A Dragon's Tale Ch. 22

The Drago picked her up and made to spread his wings, then snarled and unceremoniously dropped her onto the deck. She cried out in pain as the movement jostled her dislocated shoulder.

Kyrupto glared at Ethan. "Is there a single thing on this ship that you haven't tainted?" He spat in disgusted.

Ethan blinked. "Tainted? What-"

The copper dragon interrupted, curling his lip in disgust. "You sicken me; bonding and half bonding to cows." He shuddered in revulsion, then his gaze became hard. "You owe me hatchling. You owe me and have not a single thing of value for me to collect from you. Wewill meet again hatchling. When we do, you better have something more valuable to offer me than cursed trinkets and tainted cows."

He exhaled a puff of smoke as if to emphasize the point, then spread his wings and took to the skies.

Just like that, he was gone.

Rachel felt an enormous sense of relief wash over her, followed by a bit of guilt and shame as she realized what the copper dragon had been referring to. She checked her mana and sure enough, she still had a small sliver of Ethan's mana inside of her.

She knew that's what Kyrupto had been referring to. He could hardly have meant anything else by 'half-bonding'. Ethan had saved her once again, though he didn't know it.

Damn him; could he be any more wonderful?

* * *

Kendra stared in open-mouthed disbelief at what had just transpired before her eyes. For a dragon to do what Ethan had just done was almost outside the realm of her comprehension.

He seemed to sway on the spot, and two of his wives rushed forward to help him. He slid down to the deck still cradling the gold cube. She recognized the exhausted look of someone who'd been running on a fear-induced, adrenaline-powered, 'fight-or-flight' mode and was now coming down off of it.

Deciding to leave before she could be spotted, she crept backwards in the direction of the railing where she'd climbed up via the grappling hook. She had just reached it when the high elf - Anthiel - came up the stairs to the quarterdeck. Their eyes met for a moment and the airship's pilot did a double take.

Damn; she'd been seen.

Not sure what else to do, Kendra gave her an apologetic look and then slipped over the side and shimmied down the rope as fast as she could. Once safely onboard her own airship, she pushed a touch of mana into the rope, which deactivated the enchantment on the leather 'hook' portion, allowing it to go from rigid to flexible so she could pull it down.

She altered the weight logs so her ship dropped like a stone, only halting the fall as she neared the ground. She pulled up the lower mast and then let her airship fall almost to the ground. Then she leapt out and with her still-activated strength enhancing vambraces pulled it under the branches of a large oak tree.

She was concealed.

The instant she was, her mind swung back to what had just happened; what the dragon had just done. She could hardly believe that a human might do such a thing, much less a dragon. Taloni had said he was a good man and she obviously believed he was selfless. Now Kendra was now hard pressed to disagree.

She couldn't deny her own eyes.

She couldn't deny what she'd seen.

Falkaan had said that if she watched him long enough, she'd see what kind of a man he was.

Now she had.

Now she knew.

She didn't know what to do about it, or even what to think about it; but now she knew. There was simply no denying the evidence that she'd seen, no matter how much it conflicted with everything that every other dragon had done.

Ethan was a good man- err, dragon.

She honestly didn't know what to think of that.

* * *

Ethan felt like he'd run a marathon after losing a fight to a professional boxer who outweighed him by double. His entire body ached, most of it hurt, and his back still seared from where Kyrupto's flames had hit him. That fire had been something else. Havorleth's had hurt, but nothing like this Drago's flames had.

He was currently on all fours on the deck, panting from the exertion he'd just gone through. It was as much mental as physical. Getting that gold cube for Kyrupto to save Rachel had been the hardest thing he'd done in his entire life. No exceptions.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked with concern.

He groaned; speaking felt like a lot of work right now.

His wood elven wife turned to his Fey bride. "Can you finish healing him?"

"It would be my pleasure."

He felt two soft hands touch his back and winced; the burn still hurt slightly.

"I'm sorry master, but I didn't have time to fully heal it before and it's better if I can touch it."

"Go ahead." He gritted his teeth and waited.

Over the next few minutes, the pain and burning sensation died down. The aches and soreness remained, but at least it didn't hurt to move or breathe anymore.

