Part 2

But I had a problem at hand. My wrist was cuffed to a chain. And the chain was strapped to a man. Had to practically drag him through the sludge.
That guy did nothing but nag and yap while I dragged him through the sewage. Didn’t seem to be any happier when we got out. Guy spent ten minutes spitting the moment he set foot on solid ground. After that, he splashed his face fifteen times, at least.

“You… “ He said after gasping, “You did all this!”
I shot him a grin. Let him continue to see where he was going.
“What have you done!?” He gripped me by the collar of my sack cloth shirt.
I slapped his hand away, “Got us all out scot-free from that dump. You’re welcome.”
“Those people… Dozens of them… Dead. All dead.”
I rolled my eyes, “Sure… Lovely bunch there. We’ve got crack-whores and murderers too rotten for normal prison. Then we’ve got those hardass guards with peanut-sized brains and dicks, getting off of rattling people for no reason so bad they made it their day-job… Yeah, the world’s gonna be such a bleak place without them.“
“They’re still people!” He whined, “They had lives! They had hopes for the future!”
“Well, shit. So do I. And if you wanna make an omelette, then better get ready to crack some eggs. If they weren’t gonna do it, then they’d better leave room for me.” I took a green gem that I’d saved up and held it before my eyes, “Somewhere out there, a lilim is hiding. I’m going to find her.”
“A- A lilim…? Wait, stop! There's no monster as dangerous as a lilim! Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
As I turned in place, the gem started to glow when I pointed it in a certain direction. I smiled. Just as I thought, the jewels sought out their source, “‘Course I do. I’m gonna make myself into a dragon.”
“But… No! What about your humanity?” He grabbed onto my shoulders desperately.
“What about it?” I pulled myself loose, “I’ve been a human all my life. Had to claw, scrape, scratch and burrow just to get by. What’s one good thing about being human?”
“Yes. Humans are weak. And ****. But I believe that’s what makes us so beautiful. Because… Because then we cannot get by on our own. We have to rely on each other, and we can be strong together.”
I sneered back at him, “I never had to rely on anyone since the day I was born. If I did, I’d be dead seven times over. So it seems to me humanity can go right ahead and fuck itself.”
“I… I see.” He looked down despondent, “If it was up to me, then what you had to endure would never happen. Not to kids, with no one to turn to. Your community failed you. We have failed you. I cannot blame you for turning out the way you did. But… If you change your mind, the road to redemption is always open. Then maybe, you can help us make sure that what happened to you never happens to anyone else.”
I blinked, “What’s your name?”
“Ron.” He answered.

“Ron, huh?”
I socked him. Right in the jaw. He’d have fallen over, except he was chained to me. I wasn’t falling with him.
“Get the fuck over yourself, Ron. You think you’ve got me figured out? You think you’re doing something clever with your mind-games? Well, guess what? I’ve got my eyes on the prize. You don’t like it? Suck it up! We’re gonna be together for a while.”
I rattled my chain for emphasis. At that point he cowered away, rubbing the spot on his jaw where I struck him. He kept his mouth shut, but his fear was clearly mixed with bitter resentment. Well, tough. Guys like that are in **** need of the occasional reality check.
Then I continued, “I’m heading for that lilim. No idea what I’ll find there, or what’s gonna happen to me then. But I’m not scared. The fuck I’m gonna shy away from the chance of a lifetime. So you’re in? Else you’re gonna have to figure out a way to get these chains off. Could always rip your arm right off its socket.”
“No.” He shook his head, reeling his arm away, “I… Suppose we’ll be sticking together. Besides, it looks like you can use someone to look out for you.”

…The fuck’s wrong with that guy?
At least he wasn’t getting in my way. By the time it got dark we found some shelter in a cave. Spent the night there. Slept back to back with him. One eye open, through the whole night.
That was the only time I did that though. The night after, I was so tired I fainted. Snored through the sunrise, and he didn’t touch me. After that it felt silly to bother when he wasn’t gonna so much as look in my direction.
Turns out he had been a priest of the Order of the Chief God. For some backwater parish. His ideas of kindness and compassion landed him in hot water when he tried applying them to monster girls. He bounced about from hearing to hearing, court to court. The fact he absolutely refused to apologize or repent when he didn’t do anything against his conscience, and that he just didn’t play well with authority, meant he wasn’t gonna budge an inch. Didn’t take them long before the Inquisition decided nothing but Tartaros would do.

