Dark Mind, Dark Heart
Part 3

**WARNING** The following part contains explicit sexual situations. If
you're not old enough to read it or can't handle it then don't read it.

Valerian slept soundly through what was left of the night and half of the
day. When she awoke, however, things weren't so peaceful. She didn't know
how to use this new body, let alone get back to her old form. She started
panicking and trying to stand on two legs on the bed. Her body was still a
wolf but her mind had returned to a more human state. D seemed to be the
only one that could calm her. Fortunately, Dawn had briefed D on the basics
of what Valerian was.

Valerian had stopped in front of D, who was sitting on the bed, and just
stood there and whimpered. Her vocal cords were no longer equipped for human
speech. That's when her mindspeaking ability really came in handy.

*D, help me, I don't know what's happened to me!*

*Valerian, it's okay. I'm here for you. You're a shapeshifter, your body has
become that of a wolf. Do you remember the dream?*

*A little. How can I get back to normal?*

*Imagine yourself as your human self again. Imagine your body changing
back.*

After a moment, Valerian's body began to glow with blue energy again. The
transition from wolf into human was a bit more gentle. As soon as she was
finished she was crying, sitting naked on the bed. D pulled a blanket up
over her and held her as she cried. Valerian looked up at D and said, "I'm
scared D." D looked down at the trembling girl and said, "I know, it not an
easy thing when you learn you're not human. Things are going to get a lot
harder for you, but I'm going to be there with you, every step of the way. I
swear it." This comforted Valerian, not just D's words but something deep
down in his soul came out with those words. She knew D meant it. It made her
want to get closer to D even more. She finally felt safe in D's arms. She
felt calm and relaxed, and slowly she worked her arms out from under the
blanket and around D. And D didn't care about restraint anymore, he didn't
stop her. She was like him, inhuman, caught between two worlds.

He started nuzzling her cheek. It turned into light kisses and he worked his
way to her mouth. When D started kissing her on the mouth her whole body
came alive with desire and D hadn't felt this good from such a simple
pleasure for a very long time. D let Valerian start work on removing some of
his clothes and he had already pushed the blanket aside and begun to feel of
Valerian's body, running his hands over her soft skin. "Mmmmm D..." With
every touch and every moment they wanted each other more and more. They were
both nude now and D pulled the covers over both of them and laid down with
Valerian beside him. The touching became more and more intimate and Valerian
found herself touching a man in a way that she had never touched one before.
D grunted with pleasure. He had been stroking her inner thighs and now
started to touch her most intimate spot. He rested part of his had on her
clitoris and while he worked his fingers inside her. She started to let out
little moans of pleasure as he moved around inside her. "D... please..." D
reached over to a nearby table and grabbed a condom. This was definitely
Ace's castle, they were everywhere. He now moved on top of her, teasing her
with kisses here and there. They both positioned themselves and D started to
push inside her. She was untouched before now and her body was small. "Oh,
ow, D!" "Should I stop?" D asked, every fiber of his body screaming to
continue. "No, don't stop. Please don't stop." He pushed harder, hoping to
get it over quickly. She was already very wet and it helped him finally get
inside her. "Oh D..." "Valerian..." They held each other for a moment and
then D started pushing again. It wasn't long before he broke fully inside
her and Valerian was working as hard as D. Writhing in pleasure, they
touched and explored, worked and moved, all to see and do what felt most
pleasurable. Harder and harder they worked to climax, Valerian wasn't the
stereotypical shy virgin, she was as ravenous as D. Screaming and moaning
with pleasure and supernatural vigor, their bodies began to glow as they
reached their goal. Exhausted and spent they fell asleep quickly, holding
each other close.

