# Can’t You Tell The Difference?

By: TheDragonBoy

## Content

Edmund looked up sharply as a shadow darted over him, his jaw falling slightly open as he began to stare. He had heard there were dragons living in these parts, but the sight of the airborne silhouette looming watchfully overhead still weakened his nerves.

Ed had never seen one himself until now, but he had been assured that they were nothing to worry about. From what he had been told, the dragons and humans here hadn’t had any unpleasant encounters in generations. He had been made certain that he would have absolutely no trouble travelling through the mountain pass. Even so, something inside him still felt uneasy; as if the many prior generations of mortal engagements with dragon-kind silently screamed at his subconscious from beyond the grave. An evolutionary history like that was hard to shake.

Luckily, to his relief, the dragon passed on, and so too began the hours. As he slowly made his way over the increasingly jagged terrain, he watched the sun make its way toward the horizon. Though the further he went, the more he began to worry. Was the path supposed to be this rough? Was it supposed to take him this high? The pack on his back weighed heavy and the thought of spending a night out there wasn’t comforting- to put it mildly.

He came face to face with a short wall of rock and sighed, sticking one foot into a crevice and looking for a hold. As he began to climb, making his way up one move at a time, he felt his limbs growing increasingly tired. That’s when a sudden arm appeared over the ledge, extending down towards him.

“Need a hand there?” came a man’s voice.

“Yes, thank you sir!” Edmund exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. He reached up as far as he could and grabbed the stranger’s hand. He heard the man grunt heavily as he began to pull, Ed helping as much as he could to get his other arm up over the ledge.

“You must be tired, it’s a good thing we found you,” the stranger commented.

We? Ed thought as he pulled his head up, bringing his new friend into view. In the short second he laid eyes on the man, he noticed he was old and grey, grasping a staff in one hand. But he only saw him for a moment, because his gaze was quickly drawn by a large mass of red which seemed to move just behind him.

His mind seemed to identify the form before he did, and he found himself already beginning to scream as he recognized the creature as a rather large, red dragon. Without thinking, he also let go of the man’s hand and felt himself begin to fall. But he only went a few feet before he felt his pack catch firmly on something out of sight. A moment later, he felt himself begin to rise back upward.

“I told you you should have waited back there!” Ed heard the man scold lightheartedly. Then a new, feminine voice spoke.

“And I told you, you should have let me help him up. And look, you almost dropped him.”

Edmund tried to catch his breath as he felt his feet come to rest on solid ground. Released by the force which had grabbed his bag, he watched the red-scaled tail of the dragon who had startled him withdraw from behind him.

“Sorry about the jolt,” the man said rather cheerily, “You must not be from around here.”

“Oh- uh- no, I’m not,” he replied, dusting himself off nervously.

“Well of course he’s not, just look at him: fitted with a big travelling bag like that, and he can hardly take his eyes off me; probably never even seen a dragoness before, I’d venture.” It was that feminine voice again, now clearly coming from the large red dragon. And she was right, too; Ed noticed his eyes seemed unwilling to look away, a nervous terror in his chest.

“Well, there’s no reason to fear,” the man reassured him. “I am Gillian, and this is Celia,” he said, motioning with his staff toward the dragon.

“Edmund,” he muttered in response.

“I noticed you were having a bit of trouble down here and thought you might need some help,” the dragoness explained. Her voice sounded surprisingly gentle and caring compared to the argumentative banter she had been having with the old man just a moment ago. Ed found the sudden change both disarming and off-putting.

“I assume you were trying to cross through the mountain pass?” Gillian asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” Ed replied, forcing himself to look at the man and away from the dragon.

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you you’ve gotten quite a bit off track,” the man said. He took a moment to glance at the ground, noting the lengthening shadows. “Celia and I would be happy to give you a ride back to the path, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to make it anywhere suitable by nightfall. I suppose we could just take you all the way to the next village…”

“But we couldn’t leave Emily alone so long? And would you have me spend all night flying there and back?” Celia asked.

“Yes, well, I suppose the only other thing to do would be to invite him to stay the night with us,” he replied.

The dragoness threw Ed an inquisitive gaze. He tried not to feel pinned to the spot.

“That sounds fine to me. I’m sure we could use a bit of company for once,” Celia agreed.

