A Dragon's Tale Ch. 01

Ethan felt like someone had just dipped his leg in molten lava. He kicked out in reflex and felt his leg connect with something; something that was soft and felt very much like a hundred-pound wood elf.

"Sorry." Ethan said through gritted teeth. Moments later he felt something hit his gut. Hard. Something he guessed was the foot of the same hundred-pound wood elf.

"Ethan." Alana hissed into his ear. "If you do that when I pull the arrow out of your tail, I'm going put them back in."

"I'm sorry Alana, I didn't mean to..." Ethan trailed off as Alana came into view. She had a dragon-foot-shaped mud stamp on her cheek. He couldn't help himself. He started laughing -- quietly -- but he was laughing.

Alana had a look on her face halfway between anger and amusement. Finally, she seemed to settle on amusement and started chuckling too.

"What... what are we laughing about?" Ethan asked.

"I don't... I don't know." She managed to say, despite clutching her sides and trying hard not to laugh loudly. "My entire life is gone and..." It happened in an instant; Alana's face changed as the enormity of her own words hit her.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"My entire life is gone." She looked away from him and sniffled. "I'm sorry."

"I just kicked you in the face and you're apologizing." Ethan said. "I basically just cost you your entire life, I'm sorry."

Alana tried wiping her eyes while still averting them from him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's... I'll be okay in a minute."

Ethan grimaced as he pulled himself forward with one arm. With the other hand he reached up and pulled Alana into a rather awkward hug. It was awkward because she was kneeling and he was still lying down. Alana resisted for a fraction of a second, and then just collapsed onto Ethan's shoulder. As she lay there crying quietly, Ethan felt an enormous weight of guilt press down on him.

After about a minute, Ethan couldn't take it. "I'm sorry that I cost you your home."

Alana pulled herself together long enough to sit up. Then she drew back and glared at him.

"What?"

"Don't you ever blame yourself for that again." She said firmly. The trail of tears on her face glistened in the moonlight, but her eyes were set in stone. "You didn't do anything except save my life. The problem is Lord Delmar, not you. He sent those men, not you. They torched my home and trees, not you. You charged over a dozen men in a stupid attempt to distract them so I could escape. You don't need to apologize at all."

He smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She wiped the rest of the tears out of her eyes. "Now hold still while I get this other arrow out."

A few painful moments later, Ethan was mercifully free of arrows and Alana sighed, "Well, the bleeding isn't too bad, but you'll need to close these wounds with magic or they'll get infected."

Ethan flexed his leg and tail; they were a lot less painful without the arrows. "So how do I use magic?"

"Magic responds to life, especially to its will. It's fairly easy inside your own body, but it can be very draining if you haven't done it very much."

"I'll take drain over pain."

"Okay." She continued. "Like I said before, all living things pull mana from the Ether. Magic users store this inside their own bodies. Can you feel it in your body?"

"I hate abstracts, but I'll try." Ethan closed his eyes and tried to pay close attention to his own body. He was expecting to find nothing like what she had described, but he was pleasantly surprised. "I can feel it. It's like... liquid power or gas rolling around inside me."

"Good." Alana said. "That was the easy part. Mana responds to your willpower more than anything else. Now, try to move it around with your mind."

Ethan did, but it didn't seem to be paying attention. It reminded him of an ice slushy or a cloud. It was lumpy and when he tried to touch it parted before him and closed up behind.

"It won't budge."

"It usually takes years of practice." Alana noted. "Normally I'd say you were screwed, but you're a dragon. A dragon's command of magic is far more instinctive than other creatures. Give it a try and go with your gut."

Ethan hurled all his willpower at the slushy mana cloud, but it barely moved. After several minutes of trying, he still hadn't moved any part of it.

"Yeah, it's not paying attention." Ethan sighed.

"Are you trying to move the whole thing, or just part of it?" Alana asked. "It's a lot harder to move a lake than a bucket of water."

Ethan closed his eyes again and focused on just a tiny portion of the cloud. It wiggled slightly, but went no further. He threw all his willpower at it and very slowly, it started to move. It was painfully slow, like watching molasses pour in winter. He let up for a moment to relax his brain, and the mana seemed to slide back into place.