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

Ace, on the other hand, wasn't having such a good time. He had worked the
ropes that bound him since Dawn left to go on her way and he had acquired
some nasty rope burns. Dawn had let just enough light in through the
curtains on the windows to weaken him, he wasn't going to have the energy to
regenerate for a while. The sun had finally set while D and Valerian slept
and he was almost free. "C'mon now, dammit! Just a little more... Yes!" His
hands were free now and he removed the rest of his bindings. He ran to the
window, opened it, and jumped two stories down. He landed hard and
awkwardly. "Oh shit my legs! They're gonna pay for this!" he said as he
limped off into the distance.

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

A while after Ace escaped, D and Valerian woke up. D was first to awake, and
he nudged Valerian into consciousness after he began to realize how long
they'd been asleep.

"Wake up my dear."

"Hmmm..."

"It's late, we need to check on Ace."

"Who's Ace."

"Rex"

"Don't care. Wanna snuggle."

"There's a pretty large bounty on his head."

"Really?"

Valerian sat up and they kissed and snuggled for a moment and then they
dressed. D had found her some more practical clothes, some brown pants and a
blue button-down shirt. She had never worn anything like that before, only
dresses and skirts. They felt a bit odd at first but got used to them
quickly. When they were finished they went to check on Ace.

The only thing left on the chair was a pile of rope. D walked to the open
window and looked down. He could see where Ace had landed in the sandy dirt.
"Let's go downstairs and get a closer look." he said.

Soon they were downstairs and looking at the ground. They could see how
awkwardly he had landed and how he had struggled to get back up. They could
also see the limp in his footprints. "He didn't go anywhere near the horse
stables, he's not thinking clearly. He's obviously injured so he'll be
looking for shelter." stated D. He was in his professional hunter mindset
now. First they went to get their horses, then they started following Ace's
tracks.

It wasn't long until they reached a cave. The opening was rather small, but
D and Valerian could still crawl inside easily. The inside opened up to a
large tunnel, with plenty of head room for the very tall D. There were two
train-like sets of track, one vacant and the other had a vehicle on it. A
boxy silver car with seating for four. D got in the driver's seat and
Valerian in the passenger side. The controls were simple, a green button for
go and a red button for stop. D pressed the green button and the car began
to slowly move. It soon came to a downward slope and it picked up speed.

Eventually it reached a well lit area covered in light colored tiles that
had been made into an underground building. When the car neared the end of
the track D pressed the red button and it slowed to a stop in the middle of
a circle. The other car was there too. They started walking to the end of
the tunnel and saw that there was a huge room at the end. They reached the
end of the pathway and saw that less than a fourth of the room ahead of them
still had tile on the floor, only the part nearest the pathway. The floor of
the enormous room was also about three feet below the pathway they were
still on. Valerian jumped down first, then D. She reached the edge of the
tile first and was in for a big surprise. Before she could set foot off the
tile thousands of muddy hands and arms reached up from the floor. The ones
closest to her grabbed greedily for any part of her they could get, but D
was too fast for them and pulled her away before it was too late. "You
okay?" asked D as he held her close to him and far from the mud arms. "I'm
okay, thank you D" answered Valerian.

"Isn't that sweet, and I thought you said he wasn't your boyfriend!" called
a voice from the far left. D and Valerian turned around and glared at Ace
and he just laughed at them. Suddenly, Valerian screamed. D spun around to
see a creature that was shaped like a beautiful woman but it was a bubble.
It was coming closer to Valerian and she was backing away. D drew his sword.
Valerian made it back up onto the ledge but before she could get out of
range it managed to gently caress her bare ankle. D was very angry so he
slashed it with his sword. It popped and was no more. While D was still
distracted with Valerian a door near Ace slid open and revealed a classroom.
Ace was the only one who noticed this. A very real looking and very
beautiful woman beckoned to Ace from inside the room and he was more than
willing to follow. The door slid closed behind him and after a moment it
slid open again Ace stepped back out. He had an unusually blank expression
on his face and he just stood there waiting. D turned around, walked up to
Ace, and punched him in the face hard. Ace fell to the ground and D tied the
vampire's hands behind his back. Ace said nothing the whole time, even when
D led him back to the cars. D threw him in the back seat and tied his feet.