And here he was.
Chained to a short stocky girl with skeleton tattoos from top to toe.
I suppose that’s what you get for sticking your head out. Not bad for a spineless pencil-neck like him though. Sticking it to the man and all that.

He kept up with me all right. Except once on the fourth day, when all of a sudden I ended up yanking at him cause he decided to stop.
“The hell’s wrong with you?” I hissed.
“Look.” Ron pointed at a mountain ridge. Some dudes were trudging along there. They wore the copper-coloured uniforms of Tartaros.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake… “ I groaned, “I was sure they’d think we died in that blast… “
With them were two spindly chicks. Short golden fur matted over parts of their bodies. Each of them had hooked tails sticking out from under their skirts. Kobolds. Even the Order didn’t have too much problem with dog monster girls. Not as long as they had no rights, no freedom and kept themselves subservient.
These were of the bloodhound breed.

“We need to get there. Fast.” I whispered to Ron, “After the stunt I pulled, I doubt they’ve got nothing in store for us but a slow grisly ****.”
“Great… So I follow you along… Then end up stuck between a couple of vindictive prison guards, and a succubus princess. Sometimes I marvel at my amazing decisions.”
“Quit yapping. We gotta hurry.” I tugged at the chain. We disappeared further into the tundra, this time with the guards in tow.
The following two days we didn’t see a trace of them. Thought we lost them. On the third night, I woke up by the sound of the kobolds barking. We didn’t wait for the Sandman to return, but snuck away into the night.

No matter where and when, the glow from the jewel guided our way. It grew brighter the closer we got, until we encountered an abandoned gatehouse. Made from red brick. Looked like something the Meruvean Knights might build, but time sure hadn’t been kind to it after they moved out.
The gem’s light pointed us there. Fortunately it wasn’t far away, but there was a narrow ledge and a steep mountain slope away. Not gonna lie, Ron was being a bitch. Couldn’t handle the height. At all.
One wrong step, and we’d both plummet ninety fathom into jagged cliffs.

He was frozen. Trembling like a leaf. His back glued to the rock wall. I tried to compel him to walk around the corner.
“Trust me. Okay?” I found myself saying. Not like it’d help if I yelled at him and called him out for being the wuss he was.
He looked surprised. As if he’d watch a wild tiger jump on her hind feet and start dancing. Whatever. Not like I minded saying it. Not if it’s to him.
“Well… All right. I trust you.” Ron shot me a smile. Was the fakest smile I’d ever seen. Still appreciated it. I took the turn first. The chain bent about the corner.
He was up next. Took a deep breath, before he slipped around the corner. One foot at the time.
I sighed in relief, “Atta boy. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
He shook his head, all teary eyed.

We made it to the gatehouse in one piece. Somehow. Don’t think Ron ever was so happy to have his feet planted on firm ground.
Me? I was just happy to go one moment without that howling wind. But I had work to do.
“Hey!”
The walls answered me with my own echo, “Lilim? Are you there?”
Ron hid closely behind my back, “You… You sure you want to do this?”
“Well, I’m not backing out now, am I?” I whispered back to him.
I caught something in the corner of my eye. A shadow. It moved like the wind, then disappeared. Before I knew I’d seen it. Still followed it. We climbed the stairs. My eyes shifted warily. To the left. To the right. Next time I saw something moving, it wasn’t gonna slip away.

By the top of the stairs, I saw the shadow again. Once again it slipped away.
“Damnit!”
I rushed after. Ron dragged behind me.
A door was in the way. I broke through. And there she was.

