CHAPTER 10: A "shocking" development

* * *

Kendra looked around the tavern and rolled her eyes. It was full of slightly drunk, slightly unhappy, and very irritable men. There was a roaring fire in the hearth, wrought iron chandeliers lighting the room, and enough beer and mead flowing to keep the patrons from remembering their woes.

She shifted in her seat to resettle her clothes. She'd chosen some simple peasant attire to blend in, but it weren't as comfortable as what she preferred. She adjusted her jet black hair to keep her eyes off her face so she could listen in peace.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and listened for all the conversations in the bar. It was a cacophony, but also a good way to stay informed.

"Lord Delmar just signed a treaty with the Marcadians"

"The crops this year have been great."

"My crop was hit by locusts."

"I wish the emperor would do something about the-"

"The emperor is just a puppet."

"-dragons near Arcanum."

Kendra inclined her ear so she could hear this specific conversation better.

"Lord Delmar's right about these rouge dragons," a gruff voice said. "We should kill the whole lot of them; dragons ain't much good for nothing but dying anyway."

"Bah, he's just after their gold," A slurred - probably drunk - voice said.

"Stuff it man," the gruff voice said. "You're drunk."

"I swear to drunks I'm not God." The slurry voice said, and then hiccupped.

"Damn right about them dragons," a deep voice said. "They've been killing us for hundreds o' years, why hasn't nobody done nothing about it?"

"They're too scared," the gruff voice said. "These damn lords spend all day safe in their castles and leave the real work to us folk."

"Hey pretty lady," someone said way too close for Kendra's liking.

She opened her eyes to see someone staggering over toward her table. He was at least fifty pounds overweight and very drunk. His tankard sloshed beer onto his pants and shirt with every unstable step, and he wore a look of unrestrained lust as he undressed her with his eyes.

Kendra sighed; same shit, different tavern.

"You want I show you some much good times?" The drunkard slurred as he reached her table.

"I doubt you're capable," Kendra replied with an icy stare.

The man was either too drunk or too stupid to take the hint. He leaned over the table and started reaching for her chest, "I be so good bitch, you-"

Kendra interrupted his hand and his sentence by grabbing the back of his head and introducing his face to the solid oak table; hard. The man fell to the floor with blood pouring out his nose.

Kendra checked to make sure her necklace was still concealed under her shirt before glancing down at the man and muttering. "I was wrong; that was fun,"

She then noticed that the tavern had gone completely silent and all eyes were on her. None of them looked happy.

"He had it coming," Kendra said, and then turned back to her mead.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

The tavern was still silent. No one moved or made a sound except the drunk man at her feet who was groaning in pain as he held his nose. Everyone was staring at either her or the gutter trash at her feet.

"That was Morkleth," one of the men said. "He's a pillar of this community."

"Then this community has some rotten pillars," she retorted.

This pronouncement was follow by a definite souring of the mood. The men started leering at her, and not in an 'I-want-a-piece-of-ass' way either. Several of them closed their hands into fists and one brandished a hefty walking stick in a threatening manner.

Kendra sized up the crowd.

There were about two dozen men in the bar, all of whom outweighed her by at least fifty pounds, and many double that. Half of them looked angry, the other half looked livid. Most of them were simple town folk and didn't carry themselves like fighters. A few looked like that had experienced, but one of them - the only one without hatred in his eyes - looked like a stone cold killer.

There was something about bearing and demeanor that screamed dangerous, though few but her would have the skill to recognize it. She'd met men like him before. You spend enough time in her line of work and you learned to recognize others who shared your very particular set of skills. They always carried themselves that way unless they were undercover.

She raised her eyebrow at him.

He sized her up, then shook his head subtly and made a deliberate show of going back to his drink. Kendra grinned; with him no longer a threat, this bunch of ignorant hicks wouldn't be a problem. Still, discretion is the better part of valor...

"He was an ass and I defended myself," Kendra said. "I'm not looking for a fight."

They weren't buying it.

The tavern folk took a collective step forward. Kendra sighed, stood up, and activated her strength-enhancing vambraces. She briefly considered taking care of these bullies without them, but didn't feel like a real workout.

"If you have a problem, let's do this," she said. "Otherwise I'm going back to my drink."

One of the bigger fellows scowled at her, took a step forward, and aimed a powerful haymaker at her head. She leaned back just enough to make it miss and grabbed his arm as it passed. She continued his momentum and stuck out her foot. The man was carried forward, tripped over her foot and smashed face first into her solid oak table.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone else join the attack. She continued the spinning movement she'd used to put the first man down and brought her foot up in a crescent kick to the second man's face. He didn't even see it coming. He hit the floor groaning in pain and barely moved.

Thank Illuminar for strength enhancing enchantments.

Everyone else in the tavern was frozen solid. The men she'd just knocked out were twice her size and clearly in decent shape. No one else seemed to know what to do.

Finally a braver man - who was leaning up against one of the vertical support beams - drew a large knife. He hefted it threateningly, his confidence in the weapon displayed on his face. The rest of the tavern folk also seemed to take courage from the glistening blade.

She chuckled.

With a flick of her wrist, she sent one of her concealed throwing knives into the pillar beside the knife-wielding man's head. With a satisfying 'thunk' sound, it sunk deeply into the wood less than an inch from the man's head.

He blanched.

The change in atmosphere was palpable. All of the confidence in the crowd evaporated in an instant. Suddenly, instead of a group of angry and tipsy thugs, she was looking at a bunch of grown men behaving like kids who were caught stealing sweet cakes.

"Bring me my knife," Kendra said to the knife wielding man as she slipped another throwing knife out and let it hang from her fingers. The implied threat was very effective.

The man hesitated, then sheathed his own knife and - after a few tries - pulled her knife out of the support pillar. He walked over to her and held it out at arm's length, clearly trying to stay as far away from her as possible. Kendra took the knife, returned it to its concealed sheath, and then looked at the crowd.

"Now, I think we should all go back to our drinks," Kendra said as if they were discussing the weather or some other trivial matter. "Don't you?"

Everyone nodded or mumbled in agreement, though their shoulders were hunched and they didn't quite meet her gaze. The one exception was the stone cold killer who'd declined to get involved. His face was unreadable. He raised his tankard and gave her a slight nod of respect, which she returned.

