Jonathan A Countyman
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Chapter Fifty-Eight A Day in the Valley of a Dragon
🕑 Added 2022-04-23 18:03:23 +0000 UTCSeru stretched as she rolled out of her bed. It was a new day. It had been weeks since that fateful day she had pulled her own name out of that bucket. Her entire life had changed that day. Although she had to admit the dragon had kept her word. She and her fellow caretakers had gone with the dragon that very day to begin their training. That had been an experience.
She looked around the room as she thought about the last few weeks. Uliera had taken her and her fellows up towards the mountains. Where they were allowed a few hours to themselves. Although she had spent the entire time keeping a wary eye on the dragon. A part of her had been afraid that it was all a lie, and that she would do something to them. Even if she knew there was no chance she could resist them. What she ended up watching was Uliera building her nest.
With little more than mere thought, the dragon reshaped rock, and mountain. She simply carved out a den for herself, her unborn progeny, and her chosen caretakers. It was quite impressive watching rock simply reconfigure itself at the whims of a dragon. Solid rock seemed to flow like liquid, and soft earth condensed itself into solid stone. It wasn’t long before the entire mountain was reshaped to suit the dragon’s needs and desires.
When she was done, Uliera then herded them all into the newly built den. The front room was cavernous with polished stone floors. Huge tunnels led off deeper into the mountain. As they were given a tour of the den, Uliera told them a great deal of what was expected of them. She remembered her feelings when she was told that she would never wear clothes again. Some of the girls seemed to take it in stride, but she had not felt very comfortable with the prospect. Not then anyway. Many of the others weren’t either. Not initially. Uliera helped them through that later that same day. That was part of the experience that being trained was. As she suspected Uliera was molding them. That had been quite the experience, and something to get used to as well. It was strange having another in your mind, especially one so powerful. She had felt every change as Uliera made them, but had done nothing to resist. She was afraid to even try.
Seru knew she wasn’t the same Neku who crashed here weeks ago, but that didn’t matter much to her. That wasn’t a change Uliera had made to her mind either, she knew that much. She had paid a great deal of attention to that. Much of what Uliera did was implant her with knowledge, and tweak a few inhibitions here, and some there. Hell a few of the changes were things she had been trying to change in herself for years. That dragon had helped her break a few of her bad habits. The only change she still questioned was the one that helped her through needing to go naked. She didn’t understand that bit. Although it didn’t matter much with the enhancements made to her body.
Of course while Uliera was working with them, she also helped the town. Later that same day, she had flown down to the settlement. Using her magic, she erected a proper building closer to the river like Seru had been planning. They were neatly arranged, with nice wide streets. The buildings themselves were made of hardened earth, and stone. The frames were made from titanium and duranium though. The materials had been pulled from their older makeshift metal shelters. The dragon even took the time for aesthetics, and even added wooden features to the structures. The result was that the town was even beautiful.
Once she was done with the town, she prepared some fields for the new colonists. Although she left the actual planting for the new colonists, the dragon did help by providing seed. Even pointing out a few edible local plants they had previously missed. After that she then noticed the men that had come with them from the ships.
Seru hadn’t thought much of it until after the brainwashing had been broken, but many of them had bruised genitals. Some worse. It had been ‘normal’ to her. Seru couldn’t for the life of her figure out why they had those injuries. She had no memory of how those injuries had occurred. Seru knew they weren’t accidents, and that the men had not inflicted those injuries on themselves. Vaguely she recalled a link between these and the mysterious ‘check ups.’ She had so many questions about what had actually been going on in the fleet, but out here she doubted she would get her answers. At least the men don’t have to deal with the damage anymore. Uliera fixed that. In fact she made sure everyone, male and female, was in perfect health. Using her magic to heal anyone of any injury she found, no matter how old.
Mind drifting back to the present, she took in her surroundings in the den. Her room was located off one of the smaller passages meant for her kin rather than dragons. Her room was polished stone with stone furniture. Her bed was a stone slab with some thick cushions on it, and plenty of blankets. It was quite dry in here, and the temperature stayed comfortable all the time. Light was provided by a few magical sconces placed in the walls. Light sources that conveniently came with an off switch. She also had a desk, a few bookshelves, a table, and a few chairs. It was a very cozy nook. One perfect not just for sleeping but also relaxing and studying. Her fellows' rooms were similar. She had added a few trinkets to personalize it. Not that she had much to personalize it. Most of her private possessions had been lost with her ship afterall.
Uliera said they would be visiting her friend’s world at some point in the near future. She promised them a chance to do some shopping while they were there. Seru didn’t know the particulars of how, but she was certainly looking forward to it.
