FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 37

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After a nice bath and a delicious meal I felt like a new drake. My earlier workout, 'massage' session and meditation left me feeling pretty damn good. I got dressed up, nothing too fancy, a red loincloth, that matched the colour of what little fur I had, and poncho that only covered my chest and shoulders, leaving my belly exposed. Garibaldi insisted that it was a good look, as it showed off my body while giving me a sense of modesty at the same time. I also used some of the scented oils that Jovani kept getting for me. I'm not sure where he actually got them, I had never seen them for sale anywhere, I would need to ask him sometime.

I walked through the marketplace, heading for the usual tavern where Cairn and the others went to drink. I could already hear that it was busy, lots of chatter, some rowdy laughter and the pleasant thrum of some music.

The atmosphere was great, the air was a little stuffy and filled with the scents of dragons and alcohol. The place was pretty packed, the ten tables, each one able to seat up to twelve, were all in use, most of them half full or more. The noisiest table, the one at the back of the room near the bar, was the one that Cairn was seated at.

I navigated my way through the room, Cairn spotted me when I was half-way there and gave me a wave, most of the others at the table turned to look at me.

"How's it going guys?" I asked, looking round at all the familiar muzzles, most of which I had been on patrol with all week long.

"Malakye!" Cairn cheered, raising the steel tankard in his paw.

Everyone at the table gave me a welcome, which varied from a grumble of acknowledgement, a nod or a happy smile. Leonidus and Garan made a space for me to sit between them, and then offered me a tankard of ale. I took the seat gratefully and took a nice big mawful of ale, the bitter liquid sating some need deep inside. Yes, tonight was going to be a good night.

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I awoke to a splitting headache. The kind that made me grateful for living in the cave, in fear that any amount of light would literally cause my head to split open. It didn't take me long to realise that I was in bed. But after a while I realised that the scents surrounding me were not that of my own bedroom. I was in someone else's bed.

That realisation was enough to push the fatigue from my mind, but not quite enough to make my body react the way I wanted it to. Sitting up to look around took a great amount of effort, and the attempt was not graceful in anyway. My entire body ached. What the fuck happened?

The room was pitch dark. I couldn't see a damn thing! I listened intently, trying to listen for anyone in the room with me. There was. To my right and close by.

Next I focused on the scents of the room. First thing I looked for was the scent of sex. It didn't feel like I had had sex, but it did feel like I had taken a decent beating. I'm not sure if that was from a fight or if it was just the fatigue of a long week of patrols had caught up with me, or even the fight at the dojo earlier.

There was no scent of sex, no musk, nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was one awkward encounter I wouldn't have to deal with. But I still needed to figure out who the hell I was in bed with!

The air was heavy with a sweet smell. So familiar, but my mind just couldn't quite place it. It was so strong that it threatened to block out any other scent in the room, making it really difficult to work out just who I was with.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, freezing mid rub as memory of the scent struck me and sent a cold chill down my spine. It couldn't be...

I inhaled deeply.

Shit... it was! It was incense. That meant there was only three possible places I could be, and I was definitely not in the dojo. That meant that I was either in Feun's shop... or... fuck! I was in Kassandra's home. More to the point I was in her bed!

I started to freak out!

My mind raced, desperately trying remember the events that had transpired that had lead me to this situation. My instinct to use my nen bubble, that allowed me to see with out actually using my eyes, to confirm that I was in fact in Kassandra's bed scratched at the back of my mind. But the fear of finding out that I was laying in bed next to Kassandra was so terrifying that my fear made it nearly impossible to draw on my nen, the same fear that had made every muscle in my body tense to avoid moving to stop myself from inadvertently disturbing the sleeping dragoness.

She began to move I held my breath, she rolled over towards me, her arm came to rest on my right paw. Shit... shit... shit... shit... shit... shit... shit... shit.......

She was going to kill me! How the hell did I get into this situation?!

No... there was plenty of time for questions later. Right now I needed to get out of here without disturbing her.

I carefully moved towards the edge of the bed, sliding my paw from under her arm as carefully as possible. Slowly... slow... careful... I breathed a sigh of relief as my paw slipped free.

