A Dragon's Tale Ch. 18

*And all this is normal?* She asked Ethan for the dozenth time.

*Yup, I'll tell you all about it later.* He said with a chuckle.

The wood elf reluctantly turned her attention to the matter at hand.

Jason and Melinda had excused themselves to a far corner of the room right after the FBI agent had left. They had talked for about a minute.

Alana took a deep, reassuring breath. It felt like the air here was very thick. Well, not the air, but the mana in the air. She couldn't draw mana through the Ether as fast as she was consuming it. The difference was slight, but noticeable.

Trying to draw mana was like trying to breathe through a thick piece of cloth; you got what you needed, but not enough. At the rate she was consuming her mana, she could probably stay here as long as a week... maybe two; but no longer. Any longer and she would need to start consuming her deep mana.

Further, using any mana would dramatically reduce the time she could spend here. She decided right then that she would only use magic here as an absolute last resort. Rachel and Ethan seemed mostly unaffected though.

After another minute, Jason come back with Melinda in tow.

"Okay, what's going on?" He asked Ethan. "Clearly you were being evasive and clearly you did more than just 'give her a lift'. What happened?"

"You want the long version or the short version?" He replied with a sigh.

"Let's start with the overview."

Ethan nodded. "Well, Hailey was kidnapped by men who took her through a portal to another world. She was sold as a slave to a horrible man until I fought her master in the Arena -- which is basically the Roman colosseum -- and beat him in single combat. Then he gave her to me as a slave and I freed her. Then I gave her a lift in my airship to the camp of the slavers who kidnapped her, beat the necromancer who had originally kidnapped her, and then portalled back to Earth. Oh, and I'm doing this so I can bring my wife back from the dead. Now you're mostly caught up."

Jason blinked. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then cocked his head to one side. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "Oh, and magic is real and this redhead here--" He indicated Rachel.

"Hi." She said with a nervous wave.

"--she's a kick-ass mage." He finished. "Okay,now you're all caught up."

Jason looked at Hailey, who nodded.

"You're serious?" He seemed unsure what to make of that.

"Magic?" Melinda said incredulously. "Really?"

Alana gave Rachel a nudge in the side. The redhead sighed, nodded, and then reached her hands towards the fireplace. She concentrated for a moment, then a small stream of fire left the fireplace and landed in the redhead's open, outstretched palm.

The couple stared at the fireball for a few moments, shared a glance, and then they both sat down on the couch.

Jason took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I think we're going to need the long version."

* * *

Taloni landed on the Argo's weather deck and panted as her wing muscles ached. They were almost burning, but she felt proud of herself. She could stay aloft for almost ten seconds if she beat her wings hard and jumped as high as she could. They could boost her jump and slow her descent to almost a crawl, but she still couldn't use her wings to gain altitude...

Yet.

She know it wouldn't be long. She'd been practicing every day since her collar came off and the progress of her wing muscles was enormous. She suspected she should thank her Fey heritage for that, but wasn't sure.

She looked around the nearly vacant weather deck. Anthiel was on the quarterdeck, but -- for the first time in quite a long time -- wasn't playing an instrument. She was sitting cross-legged in a meditative pose, probably restoring her mana.

The Fey sighed; she should probably be doing that.

The portal had taken almost every ounce of regular mana that both she and the high elf possessed. They needed to be ready to reopen the portal when Ethan was ready to retrieve Beth's body, so they were both concentrating on restoring their mana. Well, Anthiel was. Taloni found it nearly impossible to resist exercising her wings and harder to concentrate on restoring her mana.

She sighed and leaned against the Argo's railing.

Near the gate to the former slave camp, she could see the three men who they'd freed standing and having what looked like an animated conversation. They looked in the direction of the airship regularly and she guessed they were talking about them.

She waved to say high. Almost immediately, they retreated behind the fence and went into one of the buildings.

"That's odd." She thought, and could feel her Fey curiosity rising as she wondered what they were talking about. She was especially curious why they kept looking at the airship.

She resolutely turned around and sat down on the deck with her back to the former slave camp and started meditating to replenish her mana. It didn't work as well as she would've like because she kept getting distracted. She tried to concentrate on drawing mana, but didn't have much success luck because her mind was preoccupied elsewhere.

