Chapter 8: Differing Opinions

Acolyte Sophia – Despeir Mountains

I felt like my stomach had fallen out of my body. Lady Delilah was a dragon. A dragon.

And not any dragon, but Dominari. The dragon we had set out on a Quest to kill. The dragon who’d encouraged Angela to go down this road, who’d recruited allies to aid Angela on her quest, who’d watched us for afar and given my Queen her wonderful gift.

My hand rubbed at my belly through my robe.

And she was Dominari. The monster who’d depopulated Eastern Zeutch, burned cities, towns, and villages. Refugees had flooded west five hundred years ago, fleeing in terror from her wrath. Whole armies were consumed in her fires. Scores of mages had perished attempting to fight her. She had claimed her Desolation, and only the foolish dared challenge her.

And us.

But Dominari wasn’t our enemy. She had proved that. She could have killed us easily at any time. We were at her mercy. Last night, Angela and I shared her bed. We writhed in passion with Lady Delilah. She could have ripped us apart. She could have burned us and eaten us.

But she didn’t. She wanted to be Angela’s. She yearned to be controlled, collared, kept from marauding.

And with her, Angela would be High Queen. I could see it now. Who could stand against us when we had the most powerful and dangerous monster in the world serving us. My nervousness transformed into exhilaration. A giddy euphoria had me swaying on the back of my horse. Finally, a woman would rule. No more following in Pater’s example. Yes, Angela could grow a cock, giving her a dominating rod, but she was still woman.

After all, making love to the new Angela, or other hermaphrodites, hadn’t broken my vow to Saphique. I still had my connection go my goddess. She was the patron of women. She would know what sex Angela possessed.

My head shot to my Queen. She sat astride her warhorse, face stony. But I could see it in her eyes. I knew her. We had changed so much these last six months, suffered through so many trials since we set out from Secare. We had grown so close, discovered truths about ourselves.

She dominated. I submitted.

And there was a dragon in need of dominating. A dragon who needed to submit, who needed what Angela could give her.

I smiled at my Queen, giving her such an encouraging nod. She didn’t have to fulfill her Quest. Dominari wouldn’t be a threat to the world if she served its ruler. Its rightful ruler. She was the High King’s heir. All the lands from the Despeir Mountains west were hers. Zeutch, Thosi, Thlin, Althos, Vanya, Secare, and the cities of the Nimborgoth. Hers by right of her blood.

She had to seize it.

Angela didn’t respond to my look. She grit her teeth and slung down from her horse. “We need to prepare.”

“Right,” I nodded, climbing down off my horse and unbelting my robe. I had spells to cast: weapons needed to be enchanted and everyone had to be warded with a divination spell. It would give at most a heartbeat’s warning of danger, enough for us to react if we were paying attention to the magic.

I plunged my fingers into my pussy, groaning as I churned my flesh. Everyone dismounted around me, silent, my companions all deep in thought at the revelation. I shuddered, closing my eyes and imagining Angela as queen.

I pictured her sitting regally upon her throne, wearing a gown of sky-blue and adorned with sapphires. A silver crown set in her flaming curls glinting with her majesty. Upon her shoulders draped a purple cape trimmed in ermine. And at her side knelt Lady Delilah and myself, collars about our throats, the chains held in Angela’s hands. Her slaves and concubines.

“Yes,” I hissed, my fingers churning my pussy to a froth. My flesh clenched down on my digits as I prepared myself for the divination spell. “It will be magnificent.”

My head leaned back, my eyes still firmly shut as I lost myself to my fantasy. Before her entire court, I pressed my head between Angela’s legs. Her tangy musk filled my nose as I kissed down her sleek thighs.

Worship me, she moaned in my imagination. Show the world the obedience due me.

“Yes, my Queen,” I gasped, the heel of my hand grinding on my clit. My pussy clenched about my digits, my pleasure growing swiftly.

I licked through her pussy in my imagination, reaching her clit, teasing it, coaxing out her girl-dick. It swelled over my head, growing longer and longer while I tongued her snatch. She moaned and squirmed, everyone watching gasping in shock and desire.

Witnessing the mighty prowess of their Queen.

I sucked on her cock, my fingers plunging not into my pussy, but hers. I fingered her faster and faster, sucking so hard, my tongue swirling about her dick’s crown. Her salty precum filled my mouth, making me tremble with excitement.

Euphoria swelled. My toes curled in my shoes. I moaned out my pleasure as it exploded through me. My pussy spasmed about my fingers. My clit ached beneath my grinding hand. My body trembled, my voice echoing through the mountain pass.

And I almost forgot to cast the spell.

“Saphique, I pray to protect us from danger, to give us a glimpse of peril to cum,” I chanted, the magic sparking out of my pussy along with my orgasmic delight. My eyes fluttered. I glanced out at my companions, all watching me in silence. “Gather before me,” I said, shuddering through my orgasm. “Hurry.”

