Chapter 15: Falling in love &

I self-edit and admit editing isn’t my greatest skill. I apologize in advance for anything I missed.

Kendra woke from her impromptu nap in her tiny airship feeling groggy. Her entire body ached and was sore like she’d done a full body workout. She stayed under the blanket, not wanting to face the real world just yet.

It didn’t make sense.

That blasted dragon didn’t make a lick of sense.

The fact that she hadn’t killed him didn’t make any sense either. She’d had him dead to rights; close enough that she wouldn’t miss and he couldn’t have dodged, but far enough that he couldn’t have charged her before she’d loosed the arrow.

She had him.

Why had she let him go?

Why?

Eventually she stopped letting her brain run in circles, pulled the blanket off and sat up. It was mid-morning and the sun was shining down. Its rays were casting intricate patterns on the ground below through the clouds and leaves. The river beneath her airship filled the air with the relaxing sound of running water. The birds were singing and small animals were sneaking up to the river to take a drink of water.

It was a little slice of paradise.

It was the kind of view that she wanted to have outside the window of her house one day. You know, when she actually owned a house. It was peaceful, serene, and stood in stark contrast to the uncertainty in her soul. She sat there just listening and watching for several minutes, hoping her dark mood would lift. It did, but not fully. It was hard to remain depressed amid such natural beauty and serenity.

She breathed deeply and exhaled slowly.

She needed to figure this out, and she couldn’t do it alone. That only left one option: she needed to return to Arcanum and talk this over with Falkaan. He was the only one who might possibly have some insight. Arcanum can’t far and besides, she needed to talk this out with someone, and she literally didn’t know anyone else.

Well, there was Luminar Kossel. But there was no way she would even consider telling him about it.

The decision made, Kendra hauled up the anchor and made ready to set sail. She was determined to get to the bottom of this. She needed to know why she had failed. More importantly, she needed to figure out what kind of hold this dragon had on her because she didn’t like it.

Not one bit.

Rachel leaned over the side of the Argo for the dozenth time that morning. Ethan and Alana were still down below and appeared to be talking, but she was too far away to hear what they said. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but they had been down there for a long time; long after Alana appeared to be fully recovered.

Finally, they started climbing the rope ladder.

When they reached the top, Alana went directly to her and quietly said. “Can you join Ethan and I in the captain’s cabin?”

“Sure, why?”

“You’ll see.” The wood elf whispered with a smile.

Her curiosity piqued, Rachel followed the chocolate-haired elf while Ethan told Anthiel to set a course for Taloni’s mine.

“Okay, what’s going on?” The redhead asked curiously when they were all in the room and the door was shut.

“Beth’s alive.” Ethan said with the biggest smile she had seen in a long time. “Okay, not technically alive, but she’s walking around.”

The redhead grimaced. “A zombie? Or a revenant? How did you run afoul of a necromancer? They are probably the most dangerous people in the Ten Kingdoms.”

“Not like that.” Alana said shaking her head, and curiously she had a rather wide smile on her face too.

“She’s walking around on the Astral Plane.” Ethan explained. “And further, she can touch things in this world.”

“Nope, that’s not how it works.” Rachel shook her head. “All of the great mages say you can’t affect the normal world while on the Astral Plane.”

“Beth, would you give our Doubting Thomas a poke?” Ethan said to no one in particular.

“Who’s Doubting Thom-- hey!” Rachel jumped back as something poked her in the shoulder.

Ethan and Alana had identical grins plastered on their faces.

“Beth?” Rachel said aloud.

Something gently tapped her shoulder twice.

“We’ve been taps to communicate; two taps for yes, one tap for no.” Ethan explained.

“So, you’re saying Beth is in the room and on the Astral Plane?” Rachel asked.

Tap, tap.

“Pretty much.” Ethan replied.

“That’s ... that’s just incredible.” She breathed. She had heard of people traveling the Astral Plane before, but doing so after death? And being able to touch things in the normal world while in the Astral Plane? That was completely new.

“How?” The red-headed teen asked.

Ethan shrugged. “We can only get so far with yes-or-no questions. Even getting her name and that she was on the Astral Plane took some time.”

