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Chapter 4

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It was mid-morning. Lothinar had taken a little extra time to enjoy flying for his first time on Firestorm. It seemed to make her very happy too. They flew out over the lake and up and down the length of it several times. Lothinar pointed out the part of the woods where Tundor and he had first met.

"I was shocked to see him there!" said Lothinar. "He was such a little guy back then. He didn't even have functioning wings."

Firestorm laughed. "I'm sure he was still bigger than you at that point. You were very brave to confront him, Lothinar."

"Not really," was his good-natured reply. "I paralyzed him before getting too close. That was probably a big turning point for him. He was smart enough to remember the spell I used and began using it to hunt his own food. Poor Candasar had been trying to keep him in fish before that. It was practically killing her trying to keep him fed."

"Look down there!" said Firestorm. "There are some dragons actually still fishing! It looks like they are using nets."

"Swing around, I'd like to talk to them," said Lothinar. Firestorm did and landed on the shore. Four grey dragons were out in the water. A long net was strung out between them. They were pulling it toward the shore. They noticed him but continued dragging the net until it reached the shallows. A big bunch of flopping fish almost made the water near the shore appear to be boiling as they thrashed.

"Lothinar!" said one of them. "Have you come to check up on usss? We haven't seen any elvesss in a while, but we've ssstill been carefully guarding our eggggss like Tundor warned usss to do." The dragon spoke fairly well, but a few of his words came out with the typical grey dragon lisp.

"We were just flying past and saw you fishing here," said Lothinar smiling. Then he frowned. "There was a serious attack on Delora last night. It was pretty bad. Some bad elves tried to capture the city."

"But we killed them all!" said Firestorm, rather matter-of-factly. "You shouldn't have to worry about that."

The grey dragon looked at her. "You are Mo-Rung's daughter! How did you gets large so quickly?" he asked in amazement.

"My bond is very powerful," she said beaming at him. "He has taken very good care of me."

The dragon squinted at Lothinar. His eyes grew wide. "You.... You have grown much more powerful ssssince you healed my wingssss." he said with astonishment. "I can feel your power even when you are not usssing it!"

The other three dragons crowded around, joining him. They seemed to have forgotten about the fish thrashing in the water. One of the other ones spoke. She was a female.

"Can you gives usss our colorsss now?" she asked eagerly.

Lothinar looked confused. "I don't understand." he said awkwardly.

"Our colorssss!" she hissed. "We are lowly greyssss. Please give us our colorssss"

"They are right." said Firestorm silently through the bond. "They really are only partially restored. Real dragons always have a color."

"Why is this the first time I'm heard about this?" he asked out loud with obvious frustration. "I feel like I've seriously failed them."

"Not failed!" said the third. "Many many dragonsss wass healed by youse and Candasar before. Perhapsss we now asks too much! We appreciates..."

"What color should I choose for them?" he asked Firestorm.

"That's not how it works silly. They already have a natural color. It's just not manifested because of what that bastard, Argent's spell casters did to their ancestors. You just have to look for it. I bet you can see a color if you look."

Lothinar took a look at the fishing dragons. He did it slowly, one at a time. First, there was nothing. Then he saw it. The colors were there!

"You!" he said to the female. "Please come over here."

She finished splashing her way through the shallows. As she got closer he kept looking at her. He suddenly could see some other problems as well. They were subtle but now suddenly obvious. He compared her to what he knew about Firestorm. Lifespan was vastly compromised. Intelligence, there were deliberate blockages that held her back from her potential. He started to get angry. His power flared!

"Hold on! Please Lothinar. Listen to me!" yelled Firestorm desperately. "Her presence pulled him back from the brink. He had been about to lose control. He took several deep breaths.

"Thank goodness! I thought you were going to lose it like you did when you healed me!" said Firestorm with obvious relief. "You can do this, but please, please, try to do it a bit more dispassionately."

"Thank you my bond," he said with sincere appreciation. "I think you might have just prevented another disaster!"

"That's my job, my love," she said. "I'm here to keep you from doing stupid things. Remember that."

Lothinar chuckled. "You haven't always been successful at that," he said.

"But look what I've been working with!" she smirked.

