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Chapter 17
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Ardwynn awoke before dawn. It wasn't especially cold, but a slight mist came off the lake. It gathered in the cattails and crept up into the trees. The strange group of elves and dragon had decided that it would probably be easiest to sleep on the beach near the tree line. Elves and dragon (singular) because Candasar and Tundor had returned for one last night in the grotto.
In further evening discussions, it had been decided that tomorrow was the day that Ardwella and Lothinar would attempt to make a magical restoration of her rear legs and other unspecified improvements. Esmarilla had insisted that she should be whole. It was most likely that as a dragon with normal legs, she would not have much use for the cavern again. If Lothinar failed, she would be dead.
Ardwynn thought, If this was possibly their last night together, they could use the privacy for other reasons. It was really sweet how young Tundor had been fawning over the recently battle-slashed Candasar. Their relationship made her wonder what was in store for Lothinar and her.
It was quite a surprise when Lothinar approached her last evening. Even though his parents interrupted their talk and later dinner. It was the first glimmer of hope that she had felt regarding her aspirations for the obtuse warden. If she hadn't been so completely smitten with him for this long, she might have wondered if getting involved with him and his eccentric family was a good idea at all. But now she didn't think she could just walk away. If love was a disease She had it bad. After dinner, as individual members of the party made their sleeping arrangements, Lothinar had "swung by", seeming willing to possibly sleep near her.
"Just, so we can talk some more," he said, looking hesitant and perhaps slightly guilty.
She could read the room.
Things were happening too fast for him. Instead she had said that she would be sleeping by the smoldering fire to keep Cantrell company. The Head Warden had just grunted and shimmied around a little to make her some room before rolling over and placing his back to the fire. She quickly laid down on the other side.
She thought he had fallen asleep when he finally said "You must be losing your touch if you are turning down an offer to sleep near Lothinar", then he chuckled. Shortly afterward, he began snoring. Of course, she had to lay awake for hours second-guessing THAT decision.
Lothinar had returned to the area claimed by his parents and the black dragon. Apparently, having a smoldering monstrosity around was a step up from a regular bed of hot coals. She could hear their muffled, distant voices and occasionally the strange rumble of what must be the dragon far into the night. She felt like she had barely slept.
It didn't seem long until Cantrell rose and wandered up into the woods, soon returning with some branches for the fire. He stirred the coals with one of them, and a few sparks shot up as the dry stick burst into flame. He built a small lean-to in the firepit that soon was engulfed.
"You know," he said at last. "When I'm out in the woods like this on a lake, I've been known to eat a baked fish or two. But right now, I'm a little too keenly aware of what they might be feeding on down there"
Ardwynn nodded.
"Dead dragons," she said.
Although it was much more common these days, It wasn't always the case for elves to be strictly vegan. Even now, some ate fish and.........."EGGS! she suddenly said"
"Yes, I considered that last night", Cantrell said. "I wonder what kind of magical powers someone might gain adding dragon eggs to their diet?"
"It certainly would be dangerous to try and acquire them," replied Ardwynn.
"The original nests were probably high in the mountains, protected by dragons like Esmarilla
”But you think the lake is a convenient place to keep the dragons for easy access.” Said Ardwynn
“Yes, and whoever is doing this is probably not interested in the magic-starved water version “
”They are collecting the eggs that will hatch into something like Tundor. “ gasped Ardwynn. “They must have some way to identify them.”
”And in this case, they must have missed one!” Guessed Cantrell “Maybe some of the eggs they collect have stronger magic potential than Tundor’s, or maybe they just made a mistake, but he hatched, and his mother hid him.
"You think all of this….?”
"Is a giant egg farm. What the humans call ‘A chicken coop’”
"Son of a....."
"Dragon," interrupted Cantrell. Son of a Dragon, and his daughters too!"
"We've been duped into working for them," said Ardwynn.
"Yes, I need to make some inquiries to confirm, but I believe so."
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"So what do we do now?"
"Now we see what that big dragon over there is going to do.” Said Cantrell cautiously. “And just maybe, we help her"
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Lothinar was feeling the pressure. He and his mother had discussed it, but no one had ever done what they were contemplating. They were going to physically sculpt a dragon. Actually, someone had, but in the other direction. Big dragons had been reduced to water dragons.
He knew that he was better than average at shaping plants, but he had never tried anything this extreme on animal flesh. It seemed impossible.
Esmarilla was already gone, probably off looking for the deer herd again. She could cover more ground and provide the dragons with food faster than a small army of elves with bows could. She was probably miles away. She had a lot of acreage to hunt. Esmarilla left and returned three times, each trip bringing an animal. Two deer and a bear were dropped unceremoniously on the beach.
Lothinar looked at Cantrell, who just shrugged and said, "At least she is trying to keep the food chain in balance."
”Is this the kind of thing that led to you bringing me that bear cub?” Ardwynn asked, looking at Lothinar.
He frowned slightly. “I have taken advantage of you”
”Yes, but not in the way I had been encouraging you to.” She pouted.
By now, Tundor and Cadasar had returned to the group, who greeted them with expectant faces.
“I am ready to be a real dragon!” Said Candasar.
