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Chapter 35

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Cantrell had both arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked conflicted and a little angry.

"You are saying the reason I have these feelings for you is because you smell good?" he asked. "Because I've been around a while, and I'm sure that isn't all there is to this."

"I didn't say that it was just the way I smell," Said Ardwella. Think of it like a drug. It's a very addicting one. The fact that it comes in pretty wrapping paper is just a bonus"

"And you did this to yourself? On purpose?" asked Cantrell.

"It was very useful," Ardwella replied. "In my previous line of work..."

"Killing the dragon killers... Yes we know" He snapped..

"Does your husband know about it?" Ardwynn asked. "Did you use it on Albarad, too?"

"Never intentionally or for selfish purposes, but it is a part of me. Like your own beauty is a part of you. Did you ever feel bad when the other wardens like Jontain chased after you because of the way that you looked?" That you were being unfair or taking advantage of them? I did not make Alberad marry me. I'd like to think pheromones didn't play a part"

"But you can't be sure..."

"I suppose not. But Ardwynn, even unenhanced, you and every other elf. female or male, have some sort of pheromones' in your system. You probably have more than most.

"Jontain was a pest. He was extremely sexually aggressive. I hate to think that I was bringing all that unwanted attention upon myself!" Said Ardwynn.

”Everyone needs to be personally responsible for their own self-control.” said Cantrell, self-consciously. He glanced at Ardwella.

She frowned. “It has been my observation over time that certain people have a greater susceptibility to pheromones.” Said Ardwella. “Jontain’s reactions seemed highly abnormal around me. He was in some sort of default rape mode”

Ardwynn nodded. “And now you are saying that the reason I might have fallen in love with Lothinar so completely is because of his ability to make super pheromones?"

"I never knew anything about it," Lothinar protested. "Sure, I realize that I have always gotten a lot of attention from females, but I never took advantage of anyone!" If anything, it got in my way! I tend to get unwanted attention”

"Coming from you, I actually believe that," said Ardwynn. looking at him. She blinked. “I certainly felt unwanted for a long time.” She turned and wiped away a tear.

Lothinar reached over to take both her hands and looked her in the eyes.

“It must be something about how the dragon magic made me… I’m different…and I'm still trying to understand how. When I looked at you before…..Everyone before…It’s like I saw them through a veil. They were fuzzy. I mean, my vision was clear… “ He stopped.

”I think what is most important now…that you completely understand now… is that I definitely like what I see. Inside and outside. I’m totally in love with you! I hope that you can feel that now!”

Ardwynn seemed to melt. “Yes, I do. It is very compelling. I kind of want to run off somewhere with you right now. But what if I was willing to see my family killed just because I was under some sort of involuntary mind control? How am I ever going to know?"

"Well, I'll tell you that no matter how bad you might know them to have been, watching your family all die within a few days and not completely falling apart is not normal," said Cantrell. "As a manager, I should automatically require you to take some time off to process all this and grieve. But I doubt you will listen to me."

"That is because we do not have time for that," Said Candasar. "The Emperor will be coming"

"I just feel numb about them,” said Ardwella. “I think I let go of my family a long time ago."

"Was that when you first met Lothinar?" asked Ardwella

"No, It was a lot farther back than that."

"Well, that probably means that your feelings about them, at least, are unaltered," said Ardwella.

"Or that she was more than ready to get away from them, and Lothinar just gave her the destination," said Tundor. "But how are we ever going to know for sure?"

"There is actually a way, young dragon," said Esmarilla.

"I knew it would come down to this," said Ardwella. I just hoped we would eventually have more dragons available."

"What are you two talking about" asked Cantrell. "I just want to know if I can have my life back"

"That. I believe it is going to be up to Tundor," said Esmarilla.

"Me? I just wanted to drop a big flying poop this afternoon on the male council members that tried to drown me!" grinned Tundor. "I've been saving up!"

Everyone in the room just stopped and stared at him. Seconds went by. Finally, the silence was broken by the ear-splitting, coughing roar of Esmarilla’s unbridled laughter. The huge black dragon collapsed to the floor, shaking. Pots and decorative urns were thrown about, and bricks cracked. Everyone fled from her immediate vicinity to avoid being smashed. Temple staff and Starett himself began peering around corners in great concern as the great dragon finally stopped and caught her breath.

