A Dragon’s Tale

Ethan shook his head. When did life get so complicated? Still, he knew Alana would be fine and he would try to honor her wishes.

"We should go." He stood up and Beth followed suit.

They headed for the door but he stopped for a moment to glance back at the wood elf. Despite her pale skin and shallow breath, she looked serene and peaceful lying there. She was arguably the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

He was at a complete loss to explain how deeply he cared for her, and even more so to explain how she felt about him. His heart swelled as he looked at her face, then returned to his chest when he realized this might be the last time he'd see her.

Something in him refused to accept that though. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, somewhere deep down he felt certain they would be drawn together again soon. He opened his mouth to say 'goodbye', but that's not what came out.

"I'll see you later Alana." He whispered so Beth couldn't hear him, and then they went outside.

It was a beautiful morning.

The weather was perfect.

The sky was cloudless blue, the air still had a touch of early morning briskness, and there was a light breeze wafting through the city from the mountain. In that direction, he again saw sails poking up from near Lord Borden's estate.

"You said you could show me your father's airship this morning. Can we go now?" It seemed like as good a distraction as any.

"Absolutely, and Alana's going to be okay. You know that right?"

"I know." He nodded and they set off. They talked as they walked and he was again reminded that Beth was very pleasant company. Ahead of them, he could see the mast that stuck up from the wealthiest section of town.

"So how do they work?" he asked pointing at the airship mast.

"The wood is enchanted to be almost weightless." She replied. "Then in the center of the ship, there is a stack of logs which have an enchantment you can activate -- like your disguise necklace -- to make them lighter than air. The pilot turns the logs' enchantment on and off to control the rise and fall."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Ethan replied. "What about the wind? I mean, wouldn't the wind blow that thing all over the place?"

"Normally yes." Beth said. "I don't really understand it very well, but there's some kind of enchantment on the wood that makes the air harder to move."

"Come again?"

"It makes the air on the ship's sides behave more like water so you can't just push the ship through the air sideways. It's like turning the entire side of the ship into a keel from what I understand."

"Okay, that makes sense." Ethan said. "Except -- you know -- the magic part. How does it do that?"

"I have no idea." Beth replied. "I've spent a little time learning the basics of magic but nothing more."

"You studied magic?" Ethan asked.

"A little." She replied. "I never got much beyond manipulating my own mana."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the airship dock. It looked as if it had been built for two ships, but there was only one currently docked. The airship was floating high enough over a long, deep trench that he could see the underside.

The airship looked exactly like the sailing ships of old except there was a second mast pointing downwards out of the bottom of the hull. It was a hundred feet long from stem to stern and sixteen feet wide. Judging from the height, there was only one deck below the weather deck. It didn't look large for a sailing ship. However, it did look sleek, fast, and just plain beautiful.

Currently, all of the sails were rolled up against the yards. Ethan also noticed it didn't have any cannons. Instead, it had half a dozen small ballistae split between port and starboard.

"Wow."

"Indeed." Beth replied. "Would you like to go aboard?"

"Absolutely." He smiled in spite of himself. If she wanted to distract him from what was going on with Alana, she was doing a good job. Despite himself, he felt a small smile creep onto his face. She really was good company, and not too hard on the eyes either.

She led him over to the ship and past the guards, who nodded to her as they walked across the gangplank to arrive on the main weather deck.

It looked exactly like all the pictures of a sailing vessel he had ever seen. At the airship's stern was a raised quarterdeck with a typical ship's spoked wheel. Below the quarterdeck, there was a door that looked like it led to a small cabin. Sitting on the quarterdeck behind the wheel was a woman quietly playing an instrument similar to a violin.

Judging from her pointy ears, she was an elf. However, unlike Alana, she was tall; very tall. She was seated, so he couldn't be sure, but he reckoned that upright she would be at least six feet. Her hair was silver, her skin was incredibly fair, and her features delicate and extremely feminine.

She wore a long yellow and red dress that looked like autumn leaves as they turned colors. The dress came to around mid-calf, but it was fitted enough on top and loose enough below that Ethan didn't think it would hinder her movement at all. Under the dress was a pair of tight breeches that clashed magnificently with her dress.

There was something about her that oozed innocence, wisdom, and confidence all at the same time. The moment they stepped onto the deck, the elf woman put down her violin and shot a look their way.

"What the hell are you doing on my ship?" she demanded, rising to her feet.

"Anthiel, it's me. Beth."

"I was talking to your new betrothed." Anthiel glared at Ethan. "I assume that's him."

"Yes."

"Take him somewhere else." Anthiel spat. "I've got no room for heart-breakers on my ship."

Ethan opened his mouth to respond, but Anthiel produced a sword seemingly out of nowhere and glided smoothly down the stairs with it pointed at him.

"Get the hell off my ship before I part your soul from your body." Anthiel said.

