First Demonic Dragon - Chapter 1223: Our Hope, Our Future

Chapter 1223: Our Hope, Our Future

Thrudd was a large dragon. Likely the largest of all of Courtney’s siblings.

She was a glorious red beast, like a storm come to life.

At over four-hundred meters tall, her lower body was quadrupedal with powerful, muscular legs that made the earth tremble with every step.

Her upper body was slightly more feminine, with a humanoid shape. The claws curling out of her hands were so sharp that they could cut through reality if she were not careful.

A glorious crown of hair sat atop her head, made from living lightning.

Thrudd landed on the ground in front of them, and a storm of dust was kicked up into the air.

Nihil and Courtney both blinked slowly as they stared up at her.

“…What?”

“Nothing, it’s just… been a while since we’ve seen you like this, Red Bean.”

“You’re so cool, sis.” Courtney nodded.

“Awww you guysss!!”

Thrudd’s tail swished happily behind her back, inadvertently causing her to destroy many of Mars’ natural landmarks.

“Hey! I’m still here!”

Fiona slid down Thrudd’s nose and hit the ground rolling.

She rushed up to Courtney and Fiona, panting heavily.

“Look… you guys shouldn’t be-”

“You followed us here?”

“I had to! I didn’t want you guys fighting over me like we were some angsty teenage movie!”

“…But we’re done already.” Courtney tilted her head.

“Yeah, well… what?”

“We’re done. We’re going home.”

Courtney walked past a stunned Fiona.

“You wanna ride back with me, or are you going with Thrudd?”

“I… well… I-I kinda wanna talk to you about everything..!”

“Okay then.”

Courtney lifted Fiona into her arms in a princess carry.

“See you guys back at the house!”

Courtney rocketed into the sky with her form slowly changing.

Her body lengthened into that of an eastern dragon over three hundred meters tall. A pair of leathery black wings burst from her back; each of them nearly as long as her entire body.

She left the planet’s atmosphere in seconds. Leaving Thrudd and Nihil behind in the red sand.

Slowly, Thrudd turned to face her cousin.

“…Wanna race back?”

Nihil did not immediately respond. His gaze seemed to be trained on his ripped clothes and bloody hands.

“…I need you to hit me.” He said in a low voice.

“Don’t feel like it. It’s not honorable for a warrior to take one’s sloppy seconds.”

“I guarantee you’re going to want to hit me once I tell you what I said to her…”

“Does she finally get a nickname, too? Because I’m tired of being the only one who-”

“I’M NOT JOKING, THRUDD!” Nihil roared.

Thrudd stared at her cousin silently as if she were judging the weight of his existence.

“…Out with it then. You’re clearly feeling guilty about something.”

“…I said…”

Thrudd stomped on her cousin out of instinct.

When she removed her foot, he was practically a pancake at the bottom of the crater.

Thrudd leaned down, blinking innocently.

“You okay now?”

Nihil coughed. “I didn’t… get to say anything yet..!”

“Yeah, but I figure this was better than you saying something that would make me resent you for the rest of our immortal lives. Courtney doesn’t seem to mind, so I’m choosing to tell myself it wasn’t that deep. We goin’ home now?”

Nihil coughed weakly.

“…Sure.”

–

Abaddon took a deep breath as he let the water from the showerhead run through his hair.

He was feeling a bit nervous. Though he couldn’t say why.

Perhaps it was that he never expected to find himself in this position again, or maybe it was just how uncertain he was about the future.

The world was going to change forever in a few days’ time. Abaddon didn’t know if what he would be bringing his child into was something chaotic.

Ordinarily… that wasn’t something he would worry about. All of his children had more than enough power to protect themselves thanks to him and his wives.

But if his last child truly would not grow past a certain age… if he would truly be a child forever… then was Abaddon doing something unnecessarily cruel by bringing him into an existence of strife?

He thought about it for a while, but eventually shook his head.

Gods come about in many forms, and the ages are always filled with strife. His child would not necessarily be something new, just unique.

No… in the end, what Abaddon still had reservations about was using the birth of his child to heal himself.

