The Fox Hole

Chapter 43: Where's Agnar when you need him…?

– Haru –

What happens when two apex predators meet in the middle of a mountain range? Well, if they were civilized, maybe they'd sit down for a chat or share a meal at the lovely restaurant that had popped up in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately for me, this dragon wasn't very civilized. 

It had chosen violence almost immediately.

"Roooooooaaaaaaarrrr!" The massive dragon with black and blue scales dove out of the sky straight toward me, its roar vibrating the air and making my ears twitch in pain. The dragon hit the ground with so much force that the entire mountain shook beneath us. Rocks tumbled down the peaks nearby, and I had to steady myself to keep from losing my footing.

Before I could even react, it spun around and swung its massive tail directly at me. "Oh, you giant asshole!" I shouted, throwing my arms up just in time to block what was coming my way! The wall of scales slammed into me with absurd force, sending me flying through the air like a ragdoll. "Yep, definitely an ultimate-class dragon," I muttered to myself, feeling the sting of the impact on my arms.

I ended up flying about half a kilometer before blasting a large plume of foxfire behind me to stop my momentum. The sudden burst of heat slowed me down enough to regain control, and I launched myself right back toward the oversized violent lizard.

The dragon's large, glowing eyes widened, and if I didn't know better, I'd have thought it looked surprised as I came barreling right back toward it, using my blue foxfire as propulsion.

"I've eaten dragons like you for breakfast!" I shouted as I slammed into the side of its massive head, throwing my entire weight behind the punch. I didn't hold back, my fist connecting with a loud crack.

The dragon let out another roar, but this one was filled with pain as its head whipped to the side, and its massive feet dragged across the ground from the force of the blow. I couldn't help but smirk, even though my right hand was stinging like hell. That thing had some seriously hard scales.

The dragon dug its claws into the bedrock, growling at me as it shook its head back and forth, clearly disoriented.

"You fucked around, you overgrown gecko, now it's time for you to find out," I said, slowly descending back toward the ground, my eyes never leaving the beast.

It growled again, clearly not appreciating my insult. I wasn't even sure if this thing was sentient or not. At least the dragons in Skyrim could talk—even if most of them were evil bastards who wanted to enslave every other race.

We stared each other down for a few tense seconds, neither of us moving, until we both lunged at the same time. The dragon swiped one of its massive claws down at me, and I dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding being turned into paste. The ground where I'd been standing was shredded instantly, huge chunks of rock flying everywhere. I kept moving, conjuring a ball of foxfire in my hands as I ran under the beast's belly. With both hands raised, I unleashed twin plumes of foxfire straight up into its underbelly!

The dragon didn't even try to dodge, and for a moment, I thought it looked smug. As if it thought my attack wasn't going to be able to hurt it. 

That smugness didn't last long. 

The flames connected with its underbelly, where its scales were clearly thinner. Another roar of pain erupted from its massive jaws, this one even louder than before. 

The dragon tilted its head down, its massive glowing eyes fixating on the burn marks now etched into its stomach. For a moment, it looked shocked, almost like it couldn't believe I'd managed to hurt it.

"What's the matter? Didn't think I'd leave a mark?" I taunted with my lips curling into a smirk.

While it was distracted, tilting its head down to examine the burns, I seized the opportunity. Pushing off the ground so hard that I left a small crater, I rocketed upward and delivered a devastating uppercut to the underside of the dragon's jaw.

My fist slammed into its massive head with all the force I could muster. The impact echoed like a thunderclap, and the sheer power of the blow sent the dragon's feet skidding off the ground. For a split second, it was airborne, its massive body lifted by the force of my strike.

– Irene –

"Impossible…" Irene muttered to herself. 

What she was witnessing should have been impossible! She had simply been on a routine patrol across the continent when she sensed a massive surge of magical power coming from a nearby mountain range. Of course she teleported over to investigate immediately. That's when she was shocked to find the terrifying dragon Acnologia himself! 

And that wasn't even all of it…

Acnologia was in a fight—that part wasn't surprising. That damned evil dragon picked fights with just about anything from what she knew about it! 

No, the impossible part was that the dragon was LOSING the fight! The impossible part was that whoever he was fighting was actually wielding magic capable of HARMING Acnologia! The accursed dragon was supposed to be immune to all forms of magic! It was one of the reasons why even her master, Zeref, hadn't been able to kill the damn thing in over 400 years! 

And yet, here she was, watching the impossible unfold right before her eyes.

Irene's gaze remained fixed on the battle below. Acnologia, the black dragon of the apocalypse, roared in fury as he faced off against a young, very handsome blonde mage. He was incredibly fast, incredibly strong, and the blue flames he wielded burned right through Acnologia's magic resistance. It was a feat even Zeref's death magic couldn't have boasted.

