(6) Breath of Aspen

Written with the help of BT: These Hopeful Machines: The Unbreakable.

I had never been left alone, anywhere in my entire life. Mother had always had someone looking after me as a child. As I grew older, I had been asked to keep track of my own whereabouts for reasons of safety, but always knew there was someone to look out if I needed them. Tonight however, I was completely alone in our country estate. Not even the slaves were left in the house. Not to much to argue with there. I could only assume they had been tagged with a rather high price tag, not exactly something you leave lying about to find trouble, but someone in the house would have been nice.

Just as mother had said, the outer pantry door had been left ajar, and once inside, I had used this as a way to escape the house as a child, not I only had to back track old steps. Now, again within the safety of our home, I wish I could tell you I felt better, but after the morning with Christian, and now the rest of the estate being gone, I had to admit, this was not the most comfortable situation I had ever been left in. Lucky for me, mother had an extensive liquor supply, it never had a lock and now, since I was alone to deal with my own fears, what could a nice drink cost me?

As I entered the kitchen, I noticed a small bloody handprint on the window looking out to the front drive. I knew it had not been there when I went for my walk. I doubted mother would have allowed it to be left, had she seen it in the first place. Knowing none of these things were likely, made my stomach churn a bit more. Had my soon to be late father in law come back to leave me a bloody threat, or was something else going on? I did not want to wonder who would leave such a messy smudge on a window, but I also did not want to think there was a chance Christian was going to come back looking for early repayment to whatever atrocities he thought I had harmed him with. I closed my eyes, walked to the reach in and found food. My first thought had to be getting myself stable. That alone would be more difficult if I was not fed.

To my great surprise, there was a few pieces of prosciutto, spinach and rustics quiche. As it were, I could not have come up with anything better to fill my desires right now. I did not remember seeing this yesterday, though I had my hands tied up a bit. It was not something mother cared for, as much as I, but maybe it had been made in the haste of leaving, her knowing it was my favorite. Once I had it on a plate, I had to make the harder decision. Did I want wine, if so red or white? Did I want to muddle something from fruits and juices, or did I want something altogether different? I swear, between my need for sexual play, my need for food, and my dark need for drinks, it could kill a girl, but I continued to look through the room, I knew if I had patience I would find the perfect compliment to tonights dinner. As it were, right as I was considering giving up the search, I knew exactly what I wanted. Again not something mother would miss. I truly think it was kept in the house for me alone. Late season German ice-wine. Very sweet, soft to the pallet abut not overwhelming if eaten with the right foods. Quiche, ice-wine and a bit of personal space. Maybe tonight would be alright after all.

It took less then five minutes to devour the first bit of quiche, I was happy to know I had another piece in the cooler. Once back at the table, I had my fill and I found myself feeling much more stable and overall better with my current situation. I was glad to know mother had no taste for my choice in wine, I went through two bottles before I found my head swimming, my belly full and my mind a bit too relaxed, even for me. While I sat finishing off  my last glass, now I turned to my possible events for the evening, and then tomorrow. This place had always been a retreat for me, even when I was a child. I had never felt uncomfortable here out out on the grounds. I was not happy to know that Christian had now found a way to disrupt my personal space.

Getting up from the table, I found myself to be much more on the dizzy side, then I had been expecting. I walked in the general direction of the pool, knowing a dip would be nice, but still safely within the walls of the house. Once there I had no desires to go find a swim suit, and simply removed the clothing. I hd been wearing this since yesterday at lunch and now after two days in dress, a long afternoon walk, and conversing with a dragon, I knew the water would feel blissful. As my skirt fell to the floor, and my new purple panties as well, I was shamed to notice how rough my sexual hair had become. I was always to happy to know I would be clean shaven each and every day, but the last three had been quite a bit more then my regular lifestyle would allow. Oh well, a bit scruffy, hot and tired, all salved with cool water and relaxation.

