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Chapter 33
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Because Aleena had moved the location of her new nest closer to the man village the attempted egg napping was not far. Still, it took the Lothinar, Ardwynn, and Tundor about fifteen minutes at a fast run to arrive. Somehow Lothinar's mother, Ardwella, had managed to beat them there. She had Ulaire trussed up with a rope that Lothinar thought looked suspiciously like the one that his father used to lead Jamison around. The female elf was also quite thoroughly gagged. Apparently, Ardwella knew that allowing a spell-casting elf to use her vocal abilities was unwise. The blue water dragon Aleena was snapping and reaching for her, but Esmarilla's much larger bulk seemed adequate to keep Ardwynn's mother away from the blue mother's angry efforts. As long as she remained interposed, the elf would remain alive for at least a little longer. The fact that Esmarilla had the freedom to move around, blocking the snarling water dragon, gave Lothinar an uneasy premonition.
"Uh, Esmarilla?" asked Lothinar. "Where is the other elf, the one you were squashing into the mud earlier? I believe that was probably Quinton, Ardwynn's brother."
"Chip off the old block, that one, but not nearly as powerful as his father, Although he managed to cut me with that sword. That actually surprised me. I don’t cut that easily.” Said the black dragon.
Lothinar observed that dark blood was still flowing from the wounds. The sword shoots fire too. He killed a guardsman with the flames and badly burned two more. That’s a dangerous sword. I couldn’t afford to try and take him alive. I got lucky and squished him and left him and the sword in the mud hole. If we had been fighting in a dry place, it would have gone a lot worse.”
Lothinar looked over at the place he had seen Esmarilla standing over Quinton when Candasar had sent him the mental images. Ardwynn was just standing there pale and shaking slightly. He took her hand and walked over to the spot. Water had filled in the depression completely. If Ardwynn's brother was still down there, Lothinar was pretty sure he wouldn't be coming up alive.
Ardwella stepped away from the female elf that she had bound and came closer, a look of sorrow on her face.
"This war has already taken a huge toll on your family. Are you going to be alright?" she asked.
Ardwynn's slack and shocked face grew firm with resolve.
"I only have one male in my family, and that's your son! Quinton was the worst sort of bully growing up. He made my life a living hell. I was relieved when he became the liaison to the capital and was called away so much of the time. My mother favored him, and I think it was probably only the fear of my father's wrath that kept him from trying to rape me." She turned a heated look on her mother and walked over to the prone female elf who looked so eerily like herself. "Esmarilla did the world a favor tonight."
The two beautiful elven faces swapped matching glares.
"It is difficult to look sufficiently haughty wearing a gag," thought Lothinar, but somehow Ulaire managed to pull it off.
"So what do we do now?" Lothinar asked his mother.
"Well, let's dig him out and take his body and his mother back to the temple. We can figure out what to do when we get back and can calm down. Oh yeah, when you are digging, don't forget to retrieve that sword. I want to see the inscriptions on it."
"You will not be giving her to me!?" asked Aleena.
"We ask for your patience, cousin," said Candasar. " There may be more to gain here than the satisfaction of a quick death"
"I put my children's justice in your hands. Please do not disappoint me." Said the other blue
"Were you the first nest that was attacked? Did they harm any of the other dragon's eggs?" asked Tundor
"No, I was the first. Apparently, my eggs are glowing with a special magical power, even more so than usual," said the blue.
"You finally decided to take my advice?" asked Candasar.
"You and Tundor are falling behind!" laughed the other blue.
Tundor looked over with a snort...
"It's definitely not for lack of trying," he said.
"The problems of the young,"... snickered Aleena.
"We had some setbacks due to some overzealous healing I attempted," said Candasar, looking at Lothinar strangely. "At the time, I was furious, but now that I realize how important this elf's life is to all of us, I realize the correct decision was made"
Candasar smiled at her bond fondly.
"Come on, let's get this elf back to the temple and find out what she knows...." said Ardwella
Lothinar really wished he had brought a shovel.
And a bucket.
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From the way Esmarilla described it, I had a feeling that it was the same sword." Said Ardwella.
The group had reconvened in the high priest's office. Two swords lay side by side on the desk. One was white, and the other was black.
"These are the two swords that were given to my sister and me by my grandfather when we bonded with our dragons. "The white one is mine. The black sword was given to my sister"
"I don't understand," said Ardwynn. You carry the white sword. Esmarilla is black"
"It's about balance; at least that's what my grandfather said," said Ardwella. "The sword I carry, 'Curacion,' means healing light. It counterbalances Esmarilla's black. Black dragons can send power to someone like Lothinar, who can do healing, but they do not have the ability to heal someone directly. Therefore I have the white sword. When I cut Candasar, if you remember, she did not bleed. The sword is primarily defensive and has vast healing properties. It took the blast from Ardwynn's father's lightning and kept me alive.
