A Dragon’s Tale

Ethan led his new bride away from the reception as twilight faded into true night. The moon had already risen and provided more than enough light for his dragon eyes to see perfectly.

He called to Alana telepathically. *Could you please get the weight-reduction necklace from the Argo?*

*Absolutely.* She had a smile in her tone, though there was some nervousness too.

*What has you so excited?* He asked, glancing back to see her jump up from her seat next to Rachel.

*It's a wonderful day, and I just had a good talk with Rachel. I'll tell you about it later.*

*Okay.* He replied, then turned his attention to the Fey teen walking beside him. He had no trouble seeing her in the low light and the torches and lamps placed around the reception had a wonderful effect on her beauty. She was much shorter than him, though a couple of inches taller than Alana's five feet. Her skin looked sun-kissed and her long, honey-blond hair was silky smooth and flowed like water.

Her face was small and round, and while he thought she was gorgeous, he knew she thought of herself as 'merely cute'. Her eyes were a brilliant, otherworldly lilac color and were full of life. Her breasts weren't large, but they looked firm and shapely. Her waist was quite thin, and her hips quite full.

She was beautiful.

On her back were two sets of wings that looked like a cross between a butterfly and a dragonfly. He'd seen them shimmer iridescently in the sunlight before, and they too were beautiful. Her dress was cut so that it went around the wings and tied at the nape of her neck.

"So, where are we going?" Taloni asked as they passed the ladder to the Argo.

"I have something special in mind. It's sort of a gift, though technically it's only a loan."

She looked at him curiously.

He reached out and brushed the top of her wings, which lay hanging down her back and motionless. She shivered slightly as he did so, and not because of the cool night air. Her wings reached just past her perfect bubble butt, which was well worth looking at.

"I thought we might try some flying." He said with a smile.

Her face fell. "I would love to, but I doubt I'm strong enough. My wing muscles have certainly weakened from lack of use. Thaltien had someone add a wing restraining enchantment to my collar after my child wings fell out."

He stopped. "Wait, your wings fell out?"

"Of course." She nodded. "My child wings fell out when I was about thirteen, then my adult wings started growing in."

"Huh, so it's like human teeth; interesting." He said, then started walking again. "How are they different?"

"Child wings aren't large enough for you to fly, but I could jump eight or nine feet into the air. Could you imagine trying to parent toddlers or five-year-olds who could literally fly away from you?"

He laughed. "Oh man, that would be a nightmare."

She nodded, then looked back over her shoulder forlornly. "I doubt I could do much more than a toddler now though. It could take weeks to build up the strength required to actually fly."

"I thought that might be the case." He said with a smile. "Luckily, I have a solution for you."

She looked doubtful but hopeful. "Really?"

"Here it is." Alana said as she ran up to them.

Ethan took the necklace from her, kissed her forehead tenderly, and smiled. "Thank you."

"Have fun you two." The wood elf said with a knowing smile, then kissed him on the cheek and ran off again.

"What's that?" The Fey said as she eyed the necklace.

"This is a very handy necklace that reduces the wearer's weight, making them weigh about a tenth as much as normal. I've had people wear it so they were light enough that I can fly with them on my back. I thought it might help you to fly too."

She looked like she was about to cry with happiness. "Really?"

"Yup." He said with a wide smile.

Taloni stared opened-mouthed at him for a moment, then leapt forward, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him like she never wanted to let go.

"I can't believe you did this." She whispered as she did an excellent impression of a hydraulic press. "That's just so... I... thank you so much!"

He pulled back enough so he could look her in the eye. "Anything for my wife."

She smiled. "You do have more than one wife though."

"True, and I want the best for all of them." He looked into her eyes as he considered part of what that meant for her. "Did it bother you that I kissed Alana just now?"

"Not really." She leaned her head on his chest, arms still around him. "I realize that you have another wife and that you have every right to be affectionate with her. I guess it would only bother me if you kissed her, but wouldn't kiss me." Her face fell at the thought. "That would make me sad."

Ethan put on a mock-serious tone. "Well, I suppose if I must kiss you I could suffer through it."

She sighed. "You are terrible, you know that?"

"You're not the first person to tell me so." He chuckled. He leaned back and looked at her for several moments. Her lilac eyes were shining with happiness and contentment. He leaned in and planted a tender kiss on her lips.

