The Lost of the Marshes – Chapter 11: Familiar
by Bad Manners

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... The ties between these cat-people and dragons seem to date back to many centuries ago, but any accounts seem to be lost to time, or are a well-kept secret. [...] Still, the evidence is undeniable. One example is the striking architecture of the houses and temples, built from a unique kind of limestone only quarried on the mountains far to the east of Lagazi, in a reportedly abandoned settlement somewhere up in the Szogors Mountains. Carrying these enormous blocks through the Second River, let alone lugging them across so many miles, is an impossible feat unto itself. Unless one considers draconic assistance; in which case, such a challenge would be trivial. ...

... If the 'sualu' still maintain any contact with dragons, then the arrangement today must be completely sporadic and individualized, not systematic. Otherwise, such an alliance would have made civilization in the Two Rivers unrecognizable; most likely, a city like Kaati wouldn't even exist under that force's heel. [...] It bears researching what mistakes might have led to a schism. I believe that it is in His Holiness's best interest to account for every contingency in the plan. ...

===

Climbing into his dragon boyfriend's cock was the last thing on Nikili's agenda for the day. And yet, here he was, with no idea of how deep up Suu's urethra he'd already gone. And he knew even less of how much deeper he had to reach in to arrive at one of his testicles. Hopefully, he'd end up in the right one...

"Ugh," Nikili complained, pushing through the tight, sticky tunnel. The mongoose's hands had to brush away large globs of spunk to make way. But with little room to push them aside, most of it ended up sticking to his furry body. Fortunately, he had the foresight of removing his skirt before crawling into one of the large hemipenes – but feeling his own erection throbbing inside of Suu's was pretty distracting...

***

Moments ago, the scavenger had finally spoken with his feline friend Quince, after their earlier altercation with Commander Ludama brought them to death's door. Thankfully, the people – or rather, cat-people – of Saisa had been able to help, treating Quince's wounds and saving their life. His yellow-furred companion might resent him for bringing them back to the home they'd run away from, but Nikili didn't care. Seeing them alive and awake was worth it.

But with the danger out of the way, another problem fell into his lap. This time, related to Suugal, and a ritual that he was undertaking with some of the priests of this village. They never explained to him what happened, and Nikili's worried mind raced with the worst possible conclusions. But once he'd arrived at the site of Communion, he realized why they'd concealed the truth. It wasn't out of malice, but out of embarrassment.

The white sualu, who seemed to be the abgal leading the ritual, tried to explain to the mongoose what had happened by speaking and gesturing. Nikili couldn't understand the Emegal language, but the sight of the large blue dragon told him what he needed to know. Suu was lying on the ground, with his hindlegs sprawled to the side, and displaying his two erected pink penes on a pool of cum. He was wearing a goofy expression, the same from whenever Quince sneaked inside of him.

Maybe all sualu shared not only their short cat bodies, but their propensity to end up stuck inside of dragons, Nikili wondered.

« W-What a mess you've made, big guy. » The scavenger communicated by directing his feelings towards Suu. « ...Let's keep this quick and not be awkward about it. »

In the past, he'd imagined crawling inside of the untransformed dragon's shafts, and he couldn't have hidden that from his heart-reading boyfriend. But to finally live out that fantasy, with the purpose of fishing out a stranger that was stuck deep inside of him...! Still, it was a good excuse to save face. But he still wondered what in the gods' names had happened during this Communion. He'd have to ask Suu directly later.

The mongoose undressed himself, revealing his red dick half-emerged from its sheath, and made his way to the titanic twin rods. He tried not to show his nervousness as he was being watched by multiple abgal, not knowing that they themselves had climbed into Suu earlier. At least he felt better about Ranir not watching him from the dispersed crowd.

The smell of draconic musk only got stronger as he approached the source of the stench. He stepped barefoot onto the puddle of spunk, eyes glued to the spent globs of creamy cum in front of one of the urethras. The dragon's throat rumbled, no doubt in reaction to Nikili's arousal screaming in his heart.

The scavenger clapped his hands together and aimed them into the reptilian meatus. Surprisingly, his arms slipped inside with ease. He thought that the cum would offer any resistance, but the fluid simply rolled away from his digits. And the tunnel was surprisingly pliant, the sudden intrusion barely bothering Suu. A single cock was already larger than him, and the thought of completely disappearing within was scary and thrilling. Thankfully, having been swallowed alive several times before, he trusted Suu with all of his being – as did the cat currently stuck deep inside his testicles, no doubt.

Nikili felt some when his fingers reached deeper, likely stimulating the sensitive walls. His own penis pulsed, and his light-brown cheeks turned red. He hoped that Suu wouldn't cum him out before he had the chance to retrieve the lost sualu... Otherwise, who knows how long they would remain stuck in there? Or what if Suu transformed into a kobold while the feline was still in there?! The sex between them would definitely be very awkward...!

He aligned his head with his shoulders, and in a single motion, pushed them both into the cockslit. The draconic rumble was dampened by the slimy walls covering Nikili's short ears. He stared inside, but there was nothing to see, and he closed his eyes to protect them against the fluids rushing onto his face. This place was nothing like Suu's maw or throat. Tight, motionless, musky, sticky. But it was Suu's, nonetheless; the smell made that offensively clear.

The ground suddenly vanished under his feet. It was surprisingly easy to climb into the colossal rod! Nikili hadn't expected it, but used this to his advantage. He pulled himself further in by gripping at the tunnel, shifting his knees to crawl inside. He had to focus and avoid the temptation of thrusting his hips against the walls. If the fleshy urethra wasn't gently brushing his fur, Nikili would've thought himself lost in a sea of cum. The draconic cock was stifling and cramped, and his arousal only got worse.

Moments passed, but Nikili couldn't tell if he made any real progress. It was still completely dark, and the walls were tight enough that he had to resort to paddle-like strokes to travel forward. Deeper and deeper and deeper, but he couldn't even tell if he was already past the base of the penis. Given the increase in Suu's warmth and rumbling sounds around him, he wouldn't be surprised. Hopefully, the sualu would be within his reach soon.

But the mongoose wasn't worried about their safety before he retrieved them. Even as his surroundings appeared inhospitable, he was able to breathe somehow – and there was no reason to believe that it'd be different deeper still. His only worries were that Suu might ejaculate him before he has the change to find them, or worse: that Nikili would ejaculate deep inside of his boyfriend's cock. If he did, the dragon would know, and the embarrassment would be too much to bear. The mere thought made his dick twitch in desperation... He had to hurry, or else...!

At the next stroke of his paw, his digits met a funnel of flesh. He pushed into the sphincter, and his hand squeezed into a wider space. Nikili must have reached one of Suu's testicles, but was it the right one...? He was worried at first, feeling deeper around and squeezing against nothing but folds. The sensitive insides quivered noticeably in response to the stimulus. Then, he felt something that didn't belong there, a furry tail utterly drenched in sticky hot cum. Nikili could sigh in relief – but decided not to, considering that he was still surrounded by his own weight in spunk. It was hard to believe, but there they were – a feline, tucked away in the dragon's nut!

He tried to tug at the tail, but it was too slippery to get a firm hold on it. The scavenger brought his second arm at the entrance – the extra stretch causing Suu to perceptibly shift his hips in rumbling arousal –, trying to reach the cat's body or anything that Nikili could grab and fish out. He wiggled himself deeper...and downward? There was absolutely no way of telling 'up' from 'down' – until he shifted too far forward, and his weight tipped and slipped into the pungent chamber.

Nikili kept his jaws clenched shut. He wanted to shout out and whine, but he wanted even less for the mouthfuls of fresh jizz to flood his mouth. His body slunk along the musky wrinkles, down a path that slipped the sualu onto his chest as his torso sunk into the creamy pool. The mongoose hugged them with his arm, to make sure they wouldn't slip away again.

It wasn't anything like Suu's crop. Not just because of the stenchful fluid – gods, there was just -too- much fluid. The organ was tighter and constantly churning its batter, and the fleshy walls were wrinkly instead of smooth. He tried to climb back out, but his feet sunk into more of those folds instead of the slick ducts he'd crawled through. In the sudden chaos, the mongoose had fully slipped in! Was he also trapped?! Nikili kicked around in order to find the exit, but that simply caused the dragon to rumble harder.