Putting those thoughts aside, she left the room. She didn’t have a door or anything really for privacy. Not that it mattered since she didn’t wear clothing anymore. That meant there was nothing to even slow her down as she headed out. Turning down the stone tunnel, she headed towards the bathroom. That was one of the good things about her luck of the draw. Now that she was one of Uliera’s caretakers, she had access to a lovely underground bath. It was large, the water was always sparkling clear, and the temperature perfect. Uliera even provided some luxurious soaps for them. A nice soak in those lovely warm waters was something that she looked forward to every day, and a luxury she greatly enjoyed having. One she even missed from her days before joining the fleet. She had loved bathes, and now that she had access to one again she was once again wondering what she was even thinking when she signed up for the fleet. She knew what she had been thinking then of course, but that didn’t stop her from wondering.
Her bath was a down right joy, and she managed to get in there before anyone else. So she had the room all to herself. Allowing her to bathe, and take care of her other needs all in private before anyone showed up. That second item was more important to her as she wasn’t entirely comfortable with others seeing her take care of that type of business. Even if they were all girls.
As she left the bath, she considered her plans for the day. Uliera had given them the day off from training. That meant no dragon in her head, and no classes either. The second item was how Uliera made sure they assimilated the knowledge she was implanting them with. Making sure they made it their own. Forming it into a new skill set. One that they would later put to use when Uliera’s eggs hatched. That was going to be awhile yet, since the dragon had not yet laid her clutch. Seru already knew exactly where Uliera was going to lay them. The hatchery was located in the deepest part of the den, just behind the cavern that Uliera stuffed her hoard in. That was quite the sight, so many precious metals and gems. Priceless artifacts, and pieces of wreckage. All set up in a rather tasteful display. Seru had made the mistake of asking the dragon about a few of those pieces, and regretted it. That dragon had talked her to sleep about the stories about some of those pieces of wreckage. The long story short about them was that they were trophies taken from the wrecked ships of would-be dragon hunters. Hunters the dragon had bested and killed in battle.
She just didn’t know what to think about the fact that one of those trophies happened to be a piece of her own ship. Uliera had displayed the piece in question in a location of prominence making it one of the first things a person saw upon entry. She found it an uncomfortable reminder of that fateful battle though, and chose to avoid that room as much as possible. Thankfully the layout of the den meant it was possible to reach the hatchery without going through the hoard chamber. None of the others much liked visiting that room either.
Seru wasn’t going to the deeper parts of the den though. Instead she headed for the entrance. Already she figured it would be nice to visit the town. See how everyone was doing. Maybe even find something that she could help them out with. Seru was very much hoping to find something to do in town. She wanted something to take her mind off the training.
She arrived at the town a couple of hours before midday. The walk to town had been quite lovely. Although it might have taken longer if Uliera had not put in a portal. As the den was located on the valley rim, and that was normally several days walk. There were a few portals scattered around the valley. A stone structure about an hour south of the den was the portal from the den to the portal hub an hour north of the town.
Seru noticed the gazes of a few Neku as she entered the town. It did not escape her notice of how the men looked at her. She resisted the urge to cover herself. It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t allowed clothing. Seru’s training from Uliera had also taught her that it was best not to futilely try to cover herself. That would simply result in more attention being drawn to herself. Besides, she wasn’t the only naked girl in the town. She could spot a couple of others walking around in the nude. Those others were also walking around proudly, not bothering to try and cover themselves either.
She had barely gotten into town when a familiar girl appeared. She was topless, but wearing more than Seru was. It was that ensign she had felt sorry for before. The young ensign had avoided being selected, but for some reason she liked walking around with her breasts out. Apparently that kind of thing had become ‘normal’ back at the academy. The instructors also apparently encouraged the students to wear their uniforms a certain way. Thinking further on it, she had actually seen the ensign in question wearing her uniform in that compromising fashion that the instructors were encouraging them to wear them in. Yet Seru had not thought it weird until that dragon broke her brainwashing. Just one more item on the list of strange things she had seen. A list she would never get answers to. Not here, anyway.
She smiled, “Still going without a top, I see. Didn't Uliera make it so you could dress normal again?”
The girl nodded, “Yeah, she did, but...”
“You just have a hard time doing it. Don’t you?”
She simply nodded. No words were needed. It seemed that some of the damage from being brainwashed could not be so easily undone. Seru just shook her head, “Well at least the boys have something to look forward to.”
The girl flushed a bit, “Yeah they seem to love to stare at them.”
Seru decided to change the subject, “Guess that makes it easy to know who is interested. Find anyone special yet?”
The girl shook her head, “No. I just haven’t been looking though.”
Seru sighed, it seemed her plan for girl talk had been shot down. Still she had come here to have a day off, there was one other thing she could talk about. She leaned forward a little, and tried to ignore how the two young boys were watching her breasts move. “Anything interesting happening in town lately?”
The girl nodded, a smile on her face, “Yep. In fact...”
