Dreaming of the dragontaur (macro/micro story)

(I must admit that I got rather excited when I saw about half the voters wanting to go for a dragoness story. Enjoy! :) )

The first thing the mouse realized was the smell of lavender as he stirred from slumber. Next, came the shaking of the ground.

He shifted around and groaned as he tried to make sense of what was going on. The mouse sat up and crossed his legs; he rubbed his eyes and took a few breaths… before the ground shook again. There was a third shake a moment later… then another, and another… it wasn’t until the shadow fell over the mouse from behind that he realized what was going on; something BIG was approaching.

With a shaking body, the mouse slowly turned around… and his blood turned to ice as he beheld the behemoth looming across the way.

It was a creature unlike anything that myths and legends could have prepared the little mouse four. It was a black-scaled dragoness that stood on four legs… and had an anthropomorphic torso instead of just a head. She had arms crossed across her chest, and a wild black mane that fell down along her head, all the way down to her quadruped torso. Her thick tail swung from side to side as she took a single step forward, shaking the ground even more.

The mouse’s tail twitched, and his eyes were wide. He should have gotten up to run… but where COULD he run? It had dawned on him that he was in a truly gigantic cave; it was kept alight by a series of glowing balls of flame that hovered in the air. The only way out of the wide chamber… was past the dragoness. The mouse was trapped, and completely at her mercy.

But the dragoness didn’t growl, or make to try and catch him. Instead she simply smiled, and proceeded to walk forward with a steady gait. She soon loomed over his little form, and kept her lower paws spread out to avoid stepping on the mouse. He couldn’t help but look up as the massive body passed over him; her underbelly was a rich purple, and each of her surrounding scales could have served as a shield for the tiny mouse. As the dragoness’s fat tail passed overhead, it swayed just to the side to avoid knocking into him.

The mouse had to admit to himself that the dragoness left him in awe. She was so big, so powerful; almost like a goddess compared to something like him. He watched as the great beast came to a stop a short distance away, and made to sit down on the ground. The dragoness kept her arms crossed as she looked down at the mouse with an eye ridge raised. He wondered if she was going to question why he was intruding in her domain, or if she’d cackle and gloat at his capture.

Instead, the dragoness shifted her tail, and brought the end of it to rest a cross from the mouse. She stayed silent, and motioned with her eyes toward the tail-tip. The mouse was puzzled for a moment; did the dragoness want him to climb onto her tail? He stepped closer, and she didn’t seem to move her tail away; if anything, she smiled. Perhaps that was what she wanted. So, not wanting to draw her ire, the mouse made his way to the tail-tip and hefted himself onto it. The dragoness kept her tail still, and continued to motion toward the rest of it with her gaze. The mouse nodded and crawled on all fours along the row of scales to ascend.

This was such a surreal experience; crawling along the body of a titan. The mouse stayed slow and steady, and made sure he didn’t cut his hands on her rows of spikes. A strange sense came over the mouse; warmth built in his chest. His digits carefully ran along the spikes and scales as he made his ascent; the longer he climbed, the more he felt relaxed. In fact, as he passed the hurdle to make it between the dragoness’s hind legs, he felt downright euphoric. It almost felt like he was climbing along a new plane of existence; a higher place, where he truly belonged.

Once the mouse made it to the dragoness’s back, she rose from her sitting position. The mouse clung to a spike and did his best to hold still as she rose back to her full height. He then gazed up at the dragoness’s head; she was turning to look at him with a mischievous smile on her face. She then swayed her hips from side to side. Not enough to send the mouse flying, but definitely enough to make him sway from side to side. Was she toying with the mouse; was it all a game? The mouse held on tightly regardless, for fear of being sent flying.

Eventually the dragoness stopped, and she looked back at the mouse once again. She carefully flapped her wings, before walking across the cave toward the entrance. Curious, the mouse slowly made his way along the row of spikes to continue his trek, while the dragoness made her way outside.

After the low light of the cave, being out in the exposure of the sunlight was almost blinding. The mouse squeaked and squinted, before rubbing his eyes and working to adjust. Once he opened them again, he realized that the dragoness had stepped out onto some kind of wide platform of rock. The mouse decided to look around and take in the surrounding landscape.

