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:Beast!: Ishtar's voice hissed through his mind as intimately as the hand of a lover. It wrapped around Sean's thoughts and caressed them intimately with implications and accusations.

:I didn't mean to do it!: Even to his own ears, his voice came out high pitched with his own denial. He sounded like a child who was vainly trying to prove his own innocence with frail excuses for what had happened.

Sean trembled within the mental grasp of the drapen. The rage of the creature of having his body used lapped against his senses, but it was secondary to his own horror. He had ravaged an animal as if he was one. He hadn't cared about her species or anything beyond the need to slake his lusts using her captive body. He felt tainted and unclean by the memories of him hunched over and uncaring of her cries, worse he felt the faint flush of remembered desire. He forced himself to try and peel himself away from the unwelcome thoughts of the enraged creature. Ishtar gave him no such option, the moment he flinched away from what he had done the beast clamped his jaws shut and drug him back into view of all that he had experienced.

:You did this. You who count me a beast!: The drapen's anger increased as Sean tried to escape his own memories. The emotions were red hot against him and seemed to burn his consciousness. :How is this better then a clean kill? How is this more honorable?:

:I couldn't.. control myself.: The creature's disgust was palpable as it sifted through how his body was used. He could almost feel the claws digging into his mind and tearing through the memories. :I wasn't thinking! How can you possibly resist it?:

:Because I am not an animal.: The words were cold and harsh in his mind before he felt as if jaws had thrown him contemptuously back into his own body. His mind reeled as his entire body gave a jerk in reaction to being thrown back into the physical world.

Sean drew in a shuddering breath and felt the dull ache of his frail form. His eyes felt heavy and his body weak as he struggled to sit up in the darkness. He groped along the edge of the narrow bed blindly until he encountered the hand rail and pulled himself up into a sitting position. After the heady experience of controlling the powerful body of the drapen, his own felt weak and unsteady. His breathing came out harshly as he blinked his eyes a few times and tried to adjust to the silver-blue moonlight that filtered in through the window. The sudden absence of the creature's mind against his own left him feeling vulnerable. It seemed as if it had been ages since he had been alone with his own thoughts. It was more horrifying to realize that he felt uncomfortable in the presence of his own thoughts. As he tried to reach back towards Ishtar, he found himself unable to penetrate past the fog of his own thoughts.

"Awake are you?" Sean tilted his head and then winced as the swift movement made his head blossom into a head ache. A figure sat near the bed in the darkness, but he didn't need a light to know the tone of the voice.

"Can I have something to drink?" The words came out thickly as his tongue felt swollen and uncomfortable. He winced slightly at the sound of his own croaking voice. How long had it been since he had spoken?

"Next to the bed there's a cup of water." Rogeth's shadowy shape gestured made a gesture with one hand. "It's good to see you conscious again."

"Thank you." He found the cup and the slightly salty water stung his dry lips, but not enough to make him pause in swallowing it by the mouthful. The parched state of his throat and tongue luxuriated in the feel of moisture coming into him. "What're you doing here?"

"Watching you.." The form pushed upwards as Sean hesitantly placed the glass down. He felt grateful for the darkness as his hand trembled slightly. He resolutely tried to keep his mind away from the horror tinged thoughts that roiled beneath the surface. "We didn't think you were going to make it. You've been lying there like a dead man for over two weeks."

"Didn't think I would either.. thought I was dead.." He blinked his eyes slightly as Rogeth's form passed through a faint gleam of light. The effects of the moonlight on the figure made his eyes feel slightly dizzy.

"I wouldn't let you die. My employer wouldn't care for that." The figure paused for a moment and Sean had to strain his eyes slightly to see him in the darkness. "You talk in your sleep you know. Or so the servants have informed me."

"Didn't mean to... Why're you here..." Sean pushed himself up on his shoulders as the moonlight seemed to spill near the tall form.

"Listening." The moonlight caught the edge of the man's shoulder as he leaned forward slightly. "Especially tonight, I'm listening."

"Listenin' ta what?" Sean felt himself feeling strangely drowsy. What had been in the drink he'd taken?

"Go to sleep, Sean." The man came in closer and he felt a slender hand press against his shoulder. Sean's body felt heavy, slow and his mind felt strangely light as he tried to focus on the touch that pushed him down against the bed. "You'll need your rest."

