Serpentine Embrace

“Ray. Yo, Ray, you gonna come back to the world of the livin’ anytime soon? Raaaay… Man, you leave me no choice, Brother.”

Ray’s body jolted as something pinched his side. The action sent a ticklish spasm through him. He tried to ignore it, but then it came again and again and again until he was yanked right out of his unconscious state. His eyes snapped open as he sucked in a gasp. His body was as taut as a violin’s bow, but the first thing he saw made him relax, if only a little.

Warm, chocolate eyes. The best thing about them was that they were familiar warm, chocolate eyes. They belonged to a round, almost boyish, face that had a brilliant white smile set into place, contrasting caramel brown skin. A crop of wavy, wild raven hair surrounded the grinning face that stopped around his chin.

“Hey, there you are, Ray. I thought I was gonna have to start full on tickling you or something.”

Ray stared at the man that leaned over him. His breathing was harsher than normal, he could feel sweat clinging to his skin, and his heart was thundering in his chest, but, for the life of him, Ray couldn’t figure out why.

“E-Eddie?” he stuttered, his voice trembling and his body followed suit.

“Yep, Eddie,” the younger man said with a wider grin. “So, whatcha doin’ sleeping in here? It’s not like you to take a break for a nappy.”

That’s when Ray took in his surroundings. Shelves lined with cleaning products. Poorly lit atmosphere. Uncomfortable, worn cot underneath him…he was in the utility closet.

*“Uh, I don’t know, Eddie,” he replied. Ray didn’t remember coming to the utility room to lay down, let alone going to sleep. In fact, when he came to the room he hadn’t even made it inside because…

Ray jolted up into a sitting position, almost hitting Eddie in the head with his own face. The older man’s eyes were wide as it all came crashing back. The tremors. The roars….the dragon.

“Yo, Ray, what’s the matt–” Eddie was cut off as Ray leapt from the cot and grabbed the smaller man by the shoulders.

“Eddie, we have to get out of here! There’s monsters in the building!” Ray exclaimed wildly as he shook the other.

When Ray stopped his incessant shaking Eddie stared at him strangely.

“Monsters…? Dude, what the hell kind of dream were you having?” he asked.

“It wasn’t a dream!” Ray insisted. “There was an earthquake and a dragon came out of the boiler room and then-then there was this half snake half man thing then-then it tried to kill me!!!” all of his words came out in one frantic breath and had him gasping for air once he got it out.

“Uh…the dragon or the half snake thing tried to kill you?” Eddie asked, not sounding any more convinced than before.

“The dragon! The dragon tried to kill me then I-I passed out and now…I’m…here?” Ray’s rushed words slowed when he came to that realization. What was he doing in the utility room? Last he remembered he had almost been squeezed to death on an upper floor. So what was he doing here? And what had happened to the monsters?

“Yeeeeah, Ray, I want you to breath and listen to me,” Eddie said as now he took the other man’s shoulders and made him look at him. “I’m gonna say you were having a dream, Bro. I mean, there was an earthquake earlier, but I don’t think that had anything to do with a dragon, or any giant lizard like thing. You sure you haven’t been watching too many Godzilla movies?” the younger man joked with a wide grin, trying to calm Ray down.

But Ray didn’t laugh. It couldn’t have been a dream. The fear he experienced was too real. The destruction, the dragon, the other creature, everything was so vivid. He could still feel its claws around his body, crushing the life out of him.

“Ray, come on,” Eddie pleaded when he saw the troubled look hadn’t lifted. “You have to hear yourself. It couldn’t be anything but a dream. So, come on, let’s just go finish cleaning up then we’ll go get a few drinks or something, you know, to calm you down,” the man told him, trying to talk the blonde down.

Ray stared at him, desperately wanting his coworker to believe him, but now he was having his own doubts. How could everything have happened…only for him to end up back here, unharmed? It didn’t make sense.

“But, Eddie, how could a dream be so…real?” Ray asked him. “I know it seems outlandish–”

“Try pure craziness,” Eddie chimed in.