She returned it and he was struck by the difference between kissing her and Alana. Neither was better than the other, but they were definitely different. Alana's kisses were full of a deep passion borne of their shared experiences and deep bond. On the other hand, Taloni was more tender, reserved, and hesitant. She was clearly unsure of herself and it showed, but her young love, innocence, and tender affection showed too.

"Yeah, I'll definitely keep kissing you in the future." Ethan said when their kiss broke.

She smiled. "I'd like that."

"Me too." He said, staring into her lovely lilac eyes. "Hey Taloni."

"Yes?" She replied, staring back at him with those same eyes full of love.

"I love you."

She closed her eyes as if to savor the moment. "I love you too."

He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. She sighed extremely softly. He nearly purred. They both breathed deeply at the same time. He felt like a missing part of his life had just come back, or perhaps he'd found a piece he didn't know he'd been missing.

It felt good.

He let go of her after several tender moments, and then held up the necklace. "Now, let's get those wings of yours working."

She smiled widely, took the necklace and put it on. It looked good on her.

"Well go ahead; fly." He urged.

* * *

Taloni took a deep breath. She could do this. She'd done it with her child wings, and these new adult wings couldn't be that different... right? She looked up at Ethan, who had an encouraging smile on his face. He'd also just told her that he loved her for the first time, which did wonders for her already radiant mood. She could do this...

She hoped.

"Go ahead, you can do it." He said looking at her wings, then at the small clearing in the trees they were in. There was certainly room to try.

She took another deep breath, said a quick prayer to Illuminar, and then looked over her shoulder and began to slowly move them. It felt strange. She hadn't felt her wings move in many years and it was odd, but at the same time very natural.

She gave a small jump, and even the little movement of her wings combined with the weight-reduction necklace made a difference. That little hop carried her two feet into the air and she came back down more slowly than she was used to.

Ethan grinned. "I knew you could do it. Try a little higher."

She did. This time she started beating her wings at a moderate speed. Even so, they moved so fast that they were a blur.

She jumped.

This time it was a strong jump, augmented by beating her wings. She made it over a dozen feet into the air before she lost her nerve. Looking down, she could feel herself start to get slightly dizzy as she realized how high she was. She slowed her wings so she sank back to the earth. She felt slightly dizzy and took a moment to recover her bearings.

"Well done." He said with a proud smile. "Now that you've stretched your wings, how do you feel about going flying with me?"

"With you?" She asked.

He opened his wings slightly and nodded. "We should be far enough from the camp that they won't see me and freak out, plus it's dark; so absolutely."

She nodded, a small knot forming in her stomach. She had never been that high before and it had made her feel slightly lightheaded. What if she was afraid of heights? What if she wouldn't be able to really fly? Or what if she got dizzy and lost consciousness while flying and fell to the ground? What if now that she could fly, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to?

"Taloni, what's wrong?"

"How did you know?" She bit her lip.

"We're bonded remember; I can sense your emotions." He took both of her hands and pulled them up so they were between them and looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong?"

She trembled slightly.

Could she admit she might be afraid of heights? What if he didn't like that about her? What if he thought she was weak? What if it changed his opinion of her and he didn't like her anymore?

He looked at her for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and then without warning scooped her off her feet. He held her with one arm under her back and another under her knees.

It felt good.

Safe.

Comforting.

He gave her a grin, then spread his wings and leapt into the air. She yelped and threw her arms around his neck. She could feel the powerful flapping of his wings on every down stroke as they rose higher into the air. She closed her eyes and held on for dear life.

"It's okay, I've got you." He said as he slowed their ascent, then spread his wings and they glided away from the mining camp, just above the tops of the trees.

For one brief moment, she considered opening her eyes. Then her nerves got the best of her. She held on even more tightly to Ethan, pulling herself into his chest as tightly as possible as she felt the wind rush past.

"Nothing bad will happen, I promise." Ethan whispered into her ear. "Feel what I feel and relax."

Suddenly, a strange sense of euphoria and a confident calm came over their bond. She didn't actually feel that way, but she could feel that he did. She was in his strong, muscular arms and she could feel how confident and carefree he was.

It felt good.

Her nerves started to calm and he started flapping his wings again, taking them higher. She started shivering, and not from the cool night air that was rushing past. She suddenly felt afraid of heights. She'd known it after the second jump earlier; she was afraid of heights and she would never be able to fly because she was afraid.