The chamber shifted around him, dowsing his head into the pool. Suu was nothing but gentle, although his autonomous testicle was ruthless in contrast. Nikili panicked and opened his maw to breath, but only got cum to rush onto his tongue and throat. It was awfully salty, but not unpleasant, yet definitely overpowering. And being forced to swallow was a huge turn-on for the mongoose, to his surprise. It pushed him past his limit – and his submerged cock started to pulse, making its own contribution to the nut trapping Nikili.

It was a bit humiliating, holding the small stranger against his chest while having an orgasm. Thankfully, they wouldn't be able to tell – but Suu definitely did. Tapping into his mongoose boyfriend's heart caused the dragon to reach his own climax, collapsing the walls around Nikili. The sualu had been too small to push out on their own earlier, but the testicle had no trouble squeezing the bigger scavenger out, and back up the seminal ducts.

What were only a few moments felt like an eternity to Nikili. Suu rumbled in lustful bliss, and the mongoose was completely submerged once again in a torrent of jizz, this time as he traveled through the tight passages once again. He could only hold tightly onto the cat, as if his life depended on it. The constant heartbeat got more and more distant, the farther up they were pushed.

But when he finally saw light out of Suu's cock, and opened his eyes, he realized that the ground was much more distant than when he went in. Nikili was being pushed out through the other hemipenis...!

He braced for the fall, but thankfully, that wasn't necessary. Suu's paw was ready to greet them, breaking their fall with its gray squamous pad. Other than his arm embracing the cat tight, Nikili was fully limp, and he slid onto the sprawled scales accompanied by the cum that had joined them on their trip. The sticky fluid was everywhere... The mongoose wouldn't be surprised if it even infiltrated his dreams tonight.

Wiping off a large white glob from his face, Nikili finally looked around. The dilute tabby was completely painted white – same as him –, but appeared satisfied. Asleep, even...! The mongoose couldn't fathom that the experience could be relaxing at all. Despite the cum clogging his short ears, he could hear the other sualu rejoicing that their comrade was back, safe and sound, and approaching them both with clean sheets. Nikili coughed a bit more of spunk that had found its way into his mouth, still numb about the ordeal. It was hard to believe that he'd done it. The stubborn smell on his fur would definitely be a stark reminder...although, Nikili had to admit that his nostrils had gotten used to it, after all that he had to endure.

His face raised up to meet Suu's. The dragon's gentle gaze was that of relief and gladness. But the mongoose had never seen him bear his teeth non-threateningly like that before. Was it an attempt at a smile, or a smirk...?

...Oh. The big guy -knew-. He knew how much Nikili had loved it, deep down.

But the scavenger only wanted two things right now: a good long bath, and a place to bury his face in shame...

***

A group of people made their way as one, speaking and mewling to each other. Happily transporting crops back to Saisa, carrying as much as they could uphill to avoid too many round-trips. Each one wasn't carrying a lot, but in total, it was more than enough to provide fresh food for everyone in the village. All of them were cats – except for one, sticking out due to being twice as tall as everyone else.

"A-Ah! Sherda gu!"

Nikili apologized to the smaller sualu encircling him, speaking in Emegal with a heavy accent. Walking among them without stepping on someone's tail was quite challenging, especially as he carried a large ceramic jar filled with grains. He wanted to be more of a help than a hindrance, to repay the generosity of Saisa.

It had been a few days since it all happened. Since Quince nearly died. Although their wound had been treated, their arm hadn't fully healed yet, and – according to Ranir's translation – the doctors had advised that they should remain under observation until their arm's strength had returned. Both of them decided that further rest was for the best, even if Quince was still reluctant about staying in Saisa any longer.

They never admitted to it out loud, but Nikili could tell that his companion still felt guilty about running away years ago. But maybe there was something else, another secret of theirs. Still, the mongoose didn't want to bring it up.

However, there was still one disconcerting thing about Quince's condition. And it pertained to them and Suu. As he had promised earlier, the mongoose brought the kobold to meet them. Suu was excited to see his friend once more, safe and sound, but when he saw them, his smile had disappeared. He turned to Nikili and stated, unflinchingly:

"This is not Quince."

Of course, that wasn't true. But it took some explaining to Suu, and yet, the blue kobold didn't seem convinced. Almost as if he couldn't his friend in front of him, despite his perfect vision – and he mentioned something about not 'feeling their voice anymore'.

After the sour reunion, Nikili would ask Ranir about it, and she offered her own insight as abgal. The poison in Quince's wound, fool's saffron, would easily kill a dragon by severing its strong connection to ahašgal – the Great Channel. Tapping into this energy that connects all living beings was how Suu could hear the hearts of others. But since anyone that wasn't a dragon had a much weaker connection to ahašgal, fool's saffron was unlikely to be lethal to them.

But regardless of any lethality, the cat's connection to the Great Channel was heavily damaged when they were stabbed by the laced lance. Thus, it wasn't surprising that the dragon's innate skill didn't reach Quince anymore. Perhaps permanently...

What -was- surprising, especially for Nikili, was how Suu would identify others primarily by the 'heart's voice'. Just like recognizing someone by their voice or appearance. But the dragon seemingly relied much more on his gasham'sag than any other physical characteristics. If that was the case, then could it mean that he would never recognize Quince, the friend who first found him in the marshes, ever again...?

The thought caused Nikili to fear for what would become of their relationship. But he wasn't disheartened. There had to be some way to make Suu realize that Quince was still the same person as always. The scavenger didn't know how...but they had time to come up with any ideas!

As worrisome as it was, at least brainstorming for ideas helped to take his mind off his current duties. Back in Logas, he never did farm work like this, always avoiding any jobs that Nurta would offer him. And yet, here he was, begrudingly hauling wheat around, with the stated purpose of helping Saisa out and trying to fit in. But it'd be more accurate to say that he was killing time during the day, while his two friends were preoccupied...

But he reaped a bit more than just grains. He'd picked up a few words in Emegal – 'hello', 'yes', 'no', 'sorry'...and some new colorful insults. Like 'son of a bull', in reference to the late emperor Ranagas. But 'Kaatian' was still the most common one that he heard. Who knew if they'd stay here for long, and let the people of Saisa be.

Nikili thought back to Suu and Quince. The cat had nothing to do but recover, and the dragon also helped the sualu by being...well, a dragon. Suu continued to undertake Communions with the abgal – only after they'd promised to Nikili that no-one would get stuck inside of anyone, anymore. Supposedly, the rituals would let him hone his supernatural ability of reading hearts even more, and the cat-priests would also strengthen their connection to this Great Channel, whatever that meant.

Yesterday, Nikili tried to watch the šitazi, but his presence caused Suu to be too distracted. His goober of a dragon boyfriend was too worried about his feelings to focus on the ritual, whenever Nikili was close by.

If only he still reacted like that with Quince...

"dumu gud-ka!" One of the sualu shouted when Nikili mindlessly stepped on its tail. She promptly turned around and bit his tail in retaliation.

"Ow–! Sherda gu, sh-sherda gu...! I'm sorry!"

The cat stormed off ahead of the group, muttering under her breath, and Nikili sighed. The crowd passed by him while he stood still, before he walked to the side and sat down on a rock.

It was hopeless, the mongoose thought. He couldn't blend in at all. He could carry heavy stuff around when they needed him to, but being a farmer wasn't the right fit for him, and he felt that he could be more helpful in some other way. Of course, it was selfish of the scavenger to think like that, given that he was simply trying to pay his debt to these people. But he also just couldn't wrap his head around this line of work, unlike most people in Logas. Like Liara, or Nurta...or Ruunk...

...No. He didn't want to think about those two right now. Surely, the other dragon would get her out of trouble. Regardless, he had to be here, for Quince's sake. Those two, and Ludama, and Kaati... All of that should've been the last things on his mind. He didn't want to go back there, much less to his birth town. Not least because going back meant dealing with -her-...

