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CHAPTER 12
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Ardwella was beginning to look concerned. Usually cool and on point, she kept looking off into the distance and scrunching up her eyes as if trying to think of something or maybe see something.
“He’s not coming…Something is wrong.” She at last said to Alberad. “He said he would meet us here after taking care of things with the Head Warden, but I can’t even feel him right now.”
”Well, that doesn’t sound good!” Said Alberad. “Do you think the Warden suspects something? He looked more worried than suspicious when he came by to talk to me.”
”Well, it is part of the warden's job to keep an eye on things like this, so it’s possible. Lothinar was going to drop off his report at the office and head over here as quickly as he could so he could avoid talking to him for now, But something must have gone wrong!”
”You couldn’t see that with your powers or whatever?”
”I got kind of distracted packing up!” She said, rolling her eyes at the cart. “Deciding what part of the mementos of our last 50 years together in this house I was willing to leave behind. There were a lot!” She said, almost crying.
“I told you this might happen.” He said, feeling instantly like an ass for throwing her words back at her. Then, looking at the tarp covering far too few of his most important things, he said, “It was hard for me, too!”
She ran over and pressed herself against him, giving him a huge hug. “I know, sweetheart! It’s not fair at all to expect you to overturn your life like this, but he is our son.”
His knees went a little weak as she looked lovingly up into his eyes. She was so incredibly beautiful it was almost surreal. How did a normal elf like him end up with such a treasure? Anything that he had to leave behind for her was no loss at all.
”So what’s next?” He finally found the words to ask.
Her eyes moved quickly back and forth, seeming to take inventory of the situation with an uncanny ability. Her gaze then returned to him, lingering a tiny bit too long as if trying to figure out what she might be able to expect from him. He squirmed a little. He felt, somehow a bit lacking for this sort of scenario.
”Leave the cart loaded, of course. That took way too long. But unhitch Jamison and get him a little water. I’m all out of carrots."
He smiled at that, then frowned when she added, “And unpack the sword.”
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Are you sure you want to go in there alone?” Asked Cantrell. They were standing on the cliff overlooking Candasar’s cove.
Lothinar looked him in the eyes. He didn’t want to admit to anyone, quite yet, that he could sense Tundor moving around three or four hundred yards away up in the trees. Probably hunting. He didn’t think the dragon had spotted them at all because he was moving slightly away from them at the moment in widening circles. He realized that he had not answered the question.
‘I have before, although that didn’t turn out great,” replied Lothinar brusquely. “It’s dark, damp, and cramped, but I think that they still live in there, and I am fairly certain that at least she is inside.” He improvised. ‘This will go much better if I go alone…..and knock at the door.”
“Is it safe?’” Asked Ardwynn, suddenly displaying quite a bit of concern. “Wait a minute. There's a door?”
”Figure of speech.” He added.
”No, really! She asked again. “Is it safe for you to go in there?”
”Well, last time I almost died,” he mumbled more to himself than the other two wardens. “Sure!, We’re good friends! he said out loud, But then he suddenly remembered the angry way she had thrown him and Tundor out. What the hell was he doing?
“You two should walk down over there,” he said, gesturing to the shoreline, “and wait.” I’ll bring them out and make the peaceful introductions."
”She is a water type?” Asked Cantrell.
Lothinar nodded at the choppy waves in the cove. A little breeze had been picking up.
”Well, obviously, “ he said.
“You will forgive me if I don’t suddenly fall back on old assumptions,“ Cantrell responded with a strange scowl.
He was thinking that it hadn’t been a good idea to bring only the three of them, thought Lothinar, and so few heavy weapons.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Those dragon prints up by the caves were not made by flippers!” He finally said.
”No, you’re right. He’s got to be some sort of accidental throwback. That’s what got me caught up in this in the first place. He is kind of fascinating!”
”Don’t forget that curiosity killed the cat.” Cantrell replied. “Right now, I’m hoping it doesn’t kill the rest of us too”
Lothinar only nodded. He realized the chief ranger was trusting him and giving the whole situation a lot more leeway than he deserved at this point. He didn’t want to drop the hammer on him. He found himself suddenly grateful for that.
”Um, Cantrell?”
The ranger cocked an eyebrow as he was starting to turn around.
”The one from up by the caves, the throwback. His name is Tundor. He might be out there in the woods somewhere, so keep your head on a swivel.”
”Should I be starting to get even more concerned?” He asked.
”Actually between the two of them, surprisingly, I sincerely believe at this point that we have less to worry about from him.”
“But he has good land mobility, right?” Asked the chief.
”He can trundle along pretty well, but he’s getting pretty big, so thick trees would slow him down if it came to that.”
”You are not doing much to increase my confidence.” The warden replied with a scowl. “Carry on then!”
