FicWad

Chapter 2







Yet another busy day... night, or whatever the time was... It's not like Sodora kept track of such things. The Floating City existed for pleasure, revenge and temporary amnesia. Hahaha... yes, Sodora aimed to make you forget everything and to fulfill your each and every dirty desire. The time of day wasn't important. The place wasn't important either. They floated everywhere and they have been doing this since before they had started recording history and were going to keep doing it long after the mighty kingdoms of Virere and Aithinne would fall. Those mighty and troublesome kingdoms... The Komo-Nubayo of the Floating City of Sodora was casually inspecting his territory while thinking about where they were currently staying. It took a lot of power to anchor the City for business and the spell was set up to release the anchor at a specific time. They still had to remain right between the two kingdoms for a little less than a month. When he had chosen the location he had had no idea that the enmity between the two had been increasing lately and the smell of war was now thick in the air. Floating Cities were always neutral. They must be. It's bad for business to start taking sides.

While he kept musing over how to keep out of local politics he had wondered into one of the little, dark, maze-like streets where most murderers and spies used to set up their guild meetings. Theli actually liked these streets. He found them relaxing and somewhat romantic, though he was probably the only living being in Sodora that could feel at ease in such a place. But if one ignored the criminals lurking in the shadows it was a nice place. The narrow streets, the three storied old houses and a small pub every ten meters and even the slightly dusty smell of the place, they all held a special appeal. Maybe Theli loved it because it was a quiet sector of his permanently agitated and noisy domain. One could actually hear footsteps in this place! Amazing! Yes... even the Komo-Nubayo's sharp hearing could never distinguish two distinctly different set of footsteps coming closer from exactly in front of him if this were any other part of Sodora. It's simply too loud to hear anything anywhere! Wait, wait, wait... coming closer and heading straight towards him!? Who could possibly be so foolish? Theli decided that admiring the sky and enjoying the sounds of the night could wait a little and that his eyes would be better put to use scanning the street. Wings? In these narrow streets? Feather wings! A Viridian?The foolish little bird ran straight into him. Of course... they were creatures of light and could barely see anything at night. The boy fell smack on his ass because of the impact.

Theli would have normally found it funny but the big blue, teary eyes staring at him stopped any caustic reaction from surfacing. He was such a cute little thing. A few light blue feathers have scattered on the ground and long silky hair was coming undone from an intricate braid. Quiet, shy, honeyed voice said "I'm looking for my brother, kind sir. Maybe you have seen him.". Ah! So that's what's going on. The kid had gotten lost and was looking for his older brother. Let's see.... Where did Viridians usually hang out? They definitely were not the type to come to Sodora looking for poison or assassins or anything of the sort. They usually came for the gambling, the alcohol and the whores. One wouldn't bring his younger brother to a brothel, would he? Well, a Viridian wouldn't. His brother must be in the gambling district. The birdie suddenly stopped behind him. He turned and saw that the little creature was staring at him with a mix of awe and lust.

"What's wrong, little bird?" The question brought quite a lot of pink on a cute white face and eyes fell to the ground. As if to achieve the perfect portrait of embarrassment the boy started mumbling thanks and asking for forgiveness. Theli realised that he had seen those full lips before, but he remembered them redden by kisses and smiling as if in invitation. The sculptured marble cheeks were also familiar. Of course! Beauty certainly runs in that family! He knew who the brother was. Who didn't? Nive was a good client. The difference between the two was really funny. Theli didn't even try to contain his laughter and rather cheerfully told the little bird to follow him. After that they walked in silence, Theli doing his best to keep his pace slow as to not accidentally lose the kid. He did look tired. He must have wondered for some time around Sodora. It was surprising he didn't get raped already. Nive was very attractive, but he could never find himself attacked by perverts. Despite his long hair and perfect features he was very much a male. This brother of his on the other hand seemed to have inherited only the beauty and none of the masculinity. Even somebody without adomination kink would get a rise out of seeing this kid cry and scream. His wings trembling, his legs spread wide and teary blue eyes while begging to be fucked in that honey voice...Theli had just decided not to pursue that line of though anymore when the voice from his fantasy made itself heard.