"Malakye?"

The sound of her voice, still groggy and not quite fully awake, sent a spike of adrenaline through my body which made me stumble backwards, I tripped on some clothing and hit the ground with a thud.

"Fuck..." I groaned.

I had landed awkwardly on my tail and it caused a sharp pain up my spine.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh..." I could make out a faint glimmer of her eyes staring at me in the pitch darkness. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's bad enough you turn up drunk, but now you insist on disturbing my sleep?" She sighed... or maybe it was a yawn. It was hard to tell.

So I had turned up here drunk? At least that partially explained why I was in her bed. I was more thankful for the fact that she wasn't threatening to kill me right now.

"Sorry... I... uh... I need to pee!" I lied. But at least it was a reasonable I figured.

"Fine... but just be quiet when you come back!"

"I could always go home..."

"My company not good enough?"

"No... it's... I don't want to put you out..."

"I'm already put out! Now shut up, have your piss and get back to bed before I hurt you!" She snapped.

"Uh... yes!" I obeyed, getting up and fumbled my way out of the room towards where I thought the curtained entrance was.

Each paw step was taken with care, and as hurried as I dared, my paws outstretched. I was careful not to bump into anything and not to disturb her again. Eventually my paws met the stone wall and I felt my way to the curtain and stepped into the living space, still lit faintly by a nearly burnt out candle on the far side of the room.

I didn't need to pee, but I wasn't going to admit that to Kassandra who would just take umbridge at the fact I'd lied to her. And in a strange turn of events wanted me to go back to bed with her. We didn't have sex did we? No... don't be silly Malakye... there was no way she'd have sex with me, and there was no evidence that we had. Still... she was pretty. Pity she was such a bitch!

After waiting what I considered to be a fair amount of time for going to have a piss I began to make my way back into the bedroom. I fumbled about looking for the edge of the bed before carefully climbed back in. The brief amount of light from the candle in the other room allowed me to see that she had moved to the other side of the bed where I had originally been. I slipped beneath the furs and closed my eyes. I knew that sleep would not come easily, but it would come, and when it did this awkward event would be closer to ending.

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I awoke to not only find myself still in Kassandra's bed, having convinced myself that it had all been some sort of surreal dream, but to have her sleeping soundly in the crook of my arm; nuzzling my chest in her sleep.

Despite the pitch darkness I knew it was morning now. It was amazing at how well I, and all other Zangarians, could tell the time of day despite living in caves. It was just a feeling, but one that was frighteningly accurate.

But what was more frightening was the fact that I had Kassandra snuggled up to me. It was not the snuggling from the rather attractive dragoness that was terrifying, it was her potential reaction when she woke up and found herself in such a position that scared me.

What should I do? I doubted I'd be able to slip free with out waking her. I should just feign sleep and hope she didn't freak out.

"Hmmm...?"

Shit she was waking up! My heart was hammering in my chest, and my breath hitched audibly. There was no way she would believe that I was sleeping.

"M-morning."

"Morning... hah!" She pulled away quickly, having now realised her position. "You pervert! Taking advantage of me while I slept!"

"N-no! I swear! I just woke up myself!"

"Pervert!"

"I'm really sorry! But I swear..."

"I don't care! Just get up already!" She huffed, getting up and moving about the room. I couldn't see her but I could hear her moving. "Well what are you waiting for? Get out so I can get changed you pervert!"

"S-sorry." I whimpered before I slipped out of bed and headed for the curtain.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I stepped through into the other room. I considered making a run for it before she could rip me a new one; verbally or literally. But that would just be bad manners. I would stay and face whatever abuse she'd throw my way. I had worked hard to build up a level of trust with her, and it would be a shame to ruin months of hard work over a simple row. I'd received many a verbal bashing from her, so one more wouldn't be too bad. I hope.

While she was busy changing I got to lighting the fire in the pit and start breakfast as a way to say thanks. I wasn't too sure what she had to eat here, but if worst came to worst I would go out and buy something. She had let me stay here, for what ever reason I had arrived here I couldn't tell, but she had not only let me stay but allowed me to stay in her bed. I needed to thank her properly.