Kendra sat back down and took a sip of her mead. After a few moments, the rest of the tavern folk went back to what they were doing. A couple of guys helped the trio of men at her feet get away from her, though they gave her as wide a berth as possible.

She just sipped her mead.

She waited until the tavern was almost back to normal, then paid her bill and slipped out, leaving a decent tip for the owner. She stepped outside to see the stone cold killer in front of her. Just by the way he stood - the way he seemed perfectly relaxed and calm - she could tell he was dangerous. He was certainly as dangerous as she had initially guessed, maybe even more so.

They stood there for almost a minute, neither moving nor speaking as Kendra analyzed him. He was neither tall nor short; thin nor muscular. Like her, everything about his appearance was designed to blend in; his clothes, his hairstyle, his beard; everything. He was the kind of fellow you would see in a crowd and completely forget moments later.

She resisted the temptation to ready a weapon. You didn't provoke someone like this; not if you valued your life. She might be able to take him, but certainly not without injury. So she waited.

"Good evening," he said eventually. Even his voice was nondescript.

"Evening."

"You didn't kill them," he almost sounded disappointed.

"The guards are more likely to ignore a tavern brawl than a triple homicide."

"Indeed," he said, and then fell silent.

"Did you want something?" Kendra asked after several seconds.

"How long, and how many?"

"Too long... and too many," she answered honestly, thinking about all her missions and the dragon's teeth on her necklace.

"You're a hard woman to find... Kendra."

"Obviously not hard enough." Thinking back, it wasn't too surprising that someone had finally found her. She had been getting lazy lately. Moving every week was growing tiresome and she decided to stretch it for a while. Obviously that was a mistake.

"I have a job for you," He said.

"I'm out of the business."

"Hear me out?" it was a respectful request, not a command.

"Listening."

"Lord Delmar has had some troubles with a young dragon recently. Given your history, I thought I could persuade you to come out of retirement."

"Still listening," She succeeded in not reacting, though it was a struggle. She had heard about the bounty and been sorely tempted, even though the reward was a pittance compared to her usual fee.

"A young, steel-gray dragon and his wood elf companion have managed to elude Lord Delmar's men for nearly two months now. They assaulted and murdered several of his guards and slaughtered nearly a whole airship crew he sent after them. The dragon was also implicated in the death of an innocent girl less than a week ago."

Kendra grimaced; he knew how to push her buttons. "Lord Delmar eh? Rumor has it he's working with a dragon."

"Is that a crime?"

"You didn't answer the question," she observed.

"No, I didn't," he replied simply. "Are you interested? Lord Delmar is willing to pay double your usual fee. Quadruple, if you bring the dragon in alive."

"Alive?" Kendra raised her eyebrow. "That's... unusual. I thought the bounty was for a dead dragon."

"Things change."

"Oh?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Lord Delmar now has... plans for this dragon; plans that would be greatly improved if he were delivered alive."

Kendra suppressed a shudder. Death would be far more merciful than whatever Lord Delmar had in mind for a live dragon. Suddenly, she was far more interested in taking the job.

"What was the dragon's last confirmed location?" she asked.

"Arcanum, the Arena, four days ago." He replied. "We suspect he fled the city in an airship that he stole from Lord Borden."

"Heading?"

"Unknown; likely north toward the gold mines," He replied. "Good hunting."

Kendra nodded, and then the man turned and walked away. He disappeared into the shadows with barely even a footprint to mark his passing. She looked after him for a few moments, and then headed back to her room. She grabbed her pack and a few provisions, then went into the forest to where she'd hidden her tiny airship.

"Hello beautiful," she said when she had deactivated the enchantments that protected it from prying eyes.

At barely twenty feet long, it wasn't large. However, it was plenty big enough for her. It looked a lot like a canoe, only the stern ended flat like larger sailing ships. The lower mast was pulled up behind the vessel to allow it to land.

She stowed her things and activated the weight logs strapped to the inside. Once it had risen high enough, she dropped the lower mast and secured it in position. She turned the ships toward Arcanum - which fortunately wasn't too far - and deployed the sails. A gentle touch plus a little bit of mana and the enchanted sails changed color from natural white to black as midnight.

As the ship caught a breeze and began moving, Kendra started planning. It had been a while since she'd been dragon hunting. She touched the necklace which was concealed under her shirt, feeling each dragon tooth as she went. She stopped at the most recent - and largest - one

"This one's for you," she said as she thought about who the beast had taken from her.

It was payback time.

* * *

Hailey decided that Ethan was the most confusing man she had ever met. Alana and Rachel didn't make much sense either. Those three had just spent most of yesterday strategizing on how to could kill a dragon to free Taloni.

Kill a dragon!

The dragon was at least twice Ethan's size - which was bad enough - but they actually seemed to think they could do it. Hailey found herself shaking her head so much she might've resembled a bobble-head from back on Earth.

It was sheer lunacy.

Yet, that hadn't stopped them from meeting outside the captain's cabin and resuming the conversation before dawn. The sun was just cresting the horizon and they show no signs of letting up. It just didn't make sense to her. I mean, Taloni had saved Ethan's life and all, but to risk your life with a slim chance of success for someone you'd just met?

Hailey shook her head again and leaned her willowy frame against the rail as she listened anyway, because there wasn't much else to do.

"You're sure your fireballs won't do much?" Ethan asked Rachel.

Rachel sighed. "Like I said the last dozen times you asked; dragon scales are naturally resistant to heat. They're virtually immune to it."

He opened his mouth, but Rachel cut him off. "And no my ice attacks aren't very effective because he can just pull heat from his breath to offset the cold."

Ethan turned to Alana. "And your arrows won't do much because he's enchanted his scales to be stronger, according to Thaltien."

The wood elf nodded. "And if he's the size everyone says, they won't penetrate deeply enough to cause a mortal wound anyway,"

"There's got to be something else we can do that'll help," Ethan mused.

Raklan scoffed. "Just leave the Fey bitch behind; problem solved."

Ethan growled at him. Hailey had noticed he'd become very protective of Taloni, almost as protective as he was of Alana.

"Raklan," Serif said, then shook his head slightly. Raklan scurried off like a bolt of greased lightning. Lightning...

"Hey," Hailey said. "What about magical lighting attacks?"

