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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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Mandel had just finished describing the new extended duties that he now expected from Cantrell. The phrasing and tone of voice that he used seemed to have been borrowed from one of Argent‘s playbooks. The way that Mandel had spoken, clearly indicated that no dissent would be tolerated. Cantrell suddenly remembered that Mandel, for most of his life, must have received unpleasant commands like this himself. At the moment though, it was pretty hard to take.

"You are actually ordering me to do this?" he asked.

The imperial façade cracked a bit.

"Look Cantrell, I really need this. It's just for a very short time. Ardwella promised."

”Don’t you think it’s suspicious that she specifically asked for me? Don’t you understand what is actually going on here?”

”It’s just ten days. There are ten remaining Argent blooded daughters….”

Cantrell interrupted, leaning heavily on past, more friendly conversations.

”Most of them have family, children or at least spouses. If we go this route then there are a lot of people that still need killing.”

”Yes. and it is a terrible thing that I am telling you to do. I actually know almost all of them personally. I grew up around here. That’s what has always made this so hard for me. But I tried to do this the nice way and it just didn’t work out. Do you remember that fancy family dinner that I tried?”

”Of course I do.”

”They lied to my face! Then they rebelled anyway. It was right after that when they killed Myron. He was the only reasonable son Argent had. Now, I need to step up my game and start acting like a real emperor.”

”Did Ardwella tell you that?”

He looked away. ”Not in exactly those words, but yes. And she’s right!”

”You know that Mavis is so angry at both you and Ardwella right now that she wouldn’t even come to this meeting with me. She just wants us to get on Esmarilla and leave. I’m sure if we did that, then Vanador won't stay either.”

Mandel frowned. “Ardwella warned me that Mavis might say something like that. That’s why she strongly suggested that I move your bedroom to one of the tower rooms. That is being done as we speak.”

”You're locking your own sister up in Argent’s prison?”

”Come on Cantrell! It’s not really a prison anymore. It’s just a very secure location. You know Ardwella is already staying there. There are no actual locks on the doors unless you actually want one. You will both need the additional security until this project is completed. It’s come down to a game of assassins. They may very well have their own. I need to protect both you and my sister. The tower is the safest place in the city."

"So this is how it starts." said Cantrell.

”You needed a new bed anyway.” Mandel smirked.

Cantrell ignored the jab.

”So you will be staying in the tower as well?”

”Of course. It's the safest place in the complex."

”But you wouldn’t actually try to stop us from leaving would you?”

Mandel frowned. He seemed to be doing a lot more of that lately.

”No, but I’m strongly requesting that you stay. I do need your help and if you remember, Mavis is currently my heir.”

“What if she was to give up her titular obligations?”

”It would be very disappointing. You would both fall out of favor. The elven kingdom is large.”

‘I think you might be underestimating how large the actual world is Emperor Mandel.” Said Cantrell.

”Before you do anything rash, you should talk to Ardwella again first. I really think you’re blowing things all out of proportion with this secret quest you both claim to believe that she has to seduce you. Isn’t that rather egotistical of you?”

”I don’t understand the actual reason for it, but both Mavis and I believe it’s real.”

”I thought that you loved my sister. Your broken bed tells me that there is nothing wrong in that department. Even if it were true, which it’s probably not, you just have to say no.”

”As you just thoroughly demonstrated, Emperor, saying no can be more difficult than you expect.”

‘Cantrell, it’s not that hard, just keep it in your pants.”

Then Mandel started to laugh.

”Terrific” thought Cantrell. "Now he thinks he’s a comedian."

Cantrell squared his shoulders and went to talk to the assassin. He found her in the cafeteria. It was rather in between mealtimes for the dining area. No one else was eating, but he could hear the clinking and rattle of people preparing food from somewhere out of sight behind the long counter. Ardwella had looked over at him from a seat at one of the tables as he entered the room. He walked over to stand across from her. He did not sit.

“Did you speak with Emperor Mandel yet?” She asked.

”I did.” He answered. Then he waited. He wondered if she would be forthcoming with her reason for insisting he join her for the upcoming project. At least thirty seconds passed.

“This is a dangerous game” she finally said.

Cantrell nodded.

“I suppose that assassination usually is.”

She looked about the room clandestinely.

”‘I’m talking about the game where you pretend to be annoyed by my attention.” She said, pouting. “Something like that can damage a girl’s confidence.”

”I’m not trying to be rude, but you haven’t been a girl for a very long time.”

