***I self-edit and admit editing isn't my greatest skill. I apologize in advance for anything I missed.***

CHAPTER 17: Home is where the defibrillator is

Ring! Ring!

Selene groaned as she reach over to the hotel's nightstand to grab the phone that was disturbing her sleep. She managed to find it without opening her eyes and pulled it to her ear.

"Agent Dawson." She mumbled sleepily.

"Get up boot." Mason barked came from the other end. "There's a lot of work to do today and we're burning daylight."

She opened her eyes just enough to see that it was barely light outside. Dawn probably wouldn't be for another hour but Mason was an early bird.

"Okay." She groaned.

"I'll see you downstairs in forty." He said. "There's some paperwork at the Sherriff's office you need to fill out before you start interviewing the previous victims' friends and family today."

"Copy all." She mumbled and then hung up.

She had been up late the previous night studying the files because she thought she would have a little time to sleep in.

Oh well.

She got up and started the shower in the hotel's bathroom. It wasn't fancy, but it would get her presentable enough to go interviewing. First up on the list was Jason Stiles and Melinda Estello, the boyfriend and best friend of Hailey Oswald.

She sighed and started getting ready for the day.

* * *

Passing through the portal was one of the most unique experience of Ethan's life. It felt like getting a bone deep chill which then completely disappeared, only to be replaced by a slight warming sensation and simultaneously no small amount of chills. He did his best to ignore it though because he was worried Gonorran might be waiting on the other side.

He finished passing through the portal, landed on his feet and looked around wildly.

He was in the middle of a clearing that was about fifty feet in diameter in the middle of some woods. There was a trail in front of him leading deeper into the woods. It extended into the clearing up to his feet, and there were muddy footprints in the ground leading up to it. Probably from the teachers, children, and Gonorran's men.

There was no sign of the necromancer himself.

Looking around the clearing revealed no hint of movement or sounds beyond the birds and insects you would usually find in a forest. Judging by the morning sun, he guessed it was around eight o' clock, which was roughly the same time that he'd left. Apparently, the two worlds had very similar day/night cycles.

Knowing he didn't have long, he thought to Alana: *The coast looks clear, come on over.*

He took a few steps forward to get out of the way and moments later Hailey, Rachel, Alana, the six children, and their two teachers passed through the portal and stepped onto Earth.

Moments after stepping through the portal, Alana staggered slightly and then stumbled forward, barely catching herself and almost toppling completely.

"Are you okay?" He asked grabbing her arm to help keep her steady.

She nodded, but seemed to be panting for breath.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine, I think." She said after a moment.

"And the baby?"

The wood elf put her hand on her stomach then nodded. "She's fine too."

Ethan heard a sound like a drain circling and looked back at the portal. The outer edges were collapsing on themselves like water running down drain. They continued to swirl and get smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared from sight.

The portal was closed.

He turned his attention back to his wife and put a comforting hand on her back. "Will you be okay? I can asked Taloni to reopen the portal if something is wrong."

"Just give me a minute." His wife said as she took deep, measured breaths.

"The barrier is thicker here." Rachel said.

Alana and Ethan both looked at the redhead and simultaneously said. "What?"

Rachel smiled at their synchronicity and then slowly waved her hand in front of herself as if feeling an invisible wall.

"The barrier between our world and the Ether." The flame-haired teen explained. "All life pulls mana through it to survive; it's thicker here. It's harder to draw mana through it."

"That's it." Alana panted as if out of breath. "I didn't realize... It's almost like it's hard to breathe because I can feel there's not enough mana coming through the Ether for me."

"We'll get you back now then." He replied in alarm. "I'll tell Taloni to--"

"They couldn't reopen the portal for several hours at least." Rachel interjected. "It takes a lot of mana to open, and they would've drained nearly all their regular mana to power the portal. They'll need to spend the better part of a day meditating to restore it."

"I'll be fine Ethan, it just caught me off guard." Alana said as she straightened up. She didn't look quite 'fine', but she looked a little better. "I can draw enough mana that I'll be okay for several days, maybe a week or two if I don't use magic. I just might need to stop and meditate to collect mana occasionally. And please stay near me; I collect it much faster while you're around."

"Okay." He turned to Rachel. "How about your?"

"I can feel the difference, but not as strongly." The redhead replied. "Humans don't draw or consume as much magic as elves do, so I while I can feel the difference, it shouldn't affect me much. It'll take forever to replenish my mana, but otherwise I'll be fine."

"It's a good thing Taloni isn't here." Alana said. "The Fey draw and consume more mana than even the elves do. She wouldn't do well here at all."

"I'm glad she's safe on..." He cocked his head to one side. "What do you call your world anyway?"

"They don't have a name for their planet." Hailey interjected. "They just call it 'the Ten Kingdoms'; anything outside of that is considered barbarian lands."

"Okay." He nodded and then turned to the two schoolteachers. "Do you needed us to walk you back, or are you okay on your own?"

"Um, we'd like to follow you if that's okay." The older and large one -- Marge --replied. "I don't think that horrible man is around here, but I rather not take the chance."

"No problem." Ethan nodded.

"Thank you." The younger and prettier one -- Sally -- said, though she still kept her distance from him. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"Speaking of, could you maybe not tell anyone about us for a day or two?" Ethan asked. "We need to get a few things to save a..." He considered how to describe Beth, and decide to skirt the truth for the sake of time. "...a friend and I don't want to run afoul of the police."

"We can, and thank you again." She replied and then turned to the kids. "Come on, it's time to go home."

"But I want to see Talanoni again." One of them whined and the others agreed.

*You have a fan club.* Ethan thought to his Fey wife as the two schoolteachers managed to wrangle the kids into a single file line to follow them.

*Oh?* Taloni replied.

*Yup, when faced with the prospect of going home, the kids loudly complained that they wanted to see you again.*

*Aww.* She said.

He felt a fluttering of warm emotions over their bond and couldn't help but smile. He turned his attention back to the present, where Alana was looking at him with her head cocked to the side. She looked better; not perfect and she was slightly pale, but better.

"Were you talking to Taloni" She asked.

"Yeah, why?"

She shrugged. "Just curious. It's weird to know there's a conversation going on right next to me when I can't hear it." She turned to Rachel. "Okay, I can see how that might be a little annoying."

Rachel smiled knowingly.

It would've come across as arrogant on anyone else, but on the redhead it came across as merely confident. Still, it would be nice to not limit the telepathic conversation to just one wife at a time.

"It seems like there must be a way to talk to all of you at once." He said as he thought about it.

Alana smiled. "I would like that."

"Me too." He looked around, took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. It felt good to be back on Earth. If Alana couldn't stay long because of the barrier, he certainly couldn't ever move back to Earth. A tiny part of him was sad, but surprisingly, most of him wasn't. He had built a really wonderful life with Alana and Taloni, and hopefully Beth would join them soon. He wouldn't give it up for the world.

"Is it weird being back?" Alana asked.

"Maybe a little." He looked at her beautiful face. She had that 'girl next door' kind of beauty which seemed to shine no matter what she was wearing or how she did -- or didn't -- fix herself up. She was just a joy to have around.

"What?" she asked as he gazed at her.

He walked up to her, pulled her close and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She kissed back, and he could feel how much she loved him in the kiss.

It was wonderful.

"What was that for?" She asked when they had parted.

"For you being you." He smiled at her. She smiled back and hugged him, which he returned.

"I like you too." She said as she snuggled up closer to him. "Speaking of 'you being you', what did you look like before getting all the scales?"

"Um..." He glanced down at the disguise gem. "I suppose I could try to show you." He focused on what he remembered himself looking like in the mirror before pushing a bit of mana in to the gem.

Alana squinted at him, having a hard time seeing the actual disguise because she could see right through the disguise gem. "I still think you're handsome."

"Whatever" Rachel said with a mischievous look and a mock dismissive wave of her hand. "You'd think he was handsome with scales." She winked.

"He is." She said gazing at him.

Ethan noticed Rachel shifting slightly uncomfortably on her feet at this pronouncement, so he turned to Hailey. "Alright, lead on."

Hailey gulped.

She looked slightly nauseous and extremely nervous. Alana walked over to her and put an arm around her waist. He guessed she would've put it around her shoulder, but the wood elf was at least six inches shorter.

"Hailey, it'll be okay." The chocolate hair elf reassured the trembling human. "We'll be with you every step of the way."

Hailey took a deep breath. "Okay."

"How far is it?" Ethan asked, picking up the weapons he'd dropped when Alana had looked ill. He doubted they would actually run into Gonorran, but better safe than sorry.

She glanced at the trail. "Maybe twenty minutes to walk? I always took a back way in because there were rarely any people on it."

"Then lead on."

Hailey nodded and they set out.

* * *

Hailey couldn't believe she was back.

She had spent years longing to be back and now she was. She had run this forest every morning for months and missed it so much. It smelled the same, looked the same, even felt the same. Nothing had changed in the intervening four years.

Well, almost nothing.

She was walking through a forest on Earth leading a mage, a wood elf, a dragon, and some people they'd just rescued from a slaver's compound on another world that she herself had once occupied.

She shuddered.

She didn't want to think of that right now. She was home; at last she was home. Well, almost home. She didn't know if Jason had moved, but doubted it because his apartment was right above the Yoga studio he managed. The commute was less than thirty seconds if he was feeling slow and lazy, so he probably wouldn't have moved away.

At least, she hoped he hadn't moved away. If he had, she didn't know how to find him.

About five minutes later, they reached a fork in the trail with a branch off to the right. Hailey knew that just a short way down the fork was a visitor's station for the State Park, which is probably why the two school teachers stopped.

"I think this is our stop." Marge said. "The visitor's station is just down this path, and we can call the police and parents from there."

"Take care of yourselves." Ethan said.

They nodded and started wrangling the kids down the fork. Once they were out of sight, the rest of them continued walking down the trail towards town.

About five minutes later, they came out by the road on the edge of the downtown area of the small town. It only had ten thousand residents, but there were usually a lot more tourists coming through the place. The downtown area was carefully cultivated to give it a homey, old-time feel which attracted a lot of tourists. Add the beautiful State Park nearby and it was a certified tourist trap, though a small one. She noted that the same antique stores, boutiques, and specialty stores that tourists love were still lining the opposite side of the street.

It really hadn't changed.

"Hang on a moment." Ethan said, then turned to Alana. "Let me have your bow and arrows."

The wood elf surrender them and he walked back up the trail with the weapons, and return a minute later without them. She assumed he'd hidden them, which was a good idea. The local constabulary probably wouldn't take kindly to them walking around with them.

"What is that?" Alana breathed from behind her.

Hailey turned around to see wood elf staring at a little commuter car with something between fascination and fear. Rachel looked equally impressed.

"It's called a 'car'." Ethan explained a bit about how they worked and both women from the other world looked appropriately impressed.

"What genius thought up that technology?" Rachel wondered aloud with amazement when Ethan was done explaining.

"Scientists." Ethan said with a satisfied smile.

Rachel looked skeptical, but nodded.

Hailey led the way across the street while listening to the stunned whispers behind her as the chocolate-haired brunette and the redhead pointed and gasped in fascination at almost everything. Street lights, cars, bicycles; everything.

"Wait until you see a Wal-Mart." She heard Ethan say with a laugh.

Their delighted wonder provided a nice distraction for Hailey, who was taking each step slightly more hesitantly than the last. Her palms had started to get sweaty. She tried taking deep, calming breaths; but she was starting to hyperventilate anyway.

"You can do this, you can do this." She whispered quietly to herself over and over.

Only two more blocks.

"Hailey, it'll be okay." Alana reassured her.

"I don't know if I can do this." She felt herself stop as each successive step became more and more nerve-wracking.

"You can do it." Ethan said confidently. "After everything that you've been through, would you just give up?"

She shook her head.

"We'll be right there with you." The wood elf said. "I know it's hard, but it's what you want, right?

She nodded.

"It's the home stretch; you can do this." Ethan said encouragingly.

Hailey nodded again and again turned toward Jason's apartment. She almost considered visiting Melinda first, but her best friend hated her apartment and had been looking to move out years ago, so...

"This is it." She said a minute later, then took a deep breath.

They were standing in front of a large brick building with a large window looking into the yoga studio inside. On the right side of the window was a green door. She hesitated for a moment, then went to it, pulled it open and walked up a set of stairs leading into a short hallway. She passed the first door and stopped in front of the second.

"We're here." She announced.

Everyone else was gathered in the hallway behind her. She couldn't believe she was finally here. The door still had the tiny little Christmas ornament wreath on it. They had bought it on her and Jason's first Christmas because money was so tight and they couldn't afford anything else. They'd liked it so much, they left it up year-round.

It was still there.

For some reason, that gave her hope.

"Go ahead." Rachel gently prodded.

Hailey took a deep breath, raised her hand, and knocked on the door.

"One minute." A female voice called from inside.

A woman's voice? Hailey had a sudden moment of panic, wondering if perhaps Jason had found a new girlfriend. But on second thought, it sounded a little like her best friend Melinda. She and Jason were good friends and she did yoga. Maybe she stopped over before a class?

Thirty seconds later, the door opened.

"Sorry, I'm still not used to..." Melinda trailed off as she saw who was at the door. "Hailey?" She breathed.

"Hi Mels." Hailey replied, and she couldn't help but smile.

They stared at each other for a moment, then Melinda almost lunged forward and pulled Hailey into the tightest hug she'd ever received. Her best friend squeezed so tight she thought she might crack a rib. Oddly, there was rather more pressure against her stomach than she would've expected given the angle Melinda was at.

"Oh my God, girl." Melinda breathed. "I missed you so much."

"Imruffmdwutwo." Hailey tried to reply, but she couldn't breathe.

Melinda loosened her grip slightly. "Where were you? How did you get back?"

"It's a long story." Hailey sighed.

Melinda pulled back, tears of joy running down her cheeks. "I can't believe you're back."

"I am. I finally am." She felt tears coming out of her own eyes too. She couldn't believe she was home. Finally. "Let me look at you." She said giving her best friend the once over.

As always, Melinda was trim and fit; her nearly flawless olive skin and thick, dark hair betraying her Hispanic origin. Her hair was loose, falling a little past her shoulders covering the spaghetti straps of the casual tank top she was wearing.

But that's not what stood out.

The rather large bulge on her stomach stood out in stark contrast to the rest of her slender body.

"Mels, are you..." Hailey's eyes nearly bugged out. "What happened to all your rants about children and birth being gross?"

Suddenly, Melinda looked a little sheepish; almost guilty. "It wasn't quite... I mean we didn't plan on having a baby."

"We?" Hailey smiled. "There's a 'we'? So who's the guy and when can I meet him?"

Melinda glanced back into the apartment. "He's um... He's..."

Hailey heard a door open and then a male voice from deeper in the apartment. It was a voice she'd dreamed about for four long years. But what he said made her stomach clench and her heart fall to somewhere around the building's basement.

