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 solders 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 there 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 out.""I know a

A few hours of walking and occasional talking later, Alana found Ethan more confusing than ever. She had tried to ask about his family, but he had deflected his questions. As much as she wanted to pry, she also wanted to respect his privacy. She had asked about his work, which resulted in a confusing few minutes while he tried to explain what a 'computer' and 'the internet' was. As best as she could figure, it was like an enchanted scroll with unlimited information that you could also use to communicate with others. She had to admit, the idea had a lot of potential uses. She asked him about his personal life, but it sounded like he didn't have much of a personal life. Or at least, he didn't want to talk about it. "So what do you do for fun?" she asked. His eyes lit up. "I really love..." Ethan trailed off, and then shook his head. "Never mind." Alana sighed in frustration. "We've been walking for hours and you've dodged almost every question I've asked. If you don't want to talk t

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

"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

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