“I’ve had enough!” Suzume announced.

Kaito, as usual, was further up the road. The sun had begun to set and it silhouetted him in orange light and set red streaks through his hair which he had tied into a top knot. He tilted his head to regard her.

“You’ve had enough of the sexual tension and you want to give yourself to me?” he asked.

She did not even have the energy to argue. I am going to zap him for that later. They had been walking non-stop since they left the shrine. Less than a week had passed, but it may as well have been months for all she cared. It felt like her blisters had blisters. Her hair was a matted mess. She was sure she stunk like a swamp.

There was a grassy knoll topped by a tree. She stomped over towards it. Fractured shadow gave some relief from the heat and she sat down there and leaned against the tree.

“This place is a bit public but I like a bit of danger,” The dragon said as he loomed over her his arms crossed over his chest.

Suzume closed her eyes and ignored him. Maybe if I close my eyes he and all of this insanity will go away. It’s not even worth going back to the palace at this rate, not if I look like some peasant.

The grass rustled beneath his feet and she could feel the power radiating from his body as he leaned in close to her. His breath fanned across her cheek. Her powers reached out probing tendrils testing his spiritual power with her own. He did not back down but let her power caress his. The sensation of their powers mingling raised the gooseflesh on her arms.

“I forget how weak you humans can be,” he said in a husky whisper.

“That’s because you’re a selfish jerk,” Suzume replied. She kept her eyes closed. She couldn’t see his smile but she could feel his amusement in the commingling of their powers. Kaito’s spiritual energy was sending off sparks like it had before, in fact it seemed to be mixing with hers.

“We’ll make camp, but not here on the side of the road. We’re too exposed. I’d hate for the ‘big one’ to find you and eat you before I get the chance.”

She opened her eyes and found Kaito’s face close to hers. His lips were parted and moist. She turned her head away. “If I didn’t know better I would have taken that you care for me. Better be careful or I’ll get the wrong idea,” she said.

He stood up straight. “I have to take care of my pet,” he laughed his thundering belly laugh and despite her exhaustion her temper won out.

“You are such a—“

“A what?” he smirked with hands on hips.

She shook her head in a furry. Her matted hair swung around and slapping her in the face. “A Dragon.”

He cackled as she stomped up the path away from him. Why is he like that? One moment he’s almost human and the next he’s acting like he’s better than me. She didn’t get far before slowing down and waiting for Kaito to catch up. She looked over her shoulder but he was gone. Where did he go now? She glanced around in several directions. It was as if he had disappeared. He left me! I am going to starve on the road by myself like a filthy peasant and he’ll laugh over my corpse. Or worse, I’ll be eaten before I get the chance to starve!

“Where are you? This isn’t funny!” She twirled in place looking for Kaito. She tried to force out her spiritual powers to look from him but they were once more dormant. She inhaled sharply and wrung her hands. Should I look for help? Who would take me? Where would I go? A hand came down on her shoulder and Suzume screamed. A second hand grabbed her other shoulder and twisted her around.

“What are you screaming about?” Kaito asked.

Suzume looked up at Kaito and felt a hot blush stain her skin. How could I let him trick me like this?

“Nothing. A bug. A creature. Nothing,” she said and ripped herself from his grasp..

He raised an eyebrow but for once, he did not tease her. She ducked her head for a moment to regain her composure.

“Where did you go?”

“Why, did you miss me?”

“No, you said we couldn’t camp here. Did you find somewhere for us to stay the night?”

He grinned. “I did actually, and I have a bit of a surprise.”

He held out his hand for her to take. She shrugged him off and followed him through the brush along the side of the road. The fought through low hang branches and tall grasses –or at least Suzume did—for several minutes before reaching a clearing. The air smelt of sulfur and there was a damp feeling to the air.

“Is that?”

She ran forward and before her was the most glorious thing she could imagine. Steam rose from the water’s surface and brushed against her skin as she knelt down by the water side and let her hand slip into the pleasantly warm water.

“A hot spring! I am saved.”

“I thought you would like it.” He leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing his arms folded over his chest.

She glared at him with hands on her filthy hips. “What’s your angle?”

“What? Can’t I do something nice for my pet?”

“No. Not you. You’ve been unusually nice to me all afternoon. Why?”

He grinned. “You admit that you’re my pet then.” She scowled at him in response. He laughed and then said, “No reason, really other than that you stink.”

She crinkled her nose at him. She hated to agree with him but she did feel filthy and the water was calling to her. There’s always a catch. Dare I risk it to have skin free of muck?

“You’re not going to boil the water somehow and make me into a broth are you?”

“I doubt it would be very filling.” he grinned.

She frowned. She looked at Kaito and then at the spring then back to Kaito. “Are you trying to peek at me while I bath? You’re sick!”

