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TO BE MATED 1324
The tracker drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Judging by the smoothness of the motion, it looked like he was born holding a bow. He thundered closer and Alana tried to get a good shot, but the rider wasn't giving her one.Then the tracker moved.Like greased lightning, he leaned out from behind the horse, drew the bow and released it in one smooth motion. The moment he exposed himself, Alana let her arrow fly. Given his obvious level of skill, she half expected to feel his arrow hit her, but he missed. His arrow went wide by a couple of feet.Alana's arrow didn't.Her arrow struck him in the left eye. He fell from his horse and rolled half a dozen times. When he finally came to a halt, his neck, arms and legs were at odd angles that no living person could endure, not to mention the arrow embedded in his eye."Yes!" Alana Jumped for joy and turned. "Ethan we did--"She stopped cold.The tracker hadn't missed after all; she just hadn't been his target. There was an arrow embedded in Eth
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Ethan felt like he was drifting in a sea of warmth. All was right with the world and he felt a profound sense of peace. It was like slowly waking up from a long nap when you were very tired. He felt refreshed and content; almost happy."Wake up dragon." A strange voice said. Something was shaking him, but a dragon? What did dragons have to do with anything?"Wake up foul beast, or I'll put you down in your sleep." The voice said again.Ethan's eyes slowly opened. He was in a dark room that was very blurry, or maybe that was his vision. The room was plain; there was no furniture and the floor was covered in grass -- a tent maybe? That's when Ethan remembered that Alana was going to meet someone from a traveling caravan.Could this be them?Something kicked him in the ribs. Hard."Wake up and answer me dragon." The voice said"I'm awake." Ethan tried to say, but his mouth wouldn't move. It came out as a muffled sound. He looked down to discover he was wearing a muzzle; an actual muzzle
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"I thought not. Sharing deep mana with someone is a profoundly intimate act. When they share theirs back in return, it creates a strong and permanent bond. It's so intimate, that the sharing of deep mana is the very heart of Elven weddings.""I thought you said it was dangerous.""When you are both wounded and low on mana, yes." Garthildur sighed for the third time, clearly growing frustrated with his ignorance of Elven culture. "But when two people who are full of deep mana share it with each other, nothing is consumed because they replenish each other. There is no danger at all.""Look. I don't know anything about the whole Elven marriage thing. Where I come from, you're not married unless you exchange vows.""You and Alana are both of marriageable age so you can wed according to the laws of the land and Elven tradition." Garthildur frowned. "Yet you would spit on our traditions?""Aren't you assuming I would just abandon my traditions about marriage and adopt yours?" Ethan countere
TO BE MATED 1327
Rachel landed butt first on the stone floor.Lord Delmar stood over her, his face dispassionate. There was no anger or fury. He didn't scream or yell. He didn't even look amused. He looked... disappointed. Her own father looked down his nose at her and uttered one word. Just one word, but it shattered her entire world."Pathetic."Rachel felt tears well up in her eyes. He had always been stern, but never cruel. Before today, he had never hit her or said an unkind word to her, though his minions weren't so lucky. Her childhood had been strict, but Rachel could always tell that he disciplined her to help her improve. She thought he wanted the best for her.Now she knew better.She recognized that look in his eyes. It was the look he gave to soldiers and servants who had failed so badly that he didn't consider them useful anymore. The first time she saw that look, he had been gazing at a sword that had broken in practice. He had thrown the sword away without a second glance. He had disca
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Alana opened her mouth to reply, but then thought better of it. Uncle Garth was a terrible tease and asking more questions about dragon stories would only egg him on.Alana couldn't help but wonder though... Did dragons have some kind of special ability in the bedroom? Was it an old wives' tale? Or was she in for a treat if she and Ethan ever— Nope. She cut off that line of reasoning right there and refused to think about it any further.There were a few moments of silence, which were interrupted by her stomach rumbling."I'll get some food for you." Garth said, standing up and walking through the door.His head popped back in a moment later. "You need to get something warm inside you.""Oh. Stop it!" Alana said, her face going bright pink again.Garth guffawed, and then left.Alana yawned and stretched, and then closed her eyes and checked her mana. As she had expected, she was running on empty. Her deep mana seemed to be mostly replenished though. She groaned -- she hated collecting
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"Aaa!" He screamed.He was ripped from the dream back into the real world a split second before the mace landed. Ethan flipped into a low crouch and growled, primed and ready for a fight."Well, he's awake anyway." Said Alana laughing.It took Ethan a few seconds to get his bearings. He was in a small room with two beds. The style reminded him of an English Tudor style home, simply furnished with a rough wooden table and a few dried stumps for chairs. Alana and Garthildur were sitting at the table talking. Or rather it looked like they had been talking. Right now they were both staring at him with almost identical amused expressions.Ethan slowly relaxed. "Sorry, I was... Sorry.""It's okay." Alana said. "I needed a heart attack anyway."He chuckled. "My pleasure."Garthildur gave Alana a look. She turned slightly pink, but ignored him."What had you so riled up?" she asked."Bad dream." Ethan related his dream to them. Garthildur leaned back in his seat and made a thoughtful sound."
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It was at the edge of his perception, but it was there. It was far away, but it was massive. It was a pile of gold so large, it rivaled even Drousin's hoard. Unlike Alana's coins, it wasn't strong or brimming with energy. He could feel all that gold just laying there cold a lifeless waiting for... He wasn't sure what, but he knew if he got close enough he could bring the gold to life. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew."There's a massive pile of gold not far away." He said finally, turning his attention back to her."Dragons are excellent at finding it." Alana smiled. "And that's the vault at The Bank, but I could've told you that.""The bank?""Yes. It's so large it doesn't even need a name. They just call it 'The Bank'. It's said that the vaults have enough gold in them to rival a dragon's hoard.""The stories are true." He frowned as something occurred to him. "I don't need to own the gold do I? I just need to be near it, right?"Alana nodded. "According to my conversations w
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"Okay. Well, if I'm going to be flying us to the forest, I should probably get in some practice."They packed up the few belongings they would need and left the rest in the room. Garthildur said the room was rented for the rest of the week and there was a sturdy-looking lock on the door, so it seemed like a good place to store them.The street outside was both very different and yet quite similar to what he had imagined. He had seen many medieval marketplaces in movies and TV shows. Earth entertainments were all pretty close, but way off at the same time. It was extremely noisy and filthy. There were people everywhere all clamoring to sell their wares, and it reminded him of videos he'd seen of the frenzied action on a stock market trading floor in New York.Alana skillfully navigated through the crowd and led him to the city gates. Once outside, he turned to look back.Gralden nestled up against the base of a mountain, the quality of housing getting better, larger and more expansive
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