A Dragon's Tale Ch. 08

Taloni felt tears well up in her eyes. How could anyone - especially a dragon - do that for her? What could possibly make him do that? She didn't understand it, it didn't make any sense.

Then it registered with her that this dragon was about to fight a dozen armed men. They all had experience fighting dragons and he was in a weakened state.

She couldn't let that happen.

She couldn't let anyone hurt him.

"Wait!" Taloni scrambled to her feet and ran in between the dragon and Thaltien's men. "It's okay, I'm fine and he hasn't hurt me."

Thaltien stopped his advance and signaled his men to do the same. "Explain."

"He was hurt," Taloni said. "Another dragon took his gold and he's dying. Please, just let him be and I'll come quietly."

The dragon growled.

Taloni turned to him. "It's fine, really. He's my owner and it's his right."

The disgust was as obvious as the dragon spoke. "Not on my watch."

Taloni took a step toward the dragon and looked into his eyes. "It's okay. Really, I'll be fine. Thaltien's not a cruel master and he treats me well as long as I keep his miners patched up."

The dragon bristled again, then took a threatening step toward the armed men.

"Please don't," Taloni pleaded. "They'll kill you."

"I'm going to die anyway," The dragon replied. "Might as well go out fighting for a good cause."

Taloni felt her breath catch in her throat. He thought fighting for her was a good cause? What kind of a dragon was this? Her heart was doing little backflips until she remembered the danger he was in.

"Please, do me this one favor," Taloni pleaded. "Let me go with them."

The dragon hesitated.

"I healed you, so don't you technically own me a favor?" Taloni said. "I'm calling it in. Please, let me go?"

The dragon didn't move for several seconds, then nodded and lowered his weapons. "A girl with a heart like yours shouldn't be a slave," He said matter-of-factly.

"A dragon with a heart like yours shouldn't die," she countered.

The dragon gave her a weak smile, then took a step away from Thaltien's men and she walked toward them. They seemed wary, but more relaxed now that the dragon didn't appear so threatening. She joined their group and they headed back up the shallow sides of the ravine. Most of the men were walking up backwards, shields raised and never taking their eyes off the dragon.

As Taloni crested the ridge of the ravine, she looked back at the dragon. Despite his burst of energy, she could tell he was exhausted. He dropped his weapons and flopped down to the ground.

As Teloni looked at him, she couldn't help but smile. He'd only known her for a few hours but was willing to fight for her. She felt her heart soar; she had never met anyone like that before.

As he disappeared out of sight, the only thought in Taloni's head was that she wanted to see him again.

Soon.

* * *

Ethan opened his eyes to discover the entire world had a strange purple hue to it. It took him a minute to remember that he'd done this before on the Argo. Anthiel had called it 'Astral Projection'.

He stood up and looked around. He was still in the ravine and his draconic body lay there. His body's breathing was slightly labored. Ethan himself didn't feel as strong as he usually did. Somehow, in this astral projection form he felt less substantial. Like he was there, but not all there.

The ravine itself was very peaceful.

The sound of the creek trickling and insets chirping were the only sounds. The trees were swaying gently in the light breeze and the bushes surrounding the area had a verdant glow from the moonlight. Besides a few bushes the other dragon has burnt to a crisp during their fight, it was an idyllic picture of nature at its most beautiful and pristine. Though, it was odd to see it all in shades of purple.

Ethan's thoughts drifted to both Taloni and Alana. He was a little worried about Taloni, but he desperately wanted to see Alana. He warred with himself for a few moments before deciding that Alana was safe, Taloni might not be.

He stretched his wings and leapt into the air.

It turned out that flying was a lot easier when he was astral projecting. He took off in the direction that Taloni and the others had left. At the speed he flew, it was only a minute or two before he came across what looked like the entrance to a mine.

There were a bunch of flimsy shacks around the entrance and one sturdier central building. A rickety windmill was on the outskirts of the camp and the large, wide blades were lazily spinning in the light breeze.

Ethan landed and began searching for Taloni in the shacks. It didn't take long to find her because he could walk right through the walls. She was sleeping peacefully in the fetal position with a contented smile on her face. She was laying on a well-worn cot with a blanket wrapped around her and looked healthy.

A passing thought crossed his mind that she was quite beautiful, but that thought also reminded him of Alana.