“Well Edmund, how about it then?” Gillian asked. Ed took a quick breath and swallowed, trying to regain his composure and be polite.

“Thank you very much, that would be quite welcome,” he managed.

“Our pleasure,” Celia replied happily.

“Excellent. Well let’s not dawdle then, it’s time for supper,” Gillian affirmed. The old man walked over to the dragoness’ side, where Ed somewhat expected him to try and start climbing. Instead, much to Ed’s surprise, the man took a single, huge leap and alighted lightly on the red scales of Celia’s back. Edmund took a few steps closer, dumbfounded by the display.

“Oh, of course, let me help you up,” Gillian offered, extending down his staff. Ed looked at the man uncertainly for a moment, but he grabbed the wooden shaft. Though he did grunt a bit, the old man didn’t seem to have any real problem hoisting the traveler up. He was about to ask the man how he had just done that, but Gillian spoke first.

“Now you just hold on tight and we’ll be home in a heartbeat,” he assured. Edmund tentatively wrapped his hands around a nearby spine. The kind demeanor of his new acquaintances eased him out of his instinctual terror, but he still couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous. He saw the dragoness glance back at them.

“Don’t worry now. I’ll be gentle,” she said. The words sounded caring and sincere, once again displaying emotion that he, for some reason, didn’t expect to see from a dragon. He didn’t have much time to dwell on that, however, because a moment later Celia spread her great wings beside them, and the sudden force of takeoff grabbed his wits.

Edmund wasn’t sure how long the flight lasted, or even how far they went. He kept his eyes shut the whole time, unable to work up the nerve to open them until he felt the definite impact and subsequent stillness of landing. When he did open them, he found himself on a large stone landing, high in the reaches of a mountain. Gillian let himself slide off Celia’s back and landed neatly on the rock. Edmund attempted to do the same and managed to arrive on his feet, though a bit more heavily.

He looked around; the mountainside seemed barren, empty. He looked over at Gillian, confused, as the old man began to walk towards a heap of boulders piled up against a steep cliff face. He was about to ask where the man was going, when he paused and struck the bottom of his staff into the firm stone at his feet. The sound echoed through the quiet air, and as it faded was replaced by a low rumble.

To his amazement, Edmund saw one particularly large boulder begin to shake, and then slowly begin to rise. The massive rock, silent once it left the ground, continued to rise many feet into the air, and then held there. Behind where the boulder had been, lay a fire-lit tunnel.

“Here we are,” Gillian announced. He looked back at Edmund who simply gawked in astonishment.

“You’re a wizard!” Ed exclaimed.

“Oh, yes! Did I not mention that?” he replied. Cilia began to walk past Ed toward the opening, who still stood there at a loss for words. A wizard and a dragon in one day? What were the odds?

“Come on now,” Gillian beckoned. “I can’t leave this open too long or I’ll let the draft in.”

Suddenly worried about being left out alone, or being crushed under the boulder if he took too long, he hurriedly followed the wizard and dragoness into the tunnel. Once inside, the massive rock lowered back into place with a- relatively gentle- thud. Looking around he saw the inner walls were smooth, illuminated by apparently smokeless torches.

“Grandpa!” came the sudden voice of a young girl. Edmund heard the quick patter of little feet from somewhere ahead, past the dragon who currently blocked his view.

“There you are!” Gillian said merrily. “Did you have fun while we were out?”

“Mhm,” the girl replied. “Did you find anything neat today, Celia?” she asked.

“Yes, I did,” the dragoness replied.

That’s when Edmund stepped into view. She locked eyes with him for only a second before darting behind one of Celia’s legs, a sliver of her maroon dress swaying into view as she timidly peeked out.

“It’s okay,” Gillian reassured her, “This is Edmund. He got lost travelling through the mountains, so we invited him to stay the night with us.”

Ed watched the girl slowly come out of hiding and start to look him over inquisitively. He couldn’t help but find it strange that she seemed more comfortable hiding behind a dragon’s scaly leg than facing another human, even if he was a stranger. Nevertheless, she began to approach him, apparently gathering a bit of confidence.

“Hi, I’m Emily,” she said.

“Nice to meet you,” he replied, if a bit awkwardly himself. But the awkwardness didn’t end there.