Rachel snorted. "Yeah, and I'll pull an army out of my back pocket too."

"Wait, you're telling me there aren't any magical attacks using electricity?" Ethan asked.

Rachel cocked her head to one side. "What's electricity?"

It was Hailey's turn to snort.

"It's what lightning is made of," Ethan explained. "We actually use it to power machines where I come from."

Alana and Rachel gaped at him.

"You can't be serious," the wood elf said.

"That's impossible," Rachel said at the same time.

"Not impossible." Ethan shook his head and smiled. "We may not have magic, but we can still do some pretty cool stuff."

"But harnessing lightning?" Rachel raised her eyebrow. "That's like, the idle dream of the world's master magicians. That would be like finding the Holy Grave."

"The Holy Grave?" Hailey said. "Don't you mean the Holy Grail?"

Rachel looked confused. "What's a Holy Grail?"

"A religious artifact on our world that's been missing for centuries," Ethan explained. "And yes we figured out how to harness electricity, which is what lightning is made of."

"But, how could people without magic harness Illuminar's own weapon?" Alana asked.

"Come again?" Ethan wore an amusing look of confusion.

"Illuminar, the God of light, everyone know that lightning is his weapon," Alana replied as if she was explaining that water was wet.

"Oh, yeah. God of light, lightning. That actually makes sense." He said.

Rachel was still picking her jaw up off the weather deck. "You harnessed electricity without magic? How is that even possible?"

"Science," Hailey replied.

"Science?" Rachel looked like someone had just said water wasn't wet. "You mean that field of 'study' where they try to figure out how stuff works by cutting it up? Seriously? Those dullards figured it out?"

Ethan and Hailey both nodded while suppressing laughter.

Rachel shook her head. "Scientists can't even figure out how a Golem operates; mages can. So pardon my skepticism."

Hailey looked at Ethan, and saw her disbelief mirrored on his face.

"Culture shock," he said.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"So how do you harness lightning?" Alana asked.

"You... Uh... I'm not sure," Ethan said scratching his head. "It wasn't something I studied."

"Uh-huh; sure," Rachel said, her voice dripping with skepticism.

"I'm serious," Ethan said, then looked at Alana. They were both silent for several moments, then the wood elf spoke up.

"I believe him," she said with absolute conviction.

"Wow, you just went from skeptic to true believer in five seconds flat," Hailey said. "What are you smoking and can I have some?"

Alana looked very confused, opened her mouth to respond, then closed it and looked at Ethan. After another few seconds, she nodded at him like she understood something, and then turned back to Hailey.

"I'm not smoking anything and I'm certainly not a 'pot-head'," she said. "He just made a really good case."

Rachel shook her head and looked at Ethan. "Okay, it sounds preposterous to me but I don't think you're a liar. How would we use lightning against the dragon?"

"I have no idea," Ethan replied. "Like I said before, I'm not really sure how to generate enough to be useful."

"You could always throw bat shit at the dragon," Raklan called from across the deck.

"Yeah, that was part of the plan." Ethan rolled his eyes. "We're just trying to how stack the odds as far as possible in our favor."

"You're going to fight a dragon with bat shit?" Hailey scoffed. "Like, that's actually part of your plan?"

"No, not bat shit; gunpowder," He replied. "We already have sulfur and charcoal on the Argo. We collected some guano a while ago so we can make gunpowder."

"Saltpeter... isn't that potassium nitrate?" Hailey repeated trying to remember where she had heard of that before. "I think I used some of that in high school. It's a white powder right?"

He nodded.

Hailey bit her lip.

The cooks at her former owner's estate had used it to preserve food and you could buy it in the marketplace cheap. If she told them, they'd go back to Arcanum and she'd have a chance to see that bastard again. All she'd need was a few hours at night and a knife...

Subconsciously, she put a hand over the long scar on her stomach. Her other hand clenched into a fist so tight her knuckles turned white. It was everything she could do to keep her face neutral.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked her.

Hailey nodded. "Bad memories."

She couldn't tell them about the saltpeter. If she did, they'd go after that dragon and probably get themselves killed.

"Anthiel," Ethan called up to the quarter deck. "Did you get that second pot so we can boil the guano water down?"

"I did," She poked her head over the railing and glanced in Raklan's direction. "However, someone threw your barrels overboard after you left."

There was quite a commotion as Ethan, Alana, and Rachel all turned to chew out Raklan. Hailey tuned them out as she waged war within herself.

On the one hand, the proverbial devil on her shoulder was making a very compelling case. If they wanted to rescue Taloni - and get killed in the process - why should she care? They would do it anyway and she would just be helping them do what they wanted. Shouldn't friends do that? Besides, she did owe them a favor, and this might count...

On the other hand, she'd be giving them the tools they needed to commit suicide. It was like giving a loaded gun to someone who was suicidal. It was like giving a bomb-vest to a known terrorist.

She shouldn't do it.

Then she thought about her former owner...

Her hand once again moved to rest over her stomach where the scar lingered. If anyone deserved to die, it was that bastard. She hoped to God that hell was real because she wanted him to burn for all eternity. He deserved that, and much worse.

The proverbial angel on her other shoulder countered: "But what about Ethan, Alana, and Rachel; do they deserve to die?" They were good people and she would basically be sending them to their deaths.

Round and round she went, teetered between the two choices. Eventually, the others had finished chewing Raklan out, and Ethan brought her out of her reverie.

"Hailey, do you know any caves around here where we can find bats?" he asked.

"The market in Arcanum," Hailey said without meaning to. It just slipped out without her thinking.

"Come again?"

"You can get potassium nitrate at the market in Arcanum." She explained. "They use it to preserve food."

"They use bat shit to preserve food?" Alana's eyes went wide. "That's gross."

"Not quite, but close enough," Hailey replied. She had always steered away from food preserved that way.

"Yeah, during the Middle ages on earth they used it for the same thing," Ethan said. "I just wish Lord Delmar didn't have his airships at Arcanum looking for us. Then we could go buy some."

"They're probably gone," Rachel said. "Standard protocol only has them looking for two days. If they haven't left yet, they will soon. It's still early, we should be able to make it back by mid-afternoon."

