The Magic Thief

Standing up, she looked down at the two people she had spent the last several hours with. She shook her head as she thought of what she was going to do next. Walking over she stood over John licking her lips. Her belly growled again, and the sound attracted John who could hardly keep his eyes open. Anna was sure the last thing that he saw before the exhaustion took him, was the hungry look in her eyes as she reached for his head.

John woke to the smell of cooking meat. He was laying in a soft bed, in a room he did not recognize. Looking around he did not see Cara anywhere. What a dream that was... He started to get out of bed and groaned at how badly his body ached. He barely had the strength to push himself to a sitting position.

Swinging his legs over, he sat on the edge of the bed and his head in his hands. Was he ill? The last thing he clearly remembered was making plans with Cara to raid an abandoned mages tower. Then... the dream. Had he been caught in some long forgotten magic spell?

"Awake at last I see," a voice said from the door.

John turned his head and saw a vision of his dream come to life. Standing in the door was the red headed beauty from his dreams. Her naked form exposed to the world.

"A... Anna?" He mumbled.

"Of course," she answered with a smile. "Did you expect someone else?"

"I thought it was a dream," John said closing his eyes.

"No, not a dream..." Anna answered walking closer. "Come. Cara is waiting, and I have much to explain."

She held out her hand, and after a moment of thinking John took it. He was surprised at her strength. She pulled him to his feet as if he was a child. Anna wrapped his arm around her neck so he could lean on her as they walked.

Anna helped him from the bed chamber, out into the hall, and across to another doorway, that John didn't remember existing yesterday. The smell of cooking meat was stronger here. As they entered, John saw Cara sitting at a massive wooden dining table that would have easily seated 30 people. She smiled at him as he got closer.

After helping John to a seat next to Cara, Anna moved over to check a large spit of meat rotating over the an open fire.

"What did we get ourselves into?" John whispered to Cara.

"You tried to rob the tower of a mage who is not a mage," Anna answered from across the room. "Not in the conventional since. Anyways, yes, I heard your question," she said with a smile at the bewildered look on John's face.

Anna walked back to the table and sat down across from the couple.

"There is much to tell you. I can understand how people came to the misconception that this," she said waving her hand around, "was a mages tower. I have done great magics here. Some, that were likely very spectacular to see from afar."

"However," she said looking from one set of eyes to the other. "I am no mage."

Convinced that she had their attention, Anna let slip her control over the one spell she had not released in nearly 200 years. The form of the ravishing, red-haired beauty shimmered, then faded away. In its place sat a creature that no adventure could positively say that they had seen in over a 1000 years. A creature that was supposed to have been hunted into extinction.

Standing up so they could get a good look at her, Anna backed away from the table and watched the reactions of John and Cara. The response to what she was showing them, could, determine if they lived or die in this very moment.

Her form was almost exactly the same. Slender neck, leading down to a well well formed full bust. A flat belly, tapering to a small waist, then expanding out well shaped hips and toned, muscular legs. That is where the similarities ended. Her entire body, from the top of her now bald head, to her toes that ended in razor sharp claws, were covered in tiny dark red scales.

Her face had elongated somewhat, giving her mouth an almost snout like look. This too was covered in the tiny scales. But, her eyes... Her eyes were the same liquid brown as before. A gift from her human mother.

"Now," Anna said in a voice that was more musical than before. "Now, you see me for what I truly am. A half-dragon. An outcast from an age long forgotten. Not human enough to be accepted by humans. Not dragon enough to be accepted by dragons. Only other half-dragons would ever accept me. And, if you know the histories, the last half-dragon community was destroyed nearly a 1000 years ago. My kind were hunted to the edge of extinction."

Watching the couple, Anna could see the shock in their faces. John had pushed back from the table. Anna was sure, that if his body had the strength, he would have tried to flee. Cara on the other hand, was leaning forward in fascination. The scholar in her wanted to know more about this terrifyingly beautiful creature.

"I can see in your eyes that you have questions," Anna said turning to check on the meat again. "Ask."

Cara licked her lips. "Why? Why are you showing us this?"

