Chapter 325 The Dragon Palace [Bonus]

POV Alesia:

Dark and smooth stone walls of black marble reached as far as one could see, supporting the tall vaulted ceilings. Lines of gold and silver decorated the walls, slightly glinting in the weak orange light of the magma moats flowing along the walls.

The tall pillars, each so wide and tall that it could be a skyscraper on its own, were arranged into two lines along the whole lengths of the corridor, their black color and golden decoration giving the feel of an imperial palace.

The glossy marble floor was so smooth that it was almost like ice, with enough space between the two walls to easily encompass whole towns.

'What is this place... it is impossibly vast. Who could have built something like this.' A single lonely figure of an elf stood there, the sheer scale of the building pressing on her mind. She felt like an ant or bug under the impossible tall ceiling.

Just a moment before, she just stood in the central citadel of the city when suddenly a portal opened, the voice of her master calling her inside. However, now she even doubted that she was awake while she kept turning around and ogling the stupendously tall walls.

'This is too huge... how much stone would be needed for something like this.' She couldn't even wrap her mind around the scale and manpower needed for something like that.

It was the first time she had seen anything like that, even the legendary palaces of the high elves that she had heard of failing in scale compared to the monstrosity she just stood in.

'Compared to this, they are like sheds of some poor beggars.'

The voice of her master came out of the distance of the corridor, "Welcome to the dragon palace, my minion." The two golden eyes appeared far in the darkness, their owner obscured by an impenetrable screen of smoke.

"It is only this single hallway as it is now, but it will grow."

"Have you built this, master?"

"Yes, and I want you to take what you need and build two chambers to house the portals leading here. One in the human capital and one in our capital. Make it fit with the rest and make it secure... I want them to be like vaults, impenetrable to anyone trying to sneak inside."

'So, that is why it is so huge... It is the palace for the dragon that can crush villages with his claw.' It made her happier than ever before. She saw multiple times that her master was like her. He wanted to explore new paths and create. Even with his powerful body and magic, he was nothing like the musclehead brute that dragons were considered to be.

'He is not like dragons from legends rumored to be just a force of destruction. Now that I think about it, it was probably just propaganda and bogus. Dragons are nature, and nature is not just destruction but also creation.'

Her eyes brightly shone, the powers of her master surprising her more and more with each time she witnessed it.

With her new innate knowledge and legends that she had heard about, she immediately identified the power, 'This power, the power to create mind space, should be accessible only to elder true dragons, not adults. On top of it, this feels like it is even something more.'

(AN: The following paragraphs are a kind of experiment... Please let me know if I should burn them out of existence and never again write anything like that :D)

POV Tanya:

The young, black-haired woman with long curled horns stirred slightly and opened her eyes. The pulsing feeling constantly switching between cold and hot enveloped her entire body.

The white-haired girl was wrapped around her in a hug, soundly sleeping with a smile on her smooth and pretty face.

'Huh?' She slightly moved as she felt a hug in her special place. She looked down, noticing that their legs were entangled together and that Ariane's white tight peaking from under her skirt pressed against her crotch area. Her own legs wrapped around it.

A feeling of embarrassment and shock exploded in her head, but she didn't move away.

Instead, she snuggled herself closer, her heart beating slightly faster. She enjoyed every bit of it, the warmth, the refreshing chill, and mainly the softness of her touch.

'She is sleeping... it would be a shame to wake her up.' She calmed herself down, her mind already forming excuses and justifications.

She was always lonely after her mother died when she was just a child, and her father and brothers avoided her and considered her to be mad.

Only her now-dead fiance was around, constantly annoying her. However, she always kept her distance from him, refusing to bow her head to him out of principle.

Only in the end she acknowledged him and admitted her defeat. She had had enough of it, all the loneliness slowly dragging her closer into the madness.

This was one of the few rare moments in her life when she experienced such close contact and didn't feel lonely. No, it was the closest contact that she had ever experienced.

"D-do you like this?" She felt the embrace grow tighter as the white-haired girl opened her eyes, revealing her golden irises looking like they were made of tiny, shiny ice crystals.

'When did she woke up?'

"Yes..." Was the only word that came out of her mouth before she clasped them shut, refusing to embarrass herself even more.

'No, I should leave...' She futilely tried to convince herself, but she felt too good in the end, her rationality fizzling away.

"I have undressed you to make you more comfortable... I hope that you don't mind."

Tanya looked confused at her legs and realized her black cotton thighs were gone, fully revealing her feet. She felt even slightly windier down there.

"Did you take off my pan..."

The white-haired girl turned red and sulked away, quietly squealing, "Y-yes, but I didn't look. Also, we are both girls, so it is alright!"

"It is okay... thanks" She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't get herself to do that. She had no idea what was happening to her. It was as if she had lost her rationality.

'This is not me... I was always cold and sadist... Why am I now acting like this? Also, how tired was I that I didn't even notice?'

She closed her eyes, relaxing and enjoying the comfort of the human... dragonkin contact.