The dragoness’s cave and platform were etched into the side of a big mountain. The mountain overlooked a forest, which itself surrounded a lake. Beyond the, the mouse could just barely make out distant plains, more forest… and even some sort of village. The mouse listened to the wind blowing against the mountain, as well as many birds that chirped off in the distance. The mouse sighed, and smiled wide; it was beautiful. But not as beautiful as the mighty dragoness, who spread out her wings and lifted her tail up to bask in the sunlight. The mouse sighed happily as he looked upon her upper back. And when the dragoness smiled back at him once again, he couldn’t help but blush. He still had so many questions, but for just this moment, he was more than happy to be here.

And then… she finally spoke.

“It’s a beautiful dream, isn’t it?”

The mouse flinched; the dragoness sounded just as heavenly as she looked. But what she said gave him a moment of pause. After taking a moment to compose himself, he finally worked up the courage to reply.

“I’m… dreaming?” He asked. “Does that mean… none of this is real?”

“Well… YOU’RE real. And so am I.” The dragoness smirked. “I suppose an easy way to put it is… we’re sharing a dream.”

“Oh…” The mouse looked around at her at the surrounding landscape. “So… what’s going on? Who are you?”

The dragoness looked at him cheekily. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

“Uhh…” The mouse nervously scratched his head. “Well… I… uhh…”

For a moment, he feared that he’d make the dragoness mad. But instead she simply sighed and shook her head.

“I might have put you into a daze with my beauty.” She mused. “Perhaps things will make more sense once you’re become more lucid. But for now…”

The dragoness carefully extended one of her front legs, before glancing back once more. “Would you care to slide down to my paw? I’d like to pick you up. It’s getting a little akward leaning back all the time to talk to you.”

“Oh, uh…” The mouse sheepishly made his way forward. “Okay…”

He slowly made his way along the leg, being careful not to fall over. Once he got to the incline of her elbow, the mouse slid his way down to the paw. Once she was in her grasp, she lifted him up just enough so that one of her two hands could come down to collect him. After that, she tenderly wrapped her digits about the mouse’s body, as she slumped her hind-section to sit down. The mouse was brought straight to the dragoness’s muzzle. Her eyes seemed to dazzle like amethysts, and her tongue lightly slid out in a curious little hiss.

“Are you… going to eat me?” The mouse asked.

“If I did, you wouldn’t be hurt.” She mused. “This is a dream, remember? All that would happen is you’d wake up. However…” She lightly licked the mouse’s face. “Even if I can’t really taste… you look absolutely delicious.”

The mouse felt his cheeks flush, and he put his hands behind his back. “Uhh… th-thank you, Miss.”

“Come on, now…” She lightly poked his belly. “You know who I am. You know my name and title. Just get a little more lucid…” She fluttered her eyes as purple smoke rose from her nostrils. “You wanted me to visit you so badly not so long ago.”

The mouse wracked his brain, trying to remember her name. It was hard to think through the mild haze of lavender, which seemed to radiate about his mind through the whole dream. He was even having trouble remembering his own name; what had come over him?

The dragoness gradually had a look of disappointment. She moved the mouse away from her muzzle and simply sighed sadly.

“Perhaps this was too soon.” She said, sounding serious. “Maybe you didn’t have enough mental training to join me in the dream realm; you’re too lost to the euphoria.”

The mouse squeaked sadly. “I… I’m sorry. I just…” He gulped. “I just know that I’m happy to be with you, even if all of this is just a dream.”

“Hmm…” She pursed her lips. “You’re one of the rare few to even make it this far, true… but you’re not even really yourself at the moment.” The dragoness shook her head. “You’re practically an amnesiac; you might not even remember all of this fully when you return to the waking world.”

“But I want to remember this.” The mouse pleaded. “I… uhh…” He rubbed his head. “I feel like I really wanted to meet you. You’re very important to me, I just know it!”

The dragoness’s expression weakened a bit. “I very much want to just give you the answers now; to tell you exactly what you’ve forgotten… but I shouldn’t.” She shook her head again. “You need to be able to come to me as your full self; not just the part of you that desires to be with me.”

“Then… what can I do?” The mouse frowned. “What can I do to prove myself right now?” He clasped his hands together. “Please… even if I can’t remember everything right now… I know that I’ve wanted this for… for what feels like a long time.” He looked her in the eyes. “I needed you… wanted to talk to you about… something. Something important. And whoever you are… even if you eat me… you’re the only one who can help.”