The four greys were still standing there expectantly. Lothinar spun the planets in his internal universe in an organized dance of mystical power. He pushed. Energy blasted into the female dragon. She yelped. Then she immediately turned bright green.

"My god! That's a rush! she called excitedly to the others. "Get him to do you too!" her lisp was completely gone. The other three rushed toward him.

"Hold on!" bellowed Firestorm. "There's plenty of time! Don't crowd him. She shouldered into them pushing them back. One at a time please!"

Lothinar smiled. This was going to be fun.

The new green's name had been Crumb. She very politely asked if she could now change it to Emerald. No one objected in the slightest.

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Back at Ronniflass's cabin Candasar cracked open an eyelid. "It's started," she said.

"What's started, my love?" asked Tundor. His long neck had placed his head on a hay bale near his sleeping mate inside the barn.

"Lothinar is healing some Greys down by the lake. He's restoring the rest of their abilities."

"What's wrong with that?" Tundor asked. "That's where we came from. Those are our people too!"

"I know, I know." said Candasar, "But he's going to attract even more attention after doing that."

"You can't keep him just to yourself forever, you know," said Tundor. "He has a destiny to fulfill."

"Of course, But I'm going to have to make a decision soon about following him around changing the world or staying here with you and my kids."

"Stay." said Tundor. "For now." Kids grow up so quickly. It won't be long until you can join him. I bet he'd let me and Siophra tag along too. I think Siophra would be willing to do that."

"You don't want to have a few more kids?" she asked

"I think we should worry more about properly raising the first batch before starting a second, don't you think?" he pointed out.

Candasar sighed. "Zinariya is going to be a big problem you know."

"That's why it's so important we don't force her to write us off. We owe it to her to give her the best advice we can, not just yell at her."

She winced. "You should have heard the way my own mother yelled at me for most of my childhood."

Tundor paused. "You've never really talked about your parents," he said. Your grandfather, obviously but not your actual parents?"

"Brutes! Ignorant Greys. They didn't appreciate me. They tried to pair me off with several council members. I had to go out on my own far too young."

"Where are they now?" Tundor asked.

"I have no idea!" answered Candasar. "I've been avoiding looking for them."

"Did they at least get rid of their flippers and grow some wings?" he asked astonished.

"When Lothinar and I made the rounds offering that service, they never came," she said. "For all I know they may be dead."

"That's really sad," said Tundor.

"Yes, it is." said Candasar. "It really is."

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In the house, Marg stumbled. She put her arm on the doorframe.

"Did you feel that?" she asked. Her eyes were wide.

"Yep!" said Michelle. "That's Lothinar. I know that power."

"It's quite amazing," Marg said a bit unsteadily. "The shockwave from that almost knocked me over."

"I do good work," said Michelle.

Marg looked at her with a little more respect. "It appears, in some respects that you do. I wonder how much more powerful he will become. Aren't you worried that he might burn out?"

"I've put several safeguards in place," Michelle said carefully. "I was hoping that he would grow into his power a bit slower though. His passions have been known to overwhelm him."

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"He's pulled back," Marg said. "It's much more manageable now. But that first one..... They are going to feel that all the way to Chelsaben!

"Chelsaben's a myth." laughed Michelle.

"Oh, child," Marg replied, sadly. "You really have so much to learn."

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The next thing Cantrell did was almost forcibly usher Mavis back through the door in the wall. He still wasn’t sure about this crowd. There undoubtedly had to be others that would seek to do her harm. The palace guards quickly shut the door. Fensterly and Telehalla had followed him, carrying Mandel’s body. They gently laid it on the flagstones of the inner courtyard. Mavis dropped to her knees and leaned over him. Looking at his face, she threw herself on his chest and began weeping again.

"Stupid, impetuous….I told you!…what were you thinking?” Cantrell heard her mumbling.

“Mavis!” He said, reaching down to touch her shoulder and causing her to look at him. “We still might be able to do something. Esmarilla says we can probably fix this but we need a blue dragon. Remember Enderline’s queen! She died. Lothinar was able to bring her back."

"But he had both Candasar AND Vanquish!" she sobbed. She looked around. "I don't see any blue dragons around here. Do you?"

