Something Better Than Death

Disclaimer: That honor belongs to Namco. Well, maybe honor is too strong a word. The game wasn’t all that great, but it had really good music. Anyway, no one who’s younger than 17 should read this cause it has sex between a girl and a demon. Oh, and it’ll be taking place after the game ends. And it also assumes you took the path where Clovis saved the Princess during the first chapter. And it’ll contain spoilers…uh…that’s it this time...I promise. See you at the end.

Something Better Than Death
By The Playing Mantis

Anna, princess of Jirat, was a beautiful young woman. She had purple hair that she kept cut just above her shoulders, mimicking her mother’s hair style as best she could. Her purple eyes and kind smile belied her skill with sword and sorcery, making the townspeople refer to her as the deadly beauty. On this particular night, two years after her adventure that started at the Saldo ruins, she stared out of the castle window, silently wondering what she was going to do now that her little brother, of all people, had defeated Azi Dahaka. There was no need for Dragon Valors without any dragons to fight and, to tell the truth, she was getting rather bored. She looked back at the time she had fought the three dragon halflings and smiled as she thought of her little crybaby brother managing to finish what she could not. She turned around when she heard a knock on her door. “Anna, may I come in?” asked a tremulous voice. Speak of the devil.

“Come on in, Mihael,” said Anna. She smiled again as her twin brother slowly entered her room. He was a little shorter than her and had short blonde hair. He was also reputed for having less of a backbone than his sister, but he more than proved his worth to her when he saved her life. “What can I do for you?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh…well, I heard it was going to rain tonight,” said Mihael quietly. “There’s supposed to be a huge thunderstorm, so I was wondering if I could…”

Anna hung her head and sighed before laughing loudly. “Yes, yes, you can sleep here with me tonight,” she said. She walked over to her blushing brother and ruffled his hair. “But this is the last time. We don’t want there to be any rumors of the crown prince being afraid of thunder.” She smiled slyly before adding, “Or is it just that my baby brother has a crush on his big sister?”

Mihael’s head shot up, his face turning a beautiful shade of crimson, which when combined with his yellow hair gave him the look of a sunrise. He stumbled back and threw his hands up, waving them frantically. “N-n-n-n-n-no!” he stammered, “That’s not it at all!”

Anna slowly slinked up to her brother and twirled her fingers through his hair. “Oh, come on Mihael,” she said in a sultry voice. “Don’t tell me you’ve never thought of it considering how many times we’ve slept in the same bed.” Mihael had apparently gone into shock. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide and staring past her. She snickered a little, trying to stay in character, before bursting out into peals of laughter. “You’re far too easy to tease,” she said as she slapped him on the shoulder. “You know that, right?” She looked at him and saw that he hadn’t moved. Her mouth twisted into a frown before she gently snapped her fingers in front of his face. Nothing happened. She sighed and walked to the door, slowly opening it and gesturing to the guard. “Would you kindly fetch mother?” she asked kindly. “I think I broke my brother again.”

The guard frowned and said, “That’s the third time this week. Your mother is not going to be happy.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” said Anna with a sheepish grin. She held up one hand in a gesture of apology as she bowed her head. The guard grumbled as he saluted and ran off to fetch the queen. Anna slowly turned and looked back at her brother, still locked in his position of shock, and sighed, “What am I going to do with you?”

“You could always kill him and make the world a stronger place!” roared a bestial voice that Anna recognized all too well as a huge demon burst through the outer wall and stood in front of the twins, glaring at them. He was tall and thin, covered in green scales and had the long, thin head of a reptile. His green, leathery, bat-like wings slowly wrapped around his body like a cape. In his hands he carried a strange sword that had blades on either side of the hilt. Anna remembered having to dodge that blade all too well.

“H-halfas!” gasped Anna. “I thought you died with the other two! How…?”

“A dragon halfling can’t be killed easily,” growled Halfas. “That idiot Vappula was weakened by you before being killed by my magic, and the squirt Krassel was killed by your sniveling little brother! But I, the one who wanted to end my long tedious existence, still live! What did I do to you two that you would kill the others and not me?!”

“You killed Vilherm with the express purpose of making me angry enough to kill you,” said Anna, “but even that wasn’t enough. I looked at you, lying there, begging for me to kill you. I couldn’t do it. Even I don’t know why.”

Halfas growled angrily at the young princess, rage boiling in his soul. “What if I killed your little brother too?” he roared.

“Then I’ll never kill you as long as I live!” said Anna, her eyes flashing dangerously. “Now that I know that that’s exactly what you want, do you really think I would kill you to get my revenge?!”

Anna heard footsteps rushing to her room and she looked, panic-stricken, as her door burst open and her mother, dressed only in a shift, entered the room. Queen Jeanne was a beautiful lady with luxurious purple hair, but she was also a spitfire and a very protective mama bear. “What are you doing here, dragon spawn?” she snarled as she pointed a rapier at Halfas.

“Mother!” cried Anna as she shoved Mihael toward the door, “Don’t try to fight him! You can’t win without a magic sword!”

“Pitiful humans!” sneered Halfas as he easily picked up Anna’s wardrobe and tossed it at the queen.

“No!” screamed Anna as she shoved her brother out the door and rolled to the side, closing her eyes when she heard the huge crash of the wardrobe hitting the floor. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was still in her room. She stood up and looked through a crack in her wardrobe to see that her mother and brother were both safe before sighing with relief. “What do you want with me?!” she cried as she rounded on Halfas.

“I want you to duel with me!” roared Halfas. “And then I want you to kill me…if you win the duel! I want to die by the hands of a strong warrior! Nothing else matters to me!”

“There’s no magic sword here,” said Anna, “And even if there was, you just blocked my way of getting out of my room.”

“Don’t lie to me!” snapped Halfas. “I know that your family has one! You fought me with it before!”

“Krassel stole that sword from me,” said Anna angrily. “Then all three of the known swords were used to break the seal holding Azi Dahaka! My brother found another sword admittedly, but it was used to remake the seal. I don’t even know if there are any more magic swords left in the world!” She folded her arms and scowled at him, but something touched her when she saw him visibly deflate. He seemed so pathetic. She frowned and said, “I’ll tell you what. If you promise to leave my family out of this, I’ll go with you and find a magic sword. Then we can have our duel. Will that satisfy you?”

Halfas looked up at her in confusion. “You would do that?” he asked.

“If it’ll get you out of here without killing anyone, yes!” said Anna.

“Anna!” called a voice from the other side of the wardrobe.

“Daddy!” cried Anna. She almost asked for his help, but stopped herself. She looked back at Halfas before saying. “Daddy…I’ll be back. But I don’t know when. I’m going on a journey with Halfas…so I can kill him. I’ve dealt with him before and know that he’s an honorable warrior. He won’t harm me unless it’s in a duel. Please take care and don’t worry about me.”

“Anna, wait!” cried King Felippe. “Don’t do this!”

“Take care,” said Anna as she quickly packed a few changes of clothes and a small suit of leather armor. She looked at Halfas and said, “Let’s go.”

Halfas grumbled but held out his arms. Anna looked back at her wardrobe and could hear numerous axes striking it again and again. She allowed Halfas to pick her up and carry her to the hole in her wall. She looked down before squeaking in fear and wrapping her arms around Halfas’ neck. “Don’t hold me so tightly,” growled Halfas as he flexed his wings and leapt from the room. Anna felt tears come to her eyes as she heard the fading cries of her mother and father calling desperately for her to come back. She honestly had no idea of whether she would ever see any of them again or not, and it saddened her. The two flew through the air for what felt like a few hours before Halfas slowly descended into a copse of trees.

Halfas landed and roughly tossed Anna away before sitting down and glaring at her. “Where are we?” asked Anna quietly.

“How should I know?’ snorted Halfas. “All I know is that we have reached the borders of your measly kingdom. I didn’t really care about which direction we headed as long as we left your family behind.”

“I see…” said Anna as she slowly got up and hugged her knees to her chest. “Thank you for leaving them out of this.”

“That was the deal, as I recall,” said Halfas as he narrowed his eyes. “Now, enough of your insipid prattling. Carrying you has tired me out, and I need to rest. I suggest you do the same!” Halfas sat down, leaned against a tree and slowly closed his eyes.

Anna trembled slightly. What had she gotten herself into? And why had she agreed to help him in the first place? Was it just to save her family? There were three experienced Dragon Valors there…well, two until her brother snapped out of it. Even without a magic sword they could have chased him off. So why had she…? She stared at Halfas for a short while before slowly laying down in the grass and, using her pack for a pillow, slowly fell asleep.

“Get up!” snapped Halfas as he nudged Anna with his foot. She merely grumbled and turned over. “I said, get up! It’s time to go!”

