BloodStormCh2

(2)

Stretching and yawning, Silk arose from a deep sleep. She smacked her lips together and rubbed her eyes. Delicate
brows furrowed as her hand stopped on her face. Ever so slowly she ran that hand down her forehead, her eyes widening
in surprise as exploring fingers gently touched a delicate nose, high boned cheeks, and cautiously ran down a finely sculpted
chin.

"Oh, noooo. I must be dreaming," she whispered quietly to no one. Glancing about the room, she did not recognize her
surroundings. Her breath caught as she realized the room she sat within was lit. Brightly. By the sun!

With speed born of fear, Silk dropped to the floor, yanking the heavy quilt off the bed as she curled into a fetal position,
wrapping both the quilt and her arms tightly around herself huddling deep within that thick fabric shield, anxiously awaiting
her end.

The moments stretched by. Silk came to the conclusion that if the sun were going to kill her it would have done so long
before she had awakened. Peeking from the protective confines of the quilt, she sighed in relief, finding herself still alive.
Still grasping the comforter tightly, she looked curiously at one of her hands. It was not covered with her familiar ebony fur.
It was a tawny peach color...and naked. Fragile, she realized as she drew a long fingernail across the back, causing it to
welt slightly. The quilt dropped from her shoulders as she stared at her hands and then her arms. Delicate but well
muscled. Continuing her scrutiny, she found her legs the same as her arms. Unfurred. Naked. No claws. She struggled to
toss a tangled mass of black hair over her shoulder. "Long hair," she muttered. Her hands slid down her body, finding
ample breasts and a small waist followed by round hips. She smiled wryly at those curves. "Definitely nay my body."

Taking a deep breath, she stood, allowing the covers to fall to the floor, oblivious to her own nakedness as she put her
hands on her hips, looking up at the ceiling. "All right. I do nay know whose joke this be or why ye use me, but this, 'tis
nay me!" She frowned, addressing the empty room while slapping herself on the chest.

"It is now, my dear," purred a sultry voice from nowhere...from everywhere.

The temperature in the room dropped, the shadows grew, throwing the bright room into twilight. Silk took a deep
breath, lifting her chin in defiance of her fear. "Who are ye? What have ye done to me?"

"Nothing you did not do to yourself, my dear," the shadows answered.

Silk's now tiny foot stomped the floor, her anger overriding the common sense that told her she should be afraid. "I will
nay be used! Magic has injured me enough in my life! Give me back my body!"

The shadows writhed and coalesced into something almost solid. It bore a long, serpentine neck. A heavy bosom and
wide hips attested to its femininity. A heavy tail swept around the figure, tapping the floor lightly.

The shadow dragon looked down upon the woman and smiled toothily, her voice colored with a musical lilt. "I did not
take your body. I simply gave an empty husk a new tenant."

Silk looked up into the face of the now opalescent serpent, her frustration far outweighing her fear. "I can nay die, so
my body can nay be an empty husk!"

The dragon laughed. "Do not be so sure, child. Do you not recall what happened to you last eve?"

"Of course I do!" Silk exclaimed as her mouth drew tight. "I was..." Her eyes grew round as she grabbed at her throat,
fingers quickly exploring the now naked flesh there. She found a soft scar running the entire circumference of her neck.

The dragon nodded as her eyes opened wider in mock surprise. "Ah...perhaps you do recall your last moments."

Silk's eyes darkened as memories raced through her. "My last cage."

"Go on."

"No!" her hand rose in anger. "He can nay have killed me!"

"Oh, but my dear Silk...it certainly could have. Did you not know what it was? Did you not smell it? The differences?
Could you not tell by its demeanor?"

"He was no different from the others!" Silk bit out, whirling, walking from the dragon, frustrated as memories returned
to her. "'Twas large. Nay so unusual. A wolf. Nay unusual either. 'Tis normal for the time of the moon."

The dragon laughed. "Oh?"

"Aye. During the full of the moon wolves always visit. They be some of our best clientele."

"Indeed. What of this wolf? Were there no differences?"

"Aye, as I said, he was larger. Blacker. More...polite. 'Tis all," Silk answered curtly.

"That is all?" the dragon asked, a taunting smile playing slightly about her toothy mouth.

"Aye," Silk growled, pacing the room.

"What of the need for blood?" asked the serpent, her head lowering. Colors whirled in her flickering shadow-body.

Silk waved a hand dismissively. "They need it from time to time. The anger. The struggle. Especially the bitches. A little
loss of blood one way or the other mattered nay to me. They pay well and we both receive what we need."

"And that was?" the dragon asked, her voice heavy with amusement.

Silk stopped her pacing, her long heavy black hair strewn wildly about her naked body. "As I said. Anger. Struggle.
Blood."

"Do you recall your last thoughts as your body emptied of that oh-so-necessary fluid?" queried the dragon, smiling more
widely now.

Looking up, Silk's jaws clenched tightly as she fought to remember. Her eyes slowly grew round as she recalled her
own words. "Damn the life of a vampire. Why could I nay have been born something else?"

"And so...you have your wish. Your desire. You are no longer a vampire bat.You are something entirely different." The
dragon's head lowered on her long neck, looking Silk in the eye, sneering slightly. "Your life was so hard. Your life was so
unendurable. I have given you something new. Of course anything I could give you must be easier than the life of a vampire
bat. Life can be such hell, don't you think?" said the dragon sweetly as she drew her head back.

"Why? Why me?" Silk whispered.

The dragon frowned slightly. "It has less to do with you than with what you were." Then she smiled, a horned brow
rising. "Timing is everything."

The shadows grew again, then lessened as the room filled with a warm summer breeze. "Time for me to leave. Try to
learn something from this experience. After all, my dear, you asked for it."

"Who are ye?" Silk demanded with false bravado, wrapping her arms around herself as the shadows began to fade.

"Oh, there's a saying on this world that will come to be familiar. 'Life's a bitch.' But then, I'd know. I am Life."

Ye gods! One of those Dragons. An Architect. A Senior one at that!

The dragon turned, swaying her heavy, earth-mother hips, looking back over her shoulder at the woman. "Oh, by the
way, as I mentioned, and as you can see, and feel, you are no longer a vampire bat. You are presently another species.
You might find it...interesting. It refers to itself as human."

The shadows disappeared and sunlight again filled the room.

Silk sat heavily on the soft bed. "A human. Dragon's blood! Never have I heard anything good about humans. Selfish.
Ugly. Always arguing. Self-deluding. Naked monkeys!" She stood and searched the room for a mirror, locating a large one
in the corner, set in a carved cherry wood frame. She stood in front of it, staring at the figure who perused her in
return."Hmmm, not bad if ye d'nay concentrate on the fact I be furless. And that flat face..." she muttered, staring into
heavily lashed, blue eyes. She scowled, trying to growl, and found her teeth straight and white. Completely unthreatening.

"Oh, aye," Silk snorted as she grimaced at herself in the mirror. "Just who might I frighten by showing these teeth?"

Sighing, her eyes widened as she turned her face and found a large bruise on her left cheek. As she touched the purple
spot gently, it ached. Her brows furrowed deep in thought while she moved through the house, stopping at a large window,
her eyes drawn to the morning light.

Silk stared in wonder at the color of life outside. It was blinding.