In their arrogance, the Eight weren't prepared. They, the perpetual mockers and scorners, were scorned and mocked by the death of the Avaricious. Eironn-an, they were not so shocked by, if you can call the fate that befell her death. But a mere mortal rising up and slaying one of their number? A blasphemous slap in the face to them.
***
The first thing Laidu felt was pain.
There were many different types of pain, and it seemed like Laidu was experiencing all of them at once. There was the raging pain in his side and shoulder, where he could still feel Kazalibad's claws dig into his flesh. There was the general aches that had sunk deep into his muscles. There were the faint lines of fire that scratched across his scales, a burning pain caused by probable abrasions.
He groaned, strangely aware of the breath as it escaped from his lips. He forced his eyes open, his eyelids seeming to weigh as much as mountains. But he was able to open his eyes. Morning light splashed across wooden rafters greeted his sight. "Ugh. Where am I?" he muttered to himself.
Immediately, there was a weight on his chest, and he felt the cool touch of steel at his neck. He stared up at Thaen, red eyes narrowed and glaring. "Who are you?" Thaen growled.
"Thaen, what are you doing?" Laidu asked.
"Answer me. Who are you?" It took a moment for Laidu to realize what Thaen was doing. Laidu's mind had been so fogged from sleep that he had forgotten about the promise Thaen had made. A promise to end Laidu's life should he give in to the madness.
"Son of a daylight whore, Thaen! Get off! It's me, Laidu!" the Dragonblessed snapped in Ten-Zuani.
Thaen blinked, pulled the knife back. "It's really you?"
"Yes, it's really me," Laidu said. Thaen sighed in relief. That horrid task had escaped him.
"I told you." Laidu turned, an act that took more effort than it should have, to see Karik'ar sitting by a window, paging through a book.
"Yeah," Thaen said, hopping off of Laidu's chest, "but you also said he had the other soul inside him too."
Let me use your tongue, Laidu heard Rhaedra say. Please, let me speak to them. Laidu didn't know how much of that was a good idea, but he agreed.
"There is another soul inside Laidu. That is me." Thaen turned, and was about to draw his knife again. "No need for violence, Vesperati."
"He made me promise to put him down if he was still mad, or if the madness took over."
"And there is no need for that. Laidu Tsung is perfectly sane. And thanks to him, so am I." Laidu, meanwhile, propped himself up.
"And you are?" Thaen asked.
"Rhaedrashah, Dragon King."
"Oh, we're in the presence of royalty, now?" Karik'ar asked, his tone light and teasing.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Though dragon royalty is different in substance than human or Kai'Draen royalty." It felt strange, to feel the voice and breath of another. "Much less useless and vain pomp and circumstance."
"Ah," Karik'ar said. "So you're not going to need someone to announce whenever you enter a room."
"A herald?" Rhaedra laughed. "Dragon nobles should be able to let a roar loose and have everyone within two miles know of their presence. The day I need a herald or announcer is a sad day indeed."
Thaen frowned. "So... did you take over Laidu?"
"No," Laidu said. "We're... partners, in a way."
I'd like to think of us more like brothers. We share the same blood. We just happen to share the same body as well, Rhaedra said. He requested control of the voice again, and Laidu assented. "Partners is a... sufficient term. So far, I've just been asking permission to speak from Laidu. Common courtesy, instead of us having a mental battle to seize control of our vocal cords."
Thaen blinked. "So... two minds in one body?"
"Yes," Rhaedra and Laidu answered together. "It is what the Dragonblessed are. Two souls bound to one form."
"Oh. So you give humans... or Vesperati or Kai'Draen or whatever your powers and share their bodies?" Thaen asked.
"Yes." Rhaedra said. Laidu, however, had a different thought. He lifted a hand up, which seemed an impossible task, and stared at it. He willed the Fever Blood alight.
