[b][u][center]A Modern Dragon Harem
Chapter 10: On the Road Again
Sponsored by DrakeHavok
By Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]








The flash of light that announced the end of the spell also announced the end of the dragon’s conscious state. He flopped out on the table, his eyes closed, and he drifted away into dreamland. 

In the darkness and emptiness, however, he found himself surprisingly…focused. Not drifting in the nothingness the way that he often did when he was sleeping, or in the void where there was nothing between falling asleep and waking up. Instead, he found himself sitting on a blob of light in the black, and across from him – 

“Hello again.”

Was himself. Or at least, something like him. Another Draconicon? Or maybe it was [i]the[/i] Draconicon that had changed him the first time around. He didn’t know, and there was no way that he was going to guess just from writing tropes which it was. There were too many different possibilities. 

Instead, he pulled his wings around himself, rubbing his head. 

“Hi.”

“Long day?” the other dragon asked. 

“Long morning.”

“It’s not easy having power, is it?”

“No.”

“Well, sorry, but it’s not really going to get easier.”

“Very comforting. Why apologize when there’s no going back?”

“Technically, there is, but you wouldn’t like it.”

“Hmmph.”

“I’m not kidding. Once you taste this kind of power, you don’t give it up easily. It’s easier to give up cigarettes than that.”

“How would you know that? I never wrote that you tried them.”

“I didn’t let you write everything about me, you know.”

That was a disturbing thought, and one that he wasn’t going to let himself linger on for longer than he had to. Instead, the once-human leaned his head back, looking up at the heavens around them. The darkness had little blots of light everywhere, and it almost made him feel like he was floating through the universe. 

He really hoped that didn’t mean that he was sitting on a – 

“Not really. Just a representation of a sun.”

“Are you a mind-reader?”

“Kind of. More of a guess towards where your feelings were going.”

“Is that from the magic, or just…something you do?”

“A little of both.” The ‘real’ Draconicon shrugged. “It’s something you might pick up yourself if you last long enough.”

“God, don’t remind me.”

“Gods, actually.”

“…”

“Just saying. You don’t want to offend too many of them at once when you start getting their notice.”

That was another thought that he hadn’t considered, and one more thing that he really didn’t want to deal with. He groaned, letting his face fall in his hands in a way that he realized that he would never really do in the real world anymore. There were too many people that needed him to be strong for them, too many people that were freaking out or were going to if he didn’t do what he needed to do to be strong. 

Here, however, in the privacy of his mind…well, semi-privacy, he supposed, he could do as he liked. 

“How much more am I going to see?”

“More than you want,” the real Draconicon said, shaking his head. “You’re going to be fighting against gods that want the multiverse to stay exactly as it always was.”

“Why?”

“Because change invites entropy. Change invites decay, expending energy that up until now has been a perpetual motion, allowing the universe to continue more or less as it always has.”

“…Let me guess. ‘As it always has’ means that it’s not been great on the way here.”

“Right in one.”

“And you’re stirring the pot.”

“To put it mildly, yes. I’m pushing various worlds to change, various places to start being better. And if I can make this world one of them, it’ll help at least three more stay on their feet for a while longer. You’re a lynchpin of a universe, you see, and – that’s not important right now.”

Lore, he supposed. Lore and information that might become important in the future if this world changed, but the black dragon was right. This wasn’t the time for him to be dropping more of that. 

The once-human leaned forward. 

“What do I need to know?”

“That’s something that you need to figure out. I can answer some questions, but go too far…”

“And it’ll be considered a move?”

The real Draconicon smiled, nodding. 

“Right. And we’re trying to avoid making a move for as long as possible, force them to do it instead?”

“We can’t ‘force’ them to make a move, but we [i]can[/i] make sure that they aren’t going to be moving anytime soon. The less you do at once, the longer it takes for it to count. On the other hand, the less you do now, the more that you’ll need to do in the future. It’s a matter of balance, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Hey, just because I’m manipulating the rules doesn’t mean I know how all of them work. I’m just one dragon trying to figure out how to make the world work, how to make it nice, how to make it good.”

“In other words…” 

“I don’t know everything, no.”

[i]Wonderful.[/i] The once-human groaned, rubbing his hand over his face again. This was going to be a wonderful little fight, he could just tell. He had no intel, he had no idea how his powers worked outside of a most vague understanding, and he was pushing himself to figure it all out before the world came crashing in and kicked down his door for a fight. 