"Ow!" Rachel yelped followed by a hiss of suppressed pain.

He looked up to see Anthiel kneeling next to her, and it looked like the high elf had just popped the redhead's arm back into its socket. Antheil gave her a pat, probably knowing the redhead would fix any damage magically, and then headed back up the stairs to the quarterdeck.

His eyes met Rachel's for a moment.

The beautiful teen mage looked like she might cry, and not from pain. She looked into his eyes for several moments as if searching for something. There was an expression on her young face that he couldn't place. She looked both happy and mournful; content and dissatisfied all at the same time. Her eyes flicked to Alana and Taloni, then back to him.

She looked quite vulnerable right now, which was something that he rarely saw in her.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"You'd do the same for me." He replied with a lopsided grin, which was easier now that every inch of his body didn't hurt.

"I'd like to think so." She whispered so quietly he that almost missed it, and doubted anyone but possibly Alana had heard her.

Ethan groaned as he stood up, thanked Taloni and then made his way over to her, still holding the gold cube. "Rachel, what do you mean 'you'd like to think so.'?" He asked gently.

She started to tear up and opened her mouth to respond when Taloni spoke.

"Where's Beth?"

Reflexively, he checked his bond with her and found it filled with pain.

"Beth." He breathed, looking around for his blonde wife.

"In here." Alana said gesturing to the captain's cabin.

He darted inside still holding the gold cube, his body only protesting slightly with groans and creaks as he did so. Beth was laying on the bed in the captain's cabin curled up in the fetal position. She was groaning quietly and obviously in a lot of pain. There were angry red burn marks over every inch of exposed skin that he could see. They didn't look serious, but they were surely very painful.

"Kyrupto." He snarled, remembered how he'd seen Beth's silhouette engulfed by flame, even while she was on the Astral Plane.

"Taloni!" He called, knowing the Fey teen was far better at healing than anyone else on the ship. She was at his side in a moment. She took a sharp intake of breath when she saw Beth and then sprang into action.

Literally.

She leapt forward, using her wings to both jump further and slow her jump to land lightly next to the moaning blonde. She stretched her hands out and began to work. It took a couple of minutes, but the redness over much of Beth's body slowly receded and then disappeared altogether.

"There." Taloni said when she was done. "You're lucky the burns weren't very serious or I wouldn't have been able to heal them so completely."

Beth sat up and hugged her. "Thank you. That was... it was awful."

"What happened?" Ethan and Alana asked at the same time.

His teen wives smiled at their synchronicity before the blonde replied. "I could feel his fire even though I was on the Astral Plane."

"He must've enchanted it somehow." Rachel said from the doorway. "I have no idea how that's even possible, but he was a Drago, so..."

"He must have." Beth said, looking much happier now that most of her body didn't have minor burns all over it. "I was hit with some of Havorleth's breath - more than once - but I didn't feel it at all."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, I'm glad you weren't hurt worse. I think you really saved us by poking his one eye out."

Beth grinned.

With his wife safe, Ethan leaned up against the wall. He felt like he needed to sleep for a week. Magical healing was wonderful, but it left all the aches from an injury for a little while. A good night's sleep seemed to cure most of it, but it was only mid-morning.

"Are you okay?" Beth asked him as he sagged against the wall a bit.

He nodded. "Now that you're all safe, I will be."

As one, his wives sighed.

"Aww." Beth said, opening her arms from her position sitting on the bed.

He moved forward, flopped on the bed and landed with his chin resting on her shoulder. He dropped the gold cube between the bed and the wall, figuring he'd return it to its hiding place later. Beth hugged him awkwardly and then turned slightly, setting him down so he was resting on the bed.

It was so comfortable.

"I'm just gonna lie here a moment, then we need to talk about what just happened." He said and then yawed.

"You can sleep you know; you deserve it." He heard Alana say.

"No, I'm just going to... to..." He yawned. "To rest for a moment."

That was his last thought before he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Rachel had the strangest impulse to crawl onto the bed next to Ethan, snuggle up with him, and fall asleep in his arms.

