Dragon conjurer 7, p.22
Dragon Conjurer 7, page 22
I sighed with relieved joy when I also stumbled upon a package of wet wipes, and I used probably a few too many to wipe my face and arms clean of the green slime. I tossed the handfuls of gross wipes into the little garbage hold, and then I put my crusty clothes into a laundry bag that hung inside one of the taller compartments. I felt a million times better after that, and I settled back into my seat beside Elisabeth.
My thoughts turned back to Zofia’s calming nature, and I realized that today’s mission wasn’t the only time I’d felt a calming push when I had my gloomy-purple dragon nearby. I couldn’t fight the idea that maybe she could create a real impact on my mental state, and how maybe it extended to all of the friends and allies around her. I wondered if any of my girls had ever felt a calming push from Zofia. It would be a logical step to think that her mind-control powers could also extend to other abilities such as the power to subdue panic. I decided I would have to test out this theory the next time I brought my dragons out on the grounds of AIMM, but for now, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it.
I took a few deep breaths, and the exhaustion of the day finally started to settle into my bones. I focused on the steady breathing of Elisabeth in the seat beside me and the steady hum of the jet’s engines, and I soon slipped into a deep and restful sleep.
My dreams were thankfully unplagued by The Great Scaled One, and instead, images of Griff slithered in and out of my mind. I walked through the lush gardens of MIA’s courtyards as my new camouflage dragon played hide-and-seek with me. Griff’s large fox ears twitched happily at me when I found him, and at one point in the dreams, I was able to locate him by the subtle movements of the bush’s limbs from the playful flicking of his tail. I laughed heartily in my dreams at the foxy and sneaky antics of my muted-orange dragon.
I woke a few hours later as the drop in altitude made my stomach lurch as usual, and I looked around at my teammates to find they were all still sleeping soundly in their seats. Then I glanced out the window and saw that it was still completely dark outside, and I suspected it was in the weird part of the night that was somewhere between late night and very early morning.
As the jet lowered back down to the earth, it jolted only slightly as we landed, and I wondered if Burkhard would even be awake for us to have our debriefing. I shook my head at myself, because of course, he would be awake, the man never slept.
“Are we back?” Steffi asked sleepily, and her pink hair was tousled in the most adorable way.
“Yeah,” I said, and I nudged Elisabeth gently awake. “We just landed.”
“What time is it?” Ronin asked as she blinked her eyes to try and wake up.
“Not sure exactly,” I said. “Somewhere between really late and really early.”
“Roughly translated as,” Nick said through an enormous yawn, “time to still be sleeping.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Come on, let’s see if we can get through our debrief quickly and get back to the suite for some more sleep.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nala said.
Without another word, we stood up from our seats and filed slowly down the ramp. I threw a quick wave over my shoulder at Silva as he oversaw the unloading of the Curupira’s cage from the cargo hold.
Steffi and Ronin looped their arms around my waist as we walked down the dark and empty halls toward the elevators.
Two Men in Black were waiting for us around the corner, and they quickly informed us that Headmaster Burkhard was waiting for us in his office.
“Of course, he is,” Nick grumbled. “I swear, that man doesn’t sleep.”
“Maybe that’s his magical ability,” Steffi suggested.
Nala, Ronin, and Elisabeth broke into fits of giggles, and I could tell they were all a little slap-happy from exhaustion.
I knocked lightly on Burkhard’s door, and a second later, the Kingpin look-alike’s deep voice told us to come in. Then I opened the door and held it for my ladies as they filed in and sat quietly in the four chairs in front of Burkhard’s desk.
Dr. Hastings was standing with the headmaster behind his desk, and my eyes flew immediately to her red lips. The platinum-blonde scientist smiled at me as I closed the door, and a shudder of remembered pleasure ran down my spine. My skin got hot, and I was immediately wide-awake as I pictured the smudge of her lipstick, and its cause, the last time I’d seen her. Dr. Hastings pressed her lips together, and I caught a flush of pink across her cheeks.
