A Dragon’s Tale

Ethan opened his eyes to discover the entire world had a strange purple hue to it. It took him a minute to remember that he'd done this before on the Argo. Anthiel had called it 'Astral Projection'.

He stood up and looked around. He was still in the ravine and his draconic body lay there. His body's breathing was slightly labored. Ethan himself didn't feel as strong as he usually did. Somehow, even in this astral projection form he felt less substantial. Like he was there, but not all there.

The ravine itself was very peaceful.

The sound of the creek trickling and insets chirping were the only sounds. The trees were swaying gently in the light breeze and the bushes surrounding the area had a verdant glow from the moonlight. Besides a few bushes the other dragon has burnt to a crisp during their fight, it was an idyllic picture of nature at its most beautiful and pristine. Though, it was odd to see it all in shades of purple.

Ethan's thoughts drifted to both Taloni and Alana. He was a little worried about Taloni, but he desperately wanted to see Alana. He warred with himself for a few moments before deciding that Alana was safe, Taloni might not be.

He stretched his wings and leapt into the air.

It turned out that flying was a lot easier when he was astral projecting. He took off in the direction that Taloni and the others had gone. At the speed he flew, it was only a minute or two before he came across what looked like the entrance to a mine.

There were a bunch of flimsy shacks around the entrance and one sturdier central building. A rickety windmill was on the outskirts of the camp and the large, wide blades were lazily spinning in the light breeze.

Ethan landed and began searching for Taloni in the shacks. It didn't take long to find her because he could walk right through the walls. She was sleeping peacefully in the fetal position with a contented smile on her face. She was lying on a well-worn cot with a blanket wrapped around her and looked healthy.

A passing thought crossed his mind that she was quite beautiful, but that thought also reminded him of Alana.

He spread his wings and took off like a shot toward Arcanum.

Not long after, he had found the Argo and landed on her main weather deck. As before, Anthiel was sitting up on the quarterdeck playing a small flute-like instrument. None of the others were anywhere to be seen.

Ethan ran to the lower deck and over to the sleeping area. Everyone appeared to be fast asleep in their hammocks, even Raklan who was snoring loudly. Ethan rolled his eyes and walked through the blanket that separated the men from the women.

He saw Alana first and went over to her. She was sleeping in her hammock, though obviously not sleeping well. She was tossing and turning every few seconds, which was impressive considering she was in a wrap-around hammock.

He felt better just being around her.

He walked over to her hammock and ran his finger gently over her cheek. His fingers passed right through her cheek of course, but he still liked touching her.

Suddenly, Alana sat bolt upright... and nearly fell out of her hammock.

"Who's there?" She asked after recovering.

Ethan didn't respond because he knew she couldn't hear him anyway. The wood elf felt around the dark room and her hand passed through Ethan's chest.

"Ethan?" she said tentatively. "Ethan is that you?"

She looked around more, but he knew she couldn't see him.

"Ethan, if you're there please come back to us." Alana said. "Please come back to me."

Just hearing her say that changed Ethan's mind. He was going to get out of that ravine. He was going to make it back to Arcanum and this wonderful, perfect woman.

Then the darkness descended on his thoughts. It wasn't even being subtle anymore. He could feel something foreign in his mind obliterating every positive thing he felt and replacing it with black despair.

He fought.

He fought as hard as he possibly could, but it was like playing tug-of-war on ice in slippery shoes while his opponent had cleats. It didn't matter how hard he fought, the darkness slowly -- inexorably -- pulled him into its black embrace.

He did everything possible to keep those thoughts at bay. He needed to; he needed to get back to his Alana. He smiled at the thought; 'his Alana'. He liked the way that sounded. Suddenly, it was like his feet gained purchase on the slippery slope the darkness pulled him towards.

Then the darkness gave an almighty tug and he felt his thoughts slipping...

Hmm...

What was he thinking about? He knew it was important, but he couldn't remember.

"Ethan." Alana whispered. "Ethan if you're there please come back to me."

"I want to." He replied, though she couldn't hear him. "Dear God in heaven I want to Alana. You are the most wonderful woman I've ever met and if I could spend my life with you, I'd consider myself the luckiest man on earth."

"Ethan, if you're out there I want you to know that we're looking." Alana said. "Rachel and I are brainstorming and we're going to find you. I don't know how yet, but we will."

He smiled.

Alana was the perfect woman and she loved him. That fact alone did his heart good...

But the black cloud settled around his thoughts again, telling him he couldn't risk it. He would be the death of her and needed to stay away. In fact, it would be better if he died, just to make sure he could never hurt her again.

He closed his eyes.

Despite being near Alana, his mana wasn't refilling. He supposed astral projection didn't count as being near her. His mana was still slowly draining away. He guessed he had a couple of days before it was gone at the current rate. He figured he'd probably lose consciousness long before then though.

He was so tired.

The darkness told him to sleep. It would all be over soon.

* * *

Rachel stood on the deck of the Argo watching the rising sun. It reminded her of her conversation with Ethan two weeks prior and their talk about homes. As she glanced around the Argo, she realized it didn't quite feel like home. It was nice and right now she needed to be there, but something was missing.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Hailey asked.

Rachel smiled. "I was just thinking about a conversation I had with Ethan that started with the exact same question."

"What did you talk about?" Hailey asked.

"Homes and our place in the world." Rachel replied.