"I have lived for nearly 1200 years," Anna answered. "I have had many lovers, and only one true love. She died many hundred of years ago. I show you who I am because I feel it is worth the risk."

"Your lonely," Cara said in surprise.

Anna turned back to the table. "Yes, I am lonely."

"And after what happened between us, you feel Cara and I can help you feel less lonely?" John asked sarcastically. "Admit it, you used magic on us to make us feel pity for you. You tricked us into laying with you," he snarled.

"Yes," Anna answered quietly. "I did all that, and more. You see, I have lived alone for a very long time. I have hidden myself away from the world, away from the volatile personalities of humans who don't understand my kind. Your kind have forced me into hiding."

She could see the rage fading from Johns face.

"Yes, I used magic on you to soothe some of the loneliness I have felt for the last 1000 years," Anna stated. "Yes, I played on your emotions with my magic to make you more... complacent. But, the idea of laying with the virgin prisoner to help her escape was all your own. You did not fall under my magic until you crossed the circle."

"We only wanted to free you," Cara said. "We didn't expect you to capture us with magic of your own."

"And that compassion is why you are sitting here talking to me, instead of roasting on that spit over there," Anna answered waving her hand in the direction of the fire.

"Is that..." Cara asked looking at the meat in horror.

"A deer," Anna said. "I hunted it while you were sleeping."

"How many others have you done this to?" John asked.

"I have played this same scenario, maybe a dozen times over the last 50 years I have lived in this tower," Anna answered. "You two, are the first to want to actually free me. Most others want to use me, or more specifically, try, and use my blood. It never worked out well for them."

"Virgin blood can be used for powerful magic," Cara said.

"Yes, it can. But half-dragon blood is even more powerful and rare," Anna answered sitting back at the table.

"So, if this is the first time you have not killed your would be rescuers, what now?" Asked John.

Anna thought about it for a moment. "Now, I suppose I offer you options."

"Wha... What kind of options?" Cara asked haltingly.

"You came to this tower because you wanted to look for abandoned magics, correct?" Anna asked.

John and Cara looked at each other, then back to Anna before Cara nodded.

"Then here is what I offer you," Anna said standing back up and heading for the fire. "You may share a meal with me, and in return for my... Let's say... My misdeeds against you, I will give you new magics you can carry away with you."

She reached into the fire with her clawed hands and pulled the spit out away from the direct heat. As she turned back to the couple, her form rippled again and she was once more the red-headed beauty they had first met.

"The second option is, you could stay here with me. Of your own free will. I promise to never use my magic on you without your consent again. In return for helping to lessen my loneliness, I will teach you magics that could raise you to the ranks of the greatest Arch Magi. It will take years of hard work and study," Anna said moving back over to the table. "But I would be there to guide you along the way."

"The last option would be, that I cast a spell over you, making you forget the last two days of your lives. I will leave you on the road, someplace far from here, and let you wonder how you got there, and where you were going. I, of course, would watch over you from a distance until I was sure you were safe. But, you would not remember me, nor see me again."

"How exactly do you expect us to help you lessen your loneliness?" John asked.

"I would not ask you to lay with me again, like we did last night," Anna answered. "I will always been open to sharing my bed with both of you if that is what you wanted. But, just being here, keeping me company, talking with me, sharing meals with me. These things would make me feel much less lonely."

"Could... Could we have some time to talk about this?" Asked Cara.

"Of course," said Anna quickly standing. "I will be in the laboratory when you are ready. Please help yourselves to the meat." A black doorway opened behind her. Turning, she quickly stepped through and the doorway vanished, leaving Cara and John staring after here.

Anna wiped away the tears that ran down her face. Another gift from her human mother were her emotions. It had been many years since she had told anyone even a part of her story. She moved over to doorway of the spell chamber. Waving her hand it became a wall holding her mirror. She lifted her hand to cast her scrying magic, but hesitated.

"No. I will not interfere," she said to herself. "I will not tempt myself."

Lowering her hand, she turned this way and that examining her own form. It had taken her years to get this form exactly right. She had to pour over her own memories, using magic to drag them from her mind and give them form or comparison. Other than those memories, this form was all she had to remember her first human love. Her one true love.