"Hey babe, who's at the door?"

* * *

Kendra sighed as she pulled the last of the camouflage over her tiny little airship. It really wasn't necessary though. There was an enchantment on the ship that made it hard for anyone to find it unless they were looking for it. Still, better safe than sorry.

She hoisted her rucksack onto her back, double-checked to make sure her bow, quiver, and short sword were in their respective places, then set off. She would've preferred to bring the Dragon Slayer bow, but she only had one Dragon Slayer arrow, and the bow was too strong for normal wooden arrows; they would break apart under the strain.

She set out toward the dragon's airship, determined to have a good observation post by lunchtime. She'd been too far away for too long and hadn't seen as much as she would've liked. She needed to get closer so she could see better and maybe even hear something.

She wasn't sure if the dragon was good, and she hadn't ruled out him being evil either. She needed more information, which she couldn't get from so far away. Since they seemed to have docked for a while, she thought this was a perfect opportunity to spy them out.

Besides, they were way out in the middle of nowhere. What could possibly happen?

* * *

Ethan was pretty sure he had never seen in a more awkward situation in his life. He really felt for Hailey; to return to this after all her heartache and time away just didn't seem fair. Melinda had gone stiff, her eyes looking like a deer in the headlights at Jason's question.

Hailey had likewise frozen.

"Honey, who is it?" A male voice -- who he assumed was Jason -- called again from another room.

"It's..." Melinda seemed to be struggling for words. "You should come out here." She finally called over her shoulder and then turned to the rest of them. "You better come in."

"Be out in a minute." Jason called.

Hailey still seemed frozen. Alana gently took her arm and nudged her forward, leading her into the apartment.

The apartment itself was quite nice. It was an open floor plan, and the only thing separating the kitchen area from the living area was a counter. There were three doors off the main room, one of which was slightly ajar and led to a bathroom. He guessed the other two led to bedrooms.

There was a gas fireplace with fake logs along one wall and several pictures on the mantle. Prominently displayed in the center was a large picture of Hailey smiling with her arms around both Melinda and Jason. Just in front of it was a very nice plaque which said "In Loving Memory". The whole arrangement looked like it was done with great love and care.

Alana steered Hailey to one of the couches in the living area and sat her down. Hailey offered no resistance and appeared to be stunned. She sat down with a blank expression on her face. Her hands flopped to her sides.

Ethan and Rachel followed the wood elf into the apartment and Melinda closed the door behind them.

"Please, have a seat; any friend of Hailey's is a friend of mine." Melinda said slightly awkwardly. "Um, can I get you anything?"

"Just water please." Ethan replied.

"Make that two." Rachel said, and he got the sense that she was following his lead because she was in his world and culture. Melinda nodded, retrieved two bottled waters from the kitchen and handed one to each of them.

Rachel looked at it with interest before turning to him and whispering with awe. "How did you make flexible glass?"

"It's not glass, it's plastic." He whispered back, then twisted the top off and took a swig. Rachel imitated him, delighted at the simplicity of a screw off cap. He supposed they didn't have those in the Ten Kingdoms.

"Hey Mel, who's..." Jason had finally left the bedroom but stopped as he saw everyone. His hair was wet and he had clearly just taken a shower.

He looked like he should've been in a cologne ad.

He was tall, at least six feet and very well built, but not with bulging muscles like a body builder. Instead, he had a lean look like an Olympic gymnast or swimmer. He had dark hair, a strong jaw, and a bit of stubble like he hadn't shaved yet. He was exactly what you might think of when someone says "tall, dark, and handsome". He would've looked perfectly at home playing James Bond, except that he was wearing blue jeans and a fitted white T-shirt.

Jason's jaw dropped when his eyes fell on Hailey.

The willowy woman looked back at him, still stunned and almost expressionless. Jason's eyes flicked to the picture on the mantle, then to Melinda, then to Melinda's very pregnant belly, then back to Hailey.

There was a tense silence for several seconds.

"Hailey, how are you..." Jason said.

She didn't respond, seemingly too stunned to speak.

Jason frowned, then at her silence appeared to start quoting something: "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems."

That seemed to jar Hailey back to reality. She cracked a smile and recited back in a whispered voice: "See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like." She looked down, then at him again. "You remembered."

"How could I forget?" He replied.

Ethan was rather confused; Rachel and Alana looked mildly disturbed.

"It's from a TV show; Firefly." Hailey explained to them, Jason's humor seeming to have shocked her back to herself. "Our favorite; we marathoned it the night we moved in here."

Jason walked forward to sit next to Hailey, opening his arms for a hug. She felt into it and he held her for a moment. If Ethan had been in doubt that Jason cared about Hailey, any doubt would've been erased at seeing him hold her like this. It wasn't sexual, but it was intimate. A blind man could've see that he cared about her deeply.

Ethan's eyes flicked to Melinda, who looked quite conflicted. She didn't look jealous though, more like a mixture of sublime happiness and anxiety. He didn't blame her, nor envy the situation that the three of them were in.

Jason looked at Hailey in amazement when their hug broke. "How are you back? We thought you were..." He pointed to the mantle with the 'In Loving Memory' plaque.

"I almost was a few times." The former slave replied, managing a tiny smile. "It's thanks to Ethan; he rescued me."

Jason looked at Ethan for the first time, then walked up and stuck out his hand, which Ethan shook.

"Mel and I owe you one man." Jason said fervently. "If you ever need anything -- anything at all -- just ask."

"I was happy to help." He replied honestly.

Melinda seemed to have overcome her shock and walked over to the couch to sit beside Hailey. The Latina opened her arms for a hug, which the former slave fell into.

Then the tears started.

Hailey started first and then Melinda. The willowy woman seemed overcome with emotion and laid her head on the pregnant woman's shoulder and just started sobbing. He couldn't tell if they were happy tears or the other kind, but he was willing to bet it was a mixture of both. Melinda held her and starting crying too, though hers were obviously tears of joy.

Jason walked around behind the couch and put his arms around both of them, giving them both a huge hug.

Alana slipped off the couch and to Ethan's side. *I'm really glad she found them again.* She said telepathically.

*Me too, but they definitely have some things to figure out.* He inclined his head toward Melinda, who was clearly very pregnant. *Having multiple wives is actually a crime here.*

Alana blinked, looking incredulous. *A crime? Like, it's illegal and they might throw you in prison for it?"

He nodded.

*But that's so cruel!* The wood elf exclaimed telepathically. She glanced towards the woods where the portal leading to Taloni and Beth was. *You mean a man can't marry two women, even if he loves them both?*

He nodded again.

*So, he'd be forced to choose between them, even if he loved them both and they both loved him?*

He nodded a third time.

Alana almost started tearing up. *That is so cruel.*

*I never really thought about it before, but yeah; I suppose it is.* He cocked his head to one side. He really hadn't thought about it before, but now that he considered it...

If anyone tried to take Alana, Beth or Taloni from him, he was pretty sure he would tear them limb from limb. He could feel the draconic instincts inside of him both purring in agreement and beginning to grow very angry at the mere thought of losing one of his wives.

*Couldn't they appeal to the lord, or king and change the law?* Alana asked.

*The people here choose their own leaders every few years.* Ethan explained. *I suppose if enough people demanded a change, they would get it.*

*Well they should.* Alana replied with fierceness in her mental tone. *It's just not right!*

*I guess I can't argue with that.* He nodded.

*Isn't there anywhere Jason, Melinda, and Hailey could go?*

*Not here.* He shook his head. *There's one state -- Utah -- that basically decriminalized polygyny, but otherwise it's quite illegal. Often not prosecuted, but definitely illegal.*

*I really hope they can work things out then. It would be so sad to come all this way and get your heart broken.*

*Agreed.* He frowned. *Melinda and Hailey might not want that though. Here, women expect a man to only have one woman. It's possible neither woman would be willing to share.*

Alana frowned. *Well, I hope they can work something out.*

*Me too.*

He noticed that just behind her, Rachel was giving them a strange look. It wasn't quite annoyance, nor jealously, nor happiness, nor longing, nor frustration; but it definitely included most of those. He raised his eyebrow at her. She hesitated, then shook her head and looked back toward the others.

He frowned; that was an odd look coming from the redheaded teen.

It was slightly awkward standing there while Hailey and Melinda sobbed it out on the couch. Jason had stood up again and appeared to be waiting for the girls to finish. He happened to meet eyes with Ethan, who could tell the other man had seen the potential issues that he and Alana had just discussed.

Ethan had never stopped to consider just how lucky -- or blessed -- he was that Alana, Beth, and Taloni had so quickly warmed to the idea of sharing him as their husband. He knew his dragon side had something to do with it, but Jason didn't have that advantage.

Further, most of Earth -- especially the United States where they lived -- simply wasn't setup to for a man to have multiple wives, or girlfriends, or multiple romantic relationships of any kind. Besides it being illegal, it was also a cultural taboo.

He didn't envy Jason.

"Where were you all this time?" Melinda asked as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She replied, wiping her equally tear-streaked cheeks.

"It can't be worse than what we imagined." Melinda said, to which Hailey let out a sound somewhere between a sob, a laugh, and a snort.

Jason looked at Ethan with a questioning expression.

He grimaced, then nodded.

There was relative silence for the next minute as Hailey and Melinda calmed down and the tears of both joy and sadness slowed then stopped. It was wonderful to see Hailey looking so happy, and he felt proud of his part in making it happen. Alana gave him a hug and he could tell that she felt the same.

Jason got a mischievous look on his face as the girls calmed down, then said with a Joker-esque smile while rubbing his stomach. "Well that was fun. Who's for Chinese?"

Hailey and Melinda chuckled.

"Batman, the animated series." Hailey said by way of explanation at the confused looks on Ethan, Alana, and Rachel's faces.

"In all seriousness though, I'm so glad you're back Hailey." Jason said a little more soberly.

"Me too." She replied.

"Me three." Melinda added in an excited, mock-child voice. It seemed that Jason's penchant for lightening the mood with humor had rubbed off on the Latina woman.

"I can't thank you enough." Jason said to the Argo's crew.

"You're welcome." Ethan replied. "I don't want to open a whole can of worms, but I want to make sure Hailey is okay; can she stay with you two?" He asked them.

Melinda and Jason looked at Hailey, then at each other, then at the Latina's very pregnant belly. Hailey looked very unsure.

"You don't need to--" she began, but they cut her off.

"Of course she can." Melinda said at the same time that Jason said "Absolutely."

"Are you sure that's--" Ethan started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

* * *

FBI Agent Selene Dawson double checked that the address on her phone matched the address on the door next to the yoga studio. It matched, so she opened the green door and walked up the steps to the second floor apartments. She checked the numbers on the two doors before knocking on the farther one, which had a small Christmas tree ornament of a Christmas wreath hanging from the door.

There was no answer at the door so she knocked again.

"One minute." A voice called.

Several seconds later, the door opened and the man she was looking for -- Jason -- was standing in the doorway. The picture hadn't done him justice; he was very handsome. Beyond him, she could see several other people, including Melinda and...

Selene stared at Hailey Oswald.

She had been missing for four years, but now she was sitting on her friend's couch with what looked like tears of joy on her face.

How?

"Can I help you?" Jason asked.

Selene tore her eyes from the formerly missing person. "Hi, I'm agent Selene Dawson with the FBI. I needed to talk to you regarding the disappearance -- and apparently the reappearance -- of Hailey Oswald."

Jason broke into a wide smile. "She just came back this morning, a few minutes ago."

"May I come in?" Selene asked.

He nodded and stepped aside.

There were three other people in the room. One was a tiny chocolate-haired brunette. The second had red hair which slowly faded to blonde at the tips, making it look like her head was on fire. She was clearly in her late teens, but something about her demeanor and disposition made her seem older.

But it was the third person that captured her attention.

Something about him was... well... "off".

It wasn't anything in specific, more like a general feeling that something wasn't right. Reading people was a hobby of hers, and something about him just didn't seem right. There was something vaguely predatory about him, not that most people would notice. Something about him just screamed 'predator' and she got the distinct impression that he was dangerous.

Plus, he looked familiar.

She wasn't sure where she'd seen him before, but she was sure that she had. She was pretty sure it wasn't in person. Maybe on the news? An article somewhere? She didn't know but she couldn't place him and she knew that was going to drive her crazy until she figured it out. She pushed that to the back of her mind and turned towards Hailey, making sure she could still see this man in her peripheral vision.

"Are you Hailey Oswald?" She asked the willowy woman on the couch.

"I am."

"Pardon my bluntness, but how are you here? You've been missing for four years."

"Um, I escaped." Hailey finally said, then gestured to the brunette, the flame haired girl, and the man. "They helped me."

Selene pulled out her notepad as she faced them. "Could I get your names please?"

The brunette did a small, formal curtsey and said in a formal way said: "I am Alana Ejder, called dra--" She stopped, and Selene got the impression that she had stopped in the middle of a very ritualistic way of greeting someone. Something about her last name seemed familiar too.

"Called...?" Selene prompted.

Alana looked at the man, nodded as if she'd heard something, then looked back at her. "I suppose my nickname isn't really important."

Selene felt her suspicions growing, but they hadn't done anything overtly suspicious... yet. She decided to let it drop to prevent their guard from going up.

"And you?" Selene asked the redhead.

"Rachel Delmar."

"And you sir?" Selene asked the man.

"Ethan."

"Ethan...?" She prompted.

"Just Ethan." He said. "Like Beyoncé, or Bono."

Selene raised her eyebrow; he was lying. He wasn't even very good at it. "Can I see some identification?"

"I don't have it on me." He replied. He was telling the truth, but also clearly hiding something.

Selene frowned. "I'll need the three of you to come down to the field office to make a statement."

"I'd rather not." Ethan replied. "We're on a tight schedule and have some important business we need to finish."

"You're a material witness to a crime." Selene countered. "That makes you important to our investigation."

"No, I'm a material witness to a rescue." He corrected. "We didn't do much more than give Hailey a lift, so we aren't witnesses to a crime."

Selene narrowed her eyes; this fellow was hiding something. "I could arrest you for obstruction of justice."

"Bullshit." He shook his head. "The fifth amendment means I don't have to talk to any law enforcement official, which includes you." He paused, then added. "I'm only talking now as a curtesy."

She opened her mouth to respond when her phone started ringing. "Hang on one moment."

She pulled out her phone and saw the caller ID; it was Mason. She turned to Jason. "It's my boss, can I borrow your bathroom to take it?" She didn't think it was wise at this point to step out into the hall, as they might not let her back in.

"Sure." He nodded.

Selene accepted the call as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "Agent Dawson."

"Get back here boot; they turned up." He said gruffly.

"Who turned up?"

"The missing teachers and the kids. All of them. They just showed up at a visitor's station the forest this morning."

"All of them?" Selene breathed as her mouth fell open.

