A Dragon’s Tale

Alana wanted to find the nearest boulder and crawl under it. However, as there were no boulders on the Argo -- and the whole crew was on the weather deck -- she settled for going below decks. Once encased in the much dimmer light of the lower deck, she began to relax a little... but only a little.

Why had she said that?

What was wrong with her?

She racked her brain trying to figure out where those thoughts came from, but she didn't have a clue. Women weren't supposed to be turned on by thinking about their man bedding to another woman. And yet...

And yet...

Alana shook her head trying to clear it. Unbidden, an image of Taloni laid out naked underneath Ethan came to mind. He was lovingly thrusting inside of her as she sighed and moaned in pleasure. There was a look of complete happiness and bliss on her face. The wood elf blinked trying to get it out of her head.

She didn't hate that image.

Why?

Why didn't she hate it?

Instead, she felt almost happy about it. There was a slight tinge of jealousy that she wasn't in Taloni's position, but otherwise... She covered her eyes with her hands. When had she gotten so comfortable with imagining... that?

She well recalled the first time she'd had sexual thoughts about Ethan, just before they'd left Gralden to rescue Beth. She had been nearly mortified by the idea of being intimate with anyone, especially Ethan. Now she imagined him making love to another woman and it didn't bother her much, if at all.

Well, it bothered her that it didn't bother her.

It was almost the opposite.

Somewhere deep down, she liked the idea that Ethan was so virile, so potent that she alone wasn't enough to satisfy him. She almost wanted to 'show him off' to other women; to see him take them to bed and watch him do unspeakable things to them while she waited for her turn.

Unbidden, the thought came to mind of Ethan telling her to do unspeakable things to the women who were waiting for him. What if he told her to get them aroused; to get them ready for him? She felt a rush of heat around her nether regions as she imagined -- or tried not to imagine -- Ethan telling her to get another woman ready for him. To kiss her, to touch her, to run her fingers over the other woman's naked body, intending to arouse her so she would be wet and ready for Ethan to breed her.

The innocent wood elf alternately screwed her eyes shut and forced them wide open trying to erase the thought from her head.

It wasn't working.

She was finally distracted by a slight creak on the stairs behind her. Hailey had made it down the stairs with nary a sound and appeared to be sneaking. She glanced around and when she saw Alana, she stiffened slightly.

"Hi." Hailey said.

"Hi."

There was an awkward silence for several seconds before Hailey spoke again. "I thought you were still talking to Ethan in the captain's cabin."

She shook her head. "No, uh... I mean we were talking and uh, I sort of said something stupid and couldn't... uh."

Hailey smiled. "Lovers spat?"

"We're not lovers."

Hailey raised her eyebrow

"We're not." She said a little faster than she intended.

Hailey got a strange pained look on her face and gave Alana a smile that looked full of pain, but with a veneer of encouragement. "Look, a blind man could see you two are head over heels in love with each other. When you find something like that, you've got to hold onto it. Please, hold onto it and never let go because you never know when it'll be ripped away from you."

Hailey was trying to conceal it, but the look of anguish on her face was unmistakable.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked.

Hailey blinked a few times and turned her head away. She surreptitiously wiped a drop of moisture from the corner of her eye before responding. "I'm fine. I just don't want to see you and Ethan miss each other because of a stupid argument."

"We weren't exactly arguing."

Hailey smiled; it was still full of pain, but there was genuine happiness too. "Good. Do you love him?"

She hesitated before answering, wanting to say yes but for some reason she was almost scared to admit it to someone other than him.

"Allow me to re-phrase." Hailey said. "Do you truly enjoy spending time with him? Do you love when your conversations start and never want them to end? Does he make you feel cherished and like you're the apple of his eye? Do you respect and admire him and feel lucky to be around him?

"Yes." Alana nodded; her heart swelling at Hailey's description.

"Then don't let him go. Trust me, you'll regret it if you do." Hailey said, and the poorly concealed pain on her face was back.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked again.

Hailey bit her lip and nodded. She couldn't have been less convincing if she tried, seeing as she was on the verge of tears.