"Can't sleep.. he's gone away." Sean's voice came out thickly as the world danced in front of his eyes. The moonlight shifted in front of his eyes as he tried to concentrate on it. Why was it so hard to stay awake? His last sight was Rogeth pulling the covers around him before he plunged down into dreams.

---

Lathera could barely move a leg without feeling the dull ache of her abused body. She hadn't been taken to her kennel, instead she'd been placed in a cage across from their captive gryphon. She knew she stank of sex and blood, but even that scent soon stopped registering to her muzzle as she sprawled out on her stomach. She felt used and violated, but even those sensations couldn't take away the memory of need she had experienced. She hadn't simply been forced into being bred, she had allowed it to happen and felt her body responding eagerly to it. She shifted as she hovered between the edge of being awake and dreaming. Her hind legs were bunched up against the corner of the cage, and her forepaws rested beneath her arrow shaped head.

The kennels were eerily quiet around her as she tried to stop her thoughts from chasing themselves in circles. Her stomach felt distended from the seed locked inside of her as her imagination goaded her into considering what had happened. It was her imagination that made her wonder if she were already carrying a clutch from the creature or if she were even now experiencing his seed impregnating her. Could she carry his clutch? Any attempts to dismiss the beast fell short as her body reminded her all too well what had happened. Not even the fact the handlers had scrubbed her folds and under tail down after the mating had taken away his scent though. She could still smell him when she shifted too much. She writhed slightly at the memory of how they had removed her eggs last time. It had been a relief to have them taken away before they could hatch. She wasn't an animal. And yet.. The violation made her close her claws down against the ground and squeeze her eyes shut.

Lathera tried to will herself to sleep. It would be an escape if she could only dream. It would be somewhere she could go that wasn't aching and abused, humiliated and tormented. Her muzzle rested on the back of her forepaws as she concentrated less on her thoughts and more on the sounds of the kennel. She had to strain to hear the soft sounds. The gryphon that slept across from her let out soft whistles and she could hear the hushed sounds of feathers shifting against his body. She could hear the grooms talking softly from somewhere far off, likely gaming, and the harsher sounds of snoring. The noises from the kennels were kept to the scrape of scales and muted hisses as dracine stirred and slept fitfully or passed their enclosures. The steady faint noises mingled together as she started to deepen her breathing and pushed away the distressing thoughts that nipped at her mental heels.

She slowly started to slip into a drowsy state as her mind stopped trying to concentrate on the sounds and instead simply hovered on the near moment of true sleep. Only as she started to release her hold entirely on consciousness did she hear a faint far off sound. The sound rose up higher and higher in the air, almost as if a wolf were crying out in the distance. Despite the far away noise she felt it vibrating her chest and her mind focusing on it. It was soft and strange as the sound rose and fell with an almost musical note. It came from far away and yet right beside her until she roused herself from that state of half sleep. Her head rose up slowly as if she were afraid she might break the spell of the strange music that seemed to grow in strength. No, not cries. They were wove a strange music that stilled her restless movements and her mind reached out after them.

:Who are you?: She sent the thought with barely a brush of her mind as the mournful song continued.

---

Ishtar paced the length of his cage with his mind afire with anger and outrage. The scent of the female clung to his scales and seemed to surround him as he worked off the energy that thrummed over his body. His thoughts remained apart from the human despite the fact he felt him trying to reach out towards the drapen. The sounds of his claws were loud in his ears as that clicked down against the ground time and again. He knew his cage well enough to know each inch of it. It never grew any larger, never allowed him the freedom that he craved. He ground his beak together as he finally forced himself to stop at the front of his cage and glared out at the moonlit courtyard. His scales shifted and shivered as he forced them down flat and tried to clear his mind. A chore that was made harder by the lingering scent of sex and female on the air.

:Who are you?: Ishtar froze at the voice that barely brushed against his mind. He bristled and prepared to launch a blistering reply back to the human when he realized that it hadn't been Sean's voice. It hadn't been a male voice at all.

:I am Ishtar.: He lowered his mental walls cautiously and tried to capture the mind the thought rode to him on. His head lifted higher as his nostrils flared to catch the scents on the breeze. Nothing but the scent of jasmines and dust.

