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Chapter 20
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“Why have you come, Benedar? I have told the council more than once that approaching me while working is unacceptable! It distracts me from my tasks.”
”Apologies, Ulaire, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
‘As he had expected, the large male water dragon had found the elf standing by the lake's edge gazing at the females moving about as they went about female tasks.” There were a few young around, as usual, learning to catch smaller fish in the shallower water.
”Do you remember the dragoness Candasar?”
”The hermit? What of her? Has she finally taken a mate?”
”Not from one of our males, no,” said Benedar, painfully remembering the loss of his son just a few days ago.
”What could you possibly mean, ‘Not from one of our males? A female?”
It was rare, but not unheard of, for a lone female to take up with another in a friendship that might lead to stronger feelings. Under the right emotional conditions it could even lead to the laying of a few eggs, although unfertilized. It might be worth checking on her whereabouts. For some strange reason, Candasar's eggs seemed to have a high potential for magic. It was too bad she was so unsociable. If she were to finally lay them, they would be filled with strong magic.
“No, unfortunately, we had an outlier that survived several years undetected. “
”You what? She asked angrily. This wasn’t good, but It had happened before. She must have missed one.
”Yes, the eccentric, devoted mother convinced her family to hide him for a pretty long time”
”When you found out, you, of course, took action?”
”Yes, immediately. We took him to the center of the lake and drowned him, or at least we thought we did.”
”I do not like where this story is going, Benedar!”
”It’s Candasar’s fault! Somehow, she managed to save him.”
”How is this even possible? Where are they now?
”We did not know she rescued the freak, but the entire clan council went searching for her yesterday for some other important reasons, and when we finally found out where she was staying, we fought.”
”She and the male are dead then?”
”No, somehow she defeated us. Seven went out, but only four returned, and one badly wounded. “
”Well isn’t that great, now I have to train more council members! Perhaps I can find some males strong enough to deal with a lone female and an adolescent freak.”
Ulaire was annoyed. She would have to find a way to deal with this without losing too much production. After she had made her counts she would have Benedar show her to the place Candasar was hiding. She would have to deal with this swiftly.
”In a short while, you will take me to them.”
”There is another thing, Ulair,” said Benedar, simmering at her rebuke of his strength
“What is it now?”
”There were elves with them. They looked like Wardens.”
‘What!!?”
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The beach party was breaking up. It had to, but it made a lot of things awkward. Lothinar and Ardwella were exhausted and in pain. Though the black dragon Esmarilla’s seemingly inexhaustible strength had supplied the magic for Candasar’s restoration, they had been the conduit. It had been decided that their family was going home to rest a little before making plans on what to do next.
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Cantrell’s involvement and participation in what was happening took the immediate pressure off being discovered and executed by an angry elven population blissfully unaware of what was really going on here at the lake. Cantrell had overheard them quietly discussing hiding among men.
Ardwella had been the recipient of dragon magic for hundreds of years, and the pathway to that power had been reinforced and strengthened slowly over a long time. Her part in Candasar’s rebirth had been strenuous, but it had been much easier to destroy the form of cancer that had trapped Candasar in a water dragon shape than to regrow a healthy dragon. She was already recovering.
Lothinar had a unique relationship with Esmarella. While in his mother’s womb, he received substantial amounts of dragon energy from Ardwella’s connection with her bonded dragon. The changes had been substantial, giving him an enhanced body and capacity for magic. However, the duration had been limited to the time of gestation. Now, his channels were burned and crispy. They would heal, but he was going to be sore for quite a while. He would not be using magic soon.
The big dragon had fed, eating both the deer and the bear but leaving the bear. Cantrell could not be sure, but already, her color was a bit darker. Her ability to push power into the mother and son was at a level Cantrell had no idea was even possible. He had no idea how elves had ever subdued these creatures.
Tundor had taken Candasar over to the ursine carcass and was excitedly retelling her the story of hunting on his first day. Candasar flipped the animal over and commented on the claws, then looked at Tundor’s chest, which still bore a small scar. It looked like they were going to share the bear. It would feed them both, taking the edge off. Soon they would need more. A stable food supply seemed one of their highest priorities. Although he understood the carnivores' behavior and the necessity of it, all of this visible feeding on flesh was a lot to take in for a mostly vegan elf.
