A Dragon’s Tale Chapter 1.e

A few hours of walking and occasional talking later, Alana found Ethan more confusing than ever.  She had tried to ask about his family, but he had deflected her questions.  As much as she wanted to pry, she also wanted to respect his privacy.

She had asked about his work, which resulted in a confusing few minutes while he tried to explain what a 'computer' and 'the internet' was.  As best as she could figure, it was like an enchanted scroll with unlimited information that you could also use to communicate with others.  She had to admit, the idea had a lot of potential uses.

She asked him about his personal life, but it sounded like he didn't have much of a personal life.  Or at least, he didn't want to talk about it.

"So, what do you do for fun?" she asked.

His eyes lit up.  "I really enjoy..."  He trailed off, and then shook his head.  "Never mind."

Alana sighed in frustration.  "We've been walking for hours and you've dodged almost every question I've asked.  If you don't want to talk that's fine, but at least be upfront about not wanting to talk."

"No, I really enjoy talking with you."  He said.  "It's just that I'm not used to opening up to people very quickly.  In my world, people tend to talk about little unimportant things for a while before diving into the deeper stuff."

"Why would they do that?" she frowned.  "I mean, if it's not important why would you bother talking about it?"

He opened his mouth to reply, and then stopped.  "You know that's a good point."

"I'm sorry if I seem pushy."  She apologized.  "It's just my parents are...  well they aren't around anymore and I don't get to talk to people very often.  That's probably part of the reason I started talking to Drousin; there wasn't anyone else around."

"Makes sense."

"So, what do you like to do for fun?" she repeated.  Ethan hesitated, and that's when Alana came up with a truly devious plan.

"How about this?  You hide your hand behind your back and stick up a random number of fingers.  If I can guess the number of fingers three times in a row, then you have to answer the question."

"And if you can't guess correctly?"  Ethan asked.

"Your choice."

"Alright, if you can't guess correctly, then you have to let me carry something for you."  He said.  "Seriously, I'm feeling pretty lazy over here."

"Deal."

Ethan put one hand behind his back, then spread his wings a little to make sure it was hidden.  "Okay, guess."

She smiled and put her plan into motion.  She reached out with her senses until she felt the presence of a curious squirrel nearby.  She gathered some mana and politely requested the squirrel's help.  The squirrel -- being an animal -- didn't exactly understand the request, but it seemed to be fairly comfortable with her.  Alana offered food in exchange for its assistance and it instantly she felt the walls around its mind drop.  Alana very carefully took a look through its eyes.

"One finger."

Ethan frowned.  "Okay, you were right once.  How about now?"

She again took a quick peek through the squirrel's eyes.  "One again.  Trying to fake me out?"

He narrowed his eyes.  "You're up to something."

"Maybe."  She gave him her most winning smile.  "Once more."

Ethan spread his wings so there was no possible chance that she could see behind him.  "Okay. Guess."

Again, she simply checked through the squirrel's eyes.  "No fingers.  Tricky."

Ethan's jaw dropped.  "How did you do that?"

She smiled and beckoned the squirrel closer.  It ran toward her, but gave Ethan's draconic form a wide berth.  Alana pulled a couple of nuts and a few berries out of her satchel and gave them to the squirrel.

"Say hello to my little friend."  She said.  "He let me peek through his eyes."

"You can do that?"  His eyes were almost comically big.  She suddenly realized that his cat-like eyes were a very bright shade of green.

"I've been in this forest a long time and we understand each other quite well."

He started laughing.  "Well, you learn something new every day, like your traveling companion is a cheater."

The squirrel ran off with its booty and Alana turned to Ethan with a wide smile.  "We didn't stipulate that enlisting help wasn't allowed, so technically I didn't cheat at all...  and you owe me an answer."

"Fair enough."  He sighed.  "There's a foster home not far from where I live--  used to live.

"Wait, what's a foster home?"