The other Draconicon patted him on the arm, but it was scant comfort considering what he was trying to sort through. He had already converted three people to their true forms and summoned them to him, which meant that this hadn’t been enough to really be considered a move. Whether that was numbers or due to their relative importance in the world, he didn’t know, but it was something to remember. 

More than that, transforming Veronica and her various personalities had knocked him out, so he didn’t know if that counted, either. 

“It doesn’t.”

“Thanks for that much…”

“I wouldn’t go too far for another day or two, though. You’re running close to the marker.”

“…Well, at least you could tell me that.”

“I’ll do what I can. I want to see you win, and you know that.”

“Yeah…”

“Wishing it was me instead of you, right now?”

“…Not as much as you’d think, actually.”

“Heh. I knew I picked the right one.”

He had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but it still gave him a happy little glow inside his heart. The once-human lowered his head, blushing slightly as he looked down at the floor, trying not to shake his head. It was a good compliment, and he could allow himself to savor it rather than just deny it outright. 

The stars continued to whistle by in the darkness, and the other Draconicon looked out into the distance. There was a small sigh there, and the real dragon got to his feet. 

“I’m going to have to cut this short. There’s a few things going on out there that I have to take care of. A few other people that I have to see to.”

“Others like me, or?”

“Others like the ones that you’ve written about.”

That was a bombshell and a half, but before he could ask about it, the other Draconicon clicked his fingers, and the darkness faded. 

“Back to the real world with you. And be careful.”

#

The world opened up again, this time with four different voices chattering to themselves and drowning out another pair as they came back. Draconicon kept his eyes closed, his breathing fairly normal, but he could already hear one voice stop. 

[i]That’ll be either Tobias or Veronica,[/i] he thought. [i]They’ll notice the shift in breathing.[/i]

He laid there, letting himself wake up, letting everything come back to him. Including pain. Mostly pain. A lot of pain, for that matter, aching in his arms and up and down his spine, and his throat felt like hell. 

[i]Okay, either I swallowed a bucket of rusty nails while I was out, or casting that sort of spell does a real number on the body. I’m going to guess the latter…[/i]

Really should have asked the real Drac for something to experiment with, he supposed, but that was something else that he’d have to figure out on his own. If he didn’t do something about that soon, though, he was going to be in deep trouble. 

There were going to be other dangers that he’d have to face in the future, and if this sort of spell was all it took to lay him out, then there was no way that he could protect everyone and do the sort of magic that he needed to do in order to see them safe. He needed to get better. He needed to get stronger. 

A hand pressed against the side of his neck, and heard a soft grunt. 

“He’s alive.”

There was just enough dispassion to the voice to make him realize that it had to be Tobias. He opened one eye, and found himself looking up at a Doberman. A dressed Doberman, thankfully; he could see that someone had managed to find – 

No. This was another rogue element of the spell, or something else that had come down through intent, perhaps. This time, Tobias was dressed almost precisely as he had imagined the Doberman from the Dragoness of Salsea stories that he had written some time ago. Mirrored sunglasses, a rifle across his back, and a knife at his waist. There was a combat vest involved, as well as – 

“Those have got to be the most uncomfortable boots in the world…” Draconicon muttered. 

“Yeah. He’s fine.”

A crowd of people surged forward, and he only had a moment or two to register the yellow scales of Engy, the purple tones of Ailsa, the white fur of Anya, and more. He groaned as he was almost completely smothered beneath them all, and was on the verge of flailing to get them to back off until – 

“Alright, guys, get offa him. Let the bugger breathe, huh? Christ…”

[i]Victoria.[/i]

As the bundle of happy people were pushed away – including a German Shepherd and a disgruntled Doberman – he was able to sit up and see the big roo standing over him. A big gray roo, one that offered him a hand and a smile. 

“Oy. Let’s get you on your feet again. Can ye walk?” she asked in the same Australian accent that he was used to. 

“Let’s find out.”

The answer was yes, but slowly. He groaned as soon as he put his legs under him, feeling them wanting to collapse again already, and he knew that this was going to be a very unpleasant trip down the road. If they were walking the whole way there, then he was going to find himself flat on his face more than once without some support. 

However, before he could even ask about it, Zavis was under one shoulder, and Engy under the other. He blinked, looking down at the two of them. 

“Let us handle it, Master,” the snake said with a chuckle. “We’ll get it out of you later.”

“Yeah. And besides, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to see what this body can do,” Engy added. “Do you think I got the rocket punch?”

SHOOM!

Almost as soon as the yellow dragon said that, his metal forearm went flying away, boosted off by a sudden burst of flame at the base. It shot across the room, blew up the computer connection that Veronica and the rest had set up, and then embedded itself in the far wall. 