"Excellent." Ethan grinned. "Then we'll head back to Arcanum, pick up some saltpeter, and then we can start making some gunpowder," He finished with quite the smile on his face, showing a large array of wickedly sharp teeth.

Hailey tried to return the smile, but she didn't feel it. She had just sentenced them to death. Nobody kills a dragon that size, not unless they were in the emperor's personal guard. Even then, there weren't many of those left since that debacle a couple years back.

Her guilt faded somewhat as she thought about meeting her former owner with a knife in her hand. Fortunately, the Argo didn't keep their weapons locked up. A quick trip to the hold would be enough. That bastard was going to pay for what he'd done.

She heard that when you go out for revenge, you should first dig two graves.

She was ready to dig.

* * *

Kendra lashed her ship to the bollards on a micro-berth in Arcanum's dock. She looked around, breathed in the putrid stench of the dock and smiled; it was good to be back in civilization. Here, you could simply disappear amid the vast throng of humans, Elves, Fey, and the like. With the right clothes and style, you could be completely invisible while walking down the street.

She smiled wider, finished stowing her things in the ship, and then headed for the dock master.

"That'll be one silver deposit, plus two coppers per day," a very bored, overweight dock master mumbled when Kendra arrived.

She paid the fee, then pulled out a gold coin and rolled it back and forth on the tops of her fingers. The dock master's eyes lit up at the sight and he followed the coin on her fingers like a hawk watches its prey.

"You seem like a smart fellow who knows a good deal when he sees it," Kendra lied while doing her best to look cute. Men always were more willing to do favors when she looked cute. "I'm hoping to meet a friend here, I just don't know if he's arrived yet. Is there any way I could find out?"

The dock master was still following the gold coin rolling on the tops of her fingers when he replied. "I suppose I could take a look."

"Perfect." She purposely rolled the gold coin over the side of her finger and gave it a little nudge. It fell to the ground and rolled quite close to the dock master, who stopped it with his foot.

"Oh dear me." Kendra said in mock surprise. "I suppose the law says the one who finds it can keep it."

The dock master smiled a toothy grin, revealing he didn't have many teeth. "Who's your friend?"

"His ship is The Midnight Sun,"

The dock master flipped through his list for a minute or two before responding. "Yup, arrived over a week ago. Pier 24."

"You're such a dear," Kendra lied, and gave him a winning smile. "I appreciate it so much."

The dock master bent down to pick up his gold coin. She turned and let the fake smile fall from her face and rolled her eyes; idiot. She grabbed a bag of gear from her airship, slung it over her shoulder, and set off.

A long walk later, Kendra was on pier 24 looking at The Midnight Sun. It wasn't a large airship, but it was packed with boarding ballistae. Few ships in the ten kingdoms were faster. There wasn't a soul on deck, but her gut told her she was being watched.

"Falkaan, you old man; aren't you going to invite a girl in?" she called.

The Elf appeared on the quarter deck wearing his trademark blue sailor's coat and tricorn hat. His pale face was darker than she remembered, though still lighter than hers. The stump of his left arm was even more obvious now that he'd sewn the sleeve up.

His jet black hair still made quite the contrast with his face. His almond shaped eyes were still filled with intelligence, though they looked somehow older; more world weary. She knew he was at least fifty, but his eyes looked older; much older.

He was laughing. "How do you always know?"

"I had a good teacher," Kendra gave him a respectful nod of the head, which he returned.

"You're too kind."

She made her way up the gangplank onto Falkaan's ship and dropped her bag of gear on the deck. Falkaan climbed down from the quarterdeck and greeted her with a huge hug.

"It's been too long old friend," Falkaan said.

'Hey, who are you calling old?" she said in mock offense.

"You have an old soul," Falkaan replied, then chuckled. "I thought that's why you left the game."

"It was," Kendra touched the necklace that was still concealed beneath her shirt. "Sometimes the past won't let go though."

"You kept it," Falkaan observed. "Was that wise?"

"Probably not, but... I don't know; as close as we were, I wanted something as a keepsake."

"Curious you chose a tooth from the dragon that killed him, but I know what you mean." Falkaan touched the stump of his left arm. "I was lucky to stay whole for so long. You were smart to get out when you did."

"I couldn't take it anymore."

Falkaan nodded. "A decade is a long time, especially when you start so young."

"Eleven isn't young. Didn't you start at eight?"

"And stayed way too long," he nodded. "But enough reminiscing about a dead past; what brings you here?"

"A steel gray dragon and a wood elf."

Falkaan nodded. "Let's get some drinks."

He led her into the hold where he grabbed a bottle of mead and a few glasses. A few minutes later saw them sitting on the quarterdeck chatting away like nothing had changed in the intervening years.

"Do you ever see any of the old squad?" he asked.

"No, I went solo after..." She touched the necklace again. "I just didn't want to go through that again."

"Friends are a true luxury in life," Falkaan nodded, then waved his hand toward the city. "These people don't know how lucky they are."

"Do you ever wish you could leave all this and just settle down?"

"You can take the man out of the job, but you can't take the job out of the man," Falkaan replied. "I'm too old for family. Besides how could I ever trust someone that much?"

"Still, it would be nice," she nodded. Despite all the respect she had for her old mentor, despite all the times he'd saved her life, she wouldn't ever be able to trust him completely. He had never betrayed her trust, but he had trained her never to trust an agent - or former agent - of the emperor.

He had never steered her wrong either.

They sat in companionable silence for a bit while they sipped their mead. It was a good vintage, the honey-wine was pleasant on her tongue and soothing to the soul. As she sat there contemplating the prospect of fully trusting someone again - of having a true friend again - she found herself hoping against hope that it could happen again one day.

Sadly, she didn't think it could.

She found herself getting lost in memories of a bygone era, where trust did exist and the emperor and Illuminar Himself seemed to shine down upon her. From the depths of her heart, she wished for that again.

"So, about dragons and wood elves," Kendra finally said. "What do you know?"

"As much as I want to help, I've been on their trail too."

"Lord Delmar had someone track me down and hire me to take it out. He offered double my usual rate; quadruple if I took them alive. I'll split it with you."

Falkaan whistled. "Deal. I saw the dragon fly north five days ago, his airship - with the wood elf - left the day after."

"Are you working with any assets?"

Falkaan shook his head. "No, unless you count Mr. Damon. He's one of the best airship pilots I've ever met, but couldn't fight his way out of a burlap sack."

