Nicora finds herself in a familiar bed, even though it's one she's never been in as herself - whatever that means. She's wearing the gauzy accessories and clips of her Himaatian dancing costume as she lies atop the bed, with the only scales being the ones on her tail now. There's no sign of Lord Kazuhiko though.
"Mmm, what a weird dream," Nicora mutters and stretches herself out, fingers, toes, and wings playing. She lays there for a moment, feeling content and rather pampered before she sits up on the bed and looks about. "Nicer than the ship, that's for certain," she remarks then lazily climbs out of bed to give herself a thorough check-over to see if she's wearing everything, including all her jewelry.
Everything is there. She jingles when she moves even a little! The wing-rings are even there. The dressing mirror for the room is very ornate and clear, and it isn't until she's checking her lower legs that Nicora notices a pair of golden cat-slit eyes peering out from underneath the bed.
Nicora even flicks her little personal virtue protector, aka, the lock just before she's leaning over to look at her legs. The eyes staring at her cause her to blink a few times. "Hello?" she calls out to the unknown person under the bed. "May I help you? Are you lost?"
The eyes move, and a steel dragon slithers out from under the bed. "That depends," Vorgulremik says, as he stands and then sits on the edge of the bed. "I'm assuming you had a reason for summoning me, Alptraum. Or do I call you Nicora? Or is it something else now?"
Nicora blinks at this. As with all dreamlike states, not everything quite makes complete sense. "I am Nicora," the Eeee answers and even bows politely to the steel dragon, then walks over and actually kneels at his feet! "I summoned you?" she asks, head tilted, her brain still a bit cloudy and trying to figure out what is going on.
"Well, I am in your dream," the dragon claims, and looks around the room with an air of approval, then looks down at the kneeling bat. "Why do you think I am here? Your subconscious wants me for.. something," he says suggestively.
"This is the room of my Lord, of course," Nicora claims, "You must be one of his guests? Perhaps he sent you to me?" Even as she says that, something feels funny to Nicora. She knows this person is dangerous, somehow. "Shall I go look for him and inquire?"
"No, that won't be necessary," the dragon purrs, and pats the spot next to him on the bed. "How do you serve your Lord?" he asks.
Nicora practically slither-crawls herself up onto the bed and settles herself beside the steel dragon. Her head tilts slightly to the side as she looks at him sidelong, her hands resting lightly in her lap. "I dance and entertain, I provide company at meals, and I satisfy his physical desires, of course," she answers, her lips drawn back behind the gauzy veil on her muzzle in a knowing smile. Something is really nagging at the back of her mind now. She has a feeling she shouldn't be saying these sorts of things to this one.
A taloned finger brushes up under Nicora's chin, ruffling the veil. "And who is your Lord?" the dragon asks.
"Lord Kazuhiko, the ki'rin," Nicora answers. Her head tilts just a bit, following the movement of the talon as it brushes the underside of her chin.
"A Ki'rin? Rare," Vorgulremik says. "I am Lord Vorgulremik. It is a shame you are only an Eeee though."
Nicora blinks a few times. That name is very familiar for some reason. "Only, Lord? What would you prefer? I could see if there are others here that could be more to your tastes?" she offers, feeling oddly worried.
"My tastes tend to run more to the elfin or draconian," the dragon notes. "But.. am I hear simply because you miss my caresses?" he asks, brushing Nicora's cheek with the back of a hand.
Nicora's head tilts, following the back of the scaled hand. It's right about then everything clicks and she realizes who this is, where he is ... and what she just did. Her body goes stiff for a second. ""Vorgulremik," she says with a tone of recognition in her voice now. She draws back from his hand now, ears folded back and hot from embarrassment. "I cannot believe I just ... you ... " she says, flustered, "And dressed like this!"
"I don't usually notice clothing," the dragon admits with a leer, "but the jewelry is a tempting addition."
"Intended to keep people like you from violating my body again," Nicora claims and crosses her arms. It's hard to look all that powerful though when you're dressed like a harem girl. "Still," she says, "it isn't completely unpleasant to see you. I have been thinking more about you as of late."
