Dragon's Eye
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the flapping of a large pair of wings. Looking
up, they spotted a pair of dragons as they
alighted nearby. One red, the other blue.
“Hygor, Tapur, what news?” asked
Felicity as she covered herself and got to her
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feet. She stepped forward to greet them.
Lancelot, looking none too pleased by the
interruption, soon joined her.
“All is in readiness for our journey,” said
Hygor. “We have been given the honor of flying
the two of you home.”
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THIRTY-EIGHT
Hygor elected to burden himself with all
of the gear, leaving Tapur to carry the two
would-be lovers back to the other side of the
mountain, where the dragons were waiting.
Amaranth, once again in her dragon form, came
forward to greet them.
“Everything is in readiness,” she told
then excitedly. “Since you said we would be
making use of land rather than a cave, we have
acquired enough tents and supplies to house the
remains of my people. Most of them have the
packs already tied onto their backs, and those
who do not are very nearly ready as well.”
“This is going to be a long journey,
Princess,” Lancelot warned her. “We can, of
course, remain hidden while we are over the
land, but once we cross over the water, every
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dragon will need to use their invisibility charms
at all times. We cannot afford to make any
mistakes, lest we be revealed to the
endangerment of us all. Do they understand
this?”
“I have told my people everything that
they must know,” she reassured him. “But I see
that the two of you had no time to put on some
proper attire. Do you not wish to do so now?”
“No, I’ve no desire to dig out our packs
again,” Lancelot told her.
With a shrewd glance, she asked, “And
do the two of you have a wish to travel together?
The other dragons are a bit small for carrying
you both. Perhaps you may wish to avail
yourselves of the comfort of my back, instead?”
Lance grinned over at Felicity, and she
barely restrained herself from swatting him right
on his backside yet again.
“I’m sure two smaller dragons should be
fine,” Felicity commented dryly. “I wouldn’t
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want Lance to have too much fun on this
adventure.”
“Damn, foiled again,” he chucked as he
snapped his fingers. Then he snuck up right
behind Felicity and wrapped her into his arms.
“But your plan is completely unacceptable, my
dear. I want to hold you in my arms all the way
there.”
“Do you really, my love?” Felicity
inquired with a smile as she tried to avoid his
lips, just to tease him.
“Mm, gimme!” he finally growled, and
caught her face and held it still so he could take
the kiss he was after.
Felicity giggled and turned into his
embrace when she realized that he was after
more than just a casual peck. Lance’s tongue
tangled with hers just enough to let her know
what he had in mind for her later, and she had to
set him away from her and roll her eyes
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meaningfully in the direction of the throng of
dragons who surrounded them.
Casting the dragoness an innocent smile,
Lance kissed Felicity’s cheek instead. Then he
said, “We very much appreciate the offer to ride
upon your back, Highness. I believe it will be
much preferred.”
“Very well, then. I will make certain all
is in readiness, and be fitted with a makeshift
saddle,” she said. “I would not want you to fall
off, for if you did, where on earth would I take
this throng then, eh?”
Lance chuckled at this. Then he laughed
again as he saw Felicity pull a face at the thought
of her own demise occurring after they’d finally
completed their task.
Amaranth left the couple to themselves
for a time so she could prepare herself for the
journey.
“Don’t worry, my darling,” Lancelot
said. “She would not let us fall. If she’d wanted
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us dead, we would not even be standing here at
all.”
“Yes, I’m certain of that,” Felicity
answered. “But you’d better be a good boy while
we’re on her back.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” he inquired
with a suggestive grin.
As Amaranth returned to them shortly
afterwards, she knelt down so they could climb
aboard. Then she made a strange noise,
something between a whistle and a growl, and as
one the entire group of dragons took flight.
“Make certain that the Grimoire
Draconis is safely stored away,” she
admonished the pair as they ascended. “We
don’t want that to fall, either.”
“No worries there,” Felicity assured her.
“I’m always protective of the books in my care.”
