"There is magic capable of almost anything one can imagine," Elizabeth responds as she taps her chin in contemplation. "Unfortunately we are limited to the magic that Kragga, Melissa, and I are capable of, which is a much smaller subset then one's imagination."
"If it's a dragon of flame," she continues after a moment, "Then logic would dictate that my fire magic will have little to no effect. That leaves my lightning and arcane missiles. The lightning I can reinvoke, best case, twice more. My guess is that will be quite insufficient on its own. Hopefully, though, it will be enough to enrage the beast enough to bring it down. Once we do that, it will be up to you and Melissa. We will have to depend on steel over sorcery."
She thinks a moment longer.
"Speaking of steel ... you don't supposed we could just get the dragon to sit on the tracks and run it over with this metal monstrosity, do you?" she asks, with a hint of a smile.
Saleh gives the idea a surprising amount of thought.
"If we could lure it with something it wants..." He says eventually. "It may not consider the train a threat, but we would need to work over a large distance. It would be too difficult I think..."
The train races along the tracks as fast as it can go as you attempt to outrun the mighty dragon. Almost an hour goes by, and it seems like you might be in the clear. But then another massive roar shakes the train, and the guards standing on the roof shout out warnings. The beast is swooping down, about to make another pass!
Elizabeth moves to where she can see the creature and draws in the ambient arcane energy into herself. When it's within range, she sends an arc of lightning towards it.
Saleh heads up to the roof of the train and prepares himself to do something stupid. Hefting weapons in both hands he waits for the beast to come into range.
The dragon swoops down low once more, massive maw agape. It fails to avoid Elizabeth's lightning, but still doesn't seem too bothered by the magical blast. Its teeth snap close on a hapless guard near Saleh, and the man screams as the beast moves to fly off with him. But Saleh has other plans, quickly running across the train car and trying to leap onto the dragon's back! Kragga says a prayer to guide him!
Saleh sprints down the roof of the train car and makes a flying leap, landing on the dragons back and slamming his axe into its skin to act as a handhold.
I really should have thought about what to do next!
For the first time since he's known her, Saleh sees Elizabeth entirely gobsmacked.
Melissa screams as Saleh leaps on the creature's back. Although, whether it's a scream of fear or she's screaming at him is hard to tell.
The dragon begins to fly away with Saleh on its back and the hapless guard crushed in its jaws!
"nuq SoHmo' vay' Daghojmo'!" Elizabeth screams out at the creature as it begins flying away. She sends seven arcane missiles streaking toward the beast to punctuate her words.
"Do something!" Melissa shouts at the sorceress.
Keeping his axe buried in the creatures hide, Saleh takes aim and hacks at its wings as best he can can.
Saleh stabs at the dragon but is unable to pierce its thick scales. Kragga causes a geyser of stone to erupt from the ground to try to pummel the dragon, but it dodges most of the blast and is not knocked out of the air.
The dragon flies straight up in the air before performing a barrel roll, shaking Saleh free! The fighter plummets to the ground as the dragon flies away, munching on the guard in its mouth!
Saleh lies flat on his back for a few long moments until the stars fade from his eyes. Then he sits up carefully, checks that he still has his weapons and looks for the train.
"We definitely need some way of bringing it down and keeping it there." He says once he is back on board. "I hit it pretty hard and couldn't even dent its scales."
Seeing Saleh fall, Melissa screams out for them to stop the train and as soon as it slows to a non-fatal speed, she tumbles out and races to where the man lies prone.
"Don't you ever do anything like that again!" she snaps as she cradles his head in her lap, waiting for healing to arrive.
Elizabeth waits patiently on the train for Melissa and Kragga to return with her death-defying husband.
Once back on the train, she waits until the others pass and then steps in front of Saleh to give him a cold gaze. This is followed by a stinging slap and then an embrace with trembling arms.
She holds him silently for long enough to calm herself and then with a soft kiss she turns and follows after the others to discuss strategy.
"Not unless it tries to take you." Saleh replies. He manages a smile, but Melissa can see that he is in deadly earnest - despite the bruises.
Saleh also accepts the slap, which whips his head around sharply enough to work out an awkward kink developing after his hard landing and then he holds Elizabeth tightly, whispering soothing nothings into her ear until her composure is restored.
----------------
"So we're back to trapping it, unless either of you can use magic to destroy its wings." Saleh summarises after twenty minutes of useless discussion. "Unless it has a home of some sort and we can track it there? It must live somewhere?"
Kragga shrugs. "I doubt the dragon is done with us. It has been toying with the train so far, but I have the feeling that next time it will attack in earnest."
"Well on that cheerful thought I'm going to bed for a while." Saleh says with forced cheer. "Riding a dragon is tiring, who knew?" He steps over to Elizabeth and leans down, resting their foreheads together for a long moment.
"I love you Elizabeth Daylenne. Don't wear yourself out worrying." He says quietly, dark eyes fixed on hers. "We'll figure this out, together."
At the exit he looks back and raises an eyebrow at Melissa. "I... might need some help getting the armor off today." He admits, sounding a little sheepish.
"Yes, you may at that," the red-head says with an arched eyebrow. It's clear that words may follow the disarmament.
Kraggga uses three minor healing spells to get Saleh back up to full health.
Another hour passes, then once more a mighty roar shakes the train. The dragon has returned, and based on the fury burning its eyes, this time it intends to stay and fight!
Saleh, who in the end only catnapped with the majority of his armor still on, curses and climbs onto the top of the carriage again.
"Hit it with everything you've got!" He yells to the women below. "And someone stop this bloody train!"
As the dragon approaches he take a couple of arrow shots, more out of hope than expectation.
The battle with the dragon was one for the ages, Saleh standing toe-to-toe with the mighty beast as it roared and rampaged around the train. Melissa dodges its talons as she drove her enchanted blade into its bulk. Elizabeth blasted it with spell after spell, while Kragga used all of the blessings of the World Mother to keep her friends alive. At last, the horrible beast fell, leaving our heroes to bask in their victory!
The train arrived in Darksville, and the owners of the company showered them with praise and rewards. From there, they finished their journey to Foundry and picked up more recruits for Elizabeth's magical academy. Then, the whole group returned to Gateway.
The world was still a terrible place, one in which the shadow of the Demon Lord loomed large, but the four heroes had done their best to make their little slice of the world a tad bit brighter. After battling against evil for so long, they had more than earned a happy ending to their tale...
Hannah focused on peeling the carrots in front of her and kept her ears open to the conversations around her. Her ability to gauge any potential emotional storm around her had kept her out of trouble so far. And at the ripe old age of twelve (or thirteen, depending on who she believed) she considered that a win.
"Raymond, is that water boiling yet," Melissa asked. The young man kneading the dough on the table in the center of the large kitchen leaned back to check the large pot on the stove. "Not yet," he replied.
"Let me know the moment it starts, please." The red-headed woman stepped close and rested a hand on Hannah's shoulder. She tried to avoid flinching, but it seemed that she didn't hide it too well as Melissa removed her hand almost as quick. "How are those carrots coming along, Sweetie?" she asked.
"I'm about half-way done, Miss Melissa," Hannah replied. "Hannah, we've talked about this," Melissa said with mock sternness. "You don't have to call me 'Miss'. You're not a servant - you're family now. You can call me Melissa."
"Yes, Miss ... I mean, yes, Melissa."
Melissa reached out and made sure that Hannah saw her movements as she reached out to squeeze the girl's shoulder.
"How does a woman get a cup of tea in this thrice-blasted place?" another voice called out.
The red-headed master of the kitchen turned to glare at the thin woman standing in the doorway. Well, thin except for the huge round belly that made her look as if she had swallowed a large melon. "Miss! You shouldn't be up! We can bring you tea," Melissa growled. She stomped over to where a large teapot sat on the even larger stove. "Hannah? Would you get a stool for Miss Elizabeth?" she called over her shoulder.
Hannah put down the knife and, after wiping her hands, raced over to grab a stool for the grumpy woman. She was still working out the hierarchy and relationships in this place, but she had learned quickly that while Miss Melissa ... oops, Melissa was head of the kitchen, Miss Elizabeth was Mistress of the entire compound. Even if she looked about ready to burst with a baby at any moment.
"I can get my own bloody tea and my own bloody stool, Thank You," the tight-faced woman snapped out. Even so, she accepted the stool that Hannah brought her with a grateful nod and sat down heavily upon it.
"What's all the commotion?" a deep voice asked and everyone turned to the other doorway that lead to the dining hall to see a large man with a little boy hanging from his neck enter the steamy kitchen. Hannah was pretty sure that the man, Saleh, was the husband of either Melissa or Miss Elizabeth. She knew that Dylan - the little boy doing his best to strangle the large man - called him 'Papa'. Of course, so did Little Saleh who was slightly older than Dylan. They'd both referred to baby Christoff (that Melissa carried around at times) as their brother so she was reasonably confident of how they related. However, they both called Melissa 'Mama `lissa' and Miss Elizabeth as 'Mama `lizabeth' so she still wasn't completely sure who was who's mother.
"Your wife is supposed to be resting and she's now bothering me in the kitchen for a cup of tea," Melissa said with a huff as she approached the man and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Liz, you need to ..." Saleh began.
"What I need to do is have this bloody baby so I can get back to teaching my classes," Miss Elizabeth snapped back before he could finish.
"It will happen when it's meant to happen and not a moment before," Melissa countered, walking over and handing the woman a full teacup on a saucer. "Now march, Miss, back to your room and lay down," she ordered, one hand outstretched pointing back the way the woman had entered from.
"Very well, I will do as you command ... for now," Miss Elizabeth said, standing back up and wobbling just a bit. "Hannah?" Melissa questioned, turning to face the young girl. "Would you be a dear and walk with Miss Elizabeth back to her room. We wouldn't want her to drop her tea."
"Yes, Mi... Melissa," Hannah answered with a nod. She reached up and took the pregnant woman's arm and escorted her through the archway.
They walked for a while down the hall in silence before Miss Elizabeth spoke. "So what do you think of our little bit of controlled chaos, Hannah?" she asked.
"I like the food," Hannah replied with a shrug. "And nobody gets drunk."
"That's probably because Melissa won't let me have any wine," Miss Elizabeth said with a chuckle.
"Miss?"
Miss Elizabeth waved off the question. "Nothing to be concerned about. I don't drink that much anymore. And you don't have to call me Miss. I'm just Elizabeth here. Unless you're in one of my classes we're all equals."
"But Melissa calls you Miss Elizabeth, so I thought ..."
"Melissa will probably call me Miss Elizabeth until the day she dies. Even in spite of the fact that she is my wife."
Hannah's face scrunched up in confusion. "But I thought Melissa and Saleh were married?"
"They are and we are," Elizabeth explained. "Melissa is my wife and Saleh is my husband."
"Oh."
"So she just threw you in and left you to paddle, eh?" Elizabeth asked with a smirk.
"What?"
Elizabeth shook her head with a smile. "Little Saleh, Dylan, and baby Christoff are all Melissa's natural sons and Saleh is their father. Atticus and Raymond were foundlings like yourself. When Melissa found them on one of her ... excursions into the city, like you, she couldn't leave them in the situations she found them, so she brought them home."
Elizabeth gave a little laugh. "I must say, there have been times that I've wondered if we should just keep her here locked up here rather than let her come home with any more strays."
Hannah frowned.
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said, noting the change in demeanor of her companion. "That was very indelicate of me. I never want you to feel that you're anything but welcome here. We're very happy to have you as a part of our family." She chuckled. "And Melissa has always wanted a daughter. Sometimes I think that's why she insisted that I carry at least one. She's had three sons and figures that I'll be the one to give her a daughter."
"Is that why she brought me here? So she could have a daughter?" Hannah questioned, frowning.
Elizabeth sighed. "Sometimes I think the gods gave me two feet just so I could have an extra to put in my mouth," she said with a shake of her head. "No, Hannah. Please believe me when I say that were you a boy or girl, in your situation, Melissa would still have brought you home to us. She wouldn't let a child stay in a place like ... that."
"It wasn't too bad," Hannah said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I just delivered drinks. They said I wouldn't have to be a second floor girl until I turned thirteen."
Elizabeth's face darkened, but she made an effort to not let her anger at what might have happened to the girl affect her tone. "In any case, don't you find it more pleasant here?" she questioned.
"Oh, yes. I don't have to bring anyone drinks."
Both girls looked down at the cup of tea that Elizabeth was still holding and laughed. They walked on in comfortable silence for a bit.
"So Melissa is hoping that you have a girl," Hannah asked.
"She will be pleased if the baby is healthy," Elizabeth answered. "But she would really like a little girl to mother," she added with a smirk.
They walked along.
"I don't remember my mother," Hannah said quietly, looking away. Elizabeth remained silent. "Do ... do you think it would be ok if ... if I called Melissa, 'Mama `Lissa'?"
Elizabeth looked away for a moment, composing herself and then reached up to brush at her eyes. "I think she would like that very much," she finally replied in a steady voice.
They walked on in silence for a bit longer before a woman with long, blond hair approached. "Hello, Angelica," Elizabeth said as her eyes narrowed slightly. Hannah had played with a girl around the compound who was named Angelica as well and had the same blonde locks this woman had. Perhaps she was the girl's mother, but having the same name was a little strange. Why it was ok for Little Saleh to be named after his father, but it was strange for Angelica to be named after her mother, she didn't understand. It just was.