"I see," the dragon says, and puts an arm around Nicora's shoulders to snug her close! "What has brought me to mind, if I may ask? A need for useful advice, perhaps? A craving for the ways I've made you feel good and powerful?"
"You are not ... unattractive when I am in this ... state," Nicora admits as she's drawn close! "But it is the need for advice, not draconic mating desires, that brought you to mind. I will soon be back in Babel and will have to deal with several rather capacious Goddess'. I wish to ask you the best way to remain relatively unscathed."
"I take it that simply avoiding them is not an option?" Vorg asks. "Which ones can you not avoid dealing with?"
"Gorphat, the Goddess of disease. I must visit her temple on behalf of Phlagaea. Sunala, naturally, my Mother, and Inala, the Goddess of pleasure, who has some plans that I have yet to determine," Nicora explains as she turns herself a bit ... then straddles Vorg's lap so that she's facing him! The tug she feels does make her twitch, but at least it's not painful.
"Hmm, Sunala seems to me to be the most troublesome to appease," the dragon says, using his hands to hold onto Nicora's hips so she doesn't fall off. "How has your relationship with her been of late?"
"Tense. I am not fulfilling enough of my duties to her," Nicora admits. "But it is hard ... this body creates many conflicting desires, and the workings of the other Goddess' cause many distractions.
"And just what are your duties to Lady Death?" Vorgulremik asks, tilting his head to one side slightly.
"Bringing those into her fold. Guiding spirits across the divide," Nicora explains. "Not ... enjoying carnal exploits and having ... fun."
"Ah, in other words.. she is upset at you for living too much?" the dragon asks. "Has she actually asked you to do anything tasks?"
Nicora actually has to think about that and her head tilts a bit. "No," she admits, unable to think of any specific task she has ever been asked. Meanwhile, the fur and flesh underneath Vorg's hands begins to squirm. Nicora doesn't seem to notice it, but the fur is drawing back into her body, leaving smooth, black, skin behind. The change is slow and creeps slowly up the Eeee's sides and down her legs.
Vorgulremik acts as if he doesn't notice these changes. "Has she chided you for any specific actions you've done?" he asks next.
"She has made remarks about my 'experimenting' with mortals and physical pleasure," Nicora answers as the changes continue, apparently unaware to the Eeee. Her wings are drawing into her back, and soon they are gone, the only hints that they were ever there are a series of rings lining the outside of her spin; her former wing-rings. "She didn't sound mad, though. Just that she hoped I would soon be done with my experimenting."
"And are you done with your experimenting?" the dragon asks, interlacing his fingers behind the small of Nicora's back.
"I .. don't really know?" Nicora admits and sighs, her eyes closing, "I am trying to behave, but the performer in me wants to play." With her eyes closed, Nicora doesn't notice, or seem to feel, her face contracting and the remainder of her fur drawing in, leaving her body smooth and shiny as oil. A dark elf now sits in Vorgulremik's lap, straddling his legs. Her eyes open, still silvery, but with vertical slits for pupils now. "I mean, the experimenting feels good," she admits, blinking as she now notices the change! "Vorg! What have you done!?"
"I have done nothing yet," the dragon says, before dipping the sudden elf back and licking her throat. "Tell me about Gorphat," he says, as he tugs on the gauze arm pieces.
"Grgulebrt," goes Nicora very coherently when her neck is licked. "Gorphat is ... disgusting. She's all ... bandaged up and slimy and icky and just ... brr. And Phlagaea adores her. She has been so happy since Gorphat and I have started ... talking," she admits. "I think she likes the idea of her Mistress and I being ... closer."
"She should be easy to appease," the dragon suggests, as he continues stripping away the fabric of Nicora's costume. "Sex and flattery should avail you with Gorphat, or at least distract Her from afflicting you for amusement."
"Sex with her?" Nicora says, sounding horrified! "She already cursed my ... female body with ungodly pains and torments, then smiled as I writhed." She's so worried she doesn't even seem to notice being stripped ... for now!
