A Dragon's Tale Ch. 45

"Yes Dominus."

He paused, looking at her intently. "You're sure you want to do this?"

She nodded. "I want to help Dominus, and this is something only I can do."

He scrutinized her for several seconds more before nodding. "Tell me if you have any second thoughts."

"Yes Dominus."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then leapt into the air, flying swiftly back towards their home. She smiled: home. It was rather surprising how much their airship had begun to feel like one. She smiled, then started looking around.

The airship was definitely bigger than the Argo, though not by a lot. It had two masts and was wider, but about the same length. That made it look more 'fat', and probably helped account for the Argo's speed advantage.

The men milling about the weather deck looked rather bored. There were about a dozen men on deck, half of which were wearing a surcoat with the Ivernian flag on the front. The others look like sailors except for the one man who had a red surcoat with a stylized black dragon on it.

The Narlotten man looked very different than everyone else.

He looked neat and more polished. His uniform fit him better and he wore it with more pride and an air of distinction about him. He seemed like the sort of fellow who would be at home visiting a lord's court as part of the retinue. It made a contrast to the Ivernian men around him who looked downright sloppy by comparison.

The blonde looked around the deck, deciding that now was as good a time to start as any. She went looking for the mages.

* * *

Ethan sat up in the captain's cabin, having just reentered his body. He shook his head: 'reentered his body'. His life had gotten very strange in the past few months. Beth's body was next to him on the bed, her chest slowly rising and falling with her breathing. On a lark, he kissed her forehead and then went out onto the weather deck.

His wives had congregated on the quarterdeck and he joined them. "Well, Beth will let us know about the mages, now we just need to figure out how to deal with the archers."

"Speaking of archers." Alana made room for him in the conversation circle and looked up at him. "I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

"Well, not really a favor, more like a request; but only if we can afford it." The wood elf said. She hadn't actually grimaced, but it looked like she wanted to.

"Afford what?" He asked.

"Well, I can do the enchanting myself so that will help with the cost, but it'll still be expensive." The brunette continued.

"What will be expensive?"

She took a deep breath. "I would really like a travel bow and some travel arrows, or rather the raw materials since I can enchant it myself."

He raised his hands palms up. "What's a travel bow?"

"It's a leather bow that's enchanted to act like a bow by means of a stiffening enchantment." She replied. "But it's an activatable enchantment, so you can tuck the bow away when it's not being used, or even wear it like a belt. But when you need it, you can activate the enchantment and it functions like a regular bow."

"That's really cool." He grinned. "Like,really cool. I take it that travel arrows are the same basic idea?"

"Yes, leather shafts with a stiffening enchantment." The wood elf replied. "I know it'll be super expensive, but I couldn't do anything when we were ambushed earlier. I have no training in the sword and I probably would've gotten in the way or gotten myself killed. But if I would've had a bow..."

"You would've killed half of them, maybe all." He nodded. "Sure, go for it."

Alana beamed.

"Um, do you know how much the raw materials cost my lord?" Rachel asked him.

"No, but it's just high grade leather, and we have some of that on the Argo." He replied. "I assume she'll need to buy the arrowheads and stuff, which would be the expensive part?"

"Actually, the bow is the expensive part because needs to be made from dragon leather." Alana said. "Even the highest quality leather can't take more than two enchantments, maybe three if all of them are very small or weak. However, a travel bow needs three strong enchantments to work, so it needs to be made of dragon leather."

"Why three enchantments?" Ethan asked. "Wouldn't just an activatable stiffening enchantment be enough?"

She shook her head. "The stiffening enchantment is one, yes; but you need more. The travel bow springs into position when you activate it, which is basically like dry-firing any other bow. Thus you also need a strengthening enchantment so it survives being opened. Further, the travel bow will damage itself from opening, so it needs a self-repairing enchantment to be used more than a few times. I personally wouldn't trust one after the second activation unless it had a self-repairing enchantment, but ideally you would activate it several times while making it to ensure it's properly enchanted."

"Ah, that makes sense. I can't wait to see it."

"You still don't mind?" She asked.

He shook his head, then slipped into an impression of Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. "Make it so number one."

Selene chuckled, everyone else looked a bit confused.