Her ankles were caught in spreader bars that pried her legs apart. She sat on the cold floor with her knees slightly bent. Writhing.
“Chief God's mercy!” Ron shielded his eyes as he looked away. At least he tried to. Couldn’t help but sneak a peek at her. Yeah… So much for being a holy man. Can’t really blame him though.
Let’s be real here, she was a looker. All succubi are, but this… Her beauty was otherworldly. Soft skin. Like snow. Her hair cascaded like a waterfall of milk. Her sleek yet distinct curves could be discerned through her tightly clinging mail dress. Never knew I could be into chicks until I saw her.
That sort of alluring resilience and fierceness about her face couldn't suit her **** position any worse. It'd be hilarious, if it wasn't so... Heavenly.

“Uh… Hey?” I said.
“You must leave.” She commanded, her voice sounding every bit of a determined yet resolutely considerate leader as she looked in spite of how she was **** to sit down, “Whoever you are, as long as you are present in this building, you are in grave danger.”
“Sure, just… There’s one thing I gotta ask from you real quick…”
“Now!” She barked, pivoting on the floor with her butt, “You do not understand! I came here to cultivate my chivalric virtues, for I have chosen the path of a knight. While I could achieve satisfactory levels of amnesty, grace and patience, chastity went against my nature as a succubus. So I exiled my unchaste emotions from my body… Yet it took upon itself a physical form… One, as it turns out, more powerful than me. It already subdued me. When it finds out there are humans to play with here…”
Ron backed further into the room before she could finish. I turned around. A shadowy version of the lilim stood at the entrance with a black sword. From top to toe, nothing but black. No spreader restrained her.
“...Shit.”

She moved like a shadow. Fast. Instantaneously even. From one end of the room to another in the blink of an eye. The thing wasn’t even running, really. More like skewing and stretching her form to reach her new position.
“Don’t let her touch you!” Ron shouted right in my ear, “That thing is made of pure demonic energy. One touch and you’ll turn into a monster.”
“Double shit!”
Monsters cannot transform. Not the way humans can. Once a human turns monster, they’re stuck that way. And I’ll be damned if I won’t turn into a dragon.

The shadow vanished. Right in front of our eyes. Did she vanish? The hell she did. Must’ve moved, but where? Not to the left. Or the right. Above?
Looked up, and there she was. Pulled me out of the way with Ron. She slammed down. Like a flash of lightning. Right where we stood a moment ago. Fuck, that was close. We rolled on the floor, landing in each others’ arms before the trapped lilim.
The shadow approached. Pointed her sword down at my throat.
Couldn’t run. Couldn’t hide. If you think I was done though, you don’t know me.
I still held onto something. My final weapon.
The devil gem.
I flicked it. Right at her featureless face.

It shattered in a blinding flash. Took the moment to grab onto Ron and roll away.
Didn’t see what happened next, but I heard a snap.
When the light subsided, I saw the shadowy sword plunged into the floor between the true lilim’s legs.
The spreader was shattered.
She was free. Rose up to hover in the air. Her hand reached towards the shadow.
“Know your place!” Her voice boomed, “You are my shadow! You are not to control me. You are not to serve your own ends. You exist as part of me. To serve me. Your impudence ends now.”
The lilim’s dark counterpart froze in place. Probably realized how fucked she was.

Until, that is, they arrived on stage.
“Hands behind your back! Now!”
The clowns from Tartaros. Of course. They weren't a threat any longer. Not before a monster as powerful as a lilim.
Still, the Shadow took her shot.
She dissolved into a cloud of black mist that shifted away, riding an invisible wind. The black fog funneled into the mouth of one of the kobolds.
Her eyes spanned open. Turned unblinking. One of the guards tugged at her chain. She grabbed it, and whipped his entire body into another guard. The chain snapped in her paw. She approached us, her eyes glowing with ominous purple as she snarled with large fangs that did not belong on a kobold.
She lunged at us. With devastating ferocity. Right at Ron.
I didn’t let her. I refused to. Put my arm between them. Right in the way of the bite.
Felt her teeth sink into my flesh.