"It's..."  He frowned.  "It's...  it a place that kids without parents can live while waiting to be adopted, sort of."

"So, like an orphanage?"

"Not really, but close enough.  Anyway, I go there and try to teach the kids basic life skills they'll need, but probably wouldn't get otherwise.  Things like how money works, balancing a checkbook, or how to make a profit ethically.  I like playing with the younger ones too.  The smiles on their faces are just...  well, you probably know."

"Why didn't you just say that?"  Alana felt her heart melt.  "There's no reason to hide that, it's wonderful!"

"I didn't want to sound like I was bragging or trying to look good."  He replied with a shrug.  "You're actually one of the few people I've ever told about that."

"Oh."  Was all she could think to say.

"We should go before Hermair's men catch up."  She turned and started walking again.  Ethan fell into step just behind her.

"I don't know what they're like."  She said after a few minutes of walking in silence.  "Kids I mean.  Elves don't have children very often because we live so long.  And all of my parents' children moved out long before they adopted me."

"You're adopted?"  He asked.

She nodded.  "Yes, but my parents...  aren't around anymore."

"Did something happen to them?" he asked, although he hesitated a moment before doing so.

"Yes, a few years ago."  Alana nodded, feeling her eyes moisten.  "I've been on my own ever since.  In some ways, I'm glad Hermair burned the farm down.  I stayed there because it felt like a connection to my parents, but it was stopping me from living my own life.  You were talking about the kid's smiles and I don't really know what they're like.  I see them playing when I go into town, and someday I'd like to have some."

"Kids?" he asked.

"Yes."  She frowned.  "I have no idea why I'm telling you all this."

"It lightens our load when we share it with others."  He replied, then took a deep breath.  "I know exactly what you mean about wanting kids.  I was engaged back home, but my fiancée wasn't the person I thought she was.  She had been sleeping with my best friend behind my back, and just before I came here, they literally stole the business I'd spent my entire adult life building."

Alana stopped and turned toward Ethan.  "I'm so sorry."  She wrapped him in a hug and could feel her eyes getting moist.

After a few moments, she broke the hug and looked at him.  His eyes were definitely wet and there was a single track where a tear had trickled down his scaly cheek.  They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before they both started wiping their faces.

"Well."  Ethan muttered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Yes."  Alana replied, but couldn't quite meet his gaze.  "Uh... thanks for sharing that, and for listening."

"Ditto."  He replied.

They walked on in companionable silence for the next hour or so.  Alana couldn't help but smile when she thought about Ethan helping those kids.  She also found herself idly wondering if maybe she could do it too.  As she thought about helping kids, she also thought it would be nice if he was there to help her.  That led to an idle wish that he was an elf instead of a dragon.

She instantly dismissed that notion.

About noon, they stopped for lunch.  While they were eating, Alana found herself asking more about the kids he helped.  She could feel her heart and spirits lift as he talked about them.  He kept himself mostly out of the stories, but he would go on and on about the kids there.  It seemed like he knew every one of them by name.

"That sounds amazing."  She said with a sigh when he stopped to make some headway on his lunch.

"It is."  He mumbled with his mouth full, although he wasn't used to having a dragon's mouth and half his food spilled back out.  Alana let out a ridiculously loud peal of laughter.  She laughed until her sides hurt as Ethan tried first to save face and then simply to clean up the mess.

They had just finished cleaning up and were about to leave when they heard the sound of horses.  Alana clapped her hand over her mouth as she realized they might have been found because of her laughter.

She grabbed her satchel and bow; Ethan grabbed the bundle of staves and they both took off running.  Ordinarily, they would've had no trouble getting away from mounted riders.  However, they had almost reached the edge of the forest and the trees were much thinner here.

After a hundred yards or so, Alana chanced a glance over her shoulder.  Three men on horses were trampling the ground where they had just eaten lunch.

They were all wearing chainmail.

"Shit."  She breathed.