"No, I don't," he said. "But that doesn't mean we might not be able to get him to one."

"It's too far!" she wailed again. "My stupid brother even managed to get himself killed in the presence of a white dragon!" She was growing hysterical.

"Take her to her rooms!" he shouted. "Esmarilla! We need to go. Now!"

Esmarilla was out of sight in the outer courtyard. She was probably still surrounded by hundreds of unknown elves. So far none of them had shown any hostility.

"I thought you'd never ask!" she responded, through the bond. "I wasn't looking forward to sniffing more elves. They just keep lining up in front of me. It feels kind of obligatory at this point. I don't want to hurt their feelings or anything. I’m starting to understand why I’ve been told elves taste so bad. You know a big part of taste is smell. You remember that don’t you?”

"Mo-Rung and Vanador will have to take care of that for now," said Cantrell. "I need you to fly me and Mandel's body to Delora!"

"I'm already in the air," she said. "Clear a place inside the inner courtyard for me. I'll be coming in fast."

"Make room!" Cantrell bellowed. "Incoming dragon!"

A shadow temporarily blocked out the sun as Esmarilla thundered down. Some of the guards lost their hats to the blasting wind. Cantrell climbed on quickly.

"Help me! Lift him!" Cantrell yelled to Fensterly. He and Telehalla pushed while Cantrell pulled. They got Mandel's body somewhat situated across Esmarillas wide neck.

"I'm not going to be responsible if you drop him," she said. "You had better hold on. Splattering him on the cobblestones is going to ruin everything you're contemplating."

"I'll hold on." Said Cantrell. "The rest of my life is at stake. Freedom is on the line!"

"You really don't want Mavis to take that job do you?" Esmarilla chuckled. "Do you even care about Mandel?"

"Of course I do." he protested. "But you have to admit, he can be kind of a jerk."

The black dragon launched herself into the air. She climbed and rapidly began to pick up speed.

"I should have brought goggles!" he sent to her. Windswept tears were blinding him. "I didn't know dragons were quite this fast."

"Not all dragons are this fast. You happen to be bonded to me. I was the fastest black dragon of my generation, and black dragons have always been known to be the fastest fliers. We just rarely get the chance to cut loose!"

"How long can you do this?" He asked trying to breathe. The oncoming wind was making exhaling a little difficult. He could feel her massive lungs pumping like a bellows.

"All the way," she said. "But I'm going to be sore. I probably won't let you ride me for a week. You'll be stuck there for a while. You know, you are putting a lot of faith in your theory that Lothinar and Candasar are still around. We don't know that for sure."

”Candasar’s other two children were still too small to go far. She will be with them. I just don't think that I can deal with any of the other alternatives." he said. “We need Mandel alive.”

"Ok, hold on then," she said. "I'm going to take it up a notch! Just don't drop him!"

"Oh my!" said Cantrell gasping. "Right now I'm hoping I don't fall off myself!"

"Don't worry, my bond. We are linked. I will not let you fall, but I can't catch a corpse."

"I suppose not," said Cantrell, holding on tighter.

”Uh, Esmarilla?”

”I’m kind of busy flapping hard right now. What is it?”

“Do I smell bad to you? I mean I’m an elf.”

”Of course not! You're my bond!”

”I don’t understand.”

Cantrell actually felt her slowing down a tiny bit trying to think about how to answer him.

“You do remember how bonding with Tundor initially changed Lothinar's pheromone power over her?”

”Yeah, that sure changed things for them.” Said Cantrell.

“The bond between dragon and elf changes many of their shared senses. Scent is probably the biggest one. To me, well, you smell a lot like Mo-Rung. I like his smell. I think it’s more magic than actual aroma.”

”So Mavis probably smells good to Mo-Rung?” He asked.

”Probably, but to be honest, we haven’t discussed it. That’s why it’s such a sweet deal when dragon and elven couples manage a good bonding all around. Mavis smells good to me too. All that compatible magic works great together. Nobody smells bad.”

”I don’t remember you smelling unpleasant before I bonded with you, and you were around. Back when you were bonded with Ardwella.”

”You always seem to want to remind me of my used dragon status. Can’t we agree to just forget about that unpleasantness?”

