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CHAPTER 9

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”I told you she was going to be trouble.” Said Candasar. “Perhaps now, the rest of you are beginning to understand, just how much.”

Firestorm rushed across the yard from where she had landed as a dragon. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the air shimmered and blurred around her. She ran onto the porch as a beautiful red-haired elf that called herself Rose and expected everyone else to do the same.

Rose was yelling Lothinar's name.

"Lothinar! Are you alright? No! I can tell that you're not. Your power is almost gone! What did Zinariya do to you?"

Lothinar groaned and slowly climbed to his feet. He looked at his bond and quickly met her eyes.

"I’m not completely sure, but Zinariya made a connection. I don't even know how she was able to do that. She somehow formed a bond and then just started pulling on my magic." Lothinar glanced at Candasar. "It was almost like when we were in your lakeside lair, Candasar. She grabbed onto my magic and wouldn't let go!"

Candasar considered that for a moment. "The egg that eventually became Zinariya, was changed by your magic. You strongly influenced her before she ever hatched. I'm actually not surprised that she could get through your defenses."

"I know that it’s not supposed to be possible,” said Lothinar. "But I definitely feel three separate bonds now."

"Your daughter assaulted Lothinar, Candasar!" shouted Firestorm, glaring at her. "This is what I was trying so hard to keep from happening!"

"Whoa. It's certainly not Candy's fault," said Lothinar defending her.

"Come on Lothinar! You remember the conversation we had! Candasar encouraged this." growled Rose.

"I... did," said Candasar. Her face fell as she admitted it. "Zinariya needed this. I mean, Lothinar's help. I recommended that she bond with him, but I never expected.... This! Tell me my daughter is alright Lothinar! Why did she suddenly teleport away?”

Lothinar looked perplexed. He looked at his two bonds. “So, neither of you can communicate with her right now?”

”No, I can’t.” Answered Candasar, looking worried.

“Me either!” Rose added. “And let me tell you! If I could, I’d be giving her a good scolding!”

Lothinar paused again, listening.

"She's inside a small room or building and she's currently alone." He looked at her anxious mother. "So she seems safe for the moment." He said. Then he paused for a few more seconds. "She's trying to describe it to me, but nothing she's saying is making any sense," he said.

"But where did she go?" asked Rose.

Michelle looked up at the moon again. "I've heard rumors but I never really believed that Chelseben existed. I’ve always thought it was just a story, actually more of a song that dragon parents used to sing to their children.”

"Not my parents," said Candasar.

"Well obviously," said Michelle. She hummed a little, then finding the key, began to sing. Her voice was sweet and surprisingly low.

"When nights are clear and sky is bright

aglow with silver moon’s fair light

While soaring high, you may just spy

Fair Chelseben, while passing by.

It moves serenely ‘cross the sky,

The nearest shore, too far to fly

For thinning air and sky’s of black

will turn the bravest dragon back

The way, I’m told, by gate of gold,

To reach the place called Chelseben.

Michelle's singing stopped. She looked a little embarrassed. "I've never sung that as a human before. I don't think I did it justice. Something is definitely lost in translation. In the original dragon its.... uh, well, now that I think about it. It's probably worse."

Lothinar laughed.

"You have a beautiful voice," said Lothinar. "And thank you for the cultural experience."

Michelle smiled at him and blushed.

"So Zinariya is really on the moon?" asked Firestorm.

"That's what I suspect," said Michelle. "How that's even possible, I don't know."

“But Zinariya didn’t even know about Chelseben or even that song?” Protested Candasar. “Even if she could…what would make her go there?”

”I don’t think Zinariya understands exactly what happened herself.” Lothinar said. “She says that she didn’t intend to do it. It just happened.”

”That’s absolutely ridiculous.” Rose protested.”How could she teleport without meaning to?”

”Have you ever tried to stop a sneeze, Rose?” Lothinar suddenly asked.

”Are you trying to tell us that Zinariya sneezed herself to Chelseben?” Michelle asked, trying to hold back her laughter.

Rose quickly seized on this new fact. ”She must be allergic to you Lothinar! Ok, she managed to get your bond. There’s nothing we can do about that now. But physically you should stay as far away from her as you can. If she accidentally sneezes out another teleport who knows where she'll end up?"

”Really Rose?” Michelle sighed, shaking her head. “This jealousy of yours,,, I know you want Lothinar all to yourself but..."

"She's not allergic to me Rose. She didn’t sneeze, she teleported." Lothinar said carefully. I'm just thinking that sometimes a body does certain things reflexively"

That earned a strange look from Rose.