"I know we've barely talked since you got here. But if you need an ear, I'm happy to listen." Alana said. She didn't want to pry, but Hailey looked like she needed a shoulder to cry on.

"Thanks." Hailey replied. "But I'm fine; really."

"Okay." Alana wasn't convinced, but she nodded anyway because she didn't want to push. There was a slightly awkward silence for several seconds until she decided to break it. "What brings you down here anyway?"

Hailey stiffened slightly and the look of pain on her face changed to guilt. She looked at the floor and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'nothing', but she wasn't sure.

"What?"

Hailey glanced up, then looked down again before answering. "I was hoping to borrow a knife?"

"Sure, what for?"

"The market is -- or at least can be -- dangerous. I just wanted it for protection."

"Makes sense to me." Alana smiled and pointed to where they had stashed the weapons they'd gathered from the attack over Gralden. "They're just over there. You should find something that'll fit your needs. You're welcome to keep one of the knives too; we have plenty."

Hailey looked somewhere between ready to cry and like her birthday had come early. She looked very unsure for a few moments, then gave Alana a hug. The wood elf returned it, though was quite surprised by it.

"You are good people." Hailey said. "I'm sor-- I... thank you."

"You're welcome." Alana said and gave her a little extra squeeze in the hug.

"Please, don't let Ethan go." Hailey said after they had separated. "You'll never forgive yourself if you do. My advice, jump his bones before we touch down in Arcanum."

"What do you mean by 'jump his bones'?"

"You know, do the nasty? Polish his knob? Make the beast with two backs?" Hailey suggested each in turn.

Alana was sure her confusion was written all over her face. She'd never heard any of those phrases before, though they sounded like idioms.

Hailey sighed. "You do know how babies are made, right?"

Suddenly, all of Hailey's euphemisms made sense. "I would never! We may be bonded but we aren't married."

"Seriously? You won't let him taste your forbidden fruits without a ring?"

"Certainly not!" Alana replied, remembering that they gave rings in marriage where he was from. "What kind of loose woman do you take me for?"

"Obviously not one who'll get laid." Hailey said. "Whatever, just don't let him slip through your fingers. Trust me; you'll never forgive yourself."

And with that, she walked off towards the stash of weapons. Alana was left wondering what had happened to Hailey to make her so insistent on not letting go of the people you love.

That in turn made Alana wonder if she was right.

* * *

As a red-blooded male, Ethan had of course thought about what it would be like to have a threesome before. However, he had never seriously thought it would be a possibility until Alana had dropped a bomb.

Now, he was trying to focus on anything else. It turns out one of the downsides of being a dragon and walking around naked all day was that there were no clothes to hide it when you got a boner. It wasn't a problem right now because he was alone in the captain's cabin, but he could definitely see it becoming an issue soon.

Instead of concentrating on that topic -- as much as the primal part of his brain wanted to -- he turned to other tasks. Specifically, he focused on trying to get an electricity-based magical attack to work.

It wasn't going well.

He figured that he needed to collect electrons in order to discharge them as electricity. Since electrons are negatively charged, he figured he needed to make himself positively charged to collect them. The trouble was, he had no idea how to do it. He tried several times to by feel, but didn't notice a difference. Alana had said dragons learned magic instinctively, but he didn't see any evidence of it.

After nearly an hour of trying, he finally gave up. He had used a decent chunk of his mana trying, and it didn't seem to produce any results. He hadn't been able to produce so much as a static electric shock.

Eventually, someone knocked at the door of the captain's cabin. Fortunately, he'd been preoccupied long enough that he was no longer displaying his cock to the world.

"Come in."

The door opened and Rachel's flame-colored hair poked around it. "I just thought you'd want to know we've docked. Hailey offered to guide us through the market, and Anthiel convinced Raklan to haul it back."

"Convinced?"

Rachel smiled. "I won't lie, it was entertaining to watch."

"Alright, I'll be out in a minute."

Rachel slipped in and closed the door behind her before speaking again. "And keep an eye on Hailey. I don't know exactly what's going on with her, but I would keep her close.

"I will."

She nodded then left, closing the door behind her.

