Title: What is Love (1/?)

Prompt: Metal

Setting: Fantasy AU

Pairings: Taoris

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Kris is a Dragonlord powerful enough to threaten the Gods' existence. Tao is presented to him as a spoil of war. The world is split into the different realms - gods, immortals, elementals and humans. What does love mean to the both of them?

Author’s note: Reworked the Taoris ficlet because I was unhappy about the way I wrote it. HAHA, dragged about too much without getting into the main storyline. I hope that you don't find this too gruesome but if the world was in a state of unrest because of the four realms, I believe this is how warfare will look like. Not to say that I am sadist or anything but I have a clearer plotline of what I want out of this story already :) YAY. HAHAHA, so please enjoy my writings :) I hope to finish it soon and post the whole thing here ^^ do comment :) I love reading and replying to them :)

He stares at the mountain whose summits were hidden in thick clouds. Eyes narrowing and fists clenching, he hissed at the cold while his brain churned with many thoughts. Then, as he summoned his energy flow, the cold wind blows across the land and he disappears like a holograph image.

Thunders rolled in the thick dark clouds. The heavenly courts mirrored the turmoil in the weather. Gods were pacing up and down the white marble floors of the magnificent court while hush murmurings filled the huge space. It was clear that they were rattled, behaving as if the world is about to be doomed tomorrow.

“We can’t let this go on forever,” one god hissed behind clenched teeth.

“My lord, the prisoner from the village is here,” the guards marched into the huge stone courts of the castle with a man in tow. Said man was dressed in a tattered black robe, the tears in the black robe revealed bloodied cuts and gashes across pale skin. Without further ado, a guard hits the back of the man’s knees, making the man kneel on the floor with a loud thump as his knees came into contact with the dark marble flooring.

The young Dragonlord, or better known as Kris, shifted forward in his magnificent throne weaved from pure gold and encrusted with precious stones, wanting to take a better look at the man that knelt in front of him with his head bowed.

“You’re the Time Traveler that the village head was talking about?” his deep voice rang sonorously in the huge stone court of his castle.

Said man lifted his head and stared deep into Kris’ dark and calculative eyes.

“Don’t disrespect our lord! Answer his question!” the guard hit the Time Traveller’s back with his sheathed broad sword.

“I am Tao, the last living descendent of Time Travellers’ tribe,” Tao answered with a certain calmness that was not befitting of his prisoner status. Usually, if one were to be in front of a person who wiped out the village that took care of him because of the treasures they mined from the ground, he definitely would not be speaking to Kris, calm and composed. He should be all gritting teeth and burning stares. Yet, what intrigued Kris the most wasn’t about the Time Traveller’s apparent lack of emotions. What intrigued Kris were the hidden emotions in his dark eyes.

What Tao saw in front of his eyes was the most beautiful face one would actually have a chance to see. Aristocratic features, all hard angles and smooth planes, a sharp and harsh jawline. Those eyes flickered with the dark colours and a certain shine. Kris was the most beautiful being that Tao has ever come across. Though Kris was seated on his throne like a boss, his huge frame would not be swallowed by it. Tao thinks that if Kris actually stood up, he would be magnificent, overbearing and majestic. Dressed in pure silk with silver threads at the hems, the white of his clothes accentuated Kris’ beauty, all cold and ice and noble.

Kris’ habit of collecting rare treasures made him greedy, possessive and volatile. Perhaps it was in a dragon’s nature to want to hunt after precious treasures, moreover, Kris was the ruler of all dragons—the Dragonlord. Knowing that Tao was the last descendent of the legendary tribe of Time made Tao unique and prized. Tao had beautiful looks to boot. He had dark eyes that had a slightly feline quality to it—dangerous, mysterious and seductive—and his features were clearly defined in a small face with high cheekbones. His pale skin seemed luminous in the dim room and the black of his robes strongly contrasted against it. Kris has to admit that he was extremely attractive for a guy. He is starting to get interested in this Tao guy over here.

“Dress him up in the finest black robes after a bath and bring him to my room tonight,” Kris ordered his guards. He decided that dark colours look better on Tao.

Yes, Kris wants Tao tonight.

