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"Gullivarth was one of the most important role-players during the Age of Legends. He was a pioneering shadowspawn, meaning that he started existence within the chaotic realm of Barathrum Proper. He was also the greatest of souls to pass through the Veil into Epangelia, taking the form of a black dragon half the size again of the rest of his kin. As the only ever king of dragons, it was he who should have been credited with the successful expansion of the Kingdom of Barathrum across the entire continent of Selebore. Instead, history seems to give the glory to the demon general Duas, who usually came in only to lead the final series of assaults in a region and mostly directed the war effort from the safety of Juinkarr Castle.

With his first action, Gullivarth led his dragon army to crush the Alliance of Light and effectively conquer the whole of the Kentreal Highlands. Ten years later, he would mercilessly quell an underground resistance movement in the conquered land and obliterate the new elven kingdom and its allies who supported them. When Thendor created a new Alliance of Light fifteen years after that, he continued his unstoppable march across the continent, again scattering the army of Seleborians and this time occupying the Arthulle Lowlands. Yet, this time he failed to destroy the Alliance in favour of an easy conquest of the lost kingdom of Arthulle. It was a mistake he would come to regret, for when he tried to invade the Garbanan Peninsula later that same year, he was beaten back surprisingly easily by the very survivors he had allowed to escape.

When two more invasions of the Peninsula failed as well, Gullivarth lost the favour of the Demon Council of Juinkarr. The demons started to blame the dragons for everything that irked them, causing Gullivarth to lose confidence in the rule of Juinkarr well before the disastrous siege of Lendor. He started planning a large scale exodus of all dragons from the Dark Kingdom, going so far as to send out scouts across the ocean in the hope to leave the continent for good. But before his scouts could return, the demon general Duas assumed direct command of the dragon army and lead the entire military might of Barathrum against the remaining free land of Selebore. The resulting siege of Lendor and the consequential death of Duas at the sword of the lupine general st Garvon is a well-documented turning point of the Age and will not be discussed here. What is important to this narrative is that Gullivarth and his dragons were once again blamed for the disaster, with Gullivarth being banished back to Barathrum Proper as a result, from whence he was never to be seen again.

Gullivarth's eldest surviving son Umbrunor, who rose to fame when he led only six other dragons to sack the great elven fortress of Eydelvise, had come to respect the resilience of the Seleborians on the peninsula and to despise the selfish bickering of the Council of Juinkarr. Disillusioned by the war, he planned to summon his father back from Barathrum Proper with the hopes that the king would fulfil his dream of leading all dragons off the continent to a better future. Yet, he was betrayed even before he could properly plan this feat and he had to flee least he shared his father's fate. In a strange twist of destiny, Umbrunor ended up finding shelter with a contingent of vulpinae on the peninsula from where he worked to recruit a new dragon army to fight against the oppression of Juinkarr. To indicate the seriousness of his abdication, he changed his very name from Umbrunor (Bringer of Shadows) to Lunintur (Bringer of Light).

A year and a half after his father's banishment, Lunintur led his new Lumor dragons in an assault against the dragons still loyal to Juinkarr, hereafter known as the Umbrin dragons. Eye witness accounts would later claim that the battle was so fierce, the sky glowed red as during sunrise and thus earning it the common name 'The Cynderskies'. Here, Lunintur yet again proved his superior strategic skills, catching the Umbrin dragons completely off guard and effectively scattering their entire army despite being most likely outnumbered three to one. And so, with the loss of both General Duas and King Gullivarth as well as the annihilation of their most powerful contingent of warriors, the might of Barathrum crumbled against the onslaught of a renewed Alliance attack. Two more demons were slain in quick succession where they tried to defend strongholds built on the ruins of the Coral and Nacre Towers, Selebore was quickly liberated and the black fortress was once more placed under siege.

Sadly, the alliance between the Seleborians and the Lumor dragons itself did not survive the fall of Juinkarr, for Lunintur was once more caught enlisting goblin spellcasters to try and summon his father back from Barathrum Proper, though without success. This sudden rift proved to be unbreachable and with the threat of the Dark Kingdom gone, the Seleborians and Lumor dragons decided to part ways least they come to blows. Yet, it was a decision that would ultimately pave the way for the Umbrin dragons to strike back at the Lumors in a series of coordinated attacks which would become known as the Dragonhunts."

Extract from "A Seleborian history from a dragon's perspective" by the first dragon scholar, Laethia 'One-wing' skar Ortussa, an affiliate of the Amber Tower during the Second Age.

---

It had been a long flight, but finally, she saw the Amber Tower appear in the hazy distance. It had been a very long six months, and Lainah was eager to see Gahntuar again.

At least those months had not been wasted. She had managed to direct a total of twelve dragons away from the Peninsula to where they could find the by now larger than life Lúg'hir. Twelve lives that had been saved from the Alliance of Light who had set up proper hunting squads meant to drive any dragons who was still in the vicinity of the town out of the woods and into the open where they could be slaughtered. They were much better trained and equipped than the sorry group of hopefuls she and Gahntuar had to deal with last year and had managed to corner two unlucky souls before she had arrived back in town. Thinking back on it, she also had several close escapes and she couldn't help but worry about the young golden drake who had decided to stay behind in Gahntuar's old territory.

Though Scerrin was very gentle for a dragon who tried to avoid conflict at all costs, he was extremely bright and she thought it was a shame that they couldn't use his intellect to help run the Lúgroccae. He had quickly picked up the human language to such an extent that he had already started to make friends with several of the people from the town. They, in turn, were more than eager to assist him with avoiding the unwelcome presence of the Alliance so he was in good hands, she hoped. And though the numbers of new dragons who arrived on the Peninsula had dwindled over the past months, it was comforting to know that there was still someone watching out for any stragglers.

Before she knew it, the Amber Tower passed beneath her outstretched wings and eagerly she started her descent towards where she knew the Lúgroccae camp should be. It was strange to think that she had preferred to keep her distance from Gahntuar for more than a year when they had first met, but now that she had accepted him as a mate the few months apart had been excruciatingly long. She was very eager to see the dark drake again, but in her haste to have this journey over, she nearly flew completely over the new camp without recognizing it! The trainees had been very busy during her time away, and already one of the large barrack buildings were completed with a second halfway built. There was also a cluster of smaller huts a bit higher up the slope, and to one side there was what looked like a working shed. She had to guess it was for Lesley to work in, given the leathers and half-finished saddles that decorated the area immediately around it.

Growling a little annoyed at herself, she banked into a steep turn and quickly picked out the clearing that was obviously still used as the basic training ground. She had barely landed, however, when she was challenged.

"Stop!" the youthful voice called out to her. "Who goes there?"

Lainah turned around, a little surprised at the command to see a young, lime green draine approaching her. She wore a simple training harness like the ones they had used when they had first left the Peninsula and seemed to be quite at ease with the straps of leather already. A young fox quickly took her place next to the draine, though she still seemed a little unsure of the spear she was carrying. Lainah recognized the young dragon guard as a draine she had redirected to the Amber Tower only three months ago and for a moment she was glad to see the youngster had managed to make it here. Indeed, it seemed many did, for she recognized more dragons around the area busy with preparations for the building that was to happen later in the day.

The light green draine who had challenged her also immediately recognized her and with a respectful bow, she addressed the new arrival.

"Oh, Lúg'her Lainah, you have returned!" the guard quickly greeted her in draconic. "I hope that the winds had been favourable and that your flight had been swift and uneventful!" Next to her, the young fox seemed a little unsure of herself, but seemingly satisfied that her companion apparently knew the new arrival. She relaxed her grip but still kept a wary eye on the silvery draine.

"They have, thank you!" Lainah replied with a respectful nod of her own, crooning a little at the title. But formalities aside, there were other things on her mind at the moment. "Where is Lúg'hir Gahntuar, I am eager to speak with my mate."

"I am afraid you've just missed him," the guard informed her, head still held low in respect as if she were the territory owner.

"Are they out training already?" she asked surprised. She remembered that Roccan'her Eric had requested that they train in the morning and work on constructing the camp in the evenings, but surely it was still a little early in the morning to be doing strenuous flying manoeuvres!

"He, the Roccan'hir and the mentors have been summoned to the Amber Tower for an urgent meeting with the archmagus," the green draine explained. "Apparently, there are still some problems with the wild gryphon aeries to the west that need their attention. Hunting rights or something that had not been honoured."

"Oh," Lainah sighed, crest falling flat in disappointment. "Thank you. Do you know when they will be back?"

"I am afraid not," the guard replied, genuinely sorry that she could not assist her. "But I suspect they will be a while still..."

"May it be Lúg'her Laethia should knowing?" the guard's vulpine companion suddenly added, the draconic coming through broken and hesitant, but surprisingly easy enough to understand what she had intended to say.

"Lúg'her Laethia?" Lainah asked surprised. There was a slight growl to her voice and for a moment, she was not sure if it was the mere mention of the name or the fact that she was also called by the honouring title 'Lúg'her' that annoyed the silvery draine most.

"Yes," the dragon guard quickly chirped, too excited that she was able to help to notice the slight irritation in Lainah's tone. "She is close to the Lúg'hir and has been very involved with organizing the training schedules and the planning of the camp here. In all honesty, she should have gone to the Tower with them, but had to stay behind to sort out an issue with the ... la-latrines ..." The guard spoke quickly, though she struggled a bit to pronounce the strange word at the end. Obviously, the human language was also still a bit awkward to her as well, but a slight frown suggested that the whole concept of what a latrine was meant to do was foreign to the youngster.

"Where can I find her?" Lainah asked, deciding to ignore the annoyance she felt. It was probably just her fatigue after a long journey and a foolish attempt to push through last night that didn't work out. To be honest, she didn't take much time to rest coming here after all, pushing herself as far as she could to get back to Gahntuar as quickly as possible.

"On the far side of that hill!" the guard replied, indicating with a snout downstream, but a little away from the river.

"Thank you," Lainah replied, swallowing her pride and turning to look at where the guard had indicated. Maybe talking to the black draine would not be so bad after all. She made to jump into the air again, but then hesitated and finally decided to walk the rest of the way instead. Flying would probably have been quicker, but it seemed like it was just a short hike, and her wings were still tired even after the short flight of the morning.

But when she reached the spot, she didn't find the black draine anywhere, nor anyone else for that matter. For a moment she wondered if she had come to the right spot but then decided that this had to be it. The two little structures were just large enough to hold one biped at a time each looked the same as the ones she had seen being used in Corrumwhell. She gave them a quick, curious glance and though she had no idea what she was looking for, she could not see any problem with them. Except maybe the two larger ones. Bipeds, she knew could be weird about how their bodies worked but was it really necessary to have ones for the dragons to use as well?

The only thing she could see that may need some special attention was the fact that new ones were being constructed a little higher up the valley. She stepped a little closer to the half-built contraptions and was surprised to find that they were just enclosures built over a communal pit, which in turn seemed to be connected with a narrow trench to another, much deeper pit. For a moment, she frowned at the setup, wondering exactly how adding the second pit was to help at all. It appeared that, if the one below the latrines themselves overflowed, the waste will wash over into the larger one. But if that became full, what then? As she stepped closer to the larger pit to quickly inspect it as well, she noticed that it too was intended to overflow when full, draining out to a marshy wetland a little further down the valley.

Quite a bit of trouble to be able to take a dump, Lainah thought to herself. Why not just do what needs to be done directly into the marsh, if it comes to that? Was it really necessary or did Laethia just want to appear useful to the bipeds? Was that also why Laethia claimed she needed to stay behind for no good reason at all? Where exactly was she?

Curiously, Lainah returned to the already finished structures, idly wondering if they worked in the same manner. And when the waste flowed out of the larger pit, did it make it's way to the river? That thought at least made her frown in disgust. Luckily, she didn't see a stream running down the valley towards the river, but the thought alone was not a pleasant one. At least there was some thought put into these silly things, as they were downstream of the camp. But the camp itself was upstream from the Amber Tower, so wouldn't that mean ...

Lainah was about to, very carefully, step down towards the marsh when something like a grunt in the direction of the river caught her attention. Maybe, it was the black draine she was looking for, making sure that no waste from her latrine-project got into the river. That was most definitely something that would need immediate investigation, she decided as she quickly made her way down to the source of the noise.

But once again, Lainah was surprised by what she found. Yes, it was indeed Laethia, but it appeared that the black draine had gone for a swim instead and was now busy sunbathing and grooming herself on a pebbly beach next to the river. She had her back to the silvery draine and with a raised hindleg, was engrossed with licking at her loins, the rasp of her tongue across the soft scales there punctuated now and then with a slight croon of delight. It must have been one of those accidental grunts that Lainah had heard.

"I thought you were dealing with some issue at the latrines?" Lainah scolded her before she could catch herself. Laethia squeaked rather amusingly in fright, snapping her head from her groin to glare up at the intruder.

"Lainah!" she gasped, the fight in her growl quickly fading to surprise. "Y-you're back?"

"Yes, I ... arrived just now!" the silvery draine informed her, raising a curious eyebrow as the other draine pulled her legs tightly against her stomach. "What is the problem with the latrines?"

"Overuse is making them clog up!" Laethia quickly said, sitting up to look properly at the other draine. Though she spoke confidently, she still seemed rather self-conscious as she curled her tail around herself protectively.

"Why not use the open field?" Lainah asked, glancing back up towards where she could just make out the tops of the latrines. "That would solve the clogging issue, I think!"

"For a lone dragon or two that will be okay!" Laethia scoffed with a dismissive snort as she stood up again, her awkwardness suddenly forgotten when her intellect had been challenged. "But for as many dragons and riders as we currently are, that would only shift the clogging issue to above ground." She walked up to Lainah with the confident swagger she so clearly remembered about the other draine, and that irked her again.

"And before you ask," the black draine continued, leaning in to look directly at the silvery draine as if in a challenge "it is clearly documented that bad hygiene can cause serious health issues when there are many individuals gathered together, so yes it is important for more than just dealing with the bad smell."

"Then why were you here sunbathing and grooming yourself?" Lainah accepted the challenge, refusing to be intimidated by the darker female. "If it is so important, why not be up there now, dealing with it?"

