No Such Thing as Good and Evil

Two weeks had past since Shade fought the Dragon Hunters and set out for Endross. He had decided to walk there instead of flying, a decision that turned a typical few hour journey for a dragon like him into a few week endeavor. That, and the fact he stopped in a few towns to drink. He had once again wanted to stop drinking but found he was feeling rather nervous about the trip. He hadn’t been inside Endross since he ran away as a child. He had passed by it when he left the knights before he ran into Colandria, but since it was in ruins, he didn’t actually go in. Now, he would have to enter into the fallen city that he was once supposed to rule.

Endross was located high in the mountains on the northern most point of the continent. Usually, it would be a bad place for a town, especially a kingdom. There should be no way to farm crops or herd any animals with how brutal the weather always was. The wind would always be howling with gusts of at least 20mph, with some approaching 100mph, while snow slammed down in sheets. Anything less then 6 inches of snow on the ground at any given time would be like a summer vacation. His grandfather Mozan though had concocted a device that would create a barrier of sorts around his kingdom. It worked similar to glass, but was run off echos rather than being a physical object. It allowed sunlight to come in, but no snow or wind. While having zero wind at any point was a little off-putting, the barrier allowed the sun to shine through, while also retaining the heat, causing the inhospitable mountains to become viable farmland. Of course, since the fall of Endross, that device had long since gone dormant from a lack of upkeep. Now the ruins of Endross lied under 2 feet of snow.

During his trip through various towns heading north, Shade had of course transformed into his human illusion to blend in. As he got to the gate of the former capital, he transformed back into his dragon form. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt it would be disrespectful to his former home, the home of the dragons, to hide the fact he was dragon while walking through it. He took a deep breath as he walked through the stone archway, most of the stone letters that made up the welcome to Endross sign now missing or chipped.

He slowly trudged through the knee-deep snow down the main road, taking in the ruins on all sides. He could easily engulf himself in flames of some sort, melting the snow and creating a walkway, but he chose not to. Instead, he looked around at the decrepit ruins, most of them barely resembling buildings anymore. Snow had long since collapsed every single building’s roof, wind and hail having shattered all the windows and knocked down all the signs, while most of the doorways were hidden behind mounds of snow. Even with how unrecognizable the place should be, and how long it had been since he was last there, memories were flowing back to him. Memories of him playing games with other dragons, training with the soldiers, laughing with his friends. But also, memories of arguments with his parents, parents of other children telling their kids to stay away from the Lucifer. His Father and Mother furiously yelling at him when they found out Mozan had anointed him as his replacement, telling him he had to abandon the throne. And finally, the memory of the night he left, in silence, telling nobody, never to be seen again until the kingdom had fallen.

As the kingdom was still rather young when it had fallen, it was still rather small. It didn’t take him that long to get to his destination, the kings castle, Castle Endross. Though his real destination was Infront of the large castle, a statue. A 25-foot-tall marble statue of Mozan Endross. The statue once depicted Mozan proudly holding a spear to the sky in one hand, and a dagger pinned to his chest in the other, while a somehow flowing marble robe came down his back. Now, the statue was in pieces. Mozan no longer had a head, nor a cape, or a spear to speak of. One of his legs had broken, and was buried in snow next to the statue. Somehow, someway though, the statue still stood, dagger still in hand, which is what Shade needed.

He sighed though as he looked past the statue toward the entrance to the castle. The castle looked in stunningly good shape, almost no snow to speak of on the towers, or the path leading up to it. The stones that made up the large castle also looked like they had been cleaned recently, with the all-black obsidian bricks that made up the castle glistening even through a blizzard. He knew exactly why as well. His exact worry about coming to Endross seemed to be true, he could sense a group of people inside the castle. He had an idea of who one of the people would be, but didn’t know of the others. He took one more look at his headless grandfather and decided he would come back for what he needed to do later, he first had to take care of the visitors.

He got to the 10-foot tall all golden doors that made up the front gate to the castle, his grandfather sparing no expense to inflate his own ego, and slowly creaked them open. He slid in through them and raised an eyebrow at the inside. It was fully lit up, with torches littering various columns that went floor to roof. The room was completely clean, not a single fallen rock or speck of dust to speak of. You would have no idea you were in the center of a ruined city while inside. Banners were hanging from the roof, on the left side of the room the banners displayed images of Mozans various feats, while on the other there were banners in honor of Shade. He stopped to look at some of them, one of them depicting him killing the King of Alessandria, something his grandfather failed to do even though he wanted to, while Shade managed to even though he didn’t want to.