Lance nuzzled Felicity’s hair at this, and
whispered, “That’s true.”
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It was a long ride just to get from the
mountains back to Calais, so Lance and Felicity
busied themselves with watching the scenery go
by. This was, of course, the scenery of Magical
France, rather than Mundane. It was a rather
colorful and interesting experience, to be sure.
The landscape was littered with castles,
as was their own, and as they passed by Paris
they even saw a great, hulking tower rising high
into the sky.
“What is that place?” asked Amaranth
curiously.
“The French Magehold,” Lance told her.
“It’s the largest Magehold ever erected, and it
has stood there for thousands of years.”
“Must not have been more than five
thousand years,” she scoffed. “I would have seen
it otherwise.”
“Yes, I believe it has been a bit less than
four,” Lance conceded with a smirk of
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appreciation. “But, to my way of thinking, the
manner in which I described it sounds better.”
“Humans,” she said with a mirthful
chuckle. “You’re just as strange as ever.”
Later on, when they reached the shore of
the Channel, the dragons had to cloak
themselves as they headed out over the waves. It
was decided that beforehand they would take a
break to rest their wings, but after only about
half an hour they were in the air yet again.
Amaranth was among the last to fly out
over the water, and soon they left the continent
far behind. Felicity giggled then, and Lancelot
gave her an inquiring glance.
“If someone had told me a year ago that
I would soon be about to lead a couple hundred
dragons back to London so they could take up
residence somewhere nearby, I would have
probably told them that they were completely
loony,” she explained.
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Lancelot chuckled and kissed her on the
top of her head. “Well, what would you have
said to them if someone would have told you a
year ago that you’d be working side by side with
the famous wizard, Master Lancelot Jones, in the
Magical Museum, or that you would go on a
grand adventure with him to the south of France,
or that you would end up madly in love with
him, or that he would fall madly in love with
you?”
“Well, that would have been a rather tall
order, wouldn’t it?” she chuckled as she leaned
back against him and nuzzled her nose against
his chest. “But, I suppose I would have to tell
them that I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
“One could only hope that after the
adventure we just had, the rest ought to be
smooth sailing,” Lance predicted.
“Smooth sailing?” commented Felicity
with a wry grin. “I’ve heard somebody say that
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before. You ought to be careful when you ask
for that.”
“What do you mean, my dear?” he asked
with a smirk. “I thought this whole grand
adventure turned out rather well.”
“Personally, I think the train adventure is
going to turn out even better,” she told him with
a wicked grin. Then she snuggled more
comfortably into his arms, quite certain she was
in need of a nice, long nap.
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THIRTY-NINE
“Wake up, my sweet Felicity,” said
Lancelot into her ear some time later. “Up, up,
up, love. You’re missing the sunrise.”
When she opened her eyes, Felicity saw
that they were just flying over the docks of
Dover, and the sun was just beginning its
journey into the sky. The whole skyline was
alight with pinks and pale blues, and she turned
to cast Lance a pleased smile.
“It’s lovely,” she told him as he leaned
forward to kiss her cheek. “How long have I
been asleep?”
“Five hours now,” he told her. “I suppose
you must have been more tired than you
thought.”
Just then Felicity felt the familiar pull of
the Veil as it enveloped them all. Glancing at
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Lance, she knew that she would find his wand in
his hand, as he had been the one to cast the
charm.
The entire landscape changed slightly
below, not in its actual physical shape,
necessarily, but in what buildings and other
items covered it. Gone were the network of
highways and roads that littered Mundania, to be
replaced with cobblestones and grassy fields.
Gone were the modernized structures, and more
ancient ones took their place.
“Veer to the left, Amaranth,” Lancelot
instructed their mount. “And do be careful about
remaining hidden over this stretch of the
journey. There is still some danger to evade, for
if Caracticus Snigget catches wind of our arrival,
he could be a formidable enemy to contend
with.”
“Caracticus Snigget?” Felicity gasped in
surprise. “I thought he was simply a story that
Grelda told to entertain me.”