”The dragon inside me wasn’t even old enough to safely hatch. Averaged together, we are approximately the same age as you.”

He blinked and quickly did the math. It was actually pretty close.

”Since Zinariya worked on me, I barely look twenty. Besides, you must realize that age is no longer an issue for dragon bonded.”

She stood up.

“We could discuss this all day, but we have things to do.” She said. “Thanks to Vanador, this first one should be pretty easy.”

She drew her sword.

“Wait! I’m not ready” he cried. He felt a lurch in his guts and found himself standing by a hedgerow. He could smell wet ashes. Nearby was a large circular burned area filled with blackened bones.

A female elf was yelling disparaging things at three male elves. Her voice had gone silent as Ardwella and Cantrell appeared. Two of the males had rakes and one had a shovel. They had been gathering up the larger clumps of bone and ash and putting them into a cart. The female pointed at them. Ardwella was already running. She was fast! The garden tool wielders stared in shock as Ardwella actually jumped right over them, landing in front of the female elf. The sword swung in an overhead arc. There was a blue flash. Two separate but equal parts of the female hit the ground with a thud. It seemed surreal to Cantrell that there wasn’t any blood.

“Look out!” Cantrell yelled.

The shovel carrying elf had broken free of his shock and was winding up to swing the sharp end of it at the back of Ardwella’s head. Cantrell threw his knife. Instinctively he aimed center of mass. It was a lucky throw. Blood bloomed from the back of the elf’s sweaty shirt. The shovel dropped harmlessly with a rattle as the now dead elf fell forward. The rake holders dropped them and began running. They were obviously heading towards a large nearby house. It was an estate actually.

Ardwella finally turned around. She looked at the male elf and his dropped shovel.

“I guess that I actually did need you to watch my back.” Ardwella said with a smile. Cantrell stepped over to the dead elf and bent down. He retrieved his blade. The handle was completely covered in blood. He held it awkwardly. Ardwella sighed and rolled her eyes. She handed him a small towel that she had obviously had stashed somewhere on her body.

”Wipe it off with this.” She said.

He took the rag and did so, cleaning off the blade as well.

“Why didn’t your elf bleed” he asked, putting the knife away.

Ardwella looked up distractedly from peering at the half face of the centrally bisected female elf.

”That is one of the traits of this sword. Believe it or not, she’s actually not dead yet. Watch this! You had better step well back. Wait! Before I make her unrecognizable, can you help me confirm that she is Argent’s daughter Jewel?

Cantrell bent down. He took a good look.

“Yes, I actually do believe that she is.” He said, marveling at the clean cut. The expression on the female elf’s face was one of shock.

“This is going to get messy” Ardwella said.

Cantrell quickly stepped back a few yards. Ardwella moved closer to him. A blue light flashed. Blood exploded from both halves of the body. Violently and all at once. The body spasmed once and then lay still.

Cantrell gagged in spite of himself.

Ardwella looked toward the house.

“The rakers are returning. They are bringing company.” Ardwella said. “We now have a choice to make. Do you want to retreat, or kill them all?”

”All?” He asked, looking over. “There are, like, eight of them!”

“There are only seven.”

”You sound pretty confident that you can actually do that. I'm actually not so sure. It looks like they have exchanged their rakes for swords.”

”They shouldn’t be that much of a problem.” She drew her sword again. “Watch!”

She disappeared with a pop and reappeared directly in front of the lead runner. He was obviously much faster the others. Before he could react, she swung through him at the waist. The two halves tumbled to the ground. She immediately popped back and returned to her place by Cantrell’s side. Cantrell watched the reaction. The rest of the runners had stopped in confusion. The two halves of the segmented elf burst out with blood. Several of them yelled but then, surprisingly, the group started running towards them again. They were now waving their swords. Ardwella popped away and quickly bisected two more of the forward runners. She returned again as they expelled their blood in huge arterial spurts. It was horrific. That was apparently too much for the rest of the charging elves. They turned and fled, sprinting back towards the house.

“I think I’m going to need a little time to process this.” Said Cantrell.

”So, do you think that I should just let the rest go?” She asked.

”You already got the ringleader.” He said. “Perhaps we should give her followers a little time to reconsider their choices. They may see the futility of their cause and some elven lives can be saved.”

“So, you are suggesting that we kill just the leaders then? I’m not necessarily opposed to that, but it will require more planning.”