Nikili closed his eyes. There had to be some other way to repay the generosity of Saisa, right...? Even Suu was being helpful and doing his part. But the only thing that the mongoose had ever been good at was fighting, and he'd long left that life behind. He had no axe, nor the will to battle. Nikili promised to himself that would never take up a weapon again, ever.

He raised his head and stared at the sualu moving further and further away, hauling their harvest by hand. No wagons or donkeys to carry them. They didn't seem to mind the extra labor, and kept telling each other jokes – hopefully, not about him. Their boring, unexciting, impractical way of life almost seemed ideal.

But behind the group, Nikili saw a straggler. The black cat was struggling to carry their ceramic jar, and the scavenger stood up and brought it down next to them.

"Silim!" He greeted, and gesticulated that he wanted to help them carry it.

The sualu simply blushed and nodded, before he replied with a meow and hand gestures. They must be one of the sualu that couldn't speak, like Quince. Nikili still thought that it was ingenious that Emegal was spoken not only through voice or writing, but hand signs as well. Although it meant that he had to dedicate himself to learning it even more, in order to communicate properly – and he was embarrassed that his improvised gesturing could come across as mockery.

The mongoose considered that he should try learning the hand signs, in order to understand Quince... But he would still refuse to learn how to read Emegal. It would be a waste of his time.

He leaned forward to grab their jar, only to see what was inside. Barley... A layman may confuse it for the wheat he'd been carrying in his own urn, but he could tell them apart at a glance. Not only that, but this harvest in particular seemed perfect for the idea that sprung in his mind.

Now that he thought about it, there -was- one other thing that he knew how to do well...

"Um, do you know what they're gonna use this for?" Nikili said. "Cause I think I can help them make the most of it...!"

The cat simply furrowed their brows and stared dumbfounded. They didn't understand Kaatian.

***

It was pretty late, and the open roads of Saisa were less energetic. There were public oil lamps along the limestone paths, which were being turned on. The sight was unusual to Nikili. In either Logas or Kuir, the lights would only come from individual houses, lit or unlit by those who owned the place however they saw fit. Here, the whole community seemed to do their part, and some sualu went around using bronze rod with a candle at the end, to reach the high lamps and kindle their fire. On his way to the temple, Nikili greeted a sualu carrying one of those rods, who nodded back to him and moved over to the next lamp post.

It seemed that the people here had few things that they didn't all share. They all seemed content to live together, and share their meals, without much in the way of hoarding. Whatever -was- hoarded – knowledge, medicine, textiles, produce – seemed to be only so that it could be later shared. The abgal, the nurses, the weavers, the farmers...all of them didn't mind giving advice or stuff away when someone needed it.

Nikili would've liked to think that it was the same with his little project. There was some hesitation from the sualu at the start, but with the help of Ranir to translate, they've agreed to let him make beer, as long as he taught it to a couple of abgal as well. And despite the language barrier, his lessons went mostly fine...!

But after the long day, it was time to head to bed. Despite the communal housing available for them in the village, the abgal had given Suu permission to spend the night at the temple, so that he could sleep more comfortably in his real form. Of course, the mongoose wanted to sleep with him...or rather, in him. Thanks to Quince, he'd really grown accustomed to the cozy bed that was the dragon's crop. As Nikili walked inside, his boyfriend was still in his kobold form, slightly taller than him.

"Hey, big guy!" The mongoose said with uncharacteristic glee. "Sorry I'm late. I was spending some time with Quince, and–"

Suu turned around when he was called. Under the lamp that was still lit inside, Nikili saw someone in his mouth. A cat, their face behind Suu's teeth, and their body bulging out through his neck. The dilute tabby's smile turned into a guilty fluster, and Suu simply stared back at Nikili with no expression. His tongue would idly lap at the sualu's chin as they stood there, both of them staring at the perplexed mongoose.

"...Oh. I-I see. Wait, isn't that the abgal that I had to, uh, c-climb into you to retrieve...?"

The cat tried to say something, but Suu's pink tongue folded onto its face and pulled it in, before his jaws closed gently. A few gulps pulled them down the ultramarine plates from neck to belly, and Nikili could make the outline of their face under the broad, distended scales. Watching the cat be swallowed alive didn't unsettle the mongoose, since he'd seen it with Quince countless times by now.

"Yes." Suu answered after clearing his maw, while the bulge under his ribs continued to grow noticeably. "They are Ikinla."

Nikili scratched his head, staring at the enlarged and writhing midriff. "Okay. But why swallow them?"

"They wanted me to eat they. No chance today until after šitazi."

"Shitazi...? Do you mean Communion?"

"Yes, Communion. Sorry Ikky, too many thoughts in Emegal..."

When Suu spoke, Nikili had noticed that he used as little body language as possible. The kobold only looked down to gently rub his tummy, since Ikinla's heart desired it, and the mongoose could hear purrs from inside the crop.

"Ah, so you've been learning Emegal too, big guy?"

"Yes. I have no choice. During šita– ...During Communion, I hear thoughts and words like they are my thoughts and words. Ranir said it's ešdaša– ...Oh, sorry. Connection of minds."

"Hmm..." Nikili walked over to the wall and extinguished the lamp. "I remember you or Nurta mentioning something like that, when the two of you met her mother. What was it? A shared consciousness...?"

Suu grunted affirmatively. "Because of Dikuga's gašam-dug and my gašam-sag. It feels the similar, yes."

Nikili lied down next to him, and hearing his heart, Suugal followed suit. The mongoose rubbed his boyfriend's plates gently, which always looked like an uneven pregnant belly like this. But it felt awkward knowing that it was someone other than Quince in there.

The kobold spoke up. "You wanted to tell me news?"

"Me...? Oh, right, I did! So earlier today, I– ...Wait, you already know, don't you?"

"Yes." He said calmly. "I heared it with gašam-sag. But you still want to tell me."

"W-Well, not anymore... There's no point!" Nikili pouted a bit. Surprising his mind-reading boyfriend was impossible.

"I'm sorry, Ikky..."

The scavenger moved his hand to the kobold's blue cheek. "It's okay."

"No. I'm sorry about the trouble I'm causing for you. For Quince."

"O-Oh, you mean..."

Suu assented with a short grunt. That's true, Nikili still had Quince in his mind. Just before meeting Suu, he'd talked with Quince tonight. About the gasham'sag getting blocked because of the poison, and Suu not really recognizing the yellow cat.

Nikili sighed. "I-I dunno, I wanna talk about it, but words are hard..."

"Then don't speak words."

The mongoose immediately understood, remembering that this ability wasn't simply a curse. He didn't have to speak out loud. If he simply thought back to it, Suu could understand what had been troubling him. Maybe even more clearly than himself could understand. So Nikili focused on what he felt earlier, letting Suu sift through his feelings for meaning.

"I understand," he said. "You're worried that I can't speak with Quince anymore."

« Umm, not really. Kinda? » Nikili envisioned his answer in his mind as well. « I'm worried that you'll never get along with Quince again. »

"But I want to! And I know that they are Quince. Because you believe that, and I believe you. But...! But they changed too much."

« Because they lost this connection to the Great Channel...and to you. »

"Yes. Broken ahašgal. Also," Suu paused as he pondered what words to use, "how will I know what Quince feels?"

« What do you mean...? »

"If Quince happy, or sad, or angry, how do I know? Impossible to know."

Nikili shrugged. « Well, I guess you'll have to do it like the rest of us. You can ask them, or read their body language, and you'll know. »

"B-But what if I can't understand? Or what if it's lie? I feel your heart, but your mouth and face and body sometimes lie and say a different thing."

« Hmm, that's true. But it's something you'll have to learn, like I did, I guess. Trust me, I was terrible at reading people, and figuring out what they are trying to say other than their words. I still have a hard time than most other people at being able to tell if someone's hiding something, or if they're sad or lying. Anyway, that's just how it is with people. We have no choice but to talk to each other, and sometimes, we don't tell the truth. Can't do much about it. »

"So...I should learn to listen to Quince...in other ways?"

« Yeah! I'm sure they'll open up and be completely honest with you, 'cause they trust you more than me. You'll figure out what each meow and each trill means in no time. »

"O-Okay...what about hand signs?"