“So that’s what you were doing under the Argo for so long.” Rachel nodded. “Well, it’s good to see you Beth, though can’t actually see you.” She said wryly.

Tap, tap. Which Rachel took to mean “you too.”

The redhead looked around the rather small group of people in the captain’s cabin. “Why didn’t you want to tell the others?”

“Two reasons.” Alana said.

Ethan nodded. “First, I don’t know how Kendra keeps finding out where we are, so I didn’t want to say it in the open.”

“Makes sense.” Rachel nodded. “What’s the second reason?”

Alana grinned. “I thought Raklan could be taken down a peg or two. Beth agreed.”

Tap, tap.

Rachel started chuckling. “That’s going to be priceless.”

Ethan’s eyes twinkled. “Just wait, it’s getting near lunchtime and he always eats early.”

After taking a moment to imagine that — which brought a huge smile to her face — Rachel took a moment to process the scene before her.

She rather vividly recalled the tension between Alana and Beth before the blonde’s death ... Or maybe she should say half-death? Partial death? Anyway, she also vividly recalled how unhappy the wood elf had been when Beth was around, mostly because the blonde had been keeping her from Ethan.

However, Alana didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable right now. In fact, she looked radiantly happy.

Rachel didn’t understand.

Alana and Beth had been cordial before — the elf more than the human — but there was unavoidable tension because they were both in love with the same man. For some reason, that tension seemed to have completely disappeared. In its place was a positively glowing wood elf who didn’t seem bothered by the idea of having a romantic rival — or former romantic rival — walking around the ship being able to see and hear everything.

Why?

Why wasn’t she bothered?

And of course, there was another romantic rival about to enter the picture in the young Fey girl, Taloni. She could see that situation becoming a nightmare with three women all vying for the affections of a single man. She’d never seen such a thing end well before.

Ever.

She frowned. “So, have you talked to Beth about our young Fey friend?”

“Not yet.” Ethan shook his head. “Probably should have mentioned it sooner though.”

“Beth.” Alana said with a smile. “Are you okay with sharing Ethan with a young Fey who’s fallen head-over-heals in love with him?”

Moments, later, Alana’s smile got even wider. “Yeah, I didn’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“Wait, you’re okay with that Beth?” Rachel asked.

Tap, tap.

“Two taps means yes ... right?” The flame-haired teen asked.

“Yup.” Ethan said, and he seemed to have noticed it was strange also. “This can’t be a coincidence. Both of you were very upset at the idea of ‘sharing me’ just a few weeks ago. What changed?”

“I don’t know.” Alana shrugged. “Would you rather we were fighting like golems and trolls?”

“No, I just think it’s...”

“ ... strange?” Rachel suggested. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence either.”

“Oh?” Ethan and Alana said at the exact same time, then simultaneously glanced at each other and got identical dopey grins.

Rachel couldn’t help but smile; their synchronicity was incredible sometimes. She turned to Ethan. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a side effect of you bonding with multiple women. You seem to have somehow made them all okay with sharing you.” She tried to keep any note of accusation out of her voice, but wasn’t entirely successful.

“Yeah, that would make sense.” Alana nodded, leaning her head on Ethan’s shoulder and saying with a chuckle. “I suppose it’s a good thing, otherwise we might kill each other.”

Rachel didn’t react outwardly, but her friend’s casual acceptance of such a deep change was unsettling to her. She was glad Alana wasn’t upset anymore, but she wasn’t sure that this was better. She didn’t like the possibility that Ethan had changed her best friend, even though she was sure he’d done it unconsciously. To his credit, it seemed to bother him too, judging by the expression on his face.

“And this change doesn’t bother you?” Ethan asked the wood elf.

She picked her head up off his shoulder and looked at him shrugging. “Should it?”

“It would bother me if I thought I was being changed without my knowledge or consent.” He replied.

She nodded. “I suppose it should bother me too, but it doesn’t. Not in the slightest.”

“Beth, does it bother you?” He asked, paused a moment, then looked at the two visible women with a slight frown. “Apparently not.”

Rachel pursed her lips.

