aimee

Darynn had sworn decades earlier that he would always consider his
life a lesson and himself a student. And although his opportunities to
experiment with the opposite sex numbered beyond his counting he had never
once actually paid any attention to them or their needs. Thomorr had made
him a man of men, in a world of their own without want or need of women.

Aimee' changed that. She had occupied his thoughts for the entire
week, from the previous Gayobi to the present. In that time he had done a
little asking around, and had learned some things about Teltirray's tastes
that bothered him. According to his friend Bethsany, the mistress of the
local brothel, Teltirray had become more violent in the last decade,
althought she had as little idea why as Darynn did. He found himself
hoping that Teltirray's violence didn't extend to Aimee' and that he
wouldn't hurt her in the days between her lessons. As the hour approached
he found himself rubbing his hands together before the fire and assembling
his story for the evening in his mind.

The knock came at the door none too soon. "Come in," he said,
attempting to make his voice behave in a manner befitting an archmage.
Inside, a corner of his spirit laughed at him; surely he did no better than
any poor boy at his first occasion with a woman! And he, nigh unto a
century old!

The door opened and Aimee' entered. "I have come for my second
lesson, sir, with your permission."

"You have it. No, not the stool again. Come, here, sit by me before
the fire." Nervously the girl crossed the flagstone-and-mortar floor and
then his precious white yeti-fur rug, the lesser of two prizes he had won
from a battle with such a creature destroying many town to the Northeast.
He smiled, remembering the greater prize; a boy named Darrick.

"Settle yourself against those blue pillows. Right." She sat down,
her body trembling slightly. He looked her over; bruises adorned both of
her arms and one smaller stood out even against the reddish skin of her
chin. Darynn winced and determined further to teach her the arts of self-
preservation and defense as well as those of pleasure.

"If you ever have need to speak, Aimee, do so freely. Now, tonight I
shall tell you my second story and you will do something for me. You will
remove your clothing."

She reached for her tunic instantly. "Wait," he said. "I did not
tell you to remove your clothes. I said you will remove your clothes. I
shall not tell you when."

"Then how will I know when to do so?"

"Aimee', I said you may speak freely, but you will adress me as
'sir.'"

"Yes, sir. How will I know when to remove my... my clothes?"

"When you feel ready, Aimee', to take off an article of clothing, I
want you to. But not before then."

Confusion crossed her face as Darynn knew it would. Nobody ever gave
slaves the right to address their own feelings. Instead, slaves behaved as
ordered and came to hear every whim of a superior as an order. By
permitting her access to her own simple desires, Darynn hoped she would
unwittingly open herself to her deeper emotions. Sometimes boys in his
service cried for hours when he did this, and afterwards the passion from
them exceeded even Darynn's fading memory of his for Thomorr. He lived for
those moments.

But did a woman have those same feelings and same methods of bottling
them up and controlling them? Darynn wanted to find out.

"Y... yes, sir."

"Now then, I shall tell you another tale. This one comes from my
learning amidst the Megass, and of one special Megassi named Ryuchia."


In my twentieth year Thomorr called me an adult, told me he had no
more to teach me, and bade me go into the world to find my future. I had
no wish to leave, Aimee', for I loved him. Not just physically, although
certainly that phrasing-- "I loved him"-- had certainly come true by then.

I cried piteously. I wept for myself and I had learned to weep for
him, Aimee', because Satyrs have nothing but themselves and their passions.
Thomorr allowed himself no past, no future, nothing but the immediacies of
his present pleasures. And although I wished to stay in that Satyric haze
for all of my existence, I knew that he and I did not belong to the same
worlds. I needed to seek my destiny elsewhere.

He gave me money. I gave most of it to my parents to help them over
my disappearance. I even had a younger brother by then. I left them in
the worst way possible, I think. I stole out of the house one night
leaving only the money and a note. I think by that time father suspected
something about my relationship with Thomorr, although he never said a word
and I think he trusted my wisdom.

I will not bore you with the details of the travel, Aimee'. Thomorr
sent me on a path into the mountains in search of a city the Megassi called
Hakkana and a Megass named Desa.

I knew little of the Megassi except for legends, Aimee'. I knew that
they had grown from the ranks of Dragonkind by virtue of their intelligence
and their capacity for magic, and I knew that even satyrs spoke in warm,
awestruck whispers at the magic they achieved through the exercise of their
honest lusts.


"Master?" she interrupted him.

"Yes, Aimee?"

"May I remove my boots, sir?"

"Aimee, I told you that you may remove your boots when you feel the
time has come for you to remove your boots, and such with the rest of your
clothes. You do not need to ask me. If you never feel that time tonight,
I understand. I do not want to make any such demand of you. Understand?"

"I... I think so. Please, sir, do not let me interrupt your story."


As I approached Hakkana I sometimes saw Megassi circling between peaks
in the mountains. The road I walked led through those mountains and,
according to one scrawled sign I passed, across a pass that had claimed the
lives of over a dozen men. The sign, too, warned of Dragons in those
mountains, but I rationed that I had survived capture and rape and even the
love of a satyr. A Dragon could do no worse.

I camped in the hills the day before, and come morning began my ascent
for the pass. I hoped that the Dragons would find me before then. And
find me they did. Two swooped down from the high places in the mountains,
flying over me in great, sweeping passes. Red-scaled and massive, their
wings beat the air as they flew past and the wind they kicked up blew into
my eyes and stung with fierce pain. I had learned magic to alleviate that
pain and so use it, giving myself a chance to stand and examine my
examiners.

[Who are you ?] the first one demanded, his voice shouting in my head
like a great storm.

"I call myself Darynn, as my father named me! Thomorr, Lord of the
Satyrs of Daber Wood has sent me to meet with Desa Megass of Hakkana."

[You have a great many friends,] the one spoke again. [You may pass
unharmed and without tribute unto the gates of our city. But if you have
lied, your suffering will amuse us for days.]