"I was ... er ... washing up, if you must know!" Laethia excused herself with a shake of the head as she walked past the other draine and started to climb the hill again. "I've done what I can for now, and there is nothing more to do until the trainees start today's building session again."

Laethia frowned at the confident, yet awkward way Lainah was acting. She was about to ask if there was something else that bothered the darker draine when she caught a whiff of Gahntuar's scent as the other female walked past. The sense of longing suddenly intensified and Lainah dismissed the odd behaviour. She had better things to worry about.

"And how is Gahntuar?" she asked, genuinely interested. Only the reaction she received was not at all what she expected. Laethia meeped as if bitten and immediately pulled her tail between her legs. The silvery draine stared for a confusing moment at the black one, before a sudden, very worrying thought occurred to her. Before Laethia could do anything else, Lainah dropped her head towards the dark scaled flank. Laethia tried to twist away but was unable to escape before Lainah caught the particular scent she had feared.

"You've ... mated with him?" Lainah asked stunned, her crest slowly raising in anger at the implications.

"I ..." Laethia started to say, all fight suddenly gone from her. She crouched a little in guilty submission, but the action only served to infuriate Lainah even more.

"Wait, is that why you had me return to the Peninsula?" the silvery draine growled, taking a threatening step towards the darker draine. "So that you can take him for yourself?"

"No!" the darker draine replied sharply. She jumped to her feet again, looking the other draine in the eye with genuine shock at the false accusation. "It was important, as you should know! You, yourself had sent several dragons our way ... dragons who will have been trapped and killed by the Alliance if you had not gone back for them. We all discussed it so you should know there was no other way!"

"But it did not stop you from still mating with him while I was away!" the silvery draine shouted, her head darting in for another, deliberate sniff. "And recently as well! Maybe even this very morning!"

"It was ... last night ..." Laethia muttered as if that would have made a difference.

"And that is why you are here," Lainah continued her accusations. "Cleaning up and washing off the scent of his seed! There is nothing wrong with the latrines!"

"Y-yes," Laethia continued dejectedly. "He didn't want ..."

"You are incredible!" Lainah growled with an angry snap of her teeth at the other draine. "You can tell him I'm back when you see him again."

"Wait, he ..." Laethia started to argue, but Lainah had already taken off in an angry flurry of wingbeats. Instinctively, she extended her wing to follow the furious draine, but then she remembered that she was flightless. It had been years since she had last thought of flying and the action seemed completely out of place. Awkwardly, she closed her wing and watch Lainah fly towards the old caverns.

***

It was already afternoon, and the warm sun started to shine in through the deep overhang that Lainah and Gahntuar had taken as their cave all those months ago. The silvery draine lay there on the patch of dried grass Gahntuar had insisted on carrying in, curled up in a small ball and feeling lonely and miserable. She could smell Gahntuar's scent on they hay still, but only barely. It was obvious he had not spent the night here for several weeks now, maybe even months.

Despite herself, she buried her snout into the plant material, seeking out a little bit more of his scent. The situation she found herself in was rather surreal to her. She didn't want to see him and yet she longed for him to be here, to drape a wing over her shoulder and to tell her that he would never abandon her. Somehow, she suspected that was what he would have said. After all, he had waited over a year for her to make up her mind about him. But on the other wing, it felt like she was barely away from his side when he shared his body with Laethia. Somehow, that made her feel angry and sad and betrayed and lonely and abandoned and ...

A sudden snap of a wing interrupted her thoughts, alerting her to the visitor. Her heart soared at once to know he had arrived but then shrivelled at the thought of the conversation they were about to have.

"Lainah!" Gahntuar chirped excitedly as he rushed into the cave, not caring to break the forward momentum of his flight as was proper before he approached her. "You're back!"

Eagerly, he nuzzled at her snout in affection but she didn't reciprocate.

"Something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I ..." Lainah started, but the genuine joy in his eyes at seeing her again and the honest worry dampened the simmering anger within her somewhat. "Just tired after the long journey from the Peninsula!" she finally sighed, turning her head away slightly.

"Of course!" the drake quickly agreed. Without asking permission, he lay down snuggly against her side to cuddle close to her, pressing his snout against her neck to take in her scent with eager sniffs. The action made her smile and she turned to do the same, but as she did she caught a faint whiff of Laethia. Though the scent was faint, it was enough to reignite her anger again.

"So I see you've left the cave ..." she growled at him.

"Yeah," he muttered, still engrossed with her scales. "Merec wants the new trainees to sleep in close proximation to the dragons as much as possible, something about hoping that would help them create as strong a bond as we have. And you know what he is like: 'We must set an example!'"

Normally, the impersonation of his human would have had Lainah giggle, but this time she felt a growl build at the back of her throat at the obvious attempt to deceive her. Yet, before she could comment on it Gahntuar added innocently: "I've also spent some time with Laethia in her cave. She's been alone for so long and the company is good for her, I think."

"You mean, you mated with her!" Lainah corrected him with a growl, finally raising her head to glare at him. Though the willing admission did take some of the bite out of her anger, she was still not very impressed at his betrayal.

"I ... yes!" the drake replied, his crest raising a little in surprise, and making the draine angrier again. "I'm surprised she told you!"

"I smelled your seed on her!" she snapped at him. "Did you really think you could keep it a secret?"

"Secret?" he snorted with disdain at the idea. He looked her, the obvious lack of understanding to her sharp reaction making his eyes seem a little dull. "Why would I want to keep it a secret from you? I merely thought it is my place to tell you!"

"Then why was she secretly washing your scent off her scales this morning?" she accused him, his inability to understand her making her hurt even more.

"I didn't want the other dragons to get the wrong idea!" he stated matter-of-factly as if it should have been obvious. "Laethia and I will have a fling once in a while, but you are my mate!"

Surprisingly, the declaration made Lainah's heart soar again with happiness, but when Gahntuar tried to lick at her crest in affection, she surprised herself even when she pulled away from him.

"Are you jealous?" he smirked and playfully nipped at her. Lainah on the other wing replied with an angry nip of her own. Though she did not draw blood, Gahntuar still yelped in shock and pulled away from her to stare at her in surprise.

"I'm not jealous, I'm angry!" she finally managed to say directly. "I'm gone for barely a few months before you go and fuck your sister!"

"And why should ..." he started to ask but then understanding lit up in his eyes. He stared at her, crest raised high in shock before it wilted in complete shame and he looked away from her. "Oh, I am such a fool!" he whimpered, not daring to look anywhere but the patch of rock a little in front of him. "I am so sorry! I've been alone for so long I've become completely tactless. I should have discussed it with you before I started paying hunting tariffs ..."

That comment took the fire from Lainah completely. Suddenly, the winds had shifted and it was she who sat there, completely stunned by her own reaction. More than a little awkwardly she recalled that territoryless dragons often paid for accommodation and hunting rights with a share of their prey, but more often with sex. In all honesty, she had lost her virginity to a drake twice her sire's age that way. And it didn't matter that Gahntuar was Lúg'hir and she, his mate. Laethia was the territory owner here!

"I..." she started to apologize but was suddenly not sure what to say. Why did she overreact like that in the first place? The thought of Gahntuar and Merec did not bother her this much! Was it because Laethia was Gahntuar's sister? She doubted it for when Jenour had told her the story it did not bother her as much as she would have expected it should. Then, was it because Lainah had been separated from her mate for so long that she was just antsy? Maybe?

"No!" Gahntuar suddenly interrupted her with a snarl, not having noticed her start to speak. "I shouldn't lie to myself and definitely not to you! It was more than simple hunting tariffs!" He looked at her with deep regret in his eyes that melted Lainah's heart. "When Laeth first asked me to mate with her, I treated her like a long lost mate and not a territory owner." He sighed and looked out the cave again in deep thought. "Which she is, I guess, seeing that we had conceived together!" With a sad warble, he turned back to her and apologetically pressed his snout into the soft scales below her jaw.

"Either way," he concluded "I shouldn't have done anything without talking to you first. You are my present mate and I should have treated you as such! Can you please forgive me?"

Gahntuar's sincere apology warmed Lainah's heart and she felt her anger evaporate completely. With her head clearer, it suddenly dawned on her as well why she had reacted the way she did. Laethia and Gahntuar had bred each other successfully before! She was not just another female who also happened to be his sister, but she was a possible rival for Gahntuar's affection. Admittedly a particularly dangerous rival, considering Lainah was still to conceive eggs for Gahntuar. But she and the worried drake next to her were promised mates and Gahntuar had already shown how far he was willing to go for her. She didn't need to be worried that he was going to fertilize another female's eggs before he did hers!

When the silvery draine continued to regard the upset drake in silence, Gahntuar gave an upset whine. He pulled away from her dejectedly and started to get up to leave her in peace. But a slightly panicked yelp from her stopped him and she quickly used the opportunity to start licking his crest which he was still holding firmly to his cranium.

"I'll give you one more chance, you big oaf!" she scolded him, but the purring in her voice destroyed the illusion of anger she tried to convey. However, one thing was important enough to interrupt her delighted rumbles. "But, no more trysts behind my back, understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" he chirped quickly, returning her affection with eager licks to her neck as if to appease her.

"And one more thing!" she demanded with an authoritative growl.

"Ye-es?" Gahntuar asked worriedly, but very much eager to win back her trust.

"I have been alone for too long!" Lainah announced. "Now it is my turn to be filled with your seed!"

"As my Lúg'her commands!" Gahntuar growled eagerly and started to lick her directly on the snout.

Lainah crooned happily at that. 'Lúg'her' again! She was going to become very spoiled if everybody was going to be keeping this up. This may not have been quite the homecoming she had envisioned the past week, but all was well that ended well and she was not going to be wasting any more time on silly jealousy. Eagerly she returned Gahntuar's licks as well, also paying special attention to the finer scales on his neck and face. Their tongues brushed up against one another and without hesitation, they twisted their heads to lock fangs in a passionate kiss.

As their tongues danced together, Lainah became acutely aware of her body heating up as her desire took to the wing and reached unbearable heights. Gahntuar may have gotten off the night before with Laethia, but she had been abstinent for months and merely rubbing tongues together was not going to do it for her. With an impatient growl, she pulled away from him and started to get up to present herself to him for a mounting.

But to her utter shock, he gave her a sudden shove with his shoulder just as she was halfway onto her haunches. The action was so unexpected that she toppled over onto her side with a surprised squawk. With her crest raised in indignation, she glared back at Gahntuar as he got up onto his feet with a confident smirk. Indignation turned to complete confusion when he quickly stood up as well and turning to face her tail, started to push her flank with his snout to urge her to roll over even further. She complied and as she rolled, he stepped over her until she lay sprawling on her back between all four his legs. It kind of reminded her of the time she had mated his human, and though that was a very fond memory, this orientation seemed completely wrong to her, with their tails at different ends. Yet, the drake seemed to be satisfied, grinning down at her as he watched her from between his own forelegs.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a deep frown. She wasn't in the mood to be playing around! She wanted to be having sex! But now the silly drake had positioned himself in such a way that their groins were nowhere near one another! In fact, instead of between her own rear legs, he had placed his slit to be right above ... right above ... her head!

She snapped her gaze directly up and snorted in surprise when she saw his erection, dark red and already firm right in front of her face. She had never seen a male this exposed to her in all her life. In fact, she had never even thought one could be this exposed! Even as she watched, a drop of pre that had been accumulating at the very tip grew too heavy and dripped onto her snout. Suddenly, his arousal that she had somehow failed to notice was the only thing she could practically smell.

Her dawning comprehension and the following gasp of surprise must have been clearly written on her face, as Gahntuar started to chuckle softly.

"Is this another one of those strange human tricks?" Lainah asked with a smirk as she looked back down at him from across her stomach.

"Why should they have all the fun?" Gahntuar commented. He gave his hips a sudden shake and another few drops of pre splattered on the bridge of her snout. The situation was so absurd and yet it only served to drive her lust higher.

"So, what is so special about this position then?" she asked, forcing herself to sound casual as she returned her attention to the object of her desire. As she reached up to sniff at the exposed flesh, he crouched a little to put himself in even better reach for her. At this, her composure crumbled and she crooned in delight at his thoughtfulness. Still, it seemed a lot of trouble to go through for a simple cleaning to her.

"You'll see!" he replied and even though she could see nothing other than his groin at the moment, she could hear the mischievous grin in his voice.

She rumbled in delight as she took another deep sniff of his musk when, with a sudden pang of irritation, she detected the slight scent of Laethia on his penis. But it was to be expected and with a determined growl, she started to attack the organ with her tongue. She was not going to let that incident spoil her moment now, instead, she was going to make sure to obliterate the offending scent of her rival completely with that of her own.

Gahntuar, completely oblivious to the intentions of the female beneath him, crooned with delight as the soft tongue started to lap against his member and dropped his haunches even lower for her. With a croon of her own, she continued to lick eagerly at her mate's penis, smirking to herself to have the drake under her control even though he was standing over her. Suddenly emboldened, she curled her tongue around the shaft and carefully drew the engorged flesh in between her teeth.

She started to suck him off, but then suddenly she released a surprised gasp. The dick slipped from her lips with a wet plop and she stared surprised down her torso to where the drake had lowered his head into her lap as well. Only then did she realise that she was as exposed to him as he was to her, and what was more, he was in the perfect position to eat her out as well.

"Should have known!" Lainah growled, but a delighted croon to her voice spoiled her mock irritation. Gahntuar didn't stop licking at her velvety folds, only growled in mock irritation himself to remind her of her duty.

"Alright, you big whelp!" Lainah purred, lifting her snout back up into his groin. She gave his penis another few quick licks before resuming her cleaning duty with gusto.

They remained like that for several minutes, the slurping and moaning when their partner discovered a particularly sensitive spot being the only sounds that could be heard. This position was surprisingly very enjoyable, she decided and for a moment wondered what other delights the humans had come up with. However, though she could spend quite a while longer like this, their current positions did not hit that particular spot that she needed to be rubbed.

"Alright, enough of this!" she suddenly announced as she spat him out. "As enjoyable as this is, I want your dick where it belongs. Now!"