Something wasn’t right about this. She’d heard that men with multiple wives could encounter problems with them getting along, and this seemed like a built-in solution. However, that didn’t make it a good solution. It raised all kinds of red flags for her. If she didn’t know Ethan the way she did, she would’ve been very worried for his wives.

“Wow; you’ll have three wives by the day’s end.” Alana mused.

“Scary thought.” He agreed.

Alana gave him a seductive look. Moments later he got a look of pure shock on his face. His head whipped around to look at the wood elf so fast that Rachel was surprised he didn’t strain something.

“What happened to the innocent wood elf I married?” He wondered aloud.

“What did she--” Rachel began, but then stopped and shook her head. “--No, never mind; I don’t want to know.”

Alana looked at Rachel and opened her mouth, but then turned beet red and closed it again.

“Speak your mind Rachel.” Ethan said. “I can tell there’s something brewing in that brilliant brain of yours, and you’re usually pretty dead on.”

Rachel considered. She knew what she wanted to say, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to say it with Beth and Alana in the room. Not knowing what to say, she remained silent.

Alana stared at her for a moment and then cocked her head to one side. “Would it be easier if Beth and I left?”

The redhead nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

Alana stood up. “Come on Beth; let’s go have some fun with Raklan.” The wood elf kissed Ethan on the cheek then turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“You know,” Rachel said after the door had closed behind her best friend. “She’s absolutely crazy about you.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure why, but yeah; she is.” He agreed with a huge smile before getting more serious. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m worried about them.” She indicated the two women who had just left. “I know you’d die before letting any harm come to Alana, and I think the same is true of Taloni and Beth. But that only applies to intentional harm.”

“You think I’m harming them unintentionally?”

“I don’t know.” Rachel ran her hands through her hair. “It’s possible though. I think we can agree that they’ve changed. They used to compete for you and now it seems like they almost enjoy sharing you. You can’t deny they’ve changed.”

“They have.” He nodded. “I definitely didn’t do it on purpose, but I do think that I — or maybe my dragon side — is what changed them.”

“Agreed.” She nodded. “I suppose this change isn’t too terrible because it’s likely to make all of you a lot less stressed. I don’t like it, but that’s not what concerns me.”

“What does?”

“You’ve changed them once without your knowledge.” Rachel said with a somber expression. “So here’s the question: What if more changes are coming without your knowledge?”

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I don’t know.”

“Me either; and that’s what scares me.”

He sighed heavily. “This dragon thing is a major pain in the ass.”

“Then maybe you just need a tail-ectomy.” Rachel said with a wink, trying to lighten the mood.

He blinked at her, then chuckled and looked at her like he was seeing something new for the first time. “You’re funny. You’ve been on the ship for weeks and I only just realized that.”

She glanced at the door through which his wives had just exited. “You’ve been busy.”

“Well thank you.” He said. “I always appreciate your counsel. You’re wise beyond your years, you know that?”

“Thank you.” She smiled. For some reason, she always felt better after he complimented her, even more than other people. She wasn’t sure why, but she definitely did.

“I need to think about this for a bit.” He finally said. “Do you mind giving me the room?”

“Not at all.” She turned toward the door, then felt compelled to add: “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I won’t. You’re a good friend Rachel.”

“Likewise.” She replied, only realizing it was true after the words had escaped her lips.

She left before he could reply...

Then stopped short.

She nearly burst out laughing at the sight before her.

Raklan appeared to be trying to eat something out of a bowl with a spoon. But every time he tried to take a bite, the spoon was pushed slightly off course, spilling the contents. He was now holding the bowl directly under his mouth, but the dribble of food down his front told of several failed attempts before he had taken that precaution.

Alana was leaning up against the railing and clutching her stomach in silent laughter. Her face was red from laughing and there were tears coming out of her merry eyes.

Finally Raklan gave up and flung the whole bowl and spoon over the side of the ship, muttering: “I wasn’t that hungry anyway.”

Rachel caught the wood elf’s eye

They both nearly doubled over in silent laughter.

Taloni had no words for what she was currently feeling. There was a nervous, restless feeling in her that she just couldn’t shake. She had gone for a run, done all her meditation exercises, prayed, and even tried ... She could barely bring herself to think about it; she’d... ‘touching’ herself to get rid of the feeling.