She did this for almost five minutes before sighing, standing up and walking up the stairs to the quarterdeck where Anthiel was. The high elf was sitting straight backed and cross-legged, eyes closed and body perfectly calm and still. Her hands were resting palm up on her knees and her breathing was slow and deep.

Taloni hated to disturb her, so she let her shoulder slump and made to go back down the stairs.

"You can stay." Anthiel said without opening her eyes. "You won't disturb me."

"Sorry, you just looked so calm and serene."

"Looks can be deceiving." She said opening her eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing I guess." She shrugged. "I'm having trouble concentrating to restore my mana."

"Ah." The gorgeous high elf nodded. "Has anyone ever taught you how to properly meditate to restore your mana?"

"I don't think so. I've always just done it by feel."

"Come, sit next to me." Anthiel said with a smile, indicating the deck in front of her.

Taloni did, mirroring her body position as close as she could. "Like this?"

"That will work." The high elf nodded. "Now, take three long, slow breaths. Take at least three seconds to inhale and another three to exhale."

The Fey teen did, and found it was strangely relaxing.

"Good." Anthiel said. "On each inhale, I want you to imagine that mana is flowing into you, like water into a still pond. On each exhale, imagine that your worries and distractions are being carried away on your breath as it leaves your body. Understand?"

"I think so."

"Then try it."

Taloni closed her eyes and inhaled deeply but slowly. She held the breath for only a moment before exhaling and imagining everything that was bothering her was being carried away.

She frowned. "That seems to help the mana flow in more easily, but it's not helping to clear my mind."

"Ah the young." Anthiel chuckled. "Thoughts don't just leave with your breath. I saidimagine they were leaving with your breath. I've been doing this for over a hundred years; it took half that time to master this skill. Did you think you could master it in a few minutes?"

"I guess not." She conceded.

"Taloni, you are a wonderful girl, but you're very young." Anthiel said kindly. "It takes time and effort to achieve anything worthwhile in life. It takes constant practice and work every day to master a skill. Please don't be discouraged when you don't master something instantly. It takes a long time and a lot of work. The only promise I can give is that if you work at it long enough and smart enough, you can succeed."

The Fey teen nodded. "Do you think I could pilot an airship if I practiced long enough?"

"Of course!" Anthiel beamed. "Just don't forget the operative phrase: 'if I practiced long enough'. That's the important part." She paused, then added. "Well, that and getting proper instruction."

"Could you teach me?"

"Absolutely. I'm surprised it took you this long to ask."

Taloni felt a warmth spreading through her body as she fluttered her wings and beamed. "When can we begin?"

"Right now." Anthiel replied. "Here's lesson number one." She closed her eyes and resumed her breathing.

Taloni stared for a moment. "What does that have to do with piloting an airship?"

The high elf didn't reply.

The Fey frowned.

Anthiel just kept slowly breathing in and out, presumably replenishing her mana as she did so.

"Um, Anthiel?" She asked. "What does this have to do with piloting an airship?"

"You'll see." She replied, then fell silent again and continued her breathing.

Taloni sighed. Now she was curious as to how breathing could possibly affect piloting an airship. She supposed that she wouldn't know until she'd done it, so she sat a little straighter, closed her eyes, and began to copy the high elf.

* * *

"Nope, there's nothing wrong with it; not that I can see anyway." The tech said as he dropped Selene's phone back into her hand. "I did a deep scan of the whole thing. There's no viruses, Trojans, or even major software glitches that I can see."

Selene frowned as she accepted her phone. "Thanks anyways."

"Sure thing." He said as he turned back to his workstation.

She left the local Sheriff's office and headed for her vehicle, not feeling very confident about the local PD's computer forensics expert. Still, she had no reason to think anything was wrong with her phone except the strange picture.

"What's wrong boot?" Mason asked as she climbed into their FBI issue SUV. "You look like someone put vinegar in your coffee."

"A strange bug in my phone, that's all."

He shrugged. "What did you make of those interviews?"

"They were hiding something." Selene replied as she thought back to the interviews with the formerly missing teachers.

