A Vice Of Ash (Starring Collector of Rarities and Erit of Eastcris)

[Erit of Eastcris]

It was a chill evening, one of those late autumn nights where it's uncomfortably cold but it's too hot when you have on warmer clothing. It was under such conditions that a certain treasure hunter, a young man of average build, dark hair and tanned skin, laboured in an attempt to sleep. Vyce Lokket, after a few hours of trying and failing to find a comfortable arrangement of his travel blanket, finally snarled softly in annoyance and sat up, glaring at the embers that had been the campfire with his intense, coal-black eyes. He stood, then, and in feet covered by well-worn white leather boots he went to gather more firewood. Once he had, he tossed the final piece into the little pit, and then violently threw a ball of fire into it with a growled "Maroi Fyre!" He smiled as the flames leaped to life, illuminating the space in which he and his companion had made camp and, most importantly, was quick to dispel the cold. He sighed, contentedly, then and sat down; he would not be able to go straight back to sleep so soon after doing such physical labor and using magic. He glanced up across the fire pit, then, to his magnificent adventuring companion.

Ashe was a beautiful creature, a dragon with scales like starfire rubies that glittered a lovely scarlet in the sunlight and turned to a deeper garnet in the dark. She was also his, having been hatched, raised, and taught by Vyce ever since he found her egg in a cave near his home out in the northern deserts and, mistaking it for the most massive ruby he'd ever seen in his life, taken it home. It had hatched into a baby dragon, small enough to fit in his palm, soon thereafter; he had named her Ashe and taught her to obey his every order, then was struck by curiosity and decided to see if any other dragons inhabited the earth; she had been quick to grow as well, which was both boon and bane as it made her more helpful but also gave her a frightening appetite; he'd once seen her swallow an entire cow whole. Whole! He was lucky she didn't consider the one who raised her to be food, because Vyce severely doubted he'd be able to win against Ashe if she got peckish.

"Could be a bit more helpful, though," he muttered under his breath at the dragonelle before him, "in keeping me warm, rather than leave me to remake the fire because you feel like sleeping." He sighed, reaching back for his shortspear—an unusual shortspear being made of good, solid steel all the way through—and removing the sheathe from the head, testing the serrated edge of the broad, flat triangular blade that extended from the shaft like a two-dimensional conical hat. It was a simple, inelegant thing, but it served him well nonetheless. It was then that he noticed the subtle grey hue to the sky in the east, where they were headed, and realized the reason he had not been able to go back to sleep after making the fire: dawn was near. He smiled, stood and leaped over the fire, patting Ashe on her snout and saying "Wake up, girl, it's time to ged ready." Before himself setting about rolling his blanket back up and sliding the leather sheathe back over the spearhead. He travelled with little but his spear, his bedroll, coinpurse and the clothes on his back, living off the land for the rest. Ashe was a help in that regard, being a better hunter than Vyce could hope to be with her advantage of flight.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

"And you could be a bit more considerate," rumbled Ashe, opening a single eye after Vyce muttered to himself. "A lady needs her beauty sleep and it's difficult for her to achieve it with you stomping around and using magic. Make me too grumpy and I might forget to change form the next time we go into town."

Ashe's eye closed once more and she went back to dozing. Though she was an enormous lizard with wings, Ashe's form and habits oddly mimicked that of a cat with thumbs. Tonight she chose to sleep on her belly, but others she could be found on her back or her side. She could often be found sunning herself on rocks in any of her forms if she had nothing better to do and tended to regard most other beings as beneath her dignity. This somewhat extended to Vyce, since she was often lethargic in carrying out his orders, though the work tended to get done in a timely fashion once she did get moving. She had a strange relationship with Vyce; he was legally her Master, having registered her human form as his slave and trained her from birth to be obedient, much like one would a dog, but she was also willful and more than a little prideful. This lead to her frequently teasing her Master and testing the limits of what he would allow.