"But how do we go about getting Zinariya back." Interrupted Candasar worriedly. “She is still too young to have enough power for a return trip without you helping her, Lothinar.”

”I doubt that she’s allergic to me.” Lothinar said. “I was around her earlier and she wasn’t sneezing then.”

"I think we should leave her there for a while. To teach her a lesson in manners!" said Rose angrily.

"Rose... " Lothinar started...."She's still really just a child. We need to try. We have no idea what kind of trouble she might be in up there."

"Hmph!" Rose said, rolling her eyes and clearly expressing her extreme displeasure. “So you're going to probably have to teleport off somewhere new with your new bond…Just leaving me here waiting for…”

Boom! There was a huge noise and a golden dragon appeared in the sky above the house. Candasar looked up hopefully, but her face fell when she realized It was only Marg.

“Only Marg,” thought Candasar with a twinge of apprehension. How would the ancient golden react when she discovered that somehow Lothinar’s mysterious power had caused the birth of a second golden dragon? Marg didn’t seem like the kind that would like to share her exclusivity.

"What are you doing Lothinar?" Marg yelled as she transformed into an older but still beautiful elven woman who seemed to be hanging up in the air. A moment later, devoid of wings, her elven body began to fall. But before she gained much downward momentum she quickly teleported onto the front lawn with a small pop. She glared at them from the yard.. "I warned you that if you don’t stop sending out power like that, you were going to attract the wrong kind of attention!”

"You know, it bothers me when you make an entrance like that!" Lothinar yelled back.

Marg looked puzzled. “Entrance? What are you talking about?”

"I mean that when you turn into an elf fifty feet off the ground, I feel strangely compelled to try and run over and catch you.”

Marg chuckled. "Don't worry about me. I've been doing landings like that for a long time. Teleporting can be dangerous, especially when you don’t know the area that well. I’d really hate to arrive in a particular spot that’s currently occupied by something else. For example, a large tree. I can heal, but I hate getting splinters.”

Lothinar winced. “I can only imagine. Has that ever happened?”

”It’s been a while, but yes, more than once I’m afraid. There was this time on the southern continent when I teleported into a jungle. I had palm fronds in…..”. Her eyes narrowed. ‘Are you trying to trick me into changing the subject? She stopped and almost seemed to be sniffing the air. Something's changed. Your power feels different. Did you make a new bond?”

"It wasn't his fault!" shouted Rose. "He was practically assaulted. Another golden dragon took his power and bonded with him. She didn't even ask!"

Marg blinked. "That's impossible. There are no other golden dragons." she said "With all of the metallic dragons types there can only be one at a time. Could this new dragon be a Platinum? I've been doing some research on the dragons that laid this clutch of eggs. They were all from very powerful families. It's quite possible that a platinum may have hatched. If so, she may have deceived you by pretending that she was a gold. Platinum dragons have illusion magic. They are sneaky, and selfish and tend to create a lot of trouble. They can be troublesome, at least while they are young." She laughed. "Sometimes they even eventually outgrow it. "

”That sounds pretty familiar,” said Siophra.

Candasar coughed. "You're probably right. I'm sure we were mistaken," she said. She grabbed Rose by the bare shoulder and pushed her toward the front door.

"You might want to put on some....clothes... Rose." Candasar whispered. "There is more than one moon out tonight."

Rose looked down. "Oops," she said. She shot a wicked look at Lothinar and ran inside the house, letting the screen door slam with a bang, behind her.

Candasar smiled nervously and followed after her. She nodded as she passed, to Ardwynn who had finally come to the door.

"I guess in all the excitement, she forgot to make herself some clothes when she transformed," Candasar said.

"I don't think it was an accident," Ardwynn said skeptically. .

Lothinar looked incredibly relieved at Rose’s swift retreat. "It was quite distracting," he admitted. "I almost had an involuntary and reflexive event of my own."

Ardwynn bit her lower lip and looked at Lothinar before sighing.

"Welcome to my home, everyone." Said Ardwynn. She looked at Marg in particular. "Why don't you all come in? It will be easier to talk."

Marg nodded and started up the steps, just as she did, two small blue dragons flew into the yard.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Oh neat!" said one.

"Marg came back!" said the other. They started to run over to her.

"Please come here children," said Tundor. "Marg has things to discuss with the adults right now."

‘Constance and Vigilant reluctantly returned to Tundor’s side, but they looked a little disappointed.

As Marg came up onto the porch, Ardwynn looked back into the house. Abruptly she held out her hand, palm forward. "Sorry everyone," she said. "We are dealing with a wardrobe malfunction. Let's just give Rose a minute to find her way upstairs. That's where she is going to find some clothes to wear." She stuck her head inside and pulled the front door almost closed. Lothinar could hear her whispering angrily to Rose, but he could only hear one side of the conversation.

