A Dragon's Tale Ch. 28

The Ex-FBI agent sighed and then pulled the covers down. Judging by the light from the small window, it wasn't dawn yet. Worse, it was barely light in the sky. She groaned and sat up, lamenting the earliness of the hour.

"I'll be back in a minute." The innkeeper's daughter said.

Selene rolled out of bed a minute later, trying to remember that she needed this job to eat. She slipped on her shoes and walked into the kitchen where Sarah was fussing with the large cast iron pot. She did what she could to help, which mostly meant taking directions from Sarah about food prep. The girl was absolutely committed to making the food taste great, and wouldn't accept anything less than perfection from herself. She was much more lenient with Selene though, which was nice. Selene admired her work ethic, she just wished she knew how to be more helpful.

Once breakfast was served to the inn's few patrons, the two girls went back to the kitchen and began eating.

"That was really good." The Brazilian woman said when she'd finished.

Sarah beamed. "I'm so glad. I hope Rindrin likes my cooking."

"I'm sure he will." She replied, trying not to get angry at the unfairness of the girl's situation. It was even more frustrating because the girl herself didn't seem very bothered by it. Well, unless someone brought up her low bride-price. Doing that could reduce her to tears in moments.

"Good, then all my learning hasn't been in vain." She smiled, though her eyes also looked a touch sad.

"Wait a minute." Selene said as the girl's word sunk in. "Are you saying that you try so hard to be a good cook because of your future husband?"

"Of course." Sarah looked at her like this revelation was akin to realizing that water was wet. "Shouldn't an unmarried woman be preparing to serve her husband?"

Selene stared.

"What?" The girl asked.

"I... I just grew up a little differently that's all."

Sarah frowned. "Doesn't the Book of Light say we should apply ourselves diligently to whatever task is at hand? I want to be a wife, so I'm preparing to be the best wife I can be now."

"But he'll be a terrible husband." Selene countered.

"But why does that matter? Even if he is a bad husband, I still want to be a good wife to him; I really do."

"You want to marry Rindrin?"

Her face fell slightly. "I mean, not really. He isn't who I want to marry."

Selene leaned forward. "Then, whodo you want to marry?"

Sarah turned bright red almost instantly. "Um, no one. I mean... uh..."

"What's he like?" Selene pressed.

"Um, I don't know."

"You don't know what he's like?"

"No. I mean yes, but no. Not really. I've heard what he's like, I just... I've never met him."

Selene suppressed a grin, thinking of only one person who could fit that description. However, she decided to play dumb. "If there's another man that you want to marry, then why marry Rindrin?"

Her face fell further and her eyes started to get watery. When she answered, it was in a small, mousey voice that had no confidence but spoke with full conviction. "Because no one else will have me."

"Why?" Selene asked. "All I've ever seen from you is a wonderful girl who'd make anyone a wonderful wife. What could possibly be so wrong with you?"

Sarah didn't meet her eye as she replied. "I hope you never find out, and won't hate me if you do."

Thereafter, the girl was so morose that a nothing would pry a single additional syllable out of her.

Selene again found herself wondering what could possibly be so wrong with such a sweet girl that no man would want to marry her, or even be attracted to her. To say that she was very average in terms of physical attractiveness wasn't an insult, just a fact. However -- in Selene's opinion -- her personality more than made up for it. She was absolutely delightful.

What could possibly be so wrong with her?

* * *

"Alana, Alana wake up; you have to see this." An excited voice said as the wood elf felt someone -- probably Beth -- gently shaking her.

"Go away." She moaned in return, pulling the covers over her head. She hadn't slept very well the previous night and was in no mood to get out of bed for several hours at least.

"Please, trust me; you'll want to see this." Beth said again.

"I'll see it later." She yawed in reply.

"Come on, it'll cheer you up."

The sleepy elf felt someone grab her hand and give her a tug. She considered resisting, but in her sleepy state decided to just let her weight do the work. Then the covers were pulled off of her. Fortunately, she was still wearing her dress. It seems she and Beth only pulled their clothes of when Ethan was next to them.

"Alana, seriously; youneed to see this."

"Fine." She groaned, rolling over to see the blonde standing by the edge of the bed.

"You're not moving." Beth sighed.

