Mistion

A feast for the sick dragon

In the heart of the ancient mountain, where glowing crystals cast eerie shadows across walls of worn stone, Erythion ducked his towering frame beneath the archway of his brother's sanctuary. His massive form, with skin that appeared hewn from the deepest darkness save for his alabaster face, moved with predatory grace despite the burden he carried. Slung carelessly over one shoulder was a human, bound and gagged, their eyes wide with terror as they beheld the underground chamber with its constellation-like arrangement of luminescent minerals embedded in the ceiling.

"Brother," Erythion called, his voice a rumbling bass that seemed to vibrate the very crystals surrounding them. "I've brought you sustenance." He strode toward Mistion, who reclined weakly upon a nest of silk cushions, ancient tomes scattered about him like fallen leaves. The golden patterns flowing beneath Erythion's pitch-black skin pulsed with excitement as he deposited the human unceremoniously onto the stone floor before his brother.

Mistion's star-filled eyes widened, his ghostly white skin seeming to glow even more intensely against the midnight blue of his robes. "Ery," he whispered, his melodic voice barely audible, "what have you done?" His frail fingers traced anxious patterns in the air as he struggled to sit upright, his antler-like horns catching the crystal light above them. The human trembled at Mistion's feet, their fear palpable in the still air of the chamber.

"You haven't fed properly in weeks," Erythion stated flatly, crossing his arms across his broad chest. "Your strength wanes with each passing day. I can see it in your movements, hear it in your breath." He knelt beside the human, roughly yanking away the gag. "Human blood is rich with life, Mistion. Their kind hunted ours to near extinction—it is only fitting that they sustain what remains of our bloodline." His massive hand gripped the human's hair, tilting their head to expose the pulsing vein in their neck.

Mistion's gaze flicked between his brother's determined expression and the human's terrified one. His lips parted slightly, revealing the tips of fangs that had grown dull from disuse. "I....I don't know if I can," he stammered, even as a wave of hunger washed over him. The scent of the human's blood called to him like a siren's song, promising vitality he hadn't felt in centuries. "Taking blood from a sentient being, one that can understand death and fear it... it's different from the animals you bring."

Erythion's patience visibly thinned, the golden patterns beneath his skin swirling with irritation. "They hunt our kind for sport, for trophies, for their pathetic legends," he growled, his grip tightening on the human who whimpered in response. "Father is long dead because of them, displayed like a curiosity in their royal menagerie. Mother's bones bleach in the sun because of humans. And you...you waste away because of misplaced mercy." He pushed the human forward, closer to Mistion. "Drink, brother. For once, put your survival above your endless compassion."

The fragile dragon stared at the human, noting their racing pulse, the sweat beading on their forehead, the silent plea in their eyes. Mistion's hand trembled as he reached out, tracing a delicate pattern in the air above the human's chest where their heart thundered within.

The bloodbride

The crystal-lined chamber glowed with an ethereal blue light as Erythion ducked through the arched entrance, his massive frame nearly filling the doorway. In his grip was a naked human, their body limp but conscious, wrists bound with enchanted silver that gleamed in the dim light. Mistion looked up from his ancient tome, his star-filled eyes widening slightly at the unexpected intrusion. His brother rarely brought outsiders to their sanctuary, let alone unclothed ones who reeked of fear and... something familiar. Blood magic. Assassin's magic.

"Brother, I've brought you a gift," Erythion's dual-toned voice rumbled through the chamber as he unceremoniously dropped the human onto the plush furs that lined the floor near Mistion's reclining couch. "This vermin attempted to take your life yesterday while you slept. They carried a bone dagger coated in sunlight essence - a killing tool made specifically for our kind." Ery's alabaster face contorted with rage, the golden patterns on his pitch-black body pulsing with intensity.

Mistion's delicate white fingers traced patterns in the air as he studied the trembling human. Their skin bore the marks of his brother's rough handling, bruises blooming across their naked flesh like dark constellations. He could smell the residual magic that clung to their pores - a distinct perfume of forbidden arts that humans shouldn't possess. The human's exposed genitals quivered between their legs, their entire body shaking with fear before the two dragon brothers. Mistion felt a pang of pity despite the assassination attempt.