"Yeah." He grunted. "But what?"

"It seemed like they were intentionally being cagey about where they went, how they got there, and especially who helped them escape." She said as she thought back to her conversation with Hailey and Ethan. "But I think I know who helped them."

She then explained about her interview earlier.

"Them both showing up the same morning isn't a coincidence." Mason said. "We'll learn more when that girl you mentioned visits the station."

Selene grimaced. "Um, I kind of forgot to ask her to."

Mason gave her a stern look

"I'm sorry." She offered.

Mason didn't respond, he just looked at her with his piercing eyes. Somehow, she almost felt an air of fatherly disapproval coming off him.

"I'll do better next time." She said.

"Yes, you will." He said sternly as he turned the car on and started backing out. "For now, we'll just have to hope she's still there. You're navigating."

She pulled out her phone, punched in the address from her history, and then on a lark opened the picture of the dragon while giving him directions. It would be a short drive, and she kept looking at the picture. The dragon in the image still bothered her greatly

Then something happened.

It was so subtle that she didn't noticewhen it happened, yet it was also completely obvious once she did.

The picture changed.

While she was looking at it, she suddenly realized that she wasn't looking at a picture of a dragon standing next to some people anymore. It was the man she had met earlier standing next to them. At some point as they drove closer to the apartment, the picture had changed right her eyes -- literally -- without her noticing.

She frowned.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

"That's... that's quite a story."

Ethan nodded at Jason's remark. "If I hadn't lived it, I probably wouldn't believe it either."

Ethan, Alana, Hailey, and Rachel had just finished recounting a fairly detailed account of what had happened in the Ten Kingdoms, and Hailey had even volunteered what she had done to Arena Champion, though had left out her pregnancy. Jason and Melinda had listened the whole way through without saying much, seemingly dumbstruck at the various revelations.

"So, you're actually a dragon using a magical necklace to make yourself look like a man?" Melinda asked. It was the first thing she had said in over an hour and she sounded genuinely curious.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Yes, you're finally going to see a real dragon Mels." She turned to Ethan. "That is, if you'd be willing to show her."

"Close the blinds and I will." He replied.

Melinda got up excitedly and quickly closed every blind in the room. Once they were closed, he poured a drop of mana into the disguise gem to turn it off.

* * *

Selene nearly dropped her phone.

Suddenly, the image of the man disappeared, instantly replaced with the dragon. She stared at her phone, not quite believing what she was seeing. The transition had happened in the blink of an eye. There was no fade, no warning, and no apparent reason. It was also obvious, unlike when it had turned from dragon to man.

"What's wrong?" Mason asked from the driver's seat as he parked the SUV.

"I'm not sure." She replied.

"Come on, let's get some answers." He gestured to the door next to the yoga studio that was across the street.

* * *

Ethan resisted the urge to laugh. The moment he had disabled his disguise gem, Jason had jumped like a firecracker had gone off next to his ear. Melinda's mouth fell open and her eyes resembled dinner plates they were so huge.

"You... you..." Jason spluttered as he appeared to be having trouble coming to grips with what he was seeing.

"Yes, I'm a dragon." He chuckled. "We just told a long story which sort of centers on that fact."

"Yes, but hearing about it and seeing it in person are two completely..." He trailed off as he shook his head. "Why haven't we seen magic before?"

"Because the barrier between this world and the source of magic is thicker here than on our world." Rachel explained. "It's so much harder to collect it here, that it wouldn't be practical to use for much."

"And you're a wood elf?" Melinda asked his chocolate-haired wife.

Alana pulled back her hair so they could see her pointy ears and nodded.

"That's just... just..." Jason took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "That's why you were so cagey with the FBI agent. I can't imagine what the government would do if they got wind of this."

"Yeah, that's why we're trying to fly under the radar." Ethan replied.

"What's radar?" Rachel asked.

"Ask me later." He replied. "I was hoping Hailey's return wouldn't cause too much of a fuss, but now..."

"I'm definitely involved with the cops." Hailey agreed.

"Yeah." Jason said. "These kidnappings have been hard on the town, so it'll be big news when you come back. But it should die down eventually."

"I hope so, because--" Ethan started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Everyone glanced at each other, then at the door.

