The Best Possible Heir - Part One

Story by guardian-hawk on SoFurry

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#1 of The Best Possible Heir


"And we have our winner!"

Essal groaned and laid his head down as one of the two slender dragonesses massaging his back found the tight spot above the base of his tail, squinting a little at the feeling and flicking his tail back and forth to encourage her. "There, Tura, right there," he purred, arching his back and swinging his head around to nuzzle at her shoulder. She was rubbing right over his hip-bone, and he made sure to remember the spot for later.

In the bare space before his podium one bare-scaled dragon stood panting over another, both of them bleeding from numerous small wounds, and at the umpire's cry both of them--and the crowd of dragons and humans who had watched the fight--looked up towards Essal expectantly. The whole warehouse went silent within moments, despite the roars of the combatants and spectators that had echoed off the walls and roof during the fight, as the crowd waited for him to make his decision. He groaned again, waiting a full ten seconds before finally saying, "weak, both of you are weak. Out of my sight! Giln, I thought you said the red was your son."

One of the dragons at the edge of the fighting circle stepped forward and lowered his head. "He is, sir. I thought he was strong, but clearly he needs more training. I will not bring him again until I think he is ready."

"He had better be." The fighting-circle crowd dispersed, scattering off to far corners of the warehouse as some of Essal's attendants pushed his podium behind a thick curtain. A large black-and-blue dragon passed through the curtain to join him after a moment, and Essal turned his head to address him. "That's five prospective duelists in a row now who wouldn't even be able to defeat a scrawny Redwing. What happened to all the apparent fresh blood in this city, Lotar?"

"New government programs to assist integrating dragons must be keeping the newcomers soft, or out of our quarter entirely. I know for certain other flights aren't scooping them up; everyone's been dropping numbers recently, ourselves included. The government's actually doing its job cleaning up the city, I'm sorry to say."

There was a growl from outside, and after a moment three more dragons and a dragoness entered, all of them battle-scarred. Giln immediately hurried forward and laid down before Essal, pressing his belly against the floor and spreading out his wings. "I'm so sorry, sir, I thought he was ready... But he's a good son, he really is, he just needs more time to grow and learn. Give me some more time to train him."

Essal growled and raised his head. "No. He'll make a fine scout but he's not what I'm looking for; it's clear to me now that his build is wrong to be a good pure duelist. He'll be better at that, so help him learn and be proud of him."

"Thank you." Giln stepped backward, still crouched low, then finally stood and folded his wings again.

"Excuse me," said the scarred dragoness, "but what are we supposed to do now? Giln's fledgling was the last attempt for you to find a potential successor, and now that he's been denied you don't have any potentials still waiting to be trained and tested. All four of us have tried for you, now, and none of us have created what you need. We still have a lot of time to figure it out, but if you want to have another bred for you... What are you going to do?"

"Lotar could try," one of the dragons stepped forward.

"I'm not mating with anyone!" the big dragon roared, standing and flaring his wings out, glaring at the dragon who'd spoken. The other dragon stumbled back and huddled against the ground, eyes wide, and everyone else stepped back to clear a space between him and Lotar.

"Calm yourself, old friend," Essal said, and touched Lotar's neck with his tail. "Weck was not of our flight until after Nule died, ancestors watch over her. He could not understand the bond you shared with her."

Lotar glared at Weck a moment longer, breathing hard though his nostrils, then sighed and said, "you're right... My apologies." He sat again, and at a signal from Essal one of the dragonesses massaging him shifted to attend to Lotar for a little while instead.

"All right," Essal growled a little and stood, "it is clear to me now what must be done: I must sire my own successor."

One of the dragonesses attending to him purred and nuzzled at his neck. "I would be honored to try with you."

"No, no, Zastidia," he turned and stroked her chin with one claw. "Any egg you chose to bear would not be fit for the... violent pursuits we so often enjoy; better to leave the task to someone more suited for it."

