A Dragon's Tale Ch. 45

The wood elf stirred several minutes later, yawning and stretching as she woke.

"Morning." Rachel whispered.

"Morning." Alana whispered back as her beautiful eyelashes fluttered open to reveal gorgeous hazel eyes.

They looked into each other's eyes for several seconds before Alana spoke. "Why do we feel so comfortable like this, but so uncomfortable touching the rest of the time?"

"I don't know." Rachel glanced down, more to avert her eyes than anything. However, she was treated to the sight of Alana's naked body pressed up against hers. Rachel herself had much paler skin that her best friend and was significantly larger in the bust, so she didn't see much.

But what she did see...

She looked back at Alana, suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape her lips as she felt a familiar itch forming between her legs. It was different than with Ethan though. It was more primal and forceful with their husband, but it was softer and more gentle with Alana; like a lullaby that draws you in compared to a river's current that carries you along.

"I really like this." Rachel said, becoming more aware that they were actually holding each other while naked. Something about it lacked a sexual component though, despite the itch in her nether lips and their bare skin touching everywhere.

"Me too." The wood elf nodded. "You know, we have decades of this to look forward too."

Rachel closed her eyes and sighed softly. "Yeah."

The wood elf raised her arm and rested it on Rachel's side, so the elbow was near the bottom of her ribs and her hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I really like this."

The mage could feel her brain starting to lock up at the more intimate touch. Normally Alana had the opposite effect, but right now her brain was trying its best to imitate a frozen glacier.

"Should I move my hand?" The wood elf asked.

Rachel instinctively shook her head.

Her brain was still panicking though.

That must've showed on her face because Alana spoke again. "Are you sure? I can move it if it makes you uncomfortable."

Rachel shook her head again, not able to fully express what was going through her head for two reasons. First, her best friend's arm was incredibly distracting. Second, her brain was zooming all over the place and yet half-frozen at the same time. It took an incredible effort, but the redhead forced herself to concentrate enough to speak.

"I um..." She swallowed. "I really like it. Your arm I mean." She realized how that sounded and felt her cheeks get hot. "Where your arm is, not your arm."

Alana raised an eyebrow.

Rachel felt herself start to panic and suddenly the words started tumbling out very fast. "I didn't mean that I don't like your arm. I do like your arm, it's a great arm. I just meant that I like where it is, and I wasn't--"

The brunette chuckled and gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "I knew what you meant."

"Oh good." Rachel breathed a sigh of relief.

Alana smiled contentedly then took a deep breath. Halfway through inhaling her expression changed and she wrinkled her nose. "Okay seriously, where is that smoky smell coming from?"

Apparently their conversation -- which had risen to normal conversation volume at this point -- was starting to wake everyone else too because Taloni lifted her head and yawned.

The Fey teen scrunched up her face after several seconds and she sniffed. "Eww."

Ethan stirred at this and started stretching, then stopped as he too sniffed the air. "Is that smoke?"

"That's what we thought." Rachel said, pulling the sheets up to make sure she was covered. She wasn't sure why she didn't want the others seeing her naked, but for some reason she didn't. Well, Alana already had -- and more than once -- but she wasn't included in that. For some reason, she just didn't mind with the lovely wood elf.

"Maybe Raklan started the breakfast fire." Beth joked, her head poking up from Ethan's other side.

"I can check." Ethan extricated himself from the bed and then cracked the door open to peer out. He closed the door and turned around shaking his head. "Nope, the breakfast fire isn't lit yet."

"Well, you are adragon." Kendra pointed out from under the sheets. "That's one potential source of smoke."

Ethan's eyes got huge, then his face split into a massive grin. "Just in time to fight some airships too."

"I doubt you'll be able to do anything useful with fire for days, maybe a week or two." The dragon huntress replied. "But it seems like fire is finally on the horizon for you."

"It's about damn time." He grinned, then his expression became more concerned. Taloni had just sat up, and she put her hand on her right breast over her wound.

He walked over and sat down next to her, his tail curling around her lower half. "How are you feeling this morning honey?"

"Much better Master." She replied. "I still feel tired, and my chest still aches a bit, but it doesn't hurt at all."

"Good." He smiled.

