by Robin Wirth
“This is not what we should be doing
right now,” he whimpered against her lips.
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“We’re in the middle of a bloody underground
cave trying to figure out how to get a Grimoire,
and sweet as you may be, I’ve got to get a handle
on this thing.”
“Maybe we could—” Felicity began, but
blushed profusely rather than finishing her
thought.
“Could what?”
“Maybe I could make it feel a little
better?” she suggested as her fingers slid down
his bicep and forearm, and then she took his
hand in hers. “I mean, just because I’ve only
ever read about it doesn’t mean I don’t—grasp
the concept.”
Lance groaned when she released his
hand and slid her palm down his belly instead,
her fingers slowly heading for his throbbing
flesh. Before she touched him there, however, he
caught her hand in his again.
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“As sweet as that thought might be, love,
I believe we have lingered here longer than we
should already,” he said.
“Just let me,” she whispered against his
lips. “You don’t want to walk around in this
condition all day, do you?”
Her hand escaped his, and found what it
was looking for. She stroked him through the
fabric of his pants, and Lance shuddered. He
writhed with need as he let her do as she pleased,
groaning softly when she found a spot that felt
particularly good.
“Right there?” she whispered urgently,
rubbing him even more.
“Gods, yes,” he breathed.
His hands came down to undo his fly,
and her fingers crept inside, giving him the
attention he craved. But Felicity was decidedly
not satisfied with using her hand alone, and she
began to slowly kiss her way down his body.
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Lance groaned and laced a shaky hand
through her hair as she reached her destination.
Her sweet lips and tongue began to work their
magic upon his eager flesh.
“Felicity!” he gasped. “Oh, my sweetest
girl!”
It wasn’t long before he cried out with
his release, and Felicity discovered the taste
she’d been so curious about. She let the liquid
slide down her throat with a satisfied swallow.
Lance dragged her into his arms again,
kissing her fiercely. She thought he was never
going to let her go.
“Did I do it right?” she chuckled wryly.
“Vixen,” he panted as he let her breathe
again. “You know that you did. Come on, my
girl, if we don’t start walking now I might end
up wanting even more.”
Laughing, Felicity got to her feet and
pulled him up with her. She zipped his pants
closed and patted his belly.
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“There, all covered up and ready to go,”
she chuckled.
“Woman, stop touching me now,” he
told her. “You are too tempting by far, especially
after that little revelation.”
“Hm?” she asked with a raised brow.
“What revelation do you mean?”
“Never mind,” he smirked. “I’ll tell you
another time.”
“All right,” she agreed. “But I think I’m
going to need to have a scroll of vellum as well.”
Lancelot grinned and laughed as he
shouldered his bag, and stopped by the waterfall
to fill their canteen as the two of them began to
walk again. He’d never felt so content in his
entire life.
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THIRTY-THREE
Not too many minutes later, they reached
the other end of the waterfall cavern they’d been
traversing. Another door similar to the first one
they’d entered through loomed before them.
Lancelot attempted to open it, but to no avail.
“Don’t tell me we’re going to have to go
all the way back,” he grumbled as he looked the
thing over.
“I think not,” Felicity protested,
grimacing at the very thought. “Hand me that
dragon book for a moment, will you?”
“Felicity Lake, you can’t be serious. You
are not going to read that silly book while we’re
stuck in this cave,” he complained.
“I have no intention of reading it, my
dear,” she told him brightly. “Now please, just
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let me have it. I have a suspicion it might come
in handy right about now.”
With a bit of misgivings, Lancelot pulled
free the dragon lore book and set it in Felicity’s
outstretched hand. She did not open it, but
merely held it in her hand as she leaned forward
and examined the door.
“What are you doing, my sweet?” asked
Lancelot curiously.
“Ha!” Felicity exclaimed. “I thought as
much. The dragon’s eye symbol on the front of
the book exactly matches the symbol that’s
embedded right here.”
