A Dragon’s Tale

*Goodnight Ethan,* a voice whispered in Ethan's mind as he jerked awake. At least, he felt like he was awake.

Looking around he wasn't so sure.

Everything had a purple hue. Literally everything that he could see, including the stars outside in the night sky had a purple hue to them. It reminded him of that dream just before he'd arrived in this world. Further, he was standing in the captain's cabin on the Argo, but could clearly see himself sleeping in the bed next to Beth.

Everything had that same purple hue.

The captain's cabin was square and about sixteen feet on a side, though it seemed a lot smaller. Along the rear wall was a large glass-blocked bay window. There were twin cabinets at least five feet square on either side of the door as you entered, leaving only about six feet of room to walk, and giving the room a thick, "T" shaped floor plan, with the top of the "T" having the bay window. A large bed sat on the starboard side of the rear wall, and a large desk sat opposite it, leaving a cross-shaped walking space

He could see Beth sleeping next to his sleeping body, but she hardly seemed to sleep soundly. Ethan reached forward to touch her because she was rolling around uncomfortably in her sleep.

His hand passed right through her.

He tried again with the same result, though she seemed to relax slightly as his hand passed through her. He tried touching the other things in the room. However, his hand simply passed through everything without effect as if he was a ghost or phantom. He almost tried touching his own sleeping body, but for some reason, he resisted that urge.

As he looked at his sleeping body, he felt like something was off.

Wrong.

The scales on the back of his neck stood up and he sniffed the air. There was something in the air -- almost a scent, but not quite -- that was foul but he couldn't place it. Worse, he almost couldn't smell it. It was like it was on the edge of his nose, but he couldn't quite sense it.

It was the same with his vision.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could almost see something black and shadowy hovering around his head. It wasn't purple, and it was the only thing he could see that wasn't. However, he could only see it out of the corner of his eye. The moment he turned to look directly at it, it disappeared. Assuming of course that he wasn't imagining it. Something about it made him decidedly uncomfortable, depressed, and just plain listless.

He put it out of his mind -- which was easier than it should've been -- and walked through the captain's cabin door onto the main deck. One of the crewmen was scrubbing the last of the bloodstains out of the decking. The other was nowhere to be seen. Above and behind him on the quarterdeck, Anthiel played a soft tune on an instrument similar to a flute.

Everything out here also had that strange purple hue.

"Anthiel." Ethan called, but she didn't appear to hear him. He walked up the stairs to the quarterdeck and was halfway up before he realized the stairs were supporting his weight and he wasn't just passing right through them.

"That's strange." Ethan said. Seeing no obvious explanation, he made a mental note to figure it out later.

"Anthiel." Ethan said after walking up right next to her.

She didn't react, so Ethan tried to touch her shoulder. His hand passed right through it like everything else. However, Anthiel reacted. In an instant, she had stowed her flute and drawn her sword.

"Who's there." She said.

"It's Ethan. I'm right here." He answered, but she didn't appear to hear him.

"Show yourself." She said again.

"Anthiel, it's Ethan." He repeated, but she didn't react this time either.

The high elf closed her eyes and reached out a hand. Ethan could feel... Something. He was pretty sure she was using magic -- probably to enhance her senses -- but he couldn't tell what she was doing.

After a few minutes, she seemed to calm down and started playing her flute again. He wandered around the ship some more and ended by gazing out across the dark purple skyline.

As he gazed out across the vast purple expanse, a single bright point of light stood out. It was so far away that he had to squint even with his dragon eyes to make it out. It looked like a person and, judging from the silhouette and the hair, maybe a woman?

She shone brightly and pure white like the sun, yet there was no harshness to the light she gave off. It was like staring into a spotlight, but with the comforting glow of a warm flickering candle instead of the blinding pain of over-bright lights. She -- if it was a she -- seemed to be watching the Argo intently, and especially him. He couldn't be sure though because she was so far away.

She also appeared to be sitting in mid-air.

Ethan thought about spreading his wings to get closer but didn't want to chance it in this strange purple reality. He stared at her for several minutes and called to her several times, but she either wasn't in a talkative mood or was too far away to answer.

Eventually, he gave up trying to make her out exactly and wandered below decks. He found the other crewman sleeping on a hammock near the front of the ship on the lower deck. Nearby, there was a blanket nailed to the ceiling to form a makeshift wall.

On the other side, Alana was asleep on a hammock. She was still wearing her green dress and surprisingly there was no sign of blood on it. It looked perfectly clean and fresh, like it had just been washed; the wonders of magically self-cleaning fabric.

The wood elf herself wasn't sleeping too well.

She was regularly tossing and turning, and Ethan was glad she was in one of those 'wraparound' hammocks or she probably would've fallen out by now. He felt a tinge of guilt that she was sleeping here while he had a nice comfortable bed. Then again, Beth was in the captain's cabin with him and he didn't want to see her on a hammock either.

Ethan leaned over and kissed Alana on the forehead. The instant his lips passed through her forehead, she seemed to calm down. She stopped writhing about in her hammock and her breathing became more regular. Her expression turned peaceful and Ethan could feel her emotions calming over their bond.

"Ethan" she murmured, then seemed to relax and fall into a deep, restful sleep.

Suddenly, he felt very tired himself.