Gahntuar growled excitedly at that, though he still gave the inside of her vagina a last few licks. She was about to start arguing when he pulled out and twisted around without letting her get up.

"Are we going to mate like this again?" Lainah growled as Gahntuar settled down on top of her, pressing his chest firmly against hers. "It is difficult to tie this way if I remember correctly."

"But not impossible, I think!" Gahntuar dismissed her concerns, reaching his snout down to nuzzle her throat with an affectionate purr.

"Silly drake!" Lainah purred, returning the nuzzle as her tail found his to curl around. "How about asking that human of yours if there is a position where I'm in charge?"

"That actually does exist!" Gahntuar rumbled, chuckling when her face lit up in interest. "I'll show you some other time! But for now, I want to watch your face as I reaffirm my mateship with you!"

Gahntuar rubbed his hips around in search of her opening, but since this was such a strange position for dragons and his trusty human was not present, he was forced to sit up again and reach down to position himself with a forepaw. It was easier than he thought and using his weight to his advantage, he entered her in quick order. When he looked back up from their joining genitals, he purred in delight when he noticed she was also staring transfixed where his flesh was spreading her folds. Her eyes snapped up when he purred and they continued to look at each other until his knot brushed up against her labia.

"I've never ..." Lainah started to say, but words failed her and instead she looked down at where Gahntuar's knot rested outside her body. Never in her life had she thought she would be able to see the dick busy mating her!

Gahntuar did not answer. Instead, he settled down on top of her again, blocking her view of their conjoined groins and with a delighted purr, he licked at her snout again. When she looked up at his face again, he pressed his lips to hers and pushed his tongue forward. She accepted his kiss, delighting in the fact that she could taste herself on his tongue.

Then he shifted! His penis slid wonderfully inside of her and with her eyes clenched tight, she broke the kiss to gasp loudly. He rumbled in delight, continuing at the gentle pace that sent her euphoria skyward at an amazing speed. Her forepaws grabbed around at the air until she found the hard scales of his shoulders and she latched onto him as if in desperation to hold onto something. Rumbling again in delight, Gahntuar increased his pace and Lainah moaned in ecstasy as the drake hit just the right spot.

Suddenly remembering that he was watching her face, she snapped her eyes open. Gahntuar was indeed watching her, smiling very satisfied with himself that he was able to bring the pleasure that she craved. She dared to smile back up at him and he took it as an invitation to go full out on her.

At this final speed, Lainah did not last very long. Her long overdue orgasm hit her and she wailed in delight. Her walls clamped down on him, locking his knot outside her body just as she had predicted. Still, the stimulation against his penis was enough for the drake and he whined in release as he came with her. With powerful jerks of his dick, he started to squirt his load into her. But just as her orgasm started to dwindle, he sat up and pulled his hips back. His dick slipped free easily and with another few strong jerks, he painted her belly with the last two squirts of semen.

She watched the precious liquid dribble in between her scales in disbelief.

"You missed!" she gasped, looking up at the drake in surprise. Though most of his load had ended up where it belonged, she found herself longing for the bit that was now cooling on her stomach. Still, with the euphoria of orgasm still muddling her mind, she could not bring herself to be upset.

"I don't think so!" Gahntuar replied as he inspected the mess he made. Then with a grin, he dutifully started to lick up most of the semen. Of course, some had already dripped beneath her scales and was completely out of his reach, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Dirty drake!" Lainah grumbled but allowed him to clean his mess off her. Still, his tongue would be completely inadequate. "Now I need to wash up, you know!"

"Why?" the drake rumbled seemingly half-interested as he was engrossed with his cleaning.

"Why?" the draine repeated indignantly. "To get the scent of seed off my scales. I doubt even a swim in the river is going to get the smell off me completely!"

"And that is a problem why?" he asked with a grin. Satisfied that Lainah was clean enough, he settled down over her again, looking earnestly into her eyes. "You are my chosen mate and I want everyone to know."

"Definitely a dirty drake!" Lainah scoffed. But then she suddenly remembered Laethia who had to wash up to avoid the others noticing to clearly and despite herself, she let slip a satisfied croon. "I'm sure there are other ways to let them know."

"Maybe," Gahntuar agreed, rubbing his snout against hers. "But no better way, I think. Actions do speak louder than words!"

"That they do!" she agreed, accepting a kiss eagerly from him.

Maybe ... she wouldn't be washing up after all!

***

"Today, we will be starting with our flying tactics!"

Lekreh turned his head slowly to regard the fifteen dragons and one gryphon who were sitting on their haunches in a semicircle around him and Glenn. It surprised him how quickly their numbers had swelled after the Lúgroccae had come to the Amber Tower. However, after their initial growth spurt, interest in them seems to have waned slightly and for the past three months, there hadn't been any new tetrapod recruits who came to join them. The riders on the other wing were coming to them in drips and drabs as usual, and though he understood that there were still several en route to them, the first of them weren't expected for at least another two weeks. Which was actually fine with him. The present tetrapod trainees were all fit and the riders they had were properly broken in, so now that there was no-one left to hold them back, they could start with the truly fun stuff.

Though the trainees were standing at attention as was expected of them, there was still a sense of excitement that resonated through the group. Several of the ten tetrapods who were equipped with proper saddles tried to check their equipment covertly, nudging for assistance at their assigned riders, who in turn were standing at attention slightly in front of their steeds. The five remaining dragons who didn't have assigned training riders yet wore the old harnesses, though each dragon had an additional weighted bag attached to the leather straps to simulate the presence of a rider for their training flight.

"I understand that dragons tend to grapple with each other when fighting in mid-air," the golden gryph started. "Which we will be developing on a later stage. But for now, we will be focusing on manoeuvrability and fluid combat!"

Lainah next to him quickly translated for him in her crisp manner, even though the dragons there could by now follow the lessons from their tutors to some degree. By now, Laethia was more than capable to help with explaining the more difficult terms or to help with a question when one of the dragons was not sure how to ask. But the silver draine insisted on reassuming her old role again, much to the annoyance of the darker female.

As Lainah was translating a question about using forward momentum in a tight turn, Gahntuar cast a worried glance at the other draine. Laethia was sitting alone at the corner of the training ground, looking like she had been pushed aside as she sat there sulking to herself like a little hatchling. Which of course wasn't the case at all. In all honesty, she had become such an integral part of the Lúgroccae development that all the trainees treated her with the same respect as one of their mentors.

However, the thorn in their side came from the rumours that, as a previous mate of the Lúg'hir, Laethia had supplanted Lainah as his mate. So with her return from the Peninsula two days prior, the drake and draine were quick to try and squash these rumours. But with the insistent silver draine on one wing, the intensive training on the other, and running the entire thing in the middle, not to mention trying to keep the unwelcoming gryphon aery to the west appeased as well, there hadn't been much time left to him to do much more than have a quick chat with her. Of course, the dark draine claimed that she was glad that he and Lainah were together again, but even as busy as he was he could see that something bothered her about the current turn of events. He didn't want to lose her and he had told her as much, but he also didn't want to break his promise to his current mate either. He doubted they would come to blows but still, he should try to make time to speak to both of them together. He needed both their support.

"Therefore, for today's exercise, we will be playing the old-fashioned game of chase!" Lúg'her Lekreh announced with unnecessary flare, drawing his attention back to the lesson at hand. "You will be paired up into groups of two dragons, even those who do not have riders yet. For the first ten minutes, the one dragon-rider pair will try to escape while the other is to remain with them for as long as possible. After ten minutes, Roccan'her Eric will be ringing the bell and you are to switch roles. We will be repeating this every ten minutes for the whole exercise this afternoon."

"The riders need to keep an eye on your opposition at all times!" Roccan'her Glenn added. "It is your job to make sure you don't lose sight of them and to warn your steed of any movements they are making. You are the eyes on the back of their head so to speak."

"Does everyone understand?" Lekreh asked. When he received several eager nods and confirmations, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Alright then, pair off with the dragon next to you!"

The group of dragons started to pair off as requested, and Glenn quickly stepped in to start breaking a few dragons up she did not approve of.

"No, you two, split up!" she commented, pointing to two younger drakes each with a sack for a rider. "Yes, you two as well. I don't want two rider-less dragons training against one another. And the two of you definitely need to break up!" she smirked as she approached Amaren and Tembarah. "You know each other too well and will make this whole exercise pointless."

"But sir, won't it be an unfair advantage to the dragons with riders?" Jerielle commented, speaking in a flawless common and making Lainah blink for a moment in surprise at her.

"If this was a contest, yes!" Lekreh agreed without missing a beat. "But this is an exercise in movement and communication between rider and steed. So I need a rider per competing pair at least." He suddenly smirked. "Once you have the basic manoeuvres in order, we will be playing something the humans call Capture-the-Flag, and then we will be more careful in dividing you up in teams."

"Yes, sir!" the red draine quickly accepted his explanation, giving Gahntuar who she was paired up with a playful glare.

"Everybody ready?" Glenn called out. "Good. Mount up!" She put action to word herself and quickly mounted Lekreh as the trainees rushed to obey. "Lúg'her Lekreh and I will be up there with you to asses your skills and advise where you can improve, so you are to remain within direct line of sight of the camp at all times. Is everyone strapped in?"

"Alright then," Lekreh announced, shaking his wings one last time before take-off. "Everyone: To wing!"

The group of dragonriders took off in a flurry of snapping sails. They had barely cleared the roof of the main barracks when each pair of dragons darted off in their own direction. As Lainah watched them chase one another like whelps who had learned how to fly for the first time, she felt a pang of longing to join them. For a moment she considered asking to participate in the training, but then dismissed the thought as she felt an itch between the fingers of her forepaws.

"Still not joining?" Roccan'her Eric suddenly asked as if he had read her mind.

"There is no buddy for me to pair up with," the silver draine quickly excused herself, rubbing at a spot on her one forepaw. She caught the nervous tick of hers and forced herself to stop, glancing covertly at the equine next to her. But he was so engrossed with watching the dragons start to spread out that he didn't seem to have noticed.

"I wouldn't say that!" Laethia suddenly commented, disdain audible in her voice. "The dragon with the gryphon is at a serious disadvantage."

Lainah glared at the darker draine as she approached them as well, the silver draine's crest immediately snapping up in hostility. Laethia did not back down, holding the angry gaze and slowly raising her own crest in a wordless acceptance of the challenge.

"I am not interested in taking a rider in the foreseeable future!" Lainah growled firmly, not daring to back down either.

"And why not?" Laethia insisted, not letting up. "Wouldn't that be the most effective way to support Your Mate in what he is trying to do here?"

"Don't you dare insinuate that I am not supporting Gahntuar!" the silver draine snarled, taking a slight step towards the other draine. "I am a loyal mate who will be by his side no matter what. Nothing and No-one will come between us!"

Laethia immediately noticed the barely concealed accusation and she also stepped forward with a furious snarl of her own.

"Ladies ..." Roccan'her Eric tried to ease the tension between them, but the two dragons completely ignored the equine with them.

"Then why not take part in the training?" Laethia snapped, sensing a possible kink in the other draine's protection. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" the silver draine insisted, but a slight squeak to her voice betrayed the lie.

"LADIES!" Roccan'her Eric snapped firmly before the darker draine could react, stepping in between them to break their fight up.

Both dragons turned to snarl angrily at him, but to everyone's surprise, he barely was phased by the two dragons baring their teeth at him. He only took a slight step back to put himself in a more defendable stance as his old slayer instincts kicked in. Immediately, he noticed the various weaknesses in their stances and what he should do to avoid an attack from either of them. Laethia was leaning too much forward in a display of false bravado and as such, she would have a hard time adjusting her weight if he was to move quickly to the side. Lainah on the other hand was ... The old slayer tensed in surprise when he noticed that the silvery draine was very surefooted and at that moment he doubted if he would not survive if she chose to attack.

Luckily, his sudden defensive stance reminded the two draines that this stallion had been at one time a very successful dragonslayer, who was risking much for their sake when he had given up his trade to join them. And as such, their sudden hostility towards him faded significantly, though they still regarded each other with barely concealed annoyance.

"If both of you want to help Lúg'hir Gahntuar," the stallion continued firmly, not letting his nerves show "you'll sort whatever this is between the two of you out peacefully! The Lúg'hir has been working hard to get all the dragons here to stop contesting each other for dominance and everything will be for nought if the two draines he cares for most start fighting each other! He needs both of your support, and if you don't work together, you can destroy everything we have here!"

"Sure," Laethia growled unconvinced but still willing to concede the point for Gahntuar's sake. With a last glare at the silvery draine, she turned and stalked away back to one of the smaller huts higher up the slope they were using as a kind of main office.

"I haven't done anything wrong here!" Lainah growled indignantly at Roccan'her Eric when her rival had departed.

"Nor have you done anything right either!" the equine insisted, folding his arms annoyed across his chest. "From what I understand there is nothing strange about a drake taking two mates, so what is the matter now?"

"It's ... complicated!" Lainah growled but looked away from him. He had a point there that she couldn't deny.

Sensing the fight had left her, he decided it might be best to change the topic.

"I've noticed that you have a strong combat stance there," he commented, turning his attention back to the thunder of dragons up in the sky. He tried to pick out the Lúg'hir, but the dark drake was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

"Um ... thanks?" Lainah replied a little unsurely.

"No, I mean it!" Roccan'her Eric insisted, looking back at her. "I think you may even be the most dangerous dragon I've ever met. I could really use your help with the close-quarter training tomorrow, you know."

"I ... don't know," the silver draine muttered weakly, lifting a forepaw and flexing her digits slightly as if inspecting the scales between her fingers.

"Please?" the equine insisted. "I can see there is a lot of things that the other dragons can learn from you. And," he suddenly added with a smirk "it will keep that black draine off your back for not doing anything."

At that, Lainah had to smile.

"I guess I can try at least once," she agreed, putting her forepaw down and looking up to see Gahntuar finally appearing as he chased Jerriele down.

Maybe ... they were right! Maybe, it might be a good idea to become more active.