"Get upstairs right now!

"No, the room on the left!"

"I don't care. Just pick anything that's in the closet."

"Don't come down again until you are decent!"

Ardwynn stepped out of the house and turned her eyes back toward the others. "Thank you for waiting. I'll get this sorted out in just a minute. Then everyone can come in...." Ardwynn went back inside.

"Marg chuckled." She turned to Lothinar. "She shifted without clothes?"

"Yep. Totally naked," he said. "I understand that as a dragon that probably isn't a big deal, but as an elf.... well, it is quite provocative."

"You know Firestorm will probably keep doing things like that until you pay her more attention. You realize that don't you? Red dragons are very passionate about what they want."

Lothinar nodded. "So I've noticed. I don't know who to talk to about this," he said. "What's the right thing to do here?"

Ardwynn stuck her head out the door. "The coast is clear. Everyone can come inside now!" Over by Tundor there were a couple of blue shimmers and Constance and Vigilant suddenly looked like elves again. Thankfully they appeared with clothes on. Before their bewildered father could turn to stop them, they quickly ran past Marg and into the house. Inside, Lothinar could already hear Candasar scolding them for slamming the screen door. Apparently, Ardwynn's invitation to enter was all they needed.

Marg patted Lothinar sympathetically on the arm. "Regarding a physical relationship with Firestorm, We should talk," she said. "You probably think you are the first one to experience something like this, but you aren't."

"I'd like that," he replied. He gave her a genuine smile.

"Now don't start on me," she said. "I'm way too old for you."

He looked a little shocked. "Oh! I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to flirt."

"Elves as handsome as you need to be careful," Marg said.

"You don't know the half of it," he said sadly.

Tundor was, by now, the only dragon in the yard. He looked around helplessly. Siophra seemed torn between staying with him, and Ardwynn's call to come inside. The pretty elf sighed as she contemplated the lure of fancy dresses just beyond the front door. Instead, she turned and walked back over to stand next to Tundor.

"Thanks," he said. "I appreciate you staying. Nobody seems to remember that I can't fit inside a house anymore." He looked down sadly. "Even bringing food didn't help. Nobody seems to be interested in these expensive cows. Not even Vigilant and Constance."

"I bet they've been snacking on weasels again," said Siophra.

"Why do I even bother to bring them something at all," complained Tundor grumpily.

"This house hasn't been occupied since Ardwynn and you stayed here," Siophra said as delicately as possible. "I bet she doesn't even have a jar of mung beans in there. They are all going to want these cows! Just you wait."

"So we just stand out here? I feel silly," said Tundor.

"Trust me. They will come to US!" said Siophra grinning.

Marg had climbed the stairs to the porch but noticed the white dragon standing awkwardly with Siophra next to him. Her eyes slowly traveled down to the two cows near his feet. She licked her lips.

"I remember you from the other night. You're that big fella that was flying around. You kind of remind me of my son. You may have met him. His name is Vanador. Aren't you coming inside?"

"I can’t,"Tundor said sadly. "I'm too big."

Why don't you shift?" asked Marg.

"Because I can't." He looked at Marg hopefully.

Marg chuckled and walked back down the steps. She approached Tundor while giving him an appraising look. Then she reached up and flicked him in the forehead with her finger. There was a large pop. Where the oversized white dragon had stood was a giant elf. His chest and arms were huge and packed with rippling muscles. Standing almost a foot taller than Lothinar, he reminded Lothinar far too much of Ardwynn's father, Duke Tempton, except the elf that Tundor had become had shockingly white hair. He was wearing matching leather armor.

Siophra gasped. "I'd miss trying on dresses to see you looking like that!" she said.

"You do look great, Tundor.” Said Lothinar.

The big elf chuckled, deep and low. "I hope Candasar agrees."

"I agree enough for the both of us," said Siophra. "You do look fantastic as an elf."

"This might be a lot of fun," Tundor said. Amazingly he reached down and grabbed one of the dead cows and only grunted slightly as he threw it over his shoulder.

"Feeding all of us on only a couple of cows doesn't seem like so much of an expense anymore," he said. "There are going to be a lot of leftovers."

Lothinar reached over and tried to pick up the other cow. He got it halfway off the ground but quickly put it back down. "Nope," he said.

Siophra laughed. "Don't feel bad Lothinar, Those Jerseys probably weigh at least eight hundred pounds," she said.

