Amati and the Dragoness

Amati was on a mountain climb, taking a moment to reminisce on how he got here while admiring the crystal, blue skies. He has always had the duty of using and safeguarding this staff he held, this cursed staff. But, he wished to one day be rid of that responsibility. To that end, he read all manner of tomes and lore, until he luckily stumbled upon an interesting passage.

It told of a near-legendary race of Dragon Midara known as Black Draconids, and how their lightning had the strange ability to neutralize opposing forces. Fire, Frost, Wind, and more were all null in the face of their black and red thunder..... according to the book. And, the book included the location of one of their isolated tribes.

That location.... at the top of this mountain.

While all the forces that were described to be neutralized by these draconid's lightning seemed more natural or elemental by nature, this was one of, if not the first, lead he had on anything that could possibly dispel the curse placed upon the Serpent Staff, so it was a lead he must follow. It took some time to transverse from his homeland to this mountain, but he finally made it. Stocked with a ton of a herb that has proven to be able to counteract the curse but not nullify it, Amati became his journey up the mountain.

The mountain hike was as pleasant as could be. The weather was cool with a nice breeze, but never too cold thanks to the shining sun. The lush, green trees and grass, the occasional rabbit or deer or bird coming into his view. Hard to believe that some fierce dragon lived up here.

Up ahead, Amati could see the path towards the peak start coming into view. Still no sign of any Draconids, though.

When he had read the passage, Amati had came up with two thoughts of how this draconid tribe could be isolated. Either they forced those who approached away or this tribe was just not known of by the public, and from the lack of draconids he saw, Amati could guess that it was the latter case.

Amati continued up the mountain, about to get to the top before... BOOM A mighty pillar of black lightning struck just a few feet in front of him, filled with energy and power that made his hairs stand on end.

Soon, the crackling thunder dissipated and left behind a Black Draconid. She was tall, curvy, muscular, her limbs, stomach, back, and neck lined with jagged, seemingly chaotic scales that remained pitch black even in the broad daylight. Her eyes were a piercing green, and her dark, long bangs partly covered her left eye. "Who are you? And why do you dare trepass?" She asked him with a voice short on patience and good will.

Amati took a second to settle his nervous, since who wouldn't be nervous with this woman standing in front of them after such a flashy entrance. "I am Amati," He said as he gave her a respectful bow, "I assume you are part of the fabled race of Black Draconids, and I have come here seeing your people's neutralizing prowess. I was aware that your tribe is isolated, but wasn't aware that coming here would be trespassing, so for that I apologize."

The dragoness took a moment to examine Amati, eyeing him up and down before letting her shoulders drop a bit. "First time in a long time someone's known about my people." She remarked. "My name is Altrea. You must mean our lightning? You might be setting your expectations too high for it, but I'll humor you." She walked closer to him, making it clear the imposing presence she excuded.

"My tribe isn't only isolated.... They're gone. I'm all that's left." The dragoness told him, sorrow seeping into her voice.

"Oh... I am sorry to hear of that, Miss Altrea," Amati said after hearing of her being the lone Black Draconid, "and thank you for humoring me. Originally I was wishing to test your lightning and perhaps scales to see if they would provide a permeant solution to what troubles me, but now as to not trouble you, I will simply ask you this. I read of how your lightning could neutralize all manners of forces, but couldn't find a concrete answer on this, so what is the reaction between your lightning and curses?"

"It's alright, Amati... although I feel you're trying to flatter me by calling me Miss." Altrea teased him a bit to show she wasn't very cross with him before speaking normally. "What troubles you, Amati? I have to say, I don't know how my lightning reacts to curses, especially since I've heard that curses can have all sorts of causes and effects. But.... I don't see a reason not to help you. There's one small thing you can do for me in return, but we can talk about that after I help you." She answered him, gesturing for him to follow her up to the peak.

She was part of a near-legendary race of Dragon Midara, she must be pretty old and that is why Amati had called her Miss, not for flattery, however he was wise enough to not bring up his reasoning, knowing that bring up a woman's age was a touchy subject.

"I, as the generations before me in my family have done, am the wielder and protector of a cursed staff known as the Serpent Staff. You probably wouldn't have heard of it as I am not from this region of the world," He explained as they traveled, "As the protector of it, I am not protector it from being stolen, but protecting others from coming in contact with it, as it's curse drains the life force from who ever is touching it, or in my case as its wielder it drains my life force even if I am not directly in contact with it. It is my wish to find a way to remove this curse, and thus remove the burden it has placed on the past generations, myself, and the future generations."

Altrea seemed skeptical as she heard his story, but she heard it all out before making any comment. As they walked, they find an old and abandoned village with mostly uninhabited houses and a modest shrine in its center. "It's sapping your life force as we speak? How are you standing here, then? Wouldn't it kill you?" She asked him before sitting on a bench next to a place to light a fire, which she did using a spark of her lightning. "I'm not sure if I'll be of any help against such a curse, but it sounds like something the world would be better off without. If I can break it, I'd be glad to purge it." Altrea confirmed.

"The only reason I am able to be standing here at the moment is thanks to these," Amati told her as he pulled out an herb from a pouch on his waist, which he promptly popped into his mouth and ate raw after she had enough time to look at it, "That's an herb from my homeland, and the only thing known to my family which can counteract the curse's effect."

He went to further explain the curse, "Think of it as a poison. While I'm resting or doing things that require minimum effort such as walking, it saps my life force at a slower rate than what it would be if I was doing something that got my blood flowing, therefore allowing me to get things such as a full night's rest without worry if I consume a few herbs beforehand. That is also why I can not allow you to destroy it. As a poison can go airborne, there is no way of knowing if the curse would go airborne if the staff was to be destroyed, and that is a risk I am unwilling to take."