Dragon and company all stared at the metal arm that was still flaring, though the rocket seemed to be losing fuel. Some were staring open-mouthed, others were slowly shaking their heads. Engy, on the other hand – 

“That…is…so cool.” He grinned. “Rocket arm, return!”

Nothing happened. 

“…I don’t think it’s a Pokémon, man,” Draconicon said, chuckling softly. 

The chuckle spread through the rest of the room, everyone falling into at least a giggle, if not an outright belly laugh. Victoria leaned back on her tail, hugging herself while Anya fluffed out her tails, stumbling over to the wall to collect the arm and bring it back. 

As she helped Engy put it back on, they gathered together with a small plan. There was no way that he was going to be walking to the cave, but there was a possibility of getting close to it by driving. It meant that there was a chance of being seen, spotted, observed, but that was a chance that they were going to have to take. Even with the support, he could feel that his legs were on the verge of giving out again, and he didn’t want to have to make the rest of the group chase him down the side of the mountain. 

Tobias and Janet went off to take care of that, while the rest of them sat down. A few little experiments quickly proved that, while Engy and some of the others had gained a few items, nobody had actually gained the abilities of their other forms. Ailsa, in particular, was most annoyed by that. 

The stingray grumbled as she crossed her arms, muscles bulging as she tensed her arms a few times, and her pecs made her breasts bounce as she flexed them, too. She was obviously rather annoyed, her frown almost seeming to make the little horns running along the side of her face – fins, he supposed, without quite as much webbing – flex and throb with her face. The fact that she sat completely without shame, her legs spread and showing her double dicks and a hint of the pussy beneath, only made it that much more obvious that she was pouting. 

Zavis was there, too, the boa moving about the room, picking up their mess, somehow finding a way to cover up the hole in the wall for the moment as well as finding a garbage can big enough for the broken computer. He hadn’t thought that was possible, but then again, this was the super-butler. He pulled on his bowtie, adjusting it every so often, but seemed otherwise unconcerned. 

Anya was flopped out against his lap, the three-tailed arctic fox half-asleep, it seemed. She nuzzled him, and he petted her like a good pet. 

And that left Veronica and Victoria, and…

He glanced over his shoulder. The German Shepherd was slowly going from window to window, keeping an eye on the road and lands outside, while the kangaroo kept hopping about, keeping mobile. 

When she caught him looking at her, he gave a slight nod towards her pouch. Victoria gave a small smile, holding her hands up in an ‘ok’ circle. 

So, that’s where Vivian was hiding. No surprise there. Seemed to be the sort of place that fit her. 

Now, it was just a matter of waiting. A little longer, he supposed. A little bit longer, and they’d be somewhere safe. 

[i]And then I can start practicing this stuff for real…[/i]

#

Eventually, Tobias and Janet came back, the Doberman and the human taking off their enchanted items and holding up the keys to a couple of cars. It was more than he wanted to try taking off someone else’s hands, but he knew better than to think that they could all fit in one vehicle. 

Well, unless it was a bus, but they didn’t get one of those. 

The drive was short, and while everyone else talked, Draconicon kept his head forward and his eyes on the road. He was half-lost in his own thoughts, and while he didn’t want to be rude, he needed to think. 

Mostly, about magic. 

[i]How do we want to do this?[/i] he thought. [i]We need to figure this out. Will magic and Rhyme magic are all well and good, but they’re still taking more power to do anything than I like. There’s more types that work than this.[/i]

Admittedly, he had often written the other Draconicon working off of will magic, as well, but there were others. Drawing power off of someone else, for example, like the story where he had borrowed energy from a god. There was also the runic power that he had given the dragon in other settings, and the ability to enchant items. That had to come from more than just raw willpower. 

That said, the biggest ability that he had given the Drac in his stories had been the ability to adapt the magic of others to his own. That had been done through the use of the black fire that was a key part of Draconicon, the character. Yet, he hadn’t found that in himself yet. 

[i]Maybe it’s a level-up thing, or maybe it’s something that I don’t have the energy for yet. Or maybe I just don’t know how it works.[/i]

He sighed, slumping forward a bit as he rested his forehead on his hands. God, this was going to be tiring. 

“You okay, man?”

Engy. He looked up at the metal-armed, yellow dragon, and smiled. 

“I’m alright.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Just still tired. Changing the four of them…heh. More tiring than I thought.”

“Yeah, well…just be safe, okay?”

“I will.”

