Tender Mercies: Book 1 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Reunion

"Why aren't we going for the fourth key?" Nordan yelled from his position on Luingirth's back to Kelnozz.

"I think we can set some of the dragons free without having all five keys," Kelnozz shouted back. Luingirth ignored them, flying over the open waters of the Swiftwater Sea in order to avoid discovery. It added two days of time to their flight, but that was a blessing compared to how long it would take them to travel by foot or horse.

Nordan grunted, his acceptance lost in the noise of the wind. Kelnozz heard no more arguments from him, so he shrugged off his large friend. Kelnozz found his mind wandering back to Jethallin, wondering how long it would be until he could seek her out again. He found the idea of a light elf that was not as her kin quite intriguing, and wanted to learn more about her.

Far below, the crew aboard a merchant ship spotted the dragon flying overhead and immediately went into a frenzy of fear. Terrified of what might happen to them, they were relieved to see the blue dragon ignore them and fly on. Extra watches were ordered for a few days, but it ended up being an unanswered question in the minds of the captain and crew as to why they were spared.

---

Martin stood at the rail on the forecastle of the ship, staring at his arm instead of the magnificent view of the sunset on the ocean. The ship he was on, Mistress of the Depths, was the lead ship in a fleet of forty ships, a full twenty-eight of which being deep bellied galleons carrying elven troops, the other being elven cutters that protected the flanks of the elven fleet. He glanced away from the shining mithril lower arm and hand magically crafted and grafted onto his skin just in time to catch the sun dip beneath the horizon, flashing a brilliant green across the waters for just a second.

He had lain unconscious for nearly another day before the elven healers had returned his senses to him. Having lost his arm, Martin struggled to find a reason to continue. He considered himself handicapped so badly that nothing could make him continue his pursuit. A one handed archer?

The elves had learned from him of the successes Kelnozz, Nordan, Luingirth, and himself had achieved thus far. Having obtained two of the five keys, as well as slaying Tiamat, had cemented the elves belief in the group. The elven host was gathered and prepared to set out. In gratitude for his part the elven spellweavers and skilled blacksmiths had worked night and day for nearly a month. Martin was not told of their efforts, and several times it was only his obligation to his friends and his sense of duty that kept him away from the yawning black chasm of depression and madness. When he was presented with the gift, by none other then Queen Galinia and King Yeorin, he was overcome with emotions, something dark and self serving, but most overwhelming him with their generosity and hope for a return to normalcy.

Martin was also conscious of how this resembled his own grandfather, Carson Twoblade. After the ceremony in which it was attached to his arm and he began learning to use it, he was filled with pride. Controlling it was difficult for him, taking much concentration and still feeling phantom pains from where his original hand had been burned off by the acid.

While far from ready for action, Martin insisted on accompanying the fleet. Each day he trained against whatever elven sailor or warrior he could find, trying to increase his control and strengthen his upper arm. Several times he had dueled with Marthollin himself, the chosen warleader of the elven forces. Martin knew Kelnozz would not be thrilled to learn of that, but they would have to deal with it when it happened. For now the fleet sailed towards Trillindad, and from there would march to Silverton. Martin had already arranged for the cutter he was on at the head of the fleet to break off in another day and head towards the underwater cave where the dragon portal was concealed.

---

Another three days saw Kelnozz, Nordan, and Luingirth within sight of the island under which the dragon portal was concealed. They were also within site of a ship approaching the island. Swooping low with the sun at their backs to conceal them, Luingirth took them closer to the ship so they could determine what it was doing so far from regular shipping lanes.

Luingirth's keen vision served them well, for he noted first the presence of dark elves throughout the ship, and moments later, he was able to identify Martin when he appeared on the deck. Lacking the superior vision of a dragon, they remained oblivious of the dragon rapidly approaching them. When the ships lookout spied the dragon, the alarm was raised and the ship quickly made ready to defend itself.

Not closing within the range of the elven longbows, they circled the ship once, hoping that Martin and the elves would see Kelnozz and Nordan on Luingirth's back, and then flew towards the shore and landed there to await the ship.