”As are we,” rumbled Esmarilla. “But first, we must make some decisions “
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Cantrell was extremely surprised to find the black dragon looking at him. From his brief talk with Tundor yesterday, he thought he could recognize what a dragon looked like when they were friendly. Her face was not friendly.
” Me?” He croaked in sudden terror. He had always had a certain confidence in himself. He was a large muscular elf with a lifetime of vigorous outdoor activities. He kept his body in excellent condition. He was not young for an elf, but neither was he old. He had spent the last 200 years traveling the entire globe on various tasks for the Elven High Council. He had used his more than ample magic, diplomacy, and, if needed, physicality to achieve their seemingly reasonable objectives.
Now, standing next to what had to be six tons of wings, teeth, scales, and claws had suddenly given him a whole new perspective on confidence.
“I have tolerated your presence here because Ardwella has assured me that you are a fair and reasonable man. I can feel from a connection that I share with Lothinar that, for some reason, he values and trusts you. I am, however, perplexed by your role in this.”
“My role?” Asked Cantrell, but he suddenly realized that he knew exactly what she meant.
”You are the not the jailer of of my race? The warden of this prison?”
”I have recently come into new information……”
”He has!” Chirped up Ardwynn. “He and I figured it out this morning. We have been keeping the dragons here in this lake for a really terrible purpose!”
”I swear I didn’t understand!” Said Cantrell.
”Understand what exactly?” Asked Lothinar worriedly “I feel like I am the last one to know”
” You are not alone, son,” said Alberad, shooting eyes at Ardwella,
”Someone in the elven hierarchy has been keeping dragons here to harvest their magical eggs. The reason I came back here to have you is....” Ardwella looked at Albarad. She seemed to hesitate.
“We believe that you are the one that will set them all free.” Said Esmarilla with confidence.
”Ahh. Said Lothinar, “So no pressure..”
“So, what will you do now, wardens?” Asked the great black dragon. “We are about to try to undo some of the harm your people have done by correcting the flaws in Candasar’s physical body. It will not be easy and may leave one or more of us weak and vulnerable. I can't have you here if you are a threat to us and what we are trying to do.”
”You said wardens. More than one. You must mean me too? Asked Ardwynn.
The dragon nodded slightly.
“Well, just so you know, whatever Lothinar’s going to be doing, I’m totally in. I hope I have made that clear.” Said Ardwynn
”Yeah, pretty clear,” said Lothinar with an actual smile.
‘Ardwynn felt her heart melting at that smile.
”I could leave and give you your privacy.” Said Cantrell.
”I don’t think that’s a good option at this point,” said Ardwella
That surprised Cantrell because he thought it would be the dragon making the veiled threats, not the beautiful elf.
”I only suggested that because, although I am inclined to support you, I have not always had the greatest confidence when someone claims to have suddenly switched loyalty. “ said Cantrell, feeling an unexplainable impending dread. He had to ask.
“I mean, obviously, dragon aside, what makes you think you could stop me from walking out of here?”
Ardwella chuckled a little, although she had a strange, pained look. “My dear warden, do you want to guess what I was doing before I met my husband? In the long 700 years since I watched a group of greedy, evil power, power-hungry elves travel this continent using a twisted spell to burn dragons to death from the inside out?
”What were you doing? Cantrell whispered.
“I traveled a lot. I took my time. I played many roles and told many lies.”
”And?” Asked Alberad jumping in with an increasingly concerned look on his face.
”I killed them all”
” Who did you kill mother?” Asked Lothinar because his father had grown speechless.
“I killed every elf that had used that spell, Everyone that knew that spell. I destroyed the books that might be used to research that spell.”
”That’s probably a lot,” said Lothinar thinking about it.
”A few more than a hundred elves, I suppose,” she said. “ Like I said, I took my time to avoid gathering suspicion. The books were the easy part. There weren’t that many, and the bastards usually had them on them. “
“You are an assassin!” Alberad finally croaked. He looked ill.
”Not for over 100 years, dear,” she smiled, “and I only killed bad people”
”Well, that’s a relief for me, I guess,” said Cantrell because I’m pretty sure that I’m not bad”
”What we have to come to an agreement about is how you feel about us ending the exploitation and slavery of dragons, “ asked Ardwella.
”Oh, on that, I’m good. I’m definitely good”
"Well, I'm glad somebody's good," exclaimed Alberad. "That assassin part is a lot to take in."
"I was afraid of this," said Ardwella.
"You knew this might happen!" said the large black dragon.
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Out on the lake, the sun was rising. Yesterday had been a disaster. They had come home from trying to kill Candasar and left three dead clan leaders behind. Killingsworth was still off recovering from his wounds and would be no further help for now. The opinion of a majority of the tribe actually seemed to be that the two young males who had tried to visit Candasar actually got what they deserved. Only one of them, Beldor, had been HIS son. Regardless of popular opinion, he was going to get revenge. Maybe that nice elf lady who came by to check the nests could help. Only the elders knew of her visits.
She would magically observe the unhatched eggs from a distance trying to make sure no more freaks were born. If she saw an egg that was going to turn out badly as Tundor had, she would mercifully remove it, slipping in a surrogate. Of course, it wouldn’t hatch, but at least the parents were spared the horror of watching their child grow into a freak. He would go to the place where she watched. She would not like it, but he would try to speak to her. Benedar was sure she would know what to do.
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