She looked down at her naked breast after removing her hand. "I have a scar master." She looked at him and smiled, then said a bit more excitedly. "I have a scar!" She turned and showed her back on the right side to him. "Do I have one on my back too?"

Rachel could see from where she was, and the Fey did indeed have a scar on her back from the entry wound. It was round, with four tiny little points sticking out slightly from it; probably from the edges of the arrowhead.

"Um Tee, you seem happy that you have a scar." Beth said. "Why?"

The Fey teen looked at her with a wide smile. "I have no idea." She turned to Ethan. "You don't care that I have scars right?"

"I care that you were injured, but the scars don't bother me at all." He replied.

"Look Bee, you can feel it right now." The honey blonde grabbed the blonde's hand and put it on the scar on her front, which was about two inches above her pink nipple.

"Yes Tee, it feels great." Beth winked, then gave her breast a squeeze.

"Wait, let me feel." Ethan said, replacing Beth's hand on Tee's breast with his own, covering it completely. "Mmm, yes it definitely feels good." He grinned and her and started subtly massaging it.

"Oh Master." She rolled her eyes shook her head at him, though her smile was even wider.

It certainly was good to see her in brighter spirits because she had been somewhat lethargic the previous day. The redhead was pretty sure she'd tire herself out soon since she was still recovering from her wound, but in a day or two she should be back to normal.

Rachel also couldn't help but notice Kendra's reaction to the conversation. The raven-haired woman looked pensive as she saw Tee showing her scar to anyone who wanted to see it, not really caring that she was putting everyone's eyes and even hands on her breast.

It simply didn't bother Taloni.

Rachel thought about the burn scar on her shoulder that she'd gotten while fighting Gonorran, and how much she'd been ashamed of it. She didn't want anyone to see it, and yet Taloni didn't seem to care about such things.

Her eyes met Kendra, and the dragon huntress gave her a thoughtful frown, shrugged, and shook her head. Rachel did the same in reply, feeling about the same. It didn't make sense to her, but she was glad that the Fey teen didn't care.

She kind of wished that she didn't care.

Eventually, and probably owing to the Fey teen starting to run out of steam, everyone got dressed without the morning turning into a long session in the bedroom. They filed out onto the weather deck and the first thing Ethan did was go to the quarterdeck and look behind the Argo, and Rachel and his other wives were right behind him.

"Well, I don't think we lost them." The redhead said wryly.

There were two airships following the Argo from a couple hundred feet above them and perhaps a half mile behind them. The sky had started to lighten, but the sun was far from up.

"Okay, I'll give them a warning after breakfast then." Ethan said. "I'm just glad you ladies are okay after that ambush."

"So are we Master." Taloni said from next to him, though she took a deep breath afterwards and was leaning on the railing more than she might ordinarily do. Apparently her excited outburst earlier had worn her out.

"That's becausesomeone reminded us to bring weapons." Selene said to the Fey. "Kendra would've been the only one armed if you hadn't."

"Speaking of." Ethan turned to Rachel. "After breakfast could you write a letter to the king of the wood elves thanking him for those weapons? He saved all of you and we should really thank him for that."

"I will." The redhead replied.

"Thanks." Ethan said. "Now, breakfast before dawn and then a talk with some airships."

* * *

Ethan feathered his wings, slowing down from painfully slow to excruciatingly slow as he approached one of the two Ivernian military airships. A white flag had been attached to his javelin and he was slowly swinging it below him. They hadn't tried to shoot him yet, so that was something.

The sun hadn't quite risen yet and the eastern sky was just starting to show patches of reds, oranges, and purples as the sun prepared to crest the horizon. It was shaping up to be a beautiful sunrise and he would rather spend the dawn hours watching it with his wives than issuing warnings.

The airships looked like they were both the same model as each other, but one had clearly been in service longer. They were about the same length as the Argo at about 100 feet, but also significantly wider at perhaps 25 feet versus the Argo's 16. Compared to the Argo they each had an additional mast both top and bottom for four total versus the Argo's two total, which helped to explain how they were keeping pace. There were two men on the deck of each airship who were wearing red surcoats with a stylized black dragon on them.

Apparently, the Ivernian airships weren't flying the Narlotten flag below the Ivernian flag just for fun.

