A Dragon's Tale Ch. 38

"I doubt he'd know." Alana replied. "However, I can think of someone who might."

"Who?" Beth and Taloni chorused at the same time.

"Well, he's not that far away, and you haven't made enemies of him yet despite some verbal sparring." The wood elf replied wryly.

"Enemies of him yet..." Ethan frowned for a moment, then both he and Rachel said at the same time "Drousin."

They looked at each other and grinned.

"He's not even that far." Alana pointed out. "I think it only took an hour for you to fly there when we went to go rescue Beth."

"And fight me." Rachel grinned sheepishly. "Good times."

Ethan raised both of his eyebrows as he gave her a sly look. "Well, it certainly led to good times eventually..."

She blushed.

"I suppose I could ask him..." He trailed off, then looked at Taloni. "How long to divert the Argo?"

"We'd be sailing directly into the wind, so several hours at least." The Fey replied. "You're a lot faster than an airship when you're flying master."

"I suppose I could fly out and ask." He mused.

"Would you?!" Beth gushed. "I'd love to know."

"Any particular reason?" He winked at her. "Are you aiming to nurse a blond boy in the not-too-distant future?"

Beth's face went beet red. "I'm um... I don't care if it's a boy or girl, as long as it's your baby."

"Our baby." He corrected, then smiled. "And agreed."

"It would be good to know though." Rachel spoke up. "If you only had girls, and each of your seven wives only had two children, you'd be outnumbered twenty-one to one."

"Fair point." He nodded. "Okay, I guess I'm off to see about giving you girls some boys." He winked.

They all laughed, but more than one bit her lip or gave him a smoldering look.

Selene just listened.

She didn't have a proverbial 'dog in the fight' so she really didn't care. She liked the Ten Kingdoms, Ivernia in particular, but she had no desire to live on this planet. That might even change if she could find a husband who wouldn't try to buy her from her father and she could have a way to contact her family back home. But the odds of that were practically non-existent.

In the back of her mind, the looming threat of Smithbond and the nameless government agency he worked for came to mind. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't see a way to beat them that didn't involve her bonding with Ethan.

As the man-- err, dragon took to the skies to see about the gender of his children, it occurred to her that she might not have a choice but to bond to him too.

She scoffed to herself.

Of course, if she did end up marrying him, it would only be a marriage of convenience at best, or a marriage of necessity at worst. Actually, a 'marriage of necessity' sounded pretty accurate. She would be reduced to that; someone would marry her not because he loved her, was attracted to her, or because he wanted her, but because it was necessary to complete a military objective. If they got married, it would be simply because she was a means to an end.

She shook her head.

Yeah, that sounded about right.

* * *

Ethan feathered his wings as he approached Alana's forest and looked for the entrance to Drousin's lair. It didn't take him long to find it, and he made a slow circle as he descended, finally touching down with absolutely zero attempt to be quiet. He didn't want the massive dragon thinking that he was trying to sneak up on him. He dropped his sword and the backpack containing his armor bits outside the cave's entrance, again not wanting it to look like he was planning to attack.

He definitely wasn't.

He cleared his throat loudly and then called into the cave. "Drousin?"

No answer.

"Drousin." He called more loudly.

Still no answer.

"DROUSIN!" He yelled, making sure to keep his voice loud without a hint of anger or roar; he wasn't issuing a challenge.

From deep inside the cave, he heard a rumbling yawn, then: "Whelp, you've returned."

"I have." He called back. "May I enter?" He wasn't sure why he asked. He just had this sense that it was the proper way to go about it. Besides, he didn't think entering a dragon's lair without permission was a good idea.

"You may." The larger dragon said after another yawn.

Ethan started walking inside, leaving his weapons and armor outside. He doubted Drousin would try anything, and thus didn't want to provoke him. He hadn't gone in very far before he caught his first glimpse of the dragon in almost three months.

He was just as large as Ethan remembered, possibly slightly larger.

Drousin was at least 50 feet long and must've weighed several tons. His head alone was easily the size of a full-grown man and towered at least ten feet over Ethan. Each of his four legs was as thick as a small tree trunk, with claws that could grasp a full-grown man easily. He also had almost the exact same color dragon scales as Ethan himself, which made sense since the dragon's body that he was inhabiting had once belonged to Drousin's deceased son.

