"It's the Baba Yaga!"

"Grandma, no! His name's Keanu, and he's a sweetheart!"

In my dreams, hurried voices and thumping exclamations intermingled with the existential dread and misery of why I had lost my consciousness. The darkness was welcoming in a way. What seemed like years passed, until the dull grayness of my brainmeat firing back up seeped through. I blinked my eyes as I realized I was laying on the table in the Maesterium Hall, and all the Maesters were all awake.

That thought made me sit up quickly.

To my left, Maester Surmond apparently sat smoking his ornate smoking bowl. My sudden rising from unconsciousness like that must have startled old Surmond for he dropped his bowl and screamed at the top of his lungs. His eyes shot wide, and he slid his chair back quickly. The sound of the chair legs on the solid wood floor let out a horrible, terrible sound just as the bowl he was smoking shattered.

All the Maesters that were mingling around the Hall went quiet and stared at me. The echoing of the chair died. The tinkling of broken glass. A Maester coughed. Another sniffing his nose. Hogan, poor hobbled Hogan stood in the corner, hat in hand, staring down. He was bruised, clothes rumpled and dirty. The human, now garbed in makeshift clothing, sitting at the table. A look of bewilderment and terror showed true on its ugly, pale face.

As I began to comprehend my surroundings, a shaky voice finally broke the uneasy silence.

"Yoan! You're awake. We have much to discuss about this late evenings events."

Maester Joheph, High Seer of the Maesterium, ancient in wisdom and age, powerful in the Aetherarts, leader of the Maesterium Aetheric Arts Guild stared at me with eyes filled with terror.

That did not make me, a lowly Dyad Servant, feel any better.

"Yes. Maester. I'll tell you everything that I know." I replied, having scooted myself off of the table and standing up. I wobbled a bit, still light headed.

"Before I do that though, let me clean this glass up. Maesters, please, don't step in the glass!" I exclaimed, having made my way to the broom closet beside Hogan. I opened it, shaking, going through the motions of my daily, ever dutiful role as servant. The Maesters all murmured thanks and grunts, as I swept up the glass. I piled it neatly and swept it expertly into a dustpan, and tossed it into the flames of the fireplace burning furiously away nearby.

If there was anything in the Dyadic society, it was To Serve, before all else, Duty First. The rote actions calmed my mind. It allowed me to set the evenings events in the right order. I strode back to the broom closet, replaced the items, closed the door and nodded at Hogan. He didn't look up from the floor. A bit of ochre blood dripped from a slowly healing cut on his gray face. A pang of guilt washed over me. I placed my hand on his shaking shoulders, and he began to sob openly.

"Hush the Horken, Yoan. We will deal with him soon enough. Now come tell us what has happened. This human here..."

Maester Surmond had resumed his seat, placing a arm around the puny human. It cowered away, but did not attempt to flee. Surmond smiled strangely, eyes glazing over from the Aetherweed.

"...is to be taken care of and safe from any harm. Do you understand, Yoan?"

Maester Kilik stepped forward. Killik, Maester Ironjoiner and Grand Fabricator shook as he spoke.

"Yes, which is why it has been bathed and clothed, and Cook currently has appropriate foodstuffs prepared for it to eat. It appears young, at least for a Human, and male. The Brand though! Terragia be with us!"

Murmuring, quick agreements and mumbled cursing. I squeezed Hogans shoulder, and turned to face my Elders. I walked back to the table, pulled a chair out, and sat in front of the Human in question. It stared at me, then just let its eyes wander around the Maesterium. I ignored it, closing my eyes and trying to concentrate.

I gathered my wits and began to speak.

"I was asleep when Hogan startled me awake. I assumed he was just drunk, but he informed me of having found a Human. I followed him to the eastern root cellar. Passed out. That, Maesters, is all I know. Oh, and Drogons are surely coming."

The finality of my statement seemed to drape over the Maesters, as they mingled amongst themselves.

Maester Joheph raised his arms, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"SILENCE!"

A hush washed over the Hall. The human, and Surmond pulled it in close. It barked and yelped, but didn't resist.