“Bu I know what I saw, what I felt. I mean, even George…” That’s where Ray trailed off and his eyes slowly widened when he remember the old security guard. “Oh my God! George!!!”

Without another word Ray practically shoved Eddie out of his way and dashed out of the room.

“Ray!!!”

George. He had to get to George. He was still stuck in the security room, while Ray had been running for his life and who knew if the room was still standing after all of the destruction.

Ray was so focused on his goal to save George that he didn’t notice something peculiar when he passed the boiler room. The door was completely undamaged. He also didn’t think much on it when he reached the security room and was able to take hold of the doorknob and pull it open.

“George!”

The old security guard yelped and almost fell back in his chair from the sudden intrusion. Luckily he was able to steady himself and looked at Ray curiously.

“Ray, the hell’d you do that for? You nearly gave me a damn heart attack,” he said gruffly as he reached under his security hat to scratch at his balding salt and pepper hair.

Ray panted as he held onto the door and pure relief filled every inch of his body when he saw the other man looked perfectly fine.

“George, you’re all right, thank God.”

George raised an eyebrow and he wiggled his nose, making his mustache twitch with it.

“Ray, what in blazen hell are you talkin’ about? Of course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be?”

Ray blinked at the other man as he slowly wandered into the room. How could he ask something like that? What they had both been through would be cause for most anyone not to be okay.

“B-Because of everything that happened. You know, the shaking, those God awful screeches, and you being trapped in…here,” he trailed off when the plump man just continued to stare at him. “Come on, George, you know what I’m talking about. You didn’t see it, but a dragon was causing all of those quakes and it might have been the one that melted the doorknob and trapped you in here.”

A heavy tension descended in the room, so thick one could cut it with a knife. The two men continued to stare at each other and with each second George gave him that disbelieving gaze the more Ray’s innards twisted and knotted. Why was the old security guard looking at him like that? He had to know what Ray was talking about. He just had to.

Finally, George shifted his gaze to somewhere behind Ray.

“Eddie, do you have any flippin’ idea what he’s blabbering on about?” George said and Ray turned as the Latino man entered the room, scratching his head.

“Um, not really, Georgo,” Eddie said. “He was sleeping in the utility room, and I think he had a nightmare or something.”

“I did not have a nightmare!” Ray yelled angrily, making both men look at him in surprise. It was once in a blue moon when gentle Ray would raise his voice in anger. “It was real! It was all real!” He then whirled on George. “Why are you pretending like you don’t know!? You were here! You were here in this room when everything happened! You felt the shaking caused by the monster and heard it roaring just like I did! I know you did!!!”

A crack sounded in the room and Eddie jumped and could only stare on in shock.

Ray stood there, dazed, and his cheek began to redden where George’s hand slapped him. Hard. He blinked repeatedly before slowly turning his head to look down at the short, pudgy security guard that scowled up at him. The older man had leapt out of his chair and smacked Ray in the blink of an eye. Ray didn’t know he could move so fast.

“Damn it, Ray, get a hold of yourself!” George demanded. “What the hell is the matter with you? Did that earthquake knock all common sense out of your head? Yeah, there was an earthquake and a few aftershocks, but there was no roaring, or dragons.” He sighed and his features softened as he placed a comforting hand on Ray’s shoulder. “Eddie’s probably right. You must have had a nightmare. Once we got everything settled after the earthquake you did go to the utility room to take a break. You must have gone to sleep and the earthquake, plus whatever you thought spooked you before must have concocted whatever you’re going on about.”

Ray couldn’t believe his ears. What was George saying? It couldn’t be true…could it?

“I did go to the utility room?” he asked, his voice now meek and soft.

George nodded.

“Yeah, you did.”

“No…that’s not right. After the first quake hit I ran down here to see if you were all right. The boiler room had been almost completely destroyed and-and you were trapped in here. The doorknob was melted and-and–”

“Ray. Ray, look at me,” George said softly, as if trying to talk down a hysterical child. “Those things never happened. I was never trapped in here. Does it look like the doorknob has been melted?” he then asked and turned the larger man to look at the door.