He threw up his hands in defense. “There is nothing beneath those filthy clothes that I wish to see.”

She folded her hands over her torso. “I’ll have you know my body has poems written about it.”

“Uh-huh.” He strolled away. “Just wash and enjoy. I’m tired of your stink.”

She watched him go with a suspicious glance but in the end, she stripped out of her filthy clothes and then slipped into the warm water. Gooseflesh rose on her arms and legs but it felt unbelievably good to be submerged in the blissful heat. She swam around a bit keeping one ear cocked for the sound of approaching footsteps. When she heard none, she went to rest against a ledge and just let her body turn into a giant prune.

The ground beneath her was stone and smooth. She ran her toes along the stone listlessly and stared at the steam as it rose off the surface of the water. This is a life I could get used to.

Her vision blurred as she let her mind wander. Images danced through the steam and she smiled in a groggy way. It’s almost like watching a dream while I am awake. The longer she watched the images, the clearer they became. She saw a priestess dressed in ceremonial red and white attending a shrine. She was heavy with child. She stood before the dais which held Kaito’s seal. She did not touch the ‘holy object’ but stared at it deep within thought. The image dissipated as soon as it appeared but another replaced it, clearer than the first.

The priestess from the shrine was walking through the swamp. She had a bow slung over her back and she wore flowing pants in plain brown and her hair was braided down her back. She stopped at the edge of a clearing along a large expanse of water. The water bubbled and then parted. The swamp creature emerged and the woman hailed it.

 “You have some nerve coming here, Priestess.”

“Do not waste your empty threats upon me. I have erected a barrier to protect me. Now listen to me speak.”

The creature shifted back and forth but appeared unable to move. “Very well, why have you come here?”

“For answers,” she said.

He shook his head. “Many seek but not all find.”

“I know. I wanted to know about—“ she hesitated and touched her stomach. “A child born of the first and of a human woman cannot be tolerated. It is an abomination; is it not so?”

He sank down and blew bubbles in the water. “Yes. It would never be accepted by humans nor among the first.”

“It is as I feared then.”

“You are with his child?”

She had turned to walk away. “Yes.”

“Is that why you sealed him away?”

She paused. “Yes.”

The vision ended and Suzume felt as if it took the breath from her lungs. She sank down into the water up to her neck and her limbs floated uselessly on the water’s surface.  Then she did know she was carrying Kaito’s child. Why seal him away then?

“You have seen the vision?” a voice squeaked.

Suzume flailed in the water and splashed about covering her naked body as best as she could with her hands.

“Who’s there? You pervert, you promised not to peek!”

“I do not care for your human body,” the tiny voice said again. It sounded close yet she could not see anyone in the dark forest.

“Where are you? Who are you?”

“I am here. I am me.”

She stopped flailing around and really looked. To her left at the pool’s edge was a miniature stone shrine and at its base a small figure sat beside it. Suzume swam closer to get a better look. She leaned against the ledge and came within inches of the smallest person she had ever seen. It looked like an old woman with a long robe of bright pink and white with tiny water lotuses embroidered on it. She had her silvery hair tied up on top of her hair.

“Who are you?” Suzume asked.

“I am the keeper of the pool and the guider of visions. You were brought here to me.”

Suzume narrowed her eyes. “By whom?”

“The master, the dragon who has woken from his sleep of course,” she said with a smile.

“Why did he bring me here?”

“He is testing you. He is unsure of your abilities. You seem familiar to him and he knows not why.”

“Do all of you monsters talk in riddles?”

The tiny old woman shrugged. “Yes and no.”

Suzume sighed. So, yes.  “What does the vision have to do with my powers? That was the woman that sealed him right? Why would she seal him, because she was pregnant? Seems like a weird way of dealing with a bastard.”

The old woman shook her head. “You are not prepared to understand. Nor is he; when he asks you about your visions tell him nothing, do you understand?”

“Why? I mean, I don’t exactly like doing what he wants but I don’t want to be eaten either.”

“It’s best if he thinks you weak, for now. Wait and watch Priestess, you shall see.”

Something rustle the long grasses alongside the pool and Suzume looked up. Kaito came crashing through.

“Are you done yet? I’m bored.”

That’s why he wanted me to come here. For the vision. Well two can play at this game. He may be a dragon but he is a male dragon.

“Almost.” She swam to the edge of the pond nearest to Kaito and pulled herself up baring the top of her breast glistening with water. She covered herself just enough to keep a sense of mystery. “Join me?”

She pouted her lips and ran her hands through her damp hair.

“I’d rather not,” his tone was chilly as he turned and walked away.

She glared after him. I do not understand him. Maybe he’s not a man after all.