A Dragon's Tale Ch. 05

"I have also heard rumors of a dragon roar near the bank a fortnight ago." Lord Delmar said. "Naturally, I gathered my best dragon slayers to assist should you fall under attack. They are outside the city as we speak and stand ready to defend your city should the dragon return."

"You are most kind and gracious, and we are grateful for the assistance." Lord Borden replied, although he didn't look remotely grateful.

"You would do the same for me." Lord Delmar said. "Now, I'm afraid I didn't have time to prepare a proper gift, given the lack of invitation. However, I do have something that any young couple starting out should need, and would like to present my gift."

At the words "my gift", the entire gift line almost ran out of the way to make room for Lord Delmar. Judging from the looks of fear and panic on the people in the line, they weren't doing it just to be nice.

Lord Delmar waved his hand and one of the soldiers stepped forward. He carried a box that looked like it weighed seventy or eighty pounds, even though it was quite small. Ethan didn't need to open the box to know what was inside.

It was gold.

A lot of gold.

The soldier walked up to Ethan and Beth, set the box down, and then opened the lid so they could see inside. It was a cube of solid gold. It was just under 5 inches on each side and glinted in the candlelight from the chandeliers. He reached a finger out and brushed the surface. He felt a small shock -- probably static electricity -- arc to his hand as he touched it.

Somewhere in the back of Ethan's mind, it registered that Lord Delmar -- the man who was trying to kill him -- had just given him a lot of gold. He knew it didn't make sense, but at that moment he truly didn't care. His mouth was literally watering at the sight.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Beth beat him to it. "Thank you Lord Delmar, your generosity overwhelms us."

He simply nodded in agreement and Lord Delmar looked at him right in the eye. Somehow, Ethan knew he could see right through the disguise gem. As they locked eyes, it somehow felt like it was a contest of wills. He could almost feel the full force of Lord Delmar's astounding intellect and primal cunning boring into his soul. It took all of Ethan's willpower to meet his gaze.

Lord Delmar smiled, but it was devoid of mirth. "Rest assured, if that dragon tries to take your gold -- or even shows his hide -- my dragon slayers will pin him to the wall."

Ethan didn't miss the veiled threat. Neither did Beth, who shivered at his side.

"Thank you." Ethan managed to get out, mostly because it seemed like the only thing he could say.

"I shall take my leave of you." Lord Delmar said. "Enjoy your festivities and know you are safe from dragons while my men are outside the city."

"Must you leave? There's a place at my table for you." Lord Borden offered, but Ethan could tell he was only asking as a formality to avoid offense.

"I beg your pardon, but I must take my leave." Lord Delmar replied with another disdainful bow. "I have pressing business elsewhere."

And with that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, taking his entourage with him. Ethan slowly let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"What are we going to do?" Beth whispered to him.

"Right now we should finish the reception." Ethan replied. "It might look odd, even suspicious if we leave now."

"Good point." She agreed.

After the commotion had died down, her father suggested the guests finish presenting their gifts. A couple of expensive trinkets later, Anthiel brought her two gifts up to them. She still looked at him with suspicion, but less so after Lord Delmar's visit.

"These aren't from me." Anthiel said, then handed Ethan a letter. Ethan opened it and he and Beth read it.

+ + +

Dear Ethan,

I'm sorry I couldn't attend your wedding. Please know I wish you and Beth only the best in life. However, you have enemies and I wanted to make sure you could defend yourself and your new bride from them. Please take these and use them well.

I enchanted the shafts to be cut-resistant and self-healing. Further, I put a summoning spell on them. If you feed only a drop of your deep mana into the wood, they will bond to you. Then you will be able to call them to your hand whenever you need them. I hope this means you will never be without a weapon.

May Illuminar bless you both, Alana

+ + +

When Ethan finished reading, Anthiel pulled the fabric off of the long gift to reveal a stunningly beautiful and deadly-looking spear. The shaft was carved with strange runes, symbols, and shapes that looked vaguely Celtic. The spearhead was about ten inches long and had a long raised rib down the center. At the opposite end was an eight-inch triangular steel spike. The spike had a wicked-looking point, which slowly thickened at a long angle. Ethan wasn't sure, but he thought that with enough force behind it, that spike would punch through chainmail.