Speaking honestly, I had hoped for a ride. But Dragons do not have
kindness as we know it, Aimee.' Ah, I see you smile at my little joke.
And your boots have walked away on their own. Good.

I walked for the day and through the night and near dawn I found the
gates of the great city of Hakkana. I slept there at the base of those
monstrous gates.

A pain in my leg awakened me hours later. "You," the voice said. I
looked up into the face of the first landed Megass I had ever met. The
young of the Megass perform the city duties for their elders, and this one,
barely nine feet long and still unencumbered enough to have full use of his
forearms, apparently served as a guard.

"I... my apologies, my lord Megass. I have come seeking an audience
with Desa Megass."

The Dragon turned his head to me and I saw him smile. "You know
interesting friends if you know of Desa Megass. Very well, we will show
you the way to Desa Megass, young mage."

He led me past the gates and into the city of Hakkana. City? No,
Hakkana covered an entire plain with its construction. The great beauty of
vaulted marble only served to introduce the marvels of engineering that
surrounded me.

The plain apparently sat like an elevated valley surrounded by
mountains.

Most people know only rumors of the growth cycle of the Megassi, but
it's relatively easy to understand. Aimee', have you ever watched a
caterpillar turn into butterfly? You know of the sleeping process
caterpillars undergo? The Megassi have the same sort of growth, Aimee',
only their caterpillar shape resembles our shape, human. Or elven, I
suppose. They built the central city of Hakkana for that shape; they spend
the first fifty years of life shaped in our way. These young administer
the city as it relates to the world; they perform the roles of merchant and
agent to the adult Megassi.

Somewhere in their fifth or, perhaps, late sixth decade, they begin to
undergo the great change. They do not sleep though the change, Aimee';
every day they awake knowing that they have begun to change their shape,
begun to change into Dragonkind. Many move awkwardly at this time; They
have no reason to learn to live with a shape that will not feel the same
tomorrow as it does today. My guard, apparently, had some control of his
faculties. He spoke well, and he moved without clumsiness.

As I said, the central city is built for the young who are shaped as
Men, but beyond that the buildings grow ever larger and more impressive,
housing as they do the various centuries of of the Megassi Dragons. The
architecture is utterly alien; the homes on the plain look as if they were
grown, or like bubbles on the water, but made from a stone the color of
which pleases the owner. The most common color is white, although some are
red, black, green, or yellow. The mountains that surround the plain are
riddled with cave in which sleep the Great Elders. Very few live that old;
most succumb to disease, or madness. Some to spiritual decay that leaves
them lifeless and suicidal.

I was surprised that the guard led me to the central city. I had
expected Desa Megass to be an elder Dragon, and I inquired of it. "He is,"
the guard replied. "But you are to be taken to the center to meet him."

The great city of domes passed as we walked, and the houses began to
take on more familiar shapes. I saw Megassi young going about their
businesses, cleaning windows and fixing roofs. They waved pleasantly as
we walked; they are not a mysterious people, not the young. They are as
easily understood as you and I.

The guard led me to a circular building, a squat cylinder topped with
a cone roof. The door was made of wood and not large enough to admit him.
He knocked. A Megass youth answered the door. "What may I do for you,
sir?"

"This human claims to know of Desa Megass and would like entry."

The youth looked at me, and I examined him in return. His skin seemed
pliant, but it still looked as a snake's: covered in fine scales and tinted
with a greenish hue. His yellow eyes had vertical slits, much like a
cat's, and they sat in shallow, reflective pools that regarded me
carefully. "Yes, I know of him as well," he said finally. "Admit him. I
thank you, elder sir, for your kindness."

"May your change await you with pleasure," the guard said, leaving me
standing outside the door.

"Come in, come in," the Megass said. "Sit down. I am Kirustan. Desa
will join us in a moment."

I found a seat and examined the room. It seemed as any common home,
although perhaps a little better aired than my own. The construction was
as solid as any Castle, a privilege of its origin. The chairs were
likewise made of stone, and I knew that it would take all my thew just to
move one a few inches.

In the floor there was set a circular staircase leading downwards into
the very rock. From here I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and I
shall never forget what walked up from that place. It was shaped as human,
but it was of no human origin. The body reflected light as if made of
polished silver. It had no imperfections; indeed in places it looked too
perfect, gleaming and smooth. Its eyes shone with a strange yellow light.
The ears looked elven, wide at the base and pointed towards the top. As it
regarded me it smiled, the silver flowing like it was quickened. "Darryn."

"You... you know me?"

"Indeed I do," the creature replied. "I am Desa Megass, or at least,
what you will see of me." It chuckled deeply. "In good truth, I sleep
many miles from here. My spirit houses this form while the other sleeps.
In here, I cannot do magic, but that is no matter. I find the world of the
children exciting, and the beauty and song I hear here I weave into the
waking magics of my Dragonself." It picked up a stone chair like a feather
and placed it down before me, then sat down and joined me. "Now then,
Darryn, tell me what brings you here."

I told him, Aimee'. I told him everything. Of my hopeless love for
the Satyr Thomorr, of the magics he had taught me, of his sending me here.
The tale took over two hours. When I was done, Desa nodded. "You are what
I have been looking for, and I am in Thomorr's debt for the gift he has
sent me."

"Gift?"

"Yes," Desa nodded. "Although I cannot do magic in this shape,
Darryn, I can still teach it. I can still guide students who need
learning. I have a... a failure, I fear. Perhaps you can help me change
that."

"Sir?"

"Quiet, Darryn. You are my apprentice now."

I thrilled to hear that, Aimee', to be told by this magical being that
it had accepted me as an apprentice. I glanced to the window where
Kirustan leaned, casually. He grinned at me, as if amused. I wondered
what his role' was in Desa's existence, and if I was staking a claim to
something he felt he already possessed. Nevertheless, he seemed earnestly
pleased to hear of my acceptance.

"Yes, sir."