It took several more hours, but finally the Maiden of the Depths lay just offshore at anchor. A longboat was lowered and Martin, Marthollin, and several other elves rowed to shore.

"How is it you're back so soon?" Kelnozz asked Martin after they had reached the shore and Martin, Kelnozz, and Nordan had all embraced each other in greeting.

"Upon seeing proof of your deeds, I marshaled the elven host. As we speak, they should be marching towards Silverton to set up camp and await us," Marthollin said, puffing out his chest to show that he wore the crest of Warleader.

Kelnozz glanced at him in irritation, but withheld any further comments. "Why then, are you here instead of there?" Kelnozz said.

"We have come to greet the metallic dragons when they return, and until then, to aid in the procuring of the keys."

Kelnozz suspected Marthollin still believed he should be the rightful champion of the elves, and he had come to try and prove that, as much as anything. All the better if he could make Kelnozz look bad along they way.

"And you Martin, what happened to you?" Nordan spoke up, tiring of the rivalry between the two elves.

"In gratitude for our deeds, the elves crafted this magical arm for me. It is similar to the legend of my Grandfathers. I confess, I'm not very good with it yet, but I'm working on it," He said, smiling happily for the first time in a month. Martin once again felt as if, with hard work and dedication, he could see their quest through to the end. Martin felt useful again.

"I am honored to see you have come as well, Kayala," Kelnozz addressed the sorceress that stood beside Marthollin. "With your magic to aid us, we will surely prevail!"

"Magic?" Nordan asked, sneering at the thought of it.

"Kayala is one of the senior powers on Innowendyn, Nordan. She is very skilled with her magic, and like it or not, we need her to help us accomplish that which is yet ahead of us," Kelnozz said, staring at Nordan as if to challenge him to refute him.

Nordan saw Kelnozz's look and bristled for a moment. He turned to stare at Kayala, finding it odd to think of her as 'elder', since she looked to be quite young still herself. Finally he grunted, annoyed at what was being asked of him, but determined to keep an eye on her out of distrust. Kayala smiled warmly at him, but it did little to settle his contempt.

"Come. The longer we stand and talk, the less time we have to reach the cavern and place the third key," Kelnozz said, breaking the tension filled silence.

"You have the third key already?" Marthollin asked incredulously.

"Aye, Elluviatel was loathe to relinquish it, but with a little persuading we got it from him," Kelnozz said, smirking.

"Bah, perhaps I'm not needed after all. Innowendyn has some beautiful lands, methinks I should retire there instead!" Martin let the others know he was joking with a wink, but he was truly impressed with his companions abilities to be able to defeat Elluviatel with only the three of them.

Nordan continued to glower at Kayala the whole while, and she pointedly ignored doing anything to further irritate him. Luingirth lowered himself so that all of them could climb upon his spiny back, then took into the air and circled the island until he located the underwater passage in which the dragon portal resided. Kayala waved her hands in the air and mumbled a few words, casting a spell that enveloped all of them and allowed them to breathe while they were underwater. Nordan stared darkly at her, murderous intent in his eyes, but he stayed his hands while they had more important matters at hand. Luingirth then dove towards the water and within seconds they had plunged into it, moving rapidly into the tunnel once again.

---

"Alesha! They come!" Cuivegirth said, rousing her from her meditation. She scrambled to her feet, her sword coming to her hand as the water exploded upwards and a blue dragon with riders flew out of it.

The blue dragon landed on the shore and immediately five figures leapt free from the dragon's back. Kelnozz, Nordan, and Martin she recognized instantly. The other two drow elves she was uncertain of, however. It mattered little, however, for Cuivegirth had already unleashed his most devastating attack on them, a noxious cloud of poisonous gas that served as his breath weapon.