Almost reluctantly Ray looked. Both the door and the doorknob were whole and the little knob gleamed, as if to taunt the man.

“…no,” Ray answered. What was going on? Nothing was making sense and Ray felt like his head was about to explode.

“That’s right, it’s not melted. After the quake you did come running in here to see if I was okay, which I appreciate, I really do, but then we both just went about making sure everything was okay with the building until all the systems came back on.”

Until all the systems came back on? That meant the security cameras had been knocked out and hadn’t seen anything of Ray’s peril, which was what the man was going to suggest next.

“But-but…”

“No buts, Ray,” George told him. “Look you’re stressed, just go lie down for a little while longer and let your little hardly-ever-here cleaner monkey do the rest of the cleaning tonight–”

“Hey, I resent that,” Eddie snapped.

“You only had the lobby left to do anyways, right?” George asked, ignoring the other man.

A jolt shot through Ray’s heart and his brows perked up. The lobby.

“No, wait, just please, let me prove it. I know I can prove it!”

Before either George or Eddie could say a word Ray was gone. He darted out of the security room and ran through the hall.

George groaned and rubbed at his eyes.

“What is going on with that boy?” he grumbled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go make sure he’s okay. And I’m off again,” Eddie said before trotting out of the room to go after the other man.

Ray could do nothing but stand there with his mouth hanging open. He looked around and around, hoping that he’d see what he wanted to see, but it didn’t work.

He was in the lobby. The lobby that should have been a wreck from all the havoc the dragon had caused. Craters should have been in the walls. Chunks of the ceiling should have been missing. The tiles should have been cracked and broken. But it wasn’t. Everything was as if nothing had happened. The lobby was whole and in one piece.

Ray clutched at his chest. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. His body went numb and he began to shake. With an anguished cry he fell to his knees and buried his fingers in his hair to grab onto his skull. His grip was so tight it felt like he was about to rip his roots from his scalp, but he didn’t care.

“What is wrong with me!” he yelled and his voice echoed off the walls and came back to him. The dragon. The Snake-man. The destruction. Almost dying. Was it all some part of a fantasy he’d made up and convinced himself to believe?

He jumped when a warm hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked up to see Eddie’s worried face that held a small smile, as if trying to comfort the other man with the simple gesture.

“Come on, Bro. You need another nap,” he told the kneeling man.

Ray just continued to stare at him.

“Eddie…am I crazy?” he finally asked.

Eddie seemed surprised by the question. He then laughed and began rubbing Ray’s shoulders.

“No, of course you’re not. Believe me, I know crazy and until you’re as loco as my cousin Carlos, then you’re no where near crazy.”

When this didn’t seem to help Ray, Eddie sighed and moved to plop down in front of the other man, sitting Indian style.

“Look, Ray, you’re not crazy,” Eddie said again, more seriously this time. “You’ve been through a lot lately. I mean, losing your business, having your bitch of an ex-wife not only divorce you, but rape you of all you have – Yes, she’s a bitch, Ray, admit it,” the smaller man said when it looked like Ray was going to argue. “It’s a lot for one person to go through and you’re always trying to act like it doesn’t bug you and you keep it inside. It was bound to become too much sooner or later and it just happen to let loose in the form of a funky ass dream.”

Ray looked away from Eddie’s kind gaze and stared at the floor.

“But, Eddie…it was so real.”

Ray’s eyes widened when Eddie took hold of his chin and lifted his face to make him look at the other.

“Ray, I don’t care how real it seemed. It was all just a dream, Bro. Nothing more. I think you’re in dire order to go get a drink and let out all of this damn baggage you have on your shoulders or else you’re just gonna go through this again. Remember, I’m you’re buddy here. Don’t be afraid to come talk my ear off if you need to. That’s what friends are for. Now come on.” Eddie sat back and held out his arms to Ray.

“Come on, give Brother Eddie a hug. It’s all going to be okay,” the younger man said with another one of his wide, easy going smiles.

Ray stared at him for a moment. Then the offer was too much for the frazzled man and he leaned forward and allowed himself to be wrapped up in Eddie’s arms as he clung to the smaller man. Ray felt like breaking down and crying, but he held it in, at least for now.