"You have sex with Phlagaea, and is she not made in Gorphat's image?" Vorgulremik asks. "A goddess - any goddess - will be an exceptional partner. Have you not lain with Melusine, who has no solid form?" he asks, then lifts up Nicora and turns to set her in the center of the bed.
"Phlagaea is different, she was attractive," Nicora claims, though falters a bit in that claim since yes, Gorphat did look a lot like her. "And yes, I have lain with Melusine. She and I have ... experimented with many things. I have let her play with my body if it were clay." It's when she's set in the center of the bed she realizes Vorgulremik as stripped away much of her clothing. "Ah, just what are you doing?" she asks worriedly.
"Preparing to ravish you, of course," the dragon says, and undoes one of the sashes used to hold the gauze side-curtains to the bed posts. He tests it's strength, then says, "If you found your experience with Melusine rewarding despite being disturbing, then you should have no qualms with Gorphat." Satisfied with the strength of the sash, he ties it around one of Nicora's ankles. "Inala is the one you have interacted with the most, isn't She?"
"You'll have to get past the lock, you know," Nicora remarks, amused at Vorgulremik's claims that he intends to ravish her. She also tries to pull her foot away from him to see if he'll actually fight her. "So, your advice is to give myself to Gorphat and become her lover?" she asks, still feeling sick at that thought.
"And yes, Inala is the one I have interacted with the most. I think she wants me to become one of her Daughters," Nicora admits.
In response to the resistance, Vorgulremik employs his aura. It isn't like Snow's, which goes right to the heart of things - but it is very familiar, just like when Alptraum first met Rosalind. It's a bit hypnotic, as the dragon meets Nicora's eyes.
As much as she doesn't really want to, Nicora finds herself offering her leg back to Vorgulremik.
The dragon rewards the obedience with a rumble, and finishes tying the ankle to the nearest bedpost. As he moves to the next, he says, "You have not been doing any aura exercises, I see. Your other symbiotic spirit must be interfering still. It is understandable that Inala - or any of the goddesses - would want to claim you as one of their own, if your relationship with Sunala is strained."
"I suppose. But could you really see me as a Daughter of lust? A woman that lives to provide physical pleasures to others and herself?" Nicora actually asks and looks upward. "And as for Gorphat, do I really just ... offer myself to her?"
"Never offer yourself," Vorgulremik advises, as he binds Nicora's wrists. "That is how you find yourself in situations like this one. You must be pro-active and seduce the goddess. Be aggressive."
"Seduce ... the Goddess .. of Disease ... " Nicora says slowly as her hands are being tied down. Stilll she's comforted that she's protected by her strategic lock. "What if she curses me again? I'm not sure she'll ever lift the ones she has already placed on me!"
"You must refuse to accept a curse you do not desire," Vorgulremik notes, then uses his tongue to draw the lock up into his mouth.. and simply bites through the chain!
"I can refuse them? Can't she place it regardless?" Nicora asks, then lets out a squeal when the chain snaps! "You don't have to do this," she tells the steel dragon. "I'm not very good..."
"Of course I don't have to," the dragon says, before slurping up the chain like a strand of noodle. "But I want to. Don't you want me to? The Drow experience pleasure and pain in a very different way."
"You're ... really big," Nicora claims and bites her lip worriedly. "I don't really know," she admits, "I think this body wants you to, I can feel it all warm in certain places ... but I mean, you're my prisoner!"
The dragon bites the captive elf's shoulder, drawing blood and causing her to shiver. Maybe there really is something to that pleasure-pain thing. It might explain a lot about the dark elves. "I am only your prisoner because you choose to define me that way - but I could be more, if you wanted," the dragon whispers into one long, pointed ear - and then he takes the elf, without warning or further warm-up. His scales are rough against sensitive, bare skin but it still feels good despite the abrasion.