She resisted.

"Sleep isn't a bad idea." She said gesturing to the now sleeping dragon. "I'll be below decks."

"Thank you for everything." Alana said as she wrapped the redhead in a bear hug, carefully avoiding her now-healed but formerly dislocated arm. "We wouldn't be alive or have a home without you."

The teen mage hugged her back. "It's my home too, and I would never let anything happen to you all."

Alana gave her an extra squeeze, then let go. Beth and Taloni followed suit, each giving her a genuine, heartfelt hug and thanking her.

Feeling slightly better, Rachel headed out of the captain's cabin and below decks towards her hammock. Her previously dislocated shoulder now merely ached slightly, as she'd healed it after Anthiel had popped it back into its socket. She yawned more than once as she worked to keep her eyelids open. Eventually, she reached her hammock and flopped down in it. Her body might be resting, but her mind was abuzz.

She loved Ethan.

She didn't want to, but she did.

She wanted to let Alana, Beth, and Taloni have their husband and not add yet another wife to the mix. Yet she wanted him, but there was no way she would evenconsider trying to take him away from them because she had no desire to come between them. She couldn't even if she wanted to; they loved each other too much.

She wanted to be loved that much.

She wanted to be loved byhim that much.

She rolled over in the wraparound hammock, wishing there was a way that she could have that. A part of her wished that she could be okay with sharing a husband, but she didn't think she ever would be. She wanted to be, but could feel deep in her bones that she never would be. Not without something changing her at her core.

She closed her eyes as her brain reminded her that none of his other wives had liked the idea either... until they had married him. But she wasn't willing to bet her whole life's happiness on the possibility that she would be changed to be okay with it.

She didn't want him to be changed by him her either. She didn't want to be changed by anyone, she wanted a true partner in marriage.

As she lay there, she realized part of why she didn't want to share a husband. She wanted an equal partner in marriage and that just wouldn't be possible if she was one of several wives. There would always be a power imbalance between them because he was her only husband, but she wouldn't be his only wife.

There was a fundamental difference there; an inequality that could never be corrected. She could never be his equal if he had other wives, though she was sure he'd treat her as an equal. She'd seen the subtle shift in women who'd shared a husband before. She'd seen how they naturally followed their husband's lead.

She saw it in Ethan and his wives.

Still...

She rolled over onto her other side, not liking where her head was going. There was a tiny part of her that didn't care about the imbalance that would result from being one of multiple wives. There was a small part of her that was willing to sacrifice her independence for the love that he clearly shared with his wives...

But only a small part.

She sighed and resolved to sleep. Her head and heart were at war and she didn't see a solution. Not one she could think of anyway. As she started to drift off, she couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like if she married Ethan.

* * *

"What the actual fuck!" Hailey kicked the side of the van for the dozenth time. She wanted to punch it too, but her hands were handcuffed behind her back, just like Jason's and Melinda's were.

They were sitting strapped into the back of a van after being forcibly removed from their apartment. The men had unceremoniously cuffed them and strapped them in, then closed the van and started driving off to God knows where. Thankfully they were alone in the back and didn't have some burly fake-SWAT guy leering at them. However, the back of the van was solid metal without even any padding on the seats to which they were strapped.

Jason was doing a calming breathing exercise while Melinda leaned on his shoulder on the edge of tears. He was doing his best to hold her, but it was hard with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"What the God damn hell! These mother fuckin'-" She started to say.

"Hailey!" Jason said sharply.

She fell silent and looked at him.

"Losing your cool won't help anything." He said calmly. "Take a few deep breaths and calm down; we'll get through this."

She glared at him but didn't resume her verbal tirade against the metal walls. "It's just not fair!" She huffed. "I just spent the last four years being a slave, was free for like, two weeks, and now I'm trussed up like a slave at market again."

"I don't know who these guys are or what they want." Jason said. "But whatever is waiting for us when we stop, we'll face it together; all three of us. We stand a much better chance of avoiding issues if we stay calm and work together."

Hailey took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

He was right.