"What?"  Ethan asked as they ran.

"They have chainmail."  She replied.  "There's no chance my arrows will punch through."

They ducked behind a tree, Alana peeking around with one eye.  The men were talking, though she couldn't hear what they were saying.  One of them jumped off his horse and started examining the ground.  Moments later, he looked up in Alana's direction.

"There!" she heard the man shout, and the other two horsemen started galloping toward them.

"Run!" she yelled, and they both took off like a shot.

She glanced behind her and saw that the riders had spread out to prevent them from escaping back into the forest.  Fortunately, the trees were slowing the horses down; the pursuers weren't gaining any ground, but they weren't falling behind either.

Alana did some quick calculations and didn't like the odds.  They were about two minutes from the edge of the forest and the wide open plains beyond.  They couldn't go back or change directions because the soldiers were spread out to prevent just that.  She briefly considered climbing the trees, but another glance back showed that at least one of the soldiers had a bow and they would be sitting ducks.

Of course, they would be sitting ducks on the plains anyway.

"Any bright ideas?"  Ethan asked.

"No, I think we're in big..."  Alana trailed off when she saw the wings on Ethan's back.  "Can you fly?"

He grimaced.  "I'm not sure now is the best time to find out."

She looked ahead.  She could see the plains coming into view.  Behind them, the soldiers were starting to gain as the trees thinned out.  Two were definitely in the lead because the tracker had needed to re-mount his horse before he gave chase.  She might not make it out of this, but she wasn't going to let Ethan be trapped with her.

"I think now is the only time to find out.  If you fly due east and a bit north, you should see Gralden before too long."

"I am not leaving you behind to die."

"I can't outrun them and you couldn't support my weight while flying.  We can't both make it out of this alive."

"I'm not leaving you behind."  He repeated.

"You have to."  Alana insisted.  They were mere seconds from hitting the open plains where the horses could run them down.

Ethan looked determined and grim, and then his face suddenly lit up with a smile.  "I'm not leaving you, but that doesn't mean I can't fly."

She was about to ask what he meant when they passed the last of the trees.  The second he was clear, Ethan dropped to all fours then gave an almighty push with all his legs.  He catapulted himself almost ten feet into the air.  As he leapt, she saw his wings open until they were facing straight up.  At the height of his leap, he flapped his wings with a powerful down-stroke.

She had never before appreciated just how big Ethan's wings were.  While folded, they almost became part of his back in the same way a bat's wings disappear into its side.  But fully extended, they were at least twenty feet across; Ethan himself was less than six feet tall, although with the tail he was much longer.

For some reason, Alana was expecting Ethan to fly as naturally as a fish in water.

He didn't.

He was flapping hard, but barely staying aloft and barely controlling his direction.  He was still clutching her bundle of staves and dropped them as he focused on trying to control his flight.

Thundering hooves behind her brought her back to her own situation.  In one smooth motion, she stopped, turned around, nocked an arrow in her bow and drew it to her cheek.  She might not be able to pierce their chain mail, but not every inch of them was protected by it; their faces were exposed.

As she stood facing the approaching horses, a curious kind of calm overtook her.  She knew she was going to die, but she wasn't going down without a fight.  After a few precious moments of aiming, Alana let her arrow fly.  It struck true and the soldier fell backward off the horse, dead before he hit the ground.

Unfortunately, his partner was bearing down on her.  She dived to the side to avoid him, but he brutally dragged on the reins, forcing the horse to follow her.  Mere moments before the horse would run her down, a massive shadow swept over her.  Alana felt her heart soar as she realized that Ethan hadn't left.

He had come back for her.

Ethan crash-landed into the mounted soldier and they tumbled to the ground in a frantic tangle of wings, limbs, hooves and claws.  The soldier had lost his sword when Ethan crashed into him, and the dragon was up first on all fours and attacking with tooth and claw.  The soldier's chest and limbs were armored, but his face wasn't and he stood about as much chance as any unarmed man would have against an angry mountain lion.  The fight ended when Ethan managed to get his claws under the man's chainmail hood and into his neck.

