Chapter 3 | Dragon Estate 4

Brooke gladly brandished the modified machine gun to Amora. “This thing, right here, is going to be crazy. I think I’ve found a way to charge weapons off dragonfire, but specifically tune it to each individual,” the dragoness explained, “and, well, I mean look at this thing.”

Amora studied the machine gun, several stones and wires connected with a hydraulic miniature pump, and smirked. “Wow, Brooke. That’s quite impressive.”

“If I’m right, these things are going to tear through the corrupted like butter. And it should put them down pretty quick. Xavier’s dragonfire is pretty intense, so I think he’ll do some crazy stuff, but I know we all well, too,” she said.

Amora sat in the lounge chair and stretched. “It’s nice. I like it. If I could remember more, I would, though I’m not sure if I’ll get all every memory back,” Amora admitted.

“Hey, we don’t mind,” Brooke said. “We all like you just the same.”

The sun drenched Ironshire Estate’s land in golden, early afternoon sunlight, and inside, Hayley was preparing a round of drinks for them. Brooke called them all to the backyard, excited to show off her weapons. She wanted to put on a demonstration—that and collude to shower Xavier in affection.

“What else do you have in there?” Amora asked.

Brooke held the machine gun, and checked it a few times. She glanced back at Amora. “Oh, a few things. Swords, too. Xavier tested one and it went better than I had expected, honestly. Oh man,” she trained the machine gun on some of the wood targets down the way and smirked. “Bam! Hayley better get her ass out here,” she complained, “I want her to see this.”

“Is that one tuned to you, yet?”

Brooke nodded. “Yeah. Strangely, the dragonfire turns a different color depending who is holding it. I’ve never… seen that before? I didn’t even know we all had distinct dragonfire colors, honestly,” she said.

Amora leaned forward. “Hm. Mine is distinct from everyone else’s. It might be because I’m a dragon goddess, though.”

“Oh, cool,” Brooke smirked. “Oh, your dragonfire is going to blast shit to pieces. It should be stronger than Xavier’s, I would think. But I want see you use it. What kind of weapons are you into?” Brooke asked.

Amora shrugged. “Um… I honestly wouldn’t know but… the mechanism in your hand is, well, it looks pretty badass.”

Brooke burst into laughter. “Ha! Never thought I’d hear a dragon goddess curse. Xavier is going to love that,” she said. “Well, it does. I’m kind of proud of my work, honestly.”

“Yeah, it’s quite nice,” Amora said. “Hm.” She lifted a clawed hand and conjured a ball of red and pink flame in her open palm. “This is my dragonfire.”

“Oh, whoa!” Brooke said. She hadn’t taken her goggles totally off from earlier, and instead, they were raised out of her eyes, and resting on her head.

Amora tossed it back and forth a couple times, then launched it down the way toward the targets. The farthest target was incinerated and charred into vapor. A blackened stump remained. “Holy shit! That’s pretty awesome!” Brooke exclaimed.

“Thank you,” Amora said.

Behind her, the sound of Hayley’s wings beat in the air. “Hello, ladies,” Hayley chimed. She hovered along the ground, holding a platter of drinks. “Ice lemonade and moon tea. I brought us a few bubbly wines, too!”

Brooke turned. “Oh, sweet. It’s nice out, I kind of want a buzz.”

Hayley landed on the cool concrete of Ironshire’s backyard porch and strode through the latticed gaps rich with vines between the railing and awning, then placed the platter on a table between the lounge chairs.

The awning above them cast a gentle shadow on the ground. Hayley wiped away a small bout of shimmer from her forehead and tossed Brooke a bottle of bubbly wine. Brooke snatched it from the air, smirking. She popped the top off with her thumb claw. “Oh yeah. Already had one earlier, wanted another, too.”

Hayley lifted one off the platter and nestled into a lounge chair. “Oh, this my first,” Hayley said.

“Damn, I love our bubbly wine so much. It’s so tasty.” Brooke set her bottle on the railing after downing a modest gulp, then wiped away the moisture on her lips. “Fuck yeah.”

Hayley wiggled. She took another drink and made herself more comfortable in the lounge. “Just us girls, for now,” Hayley mused. “I already feel like something is missing,” she sighed.

“He’ll be back with Nicki soon,” Brooke said, drinking more on her bubbly wine. “You can have your way with him then, just don’t hog it. Haha,” she laughed.

“Oh, I know,” Hayley said. “You’re not going to sit there and tell me that you don’t already miss him?”

Brooke nodded. “Well, yeah, of course I do,” she said. “I love him. You love him. Amora?”

“I was visiting him in his dreams and having sex with him,” Amora said. “So yes, I love him. I just… haven’t said it yet, not outright. And… I’m not quite sure how.”

“Is your accent and stuff changing a bit? You’re talking a bit differently,” Brooke said. “It’s not a problem. You’re still you, right?”