The mage then went and delivered a devastating uppercut, and to her astonishment, the blow was powerful enough to lift Acnologia off the ground for several seconds before the dragon crashed violently onto his back, shaking the entire mountain range!

Acnologia looked almost comical as it struggled to get up off its back, its massive limbs flailing in a way that resembled a flipped-over turtle. Irene doubted the dragon had ever been humiliated to such an extent, and she could practically feel the fury radiating from its magic, rippling through the mountain range.

The mage, clearly unfazed by the radiating malice, grinned and ran forward. Without a shred of hesitation, he grabbed Acnologia's tail with both hands. 

Irene's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "He's not actually going to—" she began, but her words were cut off as the mage started to spin spin, hoisting the massive dragon's body off the ground in the process. 

He spun Acnologia around with absurd speed, the air kicking up into a whirlwind. The dragon's roars of indignation and humiliation echoed across the range, and for a moment, Irene thought a genuine tornado might form from the sheer force of it.

And then the mage let go.

"They said you should never catch a dragon by the tail…" Irene couldn't help but giggle as the handsome mage below showed off another astounding feat, one that was somehow hilarious despite the situation. 

Acnologia's roar turned into a deafening screech as its massive body was sent hurtling through the air, spiraling uncontrollably. Irene tracked its trajectory, watching as it slammed halfway into the peak of the mountain she was standing on. The impact was enough to crack the peak, sending large chunks of rock tumbling down the slope.

Irene grinned. "I don't think anyone's ever dared to humiliate you like this, Acnologia."

The dragon growled, pulling itself free from the shattered rock with visible effort. Its glowing eyes burned with unbridled rage as it glared down at the mage who stood casually at the base of the mountains, looking up at his handiwork with a smug grin.

"Is that all you've got lizard?" the mage called out, his voice carrying easily despite the distance. "I'm almost disappointed. The other dragon's i've cooked and eaten all put up way better fights!"

Irene found herself blinking at that declaration. Even Acnologia himself had to pause for a moment at the sheer absurdity of that claim!

Cooked and eaten!?

This mage had cooked and eaten other dragons? Multiple other dragons?

Who was this man!? Even back during the war hundreds of years ago, no one was ever bold enough to declare such a thing proudly! Even Acnologia had only bathed in the blood of all the other dragons he felled, he certainly had never eaten them!

Irene didn't know whether she should be offended as a dragon herself—no matter how unwilling she had been about becoming one—or if she should be feeling what she was currently feeling.

Arousal…

Her breathing picked up, and she actually started shaking as she stared down at the mage with fox-like features.

"Mate…" she found herself muttering almost instinctively. It was like her dragon instincts were screaming at her to teleport down there and claim that handsome mage for herself before anything happened to him. "Oh no!" Irene's eyes widened as she sensed Acnologia building up a tremendous amount of magical power.

It was about to use its breath attack—an attack so powerful that every time it used it in history, the maps of the world had to literally be redrawn. The sheer magnitude of power it was amassing was absurd!

She had no doubt that the mage who had been humiliating and hurting Acnologia could sense what was coming as well. 

He was too important to be killed here. He might be their only chance in the future to finally kill this dragon with his strange magic, and she couldn't let him die now!

Irene tapped her staff on the ground, and in an instant, she teleported herself right next to the mage. A shudder went through her when she realized she was now standing right next to the target of Acnologia's upcoming attack.

"Quickly, take my hand!" she called out to the blond mage. "I'll teleport us out of here!"

The mage turned his head to look at her in surprise—and something else—before he gave her a smile that could only be described as suave. They were both only seconds away from dying, and yet she felt her heart fluttering at his smile like she was a young woman again.

"We'll be fine," the mage said reassuringly. "I'm Haru."

"I'm Irene…"

"Nice to meet you, Irene. This isn't the first dragon I've had to put in its place. Just sit back and watch, I won't let you be harmed." His confidence was unshaken as he turned back toward Acnologia.

Before she could respond, Haru's body began to shift. His form expanded rapidly as he used some form of takeover magic to transform himself into a massive golden fox! The towering beast retained the same number of tails as before—only now they were enormous and radiated an overwhelming amount of power! The giant fox tilted its head upward and opened its jaws. What emerged was the largest plume of fire Irene had ever seen in her life. The flames roared as they shot toward Acnologia just as the evil dragon released its own draconic roar attack...

The two attacks collided in mid-air, creating a deafening explosion that shook the mountains to their core. The sheer force of the clash sent massive shockwaves rippling through the entire mountain range!

"This… this is insane!" she screeched. 