"All of them." He replied.

"Plus one." She said. "I just found Hailey Oswald from an early case alive and well."

"Tell her to come by the Sheriff's office later to get a statement. Right now, I want to focus on the teachers and kids."

"Will do boss." Selene said and then hung up.

She opened the door to the bathroom and several whispered voices became silent immediately.

She frowned.

"I need to go; they just found the missing teachers and kids." She announced.

"Good luck." Ethan said with what almost sounded like a growl. He might as well have said "Good riddance."

She narrowed her eyes, then an Idea stuck her and she turned to Hailey. "Miss Oswald, my boss didn't believe me when I said you had turned up. Would you mind if I took a picture for proof?"

Hailey shrugged. "Go ahead."

Quick as a flash, Selene twisted her phone twice in her hand to activate the camera, then pulled it up and snapped a quick photo. She was fast enough that the three odd characters didn't have time to leave the frame. Thanks to the miracle of anti-blur technology, the photo was very clear. Not perfect, but very clear.

"Thank you for you cooperation." She said and then left the apartment. Halfway down the stairs, she nearly facepalmed herself for forgetting to ask Hailey to come down to the station like Mason had asked. She almost turned around, but something told her that was a bad idea.

Once she was back in her FBI issue SUV, she pulled out her phone and looked at the picture. The man still looked somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't place him. She shook her head, knowing that it would bug her until she figured out where she'd seen him.

She put her phone away and drove a mile to the Sherriff's office.

Once there, she pulled out her phone again, hoping that she could place his face. When she saw the picture, she nearly dropped her phone.

"What the hell?" She breathed.

Standing in her picture where the man had been was a... well a reptile of some kind. It was just as tall as the man had been and built the same, but it was definitely reptilian. It was covered in dark grey scales and she thought she could see wings tucked up against its back.

It almost looked like a dragon standing on its hind legs.

She had just looked at the picture a few minutes ago and now it was completely different. As she looked, she realized it wasn't completely different; only the dragon was different. Everything else was exactly the same, at least according to her memory. However, the figure that had previously looked like a man now looked like a dragon.

Something had clearly changed between getting into the SUV and driving the distance to the Sheriff's office. She hadn't even changed screens on her phone when she'd clicked it off after leaving the apartment, yet something had clearly changed.

"What the hell is going on?"

* * *

Alana was fighting the urge to let her mouth hang open at almost everything she'd seen on Ethan's world. It was all so incredible; unbelievable. Everything around her was just mind-blowing.

Especially the lights.

She couldn't believe the lights. These super bright bulbs of fire that glowed brighter than the largest bonfire she'd ever seen, but with none of the heat. It was amazing. Just as amazing was that 'fridge' thing. And those 'cars', and the strange flexible glass water bottles: she'd never seen anything so strange as flexible glass before.

*And all this is normal?* She asked Ethan for the dozenth time.

*Yup, I'll tell you all about it later.* He said with a chuckle.

The wood elf reluctantly turned her attention to the matter at hand.

Jason and Melinda had excused themselves to a far corner of the room right after the FBI agent had left. They had talked for about a minute.

Alana took a deep, reassuring breath. It felt like the air here was very thick. Well, not the air, but the mana in the air. She couldn't draw mana through the Ether as fast as she was consuming it. The difference was slight, but noticeable.

Trying to draw mana was like trying to breathe through a thick piece of cloth; you got what you needed, but not enough. At the rate she was consuming her mana, she could probably stay here as long as a week... maybe two; but no longer. Any longer and she would need to start consuming her deep mana.

Further, using any mana would dramatically reduce the time she could spend here. She decided right then that she would only use magic here as an absolute last resort. Rachel and Ethan seemed mostly unaffected though.

After another minute, Jason come back with Melinda in tow.

"Okay, what's going on?" He asked Ethan. "Clearly you were being evasive and clearly you did more than just 'give her a lift'. What happened?"

"You want the long version or the short version?" He replied with a sigh.

"Let's start with the overview."

Ethan nodded. "Well, Hailey was kidnapped by men who took her through a portal to another world. She was sold as a slave to a horrible man until I fought her master in the Arena -- which is basically the Roman colosseum -- and beat him in single combat. Then he gave her to me as a slave and I freed her. Then I gave her a lift in my airship to the camp of the slavers who kidnapped her, beat the necromancer who had originally kidnapped her, and then portalled back to Earth. Oh, and I'm doing this so I can bring my wife back from the dead. Now you're mostly caught up."

Jason blinked. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then cocked his head to one side. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "Oh, and magic is real and this redhead here--" He indicated Rachel.

"Hi." She said with a nervous wave.

"--she's a kick-ass mage." He finished. "Okay, now you're all caught up."

Jason looked at Hailey, who nodded.

"You're serious?" He seemed unsure what to make of that.

"Magic?" Melinda said incredulously. "Really?"

Alana gave Rachel a nudge in the side. The redhead sighed, nodded, and then reached her hands towards the fireplace. She concentrated for a moment, then a small stream of fire left the fireplace and landed in the redhead's open, outstretched palm.

The couple stared at the fireball for a few moments, shared a glance, and then they both sat down on the couch.

Jason took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I think we're going to need the long version."

* * *

Taloni landed on the Argo's weather deck and panted as her wing muscles ached. They were almost burning, but she felt proud of herself. She could stay aloft for almost ten seconds if she beat her wings hard and jumped as high as she could. They could boost her jump and slow her descent to almost a crawl, but she still couldn't use her wings to gain altitude...

Yet.

She know it wouldn't be long. She'd been practicing every day since her collar came off and the progress of her wing muscles was enormous. She suspected she should thank her Fey heritage for that, but wasn't sure.

She looked around the nearly vacant weather deck. Anthiel was on the quarterdeck, but -- for the first time in quite a long time -- wasn't playing an instrument. She was sitting cross-legged in a meditative pose, probably restoring her mana.

The Fey sighed; she should probably be doing that.

The portal had taken almost every ounce of regular mana that both she and the high elf possessed. They needed to be ready to reopen the portal when Ethan was ready to retrieve Beth's body, so they were both concentrating on restoring their mana. Well, Anthiel was. Taloni found it nearly impossible to resist exercising her wings and harder to concentrate on restoring her mana.

She sighed and leaned against the Argo's railing.

Near the gate to the former slave camp, she could see the three men who they'd freed standing and having what looked like an animated conversation. They looked in the direction of the airship regularly and she guessed they were talking about them.

She waved to say high. Almost immediately, they retreated behind the fence and went into one of the buildings.

"That's odd." She thought, and could feel her Fey curiosity rising as she wondered what they were talking about. She was especially curious why they kept looking at the airship.

She resolutely turned around and sat down on the deck with her back to the former slave camp and started meditating to replenish her mana. It didn't work as well as she would've like because she kept getting distracted. She tried to concentrate on drawing mana, but didn't have much success luck because her mind was preoccupied elsewhere.

She did this for almost five minutes before sighing, standing up and walking up the stairs to the quarterdeck where Anthiel was. The high elf was sitting straight backed and cross-legged, eyes closed and body perfectly calm and still. Her hands were resting palm up on her knees and her breathing was slow and deep.

Taloni hated to disturb her, so she let her shoulder slump and made to go back down the stairs.

"You can stay." Anthiel said without opening her eyes. "You won't disturb me."

"Sorry, you just looked so calm and serene."

"Looks can be deceiving." She said opening her eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing I guess." She shrugged. "I'm having trouble concentrating to restore my mana."

"Ah." The gorgeous high elf nodded. "Has anyone ever taught you how to properly meditate to restore your mana?"

"I don't think so. I've always just done it by feel."

"Come, sit next to me." Anthiel said with a smile, indicating the deck in front of her.

Taloni did, mirroring her body position as close as she could. "Like this?"

"That will work." The high elf nodded. "Now, take three long, slow breaths. Take at least three seconds to inhale and another three to exhale."

The Fey teen did, and found it was strangely relaxing.

"Good." Anthiel said. "On each inhale, I want you to imagine that mana is flowing into you, like water into a still pond. On each exhale, imagine that your worries and distractions are being carried away on your breath as it leaves your body. Understand?"

"I think so."

"Then try it."

Taloni closed her eyes and inhaled deeply but slowly. She held the breath for only a moment before exhaling and imagining everything that was bothering her was being carried away.

She frowned. "That seems to help the mana flow in more easily, but it's not helping to clear my mind."

"Ah the young." Anthiel chuckled. "Thoughts don't just leave with your breath. I said imagine they were leaving with your breath. I've been doing this for over a hundred years; it took half that time to master this skill. Did you think you could master it in a few minutes?"

"I guess not." She conceded.

"Taloni, you are a wonderful girl, but you're very young." Anthiel said kindly. "It takes time and effort to achieve anything worthwhile in life. It takes constant practice and work every day to master a skill. Please don't be discouraged when you don't master something instantly. It takes a long time and a lot of work. The only promise I can give is that if you work at it long enough and smart enough, you can succeed."

The Fey teen nodded. "Do you think I could pilot an airship if I practiced long enough?"

"Of course!" Anthiel beamed. "Just don't forget the operative phrase: 'if I practiced long enough'. That's the important part." She paused, then added. "Well, that and getting proper instruction."

"Could you teach me?"

"Absolutely. I'm surprised it took you this long to ask."

Taloni felt a warmth spreading through her body as she fluttered her wings and beamed. "When can we begin?"

"Right now." Anthiel replied. "Here's lesson number one." She closed her eyes and resumed her breathing.

Taloni stared for a moment. "What does that have to do with piloting an airship?"

The high elf didn't reply.

The Fey frowned.

Anthiel just kept slowly breathing in and out, presumably replenishing her mana as she did so.

"Um, Anthiel?" She asked. "What does this have to do with piloting an airship?"

"You'll see." She replied, then fell silent again and continued her breathing.

Taloni sighed. Now she was curious as to how breathing could possibly affect piloting an airship. She supposed that she wouldn't know until she'd done it, so she sat a little straighter, closed her eyes, and began to copy the high elf.

* * *

"Nope, there's nothing wrong with it; not that I can see anyway." The tech said as he dropped Selene's phone back into her hand. "I did a deep scan of the whole thing. There's no viruses, Trojans, or even major software glitches that I can see."

Selene frowned as she accepted her phone. "Thanks anyways."

"Sure thing." He said as he turned back to his workstation.

She left the local Sheriff's office and headed for her vehicle, not feeling very confident about the local PD's computer forensics expert. Still, she had no reason to think anything was wrong with her phone except the strange picture.

"What's wrong boot?" Mason asked as she climbed into their FBI issue SUV. "You look like someone put vinegar in your coffee."

"A strange bug in my phone, that's all."

He shrugged. "What did you make of those interviews?"

"They were hiding something." Selene replied as she thought back to the interviews with the formerly missing teachers.

"Yeah." He grunted. "But what?"

"It seemed like they were intentionally being cagey about where they went, how they got there, and especially who helped them escape." She said as she thought back to her conversation with Hailey and Ethan. "But I think I know who helped them."

She then explained about her interview earlier.

"Them both showing up the same morning isn't a coincidence." Mason said. "We'll learn more when that girl you mentioned visits the station."

Selene grimaced. "Um, I kind of forgot to ask her to."

Mason gave her a stern look

"I'm sorry." She offered.

Mason didn't respond, he just looked at her with his piercing eyes. Somehow, she almost felt an air of fatherly disapproval coming off him.

"I'll do better next time." She said.

"Yes, you will." He said sternly as he turned the car on and started backing out. "For now, we'll just have to hope she's still there. You're navigating."

She pulled out her phone, punched in the address from her history, and then on a lark opened the picture of the dragon while giving him directions. It would be a short drive, and she kept looking at the picture. The dragon in the image still bothered her greatly

Then something happened.

It was so subtle that she didn't notice when it happened, yet it was also completely obvious once she did.

The picture changed.

While she was looking at it, she suddenly realized that she wasn't looking at a picture of a dragon standing next to some people anymore. It was the man she had met earlier standing next to them. At some point as they drove closer to the apartment, the picture had changed right her eyes -- literally -- without her noticing.

She frowned.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

"That's... that's quite a story."

Ethan nodded at Jason's remark. "If I hadn't lived it, I probably wouldn't believe it either."

Ethan, Alana, Hailey, and Rachel had just finished recounting a fairly detailed account of what had happened in the Ten Kingdoms, and Hailey had even volunteered what she had done to Arena Champion, though had left out her pregnancy. Jason and Melinda had listened the whole way through without saying much, seemingly dumbstruck at the various revelations.

"So, you're actually a dragon using a magical necklace to make yourself look like a man?" Melinda asked. It was the first thing she had said in over an hour and she sounded genuinely curious.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Yes, you're finally going to see a real dragon Mels." She turned to Ethan. "That is, if you'd be willing to show her."

"Close the blinds and I will." He replied.

Melinda got up excitedly and quickly closed every blind in the room. Once they were closed, he poured a drop of mana into the disguise gem to turn it off.

* * *

Selene nearly dropped her phone.

Suddenly, the image of the man disappeared, instantly replaced with the dragon. She stared at her phone, not quite believing what she was seeing. The transition had happened in the blink of an eye. There was no fade, no warning, and no apparent reason. It was also obvious, unlike when it had turned from dragon to man.

"What's wrong?" Mason asked from the driver's seat as he parked the SUV.

"I'm not sure." She replied.

"Come on, let's get some answers." He gestured to the door next to the yoga studio that was across the street.

* * *

Ethan resisted the urge to laugh. The moment he had disabled his disguise gem, Jason had jumped like a firecracker had gone off next to his ear. Melinda's mouth fell open and her eyes resembled dinner plates they were so huge.

"You... you..." Jason spluttered as he appeared to be having trouble coming to grips with what he was seeing.

"Yes, I'm a dragon." He chuckled. "We just told a long story which sort of centers on that fact."

"Yes, but hearing about it and seeing it in person are two completely..." He trailed off as he shook his head. "Why haven't we seen magic before?"

"Because the barrier between this world and the source of magic is thicker here than on our world." Rachel explained. "It's so much harder to collect it here, that it wouldn't be practical to use for much."

"And you're a wood elf?" Melinda asked his chocolate-haired wife.

Alana pulled back her hair so they could see her pointy ears and nodded.

"That's just... just..." Jason took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "That's why you were so cagey with the FBI agent. I can't imagine what the government would do if they got wind of this."

"Yeah, that's why we're trying to fly under the radar." Ethan replied.

"What's radar?" Rachel asked.

"Ask me later." He replied. "I was hoping Hailey's return wouldn't cause too much of a fuss, but now..."

"I'm definitely involved with the cops." Hailey agreed.

"Yeah." Jason said. "These kidnappings have been hard on the town, so it'll be big news when you come back. But it should die down eventually."

"I hope so, because--" Ethan started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Everyone glanced at each other, then at the door.