His mind drifted back to Alana. At the end of the day, he just felt better when she was around. He loved her company, her smile, her sense of humor, and the way her nose crinkled when she laughed. Plus, she was beautiful. But more than that, she had a truly good heart. She seemed to truly care about everyone. That made him smile whenever he thought about her.

Of course, he also liked Taloni but not quite the same way. She possessed a youthful innocence and curiosity. Despite her slavery, she had a joy about her that just made him -- and everyone else -- happy to be around her. He had a strong feeling that Taloni would want to be married the moment they set her free.

That being the case, he wanted to show Alana how much he cared for her before that happened. Since they were about to collect the last gunpowder ingredient, it would probably be soon.

But what to do?

He had a couple of ideas but needed to bounce them off someone who knew the world and culture, which probably meant Rachel. Groaning at the fact that she had just left, He resolved to talk to her soon but concentrate on getting the saltpeter for now.

A few minutes later, Ethan -- with the disguise gem activated -- joined Alana, Hailey, Rachel, and Raklan on the Argo's gangplank ready to disembark. It was late afternoon. The sun had already started to get low in the sky and cast long shadows red-ish shadows.

The weather deck of the Argo was hovering a few feet above the level of the ground. The lower mast and most of the ship's hull were settled in a long slot built for the purpose of docking airships.

All around them, the hustle and bustle of the dock was evident. Muscular men with tattoos and foul language were walking -- or in some cases drunkenly staggering -- around everywhere. Most of them were carrying bags or rolling barrels to and from the various airships. Scattered among the manual laborers were better-dressed gentlemen overseeing operations, and more than a few of them were elves.

There was no shortage of horses pulling carts and therefore a lot of horse droppings to avoid. Overall, it looked like a typical movie portrayal of naval docks from the Age of Sail on Earth.

Ethan was just about to step onto the gangplank to wade into the sea of people when he realized something. "How are we going to pay for this?"

Alana produced a small leather coin purse from her belt. "Anthiel gave me enough silver from the ship's treasury to get what we need.

"Ship's treasury?" he asked. Other than the cube of gold -- which was safely hidden in the captain's cabin -- he couldn't feel any other gold on board.

"Yeah, apparently Lord Borden loaded us up with a bunch of silver before we left Gralden." Alana explained. "He thought you'd have an easier time letting go of silver than gold."

He nodded, then started down the gangplank. His foot had left the gangplank and was about to set foot on the metal moorings when--

BZZZT!!!

Ethan jumped backwards and shouted in pain. A white-hot jolt had shot through his foot. For a split second, he thought they were being attacked and felt his flight-or-fight reflexes kick in.

Then he realized what it was.

It was a static electric shock.

He nearly knocked Alana and Hailey over as he landed back on the wide gangplank. Everyone was staring at him looking extremely confused.

"That was static electricity." He said to Hailey through a pained smile. He realized now that his previous efforts had been successful; he had increased his positive charge. It just wasn't apparent until he'd grounded himself to the Earth.

Rachel gaped at him. "You created lighting with magic?"

He nodded, his smile getting larger as the pain in his foot slowly subsided, helped along with some mana to heal the tiny burn.

Rachel's mouth was still open. "I don't... That's just... Can you teach me?"

"Sure." He said. "Let's get the saltpeter first and then maybe you can help me figure out how to make it work in battle."

"Deal." Rachel replied with a massive smile.

They set off with Hailey guiding the way towards the market. As they walked, Ethan tried to work out how to make lightning into a magical weapon. It occurred to him just how much his life had changed. Two months ago, the idea of magic had been ludicrous; now he was actively trying to create spells and manipulate magic.

Life was strange.

He needed to electrically charge something other than himself, otherwise his feet would constantly discharge the stored electricity into the earth. If he held something non-conductive with something conductive attached at the end...

Instantly his mind went to his enchanted war hammer.

The handle was wood and non-conductive when dry. The head was steel and so could obviously hold a charge. He could also summon the hammer to his hand whenever he needed it, so he'd always have electricity available as a weapon. His mind instantly went to a certain Marvel Comics God who was famous for his skill with hammers and lightning.

The smile on his face stretched from ear to ear.