”Being able to teleport changes things. It certainly allows us to be more surgical. I need to consider the possibilities.”

“Ok, but while you are doing that, use that mighty brain to do some research. Reading Vanador’s memory made this first one easy. I’m actually not at all familiar with these estates in which the daughters live. To teleport over here I needed some sort of locational reference.”

Ardwella looked toward the house. She grabbed Cantrell and pulled him toward her. He stumbled into her arms.

”Hey!” he protested. A half second later a black arrow thunked into a tree directly behind where he had been standing.

He felt his stomach jump and he found them both standing once again in the cafeteria. Someone yelled and dropped a plate. Ardwella still had her arms around him. One of Mandel’s soldiers was staring at them. His food was on the floor.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Cantrell stepped back, he spoke a curse word.

Unfazed, Ardwella smiled at him and curtsied.

”That’s not a word traditionally used to express gratitude but, you’re welcome. I can’t have my apprentice getting killed by an arrow on the very first mission.”

”I’m not your apprentice.” He said quietly.

”Perhaps you prefer, ‘tactical research assistant?”

Cantrell didn’t answer. He had just had a thought. She saw it in his eyes and waited patiently. Finally he asked a question.

“Do you think that flying over the various estates from the air would give you enough information to safely teleport there?” Cantrell asked.

‘The soldier that dropped his lunch had found a broom and a dustpan. He began cleaning up the broken glassware and spilled food.

“What about the Ballistae? Asked Ardwella. "The dragons are grounded."

”Vanador said that he could see it before it fired. And if you can see where it is…”

”I can teleport to it and end the operator before it fires. You would be risking Esmarilla though. Are you sure you trust me enough to do that?”

“I believe, as far as that is concerned, I do.” He answered.

“Thanks again for watching my back, Cantrell.” She said. “Let’s go talk to the dragons. I think it would be a good idea to have Vanador’s assistance with this too.”

”Go ahead without me. I’ll be along in a few minutes. First, I’m going to wash my hands.”

“Don’t take too long. We are on a tight schedule."

She winked.

"We don’t have the time to have you keep Mavis constantly filled in.”

Cantrell rolled his eyes.

“I do need to tell her about this. I haven’t even seen her since I talked with Mandel.”

”Fine, but don’t let her distract you Cantrell. We have things to do.”

”Wow!” Said Esmarilla through the bond. “I'm a dragon and even I caught that double entendre. Do you actually trust her?”

”No I don’t.” Said Cantrell. “But I think that Zinariya is still in there, fighting for control. I trust her.”

“Mavis isn’t going to like this”

”No, she’s not.”

”You do realize that I can hear you two.” Said Ardwella.

”Damn!” Said Cantrell. “I totally forgot about that!”

Ardwella smirked and went to get a plate of her own. Unsurprisingly, she chose mung beans.

Cantrell washed his hands. Then he went to find Mavis. He needed a chance to hold her. To breathe her in again. She wasn’t anywhere he looked. Finally he found himself outside Mandel’s office. He heard angry voices inside. He slipped the door open a crack and peered in.

‘The door must have creaked because both people in the room turned around to look. Mavis was sitting across a desk from the Emperor. Mandel looked like Mavis had been tearing him a new one. When she saw Cantrell she jumped out of her chair. She ran to him. Mandel looked surprised to see him.

”Where have you been?” She whispered. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Mandel was seated behind the desk. He now had an irritated look on his face.

”I believe that I told you to go talk with Ardwella.” Mandel said imperiously.

”I did. We just got back." he said. "You can cross Jewel off your list.”

”Jewel’s dead? Already?"

“”Yes, and three of her subordinates.” Replied Cantrell.

”Vanador killed ten more when he came through.” Said Esmarilla across the bond.

A few moments later Ardwella stepped through the door into Mandel’s office. She looked at Cantrell.

“Please ask Esmarilla if Vanador is certain that he killed ten.” she said.

Cantrell asked her. A few seconds later Esmarilla replied.

”Yes, Esmarilla said. “He’s quite sure it was ten.”

Cantrell heard a pop and suddenly he was standing on a balcony. Without a doubt it was Jewel's balcony. Cantrell was overlooking the field that he and Ardwella had recently been standing in. There was an archer at the railing and an arrow in a distant tree. The archer had another arrow nocked. The unknown archer must have sensed something directly behind him, because he turned his head. He saw Cantrell. His eyes widened in surprise. His fingers pulled the bowstring back as he pivoted and tried to swing the bow around but it was close quarters. Cantrell had no choice. His knife flashed out, burying itself in the archers temple. The arrow twanged wildly out into the yard.