"Thank you, but it will be very expensive." Alana said. "So expensive that I'm not sure we could afford it, but I wanted to at least see."

"How expensive are we talking?" He asked.

"I wanted a smaller recurve style shaped like this." The wood elf said, and traced a shape in the air that closely resembled a Mongolian short recurve bow. "That will help with the cost, I just need the dragon leather."

"...and how much will it cost?" He asked again.

"Well, you could probably get a decent sized plot of land for the cost."

"Maybe with a house on it depending on the area." Rachel added.

Ethan grimaced. "I don't think we have that kind of money to throw around, but it couldn't hurt to see how much it would cost. Where would we get the dragon leather way out here?"

"I was planning to send a letter to Elder Goman, since he could certainly buy it in Arcanum." Alana replied. "If he rolled the leather strip across the width, it could probably fit through the hole in the portal stone. I was going to ask him to check the price, and the coins for it should fit through the portal stone too so we could pay him for it, assuming we could afford it."

"Good idea." He said.

"Thank you, I just wanted to make sure it might be okay, since it could be expensive."

"The safety of my wives is a top priority." He replied.

"Aww." She leaned up and kissed him. "You treat us so well."

"I try." He grinned.

"You succeed." Kendra said quietly.

He looked at her and she gave him a half smile. There was a slightly awkward silence for several moments until their high elf pilot spoke up.

"Captain, we'll hit the Gulf of Sayora just over those twin peaks." She pointed to two mountain peaks -- well, perhaps 'extremely large hill peaks' was more accurate -- that were in the distance. "After that I'll need a heading. I can keep going south, but once we're over the gulf there won't be any terrain to take advantage of."

"You think we can take advantage of the terrain?" He asked, remembering that she'd been an airship pilot longer than the rest of the crew had been alive.

"I do." The high elf replied. "I think we can use those twin peaks to our advantage, which is why I chose to plot a course to them last night since you didn't specify anything other than south to the Gulf of Sayora."

Ethan look at the peaks again.

They rose out of the hills surrounding them, sharply pointed and towering into the air at least twice as high as the surrounding hills. They met to form a "V" at about the altitude that the Argo was cruising, and then went hundreds of feet higher; possibly more. The area around the "V" and below it was lush and green, but above that it quickly became rock and stone with little to no vegetation.

Honestly, they looked a little like two stalagmites had grown together from the tops of two massive hills.

"How can we use them?" He asked Anthiel.

"We could sail in between them and then drop altitude until they can't see us, then turn either east or west while we're out of sight. They will almost certainly split up to intercept us. That will allow us to fight them one at a time."

"Brilliant, I love it." He grinned, then frowned. "But couldn't they just gain altitude to see which way we head?"

"They could, but why would they?" Anthiel replied. "They have larger ships and likely an entire platoon of marines on board each so they wouldn't fear us at all. One of them will almost certainly catch us If they split up, so why wouldn't they? Plus, they would need to fly very high indeed to see us with as low as we could drop, which they would know."

"Fair." He looked at the peaks ahead of them and at the airships behind them and considered. "Well ladies, what do you think: east or west?" They were traveling south, so east was to their left and west to their right if you faced the front of the ship.

"I vote east Master." Taloni said. "We'll have slightly better wind for maneuvering, and thus an advantage against whichever ship goes east because the wind will be on our side."

"She's right." Anthiel agreed.

Kendra made a thoughtful sound. "On the other hand, if we go west then the sun will make it harder for them to see us for an hour, maybe more if we can rise with the sun for a while. That might enable us to launch a surprise attack."

"Except they'll know where we are, unless..." He looked at the twin peaks again. "...unless we don't do what they expect."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

He steepled his hands together. "Well, I was thinking that--"

*Dominus?* The blonde teen thought to the group chat.

*What's up angel?*

*I found out that they have three mages on this ship, though only one of them is on deck right now.*

*Okay, we're strategizing right now, but I'll need his location soon for my attack run.*

*Okay Dominus, let me know when you're ready.*

*I will angel.*

"You were saying master?" Taloni asked. "You said you were thinking something."