"Were you expecting someone?" Ethan whispered.

Jason and Melinda shook their heads.

"Who is it?" Jason called.

"FBI Agent Selene Dawson, here to ask some follow-up questions." Came the voice through the door.

"Damn, she's persistent." Ethan growled as he flicked his disguise gem back on.

"There's no way they didn't hear all of us talking." Rachel said.

Jason looked at Ethan. "Your call. I have a back door."

Ethan considered for a moment. Avoiding the police obviously seemed like the best option, but the FBI agent would've heard them so fleeing could look suspicious. That might get Jason, Melinda, and Hailey in trouble, which was especially bad since Hailey was going to stay.

Running wasn't a good option.

"Open it." Ethan said to Jason, then turned Alana and Rachel. "Let me do all the talking."

They nodded as Jason reached for the doorknob.

* * *

"Thank you for seeing me again so soon Mr. Stiles." Selene said as sincerely as she could manage when the door opened. "This is my supervising officer, Agent Mason."

"Please come in." Jason said, though there was something slightly nervous in his tone that hadn't been there before. A few hours ago, he had looked shocked but genuine and open. Now he still looked shocked, but also nervous and cagey. His girlfriend Melinda had a similar look about her.

They must've learned something in the interim.

"Agent Dawson tells me you know something about the escape." Mason said to Ethan without preamble. Mason was straightforward and blunt like that, which Selene appreciated.

"Does she?" The dragon-man replied.

Mason appeared to size him up for a moment. "Listen, you aren't in trouble here. The women who came back were all very cagey about how they escaped, and miss Oswald here--" He indicated Hailey. "--seems like she'll be just as cooperative. If I thought you had something to do with their disappearance, you'd already be behind bars. Since it seems you helped with the escape, I'm not looking to cause any trouble for you; I just want to know what happened."

Selene watched Ethan carefully as the dragon-man appeared to consider. There was still something 'off' about him; something that just didn't feel right. There was something vaguely predatory about his look and demeanor that set her teeth on edge.

Still, Mason appeared to be willing to listen and he'd been an agent a lot longer than she had. In fact, he was famous for his gut instincts about people. So maybe if there was a way to get Ethan to talk while putting his mind at ease.

"How about this." Selene said to Ethan. "What if -- hypothetically -- you were involved in their escape? And if you were involved in their escape -- hypothetically speaking -- how would you have been involved in their escape."

"Hypothetically speaking?" Ethan repeated. "Well, hypothetically speaking, I probably would've run across them accidentally. And then I probably would've done what I could to help; hypothetically speaking of course."

Mason nodded. "And hypothetically speaking, what would this help have entailed?"

"It might've entailed breaking them out of a secure compound -- hypothetically speaking -- and giving them a ride back here."

"And hypothetically speaking, where was this compound?" Selene asked.

"Way outside of your jurisdiction." He replied. "Hypothetically speaking of course."

"How many men run the operation?" Mason asked

"Hypothetically, there's only one left. The leader escaped and is loose in this area. Consider him armed and extremely dangerous. I mean it. Treat him like Osama-Bin Laden, Rambo, and The Terminator all rolled into one."

"What does he look like?" Selene asked pulling out her notepad.

Ethan raised his eyebrow.

Selene sighed. "Hypothetically speaking."

He gave them a description, which she took down. "Where did you last see him, hypothetically?"

"Hypothetically speaking, in a large clearing in the woods just outside of town." Ethan replied. "I'm not saying I saw him, though of course."

"Of course." Selene resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He seemed to be talking and she didn't want to jeopardize that.

"Would you be willing to sit with a sketch artist to draw up a picture of him?" Mason asked.

Selene noticed that Mason didn't mention that they already had the two school teachers sitting with a sketch artist, nor that they were already prepping for a manhunt in the woods.

Ethan grimaced. "I want to help, but I'm here on a completely unrelated mission. It's a matter of life and death, and I can't afford a delay." Selene noticed his eyes flicked in the direction of the petite chocolate-haired woman next to him.

"I could do it." Hailey said with a murderous look on her face. "And if I can do anything else to help catch that bastard, just let me know."

"You can come to the station with us so we can get started on that sketch." Selene replied.

Hailey stood up, then hesitated as she glanced at Jason and Melinda.

"Can we come?" Jason asked. "We just got Hailey back and don't want to lose her again."

"Absolutely." Mason replied. "We'll be downstairs to escort you in."

Selene followed Mason's cue as he said goodbye and left. She thought it was rather abrupt, but waited until they were back in the car to ask about it.

"Good work with that "hypothetical' stuff." Mason grunted. "Almost makes up for you forgetting to ask Miss Oswald down to the station."

"Thank you." She replied. "Why did we leave so quickly?"

"There's more to this story and I didn't want to spook that Ethan guy." Mason narrowed his eyes and started stroking the stubble on his chin. "There's something off about him."

"No kidding." Selene agreed.

She briefly considered showing him the photo on her phone, but decided against it. She felt completely nuts just thinking about it, and the last thing she needed was her boss thinking she was nuts too. The only person she could think of who wouldn't think she was nuts was her dad.

She was half tempted to give him a call when she got a moment.

* * *

Ethan let out a deep breath after the FBI Agents left. That had been close and he didn't like it. No good would come from getting involved with the FBI; not as a dragon married to a wood elf traveling with a mage. The last thing he wanted was to be on their radar. Sadly, his rotten luck seemed to be holding.

Jason had grabbed his car keys from the bedroom and Melinda had grabbed her purse.

"You sure you want to do this?" Jason asked Hailey. "You don't need to if you aren't up to it."

"Oh, I'm up to it." She said vehemently.

With that they walked to the door and opened it, but Hailey didn't move. She hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and then threw her arms around both Ethan and Alana, hugging them tightly.

"Thank you so much." She said as her voice cracked. "I wouldn't be here without you and..." She sniffled.

"You're welcome." Ethan said.

"We were happy to help." Alana added. "And if you ever need anything, come find us and we'll do what I can."

Hailey let them go and nodded. "No offense, but I hope I'll never see the Ten Kingdoms again."

"Understood." Ethan chuckled.

"Thanks again, and I guess this is goodbye." The willowy woman said.

"Take care of yourself Hailey." He replied.

"You too, all of you." She said, and went to join Jason and Melinda.

"Wait." Ethan said as he remembered. "Do you know anyone who can help us with our blood transfusion problem?"

Hailey looked at Melinda, who shook her head. "Not anymore, not in the area. I used to know a couple nurses who worked at the hospital in town, but they moved away a couple years ago. I'm sorry, I know you wanted to help your wife."

"Damn, back to square one." Ethan sighed. "Okay, thanks anyway."

"Sorry I couldn't be more help." Melinda replied.

Jason turned to Ethan and company. "Do you guys have a place to stay?"

"No, and I had been hoping to leave tonight, but without a source of blood..." He shook his head. "I guess we might need to find a motel or something."

Jason grinned. "Don't bother, there's a vacant apartment that's between tenants on the other side of the building. It isn't large, but you're welcome to use it."

"Really?" He asked.

"Absolutely, and I have a key because the building's owner said he'd knock off some of our rent for getting it ready for new tenants." He went back into his bedroom and came out with a key, which he handed to Ethan. "It's number three on the other side. If I don't see you again, you can just slide the key under our door when you're done using it. There's even a couple mattresses the previous tenants left when they moved out, and I haven't thrown them away yet. Apparently, they bought new ones and conveniently 'forgot' to dispose of the old ones." He looked annoyed at that.

"Thank you." He said with a wide smile.

"You're welcome." He replied. "You brought Hailey back; it's the least I could do. I'd show you around myself, but I'm sure you'd rather those FBI Agents didn't see you entering."

"Again, thank you."

"No problem." He glanced at Hailey. "I owe you a great debt, this doesn't make us square but I gotta start somewhere."

"We appreciate it." Alana said.

Ethan, Alana, and Rachel followed Jason, Melinda, and Hailey out of the apartment, and Jason locked it.

"If it's okay, we're going to follow you down and start walking in another direction to make those FBI Agents think we've left." Ethan said.

Jason grinned at him. "You're a crafty sort, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I try."

They all walked down the stairs and then headed in opposite directions. Ethan stared after them for a moment, not envying Jason for the dilemma he was about to be in. Melinda and Hailey were both clearly smitten with him, and he with them. Hailey had been gone a long time and Melinda was pregnant, both of which complicated matters a great deal.

He realized again how lucky he had been that Alana and Taloni got along so well. In the beginning, Beth and Alana hadn't gotten along as well. He'd initially feared that would be the case with multiple wives, but fortunately it had been quite the opposite.

But for Jason, Hailey, and Melinda...

Shaking his head, he led Rachel and Alana deeper into town for a block or two before circling back around to the building. On the opposite side of the building from the entrance to Jason and Melinda's apartment was another door leading up a mirror image set of steps to a mirror image landing.

"This will work." He said with a smile once he'd unlocked it and they'd entered.

The apartment was small, the living room and kitchen area being only as wide as the Argo's weather deck and only a little longer. There were two doors leading into what looked like bedrooms and a small bathroom was on one side. It would be a great first apartment for a single person, or even a young couple on a budget.

"Beth, are you here?" He asked.

Tap, tap.

"Good, now we just need to figure out how to get you some blood." He said, fighting back the urge to make a vampire joke.

* * *

Taloni breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her mana finally become full. It had taken most of the afternoon, but she was finally done. She stood and joined Anthiel by the ship's wheel.

"Now, what did you learn?" The gorgeous high elf asked.

"Um, nothing?"

"Nothing at all?"

"Well." The Fey teen thought for a moment. "I learned that absorbing mana in concert with my breathing is a lot faster and more effective."

"Good, what else?"

"Nothing."

"Let me ask you a question: what if Ethan contacted you and told you that he needed us to open the portal right now."

"We'd just do it."

Anthiel nodded. "But what if you hadn't spent the last several hours replenishing your mana?"

"Then I couldn't." She frowned. "Or I could use some deep mana but..." She shook her head. "I would do that for Ethan, but wouldn't be good."

"Correct. Now, what does that have to do with piloting an airship?"

"I have no idea." Taloni admitted after thinking about it for a moment.

"Well, you have plenty of time to think about it." Anthiel said with a slightly amused smile. "Let me know when you have a guess." Then she turned back to the ship's wheel, pulled out a small musical instrument, and began to play.

The Fey teen let her shoulders slump and wandered over to the railing on the quarterdeck. She really had no clue how the two were related. Sure, it took a tiny bit of mana to operate the ballast logs which caused the ship to rise or allowed it to fall, but that was miniscule amount of mana. It certainly wasn't enough to worry about meditating to restore it.

She looked out toward the slaver's camp and remembered seeing the men talking and pointing at the Argo.

"What they were planning?" She thought. She really had no clue about that, or Anthiel's question.

She was at a complete loss.

* * *

Ethan was at a complete loss.

He knew they needed to get some blood for Beth, but he had no idea where to get it. Further, he had no clue how to properly do a transfusion, so they also needed someone with the medical training to do it. He had been hoping that Melinda would've known someone, but that hadn't panned out.

Now he felt stuck.

He had paced around the borrowed apartment for a couple hours trying to think of a solution, but none had presented itself. Rachel and Alana had tried to help, but their limited knowledge of the world meant there wasn't much they could do.

And they were getting hungry.

It was mid-afternoon and he was ready to find a pawn shop for some of the silver coins Rachel had brought from the Argo's treasury when there was a knock on the door.

"It's Jason." A voice came from the entryway.

Ethan flicked the deadbolt open and pulled the door, revealing Jason's tall, dark, and handsome mug. He was carry several bags of McDonalds.

"I figured you would be hungry and might not have much money on you." He said as he held up the bags of food."

"Oh thank Illuminar." Alana said as she jumped up from the floor.

"Amen." Rachel agreed starting towards the food.

"Who's Illuminar?" Jason asked.

The two ladies stared at him open-mouthed.

"It's basically God on their world." Ethan explained.

"On any world." The two ladies both said at the same time, then glanced at each other and grinned.

"Okay." Jason shrugged and offered the bags, which the ladies took with interest. Ethan took one, pulled out the burger and only stopped long enough to savor the aroma before tearing off the wrapper and taking a huge bite. The ladies did likewise, stopping only to say thank you before they too were chewing Earth's most ubiquitous fast food.

It didn't taste very good; not like he remembered. He didn't let his displeasure show in his face and wolfed down another bite, hungry as he was. The ladies chewed it with confused looks on their faces.

"That's very..." Alana cocked her head to one side.

"...different." Rachel finished, then added hastily. "Not bad different, just different."

"Speaking of different." Jason said as he turned to Ethan and indicated one of the bedrooms. "Could I talk to you for a minute? I want to get an opinion on something."

"Sure." He said wolfing down the rest of his burger. It was amazing how much faster he could eat with a dragon's mouth.

Then went into the bedroom and Jason closed the door behind them. He looked rather unsure of himself. For some reason, that seemed very out of character for the fellow. He struck Ethan as someone who normally was calm, confident, and collected.

"What's up?" Ethan asked.

"What the hell do I do about Hailey and Melinda?" He said bluntly. "Hailey didn't know this, but I was ring shopping when she was kidnapped. I had been planning to propose to her a couple weeks later. Melinda doesn't know this, but I've been ring shopping that last couple weeks. And now that Hailey's back..."

"I have no idea man." Ethan replied. "I mean, you heard the abbreviated version of our story, but I left out how--"

He stopped, cocked his head to one side as a thought struck him, then said aloud to the room. "Beth, are you in here?"

Nothing.

"Who're you talking to?" Jason asked.

"Beth, I know you're curious. But if you are in here, I'm asking you to go into the other room and let us talk." There was a long pause, then:

Tap. Tap.

It was longer and slower than normal, which he assumed meant she was rather reluctant.

Jason looked at him like he was crazy.

"Beth, could you tap Jason's shoulder before you go?"

A moment later, Jason clapped his hand to his shoulder. His jaw dropped as comprehension dawned. "That's your first wife right? Your dead first wife? She's on that whole Astral Plane thing?"

He nodded.

"Oh my God." He shook his head. "This has been the strangest day of my entire life; no exceptions."

"Yup. It's pretty weird, even by my standards." Ethan agreed. "But to answer your question, I have no idea what to do. I'm flying by the seat of my pants most of the time."

Jason nodded, then in a remarkably good impression of Indiana Jones said. "I don't know, I'm making this up as I go."

Ethan laughed. "I haven't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark in ages."

"If only life were as simply as fighting the guys with the swastikas on their uniforms." The other man agreed. "That's why I was hoping for some input."

"I'm happy to help, but don't you have other friends who know all three of you better that might be more qualified to help?"

"Yes, but this is rather a unique situation and you bring a unique perspective to it."

"Oh?"

Jason nodded. "You know what Hailey went through; no one else does."