*GRRRRG* *GLRP*!

Emily tried to stifle herself at first, but quickly burst out laughing.

“Celia!” she giggled; all traces of seriousness gone from her mood. It was obvious she found the sound of the dragon’s grumbling belly entertaining. The amusement of a hungry dragon was lost on Ed.

“I’d consider that a good cue to start dinner,” Gillian offered. “We eat over this way, come along.”

…

Eating dinner with a dragon was not something Ed had ever expected to do. While Gillian and Emily ate away at their plates without so much as a glance, Celia lay at the far end of the chamber, inhaling the bodies of small animals, each in a single gulp. He found it too unnerving not to keep an eye on her. The dragoness didn’t even have to use her teeth, she just picked up whole creatures and swallowed.

Gillian leaned toward Ed and began to whisper: “When my granddaughter came to live with us, I had to teach Celia some table manners,” he said humorously, gesturing to the dragoness. “That’s a huge improvement over the mess she used to make.”

“I can hear you,” the dragoness scolded playfully. Emily giggled.

“How long have you all been living out here?” Edmund found himself asking, finding the small talk marginally more comfortable than the silence.

“Oh, a couple years now. I know it’s not the coziest place by the standards of men, but it’s an excellent place for magic,” Gillian answered. “And you? Where are you travelling to?”

The conversation carried on, and as it did the atmosphere began to relax. Edmund told stories of the different places he had visited, Gillian went on about the process of “renovating” some of Celia’s old caves, and even Emily chimed in a bit with some of her adventures of exploration throughout the mountain. Despite the circumstances, Ed even found himself beginning to smile.

When dinner came to an end, Edmund was shown deeper into the caves, to a little alcove with a quaint little bed and an oil lamp. They left him there with smiles and “good nights” as the sky outside faded to black. Like everything else, the bed seemed odd and out of place, but comforting just the same. He put his things on the stone floor and laid himself down. Feeling oddly at ease, he fell into slumber.

…

He awoke to the faint echoes of far-off voices. Blinking a few times, he found his surroundings to be almost completely black; only the faintest of light bleeding into his chamber from somewhere down the hall.

Judging time as best he could and noticing that the hall torches had not yet been lit, he assumed it must still be night. Then he heard the voices again. They were too distant to make out what was being said, but it sounded like Gillian and Celia. Perhaps it was morning already?

Ed got out of bed and peered down the hall, not wanting to fully gather his things and dress himself beyond his light undergarments in case it was still too early. Firelight flickered from a chamber a good distance away. Figuring that must be where they were, he started toward it. The voices grew louder as he approached, but the echoes still prevented him from making out what they were saying.

When he got close, there seemed to be a break in the conversation, but he didn’t think much of it until he was just about to round the corner. That’s when he heard a sound that stopped him dead in his tracks and sent a shiver up his spine.

*grrrg* *glorp*

It echoed quickly through the stone passages and faded into silence. Edmund took a breath and tried to regain his composure.

It’s alright, everyone gets hungry in the morning, he tried to reason, Assuming it is the morning. Convincing himself that he was being silly by worrying, he peered around the corner.

At first he squinted in disbelief, then his mouth fell open, then his heart skipped a beat and he had to put a hand to his mouth to stop himself from gasping. Then he just stared in shocked fixation.

At the far end of a large chamber, Celia sat facing the opening from which he gawked, leaning menacingly over a small figure. The strong firelight clearly showed the figure to be a young girl- perhaps a little too clearly; it flickered against the smooth skin of her back and round buttocks as the child stood there, quaking in silent terror, completely bare of all clothing.

Is that Emily? He thought. No, even though he could only see the child’s back- and had never seen Emily unclothed- he could tell the hair was definitely different, and the proportions were subtly off. But then who was she? And why was Celia standing with her there, naked, in the middle of the-

Ed’s thoughts were interrupted as a quiet growl escaped the dragoness’ mouth. He watched with widening eyes as she ran the tip of her tongue along the edge of her snout, and then in one swift motion, her head shot down.