Eddie really was one of the kindest men Ray had ever met. He was always open to hear anyone out and was so warm and caring. It made Ray feel better to be held by the loving man and have him whisper reassurances in the blonde’s ear.

A static filled crackle interrupted the serene moment. Eddie pulled back just enough to look down at the radio attached to his belt.

“Hey, you know what you two?” Georges voice said through the machine. “Forget the lobby, morning shift can take care of it. Eddie, take Ray home and make sure he goes and relaxes before he does lose his damn mind.”

An ecstatic grin spread across Eddie’s face and Ray could only roll his eyes. He knew that the other man was just overjoyed to leave without doing a lick of work.

Eddie took the radio off his belt and spoke into it.

“I hear you loud and clear, Georgo, I’ll make sure to take good care of our Ray,” he said, with a little flirtatious wink at the other man, which made Ray huff at him. No matter how kind Eddie was, he was also a cad.

“Good, now both of you get out of here then,” George told them before the radio went silent.

“You know, I think George is a total voyeur,” Eddie said off handedly as he clipped his radio back on his belt.

“Voyeur?” Ray echoed, raising a pale brow.

“Yeah, he’s held up in that room all day, watching people on those monitors of his. Total voy-eur,” Eddie said, annunciating and exaggerating each syllable of the word.

Ray simply stared at Eddie. Then he burst into laughter. It sounded so utterly ridiculous, but that just made it even funnier to him. The laughter then continued on its own, as if it were to stop then the horror of his nightmare would come back and make him think he was crazy again.

Eddie joined him in the laughter as he climbed to his feet.

“That’s it, Ray, just let it all out,” he said, rubbing the man’s shoulders again and patting his back. When Ray finally calmed down Eddie grinned at him. “Now, come on, let’s go get these awful jumpsuits off and go get a couple of beers in you. That oughta make everything better, right, Bro?”

Ray blinked at the hand Eddie held out to him. The tall blonde wasn’t much of a drinker, by any means. There were the few occasions Eddie convinced him to go drinking, but Ray always regretted it the next day. But with everything on his mind, wondering if the events of the night were a figment of his imagination or real, he needed a drink. A strong drink.

“Yeah, let’s do that, Eddie,” Ray said with his lopsided smile as he took Eddie’s hand and let the smaller man help him up.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Eddie cheered and slapped Ray on the back as they went to go change. “Let’s paint this God damn town red!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was dark. Incredibly dark. There was no light to speak of in the room, leaving it pitch black. That is until a door slowly creaked open. It swung until it stilled and stood halfway open, allowing the starving light pour in, but the darkness still overpowered most of the room.

The pattering of little feet sounded as a small creature entered the room. It was a peculiar creature. It wasn’t even a foot long and was only a little thicker than a good sizes stick. Even though its size was small all of its limbs were exaggerated. Its four legs were so long that when it stood still that the spots where they bent had to stick upward so they were out of the way.

Its body was covered in leafy green scales from the tip of its tail to its snout that had a small, brown horn sprouting from it. Its head tilted and looked around continuously, as if it couldn’t stay still, just like its eyes that moved around at all different angles, similar to a chameleon.

It paused once it was passed the threshold of the room. Its tongue flicked out over and over and its head continued to tilt side to side. Then it moved further into the room. Its tiny claws clicked against the floor and its body moved just like how a snake would slither. At the spot where light met darkness the creature stopped. It perked when a male voice spoke from the darkness.

“Yes, Pet?”

The voice was deep and as smooth as silk. It had the effect of making the little creature shudder. The owner of the voice stood on the other side of the room, dead ahead of the creature. The light coming into the room reflected off the mirror of the vanity, revealing only the bottom half of the man’s mouth and all below and showed that he was brushing long, sleek black hair. The tresses seemed even darker than the shadows in the room. The brush moved in long, slow strokes as it worked to make every strand smooth and perfect.

“Do you have something to report to us?” the man asked lazily.