They did, pressing around me, kneeling to receive Saphique’s blessing.

My milk filled my breasts when the energy reached them. My nipples ached and throbbed. I pulled my fingers from my pussy, smearing my cream across my tits. My body shuddered, the milk swelling my breasts, beading at my nipples.

It had to cum out.

I grabbed my tits, squeezing as I moaned: “Grant those foresight whom are anointed with your love and protection, my virgin Goddess.”

Milk squirted from my nipples, spraying out across my friends. I groaned, rivulets running down my fingers and belly, anointing me as I coated them. It fell like white rain across their faces, Minx grinning as she held her tongue out before her, Thrak stoic as it drizzled across his swarthy and pierced features.

Angela made no reaction at all, her face stony, still wrestling with her thoughts.

“That’s it?” Chaun asked, my white milk standing out on his ebony skin. “We can see the future?”

“You’ll get ... impressions,” Sophia said. “Pay attention. It’ll be a tingle. You won’t have much warning though. But it’s better than nothing. To do more, I would need more priestesses to work a ritual.”

“It’ll be enough,” Angela said, rising, my milk running down her armor.

My fingers were coated in breast milk. “Thrak, your ax.”

I hoped Angela would make the right decision as I enchanted the orc’s weapon. It glowed pink with danger. If the dragon’s scales were hardened by magic, then my enchantment would let his weapon bite through. Then I anointed Minx’s daggers and Xera’s arrows.

Angela’s sword needed no such enchantment. Magic burned in the blade far stronger than anything I could cast.

Knave Angela

A chill shivered through my flesh as Aurora let out a deep breath. “There. Warded.”

“Tickles,” Minx giggled, flexing her fingers. “And I feel all muggy.” The halfling squirmed.

“That’s the water elemental,” Aurora said, gripping her totem. “There is a thin layer of water over each of you.”

I shifted, feeling like my boots were soggy and my armor wet. “Good,” I said, my stomach twisting as I looked up the small trail Lady Delilah—Dominari—had ridden. I still could not believe that she was the dragon. I had known her since I was a girl. She was my first crush. And last night...

And now she wanted me to stop her from being a monster.

“So,” Minx asked, flipping her enchanted dagger, the pink hue blurring as it spun in the air. She caught her blade. “What’s the choice, Angela? Kill or dominate?”

“Kill,” Xera said without hesitation, a fierce hatred shooting across her face. “She’s a monster.” Xera was a hunter for her people. She spent her life patrolling the Deorc Forest for any monsters that had wandered out of the Rheyn Mountains to the north. We had met her hunting a basilisk.

“Kill her!” gasped Minx in shock.

“Look at what she’s done.” The elf’s naked breasts, glistening with moisture, swayed as she pointed down the pass towards the brown lands of the Desolation. “She has burned everything green for miles upon miles. She has razed entire cities. She is a pestilence upon the world. The poor people of Zeutch have suffered for generations. That is why we’re here. To slay her.”

“But the wealth and glory, Xera,” Minx protested, her sapphire eyes so wide. “Think about it. We’ll be the High Queen’s most trusted servants. Angela will reward us with gold, titles, positions of authority, whatever we want.” Minx’s head shot to me. “Right?”

“I guess,” I said, my mouth dry. Did I want that? To rule? The sword hummed in its sheath at my side, almost demanding that I make that choice. But was it something I wanted? Did I want to be queen of the known world?

I could make it peaceful. No more wars between Secare or Valya, or between the Princedoms in Zeutch. I could help Althos deal with the Tribes of Ilt, and pacify the orcs and make them civilized. The desert nomads would not have to live lives of banditry. I could even free the humans enslaved by the rakshasas in the Queendom of Naith and destroy the foul Shizhuth Empire on the other side of the mountains.

“You would spare this monster, Minx?” Xera said, her aghast shock drawing me out of my thoughts. “After what she’s done? It’s unconscionable.”

Xera was right, too. But it wasn’t just Dominari we’d kill. It was Lady Delilah. There was such pain in her voice. She didn’t want to be a monster. She didn’t want to pillage the world.

“I agree,” Faoril said. “Dominari is dangerous. Could Angela actually keep her under control? We have a chance to kill her, we should—”

“Of course Angela can keep Dominari under control!” Sophia exclaimed, cutting off the mage. “My Queen is strong, and Lady Delilah wants to submit.” Her hands clutched at her belly through her now closed robes. “You weren’t in our tent last night. I felt it. She yearns to be Angela’s submissive, like me. She wants to serve. She just needs Angela to prove she is strong enough to earn that submission.”

“Earn it?” Xera asked.

