WHITE DRAGON
Part One
By Arthur
Authors Note:
All the usual restrictions apply to the reading of this story persuant to your location. The story contains sexual content of a gay nature and is intended for readers of the age of consent for your location. All characters are ficticious and bear no resembalance to anyone living or dead. The story is the copyright of the Author and may not be reproduced without his express permission.
THE KISS
The world had descended into a dark chaos of war, famine and misery. Nowhere was safe for the peasantry or for that matter, the nobility, in these times of hardship. Dire stories of wizards and ghosts ran rampant over the desecrated land as the farmers, shop keepers and herders tried to eke out a living from the torment around them.
Only a few lucky souls moved about the land without fear or dread but it was said they were the makers of the misery that dragged the souls from mortal man. Once great forrests of mighty Oak and Elm stood proud over the land but now there were only burnt stumps and the choking dead ash stirred up from careless footsteps to remind people of what had once been.
Bragill turned for the last time to view the ravaged land and with a heavy sigh, faced back toward the forebidding maw of the dark cave. The surrounding grey rock face held little attraction to the dark haired 15 year old but he knew that this was his time. If he was not successful this year then he would be reduced to a commoner, never to be called again by the Seer's of the Dragon.
Most boys that were chosen recieved their kiss at the age of 13 or 14 years but for some unknown reason Bragill had never been one of the chosen. His mentor, Galland, had called him at an early hour to make this last try at finding his Krou, his Familiar, his Protector.
At the occassion of the Emergence, the barren rocky area outside the gaping hole at the entrance to the cave, would be a tumult of young voices showing gleeful anticipation at finding their Krou. Today Bragill stood alone on the side of the mountain except for his mentor, whose hand rested on Bragill's shoulder with a tenderness not normally known in this land of death.
Through the thoughts of despair Bragill heard the soft rasping words of Galland as he directed Bragill to the gaping mouth of darkness before him.
"Do not forget 'The Way', follow my teachings and you will come to no harm. Bragill, my boy, you are destined for something great in this time of misery, be patient and follow 'The Way'."
"Yes Mentor, but I do worry, this is my last time, what happens if he is not there for me?"
"You know the answer to that my boy, but have heart, he is there, waiting for the right boy to come."
Yes Bragill knew what would happen, his mind would be swept clean of all the knowledge given to him by his Mentor and he would be reduced to serving some Lord or Master on the land as a serf, or worse as a carrier of weapons to be chopped down by an enemy on some blood soaked field before he reached his full adulthood.
At the school of learning he was often the butt of the other boy's jibes, his dark hair made him different and his totally hairless body, even after he was able to give his man juice, was always good for a laugh with all the redheaded boys.
It was well known that only those with the hair of fire could attain a Krou, for Bragill and his dark hair, they saw only a lost cause. Never in the history of the 'Emerging' had a Krou accepted any boy who was not of the hair of fire.
A gentle pressure on his shoulder told Bragill that the time was here, he began to move towards the cave mouth with hesitant steps, the last words of his Mentor still clear in his ears.
"Remember and trust 'The Way' my boy."
With trepadtion Bragill walked towards the open cavernous mouth before him, its ragged edges like the fangs of a hungry beast, ready to snap shut on any unbeliever and swallow him forever into the depths and bowels of the earth.
Bragill took the twenty steps reqired of him and when he halted he was surrounded by total darkness with not even the light of the morning sun penetrating the darkness around him. In the far off distance a small spark of blue light shone high up on what Bragill assumed was the roof of the cavern. No sounds penetrated the darkness and underfoot he could feel a strange warmth eminating from the stone floor as he stood in solitary wonder.
As he had been instructed, Bragill knelt and lowered his head until it was resting on the hard stone floor, the unearthly warmth almost a comfort on his brow. Bragill had been trained over the last four years to go without food, drink or sleep for long periods in readiness for this mooment. It was a known fact that the Emergence could take one day or ten days, no-one knew for sure when he would recieve the kiss or if he would ever recieve it, this was the way of the Krou. To accept a boy or reject him was at their whim and no amount of beseeching would change that.
After a suitable time had passed, Bragill rose again and divested himself of all his course clothing and once naked returned to his position of suplication. The stone floor felt almost soothing on his bare skin as he let his mind go to the chant of acceptance, the words issued forth as not much more than a soft drone in the silence around him. Time passed as Bragill chanted, hour after hour he kept it going until his body shook with a need for sleep and the drone became a confused jumble.