He spread his wings and took off like a shot toward Arcanum.

Not long after, he had found the Argo and landed on her main weather deck. As before, Anthiel was sitting up on the quarterdeck playing a small flute-like instrument. None of the others were anywhere to be seen.

Ethan ran to the lower deck and over to the sleeping area. Everyone appeared to be fast asleep in their hammocks, even Raklan who was snoring loudly. Ethan rolled his eyes and walked through the blanket that separated the men from the women.

He saw Alana first and went over to her. She was sleeping in her hammock, though obviously not sleeping well. She was tossing and turning every few seconds, which was impressive considering she was in a wrap-around hammock.

He felt better just being around her.

He walked over to her hammock and ran his finger gently over her cheek. His fingers passed right through her cheek of course, but he still liked touching her.

Suddenly, Alana sat bolt upright... and nearly fell out of her hammock.

"Who's there?" She asked after recovering.

Ethan didn't respond because he knew she couldn't hear him anyway. The wood elf felt around the dark room and her hand passed through Ethan's chest.

"Ethan?" she said tentatively. "Ethan is that you?"

She looked around more, but he knew she couldn't see him.

"Ethan, if you're there please come back to us," Alana said. "Please come back to me."

Just hearing her say that changed Ehtan's mind. He was going to get out of that ravine. He was going to make it back to Arcanum and this wonderful, perfect woman.

Then the darkness descended on this thoughts. It wasn't even being subtle anymore. He could feel something foreign in his mind obliterating every positive thing he felt and replacing it with black despair.

He fought.

He fought as hard as he possibly could, but it was like playing tug-of-war on ice in slippery shoes while his opponent had cleats. It didn't matter how hard he fought, the darkness slowly - inexorably - pulled him into its black embrace.

He did everything possible to keep those thoughts at bay. He needed to; he needed to get back to his Alana. He smiled at the thought; 'his Alana'. He liked the way that sounded. Suddenly, it was like his feet gain purchase on the slippery slope the darkness pulled him towards.

Then the darkness gave an almighty tug and he felt his thoughts slipping...

Hmm...

What was he thinking about? He knew it was important, but he couldn't remember.

"Ethan," Alana whispered. "Ethan if you're there please come back to me."

"I want to," he replied, though she couldn't hear him. "Dear God in heaven I want to Alana. You are the most wonderful woman I've ever met and if I could spend my life with you, I'd consider myself the luckiest man on earth."

"Ethan, if you're out there I want you to know that we're looking," Alana said. "Rachel and I are brainstorming and we're going to find you. I don't how yet, but we will."

He smiled.

Alana was the perfect woman and she loved him. That fact alone did his heart good...

But the black cloud settled around his thoughts again, telling him he couldn't risk it. He would be the death of her and needed to stay away. In fact, it would be better if he died, just to make sure he could never hurt her again.

He closed his eyes.

Despite being near Alana, his mana wasn't refilling. He supposed astral projection didn't count as being near her. His mana was still slowly draining away. He guessed he had couple days before it was gone at the current rate. He figured he'd probably lose consciousness long before then though.

He was so tired.

The darkness told him to sleep. It would all be over soon.

* * *

Rachel stood on the deck of the Argo watching the rising sun. It reminded her of her conversation with Ethan two weeks prior and their talk about homes. As she glanced around the Argo, she realized it didn't quite feel like home. It was nice, and right now she needed to be there; but something was missing.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Hailey asked.

Rachel smiled. "I was just thinking about a conversation I had with Ethan that started with the exact same question."

"What did you talk about?" Hailey asked.

"Homes and our place in the world," Rachel replied.

"Speaking of," Hailey said. "I was wondering if - after we find Ethan - there was any chance we could figure out how I got here so I could go back."

"Ethan might like to leave too," Rachel mused.

"It would be great to have company," Hailey said. "I just, I don't belong in this world you know. I should getting ready to graduate college, not stuck in this God forsaken world."

"Illuminar hasn't forsaken anything," Rachel replied almost automatically, then added. "Assuming he exists."

"Oh, God definitely exists," Hailey said bitterly.

"What makes you so certain?"