***

Amaren carefully stepped to one side as he and Lainah circled one another. As he was taught, he gave a glance at where she had placed her weight. But he dared not linger too long on how she had positioned her feet, quickly snapping his focus up at her snarling snout again. He returned her snarl with equal ferocity, not wanting to be outdone by her.

He started to give another, carefully considered step and she mirrored him in kind. That was when he decided to strike. With a snarl, he pounced forward, aiming to strike her across the snout and force her to retreat. But he did not commit fully to the strike though. Their claws had been padded for their safety, but the force of such a hit would still leave a nasty sting that would be felt for the rest of the day. Still, the silver draine his sire was mated to presently had made it clear that he was not to hold back, so he still followed through with his attack.

With experience honed over several years now, Lainah saw the attack in the shift of his feet. Even as he leapt at her, she moved gracefully into his attack and blocked his raised paw with her wing. This caused his strike to land awkwardly, taking most of the strength out of it. Still, Lainah was not done and as he made contact, she continued her forward movement with a shove of her shoulder against his chest at only a slight angle to his movement. As he felt his own momentum shift in a way he had not intended, he flapped a wing to desperately try and regain his balance, but she gave him the final nudge with a flick of the wing that had caught his forepaw and he was sent toppling to the ground with a startled squawk.

Before he could do much more than cough, Lainah struck back at him, her claws finding his throat easily. She stood there for a moment, leaning her weight a little onto his neck. Of course, it was nothing dangerous, but it was still rather uncomfortable and humiliating to him.

"Once you commit to a strike," she announced to the group of trainees assembled around the sparring pair "it is nearly impossible to alter your direction of attack unless, of course, it was a bluff you planned from the start!" She gave the beaten drake another squeeze before she released him, stepping back so that he could get up. He shot her an upset glare as he did, but she only returned it with an innocent smirk before turning her attention back to her pupils. "Rather than absorbing the power of the strike, use it against your opponent to send him where you want him to go." She turned her attention back to Amaren, though she spoke for everyone to hear. "Now, let's try that again, only slower and I'll show you how it works."

At her direction the young drake moved to lunge at her again, only this time he moved slowly, allowing the others gathered around them to see how the draine moved to block his attack. When they made contact, she had Amaren stop still so that she could instruct the audience how the wingpalm slid past the attacking claw, how the flightfingers are held bunched together against the main wingarm, where the wingthumb hooked around the shoulder of her opponent and how to shove the attacker off balance. Amaren moved awkwardly as he couldn't put his weight into the attack and keep it moving slowly as was required of him. Which made the shock of the moment all the more stinging when Lainah suddenly shoved her shoulder hard into his chest again and with the flick of her wing, threw him hard to the ground.

Amaren bit back an angry growl as he got to his feet, but still shot the silver draine a dirty look before his discipline kicked in again and he wordlessly reassumed his position opposite her. He was already barely standing as it were ... was it really necessary to throw him that hard to the ground when he was not fully committed to the strike? But she was his mentor now, and he had to swallow his pride and take the beating.

"The secret here is to position your opponent in such a way so that he cannot strike again or defend himself from a strike of your own!" Lainah continued as if oblivious to her sparring partner's irritation. "Let me show you what I mean. Sal'Lúg Amaren, please continue at full speed again!"

The drake hesitated momentarily, but still prepared himself for his lunge again. Lainah considered Gahntuar's eldest hatchling as he crouched again. Secretly, she was impressed with his self-control and dedication to the training, still following orders willingly even after the trip-tailed trick she had just pulled on him. The training they were receiving from Lekreh, Glenn and Eric were doing wonders for them and not just for their military prowess. But she forced herself not to show any emotion as it would hinder the other lesson she and Roccan'her Eric had talked about. Therefore, she purposefully reminded herself that this was Laethia's offspring that she was facing, and as he lunged at her, she grabbed him again and threw him to the ground as hard as she could.

"Even when just off-balance, your opponent will leave an opening for you to exploit!" the silver draine announced as she pressed his face firmly into the dirt with her padded claws. "Again!"

This time, Amaren did growl at the unnecessary heavy-pawed treatment he received, but still, he dutifully got to his feet. As ordered, he lunged at her again, only this time he attacked her from the other side. The sudden change in tactic did not catch Lainah off guard and instead, his other side met the hard ground with a heavy thud.

"The same manoeuvre works as effectively on either side of your body!" Lainah announced after rubbing his face in the dirt once again as if they both had planned that all along.

Amaren wiped his snout with a forepaw, growling to himself as his crest quivered in agitation.

"Again!"

Five more times Lainah had Amaren strike at her, and despite trying various tricks by now to get past her defence, the drake always ended up on the ground with the draine pressing down on his snout or neck or once even his own horns! As was to be expected, his inability to land even a glancing blow, as well as the resentment Lainah was treating him with, was starting to get on his nerves. As she released him from her pin yet again, he sprung up with a frustrated snarl and spun around to bare his teeth at her. Whether it was just a threatening display or if he truly intended to spit fire, he was not entirely sure himself. But that was exactly what the silver draine was waiting for.

Lainah reacted immediately striking out at him herself and grabbing him by his half-opened jaw. Shocked at the sudden reversal, Amaren squeaked in distress and tried to pull back from her. However, Lainah did not let him go and he was forced to stand there as she held him firmly.

"And you are dead!" Lainah growled menacingly. She held the hatchling of her rival by the jaw for a moment longer to make sure what she said sunk in, before releasing him. Though it had taken longer than she had expected, she had eventually gotten the reaction she wanted so there was no point in continuing to push him.

"Never use your fire in close-quarter combat!" she stated firmly and she turned to the surprised crowd around them. "It will only get you killed!".

"We all know that damage to the fireoil ducts can be dangerous," Jerriele replied, sounding a little dubious at what Lainah was saying. "But surely it is not that lethal!"

"Ask Lúg'hir Gahntuar how long the dragon whose fireoil duct he ripped open survived!" Roccan'her Eric, who was standing silently to one side, suddenly commented aloud.

"He was dead within thirty seconds!" Gahntuar growled in annoyance. Though it was not clear if it was the memory of the dragon's death, how Lainah was handling the lesson, or even that Amaren had resorted to spitting fire at his mentor that he was not impressed with. Still, it was clear that he understood the importance of the current lesson, so he swallowed whatever it was that irked him as he retold his experience of that first night of the siege to the growing horror of the group listening. "The oil exploded onto his face causing him to suffocate in his own fire!"

"I ... I am so sorry, Lúg'her Lainah!" Amaren muttered, his crest held completely flat in utter humiliation as he rubbed self-consciously at his jaw. "I don't know what came over me."

Lainah turned around to regard the apologetic drake and for a moment, Laethia was completely forgotten. As the young drake glanced worriedly between her and his father in the crowd, she suddenly saw him as Gahntuar's son and a sudden deep regret at her actions overcame her. Yes, it may have been necessary to get that reaction from him, but had she maybe not gone too far with him because he was Laethia's son? Deep down, she knew that she had found it deeply satisfying to beat down her rival's son, so was she really the right dragon for the job?

Then again, there was no-one else who could do it, so to keep them safe she had to ignore her doubts and push forward. With a sigh to calm her rising self-loathing, she ignored the sudden itch on her forepaws and looked up from her paw to smile reassuringly at the worried drake as she used to do long ago before they came to the Amber Tower.

"As Lúg'her Lekreh had told you long ago: Reacting to your anger will only get you killed," she said, speaking softly to comfort the young drake, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. "That was an instinctive reaction and one that I needed to provoke you into. Therefore," she suddenly added, again in a firm voice she directed to everyone in the vicinity "like the air-sickness we've trained out of the riders, we will have to train this reaction out of you!"

"Alright, everybody in position!" Roccan'her Eric suddenly called and the trainees scrambled to assume their positions. Even Amaren quickly fell into line, seemingly having accepted Lainah's apology and now eager to try out the block himself. When they were ready, the stallion gave a satisfied whinny. "Now then, just like Lúg'her Lainah showed you, I want you to try it on each other! First, one dragon will strike while your sparring partner needs to block, and then you will switch roles. When you switch back, you will go through the exercise with the other wing, understood? Good, now go slowly at first and Lúg'her Lainah and I will correct any mistakes you are making. Ready, and strike..."

***

Lainah was quite satisfied with herself as she flew back to the cave she and Gahntuar had claimed as their lair when they first arrived at the Amber Tower. In fact, she was in such high spirits that she was seriously considering a passionate mating with both her mate and his rider. She hadn't had sex with the human since that first time several months ago and she was strangely very much in the mood to play with the little mammal.

But that will have to wait sadly. Their training had barely been completed when another urgent message from the archmagus called them back to the Tower to meet with a very upset delegation from the nearby gryphon aery. Unlike the gryphons from the Peninsula, these wild gryphons did not want to tolerate the presence of dragons anywhere near their territory. But with the agreement from the archmagus Merec had managed to secure, there was very little the jigsaws could do about it. So in an attempt to discredit the dragons, they continued to find things to complain about, even though those accusations were often false to start with.

So now Gahntuar and Merec again had to find a way to appease the irritating jigsaws and that would most likely take them the rest of the afternoon. Again. Lainah snorted to herself as she started her descend towards the cave. She dearly loved the dark drake, but in her opinion, Gahntuar had accepted the poor treatment of the humans on the Peninsula for too long and now he tried to resolve everything through diplomatically. If it were up to her, she would have made the gryphons clearly understand that they couldn't go anywhere else, so either they had to accept their presence or they had to relocate elsewhere.

But Gahntuar was Lúg'hir and he chose to stand back for the featherheads, so she simply had to trust that he knew what he was doing. It did not impact her that much, did it? Right now, this irritating meeting only meant that any playtime she had planned would have to be done in the Lúgroccan camp that night. As Lúg'hir and Roccan'hir, Gahntuar was expected to spend most of his nights in a hut specially built for him and Merec, and the silver draine still found it a bit awkward to spend the night in the direct vicinity of other civil species.

But today with the close-quarter training, she had finally managed to break through her self doubt she had been struggling with for the past few months. She had her concerns about not being able to teach the other dragons anything of worth, but seeing them master the simple but effective block was very much rewarding and she found herself looking forward to the next lesson she would be giving them. Maybe, it was time to put her other insecurities aside and properly join her mates in the human-built lair.

It would also go a long way in squashing the irritating rumours that Laethia was Gahntuar's true mate and she just a passing interest. She was planning on laying Gahntuar's clutch as soon as was naturally possible, which to her estimates would only be in another two years or so. And though Gahntuar and Merec should be a properly graduated Lúgroccan pair by then, she wanted the breeding to go smoothly. She was not going to be the first to test the flow of the winds when it came to caring for a clutch within the ranks of the Lúgroccae! So the sooner they started to think seriously about how they were to handle their dragon steeds taking mates, the better.

Lainah's good mood and dreams for the future suddenly evaporated like morning mists as she landed in front of her cave. Of all the creatures on Selebore, she had never expected to find Laethia's presence here. And not just in the nearby vicinity, but inside the cave. INSIDE HER CAVE!

"You have some nerve coming into my cave without my permission!" Lainah growled angrily as she stepped into the shadow cast by the deep overhang, not even bothering to greet the darker draine.

"I have some nerve?" Laethia commented with a growl as she lifted her head from the patch of straw she was laying on, also foregoing any form of greeting. "I am still territory owner I'll have you know, and it was hot out in the sun!"

"What is it that you want?" Lainah growled when she couldn't argue that point. Laethia was territory owner and had the right to enter any cave within her domain. But did she have to lie on their bed, where she and Gahntuar had reaffirmed their mateship only days ago? And surely, she could have had the decency to stand up when she talked to her!

"I came to tell you to leave Amaren and Tembarah alone!" the black draine growled threateningly. "If you have an issue with me, tell me to my face! Don't be a coward and take it out on my offspring!"

"What are you talking about?" Lainah snarled, trying to sound offended but she had a good idea what the other draine was accusing her of.

"I was there at the training just now!" Laethia informed her with a snarl of her own, finally getting up to face the silvery draine with her crest raised high in a challenge. "I saw how you picked on Amaren!"

"I did not pick on him!" Lainah snapped angrily and was surprised to find the half-truth actually tasted bitter on her tongue. She could have targeted any of the dragons there, but she had singled Amaren out because he was Laethia's first-hatched! Still, she tried to excuse her decisions, both to herself and the black draine in front of her who was practically blowing smoke by now. "We needed him to react instinctively like that to get them to understand how easily they can react without thinking. They need to understand or they will only get themselves killed!"

"But why him?" Laethia insisted, stepping up close to Lainah and pushing her snout right into the silver draine's face. "That Erhon can do with a little more humility I think! He is more at risk of losing self-control during a fight!"

"And Amaren cannot?" Lainah growled back, not giving an inch of ground to the black draine. "Everyone knows that Amaren is Gahntuar's son, and it will be good for no one if I play favourites!"

"I am not asking you to play favourites!" Laethia snapped "but unfairly picking on someone will also be bad for morale!"

"And what makes you think I am picking on anyone!" Lainah insisted indignantly, fully aware that it was exactly what she had done but unwilling to admit it.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Laethia growled, actually snapping her jaws at the silvery draine. "I said I was there when you pushed him around like that. There was no reason to be so aggressive towards him!"

"I did what I had to!" Lainah continued to insist, also giving a snap of her jaws back at the black draine.

"You did more than you had to and you know it!" Laethia shouted. "I know you know you had gone too far because I saw it in your eyes! You had that guilty look as usual when you stared at your claws as you do so often!"

"I ..." Lainah hesitated, the first kink in her protection starting to show. Out of habit, she dared a quick glance at her claws and her rival quickly pounced on that moment of weakness.

"Just like that!" the black draine growled, stepping a little away as if she had won the argument. "You will stop attacking me with trip-tailed tricks behind my back or I'll make sure you are thrown out of my territory!"

That turned out to be the wrong thing to say. As the dark draine turned to leave, the silver one jumped in front of her to block her way.

"I need to stop using trip-tailed tricks behind your back?" Lainah hissed furiously, a wisp of smoke finally curling from one nostril. "And what about you? Getting everyone to send me back to the Peninsula so that you can seduce my mate while I'm away?"