Anna slowly pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes, wondering why her back hurt so much. As soon as she saw Halfas, however, she remembered exactly where she was. She grabbed her head and grumbled, “I was hoping this was just a nightmare.”

“Whatever, we’re leaving,” said Halfas.

“Not until I’ve changed,” said Anna sternly. “I can’t help you dressed like I’m ready for bed.” Halfas grumbled and sat down with his arms folded and glared at her. Anna smiled as she opened her pack and brought out her armor and a change of clothes for traveling. She was about the get undressed when she suddenly stopped and looked at Halfas. He was still staring at her. “Do you mind?” she asked.

“Do I mind what?” asked Halfas, sounding bored.

“Turn around and look at something else while I’m changing!” said Anna as she blushed.

Halfas looked confused. “Why?” he asked.

“Because it’s very rude to stare at a woman when she’s naked!” cried Anna as she slapped her hand to her forehead. She seethed at Halfas for a short while before a thought came to her that she hadn’t thought of before. “You aren’t a female…are you?”

Halfas looked extremely offended as he roared, “No, I’m not! And I will kill you if you insinuate that ever again!”

“Then turn around and stop staring at me!” said Anna sternly. “You don’t get any free peeks!” Halfas grumbled a little, but did as he was told, realizing that they wouldn’t get anywhere if she refused to get changed.

“I don’t understand why you humans insist on that ridiculous idea of modesty,” he growled. “I’ve never worn anything in front of you and you don’t see me getting all huffy about it.”

Anna blushed as she quickly turned away from Halfas. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered to herself as she took her bed clothes off. “Of course he’s naked, he’s covered in scales.” She whipped her head back and snarled, “You don’t have to worry about modesty because those scales cover everything you need to be modest about!”

Halfas whirled around and roared, “I’ve had enough of your mouth, princess!”

Anna turned beet red as Halfas looked her up and down, arching an eyebrow. She shrieked as she quickly sat down and hugged her knees to her chest, covering herself as best she could. “Turn around!” she cried. “Please!”

“No wonder you humans need that clothing stuff,” said Halfas as he took a step towards her and prodded her shoulder. “Your scales are so pliable and weak.” Halfas grabbed her arm and lifted her to her feet, causing Anna to scream, cover her chest with her other arm and cross her legs. “And they don’t exactly cover you up very much, do they?”

“Please, put me down and let me put my clothes on,” said Anna quietly. “I’m begging you.”

Halfas frowned as his eyes slowly traveled down her body, seemingly disgusted by her flabby pink scales but slightly intrigued by the small patch of purple hair between her legs. He reached a long, slender finger and touched the patch of hair, making Anna squeal. “What?” he asked.

“Don’t touch that!” cried Anna as she pulled her hips away from his hand. She glared at Halfas with a look that could have frozen mercury. “Don’t you ever touch me there again!”

Halfas shrugged and let her go. “You humans are so odd,” he said.

“You’re the one who just suddenly felt me up!” screamed Anna as she snatched up her clothes and ran behind a tree.

Halfas shrugged before noticing that there was a hint of fluid on his finger. He looked at the tree that Anna was hiding behind and grinned. “How about that,” he said, “You got all wet at being seen by me!” He put his finger in his mouth and noisily sucked her fluid from it, surprised that he actually liked it’s taste. He shrugged and continued. “Tasty!” he called, “Maybe I should try some more!” He didn’t hear anything from behind the tree. He scowled and walked to the tree, peeking his head around, prepared for her to swing a tree branch at him. He was taken aback to see that she was still naked, curled up in a ball and weeping softly. He frowned and backed away. He had hoped to get her mad at him, not get her to start blubbering like a young hatchling. He growled angrily. “Are you getting dressed or not?!” he roared.

After a few minutes, Anna emerged from behind the tree. She was glowering at Halfas, but it was half-hearted. “Let’s go,” she said as she rubbed her eyes, refusing to let him know that she had been crying.

Halfas was about to insult her about crying, but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. His eye twitched and he snarled slightly before saying, “We have to find some information on a magic sword. Where would we go to look for one?”

“I would suggest getting information from town, but I doubt that you could enter one,” said Anna. “Would you be okay with me going into town and getting information for you?”

“Would you promise to come back?” retorted Halfas.

Anna hesitated. In all truth, she didn’t want to be alone with him anymore. Not after how he had just treated her, but she had promised to help him in return for the safety of her family. If she tried to abandon him here, he could easily make it back to her home before she could. He might even be angry enough to actually follow through with what he had started before. She blushed and squirmed slightly before looking at Halfas and saying, “Yes…I’ll come back.”

Halfas’ eyes narrowed as he watched Anna slowly get more and more uncomfortable underneath his gaze. “I suppose you want me to take you to the nearest town then?” he asked.

“I’d rather walk, thank you,” said Anna quietly.

“That’s stupid,” said Halfas. “It won’t take as long if you just let me carry you there.” Anna looked like she was about to protest, but merely hung her head and nodded. “Come on then,” he said, as he held out his arms. Anna blushed harder and looked away as she slowly climbed into his arms and gently wrapped her arms around his neck. He flexed his wings and after a few test flaps, the two were airborne once more.

Unlike last time, where Anna had her eyes squeezed shut and her face buried in Halfas’ chest, this time Anna opened her eyes and looked around in wonder at the scenery that no other human had seen before. “It’s beautiful!” she whispered.

“What is?” asked Halfas.

“The scenery,” said Anna. “Looking at it from up here, it’s gorgeous!”

“I guess…” said Halfas uncertainly.

Anna looked at him curiously. “Haven’t you ever really looked at it?” she asked.

“I never really saw the point in it,” said Halfas. “Besides, once you’ve seen the tops of one bunch of trees, you’ve seen them all.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true for someone who’s been flying for a long time,” said Anna. Halfas merely grunted, killing the conversation. Anna frowned at him before quietly saying, “You said you wanted to end your tedious existence.”

“Yes…” said Halfas.

“How long have you been alive?” asked Anna.

“Over two thousand years,” said Halfas. “Over two thousand years of boredom, depression and pain. I don’t really see the point of continuing this pathetic charade of a life anymore.”

“That seems so sad…” said Anna.

“I didn’t ask for your pity, human!” snarled Halfas.

“I wasn’t offering any,” snapped Anna. “But, there’s got to be a real reason why you want to die. Saying that life is dull and bothersome is one thing. Wanting to die because of it is just plain ridiculous!”

“I guess I’m ridiculous then,” said Halfas angrily.

“What’s your real reason for wanting to die?” asked Anna.

“You don’t need to know that!” roared Halfas.

“I’m involved in this too,” said Anna. “I have a right to know!”

Halfas hissed as her before letting her go. She screamed as she fell to the trees below, but Halfas zipped back and easily caught her. “Next time you pry when I tell you to stop, I won’t catch you,’ he said angrily. Anna merely trembled and tried desperately to keep from vomiting.

The pair continued to fly in silence until Halfas spotted a small town and slowly flew down into the nearby forest, dropping Anna to the ground before he landed. She glared up at him, but he merely smirked. “Why are you trying to get me to hate you more?!” she asked angrily as she got up and dusted herself off. Halfas looked like he was going to answer when Anna shouted, “You know what? I don’t care why! Because it’s not working! I couldn’t possibly hate you more than I do right now, so stop trying so fucking hard!”

Halfas grinned. “Not the sort of language I’d expect from a princess,” he said.

“Shut up,” growled Anna as she walked away from him, towards the town. Her first impulse was to bolt for home as soon as she was out of eyeshot of Halfas, but thought better of it almost immediately. “No…” she said to herself, “I promised that I would come back… Damn morals.” She was still grumbling to herself when she entered the town and looked around for a weapon shop. She didn’t have much money, but fortunately the shop didn’t take money anyway. The shop keeper only wanted a tiara for a good sword. Anna arched an eyebrow, but she had a spare tiara from her previous adventure, so she traded it for a nice sword. She thanked the shop keeper before heading to the tavern.

“Is there something I can help you with, young mistress?” asked the bartender.

“I’m looking for some information on a magic sword,” said Anna.

“I’ve heard tell that the kingdom of Jirat had one,” said the bartender.

“Uh…do you have any information that’s a little more recent?” asked Anna.

“Sorry, young mistress,” said the bartender, “But I can only give the information that I’ve heard myself.”

“I guess it can’t be helped,” sighed Anna as she thanked the man and headed back to tell Halfas the bad news. He didn’t take it well.

“What do you mean there was no information at all?!” roared Halfas.

Anna shrugged and folded her arms as she leaned against a tree, making sure that she could easily get her sword out if Halfas became violent. “We should just keep checking through towns. Eventually we’ll reach one that has information.”