The scarred dragoness tilted her head to one side. "Did you mean to sire through me, then? You know I would be willing if you asked, and my mate would of course defer to you, but I have already produced one unworthy daughter and while my mate's seed isn't anywhere near the potential of yours I just don't see how that would have a chance of working."

Essal shook his head and laid down on his belly again. "No, I did not plan to use you, either, Jopheni... We must go outside the flight and find fresh blood elsewhere, since none within it have been up to the task. Who is the strongest dragoness in the city, regardless of affiliation? That is who I must have, if we are to produce a powerful successor."

"I assume you mean aside from Volka?" Lotar grinned.

"As much as I've always wondered what mating with her would be like, yes, I do mean that," he laughed. "I have no intention of trying to merge two large and powerful rival flights, or starting a war between them."

They were all silent for a few moments, then Giln said, "what about Kiono?"

"Dead, shot by a human in midtown last month," said Lotar.

Weck was next. "Carsha, maybe?"

"Moved to London last winter. Ibil's still around, though."

"Have you seen her recently? She's already got an egg growing in her belly and won't be in heat again for four years at least. Not to mention we'd have to somehow pry her away from Xernodon to get access to her..."

"Florin?"

"Arrested two weeks ago and sent off to a state correctional facility. She won't be back for a few years, maybe more."

They all thought a little while longer, then Jopheni snorted and said, "there's always Wild Hildora."

Essal glanced at Lotar, who shuffled his wings. "I'm not familiar with her."

"She's a dragoness fairly new to the city, from a disbanded clan out of Idaho."

"Any affiliation yet?"

Jopheni shook her head. "No, but not for lack of trying. Xernodon already sent a crew, Volka had one of her lieutenants go after her, and Scannon went himself to recruit her. All of them lost to her, and she still holds down her little alleyway."

Essal looked up at that. "Scannon went after her himself?"

"Apparently that's why nobody's seen him for a month and a half. She broke both his front legs, from what I've heard," she laughed.

"Hmm..." He looked up at the ceiling for a little while, then said, "is she pretty?"

She shuffled her wings. "I've only seen her once myself and she was too dirty for me to tell."

"Right, well, let's see if we can't get her into our flight. Giln, take two of your best and ask her to join."

He nodded, then paused: "you mean the usual request, or a fair choice?"

Essal frowned. "The typical kind. Track her down tomorrow morning."

Giln bowed, then left.

Lotar watched him go, then muttered, "you don't expect him to succeed, do you?"

"Not for a moment, after hearing that dueling record. Jopheni, you know where she lives?"

"Yes. I should tell Giln, in fact..." She looked back towards the curtain.

"Wait a moment, but yes, do go tell him as soon as you leave. Lotar and I will accompany you to a good high point to watch from when Giln approaches her tomorrow morning. I want to see her, and see her fight, with my own eyes before I make a final decision on her."

"And if you do want to mate with her?" Lotar sighed and stretched his hind legs. "You heard her record; how would you be able to do what none of them could? You're the best this city's ever seen and you've done well to stay as strong and lean as you are, but you aren't exactly in your prime anymore."

Tura and Zastidia stopped massaging him and backed away for a moment, looking between Essal and Lotar, until he motioned with a hind leg for them to continue. "If she's fresh out of a clan then she's clearly untrained, and even if she's stronger or faster than I am I guarantee I have more dueling experience than she does; I believe I could win if we did end up fighting. But there's nothing that says I have to defeat her fairly to get her to come here... I'd like her to be willing, or at least defeated, before I mount her, but there's no need to play nice to bring her to headquarters. I'll come up with a plan tonight, and if I like what I see tomorrow then I'll tell you the details. Either way we're going to have to move quickly once the other flights find out we're making a move on her; tell Charlie to make sure my limo's ready, with the standard drive-and-grab setup inside."

"Which restraint set should we use?"

