A Dragon’s Tale

Anthiel knocked on the door of Alana’s apartment.  It was a few hours after sundown, but she hoped she would still be awake.  Nobody answered so she knocked again. 

And again. 

And again.

Finally, Alana replied. ”Go away.”

”It’s Anthiel.” 

”Go away.”  She repeated, though less firmly.

Anthiel thought for a moment, then reached into her satchel and pulled out a small flute. It took her a moment to remember what Alana had said was her favorite song.  Her mother would sing an old elven lullaby to her when she wasn’t feeling well, and Anthiel thought that was a perfect fit.  She started playing, and it took only a minute for the wood elf to open the doors. 

She looked decidedly the worse for wear.

Her rich chocolate-brown hair was a tangled mess, her green dress was rumpled, and her eyes betrayed signs of crying. 

”Oh, dear girl.”  She said while folding the wood elf into a motherly hug. Alana didn’t say anything for a minute, so she just held her close. 

”I heard about Lord Delmar, it’s all over the town and...” she took a shaky breath.  ”He’s going to leave town, isn’t he?” 

”Yes.”  She held the wood elf close and gave her an extra squeeze before breaking the hug. 

”Are you sure?” the heartbroken wood elf asked.

”Lord Borden told me himself since I’m the pilot of his airship.”  Anthiel explained.  ”That’s why I came, I wanted to say goodbye.”

”You’ve been a great friend to me Anthiel.”  Alana said and gave her another hug.  ”I’ll never forget you.”

 ”And you as well.”  Anthiel replied.  ”I’ll try to send a letter when I can, but I won’t make any promises.  I’ve never captained a ship being chased by Lord Delmar before.”

”Stay safe then.”  Alana replied.  ”And please take care of Ethan and Beth.”

”You still care for them?  After all they’ve done to you?”

”They didn’t do anything, not on purpose.”

”Perhaps, but this was their wedding day; aren’t you a little upset at them?” 

”Maybe?”  Alana shrugged.  ”What’s wrong with me?  I feel more hurt over Ethan leaving the city without me than him marrying another woman.” 

Anthiel just looked at her.

”I know, I know; it doesn’t make any sense to me either.”  She leaned up against the door and sighed.  ”I mean tonight was their wedding night and through our bond I felt--” she stopped abruptly and her face went red. 

”Ah, you felt their wedding night, or at least from him.”  The high elf nodded.  ”You don’t look like you enjoyed feeling that.” 

”They’re married, why shouldn’t they?”  The wood elf shrugged again.  ”I’m not saying I’m happy about it.  But to be honest -- and I know this sounds strange -- but Ethan leaving the city without me hurts more.” 

”I actually do have an idea what you mean.”  Anthiel nodded.

”Please be nice to him.”  The brunette asked.  ”I know you feel like he was unfair to me, but I promise he wasn’t.”

 Anthiel regarded the besotted wood elf for a moment.  The wood elf was truly doing her best to keep them safe and make them happy, even though the emotional cost to her must be incredible.  Anyone capable of making a woman like Alana fall that deeply in love with him couldn’t be all bad.

Could he?

”Okay.”  Anthiel agreed to her request.  ”He doesn’t deserve you, but I’ll give him a fair shot.”

”Thank you.”  Alana replied, looking over at the house where Ethan and Beth were staying.  Anthiel followed her gaze.  There was a light on in a third-floor bedroom window. Through the window, they could see the flickering light from a fireplace and part of a large bookcase on a pink wall, but little else.  Anthiel knew it was Beth’s room, having been in there a few times to satisfy the insatiable girl’s appetite for information, in her case about airships

”What is that?”  Alana leaned forward and squinted at the building.

”What’s what?”  Anthiel asked trying to see, but her high-elven night vision wasn’t nearly as good as Alana’s wood elf eyes. 

”It looks like there’s...”  Alana trailed off.  ”Do you have a spyglass on you?”

Anthiel shook her head.  ”All my equipment is on the airship.  Why?”

”Because I think I see something moving on the wall.” Alana stared for almost a full minute before Anthiel saw it too.  A dark shadow pulled itself up onto the window ledge into Ethan and Beth’s room, silhouetting itself against the wall.  Anthiel just caught a glimpse of flame-red hair before the silhouette dropped into Ethan and Beth’s room.

”What was that?” Anthiel asked.

Alana inhaled sharply. ”Is that Beth’s room?”