She emerged from the bedroom with a scornful expression, but surprisingly didn't say a word. She silently went about grabbing some food from the pantry at the back of the room.

"I'll make breakfast." I said.

"Why?"

"Well... to thank you for putting me up for the night. I know it was an inconvenience for you."

"What do you know?" She snapped before relenting. Shoving the food stuffs at me. "I'm sure you know how to make a broth?"

"Sure!" I nodded eagerly.

"Fine... but it better taste damn good!" For a moment it looked like her eyes flashed red, but the second I looked again her eyes were normal. "WHAT?"

"Nothing. Sorry."

I quickly went about making a simple broth. She had given me a lump of raw meat on a bone. Not sure what animal it came from but it smelled fresh at least. It would make a good stock for a broth. She had also given me a few vegetables, so while the stock was cooking I cut the vegetables, copying the way I had seen Harold do it countless times.

We sat in silence while the broth cooked, it wouldn't take long for the vegetables to cook, and it was smelling pretty damn good if I say so myself! My stomach gurgled impatiently in anticipation of the much needed food.

I looked over to Kassandra, who I swear looked away from me when I looked at her, but my mind may have been playing tricks. This was probably the longest time I could remember where she wasn't hurling a fist or an insult my way. The thought made me chuckle.

"Something funny?"

"No... not really." I smiled.

"Something must have been funny to make you laugh! So out with it!"

Her tone was aggressive. I guessed she thought I had laughed at her.

"Just thinking about how... normal this is." I said.

"You think we could settle down and it would be like this everyday?" She asked in a sarcastic, overly girly tone. "You, my big strong husband, coming home to a hot meal every day? Kids running around, laughing and getting up to all sorts?" She scowled. "Dream on!"

"That's not quite what I was thinking."

"You were probably thinking about sex!"

"No... but I was wondering why you let me sleep in your bed!"

That seemed to catch her off guard. She visibly stiffened before speaking again.

"I was raised to be a good host... Grandpa would tan my hide if he found out I let a guest sleep on the floor!"

"Well I appreciate it. Thank you."

"Just don't get used to it! Next time I'll leave your ass outside in the cold!"

"Hey I think the broths ready!" I said, trying to change the subject.

After breakfast, a tasty, if I do say so myself, revitalising broth, but admittedly not as good as Harold would make. But pretty respectable I'd say, if the way Kassandra gulped it down was any indication. After breakfast made our way to the market place. I needed to see Feun about making a stronger sleeping potion to keep my nightmares at bay. Thankfully the alcohol seemed to help with that last night, but I really couldn't be doing with waking up with a hangover everyday for the rest of my life. Kassandra was going to help out her grandfather at his shop today so we walked there together.

"Kassandra my dear!" Feun greeted his granddaughter as we entered his shop. He embraced her before smiling at me. "And it is good to see you too my boy. What do I owe the pleasure?"

Feun wore a loose fitting robe over his slender body, his grey head fur tied back in a pony tail and his wispy beard was also bound to stop it from going out of control as it hung a foot long off his chin.

"I came to see if you'd make me some more sleeping potion."

"Have you run out?"

"No... it just doesn't work very well any more."

"The nightmares have returned?" He asked concerned. I simply nodded. "I will see what I can do about that. But it will take me a day or two."

"Anything you could do I would be grateful for!" I said clasping my paws together and bowing respectfully towards him.

"I will do what I can." He assured me. "If I may beg a favour in return?"

"Anything!" I said eagerly.

"I have an order from the mines, a particular ore which is important in producing some of my medicines, but they will only provide it to me in bulk. And I'm running low, however due to the war they are short pawed and unable to deliver it with everyone been drafted to the militia. And my back isn't what it once was." He said rubbing his lower back which an expression of mild discomfort.

"Don't worry, I'll go get it for you." I smiled. "The exercise will do me good!"

"That's the spirit! Thank you so much!" He turned to a nearby table and grabbed a pouch and shoved it in my paw. "This is the payment for the ore."

"Which mine is it?" I asked, well aware of the fact that there was three active mines in Zangar.

"Gisbacl."

"Oh great..." I forced a smile.

Trust it to be one that required a couple of hours walk along the mountain paths.