Cantrell began walking down toward the cove. Then, looking back at Ardwynn, he asked, puzzled, " Are you coming?”
‘Hang on a minute”, she replied with a giggle. “I wouldn’t want to miss this!”
Rolling his eyes in disbelief, Lothinar sighed and stepped out of his boots. Stripping off his shirt and breeches, he looked back toward her, saying
“I’m flattered at the attention.” Then without hesitating further, he launched himself from the cliff in a perfect dive, cleanly entering the water below.”
Cantrell looked at her with an eyebrow raised and said judgmentally, “I don’t think you realize how serious this all is!”
The female warden grinned, ”A girl, in this outfit, has to seize every opportunity “ she said laughing.”That was quite a show!”
”Are you going to at least pick up his clothes? He’d probably appreciate having them when he comes out of the water down there”
”I’m still debating.” She said, smiling deviously. “I don’t think he thought that through “
Cantrel just shook his head and moved off quickly.
”Definitely worth the price of admission,” she said to herself, picking up the clothes and boots and turning, began to follow Cantrell down the slope towards the cove.
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Candasar was howling! Something was going very wrong this time. She had waited for Tundor to leave her by herself, as last time, before working on her modifications. She didn’t know what the problem was, but now the recently shredded and ripped front flipper, now pseudo dragon foot on her right side, was unrepentantly spurting blood. It wasn’t even slowing down.
“This is what you get, Candasar, for not leaving well enough alone and trying to chase after Tundor.” She thought to herself as she began to feel light-headed and woozy. Suddenly through the haze of pain, she somehow realized that she was no longer alone.
”What are you doing, you crazy dragon?” The elf practically shrieked.
He was back! The little brown man! She thought to herself. “Maybe he could help!”
She tried to push through the pain to telepathically send him her memories of hiding the dead water dragon’s body. The one with his arrows in it. He owed her a favor!
The elf stood over her, dripping and naked, not quite uniformly brown. She could see now, up as close as he was, that certain parts of him had received more sunlight than others. Clothes are so weird, she thought. He seemed to be looking at her—no, not at her, but inside her. He looked at the bleeding foot and then back again to the other one—the first one she had changed.
”Did you bite yourself?” He asked.
She nodded, suddenly slightly uncomfortable beneath his piercing gaze.
“Who was he to judge her?” She thought defensively, but she was fading and didn’t have the strength to make her displeasure obvious.
“Ooooh,” he said slowly. “That was a bad idea. I’m surprised you could pull it off on the other side.”
“I’ve heard people say that they would rather be lucky than good, but in that first case on the left side, I’d say that you got very, very lucky. That is not what the Heill spell does,or what it is for!"
”So, are you going to help me or not, elf?” She sent him.
”I’m pretty sure I am,” he said. “For Tundor. Foot or flipper?”
”Foot, please!” She sent, suddenly relieved. He began to chant softly. She could feel his power flowing into her leg and watched in fascination as the limb squirmed and knitted in front of her eyes. She was already feeling better.
”These changes you’ve started are going to complicate your life even more than you know.” He said, wobbling a bit, then suddenly slipping and sitting down unexpectedly hard. She could see his face looked uncharacteristically haggard and tired.
Surprising herself, she leaned over a little with her neck to prop him up. Before he fell over completely.
”Thanks,” he said, “When are you expecting Tundor back?”
“How do you know he’s even back here?” She asked churlishly. “I threw you BOTH out, remember?”
”Well, for one thing, it kind of smells like dragon sex in here,” he said mischievously,
”It does not!” She squealed, casting her head about, aggressively sniffing the shelf.
He laughed loud and long, obviously starting to feel a little better. “No, no. Just kidding. I think someone is rubbing off on me”
”It’s the half-deer carcass over there. I don’t think you caught that yourself!” He said, then grew suddenly serious.
”Listen, Candasar, I know I haven’t known you very long, and I don’t think we are good friends like Tundor and me, but I have unsurprisingly gotten into quite a bit of trouble with my own people trying to help you both. My boss, the Head Warden, is outside with another, um, friend, and I really would appreciate it if you could come out and meet them.”
She looked at him suspiciously for a few seconds before asking, “Do I even have a choice?”
”Yes, you do, actually, but I don’t think saying no is going to work out well for either of us.” he answered.
”I will do as you ask, but only because Tundor seems to trust you."
”Thank you for that,” he said, a little moved.
”You healed me, and at least my foot is not bleeding anymore,” she said. “I will keep it under the water so they do not notice the changes”
”Believe me, Candasar, you won’t be able to fool these people about much of anything. They are going to notice. “ he said with resignation.
The worst nightmare of the Elvish race was well on its way to becoming a reality, he thought to himself.
After just a few more minutes to collect their thoughts, they swam together, with him leading the way out through the submerged tunnel and into the light of day.
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