Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ I've wanted you forever and tonight ❯ Dragon or horse tonight? ( Chapter 11 )

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Blood and power. Chapter eleven of 'I've wanted you forever and tonight'.

~ By Sweetdeily.

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There were three generals in the first of the Golden Division army. The Duke Katsuya was the first of these three generals; he was in command of the forefront of the armies, those that met the onslaught first and were hit by the first spells. The second wave of the first Golden Division was under the command of Lord Lethelm, a seven-year-old boy by appearance, with curling black locks and a pair of blue jaded eyes, he reached Kaiba's upper femur. Lethelm commanded the second raid of Fairies in the battle, which was the bulk of the fighting force. Then there was the Baroness Aesccot, she was probably three-thousand-years old because she looked to be in her late thirties. Aesccot had been around since the last Queen of the Fairies had ruled; she'd been there since Fairies had coexisted with humans. She was in charge of the archers, and, Jounouchi couldn't help but grin when he thought of this, she was a real tight-ass. Years of life had stripped away any ethereal beauty she had and although she was not ugly, she was not beautiful either.

"Duke! Duke! The prince has sent a messenger!" Jounouchi turned to the reporter and nodded to the fifty-year-old, the child was a distant cousin of his, still in his three-years-old form and thus only used for ferrying orders and messages.

"What's da' news?"

"The first platoons have entered battle, we've lost the first plane already, but the wounded are minimal, three deaths, and the Elves are using death screamer poison on their weapons."

Death screamer poison was one of the immortal killers, it wasn't cheap and it wasn't pretty. Wounds inflicted by death screamer healed slower than those from normal immortal poisons. It was kind of like having a wound that never healed. Fae would scream in agony until they just couldn't feel anything anymore.

Jounouchi winced, glancing at the teleport as it flickered to life; no doubt the steeds were coming down this time. "What're our orders?"

"You are to hold your position, the Golden Divisions are not to be sent out until such time that we encounter significant losses or we get to their main armies."

The Duke nodded and waved the messenger off. The child bowed and toddled away.

Jounouchi strode to the teleportation device, hoping that it was indeed the mounts; he had no idea if the Queen intended to negotiate for the Unicorns to help them again this time, the beasts had been pissed off about the length and destruction of the last war, they'd been very adamant that they had no intention of helping any such event again. Although Farseer, Jounouchi's steed, had said she would graciously help him again if he ever asked for it, but unicorns didn't live as long as Fairies and Farseer had died three hundred years ago. Still, her children might hold the bond formed between himself and Farseer.

Katsuya passed the archer's practice yards and caught sight of Baroness Aesccot and Seto Kaiba. Kaiba had been walking around for the past two days without sleep. The Fairy guessed it was the fact that there was no night or day in the Hell Planes. He smiled as he saw Seto notch an arrow, let fly and hit a millimeter off center.

"Not good enough, young one! Simply not good enough! What is this, a whole point five off the mark? This is a pathetic standard! How do you expect to survive on the battlefield?" The Baroness snapped in English.

"At a full kilometer away I thought I was doing well." The vampire replied coolly.

"It's only one kilometer! At six I would accept such inaccuracy, but one-" She paused, noticing that the Duke had stopped to watch them in amusement. "Ah, my lord, I think you should show your young friend how to do it right."

Jounouchi chuckled. "My lady Baroness, ya' know I'm not a long distance fighter, I would be lucky ta' hit da' target, let alone hit accurately."

"Well I expect you would do a might better than this sorry excuse for an immortal." Aesccot sniffed and turned back to her victim.

What Kaiba hadn't noticed yet was that none of the other archers were practicing; they were busy getting some sleep and respite from the rough pace that the Baroness set them. He obviously had been so absorbed that he also hadn't noticed that no one, not even Aesccot, could hit the center circle at a kilometer. Let alone six kilometers.

Jounouchi walked off before he started laughing, he had to check what had been delivered through the portal. If they didn't have steeds soon they'd get caught in battle at sever disadvantages, sure, a mount was only good if you were alive on it, but without one you were stuck to the ground and had no forewarnings.

Shizuka met him as he passed by her tent. "I just got a look at the new mounts." She informed him dutifully.

"And?" He hoped that they were Unicorns. Unicorns were arch enemies with dread horses- the Elves preferred mount- and they would fight even with mortal wounds. The mythical horses also had tendencies to blind opponents with their magical spells.