"It's an ungodly hour of the morning." She mumbled.

"It's been light for ages." The teen replied. "Please come see? Trust me, you'll be glad I dragged you out of bed."

Deciding that the blonde wasn't going to be dissuaded, she finally crawled out of bed. She hadn't slept well the previous night without Ethan there; not at all. She knew Beth hadn't either. Once on the floor, she started trying to get up.

"Okay what... what's..." She yawned as she stood. "...what's so important?"

The blonde nearly dragged her out of the captain's cabin and over to the Argo's railing. "Isn't it beautiful?"

The wood elf wiped the sleep out of her eyes, yawned again, and then looked.

Her jaw dropped.

Wow.

Just wow.

She was looking at the most beautiful countryside she could've ever imagined. Everywhere she looked was a vibrant, verdant green. She was looking out onto a sea of rolling hills dotted with small cottages and interspersed with groves of trees. Yet more trees which seemed to follow the winding path of many small streams and brooks. Small herds of cows and sheep were grazing in pastures that created a picture of idyllic tranquility.

The sun had just risen, and pockets of pillowy clouds nearly covered the sky, reflecting a gorgeous mosaic of reds, oranges, pinks, and purples. The little bit of sky that poked through the gaps in the clouds was clearest blue. In the far distance she could just make out the outline of mountains with snow-capped peaks.

It was paradise.

"Where are we?" She breathed, the resplendent sight nearly having taken her breath away.

"We crossed into Lord Farbraton's lands during the night." Anthiel said from the ship's wheel. "Ivernia is quite the sight, isn't it?"

She nodded mutely at the sublime beauty before her. Alana looked towards the rear and could just make out the wood elven forest which was about to disappear over the horizon.

"Ivernia." Beth said from beside her as if feeling how it sounded on the tongue. "It's beautiful."

Alana smiled in agreement. Ivernia; even the name was pretty.

*Ethan, I think I'm in love.* She thought to him, not quite believing what she was seeing.

*Oh?* He replied with amusement.

*This land, this countryside is just... just...*

*Lovely?* He suggested, amusement coming over their bond.

*Yes, but I need a much stronger word than that.* She sighed. *I can't wait until you can see it.*

*I hopefully will soon.* He replied. *I've been enchanting my claw and in a couple more days it should be sharp enough to cut Rachel's collar off without the guards noticing.*

*Good, I can't wait to see you.*

*And I you.*

* * *

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Selene asked, purposely sounding slightly coy at the passing travelers, but also trying not to come off like she was propositioning him. It was late afternoon and the innkeeper had sent her out in a lady's straw hat to attract any passersby to stay at the inn. He was shamefully using her looks to attract customers; she was fine with that as long as he didn't ask her to do more.

The man on horseback looked at the late afternoon sky, then at the drop-dead gorgeous Brazilian woman. "Ma'am, I'd like to. Damn, I'd pay a pretty copper just to eat a meal in the same room as you... but not at that inn. I'd like to stay on Illuminar's good side if you know what I mean."

She smiled sweetly at him. "I'm afraid I don't, could you explain it?"

He glanced at the inn, then shook his head. "I'd love to ma'am, but you know it's not right to speak of such things."

And with that, he tipped his hat to her politely and urged his horse on, only slowing down once he was a good hundred yards from the inn.

The next man did much the same.

In fact, of the half dozen men that passed through in the next hour, not one of them would stay at the inn. All of them spoke obtusely about what they were scared of, and none would venture even a single word of explanation. Only one passerby did go to the inn before sundown, and he seemed like the sort of fellow who was oblivious to everything. It wasn't until it was nearly dark that a few men stopped. Most seemed fearful, the rest oblivious.

Could all this fear be because of Sarah?

* * *

Three days.

Ethan had been enchanting this one claw for three days to make it sharp enough to finally cut through collar faster than it could repair itself.

"Okay, tenth time's the charm." He whispered to her.

She nodded, then looked around the room. The two guards were still stationed inside, but mostly ignoring them. They were talking amongst themselves, comparing the 'assets' of various barmaids in the nearby vicinity.