Ardwella smiled sadly. ”I think some of us may have minimized how badly you were treated, Tundor…..and Candasar, by your own people,” she said.

”There will indeed be a reckoning and some necessary restructuring of leadership. I felt it was best to wait until after the threat of Imperial retaliation was behind us.” Said Candasar.

“Certain elves were pulling their strings,” said Ardwella, flashing an apologetic look at Ardwynn, who could only look down embarrassed.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

”And all of that under my oversight as the one maintaining status quo in the region” admitted Cantrell, joining in the blame.

“The time was not right, but now we have started this, and we must see it through!” Said Ardwella. “We won’t get another chance."

”Let’s take this outside and let the staff clean up in here,” said Esmarilla. “WOMBER!? Where are you?”

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The group had made their way from Delora back to the beach, where they had fought the water dragon elders and later restored Candasar to flying dragon form. They had actually walked. That included Esmarilla, which was unusual for her. Her size made certain parts of the journey a bit circuitous as the larger trees were not as accommodating as the saplings, which she just pushed over, allowing them to snap back after her passage. The smaller dragons and the elves could just go around.

“I actually like walking,” she had observed, “I just hate having to scratch pine sap off my underparts!”

Candasar smiled, and Tundor grimaced knowingly.

”It’s good to get outside.” said Ardwynn. “It’s a beautiful day.”

”Yes, it is,” agreed Alberad, who had seemingly finished his duties elsewhere and rejoined the group.

Lothinar noticed that his father seemed to be keeping a wary eye on Cantrell, who was walking with his wardens. Perhaps he was imagining it.

Because Candasar had made her original nest far from the other dragons, it was among the closer places on the water to Delora. It had just felt right to Lothinar and Candasar to restore Tundor to the place it had all started. His first hunt had begun on this beach. This is where Candasar had been reformed and reborn. It was a place of violence and change.

“Let me explain why Esmarilla said that it was going be up to Tundor,” said Ardwella.

"We have discussed how Lothinar feels about his new bride....and how It took him some time to come around to this realization." Said Ardwella. "This is a contrivance of mine and, to a lesser extent, Esmarilla's."

"You blinded him to women?" asked Cantrell

"What would you do if you could shape a child and give them every advantage? Knowing that their extremely attractive physical attributes would have a huge effect on those they would come in contact with...That they would be a distraction.?"

"You make it sound like you were making a tool and not having a child," said Ardwynn.

Ardwella grimaced. "That is probably a fair critique of my actions in this regard"

Alberad was beginning to look a little angry. "I was not consulted in this" he said.

Lothinar just stood there. It was difficult to accept that his mother's passion to help the dragons had taken such extreme turns and that those turns included making him into a tool for their restoration. Yet he found himself opening his mouth and speaking the words... "I really don't mind. It actually makes me happy to help." He found himself gazing into the eyes of his wife, who was looking at him with a faint expression of surprised horror. "I'm really glad that I was able to finally see you Ardwynn. You make me so happy!"

She took his hand and looked him in the eyes. "What do you think finally made you see me?" she asked

"I did, of course," Said Candasar interrupting. "I broke Ardwella's spell"

"Yes, it is the bonding, of course," Said Esmarilla. "It makes both the dragon and the elf stronger together than they ever were apart; anyone that bonds with a dragon will, of course, see things in a whole new way. Their whole physiology changes. If Cantrell were to bond with Tundor, it would break any hold that Ardwella's pheromones have over him. "

"Wait a minute" Said Cantrell, "I had always assumed that since Lothinar bonded with Candasar and they were a pair, it would make sense that Tundor would bond with Ardwynn."

"It does make a nice tidy set," said Alberad.

"You know, nobody has even discussed this with me," Said Tundor stiffly. "It's like you all think that I don't have any feelings in the matter!"

"It's just that you are young, Tundor. Sometimes the young don't really know what they want or what's best," said Ardwella.

"Is that how you justified what you did to your son?" Ardwynn almost screamed at her. "Tundor has a right to make his own decisions. It's his life"

"You are saying that if Tundor chooses to bond with me," said Cantrell, "That this... artificial ....infatuation that I feel for you will be cured?"

"You can get on with your life, probably yes," Said Ardwella

"I'm for that then... I don't like the way he's been looking at you," said Albarad.