Damn it, he was always right. One of the things she loved most about him - that also annoyed her to death - was his rock solid, unflappable calm in the face of whatever came their way. Long ago, she'd learned to rely on that. His example had even helped to calm her normally anxious self.

She made do with squeezing her fist so tight it hurt and then relaxing her hand. She wanted these motherfucking assholes to-

"Hailey." Jason said, interrupting her train of thought. She looked at him and he shook his head fractionally. "Calm, take a deep breath."

She resisted the urge to pout; he still knew her so well after all these years. Of course it also made her heart want to melt, but her rage was keeping it not only solid, but livid. Still he was right...

She took a few deep, slow breaths and felt slightly better. Not perfectly better, but slightly.

"Hailey." Melinda said gently.

"Yeah Mels?"

"I hate that we're here, and I wish you hadn't been captured too, but I do feel better with you around."

Hailey managed a brief smile. "Thank you."

For some reason, that had seemed like an olive branch from the Latina woman. Her best friend was still very much with her former boyfriend, but she was going out of her way to make Hailey feel included. She was glad. She desperately wanted Jason back. She just didn't know how that could happen, or even if could.

Moments later, the van stopped and the engine was turned off.

"Here we go." Jason said as the door to the van opened.

* * *

Rachel felt a gentle nudge on her arm as she was gently shaken awake.

"Mommy, Mommy." A little girl's voice said from faraway, as if in a dream.

"Mommy, you have to come look." The little girl's voice said again, this time more insistently.

Rachel groaned and pulled back the covers, letting the early morning light stream onto her through the large windows of the bedroom. The bed beneath her was a featherbed, so incredibly soft and comfortable that it almost seemed like she'd conjured from her imagination.

Next to her and snuggled up against her was a mess of chocolate-brown hair from which a pointed wood-elven ear was sticking. The redhead smiled, gently kissed her cheek, then swung her legs out of the bed. She groaned as she did so, still getting used to having the different center of gravity that eight months of pregnancy naturally caused. She rested her hand on her stomach affectionately as she looked at the little girl who had woken her.

She was only just three, her red hair looked so much like her own, and the girl was smarter than was good for her.

"Mommy, you need to come see. Sissy caught a butterfly."

Rachel smiled at the pure joy on her daughter's face. "Okay, lead on."

The tiny redhead beamed as she turned, red hair flying every which way as she skipped out of the room with Rachel in tow. Her daughter led her outside to where Sissy was standing. Sissy was her daughter's nickname for her best friend, who had pointed ears just barely poking out of her chocolate-brown hair, just like her mother. The nickname "sissy" had come from them being sister; well, half-sisters. Despite the wood elven girl being older than her own daughter by a year, they were almost the same size.

Sissy was holding her index finger up and a beautiful butterfly was balanced on it.

"Aunty Rachie." Look what I caught!?" Sissy exclaimed.

"It's beautiful." Rachel beamed.

Her daughter and Sissy spent the next few minutes fussing over the butterfly and admiring how beautiful it was while it very patiently stood there being admired. Rachel suspected that Sissy had inherited Alana's affinity for soothing small woodland creatures, otherwise she doubted very much that the butterfly would've put up with it.

Rachel stood there feeling the happiest she'd ever felt in her entire life. Watching her and Alana's daughters get along as best friends in the joys of youth and childlike wonder was just... there were no words. Her heart felt light as a feather and she felt like nothing could make it better.

"Morning." A kindly feminine voice said from behind her as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and gave her a hug from behind. Okay, maybe it could get better.

"Morning." Rachel replied smiling even wider. She tipped her head back and leaned it on Alana's.

"I love watching our daughters get along so well." Her best friend said.

"Amen." Rachel agreed. "The only thing that would make this better is..." Her voice trailed off as she saw a large gray shape crest the treetops nearby.

"...is if our husband was home." Alana gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah." Rachel said contentedly as Ethan made a slow circle and then landed not far from the girls.

"Daddy!" They shouted in unison and ran towards him, all thought of the butterfly forgotten as it flew away. They ran up to him and he picked them both up and spun them around, kissing them both.

"And how are my partners in crime?" He asked jovially.

"We found a butterfly!" The chocolate-haired girl exclaimed.