"I didn't do that!" Laethia insisted stubbornly. To her surprise, she found the half-truth actually tasted bitter on her tongue. She had always insisted to the two of them that she did not want to come between Gahntuar and his mate, but in truth, she wanted him for herself. In all honesty, she actively did nothing to stop the spreading of rumours that she was the Lúg'hir's true mate.

"Don't lie to me!" Lainah snapped her jaws at Laethia's face. "You still smelled of him when I got back, even though he asked you to wash his scent off! Great Gullivarth, if I had decided to push through instead of rest for the night, I would probably have found the two of you tied together, wouldn't I?"

"No!" Laethia insisted instinctively, but a furious glare from the silvery draine forced the truth meekly from her. "Yes;"

"He is MY mate!" Lainah snarled accusingly "and you still took him for yourself!"

Laethia did not reply this time, only glanced away from the angry draine with her crest held low in shame. This seemed to appease the silver draine a little, and she stepped away from her rival to allow her to leave again.

"I'll stay away from you and Amaren," she declared with false authority gained from what she considered a higher moral ground. "But you will stay away from me and Gahntuar!"

That, in turn, was also the wrong thing to say. As the silver draine turned away from her rival, the black one seemed to regain her determination.

"NO!" she growled in obvious threat, crest raised again in a challenge.

"What?" Lainah hissed, crest also raised in challenge.

"I will not stay away from Gahntuar!" Laethia insisted, taking a threatening step towards her rival. "I have lost him once! Now that I have found him again, I will never let him go!"

"That wasn't a suggestion!" Lainah hissed, a thick plume of smoke now curling freely from her nostrils. "If I smell you on him again, I'll rip you to shreds! Territory owner or not!"

"You cannot force us to stay apart!" Laethia hissed back, smoke starting to escape from her half-opened maw as well.

"And you think you can force us apart?" Lainah growled, raising herself to stand tall on all fours. It was the final display of dominance, one reserved only for territory owners. "I have said enough! Now leave!"

"Make me!" Laethia hissed, as she crouched low to the ground in preparation for the coming fight.

Without another word, the dark draine screamed in fury and flung herself at the silver draine. However, thanks to her long years of self-isolation she was badly out of shape and on top of that, her attack was so emotionally charged that Lainah could see it coming even before she lunged. Without even considering the situation, the silvery draine raised her wing to block the poorly executed attack. Following through just as she had taught the trainees barely twenty minutes ago, she sent her rival sprawling onto the ground with a simple flick of her wing.

Also emotionally charged, Lainah did not hesitate as she rose onto her hind legs.

"HE IS MINE!" She screamed enraged as she leaned her full weight into her attack.

Laethia squeaked in absolute terror as she saw the silvery draine crash down on top of her. At that moment, she couldn't do more than flinch in on herself, closing her eyes at her approaching death. The ground shook as her rival crashed down, and it took several fearful seconds for the black draine to realize that the deadly attack did not land. With a pathetic whimper, Laethia opened her eyes to see that Lainah's paws had crashed down on either side of her face. Regretfully, she dared to glance up at the silver face which hovered above her own. She fully expected to see Lainah snarling at her in victory, her point completely proven.

But instead of rage, the silver draine stared wide-eyed down at her, as shocked as the dark female was at the ease of her defeat. It was made all the worse as a sense of horror started to visibly come over the silver dragon. Horror, which slowly melted into a deep disgust at what she had nearly done. What she was willing to do!

"I ..." Lainah whimpered, sounding like a scared hatchling as she started to back away from Laethia. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ..." She tripped on nothing in particular, falling heavily onto her haunches. For a moment she caught sight of her forepaws again and with a horrified expression raised them with her palms turned towards herself.

"Lainah?" Laethia asked softly as she dared to get up again. In all honesty, she was still terrified of the silvery draine, but looking at how the other draine was staring at her flexing claws as if seeing them for the first time, the darker female could sense that something was very wrong.

"I-I should go ..." Lainah whimpered as she seemed to suddenly come back to her senses.

"Lainah, wait!" Laethia called, a deep sense of guilt and true regret crashing into her as she watched the spirit of her brother's mate collapse in front of her.

But the silver draine did not stay to listen and had already turned around. Not daring to look back, Lainah rushed outside and took flight even as she fled. Laethia rushed after her and was just in time to see her descend to a familiar spot by a stream a little higher up the valley from the Lúgroccan camp.

"What have I done?" Laethia gasped as Lainah disappeared from view. Over the past few months, since her brother had returned to her, she had hoped of somehow getting rid of the silver draine. But now that her wish seems to have been fulfilled, the reality was proving to be not what she had imagined.

Without hesitating, she started to run down the hill to where she saw Lainah land. She had long ago accepted the fact that she would never fly again, but now for the first time in years, she cursed once more that she had lost that ability. She had to make this right before it was too late.

***

Laethia managed to catch up with Lainah by the little stream just above the Lúgroccan camp. Ironically, it was the exact spot where she and Gahntuar had first mated again after being reunited and to where they had often returned to relieve some of the pressures of organizing the Lúgroccae. Only, this time there was no moping Gahntuar. Instead, she found Lainah sitting directly in the stream, busy washing her claws in the fast-moving water as she whimpered something softly to herself. Either she was too preoccupied with her cleaning, or the clattering of the water over the flat stones was too loud, but she did not notice Laethia's approach until the black draine was nearly on top of her.

"Lainah?" Laethia asked, genuinely worried at the strange behaviour. "What's wrong?"

Lainah squeaked in alarm. When she looked up over her shoulder, Laethia was shocked yet again to see that the strong, dangerous draine she had always known was gone, replaced with nothing more than a little hatchling who was scared of the night. Like a flash, Lainah jumped from the water and tried to flee again, but this time Laethia was ready for her. She tackled her before the silver female could get airborne. Lainah was such an emotional wreck that, despite her superior fighting skills, Laethia easily managed to overpower her rival and completely pin her to the river bank.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Lainah whimpered, scrambling half-heartedly to get away from the black draine.

"Lainah?" Laethia asked a little more firmly, finally laying directly on top of the silver draine belly to belly, in an attempt to get her to stop squirming. "What's wrong?"

But still, Lainah did not respond. Instead, she continued to squirm and beg for mercy she seemed to think she did not deserve. Exasperated, Laethia eventually started to lick her on the snout as if she was a scared hatchling. That seemed to work, for the silver draine immediately stopped trying to escape and became limp beneath her, crying loudly. For the next few minutes, Laethia continued to comfort her wordlessly until the other draine finally started to calm down a bit.

"Lainah?" Laethia tried again when the other draine had calmed down enough. "What's wrong?"

"I ... I am a horrible creature!" Lainah managed to sob. "I don't deserve to be happy!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Laethia gasped, startled by the admission. "I am the one who should be sorry!"

To her surprise, Laethia caught Lainah staring at her own claws again as she spoke. That same look of awkward self-consciousness lit up in her eyes, but for the first time, the black draine suddenly recognized that other emotions were whirling within her eyes. Loathing and regret and ... fear.

Did the silvery draine that loved Gahntuar, and who was loved by him actually fear her own claws?

"What's wrong?" Laethia repeated softly.

"They ..." Lainah swallowed hard before finally admitting it aloud for the first time. "They are still covered in blood!"

"Blood?" Laethia asked surprised, looking questioningly at the upraised claws the other draine was staring at. They looked clean to her, cleaner in fact than her own dirt-covered claws with bits of grass caught between the small scales. But one look at Lainah's expression made it clear that she was serious. She definitely thought they were bloody, so Laethia started to lick at the one she was inspecting.

"What are you doing?" the silver draine gasped surprised, yanking her paw away from the other draine's reach. But Laethia quickly trapped it with her remaining wing and pulled it closer to lick at it more forcefully.

"Tell me when they are clean then!" she commented between licks.

"They will never be clean again!" Lainah whined, half-heartedly trying to pull her paw back but it was caught firmly with the rather weak wing. "I cannot take back what I have done!"

"You've done nothing to me I didn't deserve!" Laethia reprimanded her, taking the time to nip at her as if she was a naughty hatchling. "I am the one who pushed you too far, the one who attacked first! I only cared about my own selfish desires and did not stop to think of what you are going through as well. Yes, Gahntuar told me about your eggs and I should have been more thoughtful about your feelings and not just focused on my own!"

"It ... it is not your blood ..." Lainah muttered a little dejectedly. At that, Laethia stopped licking at the paw to stare at her in surprise.

"Who ...?" she asked softly.

"Seg-Segrien ..." Lainah whimpered, looking away in shame.

Laethia blinked at her, even more surprised at the admission. Of all the things possible, she never thought that would be what the silver draine regretted most. "What?" she snapped astounded. "From what I heard, he got what he deserved! If it had been me, there wouldn't have been enough left of him to identify him by!"

"It is not ... not that I killed him," Lainah finally admitted as she started to sob again. "But how ... how I killed him! I ... I went too far. I - I'm a monster!"

"Enough of that!" Laethia reprimanded her with a stern nip at her snout. "You are not a monster! I know Gahnty very well and he wouldn't have stayed near you if you were!"

"But I tried to kill you as well!" Lainah whined, looking up at the black draine unconvinced. "I had every intention of doing the same to you ..."

"And I am the one who pushed you to it," Laethia reminded her sternly. "Even when you gave me the chance to walk away unscathed!"

"But I still went too far, again! I ..." Lainah started to argue, but Laethia silenced her with a gentle lick to the snout. If scolding her was not going to break her out of this melancholy, then maybe the black draine needed to approach this differently.

"Then I forgive you!" the dark draine whispered softly as she licked the other draine in a comforting gesture again.

"You what?" the silver draine gasped, staring up at her rival in disbelief.

"I forgive you for trying to kill me!" Laethia stated louder, though still in a gentle voice. "And I am sorry for trying to come between you and Gahntuar. Will you forgive me as well?" When Lainah only blinked up at her in confusion, she looked away in shame. "Yes, I admit I did try to come between the two of you, even though I told Gahnty otherwise."

"Why did you do that?" Lainah asked softly, sounding actually a little defeated by the admission rather than the anger that she was entitled to.

"I ... don't really know," Laethia admitted as she lay her head down on the silver neck, her crest still held flat in shame. "When we sent you back to the Garbanan, the intention wasn't to get rid of you. But when you were gone, he seemed so alone ... and I ... I just needed him again. I did not even hesitate to ask him to mate me, even though he was so worried about you that I had to" she chuckled at the memory "I had to practically crawl in beneath him before he performed."

"Were you in heat?" Lainah asked worriedly.

"No!" Laethia gasped, snapping her head up again to lock gazes with her. "No, it wasn't that. If that was the case I would have had a real excuse! I just ... after all this time alone I needed him. And ... I don't know ... him specifically!"

To the surprise of the black draine, Lainah suddenly reached her snout up to place a gentle lick at the soft scales of her neck. It was a very intimate touch and before she could catch herself, Laethia started to purr in delight.

"I ... think I understand," Lainah finally admitted with a soft smile of her own. "I felt the same right after the siege ... and when I returned a few days ago from the Peninsula. I cannot imagine how you must have felt, being alone for more than a decade. I forgive you, but will you forgive me for trying to horde him for myself?" This time, it was Laethia who look down at her in shocked surprise. "I mean, there is nothing wrong with previous mates sharing pleasures, is there? Civil species may argue the point but dragons do it all the time, so I don't know why the thought of you mating with him upset me so much. I guess ... after losing Jenour and the eggs, I didn't want to lose another mate."

"You won't lose him!" Laethia insisted with a grin. "And I'll help you make sure of that!"

"What if you come into heat again?" Lainah finally voiced her worry. "The two of you have conceived before, but not the two of us! And I want his clutch so badly, I'd ..."

"Kill for it?" Laethia smirked, but when Lainah wilted at that, she quickly apologized with a few licks to the soft scales on the silver draine's neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Don't worry, I won't keep you from having a clutch with him, I promise!"

"You aren't planning of having his clutch?" Lainah asked surprised.

"No, I do want to carry his clutch properly sometime in the future!" Laethia admitted shyly. "But from what I hear, you'll come into heat long before I do, so don't worry about that." She licked Lainah directly on the snout before she added with a purr: "So, share?"

"Share!" Lainah agreed with a deep purr of her own, returning the lick eagerly and not at all phased when their tongues brushed up against one another. However, at the contact, another thought occurred to her that made her giggle. "Although, we might be stretching him thin. You are aware he is mated to that human companion of his as well?"

"He is WHAT?" Laethia snapped in surprise, pulling her head back to stare in utter disbelief at the silver draine. Her stare and the indignant way her crest was rising and falling only made Lainah laugh harder.

"What?" she managed to gasp through the laughter she desperately needed. "He never told you?"

"No!" Laethia grumbled, upset at her little brother. "That horny little rascal! How long?"

"I don't know," Lainah admitted, finally calming down. "But they have been together long before I even met them."

"He is incredible, isn't he!" Laethia complained though she smirked down at the silver draine.

"That he is!" Lainah agreed with her new friend, a slight purr colouring her voice. "But we both love him, don't we?"

"That we do!" Laethia agreed with a deep purr.

The two draines smiled at each other, all hostility that had ever been between them completely gone. Their snouts drifted towards each other again for another nuzzle but before anything could happen, they were rather rudely interrupted by someone clearing his throat.

"I hope you are talking about me?" Gahntuar purred, smirking slyly at the two draines. The two in question squeaked in surprise and quickly scrambled off each other to sit up straight. They glared indignantly at the drake, and it was only when Lainah noticed that his ears were red with embarrassment that she realized she and Laethia had been in the exact position she and Gahntuar had mated in only two nights ago.

"I'm sorry for ... um... disturbing your moment together ..." Gahntuar added, confirming what Lainah thought he thought they were up to.

"We weren't ..." Lainah started to argue but was interrupted by the black draine who was also trying to find some excuse as to why they were ... like they were.

"We were just talking!" Laethia quickly added. She seemed also awkward and for a moment Lainah wondered if Gahntuar had mated her human-style as well. Then, to her delight, she suddenly realised that the thought did not sting her feelings anymore.