Luingirth roared and returned fire, a bolt of lightning exploding violently into Cuivegirth's raised forelimb from his mouth. The female drow struggled to get a spell off but was overwhelmed by the cloud of gas, which sent her into a coughing fit so violent she was soon coughing up specks of blood. The other unknown drow was on the ground as well, coughing and scratching at the rashes on his arms, as well as clawing at the incredible irritation going on in his eyes. Nordan and Martin both dove back into the water the second they saw Cuivegirth begin his assault, escaping it. Kelnozz dove and ran off to the side, having already seen Alesha standing there. Holding his breath and running blindly, he cleared the cloud before it could affect him.

"Hello lover," Alesha said when Kelnozz had slowed to a walk only fifteen feet away from her. "Is it time for us to dance?"

Kelnozz was saddened to see the changes that had overtaken Alesha. Standing there resplendent in her silver dragon armor, the look on her face told him that her redemption was beyond any possibility. He was surprised to find that he was not more disturbed by it, and wondered for the briefest of moments if he had Jethallin to thank for that.

"If you'll not give up this course of action, then yes, Alesha, it is time."

Alesha sent her magic snaking towards him, testing his defenses. She found them all in place. Grinding her teeth she said, "Very well, Kelnozz, let's see how well your teaching was."

Kelnozz drew his blades as Alesha came at him. He parried her first lunge, then ignored an opening in her defense as to easy and continued to parry her attacks. He knew she was better then she was pretending to be, something was obviously amiss.

Nordan and Martin both surfaced to see Luingirth grappling with the older, larger, and more powerful green dragon. They also noticed the two dark elves trying to recover from the effects of the dragons breath weapon. Kayala seemed to be doing better then Marthollin was, but even he had risen to his feet and drawn his katana. Both ranger and barbarian charged into the fray, hacking, slashing, and crushing as best they could. Marthollin soon joined them, but his swings were weaker and his katana had difficulty piercing the tough hide of Cuivegirth.

Kayala had regained enough composure that she was able to finally cast one of her quicker spells. Picturing her companions in her mind, she finished it and smiled in satisfaction as she felt it take hold on each of them. All three of them were alarmed at the tingling feeling that overcame them, but when they realized that time had seemed to slow down slightly for them and that they now moved twice as quickly as they had a second ago, they renewed their assault. All except for Nordan, who paused to look at her and scowl. The distraction proved costly, for Cuivegirth's tail slapped him in the chest, sending him sliding across the floor and back into the water.

Alesha launched multiple attacks, not trying to breach Kelnozz's defenses so much as to try and get him to breach hers. He had nicked her a few times, taking her measure, but it was not the sort of injury she needed. Growing frustrated, she slashed at his shoulder, knowing he would deflect it. When one sword came up and parried the blow, she spun inside his guard and tried to drive her knuckles into his throat. He batted her arm aside easily with his other sword, her bracer saving her hand from being cut off. Alesha then kicked up at him, somehow driving her foot through the space between her body and his. Kelnozz flipped backwards, landing on his feet a short distance away from her, unharmed.

"I had expected better from you, Alesha," Kelnozz said, disappointed in her offense. Having wounded her superficially a few times, Kelnozz began to suspect that her real power lie in her magic, not in her martial skills.

"I'll have to try harder to impress you," Alesha responded, grinning to show their fast and furious fight was not troubling her stamina at all.

Using his questionable new hand, Martin found again that it held a strength he was unaccustomed to. Repeatedly he hacked into the side of the dragon, his strikes not deep, but not shallow either. Enough to cause the dragon concern if allowed to continue unabated. With that in mind, Cuivegirth's tail swung at Martin next. The ranger easily leapt over it, however, and continued to poke and prod the dragon's flesh.

Dragon blood fell on Marthollin where he stood, as Luingirth and Cuivegirth bit and clawed at one another. Cuivegirth was gaining more of an advantage as time progressed against the smaller dragon. Occasionally Marthollin could get his sword to slip between the green dragons scales, but even then the wound was typically slight. It was only his preoccupation with Luingirth that kept Cuivegirth from squashing Marthollin like a bug underneath him.

Kayala had tried a few offensive enchantments, causing freezing rays of cold and lances of fire to strike the green dragon, but that dragons age and power were such that her evocations had no effect upon it. She looked about desperately trying to come up with a way to use her magic for the benefit of her companions.