« Oh, of course! I'd forgotten that Quince can use them. It's hard to believe they'd hide that from us...actually, it isn't hard to believe at all. But yeah, if you learn them, that could definitely work! »

Suu tried to smile, flashing his teeth weirdly. Nikili thought it was amusing how awkward his boyfriend was with social cues, and especially cute when he tried to imitate them. But he was trying his best to fit in, ever since he was first introduced to civilization in the last two weeks.

"Well," the mongoose used his normal voice, "I can also ask Ranir if there's any way to heal Quince's channel. Who knows? I'm sure they want that too."

The blue kobold's eyes widened. "You're sure...without reading their heart?"

"I mean, I'll still ask, of course. But there's no reason why Quince would wanna say 'no'. They really wanna get along with you."

"Get along..." Suu repeated the new expression out loud, as he internalized its meaning with how Nikili had felt when he said it.

"Yeah! Like how the two of us get along."

The mongoose smiled as joyous thoughts of him and Suu flooded his mind – thoughts that didn't go unnoticed to the transformed dragon. He pulled Nikili closer, smooshing his engorged belly to the flat and furry midriff, meeting snouts and kissing him the way the scavenger liked it. Nikili was surprised, but he admitted to himself that he was enamored with Suu taking charge like this.

Without breaking their kiss, the mongoose began to undress to match the kobold, his erection eager to pop out from the green skirt hiding it away. He tossed his garment away, and Suu rolled both of them over. Pinning down his boyfriend underneath him, he let his hemipenes emerge around Nikili's red shaft.

"You want me to turn into dragon," Suu dictated Nikili's desires as sensually as his monotonic tenor voice could manage. "And you want to hide in my testicle again, for the whole night."

"Mmf...! S-S-Suu, I..." Nikili's light-brown face was violently red. "Y-Yeah, but what of the smell...? No matter how much peppermint cream they gave me to clean myself, I think I still s-stink like your ball... Mf..."

Suu didn't answer. He scooted down, crawling backwards and taking his face further away from Nikili's head and closer to his crotch. There was yet another urge in the mongoose's mind, and the kobold would satisfy it first. Suu brought his chin right up against Nikili's sheath, and gave a long and slow lick to the erect spire, from base to tip.

"H-Hnnng...f-fuck..." He panted between words. "B-But Suu...! The cat in your belly...and my cum... If you swallow–"

"Not the same. Ikinla, crop. Ikky, stomach."

With that, Suu brought his maw down, spreading it wide to fit Nikili's dick inside in one motion. Even his ballsack was taken in by his lower jaw. The transformed dragon rumbled as best as he could at the taste, and the mongoose moaned lustfully. Suu's wide tongue moved lower as he kept his jaws secured around the loins, licking the furry perineum of his boyfriend.

Nikili wanted to buck his hips and thrust into Suu's mouth, but the taller reptile was already ahead of him. He'd begun bobbing his head, licking and slurping the whole length all the way to his throat. The maw wasn't too warm, but the mongoose still loved that familiar feeling. Copious drool rained down onto the short fur, his sloppy blowjob quickly getting Nikili to the brink of his climax.

No matter how close Suu's teeth got to his skin, they'd never touch it. The dragon was always worried about causing him, or anyone, any harm. He could tell that the cat currently inside of him was blissful, and certainly not minding the fun that the couple was having on the other side. And, of course, he could press Ikky's buttons with no more than a few well-placed licks. It was easy to make everyone happy when he knew their deepest desires. But what if he didn't know them? He really hoped that Quince's severed ahašgal could be mended...

The mongoose couldn't take the inviting pull of Suu's throat any longer, and he started pumping out hot seed directly into the ravenous tunnel. Each rope getting dutifully swallowed – hopefully filling the emptier of his two chambers, and not washing over the sualu. Nikili tried to cover his mouth, muffling his moans to anyone else that might be walking next the temple this late. But soon, he'd be spent, and the scavenger would lay limply on the ground, with his boyfriend's jaws still locked around his junk and tongue still taking in his earthy flavor.

« Fuck... » Nikili was still mute after his orgasm, watching the kobold raise his head after slurping the rest of his seed. « You have no idea how much I fucking love you, big guy. »

"I have." Suu asserted flatly. He licked his lips and crawled to Nikili's side. "Do you want to hide in me now?"

The thought sprung in Nikili's mind at the suggestion. But before he could even utter a 'yes', his boyfriend transformed. There was no time to react when a large squamous paw snapped shut around him, and raised him off the ground, upside down. It was a sudden but careful motion, and even in Suugal's gentle grasp, Nikili's heart beat loudly in his chest. The claws craned him over in the darkness. He couldn't see anything, but he knew exactly where he was headed.

His face was rubbed against something that kept it in a tight grip, its masculine stench crashing directly into his nose. The mongoose's body was still pointing down, aligned with the urethra that extended downwards in front of him. Nikili heard the dragon's rumble, and a colossal claw pushed right against his backside. The thumb nudged him right in, and in one fell swoop, he sank into the hemipenis up to his knees.

The huge penis seemed even hungrier for him this time around! The walls offered even less resistance as he sank. The mongoose tried to wiggle, but the walls did little to hold him in place, and he slipped down far enough that his legs fully vanished through the entrance, just as quickly as the dragon could've snapped him in his jaws!

Since Suu hadn't ejaculated earlier, the urethra was much cleaner this time around. And Nikili was sliding down the large shaft much more quickly. In part thanks to gravity, and in part since there wasn't so much fluid obstructing his path. But the smell wasn't any better, and slipping through what felt like a leather tube was just as chaotic this time around. Surrounded by globs of precum that began to form, Nikili kept his maw shut to avoid swallowing it again, inhaling heavy musk through his nostrils in order to breath. He was already tired, spent from the workday and from Suu's incredible blowjob, and the ride down the draconic cock was dizzying.

Without any effort from his boyfriend to push him down, the mongoose made progress through the shaft, his erect cock scraping along the entire wall like a blade of reed drawing a long line on moist clay. The thought of his cock – let alone his whole body – being enveloped by Suu's only heightened his libido, and dispelled any reservations he had. Nikili wanted to crawl into the dragon's testicle again, and have the place all for himself.

Suu was more than happy to fulfill the surfaced urge. He relaxed his body, rumbling at the fairly alien sensation of something small yet perceptible plunging through the ducts in his body; decreasing the distance to the destination without any concerted effort on his or Nikili's part. But the stimulation was enjoyable for both of them. Especially Suu, who could tap into the mongoose's ecstasy as well

Without any outside forces, the scavenger still felt his slim body get dragged along to the testicle awaiting him. He imagined that the dragon must've lied on his back, then arched his body, to turn the entire trip, from cocktip to sphincter, into a single slide. In essence, Suu was sending him down as lazily as possible, making up for the lack of powerful muscles like the ones in his throat to guide anyone into his crop.

That reminded him...Ikinla was still in Suugal's crop when he'd transformed. They were likely still in there, in a larger version of the organ. And as they slept the night in their calm bedroom, Nikili was due for a much more turbulent stay in the organ that he'd just begun to enter.

It was even busier inside of the testicle than his first time. Suu hadn't reached a climax himself, so all of his fresh unspent cum was simply sloshing and churning inside, with nothing to do except for welcoming Nikili. He landed into the goopy bath, and paddled his arms through the viscous draconic seed in order to surface his head. The mongoose took a long, deep breath of that intoxicating odor, filling his lungs with heavy but breathable air.

"Puh...!" He spat out some of the cum on his lips. « Fuck... I-I can't believe that, after all this time, you could simply just...shove me in! It's so simple...and so hot and sticky. »

Suu rumbled happily in response, though Nikili could tell that there was a hint of lust in his tone. The whole place turned upside-down, as the dragon rolled onto his belly to stay more comfortable. He didn't want to release the mongoose just yet, enduring his own horniness and hiding his erect shafts until morning came. It was what Nikili wanted, after all.

