Jim stood somewhat nervously holding onto the box of vials and with Sandra managing to hold him close to her as Abby came closer. He had actually found some of Sandra's loneliness and interest in adventure, at least with regard to the cave, understandable. He didn't necessarily want to be a dragon but a part of him didn't want Sandra to be totally alone and at the same time. The fact that Abby hadn't shared his love of adventure and geology had even raised the fear that she would just leave him to the dragon to save her life, yet she came back and came back as a Hydra, a type of multi-headed dragon.
"Abby?" Jim said slowly.
"Yes," said Abby's central head, "It's me."
"I'd thought you knew that by now," Abby's angry head.
"Who needs him," Abby's surly head grumbled, "he rushed off to that bitch in the first place. I just want to grow more powerful and leave."
"She held him prisoner," Abby's central head argued, "was he supposed to fight off something that could swallow him whole."
"She has a point," Abby's intelligent commented, "It does make sense. Anything that looks like he likes her likely either for his own self preservation and force on her point. If you were as small and as helpless as him, would you be that aggressive to someone who could eat you easily?"
Abby's angry and surly heads grumbled while the feral head looked on, more puzzled than anything else. Jim figured that the two heads that were grumbling probably didn't like logic being used against them successfully.
"I know it's you, I was just hoping to get your attention," Jim said slowly and paused as Abby's heads focused on him, "You... you did all this for me?"
"Yes," Abby spoke, "to save you from her. Once you're free... we can be human again."
"Remember our deal now," Sandra spoke as she eyed the Hydra that Abby had become. Abby might be immune to her fire, but it might be a distraction if need be, and she was sure that a fiery attack would also kill Jim, which she figured would be enough to keep Abby from attacking.
"It's the deal I wanted to talk to you about," Jim said slowly.
"It is the only way to show good faith," Abby's intelligent head spoke. "We don't have much choice. Sandra and I are too big to manipulate the vials and can't use them on our own. Sandra apparently wants you to at least sire eggs within her and to make sure she doesn't double cross us... we must grow bigger and stronger to keep our edge."
"That's the problem," Jim pointed out, "you and Sandra can't manipulate the vials and I presently can..."
"I do not wish to be a weak human," Sandra growled, "being human cost me my farm as bankers and thieves took everything... now... now I am powerful. I have everything I need, and the police... the army... they're all too weak. They tried to shoot me down with fighter jets once. My scales deflected their cannon and my fire blew up their missiles before they could hit me... Then I roasted the planes themselves. I gained power by becoming this... the only thing I lack is a mate and a family... I had children..."
Abby and Jim both looked to Sandra, as she seemed to betray a few moments of weakness. However, Sandra kept a firm enough grip on Jim that there was no way he could escape her.
"But the Griffins to the west carried them off and ate them," Sandra said slowly, "and despite all my power... I have no legacy to turn to. I won't give the power up. It's too nice... it's made me to great. But it would be nice to have children again."
Jim found himself strangely being able the empathize with that. He and Abby weren't far enough along in their relationship to really worry about kids, yet, but he could remember his own parents taking great pride in him and his brothers and sisters, not knowing what to do when they got lost or squabbled. Maybe Sandra simply wanted to have something similar.
"Thus why we," Abby gestured to her other heads with her horns and nose of her scaly muzzle, "agreed to the deal. We will grudgingly allow you to sire eggs within her and then we can be human again."
"That is the problem," Jim spoke, "If I become a dragon... or a hydra... or some other giant reptile... I won't be able to operate the vials either. We'd be stuck. We'd have to wait until someone came along to operate the vials for us... and well... who knows how long that'll be... what we have to eat until that occurs... and what our safety will be after it happens. If I go along with this deal, we may be stuck."
Abby stopped her advance and then looked around to her other heads with wide eyes.
"He's right!" Abby spoke.
"So? We're just as powerful as her now," her angry head growled, "I think I like being powerful."
