Several days pass for Taahira. Occasionally there is a scream or crying picked up by her sensitive ears, but on those occasions she's found her door to be locked from the outside. When asked about them, Chiyuta just claims that sometimes there are accidents and the girls hurt themselves. A new Savanite slave, Anina, has replaced Zeta as the main attendant for Taahira when it comes to bringing food or fresh clothing and linens, and who just shrugs and shakes her head when asked about Zeta.
More worrying are the tingles in her right hand: signals that Abednego is in the tower. It seems as though the nosferatu visits every other day. Herod and Mahalia pay courtesy visits to check up on the doe as well. As a result, Taahira now has a necklace and more earrings, along with some nicer clothes. While Mahalia works on the doe's vanity, Herod continues to suggest opportunities for higher status - even authority - within the tower. Her staged dreams reinforce the notions, showing the doe in power fantasies. These always lead to a visit to Vorgulremik, who helps dissect them. The dragon thinks the nobles are still fooled, since the dreams are aimed at someone who would not be very bright. This is always followed by the dragon ravishing Nicora-Scourge.
After last night's dream antics, Taahira wakes from a rather stranger dream, where she was blind and felt smothered, but was following some scent. She was ravenously hungry, and the world she moved through was made of meat. She awakes with an odd craving for raw flesh, which causes her now vegetarian stomach to rebel. Or else it's the increased pressure and movement in her belly that's to blame. The larva are much more active now, and she can feel it when they press or squirm against some internal organ. They seem especially drawn to touch, 'kicking' whenever someone places a hand against the stretched belly.
"Ugh. That was an unnecessary dream," Taahira mutters as her eyes slowly opens and she blinks blearily. It's one of the few times she's woken feeling rather nauseous from a dream in a long time and thus ends up sticking out her tongue in disgust. "You're really disgusting," the doe thinks as she lies naked in the bowl-bed and runs her hand over her distended stomach ... and this time watches for actual movement following her hand; and tries to make a futile attempt at counting.
Things are tightly packed in there now, and everything moves, so it really is futile, unfortunately. She's also woken before the morning food delivery. Sure enough, there's soon a light tap on the door, which then opens to admit Chiyuta instead of Talia. The Eeee is carrying a bowl of fruits and nuts this time, along with a few greens. "Good morning, Taahira," she says in her accented Standard. "Are you well this morning?"
"Weird dreams and upset stomach," Taahira admits as she crawls out of the bowl and makes her way to the privacy curtain for the morning ritual her bladder has now trained her so well to do. "But I'll be okay," she adds from behind the curtain. "I hope you are well this morning."
"Yes! And.. I am here to let you know that a very special person will be visiting you today," the girl says as she tidies up a bit, using a rather conspiratorial tone.
"Special?" Taahira asks as she leaves the curtain. "Do I need to dress differently? Or so anything special for this person? I know Master Herod has certain things he likes when he visits." She even tries to help tidy up, but honestly her gut makes it very difficult, as does the almost constant, distracting, movement within.
"Oh, you should probably wear.. uh.. whatever is comfortable?" Chiyuta suggests. "Or nothing! I'm sure she'll want to feel your belly.."
"Nothing is a lot easier," Taahira admits. "It's hard to dress like this. Bending over ... that's almost impossible. So ... who is visiting?"
"She is," Chiyuta says in a hushed, squeaky voice. "The one I was telling you about? The one who.. showed me how to get what I want."
Taahira looks confused for a bit and rubs one of her ears silently. "Oh! Oh, I remember now," the doe claims. "Why is she coming to see me?" Of course the doe knows why, but she can't let on she knows.
"Well, to help you.. figure out your fate, I guess," the bat girl says. "Help you."
"Did you tell her about me? I'm no one important in this house," Taahira claims, "And how come my door has been locked more? Did I offend someone...?"
"Well, sometimes the doors are locked for your safety," Chiyuta claims. "If someone gets hurt, for instance. You wouldn't want to be exposed to anything upsetting, right? And I told her a bit about you - about how you came to be here."