She would also occasionally refuse him things, the most prominent of which was to forge him a weapon. Ashe had taken an interest in blacksmithing about a month after she'd hatched, during which time she appeared to be and acted like she was about sixteen years old. During that time she'd quickly mastered the art of smithing, offering only a smirk and quipping "A dragon masters everything she sets her mind to" by way of explanation of how she'd mastered the craft so quickly. Every time she'd make a weapon, however, she'd give it a few swings, smile, and then destroy it on the spot. When questioned about why she did this, she merely explained that she knew of no one worthy to wield her creation. Whenever Vyce requested her to make him a weapon or armor, she'd sigh and refuse, stating that she lacked the inspiration to do so, after which no punishment could compel her to carry out her Master's wish. Ashe now appeared to be and acted like she was in her mid-twenties and her rapid aging seemed to have stopped. Even in dragon form, she wore the only item she'd agreed to craft for Vyce: a beautiful leather collar with a metal ring for attaching a leash. She'd agreed to craft the collar and enchant it so that it would change sizes as she did, albeit begrudgingly, saying that it was simply a matter of convenience.

Ashe woke at dawn, though she did not open her eyes until Vyce commanded her to. She let out a large, silent yawn, then stretched like a cat before settling into a sitting position, her head only barely below the treeline as she did. She looked down at Vyce, her amber eyes still lazy with sleep. "Which form shall I take, Master?" she asked, somehow able to keep her voice at a normal speaking level despite her massive form. She had thee forms: that of the massive dragon she truly was, a six and a half-foot humanoid with a dragon's head, horns and tail, along with her red scales and cat-like legs, and finally a human form with fiery red hair and amber eyes. She'd made it clear that she could take other forms if she so pleased, but it did not please her to do so. She always had wings when in dragon form, but could sprout them in any form if she so desired. Any of her forms could also breath fire and access the potent magic she seemed to know inherently.

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

He sighed as he shouldered his few burdens, making it a point to not clip the leash at his belt onto her collar in dragon form. He did not trust a winged creature with a leash linking him to it, particularly a winged creature as willful as Ashe. Vyce had no fear of heights or flying, but he most certainly did not like it when all that needed to happen for him to fall to a quick, agonizing death was for his grip to slip. "Human, Ashe. We're within roaring distance of King's Hills." King's Hills was the name of the next town in their path; Vyce was following a lead on a particularly swanky bounty, being offered a hefty sum of money—enough to last them a good while—as well as some sorely sought-after dragon lore if he could find and retrieve some gold thread clothes woven by some strange, extinct breed of gold-weaving spiders. It sounded like a load of crap to Vyce, who preferred the light linens and leathers he typically wore, but he would get paid even if the clothes didn't exist so long as he had proof of it, and if he did find them he'd still get the job done.

"What always bothers me about these jobs," he yawned, stretching and stamping in his boots to made sure they were fitting properly, "is that they're invariably watched by some nastiness or another that no one ever mentions. Last time it was that giant talking pile of rocks. You remember the pile of rocks, don't you? The one that you melted so that it almost fell on me? I'm wondering if it's going to be some giant spider this time." He sighed, rolling his shoulders as he set off towards the road from their little campsite. "Your thoughts?"

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Ashe did not take long to transform. When someone thought of shapeshifting, they usually thought of some sort of flashy sequence where the shapeshifter changed shape in a flash of light, or something more grotesque involving the snapping of bones and the shifting of flesh. In reality, when Ashe changed shape, she was simply a gargantuan dragon one moment and a 5'8" woman the next. Ashe was always naked when she took on either of her humanoid forms: she'd explained that she could only change the size of the clothes with an enchantment, and it would look rather silly for a large dragon to be wearing a dress. She'd destroyed one or two outfits by reverting to her dragon form in a hurry, though it had always been out of necessity instead of malice.

Ashe's human form was a bit on the tall side for a woman, standing at 5'8", and was certainly more muscular than most women. Every inch of her body consisted of hard, toned muscle; it in no way distracted from her feminine figure, in fact it enhanced it, and Ashe prided herself on having a body that was both powerful and beautiful. She had short, flaming red hair that stopped just short of her shoulders and amber eyes that appeared human despite their strange color. She walked casually over to Vyce, unconcerned with her naked state, and wordlessly held out a hand for her clothes.

