by Robin Wirth
Scoffing at his comment, she said,
“Explains what?”
“Why you’re so very alluring, of
course,” he said as he kissed the side of her
cheek near her ear. “Heads up, love, we’re about
to meet a dragoness who holds our fate in her
claws.”
As they neared the far end of the wide
path they traversed, the rocky ground began to
rise, and they could perceive a solid wall of
stone through the smoky haze that obscured their
line of sight in the dimly lit chamber. It grew a
great deal warmer as well.
Felicity had expected to be frightened in
the presence of a great and powerful dragon
sorceress, yet as they neared the foot of her
throne, she felt unaccountably calm. The
creature stirred from her repose to glance at
them curiously.
Lance took a few more faltering steps
before coming to a complete stop. He pulled
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Felicity into a protective embrace as he looked
over the dragoness they’d come all this way to
meet.
Amaranth was a lovely golden shade,
and her eyes shone bright green as she looked
them over more fully. Her throne appeared to be
made out of obsidian, and she held an obsidian
scepter in one of her claws.
“Come closer, humans, and greet a
dragon princess,” she said in a lyrical, feminine
voice. Her human words sounded odd coming
from a reptilian throat, but they were
understandable nonetheless.
When Lancelot drew Felicity closer than
ever and did not immediately move at this
prompting, the dragoness made a sound he
assumed was a laugh, and added, “Have no fear
that I will harm your mate, male human. She is
safe here. Come forward, that I might have a
better look at the two of you. It has been many
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years since two such brave humans have
ventured into my keep.”
“Go on, Lance, do as she says,” Felicity
prompted as she gave his arm a soft squeeze.
Releasing Felicity from his embrace and
putting one arm about her waist instead, Lance
stepped forward with her, keeping her near him.
When they reached the foot of the dais he looked
boldly up at the beautiful, deadly beast, and he
could not help but stare at her in awe.
“I have your word on it then, dragon?”
he asked insistently. “You will not harm my
mate, no matter what happens here today?”
“No matter what,” she agreed, and her
sharp teeth protruded from her mouth as she cast
him an amused grin. “Though I notice that you
do not ask the same for yourself.”
“I am not a fool, dragon,” he commented
lightly. “We all know what is at risk here.”
“No, I did not think you were foolish,”
she answered with a laugh. “I know that you
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have come here for the Grimoire Draconis,
human creatures. But what I would like to know
is your reason for seeking it.”
“We have been charged by our employer
to restore ancient tomes and artifacts of great
importance to their former glory,” Lancelot
explained. “We believe your book would be of
great importance to the Magi, a colony of
humans hidden from the sight of Mundane men
and women. Long has the wisdom of the dragon-
mages been lost to our world.”
“And in what way would it be
important?” she persisted. “What would it
matter if that magic were returned?”
“It is a shame to see it go to waste with
disuse, when those who practice magic could
learn from it instead,” he explained. “Since you
went into hiding, the magic of the dragons has
been lost to our kind, and we want to see it once
again live and breathe as it should. Some of us
would even like to learn those secrets, if we
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could, to use those teachings for good. We do
not wish to see something so precious pass away
forever.”
“That is indeed a most worthy
undertaking,” Amaranth agreed as she preened
within her seat, her head raised high above them
as she stretched it into the air. “And I do believe
it is a goal I would allow you to fulfill. If you
can help me heal the Dragon’s Eye, of course.
For you must know that I cannot help you
otherwise.”
“We understand this, Your Highness,”
Lancelot said with a nod. “It is our great desire
to be of assistance to you as well.”
Amaranth sat up and clapped together
her claws so that they made a clicking noise.
“Hygor, Tapur, bring these humans to the
bathing pool and purify them. We shall begin the
ritual within the hour.”
Two smaller dragons stepped forth from
the throng. One was red, and the other was blue.
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Lancelot and Felicity nodded at them in
greeting, and they nodded back.