"Not the full extent, but yeah it was pretty awful."

"See there's the thing." Jason said as he ran his hand through is hair. "I still love her. But I love Melinda too and she's carrying my kid. Do you know what that's like?"

"Only kind of." Ethan replied, and a broad smile broke out on his face. "One of my wives is expecting my first."

Jason grinned back. "Which one, the brunette or the redhead?"

"The brunette; Alana." He said with a confused look. "Rachel and I aren't involved at all."

"Oh, that's right." Jason nodded. "It was a Fey girl. Still, after seeing you and tht redhead together I would've sworn there was something going on. I stand corrected."

Ethan thought that was strange, but let it go.

The other man sighed. "I love them both, but in the end I gotta take care of my kid right?" Jason didn't look happy about the prospect of losing Hailey. "That's the other reason I asked you. How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Wives; plural." Jason replied. "I'm not a horndog and I'm not trying to have my cake and eat it too... okay, well I guess I am. But I don't want to lose either of them. I just worried that if I try to hang onto both, I lose both."

"I'm afraid I won't be much help." Ethan replied with a sigh. "There's some magic working in my wives that I really don't understand."

"Oh?"

"It's the bonding." He explained. "When I bond to them, they change very slightly. It's subtle, but it seems to make them not mind sharing me. There are benefits to being a dragon."

"Apparently." Jason sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have that advantage."

"And I don't think I fully appreciated it until now."

"Yeah." Jason ran his hands through his hair. "I guess I'll just need to figure it out."

"I do have one thought." Ethan said. "Be honest. Just tell them both where you are, probably at the same time so you avoid having to tell one before the other. Then see what they say."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You mean say something like: 'Melinda Honey, I know you're worried that I'm only dating you because Hailey disappeared, but now that she's back I want her also. I should say something like that?"

"Ouch." Ethan shook his head. "I didn't know she was struggling with that."

"Yup." He nodded. "And to Hailey it would be something like: 'I know we were very serious, but I got your best friend pregnant and I can't leave her, so I hope you don't mind sharing.' I don't see that going over well. "

"Oi vey. You have a point."

"Exactly."

"Talk to them; talk to them both." Ethan said after a momentary silence. "Tell them where your head's at, and most importantly tell them where your heart is at."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"I might turn out wonderfully, it might blow up in your face." Ethan admitted. "But that's true no matter how you handle it. Communication is important in any relationship, especially romantic ones, so being upfront and honest is probably the best route. But yeah, that might blow up. I just know I'd rather be hurt because someone was honest with me."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"Unrelated question." Ethan cocked his head to one side. "Any ideas for how to find someone who know how to give my wife a transfusion?"

The other man frowned. "It'll be hard getting her into a hospital. I suppose you could find a doctor who's off duty and try to convince them?"

"Yeah, but then they'd need to get some blood, which could be hard to explain if they took it and I don't want to get anyone in trouble."

"True." Jason agreed. "How about an ambulance? The EMTs will know how to do it and you can get them to come to you. It might take some work to convince them, but it's worth a shot."

"You know, I think that's just the ticket." Ethan smiled. "I hate to ask, but could you spare some coin so I can get a burner phone? I don't want to call from anyplace that can be tracked."

"Sure." Jason reached into his wallet and pulled out some bills. "This should do it, and don't even think about paying me back. I'm still deep in your debt for bringing Hailey back."

"Even with all the trouble it'll cause?"

"Even with." Jason nodded. "Hailey is an amazing woman, and Melinda is the only woman I know who's her equal. They are both incredible women; neither is better than the other, they're just different."

Ethan smiled. "Tell them that. They might take it better than you'd think."

"I might. Thanks."

"Thank you."

They shook hands and headed out into the living room. Alana and Rachel had finished a couple of burgers each, and Rachel was folding the wrappers into intricate shapes.

"I didn't know the Ten Kingdoms had origami." Ethan observed.

"What's origami?" The redhead asked.

Jason and Ethan chuckled before the former said his goodbyes and left while the latter explained what origami was.

"We have another name for it." Rachel said. "What did Jason want?"

Ethan hesitated before replying, but figured he'd be fine if his answers were vague. Besides, the brilliant redhead probably had already guessed it anyway. She was so sharp.

"Dating advice, sort of. He wanted to know what to do about Melinda and Hailey."

"Ah." Rachel nodded like her suspicion had been confirmed and then went back to her paper folding. It really was incredible to see the complex shapes she could create with the paper. That woman was full of surprises. He occasionally found it hard to believe she was only nineteen.

*So what are Jason, Hailey, and Melinda going to do?" Alana asked telepathically. *I mean, if it's illegal here, then how could Jason marry Hailey too?"

*I don't think Jason and Melinda are married.* Ethan pointed out.

Alana looked shocked. *What? But don't they live together? Isn't she pregnant?*

*That doesn't mean they're married; not here.*

Alana's mouth fell open.

Ethan had to remind himself that she came from a very different world.

"However." He said aloud. "I think I finally figured out how to get what we need to finally give Beth that transfusion."

Rachel shuddered. "And you're sure that's necessary?"

"Yes, it is." He replied. "So we'll need to go back to the forest and have Taloni and Anthiel to open the portal to get Beth's body before we can begin."

"Okay, what's the plan?" Alana asked.

Ethan grinned as he started explaining.

* * *

"Raklan, if you aren't more careful with Beth's body, I swear I'll get Serif down here."

Taloni suppressed a chuckle as Anthiel told off the lumbering crewman who was at least twice her size, and possibly three times the slender high elf's weight. Raklan grumbled something that didn't sound fit for polite company as Taloni giggled.

The massive crewman more delicately laid Beth's body down on the ramp in front of the currently dormant portal. Anthiel was at the control panel glaring at him while Taloni was at her elbow, still wondering about mana and airships.

"We're ready here." Anthiel said. "Go ahead and signal Ethan."

*Master, we're ready to open the portal.* She said to him telepathically.

*We're ready over here too. Go ahead.*

The Fey teen nodded to Anthiel and they both put their hands on the large control crystal and started feeding mana into it. It sucked it up like a sponge. It took almost a minute to fully charge the main gem and all seven of the other gems located on the large ring itself. When it was fully charged, it stopped accepting mana, which was good because Taloni was very nearly out.

When they were done, all seven gems on the ring flashed at the same moment, then something that looked almost like water started flowing from the inside of the ring toward the open center. It moved like honey or maple syrup; slowly and like it was very thick. In seconds it had met in the center, forming a membrane and then began to relax.

Moments later, Ethan stepped through the portal and shivered. "God that's an unpleasant feeling."

Taloni charged forward, using her wings to propel herself forward faster, collided with her husband, wrapping her arms around him as she did so.

He staggered back slightly.

"I missed you so--"

Her words were cut off as they staggered backwards through the portal at the impact of her tackle-hug. Passing through it felt like getting a bone deep chill which then completely disappeared, only to be replaced by a slight warming sensation and simultaneously no small amount of chills.

But that wasn't what cut her off mid-sentence.

It was the air.

The weight.

As they stumbled through the portal, Taloni suddenly felt like the air was made of water or perhaps like a thick blanket had settled over her nose and mouth. It was stifling and she could barely breathe.

She felt light-headed and collapsed into his arms.

"I missed you too." She heard him as if from a long way off as she struggled to stay conscious.

"Taloni?"

"Taloni?!"

She heard him shout her name as blackness slowly closed in on her. It felt like an eternity that she struggled to cling to the waking world. She heard Alana shout something as she fought to stay awake. She again felt the strange sensation of bone-deep-chill followed by both a warming and cooling sensation simultaneously.

Then she was fine.

She shook her head as her breathing returned and blinked. She was in Ethan's arms in the cavern with the portal.

"Oh thank God." Ethan breathed as she stirred.

"What was..." She looked around. "What was that?"

"Rachel and Alana said the barrier between the Ether and the physical world is much thicker on my world." He explained. "I'm guessing that didn't agree with you at all."

She shook her head. "That was awful."

"Ethan, the portal's closing soon." Anthiel called.

He set her down. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." She stepped backwards, being careful to avoid Beth's body. "Take care of her; I can't wait to meet my new fellow wife."

Ethan broke out into a wide smile, but nevertheless looked very confused. "I am so blessed." He picked up Beth carefully and tenderly, gave the Fey teen a peck on the cheek, and then stepped through the portal again. Several seconds later, it started to close.

*Seriously though.* Ethan said from worlds away as the portal swirled like water down a drain until it disappeared. *You and Alana are amazing women and you get along so well. I recently gained a whole new appreciation for how wonderful that is; for how wonderful you both are.*

Taloni felt her heart swell to roughly ten times the size of the cavern. *Thank you master."

*I mean it, and you're welcome.* He said. *Now, are you sure you're okay?*

*I am sure master, thank you for asking.*

*Good if you'll excuse me, I need to raise the dead.*

*Have fun master, and please hurry back.*

*I will.*

She took a few deep breaths, and felt the last of the strange sensation of the other world leave her. It really was like not being able to breathe, though it was mana and not air that she had trouble "breathing" in. Any lingering discomfort she had felt was washed away as remembered Ethan's compliment.

The Fey teen felt like she was walking on cloud nine as she strode back to where Anthiel was at the control podium. The beautiful high elf was leaning on it and appeared to be slightly winded.

"Are you okay?" Taloni asked.

Anthiel nodded. "Yes, I'm just not as young as I used to be. It's all downhill after one hundred and twenty."

The Fey felt her jaw drop. "You're one hundred and twenty? That's like--" She did the math. "--over six times my age."

"Actually, I'm older than that." Anthiel smiled. "Way to make a girl feel young."

"Oh, sorry."

"I'm teasing dear girl, relax." The high elf said with a pleasant laugh.

"Oh, good." She hesitated a moment, then asked. "So, can you start teaching me how to fly the airship now?"

"Absolutely, let's head back." Anthiel replied.

As they walked back to the Argo, Taloni noticed that the three men they'd freed from Gonorran appeared to be sizing them up as they passed. They had started giving her the creeps whenever she saw them and picked up the pace.

Once back on the Argo, Taloni followed Anthiel up to the quarterdeck.

"So where do we start?" The excited teen asked.

"Right here." Anthiel sat down cross-legged and started her deep breathing exercises to restore her mana.

"This again?" She felt her shoulders slump.

"Yes, this again. I promise there's crucial, vital lesson about piloting an airship buried in this."

"Okay." She sat down and started restoring her mana, the whole time feeling like she was being had. She didn't really think the high elf was tricking her, but it sure felt like it.

* * *

Selene parked her SUV quite a ways down the street from Jason's apartment and glanced at the passenger seat. She'd put a bunch of snaky food from a nearby gas station on the seat and even gotten a few empty cups with sealable lids in case she accidentally drank too much water.

That wasn't going to be fun if she needed to.

Ignoring the bottle water, she grabbed the binoculars from the center console, set them on the dashboard, and then pulled out her phone.

"I'm in position." She said when Mason had picked up.

"Good, don't take your eyes off that building and let me know if you see anything worth mentioning."

"Will do."

"Talk later boot." He said, then hung up.

Selene was half tempted to call her dad and ask him about the picture right now. She wasn't sure it was a good idea to be talking on the phone right now though. Sighing, she grabbed her coffee and took a measured sip. It would be a long wait, and she wondered what shenanigans the dragon man was getting up to.

* * *

911 CALL TRANSCRIPT -- 8:02 PM -- MALE CALLER

OPERATOR: "911, what is your emergency?"

CALLER: "Oh man, you gotta help me."

OPERATOR: "What's wrong sir?"

CALLER: "My wife, she had an accident with a boxcutter while we were loading a delivery. Oh man, there's blood everywhere. You gotta send somebody."

OPERATOR: "Okay sir, I need you to put pressure on the wound to slow the bleeding."

CALLER: "I'm doing that, but she's so pale. There's so much blood."

OPERATOR: "What's your location?"

CALLER: "Um, I'm near the corner of Lincoln Street and Main. Down the alley."

OPERATOR: "Okay sir, I'm sending an ambulance to your location now."

OPERATOR INPUT: DISPATCH AMBULANCE TO LOCATION -- ONE FEMALE INJURED AND LOSING BLOOD.

OPERATOR: "Okay sir, I need you to keep pressure on the wound

CALLER: "I am, the trouble is--"

OPERATOR: "Could you repeat that sir?"

CALLER: "--and I'm not sure what's--" "--it's just a--"

OPERATOR: "Sir, I'm losing you."

CALLER: "--are you there? My damn phone is--" "--battery isn't--"

OPEATOR: "Sir, is your phone about to die?"

CALLER: "--say something about--" "--Yeah, I'm about to lose--"

OPERATOR: "Sir, sir are you still there?"

CALL LOG: CALL DROPPED

* * *

Ethan pulled the battery out of the phone and the screen went blank as the 911 operator's voice abruptly ceased. "That should do it."

Alana and Rachel were giving him strange looks and staring at the phone in his hand.

"You told us what they did, but somehow..." Rachel trailed off with an impressed look on her face. "What genius created those?"

"A scientist." He replied with more than a little glee.

Rachel's cheeks got slightly pink. "You can't be serious."

Alana laughed.

He shrugged. "All the technological marvels you see around you were made possible by science. All of them, though the actual inventions themselves were by engineers and inventors. Humanity has done pretty well for itself without magic I'd say."

Rachel made a thoughtful sound. She wasn't exactly disagreeing, but she also seemed reluctant to agree. She turned back to the metal trash can they had 'borrowed' from a nearby residence, and she made sure the fire inside was large enough for her to draw heat from.

Ethan heard the sirens in the distance. "Okay, let's get ready."

They were in an alley with a small loading area in the middle of it. The loading area formed a square alcove about twenty feet on a side, which is where they'd setup to revive Beth. The location would prevent anyone from seeing them -- and the magic -- except the paramedics who would be looking for them. It also allowed an easy way to control access and escape. He wasn't sure how thrilled the paramedics would be at having been brought here under somewhat false pretenses.

He had waited for the cover of night, then flown her body to the alley to make sure they weren't seen. To make extra sure, he had used his disguise gem to make him resemble a giant bald eagle while flying. It seemed to have worked, as there was no indication anyone had seen them.

He stood in the alley, doing his best to look very agitated and nervous so the paramedics would buy the story long enough to get to the loading area where Beth was laying.

It wasn't hard.

"Here they come." He said as the ambulance pulled up to the end of the alley and the paramedics jumped out. One paramedic was a fit man who looked to be just under six feet, the other was a woman a few inches shorter; both looked to be in their mid-late twenties.

It was time.

"Hey, over here!" He shouted to them and then ducked into the loading area.

A few moments later they had run down the alley and rounded the corner before stopping short and looking at the scene suspiciously.

He didn't blame them.