Someone called out.

”Hey! Is everything alright up there Oswald? Did you see something? You almost hit me with that arrow!”

The archer slumped forward and then over the front of the balcony railing. Cantrell heard the thud below. At least he had managed to retain his knife. More people started yelling.

A few seconds later there was another pop and Cantrell was back in Mandel’s office. Blood was dripping off his knife and onto the carpet.

Ardwella looked at the dripping knife. She handed him another rag.

”Whew! Now I feel better,” she said. “Thirteen is a very unlucky number with which to start.”

Cantrell sighed. "Now it's fifteen."

She blinked.

"I only saw one archer up on the balcony. I'm sorry. Sending you there with two was very risky."

"I only killed one archer." he said. “There was only one. But the whole trip was totally unnecessary."

"Ten plus three equals thirteen" said Ardwella. She looked smug.

"I think you may have forgotten about Jewel."

"Oops!" Ardwella said. She looked genuinely surprised. “I don’t know how I could make that kind of mistake.”

”Perhaps Zinariya needs a class in basic mathematics.” Suggested Cantrell.

”No,” interrupted Mavis. “I think it’s now quite obvious that you only think about men.”

Ardwella smiled. Then she nodded.

“You might be right,” she said with a wink, “But some men are definitely more interesting than others.”

There was another pop.

Mavis lunged for the place where Cantrell had been standing, but both he and Ardwella were gone.

Mavis whirled on her brother.

“You must be able to see what’s going on here!”

Mandel shrugged.

“Well, you have to admit that they are off to a great start!”

”That’s what I’m afraid of.” Moaned Mavis.

--------------

Cenderick was wearing a silly straw hat. It made Ronniflass grin. He was helping Pepper chase cows around the yard.

"Be gentle with her!" yelled Ronni. "Don't make her run. Her udder is full."

Ronni was sitting on a milking stool. Cenderick jogged up.

"I'm sorry Ronni" he said. "Pepper still thinks that this is way too much fun."

"Bring her over here, but gently!" she said. "I still need to milk a few more. We don't want whipped cream."

Cenderick looked defeated.

"I'm trying Ronni, but I still have a lot to learn."

She smiled at him and blew him a kiss.

"I love you, but we need to be careful with the livestock. We only have so many left. It's going to be several years of careful breeding before we get our numbers back up."

"I'm surprised Enderline left us as many as he did. He only took a few for the road" said Cenderick. "They were all his cows anyway."

"They were on horseback and intended to travel faster than they could dive the cattle." said Ronni. The dragons were actually running behind them when they left. It was kind of cute."

"I saw them." said Cenderick. Then he grinned.

"By the way," said Ronni, "Not all of the cows were Enderlin's. I had a very good bull and some of my best breeders that I managed to keep away from the hungry dragons. Now that we aren't eating them as regularly, we should be able recover our numbers."

"What's our dragon inventory looking like?"

"Well, as you know, Enderline took most of the bonded dragons with him. The only bonded dragons left here are, Cinnabar, and Salt and Pepper. Oh, and of course Mo-Rung. I always forget about him being bonded because Mavis isn't around."

"Don't forget Tundor." said Cenderick. He's bonded.

"He's hard to forget, he's so enormous." said Ronni. "Don't you dare tell him that I told you this but the townspeople have started calling him the Great White Whale."

"I'm pretty sure Vigilant already mentioned it to him." he said. "Tundor wasn't terribly bothered. I think he lacks context."

"Whatever is that supposed to mean anyway?" asked Cenderick scratching his head through his straw hat. "What's a whale?"

"This thing is itchy, by the way. I don't know why you wanted me to wear it."

"Because it looks cute on you, and I say so. I'm supposed to be your new boss, remember?"

Cantrell is going to be so jealous when I call you boss in front of him." said Cenderick.

"The Great White Whale, by the way, is a story that the Sivantran's were fond of. They have many tales of the sea. It's about a huge pale water creature that terrorizes some ship's captain. I'm not sure how that actually applies to Tundor."

"He is pretty terrifying until you get to know him." said Cenderick.

"Don't spread around the fact that he's actually nice." said Ronni. "I think, for security reasons, it's good that he remains mysterious and intimidating. That story from Silvantra had a weapon in it called a harpoon. It sounds a little bit like the ballistae bolt that almost got Vanador the other day.

