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"Aaa!" He screamed.He was ripped from the dream back into the real world a split second before the mace landed. Ethan flipped into a low crouch and growled, primed and ready for a fight."Well, he's awake anyway." Said Alana laughing.It took Ethan a few seconds to get his bearings. He was in a small room with two beds. The style reminded him of an English Tudor style home, simply furnished with a rough wooden table and a few dried stumps for chairs. Alana and Garthildur were sitting at the table talking. Or rather it looked like they had been talking. Right now they were both staring at him with almost identical amused expressions.Ethan slowly relaxed. "Sorry, I was... Sorry.""It's okay." Alana said. "I needed a heart attack anyway."He chuckled. "My pleasure."Garthildur gave Alana a look. She turned slightly pink, but ignored him."What had you so riled up?" she asked."Bad dream." Ethan related his dream to them. Garthildur leaned back in his seat and made a thoughtful sound."
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It was at the edge of his perception, but it was there. It was far away, but it was massive. It was a pile of gold so large, it rivaled even Drousin's hoard. Unlike Alana's coins, it wasn't strong or brimming with energy. He could feel all that gold just laying there cold a lifeless waiting for... He wasn't sure what, but he knew if he got close enough he could bring the gold to life. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew."There's a massive pile of gold not far away." He said finally, turning his attention back to her."Dragons are excellent at finding it." Alana smiled. "And that's the vault at The Bank, but I could've told you that.""The bank?""Yes. It's so large it doesn't even need a name. They just call it 'The Bank'. It's said that the vaults have enough gold in them to rival a dragon's hoard.""The stories are true." He frowned as something occurred to him. "I don't need to own the gold do I? I just need to be near it, right?"Alana nodded. "According to my conversations w
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"Okay. Well, if I'm going to be flying us to the forest, I should probably get in some practice."They packed up the few belongings they would need and left the rest in the room. Garthildur said the room was rented for the rest of the week and there was a sturdy-looking lock on the door, so it seemed like a good place to store them.The street outside was both very different and yet quite similar to what he had imagined. He had seen many medieval marketplaces in movies and TV shows. Earth entertainments were all pretty close, but way off at the same time. It was extremely noisy and filthy. There were people everywhere all clamoring to sell their wares, and it reminded him of videos he'd seen of the frenzied action on a stock market trading floor in New York.Alana skillfully navigated through the crowd and led him to the city gates. Once outside, he turned to look back.Gralden nestled up against the base of a mountain, the quality of housing getting better, larger and more expansive
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Alana swallowed hard and put on the necklace. It was a small thing, with a short chain and a small round gemstone in a wooden fitting. She walked up behind Ethan and felt a little silly at not knowing how to proceed."There's no reason to be nervous. Come on, it'll be fun."Alana took a deep breath, lay down on Ethan's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then -- because it seemed like the thing to do -- she hooked her legs around the underside of his tail. She also made sure to keep her face well clear of the horns protruding from the back of his head."Ready?" he asked.Alana nodded, although she didn't really feel ready. She shut her eyes tightly and braced herself for a fall. Her breathing was much shallower than normal, and she wasn't far from hyperventilating."Alana, look at me." He twisted his head as far back as he could. She could just look into one of his eyes. Even though they looked like cat's eyes, they were full of warmth and concern."I will never let anything ha
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Rachel Delmar was in a truly foul mood. She was pacing back and forth near the bonfire in the center of the camp and throwing murderous glares at anyone who got too close. Not that many did get close because it was the middle of the night and they were all on lookout duty.Her plan wasn't working. Why wasn't it working?She was even more disturbed that she'd enacted the plan in the first place. Kidnapping wasn't exactly her life's ambition and she found the idea abhorrent. Yet here she was -- masterminding a kidnapping. Although, given who her father was, she wasn't really couldn't be too surprised at the plan she'd come up with. You learned a few things being the daughter of a brilliant but malevolent asshole.But why had she acted on the idea?Rachel absentmindedly played with her ring. Why was she being such a horrible person?"My lady." One of the lookouts interrupted her thoughts."What!" Rachel whipped around to stare at him. Behind her, the fire flicked ominously.The lookout d
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"Could we sneak them out? I'm betting they're being held in that tent." He pointed at the tent the guard had exited."We could try." She whispered. "There will be lookouts in the forest though.""It's better than trying to fight a woman who can control fire.""True."They both crept forward as quietly as they could. They were about fifty yards away from the clearing when Alana touched Ethan. She pointed up into a tree where a man was perched in the fork of a branch, clearly supposed to be on watch. He was also clearly asleep.Ethan glanced at the sky. It was definitely growing lighter.They crept closer, careful to make as little noise as possible. She nocked an arrow to her bowstring, but didn't raise it. Ethan held his spear a little tighter. Several tense minutes later, they were within thirty feet of the clearing.He motioned to Alana to stay where she was and then crept forward to the nearest tent. It looked medieval, which meant that there would in all likelihood be no floor cov
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Wurven's remaining men were cautiously testing Ethan's defenses while their leader stood back and watched. He had drawn his longsword and was holding a wooden shield on his other arm. He had a war hammer hanging at his side via a leather strap; it looked like a two-foot long framing hammer with a slightly larger head."I've got an idea, but it'll take time and completely drain me." Rachel said softly to Ethan."Do it." Ethan said jabbing forward with his spear again.Over the next ten seconds, Ethan noticed a slight change in the atmosphere that reminded him of how it had felt when Drousin had magically unshackled Alana. It made him shiver and his scales stand on end.Then Ethan felt the air change.Something went past him in the direction of the four leading bandits. In moments, frost appeared on their clothes and weapons. As one, they turned to run, but they weren't anywhere near fast enough. Ice covered their entire bodies and they fell.Ethan looked behind him to see the massive a
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"I think we should wait until nightfall." Alana said, and then turned to Beth. "The city guards probably wouldn't take kindly to seeing a dragon suddenly flying towards The Bank. It might make them nervous. Come on, let's get our stuff together, eat something, and we'll explain."The girls looted the camp supplies for breakfast, while Ethan checked the corpses, finding only a few gold coins between them. He took them and decided to keep the warhammer as well, just in case they ran into another armored foe.Once they sat down to eat, and at Beth's questions, Ethan explained how he had come to this world and his contretemps with Lord Delmar. That in turn led to a recounting everything that had happened so far. Beth asked so many questions, that finally Ethan had to call a halt to her interrogation so he could finish eating. Once they were on the road to Alana's clearing, Beth continued her questioning.She was easily the most curious person he had ever met.Several times, Ethan caught a
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