Taahira finds a chair and sits down into it. It's always a little awkward, but she manages it. "You've been very nice to me and have tried to look out for me; I haven't done anything for you," the doe murmurs, sounding somewhat ashambed by this.
"Well, you can do something for me later then," Chiyuta claims, and comes over to brush the doe's hair. "When you're in a better position to help."
"What would you want, though?" Taahira asks, leaning back only slightly to look up at Chiyuta. "I really, really, hope it won't be one day killing you," the doe thinks ot herself.
"I don't know yet," Chiyuta says. "But I just sense that.. you're important, somehow." She hums happily while getting out the sleep-knots and tangles from the doe's hair.
"I wish you could fly," Taahira comments, eyes half-closed as her hair is brushed. "It always seems so amazing when I've seen others flying; and to have had that taken from you isn't right."
"Well.. I'd need someplace to fly to of course," Chiyuta jokes. "I suppose it would be nice though, to have the option.." There's a knock on the door, causing the slave-girl to snap out of her reverie. "Oh, that must be her!" She says, and gives Taahira a kiss on the forehead. "For luck!" she claims, and runs to open the door.
Taahira blinks awake (well, moreso than she just was) and touches the spot on her cheek she was kissed. "And deeper into the abyss I must go, it seems," she thinks. She also struggles to rise; it would be disrespectful to be sitting.
The door opens and Chiyuta admits another Eeee girl, who can't be much older than herself. But there's still a world of difference between them. The new girl carries herself with air of someone who always been at the top of the food-chain, as it were. Her brown fur has a lustre to it, and her build it tall, lean and fit - Sylvanian, really. She's dressed simply, wearing a vest and skirt and sporting rings on her fingers and toes and bracelets on her wrists and ankles. She has one lock of her black hair dyed golden, which drops and curls against her forehead. Chiyuta bows deeply, and the new girl gives her a pat on the head. "Wait outside," she says, and the slave hurries to obey, closing the door behind her.
"Well, well. Sylvanian stock? I would find her pretty under normal circumstances," Taahira thinks while she bows her head clasps her hands together, then looks at the floor. "She seems arrogant with how she holds herself ... and your friend as long as you obey. I'll have to be very careful with this one..."
The girl smiles brightly, showing slightly elongated canines.. and something of a spark in her violet eyes. At least she isn't causing any tingles in Taahira's right hand yet. "You must be Taahira," the girls says, her voice pleasant but hiding a certain amount of depth. She could do well in opera, probably. "I am Anina bar Abbas, youngest sister of Herod bar Abbas." She stands before the doe's chair, and holds out the back of her ring-festooned right hand.
"Mistress," Taahira says formally. She even reaches up with a shaking hand to that the young Eeee's hand with the reason becoming clear enough; the doe lightly kisses the back of it to show deference. "I am Taahira ... a recent acquisition of your house," she answers, head still bowed.
"I've heard about your circumstances," Anina says, and kneels down next to the doe's chair. She runs her hand over the swollen belly, and smiles at the fluttery motion it elicits. "Such.. injustice.."
The resultant squirming from the touch makes the doe squirm a bit herself. "Quiet down in there," she thinks to herself. "It is ... the way of the world?" she doe says, sounding uncertain. "But I cannot claim innocence in it; as I did make a mistake," she adds, sounding ashamed.
"A mistake," Anina repeats. "One mistake, and the world should turn on you, while those who cast you out, or caused the mistake suffer no consequence for their actions? The way of the world is not fixed, Taahira. It can be changed." She brushes the doe's hair with her other hand while saying these things.
"Changed? Not by someone like me. I'm just ... one doe," Taahira claims in a weak voice, "Who am I to even think I could change anything?" The doe is still looking at the floor. "The soft touch, the temptation play. Not unexpected," the doe thinks.
"One person did this to you," Anina notes, rubbing the bulging belly. "Another sent you here. Did they not change your world? Did they not steal your happiness for themselves?"