Everything hurts. Her insides ... well, it's reminiscent of Gorphat's curse during her time of the month! There is no sane reason she should like this, but the Dark Elf's body does like it. The pain feels good. Her body also betrays that she does like it by the sounds she makes when the dragon takes her so roughly. It's pleads of pain and stopping, only to be followed by sounds that say quite the different, she doesn't want him to stop!
Of course, the gold at the area of maximum contact is probably affecting the dragon's performance. And before the final surge, he bites down again, then calmly begins to lick away the blood covering the elf from the various bites and scale-cuts. "Delicious," the dragon rumbles. "Are you certain you won't reconsider letting me devour you?"
Nicora stares at the ceiling in a pain-blurred daze. She feels beaten both inside and outside. "No, you can't devour me," the dark elf says after a few minutes of actual silence. "Isn't it enough you get to ... release yourself in me on occasion?"
"It is a pale comparison," the dragon notes, leaning in close. "Do you recall the memory I shared with you of the sacrificed priestess? The flavor of her soul, her memories... No merely physical intimacy can match that. Not even kenning, which is still, ultimately, merely physical."
"Maybe I should devour you instead," Nicora actually challenges the steel dragon, her lips drawing back in a perfectly cruel dark-elf smile.
"You can't," the dragon claims with a toothy grin. "I'm protected. Only Kaira has the key to my soul. You are only protected by the Barsunala - although that is enough to defend against most attacks."
"I can ask her for the key," Nicora challenges as she squirms, which probably only eggs the dragon on. "And curse you, I shouldn't like this."
"Kaira would not approve of this at all," Vorg notes, and then starts up again. "But, with some effort, I can make it more painful than pleasurable, if you want.."
Nicora winces in pain. "How?" she finds herself asking, unsure how this could hurt any more than it already does and not involve dying somehow.
"It simply a matter of wearing you out," the dragon says with a grin. "Remember how long it took, when you devoured that demon and manifested me?"
"I've tried to forget," Nicora admits, "I was terrified you were trying to impregnate me. I had myself checked after that." Her body continues its betrayal by its movements and sounds offering encouragement to the evil dragon.
"Hmmm, I may have to try that then next time," Vorgulremik grunts... and then he's too busy to talk. The bed posts creak from the strain, but the sashes are holding.. by digging into Nicora's wrists and ankles.
Nicora's fingers curl around and grip on the sashes. Yes, this hurts, it reminds her so much of the day Gorphat 'blessed' her, with the way her insides feel. So why does this body continue on, actively encouraging the dragon. It's maddening that she can't help herself and instead begins pleading to the dragon to continue! Total body betrayal; her mind knowing this is wrong, but her body insisting upon it.
There comes a point when her body has had enough, though. Too much damage to ignore, from the bites and bruises and fingers starting to go numb. And the change is abrupt. Stimulation becomes regular pain in an instant, and Nicora realizes her skin is being scraped away by scales - including the very sensitive parts. The clips for the chest piece have been knocked loose long ago, so there's no protection at all there. And the dragon isn't exactly a lightweight - he's been crushing her into the bed, and there just isn't any soft support left below her.
And the screaming that follows is blood-curdling. She's almost thankful for the numbness in her fingers keeping her from feeling the agony they should be feeling. Her skin, though, that just burns. Inside, outside, it's ungodly agony. Her head throws back as she screams ... and that's when it happens. Bones start to crackle as her body shifts again in an attempt to defend itself. Her face stretches as the skin slits, steel-gray scales exploding across her face as the muzzle of the female steel dragon replaces the elfin face she wore a moment ago. Her stomach and chest splits, steel scutes coming to the fore to protect her from the weight upon her. Fingers and toes curl into talons, the nails stretching and thickening. Her wore-torn body is soon replaced by that of another steel dragon! The scarves tear and soon she is trying to Roll Vorgulremik on his back and pin him down!
The gold.. oh the gold! It rivals Snow's powers, maybe goes beyond them! And now Vorgulremik has to struggle to satisfy her, and she has the high ground, and the sharp teeth and talons and mass!