"You and I versus a vicious dragon?"

"Just like old times."

Kendra laughed. "You'd know about old times wouldn't you?"

Falkaan ignored her jab, "Unfortunately, it's not just the dragon and the wood elf anymore," and then he described the dragon's flame-haired companion and her parentage.

"Lord Delmar's daughter?" Kendra mused, then whistled. "How in Illuminar's name could a dragon have persuaded a Lord's daughter to follow him willingly?"

"Unknown," Falkaan shrugged. "The dragon hasn't been here long enough for a will-breaker ring either."

Kendra racked her brain for a minute trying to think of an explanation. She couldn't.

"Did you ever think some of them were innocent?" Falkaan asked after several moments.

"The dragons no. Some of the others... Not likely, but possible? Why?"

"I talked with Mr. Damon before and something about the bounty on this dragon seems... odd. Even more so if Lord Delmar is willing to pay your rates."

"Oh?"

"It was too high from the start," Falkaan explained. "Lord Delmar seems to want this dragon very badly, but I can't figure out why."

"Probably for nothing good," She couldn't decide if she was happy or concerned about that; he was a dragon after all. "Speaking of, do you still have your dragon slayer?"

Falkaan nodded. "It's in the hold. Though obviously with this arm I can't use it anymore though."

"Do you mind if I borrow it?"

Falkaan hesitated, then nodded again. "So that's why you tracked me down. You only want me for my equipment."

Kendra laughed. "Partially, dragon slayers are hard to come by and expensive as Saidow's lair to make. The other reason is you're the best tracker I've ever seen. I'm no slouch, but finding this dragon will go a lot faster with your help."

"No need," Falkaan replied. "I know exactly where the dragon is. I just needed someone with enough experience dragon slaying before I went after him. We'll leave at dawn."

Kendra grinned.

* * *

Ethan sat in the captain's cabin of the Argo trying to remember everything he'd learned about electricity and lightning. He knew electricity was nothing more than the flow of electrons from one place to another, and that Electrons were negatively charged.

He knew the earth was negatively charged, which meant it had an excess of electrons. In a thunderstorm, the clouds accumulate a negative charge at the bottom. This negative charge creates a powerful electrical field which repels the electrons on the earth's surface, temporarily making the earth positively charged.

Then when the charge imbalance was great enough, lightning would form as the electrons flowed from the negatively charged cloud to the positively charged earth.

So if he wanted to use electricity as a weapon, he needed to... Absorb electrons? That would make him negatively charged, and then when he hit someone the electrons would flow through them as electricity. He hoped it would hit like a taser or stun gun, but to absorb electrons, he needed to make himself positively charged.

Great, how do you do that?

He was sitting there trying to figure it out when he heard a knock on the cabin door.

*Knock, knock,* Alana's voice rang in his head.

"Come in."

She opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her.

Objectively speaking, Alana wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world. From Ethan's perspective though, no one else came close. Well, maybe Taloni or Beth, but no one else.

Her chocolate brown hair fell in cascading waves down her shoulders back. She had tied a lock from each of her temples so they met in the back of her head. The style allowed for an unobstructed view of her face, and what a sight it was to behold. Her lips, nose, eyes, and chin were models of feminine perfection. Her cheeks were sun-kissed and possessed a smattering of subtle freckles.

Her frame was petite and tiny, though she had all the proper curves in all the best places. Her legs weren't excessively long, but her hips were wide and her waist narrow. Her breasts weren't very large - maybe a full B-cup - but they were the perfect shape and very perky.

Ethan sighed.

She cocked her head to one side. "What?"

"I was just enjoying the view," Ethan replied while looking into her eyes; they were a rich hazel color and full of warmth and kindness.

Her cheeks went slightly pink and she gave him an embarrassed smile. "Thank you."

"Oh, I meant the door," he said in a deadpan 'I'm perfectly serious' tone. "The carving is exquisite."

Alana looked behind her at the door, which was completely plain and unadorned by carvings, or anything else for that matter. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and her smile went from one of embarrassment to an odd mix of contentment and confusion.

"You're the most unique man I've ever met."

"Thanks. I think?"

"It was a compliment. My parents always told me that the world was full of men who would try to take advantage, but there were only a few good ones. You're one of the good ones."

"I'm glad you think so." Ethan said, though the fact that he didn't agree obviously showed on his face because she frowned.

"It's true," she said. "No matter what you think, it's true."

"Again, I'm glad you think so."

Alana walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. "What's so wrong with you Ethan? Why are you so convinced you're not a good man - or dragon?"

"Beth." He said simply, recalling what happened to her.

"Everyone makes mistakes." She countered. "What if we were fighting for our lives and someone was trying to kill Rachel. Let's say I shot an arrow at the man but missed, and because I missed he was able to kill her. Would you blame me?"

"Of course not, but would you blame yourself?"

She nodded. "I see your point, but it doesn't change mine."

"True." He went over everything that had happened since coming to this world. The first day with Alana had been wonderful. After that, his life had done nothing but unravel, taking hers with it.

"I wish I could go back in time," he said finally.

"Oh?"

"To when I first came here," He continued. "It would've been so easy to lie to Hermair and say I was a dragon, not a man. If I'd only known... then he wouldn't have pursued me, you'd still have your staff farm, and we would've never gotten mixed up in all of this."

"That's not what I would change." She replied.

"Oh?"

She shook her head. "I learned what kind of man you are in those first two days. You matched wits with Drousin to save my life, and then you charged a dozen armed men to protect me - a girl you'd just met - and got shot twice doing it. Yes I lost many things, but I wouldn't change that for the world."

"Then what would you change?"

The wood elf was silent for a moment before answering. "Nothing, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Nothing?"

She shook her head. "The only thing I would even consider changing is Beth's death. But even that is... tricky. Our choices define us Ethan. Good or bad, we are forged into who we are by our actions. To wish to go back and change them is to wish the people around us were different.

"For example," she turned to face him more. "You could've lied to Hermair, but what kind of a person lies without a very good reason? Yes it would've saved you some trouble, but it would mean you aren't the honest man I know you are. I could wish we'd decided not to save Beth and her brother in the forest, but that would mean you aren't be the selfless person you are.