He spent most of the walk to the market going over the possibilities of his new discovery and the potential of lightning as a weapon. He was eventually distracted from this by Alana's conspicuous silence. They had never spent this much time in each other's company without saying a word. Fortunately, he didn't need to talk aloud to have a conversation with her.

*Are you okay?* he asked telepathically. *You've been awfully quiet.*

Alana looked startled, but glanced his way. *I think so. I'm just sorting a few things out.*

*Like what?*

Her cheeks got a slight pink tinge to them. *Things... and something that Hailey said.*

*Which is?*

*Could you ask me tomorrow? I want to think about it for a bit.*

*Sure,* he said, though his curiosity was piqued. *Should I ask about what you said earlier, or just pretend it never happened?*

Alana's cheeks went from pink to red. *Um, can we just pretend it never happened? I must've gone troll for a moment there.*

*Gone troll?*

*Yeah, they aren't that smart and often say or do dumb things that don't make sense.*

*Ah, okay,* Ethan replied. They walked the rest of the way in relative silence.

When they finally arrived at the market, Ethan's jaw dropped. It was huge; no, absolutely massive. It was at least the size of a football field. There didn't seem to be any planned arrangement of the vendors or their stalls either. They were scattered haphazardly all across the cobblestone courtyard. All over, vendors were shouting about how they had the best deals on everything under the sun.

"Wow." Ethan said.

"I've never seen anything like it." Alana agreed.

Raklan, Rachel, and Hailey all looked at them like they were rubes from the sticks.

"I bet you'd have the same reaction if you walked into a Wal-Mart." Ethan said slightly defensively.

At that, Hailey started laughing while the rest of them just looked confused. That led to Ethan trying to explain what a Wal-Mart was; they didn't really understand it.

"It doesn't sound that different from a market." Rachel said when he had finished describing it. He looked at Hailey, who shook her head.

"I guess you have to see one. Come on." Hailey motioned them forward and started threading her way through the stalls with such skill and grace that she looked like she was born doing it.

Every so often, she would sneak a glance in the direction of the arena. When she did so, the look on her face was... odd. It was simultaneously full of rage and full of sorrow. It looked full of anticipation, and yet also was covered with trepidation.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked, remembering Rachel's request to keep an eye on her.

Hailey nodded but otherwise didn't respond.

They continued through the stalls until they met a vendor who was selling wooden barrels of saltpeter that were nearly as tall as Alana, and at least three feet in diameter. After Ethan confirmed it was what they wanted, Alana paid the merchant. Afterwards, Raklan tipped a barrel on its side and began rolling it back to the Argo.

Everyone else started following him, but Ethan put a hand on Rachel's arm. "Hold up a second." He turned to Alana. "Could Rachel and I meet you back at the Argo? I wanted to discuss something with her."

Alana gave him a quizzical look, but nodded. She and Hailey started following Raklan. The sun had gotten quite low in the sky by now. The entire market was bathed in the red-orange hues of sunset. As Ethan watched Alana walk away, he couldn't help but notice the soft lighting made her already excellent figure look even more appealing.

"What did you wish to talk about?" Rachel asked when they were out of earshot, but she had a smile on her face that made it look like she had an idea.

"Alana." He replied. "Since I'm bonded to both her and Taloni, I wanted to do something special for Alana before Taloni joins us on the Argo."

"Ah, so you finally did the math and realized you would end up married to both of them?"

Ethan's jaw dropped. "Wha...? How did you know?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow.

Ethan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Why do I get the feeling you usually know a lot more than you let on?"

The corners of Rachel's mouth flicked upwards ever so slightly. On anyone else, it would've looked like the start of a smug grin. On her, it just looked like a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. There was no arrogance, but plenty of swagger.

"You need to braid a small length of leather cord, just long enough to go around her wrist." Rachel said. "Then take her hands in yours and ask her 'will join your soul with mine as the strands of this braid are joined?' If she says yes, then you wrap the braid around her wrist and use magic to seal the ends together. That's how elves ask someone to marry them."

"Can you help me with the spell; and the braiding?"

Rachel beamed, all thought of watching Hailey having slipped from both of their heads.