“Fine, let’s go to the next town then,” he growled. Over the next few days, the two traveled together and went from small town to small town, occasionally fighting bandits; but no matter where they went, no one had any clues about magic swords. Anna was starting to get worried because Halfas’ patience was running out almost as fast as her money. As she walked back to the clearing that he was waiting in, she thought about the past week and realized that she was having fun, even being stuck with a grouch like him. She hadn’t been bored the entire time she was with him, but the weird feelings in her stomach when she looked at him confused her a little. They had really started acting up when he had teased her pussy that first morning, and just wouldn’t go away. She shook her head and continued on her way, ready for the berating that she was sure to get from him. “You couldn’t find out anything again?!” roared Halfas.

“What do you want from me?” she asked calmly with a hint of a smile on her face. “If the people don’t have the information, they don’t have the information. Let’s just keep looking.”

Halfas growled angrily at Anna and almost attacked her right then and there, hoping that her regular sword would do the trick after all, but he held his place and said, “So, where would you suggest?”

“Someplace that’s a lot bigger than here,” said Anna. “You’re not going to get much info at a small town.” Halfas merely grumbled as he held out his arms, prepared to carry Anna to the next town. “I am trying to help you, you know. You could thank me for trying.” Halfas glared at her, so she shrugged and got into his arms. The two refused to speak to or even look at each other during the entire flight, but by the time they made it to a decent sized town it was already getting close to sundown. It was about that time that Anna realized that she was getting hungry. Her stomach rumbled, making Halfas whip his head towards her, almost smacking her in the face with his snout.

“What was that?!” he growled.

“My stomach…” said Anna quietly as she blushed. “I haven’t eaten all day, so I’m kind of hungry.”

“I suppose food would be a good idea,” said Halfas. Anna looked at him curiously. She had never seen him eat during the entire week they’d been together. “What?” he snapped. “Just because I’m almost immortal doesn’t mean I don’t need to eat! I just don’t have to as often as you humans.” Halfas slowly descended and landed in a small clearing before setting Anna down and stalking off into the woods.

“Wait!” said Anna, but he was gone before she could say anything else. She sighed as she sat down before looking around and taking her armor off, figuring that they wouldn’t be traveling anymore that day. “I guess I should get some firewood,” she said. “And then I suppose I’ll have to go and get something for myself to eat since he’ll only get something for himself,” she grumbled. She had managed to gather a decent amount of sticks and twigs and was in the process of trying to start a fire when Halfas came back, carrying three adult rabbits. He tossed one at Anna before sitting and chomping down on the other two. Anna was more shocked about him getting food for her than sickened by his eating habits. She merely smiled and got back to trying to light a fire. Unfortunately, that was the one part of survival that had always managed to elude her.

“What are you doing?” asked Halfas.

“I need to cook this rabbit, or else I’ll never be able to eat it,” said Anna as she tried desperately to get a spark by rubbing two sticks together.

“Move,” said Halfas, making Anna look up. She quickly dove away as she saw him inhaling. He breathed out a short burst of flame at the small pile of sticks, which immediately caught fire and started crackling cheerfully.

Anna was starting to wonder about him. He seemed to have violent mood swings that went from quiet and helpful to downright nasty. He was a real mystery to her, but she knew that if she thanked him in a friendly manner, he would get really angry and they’d start yelling at each other so she chose to thank him sarcastically. “Thanks for the warning,” she said with a frown as she dusted herself off.

“Anytime,” chuckled Halfas.

Anna sat down with her back facing Halfas as she smiled to herself and started skinning her dinner with her sword. Due to the fact that a broadsword is not standard culinary material it took a little longer than usual, so the fire was almost dead when she had finally finished. She tossed a couple more sticks on the fire before skewering the rabbit and sticking the skewer into the fire. To pass the time while her dinner was cooking, she started humming a small tune that she had always liked.

“Is that noise really necessary?” grumbled Halfas. Anna stopped humming before slowly turning to face him and instead whistling the tune. “Cute…really cute,” growled Halfas.

Anna giggled and said, “I’m sorry. It’s a tune that my mother was always singing to me and my brother when we were younger. She would always sing it to us while we were getting ready for bed, so it became a sort of lullaby for us; the tune at any rate. The actual song wasn’t very good for getting children to sleep at night.”

“Oh, do tell,” said Halfas in a voice that said he wanted anything but for her to do so.

Anna smirked. “I don’t think so,” she said. “You might get nightmares and then you’ll be cranky when you wake up…you know, as opposed to how you are normally.” Halfas growled at her, but she just stuck her tongue out at him before gingerly picking up her dinner and gently nibbling on it.

Halfas narrowed his eyes and said, “Whatever. Get to sleep as soon as you’re done with that. We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

“What do you mean ‘we’?” asked Anna behind a mouthful of rabbit.

“I’m not letting you go in there by yourself,” said Halfas. “I’ll go into town with you. For all I know you just roam around for a short while without actually asking for information on the sword.”

“It’s great to know that you trust me,” grumbled Anna. “Didn’t I promise to help you out as best I could?! And how, pray tell, do you plan on entering town without being noticed?”

Halfas looked at Anna for a second before his body started shimmering. Anna’s eyes widened as his shape slowly changed from that of a tall, thin dragon halfling to that of a normal looking human male, not much older than Anna. He had green hair and red eyes and, Anna had to admit, he was pretty good looking too. However, there was one, small problem.

“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!” screamed Anna as she suddenly looked down, turned beet red and turned around.

Halfas looked down at himself and nodded. “You’re right, I should probably think about what I should wear before then,” he said. “Hmmm…this body is rather interesting, I have to admit.” He grinned evilly as he quietly crept up behind Anna before grabbing her tightly by the shoulders and spinning her around.

“What?!” gasped Anna before she found Halfas’ mouth pressed up against hers. Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to pull away, but Halfas, even in his human form, was much stronger than a normal human without a magic sword. Tears came to her eyes as she felt his tongue force itself between her lips. She let out a small sigh and almost went with it before she quickly bit down on his tongue, making him pull his face away from hers and laugh. “What are you doing?!” she demanded.

“I’ve often wondered what the human sensation of touch was like,” said Halfas with a grin. “I’m just finding out.” He easily wrapped his arm around her body, holding her close to him, while his other hand grabbed her by the wrist and slowly brought it down to his crotch. “Have you ever touched one of these, your highness?” he hissed in her ear as he brought her trembling fingers to brush along his cock.

Anna stared at Halfas with a look of rage and shame. “Stop it,” she said tremulously. She had never felt a penis before but she couldn’t let him know how much he was turning her on.

“Or what?” asked Halfas as he forced her fingers to wrap around his growing erection and started making her stroke him. “Or you’ll rip this fake thing off? Please! It’s just an illusion! There’s no way that I’d ever actually get hard from an ugly little human girl like you.”

Anna growled angrily before she ripped her hand from his grasp and slapped his face. “Damn you!” she whispered as she took advantage of his brief period of disorientation to break free of his grasp. “I hope you live forever!” she screamed as she grabbed her stuff and ran out of the clearing, not looking back.

Halfas slowly rubbed his cheek and licked the small amount of blood that trickled from the side of his mouth as he watched Anna run off. “Dammit,” he muttered, “went too far.” He shrugged and sat down before reverting to his old form. “Oh well, I’ll just get the sword on my own and find her later.” He stifled a yawn and was about to fall asleep when he noticed that Anna had forgotten to take her sword in her haste. “Oh dear,” he chuckled. “Guess I’ll just have to find another warrior then. There’s no way she’ll survive out there without a sword.” He closed his eyes and started snoring as the fire slowly died.

Anna was too upset to pay attention to where she was going, so before long she was completely lost in the forest. She looked around, desperately trying to figure out where she should go, but she couldn’t even look to the stars for directions because the trees were too thick. She quickly wiped her tears away and tried to calm down, but she couldn’t. Not after what Halfas had done to her. “How could he…?” she asked herself. “I know he wants me to hate him so that I’ll actually kill him this time, but he went too far.” She looked down at her hand and clenched it tightly. “I’m not ugly…” she said angrily.

“What’s the matter, cutie?” asked a decidedly sinister voice from behind a tree. “Did you and your lover have a little fight? Want us to make you feel better?”

“W-who’s there?!” called Anna, cursing herself for letting fear enter her voice. But she couldn’t hide her fear when five burly men stepped out from the trees and surrounded her. She didn’t like those odds, even if she had a magic sword at that point. “What do you want?” she asked.

“Oh, she’s got some spunk on her, she does,” said one of the men. “‘Ere boss, can we have some fun with ‘er?”

“That sounds like a grand idea,” said the man who had spoken first. Anna swallowed as he pulled out a long sword and pointed it at her. “Now, why don’t you hand over all of your valuables and let us give you a good time, and maybe we’ll let you live. Hell, if you’re good enough, we may decide to keep you!”