Alesha charged at Kelnozz again, an overhead slash aimed at him. He blocked her attack with his newer longsword. Dropping low and lunging forward, he sunk his old longsword deep into her belly, barely missing her spine with the tip when it protruded from Alesha's back. The wound was still mortal, she simply was not paralyzed.

Kelnozz looked up at her, expecting to see something in her face. Shock, pain, outrage. He was not sure. What he saw was her smiling at him confidently. A little surprised himself, he stood up and pulled at his sword. It remained stuck in her belly, refusing to yield to his desire to retrieve it. Alesha laughed, drawing his attention back to her eyes. Before he could react, she spun rapidly and landed a solid kick to the side of his head. Kelnozz lost his grip on his sword and fell to the ground, stunned as much by the impact as what had just happened. Alesha walked over to stand above him, her short sword vibrating in her hand as she positioned it above the prone elf.

"My armies are marching, Kelnozz," She said, smiling triumphantly at him. "You and your friends have failed, nothing will stand in my way. Aren't you at least a little bit proud of me?"

Nordan climbed out of the water then, just in time to see Luingirth knocked back by a powerful swing from Cuivegirth's clawed forelimb. Scales and blood flew and Luingirth fell backwards into the water. Nordan silently thanked Garrick for letting him get out of the water before the dragon crashed in on top of him, then turned back to the battle.

Cuivegirth snatched Marthollin up in one mighty hand and raised him up high. Still holding his katana, Marthollin stared in terror at the dragons maw as it opened up. At the last moment he remembered his sword, but his fingers were numb and weak with panic, and by moving his arm the sword fell to the ground to clatter against the stone floor. A moment later Cuivegirth's needle sharp fangs descended over Marthollin's shoulders and chest. The elf was decapitated and tossed to the ground before he realized what had happened to him.

Dropping down so that all four limbs were on the ground, Cuivegirth kicked out at Martin next, catching him a glancing blow that was still powerful enough to spin the ranger around and send him staggering away from him. Martin stumbled into Tiamat's corpse, somehow magically preserved, before he regained his balance. By then Cuivegirth's attention had turned to Kayala.

Kayala sent five magical missiles of energy streaking at the green dragon's eyes, trying to blind it. The dragon dodged two of the motes and took the other three on its cheek, with none of them showing any injury to it. Nordan screamed out a guttural challenge to the beast and threw his hammer at its head. Expecting little to bother it, the dragon took the strike from the hammer on the same cheek the magic had struck. The power behind the throw and the magic of the hammer was obvious at once, for the dragon's head jerked back from the force and the pain and it made the telltale sound of crashing thunder when it hit.

Seeing a chance to help, Kayala turned to Nordan and cast another spell. This one allowed him to fly. He looked at her in disbelief that she continued to cast magic on him and disbelief that his feet were not touching the ground.

"Just think of where you wish to go and it will happen!" She yelled at him, pointing up at Cuivegirth, who had recovered from the hammer throw and was about to launch another assault at them.

Nordan looked back up and saw the dragon preparing to unleash its breath weapon at them again. He held out his hand and with a thought, summoned his hammer again. Throwing it as hard as he could, he watched Cuivegirth's opened mouth about to exhale on them. In slow motion it seemed, the hammer flew through the air end over end. Cuivegirth saw it coming to late to dodge it, and the hammer impacted squarely with the bridge of scales between the dragons nostrils on the tip of its snout. It's head rocked upwards in pain from the impact, the poisonous cloud of gas exhaled safely towards the ceiling of the cavern.

Luingirth emerged from the water then, worse for wear but not out of the fight yet. He lunged forward and caught Cuivegirth around the neck with both taloned hands, then he tried to crush the green dragons throat by biting down on it. The dragons hide and muscles were to thick and strong to be crushed so easily, but Luingirth kept up the pressure, trying to saw away at him.