"If it's too much of a bother I understand."

"No, no!" I waved my paw and smiled. "It's fine. I'll get on that right away!"

"Kassandra, would you be a dear and go with him?"

"Why?" She asked bluntly.

"Because it is a long walk there and back. I would feel better knowing that he was not alone on those treacherous paths."

"It's fine really." I assured him.

"Nonsense!" He snapped. His eyes flashing red for a second. "It's not wise walking the mountains by yourself. " I shook my head, convinced I was now seeing thing. "Are you okay Malakye?" He asked concerned.

"I'm fine." I assured him. "Just a little worse for wear. Still got a bit of a hang over."

"Please go with him my dear."

"For you grandpa, anything." Kassandra smiled sweetly before give him a peck on the side of the muzzle.

"Thank you both." He smiled.

"We'd better get going." I said.

"Take care."

"Bye grandpa."

And with that we were on our way. We made a quick stop at Kassandra's so she could grab some warmer clothes before heading towards the mine. Gisbacl* mine was named after the very ore that was mined there. Gisbacl* was used in all sorts of things in Zangar, including armour and weapons, and apparently in some of Feun's healing potions. But unfortunately the only known source of it was no longer accessible through the tunnels carved throughout the mountain. We would need to take a walk outside in the elements to get there.

Thankfully during my time patrolling the perimeters of Zangar, I had learned a few short cuts, and I knew of a route that would shave nearly half a mile off our walk in the elements. I lead Kassandra, who had been silent for the entire walk, through the tunnels; each of us carried a torch to allow us to navigate the pitch black tunnels. Soon we arrived at the metal door which marked the end of our walk inside the mountain.

I wrenched the door open, stiff and rusted from lack of use, and pulled it shut behind us. The wind was frigid, and it was snowing lightly. I saw Kassandra shiver and wrap her arms round herself in her thick fur jacket. I simply used my fire nen to warm my body. Unfortunately when using my nen to warm myself I wasn't able to form my bubble to block out the wind. I had a lot of difficultly when trying to use both elements simultaneously; so I had to pick one or the other. And since I was dressed in little more than a poncho and loincloth, I decided warmth was the best option.

We walked round the narrow path a few yards and the road we needed to take came into sight. The only thing was it was about a hundred feet below us. Kassandra snorted and shoved me.

"What the hell is the big idea!" She yelled. "Are you an idiot or something?! How the hell do you expect us to get down there?!"

"I have an idea." I smirked, extending my wings slightly.

"No! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.... NOOOO!!!!!" She shrieked as I grabbed her by the waist and leapt from the edge.

She yelled and screamed obscenities at me the whole time we glided down to the ground below. Absolutely terrified the whole time. Once we landed I got a slap. It stung like a bitch... but totally worth it. I had to suppress my smile in case it would earn me another slap.

"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!" She snarled. Her eyes flashed red again.

"Okay, okay! I promise!" I ignored the red eyes, which I was convinced was my mind playing tricks; a combination of a hang over and lack of sleep over the past week.

We made our way up the steep mountain road in silence, other than the wind howling through the mountain range. I could tell she was still pissed at me the way she stormed ahead of me.

"Kassandra! Slow down!" I called after her as she disappeared round a bend in the road.

The moment she rounded the bend I was hit by a huge gust of wind and a flurry of snow that blinded me for a few moments as I tried to wipe the snow from my eyes. I jogged to catch up with Kassandra, surprised to find that she was no where in sight when I turned the corner.

"Come on Kassandra!" I called. "Where are you?"

'You... you... you...' My voice echoed back at me.

The snow was really picking up now. I could hardly see more than a few feet ahead. The shook my head and sighed. There was only one direction for her to go so I just continued on my way up the mountain road.

I walked and walked for what seemed like hours, the mountain path never seeming to come to an end. I was starting to get tired, and a little cold in my paws despite my nen keeping the rest of me warm. The weather was getting worse as well. It was still snowing, making the road ahead nearly impossible to see and the wind made it so that I was struggling to stop myself being blinded by the snow.