”I’m asking these questions for science!”

” Instead, why don’t you write a paper on how long an elf can be dead before it’s too late for even a blue dragon to do anything about it? Because that’s what’s going to happen if I don’t get moving here!” She snarked.

Cantrell shut up and let her fly. Her speed picked up again They flew for several hours. Finally, she spoke again.

”I am starting to smell something.” She complained. “It’s warm today. I think ‘Mandel’s starting to spoil”

”We’re getting pretty close,” said Cantrell. “I think I can see Ronniflass’s cabin from here! Something’s wrong! One of the exterior walls looks badly damaged!”

”I think that was from Mo-Rungs attempt to get Ardwynn. I think Mo-Rung and by association, WE are financially responsible for that damage. This is going to cost more than a few cows.”

”Didn’t you eat her prized bull as well?”

”How much money do you actually have with you, Cantrell? I mean I’ve written IOU’s on firewood before but….”

Suddenly there was a huge detonation of air that sounded like a thunderclap. A huge gold dragon appeared in the air directly in front of them. Cantrell was so surprised that he almost did drop Mandel’s body as Esmarilla wheeled to avoid crashing into the other dragon.

”Holy…That can’t be Zinariya all ready can it?” Exclaimed Cantrell. “She’s huge!”

”Hold on!” Esmarilla dove toward the house. She gave a series of little grunts as her overworked wing muscles shredded forward velocity. She landed fast and almost took out the front porch, but somehow managed to stop just in time. Cantrell had his hands and arms tightly holding onto the emperor's body but at the last second there it finally slipped from his grasp and tumbled off the dragon and landed awkwardly in the yard.

Cantrell jumped down. He quickly rolled Mandel over and looked for damage. Nothing seemed to be seriously broken. He had grass stains on his fancy shirt but there was a huge sword slice through it anyway. Nobody would be trying to sew that hole up!” He looked up as an elf he didn’t recognize approached and scrutinized him. She wasn’t Zinariya, but had similar golden eyes.

”Why are you flying around with a dead elf young man?” She asked.

“Oh, this isn’t just any regular dead elf” he answered. “This is the emperor!”

The elf with the golden eyes actually yawned! “I’m sorry she said seemingly slightly embarrassed. “It was a long night last night and I haven’t even slept yet. You see I’ve been talking and…”

”Is Candasar here?” He interrupted. “I need her to bring him back! To resurrect him!”

”She's in the barn. But I think she is sleeping right now. She had a very busy night as well. I doubt she would appreciate being disturbed. You know our relationship with the elves is somewhat in doubt right now. The actual responsibility for the recent atrocities has yet to be determined. How do we know the perpetrators were entirely from the previous administration?”

Cantrell just stared at her. “This is Lothinar’s brother.” He finally said.

The female elf squatted down to take another look at Mandel. “Yes, I suppose I can see the resemblance.” She finally admitted. “Lothinar’s not here right now but I will allow you to wake Candasar. She can probably get him to return fairly quickly.” She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose you will probably need my help as well. He smells a bit ripe”

Esmarilla had just been standing there. She hadn’t said a thing even when the new elf had been giving Cantrell a hard time.

Cantrell started jogging toward the barn. Candasar was most likely inside. “Who in the hell is that? I can see the golden eyes but…”

"I'm hoping that she doesn't recognize me!" Said Esmarilla. ”That elf is also the huge golden dragon that appeared in the sky.”

“Really? So she can actually change form? Switch back and forth? It’s not just like when Zinariya was borrowing Siophra or Ardwella?”

”No, that’s all her. It’s kind of her special feature. Most other dragons are either unable or unwilling to do it. She’s a bit of a deviant.

”A deviant? How so? It seems to be a neat ability.” Cantrell entered the barn and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He spotted Candasar. She seemed to suddenly snap awake. Her eyes widened in recognition.

“Hello, Warden Cantrell. What do you want?”

The words tumbled out in an almost endless torrent. "Candasar! Thank the gods that I found you! I need your help. Emperor Mandel was killed by an assassin. Mavis is distraught! Esmarilla and I brought him here as fast we could. I had no idea she could fly that fast! Honestly, I don't really want to be stuck in the capital taking over for Mandel after his death. Mavis doesn't either. The crowds are trying to make her into the next Empress! Please, please! Can you bring him back to life?