”Yes, why-”

Alana swore, darted into the room, to return only a second later with her bow and a quiver full of arrow.  She nocked an arrow, aimed it for a moment, and let fly.  Anthiel heard the distant sound of glass breaking as the arrow shattered one of the windowpanes in Beth’s room.

”Come on, we have to help them.”  Alana said.  ”I only hope that was enough warning.”

Anthiel was going to ask more, but the wood elf had already taken off toward the building.  With a sigh, Anthiel began running after her.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Ethan drifted back to consciousness.  He felt mostly content, though for some reason a bit of anguish and worry was leaking over his bond with Alana.  He tried not to pay attention, but sometimes it was hard to miss.

He was lying in bed under the covers with a mane of long, golden blond hair in the bed next to him.  A sniff of the air confirmed that it was Beth’s scent.  He looked around the room trying to remember the last thing that had happened.  Beth’s dress was in a puddle on the floor and he vaguely remembered her taking it off.  But after that it was very fuzzy; he remembered some of it, just not clearly. 

His balls felt wonderfully empty, or at least...  three of them did?

Ethan pulled back the covers to discover that since that morning, he had grown a fourth testicle.  The new one felt amazing and wonderfully empty just like his original two.  Somehow, he knew that this new one was reserved for Beth, and Beth alone.

However, the one that grew after bonding with Alana remained full and slightly uncomfortable.

A quick glance under the covers revealed a white line of dried cum trickling down Beth’s thigh from her slit.  Somewhere deep inside, he felt a primal satisfaction at claiming his mate and injecting his seed into her fertile womb. 

Wait, claiming his mate? 

He frowned; where did that come from?  He looked around the room until his eyes landed on the cube of gold. 

It called to him. 

It was too far away.

The dragon slid out of bed and almost ran to the gold cube.   He touched it, and stroked it.  He couldn’t feel anyone else’s touch on it, so he relaxed.  He needed a safe place for it.  Somewhere no one could steal it from him.  They’d already deprived him of the gold in the vault; he would NOT lose this too.

Ethan shook his head. 

The gold in the vault wasn’t his, but then he opened his eyes and saw the gold cube again... 

The dragon wanted the gold in the vault.  In almost every dream for the last fortnight, he had guarded that gold from all comers.   He wanted to force that wood elf vixen to--

”What the hell?” he wondered aloud. 

The last thing he wanted to do was force Alana to do anything.  The dragon on the other hand...

The dragon wanted to make Alana experience exactly what Beth had just experienced.  He wanted to bend her over a table and pin her arms behind her back with one hand, while he held her hair with the other.  He wanted to force her legs apart and drive his cock deep into her until she screamed in pleasure.

The dragon wanted to ride her until she had cum so many times she could barely stand.  Then he wanted to bury his cock inside her up to the hilt and spray his seed into the virgin elf.  The dragon luxuriated at the idea of making her carry his brood.  He imagined both the blonde human and brunette elf naked, side by side both begging him to impregnate them.

Of course Ethan had thought about having a threesome before -- what man hasn’t -- but never with this intensity before.  He’d never even seriously considered the idea because it seemed too farfetched.  Besides, he’d always been more of a one-woman-man. 

But the dragon half of him...

The Dragon considered it very possible; even inevitable.  He wanted to impregnate both of them at the same time, within seconds of each other.  The dragon imagined spending half his seed inside one naked woman and moments later spending the rest inside the other.  Then they would both turn around to thank him for his favor...

Ethan shook his head again. Something just wasn’t right.  These dragon desires seemed to have suddenly surged in strength.  He felt more and more like surrendering to his instincts as he stroked the gold cube in his hand. 

He quietly crept back to the bed trying to make sense of the conflicting desires that suddenly plagued his mind.  He wanted to keep Alana and Beth safe, he knew that.  But he also wanted gold, and he wasn’t sure he could trust them with his gold.  They might steal it from him, and he couldn’t allow that.  He would kill anyone or anything that tried to...

Ethan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

This wasn’t him. 

As he slid back under the covers, he set the gold cube down right next to him.  It was between him and Beth, but he wasn’t sure he liked that.  After a few minutes, he turned so his back was to Beth and he cradled the gold cube in his arms.  It would be safe there.  He had to protect it; to keep it safe.

Ethan let his eyes close and his mind drifted back to Alana.  The two times they had fallen asleep together -- first in that dugout, the second in her storage pit -- Alana had snuggled up to him in his sleep.  Beth didn’t, although with the cube of gold in his arms he wasn’t sure he wanted her to.  The closer Beth was, the more likely she would steal...