She didn't want to be afraid, but she was.

Still he flew higher.

For a couple of minutes, he beat his wings hard as she felt them constantly rise. Eventually, she opened her eyes to peek and slammed them shut again almost immediately. They were so high that even her Fey eyes couldn't make out more than an outline of the camp far below. Even then, mostly because of the torches placed around the periphery. They must be hundreds -- if not thousands -- of feet from the ground.

"Now, tell me what's wrong." He said as he spread his wings and started gliding to reduce the noise.

Taloni started hyperventilating. She couldn't do it; they were too high. Her brain seemed to lock up and she couldn't get her thoughts in order.

"Shhh." He said as a wave of calm swept over her through their bond. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. It's the height, right? I felt your fear over our bond when you saw how high you'd gotten on that second jump."

She nodded, still keeping her eyes closed. She needed to calm down. She tried to concentrate on the calming waves of emotion coming through her bond with Ethan. It took almost a minute, but she finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Then why did you bring me up here?" She finally got out.

"Because I could tell how excited you were to fly, and I wasn't going to let fear rob you of the joy."

"But how will being up here help; this is worse." She opened her eyes a crack to peek at the ground and then closed them and buried her face in his chest when she saw how far away it was.

"Because there are two ways to get over something you're afraid of. The first is a lot of time and coaxing while you build up your confidence. The second is to have someone who you trust throw you into the deep end while making sure that nothing bad happens."

"What do you mean by the deep--" Taloni inhaled sharply as she realized what was going on. "No, no you can't. I can't."

"Yes you can." He said kindly. "Look at me."

She kept her eyes shut and clung to him like her life depended on it.

"Taloni; look at me." He said again. This time his voice was just as kind, but there was a commanding reverb in his voice that made it almost impossible to ignore. She probably could have ignored it but chose not to.

She slowly moved her head up and opened her eyes a crack. He locked his cat-like eyes with her lilac ones and she felt something inside of her shift. He seemed to be staring into her soul and she found that she couldn't look away. She couldn't close her eyes, she couldn't do more than blink, and even then she couldn't keep her eyes closed.

"I love you, and will never let anything bad happen to you; understand?"

She nodded, still not able to break eye contact.

"Will you trust me?"

She nodded again.

His gaze softened, and she could look away again. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and buried her face back into his chest.

"I can dive much faster than you can fall." He explained. "We're very high up, so you'll have plenty of time to start flying on your own before I need to catch you. I'll be right next to you the whole time."

"Okay." She nodded, her breath coming in slightly ragged gasps. The only thing keeping her fear at bay was the waves of calm and confidence coming over her bond with Ethan.

"I'm going to count to three, ready?"

"Yes." She said while shaking her head.

He chuckled. "Remember; I'll never let anything bad happen to you. Ever. Okay?"

"Okay." She said, determined to grab his neck the moment he said three. Unfortunately, he seemed to have predicted this.

"One... Two..."

He let go.

She screamed and started falling.

The wind whipped past her face, blowing her dress and hair in every possible direction. She shivered and felt completely paralyzed by fear. She was falling. Oh dear Illuminar in heaven; she was falling!

"Relax, you can do this." She heard Ethan from somewhere nearby.

Opening her eyes a crack, she saw that he was barely ten feet distant, gracefully falling right along with her. He glanced at the ground repeatedly but mostly kept his eyes on her.

"Come on, you can do it." He urged.

"I can't." She yelled back.

They were halfway to the ground.

"Flap." He commanded as he locked eyes with her for barely a moment, and a strange reverb filled his voice that made it hard to ignore.

She closed her eyes and started flapping for all she was worth.

It worked.

She could feel her free-fall slow, and then stop altogether. The wind stopped whipping past her and became a gentle breeze on her skin. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as she sat there in midair, wings beating quickly to keep her aloft as she hovered.

She'd done it.

She opened her eyes and looked around.

She was perhaps a thousand feet from the ground, veritably floating in midair. She looked down expecting to feel the same paralyzing terror grip her mind, but it didn't. She was hovering aloft with her own wings, under her own power. That knowledge seemed to make the fear fly from her head.

She was struck by the beauty from up here. The sky was partly cloudy and the moon shone through many gaps in the clouds. The earth below was bathed in moonlight, with the clouds blocking the moon's light in intricate patterns that were displayed on the ground below.

It was spectacular.

She had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life.