live without me or Hildie or Emerald.

Hell, she and Zee had been getting distant, but now that I'd talked over her Brand with her I was betting she'd be spending more time with our sorceress. It was frankly way more convenient for me. I could only fuck so many women a day. Letting them take care of each other took a lot off my plate, and I still had any pussy I wanted when I wanted it.

Barbie's eyes widened in shock and excitement. "Wait, really? You don't mind? I'd have thought you would want me to stop." She sounded relieved and surprised in equal measure. Like she had been planning to agree but suddenly realized it would have bothered her. "I'd have to get my...uniform, from my old place. I'm sure no one found it there, I had it pretty well hidden. I haven't been back there since we came home, I'd gotten so used to staying with you and I have all the stuff I need here."

She turned to Amy. "Hey, would you be up for a trip to my old place to pick some things up?" It was an obvious peace offering after the sulking about last night, and I liked that the two of them were getting along. Amy was a powerhouse on the same level as me, so she should be able to handle anything they ran into, assuming Barbie didn't just kick its ass herself.

That was certainly one way to get them all out of my hair. I'd decided to go out on my own today. Brightedge was special in that it contained both Gotham (post Doctor Gotham ritual) and Metropolis. That meant that some parts of the city should still have plenty of fae in them. Based on what I knew of fae, they hated iron and technology, so I was figuring the catacombs beneath the city were a good place to start.

Places like the market where I bought the amulet were a great start for finding fae in the new city, and once I tracked them down it would be simple for me to ask around about Tsaritsa. Humans may have forgotten a fae monarch that had ruled the whole damn planet, but the fae had long memories and a penchant for nostalgia. Someone down there would be sure to know something, and as a dragon I would be welcome enough among the non human elements of the city.

I'd gotten used to having one of my girls on hand all the time in Gemworld, they needed to be looked after and it would be easy to get separated. Now that we were home though, and they were overpowered as hell, I didn't need to worry so much. In fact, while I was down there I could do some shopping. I could look for a few items to merge into the house to boost it up. It was only G rank at the moment, and I was planning to take it all the way to D. Having a stronghold that could survive any enemies I might make was enough of a priority to justify blowing a million points on.

With that decided, I shot Barbie a grin. "Alright, you take Amy and maybe Emerald and clear out your place. I have some errands to run but I should be back in time to meet up with Amy to hit the meeting with Silver." I briefly considered reinforcing the house a bit, but I didn't want to rush the upgrade. This was a G rank building so it should hold up fine until I got to it.

Barbie nodded amiably, still flying high off knowing she'd be back on the street soon, and wished all my girls a good morning as I headed out on my own. I had some things to check when I got back, but it would be nice to be out on my own for a while. Lone dragon on the prowl. I had my pouch at my waist with plenty of things to sell so I wasn't worried about cash down in the underground if I found the fae. With all that out of the way I was free to focus on finding the information I needed. The biggest upside was that nobody liked the fae and they hated tech, so there was nothing preventing me from being...aggressive, in my questioning. I did always enjoy an easy fight.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City 12:00 PM EDT

I was so excited to get out and wreak some havoc I headed down into the tunnels under Brightedge without considering that they had drastically changed from when they were below Gotham. Luckily for me, I found an entrance pretty quickly. While the undercity had changed a bit, the access points were still accessible from specific points, notably, very low places and very old places.

It took me a bit of time to track down a neighborhood of run down two stories in the older parts of the city and search the basements for access. I hit pay dirt on the fifth house (and got shot at by a meth addict in the third, though he straight up booked when he realized bullets bounced off me). At the back of an old basement, behind a torn up mattress leaned against the wall, was a hole that led directly into a tunnel of dirt.

Following the tunnel down a ways, the dirt let out into an old sewer tunnel paved in brick. While this wasn't anywhere I recognized, I could follow it to see if I could get access to some of the deeper reaches of the undercity. Based on some of the text in the appraisal for Brightedge I knew that the underground portions of the city would have changed and would now contain new and hidden things. Maybe some ancient temples, maybe some buried alien ruins, who the hell knew.

Because of that there was no map I could consult or guide I could use. Despite that, I was kind of pumped to look around. With my perfect recall I wouldn't get lost, and I was strong enough as a D rank dragonkin that I wasn't worried about fucking mole people or anything. Unless I ran into a kryptonian or something I would at least be able to get away. I was a literal wrecking ball when I wanted to be. Primal Force was nothing to fuck with.