”What the hell?” Ethan said out loud.  He wasn’t going to let--

Crash!

Ethan heard the sound of glass breaking, as if something had just been thrown through the window.  He whipped up and around on the bed to see Rachel standing with a fireball -- pulled from the fireplace -- in her hand.  There were shards of glass and a single arrow lying on the floor.

She launched the fireball at Ethan, who dropped flat to avoid it.  The fireball sailed just over his head, and hit the wall behind him.  The wood paneling on the wall almost exploded, showering Ethan with splinters that thankfully bounced right off of his scales.

Beth wasn’t so lucky. 

She screamed in pain as she woke to a few splinters embedding themselves in her exposed back.  Thankfully, none looked too large or too deep.  Beth jumped up, realized she wasn’t wearing anything, and then dove behind the bed to hide from Rachel.  There was a large charred mark on the wall, but it didn’t appear that anything had caught fire so he grabbed the gold cube and set it behind the bed.

”Touch that and you’re dead.”  The dragon said to Beth, who recoiled from the cube even as she whimpered in pain. 

Ethan turned to face the angry mage.  She had drawn a short sword and held a small fireball in her other hand. 

Ethan took stock. 

He didn’t have any weapons, armor, or even anything he could throw.  The flame-haired girl was packing a fireball and a sword.  He did the math and didn’t like the answer.  The spear and warhammer Alana had made for him were stacked against the opposite wall not far from his attacker.  And he hadn’t done what the directions said yet, so he couldn’t call them to his hand. 

Rachel drew the fireball back to throw it and Ethan had an idea.

He grabbed the side of the bed and with a titanic effort, jerked it up.  It was surprisingly light -- or maybe he had a lot of adrenaline -- and he was able to flip it up on its side.  He breathed a sigh of relief, then the fireball hit it.  The center of the mattress virtually exploded, blowing bits of the straw bedding all over.  Fortunately, the straw burned out before it could ignite anything else.

That’s when Ethan saw the first thing he could use as a weapon: the planks of wood that supported the mattress.  They were the size of 2x2 lumber and six feet long.  He grabbed one, just before the rest of them fell into a heap along with the mattress. 

He held it up like a spear, and got ready to face the flame-haired girl. 

The mage brandished her sword and rushed in to attack.   Ethan thrust the end of the strut forward and managed to hit her in the shoulder, knocking her back.  Ethan pressed the attack, but the board was so unwieldy that he rarely made a hit.  Even when he did, it was blunt and the glancing blows he did land just made her mad. 

Fortunately, she was too distracted to conjure a fireball while avoiding the plank.  Ethan was pleasantly surprised to find that he was doing reasonably well, even with a piece of wood.  If he had a spear, she would’ve been dead long ago.  He was also happy to see she didn’t consider attacking the plank itself.  She could have probably hacked it in half with her short sword in a few strokes.

For a couple of moments, they pressed their tense duel.  However, she couldn’t get close enough to use her sword, and he couldn’t get a good enough hit to take her out.  Ethan was glad she wasn’t a particularly good duelist.  If he was fighting any of the men Heinrich trained, he would’ve been dead long ago. 

After a short while, Rachel started glancing toward the window and door.  They had fought to a stalemate and she knew it.  The longer he delayed her, the greater the likelihood of her discovery and capture.

”Give up.”  Ethan demanded, hearing the sound of quick footsteps outside the door.

”I...” Rachel started, then the ring on her finger glowed faintly and her face twisted into a mask of rage.  ”I’d rather die than surrender to a filthy dragon.”

”I’ll give you a--” Ethan started to say, but the door burst open before he could finish and she was taken by surprise.  He heard the sound of a bow being drawn, and then an arrow flew.  It was aimed directly at her heart and she twisted to avoid it, but wasn’t entirely successful. 

The arrow pierced the redhead’s cloak and stuck into the wood-paneled wall behind her, pinning her there.  Ethan leapt forward, knocked the sword out of her hand, and then followed through with a blow to her face. 

There was a moment -- just before his fist landed -- when the flame-haired girl’s expression changed.  Her eyes took on a look of complete fear and desperation.  She looked like a trapped and helpless puppy.  He pulled his punch, but couldn’t completely stop it. 

Ethan’s fist collided with the girl’s face, which caused her head to hit the wall with a dull thud.  She collapsed, her cloak ripping around the arrowhead.  He bent down to check her pulse.  She was still breathing, but was clearly unconscious.  He stood up to look at his savior.