I started to worry about Kassandra. I hadn't seen a trace of her for ages now. And she wasn't able to use her nen to stay warm. It was getting to the point that travelling would start getting dangerous. I needed to find shelter. I needed to find her. The mine had to be close by now, if she was there then we would wait out the weather, I really hoped she was there already.

Soon I saw a light in the distance. A fire! Praise Asurmen for that! I picked up the pace and headed straight for the light. It was surprisingly far away. It was at least another twenty minutes before I got close enough to see where the light was coming from. It was coming from a window... from what looked like an outpost.

There were no outposts on this part of the mountain. There didn't need to be. The road ended at the mine! Regardless of that fact I needed to get inside out of this storm, which seemed to have worsened in the last couple of minutes.

Like the outpost I had spent my last week at, this one was falling to pieces. The walls were cracked and had holes in them. The keep itself, built into the mountain side, was significantly larger, several stories taller, than the one I'd spent a week at. But the roof of the keep was missing. But I was beyond caring at that point as I pushed one of the two large metal doors open and slipped into building. The first thing that hit me was the heat! I must have been colder than I'd thought. A huge fire burned in a fireplace twenty yards away across the huge empty hall I now stood in. Only some broken tables and chairs littered the room.

Crouched in front of the fire was a dragon, who either hadn't noticed my arrival or didn't care. They just continued to poke at the fire with a poker. It wasn't Kassandra, she didn't have wings. But that's all I could tell because they were silhouetted by the fire.

"Hello?" I called. The dragon didn't respond or react in anyway. "I think I'm a little lost... and the weathers gotten pretty rough." I said as I walked closer, waiting for a reply. "Hello?"

"A little lost you say?" They finally responded, but remained crouched in front of the fire with their back turned to me.

"Yeah. I was heading up to Gisbacl mine. But I'm pretty sire there are no outposts out this way. Have you seen a dragoness come this way? I lost her in the storm."

"Nope. No dragonesses here." There was something strangely familiar about his voice.

"Shit!" I cursed. If Kassandra was still out there in the storm then she could be in trouble. Hopefully she managed to find the mine and was sheltering there. "I should go back out and find her."

"No point in doing that."

"Why!?" I snapped. Regretting my temper getting the better of me.

I knew it was dangerous to go out in that storm, but if Kassandra was still out there then I couldn't just stay here.

"You know why." The dragon responded. Finally putting the poker down and standing up, but still kept his back to me.

"I know I shouldn't go out there, but I can't just leave Kassandra! She might die!"

He started to chuckle.

"And what's so damn funny!"

This guy was starting to piss me off. Not only that but something about him just seemed off. I wonder who he was? I started to walk to my left, trying to get an look at him from an angle that didn't result in him being silhouetted by the fire.

After a few steps he started to look familiar. That's when he turned to face me, and I couldn't believe my eyes. Standing there.... it was me. He was wearing the exact same outfit... he had my muzzle my head-fur... my yellow coloured belly scales. He looked exactly like me.

"Who... the fuck are you?!" I asked.

Cold chills running up and down my spine and my scales felt like someone was poking me with needles all over. I took a couple of steps back and rested my paw on the hilt of my knife on my thigh.

"Isn't that obvious? I'm you!" He said. I realised now that his voice sounded like me as well. "Well... the better part of you!" He grinned.

"Better part?"

"Take everything that you have and might achieve, your full potential... it would take you a thousand lifetimes to come close to me. I may be you, but you certainly are not me!"

"This is crazy!" I snapped defiantly.

"HA! Deny it all you want! But without me you'd be dead already!" My doppelgänger grinned menacingly.

"And how do you figure that?"

I won't lie, I was terrified. But talking seemed to help my nerves a little as I felt completely disjointed from my body. My body frozen, not sure if I could actually move a single muscle below my neck at this point in time.

"Zangar? Who do you think killed all those furs? Gutted that ass-hole Vireon? Fuck that was fun! Hell, I've saved your life three times already! And you still think you're the better one?"

If what ever this thing was, was real, and it did in fact kill Vireon and his goons... then that would explain why I don't remember any more than flashes.

"Say I believe you... you said you've saved me three times? When was the other two?"

