A Dragon's Tale Ch. 13

"Okay." Hailey replied, but couldn't meet his eye.

Alana had never seen such a tall woman look so small. Somehow, she seemed to have shrunk a whole foot.

"Hailey, I'm serious, it's okay." His voice was gentle and caring. "I understand you feel bad and probably will for a while. But we won't hold your mistakes against you. We've certainly made enough of them, so holding yours against you would just make us hypocrites."

"Okay." Hailey nodded, and she seemed slightly better.

"Ethan." Rachel interrupted. "I suggest we leave the city before the magistrate comes up with a trumped up charge to hold us."

"Good idea." He nodded and they headed for the door.

Before reaching the door, it opened and Alana saw Elder Goman standing there. He once again looked at least a hundred years old - maybe older - and like he was on death's door.

"Um... Uh, a moment, yes a moment if you please?" He said in a weak, frail voice.

Ethan turned to Hailey and Rachel. "Can you wait outside for a minute?"

They nodded, stepped outside, and closed the door behind them. Once the door was shut, Elder Goman looked around for a moment to ensure they were alone, then straightened up.

"I have a parting gift for you two." He reached into his robes and pulled out two small, flat items, giving one of them to Ethan.

They were disc-shaped, about four inches in diameter and an inch thick, with a hole in the center that was slightly more than an inch in diameter. But the most interesting thing about them was the hole itself.

The hole was filled with...

It was hard to explain.

The hole had a thin opaque membrane stretching across it, equidistant from the top and bottom. The membrane was like the surface of water as it reflected the sun. Or perhaps like water mixed with oil and left outside because it undulated and moved liked water in a gentle breeze while reflecting the colors of the rainbow. But at the same time, it was a subtle thing; easy to miss with just a glance.

"What are they?" Ethan asked after looking at the one he'd been handed.

"Just the one, the other is for me." Elder Goman replied. Then he took his finger and poked it through the membrane on the one he was holding. The membrane parted like water, and his finger poked out of the one Ethan was holding.

He nearly dropped it in shock.

"What the hell?!"

Alana inhaled sharply as her mouth fell open. "Are those... are those what I think they are?"

Elder Goman nodded.

She stared dumbfounded at them for several seconds before Ethan broke into her thoughts.

"So, what are they?"

"They're portal stones." She whispered in amazement. "I've heard of them but how did you? I mean the cost alone..." She held out her hand toward the portal stone Ethan was holding, and he handed it to her. She accepted it reverently, treating it like it was made of glass.

Elder Goman smiled. "Dragon steel in indeed expensive, but I thought it was worth it. This way we can communicate no matter where you travel."

"Dragon steel?" Ethan asked.

"Dragon scales melted down and forged together to make a metal." Alana explained. "It's the only thing that can take enough magic to form an enchantment that's this powerful at this size." She turned the portal stone over in her hands. The dragon steel wasn't cold to the touch like normal metal. Instead, it almost had a warmth about it.

"I don't know what to say." She wondered as she looked at it.

"Say you'll use it." Elder Goman replied. "Simply write a note and slip it through when you wish to contact me. I'll do the same when I have something that might help you. "

"Thank you." Ethan said to him.

"You are welcome, but it's as selfish as it is selfless. I can't defeat Lord Delmar or his black dragon alone. I need help, and I can think of no one better suited to the task. In fact, you might be the only one in the Ten Kingdoms who can defeat them."

Ethan grimaced. "No pressure huh?"

"I thought you'd be looking forward to it, given the strategy your lovely wife and I discussed."

"What strategy?" Ethan asked turning to her.

Alana went beet red and suddenly felt very warm under her dress. She had 'conveniently' forgotten to tell him what Elder Goman said. Mostly because that would lead to him asking her opinion, and she didn't want to admit what she thought about the idea to anyone, even herself.

"Can we talk about it on the Argo?" She asked, mostly because she wanted to put it off as long as possible.

He looked at her with interest, curiosity coming over their bond in waves. She was sure he'd felt her embarrassment - amongother feelings - at the question. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

"Please?" It was a genuine request, and she would've told here if he'd asked. She just hoped he wouldn't.

"Okay, on the Argo it is."