The doe twitches when her stomach squirms about. The outside movement seems subtle, but the movement within her ... she can feel that in spades. "And they are a long way from here, and I am now just a slave; perhaps only liked because of my ... knowledge of sexual acts; one of the few things us Lapi are known for," the doe mutters, ears hot with embarrassment.
"What if they had to suffer as well?" Anina asks. "Don't they deserve it, for how they treated you? They took your happiness, so they should share your misery too; isn't that fair?"
"I don't know what fair is anymore," Taahira claims. As she says this, she rubs the collar that has been locked around her neck for the entire time she has been here.
"Fair is not having to bear the children of a devious man," Anina claims, and her hand moves from the doe's belly to one swollen breast, continuing to rub. "What would they be like? Knowing what their father did, or becoming like him and going on to ruin the lives of others? And only you to bear the guilt and burden."
"But I helped create them; they are my children. Surely I can teach them," Taahira whimpers. Whether it's emotional pain, or physical given how swollen and sore her chest really is, is hard to say.
"They are parasites," Anina claims, and nuzzles Taahira's cheek. "They suck at your life now, and will continue after they are born. For years and years. These are children that will be born of deceit and shame. Always a reminder of what was taken from you." Leaning in to whisper directly into the doe's ear now, Anina whispers, "Or they could be your salvation."
"And here comes the offer..." Taahira thinks. "How? How could that be even possible?" the doe asks weakly. She even bites her lip; and her whole body trembles.
"This is One who could help," Anina claims. "She will take away your burden and your shame, and leave you free again. She is freedom. Freedom to do what you want, to punish those who deserve it, to make your world the way you wish it to be."
"Who? And ... what does it cost?" Taahira asks. Being from Abu Dhabi, asking of the cost is natural, after all.
"The First One," Anina whispers and rubs at the doe's shoulders now. "The Betrayed. The Forgotten. Just like you, Taahira. Diphath."
"I ... don't know that name," Taahira claims, as a doe likely wouldn't. "How could she help me? What would it cost of me?" She may not know Babelite deities by act, but it's well known none of them do anything free.
"Your shame and your shackles," Anina claims, moving her hands down from the doe's shoulders to massage her breasts, her muzzle hovering close to the Lapi's neck now. "And just a small sacrifice, so that She will know you. You do want to be happy, don't you Taahira? Don't you deserve it? Shouldn't the world make way for you?"
"Aaand she's about to bite me..." Taahira thinks. Granted, the massaging of her chest does feel really good now; and even the squirming in her gut is kind of ... arousing the lapi. "I would like to be happy again," the doe mutters timidly; as if unsure.
Sure enough, the bite comes. It only hurts for a minute, and while a doe, Taahira is still, deep down, a vampire herself. So, it feels nice. And Anina takes her time about it too, keeping up the massage all along.
Taahira lets out a brief, pained, squeak, but soon settles in and starts muttering and cooing in a rather lapi-like fashion. It does cross her mind that a small sacrifice might be , oh, a black-heart infection taken willingly ... but it could also just as easily be her 'children'. But right now it's hard to think too much about what could or could not be; right now things just feel good and so she's going to ... enjoy it for a moment.
Once the bite ends.. well, the tongue comes out. Without ever really changing her position in the chair, Taahira is made love too quite thoroughly. "This is only a small part of what Diphath offers her special followers," Anina whispers. "Do you want to feel like this all of the time, Taahira?"
Okay, so Taahira is really not worrying about her mission at all while she is made love to ... quite expertly. And the sounds she makes are quite genuine when they come that the doe is finding pleasure. She's shivering by the end and all she manages to say is, "Yes." Her head is bowed, and her eyes closed.
"Soon, your dreams will come true," Anina promises, and kisses Taahira's belly (which causes a lot of unpleasant squirming). "You will be free and beautiful and idolized, and every day will bring a new pleasure."
It's now that Taahira reaches up and rubs where her shoulder and neck were bit, checking the swelling. "When?" the doe murmurs as she feels a lot of internal movement as her, and Hosheb's brood, move about from the contact.
"Soon," Anina promises, licking the doe's bulging belly. "A few days, at most - when you are ready to release your burdens and shame.."