It wouldn’t leave.

It was like something inside of her had awoken when she bonded with Ethan. She suspected it was a side effect of her Fey heritage, but there were no adult Fey around to ask. She just felt so ... so...

She groaned in frustration.

She felt like her body was going to explode if she didn’t do something about this feeling. She needed some kind of release; some way to let the pent up pressure escape. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a way. The feeling seemed concentrated around her hips and chest, and nothing seemed to alleviate it.

Nothing.

Her dreams were filled with visions of her naked on a bed with Ethan. She couldn’t quite tell what they were doing, but she knew it’s what she desperately wanted. Sometimes, Alana — and occasionally Rachel — were there helping her and guiding her so she could pleasure Ethan better. Sometimes, one of the women was even more ... involved.

She turned beet red at the memory of what she’d dreamed of last night and how the wood elf had touched her. At the same time, it made the area between her legs incredibly wet. She couldn’t believe that such a thing had occurred to her. But her mind occasionally drifted back to the dream in which--

“Tee!” Prayla said.

Taloni jumped, not realizing her friend was talking to her.

“I swear girl, where has your mind been?”

“Somewhere.” She replied evasively, looking around the shack in which she lived to see her best friend had just entered through the rickety door.

Prayla raised her eyebrow. “It’s been four days, and he said he was just going to Arcanum to buy something. If he was going to come back, he would’ve already.”

The Fey shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t leave me.”

She remembered that one brief glimpse of him she’d gotten when they had bonded. It was like seeing a town from the sky, except it was his personality and soul that was laid out before her. She couldn’t remember anything specific, but she got a very strong sense of who he was.

He wouldn’t leave her.

She knew that.

She knew it with a certainty she couldn’t explain; she knew it in her heart and in her bones.

“Come on Tee, I know you’ve been dreaming of escaping this mine for your entire life, but you can’t keep your head in the clouds. I wish he was coming back for you too, but it’s time to face the facts.”

Prayla sat down next to Taloni and looked her in the eyes. “He’s gone Tee. You need to make peace with that.”

“I don’t think--” Taloni started to say, but was interrupted by the alarm bell.

“Airship Ho!” A sentry cried. “Airship ho! South by southeast!”

“It’s him.” Taloni said with a huge smile, then jumped off her bed and ran out the door.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun was high in the sky and shining, as it was nearing noon. The sky itself was a nearly cloudless blue, though not too hot and a slight breeze blew through the mining camp. On the horizon, she could see the Argo slowly approaching and her heart soared.

The Fey heard Prayla follow her out and turned to give her a wide smirk. “I told you he’d never leave me.”

Prayla looked dumbstruck.

The look of disbelief didn’t leave her friend’s face as the Argo approached, nor when its ladder was rolled down, nor when Ethan — with his disguise gem activated — climbed down, followed by Alana and Rachel.

Taloni threw her arms around Prayla and gave her a huge hug. “I’m going to miss you. You’ve been a wonderful friend and I’ll never forget you. I might even come back and visit if I can.”

Prayla hugged her back. On instinct at first, then more tightly as she seemed to come back to herself. She hugged the Fey girl so tightly she thought she might suffocate.

The human girl sniffled. “I’m going to miss you to Tee. You better visit, or I’ll sic the dragon hunters on you to bring you back.”

Taloni chuckled.

Prayla cried.

They held each other for almost a minute before letting go. When they did, the two young women had tears of both sadness and joy.

“You can get out of this hellhole Tee.” Prayla said as she wiped her eyes. “Go, leave, and promise me you’ll make a wonderful life for yourself out there.”

“I will.” The Fey nodded.

“Good, now go see that fiancée of yours.”

Taloni nodded and ran toward him. She wasn’t really thinking, and only slowed when she realized that Thaltien had already come out to meet him. She stopped just short of them and resisted the urge to throw her arms around Ethan’s neck and kiss him.

They were standing at the edge of town. Thaltien had several armed guards nearby, obviously still not trusting the dragon near his mine. However, the guards looked relaxed, so perhaps they didn’t know that Ethan was a dragon? Come to think of it, she and Prayla hadn’t told anyone, nor had she heard rumors around the camp. Perhaps Thaltien hadn’t told anyone either?