The second gift was a war hammer. It looked like a large framing hammer, only with a wicked-looking strike face and a sharp, slightly curved spike on the opposite side. The handle was adorned with the same Celtic-looking runes, symbols, and shapes as the spear.

"Wow." Ethan said.

"Yes." Beth agreed.

Anthiel gave Ethan a strange look and then turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

The rest of the reception went smoothly, though Ethan wouldn't let anyone touch the cube of gold or the weapons from Alana. After a few hours, the guests started leaving

"We need to talk." Lord Borden said when most of the guests had left. He led them to a side room and closed the door behind them.

"He knows doesn't he?" Lord Borden said to Ethan.

Ethan nodded. "I'm pretty sure he does, we need to leave."

Lord Borden nodded. "You need to leave town; tonight."

"I suppose I could take Beth and fly somewhere, but where?"

"Not with the dragon slayers outside you can't." Beth said. "They can see through disguise gems and their bows are enchanted to release arrows at a few hundred pounds. They can hit a bird on the wing from a hundred yards. I don't think you can fly high enough or fast enough to avoid their arrows."

"Then how?" Ethan asked.

"My airship." Lord Borden replied. "I've already given the order to make it ready to sail."

"But where will we go?" Beth asked.

"I don't know my love." Lord Borden wrapped his daughter in a hug. "Lord Delmar surely knows that I'm helping you, so he'll be watching all of our associates, even the clandestine ones. You can't go to anyone you know, or he'll find you."

"But what about you, mother, and Charlie?" Beth asked, and Ethan could see tears forming in her eyes. "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know." Lord Borden replied. "Unfortunately, probably not for some time."

"But..." Beth seemed to have gained some composure and stepped back from her father. "But what about you? Will he attack you?"

"I doubt it." Lord Borden replied. "I have much of the Emperor's gold in the vault, and a private army to defend it. He's interested in you two, not me."

"This is all my fault." Ethan said. "If I hadn't roared that day in the vault..."

Lord Borden slapped Ethan across the face.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"You listen to me young man." Lord Borden replied in a quiet, deadly tone that brooked no argument. "Lord Delmar would've found out eventually. Living in the past will do you no good. I'm entrusting my only daughter into your care. To keep her alive, you need your wits about you. Learn from your mistakes, but don't dwell on them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Ethan replied.

"Now." Lord Borden said. "The airship won't be ready for a few hours yet. You should take Ethan to your room, pack your things, and get changed into traveling clothes."

"Can I at least say goodbye to mother and Charlie?" Beth asked.

"Of course." Lord Borden replied. "I'll bring them to the dock before you set sail, but right now you need to get ready."

Beth bit her lips and nodded.

"Take care of my girl Ethan."

"I'll do my best sir."

"Good, I have a few arrangements to make for the airship. Excuse me." Lord Borden said before turning to leave the room.

"Wait." Ethan called after him. "One thing is bothering me. Why would Lord Delmar give gold to a dragon he's trying to kill? It just doesn't make any sense."

A dark shadow crossed over Lord Borden's face as he answered. "Lord Delmar does not give gifts to enemies; he gives snares, traps. Dragons have a peculiar reaction to gold as you well know."

Ethan swallowed as he remembered what happened with Alana in the vault.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that cube ends up being your downfall." Lord Borden finished ominously.

* * *

Ethan closed the door behind them as they entered Beth's room. It was larger than most of the other rooms he'd seen, but still a reasonable size. The dominant feature was a large and overly full bookcase adjacent to the oversized bed. Otherwise, it looked like a medieval version of any modern teenager's bedroom.

He set down the cube of gold and Alana's weapons and turned to face Beth, who stepped in to give him a hug. They stayed like that for a whole minute before she broke the silence.

"It's weird seeing through the disguise gem." She said.

"Oh?"

"Yes, it's like I can see the disguise, but I can also see right through it. Is it odd that I find your dragon body just as attractive as the disguise body?"

He shrugged. "Maybe?"

"I suppose I should get changed." She said looking down at her wedding dress.

"I'll um, uh... you know." Ethan took a step towards the door.

"Husband." Beth called, which stopped him in his tracks. He had almost forgotten he was married and turned to look at her.