“Even now, the moon begins to rise in
the night sky,” Amaranth explained, her tone
almost trancelike. “All must be ready soon. The
two of you shall be brought to the healing
chamber to read from the Grimoire. If you can
successfully heal the eye, the book is yours. But
if you fail, I fear your fate must be to remain here
with all the others, transformed even as they
are.”
“We understand all of this, Your
Highness,” Lancelot agreed, and bowed low
before her.
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Felicity
added as she cast the dragoness a smile, bowing
to her as well.
“You are quite welcome, my child,” she
told her, and then the other dragons led them
away.
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THIRTY-FIVE
The hot steam that had been gathering
slightly at the feet of Amaranth’s great, obsidian
throne began to make more sense as they
traversed further into the cave beyond with their
two escorts. The walls began to drip with hot
dampness as they went, and it became obvious
there must be a pool somewhere ahead.
“I am called Hygor, humans, and this
cave is usually reserved for the mating ritual,”
said the red dragon with a reptilian smirk.
“However, as you can imagine, most of the
dragons here are male, since it is less common
for females to undertake a quest such as this
one.”
Felicity blushed as the dragon gave her a
gentle bow of respect.
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“Yes, I suppose it would be unusual,”
she agreed. “But I am nothing, if not unusual.”
Lancelot rai
sed a brow as he realized the
dragon who had taken Felicity before had been
red. This could well be the very same one.
“If there are so few females among you,
then where do you get your mates from?” he
inquired suspiciously, and his gaze was not lost
on the beast in question, though he did not seem
concerned by it.
“There are several ways, of course,” he
said as he inclined his head in Lance’s direction.
“There is the obvious answer that one’s mate
need not be female, but not everyone here feels
comfortable with that line of logic, as I’m sure
you can imagine.”
“Yes, that is understandable.”
“We sometimes go out and capture
human females, and have them transformed,” he
admitted, and then quickly added, “Not that this
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was my reason for capturing your female, of
course.”
“Of course,” Lance said, raising one
blond brow with annoyance. “Then what
precisely was your reason, might I ask?”
“You were looking for a way to get
inside the mountain, were you not?” he pointed
out with a smirk. “You found one.”
“Yes, I suppose I did,” he had to agree.
But still he turned toward Felicity and pulled her
closer to his side.
“Felicity, my darling, why were you so
quiet back there?” Lance inquired with a bit
more emphasis on the endearment than
necessary. “In all the time I’ve known you, you
have always had something to say.”
“Yes, that’s true,” she said with a blush.
“But I had the overwhelming feeling that if I
interfered in your little conversation back there
with Amaranth that she would have considered
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you less of a man. I didn’t want her to get that
impression.”
“Hmm, thanks,” Lancelot said with a
suggestive grin. “I wonder what she’s thinking
of me now.”
Felicity reared up and smacked his
backside. “You know very well I didn’t mean it
that way, Lancelot Jones! I don’t intend to share
my mate with anyone—especially not some
huge, ugly dragoness.”
Then, just to prove her point, she turned
and bit the side of his neck. The two dragons
hissed with amusement and moved on ahead of
them.
Lance laughed then. “Oh, so now I’m
your mate, am I? Since when was that the case?”
“You’re the one who said so, aren’t
you?” she reminded him sweetly. Then she
skipped away down the corridor after their
escort, leaving Lance staring after her.
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“Yes, I suppose I did,” he said to himself,
chuckling and shaking his head.
He got a huge smile on his face that he
couldn’t seem to wipe away, so he took his time
catching up in the hopes he could regain his
composure before Felicity saw him again. But,
since his arrival was precisely timed to coincide
with the point at which the two dragons were
helping Felicity disrobe, composure was not
about to be something he regained any time
soon.
“Sweet,” he whispered as he gazed,
transfixed, at the pleasurable sight. He got a full
glimpse of the panties that went along with
Felicity’s lacy black bra, and his heart began to
pound erratically when even those came off.