"I think," she said, "that if the enemy we encounter is flesh and blood, I shall leave you to handle it. The only reason I helped with the elemental is because you were unprepared to deal with it and it would have been a pathetic death in deed if you had simply been crushed by a pile of rocks. As for them almost falling on you, you have no one to blame but yourself for being in the way."

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

He very pointedly averted his gaze from his companion as she shifted in her skin, tossing the bag containing her clothes towards her. Though he could not see her even out of the corner of his eye, Vyce had a good, trained sense of his surroundings, and so he was quite aware of where she was. It wasn't that he thought her human form repulsive or any such nonsense; quite the contrary, he quite fancied her human form, as it held a similar graceful power to it as all her forms did. He simply didn't want to be distracted so early in the day. While she changed, he sighed and leaned his back against an old, rough-barked oak, yawning silently and rolling his shoulders. Vyce preferred to wear less flattering clothing, things that made it difficult to make out his light, wiry musculature, not like Ashe's but more reflective of his agility blended with strength. If one looked between a rogue and a knight, one would find those like Vyce, warriors who preferred to be light on their feet and heavy in their swings.

"Uh-huh. You could have at least told me you intended to send it my way as opposed to somewhere else." He wasn't paranoid that she wanted him dead, but whether she meant to or not Ashe had a knack for scaring her Master. Both boon and bane, indeed. "Feh, it's a moot point now." When she at last finished dressing, he clipped the five-foot leash onto her collar, wrapping the other end around his right wrist—for Vyce was left handed and wanted his main hand free just in case—and set off at a fairly brisk pace towards their next destination, maintaining his own silence as they went. Vyce was an off-and-on conversationalist, sometimes happy to chat over this or that, others being lost in thought. In particular, he was lost in thought on the snippets of myth and fable they had accrued over the years, though much of it had turned out to be false, such as dragons being unable to swim, or useless bits of fluff, such as dogs hating an innate hatred for dragonkin. The main obstacle in their quest, which was ultimately to find out what in the hell ever happened to the dragons, was that very few people who weren't dedicated scholars even knew what dragons were anymore; none had been seen in... Well, that particular bit of knowledge was beyond Vyce, but he guessed somewhere in the neighborhood of a few thousand years. He'd spent many nights pouring over old books when he first hatched Ashe, trying to figure out what kind of strange lizard he had to deal with now, and to his dismay knowledge on the species was scarce. About the only things of value they knew were that dragons could shapeshift with remarkable ease, that they had an ageless immortality, being able forming a kind of mystic bond with a certain human to share in this immortality with—though Vyce had no interest at the time of being ageless—and that they were capable of working feats of magic beyond many human practitioners of the craft. Vyce himself only knew a small handful of spells, and was content with that.

By the time the sun had at last begun peeking over the horizon, King's Hills was within view. It was a rather large town, though the two had seen much larger, with a high wooden palisade wall to keep the creatures of the night at bay. As the sun began rising, the gates at the road were slowly swinging open under the ministrations of some of the town watch, somewhat portly men in light armors with shortswords at their hip. They allowed Vyce and Ashe to pass without inquiry; King's Hills was close to several borders, and so doubtless they got many travellers just passing through. It was apparently also a city of fair wealth, having cobblestone roads instead of the well-pounded dirt tracks the darker-skinned foreigner had expected. Most businesses were still closed this early in the day, the shopkeepers, smiths, tailors and what-have-yous sleeping soundly until the city awoke, but Vyce was rather uninterested in them. Before anything else happened, he wanted to make certain they would have a roof over their heads the next few evenings, and set about finding some kind of inn or boarding house with an order to Ashe for her to "Keep an eye out for lodgings, will you?"

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Ashe opened the bag with a sigh and put on the clothes her Master had picked out for her. Though she had no doubt that the ensemble suited her, she was beginning to grow bored wearing the same thing all the time. Her clothing consisted of a corset that only barely covered her nipples, a long skirt that reached her ankles, though had an opening in the front that allowed her to move with some ease while still preserving a bit of her modesty and long glove-like sleeves that covered her arms, stopping just below her shoulder, and connecting at silver rings that fit over her middle fingers. She often insisted on going bare-foot, since her skin was tougher than that of a human's and could withstand stepping on rocks and brambles. She could also use a simple enchantment to prevent any dirt from collecting on her, keeping her feet and legs clean as well. Ashe most certainly looked impressive in the clothes, though she disliked the skirt. She honestly disliked most clothes that hampered her movement and she had become entangled in the skirt several times shortly after Vyce had bought it for her.