I wandered around for another hour before I found an offshoot that led me through another dirt tunnel, and finally out onto what appeared to be an...underground street? I knew Gotham had some places underground where houses and streets had sunk and people used them for living sometimes, but this was another level. I'd been wandering down this whole time without noticing, and after an hour had gotten deep enough for there to be a serious cavern here.

The street wasn't just one layer of buildings, it was four or five. Houses on top of houses on top of shops and restaurants, and the whole place was FULL of people. I could see several dozen fae for sure, but some of them were weird science experiment looking things that I was pretty sure were formerly human. I could see metallic parts and grafted limbs, and even a few reanimated corpses stitched together with sutures with strange looking scientific generators and gizmos in them.

Was this a group of people from under Metropolis? Or some kind of new subset of underground dwellers created in the merge? Could that even happen? I hadn't really been able to consider all the ramifications of merging a whole fucking city, and I still wasn't sure how it had worked. Still, I'd found some of the local fae at least, and that meant my plan to question them about my mother could begin.

So, to fit in better, I let the Primal Force inside me spill over a bit. I went with my partial hybrid form. Antlers and fangs, draconic eyes and clawed five fingered hands with scales up to the elbow. Plus wings, because the way they draped over me like a cloak was fucking awesome. With all this, it should be impossible to mistake me for a regular human. Then I followed the nearest elements of the crowd into what was pretty obviously a bar.

The inside of the place was surprisingly crowded. Low light, smoky atmosphere (though smoke from WHAT I couldn't actually tell) and lots of low murmurs. The furniture was pretty haphazard and looked scavenger from random places, but it was functional at least. The bartop itself seemed to have been here to begin with, and despite being slightly singed and pitted with what I was pretty sure were laser burn holes, it was mostly in decent condition.

Behind it towered an absolutely massive grey form, eight feet tall if he was an inch and with craggy rocky skin. A quick appraisal confirmed this was a rock troll named Bridger. I had a quick chuckle at his name before I strolled up to the bar, ignoring all the other patrons, and reached into my pouch to drop a few low end gems on the bar top. The clink of the stones on the unevenly polished surface didn't exactly silence the whole bar, but it definitely made an impact.

Bridger looked down at the gems, then up at my horns and scales, and I watch him add two and two and come up with an asskicking if he started shit. He raised a green, mosslike brow. "Ain't been less than a century since I served one o' the scalefolk, leastwise one quite as pure as yourself. Beggin' your pardon o' course, but might ye do me the pleasure of tellin' me yer name? And either wise what can I be gettin' ye"

I smiled, showing WAY too many teeth. "Call me Lord. I'm down here looking for a few things. One of those is information, one is a decent drink. This seemed like the kind of place where I might find both. As for the latter...surprise me. You seem like a worldy sort. I'm sure you know what's good in stock better than I do." I pushed the gems toward him. "You can keep the change."

Not that I was worried he would rip me off. Bridger the rock troll would tell me what I wanted to know, or he'd get my taloned foot up his stony ass. There was no option three. If he actually didn't know shit...well I'd figure it out when it came up. He was old based on that comment though, so I wasn't exactly worried he was completely in the dark. At the very least he could tell me the name of someone who might know better."

Bridger shot me a grin, exposing flat stone teeth that gleamed like obsidian. "Well now, aren't ye polite for a dragonkin." He turned to reach into a crate behind the bar, digging around to the clink of bottles before pulling one out and blowing it off. "Somethin' appropriate then." He pulled out an amber yellow mug and popped the cork on the bottle, pointing it away from him to avoid the puff of smoke from the top before he tipped it into the glass.

A waterfall of something that looked halfway between lava and molten gold gushed from the bottle's opening, surprisingly watery in consistency. He topped off the glass nice and full and pushed it over to me, being extremely careful not to let any slosh over and get on him. "Shaltegrim's Hoard. Dragon brandy. Ye'll never find a drink more suited to yer kind. It's real gold from a dragon's trove, melted with dragon's breath in a secret alchemical process. Only certain species can even drink it and it's always a risk, exceptin' them what it was made for o' course."