Bragill knew that more than three days had passed as he could easily remain awake and alert for that amount of time, so as the effects of a long sleepless period overtook him it had to be well into the fourth day. Nothing had moved in the cavern, no sound other than that which he had made, no light apart from the blue twinkle far off at the end of the cavern. Bragill felt his resolve begin to wander as his eyes gave into their need, and, as they closed Bragill's body softly slumped to the warm stone floor.
In the distance he could hear a strange crackling and then he was in the depths of much needed sleep. Bragill's sleep was not the peaceful rest he had needed, instead it was filled with dreams of war and destruction, the desecration of the once beautiful lands and forrests. It was of horror and bloodshed. It was as though Bragill was in the center of the mayhem and slaughter but was viewing it from a position of height like an eagle soaring above the land on the lookout for its next meal.
Below him the forrests burned in their agony as small stick like humans lay waste to everything about them, be it man or beast. Deep within the heavy black smoke of the dying forrests he spied a blue spark of light, growing as it neared his lofty position.
In an instant all the destruction and death below him disappeared and he was left in the blackness with only the blue light sparkling before his eyes, the demise he had seen in his dream of so much wanton hate and death had left Bragill's eyes overflowing with large tears of sorrow and frustration at the pointless finality of it all.
The spark remained before his sleeping mind, shimmering and slowly growing before the tearful boy and then with a bright flash, the light exploded before Bragill's eyes. From the flash of light emerged a boy of about the same age as Bragill, but in his dream the boy had the hair of fine straw, his skin was like the white stones used to form the many statues for the Barons and Lords of the land. The eyes of the figment were of the palest lavender and he stood there just like Bragill, in total nakedness showing he was also completely hairless.
The body was slim and had a sleek look about it but his skin was, to Bragills sleep filled mind, unearthly. It shone with with a sparkle like a thousand stars had buried themselves under the boys flesh, shimmering and blinking as the flesh moved.
The slim translucent hand reached down for that of Bragill's and with an effortless ease, lifted Bragill to his feet. The shimmering beauty of the boy could now be seen in all his true glory as Bragill was pulled towards him, until he was pressed close to the iluminated skin of the boy. A stirring had begun in Bragills loins as he was pulled closer to the boy and the pressure against his own groin told him the the figure was feeling the same closeness.
Bragill had never had dreams of boys, nor girls for that matter, in all his last four years his time had been taken up with the need to learn what his Mentor had set him, so apart from his own manipulations, he had not often needed a release. The figure smiled down at him and with a tenderness Bragill had never felt before, the boy began to lower his body to the floor of the cavern, which had miraculously now become the softest down which his back sank deep into. The alabaster boy lowered himself down until he was laying on top of Bragill and with a gentle pressure placed his soft lips over Bragills panting mouth. The kiss was soft and tender at first but within seconds it was harder and deeper as the figures tongue asked for entrance.
Bragill knew that 'The Way' was never a set of rules, the Emergence took many forms and no two were ever the same, this however was a surprise to Bragill, to have another boy, albeit a dream boy, wanting to kiss him in such a mannerwas most unexpected. His own rising heat took over Bragills mind and he began to return the kiss of the boy, finding it quite to his liking as the kiss continued on for untold ages.
Bragill was under the spell of the dream boy and although he was aware of something else going on with their bodies he was not prepared for the sharp pain of entry as the boy thrust himself deeply into Bragills body until their groins were married to each other and the jerking spasms of the dream boys body told Bragill of some monentous event taking place.
The pulsing deep inside his own body seemed to spread like fire through his soul as the boy held him in a clasp of passion and release. Bragill was not aware of his own man juice spilling out over his own flesh as the boy continued his giving.
Time stood still as the two dream bodies came to their final spasm and with a look deeper than any ocean, the boy lifted from Bragill's satiated body and with the movement of a coiling reptile, pulled Bragills body to him and surrounded it in warmth and protection.
Still in his dream state, Bragill looked at the boy coiled around him and with a small gasping voice asked the apperation.
"Who are you?"
"I am Gremen."
"Are you my Krou?"
"Yes."
"But...but..you are but a boy?"
"For the Emergence I am a boy, but I am also much more than a boy."
"What we just did, what does it mean?"
"It means our souls are now joined as one, should I die then you will die, should I allow you to die, then I shall die, we are one, always and forever."
"But I thought the Krou were Dragons."
"I am, and then I am not, I will be for you what ever you wish me to be, but only when we are alone. At first light on the morrow you will see the truth of me as others will see me."
"There is so much that I was not taught."
"There is still much for you to learn Preador, but that is why I am here, we will learn together."
"What did you call me?"
"Preador."
"But that is not my name."