He made his way back to the captain's cabin and dropped down on the bed. Almost the instant he touched his own body, he felt the blissful blackness of sleep overtake him. He was so tired that he almost missed the dark shadow that seemed to cling to the head of his body.

Almost.

* * *

Beth woke up to the sound of heavy breathing nearby. She momentarily freaked out until she remembered where she was and who was next to her. She took a deep breath and let her heart settle.

Then again, it was hard to let her heart settle when she remembered what happened between her and Ethan only last night. He had so thoroughly pleasured her that her nether regions still felt like an over-stretched water skin. Just thinking about it made her feel a familiar itch between her legs

She looked over at Ethan, trying to decide if she should wake him. He hadn't said anything the previous night beyond seeing if she was okay. Then he'd flopped down on the bed and fallen asleep straightaway. She was tempted to wake him up until she remembered the battle last night. She found herself wishing he would sleep a few hours more so she could put off apologizing.

On the bright side, she had managed to get some of her favorite reference books and novels before they set sail. She slipped out of bed, grabbed a reference book on dragons she hadn't finished yet, curled up next to the window, and started reading.

Two hours later, Ethan began to stir.

"Good morning." She said.

"Morning." Ethan mumbled sleepily.

She took a deep breath, put her book down, crawled back into bed with him, and then began. "I heard what happened during the battle, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Ethan asked, though he wasn't fully awake yet.

"For not helping."

Ethan sat up yawing. "You said you don't know how to fight right?"

"Not really."

"Then there's nothing to be sorry for. In fact, you might have gotten yourself killed. That's why I told you to come in here."

"You're not mad?"

"No." Ethan replied with another yawn. "Why would I be?"

"Um, I just thought..." she trailed off.

"Thought what?"

What had she thought? She wasn't exactly sure why she'd been so sure he'd be upset with her. He clearly wasn't, and she found that surprising for some reason.

"I don't know." She mused. "I was always wandering around my father's mansion with my nose in a book. My mother always caught me and scolded me for being unladylike. She said real ladies didn't read, they worked to become better wives for their future husbands."

"Wow." He said and his mouth was hanging open slightly.

"Maybe I should've listened." Beth bit her lip and averted her eyes. What if she hadn't spent enough time learning how to be a good wife and he could tell? What if she wasn't a good enough wife and made him miserable?

Ethan used the side of his index finger tip gently tip her chin up so she was looking at him. "Beth, I like the fact that you read. Smart women are sexy."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

He said it with enough conviction that she almost believed him. Almost. Not that she thought he was lying -- she didn't -- but after years of hearing her mother say it, it was rather stuck in her head.

"She always told me I didn't help enough. She said if I wasn't helpful, I wouldn't be a good wife."

"I know we haven't been married very long but you've been a good wife so far."

She could scarcely believe her ears. "Really?"

"Really, really." He said in a strange accent. At her confused expression, he explained. "Sorry, it's a line from Shrek."

"What's a Shrek?"

"It's--" He hesitated for several seconds. "--hard to explain. Anyway, I'm not sure what your mom thought about your skills as a wife. But as your husband, I can say I'm happy so far."

"Good." She breathed a huge sigh of relief, then lunged at him and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, and it's true." He said returning the hug.

"There is one more thing." She didn't let go so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"What?" Ethan asked.

Beth took a moment to gather her courage, then spoke in a rush. "I'vebeenarealbitchaboutAlanaandI'msorry."

"Come again?"

She broke the hug and sat down, though didn't quite meet his gaze. "I've been a real bitch about Alana and I'm sorry." She repeated a little slower. "The truth is, I was a little jealous because I know you really love her and I didn't want... I mean, I wouldn't ever want anything bad to happen to her so I'm glad she came with us."

Ethan opened his arms and Beth snuggled into another hug.

"It's okay." He said.

"It's probably harder for her than for me." Beth mused. "I mean I have you, but she clearly still loves you. I wouldn't want to be in her position."

He made a noncommittal grunt and she relaxed into him while thinking about their current predicament. The wood elf had only agreed to stay on the Argo until they were out of Gralden, but seemed interested in traveling all the way to Arcanum to see if they could break her bond with Ethan.

She surprised herself by thinking she would miss Alana when she left the Argo. She obviously didn't want to share her husband with another woman. Other than that though, she really did like having her around.

Beth fought a silent war with herself for several minutes.

On the one hand, she wanted Alana off the Argo so she and Ethan could really and properly bond as a married couple without her interference. On the other hand, she didn't want Alana to suffer for her marriage to Ethan, especially since the wood elf helped rescue her in the first place.

"I think Alana should stay with us at least until we get to Arcanum." She finally said. "I mean, she'll probably be happier without the bond because of how much she loves you. And if you can't break it then maybe a wizard there can teach her how to block the bond out."

Ethan nodded. "Probably a good idea, but you're sure you don't mind?"

"I suggested it didn't I?" She replied.

She wasn't perfectly happy with the idea, but she thought it best for everyone. Besides -- guy trouble notwithstanding -- she liked Alana a lot. The notion that she could share Ethan with the lovely wood elf flitted through her mind, and she was surprised by how little aversion she felt to the idea. She didn't like it, but didn't quite hate it either.

"Okay. It's a plan." Ethan said.