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The Time of the Prophecy (Ch. 2)

I own all these characters....except my mate of course. Please don't use them for any sort of money making scheme...otherwise, use them when/how/where you like.

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End of last chapter:

I forced the button of my pants closed again, the fly was a lost cause. Well, now that I'm in this impressive new form, I decided to try it out. I spread my wings and prepared to try to fly, when a voice rang out behind me. "Stop!!!" For the love of God, what NOW??? I turned around and saw a creature similar to me standing there. His scales were a bright green, and his eyes were a blue-gray color. "Our beacons around the artifacts went off recently," said the newcomer. "We expected it to be just another foolish thief. We're thankful to find you however, clearly the time of the prophecy has come. Please, follow me" He turned and walked away. Well, he didn't seem hostile, so I followed him. I might get some answers while there as well.

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I was pissed. I'd followed this strange emerald dragon, whose name was Andarus, in the hopes of getting some answers regarding what happened to me. All I'd gotten so far, however, was a few of cryptic hints that created more questions and answered nothing. My patience was at an end and I was fast reaching a boiling point. We were in the middle of a forest, having come down from the hilly area where the cave was. I'd normally be enjoying the walk a great deal, the forest was incredible. It seemed completely devoid of the sort of contamination that usually littered almost everywhere on Earth. It was a beautiful paradise, but it was marred by the terrible mood I was in. To try to keep myself calm, I started wheedling my guide again.

"So tell me again, why can't you answer ANY of my damn questions?" I said with a noticeable edge to my voice. Oh yes, my voice...that was another thing to toss on the pile of "what the fucks" that have been hitting me over the past couple days. I'd discovered shortly after starting to badger Andarus with questions that I was no longer speaking english. I understood what I was saying, and Andarus was speaking the same language, but I don't recall ever taking a reptile language primer course in school. The language was clearly not human, as humans probably couldn't make half the range of growls, warbles, and grunts that I now made without thinking. Oh well, just more fuel to the fire that was slowly rising inside of me.

"As I've already told you," said Andarus with infuriating patience, "I'm not to tell you anything until I present you to the Elder Council. We must give you this information in the right way." No change there. Go figure. I decided to try a different tact. It certainly couldn't hurt.

"Okaaaaay..." I said, trying to figure out how I'd word this one. "then can you tell me about those wolf men things that wanted me for breakfast?" Andarus had to stop to think about that one. We walked for a moment in silence before he finally chose his answer. "They're called the Koeran," he said. I waited for him to continue, but he seemed satisfied with his answer. There had to be more than that though. "...And?" I made a not-too-subtle attempt to get some more information.

"And the rest will be explained later" Andarus said simply. I almost tackled him. The only thing that prevented me was a light bulb clicking on in my head. Unwilling to give information, cryptic hints that keep me interested and in the dark at the same time, skilled at diverting questions...I think I had him pegged. "You wouldn't happen to be a priest or a religious leader, would you?" I asked. He looked at me with some astonishment. He spent about a minute in thought, probably trying to remember when he told me more about himself than his name. Finally, he gave up and answered. "Yes, I am a high priest. I don't recall mentioning that though. How did you come to that conclusion?"

He must have seen my look of smug satisfaction, because a hole appeared in his armor of calm and patience. "Well?" he said after a minute. I was sorely tempted to deflect him the way he'd been doing to me, but I was in more of a mind to insult him rather than irritate him. "I knew because only religious leaders and politicians are so adept at the noble art of bullshit. I'm "deeply" sorry, but you give off an aura of utter horse crap that can't be ignored or denied." Bam motherfucker!!! He certainly didn't like that one. If looks could kill, I'd be a pile of scales and bones right now. I finally got to him though, which didn't mean progress, but it meant sweet relief for my frustration.

"Ah...well, um..." He said, fuming and glaring. He was clearly fighting to control himself and not get pulled into an insult contest with me, but I could see that he was walking a razor's edge. I considered pushing him further to try to get him yelling. No telling what I might glean off a good rant. I decided against it though. I didn't know whether insulting a high priest would be good for my long term survival. After another couple minutes, he'd cooled down and organized his thoughts enough to answer me. "I'm sorry you've had those types of experiences with religious leaders in the past, but I assure you that I'm not like that. The only reason I'm not telling you anything is that I don't want you to panic. The Elder Council will give you all the information you want, and probably more."