Kendra was still in the far corner, as far away from him as she could be. She'd barely spoken a word unless asked a direct question, and then mostly deflected. The guard's presence had a dampening effect, muting any conversation that might otherwise have taken place, but the dragon huntress was extra quiet. Even Taloni wasn't her usual cheery self, and he could feel her getting antsy through their bond.

Rachel laid herself over Ethan's lap with his back to the guards so they wouldn't see what he was doing. In doing so, she leaned her head back and exposed the soft, sensitive flesh of her neck. Something about the movement -- or perhaps the way she did it -- seemed to be significant, but he wasn't sure why. He was painfully aware that his now razor sharp claw would be right next to her jugular vein, as that was the only place with enough slack to fit his claw. He had only enchanted the underside of the claw to be sharp so he was less worried, but still.

"Ready?" He whispered.

"I trust you." The redhead replied, her hair fading from a red at the roots to blond at the tips, making it look like her head was on fire. Right now, it looked more like a cozy hearth-fire than a raging bonfire.

He gave her a smile, then popped out the claw the index finger of his right hand. He very carefully slid it between her delicate neck and the stubborn collar. She closed her eyes and didn't move at all, trusting him completely. Moving only his finger so as not to attract attention, he started slowly sawing it back and forth against the collar.

It worked.

A few minutes later, he had created a small slit in the collar. He could've gone much faster if he wasn't worried about attracting attention from the guards, but that was indeed a concern. It also could've gone a lot faster if the damn thing wasn't slowly trying to heal itself the whole time. Thirty minutes later he was halfway through. An hour later the collar fell from her slender neck to land on his thigh.

She grinned at him. "Thank you."

"Anytime." He replied, and before he realized what he was doing, he did what he would've done with any of his other wives; he tenderly stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. She froze, then a small but contented smile began to play at the corners of her lips.

She had great lips.

She looked a bit conflicted but happy, so he did it again. She smiled again, though also looked more conflicted. He decided to quit while he was ahead and nudged her up. She sat up, facing away from the guards so her hair would cover the fact that the collar was gone. The guards probably wouldn't notice anyway, but there was no sense taking chances.

Ethan flicked his eyes to the guards, and then to the iron bars.

"I've got this." She whispered, then flicked most of her hair to the front as she turned to look at them. She leaned forward, sitting Indian style with her head resting on her hands, and thus her hands and hair obscured her lack of a collar. She got a look of intense concentration on her face for a full ten seconds, then rapidly moved her index fingers closer together.

Clunk!

The two guards had been leaning against the wall, their heads about a foot from each other. Suddenly, they entire upper bodies -- especially their heads -- jerked towards each other at terrific speed and they clunked each other in the head. They fell like sacks of potatoes, except that just before they hit the ground another focused air ram hit them, greatly slowing their descent. They still made noise when they hit, but not nearly as much as they would have otherwise.

"Bravo." Ethan said quietly clapping.

She smiled under his praise, then looked more practical. "I think I can pull enough heat to weaken the locking mechanism, but I can't melt it. You'll need to hammer the door once it's weakened to break it."

"Done!" He said getting to his feet. They'd spent near five days in this damn cell and he was getting very sick of it. He placed himself directly opposite the door and braced one foot against the bars to give him more speed and force.

Rachel took a deep breath, then closed her eyes concentrating.

The lights in the adjoining room, which he assumed came from torches, dimmed significantly and he felt the room grow several degrees colder. Conversely, the lock portion of the cell started to radiate heat slightly. It wasn't long before he saw the iron deadbolt begin to change colors. It started to glow a faint, dull red, then slowly got brighter as the temperature in the room dropped a bit further.

"Now." Rachel said through gritted teeth.

Ethan pushed off the bars and slammed into the door.

It didn't budge.

"Hang on.' Rachel said gritting her teeth more. The glowing metal changed, with the glow becoming less diffuse and more concentrated on the small iron deadbolt.

"Try again." She said, starting to pant.

He did, but it barely moved.

"Kendra, help me." He said to the dragon huntress.

She scowled, at him, but jumped up and braced her herself against the bars as he was doing. They were rather close, which for some reason he found he didn't mind. She seemed to mind though, and shuddered when they almost touched.

"On three; one, two, three!" They both pushed off hard and slammed into the door at almost the same time.

It gave.