I was just slipping into the cool water when there was pounding at the front door. I knew I had checked the lock when coming in this evening, but when the sound thundered through the house, yet again, I knew this was not going to be pleasant. I was considering answering it, that was before I could hear a drunken call from none other then Christian. I was starting to wonder if he had stolen a car, but that was the least of my concerns, at this point. I was completely nude, a bit sore from my afternoon, and even more then a bit out of sorts of how to handle the current situation. I wanted to close my eyes, ignore the stupid male and sink into the pool, but even Aspen was starting to stir within me and I knew she would never let any harm befall me. It was an odd feeling knowing I was about to ask myself for a suggestion, but her answer came through long before my mouth actually opened. As before, her voice was calm and pure. nothing there to make me think she could not handle this little problem. Nothing till her words graced my ears.

“I have to tell you dear, this is not a situation I want you to be in tonight, but since he is at the door, obviously out of sorts and not in the mood to be going anywhere, is there anyone you might call, or should I ready myself and your body for an outing tonight?”

“Honestly Aspen, I have no idea what to do. Had this happened in the city, I would simply call the police, but out here there are few to no options when a nuisance come calling. If you tell me to trust you, I will trust you. At this moment, I am nude cool and covered in water. I would personally love to simply ignore him, but I am not dumb, he is not going to simply walk away after the events of this morning. What do you suggest?”

“I could not agree with you more, at this point. If you wish to lavish in the pool and not disturb yourself with him, then I can completely concur. The doors are locked, it is getting cold outside and you don’t have much to worry about. Though I will warn you, since your mother is completely clear of who and what I am, should I have to defend us, I will burn down the house before I allow you to come to harm. Just a warning.”

Having Aspen in my mind, heart and soul was not going to ever be a problem. She rounded off my jagged edges. She helped me see the simple side of things and I could ever hear the jest in her voice as she talked about protecting me. It was hard to imagine that a night as hard as last would bring about the results of a dragon in the twenty first century, but I must say she is a breath of fresh air, and right not fresh air was a commodity I could always use more of. The pounding did not stop, but neither did I go looking to stop it. Mother would have pitched a fit and given in to him, but Aspen and I simply enjoyed the pool, the water and the peace of mind behind English oak walls and timber. Quarry stone outside, granite within, this house would surely take a beating long before it gave way to a single drunken idiot. As time went on, and we did not answer his calls, he did slow his pace, and even go quiet for long periods of time. Then, out of nowhere he would start up again, beat on the door, pitch his little fit and start all over again. The hours slowly went by, his tantrums came and went, but by twilight, he had all but left us and the house alone.

Around one in the morning, I drug myself out of the pool, feeling closer to an old woman then a young one. I felt complete being able to walk the house completely nude. No worries, none at the moment anyway. Aspen had all but vanished from my minds eye. I felt her still a bit now, as I approached the front window to the house. I had hoped any and all who may have come with Christian would be long gone, but as always he and three other men, of whom I had never set eyes on, were out next to a fancy Italian sports car, drinking beer and making complete fools of themselves. It was not the men, mind you that bothered me so, it was the case of gear half hanging out of the car, glittering in the moonlight and got me thinking that maybe all the trouble with Christian, and the threats had more to do with my direct actions, then I had considered myself responsible for. I slipped away from the window, returned to the side of the pool and redressed enough to climb back to my room, knowing clean clothing and the like would be waiting.

I took a minute to look over the course of this week as I climbed the stairs. It had started so simply. I had met friends in the city for lunch the morning of the opera. I had not returned home, and though till this very moment, I had not concerned myself with looking around me, wondering if preying eyes may be watching. I have always had the keen ability to look back at the happenings of my life, and take a better look around me then when it had been the present. Now, opening the door to my room, I started to see the same set of eyes looking at me throughout the day leading to the opera. There were two different pairs, and though I could not see body and sizes to accompany the eyes, they were there all the same. As I found new clothing, panties and a bra, I kept looking through my day and I realized there had been people watching, close to my every move. In the restaurant with friends for lunch. On the city streets buying and browsing for good. Even in the theater while watching the show. All these places now, I could see clearly a threat that had been growing around me, about me and most likely because of me, and my complete lack of consideration to my own well being. Till now I had never felt unsafe in London, but the images I now saw in the back of my mind, nearly brought me to tears. Stealing a peek out my window, the three men were still fully conscious, drinking suds and even admiring the gear which was now completely out of the car, and being broken into what looked like usable groups.