"Oh well that's nice," I said testily. "Now all I know is that there's something about me that you don't want me to know because you think I'll panic. That's good for the nerves. Well congratulations, you got revenge for my insult in a perfectly sterile, subtle, priestly way. Do me a favor, pick up the pace and let's get there. I'm this close," I held up my thumb and foreclaw pinched a centimeter apart, "to flying away right now and saying fuck you." That got a reaction I didn't expect. Andarus made a choking noise and his eyes got as wide as dinner plates. "N-no please. I meant no offense and I did not mean to scare you," he said in a placating and friendly tone, though his nervousness was still apparent. "I promise you, we will give you all the information you want as soon as we get to the city. I just don't know enough about your situation to give you accurate information. I don't want to tell you something wrong and make you panic, that's all I meant. Please, just don't leave."

I was taken aback by his sudden reaction. I was also subdued for the time being. I simply said "So how far are we from this city, and wouldn't it be faster if we flew?" He stopped for a moment, looked at the sun, then took a close look at our surroundings. "One moment." He said. He spread his wings, and for the first time I got a true appreciation of our wingspan. It was almost 30 feet. With one swift downward flap, he launched into the air. I watched him through the trees for a moment before he flew into the sun and I lost him in the glare. About a minute later, he landed again. "My apologies, I was getting our bearings. We are only another two hours walk from the city."

"And we aren't flying because...?" I asked, keeping a mild tone. It seemed to me that we could be there in twenty minutes if we flew. He looked at me and shrugged. "Do you know how to fly?" Oh, yeah...shit. That might help. In my anger, I almost completely forgot that I'd never actually flown before. "I knew when I walked up on you earlier that you didn't know how to fly," he continued. "Your stance was all wrong. If you'd tried to take off like that, you would have lunged straight into a tree or a rock face. It's a good thing that I was able to stop you before you smashed your teeth out."

"...Yeah, thanks. I didn't think about it that way." We walked on in silence for a while. Eventually the ground started rising again and the trees became thinner. Off in the distance through the thinning forest, I could see a lone mesa. It looked slightly out of place because I'd always associated mesas with desert settings, like in the American Southwest. As we got closer, I noticed a large dark area in the side of the mesa. The sun had already sunk down beyond the peak, making the entire area on the near face become shrouded in shadow. Finally we reached the near foot of the mesa, and when I looked up, I saw a huge area on the side about halfway up that literally seemed to be scooped out.

"I presume that's where the city is." I said, trying to get a better view. It was dusk now, so I could vaguely make out some angular outlines in the shadowed recess that may have been buildings, but I couldn't see much else. I guess the night vision doesn't kick in until night time. "Yes, that's it," Andarus said. "Normally we'd fly to get there but-" I cut him off. "Let me guess, since I can't fly, we need to climb, right?" He glanced over at me and continued. "As I was saying, normally we'd fly, but since you are unable, I will go up first and have a rope trolley lowered. You will be pulled up. Much faster than climbing, especially since there are no steps or ladders."

"Oh. Okay. Cool." I said. Andarus lead me to a point just beneath where the city was located and asked me to wait there while he flew up. As he flew off, I looked more around the area. Something seemed a bit off. No towns, farms, or homesteads. No roads. Nothing to indicate civilization. It was strange that there'd be no outlying settlements so near a city. Another question to add to the list. Just then, a small thump sounded next to me. I looked over and saw a wooden platform tied on each corner with a rope.It was clearly meant for goods, not people. With some misgiving, I climbed on the platform, and a moment later, it started to rise.

As I came up to the edge of the hollowed out area, I saw the city for the first time. I'd been expecting something like a Pueblo cliff town. Instead, the sight that greeted me looked more like a Chinese village. All of the buildings had graceful curves, soft angles, and appealing colors. There were small streams that wound through the city on a closed circuit, never falling over the edge. Trees were planted in some areas were the stone had been bored out and replaced with soil. All in all, it was nothing like what I was expecting. I must have been gaping or drooling or something, because Andarus when came up beside where the lift had deposited me, he looked pleased and said, "I take it you're impressed. Welcome to the city of Bukkota"

"Yes, I give credit where it's due. This is an incredible place." We both stood there staring at the city for a minute before Andarus brought me out of my thoughts. "Come, you've waited this long for answers, the Elder Council will see you now." About time, although I couldn't help feeling a bit apprehensive. Andarus didn't quite settle all of my fears with his quick "I don't know enough to give you accurate information" response. He was a high priest, so he knew something...and he thought what he knew would make me panic. Oh well, I guess it couldn't be that bad. Oh, wait...yes it damn well could. After all, I just got transformed into a dragon thing. That pretty much means anything is possible.