“Auggh…” I uttered reflexively, but there was no pain. More like a pulsating warmth where she bit me.
The lilim wrapped her hand over the kobold’s head. I could feel the animosity drain from the monster girl, until nothing remained but the domesticated doggy that I was familiar with.
“Wha…?” The kobold said, her body swaying as she looked around confused, before slumping **** on the floor.

I looked at my arm. No wound there. Only an angry red rash. I felt a hotness throbbing inside. And I knew what that meant.
“Shit… No, no…” Tried to suck it out, as if that would heal it.
“Missy…” Ron grabbed me by my shoulders, “Are you all right?”
“Fuck… No. No, I’m not all right. I’m changing!”
Ron blinked, realizing what was happening, “You’re... Missy… I’m sorry.”
“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I’m a survivor. An apex predator. I was supposed to be a dragon! But I was bitten. By a monster. By… a kobold!”
I looked up at the lilim, “You gotta help me! I came to you for my potential! Please. I’m not a harmless pet! If anyone can do it… It’s you!”
“Forgive me.” The lilim looked down in shame, “Once the transformation starts, there is nothing that can be done.”

The warmth spread throughout my body. My breathing became irregular. I felt the hair rise on my skin. The world spun around me. I felt light-headed. Then I collapsed into his arms.
While out cold, I had that dream again. But this time, I didn’t turn into a dragon. I felt like I could. That reaching towards the stars with the other dragons was the easiest thing in the world. But I didn’t. It felt like there was still more to do down on Earth. Wasn’t ready to leave it behind. Not quite yet. There were people down there that I still cared about. Couldn’t leave them behind. I watched the sky turn dark again, as the dragons returned to being stars once more. Then I turned away, and climbed down the mountain.

When I woke up, I felt different. I looked at my hands, but there were no hands to be seen. Just paws. Like a dog.
“Ah, frick…” I groaned. I ran my paw across the amber fur on my arm. I tried to grip it. Tear it off. But it stuck to my skin.
“No…” My face fell into my paws. I’m not one to cry, but at that moment, I wept. I sobbed. I flippin’ whimpered.
“Missy…” Ron started, “I can’t tell you how sorry I am…”
I sneered at him, “Go frick yourself! This is your fault!”
“Please… I know you’re hurt, but I need you to understand that I never wanted this for you. I wouldn’t ask…”
“It is your fault!” I repeated, “You made me turn soft. ****. You made me doubt myself. You made me… You made me like this!”
“My lady, if you may,” The one who spoke then was the lilim,”I know you are going through hard times and times of change, but I have come to a realization as well. I am lady Lydia of Royal Makai, and I have realized that some things will always be part of me. Trying to expel that side will only make me doubt myself. Embracing that side does not make me weaker. It makes me realize my boundaries. It makes me realize my potential. And the same thing is true to you as well.”
I sniffed, looking up at her.
“Your potential to become a dragon might be lost,” She started, “But your potential for compassion and inner strength, you have only just begun to realize. It does not matter whether you are human, or dragon, or kobold. You always have a chance to make an impact on this world.”

I looked down at my paw.
It is true. All I did to get to that point… I did it in spite of being human, and all the weaknesses and flaws that come with it. Great things can still be accomplished. Even for someone as meek as a kobold.
I wiped my tears, “You are right.”
That’s when I realized we were still chained together, “If you wouldn’t mind?”
I raised my chained arm towards Lydia. A black sword materialized in her hand, and she struck the chain down in a sweep. It broke in the middle. What remained around our wrists disappeared in a black fog.

Lydia rested the flat of her blade on my shoulder, “Noble warriors with swift wits and steeled nerves are always welcome in my court. I dub you knight Missy of Royal Makai. If you will, you may travel to the Royal Demon Realm with me to fight on the behalf of the Demon Lord’s Army.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.” I said to her, “But not now. I’ve got a whole new life to discover, and a whole world out there to be seen. Maybe I’ll cross you once again, lady Lydia. But for now, I’ve got places to be.”
She smiled back at me, pleased.
I reached my paw out towards Ron, “If you don’t mind, would you care to join me on my journey?”
He smiled back at me and took my paw, “I’d like nothing better.”