Ed went cold and felt himself begin to shake as he watched Celia slowly raise her head. The arms and legs of the poor girl sticking out of her maw, lightly flailing around in a helpless panic. There was an unmistakably predatory look in the dragoness’ eyes as she took a moment to run her tongue over the young flesh within her maw, before slowly tilting her head back, letting the child slide the rest of the way inside, silently flailing about as she disappeared into the dark abyss.

A large swallow reached his ears, and he saw a bulge begin to descend down the length of the dragon’s red-scaled neck, glittering in the firelight. Celia rumbled in satisfaction as it traveled, eventually disappearing into her monstrous belly.

Edmund almost couldn’t believe what he had just seen. Celia had seemed so nice, but she had just eaten a little girl! And he had just watched it happen… and done nothing… A turbulent mixture of horror and guilt began to flood his mind as he realized the situation he was now in. What should he do? What could he do?

His thoughts were interrupted yet again as another child silently walked into view, to stand shaking before the hungry dragon. Bare right down to her skin, just like the last; her arms wrapped around herself in fear. Celia looked down at her hungrily and licked her chops once more.

By the gods, no… I- I can’t just stand here and do nothing… Edmund thought. He gripped the stone of the wall as his conscience wrestled with his fear.

The dragoness parted her jaws and shot her head down again, engulfing the girl up to her kicking legs. Ed felt his pulse quicken and his eyes widen. As Celia raised her head to swallow once again, something inside him snapped.

“STOP!!” Edmund yelled. He stared fixedly at the dragoness, halted mid meal, as his echo rang in his ears, driving home the reality of the choice he had just made. Celia looked over at him as he slowly came out into the open, but he was too busy staring at the flailing legs between her jaws to read her expression. There were a few moments of tense stillness as the two stared at each other; she had been caught red-handed.

The girl in her maw suddenly stopped kicking and went limp.

“Put her down,” he demanded in the most commanding tone he could muster, but the words still sounded pitifully weak.

That’s when he noticed some movement from the side. It was Gillian, Ed realized with a start. The old man had been sitting against a far wall, still as a statue this entire time.

“Calm down Edmund, it’s not what it looks like,” he tried to explain. But Ed paid him little mind; after all that man had just sat by and watched everything happen as well- seemingly without the slightest problem. A subtle dripping sound reached their ears as a small glob of saliva dropped from Celia’s overflowing maw.

“Put her down,” he repeated. Gillian glanced at the dragoness intently and she slowly lowered her head. She placed the protruding feet onto the ground and withdrew, leaving the girl standing with profuse amounts of saliva dripping from her skin. She stood with her arms pressed against her chest, barely moving or making a sound except for her rapid breathing. Anger getting the better of his fear, Edmund shot Gillian a heated glare, storming past the old man toward the poor child.

“You don’t understand-” Gillian tried to say, but Ed wouldn’t have it.

“How could you do such a thing!?” he yelled, walking up to the girl. She still stood with her back to him, unmoving since she had been released. Tentatively, he reached out and placed a hand on her drool-soaked shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked. The child didn’t respond. She made no sound beyond her quiet breathing and moved not an inch aside from the rising and falling of her bare, sodden chest- still squeezed firmly against her tightly clenched arms. Ed walked around to face her. He recoiled a bit at first as he lay eyes on her expression; it was obviously one of terror- so potent that he could almost feel it- but then he noticed her eyes… They stared off into the distance, unfocused, empty- somehow devoid of real emotion.

Taken aback with confusion, he glanced up at Celia, thinking at first that she was somehow behind this trance. The dragoness just looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. Beneath her prideful facade she seemed almost… embarrassed. So he turned to Gillian.

“What have you two done to this poor girl?” Ed demanded, horrified.

“We’ve done nothing,” Celia snapped resentfully. He looked back up at her for a moment, but she still refused to make eye contact, so he looked back at the wizard.

“It’s a spell,” Gillian clarified.

“A what?” Edmund breathed.

“You see, Celia has some rather… primal desires that she doesn’t quite like to discuss,” Gillian explained. Ed glanced up at her once again; now she really didn’t want to look at him. “When she disclosed them to me, well, I thought it only fair that I… try and aid her a bit.”

“So you entrance these poor girls and feed them to her?!” Ed exclaimed.