When the creamy pool finally settled, the scavenger found a position where he could keep his back along the wall, in order to keep his snout from being submerged. « I-I think I can sleep like this... Are you sure I won't run out of air or anything? »

His large feral boyfriend rumbled affirmatively once again. Nikili trusted him.

« Wonderful... Good night, big guy. Gods, I'm gonna be smelling like this forever... » The mongoose didn't directly think it, but the thought of it was exhilarating. « Hf... D-Don't mind me while I'm here. Just gotta do one thing b-before I fall asleep... »

Nikili's paw had already grabbed his cock as he 'spoke'. He simply couldn't help himself. And he started to jack himself off, having to fight the weight of batter with his arm. Each stroke was slower and harder, but the struggle only added to his horniness. He panted as he collected the last of his energy to masturbate. His entire fur was coated in the lustful cream, and even his lungs felt heavy with the oppressive air.

It wasn't hard to bring himself to another climax, considering how hot the whole experience of being trapped in his boyfriend's testicle was. His penis throbbed once again inside of Suu, with no seed to expend this time around. Nikili immediately slumped back, riding the high once more as the wrinkled walls continued to massage and lull him with its churns. It wasn't as quiet or peaceful as his usual bed in the big guy's crop, but he was too spent and blissful to be bothered.

With a tired smile, before a tireless sleep would overtake him, he wondered if this was the same testicle from the first time. Or if he had even gone into the same hemipenis on his trip down or not...

***

Despite being told to go to the infirmary straight away, Ranir wasn't in a rush. There were a few people to greet – and a few arguments to resolve – throughout Saisa. As always, most of the responsibilities fell on her lap. But even at sixty-four years old, she was committed to helping her fellow sualu.

Once everything urgent – if you could call trivial bickering 'urgent' – had been dealt with, she calmly crossed the village, towards Quince's room. The gray tabby greeted every cat on the way, young and old, then every doctor and nurse in the infirmary, before walking through the reed curtain to meet the trio awaiting her.

Ranir smiled, barely showing her advanced age. "Good, you all are here–" She sniffed the air. "...There it is, that awful strong smell again."

Nikili glanced away, coyly, hiding the blush on his face behind the taller kobold by his side. And Quince was sitting on the bed, standing up to greet Ranir with a mew. Their arms moved, gesturing 'I feel better now' in Emegal. She watched their bandaged right arm with a skeptical look, since Quince had been bedridden for so long. The mute cat themself slowly undid the tie on the clean cloth, unwrapping the fabric and removing it. On the yellow fur, there was a bright blue scar about two inches wide. But the tissue was fully healed, by the looks of it.

Nikili smiled. "Heh... You're really tough, Quince. I knew you'd pull through."

"Indeed." Ranir agreed in a language that the Kaatian could understand. "But is your Quince good enough to leave? If they aren't fully healed, then–"

A sharp swish cut the air, after the quince-colored sualu pulled out a knife from their leather belt. Holding it in their injured arm, they swung it around viciously, as if slicing an imaginary opponent in front of them. Their grip didn't grow weak, and their slashes were fluid. Once they felt that they'd given a good show, Quince stepped back.

The other three people were surprised – even Suu, for once. Although he'd learned that turning back into a dragon wasn't always the best course of action, and kept his fright in check.

"Hm." Ranir was the first to speak after the cat had gotten her tongue. "And you don't feel any pain...?"

Quince shook their head, and slipped their pocket knife back into its pocket.

Nikili's disconcertment was somewhere between that of the other two. "I-I don't think I ever saw you brandish that knife before, Quince..."

"They appear to be in good health, and that's all that matters." The abgal scratched her chin. "And as we discussed before, the plan is to let your Quince participate in šitazi with our abgal, and see if there is any recovery to their ahašgal as a result. I assume the Kaatian already explained that to you...?"

Quince looked away, with a tormented expression on their face. They replied with a long sequence of gestures... Nikili could only understand a 'yes, but...' at the beginning.

Ranir shook her head, and looked to Nikili. "Hm. That is concerning."

"What? What is concerning?"

"Your Quince doesn't want to do it if it means staying in Saisa. Now that they are better, they want to return Kaati as soon as possible."

Nikili looked down to the feline at half his height. "Return...? B-But it's not safe! They are looking for us, and l-look at what Ludama did to you...! Besides, we can't be sure that the safe place that Ruunk wanted us to go really is safe or not. We should stay here, at least a while longer..."

"'But what if Ruunk is in danger?'" Ranir interpreted Quince's gestures. "'And what of our house in Lagazi?'"

"...Do you mean Logas?"

"...'Logas'. I mistranslated."

Nikili glanced at Ranir, and he couldn't shake the feeling that she was lying. But that wasn't important right now.

"Quince, I know you wanna go back to the way things were. And I do too. But our house...I-I don't–"

"It's okay, Kaatian." The abgal spoke up. "It's my fault for not giving the three of you enough time to decide between yourselves. Although I want nothing bad to befall any allies of Saisa, it is your choice to stay or not." She then walked closer to Quince, and spoke with some hesitation. "I have no right to force you to stay any longer than you want. But your friends want you to be better. Your arm is better, but your ahašgal isn't. Until you decide, it won't hurt to attempt šitazi and see if that helps."

Quince seemed torn on the issue...but they conceded with a nod and two trills.

"At least, I assume it won't hurt. Communion has never been tried before in these circumstances, after all. Now then, you and the ušumgal should head to the temple. You haven't finished studying to become an abgal, but that is not an issue – Kunia will be there to instruct you."

The yellow cat nodded, and saw a large blue arm extended towards them. Suu offered his hand to Quince. The feline took their friend's paw and both of them walked out together.

Nikili noticed, for the first time in a long while, the tiniest smile manifest on Quince's face before they went outside.

He and Ranir lingered longer in the infirmary's room. The mongoose could see that the abgal's placid expression had been replaced with a pensive one, deep in thought. Nikili's own head was filled with weird doubts. For a moment, everything appeared normal once again. But at the same time, nothing seemed familiar anymore.

"...Oh!" He suddenly remembered. "I should get back to the abgals. I was gonna teach them the final steps about making beer."

"No," Ranir snapped from her thoughts. "First, come with me. We will pass them on the way and tell them that you'll be late, but then I wish to speak alone with you."

The mongoose gulped. "O-Okay..."

***

They climbed up the footpath to the quarry. This time, the plain-dwelling mongoose wasn't short on breath by the end of the short trail uphill. There was half a dozen people chipping at a large limestone block on the mountain with bronze chisels. Almost all of them were sualu, except for two normal ones...maybe it'd be more fitting to say that sualus were the 'normal ones' in Saisa. People like Nikili were the minority around Saisa.

Apparently, when Ranir meant 'to speak alone', she meant coming to this place, from where they could see the village down below. They were at earshot of the workers, but they'd only be speaking in Kaatian.

"You know," he finally broke the silence, staring down at the buildings erected on the Szogors Mountains, "I was wondering... We saw ruins in the marshes south of Logas, and they all looked a lot like the temple and the other buildings around here."

Ranir nodded. "Hm. In Zugul? Those are ancient constructions of the sualu. They were abandoned since many generations before I was born, when the marshes overtook the old village. You told me that you and your Quince were scavengers, no? Perhaps you found artifacts similar to ours inside of them."

"Y-Yeah...now that I think about it, the pot I was carrying the other day was pretty familiar. The markings really reminded me of an urn that we found there, in the same place as Suu."

She turned silent again. Why was she so broody if she wanted to talk, Nikili wondered...

"Um...why did you bring me here?"

"...I wanted to personally thank you, Kaatian, for bringing back our lost art. The abgal are pleased."

"Lost art...? But I only taught them how to make beer out of barley bread like I do."

"Mhm. It's an important part of our culture. One that we sadly thought lost when Lagazi was destroyed by Kaati, and we had to flee to this place." Ranir paused, but as the mongoose appeared curious, she continued. "I don't think I told you of our ancient history. Of how the sualu were the first people to confront the dragons while they ruled the marshes covering all of the Two Rivers."

"Confront...? Like battling them?"