:Are you making the music?: The voice came stronger and he lightly reached out to brush his own mind against it. The strange female presence seemed almost transparent and slid through his mental talons just out of reach.

:Music?: He felt a moment of bafflement as his tail lashed behind him. :Who are you? What are you?:

:The music, it's so beautiful..: The thoughts trailed off and slowly grew stronger. This time he was able to press harder and felt a wisp of the being behind the voice. He could almost taste her confusion on his tongue as she struggled to answer him.

:I don't hear any music, just the sound of night insects and humans.: The drapen's heart started to beat faster as he closed his eyes and lifted his head. :Come closer, little friend, let me know who you are.:

Ishtar tried to keep his voice a coaxing soothing tone despite the sensation of his heart as it started to race. The voice was coherent despite the nonsense it spoke, coherent and untrained. His entire being quivered as he strained after her mind with every fiber of his being. She didn't sound like Rogeth or Sean. Rogeth's mind voice was always closed off and hiding the meaning behind his words. It was controlled as well. Sean's mind leaked thoughts and feelings as if he had no notion of boundaries. This voice was untrained, but still more controlled then Sean's had been. He could almost taste the emotions on the wind as he shoved his beak harder against the bars. The edges of the hard hooked appendage scraped roughly against the metal as he tried to hold his breath so as not to disturb the tentative silence.

He wanted to roar out. He wanted to screech for her to answer him. He longed to claw at the bars holding him back to see if what he sensed could possibly be true. She sounded like him. She sounded strangely inhuman and her thoughts were so hesitant. Could she be a young female? Could he possibly have another of his kind after all of this time? Not just one of his kind, but a female of his kind. The hope he felt was nearly painful as he listened to the night insects searching for her mind. He caught a brush of her thoughts and something beyond it. Something larger then both of them that swelled through the night with a strange haunting song. It sounded like bells chiming through the air and ringing past the grounds outside of this place. He stilled and lifted his head up as the mournful tones wove in and out of the darkness. Music?

---

Lathera concentrated on the music as a voice broke through them. For a moment she could do nothing but think about the music that seemed to demand her attention. The rise and fall of it gripped her mind as the voice reached back for her. The thoughts strained towards her even as she tried to brush them away. It disturbed the ripple of the mournful music that had picked up in volume until her head swayed in time with it. Her eyes closed entirely as she embraced it and allowed it to draw her deeper in. It was intoxicating and plaintive as if the song was searching for something. It rushed over her and caught her up in the melody, but she wasn't what it was searching for. That it found her was sheer happenstance.

She tilted her head backwards until her neck strained and the back of her head almost brushed her spine. She swayed it back and forth as she followed the strange music and felt her throat muscles tighten. She could almost feel the longing and pain in the song, the beauty of the eerie melody was touched with despair. She tried to reach out towards it, but her mind encountered only the brush of another who was being swept up in the searching music. As the melody rose and fell around them she drew closer to the mind that had reached out towards her. The fierce aggressive regard was there, but beneath the surface she felt something that was akin with the music. She brushed her thoughts out to try and contact the mind again and felt a touch extend out and steady her. It thrummed with unspoken emotions. How long had it been since she had heard another's mind voice?

:There you are...: The male's voice was as soft as a caress as his mind wrapped around hers to steady it. :I hear your music.:

:It's not my music..: She trailed off as she felt the mental hold almost like a dam that pushed away the drawing effects of the song. :I only heard it. It's not you?:

:No, not me.: The mind was gentle, but she could feel the probing touches as he tried to find deeper into her thoughts. :Who are you? Where are you at? Do they keep you caged as well?: Eagerness thrummed through the questions.

:I'm...a prisoner.: She shied away from the touch. Another shape shifter? Here? Her stomach clenched with the memory of the last shape shifter she had met. Yet this male's mind held no bite of madness to it. :I am... : She trailed off. What to tell him?

:The human's can name you how they will, little one, but that is not who you are.: The male's voice faded slightly as his attention shifted to the music. :It is enough that you exist. It is enough I can know you this way.:

:Who are you?: She tried to push the question to find out the answer. To her shock she felt his amusement caressing her as his mind overshadowed her own. It wasn't a show of dominance, but instead a welcoming embrace closer.