"Speaking of." Hailey said. "I was wondering if -- after we find Ethan -- there was any chance we could figure out how I got here so I could go back."

"Ethan might like to leave too." Rachel mused.

"It would be great to have company." Hailey said. "I just, I don't belong in this world you know. I should be getting ready to graduate college, not stuck in this God-forsaken world."

"Illuminar hasn't forsaken anything." Rachel replied almost automatically, then added. "Assuming he exists."

"Oh, God definitely exists." Hailey said bitterly.

"What makes you so certain?"

"Your first rule of Magic is the same as the first rule of physics." Hailey replied. "Matter and energy -- including magic -- can't be created or destroyed, so where did all this come from?" Hailey waved her hand at the world around her. "Someone or something had to create it, which means breaking the laws of physics and magic. And anyone powerful enough to break them would be indistinguishable from that prick we all call God."

"What if it's always existed, so it didn't need to be created?"

Hailey shook her head. "If the universe was eternal, the stars would've run out of fuel an eternity ago and the galaxy would be dead and frozen." Hailey replied. "I wish it was all some cosmic accident -- because God is seriously a major asshole -- but you can't break the laws of physics, or magic. "

Rachel wasn't sure exactly she what meant by 'galaxy', but otherwise Hailey's logic made sense. "So why do you hate him so much?"

"Because some all-powerful dickwad decided to create everything and then just walked away and left us to fend for ourselves." Hailey replied. "What kind of insensitive douchebag does that?"

When Hailey finished speaking, she glanced over toward The Arena with barely concealed rage on her face. Rachel eyed her intently. She was definitely concealing something; something that made her blood boil.

It probably wasn't God either.

She thought back on her life about all the times she'd heard about the great, kind, and loving God Illuminar. Somehow, Hailey's perspective didn't make a lot of sense. She had experienced too much good in her life to agree with her. However, she couldn't deny that life was rough sometimes.

"I just want to get home." Hailey continued. "I figured if the slavers kidnapped me from my home, they must have a way to get there right?"

"That would make sense."

"I'm still wondering why they didn't start stealing some guns though." Hailey said. "They could live like kings with that kind of power."

"What's a gun?" Rachel asked.

"It's like a crossbow that can fire a bolt every second." Hailey replied. "They can kill a person from across The Arena and the bolts move so fast you'd never see it coming."

"That sounds like a powerful weapon indeed." Rachel agreed, and her mind went spinning with all the ways she could use that to defeat Lord Delmar.

"I know, so why didn't the slavers grab them?" Hailey asked.

"That's easy." Rachel replied. "Magic portals are incredibly hard to set up and easy to destabilize. They were probably worried a mage from your land would hear about them and close the portal, trapping them there. Besides, I'll bet the mage who created the portal wouldn't go through it for fear of being trapped."

"So the slavers would be stealthy for kidnapping because they might be trapped if they were discovered." Hailey said. "I suppose that makes sense, especially if they never saw a gun being used."

"Exactly."

"But you agree there is a portal to Earth somewhere in this world?" Hailey asked, and Rachel could hear the hope in her voice.

"Probably. I doubt they'd close it because they're so hard to open. The entrance on your world might be disguised though."

Hailey broke into a wide smile. "That's the best news I've had in years. Thank you."

"We need to find Ethan first." Rachel said. "Then maybe we can start looking for your portal."

"Yeah, I think Alana's already on it." Hailey said.

They both turned and watched Alana pacing back and forth on the Argo's deck. She was pacing with a determination Rachel had never seen before. Her brow was furrowed and she kept muttering under her breath.

"How long has she been doing that?" Hailey asked.

"Since before I got up." Rachel replied.

The wood elf looked distinctly the worse for wear. She had dark circles under her normally bright eyes and her hair was a complete mess. It looked like she hadn't slept much -- if at all -- the previous night.

"She's going to kill herself worrying." Hailey said.

Rachel nodded, then walked over to her. "Alana?"

She turned as soon as Rachel spoke. "Did you think of anything?"

"No, I'm sorry." Rachel shook her head. "But you need to relax."

"I can't." Alana replied. "I can feel something from Ethan, it's... I don't know what but he's in trouble; big trouble."

"It must be your bond." Rachel said. "We'll find him, we're doing everything we can to figure this out."

"I just hope we find him in time." Alana gazed out at the horizon.

"Me to." Rachel said. "I think we can--"

Rachel was interrupted by Alana swearing loudly.

"What?" Rachel asked and looked where Alana was looking. The only thing she saw was two airships on the horizon.

"Lord Delmar's flag is a stylized black dragon on a red background isn't it?" Alana said.

"Don't tell me those are..." Rachel said squinting at the two incoming airships. "Not now."

Alana nodded. "I guess Ethan's antics in the arena caught some attention because those Saidow spawn finally found us."

Rachel would never have used the name of Saidow -- the source of all evil and Illuminar's mortal enemy -- so flippantly, but she agreed with the basic sentiment.

"We have to get out of here." Alana said before making for the quarterdeck, but Rachel grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Wait, by the time we get clearance to leave the dock they'll already be here and they'll see us leave."

"You're probably right." Alana nodded. "Suggestions?"

"We'll get clearance to leave and then wait until dark. Hopefully, we can slip away under cover of darkness. At least, I hope we can."

Alana nodded and bit her lip while Rachel stared at the approaching airships. Her father certainly wasn't making life easy.