"This other sword, ' Mortimer,' as I suspected, was my sister's. It means 'Death Bringer" The Emperor's family must have found it or taken it from her somehow. "
"You have never heard anything from her at all?" Asked Lothinar.
"Not for over three hundred years," said Ardwynn. I was sure that she must have died with her dragon.
"Perhaps she did," said Ardwynn. "I have never seen that sword before today. I have no idea how my brother came to have it."
"I kind of hate to ask this," said Lothinar, "But why wasn't Quinton able to kill Esmarilla with that sword or more of the guardsmen?"
"These swords are semi-sentient." Said Ardwella. "Perhaps it recognized the dragon it was supposed to cut was Esmarilla and failed to comply completely with its wielder's wishes. Cuts made by Mortimer usually do not heal. It is an extremely dangerous sword against even the magically enhanced.
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"It seemed to be willing to burn the guardsmen just fine," said Lothinar. "Although he wasn't able to burn her, he was able to cut her with it."
"Perhaps it takes some time to be able to wield such a thing properly," said the Starrett butting in. "If Ardwynn's brother only recently came into possession of the sword?"
"Maybe Ularie will have some of the answers we seek," said Ardwella. "Can you have one of your men bring her in?"
"Certainly." Starrett nodded.
The bound and gagged female elf soon appeared. Although still gagged, she looked at the two swords on the table, and her eyes grew wide"
Ardwella removed the gag, saying
"We will kill you immediately if you so much as begin to cast a spell". She picked up Mortimer and swung it about swiftly, ending her sweep with the point directly in front of the elf whose hands were still securely tied. "I have used Mortimer before and know how to end you before a single syllable leaves your lips! "
Ulaire's eyes, if possible, grew wider.
"I love Curacion," said Ardwella winking at Lothinar. "But have to confess that wielding Mortimer has certain advantages in the area of intimidation."
"It is you!" said Ulaire, The other granddaughter of Lothinex. "It was your black dragon that killed my son!"
"Don't dish it out if you can't take it!" Said Starett, surprising everyone. He blushed. "If I understand the situation correctly, this elf has been killing baby dragons for years. Not only killing them but sending them off to be eaten by an old emperor that doesn't know when it's the right time to die naturally"
Ardwella raised an eyebrow at this but answered straightforwardly,
"Bonding with a dragon can allow both the elf and the dragon to exceed normal lifespans, but it doesn't require the death of the dragon to achieve this. The emperor was refused by the dragons because he was judged to be evil. He did not take that rejection well and decided to find a way to get what he wanted anyway."
"Your dragon must have been in stasis as well..." said Ulaire suddenly.
"What do you mean as well?!" asked Ardwella, suddenly razor focused. "Do you know of another dragon in stasis?"
Ularie looked down.
"I have never seen him," she said. "But I have heard that there is a huge white dragon on the roof of a prison in the emperor's private citadel"
"My sister's dragon, Vanador," Ardwella whispered, her face scrunched up in confusion and what Lothinar thought must be hope.
"There are things we must know," said Lothinar.
"I don't think I will be telling you anything more," Said Ularire. "I've already said far too much"
"You would not bargain information for your life?" Asked Ardwynn
Her mother looked back at her coldly.
"You, of all people, should know, my daughter, that there are greater things to fear than death by an angry blue dragon. When I do not return with eggs, your uncle the emperor will be coming, and none of you will survive!"
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"It took a while for the lightning damage to finally abate, but I think I can heal you now," said Ardwella to Esmarilla.
"Thank you," said Esmarilla as cool white light flowed from Curacion and flowed across the cuts on the dragon's chest and legs. The cuts seemed slow to close, and Ardwella scrunched up her pretty face with additional effort. A few long minutes later, the dark blood stopped flowing.
“Put Mortimer somewhere safe,” said Esmarilla. “We can’t let that sword get into the wrong hands again. I’m very lucky that Quinton hadn’t bothered to make friends with it yet. I could have been permanently missing some body parts.”
”Of course. I’m sure that the emperor will be trying to get it back. I don’t even know why Quinton had it.”
”Perhaps he was feeling desperate and ‘borrowed” it without Argent knowing. Guessed Esmarilla.
"When you are feeling up to it, I have a task for you," said Ardwella.
"I can read your thoughts, my bond. You know that originally when I suggested this, It was almost in jest"
"I know, but I told myself when we started this that there would be no half-measures. If we wish to succeed in restoring your race, they must be empowered to make their own decisions about justice"
"As you wish. I'll tell Candasar to gather her cousin and any of the other mothers who want to participate in the lake. I'll bring Ulaire out to them."
"Fly low, Esmarilla, when you drop her among them. I wouldn't want her to die when she hits the water"
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"You know, I realized that I would have to leave my family behind when I set out to pursue you, my husband. I just didn't fully understand that it would be because they would all be dead"
Ardwynn sat with Lothinar on their bed in their room. She had been crying. They were more tears of frustration than those of sorrow.