"Hardly clothes to travel in," she grumbled as she got dressed. She couldn't help but smirk as Vyce looked away from her; she often found it strange how humans insisted on preserving their modesty. "You know I spend most of my time naked, right?" she teased, smirking as he clipped on her leash. "I don't wear clothes when I'm in my larger form and I don't even wear undergarments beneath the clothes you give me. Besides, you have no problem seeing me naked whenever you decide to take me, so why are you so squeamish whenever I shift forms?"

The dragoness smirked as her Master instructed her to find lodging: the first time he'd given her such an order, she'd simply walked into a stranger's home and demanded dinner and it had taken Vyce a while to convince her to leave. Where most people might have felt shame over such a memory, Ashe found amusement in how Vyce had reacted to the situation. He'd had to instruct her on where travelers usually stayed when entering a new settlement. Upon being given her order, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking in the scents of the city. Upon releasing her breath, she opened her amber eyes and pointed down an intersection. "They are serving alcohol two blocks in that direction," she said. "Even if it is simply a tavern and not an inn, we will at least have a good meal."

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

He shrugged, heading in the direction she indicated. "Food alongside people willing to talk to outsiders, most likely. Both helpful. But you still only get two servings of any liquor." A precautionary measure, mostly; he'd made certain Ashe never ended up intoxicated, though that was sometimes difficult, partly because he didn't want to deal with a snappy hung-over dragon later and partly because he most definitely didn't want to deal with a drunk dragon, ever. No, thank you, he'd rather not be rolled onto and crushed by a magic creature six times the size of a house, and he didn't appreciate your offer. So it was that, to his knowledge, Ashe never went farther than tipsy. "And I'll have you know that I don't get squeamish. I just don't want to be distracted by thoughts of wanting to indulge myself in a pretty woman."

As they made their way through the town, it slowly started to wake up, shops pulling up the shutters in their windows, smiths heating up their forges and furnaces, and tailors' looms starting to slowly rattle away at the day's work. They did not live exciting lives, but no doubt they enjoyed their place in the world, working their crafts and simply floating through life. Vyce would have gone mad living so quietly; he had a certain wanderlust and craving for excitement, and besides that he didn't really have a home to return to. An orphan adventurer; like something out of a storybook.

When they arrived, it was at a cozy little inn calling itself Hills' Fills, the sign depicting a giant drinking wine out of an upturned mountain. He didn't see any post by the door for him to tie Ashe to, unlike many of the other establishments they had passed, and not seeing any sign to the contrary he assumed—thankfully correctly—that it allowed slaves entry. So, tugging the leash ever-so-gently, he lead her in. It was indeed quite cozy; well-lit, the main floor being a little on the small side but workable, and already a roaring fire in the grated fireplace, lending the room a warmth and a faint scent of hickory smoke. They laid their orders with the inkeeper to give to the cook, then Vyce paid for a room and pocketed the key before he went to sit down in a little niche booth in the corner farthest from the door. It was where outsiders were usually expected to sit, he'd found, a kind of shorthand that they didn't plan on staying long. He smiled at Ashe, then, and gestured for her to sit beside him; he was fairly tall, especially for these parts, being almost a head higher than his dragoness' human form, and so he liked having her beside him to drape an arm over his prize's shoulder.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

"You couldn't afford more than two servings of the liquor I like," teased Ashe, grinning smugly to herself. Ashe had expensive tastes and would even get offended if Vyce got her something that was particularly cheap. That wasn't to say that she put no stock in meaningful gestures: she would gladly accept a freshly picked wild flower, but she had a disdain for low-quality products unlike anything Vyce had ever seen before. She had once set her tankard on fire when she'd been displeased with the quality of the mead inside. "You might not even be able to afford a single serving of something I like," she continued. "Though I suppose I could deign to lower myself to something passable." Given Ashe's tastes, something she deemed "passable" could still be fairly expensive. She simply snorted and shook her head at Vyce's explanation for why he wouldn't look at her while she was dressing. He obviously had done nothing to change her opinion of the practice.