"You don't think Argent's daughters would try and bring one of those around here do you?"

"For Tundor's sake, I hope not." said Ronni. "They would need a local to help them hide it. But if Tundor is being called 'the white whale' it makes me wonder if they already have. Perhaps someone with loose lips made a joke about to one of the Silvantrans and they were comparing the two weapons."

"That's a lot of speculation. Your mind is a devious place Ronni. I'm glad I'm on your side." said Cenderick.

"Keep it that way. Get back to work and bring me some more cows. I'll give you a very special reward later." she said.

"Ok, but if you make me wear it now, then I'm not going to be taking off this hat in bed.” he said, giving her a wink.

"YEE-HAW" she said with a sultry smile.

-------------------------------

Firestorm was flagging again. I felt it soon as I woke up from another nap. Her wing strokes were jerky and unsynchronized. It had probably been much too soon to expect the young dragon to fly with a burden over such a great distance. I transferred some magic. The little red dragon groaned in relief as exhausted muscles were restored and new energy flowed into her.

“Thanks Vanquish.” She said. “I didn’t want to wake you. That is so much better.”

I suddenly tightened and adjusted my grip on Firestorm’s neck. My body had been leaning dangerously. Apparently Michelle hadn’t been able to stay awake either and had slipped into unconsciousness without waking me. That was incredibly dangerous while flying on dragon back. My fear of flying spiked again.

“Hey! Ease up. Are you trying to strangle me?”

I realized that In my panic, I had suddenly gone so far as to wrap my legs around the front of the young dragon’s neck.

I eased up and very slowly repositioned myself.

”Sorry” I mumbled.

I looked across at Lothinar. The elf’s eyes were closed but he still maintained a steady grip on Candasar’s second passenger. Poor Ardwynn’s face was still frozen in the grimace of a labor contraction. I was pretty sure that she couldn’t feel any pain when in that condition. I sure hoped that proved to be correct. I actually had not frozen that many individuals in my long and previous life as a dragon. Lothinar opened his eyes. He was still maintaining the illusion of elven handsomeness. Brown eyes and hair. I knew that the Michelle part of me appreciated it, but I thought he looked better the other way. He seemed to be in telepathic communication with Candasar.

It suddenly occurred to me that she, not I, was now the senior and largest blue dragon on the planet. She wasn’t struggling like Firestorm had been, but I sent her some magic anyway. She only nodded in acknowledgment. We were friends. No words were necessary and she was working hard.

I felt my human stomach growl. I reached in the satchel that the cook had prepared for each of us. There were sandwiches in there, wrapped in wax paper. I opened one. The bread was a little dry but the flavor was excellent. It had to be some type of bird. Probably chicken. I suddenly wondered what roc tasted like. I would probably never know now. I gobbled the sandwich down and started on another. Magic needed some sort of fuel. I looked over at Lothinar. I was suddenly embarrassed that he might be watching me eat like a starving shark. He wasn’t watching, but he must have at least noticed, because now he was rummaging through Ardwynn’s satchel as well. He caught me looking.

”My sandwiches were full of seawater.” He said in way of explanation.

”Well, it’s not like she is going to eat them’” I said, stating the obvious. “I’m actually a bit jealous. Unless your party is suddenly set upon by rocs, that technique certainly solves the boredom of a long uneventful flight. I suppose. It’s probably better to be awake for that!”

”It’s still a lot of work for the dragons. They still have to fly!” Said Firestorm.

“I appreciate how difficult this has been for you Firestorm. Thank you for making this possible for me. I think that I would have been terribly lonely if I had been forced to stay behind.”

”And you would have missed the chance to finally get together with Lothinar!”

I froze. Michelle was still fast asleep. I tried to peer into her thoughts but she wasn’t even dreaming. I was on dragon back. Lothinar was way over there on Candasar. There was no way they could have. It just wasn’t possible. Was it?

Seeming to be able to read my confused expression, Lothinar laughed.

”No, you didn’t miss anything inappropriate Vanquish. But you and I need to have a conversation about what Michelle wants to happen when we land.”

”The part of me that is Michelle still wants a very physical relationship with you.” I admitted.

”Yes we had quite a talk while you were sleeping. She also has a very vivid imagination that she insisted on sharing with me.”

”I’m sorry. I mumbled. I should have kept that to myself.”