Nothing. No song in his head, no energy, nothing. Our blood has gone dormant. With rest, it may return. But, Rhaedra said, it is a small price to pay for the death of Kazalibad. Laidu let his hand drop.
"Your power disappeared?" Thaen asked.
"Yeah. How could you tell?" Laidu asked.
"Well, whenever you used it... your blood sounded like it was hissing and boiling."
Laidu frowned. "I've never heard that."
"Yeah, well, your ears aren't the size of your head, that's why," Thaen said. He sat down. Karik'ar still hadn't risen from his spot, and turned a page.
Laidu looked around. "Where am I?" he asked. It looked like he was in an attic of some sort, the roof slanting down to meet the edge of the floor. His bed had several chests and trunks stacked around it, and a frosted window let in light.
"In the attic of an old woman's home," Karik'ar said. "She was a client of Skaria and I, and didn't have the agreed-upon sum of money after we did her job. We took what she offered, and she said she'd help us out in the future. I asked her if she could house you, seeing as the inn where you had been lodging decided to kick everyone out."
"Why?" Laidu asked. He paused and sniffed. Something was rank and rotten outside by the smell. "And what's that scent?"
"Ghouls. The answer to both your questions." Karik'ar paused. "When Kazalibad died, so did all the ghouls in the city. Apparently the inn had a nest of them underneath, and now they're stinking up the place. They also expressed interest in not letting you back on the premises. Due to the destruction, and all that."
"Oh," Laidu said. "How is Kyra?"
"She's unharmed, but apparently under a form of house arrest. Lord Solstael isn't letting his daughter out of his sight, and he isn't letting any of us near. I can understand why."
"And how do you know she's alright?" Laidu asked.
"Skaria has been tutoring her. Still tutors her." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Lord Solstael is also hosting a ball to celebrate her safe return, which all of us were invited as guests of honor," Karik'ar said. "All of us, except for you."
Laidu blinked. Weren't you the one who rescued her? Rhaedra asked.
"Yeah I was." When he noticed Karik'ar and Thaen's confused faces, he shook his head. "Sorry. Rhaedra asked a question. So I'm not given a place of honor, even though I was the one who rescued her?"
"No. We were told you were barred from ever entering the premises." Karik'ar sighed. "He really doesn't like you, it seems."
"You're telling me," Laidu said. He leaned back. "I should rest. I hurt still."
"I'll leave you be," Karik'ar said. Laidu settled down, and started plotting in his head. The love of his life was to be kept away from him.
He couldn't accept that.
***
He awoke in pain, as usual.
It had been a few days, and he had gotten to know the old spinster who lived below. Goodwife Rennaliel was a nice old lady, and she brewed a wonderful cup of tea. She also didn't seem to see any problem with Laidu's appearance, and almost treated him as a surrogate grandson. It could be that she had some maternal instincts left over from her own family. Or it could be that her eyesight was just that bad. It was a toss-up.
He rose from his bed, wincing in pain from the wounds in his chest, and grimaced when he lifted up his arms to throw on a robe Karik'ar had left for him. His wounds were getting better, but it wasn't immediate. He healed faster than a normal man, but without powers, it was slower.
He rose and moved across the room, yanking the robe closed around his chest. Was that a figment of his imagination, or did he hear the door open below? He paused and strained his ear. No, he could hear voices below, conversing about something or other; the words were too indistinct for him to make out what they were talking about. They drifted up the stairwell and up through the fireplace, the fire now merely slumbering coals. Whatever madness had possessed the builder of the house to put a fireplace in the attic had served Laidu well. For the first time he remembered, he had to curl up underneath several blankets to stay warm, and lit a fire to stave off the oppressive chill of the night. He threw another log onto the fire, and walked towards the stairs.
His room occupied the space nearest to the street. The other side of the attic was occupied by a makeshift washroom, with a basin and mirror hung next to the window overlooking the backyard, and a chamber pot next to it. While the builder of the house made sure the top floor had a fireplace, only the first floor possessed working plumbing.