D pulled a lever beside the circle that the car was on and it turned
completely around, ready for a return trip. It was slow going up the hill
but they eventually reached the surface. Valerian went out first, followed
by D dragging ace behind him. It was still night and the air was cool. The
moon was still pretty full so they decided to hurry. D slung the still quiet
Ace across the back end of his horse and they made their way back to the
castle.

This time they used chains to restrain him. D left Valerian to watch Ace, he
had to keep his promise to the boudas and kill the werewolf mutants. Before
he left D said to Ace, "Try anything and she'll shapeshift into a wolf and
tear you to shreds." D then left and Valerian began to get bored. She found
a few books but none of them were in any language that she could read. They
didn't even have any pictures. She had nothing to do but pace.

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

Meanwhile, D was tracking. He had already begun to hear the eerie, tortured
howls again. He followed the sound until the pack suddenly surrounded him.
There were five of them and the biggest of them approached D. "Where is
Rex?" It growled. D just drew his sword and said, "He is known as Ace among
humans and he is a wanted man. I will bring him to justice." The lead
werewolf grinned, showing jagged, yellow and rotten teeth. D dismounted and
rushed at it. The beast tried to strike back but the rested and rejuvenated
D was as fast as lightning. D easily killed the leader and then turned his
attention to the others. They all rushed him at the same time. D had no
trouble at all dodging the huge beasts. One by one he killed them and then
severed their heads to bring to the boudas as proof of his kills.

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

Valerian was still pacing. She was beginning wonder why Ace hadn't said
anything since D punched him. Something about it worried her. She stopped
pacing, looked at Ace, and said, "You've been awfully quiet. Did D hurt your
pride?" Ace just looked at her blankly and, in more of a monotone than even
D himself could hope to produce, asked, "Have you ever given birth?"

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

D rode up to the bouda camp with the five werewolf heads fastened to various
places on the sides of his horse. The boudas were very happy to see this.
The tribe's leader rushed out with a pouch of gold, gave it to D, and said,
"If you ever need metalsmithing services you know where to go!" The other
boudas had removed the werewolf heads and placed them on the ends of long
stakes around camp. D rode away wordlessly, on his way back to Valerian.

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

"What the hell are you talking out about you jerk!" shouted Valerian. She
was angry and unsettled now. She started to look around for a weapon and
found a sword. She held it at him and growled, "You want to say that again?"
Ace's head fell over to the side and he asked, "How do you give birth?" She
was scared and disgusted and the wolf in her said to strike. She slashed at
him, cutting him in two with surprising ease. The sword she was holding
wasn't covered in blood, it was covered in mud! The mud ran out of him and
he shriveled up. It left the discarded flesh covering and reformed into a
basic humanoid shape. Valerian struck at it again with the sword but this
time it held the sword in its body and pulled it out of her hands. She
started backing away from it while it discarded the sword out of reach.
*Think wolf, think wolf, think wolf." Her body started to change and she
slipped out of her loose clothing easily. She would have to thank D for his
foresight. She was the wolf again. Her instincts told her that if a sword
couldn't cut this thing then her teeth and claws couldn't either. She began
to run. The mud creature was fast, but not as fast as a wolf.

She ran out of the castle with the thing following. She tried her hardest to
catch D's familiar scent. Every now and then she would catch a whiff but not
enough to lead her anywhere so she stayed near the castle. Even her lupine
endurance wasn't any match for unfeeling mud and she got more and more
frightened. Finally, she saw D approaching. She ran straight to D, he was
surprised but fortunately he recognized her. He leapt off his cyborg horse
and landed between Valerian and the mud creature. It stopped for a moment,
surprised at this new development. D took the glove off his left hand, held
it up, and blasted the creature to a charred mess. His left hand then
absorbed the mud creature's soul. *Are you okay?* thought D as he kneeled
down to pet the panting Valerian. *I'm a little shaken up, but fine. Thanks.
* she thought. *How did it follow us here, and where's Ace?* asked D. *That
mud thing was disguised as Ace, that's why he was so quiet. It kept asking
if I knew anything about giving birth. * she answered. They both knew where
they needed to go, back to that underground room. D held Valerian, still as
a wolf, in front of him on the saddle and they started on their way.