Nordan took to the air with a great trepidation. When he did not fall, he continued upwards, summoning his hammer and aiming for the dragons head. Cuivegirth had blood running freely from his broken snout, but was more concerned with Luingirth trying to choke him. Cuivegirth's hands tore and pounded into Luingirth, exacting a terrible toll, but unable to break the determined blue dragon away. Cuivegirth's eyes glared at Nordan with a baleful light when the beast saw the barbarian rapidly approaching it. Nordan laughed at the green dragon and called out to his God before unleashing his most powerful swing yet.

Luingirth quit gnawing on Cuivegirth's throat when he felt the dragon shudder and go limp in its arms. Letting go, Luingirth sat back on the ground and watched Cuivegirth collapse and lay beside Tiamat, a great blackened and smoking hole in the dragons forehead. Martin glared at them angrily, having just vacated the area mere moments ago himself. Nordan floated down a moment later and looked to Kayala, who stood there watching with a numb look on her face. Nordan nodded once then turned to see how Kelnozz fared.

Kelnozz kicked out with his foot, tripping Alesha just as she began her downward plunge with her sword. Her intent had been to capture Kelnozz's soul right alongside of Talifernon, for in spite of everything, she still strove to keep the elf close to her. Her plans backfired right then, however, for he was not as stunned as she had thought. With the tables reversed, she found herself laying on her side, propped up by the sword still transfixed in her belly. She struggled to bring her powers to bear, but the strain of trapping Kelnozz's blade and continuing to function without it hindering her had weakened her to too? much.

"Proud? Ha! You took the easy way out!" Kelnozz held his remaining blade at her throat now, behind him Alesha could see Nordan, Martin, and the drow sorceress approaching. She sent out thoughts to them, begging both for help. Hearing and feeling nothing, Alesha was certain her powers were drained and that she was doomed.

'I need your help one more time,' Alesha pleaded in her mind, reaching inside herself and opening up the strange communication she shared with the being that had given her the powers she used.

'Who is your master?' The voice returned instantly, as if waiting for this moment of total surrender.

'You are!' Alesha pleaded, terrified of the look of fatality she saw in Kelnozz's eyes.

'Who am I?'

The world seemed to slow down then. Alesha was unable to respond, but was instead transfixed upon Kelnozz raising his blade up and beginning a downward swing towards her. She knew she would not be able to stop this cut from slaying her. Her breath caught in her throat when all of a sudden the tip stopped, scant inches from her neck. Looking up the blade and his arms, she saw Nordan had grabbed the elf's arm and halted his strike.

"What are you doing?" Kelnozz demanded, his attention diverted. Nordan looked around, as if lost in a daze. He shook his head to clear it and looked oddly at Kelnozz's arm, which he held in his hand. Confused as to his actions, Nordan let go and took a step back.

The added time was all that Alesha needed. Reaching deep within herself she discovered that she had suspected and knew the answer to the question all along, she merely had to find it. "You are Bavorish, my Lord and Master!"

Kelnozz heard her make her declaration and then heard the clanging noise below him. Looking down he saw Alesha had disappeared, but his sword had fallen free to the ground. Looking about sharply, he saw nothing to show where she had gone. After a moment of suspicion, he reached down and picked up his fallen sword, adopting his two weapon stance again.

"Where'd she go?" Martin said, clutching his mithril arm in his left hand to help him hold it up.

"I don't know," Kelnozz said. "Any ideas, Nordan?"

Nordan had the grace to be embarrassed by the accusatory look Kelnozz shot his way. "Nay, she is gone."

"But where?" Kayala said, walking up to them as well.

"Her own powers weren't great enough to save her, she had to call upon her God to get her out of this," Kelnozz said. "Where would he put her?"

"You want us to think like a God?" Martin said, chuckling.

"Let me see your sword, I may be able to find her if I use her blood which is on it to track her," Kayala held out her hand to Kelnozz.