The superheated metal of the latch bent out of shape and broke, stretching like plastic as it did so. The door swung open and made a resounding clanging sound as it slammed into the cell when fully opened. The lighting level in the next room returned as Rachel bent over, resting her hands on her knees and panting slightly.

"Well done." He beamed at her.

She looked quite pleased with herself at his praise.

*We're out of the cell.* He announced to his other wives telepathically. *We'll probably have to fight our way out though.*

*Be careful.* Alana replied worriedly.

*Yes, please do.* Beth added.

*So you know, we're about to arrive at Selene's location.* His first wife added.

*Okay, be careful.* He turned to those in the room. "Now, let's get the hell out of here."

"You keep on using that word 'hell'." Rachel observed as she caught her breath. "Someday you'll have to explain what it means."

"Will do." He grinned, taking a step towards the entryway leading into the larger adjacent room while Kendra made for the unconscious guards, probably to scavenge a weapon.

His first impression of what he could see through the doorway had been correct. It appeared to be a laboratory of some kind, rivaling even Elder Goman's quarters. The room was arranged with at least a dozen tables, all of which were covered in various chemistry equipment. None of it was active and all the beakers were empty, but it was clear that some serious research had taken place here at one point.

A door at the far end opened and a couple of soldiers walked through, stopping dead when they saw the escaped prisoners.

"They're loose!" One of them shouted, drawing his sword.

Ethan dropped into a combat stance while looking around for his weapons. As he did so, Rachel walked up from behind him and wound up like an Olympic shot-put champion. She then thrust her arm forward and the resulting air-ram threw the leading fellow bodily into the men behind him.

Ethan called his weapons, but they didn't come. He could feel at least one of them though, and he could hear a small 'thump' sound coming from a chest nearby. He ran to it, flicked the latch open, and his war hammer flew into his hand. He looked around for his spear, but didn't see it anywhere...

Nor did he feel it.

He tried calling it again, but to the same result.

He couldn't feel his spear at all.

He felt his heart sink as he realized what that probably meant. For some reason, he felt a profound sense of loss at its destruction. It had been a wedding gift from Alana and saved his life countless times. He didn't have time to dwell on it though because the men that Rachel had thrown were getting up. He did spot his disguise gem though, and threw it on to make sure he didn't forget it.

Kendra pushed past him and looked in the chest, pulling out her strength enhancing vambraces moments later. She quickly put them on, then pulled her own sword from the chest, dropping the one she'd scavenged from the guards as she did so. She drew her sword from its scabbard and turned to face the incoming soldiers.

Ethan picked up the sword she'd dropped. It was smaller than the one's he'd trained with, being about three feet long and clearly designed for one-handed use, probably with a shield. He found himself very glad that Serif had made him start learning the sword.

"Stay behind us." He told Taloni, who was watching from the doorway looking a bit scared.

He, Rachel, and Kendra started forward towards the guards. They clearly weren't the same caliber as the ones who had attacked them when they were captured. Two of the four looked a bit afraid, so he decided to help with that fear.

He took a deep breath and roared.

It was a piercing, soul-chilling cry of an enraged primal beast of nature. The sound reverberated through the room, freezing everyone except Kendra to the spot. The dragon huntress took advantage of their enemies' stunned immobility and leapt onto one of the tables, then across two others to attack. Two of the soldiers went down before they had come to their senses from his dragon's roar, and the other two didn't last ten seconds against the dragon huntress.

Damn, she was good with a blade.

He couldn't help but notice that the blood didn't stick to her blade. It rolled off like water off a duck's back. Now that he looked at her sword properly, it didn't look like a regular sword. Something about the color was off. It was darker than regular steel and something about the surface didn't seem right either, but he couldn't place it. It resembled her Dragon Slayer bow.

Kendra gave her sword a little flick of the wrist and all the remaining blood came off, then she sheathed it. "What are we waiting for? I'm pretty sure the exit is right here."

She gestured into the room where the guards had come from.

"I want to see if I can find my spear, plus Rachel said there's probably some good loot around." Ethan said almost feeling like a character in a video game about to ransack a dungeon he'd just cleared. "We made quite a racket when we broke out and those four are the only ones who came, so I doubt there's many more guards around."