"Right!" Gahntuar smirked deviously. "But in all honesty, I'm quite happy to have found you like this."

"Lewd dragon!" Lainah growled. Then, hoping to change the topic she asked: "What are you doing here anyway?"

"He comes here regularly to think and to worry," Laethia informed her with a smile. Then, safe in the knowledge that Lainah was now comfortable with her relationship towards her mate, the dark draine tried to turn the tables against the drake. "And I come here regularly to mate with him!"

"In truth, I wanted to talk to you!" Gahntuar admitted a little awkwardly at the open admission from the dark female, glancing nervously at his mate. But he gave a very obvious sigh of relief when the comment did not upset Lainah again. "I've actually been meaning to get the two of you together so that we can talk seriously about my mateship with each of you, but the training and the gryphons from the Sentinel-rock Aery had me completely preoccupied! "

"You ... noticed?" Lainah whimpered a little worriedly.

"Yes, I did!" the drake admitted a little crestfallen. "It seemed like the two of you had trouble accepting each other. I was hoping to explain to you that I love you both dearly! Then, when I went to the cave to look for you, I scented both of you there and yet neither of you was anywhere to be seen. That had me worried and I followed Laethia's trail here! Did ... did anything happen in the cave?"

"NO!" both females quickly snapped, shooting each other a quick, meaningful glance.

"We had an argument, but we managed to sort it out!" Lainah quickly admitted appeasing the dubious frown on the drake's face.

"I'm glad you did!" Gahntuar stated with a happy chirp, shifting his haunches a little more comfortably "I don't want to lose either one of you! And I think it is good to see you making friends!"

"Not in that way!" Laethia growled, making Gahntuar laugh again.

"It was not like that!" Lainah started to argue, but Gahntuar interrupted her.

"Really, I don't mind it if you ... keep each other entertained!" he smirked.

"Nor should you, you lewd drake!" Laethia quickly interjected with a smirk. "I hear you do some interesting things with that human of yours!"

"I ..." Gahntuar gasped surprised, pulling his ears back and crest flat as the winds turned against him.

"I thought she knew, I swear!" Lainah quickly stated when the drake shot her a quick questioning glance.

"I know a draine who had an equine mate, so I don't care either way!" Laethia announced, purring to herself that she had turned the conversation against him. "Just, when were you planning on telling me about him?"

"I was going to," Gahntuar promised exasperated. "It just never came up!"

"Right?" Laethia purred dubiously.

"I promise!" Gahntuar insisted as he glanced away shyly. "It is just, we don't want the other Lúgroccae to know and follow our example. We've agreed that it might make things awkward in the future."

"You wanted to talk to me?" Lainah suddenly asked, coming to the rescue of her mate.

"Yes!" Gahntuar quickly jumped on the opportunity. "We met with the elders of the Sentinel-rock Aery again and they now insist that we are harassing them in addition to stealing their prey. They also claim that one gryphon was actually killed yesterday, and another badly injured by us. They have now threatened to escalate their grievances to the Circle of Five itself, but we've managed to appease them this time by agreeing that we will kick out the guilty dragon."

"Those impudent creatures!" Lainah growled angrily. "We haven't done anything to them! You should knock some sense into them and get them to realize that we have nowhere else to go!" The silvery draine suddenly realized what she suggested, and her crest started to wilt in renewed shame. But a quick rumble of agreement from the drake quickly lightened her mood a little again.

"I wish we could just bite them by the scruff of the neck and shake some sense into them," Gahntuar agreed "but it is not that simple! Merec and Harald insisted that how we handle this will determine what the rest of Selebore is going to think of us! And I'm agreeing wholeheartedly with them. So, I'm taking all the trainees to see these elders and to explain to them that they were all accounted for at the time of the supposed attack. Maybe, if the injured gryphon doesn't recognize his attacker from amongst our ranks, they will realise that we had nothing to do with these infringements on our agreement with them!"

"They are going to come to the Amber Tower?" Laethia asked surprised. Though the local gryphon aery considered itself the protectors of the Amber Tower, they rarely interacted with the people there and even she had only seen them once or twice in all her years living here.

"No," Gahntuar growled in obvious irritation. "They claim that the injured gryphon can't make the distance and there is obviously no way they are going to come here. Or allow us near their aery for that matter. So we have agreed to meet each other on completely neutral ground: It is a grove a few miles to the north of here." He regarded them both seriously for a moment. "Want to come?"

"I will only slow you down," Laethia grumbled. She glanced at Lainah to suggest that she accompany her mate, but then noticed that the silvery draine was again staring at her claws as she was awkwardly kneading at the ground. "And if Lainah is not necessary, she and I have some unfinished business to attend to!" she stated instead, her tone indicating that she would prefer if Lainah stayed behind.

"No, I ... we'll be okay on our own, I think!" Gahntuar quickly stuttered, the insides of his ears turning red again. He quickly got up and as he turned to leave, there was a quick flash of red visible between his haunches before his tail blocked the view. He started to leave, but then quickly turned to look over his shoulder again. "Though can I join in next time?"

"Off with you, Lúg'hir!" Laethia snarled in mock exasperation, making Gahntuar laugh heartily as he finally trotted away from them.

"He'll never change, will he?" Laethia smirked at Lainah, but her good cheer collapsed when she noticed the silver draine still looking down at her paws. She tried to do so covertly, but now that the black female knew what to look for, it was difficult to miss the action.

"Are they still bloody?" she asked softly.

"No!" Lainah answered quickly, looking up to see the other female look at her questioningly. Under the careful scrutiny, she gave in. "A little, I guess!"

Laethia leaned in to start cleaning her nearest paw again, but Lainah pulled it away before she could reach it.

"That won't help!" she scolded the black draine.

"But it will help if you allow me to help, I think!" Laethia replied seriously, looking up at the silver draine. "We both have lost much and have been alone for far too long. I think it will only help if we support each other."

"But I am a mon-" Lainah started to mutter as she looked away again. However, Laethia did not allow her to complete the sentence, interrupting her with an angry growl.

"We've been over this!" she stated firmly when the silver draine looked at her in surprise. "You are a strong, confident draine who will not leave her mate, even when Juinkarr itself is out to carve his heart from his chest. In fact, I admire your resolve to him!"

"But my first reaction to everything is to fight it out ..." Lainah started to argue but again she was interrupted by a quick nip from the other draine.

"As was mine, remember!" the black draine stated firmly.

"I guess," Lainah replied meekly, daring to smile again at the other draine. Laethia returned the smile but then snorted in annoyance when another thought occurred to her.

"So that infuriating golden gryph was right after all!" she grumbled, looking down the valley at where Gahntuar took off with said gryphon following closely behind him. When she looked back, she had to smirk at Lainah's questioning frown. "Don't you remember? He said that we are a proud species that instinctively resolve everything we don't agree with through violence."

"Gahntuar doesn't resolve everything through violence!" Lainah commented, also looking down the valley as more dragons leapt into the air and started to follow their Lúg'hir to the north.

"That is just how he is," Laethia rumbled happily at the fond memory of their whelphood. "Even since we were hatchlings, he preferred to avoid fighting and always chose the easy way out. Unless he was the cause of the trouble that is!"

Lainah laughed delightedly at the image of Gahntuar as a whelp getting into trouble. But she grew sombre again as she watched the last of the dragons disappear from view. "And now he is at the head of several dragons intent on striking back at the Umbrins!" she sighed worriedly.

"If there was one thing important to him, it was his responsibilities!" Laethia commented with a satisfied purr. "When he had first heard that I had conceived with him, he didn't hesitate before promising to help me raise the unexpected clutch. That, despite the dreams we both had of exploring the world before settling down on our own. He is leading the Lúgroccae because they follow him. If it wasn't for them or even his human companion, I guess he would have preferred to remain isolated in the Thirstlands." She was quiet for a moment, considering the empty skies again. "Strange! Looking at our situation from that point of view, I doubt any dragon other than him would have been able to get the Lúgroccae this far."

"But he cannot do this alone, can he?" Lainah asked worriedly.

"No, he can't!" Laethia agreed seriously, turning back to the silver draine to regard her. "But he isn't alone. He has his human, and those mentoring the recruits. And he has you ... and me. Only if we stand together can we do this!"

Lainah smiled at that, reaching her snout forward to nuzzle the dark draine's own.

"Together it is then!" she purred.

***

Gahntuar shook his head irritably, probably hoping to dislodge the annoying lump of metal he had to wear.

"Careful that you don't drop your helmet!" Merec smirked, making the drake growl in annoyance.

"Remind me why I had to wear this silly thing again!" Gahntuar growled back at his rider.

"Roccan'her Harald thought it would help you convey a sense of authority to the wild gryphons!" Merec did as he was requested.

"But there is nothing special about it!" the dragon grumbled, turning his attention back to the north.

"Alone, probably not!" Merec agreed. "But it is the only bit of dragon armour we have and the gryphons should recognize even that small bit as being part of a uniform. It might have helped if you wore it to the Amber Tower earlier."

"I doubt that!" Gahntuar growled, but then sighed in reluctant acceptance. "But it is at least worth a try, I guess!"

They continued to fly north, the monotony only broken by the odd flap of a wing.

"There they are!" Gahntuar suddenly announced.

"Good!" Merec sighed, though he sounded as reluctant as the dragon was. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to the camp!"

"Alright, everyone!" Gahntuar called back at the other dragons, wincing slightly as the back of the helmet pinched his neck slightly again. "Be on your best behaviour. I don't want to give these featherheads any more excuses to go complaining by the other Towers, understood?"

"Featherheads?" Lúg'her Lekreh called back to him in exasperation. "Really?"

"Unlike you, they don't want to listen to reason or talk about the issue, so yes!" Gahntuar replied to him so that all the dragons could hear. "They are featherheads!"

"Give them some leeway, sir!" Roccan'her Glenn commented from Lekreh's back. "They are wild gryphons after all!"

"And the ones on the Peninsula are not?" Kerron asked surprised from Tembarah's back.

"We, who moved to the Peninsula during the Shattering live closer to humans, so we are more affected by your customs!" Lúg'her Lekreh quickly explained. "The ones who remained behind in the Gherthon Mountains prefer to live more wild."

"Aren't all gryphons supposed to be some kind of guardians over all civil species?" Alex asked surprised, rubbing his steed's neck reassuringly as if to soothe the only other gryphon in their group. During the past few months of training, the two had grown very close to each other. It had been a good idea to pair them up instead when the initial assignments didn't seem to work.

"Yes!" Lekreh admitted. "But remember that the Gherthon gryphons see themselves as independent sentinels rather than ... servants. They are very proud of this fact and as such, tend to view themselves as being more in line with our divine calling."

"Right then!" Merec called to them. "The gryphons are already suspicious of us, so let's not keep them waiting!"

With a growl of agreement, Gahntuar dove into a steep descend. The rest of the dragons quickly followed, and they landed orderly in the small meadow behind their Lúg'hir. Gahntuar waited patiently until he could not hear anyone else land behind him, before approaching the gryphon delegation with a confident stride. As agreed beforehand, Lúg'her Lekreh joined him while the rest of the Lúgroccae remained where they had landed.

"Elder Fakiss!" Gahntuar growled, bowing his head in dishonest respect at the group of six gryphons who in turn regarded the assembled dragons with distrustful gazes.

"Lizard!" one greying gryph replied with a distasteful clack of his beak. The Elder's eyes did flick up momentarily at the helm Gahntuar wore, but though it seemed to have put him slightly on edge, he didn't allow its presence to affect his actions.

"As we had agreed at the Amber Tower, these are the new dragons who have taken up residence here and have started to train with us!" Gahntuar continued to try and be courteous, although he visibly had to bite back an annoyed growl when the gryphon still refused to return the respect. "Let your eye-witness come forth and you shall see that it is not us who is raiding your hunting grounds and attacking your flock!"

At a quick series of chirps from the elder, a seriously wounded gryphon limp forward. Gahntuar stepped to the side to allow him to have an unobstructed view of all the dragons present, and for a moment there was a flash of gratitude from the wounded creature. But it quickly faded away to deep-seated fear again as he locked eyes with the dragon. So instead, he quickly looked over the other dragons assembled a few meters away, making an obvious effort to remain well out of their reach.

"The ... the blue drake at the back," the gryphon started to squeak unsurely.

Surprised, Gahntuar looked around towards the indicated dragon.

"Ekriel?" he called loudly and with an air of authority that promised severe consequences if he wasn't obeyed. "Step forward!"

"He's lying!" the young blue drake squeaked in alarm. "You know it wasn't me, sir!"

"I said: Step Forward!" Gahntuar repeated, making it obvious that he was not going to ask again. Though he sounded extremely annoyed at not being obeyed immediately, the Lúg'hir was secretly very impressed with the dragons around him who stepped a little inward as if to close ranks around their comrade. With a worried gulp, Ekriel stepped forward as ordered while the wolf on his back continued to loudly protest their innocence.

"You say this is the one?" Gahntuar growled, turning back to glare at the elder. This time he did not even attempt to hide his contempt for the gryphon. He was fully aware that the accused dragon was innocent and was already planning how to tear the witness's statement to shreds. Ekriel was after all being disciplined at the time for another of those unnecessary fights he had to break up again.

"If Peroll says it is ..." elder Fakiss started to hiss in a challenge.

"It is not him!" the injured gryphon whined worriedly.

"Are you sure?" elder Fakiss hissed, turning his anger on the frightened gryphon and actually taking a threatening step towards him.

"Well, at least someone dares to speak the truth here!" the wolf on Ekriel's back snapped angrily.

"Enough!" Merec snapped back at the wolf. When the upset murmurs of the assembled Lúgroccae died down, he returned his attention to the gryphon delegation. "Intimidating your own witness, elder?" he asked, obviously not in the least impressed with how the elder was handling the situation.

"How dare you, human?" Fakiss hissed insulted. "Are you insinuating that I am lying?"

"No," Merec commented coolly. "It is obvious that your gryphon had suffered a dragon attack. But it wasn't ..."

"Then you will keep that stubby nose of yours out of things that do not concern you!" the elder hissed.

That was too much for Gahntuar, who had done admirably this far to keep his composure.

