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Ch 4: A Minor Setback

Dragare's POV

Once I had everything put away, I crawled into bed and slept soundly. When I woke up, I went into the living room to find my slave still asleep on the couch, clutching his new toy tightly as he nibbles on its ear in his sleep.

Deciding he deserves a rest, at the very least, to help speed up his recovery, I let him sleep as I fix some breakfast.

As I cook, I notice him stir, then after making a pained sound, bury his nose into the couch cushions. Feeling a bit bad for having to Mark him in such a painful way, I quickly fix a small amount of eggs and bacon, mix it together and put it in his food bowl and sit that by the couch, along with water. I notice him trying to watch me without me noticing, so I act like I didn't notice and head back to my table to eat, but keeping an eye on him.

He sneaks a few peeks at me, and slowly tries to act like he had just woke up, being quiet as he could, and doing his best to avoid touching his Mark as he slides off the couch and into the floor.

"Eat up, pet. Then get back into your little bed there. You get to rest until you heal." I say as I stuff a bit of bacon into my mouth.

"T-th-thank y-you Master." Ishon says as he starts to eat his meager serving of eggs, pausing to look up at me and my big plate before saying, "Not to sound ungrateful Master, but can I have more? This portion won't even begin to relieve my hunger."

"No pet. I feed you what I feel like feeding you. Be grateful for it. Don't complain about the size of it. You eat what I decide you eat. You are still being punished, but I want you to heal faster, so this will help. Now eat." I say with annoyance in my voice.

"Y-yes S-Sir." Ishon says before finishing off his treat. He gulps down his water, and carefully climbs back onto the couch and curls up with his bunny.

"Master?" he says as I stand up.

"Yes pet?" I say as I look at him, feeling a little more annoyed at him not behaving again.

"What do I do if I have to use the bathroom?" he says as he looks around.

"Ah yes, I'll get your chamberpot. Use it when you got to go. Now I got some things to do, so you better not try to misbehave while I am gone." I say a little nicer as I clean up the mess in the kitchen.

"Yes Master." Ishon says before curling up, shaking slightly, though if it was in fear or pain or sadness, I do not know.

I quickly put the thoughts out of mind as I grab his chamberpot, stick it down beside the couch, and head out onto the balcony.

It was time to check the electricity generators again, so I braced myself and jumped off of the deck and into the lake, swimming over to the shore with ease.

It was a short climb to reach the stairs to the station, but I ended up having to kill a snake that tried to bite me and I actually slipped once on some built up moss.

The waterwheels were working perfectly, and the generators themselves looked like they were working at optimal condition. But there was something kind of off. It felt like, something, was watching me.

Something that didn't belong here. Like a Daemon.

On guard, I pull my dagger out and cautiously look around, sniffing the air to hopefully catch a scent. I can smell something, but it seems very far away.

With panic beginning to rise, I rush back to the house, and as I land, I can see something that took on my form hitting my slave, slapping him around, and shouting at him.

I growl and leap into the room, severing the Imposter's head clean off it's shoulders.

The head disappears in a black mist as the body quickly turns into an ugly little black goblin like creature. Great, a Doppelganger. Only one way to kill them.

Watching as the Daemon re-assumes my form, this time with a look alike weapon in hand, I ready my blade.

I press a secret button as I ready myself for the pain that will come from this.

With the beast mimicking all the movements, but thankfully not being able to fully imitate my blade as they imitate what they actually see, I "Stab" myself in several different spots in such quick succession the beast didn't have time to realize it was being tricked, ending with a stab to my throat and jugular. My blade's special feature allows me to use it like a gag knife sometimes, so I wouldn't die, but might get scratched.

The beast gives a pained shriek before disappearing in a cloud of black mist.

I had beat it, but still had scratches from the tip of my blade cutting me.

I walked over to Ishon, who was bruised, battered, and bleeding and tried to comfort him, but he screamed and tried to run, struggling against his chain.

"Calm down, pet. I'm here now. Your Master is here and the big bad Daemon is gone." I say as I inch closer to him.

"No, please don't kill me. Please let me live. I've been a good boy. Haven't I Master? How could you beat me like this, Master? Please, no more pain! Please... " Ishon screams at me in sheer terror before breaking down and crying like I have never seen him cry before.

Unlike the feelings I had before, where I just wanted him, and wanted him to stay for good, regardless of his own feelings in it, I felt something. I am not sure how to describe it, but at that moment, I would have traded the world to cheer my little slave up.

I would not even hesitate to say I loved him. In what way, I am not yet sure, but still, it is love.

I lose it and grab him and let myself cry as I try to comfort him. Getting lightly punched once or twice in the process, I just hold him tightly as I cry into his neck.

After a few moments, Ishon calms down and says "Master? What's wrong?"

"You had me scared, Ishon. I thought that Daemon destroyed my progress with you. That you would never trust me again. I can't lose you. And admittedly for a different reason than I couldn't originally." I say as I stop crying and look at him.

"Why's that Master?" Ishon says, as apparently his curiosity overrode his fear.

"Cause I love you, pet. I am not yet sure in which way, but I don't want to see that type of harm come to you. I want you to be as happy as possible in your circumstances. And most of all, I never want you to not be a part of my life." I say as I hug him tightly.

"I wish it was that easy for me to believe, Master. All I can recall is you beating me hard for no reason, then threatening to kill me in the most painful way possible, then it looked like your head fell off and I just freaked out. The last thing I remember is you crying into my shoulder just now." Ishon says as he limply hangs there.

"Ishon, that wasn't me. It was a Doppelganger, a Damon who can change form. I killed it. Here, I'm gonna undo your tether and you can roam about the house freely, okay? I'll even let you sleep in my bed." I say as I unlock his tether.

"Thank you Master. I'm sorry, but I still don't believe that wasn't you. If it was a monster, they must have watched you for ages as they got every detail right, including your accent and mannerisms." Ishon says as he waits for me to let go.

"Ishon, Doppelgangers can learn everything about its target just by assuming their form. I'm here hon, not that Daemon. Here, the Daemon ain't never seen this form." I say and let myself shift.

Ishon whimpers but then says "It really is you! Master, I am so so so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy you are back to me, my little pet, now go get some more food. Okay?" I say as I let go of him after a quick hug.

"Yes Sir!." he says, laughing happily as he gathers up his bowl and plate and let's me fill them back up for him.

A short while later, I actually let him curl up with me on the couch as I was reading one of the books I had found on my last visit to Jadespire before it was Marked and Destroyed. A very interesting read, all things considered. The subject matter was "Post apocalyptic Life" but was written from the viewpoint of something called a "Human". I had heard that these things were still about, and that they were the ancestors of most of the modern Sapiens, or Anthros as some of the stranger ones call us.

Hilariously, it almost matched up with what little we found leftover from whatever was here before us. However, it still told a story. Forbidden romances between tribes and the like.

As I was petting him, he fell asleep upon me, and I found myself getting drowsy, so I sat the book down, conjured a small blanket, and covered us both up, finding the moment absolutely perfect in every sense of the word.