"Rengilar. You think you could have killed all those wolves by yourself? Don't make me laugh!" He stared at me for a moment before continuing. "Still not believing me?" He asked.

I couldn't respond. My mind was reeling trying to figure out what the hell this... 'thing' was.

"Okay then... the cabin. Back when wolves tried to burn you alive?" He waved his paws in the air dramatically. "Who do you think gave you the strength to free yourself! Or held back the flames long enough for you to get your tail out of there!"

He held the flames back?

"Damn right I did!"

Did he just... read my mind? No... he couldn't have.

"It's not that hard when I'm up here as well." He chuckled as he tapped the side of his head meaningfully. "I know what you know. I know how you think. I know you better than you know yourself!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"Oh, temper, temper! Didn't Mummy always teach us to play nice? Even when the wolves were wishing we were dead? What a fucking stupid bitch she was!"

"Don't you talk shit about my mother!!!" I growled.

I pulled my knife from its sheath and pointed it at him. That seemed to get his attention. He took a couple of steps away from the fire and eyed me.

"Our mother!" He stated. "Our stupid-bitch-whore mother!"

"I swear I'll kill you!"

"The only way to kill me is to kill yourself!" He laughed. "And I don't think you're willing to do that. Now are you?"

"Then I'll just have to kick your ass!"

"You wish! You've been using my strength for so long now I doubt you're even able to defend yourself."

My temper flared, I drew on my nen, and reached into the fire and willed a burst of flames towards him. But nothing happened. I reached out to the fire and tried once again to control it but nothing happened. What the hell was going on?

"Sorry, but fire..." A fire spirit floated from the fire into his paw. "Is my thing!"

The fire spirit suddenly struck me in the chest. I stumbled backwards from the force of the blow. I ripped off my poncho which had caught fire and tossed it away. The scales on my chest tingled uncomfortably, burned from the attack.

"So here's what's going to happen. I'm fed up being trapped here, so I'm going to be taking over."

"Taking over what?"

"You're body of course!" He said as if it was so obvious. "I'm fed up being in the back seat, watching you live your life. Why should I? I'm obviously much stronger than you. You can stay here while I go and have some fun for a change!" He grinned. "I can't wait to kill someone that means something to you! That old bird? The dragoness? The tiger? Or maybe that cute, oh-so, fuckable fox! Oh yessss... I'm going to make sure he suffers a long, long time before I put him out of his misery!"

"No!"

I nearly choked on my words, images of what he planned on doing to them flashing through my mind as if they were my own thoughts. I could feel his blood lust. Could feel his excitement as if it was my own.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you don't miss one single moment! You'll have the best seat in the house! I'll even look him in the eyes, just so you can watch as his life fades away!" He laughed manically.

"You're not going to touch him! I won't let you hurt anyone!" I growled.

"I'm not really sure you're going to be able to stop me!"

"And I think you're forgetting something!"

"And what might that be?" He asked curiously. His smile not faltering.

"Fire may be your thing." I sent out a blast of nen into him, and sent him flying into the wall behind him. He stuck the wall with an audible thwack and fell to the ground. "But air is mine!"

However he was up in an instant, his eyes glowed a menacing red. Those eyes... those same damn eyes... a cold spike of fear struck my chest. This wasn't just some dream... those eyes that have haunted me for months... those eyes are his eyes. I needed to get out of here!

Before I could move a muscle a surge of flames shot from the fire place. I narrowly dodged the flames by rolling away. But was struck by the next attack and was momentarily blinded by the heat as it stung my eyes. Next thing I knew I was sent crashing to the ground by a fierce kick to my chest.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" My red eyed doppelgänger growled, his voice no longer sounded like me, it sounded deeper, rougher, more demonic and seemed to echo slightly as he spoke.

"Fuck you!" I cried and fired another burst of wind at him.

My attack struck him, doing little more than phase him for a couple of seconds as he was knocked off balance. But that was all the time I needed to get back to my foot-paws and started running for the doors.

A flare of nen was the only warning I had, leaping to the right as a giant fireball flew past me, the intense heat it gave off nearly burned me as it passed. The attack struck the metal doors, engulfing the exit in flames. And without the ability to bend fire I was trapped. I needed to find another way out.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!!"