The glass was...entrancing. The way the liquid bubbled and shifted. Like a golden version of quicksilver mixed with liquid sunshine. The smell was amazing too, like fire and treasure and the roar of victory. I didn't even know how the hell I could smell that last one, but I could, and it was divine. I gave him a nod, picked up the glass, and tipped it back, taking a long swallow of the elixir inside.

My eyes widened as a torrent of blazing energy rolled down my throat. Power and joy and strength and fury mixing together into a cascade of unimaginable glory rolling over my tongue and bringing with it a thousand flavors that all belonged to things I couldn't understand. I tasted sorrow and elation and heartbreak and several other emotions I couldn't even put names to, mixed in with the flavors of a thousand of my favorite foods.

I finished swallowing, realizing I had lost track of what was happening, and stared wide eyed at Bridger, whose grin had widened. "Aye. Always an experience seein' a dragon taste the hoard. Now, while ye enjoy your draft, why not ask me about this information ye came seekin'. I can't as promise I can give it to ye, but I can certainly try my best." He eyed the gems greedily. "Maybe ye find yer way to leavin' me a more generous compensation if ye feel my information is up to it. Though I'm not insistin' o' course."

Taking another sip, I reveled in the feeling of conquering nations. Whichever dragon created this shit was absolutely fantastic. Out of curiosity, I appraised the bottle that was still on the counter out of the corner of my eye.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Shaltegrim's Hoard- E-ranked Dragon Brandy. A specialty brandy made from gold and dragon fire by the dragon alchemist Shaltegrim. A distillation of his life's work this brandy uses the principles of infused intentions to intoxicate Shaltegrim's draconic kin with feelings of victory and domination. Also has the effect of strengthening scales over time when consumed.]

Huh. This stuff was E rank right out of the bottle. Impressive. Also no fucking wonder I felt so powerful. I surreptitiously checked on my scales, wondering if they had improved yet. I couldn't see too much difference, but it did say over time. I'd have to check back in a while to see if something had changed. "Before we start, any chance I could buy that bottle off you?" I wanted some of this shit to take home. I might be able to make something like it myself or barring that merge it into a much bigger supply. It would be expensive but I'd spend that for a comprehensive upgrade to my scales.

Bridger looked amused, at least until I started withdrawing and laying out G ranked gems. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, multiple powerful stones I had in stock from my trip to Gemworld. I didn't have too many of these around, but Amy and I could make a trip back to stock up whenever. I had more than a few earth products in mind that I wanted to set up distribution channels for, and being paid in gemstones worked well for me.

After a few stones, he hesitated, but eventually grunted his assent. "Oh, aye. I suppose so. Ye happen to be the first of yer kin I've seen in quite a while, and as I said, most things can't drink it and survive." His tone was magnanimous but his eyes were greedily drinking in the mystically empowered stones. I had to try not to laugh. Utility or not trading a bunch of G ranked rocks for an E ranked bottle of booze was a hell of a deal on my part. An extra hundred thousand points was a nice addition to my total.

With that taken care of I slipped the bottle into my pouch with satisfaction. I liked it down here. These people knew their places. I grinned widely at Bridger. "I appreciate it. Now, for the reason I was down here. I'm looking for information on someone called the might behind the mirror. Though you guys might know as Tsaritsa." Everything stopped. If there'd been a record player it would have scratched. Putting down the gems hadn't derailed the whole bar exactly, but asking about Tsaritsa had. An eerie quiet had descended over the bar as a whole. Unfortunately all the faces around me had turned decidedly less friendly, even Bridger...well it would be unfortunate for them anyway.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City 1:00 PM EDT

I admit, I thought the dragon thing would be enough to keep them from going off on me, but apparently I was wrong. Not that it did them much good. I barely had to try as I ducked under a bottle Bridger the rock troll swung at my head. A pair of large arms wrapped around me from behind, probably the Ogre I'd seen at one of the tables, but I just let a bit of Primal Force leak into my upper back and neck as I smashed my head back into his chin.

There was a grunt as I was released, and I sighed as I turned to try to get as much of the room as possible in view. "Alright gents, no reason to make a federal case out of this. You have to know I'm going to kick your asses. What's the point of coming at me just because I said a name?" I wasn't actually too opposed to the fight, but dropping bodies would probably leave me on cleanup for longer than I would like.