"Your first rule of Magic is the same as the first rule of physics." Hailey replied. "Matter and energy - including magic - can't be created or destroyed. So where did all this come from?" Hailey waved her hand at the world around her. "Someone or something had to create it, which means breaking the laws of physics and magic. And anyone powerful enough to break them would be indistinguishable from that prick we all call God."

"What if it's always existed, so it didn't need to be created?"

Hailey shook her head. "If the universe was eternal, the stars would've run out of fuel an eternity ago and the galaxy would be dead and frozen," Hailey replied. "I wish it was all come cosmic accident - because God is seriously a major asshole - but you can't break the laws of physics. "

Rachel wasn't sure exactly she what meant by 'galaxy', but otherwise Hailey's logic made sense. "So why do you hate him so much?"

"Because some all-powerful dickwad decided to create everything and then just walked away to let us to fend for ourselves," Hailey replied. "What kind of insensitive douchebag does that?"

When Hailey finished speaking, she glanced over toward The Arena with barely concealed rage on her face. Rachel eyed her intently. She was definitely concealing something; something that made her blood boil.

It probably wasn't God either.

She thought back on her life about all the times she'd heard about the great, kind and loving God illuminar. Somehow, Hailey's perspective didn't make a lot of sense. She had experienced too much good in her life to agree with her. However, she couldn't deny that life was rough sometimes.

"I just want to get home," Hailey continued. "I figured if the slavers kidnapped me from my home, they must have a way to get there right?"

"That would make sense."

"I'm still wondering why they didn't start stealing some guns though," Hailey said. "They could live like kings with that kind of power."

"What's a gun?" Rachel asked.

"It's like a crossbow that can fire a bolt every second," Hailey replied. "They can kill a person from across The Arena and the bolts move so fast you'd never see it coming."

"That sounds like a powerful weapon indeed," Rachel agreed, and her mind went spinning with all the ways she could use that to defeat Lord Delmar.

"I know, so why didn't the slavers grab them?" Hailey asked.

"That's easy," Rachel replied. "Magic portals are incredibly hard to set up and pretty easy to destabilize. They were probably worried a mage from your land would hear about them and close the portal. It would take a long time for them to create a new one and they'd be trapped until they did. Besides, I'll bet the mage who created the portal wouldn't go through it for fear of being trapped."

"So the slavers would be stealthy for kidnapping because they might be trapped if they were discovered," Hailey said. "I suppose that makes sense, especially if they never saw a gun being used."

"Exactly."

"But you agree there is a portal to Earth somewhere in this world?" Hailey asked, and Rachel could hear the hope in her voice.

"Probably. I doubt they'd close it because they're so hard to open. The entrance in your world is probably disguised though."

Hailey broke into a wide smile. "That's the best news I've had in years. Thank you."

"We need to find Ethan first," Rachel said. "Then maybe we can start looking for your portal."

"Yeah, I think Alana's already on it," Hailey said.

They both turned and watched Alana pacing back and forth on the Argo's deck. She was pacing with a determination Rachel had never seen before. Her brow was furrowed and she kept muttering under her breath.

"How long has she been doing that?" Hailey asked.

"Since before I got up," Rachel replied.

The wood elf looked distinctly the worse for wear. She had dark circles under her normally bright eyes and her hair was a complete mess. It looked like she hadn't slept much - if at all - the previous night.

"She's going to kill herself worrying," Hailey said.

Rachel nodded, then walked over to her. "Alana?"

She turned as soon as Rachel spoke. "Did you think of anything?"

"No, I'm sorry," Rachel shook her head. "But you need to relax."

"I can't," Alana replied. "I can feel something from Ethan, it's... I don't know what but he's in trouble; big trouble."

"It must be your bond," Rachel said. "We'll find him, we're doing everything we can to figure this out."

"I just hope we find him in time," Alana gazed out at the horizon.

"Me to," Rachel said. "I think we can—"

Rachel was interrupted by Alana swearing loudly.

"What?" Rachel asked and looked were Alana was looking. They only thing she saw was two airships on the horizon.

"Lord Delmar's flag is a stylized dragon on a red background isn't it?" Alana said.

"Don't tell me those are..." Rachel said squinting at the two incoming airships. "Not now."

Alana nodded. "I guess Ethan's antics in the arena caught some attention because those Saidow spawn finally found us."

Rachel would never have used the name of Saidow - the source of all evil and Illuminar's mortal enemy - so flippantly, but she agreed with the basic sentiment.

