Dragon Guide

Chapter 9: Dragons in the Spirit World

A monstrous dragon towers through the sky above me and even though I've met him before he is still just as impressive every time. In comparison to him, I might just be the size of a single claw on his talons. Fiery red scales shimmer under the light and just a hint of gold can be seen glimmering at the end of each fading into the other. The whelps stand firm in front of me, protective and determined. I smile warmly at them and call them to me reassuring them that it is okay. I turn my eyes back to the dragon before me, he raises his head into the sky, wrapping his tail around its hind legs, the movement forces me back a step as the air swooshes past me. A slight tremor runs along his body, smoke gushes through his nostrils and the spaces between his teeth. In the blink of an eye, the dragon's form morphs from a beast to a man. He stands naked in the field, exuding pride and dominance. There is no shyness, no shame, and rightfully so. He watches me as I admire his body inch by inch. He is not anywhere near as bulky as Merlin in fact he is rather lean, but under the thin layer of skin, his muscles ripple but unfathomable power. There is no mistaking it, he does not need a large figure, and he can do more damage than even Merlin can imagine.

He finally moves and his long white hair falls down past his waist a few stray stands wisp about gently with the wind and as the sunlight catches it there is a pale lavender tint that shines through. He appraises me with glowing green-blue eyes that are as spirited as ever. The whelps are in a state of unrest as they are unsure of how to process what is happening before their eyes. I reassure them all with a gentle touch. I have the unreasonable urge to possess this man, to make him mine and lock him away for my eyes alone.

He stands tall and naked before my eyes, unashamed and rightfully so. His long white hair falls down past his waist and a few stray stands wisp about gently with the wind and as the sunlight catches it there is a pale lavender tint that shines through. He appraises me with glowing green-blue eyes that are as spirited as ever. The whelps are in a state of unrest as they are unsure of how to process what is happening before their eyes. I reassure them all with a gentle touch.

I stand and move forward to greet the naked man. His body is slender and lean, not bulky in the slightest bit and with each movement the muscles ripple under his flesh, leaving no doubt of his ungodly power. I smile warmly as I approach him and he opens his arms to me, I hesitate as I consider pressing my body against his naked form, but it is just a momentary hesitation. This is not someone that I should be displeasing, he is going to be my children's guide for what comes next. He has held a high position in the Dragon's Council for several centuries now. I've always been strongly attracted to this man. I am very confident that at some point Nova has had to keep me from climbing onto him, I have no idea why I get like that almost as if I can’t control myself. Nevertheless, I can’t see us working out, he's too much of a free soul, to put it mildly.

As he takes me into his embrace, I do the same and bring myself closer to his arms. The contact with his skin sends a thrilling shock through the parts of me that are in direct contact with him, it almost hums audibly yet it doesn't. I quickly take a step back and I release a breath I didn't even know I was holding. he chuckles lightly, "Your body calls to me I see, why do you deny yourself the pleasures of the flesh?" says Aoyun.

"Who does your body not call for?", I say as I roll my eyes and giggle at his joke.

"That is not actually true, my body only behaves this way for you," he says in a more serious tone. Before I can respond I feel the heavy heads of my whelps pushing to create more space between us, wanting to keep me safely away from this new unknown being. I take this time to turn my attention back to them, I feel the protectiveness but beneath that is a raging curiosity directed towards Aoyun. He looks at them and I see his eyes widen ever so slightly as he truly takes in the number of whelps, I have with me.

"Bǎobèi! How can there be so many?! Just you alone?!", he asks in a rushed tone, his words laced with a heavy with his Chinese accent.

"Yes, I am doing this alone. We'll be fine but there have been a lot of difficulties keeping them in this form and so I came to you earlier than planned. I need you to help me guide them through their shift from dragon to human. There can be no delay this time since we are already here in the spirit world. Will you help me?" I ask, a bit apprehensively. If he says no that will put us back a bit but there are other shapeshifters here in the Spirit world. They would help for sure but Aoyun is the gentlest with young whelps. I want him, no, I need him to do this.

After what feels like a very long wait, he finally responds. "Yes, I will help you Bǎobèi but we will need to move away from this place. There have been reports that dragon hunters have been seen nearby several nests recently. We've barely managed to slip past them these times because the flock was small but this... " He trails off looking at the large flock I have with me.

"I know, but I will not be losing my children!", I say with a sharp edge to my tone. Aoyun raises both his hands, palms outwards in front of his chest. "I meant no harm to them, you know this, I do this for them". he responds gently as if he is trying to coax a startled animal. I tilt my head to the side, looking at him like some strange being, not sure why he would say that.

"Your eyes started to turn dark", he said, explaining himself. I realized what he meant now; I had no idea that my anger had risen to such a degree. He barely said anything to set me off! What was wrong with me? I had been told before that my eyes take on a royal purple color when I get angry but on a normal day when I am happy, they are so clear, like seeing through glass. I sigh deeply in frustration at myself, why am I being like this, so restless?

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to react that way. I've just been on edge a lot recently." I say meekly. "Let's get going, we don't have that much time."

The whelps comply and follow along, at ease now that they have concluded for themselves that Aoyun is not a threat to them or to me. They slither along through the bushes, pouncing on each other, and growling playfully with each other as we make our way into the forest beyond the field. As we approach the edge of the forest Aoyun walks ahead and disappears behind the trees as I follow behind more slowly with the whelps. As we break the tree line, I see him walking back towards me wearing a blue and white embroidered hanfu as he walks forward the embroidered cranes give the illusion of taking flight. He has tied his hair in a coronet that is encrusted with blue zircon stones.

Beside him is an ethereal beauty wearing a red hanfu embroidered with a Phoenix. Immediately my possessive thoughts kick in and I quickly brush them off. Her petite body as lithe as a floating feather gracefully approaches wearing a Phoenix coronet atop her head. She steps so lightly that the leaves do not even crumple under her feet, instead, she appears to be floating above the ground. Immediately I can tell who she is Feng Huang the Phoenix Goddess. Fenghuang arrives before me and the whelps, she smiles gently and I quickly fall to my knees and bow into a deep kowtow.