Ardwynn was standing next to Lothinar, and they were talking in the hushed, conspiratorial voices of a couple that had recently acknowledged the potential of greater intimacy. Cantrell was happy for them both, but especially for Ardwynn. It looked like her dream of finally capturing her elusive prey might be becoming a reality. Her smile and the way she constantly followed him with her eyes was good to see. He hoped she didn’t come to regret her choices. If nothing else, it had been more than interesting so far. Cantrell knew that thinking you wanted something was never the same as actually having it. The thrill of the chase could skew your perspective.
All was not at ease with Lothinar’s parents. Although he couldn’t see an elf-like Alberad ending his relationship with Ardwella, the Beautiful but ancient assassin had certainly delivered her surprises all at once. The man must be reeling! He had been ready to pack up and leave the area with her and their son, presumably bringing Tundor along, That still was probably the only option as it would be difficult to keep the presence of a dragon much of a secret. It was clear the assassin’s beau had a lot of thinking to do.
Now, if he had not misheard, Ardwella had hinted at another pregnancy. Looking as good as she did, it wasn’t difficult to understand how that probably happened. But why now? Lothinar was almost forty. Was she working on an insurance baby? The complex motivations and decisions of an elf that old had to be hard to fathom. She had seen the days of the dragon's demise and watched her family be torn apart. How does someone come back from something like that? I guess it just takes time and a youthful attitude. She still had that in spades.
The elven village surrounding their little outpost was known for its perceptiveness and, unfortunately, its gossip. Staying there was probably never going to work. Now they had three dragons to hide. The winged ones would have greater mobility and that would help immensely. But they still had the boat anchor that was Tundor. For now and the immediate future, he would be stuck on the ground. The other wardens in the preserve would be impossible to keep ignorant if he stayed in the immediate area. Already they had left evidence around that would force Cantrell to decide if the rest of his team could be trusted with some difficult secrets. This was going to be a logistical mess!
Getting everyone off the lake was already complicated. Candasar, although eager to try flying, had been assured by Esmarilla that it was not as easy as it looked and it would take some lessons. She was more than willing to provide them at another time and place but for today the blue dragon was going to have to walk. Because she would also find walking on her new legs to be a novel experience she didn’t seem to mind too much. Tundor was delighted to have her company. For reasons he probably could understand Lothinar was loath to leave Candasar and Tundor. In spite of his obvious fatigue he would walk out with them Ardwynn would likewise not leave Lothinar making humorous excuses about how she couldn’t trust him around another woman, making even the two dragons laugh.
Esmarilla soon left. Flying out low over the water. She had Ardwella and Alberad nestled on her back between her great wings. She pumped them forcefully as she made altitude to clear the trees. They would go ahead, sneak back into town and prepare to receive the rest. Cantrell couldn’t remember but he thought that they had a barn. He hoped it was of good size.
The dragon and elf couples said there goodbyes before starting the long walk back.
”I can’t thank you enough, Cantrell for giving my family and me the benefit of the doubt.” Said Lothinar shaking his hand
”Well, honestly I never even dreamed that this deception could be so deep!” Replied Cantrell “This was supposedly a nice easy posting, hiking around in meadows and watching the flowers grow. The occasional deer poacher. Keep a few water lizards out of trouble. Look what you’ve done to my golden years!” He laughed.
”Yeah, sorry, but remember, I tried to keep you out of it”
”I’ve never been more sorry to be good at my job” said Cantrell.
Cantrell had insisted that he stay behind to clean up the campsite. He raked out the fire pit and tried to obfuscate some of the large piles of dragon dung that Tundor seemed to randomly leave about far too close to the beach. He buried some antlers. He had just about finished when he happened to look out over the mid day lake. Out in the cove he saw a grey mass bobbing in the water.
Dead things were rising and there was nothing he could do about it.