"Hello, Elizabeth," the woman replied with a friendly smile. Her eyes drifted down to the large swell under Elizabeth's dress. "Have you decided on a name?" she asked. "Not yet," Elizabeth replied. She seemed to consider her question for a moment before asking, "Any suggestions?"
Angelica's smile broadened. "I've always like the name ... Elena."
Elizabeth seemed to stumble slightly and reached out for Hannah's hand for support. "A girl's name?"
Angelica nodded slowly. Without another word she walked away, only pausing to look back over her shoulder and add, "And write to your sister." Elizabeth gave a single nod in response.
Once the woman was out of sight, Elizabeth gave Hannah's hand a squeeze. "Well, Hannah, it looks you're going to have a sister in a month or so."
The door to the large bedroom opened and shut quietly. Elizabeth didn't look up from the book she was reading on the bed, but she already knew who it was. Her wife crossed the room and sat down upon the edge of the soft bed.
"So when were you going to tell me?" Melissa questioned with mock sterness.
"That I'm pregnant? Oh, it must have slipped my mind. I'm sure you would have noticed in a couple of weeks when a very wet baby slipped out from between my legs. You're clever like that." Elizabeth turned a page, continuing to pretend to ignore her wife.
Melissa playfully slapped at Elizabeth's shoulder. "When were you going to tell me that it's a girl?" she scolded. Pushing the book aside, she wrapped the reclining women in a quick hug. "A girl!"
"I see you've been talking to Hannah. I was going to wait and if you hadn't figured it out by her second name day, I would have told you."
"A girl," Melissa repeated a third time. "I can't wait."
Elizabeth finally turned and looked at the red-head. "Be very careful. You already have a daughter now, and she's very insecure in her place here. Please don't make her feel as if she's being replaced by your 'real' daughter."
Melissa's obvious joy diminished a bit. "I know. She asked if she could call me ... 'Mama `Lissa'." Her voice broke just a bit even saying it. "She's such a cautious little thing. I just want to grab her up in my arms and protect her from all the badness out there." Elizabeth lifted her book back up onto her chest and returned her attention to it while her wife contemplated parenting dynamics.
"We need to have a girls night - just the three of us!" Melissa finally exclaimed. "It'll show her that she's really one of us."
"How about a girls night with just the two of you. Wouldn't that work just as well? And I could continue my resting and research."
"Oh, but I can't leave out my favorite girl," Melissa replied, her voice going a little deeper. "She needs some attention too." Her hand slid under the blanket.
"Now you're being silly. I don't have the energy for anything like th ... at." Elizabeth's eyes fluttered as her wife reached her goal. Her grip on her book tightened.
"No need to worry about nothing," Melissa said with a grin as she tended to Elizabeth's pleasure in the way she knew she liked. "I got all the energy we need. You just sit back and enjoy it."
The sorceress' eyes closed and her entire existence shrank down to her wife's fingers. Her release came much quicker than she would have expected. Melissa held her close as the waves thrummed through her and finally faded. "Gods, that felt good. I really needed that," she gasped. When she finally focused enough to look up at her wife's mismatched eyes and saw the desire there, she laughed. "But I do not have the energy for what you need. Go find our husband and let him deal with your randy self."
"I think I may just do that," Melissa said with a grin as she pulled her hand from under the blanket and popped two of her fingers into her mouth. She adjusted Elizabeth's blanket and turned to saunter back to the door.
"Don't get pregnant, please," Elizabeth called out. "I think we have quite enough children around here."
"No promises."
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The cries rang out like a hungry pack of wolves, the high pitched howls of the hunters as they finally cornered their prey, a mighty bear who weighed more than any three of the wolves alone.
A tense standoff ensued, the hunters circling their prey as he lunged at them in turn before "Charge!" At the command a barrage of cushions was followed by an avalanche of children and Saleh went crashing to the floor under the weight of his brood.
"Aaarrgh! Get off me you little monsters!" The man roars, grasping one of his sons and tickling the boy until he screamed for mercy. "I will not be defeated! I am the Dark Lord of Shayol Ghul!"
"Your reign is over Dark Lord!" Declared one of the larger boys, the spitting image of his father but at half the size. "We have defeated you and rescued the maidens fair!" He pauses and then his face fell at the lack of response. "I said WE HAVE RESCUED THE MAIDENS FAIR!" Still nothing meet his declaration and he turned to the corner of the room where two girls, one in her late teens and one much smaller were reading a book.