"It is now, you will forever be known by others as Preador, the holder of the claw."
"What claw?"
"On the morrow Praedor, you will see, now sleep in my restfull clasp and on the morrow all will be revealed to you."
Without further thought Bragill returned to his state of exhaustion as the sights and sounds of his dream faded into his memory. The fulfillment in his body gave off an internal heat like that of the stone floor and his mind relaxed into its restful, dreamless state.
As alertness overtook Bragill's senses he realised that his dream had been one of exploration and wonder but now the coldness of the stone floor was seeping into his hip and shoulder where they made contact with his skin. The rest of his body was surrounded in warmth a comfort as though covered with the softest down coverlet, and as he stirred to pen his now rested eyes he had a feeling that all was not as it had been when he first dropped into his broken sleep.
Something warm and hard was surrounding him and as he stretched away the tightness of sleep his eyes went down his bare chest until they rested on the large white talon clasped over his chest. It had four claws, three were of the same opaque whiteness but the fourth was a vibrant pulsing crystal with a inner light that drew the eye deeply into it.
In his mind Bragill heard a voice.
"Ahhh Praedor, you awaken, I have a gift for you, take hold of the crystal claw and withdraw it from my talon."
"I can't do that, it will hurt you."
"My Praedor, nothing you could do to me will ever hurt me, the claw is there for you, that is why it was formed, now only you, the Preador can withdraw it, should anyother attempt it they would die a horrible death of fire and ash. Now my one soul, take my claw, it is yours by right."
Bragill reached for the crystal claw and with shaking hand began to pull gently on it. To his surprise it slid out freely and as the last of it appeared, the place it had been healed over quickly until there was no sign it had been there.
Bragill looked down at the claw and saw that at its blunted end it was shaped like the handle of a knife and fitted his hand as though made for him.
"What do I do with it Gremen?"
"Lay it along your forearm and with your mind imagine it to be a part of you."
Bragill followed the instructions and in seconds to his amazed eyes the claw shimmered and then sank into his flesh to merge with his own body leaving only a faint glimmer under the skin to show it had ever been real.
"Wha....what do I do with it?"
"What ever is needed, find a picture in your mind of a long sword."
Bragill did as he was bade and in an instant he was holding a long sharp crystal sabre in his hand, its edge bright and sharp, the haft was moulded into his hand and as he moved it back and forth he realised that he could not feel any weight to it but whtever movement he thought of the crystal sword follwed, even though he had no training in weapons.
Amazed, Bragill turned towards his new friend and for the first time saw his Gremen in his true form. He was large, no, very large, perhaps ten meters from horned head to spade tail, his scales were of the irridescent white of Gremen's boy skim and the eyes that looked back at him with amusement were still the same pale lavender. On his back were a pair of folded wings, each section of the wing was tipped with a large claw as were the long talons of his four feet. Laying on his side where he had stayed to protect Bragill duriong his sleep, Gremen was still taller than the boy who stood looking at him.
"Well my Praedor, is this more what you were in expectation of?"
"Gremen...Gremen, you are beautiful but so big."
"I have to be bigger than the other Dragons, I am Goron, that is why you are Praedor."
"Goron? what is Goron?"
"I am the prince of the Dragons, there is only one born every two centuries as is a Praedor like yourself."
"What do we do now?"
"We must go to bury your Mentor, he waits for us at the entrance."
"Bury Galland, why, he could not have died in only a few days."
"It has been more than a few days, and as he was your Mentor he could not partake of any sustenance once you enetered this cavern. He knew it was to be his end, it is 'The Way'."
"How long has it been, it seemed like only a week or so?"
"It has been five passings of the moon since you entered to await for me."
"Five months, why am I not hungry or thirsty?"
"You were sustained by the cavern and by my soul as you slept."
"Are we truly so close that you could feed me in such a manner?"
"Yes as it will always be, you will never need to take sustainence from this time onward, the claw will provide you all you need, that is what I meant by one dying, both die, without your soul I can not live, that is the covenant of protection."
"Thank you Gremen, then lets do honour to Galland."
Gremen rolled onto his stomach, still in a crouch and lowered one mighty wing towards Bragill.
"Come Praedor, there is no need for you to walk, sit between my wings, you will find it comfortable there, it was made for your seat."
Bragill did as he was asked and he found that while the wings looked to be gossomer thin they in fact had a strength of steel as he stepped up on them and then seated himself, still naked, between them at the base of Gremens neck. Gtremen stood to his full height and Bragill looked down in the darkness to just make out the outline of the huge talons below him as gremen took his first steps towards the entrance.
TO BE CONTINUED: