Taking back forever and a day

by Marcy Lynn

  “Derek, she doesn’t like your sword, that much we do know!” Elanor hissed just loud enough for him to hear. But he surprised her by laying it to the ground and then righted himself with hands out in front. The dragon had her eyes on him now instead of the men. He took a few steps forward again. Elanor held her breath.

  “We don’t want to hurt you. We didn’t mean to come near your home. We’re just trying to take our ship to our home.” He said it calmly, though glancing over his shoulder at Elanor to show the pain of how stupid he felt talking to an animal. He’d always teased her about her Mother’s beliefs that plants and animals were just as intelligent as people. It seemed silly to him to worship the trees, the dirt and the sky. To speak to all walks of life as though they understood. But now that it had threatened to tear his ship apart, he seemed a bit more open to it.

  The dragon weaved her head back and forth but didn’t strike at him this time. A cold feeling sparkled up Elanor’s spine as the dragon started to indicate to Elanor; trying to look pointedly around Derek towards her. .

  If only she knew how to thought cast properly. The choices were now down to that only. She didn’t think only reacted. Launching herself forward, she moved between him and the dragon.

  The dragon’s energy didn’t slow; it grew as though it were getting ready to strike. But Elanor kept perfectly still, closing her eyes and raising a trembling hand to lay on her chest. Bowing her head slightly she reached out slowly towards the dragon with her right hand.

  “Get back, Derek.” She said softly. Though fear twisted inside, another feeling controlled her actions. Protectiveness. Mentally she forced her thoughts to slow, to be receptive to the dragon’s. The fierce penetration of thought made her wince but didn’t close her mind to them. Instead, absorbed them instinctively. She knew it to be a crude way to thought cast but words were starting to form. It worked.

  “You. You take.” A warning growl rumbled but this time it came from deep in the dragons chest and she hadn’t moved towards them. “You. Take. You take mine.” Air hissed as though released from a kettle. Confused Elanor tried to sort out what that meant. What would anyone here take that would upset her and why? The fables all talked about treasures but growing up she’d learned that it had been only the rock dragons, dog size, that did that.

  “What did they take from you?”

  “Water. Mine. Water.”

  They were on a ship for goodness sake, there wasn’t much they could take from…

  Since her mind had the chance to clear, it worked without her really knowing it. The answer, so simple yet hard since she couldn’t properly communicate to the dragon.

  “Derek, go into the cabin and get the fish off the table.” She hadn’t turned to look at him, her focus still on the dragon.

  “Elanor, I don’t think-”

  “Wait!” She shouted as the dragon reacted to his voice moving towards her. “We don’t have time for you to decide if I’m right, please Derek.” She pleaded with him.

  She still hadn’t taken the chance in looking at him, but she could see the dragon’s eyes followed him.

  Elanor knew when he’d come out by the reaction of the dragon, she’d solved the puzzle. Its head weaved back and forth but this time its chest didn’t build up for striking.

  “Walk to the rail and throw the fish overboard.” Elanor said. After a moment, Derek moved in her far right side vision. He lifted the plate to show the dragon and then tossed it over the side. The ship gave a sudden lurch as the dragon thrust herself over as well. Clearly the dragon trusted her to finish the job without standing over them. Elanor got to her feet.

  “Tell them to take all of the fish they caught this morning and throw it over board.” Elanor said to Derek.

  “Go below and get all the fish barrels!” He barked to his crew. “Dump them all over board.” Men scrambled in a wave of movement all around. Elanor stood next to Derek by the rail, holding her breath. Below the dragon’s head weaved back and forth in the water. She was waiting for the rest of the fish. Elanor gasped as two small bodies were suddenly swimming next to her.

  “Hatchlings!”

  “How did you know to give her the food?” Derek asked.

  “She came up on the side Steppe had brought me the fish from. Then she kept smelling me. Just me. Not you. Even when you were standing right next to me. She smelled the fish and blamed me for them being taken from her water. She said we took something. And there’s really only one thing you take out of the water.” There were sounds of splashing as each barrel was dumped overboard.