Ethan picked the right airship since his rollable shield was on his left arm, and thus it would protect him better from the second airship if it started shooting at him. The airships were sailing close enough together that everyone on both ships would be able to hear him easily, but they were also staggered so they both had full wind. The left airship would be in front of and slightly to the west of him when he landed on the right one. He started descending towards the very front of that ship's bow, wanting to be able to escape as fast as possible if it went wrong.

He had a feeling that it would.

As he approached, he noticed someone on the deck was banging on a drum in what seemed to be a specific rhythm. Several more men came running up from the lower decks and everyone on the deck rearranged themselves. He guessed the drum signaled them to be ready for action.

By the time he'd closed close enough to start hearing them talk, there were at least two dozen archers on deck with strung bows. They hadn't nocked any arrows though, so that was something.

He landed on the railing at the airship's bow as lightly and non-threateningly as he could. The Ivernian soldiers took a collective step back, but the two Narlotten soldiers stood their ground. They were wearing swords and had a commanding presence about them.

"Hello there." Ethan said loudly, resisting the temptation to mimic Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice from Episode III.

"You come to surrender?" A gruff looking fellow said as he strode closer. He had a fancy coat, tricorn hat, and a commanding air about him. He didn't pass his men, but he was near the front of them.

"Not exactly." Ethan replied. "Why are you after me?"

"You attacked a Reeve." The captain replied. "Lord Farbrottan has a standing bounty on anyone who messes with a Reeve and I aim to collect."

"Did you know he was corrupt?"

"He's a Reeve in Ivernia, of course he was corrupt." The captain retorted. "Don't matter, the reward is the same."

Ethan frowned; avarice wasn't exactly a high-handed motive. He dropped his right hand to his war hammer and started charging it, making sure to target the bolt to the captain. If the captain was going to attack, Ethan would make sure it would cost him.

Still the men might be different.

He opened his mouth and spoke loudly, figuring 'when in Rome'. "Men, you know that I've committed no wrong and that I'm reputed to be a prophet of Illuminar. I've done nothing wrong, and yet Ivernian soldiers tried to kill my wives, who are even more innocent that I am, since they hadnothing to do with my confrontation with the Reeve."

"That Fey girl was there." The captain countered. "There's reward out on her too."

"She didn't interfere, nor even speak to anyone involved and you know that." Ethan retorted. "Is that what Illuminar would want? For you to attack innocent women?"

"Archers, ready." The captain ordered.

The archers reached into their quivers to drawn arrows, but several seemed hesitant. They nocked arrows into their bows, but didn't draw or shoot. Several of them glanced at their fellow archers while shifting uncomfortably on their feet.

"You can either refuse to support this wickedness and live..." Ethan said loudly, though he subtly moved his left arm forward. His shield was attached to it in rolled configuration, and he might need it soon. "...or you can continue to threaten my wives, in which case I will kill every last one of you." He finished with a low growl.

He had intended to let his dragon side show a bit, but not quite that much. Apparently, being bonded to Selene and not sleeping with her was starting to have an effect. Not much of one, but a little.

Dang.

"Archers, aim and loose." The captain ordered.

Ethan deployed his shield and raised it, bracing himself for the impacts moments before they occurred. They didn't hit nearly as hard as orc arrows and he was braced, so he stood his ground.

"Anyone armed is fair game." Ethan called loudly as he lowered his shield enough to see over it. "If you want to see the next sunrise, drop your weapons or turn the ship around."

"Archers, loose at will." The captain commanded.

Ethan had purposely shown up without his dragon steel war sword, wanting to be the least intimidating he could be to give diplomacy a chance. However, now diplomacy had had its chance. He snatched his hammer off his belt and let loose the large charge that had accumulated before the archers had reloaded.

CRACK!

The lightning bolt arced forward, hitting the captain square in the chest. Like with the orc, it clearly caused a pretty severe burn, and maybe a deep one. However, he couldn't tell just how severe without getting closer since the captain had dropped to the deck almost immediately.

The airship's crew froze.

Ethan decided to make the impression even more terrifying as he spoke. "I will defend myself and my wives with all necessary force. Drop your weapons or turn the ship around. If you don't..."

He opened his mouth, thought about the possibility of them hurting his wives, and let loose a dragon's roar that intentionally had his dragon side fully loosed in it.