The drow offered his blade to her, but instead of taking it, Kayala ran her fingers along the flat side of the blade, gathering up much of the blood Alesha had left behind on it. She then began chanting for several minutes, making arcane gestures in the air every so often. At long last the blood on her fingertips began to glow. She turned around in a complete circle, as well as pointing her fingers both up and down. At last she canceled the spell. All of the blood on her fingers had disappeared.

"Where is she?" They all asked at once.

"She is not on this world," Kayala said, her voice weak with exhaustion.

They all looked to each other, trying to see if anyone had any thoughts. None of them did. Kelnozz then noticed Marthollin was not standing with them, nor was Luingirth. The dragon was easy to find, he was laying over near the water, tending to his wounds, but Marthollin he did not see.

"Where is the prince?" Kelnozz finally asked.

Kayala closed her eyes and shook her head. Kelnozz sighed. While he'd not liked the man, by no means had he wished for him to be slain. "A pity, for who now is the Warleader of the elves?"

"He lived his entire life in your shadow, Kelnozz," Kayala said. "He hated you, but at the same time he worshipped you. He wanted to be you so badly that he was always overextending himself, thinking he could and should be doing the same things you were. It was only a matter of time before this happened."

Kelnozz nodded. "Aye, but now is a bad time for it to happen. I found him irritating, but he would have been useful in the upcoming battle. With him gone, the elves may withdraw there their? armies altogether."

"Cowards!" Nordan spat out, sneering at the thought.

"I can raise the resistance to aid us," Martin said, letting his arm hang limply at his side now. "But I'll need some time."

"Time we don't have, we must put the keys in the portal and make do with whatever dragons we can free," Kelnozz said, looking back to where Cuivegirth's body was next to Tiamat's.

"The elves will stay and fight for one other person… they will fight for you, Kelnozz," Kayala said, staring deeply into his eyes. "You are the chosen one. The champion of the elves. They would have followed you before even Marthollin."

"I must find Alesha, that is more important then anything else. As long as she lives, she is a threat to this world in a way that none other can be," Kelnozz explained to her.

"She's not on this world, lad, you heard her!" Martin pointed out. "If she's not on this world, how can she be a threat to it?"

"If she got here once, she can get back," Kayala said.

"There's an army marching as we speak, the longer we tarry, the more good people die," Kelnozz said, snapping them out of their debate and returning their perspectives.

"I saw a ring on the dragon's finger that I believe was the green key," Kayala said, remembering when it had caught her attention during the fight. "He was so concerned about leaving it unguarded that he brought it to us."

Nordan chuckled at the thought, then remembered who had said it and sobered up immediately. He scowled at Kayala and turned to head towards the dragon to collect the key. Kelnozz chuckled at his actions and brought the others with him to join the barbarian.

After prying it free of the ring with a dagger, Nordan handed the key to Kelnozz and they all followed the elf back into the room with the portal in it. Kelnozz studied it carefully, rippling energies still played across its surface, announcing great magic at work.

Kayala gasped in pleasure. The others looked at her, wondering what she was so interested in. She had already begun running to the horde of treasure Tiamat had laid claim to. Scattered throughout it were books. Books containing lore and magic from ages lost to time.

Studying the gems and the empty holders for a moment, Kelnozz slipped the sapphire key into place and then the emerald key. With this first key the energies doubled, at times stabilizing enough to show a picture of another realm. With the fourth key placed in it, the picture resolved itself to be much clearer. It showed a barren land teeming with hordes of dragons.

The dragons were of a type that none of them had ever seen before, however, for they had the colors of brass, bronze, copper, silver, and gold. At a distance, they appeared to be made from flowing metal of the appropriate types. In a word, they were beautiful.

A large golden dragon leapt from where it sat upon the ground in front of the gate and flew towards them. It then passed through the gate, landing lightly in front of the four. It surveyed all of them, noting that two of the four were drow elves, while the other two were human.

"Why hast thou not ended our banishment?" The dragon spoke in the nearly forgotten language of the elves from the time when they were all one race.

Nordan and Martin looked to each other in confusion. Seeing their look, Kayala invoked a spell that allowed them to understand what it was the dragon was saying.