"Were you expecting someone?" Ethan whispered.

Jason and Melinda shook their heads.

"Who is it?" Jason called.

"FBI Agent Selene Dawson, here to ask some follow-up questions." Came the voice through the door.

"Damn, she's persistent." Ethan growled as he flicked his disguise gem back on.

"There's no way they didn't hear all of us talking." Rachel said.

Jason looked at Ethan. "Your call. I have a back door."

Ethan considered for a moment. Avoiding the police obviously seemed like the best option, but the FBI agent would've heard them so fleeing could look suspicious. That might get Jason, Melinda, and Hailey in trouble, which was especially bad since Hailey was going to stay.

Running wasn't a good option.

"Open it." Ethan said to Jason, then turned Alana and Rachel. "Let me do all the talking."

They nodded as Jason reached for the doorknob.

* * *

"Thank you for seeing me again so soon Mr. Stiles." Selene said as sincerely as she could manage when the door opened. "This is my supervising officer, Agent Mason."

"Please come in." Jason said, though there was something slightly nervous in his tone that hadn't been there before. A few hours ago, he had looked shocked but genuine and open. Now he still looked shocked, but also nervous and cagey. His girlfriend Melinda had a similar look about her.

They must've learned something in the interim.

"Agent Dawson tells me you know something about the escape." Mason said to Ethan without preamble. Mason was straightforward and blunt like that, which Selene appreciated.

"Does she?" The dragon-man replied.

Mason appeared to size him up for a moment. "Listen, you aren't in trouble here. The women who came back were all very cagey about how they escaped, and miss Oswald here--" He indicated Hailey. "--seems like she'll be just as cooperative. If I thought you had something to do with their disappearance, you'd already be behind bars. Since it seems you helped with the escape, I'm not looking to cause any trouble for you; I just want to know what happened."

Selene watched Ethan carefully as the dragon-man appeared to consider. There was still something 'off' about him; something that just didn't feel right. There was something vaguely predatory about his look and demeanor that set her teeth on edge.

Still, Mason appeared to be willing to listen and he'd been an agent a lot longer than she had. In fact, he was famous for his gut instincts about people. So maybe if there was a way to get Ethan to talk while putting his mind at ease.

"How about this." Selene said to Ethan. "What if -- hypothetically -- you were involved in their escape? And if you were involved in their escape -- hypothetically speaking -- how would you have been involved in their escape."

"Hypothetically speaking?" Ethan repeated. "Well,hypothetically speaking, I probably would've run across them accidentally. And then I probably would've done what I could to help; hypothetically speaking of course."

Mason nodded. "And hypothetically speaking, what would this help have entailed?"

"It might've entailed breaking them out of a secure compound -- hypothetically speaking -- and giving them a ride back here."

"And hypothetically speaking, where was this compound?" Selene asked.

"Way outside of your jurisdiction." He replied. "Hypothetically speaking of course."

"How many men run the operation?" Mason asked

"Hypothetically, there's only one left. The leader escaped and is loose in this area. Consider him armed andextremely dangerous. I mean it. Treat him like Osama-Bin Laden, Rambo, and The Terminator all rolled into one."

"What does he look like?" Selene asked pulling out her notepad.

Ethan raised his eyebrow.

Selene sighed. "Hypothetically speaking."

He gave them a description, which she took down. "Where did you last see him, hypothetically?"

"Hypothetically speaking, in a large clearing in the woods just outside of town." Ethan replied. "I'm not saying I saw him, though of course."

"Of course." Selene resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He seemed to be talking and she didn't want to jeopardize that.

"Would you be willing to sit with a sketch artist to draw up a picture of him?" Mason asked.

Selene noticed that Mason didn't mention that they already had the two school teachers sitting with a sketch artist, nor that they were already prepping for a manhunt in the woods.

Ethan grimaced. "I want to help, but I'm here on a completely unrelated mission. It's a matter of life and death, and I can't afford a delay." Selene noticed his eyes flicked in the direction of the petite chocolate-haired woman next to him.

"I could do it." Hailey said with a murderous look on her face. "And if I can do anything else to help catch that bastard, just let me know."