“So, the dragon is dead?” Thaltien asked.

“No, but he’s gone.” Ethan replied. “Your mine is safe.”

“That wasn’t the deal.” Thaltien said gruffly. “You were supposed to kill the dragon in exchange for me freeing Taloni. Driving it away just means it’ll return later.”

“If I may?” Rachel interjected. “We drove the dragon away, meaning his hoard is unprotected. We didn’t take any of it because we had injured that needed tending. I don’t know how large Havorleth’s hoard was, but I’ll bet it’s large enough to buy Taloni’s freedom ten times over.”

Thaltien harrumphed. “I suppose that’s true ... if the dragon is really gone.”

“Feel free to double check.” Ethan said. “His lair isn’t that far from here.”

Thaltien called several of his most trusted scouts forward, got directions, and dispatched them at speed on horses to verify Ethan’s story.

“Until they return, Taloni is not to leave the camp.” Thaltien said, then abruptly turned and walked away. Ethan watched him go, the scales on his shoulders seemed to have risen threateningly...

Then he saw her.

He seemed to relax and a wide smile crossed his face.

“Hi.” The diminutive Fey said sheepishly.

“Hi.” He replied, his disguise gem not hiding his true form from her eyes.

She felt a small burst of happiness come over their fledgling bond. It made her heart melt and her loins shiver. She couldn’t wait until tonight. Once those riders had returned and Thaltien had freed her, she planned to ... to ... Every part of her body screamed to do something, but she was only vaguely aware of what that thing was. Or rather, she was having trouble admitting to herself what she wanted to do.

Alana caught her eye and winked. Somehow, she got the impression that the wood elf knew exactly what she was feeling.

“Um, hi?” She said again, not knowing what else to say.

“You already said that.” Ethan chuckled, but she didn’t get the sense he was laughing at her. “How have you been?”

“Um, I’ve been good. I think.” She was suddenly very self-conscious.

She was keenly aware that she hadn’t fixed her hair or her dress. She hadn’t done anything to fix herself up to be more attractive. She glanced at Alana, who looked radiate and radiantly happy. She was so beautiful and Taloni didn’t know how she could compare.

“Um, how are you?” She finally said as she tried to surreptitiously smooth out her dress. She also ran a hand through her hair nervously, hoping to smooth it out.

Apparently, Alana saw right through her because she put a hand on his shoulder as he was about to reply. “Ethan, its Taloni’s wedding day. Would it be okay if I go help Taloni prepare, and you can wait here?”

“Uh...?” He looked at her confused. Alana tilted her head slightly, there was a brief pause, and then he nodded like he’d heard something and turned back to the Fey girl. “Sure, I’ll see you later.”

Alana nearly skipped forward, hooking Taloni’s arm in her own and leading her away. Once they were out of earshot, she whispered into Taloni’s ear. “Don’t be nervous; it’ll all be okay.”

“Are you sure?” The Fey bit her lip and honestly felt a little inadequate next to the gorgeous wood elf. She just seemed to glow with inner happiness which made her look at least twice as beautiful as the Fey teen remembered.

She just wasn’t sure she could compare in Ethan’s eyes.

“I’m absolutely sure.” The wood elf beamed, then stopped and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

Taloni looked into Alana’s beautiful hazel eyes, down at the ground, then back up. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Oh dear girl.” The shorter wood elf rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Do you know what Ethan went through so he could free you?”

The Fey shook her head.

“Well then, let me tell you. I promise your doubts will disappear when you hear what he went through to save you.”

Hailey leaned her willowy frame over the edge of the Argo’s railing, looking down on Alana leading a nervous Taloni away from a slightly confused Ethan. The sight did her heart good. When she thought about everything they had gone through — about everything she had put them through — she thought they deserved nothing more than a happy ending.

Her though...

She still had nightmares about killing the champion. She still had a hard time imagining Jason smiling at her. She didn’t know what she would do if she wasn’t able to go home, or even if she was able to. Either way, she didn’t know how she would live with herself.

