Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Tales of the Mansion by Diola Dragontail

   The Blooming of the Dragonbells: Prologue

   "But you don't understand what I'm saying."

   You could tell that her patience was running thin, but she said nothing.
It was like she was just letting you run your mouth.  Maybe she was just
waiting for you to run out of energy and just give up.  It didn't matter
though, you were intent on trying to make her understand what it was that
she was asking of you.

   "It...  it just doesn't....  just doesn't make sense!" You stammered for
words again, trying to find ones to expression this situation.  You had
stumbled for a second, but just like that the thoughts seemed to focus and
the words spilled out.  "It's just a big jumble!  A big mess of thoughts
and words!  The occasional glimpse of a vision!  Smells and sounds from
everywhere!  What am I supposed to do with this?"

   She continued to just stare at you.  Her fingers folded carefully in
front of her chin.  Still she said nothing, an irritating, grating sort of
nothing.  Her face's expression never changed, it just regarded you with
that same cold steel look.

   Maybe you still weren't explaining yourself properly, but you couldn't
figure out what a proper way to explain it was.  It all started as a
routine enough assignment.  You picked up the assigned memory stones,
carried them back to your writing room, and sat down to reflect on them. 
It hit you like an ice cold shower the moment you picked up the stones.  A
deluge of feelings, thoughts, and sensations, one long moment of movement,
like an explosion, then nothing.

   "Are you done?" She finally asked, her voice just as even as it ever
was.

   You nodded slowly, suddenly feeling a bit foolish and childish for this
outburst.  You knew you were about to be reprimanded before she even spoke.


   "Good." She replied, uncrossing her fingers.  "Honestly, do you need me
to explain your assignments to you?  We hired you as a scribe."

   Her voice was still even, as normal a tone as anyone would use if
discussing the weather or relating what they had eaten for breakfast this
morning.  But there was an edge to her voice, an edge that frightened you.

   "As a scribe it is your duty to take what readers would not understand,"
She took a breath, letting your mind dwell on her last word.  "And write it
in a way that they will understand."

   Her eyes fixed on you now, holding your gaze tightly.  "If all we needed
was someone to make copies, we could have hired a dozen drones with your
salary.  You have a mind, use it."

   Her verbal slap would have stung, but your mind had already fixated
elsewhere.  A thought snapped into place when you heard her words, a way to
write this presented itself, a way that hadn't occurred to you before.

   "You're absolutely right!" You exclaimed, the sudden influx of momentum
jumping you to your feet.  "I apologize for disturbing you.  I'll have a
draft for you by this evening."

   She raised her eyebrows, a look of honest surprise actually breaking her
normally emotionless expression.  Having this effect on her only added more
fuel to your growing enthusiasm.

   You felt the need to bolt immediately out of the room, but restrained
yourself long enough to give her a slight bow, "If you'll excuse me, I have
my work to do."

   "Of course." She waved her hands in a shooing fashion, as if she was
trying to push you out of her office before you exploded.

   You were out of the office and barreling down the hallway within
seconds. She had given the answer on how to accomplish what seemed like an
impossible feat and you were pretty sure that she didn't even realize what
she had said.  Intention carried you through the hallways with little of
the surroundings even registering.  Your mind turned inwards, already
writing the story in your head, unraveling the complicated strands slowly.



   The Blooming of the Dragonbells

   "Delight-release-happiness-rapture!"

   The speck floated well above the garden.  It looked like a dark rain
cloud in miniature.  An anomaly, a single cloud floating across the
enclosed air of the garden.  Much to close to the ground to be real.  Much
too small to be of any consequence.

   Her sweat soaked skin glided effortlessly along someone else's back. 
She didn't know whose back it was.  She didn't care to look.  It didn't
matter.  Her fingertips found the flesh of someone else.  Soft, warm, and
yielding.  Her fingers left trails of someone else's nectar across this
other body.  Her mouth found lips and locked to them for a brief, joyous
kiss.  Then she glided away, her skin touching another now.