The men laughed horribly, making Anna shiver, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. She reached for her sword and…it wasn’t there! She looked down at her hips and cried out. “Dammit!” she hissed, “I forgot to put it back on after dinner!”

“Looking for a sword?” asked one of the men. “Heh. Hey boss! This little thing thinks she can take us on!”

“That’s a good one,” said the leader as he backhanded Anna, sending her to the ground. She tried to shoot up, but one of the men grabbed her wrists and held her down, while another grabbed her legs and spread them. The leader slowly knelt between her legs and started undoing his belt buckle as the other two men ripped her clothes away, leaving her panties for the boss. “I don’t appreciate it when women try to act like men, you know? But I love to see the face of a broken woman. It’ll be all the more beautiful since you’re a strong one!”

“Let me go!” screamed Anna. “I’ve never…!” The man just laughed as he pulled his sword out and easily cut her panties away before positioning himself at her entrance. Anna closed her eyes and screamed before one of the men let out a strangled gurgling sound.

“What was that?!” roared the leader as everyone looked to the sound and were stunned to see a young man standing there, his sword buried deeply in the chest of one of the men. Anna’s eyes widened. It was Halfas!

Halfas sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “All of that screaming disturbed my nap,” he said. “If you’re going to rape her, keep her quiet!”

Anna blushed and screamed, “I’ll kill you!”

“That’s what I wanted to hear from you,” grinned Halfas as he pulled the sword from the man and easily twirled it around.

“Don’t fuck with us!” roared one of the men as he raced in and swung his sword at Halfas.

“Sad,” said Halfas as he easily sidestepped and stabbed the man in the throat. “I’ve often wondered just what type of pain humans go through when they’ve been wounded.” He sliced the sword out and watched the man’s head fall to the ground, followed by his body. “But I suppose I won’t find out from you people.”

The leader paled as he looked at the bodies of his two best men, both cut down so easily. “Get him!” he ordered at his other two minions, fearing having to fight the stranger by himself. The two men looked at each other and then looked at the stranger, who looked rather bored. They slowly got up and charged at the stranger, drawing their swords and screaming battle cries that would have shaken the boldest of men.

Halfas merely looked at them and cut them down with two swings of his sword. He yawned before saying, “And you couldn’t beat these guys yourself? Talk about pitiful!”

Anna growled as her now free limbs shot forward and punched the bandit leader right in the groin. “I can take on one or two people at a time as well when I have a weapon,” said Anna angrily as the bandit leader squeaked and held his crotch. “Give me back my sword, please.” Halfas shrugged as he tossed the sword to Anna, who caught it easily. “You know what?” asked Anna as she grabbed the bandit by the hair and held her sword to his throat. “I don’t like men who feel that raping women is giving them a good time. What do you think I should do about that?”

“How about we say that we agree to disagree about our silly little differences and go our separate ways?” asked the bandit.

“You know what?” said Anna. “I like that idea.” She threw the bandit leader back to the ground, where he let out a sigh of relief before he felt her blade slicing into his neck. Anna’s sword swing was stronger than usual due to the hatred she bore for the man who had almost taken her virginity, so his head went flying off into the woods as if hit with a croquet mallet. Anna stared impassively at the headless corpse of her almost-rapist as she said, “You can go to hell…I won’t be seeing you there.”

“Hoo…” said Halfas appreciatively as he walked up behind Anna and looked her up and down. “I must say, I didn’t expect that kind of brutality from you. Maybe I should try to rape you right after we find that sword.”

Anna slowly turned and looked at him, not even caring that she was naked anymore, the look on her face even making him take a step back. “If you ever try to have sex with me,” she said quietly, “without my permission, for any reason, I’ll kill myself, not you.” Halfas glared at her but she just kept the blank stare on her face. “I’ve seriously had enough of your stupidity when it comes to my body. I won’t stand for it anymore. Do I make myself clear?”

She said her piece calmly enough, but Halfas could hear many different hidden emotions trying to come to the surface. Shame, sadness, fury; all were hidden just beneath Anna’s calm words and tone. “Fine,” he said, “I’ll stop teasing you about sex.”

“Thank you,” said Anna with a smile. “Now…I think I need to take a bath.” She started to giggle as she looked down at the blood staining her body. “Look at me. I’m a mess…I…” Her eyes slowly closed as she fainted dead away.

Halfas easily caught her as she fell and hefted her up before muttering, “This princess…” He picked up her bag before heading back towards the glade that they had made camp in.

Anna woke up when she was dumped, unceremoniously, into a small spring. She gasped and spluttered a little before looking around. Halfas was looking down at her. He was still in his human guise but he was naked again. She blushed and looked away. “I thought I told you…” she muttered even as she looked side-long at his penis, licking her lips again.

“What?” asked Halfas as he slowly got into the water and sat next to her. “I just didn’t want to get my ‘clothes’ wet, that’s all.” He sighed as he sat back and closed his eyes.

Anna looked over at him before slowly edging to the other side of the spring and sitting down herself, letting the cleansing waters clean her body and soothe her spirit. She watched the blood slowly wash off of her chest and looked down at her hands. They were trembling. “Why?” she asked herself. “I’ve killed bandits before. Why am I still…?” She quickly covered her mouth, but it didn’t stop her from vomiting up her dinner as the reality of what had almost happened rushed into her. She clutched her arms and trembled as she continued to retch painfully, even after her stomach was empty.

Halfas heard the odd sounds coming from Anna and looked over at her, surprised to see that she was sobbing and wailing uncontrollably. He slowly got up and walked over to her. “What’s the matter now?” he asked as he looked down at her. Anna looked up at him with tear-filled eyes before throwing her arms around him, pushing him onto his back and clutching to him tightly. “Hey…what?!” cried Halfas as he tried to shove her off.

“Just shut up and let me hold you,” sobbed Anna. She didn’t care that he was a demon, or that he hated her very existence. All that mattered was that she needed to hold someone and he was the only one around.

Halfas could feel Anna’s breasts pressing into his chest and found the feeling strangely pleasurable. He had told Anna that the penis that she had been clutching was a fake, but the feelings generated by her forced stroking felt real enough to him. And now, here she was, naked and vulnerable. He could easily take her and have his way with her, but he had promised to behave in that respect. He silently cursed his honor even as he felt his member slowly grow and get hard. He tried once more to shove Anna off, but it was too late. He felt her stiffen as his penis lightly touched her thigh.

She slowly pushed herself up and stared into his eyes. Halfas actually shuddered under the icy look she gave him as she said, “Don’t you dare…”

“Then get the hell off of me!” roared Halfas as he finally shoved her off, turned back into his normal self and stormed off.

Anna grumbled to herself as she sat down in the water and got back to cleaning herself off. “I can’t believe the nerve of that guy!” she said to herself. “I mean, I look for a little comfort and all he can think about is sex! What is with him?!” After a few minutes had passed and she had calmed down, she thought about the situation a little more clearly and realized that she was partly at fault. “Well…I did kind of hold him really tightly while we were both naked…” she said in embarrassment. “But, he’s a demon! He shouldn’t have reacted like that…unless…he’s attracted to me… No. That can’t be true…can it?” She slowly got out of the spring and looked around for Halfas, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had left her bag next to the spring, so she quietly got into her bed clothes and laid down, slowly falling asleep, wondering what Halfas was up to.

What Halfas was up to was him yelling ferociously and setting fire to any tree that upset him. “Damn that little girl!” he roared. “How dare she hug me like that and then get mad at me for the obvious results?!” A squirrel chattered angrily at him as he swiped his claws through some low hanging branches. Halfas looked at the squirrel for a second before shooting his head up at lightning speed and chomping down on it. Spitting out the wood, Halfas swallowed the squirrel before finally calming down and leaning against a tree. “Nothing like a nice meal to sooth my nerves,” he said darkly as he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The next morning, Anna woke up to find a squirrel carcass sitting next to her. “Yum-yum,” she said flatly as she carefully skinned her breakfast. She shivered slightly in the cold morning air and mumbled, “I have to get a blanket in the next town…and maybe a tent or something.”

“Is it really that bad to sleep out under the stars?” sneered Halfas’ voice from right behind her ear, making her jump. “You humans are so amazingly fragile. It’s quite pathetic.”

Anna spun around and looked at Halfas, kind of relieved that he was still in his demon form. “Don’t sneak up on a girl like that,” she said playfully. “It’s not nice.” She blushed as she looked at him before saying, “I wanted to apologize for the way I reacted last night.” Halfas frowned but didn’t say anything. “I got angry at you for something that wasn’t your fault. I was upset and I took out my aggressions on you, and I’m sorry.”

“Fine, whatever,” said Halfas. “Eat your breakfast so we can go into town already.”

Anna looked like she was going to say something but thought better of it and just sighed. “I suppose we should,” she said.