The little creature used its front feet to lift itself up and down in a bobbing motion. A serious of chirps sounded from it followed by a long cry.

“Good. Come to us then, Dear,” he said. The brush stopped and the man set it down on the vanity before holding out his hand.

The creature trilled and four dragonfly wings unfurled from its back. A hum filled the room as they flapped at incredible speeds and lifted the creature into the air. It flew the short distance and landed gracefully on the man’s hand. It had to coil its body up to fit completely, but soon was seated comfortably.

“Now, what do you have to tell us?” The man lifted the creature closer to himself until it was close enough to start chirping in a pointed ear. A grin full of pointed teeth twisted the man’s mouth. “Really? So she has awakened?” he asked and received a confirming chirp. “Good, good, send her in then. We would be delighted to see her.”

He held the creature up and it jumped from his hand. Its wings hummed again as it flew out of the room. A moment later it returned and settled itself across the man’s bare shoulders.

The man continued to play with his hair until a scent hit his nose. It was a familiar scent, but it was coupled with something he wasn’t expecting. Blood. The sound of slow, uneven steps then hit his ears. As if walking was too great an effort for the person they belonged to.

In the reflection of the mirror he saw a silhouette appeared in the doorway. Slowly the person hobbled inside. Silver blood left a trail with each step the person took and they collapsed to their knees once they were just a few feet behind the man.

“M-Master…I…return to you,” they said with harsh breaths between each word. The voice belonged to a woman and she bent over in a bow.

“Valeria,” the man said as he turned to face her. “We’re so happy to see you…we had hoped you’re hibernation would be kind to you, but that does not appear to be the case.”

The woman that kneeled before him was beautiful. Her body was slender and shapely – A body any model would die for – and was only clothed in scraps of purple fabric that served as a shirt and skirt, but barely hid anything. Her hair was cut perfectly even all around her head, just below her ears. It looked black, but in the right light it was actually a very dark blue.

At a glance anyone would think this woman was human, but someone who paid close attention would notice a few abnormalities. The way her ears pointed just ever so slightly at the tips. An unnatural glow that illuminated her eye and the way her fingernails curved and pointed to look like claws were just a few hints to what she truly was, but it was none of these features that had captured the man’s attention. It was what wasn’t there that interested him.

The woman only looked at him with one stunning amethyst eye. Her left eye was closed and blood wept from a gash that went from her forehead, crossed her eye, and went to her cheekbone. It was also hard to overlook that her right arm was missing entirely. A gaping wound where the shoulder was supposed to meet arm was all that was left and silver blood caked her side, staining her body, and collecting in a pool on the floor.

“The hibernation – nngh – was the pleasant part,” Valeria said as she bit back a noise of pain and she reached up to cover her wound. “It was the Elpidius waiting for me when I awoke that was not so kind.”

“An Elpidius?” the man echoed, sounding surprised, but then a chuckle passed his lips. “My, they are being very active as of late, trying to stop us at every turn. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. We’ll have to do something about that,” he said before turning to the suffering woman in front of him. “Tell us, do you know which one it was?”

“If my memory serves me well, Master, then yes, I do,” Valeria answered. “He has grown much since last I saw him, but – mmph – I’m sure it was the one they refer to as The Tempest of Steel.”

The woman looked up curiously when her master burst into laughter, startling and jostling the creature on his shoulders as well. When he came back from his outburst he grinned at Valeria.

“The Tempest of Steel!? Then you should count yourself fortunate, our dearest Valeria. You’re lucky you lost only an arm instead of your life.”

The woman looked away and her features darkened. She saw nothing funny about what she had been through.

“But, enough of that,” the man said, returning her attention to him. “You have been through much, especially for just awakening. Go reunite with the others and have them tend to your wounds.”

The man turned back to his vanity, not giving the woman another thought, and was about to pick his brush back up when Valeria spoke again.

“Master, I fear that I–I must report something else to you.”

“And what is that, Valeria?” the man asked, his tone lower and colder. He didn’t like the new pitch the woman’s voice had taken.

