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I self-edit and admit editing isn't my greatest skill. I apologize in advance for anything I missed.
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CHAPTER 29:...nor iron bars a cage
* * *
Leaning on the Argo's railing and looking out over the verdant green hills lit by the late afternoon sun, Alana smiled as her heart grew lighter. Her husband and fellow wives had escaped and it seemed like they were safe in their escape. She still missed him terribly, but just knowing that he was okay and that she'd be seeing him soon made a huge difference. Her heart ached for him and for her best friend, who thankfully had finally married her husband.
It was about time.
She was hoping she might get to be present on the couple's wedding night, but knew that Rachel might not be comfortable with that. Even if she was, Ethan might want her to himself for a night. Every woman deserved a wedding night; she had certainly enjoyed hers. She resolved to fully enjoy the gorgeous Ivernian landscape before her.
She sighed contentedly as she gazed at it.
"I know what you mean." Beth said walking up to lean on the railing beside her. The lovely blonde was right next to her so they were gently touching; it was an affectionate move that the wood elf appreciated.
"I can't believe how pretty this land is." She said running her hands through her chocolate hair. "I think I'll ask Ethan if we can all settle down here eventually."
Beth frowned. "I agree, but it's Lord Farbrottan's land."
Alana let her shoulders slump. "What's that expression that Ethan sometimes uses? 'Every paradise has its serpent' or something like that?"
"Sounds right." The blonde nodded. "I wouldn't mind moving here, and much of my father's southern border abuts Ivernia's northern one."
"Ivernia." The wood elf smiled. "It's a pretty name for such pretty country."
"Agreed."
The wood elf looked down to see a bubbling brook feeding into a pond in the middle of a clump of trees. Nearby, there were cows grazing in a pasture and chickens running hither and thither foraging for bugs and other things. It was idyllic.
"You know, it had occurred to me many times that we could turn the Argo around and go back to Nalatia to wait until they've escaped." Beth said almost guiltily.
"It had occurred to me too, but..." She sighed. "As much as I want to see Ethan, this is what he asked us to do. He didn't make the suggestion, but he definitely wanted us to go help Selene and investigate why she's here. Until he tells me otherwise, that's what I'm going to do."
Beth looked at her. "How do I get to be like that?"
"Like what?"
"You're such a strong woman, but you're gentle too." The blonde replied. "You're so competent and you're carrying on without Ethan here; I feel like I'd give anything to just to see him right now."
"I know how you feel." The wood elf admitted. "But I think part of being a good wife is supporting your husband even when there's something else you'd rather do. We'll arrive at the inn in a few minutes, so it makes no sense to turn around now."
"I wish you weren't right; I miss him."
Alana gave her an understanding nudge with her shoulder. "So do I dear girl, so do I."
* * *
"That's disgusting." Kendra heard herself say as she looked at the strange half-man, half dragon corpse. She was tempted to add that the sight was less nauseating than seeing Ethan be affectionate with his wives, but resisted.
"You'll get no argument here." Ethan replied as they surveyed the strange corpse before them.
"There's more." The dragon huntress said, nodding to a far corner of the room.
On the far side of this second room were about a half dozen other specimens similar to the one in the middle of the room. The one they'd seen first was the least draconic. The rest appeared to be in more advanced stages of transformation, but none was complete. They all looked like they had died in excruciating agony though. There was also a general trend. They were clearly getting more like dragon-like with each successive iteration.
"That shouldn't be possible." Rachel said, looking a bit green around the gills. "Transfiguration is doable, but incredibly hard and no one does it on living creatures because it always kills the creature. Plus it takes a ton of mana. To transform a living being like this, and a man at that..." She sucked in her breath through her teeth and shook her head.
Kendra felt a not insignificant amount of revulsion at the idea that someone was turning men into dragons. It was a perversion of everything that she held sacred, especially the dividing line between dragons and men; that at least should be inviolable.
"It looks like they were keeping a dragon here too." Ethan nodded towards a cage, around which appeared to be a few random scorch marks on the wooden walls.
"Yeah, 'were' is right." Rachel pointed to a rather large bloodstain inside the cage. It didn't look to be that old, but neither was it fresh and wet.
Kendra frowned.
For a long time, her instinctive reaction to seeing evidence of a dragon's demise had been to smile. This time though, she didn't. While she certainly wasn't sad about it, it didn't give her the sense of joy it once had.
Hmm.
Curious.
"Come on, we can't stay here all day." Ethan finally said and turned to leave.
Kendra followed him out of the room, only realizing after she did that she appeared to have a real problem with following commands given by this particular dragon. That didn't sit well with her, especially since she could see their bond slowly growing in strength. That was despite the additional reinforcements that she'd added to her mental fortress to keep him out of her head.
She did what little she could to make her defenses even stronger.
"Okay, one more room." He said as he tried to open it. It was locked.
"Allow me." Kendra said while activating her strength enhancing vambraces. A few moments later, the lock gave. The action probably made her look super strong, but the lock was pretty flimsy. It was probably more to stop guards from snooping than to offer any real security.
The room was quite small and looked like it was used more for storage than anything else. It was nearly empty of contents except for...
Kendra's jaw dropped as her eyes widened.
Behind her, Rachel gave a low whistle.
The dragon huntress couldn't believe her eyes and her mouth curved upwards into her first real smile since... since her last hug from Taloni.
Jackpot!
* * *
Selene sighed as she stood where the two roads met at the outpost. As usual, her boss had sent her outside to use her beauty to attract customers. It worked, at least according to Sarah. Apparently they'd had a few more people than normal stay at the inn since the Brazilian woman had started. Most wanted to pass right by without so much as looking at the inn, but the rest didn't take much convincing.
She sighed again.