"Umm, sir...Pardon me, but where exactly are we going?" Incredible! The kid was precious. "We have been walking for 10 minutes now and it is only now that you ask where we are going?"

"Well, sir...you did help me and if you had wanted to hurt me surely you would have done it already. So I think I can trust you." The fantasy from before didn't even seem farfetched when he was being addressed as "sir" and was being given such blind trust. Innocent and cute little bird. Theli decided to claim a reward for playing guide to a lost little animal. He covered the slim, fragile body with his own and pressed it against a wall. Smooth lips gave way to his insistent tongue. He didn't want to shock the poor kid so he expertly folded his thin, forked tongue as to feel normal and prayed that his hot breath would go unnoticed. Stopping just before he got too horny he introduced himself to the kid and told him not to call him 'sir' anymore. It wasn't wise to incite his hormones.

"Come now, Ibelieve you were on a quest?" Theli guided him on, while keeping him very close, as close as one could get without actually holding hands. While enjoying the night and the company the Komo-Nubayo felt the equivalent of a mental knock on a door. It was, of course, his Gashi, Eztli.

"What is it Ez?"

"The usual Nubayo business: trouble."

"The kind of trouble that can't wait?"

"Is there any other kind?" the Gashi asked in his usual monotonous, dry timbre that extended itself to his thoughts. Several seconds passed in silence and then Theli finally burst: "Just tell me already!". Slightly confused Eztli answered "But you never answered." Was the damn Gashi mentally pouting? Theli didn't get the chance to get even more pissed off because his right hand man suddenly said"Our men at the Swarm reported that a mage is stirring up things. The idiot tried to talk them into pledging their loyalty to him. He seems to have acouple of shifters helping him and the Lyfing's patron is missing two hundred gold javars and I can't imagine any other fools robbing him."

"So, what you're saying is that I have a mage challenging my position."

"He isn't officially challenging you, though I expect he will soon enough."

"Maybe he'll lose his guts and I won't need to bother with him."

"I doubt it. It's more likely he doesn't know about the Komo-Nubayo challenge rules in Sodora."

Theli stopped, deep into thought. Ezri was right. He needed to take care of the mage sooner rather than later. Komo-Nubayo official duels were mandatory public duels. In this case the challenger was a mage which meant that there was no way to refrain from using magic of his own, which in turn meant to expose himself for everyone to see. Damn! A gentle tap on his shoulder and a cute voice calling his name "Theli? Is something wrong?" and he was reminded that if anybody knew what he was then he would never be touched or spoken to again. Certainly no innocent birdie would place his trust in him if they knew his true nature."No!" he would not permit anybody to leave him and he certainly would not permit a mage with no morals to rob away a life he had grown to love, the warm respect of his men and the chilly stares of most Sodorans. Chilly but never hateful, never freezing his heart, and their eyes definitely not more cold towards him than they normally were. Theli just had to take care of that mage and he would do it quietly and efficiently. But first he had to make sure the little bird didn't get lost again.

"There's something I must do. Come, I will take you to your brother." They moved swiftly, the strong, tall leader of Sodora dragging the kid after him, and headed straight to Lyfing's place, where Nive usually hanged out. One of his men, Hingi, was there helping out the owner by providing extra security, probably because of the recent theft. Good. The birdie would be safe with Hingi. The man was married and had children and was a pretty normal person, which meant that he was usually teased by the others. Having a happy family life and being normal was definitely not common in Sodoran society.

"Hingi! This is Nive's younger brother. You do know Nive, right?"

"The Prince? The playboy with long, white hair?"

"That's the one. Is he here?"

"Yes, Komo, he is."

"Then I'll let you have the pleasure of witnessing the family reunion."

"Komo, I was wandering if the Gashi managed to tell you..."

"I know. That's where I'm heading now."

"Yes, sir. I'll make sure the boy gets to his brother safely."

"Thanks."

Theli was already preparing himself for dealing with the trash and only shortly stopped on his way out to let the birdie know it's safe to follow Hingi, but it is not safe to wonder around by himself in Sodora. "And forget you ever met me." He added. If they ever were to meet again the kid would not get away with just akiss. More disturbingly he suspected that if he ever saw this cute Viridian prince again he might just not let him go at all. The cold smoky air from outside Lyfing's helped him erase all thoughts of the birdie and focus entirely on the disciplining he was going to do.