   Below the cloud, life carried on as usual.  Just a typical spring
morning.  It was still very early and very few stirred.  The nocturnals,
their energy spent, were sleepwalking their way back to their beds.  The
daytimers were still clinging to the last vestiges of their sleeping
dreams.

   "Bliss-higher-deeper-more!"

   The cloud hovered over the central gazebo for a moment, then started to
drift.  It dipped slightly towards the blue water of the pool, but then
jarred to the right.  This time heading towards one of the taller oaks. 
Its movements were erratic, it floated in one direction but never made it
anywhere before it started in a different direction.

   She spun as she felt another's fingers on her side, her turning guiding
the fingers to more sensitive parts of her body.  Another hand joined the
first.  She giggled as she felt them slide over her sex.  Then a third hand
ran through her hand.  She felt a warm mouth on her bottom.  She gave into
the sensations for a moment, then pulled away, giggling louder as she
retreated from all the touches.

   Its movements almost entirely ignored by the beings below.  Almost
ignored.  As with all things, there were always at least a few eyes
watching.  If you asked them, they would tell you that you were watching
something quite special.  That this was something that normally occurred in
the deepest depths of the forest, far away from any spying eyes.  To those
keen eyes, the cloud was not a cloud, but a swarm.  It looked like a swarm
of bees and, in fact, it had quite a bit in common with that.

   "Glitter-hot-want!"

   The cloud pulsated as the hundreds of little figures that made it up
darted in and out of the mass.  Their translucent wings caught the dawn
light, looking like lightning arcing across the storm cloud.  As if guided
by some unseen force, the cloud drifted upwards, narrowly missing one of
the oak trees.  It turned lazily and continued its haphazard journey.

   With her pursers still chasing her, she dived out of the center, slipped
around, and dived back in from the top.  She giggled as she watched the
others chase her, then loose interest and chase others.  She dove back to
one of her previous pursuers and joined him in chasing another.

   This special dawn only came once a year, being that this was the morning
that the Dragonbell Blossoms opened fully.  Their nectar revealed enticing
the sprites closer, none of whom could resist its sweet taste.  The
nectar's purpose being fulfilled by drawing the sprites close enough to
cover them in the blossom's pollen.  The sprites hardly ever noticed the
pollen, having already been driven into an orgasmic frenzy by the nectar's
peculiar effect on them.

   "Hungry-hot-hot!"

   The cloud hovered closer to the ground now, hanging in the space over
the flowerbeds.  The storm cloud seemed to be raining down on the flowers
as sprites dropped out of its mass, fleeing to the flowers below to drink
more of the nectar.  All the while the pollen tinged sweat of the sprites
evaporated into the air around them.

   She continued her chase of the male that had caught her eye, following
him as he dove down towards the flowers.  Another male, quicker than her,
caught him first.  She watched, slightly disappointed as the new male's
mouth engulfed her target's phallus.  She watched them land on the
buttery-yellow petals of the blossom and her disappointment quickly faded
as she charged forward to join them.

   The Blooming of the Dragonbells: Epilogue

   "See?" She asked, sounding somewhat smug in her tone.  "That was not as
difficult as you seemed inclined to believe before."

   You nodded slowly.  Normally her tone might insult you, but you were
fairly proud of this particular piece of work.

   "You just needed to view it from a slightly different perspective." She
added as she tucked the papers into an envelope.  "It seems that we have
far more faith in your abilities than you have."

   "Umhm." You agreed, deciding it might just be better to change the
subject now.  "Will I be able to meet the rest of my employers?"

   You really hadn't thought about those before this, but her mention of
"we" caught your interest.

   "Perhaps one day.  I am willing to bet that the odds of that happening
will increase dramatically after this particular piece of work." She
thought for a moment and then smiled, "I can already think of someone who
would have quite an interest in it."
   "In any case, let us move on to talking about your next assignment."