It was Alana with Anthiel just behind her.  The wood elf looked a complete mess, but she had never seemed so beautiful to Ethan.   Her hair looked as if she’d stuck her head out the window of a moving car, while her eyes were slightly puffy and her dress rumpled.  

But she looked amazing to him. 

”Hi.”  Alana said, rather awkwardly.

”Thank you.”  Ethan said. 

”You’re welcome.”  She replied, but didn’t move. 

He wasn’t sure what to say or do, but was saved from decided by a whimper from beside the bed.  Ethan turned his head and saw Beth lying on the floor in pain.  She had covered herself in a sheet and a number of large wooden splinters were sticking out of her upper shoulders and back.  Next to her, Ethan saw the cube of gold.

The dragon darted over to make sure the cube was okay.  It seemed unhurt, but he had to be sure.  He turned it over and around until he was sure it was okay.

”I’m right here.”  Beth moaned. 

”Right.”  Ethan replied.  He set down the gold, wrapped his tail around it, and then turned to face Beth. 

”I’ll pull them out, but it’ll hurt.”  Ethan said.  She nodded, so he extracted the splinters out one by one.  She winced or cried out in pain, but let him finish.  When he was done, her back was bleeding in a few places but nothing serious.  Beth slipped behind her dresser screen and pulled a nightgown on, though parts of its back spotted red instantly.

”Alana, did you know...” Ethan started to say as he turned back to the door, but Alana was gone.  Anthiel stood there with a quizzical look on her face.

”Where are the guards?” Anthiel asked. 

”Good point.”  Ethan replied.  ”With all the commotion, you’d think they would’ve heard.”

”Perhaps we should ask her.”  Anthiel indicated the unconscious girl.  Ethan nodded, took one of Beth’s silk scarves, walked over to the prone woman, and tied her hands behind her back.  Once he was sure she was secured, he grabbed a water jug which, despite everything, somehow still contained water, and splashed some on her face.

She spluttered and coughed as she woke up. 

”What did you do to the guards?”  Anthiel asked.

”I will never tell you.”  The captive retorted, and then called Anthiel a series of names and racial slurs that might have made a sailor blush. 

Ethan sighed. ”Well, at least this will be a stimulating intellectual conversation.” 

”And you.” Rachel turned toward Ethan.  ”You are dead.   Do you hear me? Dead.  You and that little elven bitch!”

”What elf?” he asked, managing to keep his voice calm.

”The little brunette tramp in the green dress.  Lord Delmar himself commissioned me to wipe you and that elf you fornicated with off the face of the earth and--” 

”You slept with Alana!”  Beth shouted from across the room.

”No I didn’t-”  Ethan started to say, but was interrupted by Beth running across the room and pummeling him with her fists.  Her punches were little more than flailing and she weighed so little they barely hurt.  Ethan finally had to catch her arms and pin her down to get a word in.

”No.  I did not sleep with Alana!” Ethan said emphatically. 

Beth looked suspiciously at Ethan for several seconds before her expression softened.  ”Okay, I believe you.”

Ethan turned to face the flame-haired girl, only to have her spit in his face.

”You’re disgusting.”  She spat.  ”The both of you.  When Lord Delmar finds out he will torture you for days until the sound of your screams echo...  Echo across...  across...”

She trailed off and shook her head as if trying to clear it.  Ethan noticed the ring on her finger had begun to glow faintly the moment she trailed off speaking.  Her eyes suddenly made her look like a trapped, scared little girl.

”Hel...  Help m...”  Rachel managed to choke out, then her face returned to a mask of rage.  ”I hope I get to kill you myself.  I’ll make it last for days and you’ll beg me to die.” 

”Well, she’s a pleasant lass.”  Anthiel mused wryly. 

”She’ll be a lot more pleasant after a trip to my father’s dungeon.”  Beth said and aimed a kick at her.  Ethan blocked her leg.

”Did you notice she always gets very unpleasant after her ring glows?”  Ethan asked. 

He couldn’t get those ’scared little girl eyes’ out of his mind.   He could’ve sworn he saw a look of relief on the flame-haired girl’s face for a brief instant before the rage returned. 

”Rachel, right?”  Beth asked the flame-haired girl. 

Rachel nodded, but glowered the whole time. 

Beth leaned down to look closer, and the flame-haired girl lashed out with her feet, missing Beth’s face by less than an inch.  Ethan responded by using another of Beth’s scarves and tying her feet up too.  Rachel had kept up a steady stream of insults, so Ethan took another piece of cloth and gagged her for good measure.