"I have several apprentices, Darryn. You are to... Kirustan, leave
us."

"Immediately, sir," the young Megass said, taking his leave by the
same staircase Desa had arisen from.

"I am sorry; I do not know of your comfort or concern being a lover of
men and things male, Darryn, and I did not want to embarass you in front of
my other young apprentice. I should have dismissed him before you told
your tale."

"It is the past, sir, that tale. I am not ashamed of what I am."

"Good," he said. "Because it is, in part, what you are that makes you
so valuable to me. I have an apprentice that I took while he was still in
Manform, thirty years ago. He learned quickly, as I promise you, you will.
His name is Ryuchitoran. I fear he has not long to live.

"Ryu, as I call him, was born with two problems. I have trouble
deciding some days which makes his life more unbearable. The first is that
he, like you, strongly prefers his own sex to that of the other. This
happens from time to time; often there are enough of that kind to keep each
other happy, and they are of no trouble to the rest of us. At mating time,
even with reluctance most of them perform admirably, and the females among
them I suppose hold their noses and wait for it to be over; the bodily joy
of bearing eggs is something even they admit to liking, even if they
dislike the process required to get there.

"But Ryu has a second, more troubling problem. After his change, it
became obvious. Ryu is a runt."

"Sir?"

"Ryu is growing very slowly. At the present he is only twelve feet
long, and four of that is his tail. But this is not a midform, Darryn; Ryu
is all Dragon at this point. But he sleeps with the daily fitfulness of a
youth and he grows but slowly, if at all." Desa fell momentarily silent,
thinking. "My newer apprentices frequently learn the physical basics from
their elder peers. Ryuchitoran is one of my eldest students, and you will
be his first. One of the things every sorcerer must learn is how to teach,
to pass on what he knows. It's time Ryu learned a skill he will need in
his old age, even if he doesn't expect to get there.

"But in the process, young Darryn, you must do something else. If
Thomorr did not lie about the size of his manhood, you will not find
Ryuchia threatening. Few, if any, of the older Dragons among his kind show
any interest in him; he is too small, and frequently too depressed. I ask
that you volunteer for this, Darryn... seduce him. Give him someone to
feel lust for. You will have the tools, and the skills of sexual magic
that Thomorr has given you tell me that you are the best person to do so.
I will visit you often to give you guidance in your studies. I encourage
you to seek your power in the pleasures of your body." The silver grinned
again. "Encourage Ryuchia to assist you."

He was asking me to become the friend and lover of someone who, as he
admitted, was a dark and depressing soul. But a Dragon soul, nonetheless.
And I had come to Hakkanah to learn from him, so I supposed that would be
the price I would bear. Not that I was completely against his plan,
Aimee', for it had been several months since I had loved, or even touched,
another, and I think my youthful manhood got the better of me. I agreed on
the spot, a bit overwhelmed by lustful images of myself entwined with a
Dragon.

"Do you accept?"

I spoke immediately, anxious to move forward. "Sir, I do."

He nodded. "Excellent. Come with me, and I will introduce you to
your new teacher." He stood and led me out into the street.

As he led me out amidst the youthful construction, I marveled at the
sights surrounding me. The city was huge, Aimee', indescribable. I have
seen only one city this large since then, Aimee, and that is Arisanti.
Yes, I have been there.

The low domes and bubbles that were the Megassi homes cast shadows on
one another, and I was to learn that arguments about who possesed the right
to another's heat were vocal and common. Although the circle wherein the
young abounded in trees and bushes, beyond was only plain red stone upon
which their marvelous houses were built.

"This is his," Desa announced, pointing to a dome immediately to our
right. As large as others nearby, it was the brown of a duck's egg, and it
glistened with the sunlight. Desa led me around. "The door is at an angle
to the regular direction of the wind. In that way, a Dragon may leave his
home open and not have wind blow about inside, but may step out and take
wing instantly." We came to a seam in the side of the dome, a seam that
ran up many feet out of sight. He knocked.

I know not the construction of the Megassi doors, but I would like to
know. Like the wings of a beetle, the doors spread open, making barely a
sound as they did so. "Inside," Desa said.

The smell inside had a slightly stale taste to it. Desa looked at me
curiously. "Describe it."

"Sir?"

"The smell. It's foremost in your expression, young human. Describe
it to me."

I did, including the stale taste and an odd, burning smell, like old
rope set ablaze. He nodded. "Ryu has not been keeping his house in
order." He cupped his mouth with his hands as if to amplify his voice, and
shouted "Ryuchitoran!"

"Master!" As my eyes adjusted from the blazing sun outside to the
darker interior, I began to see details. The center of the house rose many
feet above my head. Along the interior walls platforms circled at regular
intervals, providing many landing spaces for a creature used to life
airborne. A bright circle of light landed on the stone floor of the dome,
indicating an opening at the center of the dome where Dragons could enter
while airborne. From the opposite side of the dome, two rings up, a Dragon
shuffled to the edge, gripped a cylindrical brass railing and launched
himself into the air. His wings spread wide and he floated down to the
central floor. "I am at your service."

"That is good, Ryu, because my request of you is very difficult. I
have an apprentice that I wish you to train."

"Me? Sir..." I examined Ryuchitoran closely. He was as Desa had
described him; a fully-formed Dragon, but only eight feet in height. His
scales appeared soft and supple, white tinged lightly with green, much like
I had described Kirustan. His body was wide in the middle, and his wings
spread out at least as long as his body in each direction. On his tail the
fans that helped control his flight opened and closed reflexively. His
face expressed every feeling, and even I could read them.

"Yes, Ryu."

"When do I meet him, sir?"

Desa's silvered shape turned to me. "Ryuchitoran, this is your junior
apprentice, Darryn. Darryn, this is Ryuchitoran."

"A human?" I was concerned that Ryuchitoran would view me with
disdain, but instead he seemed earnestly pleased to have me as his
apprentice. "Wonderful! But please don't call me Ryuchitoran. All those
syllables get in the way. Ryu is fine."