"Yeah, what if we don't do what they expect?" He replied. "Once they see us sail through the peaks, they'll expect us to turn either east or west. What if we don't do either?"

A shrewd smile started forming on Kendra's face. "What did you have in mind?"

He turned to Anthiel. "How fast could you turn the Argo around; a complete 180?"

The high elf grinned, then turned to Taloni. "I assume you've heard of a spin-drop turn?"

The Fey's eyes got as large as saucers and her wings fluttered so much that they almost vibrated. "Really?!"

Anthiel nodded turned to Ethan with a sly grin. "Very fast."

"Then what if we pass between the peaks, drop down so they can't see us, turn the Argo completely around, and then rise back up and sail back between the peaks after they've passed?" He suggested with a wicked smile. "Then we can turn west so the sun is at our back as we approach the western airship. They probably won't know where we've gone, and hopefully will miss us if we come out of the sun."

"Brilliant." Kendra breathed.

"Thank you." He replied, then added. "Plus, I already dropped Beth off on the western airship so I wouldn't need to move her."

"You couldn't hide the Argo on approach though." Anthiel said. "It's too big to conceal if we get close. However, as long as we stay far away we will be nearly impossible to spot in the sun."

Kendra looked at Ethan. "And that goes double if you fly out of the sun with your javelin like Selene suggested earlier, then summon it back before they know what's hit them."

"Shock and awe; I like it." He grinned, then his grin faltered. "I know that I gave them a chance to avoid a fight; I wish they'd taken it."

"As do I my lord." Rachel replied. "But the odds of that were never high. Lord Farbrottan is apparently very concerned whenever someone interferes with his Reeves."

He frowned, then looked back towards the way they came. Not towards the airships, but past that as if he could see all the way to where this particular problem had begun; to the town where he'd confronted the corrupt Reeve.

"What's wrong?" Alana asked.

"I'm just thinking about Talven and Salma." He replied, considering the couple who had told him of the corrupt Reeve in the first place. "If they sent two airships to get me for confronting the Reeve, what might they do to Talven and Salma if they found out that they were the ones who told me about him?"

"Oh." The wood elf frowned. "But they probably didn't, right? You didn't tell anyone that they were the ones who told you, right?"

"I didn't, but I did mention their names to the fellow who I asked to help make sure everyone got their taxes back." His shoulders slumped. "Oh man, and what's going to happen to him? I don't even know his name."

"I don't know." Rachel said. "I don't expect he fared well when the Ivernian soldiers found out."

"If we weren't dealing with being attacked by two airships with a platoon of marines each, and if we didn't need to help with the orc problem, I might want to head back there to check on them."

"That's a good idea Master." Taloni said. "They were really nice people and I would hate to see anything bad happen to them."

"Agreed." He nodded, then his gaze shifted from looking to appreciating.

"What?" The Fey asked.

"I'm really glad you're okay." He looked around at his wives and Selene. "That you're all okay." His gaze settled on Rachel. "Could you compose that letter to the king of the wood elves to thank him for those weapons he gave us? They saved your lives and I'd like to thank him for that."

"Yes my lord, I can do that now." She hesitated just a moment before adding. "And maybe Alana should come so we can also get that letter sent to Elder Goman about her travel bow?"

He suppressed a grin at the redhead including his first wife. "Sure, makes perfect sense."

* * *

"Alright, that finishes the letter to Elder Goman." Rachel said as she rolled it tightly and slipped it through the portal stone whose counterpart led to the arch mage.

"Thank you; your handwriting is prettier than mine." The wood elf replied. "I hope it won't be too expensive."

"We'll find some way to make it work; you shouldn't be without your bow." The redhead looked at the brunette, doing her best not to get lost in her hazel eyes. "What were you planning to do about arrows?"

"I can buy the arrowheads and nocks from any blacksmith, and I was going to use some of the leather in the hold for the shafts. They only need an activatable hardening enchantment to work, and I might add a summoning enchantment so I don't need to keep making more of them whenever I shoot them."

"You're really clever." Rachel said, then blushed slightly.

"Thank you." Alana beamed. "Coming from the 'wise redhead', that means a lot."

Rachel returned the smile, and felt a warmth in her chest that had nothing to do with the warm summer air. There was a lull in the conversation, but not an uncomfortable one.