The floors were made from white speckled marble with a cliché red velvet carpet cutting through the middle of the room from the door all the way to the cliché purple and gold throne. On the throne was a matching purple crown with various fine jewels embedded into it.

Anger started to swell up within him, and his eyes blinked to black a few times as he stared toward the throne. He took a few deep breaths and calmed himself, then slowly made his way down the aisle. It wasn’t the crown, nor the throne or the banners that was infuriating him, it was what was next to and Infront of the throne. Next to the throne was Aerith, wearing a classic purple dress, wings outstretched wide as she smiled at the approaching Shade. In front of the throne though were 8 completely naked female dragons, all of them on one knee as he approached. They were the 8 dragons he had saved from the tavern he burnt down all those months ago. Aerith had sunk her claws into them, and had now incorporated them into her plans, which infuriated Shade.

Shade stopped a few feet Infront of the kneeling dragons and took them in. He hadn’t noticed it back when he had saved them, but it was a rainbow of dragons, and he imagined that was on purpose. There was the blue dragon he had first met, as well as the red dragon who he spoke with briefly. They were joined by a green dragon, yellow, orange, brown, violet and grey. No Lucifer dragons to speak of though. All the dragons were fully healed now as well, their tails, wings, horns and teeth all having grown back in.

After taking in the dragons, he turned his angry glare toward Aerith, who did a curt bow. “Welcome home your highness.” She said, and all eight dragons in unison said the same thing, not picking their heads up.

Shade waited for Aerith to pick her own head back up from her bow so he could look her in the eyes before responding. “What the fuck is this?” he said with clear rage in his voice.

“This.” Aerith said with arms outstretched wide, spinning and gesturing at the room. “Is the beginning of your dynasty.”

Shade shook his head. “No, I don’t mean what’s this room, I mean what the fuck is this?” He said pointing at the naked dragons in front of him.

“Well.” Aerith said with a seductive voice and matching face. “I know how much you like having sex, and I know you’ve always wanted your very own harem, so I thought I would help out. Rebuilding a kingdom will be stressful, and these women have agreed to…. help out with that.”

Shade took a few more deep breaths trying to calm himself down, but was struggling to do so, his eyes, tail and horns flashing between black and red, his voice oozing with rage. “You mean to tell me that you found the women dragons I saved from being sex slaves, and brought them here to be sex slaves? Weren’t things like this something you fought vehemently against?”

“They’re not slaves, Shade.” Aerith replied nervously, noticing his growing anger and taking a slight step back from the dragons. “They’re here of their own free will, isn’t that right ladies?”

“Yes.” The blue dragon replied without raising her head. “We have all agreed to serve you, sire.”

This answer only enraged Shade more. “I don’t give a fuck if you enslaved them, cursed them, tricked them, or somehow convinced them. You want me to join the war against Merellien to save your stupid fucking daughter, and the way you do it is this? You think having women I saved from a life of serving men stronger than them turn around and live a life of serving me is what would convince me?” He snarled, black embers coming out of his mouth with every breath, and electricity beginning to crackle around him. He stepped over the kneeling dragons, who themselves were now quivering and took quick long strides to get into Aeriths face. She was now wide eyed and shaking herself. While she had seen Shade get angry before, she had not been the target of his anger in some time, and had forgotten just how terrifying he was. “Aerith, we both know how much you hated me joking about sex all the time. And we both know how much you hated it when I would joke about starting a harem. I know you pretty well, while you may think that this would please me in some sick way, I also know there has to be a secondary reason for you to actually do something like this. You’re going to tell me the reason right fucking now, or else we’re going to have some problems.”

Shade was now towering over Aerith, his eyes now completely black and it felt like he was staring right into her soul. She could feel the heat from the embers sizzling out of his mouth with each breath, the tingle of the electricity, and the ocean of echos inside him just waiting to explode out. She tried thinking of any lie she could tell to get out of the situation, but couldn’t think straight with the embodiment of death itself bearing down on her. She could only give him what he wanted, the truth. “I…If you’re going to rebuild Endross. You’ll need an army, and citizens. So many dragons have died from what Merellien is doing….”

Shade snarled as he cut her off and some fire came out of his mouth, leaving black burn marks on her face. “Stop fucking beating around the bush, what is the reason!”

“I want you to get them all pregnant!” She quickly answered in fear.

“You want me to impregnate those women? Why?”

“Like I said.” She replied in the same panicked voice. “Scores of dragons have died, if Endross is revived, even if this war is won, at some point the other kingdoms will try to take Endross down. You’re going to need an army to defend it. With all the dragons that have died; to rebuild an entire army, you’re going need new dragons to be born. And it would make sense for the strongest dragon there is, or at least one of the strongest, to be the one fathering the future army.”

