First Demonic Dragon

A low groan arose from within the confines of a dark, damp space.

The Western King of the Four Heavenly Kings opened his eyes slowly. What greeted him was a stone floor, slick with moisture, and a crackling torch mounted on the opposing wall.

He shifted his body from it’s uncomfortable position, only to realize his divine form was bound in chains of ice.

“I won. You owe me a bite, babe.”

“Curses… Here, open.”

The West king strained his head to look toward the sound of two feminine voices.

Sitting at a small wooden table by the door were two women who terrified him to his very core. Even if they were currently sharing a platter of sashimi over candles and roses…

*In Mandarin Chinese* “This… What is this?”

Sif opened her mouth to allow her wife to insert a piece of sliced fish onto her tongue. “It’s a date, numbnuts. Sometimes you gotta get things in while you can. It’s a part of keeping marriage fresh.”

“Speaking of fresh… This meal is quite wonderful, my darling.” Izanami smiled.

Sif became slightly bashful. “I know, I did pretty good, right?? And the kids think I can’t cook.”

Izanami would never say that the kids were right. Sashimi was just sliced raw fish, shredded daikon, and soy sauce. Since much of preparing the meal was just knife work, even Sif couldn’t mess this up. And her natural body temperature actually made the eating experience slightly more pleasurable!

“You two… You cannot hold us like this..!”

“Oh, we can’t?” Izanami asked, raising her brow. “I’m rather curious for you to tell us why.”

The Western King glared. “T-The Jade Emperor will not sit idly by as his most diligent are-“

“You’re right. The Emperor shouldn’t have to wait around for you four to bring your old butts back underneath his heel. So we’re going to be real nice and take you to him.”

The fact that Sif made such a statement while picking her nose did nothing to hamper the underlying threat behind her words. The Western king’s eyes showed immediate resistance.

“Mark me on this, beasts… You are gravely mistaken if you believe my brothers or I will be used as any sort of leverage against our Empe-“

“Fancy a bit of desert, my little daffodil?”

“Siffff~ You didn’t!”

“Of course I did. I know it’s been a while since we had macaroons, but I remember how much you liked them, so…”

“Did you… Make them?” Izanami’s voice had a healthy degree of fear.

“I-I sent Gabby to one of the little places she likes and had her grab some for us.”

The western king let out a deep growl as he watched the two loving wives feed each other macarons. “T-This is not a date!!”

“”SHUT UP!””

The rest of the heavenly kings soon began to stir from their rest as well. It came as no real surprise that they were also shocked as to how they had ended up on the floor, bound in freezing chains and bearing witness to a date. But any attempts to inquire about such matters were coldly shut down.

As a result, the heavenly kings were reduced to sitting there quietly, watching as two loving women pretended that they weren’t even there.

At a certain time, both girls looked down at their watches and smiled at each other sadly.

“Seems like it’s about that time…”

“Seems like it…”

Sif moved the table aside and moved Izanami into her lap. The two women gently pressed their foreheads against each other as they smiled.

“See you tomorrow?”

“…See you tomorrow, my love.” Izanami placed her lips against those of her wife.

With a final, sweet kiss, the dragons closed their eyes together as if they were undertaking a blissful nap.

To the untrained eye, it would look like they had vanished within milliseconds, and a new woman took her place.

Zahara took a moment to steady her heartbeat. Her hand was placed over her chest as she took steady breaths to rein in her emotions.

Only one other woman in creation could understand how she felt right now. Loving yourself to such an insane degree, and yet feeling slightly guilty about your own existence at the same time…

It wasn’t the sort of thing for the faint of heart.

“…What the fuck is going on here!?!”

A low growl escaped Zahara’s throat as she was pulled from her thoughts.

She stood up wearing an outfit that looked like it had been pulled directly from Courtney’s closet. Same black and gold sports bra, same matching pants. The only difference was that Zahara wore a pair of open-toed sandals instead of black slides with socks.

“What’s goin on is, as soon as I leave this room, I’m going through the spatial distortion that brought you all here to the other side of the world, and I am going to bring Tehom it’s first victory of the war. How that happens is up to you four.”

The table behind her disappeared along with everything on it. Zahara pushed her hair out of her face with one hand as she placed her foot on the jaw of the northern king.

“Let’s see just how useful you can be. I want to know everything you can tell me about your stronghold, your troop placements, how many of the court are away from your base, and-“

“You underestimate our loyalty to the court, Dragon Mother…! No matter what happens to us, we will never betray the Jade Emperor!”

“You are aware that I will go to the Court myself, whether you give me the details or not. All you’re accomplishing by keeping secrets is increasing the amount of blood on your hands.”

The Southern king sat up in his chains, attempting to move his body away from her. No matter how defiant he made his voice, his body could not hide the telltale signs of fear.

“Dragons have always been overconfident to a fault..! Do you really think that you’ll be allowed to waltz into our territory and do whatever you wish!?”

“Not at all.” Zahara shrugged. “In fact, if I quiet my mind… I can feel echoes through time, warning me of a lengthy battle.”

“Then you know-“

“What I know is that you’ll only be making things more difficult for your faction if you continue to be obstinate. If I have to spend time forcing them into submission instead of using coordinated strikes, the death toll will skyrocket. If saving lives is your interest, then I encourage you to tell me all you know.”

The Heavenly Kings glanced at each other with a nervous air.

For a moment, Zahara thought they might make the right decision.

She was wrong.

“We all live and die to uphold the honor of the court. We will not throw dirt on that privilege by throwing in with murderous monsters.”

The sentiments of the Southern King were shared by all of his brothers. Zahara let out a small gust of air from her nostrils.

“…Pity. I’ll be sure the departed know just how you felt about the matter.”

Zahara applied the faintest amount of force to the bottom of her foot.

Her small effort completely crushed the jaw of the Northern King, making the god scream in agony.

With her sandal now wet, Zahara simply slipped them off and left them where the kings lie.

She pulled open the door to the dungeon, allowing outside light to pour into the small space.

As she stepped through the door, it did not close immediately.

Two very large beasts loomed within the doorway, their maws dripping with drool at the sight of the meal before them.

“…Try not to make yourselves sick.”

With Zahara’s permission, Gandora and Bayle lunged into the room, and a chorus of screams immediately followed.

The goddess closed the door behind her, and the hallway was silent once more. Save for the excited jumping up and down of one full-grown demon lord of wrath.

“Well? Well?”

“They weren’t forthcoming.” Zahara shrugged with a small, hidden smile on her lips.

“FUCK! YES!!” Satan pumped his fists in the air and performed a series of excited backflips.

Belloc, who was also standing in the hallway, did not seem to understand.

“Couldn’t you have just… ripped the information out of their heads?”

“I could have, but I chose to respect their wishes instead.”

Belloc didn’t know why, but he took that answer as an indication that his mother may have been in a bad mood.

Zahara yawned as she started walking down the hall. “You boys coming? The creatures Boo-Boo Bear sent should already be surrounding the distortion.”

“Why do you have to call dad by such embarrassing names in front of everyone…?”

“Because if I call him Big Daddy like I do when we’re alone, I’ll have to put you on suicide watch.”

“….Fair.”

Satan, happy as a clam, skipped alongside Zahara while giving her a once-over.

“You sure you’re not gonna change first?? If you’re dallying around, worried about your outfit, I’m going to have all the fun by myself!”

For some reason, Satan’s concerns made Zahara laugh as if they were the funniest thing she had ever heard.

“You kidding? It’s only the Celestial Court.”