He thought for a moment. "Mitts, frogtie straps, bridle. If she's as strong a fighter as you say, Jopheni, we're going to need to keep her tied up as tightly as we can... Weck, I'd like you to find some background on her: names of any relatives or friends, anyone she's mated with since she arrived here, and find someone from her old clan to tell you if she's had any eggs in her life and how those eggs turned out. Go."

His three remaining lieutenants bowed and backed through the curtain.

"How would you convince her to sire an egg for you?" Lotar asked. "She sounds like a stubborn one to me."

"A big handsome dragon like myself?" He stood, arched his neck and posed for a moment, grinning. "I don't imagine it will be too hard. I hope I can avoid fighting her, but it may come down to that, and if it does I'd like to do some sparring with you first to get my rhythm back. It's been a while since I fought a duel that mattered."

"I was going to suggest the same thing."

"Great minds like ours always do think alike." He stepped down off his podium and turned towards the door in the wall behind him. "I'm going to sleep, so make sure the watches are out. See you in the morning."

Lotar nodded and disappeared through the curtain.

"Come on, girls, time for us to sleep," he purred, stroking both of their bellies with his tail. "It's been a long day." They followed him through the door, locked it behind them, then hurried past him to straighten and smooth out the huge thick cushion and pillows they used as bedding. He waited patiently for them to finish, then they slowly removed his sleeveless pants, opening the zipper that ran down his back and unbuttoning the panels that let his wings slip through the top. After a moment they lowered the cloth away from his belly and he stepped out of it, then sprawled out on his side at the center of the cushion and closed his eyes.

The two of them took off their own more revealing clothes and put all the discarded things in a basket in the corner before returning to him. "Would you like any water before you sleep?" Tura asked, lowering her head to sniff at his cheek.

"Not yet." Essal picked his head up again and looked at the both of them. "But I am going to need some practice if I want to sire an egg soon..." He rolled onto his back and spread his hind legs apart. "It's been a long time since I last mounted a dragoness. Tura, why don't you help me remember how this works?"

She stepped forward eagerly, but Zastidia growled at him, and he said, "don't give me that look, Zastidia, you'll get your turn in the morning. Surely you don't want me trying to satisfy you both at once?" he laughed.

She lowered her head. "I will wait and look forward to it, then. Will you be needing condoms?"

"I won't go into heat again for another year; there's no need," Tura said, and leapt onto the cushion to join the lithe dragon who waited for her. He purred and nuzzled her throat when she snuggled against him, and after a moment she started to tickle his belly between his hind legs. "How long has it been?" she asked, licking the base of one of his horns.

"Oh..." He gasped a little as her touch brought the first hints of arousal to his loins. "Six years, at least. It may have been when I mounted you all the way back when you first started working for me."

"It has been a while, then." She kept tickling him for a minute or two, and when there was no reaction other than slight swelling around his slit she growled and said, "you sure everything still works back there?"

"I'm not that old," he swatted her playfully with his tail. "Just give me some time."

"I think a little more encouragement is what you need," she purred, and shifted away from him, then she guided his head over to look at her hindquarters and, once she'd lifted a hind paw for him, her vent. But she was still for just a moment before she lowered her paw again and turned away, swaying her body back and forth on all four paws as she continued to tickle him.

"You little tease, you," he growled--he could only catch the briefest glimpse of her sex as she rocked from one side to the other--but it did the trick, and after a moment the head of his penis finally appeared from within its slit. She was ready for it and immediately shifted the attention of her tailtip to his swelling cock, coaxing it out and making him lie back and groan with pleasure at the long-missed sensation.

Tura kept up the display for a few minutes, then growled a little and turned to face him; she was panting, and he laughed when her eyes kept flicking back towards his erection. His own attention kept wanting to return there, too, and even though she'd stopped tickling him the pleasure still raced through him, sustaining itself now on the anticipation of what was to come and demanding that he hurry up and move on to the next step.

"I'm ready for you now, Essal," she crouched low and nuzzled the end of his snout. "And it looks like you are, too."