However, it seemed that Haru had been a little overconfident in his earlier bold declaration to make sure nothing harmed her. Thankfully she was skilled enough to make sure she herself would be okay along with Haru. The two breath attacks clashed together for a few moments...they looked to be almost equal in powers until their incomparable natures ended up doing the inevitable and causing a massive magical explosion!

Haru was blown backwards and even knocked clean out of his giant take over form. Irene jumped up and caught him as the force of the explosion sent him right into her before she cast her most powerful shield charm to ride out the fact that the entire mountain range was pretty much coming down all around them…

She didn't even have time to wonder what happened to Acnologia, but she was thankful at least that the evil dragon was much closer to the epicenter of the massive explosion than they were. The dragon definitely wasn't getting away unscathed and she couldn't even sense its magical signature nearby anymore. 

"Did the other dragon get literally blown away…?" she muttered.

– Haru –

I woke up feeling really comfortable. My head was resting on something soft, and warm hands were running through my hair, rubbing behind my fox ears in just the right way that almost had me purring. It was honestly hard to want to move.

I opened my eyes, blinking a few times, and looked up. The face of an incredibly beautiful and busty redheaded woman was staring down at me. It took me a second to remember who she was—she was the woman who'd teleported behind me during my fight with that asshole dragon. The one who'd offered to help me escape with her.

But I guess my pride hadn't even let me consider that as an option.

Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me…

I didn't think I'd lost the fight, but somehow I'd gotten myself knocked out. Hopefully, I hadn't been unconscious for too long. The girls were probably waiting for me back at the Fox Hole.

I probably should've gotten up immediately, but her thighs were so damn soft, and she was rubbing my ears just right. She let out a small giggle when she realized I wasn't moving, and I just laid there for a moment longer.

"I'm Haru," I said with a grin, looking up at her.

"It's nice to meet you again, Haru. I'm Irene." She smiled warmly, her fingers still moving through my hair. "That display you put on against Acnologia… it was very impressive." As she spoke, I caught her slightly licking her lips. Then I picked up something else. Her eyes were a little dilated, and my nose caught the unmistakable scent of a woman's arousal.

A dragon woman's arousal...

Uh-oh. Was this woman with the very soft thighs a dragon? Did she know that other dragon I just fought?

"You and that other dragon… you're not friends, are you?" I asked delicately.

She immediately looked offended by the very idea. "Absolutely not! Do you not know who you just fought against!? That was the legendary dragon Acnologia himself! The most dangerous creature in the entire world, depending on who you ask. You just came closer to permanently killing him than anyone else I've ever heard of!"

I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a small sigh. "Darn it," I said with a chuckle. "I was hoping I did kill the thing. I have no doubt the dragon steaks I could've made from it would've been absolutely delicious."

Her eyes widened, and she stuttered slightly. "D-Dragon steaks…?"

Oh… right. She was a dragon. Crap. I immediately felt like I'd stuck my own tail in my mouth. "Sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's just… I'm a chef, and I've fought a couple of evil dragons in the past few months. I, uh, served them in my restaurant afterward."

"A chef?" she repeated, her voice filled with curiosity and maybe a bit of disbelief.

"Yeah," I said, sitting up slowly but still leaning back a little. Her thighs were too comfortable to completely move away from yet. "I run a restaurant called the Fox Hole."

"The Fox Hole?" Irene repeated the name of my restaurant and giggled. "Isn't that name kind of on the nose?"

"I thought it was funny," I said with a cheeky grin. "My restaurant is nearby if you want to come check it out. I don't know how long I was knocked out, but I was in the middle of preparing some French onion soup. I promise it'll be absolutely delicious."

Irene frowned at me sadly. "Haru… if your restaurant was nearby, I don't think it survived."

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head.

"When your breath attack collided with Acnologia's… it ended up causing an explosion that destroyed almost half the mountain range," she explained.

That explained why we were sitting in a giant crater. I stood up and brushed myself off. "You don't need to be worried though. I'm sure the Fox Hole is fine. The building is pretty tough."

Irene gave me a look that bordered on disbelief but said nothing. She stood up off her knees as well when I smiled at her and offered her my hand. Her cheeks were faintly pink as she took it, and I helped her up.

I conjured some flames under my feet and started to fly back up toward the peaks of whatever remained of the mountains. Irene cast a flying spell on herself and followed close behind me. It only took about a minute to reach the top again. When we got there, I couldn't help but grin smugly. 

"See? Told you," I said, pointing at the Fox Hole, which was sitting perfectly intact on a now very thin but somehow stable mountaintop. It was definitely a weird location, but I figured the restaurant would probably move itself somewhere else now that I knew Harry and Hermione weren't nearby.

"Are you coming inside?" I asked Irene, glancing back at her.

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed me in.

XXX