here is another great chapter, now with minor proofreading support courtesy of rouge. as a reminder i start school, tomorrow the 6th, and the releases will be slower as i not only have class and work and i am studying for the mcats... though i will try to make the chapters longer.

without out further ado chapter 17

-------------------------Therin---- POV----------------------

“How am I going to explain this to my squad mates…?” I thought to myself as we made our way north. It has been several days since we left the quaint farmhouse, and we are now making our way towards the dark elven city of Dúath.

“Hey elf, how much further until we reach the city?” The dragon asked.

“We should reach it tomorrow morning.” I replied; over the last few hours I started to recognize the surrounding areas. We were getting close, which was making me nervous. I watched the dragon catch an updraft and soar back into the sky.

“You look nervous” Atheros said, “what happened last time you were here?”

“It has been over a year since I last saw home.” I replied.

“Before we left I asked Thantos about you, he mentioned you were pickup from an ambush.”

I breathed out a heavy sigh, “Yes it was an ambush that got me enslaved, but there is more to it.” I replied. “I was a captain of the Dúath city guard. We were sent to confirm rumors of a treant infestation. When we got there we found the broken corpses of the monster and we were ambushed, most of my squad got away but two friends were killed and I was captured.”

“I see… so you have to explain where you have been the past year…” Atheros replied.

“Yah... it will be tons of fun and excitement…” I replied. “It is also the reason we have been changing directions lately, I set up most of the patrol routes and I have been trying to avoid them.”

“Why are you avoiding them?” Atheros asked confused.

“I knew most of the guards, and few would not hesitate to attack a dragon on sight, it is more for their safety than ours.” I replied.

A few more hours passed as we made our way into the forest. “We should stop here for the night, any further and we will meet night patrols.” I said to Atheros.

“Fine by me,” he replied, before he stopped his horse and dismounted. We started to make camp when Fafnir swooped in carrying a deer in his front claws.

“Here cook this,” Fafnir said as he dropped the carcass into the clearing. “I am going to look around while it is cooking. I saw something interesting in the distance. “

We picked up the deer and while Atheros started to clean it, I made a roaring fire. After a few hours Fafnir returned.

“Did you find anything interesting?” I asked,

"Yes I did, I found what I have been looking for.” The dragon replied I could make out a look of contentment on his scaly face.

“What have you been looking for?” I asked, wondering what a dragon could want.

“You will find out after your business is completed.” He replied as he laid his head down on his front claws.

An hour passed and the scent of cooking meat permeated through the clearing. I watched Fafnir’s forked tongue flick out a few time before he stirred.

“The meat smells good.” He said eyeing the deer.

“It should be ready in about half an hour,” Atheros replied turning the meat; the fire faired as the juices hit the coals.

“Fafnir, why do you flick your tongue out?” I asked the dragon.

“Why would I flick my tongue out?” he replied.

“You just did it a few minutes before you started to talk.” I replied.

The dragon stopped and flicked his tongue out as he did his eyes widened. I watched him for a few more minutes as he flicked his tongue a few more times.

“Are you messing with me again?” I asked.

“No, I’m just tasting the air,” the dragon replied, “thank you for letting me know of my habit.”

“Ok, the dragon does not even realize that he’s doing it… I will just leave him be.” I thought to myself before getting up to gather more wood.

We settled in for the night after eating. I took first watch. I was nestled in a tree that allowed me to overlook the entire clearing. A few hours passed as I watched the stars cross the sky, when I heard something. Moving as little as possible I scanned the area. After a few minutes I saw several people starting to surround the camp. I extracted myself from the branches and silently made my way behind one of the groups. As I got closer I recognized some of the people as former squad mates. A grin plastered my face as I moved closer. “This will be a good lesson to remind them to check for lookouts.” I said to myself.

---------------------------Fafnir’s--- POV----------------

I woke up to the strong smell of mana. I flicked my tongue to taste the air, and I could tell that there were several different humanoids starting to surround us. “This is still weird,” I thought to myself. I opened one of my draconic eyes and I could see through the blackness several dark elves. I looked to where Therin was nestled earlier and saw no one. Opening both eyes I spotted my elf. He was sneaking behind one of the groups. Holding for a second I waited for Therin.

I watched as he silently creeped behind one of the elves, and with the pommel of his sword he knocked out one of the other elves. I watched him repeat the process several more times until there was only one elf left in that group. The person who looked like the leader turned around and came face to face with Therin.

“Therin?” the elf asked.

“Who else would knock out your entire patrol before you realised he was there ?” Therin replied with a big grin.

“Hey guys,” the man shouted, “it’s Therin.”

I watched Atheros jump and reached for his sword at the loud noise, before I saw about 8 more elves make their way into the clearing.

“Who are these guys?” Atheros asked realizing they were not under attack.

“These blockheads are part of the city guard,” Therin replied, walking into the clearing, “and it seems they are out on a new route.”

The clearing was filled with the exchange of greeting as Therin started to catch up with his old friends. I just laid down watching the exchange until.

“Hey Fafnir,” Atheros wisped, “what are they talking about?”

Looking at the human I remembered that I still had the brooch on though my language skills have improved. Grinning a bit I replied, “They are talking about the best way to eat a human.”

“No they are not,” Atheros said a frown on his face.

“They are catching up, most of it is boring.” I replied.

After about ten minutes, Therin walked up with the captain like elf. “This man here is Hest,” Therin introduced, “he was my second in command for many years and one of the ones who escaped in the ambush.”

“Nice to meet you Hest,” I replied lifting my head up, “my name is Fafnir.”

I could see the awe on the man’s face as he looked at me, “The dragon can talk.” I heard him whisper. "we have to show this to the rest of the garrison."

I watched Therin freeze for a second, before saying, “yeah about that, we need to talk...”

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even though i now have proofreading support, we are all human more or less and can still miss things, let me know in the comments if we did. and tell me what you think...