“Mr. Cooper,” Burkhard said as he pinched his fingers on the bridge of his nose, and he looked more exhausted than I’d ever seen him before. “How did the mission go?”
“Successfully,” I said. “We captured the Curupira, and we eliminated all of the other monsters.”
“Excellent,” the headmaster said wearily, and I noticed there were dark shadows under his eyes.
“The Curupira was definitely commanding the other monsters,” I said. “And there were… like a lot of them, like a couple hundred of them.”
“Then the heat signatures on the satellite images were indeed more monsters,” Burkhard said with a deep frown. “Damn.”
“Yes, they were.” I nodded my head. “There was an army of Viborons and Draugrs, and they were all working together.”
“I feel that I must apologize, Mr. Cooper.” Burkhard frowned heavily at me, and regret was plain in his eyes. It seems that our intel has been… faulty for your last few missions. I have created a team to delve into the issue as to why our information hasn’t been as reliable as we tend to expect.”
“I was wondering about that a little myself, sir,” I responded as politely as possible. “I mean, we can handle it, we’ve got my dragons to back us up, but it could be a seriously dangerous situation for most of the other teams to go walking into an ambush like that.”
“Yes, and I will not allow the issue to continue.” Burkhard jotted down another note on the page in front of him, and it looked almost like he couldn’t bear to meet my eyes. Then he swiftly changed the subject like he was embarrassed of the situation happening under his watch. “I take it you were able to understand the Curupira, Mr. Cooper?”
“Yes, and Steffi could, too,” I said. “It seems the classifications of the monster as a fairy-creature are accurate.”
“Indeed, I’ll have the database updated to reflect this information.” Burkhard scribbled a quick note, and then he turned his weary eyes back to me. “Any new developments about The Great Scaled One?”
“Yes, sir.” I frowned and knotted my fingers together behind my back. “The Curupira claimed that The Great Scaled One would wipe the plague of destructive humans from the face of the earth, and that none of our cities are safe from Him. It was really rather enraged by the idea that we thought we even stood a chance against The Great Scaled One.”
“Great,” Burkhard grumbled under his breath, and then he cleared his throat and turned to Dr. Hastings. “Have you made any progress in your search for what, or who, this Great Scaled One monster could be?”
“Not really, sir,” Dr. Hastings admitted, and her gray eyes flicked briefly to my face. “I have not had as much time to dedicate to the search as I would like. There has been a lot going on with the current missions.”
“Mmm,” Burkhard hummed, and he turned back to me. “Mr. Cooper, you mentioned that you had a theory about more sentient monsters working as sort of generals for The Great Scaled One, and that they were commanding armies of less sentient creatures.”
“Yes, sir,” I confirmed, and I was curious about what he was getting at.
“We have reason to believe that this theory is completely accurate.” Burkhard propped his elbows on his desk, steepled his fingers together, and leveled his eyes on Ronin’s face. “I have spoken with MAJK’s headmistress, and the headmasters at MIA and AMIE. Their cadets have encountered similar situations on their missions recently. And while they do not have any cadets who can understand the monsters as you can, Mr. Cooper, the evidence speaks for itself. Single, more intelligent monsters surrounded by armies of lesser monsters, and this pattern has become a regular occurrence across the globe.”
“Monster attacks have continued to occur in the condensed locations we had previously identified as hotspots,” Dr. Hastings added.
“It is clear to us now,” Burkhard continued, “that this threat is not only very real, but possibly imminent, and we need to be prepared. On that note, however, I am sad to say that Ronin and the other MAJK cadets are to return to Kyoto tomorrow.”
“Sir,” I spoke up before I even decided to say anything, and I cleared my throat a bit nervously before I went on. “Sorry, sir, but I must say, Ronin is an essential part of our team. We could not have completed our mission today without her, and I would like to respectfully request that she be allowed to stay at AIMM and continue to work with my team.”
“Dylan’s right, sir,” Steffi added. “She’s a huge part of our success as a team.”