Astrea nodded in understanding and then threw a skinned rabbit onto a grate above the fire. "I understand. I can't imagine my life being dependent on an herb like that, nor having to restrain myself from physical activity. I promise I will not destroy the staff. But, you might have to show it to me before I figure out if I can do anything with it." She told him, and then she threw a second rabbit onto the fire. She was tapping one of her clawed feet in thought, watching the crackling flame.

"I can show it to you, but keep the touching of it down to a minimum," He told her. As the rabbits cooked, Amati took the staff out of its holder that he had slung across his back and held it out for the dragoness to look at. It was made of some dark metal and had a ominous purple aura around it, an aura that seemed to streak up his right arm as well as he touched the staff.

"Very well." Altrea confirmed as she inspected the staff, tempted to run a claw along it. And, well, she did, as she wanted to feel its effects for herself. Get a feel for the metal, too. She didn't yet use any of her own power, saving it for now and considering how best to approach this. She had spent many lonely years perfecting her control over her scales and their lightning, so she couldn't say she wasn't confident.

She couldn't tell what the metal was, which should come as a surprise as it was from a foreign land, but she could tell it was a light metal with how easy it was for him to hold the staff up but also a tough metal as her claw didn't even leave the slightest hint of a scratch on it. After running her claw along the length of it, which should take no more than a few seconds unless she was taking it very slow, she could faintly feel its effect. It wasn't the sensation of exhaustion as it sapped her of a tiny bit of her life force, but more something akin to the sensation of growing weaker.

"Hmmm.... I'd hate to be the one wielding this thing. You're a brave man for not throwing this thing in a ditch and burying it." Altrea said as she then let her claw crackle with her thunder and ran it across the staff. She also was mentally keeping track of the time the rabbits spent on the fire. Almost time to flip them. "It's a shame about this curse, because now I shouldn't ask you of the repayment I had in mind."

"Throwing this staff away would not solve any problems, at least for me and those who are bound to be its protector in the future," Amati informed the dragoness, "As I said before, it'll still drain life force from me even if I am not in contact with it. What was the repayment you were wishing to ask of me?"

As her lightning made contact with the staff, the purple aura it had disappeared but returned the moment she stopped her lightning. It appeared that her lightning could nullify the curse temporarily, but not completely neutralize it.

"Hrrrm... it appears that my thunder isn't a permanent solution.... I would've asked you to spar with me, and maybe share a night of passion with me. But, I wouldn't do that knowing it'd cause more of your life force to get stolen away." Altrea answered him as she tried gripping the staff while channeling her energy through her hand, further testing the effect.

Now she was holding onto it, Altrea got further insight on how her electricity worked on the staff. It was only nullifying the spots it was coursing over, so unless she was channeling energy throughout every single inch of her hand, she would be feeling its effect.

"You do not need to concern yourself with the use of my life force, I have bought more than enough herbs to last through a single spar," Amati informed her, "And while I am honored that a midara of a fabled race would be interested in sharing a night with me, I did not come to this land in order to do that so I'll have to deny you of that." Maybe he was flattering her a little bit, but that was mainly to soften the blow of saying no to spending a night of passion with her.

Altrea grunted and then attempted to do exactly that: pulse her thunder throughout the entirety of the staff and not just her hand. She was a proud and powerful dragon, she wouldn't tolerate failing a test like this because she lacked power.

"Are you certain? If it's any inconvenience, then I have no qualms with refraining from combat." Altrea asked to make sure before moving on to the next point. "I know you didn't come here to fuck, but does that mean you can't even consider it? You know there's tons of Midara in this land who won't ask before trying to bed you, right? Besides, I'm not asking for any commitment, just one good fuck. I get pent up being alone up here." She said, trying to change Amati's mind on the matter, although she would relent if he held firm. She also tried to ignore the flattery.

"I am certain that I can endure combat, and I'm also a bit insulted," Amati told her, "As you said yourself, you are surprised that I knew of your people. Are you assuming that someone who has researched enough to find out about your people wouldn't learn of how the midara of this land act?" While he didn't confirm that he wasn't going to fuck her, he didn't deny it either, and in fact he seemed to try deflecting the subject.

Altrea then dropped the staff after confirming her suspicions. She had one idea on something that could be done about it, but... later. "Insulted about the combat thing or the midara thing? And, you're right, you probably had to read through a million books about lame midara before reading about me." Altrea joked with a chuckle. "Still, you don't really know what midara are like until you meet them yourself. I imagine I defied plenty of your expectations." She boasted, lifting and crossing her sculpted legs and puffing out her sizable bosom.

"I was referring to the midara thing, and that was more of a jest than anything," He commented, "And you are an exception to what I learned of midara, seeing that you use lightning instead of this love magic stuff I have read about." As he spoke, he kept eye contact with Altrea, but even with that, seeing her flaunt her body with his peripheral sight still brought a blush to his face. With that, his mannerisms, and what she had learned of him, Altrea could easily come to the conclusion that he was disciplined but inexperienced with midara and whatever they bring to the table.

Inexperienced, oh she was a devil for liking it when they were inexperienced. "All Midara have some love magic, but some are more in tune with it than others. Like another dragon Midara would likely breathe fire before shooting a magic heart at you." She answered while shifting and crossing her legs the other way. She also stretched her arms in a way that made her boobs bounce a bit. "I'm also way sexier than them, even without the love magic." The dragoness boasted, seemingly very, very proud of herself and her body.