Underneath the large dragon was his massive pile of gold. Curiously, the gold didn't call to him like it had before. He felt a small pull towards it, but not nearly as strong as he'd felt towards gold before. Not that he didn't want it -- he did -- but the desire was far weaker than he remembered it being.

Hmm.

Curious.

"Long time no see." He said when he'd gone in far enough to have a conversation, but not so far as to get near the larger dragon's massive pile of gold.

"It hasn't been that long; only 88 days." Drousin said with a yawn.

"Almost three months; three very long, busy months for me."

The larger dragon shrugged. "What occasions the visit?"

"I had a question actually." Ethan replied. "Is it possible for a dragon and a human to have a human boy together?"

Drousin blinked. "Why would you want that?"

"I have my reasons."

"Reasons you'd prefer not to tell me." It wasn't a question.

"Yup."

"Are youabsolutely sure?" Drousin asked.

Ethan smiled at the reference to their battle of wits the day he'd arrived in the Ten Kingdoms. Drousin had said that murder wasn't wrong because there were no such things as moral absolutes. So, with Alana's life seemingly hanging in the balance, Ethan had proved that absolutes existed by asking the larger dragon if he wasabsolutely sure that there were no absolutes.

"I amabsolutely sure, and murder is still wrong."

Drousin harrumphed. "Just because absolutes exist, doesn't mean that morals exist."

"And yet they do." Ethan countered. "There's hardly a person alive whowouldn't agree that cold-blooded murder of an innocent person is morally repugnant."

"Based on what standard?" Drousin countered.

"Come again?"

"I am not leaving this cave." The other dragon growled.

"Sorry, it's a figure of speech." Ethan hastily clarified. "I was asking you what you meant and to clarify."

Drousin tapped his long, clawed finger on the cave's floor before continuing. "You say that moral standards exist, but what is the standard? You said that most people believe that murder is wrong; therefore, is what most people believe the standard?"

"No." Ethan shook his head, thinking of things like slavery which were widely accepted on Earth for a long time, and which was still apparently still accepted in the Ten Kingdoms.

"So based on what standard do you declare that murder is wrong?" Drousin said looking smug.

Ethan frowned. "You've been thinking about this for a long time, haven't you?"

"Precisely 88 days." Drousin replied. "But you haven't answered my question."

"You didn't answer mine." Ethan countered.

"Ah, but I have no need to answer yours, and won't unless you answer mine."

Ethan scowled.

He should've expected this. The last time he'd seen the larger dragon it had gone like this as well, matching wits seemed to be a hobby of his. For that matter, his brief encounter with Kyrupto had been punctuated with the same sort battle of wits. He found himself idly wondering if all older dragons were this contemplative.

Hmm.

What was the standard for right and wrong?

He briefly considered suggesting whatever is best for the largest number of people, but he knew Drousin would shoot that down. What defines best? Further, wouldn't that lead to an 'ends justifies the means' mentality?

Hmm.

His parents had given him a very strict moral code, but he'd never really thought about the foundation of ethics before. He couldn't say his parents were the standard of course, because every parent was probably a bit different. For that matter, there were probably no two individuals on the planet -- either planet -- that had exactly the same moral compass. Close sure, but probably not the same.

Although, almost everyone here in the Ten Kingdoms seemed to accept Illuminar's Book of Light as a standard. Maybe Drousin would accept that?

"How about the Book of Light?"

Drousin smiled. "Ah, but the Book of Light was written, which means it once didn't exist. Was there a standard before the Book of Light?"

He frowned.

"What's your point?" Ethan finally asked.

"That even if absolutes exist, absolute and unchanging moral standards don't exist." Drousin replied with a wicked smile. "For something to be objective, it must be outside yourself. For something to be a true inviolable standard, it must be unchanging. So unless you can come up with a moral standard that's both objective -- meaning not coming from yourself -- and also unchanging, then absolute morals can't exist."

A self-satisfied grin appeared on the larger dragon's face at this pronouncement, as if he'd recaptured some crown he'd lost in ages ago and had been coveting for a long time.

*Ladies, I need some help.* He thought to all of them, and then explained his predicament.