Instead of a bleeding woman in pain and someone trying to stop the bleeding, they were confronted with Beth's still-rigid, blood covered corpse, Alana and Rachel standing nearby, and Ethan; all looking mostly calm.

The moment they ran into the loading area, Ethan stepped out behind them blocking their way back to the ambulance. As planned, Alana and Rachel stepped out in position to block them from proceeding further down the alley.

"What the hell is this?" The male paramedic asked looking at Beth's body and the Argo crew's positions.

"We might've called you here under slightly false pretenses." Ethan replied, emphasizing the word 'slightly'. He had considered what to say for most of the afternoon, and finally settle on being honest up front.

Well, honest after lying to get them here.

The female paramedic stepped behind the man, who shielded her protectively. He then slipped his right hand under his shirt by his right hip and left it there. There was a slight bulge under the shirt. "You try anything and I will riddle you with holes. We've heard about the kidnappings around here, and you aren't taking us anywhere."

Ethan internally groaned; why did they have to get a paramedic who was packing heat? "We mean you no harm, and we weren't kidding about needing blood to save my wife."

"Bullshit." The female paramedic replied, clearly rattled. "That girl is dead, and it looks like someone slit her throat."

She reached for her radio

"I wouldn't do that." He warned.

She ignored him and reached for it... moments before one of Alana's arrows pierced it through, ripping it off her shoulder without so much as grazing her hand.

The male paramedic started to draw his pistol while facing Alana. Ethan felt like his heart was being crushed. There was nothing he could do to save her from being shot. There was no attack he could launch that was fast enough to save her.

Fortunately, Rachel was there.

As the man's gun cleared the holster, Rachel -- obviously sensing he was using a weapon -- pushed her hands out, palms open. An air-ram hit the two paramedics and blasted them off their feet and into the wall behind. They crumpled to the ground clearly dazed.

The man's pistol clattered to the ground.

Ethan lunged forward to grab the gun and then breathed a sigh of relief as he unloaded it. It didn't look like that fellow had spent a lot of time practicing his draw. If he had, this might've gone very differently.

He breathed another sigh of relief.

Rachel and Alana didn't quite seem to understand why he was so relived, even though he'd explained guns to them. Apparently, it was something you needed to see to believe.

"What the hell was that?" The male paramedic groaned as he struggled to his feet. The woman wasn't far behind him, though she looked far more scared than he did.

"Magic." Ethan replied simply.

This was met with a scoff from him and a skeptical look from her.

"Like I was saying, we mean you no harm." He repeated. "Further, we really do need your help to save my wife."

The male paramedic looked at the Argo's crew and seemed to relax slightly. Alana was still carrying her bow and Rachel was wary, but they weren't doing anything threatening, despite having disarmed them.

"I'm listening." He said.

"What are your names?" Ethan asked.

"Ted."

"Sophia."

"Okay Ted and Sophia, my wife needs a blood transfusion."

"I don't want to be insensitive, but that girl is dead." Ted replied.

Sophia nodded. "Full rigor mortis has clearly set in, so she's been dead for hours; way too long to revive."

"Does rigor mortis affect the hair?" Ethan asked.

"No."

"Then why don't you go look at her hair."

They both gave him confused looks.

"It's not rigor mortis; someone put a stasis spell on her less than a minute after she died."

"A stasis spell?" Ted raised his eyebrow; he clearly didn't believe a word that Ethan was saying.

"Don't believe me; look at her. Look at her hair. Does that really look like rigor mortis to you?"

Ted kept his eyes on the Argo's crew, but Sophia glanced over at the body. She cocked her head to one side as she looked at it. Some of Beth's hair was sticking out at an upward angle. It clearly had no support from anything and yet was sticking into the air in an impossible way.

"Ted." She said hesitantly.

"What?" He didn't look, keeping his eyes on the Argo's crew.

"Something's wrong with her hair."

"Priorities." He still didn't look, and gestured to the people who had them trapped in the little alcove.

"No, you really need to see this." Sophia insisted.

Ted glanced at the body then back at Ethan. He looked at Ethan for several moments before getting a confused look on his face. He cocked his head to one side, turning it as far as he could toward Beth's body without taking his eyes off of Ethan, then glanced again.

This time he looked longer.

"What the...?" He muttered.

Sophia took a step towards the body and Ted moved to keep himself between the Argo's crew and her. Upon reaching the body, Sophia bent down and gently poked Beth's hair. It flexed slightly, but resisted her touch with no visible support from anything.

"This is..." She touched the hair again. "What is this?"

"A stasis spell, like I said." Ethan replied. "Look at the blood. Does it look dried and congealed to you, or wet and like it should be flowing."

Sophia crouched down and looked closer while Ted watched them warily. She squinted her eyes and leaned in even closer, examining the frozen liquid blood from a distance of only a few inches.

"Ted, you really need to see this." She said after a moment.

Ted seemed hesitant, So Ethan said: "If we wanted to hurt you, we would've done so already. I give you my word we won't hurt you... unless you try to shoot Alana again."

Ted narrowed his eyes, then apparently decided Ethan had a good point. He took a few steps back so Beth's body was between him and the Argo's crew. Only then -- when he could keep an eye on them even while examining the body -- did he look down.

"What the fuck?" He said after a few seconds. "The hair, the blood, it's..."

"Not possible." Sophia suggested.

"Not possible without magic." Ethan corrected. "Someone cast a stasis spell on her maybe thirty seconds after she died. I don't think there's any brain damage because of the stasis spell, but she died from blood loss. If you can replace the blood, Rachel here--" He indicated the redhead. "--will lift the stasis spell and a little CPR should bring her back... I hope."

They both stared at him.

"She's my wife; I have to try." He said letting his genuine emotion show through. "But I can't do a transfusion, so I need your help. Will you please help me?"

"Magic?" Ted said. It didn't take a body language expert to know that he thought Ethan was blowing smoke.

"We thought you might be reluctant to believe it, so we prepared something to help." Ethan said, then turned and nodded to Rachel.

The teen mage nodded, then turned towards the large metal trash can they'd placed in a corner of the loading area. She waved her hands towards it, and a stream of fire came out of the trashcan and into her waiting hands.

She moved it from hand to hand several times, then smiled as if something had just occurred to her. She set the fireball between her hands, and then spread them apart as if stretching a large lump of stretchy dough. The fireball lengthened into a long, thin ribbon of flame, which Rachel then began to move around as if it was an actual ribbon.

She started moving as she did, spinning and twirling with the grace and athleticism of ballet dancer combined with the subtly sensuality of some of the tamer Latin dances.

It was breathtaking.

She moved and spun, keeping the fire ever-moving and ever-rippling as she painted the most complex and intricate shapes into the air with the flaming ribbon. She twirled the fire all around herself. He almost thought she would burn herself several times because it got so close, but of course she was too good to make such a mistake.

Then she added another fiery ribbon.

She pulled the heat from the nearby trash-can's fire and started moving twin flaming ribbons at the same time. It was an incredible display of magic and dancing skill, and one he would've paid dearly to see in a theater. As it was, he could only stare open-mouthed at the lithe teen's dance.

It was somehow extremely sensual and incredible innocent at the same time. It was sexy, but not quite arousing. It showcased her body, sensuality, and grace, while simultaneously not veering into a raunchy or pretentious display. The dichotomy was at once confusing and alluring.

Dancing like this, she seemed so innocent and yet so sensual at the same time; so powerful and yet so vulnerable; so beautiful and graceful there was only one word for it.

She was beautiful.

Truly beautiful.

He didn't know why he hadn't seen it before. He had noticed that she was attractive, but hadn't ever realized he was attracted. And it wasn't just physical either; the lovely redhead was brilliant and selfless, caring and kind. He cocked his head to one side. She was an amazing woman.

Then the dance ended.

Rachel made a dismissive wave and the flaming ribbons disappeared like a breeze blowing out a candle, then said casually: "Well, I guess those ribbon dancing lessons my father forced me to take ended up being useful after all."

She looked at everyone else, and they were all staring open-mouthed at her.

"What?"

Ethan clapped. Alana joined him, then Sophia; even Ted nodded appreciatively. Rachel looked slightly embarrassed as she did a little curtsey.

"Magic." Ted said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Sophia breathed.

"So will you help?" Rachel asked the paramedics. Everyone else seemed too stunned to say much, including Ethan himself. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time and with new eyes.

He noticed Alana give him a funny look, and he realized she had probably felt something over their bond.

*I'll tell you later.* He thought to her and she nodded. He shook his head, bringing his mind back to the situation at hand.

"Will you help?" He asked the two stunned paramedics.

Sophia looked willing, but Ted still looked a little uncertain. He looked at the Argo's crew blocking their exits. "How do we know we can trust you?"

Ethan hesitated, then extended the pistol and magazine toward Ted grip first. "We need your help."

Ted took them, looked at Ethan, then Alana, then Rachel, and then stared at Beth's body for several seconds before nodding. He holstered the pistol without loading it, pocketed the mag, and looked at Ethan. "Okay, we'll help."

* * *

Kendra didn't really like climbing trees, but sometimes it was necessary to get an angle on a target. She had picked a large one at the edge of the forest, less than one hundred yards from the slaver compound and less than two hundred from the earthen ramp up to the airship dock, where the dragon's airship was still berthed.

She had found a nice wide branch with a "V" where she could sit fairly comfortably and watch the goings on in both places. She was high enough to see over the wall around the slaver's compound.

There was nothing to do now but keep waiting, and she'd been waiting all day. The sun had set, but with her enchanted spyglass that didn't make a huge difference. It wasn't as good as having wood elf eyes, but certainly better than her human ones.

She was yawning as she leaned her head against the tree, when something caught her eye.

There was movement in the compound.

She pulled out her spyglass and gave it a look. The three men who the Argo's crew had freed were each carrying a bundle of what looked like firewood. They were carrying it toward the cave where the dragon, redheaded mage, and wood elf were, or at least where she assumed they were because they hadn't come out yet.

The former slaves added this firewood to an already large pile of firewood just outside of the cave's entrance and began to light a fire. Oddly, one of them was holding a large blanket up. It wasn't to block the wind as there wasn't even a breeze this night.

Hmm.

Then she realized where the man holding the blanket in relation to her quarry. He was holding the blanket to hide what they were doing from the dragon's airship. Whatever they were doing, they didn't want the crew to see.

That didn't make sense though.

Given the amount of firewood they'd collected, it would be a roaring bonfire in no time and impossible to conceal.

She pulled the spyglass out to zoom in further. It looked like the former slaves had collected some swords, shields, and armor from their former masters. They looked like they were geared up for a fight. But the only people nearby who they could possibly be planning fighting were...

She looked at the Dragon's airship.

It would be worth a lot of money.

If they managed to kill the crew, they could sell it and live like kings. Well, maybe more like a regional governor. She looked at them again and saw that they had set the blanket up on a wooden frame right next to the bonfire. It would eventually catch fire and burn up, revealing the fire which was small now, but would surely grow quickly.

If the crew of the Argo saw it -- and they could hardly miss it -- they would definitely want to investigate because their comrades were in the cave. That would leave the airship with precious few defenders...

Sure enough, the three former slaves were now sneaking toward the airship

Kendra hesitated.

She hadn't planned to get involved at all. She was only planning to watch and had no desire to do anything to help. None. She had been ready to fight and kill these people to kill the dragon only a couple days ago.

Still, she hated to see someone ambushed.

She put away her spyglass as she tried to decide what to do.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked.

"I can't get through the damn skin." Ted said as he tried for the dozenth time to insert the needle for the transfusion into Beth's arm.

Ethan heard a low growl escape his throat at Ted's assessment of Beth's skin. Sophia and Ted both jumped and looked around wide-eyed in alarm.

"Ethan, it's okay; Ted didn't mean any harm." Alana said soothingly as she touched his arm.

"That was you?" Ted asked, suddenly looking conflicted again.

"Yes, that was me; sorry." Ethan sighed, then thought to Alana: *I swear if I ever get my hands on the dragon inside of me I'm going to wring its neck.* His other side was once again making a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Ted opened his mouth, closed, opened it again, and then shook his head. "Okay. I'm not sure I want to know."

"We still can't get the IV in though." Sophia pointed out. "And if she's stiff like this everywhere, then the blood probably won't flow into her veins at all."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Ethan replied.

He looked around.

Rachel was standing several yards away looking either disgusted or nauseous; it was hard to tell. She had glanced at what they were doing several times, but seemed unable to watch.

"Rachel, could you only lift the spell on part of her body?" He asked.

"Just..." The redhead shuddered. "Give me a minute."

"What's wrong with her?" Sophia asked.

"She thinks transfusions are barbaric and gets a little nauseous when she thinks about them." Ethan explained.

The two paramedics looked at him incredulously.

He shrugged.

"Okay." Rachel said after taking a deep breath. "Yes I can lift it on only part of her body, but not for long. Spells like this are interconnected and as soon as you break down one part, the rest follows. I can give you maybe a minute before it lifts everywhere."

"Okay, I assumed we'll need to keep the spell on the head while taking it off the rest of the body?" Ethan asked Ted and Sophia.

"You asking us about magic?" Sophia replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Medicine." He corrected. "We need to keep her head in stasis for as long as possible to prevent brain damage, right?"

"I mean, I would assume so." Ted replied. "But we have only a minute to replace the blood?" He frowned. "I've never tried squeezing the blood out of a bag, but I suppose there's a first time for everything."

"Alright Beth, are you ready?" Ethan asked out loud, shortly before realizing that probably wasn't a good idea.

Tap, tap.

They were very exciting taps too.

"Is this Beth?" Sophia indicated her body.

Ethan resisted facepalming himself as he nodded, glad that she'd apparently assumed he wasn't actually communicating with her.

Ted sighed. "In for a penny, in for a pound. Okay, if the witch--" he looked at Rachel "No offense intended."

She shrugged. "None taken."

He continued. "If she can lift the spell thing that makes it impossible to insert the needle, we'll get the blood in as quickly as possible."

Rachel came over and kneeled next to Beth's body. "Ready when you are."

"Let's get the defibrillator attached first, since we have time." Sophia suggested.

Ted nodded and pulled out the portable defibrillator. "I'll need to cut the top of her dress of to attach the electrodes." He reached for a knife.

Ethan growled.

He bristled at the mere thought of another man seeing his wife topless. It wasn't a mildly annoyed growl either. It wasn't even a warning growl like before. It was the kind of growl a dog our wolf would make before ripping its prey to pieces.

It was a sound no human could ever make.

"What the fuck are you man?" Ted said as he backed away, shielding Sophia protectively.

*ETHAN!* Alana shouted into his head to get his attention.

He shook his head trying to get control. He took deep breaths, each exhale coming out as another low, menacing growl. Ted started reaching for his pistol before he caught sight of Rachel watching him. Then he apparently thought better of it.

"I'm okay." He finally said after a moment. "I'm sorry, but you will not be cutting her dress off."