Candasar blinked. "Whoa. That's a lot. Hold on a second....." The air shimmered, and like the air leaving a large blue balloon, she shrunk down, assuming the form of a beautiful blue-eyed elf. She was wearing a pretty blue dress. She did a quick spin.

Cantrell was stunned. His mouth hung open. What?"

"I hate to admit this, but I think for some reason it's a bit easier for me to process a lot of information quickly when I'm in this form. I figured that out last night. It was the first time I spent any time in this form. My magical abilities were slightly better too."

"What do you think?" she asked.

"So this is new?" he croaked.

"Well, obviously," she replied smiling. "At first I was pretty resistant, but I think I'm going to enjoy this. Just watching your reaction has made my day!"

"Oh right!" he said. "Now maybe you can make mine. Did you hear what I said about Mandel?"

"Lothinar's half-brother Mandel!? Is that what you were going on about?"

"Yes. Dead. Brought him. Esmarilla flew very fast. Please help!" Then he grinned at her and had the audacity to wink.

"Crap! How long?" she asked, rushing out of the barn. She ran up to the body. She looked at it. Then she visibly relaxed. "He's probably going to have a terrible headache but I can do this." Candasar looked at Marg. "Are you willing to help me or should I wait for Lothinar?"

Marg smiled broadly. "I would be overjoyed to assist you, Candasar. And may I also say that I'm also so pleased that you have become more comfortable with your shape transfiguration!"

"Just don't let my kids see. I was scolding them about it earlier. Where are they by the way?"

"It's not my turn to watch them dear," said Marg. "But I'm sure they haven't gone far. Why don't we deal with this situation and then you can go find them."

Candasar bit her lip, frowned, and actually reached down to pull up the sleeves of her gown. Cantrell was still watching in total amazement as the dragon mimicked elven mannerisms quite perfectly. Marg went over and placed her hand on her shoulder. A blue light flashed.

Cantrell was staring at Mandel's body so he didn't see the moment when Candasar's elven body crumpled to the ground. He did hear the thud. He spun around. Candasar slowly sat up, She was holding her head. Marg leaned down and whispered something to her. She nodded. Cantrell ran over to help her to her feet.

"What happened!?" he asked, holding her around the shoulders.

She nodded at him. "It's ok. I got cocky! I shouldn't have tried to do this without Lothinar. I think I have been underestimating what his powers do to augment mine."

"Are you going to be ok?" he asked.

"Yes, look to Mandel. He should be waking up soon. He will probably have a lot of questions." Candasar started to wobble off toward the barn, then shrugged and turned around. She walked up to the steps and into the house."

"She probably wants a real bed." chuckled Marg.

Just then a red dragon fell from the sky. She had been flying fast and plowed to a stop just in front of Cantrell. Lothinar jumped off and ran up to Marg.

"What did you do to Candy, Marg? I felt her distress all the way over at the lake!"

Marg pointed to Cantrell. "Ask him. He will have your answers. By the way, I am sensing a bit of ingratitude. I will let you sort this situation out among yourselves and will return in a little while. Then I would..... appreciate having that long-awaited conversation you owe me."

Marg looked over at Esmarilla. "Hello, Daughter. Don't think I didn't notice you over there. I saw you coming in. There are only so many black dragons your size left. We should talk.

"I'm surprised that there are any others left at all!" she said sadly. "I thought Argent killed them all."

"The world is a very big place," said Marg. She disappeared with a loud pop as air rushed into the space she had been standing.

Lothinar turned to Cantrell. Their eyes locked. Then he took a couple of deep breaths. "What IS going on here, Cantrell?"

"Just saving the empire and your brother!" said Cantrell. "All in a day's work."

A groan came from the ground. Mandel sat up. Cantrell grinned. Lothinar walked over and pulled Mandel to his feet. He stood there slightly wobbling.

"Where am I?" Mandel said. He looked around with a great deal of alarm. "And who are you guys?" He suddenly spotted Esmarilla. "Whoa! a dragon! I thought those things were extinct!"

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