I looked over and found that Nala and Elisabeth were emphatically nodding their heads, and even Nick’s face said that he agreed with this assessment.
“Indeed.” Burkhard smirked at my team, and he turned to me. Then he leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his stubbled chin. “Well, I suppose it would be foolish to handicap my best team in such dire circumstances as these…”
“Sir?” I asked when he lingered in silence for a beat too long, and I couldn’t keep the touch of hope from my voice.
“I will have a word with your headmistress,” Burkhard said to Ronin directly, “and make it clear to her that your continued cooperation with Mr. Cooper’s team is integral to the success of our shared goals, and indeed, the safety of all mankind. After all, Ms. Bernard’s long-term assignment with us has benefitted the communications between our Academies, and I see no reason not to take advantage of such a connection with the Japanese Academy as well.”
“Thank you, sir.” Ronin bowed her head respectfully.
“Thank you,” I sighed, and my heart warmed in my chest.
“Very good.” Burkhard quickly wiped the smile off his face. “I would advise you and your team to get as much rest as possible. I expect, based on recent events, that things may escalate quickly from now on. If… and indeed, when The Great Scaled One makes His appearance, we will need you and your team to be ready.”
“Yes, sir,” I said with a level of severity that the situation warranted.
“I will do my best to send you out on missions only if it’s absolutely necessary, but I make no promises,” Burkhard said. “Now, go, get some sleep.”
“Oh, one more thing, sir,” I said. “I conjured another dragon today.”
“Excellent news,” Burkhard said with an approving nod.
“Fascinating,” Dr. Hastings cooed. “What kind of dragon is it?”
“He’s a camouflage dragon,” Nick said before I could answer.
“My goodness.” Dr. Hastings’ eyes sparkled with scientific interest, and she smiled coyly at me. “I look forward to making his acquaintance.”
“I expect you’ll want another…” I couldn’t help the subtle suggestive tone in my voice. “Blood sample?”
“Yes, Mr. Cooper, thank you.” Dr. Hastings nodded at me, and I hoped I was the only one who caught her quick wink. “But that can wait for another day. Headmaster Burkhard is right, you all need a good night of rest.”
“As do I,” Burkhard agreed, and he hid a yawn behind his large hand. “Well done on the mission, cadets, go and get some sleep.”
“Thank you, sir,” Steffi and Nala said in unison.
My girls all stood from their chairs, Ronin gave the headmaster another respectful bow, and we filed out into the hallway in silence. Conversation from there was little more than exhausted grumbles from Nick about the ungodly hour and sighed agreements from my ladies.
I would have believed how tired my four girls were if it hadn’t been for the slightly teasing fingers that wandered up my back, or the hand that deliberately squeezed my ass. By the time we got up to the suite, my blood was thumping through my veins, and my dick was twitching with anticipation.
“Do you think Zahra is still here?” Steffi wondered out loud as she opened the door.
“I don’t--” Nick started to say but stopped in the middle of his sentence when his eyes landed on Zahra’s sleeping form curled up on our couch. “Aaww.”
“She waited for you,” Elisabeth sighed, and she clasped her hands together.
I enjoyed the way my four girls watched like it was this fall’s top grossing romcom as Nick walked over to his sleeping girlfriend, and he gently brushed a dark lock of hair away from her face. Then Zahra’s hazel eyes fluttered open, and her entire face lit up when she focused on the blond nymph’s smile.
“Baby,” Zahra sighed with dreamy satisfaction, and she stretched out on the couch. “I’m so glad you’re back. You were gone so long, I was getting worried.”
“And then you fell asleep?” Nick chuckled. “We had to go all the way to Bolivia, so we were on the jet for a while.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Zahra yawned and smiled sweetly up at her boyfriend. “How did the mission go?”
I wandered into the kitchen to grab a quick snack as Nick began to explain about the Curupira’s high praise of The Great Scaled One, the monster’s promises that He would destroy every human city, and how He would wipe our species from the face of the planet.
“Shiiiit,” Zahra whispered.