"Hannah! 'Lena! We're rescuing you, you're supposed to be excited!" Confronted by almost all her brothers and their collective, expectant glances, Hannah rolled her eyes. "Thank goodness, our rescuers are here." She said, enthusiasm dripping from every syllable.
"It could be worse Hannah." The 'Dark Lord' pointed out from the floor. "At least they aren't sitting on you!" He heaved himself up, dislodging Atticus, Raymond and the twins with a vigorous shaking as the boys tumbled to the floor like nine-pins. 'Lena, the apple of the families eye, came bouncing across the floor with her arms wide open and her father scooped her up in a hug as Dylan and Little Saleh collected their weapons, seemingly intent on restarting the battle.
"That's enough of that!" A firm, motherly voice called. "Now you all go and wash your hands before dinner. Mama 'Lizabeth will be done with her class soon and we're eating dinner as a family tonight." The boys trudged off with a chorus of sighs and groans followed by Elena and Hannah who caught her mother's eye and nodded her willingness to make sure that eight pairs of clean hands made it to the, extremely large, family table by the kitchens.
Left alone for a precious moment Saleh gathered his wife into his arms. "And how long exactly were you standing there?" He asked, shooting Melissa a mock frown. "You could have stepped in at any time!"
"And missed the attack on Cair Dun and the fall of the Dark Lord?" Melissa replied, stealing a kiss with a beaming smile. "Where would the fun in that be? Although," another kiss, "It did," kiss, "give me," kiss, "some ideas for later." At her husband's raised eyebrow she elaborated.
"The young dashing heroine goes adventuring to rescue her lady love who has been captured by the Evil Dark Lord." She poked her husband lightly in the chest, "And so the dashing young heroine, me of course, must infiltrate the Dark Lord's castle to rescue his love, but when she gets there she finds..."
"That it is all a trap!" Another voice joined the conversation. "No doubt the sorceress was fooling the heroine all along and then she and the Dark Lord join forces to inflict Unspeakable Torments on the heroine."
"See Miss, I knew you read my romance novels!" Melissa piped up excitedly before she jumps and glares at her husband, who looked unrepentantly back. "What was that for?"
"You relapsed." Saleh replied calmly.
"Damnit! I'm sorry M- Elizabeth."
"We'll just add that to the heroine's torments tonight hmmm?" Elizabeth replied, stepping into Melissa's arms as Saleh collected them both in his much larger embrace.
The throuple stayed that way for a long moment until the rumbling of feet charging down the hallway showed that hand-washing was done and the monsters needed to be fed before they turn on their keepers.
"Happy Anniversary!" The children chorused as their parents entered the room. The table was dominated by two huge bouquets, set at either end of the table and there was a spine of hand-made cards and small gifts down the table. Hannah gave her father a wide smile as both Melissa and Elizabeth teared up.
"You did this?" Melissa asked, staring at Hannah.
"Father helped." Hannah replied, before Melissa whisked her into a hug.
"Thank you so much sweetheart! You're my favorite daughter for this!"
"I thought I was always your favorite daughter?" Hannah replied, pouting theatrically as her brothers laughed and Saleh called the table to order.
"Your mothers and I were married seventeen years ago today." He said. "In that time we've fought a dragon, brought up nine wonderful children and endured a combined nine years of teenager-ness. I calculate we only have about fifty left to go! I am thankful for you both every day." He said, sharing loving looks with the women at each end of the table, "And for our wonderful family."
"And I'm thankful for food!" Tobias or possibly Matrim piped up, the twins collectively causing laughter all around the table as the family dug into dinner together.
Kragga was there for the birth of each and every one of Elizabeth's and Melissa's children. The orc's skills as a healer and midwife helped ensure each delivery was free of pain or complications. Each time one of the women swore that it would be her last child, the priestess smiled knowingly but refrained from comment.
Kragga had long ago confronted Grimfang and the gothi who pursued her, calling upon the World Mother's might to smite them once and for all. She was finally free to settle down in the life she had made for herself, as the chieftain and blessed mother of the enclave of free orcs within the city of Gateway. And of course, 'mother' was more than just an honorific title, as the fertility goddess saw fit to ensure Kragga had quite the brood, indeed. Rare it was to see the priestess without a swollen belly, and soon dozens of children filled the home she shared with her husband, Deathripper.
Orcs ventured from across the lands of Rul to bow before her and receive her blessings. Under the yoke of the Empire, the lives of orcs were nasty, brutish, and short, but Kragga taught a new way to live peacefully among the other people of the world. Soon enough, the orcs would flourish as they found new roles as valuable members of society. And it was Kragga who had blazed the trail for them...