A Dragon's Tale Ch. 33

Or rather, 'unholy fuck'. He realized what was going on just as another one of her blows connected.

* * *

"SARAH!" Selene nearly screamed as the girl landed another blow on Ethan, knocking him to the ground.

He looked winded and the girl jump on top of him, flailing her fists down on him in a completely uncontrolled, random rain of blows. She had no technique, no training, and was leaving herself wide open to counter-attack. However, with her strength, speed, and apparently superhuman durability, it didn't seem to matter. Ethan raised his good arm and was trying to ward off her blows with his vambraces, but was being only marginally successful.

"Fuck!" Selene sprinted towards them.

She wasn't sure what she could do, but she needed to do something or Ethan was going to leave behind a lot of widows. The only thing that occurred to her was a tackle; Sarah might be freakin' Supergirl, but she had terrible balance in her current position and she doubted that the girl also had super weight.

Selene dived at her just as the girl managed to break through Ethan's defenses and land a blow on his head. Ethan seemed dazed and the arm he had been using to defend himself faltered and was knocked out of the way.

The Brazilian beauty slammed into Sarah just as she was about to land another powerful blow. They went flying in a tangle of limbs. Selene had spent two decades in Brazilian Jiujutsu -- ever since she was three -- and knew exactly how to get Sarah into a joint lock. Unfortunately, they apparently didn't work when the subject of the joint lock had superhuman strength.

Sarah twisted around, ignoring all proper form and balance, but she was so fast and strong that Selene found herself on her back anyway. The girl raised her fist to strike and Selene tried to move, but she was too strong.

She closed her eyes and waited for the blow to fall.

It didn't.

She opened one eye and saw Sarah frozen there, fist raised ready to strike... but not doing so. She seemed to be locked in an internal struggle.

"Sarah it's me; Selene." She waited with bated breathed for several seconds.

Finally, the girl started lowering her hand as the blazing fury behind her eyes began to abate. She looked confused for several seconds as the warmth slowly returned to her eyes.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Selene asked.

The girl's lip began to tremble and tears started forming in her eyes. She raised her hand to her mouth, covering it and looking at Selene in abject horror. She started trembling and her eyes were wide as tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"I... I..." She tried to speak but didn't seem to be able to get more than that out.

"Hey, it's okay." Selene said, still pinned underneath of her. She started to move and Sarah -- apparently realizing she was on top of her -- jumped off as if Selene was a live wire. The innkeeper's daughter started slowly backing away as the tears continued to fall.

She was still covering her mouth.

Selene picked herself up, and then glanced towards Ethan. Sarah did too, and the girl's her expression turned from one of shock and guilt to one of abject horror and deep despair. She moved her mouth soundlessly, seemingly not believing her eyes.

"I'm going to check on Ethan." Selene said, trying to process what had just happened, but also knowing that first aid came first.

"Ethan?" Sarah whispered hoarsely as she looked at the near unconscious dragon. "Ethan Ejder, the prophet?"

The Brazilian beauty nodded.

Sarah sank to her knees and started hyperventilating.

"Stay right there." Selene said as she rushed to Ethan's side. She reached to check for a pulse, and then realized she had no idea how to do that with a dragon. She put her hands in front of his nostrils and could feel him breathing anyway though. He groaned, maybe semi-conscious.

He was in bad shape.

His armor had been cratered in several places and she was virtually certain that the bones underneath were broken. His face, right arm, and most of his torso that she could see were puffy and swollen. She imagined it would be black and blue if the scales didn't cover the wounds.

He didn't seem to be in immediate danger though, and she had no idea how to help if he was, so she turned towards Sarah. The girl had slumped to the side a bit, clearly lightheaded and dizzy from her near continuous hyperventilating. Selene rushed over to her and put her arms around her shoulders.

"Breathe Sarah, just breath slowly." She urged.

The girl was shaking; trembling.

Her cheeks were drenched with tears and her face was frozen in a look of absolute shock and horror. Her breaths were fast; too fast. God, Selene wished that she had a paper bag to help with the hyperventilating right now.

"Sarah, look at me." Selene said.

The girl did, and the look in her eyes was absolutely heartbreaking. Selene took the girl's hand and put it on her own upper chest.