I glanced over my shoulder at Nick’s usually clean-mouthed girlfriend, and her eyes were wide with shock and a touch of terror. I grabbed a pack of barbeque-flavored beef jerky and leaned back against the counter as I shoved a piece into my mouth.
“Yeah,” Steffi said. “Pretty much.”
“Don’t worry, babe,” Nick said to his girlfriend. “We totally kicked the shit out of that asshole, and Dylan conjured another dragon.”
“Another one?” Zahra gasped, and she turned to me with an excited grin. “Dang, that’s so soon after Zofia, isn’t it?”
“It is.” I nodded. “Griff really came through for us today.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet him.” Zahra gave me a friendly smile, and then she grabbed the front of Nick’s shirt and practically dragged him across the common room to his door. “But we’re going to… uh… go now. ‘K, bye!”
“Night, guys!” Nick called with a huge grin at me, and I could tell he was rather happy about his girlfriend’s very clear intentions.
“Have fun,” I chuckled quietly. Then I turned to find all four of my ladies staring at me with mischievous smiles.
“Well, I think we all know exactly what they’re doing in there,” Nala laughed.
“They deserve to have a little bit of fun,” Elisabeth giggled.
“Yes, naughty fun.” Ronin smirked.
“Nick’s not the only one who deserves a little bit of naughty fun,” Steffi purred as she crossed the room. Then my fairy-girl grabbed the bag of barbeque jerky from my hand, and she zipped it shut and hucked it back into the still-open cabinet.
“Is that so?” I teased, and I wrapped my hands around Steffi’s narrow waist. “I think you girls are all looking for a little fun.”
“Oh, yes,” Nala murmured, and she grabbed hold of one of my hands while Ronin took the other.
My dick got painfully hard inside my pants as I allowed myself to be led into my bedroom by all four of my snickering lovers.
Chapter 15
I couldn’t help the stupid grin that split my face in two as Steffi closed my door with a sultry smile.
“I’m, like, really horny right now,” Steffi giggled. “But we all desperately need a shower before we can really have any fun.”
“Yes, thank you!” Elisabeth laughed. “I just cannot handle the amount of green slime that is down my back right now.”
“Honestly, me, too,” I agreed, and I grimaced down at myself. “I cleaned up a little on the flight, but man, wet wipes do not replace a good hot shower at all.”
“Why don’t we move this little party into the bathroom, then?” Nala asked with a coy smile.
“How big is your shower, Dylan?” Ronin asked playfully as she stripped off her dirty mission clothes.
“Um…” I hummed as I raked my eyes up and down my Japanese girl’s toned body. “I bet it’s big enough.”
“Let’s find out.” Steffi winked at me as she pushed the door to my bathroom open and flicked on the light. Then she slowly stripped her dusty clothes off, and she dropped them unceremoniously on the floor.
Elisabeth and Nala quickly followed suit, and soon there was a long trail of dirty, slime-covered clothes that led from the middle of my bedroom all the way into my luxurious bathroom.
I stood alone in my room with an idiotic smile on my face for a tenth of a second until I mentally slapped myself. Then I stripped naked, and I stumbled into the bathroom to join my lovers.
One of my girls had turned on the water, and a layer of steam was quickly fogging up my mirror. A loud chorus of giggling and splashes reached me from inside my shower, and I quickly stepped in to join the party.
“Oh, this feels so incredible,” Steffi sighed with relaxed pleasure as the hot water streamed down her body, and her skin turned a lovely shade of pink from the temperature.
“It’s really too bad there isn’t another showerhead,” Nala pouted a little and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Come here,” I said to my curly-haired girl as I pulled her naked body close to mine. “I’ll keep you warm.”
“Mmm, yeah, warm,” Nala said in a teasing voice that made it plain to me that I was making her quite hot.
“Ro, will you help me wash my back?” Steffi asked coyly, and she turned around to press her palms flat on the white tiles of my shower.
“Of course.” Ronin smiled and lathered her hands with my soap before she massaged Steffi’s shoulders firmly. “Oh, you are so tense.”