Alana turned her back on Ethan to face the only pursuer left; the tracker who was significantly behind the others.  Alana nocked another arrow into her bow and took careful aim.  However, the tracker was low in the saddle, hiding behind the neck of his horse and Alana couldn't get a clear shot.

The tracker drew his bow and nocked an arrow.  Judging by the smoothness of the motion, it looked like he was born holding a bow.  He thundered closer and Alana tried to get a good shot, but the rider wasn't giving her one.

Then the tracker moved.

Like greased lightning, he leaned out from behind the horse, drew the bow and released it in one smooth motion.  The moment he exposed himself, Alana let her arrow fly.  Given his obvious level of skill, she half expected to feel his arrow hit her, but he missed.  His arrow went wide by a couple of feet.

Alana's arrow didn't.

Her arrow struck him in the left eye.  He fell from his horse and rolled half a dozen times.  When he finally came to a halt, his neck, arms and legs were at odd angles that no living person could endure, not to mention the arrow embedded in his eye.

"Yes!"  Alana Jumped for joy and turned.  "Ethan, we did--"

She stopped cold.

The tracker hadn't missed after all; she just hadn't been his target.  There was an arrow embedded in Ethan's chest.  Seeing where it had hit, she was certain it had pierced his heart.

He fell backwards onto the ground.

"No!"  Alana called.  She dropped everything and ran to his side. He was coughing and gargling, as if trying to get air.

"Stay with me!" she shouted.  "Come on, use your mana. Heal it up."

"I...  I can't..." Ethan gasped. "There's none...  I don't have..."

"Shh, let me do it.  This is going to hurt like the blazes."  She grabbed the arrow and unceremoniously ripped it out of his chest, thanking God it was another bodkin arrow and not a normal hunting one.  He blanched and blood started pouring from the wound.

Alana was an enchantress at heart.  She had spent her entire life enchanting and her skill with active spells was almost non-existent, so she did the only thing she could think of: she gathered every last ounce of mana in her body and threw it all at the wound while focusing on healing it.  It was wasteful, but time was of the essence and she wasn't good at healing others.

It wasn't enough.

The wound was largely closed and the blood flow slowed, but she could feel that the damage wasn't fully repaired.  His heart was still pierced, though thankfully it was still beating faintly.  Ethan's eyes rolled back in his head and he went still.  He wasn't dead, but he would be soon if she didn't do something fast.

She was completely out of mana; she had no medical supplies or bandages, and no enchanted items that could help her.  Ethan was dying in her arms and she was completely powerless to save him.

Alana screamed.

It was a deep, bloodcurdling scream that echoed across the plains. It was a cry for help and she wished for help so badly that she felt mana from somewhere leak into her scream.  It amplified her wail magically and made it reverberate across the plains.

That was when she realized there was one more option -- one more thing she could try.  The deep mana that flowed through her, giving her life and keeping her alive, was still there.  She could use that.  It wouldn't provide much, but it might be enough.

Maybe?

Possibly?

She had to try.

There was a moment's hesitation as she realized what the implications would be if another elf ever found out.  What it would mean for her and Ethan in the elven culture, but she didn't care.

Alana grabbed hold of the deep mana in her body -- the mana that anchored her life and soul to her body -- and carefully poured that into Ethan's wound.  She could feel herself getting weaker, but she only needed to heal a little more.  She started to become lightheaded and couldn't maintain the flow anymore.

She collapsed on the ground next to him.  She couldn't tell if he was alive or dead.  She didn't know if her healing had been enough.  Her vision was becoming cloudy and the bright blue sky began to resemble midnight.  As the darkness closed in on her, her last thought was a prayer to the Great God Illuminar that she had done enough to save him.

Then the world faded to black.

( End of chapter one )

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