Long red nails lightly traced the air above the face of perfection. Branwen bit her lower lip softly while she looked down at the living embodiment of her people’s hopes and dreams. Scott. Blackthorne. He went by several names, but no matter what he chose to call himself he was the one who led her out of bondage.

Branwen sighed softly. Her tail swished from one side to the other, brushing down the grass in the process. She wanted to touch him, but she could not allow herself to do such a thing. Not without his permission. So, her fingers traced the air while she stared down at her peacefully sleeping visage.

Several heavy bruises appeared across his flesh after a few minutes, though his expression never changed. Was she the cause, or was something else happening? She did not know the truth. It was as though he were doing something to injure himself, but she could not see it as it happened.

Concerned that she might have caused problems for him, she withdrew a little. Branwen drew her knees together and she propped her chin atop them.

Her eyes did not leave his face, but slowly her fingers rose up to lightly trace her neck where the collar she once wore no longer existed. Even that heavy burden had been lifted. Free to go anywhere she wanted; she still did not know what such a place might look like. She only knew that it had to include the sleeping deity nearby.

A peculiar creature. He wore the body of a man more often than the form of a dragon, and yet he did not feel like a man. When his eyes turned in her direction there was no obvious lust in them. If anything, they held a coldness that swiftly turned to a gentle reflective quality. Those eyes terrified and thrilled her at first, but she soon came to realize that the initial coldness was not directed toward her but at the world in general. It was the softness that came to them that he truly wished to express when he looked at her.

Branwen’s thoughts drifted across the grassland, though no one was awake to listen to them. ‘Why does he not embrace me?’

Her face, a calm mask until now, shifted slightly into a pout. She glanced toward the empty depression in the grass where the blonde-haired woman at her savior’s side once laid in repose. Gone now, she sojourned in the other world with her master. This Sonja, she was not a dragon and yet she clearly held a favorable place in his heart. Branwen’s own heart fluttered slightly at the thought of what they must have shared due to such intimacy.

She rocked from side to side a little then sighed once more. Some unworthy part of her wondered if he did not wish to soil himself with a used woman. Yet, she knew that was not the case. This Sonja creature, she was soiled in a similar way.

‘He does not see her as dirty,’ her mind whispered. ‘He does not see me as dirty.’

Branwen stretched her legs outward and she looked down at her oversized breasts. They were a little smaller now, their weight no longer quite as obscene. The last treatment that she received from the alchemist was nearly a week prior at this point. Her body was slowly beginning to recover a facsimile of its true shape. Her tongue had already increased in size. Soon, she would even be able to speak once more.

‘This lewd body fit only for the pleasure of men… does it displease you, dread one?’ she asked the uncaring grassland. Of course, there was no answer. She did not expect to receive one.

Rather, she expected no answer but did in fact receive one. “You should know that he is not like that.”

Branwen launched herself to her feet then looked around warily. Her thoughts whirled. She could not call out with her lips, but she sent a challenging thought throughout the grassland.

“It’s sweet that you look out for him like this, but there’s no need for all of that anger,” said the voice. The speaker released a soft giggle then drew closer to Branwen. “We’re besties after all.”

The dragonborn girl’s skin began to crawl a little as she sensed the power of the one who had come to call. ‘Who are you?’

“That’s a good-looking question. Hmm?” asked the new arrival. “I see that my cute little Scott has a stalwart champion of his own now.”

Branwen’s head tilted slowly to the side. This invisible woman spoke strangely, and the air practically stank with expectations of power. Who could she be?

‘If you have come to harm or rob my lord, I will not allow it!’ announced Branwen imperiously.

The invisible woman laughed softly, her voice supremely clear and resonant. “I’m here for neither. Just checking up on him due to some things that have been happening.”

Branwen looked toward the source of the voice as it moved from place to place. She did not speak, merely kept her attention on the source of danger.

“Seems he’s beat up again. Did you do that? I doubt anything else in the area could manage it,” said the invisible woman.

‘I am not certain that it is your concern,’ said Branwen. ‘He has not mentioned any invisible woman.’

The soft giggle pealed across the grassland once more. “You’re so devoted. Good!”

Branwen sensed a fluctuation in the air, but she could do nothing when powerful invisible arms wrapped around her body. She attempted to cry out, but no sound of merit could be heard due to her mutilation. More than just her tongue had been cut off, the surgery included a dampening of the sounds that she could make as well.

She struggled mightily, but to her desperate surprise she could not break free of that embrace. The invisible arms tightened around her until she could not move at all.

Branwen released a soft his and tried to slam her head back toward where the other woman’s head would be, but what it hit felt like a stone wall.

“It’s alright,” whispered the invisible woman. “Shh. It’s alright.”

Strangely, the calm tone of the speaker caused Branwen’s tension to relax. She could not help herself. The tone was far too soothing.

“I’m not allowed to directly interfere that much like this,” said the invisible woman. “I can do this much for you.”

Branwen felt a soft wet sensation against the side of her face. Warm spread from the point where the invisible woman kissed her. A strange tingling sensation skittered through her brain and her eyes began to itch. Her surprise only grew when a message window appeared before her. She rarely saw those due to her level and former lifestyle.

You Have Been Blessed by Darkness

Embraced by the darkness herself, you will have an accelerated regeneration potential for twenty-four hours.

The dragonborn girl had no idea how to respond. The invisible woman, however, spoke again, “I cannot stay, nor can I bless my cute little Scott any further than he is already blessed, or I would do the same to help him.”

“Consider this blessing a welcome to the family,” continued the invisible girl. “Let’s play together soon. OK?”

A split-second later the pressure restraining Branwen disappeared altogether. She spun in place, but she could not sense the presence from before. Eyes wide, she could not help but be left in wonder due to what had transpired.