Though there was no "hitching post" for slaves outside, there was a stables where slaves could be kept overnight free of charge. Despite Ashe's status as property, Vyce was still charged as though she were an extra person for keeping her in his room. When it came time to place her order, Ashe closed her eyes and took another deep breath, sampling each of the beverages and meals by scent before opening her eyes and placing her order. She requested Julian fire-wine, a heavily spiced wine that was fairly expensive, though not preventatively so, and an entire turkey. Even though she was in human form, Ashe still had a voracious appetite that could prove very expensive to sate. She could certainly survive on much less than she actually ate, though she seemed to be most content when she gorged herself. She theorized that most of what she ate went towards fueling her fire, and her flames certainly cooled when she'd gone a day or two without eating to excess, but there was only that anecdotal evidence to go on. For all she knew, the heat of her flames was tied to her mood and the lethargy she experienced on a restricted diet cooled them.

Not many slaves could be seen in the tavern, most having been left at home by their owners or sent to the stables so that they wouldn't cost their owners extra money, but a few could be seen kneeling beside their Masters on the floor. Of particular note were the booths, which had small rings built into them for a Master to tie their slave's leash off to. Vyce got a few strange looks when he pulled Ashe into the booth with him, but the onlookers simply shrugged, concluding that they'd likely want to keep an attractive woman close to them as well. Ashe pressed herself to her Master, molding her body to his and ensuring that her breasts pressed to his side, grinning to herself as she did. Ashe enjoyed attention almost as much as she did fine wine, so she would tend to be rather affectionate whenever circumstances called for her to be close to Vyce. "I would suggest, Master," she said, her voice low and sultry, "that you insist for as many details as possible when we go and meet our employers tomorrow. It would be a shame if another pile of rocks almost topples on you again."

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

The man chuckled softly at his companion's almost flirtatious tone, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and stroking her smooth cheek with the backs of his slim, dextrous fingers. He smiled at her, holding her close and finding her affections quite pleasant. "Of course I will, my pet. And I will still trust you to watch my back should any unnoted surprises come our way, mm?" He gave her a quick kiss, pressing his lips to hers and once more finding himself smiling at her taste and scent. She had expensive tastes, but to Vyce price was of little consequence; if he could afford to keep Ashe happy with her expensive tastes then he most certainly would. Though he'd rather not say it aloud, the woman beside him meant much to Vyce, and he was confident that he meant just as much to Ashe. After all, he had raised her, took care of her and lead her in a rather exciting life, not to mention the part where few aside from him wouldn't jump to attack if they saw her out of her human form.

He rubbed her shoulder, then, as a serving girl brought the wooden tray bearing their orders; Ashe's roast bird and Vyce's beef sandwich accompanied by leafy greens and an apple, as well as her alcohol and his milk. Vyce subscribed to the philosophy that only an idiot got drunk outside of festivals or mourning periods, especially this early in the day. He also had a remarkably low alcohol tolerance; two sips of his companion's wine and he'd be liable to do something very unwise, and regardless of whatever Ashe's opinion of him was he did not think himself an idiot. Besides, milk made for strong bones, which came in handy for his line of work that required lots of jumping and hauling and running about while things spat balls of fire or hurled boulders at you. So he ignored the occasional insult on his dietary habits, ate and drank healthily, and survived his profession with minimal injury.

As he ate, he kept an arm around his dragoness' form, petting and stroking her side at first, once or twice sliding his hand up to fondle her breasts—though the best he could do at that was running his hand over the curve, as the corset was rather rigid in nature. As he finished his sandwich, he gave her a cheeky grin and slid his hand between her thighs, stroking the velvety cloth that hid her slit. He wasn't really distracted with desire—though he would have quite appreciated a quick round then—but he found it fun to play with her in public view, sometimes driving her mad with arousal a hair's breadth from climax, others just teasing to get a rise out of her. Of course, if she begged like a good slave he'd give her the orgasm she had been denied, but otherwise he let her be frustrated at the end. He kept up his stroking, taking a sip of his drink before leaning against her, toying with her womanhood in just the way he knew she both loved and hated to be toyed with.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Ashe smiled as Vyce kissed her, but it was a wicked smile, promising mischief. "I'll let you know the things you need to know," she said, coquettishly. "If I think you can handle a surprise, though, I'll let it find you. After all, how can you develop your own talents with me hovering over you all the time?"