"Now, you both should leave. Magistrate Haglath is a vindictive man. If you hurry, you should be able to depart without incident. If you tarry but a few hours..."

"Understood, and thanks again for everything." Ethan replied. Then they made to leave with all haste.

* * *

Kendra had slipped away from The Arena without incident and now found herself stalking through Arcanum's streets with a vengeance, stomping her boots as if each stone in the pavement had done her a great personal wrong. She was alternately clenching her fists and focusing on her breathing; one to calm down, the other to magnify her rage.

It would pay.

That beast was going to pay.

For the hundredth time, she wiped her mouth trying to get the feeling of the dragon off her lips as her stomach roiled at the thought. Finally realizing that her hands wouldn't do it, she stalked into the nearest tavern.

"Give me the strongest whisky you have and an empty tankard." She ordered, dropping a coin onto the bar as she stepped up to it.

The bartender gave her an odd look, glanced out the window at the early morning sun, shrugged, then grabbed the coin and filled her order.

She got a huge swallow of whisky in her mouth, braced herself, and then began to swish it around furiously. It burned like fire, but then fire was how you eliminated darkness. She spat it out into the empty tankard then repeated the process again, and again.

It was only after the fourth time that she felt some semblance of "clean". Two more and her stomach finally calmed down. A vigorous application to her lips and they also felt clean, but burned just as fiercely. Scowling, she left both the unfinished whisky and the tankard on the bar and left. Once outside, she headed back toward Falkaan's ship, the Midnight Sun.

When she arrived, she couldn't believe who was waiting on the weatherdeck with Falkaan.

"What in Illuminar's name areyou doing here!?" She demanded.

Luminar Kossel smiled, then glanced at Falkaan. "I thought I'd see an old friend while waiting for you to fail in your crusade."

"Dragonshit!" Kendra's eye narrowed. "There's no possible way you could've known the beast would win. You yourself said I was one of the best you ever trained."

"I'm afraid Falkaan did most of the training, I merely helped. Though given this morning's debacle, apparently you didn't learn much."

Kendra could feel white hot rage boiling up inside her. For the first time in many, many years, she simply couldn't contain it.

She snapped.

She used everything she learned in over a decade of training and threw all of her skill and ability into a careful and precisely aimed attack. Even in her anger, she made sure to keep her balance even and defenses up. It was as close to a perfect strike as she could make.

Then she missed.

One moment, Luminar Kossel was in front of her and her strike was about to land. The next moment, her back was hitting the weatherdeck and the wind was knocked out of her.

"I misspoke." Luminar Kossel said kindly as he leaned over her. "You learned much about fighting, but little about Illuminar or life in general. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so upset."

Kendra was too busy trying to get air back into her lungs to reply. Damn, that was the second time that had happened this morning.

"That... that beast it... it violated me." Kendra spat.

"I was there Kendra." Luminar Kossel said conversationally. "You mean, he touched his lips to yours, seemingly as part ofbringing you back from the dead?"

The Luminar offered a hand to help her up. She batted it away and stood on her own, her wind having finally returned.

"Kendra." The old priest continued. "The Book of Light tells us that Illuminar breathed the breath of life into every living creature. Perhaps Ethan was merely doing that?"

Kendra shuddered again and resisted the urge to vomit. Suddenly, that whiskey didn't feel like it had done the job.

"Regardless." He continued. "I'm actually here to help you on your crusade."

She shot him a look.

"Truly, I will help. Unless I'm much mistaken, you didn't expect to lose this morning. Therefore, you have no plan in place to track Ethan when he leaves Arcanum."

She scowled, but couldn't deny he was right.

"I will tell you exactly where he is going, on one condition."

"What condition?"

Luminar Kossel smiled. "You will make no attempt to kill or even hurt him or his companions until the sun rises in two days. To be clear, that's just under forty-eight hours."

"No deal." She shook her head. "I'll track him myself and put him in the ground before nightfall."

"How?" Falkaan asked, speaking up for the first time. "How would you track them?"

"My ship is a lot smaller than the Midnight Sun, so it's a lot harder to see."

"And you think a dragon - and a wood elf - wouldn't spot it when they are wary of being followed?" Luminar Kossel asked.

She scowled.