Lancelot looked, but he couldn’t see
anything but smooth rock, and the face of the
book looked smooth as well.
“I don’t see any symbols,” he told her.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Don’t be silly,” she grumbled as she set
the book against the unyielding stone. “Both
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symbols are clearly there. I cannot fathom why
you’d fail to notice either one of them.”
They both heard a soft click, but only
Felicity heard the words that followed.
“Welcome, dragon-born,” said a
gravelly sort of voice. To Lance, it sounded
more like the hiss of a serpent, not unlike the
ones they’d been hearing all along. Felicity
somehow knew he had not understood.
Curious, Felicity shook her head as if to
clear it. She had no idea what the guardian
meant, to have called her dragon-born, but she
did not bother to question it in any way lest it
changed its mind about letting them pass.
“What on earth just happened?”
Lancelot wanted to know.
“I’m not quite sure,” she admitted, but
then the door began to slide open in their
direction. The two of them stepped back to avoid
it, and then entered the opening it created with a
small degree of caution.
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At first as they cleared the door, the place
seemed pitch black. The pair of them had to
stand still to let their eyes adjust while the door
slid shut again. Then, they began to see shapes
in the dark.
They stood on a ledge that seemed to go
on forever, but was not two meters wide. As they
traced it with their eyes, the
light began to
brighten around them.
They discovered that the entire cavern
they’d entered was covered in the lichen that
they’d first found near the waterfall. However, it
seemed to grow in much greater quantities here,
casting a greenish-blue glow over the entire
expanse that stretched out before them.
“How curious,” said Felicity as she
looked at it for a moment. “It almost seems as
though the lichen can tell we’re here, and knows
to light the way accordingly.”
“Careful, Felicity, that’s a very long
drop,” Lancelot cautioned as she stepped closer
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to the edge of the platform on which they stood,
hoping to get a better look at the chasm.
“Just how long, I wonder,” she
commented. She brought out her wand with the
intention of using it to inspect things a bit more,
but found that she could not produce a glow.
“Lance, does your wand work in here?”
“No, it doesn’t appear to,” he answered
worriedly. “It looks like we’re going to have to
follow this cliff face completely on foot. Tread
carefully, love. I wouldn’t want to lose you
down that chasm after all we’ve been through.”
“That goes for you, too,” she reminded
him with a sweet smile as she turned and came
to kiss his cheek. “Come on, then. We must be
at least halfway there by now.”
“I hope you’re right,” he answered. “I’m
bloody well tired of this mountain already.”
Felicity chuckled as she led the way.
Lancelot’s frown turned upside down despite
himself.
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Hugging the wall as closely as possible,
the two of them set off in the direction of the
glowing light. At times, the ledge narrowed so
much that Lance had to place a pike and tie the
rope to it to get them across.
“Hold fast, love,” he told Felicity on one
such occasion when she appeared to be slipping.
He made sure she was securely on the ledge first
before he made any attempt to cross himself.
The pike came loose just as Lancelot made it to
the other side.
“Lance!” Felicity gasped, lying flat to
reach for him as he caught the edge of another
ledge a few feet down. With her help, he
managed to grasp the ledge she was on and pull
himself up.
“That was close,” he said with a healthy
shudder. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s keep
going. I don’t want to have any time to think that
little adventure over.”
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“Is it just me, or does the light seem
entirely too bright now?” said Felicity as they
turned to go. “It’s almost blinding.”
“Try not to look directly into it,” said
Lance as he covered the top of his eyes and
turned to face the wall. “If you let it, it will
prevent your eyes from working well enough to
see the ledge.”
Felicity nodded her agreement, and the
two proceeded with their eyes covered as much
as possible until the cavern darkened slightly
again. Felicity was the first to notice this.
“I think we can open our eyes now,” she
told Lance, and he uncovered his face.
“We must be close now,” he told her. “I
can hear dragon voices.”
“Yes, so do I,” she agreed.