"Come on Big Guy!" said Lothinar. I'll have Ardwynn show you where the kitchen is. We will need to figure out how to cut it down and prepare it for elves."

"Earth cows! Yum," said Marg. It's been a while. I know a few good recipes. You will have to provide the knives and cooking utensils."

"Did you just say 'Earth Cows?" asked Tundor.

Marg seemed to ignore the question, so Tundor just rolled his eyes. It turned out that Tundor couldn't actually fit through the front door carrying a cow. Lothinar was pretty sure he would without it. The door, after all, had been made to accommodate Duke Tempton. Instead, Tundor had to carry the cow around the back to the delivery entrance. Setting it down on a huge butcher block table, He immediately went back for the other one. On the way around the house and walking past one of the downstairs windows, he saw Candasar sneaking a peek at him through the glass. Her eyes were wide.

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Zinariya looked out the viewport at an airless world. Nothing green was growing. The entire landscape outside the window was covered with grey dust. It reflected the sunlight in a way that didn't seem quite right. The room she was standing in was nothing like she had ever seen before. Metallic surfaces glistened in the harsh glow of lights hidden behind opaque panels of glass. There were numbers and letters in various gauges and dials. Even with Lothinar’s bond slowly filling her educational gaps, she had no idea what any of this was for. She wrinkled her nose. The air felt stale and old. She wandered around the small room looking at everything, afraid to touch any of it. If what Lothinar had said was true, she was on the moon. She hadn't spent a great deal of time in her young life thinking about the silvery orb that waxed and waned in the night sky, but now she seemed to be a prisoner on it. She reached out to Lothinar again. His presence in her mind was helping her more than she could have imagined. Her mother was right about that, at least.

"Lothinar I'm afraid," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you," he said. "I'll get you out of there, even if I have to make a deal with the devil."

"That's a strange phrase," she said.

"Well, Marg, just showed up," he said. "I'm sure she could help you to get back home. I just don't know what she's going to want in return. That and she doesn't know about you yet."

"I'm hardly a threat to her," said Zinariya.

"No, you wouldn't think so, but apparently we broke the rules. Only one golden dragon is supposed to be able to exist at a time," he said. "So far we are trying to keep you a secret from her. It's getting more complicated by the minute because somehow she knows that I've bonded with a third dragon. Firestorm almost let it slip that it was with a golden, but Marg somehow knew about the possibility of a Platinum hatching. She thinks it must be her and that she's deceiving us. She is suggesting strongly that we hand the 'Platinum' over to her because they are tricky and dangerous."

"Well, she kind of was. Lothinar."

There was a fairly long pause.

"Ok, look. I plan to somehow get Marg to bring me up to the moon. When I get near you, then I can refill your magic. But right now my reserves are pretty low. You really took a lot out of me you know."

"I'm sorry Lothinar. Your power is quite intoxicating. I'm sure you are disappointed in me. It's just that my mother makes me crazy sometimes."

"Well, hopefully moving forward, you will be able to understand each other better. She's filled with worry over you right now. She loves you."

Zinariya sniffed. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh wow," Lothinar said. "Marg just did something to your father that allowed him to transform. He's huge for an elf. He just picked up a whole cow! Things are moving pretty fast down here. Firestorm isn't helping matters. She's pretty upset with you right now, by the way."

"You can communicate with them through the bond but I can't?" Zinariya asked. "Is that going to be a permanent thing?"

"I think it's just the distance involved," he said. "Of all the places, why did you end up teleporting there?"

"I don't know. I just remember wanting to be as far from my frustrating mother as possible! Then your power flooded into me and bang! I'm sorry!"

"Ok. You got off to a bad start. I'm here for you now. Most of your problems are probably my fault anyway. Well, your mother's and mine. You know the story about your egg."

"I wouldn't be a golden dragon without your participation in that," she said. "I like being a golden dragon Lothinar." she admitted.

Suddenly there was a hiss and one of the panels in the wall opened. An ancient and decrepit-looking grey-haired elf walked into the room.

"What are you doing? You're not supposed to be in here!" he shouted. Then he stopped and stood stock still, looking at her. His eyes grew large and he got a terrified look on his face.

"SORRY! My Queen! I humbly apologize!" he stammered. He bent his scrawny legs and knelt on the floor before her, head and eyes looking at the floor.

"Lothinar, I am no longer alone," Zinariya said.

"Is someone threatening you? Are you ok?" he asked urgently.

"You know, I think I've got this under control," she said. "There may be a good reason Marg wants to be the only Golden Dragon."