My night with Arthur had brought me to the attention of such gear. It had been all over his home, even in painting and artwork, there had been men and women alike bound in what looked like elegant but firm restraints. How Christian had anything to do with that style of living I could only guess. Though, he had been married to mother, and just yesterday I had been surprised to find her in possession of two live in slaves. If mother took part in that world, it would be easy enough to put the worlds together and see the connection. Mother, clearly had her hands in pleasure of others, not in the enslaving of them. Christian, on the other hand seemed very pleased to be on the stealing end of this little trade. Did he think of me as just another woman to be sold into sexual slavery, and if that were the case, was the man I knew as Arthur, Master Windsor, not so much a maker of toy’s, but the seller and trainer of flesh. Living flesh, minds and souls must make a better profit then selling toy’s to the children of highborn families.

Pulling all this information in, I was much more comfortable defending the house steps fully dressed. Knowing Aspen to be within me, and protective over me. I had just landed on the ground floor when the men made it clear they were far from giving up for the night. Only this time they were beyond reason, two of the front windows burst into shards as rocks and shotgun blasts tore through them. I turned in sudden fear, as I clearly heard the drunken voices of men obviously here to tear me away from a life I had only just glimpsed in the last two days. I was not about to give in willingly, but then I felt my skin stretch, my body change and watched in total disbelief as my hands changed completely in front of my eyes.

Fingers turned to claws. Hands changed to what more closely resembled giant paws. No longer covered in skin, now hardening to diamond hard purple scales. The under side of my growing paws were still closer to skin, but I could not think of anything that would yet harm me. As I took in a deep breath, I could feel my torso stretching, my ass and thighs changing shape and the hair on my head pulling inward. there was an old fashioned full sized mirror in the library I simply had to see what Aspen was doing to me. I felt that walking there should not have been such a bother, but when my fist attempted step landed me on the floor, and Aspen’s inservice only giggled, I knew this was going to take a good deal to get use to. I wished now, I had considered that they may not be finished for the night. As I climbed back to all fours, not just two legs, I felt and heard the spreading of fabric, and clothing I had not wanted destroyed this night. Again Aspen chimed into my mind, and gave me reason to relax and proceed cautiously.

“although new to you now, and myself in your body, this is how we become paired for all eternity. You will grow accustomed to four legs, not only two. You will become comfortable with my shape and not your own, and when you see what we are capable of together, you will never again have reason to fear anything. Move forward my daughter, we will make it together, or not at all.”

As she had told me, I rose back to four paws, concentrated on walking more like a dog, then human and one step at a time we made our way to the library. I had never liked the massive doors leading inward, that was till now. My duality form would never had fit through a normal sized door tonight, and I was determined to see this new change in myself with my inner dragon. I stepped through the double doors and saw something I still had problems believing was my own form. I was no longer only five or so feet tall. All my human curves now gone, replaced with the long slider curves of a great scale covered serpent. Ninety percent of my new scales were a deep royal purple, but every so often they were accompanied by light and dark blues, and even the one or two greens of pure emeralds. My hair now completely gone, replaced by horns and spiked scales surrounding my face and eyes. Even my eyes had changed in color. Their depth now completely foreign to that of any human. My pupil’s were now ringed with black from a winters night sky, overlaid on top of that were shades of purple, blue and more green on the outer edges. in the center  more black waved with something closer to pure energy. I looked to the mirror again almost holding my breath in fear this was all an illusion, but the sight did not fail. and my form remained the same. I was just about finished admiring myself when I heard the front door being broken inward. and then I felt Aspen take complete control. I was not the passenger, when she had always been. I could see through her massive eyes, I could feel all my new bones and I could even feel the stretching of something completely new. Bursting into the main hall, the three men had no idea what was more then prepared for their arrival.