”Thank you.”  Anthiel said. 

Once she was secure, Beth bent down to examine Rachel’s ring.

”I think I’ve read about these.”  Beth said.  ”They call them ’will-breaker rings’.  They bond to a victim’s deep mana and use the connection to subvert their will.  It makes them into complacent puppets, but I heard it takes the bond a long time to form.  Months, or even years, depending on the person.”

Ethan whistled.  ”That’s a thing?”

”Dark magic can do terrible things.”  Anthiel replied. 

”So, she should be okay if we take off the ring?”  Ethan asked. 

”It depends on how long she’s been wearing the ring.”  Beth replied.  ”If the bond has been fully formed, removing the ring will kill her outright.  But if it’s only partially formed, she might survive it.”

”How would we know?”  Ethan asked. 

”I have no idea.”  Beth replied.  ”I’ve only read about them.  The book just talked about what they did, it didn’t go into details about treatment.” 

Ethan looked at Rachel. 

Her face was a mask of rage, but he couldn’t get the ’helpless girl’ look that she had worn only moments ago out of his mind.  He thought about having a ring that controlled you and shivered; it was too awful to consider.  If she was suffering like that, then maybe she didn’t want them dead but rather someone else did.

”She’s coming with us.”  Ethan said after thinking about it for several seconds.

”What?”  Anthiel and Beth said at the same time.

”Are you nuts?”  Beth said.  ”She just tried to kill us.” 

”If what you said about the ring is true, she’s as much a victim here as we are.”  Ethan countered.  ”If that ring is making her do things against her will then we have to help her.”

”We most certainly do not, we--” Beth started to say, then she trailed off and cocked her head to one side.  ”Well, she did save me from being raped by Wulvren’s men, and she was quite kind to my brother and me...  Hmm...  I’m still not crazy about sharing an airship with someone who wants to kill us.” 

”I could be completely wrong and she’s just trying to trick us.  But if she’s being forced to do things against her will, then we have to help.” 

Beth bit her lip and looked at the furious woman who was doing her very best to get out of her bonds, while releasing a steady stream of insults that were occasionally discernable even through the gag.

”I mean, I suppose we could...” she frowned.  ”I don’t like the idea of risking my life for someone who just tried to kill us, but on the other hand...” she looked at Rachel’s ring.  ”Maybe one of father’s men could help her?”

”Maybe, but do you want to put him in that position?”  Ethan countered.  ”Isn’t she Lord Delmar’s daughter?  What happens if he finds out your father is holding her prisoner?” 

”That would be bad.”  Beth said in the understatement of the century.  She turned to Anthiel.  ”What do you think?”

”It doesn’t matter.”  Anthiel replied.  ”Lord Borden said Ethan was the captain, not you or I.   I follow his orders; so if he says Rachel comes, she comes.  If he says she stays, she stays.” 

”Lord Borden made me the captain?” 

”Aye.”  Anthiel said.  ”And the airship should be ready to leave within the hour, so you should probably get your belongings aboard.” 

”Fortunately, I don’t have much.”  Ethan said.  He only cared about the weapons Alana had given him and the cube of gold; especially the cube of gold.  Then there was Rachel...

 ”Okay.”  He turned to Beth.  ”She’s coming. Maybe we can help her, maybe we can’t.  We’ll worry about that once we’re in the air.”

Beth nodded.

”There’s one more thing.”  Ethan said as he glanced at Alana’s arrow. 

”I agree.”  Anthiel nodded.

”What?”  Beth asked.  Ethan and Anthiel looked at each other, each hoping the other would explain.

”We have to take Alana with us too.”  He finally said.

Beth looked like someone had slapped her face.  ”You want to take your former lover with us?”

Ethan sighed.  ”We weren’t lovers.”

”I’ve talked with Alana a lot, and trust me they weren’t.”  Anthiel said.  ”Plus, you heard Rachel.  Lord Delmar ordered Alana’s execution.  If she stays in the city, she’ll die in a mysterious ’accident’ before the week is out.  That’s how Lord Delmar does these things.”

”You’re sure?”  Beth asked.

”Positive.”  Anthiel replied.

”Okay, we can’t let that happen to her.”  Beth nodded and turned to Ethan.  ”But she had better stay away from you.”

Anthiel laughed.  ”Clearly you’ve never been in a ship that size while traveling.”  She then turned to Ethan. ”One last question; should you tell Alana, or should I?”