"You should be used to stuff like that, Albarad. Even without the pheromones, it must be something you've had to deal with. Gods. How do you even let her out in public?" said Cantrell.

"My public appearances are entirely up to me!" said Ardwella. I've been making my own way since before both of you were born."

"Freakin' succubus! I need to take another walk," said Cantrell, stomping off toward the water.

"I don't really want to put Tundor in the position of having to make this sort of decision on the day we restore him," Said Lothinar. "How about we focus on that first"

"This is my wish as well, my bond," said Candasar.

"I am ready" said Esmarilla.

"This will be quite a bit different than what we had to do to Candasar, for obvious reasons," said Ardwella. "First, I won't have to be cutting big chunks off of him. He's more or less right on the outside"

"I figured that, but I have to say that it's a relief to hear you say it" said Tundor.

"Also, as you requested, you will not be binding today," said Candasar. Lothinar and I did this. We bonded when he healed me of my water dragon underpinnings. It did make the transition substantially easier at least for me. It was quite painful. But Lothinar would not be bonding with you anyway, so it is a less significant part of the process for you"

"One more thing". Asked Lothinar. "Fixing Candasar left my magic severely burned. Please tell me we won't be going that far today. I think I need to keep those pathways available."

"I expect not," Said Esmarilla. "But we will have to see. This is still new for everyone involved. In addition, your pathways should be stronger now. Pain brings gain."

"No use putting it off any longer," Cantrell said, walking up from the beach.

"You came back," Said Ardwynn.

"I wouldn't miss this. I think I'm going to write a report or something when this all settles out. It's for science." Then he winked.

"Are you ready, buddy?" Asked Lothinar.

"You know, I think I was born ready," Said Tundor. Esmarilla chuckled at that.

"Yes, you probably were. OK. Hold still. The ebony blackness on her skin began to stir and swirl like little ripples on dark water.

Lothinar grunted as if picking up a heavy weight. Then he put his hands on Tundor and started to push on his back. Tundor began to glow. It was a white light.

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Old One Eye, the dragon formerly known as Killingsworth, and his new fishing partner, Benedar, were arguing.

"Those new females on the council sure are making big changes!" said Benedar. "And I, for one don't like it"

"Things are going to change, and you know we have to start setting an example for the rest," Said Killingsworth.

"But fishing? The council members have always been exempt from these menial chores.."

"You want to eat, don't you, and it won't be for long. We will get our wings eventually. You do want that don't you?"

"Yes, of course, but if Aleena has her way, we will be among the very last.."

"We can't help that those elves took advantage and tricked us!"

Killingsworth suddenly squinted as a shadow fell across the sun. Then he was hit by a horrible-smelling pile of something that fell from the sky. His fishing partner likewise was almost simultaneously covered in a similar foul substance.

He could hear a high cackling laugh as he looked up to see two dragons flying away. One was beautifully dark blue.

"Candasar!" he thought. He didn't recognize the other, but he was glowing a dazzling white.

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Back on the beach, Cantrell watched as Ardwella and Albarad climbed upon the back of the black dragon. She didn't look too bad.. She wasn't jet black but had not reached the level of grey that she had been after Candasar. The dragon rapidly flapped her huge wings, and soon they were gone. Somehow his mind was clearer with Ardwella out of sight.

Candasar and Tundor had flown off together. "Flying lessons" was all they had said. Lothinar seemed ok. He and Ardwynn were starting back to Delora. They were walking hand in hand and headed up the path through the bent and broken saplings. They were smiling. So far, so good, he thought. Perhaps Ardwynn wouldn't push as hard to claim Tundor if she was unwilling to upset her marital bliss.

It would be a big adjustment to bond with a dragon, but he was willing to do it if it got him one step closer to being with Ardwella. Cantrell turned and started to follow after them. He was whistling.

"Yoo-hoo! Cantrell" came to a strange call from the lake. Cantrell pivoted and looked at the water. His jaw dropped in shock.

It was Mavis, astride a big blue female water dragon. She was wearing, of all things, a Bikini swimming suit.

"Cantrell, my dear, have you met my new bonded dragon Aleena?" I think she is a relative of Candasar. She has the strangest stories to tell. I can't wait to share them with you!"