"No... 'Confront' is not a good translation for 'te-ĝe'. The better word is 'approach'. But out of all people, the gods blessed us with the chance to unite with the ušumgal. The dragonkind, blessed by gašam and ahašgal; and the sualu, the weakest of all peoples..."

"The weakest?"

"Of course. We are small and lack physical strength. And we are born men, women, or gala. A third of us – like your Quince – cannot have children. Many of us can't utter words, also like your Quince. In that way, we sualu are weak, and denying it does no good. As the old history goes, we had been subjugated by every other people, and forced to roam the western desert as a nomad tribe. The desert that the Kaatians call Fool's Hope."

"Hmm... This had to be many hundreds of years ago, if the marshes still covered all of the Two Rivers." He concluded, and Ranir nodded. "But then, why didn't the dragons try to subjugate them too?"

The abgal smiled. "When the sualu were pursued and fled to the marshes, the gods must have pitied us. They gave three gifts to the first abgal-sualu, who then gave them to the dragons, so that we could finally live in harmony. The first was Emegal, the language of gods and dragons. It gave us the knowledge about ahašgal and its rituals, and the power to write and read, that knowledge could live on after the body dies. The second was beer, to be offered and shared in goodwill of our newfound friendship."

"Language and beer... And the third?"

"We don't know. But our history says it must have been three. With the three gifts, as per the gods' will, we befriended the dragons, and our peoples would be forever connected by fate. All because of one ritual."

"Communion," Nikili answered, "that makes sense to me, I guess. But then, you're saying the sualu invented brewing and writing?"

"No, the gods did. But we were the ones deemed worthy to receive these gifts."

"Hmm, I thought that Kaati had created them..."

Ranir scoffed. "It would make sense that Kaati would teach that lie. But we sualu know better than to steal – and claim as ours – what the gods gifted to us. These three gifts are much older than Kaati, or Zugul. They are even older than when we started calling ourselves sualu, which is an Emegal word. The gods made them, just like they made the world and its peoples, but only shared the secrets when the sualu needed them. And we tried to preserve both of them, but much has been lost to time, tragedy, and falsehoods."

"But I only learned how to make beer from my mom...and I didn't even get it right until I started experimenting on my own! Besides, a bunch of places in Kaati make beer...although most of it tastes like mud."

"Hm. Perhaps your mother learned from the sualu...?"

"I don't think so...actually, I don't know. She used to tell me bedtime stories about dragons, but not about cat-people or anything. I thought they were all fiction."

The gray tabby's eyes gleamed. "Stories of dragons...? Then perhaps, the gods wanted their lost gift to return to us. And they did so through your mother, and you."

"The gods wanted it...?"

"Mhm. I'm sure of it."

Nikili was very skeptical. Claiming that he'd been guided to this place by a higher power was ludicrous, right?

"But I don't understand one thing. You said that the sualu befriended the dragons, and...then what?"

"We lived in peace for many centuries, until our peoples eventually went their separate ways."

"Why? What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Okay," he continued, "but then, answer me this. If the sualu, who were the weakest people like you said, were being subjugated...and then they met with these dragons, who are huge and super-strong and immortal... Why didn't they use that power against their subjugators?"

"...You mean, oppressing them?"

"N-No, not oppressing them. More like...protecting themselves against them."

"Through power and coercion? That is oppresion, only the roles would be reversed. Our 'subjugators' would have endured the pain that we endured. Instead of Kaati's bronze-fisted rule, nowadays, we would have an empire of sualu and dragons, and uncountable suffering would be inflicted on everyone else. And those under the fist of oppression would desire vengeance. But vengeance only brings more pain, and it doesn't make the destruction smaller, only bigger... Besides, the dragons are people too. Not tools to be used by others."

"But...maybe things wouldn't be like that."

"Wherever people seek power to subjugate others, and then seek to maintain that power, the only conclusion is destruction. And that destruction can be on many levels. A whole town, burned to the ground. A whole culture and history, twisted into an unrecognizable lie. Or someone's talents and dreams, being tossed away for the sake of maintaining the hierarchy."

"But I don't think these are the same thing...are they?"

Ranir took a long pause, trying to think of how to convey her story.

"I have told you the whole story of when Kaati invaded Lagazi, no? Twenty-two years ago. You were probably not even born."

"I was one year old. And Quince was two and lost their parents. And the other abgals died, and only you were left."

"Hm, that is correct. By that point, we had lost almost all contact with the ušumgal by then. Maybe they could have protected us, but like I said, they aren't tools, and our paths had diverged. And we had no need of them for ages. We had other allies, like Kaati before Ranagas usurped the throne. I suspect he must have heard about this connection of the sualu to dragons, despite it being our secret. The story of the first Communion, that I just told you. He wanted power, and the dragons threatened that power, so he destroyed us. Countless lives were lost...just because he was afraid that the sualu could make him lose his power."

"So it's like you said. He wanted more power and it only led to destruction..." Nikili thought for a bit. "Hmm, but then you lost all knowledge about making beer in the chaos, right? You really don't think that the gods allowed this tragedy, only to then have -me- bring it back, do you?"

"I believe that is true, yes." She spoke bleakly, but assertively. "It was tragic, but such are the threads of time that the gods have spun. Maybe they failed to act, or maybe this was their plan all along. No matter what, not even the gods themselves can go back in time and change history."

The mongoose was stupefied. He was taught that the Kaatian gods always knew right from wrong, and never made mistakes. Because of that, he had a hard time believing in them. Now, the words of Ranir, the abgal of the sualu, rang somber in his ears; but in a Manner, they were also a relief.

"But we, sualu, aren't innocent either. We have done violence as well. Not as murderous as Kaati under Ranagas, but who knows how many lives were ruined..."

"How come?"

"It was only when we fled from the destruction, and made our way to this village, that I realized how restrictive and backwards our society was. But then, all of the other abgal were dead. I was only one priest, and they all turned to me for guidance."

"Priest?" Nikili tilted his head. "Do you mean priestess?"

"There was no such meaning in Emegal. An 'abgal' could only be a man. Women and gala were not allowed to lead, as per the old code of the abgal."

"But, what of all those abgal who are women, or gala, like you said? ...Even you aren't a man."

"Mm. No, I'm not a man. But because of a mistake, everyone thought that I was one, ever since my birth. Because of what my body looked like. My body fit the expectations of what a man should look like. But I knew I was a woman, I always did. No-one else did. Everyone saw this man instead of me, and that man was a lie. He was not me.

"With time, I learned that there was only thing I could do. I had to lie to myself, and force myself to believe it, too. And in living that lie, as the gods would have it, I became an abgal. But when I performed šitazi, I felt my connection to the Great Channel. And, with the weaker form of gašam that said connection gave me, never before I felt so strongly who I really was. A woman.

"But no-one else knew. I still had to lie for others. The elders back then would never accept a woman among them. ...But you know of the tragedy that happened. Now, the other abgal are all with the gods, and I'm the only one left. I was struck by grief for their deaths, but maybe that was also a sign of the gods. A sign that anyone, even a woman, could be an abgal."

Nikili interrupted. "But didn't you say that being born in that body was a mistake...?"

"No. Every life is a gift from the gods. This body and this mind are no different. And I humbly accept both of these gifts, and I interpret that they were meant to be exactly this way. The mistake was not in how I looked, but in others judging me by the appearance of my body, rather than who I am. I'm sure the gods wanted for me to be a woman, and also to have this body."

"Huh. That's a lot to wrap my head around... S-Sorry, I don't mean to offend. I've just never heard of that before."

"Mm. Just keep thinking of me as a woman. You'll understand." Ranir sighed in reminiscence. "When we came to Saisa, and I was the last abgal, I was also afraid of telling the other sualu that I was a woman. But to my surprise, they all understood. And they agreed to break the old code, not only for my sake. Men, women, and gala could all choose to be abgal, or caretakers, or farmers, or healers, and so on, without prejudice.

"Some were reluctant and wanted to cling to the old ways, and claimed that the gods would have wanted it to remain as it had for many generations before us. But I believe that everything that my entire life was proof that they wanted our code to evolve. Changing everyone's minds wasn't easy. But after working through our differences, I don't think a single soul would want to return to the outdated ways."