"Ryu, then," I said, laughing. He was certainly not what I had
expected. "It's still Darynn."

"Of course it is!" Ryu returned to his teacher and said, "What are
my duties, sir?"

"We have provisions for him, Ryu. He needs lodging, however, and
ocassionally a translator. He will be learning the basics from us,
although I believe he has a broad knowledge already."

Ryu looked at me. "How long have you been studying?"

"Three years."

"Can you fly?"

"A... A little," I admitted. "I need practice."

"Then your first lesson will be about sleeping," Desa said. "Ryu, you
know where to lodge him."

"Indeed I do," Ryuchia said. "There are six rings to my home,
counting the floor, and you will sleep on the second." I breathed a sigh
of relief; the second ring did not seem so far away. Ryu smiled, showing
his teeth, a sight which I admit frightened me somewhat. "We Dragons are
of the air, and we do not measure our homes the way you do." I realized
his meaning and my gaze moved up to look at the two rings all the way at
the top of the dome. Ryu followed my gaze and nodded. "Exactly."

"I... I can't make it all the way up there."

"Of course you can," Desa said. "Even I can see that. Ryu, I leave
you with your apprentice and his devices. Darynn, take care. I will see
to you in two days. In the meantime, take your learning from Ryu."

Ryu spread his winds and kicked into the air, circling around his home
until he reached the second ring. "Come on, Darynn. Join me."

I swallowed hard, closed my eyes, and remembered what Thomorr had
taught me about flying. I leaned my head back and opened my eyes. My
destination grew closer, and I began to feel the great drag of the ground
as I moved further and further away from it. The ground is jealous of the
bodies that rise from its dust, Aimee', and is not so giving when I wanted
to leave it.

But as the railing grew closer the lift grew easier. I reached out
for the brass rail that was apparently a fixture of each level. On
beautiful metal supports it hung away from the wall, just above the level
of the floor, giving Dragons something to hold.

I climbed over the railing and sat down on the stone of the ring
before realizing that I had not removed my pack. I had managed to fly
maybe five dozens of feet with at least fifty pounds extra on my back. I
felt good. "Is it the air?"

"It is you!" Ryu said, laughing. "You looks so stunned, Darynn. In
any event, this was once my home, when I was was a youth and so had a
youth's bed. My master, who used to live in this dome, moved far away, and
I inherited it from him."

It had a bed, although when I pulled the top sheet up dust flew,
making me cough. "Sorry," Ryu said. "I haven't had time to really clean
this place the way it should."

"I'll manage. Where might I find a broom?"

"Fourth ring," Ryu replied, grinning. "Over there." He gestured with
a wing, and a beam of light shot from a wingtip to indicate the broom.

I surprised myself again by retreiving the broom and returning to the
second ring, although by that time I was worn out and quite sure that I was
done with flying for the day. "What brings you to Hakkana, Darynn?"

"I was sent to find Desa at the request of my former master, who had
taught me all he could."

Ryu's head tilted slightly, as if confused. "You sound sad when you
say that."

"Do I?" I asked. "I was not measuring my love for him on the basis of
his teaching. His sending me away hurt a great deal. Moreso than that I
left my parents, for they would not understand the son he returned to
them."

"What is your teaching, then?"

I tried to think of a big word for what I was, something ostentatious.
But I could not, and eventually I told the truth. "Sex magic."

Ryu didn't laugh at me like I expected. No, he took me quite
seriously. "I thought that was difficult for male humans to learn. Not
enough partners to practice with or something."

"It can be," I said. "There are exceptions."

Ryu nodded and didn't press the matter. "I'll leave you to clean up
your room. If you desire privacy, there are sheets that can be hung from
the hangers that ring this room and the next. I used the next for ritual
reaches."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"Thank you for being welcome in my home," Ryu said earnestly. "I'll
check on you in a while." He stepped off the edge of the ring and
vanished, apparently dropping like a stone. But I heard a soft 'thwap' of
his wing as he landed on the ring where he slept.


Days and weeks passed by like flashes, Aimee'. I cannot describe the
next six months because they are entirely a blur. My skill as a metalsmith
garnered me much respect, and Desa suggested I direct at least some of my
magical skill in that direction as well. It was probably the most
propitious decision I ever made, because the resulting tools I constructed
out of alloys of silver and steel accelerated the outpouring of power I
could achieve in short times. My nature became more obvious as I crafted
my staff, tipped as it was with obvious phallicism. More importantly, the
actual working spindles and dildos, made of various alchemical woods,
enabled me to reach heights I had never thought possible.

The only aspect of this I have any pride in, however, is my sense. I
did not, I don't believe, ever ascribe to more power for evil reasons. My
desires were pure. I wanted to be a mage; I wanted to be the best. More
than once I had an opportunity to grow faster, but at the expense of either
Ryuchitoran or Kirustan, and those I would not do.

As the months rolled by, I began to feel the immense sadness that was
a part of Ryu. My senses were being honed by the exercises Desa gave me,
and more importantly, they were being honed outwards. A sex mage learns to
feel his insides, learns to know every inch of himself and what one should
apply where to make those feelings grow and manifest themselves. But Desa
had no interest in an apprentice who couldn't see, Aimee', and so forced me
into physical exercises to maintain my strength but also to make me aware
of the world about me. That is why he began teaching me combat.

Those were interesting times, Aimee', to have youthful Dragonkin, man
shaped, fighting me. Hand to hand, with sticks, and then with swords, I
learned how to see my opponent, how to hear him and how to smell him. Six
months is not a long time, but it was enough to make me aware of Ryu.

The cheerfulness was facade', Aimee', for inside he was truly hurting.
His rejection at the hands of his peers was often more than he could bear,
and I would hear him sob in the night, whether as a way to sleep or
something from his dreams, I did not know. In the six months I spent with
him, rarely did he have Dragon visitors. Once, Desa came to visit us in
his full dracoform, and the difference between the two of them was
bewildering. Desa was fully three times as broad and four long compared to
Ryu. I started to understand Ryu's pain. None of his visitors were
evidently female.