The town guards were slightly surprised when they saw the good-looking young couple enter the town, mostly because the young woman appeared to be a warrior while the young man just looked like a peasant, albeit a peasant with a huge double bladed sword, but a peasant nonetheless. “What are you entering town for?” asked one of the guards.

“What business…” started Halfas, but Anna slapped her hand over his mouth before he could get them in trouble.

“We’re just passing through,” said Anna calmly. “Trying to get some information and hopefully finding a store where I can buy some supplies.” She smiled brightly at the guard who suddenly felt that his pants didn’t fit properly. The look that Halfas gave him, however, cooled him down real quick.

“Well, as long as you don’t cause any trouble here, everything should be fine,” said the guard nervously. Anna nodded pleasantly to him and elbowed Halfas in the stomach, making him bow slightly, before the two entered town.

“What was that all about?” grumbled Halfas. “Don’t they trust their own kind?”

“They’re just doing their job,” said Anna quietly. “And besides, you’re not ‘their own kind’.”

“Maybe not, but you are,” said Halfas. “Why didn’t you use some of your clout to get us in here?”

“Because I had to pack essentials really quickly and didn’t have time to pack my royal seal,” muttered Anna. “If I had taken time to find the damn thing, my parents would have gotten through the dresser before we got away and that would have just been one big mess.”

The two wandered around the huge town. Anna had had Halfas take her back to where they had slain the bandits earlier and had taken their money so she could buy some traveling supplies. After which they started trolling the bars, trying to get any information about a magic sword that they could. After an entire day of searching, they came up with nothing. “Dammit,” muttered Halfas. “This is useless! At this rate, I’ll live another two thousand years before I even find a lead!”

Anna giggled as she said, “Don’t think like that. You have to be positive!” Halfas glared at her. “Now now, put away that scary face. I’ve got plenty to money left over, so why don’t I treat you to dinner and then we can spend the night at an inn before we try the next town?”

After much swearing and threats of violence, Halfas agreed and the two entered the nearest inn and sat down to have a nice meal. Halfas was done with his steak and Anna was halfway through her bowl of stew when a stranger walked up to their table and asked, “Are you the two who are after the magic sword?”

Halfas tensed, but Anna merely yawned and said, “Maybe. Who’s asking?”

“Someone who knows where you can find one,” said the woman as she pulled up a chair and sat down with them.

“Where is it?” asked Halfas, his eyes flashing.

“Calm down,” said Anna as she took a sip of her water. “There’s no reason for us to believe her. She could just be leading us on.” She put down her glass and glared at the woman. “I asked before and I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

“In a minute,” said the woman. “First, I want to know why you want it.”

“I need that sword to…” started Halfas, but Anna cut him off.

“I made a promise,” she said firmly. “I can’t go back on my word, but it requires that I get a magic sword.”

“I see,” said the woman darkly. She sat there, looking at the two gravely before smiling and saying, “I’ll buy you two some drinks and then we can discuss this further.”

The woman got up and walked to the bar. Anna’s eyes didn’t leave her until Halfas said, “What is your problem?”

“I don’t trust her,” said Anna as she looked at Halfas. “She just comes up out of nowhere and suddenly is all friendly and helpful. That sort of thing doesn’t happen in real life; only in those cheesy traveling plays!”

“Okay, fine,” said Halfas. “What do you intend to do with her then?”

“Figure out what her motives are,” said Anna. “If we can do that…” Before she could finish her thought, the woman came back with three mugs of beer.

“Here you go,” said the woman. “One for the big man, one for the lovely lady and one for me.”

“Let me guess, there’s a sleeping drought in here and you’ll kidnap us while we’re out, right?” asked Anna.

“Definitely not!” said the woman. Anna searched her beaming face, and couldn’t detect any hint of a lie, so she shrugged and started to drink her beer.

Halfas downed his in one shot, noting a peculiar taste, before his throat started burning. “Damn…” he muttered, “Anna, I suggest you don’t drink that stuff.” He looked over to see that she had already finished her beer and was looking a little pale.

“You…lying…bi…tch” murmured Anna as the world swirled in front of her eyes.

“Anna!” cried Halfas as Anna passed out, her face hitting her plate. His hand shot out and grabbed the stranger by the chest and roared, “What the hell did you do to her?!”

The stranger calmly looked at Halfas before saying, “I should have figured that it wouldn’t work against a dragon halfling, but it was worth a shot.”

“What did you say?!” growled Halfas.

“That only reason I could see for a human and a dragon halfling to be working together to get a magical sword would be to break a seal holding a dragon. I’m very sorry, but I can’t let that happen,” said the woman in a cheerful voice as she gripped Halfas’ hand and pulled it away like Halfas had the strength of a child. “This was only a warning; however you might want to get a doctor soon. The poison I put in her mug will kill her if you don’t hurry.”

“Who are you?!” grumbled Halfas.

“I’m the sword’s guardian, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it from falling into the hands of anyone other than a Dragon Valor,” said the woman as she vanished into thin air.

“Dammit!” roared Halfas as he picked up Anna and ran out of the inn. They had passed by the doctor’s office earlier, so Halfas dashed there and broke down the door, startling everyone in the room.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” cried the nurse in the waiting room.

“No time!” said Halfas angrily. “She’s been poisoned! She needs help now!” After everyone had calmed down about the door and were willing to listen to Halfas, the doctor got to work on Anna, leaving Halfas sitting in the waiting room, stewing angrily. “That little punk,” he grumbled. “We’ll make her pay for this…right?” He looked at the doorway that lead to the operating chamber and felt a strange sensation in his chest that he hadn’t felt in over one thousand years. It was fear. Fear for Anna’s safety. “What’s with you?!” he grumbled to himself. “You’re a dragon halfling. You shouldn’t feel this way about a pesky human!”

“Well, there’s one ‘pesky human’ in the other room, who’ll be happy to know that someone cares about her,” said a voice to his right. Halfas looked up to see the doctor smiling at him. The little old man had managed to sneak up on him.

“Will Anna…?” asked Halfas quickly.

“She’ll be fine,” said the doctor. “She’s very lucky that you both were in this town.”

“Why?” asked Halfas.

“Come with me,” said the doctor quietly as he turned and walked back into the operating chamber. Halfas slowly got up and followed him. Anna was resting peacefully on the bed, her breathing was regular and the color had returned to her face. Halfas caught himself breathing a small sigh of relief and flushed when he heard the doctor chuckle. “You certainly are an odd one, you know that?” asked the doctor. “You come in here with a girl who’s been poisoned by a rare herb that’s only known to a select group of magic users, you grumble about pesky humans and dragon halflings and then, when all is said and done, you actually seem to care for her.” The doctor leaned back in his chair, staring intently at Halfas. “You’re still young…Halfas, so I think I should tell you that your journey won’t end well if you keep this up.”

“How did you know my name?” asked Halfas.

“The young girl cried it out a few times in her poison induced stupor,” replied the doctor. “She seemed to realize that she was dying and kept saying that she was sorry that she couldn’t keep her promise to you. It seems odd that a Dragon Valor would make a promise to a dragon halfing…don’t you agree?”

“Who are you?” growled Halfas before sensing a feeling he hadn’t felt for two years. “Well now,” he said with a grin, “You hide your presence well. Very well. You’re no mere human, are you?”

“No more than you are,” replied the doctor quietly. “No one here knows that, and I would like to keep it that way.”

Halfas shrugged. “I haven’t seen another one of my kind since I was betrayed by Krassel,” he said. “I don’t really care who you are, as long as you don’t get in my way.”

“I see…” said the doctor. “For one so young to wish for death…it seems odd.”

“You keep going on about how young I am,” said Halfas angrily. “How old are you?!”

“Oh…I lost count after about 100,000 years,” replied the doctor with a smile.

Halfas was stunned for a second but regained his composure quickly and tried to play it off. “Yeah,” he said, “I guess that would make me quite young in comparison.”

The doctor laughed for a second before his gaze turned serious. “The one who poisoned your friend there,” he said, “Do you know who it was?”

“She said she was the guardian of the magical sword,” said Halfas. “The idiot could tell immediately that I was a dragon halfling, but she couldn’t tell that Anna was a Dragon Valor. I know she’s one. She almost killed me two years ago until Krassel stole her attention. I was left alone in that ruin…badly wounded, but I healed easily enough.” He clenched his hands in anger. “All I wanted was to be killed in heated battle like she…” He cleared his throat. “I mean…”

“I see now,” said the doctor. “You lost someone important to you. That would make anyone want to die, but you seem to have a good friend here who’s willing to help you out. I doubt she’ll be able to kill you when she gets the sword though.”

“Why not?” asked Halfas. “It’s what she promised me she’d do! She claims she’ll never break her promise!”

“Rest assured, it’s not a question of her morals,” said the doctor. “She just won’t have the heart to do it.” The doctor smiled as he looked at Anna. “I have to admit, I was very curious about why she would be traveling with you, so I probed her memories before I came to get you.”