We went further back into the city, very near to where the back wall of the hollow was. There was a large building there that dwarfed all the structures around it. I assumed this was our destination. While we were walking, I noticed occupants of the city looking at me with wonder. After seeing me, they quickly huddled together and started talking rapidly to one another. Too weird. Seems like everyone knew more about me than I did, and that once again got me a little grumpy. We finally reached the back of the city and went into the large building. The inside was very opulant, but not like you'd expect from a mansion or capitol building. It was more akin to a shrine or temple. The image just served to add to the mystique of the place. Ancient looking tapestries hung on every wall, gold, silver, and carven stone censers were burning incense in various places, and large statues of various figures were located throughout the halls and rooms. I was interested to note that not all of them looked like dragons. Some seemed akin to cheetahs, others more like dolphins, and yet others resembled large horses.

We eventually reached what appeared to be the central room in the temple. It was all but empty save for a few robed worshipers who were kneeling before statues and lighting more incense. I was led into a small room just off the main chamber. This too was empty. Here Andarus stopped me. "The Elder Council is upstairs," he said. "Before bringing you to them, it would be appropriate to outfit you in something a bit more...suitable." He went over to a closet and pulled out a robe. When he handed it to me, I almost retched. It was pink, with a clash of gold and violet patterns on it. Just looking at it induced a pressure headache. "I'm not wearing this," I said simply. "Don't you have anything that's not so repulsive?" He went back to the closet and pulled out a robe that wasn't much better. Green, orange, and pale blue. Bad combo. "Are you colorblind?" I asked irritably. "Move the hell out of my way." He stepped aside and let me sort through the closet. Most of the robes in there looked like they were made by a crazy hippie on LSD, but I finally found one in a dark blue with golden tracery that I thought was acceptable.

Looking at the robe, I tried to figure out how it went over my wings and tail. "How do I uhh..." I said after a few minutes. Andarus smiled. "I will show you in a moment. First you must change out of those tattered things you're wearing right now. You may not have noticed, but they smell fairly badly. I believe you must have soiled yourself at some point in the cave." I thought back to my painful transformation. I could barely remember any details, but that certainly would have been the time it had happened. Now that I was specifically sniffing for it, I noticed a distinctive piss odor....nasty! "After changing and a quick rinse, we'll put this robe on. You may place your sword on that table for the moment. We'll provide a belt to place that in." He indicated a basin of water set in the floor in the corner of the room. "You may rinse off there." I was a bit dubious about undressing in front of him, but I remembered that I now had nothing hanging in the open, so it was no big deal. I took the sword out of my belt loop and put it on the table next to the basin, and then stripped off my torn, muddy, smelly jeans. I rinsed my legs, crotch, and tail off and got out of the shallow basin. Andarus then took the robe, opened it in more places than I thought possible and laid it on the floor. "Step in please," he said. I stepped into the circle of fabric that the robe formed and Andarus bent down, and lifted the robe up. My tail didn't have a hole to go through, it just remained under the robe, but at the top, the back of the robe had two large gaps in it. These slid up over my wings, and were then fastened on my shoulders. The sleeves of the robe came down to mid forearm, and the bottom hem was about eight inches off the ground. "Did I pick one that was too small?" I asked. Andarus looked me over and shook his head. "No, everything is where it should be. Why?" I just shrugged and told him to forget it. "Very well. It's time to go meet the council. Please try to be respectful. I will leave you here." He opened a door in the back of the room that led to a staircase. "Just go up the stairs. It will take you right to the chamber where the council is waiting." I nodded at him, my throat suddenly dry. I walked slowly through the door and up the staircase. Finally time to find out what the hell happened to me and how, if possible, I can get back home

End of Chapter 2. Since I'm posting it and Chapter 3 at the same time, there will be no wait for further enlightenment. It was originally all one chapter, however I thought it was a bit lengthy and split it in half. Enjoy.

P.S. Yiff will come in around the end of Chapter 4 or Chapter 5, so those of you interested in fapping, just be patient.