"My patience is wearing thin, elder!" he hissed with a dangerous growl as he took a step directly at the gryphon elder, spitting the last word out as if it was a curse rather than a title of honour. "Up to now, I have been respectful and patient while you are yet to return any courteousness. So, you stop treating my dragons like vermin and you will never talk to my rider like that again!" Around the grey gryph, the other gryphons quickly stepped back worriedly, hissing something at their leader. To his credit, Fakiss only flinched a little at the display but stubbornly held his ground.

"This is my business!" Merec reminded the gryphon sternly, gently patting Gahntuar's neck to calm him down again. "Along with Lúg'hir Gahntuar, I am also responsible for the dragons here!"

Elder Fakiss hissed in annoyance, but couldn't deny the fact. "Very well, then!" he conceded with a grumble. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Thank you!" Merec smirked and not letting this opportunity slip by, immediately turned to the wounded gryphon. "Peroll is it?" he asked in a more gentle and caring voice. "Please tell me, why did you say that our dragon is not the drake who attacked you?"

"The ..." Peroll gulped nervously. When his gaze drifted to his elder, Merec quickly pulled his attention back onto himself.

"You don't need to be worried about me," the human smiled reassuringly. "I just want to know why you were so sure just now!"

"The dragon who killed Ahiel had a scar across his snout ..." Peroll blurted out quickly.

"And none of our blue drakes has such a distinctive scar, as you can see!" Gahntuar growled, rounding on Fakiss. This time, the sudden action caught the gryphon off guard and he did step away quickly. "So I believe this concludes our business here, so you can stop harassing us for a change!"

"I ..." elder Fakiss hesitated, suddenly at a loss for words.

"What about the other dragons with you?" another, reddish-brown hen suddenly chirped, coming to the assistance of her elder and flock-leader.

"Excuse me?" Merec asked with a frown, his patience also starting to wear thin at the continuous accusations.

"You obviously hadn't brought all the dragons with you!" the hen continued undeterred, actually sounding offended at the human's incredulous tone.

"All dragons training with us are pres-" Gahntuar started to growl when he suddenly remembered. "Actually, there are two draines not present, but it could not have been either of them who is harassing your flock!"

"And how can you tell that?" elder Fakiss asked with renewed vigour. "Have you kept an eye on them this whole time?"

"As I told you, they are both draines!" Gahntuar growled, all pretence of courteousness gone. "If you cannot tell the difference between a male and a female dragon, how do you expect to convince the Circle of Five of our guilt at all? Secondly, one only has one wing! She has also been staying at the Amber Tower for more than a decade without being any trouble to you! Also, unless you can explain to me how anyone can fly like that, it is physically impossible for her to have been involved. The other only arrived at the Tower barely three days ago, so she had been absent for most of these attacks you claim against us!"

"And you actually expect us to believe that?" the hen squawked.

"If she was absent, how can you tell she was not involved?" elder Fakiss agreed with a challenging clack of his beak.

"Because we can place her on the Garbanan Peninsula this whole time!" Gahntuar hissed in defiance.

"Don't be absurd!" the grey gryph snapped indignantly.

"I can vouch for her on that!" Lúg'her Lekreh quickly spoke up when he saw that these negotiations were quickly unravelling.

"And I am supposed to take the word of a pet like you?" Fakiss hissed, rounding on the golden gryph.

"And why shouldn't you?" Lekreh replied calmly, the only reaction he showed to the insult being a raised eyebrow, as if challenging the elder to do better.

"Because you shirked your divine duty!" elder Fakiss hissed, actually insulted that his own insult didn't seem to have any effect. "We are the Devine Guardians of Selebore, as appointed by Nixoruma Herself, like the phoenixes are Her Messengers! We are not allowed to exist for the amusement of the civil races!"

"And who is to say only watching from a safe distance is better than actively participating in protecting them?" Lekreh asked calmly.

"You disrespectful ..." Fakiss snarled. However, before he could complete his accusations, he was interrupted by a panicked shout from one of the riders behind Gahntuar.

"We've got company!" Everyone assembled there turned around in surprise to look at the young equine trainee, who was pointing towards the northern skies. His dragon, a deep yellow drake was already in the process to jump aside in panic.

"Scatter!" Roccan'her Glenn shouted in the commanding voice she seemed to have reserved for training the dragons. Thanks to their regular training, they reacted immediately to her command and managed to disperse in time to avoid being driven into the ground by a new group of snarling dragons who had dived in right on top of them. The attacking group of Umbrin dragons were experienced warriors and the loss of the element of surprise did not phase them much. Even as the twenty-or-so drakes landed amongst the Lúgroccae, they turned on their prey with powerful slashes of claws and snapping jaws.

Faced with this sudden, overwhelming attack, many of the Lúgroccae dragons instinctively backtracked away and out of reach of the slashing claws. However, several surprisingly stepped into the attack, successfully blocking the blow with an upraised wing as they had been taught only that morning. However, the dragons were themselves very inexperienced and they found the weight on their back still a little awkward. Therefore, most did not act quickly enough to capitalize on their successful block before their attacker managed to escape or their rider warned them of another Umbrin lashing out at them from a blind spot. Still, two of the attacking dragons did not survive the opening moments of this unexpected battle.

For their part, the delegation of wild gryphons did not wait to see what was going on. Even as the first of the enemy dragons had landed in the meadow, they had scattered as well, fleeing amidst terrified squawks to the safety of a nearby grove of Yellowwoods.

"We should have brought our lances!" Merec complained as he watched the annoying gryphons flee for their lives. Then a movement from Gahntuar's blind spot drew his attention. "Behind us!"

Gahntuar reacted immediately, avoiding the slash that was aimed at his neck before he blocked a second attack from a deep amber drake. But instead of throwing him to the ground as Lainah had taught them that morning, Gahntuar was experienced enough to only shove him slightly off-balance before his own claws found purchase beneath the amber scales of the drake's neck.

"This was supposed to have been a peaceful meeting!" the Lúg'hir reminded his rider as he stepped away from the dying amber dragon, quickly looking around him for the next attacker who was sure to already be lunging at him. It seemed as if that infuriating helmet he was wearing now singled him out to the attackers as the leader of this small band of dragonriders. "And we haven't trained properly with them yet!"

There was a surprising moment of calm and Gahntuar risked glancing around at the fighting around him. The Lúgroccae were still in disarray, some trying to fend off two dragons at once. But at the direction of riders on Jerielle and Tembarah, many have started to form together into little defensive clumps around the two draines. Then he remembered that during the final battle of the siege, the humans who had managed to organize themselves into defensive formations were the ones who had managed to survive that last bit of fighting. With a determined snarl, he started to make his way to Amaren, who in turn was trying to reach him as well. Only, he had barely started to move when there was a deep, threatening growl from his right.

"Rebel scum!" the clearly older, dark blue drake growled as he stalked towards Gahntuar. "So, you are Lunintur Reborn? Honestly, I expected more ..."

Before Gahntuar could even properly process what the drake had called him, the obvious leader of this attacking squad lunged at him with a challenging roar. Gahntuar barely had time to twist out of the attack, though he did manage to snap his tail against the Umbrin drake's head as he did so. In the moment of distraction, Gahntuar attacked as well, but the blue was an experienced fighter and quickly blocked the Lumor's strike with his own upraised claws. For a moment they just stood there, forepaws locked together before the Umbrin used his superior weight to shove Gahntuar off balance. He was on top of Gahntuar in a flash, striking hard at the Lumor's snout. The attack should have ripped the drake's cheek open, giving the Umbrin a valuable chance to overpower his opponent. Instead, the dragon's claws scraped harmlessly across the metal of Gahntuar's helmet, allowing the Lúg'hir time to recover again before a second strike could land.

Gahntuar blocked the strike with an upraised wing and with the simple quick flick, he sent the surprised Umbrin toppling to the ground. However before he could capitalize on the rare opening, Merec yelped in a warning.

"Behind us!"

Not looking, Gahntuar twisted away from the attack barely in time. As it were, the claws of the new attacker scraped across his sides and though they wouldn't even be visible in a couple of days, the fine lines of blood still stung something fierce. Gahntuar turned to see the new dragon, another blueish drake with a heavy scar diagonally across his snout, lunge at him. For a moment, he made as if to block the attack with a wing, but at the last moment stepped out of reach of the drake. The startled blue stumbled into the open air and a firm knock of a wingarm across his face had him stagger back. Gahntuar tried to use the opportunity to bite at his neck, but Merec yelped again.

"Left!"

Again, Gahntuar tried to twist away from the incoming attack before he even saw it. However, this time he was not as lucky and he yelped in pain as the claws of the Umbrin leader ripped into the scales of his exposed shoulder, nearly catching Merec's leg. The scarred male also recovered, but at that moment Amaren managed to reach them and he barrelled into the side of the scarred male's chest with his shoulder.

"Oh, you are good!" the Umbrin leader snarled as the two drakes started to circle one another again. It was now only the two of them again and they both took the moment to recover their breath a bit. "But I am Terrum and I will be your end!"

Gahntuar did not reply. Instead, he remained silent, keeping his focus on the drake before him as the fighting raged around them. Merec would warn him if another Umbrin tried to sneak upon him. Something that the Umbrin seemed to have picked up as well, as he shot the human on the Lumor's back a dirty glance.

"Maybe I'll take that pet human of yours for myself when this is done!" he commented.

At that, Gahntuar snarled in defiance. However, that seemed to have been exactly what this Terrum had been waiting for as he immediately lunged at the Lúg'hir in a renewed attack.

***

As had been agreed with Terrum, Ikessa remained away from the actual fighting, circling high enough above the small battle not to be noticeable in the melee. Instead of participating in the fighting, she was to witness their glorious victory over this 'Lunintur Reborn' so that she could report back to the Master on their heroic deeds. Originally, she had only intended to remain aloof as Terrum had instructed until she could catch sight of her true prey. Then, she would have swooped in while the silvery draine's attention was occupied by other dragons, to land heavily on her back and end her with a quick bite at the neck. But to her disappointment, it appeared as if the shameblood's mate was nowhere to be seen. It was strange, but of no real concern to the pale-blue female. With her mate dead, she would eventually be forced to leave the sanctuary of the Amber Tower and then ...

A bloodcurdling yowl drew her attention back to the fighting and, to her surprise, she saw a red Umbrin drake trying to flee the battlefield, his head set alight and his fire-oil streaming down his neck. The blue Lumor he had apparently been fighting stared in wide-eyed horror as the red died in his own fire, and only a quick warning from the wolf on his back saved him from an attack from behind. Then she could clearly feel her chest grow cold as she regarded the battlefield below her.

Though the Lumors were properly knocked about and bloodied, all of them were still capable of fighting. Her Umbrins on the other wing had already eight drakes dead or dying. Though they had outnumbered the Lumors almost three-to-five, this small band was slowly whittling away their superior numbers. Then, to her utter surprise, a golden gryphon with a human rider managed to escape the melee. Quickly he shot up into the sky, crying "To the wing! To the wing!" at the dragons. Without hesitation, the Lumors surprisingly obeyed him, breaking away from their various fights to follow him into the air.

For a moment, she feared that the Lumors were going to manage an escape and she sighed in relief when the Umbrins did not hesitate to follow them. However, her shock returned in full force when the infuriating gryphon had the Lumors twist around to confront their attackers again.

"Basic manoeuvres!" the gryphon called to the dragons around him and Ikessa watched in morbid fascination as the Lumors started to swoop and twist in ways she had never seen dragons fly before.

Then to her horror, she realised that they had not only managed to get the Seleborians to help him, but they had actually managed to get training from that golden gryphon! As she watched, the Lumors twisted with a few sharp turns to end up in a position where they could attack their pursuers. It seemed to be basic but well-trained manoeuvres and with accurate slashes at the Umbrin dragons' wingshoulders, more of her dragons fell from the sky and were easily overwhelmed on the ground as the Lumors landed heavily on their attackers.

Glorious victory her arse! This was a bloody disaster! Where was Terrum? He had to do something, or this was going to be the Peninsula all over again!

Quickly she scanned the fighting and found him still too engaged with the shameblood to notice how the fighting was turning against them. But just as she spotted him, she witnessed how he stumbled in surprise when the black Lumor dragon twisted out of his attack. A heavy blow to the ear sent the Umbrin leader crashing to the ground, unable to avoid the shameblood this time as he bit at his neck, locking his fangs behind the horns and giving the Umbrin leader that fatal twist of his head.

"Retreat!" Ikessa suddenly shrieked as the shameblood dropped Terrum's corpse with total disregard for whom he had just killed. Folding her wings tightly against her sides, she dived towards the struggling Umbrins. She would be damned if she was going to live through another disaster without doing anything! "Retreat!"

***

Gahntuar dropped the dead blue dragon who had called himself Terrum and took the opportunity to look at the fighting around him again. To his surprise, he noticed that the fight had ascended into the sky. Lúg'her Lekreh had taken full command of the Lúgroccae and was flying around the battling dragons, ordering them about skilfully. By now, the momentum of the fighting had fully shifted in their favour and the Lúgroccae was outnumbering their attackers by quite a margin.

"I'll be damned!" Merec suddenly gasped as he regarded the airborne battle.

"What?" Gahntuar questioned a little unsurely, risking a moment to regard his rider.

"Lúg'her Lekreh is herding them into a ball!" Merec pointed out.

Gahntuar looked up again and snorted in surprise when he saw what Merec was saying. The golden gryphon was directing his dragons to keep the Umbrins from escaping as they were slowly forced back towards the ground. He was about to comment about it when he was interrupted by a fearful shriek of a draine from somewhere above them.

"Retreat!" a pale-blue draine called frantically as she dropped from the sky at full terminal velocity. Skilfully, she angled herself at Lekreh and spat a glob of fire at him. The experienced gryphon twisted easily away from the attack, but apparently, that was exactly what the strange draine had hoped for. Continuing her crazy dive, she barrelled straight into the fray, two Lúgroccae pairs scrambling to get out of her way.