"Mighty dragon, we have recovered four of the five keys from your chromatic kin. The fifth is guarded by Ancaruin himself, grown so mighty that it will take an army to defeat him, if even then," Kelnozz said, speaking in the same tongue.

"Ancaruin… I remember him well. Eldest of us all, he came from another world at Bavorish's bidding to aid him in stabilizing life and magic on this world. Know thou then this, I am Fyrentennimer, sent here by Bahamut many years past to keep a balance upon this world. We were defeated, and since then we have all languished, out of balance with nature."

"We will aid thou in the slaying of Ancaruin, but until the fifth key is procured, each of us can only withstand the calling of our prison for so long. The more powerful the dragon, the longer we can withstand it, but some of my brethren will be able to spend little more then a few days or a week away from it. Tell me, quickly, of what goes on, then I shall return to gather my brethren to aid thee."

Looking to his friends, Kelnozz launched into a story describing what they were up against. From Alesha's army to the chromatic dragons aiding them, including Ancaruin himself. When they were finished, Fyrentennimer promised their aid again, and retreated back into the portal. Looking through it, they saw the dragon speaking with the other dragons, relaying the story to them. Of varying sizes and colors, the dragons seemed all intent upon joining the fight. Soon, Fyrentennimer returned and they planned on how they would go about returning the dragons. Kayala sighed unhappily to leave the books undiscovered, but contented herself to take a couple of them anyhow.

A fight nearly ensued when Luingirth was discovered to be napping in the outer chamber of the cavern. Only by carefully explaining Luingirth's role was Fyrentennimer placated. Soon after, they had returned to the surface and sat upon the island, waiting as more and more dragons came through the portal. In a few hours, every dragon that possessed the strength to pass through the portal had done so, though some of the younger and weaker bronze dragons already showed signs of being weary. Marthollin's body was returned to the cutter, with instructions for it to return to Innowendyn with the news. As soon as that was accomplished the two elves, two humans, and countless metallic dragons took to the skies and aimed for Silverton and a quickly approaching war.

---

Ancaruin roared in outrage. He had felt it clearly, the third and fourth keys had been placed in the dragon portal, all but freeing his chromatic cousins. He exploded fourth from his lair, catching many of the giants that lived as his servants unaware and slaying them in his haste. Taking to the skies, he flew to the south, easily tracking Alesha's army.

Alesha. It had been her all along that had caused this to happen. She had forced the hand of her companions, turning the favor of the Gods into their hands. Ancaruin snorted in mid air, great flames jetting from his nostrils. The Gods were nothing, he could best any of them, so long as he fought them one at a time. They were foolish to trust Alesha with running their armies. Had they waited and shown the patience that any dragon earns with age, they would have known better then to push things ere everything was in place.

Ancaruin descended upon the army, a great and terrible shape looming out of the sky. They fled before him, terrified of his greatness in spite of knowing they served him. Summoning the commanders of the army, he told them he was taking over, and they were marching south. The elves dared to gather an army, and the good dragons sought to end their banishment prematurely by betraying the agreement. Lies, in total or in part, they served Ancaruin well by forging the armies together in hatred of the goodly aligned folk. The other chromatic dragons in the army snorted and rent the earth with their rage at the news of the metallic dragons. Battle would be joined, and soon.

---

Alesha awoke, drawing in a deep shuddering breath. She was laying in some warm water, and could not place herself. A gasp of surprise caused her to look to the side. Her younger brother was standing beside the tub she was laying in, forgotten tears running down his cheeks. His mouth was hanging open, afraid to speak.

"Brian, what's the matter?" She asked, remembering clearly all of a sudden where she was and what had happened.

"Y….you… you're not dead! The blow dryer fell in the tub and you started twitching and then the lights went out and then you kinda disappeared for a second, but now you're here… except… you're different. You look different. And what are you wearing?" The boy was very confused. He'd seen his older sister naked before, in fact, he often tried to peek on her when she was showering or bathing or sleeping nude. He would masturbate while he watched, or masturbate later in bed and fantasize about her. But this time he felt he had killed her by trying to peek on her, and he felt terrible.