"I'm screwed." He announced.

"No, you're not. Thank Illuminar they were using bodkin arrows so the wounds are pretty small and the arrows only hit muscle. There's no organ damage and the biggest risk is infection. Focus, I'm not going to let you die like an animal tonight." Alana picked up her bow and waved it in a mock-threatening manner. "Now get started or I'll give you a few more holes to practice on."

"Yes ma'am." Ethan grinned, glad that she wasn't serious. He looked at the wound on his leg. It had stopped bleeding and was about a half-inch in diameter.

"You can do this; I closed my arrow wound while we were running." Alana turned around and Ethan could see a trail of blood where the arrow had grazed her arm. However, he couldn't see a wound even though he'd seen her get hit. There was some dried blood, but no cut.

"Focus on the mana right next to your leg wound." She encouraged. "In your mind's eye, force it to close the wound and it will do so."

Ethan nodded and tried again. He focused on the mana cloud near his leg and pushed with all his might. Instantly, pain shot up and down his leg from the wound. He strangled a cry in his throat and instantly stopped pushing the mana.

"You pushed the mana into the wound instead of focusing on closing the wound didn't you?" Alana said with a wry smile.

Ethan winced. "You could've warned me."

"And then I would've put the idea in your head." She said. "Now try again, and this time focus on closing the wound."

He closed his eyes and focused on the throbbing hole in his leg. With all his might he willed the mana cloud to close the wound. He could feel it move and there was no pain, but it was moving even slower than before. Ethan doubled down on mental pressure trying to force the wound to close.

"I... I can't..." He was panting after several minutes of trying. "It's too hard."

"You're already halfway there." Alana said. "Look."

Ethan twisted his head around to look at the hole in his leg. It was definitely smaller. It was about a half inch in diameter the last time he had looked, but now it had shrunk to only a quarter inch.

"Holy mother of..." Ethan's jaw dropped. "I did that?"

Alana nodded. "You absolutely did. How much mana do you have left?"

Ethan closed his eyes to look at the slushy mana cloud. Whereas before it had seemed to fill his whole body, it was much less dense now. It was less like a slushy and more like a cloud, and was certainly less substantial. Despite that, it seemed less inclined to move, not more.

"I'm not sure, less than a quarter though."

Alana glanced at his wounds then stood up. "Good, then you should be able to do the rest yourself. I recommend you climb a tree and finish healing."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to get the staves we stashed, along with a few provisions and food." She said. "If you climb a tree and finish healing, I'll be back in about thirty minutes."

"I can't climb a tree like this." Ethan pointed to his leg.

Alana rolled her eyes. "Look, young dragons are basically like mountain lions with wings, scales, and magic. Mountain lions can climb trees just as well as any other cat. You have claws and absolutelycan climb a tree. You don't even need both legs to do it. Go on, give it a try."

Ethan got up on three legs and limped to the nearest tree. It was about two feet in diameter and looked sturdy. He reached up and hooked his claws on the tree. They seemed to hold well, so he did a half jump and hooked the claws of his good hind leg into the tree as well. He pushed off with his hind leg, grabbed higher with his arms, then pulled his hind leg up just like a cat.

It was easy.

Really easy.

In a few seconds, he was twelve feet in the air and lying down on a thick branch. His leg and tail still hurt, but at least he wouldn't be discovered too easily up there.

"Well done." Alana smiled. "I'll be back soon."

With that, she turned and darted off through the forest making barely a sound. Ethan hooked his fore claws around the branch for good measure, and then started healing his leg again. It didn't get any easier as his mana pool slowly drained away, though he definitely got the sense that it would take less mana as he got better at it.

* * *

Alana darted through the forest like a panther on a mission. She made almost no sound despite running at a good pace. She could've gone faster of course, but stealth was essential. Most people would have gotten lost running through a forest at night, but she wasn't most people and this was her forest.

She knew every single tree.

In just a few minutes, she started seeing the glow of torches in the distance. The fools were trying to find a wood elf in the woods at night. She almost felt sorry for them wasting so much time. It took her less than a minute to slip past them.