The only possible upside was that I doubted I'd run into the League or their junior squad down here, so even if I had to get a bit bloody there wasn't any real long term harm. Given how magical this place was I doubted even Kara was a problem. Still, as much fun as beating on some bar patrons was, a full on brawl with everyone here was going to be a time sink. I'd wanted a chance to slap some people around, but a twenty on one fight wasn't what I had in mind.

Bridger look a LOT less friendly now, stepping from behind the bar with a bat that was, based on a quick appraisal, a G-rank enchanted weapon. "Some names aren' to be said. That one especially. We can' let ye walk out of here, just in case yer one of her cultists. If she gets released...well, sorry to say we're gonna have to put ye down. Dragonkin are strong, but there are quite a few of us, and we aren' exactly harmless ourselves. On the off chance this is some kind of misunderstandin' beggin' yer pardon, but ye still need to die."

Gods damn it. Thanks other me. Couldn't have mentioned she was some kind of forbidden subject? I scowled at them. "I don't get it. She was the queen of the whole damn world. Why are you all so scared of her getting out. Don't you all want to be in charge again? I mean...no offense, but you're literally living in a hole in the ground right now. I'd think a shot at an upgrade would be a plus. You certainly signed on with the Sun King quick enough."

Bridger barked a harsh laugh. "Ye think humans was the only ones what wanted her gone? We all helped banish her. If she comes back she comes fer us all. We couldn't live with her anymore, even for a few she was a bloodthirsty tyrant. She killed at a whim and gloried in suffering, treated us all like pawns and amusements. She cursed and transformed anyone in sight just for the thrill of it, until in the end even we couldn't bear her wickedness anymore. Me own grandfather took part in the revolution, I heard the stories growin' up on his knee."

Well shit. Nice work mom. Way to be a team player. This was why I didn't randomly torture and murder people like all the other supervillains. What the hell was the point of inflicting random suffering on anyone who looked at you funny? And what kind of fucking psycho is so twisted that fucking FAIRIES thought she was too extreme. Of course my mom was a fairy dictator. Because why not.

I was so distracted by the revelations that I ALMOST missed the attack from behind. Almost. I heard it just in time to drop into a roll as a fucking SCYTHE whistled through the air where my neck had just been. I popped to my feet, using the momentum to spring up into a spinning kick at the...Pumpkin Headed reaper thing that had tried to kill me. Apparently it was an F-ranked fae called a Jack of Lanterns. I channeled Primal Force into the spin of my kick and my foot smashed into the pumpkin head, though it didn't pulp like expected.

There was no time to celebrate the bastard sailing across the room because a fucking dark elf slipped into try to spear me midair with a pair of daggers even as a banesidhe drifted forward to wail at me. I felt some kind of death magic wash over me, but it was so fragile compared to my own power I just channeled my energy through my body and tore through the thing like wet tissue paper. I planted my foot on a platform of wind and catapulted off at the same time, avoiding the knives and the claws of a Cait Sidhe that tried to disembowel me from the other side.

I landed and dipped into a handspring, using force magic to push me far enough that I had my back to the wall when I came up. "How many of you motherfuckers ARE there in this bar!?" I growled in annoyance, letting my full draconic hybrid form clothe me. Scales covered my whole body, isolating me from harm and turning me into a living weapon as I glared around me at the crowd of fae.

Jack of Lanterns wasn't dead, though he looked unsteady, and the others closed ranks to try to encircle me. I could probably have taken them down after a long hard fight, earned their respect and gotten out of this without any long term consequences...but fuck that. I'm not some loser hero wannabe. I'm a fuckmothering dragon. I might give someone a free pass once or twice, but a series of legit murder attempts?

I snorted, and a puff of smoke came from my nose, crackling with energy. "Alright fucksticks. I'm just about out of patience with this shit. So listen up, and listen good. The next one of you assholes that comes at me is going to fucking die. Not get hurt, not get knocked out. I'm going to end you. It won't be fucking merciful either. I'm going to make it hurt. No more Mr. Nice Dragon, you fucking get me?"

A snorted laugh came from one side as the Ogre lumbered forward to attack again, and without a second of hesitation I turned and exhaled right at him. My dragon breath had taken a fucking level in badass when I ranked up for sure, a ball of explosive hyperdense force and fire rocketed out of my mouth and smashed into his big green chest. I could see wind and lightning swirling inside, left over remnants of what I had been before, but most of it was flame, and since all of those things were, at their core, Force. I was able to control and shape that damage when it struck.