Amora nodded. “Yes. Perhaps is being physical more often and spending time with everyone.”

“Not as formal as you used to be,” Hayley said. “But that’s okay.”

“Hayley said the word ‘fuck’ a few times the other day.” Brooke set her beverage down and smirked. “And I bet she liked it.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Hayley teased.

“Such language,” Amora said. She crossed her legs and stretched. “I’m feeling lazy today, for some reason.”

“I’m amped to work on things,” Brooke said. “I don’t know why. Hayley, you ready for my handiwork now? I want to go over what I did to some of the weapons we have, and I ordered a lot more, and more parts. They’re going to the waypoint house for now, but Xavier said he can figure a way to get everything here.”

“Wait, here? What if people find us?” Hayley asked. “Or get lost inside Meadow Song? I mean… well, he is displaying some unique abilities,” she said. “After all, he is the only one who can pseudoscrye.”

“Hm. I’ve always sense something about him,” Amora said. “He’s not weak, at all. Xavier will do some impressive things.”

“What do you mean? What have you noticed?” Hayley asked.

Amora leaned back into the chair and pursed her lips. After, she took a drink of the bubbly wine, and continued. “I can see auras, as it were, when I please. I always check auras. The intensity of his is incredibly strong.”

“How strong?”

“A magnitude more than everyone here,” Amora explained. “If I had to guess, I would assume his powers haven’t fully manifested because of several possible reasons. I imagine that will change, soon.”

Hayley raised a brow. “What reasons do you mean?”

“There’s something he’s still dealing with, and I am not sure he’s aware of it, completely. I saw it in the dream space. He has a few things unfinished. That’s my impression,” Amora said. She stretched her wings.

Brooke motioned with her clawed pointer finger. “Well, okay, what did you see?” Brooke said. “I’m curious as hell, now,” the dragoness admitted.

“When someone has nightmares,” Amora said, “they can leave stains in the mind. When someone is unwell, it can leave a stain, even if it’s forgotten. Before I chose to enter his mind, and before I was awake again, I felt the pain and sorrow, so I cleansed it as I shared my dream space—the meta—with him. I can’t seem to cleans it permanently… it’s still there. It just wasn’t surfacing when I was there, perhaps because of my nature.”

“Huh. Interesting,” Hayley mused.

“Yeah. I wonder… what’s he… wait, it’s not about us, is it?” Brooke asked.

“Absolutely not. His aura is only stronger when he’s around all of you, and I can see the healed and new effluences tied to his affection for all of you every time he ponders you, Hayley, or Nicki and myself consistently, though I confess this only occurred during dream space. I haven’t, nor can I, enter his mind outside of the meta.”

“Wait, what if I can, what if I am able to go in there?” Hayley asked. “Telepathy is one of my strongest abilities I posses and I’m certain he wouldn’t oppose such an endeavor.”

“Hm. I don’t think that will solve it.”

“Why not?” Hayley asked her.

Amora sighed disappointedly. “They’re locked deep inside and I couldn’t access them in dream space, whatever they are, which means you won’t be able to outside of dream space… he’s in control of them, and he is the only one who can address them within reason,” Amora explained. “I’m afraid it’s going to be up to him,” she concluded.

“Shit. Shit!” Brooke shot up. “Oh, uh… what is it… he told me about this… oh, therapy! We can give him some like, therapy, or something,” Brooke said.

“What do you mean by therapy?” Hayley asked. “More sex?”

“Lots of that,” Brooke agreed, “but I think… has he told you much detail about his past? Like everything he had to put up with basically his entire life?”

“Some of it, and we’d looked into his life before,” Hayley said. “I thought most of this was resolved,” she said. “But I confess that there may be things he’s forgotten,” she explained.

Brooke nodded. “Hm. Well, let’s figure that out when he gets back. Or you can talk to him tonight, right? You’re going to have a sleepover with him?”

Amora raised her hand. “May I observe? If you and he are okay with it. I think I’ll heavily enjoy watching Xavier penetrate you, among other acts,” she asked.

Hayley blushed a little, and giggled. “Hm.” She placed a hand over her mouth, smiled, then returned it to the lounge armrest. “Of course. I’m sure he’ll probably be okay with it, I suspect,” she speculated, “and I like the idea of putting on a show.”

“Oh my,” Brooke said. “Hey, I want in on this.”

“Hm, perhaps with Hayley’s telepathy and my abilities, we may be able to do something,” she said. “I would suggest we all attend the date, but, it is supposed to be a night exclusively for you two.”

“Hey, I’m fine with that!” Brooke said. “He can just take care of us later. Besides, it does a dragon girl some good to have a bit of foreplay, right?”

They all snickered. “I would agree,” Hayley said. She gazed at the machine gun leaning against the railing next to Brooke. “So, why don’t you show us how that works?”