“You what?!” roared Halfas.

“Shhh…” said the doctor quietly. “The girl needs some rest.” Halfas growled angrily at the old man, who merely smiled. “I’ve seen her thoughts, including thoughts of you that even she doesn’t consciously know about. She loves you, you know. She just hasn’t realized it yet.”

“She what?” asked Halfas. “No, she doesn’t! I’ve done some really mean things to her! I’ve done nothing but insult her since we met! I killed that human two years ago! She can’t!”

“You saved her from being raped,” said the doctor. “You comforted her afterwards. You’ve hunted for her, as well as helped her with lighting fires. She’s seen more of the world because of you. The few days that she’s been with you have been the most exciting ones she’s had in a long time. She really appreciates that. And, believe it or not, she’s kind of turned on by your obvious libido.”

Halfas blushed. “I was just teasing her,” he mumbled. “I don’t really find her attractive…”

“Don’t you lie to me,” said the doctor sternly. “I don’t have to be a mind reader to be able to see how you feel for her.”

“And that’s why I need to die as soon as possible!” snapped Halfas. “I can’t lose…!”

“You can’t lose another human that you’ve fallen in love with,” said the doctor.

Halfas hung his head. “She was a beautiful young woman, and strong,” he said, “She could beat me to a stand still, even in my natural form. She was a Dragon Valor and I met her when she came to fight my master, Blood Drake. I was very young back then and didn’t stand a chance against her.” Halfas snorted. “She didn’t even have to use her magic sword against me. I got a sound beating, but she didn’t kill me. At the time, I didn’t understand why, but later, when we met again, she told me, ‘You were so young and misguided; I merely wanted to give you the chance to grow up a little.’ I tried fighting her again, and got my tail handed to me…literally. I’m just happy that I was able to put it back on.” The doctor chuckled slightly. “I asked if I could travel with her and train with her as a warrior. She agreed gladly and the two of us traveled the world. I thought we were just master and student until one day. I was bathing in a hot spring and…she snuck up on me and tackled me into the water. Before I knew what was going on, she was kissing me. I wasn’t even in human form, but we made love that night. Many times actually.”

“And you two were lovers from that day forward,” said the doctor wistfully.

“No,” said Halfas snapping the doctor back into reality. “I would have loved to be…but she died that very night. We were both asleep together and were ambushed by a group of bandits. They killed us both before we even had a chance to draw our swords. I, of course, came back to life.” Halfas chuckled. “You know, I had been planning on giving my soul to her the next morning?” The doctor winced. “Yeah, my life span would have decreased and hers would have been lengthened, but we would have both lived a very long time together and she wouldn’t have died except through natural causes…”

“So…that’s why you want to die so badly,” whispered Anna as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Both the doctor’s and Halfas’ heads whipped over to look at her.

“How long have you been listening to us?” asked Halfas.

“Since I heard you yelling,” said Anna quietly. “I’m not very pleased with the doctor reading my mind like that.” She fixed the doctor with a harsh glare that quickly died. “But I’m thankful to you for saving me…how much do I owe you?”

“Nothing,” said the doctor. “There’s no way any normal human could have treated you, and it’s not like I really need the money.” He smiled. “But, if you really want to pay me something, promise me that you’ll change his mind. His death won’t serve anyone. All it will do is leave someone very unhappy.”

Anna blushed and looked away. “I can’t make that promise,” she said. “It would make me break my promise to Halfas…and I won’t do that. Come on, Halfas…let’s go back to the inn.” She slowly got off the bed and walked to the door before collapsing.

“Anna!” cried Halfas as he dashed to her side, grumbled to himself and threw her arm over his shoulder before helping her out of the room. Before the door closed he looked back and said, “I never asked you for your name.”

The doctor smiled and said, “You’re right…you didn’t.”

Halfas nodded and the two left. They walked back to the Inn in silence. The Inn keeper was still up and wanted payment for their dinner. Halfas almost bit his head off, but Anna stopped him. “Here,” she said. “By the way, do you know the woman who bought us drinks before I passed out?”

“She comes in here often enough,” said the innkeeper. “But no one really knows all that much about her. Her money’s good, and that’s all I really care about.”

“Dammit,” hissed Halfas.

“Thank you,” said Anna as the two slowly went up to their room. “I’m sorry…” she said quietly as they entered the room. “I didn’t have enough money left over for two rooms. Do you want the bed?”

“No,” said Halfas. “I sleep better sitting up. It helps me flex my wings.” Halfas reverted back to his demon form and sat down in a corner, facing the door. Anna just nodded and quietly crawled into bed. She was so exhausted that she didn’t even change her clothes or get under the covers before she was fast asleep. Halfas looked at her sleeping form and slowly picked her up, placed her underneath the covers and went back to his corner. He was just drifting off into a light sleep when he heard Anna speaking quietly to him.

“Halfas?” she called.

“Yes?” asked Halfas.

It was a while before Anna said anything else. She was obviously trying to find the best words for the situation. But, in the end, she merely said, “Thank you,” before turning onto her side, facing away from him.

“Right,” muttered Halfas. He looked over at her and could have sworn that he heard her sniffling a little, but he wasn’t sure. He sighed internally before finally falling asleep.

When he woke up the next morning he saw that the bed was empty and there was a note on the door. The note read, “Went down to the bath house. I’ll be back shortly. Wait for me in the room. We have to talk.” Talking with her was the last thing he wanted to do considering all that she’d heard the night before, so he quickly transformed back into a human and was about to open the door when Anna slowly entered, dressed in a plain dress and wearing a small pair of sandals. He hissed a small curse as she looked at him and said, “I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t be here.”

“But the note…” started Halfas.

“Don’t get me wrong,” said Anna as she walked over to the bed and sat down. “We do need to talk, especially after all that was said yesterday. But, it won’t be easy…for either of us…so I was hoping you’d run off and then we’d just forget it or something.” She blushed and looked down at her hands. “I’ve thought about you a lot over the past two years,” she said quietly. “After you killed Vilherm, I was filled with so much rage and hatred that I just raced after you, not even thinking that you might be leading me into a trap.”

“I wasn’t,” said Halfas. “Krassel wanted me to, but I had my own agenda.”

Anna sighed. “I know,” she said, “And you succeeded. I fought you until you couldn’t fight anymore. I was prepared to strike my killing blow, but then you started going on about how much you wanted to die. I couldn’t understand why. I just thought you wanted to fight strong opponents, but you just needed a strong enough opponent to kill you. I think…that I wanted to know why you were so intent on dying. I think that’s why I stayed my hand. At least that’s part of the reason…” She looked at Halfas. “I had assumed that you died since I hadn’t seen you for two whole years, but I never really stopped thinking about you.” She looked back down, clutching the hem of her dress tightly with her hands. “I just never knew why until now…”

“Uh…Anna…” said Halfas as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Could you…” she started to say before blushing. “Uh…could you…go back to your normal form?” she asked quietly.

As Halfas slowly returned to his demon form, he asked, “Anna, what was the other part of the reason you didn’t kill me two years ago when I begged you too?”

“I…I…” stammered Anna. “Your strength and resolve to accomplish your tasks, regardless of anything else, intrigued me.” She was trembling now but Halfas was rooted to the spot, unable to move to comfort her. “I’ve had weird feelings for you for the longest time, and maybe I was just deluding myself, but I never realized that I…I love you…”

Halfas stiffened. It was one thing for the doctor to say it about her, but for her to say it herself… “Are…are you sure…?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Anna as she looked up at him. “Now the question remains…how do you feel about me? If you still want to die to be with your past love, I’ll still help you. But, if you have any feelings for me at all, you won’t force me to do this anymore…”

Halfas pondered her question for a short while before sitting down on the floor and saying, “You remind me so much of her.” Anna looked like she was going to say something, but Halfas held up his hand. “Even before we fought I knew that you would be someone exactly like her, so I was happy. If I could be killed by someone like her then I could die happily. But, you stayed your hand, just like she did. I was furious and searched all over until I found you, hoping to either kill you or die by your hands. And then you did something that I never expected. You offered to help me find a magic sword. Yet another thing that she would have done!” He slammed his fist into the floor, almost denting it. “I couldn’t pass up the help, but I couldn’t deal with how you were treating me either, so I had to make you hate me. If you hated me, it would have made everything so much easier for the both of us.”

“There’s a saying that I heard a while ago that I think might explain a few things,” said Anna quietly. “It went something like ‘The emotional distance between the deepest love and the darkest hatred is no more than the width of a scrap of parchment’.” Tears came to her eyes as she looked at him and said, “I’m so sorry for how I treated you the other night, after you saved me and everything. But, I was very fragile and I… I wanted to…with you…but…I…I couldn’t…not then…and then I…I’m sorry!”