“I’m afraid that…that while I was distracted by my fight with the Elpidius that a–a–”

“Spit it out, Valeria,” the man ordered

“A human saw me!” she yelled just to get it out.

The room fell silent except for Valeria’s harsh breathing, not only from her exhaustion, but now from fear.

Meanwhile, the man had gone completely still. The fingers that hovered over his brush curled until his pointed, claw like nails dug into the wood of the vanity. The tension in his shoulders unsettled the creature and it silently took off into the air.

“You,” the man growled, his upper lip curling into a snarl. “You let a human see you!?!” he bellowed as he whirled on the woman that cowered from him.

“Forgive me, Master!” Valeria pleaded. “It wasn’t my fault! I was trying so desperately to get away from the Elpidius and the human just appeared. There was nothing I could –”

“Enough!” the man shouted, cutting the frightened woman off. His chest heaved as his anger coursed through his veins, but, all at once, he relaxed and wiped a few strands of hair from his face.

“Enough, Valeria, you know how we hate excuses,” he said, his voice much softer now, but a hint of viciousness lingered underneath it. “It’s all right if it saw you as long as you killed it…you did kill it…didn’t you?” he asked and the volume of threat increased in his tone.

Valeria began to shake and tears glistened in her good eye.

“Master…I’m so sorry.”

A shrill scream cut through the air as Valeria’s master was on her in a heartbeat. His ruthless fingers dug into her wound and lifted her a few inches off the ground. New blood spurted and began to flow freely, running over his hand and down her body before dripping to the floor.

“Master! Please! Please!” Valeria shrieked for mercy, grabbing onto his wrist. She gasped as, instead of leniency, his other hand wrapped around her throat.

“You miserable excuse for a dragon! We are elite! We are divine! We are not supposed to make mistakes! Especially not such a stupid and blundering one as to let a human live after they lay their eyes on us!” he screamed at her in fury. “We should tear you limb from pathetic limb,” he then snarled lowly.

“Master…please,” Valeria choked out as his grip tightened, trying to crush her airway. Abruptly both his hands left her and she crumbled to the floor, coughing and fighting for sweet air.

“No, this will not be a problem. We will not let this become a problem. We have come much too far to let one little slip up by an incompetent bag of scales ruin us,” the man muttered to himself as he began to pace. He stopped in front of the defeated woman and stared down at her. “Lucky for you, Valeria, we need everyone for our plans to succeed. That includes screw ups like you.”

“Master, please,” she said weakly as she climbed back to her knees. “Let me right my wrong. Let me go after the human and finish him. I can do it.”

“No,” he said steely, leaving no room for arguments. “You’ve done enough. We shall send someone of better worth to deal with this vermin. All you have to do is go and get healed. The stench of your blood is sickening us. We will let you redeem yourself after you can be of use to us again…and after your punishment,” the man added with a grin that would shame the devil.

Valeria’s head snapped up and she stared at her master in horror.

“Punishment!?” she exclaimed.

“Of course, did you think we would let such a folly go unpunished? Don’t worry, it won’t be anything too…severe,” he assured her, though it was of little comfort. “Now go. We’re tired of looking at you.”

Valeria wanted to argue. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t her fault the Elpidius had made things so difficult and helped the human slip from her claws, but she knew better. If she made a peep of protest her master would most likely snap her neck. Instead she simply bowed her head.

“Yes, Master,” she said humbly before stumbling to her feet and exiting the room.

When she was gone the man sighed as the little creature clambered back onto his shoulders.

“Good help is so hard to find nowadays,” the man said as he held up his hand that was still covered in Valeria’s blood.

The creature was quick to claim the offered treat and began licking up the silver fluid greedily.

“Jarl,” the man then called out.

From a monstrous, as well as luxurious, bed in the corner a man stirred and sat up, letting the sheets fall from his nude body. He had quietly watched the whole event unfold and had been extremely amused by it all. The master was vicious when he wanted to be.

“Yes, Master?” Jarl answered.

The man sauntered over to the bed and cupped the other man’s face with his free hand.