"Follow my breathing Sarah; breathe when I breathe. Inhale when I inhale, and exhale when I exhale."

The girl nodded, and she seemed too distraught to do much more than follow the instructions that she was given. The girl's breathing slowly returned to a normal pace. As it did, she looked more and more distraught.

"Breathe." Selene instructed again.

"I... I killed..." She broke down and a fresh burst of tears started flowing as she wailed in utter anguish.

"He's not dead." She replied firmly. "He's hurt, but not dead."

Sarah started weeping and sobbing even harder. Not sure what else to do, Selene held as she sobbed in the Brazilian woman's arms. Her lament was filled with bitter sorrow and great anguish. Selene didn't even have the words to describe the pitiable state the girl was in.

She looked around and saw that a semi-conscious Ethan was looking at them from the ground.

* * *

"Faster!" Alana urged.

"All the sails are deployed." Anthiel replied. "But I can't make the wind stronger."

"Shit!" Alana ran towards the bow of the ship to join Beth, Taloni, and Rachel as they watched.

"Rachel, we need some wind." She called as she ran up. The redhead turned and a powerful gust of wind hit the sails. The wood elf knew that the mage couldn't keep it up for long at all, and she might need the mana to annihilate whatever was attacking their husband, but they needed the speed.

"I hope master is okay." Taloni said as she wrung her hands.

"If he isn't..." Rachel had fire in her eyes.

"He must be." Alana said, and then thought to them all. *You can all hear me right?*

They all nodded.

"Then he's alive and we're coming." She said firmly.

* * *

Ethan groaned.

His entire body felt like it had gone through a meat tenderizer. His entire torso and especially his left shoulder felt like someone had thrown fire ants on him before using him as a punching bag for a heavyweight champion in his prime. His wing didn't feel much better. He tried to focus on healing them, but it was hard to concentrate through the pain.

He opened his eyes, squinting at the bright sun above. As he looked, he saw an airship float into view. A beautiful girl jumped from the airship and seemed to float down directly towards him, falling far slower than a person usually should.

"Taloni." He mumbled as the girl landed next to him.

"I've got you master." She said, and then he felt two hands touch him gently and his wounds began to mend. It took rather a long time before he felt like moving.

"All done." Taloni announced as the last of the actual pain faded.

"Thank you." He groaned. Magical healing dealt with pain, but it left all kinds of soreness in its wake until you got a good night's sleep.

"Master, did you fight a troll?" The Fey asked. "I've never seen bruises like this, nor ones made through such thick armor."

He sat up as the rest of his wives finished climbing down the Argo's ladder and rushed over to him. They all nearly tackled him right there on the dirt road.

"Who did this to you?" Rachel said with fire in her eyes and venom in her tone once she'd finally let go of him. "I'll roast him alive."

"Not a him; a her." He groaned.

"Selene helped her into the inn." Taloni volunteered.

Instantly Alana and Rachel leapt up and started towards the inn.

"Wait." He called.

"For what?" Alana asked as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her bowstring.

"Me." He struggled to his feet, his limbs still sore and his shoulder still dislocated. "Any of you know how to pop this back into joint?"

Alana and Rachel made to help, and between the two of them got it back into joint. He applied a little mana which finished putting it right. It was still sore, but no longer injured.

"Now, I think I need to talk to someone." Ethan said.

"Who?" His wives chorus almost as one.

He hesitated before speaking. He had been planning to say 'the girl who did this to me', but he didn't think that was right. She really hadn't. In fact, if their previous conversation was any indication, she'd had as little control over herself then as he had when the dragon took over. He knew exactly what it was like to be in the passenger seat as his body did things he didn't want it to do.

"Another victim." He finally said.

Rachel gave him a piercing look, and Alana didn't look fully convinced either.

"You've seen me go dragon right?" He asked

They nodded.

"I think she's the same. Not with a dragon, but with something else."

"With what?" Beth asked.

He took a deep breath and looked at her. "You remember how you described the voice of the demon you met on the Astral Plane?"

She nodded.

"She said something weird. She said 'we won't let you hurt her' just before she attacked, referring to Selene. It sounded exactly like you described; the same type of voice, like more than one person was talking at once in perfect unison."