Laidu walked down the stairs, making sure he didn't strain his wounds too much with each step. The voices got clearer and clearer. He recognized them as belonging to Rennaliel and Indra.
He stepped off the final stair and entered the room. "And there is the guest of honor," Indra said. "How are you?"
"I hurt," Laidu said. He indicated the bandages on his chest.
"Well, I have fresh bandages. With poultices," Indra said.
"Ah," Laidu said. "Any news on Kyra?"
Indra shook her head. "From what Skaria told me, she's leaving for her country manor soon after the ball." She sighed. "Unless you have some masterful disguise, you're not going to see her anytime soon."
I might have something for that, Rhaedra said. Chamber. Go to your washchamber.
"I'll be back," Laidu said. "Then you can put the bandages on me, alright?"
"Is something wrong?" Goodwife Rennaliel asked.
"I just need to relieve myself," Laidu said. He rose, and slowly but surely climbed the stairs back to his washroom. He closed the door, then turned to the mirror. "So, what do you have in store for me?" he asked Rhaedra, studying his slightly more gaunt face.
You surrendered to me, and relinquished your flesh to me before. You became like I was before, a dragon, Rhaedra said.
"Yeah, turning into a dragon won't get into the ball," Laidu snapped.
But what if I surrendered my flesh to you? Rhaedra asked. Laidu could feel the dragon smile.
"You mean... I could..."
Try it. I will let go, but you must take over.
"And how do I do that?" Laidu asked.
It will feel like using the bloods. The parts of flesh I claim will be unseen to you, unsensed, but the rest you'll be able to invest your will into. They will feel strange, but will them to become your flesh, to respond to you. Laidu nodded. It was strange advice, but his life was strange lately. Thaen and Indra worried about him because he was silent, but he wasn't really silent. He was just conversing in thought.
One warning. It will hurt, most likely.
Laidu paused. He didn't do this for himself. He did it for her.
Ah, to be filled with love, like a vessel filled to the brim with fragrant wine. I know that well. Drink of that font, before time runs it dry. Laidu nodded.
He felt a strange sensation crawl across his skin, as if it had fallen asleep, and was tingling and stinging. Laidu closed his eyes and focused on those sections, willing them to feel normal.
And then the pain started. It felt as if every inch of his flesh was being pounded and constricted, a pressure crushing him from every side. He tried to scream, before it felt like his head burst open, his scalp feeling like it was crawling off his body.
And then it was over.
Laidu looked in the mirror and stopped, awestruck. His heavy-lidded eyes remained, but the scales and horns were gone. Instead, a mane of jet black hair sprouted from pale skin, and blue eyes stared at him. His snoutlike dragon nose was gone, replaced by a human, aquiline nose. And hair... hair spilled off of his head, down past his feet, as did the coarser hairs of his beard.
Laidu grabbed a knife he had set on the wash basin, grabbed a handful of his hair well below his shoulders, and hacked away. Immediately, the weight on his head vanished, and another bout of trimming on his newfound beard left him much freer to walk about, despite the obscene amount of hair on the ground.
He was human. It had been everything he had prayed for as a child, but now it meant next to nothing. He had a woman who loved him when he looked like a dragon. Being human had lost its charm in a way.
He stepped out of the bathroom. Well, time to make his plan known. He walked down the stairs, his robe trailing on the ground. He was shorter now, still tall for a human, but reasonably sized, though he still kept that well-built physique his dragon side had. But... there was another problem.
Every sensation was too intense, every sound too loud, every light too glaring. That is the trade-off. It will hurt you more, Rhaedra said. You were in your natural state as Dragonblessed before. The intensity will fade a bit.
"Indra, you said I'd need a disguise," Laidu said, wincing at the loudness of his own voice. "You think this is good enough?" he asked.
Goodwife Rennaliel stared in shock. Indra, however, shook her head. "You'll have to act the part, but... I think I can manage something," she said with a smile.