"I can't believe it would take me so long in the company of one so beautiful as you," he purred and returned the nuzzle, then rolled and got to his feet. She raised her tail for him, but he moved to stand beside her instead and took her two left paws in his tail and right forepaw, slowly raising them. She nodded and laid down on her back, spreading her four paws and wings out wide and looking up at him expectantly.

Essal stepped forward to stand over her, then paused, wanting to savor the sight of the beautiful dragoness beneath him, fully exposed and waiting for him to take her. He was able to stay still for a few moments, but the urge had grown strong from her prolonged tease and it had been far too long since he'd last mated for him to hold himself back any longer. He growled and lowered himself onto her, pressing against her belly for a moment before his cock found her vent and slid easily into her.

She moaned, squirmed and reached up to wrap her forelegs around him; he went eagerly into her embrace and nuzzled her throat as both of them got used to the feeling of him inside her. Then finally he growled and began to thrust, slowly at first, rocking evenly back and forth and getting the most he could from the calm, steady movements before he let his body take over and began to thrust more quickly and roughly against her.

She moaned again, teeth bared but clenched tightly together, then bucked against his weight and wrapped her wings around them both, clutching him as close to her as she could as if she never wanted him to stop. After a couple more minutes of thrusting she cried out softly and came, head and tail falling limp against the cushion but her legs and wings still holding him tight against her, her claws digging hard enough into the scales of his back to draw blood. He thrust still harder as her sex clenched at him almost randomly, encouraging him to speed up more and more even when her orgasm came to an end. He growled and held her down with his paws, putting a little more distance between them so he could keep up with the fast, rough strokes his body demanded, then finally the pleasure peaked and he threw back his head to roar at the overwhelming sensation, humping stiffly and awkwardly as he loosed his seed into her.

It was over all too quickly and he collapsed against her, both of them panting with heaving chests from their exertions. Essal recovered first and said, "it has been far too long since I last mated... I'd almost forgotten how wonderful it can feel."

"Oh, thank you for letting me help you remember," Tura nuzzled him. "That was wonderful."

He groaned and stood to give her room to roll over, then stumbled over to the center of the cushion and collapsed there. "Zastidia, some water would be wonderful, my dear."

She hurried over with the bowl and he lapped the cool, clear water from it eagerly; Tura joined him to drink a moment later. "Thank you," he said once they'd both had their fill.

"If you have trouble getting this Wild Hildora to mate with you," Zastidia panted, "I suggest you make her watch you mate with one of us. That was incredibly arousing, believe me."

"Oh, I do," he smiled, and laid his head down to sleep.


Hildora grunted and tossed the rat's remains into the dumpster against the side wall of her alley. A little too much hair, but plump and tasty, she decided, and scratched at her flank through her tattered pants; the meat mixed well with the bowl of soup she'd been given that morning. Thank her ancestors for charities. Not that she enjoyed receiving free food she didn't even get to hunt or work for, but without a job or even a real home she had no other option. There certainly wasn't any large prey to find in the city... Well, there were humans, but they weren't worth it--she would be executed if caught eating one--and people almost never ventured into this part of the city anyway.

At least she had her territory. A little rough and small, but in a good location on a very quiet street, and she'd even managed to make up a decent little cave at the back using some of the junk she'd found. There was no company, something she occasionally regretted; the dragons who knew her feared her, which was fine, but she had nobody to talk to about... well, anything, really, like she'd had back with her clan. She didn't want a mate, but a friend or two would be nice, dragons like herself who lived nearby--if they were able to prove she could trust them.

A few times there had been offers made to her for just that: dragons had come five times now offering shelter, good food, and the company of other dragons if only she went with them to live in their territories instead and followed their orders for a while. But she wanted her own territory, not to live by goodwill on another dragon's, and from what the dragons said none of them seemed to understand that even when she tried to expain it to them. Then when she refused they would threaten to attack her and finally they would fight; Hildora always won, of course, and couldn't deny she enjoyed beating up those who invaded her territory thus.