She smiled. "I could wish for any one of a thousand changes, but all of them would mean you wouldn't be the person I know - and love."

He put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "It's amazing how much heart you have packed into that tiny body."

She smiled as she hugged him back. "Your heart isn't any smaller."

"Man, with you and Rachel tag-teaming me, you're making it hard for a guy to wallow in self-pity."

"Good." Alana pulled away from the hug and looked at him adoringly.

She had an errant strand of hair that had fallen out of place in their hug. He reached up and gently brushed it out of her face. As he did so, the tips of his fingers brushed her cheek so lightly, he wasn't sure he made contact.

She remedied that.

She adjusted her head a fraction so his fingertips made solid - though light - contact with her cheek. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a soft sigh escape her lips at the momentary contact.

She was perfect.

He was sure of that.

Despite everything that had happened, despite everything he had put her through, she was still here, still in love with him. She was without a doubt the kindest, most loving woman he had ever met. She was also courageous, devoted, clever, and incredibly beautiful.

She was perfect.

He stared into her rich, hazel eyes for several seconds before speaking.

"I love you Alana."

"And I you." She seemed to radiate happiness for several seconds before getting a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She stood up, looked at the large bay window, and then said with barely suppressed laughter. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to jump out the nearest window..."

He laughed, then stood up and grabbed her around the waist, ostensibly to stop her. She pretended to be fighting to get at the enormous bay window. When she didn't stop, he let go with one hand so he could tickle her. She shrieked in surprise then started trying to get away in earnest. They wrestled for almost a minute with Alana trying to get away as he tickled her mercilessly.

Finally, she managed to break away but nearly fell over laughing. He was ready to go after her, but had to clutch his side he was laughing so hard at her lack of grace. They both took a few moments to catch their breath and they smiled into each other's eyes.

For a few seconds, life was perfect

Then Ethan remembered something that would likely throw a massive, battleship-sized wrench into their relationship.

"What?" She asked.

"Taloni," he said. The merry mood faded slightly, but didn't leave altogether. Her smile faltered, but remained nevertheless.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bond with her. I wasn't even awake when it happened."

"I know, but the question remains: what now?"

"I don't know," he said. "She made a really good case that bonding is just as binding as marriage, maybe more so. I never planned to be married to two women, I just find myself...

"Semi-married to two of us?" she offered.

He nodded. "If I wasn't bonded to Taloni, I'd get down on one knee with a ring right now."

Alana looked very confused. "Why in Illuminar's name would you do that?"

"It's how we propose marriage where I come from."

Alana's mouth fell open. "You would marry me?"

Suddenly Ethan felt a little embarrassed, though he wasn't sure why. "Uh, yeah. I mean, assuming you were willing."

Her smile would've cracked the room in half if it was any wider.

"But what about Taloni?" Ethan asked.

Her smile faltered a bit, but only a bit. It seemed nothing could dampen her spirits. "I don't know. The Fey take bonds even more seriously than the elves do. I'm sure in her mind you're already married."

"Exactly, I just don't know what to do about it."

"We can't ask her to leave," Alana said. "I remember what it felt like when I left so you could marry Beth... It almost killed me Ethan. Probably because of our bond, but at times it was physically painful. If she as smitten with you as I think-"

"She is." He said. He didn't understand why she was so smitten, but she certainly was.

"-then I can't ask her to do that." The wood elf smiled wryly. "I've been through it and it's terrible. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Well, maybe Lord Delmar, but I certainly wouldn't wish it on a sweet girl like Taloni."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I could feel your pain over our bond and - Lord Delmar excepted - I wouldn't wish that one anyone either.

"And just so we're clear, I'm not going anywhere." Alana gave him a look that dared him to disagree with her... and promised unending pain if he did.

"I wouldn't dream of you leaving." He said fervently. "If I never went another day without seeing you, I'd be a very happy man."

"Thank you." She smiled and blushed slightly. "That just leaves one option..."

"Which is?" he guessed what she was getting at, but couldn't believe she would suggest it.

"You're already semi-married to two women. I suppose you could be fully married to both of us."

"You're serious?" he raised his eyebrow.

She hesitated for a moment, then said "I am." He could feel her emotions over their bond and oddly, she did seem like she wasn't too bothered by it. Maybe a little, but not much. It was hard to tell though.

"And you're okay with this?" He asked to be sure.

"Do you see another option?" she asked.

"No, but there might be one,"

"I don't see it," she said. "I'm not going anywhere, and we can't send her away. I just don't have the heart; not after going through it myself. So if we're both staying..."

"I surprised you're suggesting that."

"Why?" She shrugged. "I mean it's not common but it certainly happens. I don't think most women would prefer being in a polygynous marriage, but they don't seem to hate it either."

"Wow, culture shock. It's been illegal for like... thousands of years where I come from."

"There aren't any laws against it here." She said. "Some of the rich nobles and lords have multiple wives since Ithlan set the precedent. It's not common, but it's definitely not rare either."

Ethan just stared at her. His fiancée had been the most jealous woman he'd ever been with. She would get upset if he had a short conversation with an attractive woman. Alana was the opposite. She wasn't jumping for joy at the idea, but still suggested it for Taloni's sake.

He cocked his head to one side.

She was the most giving, selfless person he had ever met; no exceptions. She seemed to put everyone else first and herself last. She was the one who told him to marry Beth after-

"Wait," he said. "If this was an option, why didn't you say something before I married Beth?"

Alana looked at him like he had just said that dragons were cuter and fluffier than newborn kittens. "Because Lord Borden is a Lord; don't you remember what he said on the topic?"

"Right," he nodded. Lord Borden's threat had been vague, but quite scary nevertheless.

"Besides, it didn't occur to me." She added. "I've always thought of marriage as two people spending their lives together. That's what I'd always hoped and dreamed of anyway." She looked away from him as she continued. "I... I don't want to lose you though, and I just couldn't hurt Taloni. I guess - if I had to - I could share you."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" He asked as his jaw went slightly slack.

"Be the kind of man who'd risk his life for a complete stranger - twice - the day we met."

He smiled and offered a hug which she fell into it at once. Surprisingly, she didn't seem too upset. Her hair smelled like the forest after a spring rain.

He didn't know what to think.