She still had her bow and was tempted to eliminate a few more of them. She wavered for a few moments before deciding she didn't have the heart to kill anyone in cold blood. Instead, she headed for her storage pit.

Her mind turned to Ethan as she ran. He was extremely confusing for a dragon. Other than her parents, she couldn't think of anyone who might throw themselves at over a dozen armed men -- plus mages -- just to distract them so she could get away. She tried to figure out why, but couldn't. Especially when she took into account how he had stood up to Drousin to save her.

He didn't make any sense.

She thought in circles for a few minutes until she came to her storage pit. She had concealed it so well that even she wouldn't have seen if she didn't know it was there. She allowed herself a satisfied grin before opening the trapdoor.

Thirty seconds later she had her travel bag, a depressingly light coin purse, and seven finished staffs that were tied together with leather straps. It had been a good crop and each would fetch a good price. That was enough money for a few months, but after that? She briefly considered grabbing her father's spear, but couldn't really carry that and the staves.

Alana glanced back the way she had come and curiosity got the better of her. She stole toward the bright fire that was her old house, knowing she could replace the house if only they had left her beautiful trees. When she reached the edge of the clearing, she wished she hadn't looked.

The soldiers had cut down every single tree.

All of her hard work for the last decade and her parent's legacy was gone, brutally hacked to pieces. She had seeds in her travel bag and could replant, but the first trees wouldn't be ready for years. She stole away trying to fight back the tears.

It took her twice as long to get back to where she had left Ethan. When she reached the spot, he wasn't in the tree anymore.

"Ethan?" she called softly once she arrived.

There was no response.

"Ethan?" she called a little louder.

Still nothing.

Alana walked to the tree to see if he had left any footprints, but there were none. She scanned the nearby trees but could not see him anywhere.

'It's okay, he's okay,' she thought. 'The soldiers haven't got this far yet and nothing in the woods would attack a dragon, even a younger dragon like Ethan.'

Alana walked to the closest tree, again looking for footprints, but couldn't find any there either. Her stomach started tying itself up in knots. What if something had happened to him?

She was about to start biting her nails when something brushed the back of her shoulder. She whipped around just in time to see Ethan's tail lift up out of sight. She looked up and there he was, sitting on a tree branch with a mischievous grin on his face. She was also pleased to see he had finished closing his wounds, although he looked like death warmed over.

"Are you done playing?" Alana asked, though she couldn't help but smile.

Ethan nodded and hopped down from the tree. "Where to next? I'm wiped."

"I know a place nearby where we can sleep for the night. It should only take a few minutes to get there."

Lead on." Ethan fell into step behind her.

Some five minutes later, Alana led them to a river bed that was mostly dry this time of year, except for a creek-sized stream. She hopped down the five-foot drop to the riverbed.

"In here." She pulled aside some hanging vines to reveal a very small earthen dugout. It was only about two feet high and about four feet deep, and it was just long enough for Ethan if he tucked up his tail a little. At least it was enough to conceal them both until morning.

"Ladies first." He said.

Alana crawled into the dugout and he followed behind her. She noticed he checked several times to make sure his body was between her and the creek bed and that he completely shielded her from view.

They lay there in silence for several minutes before Alana spoke. "Why did you want me to go in first?"

Ethan shrugged. "I just figured my scales could take a hit better than your skin if they found us while we were sleeping. Better me than you right?"

She said nothing for several more minutes. "Why did you save me from Drousin, and charge those guards earlier? I've been trying to make sense of it and I can't?"

He mumbled something she couldn't hear. He was clearly very tired.

"Ethan." She repeated. "Why did you help me escape Drousin, and later try to distract those soldiers so I could get away?"

"Right thing to do." He mumbled sleepily, but didn't elaborate.

She lay there for several minutes pondering his answer. She had never met anyone like him before. That was the last thought in her head before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ethan drifted back to consciousness slowly. He was lying on his back and there was a warm weight draped across half his chest. He smiled.

"Morning Terry." He mumbled.

The weight on his chest stirred and a sleepy feminine voice said. "Who's Terry?"

Ethan was momentarily confused, and then the previous day came back to him in a rush. His eyes snapped open and the weight abruptly disappeared from his chest.

"Ow." Alana moaned.