Alesha looked around, remembering everything. She looked down at herself and saw the armor she still wore, as well as the sword clenched in her hand. At the foot of the tub, she saw her hair dryer, laying in the water. She smiled reassuringly to her brother and stood up from the tub slowly, hiding the sword behind her back.

"Turn around, Brian," Alesha said, sheathing her blade after he had done so. She stepped out of the tub and quickly undid the straps and buckles on her armor, doing everything by hand because she was afraid of what would happen if she tried to use her magic. Moments later, she stood naked behind him.

"Okay, you can look now."

Her brother turned around and looked at her. His eyes were even wider now. He had wondered sometimes whether she had teased him by letting him catch glimpses of her naked from time to time, but never anything like this. "God you're beautiful!" He whispered, his eyes darting back between her breasts and her trimmed pussy.

"I'm okay, Brian, here, let me prove it to you." Alesha sank to her knees in front of her sixteen year old brother and pulled his shorts down.

His cock was already growing hard in his underwear, making it easy to pull out. Only sixteen years old, he had an impressive cock already. Alesha lifted his shaft with one hand and stuck her tongue underneath the head of his cock. She closed her lips around the tip and looked up at him. She knew he peeked at her in the bathroom and bedroom and knew that he fantasized about his older sister. So the look of shock on his face that this was a fantasy come true, sent a thrill through her. She closed her eyes and engulfed his cock within her mouth, swallowing it down her throat.

Brian's instincts took over. Feeling the wonderful sensations of Alesha's hot and moist mouth, he started humping against her face. A tiny voice in his head said this was incest, but he ignored it. The same voice then wondered if he might be hurting his sister. But when Alesha moaned encouragement around his cock in her mouth, he continued humping. This was unbelievable and not a dream. He felt the surge of his orgasm and he stopped humping. Then his cock pulsed before exploding in her throat.

Alesha was thrilled to make her younger brother's fantasy come true. And this would not be the last time. She pulled back and left just the tip of his cock in her mouth as he twitched and spewed a second strand of cum over her tongue. She squeezed his shaft and sucked every last drop of sperm that she could. A moment later, she kissed the tip of his cock and smiled at him as she stood up.

"Thanks Brian, I needed that!" She turned and began picking up her armor.

He watched her bend over in front of him. Her naked ass was beautiful and right in front of him. And then he could see her pussy and a lustful surge went through her virgin brother. Before he could think about it, Brian stepped forward and grabbed his older sister's naked hips.

She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled wickedly. "Not done with me yet, are you?"

"No way," Brian said, as he stroked his saliva-coated shaft. He looked down to see the head of his cock press against the slick folds of her pussy.

Alesha let go of her gear and put both hands on the side of the tub. She pushed back against him, and in moments Brian had his first feeling of a warm and tight pussy wrapped around him. He began thrusting against her like a dog in heat, the blowjob already forgotten. He was fucking his older sister! And she let him! And she was enjoying it! Hearing her moan, and feeling his virgin cock in his sister's hot pussy was too much. He felt the hot pulse of his orgasm and spurted his seed into his older sister.

He grunted, "Oh, Alesha."

Alesha realized that this was his first real sexual experience. The excitement of taking her younger brother's virginity gave her a pleasurable thrill. She gasped and squeezed his cock within her as she experiencing a miniature orgasm. She just let her younger brother fuck her, and she was drawing as much pleasure out of it as possible. She stood up and he stepped back, holding his wet penis in one hand.

"That's enough, brother. We don't want our parents hearing this," Alesha winked at him and scooped up her gear in both arms. She walked around her brother and went to her bedroom.

Brian watched his naked older sister pick up the weird clothing she was wearing and walk out of the bathroom like nothing unusual had happened. He swooned and had to sit down on the toilet to process what just happened. He couldn't believe it. His older sister eagerly gave him a blowjob, and then she let him fuck her. Nor could he believe that he had another erection in his lap screaming for attention.

Continued in Chapter 15

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