"So not looking forward to that," Taahira thinks. She doesn't know what will happen, other than a lot of pain and a lot of gross. She's stretched to almost exploding point with horrib larvae, after all. "That is my sacrifice?" she asks.
"A gift, given in exchange for bliss," Anina asserts. "Is it not worth it?"
"I guess so?" Taahira admits uncertainly. "I will found out ... soon."
"All of this will be behind you, and a new world will lay at your feet," Anina promises, and gives the doe a 'play' bite on the other side of her neck. "You may be visited by one of Diphath's angels before then. It is a great honor."
"Who are they? Her ... Angels?" Taahira asks nervously. "So I don't panic..."
"You will know if one comes to you," Anina promises. "You will feel the divine presence."
"How should I act? Should I worship them?" Taahira asks nervously, ears twitching. "How should I dress?"
"You will probably be overcome by the presence, so.. it really doesn't matter," Anina says, giving Taahira a lick on the nose.
"What will it ask of me?" Taahira asks, the doe cowering a bit at that.
"Nothing, I imagine," the priestess notes. "It is simply there to let you feel Her presence. It is different for everyone.."
Taahira nods and seems to relax a little at that. "Is ... there anything more you wish of me? How can I make you happy, Mistress?" the doe asks the priestess. "I hope I'm ready for what is rapidly coming in the next couple of days," she thinks.
"Bringing another into the fold is reward enough for me," Anina says. "And after you are freed by Diphath, we can do so much more together.."
"Okay..." Taahira says, biting her lower lip.
"Be happy!" Anina says, standing up again. "Soon, you will shed this old life and be reborn!"
"I hope so," Taahira claims, looking at the ground again. "She's so young I'll feel bad about killing her, but ... how many has she corrupted?" the doe has to wonder. Her stomach gurgles a bit in response and things move again; reminding the doe she is a bit corrupted herself.
Anina hands something to Taahira before she leaves. When the doe opens her hand, she finds.. a wagon wheel? That's what it looks like: a circle with many spokes, which actually pass through the circle and end in tiny arrowheads. It's made of wood and chitin and what is probably bone.
"What is this? Taahira wonders as she looks over it and its size. "A talisman? It looks like a torture device." She struggles to get back up and by the time she makes it back to the bowl-bed, she's winded and thankful to be back in its comfort.
The door opens again, and Chiyuta returns, looking all giddy. "How did it go? Did she offer to help you?" the bat asks.
"Yes, I think so. She also gave me this," Taahira says and holds up the little wagon-wheel thing. "I don't know what this is, though."
"Ooo, it is a sacred symbol," Chiyuta claims, cooing over the pointy artifact. "You sleep with it near your head, and it gives you pleasant dreams."
"It looks painful," Taahira admits as she turns it over in her hand again while looking at it. "Where you given one?"
"Yes, before my.. well, when I was first approached," Chiyuta says. "It let me feel the goddess's presence."
"Before your what?" Taahira asks, sounding nervous.
"Well, I can't really say much about my experience," Chiyuta notes. "It would spoil things for you," the Eeee girl claims.
"Was it a good experience?" Taahira asks. "Did ... you have to sacrifice?"
"It was life-changing," the girl replies. "It let me.. Well, you know my past. It let me put it behind me, stop.. dragging on me."
"Is she infected?" Taahira has to wonder. But, she can't ask to examine the girl. "I'm a little scared to ask a Babel deity for help," he doe says instead. "The stories are they all have a catch."
"Oh, but Diphath is different," Chiyuta explains. "She's the first one, see? The others.. the Sisters.. they all came later and suppressed Her, so they could be worshipped instead for their own selfish reasons."
"And you're certain of this?" Taahira asks nervously.
"It is pretty obvious if you know the Kindly Ones," Chiyuta says. "They are all horrible, so anyone they try to keep suppressed must be good! They even do it to older, nicer versions of themselves, in fact."
"I guess," Taahira says, though sounding unsure. Again, it's not like a doe would know anything that detailed about them. "I was told it is just a couple days before my time ... comes."