“Very sweet,” he added in a soft whisper.
Felicity turned to the sound of his voice,
and froze. She gazed at Lance with a heady
combination of surprise and hot desire.
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The two dragons moved toward him
next, and Felicity suddenly realized she was
completely unclothed and open to his view.
With a profuse blush, she stepped down into the
very large, steaming pool of water the attendants
had been preparing her for.
Felicity didn’t take the time to test the
temperature with her toes before she stepped
quickly into the water. She swam out into the
middle, then turned to look at Lance again.
He looked very much as he had done
when they’d awakened by the waterfall earlier,
she noticed. He had the good grace to blush
slightly when the dragons removed his coat and
started in on his shirt, allowing the rather large
erection that was hidden beneath to be revealed
to her full view.
Felicity gasped, and felt an aching need
fill her being at the sight of him. She could hear
every single exhale of Lance’s breath, and
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matched them with her own, as she waited for
him to join her in the water.
The dragons had him down to his boxers
now, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away as they
trailed down to take in this fact. Lance, however,
stopped them at this point, well aware that the
girl in the water still retained some tender
sensibilities.
He stepped to the edge, still somewhat
hidden from her view. His eyes watched hers,
and only when she looked into his again did he
remove the garment in question and slip into the
pool.
“There’s not much time,” she reminded
him as he swam in her direction.
“Hush, love,” he whispered as he
reached her, his hands running over her
shoulders and down her arms. “I’ll not take you
for your first time in such a place as this. When
I make you my own, I want to take my time with
you, to show you what it means to be a woman,
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and what it means to pleasure the man who has
given you his heart.”
“Lance!” she breathed into his mouth as
he kissed her softly. She could feel his
nakedness as he pressed against her fully, and
she wanted him with every part of her being. She
ached for the fulfillment that he had just told her
he would not yet give.
“Shh, sweetheart, let me wash your
hair,” he said, turning her around.
Felicity tilted her head backwards and let
him wet her hair, and only then realized that he’d
brought soap along with him. It felt heavenly as
his fingers scrubbed her scalp, and she closed
her eyes as she savored his ministrations. When
he’d rinsed her clean, she turned and smiled at
him.
“Your turn,” she said as she took the
soap from his hand. With a smile, Lance turned
around to let her wash his hair as well.
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When the two were finished, the dragons
beckoned them to shore, and slid soft white
robes over each of their shoulders. They
presented them with a vast ar
ray of charred
meats, and these were surprisingly flavorful
since they’d used spices to season them.
“Well, my dear, if you were planning to
look up anything else in that book of yours, I’d
suggest you do it now,” Lance told Felicity as he
reached for his pack and brought it out for her.
Felicity took it from his hands, and spent
the next half hour reading. But there was nothing
in that book that could be half as interesting as
simply gazing upon the man at her side,
especially since he was also gazing at her.
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THIRTY-SIX
The two dragons led Lance and Felicity
deep into the heart of the mountain, where the
fires of the earth glowed red. Then they brought
them up a long shaft to somewhere far above,
and dropped them to their feet again at the
opening to another cave.
“The chamber lies within,” said Hygor
as he bowed before them. “Good luck to you
both.”
“Thanks,” they answered, and then they
stepped inside.
The first thing that they saw was a huge
opening high above that showed a field of stars
in a midnight sky. The full moon glowed as it
neared the center of it, and many dragons were
gathered there to watch.
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“Isn’t it beautiful?” asked Tapur as he
went forward to join the others. “It’s been a long
time since this happened last.”
“Yes,” agreed another dragon, a female.
“Can you not feel it in the air? I truly believe this
time will be different.”
Lance and Felicity approached the great,
golden dragon who stood behind a table, on
which the Grimoire Draconis itself was placed
on a golden stand, opened to a specific page. The
table was made of obsidian, just as Amaranth’s
throne had been.
“All of the elements have conspired to