It was in the eighth month, as the snows began to lighten up and the
sun returned more often, that I asked Desa permission to study beyond my
ken.

"What are you seeking?" he asked.

"I want to research the library to learn how to look at the origin of
a creature."

Desa looked understandably concerned. "The alchemy of life is one of
the most difficult sciences known, young Darynn. What are seeking?"

"I want to know what makes a creature large or small."

He nodded. "His tears get to you, too."

"I can bear it, sir, but not forever. He will die without help."

"And you think you can help him."

"I can look for an answer."

Desa paused, thinking. "Very well. I want to know every detail of
your research. In this science, if you cast even a cantrip I want to know
about it. Understand?"

I nodded.


Four months more before I could take it no more. From my sleep the
sounds of crying roused me. You have never heard a Dragon cry, Aimee', but
describing it is beyond me. It's a great roaring sound, unmistakable in
its sadness and unbelievable in its depth. I threw aside my bedclothes and
leapt off the edge of the ring, flying down one ring level to Ryu's
sleeping dish. A bowl, set into the material of the ring and layered in
cushions, provided him a comfortable bed.

I dropped to my knees. "Ryu," I said softly. It was drowned out in
the crying. "Ryu," I repeated louder. Finally I reached out and touched
him. "Ryu!"

[WHAT?] The voice punched into my brain with incredible power,
stunning me and tossing me back against the floor. "Darynn!"

Weakly, I managed to say, "Hi... Ryu."

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You..." I sat up and brushed myself off. "You were crying, and it
wouldn't let me sleep." I assessed myself. I was still intact.

He looked away. "I'm sorry if my dreams bother you."

I leaned over and touched his wing. "I just wanted to know if there's
anything I can do?"

He looked up at me, his eyes still wet from the crying. "You're an
invert, aren't you?"

"It took you that long to figure it out?" I asked. "At least you
didn't call me a pervert."

"The ways of humans are still strange, but I don't want to be
insulting. What are you... " Imagination is not the most disciplined part
of us, Aimee'. I'm afraid that staring at him, in his bed, conjured up
those dreams and pictures I had not had in nearly a year. "Do you really
look at me that way?"

Understand, Aimee', that Ryu had never intentionally invaded my
imagination. I am simply most obvious in my imaginings when they are
erotic, and he is apparently at his most undisciplined when he has just
woken up. Together the combination was the undoing of my secrecy. I had
to say something. "Yes. Sometimes."

"I..." He paused again. "I don't know what to say. Is it physical,
or are you really attracted to me?"

"Physically, I am attracted to Dragons, and you in particular, because
with you my fantasies are most possible. Emotionally... Ryu, you have been
very kind to me, and have tried hard to hide your suffering. I do feel for
you, and I would like to help you. I think of you as a wonderful friend."

"But you couldn't... love me."

I smiled and stroked his wing slowly. "Ryu, sometimes I forget that
you are three times my elder when you have moments like this. I could love
you. It wouldn't last forever, because you are a Dragon and I am human and
eventually we will be on our different paths to different worlds."

"But... you really think you could love me?"

"Sometimes I think I already do." That came out of my mouth so fast I
didn't have time to stop it. I controlled my own surprise and continued
calmly, "I only think. It takes more than one-sided lust to make love
happen."

He didn't move for a moment, then nodded his prodigous head slowly.
"It wouldn't work anyway," he said. "You humans have that mouth thing we
Dragons could never do."

"There is a lot more to loving than kisses, Ryu." I decided the time
to be bold had come. I eased into his sleeping bowl and slid down to lie
next to his body. "There is touching." I began to caress his impresive
chest slowly. His hide wasn't nearly as hard and thick as I had feared,
and it was apparently just as sensitive to touch as my own. The sounds
from his throat would have been threatening if I hadn't been able to feel
the pleasure coming from him.

I decided on what is, perhaps, the most common seduction technique
left to those of us who move easily amongst males and females. I gave him
a massage. He responded well, cooing softly as I worked. I had plenty of
experience in this range, since Thom had been such a demanding master
sometimes when it came to his own pleasure.

And I learned a great deal about the outside bodies of Dragons. I did
not use any of the cantrips Desa had warned me about, learning instead
simply by touch, feel, and sense. At times he would shift in his bed in
response to my touch. His strength excited me. Through my bedclothes my
erection was plainly visible, and I knew he could feel it when I leaned
over.

He never said a word, and by the time I had eased all the tension out
of him from his dreams and probably the fear of what I offered, he had
drifted off to solid sleep. Exhausted by my efforts, I realized that I had
made one of the cardinal errors of magic; I had used everything in relaxing
him. I was too tired to fly back to my own bed.

There was nothing to be done. I curled up next to him and fell
asleep. We both slept soundly. When I awoke, he had left me alone, but he
had also left me to sleep well past sunrise. For that, at least, I thanked
him.


My studies progressed another year. That sounds like a long jump,
perhaps, but nothing much happened in between. After that evening neither
Ryu or I mentioned the incident to one another. Ryu didn't keep his
feelings quite so trapped within, and I saw the blackness more clearly and
more often, but he also seemed to accept it far more often.

Instead, I concentrated on my studies, spending six hours every
morning studying magic until my brain hurt and then working the afternoons
away either in the smithy or the gymnasium. I began researching my own
spell base. Do you know what a spell base is, Aimee'? No?

A spell base is a basic spell idea from which one may weave variants
dependent upon one's knowledge and talent. There is a classic spell base
called, simply, "Pain." Alone, it does little; causes an itch. A little
additional skill, and it can cause great discomfort. With the knowledge
base that comes from being a full mage, one can use it to kill with some
effort, although it is an uncomfortable way to die and there are more
efficient ways to kill someone magically, like "Sleep" and a slitting of
throats.