Scooting around a bend, Lance stopped
short and turned his head back to her. “I think
we’re here, Felicity,” he told her. “I can see a
ledge across the chasm. It’s full of dragons.”
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“Can you see a way across?” she wanted
to know.
“We’re going to have to climb down to
it, I’m afraid,” he told her. Then Felicity rounded
the bend as well, and saw what he was talking
about. Several meters below was a sort of bridge
that would allow them to reach the other side.
However, the downward slope to reach it looked
rather treacherous.
“Felicity, have I ever told you how
beautiful you are?” he inquired breathlessly as
he set a pike into the wall.
“You might have done,” she chuckled.
“But why bring that up right now?”
“You know, in case it’s the last chance I
get to say it again,” he answered as sweat broke
out on his brow. “Wait here while I try to tie the
line at the other end, love, and I’ll tug on it when
it’s secure. I don’t want you to be in any danger
of falling.”
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“All right,” she agreed, but as he was
going to move forward onto the line, she drew
him back in for a moment to give him a kiss. As
he swung away, she felt the next words literally
rip from her throat. “I love you.”
Lance hung freely from the rope for a
moment and smiled back at her. “Of course you
do,” he told her. “What kind of an adventure
would this be if you didn’t?”
As he slid down, Felicity laughed and
shook her head. She was not the least bit
surprised by his response.
She was relieved greatly when she saw
the rope jiggle. She deftly moved forward and
grabbed it, sliding quickly down to the other
end. Lancelot helped her onto the ledge with
him, then held her tightly to his side as they
stepped forward.
Dragons of every shape and color milled
about, and they silently moved apart for the
humans, clearing a path that led to the platform
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on which a wide, tall throne rose upwards from
the floor. A thick mist that shrouded the area
parted, allowing them to see the largest dragon
of them all.
Amaranth.
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THIRTY-FOUR
Lancelot kept Felicity very close to his
side as the two of them walked past the long row
of dragons who stood watching them pass. It was
obvious that the creatures had no intention of
attacking, but still he would rather be cautious
than suffer the alternative.
“Why are they watching us so intently?”
Felicity whispered against his chest.
“I don’t know,” said Lancelot uneasily.
“Let’s just hope it isn’t because they are thinking
what tasty morsels we’re going to be in the near
future.”
“Oh Lance, don’t be silly,” she
admonished him. “If they were going to eat us, I
wouldn’t even be here right now. Besides, I have
a feeling they’re expecting something great to
happen.”
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“Great?” asked Lance curiously. “What
ma
kes you say so?”
“Apparently, they think I’m dragon-
born, whatever that is,” she explained. “That’s
what the door called me when it opened for us.
I’m not sure what they’re talking about.”
“Well, that’s simple to explain,” he said
with a grin. “It means, truthfully or not, that
you’ve got someone in your ancestry who was
mated with a dragon.”
“Why on earth would they think
something like that?” Felicity wondered. “As far
as I know, both of my parents were normal
enough.”
“Yes, but what about your great, great,
great Uncle Albert, for example?” Lance pointed
out. “What do you know about him?”
“I’ve no idea about anyone that far back,
to tell the truth,” she admitted. “But I had no idea
humans and dragons could mate at all. Wouldn’t
there be too many logistical issues for that?”
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Lancelot chuckled at the face Felicity
had pulled. It was obvious she was trying to
work out just how such a coupling could
possibly have been accomplished.
“Well, love, though it’s a little-known
fact, most dragons, and the dragon-mages in
particular, are able to transform into a creature
quite similar in appearance to a human,” Lance
explained. “It is conceivable that they might be
able to mate with us in that form.”
“Well, that’s certainly a relief,” she
commented wryly. “I have never given any
thought to such matters before. Perhaps if we
make it out of here in one piece I’ll have to look
into it.”
“I also have heard that when they
transform, their appearance is so alluring that
they are difficult to resist,” he added as he gave
her arm a little squeeze. “Maybe that explains
it.”
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