"We have to get out of here," Alana said before making for the quarterdeck, but Rachel grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Wait, by the time we get clearance to leave the dock they'll already be here and they'll see us leave."

"You're probably right," Alana nodded. "Suggestions?"

"We'll get clearance to leave and then wait until dark. Hopefully, we can slip away under cover of darkness. At least, I hope we can."

Alana nodded and bit her lip while Rachel stared at the approaching airships. Her father certainly wasn't making life easy.

* * *

Taloni finished her morning prayers to Illuminar asking for the same thing she'd wanted ever since she could remember: her freedom and the enchanted collar that paralyzed her wings to be removed. She also added a prayer that Illuminar would send someone to help the dragon get better.

At the thought of the dragon, her heart did a little backflip. She knew it was stupid, but no one had ever cared enough to fight for her before. Her owner Thaltien had of course, but that was only because she was useful. He didn't care about her personally, only what she could do for him.

The dragon on the other hand...

Taloni shook her head. It was stupid thinking of a dragon like that. He was a dragon. Everyone always said the only thing that dragons love more than imposing their will on others is power. Dragons didn't care about people at all and saw them only as tools. But that dragon - Ethan - he wasn't like that; or at least he didn't seem to be.

"I'm so glad they saved you from that awful dragon," Prayla said after sticking her head into Taloni's private sanctum.

"They didn't save me," Taloni said. "He wasn't going to hurt me."

"Oh right," Prayla said rolling her eyes. "And Saidow is about to repent to Illuminar for creating evil."

"I don't think that's likely," Taloni replied. "But that dragon was just... He was so... I don't know," Taloni couldn't think of the right word.

Prayla gave her an odd look, then her eyes lit up. "You're not in love with this dragon are you?"

"Of course not," Taloni said a little too quickly and a little to loudly.

"You are!" Prayla exclaimed. "So what was he like?"

"He was kind, and I think he cares about other people," Taloni replied.

"No, not that," Prayla said teasingly. "I mean the sex. How good was he in bed? Did he live up to the legends?"

"What?" Taloni went beet red. "No, of course not."

"So he wasn't good in bed?"

"No, that's not what I-" Taloni spluttered. "I mean I wouldn't know. We didn't do anything."

"You're such a little liar," Prayla said with a good natured smile and in a sing-song voice. "I bet he drilled you like a-"

"Stop," Taloni cut her off. Her cheeks were feeling hot and it suddenly felt very warm.

"So you don't want to jump his bones?' Prayla asked.

"No, I would never- I mean I wouldn't even think of- Just no," Taloni finished.

"Come on, anyone with eyes could see you're smitten," Prayla said. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to feel some dragon cock in your pussy."

Taloni covered her face with her hands to hide her embarrassment. She hadn't really thought about doing 'that' with the dragon and she wouldn't. wouldn't think about it that is. She definitely didn't want to think about him like that. She was a good Fey and followed Illuminar. Good Fey didn't think about that until they were bonded.

Ever.

Although...

"So you do want to?" Prayla asked after Taloni was silent for several seconds.

"No," Taloni said from behind her hands. Though now that Prayla had mentioned it, she wondered what it might be like. She tried to put that thought out of her head as quickly as possible.

"Then say it," Prayla said. "And remember, good Fey don't lie."

Taloni dropped her hands, looked into Prayla's eyes and said. "I don't want to do 'it' with the dragon."

Prayla rolled her eyes. "You are a terrible liar."

"I'm not lying," Taloni exclaimed.

"Sure you aren't," Prayla replied then with a huge and mischievous smile.

Taloni got up and left the room.

* * *

The rest of the day passed slowly for Taloni. After escaping Prayla's heckling, she had very little to do. Fortunately, there were no cave-ins or other accidents, so she spent most of the day wandering through the mines out of sheer boredom.

The miners catcalled and whistled as usual, but several were glad she hadn't been eaten by the dragon. Taloni tried to explain the dragon was nice, but that was a losing battle to gold miners.

When the day shift finally quit to have dinner, Taloni grabbed a few bits of meat and slipped away from the mine.

When she got back to the shallow ravine, the dragon was in exactly the same position as when she'd left the previous night. That wasn't a good sign. She made her way down and over to the dragon.