The ball seared right through his chest, burrowed up so his ribcage would soak most of it, and then DETONATED. The Ogre, too shocked to react besides just panicking, threw back his head and SCREAMED. Flame and lightning fueled by gale force wind and torrential force magic came bursting from his mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and every other hole on his body as his Ogre hide stretched and warped, containing the blast in a way that only worked because I willed it to when I was shaping the bolt.

The ogre stood there, blazing like a roman candle from every orifice, until he finally fell over, dead. His formerly massive form was still longer than most, but there was nothing inside the skin except charred meat and ruin. The bones and burnt muscle flaked and collapsed as he hit the ground, crumbling into essentially a skin bag full of ash and chunks of Ogre flesh. I watched dispassionately and then turned to the Bridger. "See what you made me do?" I said regretfully.

Clicking my tongue, I surveyed the terrified fae. That Ogre had been an F ranked fae, and I'd smoked him (pun intended) in seconds. "So." I said severely. "Here's how this is going to go. Anyone who wants to die the same way he did, line up over there and I'll take care of you real quick." I pointed off to one side and then waited. "No?" I said with mock surprise? "No more takers? How strange. Well then, we can move onto the compensation part of the evening. First off, you-" I pointed at Bridger. "Are going to pay me not to burn this place down."

The rock troll grimaced, but nodded. "Aye. Tis' fair enough. Merciful enough you lettin' us live. What, exactly, will this little...transaction, be costin' if I might be so bold as to ask?" He sounded much less upset than I had expected. If someone burned a customer of mine alive and confessed to being about to rob me I'd be upset, but he just seemed respectful. I remembered a snippet from the fae book I'd skimmed of Zatanna's. Fae respected strength above all. Unless you were an absolute lunatic like my mom apparently. Still, barring insanity kicking the shit out of a fae would get its cooperation.

On the flipside fae had almost no sense of loyalty whatsoever. Fae would obey you pretty much exactly up to the point it became more useful to do otherwise. Being here right now I could kill them all and they knew it, so the practical thing was to shut up and do what they were told. Once I was gone that little compulsion would be gone, but so would I so who cared. They ALSO held grudges. Killing the Ogre wouldn't mean shit since fae didn't really have friends as much as casual acquaintances, but if I started snatching ancient weapons I'd have to deal with a bunch of bullshit later.

I decided that none of the random G ranked garbage they were swinging around was worth stealing, there were only a few things here anyway. Rather than gold or random trinkets, the best payment would be the information I cam here for. "You're going to tell me where I can find knowledge about Tsaritsa." His expression hardened (pun intended) but I held up a hand to cut him off. "I'm not trying to free her or anything stupid like that. I'm interested in learning more about her for other reasons. Don't get your granite panties in a bunch."

One of the other fae, I think the Cait Sidhe, snorted out a laugh, but they had regained a stoic expression by the time I turned to look. The undine to one side of him winked at me salaciously, but I had other things to be getting on with. Bridger took a long, deep breath. "Well as I said, me grandfather was the one what saw her fall, not meself." I let my eyes begin to glow with Primal Force, an extremely neat trick that looked terrifying but did almost nothing, and he scrambled to cut me off. "But! I'm not the oldest here! When the Sun King invited us we'd been gathered under single banner."

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to clarify. He swallowed hard. "The lord has been long outcast. Separated from his lady love when she returned to her husband. We had gathered to his cause, and immortal magic user who was once human but now walks the world as on of the fair folk." He steeled his nerve, as if bringing this up was dangerous. "But if ye be searchin' for answers, he'd be the one to be talkin' to. Travel deeper into the depths of the earth master dragon. Tamlin the Falconer has the answers ye seek." Well. Good to have a direction to point in at least.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Undercity, 2:00 PM EDT

I rushed slightly leaving the bar, mostly because I was kind of freaked out. I wasn't a history nerd, and I never really got much into folklore, but I had a damn good memory even before the mental upgrade from the Blood of Apophis, and I remembered bits and pieces from a few mythologies. Some Norse, Greek, etc. I remembered very few things from Celtic myth, but one of the only things I DID remember, was the story of Tam Lin.