*Illuminar master.* Taloni thought to him when he had finished. *As it's written in the Book of Light: 'He is the same yesterday, today, and forever'. And He certainly has moral standards.*

*Honey, I could kiss you.* He thought to her as he grinned. *In fact, I think I will when I get back.*

*Dominus, she's been very good. Perhaps you should specify on which set of lips...*

He couldn't see the Fey teen, but the former slave was probably beet red judging from their bond.

He grinned. *Now there's an idea...*

*I would rather feel you inside of me master, if that's okay.* Taloni finally replied.

*It would be my pleasure.* He replied, then turned to Drousin. "Is Illuminar unchanging?"

That wiped the smile off of Drousin's face.

"Illuminar has moral standards right?" Ethan pressed, wanting to get past this as soon as possible. "So if He's objective and unchanging, then couldn't He be an objective and unchanging standard for morality?"

Drousin blinked several times, opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. He then cocked his head to one side for a few moments, opened his mouth to answer again, and then closed it again. He then rested his head on his forelegs for several seconds before harrumphing.

"That's twice whelp, though perhaps I should call you a warrior now." Drousin finally said.

"So, now will you tell me what you know about dragons having human, elven, or Fey sons?"

Drousin harrumphed again, shaking his head. "I don't think it's possible, but you're a dragon. Do some enchanting."

Ethan could've slapped himself; why hadn't he thought of that?

*Well ladies, he said I should try enchanting myself.* He told them. *Anything else I should ask about while I'm here?*

*Dominus, ask about breathing fire!* His youngest wife thought to him with so much excitement that she might've been jumping up and down.

*Yes master, do!* Taloni added with no less enthusiasm.

*Will do.* He chuckled, then looked at the other dragon. "Drousin, I feel like this is kind of basic for a dragon, but how do I breathe fire?"

"You might not have been on your own long enough for the glands to grow."

"Huh?"

Drousin gave a longsuffering sigh. "Dragons never grow their fire glands until after they leave left their sire's lair."

"Why?"

The larger dragon shook his head in much the same manner that a father would if his child asked an incredibly dumb question. "All dragons make gold resonate at a unique frequency. When a dragon is young, his frequency is the same as his sire's frequency. When he is fully mature, it changes and it becomes... uncomfortable for the two dragons to coexist near any significant quantity of gold. When you died, I was about to kick you out of the cave the headaches were getting so bad."

"But why does that matter?" Ethan frowned. "Why would mana frequencies and gold impact the growth of a dragon's organs?"

"I haven't the patience to explain it." He replied dismissively. "You'll understand when you breathe fire the first time."

"Okay, but this body has been out of your lair for almost three months now." Ethan pointed out. "So how long until my 'fire glands' grow?"

"It takes a few months -- sometimes up to half a year -- before the glands are mature enough to breathe fire."

Ethan grinned.

That could be any day now, though it could also be a few months too. "And if I wanted to breathe fire sooner?"

"Learn some patience or pray to your 'moral standard'." Drousin shook his head with disgust

Ethan relayed what he'd just learned to his wives. Beth and Taloni's excitement was almost palpable despite the great distance between them.

*That makes sense.* Kendra said. *I knew it took several months for a dragon to be able to breathe fire once his sire kicked him out, but I didn't know that was why.*

*That could be interesting.* He grinned. *I guess I kind haven't been thinking about fire-breathing because I've been so focused on enchanting myself, which I do every night, but breathing fire? That'll be pretty cool.*

*It will master!*

He chuckled to himself, then realized that Drousin was watching him. "What?"

The larger dragon cocked his head to one side. "You haven't stared at my gold in lust once."

"Not all that glitters is gold." Ethan said, thinking of his wives. "And speaking of, I hear you get regular shipments to protect Alana."

Drousin shrugged. "Not since she left the forest."

"You don't deny it?"

"Why would I? You obviously know, and wouldn't lying be against yourobjective standard." He said the last two words with derision.

"If that's the case, then why did you let Hermair capture her just before I arrived?" He asked, thinking of the wispy mage who accidentally brought him to this world and into the dragon's body.

"I'm not omniscient." Drousin shrugged.

"Then why did you threaten to eat her?"

"I was bored, you seemed like you'd object in an interesting way. I was right." He shrugged again, then yawned again. "Right now, I feel like taking a nap."