  “She said take? She blamed you? What do you mean, blamed you?”

  “I was able to sense what she wanted a little.” She didn’t look at him, instead watched the dragon let the hatchlings eat first and then pulled a fish up into the air to snap at it to gulp. Part of her wanted to just tell him about the thought casting. It had been the only rule her parents had made for her with Derek that she hadn’t broken. Sharing with him the full potential of what kind of witch she was.

  “Why hasn‘t it ever done that before when we passed through here?” Caspin shouted from the wheel from above keep them on course for the Island.

  “That’s a good question.” Derek said. One of his crew dumping a barrel spoke up then.

  “We fished out of that pocket over there when we left, Captain. We haven’t in long time.”Derek nodded his head at the man, than looked to Elanor.

  “Her hatchlings aren‘t very big. That does seem to make sense now.”

  “She‘s setting up home. The only problem is where she’s setting the territory. Seems to be your normal path? Perhaps she just doesn’t want you stealing her fish.” They both watched the dragons attacking the fish floating on the surface of the water behind them. Derek looked towards the front of the boat at the shout from above. “Looks like we’re close to home.“ He said pointing. “We’ll make land in an hour.” She saw the darkening line of the horizon in front of them. Derek leaned out to look at the dragon getting small by the distance put between her and the ship.

  “I can see why sailors love sea stories.” Elanor said.

  “Can’t say I like dragons on my ship.” Derek said giving her a half grin.

  She grinned back. “Well that was your first encounter, maybe the next one won’t be so bad?”

  A snort in answer. “I‘d rather never see one again. I was happy in my stupidity. I thought they moved onto different realms like other magic creatures.” She leaned her elbows against the rail. “To be honest, so did I. I guess some still linger here like the Fae and some tribes. They just blend in unnoticed. Unless, you take their things I guess.” This time she’d made the joke, it had him grinning further.

  “You were prepared to be its dinner when it looked as though it were going to attack me.” He said giving her an extra cheeky grin.

  She gave a shrug, trying to make light of it, waving a hand in the air. “I couldn’t let it kill you anymore then I could let you kill it. All life has a right to live speech.”

  He laughed. “Come on El. You were ready to take flight when it came up the main deck until it threaten me. You still care about me. Damn, that thing was huge and you were ready to face it. Must still be pretty strong feelings.” He said giving her a teasing side glance. She felt her heart pick back up in pace as he flirted with her. She knew he was pushing for her to admit there was something still between them. Of course she didn’t want to see him hurt. Still, with his easy acceptance of the dragon, she felt a spark of something inside. He’d always been this receptive to her caster world. Always been this accepting of her.

  “Why did you believe I knew what to do?” She suddenly asked watching them do odd counter curse motions when they past her by. He leveled a gaze at her.

  “Because I grew up with you talking endlessly about nature and things that I don’t understand around us. Maybe I didn’t believe it, but I still listened to you back then.” He gestured to his men. “They were taught different some of
them but they believe too in their ways. You embrace it. I just deal with it.”

  “I didn’t know what I was doing. I acted on memory and what my instinct told me to do..” She admitted.

  “You did the best you could and it worked out. That’s the sailor’s life.”

  Though the land mass grew as the dragon got smaller, Elanor still felt worried. She wasn’t exactly sure the problem had been solved. She finally voiced it.

  “How long until we reach land?”

  “Depends on how fast Caspin can get us through the reefs.” He pulled away from the rail and pointed to the cabin. “Go in there and rest until I come for you. We’ll all be on tea and biscuits until we do reach home.” Elanor didn’t argue with him, instead did head for the cabin. After the door closed, a frown surfaced on her face. Now there was the threat of a territorial dragon blocking her return home. Fate really knew how to make things tough on a girl. Magic in front of his crew, facing a dragon head on and thought casting! She sank into one of the chairs dazed. Elanor knew she’d have to learn how to thought cast better to prevent the dragon from being a problem on the return trip.