The dragoness blew smoke from her nostrils once again, and lifted the mouse up a bit higher. She clasped her other hand down atop him, sealing him within her scaly fingers. The dragoness then roamed her fingers about his body, massaging his fur and rubbing his head. The mouse squeaked and held still, while the dragoness sighed.

“I know you’ve wanted this.” She said. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the waking world… on you. Don’t take all of this as me saying I’ve given up on you, because I’m absolutely not. But… the you that’s in my hands, right now… it’s just not enough of you.”

She moved both of her hands away from the mouse… and he stayed floating in the air. Looking down at himself, he found that he could see through his own body. It was like he was a ghost, hovering weightlessly in the air.

“I want YOU here; all of you.” The dragoness insisted. “If you want my help, you need to be able to project as much of yourself into my dream realm as you can.”

“H-How do I do that?” The mouse asked.

“Keep practicing.” She said. “Remember; keep on practicing. I won’t give up on you, so long as you don’t give up on yourself….”

She licked her lips, before slowly parting her jaws. The mouse gazed down her deep, dark throat, while her voice continued to speak independently of her gaping jaws.

“For now… it’s time to return to the waking world, little one.” She said as the mouse felt something pull him toward the throat. “I hope to see you again soon… the real you…”

The mouse sighed as he was pulled into the dragoness’s throat. It was deep… dark… and oh so inviting…

~~…~~

Victor snapped out of his trance. He stumbled in place as his tail nearly caught fire on a candle. The mouse ran his hands through the fur on his head as he gradually came to terms with where he was.

Victor was in his dorm room. He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his incantation circle. It was decorated with six lavender candles, and his old spell-book was left open over on a podium across the way. And he was wearing his mage robes; prim and proper, in an attempt to make himself presentable before…

“Belgemine.” He said aloud. “Belgemine, the Nightmare Queen.”

His memory flooded back to him all at once… and he cursed his failure. Everything made sense now; his name was Victor. He was an apprentice mage at the Brightveil Magic Academy. The mouse has spent the last six months studying up on the goddess of the dream realm; the mighty (and beautiful) Belgemine. He’d tried time after time, along with some other mice, to try and contact this legendary dragontaur.

And he’d done it… almost. Victor had gotten so close; he’d done all the right chants, called upon the witching hour to enhance his power, pledged his desire to have an audience with her… but only a tiny piece of his mind managed to slip through. And it was the part that… that…

Victor finally realized that his pants had been uncomfortable all this time. He looked down… and flushed with embarrassment as he covered himself. The mouse picked up a wooden staff leaning against his podium and practically bonked himself on the head.

“Stupid, Victor, STUPID!” He chastised himself between bonks. “Of all the aspects of your personality to enter the dream realm… your LUST?!”

He put the staff down and grabbed his ears to tug on them in frustration. “How is Belgemine supposed to take you seriously if all she sees of you is your desire to bang her?!”

The mouse rushed over to his podium, gasped his spellbook, and hefted it up to study the pages more closely. There must have been something he missed; something that interfered with the rest of his mind’s aspects that prevented their passage.

As he read the pages over, bits and pieces of his memory of the dream flooded his conscious mind. He’d made contact with Belgemine. She was disappointed by how little of his mind had reached her, but she hadn’t given up. The dragontaur was still waiting for him in the dream realm; she WANTED Victor to have a proper audience with her. There was more than enough hope left.

“I can do this…” Victor put down his spellbook and took a deep sigh. “I just have to keep trying. I’ll get the rest of myself to her realm… eventually….”

The mouse felt a yawn escape his lips. His eyes felt heavy, and his tail was lethargic. Perhaps he’d been trying this for a bit too long; he needed to get some REAL sleep, so he wasn’t passing out in his classes tomorrow.

“I’ll just… try this again next time…” He said as he extinguished the candles’ flames. The mouse then removed his cloak and made to crawl under the covers of his bead. He rolled onto his back, blinked a few times, and yawned again. “There’s… always… tomorrow night…”

It didn’t take long for Victor to fall asleep; he was soon snoring soundly in the cool air of his bedroom.

As the mouse slept, he was unaware of the shadows stirring in his dorm room. There was a presence looming outside his window; not quite corporeal, but present. A big, purple eye gazed through the glass at the sleeping mouse, and a contended growl escaped an invisible muzzle.

You’ll figure it out soon enough, Victor. She thought. Then we’ll be one step closer to meeting properly… and I can taste you for real.