Then there had been the one peculiar dragon who'd visited, offering to take her to a place where she'd be able to fight as many dragons as she wanted, skilled fighting-dragons, and where successfully defeating them would earn her widespread respect, nicer things, maybe even money to spend if she won enough times... It had sounded interesting, she'd had to admit, but once again he'd demanded that she leave her territory behind and come live in the "duelist's quarters" he had set up for his recruits. Then she'd refused, he'd attacked her, and she had sent him and his cronies away after breaking two of his legs.

Nobody had tried to fight her since then.

So she had earned some respect, that was clear, because nobody had challenged her; she stood up and began to walk to the back of her alley now that she'd finished her meal. But what could she do with that respect? Maybe it would be enough to keep her alleyway empty if she left for a few days, but where would she go, and what would she do elsewhere in the city? Could she go to this group of fighters and then return to her alley once she was done fighting? It couldn't be that long a flight...

"You there, dragoness."

She spun around with a growl to see three dragons standing at the entrance of her alley: a tall, thin orange-and-white dragon in the middle, flanked by two smaller dragons. They stared at each other for a moment, then the orange one walked a length into her alley. "Are you Hildora?"

She bobbed her head, tail flicking. "Yes." What did these dragons want? She hadn't seen them before, she knew that much, and they weren't in police uniforms... "Who are you?"

"I am Giln, and I represent a very powerful dragon named Essal. He leads the Dark Sky Flight, and has heard of your strength and fighting skill. He would like you to join his flight."

She snorted. "I'm not interested."

"Are you sure? He will give you a warm, comfortable place to stay and as much good food as you could possibly want, and with your fighting skill you would rise quickly through the ranks of the flight. Do you want the incredible power and respect that would come with such a course? That is what Essal wants for you."

"No."

Giln bared his teeth and took another few steps toward her. "You do not have a choice. He wants you to join him, so you must."

"If he wants me to be a part of his flight that badly, he can come here and drag me to his territory himself. Leave my alley now or I will drive you away." She dropped into a crouch and pawed at the uneven ground.

He went into a fighting stance as well. "And if I defeat you, you will come with us."

"You will not defeat me," she snarled.

He roared and rushed towards her, then put his weight back on his haunches and jabbed at her with a paw, striking at her chest with claws extended. Hildora rolled out of the way, pushed off the wall of the alley and lunged at him; he ducked out the way and she missed, leaping right over his back. Then they faced each other again, and a second time Giln moved in to strike with a forepaw, aiming for her head this time, but she caught his paw in her own and reared back onto her hind legs, pulling him up with her, then after a little shove to get him off-balance she got her paws beneath his forelegs and threw him bodily into the wall. His head struck first, then his shoulders and back, and he fell heavily to the ground.

"Who else wants some?" she roared, turning to face the other two dragons. They paused, glanced at the stunned Giln, then turned and flew away as quickly as they could.

Hildora watched them go, tail lashing, then returned to Giln and sniffed his neck. He was already recovering and groaned, shifting his paws a little but not trying to attack her. "You have won," he said thickly.

"Yes, I have, and easily," she bared her teeth and put a paw against his neck. "Roll onto your back."

He froze. "What?"

"Now!" she roared, and after a moment he obeyed, exposing his underbelly and putting his four paws limply in the air. "I am tired of having dragons like you come and demand that I go with them. You were not stronger than me, and neither were they, and I've had enough of having to prove my strength to everyone. I must make an example of you, so nobody will come here and try to force me to leave again."

Giln shivered just a little. "What are you going to do to me?"

She growled and clawed at the cloth against his belly, slashing a hole in it and exposing his slit. "I am going to rape you, and once I am done you will go and tell everyone else who thinks they can tell me what to do that I defeated you and raped you, and that the next dragon who comes here like you did will be killed." She unzipped the fly that closed over her vent and pressed herself against him. "Get hard, or I will beat you until you do."

He whined and tried weakly to push her away. "I have a mate."

"Unless she's on her way to stop me, I don't care." She struck him across the face with one paw. "I'm waiting!"