It was difficult to determine their relationship. They have experienced physical intimacy with each other. They had fun sparring with each other, because Tao would always like to ambush Kris when he is brought into Kris’ chambers, catching him unaware and using his martial arts to deal with Kris since his time-controlling powers were weak and no match for the Dragonlord. Yet, Kris has the protections of his beautiful scales that were the colour of pearls in the moonlight so he was often unharmed by Tao and Tao was the one that was pinned to the bed by Kris after their matches. They had fun with each other through intellectual conversations that were exchanges of witty sarcastic remarks that had each of them laughing so hard by the time they were done. Tao’s relationship with him evolved from an initially hostile one to one that was comfortable and one that was like the linking of the minds, where they connect each other intellectually and spiritually.

Tao wasn’t a girl after all so naturally when Kris was plotting on attacking the next village or a certain elemental tribe that has a rare treasure, he wouldn’t whine at Kris and cry and beg him not to attack innocent people of something that had treasures rare and prized. He would calmly advice Kris to cut down on the number of killings (because there was no use asking him not to kill, it was in Kris’ nature to do so). He would only go to the casualties when Kris was done torturing them and try to treat them of their injuries. Everyone was stunned by Kris’ behavior because he was actually willing to listen to Tao and not just mindlessly wipe out helpless humans even if they tried to go against him by fighting till their deaths. Yet Tao knew he still had a long way to go.

Kris doesn’t know why he listens to Tao and spare those measly lives because what’s the use of them living when their treasures have all went into Kris’ collections? Kris just thinks it is okay once in a while to listen to Tao’s reasoning because there was a sense of caring for a rare and prized possession in Kris’ actions. He deemed Tao as a prized possession. And on days when he was in a good mood, it was okay to just go along with his favourite possession’s whims and fancies. As long as Tao knows when not to cross the line. After all, Kris could just get rid of him at a wave of his hand. He was the most powerful Dragonlord in history to threaten the Gods’ existence. And one would know when not to agitate him if they still treasure their lives.

“You deserve this,” a harsh deep voice resonated around the empty field that was by flames and mangled bodies decorated the once green field, colouring them with the red of blood.

He struggled in their hold yet the chains were heavy and strong and so constricting around his limbs that they seem to tighten around his muscles every time he tried to struggle. He has tried changing his form to break away from the steel chains that held him captive yet it was of no use. The two gods holding him captive pumped flows and flows of energy into him, fighting with his energy flow within his body and it feels like there are two hands at two opposite ends trying to rip him apart.

He growls and roars so loudly that it shook the heavens above. Thunders rolled and lightning cackled in the sky. The blue of it instantly darkening as if in preparation for a storm. He continues roaring so much so that the earth beneath him starts to rumble and hum in anticipation.

The tall man dressed in gleaming white instantly increased the amount of restrictive energy flowing into his body and his roars died when the energy causes so much pain in his body, sealing up his accupoints and tearing at his blood vessels.

“No…” another man whimpers, held captive by a tall woman dressed in beautiful golden robes, “no… please…please don’t do this.”

He sees the hand of the man in gleaming white robes slowly parting his robes, opening his eyes to the wide expanse of smooth skin of his chest.

“No!” he screams again, fighting against the woman holding him captive. The hand approaches the cavity which held the organ of his life and slowly the hand curved into that of a claw.

“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” he screamed with anguish and struggled futilely against the woman as he sees him losing the energy and the life in his eyes.

The hand penetrates into his chest cavity and he growls and hisses and howls with all his might, the pain of it so excrutiating he was perspiring so much that his quicksilver sweat flowed down like swift rivers. His body feels like it has been shredded by a thousand pulling hands in all different directions and his soul thrown into the fiery pits of hell to burn. Then the hand tightens and increases strength, pulling out the bloodied heart in his chest.

He heard one last bloodcurdling roar from him and feels his ears shaking like a hundred earthquakes and the surrounding field trembling, the thunder rolling in the sky and the lightning clapping harshly. As his roar dies down, he then sees all life seeping away from him, the light in his eyes dying slowly, like the way the lights of a stage dies when a performance is over and he cries loudly into the night, the torture ripping at his soul and the sense of wretchedness tearing his heart apart and at that moment in time, he lost all will to live, thinking that the gods should all burn in the fiery pits of hell for doing something as sadistic and as ruthless as this. His eyes flowed with tears so much like a dam out of control, blurring his vision to the sight of his lifeless body falling and collapsing, like a broken doll, onto the red fields. His eyes were unclosed but they resembled empty windows, lost of all spirit and rigour that once decorated his beautiful eyes and he stared with dead hollowness into him.

“NOOOOOOO!”