It's now Nicora's turn to lean in, her scales lips hovering near his ear. "You are mine," she growls to Vorgulremik as the draconic body meets his fury with its own. Her claws dig into his sides, throwing sparks. "Tame me if you believe you are strong enough," she challenges him, too. "You want me? Prove yourself worthy." She's practically roaring by the end!
"Not.. so rough.." Vorgulremik finally has to concede. He may be an immortal dragon with tens of thousands of years of experience.. but dealing with aggressive sex partners doesn't seem to be a part of that, given the normal reproductive tendencies of his breed. Eventually he just stops, hoping Nicora will lose interest or get tired, even with the gold constantly recharging and renewing her otherwise most tender area.
Eventually Nicora does stop and withdraws from him, then collapses into a heap besides him. She eyes him for a bit through silver-slit eyes. "Am I becoming one of your kind?" she finally asks him, her voice softer now, perhaps even a bit worried. "BEcause of the shadow, I mean. Since it is of your kind."
"You will not become a dragon, so long as you are the Barsunala," Vorgulremik claims breathlessly. "The two monsters in your soul are jealous and miserly ones, refusing to give up their territory to one another."
"And if I lost the Barsunala?" Nicora asks as she pushes herself upright, her thick scaled neck craning to look at Vorgulremik.
"The shadow you hold is.. without will," the dragon claims. "It is not aggressive, merely defensive. Without opposition, it will spread, but will it take you over? Consume your mind? Turn you into a dragon? Who can say. I would think it will do what you want it to do, subconsciously. Just as you subconsciously wanted to meet with me again."
"I think you wanted to speak to me. I cannot imagine I would summon you," Nicora claims and sniffs. Of course when she starts gently licking Vorgulremik nest in a now tender area ... it's hard to quite believe that. It actually takes her a few minutes before she stops herself and sighs. "And speaking of Inala, how do you resist someone who can make you feel good? She is very difficult to resist; her blessings are all a delight," she complains.
"Then why resist? What is the harm?" the drake rumbles.
"I just spent a couple minutes licking you," Nicora remarks a bit dryly and arches her scaled brow.
"Blood tastes good," Vorgulremik claims. "Has Inala managed to make you promise anything against your better judgment with all of her temptation and pleasure?"
"She asked me to help her Daughter Mave," Nicora says, "And consider becoming her Daughter as well. That she rewards her Daughters well. But she has not asked for anything that has caused me concern yet."
"Do you feel obligated if you were asked?" Vorgulremik asks, and starts licking parts of Nicora.
Nicora sighs softly and shakes her scaled head. "No, not yet. What she has given me has not been so overwhelming as to completely cloud my judgement. Well, most of the time," she admits.
"And who has clouded your judgment?" the drake asks.
"All she has done ... is made me into a wanton whore, of a sort," Nicora claims and skews up her scaly snout.
"Not any Goddess ... but the women I truly love in my life. I am most worried about Gorphat. I hope I can enter her temple, leave Phlagaea's offering, and come out without more ... trials than I entered with," she admits. "Yet ... I also what Phlagaea happy, so I feel duty bound to come to 'know' Gorphat. It is a mess. And that is nothing compared to Rosalind; I would do anything in the world for her. It would not matter what she asked of me, I would do it."
"Such as going to face your scary father?" Vorg asks, rolling on top of Nicora again. "Who scares you more than I do?"
"He does. He can do more to destroy my life than even you," Nicora remarks as Vorgulremik is once more on top of her. She rests her claws round his hips this time and even entwines her tail slightly with his.
The big dragon is actually gentle this time, perhaps for fear of awakening Nicora's passion fully again. "You should fear no person, as a dragon," he says. "If something scares you, that means you must destroy it."
"I already destroyed you," Nicora remarks in a scary, toothy, smile. "And I am aware that your desire is freedom. Perhaps you also hope to make me your own harem-girl for a time too, as a prise," she adds a bit dryly.
"Intimacy has its uses," the drake notes as he squeezes Nicora. "It is a way of forming a bond."
"And don't get any notions about using me as a mother to birth you back into the world," Nicora adds, eyes narrowed as she eyes the ancient steel dragon.