Luminar Kossel smiled. "No attempt made to hurt him or his companions until the sun crests the horizon in two days. That's the price for not losing the trail. You may stalk, hunt, and do reconnaissance to your heart's desire until then. But until you see the sun two days from now, you will make no move to injure them or their allies; no move of any kind whatsoever."

Kendra scowled again, but she knew she was backed into a corner. Certainly, she could refuse and pick up their trail again later, but she'd likely lose more than two days doing so.

"Agreed?" Luminar Kossel offered his hand.

"Agreed." Kendra shook it with a scowl.

"As witness, I confirm this as an oath between members of the order." Falkaan said, reciting the official words of a witness. "May Illuminar strike dead the one who breaks this vow."

"Amen." Kendra and Luminar Kossel said together as she continued to glare at him.

Luminar Kossel chuckled. "Oh don't make that face child; you look like someone killed your favorite puppy." He said with an amused grin.

She wasnot amused.

* * *

"Wow." Ethan said as he tried in vain to scrape his own jaw off the floor after Alana had related Elder Goman's plan. "That's... That's... Just wow. He really said that?"

He was sitting on the bed in the captain's cabin with Alana sitting next to him. Rachel was leaning up against one of the two closets that were on either side of the entrance. He ran his hand over the top of his head and onto one of his horns, exactly were his hair had been a couple months ago.

"Uh-huh." Alana nodded her head, which at the moment had the two prettiest hands in all creation covering an equally lovely face. Her engagement braid was still wrapped around her wrist, and he smiled as he remembered putting it there.

"I'd ask what you think of it, but..." He smiled wryly as he felt the almost overwhelming amount of both embarrassment and arousal coming over their bond. She seriously looked like she wanted to hide under the nearest rock. That would be hard because they were already safely aboard the Argo in the captain's cabin, but he wouldn't put it past the wood elf given the chance.

They had nearly run to the Argo and gotten away from Arcanum without incident. To ensure they weren't followed, Anthiel suggested they travel to the west until they were out of sight of Arcanum, and only then turn toward their destination. As a result, the early morning sun was streaming into the captain's cabin and casting a warm glow on the three who occupied it.

"For those of us who aren't bonded, what do you think?" Rachel asked the embarrassed wood elf.

Alana made some kind of muffled noise, but he couldn't tell what it was because she was still covering her face with her hands.

"Well, you're not throwing things so I assumed you're not entirely opposed?" The redhead asked.

Alana hesitated for several seconds before shaking her head fractionally. She stood and moved several steps so she was standing in front of the window. Her hands finally dropped now that her back was to the room.

"So that's Elder Goman's plan huh?" Rachel mused. "You bond to a bunch of women so you can get enough magic to defeat Lord Delmar and the black dragon he's allied with. It makes sense in a slightly creepy, 'dirty-old-man' kind of way."

Ethan opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. He didn't see a way to reply that didn't make him sound like a total horndog. Of course the idea of having a bunch of women bonded to him and ready to share his bed appealed. Of course it did; was there a red-blooded man - or dragon - to whom it wouldn't appeal?

He was having some trouble keeping his cock down enough so it didn't pop out in front of Rachel though. He pushed a bit mana into his disguise gem, making himself look exactly like his unaroused state. He relaxed his control slightly when it took effect, and his cock leapt out like a spring.

Rachel glanced at his when he moved the mana, but made no comment.

As the blood rushed to his loins, quite another train of thought rushed to his head. He suddenly had visions of women kneeling before him, calling him master and existing to feed his magic. Each of them willingly spreading their legs and begging him to put his seed inside them. They would beg to carry his offspring, each offering everything - whatever they had - for the privilege

His dragon side loved it, he wasn't entirely opposed.

Apparently Alana guessed at his imaginings because she said telepathically: *Illuminar forgive me, but it doesn't bother me.*

*Really?* He asked.

*Really.* She nodded

"You're having another one of those silent conversations aren't you?" Rachel said with a resigned sigh. She didn't sound annoyed or anything, just accepting that she would miss part of the conversation.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to cut you out, it was just a bit... personal." Ethan replied.

"I understand." She said. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I honestly don't know." He replied as he started thinking about it.