And with Anya in the other car, he felt safe enough to give his long-time friend a little squeeze on the dick. It not only served as a way to keep Engy feeling like things were alright, but it was funny to make the yellow dragon blush. 

“Nnnnn…Not fair.”

“Oh, I’d call that completely fair.”

“I’m gonna step on you later.”

“Promises, promises.”

He chuckled, looking ahead again. They were getting close to where they’d have to ditch the cars, and that meant walking. He groaned under his breath, but it was unavoidable. 

The cars finally came to a stop near a drying-out waterfall, and they all got out of the car. He looked at the dirt pathway that led to the caves further up, about a half mile or so judging by the maps, and he knew that this was gonna suck. 

As Engy reached for him, though, he shook his head. 

“I’ll make it. You guys get up there first, see if there’s anything to worry about.”

“Rocket –”

“Bup!”

He covered the yellow dragon’s mouth, shaking his head. 

“No saying it unless you want to shoot it. Okay?”

“…” Engy nodded. 

“Okay.”

Letting go, he gestured for the stingray and dragon to go up first. The former was current military, the latter was former, and he knew that they both had the training to handle themselves in a fight if they had to. Zavis and Tobias went next, though the Doberman walked off with a playful glare from the rest of them. 

[i]Probably wanting to stick together,[/i] he thought. [i]Then again, I imagine Tobias is welcoming the chance to make genuinely private evaluations of people after this long.[/i]

He leaned back against the car, watching them make their way up in waves. Anya came over to stand beside him, and she gently rubbed his arm. 

“Everything okay, babe?”

“Just thinking about what’s going to happen next.”

“You’re going to make the cave into a castle, right?”

“Well, not a castle, but a fort.”

“Think we’re going to get Gann out here, too?”

“Maybe. Not until after the basics are all safe, though.”

“You sure that you’re okay? You’re doing that thing where you’re not looking at me when we’re talking.”

He was. Mostly because he was a bit concerned about what was going to happen next. Nevertheless, he turned, looking down at the vixen. 

Either she was more comfortable with being naked now, or she’d just forgotten that she was again. Whichever the reason, it meant that he was looking down at a white ball of fluff that wasn’t doing anything to hide her curves. If anything, she was pushing herself closer to him, her hand running along his arm, the other running along his hip. 

It was something that she’d done a lot in the past. Failing to find a good answer for how to make things better, she’d nudge him for a bit of sex, offering herself as a distraction even if there wasn’t much else that she could think of. 

Sometimes, it was great. Other times, it wasn’t what he needed. He smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. 

“Not now, but thanks.”

“What do you mean?”

“Heh. Nothing. Do you want to stay with the cars until we clear it, or…”

“…I’d like to stay with the cars. I’m no good with fighting.”

“Unless you think that someone’s trying to steal your man, like Ailsa did?”

“Oh, hush! That wasn’t what I meant to do.”

“You slapped her hand.”

“She grabbed your dick!”

“And?”

“…And I overreacted. Sorry, again,” she said, rubbing her arm.

“It’s alright. But you still want to stay with the car?”

“Yeah.”

“Veronica, Victoria? One of you stay with her?”

“Yah.” Veronica nodded, the Shepherd moving forward. She had her own combat vest back on, though she lacked the boots that Tobias had long-since ditched. She walked on her own paws, and he could tell with every step she was savoring the feeling of being able to walk without her cane again. “I’ll keep an eye on her. She’ll be safe.”

“I know she will be.” He smiled. “Victoria?”

“Heh, right behind ya, hun.”

With the final split, he started marching up the pathway, the soft thump-thump of the big gray roo behind him. Despite the situation, Draconicon chuckled. 

“Never going to be a stealth operative, are ya?”

“Nah, but ya know me. Always been the bright and sunny sort.”

“And that’s the sort that runs up and kicks people in the face?”

“Yeah, or the balls. Gotta love the face they make when ya do that, eh?”

“Well, it’s definitely funny.”

They followed the dirt road up and around, soon leaving the road out of sight. Seeing the various footprints in the earth, he could tell that they were the first people to come up to the cave for a long time. Possibly months, for that matter. He’d have to do something about that so that any park rangers didn’t think that there were people hiding out up there. 

And something about the cars, too, make sure that they got back to the proper owners back at the hotel. That was another biggie, something else that’d have to be taken care of. 

And the whole reshaping of the cave to be a safe place. 

And dealing with the various needs for powers. 

And the fact that he had to make sure that everyone was as informed as possible. 