The Scottish Ballad was a foundational fairy tale, and one of the most retold stories from the mythology of the Celtic pantheon. Tam Lin was a bard that got stolen by a Faerie Queen who loved his music. His true love busted him out later in some versions, but in some he stayed. If he was still around NOW, especially given what I'd just been told about him knowing more about Tsaritsa, that meant that A, he was immortal and had survived thousands of years as the consort of a fae Queen, and B, that story had taken place a LOT longer ago than it sounded like it had in the song.

It hadn't been hard to get Bridger to tell me where Tamlin was. The rock troll seemed pretty confident that the old bard would kill me. Of course, I wasn't quite so sure, but if he was as old as someone like the Sun King there was a non-zero chance he might be strong enough. I had to approach him diplomatically. After I left the tavern, I made my way deeper into the Brightedge underground, running into a few people here or there, but not being bothered.

I was shifted into full hybrid dragonkin mode, with my body covered in scales, and all the fae and science experiments down here were smart enough not to pick a fight with a dragon. I followed the road through the underground city, seeing all the buildings stacked on top of each other. I was sure that a whole lot of the fae and others had died in the merge, killed to make this place functional, or maybe not. Given what I'd seen from Bridger, maybe Tamlin just enforced order and the others accepted.

Following the road I eventually came to a massive manor house at the end of the cavern. Unlike the other places, the manor was the only thing occupying this section, having been too big to fit other buildings on top of. The expansive dark wood building looked almost natural here, as if it had been built beneath the earth. Standing outside the building were a pair of absolutely massive trolls.

A quick appraisal showed they were both E rankers, Mountain Trolls instead of the more common Rock Troll like Bridger. When I came to a stop in front of them, the one on the left glared down and said in a rumbling bass. "Halt. State your business outsider. Who approaches the royal residence?" The glowing ruby eyes set into their mammoth grey skulls glared balefully down at me like they hoped to crush me under the weight of their annoyance.

They didn't, obviously. I was a fucking dragon, so I just glared right back. "You can call me Lord. I'm here to speak to Tamlin the Falconer." I really needed a better alias. Primordius was way too pretentious even for me, but 'Lord' just sounded stupid.

Mountain Troll 1 just glared harder, while Mountain Troll 2 turned to lumber inside to inform his boss. It made sense really, it wasn't exactly a minions place to turn away visitors of a certain standing. As a dragon I was owed at least this much courtesy. Disrespecting dragons tended to end poorly for most people. We had long memories and bad tempers. The appropriate response to meeting a dragon was usually either sycophancy or murder. Sometimes both.

"You wait here." MT1 grunted. His ruby eyes had blazed up brighter, and I considered gouging them out to see if they wer worth anything, but I felt like it might be a poor first impression. I needed to meet with Tamlin and get him on my side, or at least open communications. I needed information about my dear old mom, because I just KNEW she was going to get out sooner rather than later. My life was too dramatic for the universe to miss that kind of chance.

So I did NOT eviscerate the annoying troll after it talked down to me. Despite being both ready and able to do so. I just glared up at him, yawning expansively and showing off my very sharp draconic teeth. Just to be an asshole. I could chew through rock and he knew it, so he should be at least a bit intimidated.

Finally, MT2 came back. He kept walking until he came to a complete stop and resumed his prior position, only speaking once he had stopped moving. "His majesty accepts your request for visitation. You will be granted an audience. Proceed inside and follow the hallway to the receiving chamber." His eyes flared up like the other one's had. "Do not touch anything, lest you incur his majesty's wrath."

That really made me want to steal something, but I wasn't a kid, so I restrained myself. I could take some of his shit later if he wasn't as strong as I expected. If he was I could just have Cherry rob him when I knew he wasn't here. As I walked down the hallway though, I became more and more sure that he WAS going to be powerful. I could feel a subtle shift in the energy around me, as if it was being disturbed a rock in a giant mystical lake. Ripples of disruption flowing from the room ahead.

I stopped outside the massive wood door to the receiving room, waiting patiently until a melodic voice called out. "You may enter." I reached out to push open the door, stepping into the room that held the man I was almost sure was Tamlin the Falconer, even before I used my appraisal on him. Before my hand could reach the wood, the massive doors creaked and slid away, retreating from my touch and opening up the room ahead. Creepy ghost doors? What a try-hard.