The dark Leviathan climbed on top of a tall building nearby and sat on the ledge of agiant sign advertising the casino below. He whispered softly, making full use of his dragon tongue, making the words melt into each other, singing to the air and the world whispered back and he understood it. He had found his enemy and he would destroy him. He headed towards his goal, meeting up with Ez on the way, though they haven't talked, neither though messages nor through mind-speech. His Gashi was definitely very capable. Theli was lucky that he was also very loyal, as he was one of the few people that could actually harm him -if not physically at least emotionally.

An idiotic mage coming to challenge his leadership was another thing that could be troublesome. The streets turned filthy around them. Filthy with crappy magic. With no more effort than blinking his now glowing red eyes Theli shattered each and every spell. The mage felt it and rushed to confront the Komo, trying to hide the sudden fear that gripped him when all of his defenses were cast away so easily. The red streaks in the black hair seemed to glow just as much as the eyes, while the fabric of the world seemed to boil around the powerful leader. The mage had heard rumors of his strength, but this, this was not normal! No mage can possibly be this powerful!

"You have disrupted my city and tested the loyalty of my men. You have angered me and you have shown evil intentions."

"I think not!You have no evidence that..."

Theli wasted no time. This mage was weak. No reason to use magic with such a weak and foolish opponent. The Leviathan made use of his speed and in a blink his fist connected with a stomach. Using his formidable strength Theli hit him over and over again, knowing that mages usually can heal themselves fast, but while doing do they waste a lot of energy. He extended claws and ripped open flesh. Replacing lost blood drained quite a lot of healing magic.

The Komo shouldn't have worried so much about this mage. The "enemy" was easy to defeat even without using his true powers, the ones that always awaken the dragon within. Theli was a beast and the beast was Theli. This was the truth he had always recognized and accepted. Some of his kind had problems with accepting themselves. A few were even too afraid of their inner monster to even try using magic. He had always been comfortable with his beast. Its cruelty was not truly evil, just savage, and there always was justice in the way the beast used its power. Even though he lost self-control he never truly lost it. The feeling was difficult to explain, and it was somewhat about being harmonious within him.

No efficient resistance at all! The mage could easily be killed by mere brute force. So pathetic! The Komo-Nubayo decided to be merciful. He felt that to kill such aweakling is actually shameful.

Cruelly placing a foot on the collapsed mage's bleeding flesh and pressing him into the ground until a sound caught between a gasp and a gurgle was heard the red eyed monster said in an emotionless voice: "You have five minutes to return the money you stole from Lyfing and I expect you to get out of Sodora by tomorrow. All your men may join you."

After he was satisfied the mage couldn't rise from the dirt of the street anytime soon he gave orders to Ez, who had kept a careful distance. His Gashi would retrieve the gold and scatter the remaining men, if there were any who hadn't already fled.

A few moments later Theli was in a little bathroom washing his hands. Blood was difficult to get out off his half scaly hands and long claws. He felt a little sorry for the stupid mage, but the whole incident reminded him of his fragile position. Dragons were the most hated creatures. He could never let people know who he truly was. If they knew... nobody would ever come near him again... his men would never trust him with their lives... cute little birds wouldn't follow him blindly... or let him kiss them. As it were now people never saw more than his human side and therefore never managed to get close to him. The beast kept him in solitude, but he didn't hate it. Solitude wasn't a bother. The problem was that he couldn't love them back, not when he always had to lie about an important aspect of his soul, his personality, his being. He was a beast. Ez was the only one that was acquainted with his dragon, but despite this, and despite his excellent mind gift Ez didn't understand. If his highly intelligent Gashi couldn't comprehend his nature... He accepted it, but he thought that Theli"controlled" his inner monster. What a joke! He was not in control. There was no such thing as control. The only thing that was real was the fusion of his two different natures. He couldn't live without either one of them. The little bird... wouldn't understand either. Fortunately they would not meet again. It was impossible for things to work out anyway.