The bat makes a 'squee' sound! "Aren't you excited?" she asks the doe.
"I'm ... scared, honestly," the doe admits. Taahira pats a spot in her bowl-bed next to her, then asks, "Sit with me?"
Chiyuta climbs into the bowl and hugs Taahira. "You shouldn't be scared," she says. "Everything will be better, you'll see."
Taahira's answer is to just nuzzle Chiyuta's neck. It's, as much as anything, her exploring for bite marks ... and swellings that indicate infection.
There are bite marks, but they are 'normal' ones, and certainly not fresh. But there isn't any of the urge-to-suck-something-outness about the doe, unlike with Rikat.
"At least she isn't infected," Taahira thinks. "I'm going to get a nap. You can sleep with me if you want. But if you have things to do, I understand," the doe says.
"I'll stay until you're asleep," the girl promises.
Taahira tucks the scary talisman near her head, even though she knows it's a very bad idea. Still, she must play the roll of the doe being enticed, so she does it. She also doesn't want to offend her Eeee friend, even if she is a servant of evil. So, en the end she snuggles up to the Eeee to sleep, which means Chiyuta will feel a bit of the squirming ... but hopefully not too much. Soon, her eyes are closed and her breathing slows. It gives her reprieve from the constant reminder of what she carries within.
As Taahira sleeps that night, there are no dream-plays where she is lavished with wealth and power, or her husband and paramour are being tortured or offering profuse apologies before becoming eunuchs. There is instead a feeling of warmth, and light. It is incredibly soothing - except for the burning from her right hand.
"Be very careful," Vorgulremik whispers in the doe's head. "You are experiencing a hunting glamour." Underneath the light and warmth, Taahira can sense it now: a heavy, oppressing aura. It's actually keeping her paralyzed - or else she just can't wake up enough to assert control over her body.
"Is it actually in my room? This must be Abednego, come to see me," Taahira thinks; especially with how her right hand burns. "What are they planning? How can I regain control?"
"Be glad you are in female form, which suppresses the Barsunala spirit," Vorgulremik whispers. There's more than just burning now - the doe can feel the beat of another heart in the room. But not a living heart - a black, shadow-flesh one. Abednego is in the room with her, circling the bed while she lay helpless at its center.
"So I can be ravished instead of destroying him? That's just a lovely thought. It's right up there with being a living worm host. Thank you ever so much," Taahira thinks a bit grumpily. She wishes she could see him, and stop him in whatever it is he is planning. In this state she is quite helpless and that is very uncomfortable...
The warmth and light are still there, in the background, but no longer hiding what's really going on. The aura is draconic and familiar, and the talisman is a focus of some sort, amplifying it. Or at least, hopefully amplifying it: if not, then Abednego is more powerful than expected. Then the circling stops. There's music playing in the background, some sort of heavenly fanfare, but it may as well be the skitterings of insects behind a wall. A cold, lifeless hand touches the doe's belly, rubbing it. The worms don't react to it though. It isn't anything they'd want to eat, apparently.
"I hope he doesn't try to infect me with a black heart. I can't exactly resist them right now," Taahira thinks. She's pretty certain he won't, but it's concern. "What is it you want? Your presence is not comforting," the doe thinks. She can't so much as make a sound.
The cold hands continue to explore the doe, even dipping inside to tap on her mucous plug. The thing kisses her on the lips - but only to suckle on her breath apparently. Being fondled by a living corpse is horrifying enough, but at least it can't.. or can it? The doe is rolled onto her chest and stomach, and her tail lifted..
"Ew, ew, ew, ew," is all Taahira thinks as she's touched, prodded, and kissed by a corpse! This is a nightmare, and she's awake for it! And that makes it even worse! "Get your finger out of me," the doe thinks at one point ... then when she finds herself face down, and her tail puff lifted out of the way, a new horror crosses her mind ... is the undead going to take her like Rugharo took Nicorina?
It is indeed, and it feels.. well, horrible. Abednego is silent, since he doesn't breathe after all, and cold as a Naga. His jaw can apparently unhinge, as he's able to get it completely around the doe's neck (which means his own neck must be at a really impossible angle). He doesn't bite hard enough to break the skin, but only just.