She had wrenched herself off him so fast that she had hit her head on the low roof of the earthen dugout. Her chocolate brown hair was a complete mess, but she actually looked good that way. She was rubbing the sleep from her almond-shaped eyes.

"Morning." He repeated.

"Morning." Alana yawned a reply. "Who's Terry?"

"She's... Well, she was my..." He trailed off and looked away from her. "Uh, never mind."

He didn't want to think about his ex at all, so he looked out of the dugout to distract himself instead. The sun was clearly up, but judging from the shadows on the creek bed it was shortly after sunrise. Ethan listened for a moment but didn't hear any sign of the soldiers pursuing them.

"I'm going to stretch my legs, back in a minute." He said, rolling onto his legs -- all four of them. As he walked about, he marveled at just how natural it felt to be walking on all fours. He felt as if he'd been doing it for a lifetime, not a day. He walked over to the creek and looked into a puddle of water.

The face staring back at him didn't look at all familiar.

His face didn't seem particularly reptilian, looking more like a cross between a wolf and a large cat, but with small steel gray scales covering everything. His nostrils were slits and his ears were smaller, but otherwise he didn't look much like any reptile he'd seen. Growing out of the back of his head were two horns that gently spiraled like an African antelope -- a kudu -- only straighter.

Taking care not to step in the water and disturb his reflection, Ethan moved so he could see the rest of his body. Except for the scales, he was again reminded more of a large cat or wolf than a reptile. His tail was another story. It was almost as long as his body, though it felt quite light and flexible, ending parallel to the ground in a flat diamond shape.

His wings had all but disappeared against his back. He opened them to get a better look and wasn't disappointed. They looked almost exactly like bat wings, although the 'arm' part was also covered in scales. The membrane of the wings looked just like skin, the top a steel-gray color and underneath a much lighter gray-blue. The membrane stretched from his shoulders down to just below his hip.

The 'arm' part of the wing terminated in a single 'finger' that ended in a hooked claw. He remembered seeing bats at the zoo using their wing claws and feet to climb upside-down along tree branches and vines. Glancing at his hind legs, he realized they were almost the same as his front legs and could grab things. He wondered if he could climb upside down along branches too.

His hands and feet had three forward-facing claws and one facing rearward, similar to those of an eagle, although he had discovered that his claws were retractable. He flexed his hands and sharp claws slid out of their sheaths, each ending in a wicked-looking point which almost scared him just looking at them.

"If you hadn't just got that body, I'd say you were pretty vain." Alana chuckled from behind.

"I never had the chance to examine a dragon up close before." He replied with a wink. "I didn't want to waste it."

Alana laughed. "Well, I need to water the forest; back in a minute or two."

"Good idea." He replied, realizing his bladder was full too. He walked around the nearest large tree and out of habit stood up to relieve himself.

When he looked down, he realized his 'equipment' was missing. He was about to get worried when -- almost by instinct -- he felt something shift. He could feel some internal muscles contract and the scales around his groin area pulled back to let his cock and balls meet the air.

What shocked Ethan wasn't that they were protected -- although he approved of that idea -- but rather the size. His cock was at least six inches long and quite thick even while flaccid. He found himself wondering how large it would be fully aroused. After he'd finished relieving himself, his cock and balls retracted themselves to once again be hidden by his scales.

He smiled.

Why didn't humans have something similar?

He got back to the creek bed before his companion and started thinking about his situation while he waited. The longer he thought, the more concerned he became.

"Let's get some breakfast before heading out." Alana suggested after returning and fetching her bundle of staves from the dugout. She pulled some dried strips of meat and some dried fruit from her bag and offered some to him.

"Thank you. Where are we going?"

"Away from the men who are trying to kill us." Alana said with a twinkle in her eye. "They shot you last night remember?"

"I remember." Ethan chuckled. "I meant long term. I literally have nothing here and no idea where we are or where we should go. They destroyed your farm, although I assume you'll want to rebuild it."

"I don't know." She said as she finished chewing, and then hastily clarified. "If I want to rebuild that is. I loved that house because I shared it with my parents and had many happy times there, but they're not there anymore. I always assumed I would grow staves because it's all I've ever known. But now..."