Nikili slowly shook his head. "Changing everyone's minds... I can't even imagine something like that going on in Kaati. You made an accepting society all on your own–"

"No. It became better, but it sadly wasn't accepting for all or everything. Otherwise, your Quince wouldn't have fled years ago. They felt that they had no place here...and as their teacher, I realize that I pushed them too hard. I demanded too much of them, without realizing my own errors at the time."

"But it wasn't all your fault. You told me that Quince was an orphan, and that they didn't have any friends. Maybe if things had been different–"

"Maybe. But I was trying to make Quince fit into our society. I thought that making them fit was the same as making things better for them. But in the end, I was making the same mistake as my own elders and outdated customs, which dictated who I had to be. Now I realize that it's not people that need to change, it's society that needs to change for its people."

"But how can you even change society? Unless everyone has a change of heart, it's impossible!"

"Hm. I think that everyone has the same compassion for others, deep down. But laws and habits and power can make it easy to ignore the struggle of everyone else, even if it's the same as ours. I don't think we can change everyone at once, but we can slowly make things better if one person at a time comes to that realization... And even still, it wouldn't be perfect."

"Why not?"

"Because there will still be suffering. Diseases, tragedies, misunderstandings are unavoidable. But as long as we help the most people we can, then there's nothing better that we can strive for."

"Nothing better...? But what about Quince? You said that society failed them, and that you failed them, and that's why they left. Surely you can help them."

"Yes, but..."

"But what?"

She shook her head rigidly. "They won't accept my help. They still seek to run away when I talk to them, as you saw earlier."

"I mean, yeah... I dunno what happened in the past, but they still seem pretty hurt about it. I'd probably be cynical if I were Quince."

"Then there's nothing I can do." The abgal stated resolutely. "If they don't want a second chance, I will respect that."

"What if the second chance you're offering isn't really what they want, though? What if they need the space without, I dunno, feeling like they're getting in the way or stepping on your heels?"

"...What are you asking me to do, Kaatian?"

Nikili could feel the impatience in her voice, and started getting worked up as well. "I dunno! Change the laws again! You are the leader of the sualu, right? Because the gods chose you or because the people trust you, or both, I guess. You can make things around here better for people like Quince."

"How can I? You're asking me to abuse my power for the sake of a single sualu, and as I have told you, undue power will only lead to destruction. Maybe not death, but destruction of the soul, or the harmony that our society has."

"Then what good is your power to lead?! ...Sorry, but I just can't accept empty promises anymore."

Ranir kicked a rock downhill. She wanted to tell the Kaatian how stupid and rude he was for speaking to an abgal like this. But blowing up on his face wouldn't do either of them any good, and she did what she could do best when she had to solve altercations: taking the higher stance.

"...I'm not perfect. I do not know everything, as much as the other sualu would have you believe. And when you live for more than a threescore of years, you make more mistakes than most. I regret a lot, but I'll only know peace in death... But you are right. I am too afraid to apologize to your friend. On the other hand, I'm no god or dragon, I am just a woman. And sometimes, I don't realize. If I had gašam-sag like your friend, maybe I could know what they wanted. But even so, I have to think of the well-being of everyone.

"And on the matter of compassion, I do not want to make empty promises. If you, your Quince, and your dragon friend stay in Saisa, you can help us not fumble over the same mistakes over and over. You wouldn't be the first exiles from Zuit or Kaati that we welcome here. But I can't promise that everything will be perfect. Mistakes will be inevitable on the way, but we will learn, and society will improve, one person at a time. Even an old lady like me can learn new things. If I didn't have anything left to learn...well, I think the gods wouldn't have wanted for me to live this long. But I said enough about me, or my throat will be sore. I think you should speak to your friends, and if you decide so, you can call Saisa your home as well."

Nikili took a long, deep breath, and he stood up.

"Is this why you wanted to talk to me? To convince me to stay...and then have me convince Quince and Suu for you."

Ranir continued to sit down, wearing a tired expression that showed her age. "...Don't get me wrong. I do think it's for the best. All of you will be safer here, and that's why the gods guided you here. You can continue to help us recreate our original gift. Your ušumgal friend can continue to perform Communion. And if your Quince wanted to, they could go back to being trained as an abgal. If they don't want to, we will not judge them, but they will have every opportunity we can afford."

"It may be a safe haven for now, but what if Kaati comes after us? They wanted us dead! What about the danger that we pose for Saisa simply by staying?"

"I doubt there is any danger. And if – if...! – they come for you, then they may as well come for all sualu of Saisa. After all, they've wanted us dead for twenty-two years."

Nikili faced away from the tabby, and towards the footpath. "I... Th-There's a lot I need to think about. And I'm sorry for snapping at you, b-but thanks for being honest about the sualu and yourself. I'll– I'll go back to the other abgals now."

"Mm."

The sun was much higher in the sky, but it felt colder. And Nikili felt so little and naïve under its light. It was a weird sense of unrelenting emptiness. As if so many things revolved about him, but he was powerless to do anything. As if the core of what he knew was a lie, and he only had misguided questions and wrong answers. And he felt afraid of the days to come. But most of all, he was anxious about one thought swirling on the surface of his mind: Had the gods really guided them here?

That was impossible! Utterly, absolutely impossible. And yet...

***

Nikili's day went about as usual despite the long talk with Ranir, and he noted how everything seemed to fall into a routine. Suddenly, being so far away from home and struggling to communicate with these people – most of which didn't understand a single word of Kaatian – even felt normal. More than a shared language, patience went a long way to help them coexist and get along.

Everything he'd experienced so far made him feel like a misfit. And yet, he had found a place for himself here. All three of them did. The mongoose was tempted to leave his whole past behind, and start over.

After his class on beer-making, he took some alone time to ruminate on his thoughts and what Ranir had said. When he got back to the temple, it was almost evening. Although his body was still energized, Nikili felt exhausted, as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But when he finally saw Suu and Quince together, he was elated, as if he hadn't seen them in ages.

"Hey, Quince, big guy!"

The two of them turned around, and they also seemed happy to see him. Quince rushed towards him on their four paws, passing by the abgal that were just leaving the temple after today's Communion, and lunged towards Nikili.

"W-Woah!" He wrapped his arms around his suddenly clingy companion, holding them so they wouldn't fall from their chest. "I missed you too, Quinc– Eck. You smell funky..."

It was the first time the yellow cat had shown him affection since they'd come here. With one arm underneath to hold them, he rubbed the ear with a brown blotch of fur, and they purred in response. Nikili soon got used to Suu's smell on the small feline.

The kobold got close to them, unsure of what to do. The mongoose simply leaned forward and gave a smooch to the side of his scaly snout. In response, Suu tried to awkwardly smile, and while still cradling Quince, Nikili hugged his boyfriend around the shoulder and pulled him closer.

"I missed both of you. And I don't wanna lose you, ever again. We're family, right?"

The purring cat kept their eyes closed and continued to tenderly nuzzle their face against Nikili's chest. Suu leaned his head against the scavenger's shoulder and breathed deeply, with cheerful humming coming from his throat as he was unable to replicate his dragon rumbles in this form.

"So...how was your day? Did Communion work with you two?"

The kobold answered monotonically. "Quince is telling me when you appeared. They sayed– They said they have fun."

"Did they...?" Nikili pat them, and they let out a happy pair of trills. "Does that mean it worked? Can you hear their heart again?"

"No... But I learn to listen to what they say, like you said. They say with hand signs in Emegal, and I trust the words. We get along!"

"Th-That's good, at least! And you learned the gestures in Emegal simply from Communion, right? When you connect your mind with the abgal that already know the gestures, and you pick up on them."

Suu hummed in affirmation. The scavenger remembered something that Ranir had said, that Emegal was the language of gods and dragons, which was 'gifted' to the sualu as well. Maybe there were dragons out there that still knew Emegal? Nurta didn't, since she'd locked away her memories. And Suu didn't really need to learn it until now, since he could listen to hearts. But now he had to learn every word from scratch for Quince's sake...

"Not every word." The kobold blurted out.