Shade didn’t respond at first. He was taking some time to process the answer as his anger was still clouding his mind. If people were nothing but chess pieces, her plan actually wouldn’t be that bad. It does make sense in theory to repopulate the world of the dragons that have been lost. And it does make sense that a strong male should be the one to father the children. But that was if people were nothing but chess pieces. Problem is, they’re not. There were many issues with the plan, most of them being ethical. But ignoring those, at its core, Aerith knew Shade didn’t want kids. She also knew he hated his parents for how they treated him, and how little they paid attention to him as a child. Now she wanted him to have kids he didn’t want, which would cause him to not pay attention to them as he should, which would give the kids the same upbringing he so loathed.

He couldn’t do it; he wouldn’t do it. Aerith was so lost in her quest to save her daughter; she was treating everyone like chess pieces. If she wanted to treat others as chess pieces though, then shouldn’t she be a piece as well? He looked Aeriths body over up and down, making sure she noticed him doing it. He took in her curves, and features that hadn’t aged a day in decades. He slowly but firmly put his hands around her waist and pulled her in close to him. While they had slept together a few times, Aerith had long since said she would never do it with him again. But that’s a personal gripe, this is chess, right?

“And what of you Aerith? Are you going to bear my children as well?”

Her mind raced at the question, his impossibly strong grip on her waist told her she wasn’t going anywhere even if she wanted to, and she found she couldn’t move her gaze away from his penetrating black eyes, like staring into the abyss. “Well, the chances of us having a kid are…”

“Low.” Shade finished for her. “But not zero, right? We’re the ones that figured that out, remember? I just saw Gaelin and went on a whole diatribe about how much I regret some of the truly awful and despicable things I have done in the past. Should I remind you of one of the last things we did together?”

“Please Shade...” she whispered.

“You know what, why don’t we revisit that time, a quick trip down memory lane would do us good right? As you know, dragons are exceedingly rare because dragons were thought of as only being able to reproduce with other dragons. There was supposedly a less then one percent chance a dragon could even get a different species pregnant, and even if they did, the child would always be whatever the other species was, never being a dragon. That was until you found about Alexis, a half dragon, half wolf. That’s when you came up with the theory that the stronger the dragon, and the stronger the non-dragon, the higher the chance of successful pregnancy, and the higher the chance the baby would be a dragon. So, what did we do to test that? When we were attacked by a group of knights trying to arrest us, we killed all the male knights, but not the female knights. We captured them and you had me rape them over and over until one of them got pregnant. Then when you confirmed it was a dragon, we just sent her and the rest of them on their merry way. There's a good chance I already have a child out there somewhere, a child I failed. A child who probably hates me, and for good reason. But that’s not the point of the story. The point is that you could get pregnant if we slept together, and it could be a dragon. So, if you want dragon children to rebuild Endross, why don’t you join in on the fun?”

As he was speaking, he had elongated one of his nails into a sort of claw, and began slowly cutting off her dress until it fell off, leaving her completely naked, just like the dragons. Her breathing had grown heavier and heavier as he had also begun to slam his echos down over her. “Please Shade…. Please, I don’t want any more children.”

Shade smiled a devilish smile, bearing all his razor-sharp teeth at her, then leaned in right next to her face and whispered into her ear. “No? You don’t? Well, I don’t either. And I’m sure those women behind us didn’t either before you came along and did whatever you did to convince them otherwise. So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to leave this place, and never return. If I even smell you anywhere around here, you’ll be having that child. Do you understand me?” She quietly nodded. “Good, then get the fuck out of here.” He said, finally letting go of her waist. Without another word, like a lightning bolt, she opened up her wings and soared over the dragons, down the aisle and out the front gate.

Shade took another few deep breaths to calm himself down. His eyes, horns and tail slowly turned back to red, and he turned back around to face the still kneeling and quivering dragons Aerith had brought. He had told Gaelin he no longer wanted to be the bad person he had been, yet over the last two weeks he had killed two people, even if they were dragon hunters, and now threatened to rape and impregnate one of his only real friends in the world in an effort to get out of whatever bullshit plan she was trying to engulf him in. Not the best start to being a better person one could have.