"Okay, okay." Ted said instantly, then added. "I didn't mean I needed to cut it off, I just meant partially away. What the hell are you?"

"He's a--" Alana started to say.

"--werewolf." Ethan cut her off. He didn't think explaining about the dragon was the best way to go, and they would at least have an idea about werewolves; a frame of reference so it wasn't so shocking. "I'm a werewolf and she's my wife; my mate"

Ted and Sophia worked their mouths soundlessly for a moment.

"Are, are you were wolves too?" Sophia finally asked Rachel and Alana.

"No, I'm as human as you." Rachel replied.

"I'm a wood elf." Alana replied, pulling her hair back so they could see her long, pointy ears.

"Oh my God." Ted said rubbing his head. "That doesn't compute."

Alana walked up to them. There was something soft and gentle about her body language. Something welcoming and warm. The two paramedics seemed to relax slightly, not the least because she was between them and Ethan.

"I know Ethan can sometimes be scary, but that's only because he's protective." She explained. "He won't hurt you, especially if you help Beth."

Ted looked leery.

"He's very protective of his wife, and I'm sure you can see that." Alana said, then glanced at Sophia. "You probably understand that too."

Ted seemed to understand that, and the way he had consistently shielded Sophia made Ethan think he understood very well.

"I'm sorry for reacting that way." Ethan said. "I don't always have control of the beast within. Can you attach the electrodes another way?"

"I can slip them down the armhole of her dress." Sophia suggested.

Ethan nodded.

"Please." Alana said. "I know he gave you a terrible fright, but could you please still help his wife; my friend."

Ted hesitated, then nodded and looked at Ethan. "I get being protective man, but..." He grimaced.

"I know." Ethan replied thinking about how Beth had died. "Believe me I know; I'm working on it."

"Okay." Ted said. "Just, just give us some space to work." He eyed Ethan's mouth, and that's when Ethan realized the downside of saying he was a werewolf; they might be afraid of being turned.

"Will do." He took a few steps back.

Sophia attached on electrode to Beth's chest and slipped the other through the armhole on her sleeveless dress, then announced. "We're ready."

Ted eyed Ethan before getting setup to insert the needle again. "Here goes nothing."

Rachel knelt down, stretching her hands over Beth's arm where Ted was ready to work and getting a look of fierce concentration. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then Rachel's face started looking red. She started panting as if she was trying to move several hundred pounds. Perspiration started collecting on her face.

"Dear Illuminar in heaven that's a powerful spell." She breathed.

A single bead of sweat started trickling down her forehead.

Ethan could feel something happening. He could feel the charge in the air change. It suddenly seemed alive with energy as Rachel seemed to increase the already incredible amount of effort she was putting into breaking the spell.

"Holy shit." Rachel breathed as she panted with exertion. He realized that might've been the first time he'd heard her swear. She groaned like a champion weightlifter trying to beat their personal best.

The air itself seemed to crackle slightly.

A breeze arouse out of nowhere as the air around Beth's body seemed to be fleeing the titanic amount of force being applied. Ethan's scales stood up slightly as he felt the powerful force the redhead was applying.

Rachel's hands were shaking slightly. "Almost there."

She groaned, looking like she was in the struggle of her life. She leaned up, seeming like she was putting her entire body into the effort.

"There!" Rachel said, and then fell back onto her hands and knees. She looked drained, like she had just run a marathon. She was panting and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

"Got it!" Ted said as the needle slipped into Beth's arm.

Sophia started gently squeezing the blood bag and he saw the blood flow through the clear tubing into Beth's arm.

Ethan could see the stasis spell starting to lift. It flowed from her arm where Rachel had started and moved outward like a slow motion wave. He could see the skin relax and the frozen blood that had soaked much of her upper body began to flow again. The skin relaxed, and somehow looked more alive, though she was still deathly pale.

Beth's hair started to relax and no longer stood straight. It fell onto the ground, flexible as hair should be. Her lips relaxed and the expression of shock which had been frozen on her face relaxed. Finally, the hair on the top of her head relaxed as the wave hit the top of her head.

Beth was no longer in stasis.

"God I hope that's enough blood." Ted said then shouted. "CLEAR!"

Sophia set the now empty blood bag on top of Beth's body and stepped back.

Ted hit the button on the defibrillator.

There was a high-pitched electrical charging sound and then Beth's body jerked slightly.

Nothing.

Ted hit the button again. Another electrical charging sound, another slight jerk of Beth's body.

Nothing.

"Shit, starting compressions." Ted said.

Ethan pushed him roughly out of the way and started pushing forcefully on Beth's chest, desperate to restart her heart. Sophia produced one of those medical air pumps and attached it around Beth's mouth. She started pumping it in proper rhythm with Ethan's compressions. Ted hooked up another blood bag as Ethan continued compressions.

Nothing.

"Come on Beth, come on." He whispered as he pushed as hard as he dared. He remembered his CPR instructor saying broken ribs happen, and are better than death.

Still he pushed.

Still nothing.

She was still pale. Despite all the blood they'd given her, he was starting to worry it wouldn't be enough.

He pushed harder.

He felt one of her ribs break and reminded himself that broken ribs sometime happen in CPR, and that Rachel could heal it.

Still he pushed.

Still nothing.

A horrible thought occurred to him as they often do at the worst possible time. A terrible, horrible, no-good thought that chilled him to the bone.

What if they couldn't bring her back?

* * *

Taloni finished replenishing her mana with a sigh. For some reason, she could draw mana much faster since bonding with Ethan. She had now completely refilled her mana twice in one day; quite a feat in her opinion. Granted, she'd spent most of the day meditating to do so, but it was still impressive.

She stood, feeling brimful of mana. It was a good feeling.

"There, Mana replenished." She announced to the high elf. "Can you start teaching me to fly the Argo?"

"Well done." Anthiel beamed at her. "Now, what have you learned about piloting an airship?"

"Nothing. I don't understand." The Fey teen admitted.

"Hmm. Perhaps a clue." The high elf mused. She walked a few steps so she was standing around the back of the ship's wheel and pointed to a sword that was hanging there, right next to a rollable leather shield. "What do you see?"

"It's a sword and shield."

"Yes, but why is it there?" The high elf asked.

"Um, just in case?"

"Yes, in case of what?" Anthield pressed.

"In case something happens and...." Taloni trailed off. Earlier, Anthiel had mentioned being ready in case Ethan needed them to open the portal again.

"So, it's about being prepared?" She asked.

"Close; it's about thinking ahead." Anthiel explained. "Even a small airship like the Argo is very large. It can't move very quickly and it's hard to change the direction once it is moving. There's very little room for error once you've committed to an action, so...?" She trailed off as if expecting the Fey teen to finish the sentence.

"So you need to think ahead." Taloni said as it clicked in her head.

"Exactly." Anthiel beamed. "That's the most important part of piloting an airship; thinking ahead. Being prepared is very close behind."

"That makes sense." She nodded.

"Good, then I'll start teaching you the actual mechanics of piloting tomorrow."

"Thank you!" Her wings fluttered as she gave Anthiel a huge hug, which the taller elf returned.

"You're welcome." Anthiel replied. "Now run along and we'll start in the morning."

Taloni nodded then walked to the railing of the quarterdeck facing the camp and leaned on it. Not long after, she cocked her head to one side as she felt Ethan's emotions change. He was worried about something and feeling desperate. She was just about to pray for him when something caught her eye.

It was a fire.

"Anthiel!" She shouted.

The high elf was at her side in a flash. "Oh no." The high elf looked at the large fire, which looked to be coming from the cave where the wooden portal was.

"SERIF, RAKLAN!" She shouted with impressive volume. Serif was on the quarterdeck ten seconds later, and Raklan five after that.

"Go see what you can do about that fire." She ordered, then at Raklan's confused expression added. "The portal is made of wood."

The two men took off running towards the fire. Raklan was moving significantly slower until Serif shouted a word of warning at him, then he picked up his pace.

"Should I tell Ethan?" Taloni asked.

"There's nothing he can do." Anthiel replied. "If you can sense that he's not busy from his emotions, then yes. Otherwise, best not to bother him in case he's in the middle of something important." She glanced at the hold where Beth's body has been for a few days. "You can always tell him when he feel calmer."

"Okay." The Fey Teen nodded.

Serif and Raklan had reached the gate to the compound moving at top speed. She hoped they would get there in time so the portal wouldn't be harmed. If it was damaged...

She didn't even want to think about it.

Anthiel went back to the ship's wheel, seemingly out of habit. A quick glance saw some worry lines on her face that hadn't been there moments ago.

The Fey teen looked back toward the fire and tried to see what was going on. She could see Serif and Raklan running through the middle of the slaver compound towards the fire. She was switching back and forth between them and so focused that it took her several seconds to notice other movement.

She glanced down and thought she saw someone else moving.

The earthen ramp to the Argo blocked much of her view, but she could've sworn she'd seen at least one person -- maybe two or three -- running towards the ramp. But it wasn't Serif or Raklan, so who...

He mind went to the slaves they'd freed and how shifty they had been.

"Anthiel." She said uncertainty. "I think I saw those slaves Ethan freed running towards the Argo.

Anthiel seemed confused for a second, then she turned and bolted for the gangplank which connected the Argo to the earthen ramp. Catching on, Taloni took a flying leap using her wings to keep her aloft and landed not far behind the high elf.

They had almost reached the gangplank when the three men came charging over up the earthen ramp wearing armor and holding spears.

They were a mere thirty feet away and closing fast.

Realizing there was no way they could pull the gangplank before the men charged onto the ship, Taloni skidded to a halt and reversed direction, using her wings to help her. She still couldn't fly with them yet, but they were a great help when moving anyways.

"Run!" Anthiel shouted as she also skidded to a stop and turned. She made a beeline for the ship's wheel, where the Fey teen had just seen that she kept a sword and shield for just such an occasion. Taloni leapt away from the gangplank, avoiding a spear thrust as she did so.

The three men skidded to a halt once they were on the ship. One of them took up a defensive position with his back to the gangplank. The other two men pulled the gangplank onto the ship while he stood guard.

The other two men drew their swords and with a few chops, cut the mooring lines that held the Argo close to the earthen ramp. Then they flipped their spears around, set the butt ends against the dock, and pushed hard.

The Argo moved.

They were pushing the ship away from the dock!

She knew there was an enchantment that prevented the wind from blowing the ship sideways, but apparently it only worked against the wind. The two men gave a final huge push as they reached the end of their spears.

The Argo moved, its 80 foot anchor rope providing plenty of leeway for the ship to move far from the dock. It had already been about five feet away, and now was approaching fifteen feet.

It was too far to jump.

Well, maybe she could jump it with the help of her wings, but Anthiel couldn't. Serif and Raklan certainly couldn't, which meant there was no help coming. Her husband -- a dragon who would've laughed at the pathetic jump and ripped those men to shreds -- was worlds away.

No one was coming.

She felt panic starting to rise and she fought to keep her calm. It was just like a cave-in at the mine; losing your head made everything worse. She could still feel the anxiety forming as she stood frozen, unable to think of anyone or anything that could help.

She felt paralyzed. She couldn't breathe properly. She couldn't move. Nothing in her eighteen summers had ever prepared her for this. She considered calling out to Ethan, but he couldn't help.

No one could help.

Now that the Argo was away from the dock, the men turned towards the quarterdeck, completely ignoring Taloni. She didn't blame them and shame rushed through her; she was completely helpless in a fight and probably looked it.

The men rushed toward the quarterdeck, but Anthiel -- now armed with a cutlass and shield -- blocked their path on the stairway. One of them stayed to engage her, but the other two head for the other stairway to flank her.

It was useless.

Anthiel was only armed with a cutlass and shield, while the three men were wearing armor that no cutlass could penetrate. Anthiel seemed good with a blade, but only a master swordsman could take three armored opponents at a time whilst unarmored.

Without help, they were doomed.

* * *

Beth watched the scene unfolding before her with shock and horror. Gabriella had promised she would live again, so why wasn't she waking up? Why was her body still laying there lifeless?

Why wouldn't she wake up?

Ethan was still furiously pushing on her chest trying to save her... but nothing had changed. She was still stuck on the Astral Plane and its damned purple hues.

Why?

Alana was standing nearby and she looked crestfallen. Beth could see tears starting to form at the corners of the lovely wood elf's eyes. Her lips was quivering and she looked like her heart was about to be ripped out.

Rachel was still on the ground and looked exhausted after the effort of breaking the stasis spell, but she too looked deflated; sad.

Ethan was still pushing.

Why?

Why wasn't it working?

* * *

Kendra sprinted up the earthen ramp leading to the dragon's airship, cursing herself as she did so. Why did she have to get involved? That damned dragon could've easily come to help the Fey and the high elf on the airship. Where in Saidow's lair was he anyway?

She grunted with the exertion and activated her strength-enhancing vambraces to make the task easier and faster. She would need them anyway to make that obscenely long jump across to the airship. It was a smart move pushing the ship away from the dock, but they hadn't pushed it far enough to stop her. An ordinary person yes; but not one with strength-enhancing vambraces.

Kendra crested the top of the earthen ramp running at full speed.

She sprinted towards the airship, timing her footfalls so she got her foot pushing directly against the edge as she jumped. She soared through the air, the strength-enhancing vambraces giving her legs the ability to leap such a large distance...

But only just.

She hit the airship's deck and rolled to absorb the impact. Midway through her roll, she put her hand on her sword and she drew it as she rolled into a standing guard position.

The men looked stunned.

The tiny Fey girl looked equally shocked.

Taking advantage, Kendra dropped her stance and ran at them screaming like a woman possessed or a banshee from legend. She wasn't actually feeling so primal and had done it purely for shock value... and it worked.

The first one had barely raised his blade because of shock when Kendra took a flying leap forward and buried the tip of her sword into his unarmored neck. The element of surprise had doomed him.

The second man didn't fare any better.

He overcame his shock and aimed a careful slice at Kendra. She blocked it with her enchanted vambraces, which were concealed underneath the long sleeves of her shirt. The man looked stunned as his blade was stopped by what look like soft cotton. He died with that expression on his face as Kendra removed his head with her blade.

Kendra looked up to see the last man attacking the high elf on the quarterdeck. She seemed to be holding her own, but was definitely on the defensive.

Kendra grabbed the man's dropped sword, ran up the stairs to the quarterdeck, and threw it. It whistled through the air, finding its mark dead center of the back of the man's head.

He crumpled like a sack of potatoes.

Kendra panted slightly as she caught her breath.

The high elf stared at her for a moment before speaking. "Thank you."

"Don't mentioned it." Kendra replied seriously.

Anthiel cocked her head to the side. "Who are you?"

That's when Kendra realized; neither the high elf nor the Fey girl had ever seen her. They had surely heard of her from the dragon, but didn't know her by sight. This was a perfect opportunity to get some information.

"Amara." Kendra replied. "My name is Amara."