“Submission is such a huge thing to give,” Sophia said, her words heated with her passion and love for me. Her words were so touching. “It is not something to be given lightly. You have to trust your Queen implicitly. You have to know she won’t hurt you. That she will give you what you need. It’s so scary taking that step. But it’s also amazing. Wonderful.”

Thrak grunted, nodding his head in agreement. He would know. He had Captain Thyrna as his submissive.

“And this is Angela’s destiny,” Sophia continued. “That’s what the Lesbius Oracle told us. It never said we were here to kill Dominari. The prophecy said that the Flaming Woman would change Angela’s destiny. And she is. She’s giving Angela what she needs to rebuild her ancestor’s empire. To restore the High Kingdom of Hamilten and bring peace to the world.”

“And?” Xera asked. “That makes it right to spare the monster?”

“Yes!” Sophia and Minx said at the exact same moment.

“Think of the wealth,” Minx pleaded to her elven lover.

“Gold is dross.” Xera’s ears twitched. “I know you have a fascination with it, but it has only the value we give it. There is nothing intrinsic about it. In the forest, we have no use for coins. Elves all work together to better ourselves.”

“Well, the rest of us need gold,” Minx said.

“And lets not forget we’re all fugitives,” Sophia continued, glancing at me. “We have bounties on our head. Killing Dominari won’t change that, my Queen.”

I bit my lip, guilt swirling through me. I had led my companions to this, forced them to commit crimes to aid me in my quest. I could make everything right if I dominated Dominari. I could restore the lives stolen from my friends.

“You’ll be a Master Mage, Faoril,” Sophia continued, glancing at the mage. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Yes,” Faoril said, her face paling. “It ... would be.”

“Faoril?” Xera asked.

The mage bit her lip, brow furrowing in thought.

My stomach twisted. I was here on a Quest. I was given a sacred duty. But ... My hand moved down, grasping the hilt of my sword, squeezing it. The power surged through me. The power to rule, to dominate, to set everything to right.

“Please, my Queen,” Sophia said, fixing her eyes back on mine. Her green depths swam with emotion. “Do this. For me. For your friends. For the world. And for her. For Lady Delilah. She wants to be yours. She hates what she is.”

“I...” I wanted to say yes. “I am here to kill her. It is my Quest.”

Anger flared through Sophia. “You’re not a knight anymore, my Queen. Your order stripped you from their ranks for doing what was right. They sent you on this mission, gave you no support, and then spit upon your methods. They sent your own brothers and sisters knights to arrest you. You don’t have to do this. You do not have to finish your Quest for them, my Queen.”

“I am a knight!” The words burst from my throat. “Whether my order says so or not. I am in my heart. I swore oaths to protect the kingdoms of men.”

“Then protect them under your rule.” She fell to her knees before me. “Be their Queen. Like you’re mine.”

“No,” Xera said, shaking her head. “This is not right. Your oaths aside, Angela, the crimes of Dominari are too great to ever be forgiven. They must be avenged. How many died when she razed the ground behind us? When she burned those ruined cities out there on the plain? How many innocents perished because of her?”

“That was five hundred years ago,” Sophia said, gaining her feet.

“Yeah, who cares,” Minx added.

“Crimes can be scrubbed,” Chaun said, leaning against a boulder. He held his lyre in his arms and idly plucked a note. It rang through the air, cutting through the argument. “The right tale can redeem any monster. Any story told in the right way can make any tyrant appear a saint. Sympathy is what we need, and that can be manufactured.”

“Chaun,” Aurora gasped, her face wide with horror, her sapphire eyes glistening. She shook her head at her husband, her sky-blue hair waving about her delicate features. “You can’t say that. She’s evil. We can’t make her seem good.”

“We absolutely can,” he answered his wife. “You heard her pain. You heard the grief she suffers warring with her nature. Dominari is conflicted. She doesn’t want to do the horrible things she’s committed. It’s something in her that drives her to do harm. That she struggles to control and can’t.” A huge smile crossed his lips. “What an epic it will make. A tale that will have lords and peasants alike crying at the tragedy of her life.”

“But...” Aurora’s voice faltered. “How can you make burning cities tragic for her? To make the people of Zeutch forgive her?”

“See, Angela,” Xera pressed. “We can’t do this.”

“Oh, it would be easy,” Chaun said, plucking another note on his lyre. “Are you not convinced of her pain already? It is such a story.”

“I...” Aurora licked her lips. “She did sound ... conflicted.”

“She’s not a monster,” Sophia added. “She’s just did some bad things. Like we had to in the Doge’s Palace.”

“Stealing a few things and taking a man hostage is not the same thing as burning cities,” Xera objected.

“It’s all a matter of perspective,” Chaun continued, glancing at me. “When we set out on this Quest, we all believed Dominari was evil. That she was dangerous. That she had to be destroyed for the world’s own good. None of us doubted that, right?”

I nodded my head with the others.

“And now?”