And – 

He must have changed his walk or something, because no sooner had he started grumbling to himself than Victoria grabbed him by the shoulder. Gently, but firmly, too. He sighed. 

“I’m going to be okay.”

“I know. You’re strong. And you gotta be. But you still got us to lean on, ya know?”

“I know.”

“Vivian wants you to know that, too.”

“Heh.” He smiled. “How is she?”

“Aww, why ask me? Why don’t you see for yourself?”

“Well, that’s your pouch. Pretty sure I don’t just touch that without permission.”

“Darling man.” She smiled. “Go ahead. But, uh, gentle, ya know?”

Nodding, he turned back to her. Unlike the other two, she was bottomless, and no surprise. He didn’t know if there were pants in existence that would be able to work with those mighty legs. Running his fingers down to the edge of her shirt, he lifted it just a bit and found the flap of flesh that meant he was near the top of her pouch. 

He was very, very gentle as he wiggled a finger inside. No sooner had he done so than a tiny hand grabbed him, soft and smooth, and he smiled, wiggling his finger. 

“Still putting yourself together, huh?”

“Mmmm…”

It was a soft sound, one that he had to kneel down to listen to. A little more pressure, opening the pouch for sounds to come through. 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about hurrying. You have time. I’ll always make time for you, little Vivian.”

“Nnn…thank you…”

Her voice was so quiet, so soft that it almost felt hidden, like even now, she was still shy enough to hold back. He didn’t blame her. For the first time, she had a body, one that had to hide physically rather than otherwise. 

“May I see you?”

“…okay…”

A hint of shyness, a hint of happiness. He glanced up at Victoria, got a nod of approval, and gently reached into her pouch. 

He found the little body, and helped her up. When she was far enough out of the pouch to hook her arms around the lip of it, he couldn’t help but smile all the wider. She was a soft thing, with a little possum nose and with the whiskers and ears, but with a kobold’s arms and the leanness of muscle there. Then she would shift, her ears shrinking down and in, taking on the bright-eyed wonder of a kobold looking at the world out from under a mountain. Then again, another shift, and she would be staring at the world with the fear and hunger of a possum again. 

She was emotion incarnate, always changing, always wondering, always brightening, always so [i]intense.[/i] And it was a beautiful thing. 

He leaned down, giving her the softest of soft pets along her head. 

“Permission?” 

“Yes…”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, a soft thing. She didn’t quite giggle, but she let out a low, happy ‘heeee’ before she threw up her arms and ducked back into the pouch. This time, he could just make out the bulge as she wiggled and got comfortable inside again. Draconicon smiled, getting back to his feet. 

“Ya feel better, don’t ya?” Victoria asked. 

“Yep.”

“Haha! Told her it’d work.”

“Sneaky roo.”

“Hey. Ya know ya need it, hun.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Come on. They’re gonna be accusing me of playing with your paws if we take too much longer.”

“Well, ya know I’m up for that later…” She laughed. “But yeah, let’s get up there first. We can always have fun later, when little Viv’s got a den of her own.”

He nodded, climbing up the pathway. His legs were shaking, still, but they were not quite as ready to drop him on his face anymore. Just a bit further, now. 

#

The caves were as good as he hoped they would be. There was a narrow-ish opening to them, one that bottlenecked quickly for anyone that was trying to make their way in. A simple rhyme mapped out the existing caverns, as well as any passages to the surface. Aside from a few cracks barely big enough for bats and rodents, which also supplied air to the lower caverns, there was only the front ‘door,’ so to speak. 

They’d need more than that, he knew, but at least now they had something to work with. Something to start from. 

Once everyone had gathered in the front, Draconicon looked around. 

“Anyone got a notebook?”

Everyone turned en masse towards Zavis. The snake arched an eyebrow, gesturing at his naked self. 

“As much as I would love to serve a need, I don’t have pocket portals yet. Though I’d love to have one if you don’t mind giving me some, master.”

“Maybe later, when I have more stuff figured out. Veronica? Tobias?”

“…Yes.” The Doberman nodded. “Why?”

“We need a list of things I need to get done. Mind stripping out a few sheets of paper for that?”

“I do not mind.”

As the paper was passed out – as well as a pen that was offered from the pouch – Draconicon asked everyone to start putting together a list of things that they’d need here in the caves. Essentials first, then a few luxuries. A [i]few,[/i] he stressed, particularly as Ailsa’s eyes started lighting up. The last thing that they needed was to start overdoing it. 

After all, this was home now. Comforts were needed, but not too many. Not yet. 













[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]