"Hm?"

"I knew some words. But only when I meet other dragons, like Nurta, through gašam."

"Oh... I remember Nurta mentioning something like that too. She could 'feel' the name gasham'sag when she was close to you, as well as what it meant. And you could feel her gasham too...what was it called?"

"gašam-galga. The words in Emegal, they mean 'specialty of logic'."

"Oh, they have meanings in Emegal too...? I thought they were just random names."

"Yes, they have meanings, but I didn't knew too. With Nurta, I could feel the name gašam-galga, and its meaning, and the essence of who she is. But the name doesn't translate as the meaning."

"You mean that the name and the meaning aren't the same?" He asked, and Suu agreed. "That's odd... But, that essence, what is it?"

"I can recognize her from distance. Not just with voice of heart, but her gašam as well. Every dragon has different essence. Ranir isn't a dragon, but I recognize the essence of gašam in her. Now, the other abgal have essence of gašam too. All different essences, but no name or meaning for gašam."

"Because of Communion, and the Great Channel..."

That made perfect sense to Nikili, if what he'd learned from the sualu about the Great Channel was right. Every living being should've been connected to it, but dragons seemed to have a stronger connection. Not only that, but their special abilities – their gasham – must have been something on top of that connection, something that only they could have. And it seemed intrinsically related to the Emegal language, somehow.

Could it be that the tales from his childhood – of dragons being messengers of the gods – were all true...?

"Sorry, Ikky, I don't know."

"O-Oh, I wasn't asking you, big guy. I was just thinking to myself..."

Quince turned in his arms and looked up with a confused expression, being the only one that didn't know what was going on in the mongoose's head.

"It's not important, Quince, really. I'm just happy that you two had fun, even if Communion didn't really work like we expected." He smelled Quince's fur when the cat brushed their face against his snout. "Eugh... -Lots- of fun, by the smell of it."

Quince chuckled and jumped from his arms, and looked around the temple to make sure they were finally alone. They turned to Suu before making hand gestures.

"Quince thinks it's bedtime. Before you arrive, Quince said they wanted to go in me. I said I'm wary that I can't hear their voice still, and I might hurt Quince without knowing. But if Ikky is with Quince, that would be okay."

"Yeah? Of course I'll be happy if we both sleep together in you, big guy! Like we used to do in Zugul. If you don't mind, of course!" He looked around, the place really reminding him of that ruined temple in Zugul. "But um... Quince, there's something I wanna ask first."

The sualu turned around, facing their blue scar away from Nikili. The mongoose knelt to meet their eye level.

"Ranir was talking to me about the sualu...about her...and some other stuff, but mostly about us staying here. She wanted to convince me that we should stay here, where we'll be safe and happy. I dunno how much of that is true...but I -do- know that you don't want to stay."

Quince pouted and crossed their arms.

"I just want to know why that is. Do you hate Ranir? Or this place? Do you really miss our home? Or do you still think that you need to run away, like you've done before?"

The yellow feline looked uneasy, and made a single gesture in the air. Suu didn't need to translate it for him; from his lessons on how to make beer, Nikili had learned the word 'galam' and its gesture from when his explanation was hard to follow.

"'Complicated'... Yeah, I can imagine you feel that way. Do you also think it's complicated to think about because of Lagazi – or should I say, Logas?"

Quince looked down, feeling even more coy.

"Yeah... I knew that Ranir didn't misinterpret you earlier. I just connected the dots. But that's okay, Quince. If you don't wanna talk, you know that it's alright by me. I just wanna know if it's important for you that we go back home."

They didn't hesitate to gesture 'yes'.

"Alright, then. I wanted to be sure."

He stood back up, and the cat quickly gestured a sentence. The mongoose didn't understand it, and he looked at Suu to see if they could translate the Emegal.

"Um... Quince asked, 'aren't you going to try to convince me to stay now?'"

"Oh, no, Quince." Nikili answered with a resolute smile. "I'm not gonna convince you, because I -also- wanna go back to Kaati! I... L-Let's say I have my own reasons, too. But if anything, we should go to my home town first, where Nurta wanted to meet us. Alright? Then you can get me back for bringing you here, and tease me about my embarrassing past."

The sualu was surprised at his response. It was rare for them to ever agree on something as important – and likely reckless – as this. But they beamed with the outcome.

"But Ikky," Suu asked meekly, "what of Saisa...?"

"Hm? What about this place, big guy?"

"If I leave, the abgal...Ikinla, Kunia, Ranir... They will be sad."

It dawned on Nikili that he hadn't considered asking Suu if he wanted to go back to Kaati or stay. Here, he could be a dragon without raising alarms, and nobody would judge their unusual relationship. But he didn't want him to go their separate ways. Apprehensively, he mentalized the question, as the words simply wouldn't come out from his mouth from nervousness.

The blue kobold took a long, hard pause, then huffed. "...I wanna go with Ikky and Quince."

Both scavengers sighed in relief. "G-Good... I'm glad, big guy. I really think we should all stick together, no matter what happens. I'm gonna make arrangements for us to leave tomorrow. This time, you're not simply sneaking out from Saisa when no-one's looking."

Quince grumbled at Nikili's teasing, who gave them a chuckle followed by head pats. Suu quietly stood and watched his two dear friends, beaming himself as his boyfriend's happiness was pretty infectious towards his gašam-sag.

And, for the briefest of moments, he could've sworn that he'd heard a whisper of Quince's voice.

***

Baau tapped his claws, staring down at his desk. It was littered with documents, most of them reports made of clay and written in Kaatian. The stone tablet in the middle was certainly different from the rest. It had a large circular inscription, filled with unrecognizable symbols.

The alligator's gaze was unfocused on it. He was tired of the moldy smell that every barrack seemed to share, and wanted nothing more than to go home to his estate. Despite how busy he'd been by leading the covert war effort, he'd cleared his agenda for the day – but he was fuming with impatience.

"He's not coming."

The voice came from a red lizard in the corner of the room. Nurta had been standing still, remaining quiet until now. She wasn't formally her prisoner, but she didn't need shackles. After all, she could physically break out of them by transforming back into a dragon.

Baau banged his fist against the desk. "...I'm aware, sister!" He roared. "I thought I had the commander under my control. But now he's decided on this misbegotten quest for vengeance against the dragon's companion, and gone rogue. Kch... It's my fault for offering that mutt too loose of a leash."

But that wasn't his only worry. "You don't want to go to war with Labla and Munigad."

"Of course not! It's political and military suicide. But it was the only course to keep me in good graces with our craven emperor. Yet I can only stall our troops for so long before he uncovers my scheme." The Kaatian general sighed. "All pieces are in place, except for one. If we don't get a hold of this gašam-sag friend of yours, there will be bloodshed."

The lizard scoffed sarcastically. "How compassionate of you."

"Witty, aren't you? You sound exactly like mother, that–!" Baau interrupted himself to keep his anger in check, before his composure slipped. "...You know that the subsequent conflict would ravage your village, Lagazi, as well."

"Logas." She corrected in cold blood, hiding any signs of being affected by empty threats.

"Call it whatever you fancy."

"If you know that I have a stake in this, then let me help you find him."

"Don't underestimate me, Nurta." The alligator growled, purposefully emphasizing her name. "You have a penchant for glossing over the past, sister, whereas I do not. You have all the more reason to betray me than Ludama, and it'd be remiss of me to allow you to leave my surveillance. Especially given that your only useful piece of information has turned cold."

She snapped. "Why do you need Suugal to cooperate that much?"

He didn't answer, and carefully rested his paw on the stone tablet. "...We'll continue to monitor Fereh, along with Kuir and Lagazi. For your sake, your intel had best be accurate. If not, I have no qualms about pursuing this other dragon myself, even if I need to raze all of Zuit to locate him."

"I didn't tell you about Fereh for -my- sake."

Nurta leaned back against the wall, keeping her outward appearance self-possessed. But she was as impatient as the general who was drumming his claws on his desk, and – she hated to admit it – utterly terrified. She didn't want to betray the lost trio, but she didn't see any other way of saving Ruunk and the rest of Kaati.