”It’s nothing that I haven’t heard from Ardwynn before. But if you are of two minds about this…..well, I suppose you literally are…Then I’m going to have to continue to disappoint at least half of you.”

”I still love Vanador!” I suddenly blurted out.

He nodded understandingly. “Of course you do. How could you not?”

”I’ll keep Michelle in check. I promise. It won’t happen again.”

"You know," began Lothinar, "While you were sleeping, Michelle and I had a pretty good talk."

I was almost afraid to ask, but decided that when Michelle regained consciousness I was going to find out about it anyway. It might be good to get Lothinar's perspective on the conversation.

"What did I say?"

Lothinar laughed. "Do you know how weird that sounds when you ask that?"

"Yes, it takes quite a bit of getting used to from this end as well, Lothinar!"

"I don't know how to tell you this, but I actually like Michelle more than I thought I would. I've been trying to actually figure out the reasons why while both of you were sleeping."

"But you don't like me?" I said, actually surprising myself.

"Our relationship has never been like that Vanquish....not one of attraction. We're different species! And lets be honest. I sort of think of you as some sort of great grandmother or something."

"Watch it Sonny!"

We both laughed. It surprised me to take pleasure in Michelle's beautiful contralto.

"The point is," he said, suddenly growing very serious, "The Michelle part of you says that she loves me. I tried push her away. Really, I tried. But she is a force of nature."

"You should run, or hide from hurricanes." I said.

"That's fine, I tried that, but now you are involved. You are Candasar's friend. You came all the way out to Silvantra to help her, and, I suppose me." Now you are trapped in there with a human that says she intends to stay and be a part of my life...."

I interrupted him. "If you end up staying with her, you want to know if I'm going to be ok with that. Is that what you are asking?"

He sighed. "Yes, that is what I'm asking. You know she's not going to be content with me continuing to keep her at arms length."

"I suppose not." I said. "Can you give me a while to think about the ramifications of all this? At least until we get back on the ground?"

"Of course."

"There is one other thing." he said awkwardly.

"Michelle wanted to ask you for a favor."

"I know where this is going Lothinar! She's crazy. I think you look great!"

"But I'm not supposed to be a dragon! You made me look like one. When I don't use illusion, I've been known to scare little children! Why did you change my appearance so radically? I know that it sounds vain, but I liked the way I looked before. Ronni felt the say way."

"You are a bridge Lothinar. Your life will be important and significant to both elves and dragons. That appearance was my gift to you to make that easier." I said indignantly.

You said that Ardwynn has some dragon parts, but she sill is beautiful by elven standards." he protested

"Yes, I've hidden her changes on the inside. For you I wanted to make a statement!"

"But you didn't ask me!"

I sighed. "Very well. I'll restore your original appearance."

"Thank you".

"But you need to wait a few minutes, " I said.

"Why?"

"The process is fairly magically intensive. First I'm going to have to eat another sandwich."

I rustled around in my satchel.

"Whoops!" I said. "I'm all out. I guess I won't be able to do it."

He looked dejected.

"Ah!, there it is!" I said, pulling out another sheaf of wax paper. "I was just kidding."

"Obviously you don't want to do this." he said.

"It's fine. It's your face after all. But if you ever wanted a chance to woo me, you may come to regret this decision." I said.

"Do you think something as petty as me being a plain, ugly elf would sway you?"

"No" I admitted. "My problems with being intimate with you are much greater than skin deep."

"Then I'll take that chance." he said.

"Like I said, It's your face."

I chewed my sandwich.

"Is it going to hurt?" he asked carefully.

"As much as I can make it." I said. "It's really a shame to have to destroy such fine work."

We flew along for a while in silence.

"Drop the illusion. Switch it back." I said. "I want to see what I'll be missing one last time."

Lothinar passed his hand over his face. The dragon ridges over the clean bald dome appeared. One eye, for Candasar, was blue. The other, for Firestorm, was red. He was perfect!

I sighed, then hit him with the magical ugly stick. He didn't yell, but tears were pooling in his eyes. I'm sure it hurt. I wanted him to remember what he had given up. When I was done, a boring brown haired and brown eyed elf was looking back at me. I admitted to myself that, as elves go, he wasn't that bad. Maybe that was because Michelle had finally woken up. She was silently cheering inside!. No matter how hard I tried I could not stop a smile from appearing on our face. Her enthusiasm was that great. I hoped Lothinar knew what he was doing. Now, as far as Michelle was concerned, his last line of defense was totally gone.

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