I was surprised to find that nobody had ever thought to create a base
for "Pleasure." Bases are very simple to use, but hard to construct. I
was determined to figure out the base for pleasure. I took notes
obsessively. And, to be honest, when it was discovered among the man-
shaped males of the Megassi what I was, a few were willing to help my
experiments.

The other major thrust of my research was to be able to construct a
method for visualizing that which shapes a being. I reasoned, and found
confirmation, that all things that live grow into their shape by some
unseen mechanism. I was determined to find a tool for visualizing that
mechanism.

I found it. Not unsurprisingly, someone else had discovered it first
for the creation of golems of flesh, although the technique as I read it
was very crude. I refined it.

That is an understatement. When I found it I completely dropped
everything else. Only Desa's threats kept me in the gymnasium and the
smithy. Males who knew my pleasures sent me letters that I left unopened.
I burned for nearly four months, and when I was ready, Desa watched as I
cast the spell for the first time. On myself.

Oh, we are such complex creatures, Aimee'! Even the keys with which
we are made go on forever and are indescribable but in the spinning bands
of blue, red, green, and gold that really do describe what we are. Or at
least, what our shape would be. I spent so long examining what I was,
realizing what I could be with this change or that, that when I was done
the sun had set and my body had gone into such complete revolt over the
idignity of ritual penetration combined with prolonged neglect. I spent
the rest of the night on the garderobe, Desa standing outside and grilling
me about my results until dawn.

The research accellerated after that. I discovered I was forging a
new kind of magic, a predictive magic that was based on mechanical
processes, not tinkering with temporal ones. The fundamental elements were
alchemical, of course, but ultimately it became a purely spiritual engine
that allowed me to make a single change, and then change after change after
change until I got what I wanted.

It was something of a shock when I realized, suddenly, that I had
gotten away from the erotic sciences. I had been too busy taking apart the
body to appreciate it. Have you ever been hit on the chin, Aimee'? I
swear to you, that is how it felt. I suddenly spent an entire day
addressing old friends, diving into a sort of blind, erotic haze, unable to
think about work because I could think of nothing else but the males I had
neglected.

I took control of myself the next day. I wrote down my thoughts on
the bodily experimentation as much as I could, then turned my attention
back to Pleasure. I think that's my one greatest failure, that I can never
pay attention to one project at a time. I constantly change back and
forth.

I received permission from Desa to take two weeks off from the smithy,
but not exercise. I spent those two weeks catching up with every male I
knew was amenable to my caresses, and in two weeks I had finished a unified
base for spells of Pleasure.

I documented my spell base comprehensively and mailed it to here, to
Barraminum and the College of Mages. Over a year would pass before I heard
the reply.

As I crawled into my bed one night, however, a voice from the edge of
the ring interrupted my desire to sleep. "Darynn?"

"Ryu? Hi."

"Hi yourself. Long time no see."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just completed a fully functional spell base,
and I decided to turn it into the College of Mages for acceptance."

"That's quite an achievement." He was quiet for a moment, then said,
"Darynn, why is it you never asked me to help you test those spells?"

"I... " I was caught. I had wanted to practice with him, but knowing
him as I did I had never felt comfortable approaching him. I wondered if I
could bluff my way through this encounter. "Desa said I wasn't to
pracitice on someone without his permission."

"That was the animal alchemy, Darryn. His warnings were not related
to the base you created."

"But... you are my host, Ryu. What if I did use them on you? What
obligations would we have? What about addiction..."

"Is that your concern? That I might become addicted to the pleasures
you could give me without your hands? Only if you used them on me with
regularity, and then only if they surpassed the pleasures you could
inflict on me with your hands. Which is something you've never tried
anyway."

Almost two years had passed since I had made my promise to Desa that I
would seduce and love Ryuchitoran. I wanted to, Aimee', truly I did. But
for some reason I felt reluctance, an inertia to begin. I did not know
what I was getting into. "Ryu..."

"You said once you could love me, but you've never said anything to me
about it since."

The truth welled up out of me then, although I managed to squelch it
almost into silence. Sometimes I curse the fact that Dragons have such
good ears. Sometimes I bless it. "You never gave me an answer."

"What?" he asked, not hearing.

"I said you never gave me an answer."

"I didn't know there was a question."

"Ryu..." I sighed. "If we were to... love... would you understand
when I returned to the world of men?"

"Yes." His word was as simple as that, and as convincing. I reached
out my hand and beckoned him to come to me.

The bed had been made for his changeling days, and as he flopped into
it, it creaked painfully but did not crack, and although his tail draped
over the side he easily fit all the rest of him onto it. His large head
lay down next to mine on the pillows. "I don't know where to go from
here," he said.

"I remember touching," I replied. I reached out and stroked his broad
chest, feeling the scales sliding under my fingertips, feeling the caress
of his skin. Dragons have hearts, despite the legends, and I could hear
his beating. His breath, hot and musky, poured over me as he watched my
hands relearn the feel of his body.

People don't believe me when I say that Dragons, if they have any
relation to other animals, are more like the centaurids than humanoids.
But it must be so because Dragons have six limbs. They have standing legs,
flying wings, and holding arms, although in full Dracoform these arms end
in three-fingered hands that require close care to keep the nails short
enough for them to handle anything.

My dreams and fantasies roiled in my head and I wondered how many of
them I could fulfill in one night. "If I touch you hear with my finger," I
said, caressing the underside of his chin and neck, "and then do it again
with my lips, do you feel anything different?"

"Yes," he gasped. "Your lips are strange... warmer, softer. They're
wet. I feel that."

"I do too." As we lay side-by-side, I realized that describing him as
eight feet tall is a misdirection. He is only two feet taller than I, but
all of that body is from his collar to his groin. We were grossly
disproportionate. Yet I was determined to love him, to really take him for
my own, for this night.

"Would you like me to try a spell on you?" I asked.