"We shall not panick! All will be well within our hallowed halls my fellow Maesters! Do not fret! We shall feed and care for that..." Joheph pointed at the Human, who had wriggled out of Surmonds grasp..."will be handed over to whichever Drogon comes and gets it!"

More!

"Oh please don't tell me we are doing this cliché," Doctor Defacer mumbles to himself as the combat begins. Fortunately, it has them all, even Blue Bombshell (he really needed to talk to her about that horrible name) distracted, so he can escape. Or rather, attempt to. These knot are really well-tied. He'd have to review his drone footage later to see how it was done. In the mean time, he'd just have to hop his chair toward the exit door. It opened out, so a good lean would work and his drones could get in, grab him, and maybe take out a few of his attackers. Hmmm... OK, he'd let BB go this time, since she was there to help him.

"Hey, he's getting away!" The tall thug in the gorilla mask shouted just before BB kicked him in the throat. Dang, she never skips leg day, does she?, the doctor thought. No, stop that. Don't give in to the clichés. Gonna get yourself killed.

Unfortunately, clichés or no, his kidnappers were now moving the fight his direction faster than he was hopping. Still, he could make it, he could make it, just a few more BAM

The eagle-masked attacker slammed into him, knocking over the chair. If his arms were loose, they could push the door, but then, if they were loose, he'd already be gone. And his mind quickly went elsewhere as the eagle started crushing his windpipe. Or perhaps he could kill two bird with one... bird. No, he was glad he didn't make that quip out loud. BB would have mocked him endlessly.

He gave a good jerk of his legs, popping the chair and sending the eagle flying (better, not great) through the door. One drone swooped in and was cutting the rope, but none of the rest got in.

Just he was loose, he felt weight straddle his chest. An unfortunately familiar weight, 135 lbs, slender yet muscular. So much cliché. If BB was here, she must have finished off the rest of the crowd. He had the drone tase her. Simple enough.

He shoved her now unconscious body off his, trying not to think anything about how soft her skin felt, and walked out the door, holding it so his drone could follow, then turned to the rest of them.

"Alright boys, let's head... One second."

He grabbed a pen and paper, wrote a quick note, and hurriedly stuffed it in BB's unconscious hand. Then he was ready to go.

When she came to a couple minutes later, the Blue Bombshell notice the note and read it once her vision cleared.

Your name sucks. You should be ashamed.

"I'll get you next time, Doc."

Across town, he cringed, feeling some cliché had just been met.

I really loved this take! Bravo!

No worries, it probably wasn't the clearest phrasing but I wasn't sure how else to word it without breaking flow.

Ah, sorry I misread it!

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I was a little nervous bringing Janice to meet my family, but I could only imagine how she must feel. She told me she didn’t have any family so I didn’t have to impress her folks, so that was a relief on my end. Still I was a little nervous about bringing her. I mean I’m sure my family would approve of her, even if we’ve only been dating for two months, but still you never know.

We got out of the car and walked towards the front door of my parents house, which opened immediately to the sight of my older sister ready to greet us. Guess she was eagerly anticipating out arrival. After i introduced my sister, the three of us made our way to the dining room, where my parents and younger brother were setting the table, and I introduced each of them to Janice.

Once those introductions were done, my sister ran to get our grandmother for dinner. I breathed a sigh of relief, everything seemed to be going well at this point.

Soon my sister returned walking our grandmother into the room. Then suddenly, before I got the chance to introduce her, my grandmother screamed “Jandevier!!!”

Everyone except for Janice turned to see my grandmother. The name she screamed, Jandevier, was apparently the name of some ancient demon that was trying to enslave mankind, something my family had been tasked with preventing by killing Jandevier generation after generation. Of course it was some ancient legend past down my family, so I didn’t think it was true especially since the last time Jandevier tried to take over the world was before my grandmother was born.

But that wasn’t the weirdest part about this night, what was weird is seeing my grandmother running up to this supposed “ancient demon” and hugging her.

“How have you been? It’s been so long.” She asked Janice.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know you.” Janice replied, confused.