"You don't have to go." She said. "My dress laces at the back so I'll need some help..."

"Okay." He said, a grin coming to his face as he realized what she was getting at.

"Besides." She looked at her bed and blushed. "We are married and we have a few hours to spare..."

His grin turned into a wide smile. "Well, when you put it like that."

"So how do we do this?" she bit her lip and blushed scarlet. "I mean, get things started. I've never... I mean I know about it from reading but... I never... Help?"

"It's normal to be nervous." He pulled her into a hug.

"I wish we'd bonded here instead of at the wedding ceremony." She said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because after we bonded, I was... Um..." she paused for a moment. "For the next few minutes, I was ready to..."

"Jump on me, tear all my clothes off, and offer me your virginity?" He prompted with a wink.

She squeaked and hid her face in his shoulder before nodding. "If there hadn't been all those people there..." She trailed off wistfully.

"I know what you mean." He said. "So how about we start with a kiss?"

She leaned back and looked him in the eyes. "I could do that."

There was a small part at the front of his mouth that was devoid of scales and not radically dissimilar to a human's lips. He touched his lips to hers, marveling at how much it felt like he had human lips. Not much had changed in that department, except he could open his mouth large enough to swallow a good-sized squirrel whole. After a few seconds, he brushed her lips with his tongue.

"Oh." She said pulling out of the kiss. "Was that your... I never thought of that."

"How much do you know about sex?"

"I know your..." She blushed crimson. "...your thing goes inside me, between my legs, but that's about it." She confessed, then glanced down to see his cock in its fully aroused -- and massive -- state. Her eyes widened and she blanched slightly.

He smiled. "Yeah, that's just the finale. We'll work up to that."

"How do we do that?"

Ethan trailed his hand up her side and brushed the edge of her breast through the fabric. She shuddered in response.

"There are ways." He said. "But they typically feel better with fewer clothes on. Right now, you seem to have me at a disadvantage..." He turned off the disguise gem. She could see through it anyway, but now her view would be unobstructed.

She looked down at his naked body and he could see a slight change in her body language. She seemed both more relaxed and yet more tense at the same time. The normally fair skin on her chest above her breasts developed a pink hue.

"Can we try that kiss thing again, with your tongue?" She asked breathlessly.

He leaned in and brought their lips close but didn't touch her. She breathed expectantly and when she exhaled, he touched her lips with his long, forked tongue. She let out a soft sigh, then leaned in and started kissing his lips and tongue.

They kissed for several seconds before he pressed on her lips with his tongue, and she granted him entrance. Ethan hadn't done anything with his dragon tongue before, but with the more flexible forked shape and newfound dexterity, he gently explored the inside of her mouth.

"That felt amazing." Beth said when they broke apart. "Will the rest be this good?"

"I hope so." He replied. "I mean, you read like a woman possessed, but were you good when you first learned?"

"No, but I liked it,"

"Sex is like any other skill. I wouldn't expect the world to move, but I hope you'll enjoy it."

"Me too." She bit her lip and turned around to present the lacing for her dress. "Would you?"

"It'll be my pleasure." Ethan replied. He got to work loosening the ties of her dress. It took two whole minutes to get them loose enough for the dress to start sinking down. Beth caught it before it had dropped much and turned back around. She was shaking like a leaf and it wasn't from arousal.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm... I mean I know I'm not exactly... I'm not Alana. I just hope that you think I'm... I mean, compared to her am I...?

Ethan caught on and took a moment to gaze at her face before responding. Her blonde hair was pulled back in an elegant bun; her face was small and delicate, though her lips were full. Her neck was slender and the body beneath the dress was petite and had all the right curves in all the right places.

"Beth." Ethan said, looking her in the eye. "You are a gorgeous woman."

She stopped trembling, hesitated for a moment, then let the dress fall. Her right hand protected her breasts from view while her left covered her slit. Ethan let out a low whistle, taking only a moment to appreciate that he could still whistle with his dragon lips.

If he hadn't thought she was beautiful before, he certainly did now. At his reaction, Beth, slowly and hesitantly lowered her hands, although she didn't seem to know what to do with them. She finally settled on holding them firmly at her sides.