There was a part of him that loved the idea of course. What red-blooded male wouldn't love the idea of sleeping with two different women? Jus the idea was enough to make the blood rush to his cock. And yet...

He sighed.

He wanted a partner in life. He wanted someone who would always have his back and whom he could trust completely; someone who would be there to celebrate the triumphs and help him through the defeats. He wanted to be the same for her. He supposed he would have to be that for two women.

He knew Alana was right. Sending Taloni away would shatter her heart into a thousand pieces. They couldn't do that to her, and he really didn't want her to leave anyway.

"About the only thing I can think of is not trying to kill the dragon," he said, but there was no conviction in his voice. "Then she wouldn't be able to come with us."

"Could you really do that?" Alana asked as she snuggled closer into the hug.

He shook his head. "No, I couldn't."

She sighed. "You're a good man Ethan-" she pulled away from the hug so she could look at him. "I just realized I don't know your last name."

He summoned his best British accent. "The name is Ejder; Ethan Ejder."

She looked confused. "Wait, Ethan is your middle name?"

He then had to explain about James Bond's famous introduction.

"You come from a strange world,"

"So do you."

They both chuckled.

Ethan looked around the small cabin trying to figure out how two wives would work. "This could get complicated."

"What?"

"I mean, with you and Taloni," he said evasively.

"Oh?" she had a sly smile on her face. "What specifically is going to be complicated?"

She was baiting him; well two could play at that game. "I meant as far as sleeping arrangements go. I mean, where will you be during my wedding night with Taloni?"

"Maybe I'd like to watch?" Alana said with a sensual and playful smile.

The moment the words left her mouth, her eyes doubled in size. She clapped a hand over her mouth, turned beet red, and turned so her back was to him. At the same time, he felt a flash of both arousal and massive embarrassment over their bond.

He was shocked, but mostly amused and curious. "Something you want to share with the whole class?"

She shook her head. "Nope; I'm good. Please forget I said that?"

"I don't know, that was pretty memorable," he said, though he regretted it as soon as he had. Their bond had been flooded with embarrassment, now it was completely subsuming any arousal she had previously felt.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," she nodded, though she didn't turn back around to face him. "I originally came in here to tell you that we've almost reached Arcanum."

"Okay, thanks."

She opened the door, stepped out, almost turned to look at him, but didn't. He didn't need their bond to know she was still very embarrassed. The door closed and left Ethan with one burning question.

Why was Alana turned on by the idea of watching him in bed with Taloni?

* * *

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 wracked 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. That was supposed to make them angry and vengeful. 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.

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

"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 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.

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 of 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 out of 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 charge, he figure 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 just 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 certainly not 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.

However, if he had to pick between them it would be Alana; no question. He wanted her to know how much he cared for the wood elf, especially if he would end up being married to both of them.

He had a strong feeling that Taloni would want to be married the moment they set her free. That being the case, he needed to make it clear to Alana before they fought the dragon. Since they were about to collect the last gunpowder ingredient, it would probably be soon.

But what to do?

He had a couple 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 case 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 small wound.

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 was 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 quite.*

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 is curiosity was peaked. *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 stall 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's 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 make 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 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 joined 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 gave him a look.

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.

* * *

Hailey slipped through the crowd barely disturbing a single garment even though the crowd pressed in on all sides. Her stealth was made easier by the dim lighting. The red-orange hue of sunset had given way to the dark blue/gray of twilight. She had the knife under her robes, and she clutched it tightly to her chest.

"You can do this. You can do this." She said to herself for the millionth time.

She knew she could do this.

A quick excuse to Alana and she had bought herself a few hours of time before the Argo left. She had noticed Rachel watching her, and was extremely grateful that Ethan had unwittingly distracted her. If all went according to plan, The Arena Champion - her former master - would be dead and she would be back on the Argo before anyone suspected a thing. With a little luck, they would be far outside the city before anyone found the body.

"You can do this, you can do this."

That bastard was finally going to pay for... for...

Hailey pushed her grief to the back of her mind and tried to focus on the task at hand. She wasn't doing anything wrong; it couldn't be wrong. Not after everything he'd done. She knew his servants would sing her praises if they knew she'd killed him.

No one that evil deserved to live.

She was just delivering justice, she told herself. This wasn't revenge for that bastard taking everyone and everything from her. She wasn't seeking vengeance because that would be wrong. No, she was merely correcting a karmic oversight. It was right; it was just.

But still...

Hailey could feel tears forming at the corners of her eyes and she wiped them away. She didn't know who she was crying for. It wasn't for him, and it wasn't for her loss. Maybe she was crying for herself?

"You can do this, you can do this." She chanted to herself over and over again as if to convince herself that she could.

Step by step she came closer to his mansion. The house of horrors where she'd spent the worst years of her life. The things that had happened there...

She shivered

"You can do this, you can do this."

Round and round she went with herself as the walk got longer and the sun got lower. Before she knew it, twilight had given way to semi-darkness and she was within a hundred yards of that bastard's mansion.

Cold sweat was running down her back. She constantly had to slow her breathing to stop herself from hyperventilating. Her palms had long since become an advertisement for antiperspirant. She had to wipe them on her shirt so much that there was actually a damp spot from doing so.

She stood there, mere yards from the mansion walls.

It looked almost like the keep of a castle. There was a large central building that was five stories tall. The entire building was surrounded by a twelve foot wall meant to keep the peasants out. Of course, Hailey had found a way around that wall ages ago.

The central building was richly furnished, both inside and out. The windows had gold inlay and the balconies were all of expensive white marble. She knew the bastard's room was on the third floor, the corner near the arena. It wasn't the highest room, but it had a great view and a large wrap-around balcony.

She waited a little longer until night had fallen; it was certainly dark enough for what she had planned. She knew every one of the guards by name. She knew their schedules, their vices, their pastimes, their habits; everything. She had been casing this place for years waiting for the right opportunity.

She couldn't waste it.

This was it, the moment she'd been waiting for.

Suddenly, she was short of breath. She took several long, deep, calming breaths. She tried to remember what she'd learned from her yoga classes, what she'd learned from Jason about breathing deeply and slowly.

God she missed him.

Hailey felt tears stream down her cheeks. She looked up at the mansion and remembered why she was here. Her hand drifted down to the scar on her stomach.

"You can do this, you can do this," she repeated again.