  Chapter thirteen

  The ship moored in the harbor near the Island.

  It was a sight that stole her breath if she were honest. Each time her eyes moved in a different direction, Elanor saw something spectacular in green or blue. The water sparkling under the sun’s beams was so beautiful. Its glistening waves unlike the dark murky water that they’d sailed on from Inglid.

  Here the water almost a green, yet still held a blue reflecting from the sky. And she couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering to the Island again. White sand! She’d never seen such a color for sand on a beach. And the trees, they had strange leaves that spiked wide and had strange bark on their trunks. Giddy excitement held her entranced the entire time the crew unloaded the ship. Her eyes kept darting from sight to sight. It wasn’t until Derek came up behind her to stand that she’d realized how long she’d been in her trance.

  “Beautiful isn’t it?” He said with a pride.

  “I’ve never seen anything so vibrant! How did you find this place?”

  “About four years ago, we were caught in a hell of a storm. It blew us into this harbor… Well after Caspin did a lot of fancy moving of the ship over some reefs back there. We had damage to the ship. While we were making repairs, we decided it was a perfect place to stay. He brought his family and some others that year.”

  “Amazing.” She laughed feeling energy vibrant and up lifting. He gestured towards the rope ladder edged over the rail.

  “We’ve finished, time to go ashore.”

  Elanor made her way to the rail looking over. Below a small boat shifted lazy in the waves. It was a very long way down.

  “I don’t know, we’re really high up. Is there another way to go?” She felt the span of his hand smooth over the small of her back, rubbing gently.

  “I’ll go first and then you. I won’t let you fall, I promise.” He gave her another reassuring pat on the back before hefting his leg over the rail. He stood on the rope ladder, one hand on it with the other gesturing to her to follow. She felt her heart jump in her chest, fear coiling in her belly like a heavy lead snake. She couldn’t let go of the feeling that she would be betraying her mission. She had to attempt one last time to change his mind.

  “I don’t want to. Won’t you just restock the ship and take me back? Please? I don’t think I could do this even if I wanted to.”

  His laugh wasn’t mean, he seemed genuinely trying to help her.

  “You’ve just faced an angry dragon and pirates! What’s a short drop from a ship?” He teased completely ignoring her plea to go back again. “What’s the worst that could happen? You’ll fall into the water.”

  Break your bones into pieces and drown slowly after, she thought fretfully.

  His hand again gestured for her to draw near again. “You’re still a good swimmer aren’t you?”

  Reluctantly she lifted her own hand and placed it into his. He pulled her towards the rail.

  “Yes, I can still swim. During the summer we went to a pond every day at Nain’s.” He smiled, nodding as he helped ease her right leg up towards the rail. Her skirt hitched at her thigh though, making her pull on it to give some more room for her leg to lift. He stopped a moment then. “Wait… put your leg back down a moment.”

  She did as he said, looking at him expectantly.

  “Put a knot in your skirt, about knee high, not too tight though so it doesn’t make it hard for you to bend your knees.” She realized almost instantly why he’d instructed that. It helped to focus on the skirt knotting. Her nerves having something to keep occupied. It only lasted as long as the tying had.

  After she finished, his hand extended again to her. “Up and over my darling.”

  She took a deep breath, putting one leg over. Her fear returned in full force. She felt his arms slide around either side of her, gripping the ladder.

  “I’ve got you. Now, one rung at a time.”

  He moved a step down, she followed.

  A slow process. He would step. She would step.

  Her eyes kept trained on the rail above them. It eased her heart a little more with the growing distance of the rail. But then it would pick back up with the sway of the ladder with the breeze and water gently rocking the ship. She didn’t dare look to see how much further there was to go, focusing completely on getting down in one piece.

  In the rhythm of their stepping, she didn’t notice when he stopped until she stepped down completely into his space on the ladder.