The new addition I had not taken into account were Aspen’s wings, now halfway unfolded, either in protection of her body, or a growing threat to the men before us. A growl shaking from my very soul, slipped through my teeth and out into the dark house. The effect was instant, even before any of the three had taken a chance to notice a large serpent bearing down on them. Her speech was completely foreign to English, but I was still able to fully understand her, and the men around us. I would think breaking into a house expecting to find a single woman alone, and finding yourself head to head with a dragon out of a fairy tale would be more then enough to scare most to death if not beyond. The three men stood their ground, more then I would have been able to do, but the moment Christian took a single step towards us, the game changed altogether. Her growl changed to a roar, that alone made him back up, but she was far from finished with him and his two companions. She spread her wings enough filling the whole of the room, making them return to the front of the house, with no where left to retreat. Once on the front lawn, I was very glad we were not in the city. We continued to grow, only this time by factors of ten or more. First she was big enough to make it impossible to reenter the house, then to get anywhere close to the house at all, and lastly large enough to step fully on the pretty red sports car, crushing it entirely with her here size and weight. One of the men who had obviously been in ownership of the vehicle swore openly, but he too backed up when we changed our motion to his direction. I wanted to confront them with my own words and voice, but settled with just words of English. Our voice was a mixture of a low rumble and the chimes of a summer breeze. The point was not open for discussion, and the three men knew it.

“Gentleman, it would seem you have entered a home not of your own making. It would also seem your pretty little toy car is now no more. As for the two who came with Christian, I can only tell you leave now. As for Christian himself, I do believe mother warned you not to return this morning, so whatever befalls you this night, know it was of your own choosing, by not heeding her warnings. Now leave!”

The first two did not hesitate in their departure, but Christian only stood and stared as if the warning did not apply to him in some way. I gave up complete control to Aspen and left all further decision in her very capable abilities. I knew the trap was set, neither he nor us could fit back into the house, so we continued to push him towards the open lawn. To my complete surprise, bewilderment and humor, he actually seemed to be unzipping he trousers, as if this could in any way be turned sexual. As they fell to the ground, and he only stood there looking back at us in true defiance, did Aspen set the world around him, through him, under him and beyond him ablaze. Pure white, purple and golden flames erupted from her snout. The first breath did not burn him, but the blast knocked him fully on his ass, making him think twice about the meaning in removing his paints. As she inhaled for a second strike, she spoke no words, but once again growled and roared to warn him off. This time, he showed a bit more reluctance in sticking around. He was nearly to the end of the drive, when she gave him a full heat filled blast of her inner will. The green in the font lawn vanished under an incendiary of pure white heat. The gravel in the turn about actually melted and the heat, even from within her own body went up more then a hundred degrees in seconds. But she was far from finished making her point. I felt her legs moving downward into a crouching position, and before I had time to grab my breath, she jumped for the sky sending us both hundreds of meters off the ground. Her fire now covered the sky. Her body wrapped and spun in the cool evening air and our eyes gave view of a world I had never seen. Christian ran, down the side road, out onto the main and kept running. I think it had finally hit him that his life was in fact in danger, and he made no worry to keep running.

Aspen flew over the house, soared over the back fields and hills I had walked in the summer sun and when the lights of London started to come into view, she turned and headed back to a home, I was much in need of. I wondered to myself how so much body could be fed by my meager managed diet, but then she answered as we came closer to our own property. A single deer grazing in the dark of an open field became her dinner, and my first kill! Little to nothing was left after the kill. She crunched, gulped and swallowed and that was the end of it. I was amazed at how completely she cleaned up after herself. It was clear she did not want anyone tripping over her remains and wondering just what kind of beast had made such a kill.

After her meal, she jumped back into the sky, twisting, turning and almost dancing on the summer wind. By the time we arrived back at the house, it was well past four in the morning, but seeing how I had nothing else to do, she landed in the front circle, stretched out her wings and simply allowed herself to fully enjoy being in her true form again. There was no need for words, all emotions now shared completely between us both, our memories and dreams also now one. Everything she has ever kept silent, hoping we would one day become one, were now open to my mind heart and soul. All my fears and dealing in this life now open to her. She had danced on the way home, and I now danced through a million years of life, love and understandings. The first rays of dawn hit the now ever singed front circle and it was clear she was good to her word of keeping us both safe eternally. My life long search for my other half was now at an end. The rest of eternity stretched out before us, and Aspen begrudgingly started her road back to two legs, and human form.