Chapter 7 #4
“Unfortunately, you cannot. The pilot who made land in our realm became very ill and perished within days. We have very high levels of radiation in our realm. It is what feeds us, to a great extent. We can take in nutrients in our more human forms, but in our dragon skins, we can absorb pure radiation. Unfortunately, you humans are not built in the same way.”
“So you didn’t kill him? We were told he was killed by your forces.”
“We absolutely did not,” Vyktor said. “Your leaders have been lying from the outset. They planned an invasion, and when they realized that one was not possible, they painted themselves as the victims of our armies. In truth, they simply started a battle they could not win. Instead of laying down the fight, they sacrifice their people for the sake of their egos.”
That sounded about right.
“You should have captured someone that mattered,” she said. “Nobody will care if I die here.”
“You are someone that matters,” Vyktor said.
“You don’t see it yet, because you have been treated as little more than a bullet in a gun.
One of many dangerous little things to be fired in the direction of the enemy.
But you are much more than that, pet. I will present you to my men again tonight.
It has been several days, and already you are making a great deal of progress. ”
Aria shrank down against him.
“Are you shy, pet?” He murmured the question fondly, caressing her. “You should not be. You are beautiful. The men envy me having you.”
“They envy you being able to humiliate and use me.”
“We are dragons. We hoard things of beauty, power, and worth,” Vyktor said.
“Humiliation and use, these are concepts you are sensitive to, as a human. When I put you on display before my men, it is not to shame you. It is to show what a jewel you are, and to motivate them to preserve others like you.”
Aria found herself believing him, though she knew his way with words could mean that she was being misled.
When he touched her, when his eyes fell upon her skin and his lips curled in a smile of pure pleasure, she felt valued.
From the beginning, he had taken care of her and with her, ensured that no harm would come to her.
“Vyktor!”
A voice in the hall summoned her master. He rose directly, with a kiss to her lips and another to her forehead. “Get some rest, pet,” he said. “I will return soon.”
“Okay,” Aria said softly. Her eyelids were heavy and she could feel herself drifting into a dream.
* * *
Aria would sleep for hours, Vyktor was sure of it.
Their sex often seemed to exhaust her. He suspected that human males did not have anything like dragon stamina.
He was impressed at her sensitivity to his word-working.
She had a great deal of potential that was yet to be tapped, and he was looking forward to discovering her hidden depths.
“Spending more time with that human?” Eldor asked the question with a sneer.
“Yes, I think she will be ready for another presentation soon enough.”
“We have greater matters to attend to than your display of your human,” Eldor snapped as they walked into the command office he had carved out for himself.
It was a relatively small space with sheltered openings that looked out onto the wider terrain.
Cold at the best of times, but Eldor had a greater tolerance for cold than most of them did.
“What matters are these?” Vyktor nodded to the other dragon present—Eridos. He was a young but promising technician and he and Eldor were already making excellent headway toward understanding the human manipulations of matter, the machines they created, their weapons of war and of peace.
“We have observed a rumor in some of the human media. Apparently, the humans may start using their most terrible weapons on us.”
“One would have thought that they would have used them already,” Vyktor noted. “What are they?”
“They claim to have a weapon capable of obliterating entire cities. A weapon which would destroy all life—including our own. We have found footage of one such detonation upon that which they call a ‘tablet’ device. Eridos found it near an evacuated settlement and spent some time searching what they call their ‘internet.’ These humans are connected globally, Vyktor. They can speak to one another at very great distances, and conduct conversations with thousands, or even millions of participants all at once.”
“Impressive,” Vyktor said, watching as pictures began to dance across the surface of the slim device. They showed images of a great explosion, followed by a mushroom cloud that towered high above a desert very much like the one where the portal was located.
“They call this the destroyer of worlds,” Eldor intoned.
“I do not believe it.” Vyktor shook his head. “They are capable of manipulating anything visual. We have seen that many times. Their movies depict all manner of impossible acts.”
“According to their histories, this was real,” Eldor said gravely. “They have threatened to fly this weapon through the portal and deploy it on our world.”
“Nasty little things, aren’t they.”
In the corner of the room, Eridos began to laugh.
“What is so funny?” Eldor snapped the question.
“You looked at the effects of the weapon, but you did not look at the specifications,” Eridos laughed. “These weapons are capable of serious detonations, yes, but their main byproduct is…” he let out a very un-dragonly giggle, “…ionizing radiation.”
The dragons looked at one another, then burst out laughing.
“So their plan is to drown a fish with water,” Eridos chuckled. “Oh, they are almost adorable in their evil. So determined, and so very misguided.”
“If we could spank them all one by one, we might get through to them,” Vyktor grinned. “Though as it is, I have my hands rather full with my pet.”
“She is not entirely terrible,” Eldor admitted. “And I must credit you with helping us to see these humans for what they are. I think, once we have brought them to heel, they will flourish under our guidance. Perhaps, in a few centuries, they might even attain some form of true civilization.”