The sound was terrifying.

The entirety of the airship's crew froze in place. One or two sailors had dark spots appear on their trousers and the rest went wide-eyed. The two Narlotten soldiers seemed less affected, or perhaps they were just more disciplined. They didn't move either, but didn't seem quite as frozen as their Ivernian counterparts.

And with that -- while they were frozen in fear -- he collapsed his shield, turned and leapt off the airship. He spread his wings, turning his downwards momentum into forward speed and made towards the Argo as fast as possible, not wanting to be in arrow range when they recovered.

Thankfully, he wasn't.

He looked behind himself and saw that by the time the archers had made it to the railing and were in position to shoot, he was already too far away.

* * *

Sarah carried the large bowl of potato peelings up the stairs and dumped them over the side of the Helene as instructed. The bowl was large and had been heavy, but not heavier than the logs she had hauled back at the inn, and thankfully this was the last one.

"There we are, all done." Fiona said from beside her, dumping hers as well.

"It's a lot different cooking for a few hundred men versus less than a dozen." The innkeeper's daughter said. "Are there really that many men on the Helene?"

"Aye, 'tis so." The copper haired woman nodded. "She could be crewed with far less, but then she wouldn't be faring well in a battle. Most of the men are marines, and ones well trained in both archery and close-quarters combat."

"That makes sense, I'm just surprised." Sarah replied. "The few airship pilots who came through the inn had very small crews compared to the Helene, even when the airships were near this size."

"Aye, but they were probably traders, so they weren't needing large crews."

The innkeeper's daughter nodded.

They two women took a moment to catch their breath, having been running and working hard all morning to produce food for the large crew. Sarah leaned against the side of the ship and took a deep breath, enjoying the summer's morning air that would assuredly turn too warm for comfort by mid-day.

Nearby, Lady Ekthros and Lord Delmar emerged from the lower decks. They were talking, but their voices were low and quiet. After several seconds, the auburn haired woman pointed to someone on the deck not far from them, and Lord Delmar strode towards the man.

"Lieutenant, stand fast." The lord ordered.

Instantly, the man snapped to attention.

Lord Delmar walked up to him and the difference in size was large. Lord Delmar stood around six and a half feet tall. He had a large, powerfully built frame and the muscular "V" upper body shape that came with it. By contrast, the other man was only a few inches taller than Sarah, perhaps around Ethan's height. The result was that the lord absolutelytowered over the man.

Lord Delmar walked right into the man's space, and the smaller man would've had to crane his neck to look the lord in the eyes. He wasn't though, he remained at attention and instead looked the lord squarely in the throat.

Lord Delmar stood there for several seconds before speaking. "How long have you been passing information to the traitorous necromancer Hermair?"

Sarah gasped, recognizing the name of the necromancer who had brought Ethan to the Ten Kingdoms.

The man paled. "Lord Delmar, I haven't--"

His answer was cut off as Lord Delmar reached out and placed a single hand around the man's throat, he didn't appear to be choking him though.

"How long?" Lord Delmar repeated. In contrast with his actions, his voice was calm, cool, and collected. Despite his hand around the man's neck, he seemed as impassive as a stone wall and just as likely to yield.

The man worked his mouth for a moment, not answering as his face went white as a sheet.

"How long?" Lord Delmar lifted the man off the deck with one hand, his tone still calm. The man responded by grabbing the lord's forearm with both hands, holding himself by his arms instead of Lord Delmar holding him by his neck.

Sarah's jaw dropped as she froze in place.

It was shock not fear, which was good because otherwise her problem might manifest. Regardless, she couldn't believe what she was seeing right in front of her eyes. Firstly that Lord Delmar was strong enough to pick the man up with one arm, but it was possible with his size, especially with a strength-enhancing enchantment. More so it was the aura he projected. He was perfectly calm and collected, seemingly no more bothered by the man's reaction than he would be by an insect.

It was unnerving.

"I... I haven't..." The man struggled to speak.

"If you confess now, you will be spared a traitor's death." Lord Delmar said with much the same tone as you might use when asking someone if he preferred blueberry pie or cherry pie. "If you do you not, you will be given a fair trial and then a traitor's death if found guilty."