To the primal dragon side of him, it seemed like the perfect solution to the problem. It was made even better by the copious amounts of sex he would be having. Alana certainly seemed on board with the idea judging from what she'd said and the arousal coming from her. It actually made him want to bend her over the bed right now, but he didn't think it appropriate with Rachel there so he resisted the temptation.

"The way I see it, you have three options." Rachel offered. "One, you could reject Elder Goman's plan and remain in the Ten Kingdoms. You would probably spend the rest of my father's life - several decades at least - running from him and you probably wouldn't escape forever. Eventually he'd find you and then kill you, your bride, and your unborn daughter."

"Never." Ethan and Alana hissed together, though she still hadn't turned away from the window and still had her back to the room.

"Understood." Rachel nodded. "Option number two: go back to Ethan's home with Hailey when we find the slaver's camp with the portal. If you destroy the portal, it would be nearly impossible for Lord Delmar to find you there, and you could live out your lives."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Alana said.

"Oh, I'm not done." The redhead grimaced. "If everything I've heard about Ethan's home is true, there's no dragons, elves or other non-human races. You'll be outcasts. Even if you manage to stay hidden, you'll never be able to get very close to anyone for fear they'll discover your secret. You daughter - and any future children - will have the same problem."

"We could hide; we'd just need to be careful about Alana's ears." Ethan countered.

"And your children's ears, and their children's' ears, down to about the tenth generation." Rachel pointed out. "The pointiness of elven ears is a very persistent trait which lasts at least that long. Besides, can you see a child keeping their ears hidden while playing? No, you'll need to live in secret and constantly cautious about your secret being exposed."

"On second thought..." Alana sighed.

"Yes, but at least you two would be safe." Ethan countered.

"Assuming Lord Delmar never followed you, and assuming none of you required a healer for an injury."

"I hadn't thought about doctors." He frowned. Elven physiology might be very different from a humans, and dragon physiology certainly was, which would be obvious if either of them needed a doctor.

Rachel continued. "Plus, what if a human with views similar to Lord Delmar discovers you there? Would you still be safe?"

"That's true." He conceded. "Most people fear what they don't understand." He then did his best Yoda imitation. "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate... leads to suffering."

They stared at him.

"It's from a-"

"-A movie." The ladies finished together.

"How much time did you spend on those things anyway?" Alana asked, still not facing the room.

"Uh, less than I spent watching shows on Netflix."

Rachel stared blankly at him.

"Nevermind." He shook his head then turned to Rachel. "I take it the third option is staying here and fighting?"

"And building your..." She grimaced slightly before continuing. "...your harem of women to increase your power. At least until you're a match for Lord Delmar and the black dragon he apparently follows. Then you'll have a winner-take-all fight to the death, because neither my father nor any dragon he'd follow would accept defeat without plotting revenge."

Ethan sighed. "I don't suppose there's an option that avoids lots of bloodshed and death?"

"Staying on your world."

"Yeah, but I don't think that's such a good idea." He considered what would happen if they were discovered. He was sure that he and Alana, and probably their child, would end up some secret government facility somewhere. At least if they stayed and fought, then - if they died - the death would be quick.

Besides, something deep inside Ethan just bristled at the idea of hiding from anyone. In the short term to gain an advantage, or to stalk and hunt; fine. But long term running from someone - especially a human - as if Ethan was his inferior...

He just couldn't stomach the idea.

Or maybe the dragon couldn't. He wasn't entirely sure.

"So, you'd rather stay and build a harem then?" Rachel asked, her face betrayed no emotion at the idea, but she didn't look surprised.

"I guess?" He raised his hands and shrugged. "I mean, what guy hasn't dreamed of being told he needs to build a harem of hot women to save the world?"

"They don't need to be attractive." Rachel countered with a grin. "You could find a bunch of old grandmas."

The image that sprang to his mind was slightly disturbing. "Yeah, I think not."

"Alana, what do you think?" Rachel asked.

The wood elf swallowed, then turned to face the room. She seemed to have gotten control of her facial expressions, though her cheeks were still a little pink. She opened her mouth to speak, then shook her head and closed it. She sat down on the bed next to Ethan, so he was between her and Rachel, before speaking.