:I am what you will one day be. I have waited so long for another..: The male's voice deepened with sorrow that seemed on par with the music that surrounded them. :You are here now. You will grow strong and powerful.:

:In a cage. A prison.: The words came out bitterly as they were laden with her own humiliated rage. What was this person that he was like her? Was he a shifter caught up in this strange place?

:Bars can be broken, little one, be easy.: The male paused for a long moment as the music lapped through them. :I will send someone to you. He will help you to understand. I promise, I will protect you however I can and one day we shall be free.:

:How can you protect me if you are imprisoned as well?: Lathera felt an unwilling lift of hope in her chest. She could have an ally to help her. Something she had been without since she had first set to flight away from her teacher.

:I have a.... friend. I will send him to you to help you. One day I hope that he will help us both find freedom.: The male's regard started to slip away from her as gentle as a caress. :Sleep peacefully, little one. It is enough that we know we are not alone.:

Lathera wanted to ask another question, but the gentle touch of the mind slowly started to draw away. The music that wavered on the air overran his mind as she found herself stirring in the coldness of her cage. She stared out of the cage while her tail lashed back and forth restlessly. How could she sleep? Another was here that might be able to help. Was he a shifter who had his chosen person aiding him? She pushed herself up on all fours and started to pace back and forth as she tried to imagine what sort of shape shifter would choose this place. What person had chosen? How had he been captured too? As the music rolled over the back of her mind she paced back and forth in the length of her cage. Her body trembling with the first true hope she had experienced in years. If she had his friendship and he could help her.... She paused as her stomach twisted slightly with emotion. Perhaps she could find a way to be human once more...

---

Ishtar pulled his head away from the bars with the scrape of his beak against the metal. His body felt awash with energy as he gave a contained leap that set his claws scraping against the ground. His wings snapped out instinctively until they clacked against the bars. Not even that annoyance could stop the fierce joy that rolled over his soul. He had found another like himself. How long had she been alive? Was she as young as she sounded? Her mind had been so hesitant and strangely foggy. Perhaps she was just learning to speak. It would stand to reason that she was younger then himself. The humans would have tried to mate them if she was a full adult. They seemed determined to breed him and they were increasingly desperate with the pitiful dracine they drug before him.

The moment of anger he felt over the human's desecration over his body was washed away in the sheer excitement at what he had found. The drapen tried to replay their conversation over in his mind. She had been uncertain, but her mind hadn't the flavor that humans had. He wanted to burst into Sean's mind and demand the human get out of the bed to find her immediately. The only thing that tempered that urge was the knowledge that he needed the human. If he kept silent for several days he could, perhaps, put the human in a more remorseful mood. He had little doubt that the human's mind would be wracked with guilt over what he did and disgust as well. Despite the way the human's in the larger portion of the building behaved Sean seemed to abhor the thought of doing anything with an animal. And when he was ready to speak to the human again...

A delightful shiver ran down his back as he flipped his wings in snugly against his side. He would have the human find her and ensure that she was being treated well. He had lacked for little growing up besides freedom and others of his kind, but he would not risk those creatures harming her. The idea that she could be used as the dracine were for their sick games made him let out a deep rumble. He would set Sean on watch. The human would oversee her and keep her from harm. He felt a moment of uneasiness on placing such a precious hope in the hands of a species that could barely talk mind to mind. He had no choice in the matter. Sean was his only hope if he wished for his freedom. One day he would make him release both himself and the female.

What would she look like? Ishtar finally forced himself to settle down on his haunches as he allowed his imagination to toy with what she would look like. Would she be pattered exactly after himself or would she exhibit a more finely built body? What would her scales be like? His eyes lidded as a deep thrumming purr erupted from his throat and chest as he allowed his imagination to take wing. He built up what she imagined she would look like until he felt he could reach out to touch her. The mournful song of the night lifted higher in the air, but it flowed around him rather than through him. The heady joy he experienced was unmarred by the seeking song and what it might mean. Nothing could mean more then what he had found this night. Nothing.