And with that, Drousin turned, lumbered slowly back to his pile of gold, flopped down on it and closed his eyes. Moments later, the sound of soft snoring began echoing through the chamber. As Ethan watched, he again noticed that the gold didn't call to him as much as it had before. Some definitely, but not nearly as much.

Hmm.

That was odd.

Very odd.

It was certainly nice, but definitely peculiar, especially considering how dragon-ish he'd been lately. On the other hand, how he'd been about his wives and especially Kendra...

Hmm.

Lately, he could barely evenlook at her without having to apply massive amounts of willpower not to compel her into bed. He would never do that on purpose, but sometimes it was like his dragon side just took over. It was like trying not to flinch when someone swings something near your eye, or like trying not to kick when a doctor taps your knee with one of those small hammers. It was a reflex or instinct, and one he simply couldn't control; not as well as he would've liked.

He thought about this as he walked out of the cave and reattached his sword and the backpack with his armor. Just even thinking about her now he could feel his blood rushing to his loins.

Her jet black hair...

Her tanned skin...

Her athletic body which was so lithe and nubile that--

He closed his eyes, trying to block the thoughts out. His dragon side only seemed interested in her body, but he found the woman herself just as captivating. She had a good heart; that much was obvious. She had tremendous strength of character to go from calling him an ''it", to apologizing, and then joining the Argo's crew. She was a bit taciturn, but thoughtful and he really liked having her around. He just felt better when she was, though that might be because of his bond.

He shook his head, trying to block out dragon-powered visions of her bent over a bed crying in ecstasy as he filled her womb with his child...

He shook his head, trying to clear it.

It wasn't working.

Finally he sat down and did some of the breathing exercises and meditation that Kendra herself had taught him. He began to feel more in control after several minutes... but not by much. He had guessed it would be a Band-Aid solution, and his wives had suggested the same; they were all right.

He hung his head, not having the willpower to fly back to the Argo right now.

*Kendra.* He thought to her.

*Yes?*

*I was serious when I said I might not be able to control my dragon side and what it... whatI might do.* He paused. *It's getting harder and I'm not... What I mean to say is...*

He took a deep breath, but she responded first.

*Ethan, are you telling me to leave the Argo?*

*No.* He replied instantly. *That's not it at all. I don't want you to leave.*

*You don't?* She sounded surprised.

*No, I don't.* He confirmed. *I'm just worried about what might happen if... I mean,when I can't control my dragon side any longer. I don't want to do something that we'll both regret.*

No answer.

*Kendra?*

No answer.

*Kendra, can you hear me?*

* * *

*Kendra, can you hear me?*

The dragon huntress didn't respond immediately. She hesitated, not knowing what to say. He had given her every warning, and she was ignoring all of them. She had a pretty good idea what would happen when he finally lost control. She'd never experienced it, nor seen it in person, nor even been very much interested, but she knew how sex worked.

*Kendra, you're kind of freaking me out here with the 'not answering' thing.* Ethan said.

*I'm okay, just processing.* She replied.

*I'm sorry.*

She shrugged, not that he could see her. *There's a reason I don't like dragons.*

*Yeah, right now I'm with you.*

Hmm.

Leave the Argo or be forced to bed a dragon. No, not just 'a dragon'; Ethan. He wasn't just a dragon to her, not anymore. She looked around the deck and several things occurred to her all at once.

First, she didn't truly belong here. Not really. The Argo was her home, but it was only her home by the good graces of Ethan and his wives. Oddly, far from making her feel like an outsider, this made her feel more included. They had included her in their family in every way possible exceptthat way. Did she want to be included that way?

Her stomach lurched and she swallowed hard.

Okay, that was that question answered. Well, answered by her stomach anyway. The rest of her...

Hmm.

The second thing that occurred to her was related: she could belong here. Truly belong. Not as a passenger, ally, sword hand, or even friend; but as a wife. Did she want that? Truly want that? She swallowed hard as she fought to keep her stomach calm at the thought. Setting aside her physical reaction, did she want that?

Her mind drifted back to falling asleep next to Taloni, the times she'd shared with them on the Argo and at Anthiel and Ralgar's house. She thought back to how Ethan had forgiven her and then later jumped between her and a mage to protect her. She thought back to him calling her an amazing woman and felt her heart melt a bit.