  “What’s wrong?” Panic thrust into her stomach like a fist. “Why did you stop?” Were they going to fall? Behind her, his body pressed her against the ladder; forming her body perfectly against his.

  “It’s hard to concentrate with your body shifting against me like that.” His face nuzzled into the back of her neck and hair.

  “Are you insane? I thought we were in trouble!” Fear made her snap. He pressed forward again this time his hips into her bottom.

  “Derek!” She squeaked. “This is not the time to be doing that!”

  “I’ve day dreamed about taking you to that beach over there for a long time.” His voice husky in her ear, his grin out of the corner of her eye, charming. She tried to smoother the involuntarily sensations he caused with the fan of his breath and embrace of strong arms. He’d purposefully used the situation to trap her. He didn’t call himself a caster but he sure knew how to put her under a spell.

  “We need to go down-”

  “-lying with you in the sun. Worshiping every inch of your body.” His hand left the ladder, gripping her right hip to pull her back against him again.

  “This makes me want to hike your skirt up right now.” He growled. The warm breeze picked up and a sudden crash back to reality came when the rope ladder shuttered from a quick gust.

  Elanor gave a surprised cry, clinging to the ladder. Derek’s arms flexed as he held them both firm until the ladder stopped jerking against the ship.

  “Please, just get me off this ladder.” It sounded like someone else’s voice.

  “We’re almost down, just a little ways. Come on,” He reluctantly gave up the game. They started their stepping in sync again. “That’s it. We’ll get down safe enough and then I’ll show you your new home. It‘s just up the path from the beach.”

  Home? He was still holding onto the idea that she was staying. Worse, she’d encouraged his attentions just now. She felt a wave of shame wash over her.

  She stopped.

  “Come on Elanor, we’re almost down. We won’t fall, just step down towards me.”

  “No. Derek, you have to take me back to NewLlynn, to Inglid.”

  A frustrated sound. “Not that again. We can discuss it later if we must. But right now, let’s just get down from here. ” He said.

  She didn’t move. “I’m going back up. I’ll stay on this ship until you-” A grunt cut in. He pri
ed her hands from the ladder. He twisted her roughly around to face him. She stared, stark terror now slamming her heart against her chest.

  “What are you doing! We’re going to fall!” She put her arms around his neck, clinging in fear.

  “Good idea, let’s fall.” A sudden thrust of his body and they were dropping down towards the water. She screamed for but a breath before they were swallowed by the waves. When her head surfaced, she coughed, sputtering salt water. He swam towards the small boat without looking to see if she followed.

  “It’s so warm.” She said dazed.

  After realizing she wasn’t dead or in pain from the drop, it occurred to her the water had been close. And as warm as cooling tea water. Derek untied the smaller boat from the ship, reaching over the side to pull her in. Like a fish flopping in, she wiggled, struggling to sit up once in. Once she settled, he started rowing towards shore.

  She refused to look at him.

  “Stop pouting.”

  “I’m not pouting.”

  “The sooner you accept this, the better it will be.”

  It was her turn to make an aggravated sound.

  “No, the sooner you realize I can’t stay here, I have to go back, the better.” Crossing her arms, she gave a frustrated cry. “I won’t stay here!”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve told you! Because my family needs me.”

  “This is about your sister, right?” He stopped rowing, glaring at her accusingly. “You thought you’d go off alone to find Meagan? Ela, she’s gone. You have to accept that.”

  “I know she’s alive. And I know where she might be.”

  “How do you know she’s alive? Someone found her?”

  “No. Not yet…. I just know she’s alive and North.” Her lips pressed together stubbornly. He wouldn’t understand, anymore than her family. She would prove it once she got back on track. The vibrant vision of Meagan in the north had been of tending a garden of all things. Elanor knew it to be Istland, from visiting cousins.

  “You’re being impulsive, reckless and stubborn. If I hadn’t been there Elanor, you’d be with pirates in a slave market right now.” His tone dark, his grip on the oars so tight his knuckles were white. “And you would be dragon food!” She shot back.