I dodged another attack, the fire struck the ground where I had stood a moment before. I didn't know if I could take that thing in a fair fight. If what it said was true then I couldn't be sure of my chances. But I wouldn't go down without a fight! But first I needed to try and escape. It wouldn't be able to follow me in the storm.

I spotted a set of stone stairs to my left. I didn't have time to think about it, I just made a run for them. I managed to narrowly dodge several fireballs thrown my way as I made for the stairs. I scrambled up the stairs, grateful for the the stone walls now between my doppelgänger and myself.

I ran up the stairs to the next floor and found myself in a corridor with numerous doorways. A quick glance told me this was once private rooms. I needed to find a window! With the floor in near pitch darkness it was easy to find a room with a window. A pale light from one of the doorways was all the indication I needed. As I reached the doorway I smiled as I saw the window. The light from the window cut the darkness of the room like a beacon of hope.

I spared a glance back at the stairway before I ran for the window. I was nearly at the window when I sensed a large burst of nen from below me.

The wooden floor in front of me erupted in flames before they splintered and ripped apart. I fell backwards and watched in horror as the fire began to consume the room, a ten foot wide flaming hole blocking my access to the window. A moment later my doppelgänger appeared from out of the hole. Landing with a thud on the burning floor and levelled its red eyed gaze at me.

"You're not going anywhere!" It chuckled, spreading its wings intimidatingly.

"Fuck... you!" I gasped before rising back up to my foot-paws. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friends! You're going to have to kill me first!"

"That. Can be be arranged."

My knife still in paw we charged each other. We collided with a thud, our nens clashing as wrestled with each other. He was strong! But I was managing to hold him off. We each had a hold of each others right wrists and wrestled for the leverage to over come the other.

I used my own foot paw to wrap around him and drag it out from under him. With his balance lost I shoved him back towards the gaping hole in the floor and charged him, sinking the blade of my knife into his chest. My momentum carried both of us over the edge of the hole and we fell to the floor below.

Our bodies crashed into the floor, the wooden audibly cracking from the impact. I rolled away, having used his body as a cushion, but my body was still racked with pain. I grunted as I forced myself to all fours and cast a look at my doppelgänger He was motionless, his eyes shut, and blood pouring out of his chest where my knife was buried in him up to the hilt.

I looked towards the door, the flames that had once blocked it were nearly out. I pushed myself up to my foot-paws and began limping, my right knee ached, towards the door. I needed to get out of here. I needed to find Kassandra!

I was just a few yards away from the door when I noticed an ominous shadow rise up on the wall ahead of me, followed by the sound of something striking the floor. I looked over my shoulder to see a menacing black silhouette with glowing red eyes staring at me. My bloodied knife shimmered with the light of the fire at the foot-paws of my doppelgänger

I didn't waste any time. I ran towards the door, the sudden adrenaline rush making the aches and pains in my body disappear. I slipped through the still open door, my bodied immediately gripped by the icy cold grasp of the storm which was now at it's peak. Without my fire bending I was vulnerable to the cold. I wouldn't last long in this storm, but I'd rather die out here in the elements than let that demon use me to harm my friends!

I pushed forward, moving as fast as I could against the wind, unable to see more than a couple of feet ahead of me through the heavy snowfall. There was a savage roar and a burst of nen like none I'd ever felt before. As I ran across the courtyard, the entire area was lit up in a brilliant orange light. I looked behind me to see fire pour from every window and door and erupt from the non-existent roof of the keep. I stumbled and fell onto the snowy ground, the cold biting into my flesh with even greater force. But that didn't matter... I could only watch in fear as the flames poured out of the keep and began to gather at the top.

As flames gathered they began to take form. The form of a giant dragon. Standing taller than the keep itself, the fames disappearing as it's scales took form. It's entire body larger than the keep itself, the keep almost engulfed entirely in its flaming paw. A pair of demonic red eyes looked down at me and flames burned across the length and breadth of its body. It's maw glowing brightly from the flames within.

"YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE!!!"

It roared before a jet of flame burst from it's open maw. I could only scream as the fames engulfed me.