Brooke tipped bottle toward them. She set it down, and retrieved the machine gun. She held it up and smirked. “This here,” Brooke said, slipping down her custom safety googles. Brooke flicked a switch. “Is my newest creation. The HMG-1,” she said.

“I’m curious,” Amora said. “Where did you acquire those weapons?”

“Oh,” Brooke laughed. “That’s easy. I ordered them and shipped them through the years to the waypoint. I also have been adding parts, myself, too.”

The HMG’s allow steel barrel glowed from within, emitting light through it’s gas relief ports. A faint, rising sound of energy filled the air, then vanished. The HMG settled, and the vibrant neon green light disappeared.

“Damn. When did you put that together, again?” Hayley asked.

Brooke turned her attention to Hayley, then checked the alloy sights of the HMG-1. “Over the past couple weeks or so, from what I can guess.”

“You’ve been quite busy, it seems,” Hayley said.

“Very much so,” she admitted. “Got to start slaying these things. I was worried if were ever got the chance to turn them back, it would kill the host… but I’m not sure how that works, honestly,” she said.

“It shouldn’t,” Amora said. “I can’t see any auras around the corrupted. A living host would have one,” she explained. “Whatever they were, they’re gone, or someone else,” she finished.

“I feel better, then,” Brooke said. “That actually calms my nerves quite a bit,” she laughed grimly.

“Agreed,” Hayley said. “Show us what it can, then.” Hayley dusted off her forearm.

“Alright, so, this is the part where I show you the ammo chamber. Check this out,” she said. “This right here is a double magazine, and it’s got the enchanted stones. I was telling Amora that it uses dragonfire to charge, and it enhances the entire weapon and ammunition once it’s loaded in.”

“Fascinating,” Hayley said. “That’s really cool.”

“Yeah, this one is tuned to my dragonfire,” Brooke added. “Alright, check out those targets over there,” Brooke said.

She strode down the stairs of the large porch and a few feet into the yard. Brooke readied the HMG, positioned herself, and aimed. A massive grin painted her face. She slipped the goggles down, and took a firing stance, with hip fire as her choice.

“Goggles down for my safety just in case!” she announced.

Behind her, Hayley stood and approached the lattice, then leaned on it, arms and bust pressed against the wrought iron and wood. “Go for it!” she called.

“Firing!” Brooke shouted.

She aimed, targeting the distant stumps of wood and hand-painted planks of ceramic and cedar, then squeezed the tactile trigger. The grass below hair flattened. A burst of her tuned, emerald dragonfire lit up the trigger and handle between her fingers and palm. The HMG burst into life.

The muzzled flared with lime and white as round spewed from it, each trailing a stream of green dragonfire tracers. The bullets collided on point, shattering the target. It exploded, temporarily ablaze with her dragonfire flames. Shrapnel sailed through the air, and the stump beneath cracked in two.

She held the trigger down, squeezed, and grinned as wide as should could. The recoil vibrating and shook her arms, but she was unwavering, and stood, pushing back into the massive recoil. Brooke was a dragoness, after all, an she would have to master a little added recoil, anyway.

Not that it was enough to put her on her ass. No, it just felt like the thing was putting up an effort to get out of her hands, though a weak one. She let off the trigger, watching as the smoke drifted up from the muzzle. She lifted her goggles, and stared at the smoking, jagged stump left behind.

She turned her head, gazing over her shoulder back to Hayley and Amora. “Looks like we’ll need more targets!”

“Holy shit!” Hayley gasped. “That was insane!” she said. She flew over to Brooke and examined the HMG curiously. “Can you make me one? Please?” Hayley whined.

Brooke laughed heartily. “Of course I can,” she said. “I was already going to, anyway.”

Amora was by them now, expressing her own curiosity. “Impressive,” the dragon goddess said.

“Thanks,” she replied. “I can make some for everyone. I’m a machine gun girl myself. Hayley, what about you? Machine? I can a have more,” Brooke offered.

Hayley lifted her head and folded her arms over her considerable bust. She pursed her lips and rested a claw on her lower lip. “Hm. I don’t know,” she said. “With these weapons… hm. How about… an automatic shotgun?”

“Damn, Hayley,” Brooke said. “I can do that. Never took you for a shotgun kind of girl,” she laughed.

“Well, I have a variety of interests,” she replied. “And I mean, how badass would it be?”

“I mean it would be pretty badass,” Brooke admitted. “Well, I can definitely do that. Amora, what kind of dragon goddess are you? Do you want a gun?”

Amora shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll see. Possibly… hmm… a crossbow?”

Brooke smirked. “I can do that.”

“Hey,” Hayley said. “What do you think Xavier and Brooke are up to?”

“It’s barely noon, so I can only guess,” Brooke said. “Probably giving it to her good.”