"Follow me!" she called again as she passed by the first of the trapped Umbrin dragons, continuing her mad crash towards the ground. When she had passed through the tangle of Umbrins, she spat another reckless gout of flame at the nearest Lúgroccan pair, who could only yelp and scrambled out of the way. The remaining Umbrins did not hesitate to follow her, some also daring to spit fire at any Lúgroccan pair who tried to close the gap again as they broke through the Lúgroccae defences and made their escape.

"So, it is over?" Amaren suddenly asked a little subdued after the intensity of the fight as he limped slightly to came to stand next to his sire.

"Seems so!" Gahntuar agreed with a frown.

"This seems a little too easy though," Merec commented as they watched the Umbrins fleeing as fast as they could back north-west towards the higher mountains.

"Agreed!" Gahntuar growled before he quickly gave the long, deep whoop of a territory owner granting drifters access to his territory. It may not have been the communication what it was originally intended for, but it had the desired effect as the Lúgroccae pairs who had started to follow the fleeing Umbrins immediately fell back again. In short order, all the Lúgroccae returned to their Lúg'hir, though not all were happy to let their attackers go.

"But sir, we've got them on the run!" one yellowish drake complained as he landed.

"I agree," the rider of a light-blue draine added. "We should press our advantage to its fullest!"

"We do not know where they are going," Gahntuar growled, his tone indicating that he will not be tolerating any arguments. "And I will not be lead further away from the Amber Tower and into a possible trap!"

"The Lúg'hir is right!" Roccan'her Glenn suddenly added as Lekreh also landed next to him. "This strike feels very similar to attacks meant to lead us into an ambush."

"That, or they badly underestimated our abilities!" Lúg'her Lekreh added with a happy chirp, but then he became serious. "However, the way their leader stayed behind and executed that last breakout of theirs makes me suspicious of ulterior motives."

"Either way," Glenn agreed, patting her gryphon on the neck. "We should hold back."

"Sal'Roccan Aerhin," Merec suddenly called the elf who was the first rider to join them back in Corrumwhell. "You and Jerielle get me a casualty report. I want to know how we stand."

"Yes, sir!" Aerhin replied crisply, and the two of them quickly turned back to the assembled Lúgroccae to assess their wounds.

While the elf and the red draine was busy checking on the Lúgroccae, Gahntuar suddenly stepped aside to scan through the dead dragons that lay scattered across the small meadow.

"Sal'Lúg Amaren?" he called over his shoulder when he seemed to find the one he was looking for.

"Yes dad, ... I mean, sir?" Amaren answered quickly, stepping up next to Gahntuar.

"Where are the gryphons we came to meet?" the Lúg'hir asked with an angry growl to his voice.

"I saw them make a break for those trees over there when the fighting started!" Amaren quickly stated, pointing a wing at a nearby grove of Yellowwoods.

"Go get them for me!" Gahntuar ordered with a dangerous growl.

"I think I should go with him!" Lúg'her Lekreh quickly commented. "I doubt they will come out if only a dragon comes looking for them, even one carrying a wolf on his back."

"Good idea!" Merec agreed with the gryphon's logic. "Please see to it that they come here with speed!"

"Yes sir!" both Amaren and Lekreh replied before they started to trot off towards the grove of trees.

As they left, Merec turned his attention back to his dragon. Patting him gently against the neck, he asked: "What is the matter?"

"Look carefully at this drake!" Gahntuar growled, indicating towards the dead blue dragon.

"Oh!" Merec gasped when he noticed the clearly visible scar across his snout. "Is that the dragon who started all this?"

"He fits the description!" Gahntuar agreed, a slight slither of smoke curling from a nostril.

"Two dragons and their riders have been seriously burnt," Aerhin suddenly spoke up next to them. "Also, we have three dragons and four riders with serious cuts that need urgent attention, and two more riders with what we suspect are broken bones. But other than that, only minor injuries, sir. It seems that we were very lucky this time and have not lost anyone!"

"That is good news!" Gahntuar smiled.

"See what you can do for the seriously injured!" Merec replied. "But don't try to heal them completely. Rather have them taken to the Amber Tower for treatment. Only you have the skill to treat them at this moment and I don't want to risk you getting even a slight serious Manaburn. Once they have been looked after, you can return to camp!"

"Yes, sir!" Jerielle quickly snapped, immediately turning around to execute his order. Within a few minutes, seven of the dragons took to the wing.

"Do you think we are going to get into trouble with the archmagus for this?" Merec asked a little offhandedly as he watched the dragons turn south towards the Amber Tower as instructed.

"Probably," Gahntuar agreed with a grin, not looking back at his rider. They were still watching the dragons disappear over the rise when Amaren spoke behind them again.

"The gryphon delegation, as you requested, sir!" he said in a crisp voice.

"Just look at this!" elder Fakiss snapped furiously, hoping to get the black dragon on the defensive again. "This is what you get for allowing ..."

"Enough!" Gahntuar growled, all pretence of politeness gone as he snapped his jaws threateningly at the elder. The grey gryphon squawked in alarm and hopped back, even though it was clear he was not in any real danger. For a moment, the entire gryphon delegation was too stunned at his sudden change in mannerisms that they did not object and Gahntuar used it to fix the injured gryphon with a withering stare. "You!" he growled, indicating to the dead drake. "Is this the dragon who attacked you?"

"Y-yes!" the terrified gryphon squeaked. "That is definitely him!"

"This just proves that you are a danger to this whole region!" Fakiss hissed, seemingly having come over his shock and eager to get the dragon on the defensive again. "I will not allow any shadowspawn ..."

"And why should I listen to a shadow-friend?" Gahntuar interrupted him with an angry hiss of his own.

That accusation caught the entire gryphon delegation completely off guard. Calling them jigsaw puzzles usually had them seeing red, but due to their strenuous religious situation, calling one a shadow-friend was unforgivable.

"What?" Fakiss gasped, visibly losing the little temper he had. "How dare ...?"

"All I know is that someone in Juinkarr wants us dead!" Gahntuar snapped at him, not allowing the gryphon to work himself up. "That is why we cannot leave the Amber Tower!" When another of the gryphons tried to counter him, he rounded on that creature as well. "We have told you this, and we have the archmagus as a witness! Still, we came out here, on YOUR bequest I might add, where we could be attacked by Umbrin dragons!"

"Umbrin dragons?" the reddish hen from earlier managed to squeak out.

"Dragons still loyal to Barathrum!" Merec replied with a barely repressed sneer, fully in support of his dragon.

"So," Gahntuar continued, his crest raised high in a challenge even though the gesture was lost on the gryphons. "We have proven time and again that we were not guilty of disregarding our agreement with you. Can you prove to us that you didn't work together with these dragons to catch us out here so that they could kill us on the orders of Juinkarr?"

"I am not involved in this!" Fakiss squeaked, looking for support from the rest of the delegation. However, to his shock, he noticed that the other gryphons had started to edge a little away from their leader.

"Easy, Lúg'hir!" Lúg'her Lekreh commented, his voice indicating that he was also not very pleased with the dragon's claims. "Those are rather flimsy accusations ..."

"Not as flimsy as still claiming we are responsible for an attack on ourselves!" Gahntuar hissed, not looking away from the leader of the gryphon delegation. The golden gryph opened his beak to protest, but when he couldn't argue the point, he only nodded his head in acquiescence. That broke the grey gryphon's resolve completely, and he crouched down in submission.

"I swear I'm not a shadow-friend!" he whined, the irritating gryphon they had to suffer before completely gone.

"I think you've proven your point!" Merec commented softly to his dragon as he patted the scaled neck reassuringly. Gahntuar's crest quivered for a second more before he allowed it to relax with a deep sigh.

"But I'll admit to our trainer's point!" he conceded. "Just like there is no proof that we were accountable for the infringements on your territory before, there is no real evidence that you are a shadow-friend. But," and his crest rose in agitation again, "your stubborn actions did make it easy for the Umbrins to use you as bait against us!"

"I ... I am sorry, you are right!" Fakiss agreed, still crouching where he was.

"These are dangerous times," Merec added seriously "and the more we fight against each other, the more Juinkarr will gain in strength."

"Speaking of which, it is still very dangerous here!" Gahntuar decided, glancing worriedly at the north-eastern horizon where the other dragons had fled to. "I suggest we return to our nests and settle this argument between us tomorrow in the safety of the Tower. Do you agree?"

"A-agreed," Fakiss replied a little shakily as he got up. "And L-Lúg'hir, Roccan'hir, I am sorry for this!"

"Until tomorrow then, Elder Fakiss!" Gahntuar rumbled, unable to keep a satisfied purr from his voice. He had never enjoyed hearing the title given to him more than that moment. He turned back to the grey elder and bowed his head in genuine gratitude. "May our meetings in the future be friendlier."

"Yes, may they be."

Gahntuar watched the gryphons slowly walk away with mixed feelings. On one wing he was still annoyed with them, but on the other, he hoped that this silly argument between his camp and their aery was finally at the point of being resolved. Then, suddenly, he became aware of excited whispers among the Lúgroccae behind him.

"We did it, sir!" a young white drake orphan he thought was called Aheron chirped, excitedly. "We won our first fight!"

"We totally kicked ass!" Alex shouted in glee, his adolescent nature returning a little bit as he punched the air in excitement.

"I guess we did!" Lúg'hir Gahntuar agreed with a deep purr.

"You have done well," Lúg'her Lekreh agreed loudly, "but I suggest we return to camp quickly, before more Umbrins show up."

"Agreed!" Gahntuar replied, still unable to stop his purring.

"Right then, Lúgroccae, to wing!" Roccan'hir Merec called. And with that, the Lúgroccae flew off amidst excited chirps and trills and whoops and cheers back to the safety of their camp. And to celebrate their first victory.

***

With a sinking heart, Ikessa counted the dragons who had managed to escape with her. Of the original twenty-five drakes only nine remained, and of their leaders, none. But what stung even worse was that, as far as she could tell, they hadn't inflicted even a single kill themselves. With a snarl, she turned away to look westward again. Luckily for them, the Lumors had neglected to pursue them, or they would have been done for. For a moment she tried to ignore the worried whispers from amongst the remaining drakes as they huddled together like a flock of scared sheep. However, one vague comment about the "survivor of the Garbanan Campaign" still caught her attention.

"What was that?" she suddenly asked over her shoulder with an irritated growl.

"N-nothing, my lady!" the young red drake who had spoken whimpered, licking at a still bleeding snout.

"Tell me!" Ikessa insisted, turning around to face them.

"It ... it is just ... how do you plan to kill them now?" another red drake, most likely the first's clutchmate, quickly added. "They were much better prepared than we expected."

"I definitely underestimated them," Ikessa agreed, forcing herself to speak calmly to the dragons around her. "And I fear they will only get stronger!" She quieted the fearful whimpers around her with soft croons, like a mother hushing her frightened hatchlings. For a moment, she considered her options, none of which she particularly liked. "The best we can do for now is to wait and learn. The Lumors are changing, and we must adapt as well."

"You ... want us to get riders as well?" a blue drake asked a little incredulously, but also worried that she might actually consider it.

"No!" Ikessa snapped, making the blue flinch. She sighed to calm herself again, though a sudden thought of a goblin on her back made her shudder. "No," she repeated, still firmly but more gentle this time. "They are much stronger with their riders, yes, but we don't need to copy them."

"Then what are we going to do?" the second red drake asked, still very much subdued.

"Simply, we need to learn from them!" Ikessa stated, looking seriously at them. "We must draw them out gently, harass them without offering up a proper fight again. This way, we will learn how they do things, learn where they are at their strongest and their weakest. It will be a long, hard flight ahead of us, but if we are patient about it, we will succeed. The important thing we have to do is we need to be better prepared next time we are serious!"

"What about the ... the Master?" the blue drake asked worriedly, hesitant to even refer to the creature who seemed to own his very existence. "He ... he won't be pleased about what happened. Or what we plan to do about it!"

"No, he won't!" Ikessa agreed with a sneer at the thought of the childish creature with too much power. She turned to the red drake to look at him directly. "But I am the Claw of the Master, I will deal with him. You need not worry about that, only about how we are going to bring this dangerous phenomenon of dragons taking riders to an end."

Ikessa turned away from the gathered survivors, purposefully ignoring the awed stares she was suddenly receiving. She did not look forward to meeting the master again, but she was sure of the direction of the wind ahead now.

She will need to see how they fight and plan her revenge more carefully next time.

Like meat, revenge tasted best when it was well-aged.

---

"This first skirmish between the Lúgroccae and the Umbrin dragons of the northern Curndor Mountains was a small affair and may have seemed insignificant at the time, serving only to build our confidence that little bit more. In all honesty, the larger history as a whole has all but forgotten it by now, banishing it to be nothing more than a reference at the bottom of the pages dealing with the larger events surrounding the founding of the Lúgroccae. And considering what was to follow, who could blame the historians?

Yet, the news of Terrum's death spread like wildfire across the whole Curndor Mountains, rattling all dragons to their core. He was after all one of the most feared dragons in the northern Curndor Mountains, possibly second only to a dragon only known at the time as the Claw of the Master. This, following the devastating news of the disaster on the Peninsula, shook the collective Umbrin consciousness and many wondered if the rumours of Lunintur Reborn were indeed true. The Lumors on the other wing received the news with joy for Terrum had been the one responsible for the destruction of most Lumor attempts at any resistance.

Therefore, the surviving Lumors flocked en mass to where Terrum had met his end, to find this 'Lunintur Reborn' who finally could promise them safety. For the first time since the surprise attacks on their nests nearly a century before, the Lumor dragons managed to significantly push the Umbrins back. Of course, the new Lúgroccae played a critical role in this reversal of fortune and the victories, in turn, served to swell the ranks of the Lúgroccae even more. After barely three years, the Umbrin dragons were driven completely out of the northern Curndors, finally giving the Lumor clan a safe, fertile home range where they could grow and thrive once more.

And so, the dragon civil war that came to be known to historians as the Dragonhunts finally came to an end. But of course, the end of one era is nothing else but the beginning of another, as I'm afraid we were quick to find out."

Extract from "A Seleborian history from a dragon's perspective" by the first dragon scholar, Laethia 'One-wing' skar Ortussa, an affiliate of the Amber Tower during the Second Age.

end.