For hours she stood there, turning one way and then another. Maybe if they stay I will chose a different form. Something the two of them would like, she thought to herself. A small noise behind her caused Anna to turn and look at the stairs.

Cara and John were helping each other down the difficult incline, that must have been even more difficult in their weakened condition. They had taken time to fully dress before coming to find her. The couple made their way over to the comfortable chairs and seated themselves.

"So, you have decided then," Anna asked thinking that the couple would ask to leave.

"We have, yes," John said. "Will you sit with us Anna?"

Anna walked over and took a chair opposite the couple. Keeping her legs closed, she placed her hands on her thighs and waited for their decision.

"We have decided," Cara started. "You are going to have to start wearing clothes."

Anna banked in confusion. "Wh... What?"

"If I am going to be trying to learn earth shattering spells, my teacher is going to have to wear clothes so that John and I both, are less distracted by her beauty," Cara said with a smile.

"You... You want to stay?" Anna asked in bewilderment.

"Well, I don't know exactly what I am going to do. Not much thieving to do in a half-dragon's lair," said John. "But, I only kept thieving after I met Cara to try and help her find all those lost and rare magics she wanted. So, yes. If you will wear some clothes, so I am not constantly wanting to take you back to bed, and you promise to teach Cara to be an even greater mage, yes we will stay."

"You want to take me back to bed?" Anna asked frowning. "My spells of lust have long worn away."

"We don't need spells of lust Anna," Cara said. "If my body was not so weak, I would be doing my best to drag you back to bed myself."

"Next to my Cara, you are the most intoxicatingly beautiful woman I have ever met," John stated. "That's why we ask for you to wear clothes. You can't possibly be an effective teacher if your student if constantly thinking about laying with you."

Anna scratched at her thighs. "But, I don't like clothes. They make me itch."

She stood, and waved her hands slowly in front of herself. The air shimmered around her, and suddenly Anna was clothed in a loose mage's robe, colored the same deep red as her scales.

"We will have to talk about this condition," Anna said scratching at her hip.

Cara grinned. "No one is asking you to wear them all the time."

Smiling, Anna looked back and forth between John and Cara. "No, you did not."

"So, now what?" John asked. "Where does Cara begin?"

Holding out her hands to the couple, Anna waited until they had taken them before speaking.

"In the same place life itself begins," she said softly.

One of her black doorways opened behind her, and Anna slowly pulled the couple through. As the darkness faded into the bedchamber, Anna's robes vanished from her body once more. She released the couples hands, then crawled into the bed making herself comfortable.

"You are both weak," she said looking up at the grinning couple. "Come and rest with me. Tomorrow when you have your strength back, the three of us will bring life back into this tower."

John and Cara looked from each other, to the naked woman inviting them to share her bed, and back to each other. They both knew it was a half-dragon, not a woman. With a shrug, Cara started taking her clothes off. John smiled, and quickly followed suit.

The three naked bodies intertwined together in the bed. Once everyone was settled and comfortable, Anna spoke again.

"My home, is now home for you as well. There are many things for both of you to learn just about the tower itself. And many things for me to learn about you." Cara snuggled closer kissing Anna's neck. "There are magical traps and wards hiding whole sections of the tower you have not even seen yet. Tomorrow we will explore them all."

"Yes, tomorrow," John mumbled as he cupped Anna's breast.

Cara looked at John as she traced her fingers over the hand that was holding Anna's breast. "Many more tomorrows," she said hardly able to keep her eyes open.

"Sleep my dear ones," Anna cooed. "You will have as many tomorrows as you could ever want."

The two humans drifted off to sleep in the arms of a half-dragon. Once she was sure they were sleeping, Anna let the tears she had been holding back run freely down her face. She had finally found friendship again. She would never be lonely again. Yes, humans would grow old, but if they would let her, Anna knew magics that would keep them young and healthy for many years to come.

If they chose not to take that path, she would cherish and protect them for as long as they lived. Besides, they would likely have children. And those children would grow up and have children. She could have generations of companionship from this couple. Yes, she would protect them forever she though holding them closer.

Closing her eyes, Anna let dreams of the making of those children wash over her as she drifted off to sleep.