---

The edge of the ocean lapped higher up towards the sands of the beach that was covered in a thick fog. The rolling motions of the silvery white mist gathered and twisted around Rogeth's form as he settled down deeper into the sands. The questing song echoed around him as it pierced through his heart and continued on through the spirit realm. Every year it came. The song reached out through the earth and realm both searching for an answer. For tonight he knew that there would be a strange pause for those sensitive to the sounds of it. Some human's would murmur in their sleep or weep without reason. Some would awaken to try and find the source to the music and others would be driven near to madness as they tried to get it out of their minds. Likely the dragons would he perched on their mountain home silently listening and singing back in their strange voices. For him, he merely listened to the strange concert and the creature that sang it. He could give no answer that would sooth it.

The edge of the mist twisted around him and lapped close to his transparent body before fading away. It wasn't so much the sound or sight, but the presence, which alerted him to another standing silent sentinel to the song. He kept his head angled towards the ocean as he heard the plaintive cries turn from seeking to mournful. The sound of the raw pain was as harsh now as it had been centuries ago, but he had never tried to turn it away. The one beside him made no move to initiate a conversation as they listened together. There was a strange accord between them as the song turned ragged. The tone dissolved into the raw screeching sounds of a creature in anguish as the spirit realm rippled with the distortion. Dimly he could hear the bugling responses of the dragons of the Nyseen crying out their response. As swiftly as it started it faded away again into silence.

Rogeth dropped his head quietly towards the ocean and felt his emotions twist slightly. He could no more aid the creature then he could dive into the ocean. He could not sooth or calm it. Yet each year it set up its sorrowful song and cried it out to the world in the hopes of an answer. Would it fade away eventually? He had some knowledge of human ghosts that faded away over time. Would it be that way for this strange shade? Or was dragon kind immune to such fading of the spirit? He knew beyond him laid a land where their spirits dwelled in a realm of beauty and peace, but would it continue on earth as it would have there? The thought disturbed him as he turned to confront the ghostly creature coiled on the sands.

:This is not your world to play with.: The voice echoed hollowly and he watched the distorted air twist in the form of a snarling head. :Must you twist everything into your notions of perfection and order?:

:The world is a broken thing. I go to set it right and I have arranged the pawns to give me the victory I need.: He rested his chin down on his neck thoughtfully.

:The world was made by the free choices of those who once dwelled there!: Outrage flavored the mind voice. :You are not the one that should be deciding the fates of the living. They are not pawns to be twisted about in your mad schemes. How long until the gods see your mischief? Will you answer them in the say way?:

:Say you so? How much energy do you use to visit this place and where do you draw it from, Chasath?: He uncoiled his ghostly form and solidified it with a firmer grip on his magic. Her body remained smaller and weaker than his own. Barely a flicker of an outline against the fog. :They are pawns for a greater plan that has already been set in motion.:

:I will destroy you if I must, Rogeth, and take pleasure in it!: Chasath's mind struck out with a snarl. :The world that was is dead and gone. There is no need to drag it back into existence. They will destroy you if they find out how far your madness goes. And I will be there to watch that destruction. You have much to answer for.:

:You find the human body ill suited? I find it suitable to you. I picked it out especially for you after all.: He crooned softly. :A gift. I have heard the rumors that you've set aside your morals in favor of that Jathos creature. Tell me, do you find it a heady thing to follow in my shadows?:

:I am locked in it, you beast! Locked and imprisoned because you and your madness refuse to listen to reason. And if I must take a side, I will control the rising power and put the world back on the correct course.: Chasath's snarl rang along the beach. :You have chosen your side, and I have chosen mine. The world that was is dead and it will remain so.:

:I say it will not. It will awaken beneath my touch. It has already started to awaken and I will guide it to change and grow.: He twisted his head and gaped his jaws in silent laughter. :Do not mistake your past with me as one that leaves you immune and do not set your faith in that beast Jathos. He is mortal and can be taken out easily.:

:Do not mistake me as being weak!: Chasath roared into his mind. :I have already claimed one of your pawns as my own. It is only a matter of time before you are flung aside and forced to answer for all that you have done.:

:I doubt that I will be.: Rogeth stared out over the rolling waves of the ocean. :The gods are forbidden to war amidst themselves.:

:You are no god, Rogeth, you are nothing but the misbegotten dreams of dragons-: Chasath paused and a wave of outrage and horror hit his mind. :You want to try and set yourself up to be a god?:

:I will set myself up to be a god.: He amended. :A god the likes of which this world deserves and then... we shall see.:

Enjoy my stories? Check out my newly published books! Available in E-book and paper back formats! http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/KalanAnara