He slowly walked over to the throne and looked down at the crown that was sitting on top of it. He picked it up, looked it over really quick, then threw it down the aisle. It made a loud clanking noise as it skittered across the floor. His attention then fell to all the quivering, kneeling dragons. All of them were still kneeling the wrong way, facing where he had entered rather than at the throne he was now standing next to. “Get up.” He said in a stern voice. They all got up in unison, but didn’t turn around. He sighed. “Turn around.” And they did so, all turning to face him. They all stood there, shaking, yet also stiff as a plank of wood. None of them making any movements on purpose out of fear. While he was furious at Aerith for what she had done, he had to admit to the horny piece of shit side of himself that all of the dragons in front him were wildly attractive. But even so, he was trying, and failing, but trying to be a better person. “I don’t know what she told you, and I don’t really care. I’m not here to become your king, or rebuild this dump. If you want to, that’s up to you. I would suggest the first thing you should do if you actually want to rebuild this place is find a way to fix that device which keeps all the snow out. I think its on the roof somewhere if I remember correctly.” He then paused and looked over the naked women again. “Actually, I guess the first order of business for you should be finding some clothes.” He then frowned as he sensed someone approaching the front gate. Another dragon walked through the golden doors. A male dragon, brown and wearing matching brown leather armor. Shade let out another loud sigh and collapsed into the throne. “Now what.” He groaned, placing his head in his hands.

He sat in the throne patiently waiting for the man to approach. The man took a slow and deliberate pace while walking down the aisle, his eyes bouncing between Shade and the line of still naked and quivering dragons that hadn’t left yet. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, but was really more like a minute, the dragon made it to Shade. He awkwardly went around the line of women, then walked in front of them, faced Shade, and got down on one knee. “Sire…” he began to say.

“Stop.” Shade said and the man flinched. “I’m not a king. Didn’t you notice the crown on the floor during your absurdly long walk over here? Get off your knees, stand up, and don’t call me sire.”

The man got off his knees, but failed to make eye contact with Shade still. “What should I call you then?”

“Shade, Valvath, hell you could call me Christopher Cucumber for all I care. As long as its not sire, your highness, or any of that other shit.”

“Well, Shade.” The man began to say. Shade was rather disappointed though; he was really hoping the man took the chance to call him Christopher Cucumber.

“Stop.” Shade said again, and the man flinched again. “I assume you’re here to ask me to do something for you, and I assume that something involves me killing scores of people. The least you could do is look at me while you ask.”

The nervous man slowly raised his head to meet Shades flat stare. He wasn’t angry, nor really annoyed. It was as neutral a look as one could have. “Well, Shade, you would be correct. I’m not sure if you recognize me, but I was one of the dragons you rescued when you killed the two hunters a few weeks ago. When you said you were going to Endross, I decided to come here as well.” Shade squinted at the man, but couldn’t remember him. It wasn’t that shocking though as he wasn’t in the best frame of mind the last time he saw the man. “I’m not sure if you know how dragon hunters work, or how they control and train dragons, but the base I was being held at has around a hundred other dragons in it right now, and I was hoping…”

Shade cut him off. “Hoping I would go there, slaughter hundreds of dragon hunters and save the dragons.”

“There wouldn’t be hundreds of hunters.” The man quickly replied, realizing from Shades flat tone he wasn’t that interested. “Once they get the collars on the dragons, they don’t think they need that many people to guard them. There's probably only going to be 20 – 30 hunters there.”

“Only 20 or 30, huh? If that’s not that many, then I’m sure a strong and powerful dragon such as yourself could go take care of it.” Shade replied.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

Shade cut him off again. “I’m not interested, go find some others to help. Maybe these fine women here could help you once they defeat their greatest enemy, clothing. I’ve met them twice now and have yet to see them were a single strand of fabric.” Shade went to get up out of the throne, but the man spoke back up.

“Please Shade, my children are there.”

Shade paused, halfway out of the throne. He thought back to when he apparently rescued the man. The only person he remembered was the boy, the little boy he saw chained up that caused him to lose his head. “How old?” He said in a soft tone.

“My son is 12 and my daughter is 10. They have no shame Shade, the things they’ve done to her…they’ve…they’ve made me watch.” The man said, as he began to shake and his voice began to quiver as he started to cry.

The same rage that he had just felt toward Aerith, that he felt when he rescued the boy and Vestelle was building up again. “Do you have a map?” He asked and the man nodded. “You have ten minutes to go get the map and mark on it where this base is.”

“Thank…you…” The man managed to say through his tears, then turned and flew away. Shade Collapsed back into the throne as he thought about more children being tortured. What would he do if he saw them. Would he lose his head again? He probably would. But would happen then? He was snapped out of this thought by a cough from one of the naked dragons still standing in front of him. “Didn’t I say to go fix whatever that thing on the roof was, why are you all still standing here?” At his words they scattered like flies, and he called after them. “And find some pants while you’re at it!”