“You have always been so good to us. So strong. So loyal. And sooo patient for the bloodshed you desire most. As a reward we are going to let you handle this little…problem,” he said as he traced the man’s lip with his thumb. “Kill it whichever way you please, but just get rid of it.”

Jarl smirked and a pink tongue emerged to lick the pad of his master’s thumb.

“You spoil me far too much, Master,” he purred.

The master smirked and pushed his thumb past willing lips to slip inside Jarl’s warm, wet mouth.

“I know.”

************************************************************************

…I don’t know if it’s the story itself or you guys that are inspiring me to right so damn fast. What power do you people hold over me!? I just fear I’m spoiling all of you since I know I won’t be able to keep this up forever, so don’t be mad at me when that happens.

Anyways, welcome to another chapter. I hope you all are enjoying it so far and, once again, I’m purely ecstatic about the love my little story has been receiving. You all are so wonderful to me *hugs* To show my thanks I’ll be replying to more lovely reviews I received.

M.: Thank you so much, I’ve never considered myself an action person, so that makes me so happy to hear I did well. Yes, I know, poor Ray, and it only got worse now and I’m not sure his “Savior” made anything better. Haha wow I read your image and I laughed so hard, my roommates looked at me funny. That was too good, thank you for that. And thank you again, I’ll make sure it keeps rocking!

Perona: Awe thank you, heh and yes we’ll see about him soon since he wasn’t in this chapter.

Brilliantbean: Yay! I’m excited it got you a little bit curious since you were unsure about it. I can only hope the story will charm you fully. *Crosses fingers* Thank you for the review!

Pizzaboyyy: Hehe yes, poor Ray indeed. He’s such a sweet man and I’m just so mean to him *grins* So is not knowing what’s going to happen adding to the thrill? I’ll have to make sure it keeps that up then. Thank you for the review.

Baku: Hehe I’m happy you went from hoping George was okay-ish to poor George, I wonder if you still feel that way after this chapter, but, yes, I just want to cuddle Ray and make everything all better. Sheesh! That cockroach had it out for you! I’ve never heard of a dive-bombing cockroach before. Yay for your hero, but, yeah, I hope t was the same one too.
Oh, hmmm, so it was unclear? Whoopsie on my part. The Snake-man cut it off with his transformed arm. I’ll go back and edit it so it’s just a bit clearer what happened *nod nod* Hehe well now you don’t know what he did to save Ray, but maybe you’ll find out later. Yay! I’m glad to hear I surprised you. I guess with the Jurassic Park roar I described one would think dinosaur. Your welcome for the quick update and another quick update and thank you so much for another wonderful review *hugs*

KatFO: Yay for you definitely ticking around! I’m glad I was able to give you something you liked and I shall continue. Thank you for the review.

KitKatBar: Rofl, wow, I didn’t think anyone would think George was hot, but, hey, good for him. And yes, the Snake-man is ripped like Jesus (cookie for anyone who knows where that’s from) *Snickers* Butt clenches, that made me laugh. Yes, mental images are amusing, yours especially. Thank you for the review.

Thank you everyone that has been reviewing, rating, and just reading to enjoy it. Now, before I leave I need to point out something. I left out one teeny tiny description about the Snake-man in the last chapter, so I will be going to edit that as soon as this is posted and, as Baku pointed out, it wasn’t quite clear just how the dragon’s arm was cut off so I’ll be adding more to that to. Just little things, but ones I think you should be aware of.

So, I hope this chapter also peaked everyone’s interest. Ray now thinks he’s crazy and hallucinating (my poor baby) while a few new characters are plotting things. I love the nameless master, so evil. *heart* Though I feel for Valeria, poor girl. She just wakes up, gets her arm cut off, then gets thrashed by her master. Just not her night. (Speaking of which, anyone guess the dragon was a girl?)

I hope to see you all again when I come back, and again. Do. Not. Hold. Your. Breath. I’m not promising anymore fast updates, if they happen they happen, but I’ll be happy to see you all when I bring the next chapter and, as always, comments and C&C are always welcomed with open arms. Have a wonderful day!

P.S. I love Eddie *heart*