As the door swung open, a room was revealed. Well, room might not be the best word. Glade was probably better. At least, it looked like a glade. A moonlit clearing, walled with trees and carpeted with green grass and a couple of ponds. Magic was definitely at work. I could see a blue sky above through the grasping branches of the canopy of trees, and the pools were filled with bathing nymphs frolicking with dryads shyly approaching from their nearby trees. I raised an eyebrow. Tamlin might be old school, but the guy was a fantastic decorator. This place was great, and I wasn't just saying that because of all the blue and green titties.

The falconer himself sat amidst the glade, head tilted back as he stared up into the magical sky in boredom. A pair of green girls who looked like twins were cuddled up against either leg, but the scruffy, long haired blonde man ignored them, not even noticing the curvy viridian bodies grinding against him. I shot off a quick appraisal as he came into view.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Tamlin the Falconer- C rank immortal bard. A former lover of Titania and the father of her illegitimate child, Tim Hunter, Tamlin retreated in shame from his lady when she chose Oberon, her husband and king, over him and sent their son away to parts unknown to be raised by mortals. Millennia in faerie eating fairy food altered Tamlin's body, granting him eternal youth, and his constant exposure to wild magic warped him into a powerful sorcerer, but Tamlin lacks all drive. Passing his days in a blur of decadence and self pity, Tamlin tries to lose himself in sensation to dull the pain of his lost family.]

Huh. Ok. C rank wasn't...as bad as expected. Still, having seen the variation in power between ranks outside Gemworld, it was tough to say what that even meant. He might be like Zee, magically terrifying and physically frail. It was better to err on the side of caution. As I approached, Tamlin's brown eyes lowered from the ceiling, boring into me in a cold, distant fashion. "A dragonkin. Vernacht warned me of your coming, yet I still underestimated the stature of my guest. Your progenitor was no wyrm of middling power. I sense true strength from you. What brings you here?"

I ran through everything I had seen, had heard, and had just read. I considered all the angles and what I could offer him, and then, I went with my gut. I knew greed. Knew how it could drive you, wriggle itself into your gut and hollow you out. Tamlin was greedy, greedy for his lost love and family. I could use that. I swept into a formal, aristocratic bow. "Lord Tamlin, I bid you greetings. I come with two points of business. An offer, and a question. Which would you hear first?"

Though I was almost positive my plan was valid, I couldn't be too hasty here. This next part was going to be delicate. I did have something he wanted, but I needed to frame it in such a way that he didn't decide to try and TAKE that thing. I could give him what he was after, but only if I was in control. Plus, having a C-ranker on side would be massive. Granted, I doubted I would be able to Brand him too quickly, even with the promise of his family. But I could still demonstrate my value through my other minions so he knew I could follow through.

He cocked his head, curious in a lazy, bored way. "An offer? For me? I am curious, little dragon, what one such as you seeks to offer me. Dragons are such limited creatures, despite their vastness within those limits. Do you offer me gold and jewels? A sharp claw to conduct my violence? Or perhaps this is to be a threat masquerading as a kindness. Will you offer me my own life?" His lips twitched as if amused at the thought, though the bitterness on his face made me wonder if he was amused by the perceived threat, or the idea of me carrying it out.

I put up both hands to demonstrate my lack of hostility. "Nothing of the sort. I bring an offer in good faith. Might we speak alone?" I glanced around at the dozens of naked multicolored women. "Not that the view isn't great, but I have very personal matters to address, and I'm not comfortable spreading such things too widely."

Tamlin smiled. "You need not worry about my fair ones. Their loyalty to me is unquestioned.: He reached down to stroke one of the dryads at his feet, and she mewled lustily and wriggled against his leg. I almost rolled my eyes but knew it wouldn't be polite. Seeing how unimpressed I was, Tamlin sighed in exasperation. "Fine." He said in annoyance. "We will be unheard withing this place, until such time as I intend differently." His voice didn't change exactly as he spoke, not audibly, but something shifted in the air and energy around us, the world moving to obey his words.

I shrugged, figuring that would have to do. "I came to ask after a subject known to be taboo, but only to prevent a certain being from ever returning. We have...business. Before that though, my offer. It is only polite to give before I take." I shot him a wide draconic grin. "In return for information about my enemy, the might behind the mirror, I offer you, Tamlin, one thing. Nothing short of ascension to the ranks of fae royalty, and a chance to reclaim your love and family. What say you?"


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