"Black hearts are expensive," Vorgulremik explains, either to distract Taahira or just to make things more horrible. "For the Shadow, it meant giving up a piece of itself - and thus a portion of its power. The avatar of Amena has a master heart, I assume, in order to control these others. They may not be true ones though, if this is indeed some sort of copy shadow."
Not only is it painful, Taahira feels disgusted. In some circumstances she wouldn't mind being taken this way ... but being forcibly taken this way makes her feel sick. So does the thought he'll release who knows what inside her body. There comes the sinking feeling again; what if it is a way of implanting a black heart? Inserted this way would make it very difficult to remove. "You're not helping," Taahira thinks to Vorgulremik. "I would prefer anyone, even you, doing this over some dead creature."
"I know what you fear, but it is unlikely," Vorgulremik says. "A black heart cannot spawn, but must be budded from a master body. This creature is a minion, albeit one with power. What it does now is an act of defiance, for it still retains its personality. This is Amena's great weakness: order is anathema to her, such that she cannot even completely control her creatures. I think she courted me in hopes of obtaining my superior organizational skills."
"I could survive a black heart if it were for a few days; they want the children after all, Taahira thinks, "As soon as I shifted I could destroy it as the Barsunala ... it's just the idea of it being put in me like this. Geh. I guess I'll find out when it ... finishes." Black heart or no, the cold flesh is none too appealing and she can really feel it inside her body. And all she can do is lie there like a plaything for its amusement; it is amazingly demeaning.
The aura fluctuates. There's something interfering with it, and it seems to be Abednego himself. There's a wet hiss of frustration, and the creature pulls away from the doe, leaving her in the odd position - and clearly unsatisfied. Being undead must deprive one of certain physical pleasures, apparently. The burning sensation of the shadow-sense lessens, as the nosferatu leaves.
"That was .... disgusting," Taahira thinks, but feeling relieved that the creature did not actually leave anything within her before departing. There is the problem of her current position and paralysis ... but that should pass soon and she can clean herself, then return to sleep.
When she tries to open her eyes.. she sees a cave, and furs. Nicora finds herself in a familiar place, and the dragon is on her from behind before she can move. Vorgulremik isn't as 'gentle' as he has been - maybe the other aura has made him especially aroused.
Nicora cries out when the suddeness! "Vorg, what are you doing?" she asks of him. In this position (and state, since pregnancy seems to reflect to this body), she can't even begin to resist, or push him away. It also hurts since she wasn't ready, and the sounds she makes betray that quickly.
"No one else shall control or devour you," Vorgulremik claims as he ravishes the Eeee. "Did you not say you preferred this to the nosferatu's attentions?"
"Yes." Nicora hisses out in pain as she's taken. She did admit that, and at least he is warm.
The dragon is certainly eager tonight, and despite the apparent pregnancy there is nothing to block him penetrating deeply. The Eeee's exposed furless back is sticky with blood from being scratched by the dragon's scales, but once he has satiated himself several times over, Vorgulremik returns to being 'gentle' and tenderly cleans the blood with his tongue.
Nicora nevere really finds satisfaction given how much it hurt, but she is thankful when the dragon relaxes and starts licking her instead. "I am not your personal sex slave," she comments between deep breaths.
"Of course not," the dragon agrees. "I am yours, surely. Do you tire of my attentions?" he asks, nuzzling the bat's shoulder.
"I didn't say that," Nicora admits and sighs. "It's more just ... oh never mind. I do usually enjoy this ... position with you."
"Here then," the dragon notes, and once again Nicora's hips and rear are hoisted up. But Vorgulremik's ardor is more controlled now, and certainly more directed and pleasant.
And the sounds Nicora makes are ... quite a bit more pleasant and encouraging. This time the bat fines herself pleasure and satisfaction each time the dragon does. And odder, the weight of her swaying gut from the reflected pregnancy somehow makes it all the more exotic and enjoyable.