The journey was pretty uneventful so reached the underground room quickly.
Valerian had gotten more used to her wolf body so she walked confidently
beside D to the ledge. The mud arms were still flailing and reaching for
anything they could grab. They jumped down into the room and made sure to
keep clear of the hands. Valerian looked at the door on the wall and
thought, *The last time I saw Ace he was near that door. * They walked up to
it and D pressed the button beside it. The door slid open and they saw Ace
tied to a school desk. The beautiful woman was standing in front of him and
he was practically crying when he said, "I'm a man, I don't know anything
about giving birth." D held up his left hand again and blasted the woman,
then absorbed its soul. Charred mud had splattered everywhere. D untied him
from the chair and retied his hands and feet. He drug Ace out of the room
and to the car, tossing him in the back.

D didn't see Valerian near him so he looked around. She was on the ledge and
the bubble woman had reappeared. Strangely, Valerian didn't seem afraid of
it this time. Still, D drew his sword and came closer to them. *D, it's
okay.* thought Valerian. The bubble woman looked at D and said, "Thank you
for defeating the mud demon. It was blocking my ability to speak. It was a
servant of a much more terrible demon. Thousands of years ago, a demon was
conceived in the womb of a human woman. It had the power to torment and
destroy every living thing in the world. A powerful group of magic using
humans, vampires, and demons sensed this and decided to stop it. They took
the woman here, where they had built an artificial womb. They were able to
transport it into the artificial womb and seal it away. Then they created me
to be its guardian. It laid dormant for thousands of years, its power
growing. Now it wants to be born." "What can we do?" asked D. "Fire, that's
its weakness." said the bubble lady, then she backed away. She popped again
and was gone.

D went to the car and pulled the lever to turn it around again. He pressed
the green button and sent Ace on his way to the surface. He then turned to
Valerian and said, "If anything happens to me run as fast as you can out of
here. You can turn in Ace at the next town. I'm going to destroy this thing
even if it kills me." He regretted those last words, he could see her fear
for his safety in her eyes. Valerian just leaned up against D's legs and he
knelt down to pet her again. He added, "I'm going to do all I can to come
back alive."

He stood again, his sword still drawn, and started running at the mud arms.
He grabbed the edges of his cape before he reached the ledge and was able to
glide halfway to the other side. When he landed he was surrounded by the mud
arms. He spun around, swinging his sword in a circle to start clearing the
way before he sank into the mud. He ran and swung his sword in front of him
to clear his way. He finally made it to the other side. The ground was a
little more solid and there were no mud arms where D was standing. He
sheathed his sword and started digging. Just a few inches down he hit a
large object. He took his left hand and made a fist. The symbiot screamed,
"No! D!!!!! You're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do?!!!" D drew
back and then punched as hard as he could, breaking a hole in the shell. D
saw an image in his mind of what the hand saw, a full grown demon in the
fetal position. It was just a little bigger than a full grown man. D had the
symbiot convert all the energy it could to fire and blasted the demon with
everything he had. The mud arms started writhing in pain and then sank down
into the ground. D saw through the symbiot's eyes that there was nothing
left of the demon's body but a charred spot so he had it absorb all the
released soul energy so nothing could come back to haunt him.

D stood, drawing his charred and unhappy left hand out of the container. He
the ran back to Valerian. They both wanted nothing else but to get out of
there so they both ran, side by side and triumphant, out of the cave.