"Please," he whispered, brushing at my hair with one of his well-
trimmed three-fingered hands.

"Roll onto your back, Ryu." He did as I said, and I crawled on top of
his chest, sitting on him. I closed my eyes and concentrated, calling
forth the spell I knew better than anyone else. I thought about the base,
felt it settle in my body as I had envisioned it, mostly as if it were
cradled within my hips. I felt my erection grow, and I mouthed quietly the
invocation.

I opened my eyes and looked down at him. His own eyes had widened and
his breathing had become loud. "Darynn..." I turned around and what I saw
made me smile. His own cock had grown out of its hiding slit on his body
and come to full length. Looking at it, I breathed a sigh of relief. Desa
has spoken true; he was actually smaller than Thom, and by a good bit! I
was to learn that Dragons are not so largely blessed as Humans who, pound-
for-pound, have some of the largest sexes amongst mammals.

The shape was different, as was the color. Against his white hide,
his cock was a brilliant, visible black. The head was covered in wrinkles,
but fortunately it was not barbed like a feline's. I slid down his body,
grateful that the simplest of my spells, "Stroke," had brought my prize out
from concealment. "Beautiful," I said, smiling up at him. I took it in my
hand and began to stoke it slowly, manually this time. The skin on it was
very loose and moved easily. "May I kiss it?"

"Do... whatever... you want!"

I looked up the long length of my Dragonfriend and smiled. "I think I
will do just that." I lay on his body casually as I craned my neck forward
and took the head of his cock into my mouth.

He tasted like... it's hard to describe. Perhaps the best idea I can
think of is fresh paper. After it has been milled, paper has a scent to it
that carries for a while. It was that kind of scent.

But he tasted of flesh, and nothing more. Nothing less, either, I
might add. I took more into my mouth, revelling in the control I exercised
as I swallowed his cock whole. It pulsed in the back of my throat. I
planted both hands against his sides and began to slide up and down, my
eyes closed, my throat grasping for his cock. He was beautiful, Aimee',
and just to feel his sex down inside my throat was fulfillment of a dream.
But not the dream.

The size of a Dragon's sex was a blessing to me but it means nature
was cruel to Dragons, for they mate in flight, and must be joined only
briefly. Unlike their young, Dragons climax quickly, violently, and, I
will add, voluminously. Ryu's back arched so strongly I was almost
launched into the air as his cock pulsed long, thick jets of fluid into my
mouth. He roared so loud I was afraid the dome would crack. I held on for
dear life to his legs as he bucked. I choked; unwisely, I had assumed that
since I could take whatever Thom could feed me I could do the same for Ryu,
but he had so much more than a human.

"Darynn?" I recall him saying after his eruption had subsided. "Are
you well?"

I gasped, coughed, hacked, and finally managed to say "I will live,
Ryuchia."

"That was not my question."

"I was surprised. I could not take all of your ejaculation. I need a
towel. May I?"

"If you need it, do not let me stop you from getting it. Go!"

I nodded and rose, still feeling a little dizzy, and recovered a
towel. I wiped myself off, and then returned to bed, still coughing into
the towel at intervals. I wiped Ryu off as well.

I lay down next to him. "I take it my spell worked?"

"The spell was only the beginning!" Ryu replied, giving me a Dragon's
smile. Already his beard was coming in, and I tugged on it softly at the
base of his broad muzzle. "You were wonderful, Darynn."

"All the benefits of good teachers. And the best of friends."

"You sound... sad, Darynn."

I rested my head against his chest, listening. "I... I miss Thomorr.
I am not ashamed of that. He loved me, and as a master he left nothing to
be desired. I'm afraid that here in Hakkana I am often viewed as the
master myself, because of my skill and spell ability."

"You need someone to... master you?" he asked, puzzled.

I stroked his muzzle softly. Appreciate how big he was, Aimee, when I
tell you that his muzzle was as long as my palm and fingers, and as wide,
and as thick as two hands stuck together. "No," I said, shaking my head.
"Not as I needed Thomorr, or as I wanted him."

"Then... is there anything I can do for you, Darynn?"

I thought about my needs, my desires, and my capacities. I debated
telling him the truth. Thus far lying had availed me naught. "Ryu, I need
to taken. Ravished. I need... " I paused for a second, then found the
words I wanted. "Ryuchitoran... would you sodomize me?"

He chuckled softly; the sound reminded me that, although we both
thought of ourselves as youths, this dragon was of the same age as my
father. "Yes, Darynn. When I have recovered."

I closed my eyes and concentrated, feeling the spell base for Pleasure
return to me. There were spells I knew for potency, recovery, and
strength. I whispered them quietly as I cuddled next to Ryu, and then
followed them with the spell that had elicited an erection from him before.
I felt his sex against my calf as I lay next to him. "Are you recovered?"

"You are so impatient, Darynn," he laughed. "I am recovered. How
shall we do this?"

I rose out of bed and walked into the next room, returning with the
grease I used to make my self-penetrating rituals easier. "With this," I
said, slathering some along the length of his cock. I stroked him with my
hands, watching the white grease soak into the folds of his wrinkled skin
and dissolve with the heat of his body.

I lay down beside him, my back against his belly, and squirmed down
until I felt his shaft against my buttocks. I reached behind me and
grabbed it, aiming for my anus. It had been a long time since anyone had
been within me, and I wasn't sure if entry of a living being would be as
easy as I remembered, no matter how large my dildi. That's one thing I've
learned... wooden phalli are not even fair practice for the real thing. I
moved down further and pressed my buttocks back against his shaft. I felt
the ring of my anus part, spread open, as his cock eased into me. I felt
the head ease along the short anal canal and pop into me. More moved
within me; the sensation of it sliding past my hole was blissfully
wrenching. But I wanted more, Aimee'. I didn't want gentleness. The time
for gentleness had passed. I needed him to be brutal to me.

"Darynn..." he gasped as the head of his cock slid deep into my guts.
"Oh, Darynn!"