“Hey, calm down!” said Halfas as Anna started to bawl. He got up and sat down next to her. As soon as she felt his presence next to her, she wrapped her arms around him and cried into his chest.

“I’m so sorry…” She just kept saying it over and over again and nothing Halfas did seemed to be able to stop her. He gently stroked her hair, he held her hand, he even shook her a little, but she just kept apologizing for how she had been treating him.

“That’s it…” he grumbled as he grabbed her arms, pushed her away and kissed her on the lips.

Anna’s eyes flew open and she almost fought him off, but suddenly her eyes softened and she melted into him. She sighed happily as she opened her mouth, patiently waiting for him to take the hint. It didn’t take very long before she felt his tongue dart into her mouth. She moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in, so that he could kiss her deeper. By the time they finally pulled away from each other, they were both panting heavily. “I’ve wanted…to do that with the real you…ever since you kissed me in that disguise of yours,” panted Anna.

“But, I thought that you were pissed about that,” said Halfas.

“I was pissed when you called me ugly,” said Anna with a slight blush on her face. “I wasn’t struggling very hard against you before that…was I?”

“No…I guess you weren’t…” said Halfas. He looked down at Anna, who was still blushing but was now smiling slightly. He grinned. “That’s too bad,” he said. “I might have gone all the way with you if you hadn’t stopped me. Oh well.”

He started to get up off the bed, but Anna grabbed his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

“Well, as I recall, you said that you’d kill yourself if I tried anything sexual with you without your permission,” said Halfas. “I haven’t been given your permission to do anything yet, so I guess we should just stop here and go…” He would have said more, but at that point Anna pulled him back onto the bed and easily straddled his chest.

“You’re a cruel, cruel man…uh...dragon halfling, aren’t you?” asked Anna as she ran a finger up and down his chest.

“I’m just trying to keep a promise, that’s all,” said Halfas innocently before getting a serious look on his face. “Regardless, we’ve got more important things to do right now.”

Anna looked confused. “What’s that?”

“We’ve got to find that magic sword,” said Halfas.

“But, I just said…!” started Anna, before Halfas cut her off.

“Because when we find that sword, we’ll find that asshole who poisoned you and then I can kill her,” said Halfas.

“Leave her be,” said Anna. “It was my own stupidity that allowed me to be poisoned in the first place.”

“But…” started Halfas, but Anna glared at him.

“Give it a rest!” she said. “You’ve saved me twice already, there’s no need to get revenge on the lady!” She smiled at him. “If you really want to do something that’ll make me feel better then just lay there and let me get undressed.”

“Undressed?!” croaked Halfas. “Isn’t this going a little fast?!”

“You’ve seen me naked enough times and have fondled me and been fondled by me quite a few times already,” said Anna seriously. “And that was when we weren’t even a couple.” She grinned. “I feel that since we’ve shared the knowledge of our love with each other, why not share the physical as well? Now shut up and let me get my clothes off!”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to turn around?” asked Halfas. Anna stuck her tongue out at him as she kicked her sandals off. “Well, if you’re gonna be like that…” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a tight hug. She frowned at him. “You know, you’re really cute when you’re angry,” he said.

“I’m really cute regardless, or haven’t you figured that out yet?” asked Anna as she started tickling him. He laughed and let her go, giving her the time to slip her dress off.

Halfas stared. She was wearing a black bra and a pair of black panties. “Were you expecting this?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.

“In all truth I realized I had packed these after the fact,” said Anna with a hint of red around her cheeks. Halfas chuckled. “What?! My friend Sarah got them for me for my 18th birthday! I never really wore them, but when you threw my wardrobe, I guess they kind of got mixed up with the normal ones. And then…I thought to myself…’well…if he likes me too…why not’?” She blushed even harder and looked at him. “Why? Don’t you like black?”

“I can deal with black,” said Halfas. “But, I must say, you turn the loveliest shade of red when you blush.” Anna pouted, making Halfas laugh out loud.

“I don’t think I want to do this anymore,” said Anna as she turned around and folded her arms.

“I don’t think you have much choice,” said Halfas with a gleam in his eye.

“And why is that,” asked Anna.

“Look down,” said Halfas. Anna looked down at her hips and gasped when she saw what was rapidly growing between her legs. It was long. Really long. But she expected that. What she didn’t expect was for it to be so thick.

“You’re right…I don’t think I have any choice…” said Anna quietly as she licked her lips and looked back at Halfas. She smiled as she looked into his eyes, slowly reached out her hand and started to gently stroke his member. “This is how you do it…right?” she asked with an arched eyebrow and a wry grin.

“I showed you the ropes already,” said Halfas as he gripped the bed tightly. “You can do this on your own.”

“Oh really?” asked Anna. “And what if I do something wrong?”

“Then you won’t get any today,” replied Halfas with a sneer. Anna opened her mouth for a rejoinder but realized that he’d won that one. She frowned at him but continued stroking him as she turned around in his lap. She looked down at Halfas’ cock and was wondering what else she should do when she felt long, thin fingers gently wrap around her breasts and start to squeeze them. Anna groaned. She had never been touched like that before and it felt really good to her. Halfas’ head slowly moved over her shoulder and watched her panting face. “Do you want to do more?” he asked.

“Yes…” moaned Anna. “What should I…?”

“Lick it,” said Halfas. “Suck on it like a piece of candy. But don’t bite it…you won’t get any creamy center if you do that.” Anna normally would have giggled, but the strange sensations in her chest were clouding her mind slightly. So, she merely nodded, slowly bent over and took Halfas’ cock between her lips. She let out a few muffled moans as she slowly moved her head up and down along his cock, making sure to give extra attention to the tip. “Good girl,” said Halfas. “You deserve a reward for your good work so far.” Anna moaned in disappointment as Halfas let her breasts go, but groaned in surprise as she felt his clawed fingers started to rub around her inner thighs.

“What…?” she gasped as his fingers easily slid underneath her panties and started to probe at her mound. “So…good…” she moaned before she arched her back and gave out a strangled cry as one of Halfas’ claws poked her clit. She was having problems breathing properly. The movements of Halfas’ fingers around her pussy were setting her whole body on fire. She was so close to the release that she had only heard about from her friends before. Her teeth were clenched and anyone looking at her face alone would think she was suffering excruciating agony, but the pleasure was getting to be too much for the young princess to handle. “Oh gods…please…!” moaned Anna as she felt Halfas’ fingers slowly move inside of her. The long, thin fingers slowly pushed deep inside of her wet opening and started to gently twist and move back and forth inside of her. Anna’s head was resting on Halfas’ shoulder, his cock all but forgotten because of the pleasure he was giving her. She was right there…a few more movements and she would cum. But, just then, right before she went over the edge, he stopped moving. Her eyes shot open and she cried, “No! Don’t stop! Please!”

“There’s a better way to get you to feel heaven, princess,” said Halfas as he pulled his fingers from her snatch, making her groan. He held his fingers to his mouth and eagerly licked most of her juices from them before holding them in front of her face. She slowly opened her mouth and let him stick his fingers in, sucking off the remainder of her cum as well as his saliva.

“That’s not fair…” moaned Anna. “I was almost…there…”

“I know,” said Halfas as he pushed her forward, so she was staring straight at his cock again. “Suck on it some more and I’ll bring you back.”

“Promise?” asked Anna. Halfas merely nodded, so Anna got back to sucking on his rod. She was starting to enjoy what she was doing when she felt Halfas slowly pull her lower half back, so that she was lying on him. She looked back to see what he was doing, but he waved his finger at her, so she got back to sucking him off. She was still curious about what he was planning when she felt him slowly pull the crotch of her panties away and felt a long, slimy thing start to run along her lips. She gurgled a little until she felt the object slowly twirl around and push into her. It was then that she realized that it was Halfas’ tongue. She pulled her mouth off of his cock to keep from biting it as she gritted her teeth and buried her head in his crotch. To make up for it, she started rubbing his cock with her hands instead.

“I’m guessing this means that you like that,” said Halfas rhetorically. Anna groaned in response. He had expected this sort of reaction from her since she was new to it all, so he was very surprised when he felt her tongue slowly run up and down his shaft, even as he was eating her out. He grinned. If she was getting used to the pleasure so quickly, that meant they might be able to go for longer periods of time quicker than normal. It had been so long since he felt a woman’s touch; either human or dragon halfling, and she was really good for a beginner. He grinned as he gently pushed his tongue even further into her, slowly stretching her out to make her first actual penetration easier.