Ethan took a step back, but Beth stepped in between them. "Anthiel come on. It's me."

"I won't touch one hair on your head, because you aren't to blame." Anthiel said, and then pointed her sword at Ethan. "However, get that beast off my ship."

'Why?" Ethan stood his ground.

Anthiel had almost reached him at her sword was less than a foot from him. "Why don't you ask that little wood elf you've got torn up in knots. I've never seen anyone cry that much in my life. Get. Off. My. Ship."

"I'm going." Ethan said before hastily retreating down the long ramp back to the safety of the ground. Anthiel stood at the top of the ramp glaring at him.

"She talks a big game, but really wouldn't hurt a fly." Beth said dismissively as she came down the gangplank. "I'm sorry you met her like that."

"She seems like a delightful person." He rolled his eyes. "She's not remotely psychotic at all."

"It's not that. She's just..." Beth thought for a second. "She's always had this 'mama bear' personality. Evidently she met Alana, got the story and now thinks of her like one of her cubs. You hurt one of her cubs, so..."

"I didn't mean to; I certainly didn't want to."

"I know." Beth replied. "She'll come around. She's always protective, but give her some time to see that Alana's okay and she'll be fine."

"Okay." He sighed and reminded himself that -- despite the wound -- she would be fine.

One thing was sure; he didn't like not knowing what to do when someone came at him with a sword. After his fight with Wurven, his lack of fighting skills was painfully obvious. And if Lord Delmar was still after him...

"I assume your father trains the guards right?" he asked.

"Not personally, Heinrich oversees the training. Why?"

"Because I need to know how to fight if I'm going to be of any use to anyone."

Beth grimaced. "After what happened in the vault this morning..." she pursed her lips, thinking. "Maybe they would let you be an outer guard?"

"You think so?"

"It's worth a try. I can usually convince Heinrich to see things my way. If not, I can always go to my father."

"Please lead on."

Beth turned and started walking. Not long after, they arrived at what looked like a large training room in one of the buildings close to The Bank. The walls of the room were covered with both training weapons and real weapons. There were also several types of padded armor for training. Outside a nearby door, he could see a courtyard with a large training circle in it.

She asked Ethan to wait a moment and then she went and talked to Heinrich. After a minute or two, he glanced in Ethan's direction with a surly look on his face. Beth talked to him for another minute, and then the guard captain grabbed two training spears and a training sword and walked over to Ethan.

"You understand you're never going near the vault again." Heinrich said. It wasn't a question.

He nodded glumly.

"Beth convinced me you'd make a reasonable outer guard." He continued, though his tone made it clear he seriously doubted it. "It's my job to bring your fighting abilities up to snuff."

He tossed a training spear to Ethan. It was a seven-foot-long shaft with a bundle of cloth tied to one end for padding.

"Listen up." Heinrich said. "The spear has three main advantages. They are reach, speed, and leverage."

"Reach, speed, and leverage." Ethan repeated.

Heinrich took his spear and demonstrated a forward thrust. With a single step combined with the thrust, his spear point moved forward almost ten feet. Without the step, he could still move the tip at least five feet with a thrust.

"The second advantage is leverage." He said, then tossed Ethan a training sword.

"I will attack slowly; try to block the spear tip without moving your feet or body." He said, and then slowly thrust the blunt training spear toward Ethan. He tried to block it with the blade of the sword, but Heinrich had more leverage due to the longer spear. Ethan couldn't prevent the thrust from touching his chest even though he applied all his strength to the sword; the spear just had too much of a leverage advantage.

"The third advantage is speed." Heinrich said. He then demonstrated a blindingly fast combination of thrusts that left Ethan very glad he wasn't trying to block a real spear.

"Now, I will show you how to use a spear."

For the entire rest of the day, Heinrich drilled Ethan on the proper use of a spear. His only breaks were for water and food, both of which he gulped down like a man stuck in a desert for too long. At the end of the day, he started sparring with some of the other soldiers and promptly got his ass kicked. He lost every single match and none was close.

Later that night, Ethan crawled into the bed at the guard's barracks. Every inch of his draconic body ached from bruises and sore muscles. Beth had wanted to keep his mind off of Alana, and it had worked. He had barely had time to think of her since training began. However, lying there in bed, both of them came into his mind.

He had two women in his head, one he loved and the other he was going to marry. Right then Ethan resolved to be the best possible husband he could be to Beth. She was kind, great company, and he thought she would make a great wife. He would try to make her happy in every possible way...

But he missed Alana.

His brain was screaming there was no way to make them both happy.

His heart however...

From somewhere deep in his soul, he had this certainty welling up. He didn't know where it came from, but he had this instinctive certainty that eventually it would all work out. He didn't know how or when, but his dragon instincts told him it was a forgone conclusion; that they would both be blissfully happy at his hand.

He had no idea how it could happen, he just hoped he was right.

(End of chapter 4)