Thaltien harrumphed. "I suppose that's true... if the dragon is really gone.""Feel free to double check." Ethan said. "His lair isn't that far from here."Thaltien called several of his most trusted scouts forward, got directions, and dispatched them at speed on horses to verify Ethan's story."Until they return, Taloni is not to leave the camp." Thaltien said, then abruptly turned and walked away. Ethan watched him go, the scales on his shoulders seemed to have risen threateningly...Then he saw her.He seemed to relax and a wide smile crossed his face."Hi." The diminutive Fey said sheepishly."Hi." He replied, his disguise gem not hiding his true form from her eyes.She felt a small burst of happiness come over their fledgling bond. It made her heart melt and her loins shiver. She couldn't wait until tonight. Once those riders had returned and Thaltien had freed her, she planned to... to... Every part of her body screamed to do something, but she was only vaguely aware of what tha
"You fell for it Kendra." He shook his head. "How many times have we been tricked by dragons? How many times did their primal cunning put us - our whole team - in jeopardy? How many times have they proven to be snakes with wings, and just as devoted to the truth?""True, but you didn't see him.""Kendra, Mr. Damon and I have talked about this at length. There's clearly something about this dragon that's unusual. From the beginning, the reward was too large. I suspected there was something else going on; that his crimes were more serious than Lord Delmar would admit. I even entertained the idea that this dragon might be different for a time, but consider his actions. Everywhere this dragon goes, death and destruction follow.""True." She conceded."I know you're more religious than most in our line of work. Doesn't the Book of Light talk about how to tell the righteous from the wicked?""You will know them by their deeds." She quoted."Exactly." He nodded. "At a certain point, you have
The two of them spent the next several hours fussing over Taloni to make her look absolutely perfect for her wedding. Alana turned out to be quite good with fabric and thread. Prayla had conned one of the other girls in camp out of a white dress, which Alana altered to fit Taloni perfectly. She even made slits in the back for the Fey's wings.They spent a long time doing her hair and Prayla horse-traded her way into a little bit of makeup. It felt slightly foreign on the Fey teen's face, but once she saw herself in a mirror she thought it was all worth it."I look-" She stopped, unable to finish the sentence."Absolutely stunning." Alana finished.Her sun-kissed skin positively glowed. Part of her long, silky, honey-blonde hair was elegantly twisted into bun on top of her head, leaving the rest to flow down in such a way as to set off her face. She had always been described as 'cute' before, but this was the first time she actually felt beautiful.The dress accentuated her breasts, ma
She was too stunned, too shocked, and too amazed at what everyone had done to pay full attention. By the time Anthiel got to the vows, Prayla had to nudge her to make sure she was ready for them.Anthiel cleared her throat. "Do you Ethan, with full knowledge and consent; take this woman, Taloni, to be your wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to keep and provide for her all of your days, committing to treat her with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?""I do." He gave her a wide smile. It reached his eyes and she knew it was genuine.Anthiel turned to Taloni. "Do you Taloni, with full knowledge and consent, give yourself to this man Ethan, to be his wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to follow and obey him for all of your days, committing to give yourself only to him; and to the best of your ability treat him with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances, and allow only death to sep
"That sounds heavenly to me." The elf sighed again. "We could get so close and I could trust her with anything, and she could trust me. I would probably be friends with his other wives and we'd get along. But with this one, I could be truly close without fear of losing her to time, distance, or just that we'd drift apart."The smile on Alana's face said it all.She was trying to be calm, but Rachel could tell that this idea held incredible appeal for beautiful wood elf. She seemed to light up at the idea that she could always have a close friend who would never leave. Come to think of it, that didn't sound too bad to Rachel either."Does that make sense?" The chocolate-haired elf asked.Yeah, it does." The redhead conceded, having never considered that before.They were both silent for a moment while Rachel pondered it. It really didn't sound too bad. She still wasn't crazy about sharing a husband, but the ideal of having a friend who was - sort of - tied to you through marriage with
"Child wings aren't large enough for you to fly, but I could jump eight or nine feet into the air before they fell out. Could you imagine trying to parent toddlers or five-year-olds who could literally fly away from you?"He laughed. "Oh man, that would be a nightmare."She nodded, then looked back over her shoulder forlornly. "I doubt I could do much more than a toddler now though. It could take weeks to build up the strength required to actually fly.""I thought that might be the case." He said with a smile. "Luckily, I have a solution for you."She looked doubtful, but hopeful. "Really?""Here it is." Alana said as she ran up to them.Ethan took the necklace from her, kissed her forehead tenderly, and smiled. "Thank you.""Have fun you two." The wood elf said with a knowing smile, then kissed him on the cheek and ran off again."What's that?" The Fey said as she eyed the necklace."This is a very handy necklace that reduces the wearer's weight, making them weight about a tenth as m
She kept her eyes shut and clung to him like her life depended on it."Taloni; look at me." He said again. This time his voice was just as kind, but there was a commanding reverb in his voice that made it almost impossible to ignore. She probably could have ignored it, but chose not to.She slowly moved her head up and opened her eyes a crack. He locked his cat-like eyes with her lilac ones and she felt something inside of her shift. He seemed to be staring into her soul and she found that she couldn't look away. She couldn't close her eyes, she couldn't do more than blink, and even then she couldn't keep her eyes closed."I love you, and will never let anything bad happen to you; understand?"She nodded, still not able to break eye contact."Will you trust me?"She nodded again.His gaze softened, and she could look away again. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and buried her face back into his chest."I can dive much faster than you can fall." He explaine
He leapt at her again and she only narrowly avoided him. She turned to flee, flying through the treetops at breakneck speed to avoid her pursuer, though she hoped not for much longer.He was right behind her, leaping through the tree branches nearly as fast as she could fly. She headed lower, hoping fewer branches would allow her to fly faster. That turned out to be a mistake because he was even faster with fewer obstacles in the way.She felt his finger brush her foot and she beat her wings furiously, heading for a clearing up ahead where she hoped she could get enough height to escape, but not so much that he could fly. She burst through the clearing and headed up, only to realize her mistake.Ethan leapt out of the foliage and instantly deployed his wings. She thought she'd have more time, but he didn't give it to her. With two powerful flaps of his majestic wings, he was on top of her. She tucked her wings, hoping to fall out of his reach - while at the same time hoping she would