While Halfas was thinking about the future, all Anna could do was think about what was going on between her legs. There was a slight hint of pain as her inner walls were pushed apart for the first time, but the enormous amounts of pleasure overlapped the pain a thousand fold. Her inner muscles started squeezing the invader gently as Anna moaned and groaned around Halfas’ cock, giving him short thrills as her mouth vibrated against it. Halfas growled loudly as Anna felt his cock start to tremble and twitch violently. She slowly brought her mouth away from it and looked at it curiously. “What…?” she asked before letting out a small scream as it started spewing green cum all over her face and chest.

Halfas fought every urge he had to lay back and rest for a short while as he continued his oral assault on Anna’s pleasure cove. She was still gasping and panting happily, not caring about the cum that was still covering her body. It felt like she was getting close again and he wanted to make sure to send her over the edge this time. He pulled his tongue from her warm depths and quickly inserted two of his fingers, before she could remonstrate him. He moved them around a little, getting them nice and slick before pulling them out and slowly rubbing them around the bud of her ass. “I hope you like this…” he mumbled to himself before pushing one of his fingers gently into her ass, while making sure to run his tongue continuously over her clit.

Anna’s eyes widened in shock at what just happened. It was an odd feeling…like going to the bathroom in reverse. And even though it was painful, as Halfas wiggled his finger a little, her muscles started to relax and she felt a strange sense of pleasure emanating from ass. His tongue stayed on her clit as his finger continued to probe deeper into her, gently moving around, stroking her inner walls, stimulating her beyond belief. “Oh gods…I…I’ve never felt…Oh gods!!!” She screamed as she came like a hurricane, a torrent of cum flooding from her already soaked and dripping channel, into Halfas’ open and waiting mouth. Anna’s entire body trembled as she fell forward onto Halfas, his cum slowly sliding down her face and chest before dripping off of her.

Halfas gently picked her up and turned her around so that they were facing each other. “How was that?” he asked.

Anna couldn’t speak. She just moaned and nuzzled into him, giving her limp muscles the time to get their strength back. She slowly licked her lips, tasting the cum on them. “Salty…” she whispered before falling into a light sleep.

Halfas stroked her hair lightly, making her murmur happily before she opened up her eyes and smiled at him. “Get some sleep if you really want to,” said Halfas.

“I would,” said Anna, “but I’ve got this pointy thing poking my leg. It’s kind of bothering me, so I think we should do something about it first…don’t you?”

“Whatever you want,” said Halfas, making Anna smile.

“What do I do?” asked Anna nervously. Halfas slowly sat up and positioned Anna so that his member was sitting right up against her entrance. He gently grabbed her hips and started to push her on when she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back. “I want to do this,” she said quietly as she looked into his eyes. She slowly reached back and grabbed his cock, slowly rubbing it against her entrance before slowly pushing herself backwards. She moaned softly as she felt the large object slowly push into her virgin channel, but refused to break eye contact with Halfas. She stopped once the bulbous head was fully inside of her. The lubrication from her earlier orgasm did help a little, but there was still pain from being stretched open. After a few seconds her channel started to relax around him and she licked her lips and started to push herself back very slowly.

Halfas gritted his teeth and clutched the sheets tightly. “You’re so tight…” he muttered.

Anna smiled at him as he laid his head back and clamped his eyes shut. Even through the haze of pleasure and pain that was shooting through her body, she kept looking at him, unwilling to close her eyes for any reason, afraid that if she did, she would learn that this was all a dream. But then she felt a sharp pain inside of herself as his cock started pushing up against her maiden barrier. She winced slightly, but didn’t stop pushing, even when she felt her hymen rip apart. She let out a small cry as the sudden lack of a barrier made the cock slip further into her than she had intended. She gritted her teeth and slowly continued to push herself further along, only stopping when she felt the tip bump against her cervix. “Not another one!” she whined as she looked down and saw at least two inches still sitting outside of her.

“No,” said Halfas, “Don’t worry. That’s the end of your tunnel. I didn’t expect you to be able to hold my entire length.”

“But…” said Anna.

“No buts!” said Halfas. “That’s the entrance to your birthing channel. Only seed should ever enter there.” Anna frowned at him, and slowly started twisting her body on Halfas’ cock. As she relaxed and started to feel real pleasure from it, she felt the tip of his cock start to slowly open the small hole inside of her. Her eye twitched slightly as she licked her lips and continued twisting back and forth. “What are you…?” asked Halfas before realization set in. “Not on your first…!” he started but it was too late.

Anna let out a small yelp as she finally felt her cervical opening relax enough and fell down the rest of the way onto his cock. Her entire body trembled as she fell forward onto his chest and tried, desperately, to catch her breath. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “You’re all in…” she gasped. “I did it…”

“I can’t believe how stupid you are,” said Halfas quietly as he gently stroked her back. “You could really hurt yourself, doing stupid things like that.”

“Just shut up and enjoy it,” panted Anna as she started clenching her muscles, squeezing the huge invader inside of her. Halfas groaned a little, giving Anna just enough strength to push herself up. She kissed his snout lightly before starting to slowly pull off of his cock again. Halfas grabbed her hips and stopped her. She frowned at him, but he only gave an inquiring glance. She thought about it for a second before nodding and allowing him to roll them over onto her back. He wrapped his wings around her body, keeping her protected, as he started to slowly thrust into her. Anna groaned in a combination of pleasure and pain as Halfas moved his entire cock out of her before pushing all the way back in. Each time, her cervical opening would try and tighten up again, and each time Halfas would push through it. Each time his cock pushed into her womb, Anna felt a twinge of pain and an enormous amount of pleasure. It was unreal.

Halfas was enjoying himself as well. He was amazed that she could take his entire cock so easily. Her pussy was still tight around him, but it was slowly relaxing and accepting him. Even her cervical opening was getting easier to thrust into. He looked at her face and saw that she was staring directly at him, a look of pure joy on her face. He slowly lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. He wanted this moment to last forever, but it had been so long since he’d been with a woman, he was already starting to lose his control. “Anna…” he groaned, “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

“It’s okay,” said Anna in her angelic voice as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m almost there too. Please…fill me. I want to feel everything…all of you…” She closed her eyes as she kissed him and the two opened their mouths and deepened the kiss as their tongues flowed together. Halfas lost all control of his hips at that moment, no longer thrusting slowly and gently, now veritably slamming his hips into Anna’s. Anna cried out into his mouth as they kissed each other ferociously. Anna moaned loudly as she came, her entire body tensing up and her pussy clenching tightly around Halfas. The feeling was too much for Halfas and he thrust deeply into Anna, spilling his load directly into her womb. The new sensation of cum filling her gave Anna another orgasm and she screamed with pleasure as her hands clenched into Halfas’ back, almost ripping his wings off.

Halfas slowly pulled out of Anna, a few strands of cum still flowing from his member and landing on Anna’s stomach. He fell forward, his body trembling. He looked at Anna, who was still basking in the afterglow, and suddenly teared up. “What have I been doing with my life?” he asked quietly, causing Anna to look at him. “I’ve only been looking at the past…at what had been. I wasn’t looking for future happiness. And I almost lost it…because…I’m so stupid! Why…?”

“Halfas?” asked Anna quietly. “Are you okay?”

“I am now,” said Halfas. “I…I’ve wasted a lot of time. I’ve been searching for death so that I could be with her…and because of that, I almost missed you. I…”

Anna gently hugged Halfas and stroked her head. “Shhh…” she soothed. “It’s okay. We didn’t miss each other. At least you don’t want to die anymore, do you?”

“No…” said Halfas. “I’ve found something…much better than death.” The two held each other tightly and fell asleep. Neither was sure how they’d deal with Anna’s parents, but neither of them really cared about that at the moment. All they knew was that they were happy with each other.

“That went very well,” muttered a woman who was leaning against the door to Anna and Halfas’ room. It was the same woman who had poisoned Anna the day before.

“Indeed it did,” said a little old man who emerged from the shadows and smiled at the woman. It was the doctor who had saved Anna’s life. “I don’t really like the fact that you almost killed her though.”

“Come on,” said the woman with a grin. “You knew as soon as they entered the town that he would do anything to save her. Just like I felt it. Their love for each other was radiating almost as much as their powers. I just wanted to give them a little nudge to get them to realize it. As you recall, we got a little nudge just like that.”

The doctor shimmered and slowly grew as he stepped forward, his body warping and changing until he was standing directly in front of the woman. He was fat and blue, small horns and spikes were all over his body and his tail looked like a war mace. “As I recall,” he said, “I almost just let you die.”

The woman smiled as she traced her fingers along his chest. “True…” she said. “But, you didn’t.” The two, a dragon halfling and a Dragon Valor, kissed each other quietly for a few seconds before vanishing into thin air.

The End

(Okay…be honest…how much did this one suck? The continuity is terrible…the reasoning behind the love is flawed…and the character development is lackluster! But, I wrote the damn thing, so I’m damn well gonna submit it and find out just how much others like it. *sigh* I’m too freaking odd for my own good…wanting people to criticize my stuff…)