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“Oh no, my dear, he is quite real, I can
assure you,” said Lance grimly. “But let us hope
we can go unnoticed. I’m sure the dragons are
becoming quite tired by now. They won’t wish
to tangle with the likes of him.”
“Indeed they are,” Amaranth agreed.
“And me along with them.”
“When we make it there, feel free to set
up your camps and get some sleep,” Lance told
her. “I think everyone could use it.”
“Everyone except for me,” Felicity
chuckled. “I believe I’ve had enough for us all.”
At Lance’s instruction, the dragons
landed in a field to the west of a tall manor
house. They began to pitch small, white tents all
over the landscape.
Felicity couldn’t help but think they
looked like an army encampment rather than the
more benign force they’d come there to be.
“Have this lot come here for peace, or for war?”
she joked.
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“I hope that we will go unnoticed for
now,” said Lance worriedly as he guided
Amaranth to continue onward to the house. “I do
not wish to confront that old wizard at this early
hour, and with such a lack of rest to contend
with. Princess, you must tell your dragons that
they cannot hope to find the most amicable prey
in our woods. Magically imbued beasts are not
overly easy to kill, nor the most palatable of
meals.”
“For us, this is of no great concern,” she
told him with a smile. “Dragons are themselves
magically imbued, so we find no difficulty at all
with such food.”
“Very well, then, I’ll leave it up to your
hunters to decide their next meal,” Lance said
agreeably. “Later today, Felicity and I will need
to return to our employer with the Grimoire
Draconis, to place it in safer environs. You are,
of course, welcome to come along for the ride.”
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“Of course I would wish to meet the man
to whom you owe your trust,” she said
agreeably. “I would not have it any other way. It
is to be expected in such matters, is it not?”
“Yes, Your Highness, I believe it is,” he
said tiredly. “But for now, I must rest. You must
make yourself at home. You can use one of the
guest rooms if you like. Come, Felicity, we are
still wearing only the robes from the ritual. Let’s
see if we might be able to find you something a
bit warmer, shall we?”
When Lance said this, Felicity became
decidedly flustered, and he chuckled. He
brought her with him to the stairs that led up to
his bedroom, nibbling her ear along the way.
As the pair of them entered, he pulled her
with him onto his rather large bed. “Sweetheart,
I would love nothing more than to ravish you
here and now, but I am just too exhausted to do
it,” he told her then.
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“Then let us go to sleep,” she said softly,
> and encased herself into his arms.
“Sweetest girl,” he whispered softly into
her tawny mane, and soon he was fast asleep.
Felicity had not been kidding when she
had said she needed no more sleep, so as soon as
she discovered that Lancelot was snoring lightly
beneath her head, she slid free of his grasp. She
had never been here before, so she felt a bit
curious about his home.
Easing off of him, Felicity decided to
have a bit of a look around. Out in the hall, she
found the door to the most sumptuous bathroom
she had ever seen, and happily made full use of
it. She halfway considered luxuriating in the tub,
but she decided she’d have plenty of time for
that if he intended to keep her, since she’d hardly
need to continue on at the flat then.
The urgent problem that had built up
over her time in France dealt with, she then
wandered down the hallway, looking into doors
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here and there. Eventually she wandered into
Lance’s personal library. She was not the least
bit surprised to find it was an excessively large
one.
Fingering books here and there as she
read the spines, Felicity quickly found the book
that she’d once read in the jail cell sitting out on
his desk. There was a note beside it.
“Master Jones, as you inquired about the
young Miss and what she did last night, I have
sent along this book that she read for the greater
part of the evening. Doubtful that it will give you
much insight as to her motivations, but it looks
to be a pretty good read, nonetheless. —
Detective Cardin.”
“So that’s why he had this thing at
court,” Felicity chuckled. “How amusing.”
Without bothering to peruse any further,
Felicity felt a strong desire to return to the man
who had been so interested in her the day they’d