Her whole body was covered in cold sweat. It took almost a minute for her to get her hands dry enough to scale the walls. She thrust her knife into her belt and took a deep breath.

It was time.

She took a running start at the wall and jumped. She pushed off the wall to get an extra bit of height, which was just enough to catch the thin rope she'd tied there long ago for this purpose, and used to return from the Arena countless times. Mere seconds later, she was looking over the top of the wall into the kitchen courtyard.

The courtyard was clear as the slaves had already drawn all the water for the evening. She was thankful she no longer countered herself among them.

The guards were - as usual - not paying any attention to anything happening inside the courtyard. They were too busy hitting on the maids who'd come to bring them dinner. She could hear her friend Vienne flirting with one of them as usual. She kept hoping one of the guards would marry her and buy her freedom from their master.

Hailey waited until no one was looking, then hoisted herself up on top of the wall and ran along it to where it met the main building. She flattened herself against the wall, trusting to the darkness and the guards' general laziness to protect her.

Now that she was in action, she felt better. There was that rush of adrenaline from the job that she hadn't realized she missed. The thrill of penetrating security which the owners thought was impregnable was just as intoxicating as ever. This time though, her goal wasn't cash or jewels; it was something far more meaningful.

She stole alone the wall, balancing on the two-inch wide stone trim as if it was a sidewalk. Less than a minute later, she jumped up and grabbed the lower ledge of the third floor balcony.

Seconds later, she stood upright on the bastard's balcony with a knife in her hands. As usual, the lanterns and candles in the room weren't lit. The Bastard always went to bed at sundown because he said he preferred only to be conscious in Illuminar's light. What a pretentious asshole. She'd read the Book of Light one day because she was bored. She was sure Illuminar was one step short of striking him with lightning for his sins.

Since their God wasn't doing His job, she figured she would take up the slack.

Hailey stole into the room barely making a sound. Even in the dim light she could see it was still ornately furnished. The tapestries on the walls were full of red, purple, and gold thread. All of the candlesticks and sconces were made of gold. Plus, the sculptures and paintings in the room were commissioned from the most expensive artists in Arcanum.

When she looked toward the bed, her lips curled in disgust.

Chained to the foot of the bed was a girl who looked like Hailey felt. She was dressed in a tattered and ripped dress that was clearly beyond repair. She had tried to arrange it to cover herself, but the dress was too far gone to fully protect her modesty.

Her eyes were red and the trail of tears that flowed from them had made a wet spot on the carpet. The bits of exposed skin Hailey could see were covered with red marks and even a few minor cuts, probably from a whip of some kind. Without the pain and anguish on her face, the girl would've been very beautiful.

Hailey put her finger to her lips, then stole over to her. The girl didn't make a sound as Hailey pulled out a bit of metal she'd stolen long ago and used it to pick the crude lock on the girl's manacle. It popped open after a few seconds of work.

"Get out of here," Hailey mouthed as she pointed at the door.

A look of complete terror flooded the girl's face and she shook her head violently, looking toward where her master lay sleeping. Hailey pulled out her knife, motioned toward the sleeping Bastard, and then mimed a throat being cut. The girl nodded, then stood up and slipped out of the room through the unlocked door to the hallway.

Hailey turned toward The Bastard.

She raised the knife and took a few steps toward the head of the bed. He was sleeping there peacefully, like he actually deserved rest. Like he hadn't just done unspeakable things to that girl, juts as he'd done the same to countless others before her. Hailey thought of Jason, and then touched the scar on her stomach again.

Tears filled her eyes. Her hand shook uncontrollably and her entire body was suddenly drenched in cold sweat again. She was here; finally. She was inches away from the Bastard who...

Hailey blinked several times, fighting back tears.

He needed to suffer.

It was time.

* * *

Ethan fingered the small leather braid concealed in his hand. Rachel had helped him pick out some suitable leather strips and showed him how to braid them together. It was a four-strand braid and looked a little like chain when finished. Then Rachel had taught him a spell to join the ends of the leather together to make them a single continuous braid that - hopefully - would soon be fastened around Alana's wrist.

The sun was almost set when Ethan and Rachel returned to the Argo. The sky was a beautiful mosaic of reds, oranges, pinks and purples. He couldn't have picked more romantic mood lighting if he tried.

Ethan and Rachel made a beeline for the quarterdeck and - as agreed - Rachel asked Anthiel to leave the ship's wheel for a few minutes.

*Hey, could you come up to the quarterdeck?* Ethan asked Alana telepathically.

*Sure,* Alana replied. *What were you and Rachel talking about?*

*You'll see.*

When Alana made it up to the quarterdeck, Ethan held out his hand in invitation for her to take it. She gave him an odd look and hesitated a moment before doing so. Ethan smiled then led her to the rear of the quarterdeck. It was as private as possible without losing the romantic setting sun. Once there, he turned and looked her in the eye. She smiled at him, and the sight just about took his breath away.

"You are easily the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," Ethan said with complete honesty.

She blushed.

He reached a finger out and tucked her chocolate brown hair behind one of her pointy ears. He let his finger brush the tip of her ear, which elicited a soft, barely-audible sigh from her. The skin of her ears was so smooth and her hair so soft and silky.

She smiled at him. It was a coy, slightly confused, but contented smile. Her cheeks had the cutest little dimples and her lips were perfect; not too large, not too small, but full and with a natural touch of red.

Surely, if God decided to create the perfect woman, it would've been Alana.

"Alana, you are the best woman I've ever met. I've put you through more pain that anyone should ever have to endure, and yet you've stayed with me through all of it."

His eyes got slightly moist as he continued. "After what happened with my fiancé, I never thought I'd find someone I could truly trust, but I trust you implicitly. In the short time I've known you, you've added more joy and happiness to my life than I ever thought possible. You're my northern star, my true companion and even if I could make it through this life without you, I wouldn't want to."

He got down on one knee, which was surprisingly difficult given the hock-joint arrangement of his hind legs. He opened his hand so she could see the braid therein concealed. She gave a sharp intake of breath and covered her mouth. Her face was a mask of shock and surprise.

Ethan took a deep breath. "Alana Tarihowen, will join your soul with mine as the strands of this braid are joined? Will you marry me?"

TO BE CONTINUED...