“Oh heavens no! These aren’t actual children, they’re merely imitations,” he replied. Ed looked back to the dripping form beside him. He could feel the warmth of her skin beneath his hand, could see the hair from her head gently shift as she breathed. Everything about her seemed real, like an unfortunate young girl under some dark incantation. He looked back at the wizard suspiciously.

“I spent months crafting the spell,” he elaborated, “Working to conjure the intricate complexities of the human form. It was quite trying really, but the results were, well, perfect: a completely functioning reproduction of a human body. But, of course, only of the body.”

Ed took yet another look at the girl, gazing into her eyes again.

“It’s not alive,” the wizard assured him, “It has no soul; it’s not quite even an animal. I control every deliberate movement it makes- the walking, the struggling- the rest are just natural reactions of the flesh.”

Now Ed looked back at Gillian. The wizard seemed so straight-forward, so matter-of-fact about everything. Had he really gone through all that trouble to create this… this thing? It… it was twisted! Sick! Demonic even! And the man was just perfectly contented? Heck he even sounded proud!

“But- but- a stark-naked girl?” he asked in disbelief.

“Well, Emily’s the only other person I’ve had around for reference. And the clothes, well…”

“They don’t do much to add to the experience,” Celia admitted.

Ed let go of the “girl’s” shoulder and took a few steps back, trying to process everything. He looked back and forth between Gillian and Celia, a look of disgust on his face.

“How… how could you do something so unholy?” he muttered.

“We’ve done nothing wrong!” Celia snapped.

“You’ve taken advantage of Emily’s innocence! Sat here, heaven knows how many nights, feasting on her perverted form as if it were the real thing!” He spat.

“They are empty,” the dragoness growled back, now staring him down. “I would never harm her.”

“Please, you need to understand,” Gillian said, trying to calm them. That’s when an unexpected voice spoke up.

“Grandpa?” came the sleepy call through the cacophonous echoes. Everyone stopped and turned to see Emily, standing at one of the entrances to the chamber, dressed in a nightgown, holding an oil lantern in one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other.

“Oh, Emily, did we wake you?” Gillian asked, trying to sound as if everything were okay. She nodded her head sluggishly.

“What’s going on? I heard yelling,” she asked. The wizard paused for a moment, as if considering his next words, then he seemed to get an idea. He beckoned the girl closer.

“We accidentally woke up Mr. Edmund too,” he replied, “And he got scared when he came to see what we were doing.” Ed looked at the man incredulously as he brought his granddaughter closer to the abominable scene and watched with shock as he allowed her to notice the ghostly “imitation” standing nearby.

“Oh, you saw grandpa giving Celia her special snack,” she figured. Seeming mildly interested herself, the girl walked over to the dripping figure to take a closer look. Ed held his breath as the harrowing realization sank in.

“She knows?” Ed breathed.

“I never said it was a secret, only that Celia doesn’t like to talk about it,” Gillian replied discreetly.

“It’s okay Mr. Edmund,” Emily offered helpfully. “She’s not real, see?” She poked the imitation girl in the arm to no reaction. Ed just stared for a moment, taken aback by her calm response.

“Can’t you tell the difference?” she asked innocently.

He looked at her for another moment, then at all of them. He began to shake his head, unable to fathom their acceptance of such a vile ritual. He just couldn’t believe it- in fact he refused to tolerate it! But what could he do? They clearly showed no remorse he could appeal to. And a show of force would definitely be wasted against a dragon and a wizard.

Perhaps he could grab Emily and run away; take her some place safe and deprive these two of their sick “reference” model. Of course, even if he could pull that off with both of them in one piece, that would surely bring her to tears, wouldn’t it? But for her own good he had to… Would it even really be for her own good? Admittedly, she wasn’t actually in any danger, but still, it was just so…

“I think I’d better go,” he decided aloud, eyeing their rather calm faces one last time before turning abruptly and walking out of the chamber as quickly as he could. As he left down the hall, he heard Emily’s voice fading behind him.

“Ew, you made this one all slimy,” she said, “I thought you promised not to be messy anymore.”

“Sorry about that,” Celia replied, “Here, let me help clean up.” Her giant head came down gently next to Emily, taking the imitation girl in a single mouthful. She slowly brought her snout back up, raised it high, and swallowed, sending another bulge down her neck.

“That’s better,” Emily giggled.

Originally Published: 21-Apr-2019