"Yeah," Abby's surly head agreed, "we've been a doormat for too long. Let everyone else be the doormat for US now!"
"I wouldn't mind seeing him as a dragon," Abby's lustful head commented, "he'd surely grow a big..."
"Hey!" Abby's central head protested.
"Hey yourself," Abby's lustful head argued, "I'd like to feel some pleasure too."
Jim watched as Abby's feral head gave a snarl, though it also looked like it was giving a fanged smile, which he couldn't fully discern. Either it was pleased with the power it felt or it was running on the more animalistic desire to have more Hydras. Abby turned to her intelligent head and other two heads on that side.
"I can understand wanting to be human again," Abby's intelligent head said weakly, "but in all honesty... I do not trust her. She could easily turn on us whenever we become human again. At least as we are we are big enough and strong enough to control her."
Abby's other heads nodded. She sighed and took that as the vote. She felt a bit sick by the fact that Sandra knowingly smiled.
"It's okay, Jim," Abby spoke, "I personally would want to be human... but we've voted and we've agreed to stay a Hydra. If only to keep an eye on her."
Abby glared back to Sandra and was surprised when her intelligent and angry heads did the same.
"We offer you a new deal," Abby's intelligent head spoke, "so as to avoid any confusion and have the understanding that Jim's and my present changes are permanent."
"If you wish..." Sandra spoke, as whatever Jim had tried in manipulating the deal was likely going to backfire on him.
"We can work this one of two ways," Abby's intelligent head spoke, "One is that I get just enough of the dragon vial to grow wings and grow bigger to make sure you can't fly off with Jim or bully. You will then get enough of the Hydra vial to match the size I grow to when I take my portion of the Dragon vial. These deliveries will be simultaneous so that we grow and change together."
"Jim then gets a full vial of Dragon AND Hydra at the same time," Abby's lustful head added, "so that we may both enjoy him."
Abby's central head cringed a bit, as she didn't want to stay a monster. She'd only become one to save Jim from Sandra, now she was not only deciding to stay a monster, but negotiating on how to make Jim into a similar monster. Keeping Sandra under control made sense, but that didn't mean that Abby had to like it.
"Interesting," Sandra said slowly, "and what would be the other way?"
"That Jim gets a vial of either a Hydra or some other flightless dragon so that you can't fly off with him or abuse him," Abby spoke up.
"Who cares about him?" her angry head growled.
"If he becomes a fierce enough lover... all that you're angry at will go away," Abby's lustful head smiled, "especially when he makes us cum with a huge dragon..."
"Fine," her angry head grumbled, tired of the argument, "but he'd better be fiercely loyal to us!"
"Both of us," Sandra added, "then if he causes trouble, we can both give him grief."
Abby's angry head looked back to Jim and then to Sandra, "That actually doesn't sound bad..."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Jim asked.
"NO!" Abby's surly voice growled.
"Jim... don't you love me?" Abby lowered her head to look directly at Jim, "I became this to save you. And we've voted and I won't be going back to being human... no matter how much I wish to. We agreed to stay a Hydra. And all of us... in our own ways... do love you."
Abby then raised her central head back, her eyes on her angry head.
"And you wouldn't want us to be alone with no one but each other, do you?" Sandra added, "we'd be invincible queens of this whole area... feeding on what we wish and ruling over everything... but with no family to raise and protect. No lover to comfort us. You wouldn't do that to us, would you?"
"No..." Jim said slowly, "and I do love you Abby... going through all that just to save me... it's more than I expected."
"Just promise you'll be a fierce and loyal lover," Abby's angry head growled, "or else."
Jim only gulped as his Hydra girlfriend and his Dragon captor looked to each other.
"Do we have a deal, Sandra?" Abby's intelligent head asked.
"Deal... though... I say we let Jim choose between the two options," Sandra offered.
At this point, Jim was released and the two great beasts stood between him. They were close enough that Jim could drip bits of the vials onto the feet of each. That left him with some choices.