"I thought about killing them slowly," Erythion continued, circling the prone human like a predator, "but then I recalled how weak you've been growing." His protective rage softened slightly as he gazed at his frail brother. "Your condition worsens, and my blood alone cannot sustain you forever. This human tried to end your life - it seems only fitting they should now extend it instead." Ery reached down and roughly turned the human's head, exposing their neck where two puncture marks already showed where he had sampled their blood. "Their blood is... exceptional. Strong. Filled with magic they stole from our kind."

Mistion leaned forward, his white robes pooling around him like spilled moonlight. The movement caused a ripple of pain through his weakened body, but curiosity overrode discomfort. He hadn't fed directly from a human in centuries, relying instead on his brother's hunts and offerings. The thought both revolted and fascinated him. "You propose I make them my bloodstock? A living vessel to feed from at will?" he whispered, his melodic voice gaining strength with each word as excitement quickened his pulse. The star-like lights in his black eyes pulsed with hunger he hadn't felt in decades.

Erythion nodded, placing his large hand on his brother's shoulder. "They will serve as recompense for their sins against you. I have already bound them with the ancient magics - they cannot harm you now, and their blood will regenerate faster than normal humans. A fitting punishment for one who sought to spill the last blood of the Vampiric Night Dragons." Ery nudged the human closer to Mistion with his foot. "Drink, brother. Grow stronger so you might leave this chamber again someday. Let this assassin's folly become their eternal penance." Mistion's full lips parted slightly, revealing delicate fangs that lengthened at the prospect of fresh, magical blood flowing directly from a living source. Perhaps, just perhaps, this human's attempted murder might become their salvation instead.

A special relationship

The soft glow of ancient crystals bathed Mistion's chamber in ethereal light, casting long shadows across the stone walls adorned with astronomical charts and preserved scrolls. Two weeks had passed since Erythion had dragged the would-be assassin into their hidden realm beneath the mountains. Two weeks since this human had come within a breath of plunging a dragon-bone dagger into Mistion's chest to claim his hear, a treasure worth kingdoms to those who knew its power. Now, that same human lay spent across Mistion's lap, their body trembling with the aftermath of their joining, their skin still slick with sweat and marked by the pale dragon's attentions.

Mistion's alabaster fingers traced lazy patterns across the human's back as he savored the lingering taste of their blood on his tongue. The metallic sweetness mingled with the scent of their coupling, creating an intoxicating perfume that made his dual members pulse with renewed interest despite having just spent himself inside them. He had not planned to take the assassin this way when first he began feeding from them - it had been merely punishment, a way to extract payment for their transgressions against him. Yet something had shifted in recent days, something he was reluctant to name even in the privacy of his thoughts.

"You seem stronger today, brother," came Erythion's deep voice from the entrance to the chamber. The taller dragon's pitch-black body seemed to absorb the ambient light around him, making the golden markings across his skin appear to float in darkness. Only his alabaster face caught the light as he leaned against the archway, arms crossed over his broad chest. "The human's blood agrees with you."

Mistion nodded, not bothering to cover himself or the human as his brother entered. Dragons held no human concepts of modesty, and Ery had seen him in far more vulnerable states throughout their long lives. "Their blood carries unusual properties," Mistion replied, his voice stronger than it had been in decades. "Perhaps it is the assassin's training - whatever poisons and elixirs they were fed to make them deadly have left a residue that strengthens me." He deliberately avoided mentioning how he had begun to crave more than just the human's blood, how their body had become a comfort to him during his weakest moments.

Erythion's star-flecked eyes narrowed as he approached, studying the scene before him with the calculating gaze of a predator. "Be cautious, little brother," he warned, his voice dropping to a rumbling whisper. "This one came to take your heart. Do not accidentally give them what they failed to steal." He reached down to touch the mark on the human's shoulder where Mistion's teeth had broken skin.