* * *

"Come on Beth, come on." Ethan breathed as he pushed her chest again, harder than before.

He felt another one of her ribs break.

It felt like his hope of holding Beth again broke with it. He'd been doing this for a whole minute with no change. Ted had been adding blood the whole time while Sophia pumped air into her mouth, but it didn't seem to be helping. She was getting less pale perhaps, but she still wasn't breathing.

Her heart still wasn't beating.

"Hey." Ted said as he put a hand on Ethan's arm. "She's gone."

Ethan stopped his compressions just long enough to turn and snarl at the man before resuming. Ted beat a hasty retreat.

Two minutes had passed.

"She'll be okay." He told himself. Sophia had been giving her oxygen and he had been pumping her heart. Oxygenated blood had been flowing to her brain, and he some people had lasted ten times this long without brain damage... as long as someone continued CPR.

"Why isn't this working?!" He growled in frustration.

"Mana!" Rachel suddenly blurted out. "Her death and the weeks in stasis might've screwed with her mana."

"What should I do?" Ethan asked as he continued the compressions.

"Give her some, deep mana if you can spare it." The redhead replied. "It might help her body stabilize."

Ethan poured a bit of his deep mana into her body. Something changed in her body. He wasn't sure what, but something did. He could feel it.

Rachel put her hands on Beth's shoulder and concentrated for a moment. "Yes! That's it. Give her a bit more."

He did.

There were several tenses seconds as he continued compressions, then:

"AH!" Beth shouted.

She coughed and spluttered as Ethan stopped compressions immediately. The blonde teen panted for breath as her eyes here clamped shut in pain. She clutched her chest and moaned in pain.

"The broken ribs." He breathed.

Rachel instantly put her hands over his wife's chest and he could tell the redhead was healing her. A minute later Beth's labored breathing quieted down and she stopped moaning in pain. She took a few calm breaths before opening her eyes.

"Ethan." She whispered, a smile slowly spreading on her face.

Her face and golden blonde hair were covered in blood from her death two weeks prior. Her dress was a complete lost cause. But her face... The joy on her young, blood-streaked face was incredible. Her blue eyes were bright, alert, and shone with happiness.

She was a vision of beauty.

Her radiant face was split with a smile that could've lit up all of New York City. Her long, golden blonde hair -- covered in blood though much of it was -- was soft, silky smooth, and framed her feminine face perfectly.

"God you're beautiful."

She almost launched herself into a sitting position and threw her arms around him.

"I knew you'd save me." She whispered into his ear while giving him the tightest hug he'd ever received. He wrapped his arms around her in a similarly tight hug and just held her for a minute.

God, it felt so good to have her in his arms.

"I thought I'd lost you." He whispered.

"You did, but never again." She whispered back, holding him as if she'd never let go.

For the first time since that fateful day in Arcanum two weeks earlier, he felt complete again. It was like a part of him had been missing and come back.

She was back; she was okay.

It was perfect.

* * *

Kendra had tried to simply leave, but Anthiel and Taloni wouldn't hear of it. The little Fey girl especially had virtually begged her to stay, and the dragon huntress suspected that she had an adoring fan. She'd finally consented to one drink after much imploring on the Fey's part, and the promise of an aged mead on the high elf's part.

"Shouldn't we clean that up?" Kendra nodded toward the dead bodies on the main weather deck as Anthiel handed her a glass of mead. They were both leaning up against the railing on the quarterdeck facing the camp, mostly so Kendra could keep an eye out for the two men to return.

They would recognize her.

They would tell the dragon.

She suppressed a shudder as she remembered what her last encounter with him had been like. She was anxious to avoid meeting him again.

The high elf shook her head as she glanced at the bodies. "Raklan and Serif will clean it up when they come back. I'm not sure the three of us could move them anyway. They are rather large men."

Kendra nodded as she took a sip. It was quite good. There were traces of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, elderberry, and something else she couldn't place.

"So, why were you in the area again?" Anthiel asked in a perfectly calm and conversational tone. Almost too calm; almost too conversational.

"I'm mostly just passing through." Kendra lied.

"On the way to...?"

"Arcanum." Kendra replied, and left it at that. If the high elf was polite -- and she seemed to be -- she would leave it alone.

"We were just there, didn't have much luck." The high elf said.

Kendra made a non-committal noise and took another sip of the mead.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Taloni asked wide-eyed. The Fey teen had steered clear of the bodies and was clearly uncomfortable with violence, but also was clearly impressed with the dragon huntress' skills.

"Oh, here and there." She took another sip. "You learn things if you travel the Ten Kingdoms; there are many dangerous places."

Taloni cocked her youthful head to one side and said with incredible kindness. "You don't need to deflect like that you know. You just saved our lives, so we won't pry. Just say the word and we'll stop asking."

Kendra smiled.

She like this girl.

Direct, to the point, but also incredibly sweet and nearly without guile.

"I'm a very private person." She said honestly after taking another sip. "Feel free to ask whatever you like, just realize I might choose not to answer."

"Anything?"

"Sure."

"Okay." Taloni said. "Is your name really Amara, or is it actually Kendra?"

Kendra coughed and nearly let the honey-wine go down the wrong pipe. "What makes you ask?"

"You look like his description of Kendra, you certainly fight as well as he described her, and I can't imagine anyone seeing what was happening and being quick enough to respond... unless they were already watching us."

"Interesting." Kendra replied, then took another sip.

"You didn't answer the question." Anthiel pointed out.

"No, I didn't." Kendra downed the last of the mead. It was quite good. "I'm afraid I must be going; thank you for the drink."

"Why?" Taloni asked, looking at her and then towards the main weather deck where three men lay dead. "Why did you help us if you're hunting him?"

"I wish I knew." Kendra replied.

As she looked up, she saw two men returning from the camp in the dim moonlight, the fire now extinguished. "If it's all the same to you, I'll go down the anchor rope; it'll save me a lot of walking."

The high elf eyed her warily. "If you like."

She nodded and headed towards the bow of the ship where the anchor rope was. She walked to it and got ready to climb over the side and down.

"He's a good man." Taloni's voice came from behind her. "Really, he is."

She turned to look at the Fey girl. She was absolutely without guile; innocent and unspoiled by the world almost to the point of being naïve... almost. Kendra felt a little jealous of her.

"I wish I could believe that." Kendra finally replied.

"Please stop hunting him." The Fey pleaded. "I don't think I could take it if something happened to him. He's such a good person."

Kendra cocked her head to one side. "You really believe that, don't you?"

The Fey teen nodded.

She glanced at the rest of the airship, remembering its crew. "They think so too, don't they?"

Taloni nodded again. "Could we all be wrong?"

"You could all be deceived."

The Fey gave her a piercing stare. "I think you're a good person too."

She scoffed. "You don't even know me."

"I know you just risked your life to save two complete strangers. That's something you and Ethan have in common."

The dragon huntress raised an eyebrow.

"He did." She said fervently. "If you just let me explain, I'm sure I could convince you that he's a good man."

"He's not a man."

"He's better than most men."

"When you've seen as much as I have, you'll realize that's not saying much."

Taloni opened her mouth to reply, but apparently thought better of it.

"Take care." Kendra said, then swung her leg over the side of the airship as she activated her strength-enhancing vambraces. She climbed down the thick anchor rope hand-over-hand, down almost eighty feet to the ground. Her enchanted vambraces made it easy.

When she hit the ground, she took a deep breath and shook her head; there was no sense dwelling on their kindness. She turned and started walking toward the forest.

She hadn't gotten a dozen paces before she heard a voice from above and turned.

"Wait!"

It was Taloni.

The little Fey had clearly jumped over the side of the ship and was using her wings to slow her fall to a safe speed. Her wings were beating so fast they were a blur.

"What?" Kendra asked when the Fey landed next to her.

The girl looked extremely nervous, almost like a child who was worried about getting in trouble with a parent.

"Um..." Taloni took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She was rather curious ask to what was troubling the young Fey so much.

"I know this might sound weird, given how you're hunting Ethan and all, but..." She trailed off.

"But?"

The Fey looked at the ground, and only glanced Kendra while she spoke. "Can I... can I give you a hug?"

Kendra stared.

Then she blinked.

Then she stared again.

"Why?" She finally managed to get out.

"You look like you could use a hug." The Fey girl replied without the slightest hint of guile. "I mean, you did save us, so that doesn't make it weird... right?"

"I... I don't even know."

"Then can I?"

Kendra nodded before she realized she was doing it.

The tiny Fey girl walked right up to her, wrapped her arms around her waist and gave her a hug. Not just any hug either. It was a great hug. A wonderful hug. Kendra literally couldn't remember the last time she had received a real hug. It had been years at least, maybe longer. Almost on instinct, the dragon huntress hugged the shorter girl back.

It felt strange.

Here she was, being hugged the wife -- or one of the wives -- of the dragon she'd tried to kill many times.

It didn't make sense.

No one was that nice.

No one was that kind.

Well, no one apparently except this little Fey girl. Kendra felt her eyes get watery and she blinked a few times to get control of herself. It was silly to react this way. It was just a hug. And yet...

And yet...

Eventually, after a rather long hug, Taloni let go and stepped back. Her eyes looked like they were watery too.

"I should go, I need to walk back." Taloni said.

"Not fly?"

The Fey shook her head. "I can't fly fully, not yet. The slave collar wouldn't let me use my wings so they're not strong enough yet."

"I'm sorry you were a slave." Kendra said, and meant it. It seemed a crime that anyone this nice would be forced into servitude.

"It's okay, it meant I got to meet Ethan." She smiled. "He fought that other dragon just to free me; did you know that?"

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I'm sure the other dragon's hoard had nothing to do with it."

"It didn't." Taloni replied. "He didn't take a single coin. Not one. Instead, he rushed back to the mining camp to free me and marry me."

Kendra stared.

"I love him dearly." Taloni said. "And not just because he fought a dragon to free me. He's the best man I've ever known. If you knew him, you wouldn't hunt him."

"He left the gold behind? Truly?" The dragon huntress couldn't get anything else out.

"He did, because he's a good man." The Fey nodded. "I should be going. May Illuminar guide you in the path of light as you travel."

"Yeah... yeah... you too." Was all she could get out in response as the Fey girl gave her a little smile, then turned and stared walking towards the base of the earthen ramp which led up to the airship.

Kendra just stood there stunned.

It seemed like nothing connected to this dragon made sense. If the Fey girl was telling the truth -- and Kendra had seen no indication that she wasn't -- then this dragon was truly one-of-a-kind. Maybe, just maybe this dragon wasn't like all of the others...

Maybe.

She took a deep breath, then turned and resumed walking towards the forest.

Despite everything the Fey girl had said about the dragon, that wasn't what was sticking in her mind. No, what was sticking in her mind was the feeling of the hug. It was such a simple thing. So small really in the grand scheme of things.

One hug.

Something so small that most people would take it for granted.

Kendra wasn't most people.

She didn't have any real friends, even Falkaan was more a mentor and he kept himself at arms distance. Luminar Kossel was similar, though she was the one who kept her distance there. She had no one to give her a hug, and that made this one all the more precious.

She felt her eyes watering again and tried to wipe the tears away before they fell. There was no need to get emotional. It was just a hug right? It shouldn't affect her this much... right?

Apparently her tear ducts didn't get the memo.

* * *

Chapter 18 Epilogue

Prayla sat on her bed bored out of her skull. Usually she would have gone down to the clinic to see Taloni, but her friend wasn't there anymore. She sometimes had needed to wait until the day shift was over so the Fey would be free to roam topside. That wouldn't happened either.

It was a depressing thought.

Several of the mothers in camp had expressed regret that Tee was gone too because she was very popular with the children. Prayla looked around the shack and it seemed so empty. Especially the corner where Tee's bed had been. It was a really depressing--

"DRAGON!!!" Someone shouted outside.

"DRAGON INCOMING!!!" Someone else shouted.

Prayle jump up and ran to the door of the shack. One thing living at a gold mine taught you was that it isn't wise be inside of a wooden building with a dragon nearby.

She ran outside to see a dragon making a low, lazy circle around the camp. Fortunately, the guard towers were made of steel and equipped with ballistae.

The dragon seemed unconcerned.

It wasn't a large dragon, certainly not as large as Havorleth. It was a little larger than Ethan and its scales had a slightly copper or bronze tint to them. She had once heard that ancient dragons who had spent hundreds of years around gold sometimes got to be that color. But for a dragon that old to be here...

The dragon dived.

Faster than the guards could aim the ballistae, it swooped in and fired a single fireball at each guard tower. The dragon's aim was incredible. It destroyed the ballistae without even singing the guard's hair. It pulled up, made another lazy circle, then landed in the middle of the camp square, where Taloni's wedding had been only days earlier.

The guards raised their massive shields and charged with their long pikes.

The copper dragon ignored them.

The pikes struck dead center from multiple directions at once, with large, strong men putting all their weight behind the thrusts.

The copper dragon barely flinched.

It swept its clawed around, grabbing several of the pike shafts and casually breaking them like they were twigs. The dragon looked at the shocked guards disdainfully; rather like a human might view a cockroach.

"The next piece of meat that attacks me won't see dusk." It exhaled a tiny puff of smoke as if to emphasize the point.

The guards turned and fled.

"Whoever manages these human cattle, reveal yourself." It bellowed in a tone that brooked no possibility of disobedience. Its voice was magically augmented so it reverberated throughout the entire camp. Prayla wouldn't have been surprised if everyone in the deepest levels of the mine heard the dragon.

A rattled looking Thaltien stepped cautiously from the mine headquarters. "What do you want dragon?"

The dragon clicked its tongue. "No bow and such a tone." It shook its head. "One might think you actually wanted to anger me."

Thaltien look livid, but gave the dragon a slight bow. Then he said in a forcedly polite voice: "What do you want dragon?"

"What do you want, Drago?" The dragon corrected with a sneer.

Thaltien went white.

Prayla felt her knees grow weak. Her throat suddenly felt tight and she could feel a cold sweat starting all across her body. A Drago? This dragon was a Drago?

What was a Drago doing here?

"A young, steel gray dragon passed through here recently." The copper dragon said with much the same tone you might use when explaining something to someone who was incredibly slow and stupid.

Thaltien nodded, but didn't speak.

"He and I have some... business." The dragon said with a scowl; his displeasure at the other dragon was obvious. "Where can I find him?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, medieval, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, cuckquean

***Hi all, and sorry for the late submission; the holidays and a huge work project ate a ton of my time. I'll be back to my normal last Fri/Sat of every month next month. Thanks for all the encouraging comments, and the ones with constructive criticism. Also, a minor (very predictable) spoiler for the next chapter: it will include Ethan, Alana, and Beth all 'celebrating' (*wink*) her resurrection... together... at the same time... Wow, 18 chapters (about 325 thousand words) into a harem story without a threesome; that must be some kind of Literotica record.***