“Doubts,” Faoril said. She shifted, glancing up the trail. “She did sound so ... conflicted. She begged us to come stop her. And if taming her achieves the same results as killing her...”

I closed my eyes. Why did this have to be so hard? It was so easy before. When Dominari was evil. She had to be destroyed. She wasn’t supposed to be so soft and gentle. She wasn’t supposed to love with such passion. She wasn’t supposed to speak with such ragged horror at what she had done. What should I do? What is the right thing here? Kill her and then we spend our lives as fugitives dodging bounty hunters?

Or do I tame her and use her to conquer the world? To make it better.

“What do you think, Thrak?” Faoril asked, her voice cracking.

I glanced at the orc. He had been silent the entire time, watching from the edge. He leaned on his greataxe, the crescent-moon blades glowing pink. His face was stony, his brow furrowed, the piercings twitching in his eyebrows.

I trembled, waiting for him to speak. I respected the orc greatly. He had a piercing intellect. He was patient. He didn’t make rash decisions when he wasn’t consumed with his rage. He had studied philosophy, ethics. Sophia, Chaun, and Minx wanted one thing, Xera and Aurora the other. And poor Faoril had no idea what to do.

I stared at him, pleading with my eyes.

He stared back. “I trust you, Angela,” he said, his voice rumbling. He swept his gaze over the party. “She will make the right decision. And we will support her. We have come this far united. We will not fracture over this. Whether she kills or dominates the dragon, we are with her. Right?”

“Of course,” Sophia said.

Chaun strummed his lyre. “Either way, it will make a tale worth singing.”

Aurora nodded her head and Minx sighed. “Yes, even if we don’t get any treasure.”

Faoril took a deep breath, her worry falling off of her.

“Absolutely,” Xera said. “Even if you feel you must spare her, Angela.”

“Thank you,” I said to my friends as I looked around. I could see it in their faces. They trusted me to make the right decision. They would follow me up there and support me no matter what.

I had never felt more loved in my life.

And never felt more lost.

I had no idea what the right decision was.

Chaun

Tears glistened in Angela’s eyes as she stared at us. I plucked another note on my lyre as I studied my companions. The conflict still simmered. We all had our opinions, our reasons to spare or kill the dragon. It weighed on us. And on Angela.

So much had been put on her shoulders. What must she have felt when she stood in the Temple of the Pure, surrounded by the priestesses and acolytes of Saphique, when she received her Quest. When it had been pulled at random out of the chest, one of a hundred or more possibilities.

And one that knight-errants of all three orders had perished attempting for generations.

The fear that must have hit her. But she found the courage to do it. The courage from Lady Delilah’s support, her belief. From the woman she respected. The woman who had guided her into being a knight.

The woman she now contemplated killing.

No matter her decision, she couldn’t face Dominari looking so conflicted, so dejected. She needed to be heartened. She needed to have hope, to have her spirits lifted. We all did. The Minotaur almost crushed us, and what we faced today would be far deadlier.

My fingers ran along my lyre, the cords trilling through the air. Courages and victorious notes echoed through the pass as I lifted my voice in song. I sent my music out to my companions, wrapping them in stirring passion, getting their hearts racing, their blood pumping, lifting their spirits, giving them the strength to face what was coming.

Aurora lifted her head first, a smile on her lips as her sapphire eyes met mine. She understood what I was doing. This was the only way I could contribute to the group. I didn’t have strength of arms or arcane knowledge to fight the dragon. I could only keep our spirits from flagging.

I would be hope as we walked into the darkness.

My other companions straightened their backs, lifting their heads. Angela’s indecision fell away, replaced by determination. I focused on her, reminding her of the grit that kept her going on this Quest when all appeared lost. The strength of will to face obstacle after obstacle to reach this position.

No matter what she chose, she would make her decision with her head raised high.

Angela drew the High King’s sword. I shivered from the energy radiating off the place. Power hummed in it, shining brighter than the white light wreathing the blade. She turned, pointing up the trail.

“It is time,” Angela said, confidence in her voice. Whether or not she had made her decision, she was prepared. “We are ready. Together, the eight of us have faced so much. We have overcome so many dangerous. Together. And together, we are going to march up to the cave and face Dominari.

“I am so blessed to have you all. When I set out on my Quest, I had no ideas the friends I would make.”

“How you would touch our lives and drag us out of darkness,” Thrak rumbled.

“Or boring mediocrity,” Minx said, flipping her dagger and grinning.

“You brought us together,” Aurora said, smiling at me, her hands rubbing her stomach. “And I know together we’ll walk back down this path. No matter what happens up there.”

“Together,” Faoril said, taking a deep breath.

“Together,” breathed Sophia, her face shining as she stared at Angela.

A tear fell down Angela’s cheek as she smiled. It was radiant.

Aurora Xandra