"Yes, Ryu," I sighed. "More..."

"What... what more do you want?" he asked.

I closed my eyes. I had time for one more spell. Just one more. I
began casting it, holding off on the last word of the spell. I held that
word in my heart, because I knew its power. "Ryu... Roll us over, onto our
bellies. Lie atop me, and... take me."

"Darynn... "

"Be rough, Ryu. Be a Dragon. Take me. Claim me."

I felt something like anger flare within him as he pushed over. As I
fell face-first to the bed, he nearly came out, but only nearly. Then he
pushed himself into me again. I felt his cock shove deeply into me, and I
felt his hot hide against my buttocks and I knew he had all of himself
within me. A felt a rhythmic beating begin in the air about us and knew he
had extended his wings. I heard the bed creak as he withdrew his cock from
my anus, and then pushed it back in. He roared a challenge to me: "Is this
what you want, Darynn?"

His chest pushed my head against the mattress. I could not answer,
nor could I breath. Nor did I care. His body pounded against mine; the
entire bed groaned under the beating weight of a Dragon in the grips of
heated blood. His shaft made a mockery of my claims to endurance, and I
found myself gasping and loving him as he did so. As he plundered me all
the more, his wings took up more of his weight and I could again breath, my
head swimming. I could take no more, and he was straining. I said the
last word of the spell.

It did not end! Aimee', his loving did not end then! He continued on
for another full minute before finally roaring his climax, louder than
before, stronger than before! I never dreamed of what I had unleashed in
Ryuchia as he loved me that night, Aimee'! Unbelievable.

He fell, literally fell, out of the air. I barely rolled free of his
falling weight. He collapsed. His breath came in panting, puffing
intervals. His eyes were shut tight. "Oh, Darynn, oh, Darynn," he
repeated over and over.

I grabbed the towel we had been using and wiped my buttocks. I was
not suprised to find blood, but with a simple spell Thomorr had taught me I
found that, as usual, I would survive and be well come the dawn. "Ryu?"

"Darynn!" he gasped. "I've never... I cannot..."

"Hush," I said, touching his chin again and kissing him on his beard.
"You need to sleep."

"I... Yes. You do too."

"May I sleep with you?" I asked.

"You may not have much of a choice," he breathed. "I am too tired to
fly back to my bowl. May I use your bed tonight?"

"With my complete acceptance, beloved Ryuchitoran."

"'Beloved.' I like that. Thank you."

"Sleep, Ryu. We will talk tomorrow."

"Yes. Yes, we will, Darynn." He drifted off to sleep, and I joined
him thereafter.


Darynn looked up at the clock and swore softly. "Aimee', my telling
has taken far longer than I had planned, and we will have to finish this
story some other day." He looked at her closely. She had removed all of
her clothing but the tunic she had first so casually tried to doff. She
had removed her boots first, and now her pants and undergarments were gone
as well.

"Aimee'? You have not removed your tunic?"

"I... " She looked up, confused. "I did not know when I should.
It..." She began crying. "I did not know..." Tears began falling from
her eyes. Darynn pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her fragile
form. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry."

"You have done nothing wrong, Aimee'. Do not apologize for lacking in
harm."

"But... you wanted me to be naked by now, didn't you?"

"Aimee, if you had felt it wrong to take off even your boots, I would
not have berated you. You have done exactly as I asked, and there is
nothing to be ashamed about in that."

"Sir," she moaned pitifully. "Teltirray wants to know when I will
begin learning spells from you."

"Next week," Darynn said calmly. "I had planned to do some beginnings
here, but we will start next week." He held her close, feeling her warmth
next to his. He felt protective of her, an understandable reaction
considering his feelings towards the man really "owned" her, contract or
not. "Now, tell me something. You exposed all of yourself but your torso.
Would you like me to guess as to why?"

She looked up at him, tears running down her cheeks. He caressed a
small rivulet away. She nodded.

"Teltirray, your master, has taken everything from you. You have no
privacy in where you go, so your boots are no matter. He takes your sex at
his leisure, so your pants are no matter. You learn what he wants you to
learn, so your headcloth is of no matter. But he has not got your heart,
and you want that kept to yourself. You wear your tunic as one would wear
armor."

She stared at his face, and then squeezed her eyes tight as her crying
came, stronger than before. The tears told him he he had estimated her
correctly. He felt no victory at that. She gathered the material of his
robe in her fingers and gripped tightly. He wrapped his arms around her,
but she pushed away suddenly, grabbing at her tunic and pulling it off with
an expression that could only have been a snarl, then looked at him,
smiling.

He smiled back down at her, holding her as she placed her head against
his shoulder and closed her eyes. He knew what was happening. She had
decided that he, at least, should be allowed to know her heart, if only for
the moment. He thanked her silently for that.

He drew a deep breath, regretting what must come next. "Aimee', I
cannot keep you here."

"I know, sir. I must return to Teltirray."

"Are you afraid?"

She looked up at him. "You know, then. You cannot protect me. So I
am not afraid. I have nothing to fear. What will happen, will happen."

Darynn was stunned by the maturity with which she approached a dismal
future. "Aimee', you will return next week?"

"With your permission, sir."

"That you have."

"Then I will return." She stood up slowly. "I guess I should dress
now."

"Yes," Darynn nodded. He watched her as she pulled her clothing on,
first her tunic, then her pants, and her headcloth and boots finally. He
found her truly beautiful in her youthfulness, and he feared that she
wouldn't live long enough for him to teach her anything of use. That would
be a tragedy, and he would not allow it to happen.

"Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Aimee'." He waved as she closed the door behind herself.
In his heart, resolution became real. Teltirray would not have her
forever.

He was shocked at his own feelings. Was he leaving the world of men
behind, or was his own merely getting larger? He had never had these
feelings for a woman before, especially not one so immature as Aimee'.

Whatever their origin, they were his emotions and they were real. He
woul