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This is amazing!" said Rose. "I've had cow plenty of times, but never cooked before. How did you say this was made?" She was sitting at the table with a huge slab of meat on the plate in front of her. She was holding the knife and fork a little awkwardly but she had managed to cut and eat her first bite. To everyone's relief, she was wearing a shimmering gold evening gown.

"It's called a steak," said Marg. "Just salt and pepper and fry it up in a little butter on a skillet. The real work is cutting it into the right portion sizes. Tundor helped me with that. I find eating a lot more interesting when I do it as an elf. It really helps when the kitchen already has spices in the cupboards like this one did.

"Most elves are vegetarian," said Ardwynn awkwardly. "My parents, however, had other tastes. Not that I participated in their meat-eating," she said. "At least... then."

"You and Lothinar both have supplemental dragon physiology," said Michelle. "You will need to eat at least some meat from time to time."

"Well, I'm all meat, all the time if it's this good," said Rose grinning. She cut another slice and ate it, chewing happily.

"Lothinar, please explain more about this Platinum dragon that assaulted you and took your bond," said Marg, changing the subject. Where is she now? I may need to take a personal interest in making sure she doesn't get out of control. Mentor her, so to speak. Platinum's are extremely smart and can be quite devious."

"I've got it under control," Lothinar said.

"You probably think you do, but you don't." insisted the Golden. "The way a Platinum can influence your mind, you might even be under her control right now and not even realize it."

Michelle tried to deflect.

"Things must be pretty boring in Chelseben if you came all the way here just because you felt a brief power spike," said Michelle, obviously trying to help Lothinar conceal Zinariya's existence.

Marg looked at Michelle suspiciously. "I thought you were leaving. You were going to help educate the next generation of dragons. That was our arrangement, was it not?" she asked.

"I'm just waiting for a ride," said Michelle. "I don't have my wings anymore. Unless you would personally like to take me to Enderline's ship?"

"I don't have the time, or the inclination to start offering transportation for every issue," said Marg. "Although if I was to hang around long enough, I'm sure you could find plenty for me to do. That's one of the biggest reasons I live in relative isolation. The constant demands for a quick trip somewhere are relentless. I'm sure you understand."

"I can take you ‘Michelle," said Rose. It would be my pleasure."

Michelle strongly suspected that her offer had a lot to do with removing Michelle from contention and strengthening her claim on Lothinar's affections.

"There you go!" said Marg. "Problem solved. Thank you Firestorm."

"I'm going by Rose when in this form." said the beautiful red-haired elf.

"Don’t be ridiculous!" asked Marg. "I think Firestorm is an amazing name. Using two names is going to make it confusing for your friends."

Firestorm lowered her eyes and sullenly took another bite of her steak.

"That's what I tried to tell her," said Candasar.

Marg swiveled her attention to the blue dragon.

"And how do you like the new appearance of your mate Tundor wearing his elf shape, Candasar?"

Candasar blushed. "He looks amazing. Thank you, Marg," she said.

Tundor seated on her right, blushed a little too.

"I'm a little perplexed by his size," said Marg. "It usually takes hundreds of years for a dragon to get that big. The immense size can't help transfer to the elf's body in some respects. That's why he looks like that."

"I'm afraid that's my fault, again," said Lothinar, lying. "Tundor was the first dragon I actually met. He's been around me the longest."

Rose suddenly started squirming in her seat. "How do you put up with this?" she asked Michelle.

"I told you to pick something different," said Michelle.

"But you said Lothinar would like it," she answered.

"For him to like it, he has to be able to see it," said Michelle.

"I was curious. It looked interesting," said Rose.

"What's going on now?" asked Lothinar, raising his eyebrows.

"Don't tell him!" said Rose.

"Lothinar, my dear," said Ardwynn. "As you know, Rose did not make the clothes she is currently wearing. An oversight she will probably not forget. She is wearing some of my mother's things as a result."

"The dress is very pretty," said Lothinar sincerely.

"Well, Rose decided to try some fancy undergarments. She is currently wearing a thong," said Ardwynn.

"Never again," said Rose. "Your mother was braver than me, trying to wear something like this."

"It's not something worn for comfort," said Ardwynn. "It's supposed to be enticing to males."

"Oh!" said Rose. She winked at Lothinar. "In that case, I'll endure it."

Marg finished chewing a bite of steak and swallowed. She laid down her knife and fork. She wiped her mouth with one of Ardwynn's fancy cloth napkins. Each of these specific actions seemed to silently scream to Lothinar that something was coming. He could feel it. He saw it reflected in her eyes. Finally, she spoke.

"Where are you hiding the young platinum dragon Lothinar? You will turn her over to me for training and discipline. I won't ask again!"

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