"Oh, that would be rather difficult," the dragon notes. "I just hope that our time together makes it harder for you to simply snuff me out of existence later."
"And not that I am considering it, but how does someone go about seducing someone who's chief pleasures are disease, blood, and pain?" Nicora asks as she tries to keep herself calm and try to not think draconic thoughts.
"She is a goddess, and they are all vain," Vorgulremik claims. "Simply do not act disgusted. Claim your attraction to Phlagaea was due to her resemblance to Gorphat. Touch her, caress her, show that you want her. And praise her above Inala and Sunala. Claim that Inala always had to trick you into being with her, and so on. I believe that in the legends I have heard, Gorphat was generally given the leftovers of the more popular goddesses, or mortals they tricked into sleeping with her."
"Basically.. lie and tell her things she wants to hear," the drake sums up.
"Treat her as if she were the most beautiful Eeee Goddess there is?" Nicora asks as her own body starts to shed its scaling, the soft flesh of a dark elf once more taking its place. "If I imagine her as Phlagaea, perhaps I can actually do that. And point out I spoke with her willingly. Hmmm." Her thoughts are cut there as she notices that she's just shifted back. "Will you indulge me in one thing?" she now asks softly, "And roll over?"
The shift seems to make the dragon more.. well, not amorous but lustful. Still, he does let the elf get on top.
Nicora finds this position more comfortable ... and somehow braver. "Now, I wonder what this will feel like to a Dark Elf," she remarks in a worrisome and almost scary voice. "You will need to hold very still..."
Things become blurry after awhile, and Nicora finally realizes that something is wrong. She's still on top.. but is a Lapi doe, and the surprised looking winged figure beneath her is not a dragon, but a Sphynx. "Uhhh... are you having an interesting dream there?" Tulani asks.
"A nightmare," Nicora-doe claims and shudders from the memory. She rolls to the side and lays there for a minute before feeling herself over to make sure she's intact. "Sometimes a lot of shifting can trigger nightmares," she claims.
"Oh.. so it isn't anything I caused by cuddling you?" the Sphynx asks, just to be sure.
"Oh, no, not at all. I enjoyed that," Nicora-doe claims and hugs Tulani's side. "It means you're accepting me as a strange body-shifting friend, regardless of what form I have," she claims.
"Well.." Tulani says a bit apologetically, "also because Lapis are like heated body pillows and we can fit in one bunk this way. But also because I like you!"
"I like you too. You don't run screaming when I do strange things to you or myself," Nicora-doe says with a playful, buck-toothed, grin. "It'll be morning soon and as Kaira put it, back to the estrogen side? Well, I guess I'm halfway there now like this but ... it's been very hard being Nicora. Everything is very different as her. Honestly, I'm scared, Tulani. I miss Rosalind, I miss Draco County. I want to go home, but I have to go to Babel."
"I even miss that huge blob, Melusine," Nicora admits.
"Well.. at least you aren't finding solace in the bottom of a bottle!" Tulani says encouragingly. "But the way home is forward, as the saying goes. I think that's a saying.."
"No, I just find it in the bedroom," Nicora remarks, frowning a bit at that. "I think you're right, it reminds me of what I have."
"Now that we're high up, you haven't been feeling the itch as a female, have you?" Tulani asks. "Aside from just now, I mean."
"Not as bad, no. I do when I'm with you, but I felt that way long before i was cursed," Nicora-doe says, "I've just ... I've always been attracted to you. That's different than just meeting someone cute and suddenly wanting to jump them."
The Sphynx ruffles the doe's ears. "Well, if you want to, you can be a Lapi buck until morning," she offers.
"Well, as much as I would like to, I really need to learn to resist the urges," Nicora-doe says with a smile and cuddles back up against Tulani. "Besides, right now this is all warm and comfy, which makes me feel all warm and comfy inside. And at dawn ... I will return to an Eeee and you will make sure I'm all properly chained." That last bit was probably a tease, particularly since it was followed by a doe-ish giggle.