Silence.

No one spoke.

No one breathed for several seconds.

"Master, are you saying that she's..." The Fey girl looked fearful. "You're saying that she has a demon?"

He grimaced. "It sounds far-fetched, but I've talked to angels and God Himself; I suppose it was only a matter of time until I met the other side."

All four of his wives looked fearful.

"I need to talk to her." He said.

All of his wives had identical looks of incredulity on their faces.

"You want to talk to the demon-possessed woman who just nearly killed you?" The redhead stared at him open mouthed.

He nodded. "Yes. I think..." He started to say, and Alana finished his sentence.

"...that she needs help." The wood elf nodded. "You're worried about her, even though she nearly killed you by the looks of it."

"That's just it, I'm not sure that she did." He replied. "I saw her when she 'woke up' from whatever it was that possessed her. It reminded me of... well, frankly it reminded me of when I get out of 'dragon mode' and realize what I've done."

Rachel still looked ready to roast someone alive over a spit... as slowly and painfully as possible.

"You didn't see her." He added.

Alana gave him a strange look. She wasn't upset, but she was looking at him in a way he'd never seen before and couldn't place. She did this for a few moments and then nodded.

"Go talk to her." The wood elf said.

"What!?" Rachel exclaimed.

"He needs to." Alana said with conviction.

"Why?" Beth asked.

"I don't know." The brunette frowned. "But he does."

"May I come my lord?" Rachel asked seeming apprehensive about the idea. "I can air-ram her or fry her if she tries anything."

"Air-rams are fine IF she attacks." Ethan assented, then added sternly. "No frying."

"Yes my lord." Rachel replied looking slightly disappointed.

"I suppose we should go to the inn then." He turned to look at it as he clicked his disguise gem back on.

* * *

Sarah couldn't believe it.

Her insides felt like they'd been scraped out with a dull, rusty knife and then masticated. How could she have done that? How could she have attacked...? She closed her eyes, trying to remember how it had started. She'd taken something out for the chickens and then seen the man from earlier and Selene. It looked like he was hurting her and she'd just reacted.

He'd been so nice, and he was the prophet of Illuminar.

Oh God.

She'd attacked a prophet of Illuminar.

She buried her face deeper into the quilt on her bed, not even trying to stop the tears from falling.

"Sarah, he's okay." Selene said. "Taloni started healing him as I helped you in here. He'll be fine."

She nodded, but it didn't matter.

Attacking a prophet of Illuminar was as good as attacking Illuminar Himself; just like attacking an ambassador was like attacking the country he represented. She thought back to Gabriella's promises, sure she'd just ruined any chance of them ever coming true. Her problem -- the thing that had plagued her for so long -- had finally done something unforgivable.

Knock! Knock!

"Who is it?" Selene asked, resting her hand on the pommel of her sword.

"It's Ethan; I need to talk to her."

Sarah froze.

* * *

"It's Ethan; I need to talk to her." Ethan said, and then waited. Rachel was right behind him at his elbow, and Alana behind her with an arrow nocked to her bowstring. He'd warned them not to attack her, but they weren't taking any chances.

He wasn't sure he blamed them.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Selene's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Trust me, it's a good idea." He said.

There was a several second pause, and then the Brazilian woman spoke again. "I don't think she wants to see you."

He frowned.

He didn't want to push, but he had a very strong feeling that he needed to talk to her. He mulled it over for a few seconds before deciding to take the middle road.

"Sarah." He called through the door without opening it. "Remember; your problems don't have to define you."

Silence.

He waited for almost a minute before the door opened and Selene's drop-dead gorgeous face appeared with a confused expression. She stared for several seconds, then stepped back so he could see inside.

The room was very small. It was square, about six feet on a side, and was probably a converted pantry or something like that. The bed was similar to the rest of the inn and the outpost at large; nice, but worn past its prime. He could see some flowers on the sill of a tiny window.

The girl herself wasn't looking at him.

She was laying on the bed on her stomach with her hair obscuring most of her face. The little bit of her face that he could see was red and puffy like she'd been crying her eyes out. Judging by the wet spot on the quilt, she probably had been.