My grandmother stopped hugging Janice. She put both hands on her shoulders and made a somewhat serious face. “Someday, your little world will soon be mine, little hero girl.” Grandmother said in a mocking tone of voice.

Suddenly, Janice face beamed. “Claudia?” She hugged my grandmother again. “Oh it’s been so long. How are you? You look more beautiful than ever!”

My grandmother laughed. “I’m so happy to see you.” My grandmother then turned to see the rest of us. We were all bewildered, first by the fact that the girl I brought home was apparently our family’s sworn enemy, but then by the fact that our sworn enemy was best friends with my grandmother.

“So you’re some kind of demon?” My little bro asked Janice.

“Yeah. If you guys want, I can show you my powers.”

“Yeah sure.” I said

Janice beamed once more. She held up her hand, and we all gasped watching her fingers morph into three, then break apart into six, then morph back into five. She then pointed at her head, and her long brown hair shifted to blonde, then red, then back to brown.

She then snapped her fingers, but nothing happened. She tried again, but still nothing. After a few more snaps, she finally got a small flame flickering on the end of her index finger, which she used to light the candle on the dinning room table. Everyone applauded.

“But wait.” My sister said. “If you really are our sworn enemy, how are you and grandma best friends? And how come you’re dating my kid brother?”

Janice laughed. “Well it’s kind of a long story: you see, a generation before your grandmother was born, I decided to try a different approach to killing your family, I decided to become friends with them and pretend to give up on enslaving mankind. To my surprise, your great-great-grandfather treated me like I was his friend. I was so charmed by him that I eventually stick to my word and became his best friend. Once I died in that body, I became best friends with your grandmother. Yeah taking over the world sounds fun, but being friends with your family is way more fun.”

“Well alright then.” My father said. “I’m sure we’re all hungry, let’s eat.”

The rest of the evening went smoothly with all of us enjoying each other’s company and making each other laugh. After a few hours, Janice said her goodbyes and we drove off.

“Well that went better than I expected.” I said.

“Yeah I’m glad your family still likes me.” Janice said. “But beware, I might still enslave humanity if your not careful.”

I laughed, and she did too as we drove off into the night

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Also reminded me of this Shen Comic:

https://i.imgur.com/JhqsiR0.png

You meet the most interesting people on the weird hills people die on.

Keep going!

Man fuck you got something, I teared up a little reading this, well done, well done indeed...

Once upon a time, in a kingdom surrounded by high walls, a fearsome dragon descended from the skies in a rampage aimed at the castle keep. The king and his army were preparing to attack the dragon, but the dragon spoke up first.

"Release my human, and we will leave you all in peace," the dragon said. "Do not, and I will reduce your walls to rubble to rescue them myself."

The king was taken aback by the dragon's demand. He had never heard of a dragon speaking before, let alone making demands. The king thought for a moment and then said, "Why should we trust you? What do you want with this prisoner?"

The dragon let out a sigh, "I understand your hesitation, but my human is not just any human. She is my friend, and I will do whatever it takes to protect her. I assure you, once she is safe, we will leave your kingdom in peace."

The king thought about the dragon's words. His duty was to protect the kingdom and his people. Finally, he made his decision.

"Fine, we will release your friend to you. But you must swear to leave our kingdom in peace and never return," the king said.

The dragon nodded in agreement, and the king's men released their prisoner. The dragon and his friend flew away, and the kingdom was left in peace.

From that day on, the kingdom remembered the dragon's visit as a reminder that sometimes, even the most fearsome creatures have a softer side. And that even in the face of danger, compassion and understanding can lead to peaceful resolutions.

Its a fight long lost, but a fun hill to meet people on!

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Hahaha I'd gladly use the right terminology of it were not for the fact that regrettable admixture had entered the common parlance.

I think it played well.

And I agree. Bisexuality sure, but polyamory is an absolute abomination and you should strike the word from consideration in your mind.

Polyerosy, or multiamory. I swear. You writers and mixing up your greek and your latin.

This is great! Can't wait for part 3 to find out what creature this is :D

Eagerly awaiting the rest after rest!

Specifically, yours and yours. And mine, for that matter. I have been awake far too long.