"And see for yourself." Shizuka looked half disappointed. But then, she'd been known to play cruel jokes on him.

He hoped it wasn't that bad in reality.

The teleport had a crowd of soldiers around it, but people parted for the blonde and he came to the front. The mounts had come down on a wooden platform, they'd been delicately nestled into piles of hay and as the General approached he realized what they'd been given and why no one had approached the beasts yet.

"Luther Dragons?" Jounouchi breathed the words out reverently and stepped up on the platform, some men had thoughtfully moved it off the teleport and out of the immediate way.

The iridescent creatures on the platform, there were perhaps a dozen, shifted restlessly, their catlike eyes surveying the small Fairies that dared come close to them. Their scales were the colors of crystals, bright, beautiful and soft looking. They were not the same size as normal dragons, as this species had been breed by vampires long ago, they were close to the size of thoroughbred horses, taller than all of the Fairies present, but no where near the size of a normal dragon. They had no breath weapons and no wings but their claws were deadly sharp and their teeth could tear through anything. They were highly intelligent, perhaps above that of human intelligence, they communicated through telepathy but they were also very touchy about riders. How the Queen had gotten a full dozen to join their cause was a mystery. Luther Dragons rarely spoke to creatures other than vampires; they were the legendary mounts of the undead. Jounouchi had heard of battles between vampires and humans where the normally solitary undead master would call up a horde of dragons. That had been in his early childhood, when even Fairies did not walk in the nighttime and kept to the Court at such times. Luther Dragons were a very rare breed, they hatched about three eggs each laying, and as they lived long, long lives, they mated only rarely.

The teleport flared to life and Jounouchi looked up, another wooden platform was descending at the usual break-neck speed. A full squadron of Luther Dragons? How had the Queen gotten so many, she must have paid a blood price for it.

A growl brought his attention back to the platform he stood on and he stared in wonderment as the nearest Luther Dragon, a champagne colored creature rose off its hunches and walked over to him. it moved like a horse, one leg at a time, but there was something slow and deliberate about it, as if it were stalking a meal.

/You'll do; you smell like our masters. / A voice in his mind informed him. The voice spoke English with a slight hint of hiss. The 's's were emphasized.

Jounouchi reached forward to touch the beast but stopped, thinking better of the action.

/Go on, we don't bite… much. / An almost audible chuckle ran through the Luther Dragons and they started rising to their legs, letting the Fairies brave enough to follow Jounouchi's example approach them. Their chuckle was like a collections of hissing in a breath-like pattern. At least the blonde thought it was chuckling.

Jounouchi chose to ignore the baiting and touched the Luther's neck. It was soft like a horse's hide. He breathed out when the small dragon didn't attack him but began to wind around him instead. There seemed to be more bones in this thing's body than a horses.

/Mm, he does smell nice, especially his face. / Another Luther commented, coming over to sniff his face. Breathing hot air against his nose and mouth.

With that comment Jounouchi was quickly surrounded.

/Hey, you're right. Mm, that's a good smell; powerful too. / The champagne Luther sniffed at his face too.

The Luther's smelt like blood and meat, they were carnivores, but Jounouchi found it almost overpowering and he swayed gently.

/Hey, I want a smell! / A third Luther Dragon huffed out; Jounouchi almost fell down as the creature barged up and pawed at him.

"Hey, hey! Please, I'm only so big! And dere's only so much o' me ta' go 'round." Jounouchi got out, trying to disentangle himself from the sudden mass of reptilian bodies.

Even if they were smarter than humans, they were damn creepy. It must have come from being around undead.

The Luther's chuckled again but they moved away, all except the champagne one, who had obviously called dibs on him first. This one curled around him, rubbing against his body catlike.

/Mine name's Ta'gen. I'm pleased to meet you. / It told him.

"I'm Katsuya Jounouchi, you can call me Jounouchi if you wish." The blonde informed Ta'gen.

/Very well, Jou. / Ta'gen murmured, heavy breathing as the Fairy gently scratched under its chin. /By the way, I'm not an "it" I am a girl, if it isn't obvious. /

"Sorry, I wasn't checking."

/So gentlemanly of you. / Ta'gen chuckled again and knelt invitingly on her forelegs. Jounouchi gave her a gentle pat before swinging himself up onto her back.