“As Ethan would say, penny for your thoughts?” Anthiel’s melodious voice came from behind her. The high elf was drop dead gorgeous as ever. Today, she was dressed in a flowery dress with leather breeches. The contrast was odd, though somehow it worked

“I’m just thinking.” Hailey deflected.

Anthiel wasn’t fooled. “I know, that’s why I asked.”

Hailey hung her head, letting her long straight hair partially conceal her face. “I killed him, the champion I mean. He absolutely deserved to die, but I can’t forgive myself for killing him. He was horrible; the scum of the earth and yet I can’t...”

She turn to the elf. “Why?”

Anthiel nodded. “We’ve been rather busy of late, but I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

“You have?”

“I have.” The high elf nodded. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, why did you kill him?” For some reason, Hailey got the impression that Anthiel wasn’t asking because she didn’t know, but rather because she had something to say on the topic.

“Because I wasn’t smart enough to avoid digging two graves.” Hailey replied, thinking about the popular saying.

“Oh?” The high elf looked skeptical. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure; I was there wasn’t I?”

Anthiel looked out into the cloudless blue sky. “I wasn’t there, so could you describe what happened after Ethan arrived?”

Hailey did so, the event not feeling so traumatic now. The old man in the prison had been right; talking about it had helped. Anthiel listened almost without comment until she finished.

“So, you had left the room and your anger was gone. You returned to the room when he shouted for the guards. Is that right?”

Hailey nodded.

“And you threw the knife right after ... What?”

“After he threatened to hurt Vienne.”

“So did you kill him for yourself — for revenge — or did you do it for your friend?”

“I ... I don’t know.” Hailey suddenly wasn’t sure and turned to look at Anthiel.

The elder woman had a knowing look on her face. “That’s what I thought. Hailey, you know from personal experience that killing another person is a terrible weight on the soul. But the reason matters. Take Alana for example. I think we can agree that she’s one of the sweetest, most tenderhearted women in this world. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Even before she bonded to Ethan, she killed a couple men and yet it has never bothered her. And while I cannot be perfectly certain, I think you can guess why.”

“It was self-defense?” Hailey suggested.

“That’s probably part of it, but I doubt it’s the whole reason why it doesn’t bother her.”

“Oh.” Hailey said as she realized what Anthiel was getting at. “You mean it’s because she did it in defense of others.”

Anthiel nodded. “So I repeat my earlier question: why did you kill him?”

Hailey closed her eyes and thought back. She had left the room and only returned when he had shouted for the guards. She’d been standing there when he had started to threaten Vienne. She had just reacted on instinct. She remembered thinking that she couldn’t let anything happen to Vienne and that as long as he was alive, she — and Hailey herself — would be in danger.

“Huh.” Hailey cocked her head to one side. “Maybe it wasn’t about revenge. Maybe I just assumed it was because that’s all I’ve thought about.”

“That’s my point.” Anthiel smiled. “It didn’t take long to see you’re wracked with guilt, but I don’t think you need to be. You may have gone there to kill him for revenge, but that’s not why you ended up killing him. You killed him in self-defense and to save the life of another; who could fault you for that?”

“You have a point.” Hailey replied.

“I know.” Anthiel said with a wink.

Having made good time with ideal wind, it was only late afternoon when Kendra landed her tiny airship in the Arcanum docks. She couldn’t help but contrast it with the last time she had docked less than a week ago. The last time, she had enjoyed returning to civilization. The stench of the dock, the bustle of the crowds, and the excitement of hunting a dragon had made her nearly elated.

Now...

Now she didn’t know what to think.

She paid the dock fee, ignoring the hopeful eye of the dock master who was obviously hoping for another gold coin. She walked nearly on autopilot to Falkaan’s ship; The Midnight Sun. She boarded without preamble or announcing herself.

“Hey captain, she’s back.” A grizzled man yelled from the quarterdeck. She assumed it was Damon, his pilot.

“Kendra.” Falkaan’s voice came from the hold and she heard someone ascending the steps. “I trust your hunt was successful and you’re returning with--” He stopped when he saw her. He stared at her appraisingly for a moment, then beckoned her below decks.

She followed almost mechanically, her legs carrying her forward without conscious effort on her part. He led her to a small table below decks and poured her a small glass of mead.