His cock, which had been wavering near full mast, sprang to rigid attention almost instantly.

Her entire body was extremely petite and slender. Her breasts weren't large at all, maybe a large A or small B cup, but they were very perky. The nipples were hard and pointed up slightly as if in invitation. Ethan was definitely going to accept that invitation too. Her waist was short and she didn't have quite the classic hourglass shape with a pronounced wasp waist -- but she wasn't far off either.

Looking a little lower, he was surprised to see her pussy was completely bald -- shaved or waxed. While her waist was short, her legs definitely weren't. Despite her height, they seemed to go on for miles. His mind instantly conjured images of how those legs would feel wrapped around him...

He reached up and pulled the pin that held her bun in and her blond hair fell like a waterfall, cascading down her shoulders in the most attractive way possible.

Ethan could feel something start to pull him towards her. Similarly to how he reacted to gold, it felt as if his dragon instincts were taking over. His entire body burned with desire for the nubile young woman who stood naked before him. Everything in him wanted to throw her onto the bed and claim her as his mate. As much as he wanted to make this special for Beth, he wasn't sure he could fight that urge.

He glanced around the room in an attempt to clear his head and his eyes paused on the weapons Alana had given him, and then saw it.

The cube of gold.

It seemed to call to him. It muddied his senses. He could feel some deep, buried desires bubbling up from his core as he stared at the gold. It was the dragon, clawing to get out and take Beth; to claim her as his mate...

...And the dragon was winning.

* * *

Beth heard a low growl escape Ethan's throat. His eyes changed from kind and caring to predatory and lustful. He dropped to all fours and licked his lips while eyeing her body. His massive cock was still erect and Beth couldn't look at it without being afraid that it would hurt going in. She was reassured that he found her attractive, but this new side of him was scary...

...and thrilling.

...and arousing.

She felt weird. She had been aroused before, but never like this. Fear had always shut her down instantly, but this time it was heightening her arousal. This creature before her was not quite Ethan; it was a primal force of nature. It was a dragon; no more, no less.

The dragon started circling her like a predator circles its prey before pouncing. The lust in his eyes was blatant, and his wings stretched out and occasionally brushed her bare skin. Beth took shallow breaths as he circled her slowly. His every motion sent a shiver of fear through her spine, although it sent a very different shiver through her loins.

She loved Ethan with all her heart and didn't think he'd ever hurt her. But this version of him was wild; untamed. She didn't know what he would do, but she still felt quite safe for some reason, even though she was scared almost out of her mind.

The dragon stalked around her for almost a minute, before stopping with her between him and the bed. The dragon locked eyes with her and she found she couldn't look away. He captured her gaze and as she stared back, she thought she could see Ethan buried under this captivating force of nature.

There was something incredibly dominant in the way he held her gaze, as if daring her to match wills with him. She couldn't match his will and looked away... or at least tried to. It was simply impossible for some reason. She wasn't sure how, but she knew he was doing this through their bond. He wouldn't let her look away.

She simply couldn't.

Then he stepped forward.

Something deep within her -- almost fear, but not quite-- caused her to step back. The dragon waited a moment and then took another step forward. She stepped back again. The dragon repeated this several more times until Beth felt the bed behind her.

The dragon stared unblinking into her eyes. Beth could occasionally blink, but she couldn't look away. Somehow, the dragon -- Ethan -- had locked her gaze so tightly that she couldn't escape. She tried to look away, but it was impossible. She tried with all her might to close her eyes, but they wouldn't close. Blink yes, but not stay closed.

That's when Beth realized something. The dragon had her. She was completely powerless to look away because his willpower was just too strong. She tried everything, plumbed the deepest depths of her own willpower but it wasn't enough. She was completely trapped and rendered helpless by this dragon who would have his way with her. She couldn't do anything to stop him and she couldn't escape him.

And she loved it.

She felt completely dominated by this powerful force of nature, but knew that beneath that powerful beast was her Ethan, and he would never hurt her. A powerful surge of arousal shot through her body at this realization and she let a breathy moan escape her lips.

The dragon must have sensed her understanding, because he smiled and took another step forward. Beth reflexively took a step back and fell onto the bed, breaking the line of sight. The moment her eyes left his, she felt free to move again or run, but she didn't.