Ta'gen walked slowly off the platform, allowing her rider to get the feel of her. The Luther Dragon moved much like a horse, one limb at a time. Once Jounouchi thought he had adjusted and he nudged the mount gently in the direction he wanted to go Ta'gen decided to show off.

She began running.

Even though it was much like riding a horse, it was suddenly like riding a horse at the speed of light, no amount of clenched thighs helped. Jounouchi's eyes couldn't adjust in time to follow the movements of the shapes around them and he found himself trying to shriek out for Ta'gen to stop but he couldn't form any words at the speed his body was pulled along. Luckily it seemed she could hear his thoughts for she stopped very suddenly. Without braces or a saddle or a rope to hold onto, Jounouchi was pitched forward over the Luther Dragon's back and head. He was airborn for a few heart stopping moments and then he hit the ground and rolled up.

He ended up on he back on the ground staring at the sky and trying to relearn how to breathe. It's funny how complicated breathing actually is; in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out. His chest shuddered and his nails dug into the ground, trying to find some sort of hold.

"Are you okay, puppy? What the hell is that?" Seto Kaiba's cold voice asked him.

/Nevermind what I am, ohh, you smell good. / Ta'gen projected.

"What the…"

Jounouchi just lay there and panted until he thought he was breathing again. He was going to have to get some riding gear; helmet, saddle, goggles, rope, mouth-guard, a brick or two so the Luther Dragon couldn't move fast.

"Seto Kaiba… dis is one o' our new…. mounts, she is a Luther Dragon; … they're telepathic, her name is Ta'gen." Jounouchi announced dutifully and breathlessly.

Ta'gen snorted and he felt her nuzzle him gently in the side of the face, he could see the champagne creature on the edge of his vision. /You smell like this one…/

Jounouchi slowly sat up. The blonde's heart hurt. He'd been winded.

He'd landed over the fence of the archery field, Baroness Aesccot wasn't in sight and Seto's bow was lying against a post. The vampire was frozen in a crouch near Jounouchi's feet, his cobalt eyes studying the Luther warily. Ta'gen moved her head between the two, sniffing them curiously.

/This one has a lot of power, more than most of our massterss. But he is young, why is he here? Shouldn't he be with his brethren? / Ta'gen asked.

"We don't know the answers to those questions, Ta'gen. Seto doesn't know anything about his own kind."

/One with his power should. /

"I'd almost rather not; anyone who does this to another being is not worth the air they breathe." Seto replied icily.

'Masters don't have to breathe.'

Jounouchi chuckled. "Don't mind her Seto, she thinks she's funny."

'Correction, she knows she's funny.' Ta'gen informed him.

"Kami-sama, you two are made for each other." Seto shook his head and walked off.

~ To Be Continued…

Sweet notes: Okies, now knowing my fanbase, none of you read my profile, so even though I have a few things to go over I will put this first; if you are worried about my stories being deleted you can find them on my site, all of my stories eventually go up there, so don't have fear! The link to my site can be found in my profile.

Jou: And what was the rest of the stuff you had to say?

Sweets: Oh yeah, even though MM usually screws up my format (who knows why or how) the Luther dragon's speech is meant to be italic.

Seto: *holding a bat* oh Sweets… I'd like to have a rough-fairly-accurate-ball-park-on-the-dot-general-detailed-light-idea of when I'm going to screw Jou. It's been 11 chapters already.

Sweets: Okies how to put this… the good news is; you WILL screw him eventually.

Seto: And the bad news? *twitching*

Sweets: I can't tell you when?

Seto: SHI-NE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweets: *hides behind Jou and whispers* help? Please?

Jou: *whispering back* you should have let us screw, I'm not going to help you now.

Yami: I'll help-

Sweets: Yay! You're da best! *runs to him*

Yami: -if Yugi and I can boink in this story.

Sweets: *facefaults* >_<;

Yugi: Yami! Don't be so mean!

Sweets: ^.^ Yay!

Yugi: You shouldn't have offered at all! She'll never let us in this story.

Sweets: no! @_@

Seto: *singsong* Oh Sweetdeily… *brings up a gun and aims at the author* "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb, I shot her full of holes…" *BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Announcer: We interrupt this entirely brutal killing of the author to bring you the following messages: Review, review, review, review, review, review or the author dies. Thank you, we now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Sweets: X_x

Jou: um Seto…

Seto: yes puppy?

Jou: Who's going to write the story now that you've killed the author?

Seto: …