"Were you going to write that letter to the wood elven king next?" Alana asked.

The redhead nodded. "Yes, I'll just need to pull out all the flowery language I was forced to learn at court. I hated it at the time, but maybe there was a reason my father made me learn all of it."

She started running her fingers through her hair as she thought about how to start it, but they got snagged on a knot. "Maybe I'll brush my hair first. Oh, to be a Fey."

"Yeah, I'm jealous of Taloni's never-tangling hair too." The wood elf replied, then hesitated. "You know, I could brush your hair."

Rachel blinked. "What?"

"Well, you were going to write that letter and you can start right now if I help."

Somehow, the redhead got the impression that the speed at which the letter could be written had nothing to do with her best friend's reasoning for offering.

She liked that.

"Okay." Rachel gave her a small smile, then picked up the quill again. Her heart was feeling quite fluttery and her brain wanted to lock up, but with only Alana's comforting presence around, she didn't.

Alana opened a drawer and pulled out her own hairbrush, which really wasn't that different from the others except it had an elven design aesthetic. Then, in a totally natural way that somehow didn't make her brain want to freeze, Alana did the most amazing thing ever.

She brushed her hair.

She didn't do it sensually, but somehow it was sensuous. She was soft and tender, kind and caring. She handled the redhead's hair with a care and tenderness that made Rachel's heart feel like warm pudding just out of the oven that hadn't entirely set just yet. She felt a smile creep onto her face as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the simple sensation.

"You're not writing." The wood elf pointed out softly, a note of amusement in her tone.

"Right." She forced herself to concentrate on the letter and began to compose it, trying not to lose herself in the sensations emanating from her scalp.

It wasn't easy.

"Did you want me to finish before you write." Alana chuckled.

"Mmm." Rachel sighed.

It had never been like this when her handmaidens had brushed her hair. They did it in a quick and efficient manner that untangled her hair without damaging it. However, they weren't this caring or affectionate. As her best friend brushed, she started humming a pretty melody that Rachel vaguely recognized as an elven lullaby.

It was nice.

Peaceful.

After a few minutes, Rachel did manage to get a short 'thank you' letter written to the king of the wood elves, and even slipped it through the appropriate portal stone. Afterwards, she leaned back in the chair and just enjoyed the sensation. She was pretty sure that her hair had been thoroughly brushed several minutes ago, but wasn't planning to ask Alana to stop.

Finally, the wood elf did though.

She set the brush down and ran her fingers through the redhead's hair, slowly moving from the red roots down as it slowly faded to blonde at the tips, making it look like fire. She could be checking for knots, but the slow caressing made Rachel think there was more to it.

After the second or third time through, Alana stopped. "Your hair is enchant-- wait, you magically dye the blonde part of your hair?!"

"Well yeah." The mage replied, turning in her chair to look at her. "You didn't think my hair naturally lightened from red to blonde, did you?"

"Oh." The wood elf closed her mouth and cocked her head to one side. "I suppose that makes sense, I just didn't realize... When did you start?"

"A couple years ago. Someone called me a hothead at about the time I wanted to cut my hair, but I wasn't allowed to cut it. I didn't want to entirely lose the color though because my mother's hair was this exact color, so I just lightened the color toward the ends. I thought it looked like fire and thus fit."

"It does fit you." Alana looked at her, and unless Rachel was much mistaken there was no small amount of fondness in her expression.

"Why do you like me?" The redhead asked, her brain running ahead of her mouth. Rachel froze, barely believing that those words had escaped her lips.

Alana grinned. "Do I have to pick just one reason?"

The mage shook her head.

"You're fascinating." Alana said, giving her a smile. "You're kind and caring, but also throw fireballs at necromancers. You have this incredible strength, but you're also vulnerable too. Most importantly, you're a good person and you care about people. You might sometimes struggle to show it, but I know you do."

Rachel smiled.

"And I know you're a bit scared about opening up because of how you grew up." Alana continued. "But I think you want to. I think you want to open up and let everyone see you, but you're scared about being that open because it means being vulnerable. That was never a safe thing when you were growing up so it makes you incredibly nervous."