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The dragon stopped and flopped down in front of Ethan. Behind the dragon was an immense pile of gold dotted with silver and precious stones. The sight took Ethan's breath away. Something in him felt pulled towards the gold. Itcalled to him. Ethan could almost feel the gold and it was brimming with... something. Something powerful, something that Ethan really wanted."Eyes up boy." The dragon said in a bored tone. "I'll forgive the lust in your eyes because of your youth. But if you touch a single piece of that gold I'll tear you limb from limb."The dragon didn't seem mad or angry, just bored and letting Ethan know the natural consequences of messing with his gold."Why do you care about the elf?" The dragon asked."Because murder is wrong.""Right, wrong. It's all the same thing." The dragon said with a sigh. "I've lived a lot longer than you whelp. When you get to my age you learn that there are no absolutes."Ethan smiled -- to his surprise he still could -- as a plan formed in his
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"No really. I'm being serious." Ethan said. "Where I come from, magic is only found in stories. There is no magic."Alana stopped and gave him an odd look. "But life can't exist without magic.""Why not?" he asked.She started walking again. They had almost reached a narrow path into the forest. The minute Alana stepped into the forest she started running her hands over the bark of trees and through the leaves of shrubs. She visibly relaxed once she was inside the forest. The path wasn't wide enough for them to walk next to each other, so Ethan fell in step behind her."Life is sustained by magic." She said. "Without magic, everything withers and dies. All living beings -- from the smallest insect to the largest animal -- instinctively draw magic from the Ether to survive.""Okay, so what's the Ether?""It's the source of all magical energy. Simply by living, plants and animals draw magic from the Ether. They always draw slightly more than they need though, and leave the excess floati
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"The trees might survive, but my staves only sell because they are the finest in the kingdom. If they are subjected to fire, they'll be average at best and I'll never be able to sell them. My family has been farming this land for a hundred years."Ethan thought he saw her eyes get slightly watery. He hadn't noticed before, but they were a rich hazel color."Maybe it won't happen." He suggested. "But I think we should be ready if they come back."Alana nodded. "I have several staves that are ready to sell and a hidden storage pit not far away. I doubt they know about it. I can store them there for tonight.""How about harvesting some of these early?" Ethan gestured at the trees outside the door.She shook her head. "They're not ready, but we should be. And thank you.""Why are you thanking me?" he asked. "They might destroy your farm because of me.""It's not your fault." Alana said. "I'd be dead if you hadn't saved me from Drousin and you warned me Hermair might attack tonight, which
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Ethan grimaced as he pulled himself forward with one arm. With the other hand he reached up and pulled Alana into a rather awkward hug. It was awkward because she was kneeling and he was still lying down. Alana resisted for a fraction of a second, and then just collapsed onto Ethan's shoulder. As she lay there crying quietly, Ethan felt an enormous weight of guilt press down on him.After about a minute, Ethan couldn't take it. "I'm sorry I cost you your home."Alana pulled herself together long enough to sit up. Then she drew back and glared at him."What?""Don't you ever blame yourself for that again." She said. The trail of tears on her face glistened in the moonlight, but her eyes were set in stone. "You didn't do anything except save my life. The problem is Lord Delmar, not you. He sent those men, not you. They torched my home and trees, not you. You charged over a dozen men in a stupid attempt to distract them so I could escape. You don't need to apologize at all."He smiled sl
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Alana walked to the tree to see if he had left any footprints, but there were none. She scanned the nearby trees but could not see him anywhere.'It's okay, he's okay,' she thought. 'The solders haven't got this far yet and nothing in the woods would attack a dragon, even a younger dragon like Ethan.'Alana walked to the closest tree, again looking for footprints, but couldn't find any there either. Her stomach started tying itself up in knots. What if something had happened to him?She was about to start biting her nails when something brushed the back of her shoulder. She whipped around just in time to see Ethan's tail lift up out of sight. She looked up and there he was, sitting there with a mischievous grin on his face. She was also pleased to see he had finished closing his wounds, although he looked like death warmed over."Are you done playing?" Alana asked, though she couldn't help but smile.Ethan nodded and hopped down from the tree. "Where to next? I'm wiped out.""I know a
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"So I need gold to use collect magic." He said. "And I only have a tiny bit of gold in my little dragon crop thingy, which is why I can't recharge my mana very fast.""Exactly, that's why dragons collect and hoard gold." She said, taking another bite."Wow." Ethan said. "I didn't realize that dragons had such a raw deal.""They don't." She replied. "Remember when I said you can't enchant living things, because the flow of mana makes it impossible to get the enchantment to stick?""Yeah. You said it was like trying to build a house in the middle of a raging river."Alana smiled. "You were paying attention. And yes, but dragons aren't like that. Because dragons don't pull magic directly from the Ether, they don't have that constant flow.""So, you can enchant a Dragon?""I can't, but a dragon can enchant himself. Meaning you can use magic to directly augment almost any part of your body. You can make yourself stronger, faster, improve your senses and reflexes, make your scales harder, y
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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 his 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 love..." Ethan 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 t
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"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. I have older siblings, but they're long gone and my parents... aren't around anymore.""Did something happen to them?" he enquired, although he sounded unsure about asking."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. 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 fi
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