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Chapter 18

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"There is one more thing we must agree on before we begin," said Esmarilla.

"Ah," said Ardwella, "I was wondering when you would get to that....."

"It will affect the entire process and change the way he must proceed.

"What are we talking about here," Asked Lothinar. " I think I should know since it probably concerns me."

"It does. Candasar and Tundor." as well, said Ardwella.

"How did I get left out?" Ardwynn asked. " Here, I thought I was almost part of the family!"

"You may very well be... In time," sent Esmarella, "But your opinions do not make a difference for our actions today."

"Well, there I go. My status has dropped back down to not making a difference," pouted Ardwynn. Cantrell, tell them I made a difference this morning in our discussion!"

"Yes, you made a difference," said Cantrell, smiling. "You have an excellent mind"

"Ouch!" said Ardwynn. "That's not what a girl necessarily wants to hear upfront. Never lead with that 'He loves her for her mind' bit. It makes everyone think she's plain.

"You're not plain," said Lothinar.

"Ouch again!. That's not a very high bar. Not plain. Somehow, this keeps getting worse!"

"Maybe you should tell me about the choice I have to make and let ME decide if I want Ardwynn's opinion on the matter," Lothinar said, finally looking at Esmarilla.

"Thank you, Lothinar," Ardwynn said with a big smile, "But you're definitely going to want it."

He reached over, grabbed Ardwynn by the shoulders, and kissed her. Once he had her lips, he lingered a short while.

"Well, that should shut her up for a few minutes,” said Tundor.

Lothinar smiled despite his embarrassment. Ardwynn was standing there, staring into the distance. She never quits, he thought to himself. Suddenly, he realized that he really liked that about her.

The big Dragon rolled her eyes, apparently done with the drama. Candasar had been sitting quietly and listening to the conversation. Now Esmarella turned to her and asked.

"Do you understand what we are going to be doing?

Candasar. nodded, "They are going to look inside my body, find things that don't belong there, and then take them away." she said. Then they are going to put back the things I am missing..."

"That is correct," said the dragon, "except that these two actions cannot be separated. They must happen at the same time. That’s why it will take two of them. Ardwella will take away, and Lothinar will put back. His job is incredibly hard. I will supply the power that gets them through such an arduous process. It will not be easy.

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"How will they know what parts are the real me? I've been this way so long I'm not sure I even know myself."

"You will know," said the dragon, "because the picture of the true self you carry inside has driven every step you have taken on this journey.

"But he is the one doing the shaping. How will he know?" asked Candasar

"That is the part that requires the decision, " said Ardwella. Before the dragons were changed, some of them formed bonds with some of the members of my family.” She paused, looking at Lothinar. Our family .“ It is a unique and privileged experience that forever changes both dragon and elf. Albarad and Ardwynn may have realized from my conversation with Cantrell that I am quite old, even for an elf.”

Lothinar looked over at his father, who was clearly listening but digging a little with the toe of his boot on the rocky beach. He seemed to sense Lothinar’s gaze and looked up, managing a small smile for his son.

“How long do dragons live?” interrupted Cantrell

”Before they were changed, a thousand years or more was not uncommon, “ answered Ardwella

”But we only have a hundred years!” Cried out Candasar. “I have lived over half of that already!”

”We believe that the vastly shorter life span is primarily caused by the stunted magic the elven flesh sculptors enacted upon your kind. Reaching sexual maturity early gives them access to more harvestable eggs” They made changes to intellect, limiting that, as well as the more obvious wing and flipper changes.” Ardwella explained.

“These changes are usually linked. You get one, you get them all, but they want magic-infused eggs, so they must have left a way for that to happen occasionally. For some reason we don’t understand, Candasar got the mind of a full fledged dragon in the body of the water type. We don’t really know how rare that is."

”My mother is probably one like that,” said Tundor thoughtfully.

”I will probably want to talk to her then,” said Esmarella. “With the mind comes the magic.”

”And the magic fights back, and we get a Tundor!” Said Cantrell, connecting the dots.

“Yes, mind and most of the body attributes of something like me,” said Esmarella, but still at least partially held back. Like the wings. He will be much easier to fix.”

Tundor found that hopeful.

“So if all this hadn’t happened and Tundor and I had children….They would be real dragons, “ asked Candasar hopefully.

‘Quite probably” said Cantrell, “assuming whoever is doing this didn’t sense it and steal away your eggs before they hatched, because that’s kind of their goal here”. He looked at Ardwella, who nodded in confirmation.

“So if Lothinar bonds with Tundor, would he outlive me by over 500 years? Asked Ardwynn, suddenly very interested in the conversation again. “Then I want to bond with Candasar!”

”That would be convenient for you, wouldn’t it?” rumbled Esmarella. “But that’s not how it works.”

”Don’t I have a say in this?” Asked Candasar. “Not that you aren’t a fascinating girl, but you and I have barely spoken. “

” You do have a say, Candasar. Not every dragon or elf for that matter is even willing to bond,” said Ardwella

”There are emotional reasons that males bond male dragons, and female dragons almost always prefer female elves as a bond, but it is not always so,” said Esmarilla

“You want me to bond with Candasar?” Asked Lothinar.

Tundor looked a little surprised.

”It would make restoring her much more likely to succeed. You would have better access to the picture of her true self that she carries inside. Bonding is an intense and revealing experience, “ said Esmarilla

Ardwynn interrupted. “This would not change his, um, how do I ask this….”

”Sexual preferences. No, not usually,” replied Ardwella, shaking her head with a smile.

“I’m not feeling confident about letting him bond with a female dragon who wants to be a mother so badly. You could undo all of my progress!” Said Ardwynn anxiously.

”Hey, I just kissed you, remember?”

”Yes, and that was great by the way, I’d love to repeat that, but it took you a really long time and this could set me back ages!”

“As passionate as Candasar is about having children, something like this could light his fire!” Commented Cantrell, who had been listening and looking on very amused.

”Ok, I’m convinced, let’s go with that, Ardwynn clamored. Lothinar, please bond with the horny female dragon.”

”Look!” he said at last. He was starting to become overwhelmed. ‘I think we need to consider this from the perspective of what would also be best for Candasar “

”I will accept you, little brown man with the strange white parts. Your magic and my magic entwined will be formidable!”

“I guess that settles it. Let’s get started.” Rumbled Esmarilla.

”This is not the way I saw my life going,” said Lothinar resignedly

“You know, son,” blurted Alberad.” No one is going to make you do anything.”

”I know, Father, and thanks for that, but somehow I believe that this is what I was born to do.”

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