He could feel it now. Nihil’s essence swirled around inside him. It filled his stomach with a light, happy feeling.

There was an innocence to Agheel that made Abaddon feel guilty for his perceived selfishness.

Abaddon could not say whether or not he was doing the right thing.

He would have liked to have Eternity remove the piece from his soul on his own… but there was a colossal chance that if Eternity were to touch his soul directly, he would see everything about Abaddon.

He wasn’t willing to take that chance. Not when he still wasn’t sure if he could trust any of the Egoless besides his wives.

Abaddon ran a hand through his waves and shut off the water.

Waves of steam rippled off his muscles into the air as he stepped out of the shower.

Grabbing the nearest towel, he buried his face in the fabric and scrubbed free the remainder of his doubts.

He would be sure-footed going forward. He would not question his decisions or lament his past. Only deal with the consequences.

When Abaddon removed his face from the towel, his eyes were glowing more brightly than before, and his horns slowly began to curl out of his head.

Sighing, Abaddon dried off the rest of his body before he stepped outside, not bothering to get dressed.

When he entered his bedroom, the atmosphere was transformative.

Candles illuminated the four corners of the room in one beautiful picture.

Soft singing came from the stereo in the room. It was low, beautiful, and only added to the anticipatory mood Abaddon was feeling.

His wives were either on the bed or on the sofa, and once he came out, all of their eyes naturally went to him.

Abaddon rubbed the back of his neck. “Making me feel a little shy here, girls…”

Bekka stood up from the sofa and grabbed her husband by the wrist.

Gradually, she pulled her husband towards the bed where Izanami waited with her face flushed with red.

“We’ve all talked about it, and I think we’re ready for the sacrifices again… back to the two-hour feedings, the sleepless nights, the pitter-patter of little feet rushing into our bedroom to stay the night…”

“One of those things isn’t necessarily limited to newborns. Gabbrielle literally just slept in our bed last night.”

“W-Well, you know what I mean… We’re ready. And we’re all excited to have a new baby around.”

“Even though we’re already grandparents…” Tatiana sighed.

“Well, maybe this’ll help us feel younger, babe.” Lisa comforted.

Abaddon seriously doubted that all it would take was a child to make them feel any less old than they already were.

He got into bed with Izanami, and she wasted no time crawling into his lap.

She wrapped her arm tightly around his neck and reached out for Eris, who was lying nearby.

Both dragons were stumped to find that she was already crying.

“My love…?”

Izanami tightened her grip on both of her lovers.

A well of emotions was bursting inside her chest. Though she could not voice how she felt in that moment.

Izanami was overcome with an immense love for her family.

At every opportunity, they made her wishes come true without complaint or denial.

She felt undeserving, and yet immensely appreciative.

“Sometimes… I still wonder if this is all a part of her illusion. If I let you all go… how certain can I be that she will not rip you away from me…? How can I be sure that all of this happiness I feel is not an effect of her cruelty…?”

Abaddon and Eris smiled at their lover tenderly.

Eris gently took one of her hands and placed it over her breast.

Izanami was surprised by the force of her love’s heartbeat radiating against her palm.

“This… is the most proof I know how to provide to you. You have my heart, body, and soul in the palm of your hand, my love. And there is no force in the world powerful enough to separate us. Now that we are connected… we will be together until the end of time.”

Abaddon also took one of Izanami’s hands and placed it over his chest. But instead of saying anything, he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers.

Izanami let a single, crystalline tear fall from her cheek.

Gradually, more and more of their partners began to crawl into the bed to touch, kiss, or console her.

Iznanami was pretty certain that her heart burst from the euphoria more than just one time.

The following reaffirmation of their feelings lasted only a few hours. A relatively short time for the dragon family.

Izanami forgot herself and fully threw herself into the act. She kept her eyes closed, concentrating on the intense, pleasurable sensations rippling across her body one after the other.

Towards the end, she noticed that she was more tired than usual. Initially, she was embarrassed over this, as she thought she had become out of shape.

But when she finally opened her eyes, she realized exactly why she felt so tired.

Her stomach was beginning to swell.