"You will give birth soon," Vorgulremik notes, during a cooldown break. "There is something you must take control of, for it is already happening."
"What...?" Nicora asks, "I'm starting to birth...?" This causes the Eeee to panic a bit! "Take control of what?!"
The dragon rolls the Eeee onto her back (which does sting a little) and places his taloned hand upon her belly. "Do you know why this appears here?" he asks.
"No," Nicora admits, "Other that it reflects I I currently am in reality; something that persists across forms."
"Nothing of the sort," the dragon claims. "You have no spirit worms within you. Only you are within you," he says, and pats the belly. "What is your name, Yodhgorphat?"
"Scourge," Nicora says nervously and arches her bald brow.
Vorgulremik's face comes closer to Nicora's, and he asks, "And is this your true form, Scourge?"
Nicora's brow furrows again. "It is not the one Gorphat forced upon me," she admits.
"Forced?" the dragon chuckles. "No, awakened, perhaps," he claims, and with a knuckle he brushes up under Nicora's chin.. her her head changes. Skin darkens, the face expands and elongates, becoming the hybrid dragon creature for a moment, before flowing back into that of an Eeee.
"I'm an Eeee. That form is just one she desired for her servant," Nicora claims and crosses her arms over her chest. "What does that have to do with my stomach?"
"You haven't seen what you really are yet," Vorgulremik teases. "But just as the Maiden and the Wraith are part of you, so is the Scourge. And it has the power of infection. Not permanent, like a black heart, or so powerful.. but still potent, especially when a mindless host is involved. Scourge produces spores." He pats the belly once more. "And that is what gives you this here. Because your spores are already infecting the worms."
"Gorphat made me into a parasite?" Nicora asks in horror. "And I produce them?"
"In proper form, Scourge can exhale them. Once inhaled, they lodge in the sensory centers of the host's brain, letting Scourge see and hear and smell what they do, until they wear out. But for something without a mind, like a larval Horrib.. they might allow for control."
"I can control the worms within me?" Nicora asks, looking ill. "That means I could breed my own minions..."
"Who knows how long the control might last, but.. enough, I would hope, to guide them once they are birthed," the dragon says, smiling at the notion. "It wouldn't do for all of them to simply attack the closest person, after all. You want them to be targeted."
"That is a disturbing thing to say. I don't even know how may there are. The horrib queen was inside me for some time, but that doesn't tell me how many she laid," Nicora says as her ears flatten. "So, are you saying I should try to focus on them now and learn to control them while they are still inside me?"
"And when they strike, you will taste the flesh of your enemies through them," the dragon says, licking his lips. "Have you been getting.. flashes, perhaps? Odd sensations? Those would be the worms, becoming more aware of their existence. Focus on them. Know them. Try to push a little, here and there, where you would notice the effect."
"I just had a dream like that of them. It was ... gross," Nicora says, looking ill. "You're saying I should become them while they are in me?"
"Why not? Once they are out of you it will be too late," Vorgulremik notes, and slurps Nicora's belly.
"Of course, I suppose you will transform at that point and slaughter them all in the chaos anyway," the dragon notes, with a hint of jealousy.
"I've gotten rather used to them being there," Nicora admits. "I think part of me will miss them when they are gone."
"Well, whenever you eat someone, you should feel a warm sense of nostalgia for them then," the dragon says cheerfully.
"Or maybe I will carry more again some day," Nicora remarks rather dryly. "But, I suppose I will try what you suggest and see if I can ... connect with them in the next couple of days before they are birthed."
"The carnage will be wonderful," the dragon says. "Justified, of course," he adds afterwards.
"Don't expect me to tell you about it," Nicora says and crosses her arms over her chest.
"It only encourages you," she adds.
"I am feeling encouraged now, really," the dragon says, and pries the Eeee's arms open to pin them at her sides as he takes her again, using the belly as a cushion, and suckling at her breasts.
"You are impossible and insatiable," Nicora practically squeals! The Eee chides herself for letting herself become so enamored of pleasures of the flesh. Well for the first few minutes before they really set in. And then she's lost in them and at that point, a more than willing partner.