She grinned voraciously as her meal arrived, but ate it politely as she had been taught to. She'd learned quickly that it was not considered polite to eat like she did in her dragon form in her human form. Vyce seemed to want to avoid drawing attention to them, so she acquiesced to his desires and learned to eat politely, even though she secretly believed that she was doing those around her a disservice by not allowing them to witness her in all of her draconic glory. Though she was physically and emotionally older than Vyce, Ashe still had the arrogance of youth, believing herself to be invincible regardless of evidence to the contrary; though there was very little that had proved capable of harming her so far. When her cup was emptied of wine, she decided not to order another, knowing that they were running on the fumes of their last payday, so more expensive wine was not a prudent choice at the moment. Besides, she still had her bird to enjoy.

The teasing was both welcome and dreaded at the same time. Ashe was a prideful creature, so she would not beg for release in public, but that left her squirming and aching in pleasure until she had a chance to plead for an orgasm in private. Vyce knew how to keep her on edge as well, so it was easy enough for him to get her squirming and keep her writhing for hours on end, if need be. She gently squirmed against his fingers, trying to stimulate herself, hoping to push herself over the edge without making too much of a scene.

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

"Ah, ah, ah." He nipped her ear gently, continuing the teasing ministrations he'd mastered some time ago, setting about eating his salads and slapping her lightly on the thigh. "Bad girl. You have to beg if you want it so bad." He smiled at her, a devilish quirking of his lips into a maliciously playful grin. In her human form, at least, she was slightly weaker than he. It was easy enough to hold her close and keep up his teasing, varying his strokes and prods and manipulating her with his whole hand. A glance out of the corner of his eye told him she was loving and hating this all at a time. A good way to start the day, he thought. "It's just a few words, Ashe. Think about it, a few words and you feel so much better. Go on," he looked down at her, holding that evil smile, "say them. Beg me."

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Ashe let out a quiet growl of frustration as her Master kept teasing her. He knew that she wouldn't beg, at least not in front of other people. He had yet to coax a plea from her lips in public, no matter how he teased or how great her need grew. She had spent an entire day nearly unable to stand or walk properly, arousal dripping down her thighs, simply because she refused to beg for release. Her squirming became desperate and more obvious, but she kept her lips sealed, the only sound she made a quiet, gasping moan.

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

He had yet to make her plea for climax in public, and he did not truly expect to win this time either. At least, not today. One of these days he would simply keep her on edge day and night until she was howling for him for all to see and hear. Even dragons could only tolerate so much, he figured. He nuzzled her cheek, then, continuing his idle play as he ate. The greens went down dry, of course, as people in this country had evidently never heard of dressings unlike his homeland, which made a most delicious sandfruit paste to moisten the lettuce and give it flavor. The apple and milk made it pleasant to finally wash down, though. Vyce had quite a strange love for apples, green ones especially; something about a good, crunchy fruit just satisfied him. The flavor never went amiss, either. After he finished eating, he naturally had two hands free, and after cleaning the other off on a small handrag he set both to work on Ashe's entrance. It was then that he decided "one of these days" may as well be "today", whispering "This won't end until you plead for it publicly, just so you know." He chuckled a little, continuing to toy with his companion and not caring less about being seen doing so.

When she finished eating, of course, he shooed her out of the booth and stood up himself, picking up his things and her leash and dropping off his blanket in their room before they left for the town. Their client wouldn't be expecting him until noon, so they had plenty of time to kill wandering about and exploring the shops, Vyce always paying a frequent visit to make sure Ashe suffered her pleasure. He briefly considered offering an additional reward if she simply gave in, but decided it best if he kept that part a surprise. Perhaps some new clothes or a bit of jewelry. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.