He cried out at the pain, then closed his eyes and looked away from her, seeming to give in; a good choice, she snorted, for he had to know he'd have no chance against her after how quickly he'd lost their fight. After a moment she felt pressure forming beneath her belly and stood up away from him a little to watch as his cock quickly emerged, then sneered and growled, "pathetic. You may not enjoy this, and if you orgasm I will break one of your wings."

The dragon shivered again beneath her and nodded very slightly, ashamed. "Just get it over with," he mumbled.

Hildora snarled and put her jaws around his throat, biting down hard enough to taste his blood on her tongue but not enough to put his life in danger. She held him there for a little while, then lowered herself onto him, exhaling sharply at the sensation as his penis slipped inside her. He wasn't as poorly endowed as she'd made it sound, really, but she had a point to get across and the worse he felt about what she was doing to him, the better he'd convey her message to all his cohorts.

She forced him to lie still in that position for a minute or two, though it was probably harder for her than it was for him; she loved the feeling of his hard cock in her vent and wanted nothing more than to ride it for hours on end, while he still looked blankly at the wall of the alley next to them, whispering incoherently every few moments. She listened, but couldn't make out whatever he was saying, so finally she shifted her hind legs to get a better angle and began to hump him, snarling again and squeezing a little harder with her fangs when he squirmed beneath her.

Giln sobbed and stilled again, whimpering, but she ignored his distress now; the pleasure inside her was growing, swelling, a blissful tingling heat spreading from her belly to the end of her tail to the tip of her snout, blocking out all her other senses until finally it overwhelmed her. She roared, clawed blindly at his chest and thrust as hard and fast as she could, holding on to the sensations as long as she could until with one last glorious burst they faded away and she slumped against him, panting to get her wind back.

After a little while she realized Giln was shaking beneath her, the muscles in his belly and hind legs clenching rapidly, and hurried to get off him before he lost control of himself. He gasped in relief and laid still again as soon as she'd stepped away, though his damp cock stayed fully erect. He started to roll over after a moment, looked over the shallow wounds she'd left in the scales of his chest, then stared at her and panted, "can I..."

"Leave my territory at once," she growled. He didn't wait another second and fled as quickly as he could, flying away with his hind legs held tight together against his belly to hide the evidence of what she'd just done to him. Good riddance, she thought, though she had actually very much enjoyed taking him... Now would be a good time for a nap, she decided, and went to the back of her alleyway to rest.

Two stories above, three dragons backed away from where they'd be watching the fight at the edge of a rooftop and stood in a circle to discuss what they'd just seen. "No question about her fighting skill," Lotar said. "She figured out Giln's weakness and got under his guard the second time he made a move. Not to mention her speed, and her strength... I've never seen a throw like that before in my life. Giln's not exactly a heavyweight, but she just took him right off the ground."

"What do you think, boss?" Jopheni swung her head over to gauge Essal's expression. "Is she what you're looking for?"

He paused for a while, and after a minute passed in silence Lotar said, "No wonder they call her wild; she's a brute."

"But an incredible physical specimen," she growled.

"She just beat up and raped a dragon who wasn't even close to her level of skill, and scarred him up besides. She's unstable and unpredictable, not to mention stubborn, and even holding her at our compound, much less trusting the future of our flight to her womb, would be an incredible risk."

"That it would," Essal chuckled, flicking his tail back and forth, "but she's just my kind of dragon. ...also, you forgot that she's very good-looking. I'd love to know how those silver scales of hers would look if she had a chance to clean them up properly..."

He trailed off, and after a brief silence Jopheni said, "so are we going to take her?"

Essal shook his head back and forth as if shaking off a persistent fly, then nodded and looked towards the alley. "You bet. Lotar, I want the grab team here in an hour, and I want you to go with them to make sure they bring her in safely. She's exactly the dragoness I'm looking for and we cannot afford to let her slip away. Come on, we all have preparations to make before you bring her in."