"You must think that we are heartless monsters!" said Lothinar.
She looked at him. She had a complicated look on her face.
"No, I think that you are probably the cure for the 'real' heartless monsters. I am the perfect wife for you, Lothinar. I have always known it somehow deep in my soul. It is only now that I have begun to put the pieces together that it makes complete sense. I've been raised to have a very high tolerance for monstrous behavior. I somehow can probably justify almost anything if it's for the right reasons. You are my right reasons."
"What do you mean by that?" Asked Lothinar looking at her strangely.
"Think about it. I WANTED to fly with you on Candasar the day she killed my father. It is strange. Even though he was trying to kill us all, he was the hardest one to part with. He was so powerful, so twisted by that power, and yet somehow, he held on to enough of his love for his daughter to hesitate. His old self was still able to provide some sort of moral compass." I think he slept so much because he could not deal with who he had become. In some way I knew that I was freeing him from his pain.
"That's starting to make sense," said Lothinar.
"The other two, my brother and mother, would never hesitate. My brother was not a good person Lothinar. My mother, if anything is worse. Right now, Esmarilla is flying her out to drop her in the middle of a bunch of water dragons who will feel completely justified in ripping her limb from limb because she has systematically been killing their children for years. "
Perhaps she did not understand the dragons were 'people too'? That they have feelings and love their babies.
"She totally knew Lothinar. She just didn't care. I thought I was ignorant of the family business. I certainly wanted nothing to do with any of it. With them. But when Cantrell and I finally put it all together, what they were doing... Out on the beach that night, it was like I had somehow always known. I think my mother put some sort of geas on me so that I wouldn't give her a hard time about it or try to stop her. She is a powerful magician in her own right. Too powerful to be allowed to live and report to the Emperor about what we are doing here. As it is we probably only have a few days until he gets personally involved. I don't know how we can even try to prepare for that!"
"It's really freaking me out because when I think about what is going to happen to her, all I can see is your face. You look a lot like her."
"Bred for beauty," she said, then she chuckled darkly. "I thought I was hot stuff til I saw your mom. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't dazzle you!"
"You don't remind me of my mom at all!" he said. "I'm actually quite relieved about that..."
"Do you know why I think that is?" asked Ardwynn
"Why"
"Because, my dear husband, you don't have a superficial bone in your body. Most men look at the hair, the beautiful skin, the.... more than ample curves"
"I can see curves!" he protested. "I found them just this morning!"
"Yes you did," she smiled. Thanks again for that.
"What I was trying to say is that you, Lothinar see a lot deeper than most. When you bother to look. I hate to tell you dear, but often it seems. you have other things on your mind. I think you find people attractive for who they really are inside. It's very frustrating for a beautiful girl to chase after an elf that doesn't work in that economy," she said, pouting a little. "I tried everything, but nothing worked. I even watched Baby Bears!"
"Whatever happened to that baby bear anyway?"
"Fensterly's got him. He's doing great. He loves that kind of thing"
"You mean I could have gone straight to him?" Saved all the trouble of having to deal with you?"
"Hey!"
Seriously, What are we going to do if the Emperor decides to show up? he asked. "I'm assuming he is actually more powerful than your father was," said Lothinar.
"Without a doubt, he is. If we had more time, we could use your powers to convert as many of the water type as possible and try to run. Disappear somewhere."
"That would really be bad for the dragons that we couldn't convert and got stuck here when he showed up," he said. "Do you think that he would kill them all?"
"He is so old, he probably needs their eggs every few days just to survive. Without them, he will probably just wither up and die."
"I thought he didn't really care about them, except for the ones that can lay the magic-infused eggs," asked Lothinar.
"Those are the only eggs with significant magic, but even the low-magic dragons have some. If he kills all the dragons, he might as well sign his own death warrant.
"If we could get most of the high magic ones out of here somehow, we might be able to starve him out, greatly reducing his power," said Lothinar. "But the only way I can think of to move dragons is to give them back their wings and I can't even get Tundor in the air yet.".. sighed Lothinar.
"Candasar?"
"Yes, my bond, I have been quietly listening".
"How are things going out at the lake?"
"Aleena has had her satisfaction"
"It is done, Ardwynn, I mean with your mother," Said Lothinar.
Ardwynn nodded and leaned against him.
"We will move on together my husband. I will teach you to be more sure and singleminded and you will teach me to show flexibility and feel compassion. "
He looked at her for a long time until she began to feel slightly uncomfortable
"Yes, I am sure that together we will be much stronger together."
She smiled
"Thank you for keeping my mind occupied while all that was going on with the dragons and my mother"
"You are welcome. How about I figure out something else to keep the rest of you occupied," he said.
"I thought you'd never ask"
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