*Ethan, There's something odd about her appearance.* Rachel thought to him. *It reminds me of a disguise gem, but the effect is very minor. It's not enough to make her look like someone else, but it might be tweaking her appearance just slightly*

*Okay, thanks.* He thought back to her, and then stepped inside the tiny room and knelt down by the bed.

*Hello, I don't think we've been properly introduced." He said softly. "My name is Ethan."

She sniffled.

"What's your name?"

"I..." She said in the smallest voice possible and then fell silent, seemingly not able to speak

"I hear it's Sarah, is that right?" He asked, more to start a conversation than anything else.

She nodded.

"Well, Sarah, I want to tell you something if that's okay."

She tensed up.

"It's not about you; I want to tell you something about me. Something that I don't usually talk about. Is that okay?"

She nodded, but remained tense. She still wasn't looking at him and her hair was still hiding her face.

"I'm not quite what the stories make me out to be." He admitted. "My dragon side is..." He paused searching for the right words. "...is rather like your problem."

The girl moved her head enough to glance into his eyes for just a moment. He had never seen a pair of eyes so filled with pain.

Ever.

She looked similar to how he felt whenever his dragon side royally screwed things up. She looked like how he'd felt right after Beth had died, only something about it made him think that her problem had been going on for a lot longer.

"The first time I really lost it was in Gralden." He continued. "Through my carelessness, Alana almost died. The next time was as we were leaving Gralden; someone hurt her and I snapped and ripped a couple of men apart with my bare hands-- err, claws. Then I lost it in Arcanum, and Beth did die."

"I met her though." Sarah said, finally speaking.

"Yeah, thank God we got her back, but my problem killed my wife. Not long after, it permanently scarred Rachel here--" He indicated her. "--and frightened my third wife, Taloni, so badly she that she was scared of me for a while."

Sarah glanced at him, her eyes still looking painful but now also filled with sympathy. He could tell that she got that completely.

She understood.

She really, truly understood.

She understood exactly what it was like, and understood it in a way that none of his wives did; a way that none of them ever could. Her situation was much the same as his, and so she grasped what he'd been through in a way that his wives didn't; that they couldn't.

She looked at him for several seconds. Then she opened her mouth, hesitated, and finally spoke. "But you're so good."

"I try to be, and sometimes I succeed. But other times..." He shook his head. "...other times I screw up like anyone else."

"Oh." Sarah seemed surprised by this. "But..." She looked down. "...but Illuminar chose you."

"Yeah He did, but do you know why?"

She shook her head.

"I met Him, and He flat out told me that He didn't pick me because I was special, good, or noble. We're all human and we all screw up, but our screw ups don't need to define us." He looked at her pointedly. "You are more than your problem."

"Why are you being so nice?" She asked after several seconds. "I attacked you and I..." Her voice broke and she looked down again.

"Yes you did, and you damn near killed me." He replied. "But tell me, is that what you really wanted to do? Hell, was it even really you who attacked me?"

She hesitated. "I was afraid that you were hurting Selene."

"That doesn't answer the question."

She bit her lip, then finally shook her head slightly.

"So I forgive you." He paused for a moment, then repeated. "I forgive you for attacking me, Sarah."

She looked at him eyes wide and mouth open.

* * *

"You... you forgive me?" Sarah looked at the prophet of Illuminar in disbelief.

Why?

Why would he do that?

She had beaten him badly, and probably would've killed him if Selene hadn't intervened. Yet here he was. He'd come to talk to her, he was being kind to her, and was undeniably trying to console her.

Why?

Why would he do that?

"Yes." The prophet nodded and spoke kindly. "I do forgive you because I know exactly what you're going through. I know it's exactly what it's like, and I know exactly how..." His voice cracked slightly. "...how awful it is to go through that."

She looked into his eyes and realized something. Something that she found nearly impossible to believe given who he was, and who she was, but she believed it nonetheless.

He understood.

He really, truly understood.

He understood exactly what it was like, and understood in a way that no one had ever understood before; in a way that no one ever could've understood before. He understood the struggle that she'd gone through, the guilt after it happened, and how much she dearly wished it wouldn't happen.

He understood.

She could feel herself starting to tear up for quite another reason as this realization hit her.

"Thank you." She gave him a small smile, which he returned. "You're not how I expected you to be."