Dragon Knights Fan Fiction ❯ Twenty Themes ❯ A Natural Disaster ( Chapter 18 )

Warnings: Time for a new look at things, this is a sweetly romantic one that came to me after reading one of Cairnsy's stories.

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It only took a few words this time, not even a quick smile and it was already too late. A brief "Good morning", a young girl's cheeks flushed and another heart was lost to the man-monster. Whether it was the artless sensuality or his easy-going manner Tetheus didn't know, but whatever it was that made Kai-Stern so good at his job had a number of downsides. He moved through the crowd, leaving minor ripples that turned into devastating waves at certain points. Warm, accessible, the damage was doubled when they realised that it was just a face he showed, that he didn't really mean that they were special to him when he flashed a smile

Two words, a simple greeting, a flushed smile and another soul was lost. He didn't do it on purpose, but those talents caused untold trouble. Tetheus sighed as Kai-Stern walked past. Love-sickness was worse than measles: sure people died from measles, but some recovered. This week alone three fighters had injured themselves pulling flashy tricks to draw his attention, another avoided Kai-Stern so avidly that he was in constant motion around the castle, and Lady Raseleane now had a full complement of Ladies-in-staring-at-the-ceiling-and-playing-with-their-hair.

If only Lykouleon could send him to Nadil on a diplomatic mission, where he'd really do some damage... although every time he left, the castle pined. Sex gods - can't live with them, can't live without them.

Kai-Stern stopped just before he rounded the corner and turned back to wave at an exasperated maid, who'd a bundle of laundry to manoeuvre through the bulky crowd. She caught the gesture and her knees buckled. Tetheus grimaced and pushed his way through the crowd, a little more roughly than required.

The worst thing about the love-sickness was the sudden relapses. Tetheus's right-hand man had turned to jelly the previous night after Kai-Stern spent too long chatting to one of the new recruits. They'd already spent three tear-stained nights working through this, eating ice-cream and sharing feelings only to have that that tortuous time thrown aside for new weeping.

Was there so little to do that Kai-Stern obsessed them all?

Fighters who can't fight, cooks who can't cook, maids who can't wait, even the darnas seemed to cower in their stables and sulk.

Tetheus had seen too many people ruined, lives destroyed by unthought smiles and unconscious flirts. Kai-Stern practised on them, he was sure - the castle was a tempering ground for his alluring arts, the laboratory where he perfected his virus and tested it out.

And when all was said and done, after the sickness left the system, somehow the person was never the same again - the passion, the zest, the oomph was gone.

Shaking his head, Tetheus stalked off towards the stables. The darnas were restless - how unusual - and he took his time choosing a mount. By the time it was saddled and ready to go, an honour guard had formed: loyal officers, or wounded fools escaping the object of their torment? He said nothing and led them out for a small jaunt through the country, a patrol and nothing more. They went further than he'd thought, parading through a few of the villages that dotted the plains.

It was in the very centre of one of these that the beast struck. It lashed out, toppling Tetheus from his darna and scattering the guard. Tetheus rolled to his feet, displaying none of the embarrassment he felt, sure that it'd disappear when he drew his sword and paid back the filthy beast.

His guard, those that were not occupied reassuring the darnas, darted in and out, drawing welts on the beast's hide, but little more, before Tetheus waded in for his pound of flesh. The guards' attacks kept it off balance and it discounted Tetheus as a force to be reckoned with, even turning its back on him to claw at a fleeing fighter. One sweep of Tetheus's sword proved its folly and it turned on him, rearing onto its hind legs and towering over the dignified dragon with a bellowing roar. The Black Officer jumped back, avoiding a claw and lashing out as it retreated. The beast snarled and charged, taking Tetheus down, but leaving its back exposed to the scratches and bruises inflicted by his guard.

Tetheus - pinned by the mighty animal - blocked the beast's bite by lodging his sword in its mouth. The sharp edges bit into the soft corners of its mouth and Tetheus gritted his teeth and began to push the blade further. As it pulled its head back, the blade followed and any attempt to push it aside with a paw merely caused further injury. Tetheus ignored the many bleeding wounds from the animal's frantic batterings and it slowly retreated. The further it went, the more reach that gave Tetheus and eventually he was able to regain his feet, while still threatening the creature.

He finally pulled his sword back, slicing the tender mouth further and the beast snarled with rage. It charged at its tormentor who dropped into a braced stance, his sword held like a lance. The creature impaled itself on Tetheus's sword without realising and fell confused to the ground. It wheezed and spluttered, dark blood flowering on its fur and framing the upright blade. Tetheus grabbed the hilt and pulled the sword free, before putting the beast out of its misery.

He remounted the darna handed to him by a cowed follower, far more slowly than he'd left it and led the way home without a word. In the days before Kai-Stern had arrived at the castle, he would have eaten ten of those for breakfast and had room for more.

20 Themes is based on the works of Mineko Okhami.